Fallout: Equestria - Shadow of the Day

by Kaciekk

Chapter 17: Live What You’ve Learned

“Hey bud, I um… I was wondering if you’ve heard anything from Hyper. I know you were the last one in contact with him. I’m worried about him, I’m sure we all are. I know what you had to do was tough but… um… I think it was the right thing. If you need to talk about it, I’ll be here, okay? Hope we can get to see Hyper again soon.”

As she pulled the wagon, the words of FeatherTune filled SwiftHaze’s ears and inspired wonder in her mind. What had happened to HyperBlitz? What did CharmingRhythm do? Why did FeatherTune always send messages that were just vague enough for Rhythm to understand? She wondered if Rhythm ever sent messages back. If he did, they weren’t saved on his computer.

It was nearing midday when the rising skyline of Phoenix City appeared on the horizon. It had fewer towers than Los Pegasus, but they were held up in better condition. As they passed through the first streets, it was obvious the city was abandoned. There must have been a populous center somewhere within the city, much like South Gait.

“Any ideas where we’d find ponies?” Haze asked GleamingChance.

“Hey, I don’t know everything!”

“Just about,” Haze snorted.

“So we’re just supposed to wander around until we find civilization?” Xoqan said, displeased. “Don’t got any clues?”

“Will there be any monsters around?” OrchidRays feared.

“Most likely,” Chance replied. “So we better keep an eye out.”

An idea formed in Haze’s mind. “What if I scout the area? I could cover more ground- or well, air, if I flew. I may be able to find something faster and be safe from the creatures on the ground.”

“I guess you could try. But you could get shot out of the sky if ponies see you,” Chance warned.

“Hey, if I can get the attention of someone, that’ll easily lead us to where we need to go!” Haze proclaimed.

“And if it leads us to raiders...”

“Then I’ll fucking pummel them into the ground!” Xoqan exclaimed.

“Um, okay...” Chance reacted awkwardly. He looked back to Haze. “You can go search, but if you run into trouble, come right back here.”

“Like I need your permission,” Haze scoffed playfully. “Don’t worry, I’ll set a custom location on my map.”

Freedom. Finally the feeling Haze had yearned for had arrived. She soared far above the rooftops and scanned the streets below. Wind rushed past her ears and smoothly trailed over her fur. She could go anywhere, with nobody to tell her what to do. Of course, she had a mission, but wouldn’t let that stop her from enjoying the moment.

Phoenix City was set in a valley around rocky, barren land. Mountains and hills surrounded the city, unlike how Los Pegasus’s mountains only flanked half of its perimeter. But these mountains were far less steep, and wore a reddish tint to them.

A green glow caught SwiftHaze’s eye and her flight gravitated towards it. Meters below was an area of streets that encircled blocks filled with yellow grass. In the middle was a large indentation in the earth. It radiated a sickly, green glow. Green fire? Haze wondered why it hadn’t spread any more. Well, this surely wasn’t the place to find ponies. She flew onward.

Overhead she followed the widest road. As the road acceded, it crossed over several other paths. Beside the cluster of roads, a giant sign proudly advertised a now faded image. In big letters was “Sparkle-Cola” along with the image of a pink, curly maned mare with an exaggerated smile. As if that was going to encourage ponies to buy more.

As she passed over the roads, Haze noticed lights at the lower floors of some of the buildings. Yes! Ponies! She swooped down for a better look. Big mistake. Gunshots rang out. In a panic, Haze thrust upward. Whoever was down there was still shooting at her! She had the suspicions they were raiders.

Oookay. Let’s try this again.

She continued her search, the gunshots long behind her now. She neared the edge of the inner city and scanned the north side. Movement caught her eye. Something, or someone was flying around the top of a tower. A Pegasus? No, its shape varied from a pony.

A few windows in the tower emitted light. In the streets Haze could see specks of ponies moving about. The flying figure had landed on the roof of the tower and now was keeping watch.

This must be it! Haze thought triumphantly. She swirled around and followed her marker back to her friends.

With wings wide, she circled around in a descent until she could land near her friends.

“I think I found something! I saw ponies,” Haze huffed.

“That’s great!” Chance beamed.

“Now do you know how to get back? Xoqan questioned skeptically.

“I- erm.”

“Did you put a marker on it?” Ray asked.

“No! I needed to set one here so I knew how to find you guys!” Haze replied defensively.

Eyes widening, Chance stared past her. “Uh, I think you attracted company.”

