Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Tuesday, 10/25/?
POV: Starlight Glimmer
Stable 27

Being proclaimed leader of Equestria excited Starlight, maybe enough to make up for the depictions of some apparent failures memorialized in stained glass around her. Then again, she only had five confirmed subjects. No, make that four.

It happened so fast as Twilight’s dragon companion was gunned down by an overzealous computer. Starlight would have thought what a horrible programmer the pony that created it must be, but for all she knew that was her.

For a moment, Starlight stared, wanting to curl up and sob too at Spike’s death, though she couldn’t remember why. She tried to approach the wailing alicorn, but after Twilight threw Kamikaze into a wall, the alicorn’s magic was so unhinged that getting close felt like ramming her horn into a power socket. Kamikaze staggered where she was thrown, her magitech apparently struggling to keep her conscious.

It felt wrong to intrude on Twilight by listening to her screams, so Starlight gently wrapped her in a silence bubble; it was a pretty instinctive spell. It’d protect Twilight’s privacy and save the group from unwanted attention. Twilight didn’t notice; she continued to cling to Spike, weeping and dead to the world as she held his head onto his body as if that would help..

“Identified as Rainbow Dash, alias Kamikaze, President of the Grand Pegasus Enclave,” the computer voice snapped Starlight back to reality, more audible again once Twilight was silenced. “Advice: Please reactivate the defense matrix.”

“Do not reactivate defenses without my specific command!” Starlight screamed.

Kamikaze was pulling herself up off the floor, luckily not losing any more limbs due to Twilight’s magical shove. She tried to approach Twilight again as if to apologize, but let out an undignified squeal as she entered the haywire magic field near the alicorn. Her head sparked and face twisted in pain as she backed away, stumbling to the cold floor, systems clearly on the blink, but seeming undamaged otherwise.

Starlight had already had doubts about Kamikaze. Her uniform differed from that of the Pies, and Starlight’s pipbuck color coded her yellowish-orange. That seemed as close to red as she could be without attacking them, even if it’d gradually been shifting towards green. However she also recognized their need to have every ally they could get. Even after the computer labeled her an enemy, Kamikaze lacked her memories and had shown herself to be a decent pony overall. There was an opportunity to convert her from one cause to another, whatever either cause was.

Though it hadn’t occurred to Starlight that Kamikaze might be the leader of an enemy faction rather than just a soldier. She noted Kamikaze's apparent weakness to Twilight's unhinged magical charge, scanning the frequency briefly in case she had need to duplicate it later. She shook her head when the frequency registered as 69 pegahertz.

Either way, giving Kamikaze a chance didn't mean being unprepared to fight her if needed, though she honestly wasn't sure if she could duplicate the powerful energy the alicorn emitted.

“Filthy featherbrain, Pinkie should have known you were up to no good!” Pinkie approached Kamikaze, looking suspiciously like she was about to fire. She nodded to her minigun. “Pinkie agrees! Dismantling of pega-parts will commence immediately!”

“We should bind this one,” suggested Maud. “Since I assume you will not order us to put her down.”

“I…” Kamikaze stepped back again and blinked as soon as she was able to stand. Her mechanical legs twitched and she clenched her teeth. She visibly strained to resist her own automagic defense response when it kicked back in, which showed she didn’t want to fight them.

“Stop!” Starlight ordered. “Whatever battle we were fighting before is over. We’re in a new world with new enemies, and we will stand together. Understand?”

Pinkie frowned and narrowed her eyes at Kamikaze, but lowered her gun without question now that Starlight was the recognized leader. Maud backed down too, though both of the Pies moved to place themselves between Starlight and the others.

“Thanks,” Kamikaze muttered, looking unsure of herself. She backed against the nearby wall, sinking into a sitting position and rubbing her temples with her front hooves. She seemed to have a lot of headaches even outside of getting shocked, though Starlight imagined it couldn’t be helped in her condition.

Suddenly the door clicked again, and Starlight braced herself for yet another problem. There weren’t any wall-mounted guns this time, but the whole door slid several hoof steps into the tunnel, pulling it free from the wall, then rolling it to one side like a giant gear. The roar of motors from within groaned with the effort to move the heavy alloy door.

