Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

by DeerTrax

Chapters

Chapter 1 - First Steps
Chapter 3 - Crossroads
Chapter 4 - Ghosts of the Past
Chapter 5 - When the Wastes Swallow
Chapter 6 - The Vanhoover Incident (Part 1)
Chapter 7 - The Vanhoover Incident (Part 2)
Introduction
Chapter 2 - New Worlds

Chapter 1 - First Steps

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 1

First Steps

“My dearest teacher. My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to

discover that we are on the precipice of disaster...”

Another boring day at work. Life as a stable security officer tends to be uneventful, especially in a stable as small as the one I call home. While I didn’t dislike my job, I sometimes longed for something... more. I often dreamt of having big adventures in places I had heard of and learned about in school. I was only ever able to imagine these places as they had been in the past though, seeing as I had spent my years growing up in the stable, and never knew what had actually become of the outside world.

Stable 61, the smallest of all the Stable-Tec stables, only held 210 ponies at its maximum. Now there were only 152 of us left after a large amount of the older population had succumbed to disease. An unknown plague had run rampant amongst the residents in the last few years, before it simply disappeared. Living in such a small community caused us to grow very close to each other; everypony knew everypony else, though it also meant that there were very few ponies to fill all the positions required to keep the stable in working order. Everypony had their roles, and every roll had its pony. We managed to keep everything running smoothly for generations, despite a few hiccups along the way, but this small work force meant that I was actually the only security officer in the stable. It was probably a good thing that work was so uneventful; there would be no way one pony could keep up with things if they got too hectic.

I stepped into my quarters and lay my security pistol and other tools on my desk. The vents started blowing hot air, warming the room to a comfortable temperature. I felt the breeze against my light gray coat, and it wafted gently through my golden mane and lightly armoured security barding. I closed my eyes and imagined a white dove, carrying a red heart in its grip as it flew aloft in that breeze – the very same image that was my cutie mark. The story behind the mark – well, I try not to think about it. As peaceful as the image itself seems, its history isn’t quite as nice.

“Dovetail!”

I was snapped back to reality to see a mint green unicorn mare with a long, flowing white mane standing in the doorway of my room. She pushed the pair of reading glasses that sat in front of her bright blue eyes back into place. They always had a tendency to slip down her muzzle.

“Oh, hey there, Lilybloom.”

“Don’t ‘hey, Lilybloom’ me like nothing’s wrong! Don’t tell me, you forgot.”

I was a little confused at this. I didn’t think I had missed anything, but I had the feeling that Lily was going to fill me in on what it was regardless.

“Today is the day the Overmare selects two ponies for a scouting mission out of the stable!”

I brought my pipbuck up, checked the date, and slapped my forehead with my hoof. “Of course! How could I forget?”

“You can be quite forgetful sometimes, Dove,” Lily said, teasingly. I shot her a cross look, but lightened up as we both started giggling a little. It was true that I was a little bit forgetful.

“Well, I guess we better hurry along, then,” I suggested.

With a nod, Lily turned back out of my door, and I caught a glimpse of her cutie mark – a Stable-Tec terminal with a holotape next to it. I always envied her for her skills with Stable-Tec equipment of all sorts. She once hacked into my pipbuck from a remote terminal just to display a big old ‘Hi!’ on the screen for the fun of it. As smart as she was though, she was also a little mischievous. Sometimes too much for her own good.

The walk through the stable wasn’t a long one, given the shelter’s size, though it felt long. The dull, gray, metal walls all blended together into a labyrinth of turns and straights, halls and stairs. The dim lights that illuminated them seemed to be ever-burning and gave the whole place a very somber, boring mood. Every once in awhile one of them would flicker for a few seconds, and I would take notice of it, but would pass it by without a second thought. The entire stable, while it was my home, just felt confining. Anything more than the daily routine was rare, and even then it was short lived. The most exciting thing that I could remember was the one I didn’t want to remember. As we walked, I began to imagine the walls of the stable fading away, replaced by a daydreamer’s fantasy world.

Bang!

The next thing I knew, I had a throbbing ache in my head as my vision swam violently. Lily, who now put her hoof on my shoulder to steady me, struggled to ask if I was okay through the fit of laughter that had befallen her.

Coming to my senses, I realized now that I had walked head-first into one of the stable’s many locker doors that lined the atrium. Somepony had left one open, and, being lost in my own little world again as I followed Lily into the atrium, I had neglected to see it. I also took notice that it was wasn’t just Lilybloom who was laughing at me. The entire stable population was there, laughing their flanks off at my embarrassment.

“Ehem.” The booming voice of an older mare filled the open room, and the stable fell silent.

The Overmare had stepped out of her office, horn glowing with a voice amplifying spell, ready to address her subjects. The platform on which she now stood overhung the atrium. From there everypony could see her clearly. I blushed a little, rubbing my aching head, and turned my attention to the same point that everypony else was now focused on.

“My fellow stable-dwellers, I trust you all know why you’ve been gathered here, but in case you’ve forgotten let me remind you. Stable 61 has been in operation for 200 years now, and while we reached the predetermined point at which Stable-Tec required us to open the stable doors years ago, the previous Overmares found it best to keep them shut. I, however, feel that with our bicentennial anniversary of the stable’s closing, it is time for us to step out into the world above. Our first order of business is to send out a scouting party to make contact with whoever, or whatever, is out there and to analyse any immediate threats.”

An applause of celebration broke out and the Overmare called once again for calm.

“Now, Stable-Tec calls for scouting parties to consist of three or more ponies, but there are so few of us that I would feel better only sending parties of two. So, any volunteers?”

Despite the earlier enthusiasm at the mention of getting out of this happy imprisonment and into the outside world, not a soul stirred at this prompt. Not even Lily. I knew she dreamed of getting out of this place as much as I did. I guess she was just stifled by the crowd’s overall initiative – or lack thereof. As for why I didn’t volunteer myself? I guess I was just a dreamer instead of an adventurer. I wanted to leave the stable, but couldn’t work up the courage to do so of my own accord.

“I thought as much,” the Overmare continued. She sounded a little dismayed as she surveyed the crowd for any change. “I took the initiative and fed the names of everypony in the stable through our mainframe to determine those best suited for the job. The first choice should have been obvious. Given the unknown nature of the outside world, we need somepony with some sort of safety and firearms proficiency.”

As much as I didn’t want to hear the name she was about to call, I knew exactly who she was talking about. After all, I was the only security officer, and the only one with firearms training. I felt my stomach lurch, not sure if it was out of excitement or fear.

“Dovetail. As our security officer, you should be well qualified for this role.”

I knew now it was fear. I wanted nothing more to disappear as the crowd directed its attention toward me once more. My heart told me this was my chance to leave these walls, but my mind kept telling me to say no. There was no denying the Overmare, though. “Y-Yes ma’am. I will do my best,” I managed to mutter out sheepishly.

I looked at Lily nervously. Her face had grown a little solemn. I imagined she was afraid that I would be leaving her behind. I opened my mouth to tell her it would be okay, but I was cut off as the Overmare called out the next name.

“Lilybloom. You will accompany Dovetail as her partner. Your technical skills should come in handy for any technology you come across that’s still working out there.”

My friend’s expression turned from one of near-depression to shear excitement. Her eyes lit up brighter than the brightest light in the stable at this – though that wasn’t saying much – and she promptly informed me why.

“Well, I wasn’t really wanting to go myself, which is why I didn’t volunteer. But now, we’ll be braving a new world together. Isn’t that exciting, Dove?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied, still not really sure if – or more likely, when – I was going to vomit from the nerves that had gripped my stomach and turned it into some form of the pre-war pretzels I had read about somewhere. I wish I had the same fortitude as my friend.

“That settles it then,” the Overmare proceeded. “You’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“So what do you think we’ll find out there?”

Lily raised a good question as she slipped her equipment into her saddle bags. I shrugged. Even with all the reading I had done about the old world above, there really wasn’t any telling what lay beyond the stable door. For all we knew, it could’ve still been a fertile green world or it could have been a hellish empty waste. My bets were on the latter, but then again, there may not even actually have been an outside world anymore!

“Well, whatever we encounter out there, I’m glad we’re going together,” Lily said, breaking me from my thoughts on what we’d discover and shifting them elsewhere. She had, for the longest time, liked me as more than a friend – and she wasn’t shy about it. She had tried a few relationships with the fine colts our age, but nothing ever stuck. She always told me it was that she couldn’t keep her mind on them and that it kept drifting back to me. I just never could bring myself to accept the idea. I simply couldn’t see her as more than my best friend, even when I tried. I had my mind set on colts, but my luck with them had always kept me single.

And then I jumped. The door to the room we were preparing in had opened abruptly, scaring me back into the familiar dull gray of the stable. The Overmare stepped in and looked us over with scrutinizing eyes, as she was humming little affirmations to herself.

“Well,” she began, “it seems you both are fairly ready.” I looked down. I didn’t even realize that I had mindlessly completed packing my saddle bags, filled my water canteen, slung my holstered 10mm security pistol and my other bags over my back, and was all ready to go – equipment wise at least. I turned to see that Lily had done the same.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘fairly’ ready?” I inquired.

“I only say ‘fairly’ since there is no telling what’s out there.” My mind flashed back to my earlier thoughts. “There is no preparing you completely for the unknown. The most I can offer you is some advice: Expect the unexpected, and whatever happens, trust in each other; you are each other’s greatest strengths.”

We both nodded to the Overmare and then to each other; I couldn’t see how we could ever be torn apart.

“Alright then. If you two are ready, let’s proceed.”

Following the Overmare out of the room and into the much bigger chamber behind it, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. This was going to be my first time – or rather the first time for any of Stable 61’s residents – outside our dreary, but strangely homey, walls, and I was more nervous than I could ever remember being before. Then my heart just about stopped as the rush of fear, adrenaline, or whatever it was, flooded over me.

The Overmare pulled the lever on the nearby control console, and the whole place shook as mechanisms hidden somewhere began to work. The room was filled with control panels and on the side opposite the door we entered through was a huge gear-shaped hunk of metal wedged solidly into its purpose-built slot in the wall. Above hung a giant control arm that now swung down to make contact with the steel gear. My imagination began to picture a big, black, empty void on the other side of that door; that it would open and there would be nothing there and that we would all be sucked into its endless space.

An ear-shattering screech resounded through the room, amplified by the metal walls, and the door to Stable 61 was pried out from its centuries old resting place and rolled to the side. Revealed on the other side was not the desolate nothingness I had picture, but instead there was a long, dark tunnel of natural rock. Far up the tunnel, I could barely make out traces of light that seeped in through the cracks of what looked to be an old door.

When the sound of grinding metal finally ceased, and the entrance to the stable finally stood agape before us, the Overmare addressed us once again.

“It’s time for us to part ways now. Report back to us after one week’s time with your findings. Also, here’s a little gift from me to help with your mission.” She then pulled two shiny new pipbucks from her saddle bag; they were obviously a much nicer version than our old 2000-model.

“These are the latest Pipbuck model, the 4000-series. The logs say we were only issued two for experimental purposes by Stable-Tec, but we never actually needed them,” she elaborated as we swapped out our old ones for the new ones, powered them on, and gave her a quick thanks. “Now, go on you two, and good luck.”

Nodding to each other, Lily and I took our first steps outside our metal home. The dirt under our hooves was softer and more pliable than what we had in our synthetic underground farms, and it seemed so much more, well, natural. And then we turned with a jerk as the mechanisms behind us sprung into life once more, sealing the stable off from us. My heart wrenched; I was leaving my home.

It took everything I had to avert my gaze from that gateway back to safety, but eventually I was able to turn my attention back to the tunnel – and the door – ahead of us. I was finally going to get that big adventure I had dreamed of, even if it did feel a little bit forced upon me now. I remembered an old saying I had read in one of my favourite books: Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.

“Come on, Lily, let’s do this... while I still have the will to not turn back again.”

She pulled her own eyes away from our past and back toward the future that laid just beyond that tattered, wooden door. Our own adventure awaited on the other side.

As we approached, it was evident that the door hadn’t been disturbed since the stable closed. The hinges were rusted through, and looked like they could have given way with the slightest amount of force. The wood was terribly rotten and warped. Despite its visual condition, it still moved smoothly as I turned the lock and cracked it open. A blinding light began to overthrow the darkness the more I pulled, and eventually, it overtook my vision.

We were free.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Security Training - +5 to Small Guns. You are 20% more accurate with small guns, but fire 10% slower.

Author's Note

**While I’ve done my best to make this piece new-reader friendly, a familiarity with the amazing original work, Fallout: Equestria, by Kkat may help your understanding of this story and the fantastic universe it is set in. Please check that out here if you so choose: |Link|**

Chapter 3 - Crossroads

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 3

Crossroads

“All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!”

This place was amazing. The ponies of Crossroads Junction had constructed their town completely out of scraps they had gathered from the wasteland. Sheets of metal, rotten planks of wood, old windows, anything you could imagine being salvageable – and then some – were everywhere. These things made up everything from buildings, to signs, to fences.

' While we were staring at the post-apocalyptic architecture, we were being stared at ourselves. Everypony we passed in the streets cast us strange or disapproving glances. This struck me to be quite impolite, but I imagined it was due to the simple fact that we were the new faces in town. I also assumed it had something to do with our outfits. I doubt anypony here had seen a stable jumpsuit, much less my lightly armoured security version. Most of the ponies we saw were dressed in tattered pre-war clothes, laced together with patches and bits of other fabric, crudely sewn on. Our uniforms were in near perfect condition, and it was a clear indication of the difference between our world and theirs. Then again, it could also have been the guts and blood of that... thing I had shot on our trek here that now stained my clothes and coat; it certainly didn’t help our case, anyway.

At first, I felt like an outcast among these other ponies. That feeling only grew stronger when I bumped into one.

“Watch where yer going, ya dumb broad,” said the green earth pony stallion that I had ran into.

I was a little taken aback at this, but before I could respond, the pony had already trotted off, brushing me aside in the process. Well that was rude. My thoughts were cut short, however, by somepony else.

“What have we here? I don’t believe I’ve seen you two around here. You look like you’re lost, and very out of place. Now, I haven’t got much time, but is there anything I can do for you?”

I turned to see who it was that spoke. A dark blue unicorn mare stood there a little impatiently, tossing her sky blue mane as she waited for a response. It took me a couple of seconds to process her question before I replied, and she seemed to just grow more impatient as I did so.

“I'm Dovetail, and this is Lilybloom. We’re here on behalf of Stable 61. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.” I said, offering a hoofshake. She didn’t return it, but instead answered by commenting on something completely different.

“Stable 61... Stable 61... Nope, doesn’t ring any bells, sorry. So, is there anything I can help you with, or not?”

Her attitude just teemed with impatience now, and I didn’t want to waste her time any longer. I simply asked, “Is there anywhere that we could find some shelter for the night?”

“Oh, well, aside from finding a box in an alleyway – which I don’t recommend, by the way – you could try Sunset’s. It’s just up the road a bit. Now, if you excuse me, I really must be going. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Without saying anything else, she rounded on her hooves and walked off again, this time disappearing around a corner before I could say thanks. I looked to Lily, and she just shrugged back at me.

“Well, should we try this ‘Sunset’s?’” I asked her.

“It’s worth a shot. Not like we have any other options right now.”

It didn’t take long to find the inn. She had said it was just up the road, and she was right. Turns out Crossroads Junction wasn’t terribly big. On our way through the town, we passed a few houses, a couple of shops selling who knows what, a train station near the tracks, and a building made out of a patchwork of bricks and metal, labeled “Town Hall.” I’d have liked a chance to stop into any one of them and learn more about the town, but I could feel the weight of the day beginning to make my eyelids heavy.

Sunset’s Inn and Saloon was made entirely from the same sorts of materials as the rest of the town’s structures. The only distinguishable thing about it was the sign that hung in front of the building. Depicted upon it in bright, vivid-colored lights, was a horizon with an orange circle disappearing behind it; I imagined this was a sunset from before this cloud cover existed. The name of the place was also lustrously illuminated on the sign’s face.

Stepping inside, the sound of a half-a-dozen conversations struck my ears. The noise then dropped until silence eventually replaced it; everypony in the room was now staring in our direction. Their stares seemed to be judging our every move, which wasn’t much considering I was frozen stiff. During that long, awkward silence, the smell of smoke and booze flooded my nose and I did everything I could to keep myself from gagging on the stench. There had been alcohol and cigarettes back in the stable, but they were considered an expensive commodity so I rarely had to deal with their second-hand effects; here, though, they were undeniably stronger.

“H-Hi,” I eventually managed to squeak out. The ponies then went back to what they were previously doing, as if nothing had happened. I guess they were convinced by my timid introduction that I wasn’t a threat to any of them.

The establishment was not that dissimilar from the stable’s cafeteria. There were a number of tables around the floor, a counter with mismatched stools, and an earth pony behind that counter. I assumed he was both the bartender and the innkeeper, fulfilling both roles as needed. We trotted up to the counter and the bartender addressed us without even looking at us; he just kept cleaning the glass in his hooves.

“So you two are fresh out of the stable in the gorge and had yourselves a little run in with a bloatsprite, ‘eh?”

Lily was quick to question him, “How did you know about that? We only just walked in.” I just stood there a little surprised, that very question on my mind.

“Miss, I run a saloon,” he said, still not parting from his work. “Nothing happens in these parts that I don’t hear about. And here in the Equestrian Wasteland, news travels fast.”

I didn’t doubt that. Seeing how busy this place currently was, there were probably a good number of ponies that came through here every day, each of them bringing a different story with them. Then I thought about that shadowy figure we saw on the horizon. Whoever it was must’ve wandered through here, or mayhap they were still around.

“Who gave you that info?” I ventured.

He tilted his head toward the far corner and said, “He did.”

Looking in the direction he indicated, my gaze fell upon a stallion at the corner table of the room. He was shrouded in shadow, making it hard to see his distinguishing features. Through the darkness, I could only make out that his mane was very unkempt and rugged, and that he was wearing a cloak around him.

“Who is he?” I asked, turning back to the bartender again.

“Nopony really knows. Not ‘round here at least. I’ve heard many of the ponies here refer to him by different names. Ranger, Shadow, Ghost, you name it. He’s a wanderer; a drifter. He barely says anything in the way of conversation, if he ever speaks at all. I’ve also heard rumours that he comes from up north in the frozen tundra. But those are just rumours. Nopony’s ever gone there and come back alive.”

That really caught my attention. This pony, whoever he was, had remained a mystery to the locals in this area. When I spun back to the stranger, he was gone. Being a little disappointed that he got away again, I sighed. At least we knew our eyes had not been lying to us.

“So, you two gonna buy a drink, maybe rent a room, or what?”

I had a lot more questions to ask the bartender, but after looking at my pipbuck’s clock, I couldn’t help but yawn deeply. This first day out of the stable had really taken its toll on me. Lily echoed my yawn, and I saw her eyes were only half open as well. I nodded to him and, through another yawn, asked, “How much for a room? We’ve been through a lot today, and we’re both exhausted.”

“I’ll bet you are. A room for two then? Let’s see, how much you got?” inquired the earth pony.

I pulled my money from my saddlebags. The pony finally put down the glass he had been so intently cleaning, but instead of answering me, he burst out laughing. The rest of the crowd then joined him in the merriment as well. I just stood there, looking to Lily. We both had confused looks on our faces.

Finally calming down enough to speak, he elaborated. “That was exactly what I was expecting, I just didn’t think you’d actually be that predictable, though. Miss, that money’s no good here. Most of it’s worth died along with the old nation of Equestria. It hasn’t had any real value since the megaspells were cast, not around here at least.”

“How much would a room be in bits then?” Lily inquired. The bar patrons returned to laughing heavily at us again.

I heard a mare’s voice behind me say, “Honey, you’ve been locked up in that place for far too long”

Another mare’s voice, deeper than the last, chimed in, “She won’t last two days out here. Hell, I’m surprised she’s lasted this long.”

“You really are from a stable. I assure you a room will run you most of what you’ve got there,” the stallion behind the counter remarked. I could hear the sarcasm in his voice. He rang open the old, rusty cash register in front of him and pulled a hoof-full of something from its drawer, setting them on the counter. Condescendingly, he added, “Caps are where it’s at now, my dear.”

What he had strewn close to him on the countertop were nothing more than used bottle caps from all manner of beverages. Some I recognized, such as those from Sparkle Cola bottles. We had a meager amount of those same brands in the stable. They were more abundant than the alcoholic beverages, but were still scarce enough that they were hard to come by. This meant we couldn’t bring any of the soda with us, choosing our easily replenishable water over the carbonated drink. How were we supposed to know the money system had changed to something that we would have recycled? I found it rather random in my mind that they would have made a currency out of those round little pieces of metal. It just seemed backwards to me, but I made sure to add a note on my pipbuck that I would need to inform the stable to save their bottle caps for use in this new economy.

Seeing our obvious distress at finding out our money was next to useless, and that we were practically broke, the bartender sighed.

“Listen, usually no caps means no service, and I’ve already handed out enough free information with what I’ve told ya already. You’re new though, so I’ll cut you some slack. I’ll let you stay here tonight. One. Night. Just leave me what bits you’ve got and promise to work off the rest tomorrow. I’m not talking doing dishes or sweeping floors, either.” The tone in his voice was serious, and it was obvious that this was going to be his only offer.

Lily and I looked at each other, unsure of what the work would entail. I could see that my friend had the same worried expression I felt on my own face. She then nodded uncertainly to me. We couldn’t see any other option, unless we wanted to sleep in the alley, like the mare outside had remarked. I set the money on the counter cautiously, and slid it toward him.

“I suppose we’ll take it, but no funny stuff,” I said hesitantly.

“Sounds like a deal then. I mean, we aren’t raiders. Well, most of us aren’t, anyway. I’ll find somepony who needs something of you two by morning. And don’t even think of skipping out. If you do, I’ll have one of the mercs hunt you down and kill you.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but I sheepishly nodded back. Lily did the same. “Alright, well, your room’s this way.”

Putting his caps, as well as all of our bits, into the register, he stepped out from behind the counter. This allowed me to fully see his form. He was a dirty brown earth pony, with a rust coloured mane. His cutie mark seemed fitting of his job: a bottle of whiskey being poured into a shot glass.

“Name’s Sunset, by the way. Owner and sole proprietor of this fine establishment.”

“I’m Dovetail,” I said. “And this Lilybloom.”

“Pleased to meet you.” The stallion replied with a nod. “Now, if you’ll follow me.”

He lead us up a jury rigged staircase located through a door behind the counter. The second floor consisted of four small rooms. One I assumed was Sunset’s personal quarters, one was the restroom, and the other two were guest rooms. He directed us to one of the guest rooms.

Inside, it had the same walls as the rest of the place. There was a tired bunk bed in the corner with a few pieces of mismatched furniture for storing belongings, and a small table with an aged stool beneath it. It was hardly home, but it was someplace to stay.

We thanked Sunset and he trotted off, closing the door behind him. Lily went straight to the bed and climbed the ladder to the top bunk. Giving an exhausted sigh, she collapsed onto the mattress.

I, on the other hoof, decided to take a seat at the table and check out the shotgun I had picked up in the cabin earlier that day. Setting my gear on the floor next to me, I unslung the gun from around my neck and laid it on the table.

As I looked it over, I noticed it had a few unique features, at least in comparison to the ones in the stable’s armoury. The stock and foregrip were made of an ebony wood. The extra cocking-lever on the side of the foregrip was intricately carved and showed traces of gold on its trailing edge. There was a simple, Magick-Dot sight mounted atop the gun’s main body. Rectangular golden plates were screwed onto either side near the end of the weapon’s stock. Both of these had a faded emblem etched into them that resembled a pony skull, only with great antlers extending from the top of its head. Crudely inscribed into the metal below the ejector port were the words: “To Hell and back!” Though I wasn’t a fan of such language, the phrase stuck with me, and I affectionately christened the gun Demonslayer because of it.

Setting the firearm aside, I retrieved the shells for it from my saddlebags. The box stated that they were Zebraslayer Sureshot Shells, 12 gauge buckshot. I pulled a few of the red cylinders, which looked to still be in perfect condition, out of the box, which was much worse for wear.

Picking up the shotgun again, I checked to see if it was already loaded with any rounds. Nothing. Whoever the dead pony in the cabin was, they weren’t expecting to be attacked by the zebras during their stay at the retreat, and there was no use for guns against the balefire and radiation that likely took his life. I paused for a moment to pray to Celestia and Luna for his soul before taking the few shells I had retrieved from their box and loading them into the gun. I then slipped the rest back inside my bag.

Yawning, I decided to finally retire for the night. As I approached the bed, I heard Lily snore a little; she was already fast asleep. I looked at the mattress I was about to lay on. It was about as basic as a mattress could be, and was stained with goddess knows what. I yawned again and suddenly didn’t care. The bed, disgusting as it was, just looked so inviting – I crashed.

Opening my eyes, I found myself disoriented for a bit. The room was not mine. The bed was not mine. The light, the sound, the smell, none of it was mine. At first, I thought I had dreamt yesterday’s events, but as I came to, I began to realize it had all actually happened. And I also realized I was still laying on that filthy mattress.

Quickly scrambling off of it, I felt my body tumble to the floor. I’m going to have to seriously lower my standards if I’m going to make it out here.

Lily groaned in the bed above me and rolled over so she could see me laying on the floor looking stupid.

“Dovetail, what are you doing down there?” she asked, groggily.

“I, uh, slipped off the bed.” Standing up, I smiled at her embarrassingly.

She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, pushing her glasses up as she did so. She had neglected to take them off before falling into bed and going to sleep. She really is cute when she does that... I shook my head. No, she’s just my friend.

“What time is it?” she inquired. I actually hadn’t even thought to look at the time yet. I didn’t know if it was even morning at all. I checked my pipbuck.

“7 in the morning,” I said, breathing a slight sigh of relief. Reluctantly, she pulled herself off the mattress and down the ladder. We gathered our stuff and made our way back down to the floor below.

“Well, good mornin’. See you two didn’t skip town last night.” I wasn’t sure if he seemed relieved or disappointed. He was proving to be a hard stallion to read, though I wasn’t the best at reading males in the first place. He was just harder to read than the rest.

Sunset greeted us as we stepped off the stairs and into the bar. There were still a few ponies around the tables, but the place was virtually empty compared to last night. Even the smell of its customers had subsided. I hadn’t noticed with the increased noise level before, but there was actually music playing from a radio that was hooked up to some crude speakers, which hung from the corners of the main room. The song playing was one I recognized from the stable. I think it was called, “Love Me Cheerilee.”

“Cheerilee, Cheerilee, I think I’m in love with you. Cheerilee, Cheerilee—” sang the speakers. Yep, that was definitely the name of the song, though I couldn’t remember the name of the pony who sang it at the time. I heard my pipbuck beep briefly. The radio station list now showed one available selection, titled Vanhoover Northwest.

“No, we didn’t skip out,” I said with a chuckle, turning my attention back to Sunset. “I am curious about what sort of work you’ve lined up for us though.”

As the song on the airwaves came to a close, a disembodied voice brought us pause again. “I’m DJ Neon Lights the XIII, bringing you the latest from the waste-est. Wait, that didn’t make sense. Ah well. Anyway, time for the news! Any of you hear about the new pony that’s come up from one of those metal tombs?” My ears perked up at those words. “A trusted source of mine from down south has informed me that some mare from Stable 2 has surfaced and started carving a bloody path through raider territory.”

I felt a little bit relieved. He couldn’t have been talking about us. Sunset had said news travels fast, but I didn’t think it would have been that fast. It was nice to know though that we weren’t the only ones emerging from the stables.

“So, what can we do to earn our wage?” Lily followed up my question as we returned to the matter that was on hoof.

A smirk came across the bartender’s face and I started to get a bad feeling. I somehow knew we had just bitten off more hay than we could chew.

“I’m Gale Storm; those close to me call me Snakebite though,” came a voice from behind us. I spun to see who was speaking and was shocked to find a cream-coloured pegasus with a shoulder-length, dark green mane standing there. While we were walking around town last night I hadn’t spotted a single one of the winged ponies. She was the first one I had ever seen outside of pictures.

There were none in the stable either. Stable 61’s door was one of the last to close, back when our ancestors entered them those many years ago, so we had all heard the stories as they were passed down through the families. Stories of what happened during the war. Stories about how the pegasi had, on that final day, sealed themselves off from the ground below using a cover of thick clouds. I wondered if these same clouds were the ones that lingered above us now.

Lily nudged me and I realized I had drifted into my thoughts again. Gale had put a hoof out in my direction and reiterated herself since I was paying attention once more.

“Pleased to meet you,” she said. I put my hoof to hers and shook it. She was the first to make use of the gesture, let alone initiate it. I was already starting to like to her.

“Pleased to meet you,” I echoed. “I’m Dovetail. And this is Lily bloom. We’re from the st—”

“From the stable in the gorge? Yep, Sunset here has already filled me in on what he knows about you two. I wouldn’t have offered you two the job without performing a slight background check first.”

That made enough sense, but I then took pause for a moment.

“So, what’s the job?” Lily put my thoughts into words before I could.

“Oh, right. I guess I got a little ahead of myself. I need an escort to Underdog Town.” She must’ve seen the confusion in our faces as she added, “Maybe you’ve heard it called by its pre-war name more. It used to be Vanhoover before the megaspells.”

That made things a bit clearer, but I still didn’t actually know where it was exactly. I figured she knew the way though, seeing as she was the one traveling there. Then another question crossed my mind.

“Wait, if you’re a pegasus, why don’t you just fly there?” I ventured.

She didn’t say anything and instead just turned her right side to me. I could see that her wing on this side was badly mangled. It appeared to be broken in several places, probably enough that she couldn’t fly.

“Why don’t you just take a healing potion?” asked Lily.

While she still had her side to us, I was able to observe her cutie mark, which looked to have originally been a green vortex of swirling lines, much like the images I had seen of tornados. However, over top of it, another marking had been burned into her flank. This one resembled a cloud with a lightning bolt reaching downward from it.

“I refuse to,” she said bluntly. “I’m a Dashite. That means I’m loyal, not only to the surface world, but to my own beliefs. I swore once never to take any drug, medicine or otherwise, after watching a friend slip away to their influence until there was nothing left of her. I’ve had the doctors here patch my wing up the best they can, but I’m letting it heal up the rest of the way the old fashioned way – with time and care. They were able to use a healing spell to get it this far already, but I was so badly broken after—” she trailed off, looking a little downtrodden. “You know what, nevermind.”

I found that to be a tad silly yet at the same time I admired her resolution. I didn’t think I could deal with having a broken leg without taking a potion to fix it up as quickly as possible. There was no way I could even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose a wing that long when you relied on them as much as she probably did.

“Anyways, back on topic. I need an escort to go with me to the salvage camp in Underdog Town. I was on my way there to deliver some supplies when I—” she hesitated again for a moment, probably recollecting whatever had happened to claim her wing. I could tell that whatever it was, she wanted to talk about it, but probably not with ponies that she just met. “When I had to make an emergency landing here. I need to get that package to its destination unharmed, and the wastes are not the friendliest to a grounded pegasus.”

“Why us?” Lily pushed.

“Why not? You get to learn a thing or two about being out here, scout further for your stable, and earn some caps. I’ll pay you 300 caps base, another 200 if we all get there alive.” She let us soak that in for a bit before continuing. “And in return I get two body guards, a few more guns on my side, and some company. Oh, and the E.F.S. feature on your pipbucks will come in handy for getting through the ruins safely. So, you in?” Lily and I looked at each other nervously before stepping away for a bit to discuss it amongst ourselves.

“What do you think?” I asked my friend.

“I don’t know Dove, it sounds dangerous.” I actually picked up a hint of worry in her voice, something that wasn’t normal for her.

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad. Besides, I doubt we’re going to get any better opportunity to learn more about the Wasteland, and we are getting paid along the way. It’s not the most savoury option, but I think we’ll have to settle for what we can get. We did promise Sunset that we’d do this.”

“I don’t really trust him,” Lily whispered to me, “but I suppose you’re right.”

We returned to the counter where our prospective employer and the barkeep were conversing idly. Gale stopped talking and looked at us as we approached.

“Well, watdaya say?” She asked. We nodded to her.

“We’re in.”

“So, they’re called bloatsprites?” Lily asked Sunset.

Gale Storm had gone to retrieve her things from the other guest room upstairs while we conversed with the bartender for a bit and had something to eat from what we had gathered from the cabins. It was likely the Inn had food for sale, as well as drinks, but without caps we were left to our own devices to find nourishment.

