Chapter 1: Reboot

“Sorry you had to get mixed up in all of this, kid…”

The world began to slowly come into focus as the blinding white light faded to a dim halo, swimming around the corners of my vision. All I could see was black. My body felt dull and useless. My head felt like it could collapse into bits at any moment. It was pounding relentlessly, again and again until I started to miss my old pal, the white light.

“Good goddesses… you’re still alive…”

I heard the voice come somewhere from my right, piercing like a rusty knife through the noise in my head. It could have been seen as painful to the ears, but frankly, I was happy to have any distraction at that moment. The voice was rough and weathered, belonging to a stallion who has seen many moons pass. He sounded thirsty… dehydrated, even. What kind of place have I found myself in where that’s normal?

Feeling finally came back to my body, and I noticed I was laying down on my back. I tried to prop myself up on my forelegs, but a blinding pain shot up my body, causing me to collapse back down into a miserable heap.

“Hey now, take it easy sunshine!” The stallion affirmed to me as he gently stroked my mane. If his southern drawl didn’t feel so comforting, I would’ve recoiled in shock. Well. Being able to actually move might have helped too. “You just woke up from a mighty accident. RIght in the noggin’, too. I wasn’t sure you even made it”. A head wound!? Jeez, was I sure that I was alive...

I tried to start calming my brain down (not a particularly easy task) as I forced myself to take in my surroundings. Some memories of things came naturally back to me, like I was stretching out a muscle that hadn’t been moved for years. Other details took great effort to recognize. I was laying on a rough, canvas cot. The air around me was chalked with dust, creating a smoky fog that weighed heavily on me and the room. And even though I had most of my senses taken away from me, the room felt… tainted, somehow. I didn’t know how a room that I couldn’t see gave me horrible feelings, but this one did.

Speaking of not being able to see… my face was covered in thick layers of some kind of bandage. I shuddered to imagine what horrible accident I had to go through to be patched up this much.

With a jolt traveling up my back, I became acutely aware that I was awake in a stranger's home, being a stranger to myself as well, with bandages all over my body and a sense that I didn’t belong there. On a cot. Being called ‘Sunshine’ by an old man. My breath involuntarily started getting faster. Ok, trying not to panic.

I started to stir, readying my muscles to give a firm statement to the man. I was going to be confident, I’m going to tell him what I think! And demand answers! Yeah, this is going to work perfectly! Here goes…

“Urnf”

Smooth. Real smooth. If I was able to use my arms I would’ve slapped my face with them.

“Don’t try to talk, you need to save your energy. After the trauma you’ve been through…” The stallion’s voice wandered for a moment, and I couldn’t help but wonder where it went. Even though I couldn’t see him, I could tell his next words were spoken with a smile; “Well, you just deserve some nice rest”. Despite my body screaming at me to see the absurd amount of red flags being shoved in my face and running for the hills, I couldn’t help but feel… at peace with him. Maybe it was the lack of proper nutrition talking, but I felt like I could trust this man. Not wholly, but… enough.

“W...wh…” I tried to get out between raspy breaths. I suddenly doubled over in a horrible coughing fit, hacking up some kind of substance as the man held me gently. My body fell into spasms, making my entire body shiver despite being so warm. The man just held me as it continued on, lasting several minutes. I gulped hard, my throat screaming in pain from dehydration, and tried to speak again.

“W..Who…”

“Who are you?” He finished for me. I nodded weakly.

He let out a deep sigh as he gently trickled water into my mouth. The water was cool and refreshing on my tongue, but it definitely wasn’t any natural spring water. I coughed as he poured it in and I fought to keep it down. “I’m-” He hesitated. “I’m nobody, really. Just an old fool who still believes there’s some good in the world out there.” He got up, and started trotting to a place I couldn’t see. The floorboards creaked below him, showing their age. “I’m Dr. Diamond, but I prefer to just be called Doc. Never was a big fan of letting th’ name get to my head.” He chuckled. “Anyways, nice to… meet you, miss.” He gently held my hoof in his, and gave it a slight shake. I felt a deep sadness coming from his last words, but... I couldn’t understand why. After all, wasn’t I a stranger to him?

I started to open my mouth, but Doc interrupted before I could get a sound out. “Let me guess: who are you?” I just hung my head meekly.

