Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Earlier Thursday, 11/3/2287
POV: Starlight
The Pie Sisters Museum, Holder

Starlight remained with the Pies as much as possible, wanting to find opportunities to convince them they could trust her. She had to ensure they would follow her once they no longer needed her to rescue Limestone, and perhaps if she helped retrieve the stealth suit, it would help.

Twilight was still an issue, and no longer useful now that they couldn’t use her. If Twilight showed up at Tenwhinney without at least wearing Daybreaker's skin, they’d call her bluff, as Midnight had probably warned them specifically. The act would only make it obvious that Starlight still had Twilight working for her. Even raiders probably knew about Twilight now thanks to news broadcasts with uncanny knowledge of events.

So now, Twilight was a liability. Yet Starlight couldn’t get rid of her now that Gloomy had latched onto her. Starlight couldn’t fathom why Statera was so interested in her, but acting against Twilight now would destroy any chance at an alliance. It had to be done in a way that no one could blame Starlight.

For now, though, they had to wait for Dyo to get back to them. The Pies wanted to go to their ‘museum’ and Starlight was curious herself, but getting there was annoying.

“Starlight, Goddess of the Sun!” Starlight had barely left their room when somepony was bowing in front of her. While it wasn’t unpleasant to be mistaken for a goddess, it was rather loud. The hall outside the Pie museum was busy because everyone heard they were in town. When Starlight and the Pies entered their view, everyone there chanted again.

Starlight was certain there were normal creatures in town, but who knew if she would ever see them. This crowd of wackos following them would run off anyone with a level head.

“Eris tear my tits through space and time, I do not need to deal with this right now,” grumbled Starlight, then shouted. “Silence!”

The chanting became a deafening silence. Then the less-silent sound of a few ponies crying from having upset her. How did ponies this stupid even remember to breathe? Starlight needed to find better minions.

“Save your chanting for private ceremonies,” said Starlight. “Worship quietly otherwise, and don’t become a tripping hazard.”

Starlight coaxed the pony that had bowed in front of her to one side. The pony cringed as if she’d smote him, curling into a fetal position, but at least he was out of the way.

“Her title is ‘Empress’, not ‘Goddess’” said Maud, as if she thought Starlight might not tell them.

“Indeed,” said Starlight. “If I were Goddess of the Sun, it wouldn’t break.”

“Y-you will fix the Sun though, right?” asked a timid mare next to the entrance.

“We will get to it,” said Maud.

“We have a long ‘to do’ list,” said Pinkie. “Yes.”

Starlight ignored the other ponies looking upon them in awe and went inside the museum. The ponies they passed looked self-conscious at having disappointed them. Someone had foresight at least though, as the museum had a sign on it that said ‘Only Pie Sisters and direct associates allowed access today’. Thank Break for that.

On the inside, it had museum exhibits under glass like any other, though the burning incense and altar gave it more of a religious feel. The altar didn’t look like they had used it for blood sacrifices, but it was still disconcerting. There was a single room, but it had many exhibits, everything from weapons the Pies had used to outfits to battle plans.

The one pony there was a brown filly with a purple mane and burgundy eyes. Her mane and tail were straight, the Pie sisters’ favored style. Starlight wondered if she always wore her mane like that or if she did it today for their visit.

She wore a foal-sized war uniform and looked to be the curator despite her age. She bowed low upon their entry, but didn't get in the way as the others had.

“Greetings! I am Custard Pie, daughter of Rock Sovereign Kyo Pie,” she said. “I hope this place pleases you. Yes. Please let me know if you desire anything at all.”

The little one’s accent sounded like a cross between Maud’s and Pinkie’s, sometimes shifting closer to one or the other. It sounded intentional.

“You are also a descendant of our family?” Maud asked, her eyes centered on Custard.

“Yep!” Custard said. “You are my ninth-great grandmother, in fact. It is great to meet you! We made this museum as soon as we left Stable 11 in 2127 and a Pie has curated it ever since!” She was well-studied for a filly.

Custard grew still as Pinkie and Maud gave her a hug from either side. Starlight had learned to expect that whenever they met somepony with the last name Pie. Custard’s eyes watered as she returned the hugs, as if this approval was the most joyful thing she’d ever experienced.

“Do you have photos of our other family?” asked Maud. “Like my daughter Silt?”

“You’ll be happy to know she lived a long and peaceful life!” nodded Custard. “Relatively. I mean everything outside did explode. But we have photos and history for every Pie that has lived in Holder since you left, too! We can go through them all if you would like. Yes!”

“Me and Pinkie will sit down and look,” said Maud. “But only after we get Limestone. I would like to see these photos with her.”

“I cannot wait to see her too!” nodded Custard, then looked more sad, her voice momentarily losing the fake accent to adopt a more common one. “And I was sorry to hear about Marble… Is there anything else you need?”