“Yep. Nasty little buggers,” the earth pony stated. “There are much worse things out there, though.”

“What sort of things?”

“Radscorpions, bloodwings, raiders, slavers. Everything from mutated natural creatures to crazed ponies. I’ve also heard about even worse, unnatural things out there. You wouldn’t believe some of the stories that come through this place.”

“Have you ever come across any of those things?”

“Oh Celestia, yes,” he responded. “I was born and raised in a different town, but when I moved here with my now-late wife, we ran into all sorts of things. Granted we never came across anything worse than the common radscorp, but there’s no shortage of threats in the wastes. Those days were long ago though. After we moved here, I founded the inn. Had that nice sign outside made by the folks in Underdog Town to help bring in customers. Really did the trick as business took off after that. Wife then passed away a few years later, and now all I’ve got’s this place. It’s a good, simple life, though.”

“Alright, you two ready to go?” Before I could question Sunset further, Gale had come down and called us to attention.

“Yes ma’am,” I said resolutely, much like I would to the Overmare. Lily mirrored me perfectly.

I was in awe at the gear she now sported. She had donned a set of thick, black leather barding that covered her from neck to flank, exposing only her head, wings, and tail. Over her back she had a saddlebag that sat on the crest of her back and two large weapons – a shotgun on the right, a rifle on the left – that straddled her sides. I had heard about battle saddles during my security training, but Stable 61 was never issued any. My guess was that it was part of the trade off for the experimental pipbucks Lilybloom and I now wore around our ankles. Seeing one of the contraptions in person, it was quite impressive.

“Alright, then. Thanks for the hospitality, Sunset. Here’s the caps I owe you for the stay.” She tossed a few dozen caps from her bag onto the counter and the stallion behind them quickly stuffed them into the register drawer. “Come on, Dovetail, Lilybloom, let’s get going.”

“Bye, Sunset, thanks f—”

“Let’s move!” Gale commanded before I finished. She seemed nice enough, but I supposed that was only when she was off duty. We quickly turned and followed her back out the door we had come in through last night.

Crossroads Junction was an entirely different sight during the day. The crudeness of the buildings was much more apparent. The glowing light of the signs had been replaced by dull paints. There were also bad spots in the town that I hadn’t been able to see in the dark. Things like back alleys that probably would have been better left hidden away. I didn’t care to think about it much and quickly turned my attention back to my companions.

As we wandered through the town, Gale told us a little bit more about herself. She had been a mercenary under contract for the Ironhoof Company for the longest time. She didn’t elaborate on what the company did or what her role in it was, but she did inform us that when she left, she took them down with her. Nowadays her work had consisted of freelance jobs, mostly courier contracts or ironically, bodyguard duty. This was one of those courier contracts, and instead of letting us know what was in the package she was carrying, she simply told us it was a high-value delivery. She also made sure we understood that it would have been easy for her to make the delivery if she could fly. To do so by hoof, however, would be significantly more dangerous and that she was much happier about having us with her.

We also passed by the stores I had planned to go into this morning. I thought about telling Gale to hold up and let me check them out, but the lack of bottle caps meant that I’d only be window shopping, so I held my tongue. Instead, we just walked on by.

We came out of the town on the north-western edge. Before us, the old railroad stretched onward, cutting its way through the mountains that rose up around it.

“What are they used for now?” I asked.

“What are what used for?” Gale challenged, confusion in her voice.

I turned to her and raised a hoof toward the tracks. “The rail lines. What are they used for these days? I’d imagine the trains that used to travel on them are just as ruined as everything else. Why haven’t the ponies salvaged the wood and metal for other uses?”

“Some of the trains survived the war, though only a few. They make trips up here from the southern towns with supplies every once in awhile. There’s also one that runs to Underdog town on the other side of the The Unicorn Range – that’s the mountains in front of us. It’s the longest, highest, mountain range in the entire Equestrian Wasteland, stretching from north to south. The only range that rivals its grandeur would be the Frozen North itself. These tracks are the fastest way through them, ending right at our destination. That same line brings salvage from the ruins that the town has used to build with. I would have taken the train myself, after the accident, but it only runs once a month and it had left shortly before I arrived here in Crossroads. It’s also subject to frequent breakdowns that delay its schedule even more.”

The thought of a working train was amazing. I would have loved to see one in action. I began to imagine the feeling of the wind blowing through my mane as I hung my head out of a train car’s windows. It was carrying us through a beautiful valley full of life, moving faster than our own hooves could carry us. Then a thought crossed my mind that brought my daydream to a screeching halt.

“If the train’s the faster way there, how long will it take for us to walk there on hoof?” I questioned, my mind set on the week’s time before we were supposed to return to the stable. We had already killed one day just getting here.

“It’s a two-day walk at best from here, even if we were to gallop at a substantial pace,” she responded. Two days there, two days back, possibly longer. We would be pressed for time, having to head straight to the stable when we returned. It might have even made us late. Lily must have taken notice of my worried expression.

“It’s okay, Dove. The Overmare said we were to return ‘after a week’s time.’ Doesn’t mean we can’t take an extra day or two before we head back,” she stated, and I recalled the memory of those words. This brought relief to my distress.

I stepped forward. “Well, then, I guess we better get moving.”

“I like your initiative, Dovetail. Can your friend keep up?”

“You bet I can, ma’am,” Lily chimed in, stepping up to us with a determined look.

“I hope that’s not just foalish pride, miss.”

“I can assure you she may be a bit headstrong, but Lily can definitely pull her weight,” I told the pegasus firmly. Lily shot me a look, but then stifled a chortle under her breath.

“Good.” That was all she said before taking the first steps onto the tracks and out of Crossroads Junction. We followed in her hoofsteps.

The rail line entered the mountains only a few miles out of town. The slopes gradually got steeper and steeper as we began to wind around through valleys and over hills. We only stopped for breaks when we really needed them, like for water or food, or to rest our tired legs. The mountain scenery was a lot greener than down in the low hills, but it still was not what it had probably been before the war. A good number of trees were still standing, but many of them were either dead or downed. We did spot the occasional wildlife, many of which were not hostile. When we did come across a hostile creature, my E.F.S. called it out and we snuck by it if possible, otherwise Gale would take it down with her extreme firepower before it got too close to us.

As we went, I decided to probe her knowledge and see how much she was willing to divulge. She told me how the war had gone. How megaspells from both the zebras and Equestria itself had been dropped. How the ministries had begun to crumble under their own weight. And how Celestia and Luna had eventually given their own lives. Of course all she knew about this was from what the Grand Pegasus Enclave – the civilization of pegasi that had sealed themselves off above the clouds – had told her before she was branded a Dashite. That title, she told me, came from following the old ways as laid down by the head mare of the Ministry of Awesome, a name I found to be a bit outlandish for a government organization. Those ways were dedicated to protect Equestria and its citizens, which went against the Enclave’s beliefs of seclusion and self preservation. And she wore the title proudly. We actually learned a lot more than I had expected from her while on our walk along the tracks.

She warned us though, “This place will take your innocence. Often times long before you realize it yourself. You just have to stay true to the virtue that guides you; stay pure of heart, and you’ll be alright.” I let that settle into my mind before speaking again, attempting to change the topic.

“So, tell me, why is it that Vanhoover became known as Underdog Town?”

“Well, it’s quite a story. The actual region is still known as Vanhoover, but the civilized part is wh—”

Something cut the air between us, close enough I could feel the displaced air from it as it whisked by. What the—

Crack!

“Sniper!” Gale called out.

I hit the dirt, seeking cover behind the rails of the track, Lily and Gale following suit. We quickly shuffled prone along the ground to take cover behind one of the nearby downed trees. I checked my Eyes Forward Sparkle. Nothing. And then everything. The thing lit up like a control panel, and the markers were getting brighter fast.

Crack!

Another shot from the sniper flew over our heads. My mind was going a million miles a minute, trying to comprehend what was going on. Gale had told us that after the megaspells hit, the wastes became a war zone of a different kind. But I never expected anything like this. I had been shot at – by other ponies! I began to panic.

“Draw your weapon, Dovetail! What are you waiting for?”

It was Gale. She had said something to me, but I didn’t make it out the first time, my head was spinning so badly. Then Lily slapped me, and things snapped back into focus.

“Draw your weapon, Dovetail!” The pegasus repeated. This time her words reached my ears clearly, which caused me to hang my head.

“I-I can’t,” I admitted.

She paused a moment in shock before responding. “What the fuck do you mean you can’t?” I winced at her harsh language, but it was warranted, I supposed. After all, there would have been much more ideal times for her to find this information out; that I would much rather solve conflict with words than weapons.

“I-I don’t think,” I stuttered before letting out a long sigh. “I don’t think I can’t pull a gun on another pony. Even as a security mare, I was always taught to resolve things with diplomacy, not force. I never actually had to use my gun outside of training. I’m sorry.” I hung my head low in shame. Gale hired us as bodyguards and right now we were letting her down. Bullets began landing all around us, thankfully not penetrating our cover. I flinched with each one that hit the log.

“Damn it, Dovetail,” she relented. “These are raiders, they’ve given up any right to be tried as a pony, and they sure as hell wouldn’t listen to reason. Not even if you shoved it down their goddess-damned throats. This is life or death here, not some civil dispute in the stable. Get your shit together or you’re going down with me.”

Crack!

Another shot rang out as it struck our cover. The red marks on my pipbuck were almost on top of us now. Gale shook her head at me and stood over the log. She squeezed the trigger from her battle saddle in her mouth.

Ka-blam!

One of the red marks faded away until it dropped off completely. Lily turned my head to her. “Dang it Dove, Gale’s right. If you don’t draw your weapon now, we could all die. You know I’ve never fired a gun, or else I’d do it for you. These ponies obviously want us dead, for whatever reason, and I’m not ready to die.” That was the straw that broke the mule’s back. I wasn’t about to let my friend die here. I pulled the shotgun from my back for the first time, and took a deep breath. I still wasn’t sure I could deal with what I was about to do, but I gathered what will I could muster and swung over the tree trunk. I opened fire on the first enemy that I saw.

Blam!

The approaching pony with the crazy mane and crude barding, who looked like he had just come out of the insane ward, dropped limply to the ground. Mindful of the sniper, I ducked back down into cover. My heart raced, and the thought of having just killed somepony hit me like a wall of steel. It made me feel nauseous, but I choked it down. Our new companion had hit the nail on the head. This wasn’t some minor quarrel in the stable; this was life or death. I suddenly longed for the comfort of those dull gray walls and dim, white, boring lights. Gale was right, and I knew it already – this place would take your innocence whether you wanted it to or not. I had just lost mine, and it all happened in the blink of an eye, or rather the flash of a muzzle.

Ka-blam! Ka-blam!

Gale had taken another few shots before dropping back behind cover. I looked first at my E.F.S. – three more bars remained – and then to Lily. She was cowering beneath cover behind me. I was trained with guns, which meant I was at least used to them. They scared her, even more so in live combat. I don’t think it was because she was afraid to point one at a pony, but was afraid of firing one without having done so before. In spite of this, I offered her my security pistol to defend herself with. She took the weapon hesitantly.

“You know I won’t use it unless I have no other choice. You’re the one with the training, not me,” she said. I nodded back to her in affirmation. The sight of her cowering there was enough motivation for me to keep fighting, as much as I wanted to end this peacefully. I nodded to Gale, hoping she’d understand; she did.

I pumped the gun with my hoof, still holding it in my mouth. It was a little clumsy, even with the earth pony-friendly pump, but I’d get used to it.

Crack!

Another shot from the sniper, this one splintering the log and passing between us. We took that as our signal. Gale and I flung ourselves over the tree and pulled our triggers simultaneously.

Blam ka-blam!

Two of the raider ponies dropped. The one I had shot burst into flames as the pellets from the shell impacted. The sight took me by surprise, but I did my best not to let it phase me. The shotgun must have been enchanted with unicorn magic that cast a flaming spell at random. The shells themselves I knew were not magical. I worked the action, ejecting the spent cartridge and loading another.

Blam ka-blam! Crack!

As the last raider fell to the ground, so did I. Gale and I had shot him at the same time, and I wasn’t sure which one of us actually hit him. All I knew was that the sniper had still been out there and had put a round into my front-right foreleg as well. I felt the impact hit the bone and I screamed out in pain. I heard Lily scream too, in spite of the ringing in my ears.

Gale dragged me back to cover and Lily pulled out the last of our healing potions. She immediately tried to administer it to me but was stopped by our pegasus companion.

“Lilybloom, wait,” she said, being sure to cover us if anymore raiders came. “Check if the bullet’s still in her leg first, otherwise it’ll be inside her... forever.”

Lily looked the wound over, which caused me a lot of pain as she moved my leg about. I bit down as hard as I could on my lip trying to keep myself from whinnying in further agony. I had been shot with a sniper round, not some low-caliber pistol. While I didn’t dare look at it myself, I had been fairly certain the hole in my flesh went all the way through. Celestia bless them for making sure though.

Somehow it hadn’t gone all the way through. Using the tweezers she kept on her utility barding, usually used for holding small electronic bits and pieces, Lily carefully pulled the bullet from my bleeding gash. I couldn’t hold the torment back any longer and I howled in pain. When she finished she forced me to swallow down the potion. I immediately began to feel better. I also felt the urge to heave, but I ignored it. I wanted to return the favor to the sniper first; for the first time ever, I wanted revenge.

Cocking the shotgun and getting to my hooves again, Gale Storm informed me she recognized the sound of the gunshots as being from a standard sniper rifle. That meant he likely had a 5-shot magazine on a bolt-action. He had fired all 5 rounds in his failed attempt to kill us, but had also probably reloaded during the time it had taken to fix me up. We would have to attempt to use a combination of cover and luck to safely close the distance between him and us. Well, as safe as possible while having a sniper take potshots at us.

Gale took the lead. She darted as far as she could, using the trees for cover, before the sniper shot at her again.

Crack! One shot.

I followed, Lily in tow. We had made it past our companion before the next shot.

Crack! Two shots.

Gale moved again.

Crack! Three shots.

Lily and I passed her.

Crack! Four shots.

This time I was the only one that moved, galloping as far and as fast as I could, shotgun in my mouth. It wasn’t fast enough. I was out of cover when I saw the glint of his scope right in front of me.

Crack! Fwoosh!

I was dead... only I wasn’t. The shot missed, grazing my neck. The bush the sniper was nested in, however, burst into flames. I hadn’t fired a shot though, so I just stood there, confused. Checking my E.F.S., a friendly blip had appeared and disappeared just as quick. When I looked in the direction it indicated, I only saw the tail of a cloak as it vanished behind a rock uphill from me.

Lily came running up with Gale and shook me back to my senses. “You did it, Dove! And you’re still in one piece!” She congratulated me, throwing her hooves around my neck, but withdrew a bit when she saw the cut the bullet had made. I returned the gesture awkwardly then pushed her aside. Retreating to the nearest foliage, I let my stomach return some of the food in it as a painful mess. I really needed to learn to hide my disgust better.

Luna damnit,I thought, I think any innocence I had left is gone now. I felt like I needed a bath; like I was covered in an irremovable filth; even my language was getting dirty.

“Well, what’s next?” I asked as I made my way back to my comrades, wiping the vomit from my chin as I walked. I didn’t dare tell them about my cloaked savior, fearing I had gone mad. I could also feel the wound on my neck now. It stung, but it wasn’t deep enough to cause much bleeding. I’d have to live with it until we could get another potion.

“We loot the bodies and then look for shelter,” Gale announced. “It’ll be dark soon, and I’ll bet these ponies have a camp around here – er, well, they did. They aren’t using it any more, obviously. Raider decor may not suit your tastes though.”

I knew very little about these so called Raiders, but I found her last comment rather odd. I dismissed it, though, as I reluctantly began to loot the bodies. None of the ponies, save for the sniper, had fired many shots before going down, so they all had a good stock of ammunition on them. We found rounds for both Demonslayer and Gale’s battle saddle. There was also a lever-action rifle with plenty of rounds that we gave to Lily when I retrieved my pistol from her. I promised that I’d help her practice with it as soon as I could. I knew that if this was gonna be what the wastes were like, we would both need to be ready and able to defend ourselves, even if the thought of killing other ponies was still overwhelmingly nauseating.

Gale also carefully grabbed the sniper rifle from amidst the still-burning bush. The metal was a little bit blackened, and the wood was somewhat charred, but it still looked to be in working condition. However, we were not able to salvage the ammo. She no sooner brought the rifle over to us when a spectacular display of explosions erupted behind her. The gunpowder in the ammunition that the sniper still had on him went up in a fantastically chaotic manner.

We got to cover as quickly as possible to avoid getting hit by stray bullets as they flew off in all directions. Shot after shot whizzed by us as the rounds crackled to life. Only after we were sure the rounds were depleted did we come out of hiding.

“Well, that was sure to have drawn some attention,” Gale pointed out. “We should move.”

I nodded in agreement with her and we pressed on. This time we stayed amongst the trees, still following the tracks. We weren’t going to take the chance of getting ambushed again, and we made haste to find shelter before night fell.

We did eventually come across the raiders’ base of operations. It was obvious from what Gale had told us after the fight about them and their ways that the scene before our eyes was their doing; and no, I definitely didn’t care for the decor.

A few hundred feet from the rails, set in a clearing, was the most vile, disturbing thing we had seen yet. Strewn throughout the opening were bloody cages filled with mangled and mutilated pony corpses. Ratty tents were pitched here and there with seemingly no order to them. The path to the old cabin that sat at the back of the encampment was lined with the decapitated heads of the surrounding dead. And the stench was unbearable. Honestly, I was surprised I hadn’t lost what was left of my lunch yet. But then, I really didn’t have much of my lunch left to lose anyway. That, and, as much as I didn't want to admit it, I was probably becoming desensitized to this. This time, it was Lily’s stomach that turned. After seeing this, I had no sympathy left for those ponies – if you can still call them that – which we killed earlier, or any other pony who dare take the title of “raider,” for that matter.

Luckily, we did not have to tolerate this much longer for the dark had come, and we decided to turn in for the night. Figuring the cabin would be the safest bet, we approached it first, doing our best to avoid eye contact with the severed heads that we passed. We decided that we’d loot the tents in the morning; I don’t think any of us were any hurry to see what lay hidden within their canvas walls.

With the black of night upon us, I turned on the over-bright mode of my pipbuck’s screen, and used the light to look the place over. The structure was not too different than that of the cabins above Galloping Gorge. This one, however, had been boarded up from the outside, with a highly visible “Stay out!” spray painted across the wall next to the door. The vividness of the colour meant it had only been added recently, likely by the raiders. This, like so many other things we had encountered since being in the wasteland, struck me as being highly unusual.

What would keep somepony who mutilates other ponies for fun out of an untouched cabin? As far as I could tell, these raider ponies had little to no fear. I still did, however, and jumped as the sound of wood breaking rang out. Gale had broken the boards that spanned the door, granting us access. I guess we’ll find out.

The door was fortunately unlocked this time, and we entered one at a time. I was the last one in, and as soon as my tail had crossed the boundary separating inside from out, the entryway shut abruptly. We all jumped, even Gale. Trying the handle, I was surprised to find it was locked. Even the lock itself refused to turn. We would have to figure that out in the morning, when the light was much better.

Returning to see what the interior had in store for us, the layout was no different at all from our previous intrusions. Even the paintings that hung on the walls were exactly the same. The only thing that was missing was the skeleton pony in the bed. I chalked it up to the mass-production mindset that seemed to be prevalent during the time before the balefire. Lily had begun to use her pipbuck as a flashlight now as well, navigating the dank and dark confines of the cabin.

“This place hasn’t been touched,” she announced. “Everything – food, supplies, everything, it’s all in order. There’s not even a layer of dust to be seen.”

I ran my pipbuck’s radiation scanner over a few of the boxes that she had pulled out. Nothing. “It’s not even irradiated. Not in the slightest.”

“Why would the raiders leave this place so pristine?” asked Gale, as she started to see the weirdness of this place.

My only response was a yawn. As unsettled as we were by it, we would soon be overtaken by sleep, so it would have to do. Gale suggested leaving somepony awake to keep watch, but even with the raider camp outside, we decided against it. We were all too tired and fairly certain that those we killed on our way here were all of the camp’s residents. We also felt comfort in knowing that if any did remain, they probably wouldn’t come into the cabin. If they were spooked by it enough to board it up, they likely weren’t going to be coming back in anytime soon.

There were two beds, just like the other cabins. Gale let us take the beds as she was more used to roughing it than we had been. Lily took the one that held the dead pony in the mirror-cabin from the gorge. I took the remaining mattress.

These beds were surprisingly clean, at least compared to the ones back in Sunset’s inn. They were unstained and were made with clean-enough spreads. In fact, they were even softer than what we had back in the stables. They were, in a word, divine.

Gale began snoring lightly and I looked back at Lilybloom who lay sleeping soundly in the bed across from me. I closed my eyes, too, and got comfortable in the sheets. Feeling sleep grip me deeply, I drifted off to join my friends in Luna’s dream world.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Run 'n Gun - Halved spread with small guns while walking or running.

Chapter 4 - Ghosts of the Past

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 4

Ghosts of the Past

“Giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly.”

Dull, gray walls surrounded me and that familiar buzz of the lights came to my ears. I found myself back in the stable as I opened my eyes. I was home. Something felt different, though. I felt smaller and... younger. Had everything just been a dream?

“Dovetail, darling.” A soft and caring voice came from the next room over. I couldn’t place the voice right away, but I found its soothing tone somehow familiar. It was like the voice of somebody I loved but hadn’t heard in some time. “It’s time for your appointment. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Mother!” I felt myself say. Wait, ‘Mother?’ No. This is the dream.

Everything suddenly became clear to me, but I still had no control over the dream. Correction, I had no control over this nightmare. I knew this memory well, even if I didn’t want to. I had lived it again and again many times in my sleep before, and everytime it got worse and worse. I thought I had rid myself of it years ago, though. Apparently I hadn’t, and I feared for what horrors lay before me. I fought against the images with every bit of willpower I could muster, but even though I was aware of the dream, I had no control over it. I was fast asleep and this was a fixed memory; it was going to play out as such, whether I wanted it to or not.

I walked out of my bedroom and into the common room where my mother and father were waiting patiently. It would be obvious to anypony who saw us all together that I got my father’s coat and my mother’s mane and eyes. Mom was a fairly average mare whose light yellow coat and bright gold mane shimmered in the lights. Father was a handsome stallion with a coat of light gray. His short, light-blue mane flowed gently as he walked over to me.

“Ah, there’s my little angel,” said my father, ruffling the hair atop my head with a hoof.

“I asked you not to call me that, Papa! I just had my birthday and I’m a big girl now,” I dissented. My father just chuckled back at me.

“Let’s go, then,” my mother said, and we were off.

The halls of the stable were darker than they had ever been in real life. Actually, I think they were darker this time than they had been in the previous dreams.

We were on a routine trip to the stable’s medical ward for my annual checkup, as was required by Stable-Tec for all foals. There wasn’t anything that seemed out of the ordinary at a first. Then, the P.A. system clicked to life, and the voice of the overmare flooded the halls. We stopped to listen.

“To all stable residents: Please stay in the room you are currently in until further notice. If you are in the halls, please retreat to the nearest available room. Please lock all doors between you and the halls. We are currently on lockdown. Please remain calm, this is only a drill.”

I knew better from past experience, but my dream-self was only a young filly and didn’t know what was going on at all. I had been the ignorant foal that knew nothing could have been wrong if I was with my family. They would keep me safe, right? My dream-parents on the other hoof knew something was wrong, but only from what the intercom had told them.

Unsure of why there would even be a lockdown drill, they prompted me to follow them. It just so happened, though, that we were in probably the longest hall known to ponykind – or at least it felt so in my dream. The more we walked, the farther away the end of the hall seemed to get. It became distorted, stretched, and warped to unbelievable proportions. I knew what happened next, and it made my heart race with fear.

The walls suddenly snapped back to normal, and we rounded the corner. My folks froze, catching me in my stride as well. Standing in front of us was a unicorn I recognized, but had long forgotten the name of, despite seeing his face many times. It hadn’t been anypony that I had ever talked to during my youth, but we had passed by him in the halls a lot. This time, though, he looked different. There was an air of darkness that surrounded him, and he seemed to be breathing heavily. His coat was matted with dark red stains, and his face had changed; that shadowy, crazed face, covered in blood.

Fear grabbed control of my senses. My mother screamed, and my father drew us both behind him. The unicorn pony floated up a knife and I could see the sinister smile that went from one side of his face to the other. We started backing away slowly, but he rushed at us.

My father yelled for us to run and we ran. Our legs carried us as fast as they could. I didn't dare look back but I could tell from the sound of his hoofsteps that the crazed pony had caught up to us. Father tried to get in his way, and I finally worked up the courage to glance behind me. I wished I hadn’t when I heard Mom scream again. What I witnessed drew a scream from me as well. My father fell, his body drifting slowly downward. It was as if time was crawling forward like a sick radroach. Its pace blurred the line between seconds and minutes.

I wanted to run to my father’s side, but my muscles were frozen stiff. When his mass finally came to rest on the floor, blood began to ooze out and pool around him. Our attacker drew his knife out of the carcass. The blade was dripping fresh blood. Drop after drop landed on the cold, metal floor. I had slowed in my gait by now, and the sight made me stumble and nearly faint, but my mom gave me a nudge from behind. Her push steadied me and I was able to pick up speed again. I kept running, hooves clattering like mad on the stable’s metal floor as the walls rushed by me on either side.

The murderer with the knife caught up again, leaping onto my mother from behind. He slashed violently at her hind legs, turning them into a crimson mess. She tried to buck him off, though her efforts were to no avail. The gashes in her legs had severed the muscles. With what strength she still had left in her, she yelled for me to keep running, until his knife finally found her throat. A single bloody slice and her body fell limp. I stumbled in stride as I felt my will to go on dissipate, but I refused to let my legs stop pushing me forward. The tears began to well in my eyes.

Then, in my panic, I got lost and found myself in an alcove that had no exit. I had run my stupid self right into a dead end. The psychotic stallion’s shadow engulfed me from behind. I turned to face him, cowering in the corner.

“One, two, three. You’re next little filly,” he said, laughing maniacally.

Slowly, he drew closer, pressing my body up against the wall. Even when he was right on top of me, knife to my throat, his face remained shrouded in darkness. I could only see his ever-present smile.

“I’m gonna set you free from this prison,” he breathed into my ear. Pinning me down, he raised the knife, ready to stab me. I closed my eyes, coming to terms with the inevitable. A single tear rolled down my cheek and onto the floor.

Bang!

The knife clattered to the floor and came to rest. His body collapsed on top of me and the pressure oppressed my breathing. I couldn’t move under the burden of his dead weight. Then the floor and walls faded away into a black vacuum of space. The body disappeared next and I gasped for breath as I was able to breath again. I was floating in a void, just drifting aimlessly through the vacuity. Then I fell into the nothingness. The darkness rushed by me, and I awoke with a start.

The room was dim, but I didn't dare look around yet. I closed my eyes again, cautious not to fall back to sleep; I feared returning to that horrid memory, but I also wasn’t sure that I was completely awake either. The nightmare that was still fresh in my mind. I never knew why that stable resident had gone insane; why my parents had to be his victims. It wasn’t something the citizens of the stable liked to talk about, and the results of the investigation were kept under wraps by order of the overmare. I heard rumours that he had gone crazy with an obsession to leave the stable. Some said it was a conspiracy created by Stable-Tec before the war, set to trigger long after they were gone. Others still thought it had been that he had simply gone mad; that he was born that way. I didn’t care what the reason had been.

The incident had put me in therapy for a few years while I learned to cope with the loss. It wasn’t easy for a young filly like myself, but the process was made easier by spending so much time with Lily. After the attack, I had been moved in with her and her parents, at least until I had grown old enough to work in the stable and support myself.

If anything good had come of it, though, it was my cutie mark. Seeing my loved ones killed in cold blood before my eyes changed a me. I knew I didn’t want to let that happen to anypony ever again. I wanted to protect everypony I could, especially those close to me, and I didn’t want anypony to die needlessly. That’s why I became a security mare. The one who saved me didn’t get there in time to save my folks, and I told myself I would never let that happen during my watch. I was going to be a better security mare. I decided, though, that it was best not to dwell on my memories, and I opened my eyes again.

At first, I was greeted with the same cabin interior I had fallen asleep to. Then my mind slowly began to take in subtle differences. The first thing I noticed was that Gale was not asleep on the floor anymore. In fact, she wasn’t even in the room at all. Then I looked to Lily’s bed. No movement came from beneath the sheets, which looked to be covering her still. It almost looked like she had lost a lot of weight overnight – not to say that she was heavy to begin with.

I got to my hooves and trotted over to where Lily lay, all wrapped up in the blankets.

“Lily, wake up.” I poked at the mound of sheets on the bed. Something... didn’t feel right. “Lilybloom?”

I pulled the sheets back from her head, though I wished I hadn’t. There, where my best friend had slept not but a few hours before, was a skeleton, and not just any skeleton. It was the very same one I had seen in the bed next to Demonslayer. I whinnied in horror and quickly threw the sheet back over the carcass, falling over backwards in the process. At this point I seriously began to question whether or not I was actually awake at all, but the pain from hitting the floor told me one thing: I definitely wasn’t still asleep. However, the nightmares were far from over.

Then I heard a scream that was eerily similar to my mother’s. Despite the similarity, I could tell that it sounded more like Lily, and had come from the room over. I headed for the door, only to find that the it had vanished, replaced by a solid wall. The room had separated itself from the rest of the cabin somehow. I would have questioned it, but then I heard Lily scream again. My body began to shake and my heart started pounding against my chest. I had no idea what was going on beyond the wall that in my way. Raiders could have been attacking my friend and there’d be nothing I could do. The walls were made of logs – I couldn’t have busted through even if I wanted to.

I slammed my hoof to the floor in frustration and layed my head to the wall. Through my tears, it almost looked like the floor shimmered in reaction to my aggression, but I figured it was my imagination. Then a gunshot rang out, one that sounded exactly like that of the security officer shooting the assailant from my dreams. Lily screamed again, as if she was in pain. My heart skipped a beat and I felt a pang of anguish run right through my core. Every possible scenario I could think of ran through my mind, but the one image I couldn’t escape from was of her crying out for me as she died, while I sat here powerless.

I started to sob harder, and began scraping and banging on the wall until I ran out of energy. It was no use though. I thought for sure Lily had been shot, but I got shaken out of it as I was thrown back onto the floor again. The wall had opened where the door had been before. No, the door had returned right where I had been sobbing, and had been swung open violently. In its threshold was Gale, holding Lily’s lever action rifle in her mouth.

Through its grip, she managed to yell, “Dovetail, grab your weapons and get out here! You need to see this.”

I did as she said. Holding my pistol in my mouth and Demonslayer on my back, I stepped into the next room, where Lily and Gale were both waiting. The sights only became more surreal beyond the doorway.

On the floor, laying limp, was a mirror image of me. Or what I thought was a mirror image of me, until I saw its face. Its features were warped and twisted in a horribly grotesque fashion. It made me sick, and I quickly covered the atrocity with a cushion from the nearby sofa.

“What in Celestia’s name is going on here?” I asked aloud. Gale was first to respond.

“I don’t rightfully know, but I’m beginning to see why those raiders left this place alone. Have another look at that... thing, though.” I didn’t want to turn back to it, but what she said next piqued my curiosity. “There’s no blood. I shot it, and the bullet hole’s there, but the wound’s not bleeding at all.”

I reluctantly returned my gaze to the corpse on the ground. Sure enough, Gale was right. I could see where the round had entered its body, but the area around the hole was dry. There was a lack of blood on the floor where a pool of crimson would normally have gathered by now. It was as if the thing wasn’t actually alive to begin with.

“Then,” Gale continued, “there was that flash on impact, both with that monstrosity and the wall.” My mind slipped back to when I slammed my hoof on the ground. Maybe it hadn’t been the tears.

“What flash?” I ventured.

“Well, it was a bright flash of light. Real sudden. More of a flicker, really. Kinda like a glitch on a terminal screen.”

“You mean like this?” I asked, slamming my hoof on the ground again, hoping I wasn’t just about to make a fool of myself. My efforts were rewarded, though, as a small flickering of light scattered along the floor. I tried it again and the boards beneath my hoof returned another flash.

“Exactly like that, just brighter,” Gale confirmed.

