//------------------------------// // 10 - Reunions // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Resistance // by tom117z //------------------------------// Chapter Ten: Reunions “Our paths will cross again someday, in time to reunite...” Turns out my insatiable curiosity is at least partially satiable. At least when you’ve been searching through the same looking ruins over and over. I’m not kidding, for a moment I thought I had accidentally gotten us turned around and trotted miles back down the road. At least we were on a road now, we’d eventually decided that we had walked far enough away from that whole thing with Rope Gallows that we could safely walk these old pre-war pathways again. We hadn’t been exploded by a vertibuck yet, so I’d say we were actually right about that for once. We were also getting closer to Stable 12, about a day out by this point. I could feel my friends, kinda… Well, not literally. But they were stupidly close and I couldn’t wait any longer! Just past the next junction, or over the next hill… Would the stable by in another apple cellar? A barn? A random rocky outcropping? Just another day… Coffin had recovered from his first time teleportation experience, though I could occasionally hear him mumbling about headaches. The first time you burn yourself out is always the roughest… Unless you do it so much you drop dead, but that hadn’t happened yet, so no need to worry too much there. I’m just going to stop talking it up now. “Almost there,” I informed Coffin. “The map marker is getting really close now. Here’s hoping Silver gave us the right one.” “It’s the right one,” Coffin assured between laboured breaths. “They’re too meticulous to screw up that badly.” Just imagine if they did? Actually, given what we went through to get here, I’d rather not. “Maybe we should talk game plans for when we get there,” he then suggested. “Somehow, I doubt the Rangers will be on board right outta the barn. Never mind the stubbornness I’ve heard so much about, they’ve taken one hell of an ass-kicking since the Enclave took charge. Down to a chapter and, what, a couple of outposts? Maybe none now, who the fuck knows?” Life Bloom and SIlver Bell had made that much clear to us back in New Appleoosa. I wonder who was Elder nowadays? Crossroads? Somepony had to… had to take over from Steelhooves. If I hadn’t let him die, maybe he could have done something about all of this… I miss that stoic ghoul. He’d been more than my friend, he was literally family. The only family I’d had after leaving the stable. I wonder if that was why he always stuck with me. Maybe he saw Applejack in my eyes, given they’re her green and all. I don’t know. I’d never told him, but he had been one kickass grandfather, plus a few generations. But… … Hm, speaking of my old friends… “I’m sure we can manage,” I told him, forcing my regrets back down into my own inner stable. “I have some, uh… That is to say, they told me of a couple ponies who might help with that.” Coffin raised an eyebrow. “Really? I don’t remember this.” “Oh, well, Life Bloom mentioned it to me. Alone. Without you…” Am I getting better or worse at lying? I can’t really tell. “But their names are Velvet Remedy and Calamity, they’re-” “The Lightbringer’s friends, anypony who knows anything about the war knows about them,” Coffin interjected. “And the former was the one who gave us the Stable location, as I recall. You really think they’d actually help us? Besides, Calamity supposedly left their ranks a while back.” What? Oh, right. They did tell me he was meant to be in hiding, didn’t they? I forgot about that. But… It’s Velvet and Calamity, him being all lucky and getting Velvet all to himself. I still remember chasing after her… You know, before she shot me. Them joining up together just makes sense. Why would they ever part? No, it has to be bullshit. Rumours and crap. They’ll be together as always, I know it! We can be together again. Fuck whatever Life Bloom says, I’m telling the shit out of them! I want my friends back. I need my friends back. “I can be persuasive when I want to be!” He gave me a doubtful look. “Uh-huh… Well, you're not doing a good job of convincing me right now.” Oi! “Have some faith, Coffin, for fuck’s sake. If anypony will listen, it’ll be those two. I just… I have to believe that.” There’s that odd look again. “I would endeavour to agree simply on the grounds that they’re heroes and all, but I’ve never took you to be a fan of the Stable Dweller as I am. Why do you think so much about ponies you’ve never met?” Of course I’m not a fan. I know me too well to be one. “Just because I don’t drool at the thought of the ‘Stable Dweller’ like you do, doesn’t mean I don’t think her friends are heroes. I mean, ‘if’ I were her, I wouldn’t have made it that far without them…” He shrugged. “Point taken. Still, even with their support, it’s the darned Elder we have to convince. From what I heard, she’s very hard to convince.” We’ll just have to find out… The hours started to pass, passing through a shattered hamlet along the way that was empty aside from a couple radroaches that kept their distance. Just a couple ruined homes and a single little shop that had been looted years ago, just some unimportant place that didn’t even show up on my PegWing’s map, forgotten a long time ago. Past that, we were left completely open country roads, cracked and dilapidated as they were, nearly buried by dirt in more than a few places. This stable was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, seemingly only surrounded by a few small locations that weren’t even worth calling a village and some isolated farms. Still, I guess all those farms and isolated homes added together to make a good bit of the shelter’s population. Maybe a few came in from wherever the closest established towns and villages were, something the ponies of the past actually gave enough of a shit about to mark down on a map. Looking at my PegWing… Tall Tale, maybe? Though that was caught between the border of the Hoofington region and Vanhoover, a little bit of a journey further up Equestria from here. Maybe… Eh, what does it really matter in the end? Stable-Tec would have put ponies in wherever they saw fit. I don’t even want to imagine the spreadsheets showing the specific ways they would fuck with people’s lives when they were meant to be saving them. What horrors did Stable 12 deliver…? A rumbling started to reach my ears, both twitching as I turned my head skyward. I saw Coffin do the same, our eyes peering into the grey roof