“Pinkie will fight on in her shy sister’s honor!” Pinkie announced as she pulled away from the family-hug-time. “Supplies will be needed!”

Pinkie wasted no time finding the exhibit that displayed explosives she often carried. She smashed the glass cover and shuffled giggler grenades and other explosives into her saddle bags, probably getting a few bits of glass in there in the process.

“Pinkie…” sighed Starlight, putting a hoof to her own forehead. Did she have to do everything with such unneeded levels of violence?

“Take what you wish!” encouraged Custard, not seeming to mind. “I will open the cases for you if you want, unless you like breaking them. That is fine too. Yes!”

“Pinkie enjoys breaking things,” said Pinkie. “Yes.”

“Try to avoid breaking more,” sighed Starlight.

“There is enchanted ammo for Ashmaker here too,” observed Maud, though she opened the display she came to. “Quite a lot.”

“There's even more in Stable 11,” said Custard. “It's probably the only gun of its kind to survive so you aren't likely to run out. You can resupply in Holder for some time.”

“Why did you wait fifty years to exit the stable?” asked Starlight. “I didn’t think they successfully hit this target.”

“Not directly, Empress,” said Custard. “But due to the taint that washed through the nearby river from Ghastly Gorge, the surface was unsafe for some time. Even now it is bad to go near the river. We are blessed to have such effective filtration systems in Stable 11.”

“Who said that?” Maud asked, looking around. “I heard my name.”

“I heard nothing,” Starlight said.

“There it was again,” Maud said.

Starlight heard nothing still.

“The voice speaks to us!” Pinkie grew still half-way into putting another grenade in her bag.

“That is Boulder,” nodded Custard. “He waits in the far corner, and was very eager for you to visit.” She pointed.

“Boulder!” Maud rushed to where Custard pointed, a smile unlike her adorning her muzzle as she did so.

Maud rushed to the display, kicking the whole top off to crack as it smashed against the floor. On the tiny plush chair inside was a tinier rock, which Maud embraced with both front legs as if it were a long-lost love.

“What.” Starlight said, too dumbfounded to get mad at Maud breaking a second case.

The Pies had collective auditory hallucinations about the same inanimate object? She had always assumed they each hallucinated about their own individual friends, but maybe it shouldn’t have surprised her. She wished she’d had more time to study it. Starlight granted them soul crystals to begin with to be sure she never lost the opportunity to further study their unique abilities, but sadly no longer had the facilities.

“Why were you keeping him in a case?” Maud demanded, slightly less calm than usual.

“Oh goodness no,” said Custard. “We did not keep him there. We take him on regular walks and sometimes to creature-watch in the market. He was only there waiting to see you today.”

“Thank you,” Maud cuddled the rock again. “Oh Boulder, I thought I would never see you again.”

Maud teared up, which Starlight didn’t even know was possible.

“Pinkie’s sister has experienced the reunion of touchingness!” Pinkie said. “Boulder will now join the Pies on our crusade of violence!... Justice. Pinkie meant justice. Yes.”

“Yes!” Custard was fond of that verbal tic.

“What?” Starlight asked again.

“Apologies, Empress,” Custard bowed to Starlight. “Only the Pie Sisters and some descendants can hear the words of the sacred stone Boulder.”

“How interesting.” Starlight took their word for it. She definitely wanted to do further study into that sort of pisonics, but there was no hurry since it didn't seem like it could be weaponized at present. “Well I’m… proud of you for keeping it safe then.”

“You honor me, Empress,” Custard bowed again.

“One bow per visit is enough, please,” Starlight said.

“Are there many Pies here?” Maud asked.

“83 currently living, all descended from you,” Custard said, clearly knowing her stuff. “There would be more, but the standard to breed a Pie is high, and sometimes the one that would win the honor are not creatures that can breed ponies so can’t take advantage; too bad for them. Even keeping it in the family, not every Pie is worthy of making more Pies, such as my poor uncle Dyo.”

Custard’s somewhat embarrassed look at mentioning Dyo didn’t surprise Starlight. She sounded more disappointed than hateful though.

“You mentioned other creatures, and I saw a lot in town,” said Starlight, not wanting to give them time to start up a conversation about breeding programs. “Where did they come from?”

“All over,” said Custard. “Mostly from the south. They did not expect to be involved, so did not have stables to hide in when their cities were destroyed. The area around here was less irradiated than surrounding areas, so they settled nearby. When we emerged and set up Holder, some had already taken shelter in the barracks, and many more came after since we are more equipped than most settlements. More refugees came when the Sun stopped and many more places in the south became uninhabitable. Either way, we welcome all that will work for the glory of Equestria.”

“What about pegasi and bats?” Starlight asked. “I know I saw at least one docile dragon as well.”

