Buzzing. That’s the first thing I notice, a constant buzzing all around me. It’s almost like my head is filled with bees or wasps. What the hell is making all that noise?

I pause for a moment and look behind me to see if I can find it, but all I see are rocks and dirt of the desert landscape. Whatever it is, it must be close if I can still hear it. I look up at the overcast sky, dots of green and brown color the clouds. That can’t be good. I turn back to the task at hoof, deciding to ignore the buzzing until later.

Further off in the distance stands a small town. Quite a few buildings still stand, but are in a state of disrepair. I continue down the ‘path’ toward the town, my head bobbing as I walk. I begin to spot holes dug into the ground everywhere. The holes are easily big enough for me to fit through, if I wanted.

Every-so-often I think I see something out of the corner of my eye. A figure standing on the far off ridge, something ducking down behind a rock, a shadow slipping into a hole. I decide to ignore these as well. Whatever they are they have me surrounded, I’ll get inside one of the buildings then figure out what they are. Don’t run, they might see it as a threat.

I eventually end up on a road, a destroyed one but still a road. Once I get close enough I see that none of the building can be considered salvation either. A few figures move in between the windows or along the roofs. Great, that leaves me with taking my chances at trying to find an unoccupied building or go into one of the holes. There’s also plan ‘Z’, I can try fighting them where I stand, I doubt I’ll last more than five seconds. Buildings it is!

I reach the edge of the town. I nervously look around, some of the beasts are no longer trying to hide. The buzzing must be attracting them. I look around for the source of the noise but still find nothing. Slowly I start heading for one of the buildings. As soon as I move one of the beasts bursts out of the ground and slashes at me with its claws. I didn’t even feel the ground tremble before it came. Come to think of it, I didn’t even feel the ground the entire time I was walking here…

With a start, I jolt awake screaming, momentarily thinking that my head is gone. Taking a few deep breaths I try to calm myself, I’m still alive and I don’t want that to end with a heart attack. Once I finally calm myself to the point that I’m not hyperventilating, I nearly start again when I hear the buzzing.

The buzzing is different though, more quiet, subtle. Looking up I see a light hanging above my casting a harsh light on everything. I sigh in relief, and start looking around the rest of the room. Metal walls surround me on all sides, even the floor and ceiling are metal. A door stands at the far end, it’s one of those mechanical doors that looks like it can handle an explosion. In the corner near the door is a pale blue saddlebag. A few shelves line and counters the wall to my right, the shelves are covered in scraps of metal.

A protectapony lies in the corner of the room, or at least what used to be a protectapony. The robot is completely cannibalized for parts from how it looks. The entire front armor of the robot is gone as well as a good amount of circuitry from inside. The head is on one of the shelves, the only part left of it is the outer casing.

Looking down I find I am lying on a steel table, rather clean one at that. A dark grey mare stares back, my coat is even darker than the steel walls. A few ribbons of dull red streak down my purple mane. I swipe a strand away from my eye. I go back to looking around the room trying to figure out where I am, and my heart falls.

I don’t remember anything! Nothing! Not where I am, what I was doing, or who I am! Vainly I try to bring forward some sort of memory but nothing comes to mind. “Oh, fuck,” I mutter and start looking around the room frantically. Okay, calm down, there has to be some clues here as to why I’m here or who I am.

The only thing that stands out is the saddlebag near the door. I jump down from the table and walk over, mildly surprised at how well I can walk given the circumstances. Not, injured… So, what else can cause me to lose my memory? Undoing the clamp to the bag I start rummaging through it.

The first thing I pull out is what seems to be some sort of camouflage colored armor, or something along those line. There are two bracers which would cover the lower half of the forelegs, they are made of a either a very tough plastic or light metal. The chest piece is made of the same material, though it only covers between the shoulder and the chest itself. All the pieces are held together with tough, camouflage colored fabric. A hood spans out from the back of the neck and is covered in ‘scales’ of the same material. I place the armor beside me and pull out some other bracers, it takes me a few moments to realize they’re for the hindlegs.

After the bracers I pull out a pistol. It has wire running from the bottom of the grip up the where the barrel is. A plasma pistol… how do I know that? Shrugging it off, I put the pistol on top of the hooded combat armor, then I notice the holster built into the chest piece of the armor. I pull a few spark packs out of the bag next, presumably for the pistol.

Finally, at the bottom I find a note.

'I’m sorry.'