above us. What the Luna’s puckered ass was that? “Hide!” Coffin then shouted, frantically looking around for a place. He seemed to settle on a shallow ditch, about the only place there was out here. “Come on!” I moved to follow, looking up one last time. And then I saw it. I saw the Thunderhead flying our way. The giant floating platform was… gigantic. The anvil-shaped behemoth was something else to see in person, and a pit opened in my stomach as I imagined them leading a fleet of Raptors against Equestria while I was too busy napping in a pod. ‘Overcast’ was the name imprinted on the side. And it wasn’t alone, another huge vessel, one I had never seen before floating alongside it. At first glance, it almost seemed the same size of the Thunderhead, though a second examination showed it to be notably smaller, and from here I could see the ridiculous amount of large guns strapped to the cloudship. And even dwarfed by the Thunderhead, I could tell it was a fair bit meaner than a Raptor. I got moving, ducking down into the ditch with Coffin as the two ships started to get closer. “Shit, the Overcast,” Coffin swore. “Must be on one last lap around its prize before retirement.” Well, good for fucking it. “Must have deployed that Argentavis Battleship to protect it. Make it a less tempting target for us.” “Never seen a Thunderhead this close before…” I muttered. “Never mind that other one.” “Not surprising. I’ve never seen more than the occasional Raptor refuelling after a patrol or a Victory dropping off some important assholes.” “That one has a loooot of big guns…” “Yeah, well, it’s a ‘battle’ship,” he pointed out. “Slow and lacking in anything good for stopping vertibucks or enemy fliers, but fuck if you don’t wanna be on the other end of those cannons when they fire.” I can imagine… “Still, the Thunderhead has more than enough anti-air and hangar support to make up for what the Argentavis lacks there,” he continued. “No way anything we got would put a dent in those two together.” “I… don’t want to think about how the wasteland felt when they first took over…” How many ponies had to have died trying? No wonder they were able to take out Red Eye. Coffin snorted. “Hell, that was just the Raptors. Fast and nippy but little in the way of the big guns, kinda like that Victory cloudships that replaced them. Now, pair those and the big ones together, maybe some Titanis cruisers as well seeing as they are kinda a mix of both, and we got problems.” I think I’ve heard those classes mentioned a couple times, glad to know they were just as deadly as every other fucking thing out here. “I never knew you were so into ships.” “Nah, it’s more Steampunk’s thing. You know how much that pony likes tinkering and engineering, studying stolen schematics for those things was a holiday for him,” the unicorn remarked. I blinked. “You have schematics for those things?” “Yeah, inside source got ‘em. Lotta good it does us, not like we have any way to build them. Maybe they gave the bosses some idea as to how to hit them, I don’t know.” “At least Steampunk had fun.” He chuckled. “That he did.” Oh shit, they were actually really close now. “Enough chatter, down!” We ducked as low as we could as they started to pass overhead, the shadow of the two vessels almost entirely turning the wasteland around us into night. The sound of even more engines reached our ears, small specks coming into view as a squadron of vertibucks escorting both ships started to fly on by. The hum was almost deafening, some crazed fucking chorus of death that could quite frankly get screwed by Luna’s plush horn tip. But they did pass by, the two ships crossing the land and moving on back in the general direction we’d previously come up from. The last to go were a few of the escorting vertibucks, several flying uncomfortably low to the ground a short distance away from us. “Look at them all…” Coffin lamented. “Let’s hope they don’t finish up the Overcast’s reign of terror by targeting anypony.” I didn’t reply, instead watching on as all those big flying death barges sailed off and into the haze of a bland wasteland day. And so too did I watch as one of the vertibucks, literally the last one that had passed us by I think, randomly seemed to break off from the others and turn around. In one swift movement, it was now heading back in our general direction. Ah fuck. “I think it’s-” The world erupted into a volcano of kicked up dirt and shards of rock as a barrage of magical energy fire cascaded around our ditch, my head instinctively pressing firmly against my little safety spot as I lost track of Coffin amidst the storm! His bar remained on my E.F.S., so I took that as a good sign! The sound of rotor blades became briefly deafening as the vertibuck passed by a scarily short distance overhead, passing us by and flying off somewhere behind our position. You’d be butt fucking kidding me if you thought it’d just leave, though! “Spark!?” Coffin shouted out as the dust started to clear. “Not sludge! Yet!” “Good! I’m picking up a few bars on my Eyes Forward, you getting that?” “No fucking shit!” Sure enough, several bars were on the move away from the big red splodge that was the vertibuck. If I were a smart pony, which I’m not, I would say that that thing had just dropped off ground troops. Cunting fucking shit DAMN IT! We both turned, peering out of our unnervingly shallow cover out at the hovering vertibuck sitting there. Sure enough, four Enclave soldiers had dropped out of the transport and were readying their weapons. Three combat armour-clad soldiers and one in good old X-02 gear. Freaking marvellous And they were all turning in our direction, the vertibuck raring to take off. “Wishing I still had my little death pistol right about now,” Coffin mused wistfully. Oh-ho, but I have a death anti-aircraft- Shitting fuck! A bolt struck right next to my head the moment I tried to access my PegWing! Really hating the lack of space to move about, here! “I need Little Gilda!” “Get it then!” “Try to stop them from blowing my head off first! Please? Thank you?” “Trying!” Coffin levitated up his gun, firing off randomly at the Enclave soldiers. Still, judging by their bars, they were marching towards us at a leisurely pace. Dicks. But even as I looked around us, I saw just how screwed we were. This ditch was about all the cover we had, the area was almost entirely flat. The spot where the Enclave were advancing was just an old burnt-out field. Behind us was a cracked road and, annoyingly, yet more burnt-out field. And now that vertibuck was reorienting itself back towards us in a bid to turn us into a smear! Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and any attempt to get my big guns would probably get me shot quicker. Come on, Pip! Don’t tell me you’re out of tricks now you dumb fucking unicorn bitch! BOOM. And just like that, as if the Goddesses themselves had answered my typically vulgar prayers, the vertibuck detonated in a green cloud of radioactive energies. “Balefire eggs! Scatter!” one of the Enclave soldiers bellowed in alarm, those red markers on my Eyes Forward Sparkle. And, weirdly, there were three green ones joining them now too. “For the Ministry Mare!” Wut? I peered up, and holy shit those three bars only fucking belonged to three Knights of the Applejack’s Rangers! Heck yeah! Never been so happy to see these tinned ponies in my life! Well, except for one… One of the knights did indeed have a balefire egg launcher equipped on their battle saddle, though that one took a step back as the other two bounded in with miniguns blazing. The slowest of the Enclave soldiers to react was cut to ribbons, turning into a pile of blood and meat as the wreckage of the vertibuck continued to rain down around them. Suddenly, caught by surprise, the lack of cover was now the Enclave’s problem too. “Where did they come from?” I asked aloud. “That’s the question,” Coffin remarked as he used the moment to pop off another shot at the Enclave. Another bar blinked out. “Huh, see that burnt out storehouse across the field? Maybe they were cooped up in that.” I briefly glanced out, and I did catch sight of the old building. It was a piece of shit, looked like it was barely standing. But I didn’t see any other way these guys had remained undetected by the Enclave while we’re been spotted. But it was a brief glance, my mind more focused on the last two Enclave soldiers as they tried to back away as they traded fire with the Rangers. They seemed to be trying to use some of the newly fallen wreckage for cover, but it wasn’t working out particularly well. The third soldier in combat armour fell, leaving just his power armour clad buddy left. Noooot great odds for that guy, huh? I pulled my revolver free, firing a couple of shots at the said pony. They unfortunately just seemed to ping off his armour, the 5mm rounds from the Rangers having a similar effect. Until the lead Ranger with the balefire egg launcher charged forward, dipping down and heaving the startled Enclave pegasus onto his back. Said pegasus gave out an alarmed shout as his mechanical stinger tail struck out and pierced into the Ranger’s armour. Barely discouraged, the Enclave soldier was thrown haphazardly away from the debris and towards the other two Applejack’s Rangers. Now in close proximity and flailing around on the ground, the two massive earth ponies stood over the pegasus and let loose with their miniguns point-blank. Against that kind of punishment, his power armour proved to be a little crappier as it was torn to shreds along with the pony inside. No more red bars remained. “Sir!” one of the minigun Rangers shouted to the injured one in alarm. “My suit is distributing healing potions and antitoxins. I’ll live,” he barked back. “Check on the civies. Carefully.” “Yes, Paladin!” the Knight responded. “You two! Asses front and centre, weapons away! Don’t give us a reason!” “Hey! We’re friendly!” Coffin shouted back indignantly. “Resistance!” “And getting shot at by the cocking Enclave!” I added. “The Enclave shoot at many things. Get out here if you’re what you say,” the Paladin in charge commanded, barely even acknowledging the hole in his armour. “Ugh.” Stupid Rangers and that stick shoved up their buttholes… “Yeah, we should probably do what they say.” “Ya think?” Coffin snarked. “Come on, revolver back in the PegWing. We’re coming out!” I did as he said, slowly rising out of the ditch until we were both face-to-face with all three Steel Rangers and their big nasty guns. How many of those were shooting at me when they attacked Stable 2? No, Pip. That wasn’t them. These idiots probably were foals then themselves. Besides, the original Steel Rangers weren’t around anymore. Just the AJ’s variety and the Enclave now… Still, attitude hasn’t changed all that much. Still grumpy as shit. The Paladin approached us, his helmeted head glancing between us curiously. “Not many civilians come this far from the cosy Enclave cities anymore. Looking at your barding, mare, you’re an Enclave technician.” “Technically, yes.” Thanks to Life Bloom, anyway. “But he’s the son of an Enclave officer, yet we’re still Resistance anyway!” Coffin’s eye were definitely incredulous behind that helmet of his. “You didn’t need to reveal that much, Sparkplug!” “Hey, you like honesty!” “Yes. Incredibly. Even more so when it’s not likely to get me shot.” The Paladin groaned. “Stop arguing. Sheesh, wastelanders… Alright, you claim to be Resistance. The Enclave were shooting at you, so that is an indication that you are being truthful.” “Like I said. He likes honesty,” I remarked. “Stop talking,” he shot back. “Honesty, huh?” the Paladin mused, standing directly in front of Coffin. “Alright. I’ll start with you. Why are you out here, Resistance or otherwise, and why shouldn’t we send you back the way you came?” Coffin nodded. “We were sent here by the leaders of the New Appleoosa cell, Life Bloom and Silver Bell. We have business with your Elder.” “A tall claim. We have no business with your failing Resistance.” “Not so failing, actually. I’m sure the great and mighty Applejack’s Rangers heard about Fillydelphia,” Coffin rebuked. “We have a proposition for the Elder. I think whether or not what we have to say is her business to decide whether it is or isn’t worth pursuing.” “Sir, if they’re being truthful, the Elder will likely want to know of it. Scribe Remedy has said something like this might happen,” one of the Knights said. Scribe Remedy? Look at you, Velvet. You have a rank now. “If they’re being truthful,” the Paladin reiterated. Coffin sighed, his horn lighting up and removing the helmet from his head. He looked the Paladin dead in the visor, his expression completely sincere. “As much as she speaks out of line, my friend here is right. I am the son of the Enclave office. But I am also greatly appreciative of honesty. Something I’m sure the followers of Applejack can relate too.” “...We can.” “Then you’ll have to trust me when I say that I am being truthful with you now. We have a plan of action to hit the Enclave, and it is something for your