Fallout Equestria: Storms of the Divide

Chapter 20: The Biggest Little City

Sparks made her way past the last of the guards within hearing, and now inside the safe confines of a small room, little more than a hut effectively, she let out a deeply held sigh of relief. She held a hoof up to her eyes, and the trembling was apparent even as her own eyes quivered from the strains of both physical and mental efforts. She used her magic to pull a canteen from her pack, and she took a long sip from the water within as she tried to pant silently. She gulped, swallowed and groaned in exasperation as she hated how paranoid ponies seemed to be in their hatred of each other; her tongue lapping around the metallic aftertaste.

Soon after, she was met with the tribal stallion who had finally found his own hidden way around the guards to her again. She looked at him, and offered her canteen out of reflex as she breathed in large draughts.

He chuckled darkly, and took the canteen graciously. “You have my thanks...” He looked her up and down after taking a sparing sip, hoofing the canteen back to her. He smirked as she stowed it away, shaking his head. “How Little Mare made it to mountains with such... lack of body is Mir Ankel.”

“Yeah, well...” She wanted to retort, maybe even curse at him, but her taxed state made her refrain and merely bite her tongue. “Whatever... You see anything on your way here?”

“Hmm...” he murmured something in his tongue, and breathed deeply as he spoke. “Maybe; gate to east lightly guarded, maybe most ponies here forward guards. Does not mean it is abandoned, though.”

“Lightly guarded...” She caught her breath some more as her body’s shaking receded, and she nodded with a blank face. “Well, lightly is better than heavily.” Her expression twisted up as she thought hard one more time on her plan, and after a few moments she smirked a little, looking to the tribal with an appraising look. “Alright... I’ve got a plan, and I’ll need you to do something; if you can manage it.”

“Hmph.”

His stance didn’t change, neither did his expression as she nodded once and looked out beyond their shelter. “We can’t kill anypony while where out here... but I need to get close to Ashmaker, enough to speak with him and hopefully talk him into being reasonable. It won’t be easy, I know, but I have to try.”

The stallion’s face took on a curious expression, and he spoke slowly as he tried to understand. “Where... do I fit in this, this ‘plan’?”

“Well, for one I think the guards will shoot you on sight... being a... a tribal and all; a big one too. Might be they know of your people out in the city, but you might be able to get up into the roofs and keep an eye out for me on my approach to wherever Ashmaker’s at. As small as I am I can probably get through their inner guards.”

“And what if you are found?”

Sparks’ expression twisted up a little as she thought of what to do then; plans always had contingencies, and she didn’t have one which gave her cause for concern. She didn’t want a bloodbath in the streets, not at all, and even if she did want a fight she severely doubted her chances of getting out of a place swarming with these gangers. They weren’t lightly armed, as she had seen, and to top all other reasons for it they were Wasteland born ponies. Killing to them may as well be second nature, so she reaffirmed it in her head that the only thing for it was to keep themselves hidden at all costs.

At all costs was another point of worry for her to consider; would she be willing to kill one to silence them to see her plan to fruition? To kill in general no matter the situation to see her mission to success?

She frowned, spitting at the world with mental curses as she shook her head. “Whatever happens in there, the point is peace. If we can’t get in there silently or without bloodshed then we get out of there; alright?”

“Hmph.” Was all the tribal said as he nodded, and looked around him to ensure they were indeed alone after that diversion. He got up, showing little emotion in his face as he gestured with his head for her to follow. She got up to her fours and shook her body vigorously as she followed him deeper into the nest, so to speak.

Either way this afternoon could end, it could all be catastrophic to them. She hoped again that, with proper attention and mindfulness, she could ensure this little war would be dead before it began. Until then though, she stretched a little mid-stride as she and the stallion wound their way around the gazes of guards, the ever alert eyes beginning to get to her.

*** *** ***

Crouching behind the cover of a junk pile, Sparks and the tribal saw the gate he mentioned, and it was a little imposing she had to admit. The gate itself was inset between two tall buildings, like a wall that cordoned off the alleyway behind it, and the riveted together rusty steel plates were topped with barbed wire and other nasty appearing means of keeping ponies from climbing its height. From beyond, she could have sworn she had heard the low din of some crowd, like an atrium gathering in one of her Stable’s parties, but she fixed her attention to the guards that patrolled the gate.

As they looked around however, Sparks had to admit that something was... off in the way they almost lazily stood there, staring off into the cloud smothered sky like there was no end to their boredom. She could have sworn for a moment that they weren’t at all wound up or worried about things, and the idea that Green was lying became all the more prominent in her mind.

One guard turned about, looking off into the distance as another neared, speaking outside of Sparks’ hearing as she was nestled in a little nook of junk next to a building’s base. She shook her head in confliction, and whispered to the tribal questioningly. “Is it just me, or do these guys even seem like they’re on ‘high-alert’ at all?”

“Guards from earlier seemed so, these ones though...” he looked at them appraisingly, a hint of the tribalistic piercing gaze in his eyes “you may be right, Little Mare.”

