Fallout: Equestria - Resistance

by tom117z


4 - The Resistance

Chapter Four - The Resistance

“The Enclave, they're not who they say they are... Get out while you can, before they get you too!”


When I woke up, Stable 2 was burning.

I tried not to breathe in all the smoke, but it was everywhere. Pouring in from every corridor, every ventilation unit. What was even happening!? Why in Celestia’s sunny nipples was everything on fire!?

I rolled out of my bed, crouching down low to try and get some decent air. My PipBuck was showcasing all kinds of warnings… PipLeg.

My PipBuck was still fused to my leg, as it had been since Canterlot…

Ugh, why was everything fuzzy? I remember Canterlot, I think I blew up the Goddess to high hell…

How did I get here, though?

It was getting harder to breathe. Fuck, I had to get out! I remember the code, CMC3BFF. And if there were any other dwellers still in here…

Goddesses, I hope most had already gone to Junction R-7!

My door was already open, so I ran out of it and into the smoke-filled hallway. I… have no idea where the fire is coming from. All I can see is the smoke, and the orange haze filling the fallout shelter. I had to move, to get out! I remember the way, and I bolted in the direction of the atrium, I could get to the stable door from there.

But first, I had to find my mother.

The last time I saw her, Velvet had nearly broken her nose. But whatever was… broken between us, she was still my parent. I couldn’t leave her in here!

So, I ran, pushing my legs as hard as I could. But fuck my life, I don’t remember the corridor being this long! Come one! Just a turn here, and another there…

There it is!

Mum’s door was locked.

“FUCK YOU, STABLE 2!” I shouted in anger, why did this have to happen now of all times!?

Fuck it, I ripped off the control panel and took the utility cable from my PipBuck, inserting it into a compatible socket. Green text passed by on the screen, and I moved quickly to access the door’s control system. I hit the emergency override, and the door slid upon with a hiss.

I yanked my PipBuck free and jumped inside.

Only to find a grave.

Executed for the crime of birthing The Stable Dweller.

“What…” That whimper came from me. I… just what!? What the fuck was happening!?

The grave was just sitting on the metal floor, nopony could be buried here! This had to be a sick fucking joke! Yes, mum was already at Junction R-7, she had to be!

I turned from the room, and I ran. I was tired, but I didn’t care. Nor did I care for the smoke filling my lungs each second. I had to get out, to find my friends. Nothing else mattered.

And when I emerged into the equally smoke-filled atrium, I found one.

Steelhooves’ armoured head was stuck on a pike, behind which stood a snarling, hungry hellhound with my friend’s blood staining his claws.

N-no…

They’d killed him… After the Goddess. The hellhound had come out of nowhere…

And now it eyed me, and I suddenly felt extremely exposed without my weapons. It crouched, and I couldn’t move! I couldn’t defend myself, and was going to-

A loud crack filled the atrium, and the hellhound’s head exploded.

“Lil’Pip!” Calamity shouted from the opposing doorway, smoke trailing from the barrel of the recently fired Spitfire’s Thunder. “Git moving! Now!”

And then he turned and ran back through the doorway.

“Hey! Calamity, wait!”

I ran after him, though my pegasus friend had already vanished into the smoke. But he’d been heading in the direction of the entrance, the others had to all be there!

I took off running again.

Like before, these corridors seemed to stretch on for eternity. I couldn’t see Calamity ahead of me, and I quickly gave up on calling out when I nearly choked to death from the smoke on my first attempt.

I just had to reach the door, it was right ahead…

“Littlepip…”

It was the Overmare, hunched over in the doorway leading to the main entrance. She was holding a hoof tightly on her chest, which I realised was nursing a bullet wound.

“Overmare…?” I whispered in shock, quickly scooching over to her side. “I… I can help! My friends are nearby, Velvet can save you!”

“You… You could have saved us,” the Overmare weakly chided, coughing up blood. I… I couldn’t have done anything! I don’t even know what’s happening! “They came, and you failed… us…”

Her bar on my E.F.S. blinked out, and she went limp.

I… I couldn’t do anything.

FUCK!

I left her corpse behind, fighting back my tears. Later, Littlepip! Just get out! Now!

The stable door was already open, though I could see smoke filling the cave beyond. But I didn’t pay it any mind, I just ran out into the rocky expanse all the way up to the apple cellar it led to. I bolted up the rickety old stairs and burst through the hatch into the wasteland.

I found the fire.

Equestria was… burning. Everything was. The entire sky was orange, and the cloud cover seemed to be funnelling the smoke all over the surface. Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, I could even see distant flames that must have led all the way to Manehatten…

And the culprit was certainly those raptors in the sky, dozens of them, a thunderhead position in the centre of the fleet. Hundreds, if not more, vertibucks were being deployed from the fleet as I looked up in horror. And there, directly ahead of me, were my friends.

They were knelt down before a squad of pegasi in fill power armour, their landed vertibuck behind them. The Sky Bandit lay nearby, a smouldering heap from magic weapons fire.

Calamity, Velvet and Xenith all looked towards me, meeting my eyes.

And then the Enclave gunned them down, and I watched as their bodies turned to green sludge.

No… NO!

Everything just unravelled before me, I… I couldn’t think! THOSE BASTARDS. I screamed, and I charged them, picking up the discarded Spitfire’s Thunder in my magic and turning it on the nearest soldier. I didn’t even give them time to react as I pulled the trigger, and even though the immense recoil sent the gun hurtling from my grip the bullet still cut the soldier down in an instant!

Only, as the soldier fell the armour faded away, and Homage took the pegasi’s place.

That… how… no… no…

I fell, crawling to the side of the mare I love. She was still. Lifeless. Her eyes open with one final look of fear.

Fear of me. The Hellmare. The one who had slaughtered her way across an already broken world and failed to make anything better. Failed to protect anypony, even her own friends…

So, I just cradled her. I had no tears. I had nothing left. I felt… dead. I just let the Enclave surround me, and I did nothing as they all fired their weapons.

Only to scream as I woke up in the barracks, deep in the resistance base. I… what the fuck was that dream!? Looking at a hoof, I saw it was indeed the pearly white that Life Bloom had engineered. My coat was laced with sweat, and I could see the other ponies in the barracks shooting me looks a mix of annoyance and concern.

Goddesses…

I had to remind myself that, aside from Steelhooves, my friends were alive. Homage was alive, out there, somewhere… But Stable 2 was long gone. I had failed them, I know. But… I had a chance to make up for that now! To stop the Enclave, even if it is forty years late!

...Right?

I fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. And I knew full well I would get no more sleep that night…


The morning couldn’t come soon enough.