Elder’s ears specifically. She will want to hear it.” “Besides, you have the big guns,” I pointed out. The Paladin hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head. “I do sense a truthfulness about it, I can say that much at least. Alright. We will take you back to our base of operations in Stable 12. However, I must insist that you be blindfolded for the remainder of our trip.” Oh, what? Seriously? He must have seen the look on my face, the earth pony moving to me. “The secrecy of our order must be maintained. There are too few of us left to risk exposing our headquarters to two ponies we just met.” “Alright… I guess that makes sense…” I guess that cuts out the ‘us having to find the door’ part of this trip. “Very well,” the Paladin declared. “Knights, restrain these two. Then we move out for Stable 12. Ad Victorium.” Ad-vica-what? It seemed like a lifetime before the blindfold was finally removed. Let me tell you, wandering the wasteland with only your E.F.S to give any indication about what lay beyond the piece of fabric wrapped around your eyes is really not fun. I lost track of how many times I saw flickers of red somewhere around me for it to just vanish again. Probably roaches. But still, fucking freaky. But we made it. Here we were… and… and… ...Fuck. Goddesses… Fuck. You know, in all this time, I never even thought what it might be like seeing one of these stupid dumb cog doors again. But here it was, a great big yellow ‘12’ emblazoned right in the centre. I can… can almost imagine the ‘1’ not being there, you know, leaving just a single ‘2’... The cave system around us, the remnants of pre-war signs of those beginning to be let in… All that was missing was the bones, but they’d probably been removed a long time ago. Of course, the biggest difference of all? Stable 12 is still here. As far as I know, Stable 2 is just a hole in the ground, scrapped for parts. This isn’t my stable, and it’s probably not even how stables are… well, what I thought they were supposed to be. It was probably more like the one Calamity and I explored by New Appleoosa once upon a time, filled with horror and experiments that Stable-Tec and the Cutie Mark Crusaders thought was a good idea for fucking idiotic reasons. I already hate it here. And Goddesses it hurts to look at. Annnd yet I’m going anyway. Good job, Pip. “Open up,” the Paladin barked out. “Clearance level Alpha-Pi-Eleven.” Uh… Pie? What’s that about- Alarms started screaming into my ears, a red light flashing above the door as the familiar sound of scraping metal echoed through the cave. Behind the door, the accompanying arm was undoubtedly moved into place before the door was dragged backwards and rolled aside, the ghost of my past that was the entranceway coming into full view. No rust, not blood, just a clean and pure stable entrance. And just like that, the Rangers were leading us into Stable 12. “And who the heck are these guys?” a pony in a… stable security garb of all things. “Didn’t realise you were on a recruiting run.” “Show some respect for the chain of command, Initiate, this doesn’t concern you,” the Paladin rebuffed. “Call this in. We have visitors from the Resistance.” “Resistance? Oh boy, Elder’s gonna love this,” the pony replied sarcastically, throwing the switch that started the door’s activation sequence before hopping over to an intercom as the entrance sealed itself once more. “So, who is this Elder anyway?” I whispered over to Coffin. Probably should have asked earlier, but fuck it. “You don’t know? Ah, I suppose on this particular knowledge gap you can be forgiven. It’s hardly public information, unless you are in deep with Silver Bell.” “Yeah, I figured. We talked about them a short while ago, but never told me their name.” “Her name, to be exact,” Coffin replied. “Her name is St-” “Well, I got some orders for you, Paladin,” the Applejack’s Rangers Initiate interrupted as he returned from the intercom. Shit timing, jackass! “Elder wants to see you in the Overmare’s office, but you are to head to the orchard first.” The Paladin tilted his head a little. “The orchard? Why would- Ah, that Scribe?” “That Scribe.” The giant pony sighed. “Well, she always has had the Elder’s ear. Alright, civilians. Keep close, no detours or we’ll consider you hostile infiltrators. Understood?” “Clearly. You don’t have guests much, do you?” Coffin quipped. “And mind your manners while you’re at it, too.” “Fine. Take us to this scribe of yours. Coming, Spark?” “Yeah… right behind you.” Scribe…? The Rangers took the lead, opening a door that led into a typical stable corridor. As we walked, my eyes noticing signs for the ‘Cafeteria’, ‘Infirmary’ and ‘Atrium’ as we went, I started to take notice of the odd other pony walking around the place. A few in combat gear, less in power armour, and a good amount in stable jumpsuits. Speaking of the power armour, now that I looked, the Paladin was wearing a different model to the two knights. It was… bulkier, the shoulders seemed to have two layers overlapping each other. Not like the T-51 model really, they were a lot bigger. The knights were unmistakably in T-45, the kind Steelhooves used. But this other one I’d never seen before. “So, what’s with the gear?” I asked him. “What?” “The power armour. I’ve never seen that variant before.” “And you’d know.” “I’m, er… A technician. I like tech, okay?” He grunted. “Well, with the Enclave making upgraded from X-01 to X-02, and now we’re getting reports of an X-03 model, we also saw the need to upgrade. Meet the T-60 model power armour. It may not have the tails of an Enclave model, their advanced gizmos or the flexibility, but I guarantee it can take a punch more than theirs. “I had no idea the Rangers were expanding,” Coffin noted. “How’d you manage to produce something like that?” “That you can know if we can trust you. Not before,” he answered. “But, with luck, the Enclave will be seeing a fair few more of these in the future.” “T-45 isn’t the powerhouse it used to be,” one of the knights commented. “And with the lack of T-51 suits in storage, we needed something new.” Any further questions I had were stopped by our arrival outside a door that clearly led into the orchard, you know, if the windows showing a field of trees and a sign saying ‘orchard’ on it were clues or something. But I’ll figure out this new suit later, the technical curiosity of my old, and new, profession demanded it! “Step inside,” the Paladin commanded. Not waiting to gain the angry face of a T-60 guy, Coffin and I slipped through the door as it