Fallout Equestria: Do Robot Ponies Dream of Electronic Bunnies

by ScottWolf

Ch 18: Carry On Forward

FoE: Do Robot Ponies Dream of Electronic Bunnies

Chapter XVIII: Carry On Forward
"If you want to kick the tiger in his ass, you'd better have a plan for dealing with his teeth." - Tom Clancy

System Report: 0000000018
Unit Status: Active
Location: Nchi Kavu
Satellite Signal Status: Receiver offline. GPS active.
Begin data dump to external off-site memory back-up:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - Done.
Preparing visual report: Done.

Date: --/--/2212, 200PA (+50 days activation)
Time: 1130 Local

Stumped.

"Well, now what do we do?" The question was simple, and on any other day would probably have just as simple an answer. On most days we knew what we were doing, where we were going, and what we would do when we got there (or at least a good idea). Today, Night Rose had posed an unanswerable question. And as much as I hated it, the answer was still easy.

There wasn't a damn thing we could do.

Sunshy, Zen and Celly had left not more than an hour ago, leaving us a hoof-full of gems. Much as I appreciated the gesture, and as expensive as they were (scanner totaled about eleven hundred bits for all seven), it simply wouldn't be enough to sway the heart of a dragon. Not by a long shot.

"What can we do," Scratch asked. She'd grasped the situation almost as well as I had. "Unless you personally know a dragon who's willing to work for so little reward, It's like Zen said. We're shit out of luck." That parting remark by the overly-sarcastic zebra had been quite a stinger. He'd also mentioned something about a dragon in the Everfree forest, but none of us were willing to turn back right now.

AC sat on the lead wagon with his head in his hooves. I could sympathize with him. We'd both had an objective in Zebrion; vengeance for him and a hacker for me. Now, neither of us had much chance at satisfaction. Chef Sandy patted his friend on the back comfortingly. He knew what it meant to AC getting this far. To turn back would be just short of a megaspell going off in the red and brown pony.

"Well," I said at last. No one else had any ideas. "I suggest we keep going."

"Keep going," Chef asked. "Towards certain doom? Are your wires crossed?"

"Why do people keep using that as a metaphor for crazy," I asked, trying to lighten the mood. "All it would do is give us bots a headache. But I still think we should keep going. It's a long way to Zebrion, and we don't know what's between there and here. Maybe something'll come up for us."

Having no better ideas, everyone remounted. AC sadly got his wagon moving and we headed out the northern exit. The guard there nodded to us politely as we passed. Nothing was spoken as we continued northeastward.

oOoOoOoOoOo

I was back in the lab again. I had my skin on now and looked less like a giant robot and more like a giant pony. The only thing that marred the image was the fact that my flank ports were wide open and the arms were extended. Each held something... odd. Wine in one and a bouquet of roses in the other. I was confused, but then-me was giving off an air of determination, a sense of purpose, as I walked down the narrow hallway.

I stopped in front of a closed door that had the words, "Dr. Moonshine, Programming Director, Head of Behavior" stenciled into the wood. Aww hell. We're not gonna have a big old rejection scene in my memories, are we?

I leaned down and listened for sound from in the room. If she wasn't there, then I wouldn't have to see my own reaction to being shot down by a beautiful mare, then maybe-

I heard sobbing from the other side of the door. Crap. I gently knocked on the door with one hoof, hiding the wine and roses behind me. When I didn't get a response I knocked a little harder.

"Moonshine," I called. "Are you in there?"

"Go away," was the reply, slightly garbled by tears. Then-me looked back at the wine and roses and seemed to deem it not a good time; they disappeared into my flanks. I then turned and nudged the door open slowly and peeked in.

"Moonshine, it's me," I said gently. "Can I come in?"

I saw her sitting at her desk, her head buried in her forelegs. Her body shuddered with each sob, and her mane was frazzled to the extreme. She peeked an eye out from behind her blue-legged barrier, then disappeared again, crying harder. I winced, but continued inside, pulling the door closed behind me with my tail.

"Moonshine, what's wrong," I asked. She didn't answer, but nudged a telegram-looking letter toward me. I stepped forward and began to read:

"Dear Misses Crimson Wind,

"We regret to inform you that your husband, Lt. Crimson Wind of Rainbow's Revengers, has fallen in battle. He was a good scout, staying right at the front and calling in artillery to cover the retreat of the 107th Assault Force. If it wasn't for him, several hundred ponies would not have made it behind the line of armored reinforcements coming up to rescue them. When his last call had gone out, he attempted his own evacuation, but a sniper's bullet found him, and he fell from the air.

"I wish I could tell you that he helped us end the war, but that sadly isn't the case..."