I was out of that bed the moment the other members of the resistance began to rise themselves, I did not want to be alone with my thoughts any longer. Seriously, my head was a fucked up place. Give me a hellhound any day of the week.

Still, contemplating in silence does build up an appetite, so I made my way back to the cafeteria. I had yet to see Coffin, Steampunk or any of the other resistance fighters I’d met the day before. But then again, they were probably busy doing… resistance stuff.

One thing that hasn’t changed over the past forty years, the food.

I ended up having an old box of preserved Dandy Colt Apples, along with a Sparkle-Cola. Damn, never thought I’d miss our homegrown apples back in the stable, but here we are.

No, not thinking about Stable 2 again. I’ve done enough of that.

I distracted myself by trying to see what other ponies had to say for themselves. Yeah yeah, eavesdropping is bad and all that. But I really didn’t want to hear what I had to say to myself, so let’s compromise on this one.

Actually, a lot of the talk around me was disappointingly boring. One mare was talking about how her sister was, and I quote, “A spotlight hoarding cunt”. Because we all want to hear your family drama, lady. Another group of ponies were talking about… art? Seriously?

Yawn.

Oh, there was at least one thing of interest. I heard a couple of armed resistance fighters talking about somepony named ‘Liberty Bell’. Apparently, she was one of the stars of the resistance, having one of the largest mission success rates and an Enclave body count through the roof!

Oh man, now I was imagining a pony in pimped out power armour sporting a few gatling guns while towering over everypony in the room! And with a name like Liberty, you have to imagine she’d be all noble and patriotic to the cause, dedicated to delivering a free Equestria! Guess forty years later had to have its own heroes, huh? I hope I get to meet her at some point.

I finished my meal quickly after that, Life Bloom was still expecting me in the medical bay. Who knows? Maybe his modifications have gone wrong, so he’ll have to revert me to my old short self?

Never thought I’d think that line.

As I walked, I took the time to appreciate just how many ponies were actually in this resistance movement Silver Bell has got going. All these ponies, fighting so they could be free again someday.

All because I had failed them.

DAMN IT BRAIN, SHUT UP!

Ugh, let’s just get this medical exam over with. If there are needles involved, I am not going to be happy.

I also didn’t exactly know my way around the place, so I had to ask for directions. I wish this PegWing would just show me a map marker, call my an old-fashioned mare (well, I am technically in my fifties, isn’t that strange to think about...) but I preferred my old PipLeg. Still, the ponies I asked pointed me in the right direction.

When I turned down a corridor with a door helpfully marked ‘infirmary’, I saw a collection of ponies waiting outside who I didn't really think were patients. There was Coffin, I’d recognise that painted power armour helmet anywhere. But there were also two other ponies outside I didn’t recognise.

Actually ‘ponies’ isn’t really the right term since one of them was a glum-looking zebra.

The zebra mare was a little shorter and far less scared than Xenith, also sporting blue eyes instead of green. She was wearing some leather barding over her body, a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder with… Yes, that’s definitely a PipBuck on her hoof. Though the PipBuck looks a little different from the model ponies from my stable wore. The PipBuck technician in me was wondering if I could get a look at it later…

As for the other pony, they looked a lot like Silver Bell. Her coat and mane colours were nearly identical, maybe a slightly different shade? Though her eyes were a light amber instead of blue. She wasn’t currently armed or armoured, and I could clearly see her cutie mark. It was shackles being torn from a wall.

And now that I looked, she was actually kinda cute. I mean, I was trying not to stare at her rump, but it’s hard! Okay!

“Ah, there you are,” Coffin said as he saw me, and I was knocked from my eye candy before quickly trotted up to the group.

“Yeah, uh… what’s up?” I glanced between him and the others. “And who are your friends?”

“Huh?” Coffin glanced at them. Who did you think I meant, Coffin? “Oh! Right, you haven’t been introduced.”

Coffin first gestured towards the zebra mare, who gave me a look of caution. I suppose I couldn’t blame her, I was the ‘new girl’ after all.

“This is Stripe,” he introduced. Stripe? A zebra named Stripe? Oh come on, I refuse to believe that’s her real name. “Not her real name, obviously.”

Called it!

“Uh, then what is?” I asked.

“None of your concern,” Stripe responded. “Ponies have always seen fit to refer to me as ‘Stripe’, so you shall too.”

Okaaaaay…

“She’s a little slow to trust,” Coffin explained. “Stripe used to travel the wastes with a group of friends, but she lost them all.”

“And it is not your place to tell such a story,” Stripe scolded with a frown.

Coffin raised his hooves defensively. “Sorry. But if we’re going to be jumping into hell, shouldn’t be honest about yourself? And I mean, you are Zencori, so stories are kinda your thing.”

Stripe looked at me and seemed to study me for a few moments. As much as this zebra was making me a little… nervous with the glares and distrust she was displaying, I could empathise with her losing her friends. I just hoped her distance wouldn’t be a problem…

“...He speaks the truth. I once travelled with friends of my own,” Stripe admitted, looking away. “But they were taken one by one. All the good we did, the Enclave undid it all. And now it is just me who lives to tell of it…”

She seemed to absentmindedly rub her PipBuck as she spoke. Did… that belong to one of her friends?

“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “I’ve lost friends. I know how much it hurts.”

“Then understand my position, little pony,” Stripe stated. “You are an unknown, and I will speak no more of it.”

Well, fair enough, I guess.

Coffin coughed awkwardly and then gestured to the cute mare.

“And this is Liberty Bell.”

WHAT.

“Hi! Sparkplug, right?” The decidedly not super huge gatling gun wielding power armoured mare said cheerfully. And goddesses the way she smiled was adorable. “I’m Liberty Bell, as Coffin said. You’ve already met my Mum, Silver Bell, she leads the resistance. I’m happy to meet you!”

Silver Bell was her mother? Well, I guess that made sense.

“Hi, i-it’s nice to meet you!” Oh dear Celestia, I was staring at the ass of Silver Bell’s kid! “Um, I’ve heard a bit about you…”

“Oh really?” she questioned.

“Yeah, about your body count and, you know… all that stuff.”

“Oh, that…” She snorted dismissively. “I just do whatever Mum wants me to. Ponies are really weird and try to make a big deal out of it, but I just want to help out, you know?”

She gave me a sweet and sincere smile and, for some reason, my insides turned to jelly.

Coffin chuckled. “Yup, she’s the Boss’ bundle of over cheerfulness. Some of the others find it annoying, but I think it can be endearing.”

Liberty Bell puffed up her cheeks. “Just because I want to make people happy, doesn’t make me annoying! They’re just miserable jerks!”

