Fallout: Equestria

Forgotten Light

Level 7:The Relics of Rainbow Dash, part 1

That's what I felt most of the day after rescuing the foals from Slendermane. The town was celebrating, and the little ponies I rescued and their families were visiting me for most of the day. I could have just taken a healing potion and been done with recovery, but the families of the foals insisted that I remain to share in the celebration of the return of their children. It wasn't until late in the day that we finally set out again, my injury having healed thanks to magical bandages, real ones rather than the makeshift ones we can make with Littlewing's spell paper.

Our group was now up to 4 ponies, I was starting to wonder how big our party would get. Once we started to leave the town of Darkness' Shadow we noticed something in the west that we hadn't seen the night before. It looked like a strange spike coming out of the side of a mountain in the distance, with the strange shade of the cloud curtain at sunset it looked to be almost half the size of the mountain itself.

Walking along the road heading west we found ourselves growing ever closer to the mountain with the strange protrusion. "I think we should rest near that mountain for the night," Iria said, "It's likely to get dark by the time we reach it at this rate."

"I agree with her, it looks as though that place would also offer good cover if it starts to rain" Littlewings said

"Maybe there will be a cave if we're lucky" Cloudy Melody said running ahead of the rest of us.

'her flank looks nice... no, don't get distracted, gotta stay on task' I thought, "Umm, we better hurry up then." 'why am I thinking this way about her all of a sudden'

"Looks like Silver has a fever from those injuries, I knew we should have just used the healing potion from the start." Iria said.

"N-no! I was just thinking... anyway, it looks like we're here, is that what I think it is?" I said pointing out a cave with what appears to be a Stable Door just barely visible.

"Let's check it out, I don't want to be out here at night." Littlewings said as he dashes into the cave and to the control box for the door.

As we approach the great gear shaped door I'm able to make out the number 119 in faded paint on the door. Littlewings pulls the switch to open the door and the noise we herd next was ear shattering. The door groaned and screeched as it jolted backward into the stable and began to roll only to stop with another gut wrenching screech leaving a gap just barely big enough for a pony to get through.

"What in the... Why didn't the door open all the way?" Cloudy Melody asks as she walks up to the door and starts to squeeze through the gap. "YIKES!"

Iria was the next to go in, followed by Littlewings and then myself. What I saw shocked me, The entrance to the stable was overgrown with vines and roots. what appeared to be strange flower buds were interspersed along the vines as they lead further into the stable. Aside from the vines and roots it was what a pony might expect from a stable entrance, a door to maintenance off to the left, overgrown and inaccessible. In the middle of the far wall was a door jammed open with a pony skeleton covered in vines hanging from the top of the doorway.

"What could do this to a stable? The records said they were supposed to be to save ponies, not this." Iria said examining the skeleton.

"I think we better find out, I don't think this kind of plant growth is normal." Littlewings said as he started to place spell papers around the stable entrance. "these barrier spell papers should keep out any monsters, I hope..."

"The Overmare's office should have some data logs on what happened here." Iria said." I think I see a sign for it just down this hallway"

"Let's get there fast, I don't want to be out here if what made the plants grow like this is still here" Cloudy Melody said

"I'll lead the way" I said drawing the Dash's Lightning and turning on my Pip-Buck light, it seemed that the power source of the stable had died out already. The lights in the entrance and the door itself must have been on emergency power.

as we walked slowly down the hallway we saw that the entire stable was overrun with the plants, sometimes we would see large patches of plant life like tiny meadows. As we neared the Overmare's office I spotted a movement in the corner of my eye, when I turned to see what it was all I saw was another patch of plant life, this one slightly bigger than the others.

"I think we're going to need to use the emergency release to open the door, apart from the entrance the stable appears to be out of power," Iria said, voicing the thought that raced through all our minds at this time.

When we reached the door we found that it indeed had no power. Looking around I was able to find the emergency latch to open the door manually. "here we go, Littlewings, can you give me a hoof with this?"I asked getting my leg around the handle. Littlewings came over and did the same, "Ok, three, two, one, lift." I said as we both start to lift the door using the emergency handle. After some resistance the door gave and with a click and hiss it rose up to grant us access.

