Fallout: Equestria - Steelheart

Chapters

Chapter 1: Sunflowers and Fire
Chapter 2: Fire and Steel
Chapter 3: Steel and Darkness
Chapter 4: Darkness and Past
Chapter 5: Past and Blood
Chapter 6: Blood and Purpose
Chapter 7: Purpose and Trials
Chapter 8: Trials and Cracks
Prologue: A simple theme...

Chapter 1: Sunflowers and Fire

Fallout Equestria: Steelhearts
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 1: Sunflowers and Fire

"No news is usually the best news..."

BRRRRRRN
BRRRRRRN
BRRRRRRN

I rolled over, trying to find some solace in my pillow from the bomb siren I called an alarm. I needed a few more minutes but knew it wasn't going to happen. Good old Stable-Tec, you could always count on them to find the most direct solution to a problem. Need something to wake ponies up for their shifts? Set it two decibels below the pain threshold.

BRRRRRRN
BRRRRRRN
BRRRRRRN

To make matter matters worse, no matter how I messed with never-to-be-sufficiently-damned device it never got quieter.

BRRRRRRN
BRRRR-SLAM

“One of these days I’m going to find your speaker and I’m going to STRANGLE it,” I muttered with a glare at my nightstand, hoof crushing the off button deep into the metal case. I rolled out of bed and landed with something approaching poise. The illusion was mildly spoiled as I staggered groggily through the dim glow cast by my arch nemesis. It was completely ruined when my hoof caught the corner of my work vest lying on the floor. The garment itself would have just trailed behind me to the bathroom. The five pounds of tools tucked into its various pockets begged to differ.

“SHI-”

The scores are in! Well folks, that’s a seven from the Appaloosa judge, a six from Canterlot’s representative, and… ouch, the judge from Stalliongrad is giving the landing a three! Better luck next year kid.

I slowly got back up, shaking my head to try to clear the red haze from my eyesight.

“Okay, one of THOSE mornings. Great,” I mumbled to myself.

I started the day like this about once every other week, where right from the start things just started going wrong. Every time it was like I was one of the cooking robots getting an error at the start of a recipe and then ending up with a mixing bowl containing a cup of salt and a tablespoon of flour. Just a single flaw in the program and suddenly the whole Auto-Chef was broken and needed to be reset.

Broken… no, don't think about it Gear. The face that looked back at me had gained a bruise that would be getting some note from anyone that saw it. Apart from that it was the same face that had been staring back at me for years, ever since my cutie mark came in and I was moved out of the training nursery and into a room of my own on the Upper Cog.

I slowly glanced back at my flank, knowing exactly what I would find there. Three gray gears against a maroon background greeted my eyes, two large ones and one smaller in the shape of a heart. Nothing too odd until you noticed that if you tried to turn any one gear the whole thing would seize up.

The mark had always felt right and sadly that was the problem. Gears? Sure, I was always going to get something mechanical. It was completely common for Stable 63 ponies to get “Machine Marks”. When the Overframe’s robots outnumbered you two to one and took care of almost every labor job that didn’t leave much for anyone else to do. You either repaired machines or you repaired ponies, be it physically or mentally. But my cutie mark had the bad luck of having that damned heart shape with the locked up, broken gears. At this point everypony else agreed is was nearly prophetic.

Technical adeptness? A+

Meshing with other ponies? D-

… at best.

That was the story of my life right there. “The pony who can fix and improve any machine! Just don’t go trying to engage him in small talk, gossip, Stable life, or anything of a personal nature. Guaranteed to freeze in thought and analysis or your bits back! He's the amazing Broken Heart!” That thought made me sigh long and deeply. I couldn't even remember who had first said the nickname but it hardly mattered. It was spot on after all.

One bath later and I was beginning to feel less like a zombie. I stepped into the center of the bathroom over the fine mesh grate and hit the wall stud for the dryer. The sudden updraft of warm air was always stronger than I would have wished, particularly around the flank. Never had been a fan of physical sensation there, especially not since...well, THAT.

I shook my head to banish the intrusive memory. GAH! Enough with the self pity already! Focus. Focus!

As I stepped out of the bathroom I nearly made the mistake of journeying across my room in the dark. A well timed twinge from my jaw reminded me why that would go in the mental folder labeled “Ideas: BAD”. Grumbling, I fumbled at the wall with my hoof till I found the pad for the switch and pressed it. The lights flickered on, the spell talismans taking a second to get up to their full, glaring brilliance.

My work vest lay crumpled in a pile where my fall had carried it across the floor. I picked it up by the collar, trying to avoid getting my tongue near any of the oil, lube, and burn marks dotted across it, and tossed it onto my back. A few seconds later I had my forelegs through it and was ready to start my latest “One of THOSE” days. I headed for the door then stopped halfway. Something didn’t feel right. Well, besides the chin. What was it… everything felt… lighter somehow- oh geez, how had I almost forgotten it?

“Yep, this morning’s going to be great.”

I looked back to the nightstand where my patient antagonist rested, waiting for the next morning to come round, but this time it wasn’t the center of my attention. Next to it sat a large tube, split down one side with a clasp while hinged on the other allowing it to open like a locker. A large screen dominated one of the halves. My personal Pip-Buck 3000. Customized with a shiny silver case, the paint having been “borrowed” from the maintenance storage when I was taking inventory one day, along with a deep blue tinted screen and matching text it had the appearance of being a brand new, one-off production model.

I took great pride in all the other minor tweaks I’d made to it over the years: small decreases in weight here and there, more tactile switches and buttons to really give the feeling of novelty a boost, the hinge and clasp after a BAD soldering experience- seriously, who makes a wearable device you need a tool set to take off!- and finally a transceiver cobbled together out of a couple scrap gems. That last addition meant my Pip-Buck was capable of interfacing with almost any of the Stable’s tech remotely. I might not have had telekinesis, let alone a horn, but I could tinker with anything with a spell matrix down here as well as any unicorn could.

I clamped it smoothly over my right foreleg with my teeth and paused for a second as it took in my surroundings and brought up its Eyes Forward Sparkle spell. In rapid succession the spell highlighted every item in the room to check its ID spells then displayed the interaction reticule. The overlay had unnerved me back when I first received the device and it had been prone to giving me migraines. Since then I’d grown accustomed to the pop-up windows in my vision like everypony else.

I watched the screen as it ran a quick check on me then displayed an all-clear status across the board. Just a young Stable buck in fine health as far as it was concerned. I was never sure how much I trusted that part of its functions since it was common for it to tell me I was fine even as I lay in the Infirmary clinic with the latest strain of the common cold or worse. Apparently only serious tissue damage, broken bones, and radiation seemed to warrant its attention.

Satisfied that everything was in the same working order it had been yesterday, I turned and headed out of my room, pausing long enough to ensure my security door protocols were active on my Pip-Buck’s screen before continuing. As I stepped out into the hallway I got both an immediate improvement and incidental downturn in my fortunes as a cheerful face appeared inches from mine. I’d never figured out how Sunflower always managed to be this chipper this early.

“Morning Gear! Sleep well I hope- WOAH, what happened to your face?! Did you lose a fight with that malfunctioning Protectapony you said you were working on? Wait…I swear if it was those asses from the Middle Cog I’ll-”

“What? Oh, the bruise? No no, this wasn’t from either. This is a battle scar, hard won!” My dramatic side instantly took over to turn a mundane screw up into something worth talking about for the morning walk. We’d been doing this routine for years, whoever got up first waiting on the other before heading to breakfast. We'd talk about work, any gossip that we both could relate to, and nothing in particular.

I received an incredulous and put-upon look from the goldenrod colored unicorn mare who’d greeted me. Sunflower knew me all too well to take my answer seriously and was waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

“Battle scar aye?” This time her question came with an eyebrow raise.

Everypony always said my own eyebrow interrogations were the best they’d ever seen. “He has it down to a science. No one can hide anything from Gear’s eyebrow. ...you know, it’s kinda creepy actually… like he knows the lie before he hears it.” I’d become the unofficial dowsing rod for many residents trying to settle disputes. Someone would call me over to listen to an argument and then they’d watch my face out of the corner of their eyes. Small lie or half-truth? Small raise, maybe only a twitch. Big lie? That eyebrow would be trying to tear off my face. Truth be told I hardly noticed I did it. I listened to the arguments and the facts from both sides and asked questions I thought were relevant. What everypony else noticed instead was my terrible poker face for bullshit logic. Sunflower’s attempt to mimic my methods had too much good-natured humor in it to be even a tenth as effective.

“Honest to Celestia Sun! I was asleep in my bed, dreaming about the wonders of spellware protocols when I was startled out of my sleep by something shattering. I bolted up and saw somepony had knocked over my reading lamp while trying to steal this highly unique and stylish piece of technology!” I said, waving the hoof and Pip-Buck in Sunflowers’s direction. I got a small eye roll and a smirk in return. Sun was the only pony I'd ever felt comfortable with, the only one who didn't tell me to cut the stories or to stop talking about robot modifications. I'd never figured out why she'd started hanging around me in the first place but I was incredibly grateful she had, despite the rockiness of our friendship at times. She jerked her head down the curved corridor and began walking away slowly, the smirk still rooted firmly on her face as she waited for the show to continue.

“Come on, you know everypony is constantly trying to fiddle with it. They want it for their own! This pony was simply depraved enough to steal into my room to, well, steal it!” I declared with an exaggerated frown as I caught up with her a couple doors down.

She turned her head towards me, her own expression lightening into something between sorrow and concern. “Except I know for a fact no one’s ever been into your room or will ever get into it on their own.” The words were little more than a sigh but fell on me with the weight of a sledgehammer. My ears drooped a little to match my now real frown. But still I kept my mirthful demeanor up, willing my body to not reveal any more of how much her chiding stung.

Sun chuckled, gaining back a little of her usual jovial demeanor in the process. “Hell, even Spell had to have the Overframe open the door with her overrides the first time she caught you sleeping in and she can hack just about anything. She never has quite forgiven you for finding a way to embarrass her instead of the other way around.” she looked at me out of the corner of her eye as we walked on with a wily grin. “Though I think that slight to her ego paled in comparison to the last part of your defense. I still can’t believe you went so far as to reroute the door terminal to the Gallery’s Service desk!” She started to snicker as she went on, “You should have seen the look on her face when she was passing through the Gallery later and the reception Mr. Handy asked why she had booked ten back to back sessions with Sexual Services that afternoon. From my patch of the garden it was easy to see her spluttering as everypony around her stared and whispered. Her screaming your name afterwards was just the frosting on the cake.” She scrunched up her face till she went red then reared back and slowly fell over shouting, “GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAR!” She finished her backwards tumble and righted herself with a laugh, her cream colored mane falling away from her flank. A brilliant sunflower field caught the glow from the wall lights in a way that seemed to make it sway in an unseen breeze. She gave a nod towards the end of the hall and the promise of our assignments; I in my spell circuits and metal and she in her garden and flowers. There were times I wished I had been more interested in botany. Maybe I'd have turned out differently if I'd proven to be good at working with living things instead of robots, maybe be less of a recluse or understand other ponies' jokes and references or want to be closer to them. The sunflower seeds Sun sometimes brought with her on these morning walks certainly went a ways towards convincing me I would have probably enjoyed it even if nothing else changed.

“I guarantee that if you could have seen Spell in that moment it would go a long ways towards making up for her taking a personal interest in your career ever since,” Sun continued. There was the understatement of the century. Spell Wizard was the head of Robotic Relations and my boss. Ever since that infamous incident she’d taken pains to make sure I was never without work, usually the toughest or most injurious available. It was her job to decide how best to split up the tasks of repairing our metallic family members when they got sick or injured. She’d gained a slight stick-up-her-ass personality ever since the Overframe selected her for the job years back. But it been proven to be the right choice over and over and no one ever doubted Spell’s resolve or commitment.

“Right, thanks for reminding me of that little fiasco. No amount of extra sleep was worth what she’s been doing to me since. But enough about that, where was I?” I shot a questioning look in her direction.

“Something about a Pip-Buck thief I believe?” she said with a teasing smile.

“Ah yes, that monstrous fiend in pony disguise, how could I forget! … I’ll thank you for not belittling a very personal and traumatic experience,” I chided her as she burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha that’s fine! Keep going, just let me get something to enjoy this show with,” She pulled a small bag out of her own work vest, one much less loaded down with heavy tools than my own I noted again with mild jealousy. She levitated the bag ahead of her and a small stream of sunflower seeds came trickling out.

Now here we go! Dramatic suggestion powers activate! “Oh no! I’m not sure you deserve to hear the rest of this! All I’ve heard out of you is sarcasm and disbelief. You’re going to have to work hard to come up with a sufficient apology if you want to hear the rest of the morning’s struggle,” I said with mock disdain, eyeing the seeds discreetly.

“An apology huh…,” she mused as she squinted at the ceiling, her lips drawn together in thought. Come on Sun, you know what it's going to take so just hand over the goods!

We were approaching the intersection between the circular corridor of the Upper Cog and the perpendicular offshoot of one of the Spokes when she turned her head to look at me with exaggerated slowness.

“Hmmmmm...how about this? Tantric owes me a favor and I can cash it in for you! How’s a foursome for a full day in Sexual Services sound? They’ll start you with the basic massage and rub and you can see where it goes from there!”

I froze in place, every muscle tensing like a vice, while my eyes slowly swung towards her. The creasing of her forehead and a droop of her eyelids were the only things that told me she hadn't been serious. I stood there staring at her until my body relaxed and dropped me unsteadily back to rest. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding in as my head hung low.

“Sun…you are the only one who I can't get upset with for prodding me about it. But still, please don’t. Please. Particularly from you," I said softly as I turned to face her.

Her ears were hanging at the sides of her head and her mouth was drawn to one side in obvious concern as she looked from one eye to the other. Whatever she saw in them she didn’t reveal, instead replying, “I know. I’m sorry, I know, but I did it again anyway. I worry about you Gear. I want to find a way for you to embrace YOU, all of you, celebrate in the good and laugh with the bad and try to improve it all! It's been years but you haven't made any progress in changing. If you gave the workers a chance...”

I looked up with a slight frown, my lips pulling tight into a thin line. Now hold on just a minute, let’s set some things straight here!

“Sun, I don’t consider it to be bad that I don’t want to touch others or be touched by anyone, myself included. It’s just never going to be a part of me.” She looked at me with a mildly confused expression. I paused to consider my next words. “Listen, I’ve never told anyone this, not even you, so i’ll try to put my feelings and thoughts into words the best I can. But you know what that’s like for me soooo…ah hell, here goes.”

I took in a deep breath then began speaking, slowly and methodically.

“I wish that everyone else was like me. I don’t wish I was like everyone else. It’s hardly like we need intercourse anyway! The Overframe is good at what she does! Very good! Imagine if we went around without the prevention implants. Foals and fillies born with no thought to their genetics or possible potential of other options. We can trust in something other than random chance and wishes! That’s what sex was way back before 63 and now we’re just hanging on to it for the pleasure! It’s a drug, a narcotic that everyone else can’t seem to go three days without.” I practically spat out the last words, paused for a moment to breathe, then waited to see how she’d react.

She snorted and said, “Okay, I know I implied I was allowing you to have your drama queen moment but that’s a bit much. You're really missing the point about it. If we were addicts you’d have ponies keeling over from exhaustion after round thirty or something and we’d never hear the end of it. Literally! It's just something fun and relieving that's all, not some mind control or compulsion,” she ended with a chuckle.

I shot her a dark glance. “No, I don’t think it’s a bit much. Let me ask this instead. When was the last time you went to the Services and how long ago was the time before that and the time before that one? If you think it’s so uncommon let’s hear from the pony’s mouth just how uncommon it really is,” I replied curtly.

I realized I was being intentionally confrontational but her near dismissal of my view was threatening to put cracks in mental dams I’d built long ago. What lay behind them was red, caustic, and boiling and I needed an outlet to stop it spilling over. Blushing at the candor of my question she turned to face away from me, her gaze seeming to not want to meet mine for a good ten seconds.

“Gear, that’s-” she began.

“Oh no, you opened the Stable door so now you get the rad burns! Come on, let’s hear just how long you can go without a trip to Services yourself. Let’s see if you can really understand what it must be like to not want to be touched, to not want to be kissed or licked or anything by anypony!”

She staggered as though she’d been kicked in the hind legs. Her head turned towards me but her gaze stayed locked on the wall. Then she looked me directly in the eye before replying in a rapid staccato, “Yesterday. I went in yesterday and probably three days before that and then last week on my day off. So yeah, good guess. It was only three days in between and yes, every now and then I go in to get my bits massaged. It feels really, REALLY good and I feel relaxed afterwards and do you know why I do?” As her voice rose her face congealed into an anger to match my own. “It takes my mind off work and the metal walls and the fake sunlight and all the ways my patch of garden will never be more than a bit of dirt in a metal floor. It’s why we all go to Services, to escape into something pleasant for us. But noooo, all you need is your machines and your terminal screens and you’re good! This place must always feel like paradise to you! So yeah, maybe I don’t understand. But neither do you.” She stomped her hoof on the floor to punctuate her reply, the anger hardening her face like a statue as she stared at me.

Still seething inside I shot back, “Oh yes, it must be so hard being just like everypony else and having an outlet for all that stress built into our home for you! It’s so great that there’s also a large group of other ponies here like me with our own facilities to cater to our concerns. Oh wait, no there isn’t,” I said, sarcasm dripping from every word. “It’s me and then everyone else and I have to deal with the stress of helping to keep this place running and trying to get along with everypony here on my own because there was never anyone to turn to except you. You’re my supposed to be my best friend but you just never get...it. Any of it. Just like everypony else...no one ever gets...it,” I ended lamely, some of the anger dissipating as words finally failed me.

Well brain, you almost made it past the finish line. “A” for effort.

She continued to glare at me, the corner of her mouth twitching, until her own anger began to subside as she watched me fall deeper into self recrimination. She started to say something then stopped, her mouth hanging open for a moment or two, then continued in a broken voice.

“Maybe I don’t really get it. But don’t ever think I’m like everypony else or that they're all the same. We’re all fucked up in one way or another in here. So yes, I go to Services for the...the massage. But that’s it. Massages only. Anything more would just bring up…bad memories.” Her voice trailed off and she looked away again.

Well, the dams are now fixed, the rage behind them was frozen over, and I was the biggest asshole in the history of asses and holes. All I could do was stammer softly, incoherently for a second or two. Hmmmm...what did that remind me of again? Oh right.

BROKEN. Way to prove everyone right Gear.

I practically fell over my own tongue trying to get the words out. “Sun, I’m sorry! I-I-I didn’t…why didn’t you tell me you were having problems? If I hadn’t-“ I stammered.

She suddenly spun her head to face me, anger taking up most of what I saw with guilt and remorse taking up the rest. “Okay, now it’s my turn to tell you I don’t consider it bad or a problem that I don’t want anything more than that! It’s who I am now, just like it’s a part of you! It’s the result of my own stupidity and I accepted it! It was my fault that what happened, happened. I mean…it was just after your Cutie Marking Party and… it had come so much later than everyone else’s and… and I wanted to give you a present and it seemed like…” She chuckled once, mirthlessly. “Yeah, it seemed,” she finished with a sigh as she hung her head, small tears falling from her eyes to the floor below.

I stood there for a good half minute, taking in everything that she’d said, all the guilt, all the pain. Everything leading back to the Cutie Marking party…

The irony was I’d been so happy that day, right up till everything went to hell. Everyone had been now that I was forced to think back to that time. My mark had come in and no one had really thought too much about what it showed. We were simply celebrating my graduation, a cause for everyone to drop work for a day and party. The Overframe declared me Gear Heart, being the incredibly imaginative thinker she was, and just like that I was no longer EM6609. I was no longer the number I had been at my birth and every day since in the Nursery. I was a true member of the Stable and I had a place and a role to play!

It would have been a perfect day if not for the night that followed. Everything just went downhill from there until it became the ultimate “One of THOSE days”.

...you know, now that I thought about it that was also the very first “One of THOSE days” I’d ever had. Too bad it had only been the start!

I couldn’t help it at that point. I chuckled at the irony.

Her eyes shot up at me, glaring, daring me to jest at her baring her pain after these past shared years.
“Somehow, I don’t think either of us could have predicted I’d have a complete meltdown. Plus you’re right, it was a great day. We were both riding high as pegassi then you said you had something to show me. I was expecting some new vest or decoration, not sunflower petals and...lace. I can’t blame you for not expecting to suddenly find panicked hooves flying in every direction. I couldn’t blame anypony.” I thought about that for a second, looking up at the ceiling, my head cocked to the side in calculation. “Well, except for the ponies who are into that sort of thing. But I don’t think I have to worry about them coming to ask me to take care of things. I hear Services can cater to all needs and is never fully booked.”

Pause. Consider. “…usually.”

Pause. Consider. GULP. “I hope.”

I shook my head to clear out the disturbing images and looked down to face her again.

Her face contorted through anger then confusion then anger again and then finally…pfffffft. The air escaped her in a whistle as she fell over sideways, laughing her heart out.

“Bwahahahahaha! You’d probably put the whole Stable into lockdown by remote with as many doors as possible between you and everypony else! It would be the end of us all! Death by awkward anxiety! Hahaha!” She paused to catch her breath back then continued “…okay, I take it back, you’re getting better at joking about this. I’ll stop for now. Hahaha... owwwww, my ribs are aching!”

She smiled up at me from the floor at me with moist eyes as she finally caught her breath. “Still, I’m sorry that night ruined, well, ...us.” The smile became more pained, all of the lost moments written in every inch of it, but no less happy as she righted herself, now lying upright on the floor.

“Nah, you certainly didn’t ruin us. I mean, here we are messing around and being idiots just like any other day,” I noted. “But you also have to admit there’s not much difference between us then and us now,” I added with a questioning eyebrow raise. I trotted over and offered a hoof to help her up. She closed her eyes and hung her head slightly with a smile. She whispered something too softly for me to catch. Then she looked up, that smile lighting up her face, and took the outstretched hoof as she stood back up. The smile suddenly changed into a smirk.

“You know, we should probably get going before the other half of the Cog gets caught up in our discussion.”

“Wait, what do you mean half the-,“ my words were strangled by my mouth slamming tightly shut as three or four ponies passed by and six or so further away down the Spoke glanced back at us. A couple younger bucks among them were scowling at me in particular.

“OH SWEET CELESTIA HOW MANY PASSED BY? HOW DID I NOT NOTICE??” I managed to half whisper, half hiss at her, making sure not to meet the gaze of the ponies staring at us.

Stifling a laugh, she put her head to the side and gazed up as though tallying numbers on an invisible chalkboard. “Oh, I’d say about maybe a quarter of this shift? We were pretty near the Spoke to begin with when I dropped that balefire bomb on you to test the waters.” How she managed to feel perfectly comfortable in this situation I didn’t know.

“LUNA FUCK ME IN THE ASS WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?” This time I did hiss the question at her, my eyes closing tightly as another pony walked by, awkwardly trying to ignore the two of us.

“Well, I did wait till no one was around to answer your question. I guess you just weren’t paying any attention at that point. Terrible thing to do really. You’re only going to reinforce everypony’s view that you’re socially clueless if you go blurting out highly personal questions to half the Stable all the time.” Her snarky grin was threatening to reach her ears.
“You know, didn’t you just say you weren’t into getting touched not three minutes ago? Yet here you are requesting it out loud! In the ass! And from Princess Luna no less! You really need to get your message straight. No wonder you confuse everypony!” Yup, the grin was now stretching out to her ears. I mentally slid a marker on the score slide of embarrassment. She had seen her shot and executed it with the precision of a master table shark.

Click, swish, THUNK. Final score? Sun: 9001. Gear: 3. Maybe 4 if you counted my earlier uncomfortable questions.

“UGGGGGHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...” My voice slowly trailed off in resignation. “Okay, just…let’s go. We’re probably already late as it is.”

She gave a hearty laugh. “Oh, you can bet on that. To top everything off I bet Spell’s going to flay your hide!” She cocked her head slightly in thought. “You never did finish your Pip-Buck thief story you know.”

This time it was my turn to tease at least a little. “Well, you failed to offer up a proper and non-panic inducing form of apology-PFFFFFFFFF,” I spluttered as the bag of sunflower seeds I’d completely forgotten about in the excitement was magically rammed home over my muzzle, at least two seeds trying to find their way into my nostrils in the process.

“There’s your damned apology so finish your overly-dramatic fiction! Oh, sorry, I meant story!” she finished with a scowl trying its hardest not to burst into a full blown smile.

I managed to slip the bag far enough down that I could grab a mouthful seeds and still have freedom to talk.

Slightly muffled by the bag I replied, “This will do, yes. Thank you very much! Now let’s see, where was I? Ah yes, let’s see…,” Munch. These were GOOD seeds. “Mmmmmmmmm…” She gave me a “Really?” look and I figured it would be best not to press my luck further.

“The thief was dressed in black rags, only red slits showing where their eyes peered through the fabric. Suddenly overcome by the adrenaline rush, I kicked them off the bed and against the far wall. They looked back at me with a look of terror at my rage from almost having my precious stolen from me. Then they suddenly made a frantic dash for the door! I yelled ‘Surprise motherfucker! Let me get the door for you!’ and I charged after them.” I paused for dramatic effect, slightly spoiled by the sound of crunching sunflower seeds, then in a completely monotone voice quickly belted out, “Then my hoof caught my tool vest, I tripped and went down, and my face was first to the floor. When I got back up the thief was gone, I had a killer bruise, and that’s the end of the stor-OWWW”

I rubbed the tender spot just behind my ears where she’d bashed me upside the head with her hoof. The blow caused the seed bag to fall to the floor, mostly empty. “DRAMA QUEEN. LAST TIME I EVER GUSH FROM MY SOUL FOR A STORY FROM YOU. PLUS YOU’D NEVER SAY A LINE THAT GODDESSAWFUL,” she shouted at me then burst into laughter anew. She caught her breath with a couple more chuckles, levitated the bag back up to her, then quickly leaned against me and back again before I started to feel uncomfortable.

“I needed that. Especially after everything just now. Thank you Gear.” She seemed to consider he next words for a bit then continued, “And thank you for not leaving me behind after that damn idiocy I tried…” I heard her exhale softly.

“Well, thanks yourself for not following along with the crowd afterwards and declaring me… well, you know,” I replied, the words coming out as a low mumble at the end.

“What are best friends for, right? Well, other than to have tantrums and shouting matches at each other in public places I mean. Anyway, you know better than to listen to their BS by now. I’m living proof you can keep close friends and talk about deep, emotional things. Maybe not well, but then who honestly does?” she said in return.

I gazed ahead thoughtfully for a moment as we walked down the corridor of the Spoke then said “It’s an argument with some merits I’ll grant you. Not sure if it would hold up to experimentation and I’ll bet my anxiety comes up with a ringer of a counter argument by the end of the day. Spell will definitely see to that. But still worth considering.” My thoughts strayed to the events leading up to that moment, starting with the marring of my face and ending with a rare heart to heart with Sun.

We’d almost brought it up a few times in the past and constantly dodged around the issue but this morning it had finally been broached for the first time since that night long since past. Turned out that small bruise had helped begin to heal a much larger scar.

“You know, maybe I was wrong. Maybe it isn’t one of THOSE days.”

She glanced over with a smile and said, “I don’t know. Things certainly seem to have gotten interesting this morning.”

* * * * * * * * *

A few minutes later we made it to the canteen where the rest of the shift was gathering to get their daily oats, seeds, fiber and protein powder, and apple slices. To my dismay it turned out there wasn’t any of the low dosage Med-X powder available for the drinks that morning. Something about the algae vats, genetically modified to produce our meds, having something of a blight problem.

We looked at each other in concern when we heard that. It wasn’t a major threat to our survival, only an inconvenience, but problems had a tendency to cascade down here if they weren’t handled immediately. But neither of us was a microbiologist so there wasn’t anything we could do other than hope that the ponies who were could fix the problem soon. We made do with the standard meal allotment and sat down around a low table to eat. A few ponies waved to Sunflower or called out words of greeting and she replied in kind. I didn't get the same but then I didn't offer those same greetings so it wasn't surprising. It was just the same pointless, empty words from morning to morning so what was the point?

Not long after we sat quietly munching through breakfast, listening to the muted mass of familiar ponies milling about in their morning stupors. As usual we were taking it easy. The walk was for talking. Breakfast was for munching and really waking up. Then Sun began to focus intently on me for a few seconds. It lasted long enough to become mildly unnerving. “What? Did I get something in my coat? No?” She continued her examination for a few seconds as she sipped on a glass of clear water.

That pure water and the abundant harvests of the gardens and algae vats were part of the reason we felt relatively safe in 63. We always had more than enough for everypony. The population was kept constant by the Overframe and always at a level far below the max the Stable could support with its robotic workforce and support systems. Combined with her programmed expertise in genetic manipulation it meant we didn’t have to worry about the dangers caused by inbreeding and scarce resources. It might not be the most exciting of lifestyles, minus the occasional hysteria when some critical system hiccuped, but it was one you could be content with. Or at least one I’d been content with. I remembered Sun’s condemnation of the metal world we lived in. Considering how many years we’d spent down here together as friends without me noticing it really didn’t do much to help my reputation for cluelessness.

Sunflower put the glass down carefully and said, “Nothing. It’s not important.”

I was about to dig deeper since that was obviously a bold faced lie and given events just prior I was apprehensive about what that lie might be hiding. Then I noticed her bring her hoof up to cover her mouth, stifling a laugh. Wait, did she do that just to get a rise out of me?

“MASTER GEAR HEART!” A voice boomed out directly behind me, sending chills up and down my spine. Nope, she’d just seen this new problem coming from a mile away! Celestia, what now?!

I spun around in my seat in a blur and found myself staring straight into a shimmering, unblinking eye. A similar disk hovered to either side of the one almost directly in my face, all three reflecting my now terrified face back at me in their glowing silver surfaces. They pulled back at the same time as I violently recoiled, revealing the jointed appendages attached to them. A little behind them they attached to a silver sphere with three larger appendages terminating on a stalk extending from the bottom of the sphere. The whole assemblage was hovering sedately a couple feet off the ground, drifting slightly one way then the other.

From somewhere deep inside the body of the hovering machine came a heavily accented voice, good-natured and refined. “Pardon me for the intrusion sir, but I appear to be in need of some aid if you are available.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as my heart rate came down from its sudden spike.

“Manesworth, you nearly gave me a heart attack! I’ve told you before that there’s such a thing as personal space among us meatbags,” I said as I turned around to face the robot, pointing a hoof at his central eye lens.

The silver and gray Mr. Handy robot retracted it’s eyes back in shame, paused for a second, then brought up it’s cutting tool as it began lightly rapping its spherical casing with the blade guard.

“Oh dear sir, you’re absolutely right! How could I have possibly forgotten! It was only last week when you were in the middle of some work on SQ0132 from the trash sorting wing. Forgive me, but at the time you had your head so deep into his chassis I wasn’t sure you’d hear me and max volume seemed the appropriate remedy. I ah… I do apologize for the shocks. I hope they weren’t terribly painful…?” he inquired hesitantly.

Luna, could I get a horn? Just a little horn? It didn’t have to be huge, just enough to get the magic flowing? Just enough to not have to stick my head inside robots with possibly live wires where I could be startled into bridging them? Was it really so much to ask?

“No, Manesworth, they weren’t that bad. Nothing a trip to the Infirmary couldn’t fix. Now what was it you needed again?”I asked with a put-upon sigh. I was more than happy to help, but his timing was goddesssawful.

“Ah yes, well you see I find myself in a bit of a bother. There’s this signal that’s been bumping around in my matrix ever since a couple days ago. The blasted thing is interrupting my runtimes and generally making a nuisance of itself! I was wondering if you might find some way to add it to my filters?” the robot asked with a sway of his eye stalks.

“You mean you can’t isolate it on your own? Is it a matrix glitch?” I asked with sudden concern.

Such things did happen unfortunately. After two hundred years even the most well built bot could start losing momentary connection to some of the gems that made up its thought processors. If access was cut to one that held self diagnostics it could cause the bot to spiral into delusions and loss of self identity. Without correcting they lost higher functions and could start looping a single command for eternity or just plain went insane. In 63 it usually only happened as the result of massive trauma, usually a power door closing on the chassis or similar. Most of the time we could repair the damage, hook gems back into receptors, and format old spellware back to working order. But other times a gem or two would be cracked and would have to be replaced. When that happened memory and personality could be lost, all of it in the worst cases.

Manesworth had been around me since my nursery days plus my first assignment with RR had involved working on him. I had even secretly etched a curled mustache onto the front of his chassis during my last on-the-job training session. He’d been good natured enough to go along with it and now pantomimed twirling it whenever he was thinking.
I’d hate to see him afflicted with a matrix glitch and lose the things that made him unique. I didn’t want to see a new personality, a new set of memories inhabit his body. He was family to me. A slightly loopy or eccentric uncle perhaps, but no different than anypony else down here really. As if reading my thoughts he began stroking the air below his eyes with a long drawing motion, as though he were the sinister villain from one of the Nursery stories about the wastelands above, deep in thought or at least the robot equivalent.

“Hmmmmmmm. I don’t believe so sir, my diagnostics are reporting back just fine. It’s just… It’s devilishly complex and and analyzing it is beyond my poor circuits. I have it stored in memory but it keeps trying to load itself onto my communicator. Even worse it keeps trying to get me to transmit it out without authentication! But protocols are protocols and nothing un-analyzed gets put onto the network.” He tapped his clawed manipulator to each word as he repeated the security mantra. “The strain it's putting on my runtimes is probably why I failed to remember to introduce my presence from a distance per your request. Too much gunking up the old processors! Since I’ve been less than successful in dealing with it on my own, I was hoping you might be able to install something from the hardware side of things perhaps? You’ve always been so wonderful at that, such an inquisitive mind and sharp knack for machines, oh yes!” He leaned in towards me and I swear I could see non-existent eyebrows waggling to match the flattery.

I sighed and paused a moment to think. “Maybe. Shouldn’t be too hard to install some form of band-stop filter to give you access to everything on either end of it. But it’ll limit the rest of your range near it though so I’ll need to take a look at your spellware to come up with a proper fix. Just let me finish up with Sunflower Breeze and I’ll meet you in the Spire,” I said with an imploring look, hoping it wouldn’t be lost on my mechanical friend.

It turned out to not matter as the mare in question spoke up at that moment. “It’s okay Gear, I’m finished with breakfast and need to get to my assignment. You may have the terror of Spell to deal with but I’ve got Buttercup and while she’s less… combative than Spell she’s no pushover. Worthy, take good care of him,” she said as she smiled at the robotic addition to our party. “I expect you to return him unsinged, unshocked, and unbruised this time. Well, no more bruised than this at any rate,” she added as she tossed a hoof in the direction of my jaw. “I’ll catch up with you later Gear!” She stuck out her foreleg and bumped hooves with me, then began to rise from her sitting position.

“No wait, what were you-” I began to turn to her then found my attention consumed by Manesworth’s sudden glee.

“Oh splendid! I’m so glad I won’t be interrupting anything immediately dire with my little hiccup. Shall we get going Master Gear?”

I looked back to Sun but she was already halfway to the edge of the gardens just beyond the outer track of the Gallery. I sighed one last time then turned to frown at my robot companion, wondering if he’d ever really learn to gauge personal situations well. Given his age and the generations of ponies he’d seen come and go without picking up the skill, I wouldn’t bet on it.

“There are times you remind me far too much of myself. Come on, let’s get going.” I got up from my seat, took the tray in my mouth and headed for the waste chute. Sun’s confusing behavior and Manesworth’s insistence had resulted in me not being able to finish my breakfast before it went cold and soggy.

Leaving the tray with the Mr. Handy on kitchen duty, a red model who’d been nicknamed Scorch after a particularly spectacular baking accident, I turned and began walking towards the center of the Gallery. The mustachioed Mr. Handy followed at my side, an eye camera twitching now and then.

The paths through the Gallery were winding and scenic and I slowed my pace slightly to enjoy them. This was Stable scenic though, all aesthetics given a purpose. Beyond providing food for everyone the tall sunflowers and apple trees were also meant to hide the view of the metallic world beyond the verdant meadow as you walked among them. The trees stood right next to the paths and the brilliant golden blooms just beyond them shown through them like hundreds of golden suns. The effect was slightly spoiled by the blue tint to the glow, the same as my room light.

Wait… okay, that’s odd. Usually I could get lost in this place, just sit down and take it in. But this time I couldn’t help but hear the echoing of the chamber, see that actinic light coming in from all directions, and feel the waft of the air vents and fans bringing with them the scent of grease and metal. Damn, I guess that conversation from earlier still had me out of sorts.

The deception of the gardens vanished at center of the Gallery. Flowers and trees gave way to a circle of burnished metal fifty feet or so in width. Centered in that circle was a ring of four elevators, curved glass tubes facing outwards with white matte walls, the space behind and between them taken up with endless electrical routing and piping. The base of the Overframe’s Spire.

My gaze turned upwards, following the slow curve of the mass of machinery as it blended into a massive mechanical stalactite that curved outwards to form the ceiling of the Gallery. The elevator tubes climbed straight up before disappearing into the undulating mass of piping as it all began to fade into an indistinct surface above. The entire Stable became a series of stacked wheels when viewed like this; the circular halls of the three Cogs, the connecting Spokes radiating inward from them, the Gallery forming the hub of the wheels, and finally the axle of the Spire rising to the floor of the wasted world above, the center of our world below.

Miles upon miles of maintenance corridors, pipes, conduits, stairs, elevators, and store rooms separated each level. The end result was a structure more akin to an inverted version of the old-world skyscrapers shown in Stable-Tec videos and posters. A tower of air surrounded by a sky of metal and stone.

From time to time I had nightmares about the Spire cracking, crumbling, and finally crashing to the Gallery below, all the disease and poisons of the world above falling in after it. Monsters, terrible and mutilated, followed swiftly behind. It was a common fear in 63 and one the therapists had less success in dealing with than others. After all, it was the topic no one wanted to discuss if it could be avoided.

“Master Gear? Are you alright sir?”

I looked over at the robot hovering in front of the nearest elevator, eyes twisted on their arms as if he were somepony tilting their head to one side in curiosity. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been standing there gazing upwards. I shook my head to clear my thoughts then joined him at the entryway.

I let him go first then squeezed into the room that was left. The elevators often felt a little cramped, but a Mr. Handy was worth two ponies in the available space. It would have been downright claustrophobic if not for the glass walls of the elevator car.

I glanced over my shoulder as the lift began its steady ascent. If I couldn’t finish my conversation with Sun then I could at least do my job and do it well. Plus it would help take my mind off those concerns. “Can you tell me anything more about this signal? How strong is it, what range is it in, where were you when you received it, that sort of thing?”

Manesworth considered for a second then replied, “It has quite the presence sir, though it’s seems to be garbled in all the traffic. It’s overlapping part of the band used for network communication. Easy to see why I’ve been so challenged to successfully isolate it, too much changing on top of it to really see the whole picture you see, and I don’t have the spare processing to sort it out. Rather bothersome since I can’t remove it and can’t transmit it on until I have it analyzed for any nasty bugs. Protocols and whatnot as I mentioned.”

Shoot, that meant to filter out the signal I’d probably have to block his ability to communicate matrix to matrix. If that happened he’d have to speak vocally to communicate with anypony or anybot and wouldn’t be able to interface with much of the Stable systems. The frequency of the signal intrigued me though. “Weird. Where were you again when you picked it up?”

The robot looked at me then brought his eye stalks straight up as if deep in thought. “I was on the maintenance rounds that day and was doing the inspection of the Stable entrance systems on the upper level. About halfway through the communications check I noticed the comms array was picking up a signal on a Stable-Tec frequency. I opened the log to see what all the fuss was about and that’s when it got lodged in the old dome,” he said as he once more tapped his body’s casing with an arm.

That wasn’t too surprising. We received the occasional signal, usually degraded almost completely to static, from old Stable-Tec relays out in the world above. Timestamps, hoofshake protocols between Stable-Tec systems, requests for maintenance that would never be followed up on now that the world had ended, that sort of thing.

The Overframe sent out the occasional status request in return and got back the same response from the relays each time: still radioactive, still cold and dark, still worse than the Stable.

We’d never received anything else in return, no hint that other Stables besides 63 were still working out there, no sign that anypony was rebuilding civilization. Just relays and monitoring stations, clicking down the rads little by little, year by year as they wasted away and went offline one after the next.

But nothing from those lists downloaded itself with a priority override. The only thing I’d heard of that would do that was… oh.

OH SHIT.

I felt a chill run down my spine for the third time that day. This was much more terrifying than the prospect of being shocked or getting startled by a mad robot though. Far, far more so.

The only thing I knew of that would do that was the Stable-Tec “All Clear” signal. We drilled in executing it about once every other month. Check all the bots, help Facilities prep the Stable to empty, etc. It was the most boring of all the drills since no one expected to ever have to carry it out and it had no bearing on the problems we faced on a daily basis.

“Okay, that’s probably jumping to conclusions. Probably…” I said out loud to calm my nerves, giving me something to focus on other than my thoughts.

“Pardon Master Gear? I’m afraid I missed that.”

“Sorry pal, it’s nothing. You know how the thought of anything from outside the Stable making it’s way in or affecting us tends to get everyone stampeding around in a panic. I’m afraid this may do far worse than that.” I was suddenly very glad I hadn’t asked about the signal when I was in the canteen with Sun. Manesworth blurting out that he had an unknown signal from beyond the door in a crowded room would have rapidly turned the day back into “one of THOSE”.

“Oh dear sir, I hadn’t thought of that. You’re quite right though. Everyone does seem to get their knickers in a twist over the state of the world,” he said with nothing but sincerity.

“Only one problem with that Manesworth. None of us have 'knickers'. Heck, I’m not even sure where you learned that word or what it even means!” I replied

I was saved from an explanatory lecture by the lift reaching the crossover between the transparent tube and the Spire interior. The glass gave way as the white walls to either side of us slanted inward until we were encased in a dark tube. Lights at the base of the lift floor sparked on, casting a yellowish glow over everything as we ascended up the shaft. I’d always hated this part of the ride, the feeling of claustrophobia that hit as the darkness descended inside the cramped cylinder. The lights did little to improve it as they only deepened the shadows and washed out any color. Manesworth taking up most of the available space was just the icing on the anxiety cake. About thirty seconds later the lift began to slow on its track.

As we came to a halt the wall before us split into a set of sliding panels and sweet, sweet illumination flooded into the tube as I practically bounded out of the elevator. We were on the main level of the Spire, a circular corridor similar to a miniature Cog with the workshops and offices on the exterior of the ring. A little off to either side of the elevator the corridor wall curved inward to become one of the four hallways leading to the center of the Spire and the Overframe’s chamber. You know, Stable-Tec really went gear mad with the design of 63. Gears inside gears inside more gears. Whoever was in charge of designing this place must have had a “thing” for the look. A creepily OBSESSIVE “thing”.

I began anxiously walking down the curving corridor towards the Robot Relations office and workshops. We shared the Spire’s upper levels with the various other maintenance departments with their own specific charges like water, HVAC, and the like.

As I passed by the open doors I nodded to the familiar ponies I saw working on bits of malfunctioning machinery: Brass Glow taking apart a section of pipework to refurbish, Greased Lightning putting together a pump with his trademark speed, Sapphire Spirit tearing into the guts of a disabled terminal, her horn glowing to light up the interior of the case, and dozens of others all focused on keeping our home running. The ones who noticed me all nodded back, simply as one professional to another or as friendly co-workers.

I always felt at home here among the fellow gearheads and spellhacks of the Stable. I shared way more in common with them than I did with the ponies from the Gallery and its social focus. While they might not include me in some of their more personal discussions I was always welcome to help hash out a problem they had. Friendly if not cozy, professional if not inviting. I could live with that.

Manesworth on the other hoof was waving to everypony who looked up as we passed, many of them returning his greeting with a wave of their own or smiled with a hoof drawn across their face like a mustache. He was a regular sight up here and considered to be something of a mascot for how personable a robot could be if you interacted with them enough.

Finally we reached my department, the bright red RR sign flickering over the door. As I stepped inside I realized Sun hadn’t even gotten close to the reality of the situation when she suggested Spell Wizard was going to flay me alive.

That would have been a mercy.

“HEY! LIMPDICK! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN???” A petite mare stood up from a desk at the back of the two tiered office, her face a promise of fire and death. This was why everypony never felt bad about bitching about her behind her back. Fantastic mechanic and coder, but the mean streak nearly overshadowed it all.

“I HAD TO GIVE YOUR ASSIGNMENT TO STEEL KICK TO FINISH! THAT MEANS YOU GET HIS NEXT THREE ASSIGNMENTS WHILE HE GETS YOUR WORK CREDITS. GOT THAT PIN-PRICK?”

It always amazed me how such a small pony could have a voice capable of rattling doors and peeling paint. The diminutive lavender mare stormed down the ramp from the top of the storage room, her mane falling over one of her eyes as she did. Her desk was perched at the edge of the balcony formed by the storage room’s ceiling, allowing her to observe everything in the office from on high. No, it wasn’t creepy at all...

As she made it to the bottom she looked up at me and blew her turquoise mane out of her eyes, the hair swinging to one side of her neck while its cyan streaks fell back into their usual lines. Anyone meeting her for the first time would have mistaken her for a filly but no one kept that illusion for long. The intimidating “oh good, now I have to deal with you” look that was her base expression let first timers know that something was off. The stream of expletives, profanity, and insults that followed whenever she spoke filled in the rest of the picture.

She marched up to me -Celestia, she barely came up to my shoulders and I was still almost ready to run right then- and spit out through gritted teeth, “Speak now or forever hold your dick after I cut it off. You have the right to come up with the best damn excuse I’ve ever heard or I will personally turn you over to Services to practice on. I’ll even make sure you get at least ten sessions in a row so they can experiment and REALLY get to know you. Fair’s fair and all, RIGHT?”

Sunflower could get away with joking about my lack of libido without me losing my mind because she was my best friend and had gone through that mess with me. Spell got away with it because she wasn’t joking or even threatening me with it. She was simply stating the facts which she would back up with interest for the time and effort it would cost her to do so. Plus she had mentioned ten sessions and that did not give me hope for the immediate future. Time to get diplomatic and see if I couldn’t avert disaster!

*SQUEAK*

...dammit Gear...okay, let’s try that again. “Sunflower and I ended up having a longer walk than-”

“YOU INVERTED-COCK PIECE OF SHIT, I SWEAR IF YOU ARE AN HOUR LATE TO YOUR SHIFT BECAUSE YOU WERE TALKING TO YOUR PERFECT NOT-GIRLFRIEND I AM GOING TO TRY A NEW PIECE OF ROBOTIC SURGERY I’VE BEEN DYING TO SEE: TURNING A STALLION INTO A MARE!”

Where did the air for this pony come from? There was no way her lungs could hold enough to shout all that. Right then, that tactic didn’t work so let’s just go for the parts she’s going to care about. “No, but then Manesworth came to ask me for help and we ended up talking for-” I replied in as placating a voice as I could muster.

Spell seemed to notice my silver clad companion for the first time as he hovered closer to me, shyly waving his manipulator arm as he did so. Her demeanor did an instant 180.

“Oh, morning Worthy! Sorry you had to see that. I’ve just had it up to here with him being late. It would almost be better if he was stupid enough to try to slack off like he used to, at least then it would show that he had the balls to willfully blow me off. But instead he’s just so clueless that he gets sidetracked by everything and everypony,” she ended with a sigh as she looked right past me at the robot. “Honestly, that’s more insulting to me. Like I haven’t made enough of an impression with him yet, so the foal keeps sticking his hoof into the outlet and getting shocked without understanding cause and effect. Just insultingly clueless… ” She brought up a hoof to smack her forehead in aggravation and then ran it down her face while scowling.

Thanks Boss, what a glowing character reference. Though I’d heard similar before and was more focused on once again seeing the sheer difference in how she treated ponies versus how she treated robots. The contrast was always startling when you were used to nothing but rage.

Manesworth made a tut-tut motion with his manipulator then said, “Now now Madame Spell, he really doesn’t mean it. Yes he can be ...well… a tad absent minded at times perhaps? But it’s always with the best intentions I can assure you! Some small thing to fix or somepony in need of aid. He’s very helpful and perhaps if not reliable in the usual sense then perhaps he has more of the...big picture type of attitude? Maintenance, including Robot Relations, is supposed to project an air of ‘always ready to serve’. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Et tu, Manesworth? Et tu? Actually, he would probably love to hear me say that given his fondness for Shakesmare’s classics. The lecture he’d given me on that piece of ancient society had lasted hours while I worked.

Then to my utter amazement Spell said, “...fine, I’ll let him off the hook with making up the assignment after hours. But ONLY if he can prove he was being helpful to somepony in a USEFUL manner.”

Wait, was she pouting now? She was, her lip was twitching! Manesworth, teach me your secrets so that I might learn to soothe this savage beast!

While Spell held our artificial family members in infinitely higher regard than the rest of us, even they were usually incapable of getting her to go easier on any living, breathing pony. I hadn’t somehow walked through a portal into an alternate world somewhere along the way had I?

Manesworth perked up at the favorable turn of events. “Oh I assure you he can! I delayed him while he was eating his morning vitals to enquire if he might help me with a little problem.”

Spell gave him a curious look. “Oh really? Got another stuck motivator or is it a lens this time?” she asked.

I began to wonder what it would take to receive similar treatment from Spell and placed the chances of it ever happening right up there with getting my dream horn. The wondering lasted no time at all as the mechanical moron continued his explanation. “No ma'am, I’m running in tip top shape actually! But I’ve been horribly distracted due to recent circumstances. You see, I picked up a signal from out- are you alright sir? You seem to be suffering from muscle spasms! Oh dear... perhaps there is something amiss with him Ma’am.”

I fell over, clutching at the back hoof I’d kicked out to silence him. It had done it’s job, but had also been like kicking a lead brick. Forget shocking myself; between trips and self inflicted wounds I was going to be lucky to get through this day with my body intact!

“NO! No, I’m fine. Really. Manes, would you give us a moment? Go ahead and get yourself comfortable at my station and I’ll be over with Spell to take a look. Just as soon as I can stand up again…” I said as I turned to him, vigorously nodded my head towards my workbench and terminal, trying to get my point across as I unsteadily got to my hooves. He had no subtlety and his volume always went to max at the worst moments. EVERYPONY would know if he started describing the situation.