Starlight couldn’t see too far within beyond the armored figures that emerged. They were four earth pony mares in blue armor that covered their entire bodies. The armor had a black trim along the collar and zippers, a yellow ‘27’ imprinted on the collar. The full-body armor was insulated cloth rather than something with stopping power. It had a glass head covering, probably designed for radiation protection. The front of the glass was open, covered with a small force field instead to allow them to hold their weapon, low caliber pistols, in their muzzles.

They stank of inexperience and poor weapon discipline. They shivered visibly, teeth clenched at the triggers firmly enough that a hiccup would have fired it. Maud and Pinkie moved between them and Starlight, and even Kamikaze rushed up beside them, standing tall and intimidating.

“Halt you- um ponies,” stammered the mare in front. “Or we’ll shoot!”

Obviously these ponies were untrained, they seemed more like scared foals facing a monster. But why? Had it been long enough for the residents of the shelter to become complacent? It was nice for Starlight to have such intimidating guards for herself, but she hardly needed them. The soldiers advancing couldn’t have been less imposing if they were wearing giant rainbow clown wigs.

Maud took offense to the verbal threat either way. She stared the front guard down and walked forward, not stopping until the gun barrel almost touched her face.

“Why are you getting closer?” asked the guard quietly. “Shouldn’t you be… I mean… I have a gun!”

“I suspect I have seen this end of a gun many times,” Maud said. “Have you seen that end even once?”

Maud snatched the gun from the pony’s muzzle with a single smooth movement and wrenched the guard’s helmet free. A moment later, Maud flipped her around into a headlock with her front hooves. The mare squeaked as her helmet clattered across the marble floor, reaching for it and looking panicked. Maud held the mare’s own gun against her temple.

“Put your weapons on the ground,” Maud said as clearly as she could with the trigger mechanism in her mouth, and as calmly as if she were providing baking instructions. “Before I put your friend there instead.”

Behind Maud, Pinkie aimed her minigun, already giggling at the prospect of a fight. Kamikaze was a bit further back, looking like she was trying to keep her neck-slicing metal wing down lest she accidentally take another pony’s head off. This was not a good first impression.

“My helmet! I’ll be tainted!” the mare shrieked, more worried about that than the gun to her head.

Such fear was irrational given the lower radiation levels near the stable door, yet this pony looked as if she thought she’d die in an instant. She was like a foal that thought the bogey mare was under her bed; somepony had made these ponies terrified to step outside.

“Let’s not get carried away!” Starlight shouted, trying once again to calm things down, but it felt like she was trying to herd parasprites. She trotted over, picking up the mare’s helmet and placing it back upon her head in a motherly fashion. “We’re not your enemies. Let’s all put down our weapons… that means you too, Pies… and talk like civilized ponies.”

As Maud released the first mare and Pinkie lowered her gun, Starlight turned toward the other guards and smiled as she would to comfort a scared filly. They seemed unsure, but slowly lowered their weapons, staring into Starlight’s eyes as they did so. Maud and Pinkie tried to step in front of Starlight again, but she nudged them aside with her magic.

Starlight glanced back to see how Twilight was faring, and saw her still holding Spike, staring at the floor now instead of crying. Starlight released the bubble of silence around her, though the alicorn didn’t notice that or anything else. It looked like her whole life was flashing before her eyes. Starlight wanted to comfort her, but she had other problems to deal with.

“Are you hackers?” asked a second mare as the one Maud restrained returned to hide behind the others.

“Why would we be hackers?” asked Starlight, tilting her head.

“The machine identified you as historical figures,” said the guard. “And her,” she pointed at Twilight, “It identified her as the Devil herself!”

“Your machine identified myself and the Pie sisters correctly,” said Starlight, “As it did Kamikaze, though she has… surrendered and defected to Canterlot since your records were updated. As for Twilight, your machine was mistaken. Its files must be corrupted.”

“If they have soul crystals like the Overmare, it could be them,” said a third guard. “I mean the one has metal limbs. No hacker saws off her own legs and wing to convince somepony of who she is.”

“But their uniforms and… metal parts… they’re new. They sure aren’t two hundred years old,” added the fourth mare.

“Wait, two hundred years?” Starlight blinked, “Please tell me you’re speaking figuratively.”

Yet that explained why the buildings looked weathered, and why the corpses were ‘worn down’ by wind despite the taint killing anything that would make them decay normally.