I stopped reading. I couldn't read anymore. Crimson was dead, and all Moonshine had gotten was a "Dear John" letter from the military. I felt a sorrow I did not deserve to have for her. Her pain was far worse than anything I could feel. I wanted to say I'm sorry, but the words wouldn't come.

I lowered my head and turned away, leaving her in her office and depressed that I couldn't help my only friend feel better. How could I? Short of destroying the zebra home capital... I could do that, couldn't I? It would end the war, wouldn't it? Kill the enemy leader and you win. That was the basis of every game from Chess on up, and chess was a game about war, so naturally that's how war worked. I began to trot, then gallop, and then flat out ran to the armory. I knew what I had to do.

I pulled up to the double sliding doors. The lock was electronic, I remembered, but the encryption was different. Then-me was forced to work on it for a minute. The doors opened with a whoosh, revealing a startled security pony who jumped to his feet in surprise.

"There's no weapons test on the schedule," he started to say, but light kick from my hind leg dropped him. I couldn't have anyone knowing what I was up to. I had to be quick. Within easy reach was a Mini Balefire Egg launcher and a crate of rounds. I took them all, storing the launcher in my flank. My eyes fell on an over-large chain gun in the far corner. Much as it tempted me, it would be too bulky and large for storage, so I left it where it was. I picked up several assault rifles and clips of ammo, storing them in their proper places. I was grabbing a laser rifle when alarms sounded. I looked back at the door and saw the security pony weakly standing on the alert button.

I growled angrily and ran out of the armory. There was a set of stairs upward not far away. I watched myself barrel heavily into two soldier ponies in Steel Ranger armor as I rounded a corner. One, I'm sure, didn't survive the impact.

I made my way upstairs to the roof, meeting little opposition. Looking out over the city, I was hit was a degree of awe that bordered on pure nirvana. Canterlot was beautiful. White towers rose around the city, and the main castle was visible, even with the taller buildings surrounding the research lab. The roofs of thousands of houses dotted the skyline, mixing with trees of all varieties. Then-me took it all in at a glance, then readied my flight package. I watched as then-me went over the plan.

Target: Caesar of the Zebra Empire.
Location: Zebra-lon-D'warna, translated as Paradise for Zebras.
Mission: Eradication of all life at site.

I was ready for lift-off when a voice called out to me.

"Alpha," she said. "What do you think you're doing?" I didn't need to look. Moonshine was standing at the door I'd smashed through getting up here. My head turned anyway, and I took in her emotions. Fear, worry, sadness. What was I thinking?

"I'm going to make it right," then-me replied. "I'm going to avenge Crimson Wind, and end this war." I lit my thrusters and rose into the air... only to crash back to the roof as my vision went to snow. It returned quickly, and I looked back to Moonshine. She was holding what scanned as an EMP-gun. Worse, she was aiming it at me. I tried to stand, but she pulled the trigger again, sending me sprawling and back into snow-view. When I could see again, she was standing over me, the gun to my head and tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," was all she said. She pulled the trigger, and then the world went white...

oOoOoOoOoOo

I woke with a yell, leaping to my feet quickly. Night Rose, having been tucked tightly against me, was thrown a few feet away, and landed with a grunt.

"What the fuck was that for," she asked, rubbing her head with a hoof. I looked around, still disoriented. The entire camp was looking at me. Had I been the only one asleep? No, I had to have woken everyone. From the blurry looks in most of their eyes, I had.

"Sorry," I said quickly, lying back down. Night Rose gave me an angry stare, then went to lay next to Scratch, who apparently was a very heavy sleeper; she hadn't even twitched in her sleep. I facehoofed, and looked around again. Grumpily, everyone went back to sleep except Frieda. Her eyes were focused on me. Embarrassed I looked away.

"Trouble with dreams," she said aloud, "is they sometimes show us stuff we'd rather not see."

"Yeah," I replied with a nod. My eyes fell on the blue form of Night Rose. Her back was to me, and was in full-angry-at-Verse mode. At least it seemed that way.

"What did you see," she asked in Gryphonic.

"I saw myself, angry for vengeance, betrayed by one I cared for," I replied. "I saw a glimpse of my past, and it made me ashamed of myself."

"We have all done things we're not proud of," the griffon responded. "The only thing we can do is accept our mistakes and move on, or don't and become consumed in self-loathing. I assume this memory was not from recent times."

I nodded. "It was from a time before the wasteland. A memory of sadness. A friend's husband had died, and I wanted to make it right, but my friend stopped me. By shooting me."

"Then there is no reason for shame," Frieda said matter-of-factly. I looked at her, puzzled. I'd almost gone out to commit genocide against a race for personal reasons. How was I not a monster? I posed the question, and to my surprise, she laughed. "You are not to blame, because that was not you. That was you-of-the-past, Verse. Some other pony who, to many here's happiness, does not exist anymore."

