Fallout: Equestria - A Robot's Lament

by SYNTH4

Chapter 2: Awakening

Fallout: Equestria - A Robot’s Lament

Chapter 2: Awakenings

“Do you know how hard it is to dust a collapsed house?”

---

….System Offline….Restart in Progress….

….System Unresponsive….Restart Failed….

….System Offline….Restart in Progress….

….System Responsive….Diagnostic in Progress….

….Diagnostic Complete: Systems Restarting….

***

Darkness.

Everything was utter darkness.

I didn’t know if it was because my cameras weren’t working, or because my whole body was unresponsive.

I didn’t feel anything….I didn’t even hear anything. It was all darkness, for miles and miles.

But still, I was thinking! After I had locked up in front of the window, I had felt my entire body shut down. Even my central processor.

Now, now I was able to think! But, what exactly happened to me? I had felt the megaspell shockwave pass through me, but that should not have had the power to damage my systems.

I tried to see if anything would move, but I couldn’t feel anything. If I couldn’t feel anything, what was to say it didn’t mean I had lost all of my parts! I could be a central processor sitting in a pile of broken parts!

….Dual Spectral Cameras Active….

In a flash, my cameras turned on….and I found myself staring at a wall. The wallpaper was peeling in places, and the color looked long past faded. I blinked, trying to get the layer of dust off the lenses.

….Wait, I could blink! I tried raising my head, and found that I could move! But just as I was about to turn my head, something grabbed it! Instinct took hold and I tried to pull away….but the thing kept its hold.

Before I could think about seeing if my horn worked, a pony's head moved in front of me. He was a dark brown unicorn with a light grey pelt. He had a matching beard, and had worn out eyes. He levitated a magnifying glass before him, looking directly at me.

“Surprising,” he said to himself, “I didn’t think the core would hold up. Let alone be compatiable with something as advanced as this.”

He placed the magnifying glass down and took up a pen and clipboard. He quickly wrote something down on it, “We’ll see if more test will provide a better result.”

I wasn’t sure what was going or even who this stallion was! All I did know was that he was holding onto me and talking about things I didn’t even understand.

If I was going to understand who he was, I’d have to talk with him. So, with all the hope in the world, I did a quick systems check.

….SYSTEM CHECK INITIATED….

Central Processor: Online

Motor Functions: Online

Battery System: Online….Foreign object Detected. Please notify Robronco Personnel about issue.

Memory Storage: Online

Sound Chips: Online

Voice Box: Online

Excellent; everything was working. At least that meant that whatever had caused me to shut down was taken care of. I’d investigate the notice of the foreign object after I’d talked with this pony.

“....Excuse me….”

The pony turned his head towards me, looking very confused. He looked at me closer; more importantly my eyes.

Thinking he didn’t hear me, I decided to try again. “Excuse me.”

The stallion’s eyes widened, “Interesting; it has the ability to speak! You don’t see that in many pre-war machines; especially ones from Robronco! The T.S.I.M. might even want to have a look at him.”

What? Did this stallion really see me as just some machine? And what was that about “Pre-War” and T.S.I.M.? I had to deal with this quickly.

“Excuse me good sir, but I would appreciate it if you could please remove your hooves from my face. It is causing me some discomfort.”

The stallion did remove his hooves, but that’s because they flew back in surprise. He back against the wall, a look of utmost fear washing over his face.

“Oh, I’m sorry sir,” I said as I raised my head up. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I simply…”

I stopped as I saw his horn began to glow; showering the room with light. But I didn’t have time to look at it, because the next thing I knew I was staring down the barrel of a small pistol.

“Not one move, or I’ll blow your fucking head off!”

For the sake of myself, I did as he asked. My mouth servos shut tight, keeping me from saying another word. The stallion walked closer to me; keeping his gun pointed close to my head.

“What are you?” He asked it with the most sincere tone of hate I’d ever heard. “Some kind of cyborg? A freak science project from somepony’s lab?” He pressed the gun closer to my head, “or, are you a synth?”

This stallion wasn’t making it easy to figure out what had happened to me. He was either holding my face down or pointing a gun at me; I wasn’t able to ask anything. But I guess now was my time to answer.

“Uh, no. I am not a cyborg, or a lab experiment. And I am not sure what a synth is.” I placed a hoof on my chest; thanking Celestia that my system check had been right.

“My name is Garcon. I am a Robronco Third Generation P.A.B.. Built in the Twentieth Year of Luna’s Reign, and designed to serve my masters without question.”

The stallion’s face didn’t change, but he did pull his gun back a little. “A P.A.B.?”

“Yes, it stand for Personal Automated Butler.”

The stallion’s anger seemed to leave his face, and he slowly put the gun back into it’s holster. “Well, I guess I can understand robot butlers having the ability to speak like a normal pony. After all, I’ve seen weirder things in my days.”

Seeing this as a sign that he was more calm, I lifted myself up until I was in a sitting position. I looked down at my body, hoping everything was still in tack. My outer skin was still there, though there was a long section of it that had been sewn back together.

My white shirt and black vest were gone, though I had no clue as to why. More than likely this stallion had removed them.

“So, if you’re a robot butler, why is it that you look and act like a regular pony. The only machines I’ve seen that do that are synths, and you clearly aren’t one of them.”

The stallion took a seat across from me, giving me a good look at how he was dressed. He wore a dark black jacket; patched up in many places. Leather pads covered his legs, and he wore a gun holster near his flank. An image of a wrench served as his cutie mark.

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “My programing always made sure I did whatever my masters told me to do.”

I paused, thinking back to the times I’d acted or felt different inside. “But sometimes, I’d have a feeling that would go against that programing. It was almost as if it wasn’t there, or if there was a problem.”

The stallion nodded. “Well, it certainly looked like you had some problems with your system. When I was looking through you, almost every major part needed to be replaced or repaired.”

I raised an eyebrow questionably. “Yes….about that, would you mind telling my why you were poking around my system?”

“Well I was trying to fix you,” he retorted. “I found you buried under a pile of dirt in the room out front. I thought you were a dead pony, until one of my magnets stuck to your leg. After that I opened you up and started repairing you.”

What? This stallion was starting to make no sense again. Buried? Room out front? None of this was right at all.

“It’s not in my programing to disagree sir, but I know where I was before this. I was standing in my master’s living room when the megaspell went off. After that, I shut off and restarted here.” I paused. “Wherever here is.”

The stallion looked me over, looking very confused. “Uh, son, are you saying you shut down when a megaspell detonated near here?”

“Yes,” I replied.

The stallion sighed, “son, a megaspell detonated here one hundred and ninety years ago.”

What? Now this stallion was making even less sense. It couldn’t have been one hundred and ninety years; it just wasn’t logical! Besides, he didn’t look like the most sane of ponies. I mean, just looking at his outfit was a simple way of showing it.

“I’m sorry sir, but that can not be right. I was in Paradise Acres when the megaspell went off. Plus, I was in my master’s home; not yours.”

“Oh really,” he replied, now looking slightly annoyed. “Then tell me, does this room look familiar to you?”

I turned my head around, only now looking at the room we were in. It wasn’t very big, but it held a lot of items. I saw on a large desk in the corner, while another desk sat on the other side. It was piled with different parts and blueprints, all looking very wore out. The floor was wooden and covered in layers of dust. The doorway was next to the second desk, with the door lying above a hole in front of it.

….wait….it couldn’t be. The layout of the room, the desk, the door….and even the lack of windows.

“This….this is Master Smithson’s study!”

I jumped off the desk and ran towards the door. I had to see the rest of the house….I had to know this couldn’t be true!

But I was soon running down a very familiar hallway. It too had peeling wallpaper and dusty floors, but I ignored it. Instead, I ran to the end of the hall and out into a large room.

“....No….”

It was the living room; covered in dust, dirt, grime, and filled with busted furniture. The pictures still sat broken on the floor, while the couch and chairs had rotten away; almost ready to collapse. In front of the window sat a large section of the roof, which had probably collapsed into the house some time ago.

“This….this can’t be real. This has to be a dream!”

The stallion walked up next to me, looking over the room with me. “Sorry buddy, but it’s all real. Nopony’s lived here for one hundred and ninety years….when the megaspells hit.”

This, wasn’t right! Everything was broken, years had passed, I’d been inactive! But all that was a fraction as important as what was going through my head right now.

“My masters….THE STABLE!”

Not thinking about what I was doing, I ran out the front door and out into the neighborhood.

***

It was completely empty.

Houses that once held families now looked decrepit and empty. The paint had long since worn out, leaving a faded remnant behind. The asphalt was cracked and missing in places, while the sidewalks were being overtaken by brown weeds.

The grass had turned a disgusting looking black, and all the trees had lost their leaves. Overhead, the dark grey clouds from earlier were still present, but now had a much more depressing feel to them.

But none of that mattered right now. I focused on running until I came to a familiar dirth pathway outside the neighborhood. I ran down it until I came to the large cave entrance; still surrounded by a fence. The gates had rusted off, and were now lying next to the openings.

I ran through the gates and into the cave, igniting my horn so that I had some light. Rocks piled in different places; more than likely meaning they’d fallen from the ceiling. But I simply ran around them, and didn’t let anything distract me.

I came to a corner, and once I’d turned it, found myself at my destination. In front of me stood a large metal cog-shaped door. In the center was a circle with the numbers 32 painted in dark yellow paint.

“How do I get inside,” I said to myself, looking around for anything that would hold a clue. That’s when I noticed the small control panel sitting beside the door. It was rusty, but all the buttons and keys looked intact.

I walked over and scanned the panel, noticing that it had a place for cable connections at the top. “Let's see,” I said before reaching behind me and pulling a cord out of my back. Normally it was used for downloading new software, but now it had a new function.

I plugged it into the panel and activated the connection.

….Connection Successful….

….Communicating with System….

>System Requires Stable-Tec Issued Password. Please contact a Stable-Tec Representative for information<

“I don’t think so,” I thought, and began working my way through the system. Stable-Tec had installed many different firewalls into their system, but I soon found my way through.

“Almost….Almost….got it!” I said. “Password is TSS-04.”

I quickly typed the code into the panel and hit enter. Soon, I heard the sound of machinery working behind the door. I stepped back, not knowing how it would open.

Not a second later, the door was pulled into the Stable. It rolled along a set of tracks before stopping, leaving a large hole where it had been. Slowly, I walked through the opening and looked around.

Everything looked old. The small stairway in front of me was covered in rust, as was the walls and ceiling. I walked up the stairs, finding a second level where the inside panel sat. A set of terminals sat along the nearby wall, but they were all turned off.

“Hello….is anypony here?” I called. My voice echo around the room, which I took for a sign that were was nobody nearby.

“Maybe they’re deeper in the Stable,” I said, heading to a door opposite me. But I hadn’t even reach it when I heard the sound of running hooves behind me. I turned around, and saw the stallion from the house rushing after me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. This wasn’t something I needed help with, and he would more than likely keep telling me confusing things anyway.

The stallion stopped in front of me, looking both concerned and angry. “You ran out of my house without even saying anything. Then I chase you down here, and I find that you’ve opened the damn door! What exactly are you up to?”

I snorted; this stallion was being very rude. “I’m here to see if I can find my family. I haven’t accepted that one hundred and ninety years have passed; and I won’t until I look around this entire stable.”

This was the time I expected the stallion to retort; or maybe try and drag me back outside. Instead, he sighed and looked at me sadly. “I’ve heard rumors about Stables, and not all of them have been great. Just going to warn you now; if you look around in there, you might not like what you find.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I turned around and opened the door. Instantly, my cameras became foggy and my internal systems alerted me of drastically decreasing temperatures.

“Damn, it’s freezing,” said the stallion. The both of us walked through the door, but I also cleared my cameras of the fog on their lenses.

We were in a long hallway, which was itself covered in layers of frost. Two doorways were present; one on each wall. I couldn’t see anypony present, but I knew that they had to be here somewhere.

“If you’re coming; keep up,” I said before heading towards the first doorway. I could feel the crunching of ice beneath my hooves, as well as the sound of water droplets falling to the ground.

The stallion followed behind me, shivering slightly thanks to the decreased temperature. “Why the hay would they keep this place so damn cold?”

“It does not matter,” I replied as I reached the door. “What does is that I find my family as soon as possible.” I pressed the open button, causing the door to slide up into the ceiling.

The room on the other side was filled with beds. Six sets of bunk beds filled the room, along with six dressers and a bathroom. Each bunk was empty, as well as each of the dressers. Unicorn (as I decided to call him until I learned his name) walked into the room and began looking through everything.

“No sign of anypony living here in a long time,” he said while looking through some boxes. “Everything’s got dirt or dust on it.”

“Maybe this area hasn’t been used in a while,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly in the best spot, and it seemed too small for a group of ponies to share.

Unicorn entered the bathroom and began looking through the many cabinets. Eventually he walked out with a small yellow medical kit floating beside him.

I raised an eyebrow questionably at him, to which he replied with a shrug. “What, Stables have some of the best loot in the Wasteland. You can’t expect me not to grab whatever could be valuable.”

“Is this really what the world has come to; stealing to make sure ponies have a future?”

Unicorn walked up to me, looking into my eyes with a look of loathing. “I wouldn’t expect a robot who’s been asleep for years to understand. But the world went to hell and back faster than ponies could adjust. Nowadays, we do what we must to survive.”

And that included going against what made Equestria great in the first place? Having that kind of thinking would only lead to a world worse than before. I just hoped that others had the same thinking as me.

I turned away and headed towards the door on the other side of the hall. A lit-up sign above the door read OVERSTALLION. “Wonder what that is?” I said while I opened the door.

The room was at least twice as big as the last one. Lavish wooden paneling made up the walls, while the floor was simple concrete. A small couch sat in the corner; covered in dust and grime. In the center of the room sat a half-circle desk, atop which was a small lamp and terminal. Behind the desk was a set of three computer systems, which were all running.

“Hu, wonder what this room was for,” I said as I walked inside. There wasn’t any sign of life in here either, not even hoof prints in the dust covered floor. More than likely, that meant that nopony had been here in awhile too.

Unicorn walked in behind me, taking in the look of the room. “Overstallion’s office. I heard that whoever was the overstallion was the one in charge of the Stable.”

“Well it couldn’t have been one of my masters, so I’m going to look elsewhere.” I turned around and headed towards the door. But Unicorn instead walked over to the desk.

“I’ll poke around here for a bit. Who knows, I might find something even more valuable.”

“Whatever,” I replied as I left the room. “What you do is none of my concern.”

The only door that remained was the one at the end of the hallway. Above it was labeled MAIN AREA, which I hoped would mean there would be ponies on the other side. Ones that I could ask about where my family was.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I opened the door and walked into the room beyond.

***

“...What?”

The room on the other side was the largest room I’d ever been in. The walls were as high as a water tower, and the floor stretched out for at least the distance of an entire city block.

The entire floor and walls were covered in frost. Certain parts had full pieces of ice covering them, while others had small pools of water. But all that was nothing; it was what occupied the room that was really amazing.

The whole room was filled with pods! Each one was egg shaped, and had a clear top to it. A small tube ran from the back of them to an inlet hole on the floor. Small terminals sat by each one, which were either broken or flashing. The insides of the pods were covered in red cushions, which looked torn up and faded.

“What….what are all of these doing here?” I walked down the center aisle between the pods, looking over each one. They all seemed to be deactivated, but some still had traces of ice plastered to the glass.

I hoped that this was some kind of laboratory section of the stable; that there would be another doorway to the lower sections somewhere here. I looked along the walls as I walked, scanning for any sign of a doorway.

“Come on, come on, there has to be a door somewhere.”

But soon, I came to the end of the room. I hadn’t seen any sign of a doorway, not even a latch or terminal. Hoping my cameras weren’t fully operational, I did another scan of the room. I looked along the walls and even on the floors; but still I came up with no other doorway.

“No….it can’t be true,” I said as I sat down in the middle of the room. “My family can’t be….gone.”

P.A.B.’s weren’t programed to be able to cry….but I was able to be sad. Because my family, the ones I’d promised to find, were gone. I’d failed; I’d failed as a butler and as a family member!

I heard the sound of hooves approaching me, but I didn’t turn around. I kept on staring at the frost covered floor in front of me.

“I tried to warn you,” said Unicorn. “I said you wouldn’t like what you found. Stables are never seen as good in the Wasteland.”

“....what am I supposed to do now? My family is gone; I have noone to serve.”

Unicorn sat down beside me, before placing a hoof on my back. “Why don’t you be your own pony? You can talk, walk, and think like a pony. Why not roll with it and make a new life for yourself?”

“Because that’s not in my programing!” I retorted. “I’m meant to serve my family for my entire life. And….and I made them a promise; a promise that I would find them once they left the stable.”

I shouldn’t have given up my spot….I shouldn’t have disobeyed orders. I just HAD to help that mare, and leave my masters without me. Now they were gone….and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Unicorn sighed, before reaching into his bags and pulling out an item. It looked like a large glass ball with a red color to it. He tapped me on the shoulder and, when I turned around, handed it to me.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s a memory orb,” he replied. “It lets unicorns see memories of other unicorns. I found this one in a box in the Overstallion’s office.”

“Why would I want this?” I asked, not bothering to have another look at the object. I failed to see how this would help me with anything that was currently going on.

“Well, I thought you would because it’s got your name on it.”

Wait, what? I looked down at the orb, and saw a label covering the front of it. Written across it was GARCON. The writing was pretty sloppy, but that wasn’t my main concern. That was, “Who would leave something like this for me?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say maybe it was one of your family members. Perhaps they guessed you’d come looking for them here,” said Unicron (I’d ask for his name later).

Was that possible; could my family have known I’d come here? I had a feeling the answer would be on this memory orb, but I didn’t know how to operate it.

“Uh, how does this work?”

Unicorn rolled his eyes, clearly frustrated on having to be my new-world interpreter. “You encase it in your magic. After that, well, just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

I had know idea what he meant by that; but at least I knew what to do. I just hoped that this orb could give me a clue as to where my family had gone.

So, with one last look at Unicorn, I encased the orb with my magic.

***

I felt my hardware stretch, and my central processor was starting to feel like molten steel. The pain was there only for a short second, before the images from my cameras changed.

I was in the main entrance again, looking at the stable door. It was open, showing the large cave outside. But then, an alarm began to ring as the door started to roll back into place.

I tried moving to see who’d done it, but I found that I couldn’t! I had no way of moving my body, or even speaking! It was as if my systems had shut off again, but I was still able to feel the floor below me.

But then, I felt something else. I felt….sad. Waves of emotion ran through me, giving off the sense that things were not okay.

“We did it….we’re safe.”

Wait a minute, I knew that voice. It was Master Smithson! I tried moving my head around, but I couldn’t! Besides being able to think, I had no control over what was going on!

But then my head moved left….and I saw my family! They were all standing together next to the pony from the gate. All of them had sad looks on, and were looking towards me.

“But Garcon is still out there….will he be alright?” asked Master Ruger.

Mistress Daisy placed a hoof on the young master’s back. “Of course he will honey. After all, robots are supposed to be very smart.”

The young masters looked at each other, though I had a feeling they didn’t believe that. And as it turned out, they were right.

“I know this must be hard for you,” said the guard beside them. “But remember that you are all safe now. It’s time for your new lives to begin.”

I felt Master Smithson being unsure, but he knew this was for my family. “So where do we go from here?”

“Right this way,” said the guard, pointing towards the door on the other side of the room. He began walking towards it, so the rest of us began walking after him.

We passed through the door and into the hallway beyond. Other ponies were also making their way down the hallway, towards the open door at the other end. A few ponies in jumpsuits stood near two closed doors, looking over clipboards hanging from their necks.

Soon we passed through the door and into the large room beyond. Many ponies were standing around the area; many looking at the pods with confusion. Half of them also had on jumpsuits, while others were either in normal clothes or currently putting jumpsuits on.

“Well I guess I should be the first to say welcome to Stable 32,” said the guard. “This is one of our most advanced facilities; not that the others aren’t great though.”

“That’s...great. But what are all these pods for?” asked Master Smithson.

“Oh, these pods,” asked the guard. From the way he said it, it almost seemed as if he was nervous. But for what exactly I….or more correctly Master Smithson….didn’t know.

“Well, their decontamination pods. It’s possible you all could have suffered some radiation poisoning while outside. So to be safe, all stable residents will be required to enter these pods. Once that’s done, we’ll make our way deeper into the Stable.”

Master Smithson didn’t seem exactly certain about this; after all, a megaspell hadn’t even gone off in the area when they ran in here. But if this was to truly be their home from now on, he knew that they had to follow rules and regulations.

A pony in a lab coat handed something to the guard, who replied in kind before turning to us. He was holding a small box, which he promptly placed in front of the family.

“Now, we require that all residents put on their stable jumpsuit before we begin decontamination. Of course, sizes are provided for both adults and foals.”

I looked down at the box, before opening it with magic. Inside were four sets of blue jumpsuits, each with the number 32 printed in yellow on the neckline. Yellow lines ran down the front, which wrapped around the backside before completing the loop.

Master Ruger picked one up, looking it over carefully. “Uh, will this protect me when the Zebras come?”

The guard laughed, “don’t worry about that; the stable will protect us from both the megaspells and Zebras. Plus, we have ample security, like myself, here to protect you.”

The young master shrugged before beginning to put on his jumpsuit. Master Smithson wasn’t too worried about their looks or defensive qualities. He seemed to have other things on his mind.

Quickly, he used his magic to zap the jumpsuit right onto his body. After which, he turned again to the guard. “What exactly happens after we are finished with the decontamination and have gone deeper into the stable?”

The guard smiled, though it didn’t look very reassuring. “Oh, we’ll be going through all that in orientation.”

He looked back at the family, who were all dressed in their new jumpsuits. Mistress Daisy and Mistress Acorn kept looking over themselves; ogling at how the new clothing looked on them.

“Alright then; everypony has their jumpsuit now,” he said. He turned towards the pods and began walking down the center aisle. “Let’s get you four in your pods so we can get started.”

It was only then that Master Smithson realized that every other pony was sitting in their pods. Each one had it’s top open, so everypony was now watching them walk down the aisle. Now, the surge of embarrassment was beginning to flow.

Soon they reached the end of the room, where the last remaining pods were located. There were four; two on each side of the aisle.

“Just step into the pods, and we’ll begin decontamination,” said the guard.

I looked at the pod questionably; the makeup of it didn’t seem like it was meant for quick cleaning. The insides were padded; why have that unless you’d be in there for a while. I was about to voice my concern with the guard….but then noticed that I was the last one that had to enter their pod.

Mistress Daisy and Mistress Acorn were sitting in their pods across the aisle, while Master Ruger was in the one next to mine.

“Come on honey, let’s make this quick,” said Mistress Daisy.

Well….maybe his concerns were ill founded. Maybe the padding was there because they wanted to make it more comfortable for us. So, I climbed into the pod and sat down on the padding.

“Alright, everyone’s in.” The guard walked towards the end of the aisle, looking over each pod. “Start the procedure!”

I watched as a pony in a lab coat began typing on a terminal. The pod lids all slid shut, encasing me in a small space. If I’d been claustrophobic, I might have started freaking out.

….Procedure Started….

….Resident Vitals: Normal….

I heard the voices coming from a nearby speaker. It reminded me of the system updates my central processor gave when I was downloading a new system.

But then, I felt the temperature drop. It wasn’t like when I was myself; those times it was just my processor telling me it was colder. Now, I could FEEL the temperature drop.

And it dropped rapidly. My breaths became ragged, and I could see my breath forming into steam. The glass of the pods began to become covered in frost; to the point where I couldn’t even see outside.

I thought about raising my head to try and see….but I didn’t. Instead, I began to feel sleepy. My head dropped onto the soft padding, and my eyes slowly slid shut.

The last thing that I registered was that voice, speaking as if nothing was happening.

Procedure Complete in 5...4...3...2...1

***

I didn’t know what had happened.

All I knew was that, when I opened my eyes again, I was covered in frost. The padding was beginning to become wet, with little pockets of water forming in places.

Droplets of water were falling from the glass top, which was starting to become see-through again. I barely had any time to register what was going on when the top hissed and raised up. Fresh air rushed into the pod as the temperature began to rise.

Since my muscles still felt shut off, I slowly raised my head to full height. I watched the other pods began to open, revealing the half-asleep ponies inside. The room itself was covered with ice and frost, which was slowly beginning to melt.

Quickly, I looked over at my master’s pods. They to were starting to wake up; though they looked a little more shaken than I felt.

“RISE AND SHINE OLD HAGS!”

My head turned to the sound of the voice, which was coming from the area where the main door was located. From here, I saw three ponies standing before the aisle.

Two of them were dressed in yellow hazmat suits. Through the large dome on their head, I saw that they were both unicorns. One had a dark green mane and a yellow pelt. The other had the opposite; a yellow mane with a dark green pelt. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were twin sisters.

The third pony, however, looked completely different. He had a dark grey pelt with a chestnut mane and matching goatee. He wore a leather jacket and had metal braces attached to his legs. His cutie mark was a firing pistol, and a scar ran across his right eye.

One of the mares in the hazmat suit looked at the stallion. “Please Hatchet, we don’t want to startle them right when they wake up. We need to take care of this calmly.”

The stallion, known as Hatchet, snorted. “What’s the point; you’ll tell them the truth eventually. Why try and make this easy when I already know the outcome?”

“Because you work for us, so we do this our way. Or do I need to talk to Chancellor Isotope about this?”

The stallion rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything more. While this was happening, ponies were beginning to crawl out of their pods. Some were able to get out fine, while others fell to the ground the moment they were over the edge.

I looked over at my family, who were starting to move out as well. Mistress Daisy and Master Ruger easily flew out of theirs, while Mistress Acorn used her magic to float onto the ground. As for me, well I found myself igniting my horn and teleporting onto the floor.

“Is everyone alright,” asked Master Smithson.

“I am,” said Mistress Acorn. “Though, I am still pretty tired. And it’s really cold!”

“Yeah, what happened?” asked Master Ruger.

“I’m not sure dear,” said Mistress Daisy. She looked at me, having a very disheartened look on her face. “But I have a feeling that it wasn’t good.”

I had the same feeling; that didn’t seem like any normal medical procedure I’d read about. Ice was used to temporarily calm broken bones or help with headaches. Nothing about what had happened had anything to deal with decontamination.

“EXCUSE ME, MAY I HAVE EVERYPONY’S ATTENTION!”

I looked back up at the three ponies, along with every other pony who’d crawled out of their pods. Some looked confused, while others were looking very angry.

“I know that you all might have questions, or might be confused about what is happening.”

“Yeah, like what the hell happened to us in those pods!” screamed a pony.

“And where’s the guards and other ponies who were here a moment ago?” screamed another.

Soon, the whole room was filled with ponies screaming out questions. Some were keeping quiet, but others were becoming restless with the waiting.

BANG!

The whole crowd fell silent, and looked up at Hatchet. He had a gun clutched in his mouth, which was pointed up at the ceiling. He quickly loaded another bullet into the barrel before holstering it.

“Everypony shut the FUCK up and LISTEN!” he screamed.

The room was silent; except for the sound of water falling from the walls and ceiling. The pony in the hazmat suit swallowed, before turning back to the crowd.

“Okay….now I need everypony to listen carefully. This Stable is no longer safe; we’ve been given orders to move you to a new location. One that is much safer and more well equipped to handle all of your needs.”

I was sure that nopony was going to say anything. After the show that Hatchet had made, I wouldn’t want to be the one to break his one rule.

“But….it’s dangerous outside!”

My head quickly turned, and saw that Master Ruger and moved forward. Everypony was soon looking at him, with looks of both shock and uneasiness. The ponies in hazmat suits looked at each other; whispering between themselves.

One of them turned back to the crowd, but had her eyes set on Master Ruger.

“Yes, it is dangerous outside. But we have a way to transport you all without bringing any harm to you.”

The mare in the other suit walked forward. “If you have anything in this stable you need to get, I’d suggest you get it now. We’ll be heading out in 25 minutes.”

Ponies began talking amongst themselves; some about the ponies in front of us, others about what had happened. My head spun around to look at my family.

“I’m not sure about these ponies. They don’t look like officials or military personnel,” said Master Smithson.

Mistress Daisy walked over and put a hoof on my shoulder. “I know dear, but do you really want to stay in this place? I don’t think Stable-Tec had any intention of having us live here.”

“So what? Are we supposed to just trust what these ponies are saying? For all we know, they could be leading us into a place even worse than here!”

“That’s something we’re going to have to risk!” Mistress Daisy was now looking very angry; more than she’d ever been when I was serving them. “I’m not letting the kids stay here, and I’m not letting them go outside.”

I could feel the rage building inside Master Smithson. He felt like he was ready to explode with anger. But for his sake, Mistress Acorn spoke up.

“But if we leave, how will Garcon find us?”

The two parents looked down at the filly. She looked like she was ready to cry, only barely holding back tears. The two looked at each other again, both having faces of concern.

“...she’s right. If we leave, we need to make sure Garcon has a way of finding out where we went.”

I already knew that they did find a way, or else I wouldn’t be looking at them right now. Master Smithson raised a hoof to his head, thinking about what to do. He was like that a full minute before looking at the family.

“Don’t worry….I have an idea.”

***

I opened my eyes with a jolt.

The sight of my family was gone, and instead replaced by the degrading site of the stable floor. The ice on it was gone, replaced by the sight of melt water. I was able to look down, and found that I was once again in my normal body.

“Bought time you got out of there.”

I looked up, and saw Unicorn sitting in one of the pods. He had a small pistol in his hooves, which he was cleaning with magic. A small pile of loot sat next to him, along with a single stable jumpsuit.

“How….how long was I out?”

He placed the gun into the bag and looked down at me. “At least an hour. I didn’t know how long you’d be at it, so I took a seat and waited. At least this one wasn’t a day or month long one.”

Grabbing the supplies next to him, Unicron lept out of the pod and walked towards me. “So, did you find out what happened to your family?”

I looked around the room, trying to remind myself that ponies had once been here. “They were….frozen….in these pods. Some ponies came here and let everypony out. Then they said they were taking them to another location….but I don’t know where.”

Unicorn’s widened in surprise, then he slowly looked directly at me. “Well, then that means they’re not here. And for me, that the cue to head home.”

He began to walk towards the doorway, “I’d follow if I were you. Unless you really think there’s something else here you need to find.”

I could already tell there wasn’t anything left for me to find here. My masters left behind the one thing that would give me the best clue to find them. Now, I had to work with that clue.

And as much as I didn’t want to admit it, Unicorn was right. I wouldn’t be doing an good sitting in this stable all day. I needed to get out and start thinking of a plan of action.

So I got up and ran after Unicorn. I caught up with him just as he was about to exit the stable. He didn’t look at me when I started walking next to him.

“I knew you’d come around.”

I didn’t reply; saying anything would only make him more smug. Instead, after we passed through the opening, I encased the control panel with my magic. Soon, I heard a familiar alarming ringing.

I didn’t look back as the door of Stable 32 rolled along it’s track before sliding back into place.

***

It almost felt like things were back to normal.

Here I was, once again in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the house’s owner.

Bolts, as I’d learned he was called, had instantly gone to his “workshop” once we’d arrived back home. He said he didn’t want to be disturbed, so I was left to myself for the time being.

While finding my family was my main goal at the moment, my programming was still in effect. And with one hundred and ninety years off, the house did seem to need a lot of work. So, with a new perspective, I tried cleaning the house.

But I quickly learned that things were a lot harder to clean after years of neglect.

I tried my best to wax the floors, but nothing I tried could get the remnants of magical fallout from within the wood. And don’t even get me started on the futility of trying to dust a house that’s half collapsed. And the family cart! How was I supposed to paint it with no paint, and the fact that half of it had been torn apart!

With that, I decided to abandon my pursuit of making the house look good. Instead, I found myself walking into the kitchen. The appliances were either rusted to nothingness or had been salvaged for their parts. The island was still standing, though it did look a little dusty. The tile floors though, were the worst! Dirty and grime had covered them, making it seem like I was walking outside!

But still, I found that there were still tools for cooking present. A small fire pit sat near where the table had been. An empty pot was hanging over it; just waiting for something to be thrown in.

“Food perhaps,” I said to myself. After all, I was programed to have the same skills as some of the best chefs in Equestria. Even after sleeping for one hundred and ninety years, I was sure I could whip something up.

But after lighting the fire and filling the pot with….well….brown water, I found myself with some rather odd food choices. Boxes of Sugar Apple Bombs still sat in the cabinet, but I knew they must be past their expiration date. The same went for the Deviled Eggs and Sweet Rolls. But it's when I got to the fridge that I was really surprised.

Upon opening it, I found large slabs of MEAT sitting inside! Each one has wrapped in a large piece of old newspaper, and had red juices almost flowing out of them.

“This….I can work with.” After all, new forms of food had been required when the war began. So, it was only natural that meat had been found to be a reliable food option. And because of that, my list of recipes included ones for meat products.

So, I took out a slab of meat and set it onto the table. After which, I pulled out a knife and cut the meat into small squares. I gathered some strange looking vegetables, and also cut them into smaller bits. After that, I took the batches and poured them into the boiling water.

After a while, the room was filled with the smell of simmering stew. I’d actually found some spices in the lower cabinets, so now it would taste even better.

And then just as the stew was complete, Bolts walked into the room. His face was smeared with grease, but what really stuck out was his mouth. It was hanging open, with a small slab of drool spilling out.

“What is that smell,” he asked.

“Stew,” I replied as I poured the concoction into a cracked bowl. I floated it over to the table, and Bolts was soon sitting in front of it. “Dinner is served.”

“I….uh….I’ve never been served food before. Usually have to make it by myself.” He encased a spoon in magic and plunged it into the stew. “This is….different.”

“Well I had to work with what I had, so please tell me if it’s not to your liking.” It may have sounded sarcastic, but I really meant it. I’d done the same with my masters back then, and it was still in my programing.

Bolts brought the spoon to his mouth and ate the concoction. Instantly, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped. Knowing what was in the stew, I feared the worst.

“Not good?”

“Good….IT’S AMAZING!” Bolts threw away the spoon and plunged his head into the bowl. I simply watched in confusion as he gulped down the who stew. Eventually he raised his head, letting pieces of meat and liquid drip down from his mouth.

“That….that was the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten. How did you make something that good?”

I levitated the bowl away and placed it into the rusted sink. “I was programed with the cooking skills of some of the best chefs in Equestria. Plus, I had some recipes for meat products in my database.”

“Now I can see why your family loved you so much. Having you around must have been great.” He stepped down from the table and headed towards the doorway.

“When your done playing around, meet me in the workshop. I have something that might be of use to you.”

Wow….that was almost total dejavu. Just like the day the megaspells hit; somepony asking me to meet him when I was done with the dishes. I didn’t know if it was some kind of coincidence, or if Celestia was playing tricks on me.

Either way, I cleaned the bowl as best I could before walking to Master Smithson’s old study. Bolts was sitting at Master Smithson’s desk, with a pile of loot he’d snagged from the Stable.

“Okay, I’m here. What is it you wanted?” I walked over to an old chair and took a seat next to him.

Bolts put aside what he was working on and turned towards me. “You’re going after them, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your family; you’re going to go out and find them. Am I right or wrong?” He didn’t sound angry or curious; he just sounded normal. Even his face had a neutral expression plastered on, something that I couldn’t read.

As for his question, well that one was a given.

“Yes,” I said as surely as I could. “I made a promise to them, and they asked me to honor it. As a reliable P.A.B., I have to follow whatever order they give me.”

“Do you even know where to start looking?”

As a matter of fact, I did. It wasn’t much, but that one pony (Hatchet) was easily the most memorable of the three. If I wanted to know where my family was, the first thing to do was track him down.

“One pony stood out in the memory orb. If I can find him, then I can find out where he took my family.”

Bolts rubbed his chin, “what did he look like?”

My memory processors recorded everything I saw, so I able to get a clear picture of the pony.

“He had a dark grey pelt and chestnut mane, with a matching goatee. He wore a leather jacket, and had a firing pistol as his cutie mark. And he had a scar running across his face.”

Bolts thought for a moment, but then shook his head. “Sorry, nothing comes to mind.” He stopped shaking his head and looked at me, now having on a serious face.

“But from what you said, he could be a hired gun. Ponies like them can be found all across Equestria.” He rubbed his chin again; thinking. “If you had to start somewhere, I’d try Trotsville. Ponies go through there all the time before heading towards Baltimare.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I guess it’s the best I can go on for now.”

Bolts stopped rubbing his chin and turned back to the desk. He quickly shifted the items around, before pulling out a small piece of hardware.

It was a small watch looking thing, except this one had a rectangle screen and was a lot bigger. A small geiger counter sat in the left hoof corner, and a small dial sat below that. The screen was cracked, and below it were two buttons. The last one was gone; with the wires sticking out of the hole.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s a PipBuck,” said Bolts. “They gave these out to everypony who went into the Stables. I’ve heard that they’re infused with magic, and come with a lot of features on them. Ones that could help a pony like you.”

“Robot,” I corrected (no use saying it if it wasn’t true). “Also, this one looks a little broken.”

“True,” replied Bolts. He encased the device with his magic, giving off a warm glow. But then, the device shattered, leaving in it’s place a large electronics chip. It looked normal enough, but in the center was a small blue crystal.

“But the main chip is still working. So, if we plug it into you, there won’t be any need for the metal casing.”

I looked at the chip with a hint of caution. My system was very sophisticated, so I didn’t know if this would work. It could reject the chip, or it could corrupt my entire hardware.

But, if this device really had functions that could help me on my quest, then I was ready to try. After all, Bolts had fixed me once already. Surely he could fix me again….at least I hoped he could.

“Alright then, let’s give it a try.”

“Okay….I’m going to need you to turn around and stand still.” Bolts hopped down from the chair and walked over to me.

I turned around and sat on my haunches; waiting for this to be over. Bolts walked behind be, and soon I felt a strange sensation moving down my back. But I did as he had asked and didn’t move.

Soon, the sensation stopped and I felt Bolts moving around my processing sector. “Geez, what’s with all the wiring back here?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “Just please don’t damage anything.”

Bolts snorted, but he soon stopped moving around. I heard the sound of the chip being inserted, and not a moment later my vision was filled with new updates.

NEW SOFTWARE INSTALLED.

SCANNING….SCAN COMPLETE

SOFTWARE DATA: PipBuck MARK II CENTRAL PROCESSOR

DATA CONNECTION IN PROGRESS

DATA CONNECTION COMPLETE

HOST NOW HAS ACCESS TO ALL FUNCTIONS PRESENT IN PipBuck MARK II MODELS

The messages disappeared, and I found myself feeling quite normal again. I looked down at myself, then back at Bolts. He was looking at me curiously.

“Well, did it work?”

“I….I think so. But I don’t feel any different.”

Really, I didn’t feel anything. Nothing felt strange like when I woke up. And I didn’t have a feeling of new functions being added like when I used to get system updates. I just felt the same as I had before.

“Well, that’s the best I can do for now.” He turned back to the desk, pulling out a few more items from the pile. “I’d suggest you head out in the morning. There are a lot of things in the wasteland that come out at night.”

Since I didn’t know much about the world outside yet, I felt that would be a good idea. It would also give me time to think about what exactly I was going to do once I reached Trotsville.

But no matter what, one thing was still clear to me.

No matter what, I was going to find my family.