//------------------------------//
// 14 - Stable Plex 
// Story: Closing the Barn Door 
// by David Silver 
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Giddyup settled to his haunches. "Quest detected. Yellow intended to deliver the completed ponies when they were ready."

Twilight inclined her head. "I was going to dig through the information, but while I do, please share." She was still busy typing and working. "You already know it all?"

"Yes, and no." He was not good at emoting, so he didn't bother. "The information is present, but I had little reason to analyze it thoroughly. I am now aware of this function."

Stan patted Giddyup on the side. "Well, Twilight has it. If you want to throw it all out, I won't blame you."

"I can't do that." Giddyup shook his head quickly. "This is all I have left of Yellow. Now that I am aware of this mission and its incomplete status, I can no longer say I completed his affairs. He was prepared to conclude things in an unfinished state. How unfortunate. But I am here. I can complete it."

Stan shook Giddyup lightly. Not that the heavy metal equine was easy to move that far. "Why did I figure you'd say something like that? Look, their Overmare already asked me to keep you company while you go finish this 'function' or whatever you call it. If you're going, I'd follow you, anyway." He ruffled the side of Giddyup's unfeeling cheek. "I just get paid to do it."

"It is good that you are being paid." Giddyup had no objection to Stan getting bits for it. "We must complete Project Repasture."

"Repasture." Twilight's voice had rejoined them with her typing. "Yes, it seemed this 'Yellow' and 'Fend' were instructed what to do when their ponies they were to release the population, including that they must first show they could reliably survive in the wastelands." She inclined her head. "Of course, the original designers thought the 'wastelands' would be in far better condition. They didn't think the bombs would actually drop, and if they did, a little troubling thing at best."

Giddyup looked up to twilight sharply with a sway of his neck. "There are additional steps. The first stable's population must be stable. Confirmed. The second stable's population must be stable, confirmed."

Stan knocked on Giddyup's side. "That's a lot of stables"

"Three." Giddyup had missed the joke entirely. "All population metrics: Met. All development requirements: Met. Location: Unlocked." A beep sounded from within the metal horse. "Map secured. Warning: Because of corrosion and war related geographical adjustments, the map is not 100% accurate."

Twilight threw up her hooves, even if her typing only slowed slightly. "I was trying to unlock that and you just... do it on your own. Well, alright then. Can I have a copy?" Not that she wasn't already on the path to stealing a copy herself.

The file became suddenly accessible to the excited unicorn as Giddyup surrendered it with little of a fight. "We are going there with the population of both stables." It wasn't a question at all, instead a blunt statement of how things needed to be.

Applejack circled around Giddyup with increased awareness. "Hold on to yer horses." An odd statement in a room full of what could be called a horse. "We can't just take everypony from both stables along to some unknown place and hope fer the best."

Daffodil's ears danced. "Wow... I'm glad I heard that, but... will you be mad if I don't want to be involved?" She shook her hooves in the air. "Good luck, but I did my job!"

Giddyup turned to Daffodil first, as well as he could, with the wires still attached. "All ponies of both stables will have to go."

Applejack slid between the two. "After we confirm it's a place we wanna go. Daffodil, if you want to stay here, for now, go ahead."

With glowing magic, Twilight pulled the connections and wires free of Giddyup, with her magic moving from one to the next, freeing him to move as he pleased. "Thank you for your help, Giddyup. You know, that name is going to pose a few problems."

Giddyup looked around the room. "What is wrong with my name? Have I used a title that is in use? I am out of names."

Stan waved at a giddyup unit walking past. "Well, yer not the only giddyup around here."

Giddyup inclined his head, neck tilting with it. "Why are the other giddyups not also in possession of this knowledge?" He went still.

Twilight hiked a brow. "And there he goes." She hopped back away from her terminal with a sigh of relief. "He's looking up why that might be in Yellow's indexes. This is actually a lot easier with him awake, ow!" She held her head where Stan had rapped his knuckles. "What was that for?"

Stan was glaring at Twilight. "His bein' awake was a hurtful thin'. At least respect that."

Applejack approached on slow hooves. "Wasn't payin' attention to the whole thin' but ah know Giddyup's a good pony." She sank to her haunches and clapped once. "So ah appreciate it."

"Thanks." Stan returned to Giddyup's side. "He's decided to take up yer cause or whatever, but he'd rather just be done with it. But he'd rather rather Yellow's business be done with first, so here we are."

Applejack nodded at the unmoving robot. "Look, ah don't claim ah understand it fully. He's a, uh, robot, but he has some powerful emotions, and if he's feelin' 'em, ah ain't here to tell him otherwise." She turned to Twilight. "And he ain't all loose. So if ya need a pony to go see if this third stable's alright, ya got a mare."

"That's one!" Daffodil made good her escape while the avenue was present.

Twilight turned both her forehooves on herself. "Two. I want to know what this leads to, and you may need a knowledgeable pony on the job." She cantered in place with a goofy smile. "Besides, think of what treasures could hide in that other vault!"

