Fallout Equestria: Endless Horizon

Chapter 14: Calm Minds and Firefly's

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

The first thing I noticed when I regained consciousness was the sound of water cutting through the eerie silence. No hum of lights or grinding of gears. Only deafening silence, broken by the steady fall of water striking my bare flank.

For once, waking to a leaking pipe above me was the least of my worries. I woke up in an alcove of a large cavern, separated from it by steel bars. My makeshift jail cell was only a few metres long and wide. Not only did it lack bedding, leaving me with only the hard uneven ground to sit or lay on, but no toilet or sink either. If anyone had ever been held here before, it wasn't for long.

I fought back the urge to vomit as I slowly pulled myself off the floor. My stomach was still churning from whatever gas they used on us. My muscles were weak, and my head throbbed just behind my ear. About where my seemingly useless neural stent was implanted, actually.

Far worse than being sick or injured, I was alone. As far as I could tell, at least. My EFS was down, leaving me blind to anything beyond my direct line of sight. My PipBuck was unresponsive; completely drained. Not only did they relieve me of my barding and supplies, but went so far as to disable my tech somehow.

Not a good start.

On the bright side, wherever I was being held wasn’t tainted. Not magically at least. There was plenty of dust in the air, and the asbestos and lead in the cavern walls were concerning to be sure, but I wasn’t being magically drained from the inside out. The cell was safe from magical contamination, but it was still a cell. My unknown captors had taken everything from me but my Pipbuck and necklace, leading me to believe they had terrible taste in jewelry.

Scarlet and Sky went down before me. They were probably somewhere nearby, needing my help. I scoffed and banged my head against the wall softly. “Who am I kidding… They’re always the ones that end up helping me. Still… better to try and get out than just sit on my haunches I guess.”

I moved to the metal bars locking me in for a closer look. The welds were crude at best, but no matter how much I pulled the metal refused to give. Maybe an earth pony would be strong enough to bend or break them, but I had very little chance. Hippogriffs aren't physically strong creatures already, and I was more known for hitting buttons than hitting the track.

The best can I could come up with was to call on a flame rune to weaken the metal or a cold rune to make it more brittle. Unfortunately, runes never communicated what I wanted correctly, so the effects were unpredictable. I could accidentally melt my face off, or freeze myself solid. I wasn’t nearly that desperate.

As I contemplated my freedom I got the feather-ruffling feeling I was being watched. Another scan of my surroundings revealed the culprit, hiding in plain sight outside of my cell. A familiar rock that somehow kept itself from being carried off with the rest of my gear. I know rocks don't have eyes, but I swear it was staring at me!

I sat down next to the bars and sighed. “I don’t know how I can get out of here Boulder. My weird brand of ancestral-spirit-blessed-rune magic is useless. My friends aren’t here to help. Friends other than you, I mean. You’re a special rock, but you can’t open doors.” The brazen little rock held its unseeing gaze, refusing to relent. Was I being judged by a rock? Or was it trying to tell me something? “I’m sorry, ok? I’m just not a gifted hen! Without my tools or my friends, my options are limited. All I can do is sit here and hope somepony finds me!” I punctuated my point with a little hiss. Uppity rock, thinking it knows everything.

“Aella, it’s been like three hours… You’re already mad enough to talk with rocks?” A forest-coated pegasus cantered into view outside my cell, concerned but entertained at my usual antics. I released tension in my body I hadn’t realized I was holding as I reached through the bars with a smile.

A smile he returned as he reached out to touch my claw. “Free! Thank the spirits. Where are we? You know what, I don’t care. Get me out of here?”

The pegasus looked over the ramshackle door to my cell with a frown. “Some guy in a patched-up rad suit has the keys. Probably a ghoul. He’s got control of the facility. Can you blast your way out?”

I shook my head. “No. Not unless we’re planning on having wings for dinner.” Free got noticeably greener at my dark joke. “I’d blast myself to the stars, and I’d rather avoid them thank you very much. I bet Sky or Scarlet could pick it. Have you seen them?”

He shook his head. “No, I lost track of them. Is that the key card… rock… key rock? I thought Scarlet had it.” Free asked as he noticed the enchanted stone on the floor, and scooped it up.

“It is, yeah! He was keeping me company. Not much of a conversationalist, but he’s a great listener.” I giggled. “Where are we? What happened to all the red mist?”

Free hoofed me the little rock as he explained. “Level four. We went through some kind of improvised airlock. Looks like they were expanding when the mega spells went off. Poor ghoul probably tried to finish the work all on his own.” He grumbled as he looked at the lock on my cell door. “Too bad the magic rock can’t get this open too. I’m worried about Scarlet and the alicorn.”

“Aww, somepony’s starting to like Skyyyy!” I teased. “You’re his frieeennnnnnd.” The buck scoffed and rolled his eyes. My amusement faded as I considered our situation again. I picked at the cold stone floor below. “You can’t get me out of here. As badly as I want you to stay so I won’t be alone, you need to find everyone. Scarlet and Sky can get me out of here, I’ll just… sit tight for now.”

Free frowned and rested a hoof against the bars. “Aella, are you sure? I know thi-”

“Yes, I’m sure!” The buck recoiled as I unfurled my wings. “I can sit tight for five minutes without having a meltdown or getting myself killed. I’m not helpless, ok!? So go save our friends. The faster you do that, the faster we can get me out of here.” I sat back on my haunches, the sudden flash of anger fading quickly as it came. “I-...I’m sorry. Just, trust me. You’re doing no good here.”

Free looked between my cell and the hallway, uncertain. “Ok… If you’re sure. I didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t handle things. You’ve already done plenty to prove yourself. You should be proud.” The soft clip-clop of hooves on stone echoed through the hall as he went deeper into the facility.

*** *** ***

We worried about what we’d find on level three. On the bright side, level four was completely free of contamination! It was a mess of storage rooms and manufacturing centers, mostly working on aluminum framing or turbine engines. The signs in the facility made it easy to navigate, pointing towards ‘TP loading and unloading,’ and ‘clinic,’ because apparently, the one on second wasn’t enough. We followed the signs toward the operations center.

Scarlet and Sky were already out when Free found them. In an impressive feat of spellcraft, the two horned horses combined their magical strength to knock down their cell’s door. Even better, the three ponies found our gear stored in the vacant security room. Most important of which was Scarlet's lucky screwdriver. Tool in hoof, the charismatic mare had no problem breaking me out of my prison of perpetual torment.

I felt a lot safer with my friends at my side and my tools on their belt. A shot of med-x from my saddlebags calmed my throbbing head and hoof. Free took a shot for himself as well, citing that his stump hurt worse than usual. He figured it was an effect of the extended Blood Ash exposure. It worried me.

“Even when you’re in pain you think of others… I’ll never understand you. You holding together?” Sky asked quietly as we trotted away from the makeshift cellblock.

“I’m ok, I think…” I answered slowly. At some point, the neural link in my skull rebooted. It was annoying more than anything, constantly trying and failing to connect to my pip-buck. In theory, it had other functions, but the unusual technology seemed basically useless. “Just… weird magic, you know? Not to mention being captured. I just want this to be over.”

