//------------------------------// // Ch. 19: We Remember // Story: Merry Stewed: An Equestrian Fallout // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// "Well, stop remembering stuff!" ~Axel --- 'Spades' politely asks FRED-E to utilize his grappling hook to aid in opening the Strip's inner gate. He chirps a short pattern before doing just that. It's amazing what can happen when I simply ask, though that doesn't make the concept any less tedious. I lightly scratch at my armor just thinking about the absurdity. But I digress. After walking back into the Freewall area, FRED-E ponders something aloud. "Maybe, but the ponies of Freewall wouldn't recognize Forte." I use this form's magic to adjust my neckerchief. "I figure I might as well keep consistency in the attention that I'm getting." The sprite-bot beeps twice. "Yeah? You're weirder." I set out trotting down the street. Tilaso catches up after crawling out of his secret hole in the ground. I pass by the stallion calling out his shop's "top-of-the-line" inventory and follow his vague directions around the corner. Sure enough, there's a building with the giant words "Platinum Rush". For some reason, there is also a lit up outline of some silver mare wearing an impractically huge crown. What a mockery of royalty, thinks Mezzo. The place seems barren for some reason. It isn't unheard of to have a plain door. After all, that's all the Sparkling Buckler has to greet visitors. But for something that supposedly carries energy weapons, I would've assumed that they'd want at least one or two tough stallions to make sure no pony made off with the hard-to-replace goods. Hell, the Shores have a door pony and all they've got to protect is several Pop Idol impersonators. "Your Majesty?" I guess I'm standing still for too long. That little questioning address from Tilaso catches me off guard and I blink a couple times. I shake my head, but the uneasiness doesn't leave completely. "Tilaso," I say, "there's a slight chance we won't find what you want in here." "Oh, I know that," he insists. "After all, this is just a starting point with the highest likelihood in this area." "Right." I chuckle. "Of course you knew that." The door opens abruptly. Some pony is backing out of the place with a crate on his back. He is wearing some kind of armor with metal shoulder pads, but it doesn't look like any standard uniform of this kind of specialty store. I catch the tail-end of something he says to some other ponies inside. "... and whatever you do, don't sniff the plasma!" He turns around and halts his motion right as he sees us. I blink in bewilderment at the bizarre sight before me. Tilaso grabs my back left leg and shivers. FRED-E floats a bit closer to my head than with what I am comfortable. "What's up?" This voice comes from a pony exiting with her own box on her back. It's difficult to identify her features what with the baggy hood covering her eyes. Although, I think she's looking at my group due to the direction her muzzle is facing. The stallion in front clears his throat. "Uh, nothing to see here, folks. We're legitimately relocating this facility's inventory, or some other crap that sounds just as convincing." I raise my brow at that. "Are you... new to the whole concept of robbery? Because you're supposed to make it seem as inconspicuous as possible, or at the very least make a distraction that's bigger than the activity you're partaking in." His eyes open wide. "Wait, you actually listened to everything I said? Most ponies I've come across didn't give two bucks about what I said and assumed I was around for their benefit." I give a slight chuckle. "Sounds like what I've been going through the past few weeks." I clear my throat. "So what happened here? Did the guys in charge of this place decide to shoot you on good looks alone? And then you ended up clearing them out in self-defense?" "Sure, we'll go with that," he agrees with only slight hesitation. "The fact that we brought evidence to the N.C.R. that proved that they were involved in a caravan's destruction had absolutely nothing to do with it. What gave you that idea?" "Wow, I'm surprised the N.C.R. would care about something beyond 'Republic good; Empire bad'." I smirk. "Tell me about it." He shakes his head. "The guy I was talking to was convinced that it was Imperial work until I showed him the truth. Although, I think the word 'care' might be a little too strong for the bureaucrats up top to write in their dictionaries." "Are we done here?" Yet another voice emerges followed by a mare walking out of the Platinum Rush. This one has a crate in hoof and the outfit of a cowgirl, complete with a Stetson. Hold on... I think I've seen this one before. "Cast?" I say after giving her a double-take. "Who's asking?" She raises her brow, and looks ready to kill something. "You're the one that bought me an extra drink back in Outpost," I say while raising my hoof slightly in emphasis. She narrows her eyes. "I don't make a habit of paying for other ponies' drinks. Well, except