Fallout Equestria: Wanderers

by Mach Speed

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Digging Up The Past
“The further you dig, the more you find.”

The iron door to Stable 50 was large, much larger than I had thought it would be. Old and rusted, the large number on its front had faded heavily. I could barely see past it, as there was nothing but darkness on the inside of the stable. I turned to Bolts with a large grin, only just barely seeing him in the dark. “This is where we begin our journey.”

“A Stable?” Bolts asked, his voice dripping with scepticism. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask why.

“Not just any Stable. This particular Stable is where my family came from.”

“Ok… So, why are we here? Did your ancestors leave some sort of weapon here?”

“No, nothing like that.” I said, giving a weak laugh. “I wanted to come here to get more in touch with my ancestors. There may even be some information on what happened during the war, what happened to the major cities.” Bolts had kept his eyebrow raised while I spoke.

“What happened to ‘cleaning up the wasteland’?” I was stuck on that one. Other than getting some knowledge from the past, I really had no other reason for being here.

“The slavers and raiders aren’t going anywhere. Besides, there could be some leftover supplies in here.” Bolts still didn’t seem fully convinced. “Oh come on, I’m sure there’s some old tech in there you can scrounge up.” Bolts put one of his hooves to his chin to contemplate my proposal.

“Well… the makers of Stable-Tec DID also create the pipbuck, something the Steel Rangers are sorely lacking in.” He seemed to be taking to the idea more and more. “Ok then, I might be able to get a working pipbuck while we’re here and I guess some supplies wouldn’t hurt either.” I could feel my eyes roll inside my head. Turning back to the iron, door I was met with the same all-encompassing darkness. I began moving inside. The entrance was as dark as the cave, but where dusty earth had once been, my hooves now trotted along cold metal.

“You think this place still has a power supply?” I asked my companion.

“If it hasn’t been damaged at all, the reactor should still be able to work. There might be a power switch in here somewhere.” Keeping my lighter held high we moved through the entrance until we found what appeared to be a small control room to the side. Before us was a panel of buttons, knobs, and levers. “Which one do you think turns on the power?” Bolts asked, assuming I would have any clue.

“Why are you asking me? You’re the one who comes from a bunker, I thought you’d have some idea of how a Stable works.”

“Stables and Steel Ranger bunkers are far more different than you think. Their respective founders may have been sisters, but they both built their bunkers, as well as their empires, very differently.” I listened intently as he spoke, all this was new knowledge to me.

“Well, we may as well try them all. If the power’s off then only one switch will work.” We began pressing every random button and flipping every switch. Time after time all we got in return was a little ‘click’. No lights, no loud noise, nothing. Suddenly, after my hoof fell onto a large red (at least I assumed it was red) button, there came a loud clunking noise from somewhere in the Stable. Slowly following it was a dull hum and finally, light. Though, something was wrong, I couldn’t put my hoof on it.

“The lights are a little dim, don’t you think?” Bolts said, looking through the dusty control room window.

“It’s probably just the grime on the glass.” I said, moving out of the small room. The lighting didn’t change once we exited. “Okay, that rules out that theory.”

“The Stable’s probably running on backup power. A century of no service would most likely cause the generators to go rusty.”

“How long do you think they’ll stay on?”

“Hmmm, a few hours, days, maybe a week.”

“That’s plenty of time. Still, we better get moving.” We moved deeper into the Stable and down a flight of stairs. We eventually found ourselves in a large, open room with many hallways branching off. “This must be the Atrium.” As I took in the sights of the rusty, dust covered walls, I heard Bolts speak up.

“Hey Clear. You are a unicorn, right?”

“I was when I woke up this morning…” (What was he going on about?)

“Then why aren’t you using any arcane weaponry?” Bolts had walked up to the point where we were almost touching noses.

“What’s it matter? They’re just weapons.” I backed up as I spoke.

“That doesn’t answer my question. I’ve only seen you use ballistic weapons. Do you have something against arcane ones?” He seemed determined to get his answer.

“No, I don’t have anything against them. My specialty is long range and I can sure as hell hit a target further away with my rifle than I could with that little laser pistol of yours.” I said as I gave the pistol around his waist a little tap.

