Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Date: Friday 11/11/2287
POV: Midnight Sparkle
Midnight Castle

Midnight was tired of this constant planning. Not only were they having to evacuate important things to Underfree while coming up with ways to delay Trinity’s assault, but she also had to dig up from Underfree to have an alternate route to the Mirror Pool; she hadn’t given up on repairing it, if she could find a way to control them without being able to inject any memories upon creation. Perhaps Stable 27’s cryo-rehab techniques would be of use.

She didn't remember being this busy since early in the War. So now she sat atop the castle to rest, wearing headphones so that her nearby royal guards couldn't hear what she listened to.

”We're back with Best Friend Cozy Glow,” Shimmy’s voice spoke over Midnight's radio. “Who was telling us why ponies should STAY THE TARTARUS AWAY from the vicinity of Stable 2, the capital of Gollytopia.”

“Thank you, Shimmy!” Cozy replied. “As you know, one of the many benefits of living in Gollytopia is the ready availability of pet tatzlponies!”

“Oh, I love the tatzlponies!” Shimmy agreed. “They're just so cute!”

“Exactly, Shimmy!” Cozy said. “Who could resist those sweet little faces and the cute way they shuffle around on all those tentacles they have. And the adorable noises they make when implanting their eggs into their victims, golly! But ponies must be so caught up with their pleasant features that they forget the most important thing about tatzlponies.”

“And what might that be, Best Friend Cozy Glow?”

“Tatzlponies EAT ponies, Shimmy!” Cozy helpfully explained. “You see, unevolved ponies are a lot smaller and much more tender than you or I! So tatzlponies naturally see them as a food source or a convenient place to lay their eggs. Usually both, often at the same time.”

“Ahh, I see,” Shimmy pretended it was new information. “That would be a significant hurdle in their efforts to form lasting friendships.”

“Indeed!” Cozy nodded. “I had to make a hard choice when I created Gollytopia! Do we invite WEAK, GREEDY ponies to walk through our territory, who would just die from something else anyway? Or should I let the cute, lovable tatzlponies, who fight and die for us and ask nothing in return, roam free?” She added as casually as she might announce her order at a restaurant. “After much deliberation, I went with the tatzlponies.”

“And there you have it, Gollytopia!” Shimmy sounded pleased. “The next time you play with a huggable, lovable tatzlpony, remember that Best Friend Cozy Glow made it all possible!”

“Golly, no need to thank me!” Cozy assured. “I just do what I can to spread friendship!”

“Do you think this is why we get so few volunteers at Stable 2?” asked Shimmy. “Hundreds must want to trade their WEAK PATHETIC bodies for SUPERIOR super-mutant forms, yet we almost never get recruits showing up.”

“I do think that is the problem,” said Cozy. “That is why this information is so important. Remember, ponies. If you come to be upgraded, wait at the border to be transferred to the factory for processing instead of trying to walk to Stable 2 on your own. Unless you've been given food or egg-sack duty, you absolutely shouldn't approach any of the cute wildlife surrounding our territory before you've been properly evolved.”

“By my Shadow, how does Cozy even come up with this stuff?” Midnight rolled her eyes as she slipped and spoke aloud. Though she had to admit; she'd miss these segments when she finally killed Cozy.

“My favorites are her 'all-seeing eye' bits.” Watcher’s voice came from behind her.

Midnight turned suddenly to face a sprite-bot that had buzzed atop Midnight castle with her. Her nearby guards raised their weapons, but lowered them slowly as Midnight raised a hoof. She didn't like Watcher being here, for certain, but with Trinity about to storm her gates she couldn't turn down Statera's assistance.

Watcher had spoken to both Midnight and her bat general Ethereal when he was directing the movement of supplies. Midnight hated that Statera saw a need to assist her openly like this. They'd always done their best to pretend they didn't exist, so for them to come forward and offer their aid, Trinity must really have the upper hoof on her.

“Watcher,” Midnight growled. “A pleasure to see you, though less of a pleasure to be unable to kill your controller. Do you have news?”

“Indeed,” said Watcher. “Trinity found the bat pony's body we planted at the edge of your territory and has taken the information he carried as real. She now believes you will send forces into the Foal Mountains to try to take her out before she attacks. However, she believes you underestimated her numbers and will send too few. She delayed her attack on the Everfree while she set up a trap there. Cozy believes it will eliminate a large portion of your twilicorns before she intrudes on the castle itself. Regardless, it will probably buy at least another week before she decides you aren't really sending a unit in and they should go ahead and attack, perhaps longer.”

