Fallout: Equestria - Shadow of the Day

by Kaciekk

Chapter 9: Steel to Rust

The next morning, SwiftHaze woke so early that the sky outside was nearly fading to grey. GleamingChance had warned that it might be a long trek, and that it would be best to save as much daylight as possible.

“You girls set to go?” Chance asked Haze and OrchidRays once they had their bags packed.

“Yep. Lead the way,” Haze said.

They parted from SilverFlash as they left the mansion, taking a different path. Haze was excited to explore more of the city. As they scaled down the hills, Haze searched her PipBuck for something to listen to. Instead of music, she played some recordings she had downloaded from CharmingRhythm’s computer. The first one was labeled “From FeatherTune.” Haze popped one earbud in and played it.

“Hey Rhythm! I hope you’ve got time to talk. I know you’re busy working with MFR, but it feels weird since it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. I’ve got some song ideas if you’re interested. We gotta hang out sometime for sure! Alright, hope you’re doing well. Talk to you later, bud.”

Song ideas? Was FeatherTune another member of Linkin Pony? Haze counted the names she knew; five. There was one she still didn’t know, unless it was one she had missed. And what was MFR? Haze didn’t recognize it as any abbreviation of the Ministries.

Haze was suddenly aware she was trailing behind so she quickly galloped forward to reach the others.

“Hey, Chance. What did the Ministry of Image do?” Haze mused.

“Oh?” Chance looked at her, surprised. “As far as I know, they made advertisements for the other Ministries. Why?”

“Just curious,” Haze replied with a shrug. “What about MFR?”

“MFR? Nope, have no idea.”

“Finally, something you don’t know!” Haze quipped and smirked.

Chance just glared at her.

They continued for several more blocks. Haze was amazed at just how many buildings there were. She had thought Stable 47’s population was large, but just how many ponies lived in this city before the war? Her thoughts seemed to reflect reality as they passed by skeletons in the streets. Haze wished they had the time to bury them.

Suddenly there was a sharp “Eep!” from Ray. She jumped back.

“What?” Haze glanced from right to left repeatedly.

“More of those fucking radscorpions,” Chance said grimly.

In front of them was a wide building, taking up its own block. To the left was the wreck of a large sky wagon. Haze imagined it took several Pegasi to hull the thing. Its metal body blocked the whole road. On the street to the right of the building were the scuttling shapes of radscorpions. There must have been a nest nearby.

“Well, shit,” Chance blurted out. “We need to go that way.”

“Why not shoot them?” Haze suggested and placed a hoof on her assault rifle.

Chance shook his head. “There’s too many of them and I don’t think we’ve got enough antivenom to deal with all those fuckers.”

“What about that way?” Ray pointed to the right, along the road they were standing on. There appeared to be makeshift structures in the road about two blocks down.

“Nope. Raider camp that way.”

“How the fuck do you know that?” Haze snapped. “Do you just know where every raider camp is?”

For a moment, there was hurt in Chance’s eyes, but he spoke in a level tone. “No! It’s because I’ve been here before and I’ve marked it on my map.” He waved the piece of paper.

“Sorry,” Haze said with her head drooping.

Chance turned around to face the wide building. “If I remember correctly, there should be another entrance to this building. We can go through it to bypass the scorpions.”

“As long as there’s no scorpions inside,” Haze grimaced.

“You could always just fly over,” Ray pointed out.

“No way! I’m not leaving my friends’ side,” Haze said and gave Ray a smile.

As they climbed the stairs in front of the building, a marker appeared on Haze’s map: “Los Pegasus Robotics Emporium.” Many of the windows were smashed, and crushed rubbish sat around the parameters. A chunk of the wall to the right collapsed from the sky wagon.

They entered through the double doors. In the large entrance room were knocked over chairs and scattered papers. There was a large round desk with a chandelier above it, hanging by a single wire. A few lights still flickered. In the far left corner were the remains of old mattresses. Some ponies had been camping here.

As they inched further, Haze could hear water running from deeper in the building, as if from a busted pipe. Haze circled around the desk to reach the terminal on it. She hoped there was information that explained what this building was, but unfortunately, the files were corrupted.

Ray was wandering towards the right side of the entrance hall and approached a doorway. “I wonder what’s in here.”

“Um, Ray, I’m pretty sure we need to go this way,” Chance announced and pointed to a door near the corner with the mattresses.

“Can’t we just look?”

Chance sighed and continued after her, Haze not far behind.

“She does know that’s the part of the building that collapsed, right?” Chance whispered to Haze.

“Nope. Probably not,” Haze smirked.