“What...” Sparks began to speak, yet she held her tongue for a moment as she wondered if it was wise exactly to ask, but she swallowed and continued cautiously. “What are the odds that Green’s... lying about all this chaos? Sure they’ve got guards out pretty far covering the ruins, but maybe that’s just standard for these ponies?”

“Hmph... I... do not know.” He said, and he gave a short sigh as he looked up to the sky; his eyes following the larger, darker clouds of the blanket overhead. “May be so, Green is Child, unmarked foal of beyond, and the tribe has not fought much with the ponies of stone and steel. The others,” he paused, and seemed to measure his own words carefully, but the tone of distaste was apparent “others of the unmarked Green has gathered from afar, they speak ill of city’s ponies. Hatred in their voices.”

“Yeah, but the way I’m thinking this might just be the town trying to protect itself from the gangs outside. Eagle told me as much that they try to keep the peace.”

“Perhaps... we of Fleet-Hoof care not enough to know. Other, more important matters.”

“Hmm...” Sparks scratched her chin with a hoof, thinking deeply on what could be the truth of things. Without many clues or information, save for what Green and Eagle had told her, all it did was make her want to speak with Ashmaker more. She hoped this entire debacle was just a gigantic misunderstanding, but she had to remind herself to keep an open mind to possibilities that she didn’t like to think. She didn’t have all the pieces, yet, and she hoped she would get the last ones here soon.

She looked back to the guards, two of them were standing next to the gate now and they were chatting about some unheard topic, and she looked to the stallion with curiosity in her face. “Can you hear what they’re going on about?”

“Hmm...” He tilted his head, ears perked as he listened intently towards them, but he frowned as he shook his head. “No; even so, I am not certain I would understand. Your language is... difficult.”

“No worries then.” She looked to them, and as she wondered how she was going to get past them she had an idea. She looked down at her PipBuck, filthy as it had become over these long weeks, as well as her Stable suit. She frowned, wondering if her newest idea would pan out, and she nodded gaining a smirk. “Alright, new addition to the plan. Your part is the same, but I just remembered something.”

“Hmm?”

“How many ponies are running around these gangs wearing what I am? Proper armor with a Stable suit and PipBuck?”

The stallion merely stared her in the eyes with a blank expression. “If you ask how many look like you, none at all.”

Sparks’ had to suppress a little laughter at her seemingly newfound cleverness, but she simultaneously was reminded of the dangers. The Donkeys were hesitant to trust that she wasn’t a raider on paranoia alone, despite the fact that she had seen for herself the downtrodden state of most gangers and raiders. What were the odds that any raider had an outfit like hers, and more importantly, she remembered sullenly, how many raiders had been on the radio of all things? She guessed that the town out of anypony in this hellish place had at the least one radio, and she wondered just how much her own reputation would carry her were she to be recognized.

She frowned a little at the prospect, but she decided to test it, like her younger self testing a hypothesis in science class. “I’m going to try and see if they’ll actually attack, I know we need to get in there, but I’m seriously beginning to doubt they will open fire, on me at the least.”

“What if it goes badly?”

“Same plan as before, I guess; get out of here, and don’t kill anypony, unless... unless it’s absolutely necessary, okay?”

“Hmph.”

The stallion rose from his spot and silently bolted away into the alleyway as Sparks guessed he was going to find some higher ground. She waited around five minutes to let him get into his position, and with a deep sigh and long exhale, she girded her strength and courage to do the one thing she instinctually rebelled against. She stood up, and turned the corner of her cover trying to stand tall as she strode up to the gate.

The first reaction was expected she guessed, one of the guards saw her and jumped to attention as he kicked some part of his battle saddle’s mechanism with a lout metallic clank resounding. She flinched, immediately regretting for a moment her decision as she fully expected to get peppered by bullets any moment, but she shouted out panicked before they could fire on her. “Wait!! Don’t shoot!!”

“We got a live one here!!” One of the guards aimed his weapon directly at her, a wicked grin on his face as he seemed seconds away from wasting her, but the other guard’s eyes flared open as he seemed to recognize something about Sparks.

“Hold your fire!! Hold your fire!!” He shouted loudly, stepping up to the other’s side and putting a hoof on his shoulder with some force as he looked at him with the piercing gaze of an officer.

Sparks recognized the look, as she had seen it all the time with the Enclave’s forces, and she was glad at least one pony of authority was there. He continued speaking shortly after the other guard relaxed a touch, his heavily accented city voice carrying in the spacious courtyard. “Since when did yah evah see one of the other gangs wear a damned Stable suit yah daft moron; nevah mind a fuckin’ filly like her!? Get over here girl, it ain’t safe over there!”

Sparks had to calm her nerves before she cantered over to the gate, and she breathed deeply as she shook her body, glad in some measure to be speaking with some ponies with a firm grasp of ponish. “Thanks for not shooting me, guys...!”

Her meek sounding voice brought a smile to the officer’s lips, and he looked her up and down as she guessed he was appraising her as most other ponies did; a small, weak little mare from a Stable, and she fought the urge to scowl. He spoke up after a few seconds, confusion in his eyes as he continued speaking. “Don’t mention it girl, but how the hell’d yah get this far without gettin’ shot? Don’t you know Good Neighbah’s got problems?”

