Fallout Equestria: After Burn
Chapter 5 - Rusted Feelings

The intercom erupts and the voice is finally heard, my ear twitches in the direction of it and I pause in place as whatever is behind me shifts and pivots in place.

“You’re lost. Real lost.”

Another click, but this time the machine moves to my side and I get a brief glance at its body. It resembles a mare but made of complete metal. It’s gears and metal shifts back and forth with each movement and I turn white as it steps in front of me.

“Meet Med, our trusty defence mechanism. We’re going to have to ask you to place everything you have on the floor in front of you, and then we can decide on who you are and what to do with you.”

My entire body shakes, the metal being in front of me is bigger than the average mare but absolutely terrifying. Her face is covered by a face like metal mask of a normal mare, except the same colour as the rest of her body. Her sides shift and lock into place. I place my things in front of me extremely slowly and await the next response. I fucked up big time, how am I supposed to get out of here now? Before with the other pony in the hotel was easier because it was only one, but now there’s a hunk of a metal monster towering over me ready to kill me as if it was a chore. I sit there awkwardly for a solid five minutes before anything happens. I’m ready to speak before I’m cut off by the intercom stallion once more.

“Med will lead you to the back of the bar, there you will be greeted by two stallions, follow them and we will transfer you.”

Confused and afraid, I comply but hesitate sharply. My side is soon pressed firmly by the metal husk. The metal mare trails behind me as I’m lead into the back of the bar’s main room, where the intercom pony proves themselves right. Two bulky stallions stand in front of me, and immediately begin searching my belongings until they eventually remove all from the saddlebag and toss it to the side, sorting through my items and handing them to others where they soon leave my sight.

“Where is my stuff going?” I choke up, somewhat afraid to even speak.

The stallions don’t respond but instead move to the side, allowing entry to a door where Med goes first, which shows off the back of her head that’s held together by several wires and circuits. I follow close behind and I’m greeted by a rather large plaza looking room. There’s dozens of malicious seeming ponies talking and roaming as some turn to me and question my existence merely by looking at me. The machine turns and I turn with it, rhythmically moving throughout the room into another room. When does this end? I need to escape somehow but I can’t just go through with it with this many bandits roaming around ready to pounce on my helpless ass at any chance they get. The final room I’m brought to is rather small, Med even struggles to get inside the room herself as a stallion sits in the far part of the room, sorting papers and begins to mumble under his breath.

“Oh, you’re here already. Take a seat.”

I confusedly take a seat and look around the room. It’s somewhat clean and as soon as I’m about to speak, I’m cut off by the stallion.

“Name.”

“I’m sorry what?” I respond timidly.

“What’s your name? You have a name don’t you?”

“D-Diprivan.”

He looks up at me and his eyebrow raises ever so slightly and a stallion wanders over and hands him a pin. The pin that was attached to my lab coat when I was housed in the stable.

He speaks up while staring at the pin, a mild smile forming on his face. “A doctor, huh?”

“Uhm, well yes but-”

“Perfect.” He stands up and slips the pin onto my clothes and wanders near the entrance where I came from.

“You’re wondering where you are, and that’s fine and dandy but you see people don’t make it this far. If you hadn’t had that pin on you, I’d probably would have had Med rip you to shreds by now. Luckily for you..”

He heads back to me, slamming a hoof down onto the desk and looking directly at me with a tinted grin.

“We need a doctor for our lootings. You’re the new doctor here, follow orders and you survive as much as we do. Easy right? If you accept, which you will. You’ll follow Med to a local area of the city where a group is waiting and go through with whatever orders they give. Fail to accept this and you’ll be dead in a matter of seconds right here and now. What do you say?”

Well that doesn’t give me much of a choice now does it? I nod and mutter a response from my mouth. He nods back and a stallion forcefully brings me up, hands me my saddlebag which seems much lighter now and lightly pushes my back out the room. What’s left in my saddlebag is some medical equipment and rations. Med was already on her way out as I quickly caught up with the hunk of metal. We wandered out of the room and out of the back of the bar, walking past the horrific display in the center of the room. We head out of the bar. The sunshine back on my face, I sigh a breath of relief despite my circumstances.
Med walked like a mare, looked like a mare despite the metal, but what confused me was the mask she wore. The mask was an emotionless display of a mare’s face, but it seemed hollow and empty, void of all emotion. I walked beside Med and never really thought about something important. Does it speak?

“So.. do you speak?”

No response.

“I’m just very confused right now.”

No response.

I’m just going to shut up, it probably doesn’t speak. However something bothers me about this thing. It seems different than just a regular robot. We’ve had AI in the Stable before however I never really took much time actually thinking about it. Does it have an AI? Can it think? Can it feel? Probably not. The beating sun shines on my face, and on Med as we walk. The sunshine bounces off her strangely clean metal coat. My hoof instinctively raise up to feel the metal purely out of curiosity. Med turns her face and simply stares, no emotion, no response.

“I’m sorry it’s just, I don’t quite understand what you are.”

Yet again, not a response. I give up on my attempt at communicating with it and simply stay quiet for the entire journey. We eventually make our way towards the small camp just outside of an old general store.

“We got a new one” I hear one of the stallions muster, who are all much more built than I am. They wave somewhat nicely and flag me down to come closer. I do, but hesitantly.

“You don’t gotta be afraid bud, we ain’t gonna do anything to you. Unless you’re too much of an idiot to understand basic commands.” They exchange laughs and look back to me.

A mare nods, looking up from her drink and sizing me up. “He’s good enough, as long as he knows how to clean a wound I’m sure he won’t cause trouble.”

