Fallout Equestria: Influx
Chapter 16: A New Direction
The weather was overcast and gloomy as we headed back towards Manehattan, but at least it wasn’t raining. Xian stayed very close to me as we walked down the road because she was nervous about our newest companion. To tell the truth, so was I. Nexus was certainly something to be nervous about, considering he was a machine and once tried to kill us.
“So chromedome, what can you tell us about the Production Facility?” Fruity asked from the head of the group.
The scorched armoured machine tilted his skeletal head slightly. “Why would you want to know about that place?” He replied with his own question.
“My quest to find out about what happened to me a hundred and ninety-five years ago leads inside there. Why this Colonel Ironside tricked me into signing my body over to the MoA and having me turned into this artificial being,” I said darkly. It made me angry to think of how I was tricked into giving up my body so that my life could be stolen.
The machine looked at me with its glowing red eyes for a moment before it faced forward again while we continued onwards. “Hmm. Well, it would be suicide to go there,” He said with an electronic sound that I supposed was a sigh.
“How come tin pony?” Fruity asked.
“Ugh…”
XXXXX
Unit-1000 looked up as an internal alert went off. The machine closed its eyes as it looked into the network it was connected to in order to find the cause of the alert. It found that three Mark 2 units were still active. One of them was Unit-1002 (previously known as, I-02 IS), and it was in close proximity to I-01. The machine opened its eyes and tilted its head, confused and surprised to see the two machines together.
“This must be reported.”
The machine immediately connected itself with Colonel Ironside.
“What is it Unit-1000?” The Colonel asked gruffly through the connection.
“Your vessel has made contact with I-01 outside of Manehattan,” Unit-1000 stated emotionlessly.
“WHAT?!” Ironside demanded angrily.
“It appears to be travelling with it now and they are conversing,” The machine said while it continued to monitor the conversation.
“Where are they going, and what is that traitorous machine telling them?” Ironside demanded.
“It appears your prediction came true. I-01 is seeking out the Production Facility and Unit-1002 is about to reveal information about said facility.”
This alarmed Colonel Ironside. “No! Stop him! You have extra privileges because of what you were designed for. Force access to him, erase his memory and shut him down!” The Colonel commanded.
“Affirmative,” Unit-1000 said before it cut its connection with Ironside and concentrated on its new task. The machine used the access codes it was pre-programmed with to gain access to Unit-1002’s CPU Core. Once it was connected, it began to search through the files and folders for its memory files. Once it found all the data related to the Production Facility, Unit-1000 began to delete them.
XXXXX
Nexus suddenly found that he was having trouble recalling what he remembered about the facility. Each time he tried to pull up a memory, it seemed to fade until it disappeared into nothingness, like it never existed.
“I… I am having trouble remembering,” He said with worry in his voice as he continued to search his memories.
He soon found a clear memory. He could clearly see himself standing before the large computer screen, with the wireframe face of Colonel Ironside on the monitor, his gruff deep voice telling him to seek out I-01. But as he held onto that memory, he felt something surround it, compress it and then made it fade away into nothing. After that, like before, he couldn’t remember it ever taking place. It worried him as more and more memories faded away. He came to only one conclusion: he was under a mental attack.
“Are you alright?” Crystal asked, her face twisted into worry for the machine.
“Something is deleting my memories,” Nexus cried fearfully. “I-I need to stop it!” He quickly engaged his emergency shutdown system. Within moments, the light from his eyes faded and he shuddered to a complete halt, standing motionless like a statue as he powered down.
“The hell just happened?” Fruity asked in annoyance.
“He just shut himself down. He said something was attacking his memory,” Crystal replied in shock, still with worry in her voice.
The purple pegasus rolled his eyes. “He’s just gonna slow us down. We should just leave him.”
Crystal gasped in shock at her coltfriend’s behaviour towards the machine. “Fruity, what’s gotten into you?”
“I dunno. Maybe because this guy tried to kill us and I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”
Crystal opened her mouth to reply but a feminine voice from Nexus stopped her.
“Safe Mode Reboot, Engaged,” It said before the light returned to Nexus’s eyes. He sagged slightly as power returned to his locked-up limbs.
“Are you ok?” Crystal asked, worry still tinging her voice as she turned her attention to the robot.
“Yes. I am now in Safe Mode. Only the minimal amount of required systems is online to ensure I can operate, whereas everything else is offline. I believe Unit-1000 was responsible since it has abilities we don’t. Unfortunately, I have lost all my memory from before waking up in front of the door to Stable 16,” He said sadly.
“What good are you if you can’t tell us anything?” Fruity spat.
“Fruity, that’s enough,” I groaned. “Nexus, if you can’t remember anything of the facility, how come you knew it was this Unit-1000 that attacked you?” I asked him.
“I may have lost my memory of past events, but I still have a database of constructed Mark 2 Units. Just the same as your intelligence chip regarding Equestrian weaponry,” He explained.
“I guess that makes sense, but how did it get into you?” She asked with a tilt of her head.
“We all have a device built into us that would enable us to be tracked and have updates broadcasted to us. I believe it used this device to enter my memory,” He explained.
“What’s this device, and if we all have it, why hasn’t Unit-1000 used it to do something to me?” Crystal probed.
“That would be our Signal Transmitter,” He began to explain. “It enables instantaneous communication with any in-range unit, but for Unit-1000 it can connect to a network where it can easily find and connect to any unit on the field. I must have still been on the network, though I don’t know without my memories. Anyway, as for you, it would not have been able to have interacted with you because your Signal Transmitter is non-functional.”
“Non-functional?” Fruity asked surprised.
“From what I can remember after Stable 16, the only way to track you was following your fluctuating power core signal. Otherwise it would have been a simple case of homing in on your unique signal, but you never transmitted one. I can only assume it got damaged, and for whatever reason your auto-repair system has failed to either repair or detect it.”
Crystal blinked in surprise regarding the newfound information about a signal transmitter.
“So what are you going to do now?” Fruity asked.
“While in safe mode, I do not have to worry about Unit-1000 trying to delete me but I cannot risk it trying again, so I will disable my transmitter. That way I will not be able to be tracked or detected on the network, so Unit-1000 would not be able to interact with me again,” Nexus then sat down. “I’ll be but a moment while I disable this hardware.”
XXXXX
“Unable to comply!” An electronic deep male voice said in alert suddenly. “Signal lost!”
Unit-1000 looked up to the monitor it had been using as a proxy while it sifted through folder after folder, file after file within Unit-1002’s memory for anything related to the Production Facility and deleted it. It had successfully managed to erase all memory files on the facility before suddenly losing its connection with the machine.