“Oh believe me; I know all too well...!” She said, chuckling a little as she did with a smile. “One of the reasons I’m here, actually, I uh...” She measured what she should say, realizing that it was a very precarious situation and she needed their trust, and she tilted her head a little as she sighed. “While I was traveling I ran short on supplies, needed to restock and all that, but I, uh... heard that the town’s gotten tense. Part of me wants to know why actually; if it isn’t too much trouble?”

“Not at all ma’am, but you kind of took the long route for that, didn’t yah? We’ve only had issues with the gangs getting’ brave around ‘ere, but we keep our doors open to travelers like yah; traders too if you’re lookin’ for it.”

Sparks’ expression flickered with realization, some truth straight from the pony’s mouth. She nodded, and figured she had to play it safe. “I didn’t know, I’m kinda... well, new out here I guess.”

“Most Stable ponies are, but you’re lucky I know what yah are; most folks out and about ‘ere don’t, yah know? Like this moron!” He gestured with his head towards the other guardspony beside him, who rolled his eyes and shook his head in response. The officer looked toward the gate as he turned around, walking with a leisurely gait as Sparks followed him.

The other guard looked at her, quite uncomfortably as it was a glare she didn’t recognize, but the officer looked at him and gestured with a hoof at him as he spoke again. “Go open the gate, we need to get her inside; she’s looking for some trade and safety, and I won’t have yah lusting after another visitor. Especially after threatenin’ her like that!”

Sparks’ eyes flashed with embarrassment as his words made her realize the guard’s problem. She blushed a little as he eyed her one more time, turned about and followed his orders. The officer looked at Sparks, and back to the gate as he shook his head with a sigh. “Sorry about that, ma’am. The colts around here ain’t seen much of a mare in a long time. Doesn’t help that yah look like you’ve actually showered either.”

“Don’t... don’t worry about it, sir. It’s just... awkward, is all.”

He chuckled a little bit, having considered her words to be a touch of an underestimation. “I have to worry about it; part of my job description is keeping the peace in the Gunponies. It doesn’t suit our suits to be eyein’ visitin’ young mares like workin’ mares in some cat house, I’ll say.”

She didn’t quite understand his meaning as he spoke, but she had some guess that it was probably a lurid topic. She nodded a little, and shrugged as the large gate opened up revealing quite a different sight than the rest of the city. There was some bustling of ponies to and fro, a mix of a few guards and a good deal of regular citizens she thought as it seemed like some small alleyway market place in the tight confines between the two buildings. Most of them were dirty, some of them were beyond filthy, but they were all in one form or another simple looking in both garb and arms. There was a certain peace among them she could see, but beneath it all there was a strange tension in the din of commerce between them.

The officer nodded, and spoke to her as she entered the gate cautiously with stiff limbs. “Don’t worry too much about the town, just keep yahself clean and outta trouble and you’ll be fine. I’d keep yah gun handy, though; lotta tempers burnin’ hot around ‘ere these days.”

“I’ll stay on my best behavior, don’t worry...!” She smiled a little, and the officer chuckled a touch and nodded at her as he turned around.

“See that yah do.”

As the gate shut firmly behind her with a rusty squeal and wooden clank, she turned around with wide eyes at the lively crowd ahead of her. It was a touch overwhelming, to say the least; she was alone, mostly, left to her own devices in a strange town full of strange ponies, and she had to trust her own compass to see her mission through with no pony else to lean on. She breathed deeply, exhaled sharply as she strode forward, nervous. She knew it was plain to see she was, so she tried to look confidant in stride, however most of the confidence was usually ripped away by wayward glances of the other ponies as they stared at her comparatively peculiar barding.

In probably the single most self-conscious time of her life, she realized just how different it truly was between the town and her home. What was normal and commonplace became greedy luxury as something a simple as her jumpsuit would have greatly improved the town’s fashion sense, or modesty she had the displeasure of noticing. Most of the ponies wore little or nothing at all, and those who did wear clothes were usually so downtrodden that she guessed those clothes were pried off of some skeleton’s body in the alleyways. Even then, the outfits her that eyes were sore trying to understand how they could get that filthy were nothing compared to the lack of personal hygiene among them all.

One pony she came face to face with on the street stopped and stared at her with a wild look in his eyes; not a lusting one per se, but more for greed of whatever she had in her pack as his eyes shifted between hers and her saddlebags. His numerous missing teeth, the remaining ones browned and stained beyond saving, is mostly what her eyes kept focusing on, but as she tore her eyes away to try and be polite the rest of the stallion’s weathered and wrinkly face proved to be no better as it was unkempt to a tee. It reminded her of some crazed mad scientist actually out of some cheesy serial.

He cracked a smile, and with the display of patchwork teeth and the sullen eyes he spoke, and his fast paced voice was about as uncomfortable on her ears as much as his appearance was to her eyes. “Hey there little mare...! Lemme tell yah it is a beautiful day out here, despite it all! Yah here to peruse my wares?”

