//------------------------------// // Ch 04: Titles // Story: Fallout Equestria: Do Robot Ponies Dream of Electronic Bunnies // by ScottWolf //------------------------------// FoE: Do Robot Ponies Dream of Electronic Bunnies Chapter IV: Titles "I wish they wouldn't call me that." – Littlepip, Fallout: Equestria (main story) System Report: 0000000004 Unit Status: Active Location: Fillydelphia (Satellite Signal Error, Attempting To Repair… Partial Success, Uplink Achieved, Awaiting Return Signal) Begin data dump to external off-site memory back-up: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Done. Preparing visual report: Done. Date: --/--/2212, 200PA (Post-Apocalypse) Time: 0923 Local Cute. That's the only way to describe watching Winter Frost with her foal, Tiller. Any other term, no matter how well meaning, would sound cheap and hollow. Therefore, a single word will suffice. Tiller had woken up hours after midnight, hungry as a dragon. Breakfast was a box of Sugar Bombs and some Ever-Fresh Milk ™, milk guaranteed to "never spoil or triple your bits back!" Or at least that was the claim, proudly displayed on the bottle. The colt was skeptical, but had never tried milk before, so he hesitantly took a bite of the milk-saturated cereal. Two chews later, and he was face down in the bowl, eating his way to the bottom as if treasure awaited him. "That was great," he exclaimed, licking his lips clean. "Is there any more?" The colt went through two more bowls before he was finished. His mother was the deciding factor in that, scolding him for not sharing with their hosts. "It's no problem," Night Rose told her with a dismissive hoof-wave. "I have plenty here." "And what about you, gentle-stallion," Winter said as she turned to me. "Aren't you going to eat?" "I'm not hungry." It wasn't a lie. I didn't eat, but she didn't need to know that. Winter shrugged and turned her attention back to Tiller. "What are you guys gonna do now," Night Rose asked. "Well, we were heading for New Appleoosa," Winter replied. "I guess we'll just keep going." "That sounds like a good idea," I said. Appleoosa was a well-developed country town, from what my records said. But again, that was a few hundred years old. If there was a New Appleoosa, the old one must've been destroyed. I made a note to ask Night Rose about it later. "I'd offer to give you an escort there," Night Rose was saying. "But I'm kind of in the middle of tracking a Reaper." "I don't think he's still around, Night Rose," I said. My scanning yesterday hadn't picked him up at all. "How do you know," she asked, giving me a look. I simply stared back at her, giving a "duh, android, remember?" look. "Oh. Well. I guess, I'm free then." "Really? You don't mind?" Winter was smiling so wide I thought her face would break. The adventure had shaken her confidence to protect her foal alone. "Of course not," Night Rose replied. "I'd be glad to." "Thank you," Winter said behind tear-filled eyes. "Both of you!" "No need for tears..." "I can't help it! I'm so happy!" "Momma," Tiller said, looking up at his mom. "Please don't cry!" Two hours later, Night Rose was fitting a set of saddlebags on my back. I grunted as she pulled the straps tightly. She then loaded them down with supplies that we'd need for the trip. Food, ammo, grenades, Med-X's, RAD-Aways, anything she thought we'd need on the road. It was to be a good two week walk. "Listen," Night Rose said to me as she tightened the last strap. "I'm sorry about yesterday. Guess you were right about saving her. Winter, I mean." "Don't worry about it," I replied. "I could have just as easily been wrong." "But you weren't." She stepped back and looked away, ashamed. "I wanted to put a bullet through her head and forget about it. But if we had, then we'd have killed two innocents; her and Tiller. I never thought that raiders would have family, but now I am. And I'm wondering how many orphans I've made in my raider hunting. How bad a pony am I?" I looked down at her, unsure what to say. Logically, there was no way for her to know, but if I said that it would seem cold. Robotic. That was the last thing I wanted. Instead, I just put a hoof around her metal-clad shoulder and pulled her into what I hope was a comforting hug. She looked up at me and smiled weakly. "You're not a bad pony," I finally said. "With the others, it was either them or you. Just think about it that way. Any other way will just give you a headache and a lot of sadness." "Thanks," she replied, then straightened herself out. "So you're sure Snake Skin isn't out there anymore?" "I scanned the whole crater and didn't spot him," I replied. "If he still is here, he's in a deep hole." "Not deep enough," Night Rose muttered as Winter Frost and Tiller emerged. Night Rose closed and sealed the door behind them, then turned to me. "So, are we ready?" I nodded and began to trot down the road, scanners searching all around. Not finding anything, I looked back to make sure everypony was following me. Tiller was missing. "Where's the colt?" Night Rose pointed at my side. I looked down and gasped. (I can be startled now. These emotions are gonna be the death of me.) Tiller was trotting next to me. Well, more galloping to keep up with my pace. "Gah! Make some noise, will ya?" "Sorry (huff) I just wanted (huff huff) to run (huff huff) with you! (huff huff)" "You shouldn't be running at all, I said, leaning down to pick him up. He slid down my neck to rest against the saddlebags, breathing heavily. "Is he alright," Winter asked, coming up next to me. "Just out of breath," I replied. "I'll be fine mommy," Tiller said between breaths. "Tough little guy," Night Rose said as she joined us. "He took right off after you." "Mommy says you don't have a name! Is that true?" "Well, yeah," I replied. "I was born without one." "So what do we call you then?" I still hadn't decided on a moniker for myself. So, I improvised. I sent out a signal burst to the same node I'd used the day before, and queried a list of names of ponies that'd worked in that branch of the MoWT. It returned quite a long list of names. I scanned the stack and found one that seemed to match my type. The stallion attached to the name was a large draft pony, and had been used to move the more wounded patients from surgery to their assigned rooms. He'd also volunteered for testing