//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9: Aftershock 
// Story: Fallout: Equestria - Remembrance 
// by Pwincess Twiwee 
//------------------------------//

Nearing the Dayrunner’s camp, I could see the crowd of ponies that had come from their homes and stood on the outskirts looking at where the crash had happened. None of us had said anything the entire way there, but as we grew closer a group of ponies in Enclave uniform were running towards us.

“Retrieve the body,” Spectra said, a sadness still obvious in his voice. “By order of the president, the body is to be collected and buried with full honors.”

“But sir,” One of the soldiers said before Spectra simply glared at them, making them pause, look at each other than simply nod and continue towards the wreck.

“You three go ahead, I think I need some time for myself right now,” Spectra said as he slowed down and came to a stop, his eyes drifting to a nearby hill, the hill that I had last spoken to Cricket on. I could only give a sigh and nod, continuing forward with my friends.

As we started to pass the crowd, we passed some of the ponies from the crew, they were sitting together and not saying much, but I could see their eyes were glossy and swollen, they all had been crying. Autumn paused when she saw them.

“I think I need to stay here, they need me,” Autumn said, a slight smile but I could see her barely holding back the tears.

“It’s okay, we’ll handle this,” I said, looking to Midas who simply nodded.

Walking further, near the center of the town where I expected to find Midnight we passed a cafe, sitting inside Alabaster was staring down at his drink. Midas just ran over to him when she saw him, embracing him in a tight hug and breaking down.

I just stood there watching the two, taking a deep breath and deciding this was on me and me alone. Continuing forward until I stood at the center, everypony around seemed to know now what had happened, and the feeling of sadness was overwhelming.

“Midnight… somepony, anypony, where are you” I said to myself, sitting down and staring at the ground. 

I felt lost, and alone - Everypony else had someone that they could see, someone they could count on to help them through this, but where was mine?

I felt guilty, and selfish thinking that way, but I didn’t know how to handle my emotions right now, I can’t cry like they can, I can’t come to terms with my emotions like they can, and I just, I really needed that one pony that understood right now.

“Hey Sweetie,” a voice said as Aurora walked up next to me. “Are you okay?”

“Cricket’s dead,” I said, with a deep sigh. “Everypony has somepony else, but not me.” 

“I’m sorry,” Aurora said with a sigh as she looked up at the sky for a moment and then back at me. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“She tried to steal the ship, they shot her down,” I said, my gaze shifting up to that mass in the clouds. “They killed her.” 

“I’m sorry,” Aurora said softly for a moment as she placed her hoof on me gently. “I wish there was something more I could do or say. That’s messed up though, but something tells me this isn’t going to go well for whoever attacked her. I just wish that was going to be enough, guess it won’t be.”

“I have so many questions, and it feels like no one has the answers,” I said, looking at Aurora with a deep sigh. “Why would she risk this? Why would she throw away her life like this?” 

“I wish I could tell you,” Aurora said as she brushed her mane back a moment. “I’m sure whatever reason she had it made sense to her. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t know,” I said, looking back down to my hooves. “I was hoping to find your mother, but I guess she’s probably busy or dealing with Spectra about this whole mess.”

“Well, the Enclave did just shoot down a ship close to our village, that doesn’t look good,” Aurora sighed a little. “But if you need somepony to be there for you, I’m here for you. You’re my friend Sweetie, you really helped me out back there, and I want to do the same for you as best I can.”

“How can you help? How can anypony? No one can bring her back, or make the ship not get shot down.” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. “I don’t know, I really don’t, I’m just, angry, and sad, and want them to pay for what they did, but I’m just one pony, how can I do anything.” 

“I know how you feel,” Aurora said as she closed her eyes a moment. “I still remember when my father died. But to answer your question, in my experience, a single pony can do a whole lot. But also I don’t think Cricket would want you to let this get to you. Losing somepony close to you is never going to be easy, but I think she’d like you to move on, and do the best you can to remember her.”

“I barely knew her, but I know she meant well, she tried to teach me, help me understand that the wasteland isn’t nice, isn’t kind, even though the hardships of the past are mostly over, there is no obligation to be kind to anyone,” I said, looking up at that shadowy mass in the clouds once more. “She was like a mentor to me, and now she’s gone, but I’m not ready for her to be gone, I still had so much more to learn!”