“Wait... what?”

She looked at him somewhat dazed, as the sheer overload had her reeling. His breath as he continued speaking proved to be the cherry on top however. “My wares...! I’ve been all over Equestria, seen things your little Stable-born brain couldn’t even begin to comprehend; like Zebrican devils and Palominan dervishes from beyond the sands! I travel all over to bring yah exotic wares from beyond; for you to ogle and be amazed!”

“I’m... I’m sorry, but I’ve got things to do.” She said, overwhelmed by the intrusive gestures and the lack of personal space the stallion exhibited.

He tried his best to stop her in her tracks without so much as a single touch, jumping in front of her and speaking even faster than before. “Now wait-wait-wait, miss! What we’ve got here is gen-yew-ine relics from beyond our lands; yah sure that not even a glace is what yah want -nay, need! Your life might be empty for ignoring such priceless artifacts!”

“Seriously, I’ve got to go...!” Sparks announced loudly as she rushed her way past the now confirmed crazed salespony. She shook her head as he tried to follow her, but he seemed to give up the chase and move onto another pony in passing; his rapid fire voice ebbing into the distance.

She breathed deeply, trying to reassert herself into reality as the experience dazed her slightly, but before she could her eyes trailed across the numerous other market stalls, each and every one littered with different oddments like scrap or salvaged goods. One after another the merchants beside them greeted her with widely varying approaches, from cordial to apathetic, even an excess of paranoid shooing as if they thought of her as a thief. The entire alien culture of the marketplace had her on edge, but before long out of the corner of her eyes she spied something truly interesting to her.

It was a stall, much like the rest along the alleyway, but unlike them the battered and disemboweled computers that were arrayed on the surface made her immediately look to them in wonder. She walked up to the stall and, with a hint of recognition in her eyes, she ogled them piece by piece. She even reached out to touch one little machine, which looked like some well worn and rusted engine component at first, but she was cut short by the voice that seemed to merely materialize from behind the table.

“Lookin’s free; touchin’ ain’t Stable filly...!” The voice was a mare’s, and an old one to boot yet far more easy on her ears than most of the others that bothered her; like an eccentric grandmother’s voice. The voice’s owner came into view to reveal herself to be a grease spotted, old earth pony mare; her mane tied up into a bun behind her wide brimmed sunhat.

She was smiling as Sparks’ hoof yanked backwards reflexively, and she chuckled a little as Sparks prattled off in embarrassment. “Oh...! Sorry, ma’am... Sorry!”

“Ah, fret not girl; I’m just jostlin’ yah!” The old mare chortled as she spoke, shaking her head. “Ain’t the first time I saw that look in yah eye. Yah know what you were lookin’ at there?”

“Um...” Sparks said as she looked back to the contraption on the table, and its small, well worn form made it difficult to discern. She looked at it from several different angles while squinting her eyes, and she saw on one of the large faces there was a keyboard with an almost full suite of keys. Just below them was another suite of ports for plugs, most of which she recognized were for computers and the like, with one of them jumping out at her as a Stable-Tec styled port. She looked back to the mare raising a brow. “Is that a... an arcanotech matrix key?”

“Heh, yah sure know what yer lookin’ at!” The old mare chortled again, nickering as she spoke. “A beat up one, sure, but not just any old type o’ key really; the master type of one!” She looked down at Sparks’ PipBuck with a longing gaze, but she pointed a hoof at it and continued with a nod. “Oughta mesh perfectly with that three thousand on yer leg; no doubt.”

Sparks eyed the little machine with far more intrigue than before. She had seen a few when she was younger, in far better condition mind, and even had the opportunity to use one from time to time, but alas the Stable kept them under lock and key due to their sensitive natures. A single pony getting their hooves on one could, if they had the skill, modify or even redesign the entire spell matrixes of any piece of technology that used them. That included almost everyponies’ PipBucks, all the way to the Stable’s reactors and all arcanotech in-between.

So she remembered anyways, as she ogled it with scrutiny. “Is... is it for sale?”

“Hmmm...” The old mare seemed to contemplate to herself in a half senile expression, but she shrugged after a pause. “Quite possible it is, but I haven’t a lick of sense to what it’d be worth really. None of thuh rock heads around ‘ere can use it, but you sure can. Normally...” She tapped a hoof on her chin, adopting a wry look. “Normally I’d charge a lot more for this type o’ thing, but it ain’t like there’s a huge demand fer ‘em. Whaddaya say about four hundred caps -- wait, four fifty...!”

Sparks’ eyes dimmed as she knew she didn’t have that kind of money, and she hung her head in shame and disappointment as she spoke. “I don’t have that kind of money; sorry...”

“Hrmm...” The old mare kept scratching her chin, gritting her teeth a little as she looked about her stall. “Well, sorry as I can be but I gotta make me a livin’, yah hear?”

“Well...” Sparks’ eyes lit up just a touch as she interjected. “Would... would you barter for it then, maybe? I’ve got some... ah...” She looked over to her pack, fishing through it as she looked for objects and items she didn’t need. “I’ve got some medicine and ammo I don’t really need.”