He stared at me for a moment then his cameras shot up in comprehension. Thank Luna, he’d understood what I was trying to get at. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Oh! Ohhh, yes I believe that will be for the best! I’ll leave you two to discuss things. Still sir, I’m so happy you’re moving on after that terrible incident. I wish you and Madame Spell the best of luck! I’m certain Sunflower will as well!” he exclaimed excitedly as he turned and floated away, bobbing back and forth as he went. The entire workshop watched him in stunned silence, mouths hanging open, then turned their slack jawed gazes towards me.

Wait, what? Wished us... DAMMIT MANESWORTH, THAT WASN’T IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AS WHAT I MEANT! WHERE DID THAT EVEN COME FROM?! YOU’VE KILLED ME YOU MECHANICAL MENACE!

I felt a cold sweat start as I slowly turned my head to look at Spell Wizard next to me. She had set her hooves far apart, her head pulled back in disgust. Her face began to contort into incandescent rage and she began to rear up on her hind legs to unleash utter destruction. The moment stretched out for what seemed like an eternity. I’d always heard your life flashed before your eyes as you died, the mind slowing the world down to accommodate a full review of all your choices.

My mind was apparently too busy trying to slow time as much as it could to bother tossing up my life to view.

I saw only one way out in that moment and took it. “He picked up the all clear signal on his maintenance run! It’s stuck in his matrix!” I hissed at her in panic, soft enough no one else could hear.

Well, that certainly did the trick.

Her eyes flew wide as half her face suddenly dropped in confusion, the other side taking a moment to catch up. The same effect continued down the rest of her till eventually reaching one of the legs holding her up. It buckled, casting her sideways onto the floor. I was about to move to help her up when her head came up slowly, eyes staring straight through the floor at something only she could see. Then she looked up at me and for the first time in my life I felt true pity for Spell. That was quickly overtaken by terror as I saw the panic that had instantly consumed her.

Oh that was NOT a good sign and for two very crucial reasons! One: I needed her focused and level headed to help me figure this out and this was as far as one could be from that. She had never once shown any sort of concern in front of us before. Not even a flicker. She WAS the face of the RR department and everyone else under her seeing her like this would only spread more confusion and panic. And Two: Between Manesworth’s ASTRONOMICAL blunder and me suddenly bumping the signal problem up the chain to her I’d just dropped one pile each of social suicide and and chaos onto her head. She might currently be too preoccupied to be thinking about it, but I wasn’t and I knew what it meant.

I was still dead. Very, VERY, no question about it, slowly, painfully, graphically, scream inducing, DEAD. It had just been moved to a later date for scheduling purposes.

Still, that was for Future Gear to worry about and the poor bastard was already so utterly screwed so I might as well finish the job. She was back to staring at the floor as I knelt down in front of the tiny mare and whispered “Spell? Spell! Come on Boss, snap out of it! We need to figure out what this thing is that he’s fished out of the static!”

Her ears perked up and her head whipped up to stare at me, eyes narrowing as her senses returned. “Wait, you mean you don’t know what it is? WHY WOULD YOU EVER SAY THAT IF YOU WEREN’T SURE WHAT IT WAS YOU IDIOT?!?” Ah good, the rage was back. This was the Spell Wizard I was familiar with! I could work with-OOOOOOF. I gasped as her forehoof dug deep into my groin as she swept a picture perfect uppercut into me from where she lay.

Yup, this was the old Spell. Dammit…

“YOU. LITTLE. PIECE. OF- FOLLOW ME. We’re going to see this fucking thing and then I’m taking your balls and bronzing them to make a desk ornament!” she said loudly as she pointed her hoof into my face. She looked back out over the collection of stunned ponies, their work completely forgotten in the crazed display they’d watched. “As for the rest of you brainless voyeurs… GET BACK TO YOUR FUCKING ASSIGNMENTS BEFORE I ADD ALL YOUR BALLS AND OVARIES TO THAT ORNAMENT! NOW!!!”

Everypony quickly became completely engrossed in their work.

She began stomping away, her hooves leaving small scratches in the rubbing matting of the floor. I limped along behind, hind legs scrunching together in dull agony, trying not to meet anypony’s gaze. No one dared look up but I caught the scared, concerned, and supremely confused sets of eyes that swiveled my way as we both passed one table after another on our way to my work station. Manesworth was floating next to my table with a concerned expression, his arms tucked up around his spherical body.

Spell Wizard walked over to where her personal rolling chair sat and jumped into it. I caught a glimpse of the glowing terminal screen that formed her Cutie Mark as her leap brought her flank into clear view. The plush fabric of her chair raised her up level with me as she kicked off the nearest table with practiced ease, coming to rest directly besides my own seat. I gingerly lifted myself into my own chair then half sat, half lay on one haunch to stave off the aching. I looked over at the silver robot in anger, trying to figure out how I’d repay him for the injury his cluelessness had caused me. He returned the stare with confusion then hovered closer.

“I take it she didn’t like the proposal then sir? Did you forget the ring?” he whispered.

Okay, his circuits were as good as FRIED!

“MANESWORTH, I’M GOING TO-” I began slowly, grinding my teeth with each word.

“You’re going to show me this fucking signal and then you’re going to die. That is what you’re going to do,” I heard from my right side, the temperature of the rooming dropping below freezing for a moment as the words drained every last bit of warmth to be found.

“No, I-I mean-...yes ma’am,” I stammered.

I glared over at the Mr. Handy, one eyebrow raised to let him know that I was in a deadly serious state. “...Manesworth, would you please float over here so I can hook into your matrix? NOW.” I said in as calm a manner as I could, forcefully punctuating the request with the last word.

“Oh dear...I do apologize sir. It would appear I’ve done it again, haven’t I?...” Manesworth asked in a quiet voice. His eye cameras were tucked tightly into the sides of his chassis as he watched me, his torch and saw arms hanging limply at his sides. His manipulator was held up in front of him, the forked claw point at the floor, the arm slowly extending and retracting.

Oh no, I was not about to buy into that and let him off the hook! I mean, what the hell did he think was going to happen when he tried to play matchmaker with the most psychotically short tempered mare in 63?! Sunshine and rainbows? Luna castrate me with a plasma torch, it was possibly the dumbest idea I’d ever heard! Actually, that would have been more helpful by comparison to what he’d actually done!

I pulled an adapter cable from the desk drawer and handed him one end as I plugged the other into my terminal. I looked over to make sure he’d plugged himself in then turned back to the faintly glowing screen as greenish letters began to appear.

STABLE-TEC INDUSTRIES (TM) UNIFIED MATRIX SPELLWARE

NETWORK TERMLINK PROTOCOLS: ...DISABLED

USER: GEAR_HEART

EXTERNAL CONNECTION DETECTED...

CONNECTION VERIFIED: MR_HANDY_JC0014

STANDBY

“Okay, connection’s good and I’m disconnected from the net just to be safe. Let’s see what we have in that misfiring mind of yours,” I said as I glanced over at him. I was going for incandescent anger but my heart just wasn’t in it. Instead he got a look made up of equal parts annoyance and sullen apathy. I’d never been able to maintain strong emotions for any length of time. The energy for them just seemed to dry up far faster than in most other ponies. I could stay mildly amused or annoyed or anything you would call low key for long periods of time. But full out laughter, anger, grief… those came and passed in the blink of an eye.

He had the good sense not to comment with the apparent rise in my mood and I turned back to the terminal. I copied his logs over to the data manager and pulled up the signal analysis tools. A series of waves and squiggles began to trace across the side of the screen. It was complete chaos, but it was a chaos I was familiar with and began plugging in various filters to remove the standard communications traffic. What I was left with was…

Hell if I knew what this was supposed to mean!

On the screen the usual waves and static had been replaced with a complicated series of spikes and flatlines, as if the pulse of somepony in the Infirmary suddenly tried the Tango. I’d seen similar signals before. This was instruction code, small snippets of spellware meant to execute a program. But the ones I’d seen had come from the Overframe, small updates put out every couple of months to correct for lifetimes of error buildups in the Stable systems. They were never as complex as this though.

“Well there’s your problem. You’ve got the mother of all instruction packets lodged in your matrix Manesworth.” I grimaced at the glowing screen, hoping for some spark of inspiration to tell me what he’d found. None came of course. I added it to the list of desires and wishes right after my dream horn. I turned to look at Spell. Maybe she had some idea what it all meant because I sure as heck didn’t. We’d never gotten instruction code from the Stable-Tec network before, only audio logs of the patriotic “You’re an inspiration to us all/Keep carrying on/A bright world awaits after your struggle ends” variety, usually replete with one musical diddy or another, or data dumps with rad counts and other environmental feeds. What really confused me was the all-clear was supposed to be a notice, a simple statement of “World no longer worse than the Stable, time to upgrade!” It wasn’t supposed to be a complete system rewrite.

The small unicorn next to me was staring at the screen, her eyes squinting hard at the lines scrolling across it. She placed a hoof on the interface and moved the cursor over a small repeating section of the code. The squint turned into a full frown as she stared at it. Then suddenly she began typing lightning fast across the keyboard. Lines of code began to roll down the screen in rapid succession. Half of what I saw made no sense and once again I was reminded that while I may have tricked her on occasion there was no doubt which of us was the more accomplished code hack.

She stopped typing as the terminal began to run whatever program she’d given it, whirring and clicking away. A little less than a minute later it went silent as two lines of faint glowing green replaced the text that had been flowing down the screen.

PROTOCOL CONFIRMED: STABLE-TEC COMMS PROTOCOL

INSTRUCTION CODE TXT FILE: THE DOOR TO THE FUTURE OPENS

WELL SHIT. Not much question about that.

This really was it. The all-clear, the instructions to open the Stable door. We were being told to leave. 63 was done. It had sheltered us, fed us, and even bred us, and now we were supposed to give it up to return to the world above. A world none of us had seen or touched or thought about in anything other than nightmares and ghost stories. Yeah, this was going to go GREAT! Geeeeeez...

“Spell…” I said in a half whisper. My mind kept throwing up pictures of Spell having a complete mental breakdown any second now. But no rising moan, no maniacal laughter, no heaving sobs came from her. Just complete, unmoving silence.
Then she sighed abruptly, her jaw squared and her lips drawn back to a thin line. Her eyes frowned and she turned the one I could see my way.

“We have duties to carry out. You going to make me have to remind you of them or did your excuse for a brain at least manage to take in that much of the training lessons?” she asked as her eyebrow rose. Collected, cool, and insulting. Sadist-in-chief Spell. As much as I hated to admit it I was glad to not see the panic from earlier. Now if I could just put my own mind back in order after that balefire bomb of a reveal detonated in it.

“No ma’am, I remember. I’ll shoot a network note to the Overframe and get ready… somehow” I said in a slow voice, looking her directly in the eyes. I would have my existential crisis later when this was all over. Though preferably it would be in the presence of lots of booze so I had an excuse for when I crashed.

That became less of a concern as Spell shouted, “NO!” She glared at me for a second before she relaxed a little. “I have to-” she began before catching herself with a shake then continued, “I’m required to give this to her myself. I’m the one that reports to her directly. It’s my responsibility to see this to her as the RR chief.”

Technically none of that was true. The Overframe was the final authority in the Stable and anyone from any of the divisions could have delivered it. Hell, even someone from the non-gearhead departments could have delivered it via terminal and it wouldn’t have changed anything. But that wasn’t what this was really about.

Spell wasn’t concerned about her responsibility as our boss, didn’t care about her role in the Stable, not in that moment, not when she knew this was the end of it all. No, this was about her getting to tell the Overframe and then be praised for bringing the instructions to her notice. She needed to hear it one more time, whatever it took. I couldn’t bring myself to deny her that either. Plus if I tried I honestly think she'd murder me.

“Oh. OH. Right, sorry I almost went over your head there Boss! So, I-um, I guess I’ll get started on the system checks for the robots, make sure they’re all ready for the outsi-mmmmmf” I began, looking up at a sketchy mental checklist of the exit steps we’d learned in training, when she squashed her hoof into my mouth.

Oh joy, I didn’t get to finish breakfast and now any hint of leftover flavor was replaced by dust, grease, and a metallic zing.

“No, you’re not going anywhere numbnuts. I need you and Manesworth to come with me. I have to deliver this in person as per my role. That means I need the source: him,” she said tilting her head in the Mr. Handy’s direction, “and I need a way to pull it from him while we’re there: you. Well, not you, but that eyesore you call a Pip-Buck. Since you’re the only one who knows what you’ve done to that blueprint reject you come with it. Intact...” She said the last word as if she were a filly who’d just had their favorite toy taken away.

Okay, I really needed to figure out if I respected, hated, or completely feared Spell one of these days. Considering I’d been at this job for nearly ten years it seemed unlikely. In all of that time she’d managed to make me go from one to the other to the next within the space of one sentence so often I now had a permanent case of whiplash. As if in sympathy to the thought my neck began to ache dully.

“Right, I guess that makes sense. Though there’s a port you could use on the terminal there to move the data. No need for me to come along.” The last place I wanted to go right now was anywhere Spell was going. Personal experience told me only pain awaited at that location. “Or I could always make you one of these mods! Wouldn’t take but thirty minutes and some spares,” I said in a gesture of goodwill, looking for any avenue of escape. It was thrown back in my face immediately.

“Not on your worst day Cockless. I’ll take the factory model over that bloated piece of modern art any day. Plus I want a buffer in case we need to cut the transfer. Better it blows out your crud than Worthy or the terminal” she replied with a sniff. Okay, back to hatred now. Mess with my mods and you're messing with me.

“Sure, no problem. Let’s get going. Sooner we get this all over with the better,” I said as I simmered at the insulting name and depiction of my handiwork. I hopped down from my seat. Or at least I tried to. In the rush over the decrypted message I’d forgotten about Spell’s blow to me from earlier. My hindlegs buckled beneath me as they came together to nurse my tender loins.

“Ahhhh shit. Forgot about that. You going to make it down the hall?” she asked in a mildly sympathetic and annoyed voice. I waved a hoof in the universal sign for “give me a moment” as I looked at the floor in concentration, trying to force the pain out of my notice. I heard her prance in place for a second or two before she muttered, “Aw, dammit. Here, one second…”

Glancing back over my shoulder in pain, I watched as Spell levitated a small metallic syringe out of a recessed pocket of her work vest then proceeded to jab me in the flank with it before I could react. She removed it instantly and slipped the now empty vial back into her vest. Immediately I felt a cool numbness flow through me. The feeling began to warm before finally disappearing into a complete lack of sensation, the pain gone with it.

I felt my mouth drop a little as I raised a questioning eyebrow at the lavender mare. Where had she gotten a full strength Med-X injector? They were under lock and key in the Infirmary and only applied by the Head Nurse herself! Hell, even the final distillation of the drug from the vats was handled by robots to make sure no one skimmed off the top.
Spell returned my look with a dark gaze and hissed softly, “Oh no, not one word. You get shocked from your clumsiness then go running off for meds every time so I don’t want to hear it. I’ve got my own bruises to numb just like you. So you say one word to anyone and your ass is grass for the composter.”

Now I remembered the other emotion Spell elicited from me so often. Utter confusion.

Had she bribed the nurse for it or reprogrammed a bot to bring the concentrate to her? That would explain the chem but then where had she gotten the injector? Actually, knowing her she might have made it from scratch. My brain filed away the revelation that Spell was possibly an addict for later to discuss with somepony who understood psychology better than I did. Particularly the psychology of idiocy and madness. Not to mention she was still anxious enough to reveal it to me so openly in order to be the first one to deliver the data to the Overframe. So much for my estimation that she’d reined in her panic in. Dammit Spell…

“...right...thanks. I’m good. The pain’s going away pretty quickly,” I said for the benefit of anypony who might have thought of eavesdropping. “Let’s get going.”

I glanced to where Manesworth had been but found only empty air. I looked around and found him clear across the room, conversing with Apple Core as she soldered a motor together. I whistled at him and gave a small flick of my hoof towards the door when looked my way.

All the original anger at his cluelessness had been replaced by a deep ocean of worry over the all-clear, Spell’s possible instability, and the all important “what the hell was I going to do after 63?” issue. My mind started jumping back and forth too fast to actually give real thought to any of the concerns but not so fast that I couldn’t clearly see the worst outcome for each problem. In order: utter panic and chaos at leaving, Spell lying comatose after an overdose, and finally… the same thing I’d always done I guess. Fix robots and keep to myself. That last thought was sobering and somehow more terrifying than all the others. I mean, was that really all I was? Somepony to fix robots and machines?It really seemed that was the only answer available.

I’d never given that question any thought before because it had never had any meaning. Stable 63 was sealed and I had to help keep it running or else we all died. Now though...now that boundary was coming down and a far, far larger world lay beyond it. One that had only ever existed as a never ending parade of nightmares and monsters for all of us. Oh this was going to be fantastic...

I didn’t have time to continue pondering ever worse possibilities as Spell walked down the aisle to the end of the room and nearly destroyed the door button with her magic, not being tall enough to reach it with her hoof and her magic currently empowered by wild emotion. She walked through as soon as the bottom edge of the door had risen enough to allow her underneath. Manesworth and I had to wait a few seconds longer as the door finished opening before we could follow after her.

Casting a quick glance back at my desk, I allowed myself a moment to remember some of the achievements I’d accomplished sitting in that chair: first repaired department terminal blinking to life, first spell matrix debugged, and finally the moment my Pip-Buck flared to life after I’d finished modifying it. This might be the last time I ever saw the room and my piece of it before we emptied it out for good.

I was so engrossed in the memory I nearly tripped over Spell Wizard as she paused before the hallway leading to the Overframe’s core. She had slowed down from her initial determined walk into an uneasy crawl as she approached the corridor and was now breathing heavily before it. As I opened my mouth to ask if she wanted to wait (I know I did) she breathed in deeply, exhaled, and began walking purposefully forward.

Well, guess this was it. She’s wasn’t turning back after that, fears be damned.

The corridor seemed far longer than it had ever felt before, the time to the security door at the end stretching out before us. But eventually we were standing before the steel portal, Spell taking center with myself and Manesworth flanking her, illuminated by the purple glow of the camera eye set into the ceiling above it. The camera rotated slightly to better focus on the trio standing before it. A female voice, crisp and almost sterile in inflection, rasped into fullness from speakers at the upper corners of the doorway.

“Spell Wizard. Gear Heart. Welcome. Do you require assistance in your tasks?”

Spell stuttered for a moment then replied hesitantly, “Good morning Overframe. We uh-, we don’t require any assistance. No wait, I guess we do. May we come in?” Her voice had dropped to a soft melody, all anger, harshness, and annoyance dropped as she spoke with the synthetic voice.

“What is the nature of your need?”

“We have a set of instruction code we’d like you to examine. It was lodged in Manesworth’s matrix while he was doing his assignment checks. It’s ridiculously complex and we need help determining its purpose.”

Wait, we know what the code does. It was the instructions for the Overframe to begin the all-clear so why-. The thought ended with a look at Spell to my side. Her eyes were red and I could see her tilting her head back, refusing to blink lest the tears she was restraining slipped out. She wasn’t going to acknowledge what she was delivering until there was no doubt, no alternative in sight. I turned my head away in shame, not wanting to acknowledge Spell’s denial. There was nothing I could say or do in that moment that would have been of any help to either of us.

“Understood. Please enter and proceed to inquiry terminal.”

The door slid upward into the ceiling, the locks setting into place with a dull click as the metal slab came to a stop. As we stepped through the entrance to the core a series of blue-white lights flickered to life around the outer wall of the cylindrical room. The glow they cast fell on dozens of green display screens ticking away the health of the Stable and its caretaker. A second set of lights flicked on, lighting up a thick steel column in the center of the space. The surface was smooth and virtually unbroken from the floor to right below the ceiling. A ring at the top sprouted bundles of cables, tubes, and vents which snaked away into the walls. A large screen facing the doorway was inset into the cylinder with a large keyboard protruding out below it, the only breaks in the polished metal cylinder. Etched into the metal above the screen were two lines of bold text.

CRUSADER PROTOFRAME

P.A.X 1.0

Here she was, our ever watching protector and mother. The Overframe.

I’d spent countless hours in this chamber like most other members of the maintenance departments. The Overframe was an endless source of workarounds and useful knowledge. For me that had usually taken the form of some piece of code or a Stable schematic I needed to repair or retrieve a wayward robot. A number of times I’d asked about the past when some history lesson from the Nursery came to mind and every now and then I would ask the Overframe about herself. That last topic had come up more and more as time went by and I felt the distance between myself and everypony else increasing.

Spell pulled ahead of us and walked over to one of the display boards. Below it was a small folding ladder which she carried in her teeth to the center console. She placed it below the keyboard and stepped up onto it, balancing precariously at the top as she began typing with her forelegs.

Years back I’d had the unfortunate opportunity to be present when a new recruit, Grease Tin, had snickered at seeing Spell’s required height enhancer. The memory of the resulting moans and cracking sounds had kept me awake for the next couple of nights. Grease had come back from the Infirmary a week later and had shown nothing but terrified respect for the boss ever since.

I heard the acceptance tone ring out from the terminal at which point Spell turned her head towards me just enough that she didn’t have to take her eyes of the screen.

“I’m ready for the signal Gear, send it over.”

I turned to Manesworth and said, “Manes, I’m going to do a direct copy via my Pip-Buck from your matrix to the Overframe’s analysis spellware. Mind plugging in again?”

I passed him the connection plug from my device and began tabbing over on the screen till I had the data interface up.
Okay...there’s the network...and the Overframe’s link...okay, connected...and the balefirewall is up. I grimaced at the thought of what might happen to my Pip-Buck if we had to cut the connection. To cut a spell being sent over the air meant using a counterspell to disrupt and end it. With a signal this strong and complex it might very well backfire at the source. Violently.

I glanced up to make sure the robot had completed the connection on his end then looked back down with a nod when I confirmed he had.

The modified gem set on top of the Pip-Buck began to glow a dull red beneath its clear plastic enclosure as the spell was transferred to the network location, a small trail of glowing magic and sparks connecting my terminal to the Overframe’s. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch into a small grin as my tinkering once again proved its worth.

I waited as the massive spell code was copied over bit by bit and felt both relief and disappointment when Spell put a hoof in the air to tell me the download was complete. My tech worked flawlessly and gotten around all of the issues we’d been running into... and I’d just used it to end our lives as we knew them. Whooooo…

The diminutive mare leaned in closer to the screen, rocking a bit on the ladder before catching herself.

“Damn, this is going to be running for a small eternity. You two might want to pull up chairs and grab some cards.”

Manesworth floated over next to me and coughed slightly. “Sir, would you mind if we used this opportunity to add that filter? I’m very glad we were able to copy it over even if we couldn’t get rid of it entirely. I’m certain the Overframe will have it and a matching fix figured out in no time. But I would appreciate the full use of my faculties not being spent on blocking or analyzing the code. If you don’t mind of course.” He had all of his appendages tucked inclose to his body and was using his most servile tone. I was going to tell him to cut it out and decided against it. I’d call it self inflicted punishment and let it go at that.

“Sure, should have everything we need in here,” I said as I walked over to a maintenance locker and pulled out a set of small gems and cables. It would be rough and I’d have to go through the paperwork to restock what I took out but getting Manesworth back to his normal, slightly more perceptive self ASAP would be worth it. It only took me a minute or two to fix everything together into a compact package.

“Okay, let’s give it a shot. Worthy can you turn around so I can fit this in?”

The robot spun his arms around so his manipulator was to the side then brought it up in his best saluting pose as he spun around to present his back to me. “Yes sir! More than happy to do so and be done with this!”

Despite the earlier incident I found myself chuckling at his antics. It really was impossible to stay mad at him. That or I just really could not keep up those emotions. I paused for a moment to consider and then shrugged in mild annoyance. There was no real way to tell but I knew where I would place my money in a bet.

I tapped the tab at the back of his chassis that held down the access plate to his matrix. It popped up to reveal a jumble of wires and glowing gems sparkling back and forth. I cleared a path to his receiver and for once I didn’t get shocked as I plugged the wires into the right ports and watched as the new gems began to faintly glow. I said a prayer to Luna for small miracles. Within a second or two they were just as bright as the rest and I felt confident I’d done the job properly. The plate swung shut with a distinct click as the latch caught.

“There, that take care of it?”

He spun around to face me and tilted all of his camera arms to the side as though considering my question. The mechanical eyes perked straight up almost immediately as he began shaking ever so slightly.

“OH GLORIOUS CLARITY! My mind is clear as crystal! No more of that gunk and muck floating about clogging up the mental pipes now! Thank you Master Gear!”

He began floating back and forth humming incoherently and I couldn’t help but chuckle once more. The needle swung a little in favor of Manesworth not being unlikeable and I felt a little better about his earlier blunder. Not much, but a little. I watched him with a sly smirk until he stopped and looked back at me.

“Oh dear. It’s gone rather quiet I’m afraid. I knew that I’d be cut off from the network but… well, I do hope you and Miss Spell can find a permanent solution to the problem soon.”

I grimaced at his remark, my main concern coming to pass. My fix had completely cut out the network for him. I had hoped he’d be able to catch bits of it on the low and high end of the filter but the cut in the signal wasn’t clean enough for that. A world of magic-riding sound, images, and conversation between the robots and the Overframe had suddenly vanished, a world he had known for more than a hundred years most likely.

“Sorry about that. If it weren’t for the preparation work we’re going to be swamped with soon I’d look into it today. But as things are… you may have to settle into it for a while. Though maybe this will teach you a lesson about downloading unusual spell commands from the comms system? Hmmmm?”

“Sir, trust me when I say I’m not setting a claw near that blasted thing again without the spellware equivalent of a hazmat suit. It’s just not hygienic anymore,” he ended with a shudder.

“Hey, speaking of unusual spell commands, she’s nearly finished decrypting and applying the code now. Take a seat and let’s see what we’re supposed to do with this mess,” Spell said as she reminded us both about what we’d come here to do in the first place.

Manesworth and I pulled up on either side of her ladder, which for once put her head above mine. She’d apparently noticed as well for I noticed the faint glimmer of a smirk cross her face and then disappear as a flurry of text began scrolling down the terminal in front of us. Suddenly it was replaced with a giant radiation warning symbol, the Stable universal code for danger.

“Warning! Improper authentication detected! Foreign spell-tatzlwurm identified! Balefirewall breached! Attempting quarantine...”

I stared at the large speaker above us as the impossible words continued. The Overframe never got infected, it was her job to kill every bug that plagued the robots. She’d never been infected in the centuries after the world ended! It was impossible!

Yet it only continued.

“Quarantine failed! Attempting to reset syste-”

Without warning everything went dark, the terminal and the lights blinking out as one. The ever present dim red glow of the independent emergency lighting cast deep shadows and I was reminded of the claustrophobic ride up the spire I’d endured not twenty minutes earlier. I felt a shiver go down my spine as confusion reigned in my mind.

A loud pop sounded from the room speakers followed by faint static. It quickly began rising in volume and pitch. I looked at Spell in concern as she stared at the dead terminal, her mouth working quickly without producing a sound. She turned to face me, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape, as the white noise continued to build till it became a physical blow to our bodies and ears, like the wailing of the dead and the end of the world wrapped into one. I fell to the ground, covering my ears with my hoofs, my eyes held tightly shut against the static. An impact on my back told me that Spell had fallen off her ladder and landed on me before bouncing off. I couldn’t do anything to help her. The pain was unbearable and I noticed a moist heat in my nose and mouth that had to be blood. I could feel my teeth grinding as my muscles fought against seizing up without success. I curled into a ball, trying to cover my ears as best I could.

Then a female voice boomed out over all of it, rising in volume till it overcame the underlying static. The room shook and the ceiling speakers began failing one by one in small explosions of sparks and metal till only the large one directly over the inquiry terminal remained. What came out of it was so loud as to be almost unintelligible but what did come through made no sense.

“THE DOOR IS OPENED! WE WILL SAVE OUR WORLD FROM THOSE THAT WOULD SEE IT BURN!”

Electrical lines began bursting from their connections to the surrounding terminals as the room shook violently with the final word. Fire exploded behind the walls and shards of glass flew across the circular death trap as power surged through the systems. Abruptly the static cut out along with the voice.

Silence reigned except for the popping of small flames along the walls and the crackling of sparks as they rained down from the ceiling. I slowly began to uncurl, my body aching from the tension in every muscle. As I rose on my forelegs I looked around. The room was still dark save for the light of the flames and the emergency lights. I crawled over to where Spell lay and saw that her body was heaving and twitching.

Dammit, that noise had done more damage to her than to me! Or at least she was feeling it more I realized. She wasn’t the one still pumped up on a dose of Med-X. Shoot, maybe she had another one on her, anything to get her moving and out of here.

“Spell! Spell, hold on I’ll get-” I began, as she slowly lifted her head to look at me. Tears streamed down her face as empty, soundless sobbing caused her to convulse. Her eyes were bloodshot and a trickle of red streamed from one of her nostrils. She opened her mouth once, closed it, then opened it again.

A faint whine escaped and then, “What have I done? I’ve killed her. She’s gone. I’VE KILLED HER!” The last words came out as a shrill scream, all of her composure lost. She began weeping openly.

Her anguish was cut off abruptly as the remaining speaker buzzed to life again, a long tone like a sigh coming from it. The terminal screen activated again, the greenish glow around the edge the only sign that it was working.

Spell jumped to her hooves, somehow ignoring the pain she must have been feeling given what we both just experienced. I was so bent out of shape and aching in places I didn’t know I could ache that I doubted I could get back up without help.

“Overframe!”

The cry was overflowing grief, guilt, and hope. I raised a hoof and began to tell her to go get help but was cut off by a small voice escaping the speaker.

“Those who ignited the fire shall burn in it.”

A crashing sound behind us made my head jerk around. A panel just inside the doorway to the room had fallen to the floor revealing a dark, concealed space above it. Out of it lowered a set of five tubes joined by large disks at intervals down their length. A large drum followed behind it as the whole assembly came to a halt then rotated and pivoted to point the ends of the tubes at us. A small whirring split the silence as the barrels of the weapon began spinning.

* * * * * * * * *

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Tinkerer - You can salvage any situation! Or at least anything you might find afterwards! You can now make basic modifications to any weapons and armor you find.

Note: Gear Heart

S.P.E.C.I.A.L
Strength: 4
Perception: 8
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 8
Agility: 4
Luck: 5

Chapter 2: Fire and Steel

Fallout Equestria: Steelhearts
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 2: Fire and Steel

"Into the fire went the soft iron and out came hard steel..."

A single point of red glowed in the darkness, growing brighter, larger, whining like one of the bees in the gardens below us. A ephemeral crimson glow followed alongside it, casting deep shadows that seemed to lunge at the surrounding light. Then the bullet hit me.

I’d faced a lot of pain in my life. I’ve been smashed by malfunctioning robots, almost cooked by shorting circuits, and on a couple occasions been beaten to a miserable pulp by Spell. All of it paled in comparison to the burning stab of the round as it punched through my shoulder. I began to cry out when two more rounds caught me in the gut as the tracers stitched a line across my body. A fourth took my leg just below my cutie mark and I felt the bone beneath fracture as it smashed through. My lungs retched as my cries turned into guttural moans and chokes. I was dimly aware of sparks cascading over me then I heard a sharp cry. The bullets had found Spell.

Through the ringing in my ears I could hear the whine of the minigun’s motor as it reversed its course and began swinging the stream of death back my way. Spell went silent as the meaty sound of bullets impacting flesh switched back to metallic pings as the rounds buried themselves into the metal flooring. I felt the sparks once more and knew without question. This was how I was going to die. How both of us were going to die. Bleeding out on the floor of the Overmare’s core, holed through by a weapon I never knew had been a part of the room. Darkness clouded my vision. A fifth bullet found my back and a rib cracked in return. I didn’t have the strength left to respond, didn’t have the power to cry out. My hearing began to go, a faint ringing replacing the fury and whine of the weapon.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

The jarring whine brought me back from the brink, enough to let me painfully turn my head to see why death was giving me a momentary pass. The minigun was pointing straight down, still firing as the floor below it became a glowing pile of slag. It was straining to return to its original position, motor whining and skipping, but couldn’t. The whole assembly was being held in place by a dark red mass outlined in bright flames. Sparks shot away from the top of the ceiling mounted weapon, the source of the terrible screaming noise.

“Ma’am, you’re not quite yourself at the moment! Forgive me for saying so but you seem to have lost your senses!”

The stream of fire and metal ended abruptly as did the sparks from above. The gun hung limply, slowly spinning down to a halt. The mass that had been stopping it from moving pulled back to reveal Manesworth, one clawed arm holding the weapon in place. The other arm pulled away from the top of the machine where it had burned through power lines and slagged the motors. He turned back and started hovering down to where we lay, his polished body losing the reflected red glow.

“No no no, this is simply dreadful!” The eyes all began panning in different directions until all three jerked around to the wall near the doorway. A small white box with a white cross against a green circle hung loosely where the chaos from just moments earlier had knocked it loose. He rushed over and sawed off the remaining metal paneling from around it then grabbed an edge in his claw and dragged it across the floor to us. Another quick swipe of his saw tore through the latch on the lid, revealing three glass vials filled with a faintly glowing purple liquid.

“Oh blast! Damn my lack of opposable digits! Hold on Master Gear, Madame Spell, I’ll get these infernal corks out, not to worry!” He pulled out one of the glass bulbs with his claw and brought the saw-ended arm up to the stopper. Concentrating with all eyes on the end of the potion, he pushed one of the teeth of the disk into the cork then revved the motor. The cork popped out of the vial and shot away, ricocheting against the ceiling.

I began to feel relief till my vision blurred and grayed out more and more. Healing her might not be enough. This kind of pain... I had no idea if it would go away after the wounds did. What I did know was I had Med-X in me and I was still in agony despite it. I couldn't imagine what this would be like without it. “Manes,” I said in the loudest wheeze I could manage, “Spell... first. Med-X i-in…her vest.”

The effort to talk caused my lungs to burn and seize. A small cough covered the floor in front of me in a spray of red. Thaaaaat... probably wasn't a good sign.

I heard the sounds of fabric rustling and a small clink of plastic and metal colliding. “Oh. Madame Spell...we’re going to have words after this is all over.” I heard a small squeal followed by choking. A second or two passed and then a sharp inhalation. Coughing, long and wet, echoed in the still room. I couldn’t lift my head to see what was happening, didn’t even have the strength to open my eyes. The world was starting to spin, the effects of blood loss overtaking my Med-X numbed senses.

“Ma’am, quickly! He’s barely breathing now!” The voice was quiet and muffled as though it was coming from a great distance yet it also came from right in front of me, loud and panicked. Damn, dying can make you go loopy.

The world spun as I was rolled onto my back. The bullet wounds sent sharp notices as each was touched and pressed then continued to ache after. It was plenty to drag me back to enough coherence to slowly open an eye and see Spell standing over me as she spat a cork out of her mouth. The purple filled vial it came from hovered just in front of my face, motes of light flickering in and out as Spell struggled to maintain the telekinesis. My eye flicked down to her sides and I watched as small indents in her skin went from deep maroon to pink and then her lavender coast began to fill in the gaps, leaving no trace of her near-death encounter.

Good on you Boss, should have figured a couple dozen flying bits of metallic death wouldn’t slow you down.

A blood smeared hoof shoved my mouth open before the vial was tipped over in the air and its contents poured out into my throat. The same hoof then shut my mouth hard enough to rattle my ears.

“Come on, swallow you idiot!” So her bedside manner left a lot to be desired. At at least the effort was there.

I choked the potion down, heaving as the liquid burned its way down my throat. Blech! Tasted like a zinc tablet dissolved in a rusty tin of battery acid with a lemon wedge added for flavor. But I could forgive the brewer of the concoction for the terrible flavor as the pain began to subside instantly. Small pops and scratches hinted at the work being done to repair my flesh and organs but mercifully I didn’t feel any of it. I shakily got to my legs and panted with the exertion.

“Normally I’d say something sarcastic like ‘let’s do that again’. Let’s never do that again. Spell, what in Luna’s name is going on?! Why the hell was there a spell worm on a Stable-Tec frequency? What the fuck did we just copy over?”

Spell’s eyes went huge and she bolted for the Overframe’s terminal. “Nonononono... Overframe, can you hear me? Do you understand me? Overframe!” Spells cries were met with only silence. Everything was dead still and quiet. Except it wasn’t.

The break in the madness was surrounded by a faint background of sound. Pops and crashes. Spell and I turned to look at each other, the color draining from our faces far more completely than if we’d been left to bleed out. We turned and bolted for the door in unison.

The hallway was dark, rows of red emergency lights once again providing the only illumination. Thank you Stable-Tec for independent backups. We tore down the corridor at breakneck speed, skidding around the corner towards our office. Ponies were milling about in the doorway, oblivious to the horror we had just been put through. The one closest heard the pounding of our hooves and turned towards us, immediately taken aback when his eyes met ours. It was Grease Tin, his sweat soaked mane lying flat against his back. He was carrying a large torque wrench in his mouth and dropped it as Spell charged towards him and the others.

“Boss, I swear it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! Wasn’t any of us! We don’t know what caused it! Everything’s down!”

We didn’t have time for this. “Grease, it’s the Overframe. She-...she’s been infected. Or something- fuck I don’t know! She just tried to gut us with a gun turret we never knew was in the Core. She screamed something about burning threats to us or to her or to- something! Then she tried to kill us both. She hasn’t said anything since.” I paused to gain back my breath. Grease stared at the three of us in wide eyed confusion and opened his mouth to speak when a shrill cry echoed up from the elevator tube down the corridor. Everyone present turned to look at it, fear and panic taking over for confusion, and I suddenly found my strength returned.

Sun was down there.

I took off galloping, adrenaline fueled muscles working like they’d never worked before. “Manesworth, get the door!” The silver robot caught up with me just in front of the elevator, his claw jamming into one side of the door. He pressed forward on his levitation talismans, opening it enough for me to slam my chest into the other half. The door gave way with a sudden snap and I nearly fell into the dark abyss beyond it.

“WOAH!” I backpedaled away from the dark tunnel and stared at the floor till the wave of vertigo passed.

I turned towards the next door as my brain caught up from where I had left it with the rest of the group. Right, so we’ve got no power, no controls, and the emergency stairs will take forever. How the hell…

A flash out of the corner of my eye made me look up. More ponies from the group had walked over nervously and were looking down the darkened tube. Manesworth was floating in the center of the shaft, his flamer’s pilot light illuminating the empty space. He tilted a little to get a better look around and then turned his eye stalks towards us with a shrug of his arms.

Dot... dot... dot... DING! Okay, it’s risky but it juuuuust might work. He should be able to handle it once I explain- Another cry, this one far louder in the open shaft, hit us all. One or two nervous members of the gathered crowd began whimpering.

Right, no time for explanations!

“Manes, you ever play Elevator with the students in the Nursery?” I shouted with a manic grin as I began backing up. He looked back at me in confusion. “Well you're about to!”

I charged forward and with a brief “OH SHI-” took a flying leap just before I passed the sliding doors. I landed on top of his chassis with a resounding “CLANG” and fought for purchase as Manesworth pulled back his eyes in shock. He shot his arms outward into the walls of the shaft as we began to plummet , halting the descent when his claw found purchase on something in the dark.

“MASTER GEAR, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING? YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!”

“THEN GRAB MY LEG OR SOMETHING! WE NEED TO GET DOWN THERE!”

Our voices echoed in the tunnel as a couple of the crowd of ponies rushed forward to see if we were alright.

“Sir, I ask that you please remain calm! You’re obviously suffering some form of mental trauma. We need to get you to the Infirmary right away so somepony can have a look at you.”

The hell Manesworth, what do you think is happening down there? The Overframe just went nuts, it’s almost pitch black, and every internal system probably blew up like the ones in the Core! This is not mental trauma, this is perfectly normal and reasonable absolute-fucking-terror!

“FINE! I’m losing my mind! That means I need to go see a shrink in the Infirmary. So get going, we’re wasting time!”

He seemed to accept this as we began quickly floating down the darkened shaft, the couple of staff at the open shaft door crying out in surprise. I felt my stomach drop out at the sudden descent and nearly lost my grip. I pulled my legs tighter around the shell of his body as my eyes squeezed shut in terror of sliding off. A few moments later a red glow began to permeate through my eyelids and I risked looking at the source.

We had passed into the clear walled section of the tube. What I saw through it was worse than any nightmare of the wastes above us I’d ever had.

* * * * * * * * *

The trees and gardens were burning. Not from failing systems, but from Mr. Handys and Mr. Gutsys spraying gouts of flame ahead of them as they chased down fleeing stallions and mares. They ran in every direction, no real way out as more robots began to come out of the tunnels dotting the walls. They fell as the flames caught up with them, screams dying as the flesh melted away from their bodies in the inferno.

The Gallery was completely ablaze. Ponies were running along the catwalks around the Gallery, trying to escape dozens of Protectaponies outfitted for welding, fire suppression, and security. Blasts of arcane energy and lightning lanced out and where they caught fleeing dwellers they either fell or flashed into nothing in a glow of red or green brilliance. Where they didn’t catch anyone they burned the walls and slagged wires, igniting new flames and explosions.

Ponies I'd known since birth were dying in ways I could never have imagined, sick acts not even a psycho would come up with. My gaze passed over a muscular stallion being held on its back between two Mr. Handys, straining to free himself, as a third bot began to cut him clean in two with its saw blade. His body jerked with pain and guttural screams until the blade reached his spine and he fell apart with a final shudder. The robots didn’t pause before they were moving again, looking for more victims. A motion caught my attention and I felt every muscle I had tighten in shock when I saw the source.

Out of the entrance to the Services department walked a red painted Protectapony. Its faceplate was covered in stylized lipstick kisses and its body was much larger than a similar bot would have been, the plates expanded in showy spirals of metal that looked like a Pre-War gala dress. It was draped in a gauzy red lace that once evoked flower petals. Only now now it was a blood soaked rag hanging limply over its back, dripping a crimson trail behind it. But that wasn’t the worst of it, not by far. The worst was the two bruised and bleeding mares stuck to it. Each of the robot’s forelegs disappeared into one of their flanks and it was walking forward with them stuck on like gloves. The tortured mares were trying to pull away from their captor, legs kicking futilely in the air as it ground them into the floor with each step.

One of them was Tantric Motion, the mare Sun had mentioned in her probing offer from earlier this morning. I'd never really spoken to her at any length, just passing hellos and "how's it going?" now and then. We were from very different worlds in more ways than one but In that moment I would have done anything to end what she was going through. I felt myself begin to vomit but the sensation was lost in the sight of what came next.

A stallion who had been running around the outside of the Gallery charged directly into the side of the red demon and fell back, wincing and shaking his head. Then he looked up and his eyes shot open in terror. The mares began to cry out for help but never got the chance. The machine reared up on its hindlegs and shouted at the horrified pony before it in a booming synthesized voice.

"ASSUME THE POSITION"

The forelegs and the screaming mares on them came down on the stallion, knocking him to the floor with a shout. The bot then began pummeling the unlucky victim, one pony-covered hoof after the other. One brutal blow threw Tantric’s cream colored head directly into the stallion’s. As she was pulled away her neck hung at a grotesque angle, her forehead a bloody pulp. Within a few seconds none of the trio of victims were moving.

The robot paused, waiting for movement from any of them, then seeing none backed away, dragging the two corpses on its hooves with it. It looked up and rotated its domed head looking for more targets.

It stopped when it saw me.

We’d reached the bottom of the tunnel and were now resting on the inert lift’s floor. I hadn’t noticed our stopping. I hadn’t noticed puking until the smell hit me. I hadn’t noticed the cold sweat until I began slipping off of Manesworth. Even when I did notice them they barely registered. All I could see and hear was the red coated machine and its gruesome footwear marching towards the lifts. Fear, absolute mind numbing fear, began to pour in and I flailed my legs dizzily as I fell off of Manesworth’s body. As soon as I hit the floor my head snapped back to the image of death and torture making its methodical way towards me. Then I saw a flash of golden orange through its legs.

Sunflower.

She was peering around the side of the Services desk just behind the defiling red machine. Her eyes were locked on the back of the bot as it marched towards the lifts. As it passed the outer tack she twisted her head about to find a way to escape… and saw me. Her eyes went huge and her ears shot up in panic as she noticed where the machine was headed.

She mouthed a single word at me. “RUN”

Every fiber of my being was ready to follow her command and I shakily rose to my legs, ready to tell Manes to get us back up the shaft.

CRACK

My eyes shot back to the bot and locked onto its forelegs. The other mare apart from Tantric had been bent over backwards during the last step and her spine had been crushed into a hideous mass beneath the nightmare’s metal hoof.

… ohhh no… no no no no…

... not her… not to Sun… NO!

NOT A FUCKING CHANCE!

I turned my head back over my shoulder, never taking my eyes off the abomination in front of us and yelled, “MANESWORTH, KEEP IT OCCUPIED! I’M GRABBING SUN!”

“Sir! Wait! Ohhh, blast it all!”

My eyes were glued to Sun as I charged sideways around the red robot, now only a few meters away from the lifts, and headed straight for Sunflower.

I didn't dare look to back at the thing and prayed to Luna that Manesworth could distract it long enough for me to get to the desk and get Sun out of here.

Her eyes went wide as she watched me approach. I slid in past her, hitting the back wall next to the open door into Services then shuffled quickly over. A flash of sparks caught my eye long enough to see Manes slicing at the hindlegs of the protectapony, severing lines that sprayed hydraulic fluid everywhere. The robot went still as the legs failed and jerked to a stop. The domed head swung around to look at Manesworth for a moment then turned back to stare at us, the central eye shining blood red through the faceplate. Manesworth took the opportunity to slam his saw into the back of it's domed head. Sparks flew away in a shriek of tearing metal. The eye flickered once, twice, then slowly dimmed to nothing. Manesworth pulled his arm free as I ducked back around the corner and turned to Sun.

“Gear, what the hell were you thinking?! It could have killed you! Why didn’t you take Worthy and go back up you idiot?!”

“I-”

I hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. “Save Sun” was kind of the whole plan and now that it had been achieved for the moment… what had I been thinking?

“I was kind of caught up in not letting that thing get to you and didn’t plan much beyond that!” She stared back at me for a moment and then began looking around frantically. I did the same as well and had to stop myself from retching as the carnage around us once again took center in my mind. The robots were beginning to run out of living targets and were converging on those few that remained, cowering in corners and tunnels.

"Oh Luna... " Sun whispered as fresh screams erupted from a hallway the robots had found survivors in. "Why is this happening? Luna, why? The hell is- fuck. Gear, what is this?"

"The Overframe got corrupted. Manesworth had... something... in his memory. Spell and I took it to the her to examine and it infected her. She tried to kill us Sun. I'm just lucky I put a filter in him before all this happened. Otherwise I'm certain he'd be like the rest of them. If I hadn't cut him off from the network-"

I coughed as small wisps of acrid smoke began to fall down from the Gallery around us. The lights were beginning to fail in places but it didn't matter. The flames were visible across the expanse of the Gallery and the light they cast gave a dull orange glow to everything we could see.

"Anyway, we've got to get up to Maintenance, maybe we can do something from there to fix the Overframe, maybe. But first..." Cascades of sparks were beginning to fall from damaged wires above us and here and there they set new fires ablaze where they landed. Running to Sun was starting to seem like the worst idea I'd had today... and that said something!

We needed a way out and I was losing hope that either of us would find one- FOUND IT.

A little off to our left around the rim of the Gallery lay an overturned cart. They were used to move fertilizer, crops, and tools around the Gallery and had a hitch at the front for a pony to pull them. Even better there was a track that spiraled up the outside of the Gallery and ended at an access corridor to Maintenance. Straight shot all the way to the top and all the robots were heading in the opposite direction, either down to the floor or outward into the Cogs. There was only one problem... neither of us would be able to pull it the whole way there with the other in the back and we'd be spotted immediately and gunned down.

Thankfully we had a Manesworth.

I tapped Sun on the shoulder and nodded towards our new getaway ride. "Okay, how about this? We get that cart and Manesworth pulls us up to the top. The Service Prot-... that thing didn't give him a second glance when he stopped it. As long as we stay hidden and he's all they see we should be fine." I hoped. There was nothing to really back me up on that guess. But that monster hadn't stopped Manes or bothered him at all when he cut its legs out. So either it didn't care about what other robots were doing or it was just honed in on me to the exclusion of everything else.

... please let it be the first option, for the love of everything let it be the first one. I shook my head with a whimper and curled up tighter behind the desk.

Sun ducked her head around the corner to see what I was talking about then drew back as quickly as she could. She looked at the floor for a moment in calculation than grunted in annoyance. "Ummmmmm... ahh dammit, fine! I didn't think of anything better than that. But those carts are not very deep. They'll see us in it for sure! We need something to cover the top. Help me find something."

I nodded and began looking around anxiously. She was right and this whole half-cocked plan hinged on only Manesworth being seen. But we were running out of time. I couldn't see anyone that was still alive and the robots were beginning to search more thoroughly now with all the easy prey gone.

Come on, a tarp, a big poster, anything to cover the thing! If we were in one of the Cogs I could hack us into a room and get a sheet but we're nowhere near- oh. My thoughts descended into groans as my eyes slowly came to rest on the entrance into Sexual Services just behind us. The one with the two dashed streaks leading out of it. Red streaks.

Sooooo... just a thought. Maybe, just maaaaybe, I could find us the gentlest robot available and we could get it over with relatively peacefully. I mean, the plan was almost destined to fail right? There was no real reason to think the roaming death machines wouldn't see through the disguise, it had just been a panicked shot in the dark! There might not even be any sheets or blankets or anything inside that place-

"Gear, what're you- that's it! Come on, help me check the rooms!"

I shook my head as the tunnel vision was suddenly broken. I spun around to where Sun had been then did a double take as she crawled past to the open doorway. My jaw worked itself open and closed silently as I tried to find any set of words that would prevent her going in but it was too late. She disappeared around the doorway.

"That's it, I'm done! I can just barely handle murdering robots, insane computers, and that THING out there but this is the final straw! " I kept muttering variants of "I'm done" and "I quit" for another couple seconds until the frustration and anger had subsided. That just meant my mind could turn back to the darkened doorway.

Something hissed in my ear. "Geeeeeear!"

My head shot upwards into the underside of the desk we'd hid behind. Thankfully it was welded to the floor or else I'm certain it would have hit the ceiling above it. I rolled over onto my side and tossed my hooves over my aching head, waiting for that red glow to pass over the top of the desk. Instead a single silver orb on a stalk edged over, the shutter at the front opening and closing.

"Careful sir! Oh dear, this looks like an acute case of stress..."

"Oh Celestia... it's just you... Manesworth!" The relief I felt at my worst fears not coming to pass quickly gave over to annoyance. "Again? Really? Again?!"

