Fallout Equestria: Ruins of the Present

POMA CHAPTER 3

Tears. They were flowing from everyone except for me. Emotionless, maybe. It was probably best not to think on things that make you sad.Think too hard and it will drive you mad.

‘Irony.’ I thought.

‘’ First day on the field and they send me here?’ I glance around at the truck that kicked and bumped along the broken road. Four other ponies sat in the truck bed with me. I shot a look above in response to a screaming whistle. A trio of pegasi zipped by with ammunition and guns strapped to their sides like some kind of odd backpack that had sticks poking out at odd angles. The other ponies in the truck all looked nervous, but I knew that they wouldn’t give up this chance lightly. Canon, our film-pony, was busy cleaning his camera with a dirty rag that he always carried around. His repetitious actions would be annoying if I didn’t know why he was nervous. I heard from the others that it was the same rag that gave him his cutiemark but then again he didn’t talk much so the story stayed mostly a rumor. Story of this entire war right there.

I smirked but then let my face fall flat as I rested my eyes on the next pony. On my right sat “hunk” Cookie, whom was eating a sandwich at his usual time. I pulled the military clock that wrapped around my right hoof and read the amber numbers; 1:10. I examined him for a watch and found none which confirmed my theory. He always ate lunch then and won’t let anyone stop him until he is finished, though usually it’s 1 on the dot. It makes him a bad employee which he was teased about constantly but a rather good clock to those that look forward to their musty apartments. His horn shone a dull blue light that lit up his sandwich in a way that he could tell where it was without flat out missing his face due to the overcast sky. It might rain soon but with Cookie he can make it as bright as midday with his light-magic-thing, he does. I frankly didn’t understand it, due to not having a horn in first place being an earth pony and all, but I have been told it is like trying to squeeze yourself through a small hole and staying there for the time that you use that type magic. The pegasus that sat across from me was named Sonic. His eyes lazily crawled across the field of mud we were headed to, disinterested. He held a boom from a shortened pole that was usually accompanied by the massive box we nicknamed “Tesla.” Sonic was the most hardened out of us as well. He was grounded a year ago by a stray missile but that did little to cover his service in the battle “Little Horseshoe.” His crippled right wing allowed him about as much mobility as a brahmin that was thrown off a roof with a parachute, so he took up a job that allowed him to get paid and still fly. The other pony that sat near the front was named Candle Wick.

He was our designated protector for this trip but it was already seeming like the flame thrower, which hung around his neck and dropped loosely into his lap, was of more importance than all of us combined. He had managed to torch a village over in Roam and Luna awarded him the highest of honors in naming him corporal when he had only been in the military for three months.

In reality it was an accident that happened when he was tossed from a downed cloudchaser which was on route to destroy a cargo train headed for the front lines near Manehattan. He had swam across and gotten lost in his efforts to find the cargo train or some kind of point of reference. When he had seen zebras he decided to follow them and then unleashed Tartarus on their front door step with a stolen flame thrower. He still had that flame thrower but since the military deemed it traitorous to own such a thing they took it away and replaced it with a unicorn built prototype of the original. He rejected it and destroyed the only copy in front of the unicorns then stormed away. Now he picks up flame throwers from the zebras he kills then wastes all of it’s fuel before throwing it away. The technology to make the flame crystals was as sacred to the zebra as it was to the unicorns on our side, but to him it was sort of personal goal for him to find the perfect one and use it to its fullest.

“Hey Candle, what number is that? 10? 15?” I pushed the subject in the air in hopes to put aside the frigid air that filled the wagon.

He looked away from the small flame he had created from the end of the hose and looked over at me. He thought for a minute and then turned away. “Close. 17. It has a broken handle so I’ll probably throw it at General Cupcake when we get there.” He smiled a bit. “Maybe it will act as a good luck charm.” He said as he fiddled with the backpack again.

“There is nothing lucky about being ambushed before we even get into a war zone.” Cookie mumbled under his breath.

Candle exaggerated his movements as he sighed in reaction to Cookie. He then shrugged and turned his attention back to messing with the flame crystal that sat in the backpack of the flamethrower.

