Rerouting Main Power to Auxiliary Core
I suppose Its time I tell you about what brought me into possession of my own Littlepip Companion. Well as you might know Littlepip at the end of her journey was stored within the main citadel computer with the remains of Princess Celestia. Celesta being left a mere shadow of her former self. Well I was making my way along the main route of what remained of the equestrian highway system. A dust storm kicking up the massive plume of dust which slammed into the visor of my custom made power armor helm. My green visor was caked in dirt due to this storm which left me practically blind. Left stumbling around in the dark down the cracked pavement which had some signs of life due to the cleansing of the land from the efforts of Miss Pipp. The only sound along the road was the sound of metal boots on the pavement from myself leaving quite the ominous atmosphere.
Just as quickly as the howling wind came in to sweep the dust around in tiny tornados it left like a lover who had fallen out of favor with the one it was with. I kicked a loose piece of concrete up from its place within the ground; this lead to several small creatures which had returned to the surface after so long coming out and crawling away from their now ruined home. In the distance a lone shack made from old sheet metal stands as a beacon of civilization amongst the otherwise ruined road spattered with specks of green from sickly trees which have managed to regrow. It seems life has a way of returning even through the toughest of circumstances much like the ponies who stand by the fire which emanates from an old metal barrel they all huddle around. Making my way to this small group of scavengers with my main weapon slung around my neck via the sling attached to it. "What you are telling me is that you came from all the way down there to just find some old artifact?".
The mare to the right with her hair braided back into a bun says to her male earth pony companion who nods and says to her. "Yes that was my purpose Aloe. I heard there is an old vault nearby which harbors a lot of unused tech and I don't want to lose my chance at such a big payday." The two ponies are so engrossed in their conversation they fall to notice the pony clad in a mix of power armor and combat armor approaching from down the road. Eventually the male earth pony's gaze falls upon me and he waves. Saying with a polite tone of voice. "Hello there traveler. Why don't you come over here and join us? We were just about to have a meal" The female unicorn named Aloe tries her best to silence her companion to no avail.
Aloe then sighs and says to him "Clock you cant just go inviting random ponies to eat with us. I mean we don't even know if this pony is friendly. For all we know they could be hostile. For Celestia's sake Clock you should know this by now". Aloe then smacks him on the shoulder which causes the stallion to pull his shoulder back and rub it. The two are obviously well acquainted due to how they act. Eventually the stallion finishes rubbing his shoulder.
The stallion then shakes his head and says to the mare "We are literally in one of the safest parts of post war Equestria. The bandits have been practically eliminated out here. If they wanted to be hostile why would they be walking down the road around here". Aloe nods at Clock and then seems to ponder what he said for a moment. The glow from the light illuminating her startling purplish grey eyes and her black mane which starkly contrast with her midnight blue colored coat. "Well I guess you are right Clock. If they wanted to harm us I guess they wouldn't be walking towards us. So please do join us around the fire. I am guessing that armor keeps you warm though you can eat with us."
Of course I decided to join the two out of not wanting to upset the two with the fact I am not exactly a normal pony. Though they could not see through my armor or see the glowing eyes behind my visor. Looking over the stallion known as Clock I see a ramshackle gathering of metal made to look like crude rusted armor with spikes and even some handle bars from pre-war motorcycles. His mane is a mess and looks like it was cut with a knife thus making it look like a crude mohawk on his head. It seems this pony known as Clock really wants to look like your typical raider. My eyes then shift over to the mare known as Aloe who is wearing a faded enclave officer uniform which has several bullet holes in it which have been crudely stitched up with various colored fabrics. The mare lifts up a rat which has been run through with a stick and then bites on it like a cob of corn with a crunch. "So what's your story stranger? Since you seem to be quite well armed to be all on your own." The male earth pony says to me as I slowly move my head over to him as he looks me over and then continues. "I mean you look like a filly. You cant be much older then 14."
I snort at his assumption as many have made the same and not lived to see another sunset. I then lift up a hoof and point it out at him while my hoarse voice echoes through the metal helmet on my head "Many have made that assumption kid. do not assume that someone is a child just because they are small. I am much older then I look my dear Aloe. Also to tell you my story would take more time then you most likely have so I am not going to go into it and just leave you two guessing"
The two ponies look at each other a bit confused to this response before both looking back at me. The mare raises a hoof before putting it back down her mouth moving but no words coming out like a puppet on strings. The stallion then speaks up for the two by clearing his throat and then saying "Well its a pleasure to meet you too. My name is Clock and this mare beside me is known as Aloe. We have been a scavenging team for awhile and found out a local stable was open to be scavenged. Perhaps you could join us and we will give you a cut?" I look between the two before putting my right hoof to my chin. It clanks loudly against my helmet as I think before then nodding silently.
