Fallout: Equestria - Reclamation Day

Chapter Seven: Survival

I crouched behind an overturned table, scowling deeply as another blast of laser fire struck the metal. For a brief instant, it turned slightly red as the metal heated and then cooled. If there was ever a time that I wished I was still a unicorn, this was it. Thankfully, I didn’t need to be a unicorn to have friends watching my back.

Comet Tail’s magical energy rifle spat hot liquid death across the hallway, taking out the two turrets waiting for us. The unicorn ghoul had been right about one thing. Ironshod’s warehouse was a death trap. The security systems had still been active, and between the turrets and robots with brains in jars on top of their head, things had been dicey. We still hadn’t even cracked our way into the largest room of the warehouse.

“Coast is clear… for now,” Comet’s gravelly voice indicated. “We need to keep moving forward.”

“Fucking robots. What the fuck were those ponies thinking just letting these things run wild?” Sunny said as she walked up to me and helped me to my hooves. “You alright?”

“Yeah, only slightly burnt. Thanks,” I replied. I glanced over at Comet Tail. “Do we have a plan for once we get inside the big room?”

“I’m guessing that room is going to be guarded the most, but there’s likely to be a terminal that can shut down the security system. Problem will be finding it. Probably in an office up above,” the unicorn ghoul replied. “If we go in guns blazing, we’ll probably be toast.”

“So then… a stealth operation,” I said.

“Right, and of course we need somepony with a PipBuck, so that means you are coming with me,” Comet Tail replied. “Are you up for that?”

I scowled. “Probably. I’m still not super comfortable with these wings, but I can be quiet enough.”

“Good. Let’s get going. The longer we sit around the longer we invite company. You three, find a place to hunker down until we get back. Someplace defensible,” Comet Tail replied.

Sunny nodded, motioning for the others to fall back. Apple Tart gave me a look and mouthed ‘Don’t get hurt’ before she walked off. I couldn’t fathom or understand how she had fallen into all of this, but she had. I wondered if the real Cherry Blossom knew how lucky she was to have such a friend. I turned next to Comet Tail and followed his lead until we arrived at the door to the large room. It was still locked, but the air ducts were not. Silently I watched as Comet removed the panel.

The inside of the duct was stuffy and smelled like it hadn’t been cleaned in years, but was more than enough space for use to maneuver. Thankfully it didn’t require us to climb anywhere, and within moments we quietly stepped inside the large warehouse room. The darkness of the warehouse shrouded us from view as I followed behind Comet to take in the layout. Rows upon rows of shelving lined the room filled with numerous gadgets and weapons. Boxes after boxes of ammunition. It was like the Elysium Fields if you were into that sort of thing. Of course, there were all the robots too. Brains in jars patrolled the aisles back and forth, on some sort of rote pattern like they’d been since the megaspells dropped. I couldn’t see any turrets, but I knew they had to be there, hiding and waiting for a prospective hostile.

I shared a glance with Comet. He had been right about one thing. There was no way anyone could storm this place without some seriously heavy artillery. I was dreading the fact that we were even here. Any moment one of those robots could see us and come our way, and we still didn’t know where the terminal to shut this all down was, if there was one to begin with.

Comet pointed up along the side of the wall. A ladder led up to a railing overseeing the entire thing. There seemed to be no robot presence up there. We quietly moved over and up to where we could see the entire warehouse. The railing stretched across the entire length of the warehouse, ending in what appeared to be an office suspended over the entire operation. I scowled. It felt too open, and was most assuredly locked.

“What do we do?” I whispered to Comet.

“Start making our way… and if all hell breaks loose… run,” Comet replied softly.

I grimaced. I didn’t like the plan, but it was all we had. I started behind Comet as he lead softly across the railing, trying to make as little noise as possible. We were halfway across when I heard something opening from the wall. A turret popped out from the wall, a low whine starting up as it revved up to fire.

Chaos erupted. The turret let loose at us, nearly missing my back legs as we started to run. The other robots in the room took notice of us now, spraying bullet after bullet at the railing. It was barely holding on. Two more turrets popped out, peppering the metal railing full of holes. It creaked loudly as we charged towards the office. I felt it starting to give way.

“FUCK!” I shouted. “HOLD ON!”

I launched myself forward and grabbed onto Comet Tail, extending my wings and flapping to try to propel us across the failing railing. He was heavy but I could feel him lighten as he used his magic to lift himself. I managed to keep hold until we slammed into the office door, crashing through and inside. I groaned as I tried to get up, wings shooting with pain. They’d been peppered by shrapnel.

“Comet!” I called out.

“I’m here, stay down, I’m going to try to barricade the door!” Comet called back. His horn glowed brightly, pulling a filing cabinet across the doorway. Bullets struck it, pinging off it as it groaned into place.