“Then what about cleaning up?” I didn’t know what case Bolts was trying to plead but I really didn’t care as I moved to another stairwell. “With ballistic weapons, you just leave rotting corpses. Arcane weapons will turn them into easily removed piles of ash and goop.” I stopped in my tracks and turned around and gave Bolts a menacing glare.

“Because no matter how bad a pony is, no matter how they lived their lives, everypony deserves a proper burial. Remember that.” Bolts didn’t back down from my glare, he stood his ground, determined to get his answer.

“Slavers and raiders lost the right to have proper burials the moment they took the lives of innocent ponies. All the more reason to turn them to ash and scatter them to the winds.” We stood there for a good minute, my menacing glared turned to pure anger. Yesterday, I was glad to have Bolts with me, now I just wanted to pummel him.

“I think the pipbuck area is down there.” I pointed to a set of stairs that went down into a still pitch black area of the stable.

“Oh? Where are you going?” Bolts asked, sounding a bit mad himself.

“I’m going to go search for supplies.” I said, turning around to face an upward stairwell. “Meet me back here when you’re ready.” With that, I started my search for supplies and Bolts headed downstairs.

*** *** ***

I mumbled as I walked about, trying to find the medical bay. My hooves were making a dull thud as I trotted across the dust covered floor. “The nerve of him! Does it really matter what kind of fucking weapon I use? And for the love of Luna, did he have to bring the dead into the conversation? Is it so hard just to just want a proper burial for ponies? He’s just… argh!” My rambling kept me going for some time until I was brought to a small room containing a few lockers, a desk with a terminal, and some barred cells. It was the security bay where my family had worked. I was speechless as I ventured inside. The room was empty but somehow homely. I felt safe here, secure, and I found myself walking slowly towards the terminal. What could be stored within it? As I switched it on I was greeted by one file. Not a whole screen full, just one small document. Without hesitation, I opened up the file and began to read (what I assumed to be) the last message my great, great grandfather posted before leaving the Stable.

*** *** ***

One hundred and seventeen years since last entry.

Final journal entry of Head of Security, Sergeant Sober Strides.
I’ve been told by the Overmare that we, the citizens of Stable Fifty, will be venturing outside the vault for the first time in a hundred years. In fact I have been told that tomorrow will be exactly a century since the Stable door was closed. I still don’t think this is a good idea. It’s too soon. We don’t know what lies beyond these walls. A still raging war? A ruined world? A void of complete nothingness? Either way, they all sound better than Tin Foil’s crazy “otherworldly invaders” theory. We don’t even know if the world out there is safe to live in yet. Well, if I leave this world tomorrow, then I’m leaving with a glass of whiskey. In the case that we do survive tomorrow and others find this terminal, welcome to the now empty Stable Fifty. By now, the other residents as well as I have moved on to newer lives and depending on when you read this, we may very well be dead. As a security measure I have wiped this terminal of all files except this one. I wish the Overmare would heed my warnings and do the same to hers, but at least it has that password on it. Not knowing what lies outside, I have also emptied the gun cabinet. You’d be lucky to find a grain of gun powder in there now. However, I’m not without my sympathy. You should be able to retrieve some left over medical supplies and maybe something from the kitchen. I swear that food could last a million years. Whoever reads this, take care. This is Head of Security, Sober Strides, signing off.

*** *** ***

“So that’s my great, great grandfather?” I kept staring at the green screen for some time as it gave off a warm glow. He was apparently a stallion that was concerned for security but still showed compassion. It was funny, really. His name was Sober Strides, yet he said he’d exit this world with a glass of whiskey. (Good to see I’m definitely not a black sheep in the family.) My mind still raced however. What was on the Overmare’s terminal that he didn’t want others to see? “It doesn’t matter.” I said, switching the terminal off. “I should really find those supplies.” I turned my back on the terminal and trotted out, my spirits slightly lifted.