I was slightly dumbfounded. While it made sense, it had still been me. I'd almost gleefully picked up that launcher... the very launcher stowed in my flank now...

"I see your look, my friend," Frieda said, coming over and putting her arm around me. "You carry the very weapon of mass destruction you nearly used two hundred years ago. You're probably even thinking of getting rid of it. I say don't. While once it could have been used to end millions of lives for one pony's vengeance, now it's used to save the lives of an untold number... for justice." She nipped my ear lightly, then returned to her bedroll and resumed her night watch.

I stared at Night Rose's back, sorry I'd launched her and missing her feel against my side. I could now see she wasn't asleep. Just lying there, ignoring me. We'll see about that.

I stood and trotted over to her. Before she could protest, I picked her up by the scruff of her neck and brought her back to where we'd bedded down, her kicking at me the entire time and demanding I put her down. I did, but immediately wrapped my hooves around her and hugged her to me. Before long, her protests and struggles dwindled to nothing.

"Don't think I'm not mad at you," she grumbled. "Just because you're having emo-issues..."

"I'm not emo," I replied quietly.

"I know," she replied after a minute, snuggling back up against me. "Just don't make a habit of this."

I smiled to myself and hugged her again, kissing her cheek.

Another week passed.

No more nightmares, no more memories, no more anything from my own past. I'd told Night Rose about the dream I'd had, and she'd snorted derisively.

"Ungrateful bitch," she'd said. "I'd have been proud to claim that you'd ended a war for me."

Now we were back on the road north. Ahead was another collection of huts that, except for the lack of zebra, would have been a good sized village. I trotted ahead, telling AC to wait well away from it. Night Rose and Zirc followed me, weapons ready.

The village seemed deserted. Not even a hint of life anywhere in it. There were baskets overturned, hut doors that swung in the wind, there was even a tree in the town with a swing attached. My E.F.S. showed nothing, friendly or otherwise. It was probably not all that uncommon, but something struck me as very odd about this.

"This place gives me the creeps," Night Rose commented.

"The village here is like a ghost," Zirc, said. "The inhabitants had grabbed what they cared for most, and took it with them, running fast, as if that day might be their last."

"Do you HAVE to speak in rhyme everytime you say something," Night Rose asked, irritated.

"It's how I learned in my upbringing," the zebra replied easily. "Would you rather I was singing?"

"Spare me," she responded, ducking her head inside one of the huts. "Nothing," she said, pulling back out. "Not a damn thing."

We stood in the center of the town for a moment, just staring at how empty it was. Finally with a sigh I turned to my friends.

A shot rang out, and Zirc hit the ground with a new hole in his side, cursing in Zebranese. Night Rose dove for cover, but was struck by another round from a different direction. Her armor saved her, but the impact knocked her head over hooves. She landed in a dizzy heap.

I ran to Zirc's side and quickly dropped a healing potion for him, which he drank greedily. I then turned to look for a shooter. Seeing nothing, I switched to thermal. In the ground, all around us, were lots of heat signatures. I counted 20 total. None seemed to want to come out into the open. I brought out my chain gun and opened fire on the nearest few. My shots clanged off of what sounded like steel. Great, I thought. Not only are they out of line of sight, they're armor-protected too.

"Night Rose," I yelled. "Time to leave!"

She nodded in reply, and sent a burst of laser-fire into the dirt as I helped Zirc to his hooves. The two of us retreated back toward the caravan, still half a mile in the distance, when I heard a cry behind me. I looked back, fearing what I'd see, and my eyes found Night Rose being pinned by a zebra who'd popped out of a hole right next to her, a knife in his mouth. I quickly snapped off a shot, but wasn't fast enough to stop him plunging it into her neck.

The world seemed to slow for me. I heard a cry of anguish as I watched blood spurt from the wound. The look on Night Rose's face was horrible. Her eyes found mine as she fell, the zebra falling away from her with a hole in the side of his head. I ran to her side, shots clanging off my body, Zirc following me closely and using me for cover. The blade hadn't hit anything major, her throat was still intact, as was her spine. Zirc shoved one of my healing potions into her mouth while I injected her with a syringe of Med-X. Slowly, her wound healed. I turned back to the snipers, feeling a fire inside me.

"Zirc, get her out of here."

"I will not leave you to-" he protested but I cut him off.

"Go now," I yelled. "You won't survive what's about to happen!"

Night Rose took one look up at me, then as quickly as she could, got to her hooves and began running. Zirc gave me one last look, then followed, firing blindly behind him. I calmly strode through the maelstrom of bullets. A zebra sprung from hiding and landed on my back, but a hard buck launched him away.

I looked about me as I reached what seemed to be the center of the ambush. All were within range. I lit my thrusters and climbed a few hundred feet rapidly. Bullets reached up to stop me. I drew out the balefire egg launcher, aimed downward, and let lose three rounds in quick succession. The resulting explosion tore the guards off of pits further away, and incinerated those within the blast radius. The shockwave pulled zebra raiders from their holes and tossed them roughly about. They moved about groggily as the dust settled and I came back down to land.

I waited till they'd all regained their senses, and were staring at me fearfully. I glared back, daring them to try something. Several took a hesitant step back. With a stomp and a shout, I sent them all running. With a satisfied snort, I turned and trotted back to the caravan.

"Remind me never to piss you off," Scratch was saying to me. It was evening now, and we'd stopped in the shelter of a grove of dead trees. A good fire was burning and my companions were all laughing about the day's events. Even Night Rose joined in with a few chuckles. I would have thought. a month ago, that such a near death experience would have taken the humor from her. The wasteland works in mysterious ways.

I smiled sheepishly as I'd listened to Frieda retell the story of "the robotic wonder versus a hundred zebra bandits." She'd been in the air the moment the first shot rang out, and arrived in time to see the end results. She laughed as she exaggerated the explosions. "Two miles high," she'd said. "Completely made of fire, and bright enough to blind Celestia herself!"

I guess it was a good tale. Good enough to break Apple Cider of his own funk. He was laughing the hardest of us all. I was glad to see the depression of the past week completely gone. I was about to call it a night when I heard a howl in the darkness. Everyone was suddenly alert. I brought up my E.F.S. and thermal imaging, and began to scan around with it. Nothing presented itself immediately, but as I looked to the road, not more than a mile away, I saw the running figure of a wolf. I enhanced to bring up details and could tell it had a pack strapped to its back.

"It's a wolf," I said, and everyone seemed to relax again. I watched as the wolf angled toward us, presumably attracted to the light. It took him forty minutes to reach us, and by that time, AC, Chef, Frieda and Scratch had all gone to sleep. I stood and met the wolf at the tree line.

"Greetings, metal pony," the wolf said through panting breaths.

"Good to see you, sir," I replied. "Care to rest at our camp? You look tired."

"That I am," he replied. "I bear a note from my employer, Gawdyna Grimmfeathers. It is addressed to yourself." I nodded and led him to the camp. He withdrew the note and, upon giving it to me, curled up next to the fire and went right to sleep. Curious, Zirc and Night Rose came closer as I read it.

"Verse.

"How'd you like the idea of usin these wolves as couriers? Good call, you think? Should make it easier on my troops to get messages home or call for backup. Plus, I didn't really know what else to do with 'em. Anyway.

"Strange little spritebot wandered over to me today. Weren't spittin out the usual Red Eye 'Join me' crap. Called itself Watcher. The little thing was tellin me how he wanted to talk to you about something. Wouldn't say what though. Kinda suspicious. But I told it I'd tell you, and there ya are.

"I don't mind if Swiftpaws stays with you guys. You might need him out in the wilds. You've got all that advanced techno-crap in you, but nothing beats good old fashion gut instincts! Up to you, pal.

"Gawd."

"Who's Watcher," Night Rose asked. "And why does it want to talk to you?"

"Watcher's the guy who helped us out back in Trottingham. Remember when my wings locked?"

"As if I could forget..."

"If this Watcher wishes to speak," Zirc said in his melodic rhyming, "Why does he not just come to meet?"

"It's complicated," I replied. I activated my SATLINK and began dialing his frequency while bringing out my two-way mic. It didn't take long for him to respond.

"Hello, Verse."

"What's up, Watcher," I asked. "Got a message to call you." Night Rose and Zirc looked at each other in confusion, but stayed quiet.

"I heard what you did in the canyon. Wanted to say congrats."

"Well, thanks," I replied, slightly annoyed. He had Gawd waste time and energy to send a courier just for this? "Is that all?"

"Well... no. Not really." His tone began to weird me out. "I.. umm... I kind of need your help again."

"I already gave you a satellite," I said. "Did you lose it already?"

"No, not exactly. But I did kind of piss off the Enclave with it, and they've parked an army outside my cave."

Watcher, you idiot...

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Big Gunner - By your sheer thought, your big guns lay waste to your foes! You gain +20 damage when using heavy weapons.

Bonus Perk: Intimidator - Your mere gaze freezes the hearts of your enemies. You gain +5 to strike in close combat, as well as new conversation options

New Quest: Rescue the Dragon??? - Watcher needs your help. Find out how.

Comments

[Freeflyingwolf]

A lot of the time, what should be ... ends up as garbled numbers and whatnot. Just if you wanted to know.