“What is this place?” I heard Lily ask.

I looked at my pipbuck’s map, as I realized I hadn’t checked it before now. I read the tag it had given this place out loud: “Filthy Rich’s Retreat.”

I took a wild guess that Filthy Rich was the name of the pony who owned this place before the war. I almost wondered if it was his ghost that haunted this building.

Gale seemed to be poking and prodding the floor and walls with her hoof now. She was curiously investigating the sparks that they made when she hit them harder and harder. Eventually she turned and bucked the wall as hard as she could. the room illuminated with sparks that danced all about. For a second, I thought I saw everything around us flicker, and near where she hit it looked like a door came into existence momentarily.

My mind worked quickly this time, and I drew my pistol out of its holster and aimed it at that spot. Whatever these walls were actually made of, it certainly wasn’t normal logs. It appeared to react to excessive force, and if my eyes didn’t deceive me, there was more to this place than we could currently see. I intended to find out what that was.

Bang!

One shot flew between my pistol and the wall with all the force needed to cause the biggest reaction yet. The bullet impacted, making a terrifying metal ping and ricocheting into another nearby wall. The room flooded with bright white light. If we hadn’t all closed our eyes, we probably would have gone blind from its intensity. The light lasted only momentarily before subsiding to a pitch black darkness.

When we opened our eyes again, a backup lighting system that emitted a soft but dark red glow kicked on. The entire building’s interior had completely changed. The windows were still in the same locations, but the walls, the furniture, everything it had all vanished. What replaced them were flat, colourless metal walls, similar to those of the stable. The blood red backup lights were set flush into the ceiling. The layout of the whole building was that of a single square room with a smaller room in one corner. There was a door that closed off that side room – the door I had caught a glimpse of before.

It was made of solid steel, matching the walls around it. There was no handle or lock, though. It appeared unopenable. As I approached it to for a closer look, something on the edge of my vision moved. I stumbled back, startled, before I realized what it had been. A panel on the wall near the door had swung open revealing a terminal that was set into the wall. It didn't look to me like a normal Stable-Tec terminal, but I wasn’t the one to know for sure.

“Lily, we need our tech geek here,” I called over to her. She was still reorienting herself after the flash, and so was Gale. I only now became aware of my neglect to warn them of my intentions with the gun. “Sorry about that, by the way,” I added, helping her to her hooves. Once I was sure she was okay, I directed her to the terminal.

“Its definitely not Stable-Tec technology. The build quality’s a little lower tier. The keys and body are much cheaper.” She droned on about technical terms that flew well over my head. Gale looked just as confused as I was.

“Uh, Lily,” I cut her off when I couldn’t take anymore.

“Mmhmm?”

“That’s... nice and all, but can you access it?”

“Oh, I’m sure I can.” She didn’t waste a moment and went straight to work, using both her hooves and magic to work the keys. The system came to life, lights from the screen reflecting off her glasses.

It was amazing to watch her as she dutifully scanned through lines and lines of code. I gazed over her shoulder at those endless lines of letters and characters and instantly found myself lost as to their meaning. They all just looked like a big, jumbled mess to me. Lily on the other hoof was able to bring order from their chaos. it was only a few minutes before she turned away from the monitor and back to us.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t a Stable-Tec system. The OS is one I’ve never seen before, but is similar enough that it only took me a few extra minutes to figure out how to work it. It might not have been what I’m used to,” she announced, a prideful smile spread across her face. She struck a key on the terminal. “But I got it to behave.”

The locks on the door next to her slid open with a loud clanking noise. Once the bolts were all free of their latches, the door swung willingly inward.

“Impressive work, kid,” Gale commended her. “Looks like you’re gonna prove your usefulness afterall.”

“Lily, you really do amaze me sometimes,” I said, patting her on the back as I walked by her, towards the now-open doorway.

The opening did not reveal another room as I had expect. Instead, on the other side of the threshold, was a stairwell that led down beneath the main level of the cabin, lit by the same emergency bulbs as the floor we were on. My curiosity continued to deepen with the depths that presented themselves to me. I actually felt drawn down those flights of metal stairs, and I wasn’t about to hold myself back.

We descended down into the belly of this technological beast. Their incline was steep and the staircase was apparently plunged deeper into the earth than they appeared from above. When we reached the last step and came to their base, we were met with another door like the one above, only this one had no terminal to open it. The locks turned over on their own, and the metal slab swung open of its own accord.

Crossing through it, we entered into a room that was roughly the size of a stable atrium, only it was a single floor with no offshoots. Instead, there was a solitary maneframe computer that stretched from floor to ceiling. It had been placed alone in the middle of the room. As benign as it seemed the whole scene just felt off to me. Slowly and cautiously, we approached the maneframe.

As we did so, a spotlight above it came on, illuminating what the dim bulbs of the emergency system couldn’t. The maneframe was a tower of metal, painted a solid black, with deep blue lights that flickered on and off across its surfaces. I trotted around to the backside of the machine, and discovered a terminal in the center of the rear panel. The monitor and controls appeared to be practically identical to the one upstairs that unlocked the door. What struck me most about this unusual system, though, was the marking that was engraved above the monitor.

“Solaris.Inc,” Gale stated as she trotted up behind me. The look that she wore on her face was one of cold discontentment. “I should’ve known.”

I tilted my head. “What’s a Solar-a-sink?”

“Solaris.Inc,” she repeated, correcting me. “Or, rather, Solaris Incorporated. See the white, male alicorn imprinted on the maneframe?” She pointed a hoof to the marking I had been looking at. “It’s their logo, printed on every single thing that left their factories.

“They were Stable-Tec’s biggest competitors before the war, but they were never actually able to keep up. At least not in most aspects. I didn’t think any of their tech had made it this far north, though.”

“I’ve read about them in the archives,” Lily chimed in. “Supposed to have had mind control tech, even. Scary stuff.”

“They did have mind control capabilities,” Gale clarified.

“How do you know so much about the when they existed before the war?” I asked her. “Did the Enclave tell you stories?”

“No. I’ve seen it first hand.”

“When? Where?”

“Back at the Ironhoof Company. They had gotten their hooves on a control module. What they did with it... not pretty stuff. I’d rather not talk about it.” I could tell this was a dark matter for her from how serious her voice had gotten. I wasn’t about to press the issue further and decided to let it go.

Something else drew my attention away from the maneframe as I looked around the room. In the corner behind us, an old desk sat in the dark. I began trotting towards it slowly, but paused for a moment.

“Lily,” I addressed her, “see if you can access that maneframe. It may tell us more about this place. Might even control the door lock to the outside.”

“I’m on it!” She saluted and set straight to work. She was quickly lost to the strands of code behind the screen again. I turned my attention back to the desk in the corner. That corner of the room just seemed darker that the rest, but I couldn’t see any reasons the lights shouldn’t have lit it evenly too. Something about it sent shivers down my spine.

“You okay, kid?” Gale asked, walking up to me from behind. Her gaze was directed toward the desk now too.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Alright, if you say so. This place gives me the creeps, so I don’t blame you if—”

“I said I’m fine!” I snapped, rounding on Gale.

“Easy, Dove. I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said, taking a step back.

W-What happened? Th–that wasn’t like me. At all. I didn’t mean that. What’s wrong with me?

“I–I’m sorry, Gale,” I apologized. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“No worries, kid. Just warn me next time you're about to have a mood swing.” She turned away and walked back to watch Lily, who was hard at work still. I brought my attention back to the desk.

As I approached the desk, the darkness seemed to lift abruptly around me. I could see what had been hidden in the shadows. I hadn’t discerned it before but there was a pony’s skeleton sitting peacefully in a nearby chair. I didn’t look at it long and tried to focus solely on the other sights. While the desk appeared to be an average wood desk, it was the items that sat on its surface that intrigued me. A round, black opal sat in an open case that looked to have been custom made. The case itself was a lavish purple with silver accents and had a clear gem which had been laid into the front. Inside the open lid, embedded into the padding, was a photograph of a young filly.

The photograph showed the light pink pony posed in a very upscale posture, looking her absolute best. Her purple and white mane had been styled into many beautiful curls. Atop her head sat a silver tiara that matched the image of her cutie mark.Their were no other indications of who she had been, and I wondered what her name even was. I even found myself questioning how she had died; whether it had been peaceful, or whether she had succumbed to the horrors of the war.

I turned back to the skeleton in the chair, unafraid of it this time. In place of disgust I was thinking perhaps it had been her. However, even with my miniscule knowledge of anatomy I could tell that it was a male’s remains – mostly because of the ragged clothes that still clung to its body. That raised other questions, though. Who was the pony who had died here? I knew it was likely this “Filthy Rich” guy, but who was he to have known the filly? Had he been her special somepony? Brother? Maybe her father?

I put the thought to the back of my mind and returned to the desk and its contents. Resting under the case that held the orb was a holotape. I wondered what the recording on it was, so I carefully moved the orb and its case off the tape and set them aside. I took the tape and with a touch of my hoof to my pipbuck, I opened its contents on my screen. The text file that blinked onto the screen read:

“Mr Rich,

We are pleased to inform you that your new Solaris.Inc maneframe computer has been installed and the facility around it completed to specification. The functionality you requested has been tested and successfully run.

Using our patented Dream Projector technologies, the system is able to read the thoughts of those in the facility and replicating anything that they desire. It took a lot of research and development to get to accomplish it, but we were able to achieve our goal.

The system is capable of fully reproducing any item with 100% accuracy, and those replicas are as true as the real thing. How this is achieved is a trade secret, however. As a fellow businessman, I’m sure you’ll understand our discretion.

A few words of warning: Items produced by the system will dissipate if removed from the premises of the facility. Also, do not, under any circumstances, attempt to have the maneframe replicate any pony or likewise complex being. The capabilities of this are untested and your results may vary.

Thank you for your business, and enjoy your Solaris.Inc system!

Sincerely,
Tuxedo Bow-Tie
Solaris.Inc VP of Sales”

So that was it. The cabin’s interior had been nothing more than an elaborate illusion. But this machine was meant to fulfill wishes, not nightmares. So why had our experience been so bad?

I pushed the thought aside to ask Lily later, and returned once again to the desk. opening its compartments, I found more loot. The top drawer of three contained a small sum of old-world bits. Despite their low conversion rate, I took them into my saddlebag. I figured that while everything generated by the system would dissipate, it was probably a safe bet to assume that the desk's contents were real enough.

The second drawer held mostly junk, with the only notable objects being a couple of discarded bottle caps. I pulled the from the safety of the desk and counted them by two’s. Two. Four. Six. Eight. Ten. Twelve.

It wasn’t much, but it was more than we had started with. I started to put them into my bags where I had thrown the bits and stopped momentarily. I chuckled quietly to myself, thinking about how the two objects had changed. It just seemed ironic that the bits with which we once used to pay for bottles of soda had become nearly worthless, and had since been replaced by the caps from those same bottles. I finished putting the caps into my money pouch with a satisfying clatter of metal on metal.

The third and final compartment of the desk held the most fascinating prize, though. The object it held within was a beautiful little statuette. As I picked it up out of the drawer and sat it on the desk, I also noticed a dusty magazine resting at the bottom of the drawer. When I blew the filth off it and pulled it out of the grim, I immediately began to feel like I could talk my way out of anything. When I lay it down to examine it, however, I felt that confidence go away. Figuring it was best to read it at a later time, I slipped it into my saddle bags as well. My attention then went back to the figurine on the table.

The miniature pony was well preserved beneath the layer of dust, thanks to the safety of the drawer. It had been modeled in the likeness of none other than the filly whose picture was inside the opal’s case. However, she appeared to be much older in this image of her, now a full-grown mare. A name had been etched into its base, along with a very touching sentiment.

“Diamond Tiara,” I read aloud. “Life isn’t about dying beautiful, it’s about living beautifully.”

I also noticed something stuck to the bottom of the base and carefully turned it over with my mouth. Attached to the statuette was a small piece of paper that read:

“Dearest Dad,

I love you. Stay safe during this time of turmoil.

Your little girl,
Diamond Tiara”

So, Filthy Rich had been her father, and from the looks of it he had died here alone, separated from her. I turned back to the skeleton, and my heart felt for him. I didn’t know what he looked like, but I imagined the pain he must have felt, knowing the end was near, and that he would never be able to see his loved ones again. It was not that different from what I had felt as a filly when i lost my parents.

I said a silent prayer to Luna that night, asking her to keep his soul safe, and took the statuette and the case with the orb in it. Putting them into my bag, I took another look at the picture inside the box and turned to the dead pony once again.

“I’ll watch over her and keep her safe,” I assured him. “I hope you may rest in peace, knowing your daughter’s memory will live on with me.”

I closed my eyes to him and turned away, back to my companions. Gale began trotting in my direction.

“What did ya find over there, Dove?” She asked as she approached.

“Nothing! They’re mine!” I took off my saddlebags and involuntarily wrapped my body around them to hide them. I had no control over my motions, and even when I tried to fight back, I couldn’t regain dominance over my muscles. It was like I was in my nightmare again; like I was just along for the ride. I could still see, though. I could see the looks of shock and terror on Gale and Lily’s face. My thoughts went into panic-mode.

Was I possessed by something? I began to seriously worry about my own safety, and even more so for my friends’. I didn’t know what had taken control of me, but it certainly wasn’t anything natural. If I couldn’t retake my own body, I feared for whatever it might do to my companions. I wanted to be able to protect them with everything I could and put every bit of will I could muster into fighting back. Slowly, but surely I felt the possession lift.

“What the hell is that thing?” I heard Gale ask. I realized that the darkness from before was back, but it was different this time. It seemed to have a more solid form. Slowly, I turned around. I quickly regretted doing so.

Behind me, towering above my dismounted saddlebags, stood a dark cloud that was comprised of the shadows themselves. It had two eyes that glowed like lights in its own darkness. I thought I was seeing things, that we were all seeing things, but then there was a sudden explosion and the room flickered with light.

Bang!

Gale was shooting at the creature with the lever-action rifle, but it seemed that the bullets weren't doing anything to it physically. They were, however, causing it to phase in and out and flicker with dancing light, like the walls and floor of the cabin above us had. My mind began to work, but I had to urge it to work faster. The entity began moving slowly towards us. It was like some ghost trying to take physical form for the first time, but I knew there was no such thing as ghosts. This was more like a corrupt dream. Wait a minute. Corruption. This whole place is controlled by the maneframe.

“Lily,” I yelled over my shoulder as I began to backpedal away from the monster. “Check the system for any sort of corruption. I think I know what this thing is.”

“Right!” Lily said, delving back into the code.

Bang!

Gale fired another shot and the creature slowed down a bit, staggering back in its stride, but it kept pressing on. This entity was different from the other projections. It didn’t seem to suffer the damage the others did, almost like it was part of the computer itself. Then something flickered across its face, if one could call it a face. And then again.

It looked very much like the face of Diamond Tiara, only distorted and warped. Then everything started to snap into place.

I remembered the abomination copy of me from up stairs. I remembered the note to Mr. Rich: “Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to have the maneframe replicate any pony.” And I remembered my own childhood; how I’d always imagine my parents by my side when I got lonely and missed them. I could only imagine that, as a father, Mr. Rich would have done the same with his daughter in his final hours, not caring for the warning given by the sale representative. The system did what it does best and fulfilled his wishes, whether he meant for it to or not. The maneframe apparently was not built to replicate life it seems, though, and only made a bad copy of Diamond Tiara. My suspicions were further confirmed when Lily shouted out to me.

“Dove, you were right. There’s a virus on the system. Looks like it’s affecting some artificial intelligence files.”

“Can you fix it without deleting the affected files?” I asked in return, still backing up slowly.

“Fix it, yes. Without deleting the AI, no. I’d have to reset the computer's entire operating system and reboot the whole thing in order to get rid of it.”

I knew in my mind that this wasn’t the real Diamond Tiara, but my heart still told me that this was the remaining memory that Filthy Rich had of his daughter. No, I told myself, it isn’t. The photo, the orb, and the statuette. Those still remain.

“Do it,” I resigned. “Do it now, Lily.”

“Roger.”

I could hear the computer keys behind me clicking furiously as Lilly went about her work. I continued backing up as Gale went on shooting. Her shots were still ineffective at stopping the beast, but they still kept it away from me. Despite this, the monster was picking up speed in between shots. It kept gaining on me. With every step it took, a new image flashed across it’s face, overriding Diamond Tiara’s features like a mask.

Thud. One step, and a new face.

It was that of a dark blue stallion. His mane was unkempt and an eye-patch covered his left eye. I didn’t recognize the face at all; I only assumed that it had been one somepony else had known.

Thud. Another step and the creature took on a new image.

Its next visage reflected my own, only horribly distorted. It was the same as the doppelganger from upstairs. The visual made me cringe and I missed a step. As grotesque as it was to see my own face projected back to me, twisted and contorted, I had already seen it. I shook off the disgust and continued backpedaling as the creature drew ever closer.

Thud. The next face was the first in a series that caused my heart to pause. It was like the beast had latched on to my nightmares from the night.

The first image in the set was of my father. I faltered in my retreat, tears beginning to form in my eyes as the memories flooded back into my mind. He had been gone so long, and this was the first time I had seen him outside of my dreams since that fateful night. His eyes met mine, but they seemed hollow and did not offer any comfort.

N-No, this isn’t my Papa.

Thud.

Next came my mother’s visage, the look of terror from my nightmare spread upon it. I could barely find my steps now, and the water droplets were flowing down my cheeks. I had loved my mom as a foal, and I still do, even now. She had been caring and affectionate, but none of that was present in the face that stared back at me.

It-It’s not Mom. Sh-She was too nice!

Thud.

One final face was cast on the monster. I fell backwards over my own hoofsteps. The crazed eyes that glared down on me were filled with lethal intent. They belonged to that maniacal face of the murderer from all those years ago. This time, however, the image was real and as frightening as it had been that fateful night. My mind searched for a rational explanation, but it simply remained as blank as a newborn foal’s flank.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I was crying with no reservations. The creature had gained a terrible amount of ground while I was down, and had been able to catch up with me when Gale stopped to reload. It reached out to grab me, and I closed my eyes. The monster’s dark grasp pinned me to the ground with a ghostly-cold weight. It was as if my nightmare had come to life.

“I’m gonna set you free...” The monstrosity hissed into my ear. Its voice seemed to be like that of multiple ponies talking at once. It was made even more chilling as I recognized bits and pieces of each voice to be of those whose faces it projected. I heard my own speech, mixed with my father’s, my mother’s, and most harrowingly, that of the homicidal stallion.

I simply awaited the inevitable as it prepared to end me. However, no such end came. After a few seconds, I chanced a peek to see what had happened.

The shadow monster had begun to glitch in and out of existence, lights flickering across its body as it did so. Lily must have activated the system’s reset. An ungoddessly awful screech then began emanating from the abomination. Its digital features started deforming. It was like the beast was dying a painfully slow death, its very being torn apart at the source code. Even though the thing was a monster, watching the event unfold pulled strangely at my emotions. That terrible feeling was made worse as a horribly malformed representation of Diamond Tiara’s face replaced the creature’s own visage. This thing could feel, and I started to regret my decision to have Lily terminate it. It was too late though, so I just closed my eyes again and hung my head low, unable to bear witness to it any longer.

It felt like hours that I listened to the death of the virus, but when it finally stopped I didn’t feel any better. A new darkness fell along with an eerie silence, and I opened my eyes, only to be blinded by the lights when they kicked back on. The main power seemed to have been restored with the system reset, and we were no longer under emergency lighting.

Everything was brighter, and I could see everything more vividly than before. It was almost as bright, if not brighter than the outside world had been during the day. My gaze then came to rest where the creature had been and it took my mind a moment to comprehend what I saw. Standing in its place was a fabulous, young mare whose light pink coat glowed brightly. Her eyes were closed as her purple and white mane blew in a non-existent breeze.

“Diamond Tiara,” I said with amazement. The pony’s artificial eyes sprung open. They stared right at me, not in anger but in joy.

“That is my name, but I am not her. I am but a distant memory,” she spoke in a ghostly, feminine voice. “Her father, Filthy Rich, made me to keep him company during his final days during the war. I exist only as he saw her, but I could never be the real thing.”

“Don’t talk like that,” I said, stepping forward. “You can be whatever you wa—”

“No.” She said, cutting me off. “I may be able to change my appearance through this system, but I could never leave this place. I am nothing but code; numbers and symbols, bits and bytes of a computer program. You though – you are free. You can go wherever you want to go, do what you want to do, and be who you want to be; no programming to control you.”

“You’d be surprised,” Gale chimed in. “ You have it pretty good here, ya know? The world outside your walls is harsh, and cruel, everyday is a fight for survival.”

“And even code can change and learn,” said Lily. “Even us ponies have programming and code. Our DNA, our ‘code’ has been rewritten many times. I mean, look at us, three different races of ponies, all with the same genetic make up. Some of us even believe in the concept of fate, or destiny. Its a concept that acts much as our ‘programming.’ There are those who believe it can be controlled by us, while others say we were meant to think that by way of fate itself. The very fact that we can question it to begin with, though, is proof that we aren’t bound to one single process. You may only be code, but so are we. And we, as a species evolve.”

I had never heard Lily be so passionate about anything before, not even about her usual tech work, but her speech must’ve touched a nerve – or a circuit in the faux Diamond Tiara’s case. I could’ve sworn the computer generated pony was crying, and that her tears even appeared to be real.

“Thank you,” she said, wiping away the droplets from her eyes. “Thank you all so much. You’ve made me just so happy, and you’ve set me free from the corruption that had plagued me for so many years. When Mr. Rich created me, I existed as you see me now, but over time things began to change. The machine was never meant to recreate sentient life and eventually the data began to corrupt itself. My files became a virus that fed off the machine’s code and people’s fears instead of their fantasies. In resetting the system, you’ve cleared my files from its long term storage. I’m no longer bound to its binary confines.”

“But, how are you still here if we deleted your files?” I asked the projection.

“I’m not fully deleted just yet. My data still exists in the maneframe's short-term virtual memory. Once it clears its cache, I will fade forever.”

By the time she had finished her sentence, I had begun to share her tears. I knew she was only a hologram built of ones and zeros, but she was still an intelligent creature and I wasn’t going to let her die here. It wasn’t what I wanted, and I don’t think Mr. Rich would have wanted it to end this way either; I just had to think of a way to save her. Unfortunately I didn’t know enough to do anything myself, but I knew someone who did.

“Lily,” I called, turning to the mint-green mare. “We can’t let her just fade, she’s finally got a chance to be herself again. Is there anything you can do?”

“I’m not sure, Dove. Wouldn’t it be best to let her rest in peace? She has spent the better part of the last 200 years trapped here as a corrupt version of herself.”

“That’s exactly why we can’t let her die. She can do things of her own will now. The corruption no longer has control of her. If you were given a second chance at life, wouldn’t you want to take it?”

“Okay, okay. Just... just let me think for a moment Dove.”

“Uh, you may not have many moments to think,” Gale cut in. “Look.”

I spun back to the projected Diamond Tiara. Her body was beginning to pixelate, and the clarity of her features started to deteriorate. I knew what was happening now, and I started to choke on the guilt I felt.

“The cache is being cleared,” she said. The tears were flowing from my eyes like rivers at this point. She must’ve noticed it as she added, “It’s okay, just let me go.”

“I’ve got it!” Lily announced with enthusiasm. She jumped straight back into working the keyboard hard. Keystrokes fell in quick succession as her hooves and her magic danced across them with purpose and vigor. I could have sworn she derived pleasure from their cold clicking. It was only a few seconds before she finished with a deep sigh and turned to Diamond Tiara. “I can save you, if you’d like. Would you like to come with us?”

The digital pony was all but faded completely now, but I could still tell when her expression changed dramatically. The look of resignation on her face was replaced by one of joy. It was almost like a switch had been triggered. Oh right, she’s computer code; it probably was a switch.

“You bet I would!” She exclaimed. “Just do it quickly!”

“Are you okay with being downloaded into a pipbuck?”

“You can do that‽” Everypony but Lily’s jaw dropped in shock.

I knew files could be downloaded easily enough, but I had no idea an entire AI could be pulled across. I didn’t think the devices would have been capable of even supporting it.

“Of course, you just have to know how. Now, are you okay with that? You don’t have much time.”

Diamond Tiara took no time at all to answer. “Yes!”

Without hesitation, Lily hit the final key in the sequence and the computerized earth pony fully reappeared for a brief moment before bursting into a dazzling display of lights. Her body transformed into a hundred thousand miniature stars that began to gently float through the air toward Lily. As they neared her, they disappeared into her pipbuck. This must’ve been the system’s way of displaying the download process, and it was nothing short of astounding, though a little over dramatic, if you ask me.

All of our eyes were wide and alive with reflections of the little celestial bodies. It was an amazing spectacle as the room flickered with their playful glow. There was only one word that could have fully captured the scene.

“Beautiful...” Lily whispered. The astonishment in her voice was obvious, but I don’t think any of us would have felt any different. I certainly didn’t.

When the last of the glimmers had made its way into Lily’s pipbuck, the room went dark for a moment as the light levels returned to normal. As our eyes adjusted and reality came back into focus, the world around us had changed. The walls, the maneframe, the desk, and the pony skeleton were all still there; what had changed was the floor. As if to celebrate its cleansing, the system had turned the metal beneath our hooves into rich soil. All around us, flowers in full bloom sprung up from the dirt, turning the depressing scene into a strange yet oddly charming one. It seemed like a much nicer final resting place for Mr. Rich, or what remained of him at least.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” We all jumped. It was Diamond Tiara’s voice again, only this time we now realized, it was being broadcast from the speaker built into the pipbuck around Lily’s forearm. “Ah, I’m kidding. I still have some visual sense via your pipbuck’s Eyes Forward Sparkle and I can hear your through the device’s microphone. That’s enough for me. Thank you all so much, though. Especially you, Lilybloom. You all have hearts that are as pure as gold.”

“How do you know my name?” Lily asked.

“I’m inside your pipbuck. I can access all the code it contains, even your personal files. You naughty girl, you.”

“Waahh!” Lily nearly fell off her hooves in embarrassment and blushed wildly.

Gale and I just started laughing. I wasn’t too sure what Diamond Tiara had found in there, but seeing my bestfriend act so surprised was funny in its own right. Even the voice from her pipbuck was laughing, at least until she switched the device to mute. It was significantly harder for her to get Gale and me to quiet down.

“Come on you two,” she shouted, “stop laughing! It’s not funny! So I’ve got a few files from the archives I probably shouldn’t have. It’s no big deal.”

“Oh, is that what she meant?” Gale asked through the laughter. “Cause I thought she meant something totally different.”

Oh, now I get it! Normally I wouldn’t find that sort of thing humourous, but I was already laughing, so I just kept going only louder and harder. That only caused Lily to just get more and more flustered.

“Come on, kid,” Gale continued. “It’s just a joke, lighten up a bit.”

“I guess you’re right,” Lily sighed. It didn’t take long before she let it go and started laughing with us. This certainly was the brightest moment we’d had yet on our adventure. Sadly, it did eventually have to end. As our excitement calmed and we returned to real life, I had one more task for my best friend.

“Lily, could you get the door upstairs unlocked through the maneframe? Or did you figure that out already?”

“Actually, its already unlocked, but not by my hoof. Our new AI friend just left a message on my pipbuck saying she unlocked it before leaving the system using what control she still had.”

“Oh, well then. If you could kindly unmute her again.”

“Sure thing.” Lily switch the audio output on the device back on.

“Diamond Tia—,” I said, but got cut off again.

“Please, I don't want to be known by that name anymore. Like I said before, I am not her, and this is a new life for me. If you could refer to me as somepony else, I’d appreciate it.”

We all took pause at this in order to think of a name. Nopony seems to be be able to come up with anything, but just as I was about to give up an idea came to me.

“Spring Blossom?” I suggested. “How about Spring Blossom? Like the flowers that bloomed here, however real or fake they may be?”

“I like it!” came the voice.

“Its settled then,” Gale said. “Our new companion will be Spring Blossom. Now, I hate to bring us back to serious-land, but Dove, what time is it? We surely killed a lot of it down here.”

“Oh, right!” I pulled my pipbuck up to my face. “It’s about seven in the morning.”

“Alright, We still have a long day ahead of us, my little ponies. Let’s get upstairs, grab the rest of our stuff, and head out.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Lily and I said in unison.

I had to root around in the grass for a few minutes, pushing green leaves and flower blossoms aside as I searched for my discarded saddlebags. Luckily, I did eventually track them down. Fortunately everything had stayed inside. Throwing them over my back, our little party made its way back up the staircase we had come down during the night.

The floor we emerged onto had also been filled with the same field as the room below. I took in the scene now that we were almost finished with this place. The smell of the artificial meadow was strong and relaxing. I had never smelled anything quite so sweet, not even in our stable’s underground gardens. Gale and Lily both seemed to be equally enthralled by the sights and smells. I imagined for Gale, this was a new experience altogether. It was fantastic, but the plants didn’t make it very easy for us to locate the rest of our equipment. As I helped dig around in the flora, something caught my attention from the corner of my eye.

I turned to see what it was, but it was gone before I could get a good look. From what I did see, though, it looked like a blue stallion peering in through one of the windows. I think I saw a horn on his head, making him a unicorn, but I couldn’t be sure. His manestyle, or what I saw of it, vaguely resembled that of the shadowy stallion from Sunset’s.

“Is he following us?” I whispered to myself.

“What did you say, Dove?” Lily asked.

“Huh? Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself,” I said back. He didn’t look like a raider; I wonder what he wants.

I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and finished preparing to leave.

“Are we ready?” Gale asked when we had finished.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Then let’s head out. We’ll start by seeing what the raider tents have for us before hitting the trail again. We won’t make it all the way to Underdog Town today as we lost a lot of time yesterday during that shoot out. We’ll just have to make camp wherever we’re at when it starts to get dark. Now, let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

We certainly weren't the closest of friends yet, but we had all proven our companionship over the last twenty four hours. We even managed to pick up a new, digital partner. Our spirits were high and I wanted to feel like this forever. Then a thought hit me.

“Wait a second,” I voiced my concern, “won’t Spring Blossom’s files be deleted when we leave the cabin?”

Lily shook her head. “Her files aren’t attached to the maneframe or its systems anymore.”

That lifted my spirits again, and we proceeded toward the main door. Sure enough, it had been unlocked. Slowly, we pushed it open and stepped once again into the dim light of day.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Comprehension - You more easily understand things by reading or having them explained to you.
New Trait: Wild Wasteland - You have a knack for finding yourself in strange situations and places. Wonder what other bizarre things you will encounter on your journey?

Chapter 5 - When the Wastes Swallow

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 5

When the Wastes Swallow

“This day was going to be perfect...”

Night had begun to fall swiftly as we found ourselves on the east side of a large mountain slope. The tracks lay below us in the valley while we made our camp higher up, in the tree line. We set up tents and bedrolls which we had scavenged from the raiders’ settlement outside Filthy Rich’s retreat. They weren’t the cleanest things in the wastes; certainly they were more repulsive than the mattresses we had slept on before. The ones we had grabbed, though, were definitely better than some of the others in the encampment and, our disgust aside, they would serve their purpose. Gale also assured us that once we reached Underdog Town, we wouldn’t need them any longer and were free to sell them or dump them, whatever we saw fit.

The trip had been relatively quiet and uneventful compared to the last couple of days. We had left the cabin and looted the raider camp for anything of use. The tents were the biggest prizes, but we had also been able to find some ammo, and I had also picked up some more healing potions. I thought about using one to heal the wound on my neck, but the cut had already closed itself, so I figured it would be best saved for future use.

From the cabin and its surrounding raider camp we had made our way further along the tracks. We did our best to keep in the shadows of the trees, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves. Luckily, all was peaceful, and we made good progress. We had covered a large amount of ground fairly quickly, making small talk along the way. I had learned little from Gale, however, as it had been time for Lily and me to share our story so far. I did manage to ask Gale about the pony whose face I had seen on the beast from the cabin: the one I didn’t know. She didn’t answer and simply changed the subject so I decided to save the question, like the potion, for a more appropriate time.

After we had set up camp and settled in, I had decided to give Lily some practice with the lever-action rifle. On the edge of our temporary base, a gnarly old trunk from a long-dead tree rose from the ground like some grotesque tumor. That would be our practice target.

“Now, just aim down the sight and pull the trigger,” I instructed her.