“Hey, no need to fret about it! You’ve been through hell and survived, kickin’ and screamin’. In my book, you’re a right hero.” He settled down close to my left side. “All you need to know, Sunshine, is that you… are unlike any filly I have ever met.” Divine rays of Tartarus, that gave me an uncomfortable feeling in my spine.

“You…” Doc started to continue. “Help ponies. You always have, and you’ve never been corrupted to act any other way.” There was a certain hesitation to his voice that I couldn’t place. I heard his hoofsteps circle around me, and the shuffle of metal. “Why, I think you taught me more than I ever taught you.” So.. I did know this guy?

The sound of shuffling papers came next. “You practiced medicine under me. Quite the child prodigy, if I do say so m’self.” He gave a small chuckle. “You might’nt know it, but you were always the bright spot in everypony’s lives. The whole wasteland, even. When we ‘scaped that Stable, I thought for sure...” He let out a sigh. “But that’s enough of n’ earful for one day, you already have enough on your mind.” He definitely got that right, I felt ready to burst with how much information he just told me… Wasteland? Prodigy? Stable? It sent my head spinning. Add the lack of any memories of myself, and it sent my mind into a whirlwind. I started to feel sick to my stomach…

Oh, I started to feel REALLY sick! I emptied the contents of my stomach onto my chest, heaving three times… this was definitely not the introduction I wanted with a stranger. Without a word Doc walked to the side of my bed and started to clean up my mess. I felt so helpless as I lay there, utterly at this man's mercy. It didn’t help how lost I felt in this new world. I heard the plop of dirty rags in a basin, and my stomach turned at just hearing the sound.

“Ahh shoot, I should prolly’....” I really wish I could see what he’s doing over there. “I’m not sure I’m the right folk to fill you in on your past, but…” He sat down with a sigh. “You at least deserve somethin’. And soon I will, I promise. But you need your rest or else those stitches will pop right out.” He chuckled. “T’would be a shame for you to ruin my handiwork so soon.”

As much as my mind disagreed (I needed more answers!) my body was starting to give in. The act of staying awake alone sapped what little energy I had left. I remember back when… gah! I wish I could remember back when, the memory is right there…

But my body finally gave up. While my head was filled with doubts and concerns, I quickly drifted off to sleep.

Hopefully I would wake up to a better setting next time.

<---------------oooo00000000oooo---------------->

Well it was better, I guess.

I spent the next few days floating in and out of consciousness. In the darkness of my bandages I could only make out vague lights and colors. Shades of yellow and blue, green and orange would flash across my vision. It was so vivid sometimes I could swear they were memories. Small glimpses of my past. Those might be normal though, Doc said that would happen.

Doc would sit up with me sometimes, filling in gaps in my memory or telling me stories about our time together in the vault. Though I knew he was a nice pony, something about the way he talked to me seemed off. I couldn’t help but feel like he was leaving out important parts of the story, either for his sake or for mine. But still, I absorbed any scrap of information that Doc could give me. I didn’t quite get all of it, but I understood enough bits and pieces of it to grasp what was going on.

Equestria, the land I woke up in, used to be a land of peace and friendship. Think little kids show levels of cooperation. There were no conflicts, trade flowed freely. It was almost a perfect utopia. But of course, utopias never seem to work in practice, and there was no exception here. As resources began to dry up and trade with the Zebra nation (Our neighbor, apparently) became stilted, Equestria started its first war in centuries, against the Zebras. The entirety of the continent became a new operations base with a single goal: Wipe the zebras from existence before they do the same to us. The nation wasn't ready for it. Countless ponies died, new armors and weapons were innovated, peace treaties were signed and revoked. The war only grew in its severity. The two leaders of this land (As well as sisters), Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, were not prepared for the carnage. Celestia couldn’t bear the burden, and so she relinquished wartime powers to Luna. As a last hope effort near the end of the war, Princess Luna’s teams constructed a new kind of magic called a Megaspell. A team of powerful unicorns would gather, and they would combine their powers in new and incredible ways. To either unleash prosperity or a new wave of destruction. I’ll let you guess which one they chose. Equestria launched megaspells, as did the Zebras. And thus, total nuclear annihilation.