In the next room there was a hole in the floor. Water dripped from the cracked ceiling above. There must have been a washroom on the floor above and the water had damaged the structure below. In the undamaged section of the room were cubicles and desks. Haze searched around for anything interesting. Something shiny caught her eye. A memory orb beneath a desk!

“Nice!” Haze exclaimed to herself and slipped the orb into her bag.

“Wait, did you hear that?” Ray asked.

“What?” Haze said and they all froze.

A voice called out from the floor below them. “Hello? Are there ponies there? Please, someone help us!”

Ray peered into the collapsed floor. Haze galloped over and skidded to a halt before the dip, the slippery floor nearly causing her to fall in.

Below two ponies were fearfully staring up at them. They both stood on a desk with flooded water filling the room, nearly as deep as the desk.

“Oh, thank the goddesses! More ponies! Please help us. We’ve been trapped here for over a day,” a cream colored mare pleaded. Sitting next to her was a pale green stallion with a lethargic expression.

“Isn’t there some other way out down there?” Haze replied bluntly.

“This water is radioactive and we have no more Radaway. We can’t risk it,” the mare shot back.

“Sorry,” Haze said with ears pressed back. She realized she had sassed them unintentionally.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out!” She called. “Just gotta figure out how…”

“Why don’t you fly down there and lift them up?” Ray suggested.

Haze studied the hole in the floor. “I don’t think I can lift a pony.”

“But you’ve done it before,” Ray pointed out.

Yeah, but not with a pony my own size! Plus that was flying down, not up!” Haze snapped.

Ray shrank back.

“Sorry,” Haze mumbled. I’ve got to stop doing that!

Once again, SwiftHaze looked down and outstretched her wings. “Besides, I don’t think this hole is wide enough for my wingspan.”

“Hmm. What if we build something to get them out?” Ray proposed.

“Huh?”

Haze watched Ray wander around, looking left and right through the cubicles. What was she hoping to look for? Rope? In an office? This time, Haze bit back the witty comment.

“There has to be something here,” Ray thought aloud. “Maybe in a different room.”

She entered a new door and disappeared behind it. Haze dashed after her into a poorly lit hallway. Further down the hallway there were windows to other rooms. They appeared to be display rooms, but whatever was meant to be displayed was missing. There were a few pieces of scrap metal on the display platforms, which were encircled with rope barriers.

“Wait.” Haze’s ears perked up. Subtle noises came from the right. Haze checked her E.F.S. and saw a dot moving. She peeked around the corner and saw the source of the noise. It was a round, floating robot with multiple limbs, one including a saw. Haze was familiar with this robot. There were a few in Stable 47.

“Oh! A Mister Handy! I’m sure that could lift a pony!” Ray remarked. She stepped around the corner.

“Movement detected. Scanning for intruders,” the robot said. Its multiple eyes swiveled around to face the young mare.

She began to approach the robot. The dot on Haze’s compass turned red. The saw on the Mister Handy’s arm began to spin and it floated towards Ray.

“Fuck!” Haze quickly took aim in S.A.T.S. and brought down the floating robot in a few quick blows.

“Aw.” Ray peered down at the lifeless robot, saddened. But that sadness didn’t last as she ran her hoof over the metal body, searching for something. She lifted up the arm with a small claw on it.

“No, this won’t do. I need something bigger.”

“What are you looking for?” Haze cocked her head.

“Something round, with a hole,” Ray said.

“There’s some metal scraps in that room over there.” Haze pointed to the wall behind her with a wing.

“Oh!” Ray cantered past Haze and found a door into the other room.

Ray continued her search with her eyes on the floor. She trotted over a broken section of the rope barrier and climbed onto one of the display platforms.

“Oh! This will work!” She beamed. In her hoof was a silver ring, large enough to put your hoof through. “Oh, and here’s another one!”

“You wanna use any of these?” Haze pointed to the red ropes.

Ray shook her head. “No, they’re too short. I saw some wire in another room.”

“Wire?” Haze pondered as she followed her friend back through the hallway.

Ray poked her head into a utility closet, and pulled out a large roll of thick, orange wire wrapped around a wood cylinder. “This looks strong enough to hold a pony.”

Ray rolled the wire spool into the office room. She sat down and fiddled with it. A portion was tangled, so she used the switchblade on her left leg to cut it. Once she had the end of the wire, she tied it around the metal ring. She tied the rope in a way so that it split into a fork, and tied the second end to the other ring.

“Here! They can hold onto these as we pull them up!” She displayed her craft. “I really wanted to find something like a belt which could support a pony better.”