Giddyup resumed movement by straightening out his head and footing. "Search complete. It was Yellow's vault that decided when to approach the third vault by intentional design. The overseer of the second vault had clearly malfunctioned." He inclined his head left and right. "It is of little wonder why they acted against the overseer's commands. Had the super mutant attack not occurred..." He went still a moment. "64% chance they would have joined us outside the vault."

Stan patted the side of his metal friend with a wistful sigh. "But that ain't a chance they ever had on account of big and ugly opposition."

"Correct." Giddyup stood in place to accept the affection, only to have a new hand settle on him. It was a grasper, metal, rather than a flesh one, but he accepted it all the same.

Miss Aunt was hovering on the other side of Giddyup, having joined Stan in the gentle pets of their metal friend. "What a terrible thing you had to go through. We're here for you every step of the way until we get this handled."

Twilight spread her hooves. "We're not going anywhere right now." She looked past all the ponies and robots to a clock on the wall. "We'd be setting out in the middle of the night, and why do that? I say we get some sleep, check in with the overmare, and then we consider the next step."

Applejack pulled down her hat. "Not a bad idea, but if she's awake, why not check in with her right now?" Applejack turned in place towards the hallway. "No reason not to check in and knock that out of the way afore then."

Stan raised his hands. "She already had a decent idea of what was goin' on. She asked me to come alon', Skyline too. Not sure if she had dwellers in mind, though." He waved between Twilight and Applejack. "So that might be new?"

"Then it's a fine time to tell her." Applejack marched off without further delay, well, until she thumped into Skyline emerging from a room. "Woah, hey there."

Skyline recoiled, but the tension fled when he saw who it was. "Oh, hey Applejack." He reached back to close the door behind himself with a wing. "What's up?"

Applejack recoiled, but for different reasons entirely. "Don't mean to be insultin' none, but take a bath! Glad ya enjoyed yerself." She pointed the way to the bathing area. "I'm gonna chat with the overseer."

Skyline snorted softly as he scooted around Applejack. "Sorry." Even a tribal could feel some shame in the right situation. "You ran into me before I could fix—"

"Ah get it." She reached out a hoof, but hesitated to make contact with the stallion. "Jus' go ahead an' wash up." She looked over her shoulder to see the others trailing behind her. "Figured you'd all wait until ah got back." Not that she resisted being joined by Giddyup, Stan, and Twilight. "C'mon then."

Stan looked a bit amused at Skyline's scampering off. "Not gonna complain ah can't smell what you smell, AJ, but ah can guess jus' fine."

Giddyup's eyes were forward on their goal. "Are they suffering from illness? Would a medical kiss assist?"

AJ snorted out an aborted laugh. "Gonna guess he got all the 'medical kisses' he done wanted fer a while. He ain't hurt none." She led the way towards Overmare Mare's office. "An' Twilight, ain't nothin' fer you to worry about."

"I was wondering..." But Twilight set the topic down without struggling. "Is she home?" Twilight trotted up to find the guards looming over her. "Hello, gentleponies! May I speak to Overmare Mare? We have important questions for her."

The guard on the left looked over Stan critically. "Does it involve him?"

Twilight looked back to see what he was referring to. "Yes, in fact. We were told the overseer was already aware of this?"

"Ah. One moment." The guard slipped inside the room with some conversation lost to quiet exchanges.

Overmare Mare came out in his place with a bright smile. "Even better than I was expecting. Twilight, did you find interesting things in the giddyup's code?"

"My name is Giddyup." He made that clear just in case anyone was confused on that point.

Twilight quickly nodded. "We have located the third vault. They built it for pony accommodation, in theory. I wanted to go inspect it." She waved a hoof wildly at Giddyup, Twilight, and Miss Aunt. "They're coming with me!"

Overmare Mare raised a hoof to her chin. "Wasn't Daffodil part of your group, and the other 'guest'? I don't see either of them with you." That she wanted them all to go together was left unsaid.

Stan pointed back to where Skyline had fled. "He's still enjoyin' yer sights."

Twilight bobbed her head. "We were going to get some sleep and set out tomorrow morning, but I wanted to check in with you."

"It was my idea!" Applejack shot Twilight a look before she turned back to Overmare Mare. "Already went this far with this bunch, not gonna leave 'em now! 'Sides, we get along well enough and ah kinda like 'em. Daffodil decided this was too hot fer her likin', so she's returning to vault duty soon as she can."

"Tomorrow is just fine." Overmare Mare tapped her hooves together. "Eat up, sleep, and I'll see you when you get back. Your mission, as should be clear, is to confirm the presence of this third vault. Upon finding it, ensure that it is as suitable to pony life as we hope it is."

Applejack and Twilight snapped sharp salutes, which Stan and the robots did not join. "And if it doesn't exist?" Stan raised a brow. "Or it does, but you wouldn't want to be anywhere near it?"

"Unfortunately likely." Miss Aunt sighed at the thought. "My vault was quite the mess when Stan and Giddyup arrived. I was a bright red with embarrassment." She was quite incapable of blushing, but one could be sure it still mortified her.