“210 years since you were presumed dead, actually, if you are who you say,” a new voice spoke from the tunnel. “And you mean ‘like the former Overmare’, Trigger.”

210? So when the log entries said '87'... it meant 2287? This was unimaginable.

Starlight looked at the new pony to arrive. She dressed in the same Stable 27 uniform though hers had silver instead of black trim and she walked and spoke with much more confidence and authority. The new pony looked at her pipbuck, confirming the radiation level before slipping her helmet off. It showed her blue coat and cyan mane, and a relative lack of fear compared to the others. Her expression was more of a deep fascination.

Starlight noted a hateful edge in her voice when speaking of their ‘former’ Overmare though. She took it all in; every emotional detail might be something Starlight could use to sway the conversation in her favor. Diplomacy like this was an emotional game of cat and mouse.

“You’re actually here then,” the mare said as if amazed to see someone outside of the shelter. “I’m Chrome Keys, the acting Overmare of Stable 27. May I see the back of your neck, ‘Starlight’?”

“The back of my neck?” Starlight was confused at first, then realized why, “Of course.”

She turned, pulling her mane up from behind to show Chrome the eye-sized pink gem embedded at the base of her skull, right at her brain stem. Starlight didn't have many memories back yet, but it was slowly filtering in.

“You do have a soul gem,” Chrome nodded, though the surprise in her voice seemed oddly over-dramatic as if faking surprise. “Could you be… but this still makes no sense! Why would you travel with the Enclave’s President? And even with a soul gem, how are you alive?”

“Nothing other than devils could survive outside of a stable, and we’re the only stable that survived,” said the guard behind her, nodding her head.

The only one? That seemed unlikely.

“Isn’t it possible that your machine’s history files are corrupted?” asked Starlight.

“Well, I don’t know,” admitted Chrome. “I’ve haven’t seen most files from the maneframe, the only one that had easy access to those before very recently is the… former Overmare…”

"Do you have no way of attempting contact with other stables?" asked Maud.

"Only the former Overmare had access to even try that," one guard stammered. “And it seems she’s deleted the contact codes for other stables, so even if they existed we’d have to contact them manually to get their access codes, or they’d have to think to contact us again if they have our code.”

"She's right," said Chrome, not seeming to like where this conversation was going. "I wouldn't even know how to turn the communications array on without having the engineers look it over..."

“Former Overmare, you say?” Starlight understood the implications and snatched the opportunity to sow doubt that could help her team. “So, you base your assumption on what she told you? May I ask why you relieved her of her position? If she has a soul gem like you say, she must have held that position for some time, yes?”

For a moment, the stable dwellers were silent, the guards eyeing one another nervously. Starlight smiled inwardly but kept the concern on her face. Chrome tapped her chin as if carefully formulating how to word her every sentence.

“What happened to the other stables?” asked Kamikaze. “I mean, this city took a direct mega-spell hit and the stable still survived.”

“Hmm, that’s quite a valid point,” Starlight said to Kamikaze, though more for the benefit of Chrome and the guards. “This stable survived fully intact, but not a single other was sturdy enough to survive even partially?” She turned back to Chrome. “Did you get this information from the ‘former’ Overmare as well? That is quite interesting.”

“Put them in the cell,” Chrome said. She shook her head to clear it as if looking into Starlight’s eyes made her uncomfortable. “We have other things to deal with. Take their weapons but treat them well as I think they’ll be cooperative.”

“A cell?” Maud tilted her head. “We are not criminals.”

“I didn’t say you were,” Chrome assured. “And we’re not putting you into cryo-rehab or anything, but we haven’t had visitors in 200 years so we don’t exactly have guest quarters prepared. We’re just putting you there so you can rest comfortably and wash off while I deal with other things, because I honestly don’t know how long it will take.”

“It’s okay,” Starlight said to the Pies, making sure they didn’t react predictably to their weapons being taken. “I believe these ponies will become our friends if we cooperate.” At this rate, Starlight would rule the stable in two shakes of a hoof. Okay, maybe three or four.

Pinkie growled as the guards but unlatched her minigun and Gummy launcher. She opened her helmet and gave each weapon a somewhat lewd kiss before allowing them to slip to the ground and stepping back. Similarly, Maud nuzzled her hammer before placing it on the ground with the same care one might put down an infant. They took Pinkie and Maud’s saddle bags as well; who knew what kind of horrifying things they kept in those.