I looked over at Cookie and noticed a sadden expression fall over his face. I couldn’t blame him. Even I was still feeling the loss of Static White. He was our battery operator that manned the “Tesla.” I knew how to operate it as well but Static volunteered to do it so quickly that I got stuck being the interviewer for this assignment. He was shot a few hours ago when we entered the outer rim of 429-Hoof. A squad of zebra “cloakers” had been laying in the mud beside the road and when our cart passed by they shot a wheel out and charged us.

Static managed to use the massive battery box as a barrier and put it in front of him to protect us. Candle had shot them one by one from behind the broken wagon eventually but when he had finished the zebras had put enough holes into Static that when we took the “Tesla” from his hooves, his arms fell apart and the body collapsed into itself. As gruesome as it was, Candle let loose on all of us and made sure we put the wheel back on correctly. Then we left him, dead and unremembered by anyone but us. All that was left was the dinged up box that encapsulated the spark battery.

-One pony stepped on a tomato, one pony heard it go squish. One pony ate dinner and the rest had none.

Saying it like that makes it sounds impersonal. After all, he was just a battery operator. Replaceable. Just like the many cogs that fuel this war-until eventually the cogs break faster than you can replace them.

Everyone in here was someone from the conscription rounds that went off occasionally around the outside districts of Hoofington. I remember the role call at the company I worked for. I was a reporter ,yes, but they had me sitting behind a desk with a type writer day in and out. All I received from the higher-ups were projects no one wanted to do, so I ended up getting things like writing on the status of the food reserves going in and out of the trenches, or the one-thousandth report on the zebra named Zecora. I took that role call and headed towards the sector in a heartbeat.

‘Too late now’ I looked to the front and the iron wearing ponies started slowing down bringing us to a halt at the entrance to our assigned position. A wooden box painted a muddy green held mare behind the glass window. She glanced at the indicator plate on the side of the wagon and spun around to a panel behind her. With a press, the bar in front of us raised and the dirt path turned into concrete as we pulled in the small base. Tents were shedding warm lights onto the slab of concrete in front of them and at the end of the road lay a concrete brick.

Candle set the backpack onto the floor and pointed his hoof at the concrete brick sitting in the middle of the encampment. “That’s where we headed. Mallet, you can stop here and head to the front to grab some ponies if you want. The rest of you, off!” His direct orders raised an eyebrow from Sonic but he nodded and hopped over the side of the wagon onto the concrete. Cookie and the rest of us follow suit and Candle knocked on the wood of the wagon to give the all clear. Then, with a scrape and a clank the wagon was pulled away by the two iron horses in the front. Candle started moving towards the building with the flame thrower proudly hefted on his back and the nozzle bit in his mouth.

I looked over at hunk and the sandwich that he had was quickly stuffed in his mouth as he tossed the “tesla” on his back and held it there with a hoof. He looked up and stated a muffled remark. I laughed which sounded slightly strange given the circumstances we were in.

“Hunk, no one can understand you if you stuff food in your mouth. Also do you need a hoof with that? All I got is this.” I said. I threw my head at the microphone and wires that were attached to my backpack mounts that helped to secure it in place.

He leaned his head to the right and adjusted the box before nodding his head. I moved over to his side and shrugged the “tesla” onto my shoulder and motioned for him to go with my free hoof.. We soon caught up with the rest of the group as they came up to the dark shadow that pulled at the building it was attached to. The front was guarded by two soldiers who stepped in front of the doors to bar our entrance.

“State your purpose and your credentials.” said the soldier on the right. His muzzle was stout and grey before it melted into a solid black coat of fur that disappeared into his uniform.

Candle looked at them with an annoyed expression but dropped the nozzle of the flame thrower to bite a plastic card in his front pocket. He passed it to the pony and the other soldier relayed the information to someone on the inside. With a small burst of static and more muffled voices, the dark red unicorn nodded at the other soldier and he pulled open the door motioning with his head to the inside.

“Sorry about that sir, just protocol.” the soldier said.

Fluorescent bulbs dispelled the shadow a little bit in front of the door before it was intruded upon by Candle Wick. The card was returned to Candle before he passed under the door frame; the rest of us following after him.