I didn’t have to go far as the medical bay was only a few doors down. I felt safer as I moved inside. Ever since I left the last room it’s felt like somepony had been watching me, and I wasn’t too happy about it. The faded smell of antiseptic could still be made out in the infirmary, even after all these years. The room was also still in good condition. A tray of medical tools were sitting next to a bed, undisturbed after so long. I moved to the far end of the room to a set of lockers and began to dig through them. Not a minute passed before I heard a sound behind me. A low groan and a slight patter followed by a dull thud. I could feel the colour drain from my face. I knew what the groan was. Slowly I turned and saw it, a radroo was entering the medical bay. Its large legs created the dull thud, while its claws tapped on the ground as it crawled inside. The groan was the sound they gave when they were ready to attack, and while the radroo before me wasn’t the largest I’d seen, it was still big enough to kill me. I moved away from the lockers and began to scoot back slowly towards the back wall, but with each step the radroo came closer.

“Easy, boy. I don’t want to hurt you” My voice was soft and low as I focused on drawing my rifle. All the while, the radroo continued to give its threatening groans. I had barely started to move my rifle when the radroo leapt forward, reared up by balancing on its large, thick tail and kicked me hard on my shoulders. The force of the kick sent me flying into the back wall and I felt parts of my rifle dig into my back. Even with my armour and duster, I still let out a pained groan. I looked up in time to see the radroo jump at me again, this time its claws and teeth bared. Acting quickly I threw my front hooves up into its chest to stop its barrage. It worked, for now. My legs were long enough to stop the roo from biting my face off, yet its claws continued to scratch at me. The claws dug into my skin, drawing blood and causing me to let out an agonising yell. At this distance, I could see every feature of the radroo’s face. It’s fang-like teeth protruding from its mouth, its fur all but gone, skin peeling away and it’s mad, soulless, yellow eyes. (Eyes? That’s it!) I didn’t have much time. The radroo was stronger than I was and kept coming closer, driven by hunger. I acted quickly as I could, focusing my magic on the tray next to the bed. I levitated a scalpel out and forced the old but sharp blade into the roo’s eye. The radroo gave a bloodcurdling wail and backed up slightly. I took the chance and kicked it back further and jumped to my hooves. I didn’t wait a second for it to recover. Instead I ran up to the roo, and while my rifle was still on my back, stuck the barrel in its mouth and pulled the trigger. BLAM! The sound of the rifle going off next to my ear was deafening but it did the trick. The roo’s head popped like a pimple from the force of the round and sprayed my face with its blood. The body went limp and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Its blood stank and its flesh already seemed semi-rotten. Panting, I picked up the shiny metal tray and looked at my reflection. My face and duster were scratched and the roo’s blood had already started to seep into my coat. It smelled worse than it looked, and it took all my strength not to throw up in my own mouth from the stench. As I wiped the blood from my face with some old wipes from the medical lockers, a thought came to mind.

“Radroos usually travel in groups. If one’s here then…” I went numb and dropped the wipe thinking where the rest could be. “Bolts!” I ran from the room and down the stairs (I hope he’s okay…)

*** *** ***

I had made it down to the lower level without seeing another radroo and with my lighter held high, I began searching for Bolts. “Bolts? Bolts where are you?” I made my way through the dark passages, and it was eerily quiet. The only thing I could hear was the patter of my own hooves against the floor. As I moved on, the patter seemed to fade away, as if I were walking on something different. I lowered my lighter closer to the floor to examine it. I was standing on some sort of grey powder. (A build-up of dust?) No, it was ash, the remains of a number of radroos. I raised my lighter and just as I started to move again, I could hear more dull thuds coming down the hallway. “Bolts? Bolts is that you?” The noise stopped, and out from the darkness leapt another roo. I began to spin my rifle round but just as it reached my face, the radroo glowed a bright red and poof turned to ash before my eyes.

“It’s about time you got here.” From the darkness emerged Bolts, laser pistol held high in his glowing magical aura. From the glow of my lighter, I could see the scratches on his legs and barding. Not as deep as my own but they should still be treated as soon as possible. “I heard your rifle go off before and by the looks of your face, you met the new residents of the Stable.”

“Yeah, can’t say I enjoyed their company. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Well… sort of…”

“Sort of? What’s that supposed to mean? Did you find a pipbuck or not?”

“Well… you’ll just have to see for yourself. Follow me.” Before I had a chance to reply, Bolts turned around and began trotting back into the darkness, his magic lighting his way.