At this point though, I was more concerned about where I fit into all of this. Doc explained that a company named Stable-tec Constructed massive underground structures called stables during the great war. They were built with the intention of protecting the citizens of Equestria from extreme acts of destruction. My ancestors were one of the lucky few, getting access to a vault before the spells hit. Our vault was vault number 13. Doc and I apparently had to escape from our vault a few years ago, the security systems went haywire and started attacking ponies. Doc had to answer as to why. “Maybe that big hunk of metal just got fed up with us,” He said with a smile.

Despite Doc’s lectures I still felt myself drowning in the questions still left unanswered. Why am I here? How did I get shot? Unicorns exist, so does magic exist as well? It must, if something called 'Megaspells' could be made. Why did everything go to shit? Oh yeah and still kind of a big one, WHO AM I?? At my twisted face, Doc started to fill in some aspects of who I was. I was a young unicorn mare (I have a horn?) with a white coat, and black and white hair. He said my eyes were dark green, like the grass that used to cover the landscape. He left it at that, which certainly felt intentional. Goddesses, I was so lost… Huh. The word ‘Goddesses’ slipped so naturally from my tongue, it must have been something I said often. DId deities even exist?

I thanked Doc for putting up with a bedridden mess like me. Even though I couldn’t see him, the shock radiating in his voice was immense. I don’t know why he did though, maybe he just hates self-pity? “T...thank you Domino, that… that means a lot.” Domino!! I finally knew my name! It was Domino… it was Domino? That sounds… odd. But still, it brought me some relief to know something more about myself.

“Uh you’re welcome, I guess?” I replied quizzically. I never thought he would be thanking me after everything he’s done for me. Even though I’ve felt humiliated, stuck on my bed with my eyes binded and my body too weak to move… I think I finally understand how sea cucumbers feel. Of course that’s the thing I remember. But at least they can move… lucky bastards.

He left me alone to rest, still stiff from my (apparently) shocking reply. For some reason, the fact that he wasn’t there made me uneasy in my own body. But I couldn't think about that right now. All my mind could focus on was drifting off into slumber…

<---------------oooo00000000oooo---------------->

Time seemed subjective as I lay there in my horrid, yet surprisingly comfy, cot-prison. It could have been days, weeks, maybe even a month. Or maybe it was just 4 hours, who knows. But after what seemed like an eternity of being treated by Doc for my wounds, he finally thought I was ready to stand up, and finally get off of my cot. Sweet celestia, was I ever!

“Alright, now try just taking a small step, jus’ one, and we can keep on goin’ from there.” Doc soothed at me.

Even though my legs felt like jelly wrapped in very, very thin paper, I wanted to be able to stand on my own right away, no training period. I must’ve been quite a stubborn pony I thought to myself, as I let out a weak “I got this, thanks.” Doc positively beamed at me as he stepped to the side, out of my way but still close by in case I needed help. The stubborn pony in me wanted to tell him to back away until I couldn’t tell which side of him was his flank, but the rest of me melted as soon as I saw the caring look on his face. The amount of care this total (At least to me) stranger put into such a meaningless pony… baffled me. From the glimpses of the world he had given me, this was not the type of place where good samaritans were as common as the not so good ones.

I sat up in my cot, getting ready to try and walk. Even doing that alone drained most of my energy. I prayed to the goddesses for my legs to not collapse under me as I raised a forehoof over the edge of it. I took a deep breath and slowly lowered it onto the weathered planks below me, and my leg… Actually supported my weight! MInd you it was shakier than a stallion with 15 bottles of whiskey in him, but hey, it was progress! I gingerly let it stay there a moment, testing its strength as I slowly brought my other forehoof forward.

“You’re doing great, keep on going.” Doc smiled at me. I really needed to figure out what was up with that pony.

I brought my hoof slowly to the floor to rest next to the other one, and much to my surprise, this one didn’t seem to give up on me either. I think I might be getting the hang of this! My overzealousness quickly came back to bite me in the flank as my legs gave out and I face planted straight to the floor. I could’ve sworn I heard gravity laughing at me. Doc started over to give me a hoof but I raised one of my own, telling him that I was alright doing this on my own. Even though I knew it was a bald-faced lie, it felt like something I had to do for myself. I slowly rose on my forehooves, getting back to a stable position. Then I carefully pulled one of my back legs out from under me, wincing at how sore they were from being so dormant for so long. I took a pause to stretch it out slowly. Then I took it over the edge, and placed it next to my other hooves. Once again, the strength of my legs when I felt like a twig about to snap surprised me. I took my final hoof off, and stood up using my own strength. I stood there for a moment, letting the strength that had been gone for so long finally come back to me. Unfortunately, it had other plans. I immediately flopped down onto my belly, shaking the floorboards with my legs splayed out to the sides of me. They finally gave up I guess. I didn’t particularly blame them.