for that one mare that claimed that she had somehow been shot point-blank and survi-" Her eyes go wide as she gives me a double-take. "That was you? Huh, I must have had harder whiskey than I thought. I could've sworn that you were a really tall pegasus when we first spoke to each other." "Eh heh, yeah..." I scratch the back of my neck. Wow, her memory is pretty good for a drunkard, comments Anew. "So, what are you doing around this neighborhood, Piani?" asks Cast. "Well, I was looking to see what the market had in energy weapons." I glance back at the nervous colt by my leg before looking back at the robbers. "But, it looks like some pony has already gotten to their clearance sale." "There was quite a bit that we couldn't fit into our packs," says the hooded mare. "I'm sure there's plenty you can scavenge that's still inside." "Harmonica!" exclaims the stallion. "I'm the only one who can say what loot we leave behind." "But who out here could possibly afford everything the Platinum Rush has to offer?" asks the alleged Harmonica. "Mac 'n' Tosh? They weren't exactly giving out discounts on their stuff. There's no way they'd be loose enough with their caps to take in our junk at full price." This gives the stallion pause. "Er... good point. Oh, fine." He turns back to my group. "Go ahead and look for stuff that we haven't already taken. But if there are malfunctions with the merchandise, take it up with the store's management. Though, you'll probably find that they're currently heavy sleepers." I roll my eyes. "You're the textbook definition of 'classy'." "Hey, I've already got two hitting on me," he retorts. "I don't need another." "Uh... dream on, bucko," mutters Harmonica the hood. "Not in a million years," adds Cast. "You see?" The stallion shrugs. I wave at them as they walk on their way. "Good luck out there. Thanks for not shooting me on sight. I appreciate it." "Yeah, yeah. Have fun picking up scraps." That's the last time I hear him speak before they leave. So, a large bulk of the Platinum Rush's merchandise is currently on the backsides of three trigger-happy thieves that have a strange appreciation for the justice system. I'm cool with that. At least I don't have to worry about being stingy under these circumstances. --- It's about what I expect in here. Walls are charred from various energy blasts. Bodies in unique uniform armor are tucked in some less than comfortable postures along spots on the floor. Hay, I even see a puddle composed of green goop and a couple piles of freshly charred ashes next to a toppled mannequin. The air could do with a bit less suffocating, though. I cough a couple times to try and make that last point. I decide to store 'Spades' away briefly, so I can breathe in here without trouble. As I watch my footing around the freshly burned ashes, we feel a little tingly. We can almost taste the radiation that we step across. But as quickly as the pleasurable feeling arrives, it fades. "Did... anypony else notice the air just loosen a bit in here?" wonders Tilaso. "Yeah, I'm a little disappointed." I want that feeling from before to last a little longer. "What was that, Your Majesty?" I shake my head. "Never mind. Let's see what we can find." As it turns out, there are a few plasma pistols and charges left on the shelves. I reload the ones that are currently in my holsters before bagging the rest. The colt picks open a few grenade canisters. His eyes shake in delight at his little discoveries. "Hey, FRED-E, would you mind floating down here?" he asks. It sounds like some things are getting shoved into the sprite-bot's slots. FRED-E takes exception to that by bleeping out as many complaints as he can. But I'm already trotting toward the back of the store. I try the door, but it rattles and stubbornly resists. Hmm... well, I'm not going to waste time picking through every corpse's pockets for one key. I turn around and balance on my front legs. Fortunately, the wooden door is much more cooperative than its metal lock. I hear some quick complaint via FRED-E's chirping. "I'm not bucking the door. I just kicked it in." His next couple of beeps sound ticked off. "Tell you what: Grow a few legs and then you can be The High Horse of Semantics." Though he keeps floating, he goes silent. With that argument taken care of, I head on through to the store's backroom. In the far corner, there are a couple loose wires with electrical sparks occasionally racing between them. Aside from some broken lockers, there isn't much to see here. I pick up a few stray caps on the ground as I slowly look around. There is a safe that's already open. How did that happen if the door was locked? Looking around a bit further, I see a small opening that goes back to the front room. There seem to be some loose hairs against both the top and the bottom of the opening. Did that stallion from earlier really squeeze through this tiny hole? Cadenza... but that isn't even close to the lengths I've seen some ponies go to get supplies. I look back at the safe