Fallout: Equestria - Frozen Hearts

by ksad96

Journey

Author's Note:

After like, two years, I'm back! I'm working hard on new chapters, editing the next one right now!

Chapter 3: Journey
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I stood in the lab, now with Four-Eyes, who was unmarked by fire except a slightly patchy mane in some places, Clever, a unicorn stallion technician named Fuse Box, and my dad on the far right. On the opposite side of the long table that had been set up for us stood three ponies to take notes for Jack and be able to recreate the process. They were all remarkably similar, all with nearly the same hue of green coat and mane, dressed in lab coats instead of the standard heart-marked cloaks from the Legion, at the insistence of myself and the others. They watched as I set the various objects on the table and looked at each pony while I prepared.

“Now then, are we all ready?” I got a nod from each pony, and took a deep breath before beginning to explain, “First, we need to go in-depth with how a heating talisman works. I’m going to assume most of you already know that, to save time, and instead explain how to re-enchant the talisman to better suit what we need it for.” I floated the round, softly glowing and warm stone in front of everypony’s faces, and talked as I started casting the spell, “You need to know the enchantment for what makes a heating talisman work. Knowing that, it’s a simple task to disenchant, then re-enchant it to both have the heating element as well as the “aura”, which allows it to create heat only within a specified radius. To adjust this radius, we also need to make it compatible with electronics.” The stone brightly glowed, a shattering sound heard as I first broke the enchantment, and then it turned white for a moment as I recast the spell, the glow fading to leave the stone a soft red color. Then I set it next to a small pile of scrapped electronics, which I lifted to show everypony, “What we have here is more or less the innards of a terminal. A circuit board, various wires, as well as all we need to make this PipBuck compatible, as well as a dock for a spark battery. However, since there are few PipBucks available around, I had some ideas that were going to be experimental for this. I’ll get back to those. Now, this gemstone is here because the talisman isn’t inherently compatible with technology. Much like how energy weapons always use gems to focus their beams.” The gemstone in question was a ruby, well-shaped for focusing energy. I set it among the scraps, and with a simple tech spell I created a modified dock for the gemstone, as well as a small section to hold the talisman connected to the ruby, then continued, creating the core of the system, which could adjust how much energy was being used by the device.

It still looked a mess, but when I finished the components for the spark battery dock, it was theoretically usable, albeit impractical and still unable to be adjusted, “Now, this is technically usable, as you can set a spark battery there and it would heat the surrounding area. However, you wouldn’t be able to change how large the area is, nor how much heat is put out. So we need a screen and a way to control it. The screen is easy enough, simply program a small chip to show what the current settings are, but the controls are slightly more difficult. I chose the easy way and made it PipBuck compatible, but I have some notes here that specify different ways a control system could be set into the actual suit itself. As for making it a bit easier to transport and keep unharmed, simply take a set of pretty much any clothing,” I took a set of used clothing, thickened to be used for work in the colder areas of the caves, but not so much for actually scouting outside, and I placed the talisman and circuit board on the chest area, “set the core of the device, and the talisman, either on the back or the chest, so that it is close to the center of the wearer, and have an external protection around, like hard plastic casing or some such.” The final step was simple, and with a short, modified, mending spell, I attached a hard cover of plastic with metal sides and shaped it around the device, catching my dad’s proud smile from the corner of my eye. “The case must be properly attached so that it cannot be removed unless the clothing is removed, which in turn can only be taken off undamaged if the user’s PipBuck is removed and disconnected properly. Trying to do so by force or carelessly can easily cause damage to the suit and wiring connecting the PipBuck and the talisman device itself.”

One of the Legion’s ponies paused for a moment before asking, “Why not just place the talisman closer to the PipBuck or reinforce the wiring?”

I raised an eyebrow and glance at my untouched suit. It was clear that while I was unconscious they had wanted to take my device off, but were wary of damaging the only usable set by not knowing what they were doing. I was glad they were at least smart enough to realize that pulling it or cutting the fabric would end with damaging the connection to the PipBuck. This also told me that they didn’t know how to remove PipBucks. Following that knowledge, I reasoned that they didn’t have anypony with PipBucks of their own. “The same problem would be an issue, but now you’d have more weight on one side, or even the entire device on your leg. This means that the center of the aura would not be the center of you, and you would have to adjust accordingly, possibly causing a higher usage of the batteries. The extra weight would also make the user unbalanced, and since the project was targeting scouts who need to move quickly and carry as many supplies as possible, the imbalance would be detrimental to the goal.” The stallion nodded and quickly scribbled more notes while I looked over the suit, checking for anything I might have missed.

