//------------------------------// // >[subroutineObserve] // Story: Fallout: Equestria L.U.N.A. // by SkyDreams //------------------------------// The walk down the train tracks, or roll in Luna's case, was filled with a nervous quiet. The whole way down, Luna couldn't keep herself from looking at the devastated land around her. She could see some area where the hardiest trees were still dying off from radiation poisoning. Miraculously, the Everfree Forest still seemed to be thriving, at least from this distance. Toggle kept looking back at Luna, she seemed nervous. The hesitation she felt was easy to understand, she had awakened a sentinel in the hopes of getting a bodyguard or something similar and had gotten the princess of equestria instead. Surely she should have been happy, even rejoicing, in that revelation but the world she was living in must complicate things a great deal. "Honorable Mechanic-" Luna decided to break the silence, hoping to ease the mind of her savior. Before Luna could continue, Toggle interrupted. "Please, just call me Toggle. The royal speak is kind of weird to hear after so long." She didn't look back at all, instead choosing to keep her eyes trained on the road. Amid the awkward silence that followed, Luna decided it was safe to continue. "Ah yes, we do apologize Toggle. We are so used to using the royal 'we' and addressing those of honor with the respect they are due that we did not take into consideration that it must be strange after so long. Ministry Mare Twilight once taught us the meaning of kinship, we spoke of it frequently. Perhaps... 'I' and 'me' would also serve to ease your mind?" This time Toggle actually looked back to the sentinel princess with a smile. "Yeah, that feels a ton better." Once again, the mechanic mare seemed to visibly relax. It seemed the less formal the princess was the better Toggle would feel. "Very well, I will speak in common terms... err, I will speak normally." Luna stated, still speaking in a royal tone, but keeping her language in the correct mindset. "I had a question about your friend. When you mentioned that he was 'going' what did you mean by that exactly? I did notice he was not acting in a manner befitting a soldier." She tried her best to keep a sympathetic tone but wasn't quite able to shake her royal roots just yet. There was a sharp breath in before Toggle answered. "I suppose I should explain it at least." She began, letting out a short sigh. "It's part of being a ghoul. One of the doctors figured it out before she went also. We call it going Feral. After so long, the radiation eats at your brain and reduces you to basic instincts. Brass... Well he's getting there. He's at the stage we call going simple. It's the last stage until-" Toggle took a moment to compose herself, not being able to look at Luna. "-until he's gone. He can still do the things he did habitually or practiced a lot, but he can't take care of himself for long." Luna felt a tugging on her mechanical heart. "Oh we- I see. I am so sorry Toggle. This isn't what was supposed to happen." She motioned to the world around them, before continuing. "None of this was supposed to happen." The tension coming from Toggle worsened again. Her reply was sharp and toneless. "Don't worry about it." She returned to watching the train tracks they had been following and didn't say another word. Perhaps it was best for Luna to be quiet until she understood the whole situation. For now, it seemed as though she was only making things worse by talking. Instead, she turned to observe the land that was creeping ever close to them as they wound down the mountain side. Soon they would be crossing the long bridge that spanned the valley and connected Canterlot to the rest of Equestria. While Luna rarely used the train, she had flown over it many times and was familiar with the layout. If they continued to follow the tracks they would head into Junction R-7 which then took the train either north or towards Ponyville where Twilight and her friends used to live. Luna wondered if they had survived the end of the world in a similar fashion to Toggle Switch. She prayed that they were happy if so and that they died happy if not. The two travelers approached the tunnel that would lead them to the train bridge. The tunnel was sealed up similar to the way New Canterlot had it's tunnel sealed, scraps of sheet metal and wood with a garage door placed to keep the elements out. The words 'Now leaving New Canterlot' were painted above the garage door. The door itself had 'Ghoul Station' spray painted on in classic military font. Toggle walked up to the garage door and began fiddling with a padlock that kept the garage door shut. "Hold on a second, okay princess?" She didn't wait for an answer, setting down the crate of weapons and sliding under the barely opened garage door. She left the door opened slightly but only just enough for an unarmored pony to slip through. Luna rolled a little closer, wondering why she had to wait. This was the only exit she was aware of, surely she wasn't just making a quick stop. The sound of moaning could be heard from inside, along with the faint sound of a mare's voice, likely Toggle's. Luna leaned the robot chassis forward so that the audio receptors could pick up more of the sounds. Sadly it all seemed like more of the same. Sentinels were built for extended combat, not surveillance like Pinkie's sprite bots. A few minutes later the moaning died down and Luna could hear some hoofsteps coming her way. "Just a second!" Toggle shouted from inside. The sound of heavy metal locks sliding out of place could be heard just before the garage door slid open to reveal a train tunnel much like the one at the top of the mountain. "Sorry, I had to put the family away." She motioned towards the maintenance door which had a few ghoulish ponies pressing their faces to the window on the door before picking up the crate of guns. "They can be rowdy. Not everypony in here is like that though. Let me introduce you to the Herders." She said, the awkwardness of earlier seemingly forgotten. Luna was lead over towards the train cars that had been transformed into homes in this tunnel. It looked as though it could comfortably house 6 or 7 ponies. Sitting around a small fire a group of four ghouls ate from cans of food and watched the approaching duo. The fire had been set up on the platform overlooking the train tracks and seemed to be a common living space