//------------------------------// // 2 - Under Attack // Story: Fallout Equestria: An Honest Soul // by _STELLAR //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Under Attack I was on the floor, surrounded by either the unconscious, the dead, or both. I could hear the sounds of those heavy metal hooves, running through the halls. If I lay among these ponies, they'd likely run right past me, I thought. The running stopped, and there was nothing but the sounds of them speaking. I couldn't hear what they were saying; it felt like they were plotting my demise. They probably were. A good minute went by until I heard what must have been only a single armoured pony walking down the hall. I made the critical mistake of choosing a lying position whilst panicking. And there I was, playing dead, lying perpendicular to the hallway on my blood soaked stomach in the middle of the route of a thousand ton metal monster. My heart was pounding more and more in my chest the closer it got. I struggled to play dead with my hitched breathing. Then my mistake was made fully apparent when it stepped on me. *** About five weeks had passed since I made the stupid mistake of opening my mouth and assigning myself the role of the new Littlepip. Mister Buck wasn't the best of teachers, but at least he never took over. If there was a problem, he would only give me pointers in the right direction. Most of the work was just me. Which I was happy with. 'Most', unfortunately, meaning the few jobs a week we had! If I were a lazy pony, this job would be great! And sure, it's a challenge when it gets going, but I'm not supposed to be sitting around all day waiting for somepony's 200 year old leg terminal to somehow stop working after two centuries of perfect use. The only things I had really been tasked with were the odd padding replacement, screen replacement, or radio replacement. Really, my job consisted of taking the broken things out, putting new ones in, sending the broken things to be fixed by some unicorn and her magic and BAM. Job well done. Admittedly, there's a lot more to replacing a screen than taking it out and putting a new one in - I'll spare you the boring details, don't worry - but all our Pip-Bucks were the same! You've learned one, you've learned them all. When someone gave me an old vintage radio, THAT'S when I wasn't so sure. Mister Buck, of course, reminded me from his hammock that I'm more than just a technician of Pip-Bucks in the same way that I used to be more than just an apple bucker. Helpful. It wasn't the same as being an Orchard Worker. And it got kinda lonely sometimes (which made visitors a warm welcome for sure), but I'll admit it, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd picked up electronic skills, terminal skills, and I even learned how to keep a tidy workplace, as Mister Buck's lack of a care for one was driving me crazy. none of these skills was I a master at, but if, for some ludicrous reason, any of it could save my life one day, I'm sure I would be grateful for Mister Buck's teachings. Well.... nudgings. Mister Buck was doing better after some time alone. And over the countless hours we worked, practiced and just in general talked to each other, we really bonded. Sure, he was slacking off most of the time, but when he was lively enough to converse with, I think having a buck to talk to rather than a filly was quite a refresher for him. He still missed Pip, that much was obvious. But as far as it appeared, he was comfortable around me and was able to talk to me like a friend. I suppose, after over a month of being a pain in his ass, how could I not be? Even still, I never stopped calling him Mister Buck, unless we were being particularly casual. It was just our thing. Mister Buck and Applebuck. I felt like crying tears of joy when he first called me 'AB'. But, it all sort of went wrong one day. *** It was early in the morning. like, for me, it was pretty early. Having a five minute trot to work at 11 o'clock (yes, Mister Buck extended it from ten to eleven) basically meant I could wake up realistically whenever I liked. The reason, then, I was up at twenty to eight that morning was because my Dad woke me up. Why, you may ask? It was announced that we had visitors! Apparently, one of the guards in front of the Stable entrance heard a knocking on the door. When he checked the camera on the terminal, he saw several pony shaped robots. Upon further examination, he and his partner realised that they were actual ponies! Strangers, from the Outside! No wonder they encased themselves in those funky looking suits! They probably combated the skin melting radiation as much as the mutant critters. (We got our odd Radroaches down here, so I'd hate to see what a Raddragon or something would look like!) I thought this was great news! Maybe Velvet Remedy and Littlepip were in one of those suits! Maybe they were the ones who came knocking on the door! My Dad said they were sending a team of 'casual residents' to greet them with flowers and welcome banners and the like. 