I set the finished suit down, the almost-triplets across from me still writing notes quickly, pens floating and scribbling across pads of paper. I was impressed, they’d followed me without a problem the entire time. The others had nodded along and several of them knew some of the specifics of the process, although not all of it. The spells I had used were familiar ones for all of them, I’d taught or learned each one from all of them. “Any other questions?”

With no more words spoken, I continued to my second part of the deal, but before I started, the door opened. Jack walked in, looking as calm and confident as when I first met him. I met his gaze, then returned to the group, “Now, as for how I stopped the fire, I simply used the essence of what fire is. Fire can only be created and sustained when there is something to burn, oxygen and a flammable gas, hydrogen in almost all cases. Remove any of these and the fire will go out, right?” The Icehorn ponies nodded, the Legion ponies watched me as I took out a piece of cloth, “I don’t want to test with that fire that was lit outside the cave, but I can show using a normal flame as the example.” I lit the cloth with a small spell, and it soon started to burn. It was fire resistant, but that only made it burn slower, giving me time to explain, “Obviously, you can’t take away the cloth, so you need to remove one of the other elements of fire. I removed the oxygen by creating a force around the fire, not allowing fresh air to feed the flames, forcing it to choke itself to death. The spell was not planned or tried previously, so it’s not perfect or efficient, but it works.” As I spoke, my horn lit up, and the flame started to flicker, then simply went out. I saw Clever smiling and shaking his head, Four-Eyes nodded, her face ever calm and serious, Fuse Box nodded as well, typing notes into a terminal. My father again beamed at me, then glanced at the bold-colored red stallion watching from the side and sighed softly.

The Legion ponies were now again writing notes rapidly as I looked at everypony, keeping my eyes from locking onto any others for very long until I met Jack’s calm, cool glance. He nodded once, and I looked at the replica of the prototype of my proud device, then at the burnt piece of clothing, then at the ponies around me again. With a soft sigh, I nodded once back.

“Krystal, what’s going-“ Dad started, but with a gentle smile I shook my head and silenced him with a wave of my hoof.

“It’s okay, dad. I’ll see you afterwards, alright?” The lie stung in my mouth, but when he nodded, I promised myself I’d make sure to make up for it one day.

“Ms. Clear, if you are ready, I would like you to come now. Take your time; I will be waiting in the hall.” Jack said in his smooth tone, his composure betraying nothing of what it had been just a few minutes ago. He walked out as I looked at Clever sadly, then I checked my bags, fastened the straps and followed the red leader out. I felt the questions from Clever and Four-Eyes as much as I felt their eyes following me out into the hall, only stopping when the door shut behind me.

“I received an interesting request from a certain pony. “ Jack’s voice was no longer the stressed and intense voice I had heard earlier, but it was not the smooth voice he used in front of others now, either. He spoke calmly, evenly, no longer with an underlying intent to convince or soothe me as he pulled out a trinket from under his cape, “A pony claiming to be your father asked me to give this to you. Perhaps he knew you might be leaving.” His horn glowed softly as the small, bejeweled metal piece moved in front of me.

“See, mom? I learned how to braid my mane at Versa’s!”

“Oh, but it fell apart… Here, try putting a lock of hair through this after you braid it. Maybe I can find more for you to use next time I head out.”

I took the little band, a small circle roughly the width of the base of my horn with a thin line of metal in between, and I subconsciously moved it towards my mane, to the left side, and slipped a lock in it, remembering things long forgotten until now.

”There, now it’ll stay braided, and you’ll look even prettier now!”

”One day I’ll look as pretty as you, mom!”

The faint laughter echoing in my memory was interrupted as Jack cleared his throat, and I looked up at him to notice his faint smirk. “That’s all?” He dropped the smirk when I spoke and nodded, “Did you find her?”

Before he could reply, a yell drew both of our attentions down the hall as guards seemed to be struggling with another pony. I started running down the hall before I heard the pony yell out, “You’ll never take me alive, you bastards!” and one guard was slammed against the wall and stumbled to the ground. I got a better look and felt my horn glow as I lifted the struggling pony into the air, and she flailed for a few seconds, “A unicorn, huh? Let’s see how magical you are when I break your- Oh, hey Kryssy!” She instantly stopped, mid-rant as she saw me, and I faintly smiled.