She floated the weapon up to eye level, put the stock against her shoulder, and cocked her head to one side. Lining up the sights in front of her right eye and closing her left one, she pointed the rifle’s barrel at the tree stump.

“L-like this?” she asked meekly.

I stepped around her and checked her aim. I didn’t want to stand directly behind her when she was using a loaded gun. I knew the kick that firing it would have, and some ponies – even unicorns – can be sent backward under their force if they aren’t prepared for it. This extra precaution made it difficult for me to see exactly where the gun was pointed, but it seemed to be in the correct direction.

“Yep,” I said. “Now, just pull the trigger, and be ready for th—”

Before I could finish getting the words off my tongue, a loud bang reverberated through the valley, followed by a meager “Eep!” Lily had pulled the trigger as I had instructed, but didn’t let me finish telling her to prepare for the recoil. Like I had expected, she found herself on her back. The rifle had kicked back, but thanks to her magic, it just spun freely in the air, flying off onto the ground behind us. Lily had only been startled by the sound and kickback of the gun, and she fell over in surprise.

A haughty laugh erupted behind us, followed by a more mechanical one from Lily’s pipbuck. I couldn’t help but giggle a little myself. Lily was brilliant and a little mischievous, but she was easily surprised by things she didn’t expect.

“You’ve got a looong way to go, kid,” Gale mocked jokingly as she started preparing a fire in the camp behind us.

“If I may,” Spring Blossom said, “why not use your pipbuck’s S.A.T.S. feature? I’m tied into it now and can almost guarantee a hit with at least 60% accuracy.”

That’s hardly a guarantee, I thought to myself. The Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell – S.A.T.S. for short – was a unique assistance spell of the pipbucks that allows a pony to slow time and select specific targets. It was a goddess-send in combat, but it had its drawbacks, too. Based on the pony, how many shots were fired, and how difficult each shot was, it had a cool-down time that made it impractical for engagements with large groups of enemies. I had yet to use it in combat myself and had hardly used it during my training either. I just didn’t trust it to do what I knew I could do myself.

“No, I want her to be able to shoot it without assistance first,” I said, helping Lily to her hooves. “I don’t want her in a situation where she’s unable to use S.A.T.S. and powerless to defend herself without it.”

“Fair enough,” our digital companion replied. “Please proceed then.”

“Riiight, well then.” I stabilized Lily, and she wrapped the weapon with the glow of her magic again. “As before, just aim down the sight and fire. Be prepared for it this time, and I’m sure you’ll hit your mark.”

“O-okay.” She raised the rifle out of the dirt and back up in front of her. A little cautious of it this time, she took aim down the sights. A deep breath filled her lungs, and she pointed the barrel of the gun at the stump once more.

“Whenever you’re ready. Just be careful,” I warned.

Lily pushed her spectacles up her muzzle with her hoof. This time she steadied herself better, making sure she was ready for the weapon. She had set her mind to it now; she was prepared to get it right this time, and it showed in her body language. Her legs spread out, and her muscles relaxed. Her ears folded back to shield themselves from the explosive sound. The little remaining sunlight shimmered off the frames of her glasses as she lined up her sights. Then, when the final bit of light retreated from the sky, she pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A single projectile slammed hard into the tree stump, dead center in the wood. Lily worked the lever action on the rifle, loading the next round into the chamber.

Bang!

Another shot, this one striking slightly off from the center, but only by an inch or two. She cocked the gun again, this time smoother and faster than the last.

Bang!

The third bullet smacked into the stump with as much accuracy and force as the other two. The wood, however dead and rotted, splintered into hundreds of pieces. Lily and I shielded our eyes from the flying shrapnel with our hooves. When it all settled, my jaw dropped along with my leg. The raiders must have mixed in an explosive round with their ammunition; I can’t imagine they could be picky while scavenging. Dramatic explosions aside, I couldn’t believe the feat of sheer skill I had just witnessed. From the crash of equipment dropping to the ground behind us, I imagined Gale couldn’t either.

“Holy shit, kid...” Gale breathed, the awe evident in her voice. “I haven’t seen precision like that since Dead-Shot.”

“Well done, Lily,” Spring Blossom praised.

“Hold on for a moment,” Gale said once she shook off the astonishment. She disappeared into her tent and reemerged a short while later with the sniper rifle we had looted the day before in her mouth. Held under her good wing were the couple boxes of ammunition we were able to find in the raider camp.

“I think you deserve this more than either of us do.” She set the weapon on the ground at Lily’s feet. “Here are the few bullets we have; they are hard to come by so make your shots count. Unless I specify otherwise, use the lever-action.”

A soft green glow illuminated the trees around us. Lily’s magic wrapped the weapon in its aura, and she floated the gun up to examine it.

“Thanks, Gale. I’ll use it only when we need it.”

I actually liked the idea of Lily being our sniper. It would allow her to help us in certain circumstances and would keep her off the front lines.

On that sentiment, we concluded our practicing for the night, not wanting to attract any attention with gun-fire lighting up the darkness. Instead, we gathered around the fire and simply enjoyed each other’s company. There was a little small talk and the air was filled with song as I tuned into the radio station that my pipbuck had picked up back at Sunset’s. Lily and I went along with the songs, singing those lyrics that we remembered from back in the stable. We also shared stories of back home during the songs we didn’t recognize. Gale didn’t sing except for a few of the songs; she preferred to listen most of the time. A couple of the tunes even seemed to make her a bit downtrodden. A look of intent thought washed over her while they played.

What all has she gone through? I wondered silently. The memories she must have...

I tried to cheer her up by getting her involved in the merriment, but she simply didn’t seem to be able to enjoy herself. That didn’t stop her from trying at least, and I envied her for her resolution. Her endeavors were short-lived each time and every attempt seemed to be briefer than the last. Eventually, though, we all had worn ourselves out from the merriment and were on the verge of collapse. With a contagious yawn, we retired to our slumbers for the night.

The new day came quickly, and I rose with the dim light as it beat on the tent walls. Sitting up, a myriad of cracks and pops resounded from my bones. Even with the bedroll, the ground definitely wasn’t the most comfortable thing I had slept on so far, but rest was rest.

I yawned, stretching the rest of my body as I raised myself off the floor of the tent. The air inside the canvas shelter was quickly warming, and I couldn’t stand the rising heat for much longer. I rounded up my stuff and made my way out of the tent. Emerging through the tent flap, the smell of a campfire and fresh-cooked food greeted me.

“Look who’s finally up,” Gale mocked as she focused on preparing our meal. “Morning, kid.”

“Morning, Dove,” Lilybloom and Spring Blossom said in unison. Lily was sitting on a log near the fire, watching and waiting for whatever it was Gale was cooking.

“Good morning,” I responded in between yawns. “Whatch’ya fixing?”

“Nothing special. Your friend here had some Dandy Colt Apples in her bag, and I thought I’d fix up something a little more healthy while we actually had a quiet morning,” Gale clarified. “Vanhoover is just around the next bend in the tracks, so we can take our time today.”

In my tired state, I stumbled up to the fire and peered into the rusty pan she had resting on a makeshift metal grate that spanned the flames. The apples inside the skillet, seasoned with various spices, sizzled and simmered. It looked like they had come fresh out of the woods in which we had made our camp. Though, they didn’t make the old apples look any more appetizing. Regardless, the aroma that rose from the pan made my mouth water and my stomach growl. I was excited to try this new wasteland cuisine, and perhaps I’d even ask Gale for the recipe to use later if it tasted as good as it appeared.

When our pegasus friend declared our breakfast ready, we all dug in. I wasn’t disappointed by the tastes that touched my tongue.

“Celestia still my beating heart,”I praised aloud, “this is good!”

My pipbuck may have still clicked from the radiation, but I ignored it for the savoury deliciousness; it was worth it. Surprisingly, the apples were even more delectable than before. The natural seasonings were a perfect blend and the fruits themselves were just the right texture and flavor.

“How did you learn to cook things like this, Gale?” Lily asked.

“One needs to learn these things when you’re on your own, you know?” She looked proud of herself for a moment, but her smile quickly faded away as the weight of her own words seemed to fall upon her. I put my hoof on her back and grinned.

“You aren’t alone, Gale. We may have just met you, but we’re still here with you,” I said. Those few words alone were enough to get the mare to lighten up and smile again. “Come on, let’s finish eating and get going.”

After we filled our stomachs and packed up our tents and equipment, we set off for Underdog Town again. Fortunately, the trek today would be much shorter. I could feel my hooves aching from all the walking we had done the past couple days. I could handle making my daily rounds as a security mare in the stable, but if felt as if we had already walked more than I normally would have in a couple of weeks.

As we rounded the bend in the tracks, they swept around the outside of a rocky outcropping. There, the mountainous terrain came to an abrupt end. The steep, boulder strewn slopes and sheer cliffs were replaced by much gentler rolling foothills. It was very similar to the Crossroads Junction side of the range, except for one thing: it was green.

Grass had surprisingly taken root here better than anywhere else; it nearly reached my chest. Trees dotted the hillsides and upon their branches leaves fluttered in the breeze that softly blew across the landscape. This must have been what this world was like before the balefire set it ablaze, and it left me without speech or breath in my awe. It was so overpowering that I didn’t even notice what lay beyond.

“Welcome to the far side of the mountains, you two.” Gale had climbed part way up the nearest knoll and was now staring out over the horizon.

Over and above the crests of the hills rose a series of tall structures that glistened in the soft daylight. From here, they looked magnificent and regal towering over everything. I followed Gale up the hill and looked where her gaze landed. I quickly realized that what I had seen before was just a bright reflection of the distant past, darkened by the shadow of equinity sprawled out across the landscape below. On the far side of the hills, the towers stood tall above a scorched and ruined expanse of buildings that sprawled out as far as I could see.

“What happened to this place?” I couldn’t comprehend the destruction that filled my vision.

Gale stepped closer to me. “The war happened. According to the stories I’ve been told, Vanhoover was a major flashpoint between the Zebras and the ponies of Equestria. A final bloody battle was fought here, tearing this once-great metropolis to smithereens. In the end, the ponies lost, leaving their enemy to occupy the area. But it didn’t stop there. When the megaspells were dropped one of the bombs fell here, in the Northwest side of the city, taking the zebras – and any ponies held captive or stuck behind enemy lines – with it.”

“The hearts of ponykind are curious things.” From behind us, Spring Blossom’s voice echoed out from Lily’s pipbuck, a monotonous tone of disbelief present in her speech. “You would drag each other to the grave just to say you’re better than one another, yet you are still able to love and tolerate. Some, like those raiders that lived outside my facility, exist only to watch others suffer. And then there are some, like you, who seem to see the good in everything no matter the circumstances.”

“That is a surprisingly accurate conclusion,” Gale sighed, a bit of distaste on her tongue, “but the world isn’t quite so black and white either. There are many walks of life that we ponies take, from the wholesome to the unsavoury and everything inbetween. The only constant left in this chaotic world, and what links us all together, is that we do what we can to survive.”

For a while, we all stood silently on that hillside gazing out over the landscape. The only movement was from the breeze that swept onward caring not for the affairs of ponies as it caused our manes and tails to drift gently with it. The mood had become very somber, and I felt a tear or two roll down my cheek as my eyes scanned the desolation.

Eventually, they settled on a series of towers that stood apart from the rest. Against the sky I could make out silhouettes of what appeared to be bridges spanning between the buildings.

“What’s that over there?” I asked, raising a hoof toward the structures.

“That,” Gale answered, “is where we’re headed. That is Underdog Town, home of the Scrappers.”

“Scrappers?” Lily questioned.

“They’re a group of salvagers that live in the top floors of the skyscrapers. They aren’t just your standard dumpster divers, though; they’re much more than that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’ll see when we get there. C’mon, let’s go.” Gale stepped over the crest of the hill and began to descend the slope on the other side.

Lily stepped up beside me, and she looked out over the scenery with me for a moment before speaking the words that had been on both of our minds. “It seems we still have a lot to learn about this world, Dove.”

“So it seems, Lily. I honestly don’t think I want to learn more about it, but I think it’s going to teach us regardless.”

“You gals coming?” Gale shouted back up to us.

Lily nodded and proceeded down toward our companion. I looked out one last time at the dreary scene of destruction. The thick cloud layer that was ever present, even here, seemed to have grown even darker and heavier than usual.

“Dove, let’s go!” Gale yelled back again. “There’s a storm brewing, and we’ll want to be to the city before it hits.”

“Coming!” I called back as I galloped after my friends.

As I caught up to them, I slowed to a steady trot. Our progress had been much faster than when we were crossing through the mountain range, but it was definitely still slow going. The terrain was not as gentle as it had initially appeared, but we made do. Eventually, we did reach the edge of the city, and my slow pace was brought to a halt as I took in the sight from up close.

The grass that grew outside the town became sparser until it reached an illusory border. It was here that the blackened earth beneath revealed itself and ultimately replaced the green carpet. Trees were practically non-existent here, and any that did rise up were twisted and dead. The pony made structures barely stood upon their broken infrastructure. As my stupor lifted, I realized Lily had stopped as well. We looked at each other, and when our eyes met I saw in them that she had been struck by the same feeling as I had.

We began to walk forward, and I looked over the ruins as they passed. Some had been blasted open, likely by shells or spells. Others were falling victim to weathering decay. It was a huge contrast to anything I had seen yet. This place made Crossroads Junction look like a Stable-Tec infirmary.

After two-hundred years, I would have expected nature to have reclaimed more of this place. It’s almost like it doesn’t want to take it back.

At the end of the street we were on, I felt a hoof on my chest signalling for me to stop. Gale had put her leg in front of me, and her ears were searching the airwaves for something.

“What’s wrong Ga—”

“Shh!” She remained silent for a while longer.

While I waited for her to speak again, I studied the rubble. The atmosphere was devoid of sound but what I saw amongst those ruins spoke volumes of the tales surrounding them.

Through the holes that had been blasted in the walls of the buildings I could see shop displays, living quarters, and offices. All of them had been relatively untouched by the years, yet at the same time their marred appearance could not belie their true age. Store shelves had been looted clean save for a few bent cans and empty bottles. Furniture was rotted and metal rusted through, but most things still stood presumably where they had two-hundred years ago. I could also make out the skeletons of long-dead ponies whose bodies had gone just as undisturbed over the centuries. I couldn’t tell how exactly they had died, but the entire scene was like a ghostly veil of order masking the chaos and despair, heavily overlooked by the ponies of the wastes.

While I had admittedly begun to grow accustomed to these depressing sights, I could not tear my eyes away by my own will. The emotional influence it held over me was too strong. This was once a living, breathing community filled with ponies of every race, age, and gender. Now it lay lifeless and buried in the tomb it had built for itself.

It was Gale’s words that finally brought me back from my thoughts. “I thought I felt the ground tremble,” she professed.

“Felt the ground tremble?” I echoed. As I spoke, I noticed something worse than the centuries-old skeletons. In the top-floor window of one of the buildings, a pony’s body dangled over the decaying rim by his stomach. His body wasn’t the only thing draped there though. A mess of entrails hung down and swayed gently as a breeze drifted through the streets of the city. The blood from a vast gash in his abdomen ran down the side of the structure and dripped onto the debris strewn beneath. It was still a fairly bright shade of red. The corpse was still fresh; the flesh had not yet began to bloat. Something then drew my attention away from the remains and I thought for sure that I saw a shadow move in the darkness.

I recalled something Gale had said which set my mind alive with questions. “Wait a minute. You said the Scrappers lived in the towers, right?”

“Right. At the very top” she affirmed.

“Could I ask why that is?”

“I hope you don’t have to find out, kid.”

“Why? What’s out here?” Lilybloom asked.

“You really don’t want to know.”

“Gale, we’re here as your guards,” I said. “It would be nice to understand exactly what threats we’re protecting you from.” The pegasus mare seemed to contemplate an argument, but ultimately put on a serious expression and spoke but one word. I didn’t know what they were, but it sounded bad.

“Hellhounds.”

We trudged through the ruins of the city being cautious of where our hooves tread. Gale had told us everything she knew about the Hellhounds, which wasn’t much. She had heard horror stories and rumors from all across the wastes, but she had never encountered one in the flesh. While it was common knowledge among wastelanders that the beasts dwelled below the surface of the town, Gale always flew in from high in the sky and never set hoof on the ground. This time was a different story, however. With her wing out of action she was a perfect target for any hunting packs.

“There are other vile things that crawl among the ruins too,” Gale told us as we walked. “On the south side of the city, two big groups of raiders hold control. They don’t usually come close enough to Underdog town to be a huge threat, however. More often than not, they’re too busy fighting each other to give a damn about anypony else.”

“Raiders again?” Lily asked. “I don’t think I want to see any more of them. Not after seeing their camp outside of the cabin.”

“Don’t worry about them too much,” Gale reassured her. “Even they aren’t stupid enough to come into Hellhound territory. Not without good reason at least.”

“Then tell me: why are we in such a place?” I inquired.

“Because we have to be.”

We all fell back into silence as we continued through the burnt out city. I was constantly watching the rubble for any signs of threats. On occasion, the shadows seemed to shift, and the wind would blow and rustle loose paper and food wrappers, but nothing with harmful intentions made itself known. My E.F.S. showed no indicators besides the two friendly bars. We appeared to be completely alone among the wreckage. The calm was only broken when the dead pony slipped from the window and fell. The body plummeted to the ground in a disgustingly inelegant descent that ended with a sickening thud.

What was strange was that even small wildlife appeared to be absent from the urban landscape. I knew the pipbuck’s detection magic could pick up a multitude of things, even through walls and over good distances, but either this place was an anomaly, or there really was nothing else among the destroyed buildings.

My thoughts were interrupted when the sound of a crumbling building abruptly filled the streets. The structure that the corpse had formerly clung to completely collapsed under its own weight. The concrete and steel walls fell inward, and the glass in the windows shattered. An enormous dust cloud rose up and surrounded us. I shielded my muzzle with my hoof, but it was of little use. The dust forced its way into my lungs regardless and I started coughing violently; Lily and Gale also began hacking.

When the haze finally cleared, the building was completely gone. In its place was now a gigantic crater. It was as if the terrain had simply fallen out from beneath the architecture. I peered down into the depths from as close as I dared get, but I still couldn’t see the bottom through the gloom.

While the ground beneath me felt solid, I slowly became aware of the cracks that were creeping steadily toward me from the edge of the crater. I began to back up one hoof at a time. The fractures looked as if they were converging on me, and as I reversed they steadily closed the distance. I eventually turned tail and ran back to my companions. As soon as I bolted away however, the cracks ceased their advance.

“That was... strange,” Spring Blossom commented. “It was almost as if the breaks in the asphalt were purposefully trying to catch you.”

“Hold on, what was that?” prompted Gale.

“It’s like they were actually tracking Dove. As if they were driven by some sort of intelligent force fr—”

“From beneath the ground,” Gale finished the sentence, as if she knew what our digital companion was thinking. An increasing deathly expression grew on her face as she put two and two and two together. When she finally realized what was happening, she took to a gallop and uttered only a single word. “Run.”

“What do you mean? Why?”

“Don’t ask, just run!”

I didn’t have time for further questions. As soon as the words left her tongue, the ground began to tremble beneath our hooves. Gale turned and ran. Lily and I wasted no time in following her, though we still had no idea what we were running from. I figured it was perhaps the crater beneath the building opening further.

Galloping through the debris wasn’t terribly hard, at least not until a great vibration made its way through the earth. Everything around us shook violently, and the ground itself began to convulse more and more with each step. Gale’s steps were in time with the vibration as she pressed onward, but Lily and I struggled to fight the quaking ground. I found it incredibly hard to keep my legs steady while standing still, and running wasn’t any easier.

I glanced over my shoulder only to wish I hadn’t. Behind us, a great fracture was tearing apart the earth; chasing us through the streets of the ruined city as it closed the gap between us at an alarming rate. However, just as it was breaking at my hooves, it stopped. The tremors halted at that moment as well. Gale instructed us to keep running, but I was nearly out of breath already.

There really wasn’t a lot of room for exercise when you’re confined within a stable’s walls, and that meant I wasn’t as fit as I wished I was. The run had used up the adrenaline that propelled me this far, and I was beginning to feel the toll it was taking on my ill-prepared body. I gasped for air as I tried to keep pace with Gale, but it proved to be too much. My vision swam and eventually everything went black. I felt my legs slip out from beneath me. My body tucked into itself, falling forward under its own momentum, and I got a faceful of asphalt before passing out.

When I regained consciousness, I had no sense of how long I had been out or even what was happening as I began to open my eyes. My ears were ringing but I could hear a faint call through the noise: somepony was calling my name.

“Dovetail! Dove, wake up!”

A shadow fell across my prone form, and I slowly became aware that it was Gale who was standing over me. She continued to prod my side in her attempts to bring me back to reality.

“Dovetail, are you alright?” she asked. I only nodded in return, still trying to regain my bearings. “Good. Get back on your hooves, we don’t have much time.”

I forced myself off the ground, finding my legs a bit wobbly at first, but I was able to steady them after a few moments. I looked around me, searching for Lily. When my eyes finally found her, she was still laying unconscious a little further up the street. It seemed she had made it only a little further than I had before the long dash overwhelmed her as well.

“Lily!” I yelled, dashing over to her. I put my hoof on her side and rocked her gently back and forth, attempting to wake her. “Come on, Lily. Come back to us.”

“Huh?” she grumbled, gradually opening her eyes. “What happened?”

“You pushed yourself too hard and passed out,” Spring Blossom answered her.

I helped her back on her hooves, and we took a moment to catch our second wind as Gale came trotting over to us. I looked the pegasus in the eyes, putting on the most serious look I could.

“Gale, tell me. What in Luna’s name was that?”

“I’ll explain when we make it out of here alive. Until then, just know that we’re being hunted, and you don’t want to be the one caught in the trap. Now, I suggest we get moving again, and quickly.”

I still wasn’t satisfied with her answer, but I knew that what she said was right; this was not the time for words. The earth began to split behind me, once again proving Gale’s intuition to be damnably accurate. I felt the ground quiver ever so slightly under my hooves, and I turned to see small fractures closing in on us from the rear. I turned to my companions and gave them each a forceful shove.

“Go, now!”

We all took to full gallop once more. Our unseen pursuers were steadily closing in on us from behind. We fled down the main street as fast as we could. I did my best to pace myself, breathing in and out steadily and methodically just like my security training dictated. I wasn’t about to let whatever this was catch me simply because of my body failing to keep up with the demand I was putting on it.

One hoof after another hit the ground in a panicked rhythm, and we pressed onward up the street, dodging rubble and debris as we went. We passed over the bodies of the dead and the destruction of the city without even a thought. There was only one instinct driving us: fear. This was unlike any other nightmare I had ever experienced. We were being played with by something we couldn’t even see. Our weapons were useless without a visible target to even shoot at and instead they served only to weigh us down. There was no way for us to halt the oncoming fractures. Like the experience we had in Filthy Rich’s cabin, this was a living nightmare; only this one was even worse.

Up ahead, a wall of ruined buildings rose up. They marked the end of the street we were currently on. Another, smaller road crossed ours parallel to the structures. At the intersection, we rounded to the right, only to be confronted with another fissure approaching from our front. Gale then broke left into an alleyway and Lily and I followed suit.

There’s no way these cracks are anything natural, I thought to myself. There’s definitely something intelligent directing their movement.

The fractures that were chasing us had now merged into one and made their way into the alley as well. Every few seconds I looked over my shoulder to see them getting ever closer to us. They were fast, but every time they got near enough to overtake us they backed off. It was as if they were driving us somewhere like the ponies before the war would drive cattle.

Ahead, I could see the end of the alley. Dim light shone through between the buildings, guiding our way. It was a glimmer of hope that was quickly shot down. As scared as I was already, I felt my heart nearly stop when a great flash filled my vision for a brief moment. At first I thought it to be my life passing by, but at that point it would have been a blessing.

Craaaaash!

A sound so loud and booming reached my ears, and I faltered in my stride. What the hell was that?

I looked up through the gap in the buildings. Above me, great streaks of light shot between clouds, followed by the same deafening noise. Gale must have seen the curious confusion on my face, and offered an unsettling explanation.

“Lighting,” she said, “and thunder. The storm’s nearly on us. This is going to shit faster than I expected.”

Thanks, Gale, for having such high expectations for us. I looked to the sky and cursed to the goddesses for everything that they were putting us through.

We shot out of the alley and into the open again. I thought we would be free when we made it this far, but instead things only got worse. Sliding to a halt, we looked around us. The open area had proven to be nothing more than a courtyard, surrounded on all sides by more buildings. We were, by all means, trapped.

As if to add salt to the wound, a drop of water fell upon my muzzle. I shook it off only to have another land atop my head. The cold liquid worked its way into my mane and I shivered. Then another drop hit me. And another. The skies above opened up and let forth a torrent of rain that quickly drenched us and our equipment.

“Well, this is just great,” muttered Gale.

I turned to Lily, who was shaking from the cold downpour. Her breaths were heavy as her lungs sought to replenish the lost energy from our latest attempt to outrun the breaking ground. The fear was evident in her eyes. We had never experienced rain before, though I had been caught in the stable’s orchard when the sprinklers turned on. Lily, however, had not, and between the storm and our current peril I imagined the sort of thoughts going through her head. The loud crash of thunder would probably have been enough to send her running again if there was someplace to run to.

It was then that I realized my own fear. The scared emotions had been drowned out by the adrenaline, but now they came flooding back in like the rain that had began to drench our manes. My chest rose and fell laboriously, and my mind raced as it tried to think clearly in a fog of confusion.

Something was hunting us, and they had led us into a trap. Whatever this was it knew what it was doing, and we had fallen for its ruse. The only way back out of the courtyard was now ruptured, torn, and almost untraversable. Even if we tried to scramble over the broken earth, we would likely be dragged into the ground before we made it very far.

I shivered as the damp chill reached my core. So, is this how it ends then? Is this how I’m going to die?

We all gathered close together in an attempt to keep warm. I looked at my pipbuck’s E.F.S. and was surprised to see that there were no signs of life anywhere within its detection range. Even the markers for Lily and Gale had faded away. It was as if something here was jamming the device’s magical scanners.

Raspberries, I swore internally, why couldn’t this just be a simple stroll through town? My mind then drifted back to the tears in the ground. Why aren’t they coming for us anymore? If they wanted us, would they not have just taken us already?

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind before I got a prompt answer. The entire perimeter of the courtyard began to break. The dirt and cobblestone fell away, widening the drop around us as it closed in from all sides. The remnants of long-dead plants, rusty benches, and broken tables plummeted into the dusty abyss. Gale, Lily and I were all huddled as tightly as we could get. The ground slipped away and bit at our hooves mercilessly. It was as if the earth was angry, hungry even, like the wasteland itself was opening its maw in order to swallow us whole.

Gale tried to stretch her wing to fly, but she cringed the second she moved it. It was no use; we were going down here. The three of us, along with our digital friend, stood atop an ever shrinking pillar of earth until the last of it finally gave way. I had resigned myself to our fate, and I merely closed my eyes and waited for the end as we tumbled away into the depths of the pit.

As I opened my eyes, I half expected to be greeted by the sights and sounds of the Everafter. What instead met my senses was far worse. The ruined buildings and cloudy sky had been replaced by dirt and rock walls, much like those outside the Stable entrance. The smell of dust and debris mixed with the dank air of the underground. The taste of dirt and soil molested my taste buds. I could hear clanging in the distance, as if somepony was repeatedly striking metal and stone together. Each strike made my already throbbing head pound harder. Surprisingly, I seemed to be alive, and the more confined space put me strangely at ease.

Looking up, I could see the massive opening that was once the courtyard far above us. The cloudy sky soaked everything it could touch with its tears as they fell in through that gap. My mane and coat were still dripping wet, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

I worked to get myself back on my hooves but it felt like every muscle in my body was fighting against me. All over, my nerves were screaming bloody murder sending jolts of pain to my brain. I was sore beyond any and all belief, and though I miraculously appeared to be badly bruised at worst, I still found myself doubling back over. A searing pain shot through my ribs and hip. It seemed I had broken a few bones in the fall. With much difficulty, I surveyed the rubble around me as I looked for my companions.

I first spotted Gale, laying unconscious in the broken branches of a dead tree. Her chest was moving steadily, so at least she was still alive. When my sights fell upon Lily I wanted to call out to her. Instead, I held my tongue, not wanting to further alert whatever caused the collapse.

Lily was knocked out, yet still breathing, like Gale. My best friends’ predicament was made worse, however, as her rear quarters were stuck underneath the rubble. It didn’t appear to be crushing her, but it was enough to pin her down.

I ignored the pain and scrambled over to where Lily was. Using what strength I could muster, I began clearing the debris off. When I finally cleared away all the little stuff only a big boulder remained. It was pressing down on her leg, though fortunately, some smaller debris kept it from completely crushing her. I tried to move it, but the rock remained where it was. Though, there was no way I was about to give up and leave my friend there. I fought against the boulder for as long as I could. My body was nearly done when the boulder suddenly began to feel lighter. I turned to see Gale standing next to me helping to lift the giant rock off of Lily.

A soft groan came from the mint green unicorn as she stirred. “W-what happened?”

“Lily,” I said. “Thank goodness you’re awake. We fell into the pit, and you’re pinned by this rock. We can’t hold it much longer though. Any chance you can assist us?”

“I-I’ll try.” Her horn began to glow green, and a steel beam nearby became enveloped in the same colorful glow. She floated it over to us, rested it upon a smaller piece of rubble, and wedged one end of the beam under the rock in order to use the leverage to her advantage.

Between Gale and I trying to lift with our hooves and Lily’s telekinetic help, we were able to raise the boulder just high enough for her to slip her leg out from underneath it. She crawled far enough away to remove herself before our strength finally gave in and the rock crashed back into the earth, embedding itself there.

“Thanks, both of you. I think that the rubble broke my leg during the fall, though.” She let out a sigh, as if she was going to have to stay here.

Fortunately, I knew we still had a healing potion in my bag, and there was plenty of debris strewn about with which we could use to make a temporary splint. I stumbled over to my saddlebags and poked my head inside, searching for the potion using the sorting function of the pipbuck. When I finally found the vial and had taken it out, I felt a strange urge to drink it myself. Though I knew my wounds weren’t preventing me from moving despite how painful they were, and Lily’s needed to be remedied or she wouldn’t be going anywhere. They were the more important injuries for sure, so I kept the potion closed and went back to her side.

“Here, Lily, drink this,” I prodded, setting the vial beside her and opening it up. By the time I had returned, Gale had already strapped the unicorn’s leg into a makeshift splint made of wooden planks and some strips of cloth she had torn from her garbs.

“Thanks, Dove.” She took the flask in her mouth and downed the liquid inside.

Healing flesh wounds was a trivial matter for the tried and true magical means, but broken bones were a completely different story. As soon as the potion took effect, Lily let out a scream that echoed through the depths of the tunnels. Gale was extra quick to put a hoof over Lily’s muzzle in an attempt to silence her; the last thing we needed was to make whatever pulled us down here think that we were still alive.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen hide nor hair of whatever did this. A thought crossed my mind which was almost scarier than being swallowed by the earth. What if these things are invisible? Magic and technology could very well be capable of such things...

Thwack!

I snapped back to reality in time to see Gale hit the ground as well as a thin wooden beam being held in the air behind her, which was broken from the assault. My brain took way too long to process what had happened as I stared at the intimidating creature holding the plank behind her.

The beast was nearly three times our size and had a husky, wide wall of a posture. Its face resembled that of the dogs we had learned about in the stable, but much more gruff with a shorter snout. The teeth that it had bared were sharp and ferocious looking, but what intimated me more were the immense claws that sprung from the end of its long arms. They looked like they would tear through solid metal and, apparently, rock and soil with ease. I didn’t want to find out what they would do to mere flesh and bone.

“Hello there, pretty pony.” It’s voice was abrasive to the ears, almost like the sides of my head were being dragged along a stretch of gravel. “Be good, pony, or I punish with stick like I did winged pony.”

“Were you the one who took the ground out from beneath us?” I asked as I noticed that Lily appeared to be unconscious, at least until she opened an eye ever so slightly and winked at me.

She wants me to cause a distraction now‽ I sighed, but then I could see what she was planning. Alright, we’ll do it your way, Lily.

During our youth in the stable we would use this same sort of of ruse – often against my better judgement – in order to distract the guards so she could sneak unnoticed into the restricted areas. The stories she returned with were always more exciting than the day to day life I had to live, so I didn’t really mind.

“Yes, yes. We dug tunnels. Dug to pull little ponies down.”

