They had to deal with a few wasteland critters on the way, but it wasn't anything the group couldn't handle together. Aunt even managed her first kill, and malfunction. Her blade thrust out into the body of a molerat just to get stuck in its furry body as it thrashed around and died.
Her blade would not withdraw with the recently deceased creature attached to it. "Oh... This is very upsetting..." She shook the blade, but that just made the thing wriggle in an unsettling way. "A little assistance, please?"
"Assistance requested." Giddyup could do nothing for her but repeat the call. "Engineer." He turned to Twilight, the closest one could find to such a position in the area. "Assistance requested."
Twilight ducked under Giddyup's thrust head to get to Aunt. "Let's, ew... I can handle this." Her horn glowed as she took a grip on the defeated enemy. "It worked, I am glad to report."
"Very well... But this is not a pleasant following step." Aunt was still as Twilight yanked off the dead meat. She shook it vigorously, but didn't withdraw it. "It's all dirty now. Please clean it before I put it away."
Applejack chuckled as she closed in with a rag in her mouth. "Now yer bein' a little prissy about it. We all get a bit messy at times. Welcome to the waste." Still, she began cleaning Aunt's blade with swishes of her head. "Didn't think a robot would even notice, really."
"That's not nice." She withdrew the cleaned blade with the sound of metal sliding with a ring against metal, allowing her grasper to return to its grasping primary function. "We do notice, and Nannybots, like myself, are especially concerned with cleanliness. It helps us run at our best, and avoids contaminating our poor owners. I would be beside myself if my lack of hygiene hurt Stan or Giddyup."
Twilight curled a hoof to her chin. "Valid... Why aren't all automatons given this concern then?"
"It depends what they do." Aunt made sure her blade could slide free and back a few times. "If you spend all day smelting metal ingots and never come into contact with living people, how messy you get has less effect, and you can trust in other things to see to your basic cleanliness."
Daffodil wrinkled her snout at Aunt. "But you're a nanny."
"Exactly." Spoken with pride. "So it is important I keep myself clean and proper. Twilight, you deserve commendations. That worked quite well."
"So I see!" Twilight glanced at the fallen enemy. "Did it... Was it easy for you?"
"Almost alarmingly so." She jetted forward at a sedate rate and a low roar of her flames. "I don't like the idea of fighting, but the idea of any of you getting hurt is far more repugnant."
"Your assistance is appreciated." Giddyup was trotting next to her. "I am uncertain if you are aware, but as the nanny of this family, you have special permissions."
She turned one of her several eyes on him. "Do I? We're from different manufacturers, and I will just confess that they told me very little about giddyups other than the barest of basics. Please tell me more."
"There is a hierarchy. The parents of the child reside at the top of the order. Below them come nannies and others in their direct assistive employ. This is considered the case for both organic and artificial members. If they are not present, it is assumed you would speak on their behalf, and I should heed your words in order to continue being a good giddyup unit. If they returned to reports that I had been disobedient to their nanny, they would be upset, and likely file a faulty report on the matter, possibly resulting in my termination." He didn't sound sad about it, just facts he was sharing.
"Beneath nannies and servants are relatives and friends of the parents. People at this rank or lower are subject to Child Consideration. Any order they give must pass Child Consideration before obeying, or disobedience is allowed and expected."
"Hey." Stan tapped at his other side. "Where do children themselves rate on that?"
"They are complicated creatures." As if his child wasn't right next to him, asking. "At basic levels, they are next in line, but are given priorities for several circumstances. For instance, if an uncle and a child wanted to ride me at the same time, the child would have priority, but if a parent or nanny forbade riding from the child, their order would have priority."
Stan chuckled softly. "Don't think that's happenin'... But say, for fun, an uncle was babysitting and said 'no riding that Giddyup!' But the kid wanted to anyway, what then?"
Giddyup went quiet, save for the whirring of tapes. He walked quietly for a time with the jingle of his metal parts. "Answer located. If I saw the parents to have given custodial control of the child to the uncle, the uncle would gain the equivalent of nanny permissions, and would have priority in that situation. I would deny the child. After the assigned child or children--"
Daffodil squinted. "Wait! You can have more than one?"
"Affirmative. Families can have more than one child, and if instructed, I would be available to all of them. After the assigned child or children, other children come next, then other adults and strangers. They wrote exceptions for law enforcement bodies. Permission hierarchy complete. I skipped several tiers for brevity."
Stan laughed, a belly full of mirth. "You're gettin' better. You have some brevity. What kind of tiers did you skip then?"
"Engineers with proper access codes have full permissions." Giddyup inclined his head. "Engineers without proper access codes but required skills have many permissions." He stopped to point a hoof at Twilight. "She is an engineer without proper access codes."
Twilight inclined her head slowly. "I'm honored, but that makes sense. So you can let me do the work that needs doing, if you know I can do it."