She definitely reminds me of how her mother was when she was a filly. A follower of Pinkie Pie once upon a time, and inspired by Pyrelight to make New Appleoosa full of colour and life.

She may not have been what I was expecting, but… I think I like her.

“Life Bloom is waiting inside, so you’d better not keep ‘em waiting any longer,” Coffin advised. “We’ll wait out here.”

For what? Why were they even waiting?

Well, I guess I can just ask Life Bloom.

I gave them a nod and quickly made my way into the infirmary. The room was filled with equipment, some of it looked like stuff scavenged from various Ministry of Peace hospitals while others looked new, probably taken from the Enclave. Life Bloom was sat at a terminal next to an examination bed, and Silver Bell was with him talking in hushed tones.

I coughed loudly, getting their attention.

“Ah, Littlepip!” Life Bloom greeted. “I hope you slept well. Come in, take a seat on the bed.”

I did as I was told, Silver Bell just watching me while Life Bloom gathered his stuff.

“So, uh… what’s with the others outside?” I asked Silver Bell. “Your daughter is really sweet, by the way.”

The ghost of a smile appeared on Silver Bell’s lips. “Yes. Mum would have been proud to know her. As for while they’re there, they will be accompanying you to the Hades Tank Factory.”

“Ah, right…” That made sense. “What about Psycho and Steampunk?”

“Psycho has other tasks,” she responded. “And Steampunk is running extraction. We’ll talk more at a prior meeting. Though it might be a couple days, we’re making sure we’ve got what we need.”

“Well, I’m glad about Liberty and Coffin coming along,” I answered, before adding: “Though Stripe doesn’t seem to trust me.”

“She will, after working with you out in the field,” Silver Bell assured. “But she doesn’t make friends, more so trusted acquaintances. You saw that PipBuck on her leg?”

“Yeah. Looks different to my old one, but I saw it.”

“It belonged to one of the ponies she travelled with.” I called that one too! “They were… more than friends. But he died, as did all of her friends. Then with what’s happened over the last forty years, well… You’ll have to forgive her for being distant. She’s one hell of a sniper though.”

I figured as much. I just hope she warms to me.

“Alright, ready!” Life Bloom announced, approaching me with a small ring attached to a bunch of wires. “We’ll start with a simple test of your magical strength.”

Well, here goes nothing.

The next Celestia knows how long was a flurry of every fucking test Life Bloom could think of. Hay, I think he made a few up off the top of his head! And even when he assured me I was not his little lab rat, I was even more sure than ever that I was exactly that!

Ugh, but what was I to do but sit through the tedium? If I had to stare at the same blank wall for several years, I could get through a couple of mundane health checks.

Apparently, my blood pressure was fine, as was everything else, barring the immense mutations I had inside. Though with regards to that, there didn’t seem to be any immediate danger of sprouting wings and acting all ‘Great and Powerful’.

My magic was also pretty much how I left it, so that was good. At least it was still green, I’m lucky Life Bloom can’t find a way to change that since, according to him, the colour of a pony’s magic is connected to their soul or something. Same with a cutie mark, which is why he couldn’t permanently change it, only deface it. And if he’d done that, I would have punted him off a building.

“It can’t be permanently dyed, tearing it off magically could cause immense damage, and I’m not sure such a spell even exists,” he rambled after he finished checking my blood pressure. “A cutie mark wants to be seen. It’s not even truly part of a pony’s fur, it’s completely magical in nature.”

I shrugged. “So?”

“So, somepony could recognise you because of it,” he pointed out as he began to pack his equipment away. “We need to hide it, put a falsity, a decal, in its place.”

“I thought you just said it couldn’t be dyed?”

“Not permanently, no. The dye will fade over time,” LIfe Bloom explained, before extracting something from a medical crate. “But this decal can be reapplied every day or so. Don’t forget to, or there could be issues.”

“What is it?” I asked as I took the decal.

“A PegWing, I thought it was a suitable stand-in.”

Looking at the design, it did seem to be a PegWing version of my own PipBuck cutie mark. Still, when I looked down at the mark on my own rump I felt… reluctant to part with it.

Damn it, I didn’t have a choice, did I?

Life Bloom noticed my sour look. “Pip, I know it’s not ideal, and I know you’re attached to your mark-”

“My cutie mark is a part of me, so yeah!” I shot back.

“-but you aren’t losing it,” he continued without stopping. “It’s just hidden. In private, there’s no issue. Just when you’re among the Enclave.”

“It’s for the best, Littlepip,” Silver Bell supported. Gah… “If they realise it's you, at this stage of the rebellion… They’ll come at you with everything they have. You made an impact forty years ago, with what you did to the Goddess and their fleet at Maripony.”

“And at Friendship City,” Life Bloom added. “You did more damage to them during Cauterize than entire armies were able to.”

“Same deal with the Security Mare, when she destroyed Shadowbolt Tower and defended Thunderhead,” Silver Bell said. I wasn’t sure what either of those were, but I remembered Security from Homage’s broadcasts… “Point is, they fear ponies like you. The unstoppable forces of nature who could bring down a nation.”

I snorted. “Unstoppable… I feel pretty stopped, after what happened at New Appleloosa.”

“Maybe. But more than anything, you’re a symbol of hope,” Silver Bell stressed. “One we can’t let die. Not again.”

“Alright, I get it!” I suppose I could deal with it. It’s hardly the strongest blow I’ve been dealt recently. “I’ll wear the decal.”

Life Bloom sighed. “Thank you, Pip.”

“Yeah… So, we done here?”

He nodded. “For now, yes. We have some time before we’ll be ready to brief you and the team on the factory, so until then you can do whatever.”

“We might have a few ops for you to do. You could also explore the city, see what the Enclave is doing above our heads right now,” Silver Bell suggested. “But we’ll leave that up to you. What do you feel like doing?”

There was only one answer I had for them.

“I want to see my Mum.”


I emerged into the industrial sector of the inner city. Hard to believe the resistance managed to construct their base right under the Enclave’s noses. I suppose that’s what happened when most of the factory workers are planted resistance supporters.

I was going alone, my new decal on my backside and the map marker Coffin provided showing on both the PegWing’s map and my Eyes Forward Sparkle. Her grave actually wasn’t that far from New Appleoosa, out there on a hillside in the Equestrian Wasteland where the resistance members who’d seemingly recovered her body had buried her.

We’d never gotten along in life. But still…

This was one thing I had to do.

I was saddened that mum was dead, but what do you expect? Forty years, and with her drinking habits, I’m shocked she didn’t...ya know, a lot sooner. I always wondered why Mum drank so much. No pony ever told me, those who talked to me more than a few commands anyway. Mum never talked about it, the why and how of it. I mean, heck, no stallion in Stable 2 even came up as my father. Makes me think he either died before my birth, which would explain her drinking a bit, or he was just one of the many jackasses in there.

