FoE: Do Robot Ponies Dream of Electronic Bunnies
Chapter VIII: Arrival
"Ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low road." – Old Scottish song
System Report: 0000000008
Unit Status: Active
Location: New Appleoosa
Satellite Signal Status: Transmission Incoming, stand by…
Begin data dump to external off-site memory back-up:
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- - - - - - Done.
Preparing visual report: Done.
Date: --/--/2212, 200PA (+16 days activation)
Time: 0930 Local
Quiet.
Five days ago, I'd unraveled one of the biggest mysteries about myself. I'd learned I could shoot an accelerated particle beam a foot in diameter from my chest that had a range of seven miles effective. I knew the range because we'd walked along side debris that had large holes in them for seven miles.
I'd also learned that, even though I no longer had a true purpose, I could find new purpose in the wasteland. There were ponies who needed help everywhere, and I was willing to lend a metal hoof, so long as their cause was right. Two revelations in one day. I could use some quiet time.
The remainder of the walk to New Appaloosa was blissfully quiet. The only excitement we'd seen was a giant radscorpion ahead who didn't seem to want to move off the road. A mile back from it, I got to try out my .50 sniper rifle. The crosshairs fell on the creature and I pulled the trigger. A large boom and complaints of ringing ears later, and all that was left of the radscorpion was six legs, a tail, and a pulpy mess.
I like my sniper rifle. I really do.
New Appleoosa had been described to me by Night Rose as run-down, rustic, and the dullest pile of railroad cars ever conceived. I must admit, my ideas on the place were based on that. I was therefore quite surprised to arrive in a bustling miniature metropolis. Caravans of carts entered and exited the town. Ponies of varying color walked to and fro happily. There was even a playground where foals romped with each other gleefully (this Tiller eyed with anticipation once he saw it.) And through it all, Gryphons flew overhead, keeping watch over the town.
"Run-down," I parroted back to Night Rose. "I can see we'll have a horrible time here."
"It was a year back that I was here last." She retorted. "Cut a pony some slack." Her helmet was off and stored in its accustomed place, letting her red mane fall over her eyes.
Two burly looking Gryphons stood at the main gate to the town. The armor the wore covered their chests and backs adequately, with some armor on their shoulders. It didn't look like it hindered movement of their arms. Each also wore a utility belt that was most likely loaded down with ammunition for the assault rifles they held in their claws. Their wings were flared outward, allowing them better balance as they stood on the lion half of their bodies. An intimidation tactic, I assumed. Probably worked on most ponies. I was not most ponies.
"State your business in New Appleoosa," the larger one, a male from his voice, said to us. He didn't quite point the rifle at us, but it was clear we were a target should it get ugly.
"I'm here to meet with my husband," Winter Frost said calmly. "He's been waiting almost a month for my arrival."
"His name?"
"Starry Grove. A unicorn."
"And your friends?"
"My escorts. They kept me and my foal safe on the long road from Fillydelphia."
The big one told us to wait while he spoke to someone through a small intercom. After a few minutes, he returned to stare down at us. I should probably say stare down at my friends. My size brought me just about eye level with him on his hind legs.
"Go on in," he said to us. "Your stallion's lodged in the hotel next to Absolutely Everything general store. He should be there now. Town rules are no shooting, no fighting, no getting drunk and breaking either of the first two rules. Also, if you're caught stealing, it won't end well for you. Stick to the rules and you'll get along fine."
"Thank you, sir," Winter said with a bow of her head, and we trotted past the guard. My ear swiveled back to listen as the other guard spoke to her companion.
"Did you see the size of that stallion, Phoenix," she asked her large friend. "I bet he's hung like a dragon. That Ranger girl must get a great ride."
"Calm down, Ayla," the male replied. "Save it till you're off duty how about?"
"You're just jealous because I kicked you out of the nest that one time."
"Not that I wanted to be there in the first place…"
My attention turned back forward as Tiller ran ahead of us, with Winter right behind. A unicorn stallion was standing in front of the building we'd been directed to, smiling broadly. His coat was as jet black as Tillers, but his mane was midnight blue, almost purple in hue. A crossed trowel and pick axe adorned his flanks. He reared up and held his front hooves out wide as his son leapt into them.