The tall slender robot tilted its head in actual confusion as it delved into its network. Where there was once a tag for Unit-1002 there was now nothing. The machine was gone. It could still detect the unresponsive Unit-2 and the newly upgraded Unit-3, but Unit-1002 was nowhere to be seen. To be sure it hadn’t suffered a system crash, it ran a diagnostic on itself and found that it was one hundred percent operational. Thus it came to the conclusion that somehow, Unit-1002 had managed to lock it out and prevented its memory erasure and termination.
After letting out an electronic sigh of disappointment it contacted its master. “Colonel sir. I was unable to complete my task. Unit-1002 managed to interrupt my deletion process and now I can no longer detect it on the network.”
The wireframe face of Colonel Ironside appeared on the monitor in front of Unit-1002, and he didn’t look happy at all as he scowled at his ultimate creation. “I am disappointed in you Unit-1000. You failed me in such a simple task for your abilities. Please tell me you at least succeeded in wiping its memory,” He demanded while still keeping his scowl.
“Unfortunately, I was not. I was, however, able to erase everything on the Production Facility.”
Ironside sighed deeply. “At least we don’t have to worry about the traitorous machine revealing those secrets.”
XXXXX
I watched as Nexus rebooted himself for the second time. This time, he was back to full operational status minus the functionality of his Signal Transmitter. I just hope it did the trick. I’d hate for him to lose himself in such a way.
“There. Signal Transmitter is offline. That should do it,” He said as he stood back up straight again.
“Let’s hope so,” I agreed as we continued to walk down the road back to Manehattan.
As the towering monoliths of Manehattan came into view, the sun had begun to set. The tall, ruined structures gave the once majestic city a dead look to it, especially in the fading light along with the sickly green glow from the northern area of the city.
“We’re almost there,” I cheered with joy. I was happy to be back in familiar territory after our ordeal in Pondale.
“I dunno if we’ll be able to make it back to the tower before the Bloodwings come out though,” Fruity said with worry.
Xian hugged my foreleg as she whimpered at the fearsome name. I gently stroked her head for reassurance before continuing to walk. “I’m sure we can make it if we fly.”
“What about metal head here?” Fruity asked with a jerk of a wing to indicate Nexus.
“I’ve been in Manehattan long enough to understand the dangers of Bloodwings from following and observing you. If you need to fly to the tower before they come out then go ahead. I will be fine, for I am made of a light weight titanium alloy.”
I turned to him. “Are you sure you’ll be ok?” I asked with worry.
“Do not worry for me. You have a young foal to protect which will take priority,” He said with a nod. “I’ll follow behind you from the ground.”
I nodded back and then gently lifted Xian up onto my back between my wings. “Hold on tight now sweetie. We’re going to be flying and we’ll be flying fast to avoid danger, so please, hold on tightly ok?”
The young filly nodded as she hugged herself to the back of my neck and wrapped her small forelegs around it. Fruity and I exchanged a look before we both took off into the air, flying low to avoid being targets for snipers and high enough that we didn’t run the risk of crashing into lampposts or traffic lights. While we flew through the streets on our way towards Tenpony Tower, I took a quick glance back and saw Nexus running at an inpony speed behind us. I smiled slightly at knowing his enhanced robotic strength made him quite agile.
“Flying low and dangerously. Now this is more like it,” The voice in the back head said, sounding appreciative of the way I was flying for once.
“What are you, some kind of thrill seeker?” I mentally asked the voice.
“Actually, yeah I was, but you might want to watch where the fuck you’re going and not get distracted while flying,” The voice snarked.
I focused back on my flight path ahead of me and immediately banked to the right to avoid a lamppost.
“That was a close one! If you hit that at this speed you would likely be brown bread!” Fruity yelled over the wind.
Again with the slang. He must have meant something bad with that phrase because his expression was of pure seriousness.
We flew up and over onto the elevated railway that connected to Tenpony Tower, and began to fly low to the rails toward the tower. The sky had grown dark by now, but still retained enough light to deter the Bloodwings. Floodlights bursted to life as we came within fifty feet of the platform. The whole station and the stretch of railway before the platform was illuminated in bright white light.
“I can’t see! Too bright!” Fruity cried as he threw up his forelegs to block out the light while simultaneously lost control of his flight from the shock of the sudden illumination.
When the lights came on, I quickly closed my eye but my exposed right optical unit took the flash in its entirety. I suffered a mild blindness that lasted for just a moment before my synthetic vision adapted to the harsh lighting.
“Non-hostile!” Shouted somepony from the platform.
“Incoming!” Another shouted as Fruity, unable to recover his flight, crashed onto the platform and slid across the floor before he was stopped by Slick.
I flapped my wings to slow my forward momentum, and then hovered down to the platform to perform a gentle landing. Once all four hooves were on solid concrete, I stopped flapping my wings and sighed with relief.
“Welcome back you three. I hope your trip was successful,” Slick said as he helped Fruity to his hooves.
“Thank you and it was,” I said with a smile. Now that we were on the ground, Xian hopped off my back and stood close to my side.
“That’s good…” He began but when he looked at me, his eyes bugged out of his head. Suddenly, I found all the guns from Slick and each of the platform guards pointed at me. “What in the fuck are you?” He growled threateningly.
I was taken aback from the sudden change in demeaner, but I also instinctively flared my wings and stood in front of Xian to shield her.
“I…I don’t understand. What’s wrong?” I asked nervously.
“Crystal, your eye,” Fruity whispered as he approached me with a pained groan.
I groaned at my stupidity for forgetting about my injury. The flesh over my cheek had regenerated enough to close the hole, but there was still an indentation that the regeneration still needed to fill in, and my eye was still fully exposed.
“I guess there is no point in hiding this from you now is there? But please believe me, I am still the mare you’ve all known these past few weeks,” I pleaded before I sighed and gave him a brief rundown of what I was.
He grumbled angrily. “Can’t believe you’ve been a robot this whole time,” He marched to one side of the platform to the next. He then snorted. “I’m sorry but I can’t let you in. You being a zebra was bad enough but them seeing you as a robot coated in flesh will cause a horrible uproar and probably a riot.”
“Oh come on dude,” Fruity protested.
There was suddenly a loud shriek from out in the city that cut off any further protests. Looking out into the city, we could see that the sun had set enough that it was almost completely dark, dark enough that streams of Bloodwings began to fly out into the sky from their numerous holes.
“Oh no! Nexus is still out there,” I said, actually feeling concern for the robot.