Or maybe there was a party, everypony got super wasted and Mum later discovered she was pregnant with me and never knew the father…

Still, a DNA test would have been nice. I know all the Stable 2 genetics and family trees were on file, yet nopony ever performed said test on me, and that sucked.

Still, growing up wasn’t too bad, I guess. When I was younger I remember Mum didn’t drink as much, and we even had some fun. She’d play this file on her PipBuck, an old pre-war song, though it was just the music, no vocals, and she’d bring up a separate file with the lyrics and we’d sing Karaoke. We both couldn’t sing to save our lives, but it was fun regardless. It wasn’t until I was… seven, I think, when she really began her binge drinking diet.

I really don’t know what happened. I was in school that day and when I came home the whole ‘house’ smelled of booze and mum was passed out on the coffee table. Well, the rest after that is history really.

Crap. Now I’m thinking how things could have been different again, how I fucked it up... Stupid thoughts, just stay happy for a while!

Whatever.

While in my internal rambling, I seemed to have walked myself to the front gate on autopilot. Good thing I took notice, because the guard was giving me a really weird look. Still, they checked by PegWing ID and let ‘Sparkplug’ through into the slum outside, even if they questioned why I would ‘subject myself to the unclean rabble’. Assholes.

I left the inner city, and the wall, behind as quickly as I could. It may look all nice and shiny, but everything about that place just feels wrong. Who knew the area that looked the most like the wasteland could appear more comforting to be around?

Doesn’t change the shitty conditions the Enclave has these people living in. Really, they were probably better off before the Enclave came along. If that’s even possible, seeing how the wasteland was back then.

At least most ponies had been free.

Taking in my surroundings, I saw the area and I quickly remembered it. This is where I saved those foals. Huh, I wonder how they are? I know they said their home was nearby. Maybe I should visit.

I walked around a bit before deciding to knock on the doors. Most didn’t answer, I guess since I looked every bit the Enclave citizen. Sigh. Still, after several attempts, I got a result! It was the eldest foal who opened the door and, unlike everypony else around here, greeted me with a warm and cheerful smile.

“Hey! It’s you! The nice mare who saved my sis and me!” she said. “Mama! Big Brother! It’s the nice mare who saved Glass Cup and me!” She called out, turning around to get the most audio inside.

“Wait, really?” an older mare, her mother likely, said. Her voice sounds… “Well let me personally thank-” She stopped dead in her tracks and I tensed up…

Celestia’s monthly fucking mood swings. You have got to be kidding me.

She was… the female raider who tried to mug me! She was cleaned up and out of that… rather crappy scrap armour now that I think about it, but it was her!

“You?!” we both shouted, shock in my tone and anger in her’s.

“You… You knocked my son and I! We out cold for five hours!”

“You tried to mug me!” I countered.

“You-” she started, before looking down at the little one, looking confused at her mother. Finally, the mare sighed, motioning for the filly to move aside as she walked up to the door. The two of us now face to face. “You saved my foals… thank you for that…” she reluctantly thanked, her body language telling me she had to force that out.

“Heh… Sorry for knocking you out for so long… Guess I don’t know my own strength…?”

“I’ll say. If it wasn’t for that horn on your head I’d say you were an earth pony or something to hit that hard,” she remarked, letting herself chuckle a bit. “So... what brings you by here again? You got a PegWing so I figure you must be some kind of decent worker inside the walls.”

Well, at least she was trying to be civil this time. I guess it’s because the kid is here. “Oh, well I… Yes and no, well… it’s complicated.”

“Well, I guess in the end it all worked out. Hearthfire here showed me where those Enclave jerk offs were going to… Anyway, you left their armours and a few weapons around there so I sold them. I guess I owe you for having food on the table for a good while. Resistance pays good for their tech to use against them.”

“Heh, glad to hear that worked out.”

“Even if you stole our original weapons,” she added with a grit of her teeth. “I quite liked that shotgun, you know.”

Well, don’t mug ponies!

“Yeah… So, uh… I’m Echinacea, you know Hearthfire here, and my youngest, Glass Cup, is napping in the basement.”

“The basement?”

“It’s the only room with a fortafiable door. We all sleep down there and really only come up here in the main house to cook and enjoy some sun, not for long though. Enclave see anypony out here these days and it’s certain death.”

Especially known raiders. Or is ‘bandits’ a more suitable term, considering I don’t see any flayed pony decorations.

I didn't say that out loud.

“I figured. So, where’s your… son, was it?”

“Yes. Scrap Iron is out scavenging. Just cause we have food today doesn’t mean we’ll have some tomorrow, know what I mean?”

“Heh… yeah…” That was a lie. In Stable 2, there was always food, even before, after I left and before all of this, my friends and I managed to keep well fed, or at least fed enough.

“So… I take it times were really hard when we first… encountered one another.”

“Y-yeah, you could say that. My husband recently passed, and he brought in the most income for food, water, the basics. Most of what I made went towards bullets, but when he died his gun was… Well, we had to sell it.”

Along with pretty much everything else, I would guess.

“When you came along we knew it was either starve or eat,” she continued. “I have a family to think about and sometimes morals and the high road has no place in this world. It ended up working out though, rationed the food we got from selling that Enclave gear should last us a solid week, but ya gotta think long term.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Even if I didn’t agree. You should work with other ponies, not rob from them! Otherwise, that’s how you become a Monterey Jack. “Isn’t there anyplace… safer than here?”

“Not unless we can get inside the walls, but the price is… not cheap. A single adult is over two thousand bits, young adults like Scrap Iron are about the same, while the little ones are only around five hundred bits cheaper. In total, we’d need at least six thousand Enclave bits, and the exchange rates are rigged as hell.”

“Exchange rates?”

She gave me a deadpan look. “What? You grow up in a stable?”

Well...

“It takes twice the amount in caps to pay for it all, and even then there’s the high chance they don’t accept us. And if they do, we’d likely end up in different working and living sectors. And if we can’t get in, earth ponies get put to work in the farms and unicorns are hooked up to machines that drain their mana ‘til near gone, fuel for their energy weapons batteries. It’s not bad pay, if you have high mana reserves.”

“And let me guess…”

“The pay still isn't nearly enough to get in the walls. Caps are still good outside the walls but inside they’re just about worthless, nobody will take 'em. So you need to exchange, and it's two caps for a bit. Plus a fee for the exchange itself. It’s only worth it to exchange, like, fifty caps or a hundred cause the fee is typically seven to ten caps.”