Behind the door, instead of an office, was a brightly lit almost vertical hallway. The hallway just ended in jagged metal and a large gaping hole in the floor, what looked like it used to be the Overmare's office was at the bottom of the hole. It looked like a terminal managed to land on the edge of the hole when... whatever the thing was we were looking at hit the stable.

"What is that thing?" Cloudy Melody asked, "it couldn't be what we saw from outside could it?"

"I-I'm not sure." I respond starring blankly at the expanse below us. Whatever this thing was it was made strong enough to be able to demolish much of a Stable and still have power. "We should try to find out if that terminal has power or even a accessible log."

"Leave that to me." Iria said getting to work on the terminal "I should have this thing singing in no time."

"I think we need to check out that hallway for some clues to whatever this thing is" I said pointing to the strange hallway across the pit.

"I'll stay here with Iria" Littlewings said "This way she won't be left without someone to help her"

"I'll go with you Silvie" Cloudy Melody said, causing me to blush a bit. "Sound good?"

"Positive, with Iria's energy weapons and my Spell papers we should be fine" Littlewings responds, Iria simply uh huh's paying more attention to her work on the terminal.

I nod and slowly start to walk around the edge of the pit to the hallway on the far side, sparks fly as a wire falls loose from the broken edge of the hallway. As Cloudy Melody and I draw closer I can see that much of the light in the hall is from further in than the entrance ahead. I make it to the hallway and then flapping my wings fly the short distance into the hallway, i turn around to be ready to catch Cloudy Melody with my levitation as she jumps to join me. Despite the odd angle of the hallway it is surprisingly easy to stay on our hooves.

I lead the way up the hallway, almost literally as the hallway was almost perfectly vertical further up. Where we entered had been bent and damaged making it easy to get in, but as we walked it felt like we were walking on normal ground, our manes and tails said a different story however.

"Whatever is keeping us on the floor must not be strong enough to affect our hair." Cloudy Melody said from behind me.

"Yea, strange. I think I see a terminal up ahead" I said as I walk up to what I had assumed was a terminal, there was only one option on the screen and it was written in some strange language that I could not read. Upon pressing the button on the thing it opened the door next to it. "ok, not a terminal then, a door switch."

"What's in there?" Cloudy Melody asked holding her assault rifle out ahead of her with her magic. "I'm ready it it turns out to be monsters."

Given what we saw in the wasteland so far, I knew better than to laugh at her caution. Moving into the room I saw all kinds of alien devices, a circular thing with what appeared to be scissor handles. A orb with wires coming from what I assumed was the top. Strapped to a table was the corpse of a badly deformed pony, I couldn't even tell what gender it had been. It's belly bulged with what I could only assume were it's intestine just under the skin. It's forelegs had been changed and the hooves appeared to be 4 part claws now having been cut that way and sewn back together. This abomination was hardly recognizable as a pony anymore.

"No monsters, just a poor pony who was experimented on from the looks of it, I'm guessing they died from lack of food." I said and moved into the room, in a corner that I couldn't have sen without going in was a corpse of some kind of alien. It wasn't a pony, or a zebra, it wasn't anything I could recognize as being from our world. "That might qualify as alien though."

Cloudy Melody came in behind me and saw what I was talking about "Oh my, that doesn't look right, what is it? Are those talons like a Griffon?"

Cloudy Melody was half right, they did look like talons, but they had no actual claws on the end, and there were 4 limbs like the abomination. Unlike the abomination this thing had all 4 lined up rather than round like a disfigured hoof. It's head was almost as big as a normal pony's but it seemed to grow further back, and it's face appeared to have a small nose instead of a muzzle. What I assumed was it's skin was a strange greenish grey color and hairless. It was wearing some kind of silvery outfit with a almost plastic like lab coat over top of it.

"Looks like it's dead too, but the force keeping us on the floor should have kept it from sliding into the corner, unless..." I begin to say "I think we should get back to the others"

Cloudy Melody nods having just seen the Abomination on the table, "I think you're right, I think we should take some of these back with us though" she said picking up several small alien gems that were scattered on the floor around the alien.