“They are not 'twilicorns',” corrected Midnight, though she wasn't sure why she bothered in this case. She couldn't fear-aura Watcher to submission through a sprite-bot, and depending on what Watcher was, she might not be able to in person either. “They are Divine Likenesses.”

“You're welcome,” Watcher quipped. “I have also decided to share the other information you wanted us to confirm. It is true that Trinity has discovered a method of creating super-mutants without pony subjects by cloning them, which while slower than the Mirror Pool, will give her an effectively unlimited amount without needing to find victims. There must still be things to work out about it, since she hasn’t started this method of production yet, but we’d be fools to assume she won’t start soon.”

“Urgh, brilliant,” Midnight face-hoofed. “What about the changelings?”

“The rumor that Trinity has increased her hive-range seems to be propaganda,” said Watcher. “She still does not have the range to get one into your territory while still under her control, and isn't likely to any time soon. We’ve had no reports of her changelings appearing outside the current range, though it’s impossible to know for sure.”

“Well, one out of two isn’t bad. A mare doesn’t need her rear half to lick ya, as they say,” Midnight shrugged with a bit of humor to play off her worry.

“I doubt anyone says that but you,” Watcher said. “Anyway, I advise you to let as few ponies know of your strategy as possible, just in case I am incorrect about the changelings.”

“As always,” shrugged Midnight.

“Is there anything else I can assist with before departing?” Watcher asked, in a tone that was hard to tell if it was meant as mocking. “And I am not putting this thing inside you again, regardless of what you offer in return; that was a waste of a perfectly-good sprite-bot.”

“You could always tell me who you are,” Midnight said. “I’d even settle for what you are, but since I assume you won't, I'll ask about the reports I received that Queen Chrysalis is in Holder and shacked up with Starlight Glimmer's band of buffoons. The only reason I haven’t acted against Starlight is because I realize she has an insane plan to infiltrate the Ministry of Magitech while Trinity’s forces are busy. Never stop an enemy when they’re making a mistake, they also say.”

“You knew about the meeting?” Watcher was given pause on that one, which was a bit pleasing. “I’d say you heard it on Songsmith’s radio show, but he only knew when she was in transit and arrived.”

“It’s a good thing,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “If he’d known everything, I might have gone insane from frustration.”

“And we’d hate for you to go insane,” Watcher said sarcastically. “But the number of people in on that meeting was quite small. Are you honestly saying that you-”

“That’s not really important to the present conversation, now is it,” Midnight cut them off. She doubted there was any way they could identify her source, but she wanted them to know they were being watched to make them more paranoid of defying her.

That and it was nice to show she wasn’t completely vulnerable. Midnight had enough embarrassment these days from dimwitted guards or Watcher barging in during moments even she considered private. It was damaging her vanity to have someone around she couldn’t intimidate at all.

“That is indeed the case,” confirmed Watcher. “She is with Starlight because they have plans to attack Trinity's base while Cozy is distracted fighting you. It is advisable to let her be so she can make that attempt, since whether it succeeds or fails you will be minus one annoyance. I can confirm Chrysalis has no hive and no way to seriously threaten us.”

“My source seemed to think Chrysalis wasn’t with Trinity as well,” Midnight raised one eyebrow. “Though honestly that doesn’t seem right. You can confirm it?”

“I am absolutely certain,” said Watcher. “Chrysalis is more of a threat to herself these days than anyone else. Would I mislead you at a time like this?”

“No you won't lie to me until later, when I'm on top, and not in the fun way,” Midnight rolled her eyes.

Still, Midnight knew Chrysalis was a threat to more than Chrysalis. Midnight would demand Starlight take care of Chrysalis the moment she was no longer of any use, but there was no reason to tell Watcher that. He might end up hearing it from that Moon-damned Songsmith first anyway.

POV: Forgot
Holder

The dogs in the wagon laughed uproariously at Best Friend Cozy’s segment about tatzlponies. After hearing it though, Forgot was rethinking his decision to delay suicide. Thankfully, they turned the radio off as they approached a tall wall with a wide wagon-sized door on it.