"Affirmative. Thank you for your assistance." A happy neigh issued from inside him. "Your review is already recorded for playback later." The odds of him ever reaching a proper place for that playback remained very small.
"Thank you," she said despite that with a smile. "I hope to continue being both of your engineer for a little while longer. Speaking of that; next stop, the vault and fixing up Aunt."
"It's not a 'fix'. I'm not broken, I assure. It's... an upgrade. One I am very grateful to recieve. As a bonus, I won't get so... sticky if there's distance between me and what is threatening me or my family."
"Yeah, so wait." Stan waved a few fingers at Nanny as they walked. "Doesn't that mean she outranks me?"
"In some situations. For example: If she determined you are in need of rest, I would deny any rides and suggest you rest until she deemed you ready to return to full operation." Giddyup swung his head and neck to face Aunt. "She is the nanny of the family. I would defer to her in matters of health."
Aunt clacked her right graspers. "That does seem logical. I won't abuse these newfound powers. We just want what's best for you, Stan."
Stan threw up his hands. "Great, two robots that will baby me even when I ain't feelin' it."
"It is great," agreed Giddyup, missing the sarcasm entirely. "You are under our care."
"Like an egg that knows it's bein' sat on." Stan let out a suffering sigh, but he didn't tell the robots to find somewhere else to be.
"Ya like it, don't ya?" Applejack was at his side. "Must be nice, havin' some folks that care 'bout ya. One thin' I miss when I'm not at the vault. Yer jus' a curiosity to other humans, me too... They don't care, not like that.."
Stan set his hand on her hat right in the center, plonking it down on her head, almost over her eyes. "It's nice."
She brushed the hat up and his hand away a little. "Cut that out."
"Let's get you horses back in your stable." And they moved to close the circle. The hut that held the entrance came into view and they approached all the more briskly. There were no critters or humans lurking about, leaving them to throw open--
The door was locked.
"The hell?" Stan rattled the stuck bar with a frown. "This thing locks? Any of you vaulters got a key?"
Applejack stormed up to it. "Key? This door ain't got a key." She grabbed the handle in her jaws and twisted and turned her head, but it just rattled, not opening at her attempt. "The hay..."
Twilight reared up onto the window sill, peering into the darkness. "I have a better idea." With the flat of her hoof, she casually knocked one of the panes of glass out. "I told her that needs repairs. Hello? We're back! Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Daffodil, with news! Please unlock the door?" The window pane was far too small for her to climb through, so she just faced it. "Please."
"Hey Twilight," came a voice she recognized if her perk up was any hint. "Glad you're back, but the Overmare said nopony can come or go right now..."
Daffodil hopped up to put her forehooves next to Twilight with a scowl. "Let us in! She specifically told me to get her information, which she can't get if I can't talk to her."
"Not technically true." A beep? "You could tell me," advised the mystery stallion. "And I could tell her. Glad you're alright too."
"Breaburn!" Applejack joined the line of ponies. "You let us in this instant!"
"I want to, really cous... but orders are orders. You know how it is with the Overmare."
Applejack threw her hat down in disgust. "We're only out here 'cause she told us to look into somethin' fer her. You go trot on back there and tell her we're back with that information."
"Oh, alright... I can ask." The microphone went quiet, perhaps with Breaburn leaving his post.
Applejack applied a hoof to her face. "Pretty sure he ain't supposed to do that. Still, good. Once we can talk to the Overmare, this will all be straightened out.
Stan and Skyline shared a meaningful look that ended in a nod. Both backed away from the hut. Stan checked his gun's readiness. "This is not going to end the way yer hopin'. We've been kicked out. They won't let us in, except to try and kill us."
"Dead. Maybe more than dead if they can manage it." Skyline drew his blades, practicing swings in the air. "It's time to go."
Twilight fell to the ground, wheeling on the two doubters. "That can't be! I'm... They don't have any other engineers on my level. I don't mean to brag, but... It's true!"
Applejack sank down to her haunches, stiff and jerky in her motions. "Ah don't think they're all crazy... We'll listen to what Brea or the Overmare says, sure, but we... We gotta be ready."
Daffodil slammed the window frame. "I did everything she wanted! I didn't even want to be here! This is..." Her voice contracted to a small whisper. "So unfair..."
Twilight reached with her magic, her horn glowing, but what she was trying to do wasn't clear from that alone. "Mmmf." But that she was trying was evident. "Almost..."
Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulders. "Stop it... Either they let us in, or we leave. We ain't breakin' in there."
Twilight swatted Applejack's hoof away. "I was not prepared for this! All of my supplies are inside, at my workbench. I can't function without access to them, not to mention the tools in the bench itself. This is grossly irresponsible!" She threw a hoof wide, almost catching Applejack across the face. "Does she not understand what she's doing?!"
Stan sat on a stump. "Reckon she does, but didn't come to the conclusion you'd like."