"Be careful, we don't want to lose what's in our saddlebags if the gravity only affects our hooves" I said being ready to catch anything to fall out of her saddlebags, luckily nothing did.

"Got them in, ready to go" Cloudy Melody said as we start walking back to Iria and Littlewings.

As we move back along the hallway explosions can be herd ahead of us and we begin to run. When we got to the pit what was there shocked me. It looked like Littlewings and Iria were battling with plants, but not just plants, what appeared to be plants growing from pony corpses and skeletons. These things looked to be what was left of the Stable Dwellers, they had tatters of Stable Suits on with the number 119 on them.

Cloudy Melody gawked for a moment before she fired several bursts from her Assault Rifle. The Bullets punched through the plants and the bodies of the dead ponies who seemed unfazed by the bullets. The only ones doing damage appeared to be Iria and Littlewings. Littlewings was using flame spell papers, and Iria her Magical Energy Pistol. Both were burning away the plants leaving the bodies collapsed in heaps with nothing to support them now.

"Cloudy Melody, use fire. Bullets won't hurt them!" I yelled soaring over to join Littlewings and Iria drawing the Dash's Lightning and slashing into the plant covered corpses. "The plants are in control"

"What, how can plants be moving like that!?"Cloudy Melody said getting ready a flame spell before shouting "it's too crowded to use the spell."

"They came from the outgrowths in the halls, apparently the bodies were covered up by the plants" Littlewings said, "It would be safe to assume the meadows in the halls were also corpses covered by plants."

"I was able to get the terminal working just before they attacked." Iria said as she blasted one of the corpses through the skull and hit a second behind it, burning the plants off both, "Apparently this was supposed to be your run of the mill stable, as advertised. They were given the same supplies as most other Stables, as well as a few extra plants requested for by the Overmare. They were harmless plants, roses, petunias, et-cetra."

"These don't look like roses or petunias to me!" Littlewings shouted as his spell papers blasted several more of the plant creatures to ash.

"Out of the way!" Cloudy Melody shouted giving us little time to jump to the sides of the doorway before her fire spell shot down the hallway setting most of the plants ablaze.

"Just lucky, I couldn't see where a gap was so I aimed for the center of the door" Cloudy Melody said.

I blinked and then said "wow... talk about lucky, but the battle's not over yet" I said turning back to the plant creatures, there was maybe 5 left not ablaze taking them down would be easy. As I readied the Dash's Lightning again they turned away and began to walk in a strange shambling manner away from us. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief that there weren't more of the things.

Just as we were relaxing I noticed something was off, "Hey, where's Littlewings?"

After looking at each other for a moment we all quickly looked down in unison. We could just barely see Littlewings below hanging on a piece of the alien metal. If not for the alien thing having it's own gravity on the floor Littlewings likely would have fallen further.

"Fine apart from hanging from a ledge" Littlewings shouted back, "I think I can get into a hallway down here"

"I'll come down to you" Iria shouted, she then flapped her wings and flew down to the ledge to help Littlewings into the hall.

"We'll find a way down from up here, no sense in getting down with no way to get back up." I shout down to them before helping Cloudy Melody get back across to the Stable side of the pit before we head further into the stable to find some stairs leading down.

___---POV change, Littlewings---___

After Iria helped me into the hallway we looked around trying to find a way back up. Unfortunately for us this part of the stable had been the end of a hallway to somepony's living area. We had to find another way up, and I did not like the looks of the pit. Being a Pegasus that can't fly really makes heights a bit of an issue. I needn't forget that having no armor makes me quite vulnerable in the stable.

"I think we may need to cross to the other side of the pit, unless you can fly. I doubt I can carry you back up." Iria told me.

"Tiny wings, and a big pit. Wasn't bad enough up top where we at least had a decent ledge to stand on" I said, "Well, no sense moping about impossible things. do you see any way to get across?"

"Umm. well, looks like the plants are more dense down here. and it looks like the stable on the other side of the pit is another hallway." Iria tells me, and sure enough there was enough outgrowth of plants to be able to carefully move to the other side of the pit with some help.