“The Wasteland is unforgiving, but I know one thing,” Aurora said as she looked back behind them for a moment and smiled a little. “You’ve got a few really good friends who are going to be there for you when you need them. See, everypony always talks about Littlepip, Blackjack, Ruby Starlight, Scootaloo, or whoever, but each of those ponies had good friends backing them up. You very rarely have to go alone, at least if you’re lucky, and something tells me you’re very lucky.”

“I don’t know who any of those ponies are,” I said, looking at Aurora with a sigh. “And all my friends have somepony else that counts on them or rely on them, I’m the only one alone…” 

I just sat there for a moment, looking down at my hooves.

“Is that really how you feel Sweetie?” I heard Autumn say, looking up to see her walking over to us. “You didn’t need to keep walking, you could have stayed with any of us and we would have understood.”

“Yeah, you could at any time sat with one of us,” Midas said, walking up with Alabaster in tow. “You’re all of our friend, just as much as we’re your friends, You never have to be alone, I know I thought you just wanted to be alone.”

“I thought you wanted to stick with Midas, saying you knew her the longest,” Autumn added.

I just sat there for a moment and thought to myself, realizing how stupid and selfish I had been.

“I’m sorry…” I said with a deep breath and leaned back, looking up at the sky. “I just, I thought you all wanted to do these things on your own and I wouldn’t fit in, guess we all made a couple of mistakes” 

“Looks like you’ve got more ponies backing you up than you thought,” Aurora said with a soft smile. “As I said, you’ve got good friends.”

“Yeah, I guess I do,” I said, looking at my friends before pulling them all over to me and hugging all three, holding them there for the moment. “What would I do without you guys?”

“Walk to the ends of Equestria never knowing what it’s like to be a part of a group of misfits and rejects?” Midas said with a chuckle, ruffling my mane a bit.

“Go insane from never knowing what to do with yourself or how to handle all these complex feelings you’re feeling for the first time?” Autumn added, giving a firm squeeze.

“Or perhaps both.” Alabaster said, smiling at me.

We all were in pain, and grieving in our own way, but together we could still find a reason to smile, just sitting there for the moment and looking at my friends, before smiling and turning to Aurora.

“Thank you.” I said, before turning back to my friends and just enjoying this moment where we could all be together without fear or worry.


00000


Hours had passed, and I went back up to the location where the wreckage lay, sitting amongst the pieces of twisted metal and broken hull. My attention kept driving back to what was left of the bridge, she was gone now, the Enclave had retrieved her body and that looming figure in the sky had gone to the distance.

Everything felt so surreal, like a dream that you couldn’t wake up from.

“Sweetie? You okay?” Spectra said as he sat down beside me.

“I don’t know, I’ve lost so much in so little time,” I said, looking at that rainbow-maned stallion. “I was just getting to know her, and she was trying her hardest to teach me everything she knew.”

“I’m sorry for what happened to her.” He said, looking to me for a second before looking away. “This wasn’t ever supposed to happen, The ship wasn’t supposed to be taken back, no shots were supposed to be fired - but since the last war some of the authority I have as President has been stripped away and given to a board, my word isn’t the end all be all anymore.”

“What happened in the last war?” I said, looking at him a bit more curiously.

“It was, several years ago now I believe,” Spectra said with a sigh. “The Enclave, under the run of my wife Winter was embracing some… idealistic beliefs, beliefs that not every pony in the Enclave believed would work or would be the best for the Enclave going forward. Many of them tried to fight back, and a group of old soldiers and generals banded together with the promise to protect the Ideals and beliefs we’ve held since the founding.”

“So it was a civil war,” I said with a frown. “Enclave versus Enclave…”

“Winter had some friends, the New Canterlot Republic, the Free Roam Alliance, as well as a few minor groups, and one very rambunctious alicorn,” Spectra said with a chuckle. “She was always one to make friends with the most unorthodox groups, but that’s what made her into the pony she is.”

“What happened?” I said, looking back to the wreckage once I noticed that Spectra’s attention had locked onto the wreckage of the bridge once more.

“There was a lot of bloodshed, a lot of ponies died,” Spectra said with a sigh. “The Old Enclave, or the hardliners as some ponies called them, tried their hardest to flex their might and make the New Enclave bow to their demands.”

We sat there and looked at the wreckage for a few moments in silence before Spectra started to speak again.

“They brought a massive ship, a ship that was bigger than a Thunderhead, meant to be the super capital of their new fleet,” Spectra said with a sigh and a shake of his head. “She-”

“She took it on and saved a lot of ponies by keeping it distracted,” I said, interrupting him, to which he simply nodded with a slight look of confusion. “She managed to really badly damage it, didn’t she? I remember Autumn saying something about that.”