“Midnight requires us to turn in bats that do not already work for her,” said Custard. “All other species are allowed to live here. Dragons make pretty scary enforcers to the point I sometimes get nightmares about them gobbling me up, so they’re useful even if not respected. There’s pegasi around, and they make good scouts when griffons aren’t available, but mostly keep to themselves. Just about every time one sticks their head out, they cause trouble and get it cut off. They don’t normally get their head buried either since their families won’t pay for a plot, but I guess that’s what you expect from traitors.”

“You call them traitors?” asked Starlight, blinking at such harsh words from a foal. “I was at the last battle and there were still pegasi, bats, and my own dragon friend fighting for Equestria. Are their descendants being punished for the actions of the ancestors of others? My guess is that they can’t afford burial plots because they’re forced to ‘keep their heads down’ in fear that success will bring them lethal attention.”

“Truly?” Custard said as if the knowledge rocked her world. “I guess… I never really thought of it like that?”

“In fact, a pegasus we traveled with saved the lives of Pinkie, Maud, and Limestone. She saved my life twice,” Starlight added. “Her name is Solar Flash. If you meet her, will you mistreat her?”

“Also she is an adequate lay,” Maud added.

“Taking her injuries into account, Pinkie rates her sexy-times skill as 7 out of 10 pies,” said Pinkie. “Yes.”

Custard stood speechless. Both from Starlight’s information and probably also the inappropriate conversation from her heroes about having banged a pegasus. Starlight didn’t fault the young one too much, but hoped she evaluated her thinking. Once things were calmer, maybe Starlight would have a look at the school curriculum here to make sure of what they were being taught; Starlight couldn’t afford to exclude potential allies based on race.

“There you are!” Dyo’s voice said from the door. “I thought you might be here.”

Dyo trotted in with a smile on his face. Starlight checked her pipbuck and found him still reading as yellow. It wasn’t reddish yet, but still, why not green? Was it having trouble determining?

She hoped Maud and Pinkie’s judgment wouldn’t be clouded by him being a Pie and that they’d keep an eye on him. They dragged Custard to Dyo so all four could hug at once. It was cute for the two killing machines to be so fond of their family, but Pinkie must have caught on too, since Starlight saw her flip open his saddlebag to do a quick search for dangerous items during the hug.

“Hey Da-… Dyo,” Custard said in a much more normal voice than she'd been speaking in.

“Oh, hey,” Dyo blushed at the hug, then glanced away, then squeaked and stepped back when Pinkie seemed like she might start a cavity search too. “Anyway, I got the panel open. Now we need one of you to put your hoof on the pad to open it and we can get to the stealth suit. And bonus, I think we can deactivate the missiles in the silo, and even the one in town, from inside. We probably don’t even need all of us to take care of it, if Starlight has other things to do.”

Starlight looked at her pipbuck screen again. Hm. Dyo had gone further from yellow to light orange. There was no way she was letting him exclude her from the trip when she couldn’t be sure of his reason.

“Dyo, don’t take this the wrong way,” said Starlight. “But Maud will ask you for details about your rescue, and you will answer them without hesitation.”

While it didn’t seem likely, Starlight couldn’t take any chances. There had been talk of changelings in town, and they knew at least one was present if Tranquil had a ‘twin’.

“Um, okay?” Dyo looked nervous.

“Which of Crimson’s bones did I break?” asked Maud, seeming to understand. “And in what order.”

“What?” Dyo looked more nervous. “Well you punched her chest first, so maybe a rib… then you broke her front legs. I don’t remember what order, but she laughed because the one you broke first had already been broken once.”

“Maud?” asked Starlight.

“Good enough,” said Maud.

“Sorry, I had to be certain,” said Starlight, deciding to be frank with him. “My pipbuck doesn’t register you as a green ally.”

“Oh that,” Dyo chuckled. “Maybe because I dug through the stable systems without authorization. In my experience it’s a pretty glitchy system. I mean you all saved my life; it’s not like I’ll betray you the next day.”

“Pinkie accepts this for now,” said Pinkie. “But if he dares to betray his own family, he will take the bath of despair!... Now Pinkie will load up with more explosives.”

“What?” blinked Dyo.

“Just nod,” said Maud.

Dyo nodded as Pinkie turned to head to another case displaying explosives. As she grabbed some timed explosives, Dyo turned to Custard.

“Custard, do me a favor and stay here, okay?” Dyo said. “I want to find you quickly when I return to talk about something important.”

“Sure!” Custard smiled.

“Then lead on,” nodded Starlight.

POV: Pinkie Pie
Location: Stable 11

Stable 11 was similar to Stable 27, but not exact. For one, it was less advanced. It had conventional magitech reactors, machines that made food sludge out of genetically engineered mold and meat rather than hydroponics, and not as much living space built into it. At least they had made some improvements since the Breaking though, including the weapons the guards carried.