”Tell me about it. My magic is a mess down here. Don’t worry, we just gotta ice the bad guy, find the magic dust shit, and get to the surface. Then we can get as drunk and high as we can be. It’ll be great!” Scarlet and Free glanced back at us from the sudden outburst, before continuing a muted discussion about how screwed we were.

Free led us to where he'd left Rumble, by one of several improvised airlocks that connected the basement to the rest of the bunker. It wasn’t much different than the one we’d gone through upstairs. A square room made of patchwork tarps running mouldy air filters. Far from perfect, but good enough.

It was also our way up to level three. Once we solved the air problem, we could take as many warriors as we needed to clear out whoever had taken over the place. Or heck, we could leave it all to Prime. Our contract said nothing about clearing out evildoers. And we really had to get back to finding a way to help my people…

Scarlet suggested we send Rumble through the airlock to scout the path ahead. Security didn't seem concerned with him, and he was more resistant to the energy-eating particulates than the rest of us. He bot eager to accept the task. Happy to keep us safe and do something important. While he forged ahead, we took a break to get some food and check over our wounds again. Everyone other than his own, that is.

-🖂︎🖂︎🖂︎-

I almost have it. I have to. Two metals, the same in every way but effect. One, with such a narrow resonance frequency that nearly no creature can manipulate it. One that can modulate and even amplify the magical resonance of any input! It’s suspiciously similar to a certain early prototype that the Ministry of Peace was working on a while back…

I can use it. I can make an energy source more powerful than anything anycreature has seen. The power of a spark generator but small enough to fit into a weapon. A spell matrix with variable output, devices capable of casting any unicorn spell with a simple software adjustment! Magic, gems, coal, things of the past. The future is this; my zero-point capacitor. Once I work out the bugs…

This will not be like the tests I did in Beakini Atoll. The failure of that experiment caused massive damage to the area and took up much of my funding to contain. So long as it remains so, Mt. Aris and the zebras will be none the wiser.

The two metals do not get along. Not even slightly. The reaction isn’t as violent as we’ve seen with other astral materials, but it is infuriating! They negate one another's effects, rather than work together as I’d hoped. If I understood what made them so different I could find a workaround… For now, I am limited to trial and error.

I can show them all I’m not some half-wit. You don’t need a horn to do magical study. To have power. Aurora Star. Gestalt and Mosaic. Trottenheimer. I’ll show them all.

Doctor Arcane Glow,

Theoretical Imagineering,

C.I.A.T.

*** *** ***

It was brilliant. Terrifying. The source of every nightmare that plagued my fledgling dreams. Now I knew what it looked like.

Suspended magically in the center of the laboratory was a Mobius Strip. A geometrical oddity. A two-dimensional shape in three-dimensional space. An alien configuration that turned into itself, giving it one endless surface in the fitting shape of infinity. Gems and talismans graced its unending surface, connected by an array of indented lines in the metal, some thin as a hair. The divots and gems radiated an angry red that cast the room in an ominous hue.

It was a prototype power source. The Zero Point Capacitor. A mix of Cosmic Steel and Starmetal, in an array that was supposed to generate a powerful arcane amplification field. One strong enough to power countless homes, possibly multiple cities. Or to destroy an entire nation.

Doctor Arcane Glows notes were limited. A small notebook loaded with complaints about other scientists and how their discoveries were foalish and unworthy of praise. I pocketed the entire book, though only a few pages had any useful information. It wasn’t much, but it taught me more about Blood Ash than anycreature had figured out in over a century. The terrible spellcraft that turned my home into a desolate wasteland was a pony megaspell as we thought, but not one built to destroy. Just a failed experiment that could have solved Equestria’s energy crisis and ended the war. One that while simplistic and flawed, wasn’t terribly far off from how the cities of Mt. Aris were kept heated and lit. So, it was very easy for me to see where she’d gone wrong.

The scientist had no idea what forces she was trying to manipulate. She overlooked how delicate the balance has to be to work with such potent magic, so sensitive even someone's spark could tip the scale. Her greed and envy corrupted it. 200 years later, it was left dying. The metal cracked and discoloured. Gems chipped and flickering. A sickly aura hung around it, assaulting my senses with steady pulses of vertigo.

Many creatures put themselves into their work, but few realized how literal that can be. When someone works hard enough or is strong enough, they can leave an imprint of themselves on the object. A reflection of their essence; their magical signature. Even a part of their soul.

The relic mirrored the most bitter aspects of Doctor Glow. The mare's insecurities corrupted her creation as surely as they did herself, creating a lonely, obsessive, hateful entity. As terrible as the unholy mess of half-dead metal and flawed magic was, I felt terribly sorry for it. The methods of its creation left it in a perpetual state of discontent and suffering. Always starving for whatever magical energy it can manage to steal but never able to sate itself. Like a changeling or Basilisk. And like such creatures, it could only feed on energy similar to its own. Enough time without usable fuel, it would wither and die.

The lab was supposed to be sealed with a heavy blast door, coupled with a thinner inner door to act as an airlock. A common and effective set-up when the failsafes work. They hadn’t. The layer of dust around the blast doors suggested the door had been wide open since Equestria fell. An entire facility felled by a damaged actuator. With how much ‘state-of-the-art’ garbage the facility was dressed up with, I wasn’t surprised.

Other than the relic of apathy in the center of the room the lab was standard. Beakers, burners, measuring equipment, spinny separatey things. Stuff Aqua would have been able to name or use.

Surrounding the relic was a weak containment field. Cracks spidered across the translucent blue field, allowing the contaminants to run free. Bits of red dust fell from several of the blackened crystals. Back home the toxic substance was usually washed away by rain, where it slowly broke down and died in the ocean. In the sealed bunker it could only be recirculated through the air vents.

“This thing is so weird…” Sky commented as he looked over the cursed object. The source of so much suffering and torment. Scarlet nodded beside him, the fellow magic user equally disturbed by the Zero Point Capacitor. Meanwhile Free looked over the long narrow window at the far center of the room, covered over by metal shudders. It made zero sense to have a window in an underground facility, but I was too distracted to question it.

“Pulse Polymer…” I muttered softly to myself, drawing confused looks from them both. “The name. Of the material. Pulsar is like… a rare type of star. And a polymer is a material made up of more than one thing. So the name… Um… y-yeah.” I stammered in explanation.

“Find it in your new little notebook?” Sky asked as his ear twitched. His horn was flaring as he tried to focus his magic on the Pulse Polymer, but each attempt ended with the magic quickly evaporating. “Ugh, it doesn’t like magic!” He complained. I shrugged at his question. Sure, that’s as good of an answer as any. Better than explaining how sometimes information just appears in my brain.

The sound of a motor drew everyone's attention. Free smiled as the steel shutter over the window lifted away, flooding the lab with artificial light. The buck's eyes widened as he gazed out, stunned into silence. Sky was just as in awe from Free’s thoughts. His expression grew into a massive grin.

Scarlet and I bolted to the window to see what the bucks found so much more impressive than the strange work of magic we uncovered. “Holy shit…” Scarlet muttered as we followed our medic friend's gaze. It suddenly made a lot more sense why there was a window. And why it had a shutter.

“My gods…” I marvelled. Somehow the megaspell and magical poison artifact weren’t the biggest surprises of the day.

*** *** ***

Entry 3.

