Ad Victoriam

BDCS #04654: The being known as “House” is the little-known mastermind behind Las Pegasus. Not much is known about him (or it) besides that this being has vast technological knowledge, beyond that of even some of the heads of modern Equestrian research laboratories. Seems to know something about former Brotherhood assets and robots painted with the city seal of Las Pegasus can be found scouting near former Brotherhood locations in the Badlands region.

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“Please submit to lawful arrest, Las Pegasus citizen. Your safety is guaranteed if you comply.” The broken-down husk sputtered and sparked. The near-ruined robot was stamped with some unknown logo and appeared to be in its dying throes. Looked like some kind of large-caliber rifle had struck near the power distributor and the slowly decreasing trickle of power caused many systems to go offline.

Opening the casing of this “RoboCo Ponitron Model 6000E Civil Protection Edition”, I found the insides to be mostly intact other than the power systems, and it looked like it could be repaired with what I have on hand. Power core seems to be a simple battery as well, so I could hook it up to a Fusion Core if the power had run low. I was planning on resting for the rest of the day as I had spotted a cave in a hill in the distance, so this robot would give me something to work on.

Might need to repaint it, though. Don’t want the previous owners to know it’s been stolen.

Dragging it through the sands I ran a checklist in my mind. I had some spare wiring and parts intended for Power Armor maintenance and weapon repair, I had spare power, and I had some steel wool to at least strip the current paint away. My Pip-Boy luckily uses the same type of port as these “RoboCo” bots.

The Ponitron itself looked like an old Protectron but a bit more streamlined and quadrupedal in design, and I’d wager a guess it was likely a modern recreation of those old Forefather designs.

Finally reaching the shade of the cave I find that this seemed to be a relatively popular spot for travellers along this stretch of the Badlands. There was a campfire that seemed recent, recent enough the remaining wood hadn’t even begun to dry rot yet and the ash hadn’t been blown away by outside winds.

Popping open the Ponitron’s steel casing, I get to work.

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“Ponitron unit [ERROR: TOKEN NOT FOUND] online. Purpose: [ERROR: TOKEN NOT FOUND]. Power level: 100%. Status: Fully functional.”

The Ponitron lurched back to life. I had copied the contents of its memory to my Pip-Boy and wiped its hard drive, effectively making it a blank slate.

The information aboard was encrypted, but I was able to decipher some fragments of it. It appeared to have been travelling through the area scanning for certain signals, which matched some of the old Brotherhood communications systems, such as the distress beacons.

“Ponitron setname: Helperbot.”

“Name successfully set. Ponitron unit Helperbot online.”

The machine now saw my Pip-Boy as the “admin” for its systems and now would follow any orders I gave it. I set it to the “Helpful Worker” personality set.

It would likely help assist in making me appear more personable to the ponies, and as such, I gave it a simple paint scheme in the rust red used by the Brotherhood in some situations, with some black checkering on the head and lower legs. I lay down on my sleeping bag, setting the robot to watch the cave while I sleep. Hopefully I’ll get out of this desert soon.

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“Almost heaven, West Virginia…” an old radio croaked. I awoke to the sound of a distant alarm. I stumbled upright, my bare feet landing on dusty floorboards. The smell of mildew is strong in the air.

I stumble forward, opening the door of the metal shack. Before me stood a city, a veritable utopia, bristling with advanced technology. The alarm was coming from this city.

Towers and spires and spheres. A city so large it seemed infinite, yet I somehow stood outside it. The alarm continued. I could now hear screams.

I now saw a streak in the sky. I saw several streaks in the sky. I saw white.

My world shook, slamming me back against the wall of the rusted steel wall of the building I had woken in. I was blinded, stumbling around, feeling my skin start to burn. I scream, but I cannot hear my own voice over the deafening roar emanating from around me.

My eyes clear to see the city shattered and burning. Bright flashes occur further into the city, more of these bombs tearing it apart from the inside. The ground seemed to be liquid, shaking and twisting in response to the hellfire soaring from above. My skin began to peel away. My eyes finally went blind. I fell to the ground again, writhing in pain.

And, in an instant, it is all gone. The lights, the noise, the pain, the sand behind me. I now sit in a pleasant meadow filled with flowers. There are trees in the distance and birds singing from somewhere I can’t see.

“I wonder what it was that put such an image in your mind, knowledge-seeker.”

“Luna.” I turn to the Princess. “It has been some time, has it not?”

“Yes, we remember when you came to our court seeking access to ancient archives. I wonder if my choice to turn you away was for the better.” The Princess sits next to me on the grass, crossing her front hooves.

“I’m not upset over that, if that’s what you’re wondering.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I do not know if you know of the events following your… possession. I fear not for myself or the knowledge, but for those I once cared for.” Luna looks confused by my words.

“We were not in control of ourself and most knowledge of those times is but a blur, knowledge-seeker.”

“Following Celestia’s defeat of your forces and your banishment, Equestria was in chaos. This period after your war was a decade of carnage and chaos. Celestia, with an army weakened by the war, was unable to put out every fire.” Rolling my shoulders, I take a deep breath. “I foresaw everything. Your fall, your banishment, this age of chaos. It was in the back of my mind when I met you. When I met your sister all those years ago. I made connections, I found things of great importance. Our meeting was about thirty years before Nightmare Moon arose. I would spend the next decade preparing to form the Brotherhood.”

“What is this ‘Brotherhood’ of which you speak?” Luna raised an eyebrow, suggesting she wanted an honest answer.

