Fallout Equestria: E-201

by Striker1959

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Royal Guard, Other, Dark, Alternate Universe, Anthro
Length: 11688

When the world ended in Balefire it can’t be said there weren’t those who tried to survive in the aftermath that was wrought. There were survivors from every aspect of society, but few did so much to ensure that there was something left...

When the world ended in Balefire it can’t be said there weren’t those who tried to survive in the aftermath that was wrought. There were survivors from every aspect of society, but few did so much to ensure that there was something left worth something than Captain Steadfast, commanding officer of Naval Airship E-201. In the radioactive fallout he worked to ensure that his crew would survive and mechanisms were in place to aid the descendants of the survivors in the dark years ahead. These are the words of a survivor who did so much to ensure that society would rebuild after he was gone, taken from the logbook that he left behind in his death.

Written as a supplement to Broken Mirror Part II, E-201 follows the crew of the Naval Picket E-201 in the immediate aftermath of "The Last Day". Told with both traditional writing and log entries, the events will be from the perspective of the Captain, Steadfast, as he attempts to navigate the immediate aftermath of Armageddon.

Want to know some more about the Mirrorverse? Check out the Mirroverse Codex here.

Published 2017-02-24 23:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-09-07 01:36:25 UTC

Entry 1: Apocalypse

What do you think of when you hear about the Equestrian Navy? Most would assume ships made of iron and steel with massive cannons, and I’d say most people aren’t too far off. But a proper navy is varied in actual equipment.

“Still nothing to report Steadfast?”

I was interrupted by the voice of the flight controller back in Baltimore. But I’m getting ahead of myself. My name is Steadfast, a proud officer in the Naval Aviation Corps. But what does a lowly earth pony do in an Aviation Corps?

“Steadfast, are you there?”

“Steadfast here control. Still nothing out here.” You see I’m the captain of an airship built for the Navy to patrol the oceans off our coasts. There’s no fancy cloud architecture here like on a Raptor, just large bladders full of helium and ducted fans to move us around. That’s my command in a nutshell… The ever reliable E-201.

Copy that. Let us kn-” zzzztttt…

“Maybe I thought of it too soon…” I wondered aloud. I flicked the radio on and off a few times but got the same bit of static.

“CAPTAIN!!!”

The bulkhead to my quarters to the corridor running the length of my ship was flung open by my First Officer, Spark, with an urgency I’ve never seen from him before. “Settle down-”

“No, I will not settle down!” Spark yelled. “You need to see this NOW.”

Spark was never one to be demanding and if he didn’t look genuinely scared I’d readily knock him down a rank. But he wasn’t waiting as I got up from my desk and hurried the few steps from my quarters to the bridge proper. Usually it’s noisy out here, but all I heard was static coming from the speakers that lined the bridge.

And then I saw it; a flash of green light just over the horizon. “Spark, what am I looking at?” Every soul on the bridge remained silent, their eyes glued on the horizon. As a second flash of green light erupted I took a glance over at the gyrocompass that stood out of the floor on a grey pedestal. We weren’t maintaining our heading over the ocean anymore. We were pointed east.

Right towards Equestria. Suddenly the silence made sense; it was driven by sheer fear and horror. This clearly wasn’t another day.

As two more green flashes erupted I started feeling the same dread that the rest of my bridge crew obviously was. “Celestia help us…” I muttered. We weren’t looking at just another Zebra attack.

We were watching the end of the world.

***

***

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain's Log, Twelve Hours After “Apocalypse”

It's been twelve hours since the event that I’m terming as the “apocalypse”. Thirteen hours ago we received an encoded message bearing two words. Broken Arrow, the code phrase for all is lost. We still don’t know who sent the message or the origin of it as there was nothing in the communique to indicate an origin. Less than an hour later the bridge crew alerted me to a flash of light they witnessed in the direction of the continent. By the time I got to the bridge I could see why the were concerned; while we couldn’t see our great nation of Equestria hiding just over the horizon we could see the bright green and white flashes of light in the clouds forming miles away over the land.

After two hours of waiting and attempting to make contact with the control station in Balitmare the first alarm went off. Our equipment confirmed the reality that none of us wanted to believe; the Zebras had deployed balefire weapons against Equestrian targets. After a frantic move to ensure that the airship’s NBC systems were activated we did the only thing that we felt we could given the circumstances and headed for home… The only problem was that there wasn’t anything left of home to go back to. Our first view of Baltimare was the flaming Navy Yard. The few ships that were at anchor were either blown apart or had sunk beneath the waves of the harbor. We could see ponies running too and fro from our perch above the chaos trying to contain the damage but judging by the external radiation levels they were doomed regardless of what they did.

I still wonder if they watched as we moved off to survey the rest of the city. Did they realize that even if we could bring them away from the tragedy below that their time was limited to begin with? The rest of the city wasn’t much better. Office buildings had been blown down like stacks of cards in the shockwave that bombs detonating right next to them generated. Like with the navy yard you could see the ant-sized specs of ponies running around though the chaos, but the denizens of the cityscape were just as doomed as our comrades at the yard. Did they see us hovering above the city and wonder why we weren’t helping too? How many ponies below us died in excruciating pain with their last sight being a navy airship hovering above the destruction? Did they blame us for their lack of salvation?

As I gave the order to head farther inland I kept thinking that. Members of my fifty strong crew insisted that we needed to help the ponies in the chaos below but my decision was final. We needed to leave them to their fates and attempt to find and help those who weren’t beyond saving. I can still see the glares of disapproval from my helmsman and first officer. If the circumstances were different I think they would’ve removed me from command, but even they could recognize the severity of our present situation. But for now I’m considering us to be the only active military unit in Equestria. As such we’re going to perform damage assessments and try to make contact with any other friendly assets… With luck we’ll find more that just us out there.

Author's Note

2/26/17: Some people who read the original incarnation of this chapter will notice that I've added something to the very beginning; a monologue. After some thought and review over the last two days I decided that it felt like E-201 was missing something important, hence the addition. All five of the published chapters will get a similar treatment, and the dialogue will likely break up Steadfast's log entries. It's a process that'll get stretched out over the next few days as I've been called in as an editor for another story on this site and expect that the college course work will be picking up as I approach my Spring Break (which falls in March as I'm done with the semester by the second week of May).