"Daddy," Tiller cried happily, hugging his father.
"Heya, kiddo," Starry said, holding him tightly. Winter trotted alongside and nuzzled him lovingly.
"We've missed you," she said as he kissed her.
"I've missed you too, both of you." A few more minutes of reunion, then Starry's eyes came to rest on Night Rose and I. "Who're your friends?"
"This is Night Rose, formerly of the Steel Rangers," Winter said, gesturing to her.
"Formerly," Night Rose emphasized with a nod.
"And Versatile. They were kind enough to escort us through the wastes," Winter finished.
"Not formerly of anything," Starry asked me as Tiller climbed up on his back.
"Nothing I know of," I said. Winter looked questioningly into my eye, wanting to know if he could be let in on the secret. I gave a slight shrug, and she nodded. "Just out doin what I can," I continued.
"Well, it's good to meet you both," he said, shaking my hoof. If he noticed the large hole in the bottom he didn't say anything. He shook Night Rose's metal shod hoof as well. "Thank you so much for getting my wife here. But what took you so long?"
"It's a long story, and I'll tell you over dinner tonight," Winter said. "For now, we're all tired, and could use a rest."
"Not me," Tiller said happily. "I wanna go play with those other foals!"
"Alright, MOST of us need a rest," Winter amended.
"Well I got us a room in the Gliding Gryphon. They should have another room empty."
We all walked into the building (I had to duck, the doorway was pretty low for someone my size) and as we approached the desk, the mare behind it widened her eyes. Clearly, she was staring at me. "C-c-c-c-can I h-h-h-help you?"
"I'm in need of a second room," Starry said, bringing her attention down to him. "My wife's friends are quite tired."
"W-w-w-we don't have beds… l-l-l-large enough for…"
"It's not a problem," I said quickly. "Just an extra mattress will be fine."
"C-c-c-c-certainly," she replied, a shaking hoof reaching down beneath the desk and bringing up a brass key. "R-r-room three-twenty-one. Who will be paying?"
"Put it on my tab, please," Starry replied with a smile at us. "The mattress?"
"Will be delivered momentarily," she told him, seeming to finally get over her shock fully. "Enjoy your stay."
We thanked her and made our way upstairs. Starry and Winter told Tiller he could go play, with the unicorn assuring his wife that it was perfectly safe. She looked worried but nodded. Starry then directed us down the hall to our rooms and bid us a good rest, saying "My wife and I need to get… reacquainted." He winked at me, then swept her into his hooves, through a door, and out of sight with a click of its lock.
Night Rose just giggled. "Well, they'll be busy for a few hours, and I do need a rest. I'm gonna crash out. You comin?"
"Nah. I'm gonna explore a bit."
"Okay. Be sure to check out Absolutely Everything. They've got quite a few neat things usually. But don't expect cheap. And don't shoot the owner. She's a sweet pony."
I nodded and headed back downstairs. Don't shoot the owner, I thought to myself. What do I look like, a raider?
On the way down, I met a pony trying his hardest to drag a mattress up the stairs. He didn't seem to have the strength for it, and I assumed it was for our room, so I helped him get it to the correct floor, then proceeded on my way with his assurance he could manage the rest.
The town wasn't very big. I could see almost to the other end of it without zooming. A large crane dominated the skyline. I wondered if it was serviceable, but couldn't really think of a need we had for one, so I let it go. The only other attraction I could see was the playground where Tiller happily climbed around with the other colts and fillies. He looked up and waved to me, pointing me out to his friends as I headed next door into the general store. I smiled and waved back before stepping inside.
Night Rose wasn't kidding when she said they had some neat stuff. And the place was aptly named. They carried everything from ammunition to armor, weapons to warheads, groceries to gravel. I wasn't so sure why the gravel when there's plenty of rocks just outside. I gathered up a few boxes of ammo, and was even happy to find two mini balefire eggs and quickly added them to my growing pile, briefly making a note to return to Canterlot for the rest of the stash there.
I was placing several cartridges of energy clips next to the eggs when a young filly appeared behind the counter. She was a little lavender filly with a blonde mane. On first glance I thought she was an earth pony, but a sudden scan told me she wasn't. She had a scar on her forehead, barely visable, where a horn had once been. She was a unicorn.