"Let's try it, I may need help so I don't fall" I said moving to the plants cautiously.

"I got you" Iria said flying over to support me. Trying to keep my weight more on the plants as we moved we slowly made it to the other side of the pit and into the stable hallway. "Let's keep moving, maybe somewhere there's a elevator that we can use somewhere."

Ahead of us was a stable door, and as we approached I tried the door panel thinking it wouldn't work. Surprisingly it did, and what was on the far side of the door was shocking to say the least. There was an alien corridor, upside down and the ceiling was sparking with loose wires. Thinking for a moment I was about to say something when Iria ran in and jumped up to the floor.

"Uhh, I can't fly remember?" I said before noticing that her wings were folded down.

"Fly? Don't you remember? Cloudy Melody and Silver Aura already walked up a sheer drop hallway like this already, apparently they have a limited gravity field that can hold things to the floor." Iria said, leaving me dumbfounded.

"Wait up" I said jumping up to join her on the floor, my mane and tail sticking straight up, or down as the case may be.

Walking in this upside down alien thing was disorienting to say the least. As we moved we found several rooms filled with consoles and dead aliens on the ceiling. Several alien weapons that we decided we best avoid for now, they weren't exactly designed to be shot from a pony's mouth. In one room we found several dead ponies on the ceiling and as luck would have it one was a Pegasus about the size I was.

Jumping from the floor to the ceiling was more disorienting than just walking on the floor was. Landing on my feet I walked up to the dead pony and examined the armor they had on. It appeared to be a light weight armor, but the design was also amazingly well made. The armor looked like if a pony wore it they could still perform outstanding acts of stealth as well as being ready to take the enemy head on. To somepony like me this armor was a work of art.

"That's some nice armor" Iria said above me, still standing on the floor. "Looks like it would fit you nicely as well"

I nod and begin to remove the armor from the body, careful with removing taking in each and every curve of the armor perfectly crafted to maximize it's stealth capabilities. The paint of the armor was a midnight blue, with silvery trim, even the paint was done so that somepony could easily sneak around. I chose to call it stealth armor as I began to put it on, the hoof parts of the armor were padded to silence a pony's movement but still allow for strong hits in hoof to hoof combat.

"This armor is amazing" I said as I crouched down, I was still visible, "It appears to be a non-magical stealth armor set. The armor is perfectly balanced for stealth without the need for magical enhancement."

I jump back to the ceiling with added agility from what I had before. The armor appeared to glide through the air as I jumped, it seems surprising that a pony would die while wearing this armor.

"Ready to go now that you have some armor?" Iria asks from the doorway looking both ways. "looks like the coast is clear"

___---POV return, Silver Aura---___

"This place is a maze, we go down one set of stairs and it's a dead end, maybe the maintenance tunnels have a way to Iria and Littlewings." I said as we ran into our 10th dead end

"Good idea, we're already next to the entrance almost" Cloudy Melody said nodding in the direction of the gear door just beyond the door behind us.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained" I said with a sigh as we walk over to the maintenance tunnels. On the other side of the door we find a stairway leading down. Going down we find a dead pony in the hallway, the body looked fresh, and in the saddlebags I could barely see what looked like a rainbow colored mane on a tiny pony. Opening the saddlebags I discover a Rainbow Dash Statuette with the inscription "Be Awesome" on it's base. Taking a hold of the figure with my magic I feel a warmth spread through my body, immediately I felt like I could move more swiftly and could feel my wings grow slightly stronger.

Further in the saddlebags I found 4 healing potions, a note, and a photo. Looking at the photo first I could see it was a picture of a young Rainbow Dash next to a smiling turtle on the back it said "Rainbow Dash and Tank". Looking at the note next it read:

=======================================================

Hey, I found this photo and thought you might want it. It appears to be of Rainbow Dash so it might be one of those "Relics of Rainbow Dash" you've been looking for. Not sure why you want them, unless it's for that Dashite who claimed he was making a museum. Anyway, I found it in northern ruins of Goldenwing City, north of New Memory City. Guessing from the names on this photo, Tank is the name of her pet.