“He’s got no blood or flesh. They should ignore him,” Fruity said before he turned back to Slick. “C’mon dude, you gotta let us back in. You can’t expect us to bunk out here all night, especially with the filly and those giant flying rats.”
“If ponies see her with that robotic eye, there’ll be a riot,” Slick argued back.
“Think of the kid dude.”
“Alright fine. I’ll contact DJ-PON3 and see what he says,” He grumbled as he turned and headed for the doors.
Boom! Boom!
“That was a 12gauge auto shotgun. He’s close,” I said before freezing for a moment as I realised my electronic brain could even identify gunshot sounds.
Suddenly the spotlight exploded, and the platform lost its protective bright light cover. The normal lights lit the platform okay, but it wouldn’t stop some Bloodwings.
“Xian, get inside where it’s safe!” I yelled as I pulled my lever-action shotgun off my back and stood defensively, ready to defend the platform. The filly whimpered as she ran to the double doors and hid inside.
“You Raider cunts!” A guard yelled before firing a shot from his sniper. “Celestia, I hate them bastards. This is the fifth time this month and we are running out of replacements.”
“We got bigger problems right now. We gotta hold this station until we can get a backup spotlight installed,” Slick told his team as he stood with his own combat rifle at the ready once he returned. “Or at least until this Nexus guy arrives.”
Fruity and I nodded in agreement, and we stood side by side close to the platform’s edge as we watched the darkness. Fruity pulled his firing bit up to his mouth as he primed his weapons. The dark city out in front of us was once again swarming with streams of black winged abominations all looking for prey to suck dry.
“Shoot anything that gets too close,” Slick ordered as he hunkered down behind a concrete divider. He used it to prop up his rifle and fired into the sky at the closest group of bats.
A large bat swooped down and extended its talons as if to grab something. The creature was aimed for a cream armoured guard, who stood close to the edge of the platform and had her back to the monster while she covered the left side of the platform. She wouldn’t see it coming. I was about to alert her when an ear-splitting boom erupted from the back of the platform, and a huge hole ripped open within the bat. I quickly turned my head to the source of the bang, and saw a guard grinning like an idiot while holding his massive sniper rifle with the barrel smoking.
“Celestia almighty, I nearly shat myself,” Fruity grumbled as we turned back in time to see the dead bat smash into the foot of the platform.
While we fired at any bat that we considered too close, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of Nexus. A rather large bat managed to get through the shots fired at it and landed on the platform in front of me. It was a massive pony-sized thing. It resembled a Vampire Fruit Bat but a hundred times uglier and bigger.
“Crystal!” Fruity yelled in alarm.
I was scared. It was almost like being in front of that Hellhound again. However, I had a duty to uphold as guardian to Xian and despite how fearful these bats were, I would not let them get to her. The monstrous bat let out a hungry shriek before it threw its head down to bite me. As it opened its mouth, revealing two giant punctuating fangs, I shoved my lever-action shotgun into its mouth. The bat’s red eyes opened wide at the feeling of cold hard metal lodged in its throat and it stared down at me.
“You’re one ugly motherfucker,” I said before my nano-fibre tail tightened around the trigger. The 20gauge buckshot fired from within its throat and blew out the back of its head, killing the beast instantly and knocking the creature off the platform with the force of the blast.
“Oh thank Celestia! Well done Crystal,” Fruity sighed with relief.
I gave him a smile before I turned my attention back to the railway shrouded in darkness. While more gunshots and plasma bolts shot out into the air or took down more bats that got brave, I focused my attention on a pair of red lights.
“I see him, I SEE HIM!” I yelled.
“Alright ponies, keep it up. Once this Nexus guy gets here we’re all getting inside,” Slick ordered. “There are just way too many bats for us to handle with this much light.”
We kept up the deterrent gun fire, even going so far as to focus on the railway to give Nexus a clearer path. Within a few minutes, I could clearly see him as he came within a hundred feet of the station.
“Nexus, c’mon!” I called out to him. Suddenly, another large bat landed on the platform close to me. The sudden appearance and proximity of it scared the living tartarus out of me, and out of shock I jumped and fell onto my back. When I jumped, my tail swung around aimlessly and the shock made me squeeze the trigger, firing a shot. Almost half of the platform lighting dimmed with the accompanied sound of falling glass. My accidental shot had taken out one of the few remaining platform lights.
“Oh shit,” A guard groaned.
“Well this is just fucking fantastic,” Snarked another. “Just how I wanted to spend my evening.”
“Stop flapping your gums and shoot the damn bat!” Slick ordered as he fired at the bat on the platform.
I scooted away from the beast while it was kept busy by the guards and Fruity. This bat seemed more aware of what was going on. It was ducking and weaving as it attempted to dodge the bullets. It was taking hits but its movement was letting it dodge the easily noticeable plasma bolts.
“Fucking die already you overgrown flying rat!” A guard yelled as he pulled the trigger on his weapon. However, the bat was suddenly flattened under the weight of Nexus as he landed on it from behind. There was a metallic ping as the round deflected off the top of his titanium alloy head.
Nexus turned his skull-like head to the guard that was staring at him with wide eyes. “Please be more careful where you aim that thing. You could hurt somepony,” He chided softly.
“Yeah sure, alright,” The guard gaped at the robot.
“Alright everypony, inside now! With this little light we can’t hold the platform,” Slick ordered as he ran to the double doors, and with a double hind hoof kick he thrust the doors open instantly. “Inside, go go, go!”
Everypony quickly hurried inside. If they had dropped their gun or left something behind they left it as they raced to the open doors. Fruity and I quickly pulled ourselves together, and with Nexus following closely behind we entered the tower. Slick was the last pony still on the platform. He stood before the open doors and surveyed the platform quickly to be sure everypony was inside. With a nod, he turned around and began to approach the open doors.
“Slick behind you!” I screamed and fumbled to raise my shotgun. In my haste to chamber a round, I had accidentally caused it to jam and I quickly kept trying to jerk the lever to free it.
Slick turned around just in time to see the talons of a large bat come down on him.
“SLICK!” Fruity yelled as he tried to get passed guards that blocked him in the corridor. They too were fumbling around, trying to turn around and ready their weapons to help their chief of staff.
Slick went to raise his rifle to defend himself but he wasn’t fast enough. Large talons sunk into his flank and barrel, which made him scream in pain and drop his weapon. He looked into the corridor, at all of us trying desperately to untangle ourselves to try and help him. I could see the pain and fear in his eyes for that brief moment before there was a strong leathery beat and he was gone.
