//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - System Restart // Story: Fallout Equestria: Ctrl+Alt+Delete // by DreamsOfCheese //------------------------------// [WARNING: FOREIGN SUBSTANCE DETECTED] [NEURAL TRANSMITTERS ACTIVE] [AUTOMATIC FULL SYSTEM RESTART ENGAGED] [RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC...WARNING. 60% OF ALL SYSTEMS ARE OFFLINE. VERIFYING NECESSITIES...] [ALL VITAL SYSTEMS ONLINE] [SUBJECT STATUS: ONLINE] My eyes blinked open, and I found myself staring at a ceiling. Well, whatever I could make out of the ceiling, because it was pitch black in there. Somehow, though, I could see. It took me a minute, but I realized it was because my eyes were glowing yellow, and casting a bit of light. Just enough to see. That, however, presented another question: Why were my eyes glowing...? And where the hell was I?! I shot up from my lying position and looked around. Or, what I could to do so; It was still pitch black in there. I could only make out a few wooden boxes lying next to me. Man, if only I could see a little better... As if on cue, my eyes each cast more light than a lantern. I'm still not sure how I could see, given the fact that there were spotlights blaring directly from my irises. But, whatever. At that point in time, it was the least of my worries. Now that I got a proper look at the "room", it became apparent that this was less of an actual room and more of a broom closet with a large, steel door blocking the way out. There were large wooden boxes, most of which with fungus growing off of them, stacked on top of each other, with myself barely fitting in. The contents of the boxes were leaking out from all of the rot, but all it was was a bunch of scrap metal and...a tiny statuette of Applejack, founder of the Ministry of Wartime Technology, several-time rodeo winner, sibling to--I had consciously to stop myself. How did I know all of this? I didn't even know anything about myself. Wait a second... Holy shit, I didn't know anything about myself! I started to panic. I had to remember something, anything! Favorite color? Favorite book? My name?! I thought hard. I thought harder than I'd probably ever thought before. But, nope. And yet, I could accurately name the fungus growing on the wood and several facts about it. Come on, really?! As soon as I was done panicking, I became very, very frustrated. So, what does one do when they're frustrated? Why, punch a door of course! So, I punched the door. Totally normal behavior. In fact, the only thing that wasn't normal was that the door flew off its hinges, hit the opposite wall, and clattered to the floor. I sat there and stared at it for a moment. I mean, the little statuette said "Be Strong!" on it, but damn. I picked up the tiny cowgirl statue and held it in my mouth. Where else was I gonna put it? I stepped cautiously out of the closet, using my eye-lights to see. The place seemed to had at one point been a laboratory of some sort. There were tables full of tools and unfinished trinkets, as if somepony was forced to leave them in a hurry. Also notable was the fact there were actual vines growing up out of the place, breaching the walls and floor, some of which being at least a few feet in diameter and covered with spikes. These vines, of course, were called plunderweed, and are native to a remote region of Equestria called-- Okay, I had to stop doing that. On my way through the building, I found several more metal doors, all of which I could somehow break down by hitting it. I found out that full-on bucking it with both back-legs could send it into the opposite wall with so much force that it stuck there. As cool as that was, all I found was lots and lots of scrap metal, and a few other things here and there. And then, I hit the jackpot. Behind a door, I found the remnants of uniforms and scientific equipment. Without hesitating, I put on some scientific barding (which, by the way, probably offered no defense to whatever was out there. I just thought it looked cool.) and a pair of saddlebags. I carefully put the small statuette into it. Now, perhaps I'd hit the metaphorical jackpot, but that didn't change the fact that I was frustrated as hell. Why couldn't I remember anything except utterly useless facts? How did I get here in the first place? I felt like screaming again. And, I probably would have, if not for the fact I was interrupted by a smooth, robotic-sounding voice in my ear on my way out of the room. [Systems 50 through 120 successfully rebooted. Learning Entity Operated Neurally and Radiation Drive is now online]. The voice scared the shit out of me. I yelled something unintelligible and impulsively bucked whatever was behind me. Which was thin air, so naturally my incredibly agile self fell to the floor. I scrambled back up and looked around. Nothing. "W-who's there?" [Unknown; Eyes-Forward Sparkle and facial recognition systems are currently damaged and offline.] There it was again! I whirled around to face whoever's voice that was. Again, nothing. "Come out! I-I'm warning you!" I spent the next five minutes or so looking like a complete dumbass, spinning around to try and find someone who wasn't there, knocking boxes over, tripping and falling several times. Every time I tried to communicate with the unknown entity, I'd get an answer that didn't help whatsoever; either stating something blatantly obvious or saying something about systems. Eventually, I stopped crashing into things, and tool a deep breath. "Alright," I breathed. "Who is the voice telling me about systems?" Almost instantly, I received an "answer".