Clock then chuckles and says to me "That's what I thought you would answer with. I shall fill you in since we just met. That stable that we are looking for is in the nearby area but we haven't found it yet and considering you have power armor you would be a valuable asset in finding it. Also you have a Pipbuck and neither of us do so it would help us get into it easier." The stallion points to the glowing Pipbuck on my right foreleg right above my hoof and then continues what he was saying "We should get some rest before we continue on our journey. I shall take first guard duty and will wake up Aloe here to take second shift." Aloe smiles at the stallion beside her and then finishes eating her rat before dropping the clean stick back onto the concrete before stretching and going into the small house and getting into an old bedframe with a dirty mattress to sleep. I decide to join her by going into the small pre war home and sitting down inside. pulling off my pride and joy off my neck and then looking over the polished metal of Hell-Fire. My enchanted rifle glows a bit from the soul trapped within long ago and it seems to scream out as the shine runs along it before fading as I pull out an old cloth and start to clean the gun. Taking the gun apart piece by piece while cleaning and making sure everything is in working order. The night was quite uneventful as I sit there cleaning my gun and my armor.
I heard the sounds of ruffling and groaning as the sun crests the horizon. shining along the old buildings along the road and glinting off of old glass. sparkling as if it were welcoming others to stare at it and remember the past. The old concrete and rebar creaking and groaning in the wind as if to speak of the past to those who walk by. The old roads telling their own story with various skeletons from ages long passed now become a part of the ground itself much like the dinosaurs of old. Crumbled old lampposts shattered on the ground; the contents inside scattered and leaving oil marks on the old road. Our group walks single file down the road with glass crunching against our hooves; I keep my head on a swivel to make sure their are no potential ambushes on the horizon. My keen eyes move like a hawk marking down various potential hiding points such as the outcroppings of rocks or old houses which sway in the breeze and the old wood creaks. eventually Aloe pipes up and says to me with a smile. showing off her slightly yellowed teeth and her slightly crooked muzzle due to an injury she sustained in a fight with a radscorpion. "hey so miss. Can I ask you some questions if you don't mind?"
The mare towers over me due to my small size. I never grew up to be the size of a normal pony. Growing to the great size of 2 foot . Barely taller then your average teenage pony and mistaken for a child many a time. The only response I give to Aloe is a grunt and Aloe lets out a sigh. "well I will take that grunt as a yes. I assume you were born pre-war by the fact your eyes glow behind that visor. Since you must be a ghoul what was life like before the war?" Aloe then looks at me with a wide smile and her eyes filled with curiosity. The sun hitting her eyes just right to emphasis the fact her eyes are a bit different in terms of shade. I then look over at her and say to her "that is quite the loaded question and it would take a super long time to explain to you.". Aloe just sighs and falls back to being behind her friend. Wanting to stay behind her male companion as she is clearly annoyed by my lack of answering her question. Though that serves her right for asking her such a loaded question of me.
"Well somepony is quite the spoilsport. Guess we will have to work harder to break that barrier you have set up. Isn't that right my dear Aloe?" The stallion gives a smile as he bounces around like a kid in a candy store. clearly he has quite the energy even though from what I have just now noticed he seems to have a wooden peg for a right backleg. I start to wonder on how he could have possibly got that before suddenly a loud BANG breaks the dawn.
I scream out to them as a barrage of bullets rips the concrete where I was with a constant rattling of a machine gun. "Fuck! Get to cover! Its a Celestia damn ambush!" my voice is barely able to be heard over the RATRATA of the machine gun. Clearly in my deep pondering I had lost sight of what was around us. Though due to them having clearly set this up it couldn't be a raider band. Aloe and her stallion friend jump behind a couple knocked over trees and are quickly pinned down by the machine gun on their side. the bullets flying around them like bees trying to sting someone who had invaded their nest. My brain races at a million miles per hour as I try to form a plan before my compatriots are mowed down as those logs wont hold for long.
Pieces of the poor logs fly every which way as the machine gun relentlessly pounds it with fire only stopping to reload after several moments of unceasing fire before starting up again. Aloe and her stallion friend try their best to fire in the approximate direction of where the fire is coming from with Aloe wielding a 10mm pistol and her stallion having a hunting rifle. As the chaos unfolds I see several ponies moving around to flank the pinned down ponies and ready to pounce at any moment. That's when I decided to snap out of my thoughts and act now. A loud Bang interrupts my movements though as a 306 round slams into the half destroyed concrete as I try to move. I let out an expletive realizing I am also in a sticky situation as several ponies are moving towards my position in several types of armor. The lead pony is clearly identifiable by the old centurion helm they are wearing with the red plume flying in the light wind. The pony barks orders to his allies as they close in on me like a couple of hunters on a lone deer.