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 1 Reading:

Entry 2: Survivors

Twenty Four Hours post-Last Day

Exhaustion. No matter how much coffee one can chug into their gullet it still finds a way to creep back to the forefront and drag on your mind. “Is there anything we can do?” I wondered aloud. Spark was standing next to me as we both stared at the footage from the ventral gun camera. We were hovering over the port city of Neighfolk... Or at least what’s left of it. On the screen I could see ponies running about in the rubble-strewn streets below. While I can’t tell what they’re saying down there I can take a wild guess at what every single pony down there is trying to do.

“Not unless we want to break the seals and irradiate everyone aboard.” Spark muttered.

They were trying to find clean food and water. They were trying to find a way out of the city. And more importantly they were trying to survive.Yet if we did anything we’d be dooming ourselves for nothing. Odds are good that every pony down there will be dead of radiation poisoning within a matter of days even with the proper medical attention. “Helmsman?”

“Yes Captain?” The young colt replied.

I sat down in my chair and knew that my grim facial expression was on display for all to see. “There’s nothing we can do here. Get us out of here.”

***

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain's Log, Two Weeks After “Apocalypse”

I know that it’s navy protocol for officers to keep a daily log of events and occurrences, in addition to inspection reports and the like, but to say that we’ve done poorly at enforcing that protocol in light of recent events can readily be forgiven. Our team of mechanics have kept 201 running properly, especially impressive given the circumstances, and for the most part the initial feelings of dread that we all felt on that first day have seemingly melted away to be replaced by cold practicality required to survive in the radioactive environment that was once our nation.

That being said the last two weeks haven’t been uneventful. Within hours of the last bombs falling the cloud cover over the country became total, leaving Equestria looking a shade closer to gray. But it obviously wasn’t by result of the bombs from what we can ascertain. It appears that in the aftermath of losing Cloudsdale the entire pegasi population broke away from our millennia old nation and sealed the clouds to prevent radioactive fallout from reaching the surviving pegasi.

Seven Days post-Last Day

“What is it now Spark?” I groaned as I walked onto the bridge.

“We’re not alone.” Spark answered, pointing to the comms station. “We’ve been picking up on Pegasi radio chatter for the last half an hour.”

“What are they saying?” I asked. By this point we had assumed that the Pegasi were responsible for the massive cloud cover over the country, but hadn’t seen or even heard from any Pegasi since the bombs fell.

“Take a listen.” Spark said as he hit the switch to the bridge speakers.

“Say again Overcast? Your signal is garbled.”

“I said that the cloud cover is still intact over the heartland with no signs of radiation bleeding through.”

“Overcast…” I muttered. “That’s a Thunderhead. Comms, open a channel.” I got a thumbs up from the comms officer as the broadcast light lit up on the terminal. “Overcast, this is Captain Steadfast of the Naval Picket E-201. Can you hear us?”

We stood in silence for five minutes, receiving only static on the channel that the Overcast was broadcasting on. “I don’t think they can hear us…” Spark whispered in my ear.

“Overcast to command, is the General available?”

“Just a moment Overcast…”

The radio gave off a static for a few seconds before coming alive once more. “Overcast, this is Spitfire. What’s the situation?”

“Sir we’ve received a radio message from the captain of a Navy airship, hull number E-201. What should we do?”

“Son of a bitch, they heard us.” said Spark.

“You know the protocol Captain. Don’t respond and continue with your current operations."

“Did my ears just deceive me?” I asked Spark.

My first officer simply shook his head. “I don’t think they did.”

“That's it then…” I muttered. “We’re all alone.”

Over the still-active radio frequencies that we shared with the Air Force we keep hearing the familiar names of pegasi airships reporting back to some Enclave that the cloud cover is still holding. While we can’t see the Thunderhead class vessels above the clouds they’re clearly up there patrolling the cloud cover for signs of decay and damage resulting from the nuclear fallout that is afflicting the world below them. We’ve attempted to make contact with the ships but have received no direct response. Instead we’ve picked up on Enclave officers reporting attempted contact from an active Navy picket and informing their compatriots that they were continuing to ignore us. It isn’t clear if they know we can hear them but after the third day we simply stopped monitoring those channels. It's clear that the Pegasi aren’t concerned with what's happening down here. Keeping the destruction down here in mind I can’t blame -

Fourteen Days post-Last Day

“Captain to the bridge, now!” Came Spark’s voice over the intercom.

As I’ve done hundreds of times prior I ditched my logbook on my desk and strolled out onto the bridge. “Alright I’m here.”

“Listen to this.” Spark said as he turned the speakers on. It was a series of beeps, definitely in some sort of patter. “Does that sound familiar?” He asked.

I listened for a few more seconds before I shook my head. “Can’t say it does.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that you’ve never heard a naval distress beacon before.” Spark said with a chuckle, the first real smile crossing his face for the first time in weeks.

As good as it is to see the young stallion smile in times as dark as these a major sticking point comes to mind. “What’s a naval distress beacon doing in Chicacolt? There hasn’t been a major naval presence in the city for decades.”

That simple question brought Spark crashing back into reality hard, assuming his sudden shift from elation to outright downtrodden is any indication. “Do we at least have a location of the signal?” He asked the communications officer.

“I can do you one better sir.” The mare replied, switiching the monitor to the camera on the dorsal turret. “We can see…” She stopped as she looked up at the screen. I would’ve added something myself but I was just as confused. In the middle of a large scrapyard a few miles away on the Chicacolt River was a ship. Not an airship, but an actual ocean going ship. Even at the distance to the craft I could make out the outline of the guns lining the deck on the screen.

“Commander, I believe it’s safe to say that I may stand corrected.”

“Agreed.” Spark noted. “Helm, set a course for that salvage yard!”

As I hopped into my chair to ensure I was on the bridge when we got to yard I started thinking back on my history classes at the academy. If I remember correctly there was some sort of blunder many years ago where a retired cruiser, the Chicacolt herself if I remember correctly, was sent to some small time scrap yard to be broken up instead of one of the proper navy yards… But I was under the impression that the Navy paid the yard to cut the ship up anyway.

It only took us a few minutes to reach a position over the yard, and the gun camera revealed a new mystery. That cruiser down in the yard, up on stilts and all, was in fact the Chicacolt if the name painted on the side was any indicator. But that ship was retired decades ago, and although it was obviously never broken up how did it go unnoticed for all this time?

“Captain, I think someone is down there.” Called out the weapons officer.

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

The officer simply pointed out the front view screen. “Because I can see them waving at us.”

