> Fallout Equestria - Burning Skies
>  by Cloud Striker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

War. War never changes. Many had to learn this the hard way. Few were smart enough to try and stop the fighting. Neither of them succeeded, and the world burned. Few survived in the remains. Most of them repeated the same mistakes their ancestors had made.

One could say that Neighvarro isn’t exactly the best place for the son of a Thunderhead operative to grow up. That Pony would be damn right. My life was shit. I never had any friends in School. Sometimes I felt like they thought I was a Dashite. Nothing was further from the truth. I hated my Mother for participating in the Volunteer Corps project. Sure, Enclave needed metal and food, but why not just take it? From what I had heard, the surface was populated half with cannibals and half with Ghouls, so why should we even bother helping those Ponies? I hated every last facet of the VC especially my mother whose mere existence deemed me an outcast. Still, words didn’t help. Everypony avoided me, some even hated me. Eventually I started to hate them too. But they were many, and I was alone. So I just kept to myself, trying to avoid any kind of confrontation. Most of the time, it worked pretty well, but not nearly well enough. If somepony needed to relieve themselves of some stress, they knew where to find me.
Dad tried to comfort me when I was home, but that didn’t help either. He really tried, and I loved him for that, but… I don’t know, honestly. Somehow, I always felt out of place. The only thing that made me feel like part of something was the Training for the Enclave Corps. I was decent with firearms and even outstanding with Beam Rifles, especially with the Coilguns our snipers use. When it came to tech, I was almost best in my course, just stopped by myself telling me it was not a good idea for me to be the best at anything. Still, I could hack most terminals within minutes. Our Operations Officer and teacher, an elderly buck scarred by many battles, seemed to know about my restraint, but didn’t really seem to care. You could say my life wasn’t as shitty as it could’ve been. That all changed a few weeks before graduation, when we went on a class trip to what was left of Cloudsdale. This was one of the few places where the cloud curtain wasn’t completely sealed due to technical problems with the SPP Tower nearby, caused by the radiation of the Megaspell that blew up the city. All of us watched the shattered ruins in awe, unable to react to the terror that was noticeable right through the centuries that had passed. The charred remains of the Weather Factory stood out over the rest of the crushed buildings. A lone chimney had survived the blast and overlooked the ruins like a guard tower. Nearby, the shattered remains of a few Raptors and even a wrecked Thunderhead reminded of all the fates that were ended in this place, surrounded by shredded Vertibucks. Thank the Goddesses that there were no remains of dead ponies. I was not sure if I would be able to stand this sight. I wasn’t exactly eager of throwing up in front of my class. Some would most likely make me eat it again. Not something I was looking forward to, so I just thanked the Goddesses for that little piece of mercy. Still, it was a more disturbing image than anything I had ever seen, including the recordings of the Megaspells blasting Hoofington that were taken from just under the clouds. These were just moving images but this… this was real. I tried to keep myself away from the wreckage as far as I could while the OP start to talk...

After a lesson about the history of the Enclave that was just as boring as the first one hundred twenty-seven times we heard it, we were divided into groups of three and then sent off to have a look at the ruins ourselves. I roamed off with some of the more humble ponies, a pair of twins who looked just like the other. They trotted just behind me, not saying anything. Just as I had expected. Even when I talked to them, they refused to answer. Sighing, I walked on, until we came to a breach in the clouds. I looked down, wondering how deep below the surface might be and if any Pegasi or Griffons were down there, anything that might pose a threat to the Enclave. Suddenly I felt a weight on my back and wanted to strike it of with my wings, but one of the twins pressed them to my body while his brother tied them with a piece of rope, Celestia know where they got that. I looked behind me and into a face determined to finish whatever they had started.
“Guys”, I started weakly, “What are you doing? Is that another one of these pranks?”
The one on my back grinned. “Not exactly”, he answered.
“We’re gonna tell everyone you went off to the ruins”, his brother continued. I could only stare at them in fear while they also bound my legs.