So, if you want in, but they have no interest in you, they’ll extort everything they can for you to ‘earn’ your place. Lovely.

“So, where you heading?” she asked, giving me a look of suspicion. “Most inner-city gals don’t tend to wander this shithole.”

“Oh. I’m just heading to… see some family…”

“Family, huh? Yeah, I understand. Best not keep them waiting. Even the dead get impatient.” She chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess. I… suppose I’ll be seeing you?”

“Sure. Hopefully, it’s not under any bad circumstances,” she said with a shrug. “And… Dammit, I’m sorry about what happened. You seem like a decent enough mare, Miss…?”

“Sparkplug,” I answered, no matter how alien it felt on my tongue.

“Right. Well… try not to get killed. My daughter seems to like you.”

I left with some goodbyes, and we parted ways. The gravesite wasn’t too far away, only a little beyond the borders of the slum. I hurried through the rest of the settlement after leaving my attempted mugger-turned-acquaintance behind, ignoring the glares many ponies gave what they probably saw as an Enclave affiliated unicorn. And I really didn’t want any trouble based on a misunderstanding, so I got out of New Appleoosa as quickly as I could.

And then it was back out into the Equestria Wasteland. The hill was a short hike from there, I didn’t even run into any mutated critters along the way. I suppose the Enclave had nipped that in the bud, at least in the immediate area around the city.

Still, this made it easy to reach my destination. And as I walked up the hill, I finally saw it.

The grave was simple, a wood post with some engravings probably done with a knife. Even more curious, it held a pony’s long since decayed skeleton resting atop of it, battered clothing barely hiding the bleached bones of whoever it once had been.

Whoever they had been, and why they’d died here, that didn’t really matter right now. What did matter was what was engraved into the wood.

Here lies the mare named Hard Cider, resident of Stable 2 and Mother of Littlepip, AKA the Stable Dweller.

Executed for birthing the most dangerous mare in the Enclave’s history.

So… my nightmare wasn’t wrong. My attention was drawn to the skeleton. “But… who are you?” I asked out loud.

I saw they had a saddlebag, which was far more intact than the barding it wore. I leaned down and opened it, extracting its contents. Inside was a single, half-empty vial of sorts. Beyond that, there was a large pistol, semi-auto, and some bullets. I stored the pistol into my PegWing’s, uh… ‘storage’ right alongside my revolver and shotgun. Rummaging through his bag again, it showed only three holotapes. Quickly, I placed the oldest looking on into my PegWing.

The message was labelled: Memories.

“Hehehe, Double Tap~”

My ears did not want to hear that voice… It was… Mum’s. She’s not drunk here, that's clear, but it’s her… What the...?

“Ha, now come on Hard Cider, you and I both know you love this~”

A stallion’s voice started. I looked at the skeleton below me… is...is this him?

No… No, it couldn’t be. Maybe this guy found these recordings? But how? My father was just someone in the stable my Mum fucked for fun.

But now that I think of it, I don’t recall ever knowing a ‘Double Tap’ from Stable 2...

“Yes, but not when you’re recording!”

“Oh hush, I know your fetishes by now.”

“Oh, you are so wrong!”

AH! MY EARS! MAKE IT STOP!

“Hehe, maybe. So, how’s the cider coming along?”

“This batch is going to be my strongest yet. I just wish the apples grew more plump and round like in books, rather than the wrinkly raisins we get, but what can you do?”

“Heh, yeah…”

“...I know that look, Tap. You’re thinking about the outside again, aren’t you?”

“Can you blame me? The stories we heard about the pre-war world. The Sun! Perfect to grow apples in. The Moon, keeping the night’s darkness in check, and the sky! Can you imagine such a vast, endless blue?”

“I can, it’s in old pictures and books, love.”

Love?

“But it has to still be out there now!”

“Even if it is, there’s radiation up the ass out there! We’d be dead the second the doors opened! And if the legends are true, inside this stable is all that’s left! You heard the stories!"

“I heard what we were told, not what was found.”

“Please Tap, not this again.”

“I... alright. For you…” I heard a sigh from the stallion. “You are the only one who can make me shut up and stop when I’m so close, you know?

“Yup! That’s why I’m the dominant one in this relationship.”

“Oh ho! Care to prove it~?”

“Gladly~”

The audio cut out and I was left, puzzled, confused… and more than a little embarrassed. Was this pony from Stable 2? Why didn’t I ever meet him? And… who was he to my mother? I entered the second holotape into the PegWing. It was labelled: Judgement.

“Greetings, Double Tap.”

That was… the Overmare’s voice. She sounds younger, but it’s her…

“Hello Overmare. Been a while.”

“Yes, it has.”

It’s that stallion again… he’s speaking with the Overmare?

“I came to ask of you a favour-”

“The answer is no, Double Tap. Head of Security or not, we have one founding rule in this stable and that’s that the door never opens. The radiation out there is still likely lethal.”

“It’s been hundreds of years, Overmare. With all due respect, aren’t you being a bit foalish in your paranoia?”

“Foalish!? I am upholding a rule unbroken for generations! The doors don’t open and that’s that!”

“Then why have a door? Why keep that terminal in the main room linked to it to open it… why keep that password passed from your predecessor?”

“H-how do you know about that?”

“I didn’t. It was a hunch.”

"Y-you!”

Click.

Boom!

“Gah! You...You shot me!”

“It’s a .32 round, Overmare. Not lethal, least not where I shot you. Your rib cage would have only cracked when stopping that bullet. But we both know I’m not named Double Tap for nothing.”

“Grr… What are you planning?”

“Nothing much, just a simple task. We are going to take a small walk to the stable door. You are going to open it, we will walk outside… and we’ll see who is right. If our PipBucks go off, saying there’s radiation, then we run back inside and close the door. If there’s just a void like you swear by, then that’s all we see. But if I am right and there is a world out there, you break the rule and let us interact with it!”

“...Fine. Not like I have much of a choice right now anyway…”

There was a long semi-silence, only hoof steps were audible. Finally, there was a new sound… tapping, the kind from a Stable-Tec terminal…

“You are going to get us killed…”

The Overmare hissed.

“We’ll see,” the stallion said amidst the ever familiar, and for me, life-changing sound of the stable doors opening. Heavy metal screeched and creaked open as the door slid aside. I remember when I first heard it...

“I… didn’t think they opened.”

“Well, come on then.”

“I am no-”

Click.

“...You’ll be lucky to be placed on janitorial if we live through this…”

“Yeah yeah, come on.”

There was the short sound of hooves trotting along the metal, before finding stone, and a small crunch.

“What was that?”

“Hang on.”