The door clicked shut behind us and our group headed up the stairs to a long hallway. The hallway was lined with oak doors that stretched from end to end. Behind each was the faint sound of ticks and tacks as ponies worked to transfer important information to different parts of Equestria. Sitting at the very end of the hall was a dark mahogany door that had a brass knob. The name General Cupcakes was inlaid on a brass plate which was secured to a muddled piece of glass in the middle of the door. The grey from the outside of the concrete hovel transferred into the inside as well which made the painting of Celestia, hanging beside the door, seem dull and out of place.

Candle approached the door and let out a set of light raps before pulling the door open revealing a fat looking pony squished into a chair. He was decorated in the standard drab green overcoat and a golden sun gleamed from his right shoulder. His cigar turned our direction as he turned away from the Stable-tec computer that sat on his desk.

“You’re late. I sent for your sorry tails at 0900 yesterday because Luna has been getting in my face recently. You were supposed to be here at 1300 as I requested weren’t you?! And what is that thing you have wrapped around your neck colonel?!” The general laid into Candle. He took a pull from the cigar then squashed the tip angrily against an ashtray.

Candle stared at him with extreme mischief in his eyes but let it quickly disappear as he set the flame thrower on the ground. “A little present for you. We ran into a bit of trouble on the way here which resulted in the loss of one personnel and a damaged troop transport wagon. The Iron Horses were not injured in the gun fire as well so that’s a plus.” He passed a glance at the rest of us and let his eyes settle on me. I shifted from hoof to hoof nervously. " This one will be interviewing you sir.”

Alarm bells started going off in my head. ‘No, no, no. Candle you absolute piece of lost mail sent by Derpy herself, why?’ I steamed from ear to ear as the now expressionless general turned towards me.

“H-hi sir. My crew and I are here to see how the Coltislavic people are doing in this sector. According to recent suggestions by Monarch Luna, the Coltislavic people are causing more trouble than they are good and as such she wants to know what your opinion is on the matter.” I coughed out the heavily practiced lines as I desperately resisted the urge to be anywhere but inside this now cramped office. General Cupcakes raised an eyebrow toward Candle who seemed to have found new interest in the flame thrower nozzle again. Little puffs of smoke leaked from the backpack as the flame from the nozzle was held at a low output.

“As is normal with-” A small stapler flew across the room hitting Candle in the side of the head. “Wiiiiith-normal, right, um- as is normal with investigations performed by Ministry of Internal Affairs, all conversation will be recorded and reviewed-in this case- by Luna herself or an available official designated by Luna her highness as suitable. Please answer truthfully and we will soon be out of your mane.” I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as I finished the introduction.

I looked up again and found a boom shoved above my head and Canon leaning against the book case to my right. Cookie messed with controls to the “Tesla” and soon a sharp crack emanated from the inside. The influx of electricity was felt throughout the room and soon my hair stood up on end. The hum that emanated from the battery box soon quieted down into a small rumble.

General Cupcake leaned back in his chair and gave a nod towards me. “I accept these terms however, if a question is deemed by me to be classified-even to Luna- you are to erase the question entirely from your video. Do you understand? Some things are just better to not know. You’re a journalist, I am sure you can understand.” He glanced over to the rest of the crew that held his gaze with flimsy wills. “Any person that discloses information of this to any but those in this room will be shot or worse.” He leaned forward and folded his hooves in front of his face. “Trust me when I say you don’t want to end up worse.”

I gulped but quickly nodded. “Yes sir.” The rest of the room mumbled yes sir and waited quietly for me to begin.

I turned my head to my backpack and pulled out a packet of papers enclosed in a folder. Documents, given to me with the express purpose to test my abilities in the field. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I quickly fumbled with the papers, turning the pages with my tongue, and finally rested on a page full of text. Paper clips held autopsy report pictures of gassed Coltislavic soldiers. All were traced back to this sector due to the branded serial numbers on their right hooves. I’ve seen them before but to confront a General of abuse was way out of my league. ‘No, you have this. Make him squirm were the bosses words.’ I glanced up again and held the open folder to where I needed it before motioning with my head toward Sonic to start rolling.

The cables leading to the “Tesla” moved slightly with life and a red light appeared on both the camera and the headset on my side. I pulled the headset off the backpack hook and rested it firmly on my head. The microphone was close to my mouth and my stance rigid as I saw the motion to ‘go’ out of the corner of my eye.

