Fallout: Equestria - Reclamation Day

Fallout: Equestria - Reclamation Day

Chapter One: Secrets

I glanced over at the paperwork on my desk and sighed heavily. It had been piling up for days and I didn’t even want to think about it. I sighed, lifting out a bottle of scotch I’d been keeping for special occasions out of the drawer and twisted it open with a flicker of my magic. I poured it into a nearby glass and took a draw off of it.

Goddess, that’s good, I thought to myself before returning to the paperwork. Casualty reports here, theft there. Too much crime going on everywhere. For all the good that I’d tried to enforce in the city, there was a lot of bad too. It figures. Maybe Ponykind never was inherently good. Maybe we were just too fucked up in the head from the generations of radiation that had flooded our world. Maybe there was no saving us.

I sighed loudly, putting down the reports. I stood and walked over to the window, looking down at the settlement of Theater. It had grown over the years, prospering and surviving as new blood took over running the MMMM. Danish was gone, passed away. Lilith was probably the only surviving member of the old guard. I was relatively sure that she was tough as nails and would maybe never die.

Even I’d grown older. A crick in my leg, remnants of a younger mare’s injury, reminded me of that. I turned back to my desk and took a seat, lifting the bottle of scotch with my magic to pour another shot. I downed it quickly, the searing liquid easing my pain. I blazed through the rest of the older reports, bringing my pile down to a neat little stack of papers. Good enough for government work at least. I stood and headed to the door of my office. It was getting late. Much later than I expected to be here, but that was the job. I turned the light off and headed for my suite.

I walked through the town market, silent as the stall keepers closed up shop for what had seemed to have been a pretty productive day overall. I smiled softly at a few of them, faces and names I couldn’t place because they were far younger than I was. I made my way to the suite elevators at the far end of the settlement, taking them up to where sweet rest awaited my aching bones. The elevator clanked down and back up, depositing me into an empty hallway. I stopped by Lilith’s suite, but it appeared she had already fallen asleep for the evening. I smiled softly and headed to my own suite.

I slumped into bed, looking up at the krusty ceiling. My thoughts turned to my brother Lightning. I wished that he was still around, but he was off traveling with Coconut around the New Canterlot Republic. That left pretty much me. I groaned and turned over in bed. I wasn’t going to be able to get to sleep at all. I tossed and turned until I was certain I was going to wear the bed frame into two halves before finally succumbing to sleep.

Morning arrived and I awoke, feeling not much better than I had the night before. I rose from my bed and headed to make some coffee. I sighed, pouring the cup with my magic before pulling together some semblance of my mane and tail before heading out the door. As I walked towards my office, I felt… bored. My life had once been exciting and full of adventure… and now… it was bureaucracy and boredom.

I arrived at my office and immediately pulled the open bottle of scotch off my desk, pouring another glass of the burning liquid. I drank it slowly, savoring every moment as I started glancing over paperwork from the day before. I didn’t get very far before a knock came at the door.

“Come in,” I said clearly. “Door’s open.”

The door opened, revealing a younger mare than I. She was a cute little thing, pinkish red coat with a mane that reminded me of toothpaste. My mind raced to find her name before she could say anything. Something Glazed. Strawberry Glazed? Strawberry Filled? I couldn’t place it. I had to know what it was. She was on one of the patrol teams… that one time… with the stuff and the place… Dammit what was it!

“Ma'am? Everything alright?” the mare said.

I looked up, realizing I hadn’t said anything yet. “Oh yes. How can I help you?”

“Patrol Bravo reporting in from the field. Major Strawberry Swirl here to deliver my report in equine,” the mare said. She lifted a piece of paper and placed it on my desk.

“Pardon me, Miss Swirl, but don’t you usually just leave reports in my mailbox? What’s so special about this one?” I asked, taking the paper from the desk.

“I think perhaps you’re going to want to hear about this one, Ma'am,” Strawberry Swirl replied, taking a deep breath before beginning her story. “My patrol was out in the southern ridges, beyond the city boundaries and in the wilderness. We were pinned down by a group of raiders out there, forced into the mountains.”