“I gotta say, I’m impressed,” Haze said and gave Ray a smile. Ray beamed back at her, surely adoring the praise.

Ray got up and trotted over to the door and closed it. She tied the thick wire onto the door handle. Back at the hole, she threw the two handles to the ponies below. There was a slant where she was standing, which could make for a good platform to climb up onto.

“Hold onto these and we’ll pull you up!” She told them. “I’m gonna need both of your help,” she directed and Chance and Haze.

The cream mare waved her hoof out in an attempt to reach the handles, but it was too far from the desk. Haze hovered over the hole and moved the wire closer to them. She felt weight pull her down as the cream mare grasped. Haze fluttered backward and placed her hindlegs back on the floor. She, Ray and Chance continued to pull the wire back with their forelegs. Haze grimaced at the effort.

The ring handles were finally at the end of the slope. The mare frantically hung onto the edge. Haze jolted forward and helped the mare fully climb onto the slippery floor. After a slight pause, they did the effort again with the pale green stallion. He had been harder to get up, only because he was too tired to climb the slope himself.

“Thank you so much!” the cream colored mare exhaled. “You saved us!”

Haze was panting. “No… problem…”

“How did you end up down there?” Ray asked, who was less exhausted than Haze.

“The floor collapsed under us,” the mare explained. “We sent out a distress signal to our squadron, but nobody ever came.”

“Squadron?” Haze pondered.

“Yes. We’re Scribes of the Steel Rangers. I’m Scribe Coconut Puff and this is ClimbingIvy,” said the distressed mare.

Haze held in a snicker at Coconut Puff, but had to agree it fit well with her poofy white and orange mane.

“Oh, you’re part of the Steel Rangers?” Chance inquired. “Were you out here scrounging for tech?”

“Researching,” Coconut Puff confirmed. “What great luck is it that you stopped by too!”

Haze realized they would have never saved these ponies if Ray hadn’t been curious to look around.

“We owe you one,” the Scribe mare said.

“Yeah… kinda,” Haze muttered.

“Actually,” Chance began and took a step towards them. “Do you think we could have a spare spark battery?”

“Well, we don’t have one on us,” Coconut considered.

“We could take you to our base and give you one,” ClimbingIvy finally spoke up with a raspy voice.

“That’s pretty far,” Chance said aloud. He glanced at Haze. “Do we still want to go to Spinning’s?”

“Why don’t we go to Spinning’s, and maybe we could drop by their base when we have the time,” Haze decided. Maybe it would be less work to just get one battery and not have to jump back and forth from locations, but she was curious to meet this elusive Spinning.

“Sounds great,” Coconut exhaled. She trotted up to Haze and held her left hoof. Haze tried not to jump away as the Scribe worked with her PipBuck. “Here. I marked our base’s location on your map. If you stop by, just ask for me. I’ll let them know you saved us.”

Haze agreed. They went their separate ways. The Steel Ranger Scribes left out the front door while the trio continued to search for another exit. After passing yet another display room, they found the back door.

As they skirted around the streets, a couple of radscorpions spotted them. They began scuttling their way, and the ponies broke into a run and soar. They didn’t want the noise of guns to alert the rest of the nest.

“I think we lost them,” Chance huffed as they stopped in an intersection. “But just in case…”

His magic lifted a disk out of his bag. It was a mine. He placed it on the ground in front of the alley they had just ran out of. He tinkered with the mine and then stood up.

“You kept some?” Haze wondered.

“Yeah. They’re great for warding off followers. C’mon, let’s keep moving. We don’t wanna be here if it gets set off.”

It was after 11 AM by the time they reached their destination. Well, at least that’s what SwiftHaze’s PipBuck said. It was hard to tell time based on the ever cloudy sky. As they entered the yard, Haze put a custom location on her map, so she knew where to go if she needed to come back. She decided if they got a spark battery from the Steel Rangers, she would just fly solo back here because it was faster.

Haze realized they were going in the same way they had at HyperBlitz’s house. There was a section of the house that was almost isolated, with large doors. They entered the smaller side door.

Haze expected the room to be dark, but instead, there were several lights running. Some came from terminals or computer units. Many wires ran along the walls and floor. In the middle of the room was what looked like a metal dock, or work station. Sitting in it was a metal, pony-shaped and pony-sized object, laying on its hindlegs. It didn’t move as they approached.

“Whoa, did Spinning build this?” Ray marveled.

“This is Spinning,” Chance informed her.

“No way! He’s a robot?”