opened and made out way into the field. The sudden shift in scenery was… nostalgic. Memories flooded back to a time from my fillyhood, sitting in the grass under the apple trees, surrounded by apples both pure and… less pure. Not every apple was perfect, only so much the artificial lighting could do. But… grass! Actual grass, green and everything. Now, this was how I pictured stables. We pressed deep into the trees, looking around to see industrial carts filled with newly collected apples ready to be shipped off to… Huh, I was noting a few more industrial pieces of equipment around that my stable didn’t have. Weird… But we continued, being led right into the centre of this underground forest until… What the Cadance shitting heck? There was a tree planted right in the middle, hooked up to all kinds of machines that looked really weird and… medical? I don’t really know, medical stuff wasn’t really my speciality. But this tree… its trunk was yellow, its branches holding long pink leaves that almost looked like strands of hair forming a mane. But… but… Fuck the tree. What about the ponies under the tree!? “Oh? So you’re back for five minutes and already dishing out orders?” Velvet Remedy demanded to know, the dabs of grey in her mane doing little to… Well, we may never have happened, but she’s as wonderful to look at as I remember. “Deadshot Calamity, where do you get off?” “Ah ain’t given’ any orders, honey,” Calamity drawled, covering his eyes with his hat as he shifted uncomfortably within his suit of X-01 power armour that had been painted with Applejack’s Rangers stuff. “But you ain’t seen what’s going on out there, ah have. It gets worse all the time, they’re slaughtering anything that so much as looks the wrong shade of the rainbow to be a pony. And a lot of ponies to while they’re at it.” My friends… They’re here! Both of them! Together! And… and why the fuck are they glaring at one another like murder is about to happen? Oh… crap. “Do you think I’m ignorant of that?” Velvet shouted in anger. “I know what’s going on! You know I want so badly to help them!” “So why don’t you?” “I’m a doctor, not an army! I have ponies who need me here.” “So, you’re really not gonna raise a hoof to help the outside? You really drunk that Ranger Sparkle-Cola, huh?” “Don’t you dare!” she screeched. “I am helping your degenerate cowpony! They’re the help!” “Uh…” Did my voice sound squeaky there? Fuck, as if this wasn’t bad enough I now look like a complete ass! And now they’re looking at us, my friends, and what the fuck am I meant to do here? Dammit, guys! “Uh, okay, didn’t see ya’ll there,” Calamity said awkwardly. “Uh… how long…?” “Long enough,” the Paladin groaned. “Scribe Remedy, your ‘guests’ are here.” “Oh good, I was hoping Silver Bell would come through someday,” Velvet said, shooting Calamity a smug smirk. “I take it she’s sent you two here to form another alliance?” “That’s about the breadth of it, yes,” Coffin confirmed. “Um, is this a bad time?” “Naw, we’re just fine,” Calamity lied. “Name’s Calamity, Deadshot Calamity. I run with this group.” “Not recently. You run off until a couple of days ago,” Velvet said bitterly. “Somepony had to go out rescuin’ folk.” “Okay, I see there’s an issue there,” Coffin interrupted the argument. “But can we focus for a moment?” Velvet signed. “Right. Sorry. Yes, if you two are here to negotiate with the Elder, you picked a good time for it. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be a tough sell, but she trusts me. I know we need this alliance, but she’s rightfully afraid of the effect another direct attack on the Enclave might have if it doesn’t work out.” “She’s Velvet Remedy, by the way,” Calamity introduced. “Best voice this side of Equestria, even better doctor, and a right prissy pony when she wants to be.” “Yes, that is my name…” she confirmed with a glare. “Sorry, my manners have escaped me. You two are?” “I’m Coffin.” “Uh…” FOR FUCK SAKE! VOICE! WORK! “...And this is Sparkplug. She’s new, but she’s one hell of a fighter.” “I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Velvet said. “I work as a senior scribe here, as well as the Chief Medical Officer. I wish I could offer you a room and time to rest, but now that you’re here we shouldn’t waste time. If there is anything you would like to ask me before we go to meet with the Elder, please do so now.” Oh, where the everliving cunting shit do I begin? Why are they fighting? They’re not together? Calamity has only just returned, so Silver Bell and Life Bloom were right about him wandering off on his own? Where do I start? “What’s with the tree?” Apparently, that’s where I start. Thanks brain. “Huh? Oh, right. She’s not a tree.” “What?” Velvet turned towards the yellow tree, a sad look on her face. “This… This is Ministry Mare Fluttershy. Or what’s left of her.” ...What? “I know you think it sounds crazy, but it isn’t. During the last days of Cauterize, when the Enclave were razing Everfree Forest, we found her. She’d been hit by Poison Joke, it turned her into this. She’s alive, stuck, watching the world she tried so hard to heal burn around her. We moved her to save her, it was quite the effort. I’ve been trying to find a cure, but the Elder has often placed our resources elsewhere.” “Like that armour there,” Calamity said, pointing at the Paladin. “Whole factory ready to pump ‘em out.” “Factory?” Coffin questioned. Velvet nodded. “Stable 12, like many of the other stables, had a social experiment. Not only does this place have an apple orchard, but it has a full production facility designed for canned goods. It was advertised as having limitless resources, until eighty percent of the machinery lost power, including most of the lights in the orchard. No factory, few growing apples, the stable population eventually started to die of starvation and a lot just fled from the stable. When we found it, it was almost empty. Under a third remained.” “Wait," Coffin questioned, "Silver Bell said that when Applejack's Rangers found the Stable, it was completely empty." “Standard protocol," the paladin beside us answered. "We try to keep as much information about ourselves a secret to outsiders, even allies. If we tell too much about us to other cells, and if those cells are captured, they could crack and tell the Enclave our secrets." Then his gaze went to Velvet. "That's why the Elder was furious when Scribe Velvet informed Silver Bell of our location." Velvet rolled her eyes at the Paladin's comment. “I know Silver Bell, if the worst ever comes, she would rather die