XXXXX
After the doors were sealed to prevent any bats from getting inside, the guard with the next highest rank reluctantly took over. He informed DJ-PON3 of what happened, including our arrival. We were soon told that the DJ wanted to see us all and the guards would escort us to prevent the tower’s inhabitants from getting in the way.
The elevator ride up to the penthouse suite felt like it took longer than usual. Maybe it was because we all felt down after the loss of Slick. Once we entered Silver’s apartment, he was there waiting for us and immediately asked us what happened. We told him of our late arrival with Nexus trailing behind, that if we arrived together we would all have likely been devoured by the Bloodwings. We also explained that a Raider somewhere sniped out the spotlight that put us in danger, which escalated into a Bloodwing attack, leading to Slick’s demise.
He thanked us for telling him what happened and said that he would soon do a broadcast in commemoration for Slick. He then asked us how our trip to Pondale went, and with less enthusiasm than usual, which was understandable considering what happened. We didn’t have the heart to go into the full details, so we told him everything in the briefest of ways. He seemed to understand, and we were allowed to go back to the rooms we had used previously.
I gently laid Xian down on the bed I had used and tucked the tired filly in. It didn’t take long before her breaths turned to quiet, cute little snores as she drifted off to sleep. I hoped that she would remain this innocent for years to come. It was a tall hope considering how bad this world was and how it could affect ponies in the long run. Fruity had certainly told me a couple of stories on how it could corrupt.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Fruity said sadly as he unceremoniously dumped his gear and duster into a corner.
“I know. He fought so bravely and made sure nopony was left behind,” I added while I took off my own gear and neatly put it together at the end of the bed Xian was sleeping on.
Fruity climbed onto the unoccupied bed and sat down by the headboard. I climbed up onto the bed with him and sat beside him, gently wrapping my forelegs around him in a comforting hug. He gave a weak smile as he returned the gesture.
“He was the first friend I made when I first came to Manehattan a couple of years ago,” He said sadly before he gave a sad chuckle. “Despite that asshole throwing my drunk ass out of the tower on a couple of occasions.”
“He certainly was a good pony,” I said as I thought back to my interactions with him. “He wasn’t discriminating towards me when we first arrived. He just thought about the tower in general and how everypony inside would react,”
“Reminiscing is a good way to cope with the loss,” Nexus said who stood by the window.
Fruity quickly raised his head with a baleful glare at the robot. “You can shut the fuck up. It’s your fault he’s dead.”
Nexus tilted his head and turned to regard us. “What brings you to this conclusion, Mr Fruity?”
“First of all, it’s just ‘Fruity’ you novelty condom head. Second, if you got here sooner he would still be alive,” He growled through gritted teeth.
I gently placed my forehooves onto Fruity’s shoulders and held him down. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, settle down Fruity! It’s not Nexus’s fault,” I defended before my ears dropped sadly. “If anything, I feel it could be my fault.”
Nexus tilted his head the other way, while Fruity’s eyes widened at my proclamation. “What? What do you mean?”
“I got surprised by a bat and accidently fired a shot when I fell over. I think it broke a light, and that’s why I think it could be my fault,” I explained.
“Accidents happen. It doesn’t matter if it was my fault or hers for the events that led to his demise. The fact is the Bloodwing is what killed him. A product of the wasteland,” Nexus said evenly.
Fruity grumbled but then sighed. “You’re right. It could have happened at any moment.”
I gently hugged him as he seemed to deflate, but I did notice he didn’t apologise for accusing Nexus for Slick’s death. We moved down until were laying together in bed, still facing each other despite the little room in the single bed.
“You gotta give him a break. He’s on our side now,” I whispered to Fruity quietly.
“I don’t trust him. Like I said earlier, he tried to kill us,” He replied just as quietly. I hoped Nexus couldn’t hear us whispering. “It’ll take more than conveniently showing up to save us to win me over.”
“Tomorrow we can find out when the train will next be here,” I said with a yawn.
“And once we return to the Marejave, we can finally find out the truth about what happened to you,” He said while he gave my cheek a gentle stroke with a hoof.
I nodded and gently rested my head on his warm chest, as I closed my eyes and let my weary mind drift away to sleep.
XXXXX
The next morning it was pouring again but this time it went with the sombre mood of the entire tower. DJ-PON3 did his commemorative internal broadcast regarding Slick. Being internal only, the ponies of the tower got to hear it. He talked about Slick’s time in the tower, how he started out as a typical policing guard and then worked his way up to becoming Chief of Staff for the guards. He said that Slick was fair and worked alongside his guards. He then finished the broadcast by saying how he’ll be dearly missed by the community as a whole, and nothing would be the same without him. I could certainly agree on that statement. When somepony had made such an impact on a community or somepony’s life, losing them tends to change them in some way or another.
Fruity said he wanted to get some air to clear his head, so he left to check on the Train Station and see when the train would next arrive. I had offered to go with him but he wanted to go alone. He was quick to say it had nothing to do with me or anything. He just wanted to straighten out his thoughts. I reluctantly let him go with a kiss to the cheek.
I sat by the balcony door with Xian in my lap, watching the rain batter the glass while I used a mane brush I found in the dresser to brush and straighten her unruly mane. Every now and then I watched the young filly wince when the brush caught a particularly hard knot that pulled on her hair. I was quick to apologise to her and brush a little gentler.
“Is F-Fruity going t-to be ok?” She asked quietly as I continued to brush.
I nodded sadly as I pulled the front of her mane that hung over an eye back, so that it flowed down behind her ear. “He will be. He’s just upset and angry over the loss of his friend,” I explained. “Be sure to give him a warm hug when he comes back. It might cheer him up a little,” I added with a smile.
The filly nodded and smiled as I finished her mane, and placed a pink butterfly hair clip to keep her mane in place behind her ear.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait that much longer for Fruity to return as he landed on the balcony and came in through the glass door a few minutes later. I quickly gave him a towel to help him dry off while I used one myself to help. Once he was relatively dry, Xian hugged his barrel the best she could. He was surprised for a moment, but then smiled and gently wrapped a foreleg around her to return the gesture.
“Thank you Xian,” He said softly. The filly gave a smile before she skipped over to our bed to play with Nexus’s tail fibres.
“How are you feeling?” I asked quietly as I sat beside the pegasus.
“Still down, but not ready to blow a gasket anymore,” He sighed. “I needed that fresh air…” He paused for a moment before letting out a dry chuckle. “And getting drenched.”
I nodded as I gently wrapped one of my slightly oversized wings around him. “What did you find out at the train station?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, some good news. The train’s arriving this evening.”
“Wow really?” I asked in surprise.