I hate it here. I hate her for assigning me to this craptastic hole in the ground. Why did they even build this place underground? Nowhere to fly! In a base for pegasi?! What kind of moron came up with that? The MoA finally gets the weather problem solved with their SPP, I’m finally going to get to fly for Equestria! I was the top cadet in the Wonderbolt Academy! Until Rainbow got me kicked out on my flank… Element of loyalty. Yeah right. Now I finally have my shot to fly with the best, in actual combat, and she assigns me to a production plant!? I don’t give a damn how special this crap we’re working on is, I’m not a desk jockey! I never shoulda left The Washouts to enlist. ‘Join the army, see the world, be a hero!’ What a load of pony shit!

-Lighting Dust. Not that anypony even cares!

Entry 13

Ok, so the Cloudship is pretty great… They took the tech developed for the SPP and turned it into some kind of experimental weather canon for her. Just lightning and wind wherever it strikes. More importantly, they’re making me the captain! They wanted someone who knew the thing inside and out. And trust me, I have walked every inch of that place through the construction. Not much else to do around here…

Now instead of aimlessly wandering halls while I signed off on inventory reports and overtime contracts, I get to comb through the 300 pegasi recruits and transfers in the hopes I’ll find 50 ponies I can stand living with on a warship for months at a time. Obviously, Rolling Thunder and Short Fuse are in, but other than that I don’t know…

-Captain Lightning Dust, I guess.

Entry 14

Almost got my damn head blown off by that new head of security. Apparently, level 3 is off-limits in the base that I’m supposed to be overseeing. What the fuck? Rainbow isn’t emailing me back. Apparently has more important shit to do. Such horse shit! I swear I’m the least informed pony on base and I’m in charge of it!

The H.M.S. Firefly should be ready for its first flight out by the Grand Galloping Gala. Pinkie and RD thought it’d be a good time to show off the new ships we’ll be rolling out. Show off our military might and whatever. More importantly, she’s letting me have my guys do an air show! The others are thrilled! Now we just gotta go through my recruits and see if any of them have the chops to cut it with the best of us. An air show to pump us up, a few tweaks back at base, and we’ll be ready for the front lines! Every Zebra in the country will know the name Lightning Dust!

-Captain Lightning Dust

Entry 19

We’re not… going to be performing at the 3G. The call came in 15 minutes ago. Omega-Leve Threat Protocol. Everypony is evacuating to the nearby stables. Most of the staff left the base a few hours prior due to the chemical leak on three. We can’t let them back in… Even if we could, only the Firefly has breathable air. It could take months to clean out level four, and that’s if we don’t run out of food before the engineers are done. I feel like my wings are clipped.

One of the soldiers suggested launching the Lightning Wing and making a run for Yakyakistan or Saddle Arabia. I almost shot him out of principle. Bad enough the pink cloud in Canterlot got as far as it did. Whatever they were developing here… Containing it is our first priority.

Entry 29

food gone. reactor leaking. big mess. to many rads. think im dying. coats falling out, and my skin’s flaking and peeling. feels like im on fire! i never dreamed radiation sickness could be like this… i gave the radaway and rad-x we had left to the others. ordered them to seal the vents and doors on level one. once the source is contained, theyll go to Stable 14. i pray to Celestia that the overmare lets them in. good ponies. dont deserve to die.

I’m going to just… rest for a minute.

*** *** ***

It was amazing. A feat of engineering that I could only dream of. Sleek, long, light. I knew them from books and stories, but actually seeing one up close, intact? Incredible. It looked nearly as well preserved as the day it was built! Unlike the rest of the facility, damp and dirty as it slowly rusted away.

Taking up one of the facilities’ four massive hangers was an honest to gods Raptor. The source of war-ridden Equestria’s aerial superiority. An airship, armed with weapons so powerful they could slay dragons! The cloud generators and levitation talisman that allowed it to fly were offline, letting us see the strong armoured haul and advanced weapons system unimpeded. A massive vehicle of black steel, with orange detailing. Half a dozen small turrets graced each side, with a massive energy cannon mounted on the bow. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. The gems along it looked like containment talismans, so whatever actually powered the canon was inside somewhere. The ship’s loading bay was open, giving us a small look at the vessel's massive cargo bay. Various other portholes and hangers were locked shut along the sides, with turrets fixed above and below them. It was amazing. Unbelievable. Impossible! It was-! It was…

“Terrible… It’s bad enough the enclave factions still have some of these things, but at least they keep their fighting mostly to the skies. One of these things roaming the wastes… Prime wouldn’t hesitate to turn these weapons on those he disagrees with. Even the New Canterlot Republic would have a hard time taking something like this on. If it was supported, they’d have no chance.” Scarlet said as she looked down at the terrifying weapon.

“You’re right…” I breathed softly. “They can’t get their hooves on this.” Just like that, our mission got even more complicated.

*** *** ***

The bridge of the ship was as impressive as I expected. Split into an upper and lower area. The lower area had banks of monitors and interfaces where operators could track and adjust nearly all the ship's systems. The upper area had the captain's chair sat behind an ornate steering wheel, flanked by a dozen levers and peddles. It all looked out the massive glass cockpit, looking out over the glorious bow of the ship.

Holographic displays could be brought up along the upper half of the windows, imprinting important engineering and combat data for the Captain and Crew to access easily. It was far more advanced than what I expected from Equestrian technology and scarily efficient. Just a dozen operators in the ship, plus maybe a few engineers to work repairs and upkeep, and you could take on a small army.

Of course, that’s why we had to make sure it wouldn’t fly. Which is easier said than done when there’s a ghoul pony aiming a magical laser pistol at your head, but I was confident! I may have gotten too distracted reading through the captain's private terminal to notice her sneaking up behind me… I may have also sent my friends to the ships med bay to try and make enough Pre-Store for us to get out of hell's basement alive! Scarlet figured it was fine because the room only has one entrance for me to watch.

…I got bored after 48 seconds. I know, because I later found out my friends were betting on how long it would take me to get distracted by so much tech. Sky won, with a guess of 53 seconds.

From the few hairs she still had poking out around her hooves and shoulder, her coat was blue when she was alive. One eye was covered over with a light blue patch, but otherwise, she seemed unharmed. She didn’t have much of a mane left, though her orange eye was almost the same shade as her captain's hat. She wore a dull grey military uniform, covered in patches and stars that had no meaning to me. A pair of featherless wings were outstretched as she kept her body low, ready to fight at the drop of a feather.

“How’d you get out of your cell? This is a secure facility! As if the mass defection wasn’t bad enough, now we have infiltrators breaking in! Best pray to Luna that Dash gets ahold of you before the Ministry of Moral does. I’ve seen what they do to ponies… It’s… you… are not a zebra…”

The feathers on my head folded back as I stared down her barrel. Was everyone so casual with weapons they were comfortable speaking with a firing bit in their mouth? One wrong move and my head would go splat! Though at the moment, I was more concerned with how she was acting. Hand me over to the MoM? Or Rainbow Dash? And thinking I was a zebra... It was almost heartbreaking. I hadn’t met many ghouls, but I’d learned enough in my reading and radio listening to know the signs of one losing themselves. She’d probably been alone since the megaspells. Nothing but her own thoughts, and a facility slowly falling apart around her.