“Hey Versa, still alive and kicking, I see. You mind relaxing a little so I can let you down without you hurting anypony?”

“I told them to leave me alone, and they were all pushy. You know how I hate pushy ponies!” The light brown mare struggled to try to orient herself into an upright position as she floated in the air, “Well, fine, I won’t fight, but I’m not doing nothing ‘til you tell me what the hay’s going on here.”

With a sigh, I rolled my eyes and set her down, right side up, and she instantly planted her rear on the ground to emphasize her unwillingness to do anything else until satisfied. She then turned her glance towards me and her light-ish green eyes met mine, an almost challenging gaze as she waited for me. “You’re coming with me. We’re leaving here, to do something in order to help our clan.” I kept my voice even, just hoping she wouldn’t argue it and simply tag along.

“Why? You helping these assholes?” Celestia help us all if Versa ever had to be the diplomat in a bad situation. Her gaze became a glare, aimed at all the ponies around us, and I wanted to facehoof. Thankfully, they seemed to ignore it, though the guns holstered on the guards still would be easily able to move faster than I could react if she went too far.

“It’s more of a favor for a favor. I can explain it better if we’re alone, Versa. Please, just get my back on this one. I promise you it’s a good reason.” There was a moment of silence where we stared at each other. I could almost feel the tension between the guards and Versa, and I hoped she would just let it go long enough for me to explain. When I noticed her left ear twitch, I almost let out a sigh of relief. She relaxed a bit, then stood up and walked over to me, each hoofstep echoing off the solid rock halls. I faintly realized I’d never get around to suggesting the walls be painted around the halls. That thought lead to how I’d never finish making half a dozen projects, or ever hang out normally with Clever or work out a new piece of tech with Four-Eyes. I stayed still, but had to hold on as I nearly cracked at the thought of what leaving meant.

“Well? Where we goin’? You made another of those heating things to let us head outside? Or are we taking the tunnels?” Versa’s distinct voice gave me the grip to hold on as I pull my mind from the rush of thoughts, and returned attention to my situation. I was supposed to lead this for now, at least. With any luck, Jack’s plan would go smoothly, the way he assured me. Despite my skepticism, he detailed well enough and I figured it had a high chance of success. If it didn’t work, well… neither of us had options that would end well for anypony.

“The tunnels the Legion came in through. We’re exiting through there. Do you need to get anything, Versa? We probably won’t be back for a good while.”

“But we are comin’ back, right?” The question hung in the air for a moment before I nodded once, and she smiled, “I got all I need in a locker down the hall here. You know the one.”

I did, actually. A bit too well for my tastes, but it didn’t bother me anymore. I walked down with her trailing me to the row of lockers. Mine was around the corner, but the one I was looking for was the closest to me. I looked at it, and nearly shivered. The symbol I hadn’t seen alive in years still was engraved on the locker’s door. My mom’s cutie mark, a simple ice crystal, was still left untouched on what once was her locker. I opened it, and inside was Versa’s saddlebags, no mark on them yet, still.

As long as I’ve known her, her flank has always been bare, which once upon a time was a symbol of shame and something she’d hide, but over time she grew proud of herself anyways, and defiantly stood against any that tried to make an issue about it. Her parents had been lost in the last attack, so she grew up an orphan, but was taken care of by help from most everypony until my mom took her in, and even trained her as a scout until she disappeared. Versa always was my friend when I needed her, and she was always around for dad and I after my mom went missing.

I took her bags and passed them to her, then noticed a picture in the locker. I picked it up as Versa opened her bag, checking the contents. I distantly noted that she still had the other prototype of my suit in her bag and was already starting to put it on, using her personal PipBuck omnitool. The picture forced me to consciously keep my breathing steady as I saw my mom, a younger Versa, me as a little filly in front, dad in a lab coat looking rushed as all our faces were smiling and laughing. A moment in time where I had a full family. Versa caught my eye, noticing what I’d gotten distracted by, and smiled a little sadly. “Take it.” She said while she tightened the straps on her bags. I let out a breath, then nodded and put it in my own bags. When I’d composed myself again, I turned towards Jack, who was watching expectantly as I nodded and he turned, the guards staying behind us, probably more focused on Versa than myself as Jack led the way down the magically lit hallways.