Haze turned around to see a figure flying towards them. It was similar to the one she had seen at the tower. As it landed gracefully, she got a better look; a creature, a bit bigger than a pony. It had the face of an orange bird, but stood on four legs with a pair of wings. Their eyes narrowed.

“You think you can just get away?” they sneered. “What business do you have with Biltmare? Why are you scouting?”

“What?” Haze yapped. “We were looking for a settlement!” She took a glance at the wagon behind her, full of her friends.

Chance stood up. “Are you a Talon Griffon?”

“Who’s asking?” The Griffon challenged. “How do we know we can trust you? You’ve got a Pegasus with you.”

Haze rolled her eyes. “Ugh, not this again.”

“We aren’t looking for trouble,” Chance said.

“Yeah, we’re looking for someone!” Haze added.

“I believe she’s crossed paths with the Talons. I just want to ask some questions,” Chance clarified.

The Griffon’s eyes bounced between them. They took a more thorough look at Haze. For a moment, their gaze halted on her forelegs.

“I suppose I can take you back to our base. But you better believe we are not taking an eye off of you.”

“See, I don’t have to remember which way to go if we can get someone to take us back!” Haze exclaimed.

The Griffon gave her a perplexed stare.

“Oh, um. I’m really bad at directions,” she smiled awkwardly.

They followed the Griffon back to the neighborhood apparently named Biltmare. Ponies gave them passing glances. Haze could spot more Griffons guarding the streets and doorways. A few buildings emitted light from their windows.

One of the buildings’ walls had partially collapsed. It was propped up by beams as it lead up to an opening on a higher floor in the building next to it. It was a pathway for ponies navigating the buildings.

Tilting her head up, Haze stared at the sky where she had just been earlier. She could see the figure of a Griffon peering down from the top of one tower.

Their Griffon escort led them through the doors of one of the shorter buildings. Inside was a slight refurbished lobby. The space above the lobby stretched up for several floors, mezzanines wedged in between. It was impossible to tell what purpose this building had before the war.

“Wait here,” the Griffon told them as they stood in front of metal doors. The feathered creature flew up to one of the mezzanines three floors up. As they disappeared from sight, a ding sounded near the metal doors. A few moments later, they rolled open to reveal an elevator. Haze guessed it could only be accessed from the floor above, providing security for the Griffons. After all, the majority of the ponies found in the wasteland lacked wings.

As Haze’s group ascended, the wall in front of them changed to clear glass panels. They watched the mezzanines pass by, sinking below. Once again their vision was obscured as they passed the lobby’s ceiling.

Ding. The elevator stopped and opened. Haze and her friends stepped into a spacious office. Two Griffons were conversing. One had a white head, while the other had brown head feathers. She was casually sharpening a blade, then placed it down as she noticed the group of equines.

“Who are you?” she questioned as she got up off her chair.

The elevator dinged again behind them and their guide joined them in the room.

“Thorn, why have you brought these ponies here?” The female, brown headed Griffon demanded. Her green eyes narrowed.

“They wish to speak with us,” Thorn said.

The female Griffon raised a brow. “What do you want from us? I hope no favor, because favors come at a price.”

“We just needed to ask a few questions,” Haze responded. She looked to Chance, then motioned with her muzzle for him to step forward. Reluctantly, he took center stage.

“I am looking for my mother and I am to believe she has been in contact with you. You... you are Talon Griffons, right?”

The female Griffon chuckled. “Of course we are.”

“Are... you in charge?” Chance asked hesitantly.

“Yes I am. The name’s Julia,” the brown headed Griffon replied.

“Well, um, Julia, excuse my presumptions, but you seem pretty young to be in charge.”

“Just ‘cus I’m young don’t mean I can’t lead. I’ve learned from the best!” Julia boasted.

“Fair enough,” Chance said. He proceeded to levitate the portrait of his mother from his back. He unfolded it and showed it to Julia. “Do you recognize her?”

Julia scanned it and tapped her chin with a claw. She straightened out her posture. “Oh yeah. Her. I don’t remember when she was here, but she did do some business with us. That was before I took over. Heard she was real good at haggling for what she wanted.”

Chance’s eyes widened. “You mean you’ve seen her? Do you know where she went after she left here?”

“Hmm, I think she said something about New Equus, but I can’t be sure,” Julia said.

Chance lowered the photo and used a few movements to take that in. “New Equus? That does sound like her. She’d do anything to haggle for more money. But...” he replaced the photo with his map, which he brought up to his face. “New Equus is a longer journey from here than Los Pegasus is. We may as well go back and resupply then start a new journey. We’ll probably have to stop in Quagga again, anyway.”