"Hi!" she said brightly. "I'm Silver Bell! Welcome to Absolutely Everything, where if we don't have it, we'll scour the wasteland to find it for you!"
"I don't think you need to go that far," I said with a laugh, trying so hard not to look at where the horn should be. "But aren't you a little young to be running a store of this size alone?"
"Nope," she replied. "Mommy's out on a delivery, and since she's the only one who can do our deliveries, I get to mind the store."
"Wouldn't you rather be outside, though," I asked, gesturing to the playground.
"Well…" She rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof and looked away. "They kind of avoid me because of something I did a while ago. But I don't mind. I'd rather help mommy out than play their dumb old games."
Resentment, thy taste is bitter.
"I'm sure whatever it was, it wasn't too bad," I told her. Again my gaze drifted to the scar.
"Um, I'd rather not go into it," she replied, then pulled a piece of parchment over along with a pencil and began to tally up what I'd gotten. She gave me what I hoped was a fair price, and with a quick exchange of bottle caps, my first experience with commerce was complete.
I stashed all the ammo in my saddle bag, then looked down at the filly. "Buck up, Silver Bell," I said, bringing my head down to her level. "Whatever it was, they'll get over it. You'll see."
"You're really tall, mister," she said after a moment, and I had to laugh again. I was getting that a lot today. I said goodbye and made my way back outside. Tiller immediately came running over to me, followed by quite a few of the other foals.
"Hi, Vers," he said happily. "My friends want to see your cool robot stuff."
So the word was out, was it? I gave him a stern look, and he instantly knew he shouldn't have said anything, but my gaze wasn't hard for long. Soon I smiled at them all.
"Well, okay," I said, then lowered my voice conspiratorially. "But you've all got to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"
"We promise," they all said.
"Pinkie Pie Swear." They looked at me confused until Tiller went through the ritual first, then they all repeated it. I nodded, then looked around for a minute. "Ok, as far as anyone knows, I'm just a pony with cyborg parts, alright?" They all nodded enthusiastically, I smiled and stepped back a few feet.
With a command, I opened every port I had and produced all my weapons. A sound bite I'd found back in that MoM radio hub played a loud fanfare, and caught the attention of a few passing adults as my arsenal was exposed. Each stood proudly on the end of a support arm. I made the pistol twirl in its housing, the assault rifle tracked the air, the Plasma Rifle glowed an ominously bright green, I mock-fired the mini egg launcher (the egg was really there but it never left the housing), and spun the rotary barrels of the chain gun. The shotgun and anti-vehicle sniper rifle simply sat there and looked intimidating.
From the right side of my head, I produced a small laser pointer and moved it around as if it was a targeting device. For added effect, the chain gun tracked around with it. The children ooh'd and ahh'd, then cheered as it all folded back into place, leaving my body unbroken. A chorus of "that was cool" and "do it again" followed. Even the adults clopped their hooves in appreciation. I smiled proudly, then noticed another form behind me. Silver Bell had come to the window to watch the show.
"Hey, Tiller," I said, looking back at the kids. "How about you go say hi to the filly in the store?"
"Ewww!" I'm surprised by this reaction from the gathered foals, each wearing a disgusted look. Tiller looks at them with the same surprise.
"What," I ask. "What's wrong with her?"
"That filly is crazy," one from the middle of the group said, a curly haired colt with a green mane and tail that matched his mint body. "She cut off her own horn and painted herself pink before she came here."
"She thought she was inper.. imperso… she was pretending to be someone that was dead," pipped up a red earth filly, and was joined by an orange unicorn colt. "She's too weird. Better stay away from her."
I didn't have to turn around to know what Silver Bell's reaction to all that would be. She'd turned away from the window, dejected and depressed. I looked down sternly at the assembled group, about to reprimand them, but Tiller beat me to it.
"So what," the little colt shouted at the group, causing several of them to cringe back. "So she had some problems before! That means she less of a pony to you? Did any of you even try to make friends with her? Or did your parents tell you to stay away?" I found myself re-evaluating my impressions of Tiller as he ranted. He was also wise beyond his years. "I look up to Vers here as my hero, and I was pretending to be him just a few minutes ago when I was playing with all of you! Does that make ME weird?"