“Whoops.” I mumbled apologetically. Doc just calmly trotted over to my side and helped me up, and this time I didn’t object. I sat up on my forehooves, and I was fairly content just staying like that for the next few years.

“You did wonderful, Domino.” Doc said softly. “Now how about taking off those bandages?” I still wasn’t used to hearing this foreign word. ‘Domino’... I was Domino.

I nodded as quickly as my injured neck would let me as Doc let out a small chuckle. I Couldn’t help it, I was just so ready to be out of this thing! I felt the gentle tug of magic pull at my wrapping as Doc started to unravel them. He started with the wrappings around my hooves, and worked his way up my body. I was so ready to finally take in my surroundings, but… I was also scared. Maybe this had something to do with past Domino, but I didn’t want to be taken out of the safety of the darkness. Not yet. But as I felt the last bandages slip away, I gulped down my fears and grit my teeth. I was ready for this. I had to be ready for this.

FInally, my face was free from the wraps. I felt the cool air touch my cheeks (well, the stale air). It felt heavenly, as if my head had been dunked into a bucket that was filled with pure air. My tattered spirits were immediately lifted. “You cn’ open your eyes now, Dom.” Oooookkay, I’ll have to ask him about that nickname I thought to myself. But I was most surprised that Doc had such a grave tone. He did it! I was finally standing on my own four hooves, and I was smiling for the first time in days! He should be happy, he should be giving me a giant hug, he should be-

And all at once, I knew exactly why he had the tone he did.

Now, since I woke up in the place that I did, my memories had been gone. Stolen from me by an enemy I couldn’t even see, let alone be mad at. But while I was recovering, I didn’t mind my empty head too much. It let me make my own conclusions about this place. Have my own thoughts about Doc. Be the pony I wanted to be. It was refreshing. However, that isn’t to say that my noggin was an empty void from the start. It still knew what food it liked and didn’t like, it knew how to breathe, it knew that heights made it queasy.

But most of all, it DEFINITELY knew only seeing out of one eye wasn’t correct.

The world slowly came into vision, blurry streaks of the cabin walls coming into… one of my eyes. Just one. I felt like I wanted to scream, yet I had no mouth to do it with. I slumped down against the floor as the realization slowly hit me. I guess I didn’t come out of this alright after all. Doc just gave a sympathetic look to me as I lay on the cabin floor. Even though my memories were gone, it still felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. It wasn’t fair. All of this was just not fair… “You, uh… came here with a bullet wound. Right in the eye. I thought you were right gone, but… here you are.”

“Domino?” Doc started walking up towards me gingerly. “You alright?”

I wanted to scream How do you think I’m fucking feeling???, but… as the words came to my lips I couldn’t bring myself to let them out. The anger just faded as soon as it came.

“I’m fine, just… overwhelmed.” I tried to give a smile that said ‘Hey I’m a strong mare, I’m just dandy!’ But what came out was closer to a grimace. Doc looked shocked for a moment, but it slowly melted away to a kindhearted look. He slowly laid down next to me, and I was so exhausted, emotionally and physically, that I didn’t hesitate at all when I felt his warm fur brushing against mine. And in that moment, he didn’t feel like a complete stranger anymore. Just someone who I could confide in. A friend, maybe even a father figure. My body responded in kind by melting into his hooves.

All my pain, and my frustration broke out of the emotional dam I had been building up without realizing it.

And I wept.

<---------------oooo00000000oooo---------------->

I sat on my haunches, teary eyed but hopeful for what was ahead.

After crying for a long while, I finally picked up whatever dignity I had left and sat up on the hard planks (After feeling like a baby and blushing profusely from embarrassment though, there wasn’t much left). Doc had stayed there for a while, not sitting too close, but still staying there to support me. From what I heard from this world, finding a colt as caring as him seemed one in a million. He stayed by my side for some time, helping me regain my strength. I didn’t mind the company as I ate stale food from tins and drank murky water, but I still found my throat dry and head empty of things to stay. Mostly he would only get a “yup” or a “nope” from me. But he didn’t seem to care too much, he was always beaming just seeing me recover.