As the creature spoke, I had begun to slowly creep around Lily’s still body, away from where our guns and supplies had landed.

“Now, why would you do that? What could you ever want with ponies like us?”

“Pony’s computer!”

“My computer?” I questioned. “I don’t have any computer with me.”

“Lies! Pony has pipbuck. And pipbuck will help us. Help us avoid Scrappers!”

“My pipbuck? Scrappers? Is that what this is about?” I questioned. “Creatures as big and powerful as you afraid of a few salvagers? Why have you not just left?”

While I didn’t know how long the hellhounds had actually taken up residency under the city, I presumed it had been a long time. I was actually surprised they hadn’t moved on, or on a grimmer note, completely decimated the ponies above them.

“We tried. Trapped for too long. Trapped because of sonic emitters. We want out!”

This whole time I had been tracking in an arc, and the creature had followed me during our conversation, turning in place. The beast did not really seem to be the brightest light in the cavern, which was saying a lot and was very fortunate for us. His back was now turned to Lily, who had shed the now unnecessary splint, and I gave a flick of my tail that had been our long standing sign signal for her to make her move.

“Oh, so you want me to be the one who lets the dog out. Where do you think you’ll go? And why do you thi— wait, why do you keep saying ‘we?’”

“Because we are many. Driven from our homes, we seek to build new life. New tunnels. Hunt new prey.”

Bang!

A bullet from the lever-action rifle whirred past the beast’s head before finding itself embedded in the soil of the far tunnel wall. The silence that followed was eerily prolonged and was broken only when the creature spun around in rage like none I had ever seen. He bellowed a fearsome howl, and his claws flayed out, ready to strike. He began moving on Lily when she fired another shot, again missing on purpose. He stopped in his tracks long enough for her to give a cocky ultimatum while working the action on the gun and pushing her glasses back into place with her hoof.

“Take one step closer, and I will put a bullet between your eyes.” I wasn’t sure if she was really willing to take another life or if it was just a bluff. I almost questioned whether those shots were really just warnings.

The creature continued to hesitate if only out of shock that his prey would talk back to him. After he shook it off, he resumed his charge. Lily held up her side and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The round was dead on target except it didn’t hit. The creature had raised its claws to cover its face and the shot was simply deflected, taking an altered course into the ground. I started to run in an attempt to catch up with the rampaging behemoth.

Ka-blam!

The shots forced me to brake and drop behind cover. Blood splattered the rubble in front of me, staining its weathered grey surface a bright crimson. A loud thud beyond told me that it was safe to come out again. When I did though, I wasn’t sure how to feel about what I saw.

Gale had come to and was standing to the side breathing heavily. The barrels of her battle saddle were smoking and the body of the strange creature lay on the ground. I cringed a little when I saw that its head was no longer in one piece. The entire side facing the pegasus was unrecognizable.

“Well now,” Gale chuckled, “that’s no way to get a-head in life.”

I shot her a scornful look, finding it a completely inappropriate time for making jokes – especially puns as bad as that one.

It wasn’t a pretty sight by any means, but we weren’t allowed to dwell on it at all. The rustling sounds of movement sprang from every direction. Among the shadows of the tunnels, many eyes appeared which glowed dimly from the light coming in through the opening above us. Muffled growls echoed throughout the earthen caverns. We were surrounded, and these things were not happy. We quickly gathered up our equipment and turned our attention to this new threat.

My companions and I backed into a circle again, facing outward to watch as more of the creatures emerged from the depths. Each of them was unique, but they all shared the same deadly features. All of them had the same canid appearance, the same fearsome teeth, and the same razor sharp claws.

“Shit,” Gale muttered under her breath. Lily simply was pale and shaking, but she still had a determined look on her face as her magic pointed the rifle out toward the encroaching threats.

I looked to the side of the tunnel. The pile of debris rose back up along the wall just shy of the surface. It would be a tough climb and a large jump back to safety, but it might just work. Before I could voice the idea though, Gale stepped out of our defensive circle.

“Get behind me, both of you,” she commanded.

We didn’t hesitate to follow the order and slipped into formation between her and the rubble.

“What are you gonna do?” Lilly asked.

“Give them a present,” Gale responded. Her head ducked into her saddle bags and took out the package she had shown us back in Crossroads Junction.

“I thought the whole point of this mission was to deliver that to the Scrappers,” I reminded her. “What in the name of Luna are you gonna do with it?”

Setting the parcel on the ground, she smiled to me. “You don’t know what this is, do you?”

“Well, no, you never told us.”

“I’m reading increasing numbers of hostiles approaching fast.” Spring Blossom had remained oddly quiet this entire time, but brought our attention back to the matter at hoof; it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, though.

Gale unwrapped the package, and opened the box. Inside was a device that she expanded and placed in front of her. It appeared to be a small metal tower adorned with a speaker on top. At the end of a long cable which ran down to the base of the structure was a small control box.The creatures were beginning to charge at us now, and would be on us in a matter of seconds.

“This was intended to protect the Scrappers from these hellhounds,” the pegasus informed us. “But now it’s our only way to get out of this mess alive. I’ll take the flak for its loss.”

“You still haven’t told us what it is yet,” I protested.

“It doesn’t matter. Just run on my mark. Make for the ridge above.”

I nodded to her. She began counting down.

“Three.”

I readied myself to break for the rubble. Lily mirrored my stance beside me.

“Two.”

Clearing my mind, I scanned the debris for the clearest path to the top.

“One.”

With my route chosen, I braced myself. The hellhounds were right on us now, leaping at us as soon as they got close.

“Mark.”

Gale flipped a switch on the control box and spun around as one of the beasts landed at her hooves, missing her by a fraction of an inch. His claws grazed the hairs off her hind legs, but that was all. I burst forth with all the strength I could put into the initial kick, launching myself onto the rubble. Lily did the same, landing next to me. We both began to scramble up the mass of destruction, Gale on our tails.

A near simultaneous whine of pain issued from the amassment of beasts below us. I wasn’t sure what the device Gale had used was, but it seemed to be affecting all of the hellhounds at the same time.

The rubble was slippery from the rain that had been pouring onto it from above, making it extremely difficult to navigate. My hooves lost their traction and went out from under me repeatedly, but I pressed onward – slowly. All of us were braving the same challenge, and with our lives on the line, we weren’t about to slow down or give up because of a little water.

Eventually, after what felt like a fight against Discord himself, we reached the top of the heap. I could see we weren’t quite at the same level as the ground above. The ledge hanging over us was muddy and rain soaked and would make this even harder than I had originally anticipated.

I swallowed my fear and took the initiative. Instead of jumping, however, I turned to Lily.

“Lily, are you able to use your magic?”

“I should be able to,” she responded. “It’s not like I lost my horn. Why?”

“Do you think you can wrap us in your magic when we jump and help float us up and over the ledge?”

“I-I suppose so. It’s worth a shot, at least.”

I put a hoof on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “That was a rhetorical question. I know you can do this, Lily.”

She nodded back to me. A look of renewed determination – the same look that she had the night before when firing the rifle – replaced her worried expression.

This had better work, or we’re all dead, I thought before correcting myself. No, this will work. It has to.

I believed in my friend, and I wasn’t going to start doubting her now. We had already proven ourselves more capable than I would have thought in situations that were well beyond what we had even dreamt of back in the stable. I let that thought fill me with the courage I needed to make the jump.

“Ready whenever you are, Dove.”

I took a ready stance and steadied myself as I chose my potential landing zone. Before I made my move, I peered back down the rough slope to see the creatures howling in pain from the device. Their claws covered their ears, and they were scrambling to turn the contraption off. I knew that we still had time, but as soon as they managed to hit the switch, that time would be gone.

I returned my attention to the ledge above and steeled myself for whatever fate had in store.

“I’m ready, Lily.”

My hooves kicked off of the rubble, and I found myself being engulfed in a soft green glow. For a while I drifted through the air under my own inertia, but I could tell that wasn’t going to be enough and I began to fall below the ledge. I started to worry, but then I felt my weight lift and I began to fly upwards. I looked back to see Lily’s horn sparking with power as she focused her magic on the feat.

Finally, I could see the surface above and the torn city again. I never thought I’d be so happy to see such destruction. Gently, my hooves touched down on the ground again and the glow faded from me. I immediately spun round and trotted up to the edge. Gale was preparing to spring, following my same path through the air.

I watched as she leapt, becoming surrounded by the green light of the unicorn’s aura. Luckily, Gale still had one good wing, so Lilly didn’t have to strain herself as much. Soon enough, she landed safely next to me. It was a fantastic site to behold. We were working as a perfect team to escape a dire situation, and I couldn’t have been prouder of Lily. This wasn’t the time for heartfelt sentiments though; we still had to get her out of that hole in the ground. There was an increasingly mounting issue, though.

The hellhounds had managed to turn off the device Gale had used to delay them, and they were climbing up the heap with impeccable speed.Their claws were extremely useful for latching into slippery surfaces, allowing them to perform the perilous ascent without giving a single buck.

Lily took her leap of faith at the same time as she wrapped herself in her own magic. She retraced the same aerial trail as Gale and me, but when her front hooves found themselves above the ledge the rest of her went the other way. The glow of green light faded from around her, dissipating when the sudden force dragging her down broke her concentration. She was clambering to get a grip on something as she slid back into the pit. Unfortunately, flat hooves weren’t suited for grabbing wet ground.

I rushed forward and hooked my fetlock around one of her’s while Gale grabbed the other. We both dug into the mud with our rear hooves. It was enough to keep Lily from falling, but even between the two of us, we were unable to pull her back up. There was something else weighing her down.

I peered passed her, and dangling from her rear end was a hellhound. One of his claws was wrapped around her tail, but it wasn’t affording the grip needed to hang there for long. He was slowly dropping, lubricated by Lily’s water-logged fur. A few more seconds and he would have fallen all the way off, letting us to haul the unicorn back to our level, but apparently nothing in the wastes was that easy.

Before he slipped off, though, one of his claws proved too sharp and cut through her tail completely. Even so, he made sure he wasn’t going down without a fight. The other claw he had left free swung inward and upward, piercing right into the side of Lily’s flank. She let out a scream right next to my ears that made my blood curdle. I felt a rush of intensely burning anger surge through me. At that moment I wanted so bad to be able to blast the beast to bits.

More of the beasts jumped from the pile of debris, each attempting to grab on to the last. Every one of them then slid back off as the rain soaked their fur. The constant jerking pulled the first further downward. Each tug caused his claws to rend Lily’s haunches open further, forcing more and more screams of pain through her throat. I could see my friend crying from the torture she was having to endure, and I felt powerless to help her as I held onto her as tightly as I could.

That’s when I noticed her horn glowing and a green blur zip past my head.

Blam! Schik-schik. Blam!

The cloud of magic that had shot by me enveloped Demonslayer in its aura. The pump-action shotgun was more than happy to unleash its payload into the hellhound below. The first shot landed into the beast’s shoulder, mutilating its flesh and, through the magic of the gun, lighting his wounds ablaze. The creature’s excruciating agony was mirrored in its pained howl. The second shell’s spread hit directly in the same spot, tearing apart what was left of the meat and the hellhound’s arm separated from it’s body, which was left to fall back into the darkness.

With the weight released from her, Gale and I were finally able to drag Lily back to the surface. Her magic died as the shotgun clattered to the ground and she passed out. The lacerations on her flank were bleeding profusely and they showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. I ransacked my packs until I located a roll of gauze.

Splashing the bloody openings with water from my canteen, I quickly bound the wounds as tight as I could. I was no doctor, but I knew that we needed to stop the bleeding as soon as possible and get Lily to someplace with better medical equipment, or at least another healing potion.

“Come on, kid. We gotta go.” Gale, being the strongest of us, carefully lifted the mint green unicorn onto her back. “We need to get her to the Scrappers. They’re the only ones who can help now.”

The pegasus retrieved a grenade out of her bag, pulled the pin with her mouth and tossed it down the large opening we had returned from. We could hear a loud bang and muted cries of pain behind us as we began to flee down the alley that initially led us into this trap. The torn up ground made it difficult going, but at least we weren’t being pursued.

Damn it, I spoke too soon.

Following in our wake, the ruptured earth began to collapse inward. Gale struggled to carry the still-unconscious Lily over the wayward ground, and I did what I could to help keep her steady. As soon as we reached the street, we turned and booked it away from there toward the Scrapper’s towers. I didn’t know the way so I let Gale take the lead.

The rest of the alley crumbled away as we galloped, but it seemed like the hellhounds had given up the hunt. Knowing they had been able to keep up before, I could only assume they were trying to regroup and take care of their losses.

We paused to catch our breath. Gale trotted up next to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “I’m gonna make sure Lilybloom makes it through this, I promise you that.”

“Thanks, Gale. That means a lot to me.”

“Come on, we’ve only got a short way to go, Dove.”

“Sure thing.” We set off at a swift, but much more manageable pace. “What was that device, anyway? It sure shut them down, but I couldn’t see it actually do anything.”

Gale’s face became very serious and solemn. She probably didn’t want to recall the lost hardware, especially at a time like this, but she seemed ready to disclose the information. “It’s a sonic emitter. The speakers output sound at a frequency high above what our pony ears can pick up, which is why it only affected them. I’ll explain better when we get to a more secure location.”

I nodded to her. That was enough to satiate my curiosity for the time being, and I knew Gale was right. We needed to focus on getting ourselves – and more importantly, Lily – to a safe place.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Ferocious Loyalty - You and your companions have formed a bond with each other. When one of you is in danger, the others will do anything to help protect them, especially when it’s your life on the line. Likewise, you’ll fight harder than anyone to protect your companions.

Chapter 6 - The Vanhoover Incident (Part 1)

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 6

The Vanhoover Incident

Part 1

“Sometimes it's about compromising. Sometimes it's about accepting each others' differences.”

The sky continued to empty its tears, dampening the ground beneath our hooves as we walked. It was miserable trudging through the mud and forcing our way through the gusts of wind. Every few seconds I was wiping rain water from my eyes in a futile attempt to see where I was going.

We had been making our path through the city as straightforward as possible, but it still felt like time had been crawling through the same muck we were. Lily’s leg had continued to bleed profusely despite being wrapped tightly in what remaining bandages we had left, and Gale was starting to wear down from carrying the wounded unicorn on her back. We were lucky that nopony – or no thing – decided to attack us along our way.

I had been watching the towers slowly rise between the buildings as we made our way towards them. Fortunately, it had only been little more than an hour’s worth of gloomy travel before they finally stood tall before us. I stared up and up into the depths of the dark sky as rain drops sought to disrupt my vision. The shattered spires stretched to the very clouds above, scraping their delicate undersides. Far off the ground the various bridges and catwalks, made of wire and salvaged steel, traversed the rifts of space between the great metallic giants.

“Welcome to Underdog Town,” Gale said in response to my awe. “Though, we can’t dry our feathers just yet.”

A look of confusion found itself staring back at her. She was, after all, the only pegasus here and thus the only one who would be drying their feathers.

“Sorry,” she said, catching the question on my face, “it’s a pegasus thing. Anyway, navigating the building’s insides is nearly as treacherous as being out here in this storm.”

“How come?” I asked.

“The building is at least two hundred years old and has been blasted apart by a megaspell strike. Do you really expect it to be in a single, solid piece, Dove?”

The door we approached was made more of shattered glass than it was wood or metal, and it swung open with a terrible squeal. As we entered the cover the structure provided, I shook the rain water from my coat and cleared my eyes one last time. We took one more step up and into a large atrium that reached from the front of the building to the back. Either side of the entryway was lined with toppled desks, and the floor was covered in papers and dust. A tattered carpet in the middle of the floor ran the length from the doorway to the back wall. On the far side of the room another door stood. The still air was musty and dank, same as nearly everything else in the city.

Strewn amongst the first floor offices were two or three dozen equine skeletons. It looked as though they had all been pushed into various piles by somepony who merely wanted to get them out of the way but cared not to bury them properly.

This floor did not look too much worse for wear, but then I looked up to the ceiling above, and the next, and the next. A giant gaping hole was torn above us, and I realized that the floor we were standing on was not the one that was originally here. The step we had taken up when we first walked in had struck me as an odd design, and now I knew why. The floor two levels above us had fallen straight downward, crushing those below it into a concrete pancake. We were standing upon the third floor, yet we were still on the first.

“The building and those around it have weathered the same devastation that brought ruin to the rest of the city,” Gale explained, answering my question from before in more detail. “It may remain standing strong, but there are still parts of it that seek their rest.”

“It’s amazing,” I responded, “that such an old structure can continue to hold itself together after all this time.”

“A testament to the engineering feats of better days, I suppose. Come on, we mustn't linger too long, lest Lily suffer for it. We still have several flights of stairs to climb.”

I nodded and we made our way further into the building. The door at the end of the foyer opened up to another, much smaller hallway lined with more doorways; these ones made of metal. One of the sets was stuck open, creating a large gap I just had to stick my head into.

Instead of a normal room, I found myself twisting my neck to gaze up a long, vertical shaft. As it rose skyward, I could see a small metal plate suspended from which were a number of steel cables extending downward from its underside to the bottom of the shaft. Ever more inquisitive, I cautiously hoofed at one of the cables.

Snap!

Perhaps I wasn’t cautious enough.

The cable must have been rusted through somewhere along its line and the extra tension I put on it was the last straw of hay it could handle. The metallic rope flailed up the shaft, making a terrible racket as it went. A loud groan echoed from above me, and the metal panel the cable had been attached to began descending at an alarming rate. I found myself rooted in place, staring obtusely at the falling ceiling… which I only just began to realize was about to crush me flat.

I felt a tug on my tail and I fell to my haunches. The metal weight screamed by, inches from my face, before crashing to a stop at the base of its shaft. I must have had such a dumbfounded look on my face, one befitting the stupidity of what I had just done. I had not been a clever pony, and I’m lucky my head was still attached to my body; that thing had almost taken it clean off.

“You’re lucky I was able to pull you out of there in time,” Gale snapped at me as we continued up the stairway. After all we had been through, my companion’s words of scorn made each step upwards just that much more agonizingly torturous.

“I’m sorry, Gale,” I replied meekly, “I didn’t know it was ready to break.”

Gale stopped in her tracks and a deep sigh filled the air. She lifted her hoof to her forehead and slowly dragged it down the side of her face. “It’s fine, Dovetail. Just... be more careful next time. I mean, how would I have explained to Lily that her best friend had become nothing more than a bloody paste due to you poking your head where it didn’t belong?”

I hadn’t honestly thought about it like that.

My eyes shifted to the unconscious Lily, still draped over the pegasi’s back. The vision of her reaction to that news made me shudder. I didn’t even want to imagine her being out here, wandering the wastes alone. I then realized that by trying not to, I just had.

Damn it.

Gale must have taken my look of dread to mean I got the idea as she had resumed her ascent. I hung my head a bit as I followed after her, feeling even more dejected.

After a few more flights of stairs, we came to a stop again. According to a sign next to the doorway, we had reached the ninth floor. The door itself had been spraypainted with a crude silhouette of a hellhound, which was circled and crossed out. Below it were the words “Go back to Hell!”

Gale lifted a hoof and banged it softly upon the rusty metal door. A jury-rigged slot partway up opened to reveal the eyes of another pony on the opposite side.

A deep, gruff voice forced its way through the opening. “What’d ya want?”

“Rocky Scar, it’s Gale Storm.”

“Does ya have the package?”

“Unfortunately, it got lost.”

“Los’it‽ Yous ne’er los’ a package before, Gale. I’m disappoin’ed.” The slot slammed shut. “Don’ come back ‘till yous found it!”

Gale didn’t even bat an eye at Rocky’s rude send off and instead lifted her hoof to the door again. This time, she pounded on it with a force that created a sound which echoed through the stairwell. I almost thought something had exploded.

“You listen to me, Rocky!” Gale shouted blindly at the door. “I didn’t lose it accidentally. We were ambushed by Hellhounds; I had to use the emitter in order to get us out of there alive. If it were just me, I would have gone down fighting for it, but there were others with me, one of which is severely wounded. We need Rare Heart’s healing magic to fix her or she could damn well die!”

That sent a chill down my spine colder than the rain. Colder than anything I had felt before. I had tried to put the thought at the very back of my mind, but the pegasi’s words drug it mercilessly back to the front. Lily might not make it. I knew the magical bandages we already put on could only do so much. Sure, they would help slow the bleeding but they could not stop it. The gash was too serious and Lily would require another unicorn’s magic.

We’d seen pretty bad wounds back in the stable just from day to day things. It wasn’t like our underground home was completely hazardless. Especially near the generators and other machinery. There was also no shortage of stupid accidents, like falling on a sharp object. Our medical ward had been headed by a unicorn for a reason.

My heart felt a little lighter as the door gently slid open to reveal the pony who had been behind it. The staggeringly big earth pony who stood in the entrance nearly filled it with his girth; it was obvious why he had been the one slated with guard duty. He let out a sigh as he stepped aside to let us in.

“Fine, yous can come’n,” he said. “But I swears t’ Celestia, if any of those damned dogs followed ya, Imma give ya hell when I’m done with them.”

No sooner had he spoken when I finally followed Gale into the room and my jaw hit the floor. Barred up inside the room was a vast arsenal of weapons probably ten times the size of what was locked away in Stable 61. Pistols, rifles, shotguns, snipers, rocket launchers, and just about any other type of death machine you could think of lined the caged walls all the way to the large bank of shattered glass which overlooked the city below. There was even a small selection of magical energy weapons scattered amongst the arsenal, although, the vast majority of them appeared to be in various states of disrepair.

I marveled most at the rare magical firearms. I’d never actually seen one up close, but I did recall a small section of my security training manual going over them in some detail. While most of it was the standard maintenance and operating procedures, there was one bit that had really stood out to me – and not only because it was bright yellow with a giant “Warning!” written above it: a very cartoony, yet very graphic, illustration of a poor pony being turned into a smoldering pile of ash by a stray bolt of energy. Below that was a block of text warning against misuse and about the bad burns one can get, as well as something about being turned to goo.

Nested in strategic positions behind sandbags, a pair of heavy machine guns were facing the door, silently awaiting the moment when they could open up and scream again. As powerful as they were, I doubted that they would hamper the Hellhounds once they got smart enough. If they wanted to, there wasn’t much to stop them tearing through the walls instead of funnelling through the narrow choke point that the doorway created. And with those claws of theirs, I imagined they’d be able to climb right up the sides of the building without much trouble either.

Three or four other ponies had been lingering about in the room, tending to the weaponry. One, I noticed, lay prone apart from the rest as he had his back turned to us, staring out the large window through the scope on his sniper rifle. He didn’t seem to notice our arrival, and even if he did, he was doing his best not to acknowledge us.

“Thanks, Rocky,” Gale said behind me.

“Sures thing, Gale.” The gruff stallion closed the door before moving to the nearby table. He had an energy rifle torn apart atop a workbench; the pieces were scattered across its surface. Swiftly and carefully, he began to reassemble the armament.

Gale stepped up beside me and motioned toward a couple of metal doors identical to those on the first floor. “Let’s head the rest of the way up.”

“The… the rest of the way?” I asked, getting back on my hooves. “I just sat down!”

“Yeah. You didn’t honestly think this was all there was to the town, did you? This is just the entrance – a security checkpoint to make sure no unwanted visitors get in. The stairs are blocked from this floor on; this is the only method of getting to the main part of the settlement.”

“But isn’t this like that thing that nearly crushed me?” I must have sounded like a little filly to her, but I suppose in a stable some knowledge gets lost throughout the generations.

Gale moved closer to the doors and pressed a button beside it. The button had an upwards pointing arrow etched into it, though it looked to be well worn. A few moments later, a muted and horribly off tune “ding!” sounded. A dull light above the doors flickered to life; it, too, depicted the same arrow as the one on the button. The pair of doors then slid themselves apart to reveal a small room opposite us. We stepped in.

The room was simple and plain. There was no furniture and no recognizable decoration. The only decor was the deteriorating wallpaper and dim overhead lights. It was really cramped, but at least it wasn’t a long drop down a shaft into Tartarus. What I found the most odd, though, was the panel of buttons next to the doors as they closed themselves in our wake.

Just before the gap in the metal drew closed, I could hear the pony watching the city through his scope yell back to his comrades. “Looks like those damn Raiders and Slavers are at it again.”

The doorway sealed shut and my attention went back to the strange controls before me. The little round buttons with numbers on them were faded from years of service and decay, though the patterned paper on the walls hadn’t fared much better either.

The questions that my mind had conjured for Gale were answered when she hoofed one of the buttons. The little round circle filled with light and the room we were in lurched skyward. A strange feeling rose in my stomach that rivaled the rumbling of our ascension.

“Did you seriously not have any elevators in your stable?” Gale questioned.

I cocked my head to the side. “Elevators? Is that what this contraption is called?”

Gale just rolled her eyes.

I noticed her shift uncomfortably underneath the weight of the still unconscious Lily. She had been carrying her for a good number of hours now, and I felt bad for her having to carry my friend alone. I slipped under Lily’s body from the side and took what weight I could off of Gale’s back. The pegasus gave me a questioning look at first, but when she saw what I was trying to accomplish she smiled.

“Thanks,” was all she said and I simply nodded in understanding.

The rest of the ride up was quiet, but it also wasn’t very long either. The elevator moved quickly to scale the distance between the floors in less than a minute.

Ding!

I wasn’t sure if it was the sound that startled me more or the sudden jerking of the elevator, but I nearly leaped out of my skin with a frightened “Eep!” If it hadn’t been for Lily’s body holding me down, I wouldn’t have doubted my ability to jump through the ceiling. Gale tried to contain herself but failed to restrain the amusement that manifested itself in the form of uncontrolled laughter. The speaker of Lilybloom’s pipbuck erupted into life as Spring Blossom joined the pegasus with her own fit of electronic chuckles.

I felt my cheeks flush with a warm red as the embarrassment I felt revealed itself visually. I noticed now that above the floor-selections, a faded and slightly scrambled digital number was displayed. I made it out to read the same as the floor Gale had selected from amongst the buttons. The doors then slowly separated to reveal a completely different sight from what we had previously been on the other side of them.

The vast weapon stores and armed guards had been replaced by a bunch of busy ponies scrambling about the room amongst a bunch of scrap and technical equipment.

Gale turned her head to Lily’s pipbuck before moving forward. “Spring Blossom, nothing against you, but it's best if you put your speakers on mute while we’re here. If these ponies were to hear you talk, they wouldn’t hesitate to tear you apart and figure out what makes you tick.”

Those same ponies seemed as if they hadn’t even noticed our arrival, at least not until the pegasus next to me stepped out of the elevator. No sooner had her hoof stepped onto the floor before us when all of the ponies in that room fell dead silent. Every pair of eyes locked onto us, staring. Gale stepped the rest of the way out of the elevator and I quickly followed suit. The ponies then went straight back to work as if nothing had happened; all save for one who approached us with a smile.

“Glad to see ya here, Gale!” the earth pony mare exclaimed as she drew up next to us. Her coat was muddied with so much dirt and grease that I wasn’t sure what colour the fur was supposed to be, but I think the clean parts I could see were brown. Either way, it was a stark contrast to her bright smile and her brilliant blue eyes. “What brings ya all the way out to good ol’ Underdog?”

“Hey there, Sprocket,” Gale responded. “Business as usual, though, if you couldn’t tell by the bleeding unicorn on my back I have a bit higher of a priority at the moment. Where’s Rare Heart at?”

“Oh, right. She’s up in the infirmary as always.”

“Thanks. I’ll catch up with you again after we get our friend here squared away.”

“Okie dokie, Gale. I’ll hold you to that.”

Sprocket turned and returned to her work, allowing us to proceed further into what I now realized was not just a room but an entire complex. The initial area we entered rose up another three stories, ringed by railed off walkways at each of those floors. At different locations around those walkways hallways led off further into the compound. I couldn’t see far down them given that the height difference and the walkways blocked most of my view, and that mystery of where they led piqued my curiosity. I would have to check them out later if time allowed. For now, our trek took us down a single such hallway on this base floor.

All about the place, ponies of different races worked in tandem to disassemble and reassemble all sorts of equipment. I saw more guns in various stages of disrepair – or repair as the case warranted. Some were being torn down and cleaned. Others were being built back up or upgraded with salvaged parts. I even spotted a few items that might compliment our own inventory. Perhaps we would even be able to get our hooves on them for the right price. I would have to check our funds against their market later on, assuming they would even offer them for sale.

A hoof in front of me blocked my path and brought my mind back around.

“You really need to start watching what you’re doing, Dove.” Gale put her hoof down, and I took a step back. “You are the most danger-prone pony I’ve ever met. Walking right out of a skyscraper window, that’s how a pony gets herself killed out here in the wastes. You know, if she doesn’t get shot first.”

I noticed now that the hallway we were in had ended as it intersected another hall that ran around the edge of the building. My straightforward path did not end where the hallway did, however. I had continued walking blindly and in my trance I had nearly trotted right out of the building. The glass walls that once separated inside from out had been completely shattered and now opened up to a dizzying vertical drop. Outside, the storm continued to dump rain passed the open windows. A strong gust of wind came rushing in through the breach and knocked me to my rump. The rainwater it drug along with it splashed my face with another harsh dose of reality.

Well, that was stupid move number two for the day. Note to self: don’t trust windows.

If I had ever been glad that Lily was unconscious, it was then. Though I was sure she would hear about it one way or another, and in that case I was doomed to get my ear chewed off later.

Once I pulled myself together again, Gale led me to another spot in the open wall. Here though, instead of being a deadly pitfall, the sudden drop had been spanned to an adjacent building. She stepped up to the bridge and I felt my heart fall out that broken window.

The construction of the walkway looked solid enough, if a bit questionable in its construction methods. The bridge was made almost entire of welded scraps of sheet metal and other riggings that were used to brace it to the building. The slick metal surface would have been much better on a sunny day but the rains had made it into a slippery death trap. The only thing between a pony and their perilous descent to the streets below was a small rebar railing which ran the length of the bridge on one side. A pony could grab it with their teeth should they require it but a slip up with the wetness would certainly make it useless.

“W-we have to cross t-that?” I quaked in my hooves.

Gale turned back. “Afraid of heights too now, are we?”

“O-only those that can kill me,” I squeaked in a fairly pathetic attempt to sound braver than I was.

“Haha, come on kid, it’s much more stable than it looks. The Scrappers might seem like a rag-tag people, but they could rebuild the old world out of scraps and salvage better than those that came before us did when it was all brand new.” The pegasus turned back to the bridge and I barely caught what slipped out under her breath. “Sadly, there just aren’t enough of them to take on that project.”

She stepped forward again, and even with the extra weight of Lily upon her back, the bridge didn’t shift. I moved up to the edge and looked straight out across the gap. I knew better than to look down, but still I fought the urge at every second. The distance between the buildings wasn’t great – despite the rain, Gale had cleared it by the time I even contemplated crossing – it just felt like it was farther away than it really was. And that perceptive separation grew as my nerves continued to push it even further.

I realized that Gale was likely used to exceedingly high altitudes and overly bad weather, what with being a pegasus and all, but I was an earth pony; the proof was in the pudding that I wasn’t built for it like she was. I knew, though, if I dwelt on it too long the uneasiness would make me unable to cross no matter what. So I swallowed the nervousness down, put my hoof out in front of me, and took a leap of faith.

I felt the salvaged materials beneath me and the structure felt sturdy; wet, but sturdy. I took another step and then another. The welds held strong and I felt more and more confident with every stride. I knew at this point I’d make it across if I could just avoid slipping or looking down. As much as I struggled not to do either of those things, it seemed nature had other plans for me.

The now strangely calm storm suddenly sprung to life with a tremendous burst of wind that, coupled with the slick metal, knocked my hooves out from beneath me. I reached for the guard rail with my muzzle, but my teeth slipped off of it as well. As soon as my legs went out, I fell to the metal beneath. Clambering for a grip before I slid headfirst off the structure, I prayed to Luna to catch me.

Whether it was good luck or just bad-luck-gone-right, my prayers were answered. My back leg snagged on a small bit of the bridge that had been pulled up. It was painful, but it caught me before the wind blew me off the edge. Not all of me stopped in time, though. My head draped over and my vision filled with the ground below. My nerves continued even further forward and took the plunge that I didn’t. Every muscle in my body seized up tight and I froze solid. I felt the air blow through my hair and time seemed to stop around me. The city street below seemed to sink away into a black abyss. My mind began to swim and I became lost inside a black void. There was no escape; I was done for.