“I’m Aella. Aella Breeze. I’m a hippogriff, from Mt. Aris. We’ve never been enemies of Equestria, but we used to do trade and stuff! Though apparently, at least one pony stole our sacred metals… t-that’s not important! I’m not a spy or anything! I’m a smart mare: if I were a spy we would have been far less conspicuous. We’re here to help. You’re Lightning Dust, right? From the terminals? You’re the Captain of the Firefly… You were going to take it out for a show, but there was an attack.”

“The… The megaspells… I… I’m sorry, I think…” Her expression became sullen as she pieced it all together. After the tensest seconds of my life, the pegasus slipped her pistol back into its holster. “I was in a daze there for a while. I’m sorry if I caused you and your friends any problems. How did you all get… down… Oh no… No no no, the door! Tell me you morons didn't let it out!” She rushed over to me and planted her hooves on my shoulders, eyes wide with fear.

“N-n-no it’s ok! It’s secure, nothing has leaked past level one.” I assured her with a smile, trying not to wretch from her rotten scent. “You did it. Your team did it. It’s contained. Everything is safe.” The mare gave a relieved sigh as she stepped back, leaving my shoulders sore. She was surprisingly strong for a pegasus ghoul! “How did you survive down here all this time? What happened? Your logs stop after your crew leaves for the stable!”

She sighed and motioned her head towards the door. “It’s a long story. Come on, we can discuss it over tea. After we find your friends, so I can apologize for the mixup. It’ll be… nice to have guests after so long.”

*** *** ***

“So… You’re an alicorn princess buck, created by a ministry experiment, and there’s… bunches of you alicorns just flying the unfriendly skies?” Lightning Dust asked, pointing a hoof at Sky. He nodded slowly.

Lighting brought us to the Firefly’s cafeteria so we could sit and talk. She didn’t have any food to offer us, but she had an impressive collection of teas. More importantly for me, she had Coffee! SO. MUCH. COFFEE! Needless to say, I was very happy as I held a steaming cup of sweet creamy goodness in my talons. Sky drank a homebrewed alcohol named for Princess Luna herself. Lightning Dusk said that moonshine had been enjoyed by the Equestrian Navy for over a thousand years, though not officially. I was too afraid to ask what was in it. Free, Scarlet, and the ghoul captain herself were enjoying mugs of green tea.

The ghoul's hoof pointed to Scarlet next. “You’re an escaped slave, wearing the hardware to honour those who you couldn’t save.” The mare glanced down at her own military uniform, kept clean and intact by her even after 200 years. “I suppose I can understand that. And you,” Then she moved her gaze to Free. “You’re a field medic whose entire squad deserted, but to help ponies?" The buck flinched at that. "Which is what Rainbow Dash did 200 years ago, and how she died... Stupid bitch.” She wore a nostalgic smile as she thought back. “Here I’ve been watching my post for 200 years like a moron, heh.” Finally, me. “And you’re… a neurodivergent mechanic, who’s also a ship captain.”

“Mechanic doesn't quite cover it, I'm trained in many other fields as well. So um... Listen, I get this is probably a lot to take in, I-”

“A lot to take in?” Lightning cut me off with a laugh. “Kid, I’m an undead pony with rotten skin and a taste for radiation. I’m the weirdest part of this equation, trust me. A bunch of freaks who embrace what makes them different, instead of trying to conform? That’s the story of my fucking life. And my crew. You’d have all gotten along well with them. Especially you.” She said with a wink to Scarlet.

“Guess it’s time to tell you all my story…” She took her hat off with a sad sigh and sat it down on the table. “We were low on food when everyone left… Just scraps, really. This place wasn’t designed to be a fallout bunker, so we weren’t stocked like one. We only had a few weeks' worth of supplies on hoof. Which was stupid… This bunker could have saved at least a few hundred if it was properly stocked, and not filled with poison.

“The radiation sickness got worse. I felt the end coming. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear. There was only pain. But somehow I recovered. So I got up and got back to work. I secured level four from whatever evil Doctor Glow created. Did my best to keep things clean and maintained. I lost track of time. I didn’t even eat anymore! I had no idea anything was wrong with me until I saw myself in a mirror. Some kind of freak burn victim or something. It was hard to accept, but I made the best of it. At least now I know there’s a word for what I am, heh. A ghoul. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t believe it. Mare always thought I’d get myself killed doing something stupid. I thought so, too! Fate is a bitch, killing her and leaving me here alive.

“I got the odd transmission over the coms in the bridge, but it was always too garbled to make out. After… 6 months maybe, they stopped altogether. That’s when I assumed everyone was dead. I tried to take care of the base, and maintain discipline. But over time I lost myself… Sometimes I forget things about my past or the world. Eventually, I forgot the present. I got… lost in a memory from before.” Lightning Dust’s eyes met mine as she smiled. “And then you found me. I have a few questions, too. What happened out there? How long has it been? You’re not a military group… Why come down here?”

Her question was met with fidgeting limbs and nervous glances. No one wanted to be the bearer of bad news, especially after everything she’d been through. But it would have been wrong to keep her in the dark. I did my best to explain everything, with my friends filling in many of the gaps. The Enclave, project safehouse, Red-Eye, everything. I even told her about how the zebra tribes are still managing to get by, as fractured and at one another as many of the tribes were.

She was disheartened to hear how far her fellow pegasi had fallen, most of all. Lightning was very clear about the fact that she joined the army for glory, but she still understood what it was about. Fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. The Enclave gave up on Equestria and its people. She wanted nothing to do with them in turn.

I told her of the good things in the wasteland, too. The Lightbringer, The Shrouded Stallion, the little pegasus who helped liberate Fillydelphia. How so many heroes risked life and limb to make the wasteland a better place! The thriving towns I’d seen across the wasteland, like Skyward, Whinnies Grove, and of course Vision! Places where creatures survived, thrived and raised families. She finally cut me off in the middle of explaining the social issues of the city above.

“I’m sure I can guess. It’s a settlement surrounded by wasteland. I’m sure they’ve had to do questionable things to stay alive. I’d even bet… Oh, fucking hell… Those stupid bastards used it, didn’t they?” We knew exactly what she meant. We heard the rumours. We saw the chamber Vision had access to. There was no doubt they used the mysterious megaspell back on level one numerous times. No sense in hiding or lying about it.

“That’s how they kept other settlements in line, it… We… Dear Celestia, I should have disabled the fucker. Be lying if I said I wouldn’t have done the same thing, though.” Lightning grabs the moonshine jug from Sky’s midnight blue aura and takes a long draw, then passes it back. “They couldn’t get the damn thing to work right so they gave up on it. Sold what they learned to some college for experimental tech, and the MoA took over. Not surprised they didn’t disarm it. Plenty of times when less than ethical weapons were used. May as well keep one more on reserve.”

“Yeah, they’ve used it a few times. For self-defence and shows of force, mostly. That doesn’t mean they won’t use it offensively at some point, though. We don’t know exactly what it is or how it works. Could you fill in the gaps?” I ask softly, suddenly very curious if ghouls can get inebriated.

Lightning Dust chuckled. “It was shut down before I even enlisted, but I heard stories. A pony supercharger. It was supposed to amplify their talents, their skills, and their magic. Take what they are and turn it to eleven. It turned those poor fucks up to 11,000. Super fast, strong, and self-healing like something out of a comic book. The issue was the ponies themselves. Apparently, that much power in a pony host is “unsustainable.” The raw magic ate up their bodies and burned out their souls.