“Alright,” Julia announced. “Are you ponies happy? All done?”

“No!” It was Xoqan who stepped forward to meet the Griffon’s face. “A Zebra caravan of traders came here a few weeks again. What do you know about them?” he demanded.

Julia was taken aback by Xoqan’s assertiveness. “Well, I do believe we did some trading with them.”

“Do you know where they went?” Xoqan inquired. “They never returned home.”

“Mmm, not that I can recall.”

For the first time, the other Griffon who had been sitting down spoke up. “I heard they got caught by slavers.”

“What?!” Xoqan shrieked. “How could you just let slavers take them?”

The Griffon held his claws up. “Hey, we don’t engage with these slavers. They stay away from us and we stay away from them.”

“But you traded with them! You should have helped!” Xoqan fumed.

“We already traded back with them,” Julia stated. “We were even, so there’s no sense in doing favors without benefits.”

SwiftHaze took a few steps forward. “Then let us do a favor for you, and then you can help us get them out. Is there anything you can make us do? A job?”

Julia considered that. She took a few moments to fully scrutinize the equines. She pointed a claw at Haze.

“Pegasus. I ain’t never seen one of you with Stable gear. Perhaps you could have stolen it, but I’d like to believe you didn’t. I need a... program that can only be archived on a PipBuck.”

Haze raised a brow. “You’re telling me you couldn’t find a PipBuck lying around off a dead body? There’s at least forty-six other Stables out there.”

“Listen missy. Stables aren’t exactly easy to find, they’re hidden on purpose. And like I said, people like to be stealing from them,” Julia retorted.

“Steel Rangers,” Chance muttered.

“Does that make them the Stealer Rangers?” Ray said. Chance just gave a huff of amusement.

“There is one other reason you need her,” added the male Griffon with the white head.

Julia nodded. “Not only a PipBuck, but this program can only be activated by a Pegasus.”

Skepticism rose in Haze. “What kind of fucking program is this?”

“None of your business. We just need you to retrieve it,” Julia spat.

“Yeah sure. But wouldn’t it be better if you told us what it was so we knew what we were looking for?” Haze sassed back.

Julia groaned. “Fine. It’s like a spell. It can detect movement through the clouds.”

“Why would you need something like that?” Haze wondered.

Julia stepped forward, her beak close to Haze’s muzzle. “Because we want to keep an eye on the Enclave. You think we wouldn’t want to protect our people from a surprise attack?” She spoke with an accusing tone.

Haze didn’t flinch. “’m tired of being associated with the Enclave. Fuck them guys.”

Julia backed up and smirked. “I like you. I think we’re going to get along.”

“So, do we have a deal?” Haze asserted.

After another look at the group, Julia said “Deal. You get us that program, and we’ll help your little Zebra friends out of slavery.” She motioned her claws in Xoqan’s direction.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“So, where are we going?” Chance asked SwiftHaze, who was truly leading them for the first time.

She checked the map marker which Julia had transferred to her Pip-Buck. “Stable-Tec University,” she read the marker aloud.

“Oh, I’ve heard of that place!” OrchidRays chimed in from her spot in the wagon.

“How?” Haze said.

“Back home I would listen to audio interviews. There was one where BlazingFlair mentioned he went to Stable-Tec University!” Ray explained.

“Went there how? As a student, or as a teacher?” Chance wondered.

“Um, I’m not sure. All he said was that he went there, and that it was an experience that didn’t last...”

“What the hell is a Stable-Tec University?” Haze blurted out, outstretching her forelegs as she flew. “What are you supposed to learn there?”

“I suppose we’ll find out,” Chance said.

Every few moments, Haze took a glance at her map. She kept note of her Eyes Forward Sparkle compass. The towers were behind them now as they passed through the outer part of the city. This was a suburb of fairly nice homes, although decayed by decades of waste.

At the end of the road, there was a long building with two wings on its side,almost equally as long. One top of the main structure was a grand bell tower. The building created a partially enclosed courtyard, and in the center of the courtyard was a marble statue of an Alicorn. Haze couldn’t tell which princess this was meant to be, but she was able to identify the place as their destination. Stable-Tec University. The words were even written in bold letters above the main entrance.

Haze parked their wagon on the side of the road and unbuckled herself from the harness.

Broken glass bottles and trash littered the courtyard. They crept inside. The large windows let in grey daylight. All of the lights were out safe for one, which flickered, ominously illuminating the hallway ahead.