“Well...” the mare said, shrugging “being honest, some proper med’sin might be useful, and at the very least I could trade in the bullets and the rest fer caps. Whaddaya got?” She began clearing off a stop on the table, putting away several different knickknacks and wiping off the surface to ‘cleaner’ levels. “Here, put ‘em up here; lemme see.”

Sparks took several boxes of ammunition from her saddlebag and laid them down on the spot, taking several hooffuls at a time before taking out her medical bag and opening the zipper. She looked at the syringe of PainAway, and its magenta glowing hue. She begrudgingly remembered the chem fiends and their fixation with chems, placing it alongside the rest with a certain scorn.

The mare nodded, appraising the array of goods before her with scrutiny as she turned about a few of the boxes. “Eh... forty, thirty-eight, nine milli... seems yah been busy...!” She then looked at the capped needle of the PainAway chem and shrugged. “Yeah, always a use fer yah there...” She kept going on for a minute or so as she seemed to tally things up in her head, and came to a blank faced conclusion. “Yeah, I suppose all this should be alright, provided you want sometin’ else actually.”

“Wait, really?” Sparks said, and the old mare nickered.

“Yeah, yah done good little filly! Turns out that all this stuff is worth more to me than this ‘ole thing.”

Sparks had a moment of glee in her beaming face, but it was dashed a little bit when she remembered with subtle embarrassment at her an Eagle’s food predicament from earlier that week. She wondered if the old mare was just selling her a story, or worse if the device even worked, so she cleared her throat and spoke; the words sticking in her throat. “Alright, well... I’m sorry, but can I try it out first; to make sure it’s working properly?”

“Aww, fiddlesticks youngin’! O’ course it works, try it out fer a spin if yah don’t believe me!”

Sparks nodded, embarrassment and guilt on her face as she levitated the arcanotech master key up from the table and turned it around and about before her. She found a slot on the side of the rusted case, a port of sorts for her PipBuck cables to access, but overall the machine looked to be little more than a simple, stamped steel case rectangular box. She withdrew her cables, plugged one end of them into the key and the other into her PipBuck, and to her surprise her PipBuck’s screen lit up.

The pale green words typed out across a new text box on the display, and she read the technical information on the screen as her PipBuck’s system was clattering with a low and dull, electronically and magically warbled sound.

New Hardware found

::: Ministry of Arcane Technology/Stable-Tec Proprietary format :::

Arcane Technology Spell Matrix Master Key...

Installing New Hardware...

Install successful...

Input command...

[]

Lo and behold, Sparks’ eyes lit up with glee that it was indeed as advertised. A small piece of her grew joyous at the discovery of honesty, and she had a moment no better described than a restoration of faith in Equinity after one painful example after another of the opposite. “Oh wow, you weren’t kidding! This thing still works!”

“Like ah said, youngin’! Call me a liar an’ eat that hoof o’ yers...”

Sparks held her head down in shame, and frowned a little as she spoke apologetically. “Sorry ma’am... I’m just... I’ve been fooled like that once or... or twice now; I don’t mean to be rude.”

“Aw shucks, girl; don’t worry about it! It’s a good thing tah have these days, as yah never know when somepony’s gonna hash you outta deal that seems too good tah be true! Yah remember that!” The mare looked over her stall again, and dug through it a little to find some other appropriate piece there to balance out the trade as she grumbled to herself seemingly incoherently. Eventually she looked up and asked Sparks a question; a brow raised. “Speaking of which, anything else you see that you might like? Might be something of use to yah, out there in the great world to save yer skin.”

“I, uh...” She looked over the various oddities, one after another seemingly little more than computer garbage she couldn’t, or didn’t know how to, use. A few she recognized, but overall the rest of it seemed to be only interesting to a tinkerer. She sheepishly laughed as she looked down at her newly acquired arcanotech key, and smiled. “Wouldn’t happen to have an owner’s manual or something for this? I’ve seen them before but I never learned how to use them.”

“Well... lemme see then.” She bent down, rummaging through her stall’s contents as she tossed one component after another to her sides. She was mumbling something to herself all the while, but after a minute she came up for air and sighed with a shrug. “That’d be a nope, youngin’. I ain’t got a little booklet on that gem... I do have an old manual of sorts, might be useful and I’d throw it in for this haul.”

“A manual on what, exactly?”

“I dunno,” the mare shrugged and picked it up in her teeth, setting the dust matted and somewhat water damaged book on the table “but it’s a biggun.”

Sparks looked at the seemingly massive book on the table, and after dusting off its cover her eyes beamed at the discovery. It was an old copy, exceptionally old she noticed from the damage as if it had endured centuries of abuse, of a Big Book of Arcane Sciences.

She stuttered a little as she cracked open the cover and saw the first page’s title repeating the cover’s information, save for the addition of copyright listings. “Oh absolutely, this should help! Thanks!”

“Hmph...” the old mare took on a sour look with a frown “normally I’d charge extra for that reaction, but it’s not like these numbskulls ‘round ‘ere read much. Call the trade even I guess.”