'Casual residents' I was assuming meant harmless and non-threatening looking ponies. If the Overmare would be letting them in, and Littlepip were among them, I could maybe have my old job back! Wow. What if today would be the day we all leave the Stable and live on the Outside? Oh Goddesses. What if today would be the day we all leave the Stable and live on the Outside...? *** I was on my way to the Security Lounge to see what they all thought of this encounter - Brandy specifically - when a fleeing pony ran past me, screaming at me to run. At first, I wondered why the hell this random stallion was screaming at me. I briefly paused in confusion until I heard a pang above my head and saw that a small hole had punctured the wall. I peered to the end of the hallway where the stallion came from. All I saw was the eerie sight of a metal armoured pony standing motionless with a gun attached to either side. One was smoking. It was at that point that I realised we had a rogue visitor. My brain didn't have time to process what that meant, but the visitor's continued gunfire was enough to kick my survival instincts into gear. I ran, and fear ran through me. Was this the day they would replace the replacement technician? I wouldn't let that happen. If not for my own sake, then for Mister Buck's, or Brandy's, or Dad's. They didn't deserve my death on their consciences. I ran through the hallway, and reminded myself that my life was on the line, as the rogue visitor chased after me, bullets only missing because of my erratic - and frankly silly looking - maneuvering. Then I turned right on a T junction, mercifully finding a group of metal ponies. "Help! One of your friends has gone... rogue...?" The last word was a whisper, as I looked down, and saw the stallion from a moment ago. He was under the hoof of one of them. In the few seconds he had been there, they had managed to bloody his face up and make him swallow his teeth. Their side-mounted guns were abruptly pointed at me, and as I fled for the left side of the junction, countless holes resided in the spot I was just standing in. Cardio was never my strong suit - in a Stable, whose really was it? - but I was more than capable of ignoring the pain of my heart pounding more than it was used to due to all the adrenaline flooding through my blood. I turned a corner, then an arm grabbed me from the side; I was swept into a living quarters. I wanted to scream, but the unarmoured hoof covered my muzzle. "Will you shut it, Buck! You're gonna get us both killed!" Sheerkick shout-whispered as she hit the door's shut button. I relaxed immediately. Slightly. Sheerkick; not my closest of friends, but a welcome individual nonetheless. finding a friend in this dilemma calmed my nerves greatly. Even if things went very south, at least I wo- Before I could even finish thinking, I was dragged into Sheer's bedroom and shoved into her closet. Sheer, meanwhile, hid under the bed. I heard the quarters' door open, so I immediately shut the closet. Dangerous curiosity overwhelmed me, and I opened the door just enough to peek through. By the sound of it, it must only have been one of them, but one was enough to maul me. I didn't need to see the other room to see that the visitor was combing the living quarters. Either hunting its defenceless prey or just taunting us. I prayed that if it found me, it would stop looking for Sheerkick. Selfishly, I was also hoping it would work vice versa. I only wished the Goddesses would hear me. After about a minute had passed - it felt longer than the month I had spent as a technician - the visitor made its way to the bedroom. It entered, and immediately it went for the bed. My heart rate spiked. That was a stupid hiding place, Sheer! Years of hide and seek as a foal should have taught you better! "Found one." Sheerkick cried out as she was yanked by her hind legs from under the bed. She struggled loose slightly, then managed to give the pony a trademark Orchard Worker buck to the face, which seemed to do nothing but annoy the metal pony and make it lose its grip on her legs, allowing her ample time to leave the bed and bolt for the exit. Sheerkick got a bullet to her flank for her trouble. She fell to her side, clutching her wound and grunting in pain as tears formed in her eyes. I'd never seen her any where close to tears before, apart from that time she slipped while kicking a tree and sprained her fetlock, and even then she hobbled her way to the sick bay by herself. The visitor didn't even hesitate as it took aim, and gunned my colleague into a red paste. I had never heard a pony scream like she had. I'll never forget that time when I was a newbie