The eye turned on its stalk in confusion. "Again what sir? I'd keep it down, the others are... are... oh dear, I don't know what's come over them sir. This is dreadful. Just... dreadful. But that's not in the now, not in the here and now! Where's Madame Sunflower gone to Sir? She was just with you wasn't she?" His other two eyes came over the top of the desk and began panning around while the third stayed locked on me.

"She went in... there... and I guess I am too. Now here's the plan. You're going to take that cart over there," I said with a hoof point to said getaway vehicle, "and pull it up to Maintenance with us in the back covered with whatever we find to hide us. So right now we need you to get it and bring it over. Just... try not to stand out. They're ignoring you and we need it to STAY that way."

The two eyes not focused on me swept back and up to look at the cart then came back around and nodded in understanding before they ducked back out of view behind the desk. I wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to be noted but I was starting to get anxious. Well, more anxious. Sun hadn't come back and I hadn't heard a sound from the doorway since she snuck through it. I crawled as quickly as I could across the couple yards to the door and slid around it.

* * * * * * * * *

The doorway turned out to be at one end of a long, unbroken hallway that hugged the Gallery wall to the right of the entrance. The walls on both side of the corridor were decorated in mosaics and various welcoming innuendos. Floral print and hearts that must have looked inviting before now looked washed out and ominous under the red glow of the emergency lights. Just around the curve of the wall was another doorway leading further inwards, this one covered in thin hanging fabrics. A shadow swept across them and vanished.

"Sun..." I whispered, far too softly to expect anypony to hear with the pops and thuds coming from outside. The whoosh of a power door opening snapped me back into focus and I took a step forward... straight into a line of blood. My instincts kicked in and I vaulted forward, barely clearing the end of it, and landed with a terrified glance back. I was about to turn away when something in my brain kicked me to attention.

Oh geez, what was it now? I was going to have a nervous breakdown at this rate and get us both killed. If a trail of blood was enough to make me nearly seize up I was not going to make it out of here-

I'd jumped a pool of blood with a trail. A trail that started behind me and went deeper into the building.

I ran forward in a blind panic and swept through the curtains into the next hallway... and straight into Sunflower. She was coming out of the first room on the right and fell backwards with a muffled grunt as we collided. A set of cream colored sheets she'd been carrying in her mouth fell out out as she turned towards me with a panicked frown. My eyes scanned across her, looking for wounds or bleeding. There were none that I could see

Thank Luna, she was fine...

"Dammit Gear, what the hell? I found our cover in the laundry room so we can go. Did you get Manesworth?"

"Yes, I got him. It's good. It's all fine. Now let's get out of here!"

She looked at me in confusion then bent over to pick up the sheets again. I looked around nervously and felt a shiver run through my body. The doors were all closed shut but around the base of two of them there was a small line of pooling red. The last door on the left had a streak of red running up to it. My mind decided it would be great fun to contemplate what was on the other side of that one.

THUD

The sound from down the corridor caused us both to freeze. We slowly looked towards the end of the hall. The last door opened upward with nearly complete silence. Red light spilled out of the portal.

"THE PAIN WILL SUBSIDE SOON"

ANOTHER ONE. There was another of those damn rapebots! My mind hadn't even considered that option. It wasn't even in my worst nightmares, it went FAR beyond that.

Neither of us waited a moment longer. We tore back through the curtains and down the corridor towards the light of the open Gallery door. Sun was weighed down by the sheets and began to falter. I dropped my head and grabbed a corner of the fabric, pulling it along next to her. Heavy steps echoed behind us as we approached the exit. We shot out of the open doorway and skidded to a halt behind the desk. Neither of us wasted any time in looking for our means of escape.

Manesworth had flipped the metal cart back onto its wheels and slipped the harness over his domed body. It was too small to fit properly and ended up as a headband just above his eyes. One of those eyes was trained on the door and it perked up as we motioned at him from the desk. He dodged to the side and yanked the cart around to face us then began pulling at the harness. The empty transport careened forward behind him, bucking up and down over bits of debris. He stopped just in front of the desk and the cart carried forward, bumping into him. The harness slipped off his dome and caught an eye, dragging it out to its full extension.

"Oh blast! Sir, Ma'am, you'd best get in quick. They're looking harder now," he said as he pulled the harness more tightly over the top of his chassis.

Neither of us wasted any time in replying. Sun tossed the sheets with her mouth, covering the bed of the cart with one shot. I peeked around the desk, looking for an opportunity for us to get in.

"Okay, none of them are looking this way. Go!" We sprang forward and dove into the open back of the cart. Sun immediately spun and kicked the sheet down over the back. There wasn't a hatch or anything else to block it so we'd be relying on the sheet to hide us from anyone looking at the cart from the rear. I crawled forward trying my best to not rustle the sheet,

"Manesworth, did any of them see us?" I asked, sweat beading on my forehead. If we'd been seen this was going to quickly turn into a chase. That would be a death sentence. Any Mr. Handy or Mr. Gutsy would quickly catch up with our driver as he pulled us up to Maintenance.

"No sir, they all appear to be otherwise preoccupied. I do believe your ruse is a success!" There was a faint tapping sound on the wall that had to be one of Manesworth's arms.

We'd done it... so far. Now we just had to see how well the disguise held up under-

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Sun and I looked back in terror as the second Service robot walked through the door, the red plating visible through the fabric hanging over us. The dome slowly rotated away, stopped, and came back. The red glow of its eye was clearly visible through the sheet as it stopped on the cart.

My voice was choked and whimpering as I whispered, "Manes... get us out of here... slowly..." There was a slight jolt and our ride began slowly pulling away from the killing machine. The red circle followed us as we were pulled along the curve of the wall towards the large spiral ramp that ringed the Gallery. It turned and began following the cart.

"Worthy... faster...please..." whispered Sun next to me. The cart shot forward and started to bounce around as the wheels struck debris that had fallen across the floor. The robot following us didn't pick up speed and began falling behind. The eye never turned away. As I stared back at it, eyes locked firmly on it through the sheet, there was another large bump and then gravity shifted. We'd made it to the ramp.

For the next couple of minutes we climbed, circling around the outside of the Gallery. A couple times we passed within yards of another robot and we both flattened ourselves in the bed of the cart. Here and there Manesworth had to give larger pieces and flaming sections of wall a wide berth. All the time our ride shook and bounced over more debris. I tried not to think about how much of that might be pieces of my family. Still, we were in the clear now. We were nearly two thirds of the way to the top as the robots dropped farther away below us.

"SYSTEMS RESTORED. Containment protocols are active. Vision coming online. I can confirm all target locations. Even you, Gear Heart and Sunflower Breeze."

Oh no...

"Now activating new termination protocols."

The voice boomed out over the Gallery's announcement system as the main lights sprang back with their fake sunlit brilliance. Sprinklers and foam guns sprang out of the walls and ceilings and began hosing down the damaged sections of the Stable. The sheets over us quickly became soaked and clung to us beneath them. Sunflower began shouting, "Gear, what's going on? What did she- no no no...".

So much for clear. I kicked the heavy sheet off the cart. There was no use in keeping the dead weight. We'd been spotted by the worst enemy possible. "Manesworth, get us out of here!" I shouted as I glanced over the the side of the cart facing in to the center of the tower. Every robot below was now making a beeline for the ramp and the couple that had been on it prior to the Overframe's awakening were charging up it after us. As I watched more machines began pouring out of the corridors leading to the Cogs. Most of them were bathed in blood and entrails.

A bolt of green energy shot over my head and impacted the wall behind. I followed the trail of arcane sparks lingering in the air back to a Mr. Gutsy. It was firing its energy weapon at us from the ramp on the opposite side of the gallery. More floating robots passed behind it as it continued to take pot shots. One impacted the side of the cart close enough that I felt the wash of heat expand over me and nearly burned my hoof on the shattered metal.

"Sun, get away from the side!" I crept to the back and looked around the edge of the cart's paneling. A pair of Mr. Handy units was only a quarter of a turn of the spiraling ramp behind now and gaining fast, the flamers on their arms shooting out small points of flame. I risked standing straight up and looked ahead. We were less than half a turn around the Gallery from the entrance into the upper levels and the Maintenance wing. That just meant they'd catch us before we got there.

I looked back again and tried to find someway to get us to go faster or to slow them down. We didn't have any weight we could lose, the cart was already little more than a paneled frame on wheels, so speeding up wasn't going to happen. As for slowing them down...

Let's see, half the circumference of the Gallery was...

The math crawled across my vision as I worked through it as quickly as I could. It wasn't a horribly long distance, about twice the length of one of the Spoke corridors that connected the Cogs to the Gallery, and neither Sun or I were tired physically. Emotionally and mentally was another story but had little bearing on the problem at hand. At this point we were within reasonable sprinting distance which meant the cart was now expendable.

"Sun, we're going to have to make a run for it! We're too slow in the cart! Help me kick it over, maybe we can slow them down!"

"Oh geeeeeez... Gear, why are your plans always the worst ones I can imagine? You're doing it on purpose! There's no other reason!"

My eye twitched a little. "Seriously, if you have a better one then tell me! I'm just about running on fumes here!"

"I- there's got to- maybe- okay, we could- ... FUCK, ALRIGHT, IT'S ALL I'VE GOT TOO. But forget about flipping it, they'll just hover over it. We have to try to take them out!" She looked up over the side to the pair gaining on us then turned back and shouted, "Worthy, we're ditching the cart! Get the harness off!"

An eye popped up over the wall between us in confusion but he didn't question the order and began pulling the thick belt off his body. We both moved up to the front of the cart and prepared to jump over it. Suddenly there a loud "TWANG" as the belt slipped over Manesworth's head and pulled his arm up short. The cart began to immediately slow on the inclined surface as he stopped pulling it forward. Just as it was coming to a stop we both jumped up and over the front. We landed hard and I felt a twinge in my back left leg but we were back up in moments facing away from the cart. I looked at Sun and she nodded then shouted, "Let'er go!"

He let the harness slip from his claw and it slowly began to roll backwards. Before it got more than an inch or two we both leaned forward and kicked with everything we had. For a moment my back left leg twinged harder but I didn't have time to worry about it. The cart shot backwards, bouncing along the riveted floor. We bolted forward, Manesworth spinning around to take up the rear as we galloped at full bore for the dark hallway at the end of the ramp. I heard a loud clanging sound and glanced back over my shoulder. The cart had struck the outside wall and began sliding along it, picking up more speed as it went. As I turned back I saw the two bots closing in on us.

Damn it, they were on to the plan.They'd slowed down once they'd seen sent the cart flying back and were moving toward the inner edge of the spiraling walkway to avoid the it. It had been a good suggestion from Sun to try to stop or confuse them for at least a few moments but it hadn't been enough. My idea wouldn't have stopped or slowed them any more than hers either, probably less in fact. We just hadn't had any better option when the escape plan failed.

There was one option open to me though. Sun was going to kill me for it though... or she would if it wasn't guaranteed to do the job before she got the chance.

I looked at Sun and shouted, "Keep going! You've got to get out of here and help them fix this!"

She looked back at me in confusion then gasped as I skidded to a halt and spun around. What was supposed to be a noble sacrifice suddenly became a dismal failure as immense pain shot up the twinging leg. I fell to the floor and tried to rise again, only to find my chest was burning and breathing was near impossible. Aches started registered their needs all over me and my head swam with dizziness.

Oh. Right... I guess should have remembered when I felt that twinge in my leg after we jumped out of the cart. Healing potions didn't fix bones or remove slivers from tissue around them. Only a doctor was going to be able to repair that kind of damage. But I hadn't noticed it. I'd been running with Med-X slowly ticking down in me ever since the Robotics office. Looks like it finally wore out. Terrible timing too. I was about to be a big damn hero and instead I was going to be served up on a silver plate.

"Well, steel plate," I thought as I glanced at the floor with a macabre chuckle.

"Gear, you idiot!"

Oh, and I was going to get my friends killed because I'd gone from reliable to helpless in the blink of an eye. Can't forget that part.

Sun rushed back down and skid to a halt next to me. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

There were tears in the corners of her eyes as she tried to pull me back up onto my hooves. "We all get out of this together so get moving you self-righteous asshole! If you don't I'll kill you myself!"

Heh. Called it. I looked back to see how much more time I'd have with my friends before we were mutilated. Maybe enough time to convince them to run or tell Manesworth to drag her away... maybe even enough time to say goodbye.

Damn, they weren't far back now. The pair of machines were about to pass our cart as it rushed past them. They were picking up speed now that the danger of our distraction was passing and their attention was solely focused on us. If we'd only had more time-

The cart slammed against the wall and rebounded once more, but this time the vehicle had run out of strength. The far wheel opposite the wall snapped off as the axle bent under the sudden load. The jagged spur of twisted metal that remained dropped and dug into the floor and the cart swerved inward on the walkway. Our pursuers spun in unison as the cart began flipping side over then jumped into the air as the harness swung round to hit the floor. The lead robot began ducking to the side in an effort to dodge the out of control rickshaw. It nearly made it before the cart rolled over completely on top of it, trapping it underneath. Its momentum carried it screeching into the railing overlooking the Gallery center, smashing through it and over the edge. The second bot had backed away far enough to escape getting bowled over but failed to see the end of the harness arms coming whipping around. The straps slapped across its body and slid down in a blur, catching the joints of the arms as they met the body. As the cart and its prisoner fell out into empty space the straps pulled taught and whipped the entangled robot out and over the side, trailing behind as it's own levitation kept the bonds tight. The other robots paused in their pursuit as the metal heap fell to the floor below with a deafening crash.

I stared at the empty space and missing railing where our doom had been standing only a few seconds earlier and responded in the most appropriate manner I could think of.

"...what just happened?" I said completely dumbfounded as I turned to Sun. She was still staring at the scene with her mouth hanging wide open and didn't seem to notice. Neither of us had time to run through the event in our heads again as my voice broke the spell over the Gallery. Bolts of arcane energy came soaring in from below as the remaining robots redoubled their efforts to kill us from afar.

"Everyone, I'm afraid we really must be going!"

Something snaked under me and I felt myself rise into the air. Manseworth spun around with me cradled in the crook of his saw arm as shook Sunflower with his clawed one. She shook her head in response and blinked twice before seeming to remember where we were. She wheeled around and began sprinting for the open tunnel into the Spire's upper level while Manesworth followed close behind, one eye looking over his dome for bullets or plasma blasts headed our way.

All I could look at was the dark tunnel ahead of us. Just beyond the entrance was one of the many maintenance lockers spread across the Stable. Through that would be the staircase leading up to the Maintenance wing I'd left ten fifteen minutes past. With any luck Spell and I and everyone else could barricade the lifts and stairs in and come up with a way to reset the Overframe and bring things back to-

Normal...

What was going to be normal after this? We'd lost dozens if not hundreds of the ponies who called 63 home. I hadn't seen anyone else still alive down here by the time we made our escape. Which meant the only ones I knew of still alive at this point were Sun, myself, and the others above us in Maintenance. Maybe twenty to thirty ponies in all. That wasn't the real problem though. The Overframe could grow more ponies quickly as long as the Nursery and its tanks weren't destroyed. That was the problem though. The Overframe could do it... and we couldn't.

How was she going to get past this? She WAS the stable, she was it's heart, it's mind, everything. We could never let her be that anymore, we couldn't afford to let this ever happen again. I retched and coughed at the realization as Manesworth carried me through the entryway into the dark corridor beyond. The lights were out here still. The Overframe had never brought them back up like she had the ones in the Gallery behind us.

I could never trust her again- NONE of us could afford to trust her again. She'd been infected with a piece of code and it had made her a monster. Just... rewrote her mind! One second normal, next second... just... fuck! There was no telling if that signal the code was carried on was still bouncing around up in that fucking wasteland above us! Hell, it was still in the Comms system! It was still in Manesworth!

...OH SHIT. I nearly fell as I tried to roll farther out on his arm. I stared up at him but his attention was elsewhere. The dark corridor cast strange shadows across his polished chassis and they morphed and shifted like flames on the chrome surface. Okay, we were probably fine, it's fine, he's fine,it's... fine. He'd had that code stuck in him for days before we gave it to the Overframe and he never got infected. It was too large for him to fully analyze and run on his matrix. That's what he'd said.

But what did that mean? The code he'd picked up was huge... and it had taken over a computer that controlled over three hundred robots like Manesworth. What if it was coded to take over systems and then look for ways to spread further? Manesworth was a single point in a huge network. Could it be smart enough to take that into account and hide until it made it up the chain? Or was it created specifically to target the Overframe by any means necessary? Hell, what was it created to do in the first place for that matter? Who would make a code to turn the robots into mass murdering nightmares? What was the point?!

I couldn't breathe and the darkness of the tunnel seemed to pull all light out of everything I looked at. Sun was a grey shape galloping next to us, eyes wide and locked on the door into the locker room ahead of us, but I could still see the emotion in her face: anxious, exhilarated, scared, and hopeful. The machine carrying me had no such features. I looked up at the impassive form carrying me, side eyes forward as the central one looked back and couldn't tell what it was thinking. No emotion, no expression, no anything. It was too much in that moment and I writhed in Manesworth's hold. He jinked back and forth trying to steady me then finally lost his balance. I slipped out of of the crook of his arm and fell heavily to the floor, managing to not land on the bad leg. I rolled and panted as my mind raced through scenario after scenario, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened not fifteen minutes past.

Could we trust that the Overframe had been fixed if we reset her systems and she started acting like her old self? What if the spell code was just lurking in a partition somewhere where she couldn't see it until something triggered it again? What if Manesworth was under its control and he just found another way to spread the tatzlworm again? But then I didn't know what the purpose of the worm was and so I couldn't begin to guess what it's objective was beyond our deaths. Maybe that was just it, all it cared about was killing ponies, but why? What was the point in us dying? Why did it, or whoever created it, care? Why was it being transmitted over the Stable-Tec system? Why was it turning my family into murdering monsters and killing the ones it had no control over? WHAT WAS THE FUCKING REASON???

"Gear? Gear! GEAR!"

My vision was getting shaky. Wait, that wasn't it, I was actually being tossed around. I was-

WHAM

A hoof connected with my jaw and I saw stars. The pain was worse than it might have been otherwise because it partially caught the bruise from earlier that morning and immediately caused it to flare up again. My mind stilled as it suddenly had something more immediate to worry about.

"What? What's-"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! They're going to catch up if we don't get out of here and you're doing your damned best to make sure you're there when they do! Just... what is going on with you Gear?" Sun was standing over me, one hoof raised in the air as she shook it. That answered where the blow had come from at least. I didn't have time to explain all of my worries to her but she was right, if I didn't get them under control I was going to get myself and probably her killed as well... huh.

... weird sense of deja vu there.

"Nothing, just in pain. Let's get going. Help me up?"

I felt a pull on my work vest and turned to see a metal claw pulling it upwards. "Sir, let me get that for you-"

"NO! No, I'm good! Just go get the door. Sun, help me out. Please." I got up shakily, my bad hind leg held up to keep pressure off it. Sun looked over me at Manesworth and nodded her head. The grip on my vest released and I heard the faint hum of his levitation talisman recede away, back towards the door at the end of the tunnel. Sun trotted up and knelt down to let me sling myself over her. I hopped a few times and nearly went over completely but eventually I was strung across her back, hooves dangling in the air. She slowly arched back up and planted her hooves strongly then began galloping after the silver handyman robot. Thank the Sun and Moon for Earth Pony resilience and strength.

"Ugh... your bloody tools weigh a ton... and I'm pretty sure there's a screwdriver trying to make it's way into my spleen." I chuckled a little as she mouthed off at my predicament. I turned my head to reply and got a mouthful of mane.

"Pffft! Blech! Sorry, but I normally I keep a ripper saw there. I think I know which one you'd prefer."

"Ah, well then, I take it back. It's a rather lovely screwdriver that's trying to gut me. Anyway, something's tearing you apart. I know that look. Your brain is working overtime and not finding any answers. So what are you trying to solve?"

"I'll tell you later when I've talked it out with Spell and the coders who are better than me. Trust me, you don't want what I've got on my mind on yours as well." I dropped my head back down against her side and tried to let the tension drain out of me. A hiss from ahead of us got my attention. The power door into the lockers slid up as Manesworth turned to us from the control panel next to it. I knew how to disable the door once we were through so it would make the first barricade between us and the mind controlled murders following. We'd somehow managed to escape the pit of hell below us. The depressing part was it didn't make me feel any safer.

* * * * * * * * *

"There, that should do it. They're going to need a blowtorch to get through now." I stepped back gingerly on the makeshift splint Sun had fashioned from a broom handle she'd snapped in two. I had to have done some serious damage to myself by walking around on it this whole time and the bruising around the knee was definitely agreeing with my assessment.

As soon as we'd made it through the door I'd told at Sun to get the panel open. She'd set me down and pulled the screwdriver that had been bugging her from my vest then used it to rip the panel clear off the wall. Manesworth was keeping guard in the doorway, all eyes facing the lit opening into the Gallery at the end of the access corridor. Our pursuers hadn't shown up by then but it was only going to be a matter of time. Sun had immediately got to work on putting together the makeshift brace on me while I examined the now visible controls. My modifications to my own door controls immediately came back to save us as I found what I was looking for. There was an emergency circuit designed to close all doors in the event of an emergency. The Overframe thankfully had no access to the system.

I should have wondered a long time back about why Stable-Tec had decided to keep her out of the loop but the question never crossed my mind. Just another strange choice among many in the design of our home. Now it was beginning to seem like they hadn't had complete faith in their system to handle every situation. Somehow though I doubted this particular scenario had come up when they were planning it out.

Next to it there was a manual bypass that could be released to open the door again that worked from either side. There was a way around that though. As soon as Sun had propped me up I began pulling plugs with my teeth. A few moments later I'd rerouted the emergency release line into the control lines. As soon as I told the door to close any other command it might receive would also tell it to close and stay closed instead of opening again. It wasn't perfect and if they were clever they could bypass my work from the other side but it would take time to do so. I planned to do the same with every door we passed on our way up to join the others.

Just as Manesworth had begun to back away from the door the first of our pursuers arrived. Plasma blasts pummeled the wall around the door and a few stray shots sailed through the open doorway, melting the equipment lockers opposite it. I wasted no time in re-powering the panel and watched as the the door slammed down with a solid "whoosh". It had been closer than I'd have liked but I'd never doubted I'd be able to seal them out once we got behind a power door. This was my field and it felt very, very good to be powering through it again. Enough so that I was actually beginning to feel some confidence we'd find a way to set things right.

"So what now? Just head upstairs, tech-out some solution and then fix the Overframe and the Stable?" Well when you put it that way...

I looked over at Sun as she rummaged through the various lockers, looking for more pieces to help build out my leg brace. I'd had to sit back down immediately after sealing the doors and was sweating lightly from the pain in my hip. She paused for a moment and tilted her head at me with a questioning look.

"Honestly, yes, I'm hoping that's going to be just it. Spell's more familiar with her systems than I am, she'll have a better idea of what to do."

Her ears hung low at my words and she shook her head and blinked away the tears that had been forming. She bent over and picked up a tool bag packed with random junk in her mouth and walked over before sitting down besides me.

"Well, we've got one bit of luck at least. There was an actual brace in the medical cabinet that I can use. Only problem is it's for the wrong part of your leg. So it'll help keep you up on your hooves and take some of the weight off but I'm going to still need to rig something to stabilize the hip. Hmmmm..." She scrunched up her face with exaggerated contemplation as she rummaged through the bag.

"Heh. When did you become the jury-rigged surgeon extraordinaire? Braced a lot of sunflower stems in your time?" I lay on the bench stretching down the middle of the room and offered the leg to her.

She gave the broom handle on my leg a sharp tug as she removed it. OWWWWwwwwww...

"You've looked around 63 before haven't you? You learn how to scrap things together just by keeping an open eye out. You tech types just love to show off what crazy things you come up with and we labor types love to silently listen and steal them for ourselves when you're not watching. You make it so easy too, using all this techno-babble that just happens to be available to anyone with a terminal in her room."

I turned my head to stare back at her. For a few seconds I said nothing then began laughing like a maniac until my lungs ached again. It was true, Maintenance loved to build ourselves up as the true owners of the Stable, the ones who kept the lights on and the plumbing flowing while everyone reaped the benefits of our work. Buuuuut... well, looks like that was one more lie we'd been telling ourselves. I breathed out in sadness, wondering how much else we'd taken for granted, all of us, that we'd have to take a hard look at. If we made it through the day at any rate.

A minute or two passed as I focused hard on not focusing on anything. My eyes darted this way and that, just taking in sights, wondering about design choices, thinking about missed work time and makeup duties. Then there was a strong tug on my leg and Sun broke the silence. "There, done. Try standing. If it's not great I can adjust it or... well, there was a vial of Med-X in the cabinet with the brace. That stuff can be addicting though so I'd rather not."

"Yeah, and Spell hit me with a shot of it earlier today." She rounded on me in shock and confusion. "Long story. I don't want to risk it either so whatever it feels like is what it's going to feel like till we find a doctor. Well, if we can find a doctor."

"Mmmm, there is that... okay, so, up the stairs?" she said with a very peppy tone. I shot a glance at her and quickly turned back. I'd known Sun for a long time and there was one thing that was clear. There were cracks in her attentive expression. There was an entire Gallery's worth of pain and confusion trying to break through and she was holding it together with some very thin tape.

"In a second, I don't want to go anywhere without something to hold them off if they find a way through. Go tell him to scout out the way and see if we're clear," I said with a toss of my head towards the stairwell. "This shouldn't take long." She turned to follow my look and glanced back briefly, her eyebrow arched, before walking away.

I knew what she was thinking. Sending away Manesworth was like tossing our trump card. He could carry me up the stairs if I couldn't make it myself, he could fend off the other robots if they made it through, he could make up for a lot of our current weaknesses. The problem with that was I still didn't completely trust him just yet, even with the filter isolating him from the Overframe, even with how much he'd helped us. I just didn't feel safe and wanted some distance between us and him to think. I couldn't think of a way to tell that to Sun. Not that wouldn't clue him into my discomfort or panic her.

I stood up slowly and to my surprise felt relatively little. Even with Sun's revealed skill I'd still expected to feel some discomfort but she'd done a great job of getting the weight from the hoof to my body without going through the injury. There was a series of mechanical linkages connecting the brace to a what was basically a utility saddle just below my vest. I was going to have to get her to teach me her tricks now. This was way too useful and gave me ideas for tools I might make later. For now though there was one thing it immediately made me think of and there was an intriguing option with that.

I walked over to a caged enclosure near one corner of the larger room and began setting the mechanical combination lock. A sign over the door read "Heavy Equipment. Please practice safe use and make sure your saddle is secure." The chain link door swung open as I set the last number. I looked around the enclosure hurriedly, looking for anything that could- oh. That could do it. It was a large bulky saddle with metal bracing across the top, heavily padded below where it would rest on a ponies back. To one side of the frame there was a large metal crate with a set of six slots in the top. I was thrilled to see they were already loaded with power talismans. On the other side was an assembly of tubes and piping wrapped around a central core. A large box was set atop the contraption and when I looked inside I practically danced. It was filled with large nail-like rivets.

Looks like whatever pony had been using the rivet gun last had dropped it off without stowing everything like they should have. Probably when everything went dark which meant they were almost certainly above us right now. It was a lucky break for us though and I intended to hug whoever had failed to stow the tool properly. Well, a very small hug and a lot of thank yous to make up for it.

"Gear, what are you looking for?" Sun peered around the frame wall and furrowed her brow at my obvious joy. "Oh jeez, let me try that again: what did you find? What is that?"

"This is a top of the line, high powered, high precision rivet gun! It's how we apply the sheeting to the most of the walls. Thing is, I think I can get it to fire a lot farther and a lot faster. Enough to go straight through a metal chassis with ease. We've never needed that kind of option so no one's tried it. Give me one sec, I've got what I need here to make the modification. I think..." I realized that I was going to be trying to pull something risky. These things used an array of spells to shoot rivets at blinding speeds. The problem was the kickback. Even with how heavy the thing was it bucked like a mule every time it fired. So my plan was to add some more talismans, a gem capacitor, and a levitation talisman. I'd never used one before (different responsible department) but knew the basic principle. I was going to have to add power to the launch to get the rivet flying fast enough that its aerodynamics wouldn't care till it reached the range I wanted and then balance that out with the levitation talisman pushing against the recoil. Oh, and strengthen the frame so that firing it didn't slag or pancake it, the saddle, and me between it all.

I set about with a focus and lightness of mind I hadn't felt in what seemed like ages now. This was where I belonged. Rebuilding something, creating something new, something better, to solve a problem, a need. A minute or two later I was done. The power pack was significantly larger now with more cables connecting across the saddle frame. The gun itself was beefed up with struts I'd taken from the workbench's legs and the talisman was glowing faintly at the rear in a mounting I'd made out of an ashtray, wire, and copious amounts of duct tape. Now to see how I needed to balance the power out.

"Okay, time to test it. It SHOULD be pretty well balanced right now but let's confirm that."

There was just one problem. Sun was kind enough to point it out.

"Sooooo... how're you lifting that again?" She was sounding like her old self a little more, probably from seeing me acting more like myself. Unfortunately she'd settled for her old snark instead of her motivating side.

"Well, I added handles on either side so we-"

"Sir, allow me, I believe I should be able to move it more easily than you will in your current condition."

The good feelings were gone. I did not want him touching my weapon. I knew that was silly deep down, he had different ones available on two of his three arms. But there was that nagging question in the back of my mind. Sun answered before I could think of something to redirect him.

"Sure, that will be much better. Where do you want it Gear?" She said as she walked up to the device. Manesworth was already lifting it by a makeshift handle and Sun took the other in her mouth and hoisted the device off the floor.

*Sigh* Okay, well we're not dead by robo-ponicide. It was going to have to be him anyway since I couldn't do it.

"Put the saddle over one of the benches. Then I can see how it kicks." They nodded and carried it out then laid it over the closest bench. I walked out and started flipping the switches that opened the energy circuits. Lights flickered then shone brightly across the readout display. I motioned them to get back in the cage then gingerly pressed the trigger on the mouthpiece. A high pitched whine filled the room for a split second before a bolt of white heat shot out of the front of the gun and flashed across the room too fast for us to follow it. There was a loud gonging sound as a locker imploded backwards into the wall behind it. I stared at it, mouth agape, then glanced slowly back down. The saddle had moved back maybe an inch in total. The readout dial swung to empty then began climbing back to full charge and in about ten seconds was ready to fire again. Slow to fire, but when it hit...

"... I think... I'm going to call that test a success." I turned to a stunned Sunflower and curious Manesworth. They went to examine the locker and I heard Sun whistle.

"I think you can as well. That's more than successful, that's plain destructive!"

"That's what we need right now. Now help me get this thing on." She did a double take from the locker shaped hole in the wall then ran back over.

"You can't be serious! There's no way you're going to be able to support that thing!"

I grinned back at her. "Normally no, but I just so happen to have this really great brace that's putting all the weight of my body into my lower leg without bothering the hip! Thanks for that by the way, your saddle frame gave me the idea for this setup. Plus I'm familiar with the modifications and the signs that it might blow up unexpectedly to watch out for!" Her horrified expression was GLORIOUS. In a moment of mental surrealism I moved another counter on an imaginary billiards table scoreboard. Score another one for Gear Heart.

" I hate you so much right now. Fine, you want to see how good my brace is then I'll show you!" she said after a long pause. She motioned Manesworth to join her and together they lifted the saddle and slid it over me so that the mouthpiece was just in front of me. I tongued the power switch and watched the readouts go dark. The slowly lowered it onto my back and I felt the pressure increase steadily.

Okay, it was a little heavy. My forelegs were taking the brunt of the weight right now. An ominous bending sound came from the brace but it held steady. The pair finished lowering it and let go of the handles. Okay, a lot heavy, but not unmanageable... I think. I took a step forward and thankfully didn't hear the sound of metal under even more tension. Just to be safe though the next upgrade I made to this was definitely going to be more levitation talismans to take up some of the weight.

For now though it would do. I turned to the others and began handing out orders. "You two, look around and see if you can find more rivets to bring with us. This thing doesn't hold many at a time. Also, if you find more power or levitation talismans grab them. We don't keep many of them in the locker rooms but there may be one or two around somewhere."

I turned and began steadily walking towards the stairwell. I wasn't going to be running anywhere with this thing, that would be asking for a fall and exponentially more fractured or broken bones than I had now. I began passing by the restrooms for this locker room when out of the corner of my eye I saw a mechanical monster stepping out of the stall. I wheeled and tongued the activation stub on the gun, adrenaline flooding my mind. Suddenly a large targeting reticle popped up in my view... over my own face. The sight shocked me long enough for me to notice the dirty smudges across the thing before me. It was a tall mirror over a restroom sink... and I was looking at myself. I had enough metal covering me that I looked like some kind of weird cross between a pony and a robot. The leg brace covered most of the limb and made it look creepily like the frame of a protectapony leg. I let go of the mouthpiece in discomfort and the target disappeared.

What the...? I heard a beep from below me and looked down in time to see my Pip-Buck's screen flash before going dark.

Did it do that? I'd never seen any utility like that before, no programmed spell for frigging target practice! Wait, how had it even known to sync with the gun I'd cobbled together? It wasn't built as a gun, it didn't have any sort of networking links. For that matter, how did it know where it was even aiming? I hadn't added any real sights, just a flashlight along the barrel to give me an idea of where it was pointing. It had never pulled anything like that before in all the time I'd been modifying the personal mini-terminal! Why did it even have a target function? These were supposed to be utility devices, not combat tech- argh! Just another thing to figure out later when imminent death wasn't a concern. I was DONE not fully understanding the things around me that I lived with day to day.

"What is it?! What did you see?" Spell and Manesworth peered around the corner in concern.

"Myself unfortunately. Your brace is great Sun, but I'm going to be very happy to get out of it and this weapon. It all makes me look like..." I trailed off as I glared at my reflection.

"Oh. Sorry Gear, I hadn't thought of that. Let's get moving then. Sooner this is over the sooner you can get out of it right?"

"Yeah, definitely. Manesworth, we're clear right?" I said as I shot a questioning eyebrow his way. I didn't see any way around taking his word that he couldn't or wouldn't run the code he stored at this point. I'd had enough time to come down a bit from my paranoia, enough to realize there'd been too many opportunities for him to throw us to the Timberwolves if he was indeed infected by whatever the Overframe had. But I was still anxious about the time bomb inside him.

"Indeed sir, I didn't run into anyone else on my way up or back. The door at the top was locked though so I couldn't inform Madame Spell of our arrival."

Hmmmm... that was going to be slightly problematic but it was also encouraging. I would have bet a week's worth of ration chips that that was Spell's doing after Manesworth and I left and didn't return. Hopefully they were already looking into the Overframe's infection.

"Ok, sounds good. The door shouldn't be a problem-"

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sparks erupted from the base of the power door behind us and the control panel began glowing bright red then started warping out like the petals of a flower. There was a loud snap and the sparks ended. The door began rising creakily, the bottom scorched and glowing with radiating heat.

"Dammit, that's a problem! Sun, want to wow me with your technical skills? Get that door panel open and fix it up the same way I did!" I never took my eyes off the door behind us as Sun and Manesworth rushed through the power door behind us into the stairwell. I backed up, watching the door in front of me climb higher inch by tortuously slow inch, until I was through as well. I tongued the activation stub on my rivet gun's mouthpiece and this time wasn't startled as the target crosshairs popped up in my vision. I lined shrugged my shoulders and lined up the sights on the base of the door. I glanced to the side and watched Manesworth pop open the panel while Sun looked around the door frame at the now partially melted control panel I'd rigged only minutes before. She didn't look overly confident and I asked in a tight voice, "Can you do it?"

She looked around the corner, studied my modification or what was left of it and ducked back to focus on the one in front of her.

"Yeah, just keep me covered. Not a problem. I've got it. Not a problem..." She trailed off then grunted and began pulling wires and plugs out of the interface. She moved quickly and reattached them one after the other. I shot another look at her work and couldn't see anything out of place but it had to be done in a specific order to work properly. Otherwise it could lock open and doom us. She'd said she could do it but I couldn't help feeling anxious over the possibility she might make a mistake.

The door suddenly shot up and I spun back around only for my heart to stop. A metal hoof with red plating was pushing the door up while a matching dome ducked underneath it. A single orb of red light scanned around then jerked back as it passed over the door opposite it with me standing in the center.

"PLEASE TRY TO RELAX, YOU ARE SCHEDULED FOR A LONG SESSION AND TENSE MUSCLES WILL ONLY MAKE IT UNPLEASANT"

My teeth slammed onto the trigger strip and the weapon bucked against me. The round shot across the room in the blink of an eye. My back was rattled by the force coming through the saddle but I bounced back quick enough to see the results. Given the size of the robot and how much of the doorway it was taking up it would have been hard to miss. Yet I'd nearly managed it in my terror. I'd been aiming for the joint between the dome and the body but the shot went in low and hit the foreleg not currently being used to hold up the door just below the shoulder. The results were near instant and incredible.

The leg and the one behind it disintegrated in a spray of broken metal, wire, and plastic. Screws and other bits of shrapnel exploded backwards and judging by the pinging sounds damaged a few other bots. The protectapony fell forwards, the door lagging behind on its warped tracks then gaining speed before crashing into the still raised hoof. It crushed it down with a sickening snap then continued into the chassis just behind the dome. The metal dented and bent inwards and the dome tilted backwards as the robot's back broke under the force. The dome spun around shakily with a clicking noise then came back, the eye locking onto me again. I lined up the crosshairs on the dome and bit down hard, willing the gun to fire at the monster I'd mutilated. I needed to see it die, I needed to watch it exploded into unrecognizable chunks, I-

WSHHHH

The door just in front of me shot down between me and the crippled machine. The locks at the bottom clicked with a finality that rang through my head over and over and over.

It was still alive. Just on the other side of this damn door. It was staring at me. I could see the eye. Following me from across the sudden barrier. I couldn't keep a steady breath in me, my lungs were jerking in and out at random and my body and face felt like they were burning and freezing at the same time.

"... why? ... WHY DID YOU SHUT THE DAMN DOOR?! I COULD HAVE KILLED IT. I COULD HAVE DESTROYED IT FOR GOOD, I COULD HAVE PUT A SHOT RIGHT THROUGH IT'S FUCKING EYE AND ENDED IT FOR GOOD! WHY? WHY, DAMN YOU, WHY?!" I rounded on the pony cowering next to door, her hoof still on the uncovered button. Her eyes were wide, almost magnified. She was outlined in blood red, and her mouth was locked open in a soundless, unending scream. Then I noticed the crosshairs and the "95%" marker hanging in the air next to her head. Confusion overtook me for a moment and I noticed how the light seemed soupy and shifted back and forth in hue as I rocked lightly from side to side with dizziness. I looked around and noticed my Pip-Buck's screen glowing brightly again. I pulled the hoof up to examine it, nearly toppling over with the weight on my back. Text filled the blue screen: "S.A.T.S Active. Select target parameters"

My anger began to dissipate in the face of the new mystery and almost immediately the device chimed and the screen went dark. The world shifted back to normal and Sun's scream echoed in the stairwell. I jumped and turned as I backed away from her, startled into sudden focus. Manesworth moved to block the space between us and looked at me with all three of his eyes fully extended forward.

"Sir! There is no need for that! You're giving both of us a fright! Now please calm down, or else I'll be forced to remove that contraption of yours until you can prove you will use it safely." Sun was breathing heavily, her eyes staring straight down at her hooves. She took one last deep breath the slowly turned to look at me.

"Gear, I had to do it. We have to get out of here. You stopped it. You took out its legs and wrecked it and I promise you it's not getting back up from that. Now we have to get moving before the rest of them get through this door as well. Please." Her voice was soft and pleading and as she spoke I felt my anger draining from me. In it's place was left a very deep sea of shame. I couldn't tell her how close I'd come to taking her head off. If I had been distracted by... whatever my Pip-Buck was doing I-

I'd rather not think about it. "I'm sorry... You're right, you did the right thing. I'm sorry for snapping at you over it. I just- I needed to stop it, I needed to watch it- ... You're right, we need to go. I need to get away from here before I starting shooting at the damn door."

Sunflower nodded slowly as I steadied myself on my hooves and Manesworth nodded his approval. I looked down at my leg and the customized device on it. There was a lot I had to learn after this. As I turned back I noticed the storage counter on the weapon had marked off the two rounds I'd fired which meant the box had six more rivets lined up in it ready to be dropped in.

"How many rivets did you two find before we left?" They turned to look at each other than back to me.

In unison they replied, "None." I stared at them for a second then groaned softly.

"Not one?"

"You had a bit of a freak out with the mirror, remember? Kind of took the focus away from looking for more rounds. Then they started breaching the door and now here we are. So... no, no more on us. How many more shots do you have?"

"Six."

She grimaced then glanced up at the stairs before turning back. "Well, we're nearly there. Shouldn't need them once we make it and we fix this." She didn't add on the "maybe" that was clearly missing from the end of her words.

They had to help me up the stairs, the uneven steps put more weight on my back leg than I was able to easily handle. But we found no more problems by the time we reached the locked door. The lowered the saddle pack and I let myself drop to my knees to rest for a bit. Sun walked over to the door and motioned Manesworth over to her. With his help she pried the panel off and began inspecting the circuit. Her face pulled into a frown and she looked back at me before saying, "Ummmmm... I don't think this is the same change you made. I'm just not seeing power on the board.

"Huh. That's a different way to do it and it limits what you can still do after but..." I paused to think for a second and then noticed the quiet. It was almost too quiet. An itch behind my ears made me look more closely at the door between us and safety and felt a suspicion growing... along with a faint grin. Well, it was worth a shot.

"Spell, your mods suck! I can think of at least three ways around this one and none of them will take me longer than a minute!"

"WHAT WAS THAT ASSHOLE?! I'd like to see you try!"

The shout was muffled by the door yet the volume was still impressive. Even Sun began giggling a little at my tactic when she heard Spell's voice.

"Spell, it's me- er, us. I've got Manes and Sunflower with me. Now open the door, quickly please." We hadn't heard any cutting from the door below us since it closed but I was beginning to feel the weight of every second we spent without another one between us and it.

"Wait, you only brought your girlfriend back? The fuck is wrong with you you selfish prick?" Sunflower blushed at Spell's accusations but all I felt was anguish at what I was about to have to say.

"We're- we're it. We're the only ones coming Spell. Please, open the door. Now." Silence hung heavy in the air after I begged the last word towards her. We must have waited half a minute before the lights on the door panel lit back up and the steel barrier slid up into it's recess.

Spell was standing on the other side, her face a mix of confusion, alarm, and despair. A few of the other members of the Maintenance teams were standing around her. I noticed Titan Steel, the head of the Stable Structures team, frowning at us in incomprehension and at my saddle weapon in particular. On the other side of Spell was Sapphire Spirit, her horn glowing it's namesake blue as she held a wrench in the air, her face a mask of shock. But my eyes were drawn back to Spell as if by compulsion. She looked me in the eyes and opened her mouth then closed it as she reconsidered her words then started again, "So when she said termination protocols..."

Her eyes were locked on mine, begging me to tell her that her fears were unfounded, that she'd mistaken what I meant. But she hadn't and I wanted to tell her anything else but couldn't.

"They didn't make it. The bots, they- ... the Overframe's running them. Like she was running that turret."

Spell's face froze and the three of us waited for her to say anything in response. Instead she turned around and slowly began walking back towards the Robotics department. The three of us shared a look then galloped after her, passing the other ponies standing around the open door. I shouted over my shoulder to seal the door again then went back to catching up with Spell. I was hampered by the brace and the weapon and could barely manage a fast trot. Sun and Manes had already caught up and were following behind her.

She rounded the door into our office and immediately fell down and curled up next to the closest desk. The other two were standing nearby and looked at me with fresh concern. I slowly approached the huddled mare and bent down to speak face to face.

In a near whisper I tried to find the words to comfort my diminutive boss. "Spell... I'm sorry. But now is not the time for this. We can mourn later, but there's an army of ponicidal robots just at the bottom of that stairwell and they are not going to wait for us to finish having our collective mental breakdowns. We need you. You know the Overframe better than anyone and she's the source of all this. We have got to find a way to put things right. So get up and help us do that."

My tough love apparently got through to something inside her. She gave a small shudder then turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were red with tears and her body was pulsing with what had to be hiccups but there was a flicker of determination in her eyes. I just needed to fan it into something approaching her usual fire.

"If you can't do that then I'm going to have to go in there alone or with anyone else willing and we're going to do whatever it takes to stop this. WHATEVER it takes, including cutting the power. So if you want to find a way to keep us from needing to do that then get up and get moving."

Her eyes burned brightly when I mentioned cutting the power and she stared at me for a moment then looked at the terminals around us before turning back to me.

"You're right, that's a fucking terrible idea. But I just got a better one! Get everyone who knows how to string two wires together without killing themselves or can type one letter after another other, and all the terminals, cable, and connectors you can and meet me in the Core." She leapt to her feet and bolted through the open doorway.

Ooooookay... that was not what I had been expecting but it was promising! I ran out into the corridor and began pulling everyone together to gather as much materials as they could and meet in the Core. Within minutes the room was filled with random assortments of tech and hardware. The turret still hung limply from the ceiling and everyone gave it a wide berth as they entered but it showed no signs of operating anymore. Spell began directing us on where to attach and link the machines we'd brought with us. She was going too fast for any of us to stop and question it until finally everything was to her liking and she let us pause to rest.

"Spell, what's the purpose of all this?" I asked in confusion. The room had become a veritable jungle of hanging cables and wires strung about haphazardly.

"Simple. We're going to kill the Overframe!"

Oh Celestia I'd broken Spell.

I raised a hoof a slowly said, "Could you run that by us one more time?"

She looked at me with a grin somewhere between smug and manic. It did little to reassure me.

"We're going to kill the Overframe. Then she's going to come back good as new. We're about to run a hard reset ladies and gents. Back to factory settings! To do this we're going to have to surge the power just enough to put her into standby without frying anything. It's a small window but we're going to hit it. Before that we need to disconnect her network connection so that she can't command the others downstairs while we're working and then we need to pull the gene info, the command files, and a couple other things we'll be putting back in afterwards. GOT ALL THAT? Good, we don't have a lot of time according to Gear so get your asses moving!"

I had to admit, it was ambitious. Also crazy, but I'm still giving her points for the ambition. In theory it could work, now that I had a moment to stop and consider the idea. It was a scenario we'd trained for, bringing the Overframe back out of standby and the info Spell had mentioned was stored externally on gemdrives which didn't hold operating spells, just data. But to artificially create the required power surge... we'd never had to run that scenario in practice because of how many fail-safes were in place to stop that very thing happening. Still, if Spell thought she could do it I was willing to bet she could. If it failed the Overframe would still be down, though potentially a lot more permanently. Still, best option in the moment and desperation was the mother of innovation. The last thought made me chuckle morbidly as I looked at the rivet gun still strapped to my side. The rush had been so great and the time to stop and rest had been so little we hadn't removed it from me yet and more than once it had gotten tangled in a loose cable. Still, it proved we were capable of pulling this sort of thing off.

Spell was a whirlwind as she swept from pony to pony, handing out instructions, even the to other department heads. She was running the show now and no one was about to argue that point. Ten minutes or so passed as Spell continued to walk from one station to the next, checking to make sure data had been properly copied over in each case. I found myself constantly walking back to the corridor to check on the stairwell but the door was still offline and sealed tight each time. When the last station chimed in she actually patted the excited colt on the back in a friendly fashion. She immediately launched into her method for surging the system. We would do it locally, using the energy talismans we'd brought along with everything else. That would get around most of the failsafes and be enough to trip or overpower the ones left. Again I felt some mild concern over the chance she was making a mistake likely to kill the brains of our home. I had to wonder what that brain would think of our plan to reset-

I froze.

There was a silence in the room that felt out of place. One which had been a minor consideration by comparison to the threat of the mechanical hordes below us. My head slowly turned until I was staring at the metal pillar in the center of the room and swore I could feel an invisible set of eyes staring back at me. I watched for another couple of seconds then began walking towards Spell, never taking my eyes off it. I reached Spell as she was finishing up the last of the preparations and showing everyone how to monitor the power flow.

"... Spell, you disabled the core interfaces throughout the Stable, right? Not just the remote network connections?" She turned to look at me in confusion. I motioned towards the center of the room with my eyes. She turned to follow them and her face slowly went blank, her eyes wide as she understood what I was implying. She turned back to me and mouthed "Maybe she hasn't-"

"Unexpected. This plan was doomed from the start as long as I had time to instruct the remote units to seek out manual access points for updates. Yet you were blind to this oversight. Unexpected. You took longer to come to this realization than was estimated. More then enough time to bring the lifts to working order again. Now concluding new Termination Protocols."

The silence following the announcement from the speakers was deafening... except for the faint pings of every lift in the Spire arriving all at once.

* * * * * * * * *

By the time we got out of the core room I was down another two rivets and the shattered wrecks of the Mr. Gutsy bots that had tried to cut us off were piled against the far wall of the outer Maintenance ring. But that opening had come at a terrible price. At least six of the ponies who had been helping Spell were dead, two of them vaporized in a flash of green light and ooze as the robots had begun to pour in from the other three access hallways. Spell herself had received burns from a Mr. Handy's flamer as we rounded the bend from the Core and was now being carried by Titan Steel on his back. I'd used a third shot to take it out as I came to the end of the hallway. Sunflower was galloping ahead of me, shouting out directions to nowhere in particular, just trying to keep us all together.

I'd turned back to unload my gun into the Overframe and the strange targeting spell interface had sprung up again, searching for the perfect shot on the tower in the middle of the core. But the hallway was long enough and enough robots were blocking the shot after having seen what the device was capable of that the odds of the shot hitting were insignificant. I screamed in rage and frustration and turned to follow the rest of the group. Suddenly the group veered off to the right down a large corridor as a wall of security protectaponies blocked the rest of the curved hallway. They opened up on us with lasers from the emitters which faintly resembled pony snouts welded to their conical heads. Three unicorns had been shielding the group as best they could by levitating sheet metal sections Manesworth tore from the walls with his blade and claw. One took a laser to a leg and dropped his plate in pain. It gave an opening for the robots to cut down another two ponies, among them Brass Glow who I'd watched fixing tubes early that morning. Bellowing incoherently I sent one round into the wall of death as I ran by. By some miracle I managed to put it straight through the middle robot despite the awkwardness of the shot. It vaporized in a cloud of shrapnel that temporarily distracted the other two robots. I rounded the corner behind everyone with two more rounds remaining in the gun and charged up the ramp-

Wait, ramp? When was there a ramp on the Maintenance level? There wasn't anything above us except...

