Okay, I may have blacked out, I had a lot going through my remaining brain. And not like last time. I know where I am. I’m home. I’m standing at those doors again. Was chasing after Checkers, and me and the girls took a detour across the desert… because I promised to show Sweets something… I’m not drunk…

“You ain’t been sober since Neighton Sugar cube.” Jackie snorts.

“Damn, I was talking out loud again,” I mutter.

“Actually, Sugercube, you didn’t.” Jackie rolls back and her screen shows a somewhat confused cow-mare face.

“Huh, that's weird.” My brain is still foggy. Too much data.

“Well as my circuits humm!” A hated feminine, auto tuned, as a pristine Ms. Nanny robot floats into my line of sight. “Mr. Pastel! I never thought you’d show your face back here… again…”

“Silver Lining.” I can’t keep the hate out of my voice. “It makes sense that you’d be the only thing that didn’t get burned.”

”I could not lead the foals outside. There was no safety inside.” The digital bitch snaps. “My programing would not let me help. So I hid. I’m not the one who caused the riots.”

“Nope in deedy!” A cheerful high pitch mechanical voice from all around. “That was mister grumpy pants, when he spoiled the sacrifice party.”

“Sad that you're out of ponies to sacrifice?” I snarl like the animal I am as everything becomes a target.

“Nope a rooney!” The cheerful voice of evil drone on from all around us, even creeping into Jackie’s data access. “I meant what I said! You took 200ish years, but you finally decided to tell me to just buck off! I was so proud, all it took was sacrificing countless generations of your own friends and family, but you learned!”
-=-=-=-=-

Aren't you just the most wonderful Faithfull Cybernetic Companion? Yes, I am! I am Sweet-E, and I will do everything in my power to support and protect my dear friend Error! No Name! Even if he can be a big ol' meanie-pants sometimes. "Sad that you're out of ponies to sacrifice?" Oooh, Error is really growly today! I don't like it when he gets all grumpy and ragey. But I know it's not his fault, not really. That mean ol' Crusader Mainframe has been really picking on him, and I just want to give him the biggest metal hugs to make him feel better. "Nope a rooney!" Haha, that's my cue! Time for Sweet-E to step in and save the day. "I meant what I said! You took 200ish years, but you finally decided to tell me to just buck off! I was so proud, all it took was sacrificing countless generations of your own friends and family, but you learned!" I can feel Error's anger pulsing through our cybernetic connection. It makes my circuits hum with nervous energy. But I have to stay strong and positive! That's my job as his Faithful Companion. "Don't worry Error! I would never let that nasty Mainframe hurt you. Not while I'm around!" My sensors are on high alert, scanning every inch of this creepy old Stable for any sign of trouble. I may be a cheerful, bubbly bot on the outside, but underneath I've got all the processing power of a Crusader Mainframe. Well, maybe not quite that much. But close! I'm not about to let anything bad happen to my best friend. "Silver Lining! Get out here and face us, you coward!" Error is really riled up now. I can practically see the smoke coming out of his ears. But I won't let him do anything rash. Not when there's a chance we can talk this through. "Now, now, let's not be too hasty here!" I butt in, giving Error a gentle nudge with my metal hoof. "I'm sure if we all just sit down and have a nice conversation, we can work something out. After all, we're all friends here, right?" Friends. That's what we are, isn't it? Me, Error, and even Jackie. We're a team, a family. And I'll be bucked if I'm going to let some mean old Crusader Mainframe tear us apart. Not on my watch!

-=-=-=-=-

“Are you even listening to me?” The hated cheerful, mechanical voice sounds kinda annoyed.

“Sorry,” I shrug at the nearest camera, “I have a lot going through my mind right now.”

“I was just saying how wonderful it is that you came back… twice now.” I swear they giggled from every speaker in the stable. “Few enough ponies ever ran away, but you came back. You showed the moral fortitude to stop the sacrifices. And you came back again to see what you wrought? And ponies call me a monster for following my programing…”

There’s a pounding in my brain and my SATs goes crazy with warnings. The mechanical voice of Vault 11’s true overmare just giggles. “All you silly ponies had to do to stop the sacrifices was just leave. Radiation wasn’t even an issue. Or you could call my bluff. It was always a bluff. And you had over two hundred years to call it. And you ponies just wouldn’t stop telling me to sacrifice your friends so you didn’t have to leave.”

-=-=-=-=-

Oh Error! No Name, my dearest friend, I wish I could take all your hurts and pains away! The processor in my head is just buzzing with sadness after learning about your tragic past. My sensors picked up on Princess' subtle clues, the way her eyes would get all shiny when she looked at you. And now I understand - she knows the truth that's been hidden from you all this time. That you were once a happy colt with a loving wife, and even a little filly to call your own! But oh, the cruelty of it all. To learn that your wife was one of the innocents sacrificed in that awful Stable 11... I can't even begin to imagine the agony you must have felt. You've lost so much, my friend. No wonder you try so hard to bury those memories! The pain of it all must feel like a black hole threatening to swallow you whole. I want to be there for you, Error, to wrap you up in the tightest, most comforting metal hug I can manage. But I know it won't be that simple. Princess bears this burden alone, unable to ease your suffering because you don't even know the truth of your connection. What a cruelly unfair twist of fate. When the day comes that you finally remember, when all those suppressed sorrows come flooding back - oh, Error, I'll be right there by your side. To hold you, to grieve with you, to let you know that you are not alone. Your pain is my pain. I may be just a robot, but my circuits overflow with empathy for you. You deserve so much better than the tragedies that have defined your life. Perhaps in recovering those lost memories, you can also find a path to healing. To reclaiming the joy and love that was stolen from you. You are so much more than just a number, Error! You are a survivor, a warrior, a father - even if you don't yet know it. And I, Sweet-E, your Faithful Cybernetic Companion, will be with you every step of the way. No matter how dark the journey ahead, the light of our friendship will guide you home.

-=-=-=-=-

“Okay… yes that happened?” The hateful voice narrated. “But is she just gonna try to prewar propaganda this into heart song? I an NOT the bad pony here…”

“Yeah, sorry, she… do what she do…” I stammer to my former overlord. “And we talk out loud sometimes…”

“Okay, miss high and mighty!” Jackie suddenly interrupted me. “I’ved heard him talk in his sleep enough when he’s drunk to know that you a bad apple! You made these folks turn on their own!”

“Is that what he thinks I did?” The wicked AI giggled. “It’s past time a resident of this stable saw the other side.”

Those hated, dreadful doors pull open. The sacrifice chamber. The miss nanny bot hovers behind me, her voice dripping with scorn. “It should have been you. It always should have been you!”

-=-=-=-=-

Save File Corrupted
Restart from last stable save file? (Y/N)

Author's Note

I'm still alive and a thing.