Orchard Worker and I saw another Worker over estimate his abilities and shatter his legs trying to buck Deadmare's Oak, the biggest tree in the Orchard, where we get our only healthy, decent looking apples. His mistake taught me a valuable lesson early on in my career, and frankly my life: Try your best, but don't hurt yourself trying to do better. Sheerkick's screams were not unlike that old colleague of ours'. Though they were over far sooner. I couldn't help it. I should've kept the door shut. The sight of a pony being desecrated like this, and one that I was acquaintances with no less, it was enough to make me vomit. I heard no speaking from the murderer, but the ceased sounds of the desecration of my colleagues told me enough. Once I spat the last of the bile out of my mouth, I waited for the pony to approach my door. When it was at such a distance that I could slip under it, that's exactly what I did. The metal pony slammed the closet doors open, and I kicked my rear legs off the wall to project myself through its legs and get up behind it. After I got to my hooves, it didn't have enough time to spin and catch me before I bolted for the exit, desperately avoiding the sight of what was left of Sheerkick. As I ran down the hallways, my thoughts were running as fast as I was. Where should I go? Where could I go? The Security Lounge? One glance at a map would tell any rogue visitors that that was the place to go if you were looking for a good fight. The Security Lounge was either empty, swarming with murderers or... filled with the corpses of my fellow Stable residents... Brandy! That was it. Security is was then! *** It was hours later, and I was hiding in someone's vacant living quarters, leaning my back against the front door on my haunches and bawling my eyes out. Outside, around the other side of a nearby corner, was a massacre. The ponies screamed and muffled gunfire rang. This wasn't just a few rogue visitors. There would be most of them, even some of them, fighting on our side. Not a single metal monster was firing at the other. Every single one of them was on the attack. And they all thought what they were doing was right. Or, most likely, they didn't care if it was or not. They didn't even care. I wept. Scared, feeble, and so sick of things going wrong. Mom, Brandy, Velvet, my job. Everything was changing. Everything was fine before, so why did it all have to go wrong! Why did it all have to change! "If change never comes, how are we supposed to advance as people?" I was startled by the voice. It didn't come from behind the door, or anywhere in the room. Actually, it came from all over. Every direction. It was feminine, with a sort of posh sway to it that I didn't really recognise anyone in the stable having. "W-what? Who's spea-" "I told you. If things don't go wrong - go different and change - how will anypony ever get a chance to learn from that new experience, and become a new person?" "But I don't want to become a new person! Life was so easy just a couple years ago. Then one by one, things started changing, and now I'm cowering for my life from metallic demons from hell!" "Metallic demons, may I remind you, that can probably hear you? Do try to keep your voice down, AB" What? She knows my name? My nickname even? "Well of course I do, darling. I have been a part of your life ever since Honey Apple passed away - Faust bless her soul. And really, since the day you were born!" "I don't understand. Who are you? Why can't I see you?" "Well of course you can, darling. You see me about as often as you see your own nose. All the time! You just never look at me." My nose? But that doesn't make any- My hat. I removed my hat from my head and held it in my hooves like it was a foreign object. It was just a basic, light brown stetson with a circular hole at the front of the brim. Throughout the Stable, very few ponies had such luxuries as fashion accessories. All you had was what was passed down from generation to generation. i.e. whatever your great, great, great, etc grandparents thought to bring with them at the moment's notice they were given before the whole world went to hell. The odd collar and bow tie, the occasional pair of (usually lensless) sunglasses. Mister Buck was proud of his grandfather's horse shoes that he inherited that made a cool metallic sound when he walked. And me? I wasn't just lucky enough to have a hat. I wasn't just lucky enough to have a stylish hat. I was lucky enough to have a hat that was in better condition than any other accessory I had ever seen. Sure, it was damaged at the edges, and it would still be kinda dirty even after a good wash, but for a 200 year old hat, it was doing pretty damn good for itself. "Oh, I would say I'm about 200... plus about 50... ah, but minus about 10ish, then maybe add 30...?" So damn good that it learned to talk? "Well