“Tell Pinkie,” Pinkie said to Dyo as he led them down a side corridor that would lead them to the adjoining bunker. “Where do the guards get their new weapons? You have gems, but where are the facilities to make them into weapons?”

“Such facilities were in the bunker before,” agreed Maud. “But you have already stated that you no longer have access to that, and machines like that would require some gems we don’t produce here.”

“Right,” said Dyo. “Someone set the bunker entrances to the highest security level without considering we no longer had high-ranking soldiers here to unlock it.”

“Makes me wonder how many facilities went into a lock-down and never came out of it,” Starlight pondered. “I bet that soldier never lived it down.”

“Probably not!” Dyo chuckled, sounding fake. “Anyway, right now we ship gems to Ramble, and they produce our weapons which they then send back. The diamond dogs are good with gem-based magitech.”

Pinkie had never met a diamond dog that could pick up a gun and not shoot itself within thirty seconds, so they must have hit the mutation jackpot since then. They were great allies too if they produced weapons for Holder; Pinkie almost regretted having taken potshots at diamond dogs for fun before.

“Were there no ponies in the bunker when it was closed?” asked Maud. “None at all that could have opened it from that side?”

“Well, there were,” said Dyo. “That’s why I asked you to bring your weapons. They stopped responding after it was sealed due to a problem with the bunker reactor. We managed to shut down the reactor remotely, but by the time we had, everypony in the bunker section had died from radiation exposure.”

Pinkie understood the implications.

“How did you shut it down remotely if the security kept you from accessing it?” Starlight asked curiously.

“Actually I think they used the soul recycler,” Dio said. “If you open the gem receiver wide and shove two soul gems in at once, even if they’re empty, it’ll overload and cause a surge through the whole system. We used that to overload the grid, which broke some vital connections and caused a shutdown.”

“Of course,” mused Starlight. “I remember now. We designed both recyclers and neck slots to fit two gems if you shoved another in. It was meant for redundancy, but we were waiting until we were able to make crystals more easily to test it extensively… it causes a surge though? Odd bug. Maybe due to a feedback loop between them…” She seemed to know less about them than she should as their inventor; were they really that poorly tested? “Shouldn’t we bring some city guard with us too though?”

“We need to sweep the entire bunker,” said Maud. “If there are feral soldiers here, it is our duty to release them from their torment.”

“Well,” shrugged Dyo. “Only Kyo can order the soldiers off their standard duties, and she’s not here. But we can’t wait either, we need to be ready to leave for General Limestone as soon as she gets back, right?”

“No one else could order them to help us?” asked Starlight. “Not even you? Are you certain?”

“I wouldn’t go in with a small team if I could have an army,” said Dyo. “Your weapons will make short work of these ferals though. Glowing ones only form at blast sites, so these shouldn't be an issue.”

Pinkie had started to see why Dyo was the disappointment of the family, as Custard had hinted at, if guards wouldn’t even follow his orders. She wondered though why he didn’t just tell them to ask; it was hard to figure out if he was stupid or suspicious. Either way, she was fine with having more violent fun to herself.

She made sure Pinkie Die and her Gummy Launcher were loaded, though she doubted Starlight would let her use the latter. Maud checked Ashmaker and held Mite at the ready. They had more options now though; Pinkie didn’t have to be as careful with ammo since Holder had never used up their own war supplies.

“Are we certain that all of them are feral?” Pinkie asked. “Pinkie does not want to slaughter her colleagues unnecessarily.”

“Well if they weren’t,” said Dyo. “They would have contacted us somehow. Nopony on the other side made attempts at the door.”

They arrived at the bunker entrance, finding the security panel next to it pulled out of the wall. It looked to have needed repairs to even get in with Starlight’s code, but it was 200 years old after all.

“Here we are,” said Dyo, motioning to a hoof-print pad on the security panel. “Empress?”

“Maud and Pinkie on point,” sighed Starlight. “Only resort to loud weapons if necessary. I’ll be right behind you with the light.” She stepped forward and stepped onto the panel. The panel glowed as it scanned her hoof.

“Greetings Empress,” the Daybreaker-voice computer said.

This was interesting. The computer knew Starlight’s rank had been upgraded. The stable security systems must still be connected to at least some extent. It was a pity that Stable-Tec wasn’t around any more to explain the nature of it, but Crimson had mentioned being able to communicate with other Stables before. It would be just like Stable-Tec to have their stable computers secretly able to contact one another even when the residents could not.

“We’ll head to the control room first,” said Dyo. “It’d be a good idea to stop by and deactivate the balefire systems while we’re here.”

“Is that important?” asked Maud.

“Well, I’d like to get them shut down before repowering the bunker,” said Dyo. “I don’t want an activation sequence to load due to worn-out systems. They were all at the ready when everything went offline.”