“She didn’t just damage it, she destroyed it,” Spectra said with a sigh. “She pelted it with everything she had, and by the time she was done and her ship was disabled, she had done irreparable damage - we had to scrap it.”

“Good riddance,” I said with a sigh. “Is that where her ship went down? The Canticum Lunae?”

“Yeah, She always said that a part of her heart was destroyed with that ship,” Spectra said with a sigh, wiping at his eyes for a moment. “A couple of ponies and I that had fought with her during the war were trying to see if we could get it flying again, as a surprise for her, but we never got around to it.”

“Spectra, it’s okay,” I said, hearing that stallion starting to break down, turning him to face me, and placing a hoof to each of his shoulders. “Do you think this is what she wanted? To be mourned over, to have every pony she knew and cared for crying over her?”

He just stared at me, eyes wide and tears rolling down his cheeks.

“You said it yourself, she was suffering, she had been suffering for two hundred years. Her suffering is over and she is in a better place with her friends and family again, Right?” I said, he slowly nodded. “Then why mourn her death, when you can celebrate her freedom, and the life she led before now? I think that’s what she would have wanted more than anything else.”

I watched as his expression relaxed a little, and he looked relieved for the moment. His attention went back to the wreckage for a moment before he stood, and walked over to a piece of the shattered hull plate. Picking it up in his hooves and dusting it off, in golden ornate words embossed across the metal ‘Quetzal’.

“This ship was a gift for that Alicorn I mentioned before.” He said, pausing to take a deep breath. “She had a ship named the Quetzal before this one, an old airship from the prewar times, after the war, there was an attempt on her life, and her airship was destroyed.”

“Why would anypony want to do that?” I said, coming over and sitting beside him once more.

“Because not everypony liked the idea of having a Princess again, many saw it as a return to form, many others saw it as a huge leap in the wrong direction,” Spectra said, turning to me with a chuckle. “And as the wasteland does, groups radicalized and decided that they wanted her dead more than anything, and tried their hardest to kill her, she’s still living though, up in the Canterlot reconstruction area.”

“I guess she isn’t going to be too happy about her ship being destroyed is she?” I said, looking at that broken piece of hull plate.

“She didn’t want it, she said it wasn’t the same.” He said with a chuckle. “It’s kind of sad, all ships named Quetzal seem to blow up. Maybe we shouldn’t use that name anymore.”

“It’s a ship with a legacy, to stop using the name would be a dishonor to everything it stood for.” I said, reaching over and placing my hoof to that piece of hull. “This Quetzal might be gone, but there’ll be another, I can feel it.”

“Maybe so,” Spectra said, smiling a little “I have a lot of paperwork to take care of, it’s not every day a ship goes down in a friendly fire incident, even more so against orders.” 

“I think Midnight is going to need you more than your paperwork, I can’t imagine having an Enclave ship firing on another Enclave ship and taking it down in your backyard is a traumatic experience.” I said, smiling at him

“Just, keep this in your mind and heart Sweetie.” Spectra said, slipping the piece of hull to me, “Remember this ship, remember the sacrifice made here today, and remember I’m not going to let it rest until justice is done.”

“Yes, Sir.” I said with a smile and a nod.


00000


Spectra had left, gone back into the Dayrunners camp, leaving me with just the broken hull plate and the silence. Taking a deep breath I took to my hooves, turning around to see what appeared to be the assembled version of the armor that Cricket had in her quarters.

“I… uh, hello?” I said, waving my hoof apprehensively.

“Captain Sweetie Belle of the Enclave vessel Quetzal, Automated recovery activated approximately seven hours ago.” It said back, in a computerized but oddly familiar voice.

I stared at it for a few moments, looking through the eye lenses I could see the suit inside was empty. Thinking back to what I had seen in her room, it was just in a pile in the corner, who assembled it? And why is it here with no operator?

“Captain Sweetie Belle of the Enclave vessel Quetzal, What is this unit’s orders.” It said, in that erie computerized voice. It had an undertone of a mare’s voice, and I just sat there trying to figure out why it was so familiar.

It didn’t take long for it to dawn on me. “Cloud Chaser…” I said, before I looked at the armor. “Cloud Chaser installed an AI unit in her armor, didn’t she?”

“Affirmative.” The armor replied.

“Does the AI have a name?” I asked

“Affirmative.” it replied again.

Thinking for a few moments, looking at that armor, tapping at my chin. “State your designation.” I said, sitting up straight.