The more I learned about the MoA bunker, the more I hated it. Deadly spell matrix experiments, horribly destructive megaspells, and an airship with more firepower than half the Steel Rangers combined. It was just one facility! How many more like it could be out there, hiding weapons and dangers that we couldn’t even imagine!?

And to develop a weapon that could destroy souls? I didn’t even know such a feat was possible! Souls were permanent! Indestructible! Sure there were a few zebra alchemists and shamans who learned to take off slivers of a soul, but to actually destroy one? It couldn’t be real. It had to be a metaphor. Or misinformation. But my scientific mind did reason… If it was true, it would explain why and how the spell left no evidence after being used.

“We can’t destroy it, it’s not an option.” Sky reminded me before my mind could run off too far. “Vision is powerful, and we can’t make an enemy of them.” The ghoul was a bit concerned that the megaspell still functioned, but understood we were in no position to tamper with it.

Lightning Dust turned the subject towards the other terrifyingly powerful bit of arcane tech in the bunker. “Your mission is to capture the facility for them, and I understand why you need to. But I’m not surrendering the Firefly. Least of all to them. I’d rather not have to detonate its engine either. You got a plan, Captain Egghead?” She asked me with a smile.

“I’m working on it…” I admitted. “I already decided: detonating it isn’t an option. The explosion could damage the facility, and we can’t risk the Blood Ash getting outside. We could strip some of the key components to brick it, but I’d still rather not do that to your home. I don’t know how to stop the Zero Point Capacitor, either… It’s self-powering, so that makes it hard. I can’t just start pulling off gems and talisman without knowing how it all works. Even if I had proper design schematics or notes on its development, I’m not even sure I’d be able to understand it. It’s on another level.”

Lightning crossed her hooves on the table and leaned forward. “It’d be sad to lose the old girl after she’s taken care of me for so many years… but seeing it used to hurt ponies sounds worse. I’ll do what I can. I know this place better than anypony.” She frowned and looked us over again. “But… there’s no way to turn that thing off. I’ve tried. The containment field isn’t reparable, and the blast door is completely fucked.”

“What about the window shutters?” Frees question drew several confused looks. “The window had a blast cover. Observation windows in hangers always got ‘em, to protect the glass during tests and launches. Do you think the seals are good?”

My confusion faded as the pieces clicked into place and the gears turned. The answer was staring us in the face! The only question was how to go about it! “That… Free that’s brilliant!” I said with a happy giggle. My friends laughed and leaned away from me as my wings fluttered in excitement, nearly hitting them. “And the fourth floor is already secured, it’s perfect! We can solve both problems with one decisive action!”

Sky sat down his moonshine and gave us both a sideways glance. “Ok, but we still can’t move it. It’s stuck behind a barrier we can’t disable. Even if we do get through, I have it on good authority you can’t levitate Starmetal. It’s magic resistant.”

Lightning Dust raised a brow at Scarlet, but the unicorn was just as lost and confused as she was. The cloudship Captain looked between Sky, Free, and me several times before she finally (and loudly) cut in. “You eggheads gonna let the rest of us in on this? Or do I have time for a roll in the hay with red here while you nerd out?”

The implication of LD sleeping with Scarlet made Sky and I narrow our eyes at the ship's captain. I had to stifle a hiss, while Sky ground his hoof on the table hard. Scarlet looked disturbed by the comment until she noticed us. Something about our reactions made her smile.

“It’s a joke. Dear Celestia guys.” Lightning threw her hooves up in the air as she rolled her eyes. “You two are bigger sticks in the mud than Mud Briar… You won’t know who that is. Just, all you gotta know is that he sucked, and a lot of people didn’t like him. Now, what is this plan?”

“Well… It probably won't get us all killed?” Sky started off, receiving scowls from Free and I. “Ok, fine. It’s a good plan, it just has… kinks. Let me lay it out.”

*** *** ***

“I’ve… never even heard of someone trying to do this. And you hear a lot of shit in a hivemind with 100s of over ponies.” Sky cautioned next to me. “I trust you Captain, but umm….”

“Oh, it’ll be fine! I’m a great engineer, and the science is sound!” I assured him with a smirk as I trotted up to the flickering barrier that housed the ominous-looking megaspell of death.

I spent several hours trying to figure out how to bypass a barrier that was designed not to be. With the spell matrix damaged there was no safe way to override it. Cutting the power seemed to work for a moment, but it lit back up a moment later as if it switched to a new source. No way the relic in front of me could have done it, right…? The metal was just an empty vessel. Even if a powerful star spirit did inhabit it, it wouldn’t be able to just reach out and do things like that.

…Like how there was no way the material could put its name in my head. I shook the thought off quickly. Stressing over what you can’t control is unproductive. I had to focus on what I could control.

The solution to the impenetrable barrier was a little black box held in my claw, built mostly from parts of a taser and portable radio.

An overcharged spark pack ran into two metal prongs, one of which was a cosmic steel alloy, all controlled by a simple button on top. It was crude and basic, but pleasantly simple. If I had to design a spell array to modulate the frequency, we would have been screwed. It’d take me days to do that from scratch with my own equipment. The repair facilities on level four were somewhat lacking, and very poorly maintained.

“It’s a simple counterspell! Or functions on counterspell theory… I tuned the Cosmic Steel to the counter frequency of the barrier. When the two make contact the spell will fail, and the matrix running it dies out. Easy breezy!”

“You haven't tried something like this before Aella, this is all theoretical. I know you have a lot of confidence in your skills, but-”

“-But we won’t know if it’ll work without testing it! Then if it fails, we can make adjustments. I’m using gem rods rather than a spell matrix because it’s easier to adjust! Sometimes older tech is what the job calls for.”

Sky sighed and sat down near the ruined blast door, leaving me to my reckless experimentation. I admit I got overexcited. I often do! I’d never gotten to design and build something from scratch before! My work as a technician was primarily in repair, even if they gave me some of the tougher repairs they officially only assigned to engineers.

“Cross your claws…” I muttered as I touched the contact points and pushed the button. A brilliant flash filled my vision, as the two spell energies collided and fought against one another. Any second, it would fade and the barrier would be gone. Any second. …Any second.

Apparently, I made a mistake somewhere. Because the light only grew brighter. Stronger. A wall of magical resonance that screamed in my ears and blinded my eyes. Waves of chaotic energy surged through me, lacking any function or meaning. Horrible, nauseating feedback I couldn’t hope to escape. I covered my feathered ears with my claws, but it was hopeless. It was inside of me. Completely overwhelming my senses. I didn’t even feel myself hit the floor when my legs crumpled under me. The taste of copper filled my beak. Then everyone fell away.

*** *** ***

Disagreements were common. Outright fights less so. At least they were predictable. The beginning of every moon. Always in the kitchen. Always with my report card on the table between them. More often than not soaked in mother’s shameful tears. I didn’t understand the specifics, but I knew they fought over me.

“Stratus is perfectly fine the way he is! You’re putting too much pressure on-”

“He was supposed to be strong! Powerful, like us, like his sister.” A shrill voice my father off before he could speak. Words flew like daggers, seeking crimson satisfaction. “You lied to me, to the Elders, to everyone! You told everyone that stupid implant prototype would correct his impairments, but he’s useless! He can’t write, he can’t do magic. He should have been a prodigy! Our children would have changed the world, but you screwed us! If you had kept your beak between June Berry’s legs where it belongs so I could abort the pregnancy we could have tried again!