“This ain’t funny, guys! Let me go and I wont tell Colonel Storm Cloud, I promise!” For a moment, I thought they might consider this option. They didn’t. In fact they turned around and bucked me in the side, right down into the rift in the clouds. I fell. Even from up here I could see that there was nothing to stop my fall. There were only some withered trees and the remains of a rusty shack, built from scrap metal, by the look of it. There wasn’t any movement down there. In the distance, I could make out what once might have been a small town. There, it looked like somepony might have been there recently. Not even a breeze moved the air around me. I was unable to move. I was going to die. There was no way around it. This knowledge somehow helped me to calm down. It was all out of my hooves, why worry about anything you can’t change anyways? Slowly, I closed my eyes and waited for the impact that would end me…

Footnote: Level up.
Quest Perk added: Fallen Angel: Your Charisma is raised by 2.
> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything happens for a reason. But sometimes the reason is that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When I woke up, my whole body ached. But that didn’t bother me as much as the fact that I had just survived a fall of several hundred meters. I tried to sit up, just to notice that I was almost completely covered in bandages. I could barely move. I turned my head when I heard a voice behind me.
“Ah, you’re finally awake”, the young earth pony buck said, smiling. “I wasn’t sure if you’d make it. Are you alright?” Then he facehoofed himself, still smiling. “Of course you are not. You fell from the clouds just four days ago.”
“FOUR DAYS?!?”, I exclaimed, shocked. How was I still alive? And why hadn’t he tried to rob me or worse? Questions over questions reeled through my pounding head. Where the hay was I? And why had this pony saved me? Could I even consider myself as “saved”?
“Chill! You’ve taken quite a beating. I’m Watch Guard.”
“Cloud”, I replied weakly. What damage could a name do? “Cloud Striker. Enclave Recruit in the last year of training.” Okay, that may have been too much information. I looked at him slightly worried. But he just smiled and nodded, which unveiled a… compact horn that until then had been covered by his bushy mane. He was indeed a unicorn rather than an earth pony. “How… how long until I can get back to my hooves?”, I asked him.
“Just about another day, I guess. But please stay calm, okay? I heard some weird rumors about you Enclave guys.” He shuddered just enough for me to notice. Seems the Enclave wasn’t the only one with horror stories. I sighed and looked at him.
“I’m not going to eat or even attack you. Why should I, you saved my life.” Then I tried a smile. It felt weird on my face, but it seemed to look right, as he relaxed visibly. Then I tried again to get up, but failed as my bandages kept me from bending my legs. Maybe that was better, I could feel some snapped joints and at least two broken ribs. Pain flowed through me again as I fell back onto the shaggy mattress. With a sigh I looked at Watch.
“Could you get me something to eat?”, I asked weakly. My growling stomach reinforced my inquiry. He just nodded and got up, trotting out of the room. I wondered if I was in the shack I had seen from above. After a few minutes he reappeared with some tin can that looked decidedly older than the two of us combined. I looked at him with a raised brow and asked “Is this even still edible? It looks like having survived the War.”
“It has”, he replied flatly. “Most of the conserves are still in a usable state. But don’t ask me how that’s possible.” Well, as he seemed to still be alive…
I opened the can with my hooves, which included quite a lot of fumbling, before I sniffed the contents. They smelled fruity, and definitely edible. I picked out a piece with my mouth and chewed slowly…
...just to dump the whole rest into my mouth. It tasted so sweet! Goddesses, how could something that old be so sweet? I swallowed the conserved fruit, then started licking out the can. Only after finishing it dawned on me that I wasn’t alone. But Watch seemed to have found a particular interest in the doorknob. I thought I had seen a grin for a second, but it vanished before I could be sure.
“I definitely was hungry”, I said, stating the obvious. I wasn’t quite full yet, but it would suffice until tomorrow.
He just turned around and smiled. “Sure looked like it”, he replied, sitting on the floor next to me. “Now tell me”, he started, “how does a tied up pegasus end up falling from the skies?”