again. It's mostly empty, save for a small round object on the bottom. I trot over and lift the back of the safe. It's a bit heavy, but my lift is enough to give gravity a chance to roll the object out. I set the safe down and grab hold of the sphere. Balanced on top of my hoof, it seems like a marble paperweight. And yet... "Are you okay, Princess Forte?" Tilaso wanders in. "You've been standing back here for a while. Did you find something interesting?" "I suppose," I say while slowly turning around. "I'm not sure what it is." Tilaso trots a little closer and his head rises in fascination. "Oh, wait, I think I've heard about those. What you've got there is one of several magically powered storage units. They call it a 'memory orb'." " 'Memory orb'?" I echo. "What is that?" "Just before the war, ponies started looking into storing their personal experiences for future reference," explains Tilaso. "But instead of just writing down something or speaking into a recorder, they magically attached pieces of their actual memories into them. If they ever wanted to go back and remember something, they just needed to focus a little magic into it and they'd see the entire memory." "Magic, huh?" Something bothers me, though. "How did you know about this?" "There were a few locked away in the correctional facility," he admits. "I think they were using it to verify details about certain cases a long time ago. But most of them were busted and unusable by the time I ended up there." "I see." I set the orb down on a slightly uneven board that can prevent it from rolling anywhere. After that, I take on Spade's form. "What are you doing?" wonders Tilaso. "I'm going to test this one." I say while reaching out slightly with my levitation magic. "Cover me, please." "Y-Yes, Your Highness." Tilaso gives a nod and faces the open door. FRED-E agrees with two quick beeps. After that, the room seems to melt away. ~~~ Darkness surrounds the stones that in turn surround me. It feels like there is tight metal clamped on all of my legs. I try to open my eyes, say something, and move anything. Nothing responds the way I want. Instead, my eyes slowly blink of their own accord. Whose memory is this? "It's dinner time, Mrs. Wind Shield." What? Who's there? I try to say that, but my mouth still doesn't respond. Actually, it barely holds back a little bile. Now that I think about it, that voice sounds vaguely familiar. A door opens several feet in front of me. But the face of the pony entering... no. That can't be right. It's... "Mansion," my mouth mutters with a tone of disgust. But I wasn't even trying to say it like that. "Good evening, Madam," says the pony with a face that looks exactly like the photo face on the Heat 33's boss screen. "I trust you are enjoying your time here as ever." "Eat a brick, Mansion." My mouth continues to talk without my consent. I finally notice that it doesn't sound like either of my voices. "Oh, I've tried that, believe me," says Retro Mansion sarcastically. "But that is neither here nor there." He turns his head toward the distant opening. "Come along! We haven't got all night." I hear somepony else grunting, while dragging something. After a few more seconds, I see a filly struggling to pull in a cart with cinderblocks where its wheels should be. She's sweating like crazy. But, I'm a bit more distracted by her exact coloration. "Is there no depth you won't sink to?!" my 'host' exclaims. "On the contrary, Mrs. Shield." Mansion takes out a cloth and rubs his glasses. "I have heights that I have yet to reach." "Leave my daughter out of your twisted dreams, you sicko!" I feel this body pull harder against her bindings, yet even the powers coursing through her adrenaline aren't budging her from this spot on the wall. "Surely you haven't already forgotten." Mansion gently places his glasses back. "Those chains are equipped with several ice and fire resistant enchantments. Your struggling is a futile waste of your energy. Best to just conserve it." He picks up a couple items from the cart and pours a glass. "Pinot Noir?" My 'host' simply squints and growls. "Suit yourself." Mansion shrugs as he swishes his glass around and barely sips it. He reaches down and shoves the pony's alleged daughter down against the floor. "You mustn't let yourself feel so entitled, Mrs. Shield. Otherwise, you'll lose the insignificant assets that you place so much blind faith in." The muscles in all of this pony's legs tense up. "If you don't let Songbird go right now, I swear I'll-" "Kill me?" interrupts Mansion. "Buck me? Torture me in recompense? This is why I called you a savage when we first met. Now, your true self is coming to the surface, and look how it's getting you absolutely nowhere." I hear whimpering coming from the child. But... I'm pretty sure I've heard that voice before... and it sounds like one of my voices. Before I can ponder about that further, part of the ceiling crashes down in front of me. I see a broad sword spin around and cleave Mansion right out the door. A