than reveal Stable 12's location." "Anyways..." Calamity interrupted, “When we came along, it was easy enough to get things back together, turns out the dwellers’ technicians couldn't get around un’ fix anything because all those machinery were shut off on purpose on a separate grid. That and they didn’t have one worth shit, on purpose ah reckon,” Calamity mused. “Now part of it is being converted from food to weapons and armour. Got a giant door, hidden from the outside, for vertibuck deliveries as well.” “It’s been useful for storing vertibucks of our own,” the Paladin commented. Wow. This place should have been a powerhouse, the ultimate stable almost. Too bad Stable-Tec doomed them from the start, huh? "So… what’s the deal with the dwellers now?" I asked. "After a while, we began to integrate them into our ranks," he answered again. "That helped us a bit to bolster our ranks, especially after the Junction-R7 disaster." Calamity nodded. “Yeah. Ah stayed here for quite a while… Even though every wall reminds me of friends ah failed.” C-Calamity…? “You’re the Stable Dweller’s friends, right?” Coffin questioned, removing his helmet as he stared them down inquisitively. “Velvet Remedy and Deadshot Calamity, like in the stories, like Silver Bell said.” “Huh, guess we’re still famous out there,” Calamity quipped. “Or infamous, maybe.” “So…?” “Yes, we are,” Velvet confirmed. “But that was a long time ago. Littlepip and Steelhooves were murdered, Xenith is out fighting her own fight somewhere, and we… do what we can.” “...What was she like? I’ve got records, hearsay…” “Silver Bell never tell you?” Calamity asked. “Of course. But… I want to hear it from her friends, the complete honest truth of those who knew her best.” Velvet bit her lip. “Littlepip was… complicated. She had the mouth of a pre-war sailor, lacked in total common sense at times… But… She tried so hard to be good. To help others be good. She fought for Equestria when others gave in, even if we had to keep her on track sometimes.” “And then she died,” Calamity noted sadly. “Yes. She died. She was out here because of me…” “Don’t blame yourself, you know that’s on me,” Calamity chided. “Ah saw her go down, right in front of me. That fucker came outta nowhere and… ah wasn’t fast enough, she got gunned down before I could kill ‘em in time.” “No!” Fuck that, they are not blaming themselves for my fuck up! “I… She wouldn’t want you blaming yourselves! That’s… stop! Right now! Please?” My friends just… stared at me. But not at me, at Sparkplug… “And how would you know that?” Velvet whispered. “I…” Damn you, Life Bloom. “She was… a hero! Right? So…” The charcoal unicorn snorted. “Hero? Maybe… She wasn’t perfect, Goddesses she made me angry at times. Too curious, too… Agh. But to me, Sparkplug, she wasn’t a hero. She was just… Littlepip. My friend.” Velvet… I’m… I’m right here… Damn it… “CAW!” What now!? I looked up and… Ah, there’s the missing piece! Right there, flying above me, was Pyrelight. The green glowing phoenix circled above, something held in her beak, before she began to descend and dropped that something onto a nearby table. “Ah! There it is! Good girl!” Calamity said, trotting over and retrieving the object. “Back from repair, good to see it.” “Good girl, Pyrelight,” Velvet complimented as the balefire phoenix landed on her outstretched hoof. “This is Pyrelight, or Philomena if the old records we found are to be believed. But she’s just Pyrelight to us.” “CAW!” Pyrelight’s eyes locked onto me, I felt the bird scan me as if… Wait, does she…?” “CAW! CAW!” She gave one large beat of her wings, closing the distance between me and Velvet in a single moment before coming to land contently on my back. “CAW! CAW!” “Huh… She… Really likes you…” Velvet said with a confused frown. I looked up at my friend. She… Fuck, she knows me! Ha! Hahahah! Screw you, universe! One of my friends still knows me! “Good to see you too, girl,” I whispered up at Pyrelight, getting a happy nuzzle in return. “She’s… certainly something,” Coffin said in awe. “You don’t see many balefire phoenixes anymore. Let alone a friendly one.” “She’s special,” Velvet explained. “You must have heard of her, right?” “I mean, yeah. I’ve studied all that’s to do with the Lightbringer. But seeing it here…” Coffin trailed off, glancing at the item Calamity was looking over. “Wait, ain’t that…?” “This?” Calamity returned. “Oh, this is an old keepsake. Lil’ Macintosh, I’m keeping it warm for a friend.” I… wha… Huh… Little Macintosh!? Oh, this is so unfair. That’s miiiine! If I could get my hooves on the old girl again, with those revolver upgrades I picked up in the Junction R-7 ruins… “I think that’s enough history for a little while, we still have work to do,” Velvet said, reaching out her hoof for Pyrelight to return, which the phoenix did dutifully. “So, Coffin, you really did your research on Pip, didn’t you?” “She’s an inspiration to many in the Resistance, ma’am.” “I see. Huh, even now, Pip… We could use that spark about now. What about you, Sparkplug?” “Um…” I mean… “You could say that…” “Good enough,” Calamity said with a chuckle. “You did contact Sapphire about this scheme of yours, right?” “Got her on the intercom just after they turned up, and before you started your complaining,” Velvet shot back passive-aggressively. “She’ll meet us in the Overmare’s office.” Sapphire? Who the heck is Sapphire? “Paladin, you and your knights can leave us. Get some rest,” Velvet said compassionately. “As you wish,” the Paladin agreed with a nod. “Come on, grunts. A fresh glass of purified water on me.” “Ad Victorium!” the knights echoed one another. The three power armoured ponies stomped off, leaving me with my old friends and new one standing in the orchard. “Alright then, let’s see if we can get anywhere this time,” Velvet said hopefully. “Follow me. We’re going to see Elder Strawberry Lemonade.” Strawberry!? The Overmare’s office was… identical in almost every way to the one I remembered. Behind that horseshoe-shaped desk, sitting in that chair, I could almost imagine the Overmare chewing me out for crossing a wire or two in her last PipBuck maintenance session… But instead, sitting behind it in a rather dashing airpony’s coat, with a full suit of classical T-51 power armour sitting in a rack in the corner of the room, was a familiar pink mare from the old days. She was a little more scarred maybe, more serious, but damn she looked good. Good enough that my stomach was doing backflips as I tried to develop x-ray vision as my latest mutation so