He led us back to the lower parts of the system, when the Legion had blown the walls open to invade, and he stopped a dozen meters or so from the hole and turned back to us. “This is where we part ways, Krystal Clear. You know what I’ve asked from you, and so long as you uphold your end, I will do the same. As for the pony I mentioned, you will cross paths before too long.”

Versa took that moment to glare at him, “You better uphold your side, ‘else I’ll be back and you won’t have Kryssy to stop me.” Her threats were cute, but less harmless than they appeared. She was probably the most stubborn and persistent pony in the clan, if not the Crystal Empire. She’d hold grudges for a long time if they weren’t absolved in some way that she thought fair, and often times she’d earn a reputation for being very uncooperative when she didn’t feel like it. I nodded once more to Jack, taking a deep breath as I mentally prepared myself. Versa stopped, then spoke again, “Hang on, we don’t have any weapons. What do we do if there’s beasties or ponies that don’t like us down there?”

I glanced at Jack, and he nodded once to a guard, who hesitantly passed over the pistol and holster he was carrying, then pulled out a small box of ammo and gave it to me. I in turn sent it to Versa, giving her a look that told her to be cool and not try shooting the ponies that were letting us go. Thankfully, she simply equipped herself and slid the ammo box into her bags without pulling the gun or anything stupid.

“Satisfied with what you have now?” Jack asked, though not with irritation. I supposed he wasn’t kidding about wanting to keep me alive. Versa nodded and we both turned to leave our home for possibly both the first and last time.

---

I found that one interesting thing about walking through the tunnels leaving our home was that it gave me time to think, to reflect. Versa remained quiet at first, but after a few minutes she stopped, putting a hoof down hard enough to make me look over at her. “Is something wrong?”

“You know damn well what’s wrong! We just left our home, and don’t you lie to me about us going back soon, you get a look when you’re on a mission, and another when it’s a mission that makes you feel bad. Remember the time you had to steal a PipBuck on that dare? You had this guilty look or something, and you’ve had something like that all day now! You’d better tell me what’s actually going on before I-“

“Wait!” I raised a hoof, my ears flicking to turn behind my head, “Wait, I think I heard something…” That gave Versa pause for just a moment, giving me the silence I needed to listen cautiously. Nothing. I relaxed with a soft sigh, then lowered my hoof, “Alright, now let me explain. And don’t interrupt.” I waited for her nod before continuing, “I’ll explain while we walk. I’d rather not waste what batteries we have on the light for too long.” I set off with Versa trailing as I began telling her what happened between me and Jack, leaving as much in as I could.

The talking only lasted for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, as I had to make sure I didn’t talk too fast or ramble, but it seemed like Versa understood most of it, including the reason we had to leave. “That crafty bastard… I’d like to give that Jack guy a piece of my mind. And while I’m at it, my horseshoe up his-“

“Versa, relax. You weren’t there, but I can trust him. Please, just believe in me for this. And I promise that we’ll go home as soon as we can. This ‘mission’ is more about making sure we can stay safe when we go back, so that we won’t be attacked like this again.” I had to have Versa calm and on my side for this, or I probably wasn’t going very far. As much as I like to think it, I had doubts about how calm the other tunnels and caves would be. In fact, I had entertained notions of everything being chaotic and gangs of raiders fighting wars in the tunnel systems or something like that. So far, I hadn’t found bodies apart from near the seal at home, where some ponies had died trying to get it.

Actually, I hadn’t seen much of anything. No bodies, no trace of camps, nothing. It was actually a little suspicious. Maybe I was just overthinking it-

“Fine.” The single simple word nearly made me jump. I hadn’t realized I’d been getting so tense just from my thoughts. The unknown and the lack of safety was making me edgy. I now wished I’d asked for another weapon for myself to use. Instantly I recovered and mentally facehoofed, knowing I’d be as useful with a firearm as a filly using a saw. More likely to hurt myself or allies than any sort of target. My attention refocused to Versa as she nodded, and I felt glad that thoughts ran so quickly, as well as that she had decided my reason was good enough.

“According to Jack, two or three ponies in good health won’t take too long getting through the tunnels to another post or something. The size of his group must have slowed him down considerably.” I looked forward again, the light from my headlamp casting out a good distance, but there didn’t seem to be anything but rock walls, ceiling and floor ahead.