I refrain from speaking and Med soon follows up behind me. I see the bandits avoid eye contact with it and it does the same, heading off into the general store. Unaware of Med, I simply meet with the others and take a few quick glances around in my general area to get familiar. I hear muttering between the bandits about Med, and I pretend not to hear.

“Can’t believe you tolerate that thing, fucking freak.”

“What?” I respond as I shuffle in place.

“The metal mare, you hadn’t noticed? That thing is fucking creepy. No wonder Charcoal keeps it close. Basically an indestructible bodyguard.”

I didn’t mind it to be honest, it wasn’t creepy but it was more enticing than anything. It was interesting to see something different that wasn’t one hundred percent horrifying. I question who Charcoal is and he briefly tells me who. The stallion who saw me before I headed out here.

I perk up and simply shake my head, “She seems fine to me. I’ve seen worse.”

The bandits chuckle and shake their heads. Whether that was a genuine laugh or a cold hearted laugh because of my.. lack of intimidation or toughness. EIther way, I didn’t care. Even if I’m with a bunch of bandits, it shouldn’t be too bad right?

A gunshot is heard, somewhat near the campsite. Several of the bandits spring up and take places, their guns out and me.. Sitting in the middle of the camp looking like I have no idea where I am, which was mildly true!

“Get down kid!”

A gunshot springs across my head, scraping a bit of my left ear as I drop to the floor.

“NCR, watch it everyo-”

A bandit goes down, a clean shot through the eye with something extremely heavy. I start to panic and rush into the general store as fast as I could, a few bullets bouncing off the gravel roads as I see Med rush into the middle of things. I hide behind the general store counter and see several armed military ponies flood the camp. I cover my head behind the counter as gunshots fly in every direction possible. After a few quick metal shifts and bursts of eerily disturbing noises, dozens of screams appear out of nowhere as a loud bang is heard that is unidentifiable. A few “What the fuck is that!?” and “Get the fuck out of here!” are heard as dozens of the ponies run off in different directions. I peer up from the counter and see Med in the middle of the camp, completely fine, nothing going on. As if it never happened at all, Med goes back to walking around. The bandits spring up and they look pale, as if they’d seen a ghost. I rush up and ask what happened, they shove me out of the way and resume to what they were doing. Only a few words come out of them.

“Med helped. Go with Floral, she’ll tell you what to do. Go.”

I nod questioningly and do as he says, grabbing my saddle bag and seeing a mare flagging me down which I assume is Floral.

I want to know what happened, “what was that?” I ask quickly as we walk down the road.

She looks at me and swallows, “Med has a built in defence mechanism. We don’t quite understand it because we aren’t allowed to see it. But some of us saw it. I didn’t, but I’ve heard things about it.”

“What’s Med anyways?”

She sighs, as if she’s been asked this question so many times, “Med is something Charcoal’s stallions created, the origins of the actual thing is foreign, some people think there’s a person inside, some people think it’s pure metal.”

I nod, despite me being confused about this whole thing. We eventually make our way towards the destination. A couple of NCRs from before, huddled up and freaking out, which I can only assume is because of Med. They beg for assistance, and as I’m about to speak a bullet flies in each of their heads from Floral.

“What the fuck was that for!?”

She turns around and barks at me, “My job, those are NCR, the one’s we’re against. Now shut up and follow me.”

I obediently do so. Floral takes what she can from the two ponies and we make our way through the city. Floral and I eventually come across an old pharmacy, covered with wood as if somepony had boarded it up not too long ago. She turns to me and instructs me to stay here as she takes off the boardings. Out of nowhere, Med slides up to our spot and nearly freaks the hell out of Floral. She berates Med for doing that and the robotic mare simply stays still, no emotion whatsoever. Floral heads inside and requests I stay here with.. ‘It.’

“Why do they hate you so much?”

Med stays still.

“Honestly, I don’t mind you.”

A small and quiet gear shift.

I notice the gear shift and think nothing of it, it turns to me and nods. I’m taken back and begin sputtering loudly.

“Wait wait wait you can understand me? I mean, I know you can understand everyone but you actually responded.”

The metal mare shifts again, its plates moving into a new place. I sigh and simply look away. “You don’t have to speak to me, I understand if you can’t. You’re the most pony like thing so far out of these killing machines. I don’t know what you did back there, but I'm willing to forget it.”

On the front of it’s face, it shifts slightly and sends out a small high pitched noise, similar to an intercom.

“тнαɴĸ yoυ..”

I turn white, not realizing it actually spoke to me as I stumble backwards a bit at it’s creepily mare like voice. It’s voice was smooth, like an elegant mare, but the voice cracking of an old audio recording at the same time. Behind the emotionless mask hid a beautiful yet creepy silky voice that almost seemed like Med wasn’t even speaking, but it was indeed her that spoke. I sputter as Floral comes back and Med’s face shifts back into place.

“Okay so I fou-”

I cut her off and point to Med, telling her that it spoke.

“Don’t cut jokes like that, Med doesn’t talk. I found medical equipment, open your bag.”

She reaches over and unzips my saddlebag, throwing in a few bottles of something I couldn’t quite make out. She pushes my shoulder slightly as Floral, Med and I wander back into the camp. Did Med really speak to me? Or am I going insane? This can’t be real, but if it is isn’t it a good thing that Med spoke to me? I’m not sure what to think anymore. The bandits briefly are taken aback by Med turning the corner but soon sit back down in their lawn chair esque seats. I sit with them, almost feeling like one of them. The night drags on, us sitting there doing nothing with Med and I flashing a few glances at each other. A long night this will be.