“H-hey!” I stood there for a moment then gave chase. (Was it too much to ask to just get supplies and leave?)

*** *** ***

Bolts lead me through the dark passageways until we arrived at the Pipbuck Technician station. A small room with nothing but a few broken pipbucks on a counter. “This is what you meant by ‘sort of’? A bunch of broken pipbucks?”

“Well, yeah… When we left back upstairs I came down here and found the room, but there were no proper working pipbucks. I think I might be able to make a working one with different parts from the broken ones. They’re all the same model so the parts are compatible. It’s just a matter of putting them together.” I looked over the broken pipbucks while Bolts explained, a few of them were already very dismantled but one in the middle was starting to take shape. (That must be the one he’s working on.)

“So, why haven’t you finished it yet?”

“I can’t work on it in the dark, sure my magic helps a little but your lighter would be better, not to mention the fact that I keep constantly getting attacked by those creatures. I was waiting for you to come down and lend me a hoof.” I thought for a moment before placing the lighter on the table.

“You finish that, we get the supplies and we leave, deal?”

“Deal.” I placed my saddlebags in the corner and I was just about to move to the front when something caught my eye. Grabbing my lighter again I took it to the back wall. The glow from my lighter illuminated the wall, a grey slate with nothing to adorn it but a small layer of dust. But I saw more, a blank canvas for which an artist could create a masterpiece, something magnificent with which to brighten the room and bring it to life. I don’t know why I said it, but slowly I turned to Bolts and spoke.

“This wall could use a mural.”

*** *** ***

Time seemed to pass slowly as I waited by the door, rifle ready, as I waited for Bolts to finish what he was doing. “How much longer are you going to take?”

“It won’t be much longer, I only have I little bit more to do.”

“Yeah, you said the same thing ten minutes ago.” I could hear the little clicks he was making as he moved the small parts of the pipbuck around. It could easily be heard considering the only other noise that came from the stable was the dull hum of the generators and the buzz of the florescent lights.

“Hey, Clear, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” I didn’t dare take my eyes off the hallway, lest a radroo attack again.

“Why don’t you have a pipbuck? I mean, your family originally came from a Stable. I thought you would have, I don’t know, inherited one or something.”

“Not many ponies have them nowadays. In Sunny Springs, I know of only three ponies that still carry them. Sure, everypony had one when they left the Stable, but over time there became less and less need to use them. Most of the landscape has been documented on maps so there’s no use for that feature. Eventually, pipbucks became more of a burden than they were worth. Some ponies sold theirs. The teacher kept one as a piece of history, but most of the pipbucks just stopped working and with nopony having knowledge to fix them-“ BLAM! I shot and killed another radroo as it bounded into my crosshairs “-well pipbucks just became dead weight to most.” I finished my sentence as the empty casing clattered to the ground. “What do you expect to gain by strapping one to your ankle anyway?”

“I want to study how it works, and it would be easier to do that with it around my ankle rather than in my barding. I also managed to find a manual for it, so that will help as well.” We sat in silence again but only for a short time. “I have one more question.” Bolts said, not looking up.

“Shoot.”

“Why do you believe that all ponies deserve a proper burial, no matter who they are, or rather, were?”

“I just believe that it’s a pony’s right to be buried upon death, so that they have a final resting place. Besides, if we didn’t bury the dead, the wasteland would be full of corpses by now.”

Bolts gave a sigh “It really is a horrible place out here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but sometimes, if you’re lucky, a bit of joy will enter your days.”

“Well, there’s a little good news at least. I think I finally have this pipbuck working.” I heard Bolts clasp the pipbuck around his ankle and a green light blinked into existence from it. Standing up, I closed my lighter and pocketed it. (It’ll probably need refilling now.)

“Good. So, how well does it work?”

“Well, I made it with the parts of four Pipbuck 3000 models. Hmmm, let’s see…” Bolts began to prod at the pipbuck with his hoof “Well, the light glows.”

“Well, that’s a plus.” I exclaimed in the most sarcastic tone I could pull off. I was given a glare back from Bolts.