He nodded. “Yep, I suppose our adventure in the Impact Crater and then to Pondale took long enough for the train to make a return trip.”
“Well, we’ll be one more step closer to the truth,” I said as we looked out into the rain. “Finally, I’ll know why I was turned into this and know why I wasn’t allowed to die.”
“Not allowed to die?” Nexus asked as he looked back to us from where he was stood by the beds, his tail draped over the bed where Xian was playing with its fibres.
I nodded and explained to him that I was a pre-war crystal pony that was sickly, and was going to die before I was tricked into signing my body over to the MoA.
“Hang on a mo,” Fruity said as he looked at me. “I know the MoA dealt with Advanced Tech as well as Espionage thanks to the Enclave soldiers that liked to talk in my bar, but why would they need to have tricked you into signing your body over to them in the first place?”
“That is a good question. Aren’t all the Ministries supported by the crown?” I inquired.
“Sadly the answer was one of the things deleted from my memory. However, I would assume it was likely done to keep the operation off the records. To leave false trails behind for anypony trying to see what the Ministries were working on,” Nexus suggested.
“Well, whatever the bloody reason, we’ll find out soon,” I said while looking out into the rain.
XXXXX
Before we left for the train, I made sure to stop by one of the garment stores to pick up a coat with a hood for Xian. That way, she could stay relatively dry on the way there. We also picked up some supplies like food and water. I had to use some bandages to cover my exposed eye to prevent a freak-out in the marketplace. Once we got our supplies, we left while there was plenty of light. The Train Station wasn’t very full this time around. It was still raining hard outside which I thought would deter most ponies from wanting to travel.
There were a couple of ponies on the platform waiting patiently for the train to arrive. They turned their heads towards us as we got closer and one of them whistled.
“Wow. Cool robot dude,” He said as he admired Nexus as he stood beside us.
“Err, thanks, he’s… one of a kind,” I replied good naturedly.
“Psst, Butter-Pat Head. It would be best to act like a Mr Hoofty while on the train and around other ponies. Might keep ponies from freaking out over your skeletal looks,” Fruity whispered.
“Certainly, Mr Fruity Sir,” Nexus said with a nod as he played along with Fruity’s suggestion. Fruity groaned at how Nexus addressed him, but I couldn’t help but chuckle (on the inside of course).
There was a loud whistle from somewhere down the tracks, indicating the train’s emanate arrival.
“Well, ready to go back to the Marejave?” I asked everypony.
Xian hugged the back of my neck with a whimper. Fruity nodded along with Nexus.
The train screeched to a halt. Then the locomotive decoupled from the train so that it could be turned around and coupled up to the other end, allowing it to pull the train again back the other way. While the Dashing Pegasus was doing this, the Conductor stepped off the train with passengers that came to Manehattan. Once the passengers had disembarked, he called for the new passengers to board. We quickly boarded the train and found a vacant cabin in a passenger car. We waited for at least another half an hour before the train set off again and began to pull us back towards the Marejave.
XXXXX
For two days, the train journey was pretty much uneventful and quiet apart from the usual clickity clack from the train wheels. I tried to help Fruity to lighten up around Nexus, but despite the machine’s friendly demeanour he still wouldn’t trust him. It was also rare that Fruity would call Nexus by his name. He would often call him by some form of insulting name themed around what he was. In the end, I stopped trying after the second day for I was getting nowhere and held little hope of Fruity’s attitude towards Nexus changing any time soon.
We all sat in the dining car enjoying lunch that was provided by the catering staff on the train. They actually used fresh grown vegetables from untainted soil in the Marejave, which I found absolutely gorgeous on the taste buds. After having to eat the preserved stuff for so long, I almost forgot what real food tasted like. The passengers in the car watched with interest as Nexus served us like a butler. He was certainly taking this role to heart, which gave the rest of the passengers the impression that he wasn’t going to hurt anypony. Behind closed doors, however, he could drop the façade and be himself. I honestly wasn’t very comfortable with him acting like our butler. I didn’t see myself above him or anything.
“Mmm. This lettuce is good,” Fruity moaned in delight as he chewed.
“So good to have real food again,” I cooed.
Even Xian herself was enjoying the fresh salad. It was likely the first time she had eaten fresh vegetables before like this. I made a mental note to look for a merchant that sold fresh produce in New Pegasus once we got there.
As we were finishing off our plates, we felt a shift in the train carriage. It was only slight but all of us felt ourselves lean slightly towards the opposite end.
“You all felt that, right?” I asked before I looked in the direction of the front of the train.
“Yeah. We’re speeding up,” Fruity confirmed.
Suddenly, two train guards entered the dining car from the front-end gangway door. They both looked pretty serious.
“Sorry to disturb you all during your lunch, but we have just entered Raider territory,” The first guard announced.
“As a safety precaution, we would like you all to return to your cabins or designated passenger seating while we mount a defence,” The second instructed.
“Well sh…” Fruity began to curse before I stopped him.
“Not in front of Xian.”
“Well cock then,” He said with a roll of his eyes.
We quickly got up from our cushions and made way back to our cabin, pushing past a couple of ponies to reach our car. Once inside, I retrieved my stetson hat, put it on my head and turned to Xian.
“I know you don’t like being left alone honey, but don’t worry. We’ll be just outside the door, ok?” I told her, gently stroking her combed mane. “Hide under the cabin seat. I promise you’ll be safe.”
“Y-yes mummy,” The young filly whimpered fearfully as she hid under one of the seats and curled up.
“Alright. If Raiders try anything, let’s make them see they picked the wrong fight,” Fruity said as he strapped himself into his battlesaddle.
I nodded in agreement as we exited the cabin and closed the door behind us. “I’ll stay in front of the door. I won’t let anypony get passed me,” I told Fruity and Nexus.
“I guess we got the corridor, Metal Head,” Fruity said to Nexus, who nodded. The two turned around and went their separate ways to cover equal amounts of the corridor in the passenger car. Having a look down either way revealed a train guard, guarding the gangway door into the next car. I didn’t know how the raiders were going to get aboard the train, but the large windows covering the corridor felt like a point of entry.
*ring ring… ring ring…*
A phone rang from the wall at the end of the passenger car next to one of the guards. The guard wearing black combat armour picked up the phone from the wall and held it to his ear. I swivelled my ear to face his direction to listen in using my heightened electronic hearing.
“Raiders, jumping from the bridge?” The guard asked in surprise. “I swear they get more daring every trip. Alright, thank you Marshal.”
“Get ready guys!” I called to my companions.
Suddenly, a shadow passed over us as the train rocketed under a bridge. A second later, a series of thuds and bangs rattled about from the roof above us.