Versa gave me a look for a moment when I stopped, as if waiting for me to continue before she did so for me, “And what’s this post supposed to be? A checkpoint? A town? Maybe a camp or some Legion outpost? What are we supposed to expect up ahead? I’m the only one armed between us, so I’d prefer knowing.” She looked forward too, though her look was of caution, a strange sight since I’ve always known her to be brash and headstrong to the point of reckless.

“He… He didn’t say. So we’re walking blind.” I got the strangest feeling of some sort of irony, but I couldn’t tell where or how it was ironic in any way. Then I flicked my light upwards, suddenly paranoid.

Nothing. Still nothing at all.

“Uh, you alright, Kryssy?” Versa was looking at me again. We’d both realized that we couldn’t look directly at each other due to the lamp strength. The lights were blinding when directly aimed at somepony’s eyes.

“Yeah. Just had a weird feeling. Thought there might have been bats around or something. Who knows, right?” I laughed it off, easing the tension again as we kept walking, Versa smiling a bit as well.

It was another couple hours of walking, only the sounds of horseshoes clopping on stone echoing from the walls as we walked, before anything changed. In fact, a couple things were noticeable suddenly. The first was that the tunnel went into two different directions, both looking the same and unmarked as to where they led. The second followed a few seconds afterward as the faintest sound came from down one of the tunnels. Some sort of talking. Versa had stopped next to me, and we glanced at each other, thinking more or less the same thing.

“Let’s go see.” Versa walked down the left way without saying anything else. Okay, so we weren’t thinking the same thing. I followed her quickly, watching for any sort of life.

It wasn’t far, just around a bend before we saw a light, coming from a portable radio, the antenna up as some sort of music played, the sound quality terrible due to static. It was then that I stopped Versa, pointing to a thin rope near the radio. Somepony was expecting others. Either the Legion set the trap on the way to the Icehoof, or someone else set it afterwards. The former meant that the Legion suspected somepony was following them, or somepony was trying to catch any returning Legion ponies off guard. I frowned and we both carefully stepped over the tripwire, our senses hyperaware as I slowly approached the radio.

“Sneaky fuckers!” I heard a yell as a pony leapt at me from a hole in the wall, and I noticed Versa drawing her gun in a panic before I got tackled. The yell suddenly set off some sort of trigger, and I saw more ponies coming around where we’d come from. The trap was meant to distract us into going down this route from the beginning! “I got the unicorn, get the other Legion bitch!”

Legion? They thought we were- The pony that tackled me hit me hard in the face, and my thoughts were purely self-defence as I kicked hard upwards, knocking the stallion off balance and giving me a moment to pause. Time seemed to slow for just a second as I scanned what I could see, and noticed that the tripwire was the trigger for a hidden box of glass bottles. A sound trap. My horn glowed as time resumed and I hit the pony on me to keep him from hitting me more. My hooves didn’t faze him, but he didn’t have time to notice my horn before a glass bottle slammed into the side of his head, shattering into his ear as well, and he immediately fell to the side with a scream. I got up, and saw Versa close to me, pinned by two strong-looking earth pony stallions. “Get off of her!”

Like they were gonna just let her go. My thoughts weren’t right, I didn’t know how to react in a situation like this, I wanted to explain, but before I could speak, one of them lifted a gun towards me, some pistol in his mouth with the barrel pointing at me, and my eyes widened in fear. I’d thought that maybe there were gangs of raiders in the tunnels, but I hadn’t planned on them being ready for us from the very start. For a moment, I was certain I was going to die, and flinched away as I expected the shot to come.

There was a bang and I yelled out, falling down onto the ground, pain stabbed through my side suddenly, and I closed my eyes tightly, hoping they’d at least end it quickly. But nothing else came, there was only my soft whimpering pants and Versa’s heavy panting, on top of the sound of my pounding heartbeat in my ears.

“Kryssy! Are you okay?! Hey, you, get away from her-“ Versa was cut off suddenly, but it didn’t sound like she’d been hurt or forced silent. Then I felt a hoof on my side.