“You have knowledge of the systems?” Pinkie narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t want to point out that he was obviously stupid, since he was still a Pie, but it didn’t make total sense.

“Well, they teach about the event in school,” Dyo explained. “And I remember a mention that even if we got in, it’d be dangerous to repower without precautions.”

“This makes sense,” Pinkie went with it for the time being.

‘I know you don’t want to think about a Pie betraying us,’ said Starlight over the PCB. ‘But please keep a close eye on what Dyo does here.’

Starlight still suspected Dyo. Pinkie had to admit that if Dyo wasn’t a Pie, it’d alarm her more that he appeared yellow on the pipbucks. While she kept her eye on him, it seemed unlikely that this was a part of any evil plan. What evil plan could he support by putting himself in danger with ferals, shutting down mega-spells, and giving them stealth armor?

He had no reason not to be honest about shutting down the weapon systems. Anyone he might fire a mega-spell at would have defenses to counter old balefire missiles by now. Even if she wasn’t suspicious though, it was a reasonable order of which Limestone would probably approve.

‘Pinkie will do this!’ said Pinkie. ‘She can be counted on. Yes.’

Starlight flinched at Pinkie’s loud voice booming through the PCB. Pinkie loved doing that.

It was good that Maud and Pinkie were on point when the door opened. Before it opened fully, Pinkie saw movement and raised Pinkie Die to the ready. There would probably be few enough for Maud to take with Mite but…

Oh my no, there were not few enough.

Had Limestone been with them, she would have predicted this. It made sense as many soldiers had died of radiation while trying to get back through the door into Stable 11. There were two dozen bodies lying in the hallway just beyond the door. Half were skeletal and still, but the other half stood and charged towards the unexpected light source on instinct, snarling.

Maud took a step back, then spun around to swing Mite like a bat. She activated the rocket attachment, knocking the first feral into the ones behind it like a bowling ball. She stepped back and Pinkie was ready to step up in her place.

Pinkie knew she shouldn’t have fun with this. These were her compatriots after all. but it was hard to deny the joy of rotten bodies flying into pieces under a hail of bullets as Pinkie’s minigun spun to life. Pinkie couldn’t stop herself from cackling madly as she mowed them down, limbs and organs splattering down the hallway behind where the ferals had been lurking.

“They are at rest,” said Pinkie when done laughing as her gun spun down. “Yes.”

“Make sure,” Maud said as she moved into the hallway ahead of them.

Starlight shone her magic light down the hall to make sure no more were lurking about while Pinkie and Maud checked the bodies. They smashed any heads that remained solid, even if they didn't move, just to be sure.

Maud stood for a moment after finishing and stared at a wall looking tired. Pinkie trotted over, bumping her bottom against Maud’s to get her attention. Maud looked at Pinkie, her face as bland as usual, but Pinkie could always see the emotions there. Pinkie could see the stress and rage dissipate from Maud’s eyes at Pinkie’s attention, smiling slightly before heading to the front of the group to lead them.

Pinkie could tell Maud was more stressed than usual; they both were. It was a good thing they had each other; their relationship acted as an outlet to their otherwise unmitigated rage. Were either left alone with Starlight since Limestone disappeared, Starlight might not be alive now to pretend to be in charge.

Aside from the group at the door, other feral encounters were light. Some of them still stood at their posts or control panels while others lurked in dark corners. They were all easy pickings for Mite, so Pinkie didn’t get any additional fun.

Starlight relaxed when she realized that the entire silo would not be as intense as the front door, but Dyo seemed more agitated the further they went. As little as Pinkie wanted to admit it, he was acting like somepony having second thoughts about a horrible plan. Pinkie had seen it plenty of times. She did it herself once or twice before getting used to having horrible plans.

Pinkie didn’t think a Pie would betray them, but this wasn’t the same world it used to be. Had it gotten so bad they couldn’t trust their own family? Pinkie didn’t want to believe that.

“I have a disk to put into the maneframe when we get to the central control,” Dyo explained as they went, voice quivering. “It’ll shut down all the launch systems.”

“You had one ready?” asked Starlight, tilting her head.

“It’s been ready since shortly after it was closed off, for if we ever got access,” said Dyo.

“Pinkie thinks the Empress should have a look before it is used,” suggested Pinkie. “Yes.”

“Well that’s not necessary,” stammered Dyo. “But of course, you can.”

“Um, sure, I’ll have a look,” Starlight said, but followed it with a nervous chuckle.

Dyo swallowed as he hoofed over the drive and Starlight connected it to her pipbuck. She skimmed through the data as it scrolled in front of her, but there was a lot. If there was malicious code hidden there, even a genius might not find it, and Starlight seemed much less when it came to coding. Actually, she barely looked like she understood it, which was strange given it was one of the things she was known for.