“It’s giving me a reading on my health, though it doesn’t seem to be distributing any medicine to help. The maps seem to be working and the radio should work once we’re out of here. But it looks like the E.F.S is only half working and the S.A.T.S are completely offline.”

“E.F.S? S.A.T.S? What?” It made me feel a little unintelligent but I legitimately had no clue what Bolts was talking about.

“The E.F.S stands for Eyes Forward Sparkle. It’s sort of like a compass, here.” He began tapping away again. “Your home town is Sunny Springs, right? Well, I just marked it on the map and now I have a little marker on the compass, but there’s supposed to be something else on it. A green light for you and red for any of those radroos still around. So, while it’s showing me where to go, it won’t show me anypony nearby. S.A.T.S stands for Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. It’s supposed to help in combat by locking onto targets, but it has a bit of a recharge if you use it too often.”

“Eh, cheap gimmicks, I’ve fared well enough without them. So, how do you know so much about pipbucks and E.F.S.s and whatever anyway? I thought you were new to them?”

“I skimmed through parts of the manual while I was repairing this one. It’s a nice piece of hardware and it’ll give me some help when it comes to hacking terminals. And we can use the maps to-“

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up.” I said, cutting him off. “You can hack terminals with that thing?”

“Well I could even before I had this. The pipbuck will just give me a boost, so to speak.” Smacking my hoof to my face I turned around and immediately headed for the door.

“Come on, I have one last place to check out before we go.”

*** *** ***

We met little resistance as we made our way up the stairs and back to the medical bay. Bolts gaged and did lose his lunch and the sight and smell of the headless radroo I left in the room. Once we grabbed what supplies we could and patched ourselves up, we moved onto the old kitchen. Unlike most of the Stable that we had seen, the kitchen was a complete mess that was torn apart by hungry radroos. We took what we could, some old stale packets of chips, some crumpled boxes of Insta-Mash and a few bottles of Sparkle-Cola left over in the fridge.

“Is this stuff safe to eat?” Bolts asked, sounding concerned for his health. “They’ve been in here without power for over a hundred years.”

“The ponies at Stable-Tec gave the residents these because they knew the food would last over a hundred years. I’m sure an extra hundred wouldn’t turn it to poison.” With the supplies safely tucked away in our saddlebags, we moved upstairs one last time. This time our destination was one we hadn’t been to, yet we could see its window from the atrium floor. Our final destination was the Overmare’s office.

There was something daunting about the room as we approached its door. Entering it felt different to the other rooms, this room once held a position of power in its day, and now it stood as a reminder of who was in charge. The door opened smoothly as we stepped inside. As much as the room was daunting, it was also simple. There were monitors to survey the stable, and filing cabinets in the corner along with a safe that was sure to be empty. Finally, to round out the room, a large desk with a terminal was placed right in the centre.

“I want you to try and hack that terminal.” I said to Bolts, moving over to it.

“Ok… why is it so important that I hack the terminal? What’s on it?”

“I don’t know, but on my ancestor’s terminal he said that he wanted the Overmare to wipe hers when they left. She didn’t. I want to know if there’s anything important on there.”

Bolts gave a shrug as he moved over to the terminal and planted himself down. Connecting his new toy to the terminal he went to work, hacking and figuring out the terminal’s password within a minute. “Wow, that was by chance, one of the easiest hacks I’ve ever done…”

“So, you’ve done this how many times before?” I asked giving him the Stink-Eye.

“Umm… well… uhh…” Bolts seemed to stammer a lot before finally finding his voice. “Oh look, they have files on all the old residents.” I leaned in closer to the terminal and indeed, the database of the terminal did contain files on all the characters, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.

“No, close it, the residents have been dead for a long time, nothing in their files matters anymore.” I shook my head as I spoke, knowing there was no need to read that part of the past.

“Well, it looks like there’s two other things on here, the option to open the safe and… a recording from Stable-Tec.” My interest had become peaked at the sound of Stable-Tec.

“Go on then, let’s hear it.” I looked towards Bolts as the recording began to play and, out of the terminal came the voice of a young mare. She sounded tired and to be honest, rather bored.