Entry Continues

I must apologize for the record’s sake. I left this entry unfinished yesterday as my first officer, Spark, had barged in with incredible news. As we started heading away from our observation position over the city of Chicacolt we picked up a naval distress call coming from fifteen miles outside the city. When we arrived over this “Nuts and Bolts Salvage Yard” I was rather surprised at what we saw. On stilts overlooking the river was an old protected cruiser, the Chicacolt herself, guarded by a squad of Royal Marines. While I have no idea how the old cruiser was still intact many years after its official retirement, the Marines were more than welcoming when we put down and went to investigate. For our luck the radiation around the site was just above background so we would likely be fine here as long as it stayed that way. But those marines were but a sign of something far greater. In the office was a hidden passage that took us to a vast military bunker beneath the yard.

I met with the commanding officer, a young stallion named Porter. As it turned out he was hand-picked to lead this “Cold Storage” initiative developed in cooperation between Ministers Applejack, Sparkle and Commander Meteor Shower of the Royal Guard. He had been handpicked by the renowned commander for his position in what is easily one of the most unusual projects I’ve ever seen. It's not the equipment that this unit has been allocated that has me raising an eyebrow, but what they’ve been assigned here to protect. Cryopods, and there’s hundreds of them lining the lowest level of this complex. From what Porter has told me they were based on prototypes constructed for Stabletech, but these are an improved version that include lead lining to prevent radiation from affecting the occupants, air and water filtration systems, and non-perishable food stores capable of lasting up to five years if properly rationed amongst the facilities’ maximum population of 750 souls. With a battalion of four hundred ninety-nine and twenty scientists I can see those stores lasting far longer.

But I can’t say I’m not a bit concerned. From what I can ascertain by reading through the personnel files and discussing the project with Porter, every single pony in this facility isn’t leaving anyone behind. They’re all either orphans (which I believe makes up about 80% of the personnel on site) or had cut all ties with their families for one reason or another. Maybe I’m getting paranoid but from my perspective it seems as if this unit was meant to survive the end of the world. They have no ties to what was lost that would cause them to abandon their posts and they can extend their supplies indefinitely through use of the cryogenics technology in the facility. The officers here were all selected by Commander Meteor Shower because they were not standard. In addition to a lack of connections these ponies are all incredibly smart and creative. In the world we see now those skills and traits makes these ponies worth their weight in gold. And this project has advanced by leaps and bounds in the nine months since the Commander signed the agreements with the ministers for funding and technical support. I wonder, but with his position close to the Princesses did the Commander know that it was a matter of time before the Zebras decided to use the Balefire weapons? Did he see something that suggested that ending the world was the end to the war that the Zebras were aiming for? I can’t say for certain… But by appearances it certainly looks that this project was established in preparation for a future outcome that left Equestria in ruins.

The facility staff has already set to work in aiding our repair crews make welcome modifications to our NBC systems to ensure they continue to work. From what the lead scientist has told me the external filters to the system are at present 70% plugged with fallout material. They’re taking improved filters from the facility and are fitting them in place of the stock equipment. From what I’m told while we will have fallout material that sticks to the filters, we’ll actually be able to clear them using either compressed air or one of the air talismans that they’re supplying.

We’ve also received a water talisman to augment the filtration system. With that we shouldn’t have an issue with supplying fresh water for our crew, and Porter has happily restocked our food stores from his sizable stockpile. While the stuff isn’t all that tasty, the Sergeant in charge of my on-board Marine contingent assures me that he can prepare the rations in such a way that they’re more palletable. Hopefully he’s right, because I doubt that the canned bread has gotten any better since I was in boot camp.

In the meantime we’ll use this facility as a base of operations. There are a number of other facilities in the region that we can search for both supplies and signs of survivors. With that in mind we’ll keep up with reports but I’ve ordered all crew to reduce the interval of personal logs to at least once per week. While they’ll likely never be read by the brass I want to ensure we keep track of what happens as we navigate this strange new world that we find ourselves in. Maybe what we write here will help those who come after us understand our struggle and inspire them to ensure that our world never suffers another fate quite like this one.

Author's Note

As of June 5th, Forrest-M has finished the second audiobook chapter;

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 3: Fallout

Twenty Days post-Last Day
Porter

“And you’re saying you’ve picked up what now?” I asked one of the scientists.

“Distress beacons.” The old stallion replied. “We already have a number of locations from them.”

This could be an important development… “Where’s Steadfast?” I asked.

“Standing right here.” I turned around to face the confused looking Captain. “Is something wrong?”

I could only nod. “You need to see this.”

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain's Log, Three Weeks After “Apocalypse”

We’re now standing at three weeks since the end of the world as we knew it. Some of my crew have started calling the day the bombs fell “the last day”. While I don’t know now if that title will stick I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if it did. We’ve been outside of Chicacolt for a week and we’ve finally seen something other than grey. Coming on shift this morning I walked onto the bridge to see snow settling on the forward windscreens. I would’ve gone outside but my First Officer stopped me to show me the external radiation readings. The ambient radiation level had nearly doubled, and while still low being outside without the proper equipment would be suicidal in the long term. Lucky for us the staff in the bunker had left us some environmental suits so we could go between the ship and the facility proper.

A trip inside revealed some more concerning news. For a brief period of time Porter’s crews had established a connection to the general command frequency. During that short stretch they managed to record four distinct distress beacons all with locations attached. But when attempting to send out a transmission in hopes whoever had activated the beacons was still listening, the channel simply died. The best we can tell is that there may be something wrong with the facility's communication array but there’s no way to be sure without taking the whole array apart. Without available replacement components it was decided to leave the issue be for now.

But with locations came an important question as to whether there are more survivors out in the countryside. To say there was a serious debate among my command staff and Porter may not do the arguments to and against scouting out the gathered coordinates the proper justice. After the better part of two days we finally decided to go and investigate one set of coordinates.

Twenty Days post-Last Day
Steadfast

“We’re not picking up much for radiation out there Captain. Now are you sure-”

“Yes, I’m sure.” I replied into the radio. “I’m going with the boarding party Spark.”

“Alright… You know where to find us if you need us sir.”

The Sergeant in charge of E-201’s Marine response unit, Sandstorm, tapped my shoulder. “Something wrong sir?” He asked.

I just shook my head. “Not at all Sergeant.” I reached over and pulled the release for the boarding ramp. As it hit the ground it revealed a sparse mountain top outside the entrance to the cave. “Now then, let's see what called us out here.” I clutched my rifle even though its sling hung around my shoulders. The plateau outside the cave was quiet if the sounds of the wind rushing past my ears is discounted. There wasn’t even any signs of alpine vegetation that I’d associate with a mountain peak.