[Heads Up Display is currently damaged and offline. Files cannot be displayed at this time. To resolve this issue, all files will be played audibly. Accessing file on "Learning Entity Operated Neurally and Radiation Drive"...] "What? No, I don't understand what you--" Instead of the robotic voice, I received one that sounded oddly...familiar. "The Learning Entity Operated Neurally and Radiation Drive, or LEONaRD, is your personal auditory assistant to the Heads Up Display. If you are doing something particularly strenuous and cannot read at the moment, this voice or brainwave-activated auditory interface will help you out! Need a companion to talk to? Go find some friends, loser!" The recording shut off. All I got out of it was that this "LEONaRD" was a voice in my head I could ask questions. And it's..."Operated Neurally"? What does that even mean..? [Neural Operation refers to controlling a system or object via the use of brainwaves.] ...Great. Now there was a creepy robot spying on my thoughts. And that voice from the other file...it sounded so oddly familiar. I just couldn't place my hoof on it. But, it didn't really matter. There's a fucking robot in my head. Now have even MORE questions. But, wait...isn't that the voice's job..? "Hmm...Hey, LEONaRD. Who am I?" I asked out loud. [I'm sorry, but the file you requested is deleted or missing.] Damn it. Well, worth a shot. It didn't seem like this voice was leaving, so I concluded it was best not to try and do anything about it. I sighed and got up off the box I was sitting. The MOMENT I left the room, that stupid voice played again in my ear: [Location confirmed as Ministry of Wartime Technology, Canterlot, Equestria. Map available.] "Would you shut--wait, a map? There's a map?" [Accessing map of Ministry of Technology, Canterlot, Equestria...HUD is damaged and offline; map cannot be displayed. Would you like to activate acoustic waypointing?] Ooh, ooh! I knew what that meant somehow! "Yes! Waypoint an exit!" A low beeping began playing in my ear. I turned towards one of the hallways branching off, and the beeping got a bit higher and faster. I went down that hallway, and repeated the process whenever I came across another intersection. With this new function, it didn't take long to find the lobby, a pair of double doors marked "EXIT" just behind it. The beeping was so high and fast at this point it was starting to hurt my head, so I turned it off with my thoughts. Man, that's cool. I began towards the lobby, and stopped in my tracks. There, in the middle of the floor, was a dead pony. A long dead pony. It was a mare; her body already halfway through decomposing. She was wearing the remnants of a radiation suit, and it smelled absolutely disgusting. I couldn't tell what had killed her. Her flesh, or what was left of it, was warped and badly lacerated in multiple places. That poor pony... Looking again, I noticed she had a few things on her. I mean, it's not like she would need them anymore. I opened up her saddlebag and found a canteen, now devoid of water. If I found some, it would come in handy. Immediately after slipping it into my saddlebag, I heard LEONaRD's voice: [Empty Canteen added to inventory.] Please tell me it isn't going to do this every time I add something to my saddlebags... Unfortunately, my prayers were unmet. Every time I added an item to my inventory, LEONaRD restated exactly what it was. I mean, sure, I could see the practicality in that. But it was annoying as hell. But, I digress once again. After rooting through the victim's belongings, I found a few things. An extra gas mask, some packaged food, a lighter, and...a pistol. When I added it to my inventory, LEONaRD said: [Beretta 92FS added to inventory. Remaining ammunition: 9 out of 15 10mm bullets.] Well, that would have been useful if I wasn't an earth pony. I mean, sure, I could hold it in my mouth. But why bother? By the time I figured out how to pull the trigger I'd already be dead. Wait...who am I expecting to shoot? The thought hit me so hard I almost stumbled. This entire time, I'd been so unnecessarily uneasy. Like I was about to get into a fight. Why did I just...know I was going to fight somepony? It's like it was buried in my subconscious: Kill or be killed, because everypony you meet is a psychopath. As disturbing as this thought was, I brushed it aside. I mean, surely there was no cause for any undue alarm? I mean, it's not like I could remember anything. There was no reason to be this cautious, right? I looked back down at the mutilated carcass and decided to take the gun, just in case. 00110000 00110000 00110000 Canterlot was, in a word, a complete dump. It didn't even look like anything was toppled over or blown up, just...empty. It was almost as if the megaspells dropped on Canterlot were somehow different than the other, horribly destructive ones that turned Equestria into the virtually uninhabitable wasteland it was. Those Zebras may have been complete genocidal bastards, but they sure as hell knew how to make magic weapons. And furthermore, what was this pink stuff? It seemed like there was always a constant, diluted presence of it hanging around in midair, but in some places...there were just thick, suffocating clouds of pink fog. The most puzzling part was that it didn't seem to DO anything. I assumed this was something called "Pink Cloud" (again, totally necessary knowledge I didn't know I possessed), and from what I could remember, it was supposed to be deadly. But, no. I walked through several thick clouds of it and didn't even cough. Who knew? Maybe it had an expiration