vertical cleave severs the chains on the filly. Next thing I know, I'm feeling a strong current of... an amazing emotion coming from this intruder. It's enough for my host to pull herself away from the wall and break her bindings. "Sorry I'm late, Wind," apologizes the figure. "It's okay, Frost Quote," my host insists. "Let's just get out of here." Mansion hobbles back into the doorway. "N-N-Neither of you are going to be l-leaving." Next thing I see is a small blur. The alleged Songbird grabs the knife from the mockery platter. She scampers over, stabs Mansion in the neck, and kicks him back out the door. "Come on, Mama! Papa! Let's go." My host rapidly shakes her head to relieve her stupor. "Uh, right. Let's do that." The three of us gallop out of that crazy stone room without another word. There are a few robot prototypes marching around that try to charge at us. But my host concentrates enough of her frost magic to stall one, Frost swings his sword to crush another, and Songbird comically trips the third to slam into the frozen one, breaking them both. Eventually, however, we run across the hall to a slight problem. "Crap, elevator's jammed, and my wings are too busted up to go back and try flying up to Frost's grand entrance." "I've got this." Songbird trots over to the keypad and taps it eight times in specific places. The elevator door opens up almost immediately. "How'd you know that would work?" asks Frost for both of us. The filly turns her head to us and looks serious. "That stallion was so fixated on me that my name became the key." ~~~ The scene changes to something else. It feels more like I am in a bed this time. Though for whatever reason, I don't feel comfortable at all. In fact, it hurts to breathe. The annoying, steady beeping noise isn't helping. "No, Wind!" cries the changeling from before. He grabs my host's hoof. "You promised you'd stay with me forever!" "I'll..." I feel painful coughs escaping my throat. "I'll find a way... to fight out of Tartarus... to come back to you..." More coughs. "But I need you to do something in the meantime." "What?" "Take the gem from... my horn... and keep it somewhere safe..." Another cough erupts. "It has a few of... the heavy memories intact. You... and other ponies of your choice... need to be able to see... what I saw... back there." Frost Quote's hooves are shaking against this pony's. It feels like he's shaking mine. Yet, he nods anyway. "Please, take care of Songbird... for both of us." Beep. Beep. "I love you... Frosty..." Everything fades from sight as the annoying beeping dims to an unrecognizable, distant sound. ~~~ I gasp for a breath as my hooves double-back along the floor. I drop my guise, allowing myself to regain a hold of myself. My motor functions have returned in full. Suddenly, more images flash through my mind at once. I grab my head under both my front hooves, but the migraine isn't leaving. Uh... Forte? whimpers Anew. I'm scared. What is... happening? Mezzo asks with hesitation. Forte. That is... my name... and yet... it only feels partially right. Pages of yet another life flip through my mind's eye before I can comprehend what I'm thinking... what I'm remembering. In that orb, only a few things were revealed, yet the floodgates to what I know deep down are only just now opening in full. I pick up the orb by hoof and shove it into a bag. Before anything else happens, I must take care of one thing: Eliminate Mr. Mansion from the picture. --- Tilaso and FRED-E say a few words, probably warning me about my appearance. They are right, of course. But I don't care. I have something I have to do... and it's sitting in the heart of the New Pegasus Strip. "Hey, we're back from..." Stratus's voice stops short just behind me. "What's gotten into her?" "I don't know," answers Tilaso. "We were exploring the remains of the Platinum Rush. She found a memory orb and told me and the bot to cover the entrance. Next thing I know, she's taking a brisk stroll up the streets." "Hmph," grumbles Baane. "Why do I get the feeling that she's about to get us into some real *ess*?" Their words are convincing. But my hoofsteps do not falter. I open the door to Mansion's casino and march for the doors. I don't like where this is going, comments Mezzo. Me either, adds Anew. Wait, weren't you the one that didn't give a feather about what happened to that Mansion fellow? Yes, which is why I'm even more anxious that Forte is the one following through with my idea. You think she saw something that we didn't in that memory? Just... close your mind's eye, you stupid slut. Even you aren't dirty enough to witness this and not get scarred. Monarch... you're starting to scare me... and I mean more than usual. Me too, Nuisance. Me too. There's a keypad that prevents standard gamblers and drunkards from going to a floor other than the top floor. But it feels like I just saw those numbers less than an hour ago. It may have been Wind Shield's memory as she was watching a filly perform the action, but I knew... it was