“I see. What happened next?” I asked, perusing the report as best as I could while Strawberry spoke.

“We managed to lose the raiders the further we went up into the mountains, and we believed that they had left. We were about to find a different way down and back home before they could pick up our trail again when we found it…” Strawberry said, indicating the photo that was attached to the report.

I pulled the photo aside and my eyes widened. It was vague, but set in the side of a mountain… a large gear-shaped object. The numbers “76” were emblazoned upon it. I looked up at Strawberry Swirl.

“You found a Stable?” I asked, a grin forming on my face.

“I believe we’re the only ones that know about it too,” Strawberry replied. “Patrol marked the location on PipBucks, but it appeared to be closed up.”

I grimaced. “We’re going to need to move fast then,” I said as I stood up from my desk.

“Ma’am? What do you mean?” Strawberry asked.

“Strawberry. Return to your patrol and be ready to move back out. Give me some time to gather up a few others. We’re going out to investigate this thing,” I said with a loud grin. Finally, something exciting to do! I thought to myself.

“O-O-Of course, Ma’am!” Strawberry said, giving me a salute. “We’ll be ready to go within the hour.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Let’s see what this Stable has in store for us.”

* * *

Darkness fell as I trudged along behind Strawberry Swirl’s Patrol team Bravo. The assembled patrol pointed out into the dim light at the mountain range above them. It had taken two days to get this far, and I began wonder what I was thinking being out here in the middle of the Wasteland. My paperwork would certainly pile up without me there to manage it! Still, this was certainly better than sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing.

The other half of the expedition was led by a team of scientists under the careful eye of Doctor Melody Rose, a pale pink unicorn from the New Canterlot Republic. She appeared to be scowling as we made camp for the night. I sat down next to her at the campfire, smiling softly.

“Rose,” I said. “Everything alright?”

“Just doesn’t make much sense is all. Why would Stable-Tec build a Stable all the way out here in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere?” the unicorn replied. “Like, not that I don’t believe you at all, Starry. Your word means a lot to the NCR, but it just doesn’t make any fucking sense.”

“I don’t know either,” I said, looking down at the campfire. “But I know we’ll find out soon. We should be to the site tomorrow.”

“Furthermore, what in the fuck are you actually doing here?” Rose continued like I hadn’t even said anything. “Aren’t you like… in charge of the fucking town? Like, the entire fucking MMMM? Why in the fuck would you come out here?”

“Administrative oversight,” I said confidently. “Someone has to write the paperwork for this whole thing. Paperwork is what I mainly do these days… so might as well be me.”

“Right,” Rose said with a sigh. “Well. I think I’m going to bed. Better fucking get some sleep before we have to fucking deal with this fucking Stable. Good night.”

I waved her off as she got up and headed towards her tent. I glanced down at the campfire once more. She did have a point. I had responsibilities. What was I doing out here? I didn’t know what I was searching for, perhaps just something to do that wasn’t boring old paperwork.

I grimaced and stood, heading towards my tent. In the darkness I could see the rest of the camp was heading to bed too. Patrol Bravo stood guard at each corner of the perimeter. I climbed into my tent and fell asleep easily.

* * *

I awoke amidst chaos. Somepony was shouting. Sounds of gunfire, a small explosion. I quickly grabbed my own gun from next to my bedroll and peeked out of the tent. Patrol Bravo was firing at something in the distance. I climbed out of the tent, smelling the burning immediately. Fire ran rampant throughout the camp. Several of the science staff lay dead on the ground just a few feet away from me. Thankfully, Doctor Rose wasn’t one of them.

I quickly located Strawberry Swirl at the back of Patrol Bravo. A scowl graced her face. She turned and saw me and scowled deeper.

“What’s going on? What happened?” I asked.