Hiking across the plateau we finally entered the cave proper. As we kept going deeper I noticed a low noise of some sort. “Does anyone else hear that?” I asked. As we entered the main chamber I found my own question answered. With my gaze fixed on the slumbering purple giant I swallowed my pride and shrugged. “Never mind, I just answered my own question.”

Entry Continues

The location in question was the summit of a mountain at the opposite end of the same range that Canterlot anchored. With worsening weather it took the better part of a day to actually reach the mountain, capped by a cave entrance.I still don’t know what we actually found. Other than the massive sleeping dragon, thousands of books and a massive computer system we found a Crusader mainframe. I’ve only seen briefings on the specifications of these things, but I didn’t even think they had ever been built. Yet here is one, with the tag’s serial number only holding a single digit; 2. If there was another one of these out there it would be a major boon… But that’s simply my rambling getting the best of myself. After we noticed six rather ornate pieces of jewelry displayed on pillars around the chamber we realized what we had stumbled upon. The necklaces were clearly the elements of harmony. They hadn’t been seen for years, yet here they were. Further examination of the chamber showed that the pillars weren’t for show. They were some sort of energy collectors, and the elements were obviously supposed to be a power source. In their current state I could only wonder if they had been used as some sort of retaliation against the Zebras. We left the everything in that cave exactly as we found it and made our way back to the Cold Storage facility. I… I just don’t want to know what that device really was. With all that's happened I think I can live without an answer.

Author's Note

And after a brief break we're back on the update track! Suffice to say I kept drawing blanks for this chapter...

And as of July 10th, Forrest has the third chapter done (with an appearance by yours truly). He's hoping to do them bi-weekly, and I'll be making some more appearances voicing Porter again and eventually Dusk.

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 4: Deep Freeze

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain's Log, 15 Days After “Apocalypse”

It's safe to say that I’ve had plenty of time to process what we found in the mountains last week. While we have no answers regarding the presence of the Crusader and the Elements I’ve managed to get past it. Part of that was a natural process, while the other part was a bit of necessity. The necessity is the current worsening of conditions we’re facing. While there hasn’t been anymore radioactive snow, the melted material polluted all the topsoil in the area and made it unusable for planting crops. That introduces a problem for the long-term, as once the non-perishables in the facility are expended we’d need to find an additional source of sustenance.

With that in mind Porter and I took to discussing solutions to the current issue. After going through the database on site we’ve found reference to a research facility a few miles north of Poneva City. From what little we can tell the facility is an underground agriculture lab with room for a handful of staff to live on site. Assuming that the facility is intact it would likely answer the long-term food conundrum. But the issue would be moving everyone north with no guarantee of safe harbor, and the lack of space aboard the picket would require multiple trip.

Cold Storage Facility
Porter

“For the record I still don’t think this is a good idea.” Steadfast said as we strolled through the rows of cryopods.

“Well I still haven’t heard any better ideas.” I retorted as we stepped onto the elevator that was at the head of the large chamber. “Look, what’s the worst that could happen? At least if we’re all on ice we won’t be going through food and we’ll be safe if there’s any sort of radioactive contamination that breaches the bunker.”

“And I’m just supposed to leave you all here?” Steadfast asked.

As the elevator closed I couldn’t help but think. Steadfast obviously feels that leaving us is not in his best interests… And in that sense I can’t rightly blame him. As far as any of us know we’re all that’s left of the Equestrian military. As the door to the entryway a few levels up opened I reached down under my shirt and pulled out a brass key. “What if you had a reason to come back? Something that tied you here?”

“Is that supposed to make me feel any better?” Steadfast countered.

“No, but the best I can do is a consolation prize.” I said as I handed Steadfast the key. “This is the second arming key for the entire cryogenic array. To thaw the ponies downstairs out you’d need two identical keys. I’ll keep one, and you take the other for good measure.”

“But what if the research base isn’t viable? What do we do then?” Steadfast asked as I stepped into the cryopod that was built into the wall of the foyer.

“Then find other options.” I said. “It's not like we’ll have a problem. The cryo systems are designed with long-term operations in mind. They’re projected to function without maintenance or failure for at least three hundred years. Even if you don’t come back for us… Well, one of your kids could. The access panel I showed you upstairs will take the key if one of the fingerprints doesn’t match the records, so that’ll solve that problem.”

As the hatch to my pod swung shut I saw Steadfast standing there. “You do know that I can’t make any promise, right?” He said, the sound of his voice coming across as muffled from my seat in the cryopod.

As the glass slowly began to ice up I cracked a smile. “I know… And I can live with that.” I said, right as my vision faded to black.

Entry Continues

So we developed a plan. We would take the civilians with us and the Marines would go into cryo until we can return for them. There is a distinct possibility at this time that the research facility is no longer habitable, which would mean we would have to leave these ponies on ice until we could find a place to establish a proper settlement. It’s not a prospect I relish, that much is clear, but after much insistence Porter entrusted me with one of the system arming keys. As he put it he wanted to make sure that I had a something tying me to this place to give me or even my descendants a reason to return. Whenever that happens his pod will be triggered first. At that point we can assess our situation and determine if pulling the marines out of the pods would be wise. If not Porter will go back into his pod and we’ll revisit the issue again when other solutions are available.

As we left the underground vault one of the scientists asked for a few minutes alone at the elevator. When I went back for her I found that she had modified the logo on the elevator wall. Instead of the standard naval anchor, there was an anchor frozen in ice. I didn’t argue with the mare regarding protocol and how graffiti is a nuisance. There’s no one around to enforce the rules and maybe someone will see that logo as a clue to something greater hidden beneath the piles of scrap should we never manage to come back… I suppose one can only hope.

After we left the original plan was to go straight to the research facility, but that changed when the communications officer picked up a distress beacon while searching through the military frequencies. The beacon, like the ones detected last week, held a location. A cross reference of the coordinates revealed that it was coming from the Mall of Equestria, many miles south of us in the heartland. I remember the place well from shore leave about a year ago. For the duration of the flight south Spark and I kept tossing theories as to why a military distress beacon was activated at an ostensibly civilian marketplace, with the best one we managed to come up with relating to the possibility that a military unit had taken shelter there after the bombs fell.

But there’s an old adage that comes to mind after our excursion there… Truth is stranger than fiction. Well it certainly is in this instance. Upon arrival the Marine contingent didn’t find any signs of either survivors or potential hostiles. As such we took it upon ourselves to explore the Mall more thoroughly. It was through that exploration that we came across a weapons lab of all things! Surviving documentation on site revealed that we had stumbled upon a project of some “Special Weapons Division”. While it isn’t clear which ministry that the unit fell under the weapon in question was developed specifically for Princess Luna. It was a minigun, one with no requirement to reload due to the inclusion of a star metal core. All of the documents referred to it as “Stargazer”.