“This unit has no designation.” it replied.

“You just said you have a name? Is a name not a designation?” I said, confused by this armor.

“A name is a personalized moniker of identification, a designation is assigned to computers and artificial intelligence units.” It replied.

I honestly felt like this armor was messing with me, using Cloud Chaser’s voice no less.

“Okay, fine, what is your name.” I said, running a hoof across my face in exasperation.

I swear I heard the armor laugh at me, before it replied. “This unit’s name is Cricket.” 

“But that’s Cloud Chaser’s name?” I said, even more confused now.

“Creator Cloud Chaser, programmed this unit with her combat knowledge, experiences, and gave this unit full autonomy.” It replied, this time I heard it laugh, it had her laugh. “Afraid she created a murderbot, she programmed her life’s experiences into this unit too, everything over the past 200 years, stored in this unit’s memory”

“So… you’re like me, but instead of being a synthetic android like me, you’re just a rudimentary maneframe in command of the protocols for the functions of the armor?” I said, rubbing at my head a little.

“Essentially, yes.” It replied. “However, I was not given all her knowledge, or motivations, just enough to know right from wrong, and to know to do no harm unless something befalls my captain.”

“Her?” I asked

“You.” The armor replied. “Unit Cricket, was programmed with orders to follow all orders and commands given by captain of Enclave vessel Quetzal, which is you, Captain Sweetie Belle.”

“Why did you only approach now?” I said, staring at it a bit more.

“This unit was offloaded and placed in a safe place by the creator, with a timed response to come to this location immediately. If she is here, to power down and await assignment, if you are here to activate primary assignment.” The armor replied.

“She knew she was going to die?” I said, pausing a moment, “Of course she knew she was going to die, even that far in advance she knew that she was going to get shot down… if she knew why didn’t she avoid it.” 

“Because loss creates strength, Captain Sweetie Belle.” It replied. “Loss is what let Cloud Chaser become the potent mare she was, She would never have made it this long, or lived a life like she did, if not for her loss.” 

“But why did it have to be her loss?” I asked, getting to my hooves.

“The creator knew that she had lived a long life, longer than most, she knew that she wasn’t going to last forever and had come to terms with that long before she went down.” The armor said, lifting it’s hoof and placing it to my chest. “She knew, and did what she thought was best, and in her mind this all was justified.” 

“But it was uncalled for!” I yelled, and shoved the armor back “She didn’t need to die! She didn’t need to do this! She could of stayed with us, with me, I could have learned so much from her!”

The armor, honestly reacted like it was taken aback by that. “This unit understands your frustration and anger, but the creators choices were not ones I had any part in.” 

“She built you to be her replacement you stupid bucket of bolts!” I screamed “She made you so that you can be her when she does something so stupid that she ends up dead and needs something to take her place!” 

The armor just stood there, silent, watching me.

“You… You’re just a worthless pile of scrap metal with a hollow interpretation of a personality of a pony that was loved and adored!” My anger starting to break into sadness. “A pony who didn’t need to die! A pony that could have found a new life and lived happily with a new family!”

“Do you believe that is what she really wanted?” The armor said stoically. 

Taking a moment to stare at that armor, before I sighed. “I… No… it’s not what she would have wanted, She said so herself, she lived her life, she died two hundred years ago... “ 

“And this outburst? It’s just your selfishness in wanting her back?” The armor replied.

“I wasn’t ready for her to go!” I said, falling down and burying my face into the grass. “I wanted to learn so much from her… I wanted to know what it was like to be her, she knew so much and… I just wanted to be a part of it…” 

“Would she have spent her last days programming an AI to take over her old armor suit to stand and serve you, if she didn’t think you were a part of it?” The armor said, moving around and sitting beside me, a steel hoof on my back.

“You only serve me because I am the captain, if Midas was the captain, or Spectra, or Autumn, you wouldn’t serve me anymore.” I said sighing.

“Incorrect.” the armor replied, “While it is true that I was programmed to serve the captain of a vessel, a vessel that no longer exists, so, ask me - how am I supposed to serve a captain of a ship that no longer exists?” 

I stopped, and thought for a moment, it just dawned on me, “I’m not captain of the Quetzal anymore…” puzzled for a moment, I stopped and looked back at the armor. “She knew this was going to happen, that means she programmed you not to follow the captain of the ship, but to follow me.”