‘Showtime.’

“Beginning with an introduction, this is General Cupcake Frosting who is designated over sector 2A. With him is a certain corporal Candle Wick whom has agreed to the terms set out by classification “Golden Blood.” My crew consists of a Sonic Mach, Cookie Crumble, Deceased-Static White, Pixel Shock, and Canon Flash. Permission to proceed?” I said in a clear voice as I read from the papers word for word.

General Cupcakes raised a hoof and said” You may proceed.”

I cleared my throat and began from the where I left off. " General Cupcakes, bodies have been found recently indicating Coltislavic origin. Strangely, they are designated as KIA when no bullet holes have been found on the outside extremities of known bodies. Instead, the inside of them is burned by a gas that we commonly call " Dragon’s Breath.” The requisition of this material has been noticed to be heavy in this sector, with the only justification given as being -increase use of biological weaponry on zebra scum has rendered you in need.- Are these facts truthful General Cupcakes and if so, where are the documents that indicate the zebra and Coltislavic soldier personnel killed by such weapons?”

The General stared at me with a concentrated expression then leaned back in his chair. “The information files on the recently killed Coltislav’s can be found downstairs These documents entail a biological bomb that was hidden inside of a satchel or on the zebra himself that releases a chemical agent like our “Dragon’s Breath” but instead kills within minutes of exposure. The down side of such weaponry is that it kills the user as well if within a radius of 200 feet. As for the increase need of gas agents, we have been given an experimental vehicle designated as X-062D or more commonly referred to by its crew as, “Haunter.”" He breathed in a small breath and looked away towards Candle Wick. “The weapon is a horrid creation formed by a collaboration of the Ministry of Arcane Science and the Ministry of War-time technology. If you have a question about that device I would take it up with the people who made it. Next Question.” He pulled a drawer from behind the desk and picked out a cigar. He lifted it to his mouth but noticed Candle Wick’s eager face. He shook his head and grabbed an ornate lighter that brightened the cigar tip till it was a dull cherry red.

I pulled the photos out of their paper clips holders and set them on his desk. He dragged them close to him and examined each one in turn.

“These are the Coltislavic soldiers that were deemed unordinary. One appears to have been beaten to death by hooves and the others have indicators of abuse that ultimately led to death. They have been labeled as KIA as well. Has there ever been any indication that the soldiers are in a state of unrest over the recent encampment of Coltislavic soldiers. If so, then would you find it valid to send them back to Stalliongrad in order to retain good terms with our ally?” I finished with a slight nod to give indication it was his time to speak.

“The bodies you found died under extreme circumstances. No evidence was found that pinned any personnel to the abuse of these soldiers. Their bodies were found near the third line of the “No-Pony” land entrenchments and as such it is highly likely they were tortured by Zebra interrogators before being disposed of. This is more than enough justification to continue this war and for the remaining use of the Coltislavic people to be extended. I understand the position Luna is in right now but these soldiers are ruthless killers that are trained a lot better than our common soldier. " He slid the photos to the side of his desk and pulled out a file from the right side drawers. Sorting through the pages he finally settled on something and turned it toward the camera. “This document contains the service those soldiers have rendered to me. As you can see by the average kill ratio given personally from each soldier, Coltislavic soldiers have a 1 to 4 ratio that only increases depending on the weaponry given to them and the situation that they called for. I hope this answers your question. Next.” He finished with a triumphant look on his face.

‘Smug, of course he’s smug. How do people like this end up in power?’ I thought as I scanned the papers for something else I could say. ‘Wait.....this! Yes, this!’ I triumphantly turned the page and found the documents on Caramel Cake sister of Carrot Cake.

“On may 19th of this year, a mare by the name of Caramel Cake was found outside of Hoofington that claimed to have been in a relationship with you by force. As proof she presented a medal you had received prior that was never reported as missing. On June 19th she was found dead in a motel, the aforementioned medal;missing. What say you, guilty or innocent?” My heart leaped with each word as I watched the near expressionless general contort in his seat as if it was filled with ants. Candle Wick stepped away from the general and stared at me with a mix of fear and mischief.