Chance stepped up to the sitting pony shaped robot. It was unmoving and silent, as if turned off. It was a purple Unicorn with a black mane and tail. Wait a minute… Haze recognized the pattern from the photos of Linkin Pony. No fucking way. For sure there was no way, she thought. Wait, what was it that Flash said about Spinning? He worked for one of the Ministries? Is this actually the same pony?

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ray whispered in her ear. Haze nodded, and Ray giggled gleefully.

“It looks like he’s… turned off,” Haze stated bluntly. It felt odd talking about a robot if it were a person. But, this was a person, if she were to believe Chance.

“He’s in dormant mode. He usually sets himself on a timer that wakes him up. If not, a pony can come by and wake him,” Chance explained.

“Now let’s see…” Chance began circling around the robot pony. He seemed to be examining the metal body, but returned to the face. He waved his hoof in front of the robot’s eyes. Did it detect motion?

The robot stirred. His head lifted up and his segmented neck shifted into place. His eyes lit up, and a soft hum began to emit from his body. The purple robot pushed his hind legs to stand up. He faced the rest of the ponies in the room.

“GleamingChance,” the robot said. “What are you doing here?” His voice was tinny, much like Watcher, but there was more emotion in his voice than the secretive Sprite-bot.

“Uh, hey, SpinningNote. I brought some friends.” Chance motioned to the two mares. “They’re from Stable 47, but you can probably see that.”

“Um, hi.” Haze raised a hoof.

Ray gasped. “Are you actually alive?!”

“No,” Spinning said in a flat tone.

“Oh,” Ray murmured.

“Yes, he is,” Chance told her. “He’s messing with you. He does that. He’s just not… organically alive. But he’s fully cognitive.”

“You and your fancy words, Chance,” Spinning remarked, now with more emotion.

“You wouldn’t happen to be related to a member of Linkin Pony, would you?” Ray wondered. “Your coat and mane color are similar… even if you are a robot and don’t have hair.”

“I am one of the members. What do you know about Linkin Pony?”

“Wait, seriously?” Ray beamed.

“Hold up,” Haze said, and simultaneously held up her own hoof. “I’m pretty sure all the members were ponies, not robots. You had to have been built by someone.”

“I was built by me,” Spinning told her.

“Huh?” Haze just cocked her head.

“I used to be a pony,” Spinning explained, “But I transferred my soul to this robot body when the bombs fell.”

SwiftHaze was just gaping.

“That’s something you can do?” Ray echoed Haze’s thoughts.

“Yes, although it’s a very tricky process. It’s done with what are called Soul Jars. This robotic body is a Soul Jar.” Spinning’s glowing eyes kept staring at them, unblinking. He didn’t even move his mouth when he spoke, it came from somewhere inside of him.

“Now, enough explaining. Chance, why have you brought these ponies here?” Spinning turned to the Unicorn.

“Erm, well, you see,” Chance began awkwardly. Haze pondered just how this stallion was able to barter so well when he talked like this! “This is Haze and Ray,” he tilted his head to the mares respectively. “They- we need to get back into the Stable, but they need some supplies to offer them. I was wondering… could we borrow a spark battery?” Chance gave a pleading smile.

“A spark battery? You mean what I run on?” SpinningNote challenged.

“Oh, oh come on!” Chance fussed. “You got plenty of them! You even know how to build them!”

“Which require very rare parts.”

“Listen, we’ll repay you. We made a deal with a couple of Steel Rangers; they said they’ll give us a spark battery when we meet them again,” Chance offered.

“Steel Rangers,” Spinning said with distaste in his strange, mechanical tone.

“Don’t be like that! You modeled your body off power armor!” Chance retorted.

“I modeled it after soldiers! Not organized raiders,” Spinning countered.

“They didn’t seem that bad,” Ray mumbled, referring to the Rangers.

“C’mon, Spinning. These girls want to help me find my mom. They think there might be some info in the Stable,” Chance clarified. “They’re even descendants of some of your bandmates.” Haze was surprised he’d even use that card.

“Oh?” Spinning looked to Haze, then to Ray. “Hyper, and Blazing, I’m assuming?”

“How’d you know?” Haze gaped again.

“Well, you’re Pegasus after all. Although I guess species mix after so many generations. You probably don’t even have any of their genetics. How long has it been? Hundred fifty years?”

“One hundred seventy,” Chance corrected.

“Same difference,” Spinning said. “If you are trying to win me over by using the memory of my old friends, it won’t work.” At that, Chance’s gaze drifted to the floor, but Spinning continued. “But, I trust you to keep your word, Chance. You can borrow a spark battery if you come back and return one to me.”

“Really? Awesome! Thanks SpinningNote!” Chance’s head popped up and he smiled.