I felt the familiar cloak of magic wash over as Comet Tail turned to me, propping me up to see him. “Are you alright?” he said. “Can you move?”

“I feel like death, so… no?” I said meekly. “My wings feel like shit, but I couldn’t think of any other way to get across when the rail started to fail.”

“Saved my ass at least,” Comet said. “Here, I’ll help you up. If we’re lucky this will be worth it.”

His magic propped me up next to a terminal in the back of the office. I lifted my hoof, allowing him to use my PipBuck to hook up to the device. He worked diligently, grimacing as he tried to gain access. Outside of the office, the gunfire had subsided. The robots must either had known we had to come back out and were smart enough to wait, or they simply didn’t care since we were no longer an active threat in their area. Regardless, I was grateful for some amount of reprieve.

“Did you get it?” I asked.

“Terminal security was a bit of a bitch, but in the end the password was fucking ‘apples’,” Comet said. “Fucking Ironshod ponies. Never could give up their family heritage.”

“Their what?” I asked.

“Ironshod. Their president was an earth pony by the name of Braeburn. Braeburn Apple. Their headquarters was located out near Old Appleloosa. Well… was. Place got blown to bits I’m sure. I’ve not gone near there to see,” Comet said. “Well, at least one thing went right. There is a way to shut down the security system. In three… two… one.”

The air outside the office went deathly quiet as the robots began shutting down, the whine of their treads quieting completely. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s good,” I said. “I think I’m going to pass out now.”

Black.

* * *

My eyes fluttered awake to the careful ministrations of Apple Tart. She was in the process of rebandaging my wings when I came to. I groaned, indicating my alertness.

“You nearly died,” the earth mare replied softly. “You’re lucky.”

“Lucky I’ve got you to help me back up,” I said with a smile. “Cherry was really lucky to have a friend like you, you know that, right?”

Apple Tart nodded silently. “I didn’t expect to be doing this sort of thing when you said I should come along,” she said. “Are you sure I’m supposed to be here?”

My mind flashed back to the image of her tearing out Party Favor’s throat. “Yeah… I think you’re supposed to be here, AT,” I replied. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Next time don’t get yourself all super banged up, alright?” Apple Tart said. “You should be good now.”

I nodded, gingerly pushing myself to my hooves. Standing was difficult, but Apple Tart helped me until I was up. We started inching towards the rest of the group, catching the attention of Comet. The ghoul scowled (at least I think it was a scowl, I couldn’t really tell) as he walked up to us.

“That was pretty fucking stupid of you, but hey, you shut off all the security in the building, so we’re free to do whatever we want,” he said. “You’re just lucky there was a lot of medical supplies in the infirmary. Only Ironshod would have an actual infirmary for ponies working with live munitions.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered. “Did we get anything halfway decent at least?”

“Sure did. Big cache of weapons. Even found a good sniper rifle that you might want to take a look at. Might fit your skill set a little better than what you have been doing,” the ghoul replied, motioning for us to follow him.

I scowled for real but found his words interesting. He was right in a sense. I had been approaching fighting just like I was still Starry Night. But I didn’t have magic, I had wings, and I needed to learn to fight like Cherry Blossom instead. It was a mental shift I needed to make if I was going to survive to figure out just what the Overmare wanted from me. It was clear I was important to all of this, otherwise why would this restart for only me? It didn’t make any sense.I was also certain that if I died in here… I wasn’t sure what would happen on the outside. I thought about Rose out there watching me. How long was I going to be under? How long could she even stay before something got into the Stable and attacked?

I needed to end things quickly, decisively. I needed to figure out the Overmare’s plan and stop it. To do that I needed to stop thinking like a unicorn, and start thinking like a pegasus.

We walked silently into the main warehouse. Things seemed calmer without a bunch of robots rolling about. Tender Taps and Sunny walked behind us, gathering ammunition and new weapons for themselves to use. Each of the earth ponies carried a new Ironshod rifle and several mouth grip pistols to utilize along with battle saddles for the rifles. Even Apple Tart had gathered up a few weapons to have in case she needed to use them. I silently prayed that she wouldn’t need to do that ever.

Comet motioned to a table holding a sniper rifle. The long rifle was sleek and black, gleaming in what little light existed. It had a scope and a stand and everything! I had to hold myself back from just running up and grabbing it. Along the side of the rifle the name “Little Strongheart” was written in cursive.

“Little Strongheart?” I muttered aloud.

“Braeburn, the pony who owned Ironshod, was rumored to have been in love with a young buffalo named Little Strongheart,” Comet replied casually. “Not surprised that he would immortalize her name the only way he knew how.”

“I guess that makes sense, but couldn’t he have just… I don’t know… bought her flowers or built her a statue? Seems excessive,” Apple Tart chimed in.