I suppose that such a moniker is appropriate considering the intended user, but its existence is concerning. We managed to simply walk in with no opposition and have no use for a weapon of with this level of destructive potential. But in the wake of the bombs falling I didn’t feel it wise to leave such a weapon undefended. Simply allowing someone to take it would cause insurmountable trouble for any survivors… So against the opinion of my Marine Sergeant I activated the local robotic security and programmed us as allowed personnel. We were able to walk out of that lab without incident and feel secure knowing that it would take a small army to reach Stargazer. It’s a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

In the meantime we’re headed farther south towards Manehattan. While it’s weak we’re picking up on some sort of radio signal on one of the Guard frequencies.We can’t tell much as we’re too far from the source of the transmission, and after some rough guess work the best we can tell is that the signal is coming from within twenty miles of the city center. With what looks to be a blizzard setting in I don’t predict an arrival in the region any time soon. So for now we’ll all just have to try and get comfortable…

Author's Note

I completely forgot, but Forest has another chapter of the audiobook up for the enjoyment of the masses! WOO!

Updated Chapter posted 6/6/17

And now we know what the deal was with the fancy logo on the elevator door. Readers of Broken Mirror Part II will recognize it from the early part of Arc II. And those of you who have read Volrathxp’s Fallout Equestria story will recognize the Stargazer reference... It’s an easter egg, what can I say?

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 5: "The Commander"

Manehattan Second Division Bunker
Lt. Commander Dusk Light

Reports… They’re boring as all hell, as anyone who’s dealt with any sort of monotonous paperwork will tell you. But even with the world as we know it being over, it’s those monotonous tasks that I’ve managed to find some comfort in. Hell, it’s been the day-in and day-out monotony that’s helped me stay sane.

Suddenly my radio chirped, breaking the silence in my office. “Commander, we’ve got the radar back up and running.” Strike’s voice eked out.

I flicked the receiver and got up from my desk. “I’m on my way.” My office was right off of the bunker’s control room, where a number of my fellow Guards were all going about their duties. At the head of the room I saw the only pegasus in the company, Strike, along with my right-hand stallion Comet. They were staring at the radar readout on the large screen. “So what do we got?”

“Like I said, the radar is working again.” Strike explained. “Now would you expect to detect anything?”

“Are you telling me that we’ve picked something up on the radar?”

“He is.” Comet interjected. “We’ve got a naval patrol airship over Manehattan.”

“Can we make contact?” I asked, turning to the guard at the radio behind me.

“Already have the Captain on for you.” The guard assured me.

“This is Captain Steadfast of E-201. Does anyone read me?”

For a moment my voice hitched in my throat. For the first time in a month I was hearing the voice of someone outside the bunker that we had called home. “Dusk, say something!” Strike whispered.

“Captain Steadfast, this is Lieutenant Commander Dusk of the Royal Guard’s Second Division… Welcome to Manehattan.”

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain's Log, 21 Days After “Apocalypse”

Our trip south wasn’t the easiest flight that this old bucket has been through. But as we got closer to Manehattan the signal we picked up a few days ago kept getting stronger, and as of yesterday we were finally able to understand what was being said. We had stumbled upon the communications channel of a group of Guards. But not just any guards; Royal Guards. To find out that any of them were alive and had been outside of Canterlot is not only hard to comprehend, but it’s an incredible stroke of luck. If Royal Guards had survived the bombs, then would it be a stretch to assume that one of the Princesses had?

The sad part is that thought was just that; a stretch. When we finally arrived over Manehattan we managed to make contact with the group’s leader, Lieutenant Commander Dusk Light. From what I could gather from the personnel files that were held within 201’s computer banks, “Lieutenant” Dusk had been given command of Alpha Company, one of three companies that made up the Royal Guard’s Second Division. Our lack of up to date information regarding ranks and unit deployments was certainly a hinderance, as our last update to the deployments for non-Navy units was received over a month before the bombs fell as it wasn’t considered to be priority information for us to have.

The environmental suits came in handy once more as radioactive rain had left the environment outside the picket hazardous. Even luckier was the presence of a decontamination shower which removed every bit of radioactive material that had clung to the suits every time members of the crew disembarked. With all of that out of the way Dusk happily provided us with a more up to date deployment history for the entirety of the Equestrian Military. As it turned out he had been promoted only two weeks prior to the bombs and been assigned command of the entire Second Division. But with the companies deployed to facilities in the southern tier of the Crystal Mountains and the bluffs outside of Vanhoover. All three companies had been spirited out of Canterlot during a Zebra missile bombardment, with the exact reason for the decision entirely unknown.

But for our sake it turns out that Dusk had far more information relating to the so called “last day” and what happened during the bombardment, simply because the facilities his unit were using had an advanced sensor system. The first sign of trouble that they noticed was a loss of connection to Cloudsdayle’s computers. It took all of two minutes to confirm that the floating Pegasi city had been entirely annihilated by an airburst weapon of balefire grade and send out word to Vanhoover and the Crystal Mountains Facility to lock down and stand by for orders from Canterlot. But after losing the signal from the Ministry of Arcane Science hub in Splendid Valley a single order was broadcast on all local channels; Attack. From what we know after Manehattan was hit surviving MAS staff at Tenpony Tower deployed the Celestia Prime megaspell, a super-long range solar-powered piece of beam artillery, against targets marked by Equestrian Intelligence as potential Zebra megaspell launch sites. While the MAS staff did that Dusk was forced to deploy long range destructive megaspells from our own arsenal, launched from remote-controlled silos outside of Fetlock.

However after launch the clouds over the continent began to gather and after the Celestia Prime megaspell went offline from lack of available solar energy it became clear that the clouds had been maneuvered by the Pegasi. We had realized that the Pegasi had abandoned us after picking up on their radio chatter in the days immediately following the bombings. With their known independent streak well understood by the entirety of the assembled group, and their clear manipulation of cloud cover to protect the surviving Pegasi we all came to the understanding that we were on our own.

After that our discussion turned to the world outside the bunker. With their remote access to Tenpony Tower’s surveillance systems Dusk’s crew managed to spot something in the northwestern corner of the city. Previously they had no means to investigate this object of interest but our arrival has presented an opportunity. Instead of hiking across the city through the radioactive fallout and collapsed buildings we can now simply fly over it all. We’ll begin planning for the expedition immediately and will be deploying within the next few days.