Insults and accusations tore through the kitchen like machine gun fire, sending a small innocent hippogriff diving for cover behind the couch in the living room nearby. They had no clue I was there. Caught in the crossfire of their articulate warfare on the way to the toilet.

It was my first time near the battlefield. I had only ever heard them fight from my room before. Safely hidden under my blankets or held tight in my sister's hooves. But Aqua was asleep upstairs. A million miles away. Unable to care for or comfort me. I was alone. Each flare of Mother’s powerful horn made me wince and whimper. Animosity clung to her magic like mud.

It would be ok. I was always ok. I’d get back upstairs. Where it was safe. File the experience deep in my mind. Somewhere it couldn’t hurt me. Life would go back to normal. But in the moment there was no escape. I was helpless. Curled in a little ball under the coffee table. Claws held over my ears. Desperately pretending I was somewhere else. Someone else.

“There is nothing wrong with my son! The only wrong here is us! Our system, our governance! We’ve lost sight of everything that matters. If Queen Skystar saw us terminating pregnancies and killing infants because they diverge from us, Sh-”

“She wouldn’t understand, Jet! We are the last of our species. This settlement, this island is a powder keg. Every single creature here needs to meet standards, otherwise, food production falls, systems fail, and creatures die! You risked everything with that stupid lie you told, and now we’re stuck raising that… that re-!"

"Seatide!"

"He is nothing but a disappointment! Not only does he underperform in almost every area, but he distracts his sister from her own studies. Aqua is brilliant. She has better things to do with her time than console her emotionally volatile sibling.”

It was too much. I had to get away. I fled as quietly as I could. Did my best to ignore the sting as insults glanced off my emotional armour. Mothers disappointment. Failed expectations. Tears burned my young fragile eyes as I crept up the stairs.

Hearing her compare me to Aqua… In that moment I resented her. Hated even. She was perfect. She never got in trouble. She could master every spell. Past every test. The top of her class. Great. Powerful. Everything I should have been. Everything I wasn’t.

I fled to the solace of my nest. Buried myself under a mountain of fluffy blankets. The fluffy fabric surrounding me would protect me. It muffled their voices. Surely it would dull the sting of their words, too. I held tight to a stuffed Twilight Sparkle I’d later behead during a particularly difficult meltdown. And I’d pretend everything was ok. That I was more than a burden. That I had a family that loved me.

*** *** ***

A rhythmic ticking drew me from my nightmare. A shivering ball of sweaty fur and feathers under musty blankets. After images of a dream, I couldn’t quite remember faded as I blunk tears from my eyes. I was alone, resting in a bedroom barely large enough for a single cot and a desk. The pleasantly familiar hum of air vents and the rhythmic high-pitched drone of electrical wires eased any rising concerns. Small spaces, air pumps, slightly angled walls… My friends moved me to a little bunkroom onboard the Firefly.

I felt lightheaded and fuzzy, and my right foreleg burned. ‘Peripheral disconnected’ was all EFS had to say about the situation. My Pipbuck was dead; the screen cracked, and the casing warped and blackened. It would take me hours to get it working again without spare parts from my workshop. Of course, the stupid, useless chip in my brainstem hadn’t been affected by the arcane pulse, leaving me with an annoying message flashing in my vision until I got my Pippy restarted. Neural implants weren’t uncommon back home, but mine was special. Unique in that, other than some added functionality with my PipBuck 4000, it was useless.

My muscles burned in protest as I sat up. My body was sore, and my coat was frizzy. My mess of a mane hung over my eyes to obscure my vision. The feathers along my right claw had burnt up. All I could smell was ozone. At least my hearing was ok. I was surprisingly unscathed by the accident. My cracked hoof was still bothering me, but away from the Blood Ash, it was healing well.

“Ugh… that didn’t go to plan,” I muttered as I pulled myself out of bed. The device I built was probably ruined. An opening door pulled me from my thoughts of what exactly went wrong. The door was on a motor, but it opened sideways rather than upward. An automated door that could still function manually. So much better than the Stable-Tek-designed garbage. An exhausted-looking alicorn stood in the open doorway, this one designed to open horizontally instead of upwards. It was a small improvement over the Stable-Tek design at least.

Sky trotted in with a pillow tucked under his wing, and a cup of what I hoped was coffee levitating next to him. In my wounded and burnt-out state I couldn’t feel the smallest tingle of his magic at work in front of me. It was concerning, but not unexpected. The pulse had interfered with my innate magic, not unlike a disruption grenade attacking a spell matrix. I’d be back to normal eventually.

The buck gave a respectful nod and a brief smile as he took a seat at the desk. He took a slow sip of his coffee, deliberately building the tension before he spoke. “Hey Captain, remember when I asked if it was a good idea, and you were all, ‘trust me, it’ll be fine, it’s easy!’? Your thingy overloaded. A bolt of lightning flung you clean out of the room. You’re lucky your PipBuck took most of the jolt, without it Free is positive it would have fried your heart. I can’t decide if you’re the least lucky pon-er-creature I’ve ever met or the luckiest.

“What is it with me and lightning…” I rubbed my temples as I complained, doing my best to ignore the alicorn's long-winded I told you so. “Where is everyone else? How long was I asleep?”

“Half a day, or so. Free and Lightning are in the clinic, getting more of that Pre-Store goop made. Scarlet and Rumble are going through the hangar storerooms for anything that could be useful. I’m not great at medicine, fixing shit, or sorting piles of metal so… Nap time.”

I tried to ignore the wave of vertigo as I stood up, then gave the buck a small nod. “I’ll um… be in engineering working on my PipBuck… try to come up with a new plan.”

The engine bay of the Raptor class warship was massive. 6 spark generators, 4 energy transferring arrays, tall towers firing lightning into the conduits in the ceiling. A modest bank of computers, and a plethora of manufacturing equipment. Most of it was for weapons construction and maintenance, but a few CNC mills and some metalworking equipment were set up for making replacement ship parts.

I slipped my PipBuck off my wrist with a small sigh. I tried so hard to take good care of it, only for it to blow up because of my own stupidity. So annoying. They didn’t have many talismans or spell matrices’ that were PIpBuck compatible, so I’d have to do my best to repair what I already had.

So I got to work. The casing was dented and spots of paint were burned away, though still in one piece. The internals were a mess, but I managed to get them wired so the device could at least turn on. To that end, Lightning Dust lent me her old suit of power armour to restart the spell matrix. It was rusted and worn, but still operable. It was far sleeker and lighter than the steel ranger version, made from some kind of composite polymer rather than heavy steel. It was painted jet black, with the odd flourish of orange to match the mare's mane. Her cutie mark was even stencilled onto the flanks! Twin novasurge rifles not unlike my own were mounted in place, though their power supplies were completely drained. If I had some time I wanted to get the armour into working order. Maybe wire the rifles into the main power supply so reloading wouldn’t pose any issue like Steel Wings weapons.

When I pressed the button on top, it lit right up. Neural integration was damaged, as were the automapping and locator tag spells. Inventory sorting and SATS only worked intermittently. It would get me by until the nightmare of the forsaken bunker was over.