With a sigh I looked up to the rusty roof. “We were visiting the ruins of Cloudsdale. Always three ponies together. The other ones tied me up and then kicked me through a hole in the clouds.” Even remembering made me shudder. I could still feel the air flowing over me, the ground coming nearer with every second. The sudden crash when I hit one of the trees standing around the shack. Maybe the brittle branches had saved me by catching part of the impact. I really had no other explanation for my survival.
“How have you found me?”, I asked him, still shivering. His smile froze, as he seemed to remember something particularly unpleasant.
“You hung in one of the trees around here. At first I thought you were dead. But then you moved, so I pulled you out of the tree. I have no idea how you survived this, most of your bones were shattered. You’re lucky that I found some bandages and Healing Potions in an old pharmacy store.” Slowly, I nodded. That was pretty much all I needed to…

The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of an engine. Slowly I got to my hooves, which worked at least partly, and limped to the door. My wings were still bandaged and hurt like hell, so I pushed it open with my muzzle. Outside, I found Watch sitting on something that looked like a Bombing Chariot, just without any weapons and with some mechanical construction strapped to where otherwise the pegasus would strap in to pull it. He turned around and grinned at me.
“Found her a few months ago. Needed two weeks before I had restored it and another one to find enough Spark Batteries. Faster than anypony could gallop”, he told me with pride. I looked at it and felt a smile on my face as well.
“It’s awesome!”, I replied, before I heaved myself onto the vehicle behind him. “Does that mean we’re getting away from here?”
“Sure, I need to get back home. Mom and dad will be worried that I was gone for so long, but I couldn’t just leave you alone, right?” He grinned and grabbed two handles on either side of the Chariot, which started to move rather fast. So fast indeed, that I had to wrap my hooves around Watch and pray to the Goddesses that they’d keep us safe. He seemed to rather enjoy it, accelerating even further to the point where the wind flowing through my mane reminded me of recent events. I clenched my eyes shut and begged to the Princesses to end this horror trip. I had no idea how fast we were, and I honestly didn’t care as long as we’d stop soon.
The trip took about an hour, as I learned later. It had felt like days. Shaking, I slipped from the Chariot and almost fell to my face. “Never… never again…”, i muttered, still trembling.
He just grinned and patted my back. “You’re gonna get used to it, I’m sure. Never had an accident.” Yet, I added mentally. I wasn’t too sure if it was a good idea to stay with Watch, but he seemed considerably more reasonable than the raiders I had heard of, and on my own, I’d probably not survive another week down here. If only half of the stories I had heard were true, I was fucked either way, so what damage could some company do?
“Hey, do you know how far Hoofington is from here?”, I asked him. If I could make it to Thunderhead, maybe I still had a chance. Even though I wasn’t really fond of the idea of meeting my mother, who was partly responsible for the VC. I wondered what dad was doing right now. It didn’t matter, but still I couldn’t stop think about him right now. Had I already been declared dead? Had mom gotten another certificate already? And if Colonel Storm Cloud believed the story the twins had told her, would I even be let back up? Chances were I’d just be marked as a Dashite and thrown back out. With a sigh I looked around…
...and found myself circled by ponies. Unicorns and earth ponies alike were gathered around Watch and me, studying me, most of them with a worried look.
“What would you want in that place?”, an elderly mare asked me, grey streaking her amber mane. “Nopony who ever went there came back.” Some of the others nodded sullenly.
With a sigh I looked around, trying to get to my hooves. “I don’t plan on coming back”, I replied flatly, “I just want to get back home. Hoofington is maybe the only place where I can.” But without any equipment, I’d have a hard time making it there. Where the hay was my uniform? I asked Watch where he’d put it.
He looked at me with some embarrassment. “It was completely torn up. There was no way I could patch it up. I’m sorry.” My ears twitched. My uniform… There was no way I’d be let through to the Operative without it. And… it was the only thing I had left. Suddenly I felt completely lost and sunk back to the ground. What should I do now? What could I do? Helplessly I looked around, hoping that somepony would come up with a plan. I was used to following orders, and now I was completely on my own. Slowly I raised to my hooves and started to trot away from the small crowd that had gathered. I looked down, dragging my tail behind me.