Oddly, Chrome herself approached Twilight to try and take Spike off her hooves, but Twilight shook her head and turned away.

“How do we get that thing away from her?” asked one guard.

“That thing?” Starlight barely kept her cool. “‘He’s a young dragon, you have no right to act as if his death is anything but tragic. And right in front of his grieving surrogate mother!”

Starlight didn’t know if Twilight was his surrogate mother, but the guess made for adequate guilt-tripping, which would make the guards more likely to give in later. That, and for Starlight, it still felt like she’d lost a child herself. She wished she remembered why…

“His?” the guard tilted her head. “But if it’s just a male…”

“It is good for you that you waited until after we turned in our weapons to fill us with murderous rage,” Maud peered at the guard. “Not so good for us.”

Pinkie growled as well, “Even the suspiciously sexy pegacorn deserves to mourn!”

“Iron!” Chrome said to the guard that had been so callous, then turned to Starlight. “I apologize… none of us have encountered dragons, I suppose genders must work differently with them.”

That was a curious misunderstanding. Chrome believed that Starlight wouldn’t have been mad had she been insensitive about a colt. Starlight noted the strangely intense misandry, but needed to know more before she explained to them what horrible ponies they were. She raised a hoof to her own soldiers, quietly signaling them not to pursue the conversation as she knew they'd want to.

Starlight turned to Twilight, kneeling next to her and placing a hoof lightly on her shoulder. Twilight looked at her, her face growing stern and hateful. It had 'this is all your fault' etched on it, though Starlight couldn't fathom why. She hoped she hadn’t done something horrible to Twilight and forgotten about it.

“Twilight, I’m so sorry for what has happened,” Starlight whispered. “You’re right to be angry. I should have realized and told the computer right away, but he needs to be given a proper, respectful burial.”

Twilight loosened her grip, and Starlight slowly pried Spike away from her. She lay him respectfully on the floor, then moved closer to Twilight and hugged her close. Twilight returned the hug, crying again, and Starlight coaxed her toward the entrance of the stable. When Twilight tried to look back, Starlight gently tugged her to face where they were going. Dealing with this was awkward, but Starlight needed the alicorn on her side.

Chrome looked strangely nervous when Starlight handled Spike, then moved to stand next to him when Starlight and Twilight moved away. She was strangely discreet when she checked the back of his neck.

“They don’t have soul gems,” Starlight said to Chrome, but added. “As for you: For shame, leaving all these bodies strewn about the hall, ponies who should have been allowed inside! You will have your ‘minions’ bring them in and at the very least have them cremated with a respectful ceremony.”

Starlight intentionally acted like she owned the place already; she expected it might actually work in this situation. Chrome wasn't as weak-minded as the guards, but seemed susceptible to standard emotional blackmail.

“It will be done,” Chrome mumbled. “The former Overmare had told us… never mind.” She turned to the guards and nodded for them to take the group ahead into the stable before turning back to Spike, “Damn, she really gets into your head.”

As they led them within, Starlight got a better view of the inside. There was about twenty hoofsteps of a stone corridor that led into a wide-open area. The walls, floor, and ceiling were metal, though the only significant object within them seemed to be a large computer that controlled the outer door. Everything in this room was caked in dust as if it hadn’t been touched for years, including the computer keyboard. The only part without dust was a single large button that Chrome hit to close the door behind them.

Starlight noted a few other ponies having gathered there, wearing a less form-covering version of the stable suit that only covered their forward torso, looking at the new visitors with interest. Starlight sensed that something disturbed them, but not just seeing strangers. Starlight was good at reading faces, and these ponies were outright despondent, as if an idea they had great faith in had been torn apart. Something with the last Overmare, perhaps?

They all wore similar uniforms, with only the trim color separating them. Starlight assumed this to be some kind of designation of rank or occupation. She hoped there weren’t any fashionistas here; living in a place where everypony dressed the same would be torture for one. Aside from that, Starlight noted they were all mares or fillies, not a single male among them.

“Where are the stallions?” Starlight asked one of their guards, fearing that they might keep them confined as breeding stock or something equally horrible.