“Gee, thanks a whole lot, asshole,” I mutter. Not like you could have told me who I am or where I am. Could have also given me food or water, but I would prefer my memories first. I throw the note back into the bag, and I start to put on the armor. After a little struggle to get the main piece on I go to put the hind bracers on and spot my cutie mark. It looks like a kite shield, a rather heavy and decorated one, though it is hard to see against the color of my coat. The crest of a dragon stands in the middle and large bolts run along the edge of the shield. So, I’m a knight? I think those died out couple hundred years ago.

I push the thought to the back of my mind and holster the pistol, throw the bag on my back and then start exploring the rest of the room. There’s pretty well nothing of value, only scrap really. I do manage to find a few spark packs in the piles of scrap on the counter, though about two thirds of them are empty. After that, all I find are small tools like a hoofheld welder, screwdrivers, and some spark batteries. After a quick double check of the room, because there’s really not much to look through, I head to the door.

“Alright then, nothing to find here. I better damn well be able to find something.” I press the button and with clanking gears and hissing pistons the door retracts into the wall.

The hall outside is dark and grey, the metal walls adding a certain sense of caution. Only a few of the lights in the hall work, and out of those half flicker on and off. Looking out, the hallway goes in two directions then the two halls once again split once they reach the far end. With a sigh I flip my hood over my head and start down the right hallway.

Must be underground, bunker or maybe some type of maintenance tunnel. Reaching the t-section I find that one of the halls has collapsed on itself. That leaves one path that leads down to a small metal door, the kind you would usually find in bunkers or other such underground places. I press the button, nothing happens. Must be locked. I press my ear to the cold metal, to see if I can hear anything. But, the humming of generators and lights block out most of what I can hear. I head back out and toward the left hall.

This one proves more fruitful when it splits off in its different direction. Down the left hall are two doors, one on each side of the hall, most likely heading to rooms. To the right is a large door a bit further down. I decide to search the rooms first. But, as I get closer I begin to hear the crackle of electricity.

Opening the first door, the one on the left, brings me to a crackling generator. Small bolts of energy leap from the coils on the machine. The air smells thick with ozone. I close the door and quickly head to the other one, not wanting to be fried by the chaotic machine.

The next door leads to a room lined with monitors. Buttons flash on the array of consoles and the screens blink and flicker every so often. A few lockers line the back of the room, with a terminal in the middle of the back wall. Still curious as to where I am I take a few steps into the room hoping one of these terminals will hold the answer. I head for the one in the back next to the lockers since it seems to be the main terminal.

I turn it on, but am confronted by a prompt to enter the password. Without the tools, or the password I can’t open it. I quickly move on the the next. This one opens without resistance and gives me a small list of possible commands. The first one is blinking warning, the next two are logs, and the last one is ‘Door override’. With a shrug I click the first one, and a message appears on the screen.

*Warning, collapse detected. All doors have been locked to prevent any flooding or gas leaks. Alerting maintenance teams… no response. Contacting authorities… no response. Advised course of action… Remain in a safe location until authorities arrive.*

Yeah, that ain’t happening. I click on the first log.

Damn, how did I end up down here? I should be on the front lines taking it to the zebra bastards, but instead I’m down here. Get someone else to do this shit! I don’t think stopping a town from flooding in it’s own shit is as important as ending this war.

You know, scratch that. A town flooding in shit is pretty bad. But, she still could have found someone else. Of course she could have, but she put me down here because that whole ‘shooting’ accident. I tell you, the kid came out of nowhere, it has nothing to do with my eye!

… Best get back to work, my partner is calling me.

Crackshot signing out…

Why do we even have a server room down here?

I groan a little. I’m in a sewer, or at least the maintenance wing. Good thing is that it’s been a few centuries since it was last used. Still not quite a place you would want to wake up without any memories. I move onto the second, and last, log.

Damn it, we have megaspells why not just drop them on the fuckers! They don’t deserve any better.

Just got word my cousin died on the battlefield. All because Celestia is too afraid to end this in one go. Even with thousands of ‘her little ponies’ dying out there, she does nothing! We’re more like ‘her little pawns’.

No, I’m not going to go after her. I just need someone to be angry at, and I’m already too pissed at the zebras. Just that everything is so… grim. I’ve lost three family members to this war, and I’m stuck here swimming through shit.

You know what, fuck it! I’m going over to the front to solve this whole thing. They might not want me there, but they sure as hell can’t stop me. Besides, nopony will notice that a sewer worker is gone.

Crackshot signing out.

I sigh, the logs having proved to be fruitless. One last option, I click it and wait for something to happen. The only thing that happens are two words appear on screen.

Doors unlocked.

“Of course,” I mumble. I get up and head back out into the hall. There’s more pressing issues now than exploring. Firstly, I need to get out of here and figure out what’s going on. As I walk down the hall I start making a list of things I can remember.