It took less than ten seconds flat until Watch had caught up with me. “What are you doing?”, he exclaimed, “Alone you don’t survive a single day out there.”
I just looked at him. “What have I to lose? Without my Uniform they will never believe me that I belong to them. They’ll brand me and send me away.” Truth was, they’d likely do that either way. But what choice did I have? There was no way I was going to stay down here. Even the ruins of Cloudsdale were a more pleasant place than here.
“Maybe we’ll find somepony who can patch it up. But that’ll cost quite a bit. We’ll have to collect quite some caps to afford that.”
“Caps? As in bottle caps? What do we need bottle caps for?”, I asked, completely clueless. It wasn’t as if these things were particularly useful.
“For paying of course”, he replied matter-of-factly. He added a look that stated doubt in my mental health.
I looked at him in confusion. “You pay… in used bottle caps?” My face expressed my doubt perfectly. How do you get to that point? What if someone were to discover an old soda factory? How do you determine the value of a cap? Why not use something useful, like ammo? Shaking my head, I went on. “I’m out of here. Come with me or stay, but don’t try to stop me from lea…”
A bullet flew just past my ear. My decision crumbled like a cookie and I turned to gallop back to the small town where the ponies had still been watching me and now drew their various weapons to defend themselves from whoever had shot at me. I saw battered shotguns, rusty pistols and some rifles, but also batons, baseball bats and even an old fire axe. Quickly I grabbed whatever I could get my hooves into, just to find I had picked up a bruised laser pistol. Perfect, I could work with that. Routinely I checked the cartridge for the remaining load and determined that I had about twelve shots. That had to suffice. I turned my head to look for the attacker, but couldn’t see anypony. That made me nervous. The others didn’t seem to feel any different, but obviously they were far more used to situations like that, and instead of panicking systematically started searching. I joined in, as my chances in a group were much higher, plus the organised search calmly reminded me of my training. I gripped the weapon a little more tightly with my mouth.
Then I spotted him. Or at least I thought it was a him. The shaggy mane and overgrown fur didn’t allow for closer conclusions. I gestured into his direction, while aiming the beam pistol at him. The dirty pony got to its hooves and showed its armor, which seemed to consist mainly of shards of scrap metal and leather strips. No doubt he was after the village ponies, as he started firing from a grimy revolver without hesitation. My first shot grilled his tongue together with the trigger, the second set his barding ablaze. I was stunned how easy it was to shoot at other ponies. But he didn’t scream. In fact, he started giggling, as he started to trot right into my direction. I shot his hooves, but that didn’t stop him from charging even faster. I clenched my eyes shut as he glared at me, his yellowed eyes staring into mine, several bite marks on his legs. Then i heard a thud and Watch stood in front of me, a bloody hatchet in his telekinetic grip. I shuddered, as blood splattered all around the place. Was that it?
Of course it wasn’t. Several others charged from the hills, a wild variety of makeshift weapons in their mouths and magic fields. I resumed shooting, but soon, the trigger just gave a low click and a barely visible flash. I tossed it away and gripped the revolver my first opponent had used. It was far from good condition and the handle was still hot, but that didn’t matter. The remaining four shots hit three of the attackers, one of which fell instantly as the bullet tore a hole into his forehead. He staggered and fell, the grenade he was about to toss dropping from his telekinesis. I jumped away as it went of, crippling two more of the attackers. Slowly, I got back to my hooves, just in time to buck a raging mare trying to bite me. She toppled to the ground, but got back up almost immediately, starting to giggle insanely, just as the first one had. I shied back, unsure what was wrong with these ponies. Were these the cannibals we have been warned about? And if not, why were they attacking the village? Were they after me? That didn’t matter right now. They were crazy, and they were endangering ponies, even if these were surface ponies. One of them had saved me, so I owed them. I managed to get my hooves on the battered rifle one of the villagers had wielded. Poor buck had his throat torn apart. I shuddered before I started aiming at the attacking madponies. One by one, the 12.7 mm rounds drilled into the bodies of the attacking ponies. The ironsights of the rifle were a bit off, but after a few shots, I managed to compensate this deficit. In fact, it was one of the more useful firearms I had to use yet. The recoil was bearable and it was pretty lightweight. I could not stop myself from smirking about how easily the bullets ripped through the few remaining attackers.