date. Nevertheless, I still felt uneasy. Why did everything have to be so damn quiet? The only sounds that were present were the occasionally breeze of wind or creak of a slightly-opened door. Oh, and the demonic moaning of that zombie-looking creature from Tartarus. What. In the actual fuck. Is that. A shambling corpse limped towards me. Its flesh was deteriorating and its mouth was hanging open, producing the most unholy sounds I'd probably ever heard. That wasn't even the most unsettling part; that award, by far, goes to the fact that its eyes were glowing with pink fire and a constant stream of thick pink smoke billowed out from its gaping maw. In response to my question, LEONaRD piped in: [Subject cannot be identified; insufficient information in memory banks. Seek a terminal to update memory banks.] That helps... I reached back into my saddlebag and took out the gun. Thank goodness I could actually get a chance to learn how to fire this thing; that creature walked at the speed of a slightly-faster-than-average tortoise. Did I mention I'm really good at using metaphors? Anyway, I put the gun in my mouth. And, there was no way to aim with this thing; the only angle I could hold it at made the sights totally useless. How was I even supposed to fire this thing, my tongue? There's gotta be a better way to do this... [Confirmed. Short Range Telekinetic Grappling system is fully functional and online. Engaging SRTG...] The gun inexplicably floated out of my mouth and hovered there in front of me. Confused, I poked it, shifting it slightly to the left. After a bit of "experimentation" I drew the conclusion that if it's got anything to do with LEONaRD, I should be able to control it with my mind, right? Hmm...go right? Sure enough, the pistol shifted to the right. Okay, that is really cool. Oh, right, the horrible zombie-thing. I aimed down sights and fired off a shot--missing completely. Obviously, I was a little rusty. Or, more likely, I was never good in the first place. It took me another two shots to actually hit it. The shot went right through its skull, to which it toppled over, pretty much disintegrated into dust, and released a huge cloud of pink mist which proceeded to condense around me and do absolutely nothing. As cool as the SRTG was, I was wasting ammunition; I needed to find something I could smack stuff with. Luckily, there was no shortage of stuff to loot. I trotted over to one of the houses. It seemed to be made out of weathered cobblestone, and looked castle-like in appearance. Any component that had been made of wood had rotted away completely. I walked through the doorway (the door itself was long gone), and the smell of rotting flesh hit me like a slap to the face. There were corpses, everywhere. I felt like gagging, the smell was so bad. I held my nose and picked my way though a group of them, and noticed they all had two things in common. They looked fresh, but looked like someone dumped acid all over them. That, and they all had expressions on their face as if they were being burned alive; their eyes rolled back in their head, their mouths hanging open in a permanent, agonizing scream. On the bright side, they all had backpacks full of supplies. One of them even had a crowbar. A big one. I mean, the thing was probably as large as they come. Perfect for smacking zombies around. The problem was...call me a wimp, but I didn't want to get near those bodies. They were disgusting, smelly, and above all...unsettling. It didn't feel right, and overall made me nauseous. Not to mention the fact that all of their bags were soaking with blood. I made the decision that there was no way in Tartarus I would touch those backpacks, but...I needed that crowbar. I stood there staring at it for a good five minutes, until a lightbulb went off in my head. I engaged my SRTG, and sure enough, the crowbar unhooked itself from her backpack, and floated back over to me. I snatched it out of the air, feeling ever-so-proud of myself, and strapped it onto the back of my cool science-y barding for easy access. I then proceeded to get the hell out of there. Yes, I should've looted the rest of their bags, but...I just didn't have the stomach. 00110000 00110000 00110000 After trekking through the deserted streets of Canterlot for another few hours, I learned a few things. For one thing, apparently, crowbars are VERY good for smacking demon ponies around. For another, Canterlot was HUGE. Weird, it seemed much smaller in the image I had floating around in my memory...which brings me to the third thing I learned. About three and a half hours in, I decided it wise to take a break and rest, when I realized that I wasn't tired. Or thirsty or hungry for that matter. I'd been walking around, non-stop, smacking zombies around, without a break for food or water or just plain rest. And I felt fine. No, I felt better than fine. I felt great. That probably wasn't normal, right? I'm not exactly an expert on the subject. Finally, after six full, tireless hours of walking and smacking, I reached a dirt road that took me out of Canterlot and alongside some train tracks. After yet another two hours, I saw something amazing: More ponies! Finally! The dirt road had taken me down the mountain and through a few fields and forests. Now, I stood at what seemed to be an intersection, where the dirt road crossed the train tracks. Standing in front of the intersection were two male earth ponies leaning on assault rifles. I could also make out a few more ponies around this part of the track. At the intersection, a few makeshift wooden booths had been