Two strange creatures were in front of it, talking, but grew silent when they arrived. One was wearing a uniform, a computer on his front right leg as the ones that rescued him had. The creature had odd, thick red fur on its head and front feet that looked like the 'hands' that the dogs had, if more gangly. The other looked much like a pony, but with black and white stripes covering his body.

“Are we expecting you?” the creature said, polite but official.

“We don't need entry,” said one of the canine escorts. “We return this pony to pony town. Your friends rescued him from the stable near Ramble. Starlight-pony says to give him a place to sleep and tasks to integrate into pony town culture. Says Custard pony can help and will make her feel more important and helpful than she is.”

“We not supposed to tell him that last thing,” pointed out the second dog.

“Never mind, then,” said the first dog. “Also, we have a broken robot to give to the ponies Dinky and Solar.”

“Wow, your species,” commented the creature as he took the folder from the dog. “... really has a wide range of intelligence.”

“Thank you,” smiled the dogs.

As the creature flipped through the file they gave him, the striped one looked over his shoulder. Something seemed to catch his eye, because he looked up at Forgot.

“This says you have a life gem?” the striped one asked. “And were part of an experiment where you were forced to hide?”

“Uh yeah…” Forgot shuffled a bit and looked away, not wanting to talk about it.

“You can talk to him later, Xander,” the other creature said. “Looks like I'm going to escort him to Dinky first; I guess she’s the least dangerous of Starlight's buds. I'll take care of getting him there and making sure the parts are delivered.”

“I’ll find you later,” Xander nodded to Forgot.

Forgot hoped he wasn’t being rude by not talking now, but it still felt weird to be talking to other creatures at all, especially when some were delivering him somewhere he didn’t understand. The winged creature hefted the dead robot onto his back, which also had a note attached to it for once it was delivered. Forgot obediently followed the creature through the door and into what was beyond, nodding awkwardly at Xander in parting.

The 'settlement' as his escort called it was full of more creatures. Most looked similar to Forgot, some were like the others he'd seen, and some were different than anything he could have imagined. Could all these creatures live together in one place? They must have banded together for protection when the demons came to kill them. That would explain the walls and guards as well.

The more he looked at things, however, he realized that these would be terrible places to hide with the open streets and so many windows...did they never have demons here? Surely not, those things could easily have gone the path the wagon took. Then again, much of the path was barren and open, like little happened there.

He turned to catch up to the creature after falling behind to look, but made an observation when seeing him from behind.

“Oh, you have what I have,” Forgot nodded, remembering the strange lecture he’d gotten from Twilight. “Just like the dogs that escorted me.” He got quieter. “Did you know we can put it in other creatures?”

“Huh?” the creature arched an eyebrow, taking a moment to get what he meant. “Uh, yeah. I did know that.”

Forgot suddenly felt as if he’d said something weird without meaning too, and felt strangely hot around his cheeks.

“My name is Ginger, by the way,” said the creature when Forgot quietened. “You’re 'Forgot', huh? Interesting name; I hope that's not your special talent or anything. Looks like a keyboard on your rump.”

“Wow,” said Forgot, glancing at the mark on his flank. “It really is called that? Um… I'm told my real name is Oliver Spoon... or Moon or Boon or something, but I think I'll go by Forgot because it's easier to say. Uh... no offense but, may I ask what you are? And what these other creatures are? And rock rooms?”

“Never seen a griffon before?” Ginger asked. “Well, they did imply you were trapped in a stable. That was some hardcore stuff according to Starlight's letter, sorry you went through that.”

“I don't want to talk about that,” Forgot said quietly.

“Right,” Ginger nodded, then smiled as if trying to lighten things. “I saw you had free PUB tickets in that folder though. Ask for either of the griffons, the guy or the girl, they both have magic fingers.”

“Really?” Forgot wondered if that was similar to a magic horn, nodding. “Sure, I’ll ask for magic fingers.”

This griffon thing was nice and helpful at least. He pointed out the various creatures as they trotted too, but Forgot doubted he'd remember them all. He said the rock rooms, or buildings, were for different things like trading items, relaxation, and some were where creatures lived.

“No one has to hide where they sleep to keep from getting murdered?” Forgot asked in awe. “This is amazing!”

“Uh, yeah that is quite the perk,” Ginger sounded unsure again, but nodded.

Forgot worried he might have said something weird again; it was impossible to tell. As they continued to walk, Ginger pulled the computer thing on his front leg up and spoke to it.

“Custard?” Ginger asked through what Forgot assumed was a radio. “I have somepony I'm supposed to hoof off to Dinky, but she's not answering her radio.”