“Partially correct.” The armor replied, chuckling again. “I was programmed to follow the captain of the ship, Which includes the ship’s former captain if no new captain had been chosen, as the ship no longer exists no new captain can be chosen, so I will forever be in service to you.”

“And in the event she didn’t get shot down, and things moved on - she would have just reprogrammed you to follow me anyway if anything ever happened to her.” I said softly smiling. “I think I never gave that old mare much credit, but she definitely was smarter than the average mare.”

We sat there, me and the armor, for a good while. I felt a sense of kinship with this armor, it was an AI like me, maybe a little more crude and basic, and far more meant for war then I could ever be - but it felt almost like a little sister to me.

“So, Cricket…” I said, turning my attention to that armor, looking it over again. “Are you programmed to say ‘this unit’ when referring to yourself, or is that just something you’re doing because her life experiences and your existence haven’t properly integrated?”

“This Uni-... I- am uncertain of what you mean.” It replied, shifting its attention to me. “I was not aware that I had been speaking in any abnormal way.”

I couldn’t help but smile and laugh a little, it felt almost like it was trying to joke with me, trying to encourage me to laugh. Everything still felt so surreal, like it was all just a terrible nightmare.

“Do you have any messages from her? Cloud Chaser I mean.” I said softly, looking down at my hooves. “Did she leave anything for me, well, other then you?” 

“I have many recordings of her progress while she was constructing the artificial intelligence maneframe. However there is none directly addressing you.” It said, sounding almost sad.

“Wait, you’re armor, right? That means you can open up so that a pony can get in or out, right?” I said, tapping my chin for a moment. “If she left a message just for me, she wouldn’t want it to fall into anypony else’s hooves, she’d leave it in a place that only I can get at.”

“You believe that she has left a media storage device within the armor for you?” It said, sounding confused. 

“Encryption, my father built me with one of the best decrypters in Equestria, I can hack almost any terminal.” I said with a smirk. “She said she knew my father, she would know that he made his own encryption special for the Robronco robots as a proprietary anti-tampering method.”

“I see.” It said, obviously taking a moment to think for itself. “I can do a vital signs scan internally, it… in theory, should allow me to find any media storage that she may have left behind.” 

“Good, you do that. I need to go and get Midas and Autumn, you stay here and wait for me to get back, okay?” I said, getting to my hooves. The armored suit nodded at me and sat in place while I started heading into town.


00000


As I passed the city limits, I could feel the tension in the air, ponies were still upset about the events that had passed. Reaching the tavern the somber feeling was overpowering, everypony, mostly the crew, staring at their drinks, some crying, some sniffling and trying to compose themselves.

“C-Captain on Deck.” One of them managed to say when he saw me, jumping to his hooves and giving a half hearted salute.

“At ease.” I said and smiled at him, “Does anyone know where Midas, Autumn, and Alabaster have gotten off to? I need to speak with them urgently.” 

“They were just here,” The tavern keeper commented, motioning me over. “I didn’t catch what they were talkin’ bout but they got up and left out of here in a rush, sayin’ somethin bout that wreck of that ship.”

“So, they went to the wreck of the ship?” I said, pausing “is there any other wrecks around here other then the Quetzal?” 

“Oh, just the wreck of an old airship not too far from here, dangerous place, lots of nasties live round there.” The tavern keep said with a sigh. “Lost many a good hunter there too dontcha know.” 

I chuckled. “Whinnysota, huh?” I commented, to which the keep just nodded and smiled back. “Any others?”

“None that I can think of” She said with a shake of her head.

“Thank you, I’ll be going, and uh - the crew drinks on me, alright?”

“It's on the house sweetheart, a little liquor does the mourning heart good.” The keep said with a chuckle. “Though thank you for the offer, I am sure it means a lot to them to hear their captain cares that much ‘bout them.” 

I smiled and nodded before I made my way out the door. Taking a deep breath as I looked around, two wrecks, 50/50 chance to find them at either location. I don’t think they would go to the Quetzal again, so I guess it had to be that old airship.

“Oh horseapples, I didn’t ask where that old airship was…” I commented to myself, shaking my head and sighing. “Can’t be too hard to find, though maybe asking around a bit more could help too…” 

As I wandered the streets, thinking about where I could ask about this downed airship I couldn’t help but look around at the ponies I passed, it seemed like a ship being shot down so close shook just about everypony. “I wonder if Midnight would have any idea..” I asked myself, before I started heading over to the town center.