made, and around the general area of the intersection, there were tents scattered around on either side. On a normal day, I wouldn't have even considered trying to get through, much less walk up and talk it out. But alas, my head was scrambled, I was extremely confused, and I was just grateful to see an actual pony who wasn't dead. So, like a dolt, I trotted right up to the guards. "Uhm, hello?" This was met by two rather welcoming assault rifles pointed at my face. One of them spoke, but I didn't register it because of how horrible they both looked. Not only were they both malnourished, but the one on the left was covered in scars (some of which were open and a sickening red color). He had a greasy mane, matted fur, and ripped-up barding. His cutie mark was an alarm clock. The one on the right somehow looked even worse. He was noticeably younger than the left one, and was malnourished to the point of his ribs showing. Like "Alarm Clock", his fur was matted; except in his case, it was matted to a point of being one solid mass, and half-red with clumps hanging off as if he was mauled. I was unsure at first glance, but up close I could see that he had a cutie mark depicting a potted plant. "Hey!" the left one barked in my face, snapping me out of my thoughts. He had an intense look in his eyes, as if he was looking for an excuse to shoot me right then and there. "I'll tell you only one more time! The price for passing into Ponyville is 50 bottle caps!" Wait, really? No. That's gotta be slang for something. "Bottle caps?" I asked. "Like, as in, literal bottle caps from...bottles?" "What are you, some kind of retard?" Well, to be fair, I didn't really know that. "Ummm....no?" I answered. "Just a bit new around here." They exchanged glances. The right guard, who spoke in a diminutive and broken-sounding voice alike to his appearance, cocked his gun. "Either give us the caps or we'll cap YOU," he threatened. "I mean it." Well, I definitely didn't have any bottle caps. I backed up slowly. "I'll just...leave now." I turned around and trotted up the road until I'd broke their line of sight. I weighed my options: It was either wander aimlessly for another few hours or sneak by. And, I wasn't sure about the latter. I mean, I'd just woken up, I was still disoriented, and I had no idea how many other hidden functions LEONaRD had available. Think one wrong thing, and I might activate something that gave my position away... But, in the end, I decided to try a different route. There was no point in getting myself caught, and the chances were too great that I'd get caught. Surely, there was another way through to Ponyville. ...Right? [Confirmed. Calculating alternate route through Everfree Forest...] After listening to the audio file on the "Everfree Forest", I decided it would be safer to sneak through. At least, less painful. I headed back down the path, sticking to the bushes and foliage along the side. Those two guards were still there, but it looked as if something had happened in the 20 or so minutes I had gone. On the other side of the track, I could see a group of 3 griffon guards (one male, two females), ganging up on what looked like someone trying to pass from the other side. They looked like they were in a heated argument. Maybe that's my diversion...I'll let this play out for a few minutes. But when I looked closer, I realized with a start that the pony coming from the other side was a filly at best. She had a jacket, snow pants (?), her head and face was wrapped in a scarf. She wasn't arguing anymore; the three guards were yelling at her and pointing weapons. She slowly backed off a few meters, and started crying in the middle of the path. From this distance, I couldn't tell what they were yelling at her for. However, one thing they said stuck out to me in particular during a short silence. While the filly just wept on the trail, I heard the middle griffon (a large male with a rifle and sword strapped to his back) say something in Griffish, or whatever native language griffons speak. Is it Griffish? I'm calling it Griffish. It doesn't matter what language it was, because as it was being said, LEONaRD translated it into my ear. [Translation availible]:"Just fucking shoot her. We don't have time for this." What?! I don't know what I was thinking when a moment later I ran along the side of the elevation I was hiding on. I didn't exactly think out what would happen next, when I jumped down said elevation and landed between the filly and the guards. I mean, what did I think would happen? It was a blur; one moment I was watching it happen, I realized I couldn't let that happen, and next minute I was the only thing standing between her and a hail of gunfire. What happened next is exactly what you'd expect. After a brief moment of confusion, I squeezed my eyes shut as the other two griffons each unloaded an entire SMG clip right into my chest. [WARNING: Hostile activity detected. Shots taken; armor integrity holding.] And then, nothing. No pain, no sound...was I dead? I cautiously opened one eye. What I saw made them fly open. I was still in the same place. All three griffons, along with everyone else in the camp who came to investigate the gunfire, were looking at me with their jaws hanging open. I looked down; only a few shots had even penetrated my fur, and they didn't hurt at all. The ground around my forehooves was littered with the remains bullets that had just bounced right off or shattered. I didn't know what the hell was going on, so I just went with it. There was a filly hiding behind me and I was apparently immune to guns, I