“Krystal Clear.” The voice was definitely a mare’s, but it was dull, emotionless. It could have been the voice of a statue, for all I knew. I opened my eyes, my headlamp still on, but black was all that was in front of me for a moment, then it took a step back and I saw that the blackness was in fact the pony’s coat color. Her eyes had no pupils and were a dull grey, her mane was perfectly straight and flat, but the expression of the mare gave the idea that she couldn’t care less of her appearance. Or of anything, actually. I slowly got up, wincing at the pain in my side. “You are injured. A minor wound, not caused by the gunshot.”

I looked at my ribs. Just off to the side, I saw several gashes through my clothing, turning the crimson red of blood as I looked down. I’d landed on the shattered glass of the bottle. Between that and getting shot, I much preferred this, but I would have to use some of the limited medical supplies I’d brought to ensure it wouldn’t become infected. I returned my attention to the pony in front of me, meeting her blank gaze. “Uh, thank you. I suppose you’re the pony Jack sent to travel with us?”

“Yes. I am Darklight Star. I will guide you through the tunnels to the next stop. Whether we travel together after that is to be decided.” She didn’t even blink. I found myself curious, but extremely wary of this strange mare. I then noticed the crumpled figures of the other two stallions, both dressed in ragged clothing now that I looked closely. They smelled of dirt and sweat, laced with alcohol, but maybe they had something on them. I could see their chests moving, so I knew they were still alive, but they could wake up at any time.

“Versa, mind grabbing any gear we might be able to use?” I picked up the gun and saw the pony that had it was carrying a small pack of ammo. I put that in my bags and looked around quickly for something valuable or useful to us. Darklight stayed in place as Versa and I found some beer of some sort, as well as a loaf of bread and little else.

I glanced at the radio, and noted the frequency before lifting my PipBuck and activating the radio function. We’d used it in the caves occasionally for fun, as it could transmit as well as receive, so sometimes ponies would use them for communication if they had to work together across a large distance or in a very noisy area. I saved the frequency in my PipBuck as a radio channel, but I left it unnamed for the time being.

“Okay, I’m ready.” I nodded and Versa did as well. My cuts were now tended to, using the sanitizer and bandages as sparingly as possible. I looked at Darklight, who still hadn’t even moved, and hesitated. “Uh, so yeah. Lead on.”

“Very well. Let us proceed. Stay close.” She began walking, and I realized she might have been following us the entire time for all I knew. I had to keep my headlamp directly on her or else risk losing her in the darkness. I wondered how she managed to bring down those stallions so quickly, and what connection she had with One-Trick. All I knew was that I didn’t trust her. It didn’t seem to be important to her to gain our trust either, as she stayed completely silent the entire time as we walked. With her leading, we were less cautious, no longer walking slowly to stay aware of anything ahead; She wasn’t slowing down and we couldn’t afford to lose her.

A few hours of walking, and I lost track of the distance we’d travelled. The PipBuck’s map was showing the tunnels as we walked them, but there was no way to measure the actual distance we’d travelled. The world map showed the useless map of the Crystal Empire, and the local map couldn’t zoom out far enough. It felt like we’d at least walked 30 miles, if not more. If it hadn’t been for the PipBuck, I would’ve also easily lost track of time. When it was nearly midnight, according to my clock, I signaled a stop. “Let’s stop to rest here. I can watch for a few hours.”

Darklight stopped, but shook her head, “There is better shelter up ahead. Two minutes’ walk. An old maintenance room of some sort.” She started to walk and I sighed, making my hooves continue as well. Versa glanced at me occasionally, and I smiled at her slight concern.

The maintenance room was really just a hole in a wall, where these tunnels had connected with a room that had been made for some other purpose, but was caved in during the war and now had no entrance or exit but a hole somepony had blown or smashed. Inside were some dirty mats, empty bottles and cans, and a door leading down to another room. There was a broken exit sign over the doorway that must have led out at one point, but now the doorway only led to massive boulders. Perhaps there was ice on the other side, but I didn’t feel cold, so I assumed it only led to another tunnel, perhaps some old type of subway station.

Dark said she would stay watch in the tunnel and would be back in 6 hours, then promptly disappeared into the darkness. I blinked and she was suddenly not there. I looked at Versa and she shrugged, “If she wanted us dead, she’d have killed us ages ago. If she wanted us caught, she wouldn’t have intervened earlier. “

I guess I agreed, but I was still unsure. “Speaking of which, how are you doing after that? Did they hurt you at all?” I chose to take my mind off the topic that was going to make me paranoid. “They had two ponies ganging up on you, after all.”