“Looks like someone was already here,” Chance took note of the open lockers and overturned furniture.

“Must have been the Talons,” Haze said. “They had to know the program was here somehow.”

Haze checked the terminal at the front desk as Chance scooped out the hallway. All was silent.

“Why would Stable-Tec have a cloud X-ray spell anyway?” Ray pondered. “Isn’t that the opposite of what they do? Stables are underground.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Haze commented.

The terminal supposedly had a schedule for ‘upcoming’ events, but all of the files were corrupted.

Instead, Haze met up with Ray who had found a pamphlet that rested on a magazine rack.

“Stable-Tec University: The future depends on you” it boasted. On the cover were three mares, yellow, white and orange.

Ray read the contents inside. “Oh, it says what they taught here. Different staff positions inside of Stables. Doctor, elementary teacher, head of security, Pip-Buck technician, and last, but certainly not least, Overseer training.”

“Overseer?” Haze poked her head into Ray’s space to check the pamphlet. “Do they mean overmare?”

“Maybe it’s a gender neutral term of overmare,” Ray suggested. “There could be overstallions.”

“I never considered that,” Haze said. She wondered what qualified someone to become an overmare- or well, overseer, to begin with.

Chance returned from the hallway. “Um, Xoqan?”

Haze turned to see the Zebra still standing in the entrance doorway.

“Sorry, I don’t do this,” he waved his hoof forward, “technology stuff.”

“C’mon. We’ll need you if something in here tries to kill us.”

Xoqan sighed. “Fine.”

“So any ideas where they’d keep a program like this?” Haze asked Chance as they all walked through the hallway. Her Pip-Buck’s lamp and Chance’s horn illuminated the way.

“What? No. I thought you’d have a guess. You grew up in one of Stable-Tec’s Stables.”

“Hmm.” Haze was stumped.

Ahead of them was a door on the left labeled “administrator office.”

“Maybe we could find out in here.”

Inside was a pretty standard office with a terminal on a desk. The only thing unique was a metal door behind the desk, secured with multiple locks. Haze searched the terminal to find any clues about the program. Immediately, Chance was drawn to the metal door.

“This is a highly secured door... maybe it’s in here,” he noted.

Haze was one password attempt away from the whole terminal system locking her out. Suddenly she remembered what Julia had equipped her with. On her PipBuck was an override code which should break through any security in the school’s system. She linked her PipBuck to the terminal.

It worked! But all she found on the terminal was once again, “upcoming” events as well as attendance lists of student names. There were many typed letters from students’ parents, and letters exchanged between teachers. “All facilities are prohibited from taking more than two days off this coming holiday season,” and “Exciting news! We have received a request by Apple Bloom, president of Stable-Tec, to come give a presentation to our students! In the coming days….” Yeah, that wasn’t it...

“What?” Chance blurted out as he pulled the door handle. “But I cracked all the locks.”

“Can you unlock it from the terminal?” Ray asked.

“Good idea.” Haze searched the terminal for lock control. She was able to find a “door lock control” option, but it asked yet again for another password. No password needed, she smirked inwardly as she just uploaded her override code.

Click. The door unlocked behind her. Chance opened it.

“Uh... maybe not.”

“Huh?” Haze peered in the room beside Chance. Among many, many shelves were a horde of shiny memory orbs, each sitting in their own cloth base. An exceeding amount of memory orbs.

“What the fuck?” Haze said. “Why are there so many? Whose are these?”

“Maybe they were from students,” Chance guessed.

“In alphabetical order!” Ray remarked, taking a peek at the shelves in the top left corner nearest to the door.

Haze was a bit confused at Ray’s statement at first, but took a closer look. “They have names?” There were dozens of unique names. Every so often, there would be duplicates of the same name. More than one memory recorded.

Ray gasped. “I found BlazingFlair!”

“Wait, really?” Swirling around, Haze’s tail swooped over one of the shelves.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

A few orbs fell to the floor and scattered.

“Fuck!”

“Eep!” Ray jumped at the sudden noise.

“Haze!” Chance hissed.

“Sorry! Not like anyone’s using these anymore.”

“Can we keep BlazingFlair’s?” Ray asked in a pleading tone, her eyes sparkly.

“I guess. Just wonder what it is. Is it actually his memory?” Haze saw where Ray was pointing. Below the orb was a small plaque with “BlazingFlair” written on it.

“Want me to view it first?” Chance offered.

“No! No viewing orbs until we find this program!” Haze yapped.