Pinkie’s paranoia was finally overriding her trust for the family. She didn’t like how Dyo acted.

‘I hate to say this,’ Maud said on the PCB. ‘But springing information on us at the last minute is suspicious.’ It appeared she had similar thoughts.

‘Pinkie agrees,’ said Pinkie. ‘We should proceed carefully.’

‘Should we abort the control room and go for the stealth suit?’ asked Starlight. She appeared to have learned to listen to her soldiers at least.

‘Pinkie feels we should,’ said Pinkie. ‘But Pinkie is the paranoid, so she will trust what her favorite sister decides.’

‘I do not like it,’ said Maud. ‘But I also do not want to be responsible for a disaster. We benefit a lot from reducing the probability of the silo overloading when they repower this section, while I don’t think there’s anyone he would fire old missiles at that wouldn’t be able to stop them. Even Midnight, given her current work-load, wouldn’t counter-attack a failed missile attack without checking what happened, in which case we could just hoof him over.’

‘Makes sense,’ said Starlight. ‘Let’s go through with it then, but let me see how he reacts at least...’

“There may be a lot of ferals in the control center, but we shouldn’t shoot in there unless we must,” asserted Starlight. “You know, it might be a good idea to get the stealth suit first and use that when we can to shut it off.”

“Ah, well,” nodded Dyo, pausing and tapping his front hooves together nervously. “We have to repower the research wing to get the doors open if we don’t want to take an hour fiddling with each of them, and I’m afraid of what that might do with the missiles that were ready to launch.”

He sounded technically correct as he reiterated that, but Pinkie still didn’t feel right. He already looked nervous before though, so it was hard to tell if that made him more nervous or not.

“Very well,” said Starlight.

They arrived at the door to the control center. Knowing there were likely ghouls inside, Maud rattled the door with her hammer. She then backed around the corner as she kicked the door open.

“If you are docile, do not exit yet,” Maud called inside, just in case.

A snarling, confused-looking pony corpse stumbled out the exit. Maud came down on the poor stallion’s head hard with Mite. Pinkie stayed ready with her gun but didn’t need to use it. There were only a few ghouls, and they exited slowly enough for Maud to crunch one at a time.

After none came out for a minute, Maud pushed the pile of corpses out of the way and peered into the darkness. Pinkie and Maud moved ahead, Starlight following behind with the light. The control room was intact with no other ghouls lurking in the immediate area.

The room had a large control panel, which still had emergency power judging from a few blinking lights. Above the panel was a window leading into the main area hangar. It was a good thing that the control room was sealed from the main hangar, because the hanger area was massive. It contained dozens of missiles ready to fire, and hundreds of places ghouls could hide.

There were massive doors at the top of the hangar for the missiles to be launched. There was no telling if the doors would still open, and the mega-spells exploding inside would be the end of Holder. While the hangar and stable could survive a blast from above, a blast from within would destroy both and collapse the city above them into one giant crater.

“The doors up there don’t look like they’ll open,” Starlight noticed it too, turning to Dyo. “So if someone attempted to launch these missiles, they would probably explode in the hangar and destroy this city, as well as most of your family. Are you sure that this is less dangerous than powering the section? Absolutely certain?”

“I concur,” said Maud. “They were difficult to open before, the chance of all the gears needed to open such heavy doors remaining intact over this long with no maintenance is virtually zero.”

“Right,” Dyo nodded. “All the more reason to shut down these systems…”

He didn’t miss a beat in his answer, seeming reassured if anything. That seemed to indicate he didn’t want to fire the missiles, and Pinkie could think of no motive why he’d want them to explode here. Starlight looked like she was trying to think of something like that as well, but must have come up empty because she nodded again.

Dyo placed his saddlebags on the floor next to the panel. He opened them to pull out a large Glimmer Cell battery meant for powering things on the fly like this. He started to wire it into the machine.

“Remind me what your cutie mark is for again?” asked Starlight.

“The equal sign?” Dyo asked as he fumbled with the connectors. “It’s for accounting.”

“I’ll do the wiring then,” Starlight said.

Starlight grasped the connectors and latched them into their proper positions, making sure they were snug, then flipped on the battery pack. The rest of the control panel lit, the screens glowing as the system booted.

“Your cutie mark reminds me of an idea I had once,” Starlight commented to Dyo. “Never got to do it. Celestia showed up looking for students long before I could. Probably best.”

“Must have been exciting for you,” Dyo stammered. His nervousness made his words seem fake. “Getting to be her student, I mean… What was the idea you had?”

He was backing towards the door. Why was he doing that? Maybe he feared it would explode? It wasn’t like backing up would do any good if it blew. Pinkie turned towards him, tensing and ready to charge if need be.