“Oh she's here at the Pie museum,” Custard said. “She turned it off so she wouldn't be disturbed while we played.”

“I told you not to tell anyone I was playing!” a dry-sounding voice called from the background. Another voice then came. “Wait, they're hoofing someone off, and to me?...that’s weird. Are they hot at least I guess?”

“You know I’m right here and I don’t want to hear about if someone’s hot…” said Custard, who must have had some problem with warm things? Strange.

“Not like that,” Ginger said. “I’m on my way over though.”

“Why would I be hot?” Forgot asked in confusion.

“Poor Dinky is pent up to be sounding so much like Solar, even jokingly,” Ginger said to Forgot as they continued. “Don’t think you’ll want to do that with her either, but you'll like her anyway, she’s pretty nice. Just so you don't freak out when you see her, though, Dinky is a ghoul. That means she's basically a walking, rotting corpse, which can make interactions... awkward. Ghouls tend to be sensitive about people reacting harshly to that, so try to take it easy.”

“Did her life gem malfunction?” Forgot asked. “And make her rot?”

“Uh…” Ginger took a moment to work through it. “Oh, soul gem? Most ponies don’t have those. Most ponies when they die the first time… they’re just dead. That’s it.”

“Wow, lucky,” Forgot nodded. He could only accept the nonsense he was told. He wondered if that was something else he knew but forgot. “Can we pause? I need to empty my bladder.”

“Sure, the bathroom is over-- hey, stop it!” Ginger’s voice suddenly went up a pitch.

It took a moment for Forgot to realize what was wrong and stopped watering the pavement. He glanced around, realizing that others were looking at him as if he’d done something strange, either looking shocked, disgusted, or giggling.

“Did I do something bad again?” Forgot asked quietly. He was getting frustrated by continually messing things up. “I did it on the floor in the stable and on the ground on the way here so I figured…”

“I’ll take you to the restroom,” sighed Ginger. “Doing it on the ground while traveling between cities is fine, but inside cities, keep it to restrooms. It’s not sanitary otherwise. Creatures will get sick.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Forgot nodded. “Maybe that’s one reason my stomach feels so much clearer since leaving my stable.”

“Among other things I read in the letter, yeah,” Ginger looked slightly ill himself thinking about it.

Ginger took him to one of these ‘restrooms’, showing him the symbol that was used to designate them in Holder. Apparently one typically used one alone, so Forgot hoped he remembered everything next time he had to, especially how to use ‘the three rocks’ when he had to go the other way. This time the griffon explained, while looking very awkward, and then sighed with relief when they continued onward.

The 'Pie Family Museum' was just as different and fascinating as everything else. Apparently, it was in honor of some brave ponies, including Maud. Forgot had no doubt that Maud was worthy of such praise after seeing her in action, even if he only got to see the last bit of the fight.

Dinky was disturbing to look at, and Forgot felt instinctual dread at the slightly unnatural way that her body moved. He pushed it down though; it was nothing compared to what he'd dealt with after all. Dinky was very small too, which helped.

The other one, who Forgot assumed was Custard, was also pretty small. She played with four little model ponies, one of which depicted Maud. Dinky looked longingly at them too, but seemed to be avoiding play in front of others.

“Um, hello,” Forgot said as Ginger left him there.

“Uh… sup,” Dinky said awkwardly as she took the folder from Ginger in her telekinetic grasp.

Ginger left the robot there on the floor as he left, and at first Dinky seemed keenly interested in it, but as Dinky and Custard looked over Starlight's letter, both their eyes grew wide.

“Holy horse apples,” said Dinky quietly, then looked back up. “Hey, don't worry, okay? This settlement is one of the safest places in Equestria, even more so once we get the defense shield up and running.”

“Ah, good,” Forgot nodded. “So um, are you ponies? I saw some small ponies in town too, are you like a different type?”

The two little ones stared for a moment.

“Oh uh, no no no,” Custard said, her voice a bit stiff. “We are foals. Young ponies are smaller because they have to come out of their mothers. Yes.”

“Oh!” Forgot nodded. “Yeah, I thought that part of the lecture seemed weird, how ponies came out of other ponies. That makes sense if they start smaller.”

“I'm not a foal,” Dinky added. “But I died when I was one, so I'm stuck at this size.”