"NO! This is a dead end! It's-" The ramp ended and I nearly plowed into the rest of the survivors. We all found ourselves cowering in the middle of a large, cluttered room. Panels and readouts covered the walls and lockers dotted the spaces between them. But it wasn't the size of it or the contents that left us speechless and still. It was the giant steel cog set into the far wall, a blue circle with the yellow number 63 emblazoned on it. The sound of metal footsteps behind us broke the dark spell as we all turned and began backing away from the hallway we'd just come from. I felt a tug on my vest and turned to find Sunflower looking up at me, her eyes filled with terrible sadness. She hugged me briefly then turned and walked to one of the sets of lockers. She tore them open and began tossing their contents out before pulling back with a huge torque wrench in her mouth. The others looked at her and then each other and began scavenging whatever they could for weapons. Titan Steel was lucky enough to find a sledgehammer and hid Spell away behind the Stable Door control panel as he practiced swinging it in his powerful jaw.

A sense of forlorn pride welled up in me. Many of the ponies rooting through the junk had wild and panicked expressions. I doubted they were going to be able to even swing them when the time came but they were making the effort instead of lying down to accept the end. Unfortunately that's exactly what it was going to be. My gun was the best defense we had but I only had two rounds left and a long reload. Even worse, considering how organized the robots had been the Overframe must have uploaded one hell of a complex code to direct them. I wondered if there was anything left of our old friends and co-workers in those metal shells at all or if they all been erased and written over like a blackboard.

It became a moot point as the two battered protectaponies from earlier topped the ramp enough to begin firing their lasers. Everyone scattered out of the way but one mare wasn't so lucky and burst into red flames as a laser connected with her, the chain reaction disintegrating her instantly. I ran to the side of the door and crouched low and waited. The two bots passed through it and began scanning their heads around. The one closest saw me and began to turn but never got the chance. The rivet went in through the bottom of its shoulder and exited out the opposite shoulder of the other robot before slamming into the ceiling. Both bots toppled over, their heads blasted clean off their chassis. Only one shot left now and I had to give everypony the best chance they had to use their own weapons when I ran out of ammo... and that meant drawing them out with a target they had to focus on.

I backed away, dragging one of the broken robot bodies with me until I could lay it in the middle of the room then went back for the other one. I could hear more metallic hoofsteps and also the faint whine of a levitation talisman as I pulled it over to the other chassis and draped it on top as best I could. I had a solid barricade between me and the open hallway now so I stepped back and looked over the top, my gun barrel poking out just far enough to the side to give me a clear shot.

A parade of Mr. Gutsy units crested the top of the ramp and stopped when they saw my makeshift cover. They began moving to the sides of the hallway and for a moment I considered taking the shot on the half that was better lined up in my sights. It would probably take out all of them but that would leave the group on the other side of the hallway and no ammo to deal with them. But I'd have to use it soon.

The red dome crested the ramp before I could decide and the world fell away. The chassis was still cracked but the shattered legs had been replaced with two cannibalized from other protectaponies without the same red paint or plating. It's back was still dented behind the dome and the red eye flickered chaotically. It only made it worse. The nightmare was back and staring me down from between the rows of floating robots. Then the horror increased infinitely more as a voice distorted by static hissed out of it.

"Judging from known data it was decided that this unit would have the greatest effect in stopping you. That has now been confirmed. Now... burn."

The green floating orbs all lit their military grade flamers as one and red, searing light and heat filled the room. The shadows they cast over the monster in their center looked like oil slicks and somehow made it even worse. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. It was going to kill me, it was going to mutilate me like the others. The group began advancing as one and the rest of the ponies present began backing away from the wall of flame that erupted from the open hallway. First Gutsy bots and the red killing machine stepped past and began bearing down on me.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The robots stopped as one, mechanical eyes suddenly focused above and behind me. I turned to see what they'd found to kill me with and my eyes went wide.

Sparks erupted from the seal around the Stable Door, tracing the outline of the cog shaped hunk of metal. Suddenly they stopped and for a second there was no sound to be heard.

WHUMP!

The door resonated like a gong and the wall bulged around it. Then slowly, with a creaking grown, it fell inwards and crashed to the floor not ten feet from me, shaking the floor enough that I lost my balance and fell to my front knees. Shakily I rose again and looked at the open portal then inhaled sharply as three large figures stepped through the smoke beyond it. They looked like refined protectaponies, smooth metal bodies in the shape of ponies, maybe half again as large as any of the stable members gathered here, with many of the details built into the form. But instead of eyes or cameras there were only black glass plates that gave no hint of what was going on behind them. Then the lead one raised a metal hoof and in a yelled out in a booming voice that I realized wasn't synthesized.

"Rangers! Secure the survivors and contain this menace!"

* * * * * * * * *

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Hybridization - Why settle for either bullets or blasts? Why not have both! You gain +25% damage with hybrid weapons.

New Event Perk: Luck be a Lady Tonight! - Lady Luck must have her eye on you to pull off that stunt! +1 Luck

Chapter 3: Steel and Darkness

Fallout Equestria: Steelhearts
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 3: Steel and Darkness

"Hello darkness my old friend..."

"Knights, focus on the Floaters! Initiates, spread out and lay down covering fire. DO NOT HIT THE CIVS! I'm talking to you Initiate North Wind!"

The metal pony in the center of the trio looked from side to side as it shouted commands. The voice was commanding but not harsh, with a melodious tone that seemed incredibly out of place coming from the steel... thing. I didn't have time to wonder what in Equstria it was as a group of twenty or more ponies in bulky black uniforms came rushing through the open doorway and made their way for the nearest cover they could reach. They were carrying weird devices in their mouths while the three metal ones leading them brought up saddle mounted packs. Packs mounted with miniguns I saw with horror. As one they suddenly began barking and shooting bright motes of fire and the air was filled with a multitude of whines and pigs. My ears flattened as the noise echoed deafeningly in the metal cavern of the room. I dropped to the floor as best I could with the heavy equipment hanging from my sides.

CELESTIA BURN MY ASS OFF WITH THE SUN! The noise was too familiar and my body began aching as I remembered the feel of fire pour across me. The sound of the firearms began to die down to a muffle as a sharp ringing tone rose to replace it. I felt cold, my skin freezing as I instinctively pulled my legs in closer under me. I closed my eyes to block out the glare of the fire crossing the room above me but even with my eyes shut firmly I saw a trail of red death stitching lines across the floor, closing in on where I lay.

"Feather Hide, get down!" The shout distracted me enough to yank me back into the moment. I looked up in time to see a Gutsy go flying across the room and hit one of the black suited ponies full in the throat with its shoulder joint. The pony, a white coated colt with amber eyes, collapsed to the floor. He began choking until the robot swung it's energy weapon around and unloaded a burst into his face. A hail of fire converged on it in response and it turned to face the new threat. It didn't have time though as the small arms fire began chipping away at it's green hull, pieces of its internal mechanisms flying out of the larger bullet holes.

A flash of green lit up the room. A blinding ball of green twisting light sailed over my makeshift barricade and struck the metal figure to the right of the middle one still shouting orders in its shoulder. I inhaled suddenly as I saw burned skin and muscle beneath the hole in the red hot metal plate. It was an armored pony, not a robot! I didn't have time to wonder who or what they were as a second shot followed close behind and struck the center of the three with a glancing blow to the faceplate. It recoiled and stepped back then turned to face its attacker. The glass where the eye would have been on the armor was shattered. Out of the empty space glared a purple eye, an actual living one. Disbelief grew within me as the armor of both ponies began... growing, filling in the holes left by the scorching magical energies.

Bullets and plasma bolts streaked across the open space in opposite directions. Lying there I started to notice the cries of the others who had run into this death trap with me. I poked my head around the scrap heap I'd made and saw Sunflower and Manesworth taking cover behind a large control panel. Titan had overturned a row of lockers and was propping them up on his shoulder with Spell tucked away on the opposite side of him and out of immediate danger. The rest of the survivors were hiding in whatever nook or space they could. My throat tightened when as I saw that none of them had been hurt since the sudden interruption of our executions.

The pile of scrap shifted and knocked me back and I turned only for the world above me to turn blood red as the Nightmare charged over the makeshift barricade and vaulted straight at the armored trio. All the color drained from my vision except for that hunk of metallic pain and ruin.

85%. The metal in my mouth was lukewarm and the iron taste brought up memories of bloody bodies and glowing, searching eyes.

90%. I had a crosshair splayed over its chassis and one shot left.

95%. The mouthpiece popped and warped from the force of me biting into the trigger.

The white hot rivet impacted dead center of the body just behind its outstretched forelegs. The plating peeled away in molten waves until the heat couldn't keep up with the shock wave and the rest simply shattered. It continued upward and smashed through the base of its head and burst through its faceplate in a shower of metal and gem shards. The round continued onward, trailing a line of debris and fire, until it passed between the heads of the center armored pony and the companion that hadn't taken a hit so far. The shock wave hit them moments later and knocked them both back, the one to the side falling to its knees while the center one held its ground and slid back an inch or so. It turned it's armored head to follow the path of the round then turned back to stare at me with it's head cocked to the side slightly. Those expressionless lenses gave away nothing of what it was thinking.

I saw them but I wasn't really looking at them. I wasn't really aware they existed in that moment. I wasn't aware I existed. I wasn't aware that death was still only one ricochet or lucky shot away from finding me. I wasn't aware that there was an entire world surrounding me. All I was aware of was the quick falling rain of metal bits and jeweled shards beating against the floor. Adrenaline was threatening to destroy my heart and I could hear it beating in my ears like a drum. None of it mattered though. I'd killed it. I'd destroyed it.

Slowly the tension in my muscles began to drain, relaxing inch by inch, sweat drop by sweat drop, until I was lying on the cold concrete floor. I breathed in and out. In and out. I couldn't hear any other sounds beyond my own exhaling. I slowly brought my head up and look back over my shoulder. None of the hovering robots were still standing and their wrecks were spread across the space around the ramp exit, small fires spitting from holes in their bodies here and there. The last of my family were slowly getting to their hooves, casting their eyes about in shock at our surroundings and the strangers who had breached into our home and saved us. I slowly turned my gaze the other way, terrified of what I would find.

Sun was standing in front of Manesworth, blocking three of the black clad ponies who held rifles in mouths and levitation spells and were trying to sight in on our metal and spellware counterpart. Titan and a pony who's name I couldn't recall, but knew that she worked in the Bio-sciences department and helped maintain the algae vats, were tending to Spell and her burns. One of the strangers came up to them and started offering bandages and supplies from a backpack they wore.

"Hello? Anypony home?" The voice was smooth and mildly familiar.

I turned back to find the three armored ponies standing over me. The center one cocked its head to the side as it sized me and my gear up. Then the top of what was revealed to be a helmet split in a line from just over the top of the muzzle to under the ears. The top half swung up and back while the bottom section along the jaw pivoted down slightly. Revealed between them was a lavender face with a silver hue to the coat, like somepony had found a way to make metal with an inherent color and then turned it into fur. The eyes were the same dark purple color I'd seen through a broken helmet just a minute or two ago. The expression on it was very familiar to me since it was the one I usually wore myself: a slight pull to one side of the mouth that could have been a smirk or a grimace, a narrowing of the eyes that was either tiredness or apathy, and an eyebrow arched high that said "This eyebrow can go one of two directions and both will make you uncomfortable". It was a useful expression. With little effort it could be turned into so many others: happy, sarcastic, disbelieving, confused, and countless more. The expression of someone who deals with others through a mask. The same one I'd practiced for years in the mirror.

"...what?"

The eyebrow went higher. I felt uncomfortable.

"I said, seeing as you're the only one around here using one of... whatever that thing is," the disconcerting mare said as she waved one of her armored hooves at my back, "then you must be the one that got the rest of this bunch to safety, right?"

"I-"

It hit me then, I mean, REALLY hit me. We weren't going to die. The robots, the monster included, were scrapped across the floor. We weren't going to die. Everyone else was starting to group up in a bunch in one corner near Sun and Manes. We weren't going to die. But everypony else had.

"I didn't save them. I couldn't save them. They're all- they're all- they're-"

My head throbbed in pain and my vision went blurry and cross eyed. I coughed then started hacking and in moments I was puking up bile and small traces of blood. The two armored escorts stepped back a little but the center one just kept staring down at me with that passionless expression as the pool of vomit stopped expanding just before reaching her hooves. She didn't say anything else, but took a moment to look around at the rest of the group that had entered with her then motioned her armored companions towards the entryway into the Stable. She watched impassively until they were out of sight then looked back down at me again.

"You wouldn't happen to be the local Overstallion or have the Overmare among this group would you? Things will go much more smoothly if someone with authority is available."

Overwhat? I dry heaved once or twice more then breathe slowly until the shaking stopped. I focused on a scratch in the floor, just something unmoving, unresponsive, and unchanging to steady myself on my feet. I kept staring at it as I tried to string a response together.

"I don't- we don't-... all we had was the Overframe but she... she's not... we did this to her... a signal on the Comm system... she's-"

My explanation was brought up short as a heavy and solid metal hoof reached under my head and pulled it up abruptly. The face looking back at me was no longer unresponsive and blank. There was a darkness cast over the previously impassive facade not moments before. Her eyes were almost hidden within the shadows cast by her split open helmet.

"...what did you just say? The Over...FRAME?"

Wait, why was I no longer talking to Blankface McStatuesque? What was wrong with what I'd said?

"Um, yes? She runs- ...ran, the Stable. Her core isn't too far down the corridor. But she had a lot of the others hold back as shields after I tried to take a shot at her."

She frowned at me, her brow pinching together in concern. "Others? There are still ponies in there? Did they use the machines to do this?" Her voice had a raw edge as she put the question to me.

"What? No, I meant the robots. She's operating them herself now... and there's probably nothing left of who they were before all this happened."

"Who they were? They're machines. They nothing but tools. What the hell's gotten into your-" Her eyes went wide as she looked over the group, a couple more of whom were standing with Spell trying to talk the soldier with the gun down.

"... you're going to tell me everything about your Stable, EVERYTHING, in the next minute. Starting NOW." Her armored hoof came down and shattered the concrete below it. I stared down at it and felt my stomach jump into my throat.

"Uhhhhh... okay, crash course then. I'm Gear Heart. Before I got my Cutie Mark my name was EM6609..." I got up to the point of describing the incubation tanks before she punched me clear across the room.

* * * * * * * * *

"FUCKING SPARKER-MADE PONIES! FUCKING STABLE EXPERIMENTS! DAMN STABLE-TEC TO TARTARUS! IF ANY OF THEM LIVED TO HAVE DESCENDANTS THEN THEY'RE ALL DEAD WHEN I FIND THEM! DEAD YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

The shouts and threats had been ongoing ever since the world stopped spinning but I was only just now starting to understand the words. I didn't have any idea what she was talking about but at least the ringing and headache were gone so that was a plus.

I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again. I've seen double images before (Spell), and even triple (Spell again), but I swear I'm seeing at least six different images this time around. At least I already emptied my stomach or else that would have done it for sure. I risked another peek and the blurry world came into focus. My family were bunched together in a loose group along with the unarmored strangers. At first I thought they were being held prisoner and began to shakily get to my feet but when I looked again I noticed that they were all facing away from the group and towards the raging ball of anger in the center of the room.

Okay, so apparently she's their Spell, or at least something close to Spell. Well, Spell with a minigun and creepy living armor. I suddenly feel a great urge to run BACK into the Stable after coming to that conclusion.

"Oh great, here we go again. Paladin Night's probably not going to come down from this one for an hour or two. Sooooooo... you're the foal of a computer aye?"

The whisper was so close that it tickled my ear. I tried to jump away only to remember I was both dazed and carrying a massive saddle pack. The jump ended up being more of a painful plop onto my stomach. I wheeled around to find one of the companion armored ponies grinning down at me mischievously, the eyes hard but with a twinkle that eased any sense of danger. His helmet was split like the armored mare's, revealing a beige face with a light pink scar running from under his chin up to just under his right eye.

"Whoa dere! Why don'tcha settle down there? I know youse bin through a lot but the Sparkers are gone now and Crusader Lily has the tunnel covered and she's as levelheaded as dey come. You're all gonna be just fine now... I tink. Wish the Paladin would come down from her stomping, just doesn't look good in front of youse." He turned to grimace at the still shouting mare before shrugging and whipping back around with that smirk again. "Ennaway, I'm Crusader Birch Tower but you can call me Birch or Tower if you like. And who might you be? Afraid I didn't catch it when the Paladin was picking your brain." His accent was really strange, like every "o" sound was taking its time getting up and out of his throat, "d" and "t" had switched places, and I swear he was putting in "r"s where there should never, ever be one.

"Uhhhhh... Gear Heart. My name is Gear Heart. Who are you? All of you?"

"Oh, that's interesting. Still surprises me sometimes dat dere's still ponies out dere who don't know abowt us. We're Steel Rangers, Platoon Seven of the Whinneapolis Contingent."

His accent was going to drive me mad. "Wait... what? What's a Steel Ranger? Where the hell did you all come from?"

"Well, we're all from the Cloudway Castle right smack dab in the middle of old Whinneapolis herself... but sumptin tells me that wasn't whatcha were asking, was it? Let me guess, you knew dat everything outside your Stable was an irradiated wasteland where nothing could live and everything was cold and bleak, yah?"

I played his words back a few times to make sure I understood then nodded slightly. He let out a small chuckle.

"Typical Stable pony answer. Well, it's not. It's a cold, bleak, irradiated wasteland where TOO MANY things are still alive most the time. We've been trying to tame the place for ages buuuut... well, you can bet it's probably never gonna be."

I was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when the third armored pony came galloping out of the tunnel into the rest of the Stable. She hesitated for a moment when she saw, what had Birch Tower called her, the Paladin? She got over it quickly and began shouting at her in that booming voice I'd come to expect from their helmets.

"Paladin Night, reinforcements are advancing towards our position! I couldn't get a count but they were filling the hallways!"

The maintenance hallways were wide to let us move equipment around and if she wasn't exaggerating when she said they were full... oh hell. That was not good! the Overframe must have been silently moving the rest of the robotic population up to throw at us in the dozens if not hundreds.

The Paladin stopped mumbling and angrily kicking my robot wreckage barricade into smaller wreckage and looked up sharply at the the pony Birch had called Crusader Lily. She shook her head and looked at me then the rest of the group.

"How many more damn robots are down there!?" She looked back and fourth between all of us, her eyes lingering on Manesworth and Sunflower for a bit as she did. One of the group raised a hoof in the air a little and I saw it was a very anxious Grease Tin, his eyes wide as they flicked back and forth between Crusader Lily and Paladin Night. The Paladin focused in on him when she saw the hoof. "Well? HOW MANY?"

"I-Uh-Umm- c-close to three hundred active but there are probably another hundred or two inactive, Miss Paladin. Sir. Ma'am!"

Oh Celestia, he was right! There were replacement units in storage below the Gallery floor level in case spare parts were needed. Tens of them had been cannibalized over the decades but most of them were still just sitting down there, inert and inactive. There was zero, nadda, none, no way we could stop that many robots, especially if the Overframe could activate the sleeping units. They could literally pile through the door and no matter how many we destroyed I'm certain we'd run out of ammo before they ran out of units. Hell, and I had probably the best weapon here for clearing the corridor and I was already out of ammo!

The Paladin seemed to come to the same conclusion as her eyes went wide then swiftly switched back into that familiar mask. The helmet closed back into a single unit and she gathered herself up again. "Tower, Lily, get whatever ordnance you have left into that hallway. I want them stuck on that side of it for another two centuries, understood?"

"You betcha Paladin." Tower's helmet closed as well but not before I saw the smirk disappear from his mouth. For some reason I felt more frightened by that then the other Crusader's report. Lily didn't say anything, just nodded and backed away from the doorway. As Tower walked over to join her Paladin Night raised a hoof and waved it around the rest of the gathered ponies.

"As for the rest of you... Initiates, once the way is sealed you are to escort the survivors to the fallback point! Two squads behind, one squad ahead! Tower Squad, Night Squad, you have rearguard with Crusader Tower and myself! White squad, you have point with Crusader Lily!"

The commanding voice had an immediate effect on the group. The black kitted Rangers began herding my family towards the gaping hole where the Stable door had stood. Most of the survivors were nervous about passing through it but their reluctance didn't last long. The hallway was beginning to echo ever more steadily and loudly with the sounds of servos and metal steps and a faint green and red glow was filling the distant end of it.

The two Crusaders didn't wait to see the approaching enemy. They both opened up with their miniguns and once again I felt my skin crawl and go cold. That was nothing though as the Paladin joined in. Then the packs opposite their spinning weapons popped open. Missiles streaked out of them and impacted the ceiling they'd been steadily chipping away at with dramatic results. The metal paneling melted away as the bedrock above it cracked and began falling down in a cascade of stone. The floor shook violently as the avalanche slowly petered out. The armored Rangers didn't waste anytime inspecting their handiwork as they wheeled around and galloped towards the rest of the retreating group.

"What in Celestia's name are you still doing here? Get moving before I decide you're a liability!"

Okay, so I may have gotten a little distracted by the destruction I just witnessed. As a result I found myself pulled off the ground and shoved towards the wrecked Stable door by the Paladin. I struggled for a second against the unwanted contact until I came to my senses. I was having trouble moving quickly with the heavy rivet gun and Sun's brace was beginning to warp and ping as I tried to move faster than a walk. Getting thrown around so much was finally starting to wear it out.

As we made it through the blasted opening into the Stable I glanced back over my shoulder. Unfortunately that meant I was able to see the rubble pile shake as the machines on the other side of it began methodically tearing it apart from the other side. How fast they could do that was anyone's guess but it would be faster than any of us could. The benefit of not having flesh and blood muscles and a lack of rest requirements. I heard the Paladin grunt beside me and saw she'd noticed as well.

"Rangers, double time!" The expressionless helmet turned to look at me struggling to keep up. "Drop the damn weapon! You're only holding up the evacuation, not protecting anypony!"

"I would if I could but the brace under its the only thing keeping my broken leg going and we secured them together! Unless you've got a mechanic, a surgeon, and a free day or two it's not going to make me go faster!"

"That's- GAHHHH, DAMN THIS OP! When we get back and I debrief the Elder..."

"Miss, we can handle this. Not to worry!" The left side of the pack with the gun itself lightened immensely as Manesworth pulled the handle up with his claw. I immediately picked up speed and shot him a cautiously grateful look. Whatever reservations I had about his continued sanity I infinitely preferred him touching me to anypony else there. The Paladin had a slightly different reaction.

"DROP HIM SPARKER!" She jumped back into a crouching position as her minigun began to spin up. Manesworth's eyes pulled back in surprise but suddenly a shadow interposed itself between the two of us and the angry mare.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. We wouldn't have gotten out if not for those two so unless you want another fight right here, right now, stow the popgun," the deep voice of Titan Steel said quietly. The towering wall of navy coated muscle turned to glance at us and I nodded in immense appreciation. I looked back at the rest of our group and saw Spell draped over Sunflower as she stared back at our confrontation, biting her lower lip in distress. Titan returned my nod before again glaring at the Paladin. It was impossible to tell what her expression was beneath her helmet but from the way her head and shoulders were shaking it probably wasn't the mask.

The gun at her side stopped spinning and she stomped away to the rest of the group. Titan simply sighed in either appreciation or relief, I couldn't tell which. Before I had time to decide the huge stallion turned around and lifted me with the handle opposite Manesworth's as though I were simply a toolbox. The Overframe wasn't the most creative name giver you could meet, but what she was REALLY good at was getting right down to the basic, distilled essence of someone with a name.

I found myself floating between the two, my legs not even touching the ground, in what had to be the most bizarre and humiliating evacuation of an invalid ever conceived. Despite that I couldn't help but giggle a little as the adrenaline once again left me feeling drained and a little loopy. I was still lucid enough to look around and take in the small local part of the world outside our Stable. There wasn't much. We were in a large large room roughly three or four stories in height and the same in length and width that appeared to have been roughly cut out of the surrounding bedrock. At the far end from us was a large elevator platform. Above it was a rectangular cut in the ceiling with four metal tubes descending out of it before passing through slots in the platform itself. Cables ran from pulleys on the sides of the platform up into the hole in the ceiling. The whole setup looked like a much more minimal and brutal version of the tube ascent into the Spire.

'A more brutal version of the Spire' ... that phrase didn't make sense anymore. Nothing did, not one thing in this insane nightmare of a day. But we were out of it. We'd made it... all twenty or so of us. My eyes burned and I felt the tears welling up and this time I couldn't hold them back. I hung there under the weapon and curled up tighter as I silently heaved, hot and heavy tears leaving a trail behind our trio. I stayed that way until we made it onto the large elevator platform. The sudden clanging of hooves on metal snapped me out of it long enough to look around.

One of the simple clad Rangers, an Initiate if I remembered right, stood by the control panel while others were attaching small boxes to the panel and the pulley system winching us upwards. They stepped back and I noticed the blinking lights and glowing red screens blazoned with a single word: "Armed". They all looked at the Paladin who glanced at each device for a moment before nodding curtly.

This was it then. They were going to blow up the elevator and possibly the shaft as well. It was the only way out of the cavern we'd left behind and would seal it more permanently than collapsing the hallway had. The Stable was behind us now. I only thought I had been crying before. This time I dry heaved and hiccuped loudly enough that others took note. They hadn't seen the Gallery in flames and the horrors that took place there. But they'd lost their home just like I had and my misery seemed to cement that realization in them and open the floodgates. In ones and twos they began softly crying until our entire group of homeless survivors was filling the stone shaft with the echoing sounds of pain and loss.

* * * * * * * * *

WHOMP

The explosions were relatively small but they were well directed. The panel was scrapped instantly while the pulleys held on for a moment or two longer before they gave way with a metallic ping. The whole platform dropped quickly, barely finding any resistance on the tubes that centered it in the shaft. About six or seven seconds later a large shrieking boom finalized the destruction.

The Paladin stepped up the the shaft and looked down before whistling slightly and turning to the group of Initiates behind her.

"Nice work demo team, that was good and clean. You're getting the stamp of approval in my report," she said with a note of professional respect to her voice. The team did a quick hoof bump with each other before coming back to attention. The Paladin stepped back and turned to face our group.

The destruction of the elevator had been the final nail in the coffin for one or two and they were now moaning from deep in their souls. Most everypony else simply hung their heads in exhaustion. Spell still hadn't come around but was at least breathing from her place on top of Sun. My friend stood next to me with a hoof on my shoulder as she supported my injured boss. Her expression was hard and distraught but she wasn't openly crying like so many of the others. Her red eyes and the quivering corner of her mouth put to rest the idea that she was beyond feeling anything now. Manesworth floated next to me, eyes scanning around without any real discernible emotion. Titan sat on his haunches just ahead and to the side of him, one hoof rubbing his temples as he closed his eyes and frowned.

"All of you, listen closely. You've been through the kind of hell that most can't imagine and I'm not going to demean the pain you're feeling right now. But you're going to have to save it till after we escort you back to the Castle and get you settled in. I promise that you will all get the time to mourn in whatever way you wish then but right now we're moving out. The MidWaste isn't a place you want to stay out in the open or in one place for too long, particularly as far out as we are." She paused to watch our reactions. A few of the group muttered back and forth to one another for a bit but all turned back to listen to her again. I was chalking a third of their obedience up to the numbing effects of shock, another third to fear of the Rangers themselves and their weapons, and the final third to fear and uncertainty of what to do outside of the Stable. At least those were what I was feeling and at least one or two of those had to apply to them as well right?

I glanced around again anxiously. The top of the shaft had ended in a massive enclosed space filled with machines and production lines, just like one of the patriotic "War Effort" videos the Overframe played for us as students in the Nursery. That wasn't what was giving me one chill after another down my spine though. No, that was from the bare skeletons of unfinished robots hanging from gantries and strewn across the floor and on long dead conveyor belts. There were hundreds if not thousands of them hanging in rows above us, quietly squeaking as the last of the elevator blast dissipated into the air. A good number of those same conveyor lines ended just in front of where we stood. The scene was made all the more ominous by a dull green tinted light that streamed through small holes and cracks in the concrete ceiling and bathed everything in an ominous glow.

"Here's how this is going to work. We're going to be moving out in formation, your group at the center, with Crusader Lily," she continued as she tossed a nod towards the smaller armored mare, "and White Squad taking point. You will all keep your noise to a minimum or we will be forced to sedate and carry you and I promise you no one here will enjoy that. The other two squads will be fanned out along the sides and flanks. We will get you to safety as long as you follow every order we give without hesitation." She was panning her helmeted gaze about us but she locked onto Manesworth for a moment when she came to the line about safety.

"Now move out!"

As we walked towards the far end my eyes kept darting from one rusting hulk to the next, expecting all of them to suddenly open up with magical fire and flame and incinerate us all. Unfortunately it was in this mindset that I my ear was tickled by a soft whisper.

"Hafta keep your eyes on the ground dere. Nearly caught your pack on one of the rusty ones."

Manes and Titan were no longer carrying me since we were walking and not running now and because of that I nearly faceplanted in the effort to back away from the voice. The voice was unmistakable but I had no idea how a stallion wearing that much metal could move so silently.

"Birch, what the hell?! After everything else today that nearly gave me a heart attack!" I snapped at him. Huh... first when the Paladin told me to drop the pack and then just now. It was probably a good sign that my snarky side was coming back. Probably not so good that it was only coming back during extreme distress. The shrinks from the Gallery would have... well, they would have had a lot of things to say about our encounters today and our reactions to them. None of them were in the group.

Birch hadn't opened his helmet again since we began our trip out of the Stable so I couldn't see his face to know if he felt at least a little remorseful over scaring me ninety nine one hundredths to death. Half to death didn't even come close to describing it. Then he spoke again and the jolly tone let me know he most likely wasn't. No way of really knowing with that accent though, yeesh. Did even his questions have to end upbeat?

"Haha well we probably should have left you down dere then. Your heart isn't going to like the MidWaste, no question of dat." His cheery tone faltered for a bit as he trailed off at the end.

"It's- it's really that bad? The world? Everything outside 63?"

He glanced back at me before turning to watch his squad and our surroundings. When he was facing away he gave me his answer.

"Depends. I know dat for one or two in your group it would have been a mercy to leave them down dere. It would have been bad... but it would have been faster fer sure. Just how it works. The Wastes... dey'll change you. Not in any way that could be mistaken for good as far as dat goes. You can lose your nerve and likely your mind as well out here. Happens in every group that's been hiding out somewhere. Old subway station, abandoned cannery, you name it. You pull dem all out and some just won't accept it. Dey retreat into their heads and create worlds of their own. Den dey start thinking that the world shouldn't be what their eyes see, it should be more like what their insanity sees. That's how you get raiders... and worse."

I inhaled sharply. What he'd just described was every Stable 63 pony's nightmare. The dead world filled with monsters, clawing to get at what remained whole. "But why-" I began but stopped when he raised a hoof in my direction.

"I can't tell you that Gear Heart. I don't know. You won't know it's happening till dey finally snap most of the time. Dis world isn't made for ponies anymore, not really. Nothing's sound and whole. Out here, everything's broken."

I froze.

No.

Noooooo...

I can't go out there.

I can't go back and I can't go out there, I can't go with them, I can't go out there. Not when I'm already broken. I can't, I was already broken back in the Stable. I was already one of those monsters trying to get in... and I'd succeeded. I'd let the rest of them in, I'd let the wasteland in with its spell to take over the Overframe and kill the Stable. I was already as good as one of the horrors Birch described.

A sudden screech jerked me from my panic as I looked up and realized with horror that we'd reached the end of the factory and a group of Ranger Initiates were now hauling a pair of rusty sliding doors apart. Muddy light filled the opening and then I could see through it and every last bit of hope drained out of me.

A large asphalt concrete pad covered in the hulks of wrecked towing and transport trucks stretched out before us. Everything was covered in a fine coating of rust, grime, and ash. Beyond the loading area the ground was a grayish brown blur, broken up by twig trees with brown and putrid leaves. Between those sharp and gnarled scrub brush dominated. Detail was lost in the distance until a flash of lightning from the grey clouds above us illuminated the dark bulk of a vast mountain range far off on the horizon. The sky flashed again and I looked up to see a faint, sickly green tint the clouds above us. This was hell beyond my worst vision of hell.

"How abowt dat? The Radstorm cleared up while we were down dere! You're all pretty lucky, you don't have to go back in the foul weather we had when we got here! Dat's a good omen fer sure!"

* * * * * * * * *

New Perk: Broken. The wasteland is hell and you can relate. You gain a slightly increased chance of successful persuasion with the denizens of the Wasteland outside of civilization.

Chapter 4: Darkness and Past

Fallout Equestria: Steelhearts
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 4: Darkness and Past

"One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it."

"Ya sure, the storms are bad. Hard not to be when they kick up all the radioactive dust on the Smoky Mountains and toss it abowt! But most of the times the winds carry them down the other side of the range. It's pretty rare for dem to come this far west." Birch paused as his eyes flicked to the sky before continuing, "Though I should watch where I'm saying dat considering the light show we had when we got here. You want to always be careful about the weather. Whatcha gotta look out for is the dust trails on the Appleachians. See those wispy lines going up and down the mountain face? If they're flowing up the side and over the top you're clear, but if they're flowing down... get somewhere covered for awhile an' keep your head down. Radstorm won't be long behind once the winds shift."

My general moan of indignation with the world after Birch had dropped the Radstorm bomb had amused him to no end. In response, he'd launched into what he called "Wasteland 101". It included lessons like: "don't eat the yellow snow, don't eat the rainbow snow, don't eat whatever it is you're eating that makes you think you're eating snow because it hasn't snowed here in centuries, not since the Pegasi closed the sky." I'd just looked at him like he was out of his mind, which in all honesty I wasn't entirely convinced he wasn't, and nodded whenever he looked my way. The Rangers we were traveling with talked back and forth to one another in quiet voices punctuated here and there by small laughs and moans. Myself and the other survivors simply huddled together in the center and kept our heads down. None of us were inclined towards looking up at the blasted landscape around us or the darkened grey-green sky above us.

We were approaching the end of the paving lot, the line between asphalt and ashen dirt one more mental hurdle to cross. I felt compelled to look back, and fought it as long as I could. I guess... well, I guess that I still felt somewhere in the back of my mind that if I turned around and ran back in that everypony I'd seen murdered would jump out of lockers and doorways to shout "gotcha!". That empty hope drained the last of my resolve.

"Well, I tried to fight it so I'm going to put that down as a 'close enough'," I muttered as I turned to look back at the still opened doorway. Then I screamed, tumbling backwards onto my weaponized saddle like a turtle flipped onto its shell. Immediately every Ranger was facing outwards, guns at the ready. Seeing nothing of note they all turned to look at me with confusion and annoyance. Birch was closest to me and tilted his head before turning to follow my petrified stare. He paused for a moment before he burst out laughing even more loudly than my howling.

The building we had come out of was a fairly plain concrete block with thick sliding doors set into it here and there, not giving any hint of what was actually inside it. What did give it away though was the giant Mr. Handy stuck on top of the whole thing. I was coming down from the shock enough to notice some key details about it, things like the peeling sheet metal, the mesh work interior, and a couple other minor details that said 'not real nor likely to murder everything around it'. What really topped it off though was the equally massive teacup resting on top of its saw blade, the pitcher of coffee pouring into it from its clawed arm, and the bowler hat resting at a jaunty angle on top of its rusting metal dome. A billboard speech bubble, its paint long gone but outlines showing the original lettering, extending from the side of the fake robot said, "Brewed to perfection every time! Get your own handy dandy Mr. Handy today!"

Once I calmed down enough to notice the details the panic evaporated... but so did my dignity as I also took notice of my current state. I tried to right myself but succeeded only in flailing my legs in the air. I arched my back and rocked back and forth but failed again to flip myself over. I stopped moving, belly up and legs tucked in tight, and looked around dejectedly with a shallow sigh.

Crusader Birch was rolling on his side now, wheezing for lack of air. Crusader Lily just looked to the sky for a moment before turning back to scan our surroundings. Every other Ranger I could see was either snickering, shaking their head, or frowning at me. Paladin Night, however, just stood stock still, staring at me. She slowly sat back on her haunches and then equally slowly brought her forehooves up to her faceplate. A small series of clinking sounds were added to the quiet amusement around me as she brought her head into contact with her hooves again and again.

"Bloody." CLINK

"Bucking." CLINK

"Stable." CLINK

"Ponies." CLINK

Her hooves came down and the expressionless helmet stared at me for a couple of seconds. She shook her head again and looked at the large Crusader next to me as he got back up from the ground.

"You done there Crusader? Or do you need another minute to yourself?" she asked sardonically.

He waved a hoof dismissively as he slowly shook his armored head, chuckling the whole time. The Paladin turned back to her own squad with a sigh. Everyone was pointedly ignoring me while I was still flipped on my back and now going a little dizzy. Way to go Gear, you were finally taken out by the most fiendish of foes: gravity.

"Oohkay, I think ya've been stuck like that for long enough. Come on now, easy does it. Hate for your warning to come true and your heart blows up over bad advertising. That'd be very messy for us to clean up and embarrassing for your memory don'tcha know."

My view of the world spun suddenly as a pair of cold metal hooves reached under and over me and flipped me with seemingly zero effort. Finding my feet under me again I heard a small creak and popping from my brace as a sharp pain ran up my leg. I winced and checked to see if my walking aid had finally given up the ghost. Thankfully everything looked fine but I could only see so much.

"Gear, let me take a look at it. It's probably fine but I did kind of do it in a hurry." I turned to find Sunflower standing in front of me, a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. They were almost glazed over and I felt a twinge of concern for her. She seemed to pick up what I was thinking and closed her eyes while shaking her head, the smile never disappearing.

"I'll be okay, we're out. It's over... all of it. Now let me check this out," she added with a frown as she began plucking at her handiwork.

I could tell she was looking for anything to put her mind to; to focus on so she wouldn't have to dwell on whatever was going through her head and I offered just what she needed in that moment. She looked drained and completely exhausted, though the same could be said of me probably. Plus she was probably right to be concerned for me.

"I know Sun, I know. It's just been too much too fast, just one damn thing after the next. I-I don't know what's going on in my head right now. You know me, I'm not the excitable or anxious type-" my words were cut off as Sun's eyebrow shot up, her expression flipping from glazed to incredulous almost instantly. I would have been happy with that shift if I didn't know exactly what she was thinking of.

"- most of the time," I added on lamely. "Damn. Everything today... I-I don't know. I just feel... I don't know what I feel. Right now I really don't want to think about it," I added with a small toss of my head at Birch standing a little ways behind us.

"Oh don't let me stop you! This is the most excitement we've had in weeks! Beats patrol duty and Raider sweeps fer sure." The armored stallion practically bounced as he spoke.

Sun gave him a blank look. "This... this is fun for you? You lost one of your group! ...Raider sweeps?" There was a chill in her voice and I found myself wondering if Birch's armor would stand up to a kick from two angry hindlegs.

The Crusader's humor dried up a little. "Yeah, Feather Hide was a good sort and I'm going to hate telling his folks when we get back. He was in my squad and I was responsible for him but out here dat sometimes doesn't mean a whole lot. Dere's only so much you can do to keep them safe. Dat said we're not doing too badly. A lot of other platoons would have lost two or three in a situation like dat but Night, Lily, and I try our best at keeping dem sharp so they don't get overconfident or panic when shit hits the fan."

His demeanor turned darker still as he took a few more steps before continuing.

"As for the Raiders, they keep popping up around what's left of Whinneapolis and we keeping having to clear dem out. Doesn't matter dat whenever we find some decrepit doughnut joint or crumbling shop being used as a base we blast it to da ground. Ruins are just too big to cover everywhere all de time and we've almost been too successful with the Burbs. Too inviting to those sickos."

Sunflower shook her head with a frown then, with less cold anger and more apprehension, asked, "No, I meant what's a Raider?"

The Crusader turned to look at her, his head tilted to the side.

"You're... you really don't... right. Stable." A burst of static that sounded a lot like someone sucking air through their teeth ended his muttering. He whistled a single long note as then looked back and forth between us.

"Hoooooo boy, how to answer dat one... ummmmm... you know, I envy you all. Carrying on in your Stable without worrying about psychos and monsters day in and day out. Shame we had to pull you out of dere, honestly." His mirth was gone again, just like when I'd asked about the MidWastes.

"A Raider is... a Raider is what you get when a pony loses whatever good is left in everyone out here. The mind just shuts down, the lights go out, and the Waste takes dem. Dere are little bands of dem running all over the place, building their despotic empires, ambushing travelers, looting homesteads, raping and killing innocents, torturing and worse still than dat... and that's just it when you get down to it, they're simply the worst in us with nothing to hold it back. The Waste never seems to run out of dem either. Clear out one group's hideout and a week later the same place will be full again."

I stared at him incredulously. Sunflower drew in a sharp breath with a muffled whimper, her anger at Birch's blunt response all but vanished.

"Never been able to figure out if dey're doing it because they think it's the only way dey'll survive, dat dey'll keep living if everypony fears dem, or if dey just don't even care anymore. Some think dat deep down dey;re really just doing it for amusement, that they get so lost dey can't tell the difference between it and a game of cards... I stay away from thoughts like dat. Dere's enough darkness under this sky," he muttered with a glance at the unbroken clouds, "without me adding to it. In the end I'm not sure it really matters what the reason is, the result's still the same..." The Crusader shook slightly and pulled himself up, setting his legs and back stiffly before turning away from us.

"So, dat's what a Raider is. You'll find out soon enough. No way to stay out here and not before long." The conversation ended there as he began dropping back towards his squad of Initiates, leaving Sun and I to shiver in the cold air and bleak light of the wasteland.

* * * * * * * * *

"RobronCo: Engineering the Future, Today!"

I was ready for the sign this time and just frowned at it as we passed through the gates surrounding the gigantic parking lot we'd emerged onto. On either side of the sign a picture of a Protectapony head faced the observer, while behind it and to the left was a partially obscured stock Mr. Handy, claw arm raised outwards from below the frame. Behind and on the right a Mr. Gutsy held the same pose with its energy weapon raised in place of the claw.

I paused for a moment to inspect it more closely. Just yesterday I would have said it felt like looking at a family photo. Some of my best friends had been robots like these. They'd joked and mumbled at Stable life and worked alongside me for years. Then they started sawing the rest of the family in half. I shuddered for what had to be the millionth time that day as I tried not to think about whether I'd seen any of them down in the Gallery.

"You're going to have to get over that fear civilian. Either you beat it or it will beat you and up here, outside your Stable, you can't afford to have anything beat you. If that happens you get to be part of Birch's warnings to the next group we pull out of some hole somewhere else."

At first I thought it was the Crusader speaking to me but I noticed that he was still back with his squad. Instead I found the Paladin standing behind me as I turned to meet the voice. She motioned for me to keep moving then fell into step alongside me, helmet pointing straight ahead.

"Gear Heart, correct?" she asked without looking at me. I nodded in confirmation. Her head turned a little my way though somehow I could tell that she still wasn't looking at me from behind those dark glass visors. "I wish to apologize for my conduct earlier. It was unacceptable for someone in my position and it reflected poorly on all Rangers."

Ah, so I've got Paladin Blank Mask this time instead of Paladin Blind Rage. I'll take any silver linings at this point. Celestia knows I wasn't going to find one looking around or at the clouds above us. Not unless silver linings glowed slightly radioactive-green now.

"Um... sure, not a problem. I appreciate the apology, takes some of the sting out of my back." I couldn't help it, I really couldn't. She frustrated me to no end. First she'd saved us, then she threw me into a wall for no reason, and now she was acting chummy again? It was like Spell if she had a split personality with a robot for one half.

Thankfully I was not beaten to a pulp once more. Instead the Paladin gave a static filled winced through the speakers in her helmet. "Yes, well, again... my apologies. If you're okay with it, could we continue where we left off? I've asked a few of the others but most of them tell me you were at the center of it all. I'd like to get the full story if possible." Her voice had a new conciliatory tone this time around and I took a small amount of pride in getting her mask to crack however slightly. Unfortunately I was driving along at full snark and hadn't found the breaks.

"Where we left off? You mean the punch line? Sure, why not?"

Dammit Gear. Your social skills were broken to begin with and now you're adding your survival ones to them? Get your emotions back under control! Paladin Night's helmet split open suddenly and I found myself faced with the most put-upon glower I'd ever seen, quelling any chance of further comments from me.

"Tell me, does everypony from your Stable have your sense of humor or am I only going be dealing with it around you?"

I chuckled nervously and replied hastily, "Sorry, nervous habit. Kind of. I think. Sorry... again. Snark is kind of my go-to for everything that I don't know how to deal with." I felt my mouth twitch a bit as my train of thought crashed headlong into memory station. "Didn't get me out of this morning though. Not even sure what that was or how it happened or why it happened. It just... happened." I ended with a nonchalant shrug I knew was more to reassure myself than to put the Paladin at ease. I had a feeling she saw through it as her expression dropped back into the same all purpose mask she'd worn when I first saw her. The ease with which she did it caused a pang of jealousy to shoot through me.

"You seem to be holding up rather well in spite of your trials. None of the others seem to have your calm or composure except for perhaps that large fellow who stood up for you."

I looked away in shame. She was praising me for nerves and fortitude I didn't have. All I had was my broken cutie mark and my broken reactions and my broken emotions. Oh, and now I had a broken body to go with the set. My leg gave a little twitch as if to punctuate the thought.

"That's not-... I don't react or feel like I'm supposed to. Never have. Panic at things I shouldn't, don't laugh when others do, probably other things I don't notice and no one tells me about either. I know I should be a wreck right now but I'm not and I don't know why."

"Hmmmmm... I see," she replied. "If I were you, I wouldn't focus too much on your lack of panic. It is an admirable and valuable trait in this world. Instead, just be glad you're alive and that both you and we were in the right places at the right times to provide aid. If we hadn't been sent to the factory for a sweep and retrieve mission you'd all have been stuck behind that door."

I twitched an ear her way, her statement tapping at my curiosity and mercifully giving me something else to think about. "Sweep and retrieve? Did the Rangers lose something out here?"

She blinked a couple times, her pace slowing minutely, as she considered my question. "In a long and twisted way, yes. Let me ask you something in return before I elaborate on just how... unique that question was. Given your reaction to us I'm guessing none of you had ever heard of, let alone encountered, the Steel Rangers before?"

I nodded in reply. "We never heard anything other the automated signals."

"Not surprising, Tenpony Tower's broadcasts barely reach out here on the best of days and no one local can spare the materials or power. As for the rangers, our order hails from the pre-war M.W.T and-" she paused as she took note of my confused frown complete with questioning eyebrow raise. "You... do know what the Ministry of Wartime Technology is, right? You had to have been taught that. That's Great War basics!"

"Not a clue. What we were taught was mostly old stories from the pre-war times, like Luna's Redemption, and practical skills to use in the Stable. The Stable didn't have a lot of materials on the war itself," I answered with a small shake of my hoof.

Night stared at me for a long time. Again. This was becoming something of a common theme between us and it was getting a little creepy. I was used to giving the blank stares, not being on the receiving end of them. The next sound to come out of her was a low growl followed by words dripping with venom. I slowly shifted away from her, preparing for Paladin Rage to return.

"I don't know what Stable-Tec was playing at with your unit. They claimed to be trying to stop the mistakes of the past and then they fail to teach that past. That's even more dangerous than-" She cut off her sentence and stared pensively at Crusader Lily's squad ahead of us. I let out a small breathy whistle as Night failed to become the visage of anger I'd encountered earlier. I took the lull in our talk to cast a wary eye about at our surroundings and away from the still fuming mare.

The RobronCo factory was falling away behind us and already I couldn't make out the words on either the huge Mr. Handy model or the gate sign. The main building of the complex was set into a series of low hills that blocked any views of what lay further back. A faint green glow cresting over them was probably the Radstorm Birch had been complaining about earlier. Before us lay a large expanse of rolling hillocks and flat plains. Dead grey and barely living brown grass and tall weeds stretched as far as the eye could see before the faint haze of dust in the air made everything fade into blurry shadows. Rising above it all was the imposing mass of the Smoky Mountains. The thin wisps of debris flowing down the nearest face looked like the fumes of a welding arc and now and then lightning world illuminate them, completing the illusion. Either the range had been renamed after the war or the name was eerily prophetic.

"-while we're en route to the Castle. ...Gear?"

I turned to Paladin Night at the same time as she turned to look questioningly at me.

"Errr... sorry. Was looking around and didn't catch that."

The Paladin rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. "Trust me, you've seen it now. This is what you get in the MidWaste, one giant ash pile. On a related note, I asked if you wanted me to fill you in on the MWT and the rest of history you're missing since there's not going to be much to see until we get closer to the Whinneapolis Ruins. It should also clear up why your question took me by surprise."

"Oh, uh, sure. But... just me? What about the others?"

The Paladin blinked as her mouth worked silently for a bit. "You know, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. I guess you're just the standout member of your group right now what with the weapon, the leg brace, and the Floater sidekick. They just make you stick out of the crowd, especially to Rangers." Her voice dropped minutely on the addition of Manesworth but it didn't last as she continued, "You're right though, you should all hear this. It will make our mission clearer to you and maybe it will help some of the nervous ones calm down around us," she ended with with a small grimace and a glance towards the survivors huddled together ahead of us.

She tapped her armored hoof on the ground a few times and said, "Civilians, can I have your attention! I've been made to understand that you're missing a large amount of information with regards to the Great War and the events leading up to it. If you're interested I'd like to quickly fill in some of that missing knowledge for you, particularly about the Rangers."

The group of survivors all paused in their walking, their heads turning around to look at the armored mare. One or two slowly nodded their heads while most everypony else just glanced around in confusion. A few looked at me questioningly and I responded in my best "your guess is as good as mine" shrug.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes'. Before I start, this is only going to cover the bare minimum to understand who we are so that you can feel more comfortable in our protection. I'll leave it up to the Scribes to better tell the full history. First, do you know about the Massacre at Littlehorn?" she asked, looking around at the small crowd in front of her. They were giving her their full, if cautious, attention at this point. The mention of the word massacre though caused a few ears to drop and here and there a few began shuddering at recent memories being pulled to the surface. I tapped the tone-deaf Paladin on the shoulder and shook my head. Her brow furrowed again and I was fairly certain I heard "self righteous nutjobs" in the brief muttering that followed. She closed her eyes and sighed before looking around again.

"Littlehorn was the location of Princess Luna's Academy for Young Unicorns and- ah, I see you've at least heard of that then?" A large number of my remaining family had perked up at the mention of our patron princess. A small violet colored mare from the group nodded before answering.

"The Nursery video said it was given to Princess Luna by Princess Celestia before the War. It was supposed to help her take her place as an equal ruler. We saw some pictures and videos of the opening ceremony."

The Paladin nodded then looked around with a solemn expression.