Starlight wiped the dust off the computer screens, ignoring or not hearing Dyo’s question. The computer screen showed that it was waiting for data. Starlight pulled the data drive from her own pipbuck and clicked it into the panel.

“Hangar lockdown commencing,” the Celestial computer voice announced.

“Sorry!” Dyo called, darting through the exit before it closed behind him. It took only an instant, not giving Pinkie time to charge, and they heard him galloping down the hall as fast as he could towards the exit.

“What?” Starlight asked.

“Launch sequence started,” the voice said. “Twenty-two minutes.”

“That is a very specific number,” Maud commented.

“It is the length of a single episode,” explained Pinkie. “So it is even. Yes.”

“What?!” Starlight clicked buttons on the keyboard. “But there’s no targeting data! Without targeting data, they’ll explode in the hangar even with launch doors open!”

“Why would he do this?” Maud stared.

Starlight opened a second panel, pulling out a cable and attaching it to her pipbuck.

“I don’t know, but I have to warn them,” said Starlight. “This can boost my signal. Get us into the main hangar. No questions.”

Pinkie leveled Pinkie Die at the door into the hangar and let it buzz to life. It was less sturdy than the one to the hallway that Dyo had closed, so fifteen seconds of blazing bullets later, the door flung off its hinges and flew into the darkness beyond.

As Starlight communicated with whoever she could, Pinkie moved onto the stairs leading downward towards the main floor of the hangar. Ghouls wandered from their hiding spots because of the noise, but they were easy enough to pick off from a higher position. None of them were pegasi, so they came up the stairs one at a time.

“Can you not simply put in launch data?” asked Maud from behind her. “We could at least try the doors to fire them into the ocean, or put in invalid target data to see if it would error out.”

“I don’t remember how, okay?” Starlight said. Her magic yanked an explosive from Pinkie’s bag and sat it atop the control panel. “Go down the stairs into the hangar.”

“The Empress does not know how to operate things she invented?” asked Pinkie as her gun buzzed to a stop. “Pinkie suspected she only took credit for such things. Yes.”

“Not the time, Pink,” Maud said. “This is my fault for deciding to continue.”

“No, it’s my fault,” Starlight said. “It’s my job for it to be my fault. Now get down there.”

Pinkie rushed down the stairs, Maud on her tail and Starlight behind them. While Starlight didn’t know the details of how things functioned, she seemed to know where to plant Pinkie’s explosives. She stuck another at the base of the tower where the control room stood. She didn’t dare place them on the missiles themselves, but floated them to the conduits routing power to them.

Another two ghouls rushed out of the shadows. Maud’s hammer put an end to one as the other was sliced apart by Pinkie’s minigun, being careful not to hit any of the missiles with gunfire. It was a good thing ghouls couldn’t use guns; that’d make them a real problem.

But they could use something else that Pinkie didn’t expect. Maud’s hammer glowed a pale gray light as magic tried to yank it away. Maud held it, but the magic was enough to annoy her. Pinkie felt her gun jerked around though had no problem holding it steady. She spotted the glow of a unicorn horn in a dark corner, firing there and splattering the unicorn ghoul against the wall behind it.

This was odd since they had fought unicorn ferals in Canterlot that didn’t do that. It must have been a rare ability among them, but would be more common in those with military or magical training. Luckily there weren’t many unicorns at this base during the war.

“Blow it!” Starlight called out to Pinkie.

They were barely a safe distance, but Starlight was right. There was no time to wait as there was no guarantee the missiles wouldn’t activate early. Still, this was a pretty stupid plan on Dyo’s part if they stopped it so easily. Pinkie supposed a civilian today couldn’t be expected to create an effective plan for something like this.

All the same, this hurt because Dyo was still a Pie. Pinkie couldn’t help but wonder what madness drove him to do something so destructive, endangering the lives of most of the Pie family.

On the plus side; they had over half the time to spare instead of a few seconds; so much for that trope. Taking cover with the other two, Pinkie pulled the detonator for her bombs, clicking to activate the ones they placed before pulling the switch.

“We missed one,” said Maud.

Pinkie peeked out from behind the large steel pipes they were hiding behind to see that another unicorn ghoul had staggered out. Maybe she thought the blinking bomb was pretty because she pulled it from its place and carried it away from its target.

Pinkie hadn’t had time to set a shorter delay on the explosives, so in the seconds it would take the bomb to activate, the ghoul could get far enough away from the target to be an issue. While Pinkie wasn’t familiar with the technical aspects of the system, Starlight seemed to think they all should blow up at the same time. That meant leaving one out or having it blow at a different location might have disastrous consequences. Pinkie couldn’t take that chance.

“Wait, Pinkie,” Maud said preemptively.