Sparks nodded with a now wide smile on her face, and she immediately put the book in her saddlebag with a careful, almost maternal care as she looked back to the mare with beaming eyes. “Thanks a lot, ma’am. I hope you can use those!”

“No doubt in mah mind, youngin’! Old Cap over there’s always buyin’ bullets, and heck, some painkillers are always in demand. I just hope yah can actually use what yah got. Not much need for tech-nickel support these days.” The mare looked up of a sudden with a strong glare of disappointment in Sparks, but she softened a touch and spoke grandmotherly again to her. “And, since we plum forgotten our manners, my name’s Granny; pleasure to do business!”

Sparks smiled as she hung her head, embarrassed again, but she looked up and spoke earnestly as she held up the arcanotech key with her magic. “Mine’s Sparks, Granny, and it was. You mind if I sit here a moment to play around with this?”

“As long as yer outta the way of my other potential customers, why not youngin’? Good luck with it and all!”

As they gave their parting words, Sparks turned around to sit beside the stall. She nestled the master key close to her as she presented her PipBuck closer to her eyes. She saw the command line still blinking away, a little pale green rectangle beside the arrow, and she did the first thing that came to mind for computer sciences as she used her horn’s magic to peck away on the master key’s keyboard.

[]

/help

...loading

STABLE-TECH ISSUE ARCANO-TECH MASTER KEY command list
For more options, please see the included technical manual provided by your local
STABLE-TEC licensed technician.

1. Diagnostic

2. Defragmentation

3. Reboot spell matrix

4. Access utilities/subroutines

5. Copy files/spells

6. Debugger

7. Initialize spell matrix

[]

Sparks was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer wealth of options at first and tapped her chin as she went over which to choose first. The diagnostic and defrag options felt pretty important to her, as her PipBuck had gone weeks without the least bit of technical care, and it made her conscious about it -despite the fact that PipBucks were advertised as basically bomb proof. The one for rebooting spell matrixes felt useless for now, but she figured it could be useful if she ever found some deactivated terminals or some such article of arcanotech. The thought made her instinctively look up, the bustle of the marketplace seemed to go on as if she didn’t exist, and she mused that she hadn’t seen much of any intact technology at all on the surface. She frowned at the idea, the lack of technological convenience simply agitating.

She looked back down at the screen, and her eyes lit up though as she wondered what the entry for accessing subroutines was all about. She eyed her PipBuck in deep thought, wondering if her own trusty device had any sort of secrets yet to be seen, and she flipped over the master key to punch in the command choice. She typed in another command she knew about, and the text screen flittered more pixels on the PipBuck’s screen.

/help ‘Access utilities/subroutines’
Access utilities/subroutines performs a sweep of the Arcane Technology device for programmed spells and other functions that are deactivated for consumer use/safety. This can include functions built into the devices that are contractually installed for Ministry/Military/Subsidiary utility.

WARNING: Activating these utilities/subroutines can void warranties and/or violate laws pertaining to proprietary technologies, CivilianSafe policies enacted by numerous Ministries (See CivilianSafe articles 3b and 5b-h), or the Wartime Equestrian policies against seditious use/distribution/modification, unless overseen by a qualified and licensed technician with ‘Proper Use’ forms filed at your local MINISTRY OF WARTIME TECHNOLOGY HUB

Sparks had a moment of pause as she tried to process the information the machine suddenly spat out at her. The lengthy dissertation of legalities from before The War had her reeling, and she had to shake her head as, for a moment, she recognized some of it from her Stable. The biggest similarity was the ‘proper use’ form, a form that was almost always necessary to even use some pieces of tech, let alone work with them as a career technician, but the notes of filing them in hubs or referencing different laws and policies had little meaning to her. She had a moment of devious glee, however, as she realized she had no such oversight anymore, and she keyed in the command to activate whatever her little PipBuck had in store.

Access utilities/subroutines

...loading

Mandatory Warning!
Before accessing this command, please ensure you are in compliance with the CivilianSafe policies enacted by numerous Ministries (See CivilianSafe articles 3b and 5b-h), or the Wartime Equestrian policies against seditious use/distribution...

She huffed a sigh, and immediately clicked the space bar with some force to skip over the block of text as it flittered to life. It loaded in completely in a sudden flash, and the confirmation line appeared below with that same arrow and blinking rectangle, only accompanied by new text.

Are you sure?

Y/N

[]

She clicked the ‘y’ key, and after a few seconds the machine gave off a warbled magically electronic sound as the screen seemed to strobe a moment. The text blocks rolled away, replaced by an image of the Stable-Tec mascot mare with a large ‘scanning, please wait’ block of text beneath her. Sparks had to suppress a giddy giggle as she was held in suspense, and before long the screen loaded in several other blocks of text; information, some of which she barely recognized.