The general stared at me with a hatred that could only be matched with murderous intent. Then, he smiled.” That’s classified sonny.”

A distant rumble was felt throughout the room and I saw Canon glance out the window. “He-hey guys I think somethi-” His voice was cut off as I let loose my anger on General Cupcakes.

“Horse shoes! You know something about that case and the others! Too many deaths surround your hooves General Cupcake, soon one of them is going to trip you!” I shouted at him. Cookie had his mouth wide open and the same mischievous grin was spread across Candle Wick’s face as if permanently glued there.

“You of all people should know that, ah, “personal” affairs never go anywhere in this government.” His cigar pointed menacingly at me. “Just drop it.”

“You-you....” ‘You can’t get away with this.’ is what I meant to say. Instead I breathed out, and looked back down at the documents.

‘Please Celestia give me one more shot at this guy.’ I thought as I scanned the papers vehemently.

Then the room exploded.

The door slammed inwards as a metallic bullet busted its way through the concrete and out the wall. My body was hurled backwards and I felt pain explode on my back as I landed on the broken door to the office. The painting of Celestia hung by a thread; the lower half swung wildly, missing most if not all of the left side of the painting. My ears screeched in pain. My vision was slightly blurred. I saw Candle screaming something but it was faint and far away. He moved to where I was and shoved me off of the door. I looked up to find out the reason why, but Candle was already moving to grab his flame thrower which was tossed across the room. He reached for the green pack and the wall of books exploded outward as another shell arched through and then embedded itself in the wall. My eyes drew back to Candle only to find the white fur of his arm sticking out at a strange angle from under the book shelf.

~A second stepped on a carrot, the second heard it snap, crack, and pop. The second ate with the first whilst the rest had none.~

I tried crawling my way over to him. One arm over the other drove my body nearer to the book shelves. My hearing returned with less ringing and the sound of a whistle sound penetrated the air. Hunk sat dazed in the corner whilst Canon galloped screaming out of the room. Sonic dropped the equipment he had and supported General Cupcake. Confusion soon turned to anger again.

“This is your fault!” I screamed at him not truly knowing the reason. It was primal, a reaction. I felt my body shake in pain as I put one hoof down onto the solid ground. The floor rumbled again. My body lurched back and forth unsteadily until I found myself in front of Hunk. A shell ripped through a different part of the building casting debris from the ceiling onto me. “Get up Hunk its time to go!”

He looked up at me and then over at Candle. “H-he.” he mumbled a response that was soon quieted by gun fire outside. ‘We don’t have time for this! Not another!’ I dragged his arm towards the door. He didn’t budge.

“The Tesla, Pixel...it-I-Pixel?” He looked at me like I was an anchor that was pulling free of the loose sand of a beach. He pointed shakily at the humming box. I quickly grabbed it and tossed it out the broken frame of the door.

“Go Hunk!” I galloped out the door and hooked my hoof around the box. Dragging it down the hall, wood splinters acted like confetti. It spilled from many of the door ways. The scrape of the “Tesla” on the wood floor contrasted with the rumbling and snaps outside. Crimson spewed from the end of the hall. Another shake rocked the building and a soldier flew threw one of the doors at the end of the hallway. His body collided with the wall, limply slumping into the crimson floor adding it’s own. I tore my eyes off the corpse and followed after Hunk downstairs.

Worse could describe a situation in which events turn from bad to, worse. This was not one of those cases. In fact things went from worse to bad…very bad.

Bullet holes pocked the backwall as Hunk and I dashed behind a desk. The Tesla thumped onto the ground. I peeked over the desk only to be shoved backwards by another explosion. The Tesla hit my gut and I landed in a heap on top of Hunk. I looked over into the corner as I rolled off and spotted Canon. The soldier from the front had built a rudimentary wall out of a printer which was blackened. Canon whimpered in a fetal position as the soldier blindly shot over the printer, the glow of her horn around the 10mm illuminating the corner of the room in replacement of the broken fluorescent bulbs. I moved the Tesla against the back wall and rammed my shoulder into the desk.

Hunk groaned and crawled over to the Tesla, hugging it.