for these ponies. "Howdy 'princess'" announced the nearest of the four, tilting her cowpony hat. Toggle must have told them about her situation. "Name's Apple Turnover. Ah'm head of this here sect of The Herders. You've already met our mechanic; " Apple Turnover nodded to Toggle and then began pointing out the other ghoul ponies. "This here's Silver Beat, don't mind his stubby wings he can still fly faster 'an you can run, good with music too. Stripe's name is Viribas. Resident cook, tough as nails. The filly there is awful good with talk'n and fixin up clothes." Before she could say anything else about the 'Herders' the unicorn filly shot up right and fixed Apple Turnover with evil eyes. "I told you I'm not a filly! I'm over a hundred years old!" The 'not' filly turned to the robot princess and made a short bow. "My name is Hope Thread. Are you really a princess in there? I mean I've heard stories but none of them had robot princesses in it." Luna was going to answer but ID displays began to show for each of the ponies in her vision, for all except Hope. Apple Turnover was a relative of Applejack, she was an engineer who designed ammunition. Silver Beat was a civilian, music talent on the rise. He had been trying to rival DJ Pon-3 with little success. The Zebra, Viribas, was a Proditor and had lived in Zebra Town with her family. Viribas's red colored stripes were a sign of her allegiance with Equestria and the honor she deserved. Of the three with IDs only Apple Turnover and Silver Beat had additional images from the tunnel. The other two ponies must have survived by some other means. Toggle chimed in while Luna was processing the new data. "Princess Luna here isn't sure how she got into the sentinel's body. Especially since I found her so far away from the castle." The response seemed rushed, and carried an air that told the others not to press the issue. "We're going to be heading into town to sell these guns off and find some more components to finish repairing her. You guys need anything while I'm out?" She sat down the crate and went over to a wall that seemed to house a large number of Equestrian combat harnesses. Luna wondered if she was expecting a fight. Apple Turnover tossed out a small satchel of bits, landing it near to where Toggle was placing armor over her mechanic jumpsuit. "Mama needs a new pack of smokes and some more canned food. Tell them Rangers we need another Matrix for the waste processor they gave us. The last one just went. Apparently the cracks in it 'were' significant enough to short circuit." There was a moment of silence as Toggle picked up the satchel of bits. She took time to consider the request, looking intently at Luna. "Actually, I don't think it's too wise to speak with the rangers. They would be pretty avid about taking 'Our Princess' here apart. Plus they haven't been very nice since Sunshine took a bite out of one of em." "That's true, Sunshine has been rowdy lately. Thinking she's bout to go all the way soon." Apple nodded sagely, looking over to the door window where more ghouls pressed their faces up against it. "I hate to see her go." She turned to look at Luna, a slight spark of hope in her eyes. "So do you think it'll work? Getting into Fort Mac I mean?" Everypony's attention turned back to Toggle as she clicked the last buckle on her combat armor. It was like the whole room took a sobering breath when toggle spoke up. "It has to." With that there wasn't much else to say and Luna saw the life drain out of Toggle again as her mind began to dwell on what would happen if she failed. >[Core(8)] : dataPreservationBox.Access >[Access.Core(8)] : File.fortMacintosh >[File.fortMacintosh] : Status(corrupted) >[Display.File(fortMacintosh] : "Fort Macintosh, memorial military town builtv344 @!#$ GFff h@#nor of Big Macintosh of the Apple family. Founded by fl!#$ FEw@#$ to assist in the recovery process for #$#@^@%GEFGGGGGG33 and radiation$##$#$$$$$%1e4 .r 34f][34f33415235@#$%{@}%3by6the8OIAt4%2[45]gvgggg#%g,ed]pv,dooos. access 5543.rpu." The corrupted data burned like a loud static in Luna's mind. It took her a moment to gather herself, following toggle out of Ghoul Station and back onto the train tracks. "Fort Macintosh? You think there is something there that can help your friends?" Luna recalled having been there shortly after the fort town was constructed. It was one of the very first bases on equestrian soil to receive a fully automated defense system, sponsored by Robronco. She had been visiting alongside Fluttershy to show support to the soldiers who had been moved there for long-term recovery. The entire event was covered by a news team and some of Rarity's 'special reporters'. The train tracks that spanned the gap were remarkably intact, though it appeared to have been repaired in many places to make the trip safe. Additional wooden panels had been laid around the rails to allow for tracks and carts to be pulled along. There was a distinct lack of railings that made the makeshift bridge seem hazardous to cross. While taking her first nonchalant steps onto the bridge Toggle looked back to answer. "Yeah, I'm sure there is. It's been a hundred years but I recall there being something there to treat bio-degeneration cause by exposure to magical radiation. Some kind of advanced treatment. I need you to get us in there because there is a ton of robo-ponies guarding the damn place." She turned back to the road, clearly not wanting to speak at the moment. Not wanting to upset this very moody mare, Luna rolled forward silently. Out of boredom, She looked out to view Equestria from this new point of view. From here she could see Canterlot, a castle city of pink mist and acidic water. Below was the remains of Zebra Town, a place that was supposed to be a safe haven for allied zebras. From here it was obvious that neither place was safe to occupy. In the opposite direction was the ruins of Ponyville, which appeared to have been razed to the ground. The buildings that she could make out from this distance looked half blown up and half burned down. She hoped that one day it could all be repaired. It was all so much to take in. She wasn't sure she could handle it. Luna's heart sank as she peered out amongst the ruin of her home. Equestria may have been saved through it's people, but it would be scarred forever. She vowed to never let this kind of atrocity happen again. No matter what it took, she would never let war break Equestria again.