I continued to clean and troubleshoot the tiny computer, my mind wandering to the issue of the magical barrier upstairs. Obviously, it’d be harder than I thought to bypass it. If they were easy to take out the ministries wouldn’t have used them. What I needed was more power per charge, and an increased ability to adjust the counter resonance while in use. Preferably something already designed to work with Cosmic Steel, as integrating it into a spell matrix was too complicated and would take far too much time.

Of course with my attention split between the two tasks, I was too distracted to realize the answer was right in front of me. The PipBuck 4000. A modular Micro terminal that used resonance tuning and multidimensional processing to do countless spells with the use of only one primary spell matrix! There were dozens of upgrades and peripherals that could be implemented into the system, and this was no different!

Two hours later I had a small stainless steel box attached to the front of my trusty device! I smoothed it out to be nearly flush with the device, with two stubby metal rods sticking out of the front. I smiled at the new invention I had worked out. I had a lot of plans for when I got back to the ship, like painting it to match the PipBuck, and optimizing the load capacity. Running through a few capacitors would work…

One thing at a time! It was time to test!

*** *** ***

“Last time you exploded. And these things are hard to crack. The enclave tried for 200 years to break through the one around the SPP hub, and no one ever managed it.” Free said deadpanned as I made my final adjustments.

He tried to talk me out of it the entire walk to level three, but I wasn’t having it. I was sure it would work. The pulse was powered by the SATS recharger array, and I’d set it up to automatically calibrate to any changes in the shield's resonance! It would work flawlessly! Not only because the design was sound, but because we had no other choice. After that test, we’d only have enough Pre-Store to get us back to level one. We needed to solve the problem before the Visionaries got involved, or they’d find out about the Firefly.

“Yes, and because I exploded I learned what not to do! I increased the output, added a variable resonance filter, and now we’re all set!” I said with a small grin. “Besides, I’ve read about that hub. It was super important to the MoA, so they put all their resources into it! This is a modest shield by a scientist on her last legs.”

Despite my assurances, I was still anxious to try. The odds of me surviving another overload were low, especially now that the dispeller… Shield breaker? Aella’s Magically Brilliant Integrated Energy Nullification Lance! AMBIENT! …No that was terrible. Though as I looked it over one last time before testing, the perfect name struck me. “BAPR!” I exclaimed happily, much to Free’s confusion. “The device! It’s a BAPR! Breeze’s Alternating Phase Reductor!” Free raised a brow at me growing used to my sudden outbursts. “...Its name.” With the BAPR strapped to my left arm, there was nothing to stop a shock from running right through my heart.

I leaned back from the flickering blue barrier as I levelled the BAPRs prongs toward it. I took a long, shaky breath to steal myself. Tried to assure myself it would be fine. All of the greats did dangerous stuff at some point, for the sake of progress or helping others! Darring Do risked her life daily for others. Nirika Tesla and Hen Francolin did dangerous stuff in the name of progress and science! My own parents died trying to make Mt. Aris better for us! No problem at all.

The prongs sparked as I touched them to the barrier. My SATS charge dropped quickly as the barrier flickered and wanned, struggling for life. The barrier colour rapidly shifted. It cycled through every colour of the rainbow, trying desperately to defend itself against my counterspell. My head ached as the already damaged shield's energy fluctuated faster than I thought possible. The way it changed and adapted to try and trip up my override was aggressive, angry, and desperate. It felt more like unicorn magic than a simple spell matrix. It felt alive.

The barrier was still up when the charge ran out. But it was weak and panicked. A few more seconds and it would break. I knew enough about magic and energy work to buy the time. I funnelled my own innate magic into the device.

Then, the barrier fell. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like I fought that shield for hours. I was weak, tired, and terribly hungry. But I’d one. My scientific genius mixed with a basic understanding of magical theory was all it took. It left me exhausted. As close to magic burnout as a creature without a horn can probably feel. But it was more than worth it.

Free wrapped his wing around me and nuzzled me. As he comforted me, he held his gaze on the now-freed relic of terrifying magic and metal before us. “You actually did it… I’m starting to think Scarlet might be right about you. You really seem to be able to solve any problem with a few spare parts. You’re white as a cloud, though. Let’s get you downstairs to rest more. I’ll get Sky and Scarlet to give me a hoof here. You’ve more than earned some rest.”

Right… Free was right. I couldn’t have stayed to help if I wanted to. Tired as I was, it was hard just to keep my eyes open. My limbs were weak and impossibly heavy. I needed to rest before my body made me. Let my friends take it from here.

*** *** ***

The ominous red haze settled through the facility. We didn’t figure out how to stop the Blood Ash from forming. Our best guess was that if you can keep living things away from it long enough, it would eventually run out of power. There was no telling how long such a thing could take. The forces at play were old and powerful. The magic used to enhance and control them was crude and foalish. Fine for running a levitation spell, but not nearly enough to manipulate the astral material. It could be years before anyone could understand it, let alone disable it.

So we didn’t even try. We didn’t need to turn it off. We just needed to contain it. With new filters slotted into the scrubbers on the upper levels, and the damaged air talisman replaced, the red haze thinned until nothing was left. Meanwhile, level four would act as the perfect containment. Lightning Dusk and her team spent months making sure the lowest level was airtight, to the point where the ductwork was welded shut, and airlocks were set up at every junction. It was perfect.

Once the barrier was down, Scarlet had no problem shattering the window overlooking the hanger. The ponies pushed the Zero-Point Capacitor out the window and sealed the blast shutters. We contained the Blood Ash, and found a way to keep Visionaries hooves off the Firefly.

Prime smirked behind his desk as I detailed the events. I kept some details to myself of course but did mention the ghoul survivor that had sealed off the lowest level, making our mission possible. The water and power would be routed into the town in a matter of months. The salvage on levels two and three would finance the labour and then some. With their power needs met and more money for the penitentiary system, the exploitation of prisoners would end.

I still didn’t trust Prime. His voice was silky smooth. His every word; deliberate and precise. He was always informed and in control. He wanted what was best for his people, but was willing to do anything to that end. A terrifying position. The same one the Ministry Mares took before they ended the world.

Harmony on the other claw seemed kind and thoughtful. She wanted what was best for everyone. She even protected her boss from himself. The first thing she asked when we got back was if we were ok. For the most part, we were. Everyone was happy to be free of that place and excited to get some rest. My chest was a mess of confusing emotions. I was sore and restless, but I’d recover after a day or two of rest. Free’s limp was worse than before, but the buck refused to talk about it. Harmony kept giving him sad, knowing looks.

While I didn’t trust him, he was a powerful ally and a happy one. He sang our praise as we finished the debrief. “Astounding… I knew you were the right crew for this. I know you felt forced into taking this job, but I assure you that a lot of creatures will benefit from your deeds. You are always welcome in my city and any villages under our protection.”

Harmony sat down the Pipbuck 4000 that had been promised, as well as the owed caps and a memory orb. Harmony eyed me for a moment before speaking. Was she feeling something from me that was worrying? Was she silently trying to ask about our contract? I wasn’t sure. “The orb is protected. We don’t know what the passcode is to access it, but the last unicorn who tried was put into a coma. Whatever it is, we assume it’s important. I hope it helps you find what you’re looking for.”