Author's Note

*Updated 6/11/17

For the next chapter we're going to see something a different... An actual scene instead of just the journal entry (which will come at the very end of the chapter). It'll drop whenever it's ready. There will also be a concept sketch of E-201 that I'm working on cobbling together.

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 6: Raptor

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding

“Commander, do you even know what we’re looking for?” I asked, seated comfortably in my chair.

The Commander in question, Dusk, turned away from where he was standing over the helm and shook his head. “We’ve been over this Captain. I don’t know what exactly is going on out here.”

As soon as Dusk said that an alarm sounded across the bridge speakers. “Sir, I’ve got a radar contact!” The weapons officer yelled.

“Radar contact?” I muttered. “Then what the hell-”

“Helm, hard to starboard!” Dusk yelled.

As I turned my attention forward again I could see why the unicorn started barking orders. Coming around one of Manehattan’s many damaged towers was a Raptor class cloudship. I hadn’t been this close to one in a long time, and it was still as massive as I remember. “To think the Thunderheads are bigger…” I muttered as the ship slid through the motions and came to a halt, all while the Raptor slowly gained altitude and pulled away from us.

“Hey Captain?” Dusk asked.

“Yes Commander?”

“I think I know what we’re looking for.” He said as he turned to the helm. “Follow that Raptor, but keep your distance. Tactical, I want weapons at standby.”

“And who said you could give orders on our ship?” Spark asked as he stepped out from behind my chair.

“Royal Guard, Mr. Spark.” Dusk replied in a matter-of-fact way. “I outrank all of you.”

“Might I point out that the world ended?” Spark retorted.

“Look, both of you can it!” I yelled. “Helm, Tactical, you have your orders.”

Patrol Picket E-201, Cpt. Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain's Log, 22 Days After “Apocalypse”

I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it first… But apparently there’s still working Raptors down beneath the cloud layer, even though the one that took off from the ruins of Manehattan a few minutes ago looks like it’s been through hell. I’m of the belief that it must be down here for a reason, but some of my officers and guests don’t agree with me. But what isn’t disputed is the radiation spike that we experienced when we nearly collided with the raptor. With the damage that we can see Spark and Dusk seem to believe that it must have been caught in the bombings a few weeks ago. That of course brings up a problem. If this thing had been caught in that hell, why didn’t the pegasi architecture that allows a cloudship to fly fail? And if it did… Who fixed it?

“Captain Steadfast, we could use you on the bridge.” Dusk’s voice rang out over the intercom.

Stepping onto the bridge I saw my first officer and Dusk standing over the helm. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“We’ve picked up some radio chatter from the Pegasi.” Dusk explained. “From the sound of it they’ve been trying to get a hold of that Raptor, but haven’t had any luck. It's almost like they didn’t expect to see that ship again.”

“Might I point out that it’s a radioactive flying wreck?” Spark added. “Even if the crew on that thing are the ponies who went down with it, we need to consider that they could pose a significant danger to the Pegasi above the cloud cover.”

“Inevitably it doesn’t matter if there are Pegasi aboard that ship. It's too dangerous to let it get above the cloud cover.” I said. “Do we have the firepower to take out their engines?”

“I doubt it.” Spark replied. “201 was never equipped with weapons capable of crippling a combat-capable cloudship, and unless I’ve missed something we never made any modifications that would help.”

“What about the Pegasi? We know that they’ve been talking about that Raptor.” The helmsman offered. “Maybe where it could be a threat to them, we could warn them that their ship is radioactive. It might get them to act.”

The helmsman has a point. We have no indication that the Pegasi are aware that the Raptor is radioactive, which poses a major threat to them. Even with our past failures at communication they can hear our radio calls… “Comms, get me an open channel on the Pegasi frequencies.”

“We’re really trying this?” Spark whispered to me.

“What other option do we have?” I whispered back.

Dusk obviously didn’t have any qualms as he grabbed one of the transmitters that was mounted on the helm console. “Any Pegasi on this frequency, this is Commander Dusk of the Royal Guard. We’re aware that you’re tracking a Raptor class vessel on an ascending course away from Manehattan. Be advised that the vessel is heavily irradiated and poses a direct threat to the safety of every pony that you have above the cloud cover.”

The radio remained silent for a few moments before a short burst of static broke the silence to pieces. “Commander Dusk, this is is General Spitfire. Just how do you know we’re tracking a Raptor?”

“Because I’m looking right at it and your ponies have been gabbing about it over the radio.” Dusk retorted. “You ever hear the term loose lips sink ships General? Because that safely applies here.”

“Understood… Now are you in a position to engage that Raptor?”

“Sorry General, we don’t have the firepower.” Dusk replied.

“So what exactly is he trying to do?” Spark whispered.

I couldn’t help but shrug. “No clue…”

“Commander, do you have a targeting vector on the Raptor?” We heard the General ask over the radio.

A smile crossed Dusk’s face and he instinctively nodded. “Stand by General!”

It didn’t take long for Spark and I to realize what Dusk was planning. “Tactical, we need the targeting uplink working!” Spark shouted.

“Aye sir!” The officer shouted as the crew went from a glassy silence to a dull roar. Alarm klaxons began blaring as the weapons systems powered up.

“General, I’m linking you into our targeting systems now!” Dusk shouted over the alarms, all while typing away at the keys on the communications console.

“Alright, we’ve got it. Overcast, you’re are clear to engage.”

A series of dull thuds could be heard as high above us the Thunderhead fired a volley from it’s large bombardment weapons. The series of four projectiles soared across our line of view incredibly quickly. One glanced off the side of the Raptor’s hull with an audible clang, while the other three struck home and slashed through the hull of the cloudship like a knife through hot butter, before crashing into the ocean far below. “Sirs, the Raptor is losing altitude!” One of the officers shouted. And the officer certainly wasn’t wrong. For once the Pegasi had done something other than ignore us; they had sent one of their own ships down in flames.

Patrol Picket E-201, Captain Steadfast Commanding
Equestrian Royal Navy
After Action Report

Suffice to say I didn’t expect to be doing one of these this morning when I woke up, but there’s nothing that I can do about it… We first encountered the Raptor in Manehattan just after 10:00 this morning. External geiger counters immediately went off and continued to do so until the Raptor was half a mile away from us. While I didn’t catch where the counters topped off at it was enough to warn us that the Raptor was heavily irradiated. We maintained distance as we followed for approximately two hours before the bridge crew picked up on Pegasi radio chatter. Apparently the transponder had been activated aboard the Raptor and they were tracking it, much to their surprise considering that it had been written off as destroyed in the bombings a few weeks back.