“Unnngnh…” I moaned as I began to stir.

When I finally came to, I jumped up in an attempt to push myself away from the looming drop. Instead, I ended up pushing myself too far back and I felt gravity take its hold on me. I panicked, my hooves flailing about wildly.

Thud!

My flank hit the floor hard, and my head hit harder. Fortunately it wasn’t enough to knock me back out. The pain in my skull was immense, but I kept enough awareness to realize what had happened.

I wracked my memory and I remembered looking down from the bridge before passing out from the fear. I looked at my surroundings and noticed that I had not tried to move backwards from the edge of the bridge but instead had only succeeded in propelling myself in reverse right off the side of a small cot. The room in which I now found myself was relatively clean compared to much of what we had found in the city so far. The walls had even been covered in a thin white coat of paint that tried to disguise what lay behind it. Underneath that dirty, pale colouring I could still see the old paint attempting to flake off despite being sealed over.

As I pulled myself back onto my hooves, I heard another groan from the other side of the bed. There was definitely somepony else in the room with me, and I instinctively dropped back to the floor. Cautiously, I poked my head over the top of the bed.

Beyond the hills in the sheets and on the far side of the mattress there was another cot. Atop of it I could make out the outline of another pony wrapped up underneath the sheets, though I couldn’t tell who it was or what they looked like. Aside the bed was a rolling cart that appeared to be full of what I made out to be medical supplies.

“So, I see you’re awake,” came a voice behind me. “Though, what exactly are you doing on the floor looking like a lost little filly?”.

I turned to see Gale standing in an open doorway that led out into another small hallway. I opened my mouth to answer her, but then chose to shut it again after I realized I still didn’t have the entire story. That, and the little bit I did have pieced together sounded utterly embarrassing without context.

“Actually, don’t answer that, kid. I’m not even gonna ask anymore.”

“W-what exactly happened?” I braved. “How did I end up here?”

“When you slipped on the brid—”

“I didn’t slip,” I corrected. “The wind gusts blew me over.”

“Uhuh, sure they did Dove. Anyway, when you… fell over, you caught your hoof on an offset piece of metal, which dug deep into your skin. You passed out, either from the shock or from the fright of seeing the ground below you.”

Just the mention of that image made me shiver, but I put it as far back in my mind as I could.

“I still had Lily on my back, so I couldn’t immediately rush out and rescue you – again.”

I flushed red with embarrassment. She was never gonna let me forget my foolishness.

“I knew that with your hoof caught like it was, you weren’t going to be going very far, so I galloped here to the infirmary as quickly as I could and left Lilybloom in the care of Rare Heart. Once she was in safe hooves, I came back and drug your sorry plot off that bridge too. The wound where the sheet metal grabbed you was bad, but you were still an easy fix compared to Lily.” She paused for a moment and looked me over. “I’m glad to see you up and about at least.”

“Thanks, Gale. I owe you one.”

“I think you owe me more than one at this point.”

“Haha, yeah, you’re probably right. So, how is Lily?”

Gale gestured toward the other bed. “Why don’t ya see for yourself?”

I stood and made my way around toward the cot to which the pegasus had indicated. Pulling the sheets back, I could tell that Lily still remained unconscious. Her chest rose and fell smooth and steady. She was alive and breathing, and that fact alone brought a great sense of relief to me. I exhaled a breath that I didn’t even know I was holding and then moved around to check the wound in her leg.

As I pulled the sheet back, a deep gasp left my throat. The wound was unbandaged and the gashes had been completely replaced by heavy scars. It looked bad still, but the wound was closed up and healing. It was unbelievable that she had recovered this fast.

Wait, how fast is “this fast?” It occurred to me I didn’t actually know how long I had been out for.

“Gale, how long was I unconscious?” I asked.

“Hmm? Oh, a couple of hours.”

“A couple of hours?” My mind refused to accept that. “There’s no way that a wound as serious as hers would have healed in just a couple of hours, even with a healing potion.”

Gale just chuckled.

“You seriously underestimate me, my dear.”

I spun around to the door. I had expected an answer from Gale, not from another pony who had just trotted into the entryway. What I expected less – or rather, not at all – was the pony herself that I saw standing there; I wasn’t even sure she was a pony at first.

The pink unicorn’s coat was horribly mangy and the exposed flesh underneath was torn and rotted beyond belief. Where it was pulled taught, such as around her sunken yellow eyes, you could see the impression of her skeleton wrapped up inside. I even thought I could see spots where the skin broke enough to reveal the raw muscle and bone that lay below it. Her golden mane and tail were barely existent, consisting of little more than a few remaining locks.

Gale strode up next to her and placed a hoof on her back. “Dove, this is Rare Heart. She fixed up your hoof and saved Lily’s life.”

As taken aback as I was by Rare’s ghastly appearance, she must’ve been a very civil pony. She had patched us up, even as badly broken as Lily was, and she spoke with a soft and sophisticated voice. Most importantly though, Gale trusted her and that was good enough for me.

“Thanks a lot for fixing us up, Miss Rare Heart.” I bowed my head respectfully. “We owe you our lives.”

“Oh please, darling,” she smiled, “just call me Rare Heart. The ‘miss’ is just too formal for my tastes.” She trotted passed me and over to Lily’s bed. “Also, you don’t owe me diddly. Your wounds were child's play to fix up, and I’m glad to see they are fully healed. Your friend here was a different story though. I’m surprised she lasted long enough for you to get her here.”

“Lilybloom’s tougher than you might think. Definitely no iron pony, but her willpower outside of combat is that of a minotaur.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that dear. Still, my magic and your proper treatment prior saved her life. Good job with the bandages by the way.”

I felt my cheeks turn pink a little at the compliment. To hear that I had done something to save my best friend, and to have done it correctly, was surprisingly flattering. I never really had more than rudimentary training as a security mare. Lily was the one who spent her time with her muzzle buried in medical treatment books, learning. But then again, what didn’t she take it upon herself to learn?

After checking up on Lilybloom, the unicorn turned back to us. “Oh, Gale, Ratchet asked to see you. I also believe Sprocket was looking for you a little bit ago.”

“Thanks, Rare,” Gale responded. “I already knew Sprocket wanted to talk. I’ll go find her after we go talk to Ratch.”

“Sounds good, dear. I’ll make sure your friend – Lilybloom was it? – continues to recover just fine. See you both later, then!”

Gale and I turned and left the room, closing the door behind us. As soon as we had moved far enough off that I felt confident the unicorn wouldn’t hear me, I struck up the question that had been on my mind the entire time.

“What… what happened to her?” I asked. “I mean, why is she so… you know?”

“Ghoulish?” Gale shot back.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“That’s because she’s a ghoul, kid.” Gale continued to explain as we walked. “I understand your reaction, though. Not like you would’ve met one back where you come from. You see, when the megaspells fell, not all of the ponies could find sanctuary in the stables. A large percentage of them were locked out of the shelters when those great doors sealed shut. Most of them perished from the initial blasts or the radioactive fallout; but some didn’t.

“While there were those select few who were lucky enough to be isolated far off the map and weather the storm unscathed, the majority of those who survived suffered a much worse experience. One that I can only imagine would be worse than dying.

“The radiation from the spells seeped into their bodies in quantities that, instead of killing them, mutated the inner workings of their bodies almost instantaneously. Over time they became ghoulish in appearance as their symptoms resembled that of normal radiation poisoning. However, they just didn’t seem to die from it, essentially resembling zombies.”

I remembered some of the old comics that Lily had read as a filly about a group of ponies caught up in a zombie apocalypse, and how Rare Heart had indeed mirrored one of the trotting dead. I also recalled making a remark to her about how silly it was to imagine such a thing, after all the world had already had its apocalypse.

I guess now we’ll have to deal with both, I thought to myself and chuckled. I’ll have to apologize to Lily when she comes to for making fun of her all those years ago.

“There was a difference though,” Gale continued, “between them and the mindless beasts of old horror stories. A lot of them retained their sanity. While some have gone feral after years upon years of living, most of them are still civil ponies seeking to make a life in this blasted wasteland.”

“I can’t even imagine what it must be like,” I stated in disbelief.

Gale hung her head. “I can’t either. You could try asking Rare Heart, but she doesn’t usually like to talk about it. You’d likely make better use of your time beating a stone wall with a wet noodle.”

I tried to imagine exactly what she meant by that, but all it did was make me want to try beating said wall with said wet noodle. Instead, I put my brain cells to use examining the rooms we passed on our way to Ratchet’s office. Fortunately, our destination was still in the same building as the medical ward, so I wouldn’t have to cross that harrowing bridge again; at least not right away. We climbed up a few flights of stairs and then proceeded down a single, long hallway at the end of which stood a door labeled “CEO Ratchet.” The Scrappers’ boss’s name was, of course, etched into the wood beneath the original CEO of this old building.

There was nothing of major interest on our way down that hallway, save for one room that caught my eye. The door was simple and plain and it appeared to only be accessible via a passcard terminal nearby. The sign on the wall next to it simply read “Black Research - Authorized Entry Only.” From the looks of it, it had not been entered in years. My guess was that the Scrappers had yet to find the keycard in order to gain entry, though why they hadn’t just forced their way in yet was beyond me.

I shuffled the thought to the back of my mind as we approached the door where the hallway ceased. Gale raised her hoof to knock on the wooden barrier when it swung violently open, knocking her to her haunches, and me along with her.

“Get the hell out of this office, you damned rat!”

A dark grey blue earth pony came stumbling out as if he had been thrown through the doors. Fear and anger were both present upon his muzzle, and he scrambled off down the hall, tail between his legs.

“Yeah, you better run. I hope the blasted dogs eat you alive!” A crimson-coated unicorn mare trotted out of the room as she continued to yell after the stallion. Once the stern look on her face faded away, she turned to us. “Oh, hey Gale. Sorry about that. Bastard tried to sell some of our best tech to those infernal raiders in the outer ruins. Anyway, come on in.”

The mare made her way back into the office acting as if nothing happened. Gale and I tailed after her, but Ratchet put up a hoof and stopped me at the door.

“Not you,” she stated bluntly. “This is Scrapper business. Nothing for your ears.”

I was a little shocked at how rude she was, even after the way she treated that stallion. That had been different though. She had a reason to treat him that way, but what had I done to deserve it?

“No way, Ratchet.” Gale stepped forward. “You may be in charge here, but she’s with me come hell or high water.”

Ratchet spun round on her with the most vile look on her face. Magically floating out a revolver and pulling back the hammer, she pointed the weapon at my companion. “You’re right Gale, I am in charge here. And you aren’t part of my crew, which means that you would be wise to heed my words. I’m not afraid to waste somepony who disobeys me.”

Ch-chk.

“And I have no problems fighting our way out of here if need be,” Gale stated coldly as she loaded her battle saddle and aimed it at Ratchet.

I felt the tension in the air wrap around my heart and constrict it as it sunk at the pegasi’s words. Were we really about to fight our way out of this place, through all those armed guards at the entrance, along with a still-recovering Lilybloom?

For mere minutes the two stared at each other. Neither player in this cold war moved, focused intently on the other. Time crawled by like it had no place better to be. I didn’t want to fight, but I prepared to grab Demonslayer from its holster should things go sour. Then it happened.

Gale and Ratchet burst out laughing and put their weapons at ease. Unsure of what just happened, I felt strangely at ease and relaxed my body. The anxiety that filled the room shifted entirely.

“It’s good to see you here, Gale,” Ratchet said as she extended her hoof.

The pegasus pony bumped her hoof against the unicorn’s. “I’m just glad we avoided shooting each other… again.”

“I thought you worked alone these days, though?”

“Well, I had a bit of a complication on my way here.” Gale turned to show Ratchet her bandaged wing. “I had to pick up a bit of extra security. I didn’t expect them to be as good as they’ve proven themselves to be.”

I felt myself blush a little bit at that statement. I hadn’t done much during our few days together, or at least I didn’t think I had. At the very least I hadn’t died… yet.

“Well, seems they weren’t as good as you figure them to be if they lost our little package.”

“That wasn’t their fault! We were ambushed by Hellhounds and using that emitter was the only means of getting us all out of there alive. If I hadn’t we’d all be dead, and you’d be out the transmitter.”

“Then you better make your lives worth it and find us another one.”

“And where exactly do you expect us to do that? The initial one was hard enough to find in the first place.”

A twisted smile was the only response Ratchet gave to Gale’s question.

“Oh no,” Gale said, starting to look worried. “No, no, no. You can’t be serious.”

“I am quite serious, my old friend.”

“But you said even the hellhounds won’t go near that place. Why would you send us there? We have no idea what’s in there, and that alone makes it sound like a suicide mission.”

“Exactly. If the hellhounds haven’t even touched it, you can bet that it’s still yet to be looted. Its our best chance to find the equipment we need to build an emitter, and besides, I still need to punish you somehow for losing the first one.”

“And if we don’t go?”

“Well, then I’ll have to kill you. Maybe your friends would be more inclined to help then.” Ratchet paused for a moment, but not long enough to allow Gale to voice her retort. “Or perhaps I should give the order to have that lovely mint-coloured unicorn killed instead.”

“NO!” I burst out without hesitation.

Gale shot me a look that immediately put my tail between my legs. A sigh then left her as an air of defeat surrounded her.

“Fine. We’ll go check it out. I swear though, if we die, I will come back and haunt your ass.”

“Wonderful,” Ratchet approved. “I’ll make sure Rare Heart takes good care of your friend while you’re away. Oh, and since you’re down one member of your party, why don’ you take that old pal of yours, Sprocket, with you. I’m sure she’d love the chance to go check out the tech that’s hidden away in that place.”

“Hmmph,” Gale snorted as she turned away and led me back out of the room.

As we made our way through the doorway, I heard Ratchet snicker sadistically as she returned to the work that was piled high upon her desk. I didn’t like her one bit, but I didn’t have anything nice to say and thus I held my tongue; at least until we were out of earshot.

“What was that all about?” I asked my companion as we made our way back down the stairs that had led us up here earlier.

“The Scrappers and I go way back,” she said. “Ratchet’s been in charge since they were just a rag-tag group of salvagers trying to eke out a living amidst this war torn cityscape. Back then they had it rough, or at least a hell of a lot rougher than they do now. Attacks from the nearby groups of raiders, slavers, and of course, the hellhounds were all an inevitable threat on a near-daily basis.

“Their party had initially been a group that left from Crossroads Junction in an effort to seek riches in the destruction of the former great city. That was before the train between the two towns had been recovered. They had to loot weapons and ammo from the crumbling buildings they took temporary refuge in, but supplies were meager at best. Food and water had to be requisitioned by other means. A deal had been set up with a local Ironhoof associate at the time to bring those provisions in.”

“Was that you?” I asked, putting two and two together.

“You betchya, kid. They needed a pegasus to deliver the supplies as the aerial advantage gave us an edge over the grounded groups that would have shot or crippled a normal caravan on sight. It was also a big help in locating the nomadic group from above.”

“So how did they get to the point they are now?”

“Well, when they found the towers here, they knew they had something. One used to be an old computer company’s headquarters, which is the structure we entered through. Another used to be an old apartment building, now used to house the town’s population. And the third – the one we’re in now – was an old Ministry of Wartime Technology branch.”

“Ministry of Wartime Technology?” I interrupted, repeating Gale’s words back to her.

“Did history of the ministries really not get passed down through your stable?”

“Well, I’ve heard about them. Some part of Luna’s old government, right? I don’t really know much else about them though.”

“Ah, well at least you aren’t too uneducated,” Gale jested. “The MWT was responsible for developing a lot of the equipment used during the war. They often worked with the Ministry of Arcane Sciences to develop magically powered equipment such as the rare but powerful energy rifles. Very advanced stuff came out of their doors back then. All of the remnants of their tech that had been locked away in that building provided the Scrappers with the tactical edge they needed to secure their claim here.

“The skyscrapers were largely inaccessible from the streets below due to the low level structural damage they had sustained, as well as most of the working elevators being knocked out. Those that were still in working order weren’t functional due to power loss, but the Scrappers and their ingenuity fixed a few of them up while still limiting access to the upper floors they had decided to call home.

“After a few years of gaining a foothold here, they discovered the old train at a depot not far from here. We would have ended up there if we had followed the tracks into the city, but that would have taken us directly through hellhound territory. Fat lot of good going around did for us though,” she scoffed before taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Anyway, the train can make that trip now, connecting Crossroads and Underdog Town much quicker and more directly. However, the train has to have an extremely tight security force with heavy weapons always pointed down every street and alley way it passes in order to ensure it arrives without fault. I still fly in more sensitive materials, such as the sonic emitter, from time to time though. Airmail is still the safest way to get things here, but its no good when I’m already grounded.”

Gale took a moment to look disappointedly at her bad wing. Sensing the downtrodden mood this conversation was taking us, I decided to change the subject.

“So, where is it that we’re heading? And what’s so bad about it?”

As I asked the question, we came to the bridge that spanned between the MWT building and the old company’s hq. Fortunately for me, the rains had passed during my recovery and the cloud cover had returned to its normal, dull grey state and the bridge had dried up. The clearer weather lifted my spirits a bit.

“Make it across this time without passing out or falling to your death, and I’ll tell you,” the pegasus opposed.”

“Fair enough.” I laughed a little, but choked it down along with my nerves.

I squinted my eyes enough that they were practically closed, but I could still see where I was going. I placed a hoof on the metal bridge, took a deep breath, and took off like a bolt. I galloped as fast and straight as I could in an effort to make it across before another gust of wind had a chance to knock me down. Before I knew it, I passed into the hallway in the opposite building. I had neglected to remember the slight drop formed by the windowsill upon which the bridge was anchored. My forward momentum, coupled with the lack of floor when my hoof came down, caused me to tumble through the gaping window. I flew head over tail across the floor and finally into the wall that kindly decided to bring my body to an abrupt stop.

Gale came trotting across, laughing heavily. “Well, at least you made it across this time. Guess I owe you an explanation.”

A hoof helped me up from my awkward landing position, but it wasn’t Gale’s. The dirt that matted the fur around it was unmistakable, and the bright blue eyes that stood out against that coat were even more so. A fillyish giggle left the mare’s mouth before she turned to my companion.

“Seems you’ve got yourself quite the clutz, ‘eh Gale?”

“It would seem I do indeed, Sprocket. Hey, you got a moment?”

“Sure thing, what’s up?”

“Well, Dovetail and I have been asked by Ratchet to go find a suitable replacement for the sonic emitter that we lost. Care to join us? We could use another set of hooves with our other party member temporarily out of commission. That and your technical expertise would come in handy with anything of use we find.”

“Sure thing, Gale. I did have something I wanted to talk to you about, but we can discuss it on the way. Where are we heading to locate such a rare and beautiful piece of equipment?”

Well, guess I’ll get my answer now, too, I thought to myself. The answer she gave us nearly drove my jaw back down to the first floor as it dropped.

“Stable Forty-Four.”

“So, your telling me we’re actually going to go visit another Stable?” I asked as I checked the ammunition I was loading into my bag. “What’s so bad about another Stable? Shouldn’t that mean more ponies that could’ve survived the war?”

“Could be,” Gale answered. “Could also be irradiated all to hell inside. Thing is, we just don’t know.”

On our way out, Rocky had offered up the arsenal of weapons at the guard checkpoint to us. We were allowed to take what non-magical weapons and ammunition that we pleased, so long as we were reasonably conservative with what we grabbed. We had been making discussion about the mission as we loaded up.

I sniffled a little. Last time I was loading these bags, I was talking to Lily before we left our own stable. Seems only fitting to be stocking up again before heading back into one. I just wish Lily were able to come with us.

“So why is that?” I asked.

This time, Sprocket was the one to answer me. “I’m sure you’ve heard by now that even the hellhounds keep a wide berth around the stable. Raiders, slavers, even wild animals stick to routes that don’t take them by the place. It’s odd given the potential tech that could be pulled from inside. Usually a place like that would’ve been picked clean decades ago. Thing is, if the dogs stay away, so do you. Their senses can detect things where ours can’t, so they know something’s inside there that they don’t wanna mess with and we don’t know what. Nopony’s dared to find out either. Door’s always remained shut... until now, I guess.”

“That’s not very comforting…” I scoffed as I put the last bit of stock into my saddlebag.

I had been able to requisition a fair amount of ammunition for our weapon stores: a few boxes of ammo for the lever action, a vast stock of new shells for Demonslayer, and a few clips for my old security pistol. I was also able to locate a silencer amongst the arsenal which fit perfectly with the small handgun. If we needed stealth on this mission at any point in time, I knew that the pistol would be better than nothing should we require it. Our other weapons would be great if we got attacked on our way to the stable, but I knew that once we were inside, silenced weapons would be key. The metal walls would cause the sound of any large caliber weapon to reverberate at a near-deafening level.

Gale had fully reloaded her battle saddle, and took a fresh supply of grenades. The belts of ammunition she had draped around herself made her look a lot like somepony straight out of one of those cheesy pre-war action films.

When were fillies, Lily and I would always commandeer one of the stable’s classrooms and its projector once a night at week’s end to watch some old movie she had dug up on the archives. We would sometimes get caught by the janitor, Handy Hooves, only to have him join us in watching the flicks.

Things have really changed since we were fillies, completely oblivious to this outside world, I thought as I sighed loudly. Well, we weren’t entirely oblivious about it, I corrected myself, but we were certainly a heck of a lot more ignorant about it.

“Well, shall we go crack this metallic, over-sized nut?” Sprocket asked when she finished packing her supplies away.

Making sure my bags were all tied down, I nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Gale?”

“Only if you are, kid.”

“Alright then, let’s go.”

Back on the streets, my thoughts were still far from clear. My whole mind was still trying to wrap itself around the idea of descending into another stable. My primary concern was what we would find when we stepped hoof beyond that big steel door. Would there be a welcoming party full of friendly faces? Would the residents be hostile or possibly driven mad from their years of isolation? Or would it be completely empty, devoid of life because the ponies who were meant to populate it never made it inside before the megaspell hit?

I looked to the two ponies who trotted along in front of me. Both of them seemed as if they knew the location of the vault despite never having been inside, so I let them lead. Sprocket had drummed up a conversation with the pegasus that I was having trouble following, so I had simply ignored their chatter.

My mind drifted back to other things as they continued. It crossed me that the area of the city we had entered roughly half an hour ago had begun to grow, not in size or population, but in its flora. It wasn’t necessarily overgrown with vegetation, but it certainly was the greenest place I had seen yet in the ruins. In fact it was a stark contrast to the rest of the dull grey that painted the rest of the city. Grass had started to return to life throughout the streets, filling in every little nook and cranny that it could. Bushes and trees that had obviously been scorched to death had taken on a small bit of new growth where their warscars were the lightest.

“Well, Dove, welcome to Stable Forty-Four.” Gale put a hoof over my back as we drew to a stop. “Or rather, the building that houses the entrance to be exact.”

In front of us rose a great dome of steel webbing. The surface of the structure was covered in dirty glass, most of which was either shattered or hanging on for dear life. Around the steel beams, vines stretched their leafy fingers while they tried unsuccessfully to constrict the rusting metal and crush it into dust. Inside, I could see what appeared to be a darkened forest. Like the rest of the trees and bushes on the way here, it appeared as if they had once died but had since somehow found new life. Surrounding the structure was a low concrete wall that had also grown over with plantlife. A nearby degraded sign designated the location as the Vanhoover Botanical Gardens.

“The stable door lies inside,” Sprocket announced. “Stay close, the foliage gets thicker the deeper you go and eventually almost all light is lost.”

Gale took the lead and we followed her passed the vine-strangled wall and the overgrown entranceway. We set hoof inside a small lobby that was separated from the forest beyond by another set of broken glass panes. The ticket counters and desks here were stripped bare of anything I could deem useful. Even the registers and terminals had been torn open and deprived of their mechanics.

“We’ve been through here before on a scouting mission.” Sprocket’s words perked my ears up and I listened intently as my eyes looked over the empty room. “The tech was meager, but we still were drawn to investigate the unusual plant growth. Our scans found the earth here to be unnaturally fertile, at least relative to the rest of the city’s ground. Before we could complete our survey though, it was unexpectedly soiled. A battle had flared up in the street outside between the local raider tribes, and in our attempts to not get caught in the crossfire, we were driven ever deeper inside the gardens. That’s when we found the stable.”

“Did you even try to open it?” I asked.

“No. We found the entrance and took a quick look, but that was all we got. The raiders had moved on and the all clear was given. We were ordered to return back to the towers, so the few of us in the scouting party merely marked it up to check it out later and then simply never found the time to make it back.”

“I see,” was all I said in return. I couldn’t imagine why they would pass up the opportunity to get their hands on all the tech and salvage a stable could provide, even if it were occupied. I put the thought aside though and focused my attention on navigating the ever-thickening vegetation.

A few times I nearly tripped over the tree roots that littered the ground, but I was able to catch myself before falling face first into Gale’s plot ahead of me. I was trying my best to actually pay attention to where I was going this time.

The trek was not terribly long, and eventually we found ourselves deep in the strange forest. Before us, the ground gradually dropped away, revealing an eerily familiar sight. A great steel door shaped vaguely like one of the sprockets upon our Scrapper companion's flanks stood vigilantly at the base of the earthly depression. Scribed clearly into its center was the number forty-four. In front of the door, a small control panel sat waiting for the command to open the entrance.

We descended the slope and as we approached the controls, Gale paused. “Dove,” she said, “I think you should be the one to do the honors.”

I nodded and stepped up to the panel. I raised my hoof and took a deep breath. This would be the first time in a number of days that I would find myself inside a stable, only this time it wouldn’t be my home. It was even stranger being here without Lilybloom. I’d have to be sure to tell her about any stories that came from this adventure.

The pads of my hoof pressed against the button and pushed it down until it stopped. However, where the loud noise of grinding gears and metal on metal would have normally started, our ears were met with hushed silence. For a moment I thought perhaps the console was dead or the wires had been cut, but then the mechanisms slowly began to screech to life.

There was a delay while the large arm inside the stable came down and mated with the door. Eventually, the great round slab slid loudly inward and began to roll to the side. Its movement was jerky and sluggish but the entranceway ultimately found itself fully open. The lights inside the first room attempted to flicker on before shorting out and giving up in the end. It was enough, though, to see for a second what had kept the door’s machinery at bay.

The entrance hall was completely overrun with wild plant growth, much like the grounds surrounding the stable. The leafy vines had wrapped themselves around the arm and worked their way into the inner workings. The StableTec gears were made to be tough and powerful though, and they proved to be more than a match for some simple vegetation to impede.

“Well, shall we?” Sprocket asked.

I took the first step inside. The metal beneath my hoof was strangely comforting. I knew full well that this was not my stable, but it still provided a sense of familiarity that I imagined was very much like coming across an old friend after many years; they’re different but somehow still very much the same.

My eyes began to adjust to the light and I could see just how bad the plant infestation really was. The steel walls were peeled back in places where new growth had broken through and turned the areas around the breaches mossy and green. Grass had begun to grow up through the grated metal floor and the doors had been forced open by the strength of the creeping vines. I was beginning to doubt the survival of the stable’s population more and more with each passing moment and each sight I took in.

Gale and Sprocket stepped into the room behind me and I heard Sprocket gasp a little in shock.

“Wow,” she said as she examined the scene. “Well, this isn’t what I expected at all, but it certainly is interesting. The plants have forced their way in from the soil outside the walls.”

“We aren’t here for the plants,” Gale stated bluntly. “Let’s just get what we came for and get out of here. I really don’t like the look of this place.”

I wasn’t so frightened, perhaps because I had grown up in a stable, but the fact that Gale was even getting creeped out by this place worried me. I was starting to get that bad feeling in my stomach that I couldn’t quite place my hoof on.

“Well, what exactly are we looking for?” I asked.

Sprocket answered me quickly. “Anything that can emit sound at a high frequency. We do have a working terminal back in town that we could use to play the sound, but we’d need some form of speakers. All the ones in the buildings above were shot when we found them, likely blown out by the shockwave that the megaspell generated.”

“So, essentially you need the stable’s intercom system?” Gale inquired.

“Yes, that should actually do nicely. There are a few other things I’ll need, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find them as we go.”

“What are they?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sprocket replied. “They’re just some minor equipment. If I run across them, I’ll grab them. If not, its no big deal.”

“Sprocket, I grew up in a stable. If there’s something you need, I can help you find it.”

For a moment, she contemplated answering me, but in the end she held her tongue. “Don’t trouble yourself,” was all she said.

“Alright,” I relented. I was starting to not trust her, but I still felt I had to. She was Gale’s friend after all. “If you’re looking for the intercom system, that’d be in the Overmare’s office. Assuming this stable is laid out similarly to mine, that’ll be on the second story of the atrium, where she could easily oversee everything that happened inside her stable’s walls. The quickest way there is through this door here. Come on, I’ll lead.”

I flipped the light on my pipbuck on and made for the doorway I had indicated. The old metal hinges of the door creaked menacingly as I pushed it open the rest of the way. The sound echoed throughout the empty hallways and we made our way through to the atrium. All throughout the stable, the greenery continued to force its way into the aging shelter, growing denser and denser as we went. At one point, I even thought I had seen one of the vines shift, but when I examined it again it was absolutely static.

“This is weird,” Gale said in a hushed tone that was just loud enough for us to hear. “Plants have been known to grow towards the sunlight, but here… There is no light here, natural or otherwise. Why would they force their way inside here?”

When she mentioned it, I began to realize she was right. Even growing up in a stable, we knew that. Our artificial gardens were set up to mimic natural sunlight, but these lights had sat dormant for years.

“Perhaps they’ve developed some form of mutation that allows them to thrive down here?” Sprocket suggested.

“Perhaps,” Gale breathed.

“I would like to take a sample back to Underdog and have Rare Heart take a closer look at it.” Sprocket stopped and pulled out what looked to be a multitool. She flipped a knife out of the tool and began to saw away at one of the vines. When she started I could have sworn I heard a low growl come from the hallway ahead of us, but when I looked I saw nothing.

Must’ve just been the structure shifting, I concluded.

I decided to take advantage of the momentary pause in order to check our progress on my pipbuck. We still had to make our way around to the atrium and up to the second floor, but we were getting close.

I felt a hoof gently land on my shoulder from behind.

“Whatch’ya need, Gale?” I asked, spinning around, only to be struck down with fear.

“I didn’t need anythi—” Gale started to respond before her eyes landed on what I was now staring dreadfully at. “Uh, what the hell is that thing?”

“What are you two yapping abo—” Sprocket’s words too fell silent at the same sight.

Between the three of us stood a vine-like plant that rose to roughly thrice my height. Atop the stem, two menacingly jagged leaves sat open like a mouth, revealing the tantalizing blue pads inside. I had begun to question how we had missed it before now, but I realized that its black colour would have been hard to see in the dim light. The soft light from my pipbuck’s screen barely made it visible even now that we knew it was there.

For a time we simply stayed still, staring at it. In return, it remained motionless as well. It was a war of silence as we both awaited the other to make the first move.

“Okay,” Gale said, breaking the silence. “I think it’s just part of this rampant vegetation. Can we just get back to the task at hoof now?”

As if her words were magic, the plant began to move. I quickly became aware of what had actually touched my shoulder. Shadowy, black vines covered in light blue thorns started to envelop us from all sides and that threatening mouth began to slowly move closer to my own face.

“You just had to go and say that, didn’t you Gale?” Sprocket jested as she leapt towards us. Her reaction came just in time to avoid being entangled by the encroaching tendrils, and knocked Gale out of the way of those attempting to engulf her as well.

My mind, however, was still processing what was happening when I got swept off my feet. When it did finally catch up to the situation, it wasn’t very happy. I was hanging upsidedown by my hooves which had been wrapped up by the floral tentacles. If I were a unicorn, this predicament would be much less threatening, but as an earth pony I had been rendered completely helpless. Gale and Sprocket were struggling to untangle themselves from each other, so they were of no help currently, either.

The sentient plant dangled me close to what I could only describe as its head. A cloud of gas emitted from its mouth and I nearly choked on the noxious effluvium. I did my best to hold my breath, but there were ways the evil thing found to break me of that effort. Let’s just say that there were places it touched with its tendrils that caused me to flush red and gasp involuntarily. Nopony had ever touched me there, and I was none too happy about some plant being my first.

I writhed about in its grip, shaking the vines off those unmentionable places as quickly as I could. I knew I had no chance of escape as the thorny tentacles continued to coil tighter and tighter around my hooves. The plant’s fetid emissions made my insides burn, but I kept fighting it in hopes that my companions would be able to free me before the thing could touch me again.