00000


The closer to the town center I got, the more voices I could hear. Rounding the corner and the town hall coming into sight, I could see a large gathering of ponies surrounding a podium. I couldn’t make out the figure standing at it just yet, they were leaning down looking at something under the podium, however I did recognize that rainbow maned stallion standing beside the podium.

“We are sincerely sorry for what you all had witnessed today, we never intended to bring a warzone to your village, nor did we ever intend for the ship to get shot down. The Commanding officer aboard the Nimbus is going to be held accountable, not just for the destruction of the ship, but for all the emotional and mental pain their actions has caused upon all of you at the Dayrunners camp.” Spectra said, the anger in his voice palpable. “If any of you have grievances at all with the events of the day, know that the president of the Enclave will personally hear, and see to it all, ensuring that it will be resolved. The Enclave will not return to its old ways, I will promise you that.”

The crowd stayed quiet, their eyes shifting from Spectra to the pony at the podium, still leaned down and messing with something under it. It looked like the crowd was expecting that pony to say something.

Midnight finally pulled herself back up as she adjusted herself for a moment before beginning to speak. “Since the incident occurred I’ve been in communication with President Grimfeathers over the radio. Given the situation we’ll be working closely with the Enclave in order to deal with the clean-up from the explosion. As President Spectra said, the commander of the Nimbus will be held accountable. I know this isn’t an easy time for any of us, but none of us want to return to the days before the Enclave War. We’re going to need to work together if we’re going to make it through this. I know after what happened, it’s not easy to trust the Enclave, but we’re not going to throw away what we’ve accomplished in the past few years. So, let’s work together to make sure that we get this cleaned up and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

“Exactly.” Spectra continued, “What happened here today is an exception, not the rule. The Enclave of old, the one that ruled through fear and intimidation is not going to make a come back, not now - not ever. Undoubtedly not all the Hardliners from the war were exposed and dealt with, and that means we will naturally have little resurgences here and there, but I assure you that the Enclave has responded to each and every one rapidly, and dealt with the situation with the utmost care and importance.” 

“There will always be mistrust between our nations,” Midnight said as she looked over at Spectra. “Ponies on both sides may not always be willing to work together. But our future depends on us working together. Equestria’s future depends on that. So let’s make sure that when we build that future we’ll have a good one.”

“Well, I for one hope that mistrust between our nations will be a thing of the past.” Spectra said, shooting Midnight a quick look. “The future of Equestria is indeed in our hooves, not just mine - or Midnight’s, but all of our hooves. Equestria divided will never be a strong future for any of us, or our children to look forward to, and ill will between our nations will only ensure that our future will not be a good one for generations not yet born.”

“So, for those future generations, let’s do this together,” Midnight finished. She smiled over at where Aurora was standing and gave her a nod.

“For the sake of Equestria, for the sake of peace, we must.” Spectra said, shaking his head and giving a sigh. “If we can’t, then I fear the future we’ve created.” 

“Spectra,” I called out, and pushed through the crowd. “From everything I’ve seen, everything you’ve told me, everything I’ve learned over the past few days of my life, I think you, Midnight, Aurora, everypony, is doing the right thing, and that the future will be great. One pony died today at the hooves of an insane power hungry remnant of the past - Is that really a reason to start doubting your position? What of the ponies here? Why would they doubt, why should they doubt your resolve? You’ve done everything right, you and Midnight, and I think those actions should speak louder than words.”

Midnight paused a moment and looked at Spectra before she smiled a little. “You’re right of course, Sweetie.”

Spectra paused, smiling over at Midnight. “Of course she is, she may be less than a week old, but I think she’s one of the most observant ponies out there. With her leading the charge, I think any future will be better than we alone could create.”

“You two are gonna make me barf.” I said with a chuckle. “Can robots even barf? What would they barf?” 

“Take the compliment Sweetie.” Spectra said, giving me a wink. 

Midnight laughed a little before she gave me a nod. “Thank you for your time all of you. Things aren’t going to be easy, but I know if we work together, the future will still be bright.”

“Anyway, before you two sneak off to do… ‘official dignitary’ work, I have something I need to ask.” I said, stepping up to the Podium, facing the two. “The pony from the bar told me that my friends went off to this crashed airship for some reason, I don’t actually know where that is, or how to get to them if they’re in trouble.”

“Wait, they went to the crashed airship?” Midnight asked as her eyes went wide at that. She groaned a little as she shook her head. “That’s a mistake…”

“What do you mean?” I said, pausing and looking between them. “If they are in danger I need to get to them, please, I need to know where it is.”