“Yeah, but you know me. I’m fine, Krystal. How ‘bout you? You had some nasty looking cuts from that glass, and the gunshot was awfully close.” Versa sat down on a mat, and I looked at the other one, frowning at the dirt on it, but too tired to be picky as I laid down on it.

“I’m fine, Versa. The cuts will heal just fine. We oughta get some sleep though. Tomorrow might be another eventful day…” I sighed a little, closing my eyes and trying to drift off. Just two days ago none of this was remotely possible in my head. I tried to console myself by saying I wasn’t dead at least, but it was little comfort as I drifted into an uneasy rest.

---

The smell of burning and sounds of screams in my ears woke me up, the images of Clever burning as he begged me for help fading into the darkness. I calmed myself, feeling my cold sweat soaking my coat as I tried to slow my heartbeat. The sound of Versa’s soft breathing was all I could hear. I slowly stood up and lit my horn to see. I didn’t want to wake up Versa, but I needed to distract myself for a bit. The closed door from earlier drew my eye and I looked towards the hole into the tunnel. No sign of Darklight still.

I hesitated for a moment before approaching the door, my magic turning the handle and with a light pull, it swung open. I noticed that it was quiet, no rust or jamming anywhere, which surprised me. More questions went through my head, wondering if Darklight was still watching the tunnels, wondering who kept this door quiet and why, wondering what exactly Jack wanted me to do about his problems. Then a light turned on and my brain focused instantly on the terminal in front of me, my eyes swiftly looking around for anything that might be alive. I didn’t want to speak or make noise, fearing that someone was waiting to ambush me, or that I’d wake Versa. Part of me wanted to wake Versa anyways, but what would I tell her? I was afraid of the dark and a terminal? I mentally threw the thought out and cautiously walked to the terminal.

I was met with a blinking line. It was waiting for input, so I looked over my shoulder one more time and pulled out the keyboard and began to type.

>exec cmd

>Hello.

I stopped. I had intended to run the command program to see if it would give me a response, but I wasn’t expecting an actual reply. Before I managed to think of a response, another line popped up

>Code

I thought fast, unsure if it was on a timer as I tried to guess what the code might be. I took a glance around, looking for some book, or a piece of paper or something it might be written on, but the screen changed before I could find anything plausible.

>Name?

The previous lines had been erased, so now the terminal was simply asking for my name. I paused, wondering what I might be getting myself into, before I hesitantly began typing.

>Krystal Clear

>Location?

I frowned. The replies weren’t instantaneous, but they were fast. There was somepony communicating with me via the terminal somewhere. The fact that they were asking my location meant they couldn’t track the terminal, and they had access to terminals in various locations, not just this one. I gave the most honest answer I could, deciding to see where this conversation, if it could be called that, would lead me.

>I don’t know.

>Alone?

>No.

>How many?

>Why?

>I want to know if you can be trusted.

>What happens if I can’t be?

>This terminal explodes

>I see. Three ponies.

>Who do you work for?

>Nopony. Who are you?

>Look at the top left of the screen. What does it say?

I paused at the odd request, looking up at the appropriate corner. In the frame was an identification number. I saw what this pony was planning, but noted the number anyways.

>Who are you?

>Someone you can trust. I would like to know where you are so I can see if there’s a way I can help you onwards. Do you work with the Legion?

>No, I don’t. I don’t work with anyone.

>What is the ID #?

>
I waited for a moment, unsure about what to decide. I again half-wished I’d woken up Versa. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have done this anyways, but I didn’t want to make the choice on my own. The blinking input line kept blinking steadily, and I sighed softly to steel myself.

>5454-1283

>Received.

>What now?

I waited for a response, but this time it didn’t come right away. I looked around quickly, expecting something ridiculous like a machine gun turret or gas traps or some foul beast in a cage, waiting to be let out on some visitors. I’d heard horror stories of adventures in the Empire, and despite my maturity, fear of the unknown had made me paranoid.

>Verified. We need your help.

The message surprised me. I wondered how long it had been there while I was scanning the room like a guilty pony.

>Help? What does this help entail?

>The pony we were expecting has yet to report in. We need you to take a package to a contact. A reward will be paid upon delivery if successful.