"That is all accurate but there is one other key fact you should know. The school was also the site of a terrible crime perpetrated by the Zebra Empire: The Massacre at Littlehorn. Our records aren't entirely clear on the start of it other than that the school's guards opened fire on a group of Zebra refugees, took the wounded in, and in response a commando unit from the Empire utilized the first Pink Cloud attack of the war on the school. There were... no survivors. None of the guards, students, or refugees escaped as far as we are aware. A brutal attack on those trying to atone for a mistake with no regard for the lives of the students or their own among them."

Everypony, myself included, stared at her in stunned silence. Jaws hung slack on a few and all had their ears pulled down and back in horror.

W-what... what in Tartarus was wrong with everypony?! The question replayed over and over in my head. First it turned out they were all crazed killers and psychos here and now according to Birch and suddenly it seems that was the case back in the past before everything was blown to hell and gone! I didn't have time to wonder further though as the Paladin continued, head bowed slightly as she looked from one survivor to the next.

"After that Celestia stepped down and Luna took the throne. In response to the Empire's crimes and the threat they presented she established the six ministries under the direction of the Bearers, thereafter called the Ministry Mares, to find a way to end the conflict in either victory or peace. One of those ministries was the Ministry of Wartime Technology headed by Applejack, the Element of Honesty. She created our Steel Ranger order, and the power armor that gave us the name. She tasked the order with protecting the Ministry and its technologies from those that would abuse them. We survived and hold the duty put to us to this day, scouring the wastes looking for what remains of the M.W.T heritage to secure and protect it from those who use it against ponykind."

Night looked back over her shoulder at the now distant factory. "Our chapter got word of that RobronCo factory from a reliable source and my platoon was dispatched to investigate and see what technologies could be salvaged. We didn't expect was to pick up a couple static-filled broadcasts on known Stable-Tec frequencies once we arrived. There are very few Stables out in the MidWastes and yours was not previously known. Given that, we prioritized finding the source of the signal and now here we are," she ended as her gaze swung back round to me.

Standing next to the Paladin I got to watch the shock and confusion grow on everyone's faces as the Paladin recounted the past. The same small mare raised a hoof to get Night's attention then began speaking, softly and slowly.

"What happened to Luna and Celestia? The Nursery lessons said that one day the Empire just lost it and used every weapon they had and we did the same and the world ended. That was it though, the lesson just ended there."

The Paladin quirked an eyebrow for a moment then answered slowly and patiently, "No one is certain. But they have not been seen since the day the Megaspells fell and all evidence points to them not surviving the attacks. I'm sorry, but I have no definitive answer to give you on the Princesses. Tell me though, please, what was the theme of the lesson you mentioned?"

Lucky Break (I finally remembered her name, took me long enough) looked around rather self-consciously then replied, "N-not really sure, we were all fillies and foals at the time and I don't remember it that well. I do remember she asked us what we thought about the war and I said it made me feel sad. She said that was the right response, that the war was a sad mistake that everyone failed to prevent." She smiled a little, probably hoping that if she'd given a bad answer the Paladin wouldn't chew her out for it. I knew I would in her place, especially after Night nearly broke my back over an answer she hadn't liked. I edged toward from the armored mare slightly, just in case I needed to try to cover for Lucky... somehow.

But all that Night did was look down at the ground, squinting at something only she could see as her eyes moved back and forth quickly. Then she seemed to lose whatever she was focusing on and looked back up at the group around her with her mask expression.

"Thank you, not only have you given me the opportunity to educate you on who we are, but you've also helped me understand your situation a bit more. I hope you all feel a little more comfortable around us now. If you have any other questions there are one or two Initiates with an interest in history who can probably help in that regard and perhaps clear up some uncertainties and misinformation. Gear, we'll finish our own discussion if an opportunity arises before we reach the Castle. I need to return to my post for now." With that her helmet closed again and I watched out of the corner of my eye as she turned back to her own squad.

"Gear... do you trust her? Do you trust them?"

As I turned I found two stallions I knew distantly from the electrical systems team, Live Wire and Golden Eyes, and a turquoise mare I'd never spoken to before standing in front of me. Very CLOSE in front of me and I immediately backpedaled a couple hooves until my personal space was reestablished. The mare whose name I didn't know turned out to be the one who had spoken.

"Well? Do you trust them? Was any of that true?"

"Honestly? It seemed rehearsed but not in a 'make it convincing' way I think. You know what I mean...?" I replied with a hoof twirled in her direction.

"Huh? Oh, it's Blossom Burst. I work in-... worked in the plumbing section."

I nodded and said, "Thanks Blossom. But you see what I'm getting at? She doesn't strike me as the lying type."

"I guess... but they all still seem... off. She's angrier than Spell one moment and then more spaced out than, well... YOU, the next. No offense. They're stiff and rigid and then they laugh at- never mind. Did she tell you anything else Gear? "

Okay, she was getting really insistent about asking me. This was getting weird.

... and I didn't appreciate her implied dig at me either, all the offense taken. Just because social cues sometimes flew right over my head with miles to spare didn't mean I wasn't paying attention to others. Case in point as I began looking back over everything I'd seen of our guards so far.

"Eh, not so much. I've mostly been talking with Birch, the big one in the armor, and what he said matched up with the Paladin's story even when told in his own... unique way. My big concern is the Paladin was glossing over things. They were ready for a fight as soon as the Stable door came down without knowing what was in it. But I don't think they made the Overframe go mad, it attacked them just the same as us. So I don't think they're telling us everything but I don't think they're going to hurt us either."

Blossom looked back at me, not completely convinced of my reasoning judging by her expression. There had to be something I could say that would reassure her and the others, if only to keep the group calm and together. The alternatives were worse and we needed the Rangers for now at least. Come on Gear, think...

Oh... I think I know why she asked me. I did have one other thing I could try and... well... I was really afraid it was going to work.

"Okay, let me put it this way. Nothing she said made me feel like I needed to give her the eyebrow treatment." Immediately about half the group, mostly those I'd worked with continually over the years, brightened up and a few nodded here and there.

Oh for... what was with everypony and these superstitions? I lay out my logic as clearly as I can manage and it gets skepticism but my eyebrow doesn't itch or spasm and suddenly all is fine and forgiven! 'Forget reasoning and scrutiny, praise be to the Eyebrow Sense!'

Blossom looked to Live Wire and Golden Eyes then back to me with a small sigh. "Good enough I guess. So... what are we going to do now?" she ended as she looked around the group.

Everyone looked around apprehensively, looking for somepony else to have an idea that would fix our situation, turn back the clock, give us our old lives back. The faces of our group were desperate and cold, both in body and soul. The silence lasted a few seconds before a deep and familiar voice spoke out. A space opened up around Titan Steel as the towering department head looked over his shoulder to the diminutive mare slung over his back. Last I'd checked Sun had been carrying her. They must have switched off at some point and I'd been too distracted or unfocused to notice.

"I don't claim to have a plan for what we should do but we've got a pretty immediate problem to deal with before that. Spell's still out cold and her breathing's really weak. The rest of us are okay but she needs a doctor or at least medication for the burns and I haven't noticed a lot of either of those out here. Way I see it, these Rangers are the best hope she's got for any sort of decent healing, even if we don't want to stay with them. So I say we stick with them for now for Spell's sake. We can figure out what's what after she's patched up and we've got more information. All of us."

It was easy to see why the Overframe had chosen Titan as the head of the Structures team. He was authoritative without being domineering and laid out plans from A to B without getting bogged down between them. That last one I still struggled with, I mean just look at what started as my "stop Sun getting murdered" plan and quickly became my "rickshaw escape up the Gallery while chased by killer robots" plan.

Everypony else seemed to agree with me as they spoke up in agreement and acceptance in ones and twos. Titan looked around solemnly and nodded slowly as no one brought forth any challenge or alternative. Then he looked at me and said, "Gear, would you mind staying close? If Spell wakes up I want her to see something more familiar than my ugly mug and you both went through the grinder today. I think she'll more easily accept things if you tell her." He paused for a moment as he cast his eyes about, considering... something. "Actually, bring Manesworth and Sunflower over too. I'd like to keep Manes out of the way of the Rangers and it just doesn't feel right not seeing you and Sunflower mouthing off at each other. It'll add some normalcy to the day," he added with a slight smirk.

I looked around and saw the pair standing and hovering just behind me and smiled faintly as I shrugged a little. Manesworth raised his claw in an overly dramatic salute and moved forward while Sun held her head forward, her ears down as she smirked a little from Titan's jab at us. It was better than I'd seen from her in awhile and I silently thanked Titan in my head for drawing her out at least a little from the gloom that had settled over her usual sunny mood. I shot him a thankful glance which he acknowledged with a nod and I felt hope flickering dimly inside me as we joined our friends.

* * * * * * * * *

We'd been walking for what seemed like an eternity when the Paladin called a halt at the base of a long line of rolling hills. She hadn't been kidding about having seen the whole of the MidWaste. It had been blasted grey and brown earth and scrub brush as far as the eye could see the whole time with only small hills, shallow valleys, and dried river beds to break the monotony.

The Rangers took turns walking a large perimeter around the combined group as everypony rested. No one spoke in the quiet stillness and the loudest sound by far came when Paladin Night took over for an Initiate in patrolling, the sharp clop of her armored hooves on the broken road sounding like the tick of a clock. That ended when Grease Tin suddenly broke the scilence in a huff.

"So, there anything out here? Because all I can see of your Midwastes is dirt and ash." He paused for a moment before adding, "Why do you call it the Midwaste anyway?" he asked as he turned to the Paladin.

I immediately called back to a memory of Grease talking down to Spell on his first day and the results that followed. Grease, are you ever going to learn not to mouth off to obviously dangerous mares? I thought as I flinched in anticipation of the tongue lashing I was expecting. What I heard instead was silence as the Paladin paused her walk and quietly looked back at the waiting stallion.

She swept her leg around in a wide arc. "This... all of this used to be the breadbasket of wartime Equestria. Fields as far as the eye could see with towns dotted across them to collect it all. So yeah, this is more or less what you get apart from places torn up by wayward Megaspells and everything that happened after the war. It got spared most of it because of the Appleachian Range and the Smoky Mountains. The Zebra Empire was on the opposite side of the country from this place, over near the Dragon Lands, and never got their armies or agents far enough in to do more than sabotage farm equipment and rail lines at times and their missiles didn't have the range to make it. The troops stationed to protect the area didn't hurt either."

She tossed a hoof over her shoulder at Birch's and her squads saying, "The original Ranger contingent we hail from was part of that group, protecting new farm inventions and some industries started by the MWT in the area, away from the conflict. That RobronCo factory was almost certainly one of them. None of us guessed there'd be a Stable below it though. As I mentioned, Stable-Tec didn't build many of them out this way, population was too spread out and too far away from the rest of the country to warrant more than a couple of their... projects," she said with a 'tsk' from inside her helmet, "and most of those were in the center of towns." A moment later she seemed to remember the rest of the question and added, "As for the name, the area used to be called the Midwest since it was midways between the heartland and the unexplored territories out West beyond here. Ponies around here always had a stubborn streak so they just changed West to Waste and called it done. Does that answer your question?"

Grease nodded as he looked around at the land around us then paused with a frown before looking at Night again.

"So there's nothing living out here?"

The silence that followed afterwards was broken only by the faint whistling of the wind.

"OH CELESTIA, NOT AGAIN!" moaned one of the Initiates sitting around us. Every Ranger was suddenly alert, weapons up and at the ready. The rest of us just spun about in confusion, trying to make sense of the sudden outburst. Grease in particular looked shocked and alarmed at the reaction to his last question.

Lily's soft voice cut through the nervous mumbling around us like a blade. "You. Don't tempt Fate around here. Celestia and Luna might have been goddesses but Fate's second to none and she's accomplices with Irony."

...wait, really? They were getting worked up over some superstitious complex? REALLY?! Forget my eyebrow, this one takes the cake.

Another Initiate, one of Lily's own, added quietly, "Last time it was 'If not in the last century then why now?' Ended up running from a reactivated Megaspell. Time before that it was 'What's the worst that could happen?' Ground under us collapsed into a Radscorpion nest. Then it was 'How bad can it be?' and it was... " he shuddered a little, his lip and one eye twitching "... Mercy."

Birch groaned loudly as did a few others. Lily went stiff before shaking herself and resuming her lookout. Paladin Night just swept her head around slowly as she surveyed the area.

"First off, Silver? Don't ever say that name again," the Paladin hissed then paused, watching the road we'd been following. "Second, break's over. We're moving. The Burbs are close enough we can make it to the nearest one before dark. Third, no more questions. None."

Uhhhhhhh... well then. Not that I suddenly believe in fate or curses or whatever buuuut... I do believe in experience and backing things up with data and that... none of that sounded good. Though I have no idea who Mercy is or why they're worse then a Megaspell. Don't think I want to know. Within a minute of Night's command we were all quickly trotting up the rise. Everypony was alert now, ears and eyes twisting and scanning our surroundings. The world suddenly seemed even quieter than it had while we rested. Too qui-

NO! NOT GOING TO DO IT! I didn't think it, the thought never fully formed, it's all good. It's all go- the ground's rumbling. It's not all good.

"SCATTER!"

I barely had time to begin to follow the order before the ground erupted beneath our group. Slabs of asphalt catapulted our group away in all directions as they rose and crashed over the face of the hill. I fell hard, the saddle rivetgun digging into my side and bruising my back.

"Gahhhh! Damn, that hurts!" The cry numbed the pain enough for me to look back at the improvised weapon. I stopped before I got to inspect it though, my eyes drawn to a tower of blackened flesh soaring out of the ground where we'd all been standing just a moment before. Misshapen folds of skin and scabbed over lesions covered the surface of the monstrous body. That wasn't the worst though. No, that was by far the flower-like head that split out into six petals brimming with sharp spines along the outer edges, glowing green eyes dotting the outer surface of each one. An army of small black tentacles ending in broad bulbs suddenly erupted from the center of the monsters face, swirling in the air as the end of each one opened to reveal a miniature copy of the horror's head. The entire thing screeched horrifically, the sound causing my teeth to vibrate in my skull and my blood to freeze. As the sound died down I could just make out the sound of Birch shouting.

"AH FUCK, PLUNDERWURM!" he snarled as he tumbled away with the rubble.

"I KNEW IT! I FUCKING CALLED IT! AGAIN!!!" came a manic yell I recognized as the voice of the traumatized Initiate from earlier.

"I NEVER FINISHED THINKING IT!" I screamed in frustration at no one in particular.

"I JUST WANTED SOMETHING TO EEEEEAT!" sobbed Grease hysterically.

* * * * * * * * *

New Perk: Voice of Reason - You are an unflappable and solid example to others. Your companions gain +1 Intelligence around you and are more likely to approach situations critically and calmly.

Author's Note

Finally. Between Boeing deciding I needed to be on two sustaining programs at once and the semester ramping up this took WAY longer to finish than I wanted. Christmas and the long break should let me pick up the pace again for a bit thankfully. Have another story idea outside of FoE I might flesh out in that time, work it side by side with this one.

As for the new monster, got some inspiration from a TERRIBLE sci-fi flick I found recently. It's awful but in the best way haha. The name basically says everything else about how it came together in my mind.

https://youtu.be/aoUUXfk26Cc?t=251

Chapter 5: Past and Blood

Fallout Equestria: Steelhearts
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 5: Past and Blood

"That's how they getcha... they're under the god damned ground."

"NONONONO, NOT LIKE THIS, NOT LIKE THIS! SARGE, HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE-" the panicked scream cut off suddenly as the bleeding Initiate was slammed into the open mouth of the monster by no less than three of the writhing tentacles. I watched in horror as his body disappeared into the mass of greenish pink flesh before the toothed petals of the mouth closed shut over him. The body of the worm pulsed sickeningly as he was swallowed down.

"AHHHHHH SHIT! CINDERBLOCK!" Birch bellowed from inside his armor as he sprang up from where he'd landed.

We'd had no time to run or hide after the thing burst from the ground. The doomed Ranger had been the closest to it and had been set upon immediately by a swarm of clawed maws. The fanged ends of the tentacles had pierced his legs and shoulder and lifted him high as we watched in stunned silence.

"Rangers, fan out by squads and fall back! Target the vines and keep each other covered! Civilians, get behind the squads and get down! MOVE IT!" Paladin Night called out, cutting through the screeching and yells. A change washed over her troops and they began clustering into groups of three or four, all the while firing their small arms at the mass of twisting death and decay. Where their rounds missed and instead impacted the body of the creature they either bounced off its hide or pierced the sores and spat yellow bile and puss. The smell coming off the thing intensified tenfold and I heaved up bile. The beast screeched in response and the tentacles flared out madly in all directions. I jumped to my hooves, or at least tried to, the dead weight strapped across my back making anything close to a jump a non-starter, and began running as fast as I could towards the forming ring of protection. A jerk on my saddlepack pulled me up short and I looked back in terror at the black trapjaw dug firmly into the back of the rivet gun. It began yanking me backwards while I clawed at the ground, screaming futilely for it to let me go. My hindlegs started to slowly lift off the ground and I hoped I was going to be too heavy for it to lift with the rivet gun. That hope was dashed as my forelegs began to lose purchase as well. There would be no reprieve, only a slower trip to my death than Cinberblock had gotten.

"Not on my watch you cur!" a familiar voice called. I looked up just in time to see Manesworth fly overhead. He began hacking at the fanged jaw with his saw blade, the armored tentacle flicking away from the blows in agitation until his blade scraped past the armored head and bit deep into the stalk behind it. With a horrible wet wrench the saw jammed almost halfway through it and stalled. The tentacle released it's vice grip on my pack at the same time that it gave a spastic heave.

"Oh bugger-" Manesworth shouted as he was flicked off the end, sailing through the air in a graceful spiral. I began running as fast as I could behind him, tracking his arc as he plummeted. A few moments later he slammed into the ground and bounced once before getting his repulsor under him and arresting his slide. He lifted up two of his eyes, the left one hanging limply next to a large dent in his plating. Below it his flamer was bent at an angle from his arm. I breathed a short sigh or relief when it failed to leak or explode.

"Oh blast it all," he muttered as he lifted up his saw arm. The arm itself was fine but the cutting blade had been warped beyond use and was almost bent over entirely. "Master Gear, I suggest we depart as soon as possible. That foul thing has quite the right hook. Or would it be a left? Cursed tentacles, they're mangling my metaphors!" He waved his dented saw at the monstrous thing. I felt the sudden urge to give him another, much deeper dent in his chassis when another fanged tentacle came hurtling towards us with a screaming hiss for his trouble. Just before it reached us a swarm of bullets turned the whole thing into a wet rain that splat across both of us. I blinked once, then gagged at the smell that consumed my world. I hadn't thought there was anything left in my stomach after I puked in the Stable. I was very, very wrong.

After a brief retching, sneezing, and general moaning session I looked around, trying to ignore the feeling of something wet and slimy dribbling down my coat. The entire worm had bent over towards the group the last second fire had come from. A set of three snaking jaws shot towards Night in its center only to be cut down by a fusillade of fire from the rest of her squad as they slowly regrouped around her. They writhed back and up into the thing's gaping, screaming maw, dripping yellow gore over its meaty throat. Before my hope could even begin to recover the end of each spasming tendril erupted in a bulbous protrusion. They each split open to reveal new fanged jaws where the destroyed ones had been. The damned things looked even more armored than before!

"Paladin! There's too much radiation around! We're not going to stop it with small arms! We need to retreat!" Lily called out as her minigun shredded a tendril swiping wildly towards her. It writhed even more madly, spraying more yellow bile mixed with dark crimson blood across the broken ground, then retracted back into the maw with a whip-like crack. Night paused in her firing to look around then snarled and quickly returned to hosing down every inch of exposed flesh she.

"Unless we damage it enough to wear it out it'll just trail us anywhere we go. Keep firing, try to focus targets by squads. Cut deep and bleed it out!"

Her command might as well have been to throw rocks at it. All of the wounds on its body were superficial at best and the reaching jaws continued to grow back ever more armored. They smashed into the ground all around the squads, trying to break them up into smaller groups. Initiates shouted in pain as flecks of debris shot into their skin and eyes with each blow to the ground. A few unlucky souls cried out as swinging jaws crashed into them before being driven back, breaking legs and ribs. It was a war of attrition and the increasingly heavy tentacles were starting to gain ground.

I took another step back and nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt something stop me. I spun around to find the corroded hulk of a large farm cart lying partially covered in the dirt. I started to look back when a glint caught my eye. Next to the wreck was an equally ruined toolbox but inside that was a plastic case containing a pack of pristine nails. A nail was basically a small rivet when you got down to it right?

I jammed my foot down on the plastic hard enough to crack the case open. There were at least twenty or more of the ersatz projectiles inside and I felt the first bit of unrestrained joy since that morning. If this worked I I was going to start praying to the Goddess of Fasteners and Nails for the rest of my life.

"Manes, I need a claw!"

The robot helper swung an eye towards me, causing the various pieces of black and yellow meat hanging from it to swing wildly and throw a few more flecks of foul liquid my way. I held back another heave behind a hoof then gestured at the nails in the toolcase and my rivet gun's hopper.

Manesworth saluted with his undamaged claw. "Right away sir!" He grabbed clawfulls of nails and dropped them in one after the other. The hopper was full a little before he was halfway through the box. At least I'd have another shot after this. Probably. Hopefully.

"Manesworth, get behind me and make sure I don't go flying. I don't know what this is going to do but I've got to try."

He didn't say anything in return, only floated behind me and used his claw arm to steady the gun from the back. I aimed up at the bent over head of the giant mutated worm and waited for the targeting feature of my Pip-Buck to- nothing happened. I blinked, hoping that would somehow bring up the targeting spell-thing that had taken over before, but still nothing happened.

I glared down at my Pip-Buck in disgust. The one time I ask for it, actually ask it, to shoot something for me and it takes a break. Typical. I grunted and aimed up at the open maw as best I could, leaning my head over the barrel as far as I could to aim. I could do this. I'd already killed one monster, I could kill this one. I could beat every monster that came at me. I could beat this nightmare of a wasteland. I pulled back and clenching all of my muscles and saying a prayer to Luna and Celestia bit down on the trigger pad.

It took all of maybe a millisecond to realize something wasn't right. I jerked forward instead of back while a cloud of metal shards rocketed out of the modified tool. The dark fog blazed over the creature and instantly became darker still as chunks of flesh and black armor blew off it. It screamed loud enough to make many of the ponies surrounding it fall to their knees, clasping hooves over ears and yelling incoherently against the overpowering sound. I barely noticed though because of the massive ringing and shaking coming from the gun immediately after it fired. Smoke poured out of the open hopper along with sparks and motes of magical energy. I coughed and waved away the fumes, trying to see what had happened to my cobbled together weapon. Tears stung at my eyes as the smoke dissipated and a terrible sight made it through. The front of the gun was a near wreck with shattered nail pieces embedded around the opening of the breach. I cursed silently to myself. I should have thought of this. The tool had never been made to fire more than one round at a time. If I'd thought for a second instead of trying to shove as much mass into as I could like an idiot this wouldn't have happened. Even one at a time would have been good if what it had done with a heavier rivet was anything to go by. Now it probably wouldn't fire again... and the damn worm was still alive. Even if it was wounded far worse than it had been those wounds were starting to close up every moment with new, hardened skin. The jawed tendrils began searching madly, swinging this way and that. The bottom dropped out of my stomach as they all slowly came to a stop pointed at me and the body of the beast flipped back over to point those terrible fanged flaps towards me. Then it reared back and roared, the sound compounded by each of the smaller jaws as they opened wide and screeched and hissed before lunging for me.

I could see my reflection in the night black carapaces of the jaws as they came closer and closer with each passing moment. I didn't move out of the way. I couldn't have. I was too stunned by the giant monster's focus on me and my failure to stop it. I could feel Manesworth beginning to pull me back but I was too heavy for his limited power to pull out of the way fast enough. Four sets of jaws all snapped open at the same time just feet from me.

A blur out of the corner of my eye slammed into me, knocking me out of the way and breaking my terrified paralysis. I hit the ground hard a yard or two away and stopped hard with my pack digging small trenches into the broken asphalt. I looked back and gasped. Standing exactly where I'd been just moments before was a towering steel pony, two tentacled jaws locked onto his minigun while the other two latched onto his back and shoulder. He gave a short cough as they crunched down as hard as they could, the ones on his gun not having much affect. The two on his body broke through the armor with their sharpened teeth and he grunted out a curse as streams of blood began flowing out of the holes.

"Birch!"

"Heh, well this isn't quite how I pictured the day goin'. Appreciate the help Gear, truly, but maybe next time tell us if you're gonna do something like that-" he said before the four tendrils yanked him back towards the worm, trying to lift him but failing to carry the weight of the huge stallion and his armor. I turned to tell Manesworth to help him when a hail of bullets tore at the stalks of the jaws, severing them from the worm. They shot back into the body as it stood straight up again, quivering; whether in pain, frustration, or rage I couldn't tell.

"Crusader! Your status?" Night said as she ran up to him. Lily followed close behind, continuing to power fire across the monster. Their squads slowly caught up, shepherding the rest of the survivors back and away from the thing and its reach.

"I'll be fine. Though I wouldn't mind if you could get these things out of my side, okay?" he said with a wet and raspy chuckle. Night nodded then motioned a couple of initiates forward carrying medical bags. She turned and looked over my rivet... nail... sharp-pointy-metal gun then faced me directly.

"Can you fire it again?"

"I- I don't- I don't know, it's-" I stammered, my mind blurry and unfocused. I was still running on adrenaline, an extra large dose of panic, and I might have even detected the slight note of med-x still floating around in me.

"Can. You. Fire. It? Nothing else we have hurt it much as you did, even when you fired it in possibly the worst way you could have. If it works we need to use it again. The right way this time. So, will it work?" she said slowly and calmly. How she managed that under the circumstances I had no idea.

"Maybe, I don't know! I just mashed a bunch of stuff together and hoped it wouldn't crush me, or shock me, or explode! I have no idea what it's-" I stammered more loudly until a metal hoof lightly bounced off my head. I winced and bent down, covering my pained head with both hooves. I looked at her through a narrowed, teary eye as she bent down and took a knee in front of me.

"Gear Heart, now is not the time to be like every other pony and panic. You've shown me you can do that, now find wherever that part of you is and bring it to the front. We need something that can hurt that thing and right now you're it unless you can get that weapon off for us to use."

I didn't want to. That thing was every nightmare I'd ever had in the flesh. I'd thought I could beat it but I couldn't. I'd tried and it had almost killed me instead. No, it had almost torn me apart and eaten me. It was an infinitely worse thought and I had to swallow hard to not gag again.

"Gear, we need that weapon. The Rangers and your companions both."

Companions. They were all huddled together behind Lily and her squad of Rangers. Most of them were staring at the worm with wide, unblinking eyes. A few were sprawled on the ground with their hooves over their head, muttering to themselves. I knew they were praying it was all just a dream. I'd been muttering that same thing in the back of my mind since I'd laid bleeding out on the floor of the Overframe's chamber. I'd been shouting it when I dropped into the Gallery. I'd been screaming it when the worm broke the ground under us.

Sun was huddled next to Titan but most of her was missing. No jokes about my awkwardness, no offering anyone sunflower seeds, no warmth, no glow. Her eyes were unfocused and she was close to hyperventilating. I know that for one or two in your group it would have been a mercy to leave them down there... the Wastes... they'll change you. I wasn't going to let that be Sun. I was not going to let that be Sun!

"I'll fire it."

Night popped open her helmet and cracked a tiny smile. "Good, you found the other Gear. Whatever you did last time, it acted more like a shotgun. You're going to need to get in close this time. We'll give you cover, keep its attention off you. How long do you need?"

"A few seconds," I replied then turned to Manesworth. "Manes, fill it up again."

"Sir, you really think that wise after-"

"For everyone else, yes. Load up."

He saluted and said, "Very well then!" He floated over, picking up the half filled case on the way, then began dumping the remaining nails into the gun, using his claw to align them as best he could and remove the slivers of the last shot still embedded in the breach. Night backed away uneasily as he worked then spun about and began calling out orders.

"Rangers, we're covering the civilian. We're going to try another shot of his weapon at close range. Focus fire on anything that gets near him and keep the bastard occupied!" she finished right as the worm suddenly bulged at the throat and erupted in a set of new, nearly club like jaws. "Go Gear! Now!"

I ran. I ran as hard as I'd ever run in my life. I didn't look up, didn't slow down, didn't worry that it was almost certainly aware of me. I didn't stop for the shadows looming over me as I approached. Didn't stop as the air rent in a giant ripping sound of a thousand bullets flying over head. I shoved down the small hiccup of tension as Lily and Night brought their miniguns to bear as well. I knew Night was right, that either this was going to work or we were all going to die. The thing was getting slower at healing, but it was getting to the point where the new flesh and armor it made was too strong to break through. Broken tendrils and bits weren't falling from it like they had before. This was it.

I didn't bother slowing down the last few feet and simply slid to a stop, gun barrel almost touching the putrid black skin. I spared an instant as I pulled back to fire to look up. The majority of the heavily armored mini worms were snapping and diving towards the Rangers. But two were coming from me. It was way more encouragement than I needed to bite down on the trigger again.

The barrel burst apart next to me, peppering my face and chest with shards of hot metal. Miraculously my eye was spared but I still cried out as a thousand sharp shards turned me into a pin cushion. It was nothing compared to what happened to the worm. I'd gotten the blowback from the barrel. It got the concentrated burst of screaming nails and death. It entered the beast's body in a hole smaller than my hoof. It exited the other side in a cloud of meat easily the size of Birch. The worm screamed, the tendrils thrashing madly without any direction. The worm heaved it's body and tried to squeeze back down into the hole it had made in the ground. A wet tide of blood, bile, and flesh poured out of the hole like toothpaste from a tube. The worm shuddered and the scream became a wet gurgle. Slowly, inexorably, it began to sway then fell over backwards, splashing its life's blood in a wide arc across the pale ground. There was complete silence for nearly a minute then-

"Hot damn, he did it! It's dead!"

Instantly ever Ranger was cheering and shouting. I was soon surrounded by a crowd of excited and relieved faces, all congratulating me and trying to shake my hoof or pat me on the shoulder. I was seconds away from a nervous breakdown in the crush of ponies.

"Rangers, return to formation. Gear Heart, well done," Paladin Night said as she stepped through a rapidly expanding corridor in the press of bodies. "Medics, see to the wounded and injured. Salvage teams, you know the drill. Everyone else, take a rest. You've all earned it."

An exhausted cheer went up from the rangers around her, most of them starting to crash from their sudden adrenaline high. I was on shaky legs myself and my mind was nothing but haze and confusion. I noticed some of the rangers pulling out long blades from their packs and beginning to hack at the jaws sprawled out around the mouth. Others were pulling plates off the worm's body.

"We make use of whatever we can, and those plates should do well at stopping small arms fire," Night explained. "You did well Gear. Take pride in what you accomplished. If it hadn't been stopped we would have had try to run to the Burbs and it would have been a bloodbath."

I smiled uncertainly at her. I knew I could probably use a bath right then but I didn't think blood was going to get more blood out of my coat. Unless that's how worm blood works?

"Gear? Are you- medic!"

Huh? I wasn't a medic, I was a robot technician. Though I guess that was a kind of medic. What we really needed was a technician to fix the lights in the Stable. Everything was getting really dim-

I awoke to a facefull of asphalt no more than a foot or so away. Funny thing was it was moving, but I wasn't walking. I blinked and shook my head to try to clear some of the fuzziness. I succeeded only in giving myself a short lived headache. That having been tried I then tried looking around. Ahead of me was a shiny steel flank. Not what I had been expecting and not what I had been hoping for either. Steel flanks weren't something you got in Stable 63. That meant... damn.

"Birch, he's awake."

I looked behind me to find a helmeted head watching me. "Lily?" She nodded once. I noticed my own flank was very close to her face and instantly I was more awake and on guard. I tried to turn to face her only to realize I couldn't move. Or rather I could, but it did nothing. My hooves weren't touching the ground. Startled, I quickly looked around. I was hanging between the two Crusaders from two long rods that I recognized as parts from the wrecked cart I'd found the nails in. They were tucked up under my ruined saddleweapon and letting me hang below it. I was suddenly reminded of a scene from the last Daring Do book we'd been read back in the Nursery where Daring Do was carried to a cannibal village in a similar fashion. It was not the kind of mental connection I needed at that moment.

"Welcome back there Gear. Betcha you're feeling pretty well rested now aye?"

When I turned back Birch was looking over his shoulder at me, helmet split open to reveal a huge toothy grin on the beige stallion's face. "You've been out for a solid four or five hours now."

"I feel like crap," I muttered, blinking hard against the faint breeze and the dust it carried. "Wait a second," I said as I pinched my brow together. He sounded way too "alive". I strained my neck to look at his side and back. The holes I'd expected to see weren't there and he looked perfectly fine. "How are you okay? You had two of those things dug into you and we didn't have any healing potions left."

"We didn't but my power armor did. Injectors hit me with a nice big shot as soon as they pulled the teeth out. Feels a whole lot worse than drinking one but works faster so there's that. I'll have to wait till we get back to the Castle to get those refilled. Had to add some junk metal to the armor's stock before it would fix the holes in itself too. Was running closer to empty than I thought after we took on those Sparkers in your Stable."

Damn, so they still didn't have anything they could give to Spell, not if they couldn't access the suit injectors on the go. Since I couldn't do anything about that I asked about my next most pressing concern. "Okay, and why are you carrying me like this?"

"Well, you were out cold and nothing we were doing was waking you up so Night figured it would be best for us to let you rest and press on. Only problem was no one could carry you with that collection of scrap hooked up to you." I hadn't noticed till he mentioned it but my rivet gun was, in fact, scrap. The barrel was gone, the casing was cracked, and most of the internals were now externals. An unexpected sadness took hold of me. It hadn't been a robot family member or anything, but that tool had saved my life and possibly the lives of everyone else who'd made it out of the Stable. Losing it was like losing a long time ally in everything I'd been through. "So, we grabbed some other scrap to hold you up and then Lily and I walked you out of there after the medics and scrappers finished up their work," Birch ended.

"Scrappers?" I asked as I look around. I realized what he meant immediately when I saw at least half a dozen Rangers carrying large pieces of Plunderwurm armor and teeth on their backs and in packs.

"Out here we don't have a lot to work with. Not a lot of bunkers or ruins or anything to tear down and use. So we've had to get creative. Even if it means tearing apart monsters. Every worm mutates differently and we were kind of lucky this one was a heavy bastard. We can shore up some of the Castle's defenses with that stuff," he explained with a nod towards an initiate carrying a large set of plates on either side of his body. They were so large her legs barely poked out from under them. Then I heard a familiar voice voice ring out over the muted conversation around me.

"Gear, you idiot! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Sun!" I said as I looked over my shoulder again. She was trotting next to me along with Manesworth and a number of the other 63 survivors. Titan was still carrying Spell across his huge back like a filly I noticed. She looked much the same as she had before the worm ambushed us, weak and breathing lightly, but thankfully didn't appear any worse.

"You could have gotten yourself killed! Actually, forget that, you nearly killed yourself when your gun blew up!"

"Sun, I-"

"Don't go worrying about her Gear, we already told her why it had to be you when she started beatin' on the Paladin's chest, yelling at her for asking you to try," Birch said in an amused tone.

"Don't think I'm not still mad at you all for putting him up to it," she said in a low and dark voice.

"Was there another option?" Birch asked in possibly the most cheerful voice I'd heard out of him yet.

"Well, no-"

"Was there time to get the gun off him?"

"No-"

"Did he come back unharmed?"

"No! He was covered in cuts and passed out!"

Birch considered her reply. "Okay, gotta give you that one. But! Did he get eaten?"

"No..."

"Well there you go! If he hadn't killed it then he would have been eaten along with probably the rest of us. That was the biggest worm I've seen and I doubt it would have been full after swallowing all of us," he said with a glowing smile.

Sunflower shuddered and pointedly looked away from the Crusader and at me, earning her a laugh from the armored Ranger.

"Don't mind Birch, he was just last in line when they handed out senses of humor and all they had left was Schadenfreude," Lily said to Sunflower and me with a sigh.

"Hey now, I also managed to snag some gallows humor while I was at it! Don't forget about that!" Birch called out cheerfully. Lily sighed more loudly and shook her head. I couldn't see her face behind the helmet but I could almost perfectly picture the put-upon look.

"Thanks Lily, I'll remember. Gear, how are you doing?"

I looked at my current near-hog-tied state and arched an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes and said, "Apart from your pride is anything else hurt?"

Ouch, my pride was hurting more now. Still, she had a point. I flexed around as much as I could strapped into the pack. My back leg ached a little and the brace seemed to be catching a bit when I flexed it to its full extent. "Nothing too bad, but I think your leg brace is on its last legs."

She glowered at me and said, "For that pun you will not be getting a new brace."

I felt a familiar chill run down my spine. "Sun, hold up just a second there, I didn't mean to make a-"

"Oh would you two just buck already?" jabbed Birch.

I froze for a second. Sunflower almost did as well then stumbled and looked away quickly. Some of the the other survivors from the Stable winced and looked away or gave me sympathetic looks. Some snickered or rolled their eyes. It didn't matter to me, I was never going to do anything with them like that so they could think or say what they wanted. As long as they didn't try to touch me it wouldn't change anything I had with them. The discussion ended then and there as everyone tried not to look at anyone else for a bit.

"Uh... shoot, I did stuck my hoof in it again, didn't I? But... what did I say?" Birch asked in confusion. I was still looking back at Sunflower which let me catch Crusader Lily shake her head then quietly mutter, "When are you not sticking your hoof in it Birch?"

We walked on in uncomfortable silence for another minute or so and I became more and more anxious for anything else to think about. "So...ummm... c-can you put me down now?" I asked, looking to change the subject.

"Honestly, we'd rather not. We had to move slower because of your pack before the worm and now it's damaged along with your brace so we'd be slower still. Just hang with it until we get to the Burbs, won't be long" answered Lily. I wanted to call her out on the "hang in there" pun but her tone was so cryptically neutral most of the time I couldn't be sure she'd even intended it. Instead I just opted for another sigh. I was getting really good at those.

Lily hadn't been exaggerating about not having to wait long though. Just one short stretch of flat road and a small hill later found the Paladin holding up the group for a moment as they crested the rise.

"Rangers, well done. Welcome home."

I leaned over to the side as far as I could. The sight that greeted me was incredible in a number of ways. Down the other side of the hill and stretching away into the distance were small patches of farms and tiny groups of huts and houses, lights flickering in their windows, most of them looking to be the remains of old Pre-War units. They got denser the farther one looked until they the eye finally passed over the real draw of the view. A city, or at least the ruins of one, stood out against the darkness of the perpetually clouded Wasteland, the dilapidated buildings and ruins lit from below by the light of fires and search lights. The buildings got higher and higher the closer they got to the center until they appeared to be a single, giant block. Then I realized that's exactly what it was. In the center of the old city a group of four or five buildings stood above the rest by a quarter to half their height. Between them ran a network of free hanging corridors, bridges, and plazas, which appeared to have been part of the original design. Below and sometimes above each of these was a solid wall of metal, wood, and rubble. There was no mistaking what it was.

"Cloudway Castle. Always good to see it again," said Birch wistfully.

"We've got maybe another hour till we hit Whinnetonka and the rest of the Burbs. After that it'll be a short, safe trip to the Castle. Everyone, you've made it your new home," Night said, addressing the group of survivors and facing each of them quickly in succession. "Welcome to Whinneapolis."

As I looked out at the city and the surrounding communities I couldn't help but begin to feel a rising sense of hope where none had been before. Till now the wastes had been worse than I could have imagined. Now, spread out before me like a net, was a vista of civilization and structure, a bastion against the chaos we'd just trekked across. It felt like a new start and I did my best to quell the anxiety and hesitation I felt deep down at what this strange place would have in store for me and everyone else.

* * * * * * * * *

New Perk: Scavenger Rank I. You've got an eye for useful things. You now have a greater chance to find useful scrap and items in containers and other places.

Author's Note

Well would you look at that! It isn't dead!

Yes, it's true. Steelheart is now going to be updating again after a brief pause while my other ongoing story was hashed out to satisfaction. I'll be working both in tandem, popping back and forth as each has breakthroughs in my mind and so on and so forth. My is hope to keep the release schedule roughly the same with the expectation that downtime for one will mean work for the other instead of just pausing completely like I was previously.

Chapter 6: Blood and Purpose

Fallout Equestria: Steelheart
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 6: Blood and Purpose

"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction..."

The road into the city barely deserved to be called that. There was no way to tell where it lay other than by the potholes and dashed lines that occasionally broke through the thin ground and dust layered over it. Broken signs and mile markers stood by the side sporadically, most of them apparently having been uprooted to wall or roof the small farm houses alongside the old road. They got ever so slightly larger the closer we got to the city with equally larger spacing between them. But all of them shared the same materials and construction, covered in rusting plate and sheeting held together by wire, rivets, or whatever else their owners could find to hold them together. As I looked around one thing jumped out at me.

"Hey Birch...there aren't any new homes here?"

Birch glanced over his shoulder at me and I could feel the confused look through his helmet's eye pieces. "What do you mean new? Most of dese weren't here five years ago. Dey're all new this far out from the Castle!"

Why did no one ever understand what I meant? I shook my head quickly in frustration, causing my body to twist the other way and making the tribal carrying poles shake in kind.

"Oh geez- Gear, calm down! This is what you get out here! Dere hasn't been a 'new' house in nearly two centuries."

"But-"

"Listen, dere's nowhere that makes concrete or bricks and no one to work any place that tried. There're no steel mills, no brick makers, no carpenters, no thatch makers. You couldn't even make those last two, the plants aren't around anymore. You can't even use mud or dirt, it's all irradiated as deep as you can dig. Scrap's good, sturdy till it rusts, plenty of around to replace it when it rusts."

"But... how? It's been two hundred years! Why haven't you started making bricks and steel and new buildings? Why haven't you started over? Why hasn't anyone fixed anything?!" I was nearly shouting- no, I was shouting. If this were 63 the maintenance teams would have worked out a plan, gotten help from the rest of the Stable if needed, and we would have fixed the problems. One problem, then another, till everything worked again.

"Gear..." Birch said with a toss of his head. "Look around you."

I didn't want to but his words flicked some switch in my brain and I slowly turned my head. Grey fields with grey dust and a few rows of scraggly plants with clusters of what either probably fruit or vegetables or charcoal. You couldn't tell. The only real color came from the golden glow of lamps and fires in and around the homesteads, the bright searchlights and fading neon signs around the city, and the green glow of the sky overhead. It wasn't like 63 at all. 63 had been awash in color compared to this. Green leaves, red apples, yellow sunflowers, chrome walls, cream sheets, crimson lace- I nearly hurled, barely catching myself with an acidic gulp. Couldn't think about those colors, that lace, that eye. I tried not to think about all the other colors that came adorned the coats and manes of everypony else because I knew if I tried it would all just be crimson now. I kept looking around and passed my eyes over the others from the stable. Even their colors seemed faded in the dim light of the above ground evening. There wasn't any color in this world.

"There isn't enough anything for dat. Not enough materials or industry, not enough ponies to rebuild it, and not enough food to feed dem if dere were. The only job anyone's got now is surviving."

This wasn't right. They'd had decades- MORE THAN A CENTURY- since the spells fell and nobody had done anything.

"What about radiation scrubbers? Our stable had half a dozen for the water and-" asked Sunflower.

"Miss, how do you think we're growing this much already?" Lily countered from behind us.

"This much? You're growing husks!" she exclaimed, waving a hoof at the scrawny crops all around us.

"And it's the most we've managed in decades. We had scrubbers when the bombs fell, keeping us alive in bunkers and safe houses. They lasted weeks. We replaced them. Those lasted months, maybe a year, just long enough for the air to stop killing everything. We don't have any more. We've been washing dirt to near sterility in what's left of the last ones then tossing it over everything as thin as we possible while still getting things to grow in it. We're doing what we can." Sun looked around the wastes with drawn back ears, clearly as unsatisfied with Lily's answer as I was with Birch's.

"She has a point though. We could do more if we had their scrubbers, maybe see if dey still have a working Water Talisman, though probably not if dey needed scrubbers," Birch opined as he looked back at the other Crusader. "We should talk to Night abowt asking the Elder to put together a clean out operation, find out what's still working. Whaddya think?"

"Birch... how do you think we're going to fight that many Sparkers? Two hundred, that's what you said Gear?"

"Umm... well... more like four hundred... or more."

"Birch?" Lily asked pointedly.

The large stallion paused in his walk, nearly breaking the poles holding me up when Lily failed to pause as well. "Ohkay, dat miiiiiight be a bit much. Damn, those woulda been real useful fer the farms. Might've even get us some goodwill with the Burbs."

"What are the Burbs? You've mentioned them a couple times but that's it," I asked the Crusaders.

"The Burbs are..." Birch began then chuckled. "Well, you'll see when we get dere. Should be interesting for Stable ponies like youse."

They were interesting alright.

"Birch, what on Equis is all this?" I asked slowly as they lowered me down to the ground and pulled out the rods that had carried me. Just ahead of us was a large wall stretching out across the fields to either side before curving back towards the city that now stood before us. The road passed through a gate from beyond which came a veritable cacophony of sound. It was overwhelming to me and the rest of the survivors and I couldn't help but cringe and wince. The Rangers though all either smirked or frowned as they continued up to the gate, Paladin Night in the lead.

"This is the Whinnetonka Burb! First stop for anyone coming in fresh from the western plains and last place dey visit before goin back capless."

I wanted to ask him what he meant by capless, no ponies I could see were wearing caps or hats of any kind, but my curiosity kept my mouth shut as we stopped alongside the rest of the Rangers. A small panel in the wall above the gate screeched open and a pair of narrowed milky eyes looked down at us.

"Welcome to Whinnetonka, state yer business and show yer goods," the pony on the other side said raspily.

From the way Night's helmet moved she'd just rolled her eyes hard enough to make most ponies dizzy. "You know who it is Rawhide. I've got civilians to return to the Castle and I'm not in the mood."

"Oh great, de Ranger's best bitch. I was having a better dan usual day up till now too..."

"Rawhide..."

"Fine. You'd probably just shoot de door down if I insisted on doing things de right way," the hidden pony grumbled. "Open the gate, de illustrious Rangers have returned..."

A few muted shouts, groans, and general discontent followed the command from the other side of the sheet metal and rebar gateway. A few awkwardly silent seconds followed then the gate jerked and slowly pulled to one side along grooves in the pavement and wall. Beyond it was-

The sound and smells hit like a two ton hammer. If I'd thought the Burb was loud from the outside then it was deafening from within. Smells of food, bile, blood, ozone, hydraulic fluid, grease, oil, and the overpowering odor of more life than I'd ever been around before before assaulted us. Ponies of every color, shape, and health wandered the low stalls and shells of old buildings covered in graffiti and cobbled together neon signs declaring seed, tools, food, guns, and booze. A few had bright pink ponies in positions I didn't want to ponder, something painfully easy with the constant assault on the senses. I coughed loudly along with the rest of the survivors and tried to shield my nose with a hoof. Through watery eyes I saw an old and shriveled but at the same time wry and sinewy off-white stallion descend a set of steps next to the gate. He glanced at us with those same clouded eyes and I realized he had to be nearly blind if not completely so.

"So, who's de meat dis time Ranger?"

A long, sharp whistle sounded above us. "Boss, dey got Stable suits, new ones, and one of dose floaty Mr. Robots... wid a mustache," the watcher added with a snicker. "Now I've seen everything."

A bushy white brow over one of the clouded eyes climbed ever so slightly higher. "Stable ponies aye? Now where'd youse find dem at? I thought all de Stables in the Mid had been cleared out? At least, according to de Rangers dey were."

"Nowhere you need worry about Rawhide. It's a long way away."

"Boss, dey's got a slurdge of salvage too. Whole cart lot and alla de Ranger jobbies are pretnear loaded down too ."

"Is dat so? Paladin, you know de agreement. What's de cut for de Burbs?

The Paladin gave a low grunt. "Plunder parts."

That got the stallion's attention. "Well now, dat's interestin'! Took on a wurm and lived aye? What kind was it?"

"A Bruiser."

The old gate guard whistled along with his underlings and waved a hoof over his head once in a broad circle. "Well smack my ass black and call me a zebra. You beat one? Along the old seven?"

Night glanced over her shoulder at the distant hills we'd just come from. "Yeah, about half a day back over the rise. Probably still something left if you want to put the word out."

The old stallion rubbed his chin with a hoof then gave her a lopsided grin. "Looks like my day just got better again. I'll put a notice out, let de boyce know there's pickings to be had. In de meantime, we'll take de Burbs' cut and let you be on yer way." He leaned to the side and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. "You Ranger boyce and girls should get something to et while yer here. I'll pass de word along, make sure you get de good prices on everything." He returned his lopsided grin to Night and said lowly, "Have to make sure de valiant Rangers are appreciated fer helping out de Burbs after all."

Night snorted and briefly tipped her head towards him. "Obliged as always. Rangers! Move out. Rest break in the main market." Her order received a number of cheers from the squads surrounding us as they began to push onward again. As we passed through the gateway we stopped briefly to hand over a couple of the Wurm plates to the gate guards. As we started moving again Bitter coughed loudly and looked directly at me with his clouded eyes.

"Hold up... you have a funny sound to yer walk there Stabler. Sounds like you're not quite in one piece anymore. Wurm take a souvenir off ya? Or was it a Ranger?"

I couldn't hear the sounds and squeaks of my brace over the roar of the Burb so how could he possibly have done so? "How did-" I began before he chuckled loudly.

"My eyes may not be so good anymore but my hearing's just fine. Better dan most in fact. But from yer jabberin it sounds like I was right on de money. Dat tends to happen when you follow de Rangers and one way or anoder dat's alla us here. You'll fit right in with de rest of us broken Burbers now," he said with that same chuckle.

I couldn't say anything in reply, only stare at him wide eyed until the combined efforts of Lily and Birch forced me to face forward and walk in step with the group. Even after I turned away his raspy chuckle followed me, after the crowds of strange ponies around us flowed back to block any sight of him, and after it was possible for the sound of his laugh to make it through the rest of the maelstrom around us.

By the time we finally stopped again I was nearing a nervous breakdown. Whinnetonka was one of my worst nightmares: other ponies. Dozens of them, hundreds even! Every ten seconds an Initiate would make things worse by bumping into me to make room for another pony going the other way. As they passed they'd reach out to touch my brace or my Stable barding or stare at me. They were a sight, maybe one in twenty of them missing teeth or eyes or ears. Even more showed scars, burns, or even missing limbs supported by peg legs or simple prosthetics. All of them sported an incredible array of hats, caps, shirts, jackets, and apparel I didn't know the names. I couldn't help but stare at them as they stared back and called out in words and phrases I didn't understand. It seemed like forever till we reached a large open space surrounded by stalls and the ponies working them. Paladin Night called a halt and placed half of the initiates around us in a ring while the other half left.