I could check out that flank… Think of Homage, Littlepip. As pretty as that flank may be… But despite the differences, that was definitely the Knight Strawberry Lemonade that Steelhooves once had in his ranks during his short-lived days as Elder… And then there was the blue pegasus mare next to her, shifting uncomfortably in the corner as she stared at us. Or… at least, I think she might be looking at those angry glances Velvet and Calamity keep giving each other. Really need to fix that… Somehow… Probably… Uh… At least the blue mare is also pretty cute! She looks younger, though older than me. Or, well, older than my body is. I guess I was napping for forty years. But they! She looks like her… later twenties? Maybe early thirties? I don’t know, but she definitely looks good. I’m just going to stop thinking about anything around me now before I explode. That, and Strawberry has really been working on her death glare. “And what have you brought me now, Scribe Remedy?” the mare asked, crossing her forehooves and leaning forward onto her desk. “I receive reports of two strangers wandering over to our secret chapter like they owned the place. This is why you were forbidden from giving out our location.” “Can we not start that old argument again?” Velvet deadpanned. “We need allies, Strawberry. Friends. Like the mare that put you in that chair would have done.” “A dead mare. But as it is…” she trailed off. “I am Elder Strawberry Lemonade. Leader of what’s left of the Steel Rangers, the true Steel Rangers that still serve under the sigil of Applejack, Bearer of Honesty and our Ministry Mare.” “Unlike the jerkasses who defected to the Enclave,” Calamity added. “Precisely,” the Elder said with a nod. “The Applejack’s Rangers are all that’s left of the Ministry of Wartime Technology, all that’s left of Princess Luna’s Equestria. We look after our own, safeguard our technology and history so it may never truly fall. And yet here you are, outsiders that threaten to tip the balance we so carefully maintain.” “Hey, the old Steel Rangers hid away and did nothing to help the wasteland, look where that got you!” I snapped. I take it back, this is not the Strawberry I remember! “Steelhooves didn’t die so you could shut yourselves away again!” The Elder’s glare turned to me. “Excuse me?” “Applesnack thought you were better, Strawberry! Applejack wouldn’t have just hidden herself away when Equestria is dying outside!” The mare flinched as if struck, sitting up in her chair as she took in a hesitant breath. “...How did you know Elder Steelhooves’ true name?” Oh shit. They were all looking at me now… Coffin was glaring at me from behind his helmet again, I know it. “Yes, Spark, how do you know that?” “Uh… Fuck! Never mind that!” Why am I so shit at this!? Stupid dumb mare with a stupid dumb face that’s not even mine! “Point is, we came here to get your help. The Enclave are cunts! We all know that! Why can’t we face them together?” “Because the last time we did that, we lost the majority of our ranks in a balefire explosion,” Elder Strawberry Lemonade seethed in response. “Junction R-7 was a complete military disaster! We committed so many of our own to taking both the town and stopping Celestia One from activating, and for our efforts, the Resistance was crushed into near-nothingness, Gawd’s faction was entirely eradicated, and we were reduced to a single chapter of the ageing knights and far too young initiates! It’s taken decades to rebuild to what we are now, a single stable and a scattering of outposts.” “But we have rebuilt!” Calamity came to my defence. “She’s right ‘bout Steelhooves, y'all know that! And we can’t rightly rebuild much further with the Enclave keepin’ their grip on things.” “We? I recall you left our ranks, Calamity.” “I’m back, in case you hadn’t noticed.” “Oh yes, we noticed,” Velvet half-hissed. “But yes, he has a point. We should at least hear Sparkplug and Coffin out.” “Silver Bell wishes to retake New Appleoosa,” Coffin explained. “The city is where Grim Gallop… well, he did hold his seat of power. We believe he holds a lot of data critical to the Enclave, it’s the centre of most of their operations on the surface.” “Outside of Death Scythe’s elusive holiday home,” Calamity quipped. “The fortress aside…” Coffin continued. “It’s so important they won’t want to lose it all in a giant explosion. That gives us a chance to hold the city and use whatever they have there against them.” “Sounds fine to me. If nothing else, gives us a big ol’ city base to fight back from,” Calamity concurred. “Or you’re wrong and history repeats itself,” Lemonade retorted. “Velvet, surely you see the risks.” She bit her lip. “Y-yes, I do… I think we need more ironclad details, but Silver Bell could give us those if we reach out to her. And just think! A whole city being free of the Enclave? That’s hope. Something that died forty years ago, Elder.” Strawberry sighed, sitting back in her chair as she entered deep thought. She was quiet, I’m not really sure she was that convinced, despite how persistent we were being... And then the blue mare spoke up. “Um… Elder?” “Yes, Scribe Sapphire Wing?” “If they could solve that problem of ours… I mean, that would help us, right? Make us more prepared? Plus, it’d prove the Resistance can handle themselves.” “Handle ourselves? You do know about Fillydelphia, right?” Coffin asked incredulously. “But to see what you can do first hoof…” The Elder sighed again. “Alright, you have all made your case. I can’t in good conscience commit my ponies to a cause that may lead them to their deaths. Not yet. But if you do something for us, help us to both prepare and prove your worth in the process, I might reconsider.” “Alright, what have you got?” Coffin immediately volunteered. More busywork. Fucking amazing. “Sure. I guess we can help each other, then,” I relented. “But, uh… Why do I suddenly have a really bad feeling that it’s something so shooty even your big bad Rangers were having trouble?” Strawberry gave a wry smirk at my comment. “Well… I must admit, while we haven’t attempted it yet, the proposed mission is extremely dangerous.” “We’re really sending them on that one?” Velvet asked nervously. “Are you sure that’s a good idea…” “If the Resistance can blow up that factory, I’m sure they can handle this,” the Elder refuted. “Do what exactly!?” I stressed out loud. Sapphire awkwardly scuffed the ground with a hoof. “Uh… How do you feel about stealing a Hades tank?” What was that shit now? Coffin tilted his head. “...A tank? You want us to steal