Pinkie had poor listening skills. Yes. She leaped out from behind the cover and fired up her mini-gun, sending a rain of bullets towards the poor unicorn feral. She took the creature down without harming the package, the bomb landing close enough to its target.

But before Pinkie could move back behind the cover, the bombs activated. An instant later, Pinkie felt a stabbing pain in her chest as she was thrown back. She slammed against the wall with her hooves not touching the floor, but didn’t slump downward.

The pain intensified as she realized why she wasn’t sliding down the wall. Two metal rods, each the diameter of Pinkie’s front leg, had nailed her to it. One punctured her right through the gut, the other stabbing further up, and Pinkie was sure it’d taken out part of one lung. The fountain of blood that came up with her next breath confirmed that.

Damn it. Why couldn’t she lose something non-vital like Kamikaze? She could have gotten a cool cybernetic leg! Pinkie had poor luck. Yes.

“Pinkie!” Maud screeched and was there next to her before the smoke even cleared.

Pinkie tried to see through her foggy vision, but it felt like every nerve in her body was firing at once. A torrent of agony was winding through her like she’d never felt. She saw Maud in front of her, propped against the wall and examining the wounds to see how bad they were.

Maud’s expression was one Pinkie had never seen. Her calm exterior vanished, pure panic and horror now lighting up her face. Tears rolled down from her eyes as she realized how bad it was, and she looked back up into Pinkie’s eyes.

“I am sorry,” Maud shook her head. “This is my fault… my fault my fault my fault…”

“Sis… ter…” Pinkie got out between gagging up blood. She forced her foreleg to move and placed a hoof against Maud’s cheek. “Pinkie… doesn’t blame… Pinkie… dies in battle… hero.”

Maud hugged Pinkie close and wailed. The hug made it more agonizing, but Pinkie would never let Maud know. She draped her forelegs over Maud’s shoulders in return and let them hang there, the closest to a hug she could muster.

It wasn’t unlike Twilight’s reaction to Spike’s death, but somehow more primal. Starlight’s eyes widened behind Maud, stepping away as if terrified Maud might find the nearest living thing and kill it in her despair. The fear was not unfounded, not even a little.

What would Maud do without Pinkie there to keep her calm? Pinkie knew what she herself would be like without Maud and feared what trouble Maud might cause for herself.

“Call for help!” Maud screamed at Starlight.

“I can’t!” Starlight’s shook her head, looking frozen in fear. “We destroyed the panel I used to magnify the PCB, but when the time runs out and the city doesn’t explode, I’m sure they’ll send medics down, Mercury will probably come.”

“Then go get her here faster!” Maud screeched so loudly she went hoarse.

Starlight nodded, eyes wide. Her horn lit, picking herself up and carrying herself to the door, which was now open without the security lockdown.

But could Mercury hope to do anything? Even if she brought the other doctors from Holder, Pinkie was a goner and she knew it. And how quickly would they get here if they didn’t know if it was this vital?

“Maud,” Pinkie said as blood drooled from her muzzle. “Quiet… listen…”

Maud silenced herself, looking up at Pinkie. The normally strong face looked more like a child that had just watched their favorite kitten get ran over by a tank.

“Won’t survive,” said Pinkie. “But not dead. Still have gem… Maud… find Limestone… save her… find recycler… save Pinkie…”

“I love you,” Maud cried. “I swear I will not let you down. We will save Limestone and find a way to save you. Crush my heart, hope to die, stick a bullet in my eye.”

“Love sister…” Pinkie mouthed the words, no longer able to speak aloud.

Pinkie wasn’t sure how long it took for Mercury to arrive, but she arrived back with Starlight and a pony doctor from the Holder hospital. There was a great deal of panicking, and Pinkie couldn’t make out most of what was said, but thought she heard phrases like ‘vital organs’ and ‘not enough time’.

They were right. They couldn’t rip her off the wall, so would have to cut the metal that impaled her on the other side, which would take time. Then they’d have to get her to the surface and to surgery in time to do something. Even if they had facilities for things like organ transplants, there was no way to get there in time for it to be used, and any healing magic wouldn’t help when there were solid objects in the way.

Maud nodded as a crying Mercury spoke to her, her whole body shaking and tears rolling down her own cheeks. She pulled Ashmaker from her back, pushing the barrel to Pinkie’s muzzle. Pinkie knew what was coming, so opened her muzzle willingly and let Maud take careful aim. She aimed so it would take out the brain instantly without damaging the soul crystal.

‘Not this again..’ Ashmaker lamented.

Pinkie’s neck twitched, her left eye fluttering. Was that the Pinkie Sense for her being about to die? She supposed she couldn't confirm that, but it sure beat her bowels releasing. It did give her one last bit of amusement, and she went out with a smile on her face even if she couldn’t laugh.

The gun was so effective that Pinkie barely felt the pressure of the blast before her pain and consciousness ceased.