At that point I was recalled to the bridge. Our own armament was far too light to effectively engage the Raptor, but Commander Dusk came up with an idea on the fly. He contacted the Pegasi, and to our surprise they actually responded to him. When he told them that our weapons weren’t sufficient to engage the Raptor, they asked for our targeting information. Once they were linked in one of their cloudships fired a volley into the Raptor. One shot bounced, but the other three gutted the rear of the Raptor and sent it crashing into the ocean. After that the Pegasi cut communications, leaving us to assess the downed cloudship. While we didn’t get too close, we didn’t see any signs of life in the water around the sinking craft… So as of right now we don’t know for certain who was aboard. And that’s a mystery that will never be answered.

Author's Note

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 7: The Journey North

Patrol Picket E-201
Captain Steadfast

“So are you sure that you’ve got everything you need?” Dusk asked as we walked back to the cargo bay.

It’s been two days since our encounter with the Raptor and the Pegasi’s surprise intervention, and we had returned to Manehattan to plot out our trip north to find the research base. After running through a brief mental checklist, I nodded. “I’m pretty sure that we do.” I replied.

“Uh, Commander?”

The two of us turned around and saw that Spark had decided to join the two of us. “What’s up Spark?” Dusk asked.

“Before you go I was hoping to ask you for a favor.” Spark said as he fished a small laminated picture out of his jacket. “My son was in the Royal Guard… Do you think you can figure out what happened to him?”

I was a bit surprised at Spark’s question, only finally making a move once he handed Dusk the picture. “I didn’t know that you any kids.”

“That’s because I don’t like talking about it.” Spark replied, looking rather downtrodden. “His mother died while giving birth to him, and at the time I was ill equipped to raise a child on my own… So I put him up for adoption and have been keeping tabs on him ever since.”

“Ya… I know the kid. Kovac, right?” Dusk asked while offhandedly waving the picture around.

“You know him?” Spark said, starting to look rather hopeful.

“I do, in fact he’s in my unit.”

Spark nodded, looking somewhat happier having heard Dusk’s revelation. “Well if we don’t come back… Please, when you feel he’s ready, tell him who his father was.”

I wanted to say something but instead remained quiet. Spark brought up a good point… There’s a very good chance that we won’t be coming back from our northern excursion. “Do you really think you won’t be coming home?” Dusk asked.

While he was clearly directing the question at both of us, Spark just looked down at his feet. “I think it’s fair to say that it’s a good possibility.” I said, finally answering the question after a few tense moments of silence.

“Well then… Good luck, to both of you.”

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 24 Days After Apocalypse

Well that does it for Manehattan… Dusk has things well at hand down here. But after our conversation before departure, I ended up leaving the civilians with him. Our discussion brought up an unnerving point; there is a very good possibility that none of us will be coming back. With every mile we travel north the weather gets slightly worse. Now I can’t help but question if we’ll actually make it to the research post. Is the weather going to continue to get worse until we can no longer travel north? And if that’s the case, then what do we do? Would I be able to bring myself to go back to the bunker and wake Porter up? I’ve got to be honest, but I don’t know what I’d do… But I assume that we’ll see soon enough.

Author's Note

And there's a short seventh entry to E-201. The next chapter is going to be the last chapter... Instead of one entry, there will be a handful of other entries, followed by a flash-forward to the events of Broken Mirror.

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker

Entry 8: That Brave New World

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 26 Days After Apocalypse

We’ve been working our way north for two days now, and my earlier concerns have proven to be correct. As we passed into the northern theater, the weather began getting exponentially worse. And I’m not talking rain and thunder, I’m talking snow. For the last day and a half we’ve been crawling forward just over the treetops on our instruments. And the annoying part is that it isn’t even actively snowing. There’s simply so much snow on the ground that the winds are whipping everything into a whiteout. The geiger counters aren’t going off, so it’s safe to say that none of this is laced with fallout. But even though that’s the case, you can’t grow crops when the ground is frozen solid, although melting the snow will provide a ready source of clean water. As of now our best estimate is that we’ll reach the outskirts of Poneva within the next few days, but both Spark and I doubt that we’ll be able to go much farther north… I just don’t know. We’ll find out when we get there.

***

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 30 Days After Apocalypse

Well, we finally made it to Poneva… Goddess, what was I expecting that we’d find? The city is essentially a giant graveyard. We could make out crash sites, bomb craters, and destroyed buildings. But the one thing that’s missing, and maybe it’s because of the impaired visibility from all of this snow, is the signs of life in the ruins. Every other settlement we’d been over had shown signs of life… Could the survivors have died off from radiation sickness? Could they have hunkered down somewhere in the ruins? Hell, did they just abandon the city? I’ve got far too many questions at this point. But with luck we’ll find some answers in the morning once we find a place to land.

***

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 31 Days After Apocalypse

When I said that we’d get some answers with a bit of luck, I was hoping that the answers would be positive. Honestly I should’ve gone in with reduced expectations. We landed outside the city limits near slew of crashed vertibucks. They were… They were full of dead bodies. There, I said it! I never thought I would see so many dead bodies in one place. Soldiers, mares, even children… This was an attempt at an evacuation of the city, likely before the bombs hit, and none of these ponies managed to escape their doom. In the cold of the northern part of Equestria, the looks of pain and suffering were still on the faces of these ponies. Looks that were frozen in time, and will likely remain so until the day that this graveyard thaws out… Assuming that they do ever thaw out up here.

***

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 32 Days After Apocalypse

Sandstorm and his Marine detachment have gone missing. Since we discovered the crash site yesterday I’ve had teams going into Poneva searching for survivors. Spark has been leading one team, and he was the last one in direct contact with Sandstorm. A few hours ago he reported movement, and then went dark. Attempts by Spark and myself to raise him have thus far failed.

***

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 32 Days After Apocalypse
Entry Amendment

Spark just reported in. He found Sandstorm’s unit… Or what’s left of them anyway. Something is definitely alive in Poneva, because whatever is out there completely shredded Sandstorm and his team to bits. And I mean bits. Spark found limbs, chunks of flesh, shredded uniforms, destroyed weapons… And Sandstorm’s disembodied and mutilated head. I’ve already called his team back. We’re leaving this city before whatever is out there finds the picket.