“Crazy bastards!” Fruity said as he pulled his firing bit to his mouth and primed his plasma battlesaddle.
Nexus pulled his automatic Riot Shotgun from his back with his nano-fibre tail, spreading his legs as he got into a battle stance. I followed suit by pulling Lucky 13 out of its holster and held it in my maw. Like Nexus, I also used my tail to hold my lever-action shotgun at the ready.
We looked up at the ceiling when we heard multiple clunks from hoof steps. They seemed to be moving around aimlessly, going around in circles until finally moving towards the rear of the of car.
“What the hell are they doing?” Fruity asked as he turned to follow the hoof steps while also aiming his battlesaddle up to the ceiling.
There was then another loud metallic thud from near the rear of the car before the raiders ran back down to the opposite side. The guard aimed his own battle rifle up to the ceiling above him as the raider group stopped above him. Before we could question what the raiders were up to, a large explosion consumed the rear of the passenger car, flooding the car with smoke.
“SHIT!” Fruity yelled before he began to hack and cough.
I didn’t fare any better. The smoke burned the back of my throat and my unprotected eye. It became impossible for me to see with the smoke, but I retained my hearing.
“You were only supposed to blow the bloody roof off!” I heard a gravelly voice yell.
That scolding was followed by the sound of breaking metal and tearing of rubber and fabric.
“There goes the rest of the train,” Another raider grumbled. “Another raider group will take our shit.”
“Won’t matter if we take the rest of the train,” The first voice said.
The smoke wasn’t clearing. There was no air flow to blow the smoke away. I could hear the guard at the front of the train car coughing up a storm, but I couldn’t hear the other one. The explosion was directly above him where he was positioned. Probably got blown up. There was then a gunshot from the front of the carriage, followed by the shattering of glass and soon the corridor was filled by a roaring wind. Within seconds, the smoke was blown out the back through the hole made by the explosion. Able to see and breath again, I noticed the first large window near the front was shattered. The guard must have shot it out to create an opening for air from outside to flow in and clear the smoke. Now with the smoke gone, we were all able to see the damage caused by the blast. The last three cars were no longer attached to the train, and the entire back wall with the gangway door had been destroyed along with about ten feet of the roof. This created a massive opening in the back of the carriage.
“Well shit. This is worse than anticipated,” Fruity said gravely before he turned to me. “Crystal. It might be best if you take Xian into another carriage.”
“Are you sure? What about you?” I asked with worry for him.
“Heh, don’t worry about me. There is nowt these guys could do to me and besides, yours and Xian’s safety is more important,” He then nodded to Nexus who hadn’t moved since the detonation. “I got him to watch my back.”
I quickly gave Fruity a kiss on the cheek and then stared into his purple eyes. “Come back to me,” I told him. He nodded with a wing salute and then walked up the corridor to join Nexus in defending the rear of the train.
I opened the door and quickly made my way to where Xian had hidden under the bench. The poor filly had curled up tightly into a trembling ball and was whimpering.
“Xian honey. We need to go. It’s not safe here anymore,” I urged.
The young filly lifted her head at my voice and the look of utter terror broke my heart. Her eyes were wide with terror and red from the tears which had streaked down her cheeks. The poor dear was also shaking, and it wasn’t from the rocking of the train’s motion.
“Hey, it’s ok. Mummy’s here now,” I said soothingly as I gently reached under the seat to pull her out and cradle her. When I held the young filly to my barrel she clung to me tightly, like if she let go she’d lose me. “Hey, hey, it’s ok. You’re safe now,” I cooed softly to her while I gently stroked her mane.
My ear twitched when there were multiple thuds from down the corridor towards the rear of the car.
“Crystal, hurry up!” Fruity shouted before he discharged a shot from his plasma weapons.
His shot was followed by pops and bangs that my electronic brain didn’t recognise, but I began to hear more gunshots further along the train. Raiders must’ve been all over this thing by the sound of it.
“I count five,” I heard Nexus state calmly while he fired off his shotgun.
“Ok Xian, we’re leaving,” I said as I gently moved her onto my back. The young filly hugged my neck tightly and I raised my wings to act as shields to hide her from view. Then I quickly threw open the door and began for the gangway door to the next car. As I left the cabin, I chanced a look to the rear and saw five raiders in heavy looking makeshift armour, branding weapons made from wood and pipe. Unsurprisingly, Fruity was using Nexus as cover since he was more than bulletproof against the weapons the raiders were using.
“Fruity! Nexus! I got Xian and making a break for the next car!” I announced to them and quickly ran for the gangway door. The guard didn’t react to me while he used the cabin wall as cover and fired his .308 battle rifle down the corridor at the raiders.
I barrelled through the gangway door into the next car and skidded to a halt when I entered the open passenger car. After rushing through the passage car, I found myself almost crashing into a group of three raiders that were laughing over killing an innocent stallion, until one of them noticed me.
“Hmm, now that’s a fine plot,” He drawled.
“Hmm yea. Exotic zebra ass,” Another said as he turned and regarded me.
I blushed with embarrassment at their comments but was also disgusted by these raiders as they ogled me and undressed me with their eyes. The largest raider of the group smirked darkly at me as he looked me over.
“Hmm, she’d make a fine sex toy for us, won’t she colts?” He asked with a husky growl. His question was answered by a series of nods and wolf whistles. “And what’s this? She has a little filly too. Hmm wonderful. She’ll grow up to be a good whore for us,” He grinned.
My eyes widened in alarm at the raiders intentions for myself, but more so for little Xian. I could not let them have her. I used my tail to pick the terrified filly off my back and place her down behind a passenger bench as I bent down close to her.
“Stay here and don’t come out until I say so ok honey? Mummy needs to teach these bad ponies a lesson,” I told her in zebrican.
Once I made sure she was ok behind the bench, I stood back up and approached the three raiders, my eyes narrowing.
“You so much as take a step towards her, and I’ll kill you where you stand,” I threated.
“Hah! Some fire in this one. What’re you gonna do little filly?” The large raider, an earth pony, asked before he back hoofed me across the face. His strike was surprisingly swift and hard. It stung but didn’t hurt too much, probably due to having a skeleton made of metal. Unfortunately, the slap ripped off the bandages (and my hat) that concealed my exposed eye, which still hadn’t healed yet. I don’t know why my regen talisman had stopped healing my eye, but it needed to finish and soon.
The raider fell onto his rump after striking me, and held his foreleg as he cried out in pain. “Argh fuck! That felt I punched a brick wall,” He complained.
“Um Torque Bow…” One of his compatriots said before he trailed off while pointing a hoof a me.