“Well, where exactly should we be looking?” Xoqan asked, annoyed.

They were all silent for a moment. The gears in Haze’s mind turned. Ray used the time to place the orb in her bag.

“I got it!” Haze declared as she realized it. “A movement detection spell would be in security! We have to go to the security sector of the school! Lucky for y’all, I’m an expert in Stable security!” Haze smirked.

“Is that so?” Chance challenged.

“Well, she did train as a security guard for several years,” Ray added.

The pamphlet they had found in the front lobby was guiding them through the halls. On the way to the security section, they passed an incredibly familiar sight. A stable door, opened, hidden on the other side of the wall where the metal arm would grasp it. A test Stable?

“Wonder what they did there,” Haze pondered. The sight of it drew her in, as if the familiarity of it called to her. She shook her head. They didn’t have time to dally around. Xoqan’s dad was in trouble.

The group was led to the eastern wing of the university. Haze noticed a sign above a door labeled “Security Presentations.” This was it!

The presentation hall was halfway full of rows of chairs. The other half was a raised platform with equipment for more hooves-on training.

Haze frowned. There were no terminals in here.

That’s when she noticed a door on the wall behind the platform, nearly obscured by an attack dummy. She climbed the stairs to check it out.

The door opened to a more typical classroom setting. There were clusters of tables, having 3 or 4 terminals atop each. A projection screen was rolled out on the north wall. To the left of it was a teacher’s desk.

“You know we could have taken the main entrance?” Xoqan stated bluntly, pointing to the door, which was wide open to the hallway.

“Sorry. I just went in the first room that was labeled ‘Security’,” Haze defended.

She knew this had to be the place. While the program was most likely on the professor’s terminal, she was curious what the student terminals held. She approached one.

Training is so boring. All you do is sit around and wait for stuff that never happens. The scenarios and written exams make this out to be a more exciting job than it really is.

Haze laughed inwardly. She couldn’t help but agree with this long gone pony. Being a security guard was boring! She searched another terminal.

I’m so glad I decided to turn down the overseer track. It’s a very small chance you’ll be chosen in the first place. Besides, I keep hearing how stressful the course is. Hazel told me she has an exam coming up that’s supposed to last weeks. That’s insane!

Hoofsteps on the hard floor alerted Haze. Chance met up with her.

“Well, I couldn’t find anything on the professor’s terminal. It wasn’t even password locked.”

“What?” Haze expressed with shock. She was so sure! “If it’s not in here, then where the hell is it?”

“You’d think the Griffons would tell us where to look,” Xoqan commented.

“Maybe it’s in the security wing of the test Stable?” Ray suggested.

Throwing her muzzle in the air, Haze groaned “Ugh!”

“So do we check it out?” Chance asked.

“Yeah, sure, whatever!” Haze said with annoyance.

They retraced their steps to the hallway which held the Stable door.

They entered the large opening into the test Stable. Haze glanced back at the massive door. No number. She led her team down the stairs which wound into a hallway. That hallway opened to a meager atrium. Haze could see a cafeteria area under the stairs that lead to the floor. In Stable 47, the cafeteria was a completely different room from the atrium. It was obvious this wasn’t meant to hold generations of ponies.

Chills ran across Haze’s shoulders and wings. Only partially because of the temperature. Being in the presence of another
Stable felt... wrong. So many familiar sights, yet this wasn’t home. The feeling amplified in Haze’s chest as she approached sprawled out pony skeletons on the floor.

“The fuck...” Haze muttered.

She peered upward to spot the overmare window overlooking the atrium. Underneath it was a doorway with a sign labeled “overseer.”

“I’ll be right back. You guys keep looking for the security section,” Haze told Chance.

While she cantered away, Xoqan asked, “What is she doing?”

“I dunno.” Chance shrugged. “This place must feel familiar to her.”

As she reached the top of the stairs, Haze found two more skeletons in the staircase right in front of the overseer’s door. Carefully she pulled her hooves over them and entered.

The chair behind the overseer’s terminal was covered by a blue outfit. Haze picked it up to examine it. A varsity jacket, in near perfect condition. On the chest was “ST.” Stable-Tec. This is pretty sweet. Haze decided she would take it. All she’d need to do is cut holes for her wings. She had been seeking a new outfit anyway, and this way, she could still be connected to her roots as a Stable dweller.

Next, she pushed the chair aside to get to the terminal. Already about to link her PipBuck to it to initiate her override code, she noticed it wasn’t even password locked. She found journals from the last pony to use this terminal. Whoever was playing as the overseer in the last test.