“Raiders. Fuckers threw a grenade in the center of camp. Nearly got the drop on us, but we drove them off,” she said. Her eyes followed to the fire and the dead bodies. “Fuck. We need to get this fire under control and fast before all of our supplies have gone to shit.”

“Allow me to help. I have a way with fire,” I said with a grin.

I reached down into my well of magic and searched for the piece I needed to access pyromancy. It had been a while since I’d had to use my magic in such a fashion. I approached the fire with my horn glowing, pulling it away in waves and sending it off into the distant rock where it dissipated easily. I groaned as the fire blew off completely, slumping to one knee.

“Well, I’m not doing that again anytime soon,” I said with a huff. My kneecap complained loudly. “Getting too old for this shit.”

Strawberry Swirl handled the removal of the bodies, burying them along the countryside. We held a short service for them before moving on with packing up camp. Despite the raiders’ best efforts, none of our supplies seemed to be impacted too badly, but we had lost three good ponies. Suffice to say, Doctor Rose seemed to be pretty pissed off about it. She cursed rather loudly all the way up the mountain path that Patrol Bravo stated led to the Stable.

It was midday before we arrived at a small path leading down to a mountain clearing. By the looks of things, there was definitely something there. A large gate lay on its side next to the path, and debris and junk littered it along the way. Upon reaching the clearing, it was highly apparent that someone had left this place in a hurry. Several trailers lay on their side in the clearing and even a crane lay resting against the side of the mountain. My eyes were immediately drawn to the prize however.

The Stable door was inset on the mountainside. The large yellow lettering reading “76” stood proudly, still as pristine as the day the megaspells dropped. We made our way down into the clearing, eyes wide at the relic of the past.

“I’ll be a fucking monkey’s aunt!” Doctor Rose exclaimed. “It’s not even fucking open!”

“Do you think there’s ponies still inside?” I asked, glancing sidelong at her.

“Only way to fucking find out,” Rose replied. She motioned at some of her science cronies to bring their equipment cases up to the door. “Get the gear set up. We’re gonna run some tests and then crack the fuck out of this egg.”

“Excellent,” I said, pulling out my notebook and taking some notes. I drew a quick sketch of the Stable door for posterity before turning to Strawberry Swirl. “Patrol Bravo, set up a perimeter and see if you can get that gate up. I don’t fancy --”

I was interrupted by a spray of gunfire hitting one of the trailers, sending us scrambling for cover. I pulled my gun out and lifted it up, firing a few shots towards the source. It was the raiders. They were holding the passage in, their maniacal laughter echoing throughout the clearing. These weren’t ponies, I said to myself. They were monsters. They existed for one reason, to take and take and take.

The smoke cleared as the first of the raider scum filtered into the clearing, his eyes wild as he turned with a pistol held in a mouth grip. He fired several shots before one of Patrol Bravo was able to put him down. I glanced back up at the door where Rose and the others had taken cover behind their equipment cases.

“Fuck the tests!” I shouted. “Get the fucking door open! It’s the only way we’re gonna get out of this!”

Rose nodded frantically, pulling something out of her saddlebag before moving to the control panel inset on the wall next to the door. She began fiddling with it while I returned my attention to the raiders. They continued to enter the clearing, quickly becoming too many for Patrol Bravo to keep track of. One managed to break through the fire line, wielding a spiked bat in his mouth. I trained my gun on him and fired three times, hitting him in the front legs before he could rip into one of the Patrol ponies. He fell to the ground, unmoving.

“Fall back! Towards the door! Use the trailers as cover!” I shouted. My eyes went wide as I saw several circular objects land in our midst. “Fuck… grenade!”

I leapt back as best as I could before the grenades exploded, but it wasn’t fast enough. The explosion rippled across several of us, sending me flying back into the side of an overturned trailer. My leg complained loudly as I tried to get up and move. I hadn’t lost anything but I was bleeding. I could hear the raiders cackling loudly as they filled into the clearing. I struggled to move towards the door. I needed to reach there. It was the only way we were going to survive this.