Midnight looked at Spectra for a moment. “It’s not far from the village, if you take the Central Road north towards the mountains you’ll find it easily enough. However, actually getting close to it isn’t going to be easy, nopony has ever gotten close enough to the ship itself. There are creatures in the airship that attack anypony who gets close enough. Your friends are in grave danger, not even the strongest Tribes of the Wilderness go near it.”

“Makes me wonder why they would even want to go anywhere near it themselves…” I said, something felt off, shaking my head before giving Midnight and Spectra a quick wave before I took off down the road.

“Something is wrong, I don’t think they’d go there on their own free will… not unless they were tricked, or forced.” I said under my breath as I kept my sprint up. “Whatever it is, I’m coming.”


00000


It took some time to find this Central Road midnight had talked about, but once I was on it I sprinted north as quickly as my hooves could carry me. A part of me actually kind of enjoyed this feeling, rushing to my friend’s aid, the wind in my mane, it all just felt - kind of natural and right.

Skidding to a stop once the shattered decrepit hull of that crashed airship came into view, Looking it over for any sign of my friends, not even a hoof print in the dirt leading up to it. Wondering to myself if I had gotten it wrong, if they maybe just went back to the Quetzal and not to this ship.

“It’s not worth the risk of doubting myself…” I said, taking a deep breath and slowly approaching the downed airship. It was old, like, older than the wasteland old, vines growing in and out of the boards that made up its shape, sun bleached fabric left of its envelope, nothing recognizable about this vessel at all.

“Midas?” I called out tentatively, slowing down my approach. “Alabaster? Autumn? You around here?”

There was nothing, just silence, stepping closer and closer to that wreck.

“Guys, this isn’t funny, if you’re here please tell me,” I called out again, this time a loud low groan from within the shattered hull.

I could feel the fear rising as I tensed and stepped closer still. I saw a shadow move just out of sight within the dark confines of the hull. Something was definitely there.

“Come out, whatever you are, I’m not here to hurt you, I just want to talk.” I said, moving around trying to look within. “There isn’t any reason to hide, I promise.”

I felt like whatever it was, it was staring back at me from the darkness of the shattered hull. I took a step closer before a roar erupted from the hull, and this monster from within came sprinting out straight for me.

“Woah there big guy.” I said, holding my ground. “Easy, no need to hurt anypony, alright?”

It seemed to be confused, stopping as it stared at me. Making unintelligible noises.

For the first time getting a good look at it, it was large, easily eclipsing even the largest of Alicorns in size. It stood there with a quadruped posture, but it appeared that it had hands on its forelimbs, rather then feet. Most notably, it wore a metal faceplate or helmet of sort, all you could see of the face under it was bright blue glowing eyes.

“Do you have a name?” I called out, taking a careful step forward. “What can I call you?”

It just watched me, it started to shift and move about as though it was getting nervous. Still making those noises at me.

“Do you understand what I am saying? If you do, can you please…. Uh… stomp on the ground twice?”

It stared, no stomping, guess it doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to show it does.

“Have you seen my friends? A dragon, a pony, and a really fluffy pony?” I asked, taking another slow step forward.

It, for the first time, took a step back, still staring at me.

“You’ve lived here a long time, haven’t you.” I said, slowly but steadily moving towards the creature. “You’ve been stranded here for a long time, all alone.”

For once, it looked sad, looking away and making a sound that sort of sounded like a whine.

“It’s okay though. You’re not alone now, you have me, right? We’re best buddies now, right?” I said with an inviting smile.

It seemed even more confused, looking back at me for a while more before it took off and hid back in the hull of the ship. As it sprinted away I couldn’t help but notice on the crest of its head, there was a bit of purple colored mane, and the same for the hair on it’s tail.

“Guess you’re not one for company…” I said, sitting down and scratching at my chin. “Okay, obviously I can’t just walk up to it, that’d definitely tick it off, cornered animals and all… I could sit out here, but if it has my friends in there it could be eating them for all I know as I just sit here and debate this, wait… no, no it’d be watching me, the first time something hasn’t been scared of it and ran away, it likely thinks I am some sort of threat…”

As I sit here, looking at that shattered ship, wondering just how I am going to go up to it and check if my friends are inside, I hear a rustle behind me, turning around to see not one, but three other figures in the brush behind me. Just shadows, nothing more.

“Or you ran inside to get away from these.” I said to myself as I stood to fight, Once again that roar like howl ripped through the air, as the creature from the ship came sprinting out. Bounding over my and stopping once it landed, standing between me and the brush the others were in.