And once I was back to a - somewhat - full state of strength, he gave me an odd yellow and blue jumpsuit with the number ‘13’ largely printed on the back. I tried to deny his provisions, as he emptied most of what he had left into my hooves. But I was still too weak to reject his overwhelming displays of kindness. He attached a weathered sling over my back that had pouches on either side, stuffing the provisions in them. Then, he gave me something called a ‘Pip Buck’. It looked like a bulky, metal watch that was easily double the size of a hoof. It clasped onto a pony’s foreleg, and a small screen lit up dead-center inside of it. At least, that’s what Doc said they were supposed to be. His looked like a rusty heap of horse apples to me. But from the reverence in his voice I knew it was something incredibly important. Everyone in our stable had gotten one, he told me, when they were of age. I was too young to receive one before we fled, which explained why my hoof was blank. They did all sorts of things - Inventory management, hacking, information storage… “It could probably kill a pony too, if it felt particularly peeved that day” he said with a wink. But this one was old and broken, useless for many years. Doc was confident that the internal memory was still intact though, and that if I could get it out, it might help me reveal some things about my past. “I was never much for fancy gadgets m’self,” He explained, “So I’m not quite sure how you get that data off of it. If ya’ even can, that is.” It sounded to me like he wanted me to get a piece of hay out of a needle stack, but I kept that comment to myself.

He gently laid the pipbuck into my saddlebags and closed them up tight. Then he strapped an eyepatch onto my head, further supporting my feeling of absolute uselessness. A little pony in my head started laughing and said Well looky here, now you can be the pirate of complete ineptitude! What will you plunder, chests full of nobody gives a shit? I promptly told that pony to shut its trap and gave a weak smile to Doc.

“Doc, I can’t…. I can’t even begin to…” but before I could find the words I wanted to say he pulled me in tightly to a hug. I got past my utter shock before reluctantly returning the hug. It’s not like I was ungrateful, but… I didn't think I’ve had any physical contact for a while now. I was not very good at it, to say the least. I got a feeling that I was the least popular mare in my stable.

“You don’t need to say nuthin’, Kiddo. Just seeing you a’ight makes my day.” I wouldn’t say I was ‘ok’ per se, but I couldn’t help but smile at this gentle colt sticking up for a basket case like me. “Now, listen here,” he started to say as he pulled away from the hug, “The world out there ain’t for the faint of heart.” He stared off into the distance. “I know how strong of a gal you are, but, well…” He swung his eyes back to mine, catching me off guard. “You don’t even got a clue.” Great, now he was calling me stupid. Seeing the look of sadness wash over my face, he smiled at me. “But hey, that just means you get to decide who you are. No preconceptions, no mistakes…” His eyes darkened as he uttered the next words, almost too faint to hear. “No bridges t’ burn.”

He trotted over and attached an old canteen to my saddlebags. “The wasteland is a big ol’ place. Surely there’s room for a mighty big personality.” He tightened all of my equipment to my jumpsuit, and at this point I was beginning to feel more like a pack mule than a pony (No offense, mules). “I hope you don’t forget about ol’ Doc. I’ll always be ready and waiting to patch you up when you catch a few scrapes or bruises.” He trotted over to the door, making for the handle. “Oh, and I’m rather prideful of ma’ handiwork. So do let me know if there’s anything out of place in there, will ya’?” He said with a sly wink. Well that definitely eased my worries.

“Are ya’ ready, Domino?” Doc asked, turning towards me.

I really could only think of one answer.

“No.”

He chuckled dryly at that. “Good!”

With a loud creak, the door slowly opened. I was finally going to get out of this cabin… and into the unforgiving new world ahead of me. Yikes. But I was willing to go, even if I wasn’t quite ready for what may lie ahead. I drew in my breath, and raised my head high.

Here goes nothing.

Footnote: Level Up.
Perk Gained: Resilience - You must have iron skin! +10% damage resistance

Author's Note

Yaayyy it's done! Hope you guys enjoyed it, please be BRUTALLY honest with my ass in the comments <3