“Oh uh, sorry,” Forgot said. “I know how much dying hurts.”

“Yeah, guess you do,” Dinky closed the folder. “Believe me, I'm counting my blessings after reading this. I saw the part about the PUB too; I’ll take you there when Custard isn’t with us.”

“Custard doesn’t like the PUB?” Forgot tilted his head.

“Uh, she’s not allowed to go there,” Dinky explained.

“They don’t like her there?” Forgot head tilted. “That’s sad. Would you want me to do sex with you after PUB practice, Custard?”

For some reason, Custard took a step back and looked notably more nervous. “Uh, well I uh don’t think…”

Custard hurriedly took a whistle out of her saddle bag and put it in her muzzle, as if ready to blow it. Dinky, however, pulled the whistle away to put it back, then coaxed Forgot another step away from Dinky. Custard looked him over as Dinky patted her, looking pale, and keeping her distance, as well as a hoof to her saddle bag;

“He’s not like Solar, Custard, he’s just naive…” Dinky said before turning to him. “Sorry, she’s just a little too young for doing things with anypony that isn’t a similar age. Also uh… when you get your thing at the PUB, make sure someone explains uh… consent. Like asking before doing anything with someone’s parts.” Dinky then rolled her eyes. “I’m of age, despite my looks, but I doubt you’re into foal corpses.”

“Oh, sorry, I’ll try to remember that,” Forgot blushed brightly, then tilted his head at Dinky. “What’s wrong with foal corpses? My corpses were good to rub up against when they were still fresh.” She wasn’t the best looking pony he’d seen, but hardly scary like others seemed to think. “If I’d known I could use the holes, I would ha-”

“U-um, let’s not talk about that stuff in public!” Dinky said nervously before turning again to Custard, who looked like she was trying not to vomit. “Don’t worry, Custard, he’s...a weirdo, but he just had a really, really bad time all by himself, way worse than Dyo ever had, and needs your help. I’m sure we can handle him.”

Dinky seemed to be warming up to him for some reason, even talking in a tone like he’d heard Crimson use with Maud, which must be good, but Custard still looked uneasy as she reluctantly gave him a hug and relaxed. Forgot hoped he’d figure out how to talk to them better; he wanted to get to know them, as it was such an amazing thing to get to know ponies that weren’t him.

“So uh, I assume you won't want to live in the Stable,” said Dinky, perhaps trying to change the subject.

“I'll see what's available in town, and look into getting him the usual violent trauma therapy,” said Custard. Her voice had smoothed out for a moment, then returned to the previous accent as if remembering how she was supposed to talk. “I am the leader here, yes! Well, not yet really, but I will be.”

“Oh, that's impressive,” said Forgot. “Unless that's common? I'm not sure. Will I meet other settlement-creatures?”

“Well, the only ones here I know well other than Custard are Solar and Kamikaze,” said Dinky. “Chrysalis is part of the team now, I guess, but I haven't seen her much since the others left, that I know of at least.”

“I’ll do whatever I need,” smiled Forgot.

Dinky's eyes went back to the robot. She grinned as she looked it over, but then she sighed and looked grim.

“If only I had you before,” Dinky said, stroking one of the robotic components oddly. “If I could have dug through its head and... whatever. Pretty impressive though. It'll need major repairs, but the legs might be outfitted for Kamikaze.”

“Kamikaze needs legs?” asked Forgot, nervously playing with the necklace Twilight gave him.

“She needs better legs,” said Dinky. “She’ll want to tell that story, but Solar is gonna cream when she sees this thing. She has her hooves full with the reactor right now, and I can’t test the shield until she’s done, so this’ll give me something to do.”

“She makes cream?” asked Forgot. “That’s good; it’s the only thing I really liked the taste of in my stable.”

“Phew,” chuckled Dinky. “You’ll be a hoof-full, but honestly a pleasant one compared to the types I normally deal with. How about Custard giving you a tour while I let Solar and Kamikaze know and threaten to hurt them if they corrupt you.”

“Hurt them?” Forgot wished he could keep up. “Are they allergic to peace and quiet too? Is that a common condition?”

“Sure, we’ll go with that,” Dinky nodded, looking to Custard. “I think he’s fine, really. Once I get done with this, I’ll come take him elsewhere.”

“Okay,” Custard smiled, but then frowned. “But I don’t think you’ll blame me for having a guard close by. Anyway, follow me for the tour and keep any touching under control!”