me. I punch that code in for the second time in my life. 7 6 6 4 2 4 7 3 A small "Approved" blinks in the tiny display before the elevator opens. I march onward. "What the hell is going on, Pianissimo?" asks Baane. I slowly curl my lip upward slightly, borrowing Baane's split-second smile. "You once wished that Mr. Mansion would give up the struggle and give the N.C.R. an easier time taking over the Strip. Well, I'm going to fulfill it." They all look confused. Stratus is the only one to voice it as, "What's that supposed to me-" The elevator door closes before she can finish. I feel the elevator going down instead of up. Perhaps I am sinking to the depths of Tartarus. It's fitting, considering how far I am from being a saint. I'm interrupted from my contemplation by chirping. Somehow, FRED-E managed to sneak aboard next to me. "What?" I look at him. "Are you going to waste both of our times to tell me this is a bad idea?" He lets out a few low beeps, followed immediately by some string of high and low chirps. "Oh... Well... 'Okay' isn't exactly the word for it. It's more like... aggressively relieved, maybe?" He beeps a different pattern. I chuckle lightly. "No, I don't suppose you could compute that." The elevator door opens to Mansion's allegedly impenetrable fortress. I took a look around before stepping out. I inhale deeply. "Laas... Yah Nir." One life's aura appears to be lying down like a corpse inside the metal pod at the far end of this basement. I exhale, pull out my dagger, and prepare to turn that pod into a coffin. "Hello, Mr. Mansion. Would you like to hear me sing?" --- ~A unicorn sniper and a rogue pegasus An earth pony outlaw and a robotic fuss Who'd have thought all it took to unite Was a little birdie taking flight?~ With Mr. Mansion's voice completely disconnected from the networks, all of his mighty securitrons were left without orders. This left the gist of the Strip unguarded. New Pegasus had a couple weeks of anarchy, until the New Canterlot Republic managed to swoop in and set up a sense of order, with heavy tariffs on those that they considered hindrances. ~Sixteenth notes play way too fast They're over before they last Can you hear the whisper of life Or are your ears bleeding from the strife?~ The standstill over at the hydroelectric dam eventually pooled over. Rumors were passed around that the battle was won by just one courier that had been building a name for himself along with a few feisty mares by his side. But those rumors were quickly discredited by the officials. Who would believe something as ridiculous as that? ~All the merriment is boiled in stew The sadness is a faded blue The darkness is a lack of sight But fool yourself, thinking friendship is a light~ After the N.C.R.'s success at the dam and the Strip, ex-First Recon Ragic Baane wandered around to find and kill some more Imperials that were still trying to hold anything this side of the wasteland. Something about the alicorn's straightforward approach made him think twice about staying in just one town for the rest of his life. Tilaso wandered off to look into a rumor about some mad scientist's crater. Just before they could capture him and rip out his brain, he used his newly acquired plasma grenades to send them all to Kingdom Come. Miraculously, none of them broke into more than three pieces each. As for the ex-Powder Ganger, he eventually found some work apprenticing under the Followers. Though, he would sometimes sneak off and waste one explosive a night on incoming Raiders. Stratus Cloud zoomed around, picking up random jobs that allowed her to punch a few heads. Mercenary bounties were surprisingly plentiful, despite the structure that the N.C.R. claimed to have put into place. But that was alright. It just meant more loot for her to find. Some say that the Shores picked up a new dance move based on her punching. FRED-E would follow the alicorn with the broken horn for the rest of his floating days. Where exactly that would lead him, nobody really knew. ~Hello, my name is another memory It's just a piece deep inside of me It's like living in the start of September Don't fall out of touch; just remember~ As for the hornless alicorn called Forte Pianissimo, she was asked on multiple occasions to act as an ally to New Canterlot. Though, she only accepted half of their tasks. It was sometimes pleasing and other times discouraging. They would have to work around her schedule, not the other way around. After all, Songbird only sings when she is ready. --- Game Finished Strength: 7 + 0.25 Perception: 5 + 0.25 Endurance: 8 + 0.25 Charisma: 6 + 0.25 Intelligence: 5 + 0.25 Agility: 5 + 0.25 Luck: 5 + 0.25 *Bonuses applied thanks to the Hero statue: "Nite". *Extra point of Charisma while Baane remains a companion. Most used weapons: Songbird's Dagger, "K.R." Kettle's Revolver, Plasma Pistol (2), Varmint Rifle Most used shout: Aura Whisper Functional implant: The Changeling Chip (only form available: unicorn) Achievement unlocked: "What the Forte did I just read?" ---