“Stallions?” the guard asked, spitting the word with disgust, “Why would we have those here?”

“Um, because they’re necessary,” Starlight said, “For producing foals.”

The guard blinked in surprise, and then shook her head, tensing in anger. “Joking? Right now?”

Starlight didn’t know why that was perceived as a joke and wanted to pursue it, but decided not to with Twilight whimpering beside her. Still, she did her best to analyze the ponies they passed as they proceeded down a long metal corridor.

There were passages that branched off, signs pointing to areas within the facility. Cafeteria… residential… school… armory… hydroponics… orchard… reactor core… this shelter had everything. Starlight wanted to pull up her pipbuck map to see details, but again it wasn’t the time. More importantly, she didn't want to draw too much attention to it lest they think to ask for it.

Starlight assumed they were going to the prison area though she saw no signs labeled prison. After a while, she realized that they were following signs to ‘cryogenics’. That was potentially distressing.

Regardless of where they went, Starlight was certain they would ask them to remove their armor, and that could be a problem. They referred to Midnight as a devil, implying a theocratic line of thinking in this stable. Once they found out that Twilight was an alicorn, they’d either see her as divine or demonic, more likely the latter. Starlight tried to think of an adequate way to explain why she was not a threat.

“What happened?” a voice from ahead asked. “The attack alarm sounded, then claimed it was a fault. Thinking the New Lunar Republic is at the door is a pretty big fault.”

Starlight looked ahead of them to see a pegasus mare that was so brightly colored it almost hurt her eyes. She sported a bright yellow coat with red flame-like splotches about her hooves. Her mane was shades of red and orange, with her tail fading from flame red to orange and yellow at the tip. Even her wings faded from orange to red on the tips. Her cutie mark matched the rest of her, a ball of flame. She wore goggles right above her bright blue eyes, similar to flight goggles. Considering this was a stable dweller, however, they were probably engineering goggles.

Like everypony else in the stable, she sported a pipbuck on her front right leg; a rather well-polished one, as if she took extra special care of it. She wore the standard blue stable shirt that went from her waist to neck and down to her front hooves. Hers had blue trim, still with the yellow number 27 stitched into the collar.

It occurred to Starlight that this was the only pegasus she’d seen since arrival. Pegasi couldn’t be common, because this one’s stable uniform had holes cut in the back for her wings as if they didn’t come standard for a pegasus.

“Calm your tits, Solar,” said one guard. “We’re putting these ponies in lock-up for the Overmare to question later.”

“Who are th-… whoa,” Solar blinked and trailed off as she stared at Kamikaze. A smile spread over her muzzle and she clearly liked what she saw.

“And who are you?” Solar stepped around the guards and to Kamikaze with flirty eyes. “I'd love to plug into some of those ports for a scan.”

“Miss Flash!” another guard rebuked her.

“I was just expressing scientific curiosity!” Solar complained.

Kamikaze chuckled in a good-natured manner, “I don’t mind. An awesome mare like me is probably used to it.” Starlight supposed it made sense engineers might hit on a magitech pony.

“Hmm…” Maud tilted her head and glanced at Kamikaze and Solar as if appraising them both for a moment.

As soon as Kamikaze realized she was being examined, she instinctively posed, her trot becoming a strut. Solar did much the same, though her strut was in reverse as she walked backwards while facing Kamikaze. They certainly had one thing in common.

“Kamikaze is acceptably attractive,” Maud stated. “But she should attempt to ensure only her enemies lose parts in battle. Real parts make better squishing noises during play and dent less easily.”

“Like Pinkie’s parts!” Pinkie blurted out so loud the soldiers escorting them reached for their weapons. She again added in a much quieter voice. “Yes.”

“Yes Pink,” Maud confirmed. “I was referring to you. Possibly one of the few that could survive the act with me. As for Solar… She is too bright. Seeing her fully bare too often might cause vision damage.”

“So just turn the lights off,” winked Solar.

Starlight shuddered slightly. On the plus side, maybe that meant the Pies were having memories return, but she decided not to ask for details.

Solar was about to speak again, but her spastic attention shifted to the pipbuck on Starlight’s head. Her eyes widened as she recognized it as a more advanced version of the device. Her gaze moved to Twilight before speaking, however. Seeing Twilight’s emotional state, she stepped out of the way and let them all continue walking without her pestering, flattening her ears slightly.