of enhancement drugs. He had the same gray coat as me, but his hair had been brown. His eyes were also golden like mine. A nanosecond later (data moves REALLY fast, doesn't it?) I had my answer. A bullet kept me from informing them, though. With a clang, it bounced off of Night Rose's armor. Everypony dove for cover, Night Rose taking Winter with her while I protected Tiller. "Did I get you, bitch," a raspy voice called. "I really hope not! I'm not done having fun yet!" Night Rose and I looked at each other, her with a look of annoyance and me one of apology. "Ok so I didn't search in this direction," I told her. "So sue me." "Only if we live," she replied as she donned her helmet. She then popped above cover and took a shot. I looked down at Tiller. He had a scared look, but was also curious, as if he was on some new roller coaster. His mother, on the other hoof, was frightened beyond measure for him. She hadn't taken her eyes off her foal from the moment she'd landed behind cover. Several rounds from what sounded like a buzz saw hit above her head and she winced, but didn't look away. "Tiller, get ready to run to your mom," I said as I engaged my zebra rifle. "Go when I start shooting. Use that pothole as cover if anything hits in front of you. Don't think, just dive in. It's safe." I leapt up and fired off my entire clip as I yelled for him to go. The Reaper had taken refuge in a half destroyed house, and was using the windows for cover. Why hadn't my E.F.S. spotted him? And how did he avoid my radar? Questions later, shooting now. All of my rounds were accurate enough to make him duck as the colt crossed the road to his mom, and they both retreated to better cover behind us. Night Rose used my covering fire to advance her position as well, taking cover behind a fallen pillar. It looked to be from a long gone overhead rail system. The train it once carried was wrecked a bit beyond us, fallen from the rails onto the street ahead. She was making for that; it lay halfway between us and Snake's position. The ground around her was suddenly raked with bullets, forcing her to veer off. The Reaper had gone to a different window and opened up with a full sized chain gun. Good thing he had shitty aim. Now it was my turn to advance, but there wasn't much cover that could accommodate somepony my size. I used what I could, and ended up lying flat behind a low wall as he turned the weapon on me. "Hahaha," he laughed. "Come on, is that all you guys got?" "I'll give him something," I heard Night Rose growl as she fired on his cover. The wall he hid behind was made of some of the best material of the time. I briefly wondered what the building had been, when a grenade bounced off the top of my wall and landed next to me. I gave it a hard buck and sent it through a window, where it exploded inside the collapsed house behind me. Something felt wrong about this. It was like he wanted us to get closer. I activated my E.F.S.'s addon selector. Not all E.F.S. interfaces had come with this feature. The records showed it was a military-only option. I'd plumb the ramifications of that discovery later. Quickly I searched for and found Metal Detector, then sent a pulse through my wall towards the Reaper's hiding spot. The picture that the return painted confirmed my suspicions. I tapped into Night Rose's helmet radio, knowing she would want to charge ahead. "Night Rose," I said, hoping she'd recognize me. "He's planted mines all around those windows. Don't advance any further." "So how do we deal with him, then," she replied, still shooting when she could. "The next time he throws a grenade at me, I'm gonna try and bounce it back over the wall into one of the mines. The explosion might catch the others, and cause fratricide." "That's your plan? Blow them up with a grenade?" "You got a better one?" Her reply was to pop up and shoot at the ground around the window. Unloading her entire energy pack, she finally caught one, flipping it up and onto another mine. The explosion of the two, dislodged a ring of mines around it, throwing them into the field where they detonated and set off the others. A chain of explosions tore through the air. I watched from cover as several mines were blasted into the windows above. My enhanced hearing focused on the inside of that room. Beep. Beep. Beep. "Oh SHI-!" Boom, boom, boom, boom. When the explosions ceased, I stood and surveyed the area. The yard was covered in small craters and blast marks. The wall had been blown outward, chunks having sailed several yards away. The Reaper, or rather what was left of him, was laying against the far wall, not moving. I put away my rifle as Night Rose stepped up beside me. "Your way was good, mine was better. The difference? Speed." "And you say I don't do things halfway?" She stepped into the destroyed building while I went back to find Winter and Tiller. Both had taken refuge behind a fallen refrigerator. Good piece of cover, judging from all the bullet holes in the wall behind them. "Is everypony alright?" "We're fine," Winter replied, with Tiller adding, "That was so cool!" I smiled at the colt and lead them back outside. I heard a single shot ring across the street, and saw Night Rose emerge a moment later. I nodded to her, then turned my head to check my bags. Fortunately, I hadn't taken a round anywhere, but a few of the food stuffs were crushed from when I'd landed on them. "Note to self, take bags off, THEN start fighting." Tiller giggled, but no one else said everything. They were just glad they were alive. "Justice is served," Night Rose said as she joined us. "Let's move on." "Miss Night Rose," Winter said hesitantly. "Will you be alright?" "I'm fine," Night Rose replied. "I'm glad this hunt's done." She nodded to me, then started walking down the road again. Winter watched her walk for a bit, then looked at me. "She's ok, right?" "She'll be fine." I hoped I was right as I scooped up Tiller again, depositing him safely on my back before walking after Night Rose, Winter trailing behind. "Hey, metal butt," Night rose called back to me. "You never did say what to call you." I chuckled to myself. Amazing what you forget in the heat of battle. "Call me Versatile." Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Commando – You've become lethal with your rifle. Your accuracy with rifles using S.A.T.S. is +25%!