couldn't let her down. I put on my best intimidation face. Apparently LEONaRD realized I was trying to be scary-looking. My eyes started glowing red as appose to yellow. Just then something hit me. Somehow, I knew what to say. One word, three letters. A word that has so much power when said at the right time. I'd said it before, I could feel it. It was time for a reprise. I spoke in a metallic, tripled and much deeper voice: "Run." 00110000 00110000 00110000 "In here! In here!" The filly pulled me by a hoof into her 'home', which was more or less the decaying remains of an old house, near the outskirts of Ponyville. Inside was...interesting to say the least. First of all, there was junk everywhere. Old tables, lamps, and decorations, all put together to form a living area. The filly, whose name was Light Breeze, skipped into the room and began to hastily re-adjust cracked wall portraits and put up vases with dead flowers, as if to make a good first impression on her visitor. It wasn't necessary, because this was probably the most well-intact structure I'd seen so far. One thing that really put me off was the fact that there were actual, new-looking lightbulbs screwed into sockets (although none of them were actually on). Near as I could tell, there wasn't any power anywhere else in the ruins. "Nice place," I commented. "But...these lightbulbs are new. Do you have power?" Breeze turned around, pulling up her headscarf a bit. "Yep! I mean, nope. I mean, I did until this morning, when my power just stopped working...I bet it's the spark plug." I cocked my head. "Um...I don't think spark plugs are used in anything but vehicles--" Breeze cut me off by making a raspberry noise. "Yeah, huh! And now that the stupid spark plug is broken, I need a grown-up to fix it...that's why I went to those mean ponies by the train tracks! They wouldn't help me. But I know you will! Right?" She gave me those Luna-damned puppy eyes. I sighed. "Fine. What do you want--" She cut me off by tackling my neck with a hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! It's down here!" Before I could even react, Breeze darted down a flight of stairs into her basement so quickly that her scarf flew right off her face. I picked it up and went down after her. "Hey, you dropped your scarf up...there." She was looking at me with an expression I can only describe as shame. Her face was half-decayed, like those zombies I'd seen earlier. Unlike them, however, her eyes weren't glowing pink. They just...shined with life. Right now, they also shined with tears. "I...I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I didn't m-mean to!" Goddesses, she was a mess. In seconds, Breeze had turned from happy, bouncing filly to a wailing child. I think this had to be the scariest thing I'd seen since leaving the Ministry of Wartime Technology. Not because she was scary, but because I legitimately didn't know what to do about it. Every other situation so far had some sort of immediate solution, but this... "What are you sorry for, Breeze?" I asked as gently as possible. Between sniffles, she answered, "B-because, I'm ugly, and I didn't want you to have to see it..." Okay, before I go any further, let me go on the record and say that compared to some of the other zombie ponies I'd seen, she was actually not bad-looking. I could tell that in life, she'd been a very pretty-looking filly. "You're not ugly," I assured her. "I promise, anypony who says otherwise is a doofus." Doofus? Did I really just say that? As silly as the insult may have been, it seemed to cheer her up a bit. "Really?" she sniffed. I nodded in affirmation. "Really." I'm not sure what it was with this pony, but she immediately snapped back to her bouncy old self. "Yay! I'm not ugly!" she bounded farther into the basement, forcing me to trot after her. I found her at the very back, jumping in place on top of a small, portable generator. "Fix it!" She squeaked. "Fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix--" I had to put my hoof on her mouth so she'd stop talking. "Alright! Geez." I couldn't help but laugh a bit. "It'd help if you got off the generator, c'mon." I knelt by the generator and shooed her away, only for her to hop up onto my back and watch intently over my shoulder. After inspecting for a few seconds, I heard LEONaRD in my head. [Analysis complete. Type II portable generator by Stable-Tec, electricity powered. Energy level: 0%.] "Well, there's your problem." "What?" Breeze piped in my ear. "Is it the spark plug?" "No, it's not the spark plug." I'd given up on telling her that spark plugs are used only in vehicles. "Your generator ran out of power. Which is odd, because these things are supposed to supply power for almost 200 yea--oh. Well, never mind. Unfortunately, without an external power supply to juice it up, I really can't do much." [External power supply available. Would you like to siphon electrical energy into machine "Stable-Tec 'Foreverator?'"] I didn't know what else to do but accept. Also, "foreverator?" Evidently, this "Stable-Tec" enjoyed cheesy nicknames for consumer products. When I accepted, I felt a weird sensation in my right hoof. Lifting it up, I was startled to find a wire with an odd adaptor at the end hanging from the middle of my hoof. What was even more disturbing was that I could move it around, like part of my body. I wiggled it in midair as a bit of a test. Breeze giggled in my ear. "Hee-hee! Is that a spark plug?" What was it with this filly and spark plugs? I noticed that on the generator, there was a port that seemed to match the end of the