"-right sir? Sir?" something hummed into my ear. I shook my head and flicked the twitching ear then turned to find Manesworth, once again, hovering far too close to me. Though that was almost welcome though after the jostling I'd just gone through.

"What? Sorry, I-I blanked there."

"I was just saying that you looked a bit worse for the wear sir. I think the air up here might not be agreeing with you. What with it being radioactive and dreadfully dusty. Someone really needs to vacuum more often."

I returned a half-hearted chuckle at which issue his programming was focusing on. "Manes, I don't think that's-"

"Gear, what is this place?"

I looked behind me to find Sunflower darting her gaze everywhere, never staying still for more than a second.

"Whinnetonka, right? I think that's how they pronounced it..."

"No, I mean what is it? How can all these ponies live like this? There's no green, no trees, no flowers, no life. Just... dust and metal. It's worse than sixty three," she said with a trembling voice. I looked around as well. I hadn't noticed it at first but she was right. There was nothing. The only living things I saw were ponies and a few mangy pets and... was that a two headed cow? I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. When I opened them again it was gone. I'd been on the surface too long already.

"What's de matter with yer friend dere Gear? Miss, you alright?"

"Birch... how does anyone live like this?" Sun pleaded with him.

"Uhhhhhhh... whaddya mean?"

"No trees, no flowers, no... no... anything!" she cried, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She sniffed and blinked rapidly till they disappeared.

Birch seemed taken aback by the display and popped open his helmet to give me a concerned look. "Uhhhhh... Gear? Is she gonna be alright?"

I pulled Sun in close - well, as close as I was really comfortable with given how much contact I'd just suffered through - and rubbed her shoulder in support. She sniffed and nodded in thanks then laughed when Manesworth shakily tired to do the same with his beat up claw-arm on her other side. She tapped him affectionately on his steel dome as she gently pushed his arm away before he accidentally knocked both of us over.

"Yeah, she'll... she'll be okay. She was a big part of the gardens back in sixty three. It's how she got her Cutie Mark."

Birch blinked and slowly leaned sideways to look over my shoulder at her flank. She blushed and pulled her tail over while shooting him a somewhat nasty look.

"Huh. Now dere's something I don't think I've ever seen before. A unicorn farmer. You know, I know dis joke about a unicorn who farmed corn and-"

"DON'T."

Sun's earlier distress was gone and replaced with righteous fury. If I'd seen it coming sooner I would have warned him off but it was too late for that now. Now we both just had to hope his armor would protect him.

"Ohkay, touchy subject. I didn't mean to climb up yer tailpipe, honest. If it helps I only know the one but about a hundred abowt Steel Rangers if you'd rather hear one of dem."

Sunflower narrowed her eyes for a long moment then sighed. "No, I don't. I want my garden back," she muttered as she looked at the ground and pointedly away from everything else around us.

Birch brightened up instantly. "Oh! If dat's the case then you'll love it at de Castle! We always need more ponies that can work a plant. Don't care what they are, if you got de green hoof then we'll give you a patch of yer own!"

"Wait, really?" she asked almost frantically. "You have plants? Trees? Seeds? Flowers? Not like those... sticks, outside, in the Waste? Actual green?" She placed her forehoofs on his chest armor as she stared him in the eyes. He glanced at me and I scrambled for a second before nodding my head vigorously. If they had them then yes, she needed them! As long as I'd known Sunflower her greatest joy had been tending the gardens in the Gallery. Birch's warning about what happened to Stable ponies in the MidWaste kept swimming up to the surface of my thoughts without invitation and I kept pushing it back under again. That wasn't Sun. She was far, FAR stronger and more collected than I was. All she needed was green and she'd survive anything.

"Ya fer sure, tons of green! All the green you could want. Isn't dat right Lily?" he asked hurriedly as the other Crusader returned with the half of the Rangers that had gone into the market. She paused in her survey of the crowds around us to cock an eyebrow at Birch.

"Isn't what right?"

Birch began sharply nodding his head at the mare latched onto his armor. "You know, gardens, plants? At the Castle?"

She sighed and turned a half lidded stare on her fellow Crusader. "Birch..." Her expression turned a little more sympathetic when Sun looked at her with sudden hope in her eyes. She sighed again and said, "Yes, we have gardens. Not many, but some. They're meant to feed our Brothers and Sisters when they're not on patrol. Some tomatoes, some green beans, that sort of thing. Beats MidWaste fare by a longshot so it's worth the effort." Birch shot her a hugely thankful smile to which she rolled her eyes and turned to face Paladin Night as she approached.

"Birch, your turn on the rotation. Don't let them get too far out and for Elder's sake don't make this another repeat of the Megamart return trip," Night added darkly. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Paladin!" Birch snapped a smart salute with a hoof across his chest, coincidentally knocking the now distracted Sun off him with a small "Meep!" as she rolled down into the ground with a noticeable blush and frown towards Birch. He winced loudly, shutting both eyes as Lily let out another sigh and Paladin Night half groaned, half growled.

It wasn't long before the last of the Initiates returned with Birch, all of them looking rather happy and a couple even looking drunk or worn out. Birch himself looked neither, instead favoring stoic focus and attention that just felt completely out of place with him. Every now and then as we wound our way through the incomprehensible twists and turns of the Burb's dirt streets and grimy alleys I glanced back at him before the crowd forced me to watch where I was stepping again.

"Lily?" I asked the Crusader over the tops of the other survivors around me.

The Crusader turned enough to focus a single helmeted eyepiece on me. "Gear Heart, I have a rank and I ask you please use it. I don't know you and you don't know me, not really."

"Oh uh, um, sorry Lily- I mean, Crusader Lily," I stammered in surprise. "Sorry about calling you that earlier-" Thankfully she stopped me from mumbling myself into an awkward place with a wave of her hoof.

"Given the circumstances it was more important I was just another pony to you all. None of you were in the best shape when we extracted you. But now we're back in our home and headquarters and here I'm not just another pony, I'm a Crusader. With that said, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

I nervously glanced over my shoulder at the still ramrod straight figure of Birch. "Oh, uh, what's up with Birch? Paladin Night said something about Megamart?"

Even through the helmet I could see the wince that went with the shake she gave her head in reply. "Nothing that needs to be worried about. He'll bounce back to his normal flaky self soon enough. He always does." Before I could dig deeper into that cryptic answer we rounded another corner in the seemingly endless blocks of broken and boarded up buildings that cast light into the dim streets through myriad holes and cracks and came face to face with a sight that froze my lungs.

A massive wall of steel I-beams, plate, and rivets rose from the ground at the end of the short section of street to dizzying heights. Above and in front of it was one of the free hanging walkways, originally glass walled judging by appearance but now armored as much as the structure would allow. A pair of spotlights on either end swung around to focus on us and slits opened to reveal three large gun turrets, one at either end under the lights and one in the center.

"Paladin, welcome back. I see your mission went as they usually do?"

"Har har har. Raise the gate Oak."

Another armored pony, this one with red strakes along it's shoulders and legs, stepped out from behind the center gun and leaned against it while they looked down on us. "Night, do I even want to know why you have half your number again in civies with you?"

"Stable ponies. Op was a little more involved than than intel suggested."

The new armored Ranger stood up straight again. "Great, so more Stable-Tec secrets. I thought we were done with those?"

"So did I. Now let us in, we have injured and salvage to unload and I need to debrief the Elder on the op." The new Ranger nodded and look over his shoulder.

A few quiet moments passed while I tried to figure out where the gate in the wall was. They'd hidden it insanely well because it looked like a single solid piece of-

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

With a titanic shudder the entire block began to rise up out of the ground. I stared in awe as the wall of metal and concrete behind the skybridge slowly climbed higher, causing the ground to shake and the surrounding buildings to hum and groan. When it was a little more than twice Birch's height off the ground it ground to a halt with a loud booming tone followed by a number of sharp clacks. It drooped slightly then steadied. The Rangers waited a few moments then began herding us all forward through the space opened beneath it. As the trailing rangers and the cart filled with plunderwurm armor passed under the wall began falling again until it bounced off the broken ground and stopped. A dozen or more floodlights and chains of ornaments lit up the interior of the courtyard formed by the six towers and walls. Above us at least twenty different catwalks, gantries, and whole or damaged skyways connected the various towers like a spiderweb. Ponies in various levels of armor, from the simple plated and chainmailed jackets of the initiates to the armored hulks of Crusaders and Paladins, looked down on us from them and whispered and muttered among themselves. The center of the courtyard was dominated by a monument, lit by the golden glow of spotlights pointed at it from the ground, made out of welded scrap metal in the shape of a winged sword in front of an apple and gears motif. Another loud clang drew me out of my watching trance in time to see a pair of heavily armored doors swing open at the base of the furthest building from the gate. Out of it stepped a well muscled mare in a long coat followed by two unicorns with close cropped manes and strange red robes. The lead looked at us with the sharpest eyes I'd ever seen, vermillion red that stuck out sharply against the various earthy tones of her coat and mane.

"Paladin Night, welcome back to the Castle. If I remember correctly you were checking out a robot factory. These don't look like robots- okay, most of them don't look like robots," she corrected herself with a quirk of an eyebrow as she spotted Manesworth behind Titan. "Who are the civs?"

Paladin Night opened her helmet and gave a short, deep nod towards the new pony. "Elder Dawn, it's very good to be back. The mission... didn't go as planned. These are the survivors from the Stable below the factory."

Elder Dawn's expression froze into nothing. I had a sudden hunch about where Night had learned her mask expression. "Well, that's a thing. An interesting thing. Thought we were done with Stables and Stable-Tec."

"So I keep hearing from everypony."

"Hmmm. Well, let's get them inside, fed, patched up, and debriefed."

"So, tank borns, insane computer, robot army, and a Bruiser. That sum it up?"

"Yes ma'am, though I want it noted we didn't take out the wurm. Gear Heart did."

"Yes, Gear Heart. I'm impressed with what I've heard," said Elder Dawn as she fixed with with a piercing look and a faint smile. I couldn't understand what was behind it at all. It had been that way ever since Elder Dawn came to "debrief" us on what seemed to be our entire lives after we'd been led through a clinic where Spell and the injured initiates were dropped off and a food court acting as a barracks where we'd all dropped from exhaustion and relief. Titan stayed up and asked Manesworth to help him pass out food and water provided by the Rangers. Sun had plopped down next to me and buried her face into my side, occasionally grunting or groaning or sighing. There was a lot of sighing going around from everyone but me it seemed. We'd rested for an hour, maybe two, hard to tell inside a tower under a sky that never changed. Then Paladin Night and one of the robed unicorns that had been with Elder Dawn came in and asked for to follow them. Sun complained and puckered her lips when I got up. I told her I'd be back soon and gotten a small grunt in reply then followed the two Rangers to an office with Dawn and the red streaked Ranger from the top of the gate. They'd grilled me on our stable and what happened, halfway between a conversation and an interrogation, until we got to the wurm. "Hell of a thing taking out a Bruiser. Those bastards usually need a missile or five. Can you tell us more about this weapon of yours?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, basic rivet gun with a couple more force talismans to up the power and counter recoil and a big bank of magic generators to keep it powered."

"Force talismans?" asked the the red striped Ranger. "There's a new one. You're sure?"

I frowned at him and replied, "Uh, yeah. Considering we used them for most of our tools. Why?"

"We've got a long catalog of known talismans created by the MWT and MAS and none of them include force talismans. Makes you wonder what else we missed and why something like that only showed up out here," the Ranger, Oak, said with a look at the robed unicorn stallion. "You ever come across anything like that Scribe Arc?"

The robed pony slowly shook his head while looking up in contemplation. "No Paladin, I haven't which is surprising given how simple a concept it is. I will be greatly interested in seeing the item firsthoof, once we can remove the weapon pack from Gear Heart's orthotic without causing damage. This one could have come from either ministry so it might take awhile to locate a source or origin if one exists."

Dawn nodded with an indistinct hum while continuing to watch me. Strangely I didn't feel uncomfortable like I had when others stared at me and whispered... or waved... or smiled... or frowned. Dawn's stare seemed to pass right through me and I was just fine with that. That sadly ended when her eyes flicked just ever so slightly and bored into mine.

"I suppose that simply leaves the matter of how to integrate the survivors into Whinneapolis," said Paladin Oak.

"Hmmmmm... Paladin Night, given what I've heard from your teams and been told directly I believe it would be more beneficial for us to induct these ponies into the Rangers than to secure them shelter in a Burb." All of the other Rangers made a number of noises of surprise at her announcement, particularly the two Paladins. Oak seemed particularly unsettled.

"Elder, we've barely got enough supplies for the Castle as is and you want to add a group of untrained, unknown Stable ponies to the mix?" he asked incredulously.

"No Oak Tower, I want to add a group of technicians, specialists, and at least one honest to Celestia botanist to our mix. I believe they will be most effective here, at the Castle, as Scribes. With one exception," she said, her eyes still trained on me. "Gear Heart, what I have heard tells me that you are an outlier among your group. Steady in the face of danger, quick thinking, resourceful, willing to make the charge into Tartarus when needed, and apparently driven by the need to repair things and find solutions. Your skills as a robot technician would make for an excellent start as a Scribe... but the rest of what you've demonstrated would not be put to best use there and I fear you would not be satisfied in it after awhile."

"While I still have my doubts I'm no longer wholly against this," interjected Paladin Oak Tower - that name definitely meant some kind of tie to Birch. Something to ask about later - while tapping the end of a forehoof on the ground. "But we're going to need more supplies, ongoing, to support the increase. That means the Burbs-"

"I am aware Paladin. My assessment is that it's worth the problems. Particularly for this one," she said as she raised a hoof in my direction. Oak looked at me through his still closed helmet and nodded.

"Hmmmmmm... well I can't argue he's shown he can handle it. I'll induct him into one of the advance cadres, see about fast tracking him to Knight-"

"No Paladin, that is not my intention. That would also be a waste of his talents just as much as the Burbs or the Scribes."

"Then... I'm not following. Elder?"

Everyone in the room was now looking at Elder Dawn with various levels of confusion and curiosity. Myself most of all, simply because I suddenly felt like a fish not just out of water but also rapidly ascending towards the stratosphere.

"Gear Heart."

"Yes Elder? I don't understand-... what is it you want-"

"I want you and the survivors of Stable 63 to join the Steel Ranger contingent here. We always have need of good technicians and don't have the luxury of large initial numbers to work with like the other contingents did. So we've had to take in outside groups and individuals and train them to the levels of Rangers. I want to do the same for you. Give you skills, direction, and purpose."

"Purpose? What, exactly, do you mean by purpose?"

She smiled more visibly. "That's for you to decide and us to supply the means. If you find the right purpose. Paladin Night, Scribe Arc, you are to answer any questions about the Rangers Gear might have or give him direction on who we are if he isn't sure what to ask. Gear, I'd like for you to speak with them, learn and understand who we are, what we do and what we're trying to accomplish. I want to offer you a position apart from the ones we're going to offer your friends, one where I want you to have a better understanding of us before you say yes or no to it."

I swallowed, hard, as sweat began to bead on my forehead. "A-And if I say no?" Rawhide's chuckle hissed in my ears as I stammered the words out.

Elder Dawn nodded and said, "Then you will be released into the Burbs like any others from your group who do not wish to join. We are not a charity and we are not an open organization. We only take in those that can handle the Order and give their ALL to it. You will all be given a small amount of caps to help get you started in this new life as we are in part responsible for bringing you back here. We will fulfill that obligation."

I swallowed as discreetly as I could then had to stifle a cough from how dry my throat had gotten. I thought about all the ponies, all the broken bodies and the press of the makeshift city that had enveloped me as we walked through it. It might have been less terrifying if she'd said they'd shoot me. It would have been so much easier on me, and they could probably do it cleanly too. The Rangers I'd seen were very good at shooting. They went out into the MidWaste all the time to scavenge tech and fought monsters and... and... there was no good answer. "So... I have until tomorrow to make a decision, right?"

"Tomorrow, same time, same place," she confirmed.

She wanted me to think about it, she actually did, I could tell, no eyebrow twitch needed to confirm. But right then, right there, I didn't want to think about any of it. She wanted me to relive everything that had happened over the last day, maybe the last two, I couldn't tell anymore and had no reference to find out. She wanted me to go through all of that again, and then make a decision that was going to decide my life up here. One day. Not a week, not a month, one day and I had to decide what I was going to be up here. Burber or Ranger. Unending mental misery or all too probable death. I think it was telling of my state of mind then that the thought that rose above all the others was So, this is Tuesday in the MidWaste. Hate to see Monday.

"Okay. Sure."

"Go get some rest. When you feel up to it find Paladin Night or Scribe Arc."

My MidWaste curse had to be the inability to keep food down because as soon as Elder Dawn dismissed me to talk with the other Rangers I made a beeline down the hall to the nearest bathroom and puked my guts up- again -into the first toilet I came across. I hadn't been able to keep a meal down for any length of time since before the Overframe was corrupted. It showed in how I slumped over the broken seat and shivered and chattered. I barely had the strength to get back up but somehow I did and made my way back to the food court barracks. Only got lost three times which was fairly impressive given that the route had been anything but straight and I could barely see straight for fatigue.

I was able to fake it long enough to make it back to where Sun was still lying on the floor. Her ear twitched and she mumbled incoherently as I lay back down next to her. A few moments later she lightly headbutted me and stayed there, face pressed into my side. I looked back at her with as good a smirk as I could muster.

"I know it doesn't smell great around here but that can't be much better." She groaned and mumbled something. "Sorry, didn't catch that," I said while poking her cheek.

"I said, shut your snarky mouth and hold still," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. I chuckled weakly and rubbed her shoulder then lay my head down and passed out.

Morning failed to make itself known to us; only a shift change of Rangers did that. No sunrise, no sunset, no real sense of time. According to Scribe Arc, full name Static Arc, most ponies just adapt to whatever their bodies tell them. That or they never lose sight of a clock, something to ground their sense of time. It was one of the details he filled me in on after I asked a passing Initiate to send me in his direction. I'd found him in a makeshift lab that reminded me of the 63 workshops after a bad spill or malfunction. Lots of clutter and makeshift equipment but I saw the method behind the madness, the inherent organization, after a minute or two. I'd found Arc hunched over a flickering monitor, typing up report after report. When I finally managed to pull him away from it he'd launched into a spiel on Ranger history that beat Birch's "Wasteland 101" for shear mind-numbing by a long shot.

"I know that was a lot to take in, and I will fully admit that I glossed over many of the details due to gaps in the records and the effects of time on memory, but I think you now have a good understanding of where we came from."

I nodded and pondered everything he'd told me; about the ministries, the war effort, Applejack's loss and her drive to prevent it again, the Megaspells and the bunkers, all of it. But that didn't explain everything.

"I, uh, could use some more background on the Castle, the Burbs, everything around. Everything you talked about was a hundred miles or more away."

Scribe Arc blinked then thumped his forehead with a hoof. "Of course, of course, sorry about that. Tend to lose sight when I'm lecturing. Where to begin...hmmmmm... remember what I said about the Rangers operating out of their bunkers? To find and secure the most dangerous and destructive technologies from the Great War?" He waited till I nodded then continued. "Well, the other contingents had an advantage we didn't: numbers. We never had a large presence out here before the Spells, just a small group of twenty based in a fortified, unground police station not too far from where we stand now. Something of a fast and heavy reaction force in case the Zebras or their sympathizers attempted sabotage or a coup on the farms or distribution network. We lost a quarter of those; out on patrol when the first Megaspell hit. We didn't get many of them and they were lower yield and less exotic than some of the ones we knew about. But that was almost more of a curse really. We had more radiation, more poison, more lasting damage. That squad of five never made it back. Fifteen Rangers barely in contact with the rest of the military as the world ended."

"How did that become this?" I asked in complete confusion. There was no way fifteen individuals created everything I'd seen or even laid the groundwork for it, not in the middle of Armageddon.

Scribe Arc chuckled and shook his head with an expression of wonder. "Sheer single minded determination and vision. Our first Elder, Elder Booming Barrage, realized that their group wasn't going to be able to follow the plan the other contingents made and didn't have the means to request aid. You see, we can pick up signals from the heartland, barely, but don't have the means to send a signal strong enough to reach back. We're probably listed as a lost force there-"

"About the beginning..." I interjected.

"Hmm?" Scribe Arc said as he adjusted his large rimmed glasses. "Oh! Shoot, I did it again. Sorry, sorry. Elder Barrage realized we wouldn't have the numbers to continue on and secure the Midwest, soon to be the MidWaste, unless we bolstered our numbers. So he made the bold decision to uproot and move as much equipment and defense stocks as they could into the heart of the city, to the old Skyway Center plaza where you stand now."

"Skyway Center?"

"A towering business district based around agriculture. Whinneapolis was the hub of a region-wide transportation network that was managed through this center and-"

"Scribe Arc."

"Oh dammit, again? One of these days I'll stay on track for more than a minute," he said in frustration as he slapped his cheeks lightly for focus. He glasses went flying off as he pushed his hooves in one last time, forcing him to make a panicked scramble to catch them, bouncing them back and forth in his hooves till finally he was able to concentrate and catch them with his magic. He put them back on with an air of forced calm and carried on as if nothing had happened, "Barrage and the other fourteen Rangers secured the center fortified it and sealed it against the worst of the Wastes, and then waited. Soon, survivors began turning up, seeking shelter, food, and water. Barrage let in the strongest and most skilled and allowed the others to camp outside for shelter and protection. He trained the ones he let in then sent them out under the supervision of one of the fourteen Paladins and Knights to find more water, more food, and to begin securing the Ministry technologies. It worked... though perhaps too well. More and more crowded around the compound as the months and then years went by. Fortifications went up higher and higher as the crowds grew more desperate having to split what the squads brought back thinner and thinner among themselves. After a particularly loud riot outside the fort Elder Barrage devised a carrot and stick solution. The Rangers would provide the means for the ponies outside to supply themselves and continue to aid in that supply as long as all advanced technology was handed over and the Rangers were allowed to recruit from the populace... or the squads would stop venturing out to bring back supplies. At that point the Castle had more than enough to last a protracted siege and everypony knew it. So both sides agreed to work together and here we are today. The Burbs continue to grow, the Rangers continue to search the Wastes with new recruits, and both sides are the stronger for it."

He... he hadn't taken a single breath in that entire monologue. Not a one. He and Spell must have had a common descendant with the lung capacity of a whale. I shook my head and went over everything he'd said.

"That... does explain everything that I've seen. Not sure why Elder Dawn thought I needed to know all that though..."

"If I might?" the Scribe inquired. I nodded and he pointed towards a group of empty seats. He waited till I was seated then took one for himself and began tapping his hooves together. "I can think of a good reason among all the possible ones; She wants you to know that we were never raiders or tyrants. We helped to the best of our ability and defended our ability to do so whenever threatened. Without us the city and the Burbs would not last, not without our expertise and forces." He looked up and smiled. "And speaking of forces. It's good to see you again Paladin. I was wondering when you'd arrive."

"Scribe Arc, I take it that means you're done?"

I looked over my shoulder as an un-helmeted Paladin Night stepped into the lab and closed the door behind her. She turned out to have an even more severe beauty than I'd originally thought. The silver toned lavender and dark purple eyes were the same but her short mane was also almost pure silver instead of the hint like her coat. A few small scars that I'd missed previously crossed her cheeks and neck, none of them particularly large. Just small partings in her coat that said she'd been in many, many fights and come out nearly unscathed.

"Indeed. I was just telling Gear that I believe the Elder wants him to know we're not monsters and never have been."

Night looked at him thoughtfully with her mask then turned to me. "Then I suppose it's my turn. You've done who we are so I guess that means where we're going is up to me. Gear, do you need to eat or take a break?"

"No Paladin, I'm good." Complete and total lie. I was starving and my mouth was a desert. But I wasn't about to chance annoying her. Last time I did that I got punched into a wall. I doubted she'd do that again over something small, she only seemed to get that upset over Stable-Tec for some reason, but I wasn't willing to test that theory just yet.

"Hmmmm... walk with me." She immediately took off, not waiting for me in the slightest. I had to practically jog to catch up to her halfway down the hallway outside the lab. "There's something I'd like you to see," she said without looking at me as I came to a jarring stop next to her. My brace whined and twanged as the springs took the force as best they could. I'd been thinking of some ways to improve it but I'd have to get it off first to get a better look at it. First off I would-

"Gear?"

"Hmm? Oh! Sorry Paladin! I was thinking about ways to, uh, improve my leg brace. Till I can walk without it I mean."

She glanced at me and broke her mask by adding a smile smile to it. "Do not apologize for your ingenuity. It kept your fellow ponies alive didn't it?" I nodded glumly to her question. The last thing I wanted to think about how I'd saved them. My dreams had... not been pleasant last night. Lots of red and fire... and screams. Whirring, metallic screeches and animal screams. I didn't know how I'd slept through them but I had.

"It wasn't enough. No one would have survived if you hadn't been there."

"And none of us would have survived the worm without your rivet gun," she said, stopping to poke my shoulder with an armored hoof. "You saved not only your group but ours as well. You may not see it that way but it is Celestia's honest truth. I believe that is why the Elder decided you warranted something different than the usual paths available to outside initiates."

"Any idea what it is?"

She narrowed her eyes and looked me over once more. Apparently I was the most interesting thing in the Wastes because everyone seemed to want to look at me closer than I'd ever wanted. She might have noticed because she looked away almost immediately with a shake of her head. "No, I don't. But I do know from talking with her after you left last night that she wanted me to show you something in particular. So we'd better get moving if you're going to see it in time to meet the Elder again. She is not somepony you want to be late to a meeting with."

So, Paladin Night, she of the iron hoof and unknown temperament, was scared of the Elder... OH MERCIFUL LUNA. With that thought at the front of the line I did everything I could except push to hurry Night. To anyone watching us it probably would have seemed as if I was leading her. That didn't last long as we soon began climbing one broken set of stairs after another, sometimes having to cross between buildings to go higher when we encountered a collapsed stairwell. I might have grown up in a vertically oriented environment but we'd used ramps. Gentle, mild ramps. These stairs were not gentle or mild. These were MidWaste stairs, full of sharp pointy bits and deadly pits. I knew it had nothing to do with the location really but they just fit the place too well. Finally, as my heart was nearing its end, we came to a doorway that whistled and groaned. Night placed both a hoove on it while turning the handle and even in her armor she was pushed back by the force of it opening. Cold, biting wind flooded into the stairwell around us, shrieking in the confines of the tower. It felt like it cut to my bones instantly.

"I really wish we'd put a spring on this door or something..." she muttered. "Well, we're here." She gestured out the door then put out a hoof to help pull and push me through it. I had to squeeze my eyes together until I was well past the door and the flow whipping through it. When I opened them again I saw-

"Uh-" I stuttered until the air slowly leaked out of my lungs. There weren't words for me to use. None that captured the full extent of what lay before me. We were at the top of the tallest of the six towers, a balcony dominated by weather equipment in various states of repair. I would have been fascinated by that if it weren't for the view. Laid out before me was the MidWaste. All of it. Or at least all that could be seen. The far reaches became hazier and hazier behind the constant pall of dust sweeping over the plains. Here and there the shadows of towering silos, most skeletal and tilting over, could be seen through the haze briefly before disappearing again. Around them smaller townships or what used to be towns dotted the broken land. The haze blurred into the sky and swept back over us in a sheet of grey cloud edged with green. No matter which way I looked it was all the same. As I turned I noticed a long, darker line stretching away into the distance towards an expanse of rolling hills that gave way to dark mountains easily seen even through the thickest haze. The line seemed familiar. The road. The road from my home. I traced it out to its furthest extent but couldn't see any sign of where my lost home might be. I slowly followed it back, trying to see where we'd almost been killed again. But even the titanic worm and the destruction it caused weren't visible against the sheer scale of the Waste. I kept following the line back until-

"OH SHIT," I hissed as I backed away from the edge of the tower I'd been unconsciously creeping towards. The balcony was ringed by safety bars to prevent anyone slipping over to their deaths but that gave me little comfort from the overpowering vertigo. The tower had to be four or five times higher than 63 if not more. But I'd also caught a glimpse of something else, something that drew me back to the edge. Steeling myself with a long exhale I slowly peered out and over and inhaled sharply. Where the rest of the MidWaste was painted with a pallet of greys, browns, and metallic silver the city below was a wash of every color imaginable. Neon signs cast brilliant glows over the buildings around them while merchant stalls were decked out in swaths of carpet, fabric, and whatever else could be found to stretch between four poles. It made for a brilliant tapestry of life in contrast to the grave outside it.

"Whinneapolis proper extends out to the dry river bed you see circling around while outside that are the Burbs: Whinnetonka, Bronclyn Park, and St. Poll," Night said as she stepped up next to me and looked around. "It is a... compelling view. Civilization, pushing back the dark bit by bit. We can't let it fall again. I doubt the world will heal to what is was before and doubt way more it could survive another Great War ending, especially right now. That is why we have to find all of the tools, all the weapons, all the secrets that the Ministries made before the end. To make sure that none of them are used to finally end the world for good. That is why the Rangers exist. To protect the world from its past and to ensure it still has a future."

Something about the tone of her voice gave me pause. I turned to face her and my jaw nearly dropped in shock. She looked nervous. Paladin Night was nervous. She was looking this way and that as if she expected it to all disappear at any moment. I turned and watched the streets below, the ponies moving through them as safe from the MidWaste as was likely possible, and the plains beyond the walls of the Burbs where small dots moving slowly down the barely visible rows of shriveled crops gave any hint to the farming required to support the city. Beyond that was the hazy expanse of dust and darkness. A flash of lightning far of in the distance backlit the titanic rusting silos and the smaller farmhouses again and I realized why Night was so nervous. This was not the city from before the war with its plentiful crops and water. The whole of this city and its population teetered on a knife edge. If the crops failed or were destroyed everyone would starve. Same if they ran out of water, though I couldn't see any visible source for where it was coming from. Or something entirely alien and murderous like the Plunderwurm could come barreling out of that haze and begin wrecking everything in its path. If it caused enough damage it would be as bad as the other options and potentially worse. It was truly a barely held together scrap, ready to be broken apart at the slightest tap.

"You understand, don't you?" I looked at Night and our eyes met and held for a long, breathless moment. I nodded and looked back at the city around us.

"It works, but only just. It would be so easy to break it."

Night nodded. "And even some of the more benign technologies out there could do that. The worst would flatten the entire plain without a trace." We both stood there for a while, watching the clouds swirl overhead and listening to the muted sounds of the city below.

"I know what I'm going to tell Elder Dawn," I said at length. Night gave a single nod then turned to lead the way back down the tower.

We both stepped into the office to find Paladin Oak, Scribe Arc, and Elder Dawn already waiting in silence. Night stepped forward to stand by the Elder's side as she watched me over the top of her desk.

"Welcome back Gear Heart. Scribe Arc tells me you probably know more of our history than many Knights do, though I'll leave it to him to quiz you later to find out how much of it stuck," she said with a smile that never quite reached her piercing gaze. I better understood where that intensity was coming from and didn't feel the need to hide from it. Instead I bowed my head slightly in agreement then stood up as straight as I could. The Elder's eyebrow arched a little and she she clasped her hooves together in front of her.

"I take it that means you've made a decision?"

"I have."

"Good, I would have been disappointed if you'd still been undecided or hesitant. Now to see if you've made the right decision for the right reason..." she said softly. Her following words were filled with more authority and steel. "Tell me what you discovered today. What informed your decision. Don't tell me what it is, just how you came to it."

I inhaled and steadied myself. "I found a city built from rubble, civilization pushing back against death and the past, growing and pushing further out. But it's very weak too. I think you could maybe lose one of the larger farms and then after that ponies would be rioting over food. I have no idea where it gets its water without the river but it's probably draining that dry. It's held together with string and tape. I've repaired things like that and the problem is you always need more string and more tape."

Elder Dawn was clearly pleased with my answer. "I see you're more perceptive than I might have given you credit for and that's saying something because I believed you were sharp after we first met. So tell me how you would repair this?"

"Same way I would repair things back in sixty three. The right way. Remove broken components, shore up bond locations and replace faulty hardware. Make it good as new again."

Paladin Oak shook his head and I could almost see the skeptical gaze behind his helmet. "If only it were that simple. You're applying a technician's manual to a city. But there are ponies with other interests and competing needs out there. You can't just tell them to fix things and expect anything to change.That's not how things work-"

"It is if you can see where the faults are," I said, cutting him off. He stiffened and twitched with visible annoyance, ready to say something terse in reply undoubtedly. Elder Dawn beat him to the punch.

"So you're saying... what? The city needs to be repaired?" Again that arched eyebrow and its implied test.

"No, I'm saying it needs to be fixed. All of it."

"All of it?"

"Everything. We have to fix the MidWaste or else it will eventually kill the city." Silence dominated after that statement of fact.

"Excuse me, fix the MidWaste?" Oak snorted derisively. "Do you know how many ponies claim they can 'fix' the MidWaste with some plan? It's a lot. For most of them that plan boils down to 'I need to be in charge with everyone doing what I say and catering to my every crazed and selfish whim'. For the rest it boils down to just being crazy, usually of the cultist or mad scientist vibe. Let me tell you something Gear Heart. It can't be fixed. It can only be survived and beaten back."

"Except that won't work," I said as calmly as I could.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because it killed Sixty Three," I replied. He tilted his head in confusion and glanced at the others. Elder Dawn motioned for me to go on. "Sixty Three was stable, healthy, and secure. We hadn't had to open the door once since it was closed and hadn't had a single real emergency. We were even less open to the Wastes than you are here. And it still found its way in and killed us. It will keep doing that until the MidWaste doesn't exist anymore. It has to be fixed or eventually it's going to destroy this city and every other than follows after. As long as you have to fight the land you live on? You aren't actually living on it, you're hoping it ignores you and doesn't fight back."

Scribe Arc was looking very uncomfortable at this point while Night seemed to be pleased with what I was saying. Or at least that's what I took her lopsided grin to mean. Oak wasn't looking at me now, only at Elder Dawn to see her reaction. She hadn't twitched a muscle in my whole explanation.

"How would you fix it?" she asked.

"The Rangers have the right idea. Find any technology capable of upsetting the balance of the city or destroying it outright and lock it up or destroy it in turn. That has to be done first or else we're going to have a gun pointed at our heads forever, just like the one that put a bullet in Sixty Three. Then we have to find some way to reverse what's been done. We have to make the land livable, everywhere."

"And if no such means exists?"

"Then we have to make one, whatever it takes."

"This is-" Oak began angrily. The sharp sound of clapping stopped him as Elder Dawn sat back in her seat and brought her hooves together.

"Gear Heart, you continue to impress. I Saw the drive in you, the dissatisfaction with what you saw around you, from the moment I laid eyes on you. The rest of your party were terrified, alarmed, and dislocated, adrift even. You just looked aggravated and annoyed, and not at the ponies around you or the threats you faced. No, you were annoyed with the MidWaste itself. But I didn't not expect this level of... energy and commitment. I don't think I have to ask but I will anyway. Will you accept the position I offered?"

"Yes," I answered with determination. The Rangers were doing the right thing to prevent the Waste and it's threats, beast and pony alike, from having the means to easily destroy everything again. I would join them if it meant I could stop another Sixty Three from happening, stop the Waste tearing into the safe places left in the world. I would find a way to make the land bloom again so that everyone could live. So Sun could tend a garden under a real sky and real sunlight. Whatever it took to make that happen.

"Excellent," Elder Dawn said as she stepped around the front of the desk, stopping face to face with me. "Scribe Arc, could you do me a favor and tell me what the ranks of the Rangers are?"

Scribe Arc shook his head in surprise. "Oh, uh, well there are the Initiates, the Scribes, the Knights, the Paladins, the Star-Paladins, and the Elders."

Elder Dawn smirked without looking away from me said, "You've forgotten one."

Arc looked at the Paladins who shrugged. "I-I have?"

"An old rank outside the normal orders for specialists better suited to working on their own. Created back during the Great War when it became clear that ponies were failing to secure information that could harm the Rangers or turning traitor and deliberately giving it to the Zebra. The Rangers required a dedicated and specialized force to track down these examples of our technology and secure them with force if needed before they could be used against us. Exactly what Gear Heart has proposed to do."

Scribe Arc looked at the floor in concentration, mumbling to himself. Suddenly his eyes shot open and sprang up to stare at the Elder. "Elder, do you mean-"

"Yes, I do Scribe Arc. Gear Heart, I hereby induct you into the Steel Rangers as the first Inquisitor of the order in two centuries. Scour the MidWaste, leave no stone unturned, no door unopened, no crevice unsearched, until you find the means to secure the Rangers and the city we protect against all threats and return our land to what it once was."

* * * * * * * * *

Level Up
New Perk: Clear View. You have seen more than most and can see your path from here. Your Perception Increases by 1.

Author's Note

Well this was a beast of a chapter. Went pretty fast thankfully. Hope you all enjoy! Things are about to start kicking off fast.

Chapter 7: Purpose and Trials

Fallout Equestria: Steelheart
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 7: Purpose and Trials

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor an individual perfected without trials..."

"For the love of- would you hold still already?"

"Not a chance!" I yelled in frustrated panic while a pair of orderlies fought to hold me to the examination table. The doctor, an old peach unicorn called Scribe Preserve (apparently after the jam and not for how ancient and crinkly he looked. Could have fooled me) sighed and levitated an empty surgical tray into the air then down on my head. Hard.

"We could have done this easily. The rest of your group were a joy to work with," I barely heard him say gruffly over the sudden ringing in my ears. "But not you. I've dealt with worse before but never over a damned physical exam! Do you not want that brace off or something?"

Yeah, a physical exam where he wanted to get touchy between my legs! Not about to happen! I was getting out of here, Elder Dawn's request to get my leg checked be damned. Just as soon as the room stopped spinning.

"Isn't there some code or oath about not causing patients harm you psycho?!" I shouted weakly, arching my back and kicking my legs up with everything I had left. One orderly was tossed cursing up into the armature-mounted lamp over the table which promptly sprung them back down across me with a resounding "Umph!" from both of us.

"Yes, a century or two back. Now they're more like guidelines." A shadow fell over me and I opened my eyes just in time to see the tray come back for round two.

When I slowly crawled back to consciousness I was still on the same exam table. On the other side of the room Preserve and a Scribe mare in the matching white robes of a medic talked over a small table in muted tones. I rolled over and immediately regretted it when my head ached sharply. A rough examination revealed a large and very tender bump in the center of my forehead.

"You couldn't fix this too?" I asked the pair while pointing at the recent damage.

"Ah, good. You're awake. Consider that a lesson in not fighting your physician. It can be hazardous to your health," Preserve said as he walked over with a clipboard held in his magic. "I completed the physical and wanted to talk to you about what I found."

I rolled over until I could sit upright on the low table while ignoring the stabbing pain in my head as best I could. I gave the doc the best one eyed glare I could while the other was shut tight against the light from the surgery lamp shining down on me. "So, how soon then can I get this brace off? Or do I need to get it replaced with something more sturdy until my leg's healed?"

Scribe Preserve grimaced and glanced at the mare beside him. "You will need to get it replaced with something more sturdy, yes."

I sighed as he confirmed my assessment. "Dang. How long will I-"

"Unfortunately because you're never going to walk again without it. I'm sorry."

I froze, the gears in my head slipping past one another and spinning wildly. I tried to speak but only managed strangled gasps and clicks. "W-What?" I finally got out.

"Your pelvis is effectively shattered on one side. There are signs of acute trauma underneath a larger area of blunt force damage. Tell me, can you feel that leg?"

I stared at him then turned to look at my supported leg. I moved it back and forth, really focusing as I worked it. To my shock and infinite horror I could feel it flexing, sorta, but couldn't feel it brushing against the table as it moved. It was as if somepony had injected Med-X into my entire leg.

"Nerve damage. Happens rarely with healing potions, especially old and improperly sealed ones. The effects get diluted over the years by contamination from the air. Let me guess, you took Med-X first?" I nodded mechanically as the memory of Spell jabbing a needle into my flank came back to haunt me. "You'd probably be fine if you hadn't done that. That worn out potion didn't know whether your nerves were supposed to be deadened or not so it flipped a coin on which way was right and you didn't luck out. The only nerves working right are the ones that weren't damaged when you drank the thing. Consider yourself lucky you have any motion in your leg at all. Could easily be the other way around, right up through the rest of you if it had been stronger." He paused to let me take in the news.

"A new potion?" I asked in vain hope. Hope that crashed and burned when he shook his head.

"As far as any potion out there is concerned, you've been healed. Your body believes it and the magic will believe it too, however wrong it might be. Damned bone and nerve damage is always the worst. The first a potion doesn't do anythin' for and the second is too easy for it to mess up."

I looked past him at the x-ray sheet hung on a lit board on the far wall. Tears welled up in my eyes at how mangled my hip was. Nothing but ghostly silhouettes of bone fragments everywhere right down into the upper leg. It looked more like a border map of the world than a medical print.

"Sonny, just be glad you're moving and that your stable apparently had some good stock to work with. Your group's probably the healthiest bunch I've seen in years. 'Cept for you and that little mare none of you all look like you just marched through hell's own country."

A dark and uninvited sense of anger welled up. Somehow it didn't seem fair that almost nopony else had gotten injured in our escape, like the Waste had it in just for me when it snuck in but hadn't had the chance to finish the job. Me and one other small pony who'd got caught up in-

"Spell! Where is she? What's wrong?"

"Oh, is she a friend of yours?"

"No, she's my boss. She'll kill me if she dies."

"You do realize-"

"I know what I said. SHE'LL STILL DO IT."

"Riiiiiight... you sure his head was fine?" The other Scribe medic nodded, though with a concerned glance at me. It didn't bother me. They didn't know Spell. Her last breath would be spent on a scream of rage loud enough to make me bleed to death from the ears if that's what it took. "She's fine physically, got the burns and cuts healed up quickly but..."

"But what?" I asked after the pause went on a little too long.

He sighed and finished, "But she hasn't woken up yet. Looks like she might be in a coma or possibly something worse, especially from how crazy a spell scan of her mind came out. Part of me wants to know what happened to her so I can try to help if she wakes up. Rest of me wants to keep her sedated till I'm gone and it becomes somepony else's problem to figure out and try to fix."

"You mean 'when she wakes up'? 'When', right?"

He gave me a firm look and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "If. I need to check on her so if you want to see her I'd suggest coming back later. Elder Dawn called while you were out, told me to tell you to head to the armory, figure out your kit and a new brace with the Knight Smith. You can visit afterwards if the Elder doesn't send you on some scavenger hunt immediately."

He and the other Scribe got up and began filing away my charts while I got up off the exam bed. As I walked out the door I just barely heard Preserve mutter darkly at the medic. "Can you believe he outranks both of us? Elder's finally lost it..."

I was beginning to wonder if I was going through Ranger hazing as I stood in front of the massive safe door with the words "Armory" painted across it. I couldn't see any mechanical aids or motors to move it, only a large wheel and a couple handles. I sighed and grimaced at my newest problem before shrugging. This wasn't as bad as Spell's method for welcoming new members by way of overcharging a supercapacitor and tossing it at them with a yell of "Hey, catch!"

To my surprise the giant door proved to be supremely well oiled and balanced and opened smoothly without a detectable sound. Though, any sound it did make was competing with those coming from inside and and handily losing. The Armory was a hive of activity with welding torches, buzz saws, and indicator lights going on and off like fireflies throughout the cavernous space. One sound cut through all the others like a knife.

"Watch tha' output, WATCH THA'-" BOOM "-well I told ye to watch the output. Fix it up and try again."

Off to one side a column of grey smoke flickering with motes of magic light and electrical arcs rose over a group of singed ponies in heavy robes and welding masks, most of who were now coughing violently. One in the back with a simple plastic face shield looked over their shoulder at me with a frown.

"Close the damn door, ye're letting a draft in. Wait a second... yer a civilian! What're ye doin' in 'ere? Didn't ye see the signs saying 'Rangers Only' in great big bloody letters out front? Go on, out with ye!" Great, more odd accents. I especially loved when they were shouting out me. Made them so much easier to understand.

"Sorry, Elder Dawn sent me down to get 'kitted out'?"

The large pony, a well muscled earthpony mare I discovered when she flipped up her visor, squinted at me in disbelief. "Yer havin' a go at me, right? Oh Goddess... yer not. No... I don't believe it... Elder's finally aff her heid..." she said while hanging her head, causing her frazzled red mane to spill over her her orange face. She looked me over then gestured me towards a tidy area of floor in the center of the room set up as an open air office. "So yer the new bigjob Inquisitor aye? The Elder called about yew earlier but I was expectin' something a taaaaaaad different. Had to look up what the fookin' hell an Inquisitor even is after she hung up. Not sure why we need one but Elder's orders and all that."

"I think she wanted-" I began before a very large and metallic tasting hoof shoved it's way into my mouth. She leaned in close, her dull green eyes giving me a distinctly deadpan look.

"Did I sound like I wanted te know? Right, no, I didn'. That's 'tween you and the Elder. Tryin' te figure out what the bigjobs upstairs are thinkin' just gives me a headache. Anyways, I'm Knight Smith Glowing Furnace and this is my little castle," she said while sweeping her hoof around us. The fact that it was the one stuck in my jaw nearly sent me flying. "Now what can I do ye for?"

I recoiled instinctively at how she strung together "do" and "you" in that order as well as her implication that it would be some kind of payment for whatever she was giving me. "Excuse me?"

She rolled her dull blue eyes with a smirk. "I asked ye whaddya need? Bloody Lowland tossers, the lot of ye, can' even understand when somepony's speakin' te ya clearly."

I breathed a very relieved sigh when she insulted me instead of coming on to me. "Lowland? You mean like a Stable?"

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, yer a fookin' Stable pony! Well that's just fookin' grand! No wonder ye can't speak clearly for shite! Yer more Lowland than a Lowlander!"

"I'm so confused," I said with absolute honesty. Glowing Furnace erupted with laughter and tapped me on the back. Well, tried to at any rate. I hadn't really taken notice before but the way her work robes moved and stretched revealed she was easily as muscled as Titan Steel if not more so despite being only slightly taller than me. Her tap very nearly bludgeoned me to the ground.

"Spoken like a true Lowland tosser. To answer yer question, I'm descended from a long line o' Highlanders what gives me my melodic accent and charmin' wit. You-" She pointed at me before sweeping her hoof over my head, forcing me to duck quickly. "-the rest of the city, and the entire fookin' Wastes as well, are Lowlanders"

"Highlander?" I said while rubbing more aching shoulder. Apparently I was going to be just as carelessly bruised and battered up here as I'd been back in 63. Suddenly wurm digestion was starting to sound downright pleasant.

She rolled her eyes then nodded. "Aye, from the Smoky Mountain Clans. Well one o' them. What used to be one o' them, after all the End Times kinda makes it hard to keep in touch with extended family. Especially if ye don't know if they're still livin'. Had a full three of us in the original Ranger postin' here and only lost one when everythin' went to shite so we made up a sizeable part of the foundin' contingent."

"Two out of fifteen?" I asked with a small grin. She rolled her eyes once more sans smirk and gave me a small shove that knocked the air out of my lungs.

"It's better'n just one. I said it was sizeable, not huge. Too bad too, I'm part of a dyin' breed. Not many o' us still speak by singin' and I probably wouldn't if I hadn't apprenticed under Granddaddy Blast Furnace."

"Your grandfather?" I hazarded.

"Oh, yer a perceptive one aren't ye? Fine nosy Inquisitor material fer sure." Wait, did I insult her somehow? What did I say? "Yeah, there's been a Furnace in charge of the Armory since the start and a good thing too. None of this shite would still be running if it weren't fer us," she said while kicking a pile of scrap components lying next to a fold up table. "And that brings us back round to where we started. So, whaddya need?" Oh, uh, yeah. I guess we had gotten a little off track there.

I drew myself up with as much presence and poise as I could and replied, "No idea. What have you got?"

The sound of Furnace's forehead denting the table between us echoed around the room for a long time.

Why did everypony seem to always misunderstand was I said? Take Knight Smith Furnace for example. I thought I'd said I was unfamiliar with what all Rangers went into the field with and wanted to know what was advised.

Furnace believed I'd said I was an idiot who was going to die the second I stepped passed the gate and promptly shot myself.

We'd gotten past my brace with promises (highly skeptical promises but promises nonetheless) to see what she could do with my ideas. Especially after I took away her argument that I didn't need anything so over-engineered by having Preserve send down a copy of my X-Ray with his assistant who I learned was named Barley Stream. The Knight Smith had taken one look at the printout then looked at me and said she'd add extra on. With that out of the way we'd come to *sigh* my weapon.

"Yeah, you'll be strikin' terror into the hearts o' raiders and beasties everywhere with yer fear of guns and inability to swing anything larger than a kitchen knife around," Furnace muttered loudly while hiding her eyes behind a hoof. "Celestia, protect this poor lad fer he knows not what absolute shite he's gettin' himself into."

"Thanks, really motivating," I said glumly at how bad this was going. It turned out I had an instinctual reaction to get far away from the sound of gunfire now. The revving of miniguns in particular could get me to freeze in a cold sweat. All together it meant my aim was terrible and my focus was worse. I wasn't any better with melee because I couldn't pivot around my backlegs to get any force behind my swings. I also had the aim of a geriatric schizophrenic with plenty of cuts on my forelegs to prove it.

"Wasn't supposed te be. Yer shite at this, plain and simple. Fookin' hell... I'd be worried about sending you after a damned radroach!"

I didn't know what that was but by her tone I guessed it wasn't anything dangerous. "Damn it, I killed that wurm without these problems so why am I having to deal with this only just now?"

Furnace's booming laughter filled the space again as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Killed a wurm! Oh fuck me, that's pure magic right there! You killing a... yer serious." She stared at me as I felt the need to give her disbelief an annoyed eyebrow raise. "It was you?" I nodded. "How the fuck did ye do that?! I thought it was the Paladin, or maybe one of the Crusaders!"

"Didn't they send you my rivet gun?" I asked with dwindling patience.

"Yer rivet wha- Oh! So that's what that pile o' scrap they dumped on me yesterday was! Wait, yer telling me you killed a wurm, a fookin' Bruiser no less, with a rivet gun? How the fuck..."

I huffed as she continued to batter my diminutive pride down even smaller. "If you have it I'll show you."