It wasn’t long until there were only two left, which were taken down by the townsponies. I sighed and rested the barrel of the gun on the ground. I noticed another magazine next to its former owner and picked it up. Only then I noticed how exhausted I was. Every part of my body ached and I could barely stand. I simply sat on the ground where I stood and looked around. except the unlucky buck behind me, everyone seemed to have survived the attack. I smiled weakly as Watch got me back to my hooves and supported me on my way back to the others. They cheered and stomped their hooves, which confused me. Then I noticed three piles of ashes on the floor. It seemed that I had saved these ponies. Me, a mere recruit! I trembled in excitement as Watch lifted me on his back and carried me the rest of the way. Smiling faintly, I looked at the ponies, who seemed to mistake me for some kind of hero. I merely defended myself, and not even very well, Watch had had to save me. Still, it felt good not to be treated as an outcast. Watch carefully placed me on all four, which resulted in several of the ponies around me hugging me. I felt a little awkward, but couldn’t deny the warmth in my body. It felt good to be appreciated. Still, I couldn’t stay here. I had to get home.
I waited until everypony had calmed down, before I stated calmly, “I’m really sorry. It makes me happy to have helped all of you, but I have to return to the Enclave. I must get to Thunderhead near Hoofington or to any other Enclave outpost. And I need to have my uniform repaired.”
They looked at each other before Watch just shook his head and said, “You are stubborn as concrete, you know that? Nopony ever got anything good from going to the Hoof. You’d be better off staying with us. We’ll find a way to get you back up there, I promise.”
With a sigh, I nodded and muttered, “Fine. I’ll stay for a few days. I’d really appreciate if somepony could patch up my uniform. Watch has it, I guess.” Then the ground started to jump at me and everything went blank.

Footnote: Level up
Firearms skill increased to 50

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to get to the good ending. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that the bandages had been removed. The second was the soft mattress I was lying on. With a groan I sat up, looking around in the room I was in. It looked like the interior of one of the houses the village consisted of. The dead buck’s rifle leaned right next to the door. Had this been his home, his bed? Suddenly I felt bad for not saving him. But why? It wasn’t that I owed him in any way. He was just a ground pony. I had no responsibilities towards the surface. I tested my wings and nodded. That would work. Looking around some more, I noticed some clothes on a makeshift table under a window that actually still had glass in it. I slipped into them, noticing they fit me perfectly. Somepony even had thought of holes for my wings. Grabbing the rifle and slinging it on my back, I stepped out of the door, where Watch already sat.
“Good morning”, he greeted me with a broad smile. He seemed rather unscathed by yesterday’s events. I yawned and looked at him.
“Did I miss anything or why are you so happy? You have been attacked! One of your friends is dead!”, I asked in utter confusion. But on the other hoof, I was thrown out of the sky a few days ago and had survived, why was I even surprised by anything anymore? With a sigh, I stretched my wings a bit. “So, did you already find anything?” I really wanted to get home. If that was the average day on the surface, I wouldn’t stay any longer than necessary.
To my surprise, the answer he gave me was, “Yeah, there were several scout units spotted near Flankfurt. I have no idea what they are looking for, but does it matter? Maybe they can help you.”
I nodded and smiled. It felt more natural than the last time. How could it be possible that I was happier down here than I ever was at home? Well, no time to think about this.
“How far is this… Flankfurt from here?”, I asked, determined to return home as fast as possible. Sure, Watch seemed to be really nice, but that wasn’t home. I had to return. Maybe Mom wasn’t completely wrong about the surface. There were some good ponies down here. But then again, why should the government remain silent about these? Where they maybe just acting to make me feel safe, just to rob me when they got the chance? I shuddered a little at that thought.
“What’s wrong?”, Watch asked me, obviously concerned. No, there was no way that was an act. It appeared much to genuine. I knew a liar if I saw one, at least I thought so. With a smile, I shook my head.