I looked to them, but though they had broken free of their self-imprisonment, they were now backing together in an attempt to fend off more of the vines that were now closing in on them. While I continued to keep the foul thing’s appendages away from me, something caught my eye as it shifted about next to my saddle bags. The clasp that kept Demonslayer safely in its holster had come undone and the gun was dangerously close to slipping free. An idea creeped into my mind that was crazy and would require a miracle to work, but I prayed to Luna and went for it; there would be only one chance at this.

I forced my body to struggle more against all the odds. By now my lungs felt as if a flame had been kindled inside them but the adrenaline that rushed through me forced the pain away and I just kept at it. Then my miracle came true. The shotgun broke loose, carried downward by gravity and the force of my strife. I closed my eyes, opened my mouth, contorted my frame in a way I didn’t think it could go, and then bit down as hard and fast as I could. My teeth found metal and my tongue wrapped gently around the trigger. I opened my eyes to see Demonslayer safely in my control. I had done the impossible.

I didn’t have time to revel in my success though, and quickly brought the weapon to bear. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I simply lined the sights up on the blasted thing’s head and fired.

Blammmmmmmmm!

The shell burst from the barrel, breaking into its scattershot minions. Those pellets tore into the plant and, thanks to the magic of the gun, ignited its soft black flesh. The head of the creature exploded in a fantastical flash of fire. If that weed could scream, I couldn’t hear it though. The blast from Demonslayer had echoed throughout the metal halls and my ears were now ringing painfully. To make it worse, the vines around us all went limp, including the ones holding me aloft, and I fell headfirst to the hard floor below.

Thanks to the ringing and throbbing in my head, I could barely regain my bearings as I scrambled back to my hooves. That may have been a good thing, though, since I wasn’t given time to gather myself fully. We may have escaped the vicious vegetation that had snagged me, but the flickering light from its burning remains illuminated two more of the devilish plants as they approached.

I didn’t question which direction we had come in from or which way we had been going. I simply turned and ran as fast as I could in whatever direction I could that was away from those damned things. Gale and Sprocket had followed suite and were now close on my tail as we galloped along.

We broke through a doorway at the end of the hallway and burst out into a large, two story room. My mind was still cloudy and the thundering resonance in my ears continued to blind my hearing. The only reason recognized where we were, despite the low light, was due to the similarity to my own stable. We had fled directly into the atrium.

Unable to make out much in the darkness, I was now running on pure instinctual memory and made an immediate left, hoping that the rest of the place had been laid out the same as mine. By some goddess-influenced fortune, it was. My hooves beat against the rising metal of stairs and we climbed our way to the second floor. That fortune was short lived though as another of the plants swung in front of us at the top of the steps.

Thpp! Thpp!

Two shots from my newly-silenced ten millimeter security pistol smacked into the plant’s open maw. They did little damage, only causing the creature to flinch at best, but I knew that as effective as Demonslayer’s magical fire was against the plants, I couldn’t risk another deafening shot from it. My ears were still ringing from the last one and I didn’t want to blow out my ear drums permanently.

With haste, we maneuvered past the dazed threat and out onto the catwalks. My original shot with the shotgun, coupled with the clatter of our hooves, had begun to draw the sentient flora out of the metalwork. The pathway to the overmare’s office was crowded with the things, and without our heavy weapons we would never make it across. Instead, I took only a second to check my pipbuck’s scan of the stable’s layout.

Our pause could only be momentary, as the plants were slowly closing in on us, but I only needed that moment to locate what I was looking for. There was only one place I knew we would be safe enough that we could gather ourselves and figure out a plan. Once I laid eyes on it I wasted no time on telling my companions where we were going. I simply bolted off down the only only catwalk that still remained plant free. Gale and Sprocket took little time in deciding to follow me.

At the end of the catwalk I threw my momentum right and across another walkway that spanned the atrium. Where that path ended, a heavy door stood closed. I hoofed the button to open it, but nothing happened.

Of course, dummy, I thought to myself as I remembered a vital fact. This is a different stable and the door probably isn’t programmed to recognize my access.

“Cover me,” I yelled back, hoping they could hear me. “I need to get this door open.”

I heard muffled words through the ringing, but couldn’t make it out. I simply went to work.

Demonslayer may have been useless as a gun right now, but its stock made a perfect bludgeon for busting open the door switch. Once the panel’s internals were accessible, I pulled out the mess of wires and quickly realized I didn’t know what I was looking for. If only Lily had been there with us, she would have had the door open in a matter of seconds.

Sprocket trotted up next to me. I turned to her and before I could actually attempt to speak to her she went to work sorting through the bundle of cables as if she knew what I was trying to do. She seemed like a smart pony, if a bit distractible at times, and I suppose the issue would have been obvious to somepony who lived and breathed that sort of thing.

After a few seconds of digging around in the tangles, using nothing but my dim pipbuck light for illumination, she pulled out a single cable with a small box along its line. Her head disappeared inside her saddlebag and returned with a set of tools which she quickly broke open. Another brief moment later and she had forged a bypass around the little receiver that I knew picked up the clearance codes from my pipbuck.

“Cover your ears!” I barely heard over the ringing in my head. I quickly followed that order. Gale quickly tore two bundles of cotton out of her saddle bags and jammed them in her ears.

Ka-blam! Ka-blam! Ka-blam!

Gale’s battle saddle rung out with a fearsome wall of lead that tore through the encroaching plants. Even with my hooves over my ears, they began to ring with the concussion from her shots again, albeit significantly less.

My friend’s efforts barely even put a dent in the multiplying vegetation, and there were too many closing in on us now that we couldn’t fight them off without causing ourselves to go deaf. I hoofed the button on the hanging panel again. For a second the door didn’t budge, but I knew they could take a bit. Eventually, the steel groaned and the two slabs of metal pried apart; Sprocket’s bypass had worked.

The three of us retreated inside the shelter of the room and the door closed behind us just as one of the plants’ viney tentacles crossed its threshold. The thorny extremity held the door at bay temporarily before it sheared off and the gap slammed shut.

All of us took a deep breath. We knew now that we were between a hard place and another hard place on the other side of which giant pony-eating plants wanted to rip our guts out. The door would hold them out, but it would also hold us in. We had gotten ourselves trapped, but it was not without good reason. I knew our cage would be our salvation. There was one place a security mare should feel at home in any stable: the armoury.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Shotgun Surgeon - When using shotguns, regardless of ammunition used, you are able to do more damage.
New Trait: Lucky Maverick - Your actions tend to be more reckless, but you are also lucky. The goddesses must be watching out for your foolhardy flank.

Chapter 7 - The Vanhoover Incident (Part 2)

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 7

The Vanhoover Incident

Part 2

“The magic of friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria, it's everywhere. You can seek it out. Or you can forever be alone. The choice is yours.”

The lights in the metal room flickered reluctantly to life and I breathed a sigh of relief that they still worked at all. The light from my pipbuck screen was nice, but it wouldn’t have been enough to illuminate the entire space comfortably.

As I took in the familiar sights around me, my eyes fell upon a single pony skeleton propped up against the side of a reloading bench. He or she had been dressed in a security outfit – much like mine – when they died. A helmet sat loose and crooked upon its skull, begging to be straightened again. A dusty old pipbuck still clenched the air around the pony’s leg bones. I strode over to the remains, silent sorrow upon my face.

“I’m sorry, my friend.” The words slid from my mouth like razors against my tongue. I hoofed the controls of the dusty old pipbuck respectfully to avoid disturbing the pony’s rest too much.

Stable-Tec’s pipbucks were an amazing thing. After what was likely decades of inactivity, the little device lit up as it awoke from some sort of deep-coded sleep mode. I flipped over to its Notes tab and discovered a whole series of audio recordings. I selected the earliest one and set it to play as I returned to examining the rest of the room with my companions.

“It’s been two days since the incident with little Cherry.” The voice that played from the recording was a stallion’s. The gentle concern in his voice was a striking contrast from it’s gruff tone. My ears perked up at this, but I didn’t turn my attention away from the ammo I was stripping from the room’s drawers.

“The poor filly’s parents still don’t know what exactly happened to her. Doc says it was some sort of toxin that got into her lungs, but it ain’t anything he’s ever seen before. Don’t really know where it came from either.”

I moved from the drawers to a nearby weapons locker. I tried the handle, but it refused my entry. My eyes began perusing the area for a key that might open it.

“Sweet Cherry’s body had been found inside a small air duct. Normally, it wouldn’t be so odd for a foal her age to intentionally climb into any open nook or cranny they could. This was different though. It looked as if she had been dragged inside it. Her body was bent over at the waist, and jammed tight into the space backwards. The oddest thing about it was that there were no signs of what did that to her.”

My attention landed back on the security guard’s remains as a glint of gold from under his hind leg caught my eye. The keyring appeared to have fallen from his belt when the leather around it dried out and cracked. I made my way back over to where he lay, determining the best approach to retrieve them without upsetting his spirit.

“Shielded Law seems to think one of the ponies here did it. That they killed little Cherry and stuffed her where they thought nopony would find her.”

While I felt sorry for what had happened to the little filly he was talking about, I found it hard to connect to her. These were ponies from long before my time. Their story had ended long ago, and right now, I was in the middle of much more pressing issues of my own.

“You know what though, I don’t believe it for a second. It ain’t like these ponies to go around hurting other folk. You wanna know who I think it was? You wanna know what I think it was?”

When I finally settled on how I would attempt to pull the keys from their prison, I bent down and carefully snaked my hoof around through the dry bones.

“I think… I think it was sentient plants.” At that, my head jerked up, pulling my carefully placed hoof along with it.

Crash!

The poor security pony’s bones scattered across the floor. I had been so careful not to disturb their rest, but how could I not jump at those words – his words. They echoed through two-hundred years of time and space, resounding within the situation me and my companions had found ourselves in.

Reeling myself back to reality, I searched amongst the strewn remains until I relocated the keys. I quickly picked them up and made my way back over to the weapons locker, fumbling through the many keys. There were so many, it would be a crapshoot to find the right one.

“Yeah, you heard me. Plants with minds of their own,” the audio recording continued. “You might think I was crazy, but there’s proof. Last week, a couple of the boys down in engineering found something.”

My curiosity rose ever higher. Had these foul things really been here for that long?

“Apparently, it had forced its way through the outer walls of the stable, sheering off bolts that would have taken tremendous force to break. They said it was some form of black vine, though to me it looked more like a tentacle. The damn thing was covered in thorns, and it…” The guard pony paused and I heard him verbally shudder. “It writhed about as if it were searching for something. Even after they cut it off and patched up the hole it had created, it still continued to squirm about for hours before finally falling limp. Only then was it fully examined, put to flame, and finally burned.”

Key after key I tried in the lock either didn’t fit, or was simply the wrong one. I was quickly growing frustrated with it, but I kept at it. Goddess, if only I could pick a lock.

“This stable was built under the old Vanhoover Botanical Gardens. I wouldn’t be surprised if the plants were exposed to radiation and mutated.”

The recording clicked off, and the relative silence was unnerving. Neither of us exchanged words, for there were no words to be exchanged. The only sounds that I could hear were the clanging of the keys in my hooves and the horrific noises the creatures loitering just outside the door continued to make. The occasional banging they made served only as a reminder that our current sanctuary was only a temporary solution.

Stables were built to survive a direct nuclear blast, but their armouries were made to survive even more than that. However, even the strongest walls would not get us back to the surface. We’d have to do that ourselves. Fortunately, luck was on our side.

With a very satisfying click and the turn of a key, I swung the locker doors open. I might not have liked to use guns against other ponies, but I’ll be damned if what I saw there didn’t make my eyes sparkle. There, sitting on the locker floor, propped up against the wall in order to make it fit into that tight space, was something I hadn’t expected to find in a normal stable armoury: a shiny new battle saddle, fitted evenly with a flamethrower on either side, complete with four fresh tanks of fuel. Stable-Tec must’ve expected the plants above to mutate into flesh-eating flora in the radioactive aftermath of the war.

“Hey Gale, you bring your cooking equipment?” The pegasus gave me a quizzical look as she trotted over to see what I had found. “‘Cause I think it’s about time we sautéd these accursed herbs.”

Gale’s reaction was somewhere between a chuckle and a groan as she facehoofed. “Well, I think I’d rather throw myselves to the plants after that statement.” She looked back up at the weapon. “But, roasting the damn things definitely still sounds more fun. Someone’s gonna have to carry my own battle saddle though. I ain’t leaving it here.”

Sprocket made her way to us now. “I’ll carry it. I’m not much good in a fight, honestly, so might as well make myself as useful as possible.”

We both kinda looked at her. Gale started, “Battle saddles are quite heav—”

“Heavy?” Sprocket interjected. “I know. I’m a lot stronger than I look. Working day in and day out on machinery will do that to you, ya know.”

“Fair enough.” Gale carefully slipped the contraption off her back, and held it out on a hoof for our rust-coloured companion. “Here you go then. Take good care of her.”

Sprocket reached out for it but hesitated a moment as if considering Gale’s warning. Finally, her hoof stretched forward the rest of the way and she took the saddle into hoof. She began to don it as Gale retrieved its replacement from the locker.

With only a rifle and shotgun, her old equipment could easily be managed by a single pony, but the much heavier flamethrowers made strapping this one on a two-pony job. Gale had been able to pull the straps in front together on her own, but the added weight of the weapons made pulling the back side of the harness together a chore. Using my mouth, I fought with the leather belts, bending my neck in ways it probably shouldn’t go in order to get them to fit correctly around Gale’s wings.

I took one of the fuel tanks between my teeth and slipped it into place on the pegasus’ back. Placing another into the slot next to it, I strapped them into place and connected the hoses to their nozzles. The other two canisters I placed into my saddle bags. The fuel would burn quickly, and I would need to swap out Gale’s supply when the first two ran dry.

The cream-coloured pegasus turned to me once everything was in place. “Alright, this time, Dove, use your pistol. The fire may be hot, but it’s not deafening, and I’d like to be able to hear at the end of this.”

I nodded, taking the pistol from its holster and checking it’s ammo load.

“Now, this goes for both of you,” Gale continued, “watch your fire. Make sure your bullets don’t stray or ricochet. Flamer fuel is extremely compressed in its tanks. I don’t really wanna end up covered in gasoline or worse – barbecued – and, I would presume, Dove doesn’t want to either.”

My head moved in agreement again, in sync with Sprocket’s. Gale took her place at the door’s threshold as she signaled for me to press the button. I approached the door switch and carefully put a hoof to it. The thick steel drew open and time perceivably slowed before me.

The many waiting tendrils creeped into the room. A smirk slid its way onto Gale’s face, and a flame glinted in her eye. The fuel lines primed with the kick of a lever on the back of her new saddle and the pilot lights flickered to life.

“Time to smoke some weeds.” The pegasus bit down hard on the trigger bit suspended in front of her and hot flames erupted from the contraption. The metal walls did nothing to reduce the effects of the heat. It was like a sudden wave of hellfire had been unleashed inside of a giant steel-sided oven. However unbearable the temperature might have been, it was still better than going deaf from reverberating gunfire.

Even as time seemed to stop for me as the S.A.T.S. feature of my pipbuck came into full effect, I felt the swelter embrace me. Misconceived as slowing time, the targeting spell instead heightens the user’s perception to a point where their mind is processing data ultra fast. I slipped slowly around the corner and took aim at the nearest abomination, placing all the bullets the spell would allow on its head. As time began to resume, the silenced rounds of my pistol shot forth in tandem with Gale’s fiery torrent.

Thpp!

The first shot flew past its target.

Thpp!

A perfect hit.

Thpp-thpp! Hit-hit.

Time was in full motion again now, and the plant I had put rounds into dropped to the floor. My spell-assisted rounds may have been effective against a single target, but Gale’s fire was sweeping through the abominations like dust on the wind. The creatures were big enough and flammable enough that she barely even had to aim the flames. A simple touch of ignited fuel and those black vines flared up in a brilliant yellow-orange glow.

Their unearthly screams became nothing but harsh white noise in my ears as we finally began to push back out of the armoury. Hoof after hoof we stepped forward through the doorway. Gale was being as conservative with her fuel as she could, firing only to light new enemies up and letting the expanding flames do the rest. My pistol was significantly less useful and so I only placed headshots when and where I could. S.A.T.S. needed time to recharge when used so I limited my exploitation of it, instead utilizing my own two eyes and the handgun’s sights. It may have meant I missed more frequently, but fire was our ally and had more than made up for my inaccuracies.

As the plants dropped and smoldered out, the stench of burning flora quickly began to fill the air and mix with the already familiar odor of combusting flamer fuel. It was a goddess-awful stink that all but turned my stomach. Despite its strength, I ignored it and continued to press onward. My hooves made their way over the piles of dead vines that had already fallen to the catwalk. I was cautious not to step on any of those accursed blue thorns in my strides. Even dead they could still impale a pony who wasn’t careful enough.

Our advance was slow but steady. Many of the plants were, instinctively I assumed, moving as quickly as they could away from the flames, making things easier on us. As soon as we reached the door to the Overmare’s office, I keyed the terminal next to the door on.

STABLE-TEC® TERMLINK PROTOCOL
ENTER PASSWORD NOW

Luna damn it, I cursed to myself. I should have known. If only Lily were here, she’d have this cracked before I could finish this one thought.

The plants had us backed into a corner again, and the security measures were still between us and our goal. To make matters worse, Gale’s flamethrower petered and flickered out. She needed more fuel. Fortunately, the creatures were still shying away from the dimming fire which was still burning on the last few that she lit up. I needed to make decisions quickly. I needed somepony to take charge. No, I would have to do that myself.

“Sprocket,” I ordered, “get this door open.” I slid my pistol along the floor towards our pegasus companion. “Gale, take my pistol and cover her.”

“Dove, what are you do—”

“No questions right now.” I pulled some of the bandages I still had left in my bags out and tore them into much smaller strips before tossing them to my companions. ”Put these in your ears and stay here. As soon as you get that door open, I want you to get inside and hole up there. Find what you need and hold your position.”

I pulled the empty fuel tanks from my saddlebags and set the canisters next to the door. “Sprocket, take these and get Gale’s supply restocked. Don’t use it though unless you absolutely need to. We still need to get out of here, remember.”

Demonslayer slid from its holster and I jammed the wads of bandage fabric into my own ears. “I’ll knock four times, pause, and then knock thrice more when I return. Good luck.”

Gale must have seen something new in me as she didn’t even try to stop me. Both ponies simply just saluted in understanding and went about their tasks. I turned to face the one I had set before myself and took a deep breath of scorched air.

Dovetail, this is insane, I told myself. Too bad this is the best I can do to buy my friends time.

The plants had ceased their retreat and were now encroaching on us once more. I cocked the shotgun with my hoof and took its trigger bit into my mouth. One of the tendrils drew near me, which was the last mistake it made. I raised the weapon, following the length of the vine up to its ugly head and I pulled the trigger. The creature’s head burst into flame and down it went.

It. Was. On.

I charged forward, working the shotgun’s pump action as best I could as I went, adapting the awkward step into my galloping stride. Each shot I fired found its mark, but it was hard to miss with the weapon’s spread. It was a random chance for the enchantment to catch, but even when it didn’t, the pure force of Demonslayer proved to be enough to tear the things apart.

The wads of bandage I had shoved into my ears dampened the effect of the echoing soundwave each shell produced when fired. The impact of those waves was minimized, but it would still get to me in time.

What would also stop me was ammo count. As I passed the end of the hallway I ducked behind the first bit of cover I could find: a pile of metal crates that had been stacked against the wall. I pulled a fresh box of buckshot cartridges from my saddlebags and dumped the cartridges on the ground next to me. I fumbled with the shells, loading as many as I could into the breach of the gun.

Before I could reload in full, a black vine creeped its way around the crates. I worked the pump again and poked around the crate, again following the vine with my sights.

Blam!

Another of the abominations crept up behind the flame-engulfed creature, and I took the second shot. This one didn’t ignite, but it did stun the creature as half of its stem-like body was rent from the whole. A third shot to what would have been its face brought it to ground.

I finished jamming the shells into the breach of the gun and cocked it again. Bringing the weapon to bear, I rushed out from behind my makeshift cover, speeding down the hall. One of the creatures slithered in to block my way, but I refused to slow down and instead put all the force I could into my back legs and propelled myself into the air.

As I soared over the mass of tendrils that reached to grab me, I let Demonslayer throw another shell of flaming scattershot into the plant’s open maw. The lick of the fire singed my mane as I carried to the other side of the burning creature.

The shotgun’s muzzle hit the floor before me. My hoof had been placed on the weapon’s pump and the force from landing served to work the action in one fluid motion. I ducked and rolled, allowing the rest of my momentum to carry me forward once my hooves were once more beneath me.

My vision tunneled as I pressed on, taking more of the abominations down as I went. The gunshots were starting to ring in my ears despite the makeshift earplugs. The next shell tore its way into the fibrous flesh of the creature before me, but the following pull of the trigger returned no more than a jaded click of the hammer.

Reloading the weapon took but a moment this time. I only had four cartridges remaining in the box and not enough time to retrieve a new set from my bags. Chambering the first shell I turned and fired on the creature that had tried to slither up behind me.

The smouldering husk dropped to the metal floor as smoke swirled around me. Behind me, a trail of ashes and scorched vines littered the stable. The fires reflected in my eyes mirrored those burning in my heart. Any of the plants that had stood between me and my destination were no longer any threat.

I was fortunate enough to have found myself with a bit of a reprieve. Time to catch my breath, reload in full, and find a way to gain entry into the compound’s reactor room. The first two tasks took me little time to complete. The third, however, I knew would be much more difficult; once more, I wished Lilybloom were with me.

The door console proved my initial theory to be correct. Like the rest of the controls in the stable, it refused to allow me access. I knew the definition of insanity though. Instead of trying over and over, I input a string of command code that I remembered Lilybloom using. It was a miracle that I had recalled it correctly. The screen I had hoped for loaded up but the enthusiasm from my success immediately curbed. Lines upon lines of indecipherable jarble scrolled onto the display, and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

My ears drooped and a sense of terror gripped me. My chest started to ache as my heart pounded even faster. A tingling arose in my hooves and I began to feel light-headed. Between shortened breaths, I scanned the cipher. The longer I looked, the more I started to recognize words amongst the random symbols and glyphs.

I tried entering one of the words and the system flashed with with an error message. I keyed in another of the phrases, and was met with the same results. Again, I tried at random. And again, I was blocked by an error message. This time, the terminal warned me that I had one remaining attempt or it would lock me out. There was little time to make mistakes.

No, I told myself, taking a deep breath, don’t panic. Think, Dove. Lily mentioned something about this a long time ago. What was it?

I ran through the many memories of my old home, trying to recall when my friend would have divulged the information I needed now. It was tough, though. Lily always spoke about these things in such cryptic jargon that more often than not it just went in one ear and right out the other. And then I found it.

She had been bragging about how she hacked the stable’s maneframe terminal one day. It had proven especially difficult, even for her. The security system nearly locked her out as was the very same danger I now faced. She had told me that a piece of information she had found in a text book one day saved her tail. In a panic not to set off the alarms, she put that information to the test. It stated that on any Stable-Tec operating system, a pony could reset the failed attempts count with the right selection of inputs.

I scoured the lines of code, looking for the correct string of characters; anything between a matching pair of brackets. It was hard to find amongst the otherwise unsystematic lines of symbols and words. My eyes skimmed passed it the first time, but I did a double take when I realised it and sure enough I had found what I was looking for. My hooves moved quickly and I keyed the selection into the terminal. My breath paused momentarily with the stroke of the enter button.

The monitor went black for a second, and my heart stopped. I had locked myself out. Or so I had thought.

A new screen appeared after a short time and I let out a sigh of relief. Displayed now was the system’s main menu. Without much thought to the other options, I quickly hoofed the “Unlock door” selection. The screeching of two-hundred-year-old metal echoed through the stable halls and the door slid slowly open. Without delay, I slipped through its open passageway and it slammed closed behind me.

Beep.

Fuck.

I flung myself to the side as the stream of bullets crashed into the metal where I had been just a few seconds before. It occurred to me now that one of the options I had skipped over on the terminal had been “Disable security.”

Demonslayer had been holstered before dealing with the door’s computer, and it’s fire enchantment was useless against the steel turrets anyway. Instead I unslung my pistol as I galloped forward. Don’t ever let anypony ever tell you that charging headlong into an automated turret is a stupid idea; it’s a really stupid idea. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any other option in the empty hallway.

The turret began to track my movement as it spun up to fire again. Turrets aren’t necessarily smart, though. I slid along the slick metal floor and right up underneath it’s ceiling mount. The barrage of lead pounded into the floor as the sentry reached the limit of it’s downward movement arc. I grimaced as if I had just outsmarted a worthy opponent.

My security pistol didn’t have the highest caliber of ammunition, but it was enough to disable a basic turret. I popped the trigger twice and the rounds pierced into the power cable that dangled from the ceiling into the gun mount, fraying the wires and powering down the unit.

I took a moment and listened. No further beeps reached my ears. Hopeful that meant my endeavor would go unhindered the rest of the way, I holstered my pistol again.

The hallway to the reactor room was not very long, but even so, it was not very well lit despite the many still-functional lights. It was almost unnatural, this murky darkness.

As I opened the door that marked the end of the hall, I was greeted by a burst of air that carried on it a cloud of what I could only describe as smoke. I covered my muzzle with a hoof, but it wasn’t enough to keep the miasma from entering my lungs. I began hacking up a storm involuntarily, which I quickly learned was likely worse for my health than I could have imagined.

The entire room was filled with this noxious pollutant, and while it was stagnant at first, it quickly began to stir. Something else was in here with me.

Through the smoke, a pair of black tendrils with blue thorns short forth toward me. I quickly slipped Demonslayer from its holster and cracked off two cartridges. One hit its mark, setting the cirrus alight. The second shell only grazed the other appendage, but the collective damage was enough for whatever was down there to retract its efforts in a hurry.

These things were the same as the ones on the sentient plants I had encountered so far, save for one thing. They were bigger. Much bigger. I could have turned and ran then, but instead I took a deep breath, held it, and pushed myself into the murky darkness.

My pipbuck’s dim light only afforded me an extra hoof’s worth of vision inside the fog. My eyes were nearly useless, but I knew the layout of the reactor room well. As Stable 61’s security officer, it was my duty to check in with the maintenance team regularly. This meant performing inspections on the stable’s most crucial component often as well. I followed my memory to where I believed the reactor to be.

The breath I had held started to slip before I reached the center of what my mental map said was the main room. I darted forward instinctively, and got lucky. The pollution cleared and I drew a new breath, but what I saw as my eyes took in the clearing made me choke on that fresh air.

Encasing the main reactor was a massive tangle of brambles. Atop the hedge rose three grotesque heads, similar to those of what I could only presume were this thing's offspring.

My eyes moved from taking in the monster to searching for my real goal: the main reactor's control terminal. I knew where it should be, but the creature's "body" had nearly covered the reactor in its entirety. Before I could confirm the terminal's location, I felt a familiar brush against my leg.

Demonslayer whipped upwards and I spun 'round on my hooves. I wasted no time putting the slithering vine down before it could wrap itself around me. A smirk worked its way onto my face only to turn upside down at what could only be described as a roar of anger. Mama plant had finally had enough of my crap.

Tendrils began to writhe all around me, stirring up the noxious fog and wrecking anything in their way. My muscles went limp in fear.

Good job, Dove, I scolded myself. You killed one hornet and in turn woke the whole nest.

That hesitation was my downfall. Or rather my uplifting, as one of the vines ensnared me from behind and pulled me into the air. Demonslayer slipped from my grip and clattered to the floor below, out of reach. There would be no badass heroics from me this time.

I continued to struggle as more of the things wrapped themselves around my legs, restraining me in a manner most demeaning. The more I fought the tighter they constricted. Eventually their grip had grown so taut that it began to hurt, but I didn't give up. That is, not until I heard one of my front legs snap. The pain was immense and the accompanying howl forced its way out. My resolve broke with my leg, and I gave in to the creature's control.

As with the first of the plants we encountered, I felt an uncomfortable touch in places I didn't want touched. However, there was little I could do this time. My will to fight back was gone. I merely hung my head and accepted my fate.

As the creature moved to enter me, a sudden rush of flame whipped through the room, replacing the lingering fog. My tail singed a bit as it passed by and the heat was nigh unbearable. The fire ignited the vines holding me in place and they relinquished their possession. I hit the ground face-first. Somehow I managed to stay conscious, though my head was reeling from the impact. My vision had blurred as well, and as it slowly came back I watched as Gale and Sprocket came bursting through the entryway, guns blazing.

Gale's flamethrower was successful at driving the vines back with calculated blasts of napalm. Sprocket stopped firing our comrade's battle saddle as soon as she spotted me and rushed to my side.

Her eyes fell upon my bent and broken leg, and without a second thought she began to tend to it. Taking one of the larger thorns and tearing it from its disembodied tendril, she strapped it to my leg, straightening it into place. She then retrieved a healing potion from my bags and forced it down my throat.

The potion quickly worked its magic. The healing process was painful, but it was also quick. It wasn’t until I had stopped screaming in agony that she spoke.

"Dove, you alright?" she asked, helping me to my hooves.

"I-I think so. I thought I told you to stay put."

"We did. Just long enough to get what we needed and then come rescue your sorry plot."

"You knew I was in trouble?"

"Not at all. Gale just knew you running off on your own was trouble in itself."

"Haha, very funny." I sighed. "It's probably true though. How'd you find me anyway?"

"Dear, it wasn't hard to follow the trail of burning plant corpses you left on your way here."

I blushed, taking that as a sort of compliment. "Oh. Yeah. Guess I did leave a bit of a mess, didn't I?"

"Ya think?"

A burning vine came crashing down, narrowly missing Gale. She yelled over to us. "I don't mean to sound cliché, but could you two cut the banter and help me out with this thing?"

"Right!" Once assured I could stand on my own, Sprocket turned back to the fray. With her back hoof, she kicked Demonslayer across the ground to me. "Hope you've still got your ear plugs in, Dove. It's about to get loud in here."

I picked up the shotgun and cocked it for action. "I sure do. Though after what this creepy plant was about to do to me, I'd light it up even if I didn't."

Sprocket bit down on the battle saddle's trigger, which resulted in a resounding volley of fire. "What was that, Dove? I can't hear you!"

I shook my head. Honestly, I was glad she hadn't heard me. I wasn't really up for sharing what had happened. Instead I brought my Demonslayer's sights level to my eye and took aim. My first shot fell upon an approaching vine, which flared up and burnt clean off.

The zeal I had to tear this beast a new one was immense, and I made sure every shell hit it's mark. It was hard to miss a creature of this size though, especially with buckshot loaded.

The monster seemed to have an extreme hardiness. Even with the amount of damage we had already done, it still kept up the offensive. A large tendril crashed into the ground as I rolled sideways. Another slammed into the wall where Gale had stood only a moment before. Sprocket charged forward only to be thwarted by yet another.

At this rate we’ll run out of ammunition before this thing goes down, I realized. I have to get to the reactor’s terminal now, or this isn’t going to end well for us.

In between cracking off bullets and dodging lawless vines I searched for an opening to the reactor. Amidst the twisting tendrils and the chaos of our combat with them I would never get that opening.

“Gale, Sprocket, rally on me at the doorway!” I shouted, turning tale towards the room’s entrance. I heard the plant’s attempts to grab me hit the metallic floor behind me, but I kept my focus forward. When I reached the door, I spun ‘round on my hooves. Demonslayer laid down covering fire as Gale and Sprocket drew up to my position.

“Alright kid, what’s the plan?” Gale asked. A vine made its attempt to strike her and she moved to retaliated with the flamethrower, but I drew her back with a hoof and planted a shell into the flesh of the plant. The shot ignited and the tendril withdrew.

“Hold your fire, Gale. I’m willing to bet you’re almost out of fuel, and we’ll need to use it wisely.”

“Alright,” she acknowledged. “So then, what did you have in mind?”

“Sprocket,” I yelled over her gunshots, “continue laying down fire from here. Cover Gale as she advances up the middle with me.”

“Right!”

“Gale, I’ll need you to use your fuel sparingly as we move in, but light up any vines that come too close to us.”

“Roger that, but what do you expect to do when we get close?”

“You let me handle that. Just, when I tell you to run, I want both of you to get out of here. I’ll follow you if I can.”