This lone deer wont go down with a fight though as I take action. jumping over the low wall and hearing another gunshot as I cast a micro teleport spell making it so the bullet missed me by millimeters before then tackling the nearest pony and cracking his neck with a swift kick. My training in Fallen Caesar's style kicking in as I move from pony to pony killing them all by cracking necks and breaking bones with ease. Eventually I close with the lead pony and his bodyguards who open fire on me with their battle saddles forcing me to duck behind a small hole in the ground. I smile as I see the single frag grenade I have and then pull the stem off it. Throwing the grenade towards them and hearing expletives as they jump away from the grenade as it detonates. A cloud of sand flying into the air and stinging my eyes as I run through it and pull out my two improvised ice climbing picks.
The picks being made of metal pipes which are tied to the claws of a Deathhound. The claws easily cutting through the metal armor of the two ponies protecting the leader of this group. Red blood spraying into the air as they are slashed across the chest with a horrendous Slunk and then Slik as the blades are pulled out by my magic. Then with a backflip off the back of one of the dying bodyguards I land on the back of the leader. Implanting my picks directly through his eyes and with a sickening crunch along with a death scream; The leader falls to the ground missing his eyes as I then look over to my two allies who seem to have dealt with the threats on their own. Aloe having taken a shot to the leg which is being tended to by her stallion friend who had taken a couple scrapes and cuts. I shake the blood off of my picks as the machine guns seemed to have stopped firing. The enemy had retreated away for now but for how long. We will just have to find out later on down the line.
Blood had covered the road as several bodies lay there from the fight. Many of them wearing uniforms which clearly indicate some rank system as they have rank insignia from pre war on the side of the metal armor they wear. All of these ponies seem to have some sort of metal armor on wither it just be random pieces of metal bolted together or full fledged legionnaire armor. These were clearly not a raider clan but something more then that as they had some level of organization amongst the chaos. I trot over to the two ponies who make up our little gang and then see Aloe yelp in pain as her stallion uses tweezers to pull out the bullet embedded in her leg. Aloe then puts the medical bandage laying beside her around the injury on her leg. The magic within the bandage doing quick work to stop the bleeding from the bullet wound. I sit beside the two and then say to them with a sigh "clearly we are being watched by whoever that was. I mean they clearly had set up that ambush at the perfect time. keep your eyes out and we need to be ready to fight at any moment. There is no way we can talk our way out of this now." I say with a glare towards the stallion. Trying to get the seriousness of the situation into his thick skull.
Aloe gives me a glare as she then says though gritted teeth "No shit sherlock. How the hell did you find that out? clearly we aren't dealing with ordinary raiders as they aren't that smart. Also raiders would never retreat like that even after taking such casualties. That means that stable must hold some important shit if it is so well protected." Aloe then gives a smile and slowly stands up with a hiss. Kissing the stallion on the cheek who goes bright red like a tomato before shaking his head like a wet dog. After several moments of silence the stallion then says into the silence after the storm of battle. "We should keep moving then and not stop. Cant allow them to get the drop on us like that again. We are an intruder within these lands now and they know we are here." The stallion then nods and starts to search the bodies. checking to see if they have anything useful for the group. Finding only some jerky and some bullets for the 10mm gun Aloe wields and some bullets for his own rifle he then puffs out his chest. Looking up at the sun and then saying aloud. "C'mon then and lets not overstay our welcome." Aloe and I both look at each other and nod in mutual agreement before joining him with walking down the road some more. Walking over the bodies of the fallen towards what the future holds for the group.
Memory Fractured....Retrieving data
Would You do anything to change the past? even perhaps sacrifice a bit of your self...what makes you a pony?
Life had been hard from me from the day I was born. I was never meant to be born into this world and my horn only made things more difficult. The fact that zebra's are superstious in terms of people in terms of all the races and species of the world. You see I was born on a summer solstice when the sun was covered by the moon thus giving me an ill omen on my birth. This was only worsened by the fact my father was a legion centurion and my mother was a unicorn slave that he raped to have me. Now I was never one to believe in god's but it seems whatever god's out there were having a laugh with me.
I was forced to live like an unwanted slave; having to run through the streets stealing food because my father refused to feed me. My mother was my only saving grace during my young years; protecting me from my father's wraith when he was drunk {which was quite often mind you}. Eventually my mother left the camp one day and left me to fend for myself. I was furious then and was forced to join the colosseum of the city of zebantium. I was named after the city of my birth which is like naming one with just a few numbers. My time in the colosseum was long and arduous; as I earned my name the tiny terror due to my small stature and my speed. I was never one for brute force and preferred to outsmart my opponents and outlast them in terms of stamina and then strike. this reputation I earned caused a centurion to notice me one day when i was 16 and allowed me to join the legion as an auxiliary.
I bet you are wondering why I am telling you this well it shall come into play later on in this story. Lets just say this journey I had with this unwitting companion allowed me to deal with those things myself and to get past them. I leave you with one question. What would you sacrifice to change the past? Would you give up your very soul and life for those you love to return? I cant believe I am even writing this stupid journal; This is a monumental waste of my time. I guess if it helped miss pip I guess it will hopefully help me. Celestia hopefully will give me mercy.