I angrily stared in his direction but turned away.’I have to find the good for nothing General! I can’t let him go..I-I can’t!’ My brain hurt from the previous blast. Maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly. ‘I don’t know. I was given a chance wasn’t I? I can’t waste it!’ I argued in my head while the gunfire got louder in front of the building. I heard a soft woosh and arch of light shot over my head.

Someone screamed from the front, “They got a heavy laser! Get the ‘Haunter’ now-*muffins*!” The voice was shrill and out of place but I recognized it immediately; General Cupcakes. I shot up from behind the desk and galloped out into the open part of the room. The front of the building was practically missing. Chunks of concrete and bars of steels lay broken around the entrance holes from something big. The door was crumpled inward and lay on the ground in a U. As testament to it’s build the large tank round was lodged most of the way through but stopped short of it’s destination. Fire licked at broken tinder and the corpses of the staff. Debris was scattered everywhere. The cracks of weaponry and shouting leaked into the room.

I kept going, feeling the pound of my heartbeat against my chest. I saw the tuft of fur belonging to the head of General cupcakes from the front behind a pile of desks. Pain sprouted from ankle as a bullet grazed the skin. It burned but only pressed further adrenaline into me as I hurled myself over the desks.

I landed in a heap on the ground before quickly getting up. “You can’t get away wit-!”I said before I realized the gun stuck in my face. Sonic looked at me with dead set determination. Evil had many faces and it was at that moment that I realized I had lost. General Cupcakes smirked at me before turning back to the receiver in his hooves. “You know. This would very bad for you if anything were to happen to me. That’s why soldiers were made, to protect those that don’t deserve it. You’ll learn soon enough that this world based on “friendship” was just a game of policies and resource exchange. We deserve this war as much as those zebra’s do.” He looked back at me a grin plastered on his face. “And that’s where people like me make sure it keeps going. No matter what.”

“You-why…Why?! Those are ponies out there that don’t deserve to die! How many have you lost in this sector alone?
You're going to bring in our only allied nation with us to Tartarus! How many-” I turned to Sonic, the gun still rested in his wing and mouth trigger held, and looked back down again. “Why?”

General Cupcakes placed his arm on my shoulder and laughed. I didn’t want to see his face but it was pulled upwards. His grin gone, the only thing left on his face was his ego. Confident and boastful. Corrupted and commanding.

“Because your Celestia and Luna are no gods. This world is run by those with power. Goldenblood understood that more than anyone…Now go out there and die before you get blood on my vest.” He said before patting me on the shoulder. Standing upright he smiled at me, untouchable.

“BLAM!” Explosive notes ringed in my ears. My brain immediately signaled warning bells and time seemed to slow down. I felt no pain. ‘Am I dead?’

Then I saw General cupcakes lean past me and fall to the ground. Blood pooled from the now barren side of his skull. The shadow of a Coltislavic soldier stood upright on two hooves on top of the barricades, the smoking gun firmly enclosed in his mouth.

~The third stepped on a melon. He went down with a thump and a crash. He ate by himself whilst the rest had none.~

Pixel turned his head towards the body of General cupcakes, stunned. The thumping of his heart rocked in his chest cavity. The body became charred, burned beyond recognition. His head turned toward Pixel and Check Mate stared back at him.

“Let me die.” Check Mate breathed, before letting his eyes roll into his skull. The body limply let itself rest on the rocks and dirt of the ground. Pipes and other pieces of machinery thumped up and down. Artificial heartbeats.Pixel watched the body animate once again, tossing one arm over the other towards Pixel.

“No! It wasn’t me! It isn’t my fault!” Pixel cried. He backed away, feeling ash and bits of metal scrape against his flesh.

The body of Check Mate warped again and met Pixel’s eyes as Hunk. “I was your friend.” Hunk whispered at Pixel.”At least…I thought I was.”

Pixel started shaking as tears flowed from his eyes. He shook his head desperately as he stared at his coworkers mangled corpse. It crawled closer to Pixel and he instinctively kicked at it with his hind hoof. It’s head reeled back and came back down in the smug smile of Candle Wick. His head engulfed in flame; he stared at Pixel, judging.

“Nicely going.” Candle Wick said.