“Dove,” she said in a much harsher harsher tone, “what exactly are you planning to do? Tell me. Now.”

“I—” I hesitated, realizing just how crazy what I intended to do was. I steeled myself, though. This was the only way my tunneled vision could see to end this. “I’m going to overload the reactor, taking that monstrosity and it’s children with it.”

“Are you crazy‽ That’ll turn this whole damn place into a smoldering crater!”

“That’s exactly why I want both of you to run and get the hell out of here.”

“But what about you? If you get caught in the blast, what do you expect me to tell Lily?”

A vine crashed down between us, bringing our attention back to the fight. I yelled across it to Gale as it retreated, “Forget about me. In the event that I don’t make it out, Lily will understand if it was to protect you two. Just take care of her for me, Gale.”

My words spoken, I rushed forward. I knew Gale was going to protest, so I didn’t give her the chance. I’m sure the thoughts ran through her mind, though. Regardless, I felt the heat of her flamethrower pulsing behind me. I knew she was with me for better or worse.

The charge toward the reactor was short in distance, but the adrenaline flowing through me slowed everything down to a more manageable pace. Rounds from Gale’s battle saddle, in the hooves of Sprocket, rushed overhead, keeping the beast at bay. Where it found an opening to encroach, it was quickly set aflame. I galloped over the charred remains of severed vines, pushing forward all the while. My heart pounded in my ears. Through it all my mind remained clear. I had one shot at this and I was going to make it count.

Demonslayer rose in front of me as I ran. It was hard to aim with the weight of the shotgun bobbing around in my mouth. But I didn’t need perfect aim, I just needed to hit.

The shell rocketed out of the gun’s muzzle, dispersing into its individual pellets. Those pellets crashed into the plant where it had surrounded the reactor. The flame spell didn’t catch this time, but it was enough. The dark vines tore away from their host and fell to floor, creating an opening to the terminal beneath.

Gale and I slowed to a halt and I immediately began to work at the terminal. Fortunately, this one was not locked with a password and came to life on command. The pegasus behind me continued to spew flame from her weapon as the plant attempted to stop me. It was distracting, but I kept my focus centered on what I was doing.

Reactor settings. Manual override. Authorization code... crap. I should have known it would ask for that. This time, I didn’t have time to question it. I had to just assume that Stable-Tec kept its codes the same across its facilities this time. Authorization code 1-16-16-12-5-10-1-3-11.

The terminal hesitated for a moment as it processed the code. I heard Gale’s voice behind me, but I never registered what she actually said. The screen yielded an “override code accepted,” displayed the settings menu, and I continued my work.

Reactor core 1. Power output 200 percent. Reactor core 2. Power output 200 percent. Reactor core 3. Power output 200 percent. The terminal flashed with a warning instructing me to reduce power output levels or an overload could occur. I dismissed the warning with a chuckle.

“Gale, it’s time. Take Sprocket and get out of here. Assuming I survive, I’ll meet you back at Underdog Town.”

Gale paused for a moment. I stared intently at her, showing her my resolve. A nod was all she gave me and she took off back toward where Sprocket was. I made sure the two of them had cleared out and the door closed behind them before continuing.

Reactor core 4. Power output 200 percent. Main reactor core. Power output 300 percent. The screen flashed another warning, this time to tell me that an overload was imminent. I dismissed it again and all that remained was a countdown. Okay, Dove, this is it. You either make it out of this alive or die putting up one hell of a fight.

Thirty.

Sticking as close to the reactor as I could, I reloaded Demonslayer. I was beneath the plant’s line of sight. While it knew I was there, I just had to avoid it’s searching vines while I prepared my escape. As soon as the shotgun was loaded, I burst forth from my cover and ran.

Twenty-five.

For the first few moments I was in the clear. My exit seemed to have gone noticed as I made for the door. My hopes were short lived though when a vine I hadn’t seen snuck up underhoof and snagged itself on my leg. I tumbled forward, slamming face first into the floral ashes that had settled on the hard, metal floor.

Twenty

I felt the plant’s tendrils begin to envelope me once more. That was it; I wasn’t having this a third time. Demonslayer sung out with all it’s fury. Every single shell struck its target. About half of them struck a flame in the creature. The vines retreated and I turned tale myself.

Fifteen.

Breaking through the doorway, I left the monstrosity behind me. More of its spawn lay just beyond in the hallway, smoldering in ruin. My companions had done a fine job clearing a path. I holstered Demonslayer in stride and galloped onward.

Ten.

Hooves to metal, I ran.

Nine.

Down the stairs toward the entrance.

Eight.

A barely surviving plant reached it’s still burning vine toward me, helpless.

Seven.

Avoiding the creature’s reach, I pushed forward through the stable.

Six.

Up the stairs and down the hallway.

FIve.

The stable door drew into sight.

Four.

Fortunately, it was still open.

Three.

Out into the light.

Two.

Blinded. Running.

One.

Tripping. Falling.

Zero.

The ground behind me shook. I felt the earth below my body lift as it fractured. The trees around me groaned as they were uprooted and crashed into one another. It was as if Hell itself had opened up directly beneath me.

I felt myself lift into the air and a rush of heat around me. The explosion threw me away like a wet paper towel, sending me flying amongst the debris. Something struck the back of my skull and I blacked out.

Ugh. The pain in the back of my head throbbed and my eyes drifted open.

Smoke breached my lungs, strangling my throat as I choked on it. The orange light around me flickered. Fire glowed brightly amongst the ruins as I took the sight in.

Strewn about on their sides, trees lay shattered, broken, and burning. The structure of the dome surrounding the gardens had collapsed into piles of rubble and shards of glass. Where the stable entrance had been, a massive crater now took its place. I began to question what had happened.

I remembered running. What had I been running from?

I remembered tripping. What had I tripped on?

I remembered the ground quaking. I remembered the explosion.

Explosion. That’s right. I had overloaded the stable reactor and ran, both from it and that horrible plant-beast. As I left the stable and made my way through the gardens, my hoof had snagged on a tree root, which sent me face first into the ground as it shook and fractured. During the blast, something had smacked the back of my head causing my loss of consciousness. What had that been?

I looked around, trying to spot anything that could have landed the blow. The problem was, in an explosion of that size anything could have done it. I was near to giving up when my eyes landed upon Demonslayer. The shotgun laid silently amongst the wreckage. Somehow it had slid free of its holster and was likely the culprit for knocking me clean out.

I struggled to my hooves in order to retrieve the weapon. My entire body ached, but fortunately this time the bones all seemed to be intact. That didn’t make it any easier to stand, though. I finally found myself on all four hooves, so I stumbled over and retrieved the gun.

My head pounded again and the shock of the impact knocked me off my hooves. I hit the dirt again and this time I stayed there. I had exhausted all my energy just to get this far. I started to fade once more. This time however, I heard something before I lost consciousness completely.

“Dovetail? Dovetail!”

Once more into the void I went.

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: The Fire of Courage - Your actions have inspired your companions. Even when you’ve given up, they will continue to fight on with a ferocious loyalty.

Author's Note

After 2 long years of this chapter sitting in editing hell (and never actually edited), I release to you the uncut, unedited version. Enjoy!

Introduction

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Introduction

“I never knew what mutually assured destruction could be,

until you all shared its balefire with me.”

There are lessons that ponykind should learn, but can’t. Lessons that will never be learned, even after pony civilization tore itself apart.

During the Last Day of the Great War, megaspells from both sides covered much of the world in fiery and horrific destruction. The once magical land of Equestria became silent and dark in a matter of hours.

The story didn’t end there, though. A great number of ponies were able to seek refuge in the Stable-Tec stables. When they opened, the ponies inside spread out across the ruins of the old world to rebuild and start a new life. But something else had survived the cleansing balefire.

While ponies were susceptible to the taint spread by the magic super weapons, guns and ammunition – as well as the undying sins of ponykind – weren’t. It didn’t take long for those who had cheated death to bring those weapons to bear on each other once more. The Equestrian Wasteland became an even deadlier and more brutal place. Only the strongest and bravest were able to survive in this post-apocalyptic hell.

In spite of the destruction, isolated pockets of land were spared from the flames. Most of these places were no paradise though. They were unpopulated areas so harsh on their own that no pony was stupid or audacious enough to seek a life there. After the holocaust, these locations only got worse.

The frozen north is the largest of these spots. And also the harshest. North of the old city of Vanhoover, and spanning the entire northern border of the wasteland, it was a land of ice and snow-covered mountains. It was also a land of mystery. Rumours spread, and those rumours became legends. One of those legends told of a great power that was lost before that fateful day during the war, hidden in the veil of white. Nopony who went in search of those legends ever returned. Those that managed to survive the torrent of snow and freezing winds ended up hopelessly lost in the white-out.

A new legend has begun though. A legend that will follow a young mare and her best friend on their journey through this frozen waste as they seek out that power. But all legends have a beginning, some greater than others. This one, however, starts among the dull, gray metal walls in the depths of Stable 61...

Fallout Equestria
Pure Hearts

Author's Note

Chapter 2 - New Worlds

Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts

Chapter 2

New Worlds

“And that’s how Equestria was made.”

As my vision adjusted to the new light, I felt my jaw drop and my stomach churn. What our eyes were met with was nothing but awe-inspiring. A vast expanse with rock walls that seemed to rise for miles on either side of us. Real, natural plants populated the area, few as there were, and a little trickle of water flowed through the canyon’s center. But the most dizzying thing to behold was the great gray ceiling that seemed to stretch forever onward, enveloping the land. We had learned a lot about the old world in classes, but no amount of knowledge would ever compare to the actual experience of being... out here. As much as I dreamt of leaving the stable before, my imagination failed to come to terms with this new reality. I suddenly felt a fear of the immense size of this place grip me.

Choking down that fear, I turned to Lilybloom to see on her face that she was just as awestruck as I was. Then I noticed that, on the inside of the door, near the top, was a sign that read:

Stable-Tec® Stable

No. 61

Location: Galloping Gorge

“Lily, come here.”

She shook her head in order to return herself to reality and trotted over to where I was standing.

“What’s up?”

“Look at this. It says we’re in Galloping Gorge. Ring any bells? I don’t recall learning anything about it in class.”

“Galloping Gorge... Galloping Gorge...” She repeated this a number of times, running it through her mind. As she did so, she tapped her hoof on her chin. “Aha! I do remember reading something in the back archives about it.”

It didn’t honestly surprise me that she had been in the back archives – the classified archives. Probably hacked into them some day during her free time for the hay of it.

“Well, what did they say?”

“Not much.”

That was helpful, Lily, I thought to myself.

“They did say, though, that it was some kind of natural formation near an old city called Vanhoover. Could be that if we can get out of here, we may find something to point us in that direction.”

I nodded in agreement. Lily told me that Vanhoover should be to the west, and I checked my new pipbuck’s compass – a feature whose purpose I never understood in the stable – and oriented myself with the direction it indicated was west; straight up the cliff in front of us. I also noticed now that my pipbuck, to my surprise, had updated its map to reflect our immediate surroundings and two labels appeared near our location: one for Stable 61 and one for Galloping Gorge. I had no idea how it was capable of this, but I made sure to remember how useful this feature would be for later.

“Assuming you’re right, it should be this way.” I indicated forward with my hoof. “Shall we look for a way up the cliff?” Lily seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. We began scanning the rock, looking for any potential way up.

“There!” she shouted after a few seconds.

I followed her view to a point in the wall until I spotted what she was looking at. A little way down the canyon was a small path that wound its way up the cliff-face, and we wasted no time deciding that that was where we were heading. We both took one last look at the wooden door we had emerged from as we closed it again. It sadly creaked shut, and I shed a tear. We were leaving our friends, our family, our home, and everything else we’ve ever known behind.

It was a longer walk to the path’s trailhead than we expected, though. When we did finally get there, we paused for a few minutes to rest.

“So far so good,” I said, pulling out my canteen and taking a drink. Lily bowed her head in agreement as she swallowed the water she had retrieved from her own bottle. The path here now looked a lot bigger, at least at this level, than it appeared before. We really needed to work on estimating scale in this much larger world.

“And now we climb up, and up, and up. Wanna race to the top?”

Typical Lily, she just had to make a game out of everything; even things she wasn’t good at – like physical trials. Of course, I wanted to take things a little more seriously, but before I could respond, she had already bolted off. I would have just ended up talking to a vaguely pony-shaped dust cloud. Sighing and rolling my eyes, I chased after her.

It wasn’t long before we realized that racing wasn’t actually going to be a smart idea. The path up the cliffside was rough going, rugged, and worn. It quickly narrowed to a point where we had to proceed with caution. Single file and one hoof at a time, we made our way along the rock wall.

The elevation from the floor of the gorge now was quite head-spinning, and we were only about halfway up. I didn’t think I was afraid of heights, but it was much, much, much higher than anything in the stable had been. And there was still more to go.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed onward, with Lily in tow. My vision was focused on the path ahead, looking neither up nor down the rock face. What I couldn’t see though, was what lay beneath me. As my hoof made what must’ve been its thousandth or two-thousandth contact with this new ground, I felt it shift more than it should have.

I had stepped on what must have been an overhang, where the ground beneath its non-threatening surface had eroded down the steep slopes. The earth gave way around me and it took me down with it. I thought I was surely done for, but my freefall was brought to a halt. Watching the dirt crumble on the ground below me, I felt a pain in my rear quarters as I dangled down in the new gap. Lily had my tail in her mouth, and despite using her magic to assist in her endeavor, she was struggling against the odds to hold me there.

Orienting myself to face away from the rock behind me, I put my hooves to the vertical face and backpedaled upward. Assisted by Lily, I finally felt the soft dirt of the path beneath my hooves again. Breathing a sigh of relief, I was glad to be back on that narrow trail. Even more so, I was glad Lily was quick enough to act. Turning to her, I saw she was doing her best to catch her breath.

“Thanks,” I said. “I thought I was going to be a pancake right out of the stable.”

“Don’t...” Her words were slow and intermixed with deep breathing as she tried to catch her breath. “Don’t mention... it. That’s what... what friends are for.”

I smiled. “I’m really glad that it was you that got picked to come with me.”

As her breathing finally returned to normal, she smiled back at me.

“Now, how are we gonna get across this gap?” I shifted around to face our new dilemma. The open fall between where we stood and the other side was too wide to jump across confidently, but there was also no other way up to the top of the gorge that I could see. Then I caught sight of something that might have saved our efforts. “Lily, I’ve got a question for you.” Getting back on her hooves, she trotted over to me.

“How far can you reach with your magic?” I asked.

“I would imagine that if I’ve see it clearly once, I can reach it. Why?” Her confusion was evident in her voice, but it subsided when I explained my idea.

“The wooden door to the stable entrance; if you can use your magic from here to unhinge it and float it up to us, we could use it as a bridge.”

“I don’t know, Dovetail. I’m better with small things.”

“It’s worth a shot though, right? Consider it a challenge.” I knew Lily was the type who liked a challenge, and she proved me right. Her air of over confidence returned almost immediately.

“Challenge accepted!” Her horn began to glow green with her magic, and after a moment, so did the door far below.

At first, nothing happened; The door didn’t budge. I could hear Lily straining to manipulate its weight, her horn now beginning to spark as she continued to focus on it. The amount of concentration and effort she put into it was admirable though. I was about to tell her to stop, but I held my words as I saw the door begin to shift.

The movement was minimal at first – just little jitters back and forth – but slowly it escalated. Then we heard the first rusted hinge give way, breaking under the pressure. And then the other one. The door was now loose from its hold, suspended by my friend’s magic glow. I heard her exhale as the hardest part was over and she could focus on moving the thing through the air towards us.

The closer it got to us, the easier it seemed to be for her. I wasn’t sure if it was because of its proximity or if it was just her confidence increasing, but either way I was proud of her.

Once the door was finally in place, I tested its integrity by putting my hoof on it gently at first. This time I wasn’t going to take any chances of falling to my death. As I slowly applied pressure to it, I felt it give a little under me, but despite its age and the rot in the wood, it held strong. I put another hoof on it, and then another.

Though it groaned with the entirety of my weight now on it, I did eventually manage to fully stand on it. Once I was certain it wasn’t going to break, I quickly scurried across to the other side. Lily then followed suit. At one point she did put her hoof through a bad spot in the wood, but she caught herself and kept going like nothing happened.

As her last hoofstep on the door came down, however, the wood finally resigned itself and broke apart. Lily scrambled a bit to keep from slipping down the cliff face with it, but she was safe. As we watched it crash down the slope I mentally thanked it for holding on long enough for us to cross. When it hit bottom, we both turned without a second glance and pushed onwards – and upwards.

The rest of the trek was relatively peaceful. The trail may have been just as rough, but somehow it didn’t bother me as much after nearly plummeting to my death.

Eventually, we reached the top. Cresting over to the flat ground above, something new took hold of my senses. Disgust, fear, wonder, shock, and a disturbing confusion all rolled into one big jumble of emotion.

The scene that stretched out across the landscape was like something out of a horror film. Directly in front of us were what appeared to be some form of housing – what Lily called cabins – and scattered about were what I assumed were fire pits. My pipbuck registered it as a pre-war campground named after the gorge; it was a place where families once came for fun and recreation. Now it was silent and desolate. Beyond the remains, however, it got worse.

The land was scorched and almost completely lifeless. The hills rolled like waves across the terrain and look to have once been part of a lively forest, probably teeming with animals and plants. The sight before us was a different story. What had once been a bountiful woodland was now an arid grassland. The soil still seemed to be very fertile and dry grass barely struggled to survive all across the plains. Dead trees littered the area, stumps and fallen logs strewn throughout, though a few still clung to life here and there. The war had not been kind to nature here, but it hadn’t killed everything off either. The only thing that seemed to be keeping life here from returning to its former glory was the ever-present cloud cover that blocked out much of the light from above.

I felt my stomach turn again. I wanted so badly to have been able to save it all; I wanted to see it the way it was before. Now I could only picture it in my mind, much like I had done so many times in my imagination, and it was beautiful. But the harsh reality of the matter was that Equestria had become a wasteland.

“What happened while we were were locked away in safety?” I asked aloud even though I knew neither of us could even begin to imagine what took place here after the stable doors sealed. Then, in the distance, something caught my eye.

It looked to be another pony, silhouetted on the horizon. I pointed Lily’s head in its direction with my hoof just before it moved, disappearing over the hills.

“You saw that, right?” I asked her.

“Yeah. What was it?”

“It looked like another pony. Maybe it's somepony from a different stable?”

“Maybe. Should we go find out?”

My stomach answered that question for me. A loud growl emanated from my gut. Lily must’ve heard it too, because she giggled at me playfully. We had eaten a couple hours before we left, but our physical exertion had used up a lot of the energy our meal had provided.

“Oh hush,” I told her. “Don’t tell me you’re not hungry as well.” She didn’t even respond before her stomach echoed mine.

“I guess I am,” she chuckled.

“Let’s get something to eat, then I think we should investigate that figure in the distance,” I suggested. Sliding my saddlebags off my back and opening them up, I realized something was dreadfully wrong; there was no food in my bags.

The protocol for scouting parties that Stable-Tec had provided us made no mention of food. I guess they figured those in the party would be smart enough to pack their own sustenance, and I must’ve just overlooked its necessity in my nervousness of leaving. Lily informed me she had made the same error as she rooted around in her packs mumbling to herself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could you have forgotten something so important?”

I began running things through my mind, trying to find a solution. We could go back to the stable to get some. No, there was that gap in the path now; we weren’t getting back that way. The land, even with the plants that still clung to life, was too barren to even consider harvesting anything, so that wasn’t going to be an option either. Then Lily’s voice cut in.

“We could search the cabins for food,” she suggested. “They don’t look like they’ve been touched in ages. I’m sure there’s something in there to eat.”

“No.” My response was more swift and resolute than even I thought it would be. I hadn’t considered it a possibility until now, but the cabins did probably contain some form of food. Still, something didn’t feel right about it. “I won’t defile this property, even it its residents are long dead. Besides, the food is probably so old that it’s no longer any good.”

“Oh come on, Dove. I know you hold your moral standards high, but you also need to eat. You said it yourself though: Any of the residents are probably long dead; who’s gonna miss it? And some of the food we had in the stable is just as old and still good. Sure it may be a little more deteriorated but it should still have fared decently. I mean they did pack their boxes with more preservatives than food it seems.”

I sighed, knowing that she was right. My stomach rumbled once more and I felt the pain in it this time. Swallowing my pride, I walked over to one of the old buildings, Lilly trotting up beside me.

The cabin’s walls were put together using nothing more than logs, arranged on top of each other, interlocking at the corners. It was rotten, much like the door to the tunnel that lead to the stable, but it was still entirely solid. The glass was mostly still intact too. This place really hadn’t been touched since the war. I only assumed it was due to the sheer remoteness of this locale.

“Fine, Lily, you win.”

Attempting to turn the handle, the door lock refused me entry. I would have tried to pick it, but neither Lily nor I had the skill. That didn’t matter though. A pale green blur and resounding thud later and the door broke free of its rusted hinges, falling to the floor with a crash. Lily had turned around and bucked the door as hard as she could, knocking it free.

“Ever heard of subtlety?” I joked.

She scoffed a little and rolled her eyes a bit, then made her way into the open doorway. I hesitated a moment before following her in, still wrestling with my objections to this whole situation.

As I entered, the stale air touched my nose. All the odors of the abode came to me at once, and it proved overwhelming to my mind. I grew lightheaded for a moment and stumbled backwards a little bit. One of the smells was stronger than the rest, and much more vile. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew I didn’t care for it.

The inside of the cabin was dark and dreary, with the only source of illumination being the gloomy light that entered through the dingy windows; it wasn’t that different from the metal walls, dim bulbs, and sterile environment of the stable, come to think of it. The log walls continued from the outside, the decorations were very much old world, and the appliances were of a lower quality – definitely not the high-tech gadgets back home. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture however, but I dismissed it as only being a recreational retreat instead of some pony’s permanent home. No need for unnecessary clutter when one was only intended to stay here for a couple days. Then I saw the most disturbing thing in here, and the source of that abhorrent smell. Lying on one of the beds, all curled up in a sleeping position, was a pony. Only it wasn’t a pony anymore.

Wrapped in the blankets, the decaying skeleton of a now nameless soul slept peacefully. The sight made me heave, but I held my bile down and quickly turned away from it in disgust and back to Lily. She obviously hadn’t noticed the cabin’s third occupant as she was still hard at work going through the cabinets, pulling out any food she found and organizing it all on the counter. There were things I recognized from the stable, though the packages were deteriorated and covered in dust. I still wasn’t sure what their two-centuries-old contents would be like, but if they were at least tolerable, they would keep us alive.

So far she had found just a meager amount of things, but it would be enough to last for at least a day; maybe more if we rationed it well. When she finished, we packed it all into our saddle bags and started to walk back out the door. Before I stepped fully out though, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

“One second Lily, I’ll be right there,” I called to her, and went back into the cabin.

Over by the dead pony’s bed, standing up against the corner of the wall, was an old pump-action shotgun – probably belonging to the sleeping skeleton. It still looked to be in working order, and a box of 25 shells sat on the floor next to it. I wasn’t one for resolving conflict with weapons, and would much rather solve things with diplomacy, if possible, but I figured it would be nice to have something more than my security pistol in case we needed it. I picked it up and slung it around my neck, slipping the box of shells into my bag.

I then stepped up next to the bed, still slightly disgusted. The pony’s bones weren’t the same shade of white that I had always seen in pictures and books. They seemed to be well preserved, though, thanks to the relative safety the cabin provided from the elements. I couldn’t tell whether it had been a male or female, nor did I really care to know. I simply closed my eyes and pulled the covers over it both as a sign of respect and simply to hide it from view.

“Thank you. I’ll take care of it,” I said softly, even though I knew the pony couldn’t hear my words.

Exiting the cabin, Lily took one look at my new acquisition and immediately asked where I got it. When I explained, she seem appalled at the idea of the dead pony laying there without her even noticing. She did agree with my reasoning behind taking it though. I still felt wrong about looting from these ponies’ centuries old belongings, but it was evident to me now that we were going to have to if we wanted to last the week the Overmare gave us out here.

We continued to loot the remaining few cabins until our saddle bags were full. I continued to silently protest to myself how wrong it was, but I couldn’t come up with a good reason to stop, beyond my own moral views. Now we had a couple of bandages, two healing potions, and enough food to last us almost the entire week. When we finished packing everything away, we sat down by one of the fire pits and pulled out some of our new food to eat.

Looking over the box that I grabbed, the red parcel was decorated with an image of the contents inside and fancy text that read “Dandy Colt Apples – Uh-oh, Better Get Some Apples!” I chuckled a bit at the thought of ponies scrambling to the store before the war turned nasty and the megaspells dropped in a frantic effort just to get apples.

Opening the box, I found its contents to be a little less appealing than the packaging made it look. The bite-size apples inside appeared to be badly rotted after these 200 years of sitting around, even with the amount of preservatives they were in. Their skins were brown and revolting, and the smell was horribly rancid. The very idea of putting something that disgusting into my body just made me cringe. I suddenly wished we had thought to eat a bigger meal before we left the stable.

However, I doubted that any of what we found would be much better, so I ponied up and swallowed a couple as quickly as I could. It wasn’t quick enough though. The intense flavor still made my tastebuds cry out in delight. It tasted exactly like I imagined it would have right off the shelf, so I kept eating until the box was empty. I noticed Lily having the same issues with the food’s age, but I imagine she also had the same shocking experience as I did when she tried them. She continued eating until there was nothing but air in her box as well.

Our pipbucks began to click a little bit. Looking down at mine, it indicated a slight increase in the radiation level of my body. The food must have been irradiated, either from the war or from being dosed with a small amount from the factory to help preserve it. It was only a negligible amount, however, but we would have to be careful with how much of this stuff we ate; small amounts of anything can add up quickly if you aren’t careful.

My stomach was no longer hurting now. Finally feeling full again, or at least significantly less hungry than before – I couldn’t tell which it was – I brought the pipbuck up to my eyes. it was still only about 2:00PM. The soft, diffused light above had moved along in the sky from East to West, and I made a mental note of this to help with directions in the future. Then I remembered a feature of the device I had read about, and an idea came to me.

The Eyes Forward Sparkle (or E.F.S. for short) was a function of the pipbuck meant to detect the locations of other creatures, even through walls. It also was able to determine the level of hostility presented by those it detected. We had no real use for it before with our stable being so small, so I had always left it off. I turned the feature on to see if perhaps the shadow on the horizon was anywhere close to us, and a little red mark appeared to the West. Even though I never had seen it before in the stable, I knew exactly what it meant; there was a hostile... something nearby. I couldn’t be certain if it was the mysterious figure or not. However, when I turned to face in its direction, I saw nothing but the deserted hills.

“What’s up?” asked Lily.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing.” I said, telling her about the red indicator. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Well, we should still be cautious. Who knows what’s out there.”

“Agreed. Well, shall we go investate that mysterious figure we saw?”

Lily nodded and stood up. I did the same, gathered my saddle bags, and we headed off. My bags felt a good deal heavier than before with the food that had been packed into them, and the shotgun added just that much more to the load, but I was an earth pony, so I was naturally a little stronger and heartier than my unicorn friend. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

The land we traversed was just as interesting as our first impressions made it out to be. The hills rolled gently, yet slowly grew higher. The dry grass blew softly in the wind, and made a strangely soothing sound as it rustled about. While it was not the smell of fresh daisies, the breeze carried with it the smells of nature. As we pressed onward, large peaks rose in the distance. It still wasn’t my dream world, but it was definitely proving to be better than the same monotonous walls of the stable.

I had intermittently been watching the red tick mark that my E.F.S. displayed. It grew brighter and brighter, indicating that whatever it was had gotten closer to us, or us closer to it, depending on how you looked at it. This must’ve been a new, handy feature of this 4000 model; the manual to my old one only ever mentioned indicators that flashed faster or slower to specify distance. We rounded the top of a hill and there it was – probably the ugliest thing I had ever seen, and the source of the mark we were following.

It looked like an insect of some form, vaguely like the parasprites we had learned about, but it was also vastly different. The body seemed to be bloated and long, sharp spines encompassed the creature’s body. It didn’t seem to notice us yet as it flew about, wings buzzing. Then I accidentally kicked a rock, and it quickly turned, shooting one of its spines at us. Fortunately it missed, but only barely. I didn’t think I could ever pull a gun on another pony, but this thing was not a pony at all; it was far from it. Plus, it had attacked us first.

I drew my pistol out as quickly as I could, cocking it and taking aim at the monstrosity. Being an earth pony, I had to manage all of this with my mouth, so I was a little slower than say, a unicorn would be; and I suffered for it. Before I could fire off a shot, another spine came flying through the air, forcing its way straight into my front right leg.

I howled in pain, dropping the gun in the process. Somehow I was still standing though, and was fighting back the tears that I felt welling up. I was livid now, and picked the pistol back up, putting my tongue to the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots exploded from the barrel of the weapon. The first one missed, kicking up a dust cloud as it dug into the ground somewhere in the distance. The second bullet found home. As the round made contact with the creature, it popped like a balloon, bits and pieces of it going everywhere. I couldn’t take it anymore; I lost it.

Between the pain in my leg, what I just witnessed, and all the events that led up to this point, I couldn’t hold anything back now. I found the nearest bush – dead or alive, it didn’t matter – and chucked up the little food that was in my stomach. Lily turned away from me in disgust. I was honestly surprised she didn’t lose her stomach too, but I’m guessing she had her eyes closed when I shot the thing.

I quickly pulled out another box of food – Fancy Buck Snack Cakes this time – and ate them without giving the appearance, or the radiation, a second thought. I would have liked to savor it more but I just needed something to settle my stomach again, it didn’t really matter what it tasted like.

When I finished, I wiped my mouth clean, holstered my gun which had once again found the ground, and sat down to look at my wound. The spine was still stuck there like a growth, embedded in the skin. I had began to bleed lightly around it, though I knew the only reason it wasn’t seeping out faster because of the spine itself plugging the hole.

Lily, who had the healing potions, came over to me with one held in her teeth. Even though my training told me not to, I began to slowly and painfully remove the spine. The only reason I went against education was because we had a healing potion handy that would magically fix me up good as new. I had never actually been shot before, so I didn’t know what to expect beyond what my manuals had said. As I had guessed, the blood flow increased the more I pulled it out. Unfortunately, so did the pain. I whinnied and screamed the entire time, cringing with each millimeter that it moved. Once the barb was free, I hastily wrapped a bandage around the wound and drank the healing potion Lily had brought to me.

I felt its magic begin to work, filling my body with a happy, healing feeling, and in short order I was fixed up. Soon enough, we were on our way again. It was, however, beginning to get dark as the sun began to set behind the mountains and the clouds. We decided that it was probably going to be much more hazardous at night, and considering how bad it was proving to be during the day, we hurried as fast as we physically could.

Eventually we came across another new sight. Stretching along perpendicular to our path, from horizon to horizon, were two lengths of metal rails running in parallel with each other. Wooden beams crossed beneath them, tying them together. I knew what this was though: It was an old world railroad.

My eyes tracked along it in the fading light, first to the south, then back north. That’s when I saw it. There was a series of lights maybe a mile or two up the tracks; they were well within walking distance. Lights meant ponies, and ponies meant shelter. The night was only a few minutes behind us, so we were eager to take our chances. We pushed onward toward the welcoming glow of civilization, hoping our assumptions would be right.

The dark finally set in, and it was just as awe-inspiring as our initial venture outside. The gray blanket above had torn in several places; portals to what lay above, through which we could see even further beyond. The holes were deep, and dotted with lights, some that flicked and others that didn’t. But there was no time to stop and admire them. The lights on the ground had drawn near enough for us to tell what they were. Sure enough it was a town that lay nestled between the railroad tracks and the mountains. And it was full of ponies – real ponies – living out here in the wastes.

My thoughts turned back to the figure on the horizon. I only assumed it was one of the ponies from this town. And then a hoof on my shoulder stopped me in my stride. Looking up, I jumped back a little in surprise. I had found myself face to face with a flat, metal surface. Lily had stopped me before I ran into it, unlike back in the stable atrium.

Stepping back from it, I could see it in full detail. It was nothing more than a rusty piece of sheet metal fashioned into a sign and attached to two stakes that had been crudely driven into the ground. The spray painted writing on it read:

Welcome to Crossroads Junction

Elevation: Here

Population: Us

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Hunter - In combat, you do 75% more critical damage against animals and mutated animals.