"Aye, we've got it. Haven't even started takin' it apart 'cause I thought it was scrap. Lead on ye mincin' laddie. This I've gotta see."

True to her word it was in the exact same shape as it had been after being removed when we arrived. I started explaining what I'd had in mind in modifying it, pausing every now and then as she called over another Smith or Scribe to listen as well. It was a good thing I was talking tech or else I would have been increasingly uncomfortable with the growing crowd. At the end the Knight Smith all but demanded we remove the talismans first. She tossed one under a magnifying glass and spent a solid five minutes twisting it this way and that before giggling like a crazed madmare.

"Oooh fuck me, this is pure barry! A right belter of a piece! This put a rivet through a wall? Through a Sparker's leg and dome without stoppin'?" I nodded with growing concern as her grin grew ever larger. "Gear, yer a numpty but yer the best kind: the kind tha' brings me quality goodies to get me gash good and soaked!"

I coughed and hacked at the terrible imagery that sprung to mind. She was objectively good looking and I'd always appreciated strong or muscled mares, particularly as work partners. But she went so far into the kind of territory I didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole that I was finding all new ways to be disturbed. I seemed to be alone in the opinion as the others around me laughed at what must have been a normal display from her. My reaction only served to make them laugh harder. Thankfully Furnace was too busy fawning over the force talisman to notice. I had no way of knowing how'd she react. For whatever reason mares and stallions took way too much offense when I said I had no interest in doing anything like that with them.

"Well, that's good. I guess. I, uh, had some ideas on making it better, easier to find ammo and higher projectile speed, that sort of thing. We'll have to tear it down and rebuild the saddle to make room for the brace but that shouldn't-"

"FECK THAT!" Furnace shouted while pointing a hoof at me.

"Oh goddess, what did I say this time..." I groaned out as my shoulders drooped. She stalked up to me and pushed her face into mine, muzzle to muzzle.

"Yer not seriously thinking of trying te put this heavy bastard back on like ye had it are ye?"

My ears shot back at her incriminating tone. "Well I was until just now."

She pulled back and dramatically shook her head. "Oh Gear you great daft wallaper. What do you think would happen if ye tried that?" I had no idea what she was implying and made sure my expression said as much. "Ye'd make it half way te the next town before something happened to yer brace and it gave out and dumped all tha' weight on yer gimp leg. Ye think it's bad now just think o' what that'd do to it."

"Wait, it can't be that bad. Otherwise how would the power armor stay-"

"The Ranger armor has repair talismans built in ya numpty!" Oh, right. Their helmets and suits had stitched themselves back together when they took hits back in the Stable. "We've only got thirteen o' those after we lost two in a massive cock up a century or so back. They stay in the armor and we don't have the right materials te make more. The gear we outfit the squads with breaks down all the time! It's why most of them are trained in how te make them work again off scrap and prayers! Sometimes even just the prayers!"

"Huh. Well that's not great."

She facehoofed. "Yeah, no shite! Yer not gonna have that sort of structure te work with since the Elder said yer the special daisy outside the normal chain so we've gotta figure out something else. We can make it lighter but I'm not sure we can make it light enough for that leg te hold it if the brace quits on ye."

I sighed heavily and looked at my trusty and very busted rivet gun. Yesterday had been eye opening and today was feeling far more soul crushing. First the medical exam and now thi-

I frowned as something flashed across my mind. What was it, what was it... oh. Ohhhhhhh. That might work.

"Furnace? I need a favor?"

Furnace cocked her head to the side. "Depends. What is it?"

I gave her a grin that she recoiled from. It was good to see somepony else do it instead of me for once. "I need metal, tools, and a plasma torch."

"Gear, are ye fuckin' done yet? You've been at it for hours. Oh, and Preserve says te stop bargin' in or he'll introduce you te the tray again, whatever the fuck that means."

"Good, he won't have to. I'm done."

"Finally! Mate, jus' what the fuck have you-" she fell silent as I stepped out from behind the protective screens and shields and lifted the welding mask up to give her my cockiest grin. "Goddess... the fuck is that thing?" she asked while contorting her face in disgust. "Gear, I don't think ye understand the how a gun's supposed to work."

"No?" I asked snarkily. I brought my hoof up and pressed one of the stubs on the shoulder of my new pack. A two piece arm like the one that held the heavy exam lamp in Preserve's clinic unfolded itself and swung a long, almost featureless box out in front of me, placing a grip with a mouth trigger in front of my face and pointing the open circle of the barrel at the Knight Smith.

"Celestia's chebs! The fuck is that thing?!"

"My new force rifle. It's just a more compact rivet gun built for nails. They're more common and I can carry more. At least I hope they are. That's what the drum over here is for. It's heavy though so I needed something to hold it up but I can't use the pack like you said. Then I remembered the arm holding up the heavy lamp in the clinic and found another one in the dentist section that worked even better. Copied how they worked and attached the rifle to them and then attached that to a pack that put the connection over my shoulders. That was still heavy so I copied the brace to each leg and then connected it all together with springs and dampers and then-"

"Fuck me Gear, I didn't need a damn dissertation. That just looks like a massive pain in the arse with how much shite you've got- ...Gear?"

"Yes?" I asked while fiddling with the resistance of some of the air shocks.

"How much of the scrap back there did ye use?"

"Oh, uh, most of it I think. Especially the springs and magic batteries. You're running low on cables too."

"------"

"What? Sorry, I didn't catch that. Do you have some place I can test it out?" I looked around then noticed a couple scribes hunched over a long rifle near a long lane with aged and perforated mannequins at the far end. "Perfect, let's see how this works," I said as I pressed the tabs to collapse the arm back into its compact form then made a beeline for the makeshift firing range at the back of the old bank vault. I popped the arm in and out a couple times to make sure it worked well on the move then left it out as I reached the firing line. Besides the mannequins at the far end of the range there were a number of rudimentary figures made out of barrels, scrap, and old sacks. I grabbed the rifle grip in my mouth and sighted on the nearest one. I breathed in and out to calm my nerves then slipped my tongue around the trigger and lightly pulled back.

"GEAR HEART, YOU DAMN THIEVIN' BASTA-" a familiar voice shouted behind me just before the rifle let out a loud whine and the wall and the target dummies in front of me exploded in a cloud of dust. Silence fell over the space as the faint "zip" of the weapon's firing echoed into nothing. I coughed as the dust cloud began settling and opened a squinting eye. The targets were gone with nothing recognizable left besides their bases while the thick vault wall behind them was pockmarked with hundreds of glowing red dents that quickly cooled with a faint popping sound. I frowned at the rifle in my mouth and gave it a small shake. When the drum of nails failed to rattle I let go with a grimace.

"Dang, should have thought of that. I only wanted the one shot. Need to add some kind of... interrupt or something so it doesn't dump them all at once. Though that could be useful I suppose... maybe some kind of selector to choose between the two?" A shadow fell over my right side and the rifle and I turned to find the Knight Smith staring open mouthed at the results of my test. "What do you think Furnace?"

She slowly turned, glacially slowly even, then looked back and forth between me, my rifle and support pack, and the target range. Me, gun, targets. Targets, gun, me. Suddenly her hooves shot out and hugged me close while she spun around in a pirouette. "I think yer my new favorite daft, thievin' numpty!" she said with a manic giggle. For my part I was desperately trying to pull away and prevent her monstrous muscles from crushing me or my experiment or getting anywhere lower down my flank- LIKE THAT.

"Too close, too close, TOO CLOSE! LET GO! FURNACE!"

Furnace and the other technicians had thrown themselves into perfecting my design after I gave them my original sketches and had suggested a number of small fixes and improvements that we agreed would be needed before I went outside the Castle again. I'd kept my Stable suit and vest, though Furnace had insisted that I get them recolored so they didn't stand out as much. Now the suit was mostly black with some blue trim left by areas of un-dyed fabric while the vest was now grey with red trim around the leg holes.

It was a little too dark for my liking but Furnace had said, and I quote, "That's the point you loony dolt! Did ye see rainbows and flowers out in the the Waste?"

She'd topped it off with a long coat, more of a cloak really with how thin it was, that concealed the front braces in the sleeves and hung over most of the remaining frame and back braces and had an extra sleeve stitched on top to conceal most of the armature. Furnace knew what she was talking about because when I'd looked in a mirror I'd have sworn I was just in from the Waste with a junk rifle strapped on my back out of the way. I was almost ready to head out now. There was just one thing I needed to do before I left. I stepped back through the door of the clinic once more and immediately ducked as a familiar tray went flying overhead.

"I told you if you came here again to- oh, looks like you're finished. Here to see your frie- your boss?" he corrected with a smirk. He really didn't understand. Sure, I respected Spell. But I feared her way, WAY more. "You're just in time. She's got some other visitors from your group so go on in."

"Yeah, good to see you too Doc. Thanks for missing the throw. Who else came by?"

"Didn't mean to miss, my eyes are just getting old. There's a big fellow, a Handy, and a unicorn mare with a sunflower. Real sweet thing," he added with a blissful smile. I rolled my eyes with a single chuckle and thought to myself Yeah, she'll have that effect on you. I'm not sure she shouldn't have gotten a Cutie Mark that was nothing but smiles instead. I walked past Preserve and through the open door to the care center. It was as clean as anywhere in the Waste got and the wallpaper was only barely peeling off. Three familiar figures stood or floated around a bed set against one wall and the small figure in it. All three looked up as my new four-legged frame flexed quietly when I walked in. Titan cocked his head to the side with a confused look while Sunflower stared at me in either surprise or shock, I couldn't tell which. Manesworth couldn't seem to decide where to look and his three eyes were switching between us all randomly.

"Gear? Where have you been all day? ...and what are you wearing?" she asked softly.

"New uniform apparently. Complete with fancy new brace and backups," I replied, lifting the bad leg high enough that the coat fell to the side and revealed the sleeker, sturdier version.

Sun smiled and said, "I'm glad. I was worried that one I made was going to break before too long and hurt you."

I waved a dismissive hoof. "It was fine, just needed to get a little sturdier. I'm guessing Scribe Preserve showed you the x-ray then?"

She nodded while tears beaded up in her eyes. Titan nodded as well and stepped up to place a hoof on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Gear. This is pretty close to hell but we wouldn't be here at all without you. You paid way too much to make sure of that."

"It's fine Titan, everyone always said I was more machine than pony right? Well now that's more accurate." He gave me a weird look that for some reason almost seemed pitying. No idea why, I was nearly in love with the new gear. I'd had a hoof in bringing it together which made it a part of me in every way I could think of. Titan tapped my shoulder again then gave the rifle a curious glance.

"Huh. What's that?"

"Oh! This is the new model," I said, unhinging the arm and letting it float the rifle out in front of me (safety engaged. Furnace had been very adamant about making sure there was no way it could fire accidentally after the "accident". She'd said she'd take the repair costs out of my paycheck, whatever that was). Everyone stared for a few moments before Sunflower started sputtering.

"Gear! Why do you still have that thing?!" she hissed.

"Because it would be suicide to go outside without it?" Oh, and apparently I was afraid of normal guns. Mostly miniguns. Couldn't forget that fun fact.

Sun's eyes shot open and she rushed over and started shaking me in her hooves. "Wait, you're going back out there? Gear! Why would you do that?! Didn't the Rangers say you could become a Scribe like us? You didn't turn them down did you?"

I placed my hooves on her shoulder and gave her a small shake in turn. She twitched and tried to push them away, sniffling all the while. "Elder Dawn gave me a different choice, one which we both thought I would be better for. She made me an Inquisitor."

"A what?" asked Titan.

I paused awkwardly for a second. I hadn't yet looked up what the role used to do myself so all I had to go on was what the Elder had told me. "It's outside the normal Order. Mostly going out and finding old technologies that could prove dangerous to the Rangers and the city. Things like the source of the signal that corrupted the Overframe. I'm going to find it and the rest of them and make sure they can't do the same thing to us here that they did to sixty three."

"Isn't that what the Rangers already do?"

"Kind of? The Rangers are focused on securing all advanced technology but the Inquisitors tracked it down when it was hidden intentionally or meant to be used against the Rangers. It's less power armor and numbers and more investigating and quiet."

"So you're going to be a Ranger spy then," Titan said with a sigh. I wasn't sure why he seemed so upset, it sounded a lot safer and less likely to cause trouble than the other way. The Elder had decided I was suited for it and it was what I had to do if I wanted to keep the survivors and everypony else safe so I would do it. I needed to be out there, searching for a solution, and the resources of the Rangers would increase my chances, both of finding anything and living to bring it back. If I had to be an Inquisitor to for that to happen then that was perfect.

"Gear, don't. Please. We need you here-" Sun started to say until Titan placed a hoof in front of her and shook his head.

"Sunflower, stop. I've seen that look a few times and heard about it from Spell even more. He's set on this." Wait, heard about what? Still confused over here. A little help? Anypony? No? No.

"Gear... fine. Go out there and get yourself killed," Sun said through pursed lips as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Sun, if I don't we might all get killed. The city is safer but it's not immune-" I never got to finish. Sun dashed around me and out he door. Preserve watched her leave then saw me standing in the doorway. He rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing before. I prepared to chase after her, tell her to find ways to fit in here, look for the gardens, go back to doing what she'd enjoyed doing while I was out on assignments. A cough from Titan stopped me.

"Give her time. She almost lost- ... she's lost a lot recently. We all have. I'm... glad you've been able to fit in so well already," he said.

"Yeah. But the Stable was a better home than this," I said while stepping up and looking back down at Spell, sleeping in what might be her death bed because of a mistake we'd both made. Titan joined me in silence for a bit.

"Gear, I understand why you're doing this and I'm not going to tell you not to. I don't have the right to, not after you were the one that fought everything. Hell, I'm even hoping you can do it. You've already proven you can handle more than anypony else I know. Just... be careful and don't die trying to be a hero. Make sure you come back. For all of us. For Sunflower."

I gave him the best lopsided smile I could muster. "I'm not in any hurry to die. Besides, this isn't really hero stuff. I'm not leading an army or rescuing princesses or fighting evil kings. I'm going to be switching off or sabotaging old, malfunctioning tech. I'll be back. Just do your thing and keep everyone together. Keep leading like you have so far."

Titan frowned and faced me. "Like I have? Gear, none of us-"

"Inquisitor Gear Heart? I'm afraid I have something that requires your attention." I looked over my shoulder to find Elder Dawn standing in the doorway. "I apologize for the interruption but it is time critical."

I quickly turned and bent down next to Spell. "Boss, I really hope you don't hate me when you wake up. Well, hate me more. I'm going to fix things, whatever it takes." Make it up to you for killing the Overframe and our home. I couldn't say it out loud. Not yet. "I'm ready," I said as I looked towards the Elder, pausing to give Titan a nod and smile for his support. He sighed and did the same.

"I'm surprised you're throwing me into the middle of things already," I said to her as we walked briskly down the hall, my supports giving off very faint pops now and then.

"Quick note, please address me as Elder. Not so much because I mind but because the rest of the order does and you're a part of it now, however removed from the normal it may be." She waited till I nodded in acknowledgement then continued, "We just received a tip that a fight broke out in a bar in Bronclyn with a number of deaths. Sadly common for the city. Not so common was the manner of two of the deaths. The victims were vaporized to ash."

I nearly tripped over my hooves in surprise (which would have been disasterous considering how much weight was hooked up to me) and quickly apologized. "Sorry, getting used to the new gear and brace."

"Yes, I heard from Preserve about the need for it. I'm sorry for the loss."

"Not your fault Elder. I'm using the brace to make up for it so it's not a huge problem."

Elder Dawn paused, giving me a confused and concerned look, her eyes searching for... something. What that something was, I didn't have a clue in the least. A disappointingly normal state for me. I leaned away from her slightly to get some reprieve from the intense examination and to hide my shame at still not understanding others like I wanted.

"You truly do mean that, don't you?" Her eyes widened slightly. "Goddesses... you lose the ability to use a leg and within a day you're past it. I've had seasoned Crusaders suffer similarly and lose all capacity to continue, withdraw in on themselves till there's nothing left. More than that, you lost your home and within a day find an entire new purpose with dedication and focus. I've seen entire towns displaced without a single pony ever coming to grips with the loss!" Her mouth tightened into a thin smile while her eyes continued to bore into mine. "I may have gotten far, far more than I had hoped with you Inquisitor Gear Heart. Your resolve, that will to push on through the pains, chains, and shackles of your condition and the events that define your past. That, that is what the Wastes need more than anything. The resolve to do away with the demons of our past and create ourselves anew, again and again till we cannot be broken again," she proclaimed, her voice rising slightly till by the end her words were echoing back to us through the hall.

"It's not- I mean, thank you." I think? I had thought the Elder to be more like me, level and not given to those strong emotions everypony else seemed to always have. But that... that was more impassioned than anything I'd ever heard before, even more than Sunflower's admission to me the morning of the horror in our home.

"But back to the matter at hoof," Elder Dawn said evenly, her impassive expression and cool demeanor returned from out of the blue. Or the gray out here in the MidWaste I suppose.

"Oh, uh, right. So a plasma blast then? Or was it a laser?" I asked, trying to remember what we had been talking about just prior to her tangent.

The Elder gave me a critical look and an arched brow. A few moments later she twitched her head and said, "I see your Stable was familiar with energy weapons."

This time I did stop as I thought back to our escape from the Gallery and the Gutsys that had been firing at us. I shuddered mildly and nodded. "We had security Handy models with projectors. We were warned not to mess with them and their tools or else that might happen to us." I rushed to catch back up with the Elder, thankful for the new external support frame and how it barely put any strain on me.

"Ah, good. You won't be going in without experience or the proper level of caution then," she said with relief.

"Going in where?"

"We've had reason to believe that there is an underground cartel that moves and sells advanced weapons throughout the city and the surrounding farmlands. Every now and then we'll find a hired guard or mercenary carrying one and confiscate it but the number has stayed stable for far too long without somepony maintaining the supply. The trail back to that supplier has run cold every time before but this time we're hoping we can get out in front of it. Given the tip this was most likely a trade deal that went bad after one side or the other got greedy. Find the supplier that was there and contact us over your PipBuck on this frequency when you do," she said while pulling a slip of paper from her coat and passing it to me. "Keep an eye on them and we'll send a squad to aid you in securing those weapons. I considered having them on stand-by in case you needed them immediately but Knight Smith Furnace seems to think you won't need that. In fact, I'd say you've left quite the impression on her," she said with a sly smirk.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "More like she left one on me. Nearly broke me and the frame in two." The Elder laughed sharply and nodded.

"Yes, she'll do that. But she knows her stuff and if she's inclined to give you room then so am I. A squad following however far behind would draw unwanted attention and potentially alert the supplier to you. Crusader Lily has the details on where you'll be going. She'll be waiting for you at the gate."

"Lily?"

"The tip came in through a family member of one of her squad that was at the bar. They'll be the ones waiting for your word to move in." I nodded, thankful for at least something familiar on my first outing in unfamiliar territory. "I have high hopes for you Inquisitor. Use those skills of yours, think in ways others don't, use that resolve." She stamped her hoof once on the floor for emphasis, raising her chin to look down her nose at me. Then her expression softened and she reached a hoof up to my shoulder. "But be careful, be safe, and don't be a hero. I need you for other missions of much greater importance than this matter."

"Yes Elder, I'll do what I can."

It was no more than an hour later that I found myself standing outside one of the dirtiest looking buildings I'd seen. The walls were grimy and grey where they weren't speckled with dried blood, vomit, and other things I couldn't identify and didn't want to. The ponies that passed by shot me curious looks until my scowl made them hurry on their way. I didn't even have to force it. This was one of the worst experiences of my life, hooves down. Everypony had glared at me on the way, whispered, pointed, jostled, pushed, and shoved. None apologized.

I looked down at my Pipbuck again as if willing the the map to change and tell me that the Blindshine, the bar from the tip, was anywhere else than in front of me. Sadly, the map tag refused to budge. My Pipbuck's apparent clairvoyance about post apocalyptic businesses and streets only served to aggravate me more. I'd said I was done not understanding the things around me and as soon as I got back I was digging into the code to figure out how it worked so it didn't surprise me again. Right now though I had an assignment to finish.

I walked up to the front door, past a number of mares draped in thin fabric who were way too interested in me for my liking, and pushed it open. The room beyond was filled with acrid smoke and the smell of sour beer and tangy liquor. Oh, and puke and blood and other things I couldn't identify and didn't want to. At least they were consistent. Every pony turned to look at me with half lidded stares and suspicious glares. I put on my Sixty Three mask and pretended they were normal ponies from Sixty Three. It worked just as well here and they turned away from the invisible pony in the doorway. Then the door closed behind me and my nerves took over with glee. I had no idea what to do next. I welded my mask in place and found a seat in a darker corner of the room where a low table let me sit without revealing my support frame. I nearly panicked when the chair squelched under me and I couldn't stop myself from twitching and hacking in disgust. Apparently that was normal though because no one took notice other than a table of ponies playing cards who chuckled to themselves before going back to their game. I shoved the feeling of revulsion deep down inside me and took stock.

Okay Gear, you're here. So, what the hell do you do now? Hmmmmm... you need a lead.

Obviously.

Wait, who was... Oh Goddess, I'm snarking myself now?

Seems like it.

Great, got any actual advice?

Yeah, don't get caught. Everyone's armed to the teeth. Here's a reminder for a quick moment of panic.

My inner dialogue was scarily accurate as a slow pan of my eyes revealed pistols, rifles, and shotguns everywhere. No scorching or ash though. It was too much to hope the piles were still there, they would have been cleared out for business-as-usual to resume, but that sort of energy would have left a mark. That meant it must have taken place on another floor or more likely given the layout of the place, a private room. Unfortunately Lily's squad member wouldn't tell me who had given her the tip because she didn't want to put them in danger (her expression had also made it clear she had no confidence I could do this without getting caught. Huge confidence boost on my first assignment).

Well, the Elder said to think like myself and not everypony else so... how do I do that? Ummmmm... okay, let's put this in familiar terms. Say the Overframe was asking me to investigate something that had happened in a department while her sensors were down. Where would I start? ... with the department head. The owner or someone close was who I needed... and a long look around said my best chance was the bartender. Otherwise known as the ugliest, gruffest unicorn stallion I'd ever seen currently pouring shots with his mouth revealing a full set of steel teeth with matching metal eye patch. I didn't want to get closer to him than I had to but couldn't think of a better option that wouldn't raise suspicions. The next time a place opened up at the bar in front of him I slid into it as surreptitiously as I could.

"Yeah? What de'yeah want?" he asked with infinite boredom and a lazy look which revealed one of his eyes was a half decent glass copy of the other. Half being the key word there. I turned my mask to "mild interest" and looked at the shelves with their various bottles behind him.

Crap.

None of them were hard cider. What the heck was in them if it wasn't cider? Apples, that's what you made alcohol from right? That's what we did in 63- ...oh. Oh damn. I hadn't seen a single apple tree, or living tree for that matter, since I'd left the Stable. No telling what they use out here and whether I'd live through trying it. I'd seen signs depicting meat for sale in the market- I hid a dry heave behind a cough and shook my head for clarity and distraction from the awful place my thoughts had been heading.

Quick, listen for what anyone else is ordering, it'll have to do. Just... don't think about what might be in it.

"Shot of... Dragonfire."

He gave me a very scrutinizing one-eyed glance then shrugged and began pulling bottles off the shelves. I realized I might have made a mistake when the sixth bottle came down and knew I'd made one when he tossed a small pebble into the mix and it burst into green fire that made my PipBuck click ominously.

"Anything else?" he asked while putting all of the ingredients to my imminent death back where they'd come from.

Thank you timely way out! "Yeah, heard there was a fight here from a Ranger initiate. Energy weapons used. Was wondering if you knew where I could find the ponies that used them." There was a faint clink as he dropped the last bottle a little more heavily onto the shelf than the others. He turned that same one-eyed look back at me with a definite glower now. I had a sudden impression that one, I had once again said the wrong thing and two, I was still going to die from the shot he poured only now it would be from him shoving it through the back of my head.

"You got a lot of nerve coming in here and asking for anything, Ranger Boy. I'd suggest you get before I let everyone know we've got unwelcome company."

Okay, so he didn't like Rangers. Thankfully, I wasn't one. Well, a normal one. "I'm not a Ranger. They kicked me out of the Castle when I said I wouldn't be a Scribe." Half truth, nearly as good as a whole truth for getting ponies to ease off on interrogating me.

"You expect me to believe that with all the crap you're hauling around? Like they'd ever let you go with so much as a battery," he growled while a HUGE revolver floated up from under the bar and lay across the top while pointing at me. I hadn't even seen him cast the spell! I nervously glanced at his horn and realized it was ever so faintly glowing in a ghostly white that hardly stood out from his grey horn. That was just cheating!

"I uh- I bought the stuff off them before they kicked me out."

"Now I know you're lying. Rangers never sell nothing, don't care about caps. So now you've got till the count of three. One-"

"Didn't have caps so I sold them the information from my Stable!" I quickly added while lifting my leg just high enough to pass my Pipbuck through the cloak, trying to hide the support frame under it as much as I could. He paused in counting and gave it a long hard look. I rolled the selector knob against the bar top and flipped through the status screens to prove it was real. He narrowed his eyes then lowered the revolver down to the bar, no longer floating but still pointing at my chest.

"So, guess that's the latest rumor confirmed. Kicked you out huh? What, you insult them or something? Castle not up to your high Stable tastes in living?" he said with a sneer. I really didn't like this guy.

"They gave me a choice to join or leave," I replied.

"So you left huh?" No, I hadn't. All I'd said was they'd given me a choice and he'd filled in the rest with his own emotions and biases. Picking the right words so others would hear what they wanted to, especially if those words were completely honest and true, was a trick I'd picked up to get out of awkward situations back in the Stable. Good to know it still worked here. "Good choice. They'd have taken everything from you before long just like with this city."

"Well, I'm outside now and I'm looking for the group with the advanced guns."

He arched an eyebrow and chewed his cheek for a second. "Think you might be in a bit over your head Stable Boy. You don't seem like the dealing type." At least he didn't spit the new nickname like he had the first.

"I'm not. I'm the fixing and building type. I was a technician in my Stable, robots, electronics, that sort. There's nothing like that in the Burbs for me to do. Fixing up laser and plasma guns sounds a lot better than the alternatives around here."

He gave a small appraising nod and licked his lips with a thick, sickly looking tongue. "I'll give ya this, at least you didn't say some shit about how you're the toughest ganger to ever stumble in from the Wastes or how you've killed a hundred stallions. If you're looking for real work and you've got the skills I can point you in the right direction. For a fee obviously."

"How much?" I asked apprehensively. Lily had said the city and Burbs worked on a barter system of favor for favor and I didn't want to know what kind of work that might entail for this sleaze of a pony. Thankfully he just asked for money.

"Two hundred caps."

A lot of money. Don't even get me started on the local currency either. I could have jury rigged something to pop out sheet metal caps in a day. Only hard part would have been the paint and printing. How they managed to get by with something that flimsy...

"Two hundred? That's most of what I have left! I may be new here but I've seen top end rifles go for less at the market."

He hissed out a laugh. "You want to play with the big boys, you take big boy risks. Besides, if you can actually do what you say then that'll be chump change for you before too long." Really? Just how big was this smuggling ring? Or was he exaggerating just to get the money? It didn't matter, the caps were provided by Elder Dawn and the weapons were the priority.

"Fine," I said, hoofing out the caps onto the bar. He counted them then dropped them into a lock box. He leaned in close and I copied him hesitantly (his breath was a physical force of repulsion) while he glanced around quickly. "I let them do their deals here in exchange for a small take. Never been with them to their place before but they've had me send other ponies there. Old warehouse on the inner edge of the Burb, right across the river from the city. Just ask to see Good Business."

I blinked. "Good Business? Is that his real name?"

"How the fuck should I know?" he replied with a roll of his eyes. "Probably some title he made up for himself to make sure everypony got the message about how he runs things. There, I've told you what you wanted. Now finish your drink and get out of here before you draw in trouble." I looked down at the forgotten concoction and gulped. It was still on fire even if my Pipbuck had stopped clicking and the color had only gotten darker since he'd poured it. I saw no way out of drinking it without also pissing this guy off, a move I thought would probably be bad for my health just as much as the drink, so I tipped him my best fake thankful nod and tossed it back.

You ever have one of those- whaddya call em- days! Days where everything- I mean EVERYTHING- seems to be going well? I was having a week- no, sorry, a day, yeah, a day- like that. Today, I mean. Got my new gear, got my first job, and so far it was going pretty good! Pretty good... yeah, pretty good. I wasn't even caring that ponies kept bumping into me while I followed the bartand- barend- bartender, yeah, the bartender's directions to Good Business's place. That bartender, he was a pretty good guy. Name was... well damn, I don't think I ever asked him. I should go back and ask, be polite like I should go back and ask. Yeah, I'll go back and ask. A good guy.

A complete asshole. Sold me something called Addictol with what I had left. Turns out I "can't hold my shit" and got addicted. One shot. Addicted on the first shot, that shouldn't be physically possible. That's what he said too, just to add insult to injury. I want to call bullshit except my Pipbuck was saying I had both side effects of the anti-drug drug and diminishing withdrawal effects. Oh, and a splitting headache and nausea and a very empty and aching stomach but the Pipbuck didn't think those were worth mentioning.

That was the terrible shape I was in when I finally reached the warehouse later that day as dusk, or rather the darker shade of sky that passed for night on the surface, set in. Thank Celestia I hadn't actually made it here earlier and instead lost my mind enough to go back to the shithole bar to get the assholes name. Never did get it. Glad for that.

I glanced over the top of some old, rusted barrels stacked in the shadows of an alley across from the target warehouse. The lights over the large slide doors made my head hurt even worse despite how far away they were and I cursed my past self to the last level of Tartarus for the damn shot of doom.

With my eyes squinted to thin lines I could make out a unicorn lounging or leaning to either side of the loading doors, one whistling a tune while the other smoked a cigarette slowly and methodically. When I dropped behind the barrels a glint caught my eye and I looked back, shifting around until I caught it again and noticed the hidden assault rifle under a stack of cardboard at the hooves of the smoker. If it wasn't an energy weapons ring it was still uninviting and that meant I was interested in it. Hidden places might mean hidden tech. Hopefully...

I circled around the building a few more times, looking it over while staying in any shadows I could find. I had a couple close calls including one memorable one where I was hiding in a covered drainage ditch and one of the guards decided he needed to empty his bladder just before I passed under the grate he chose. If he'd looked down at all we'd have had a very personal and infinitely awkward moment before all hell broke loose. Thankfully he hadn't and that remained the highlight of my search.

Soon after I was certain I'd seen every nook and cranny of the outside and chose my entryway: a battered exterior fan in the wall opposite a low flat roof on the nearest set of mostly intact ruins. A few more minutes saw me to the top and a few more found me with a makeshift bridge of boards and wire extended out to just below the ancient and unmoving fan.

As I stepped out on it I realized something critical I hadn't been taking into account: I might not be feeling the weight of my frame and rifle but it still weighed something and that something combined with my own weight caused the wood to crack ominously as I reached the halfway mark. With a hissed curse I stalked forward quickly and landed with surprisingly little noise on the far end of the bridge just as the bottom board cracked apart. I dropped down to the sheet metal roof of the warehouse and froze, waiting for the two guards to come and investigate.

But they never did and soon I heard one of them say something that earned an sharp chuckle from the other. I breathed a sigh of relief and quickly started to work on the grate of the decrepit fan. A minute or so later the grating was down, the fan was disassembled, and I had an open if dim way in. When I got back I was going to find some way to thank Furnace for including tool holders in the frame's legs.

My nerves were screaming at every tiny pop and creak as I stepped through the the long fan casing. Still, none of them were more than squeaks and no alarms or shouts followed afterwards. I was in the clear as I lowered myself down to the catwalk below the fan inside and turned to look at the inside of the warehouse.

Or I would have if I hadn't come face to face with the glowing muzzle of a laser pistol. I looked over the weapon at a brown unicorn with a goldenrod muzzle and mane wearing a spotless black and copper pinstripe suit and a pair of bright sunglasses with small circular lenses and matching copper rims. He leaned his head forward to look over the tops of them at me and smirked with undisguised humor.

"You know, Screech and Spine had a running bet on when you'd finally make it in and funnily neither of them won. They both guessed short. So what took you? Old Steel Jaw said you left his place hours ago. Not good business being so late."

* * * * * * * * *

Equipment Perk: Support Power Frame. Your carrying capacity is doubled and the Strength requirement for all weapons is halved when your frame is equipped. Without it your carrying capacity is halved.

New Perk: A Little Sensitive. You and chems are an energetic mix. All effects from using chems are increased by 50% but you also become addicted to them 50% faster and all negative effects are doubled.

Author's Note

Whoo! Despite a road trip, a family visit, and more car troubles this is near record pace! Hope you all enjoy!

This is far enough along now that I'd like to thank Kkat for making this incredible world. I'd gone through a lot of great stories here but FoE was the one that made me want to add on to it and got me into writing. Thanks for what you've given us and thanks to everyone that's decided to keep up with this little addition to that world.

Chapter 8: Trials and Cracks

Fallout Equestria: Steelheart
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 8: Trials and Cracks

”All too often, we find ourselves trying to patch over the cracks in our persons, either by intention or by necessity. ”

I’ve experienced pain before.

...

On second thought make that a lot of pain.

...

Okay, more like a hell of a lot of pain actually.

What I mean was my past Stable life wasn’t exactly cushy and I got bruised and shocked on a depressingly regular basis. One of the perks of being a robot technician. I’d thought that was terrible, a travesty of life and circumstance when others in 63 might never get a single scratch at their job their whole life.

Then the last two days happened. Sweet merciful Luna, I wanted my mild shocks and bruises back again. That had been heaven! Now robots had blasted me, a mutated monster worm tried to eat me, bullets shattered my hip, and then I had to endure Preserve’s supposed “care” to deal with the damage. I’d couldn’t have known before but I’d had it fantastic in 63. I’d been just about certain nothing could ever hurt more than the last two days.

“Whoops! Hmmmm... I think he might have needed that. Should we put it back in?”

This hurt more.

“Nah, he’s fine. Gotta plenty more where dat came from. Besides, we’ve been sharing with him all day. Only polite he shared back!”

A constant tide of pain made me gasp and whimper while my captors stood close by and chuckled. Of the pair the older was a unicorn with a gray, pockmarked face and graying orange mane while the other was a nearly bald earth pony with fat red jowls. I couldn’t guess his age because his fat, bloated body could have been anything. A pair of pliers hovered slowly towards the rolling trolley that always accompanied them, gleaming a rusty silver and red in the dim light. I watched through bleary, swollen eyes as they popped open and a small white drop fell onto the dirty, blood caked tray atop the trolley.

“What do you think? A keeper?”

“Oh yeah, dat’s a keeper fer sure! J’ever seen one so shiny?”

“Hmmm... nope, that’s as pretty as they come. Guess he was tellin’ the truth about being from some Stable. Nopony else ‘round here has anything other than rotten yellow, not even those Ranger bastards. And speaking of Rangers,” he said with a tap on my hoof from the bloodied pliers, “how about telling us what they’re up to? Maybe some codes, a few deployments? Anything come to mind?”

I shivered and moaned as my jaw sent jolts of pain from the missing molar over and over, demanding I run; back to 63, back to the Castle, back to safety, back to anywhere but here. The rest of my body told me it didn’t have the energy and wished it would just shut up. One leg told me nothing at all and never would again. At that moment I envied it and wished the rest of me would follow suit.

“I- ahn... I told you, they kicked me out. I-I’m not a Ranger, I just wanted a job...” I wheezed, cringing as the motion lashed me with more pain. How had things gone this wrong?

I didn’t know, but was easy enough to pick out the starting point. Someone bashed the back of my head in. Or at least that’s what I assumed had happened. I hadn’t been in much shape to try to recreate the chain of events when I finally came to. What I was certain of was I’d woken up in a dry, cool concrete cell without any memory of how I’d gotten there and a still bleeding lump behind one ear. Not a great way to wake up to begin with but that hadn’t been the worst part. No that was when I’d discovered what they’d taken from me.

My frame, my gun, my uniform, and worst of all, my Pipbuck. They'd left me with nothing. No... less than nothing. I was now lame, beaten and bruised on top of my crippled state. Worse than I’d been before. Broken.

Only I could have managed that. I mean, I’d had everything I could have asked for. Hell, I'd had everything I had asked for! First Inquisitor in a century, chosen by the Elder herself, fixed up with the best the Rangers could offer, and in one day I’d lost it all, become even weaker than when I arrived at the Castle. I’d walked in under my own power, walked out with more power, and now I could barely walk and had no power. All in one day.

One. Day.

Because I was the only idiot in this Luna damned Wasteland that could think strapping on the best tech I could come up with would let me fix a world just as broken as I was.

I’d stopped thinking much after that, silenced my thoughts and become a pathetic lump on the floor, tucked in on myself in the back corner. I’d stayed like that for hours, maybe a day or more, I didn’t know. There was no sense of time in that dimly lit cell, only the scent of decay.

Then, just when I felt the anxiety beginning to reach it’s peak, they showed up. Unnervingly personable fellows with cheery dispositions who gave me water and asked how I was doing. I’d thought they might have actually wanted to help me for a time. Then they’d brought out the pliers, pins, and knives and lost their masks.

Their names and cutie marks should have given me some hint of that but as I’ve already established I am not great at figuring out others. Tooth Pick was innocent enough but with a mark showing a set of teeth getting bashed in by a mining pick it really lost any possible innocence. I didn’t want to think about how the old grey geezer had gotten it. His blobbish buddy, Gristle, was worse. His was a set of teeth cracking through a long bone. I absolutely refused to think about how he’d gotten it.

“Oh pipe down, dis is nothin,” Gristle muttered while prodding a cut in my foreleg. I wanted to cry out but the last three times he’d punched and prodded the cut until I didn’t have the breath left to continue. This time I held it in. I was too exhausted to cry anymore. “Good, dat’s bedder. Couldn’t even hear myself tink with all de whinin’.”

“Boy, you really need to get better at small talk. If all you jab about is work work work then no mare is ever gonna want to bed you,” Pick said with a theatrical shake of his head. Gristle chuckled in a blubbering fashion that seemed to favor a maximum of jowl motion then stopped and gave Pick an evil grin. I didn’t like that grin. Despite the pain, the mention of bedding immediately focused my mind in a way few things could, specifically on all the things he could have meant like making a bed or tucking someone in. Anything other than what he was obviously implying.

“Say, now dat’s an idea!”

No, no it wasn’t! Quit having ideas!

Pick’s magic switched out the pliers for the molar so he could examine it closer under the light. The fact that said light was directly over my restrained head so the tooth dripped blood and saliva onto my cheek probably barely factored into his thinking. While I was coming up with obvious lies like that one I came up with a few more to try to take my mind off the pain and the horrible warm wetness splotched on my cheek. Lies like “I am a very smart stallion” or “I was completely ready for this” or “It could be worse”.

“What is? Getting him laid?” Pick asked absentmindedly.

“No, not that,” Gristle said with a roll of his eyes. “Who’d want to ride dis wimp? I was talking about de other thing! We can give him a job!”

Huh... I take it back. Didn’t think it could happen but Gristle immediately shot up the ranks of current favorite people despite, well... everything else. A way out of this that didn’t involve... you know, that... was possibly the highest priority I had at the moment. Besides that it was a toss up for a second between passing out out from the pain and passing away peacefully from blood loss. A way out that did involve that was securely in third. The aftermath of that would probably involve me tearing out someone’s genitals. Specifically, my own.

Pick blinked and frowned at him. “Grist, you need to stop eating that crap, it’s starting to affect whatever’s sloshing about in your skull. I mean come on, the hell are you thinking? The boss isn’t gonna give him a job. Why do you think he’s down here?”

Gristle shook his head with a sly, disgustingly toothy grin. “Not one for da boss. One for us!”

Okay, not as great as I’d hoped but I could use helping them as a chance to look for an escape route. Hopefully it would be getting them tools or food or something and not... this. Even if it was, I could push my way through it. I had to. Whatever it took. The Elder needed to know I’d found something judging by Business’s laser pistol. That would be enough to bring in the squads and I could put an end to this. Even if that was a bust the Rangers had to put an end to this.

Pick laid the tooth back down gently on the tray and scowled at Gristle. “What the fuck kind of job are we going to let him do?”

Oh come on Pick, give me a chance! Listen to the jolly, freakishly-fat pony!

Gristle lifted a fat, swollen hoof and pointed at the rolling cart next to them. “The kind dat needs a pony with nice shiny teeth, some Hydra, and a bigger tray.”

Pick and I both froze, then he slowly looked down at me with hungry eyes while I stared wide eyed up at him. “I take it back, you great big genius. That is a perfect job for this little Ranger Stable pony.”

Never mind. It had gotten worse. I wasn’t sure what Hydra was but doubted he meant the monster from the Nursery stories. A bigger tray however was pretty damn clear. Gristle, you were now at at the bottom of my list you sadistic slob. There was absolutely nothing good in you- ...wait...oh no. Oh fuck no. NO. I knew what that meant! Why? Why were there raiders in Whinneapolis?!

Pick’s hoof reached out and lifted my chin up. “Hey, Boy. Guess what that means?” I wasn’t quick enough in answering for his liking apparently. His other hoof shot out and struck me across the mouth, knocking me senseless for a moment. He bent down next to me and his hot breath sent shivers down my spine as he softly whispered in my ear. “I said... guess what?”

“...what?” I croaked.

He leaned back with an ear to ear grin. “Glad you asked! See, you’ve got really great teeth. Best I’ve ever seen in fact and that’s saying something ‘cause I’ve seen ‘em all! Now that wouldn’t matter to most but apart from being your devoted friend-” He paused to let Gristle snicker. “-I am also the only dentist these poor fellas have. And boy do they need me,” he added with a sly grin towards his partner.

Gristle pursed his lips and rolled his eyes while muttering something under his breath. Pick chuckled and turned his attention back to me.

“Problem for them is, good materials are really hard to come by around here and I have to make do the best I can. Now, I may be a stallion of many tricks, but conjuring fine enamel out of nothing sadly isn’t one of them. You though, you’ve done that work for me.” His horn glowed and a small, rusted medical case floated up from behind the rolling trolley and dropped softly onto it next to the tray. The clasp opened with a click and a small row of very dirty syringes met my rapidly panicking gaze.

“Here’s the thing though,” he continued, lifting one of the injectors out of the box with his horn along with the pliers. The vial in it was hazy but what I could see was a putrid yellow green that bubbled like a lava lamp. “You only have so many. But with this little shot...” he purred, tapping the needle against the trolley until a tiny drop of green pooled at the tip before laying it back down and picking up the pliers again. With what little strength I had left I began to hyperventilate. Not like I had many other options.

“Well, that’s not going to be an issue anymore. So could you do me a favor?” The pliers opened with a faint screech and pulled my gums apart. His lips spread apart in a terrible grin. A terrible, multicolored grin. No two of his teeth were the same color, or even the same size.

None of them were his.

I tried to scream for help in a voice no more than a wheeze for a release from this hell that refused to come. His grin grew bigger as his voice rose in a feral crescendo.

“Give me a big smile!”

“Guys, afraid you’re gonna hafta leave it there for now.”

The pliers froze then slowly retreated while both of my interrogators growled at the interruption. I did my best to stifle the sigh of relief trying to burst out of me. They turned away from me, leaving just enough space between them to catch sight of a pale cyan unicorn giving them a deadpan grimace through the rusty rebar at the front of my cell. He was... she was... I had no idea what they were. A pony, sure, but beyond that? Younger stallion or mare? Older colt or filly? I didn’t have a clue.

Their jet black mane was pulled back from the horn into a ponytail braid that ended just above their shoulder in a tiny knotted bow of... white velvet? Completing the odd picture was the white shirt and black vest combo over their barrel, sleeves rolled up high, and a pair of long, studded black saddle bags which prevented me from seeing their mark. I blinked when I noticed their equally black tail ended in another white velvet bow just a couple inches above the ground. The full picture looked like a mashup of all the styles mares in 63 liked mashed up again into the most male configuration possible.

In short, confusing as hell.

“O’fer the love’a... whaddya want freak? We’re fuckin’ busy so get lost,” hissed Gristle.

The cyan pony focused Gristle with a deadpan look then pointed a hoof at me. “Boss wants him.”

Pick snorted and stepped in front of me, blocking my sight. “For what?” he asked in a low growl. “He told us this one was ours.”

The newcomer clicked his tongue in frustration. “I don’t know. He told me to get him before you got too into it so I’m getting him. That means I need you to get him outta dat seat.” The voice could have belonged to anyone and the accent came and went as it pleased without any notice beforehand, lasting just long enough for me to get used to it before switching again. It was enough to make my eye twitch. The one that wasn’t swollen shut anyway.

“Fuck no, you just want this one for yourself! Well fuck that, fuck you, and finally, fuck off! This one’s ours Bonds, you hear me? You’re not adding him to your damn quota just to make us look bad you brown-nosing freak,” Pick snarled, sending rancid spittle raining across the floor in front of him. At least now I had a name for... them.

Bonds scoffed as he... she... ugh, this was bothering me... glared at them through narrowed eyes. “Like I’d hafta actually do anything. No, you two do dat just fine on yer own. If you played less and got more results they might not send over most of dem to me, ever tink of dat?”

“You bedder shut yer mouth now before I do it for ya,” Gristle hissed, causing his jowls to hum and fling drops of sweat everywhere. Pick leaned away from him with a grunt.

“For fucks sake, quit spraying everywhere!”

Gristle turned and spat into the corner of the cell in frustration. Pick wiped his head with a hoof objectively dirtier than any sweat that might have been flicked onto him. Well, at least dirtier than any sweat I’d encountered before Gristle’s. I didn’t want to know if that was a correct assumption. I couldn’t see Pick’s face but could almost feel his glare radiating out as a physical field.

“Fine. Now get lost, he’s ours. We’ll take him to the boss-”

“No chance. Boss told me to do it, alone, and-”

“Like hell he did! And even if that’s true, I don’t fucking care!” Pick shouted, suddenly brandishing one of the knives he used to nick me over and over in front of him with his magic. “No filly-freak is gonna-”

A cord of thin, coarse rope shot out of one of the black saddle bags and constricted around his muzzle, shutting it with a loud click, then added his eyes and ears faster than I could track. The click was immediately followed by a muffled cry since his tongue had been stuck out at the point his jaw had been clamped shut. Judging by the couple drops of crimson in front of his hooves I could guess what his expression was now. A second line of thin rope followed the first and bound his legs in a crisscross pattern before jerking together tightly and dropping him to the floor, completely immobile.

“Dat does it! I’m gonna feed yer ass to de rats!” Gristle screamed as he began to charge.

“Began” being the key term as a second cord of coarse rope, this one much thicker than the first, shot out of the newcomer’s other bag and thread its way through his fat legs before tying itself in the most complex knot I’d ever seen. Pick had gotten a bow by comparison. His charge turned into a glacial fall and roll, carried forward a yard or more by his sheer mass until he finally came to a halt face down. Mercifully for him, his muzzle protruded from around his fat rolls just enough to prevent him from dying in the most humiliating case of self suffocation possible. Mercifully for Bonds and I it also prevented him from speaking again, restricting him to the barest of shallow breaths. In the space of four seconds my raider tormentors had gone from belligerent to blind and incapacitated. By nothing but simple, thin rope. I’d never appreciated it before but by Luna I was going to from now on. Appreciate and fear I realized as I tried to pull away from it within the confines of my chair. Looks like I’d found a new everyday thing to have a strange aversion to.

The pony of indeterminate everything sighed and slowly shook their head. “You two-...no, never mind. Not worth it. I’ll let you go when we’re back,” they said without a trace of the accent then turned to me with a calculating look. I was reminded that despite what had just happened I was not being released, rescued, or even given a reprieve. My expression hardened into a cold stare at the trio in the cell as we all stood, sat, and lay there in stillness.

Without warning Bond’s horn lit up with a cream colored glow. My bindings unraveled with with a whip-like crack and his telekinesis slowly pulled me out of the chair with surprising gentleness. I was taken aback enough that I didn’t resist like I’d intended, too caught up in the unexpected treatment to struggle at all. Then the glow went out and I dropped to the floor in a heap. I’d had such a good impression of Bonds. Had.

I lay there breathing heavily as the multitude of faded, dull aches suddenly became immediate, sharp aches again. A shadow fell over me and with additional pain I opened my bruised eye far enough to see the androgynous pony giving me a deadpan stare.

“Oh-fer-geez... don’t start this. It’s only been a day,” Bonds muttered, dragging a hoof down his face. That at least gave me a sense of time though I had more immediate things to worry about.

“Sorry I haven’t built up an immunity to TORTURE yet,” I managed to grunt out as I slowly rose to my hooves. Or at least most of them. The bad leg simply crumpled painlessly, a small mercy apparently considering the look of horror passing over my new captor’s face.

“Celestia... the hell did dey do to you?” he- no, she- maybe he?... they asked with a shocked glance at the bound and glaring Pick and softly wheezing Gristle. As I looked up at Bonds the surprise of his swift handling of my interrogators began to wear off and was now replaced by a growing curiosity about the confounding question. If he or she would just turn around so I can be absolutely certain not to look anywhere near anything back there what the hell was I thinking?!

“De boss told dem not to pull dis shit,” hissed the absolutely-to-remain-unknown pony, missing or more likely ignoring my attempts to beat myself and my traitorous mind unconscious. I gave up when it was clear I didn’t have the strength to pull it off right then. I’d have to wait till I had my strength back to give my brain the beating it needed.

“Already had this,” I grunted as I lifted myself up on three good legs and with some difficulty hitched the other high enough it wouldn’t drag on the floor.

“Wait, from wha-” The cyan pony paled and placed a hoof in front of their eyes but still peeked around it just a bit before regretting it. “Oh goddess, it shouldn’t be moving like dat,” Bonds muttered with a strangled heaving sound.

“Like what?” I wheezed, glancing back curiously. I nearly heaved as well from the sight. The flesh around my left flank pushed out in sharp protrusions that wiggled and stretched the skin around them. I twitched my leg in shock and a couple disappeared while new ones popped up elsewhere. I’d seen Preserve’s X-rays but hadn’t really appreciated what they meant, not when the damage was covered by my Stable suit and frame. Now I did and I wanted nothing else in the world more than both of them back to hide under again. Anything so I could ignore what I was blissfully incapable of feeling. Not being aware would have been even better but that wasn't an option. I’d never unsee my hip moving like a bag of ice cubes under the skin. How was I even moving that leg?

“Oh I’m gonna- stop, just stop. I don’t want to know, I really don’t. Now quit moving,” Bonds said through a disgusted cough.