I stopped cold, seeing Strawberry Swirl on the ground in front of me. I nearly threw up as I realized she was missing one vital piece of her body. Her head had been completely blown off, likely by a grenade. The rest of Patrol Bravo didn’t look much better as we retreated back towards the door. I limped along, pleading with my body to cooperate as I managed to reach Melody Rose.

“Fuck! Fuck!” she shouted. “Fucking open! Fucking… oh wait!”

Something started clanking loudly on the other side of the door as the large gear-shaped apparatus pushed out of the mountain wall and rolled away, revealing the Stable’s interior. Gunfire continued to erupt all around us as the raiders tried to push through the debris littering the clearing to kill us.

I limped into the Stable alongside what was left of the science staff, Melody Rose, and Patrol Bravo. Rose scowled before hitting a button on the wall. The door began to rotate back in, starting to close. It was barely there when a stray bullet filtered through the crack, slamming into my leg. I screamed loudly as I fell to the ground, holding my leg while the pain shot through me. My body felt like it was on fire.

The door clanked shut finally as Melody Rose came over to me. She held a healing potion in her magic, lifting it to my lips. The magic worked itself inward instantly, giving me a boost of energy as I sat up. I could hear slamming on the other side of the Stable door. The raiders were trying to get in. I scowled.

“How many did we lose?” I asked Rose.

“Over half of the science staff and most of Patrol Bravo, including Strawberry Swirl,” the unicorn said solemnly. “Most of our gear too. Very few medical supplies and food. In short, we’re fucked.”

I sighed loudly before pushing myself to a standing position despite Rose’s protests. I waved her off. “We have no time. We have to see if there’s something here we can either use to fend off the raiders or at least some fucking medical supplies,” I said before turning my attention to the interior of the Stable.

My eyes widened. The entryway room was dark, but I could see the dim lights of the Stable door control room in the far corner. What was surprising was how… how clean everything seemed to be. Sure there was dust, but it was just dust. What there wasn’t… was any skeletons or bodies. Everything seemed to have been simply abandoned. A set of running lights lined the central hallway that led deeper into the Stable’s interior.

I crossed over to the Door Control room, pushing the entryway open. The room was also very clean, the dim light coming from a terminal alongside the window that overlooked the Stable door. I walked up to it and tapped on a key, bringing up the main screen. It all appeared rather normal stock Stable-Tec menu options in regards to managing the main Stable door, but there was also a message entry as well. I pressed it, and a mare’s voice began to play through the terminal’s speaker.

“Good morning Stable 76… this is the Overmare speaking… Now I know that you are all a little frightened, but today is the day that we’ve all been waiting for. That’s right. It’s Reclamation Day. The day we leave the Stable and head back into Equestria. I’m not going to sugar coat this. It’s going to be hard, but you are the best and brightest this country has to offer, and I know you will handle this with vigilance and dignity. Now go forth and help save Equestria. And remember… I will never forget you all.”

I blinked as Rose entered the room behind me. “Find anything?” she asked.

“Yeah…” I said, replaying the audio track so she could hear it. “It sounds almost as if… as if they all just left.”

“Strange… that doesn’t make much sense,” Rose replied. “I thought the Stables were one big fucked up experiment.”

“I don’t know, but hopefully that means they didn’t remove everything from the Stable. If they’re all gone… there might be nothing to even scavenge,” I said with a grimace.

“Won’t know until we delve deeper, will we?” Rose said. “Come on, let’s go.”

I nodded, walking back into the Door room. I could still hear the shouting of the raiders on the other side. I didn’t know how long it would take them to break through, I only hoped that we could be prepared enough for when they did. I scowled, cursing myself. I had been raised to be more careful than this, and my excitement over wanting something a little different had gotten good ponies killed. If we made it back to Theater…

I shook my head of the thoughts. There wasn’t time to mull on what happened. Mom had always told me that. Focus on what needed to be done right now, and reflect on the past later. Right now, I didn’t have time to think about those that had died. I could only keep moving forward and work to make sure that I lived to tell their tale.