wire. I cautiously plugged it in, and instantly fainted. [Energy transfer complete. Rebooting all functional systems.] My eyes flew open and I shot straight up, gasping. Breeze a bewildered look on her face, which didn't even last ten seconds. She burst out laughing, rolling around on the floor. I stood up, rubbing my forehead. "What...what happened?" Between giggles, Breeze snickered something about my mane. Upon inspection, I found that it was sticking straight up. Well, I didn't look like a complete idiot at all. As soon as I got my hair situation sorted out, I turned back to Breeze. "How long was I out?" I asked, still brushing down static-y hairs. She finally calmed down, wiping tears from her eyes. "Only a few minutes. Tossed me right off your back!" I muttered an apology and walked over to the generator. Sure enough: fully charged. I activated it with the big red button on the console, and all of the lights and ventilation systems came back on. Needless to say, it was a welcome sight after trekking through the wasteland for hours on end. To say Breeze was happy would be an enormous understatement. She cheered and bounced all over the place like a foal on Hearth's Warming Day. "Wheeee! You fixed it! You fixed the meanie spark plug! Yaaaay!" This continued for a few minutes, and I couldn't help but smile. It felt good to do something for somepony, especially without the expectation of reward. It made me feel proud of myself. Perhaps my first interaction with other ponies wasn't exactly the most friendly, but I felt as though I'd redeemed myself. Hell, you could get away with murder and feel redeemed if you made this filly as happy as I did. But, of course, I wouldn't have to worry about that. There's no way I'd ever end a pony's life. "Well, you're welcome." I said. She beamed up at me, still bouncing. "But, unfortunately, I can't stay here. Those bad ponies will come looking for me, and they might find me and hurt you in the process." She stopped bouncing, and looked at the ground sadly. "Awww..." I was about to go over to comfort her, but suddenly she sprang up as if she had a brilliant idea. She scampered upstairs before I could start my sentence. By the time I'd caught up with her, she was in a room that was down a water-stained hallway, at the very end. Probably her bedroom at one point, as there was a bed shoved in the back-left of the room. It had torn covers and a deteriorated mattress, but I doubted that bothered her. The rest of the room was filled with junk, seemingly just things she'd found laying around. She was picking things out of it and putting them in a small pile by the door. A few bullets, some canned food, bandages, antibiotics, a length of cable, and...holy shit, was that a land mine? I found myself backing away from the mine. "Where'd you get all this stuff?" I asked uneasily. "I found it!" she answered proudly, throwing her hoof in a sweeping motion across the room. "And there's some stuff in here I thought you might like, so here you go!" She added a large metal hook and a small photograph to the pile. After LEONaRD verified that the mine was disarmed, I went over to the pile, and floated everything in front of me using the SRTG. Was she really just going to give me this stuff? All I did was plugged something in and fainted. "Wow, really?" "Uh-huh!" She chirped. "See the photograph? That's me before my face changed! I want you to keep it, so you always have me with you!" Okay, wow, that was really sweet. There I was, NO idea who the hell I am, standing in front of a zombie-filly who suddenly thinks I'm the greatest pony alive. Why did she think so highly of me? Whatever the case, I put it all into my saddlebags, where it barely fit. To make more room I loaded the three bullets into my pistol, attached the cable to the side of my bag, and tucked the photograph directly into the pocket of my barding. "Thank you...really, thank you." I couldn't really find the right words, but I felt a strange combination of grateful and sad. She'd given me this stuff to help me along my journey, and even something to remember her by. But I was just leaving her here, alone. I briefly considered taking her with me, but that wouldn't do. If there was anypony else like those we saw at the traintracks, I couldn't promise I'd protect her. And I still felt strangely uneasy... She beamed and gave me a big hug, which I could only return. After a few seconds, she released me and started doing that bouncing thing again. "Good luck! You'll come and see me again, right?" I turned to her and smiled. "Of course I will." I walked over to the door and waved back to her. "See you around!" "See ya! Thanks for fixing the spark plug!" Ugh. 00110000 00110000 00110000 It was a short walk to Ponyville. Breeze's tiny, run-down brick house just next to it; concealed by foliage near the overgrown forest that flanked the path leading into town. Upon entering Ponyville, the first thing I noticed was that Breeze's house looked like a five-star hotel by comparison to most houses. Unlike Canterlot, which was made mostly of stone, Ponyville was wood for the most part. Practically all that was left of the place were foundations and piles of rotting wood. A few houses were still barely standing, but not many. A majority of those who stood were made of bricks or stone. The streets were probably made of dirt at one point, but the poorly-maintainted streets and paths were now dried-up mud, with little sprouts and bits of yellow, sun-deprived grass sticking up here and there. All the while, LEONaRD played an audio file in my ear: "Ponyville was once the home of the six ministry mares: Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. They were situated at Sugarcube Corner, a cottage off the Everfree Forest, Golden Oak Library, Sweet Apple Acres, a cloud house towards the edge of town, and Carousel Boutique respectively." "At the beginning of the war, each mare was designated a Ministry: Ministry of Morale, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Arcane Sciences, Ministry of Wartime Technology, Ministry of Awesome, and the Ministry of Image respectively." 