The sound of a PipBuck’s flashlight turning on came up, followed by a scream and a shocked yelp.

“YAAAAAHHH! I knew it! It’s just death! We’re going to die not even a leg’s distance from the doo-”

The sound of a slap rang from the audio… Did this stallion… slap the Overmare? Respect.

“Calm the fuck down! It’s just those who didn’t make it into the stable. For Celestia’s sake, you are such a coward.”

“At least cowards live.”

“Yeah, but for how long?”

“Where… Where are we?”

“This looks… like a pre-war apple cellar? Our stable was built under a farm?”

“That would make sense. Ministry Mare Applejack is buried in our orchard, remember?”

“Look, there’s a hatch. Now can see who was right, got it?”

“R-right…”

I could hear them opening the hatch, and then some gasps.

“It’s so cloudy...” the Overmare muttered, just barely audible on the recording. “It’s like a really high ceiling- Oh stars, I’m gonna throw up!”

“Gross… Just gross…”

“Oh, shut up! Well, there’s… a surface, I’ll admit that. But is there anything alive up here?”

“Look, trees. Even in this place, those apple trees are still growing.”

“...Fine. Double Tap, you were- SWEET MOTHER OF CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT?!”

“Huh?”

WHACK!

“Gah!”

Thud.

“I… I’m sorry Double Tap… I can’t… I just can’t. I can't risk the stable, or the lives depending on me, for your fucking whim. I can’t risk it… And you have to leave.”

There was a fast pace of hooves trotting, quickly followed by the sound of the stable doors closing. It was a bit before he regained consciousness, from what the audio sounded.

“Gah… damn it, what hit me- No… NONONONONONO! You...You bitch! CUNT, COWARD, FUCKING BACKSTABBER!”

Fast trotting quickly ended, followed by loud, repeated banging, likely against the stable’s doors.

“I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! WHEN I GET BACK IN THERE, I’LL BREAK YOUR FUCKING HORN OFF AND SHOVE IT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS IT COMES OUT YOUR MOUTH!”

His banging slowed, and then finally, came to a stop, sobbing replacing the violent anger that overcame his voice earlier. I heard a small thud as the stallion likely hit the ground.

“I… I just wanted to give my wife the chance at her dream. Real apples, like in books, that she can brew… Was that too much to ask? WAS IT?!”

Silence answered him.

“Overmare…?” he whispered. “Open this door! OVERMARE!”

He continued shouting, and after a moment the audio clicked out.

Wife…? Mum was… but… I looked at the skeleton. From Stable 2… was… apparently married to my mum…? was left behind by the Overmare…?

“D-dad?”

Is this… is this skeleton my father’s?! Or was this just some random scavenger who took my father’s things from his lifeless body? WHO ARE YOU!?

I was hyperventilating. My whole life everypony told me my mum was just a drunken slut who slept around and some stallion in the stable was my dad, but they never came forward, nor wanted to. There was one holotape left. Maybe… Maybe it would have some answers?

I put it into the PegWing. It was labelled: I Still Love You.

”Hello there, Double Tap,” Mum’s voice came from the audio. “It’s been nearly a year… The Overmare told us that you left, held her at gunpoint and ran off into the outside. But I don’t believe it. The others have bought into it, but I’m not. I know you would never abandon me… Ouff!”

“Heh, I know you hate it when I’m sad, little one. But please, Mummy can’t handle your kicks. So small, not even born yet and you’re bucking like an apple farmer.”

Mum was pregnant with me...

“Doctors say it’s a filly, hun. I’m calling her Littlepip. Don’t ask why, it just… came to me in a dream. It’s short for Pipsqueak, which I think is quite cute, don’t you think?”

I heard Mum sigh sadly.

“The Overmare is firm on that door never opening. Everypony is taking a vow to never speak of this, your records are even being erased from the system. It will be like you never existed here. The only proof that you ever did exist is here, growing in my belly.”

I… never realised...

“I miss you so much, and… it hurts, Tap. It hurts so much knowing that our daughter will grow up never knowing her daddy. I can’t even tell her about you, because of the Overmare’s decree. You always wanted to be a father, and now you are…”

“Cider, stay calm. At this stage you can still risk a stress-related abortion,” a second male voice urged.

That voice… that was the stable’s doctor. I remember cause I was there a lot. At least when I was little.

“I know, I know, I just- Gah!”

“Cider?”

“I- I don’t… Fuck. Doc, I think she’s coming now!”

“Crap, cut transmission! If the Overmare asks, just say that she was here to listen to some relaxing music. Come on Cider, the medical wing is just a few turns, you can make it.”

“Doc, it hurts!”

“We told you to lay off the drink!” he scolded urgently. “Damn it, get a bed ready!”

The audio clicked out. Premature birth... Well, that explains my size issue.

Former size issue, I guess.

I looked down at the skeleton of the long dead stallion. Was this actually him? My father? But if so, how did he survive out here? Goddesses knows it wasn’t easy for me that first night. And that final tape was… Mum’s. Maybe the tapes were all laid to rest with her, like they found his remains and gave them to Mum before she died? And this guy tried taking them from here, only to get killed?

I just didn’t know. I suppose my father’s story was forever lost to the wasteland.

I couldn’t stop myself, and I just cried. I cried, and I cried. The tears wouldn’t stop for anything. I don’t know how, or when, but I found myself on top of my Mum’s grave, clutching the skeleton gently, afraid that what’s left of who could potentially be my father would break into pieces if I hugged him too tightly. Maybe this wasn’t him, and this was just a scavenger, and I was hugging some random pony…

But if it was Double Tap, I wanted my Dad to know that I loved him.

“I-I- I always wondered where you went. I always wondered why you were never there…” I cried out, gently petting the back of his skull. “I-I thought such horrible things about you… Everypony told me horrible things about the kind of pony you must have been… I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Double Tap or not, I suppose I chose to believe it was him. I would never know otherwise, so there was no reason not to believe. To believe that, after all these years, he found my Mum again as his life drew to a close. That he found her tape and died knowing he was a father.

I chose to believe that, for this single moment, we were together again.


I returned to the resistance base almost unnoticed, on autopilot the entire way. So many thoughts plagued my mind, and too few of them were good.

I needed something to do. Something to… just not think about it. Someone to talk to, maybe. Resistance stuff, talking about the Enclave. Anything not about my parents, Stable 2 or how badly I fucked it all up.

But first, I dropped off the holotapes into my locker next to my bunk. I made sure to lock it up tight, I… didn’t want anyone else to see it. I suppose I could rationalise it by saying it was about keeping my cover. But really… I just wanted to lock them up. To keep them private.