I instructed the remaining members of Patrol Bravo and the science staff to do what they could to keep the door closed, while Melody Rose and I were set to explore the rest of the Stable. We headed down the main hallway, which led through a tunnel overlooking the Stable’s reactor and electrical systems. I gazed in awe as it opened up into the primary Atrium. I stopped cold as I stepped inside the room.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I asked softly.

“Fuck… yeah, I am,” Rose replied.

The entire Atrium was practically covered in confetti! Party tables and balloons had been set up around the massive room, with what appeared to be perfectly preserved plates of cupcakes adorning several of them. A massive banner hung from the center of the Atrium, the words “RECLAMATION DAY!” with a little graphic of the Stable Tec pony on it. A wide smile adorned her face. The area was dimly lit, the emergency lighting providing the only illumination.

“They were having quite the party. This whole Reclamation Day business must have been a big fucking deal,” Rose said. “And they even left cupcakes too?! What a fucking treat.”

“If they left cupcakes, maybe they left weapons and medical supplies behind too?” I said wishfully. “I guess the only way to find out is to move forward.”

“Lead the way.”

I nodded, walking forward amidst the confetti explosion that littered the floor of the Atrium. My eyes scanned for signs that led anywhere to an armory or infirmary. I found the symbol for the infirmary on a sign leading towards a set of stairs leading down into the Stable. I motioned for Rose to follow. We made our way down to the next level to a long hallway that ran perpendicular to a laboratory. A set of sliding doors attached to it sat closed as we approached. From my vantage point, I could see that the infirmary supplies were still mostly intact. I walked up to the door, expecting it to open immediately.

It didn’t. I walked face first into it, bumping my snout and cursing loudly. I took a step back and growled under my breath.

“Dammit. What gives?” I said.

“Access Denied,” a small panel on the side of the wall next to the door. “Access to Facility Override only under Overmare’s orders.”

“Well that’s just fucking peachy,” Rose said. “What do you want to do now?”

“Let’s see if we can find the armory, and then try to locate the Overmare’s office,” I said, heading back towards the stairs to the Atrium. We wandered about the Atrium, trying to locate the stairs that headed to the security sector of the Stable. That’s where the armory would end up being. We finally found them, only to find that the entire section had also been sealed off under Overmare’s orders.

“Weird. Why would the Overmare shut these sections out?” I asked aloud with a grimace. “The only way to find out is to go up and try to find the Overmare’s office, I guess.”

We headed back up into the Atrium and onto the second level, looking for anything that resembled a stairway up to where the Overmare’s office might be. The stair happened to be in the dead center of the Atrium’s second level, leading up into a large circular room filled with equipment. The dim light shined upon what appeared to be the Overmare’s desk, however behind it was a large egg-shaped chair with a clear casing over the top of it. Wires ran from the device to several terminals, each one blinking and showing different graphs and charts.

“This is… strange,” Rose said as we made our way into the room.

“Yeah…” I said, examining the wires and equipment surrounding the chair. “Any idea what this thing is? It’s definitely not standard Stable equipment.”

“Maybe it has something to do with why they all left the Stable,” Rose replied cautiously. “Is there a terminal with any information on it?”

I grimaced, walking over the desk in front of the chair. The terminal there was intact, glowing softly as it awaited input. I clicked on the keyboard, bringing up a password entry.

“It’s password protected,” I said as I pulled out the cable from my PipBuck and connected it. “I’m going to try to gain access to it.”

Rose nodded. “I’m going to explore the other parts of this room and the storage room,” she said, motioning to the door on the side of the Overmare’s office.

I turned my attention to the terminal as she made her way to the storage room, pulling the door closed behind her. The password for the terminal made itself known to me rather quickly. Much more quickly than I’d expected it. Cupcake? Seriously? That’s their high tech secret project password? I thought to myself with a roll of my eyes.