=======================================================

The letter ended there without a signature. Judging from how young RD looked in the photo I would guess it was from when she got Tank.

"Maybe Iria knows." Cloudy Melody said walking up next to me."We should see how far we can get down here."

I nod and carefully put the statuette, letter, and photo into my saddlebags, giving half of the healing potions to Cloudy Melody and putting the other 2 into my own saddlebags. We start to walk further down the maintenance tunnels passing a single room in the featureless hallway. At the end of the tunnel we found ourselves at the bottom of the pit from before, a chunk of the alien thing embedded in the ground, it's doorway facing straight up and wires connecting it to another alien hallway.

Looking into the alien room we saw what would be best described as a greenhouse, or like a hydroponics bay of a boat. Sparks flew and the plants glowed in the room, it did not look safe to enter. As we watched several vines grew down to the bottom of the room just barely fast enough to be noticeable.

"We should find a way to disable this thing" I said as i started looking around carefully to see if the room had a shutoff.

"Good idea, umm, what about cutting the wire?" Cloudy Melody said pointing with her hoof.

I nod and using the Dash's Lightning I cut through the wire at it's weakest point, which turned out to be it's coupling point. The hydroponics room shut down with a bewooo like sound you would come to expect from high energy machines. Looking into the room again I noticed that aside from the glow being gone the plants seemed to be starting to wither already. Apparently the glow not only made them grow but was what kept the plants alive.

"Well, that's one problem solved" I said turning back to Cloudy Melody, who was standing sideways in the alien corridor, "and it looks like we got more crazy gravity to deal with."

"Yup, at least this way we should be able to find a way to Iria and Littlewings." Cloudy Melody said, "It's strange how the gravity seems to hold us to whatever direction looks to be the floor in these corridors."

I nod and move into the alien corridor, I feel the slant of the corridor only momentarily as the world turns on it's side when I get in.

___---POV change, Littlewings---___

We ran down the corridor as we were chased by these, Abominations. It doesn't seem right to even call them ponies anymore. The claws of the Abominations clack on the metal floor as they run after us. Iria shooting back at them as we enter another large room. This room had a large break in the middle bending it so the floor ran straight down as a cliff face.

The Abominations race in after us, at least 5 following. Iria manages to nail one in the right foreleg sending it slamming to the ground with the next step it took. We were standing at the edge of the room almost, looking up, technically down, I see a platform in the broken room that we might be able to jump to. Nudging Iria a point to the platform with my hoof and firing off 3 more lasers at the Abominations she grabs me and jumps, using her wings only to make sure we stay on target. We land with a thud on the raised platform in the warehouse room now on a sideways floor rather than upside down.

The Abominations leap after us but not being able to control themselves in the air they plummet past us, two of them slamming into the far wall with a gut-wrenching squelch sound. The other 2 that leaped landed on staircases leading to the floor managing not to die in their leaps. The last one was still on the ceiling-floor unable to get it's footing long enough to leap, it limped to the edge of the floor and falls right at us.

It was falling fast but I was faster with my spell paper I throw a fire spell at the Abomination, the paper exploding on contact sending the Abomination into a wall. Iria reloads having used up the Small Spark Cell for the Magical Energy Pistol and slotting in a new one, closing the battery compartment and firing several shots into the chest of the closest Abomination. The Abomination glows for a brief moment before turning to dust which mostly drifts down to the wall.

The last Abomination was back on it's hooves now and once again running toward us. Iria spins round and is about to fire on the Abomination but gets broadsided by the claws. She slides down the platform but manages to stay on slight scratches visible on her enclave armor. I throw another flame spell paper into the face of the final Abomination and run down to Iria.

"I'm fine, just a little shaken. This armor is well made despite what I was made to do while wearing it" She responded as the Abomination fell behind her to splat against the far wall with the other two.

"We should move before more of those... things find us." I said moving toward the stairs to get to the floor.

"They weren't so tough once we got them in here." She said as she follows me down the sideways stairs.

"Hey Iria? Why did you join the Enclave to begin with?" I ask as we walk to the door.