STABLE-TEC PipBuck 3000b

List of Generic Spell Programs:

1. Ether-wave Radio = true

a. Ether-wave Messanger = true

b. Ether-wave Mainframe access/transfer = true

1. Personal Information processing cache = true

2. Geographical Positioning = true

a. GP uplink-synchronizer = true

List of STABLE-TEC standard/non-standard issue utilities:

1. Stable-tec magical radiation counter = true

2. Stable-Tec Equestrian Military Assistance spells:

a. S(table-Tec) A(ssisted) T(argeting) S(pell) = true

b. Stable-Tec E(yes) F(orward) S(parkle) = false

1. Stable-Tec A(ssisted) M(edical) D(iagnosis) S(pell) = false

2. Stable-Tec Inventory catalogue/sorting = false

3. Stable-Tec Tag spell = true

Sparks frowned a little as she read through the list. Some of which she knew of, quite intimately she would say. The Ether-wave radio she had grown to love and hate, others like the instant messaging spell were usually only useful to the rest of her Stable back home it seemed. Her dad used it all the time to coordinate his little gaming group, the work teams would use it to send forms or part orders, even the Overmare used it to address the Stable with little news clips that weren’t worth an intercom announcement. She laughed sadly in nostalgia as she remembered she only ever really used it to pass notes in class; usually getting detention in the process.

She looked back down at the screen, looking at the rest of the options. Mainframe access was usually taken for granted, the data pad even more so, and the map was borderline useless to her and everypony else. At least, was useless until it expanded its borders beyond her Stable’s steel walls when she stood in the outside air. She locked eyes with the one spell she had used almost religiously since then as well; S.A.T.S., and it caused her to grimace with a small taste of bile before continuing down the list.

Her eyes caught on the mention of the E.F.S. spell. She knew what it was, roughly as she never used it for lack of reasons, but to her memory it was supposed to be a sort of... compass? She didn’t know much of anything beyond that, as her map seemed to have cardinal directions pretty much down pat, but she shrugged a little and clicked the section it sat in, followed by the number for its space. She typed in a ‘t’, which auto completed to ‘true’, and for a moment nothing happened she could observe.

However, of a sudden, she realized the screen on her PipBuck locked up for a moment, and she could hear a small, faint sound of magical-electronic warbling common of PipBucks, or any arcano-tech really. Even more suddenly her vision was clouded with what she could only describe as small, miniscule explosions in her sight. She flinched reflexively, pulling her head down as the flashes of pale green light merely fizzled into existence, and before long those lights materialized into a framework. Lines formed in her eyes, which then filled in with even more blips of light in her vision along them. She clenched her eyes shut, and the darkness that enveloped her sight freed her of their gaze, but after a few seconds of relative silence, her ears thudding with her heightened heart beat, she realized nothing was happening.

She opened one of her eyes again, and saw a clear and crisp line above her practically right in front of her. One she recognized immediately as a compass, as she expected, but the seemingly floating display followed her head as she moved and turned, and the little markers on the bar zoomed past as she did so. Between a few of them she noticed that several passing ponies had little matching green marks that followed them on the line as they moved among the typical cardinal markers of a compass; the letters ‘N’ and ‘E’ for north and east. She let out a sigh of relief, a random passerby giving her an accusing look. She shook her head with a giggle, smiling awkwardly as they passed, and she looked back down at the master key with a glimmer in her eyes.

Sparks was taken aback by the new device’s capabilities so far, and she immediately looked to the manual on arcane sciences, dusting off the cover with the intent on discovering what other wonders the machine would have in store. She had a moment of confliction, however, and remembered her mission, the entire reason for her being there in the first place, but her desire to continue fiddling with the new piece of technology, and the other spells disabled on her PipBuck, fought with the urgency she reminded herself of. She sighed deeply, and, after a minute or so of weighing her options, she packed away her ‘new toys’ into her saddlebag and stood up. After dusting off her barding and giving her pack a vigorous shake, she looked up and took in a deep breath; her mind now churning with suspense as she delved into the crowd of ponies and deeper into the city.

*** *** ***

Further on down the path Sparks had to control herself quite actively. The marketplace was small, but dense in a way that reminded her of her Stable in lunch hour, and the mental whiplash from just how different these ponies were made her anxious. Judging by her new compass feature, the Eyes Forward Sparkle, there were many ponies living in Good Neighbor, more than she had expected for sure as she quickly made her way through the crowd. More impressively, or perhaps unnervingly, the E.F.S. was capable of telling her that other ponies or living beings in general where apparently close by, despite there being absolutely no visual or audible marks for her to know.

Several times a single pip or a pair behind the solid walls of some ruined building beside the road made her aware of others, and her subtle feeling of being watched grew as the spell acted as some kind of motion sensor or otherwise. After some time though she arrived deeper into the city, and it opened up with more of what she had already seen; empty alleyways and small courtyards where the ruined towers of the old world made way for what used to be the veins of the city’s commerce. Only now they served as little more than gravel roads, dives for the less than fortunate on to bigger and better things. A few ponies here and there greeted her with little more than nods and simple dismissive gestures, but she almost ignored them as she tried to focus.

However she, in her own inexperience, could do little more than either hopeful thinking or rehashing dilemmas that were dwarfed by more pressing concerns she wasn’t aware of or couldn’t handle. Regardless, she pressed on trying to keep her hopes up.