*** *** ***

“Hello,

“My name is Scootaloo and you probably know me as… oh, forget it. Who I was before doesn’t matter anymore. I’m speaking to you now as the vice-president of Stable-Tec. If you are listening to this than that means Omega-Level Threat Protocols have been enacted and you have been appointed Overmare of a Stable-Tec life-preserving Stable. Your Stable has been designated Stable Fifty. You have been chosen for your sense of loyalty and duty to the ponies around you and to this company and while Stable-Tec is most likely blasted into rubble by now, our ideals live on.

“Your Stable has been selected be part of an important job. The first and foremost job of your Stable, like all others, is to save the lives of the ponies inside. As well as protecting the ponies inside, your stable has been selected to… to… (Come on, Scoots, you have to tell them.) Your Stable has been selected as one of the first Stables to open its doors. Exactly one century after the door of Stable Fifty closes, it will be re-opened to whatever new world awaits you.

“Your job is to start Equestria anew, like the first founders. You must ready the land and start things going again for when the other Stables begin to open. This… this will be all on the wish that the land is habitable at that time and not a… a… radiation filled world of death. If it so happens that that is what awaits… I… We cannot express how sorry we are.

“From all of us here at Stable-Tec and all of Equestria, we thank you for your dedication… and sacrifice…

“(Sniff)

“Thank you, and may somepony above take pity on us all.”

*** *** ***

“Wow…” Forget tired and bored, the mare in the recording sounded like she had just about given up on the world. I slowly lifted my hoof and turned the terminal off. I didn’t need to hear anything else.

“Well that was a little… depressing.”

“She said she was the vice-president of Stable-Tec and this was the recording for Stable Fifty. She probably had to go through the same sort of script for all the other stables. I’d probably be just as tired and depressed if I had that job. She asked for somepony above to take pity on us. I think Goddesses really have turned their backs on us by now.” I began shuffling to the door, my hooves dragging along the ground making a soft grinding noise against the dust.

“Hey, don’t you want to check the safe?”

“There’s no point. The safe was probably cleared out before the residents left. Let the dead rest.”

*** *** ***

We slowly made our back to the door of Stable Fifty. As we moved passed the large cog like door, I turned around and stared at it. “We should close this place up again.”

“Why? If we do that, it won’t be able to open again when the power runs out.”

“What point is there to keeping it open? We cleaned out everything that’s inside. Besides, there’s bound to be more radroos in there. If some random pony tries to get in for shelter, they may not be as prepared as we were and might get themselves seriously hurt, or worse.” We both stood up and stared at the 50 that rested upon the face of the door, this time illuminated by the green glow of Bolts’ new pipbuck.

“You’re right. Last thing we need is others getting hurt.” Bolts moved over to the outside control panel and flipped the main switch. The stable door gave a loud pneumatic hiss before giving off a large screeching noise as it rolled into place. Then finally, the door of Stable Fifty had closed. Forever.

*** *** ***

We found ourselves walking back through the familiar dark tunnel that lead to Stable Fifty. However, there was a light at the end of the tunnel this time and we soon found ourselves back outside. Some time had passed while we were in the Stable, as the sun had already started to set, casting the sky, or what we could see of it through the cloud cover, into a vibrant orange. “Well, we have all of Hoofstralia to see, but where should we go first?” I asked. It was my plan to come out and help, but I had no leads on where to go. (Great thinking there, Clear.) Bolts brought up his pipbuck again and began playing around with the map.

“The closest settlement is north of here, just below the border.”

“Then that’s where we start. We’ll rest there and see if they have any news on possible slaver or raider activity in the area.” With a nod to each other we set off as the evening approached, ready to take on the world. Or what was left of it anyway.

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Critter Carnage – The creatures of the wasteland fear the sound of your rifle, you do +10% damage to all wasteland animals.

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A/N: Life. Life always changes. It was my hope to get this chapter out earlier but sometimes life tells you otherwise. I would rather not go into what happened. Just know that it’s in the past and I’m back on track. As always, many thanks to Kkat, Somber, No One and Mimezinga for giving me the inspiration to write this side story. This chapter of Fallout Equestria: Wanderers was written by Mach Speed and edited by Shika of the Song. Likes and favourites are always appreciated to help get the fic out there and constructive criticism is always welcome. Thank you for reading and many thanks for sticking around during the long break.