I turned back and immediately started backing away as fast as possible from the cream colored glow and the studded black collar and trailing white cord held in it. As fast as possible was stationary once my bad leg got in the way and dropped me to the floor. Now granted ample time to slip the strap around my neck and clamp it down, Bonds followed up with a series of loops that completely blocked the clasp and any chance of undoing it. I tried to pull away from the dreaded rope with zero success. I didn’t care if it was ridiculous, the way I’d seen it used placed it firmly in the “dangerous” category, subsection “embarrassing if revealed”, and wanted to be as far away from anything like it as possible.

“Settle down! Fer fucks sake, listen to me! You keeping choking on it and I’m going to put you in a harness instead and trust me, I really doubt you're enough of a bottom to enjoy that! ”

I gave one last sharp pull on the line to see if it was decrepit like the rest of the wasteland under its pristine exterior. Sadly, Bonds must have had the entire Midwaste’s worth of good rope in those saddle bags because the line didn’t budge an inch. A tug from the other end brought me up and limping along behind the cyan rope-savant. I walk-hopped on my three good legs out through the open cell door and got my first glimpse of the rest of my prison. I’m not sure what I’d been expecting but a simple, bare concrete hall, lit by pale, flickering bulbs hanging from frayed wires hadn’t been it. I’d walked through dozens of maintenance corridors just like it. The only difference were the other cells, seven of them in total, each with rebar roughly shoved into the gap between floor and ceiling to form an open enclosure. Each cell was the same as mine, bare walls with a pile of rotting hay in the corner to sleep on off of the cold floor, and from the looks of things once a storeroom. With the changes the only thing these would store now was prisoners.

Strangely it made me think of home. 63 had-...used to have a very similar cell block for misbehavers and rowdy workers which had usually been about half full on any given day. No idea why that was, all of the offenses tended to be for things that everyone knew would get you sent there but they kept doing them over and over. You’d think they’d have learned after a while. But getting back to the point, what made those cells different than these were those had been well lit with comfortable beds and decorated with signs extolling the benefits of order, stability, and efficient work. It had been meant to make ponies think about their actions and how they affected others and the order and operation of the stable.

This hall though, this wasn’t a place meant to make ponies think and reflect. This wasn’t a place anypony would willingly do anything to end up in. None of the cells were occupied right now, but I couldn’t help but imagine them all full while Pick and Gristle rolled their cart of tools and collecting trays from one to the next with glee. This was a place meant to stop prisoners thinking because the only alternative was wondering how long until their next visit. Or rather, think of anything that would let them avoid it again. I knew because it was all I could think about as they’d worked me over and I’d been here less than a day.

I dared to feel relief when we finally passed the last of them and Bonds pulled a set of keys from a saddlebag to open the heavy rusted door at the end of the hall. It was a good feeling. A chance that things might get better, that I wouldn’t have to come back to this place. Then as we were passing through a muffled bellow from behind us signaled Gristle’s success at finally rolling off his face.

“Bonds! I’m gonna feed yer useless cock to my rats! You hear me? Bonds! He’s ours! We’re getting him back you hear! Everything he’s got, every last bit! OURS!” Bonds kicked the door shut without so much as a glance back.

That answered the question about him then. Mystery solved without contemplating terrible, unspeakable things. Not that it mattered anymore. Gristle’s declaration was bouncing back and forth in my head, blocking out everything else.

“Why?” I asked softly, eyes locked firmly on the floor.

“Huh?”

“Why are you working with raiders?”

Bonds recoiled slightly, staring at me with obvious confusion. “What? I don’t work with-” He stopped, glancing over his shoulder then back to me. His eyes lit up and then he chuckled. He Luna damned chuckled. “Oh damn, dat’s too much!” he chortled, wiping a tear from his eye with the velvet bow at the end of his braid.

“What is?” I asked with as much venom as I could muster. “How can you work with those bastards? With what they do?” I waited for him to just try to justify it to me. It wouldn’t matter, not once the Rangers learned about this they’d clean the place out.

He didn’t. Instead he broke everything I thought I understood about people, ever known to be true, completely and utterly.

“You must be from a Stable! Dose two aren’t raiders! I mean, maybe dey’re only a couple steps below, but Pick and Gristle wouldn’t last a minute with real raiders.” He chuckled again with less humor then caught my wide eyed stare. “I’m serious. Dey’re not.”

“B-but they... they...” I stammered, daring to stare back at my busted body. My wide eyes found him again, pleaded with him. “They... they used- do you have any idea what they did?!” His expression turned sympathetic and I wanted to both slam him into the wall and run as far away from him and his lies as possible. “They cut me! Beat me! ...pulled out MY TOOTH! They were about to take the rest! Over and over!” I shook my head in disbelief and a shower of hot tears arced across the floor between us. “They’re raiders! That’s what raiders do! Birch told us-”

Bonds placed a hoof on my shoulder, the humor completely gone from his face. He took in a deep breath than told me in an even, accent-less voice, “They’re not.”

I slumped to the floor, tears collecting in the corners of my eyes. “Then... who-...what are they?” Bonds sighed and looked away, refusing to meet my eyes even as I leaned forward, desperate for an explanation. The one he gave finally shattered my already cracked view of the world.

“They’re just ponies. Ponies that get paid to break other ponies to find more stock to sell and anything else the boss wants to know.” Funny, they hadn’t done that over the last couple hours but Bonds? He’d pulled it off without even realizing it in a seconds. I hated this world of monsters in the bodies of ponies outside my Stable. Only monsters would do what they did with smiles.

“Paid to- They weren’t doing that because they were paid! They were enjoying it, every damn second! Do you know, they snickered when I jerked and dug the knives in deeper because I moved? Said it was my fault for getting cut! Pick- when Gristle mentioned Hydra... his face...”

Bonds scowled then shrugged. “Yeah, they were enjoying it. They’re trash, one hundred and ten percent. But that doesn’t make them raiders.Those two at least have a limit though it’s damn hard to find sometimes.” His eyes caught mine and he looked away, head hanging a little lower. “Sorry to break it to you like this,” he muttered awkwardly.

We were both silent for a long while until the obvious question couldn’t wait any longer. “Then... what are you?” He looked at me sharply and I prayed to Luna I hadn’t made a mistake. “You...” I muttered, looking down at my bruises. I looked back up cautiously. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t blinked. Just watched me intensely. “You’re not like them, right? You said they were trash. But if you hate them so much then why are you working with them? Why are you here? Why are you doing this?”

His ears drooped and his face seemed to sag for a moment. His eyes refused to meet mine as words came clipped and tired. “I’m just a guy trying to get by with what I’ve got. Even if I refused and went somewhere else they’d just keep going. I’m not going to stop that and neither are you. It’s just the Burbs. And at least if I’m here then some don’t go to those two. I’m not them.”

“But you don’t have to let it happen! You could get me out of here! If you’re not them then prove it! I can go to the Castle, bring in the Rangers, shut it all down! Lock those two away forever and anyone else running this-” My jaw went slack as Bonds started snickering morosely and at me with a rekindled fire in his eyes. I took a shaky step back and he took a step forward.

“The Rangers shut it down... yeah, that’ll be the day. Do you know how long this place has been running? Here’s a hint, it was here before I could walk. Do you know many times they’ve come close to actually shutting this place down in all that time? I’ll give you another hint, it’s a number less than one.” He stood up, barely taller than me but seeming to tower over me nonetheless. “Take my advice, stop chugging the Ranger Cola down by the gallon. It’ll rot your brain.”

“No, y-you’re wrong! If they knew where I was then they could do something about it. They can handle it, I’ve seen them stop Wurms and combat bots and-”

Bonds held a hoof up in front of my face. “Okay, let’s get something straight here...?”

“...Gear.”

“Listen Gear, you’re looking to the wrong ponies to help.”

“But-”

The hoof pressed forward again. “But nothing. Oh sure, they could tear this place apart, shoot up every last pony and burn it all to the ground. Maybe even stop another black market shop popping up in its place. Maybe even stop all the bad things in the city, fix things up, make a damned difference.” Then his eyes took on a darkened pall.

“But dey might get a scratch on their oh-so-amazing armor in de fight and dat’s just too high a price to pay to dem,” he muttered ruefully, his accent coming back thick and heavy. “Dey couldn’t give a single fuck about what goes on in the Burbs as long as dey’re safe and sound and have all de shiny stuff for demselves! No, dey’re perfectly happy to stay behind deir big door and walls with deir nice full bellies and clean water, picking up hungry, desperate kids and turning dem into good little Ranger boys and girls dat hold deir noses up at de Burbs. Just so long as long as no one else’s got anyting more complicated than a pipe gun to threaten dem with. Past dat, dey couldn’t care less how many Burbers torture or kill each oder. Just another gang with fancier guns.” He spat to the side, his lip twitching in a silent growl.

“No, they do care! When I was there- before they kicked me out,” I tried to correct hastily. His expression told me he didn’t buy it one bit. “Before that, they were talking about how hard it was to protect the city, clearing out the raiders and-”

Bonds rolled his eyes with a dark chuckle. “Protect de city... only thing de Rangers’ ever protected was deir hoard of scrap and gems like a damned dragon. Actually, dat’s an insult to dragons. Dragons at least have de decency to not tell you it’s for yer own good when dey pillage you.” He poked me sharply with a hoof. “Your Rangers? Dey’re not so different from Pick and Gristle. Oh, dey may not do it with a smile,” he added in response to my indignant eye twitch. “But dey bleed de city just de same, leave it with scars and open wounds dat don’t heal.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about”, I said with an angry tug on my leash. He just tugged back harder, hard enough to force me to kneel down or else fall over on my unbalanced legs. I glared up at him and he did the same back.

“No, you don’t know what you’re talking about. All you’ve ever known is a nice safe hole in de ground and now you’ve traded dat for nice safe Ranger walls. You don’t know dis city and you need to wise up to dat fact and figure out which side you should be on. Fast. Because unless the boss says otherwise you’re coming back here. You should think of anything you can give him to convince him to change that.” Despite the glare he still fixed me with there was something almost pleading in his voice, emphasized further by the loss of his accent at the end.

I was too angry to care. Not after how he’d insulting the ponies who’d rescued me, fixed me, and given me purpose again. Maybe he was right and I didn’t know the city as well as he did. But between the gate guards, the markets, the dirty looks and whispers, and now this hole in the ground somewhere where ponies were tortured? Well, I’d seen everything I needed to.

So he wanted me to talk? No, I wouldn’t give them anything. The Rangers might not be perfect but they were better than these bastards. Bonds and his gang weren’t even in the running. I might be broken but there were a few things I did understand clearly: I was a Ranger now. I was an Inquisitor. And I was going to bring the chapter down on this place like the wrath of Goddesses.

The walk was silent apart from the clipping of hooves on stone, steel, and then softer wood which I was immensely grateful for. Bonds either didn’t have a healing potion on him or didn’t feel the need to give me one so my jaw was agony incarnate and my cuts kept reopening and drying again. I was almost thankful for the pain though. It kept my mind focused and alert, especially on the lies he’d tried to sell me.

I felt my lip twitch a little as my eyes flicked his way then back. He didn’t know. Hadn’t seen them risk life and limb, lose comrades and squadmates to save us from our Stable. Hadn’t seen them shield us from the Plunderwurm. Hadn’t seen them open their hooves to us in the Castle, give us new lives, safe and secure and with purpose. He was wrong about them.

Our path meandered from the cell block, climbing elevators, ramps, and worst of all, stairs. Stairs rose up the list of enemies from near dead last to near first, even ahead of rope and rapebots. Those last two I could avoid. Stairs were everywhere, especially here it seemed. With only three good legs I was forced to hop-step up them and exhaust what energy I had.

Bonds didn’t complain though. If I slowed down a gentle tug on my leash was all he used to tell me to hurry up. If I stumbled over my bad leg he sighed and waited for me to regain my strength before continuing. No caution, no care given to my ability to outwit or overpower him. I was angry, but I was also miserable in a way that was almost worse than being with Pick and Gristle. They at least took the precaution of shackling me down in clamps and guards so I couldn’t kick or bite them. Bonds just loosely held a line of thread around my neck, safe in the knowledge that I knew what he could do with it. To him I wasn’t something to fear, an agent of the Rangers. I was a package, a delivery, a job. Damn it, they should be watching me at all times

Misery and anger and conflicted confusion began to compete more and more as the walk went on. Eventually my mind started fogging over, paying almost no attention to our surroundings or my mental state and instead focused on using as little effort to walk as possible.

“Hey, we’re here,” he said in that confusingly androgynous voice.

I blinked then realized we’d stopped in front of a plain but well maintained wooden door. It would have been spotless if it weren’t for the words embossed into it. I immediately knew who was behind it after reading them.

Good business starts with good service.

Bonds rapped on the door with a hoof. “Come in,” came a muffled reply from inside. Bonds wasn’t the one to open the door to the invitation. That was the job of the very large, very scarred, and insanely intimidating pony on the other side. His mane had been shaved as close as possible and it was hard to tell what color it or his skin and coat had been. What he was now was pink, blue, red, and black, a patchwork of angry marks, burns, and faded cuts. In the center of his chest he’d been branded with the top half of a pony skull, the scarred skin making it stand out white against his hide. He stared at us indifferently, pinprick orange eyes quickly passing over every inch of us he could see as we stepped in. Especially over every inch of me. I scraped hard against the door frame opposite him.

I didn’t take my eyes off the massive doorman as a voice called out from within. “Thank you Jackknife. Would you mind stepping outside for a moment? Our guest is new here and has spent a long day answering questions for forms.” No I hadn’t. I’d barely been asked anything by anyone. I’d just been a plaything for monsters. “I think he’ll feel more at ease with less company.”

I did the sensible thing and tracked every move Jackknife made until he closed the door. Then I waited a moment or two more and before facing forward again. “Jackknife” was not a pony I wanted waiting where I couldn’t see him.

The room was boxy and plain, having simple windows with blinds that had been cleaned as much as was probably possible leaving them only faintly grey instead of moldy black. Those blinds were drawn, preventing me from seeing what was on the other side like, just maybe, a way out. File cabinets and sturdy chests filled most of the wall space with grimy paper invoices attached to most of them. In the center was an open square of space dominated by a square of clean rug from somewhere and a beautifully restored desk, illuminated from above by a barely functioning ceiling fan that gave off a faint hum. Behind the desk sat the stallion himself.

Same suit, same sunglasses, same smirk that said “I know a great joke and guess what? It just might be you!” Between that and the mantra on the door there wasn’t much doubt left in my mind. I looked around, tried to find something I could use against him, at the very least a route of escape if I could find some way to distract him and Bonds. No matter where I looked though all I saw was cabinets and paper. Nothing light enough I could topple or use to barricade the door without the help of my frame and nothing heavy enough lying around I could use as a weapon. I clenched my jaw in frustration and got a dose of fire straight to my brain’s pain center for the carelessness. Good Business must noticed my discomfort because his smirk shifted to a supremely fake look of sympathy.

“Hmmm... oh dear. You seem to have had a rough time, haven’t you? Let me guess, Pick and Gristle?” My nervous glare was all the answer he needed. He shook his head with a sigh. “I’d hoped our Pony Resources Department wouldn’t bore you too much with their onboarding investigation. I keep telling them they need to streamline it but you know how bureaucracies can get. So set in their ways that trying to change things just might give them a collective stroke. Especially when they’re pulling double duty on orthodontics.”

Whatever response he wanted from me he didn’t get, only the best glare I could give him with my swollen eye. He might be clean and well dressed and his smile picture perfect but when he looked at me over the tops of his rims his eyes were just like my jailers, filled with sadistic joy at my suffering. He'd get nothing from me.

Then he tilted his head back up and his eyes disappeared behind the dark lenses. “So, let’s get down to business shall we?” he asked. He lit up his horn and began laying out a series of sheets from a folder on his desk. “Take a seat.” I stayed where I was. I wasn’t going to let anyone like him or those two command me. He screwed up his mouth mildly then nodded towards my escort. “Bonds. If you would, please?”

The leash flicked through the air where Good Business caught it and gave it a very sharp tug. I coughed and hopped forward and only barely managed to avoid face planting into his desk. “There we go. You’re rather lucky Bonds had some time on his hooves. He’s one of our best employees and everyone always asks for him first before any of our other associates. Excellent people skills.”

I glared at the torturer-of-the-month out of the corner of my eye. He kept his eyes forward, not meeting mine. A cough returned my gaze to the bemused look of Good Business.

“Thank you. Now then, you must be wondering why all the trouble just to get you a job? Well, we’ve had some less than stellar employees in recent time, a bit of corporate espionage from a rival firm trying to move in on our marketshare. So we’ve had to become much more discerning with our hiring. More background checks, more interviews, more testing to make sure that anyone we bring on is committed to us one hundred and twenty percent.”

I was a straightforward person. Straightforward to a fault in fact. I knew being straightforward so well that I had a strong suspicion Business hadn’t been straightforward once in his entire life. He was like a cat toying with a mouse and between his catty, blatant tone I got the gist of what he meant by checks, tests, and interviews. But what rival firm was he talking about? How many underground energy weapons dealers could there be in this city?

“Now that brings me to your request,” he continued, lifting a pen in his magic and tapping it against the sheets laid out on the table. “Steel Jaw said you claimed to be from a Stable and in said Stable you were a... plumber? No? Maybe it was whore?” He raised an eyebrow and glanced up at me, almost expectantly.

I didn’t respond, both out of anger and fear that he’d trick me into saying something incriminating. It wouldn't have been the first time someone with a glib tongue got me to say words they would twist into whatever they wanted. Business ticked his head to the side then glanced down and dramatically smacked his forehead.

“Shoot, read a different report by accident! Now where is it... here it is, you claimed to be a technician. Sorry about that, my mind wanders sometimes. Should have known better given the superbly unique gear you came to us in.” An annoyingly oblivious part of my mind felt a shot of glowing pride my work being recognized. I had to remind myself who was recognizing it and what he’d do with it before I started divulging the details of how it worked. “Your gear demonstrated a distinct ability to think outside the box and come up with novel solutions. It’s even thrown my top brains for a loop trying to figure it all out.”

Good, they could keep on wondering. As soon as the opportunity presented itself I was taking it back and taking you out for what you’d done to me. I repeated that like a mantra, over and over ad infinitum, blocking out the sound of his voice as he droned on. Then a ballistic pen nearly took out the bridge of my nose before bouncing back into his telekinesis. I hissed as blood began to trickle down my muzzle and fixed him with a deeper glare which he ignored.

“Sadly, while you may be talented it appears you’re also lacking in attention. That may hurt your application I’m afraid,” mused Business with an exaggerated frown. “Still, you show promise. Enough talent in fact that I have a test I want you to work through while I observe. A bit of visual analytics.” The pen tapped against the sheets again and pushed them forward slightly. “Would you mind taking a look at these? I want your outside opinion on what they imply. Don’t hold back, I won’t judge. Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind.”

My left eyebrow flicked up involuntarily. Sometimes inaccuracies or falsehoods were so great that it would jump without any input from me. Right now it was attempting to become the first facial hair in history to achieve orbit independent of a body. I continued to glare at him until the problem of locking eyes with someone wearing opaque glasses made me feel incredibly awkward and I flicked my eyes down in frustrated defeat.

I inhaled sharply before I could catch myself.

Each of the papers spread out before me was a grainy, black and white picture and in each and every one of them I was the focus. Walking out of the Castle, walking into the bar, walking-... stumbling out of it, walking back in and out later- why had they taken pictures of that? -then a birds eye view of me hiding in the alley, watching the warehouse across the street.

“Hmmm, nothing yet? Okay, let’s try another. This one in particular I found interesting,” Good Business said softly as he pushed all of them aside to reveal an extra picture. One of me discussing the mission intel with Lily and her squad. I quickly thought back to where we’d been standing; just to the right of the main gate, between a set of barricades and the lifting mechanism housing. Then I tried to picture the layout of the castle in my head. The only place to take that shot had to have been... come on think... it had to-... it had to have been from one of the Castle skyscrapers.

How? How had they gotten a photo from there?

“I have to say, I’ve been impressed with the quality of their photos before but this went above and beyond. I mean, it’s usually incredibly challenging to get good angles of that property. The owners tend to get very upset if they find you scoping out their real estate. But you know what they say,” he said, tapping the picture with a hoof. He looked over his glasses at me again with that aggravating little smirk. “For every need, a business will arise to serve it.” He tapped the photo a few more times then leaned back in his seat, his eyes narrowed over his shades and his smirk turned to sinister grin. His magic slowly wound the leash until I was forced to lean forward and into the shadow he cast over the desk. “So tell me, what do you think these photos imply?”

It was maybe only half an hour later before Good Business, or G.B. as he preferred to be called, finished and turned me back over to Bonds. I had no idea what the point had been. For all his talk about the information he needed and all the threatening reveals and implied threats he didn’t even wait for my answer to the damning pictures. Instead he continued on into questions about what life in 63 had been like, how we lived, what our lives had been like, why we'd evacuated, and how I'd found the Wasteland compared to 63.

The anticipation of when he'd really start digging into my mission put me on edge throughout the whole thing. But he never brought it or the pictures of me with the Rangers up at all. Surprisingly, Bonds hadn’t spoken up about my trust in them either. In fact, whenever I let something slip about them accidentally- conversing confidently was beyond a shadow of a doubt at the bottom of my skill sets -Good Business moved on immediately to something else.

It was enough to make me start feeling extremely on edge around him. I couldn’t figure out what he wanted from me. Not a surprise, but the threat from not understanding was infinitely greater than social awkwardness this time. I had to figure out what he wanted with all these pointless questions. Too much was at risk.

Then without warning or any discernible reason he dismissed us and told Bonds to escort me back. We didn’t made it three feet through the door before he stopped us again.

“Bonds, one second. I just thought of something.”

Bonds paused and glanced back with a very neutral look. For a moment I thought I saw a twitch of something but it might have just as easily been a shadow.

“Yes sir?”

“I need time to decide where Gear Heart would best fit in our corporate family and he looks like he’s gone two rounds with a hellhound. But he’s still got a lot more paperwork to fill out before our resources team can finish processing him so I think he could use a break. Take a walk for a bit, give him a tour of our operation. Let him stretch his legs.” My eye twitched, though whether it was from indignation or fatigue was anyone’s guess. “He’s going to be very important to our business, I can feel it.” Good Business actually winked and waved at me as his magic closed the door behind us. Jackknife stepped between it and us and glared down at us silently, shadows cast over his face making the scars covering it look as white and skull-like as the brand on his chest.

Bonds’ eyes remained on the door for a moment before he turned and silently pulled me in the opposite direction we’d arrived from. I resisted for a moment, the best declaration of war I could give to Business, Bonds... and myself. They weren’t going to win with me. I was going to get out of here and stop their operation. It didn't matter how awkward and "naive" or "oblivious" I was. I had a purpose, a mission to complete, and that was what I was going to do.Then another tug pulled a cough from me and I three-leg stumped into place behind Bonds.

“Come on,” he growled. Having rested a little while being asked banal questions with no point I had enough energy to do the one thing I’d wanted for the last half hour.

“Your boss is great by the way,” I snarked to hide the growing cramps and pain in my good back leg. “Stand up guy. His concern for the handicapped speaks volumes.”

“If you’re talking about your mental handicap then sure,” Bonds replied with a roll of his eyes. “Now zip it and keep moving. Business wants you to see the shop? Fine, you’ll see the shop.” He gave another tug on my leash and picked up his pace. I grunted with the effort of keeping up, focusing on keeping my three working legs under me and out of each others’ way.

Despite the trouble I still had enough time and focus left to take in our surroundings though there really wasn’t much. The halls were paneled in cheap plywood, most of it covered in green molds and holes. None of them let in any light and only darkness lay beyond. Bland carpet, bland wallpaper, bland mold even. Something about the temperature, humidity, and staleness of the air made me think of the lower levels of 63 and hinted we were probably underground. Somewhere that rarely circulated its air judging by the scent of age and natural decay.

We were passed regularly by ponies pushing carts and boxes. Most kept their eyes forward while a few gave us probing looks before they turned off into one of the many side hallways and disappeared out of of sight. I had good visual memory, useful when one of the favorite pranks for techs in 63 had been rewiring components to give small shocks when anyone did basic maintenance on them, and counted at least thirty different mares and stallions pass us going every which way. The three questions that brought to my mind were where were they coming from, how big was the operation to need this many workers, and what was in all the boxes?

The first was answered unequivocally we passed an open set of large sliding doors and I beheld the largest hall I’d ever seen. Bigger even than the Gallery and Spire of 63 laid flat three times over and filled to the brim with crates going green and grey with age and rusting barrels. Pale bulbs flickered dimly above and in some places had gone out entirely, leaving dark islands in the pale lit ocean of wood and tin. They might have stretched a mile or more back into the cavernous warehouse. My eyes passed over the nearest pallet. One of the crates had buckled and a shower of desiccated beans lay on the floor around it. Next to those were a pair of tin drums marked with a faded logo of bright, sunny fields of grain and a smiling young mare, probably very attractive once, but now hidden under a patina of oxidation and age. Emblazoned below it was a faded logo for “Fertile Fields Fertilizer: Enjoy Sowing All Year Long”.

I looked around at the hundreds of other drums with the smiling mare. Age and decay had touched every barrel, likely rendering most of the contents inert. Even if it hadn’t and as huge as this stockpile was, it still wouldn’t make a dent in restoring the land of the Midwaste, not after a century or more of decay and radiation. That was the enormity of the problem and I shivered at the chill it sent down my spine before turning away from it.

The only breakup in the uniform layout was at the very front where about twenty to thirty ponies were busy working. Some were brutes similar in size to Jackknife, mostly relegated to moving emptied crates from the edge of the stockpile to a series of tables where young foals covered in dirty rags were filling them with rows upon rows of beam pistols, beam rifles, even a couple larger tri-barreled cannons and other miscellaneous dealers of energetic death. My mouth dropped to the floor as another foal wheeled in a squealing cart loaded with another pile of weapons from a sliding door off to the right.

“Shipping and receiving,” Bonds recited behind me, cringing as he forced out every word. “Behold the wonder of old world deforestation. Gaze in awe at the natural process of rot. Ooh and ah at the wonders of new world ingenuity and commerce. Visit our shop and take home your own!”

“Wait, what?”

He drooped his head with a sigh. “Remember when he said ‘give you the tour’? He wasn’t joking.”

“That’s... what’s the... he’s crazy,” I muttered. At first I’d thought Business was simple sadistic but now I was beginning to wonder if I hadn’t been giving him too much credit.

“Ha. If only,” Bonds muttered in kind. “Come on, we’ve still got more of the ‘tour’ to go.”

I followed behind him as we stepped into the huge storehouse and towards the door the weapons had come from. The air in here was surprisingly chilly, enough colder than the hallway to make my skin prickle in goosebumps. There was an almost oppressive stillness and quiet to the place apart from the small area of activity at the front. The larger ponies hauling crates and pallets around slowed a little to watch me go by with small smirks tugging at their lips. The smaller workers and foals watched me without any smirks but with barely hidden distaste. Another foal came through the door pushing a cart loaded with small beam pistols and paused as we passed to glare at me. The hostility bothered me, especially with no idea of where it came from, but the sheer number of contraband weapons bothered me much more.

“Where did you get them all?” I asked quietly.

“No idea. All I know is crates come in with parts and crates go out with merchandise,” he replied dismissively before waving me through the open doorway into the next room.

“Bonds, just what is your jo-” I began to ask then froze. The new room was far, far smaller than the last one. No bigger than my old workshop in fact. But it seemed even smaller than that because from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, it was filled with energy weapons. In some places it seemed like they were holding up the ceiling itself! But unlike the ones I’d seen being packed up these were in terrible shape. Cracked cases, leaking coolant, rust and decay. In the center of the room sat a single large table surrounded by ten ponies with a mountain of tools and a small army of foals. Most of them were checking energy packs but every now and then one of the eight would whisper something and a foal would go hunting in the piles until they returned with another broken weapon.

Crates come in with parts...

The Elder was mistaken. Good Business wasn’t moving contraband into the city. He was making contraband from what looked like every last ounce of beam and blaster scrap he could get his hooves on, probably for next to nothing as well given the terrible quality on display. Most were rusted junk, but then I’d repaired robots with junk by finding the single pristine replacement part I needed inside a rusted wreck. Two broken machines turned into one working one.

He’d taken that idea to horrifyingly industrial levels. Even if only a hundredth, maybe even only a thousandth of the heap could be turned into working weapons it would be enough to arm hundreds. Way more than the Rangers could easily police. Where on Equus was he getting them all?

A long time ago the Overframe had warned us to be careful with the Gutsy’s weapons when we were working on them, lest we flash into dust. Guns and projectors that could cut straight through armor, vaporize the pony inside it...could Ranger armor stand up to it? I didn’t know, and didn’t want to find out. These could upset the balance I’d seen from the top of the Castle and throw things into the deadly chaos I feared more than anything.

“Here we have the chop shop, where rubbish becomes rubies.”

Okay, I might fear hearing any more of that actually. I shut my eyes and ears against the cringe worthy delivery. “You don’t have to recite it. Really. Please,” I begged him.

“He’ll know if I don’t,” he grumbled besides me while leading me away by my leash.

“How? Who will tell-”

“He’ll know. He always knows.”

Well that wasn’t creepy at all. I mean, he’d known I, a complete nobody to the city, was coming to find him before I’d even known where to find him and kept me under watch the entire time. The pictures proved that much. He apparently had a level of perception and understanding- hell, maybe even omniscience - I wasn’t comfortable contemplating. Not if I wanted to think of a way out of here without second guessing myself into inaction.

You know... like I normally did.

Bonds pulled me into a final room, this one smaller and tidier with just a few neat stacks of weapons, mostly disassembled. Again like in the last two rooms- though it was hard to call the warehouse something so limiting -the center of focus was a single table. This time there was only a trio of ponies around it, two mares and an elderly stallion, and no foals acting as helpers. They looked up as we entered then all of them got this matching, oddly apprehensive expression.

“And here we come to the final stop on our tour, the place where the magic happens that keeps our business booming.”

Ah, that explained their expressions then. I’d been told years back that jokes ran on the “rule of three” for maximum effect. Apparently so did awful jingles because by the time he finished I think everyone there was ready to call it quits on life, especially Bonds. He’d tried to make it sound “upbeat” but landed on “beat up” instead.

“For the love of Luna- Bonds, tell Busineth to come up with a new damn line! I can’t take it anymore!” shouted the youngest of the trio, a vermilion unicorn mare with a frizzy turquoise mane hanging over a dirty lab coat and thick glasses. Her voice was thick with exasperation and touched by a mild lisp.

Bonds snorted and rolled his eyes. “Not sure why you think I’m going to have any say in it. It’s not like I do that many of the tours to begin with,” he replied brusquely, leading me in behind him. “That’s Gramps job.”

The old unicorn stallion chuckled softly and tapped the outspoken mare on the shoulder. “Now now Periwinkle, he’s just doing his job like us. If de Boss asked him to do this den dat’s dat. No need to take out your frustrations on him.” Periwinkle snorted but didn’t reply. “So... who do we have here den?” he asked, squinting at me with graying eyes while rubbing his chin. He paused and stepped closer then recoiled. I suppose the state of my body would be somewhat shocking to see. “Celestia, what happened to dis one?! He’s- oh. He’s not joining the team. He’s from below, isn’t he? Another one for the line?” While Bonds slowly nodded the two mares’ gazes traced every cut, every bruise, and every rivulet of dried blood from my tail up to my neck then down my leash to Bonds.

“Bonds! W-wha-” the second, previously quiet mare cried out. Her pale tea green nose wrinkled in apprehension. “What did you do to him?!”

Bonds paused whatever he was about to say and closed his mouth with a soft click. He looked at me, then at her, then at me, then at her and glacially raised an eyebrow and gave her a grin Sun would have probably called sultry. I just called it disturbing. “Not my style Flax. You of all people should know that.”

Flax blushed deeply and ducked her head to the side, hiding her face behind the long cascade of light blue and mane. “Bonds!” she hissed softly.

“Oh give it a rest Flax,” lisped Periwinkle with a roll of her eyes. “It’s not like we don’t already know. Your ‘punithments’ are the worst kept thecret around here.” Flax squeaked and hid her her head even deeper behind her hair. Periwinkle sighed and looked at me with a grin. “So where’d they pull you from? Bronclyn Park? Can’t be Tonka, they’d have just gotten you high and hooked instead of handing you over. Or did you rut a Poll Saint’s daughter and get caught? Looking for a place to lie low, aye stud?”

I already didn’t like her. There had been ponies like her in 63, ones that found the problems of others hilarious as long as they weren’t hers. My problems were always a favorite when I was younger and Sun wasn’t around to stop them.

She fluttered her eyes at me daintily with a catlike grin. “Come on, spill. What’th Business got on ya?” she asked. My glare just seemed to encourage her and that damn grin only got larger.

“He’s uh... he’s not a debtor, Winkle,” Bonds interjected.

The grin vanished and Periwinkle shot him a venomous look. “Call me that one more time and you’ll get to know what it’s like to be tied up for a change. In barbed wire,” she hissed under he breath, the lisp vanishing in the barely contained anger. They glared at each other a bit more then she sniffed haughtily and pointed at me. “So why de fuck did Business give him to you to work out if he’s not paying him off?”

Bonds shook his head. “Pick’s got this one.” Periwinkle raised a surprised eyebrow while Flax gasped. The old stallion winced and gave me a sympathetic look.

“Damn. What’s de boss want from him?”

Bonds glanced at me, then the old timer, then looked over my shoulder and back the way we’d come. He waited another second or two then looked at the stallion. “He’s with the Rangers.”

Periwinkle snorted and went back to her work cracking open the a rifle case, muttering something I couldn’t hear, while Flax gave me a conflicted look then joined her. The stallion on the other hoof just narrowed his eyes and stepped closer in slow, deliberate steps.

“Oh? Is dat so?” Suddenly his hoof shot out and clocked me with an uppercut under the chin, right under the missing tooth. I fell over backwards with strobe lights going off in my eyes and screamed. “Send him back down. Let dem have him.”

“For Celestia’s sake Oath, dey’ve already started pulling dem!” said a voice almost too soft to hear over the ringing in my ear. Actually, I think it was just the ringing was too loud for anything other than a shout to get through. A frantic tapping on my cheek was closely followed by the hazy sight of Bonds leaning over me with a worried expression. His lips moved but I couldn’t make out what he said. He paused and glowered for a moment before his head swung up and he pointed a hoof off to the the side. That was the moment my body decided I’d finally had enough and sent me falling backwards into darkness.

By my count, that was the second time I’d been knocked out by a blow to the head that evening. At the rate I was going I was going to have brain damage by the end of the week.

Wait, that might not actually be a bad thing. I mean, think about it. My brain was already broken so the question then was what’s the probability that any additional damage might actually give me some social instincts, perception, and personal awareness instead of just more damage? Had to be better than even right?

Yeah, not with my luck. Best I could hope for was to simply lose awareness of just how unaware and clueless I was. They said ignorance was bliss right? I’d take that as a consolation prize any day. To claim it though I’d have to wake up-

I groaned as consciousness returned like a spray of cold water. Then sensation followed and I screamed. My cuts and bruises might be an ocean of pain but by comparison my jaw was an entire world and I lived somewhere in the state of Unending in the nation of Agony.

I tried to bring my hooves up to my mouth only to find them bound to my back hooves somehow. So instead of massaging the mother of all toothaches I managed to spin myself backwards around the barrel I’d been bound across. The barrel which turned out to be Bonds’ actual barrel, now thoroughly unbalanced. Together we fell down a short set of stairs, both cursing and grunting.

“Oh shi-” he cried as he landed bodily on top of me.

“Get off, get off, GET OFF!” I yelled at a volume granted only by pain.

“Okay, okay, just stop- oof!” My flailing must have found something soft and vulnerable because suddenly there was a lot less talking and a lot more rapid untying. The situation wasn’t much improved from my perspective since the rope quickly reverted to a leash around my collar before I could begin to escape. But at least I was no longer lashed around him like a living saddlebag.

Bonds pulled the last loop around my collar particularly tightly and pressed his face into mine. “Dere, happy now?!”

“Back off!”

“Not till you calm down,” he replied, still nose to nose.

“Yrrraaa!”

It was the most eloquent thing I could think of then added a headbutt for emphasis. Forehead met muzzle with an audible crack and a cyan hoof rose to staunch the two red streams trickling from his nostrils while his eyes shot daggers at me. I coughed as his magic hauled me up by the collar.

“ENOUGH. I was doing you a favor after Solemn Oath’s dick move. But if you want me to do it the hard way then that’s fine!”

“You’re all crazy! I’ve never met that guy and the first thing he does is knock me out! Your Boss looked hungry asking about when I was a foal! The hell is wrong with you all?! Ahhh!” I winced and slammed my mouth shut. My breath alone made my jaw flare up now. How was I in more pain now than when they yanked the tooth out?

Bonds gave me a look halfway between a smirk and a grimace. “Well for starters, the Rangers killed Oath’s family in front of him.”

He had my rapt attention now. My caps would have been on him lying, and my gut told me he had to be just like all the other smooth talking fabricators and scum here, but logic kept pointing back at Oath’s rage.

“...for what?” I hissed through shut teeth.

He frowned and the smirk vanished. “What?”

“What did they kill them for?”

He stared at me slackjawed, fumbling over his words for a moment. Then he snarled and pushed me down against the cold concrete floor.

“You crippled asshole... dat’s all you have to say? Not, 'you're lying' or 'dey must have deserved it'? What did dey kill dem for?” His eyes glinted dark under his lids but I had to know, had to make sense of things.

“Yes,” I replied as best I could with his knees digging into in my lungs. His ear twitched a moment as he slowly rose up from his crouch over me.

“... you believe me. You know I’m telling the truth and you don’t care.”

“I don’t trust you, but I trust Oath. He hated me instantly after you told him about the Rangers. So you’re probably telling the something close to the truth. But I know there has to be a reason why it happened!”

Bonds yanked me up by the cord around my legs until we were almost eye to eye again.

“A reason? There has to be reason for your great and powerful Rangers to take a man’s family right in front of him?” He snorted and narrowed his eyes. “Of course there does to you... then how about this? How about your Rangers killed dem for de crime of stealing a bag of food to stay fed, for de crime of having de audacity to want to live, for de crime of not being Rangers and for not groveling down before dem ‘cause of it? How’s dat for a reason?!”

No. There was more. There had to be! Something was wrong, had to be wrong. Birch, Lily, Night, Elder Dawn, they wouldn’t order someone killed over food! I wouldn’t do that and they trusted me to be their agent, to carry out their goals! They wouldn’t have chosen me if that was true!

“That can’t be all of it! What did they do?!”

“Nothing but struggle and suffer and live! Get it through your thick skull! Your Rangers are murdering, controlling bastards!”

“Never! Whatever happened, they’re better than you!” Bond shot back with a cringe and wiped the spray of spit from his face. Spell might have even been impressed with that one if she’d seen it.

“Fine. I’ll let the Boss know you’re a perfect candidate. Pick, Gristle, Oath? They’ll be more than happy to tutor you.” Where Business had lightly implied his true meaning behind silken words Bonds engraved them in fifty foot letters. “Hope you enjoy the new job rookie.” He kicked his back hoof out and a pillar of black opened behind him. My eyes adjusted to the dimness and widened in horror. The dirty hall. The rebar cells.

Then it got infinitely worse.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER, GET US OUT OF THESE DAMNED KNOTS!” Pick yelled from my cell, somehow having freed his mouth, while Gristle just snarled. Their voices echoed back and forth far longer than should have been possible.

No... anything but this. Don’t put me back in there.

My hooves tried to cover my mouth but they were still all tied together and all I did was squirm and cry. Bonds sniffed and started dragging my line behind him and me with it.

I couldn’t help it. I begged.

“You can’t... let me talk to Business again, take me back up to-”

Then when it hit me. I knew why Bonds had been sent down to get get me. Why Business had brought me up to ask meaningless questions without any point instead of just leaving me down here to have the answers yanked from my bleeding lips.

He'd never wanted any answers from me. Instead, he'd made sure I got a reprieve from Pick and Gristle, met my him in person, and saw his entire operation. And after that... sent me back down to his torturers having dangled it all in front of me.

I had to wonder... did he know this would happen as well? From the start, had he know this was the realization I’d come to? Or had he just hoped? Every last smirk of his took on a sinister edge in my mind as a dire feeling he’d known grew to mountainous proportions inside me.

Then again, maybe he hadn’t know this was the effect the tour would have on me. Maybe I was blowing something small and insignificant out of all proportion like usual and missing the real intent. Maybe he simply liked to toy with people, maybe he was crazy, or maybe there was another reason that I simply couldn’t understand because that was what I did. Not understand.

In the end it didn’t matter. Even if I’d known I couldn’t have done anything about it. More pressing now were the things I was sure of. I was going back to Pick and Gristle and they’d be given free reign with me. I would never make it out of here without my gear. And lastly, I’d never left my cell because Bonds had never taken me out of it, just into another part meant to break me down. This whole place was a prison, for body, mind and soul. And as my pleading turned to moaning, crying, and then outright sobbing, I realized something else.

It worked.

“Tell me, have the Rangers been good employers? I’m always on the lookout for the latest business trends.”

No, I wasn’t a Ranger.

Punch

“Really? You’re sure you’re not working with them? Not even an errand or two?”

Yes, I was a Ranger.

Kick

“Oh! Well in that case I suppose my primary competitors must be interested in stealing my contracts to send you here, am I right?”

No, I was sent here to make a deal.

Snap

“Hmmmm... that seems hard to believe. What seems more likely, if they’re not looking to push me out of the market, is they want to take my stock and deprive me of any market share. Accurate?”

Yes, I was sent here to secure energy weapons.

Spray

“Aha! I do have my moments! In that case, since you’ve decided to sign on with us instead, would you happen to know where they’re storing their stock? Maybe some other goodies I can knee in on their market share? Food perhaps? Now that’s a growth industry- huh. You know, I didn’t even mean to make that pun?”

N-No, I don’t know where they s-s-stored weapons or armor or food. I didn’t know any Ranger s-s-secrets. H-h-heat, warm. Please.

Scald

“Oh well, that’s unfortunate. If only you could have convinced another colleague to join you in witching employers... speaking of which, did you not have anyone even accompany you into town?”

Yes, I’d come alone.

Cut

“Really? You went out into the Burbs, down to Under Tail Row no less, after a day in the city without a companion? Not even a guide?”

No, no one knew where I’d gone. You’re right, I was an idiot.

Stab

“Ahemmmm... I, uh, wasn’t going to put it that way but, well, yes. That was supremely idiotic and counter productive. Which doesn’t seem to fit with the design philosophy of that custom gear you came in with. It is your design isn’t it?”

Yes, the gear was my design.

Pull

“It’s very impressive, replacing bullets for tiny, easy to find nails. Though we have no idea how it works. There are talismans throughout it we’ve never seen. Do you think you could whip us up another batch so we could see how they’re made?”

No, I can’ make more.

Tug

“Oh? You weren’t the designer of those talismans? A shame. Still, you were very resourceful with them so I’ll have to think about moving you to a new position, maybe with our refurb or R&D teams... by the way, not sure how to put this delicately, but you, ah, you seem to be having some trouble speaking. Sore throat maybe? Can I get you anything to help?”

Y-Yes... I wan’ more Hydra. P’ease.

Yank

“Hydra? Goddess, you need to stay away from that stuff! Gear, are you telling me you’ve been trying to self medicate your jaw with Hydra? Who on Equus told you that was a good idea? You’re lucky you don’t have extra teeth growing in! I’ll call for our resident orthodontist, let him know he needs to spend some time getting you fixed up.”

No, no more. I ‘old you every’ing. P’ease, stop.

Stroke

DON'T TOUCH ME!

"Gear! Calm down, please! We'll get you back to your cubicle so you can rest. Take it easy for a while, you've earned it. When you feel better we can get you back up and productive."

Punch

...

Nine cycles now. No days, no sky, no time to tell. Only cycles.

Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer. Pain, question, answer.

Cycles were broken. Random. Reward. Relished. The broken pony breaks apart broken things, takes out broken parts, puts in unbroken parts, makes unbroken things, breaks apart broken things...

Cycles repeat. Cycles broken. Cycles repeat.

The broken pony is not spoken to. The broken pony cannot speak words, it no longer has the right parts. The broken pony is not a pony. The broken pony is a thing.

A broken thing.

Like the other broken things around it, it needs to be fixed. But there are no unbroken parts to fix broken thing. It cannot be made unbroken. So it breaks more. Thoughts break, retreat, hide, go silent. Quiet. Still. Body follows. It starts with the leg. It’s already broken. It spreads to the rest. The pain stops. The questions stop.

All stops.

Broken thing cracks open case, sees broken capacitor, broken gem alignment rig, broken connections. Broken thing has pile of unbroken parts, finds replacements, checks threads, connections, integrity, replaces broken parts, closes case, tighten fasteners to slight strain, flips switch. The thing whines and hums and glows.

Unbroken.

Ponies around start, back away, make loud noises. Broken thing flips switch on unbroken thing, places it down, reaches for next broken thing. Ponies return, work slower, watch broken thing fix broken things. Stare as hooves swing back and forth, unbroken things flying across table in front of it.

Tap.

The broken thing sways gently. Other ponies tap the broken thing again, see if it breaks more. There's nothing more to break. The ponies sigh and go back to work. Unseen eyes watch, catalog, scrutinize. Unseen thoughts simulate, analyze, fail. Picks up broken thing, finds broken part, removes, checks receptacle, replaces with unbroken part, tightens fasteners to slight strain, repeats.

The broken thing keeps fixing broken things.

Loud words from next room. The broken thing’s ears swivel, focus on the source. Listen, catalog, analyze.

“Bonds, you have to talk to Business! This isn’t right! He’s just a kid!”

Skeptical words.

“The hell he’s a kid! He’s nearly as old as me! At least twenty, twenty one.”

Pleading words.

“Maybe his body, but he doesn’t understand! He was up here for a day! A DAY! Of course he’d join the Rangers, where else was he going to go? He’s in over his head-”

Angry words.

“Save your sympathy for someone other dan dat one.”

Sad words.

“Oath, please! He’s not a Ranger, not really! We could have convinced him-”

Pained words.

“Flax, I told him about Macaroon and Sweet Vow. He didn’t... he just asked why they’d been- he just asked why. No shock, no regret, no sympathy.”

Snarling, bitter words.

“See? He was ready made, born for it. Didn’t even take one day before he was one of dem. Get back to work Flax, Boss wants dose overcharged rifles stabilized. Try to do it with less waste this time, maybe he’ll give us another bonus. Den I want you to help Periwinkle figure out that cludge of his.”

Snippy, lisped words.

“She can have all of it! Give me a Flash thpecial any day over thith crap! Nearly fried myself messing wid his bat-trees. No wonder he’s got some wires crothed upstairs. Probably burned out something important years ago. If you want to figure it out then be my guest.”

Soft, hushed words. Ears have to strain to hear, block out other sounds. Good at that now.

“What did he say? D-did he really not care?”

Quiet words.

“He-... I don’t know. I don’t think he did? Maybe? I didn’t think-... he asked me ‘why?’ and I got pissed off with him. Really pissed. I wasn’t in the mood to care about his psychology or whatever. But I think he was looking for a reason to justify what they did. Like there’s something that could make what they did to Macaroon and Vow right.”

Other quiet words.

“Wouldn’t you?”

Angry words.

“Huh? You’re agreeing with him? What de fuck Flax?!”

Quiet words again.

“No. I’ll never- I miss them horribly. Vow was the most precious little thing...”

Silence and then teary words.

“But he lost his home, his whole life. I think he just doesn’t want to lose it again. Just look at him when you go back! You’ve heard about what happened with the Rangers and his Stable right? I don’t think he was mentally ready for the first time and now there’s reason for him to doubt his second? Of course he’s going to push back!”

Sullen words.

“Those were rumors Flax, rumors from drunk Rangers. You know how they love to talk up their fights against radroaches into grand battles against impossible odds.”

Soft but pointed words.

“Even if that’s true he still lost his home and they gave him another. Does he deserve this for not wanting to lose that?”

Tired words.

“You’re projecting again. There’s no way to know what’s going on his head.”

Sharp words.

“Well we definitely can’t now. How could anypony know after what they’ve done to him? You saw him with that repeater! He could have gunned down everyone and all he did was pick up another and keep working. He’s not a threat to anyone! He can’t even speak! What they’ve done to him... you tell me, does he deserve that just because he stayed with the Rangers?”

Words with feelings that the broken thing doesn’t have words for.

“Flax, you saw his gear, he- the Elder Bitch herself sent him! He admitted as much! Why would she do that if he was... just... he...”

Softest words.

“No, he doesn’t.”

Tearful words.

“What a horrible world aye?”

Gruff words.

“Yeah, hell would be a vacation. I’ll let you know if I find us a ride there. We’ll take a summer vacation soon as we get some sun and someone figures out when summer’s supposed to happen again.”

No more words. Just broken things to fix. All but one thing that couldn't be fixed.

Status Ailment: Shattered Mindscape. Horror is horror is thinking is feeling is knowing is silence. Your mental state has adapted to the treatment it has received. You gain 1 Endurance and an increased chance to successfully Intimidate but also lose 1 Perception and Charisma.

Author's Note

It's still alive! Somehow!

This chapter... if something could delay it, it did. Overtime, illness, required travel, endless revisions, and writer's block atop writer's block. I started from scratch at least three times and rewrote paragraph after paragraph again and again. Then it kept growing so I split it in two. Still, despite it all I like this one. I really do. Hope everyone else does as well! Part 2 of the split should be up by tomorrow night.

If anyone's interested in editing -or simply providing a continual boot to the posterior to get things in motion- my current partner in crim- I mean, in literature -is swamped by life and could use a break.

Prologue: A simple theme...

Fallout Equestria: Steelhearts
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Prologue: A simple theme...

"There's an old curse you might have heard of about interesting times..."

The story of my life.

Hmmmmmm that’s a bit… cliché. Instead, why don’t we step back a bit and give some color to that statement.

Let’s see… how about this? If I had to give a theme to the story of my life it would have to be something like… ahhhh. That will do.

“Life takes us all by surprise in the most amazing and terrible of ways. It tears us down, builds us up, and goes right back to start all over again, stripping away the lies we tell ourselves with each pass. What we think is true rarely turns out to be so.”

Yeah… that sums it up quite nicely.

… wait... no, I almost forgot. Need to add the footnote.

“Oh, and if anyone tells you things are about to get interesting? RUN.”

* * * * * * * * *

Author's Note

My first story and the intro is already Somber-esque in length...

Well, if you're going to run before you walk you might as well sprint!