“Either way, this will do. I’ll need something a little less unwieldy for regular use, but this gun is practically perfect,” I said.

Comet nodded, walking off to fetch me a standard rifle with battle saddle from one of the shelves. I slipped it on gingerly and then focused on packing up Little Strongheart. Braeburn was smart about one thing. He designed all his weapons to be used by earth ponies, so the gun was reasonably easy to disassemble and place into its case. It would be a bear to put together on a quick notice, but with enough time, it would be easy to set up and get into place. I slipped the case into my saddlebags. It was a little heavy, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

“It’s getting dark out, I’d recommend we hunker down here overnight and then set out at first light,” Comet said. “Now that the security is disabled this is a pretty safe place.”

“The robots won’t just turn on by themselves, right?” Taps asked hesitantly.

“Not without getting to the terminal, which I’ve already reset the password to,” Comet replied. “We should be fine. Besides, Cherry needs to rest her wings some more.”

I nodded, slipping my gear off and setting it next to a cleared space where I could sleep. The others did the same, with Comet Tail offering to take the watch all night. I agreed knowing that ghouls didn’t really sleep anyways, and his vision would be a little better in the dark. I laid my head upon the bedroll and tried to sleep. The others did the same.

I wasn’t sure what time it was that I woke up, but I became acutely aware that we were being watched somehow. My eyes drifted about the room. Comet Tail sat watch in the far corner, scanning the room beyond our makeshift camp. It wasn’t him I was sensing though. It was something else. My eyes found purchase in the darkness outside the warehouse skylight windows. Two glaring red eyes hung in the cloudy abyss. For several long moments it held my gaze, before finally disappearing into nothingness. I had seen those before, during my last trip here. What was that thing? Why did it make me feel so uneasy? And why did it seem like it showed up right before everything went to shit?

I couldn’t sleep the rest of the night.

* * *

“You alright? You seem… twitchy,” Apple Tart said to me in a low voice as we walked.

“I’m… I’m fine, just a little tired. I had trouble sleeping,” I said. “I’ll be alright.”

“Alright, but you let me know if you’re feeling strange at all,” Apple Tart said. “If I’m going to be any sort of help to this group, I really need to brush up on my medical knowledge.”

I nodded, trying not to think about the night before. Those red orbs hung in the back of my mind, taunting me, making me wonder what was to come next.

We walked along for several hours after departing the Ironshod facility. Ideally we weren’t really sure what the next step was, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the Overmare was watching us closely. Granted, our trip to the Ironshod warehouse had proved fruitful. We had quite a bit of ordinance available now, along with a solid amount of ammo to keep us protected.

The city itself felt empty, deserted. We had managed to make our way deeper in the downtown area, and everything around us felt like death. Furthermore, it felt deserted, untouched. Nothing had been here in a long while before us. Decayed and rotting skeletal remains littered the streets. Several buildings sat at an angle, slowly and agonizingly laying against other buildings.

A name on a building stuck out at me, and I realized after a few long seconds that I was staring at what appeared to be an office for Stable-Tec. The massive gear logo loomed out at us and I scowled. If there was ever any place to get some more information on the Overmare potentially, it would have to be Stable-Tec.

“Hey,” I said, motioning to the others. “I found something.”

Sunny let out a small whistle as she stepped up next to me. “Stable-Tec, huh? I bet there’s some interesting things in there,” she said.

“Interestingly dangerous things, you mean,” Taps interjected.

“What’s the matter, scared?” Sunny retorted.

“No, he’s probably right. Stable-Tech office? Probably a mock Stable in there below us. Potential for real danger,” Comet said with a scowl.

“Potential for information,” I said, grimacing. Comet was right about the fact that there would likely be danger here. “The Overmare wants something in this city. We know that much. A little information on the Stable would help.”

“It’s a stretch, but I’m in,” Comet said, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s as good a place as any to find stuff. Besides, maybe there’s some great salvage.”

“Salvage all you think about?” Taps asked.

“Kid, salvage is all that matters out here in the Wasteland,” Comet replied casually. “Salvage and survival. Well, there’s probably a third ‘S’ in there somewhere. Salvage, survival, and shitting. Yeah, that sounds right.”

“Just a little bit too gross on the third one, Comet,” Apple Tart said as we started up the steps toward the offices.

“What? Everybody shits. Fact of life that is,” Comet said.

I resisted the urge to chuckle. Comet wasn’t quite wrong on that aspect of the Wasteland. I had nearly forgotten how fresh out of the Stable that Apple Tart, Sunny, and Taps really were. Many facts of life were simply accepted. As we walked up the steps into the Stable-Tec offices, I found myself wondering just how far we had gone from that naive innocence, and would we ever get back to that point again.

Author's Note

Another chapter. Looking to get this one finished soon. Sorry it's been so long, been pretty busy!