Ugh, I’m all over the place. I see… Aha! Coffin! Maybe that’s just the distraction I need right now. Maybe Life Bloom was also ready for that meeting. The sooner I was on the move again, the better.

“Coffin!” I called over to the stallion, who was sitting on his bunk with his power helmet by his side.

He looked up at me. “Sparkplug. You’re back.”

“Um, yeah. Had to stretch the old legs, you know?”

“You saw the grave?” he questioned, and I couldn’t hide my wince. “That’s a yes then. What did you think?”

“Well, I…” Dammit, Coffin, this was not the conversation I’d been hoping for! “It was nice of the resistance to do that for her.”

He hummed, though looked a little… sad. “Truth be told, I’ve heard that the resistance never recovered her body. Goddesses know what the Enclave did with it, the burial was more symbolic than anything.”

Oh…

“Still, it was the best anypony could do for her,” he concluded. “But you came back in the nick of time. I think the Boss is about ready to brief us on the Hades Factory. You ready for that?”

He had no idea how much. “Let’s get moving. I don’t want to sit around doing nothing.”

“I know that feeling,” he responded, though I was sceptical. “Come on.”

I nodded, following on. We didn’t talk much on the way to the meeting, though I tried to focus on what was ahead rather than what was behind me. So… I was expecting a lot of Enclave soldiers. I mean, it was a factory meant to create ridiculous tanks of uber death or something, so it wouldn’t exactly be a stroll through an apple orchard.

But if I’d faced a giant insane magical head and lived, then I could do this. Probably.

Think happy thought…?

In truth, I’d feel a lot more confident with my friends by my side. Calamity would be excited to loot everything in sight before we blew the place up. Velvet is a smart pony, she’d have a plan of action. Homage would help, and she always had a way to make me smile when I was down in the dumps. Xenith would be… Xenith. And Steelhooves would just blow up any Enclave soldier who got in our way.

But right now, they weren’t here. I was alone with ponies I barely knew. I didn’t even have Little Macintosh on me, such a simple comfort and familiarity I wished I had holstered to my leg. Maybe… Maybe they had some Party Time Mintals I could-

Coffin gave me such the odd look as I slapped myself. Dear Celestia, I’m a fucking moron! Just because I’m in a shit spot, doesn’t mean I’m going back on those demons in tablet form! My friends would freak out, Velvet would be on my tail twenty-four seven if she even knew I was considering it! All my friends would.

Goddesses, I miss them.

And now I knew I was going to blow of this factory. Because I had to find them when I was done.

“Ah, you’re a little early but come on in,” Life Bloom said to the two of us as we entered the meeting room. When had we even arrived? “Take a seat. We’re almost done here, then we just need the others.”

We did as we were told, both sitting by the large wooden table with a map of Equestria already laid out on top. The map was pre-war, though they’d scribbled a lot of notes and position on it from modern day. Canterlot was crossed out, and a note that said ‘Cloud Ship Shipyard’ was scribbled beside the old capital. There were a couple of patrol routes for both the resistance and the Enclave, some bases for both factions… I even saw Junction R-7 on the map. Why was it marked as ‘ground zero’?

Shortly after my study of the map, a couple of resistance guards brought in both Stripe and Liberty Bell. I couldn’t help but flush as Liberty Bell gave me a happy little smile and wave, before sitting down next to me. Stripe, meanwhile, sat opposite to the rest of us.

Once we were all seated, the doors were closed and locked while Life Bloom and Silver Bell stood at the head of the table.

“Right, I think everything is in order…” Silver Bell began. “So, I’m not going to beat around the proverbial bush. The Enclave has a developed one bitch of a new tank, and we’re going to destroy the lot of them.”

Well, she’d become hadn’t she become rather blunt as she’d aged.

“Uh, yes… exactly right,” Life Bloom agreed with a sheepish chuckle, the red mane unicorn taking in a deep breath. “The Hades Tank Factory is located in Red Eye’s former base of operations, Fillydelphia. I don’t need to tell you that the Enclave has put all of his industrial capabilities to good use over the past four decades, and this is the fruit of that labour. They are amassing an army of these tanks, and if they are all deployed then we’re pretty much doomed.”

“Hull as thick as a stable door, and enough firepower to cause the Last Day all over again,” Silver continued. “Two hundred have already been produced, and they have plenty more on the way. There’s a slight chance we can deal with what they have now, but any more and we don’t have the resources to fight that kind of force.”

"They're all waiting for their first missions in the factory," Life Bloom added. "We can set them back so much if we take them out. Even if they have one or two prototypes already out in the wastes. You all saw one of those during the parade."

"But, if we do this right, that's all we'll be seeing."

“They will rebuild the factory, you know,” Coffin noted.

“Ah, but it would be many years before they succeed,” Stripe pointed in. “They spent far too many of their resources on this and other projects. Even their considerable amount has its limits.”

“How has the Enclave been able to build so much?” I asked. “It’s been forty years since they took over, sure. But still… All of this seems a little too soon to me, like it should have taken longer for them to have built up so much.”

“You’re not wrong,” Life Bloom agreed. “Cities, armies, new fleets of raptors and other classes of ship. It should have taken at least a century of work to get to this level, but they did it in under half that time.”

“We’ve looked for where they’re getting such resources, but we’ve never found it out,” Silver Bell replied. “Whatever it is, they’re keeping it well hidden. So one thing at a time, the Hades Factory is our priority.”

“The Enclave will have a really big force there,” Liberty Bell stated. “I’m thinking troops. Cerberus Tanks, Vertibucks. The lot. Just four of us wouldn’t be able to shoot our way in, even if we are really good at it.”

“Well… couldn’t we get some help from Junction R-7?” I asked, and…

Why did they all suddenly look at me why I’ve mutated a second head.

“...What? If anywhere is going to have a resistance cell, it’s gotta be there!” I defended earnestly. “And it’s on the way.”

“Um… Sparkplug…” Life Bloom coughed awkwardly. “During the early days, Gawdyna Grimfeathers united the cells and tried to take the base the Enclave had built over the town. They dropped a balefire bomb on their heads, wiping the entire thing out.”

They… got Gawd?

“Killed Colonel Autumn Leaf in the process as well. I think that was Death Scythe’s way of clearing the competition as well as showing they have balefire bombs,” Silver Bell stated. “Place is a crater.”

Shit. That was… Well, I guess I expected Gawd to still be around. The old scarred griffon, nice ass and all, always seemed really strong and damn near indestructible. The way she led her talons and turned Shattered Hoof Ridge around… Hearing that the Enclave had killed her was disheartening.

So many people I’d known, from the stable and after, gone...

“You didn't know that…?” Coffin questioned, looking at me oddly.