Starlight thought Solar was being purely respectful in her silence until she glanced back and realized Solar was eyeing their armored behinds and even licking her lips. Solar looked up quickly when Starlight had caught her and flashed her a smile. Solar’s grin widened and ears perked a moment later, turning to run down another tunnel as if she had a brilliant idea.

“Starlight?” Twilight spoke quietly, drawing Starlight’s attention.

“Yes, Twilight?” Starlight asked gently. It was good that Twilight was speaking again; it meant that she was marginally better.

“About Spike… do you think the one from this timeline could be alive?” Twilight asked as if looking for any possibility of seeing him again.

“It’s a little fuzzy still,” Starlight said.

“There were stained glass windows that showed you with him,” Twilight said. “And before we went through, before you got amnesia, you spoke to my Spike like you thought he was your friend. You said he should be ‘guarding the Ministry’.”

“I don’t know,” Starlight answered honestly. “I want him to be alive… It makes me sick to think something might have happened. I think I remember the Ministry of Magitech, and I’m almost certain they had already hit the city when I left. I doubt they hit it again, so he could be alive.”

Starlight wasn’t sure, but also didn’t want to crush what little hope Twilight had. A dragon wouldn’t die of old age, but the world today had to be dangerous. If no one reclaimed Canterlot in 210 years, Starlight assumed that major civilizations had failed worldwide, and it was unlikely anyone would be so loyal as to sit and guard the same area that long.

Also, Twilight mentioning the windows made her uneasy. She had noticed the stained-glass windows herself, how several of them depicted herself failing in spectacular fashion, but tried to purge such thoughts from her mind. If she were to lead this group, she couldn’t have such doubts.

Finally the guards led them into the area labeled ‘cryonics’. In the initial room, there were several guards with monitors showing the areas within, not that the guards were paying much attention to the monitors. They probably weren’t used to actually having to look at them. Past that was a larger room behind a steel door; Starlight hesitated before following them inside.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all cryogenic pods; there was a small jail cell near the front. It was enclosed in glass instead of bars, allowing the guards to see everything inside. It was probably exo-glass, which if Starlight remembered correctly would be nigh impossible to break without something that would destroy the rest of the room in the process.

Inside were two bunk beds, a set of drawers with a water dispenser on top, and a bookcase. In one corner was a rounded area sectioned off with glass, clear on the top and frosted on the bottom, containing a toilet, shower, and sink.

Deeper in the room, away from the cell, were a dozen cryogenic pods. They were large metal structures with a seat inside, big enough for a large pony to fit uncomfortably inside. Most remained open, though there was one that was occupied. The door was closed, steam billowing from time to time from the base, and a glowing digital display on the front that showed “Overmare Crimson Prose: Rehabilitation 0.05% complete.”

Using cryo-stasis programming to reform was either a humane or cruel idea, depending on what things they rehabilitated ponies for and what data they streamed into their head to ‘fix’ their criminal defects. Either way, Starlight noted it as a useful idea.

The popsicle that used to be Overmare wasn’t the only one there. There was a unicorn in the cell they were being led into, sitting on one bed. She sported a yellow coat with the cutie mark of a chemistry flask full of a bubbling purple liquid. The young pony’s bright green eyes clashed with the white and gray streaked mane. She wore geeky glasses and a purple flower in her mane behind one ear, a nice hint of life in the hellscape they had found themselves. Like the others, she wore a standard stable uniform on her front half, the trim a lighter blue than Solar’s had been.

“Back up, Mercury Shine,” said one guard as she moved to the door of the cell. “You're sharing your cell for a bit. Don’t bother them and do not discuss internal stable issues.”

“I won’t…” Mercury stood, backing to the far corner, probably surprised that ponies she'd never seen existed.

The guard opened the door, allowing them to enter the cell.

“There are uniforms in the drawers there,” the guard said. “Get yourselves cleaned up and changed, we’ll be taking the armor you have on.”

Once the door closed again, Mercury walked toward the group, only for Maud to cut her off. The intimidating earth pony quickly stepped between Mercury and the other newcomers.

“You will not approach,” the mare’s expression showed no hint of real emotion, but her eyes narrowed slightly. She clearly had a way with ponies.