there's a bit more to it than that I'm afraid, darling." "Can you read the mind of whoever wears you? Have you been sucking my life force for your continued existence? Are you a parasite? Tell me!" I commanded my hat. "Oh, hush up, Bucko. All will be clear in due time, but right now, I believe you have a boyfriend to find." "Brandy's not my boyfriend. He's my bestfriend. And only my Dad calls me Bucko now." "Bestfriend whom you so have a crush on. And anyway, I probably know you better than even Applegreen does, considering I know your every thought and emotion. Your privacy really hasn't existed for the past three years since you've had me." I grunted in embarrassed frustration and replaced my hat. rudely. I could feel her smug, non-existant face taunting me. "You still didn't answer my other question," I said as I got to my hooves and cleared the blush from my face, along with a few streaks of tears from earlier. The pause, I gathered, was her waiting for me to elaborate. "Who are you? Like, what kind of name do you give a hat?" I asked. "I love it every time a new owner asks me my name," she replied wistfully. "It really drives home our new friendshi-" "I can't be your friend, if I don't know your name, hat," I sternly chided her. "Oh, fine. If you must know, my name is Tsukumogami. Although you may call me Suki, like your mother before you, and her father before her. And so on." "Why didn't Mom or Dad ever tell me about you, Suki? And why di-" "Bucko?" she interrupted. "Stable under attack? Brandybuck possibly dying?" That kicked me into gear. I turned to face the door, closed my eyes and sighed. Was I going crazy? Surely this was just some kind of magic. But why was I not made aware of this? Did Dad even know? I needed time to think. "There is no time, Bucko! Get to the Technician Stall; the door has a special lock that the power armour ponies won't bother trying to get into; it's too tight a lock. There, you can find a stashed away weapon. Collect it, find Brandy, then hide in the stall until it's safe to come out." "But what if it's never safe to come out? If I can find Brandy, he can take me to the other security ponies, and they can look after us. We can't hide in that dinky room forever!" "Don't be a fool, Applebuck." That was a bit stern. "Don't let your personal feelings get in the way. Go to the Technician Stall. There, you will find an old revolver. I think. It was stashed away by a previous technician years ago. It's a fairly basic revolver with a pink six-pointed star on the purple grip. Hopefully it hasn't been confiscated." A weapon of any kind could be a life saver. But Brandy... No! Suki was right. Escaping those monsters wouldn't be possible without a weapon. And Mister Buck would most likely be there anyway. Either way, I wasn't alone. Then again, it turns out I was never really alone, was I? I unlocked the door, and hesitated, hovering my hoof over the open button. This was insane! I couldn't do this! "Honey always said you would do right in her absence, Bucko" Mom. "Suki. Please. I know we're busy right now, but if we get out of this, can you answer me some questions?" She hesitated for a moment. "About what?" "About you. And my Mom. And lots of things, really." Again, she hesitated. I suspected she was thinking of a way to lie. "I would never lie," she said darkly. "I will answer all questions I feel you should know the answers to. In due time." It was the best I could get out of her. I opened the door, hesitated again, then ran. Because my life depended on it. A talking hat. A hat. I'm going fucking crazy, aren't I? *** I would bet anything that Mister Buck would be either hiding in the Technician Stall, or blissfully ignorantly sleeping in it. Regardless of either outcome, or even if the stall was empty, it would be a more than suitable place to hide until the monsters... do whatever it was they wanted. What if they wanted the Stable as a home? Should I escape so they couldn't get me? What would I even do after that? It was probably more dangerous up there than it was down here! The Goddesses must have been at least a bit merciful today, as I finally approached the Technician Stall unmolested. I was relieved to find a lack of blood, scorch marks, bullet holes, and especially metal monsters. I cantered to the door, and gently knocked on the place I called work for the past five weeks. "Mister Buck!" I shout-whispered. "It's me! AB! Are you okay?" No response. He was either dead, not in there, or fast asleep. Either way, the door was locked, and Mister Buck never told me the passcode. I thought it was pretty cool that the Technician Stall had a passcode protected lock. it was something I never saw on any other door, lock or no lock. clearly some olden time pony figured they would put their electronics abilities to good use, Which wouldn't have surprised me, as all