one of the remaining Hades tanks…?” I mean, we HAVE done it before, but… Uh… Fuck it. We’re all crazy here, right!? Eh-heh… “Elder, is that really necessary?” Velvet asked desperately. “Ah think it’s a great idea!” Calamity supported. “Oh, of course you would!” “It’s no more crazy than taking an Enclave city,” the Elder pointed out. “There’s an Enclave outpost not so far from here. They have a Hades tank there, one they’d had wandering the wastes picking off random targets for testing purposes.” Oh, it’s that one. We’ve met that one. It really gets around, huh? “I’m sure I don’t need to explain to Silver Bell’s hoof-picked operatives as to why this is a unique opportunity,” she continued. “One in every city, several in Death Scythe’s personal care. At least according to our intel. This is the only one out in the open, the most vulnerable of them all. But soon we believe it will join the Death Scythe group. Our window is slipping away as we speak.” “So you want us to hijack the giant Celestia piss fucking mech before it’s too late? Great…” “That’s right, I do.” “If that’s how it must be,” Coffin agreed. “But we’ll need to make a call. Last time we had a defecting Enclave soldier and his team drive the darned thing. We can’t alone.” “Then have the Resistance fly them up here.” “Uh… yeah, they didn’t fly us up here because they thought it was too dangerous,” I pointed out. “So I’m not sure Silver will suddenly be like ‘Sure, why not!’ or anything.” “She will if she wants our support, Ms Sparkplug.” “If you send one of your birds to meet ‘em halfway, I’m sure something could be arranged,” Coffin suggested. “Less distance for each to travel, less time out and waiting to be shot down,” Velvet concurred. The Elder nodded. “Fine. If they agree to those terms, I will abide. You can wait in the stable until they arrive, then you’ll leave immediately to locate the tank.” “Um… Elder?” Sapphire spoke up once more. “I think I should go with them.” “What!?” Velvet splurted out. “No. Not at all, young lady!” The mare levelled her a deadpan look. “I’m hardly a filly anymore, Mum.” Mum!? Then... “Ah beg to differ! Y’all better listen to her on this one!” Calamity rebuffed. “Ah’m not letting my daughter get snuffed by the Enclave before ah do!” Oh, Celestia. She’s Velvet’s daughter. Calamity’s daughter…! And I was looking at her flank! No! Ew! I’m practically her aunt or something! I had the hots for her mother! That makes it worse! Brain bleach! Brain bleach! Fucking Tartarus shitbags! “I’m going,” Sapphire announced with a determined expression. “Somepony needs to be our eyes on this mission, and somepony who can keep a low profile might be better than a stomping suit of muscles and armour. Besides, I know my way around a surgery kit. I don’t see any other medic with them, do you?” “Alright, Scribe,” Strawberry agreed swiftly. “You wish to go? I won’t stop you.” “No! No!” Velvet protested wholeheartedly. “I forbid it!” Sapphire shrugged. “Sorry. Definitely going.” The unicorn’s eye twitched. “Calamity… This is all on you.” “What? How did ya figure that?” he protested. “She’s stubborn as a rock, like her father!” “Look who’s talking, Songbird!” “So!” Sapphire interrupted, trotting over to us as her wings twitched eagerly. “A pleasure to meet the both of you! I’m Sapphire, though you probably heard that! I can patch up your wounds, can shoot a pistol and probably hit my target, or can just sing you a pretty good tune to pass the time. I got Mum’s voice, you know.” “At least there’s that…” Velvet dejectedly muttered from the side, Pyrelight giving her a comforting nuzzle. “A pleasure. Welcome to the team of misfits and explosions,” Coffin greeted in turn. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted while waiting for Granite’s team to catch up.” “Right! And you, Sparkplug! You really laid it in thick to the Elder back there. I had no idea members of the Resistance were so interested in our history!” “Uh…” This is their daughter. This is their daughter. Please go away flank thoughts… “I guess I heard a thing or two… But, uh, you sure you wanna come along? Things around me tend to... “ “Die horribly?” Coffin ‘helped’ out. “Suuuure. That one.” “That’s fine. I need to get out of this stable, I can’t just keep myself safely locked up all my life…” Sapphire lamented, gaining a rather distant expression. “I… need to get out and help. I know the other members of the chapter practically worship Applejack as a deity, but… I don’t know, Fluttershy teaches us kindness. And the kind thing to do is to get out there and use my skills to help as many people as I can. Whether that’s with my medical training or… well, just alleviating the wasteland with a nice song.” “What about shooting ponies? The Enclave?” Coffin questioned. “There is something to be said about Applejack. So answer honestly, please.” She bit her lip. “I… I’m not so much a fighter, really. But I’ll help defend the innocent if that’s what it takes. But I just need to help, the Enclave is hurting too many innocent people.” Velvet’s heart, Calamity’s stubborn proactiveness. Plus the wings. I can see both of them in her, but I think Velvet maybe a little more. There was definitely a softness to her… Fuck. Something else the wasteland is about to ruin, I’m sure. “If we really can’t talk you out of it…” Velvet started up reluctantly. “Then please be careful, Sapphire. I… If…” Sapphire hugged her mother. “I know, Mum. I’ll watch my back. Don’t worry, please.” “It’s my job…” Velvet noted with a small sob. “When did you grow up, Sapphire?” The mare gave a small smile. “It had to happen sometime, right?” “It did,” Calamity agreed, tipping his hat to his child. “Sure ya don’t want me to come with?” “You’re not exactly the stealthy type, Dad. Everypony knows this as gospel!” She’s not wrong… “Well, shucks. Don’t need to say it aloud…” he replied bashfully. “Alright, give the Enclave a lickin’, ya hear? And come back quick, safe, and with a new toy for us to play around with.” “Then it’s decided,” the Elder announced. “Get some rest. It’s about to be a very busy day.” I guess so. Straight back towards a giant death machine that was probably going to kill us. And now I had the daughter of my two best friends with us, her life in my hooves… I have to keep her safe, or I’ll never be able to face my friends again… I won’t fail again. I can’t. Please. Goddesses, Celestia, Luna, please help me out here…. Footnote: Level 8 New Perk: Hope’s Balled - Your companion and her inherited voice has given you an extra +5 to your speech skill.