His face peeled away like ash as the fire licked at Pixel. The heat was unbearable, suffocating. Pixel coughed, making the droplets coming from his face fall into the ashen ground. They became dark swirls that evaporated when it got close to the figure.

“You let us die.” Said the morphed faces of something. It no longer resembled anyone;a collective consciousness. It pressed a morphed paw against Pixel and the pain sent an agonized cry into the dark air.

Pixel was in pain, choking on it. Pixel scraped his hooves against the arm of the creature. They slicked across the arm harmlessly. It wasn’t something he could control, nor combat by himself.

A obstructed cough desperately crawled out of the throat of Pixel and the creature pressed harder. “Why..”Pixel muttered as a dark fog clouded his vision.

The creature lessened its grip for a second before plunging back down on Pixel. The fighting from Pixel stopped as his arms flopped to his sides. But, before he slipped into the abyss, he heard the creature mournfully sigh.

“You won’t let us go.” Then darkness came and ate Pixel, bringing him back to the abyss.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The cold steel greeted Pixel as he woke with a start. The air around him was blurry and dark. The cogs in the machine, long past their intended service, were chugging vehemently faster than normal operating speeds. Pixel glanced down at the ground towards the body of Check Mate.

Everything was awash in fire and ash that spewed from the broken seal in the piston cavity. Every burst from the piston caused a flare of fire to burst and hit the ceiling which in turn ate its way down the electrical wires and down onto flammable pieces of wood. In the area Pixel stared, the bodies of the crewponies were simply kindling. Check Mate lay on the ground, seemingly at peace while the rest of the world screeched and squealed around him.

Pixel stood up from the stairs and put a hoof on his face. No tears.

“I must be dead. Or in some kind of version of Tartarus.” Pixel said as he looked around the now amber red room. ‘Am I alone?’ Pixel thought to himself. He trotted away from the flame-engulfed room, turning back once more to say goodbye to Check Mate. A wave of flames cascaded over the rails and Pixel instinctively held his hoof to his face, backing up all the while.

“Goodbye!”Pixel shouted into the flames and then quickly ducked out of the room. He stuck a hoof on the glass pad and was immediately relieved when the doors hissed closed.

“Now wh-” Pixel said before a loud blaring horn screamed down the hallway.

“ALERT! ENGINE REACHING CRITICAL HEAT LEVELS! PLEASE ATTEND STATIONS OR SUMMON REPAIR DRONES IMMEDIATELY!” The automated intercom rang out. Pixel clutched his ears and heard an audible thunk as his hooves met something. No feeling came from his hooves. ‘That’s going to be annoying.’ Pixel thought before flinching at a loud snap that came from one of the detached light cables.

Hesitantly, Pixel walked down the corridor. The dim lighting flickered again as the light behind brightened. The engine was loud but as he got farther down the corridor it got quieter. On the ground was bits of paper with a familiar symbol printed on.

“What the-?” Pixel said, crouching down to scoop a clump of papers. He brought it over to a lowered light that clung desperately to the wall. The illumination showed the logo of equine synthetics.

‘I knew it! They were behind this!’ Pixel thought triumphantly.

He glanced around him and found a corner. Tucked in the side was a door that sparked but held open access to a room. Pixel clutched papers to his chest and trotted over. Squeezing though the door frame he found himself in a room littered with trash and gears. A metal bed was tossed onto its side and a desk sat paralleled to the door. Pixel shuffled around the debri and sat in the chair close to the desk. Tilted and dusty, a lamp was plugged and discarded on the floor along with a couple of bottles of…something.

Pixel set the papers on the desk and bent down to clutch the lamp in his mouth. His eyes caught the bottle and read “AppleJack Farms ~Wine made fresh since 13iD Long l ve una”. The print faded as it wrapped around the neck. Pixel roughly put together the words in his head as that same flickering light appeared in his vision. The glow tried to form words but receded back to wherever it came from before it had a proper chance.
The bottle looked to be emptied entirely. ‘Interesting.’ Pixel thought as he set the lamp and flicked the switch on its back. The amber wash illuminated the text and Pixel read.