the Pip-Buck's would have been in even better condition all those years ago, meaning even slower business in Technician. Cool or not, right now, that lock was an obstacle I could have done without. "Sweetie Belle's Beautiful Voice," "The first Overmare?" I asked. "What's her voice got to do with anything?" "No, darling. That's the passcode," she told me. "It was set during the first or so generation of Stable residents, back when Sweetie Belle was the Overmare. After the passcode system was installed, no one knew how, or even if it could be changed, so the Technician Workers just kept it like that." "How could you possibly know that?" "Your... great, great, great... great great great... great grandmother was a Pip-Buck Technician. She was a senior eventually. One of her colleagues would always lock the door at the end of their shifts, and it would simply drive her up the walls having to type that in every single time. Trust me, Bucko. I know that passcode, even all these years later," she then sighed wistfully. I couldn't believe my hat could feel nostalgia. I shrugged. I always wondered why Mister Buck never told me the password. Not that he ever bothered to lock the damn door. I entered the code, and the door opened automatically. No sign of my boss-turned-friend. "Mister Buck?" I called. "Buck, it's me, AB. I figured we could hide here together?" I closed and locked the door, reminded of my danger by my own words. "Better odds in numbers, right?" But there was no response. I sighed. "Looks like it's just you and me, Suki." *** "So when you're near me darling can't you hear me S.O.S. The love you gave me, nothing else can save me S.O.S. When you're gone How can I even try to go on? When you're gone Though I try, how can I carry on?" More hours passed, and Suki didn't want to be chatty. Funny that, considering talking is literally her unique talent. Even still, she seemed more than happy to sing for the first time in at least three years. And I was more than happy to listen in our time of solitude. Between songs, I kept asking her questions. Questions like 'where did you come from?' 'How can you talk?' 'Can other hats talk?' But she either dodged the questions or ignored them entirely. After a while, though annoying as it was, I took the hint. More olden times songs it was, then. Which was fine, because it made for good background music while messing with all the junk in here. I was disappointed to find that the revolver had been taken. Damn. I was looking forward to trying it out. I think Sheer Kick would have gotten a bit of satisfaction in the afterlife from a bit of revenge. It was entirely in her character. Was. Suki forced me to stay put. She didn't want me in danger without a weapon. I wanted to be with Brandy. Dad too. But she was having none of it. I could have just left regardless of what she said, but her whining was just… ugh… So I stayed. And though tinkering wasn't exactly a hobby of mine, I was more than competent enough to entertain myself with a few of Littlepip's old knick knacks, even if all I was doing was dismantling them, then panicking slightly when I couldn't put them back together again. A few of the times where there was evidence to suggest I wasn't as competent as I thought, Suki was more than happy to correct me on what went where. Sometimes stating the obvious like I was an idiot, something I was glad Mister Buck never did. After quite a while longer, I nearly jumped out of my jumpsuit at the abrupt pounding on the stall's door. Not just abrupt, but in very quick succession. "Let me in!!" Mister Buck! I accidentally kicked over my chair bolting to the door, but by the time I was halfway there, the monster had already started firing, three tiny dents appearing on the metal door, surely painted red on one side. My heart sank. I remembered it doing that when Dad sat me down and told me that the most important mare in my life had died. I remember the same whisper that came out of my mouth then coming out of my mouth now as I slowed to a halt along with the gunfire. "What?" I continued my way to the door, simply a slow stepping of a journey, as I hoped against hope that my ears had been tricking me, and that some other poor bastard was a bloody mess on the other side of that door rather than my friend. I placed my ear against the door, listening for any sign of the attacker. I wished I could just run out there and confirm for or against the worse, but I'd probably just get myself shot. So I waited. I counted each individual second. And after about thirty of them, I couldn't wait a second longer. I opened the door, and a small pool of blood flowed into the stall at my hooves. I peered at the source, and saw three tiny bullets in a puddle, with a crimson trail leading to the side. Peering out and to the side led to a sight that filled me with relief, then panic. Mister