As she turned a corner in the small maze of the old world corpse, she found herself in a larger than most courtyard. To her right was a large gate of sorts, welded steel and nailed wood meshing together to create a barrier against the outside world. The wall itself harbored few guards to her expectations, but she frowned a little as she wondered just how far Green was lying about it all as their stances were lax. That was the entirety of the confusion for her; the why. Why was Green seemingly lying about it all, or if she thought this was how it was then why did it seem the town wasn’t mirroring her experiences? It all seemed... calm, peaceful even if one were to push the term, but overall only the light tension was to be seen, just below the surface.

She shook her head and pack mid-stride, opting to not dig that hole any deeper than she already had. She had to focus, and she reaffirmed herself onto that reality of her mission. The factors surrounding this entire situation could help, but overall she simply needed supplies. As much as it hurt her to admit, the town’s, or city’s, wellbeing wasn’t necessary, and it left a sour taste in her mouth akin to bile as she even remotely contemplated such a thought.

She turned her eyes to see yet another building, opposite the gate with a somewhat large doorway beneath an overhanging canopy that shielded the door from the elements above. She took a slow stride to the door, and, with a nervous twist of the lever knob attached to it, creaked the door open to reveal the entrance hall to the building.

It was altogether little more than expected; she eyed the dilapidated furnishings with a passing glance as she scanned over the damaged forms of display cabinets and draperies, and she sighed a little as she set her gaze on the stairwell ascending into the upper reaches of the building. She approached the stairs, slowly with a cautious pace, and was half startled when one of the Gunponies’ members came into view with a wary look on her face from a side hallway.

“The hell you doin’ in here, little filly? Don’t cha know this is place isn’t for yah tourists?”

“Um, erm...” She stuttered a little as her nerves went aflame with panic, her eyes turning up to her compass as she silently cursed to herself for not paying attention. She swallowed as she tried her best to maintain a straight face and speak. “Well, I’m here to speak with, uh... Ashmaker, and I’ve...” She was failing in her own judgment, which altogether made her panic worse before she simply took a moment to breath. “I’m here to talk with him, actually. I’m here for, uh... a caravan I’m with, and we’ve, erm... got an appointment?”

Sparks had to suppress the urge to wince at her choice of words. There was no telling, in her silent and short, but explicit, self reprimands, if any caravans were there, or whether any had appointments, and she felt as if it was going to get her hurt, or worse. The Gunpony mare simply stood there with those piercing eyes beneath her horn, but surprisingly enough she smirked a little as she spoke. “An appointment, eh? Yah must be a new gal, ‘cause I don’t recall seein’ a Stable Filly runnin’ errands before; yah sure yah aren’t just pullin’ my chain?”

“I, uh... I’d never do that, ma’am; honest!” Sparks made a split second decision to roll with the conversation flow, and, to her surprise, the mare relaxed a touch as she kept speaking. “My boss -Wagon- he’s got a... erm, a.... a parcel for me to deliver, actually. Information; some that might be valuable to know for trade...!”

The mare stood there, deadpan with a raised brow as she spoke skeptically. “Wagon...? Giving information? Hah!” She laughed as she swept aside her deeply purple mane and adjusted her black suit; her horn prominently pointing towards her as if in wariness. “As if that old colt would ‘give’ anything; not without some sort of asking price.”

“Erm... well, his request was for Ashmaker, actually... ‘His ears only’, he said.”

“Uh huh.” The mare said as she shifted to favor a set of legs; there was a subtle roguish air about her. “That does sound like him, I guess, but it doesn’t mean it won’t go through me first.”

“Erm... he was rather, well...”

The mare raised a brow, as if waiting for Sparks to finish her sentence, but she did it for her as she smiled wryly. “‘Insistent’?”

“Y-yeah. He insisted.”

As Sparks looked down at her hooves, the mare came up to her with a subtly alluring pace, but she looked up and saw her deeply purple eyes had a sort of cleverness behind them. She couldn’t place it, but the worry that erupted in her mind was all but cast away as the mare nodded her head to the side and shrugged. “Good enough, I suppose. Just know this, Stable filly, we’ve got our eyes on yah. Try anything uncouth and you’ll be sorry; and mister Wagon will be too.”

“Of course! I don’t want to cause trouble, after all.”

Sparks couldn’t tell if she actually had bought the story by her tone. The wariness was apparent, but she wondered if it was simply caution from unknowns that had her wound up. Sparks herself was indeed a major unknown in the town, and if the donkeys had reason enough to be cautious beyond paranoia she had to wonder if a town of gangers would have better reason. She had no clue as to why they would though, and she wasn’t given time to wonder as the mare turned around and motioned for her to go up the stairs.

Sparks took the flight up, and the mare followed behind her at a distance like some escort. Before long they reached the top of the stairs, and shortly after a trek down the hall they arrived to a large set of double doors, where the mare flipped her mane aside and smiled.

She raised a brow, sighed, and spoke with a hint of suspense Sparks couldn’t quite place. “Well, let’s see what the boss has to say about yah and ‘Wagon’.”

Footnote: Red Eagle level 22

Sparks level 5 +21 skill points!