“I gathered among the most intelligent and capable ponies I could find and led them on a great journey to an ancient stronghold I had found deep below the ground. This stronghold, this bunker, it held technology and secrets of the Forefathers. Those mysterious ancestors of you and your Ponies. I told them I had founded the Brotherhood to defend the most horrible of these secrets, to destroy that which threatens life to the surface world, and to prevent the disaster you saw in that nightmare. That was the fate that the Forefathers truly faced. Annihilation brought about by their own weaponry, their science gone rogue.” I let out a sigh before continuing.

“An entire world embroiled itself in war that resulted in its destruction. I saw ancient records of this destruction hidden away in a silo holding these weapons. I chose to destroy and seal away this silo. My Brotherhood destroyed dozens of these silos filled with weapons, but hundreds more remain hidden and cut off. I also set the Brotherhood with the task of preparing for the war, and our efforts were rather fruitful. We ended up a large and powerful organization, operating underground and out of sight of you and your sister, and when the warbands sprung up after the Uprising, we defended Ponies cut off from Celestia’s restoration of law. We fought many groups of threstral rebels, warlords, and ponies seeking to use the same ancient tech we utilized to rule Equestria. Upon the defeat of the Unicorn Enclave, our mortal enemies, Celestia learned fully of our existence, and fearing us to be like the other warbands, fought us with use of magical artifacts. I was imprisoned in stone, much like Discord, and spend a millenia imprisoned. I now seek to find what became of the Brotherhood and its untouched troves of technology.”

“I see. And what if you find this Brotherhood still exists?”

“I rejoin it, and continue my goals of protecting your society from the dangers of the Old World.” Luna got a strange look in her eyes before standing upright.

“I believe you are beginning to awake, knowledge-seeker. You have given us many things to muse upon.” I bowed my head in response to her words.

“I think you will find my name is Joseph, Princess.” And with that the meadow faded to white.

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BDCS #04001: Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria on June 20th, 1011 UEDS. After a defeat by the hands of a group of Ponies known as the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the Nightmare left the body of Princess Luna. Since her return, she has rejoined her sister at the top of Equestrian society, and has become a central piece of the Principality of Equestria.

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Private Dull Edge was not having a good day. His squad had been assigned to patrol in the Everfree following some unusual orders from brass. Something had the General all worked up and stallions like Dull had to bear the brunt of it.

Things up to this point had gone as well as any other Everfree patrol, which is to say that it was sweaty, muddy, and painful.

Then Sgt. Grin and Pvt. Cargo had disappeared while the rest of the squad's backs were turned. Cargo was the unicorn trained for navigation and without him the rest of the squad was lost, and without the Sergeant they lacked authority. Pvt. Gear had stomped off into the woods and hadn't come back. Pvt. Forlorn went for a piss and vanished. Then Pvt. Yuck broke and went screaming into the fog.

Dull Edge was frightened, lost, and very confused. At some point he had lost his rifle to some bushes and his helmet to a tree.

He was certain these woods were cursed. This thought continued when the ground crumbled underneath him, sending him cascading into some kind of cavern.

A cavern occupied by a now-awoken Manticore.

He screamed and scrambled backwards, reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. The Manticore, now angered, began to stalk towards him.

Closing his eyes, he accepts his fate.

A screech is heard and he hears the Manticore cry out in pain.

Opening his eyes again, he witnesses a figure in jet-black armor dart down from the opening he came from, with some kind of strange rifle strapped to the side of the armor. Another of these screeches sound out and some kind of glowing bolt from the rifle spears the Manticore again.

“Eat lead, cat freak!” With a taunt, his savior goes to battle with the Manticore, becoming a swirling spiral of death.

The Manticore swipes out with their paw, but the flying Pegasus smashes it away with a mid-air buck. Another pair of shots is fired from the rifle, and the Pegasus dives at the Manticore.

Striking it in the head, the Manticore stumbles back, enraged by the invader. It begins to charge at the Pegasus, only for them to dart out of the way. The Manticore attempts to stop, but ends up slamming itself into the wall of the cave.

Dull Edge pulls himself together and uses this opportunity. He may not have been the best shot, but he prided himself on his uppercut.

Striking the Manticore in the side of the head, he sends it careering backwards.

With a roar, the bleeding and battered Manticore flaps its wings and bursts up and out of the cave. The Pegasus lands, wings folded to their sides.

“Nice punch. I was following you to make sure you wouldn’t get hurt. Guess I should’ve stepped in before you fell.” The Pegasus removes the helmet of the armor, revealing a black-furred mare with a close-cropped mint mane. “Knight Brush. I’ll help you find your squad but you have to promise not to make mention of me.”

“Knight? Who are you? What kind of armor is that? What is that gun? What?” Dull Edge was taken aback by this “Knight Brush”. He thought that Knights were just characters from old fantasy novels, Ponies owning keeps and saving maidens from dragons, and not some high-tech warriors hiding in the Everfree.

“I’d tell you but it’d be harder for you to keep quiet. Come on, I’ll see you out.” With a gesture of her wings, she beckons him to follow through one of the passages shooting off from the cave.

Stumbling forwards, Dull Edge follows the stranger.

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PERK OF THE DAY: IRON FIST
Thanks to your experience, strength, and training, your fists are among your strongest weapons! Punching attacks do double damage, and critical hits can temporarily paralyze an opponent!
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

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BDCS #02331: It is believed that some members of the original Brotherhood still persist despite how much time has passed. Be on the lookout for any such figures as they may have information of extreme importance.