___________________________________________________________________________________

EQUINE SYNTHETICS PROPERTY OF THE EMPIRE

~LONG LIVE LUNA~

I absolutely hate the fact that these papers all have the same stupid print on it. “Blah blah blah” Luna my plot. It doesn’t matter anyways. Were all dead soon enough. The A.T.V. Shut off a month ago and Lyra has her hopes set on Chirvonov to turn it on. I don’t have the heart to tell her he probably died when the H.M.S. Discord broke the station in half. That thing shook the entire station for weeks and Lyra prayed to Celestia every day for the poor sucker. Those *muffins* zebras are blowing the world apart up there and I'm stuck here. I’ve been put in charge of maintaining the reserve engines. Those things won’t last unless someone goes in to complete the job…it’s entirely irradiated; the outcome of a shorted arcane battery. Killed every last poor sucker in there.
At least I hope they died. I can’t imagine what it would be like if someone actually LIVED through that. We got one DEV.X. Suit so that’s good news! There’s just one problem. We don’t have a transfer seat in the entire bloody Cera sector. So now I’m ranting to a piece of paper. I’m just going to drink until Lyra yells at me again.

See ya ~Berry Punch~

“I think I remember someone like that…I can’t remember.” Pixel mumbled to himself. He scanned the pages again and looked around the room again, noticing the bottles of wine nestled into different corners of the room. His perspective was a fresh look at the room. ‘It was someone’s room. At least it used to be.’

He turned back to the pages and shuffled the pages to reveal another. He started to read the scripted text again before pulling back.

Pixel snapped back into reality, hearing the creaking of something outside his door. It added to the hum of the engines and grew louder as something clicked along a rail. Mumbling accompanied it.

With a Click! And a Whirr the thing slammed into the wall adjacent to the door.

“Why do I have to keep this stupid thing turned off. I have other things to do ya know!!” The machine slid along a rail attached to the wall until it hit the corner. “I swear I am going to throw that thing through the window into the radiation if it’s Hubble’s idea again. Why don’t they restrain their stupid kid?!” The machine accelerated again and zipped past Pixel’s vision.

‘That voice…No, it can’t be.’ Pixel’s thoughts raced in his head as he stepped away from the desk and stepped into the cherry red hallway. The machine was carried up the wall to an access panel where it prodded at it with two mechanical arms. Flames pressed against the glass, illuminating the door to the side, a dark substance pooling out. Soon the machine finished its business and it raced down the track, hitting the edge with a thunk.

“Stupid bloody*muffins are better than cupcakes*” The machine angrily threw a fried electronic at the other wall.” Where are you guys!? I know it was you again!”

The shadows of the machine stretched to Pixel and the machine finally turned its binocular eyes towards him. They zoomed in and the machine gasped.

“No. No. No. No. No. Not again! Look, ok um..” The machine turned back to the panel and quickly dismantled a broken piece of metal. It turned back to Pixel and tossed it over his shoulder.

“There! Go fetch! Go away! Find something else to repair!” It frantically said at Pixel.

Pixel turned around and picked up the piece of metal before turning to the machine. ‘it…can’t be him can it?’

“Why won’t you go away! That normally works…maybe it’s one of the mark 2’s that Chirconov made. Great, now his creations are screwing me over even after-” The machine ranted before getting interrupted by Pixel.

“Who are you?” Pixel turned up towards the hanging robot and the slow thumping of the engine leaked into the room. The machine looked stunned before messing with something on its chest and turning towards Pixel. The hesitant whirr of the electric motors brought the machine closer to him.

“You speak? Um, well…crap this hasn’t happened before. I mean..a DEV.X. Suit having a soul..” The machine put a hand on it’s binocular eyes quizzically before pointing at Pixel. “A better question would be is who are you? “

Pixel was confused but managed to roughly form words; “Pixel Shock”. Pixel sat on the ground, looking upwards at the robot afraid of what it might say.

“Pixel Shock huh? I don’t remember anyone on the original crew named that. Maybe you were from that group sent down here halfway through the war?” The machine turned to look at Pixel. It studied him before reaching behind him onto the flat box of it’s body. It returned with a nameplate which it tossed to Pixel. Catching it, the words written on it confused him. His brain wanted to deny it.

As the engines slowed and eventually stopped, the two machines stared at each other. The one hanging on the wall uttered a name.

"The name is Check Mate. Just...try not to think about it too hard."