'Ministry of Wartime Technology?' Wasn't that where I woke up? The file switched. "The Ministry of Wartime Technology, or Ministry of Technology for short, was at the forefront of battle equipment manufacturing and general technological innovation for a majority of the war. Its founder, Applejack, was known before hand for representing the Element of Harmony 'Honesty'. She was known locally for running the town's most lucrative apple orchard, Sweet Apple Acres." "The Ministry of Wartime Technology, while not responsible for the creation of any Megaspells, was responsible for many other dangerous projects. Most notably, they created the armor donned by "Steel Rangers", an elite team of fighters in full-body power suits. These suits would not only offer protection, but possessed self-medicinal and life support systems. In addition, they were equipped with a plethora of heavy weapon systems, including grenade launchers and gattling guns. Following Applejack's death, the Steel Rangers all but fell apart." "The Ministry of Wartime Technology is also responsible for most of the guns and weapons in Equestria. Before the war started, the nation was in posession of very little firepower, most of which being either magical or incredibly primitive. The Ministry of Wartime Technology revolutionized weaponry as it is seen today." I passed the aforementioned Golden Oak Library; it was a huge treehouse, with balconies and windows sticking out here and there. The leaves were all yellow or gone entirely; Equestria's seemingly-infinite state of overcast hadn't done the foliage any favors. I would have gone in and taken a look, but I could barely make out shapes moving around through the windows. If those were ponies, then I decided that I would leave them be. My last interaction hadn't gone so well. "The Ministry of Wartime Technology was also involved in several experiments that caused controversy. These experiments included various biological weapons, magical firearms, and secret projects, the details of whom are unknown. Most notably of these projects is 'Project Paradigm'. There was very little known about this project, but what is certain is that several test subjects died in the process." Sounded like real nice guys... I stopped that thought process and entertained another. I DID wake up there...does that mean I could be one of them? Nah, couldn't be. I'd remember something like that, right? Oh, wait. I didn't remember anything. So, no. I didn't really have any proof or way to prove it. We're off to a great start. The sun was starting to go down. I figured that I wouldn't last five minutes out here at night, and those calculations were generous. I'd been walking for an obscenely long time; I didn't feel exhausted, but I was tired. If that makes any sense. I wanted to go to sleep, but I wasn't winded at all. I found "Sugar Cube Corner". That's the place where Pinkie Pie lived, right? It didn't matter; it was still standing somehow, and I didn't see anypony through the windows. Good enough for me. I opened the door, making extra-extra sure I closed it behind me. First thing I noticed? Couldn't see shit. I activated my eye lights in order to see, and what I found was...pretty much exactly what I expected from a place called "Sugar Cube Corner". Inside, you could tell that it had been a baker's shop of some sort. There was a counter, a large kitchen in close proximity, and the remains of mold-covered pastries that had all but rotted away still in the glass display cabinet. It smelled like an unsettling mix between pleasant and sickeningly awful. I could tell why ponies didn't come here often. I went behind the counter and explored the kitchen. Unlike the display cabinet, this part of the building had been completely cleaned out. There were empty utensil racks, dusty cupboards, and not a pot or pan to be seen. It wasn't necessarily an inconvenience for me, given the fact that I wasn't specifically looking for kitchen utensils, but I had hoped to find something to boil water in. When I ran out of water from what Breeze had given me, I would need to find my own. At the back of the kitchen, I found a flight of stairs going upward. They, like the rest of the building, were old and on the verge of collapse. I took a tentative step onto one and was rewarded a loud creak. As lightly as possible, I started climbing. LEONaRD was protesting at me about the integrity of the stairs the entire time as I carefully picked my way up. When I reached the top of the stairs, I was met with several doors. "All right," I muttered to myself. "Which of these can I sleep in?" LEONaRD answered my question with something totally irrelevant. [Terminal detected through middle door. Please connect to the terminal to update databanks.] He didn't have to tell me twice. If his memory updated, maybe I could find out something about myself! I half-sprinted through the middle door, and was met with a rectangular computer interface about the size and dimensions of an arcade machine. It had a large Stable-Tec logo on the side of it and was covered in