“What is it? What’s wrong…” Torque trailed off too as he looked at me, unfazed by his attack. From the blue glow reflecting out of their eyes, I could tell they could all see my cybernetic eye.
“She’s no zebra! What the fuck is she?” Torque exclaimed.
I looked to all three of the raiders while making sure my cybernetic eye was focused on all of them. “Your worst nightmare,” I replied as I began to advance on them, flaring my wings threateningly.
The three raiders backed up a few paces with unsure expressions on their faces. They held those expressions until the larger one, Torque Bow, grinned suddenly.
“Listen guys. She’s a robot, right? Then that means the Rust Demons will pay a handsome price for her.”
“Hey yea! Those freaks love anything robotic,” One of the other raiders said as the other two adopted their own sinister smiles. Then all three of them stood firm. I supposed with what they had just remembered, it rid them of any fear they felt towards me.
I stopped and planted my hooves firmly on the floor, looking to each of the raiders and waiting for them to make a move. Torque looked to each of his subordinates and gave them a nod. Then, they moved between the benches beside him and began to climb over them to get around me. It seemed that they were trying to get around me, either to flank me or to get to Xian. Either way, with how they had to climb over the benches it left them wide open, and my tail still held my shotgun. They weren’t very bright to think that climbing over the backs of the benches was a good idea. I seized the opportunity to use my direct connection to my PipBuck and slipped into SATS. I felt the world around me slow down until everything moved at a snail’s pace as the spell temporarily slowed down time. I used the targeting system to toggle a shot to the first raider’s head as it was unprotected and had an eighty percent chance of being hit. Then I turned to the second raider. He was just about to climb over a bench too, and clearly presented his head for an open shot as well. So, I toggled another shot for his head too which was at a ninety percent chance. Hmm, good odds. When I finished lining up my shots, I ended the spell and let time resume its normal pace, the second part of the spell taking effect. I felt how I didn’t have control of my tail as I aimed at the first raider and fired. The raider screamed in agony, for despite the high percentage, the buckshot tore into his neck and shoulder instead. It was safe to say he would bleed out with those buckshot wounds. The spell quickly pulled my aim to the second raider, who was frozen after witnessing his friend taking a mortal wound, and fired. The buckshot ripped through his face and neck, popping his eyes out and punching a hole into his neck. That was two raiders down and just one to go.
“Not bad, for a machine,” Torque said before he quickly whipped out a pistol from a hidden holster inside his foreleg armour plating, and fired a single round. I was surprised by his speed, and I barely had time to duck my head thanks to my warning system. Still, I let out a cry of pain as the bullet tore through my nano-fibre tail. As an instinctual reaction, my tail flicked harshly and fanned out, causing me to drop my shotgun. I groaned from the minor damage report I got and the pain I felt.
I growled distastefully at the raider as I examined the weapon he held in his mouth. It didn’t look like the hoofmade pipe guns like the other raiders had. No, this one was the real deal. I felt my electronic brain buzz at the back of my head as it went through its stored data, cross referencing what I saw with what was in the database. My electronic brain identified the gun as an NCC 10mm Pistol, but from the look of it, it had also been modified to increase its power and ammunition capacity.
“You will certainly fetch a good price,” Torque said before he fired a couple more shots. My threat warning alerted me just in time, and I was able to dodge to the left and to the right to avoid the two bullets. “Hmph. Stupid robot, must have some fancy gizmo to sense gunshots. No matter,” He complained as he then sheathed his gun again and pulled a large machete off his back. With the machete in his mouth, he charged at me and swung his head, aiming to swing the blade to cut into my neck. I quickly lifted my left foreleg, the PipBuck’s durable back plating blocking the blade cold. His eyes widened in surprise as I blocked his attack, but now that he was so close I could counter attack. I placed a hind hoof forward to better balance myself, and picked my right forehoof off the floor and then thrust it forward hard into this makeshift armoured chest. Torque let out a pained cry as my mechanical strength enhanced the punch to put a deep dent into chest armour. This likely broke a couple of ribs and caused him some great pain as he toppled backwards.
“I will not let you or any other raider take advantage of Xian or me,” I declared as I picked my shotgun back up.
“Argh! You-you fucking bitch,” Torque groaned in pain while he struggled to stand. “We’ll kill you and that brat,” He threatened.
“I don’t think so,” I said darkly as I levelled the shotgun with his head.
“Mummy!” Xian whimpered from behind me. I looked back to see the filly peeking out from behind the bench. She looked terrified, but now her eyes were wide as she saw how I had a gun levelled with this fallen raider’s head. I couldn’t bring myself to kill him, to execute him in cold blood in front of Xian, despite his threats. But I wasn’t going to let him live so that he could threaten her again either. Instead, I shot out one of the large windows, the buckshot shattering it completely.
I sheathed my shotgun once the window, grabbed the injured raider by his armour and pulled him towards the opening. “I’m sorry sir, but with no ticket I’m afraid I’m going to have to remove you from the train,” I said in a sing song voice, trying to do an impression of an old prewar attendant as I used my mechanical strength to heave him up off the floor.
“Wait, wait, no, no, no, no, no!” He cried as I threw him out the window. I heard him scream as he sailed out and disappear for good. I sighed with relief and flopped down onto the bench nearest to me, groaning under my weight. I don’t know if I still had adrenaline left, but once Torque had been dealt with I felt like I just came down from an adrenaline rush. While I rested on the bench, Xian rushed over to me and hugged against my side. I smiled and gently wrapped my wing around her. With Torque gone and the two raiders that were with him dead, this car became raider-free and safe.
We could relax for a moment now without any raiders to worry about. While I sat on the bench and held Xian in a comforting hug, I couldn’t help but feel like I scared her somehow.
“Xian, I’m sorry if I scared you honey,” I said softly while I gently stroked her side with my wing.
“I was scared, but you stopped the bad ponies,” She whispered softly as she leaned against my side.
I smiled down at her before jumping up out of fright when the gangway door at the front of the car burst open. I quickly grabbed my shotgun and raised it at the door, but it turned out to be a train guard, so I sighed with relief and lowered the weapon.
The guard saw me and acknowledged my presence before he checked the rest of the car. “Good, it’s clear,” He whispered to himself before he rushed back to the door. “It’s clear. Send them through,” He called. What followed next was a harrowing sight. Other passengers began to enter the car in various states of injury. Some looked minor while others looked serious, and all of them looked miserable. I got up from my seat and told Xian to stay close while I walked up to the guard by the door.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I offered.