I blushed. “I… haven’t left the area, really.”

Stripe gave me a deadpan look. “Should we not have somepony with more experience accompany us?”

“Trust me, we want Sparkplug with us on this,” Silver Bell defended. “Now, we clearly can’t just walk up and knock on the front door. So, we’ve scoured high and low for a solution…”

As if it was planned (and it probably was) the door opened up at that exact moment and in strolled Steampunk. He had a rather smug smile on his face and carried two saddlebags on his back.

“Which is where these come in,” Silver Bell concluded.

Without a word, Steampunk undid the bags and brought out four rather dusty cold cloaks. He set one out in front of us, and I gave the garments a confused look. What exactly were these going to do…?

Then I noticed Stripe’s wide eyes.

“Where did you get Zebrican stealth cloaks?” she asked in shock.

“We have some contacts in the old Empire, though it wasn’t easy to get these to us,” Silver Bell explained. “It cost us a leg or two. Literally. But we got them, and that’s how we’re going to get in.”

Ah… I remember these. Heh, Xenith is going to be jealous when she hears about this.

“So, we’re sneaking in?” Coffin asked for clarification.

“There are shipments regularly in and out of the factory, by both air and land,” Life Bloom said. “When you arrive, you’ll hitch a ride into the factory while invisible. From there, well… We’ll be in contact with you the whole way. We don’t know what’s inside, so you will tell us and we will advise your course of action.”

So, in other words, we were making it up as we go along.

Business as usual. My plans usually sucked anyway.

“You’ll be leaving first light tomorrow,” Silver Bell announced. “So, rest up and be ready to move. You’ll be walking the entire way, so make sure you’re prepared for the long haul it’s safer this way. Steampunk will be ready to get you out of there once the mission is complete should you need it.”

I wanted to ask how, but I halted my question as they went to conclude the meeting.

“You know what we’re doing, so get to it,” Silver Bell ordered. “And good luck.”

And with that, the meeting was done. We knew our target, had a way in… And now we just had to hope we didn’t explode somewhere along the way. Knowing me, and I like to think I do, I’d probably end up unconscious at some point.

Welp, no time like the present! Forty years later!

Stripe got up from her chair and vacated the room along with Steampunk. The door opened, and a few other ponies came in to help put away the map and get back to whatever work they did normally.

But the two either side of me remained seated, and Coffin shot me a smirk.

“Hope you’re ready for this, Sparkplug. This is going to be a tough one.”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I know how to handle myself. Most of the time.”

“Mum seems really fond of her, so that’s a vote of confidence I can trust!” Liberty Bell supported. “I don’t know what you did to make that impression though, she can be hard to impress sometimes.”

I… found that hard to imagine for some reason.

“Well, I hope I live up to that impression.” I chuckled sheepishly. “Really though, as long as I can help I’m happy.”

“You and me both!” she chirped. “And if we do this, can you imagine all the lives we’ll save from the Enclave? Those new toys of theirs are… well, really nasty.”

“I saw one in the parade,” I said, biting my lip. “They put on a show for them. I can see why we don’t want them to be a common sight.”

“Yeah. They’re always making new weapons to use against us, like the ones that took my Dad…” Her usual cheerfulness fell, and I suddenly found myself trying to give her a comforting smile. “Have… you lost anypony to the Enclave? I know you’re an honorary citizen and all, but…”

“I’ve lost people,” I replied sadly. Fuck, now I was thinking about it again. “My Mum. Pretty much everpony I knew growing up. I’ve… well, I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately.”

She looked up at me. “Yeah? You miss them, huh?”

I closed my eyes. “Yeah… It’s my fault they died.”

She gasped, giving me a sad look. “Oh, don’t say that! That’s… not a nice thing to think about yourself. I’m sure with whatever happened, you couldn’t stop it.”

If I hadn’t been hurt and missed out on the war… Then who knows?

“I’m not so sure, Liberty. But thanks, anyway.”

Then she gave me a hug, and I froze.

“I don’t know how it happened, but it’s not your fault, Sparkplug,” she cooed. Wasn’t I the one supposed to be comforting her!? Ugh, now I was blushing… “You seem like a really nice pony, and I don’t want you to think like that. So please smile?”

Celestia piss on my rump, how could one mare be so adorable? My cheeks felt like hot stoves, I… Oh fine! I gave her the smile, as long as it made her happy…

When she saw it, she brightened up. And her glee made my smile a little more genuine.

But then her smile became more… embarrassed and- She was blushing. That was definitely a blush! She averted her gaze and started tracing a small circle on the table with her hoof, looking like she was trying to find the right words to say.

“So, I… Uh…” she muttered. “Are you… doing anything tonight?”

What?

“It’s just, well…” she stuttered. “You seem really nice, and kinda pretty so… I was just wondering if, you know… a date?”

“Oh, this is going to be good…” Coffin muttered in amusement to himself, deciding to use that moment to get up and make himself scarce. “Have fun, you two.”

Up yours, Coffin!

But if I was blushing before, now I was positively burning up! I mean… I hadn’t expected that! I hadn’t even known she was into mares! And now… I mean, yeah. She was cute, and also seemed nice and her cheeriness was adorable…

Dammit, I didn’t want to hurt her. But…

“I’m sorry…” I said slowly. Dammit all. “I… already have somepony.”

Her ears flattened. “Oh… I’m sorry I… didn’t know.”

“Not that I’m not flattered!” I chuckled sheepishly. Luna, now I was feeling both flustered and guilty… “But even though she’s not here right now, I hope to meet my special somepony again soon.”

Liberty Bell sniffed. “Yeah, I… Dear Celestia, I’m an idiot.”

“Nonono! I mean, I think you’re a nice pony. And cute! And if I wasn’t already in a relationship, well… But I am. And I love her.”

Why did I have to find myself in these situations!?

She gave me a small smile. “I’m glad you have somepony like that. I guess I was just hoping…”

She sighed sadly.

“We can be friends though, right?” she asked nervously.

“Yeah! Awesome friends!” I quickly assured the mare. “Definitely!”

“Yeah, great I, uh…” She got up from the table and started to back away. “Well, I should go get some rest for tomorrow. See you around, Sparkplug…”

And then she exited the room, her ears still flattened to her skull.

So, in all… I’d found myself forty years in the future. My friends were who knows where. My Mum and fellow stable dwellers were all dead. The Enclave had won. I looked different and almost nopony knew who I was. And now I had upset a really cute and nice mare who liked me.

I found an odd sense of satisfaction in the large bang that came from my face meeting the table.


Footnote: Level 2

New Perk: Swift Learner - +10% XP whenever XP is earned.