Prime raised a hoof, silencing the older griffon. “I’m sure the griff can figure it out. She’s a smart mare. For now, however, our business is concluded. I have work to do. As you can imagine, getting the lower floors cleaned and repaired is going to be a logistical nightmare. I wish you luck on your journey,”

oooOOOooo

I walked down a hallway I didn’t recognize. Wore a body that wasn’t my own. Being a passenger in someone else's body was an alien experience. The lack of control left me deeply uncomfortable. But I did my best to solider on, and focus on what the orb had to teach me. Not that I had a choice in the matter. Once you enter a memory orb, the only choice is to endure it until it ends.

The floor vibrated lightly under me as it pitched slightly to the left. I knew immediately it was an airship. Not the smooth silver and black of a raptor, or the cramped wood and steel of the Skystar. The hallway was oddly large for an aircraft. Half a metre wide, and taller than an average stable hall. It was well-lit and well-maintained. The pleasant purr of nearby pulse reactors would have made me smile if I could control the strange body I inhabited. It was a Mt. Aris airship! No one else had developed pulse technology. One of the few vessels that were kept in service after the fall.

I reached out to feel the magic around me, only to find there was nothing. That was disorienting. I’d have facehoofed if I could have. Of course, my ability didn’t work. I was in someone else's memory. Someone who lacked my arcane awareness. I’d been growing more accustomed to, even reliant on my ability since I came to the wasteland. At home, there was magic everywhere. Nature, spirits, people, tech. It was impossible to get away from. Overwhelmingly so. I learned to block it out to avoid overstimulated.

Her body was different than my own. Smaller, lacking wings or claws. Judging by the horn on my forehead, I was unicorn! Or, she was a unicorn… You know what I mean. Being in someone else's body was uncomfortable, but at least I wasn’t a buck. I’d already gone to great lengths not to be.

An automatic door slid open as my host approached it, revealing the bridge. Surfaces of smooth silver metal and touchscreen interfaces were everywhere. Several hippogriffs sat at consoles as they oversaw the operation of the ship. A familiar holotable sat between the entryway and the massive windows that looked out into the dreary wasteland night. It was the same interface I had in the Skystar, and that I used at Skya. A specially designed node used to access CORE.

My host scowled as she trotted up to the computerized table. She slammed a Pipbuck-clad hoof onto the surface. Every eye turned to the sound, the sudden display of anger putting the whole crew on edge. “Everything we’ve come up with so far has been useless.” My mother's voice made me cringe as it flowed from what felt like my muzzle. Anxiety threatened to overwhelm me for a moment, making my trapped state in the memory far more terrifying. “We’ve lost 60% of the fleet, and the lives of four brave creatures. At the very least we’ve managed to find some useful information. Skeet Shot downloaded most of Visions database while I met with its leaders.”

She pointed a hoof at the table. A hologram appeared of the Equestrian west coast, littered with various coloured dots and slashes. “Our target is here. Peace Island, just off the coast. It once served as neutral ground for Zebra/Pony relations, and later was converted to a test site. The information on the Single Pegasus Project at some point was stored there. If we fail to recover it, we fail entirely. The only other area we know has the data we need is the hub itself, which is impenetrable to all but Ministry Mare Rainbow Dash herself.”

The workers around the powerful unicorn sprung into action, adjusting their heading towards the small island far to the west of Meadowbrook. Without a word she trotted back the way she came, and to a tiny office space off the main hallway. She spent some time looking through the data, going over it verbally and adding information she knew about the various entries. She intended for someone else to view the memory, but it was unclear who. I couldn’t imagine a more secure way to store information than in a cursed memory orb. Most of the data was beyond my understanding or not relevant to me, leaving me bored and restless as I waited for the memory to end. I couldn’t even fidget to try and ease my anxiety, forcing me to endure the overwhelming emotional toll the memory was putting on me.

Finally, she switched off the terminal, and the memory faded away.

*** *** ***

The PipBuck that Prime recovered from the bunker below held a list of encoded journal entries. Core had managed to crack a few dozen of them, but the rest were too degraded or used what she called ‘unorthodox and chaotic, encryption,’ which made cracking them beyond her ability for the time being.

I was curled up in my bedroom with my Scootaloo stuffy tucked tightly to my chest. It was a long and trying day. We made a new friend, saved a lot of people, and knew what to do next. Two dangerous paths lay before us. Down one was Astral Visions home, said to contain samples of the Nostrum. The other led to an SPP research hub, in the hoofsteps of my parents.

My mother had done everything she could to try and find a way to help our people. She thought if we could just get rid of the Blood Ash somehow everything would be better. Our society could be put back together. Everyone would be happy. She tried so hard to create a world that Aqua and I could grow up and thrive in, but in the end, the task was too great even for her. The greatest unicorn of her generation.

So what chance did I have?

My task was far greater than hers. Save us from the disease that crippled us in the first place. She had a team of highly trained and skilled people, hoof picked by her and Father. I had a ragtag team of friends, thrown together by circumstance who I honestly didn’t know all that well yet. Free held on to some old-world bigoted ideas. Scarlet lacked morality when it came to the survival of her and those she cared for. Sky’s mind was clouded with dreams of revenge, and the slim hope he’d find a way to correct the mistake that Unity forced on him.

We’d gotten paid for our job. The memory orb and recolector, the Pipbuck, and a bag weighted heavily with caps. We saved the settlement. Saved the prisoners from slow deaths from rad poisoning. The city saw us as heroes. There was even a party in our honour.

Harmony was thrilled with our progress and was especially pleased that we blocked access to the fourth level. With the town only being able to make small amounts of Pre-Store their access to the area would be very limited. That mixed with us making sure all of the doors were locked and disabled meant they wouldn’t find the ship for a very long time.

With Prime already paying us well I wasn’t comfortable taking any of Harmony’s own money. She insisted I get something for completing the contract though, so I settled with her owning me a favour. I doubted I’d ever need it. Even so, it was nice to know there was someone in the GTA I could trust to bail me out if I needed it.

My friends were in the galley, toasting our success and sharing a large meal. I was too tired to engage in the fun. I wasn’t sleepy. Rather, my social battery was drained. I needed some time alone to process everything and figure out what to do next.

The Visionaries already reached out to their allies for the meeting. With the basement open, they needed the help of nearby settlements and factions to salvage and sell the equipment. The Applejack Rangers were named specifically. The group was all about using technology to protect the common pony. While they focused mainly on protecting just one species, it was a noble cause. Whatever was hiding down there would surely help them.

Footnotes:

No level up.

New tool: BAPR! It's cobbled together and a work of progress, but what unique tool isn't? You can now use your PipBuck mounted BAPR to bypass some magical barriers! I'd still do some more work on it if I were you. Maybe show your work this time.

Author's Note

I hoped to start doing shorter chapters, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to condense this more than I already have. Splitting it into two chapters didn't feel right, either. So here we are!

This one is a bit of a serious, intense chapter, though I did my best to sprinkle in some fun friend-making and stuff as well. The next chapter is going to be a lot calmer, giving our ragtag group of creatures some time to relax and spend some quality time together while they lick their wounds. They've had lots of time to get to know one another as wasteland survivors, now they get to know one another on more personal levels