“So we are best friends.” I said with a smile. It motioned me back and started to back up, any time I didn’t move it would motion me back again. “You’re not a bad creature, aren’t you, you just take the rep for those things because they attack anything that comes near, huh?” 

That sad sounding whimper like noise again, starting to understand I nodded and just followed it back till we both sat inside the wreck of the ship with those figures, still in the brush watching us.

I took a quick moment to look around, noticing that a lot of the woodwork and other debris had been cleared out, rotting boards replaced by relatively new ones, but most notably, a large metal cage sitting on its side across the room. Empty.

“You know, I am going to need to go home eventually.” I say to the creature. It just paused and looked me over for a moment. Before it motioned to my dented cheek, then the glowing portal in my chest.

“Yeah, you noticed, I’m not a pony, I’m an android.” I said with a smile. “What are you? I’ve never seen or heard of a creature like you before.”

It made that sad noise once more, before it would reach up and pull that metal faceplate off. Under it, a sad looking gentle face, it was no monster, just misunderstood.

“Its okay, I’m here now, My name is Sweetie, what’s yours.” I said, holding a hoof out to it.

Just more of those noises, I stopped and thought, had it been talking to me this entire time and I just never understood? Is it telling me things right now but I just have no understanding of what it was saying?

“What I’d give for fluttershy right about now…” I commented with a deep breath.

The mention of Fluttershy seemed to cheer it up, it smiled down at me and started to jump around some, definitely appearing for joy.

“You knew Fluttershy?” I commented. It nodded.

“Do… Do you know how to write? Or maybe we can work out a gesture system, so you can answer in a way I can understand?” I asked with a smile, it nodded again.

Quickly, I drew two circles on the ground, one with yes and one with no written in the center. “Okay, when I ask you something, you point at the one that is your answer, Okay? This one here is yes, and that one is no, Okay?” 

It nodded, and pointed to Yes.

“So, do you have a name?” I asked, It nodded and pointed to yes again. “Can you tell me your name?” it shook its head and pointed to no. “Why can’t you, is it because I don’t understand your language?” It nodded and pointed to yes. “Can you write it in my language?” it shook its head and pointed to no.

Good progress I couldn’t help but think, but we are far away from being able to get anywhere else. “Have you seen my friends?” 

The creature shook its head and pointed to no.

“Horseapples…” I sputtered and sighed. “Okay okay, they didn’t come this way - guess that means they went to the Quetzal after all… and now I’m trapped.” 

The creature motioned out to the shapes within the brush then pointed at the yes, before pointing to itself, copying the same motion as before but then pointing to no and then to me.

“They’re scared of you?” I asked. It Nodded and pointed to yes. “What are they?” to which the creature made a barking like noise as though it was a dog. “A pony from the camp not too far from here told me about creatures that live in this area called Hellhounds, are they Hellhounds?”

It nodded and pointed to yes.

“Double Horseapples.”

It tapped yes twice.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “We need to warn the Dayrunners, that’s their camp up the road, if there are hellhounds this close that could mean that they are in danger.”

It didn’t answer or motion, just sat there in thought for a moment, or at least that is what it appeared to be doing.

“Do you think we could drive them away?” I asked.

It shook its head and pointed to no before it reached back and pulled a spear from the wall, pointing at it and holding up one finger, before it pointed out at the brush and held up three.

“Not enough weapons and too many critters that need taken down, yeah, that’d be a problem.” I said, thinking before looking at my back. “I have weapons, I just… Don’t know how to make them come out. Last time they came out I was in immediate danger and I did it in self defense.”

The creature motioned like it was pulling something open.

“I don’t think that’d be a good idea, I don’t want to be irreparably damaged.” I said with a shake of my head and a sigh. “You said they are scared of you, but would attack me, do you think if I could get them to attack me that they could trigger the self defense systems and let me use my weapons?” 

The creature shrugged and stepped outside of the hull, raising the spear over its head and making some sort of chant like call out at the brush. It seemed like a display of dominance or intimidation.

“Seems I am going to be trapped here a while then, huh?” I said with a sigh.

Hopefully nopony comes and looks for me, I don’t want to find out what would happen to a pony if they got attacked by the hellhounds, or tried to attack my new friend here. Hopefully things would work out soon, maybe once its brighter outside the hellhounds will go away. Or maybe they’ll stick around there waiting to have a chance at me... 

What in the name of Celestia have I gotten myself into...