Spinning began to move his limbs which made strange squeaking sounds as he did. His metal hooves thudded heavily on the ground. He reached for a metal box and placed a hoof on a circular plate. The box clicked open. Spinning reached inside and attached a cylindrical battery to his hoof, perhaps magnetically. He passed the battery over to chance.

Ray had already begun exploring Spinning’s workshop. She was looking through his tools set out on a table.

“How in the Goddess’s names did you build that?” Haze questioned, still staring in astonishment at Spinning.

“It took a lot of research in technology, science and magic,” Spinning told her. “Some of Equestria’s brightest minds helped me.”

“They helped you? A musician?”

“Well, musician, artist, video director, MAS associate,” Spinning listed casually.

“Oh wow. Just good at everything, huh?” Haze rolled her eyes.

“A little bit, but not as much as Rhythm,” Spinning said.

“It’s so cool meeting another member of Linkin Pony!” Ray remarked cheerfully. “I never thought it’d be possible!”

Spinning pivoted to face the young mare. “How exactly do you know of my band?”

“Oh, they play their music all the time in the Stable,” Ray replied.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Spinning commented, almost to himself. “I’m sure a few of them made it into the Stable.”

“Let’s not waste too much time talking. I thought we wanted to make it to Stable 47 before nightfall,” Chance announced.

“Oh, come on. Can’t we have a little break?” Haze appealed.

“Yeah!” Ray agreed.

Chance sighed. “Alright, but you better be ready by noon.”

Haze checked her PipBuck and was sure that was enough time to view the memory orb she found. She took out her recollector and sat on a risen wooden platform.

Haze’s host was sitting at a desk with eyes glued to a terminal, tapping away at the keyboard. They clicked a tab labeled “appointments.” A few were already marked off with names, but the next one lacked a name. It was titled “12:00 PM.” Haze’s host glimpsed the time on their terminal: 11:58. This office work was boring Haze.

A door opened ahead of them and they looked up. Haze realized this was the same entrance hall of the building she was just at, but in much better condition.

“Welcome to Los Pegasus Ro-” Haze felt her host say, but stopped dead in their tracks as they saw two purple Unicorns approach. They gaped at a mare with a neat indigo mane streaked with pink and violet.

“I have an appointment today at 12 PM,” the mare said with a smile. Well, she was a timely pony. She seemed to be in her forties, maybe around the same age as Rarity was in Heartfelt’s memory.

“Twilight Sparkle?” the receptionist marveled. “I- I mean, of course. I’ll send someone to come get you.” The pony marked off the appointment then messaged someone via their terminal.

For a second, Haze was able to get a glance of the second Unicorn. He was older than Twilight Sparkle, and had a short black mane. Wait, was that SpinningNote? Haze didn’t get a good enough look to be sure.

A moment later a yellow Earth Pony circled around the wooden desk. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle,” the mare greeted. “It’s a pleasure to work with you. I’ll be your guide today.”

“Great. I’d like to see your newest models,” Twilight replied politely.

“Of course. Right this way.”

As they walked around the desk, Haze’s vision followed them. She caught the image of the stallion’s cutie mark. Three round discs. She was sure that was similar to what was on Spinning-bot.

The three ponies exited into another room. The same door that Haze’s party had gone to exit the building. On the opposite side of the desk was another receptionist. He looked at Haze’s host.

“Whoa. The mare of the Ministry of Magic!”

“Yeah, I was not expecting that!” Haze’s host remarked. “Maybe the mare of the Ministry of Technology, but not Twilight Sparkle! What would she be doing here?”

The other worker commented, “Well, I’m pretty sure the MAS works closely with the MWT.”

The memory ended abruptly, although it took a few moments for Haze to regain her own senses. She looked up and saw Ray still tinkering with Spinning’s tools.

“Who’s Twilight Sparkle,” Haze mused aloud.

Spinning’s head swiveled to face her. “She was the mare of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences.”

“Oh? I heard someone say Ministry of Magic,” Haze recalled, although didn’t remember it from Flash’s list of Ministries.

“That was a colloquial term for the MAS,” Spinning explained.

“Ah. So… when you said you worked with Equestria’s brightest minds, you meant her?”

“Yes,” Spinning responded with a head dip.

“Whoa,” Haze said.

Even before noon the traveling trio were on their way. They had stopped to eat something quickly, but wasted no more time. SwiftHaze had a lot of questions to ask SpinningNote, but they were on a mission. Although she didn’t quite get why they had to be in a rush. Who cares if this quest spills over into tomorrow? GleamingChance, apparently. The lavender Unicorn guided them to EchoBeat’s house.