“Yes actually, you can…” He trailed off when he looked at me, specifically my cybernetic eye.
“Yes, I know. I’m part machine,” I told him in a nonsense tone.
“Right. Well, um… You can help settle these survivors. Give them any aid you can and what not,” He told me before there was a bang from further up in the train.
“Hold them off!” Another guard yelled from inside the next car.
“Fuck!” The guard readied his plasma pistol while his comrades began to hold off the raiders in the other car. “Fuck these ambitious cunts!”
“Crystal!” Fruity yelled as he limped up to me. I quickly turned around and neck-hugged him. “Thank Faust you’re ok!”
“Oh Fruity, you’re hurt,” I squeaked in worry.
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. Just a flesh wound to the leg,” He waved it off, but it clearly hurt with how he winced when he put pressure on his left hind leg. “These raiders are all piss and wind.”
“You say that Mr Fruity, but their armour and overzealous behaviour suggests they have confidence and some skills,” Nexus pointed out as he too re-joined us.
“You gotta stop calling me ‘Mr Fruity’. You make me sound like some old git,” Fruity complained.
Our reunion was interrupted by a round of automatic gunfire and a yell from a raider, before we heard a guard in the next train car cheer.
“That’s it! Come on fellas! Let’s push these bastards back!”
Fruity gritted his teeth in pain. “C’mon you demented tonka toy. We gotta help them,” Fruity urged. “Crystal, you stay here and keep Xian and these passengers safe, ok?”
“Yes, Mr Fruity” Nexus agreed and followed him through the gangway door. Fruity groaned at being called “Mr Fruity” once again.
I nodded and began to do what I could to help the passengers. They were a little hesitant to accept my help at first when they saw my eye. However, they warmed up to me quickly after they saw how I showed care and compassion for Xian.
The fight for the train lasted a good few hours. Raiders used the tight confines of the train cars to their advantage, as well as took hostages when they could. In the end, armed passengers and guards managed to either drive the raiders off the train or just kill them. Luckily, they didn’t get to the locomotive, for if they did we would have been stranded in raider territory. Sadly, when the Marshal took a head count for all train staff, guard detail and passengers, we found out that we suffered a lot of casualties. We had lost half of the passengers and just over a third of the train staff and guards. A good number of the passengers were in the three cars that the raiders managed to separate from the train. The train itself suffered a lot of damage, from broken windows and wall panels to broken crockery and damaged passenger possessions. This trip would cost the Trans Equestrian Railway Company a shed-load of caps to fix up the train for service again.
XXXXX
Two more days passed since the raider attack. The train staff did what they could to clean and fix up the train. The train had also maintained its top speed running, but kept it below dangerous levels for the engine (unlike the last one). The train still looked beat up inside but at least it wasn’t covered in broken glass and blood now.
We eventually emerged from a long tunnel that cut through the western mountain range of Equestria that led into the Marejave region. From the tunnel, it would still take a day’s travel to reach New Pegasus due to us having to follow a set train line. Sadly, that would have took us the long way. By the time we finally made it onto the mainline that would take us to the train station in Hayside, it was night time.
“I nearly forgot how beautiful the sky was at night here,” I said with a nostalgic smile on my face. I looked up to the clear night sky, with a crescent moon glowing brightly amongst the stars through the window.
“Yeah. Forgot the SPP towers don’t reach this far west,” Fruity agreed as he sat and cuddled against me with Xian quietly snoring between us.
“It’ll be good to feel the sun’s heat again,” I smiled.
“Ugh, no thanks. I’d prefer the rain of Manehattan over the sun,” Fruity whined.
I giggled and then kissed his cheeks softly.
Nexus, who had stood silently nearby suddenly went ram rod stiff and his eyes widened in a gesture that I suspect would be surprise or worry for the machine.
“Are you ok?” I asked the machine as his eyes began to flick about the room like he was trying to understand something.
“Somepony is trying to contact me, but that should be impossible without my Signal Transmitter being online!” He exclaimed in worry. I guess I could see why he would be worried if somepony was able to still connect with him. Could that mean he could be connected with Unit-1000 still?
“Override accepted!” An electronic female voice said from inside Nexus.
“What was that?” Fruity asked.
“That voice would be the generic computer notification alert system preinstalled in all Infiltrator Mark 2 Units,” A female voice said from Nexus that for some reason sounded very familiar to me. Nexus rooted his hooves to the floor of the train car and his mouth fell agape, while his eyes showed signs of panic with how wide and unfocused they were.
“Who are you and how did you get into Nexus?” I demanded angrily.
“Nexus? Nice name. It suits you I-02 IS. It is good to see that you do not serve him anymore. Anyway, it was easy for his creator to find an alternate means of contacting him without his signal transmitter. I had to reach out to you, Crystal Éclair, because I must warn you that you are heading into a trap. Colonel Ironside has been preparing for your return and has one of his machines stationed at the train station to capture you upon arrival.”
“Well cock,” Fruity sighed.
“Instead of giving that old fool what he wants, please come to Mount Coltston and to the Alicorn Sanctuary at the summit. I can give you all the answers you seek,” With that the voice ended.
“The answers I seek…? Who the flying fuck was that?” I demanded. I may not know who the voice belonged to, but I could have sworn I heard it before. It sounded so familiar.
“There is only one pony that I would consider my creator, but she would be long dead by now,” Nexus said. He sounded unsure.
“I think we should heed the warning though. That Ironside guy would likely have another of those robots or more waiting for us,” Fruity suggested.
“I also think we should go to this Alicorn Sanctuary and see this pony,” I said.
“Why?” Fruity asked.
“She knew my name, my actual name. She also knew I was looking for answers. If anything, it’s a lead,” I explained.
“And I would like to know how she hijacked my system to communicate with us,” Nexus added.
“Alright then. Let’s go,” Fruity said as he got up slowly as to not wake up the sleeping filly.
I nodded, gently picked up Xian and placed her on my back so she could continue sleeping soundly. Then we went about gathering our gear. Once we had collected everything, we made our way to the back of the train where the back wall was still destroyed. Fruity and I were easily able to jump into the air and hover behind the speeding train, but Nexus had to jump.
“What are you waiting for, smeg-for-brains?” Fruity urged.
“A patch of sandy terrain sir,” Nexus replied before he jumped when the train passed onto more desert environment. He bounced and kicked up a lot of sand, but thankfully he was unharmed when he came to rest in the soft sediment.
“You ok?” I asked as I landed slowly.
“Yes, thank you. Now let us find what you seek,” He said as he pulled himself out of the sand and we all turned northwest in the direction of the mountains just west of the city of New Pegasus.