"My friend and I did everything together, even being in the Enclave military" She said, "I'm guessing by now my parents already were given permission to have another child. They'll have marked me as dead or a Dashite, and I'll gladly take the title of Dashite over going back to the Enclave."

"Permission to have another child?" I ask as we enter the corridor and follow the right hand path which leads to what appear to be windows with piles of rocks on the other side.

"In the Enclave parents can only have a certain number of foals. Some families are permitted more because of military status or rank." She said looking at the floor as we walk, I notice tears falling ahead of her. I reach out to give her a hug and smile at her.

"Don't cry Iria, I'm sure you'll see your parents again someday. That's more than can be said for me, mine are dead." I said still hugging her as we stood there.

She smiled back at me before saying "Thanks Littlewings, how do you deal with not being able to see your parents?"

"I... don't, not always. Sometimes I would just cry in a hiding place in the factory knowing that my mother was killed by the Slendermane when it took me. My father died trying to save the foals when I was too little to remember, and because of that my mother was too stricken with grief to even be able to name me." I said "I was called Littlewings by the bullies in town who weren't taken by the Slendermane, it would always leave just enough foals in the town to make sure he wouldn't run out. The bullies didn't know that I actually liked the name Littlewings, before they called me that I didn't have a name at all."

"You didn't deserve to lose your parents, you're a really kind pony" Iria said to me as she gave me a hug this time. "and you have friends now."

Her saying that caused me to smile. "We should move, I don't think standing here is going to help us find Silver Aura and Cloudy Melody." I said as I heard gunshots from ahead.

___---POV return, Silver Aura---___

Running along the corridor I aim back with the .32 Revolver and fire at the Abominations chasing us. managing to hit one in the eye and drop it as the bullet hits the brain. Cloudy Melody keeping the route ahead clear as we run past door after door, window after window. I didn't notice till I ran right into them that we had managed to find Littlewings and Iria, almost falling back down the corridor me and Iria manage to catch ourselves with our wings and Cloudy Melody catches Littlewings as she continues to run before sending a volley of bullets at the Abominations behind us.

The corridor was completely blocked by Abominations behind us and only the hole in the alien thing ahead of us. I turned around and drew my Assault Rifle firing off a few rounds into the doorway. Cloudy Melody joins me in covering the door with our rifles as Iria and Littlewings fully recover their senses from being knocked down. Iria regains her senses first and helps with dealing with the Abominations as she fires into the crowd of them, disintegrating several who soon get replaced by more.

Littlewings regains his senses as I shouted and glancing around he spotted a large crate just small enough to move down the Corridor. "There! If we can get that off the floor it should flatten the Abominations!" He shouts over the noise of our guns firing.

"On it" Cloudy Melody shouts back as she runs over to the crate and with slight difficulty lifts it so the floor no longer affects the crate. "MOVE, I CAN'T HOLD IT MUCH LONGER!"

We all dive to the side as the alien crate goes soaring past us and down the corridor leaving a trail of Abomination blood and guts. The crate left only the lower legs of them laying on the floor as what remained of the bodies lay strewn across the walls, ceiling, and floor.

"Thanks, I got the armor in another room, it's in that upside down portion of this place"Littlewings responds. "Why?"

"That's prototype stealth armor, designed to work without spells. It was one of The Vault's projects, it was meant to be a fail safe in case the experiment proved to be a failure." Cloudy Melody said leaving a surprised look on my face, "I found out about it during my time in the Stasis Chamber. The armor went missing during a test run about a month before Silver Aura entered The Vault."

I nodded having no idea what else to do in this situation. I glanced to the corridor and said "We better get going before more of those Abominations find us"

"Given how big this place is I wouldn't Doubt it." I said as I start moving toward the corridor and wait for them at the doorway.

The four of us begin to make our way back out of the vault and the weird alien place when Cloudy Melody whispers to me "You're getting pretty good with your spells, Silvie." her whispering causes me to blush a bit as her breath tickles my ear.

LEVEL UP
level 8
New perk: Heightened Senses: You are able to react faster in low-light or limited vision situations.

Fallout: Equestria, Forgotten Light

by SilverAura

Fallout: Equestria, Forgotten Light Ch7