The foals all looked at their hooves, abashed and ashamed. Tiller knew how to hit home, and pulled no punches.
"I think I'd rather play with her than any of you now. Something tells me she doesn't judge a pony by what she's been told." With that, he turned away from the crowd, leaving them looking embarrassed. I had to admit I was impressed, and even the adults who'd stopped for the earlier show were staring after him with their mouths agape. As for myself, I simply turned and watched him enter the shop, where he promptly introduced himself to Silver Bell quite politely. My enhanced ears picked up every bit of their conversation.
"You mean you don't think I'm weird? For cutting my horn off or anything?"
"Nope! Different, maybe, but my mom taught me that different isn't always bad. Sometimes it's even very good."
"… You're weird, Tiller."
"Well everypony out there thinks you are too. I guess we're matched then."
*Giggle* "Yep, I guess we are!"
"You wanna come play?"
"I can't. I'm watching the store till my mommy gets back. But we can play in here for a bit."
"Really?"
"Well, if a customer comes in, I gotta help them first, but yeah!"
I heard the sound of little hooves on wood plank flooring, and giggles as the foals began to play. The crowd of kids were still outside, but one by one, they all went in. They apologized to Silver Bell for how they acted, and soon the whole store was alive with the sounds of fun and laughter. I had to smile, then realized I wasn't alone. My eye caught something on my left side, and I gasped in surprise.
At first, I thought it was a zombie, but I quickly noticed lots of differences. The pony-creature next to me was still mostly intact. She looked well fed even. She had a dull dull gray skin with a few gray hairs sticking out here and there, and her mane and tail were a pastel blonde. Her eyes, one not seeming to focus on the same thing as the other, were full of life, or perhaps it was love. She stood beside me and stared into the store, watching Silver Bell play with the other foals. A smile adorned her muzzle.
"You're mommy, I take it," I said to her. She fluttered her wings (which were nearly completely devoid of feathers, and I realized I'd just met my first Pegasus, or at least she used to be one), and nodded, then pulled a small chalk board from around her neck and began writing something on it in white chalk. She then turned it so I could read it.
Ditzy Doo, shop owner Absolutely Everything. Now I knew why Night Rose had said not to shoot the owner. Ditzy went on to thank me for helping Silver Bell get some friends, and promised me a 15% discount any time I stopped in.
"No worries," I replied. "She's a sweet filly. And really, Tiller did all the work. I just made a suggestion." Ditzy smiled and nodded. I got the impression she was thanking me anyway. She then picked up her chalk and board and went inside. I turned and headed back to the hotel, listening to the stampede of little hooves running out of the store, foals laughing. I distinctly heard Silver Bell's voice among them.
The hotel room wasn't overly large. Granted it wasn't as small as the safe room back in Filly, but it didn't feel like I'd walked into a ballroom either. I set my bags down on the one table and looked around. There was one bed and a couch, and a functioning monitor on a desk near the window. All in all, this room was quite comfy.
Night Rose was, true to form, sacked out on the bed, snoozing the world away. The spare mattress was on the floor next to her. I settled down onto the mattress and looked up at her. She was such a puzzle, this Night Rose. The way she shifted moods so quickly, affectionate one minute then yelling at me the next. I just couldn't understand her. I could tell she liked me. She stuck around even when I pissed her off. But what could have happened to her? All I knew about her past was that she was at one time a Steel Ranger. That told me little, as she'd already confirmed they were nothing like they should have been.
I resolved to not let her leave this room until she explained a few things. It was only fair, wasn't it? I was completely open with her. She could at least let me in on a bit of her past.
Her leg twitched in her sleep, and she mumbled something about lilacs. Her face suddenly scrunched up and a tear came from her eye, running down the underside of her muzzle and dripping on the pillow. Sad dream? Clearly. I lay my head on the bed and put my nose on hers lightly, gently letting my breath mix with hers. I didn't really know what I was doing besides letting her know I was there, but it seemed to work. Her nose rubbed against mine and she smiled. Damn, I bet that smile could melt ice with its warmth.
Okay. THAT was new.
Yay emotion chip.
Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: ShowPony – You know how to dazzle crowds with your quick wit and quicker antics. Your speech gains an additional 10%.