The terminal revealed a series of schematics for what appeared to be the device directly behind me. The schematics were labeled “Operation: Memory Lane.” Memory Lane? That’s… that’s certainly interesting, I thought. However, none of the schematics actually said what the device did. I scowled, searching through the terminal’s data entries further. There were entries from the Overmare about the build of the device, and it’s initial installation (which included an apparent accident to one of the ponies on the team), but nothing about the device’s usage.

I was about to give up when I noticed a folder named “ML” in the terminal’s primary directory listing. I accessed it, revealing what appeared to be another audio file. I hit the play button, hearing the same smooth voice of the Overmare from the audio before.

“Stable 76 Overmare’s Log. Memory Lane Project.

I don’t know what Stable Tec was thinking when they set up this Stable. I honestly don't. Opening the Stable only twenty-five years after the Megaspells drop? Won’t the world be an irradiated mess? There’s just no way we are going to be able to survive out here. Not without Memory Lane, I guess.

Memory Lane… a complete simulative experience of life on the outside. We’ve been piecing it together for… for well years now. But I don’t know that it’s going to be ready by the time the Stable is scheduled to open. Did they intend this? Just to keep us busy with something while we waited to step outside to die? I don’t know.

The problem is… I’m doubting what I was asked to do here. This Stable was celebrated, recognized as one of the first major completed projects, and we were supposed to go out and rebuild Equestrian society, but how is this thing supposed to help with that? Especially since we don’t even know if it works or not.

Ponies are asking daily when Reclamation Day is going to arrive. I keep delaying things until I can finish this project, but we’re already well past our exit time by two years. I can’t keep delaying any longer. Sooner or later, ponies are going to find out and want to leave. And I won’t be able to stop them… the door’s already unlocked. The security staff has been informed to not tell anypony about that little tidbit.

*sigh*

I guess we’ll just have to see if this all pays off in the end. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the world won’t be a complete pile of shit. Maybe we’ll be okay…”

I blinked. A simulative experience? Was this some sort of computer simulation? What did that have to do with anything? I took a step backwards from the terminal. There was nothing there about unsealing the sections in the Stable. Was there another terminal or something that controlled that?

I took another step back before I realized I was falling backwards. A stray cable had wrapped itself around my hoof somehow and I couldn’t stop myself. I landed in the seat of the chair device, scrambling to try to get out. My presence in the chair must have activated something, as the glass bubble above it began to lower.

“Starry? Starry!” I heard Melody Rose shout as she ran across the room. She made it to the chair just as the device slammed closed, sealing me in. “Starry, what the fuck happened?!”

“I tripped backwards into this thing. Can you see if there’s a way to get it open?” I called out. “I don’t see anything in here.”

“I’m looking, just sit tight,” Rose said. She began hunting and pecking around the various wires and terminals connected to the chair. She scowled.

Something inside the chair began to activate. A metal cap protruded from behind me. My brain went into full panic mode.

“Rose! You’d better hurry! This thing is fucking doing something!” I shouted. “Rose?!”

“I’m trying!” she called back. “But none of the terminals actually do anything! They’re all just monitoring the damn thing… your vitals. They’re monitoring your vitals.”

The metal cap extended as it attached itself to my head. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see where the latch to get out of this damn thing was. Was this thing going to kill me? I remembered briefly that the audio file had said “simulative experience.” What the fuck did that mean?! I thought frantically as a voice began to speak.

“Project Memory Lane online. Activation in 3… 2… 1…”

And then everything went white.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of soft music coming from somewhere above me. I felt snuggly and warm, like I was in a bed. My eyes sleepily opened as a mare’s voice came from the same place the music was coming from. My eyes shot straight open as I realized I’d heard that voice before, moments before I’d been in that infernal chair.

“Good morning, Stable 76. This is the Overmare speaking. I hope you all enjoyed the celebration last night. I know some of you enjoyed it a little too much, but today is finally the day. It’s the day that we leave the Stable. So get ready my little ponies… for today is Reclamation Day.”