***

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 33 Days After Apocalypse

Entry 1
Damn it, why did I forget about that damn snow? Overnight a blizzard rolled in, and until it clears we’re grounded. What worries me is that something is out there… Using the thermal imagers on the gun cameras we’ve seen signs of movement. Figures that look rather pony-like darting about in the squall, visible for only a moment before disappearing from our view. It’s got me nervous, and the crew can tell…

Entry 2
Where we can’t go anywhere yet Spark took a team and set up a perimeter with twenty of the crew, securing the way on and off the ship. All said we had about fifty ponies left aboard… I think. Honestly I can’t really remember how many ponies we started out with at this point. But now we’re down to Thirty. Spark… He’s gone. The entire perimeter team just gone. No one know where they went. There was no signs of any struggle, and the gun camera on the underside of the hull decided to pick a great time to fail, so we couldn’t see what happened at the ramp. Not only has one of my most trusted officers disappeared, but valued members of my-

Entry 3
Changelings. It was fucking Changelings. That's what was running around out in the snow, and I’d wager that’s what took Spark and his security detail. They attacked the picket in force… What were they shooting? It was like they were firing red-hot rivets at us. It all started when ‘Spark’ returned to the ship looking beaten. As we let him on board a large group of changeling stormed the ship, and Spark turned out to be one of them. Ten of us managed to survive by barricading ourselves on the bridge… But everyone else… There was plenty of blood, but no bodies. They were all taken, every single pony that was elsewhere on the picket. The surviving crew wanted to bring the ramp up but I wouldn’t let them. Instead I did it, and suffered the consequences. There must’ve still been a Changeling outside because one of those rivet things nailed me in the left shoulder. It’s still stuck in there even as I write this. We don’t know exactly what it hit so the surviving medic doesn’t want to pull it out until she can take a look at some of the other rounds that litter the ship. Since then we took off and have slowly been heading south through the blizzard… But does any of this even matter anymore? Most of my crew is likely dead and there’s no way we’ll reach the research base.

***

Equestrian Royal Navy
Captain’s Log, 34 Days After Apocalypse

We’ve been forced to land, the weather is just way too bad. While we wait out the weather the few of us have taken stock of our situation. We didn’t realize it yesterday but most of our food and water stores have been trashed, and a sizable chunk of our first aid materials have gone missing. I can only assume that our guests from yesterday are responsible. But suffice to say we don’t have enough to get through the week… At least not with all of us still here. So… Uh… I gave the order. I sent the nine other ponies under my command south on foot. They’re taking everything they can carry, and with luck they’ll find some sort of civilization soon enough. As for me? Well this is my last log entry… Overnight that rivet I was hit with started swelling and oozing. It’s tetanus, and we don’t have the proper medical supplies to treat it. If anyone finds this my name is Steadfast, Captain of Navy Picket E-201. I saw how our world died, so please learn from our mistakes. Be better than we were, and never forget the hell that we’ve all endured.

***

Approximately 200 Years Later…

“Steadfast, you stupid bastard…” I cursed as I put the log book back down on the desk. I just couldn’t take it, so I abandoned the Captain’s Cabin and my unconscious compatriot and walked back onto the bridge.

“You alright Porter?” Meteor asked as I passed him.

Obviously I’m not alright, if the fact that I’m marching up to a frozen corpse means anything. “Steadfast, you fucking idiot!” I yelled as I whipped the Captain’s chair around to get a good look at the frozen blood and spike still clenched in the dead pony’s fist. “You didn’t need to cure yourself, you could’ve made it back to the bunker. I could’ve helped you!”

But dead ponies don’t speak, even when spoken to. “There’s nothing you could’ve done Porter.” Meteor said as he patted me on the back.

“And just how do you know that?”

“Because I read those last few log entries too. Steadfast broke, and in a world like this you can’t fix that.” Meteor softly replied.

I turned my gaze to the key hanging around Steadfast’s neck and ripped it off. “Looks like you’ll have your Marines after all General.”

“I didn’t consider it to be a problem.” Meteor said as he pushed past and scooped Steadfast’s dead body out of the chair. “Now come on, we’ve got a job to square away.”

All I did was follow Meteor to the exit ramp and down into the drifts of frozen ice and snow. Even in the dimly lit forest I could tell that Meteor had already dug out a shallow grave in the icy soil under the picket. “I see you put some magic to good use…” I observed as Meteor gently placed the corpse in the grave.

“It was either that or find a jackhammer.” The General countered. With a wave of his hand the soil that had been excavated dropped from a barely shimmering portal and refilled the hole. “Now then… Do you want to say a few words Porter?”

I tried to say… Well, something. But considering the events of the last few days, and where I was now, I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth. I finally shook my head. “I can’t…”

Meteor nodded and crossed his arms, his expression softening slightly. “Steadfast I can’t say that I knew you, but even in death I feel your pain. You lived through changes so profound, so monumental, that very few could hope to survive. You may have lost out in the end, but you starred that brave new world right in the face and did more than anyone could have ever asked… Now rest Captain, because you’ve earned it.”

“You certainly said it better than I could’ve…” I muttered. “So what now?”

“Now we work on thawing this bucket of bolts out.” Meteor replied as he made his way to the drifts that marked the edge of the hull. “I’ll work on thawing the engines out. Just keep an eye on the bridge while I’m out here.”

Getting back on the picket was easy enough, considering that the main ramp was still down. But as I stepped onto the bridge I laid my eyes on that now empty chair that crowned the large compartment. For some reason I felt drawn to it as I sat down and spun forward. Monitors blinked to life across the row of consoles that lined the floor space. “Porter, you there?” Meteor called out over my radio. I remained silent. Maybe it’s because I’m still taking everything in, but the events of the last few days started making my head spin. “Porter, if you can hear me I’ve got the engines running. I’ll be back inside shortly.”

“Copy that Meteor.” I curtly replied before shutting off the black communications device. Hearing Meteor’s explanation as to why everything started coming back on made me feel a bit more confident. As I heard the dim echos of footsteps from farther back in the picket, I took the opportunity to lean back into the chair. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that I was smiling. “Now then… Let's go to war.”

Author's Note

So right away lets break things down. Yes, this is the last chapter of E-201. But of course there's some other things I want to cover... Note how Spark simply disappeared, and keep in mind that this story isn't the last time we'll be seeing our scottish-accented stallion, chronologically or otherwise. That disappearance will be revisited later on in the sequel to Broken Mirror, Reflections. As for that ending, those are the events that took place just before Dusk regained consciousness in the chapter Relics. So finding the picket started off Steadfast's journal, and E-201 took us back to where the story was kicked off from.

In the meantime, anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker