Fallout: Equestria - A Robot's Lament

by SYNTH4

Chapter 3: Travels

Fallout: Equestria - A Robot’s Lament

Chapter 3: Travels

“Honey, I don’t think anti-aging creme is going to fix that.”

---

It was a long night….at least for me.

After some thinking, I decided to take Bolts up on his advise; waiting until morning to head for Trotsville. After all, I was at least one hundred and ninety years behind everypony else. So if I was going into a new world, taking advice was my best bet to stay functioning.

Bolts fell asleep sometime around noon, but as for me, I was searching through my new software. The Pip-Buck chip hadn’t corrupted my system, so that left me the rest of the night to explore all the new functions it gave me.

I dug around the programing for a few hours, hoping to find something new. A few small things were instantly added; such as Inventory Hardware, Radio, and Health Observer. The last one wasn’t much good with me, since I never got sick.

After a while though, I did find a few things that could definitely come in handy. The first thing was something called the E.F.S., or Eyes Forward Sparkle. Once I’d selected that, the bottom of my vision was obscured by a small green line. A green dot pointed in the direction of Bolt’s room, which I guessed meant that it told me if there was anypony nearby.

But what I found next was even more surprising. At the very end of the programing code was a system called the Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell; or S.A.T.S. for short. And unlike the E.F.S., this one actually had an explanation of what it does and how it works.

Apparently this “spell” sped up a pony's perception, allowing them to zero in on any target they wish. But since I wasn’t a pony, I didn’t know what this thing would do for me. I tried starting it up, but all I got was a message reading: NO TARGETS.

I decided to leave testing for another time, and spent the rest of the night looking over the other programs. But ultimately, the only other important function I found was a map. I was sure I had a good view on the world around me, but I kept the function on anyway. After all, lots of things could have changed in nearly two hundred years.

Eventually the living room began to become visible with the covered sight of the rising sun. It was almost hard to believe that burning star was still moving; was Celestia still raising the sun each day? What about Luna; did she do the same with the moon?

“Questions for another time,” I said to myself. Right now, I had to focus on starting my quest to find my family. And now that the sun was up, I finally could.

But because of everything that had happened, I waited until Bolts finally woke up. After all, I had to at least say goodbye to the pony that reactivated me and gave me some new upgrades.

He finally emerged from his bed around 6 PM. I was sitting in the living room at the time, reading one of the surviving books. He walked out of the hallway and made his way towards the kitchen.

“Good Morning,” I said as I marked my place; there was no way I wasn’t going to take a book with me.

“Oh, you’re still here?” he asked, not even bothering to turn around. “I’d have thought you’d have left the moment the sun was up.”

“Normally I would,” I replied as I followed him into the kitchen. “But I wanted to say goodbye….and mostly thank you.”

Bolts sat down at the table, looking a little worn out. “You’re Welcome….I’m just glad that I helped somepony get their life back. And for you, I guess that’s litteral.”

“That’s not something I’m going to forget. Not ever,” I replied. “So, when I do find my family….I’ll come back here. And I will repay you for this.”

Bolts kept staring straight ahead, but soon let out a small breath. “It’s your choice….and I guess that generosity should continue.”

His horn ignited, and in a flash a small saddle-bag appeared in front of me. “I packed you some spare parts, and other pieces of tech that match your system. If you’re heading into the wasteland, you’re going to need them.”

“The world’s really that bad?” I didn’t want to know what kind of world I’d woken up in, but I was going to. My family was out in it, and now I needed to follow their path. If that meant new ponies and new dangers, I’d face them all.

Bolts ignited his horn again, and floated his loaded gun holster over to me. I encased it in my own magic, feeling the weight that came with it.

“Yes, it is,” he replied. “And that’s why you’re going to need that. Ponies won’t hesitate to use theirs on you.”

“Killing’s not in my programing.”

“Yeah,” said Bolts, looking away from me. “Well get it programed. You’ll need to if you want to survive.”

I didn’t know if he was right, but I hoped he wasn’t. Maybe ponies weren’t as bad as he made them out to be. But that thought wasn’t enough to stop me from latching the holster around my front leg.

“....Goodbye Bolts.”

The old unicorn simply waved a hoof at me. “Good Luck robot.”

I nodded in reply, then turned on my hooves, grabbed the saddle-bag, and headed out the door.

***

Leaving the neighborhood was just like before, but I found it hard not to look at all the abandoned houses. The ones that once housed ponies, ones that I had once seen every day.

I left those thoughts at the back of my processor as I made my way down the road. The pavement was still cracked, and black grass sprang up every few steps.

Then there was the area that surrounded the road. Other houses in the distance looked just as worn out and faded as the ones in Paradise Acres. Occasionally a smashed cart could be seen by the road or out farther; all having almost worn away to nothing.

“Those Zebras,” I said to myself. “How could they….how could they destroy this land? All the ponies that lived here….how many died?”

I could only think that the dead ranged in the millions, maybe even more. Megaspells were said to be the deadliest weapon ever created; just one could decimate an entire city.

Or deactivate one robot.

But all that was in the past; the world I knew no longer existed. Now, I had to deal with the one that was left behind. The one that held my family….and an new way of life.

I didn’t know weather it was luck or coincidence, but at that moment I got an update. In the right corner of my vision, a message appeared. It read PONYTUNES RADIO SIGNAL FOUND.

Wait….that couldn’t be right. Ponytunes was a radio station from my time. There’s no way that after all this time the station could still be operating. I mean, who would take up the time to run a radio station in a world this broken?

Wanting to know more about this, I looked through the programing and tuned into the station.

“....Welcome Back fillies and Gentlecolts. This is Ponytunes Radio, and I’m your host: The Whisperer!“

“Now I know you ponies are all wondering what’s going on in Equestria today. Thought that also means you clearly don’t care about all the unimaginable things that ponies are doing out there. But since you’re so interested, I’ll go ahead and let you know!”

“We got word coming in from the settlement of High Rise about possible TSIM activity happening around the old Baltimare Library. What those eggheads would want with some old books is beyond me. Maybe they want to burn them for fuel, or maybe they just want something to read. But either way, I’d stick clear of that place until further notice.”

“Over in the settlement of Hell Bent, reports of increased raider activity continue to rise. But before you think of taking a gun and helping the place, the Mayor has asked me to tell you to keep away. He says his ponies can handle it, and no innocent civilians need to get hurt.”

“Well, it seems that’s all the news I have for you right now folks. But stick around, cuzz we’ll be playing your favorite tunes all day long. In fact, next up is one of my favorites from good Old Pony Marcus. Thanks for listening everyone, and remember to tune back into Ponytunes Radio. The only radio station in Baltimare that brings you non stop music and news!”

Got a doll, baby, I love her so
Nothing else like her anywhere you go
Wow, she's anything but calm
A regular pint sized magic bomb

Magic bomb baby, little Magic bomb
I want her in my wigwam
She's just the way I want her to be
A million times hotter than TNT

***

Wow….I didn’t understand even half of what that pony was saying. Raiders? Settlements? At least that meant that ponies were starting to build places to live. But I had a feeling that “raiders” weren’t very good….at least from what that pony was saying.

However, one thing did sound familiar. “TSIM”.

Bolts had mentioned them when I’d woken up. But like everything else, I still had no idea what they were. He’d even said they might be interested in me….so, were they with Robronco? Nothing in my database had any mention of TSIM….maybe they were something else all together.

The radio said they were searching in the ruins of the Baltimare Library; did that mean Baltimare was abandoned too? The city had been one of the largest in Equestria, which I guess made it a perfect target for megaspells.

I kept thinking about that for a while, until I shifted focus back to getting to Trotsville. But I made a note to myself to go to Baltimare at some point to see what had happened to it.

***

I’d been walking for at least two hours, and the scenery hadn’t changed much. The only thing that was different was the lack of any houses out this far. Occasionally a smashed cart appeared near the road or out further away.

The radio continued to blast music, which was a small comfort for me. Hearing music from my time was a good reminder that the world might still have some class left in it.

But in the time I’d been walking, more thoughts had sprang into my processor. Many things about the world around me raised many questions. For one thing; why was the cloud cover still up? It had been like that since yesterday, yet not a drop of rain had fallen. Were pegasus’ more focused on surviving than moving the clouds out of the way?

Also, there was the road I was walking down. I’d been down this way before: back when I’d go into the city to buy anything needed for the house. Which meant that I was heading for MacIntosh Intersection; a small hamlet along the way to Baltimare.

Did that mean I’d pass that before reaching Trotsville?

I barely had time to think about that, because at that moment a small message appeared in the corner of my vision. It was red, and had the title “Radio Distress Beacon Found”!

“Distress?” Even the lowest minded ponies knew that meant somepony was in trouble. Quickly, I turned off Ponytunes and dialed into the new one.

“This is an emergency distress call from the old Militia Office southwest of Trotsville. Me and a group of ponies are held up in the top office space, and there’s ghouls all over. We’re running low on ammunition and supplies. If anypony is nearby who can help, I beg you to.”

“....This message repeats in five seconds.”

Well, at least for once, there was only one thing there that I didn’t understand. Clearly those ponies needed help, and it wasn’t too far away from where I was heading.

But what in the name of Celestia was a ghoul? Was it like a kind of ghost, or a name for a new creature? All I knew right now was that it was causing harm to other ponies.

….I could have easily walked away; just continued heading onto Trotsville like nothing was happening. “But what if that was my family….wouldn’t I want somepony to help them?”

Part of me wanted to focus solely on my mission….but I knew that I couldn’t.

I switched the distress signal off and took up the map program. A new box had been added, and I quickly selected it. The map disappeared, and a small arrow appeared in my vision; pointing to the northwest.

“Just hold on a little more,” I said before sprinting in the direction the arrow was pointing.

***

The area itself wasn’t too far away from my location. Twenty minutes of running was all it took to find the Militia Building. A small roadway lead to a large parking lot, which was filled with deteriorated carts.

I stopped at the edge of the cracked asphalt and gave the building a look over. It was roughly four floors high, with a very simple outside. The entrance was covered by a small awning, which was covered in holes. As I was looking the area over, a small notice appeared in my vision. It read “Baltimare Malita Building Discovered.”

“Well, given it’s been one hundred ninety years, I’d say it’s in okay shape,” I said to myself. Slowly, I made my way across the parking lot. The decayed carts that filled it spilled their contents everywhere; with items ranging from spoons to blood packs.

None of this was valuable to me; robots didn’t need blood. And since we don’t eat, spoons aren’t important either. But I reminded myself to come back if I ever did….for a reason I didn’t yet know.

Soon I was standing in front of the main doorway. It was made of sturdy wood; clearly meant to withstand a good attack. A single poster was nailed to it, depicting Wonderbolts raining down on an army of Zebras. The caption read “WIPE THE STRIPES: JOIN THE EQUESTRIAN FORCES TODAY!”

“And to think I used to pass by these signs, and every time I had little to no reaction.”

I kept those thoughts in check as I pushed open the door and walked inside.

***

It was a complete mess.

The front lobby was covered in dust and grime, with busted furniture piled around the walls. The front desk sat on the other side, with one lone terminal providing some light in the dark room.

“Well that’s going to make it difficult to navigate,” I said as I began looking through my new programs. “There has to be something here that can help.”

My processor sped through the programs faster than I could see. But soon, a program pulled up called “PipBuck Light.”

“Perfect,” I replied before activating it. Instantly, there was a flash and the whole room lit up. The holes in the floor and ceiling became visible, as did the doorways that lead further into the building.

“Sweet Luna! What happened to this place?” It didn’t seem likely that the ages had done this. Time doesn’t push or smash furniture.

That meant that (hopefully) something had been here before. Weather or not it was still here wasn’t certain, but a group of ponies was. And I had to find them.

“Now, the message said the ponies were trapped on the top floor. So, I need to find a staircase.”

I maneuvered my way around the holes in the floor, and soon reached the right side doorway. The hallway beyond had a few rooms with open doors. Unfortunately, a section of the room had caved in, blocking the passage.

“Okay, let’s try the other way,” I said before heading to the other doorway. But as I neared it, something appeared in my vision.

A small red dot sat in the lower section of my vision. It was moving slowly from side to side. “Wait a minute...this is the E.F.S. that came with the Pipbuck chip.”

The last time it was working, it’d showed where Bolts was sleeping. But his had appeared as a green dot….so why was this one red?

I kept an eye on the dot as I walked through the doorway and into the hallway. Like the other one, open doors spread along the walls. But thankfully, at the other end was another door with the word “Stairs” written above it.

“Perfect,” I thought as I made my way down the hallway. I gave quick glances into the other rooms, which all seemed to be old office spaces. With all the carts outside, I had to think how many ponies were here when the war began.

I was so busy thinking and walking….that I didn’t see what was coming up behind me. My only warning was a deep, blood chilling shriek. Quickly, I looked back just in time to see a pair of hooves smash into me.

The impact sent me flying onto the group, with my attacker now standing right above me. Once my sensors stopped going haywire, I looked up at the pony above me.

I screamed. I screamed louder than I ever had before.

It was a pony, no doubt about that. It had the shape and general look, not to mention a large horn on it’s forehead. But sweet Celestia, it looked more like a zombie!

Skin was hanging off it like old sheets on a dryline. I could see weathered bones underneath it, which were only covered in certain parts by disgusting slabs of muscle. But the eyes….they had no soul in them. They were just blank, and looking at me with utmost hunger.

I hadn’t even stopped screaming when the creature shot down towards my face. Quickly I brought my hooves up and tried my hardest to push it way. It’s yellow teeth kept snapping; trying to bite off a piece of me.

But I couldn’t hold onto it forever….I needed a way of incapacitating it. So, using the processor Robronco gave me, I ignited my horn and encased the creature in my magic. With as much force as I could muster, I threw the creature off me and into the ceiling above.

It hit with a resounding SPLAT before quickly falling to the ground. Taking this as an opportunity, I scrambled back onto my hooves and backed away from the creature.

“Please be dead, Please Be Dead.”

But it seemed my luck wasn’t with me, as the creature soon began to slowly raise himself off the floor. If I wanted to take it out, I had to think fast.

“Okay, what do I have?” I used one of my new programs to pull up my inventory. “Scrap Parts, Scrap Parts, Scrap Parts….wait, of course!”

I ignited my horn again and quickly pulled out Bolts’ gun. It was fully loaded, with the pin already pulled back. “Don’t Hesitate to use it!” That’s what he had said.

The creature had now fully risen, and was turning it’s head towards me. With another screech, it ran towards me at an alarming rate.

Quickly, I took the gun and aimed at the creature’s head. “Celestia Help Me,” I said before pulling the trigger. The shot fired out the barrel before penetrating the creature’s head. A second later, the back exploded as the shot burst through. Instantly, the creature fell onto the ground and moved no more.

I sat frozen for a few seconds before I lowered the gun, but still kept it encased with magic. If I’d had a stomach, I’d have probably puked everything out of it.

Even for what I was, my system was still trying to process everything that had happened.

“What….was….that?!”

It seemed like something out of the horror dramas that Smithson, Ruger (and occasionally myself) used to watch. But this wasn’t fiction….this was real.

“Wait a minute, the broadcast said something about Ghouls.” I looked over the creature again. “Is this one of them?”

My mind also began to wonder more about it. Was this really, at one point, a pony? Or was it just something that looked like a pony but really wasn’t. After all, I looked like a pony but underneath is nothing but metal.

But now I had another thought. The broadcast also said that the group was surrounded by ghouls. “So how many are left?”

I kept thinking about that as I walked towards the stairs and away from the corpse behind me.

***

Surprisingly the second floor was completely empty. A few dead ghouls lay every few feet, but overall it was pretty quiet. This time though, I did look in all the rooms to see if there was anything else that needed to be shot.

Thankfully I made my way to the second stairwell without any incidents. But as I walked up them, my E.F.S. showed three more red dots.

“Great,” I said as I floated out my gun. “As if one wasn’t bad enough.”

I crept up the last steps and slid over to the doorway. The red dots were slowly moving across my vision, before stopping and moving back again.

“They must be wandering around,” I thought. “My best bet will be to sneak up on them; that way they won’t run straight at me.”

So, trying not to make a sound, I slowly crept from the doorway into the hallway. Like the others, it was a straight shot to the stairwell on the other side.

I crept to the nearest room and peeked inside, finding it empty except for a desk and some furniture. I made moved to the one across the hall, also finding it empty.

It wasn’t until I was moving to the third room that I noticed one of the red dots moving. As I looked down the hall, another ghoul popped out of the room at the end.

I counted my curses and I watched the freak turn it’s head and see me. It let out a screech before running full gallop towards me.

“Oh Dear!” I screamed as logic took over and I began to back away.

Quickly, I raised my gun and fired at the ghoul. The first shot hit it in the leg, while the second dug into it’s chest. But they didn’t seem to affect it, because soon the creature leapt in the air and collided with me.

Once again I raised my hoof in defence, but it was too slow. The ghoul bit down on my leg and started pulling at the fake skin. I could feel the pressure on the metal plates as the bone encased it.

“Hey, back off,” I screamed as I ignited my horn again. The ghoul was encased in magic, and I quickly threw it off me. But not before it took a chunk of fake skin along with it.

“Oh dear, that’s not going to look good,” I said as I looked at the exposed metal part of my leg.

The ghoul landed halfway down the hall, still with the skin in it’s mouth. But as it began to rise, I noticed the two other dots moving toward the center. Just then, the other two ghouls ran out into the hallway.

“Really!” I quickly got back on my hooves as the ghouls ran towards me. “This just isn’t my lucky day!”

Quickly, I ignited my horn and surrounded myself in a bubble of magic. The ghouls slammed into it, but weren’t able to pass through. I watched as they hit it, bit it, and even just ran into it.

“Not very intelligent.” But even so, I was still outnumbered three to one. And because of that, it would make it difficult to get a clear shot in. I needed to find a way to get shots to the head as fast as I could.

“....Wait a minute….”

When I was looking over my new programing, something had come up called S.A.T.S.. The data said it was a way for ponies to “zero in” on any part of a target they needed.

I looked through the programs until I found it. I read over the data again; just to confirm what it did. Once my theory was proven true, I selected the program.

Instantly, my head shifted until I was looking at one of the ghouls. It still scratched and hit at the bubble, but now it’s head was glowing green. I was a little confused, but then I looked down at it’s belly. Instantly, the green glow shifted downward until it too covered the belly.

“Oh, I get it. I have to pick the body part I want to shoot!”

I remembered back to when I was battling the first ghoul. One shot to the head and brought it down….I just hoped it was the same for these ghouls.

So I selected the head of each ghoul, before leaving the program. Instantly, my body moved so fast I didn’t have time to contemplate it. My horn ignited, pointing the gun at the first ghoul’s head before firing.

The bullet burst the bubble and went clear through the ghoul’s head. Blood and brain bits shot out the back as the body fell to the ground. But I only saw a second of it before my body turned to the other ghouls.

I could only watch as my gun blasted through the other two’s heads, leaving large red bloodstains on the walls. Once the last ghoul fell to the ground, I felt the programing shut down and was able to move by myself again.

“....What….was….that!” It was like my whole body was acting on it’s own. The feeling was like when I looked at the memory orb. My body moved, but I had no control over what it did.

“I’ll have to work on that later,” I said as I made my way to the final stairwell. But as I passed the ghouls, I levitated the torn off piece of skin out of the one’s mouth.

“Good show chaps, but there will be no prizes for you today.”

My magic worked on reattaching it as I passed through the doorway and walked up the stairs.

***

When I finally reached the landing, I checked my E.F.S. for any dots. But thankfully, there were none that I could see. However, I did look beyond the doorway to make sure.

The room beyond was small, but more well kept than the others. It looked like a receptionist area; with a large wooden desk on the other side and three couches along the walls. A few lights flickered overhead, showing off the amount of deterioration that covered the area.

“Now, where are those ponies?” I walked slowly into the room and looked around. But that didn’t take long, as I soon found the target of my objective. Another door sat beside the desk, along with a small intercom on the wall.

Quickly, I trotted over and gave the device a look over. It seemed relatively undamaged, so I pressed the button and waited before speaking.

“Uh, hello. Is anypony there?” I released the button and waited, hoping something happened.

There was a slight buzz of static, “Hello?”

Oh thank the goddesses, there was actually ponies in there. “Yes, hello. Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you. But who are you, and how’d you get up here?”

“My name is Garcon, and I used the stairway.”

“How can that be? There’s ghouls on almost every floor.”

“I killed them.” The thought of actually killing something was….odd. I’d never done it before, and I didn’t want to get used to it. My programing was to help others, not harm.

“You killed those things? Hu, well thanks. Hold on a moment and I’ll open the door for you.”

The door twitched before slowly sliding open. When it stopped, a dark grey earth pony with a silver mane and bullet cutie mark stepped out. He wore an old saddle with a large gun attached to it. He also wore a black bulletproof vest, that looked more worn out than it should.

“I don’t know who you are, but your timing is impeccable. I didn’t think anypony would respond to that distress call.”

“Well I couldn’t just turn away when ponies needed help. What kind of….pony….would I be if I did?” I didn’t want to inform this stallion of myself just yet, not until I’d made sure he wouldn’t shoot.

“Well that makes you better than most ponies I know.” He turned around and headed into the room. “Come on, the others will want to meet you.”

I followed the stallion into the room, which was almost as large as the floors below. In the center was a large desk, atop which sat a terminal. The far left corner held a small sitting area, which was currently occupied by a group of ponies. They all looked at me as I walked in, mostly with looks of interest.

The rest of the room was a mixture of partly collapsed roofs and sets of motherboards. Except for the area behind the desk; in the wall was a large rusty safe.

The stallion walked over to the ponies, and I followed along behind him. He stopped before them and turned towards me.

“Everyone, this is the stallion that took care of those ghouls for us.”

“Oh….thank you so much,” said one of the ponies.

“Yeah, we’d have starved to death if you hadn’t come along,” said another.

“Really,” I replied, “it’s no problem. I was just doing what I knew was right.”

“Well what you thought was right saved us,” said the stallion. “By the way, the name’s Caliber. I’m with The Defenders.”

I raised an eyebrow questionably. “The what?”

Now Caliber was looking at me funny. “You’re not from around here are you?”

“More than you could ever know,” I thought.

“Uh, yeah.” I tried my best to keep eye contact. It was one of the things Master Smithson used to do when trying to stay cool. “Not really familiar with this….area.”

“Well then allow me to enlighten you,” he replied. “The Defenders are a group of ponies who help those that can’t help themselves. We send groups to towns and cities offering help, with the simple catch that they donate to our cause.”

“Doesn’t seem to bad,” I replied. In fact, it was almost heartwarming (so to speak). Ponies actually wanting to help others, and not for any personal gain.

Caliber chuckled, “you’d think so, but it’s not all mildly clear skies and clean water. Sometimes, the enemy is too strong and we’re forced to retreat.”

He looked sadly at the group of ponies behind him. “That’s what happened to us a few weeks ago. I was patrolling outside the settlement of Bagon when a group of raiders attacked. There were too many of them; and so many civilians were dying.”

“Eventually me, another Defender called Buck, and a group of ponies escaped and tried finding a new settlement. But everywhere we turned, there was something else coming after us. We lost Buck, and up to six ponies during that time. Eventually we made our way here, only finding out too late that ghouls were already here.”

“Oh dear,” I said. These ponies had been through hell, and yet they still found a way to push on. Even after every loss, every disappearance of hope, they still made it through.

Caliber turned back to me, still look uneasy. “I know you just saved our lives, and we’re really appreciative. But you don’t happen to have any medical supplies and food do you?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m afraid I don’t.”

He sighed “sorry for asking. We’ve been without food for two days, and a healing potion would really help Lotus with her broken leg.”

“Caliber, don’t make the stallion feel quilty,” said a pink mare with a white mane and a lotus cutie mark. “He just said he doesn’t have any, and that’s that.”

The stallion blushed and looked shamefully down at the ground. I chuckled a bit; seeing a gun wielding earth pony be put down by a mare was very funny.

“I might not have any supplies, but I did pass a lot of rooms on my way up here.” I pointed at the open doorway. “I could go and see if there’s anything useful in them.”

That got a smile out of Caliber. “Would you? We’d really appreciate it if you did.”

“Not a problem at all. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I said before turning around and heading for the doorway.

***

Looking through the rooms was a lot easier without ghouls attacking you.

Most of them were simple office spaces with little to nothing valuable. There were plenty of pens, old pieces of paper, and even some rather flattering magazines. But I wasn’t having much luck in finding supplies.

Finally, my search took me again to the bottom floor. The dead ghoul still sat in the hallway; a fitting reminder of my first kill in my entire time of existence. But it wasn’t a pony….at least I hoped it wasn’t.

I checked the rooms along the first hallway, but still found nothing valuable. I entered the lobby and checked around the desk. A few draws were open, but the only thing inside was a few bottle caps.

The last draw wasn’t open, but what I found was very good. A small yellow medical kit sat inside, ready to be used.

“This should work,” I said as I levitated it out of the drawer and into my saddle-bag. “Now, all that’s left is food.”

The only rooms I hadn’t checked were the ones in the hallway with the collapsed room. I hadn’t even given it a second thought when I’d see the rubble, but now there was a reason to.

I trotted over to the doorway and looked down the decrepit corridor. All but one of the doors were open, and they only went down halfway before the rubble blocked the path.

“I’d have thought Equestria Buildings would be more intact than this after nearly two hundred years,” I said to myself.

I began looking through the first room on the right. Like the others, it was mostly paper and pens with the occasional coffee cup. Nothing that ponies could eat and digest safely.

The other opens rooms were the same; useless items for the given situation. I was almost ready to give up and head back upstairs. But there was still one more room; the one behind the closed door.

When I tried turning the handle, I found it wouldn’t budge. And even after a few hard kicks, the door still refused to open.

“Must be locked,” I told myself, which was a problem. Unless a lock was attached to a terminal or hard drive, there was no way I could open it. After all, lock picking isn’t really required for a butler to learn.

“Well, I hate to destroy private property, but…” I ignited by horn, aimed it at the door, and let loose a blast of magic. The door flew off it’s hinges and across the room, smacking into the wall on the other side and raining dust down along the hallway.

“Whoops,” I said as I looked into the room. It wasn’t very big, but it was large enough to walk into with room to spare. Shelves ran along the wall, holding an assortment of items.

“....wow, more pencils and paper.” It wasn’t what I was hoping for; boxes of pens and paper sat on each shelf. There was also boxes of staples, paper towels, pieces of machinery, and others like it.

“Come on Garcon, don’t get discouraged yet.” I began walking around the room, checking each shelf. “There might still be something here than can be useful.”

Every shelf was like the last one; nothing but paper and pencils. I walked around the entire room, until I came to the last one in the row.

“Please be something good,” I said as I looked over the items. But it seemed like it was going to be just like the others….until I reached the bottom.

There was a box on the last shelf that had the words “for breakroom” written on the side. I pulled the box out and set it on the floor before opening it.

“Jackpot!”

Inside the box were more boxes….that all had the words “Fancy Mare Snack Cakes” written on them. They all looked a little dirty, which was mild considering the fact they were nearly two hundred years old. Of course that just lead to another question.

“Are these things even edible?”

Even if somepony could get past what they must taste like, I could only wonder what they could do to your digestive track. But even so, this was the only food I could find. So I encased the box with my magic and made my way back upstairs, with the snack cakes floating along behind me.

***

When I arrived back in the room, I found the group of ponies still hadn’t moved from the small corner. Caliber was sitting on one of the the couches, carefully cleaning his gun.

“Bon appetite,” I said as I placed the box down in front of the group.

“Back already,” said Caliber. He walked over looked inside the box, giving off a big smile when he saw the contents. “And it looks like you delivered on your promise.”

“In both ways,” I replied. I levitated the medical supplies out of my bag and over to the group of ponies. “Hope those help.”

Caliber took out a few boxes and began passing them around to the group. The ponies instantly ripped open the boxes and began devouring the cakes. I watched the whole thing with some concern.

“Aren’t you worried eating nearly two hundred year old food will have some….aftereffects?”

“Not at all,” replied Caliber. “We eat stuff like this all the time. Ponies just knew how to make food back then.”

When he’d finished distributing the food, the tossed a box over to me. “You deserve to eat too. After all, you found all of this.”

“Oh, yes, right. It’s just that….I’m not that hungry right now.” I placed the box in my saddle-bag. “I’ll enjoy it later if it’s all the same.”

“Suite yourself, but you’ll want to keep your energy up.”

Caliber sat down with the other ponies and began helping himself to a few cakes. I looked over the group, and saw one of the ponies looking through the medical supplies.

“Healing potions, bandages, med-x, and some radaway,” she said before looking behind her. “With all this, we could have Lotus’ leg fixed in no time. Not to mention your concussion Duke.”

A stallion with a red mane and brown coat looked over at the mare, not looking too happy. Then again, he did just finish off his box of snack cakes.

“I told you, I don’t need any medicine. It’s just headache. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

“Well at least take a healing potion; maybe it’ll help that ‘headache’ of yours.” She levitated a bottle of purple liquid over to him, which he sourly took.

“The others should have first pick of any medical supplies; they’re in much worse shape then I am. I mean just look at our savior; he has stitches along his chest and legs. He needs a healing potion more than me.”

I looked down at the sewn together opening at my chest, along with the patch of skin I’d reattached. But there wasn’t skin and bone under it; just metal and wires.

“Well that’s true,” said the mare. “I could look at those if you want dear. Make sure they aren’t infected or the strings aren’t loose.”

“NO!” It came out as a scream, which caused everypony to look at me strangely. I quickly regained my cool and thought about my response carefully. “I’m mean, no thank you. I’m fine, really.”

These ponies may think of me as a hero, but would they still think that if they found out what I was? After all, Bolts had turned hostile when I’d first woken up. I just had a feeling that robots that looked like ponies weren’t very popular in this new world.

The group gave me one more look before returning to their expired food. I took this as an excuse to go and sit on the chair behind the large desk. It was close enough to see everypony, but far enough away that I could have some thoughts to myself.

Needing a distraction, I turned my attention to the terminal that sat on the desk. Unlike the ones at the stable, I couldn’t just plug myself into it and unlock it. So, I turned it on and watched as the passcode screen popped up.

It was a simple job of routing through the codes to find the right one. Usually, codes for terminals were either long or short; nowhere in between. Also, depending on where you were, there could be clues as to what the code was.

The desk had only one thing on it besides the terminal and a small lamp; a picture of a very cute dog. I sifted through the codes until I found one that matched the criteria: Puppy.

I entered the code and watched as the login screen disappeared and a list of entries showed up. They had titles such as “Business Meetings” and “Family Troubles”, along with lists of things that needed taken care of.

None of that really mattered to me; it was all stuff from my time, which was long gone. Instead, I focused on the last entry in the list: Safe Lock. Once I’d selected it, there were two options: Lock the Safe, or Open the Safe.

I hit open and instantly heard a click from the wall safe behind me. I stepped out of the chair, trotted over to the safe, and opened it. Inside was a few bits, an ammo container….and a gun.

But it wasn’t just any gun; it was a magical energy pistol. I’d heard about them from Master Ruger; the company he worked for helped distribute them. And despite being almost two hundred years old, it looked amazing.

I floated the items out of the safe before walking back and placing them on the desk. The ammo container held crystal energy cells for the pistol, as well as a grenade. Master Smithson had also spoken of these; they cause big explosions when the pin is pulled.

Once everything was sorted, I loaded it all into my saddle-bags. I kept the M.E.P. outside; just in case I needed it. But as I did, my sensors registered a target moving towards me.

“Found a good stash,” asked Caliber.

“Just a few things,” I said. “Oh, here, your group could probably use these.” I pushed the bag of bits over to him.

Strangely, he looked at them as if he didn’t know what they were. “Uh, what can we do with these?”

Really?

“Don’t ponies use currency anymore. I mean, you do have settlements right?”

“Look colt, I don’t know where you came from, but we don’t use bits anymore.”

“But if you don’t use bits, what do you use as currency?”

“I’ll show you,” he replied before taking a bag from his saddle. He tossed it to me, and I caught it with my magic. When I looked inside, I saw it was filled with bottle caps.

“Bottle Caps? That’s really what ponies use for currency?”

“Hey, there available all across the wasteland. That means that ponies stuck on their luck have a chance to find some and get back on their hooves. It’s all fare with these, so we keep them as currency.”

I wasn’t sure how ponies could make changes like that when there was probably ample amount of bits left in the nation. Moreover, I left a message for myself to collect the few caps I’d found in the front lobby desk before I left.

“So,” said Caliber as he took a seat in front of the desk, “what was a pony like you doing out here by yourself?”

“I was on my way to Trotsville,” I replied. “I’m trying to find my family, and I hope to find some kind of clue to where they went there.”

Caliber gave me a sad look. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine,” I replied. “Anyway, I’m more interested about you. Now that those ghouls are dead, what are you going to do next?”

“Well I figured we’d head to Trotsville too. After all, it’s the closest town from here. Figure maybe we’ll be able to find help there.”

If these ponies were going to head the same place as me, then maybe we could help each other. “Well if you are, mind if I tag along. I could help protect your group until we arrive.”

“That sounds great. What say we head out in the morning; we should arrive there by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Fine by me, but if so you all should get some sleep. You’ll need all the energy you can muster for tomorrow.”

“I’ll pass,” replied Caliber. “Somepony needs to keep watch.”

I waved a hoof at him dismissively. “Don’t worry, I can do that. I’m not the least bit tired, so I don’t mind staying up.”

“Eh, I’m not sure. Seems dangerous to have a pony we barely know keeping watch. Especially when we’re asleep. You might try to shoot us and take everything we have.”

I raised an eyebrow questionably. “Yes, a pony who saved your lives, brought you food and medical supplies, and agreed to go with you to Trotsville is definitely going to shoot you when you all fall asleep.”

“Okay,” he replied, “you made your point.”

“So, do we have an agreement?”

“Yes, we’ll hit the hay. But if things get rough, you wake me up so I can help.”

“Deal,” I replied before turning back to the terminal. Caliber walked over to the others and explained the situation. Not long after, the ponies started laying down and closing their eyes.

Half an hour later, the room was filled with the sound of snoozing ponies. I was left with my M.E.P. and an old terminal….and my thoughts.

“For a first day, I’d say it was pretty eventful,” I said to myself. I’d learned a lot about the world, and what it would take to survive in it. Not only that, but there was also hope that other ponies were trying to rebuild.

I just hoped that somewhere out there in this burned world, my family was patiently waiting for me.

---

GARCON STATS:

Strength: 7
Perception: 9
Endurance: 6
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 9
Agility: 6
Luck: 4

New Program Added

Bullseye: You are now 25% more likely to hit your targets in S.A.T.S.

Comments

[ponyatthedisco]

It's a good start man! Keep it up, at your own pace of course