Exam Log, HazelHeart.

Finally getting a hooves-on experience at being an overmare. So far everything has run smoothly. I let every inhabitant know that if they have a problem, come to me.

Haze clicked on the next ones, and the entries following it.

The test run has been going fine. But I swear I just felt an earthquake. I tried to contact my superiors, but no response. I guess I’ll just wait until the door is set to open.

Ponies have been getting sick. Vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, hair loss. I’m not feeling too hot myself. I don’t know why this is.

Our science team was able to detect radiation leaking in through the walls. That means... oh no. We’re gonna be trapped in here! We still have 2 days left until the door opens, and I’ve already had ponies die. I don’t understand. Was this test Stable not built to withstand contamination like the real deal?

So all the ponies here died of radiation sickness. All they were doing was an exam for overmare training, but died in the process. They would have died no matter what, not being in a real Stable. Even if this test Stable was fit for survival, the door would open to radiation anyway.

Stepping away from the terminal, Haze looked upon the skeletons with new sadness. What a cruel way to go. Slowly dying as radiation sank into your flesh.

Wait. Why would they need a science team to detect radiation levels? Couldn’t PipBucks do that? Unless the test Stable was not issued any. How can you have a Stable without PipBucks?!

There were hoofsteps on the staircase to the right of Haze.

“I think we found something,” Chance let her know. She nodded and followed after.

Before SwiftHaze was a familiar looking security mainframe. Haze wondered why it was in here and not the security homeroom. How were students supposed to get accustomed to its hardware?

The mainframe had several monitors which would be used to watch security footage. All were black. Haze reached for the terminal-like monitor. She unlocked it with her override code.

Chance, Ray and Xoqan all stood at Haze’s side observing her moves.

“Um, do you have any idea how I can find anything on here?” Haze said, incompetently.
“If it’s like a normal terminal, there should be a search tool,” Chance told her. He nudged her to the side so he could type. “Hmm. Detection... clouds? Oh, is this it?”

Haze poked her muzzle in front of Chance’s to see what he clicked on. Skywatcher Spell.

“Sounds like a suitable name. Lemme see if I can download it to my PipBuck.” Haze pushed Chance to get back in front of the terminal. She attached her PipBuck to the mainframe via a cord.

Access Denied

Species Input Required
Level: Pegasus

That was a funny way to say only Pegasi could access the spell.

“How the fuck is it supposed to know I’m a Pegasus?” Haze exclaimed. Didn’t her PipBuck keep track of the status of all her limbs? Could the mainframe not access that information through her PipBuck? “What’s it need? My DNA? Want me to pluck and insert a feather?” She growled.

“What about that?” Ray pointed at what looked like a hoofprint scanner on the mainframe.

Haze tried to reach it with her right foreleg, but was limited by the cord attached to her PipBuck. “Ugh! Didn’t they consider right-hoof wearers?” Or at least give this terminal wireless capabilities, she added to herself.

“Want me to put it on my PipBuck?” Ray proposed.

“No!” Haze snapped. “I got this!”

She crossed her left foreleg over her right to reach the scanner. Her hoof slid into place as she stood awkwardly. There was a ding from the terminal.

Access Granted.

“That worked?” Haze gaped. “But how? How do you know who I am?”

“Maybe it detected the magic from your hoof,” Chance said.

“Huh?”

“Pegasi have special magic that allows them to stand on clouds. Just like we all have magic in our hooves,” Chance explained.

“What magic are you talking about?”

“The magic that helps you grab things... you’re telling me you didn’t learn this in school?”

“Ugh! Whatever! We got the program,” Haze yapped.

Haze opened the file. There was a description.

Skywatcher: Detects infrared movement through any cloud cover within a 3 kilometer radius.

That’s it! Now Haze easily transferred the program to her PipBuck.

It was Chance’s turn to read the monitor. “Wait, it says this program is a joint project between Stable-Tec and... The Ministry of Awesome? You’re telling me MoA actually did things?”

“Looks like it,” Haze smirked. “Guess we all learn something new everyday.”

“Can we get out of here?” Xoqan begged. “The beeping and humming is driving me crazy.”

“Fine, fine. So impatient.” Haze said and rolled her eyes.

“You’re one to talk.”

“I know,” Haze grinned back at the Zebra.

Xoqan just shook his head and started for the exit. The ponies soon followed after him.

SwiftHaze departed from the test Stable feeling empty. She had found what she was looking for, yet the fate of the Stable hung in the back of her mind.