>What package? There’s nothing here

Remote access: initializing open sequence…

With a soft hiss, the panels of the terminal opened, revealing a storage space. It was probably intended to store repair kits for the terminal, but was most likely looted decades ago, at least. Now there was a plain bag of some sort, sealed up tightly as the storage opened fully. I picked it up with magic, noting it had a decent weight, and I frowned as I looked at the screen again.

>The contact’s name is Weaver. Tan coat, red mane, stallion. Approach him with the code word Cadenza. Do not open the package.

I frowned a bit. I wasn’t sure if I was willing to be a delivery mare for someone who couldn’t even talk to me properly.

>What is the reward, exactly?

>That depends entirely on your success. Do not delay long with this task.

Before I could respond, all the message lines disappeared and were replaced with
>Connection lost
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment as I considered my options, then I moved the still levitating package and placed it into my bags. My PipBuck glowed as the screen went on and I glanced at it. There was now a new notification, marking the “quest” and the information I had about it. Only then did I realize I hadn’t even gotten a location of this Weaver pony. Assuming it was, in fact, a pony. I turned away from the terminal only just in time to hear a soft clop of hooves from above.

“Kryssy?” Versa’s voice was aimed towards the open door leading to the top of the stairs and was followed by a few more hoofsteps echoing off the abandoned stones, “Hel-looooo?”

“I’m down here, Versa. Relax, it’s fine. I was just having a look around.” I heard her coming down the stairs and she looked around the room when she came in, her eyes soon focusing on the light from the terminal.

“Connection lost? Were you talking to somepony?” She looked at me with curiosity, not suspicion, “How’d you reach anyone here? Did you get to talk to the tribe, or was it Jack?” I stopped her from further questions with a shake of my head, looking around the room again. This time I noticed there was a toolbox off to the side, and an old locker, long since fallen face forward in the corner of the room.

“It was nothing. I don’t know who I was talking to, but I’ll tell you about it more when we get moving again.” I said as I lifted the locker with my magic, straining a bit from the weight before flipping it so that it was possible to open. A few books were inside, and some metallic pieces probably made for some pre-war device. I considered it for a moment before placing the parts in my bag, sorting them with my PipBuck’s inventory spell before picking up the books as well.

“Huh. What’s this for?” Versa’s voice made me glance over. She’d picked up the toolbox and inside wasn’t a wrench, pliers or any other sort of equipment for maintenance, but a pair of small data chips and a clear, glass orb. “Guess whoever was here was fond of… glass?” She lifted the data chips towards me and I took them, levitating them into my bags while I took a step over to get a better look at the orb.

“I guess. It doesn’t look like anything dangerous. But it doesn’t look all that useful to me, either. I say we can just leave it here.”

“This is what you decide to leave? You packed your bags with tons of junk ‘just in case’ you’d have to repair something, and you decide to leave a perfect orb like this behind? I’m taking it. Maybe somepony will want to buy it or something.” She started to place it in her bags.

I rolled my eyes. If we were gonna take it, I might as well be the one carrying the trading or selling goods, so I reached my magic out to take it, “Here, let me-“

---

Level up (Krystal Clear)
Level up (Versatile Soul)
Level up (Darklight Star)
Party update: Versatile Soul (Independent), Darklight Star (Unknown) joined the party.
Krystal:Melee skill at 10
Versa: Trait perk: Stubborn as a mule! (No offense) – You can’t change my mind. I’ll never go back on a promise or my friends, and once I’m set on something, there’s nothing that can stop me. Most of the time. Gains +1 Endurance when fighting alongside a friend. Loses 1 Charisma when in dialogue if disagreeing with the other pony.
Versa: Quest perk: Loyalty – Travelling with party members that have this perk increases the chances of special actions relevant to that character’s Loyalty.
Versa: Perk gained: Heavy hitter – Even a mare can hit like a train, though perhaps not quite as fast… Each level of this perk increases melee damage by an amount equal to +2 extra points in Strength. Melee attacks are 50% less likely to do critical hits and strike 20% slower. This penalty does not increase with additional levels.
Dark: Party status: Guest - You cannot check the stats, perks or abilities of this character, nor change their inventory. Party guests will come and go as they please.

Comments

[bobbananaville]

...
Alright, this looks promising. Checking it out as soon as I get over the effects of my all-nighter.

[ksad96]

4911533 Considering it took me like 20 weeks to update, I don't mind that you take a little time before reading it

[Chillin Chaos]

preeeeetty good so far! keep it up!