Buck was holding a hoof to his side where blood ran freely as he limped step by step, his side pressing against the wall, creating a line of red along the Technician Stall. A twisted mural to an otherwise grey wall. I dashed for him as he fell to the floor, rolling on his back. Up close, I could see the extent of his injuries. The three bullets pierced his side, and exited through the other. "Mister Buck," I whispered to him as I held his hoof in both mine. I opened my mouth to speak again, but he cut me off with a quiet shush, as he pointed to a nearby room. The killer. "She's in there," he told me, a mere shallow breath of a voice. "Get back in that stall, AB. Don't be a hero; it's not worth it." But it would be. I didn't want to lose someone else. Suki thought now would be a good time to speak. "You need to get back to the stall, AB. I'm sorry about Mister Buck, but if you stay here, you'll die too." It would be worth it if that monster would die with me. But I couldn't do that to Dad and Brandy. And Mister Buck would want me to live too. I looked at him. "What do I do?" I asked him. It was a stupid question. Both he and Suki just told me. But really, I just wanted to hear him talk. He looked at me, then placed a bloodied, horseshoe adorned hoof on my cheek. "You need to run like hell, AB. Run and don't look back. your future isn't with me. And it's not with that Orchard. Or this Stable. Please, get to that stall. And when it's safe, run. Run to wherever Pip went. Because you're worth it, AB." "But I've never done anything for anyone. I'm no virtue driven hero. I'd trade anything to have my old life back." I noticed how much blood I was kneeling in. my lime green coat staining crimson. "You don't need your old life back," he told me. "You already have everything you need to survive out there. Strength. Friends. and computer skills." He chuckled. "All you need now are lock picking skills, and you'll have the complete pac... p-package," he was getting drowsy. "Say hi to her, AB. Please?" "I will survive, Mister Buck. I promise," and I damn well meant it. "Oh Applebuck. Just... call me Buck... okay?" His smile widened as his eyes squinted, then closed. And he completely relaxed, going limp before my eyes. I shook him. Called his name a couple times as tears formed in my eyes. But there was nothing. I looked across the hall where his murderer was rummaging through a room. I simply let go of his hoof, kissed his forehead lightly and removed my friend's horse shoes, applying them to my own hooves, then stealthily trotted past the monster that called itself a pony. Tears joined the blood dripping to the floor from my soaked body as I trotted to what was supposedly left of my family. "The stall… W-where are you going, darling?" "To see my family." *** As the monster walked my way, oblivious to even my being there, I held my breath in the hopes of it just leaving me, unaware if I were even alive. It inched closer to me, every step feeling a million years later than the last, then as it stepped mostly over me, a forehoof was placed just above my pelvis. Time slowed down as more and more pressure built up as nearly the entire weight of the monster was on my lower back. The pressure reached its zenith, then I felt my back pop. Not the kind of pop you get when you stretch after a long day's work. The kind of pop that bone makes when hit with the force of a sledgehammer. I felt my spine split, and I screamed. It may not have noticed me a moment ago, but the monster was taken aback, maybe even shocked, at the sudden outburst of my prone body. I started hyperventilating at the constant sharp and intense pain. I knew this was it. Game over. My heart raced even more, my mind too; I wondered in my panicked state who would Inherit my hat. Who would take Suki in my absence? Maybe Dad? It wasn't like I had any kids of my own. I'd have liked Brandy to have her. If either of them were still even alive to remember me by. If they weren't, maybe it was for the best that this monster found me when it did, to save me the misery. It was hesitating. It simply stood a step or so back from me, not doing anything. After several seconds of agony, it finally pointed a side mounted gun towards my head, and it was all I could do to shut my eyes and say my prayers. *BLAM!* I heard the sound of heavy metal crashing to the floor. After a moment had passed, I dared to open my eyes. When I did, I turned them to my side to discover the metal monster had crumbled to the floor. Standing behind it was Brandybuck, a gun in his mouth with a six-pointed star on the grip pointed to where the monster's head had been a moment ago. The sight of my saviour's face turning from anger to shock as he saw me was the last thing I saw before my vision faded to black, and my head fell to the floor. Little victories. At least someone was alive.