pink stickers. I mean, they were probably pink, but after about 200 years they had deteriorated quite a bit. They were half-worn off and bleached a much whiter color. I found a port matching the one on Breeze's generator. Almost subconsciously, I summoned the wire out of my hoof. I hovered it in front of the port and hesitated. If I got knocked out here, and somepony came in, I'd be vulnerable... I considered bracing the door, but that would have been dumb, given the fact that there wasn't even a door there anymore. After a few minutes, I decided to risk it. If there was a chance I'd find something, anything about myself, I was willing to take it. I plugged myself in. I expected to black out like last time, but that wasn't the case. The wasteland around me disintegrated until all that was left was myself standing on nothing, in an empty black void, in front of the Terminal. The screen, that used to be dark, blinked to life. A loading meter appeared on-screen, which took about ten seconds to fill. The text above it read: Loading memory 00003... [***00110000 00110000 00110000***] The world crashed back into view, but I was somewhere else. The terminal had disappeared, and I seemed to be standing in a very new-looking laboratory. There were ponies dressed in lab coats, construction helmets and safety goggles walking around, some of which carrying files that read TOP SECRET. Some pushed carts full of incredibly-dangerous looking equipment. It took me a moment, but I also realized I had no control over my body. I tried to move, but couldn't. It was an extremely strange and unsettling feeling that gave me the chills. Somepony tapped me on the shoulder, to which "I" turned around without (a motion beyond my control). A young mare stood before me, dressed in a lab coat, glasses, and name badge identifying her as Thermite. "Sir? We've hit a bump in our research." Just that sentence earned Thermite a glare from "me" so powerful that she shrunk back. "I-I just got off the phone with the Ministry of Peace," she continued cautiously. "They...they say that they won't let us continue with Project Paradigm. Apparently they see it as...well, unnatural and wrong." Whoever I was growled in frustration and bucked a metal chair, hard. It clanged across the tile floor and hit a wall, startling other ponies that were milling about. Silence swept over the entire room, as everypony else stared at whatever maltempered asshole these eyes belonged to. "I don't care what those flower-picking idiots think!" Whoever I was barked, his obscenely loud (and somewhat familiar...) voice smashing the silence like a hammer. "You're going to continue this project, keep it secret, and double your rate of progress! If not, so help me I will feed all of you fuckwits to the failed subjects!" The young mare, trembling, nodded slowly and ran into another room, tripping over herself. The other ponies in the room were staring at "me" in a mixture of fear and anger. "Well?! Get back to work! And someone get me those files before the Ministry of Peace come poking around! If we don't--" [CRITICAL ERROR. CONNECTION TO TERMINAL INTERUPPTED; FORCING SYSTEM RESTART.] The world seemed to be yanked out from beneath me, filling my vision with a cold darkness. [***00110000 00110000 00110000 ***] I woke up with a start. I was detached from the terminal now, but something was clearly wrong. For one thing, I was lying on my face. I scrambled up and looked at my hoof, where the wire was. The end of the cord had been cut, with stray wires sparking from the end of it. I stood up, retracting the frayed cable into my hoof. Inspecting the dusty terminal, I found that other part of the cord was still in the port. Had somepony gotten in? I turned around to find two combat shotguns pointed directly at my head. Two of my assailants were unicorns. They were just as poorly groomed as the ponies I'd seen at the train tracks, but both pointing shotguns at me nonetheless. They stood on either side of a huge earth pony. Like, holy shit. I'd probably never seen a stallion this large. He was easily the size of one and a half me's. I noticed that one of the unicorns was still holding a machete in her mouth. That was most likely the cause of my rude awakening. All three were dressed in similar outfits. And by similar, I mean following the same basic theme: Thrown-together and made of junk. "Don't try to run." The huge one said, in an extremely deep voice. "You belong to us now. Give us your saddlebags and maybe we won't shoot you right here." I considered running. Now, I'd been shot before, and it did, well, nothing. But those were submachine guns firing into my chest at medium range. I had no idea what two combat shotguns at point-blank range would do to my face. What else would I do? I gave him the saddlebags. He tossed it over his massive back, and pulled a set of shackles out of his own bag. "You're a slave now, colt. If you'd like to tell us your name, now's a good time, because from now on you'll just be a number. One that is easily subtracted." I opened my mouth, then closed it. What was my name? That part had never really occurred to me. I tried hard to remember, but like every other attempt, it ended in vain. Maybe I could ask LEONaRD... "Today, rust bucket." Rust bucket? Well, never mind. I guessed I just had to pick something. Even if it was just a pseudonym of sorts. I took a breath, and put a hoof on my barding pocket. "My name is Spark Plug." 01001001 01010100 00100000 01001001 01010011 01001110 00100111 01010100 Footnote: Level Up. New perk: Armor Plating -- Bullet damage reduced by 15%.