I know there was a war over two hundred years ago which has left Equestria as a radioactive wasteland. Odd how I remember a vague date. The Wasteland is not a friendly place, you’re more likely to be shot than helped. I know there are places called Manehatten, Ponyville, Trottingham, Friendship City, but I can’t remember anything specific about them. I clearly remember weapons and armor, or partly about the armor.

I press the button to the door, with a mechanical hiss it opens revealing a dark tunnel ahead. At my hooves is the skeleton of a pony, he was reaching for the door when he died. I whisper a quick prayer to Celestia and walk around the corpse into the tunnel beyond. I can’t see far in either direction, the only light in the tunnel is the one coming from the hallway I just came from.

Long cracks run along the surface of the sewer tunnel. Even a few piles of debris line the wall. Looking down at the skeleton I see a flashlight at its side. Seems fate smiles upon me. I click the flashlight on with a smile. The smile instantly dies when the flashlight does nothing. Yes, fate smiles upon we as it kicks me. With a sigh I shove the thing into my bag and head back down into the maintenance tunnel. Maybe I can fix it.

I go back to the room I woke up in and put the flashlight onto the table. After a little scrounging around I find a few parts I can use. With the tools and pieces I fix the cracked casing, replace a few wires, and insert a new spark battery. This time it flickers to life when I click it on, the beam is dim and weak but better than nothing. As an afterthought I fashion a way to clip it onto my armor so I don’t have to carry it in my mouth, considering where I found it probably a good idea.

I flip on the hood and clamp the light on it at about eye level. After finding I have a talent at fixing, I decide to throw some of the tools into my bag. For a moment I wonder if there is anything else I can try making, but quickly decide I’m best getting out of here and figure out where I am.

Heading back into the hall I glance to the right. I never actually checked that locked door, there might be some clues. With a groan I head down the hall and over to the door. I draw my pistol and inch over to the button that opens it. Taking a deep breath I press the button and with mashing gears and the sound of metal on metal the door slides open.

I yelp and jump back when a skeleton fall to the ground by my hooves. After realizing that nothing is after me I holster my pistol and walk around the skeleton into the room. The first thing I notice is that the air seems a little thicker and looks almost like I’m underwater. Gas, good thing I didn’t shoot I guess. Can and empty soda bottles litter the ground, most of them near the door. Aside from that there are two sets of shelves with several metal boxes on either. All of them are open.

A quick search gets me a rad-away, a health potion, and another spark battery, but no clues to who I am. I pack away the few things I found and go back out into the hall and head back to the sewer entrance. So, no clues, no clue who I am, where I am or what the hell I’m doing here. As I walk into the sewers I click the flashlight on and draw my pistol.

The beam of light doesn’t illuminate too much, certainly not enough to see the end of the tunnel. But, at least I can now see where I put my hooves, not great but an improvement. I glance back at the light coming from the maintenance tunnel, am I really about to leave, there could still be something in there. Quickly I push the thought to the side deciding it’s better to know where I am before I do anything else.

After a few minutes of walking the light from the maintenance tunnel is all gone leaving the only light from my little flashlight. Skittering noises echo through the darkness, making me constantly check over my shoulder. Every-so-often I can hear the boom of thunder from the outside. I need to get out before the rain starts washing through the sewers. My light flickers, and I pause for a moment, hoping that the flashlight doesn’t die. While I do have a replacement battery, I would rather not be in the pitch black for even a second with the noises around me.

A little further down the tunnel I find a ladder built into the wall leading up to a manhole cover. I quickly make my way up hooking my hooves around each rung to climb. I brace myself up with my hindlegs to free up my forehooves to push the manhole cover off. The rusted metal screeches as it comes out with a surprising amount of ease.

I take a deep breath of the ‘fresh’ air as I climb out. I let out a sigh of relief, happy to finally be out of there, but only lasts until another crash of thunder shakes the very ground under my hooves. The swirling green and brown clouds above flash with lightning. Maybe I should get out of the open, I think then I start looking for some shelter.

The manhole had come up into a small decrepit town, as most towns in the wasteland. Most of the houses are broken in some way or another, though still standing. If the houses ever had paint it doesn’t show, instead they are dirty and dull. Trees dot the area in between the houses, with yellow and brown grass growing around them. Well… still no clue where I am.

I pick a small house and head for it. I pause for a moment as I remember the dream I had, taking another look around I reassure myself that it’s not the same town. Another boom of thunder snaps me out of it and I start heading for the house again… that is until I hear someone behind me.

“Hey boys, looks like we got ourselves some new meat!”

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added: Toaster Repair Pony-- You gain +5 to Repair and +5 to Science.