“It’s nothing, really”, I answered, “I was just feeling cold for a second.” Then I sat next to him. “But I’m hungry! I could eat a whole tree right now”, I added afterwards.
With a laugh, he got to his hooves. “Wait a second”, he answered, “I will get us something.” With that, he trotted to the biggest building of the village, which looked like a former restaurant or something like that. But there were no other buildings around that looked older than a few years. Why would anypony build a restaurant in the middle of nowhere? Then I turned around to see what once may have been a bustling city in the valley below. So that was why. The view. Even after two centuries of neglect and scavenging, it was still breathtaking. I could see vast factories, large suburbs and, in the center, dozens of crumbling skyscrapers. And was that…? It had to be. One of the SPP towers stood right in the middle of the town. Maybe if I could get to it, there’d be a possibility to communicate with Neighvarro? With a grin, I nodded. That sounded like a plan. I was so caught by the view that I didn’t notice Watch’s return.
“Hey, you alright? Sure, Flankfurt is cool, but not that cool”, he stated calmly. Then he set two cans next to me. I took one and opened it. It smelled similar to the other one, but obviously was something else. I tried its contents. Not as sweet, but tasty nonetheless. Watch sat next to me, absently munching on his food.
“I need to get to that tower”, I told him. “Maybe there’s a way to reach my family. Or at least somepony up there.” I looked at the Tower, stabbing through the clouds like a sleek black spear. From up here, it looked little broader than my rear leg, but I knew it was several meters in diameter, just as all the others scattered around all of Equestria. With the exception of Shadowbolt Tower, of course.
Watch seemed to consider some options, then he nodded. “I can get you there”, he replied, “But it won’t be easy. There are scavengers all over the ruins, and even the Steel Rangers have a camp somewhere down there. And there’s no way you wanna cross the Steel Rangers. All they’re interested in is hoarding pre-war tech. Most of it they don’t even use. They just collect everything they could get their hooves on.” He trembled slightly. Seems that not all of the stories that were told in the Enclave were that far from the truth…

About an hour later, Watch and I got back to his vehicle. We had visited his father, who had told him to keep me safe and me to keep the rifle. His mother, the mare who had talked to me the other day, gave me my uniform which she hadn’t only repaired, but also enhanced with some armored plates below the fabric and lots of pockets. I had used these to store all the ammo I had found for the rifle, accompanied by some healing potions she had given me. Prepared in this way, I felt confident that we would make it to the tower without any issues. I was more worried about taking another ride on this monstrosity.
“Maybe we’ll rather walk”, I suggested. Hopefully he’d comply. Of course he didn’t. And why should he? By hoof it’d take the whole day to reach the outskirts of the ruins. With a sigh, I made another suggestion. “Then how about you remove the Engine and I pull it? These chariots were primarily constructed for pegasi and I’m sure I can lift it, if the weight talisman isn’t broken. It isn’t, is it?”
Of course it was. After another horrid trip on this tartarus-damned vehicle, I stumbled to the floor, my head spinning. Ridiculous, an Enclave pegasus who doesn’t react well to high speeds. To my defense I had to say that it drove faster than I could fly. I never thought I’d be happy to touch the ground. But at least we had reached one of the suburbs surrounding the town. After covering the chariot with some dead bushes, Watch and I proceeded in the general direction of the city’s center. I had the rifle gripped with my left wing, as I had been trained for cases where a battle saddle was either not available or not necessary. Carefully, we trotted between ruined buildings, some shattered by demolished skywagons. It was eerily silent, not even a breeze was moving. But then we heard something. Was that music? It had to be, but it sounded completely different than what the Enclave broadcasted at home. It was somehow melancholic, but also sparked some hope in me. I listened closer, just to hear the voice of a singing mare, clear like a bell. I involuntarily started smiling. Slowly, I crouched to where the music seemed to originate.
“Wait!”, Watch whispered and put a hoof on my shoulder, “It’s either a trap or scavengers. Anyways, it’s not a good idea to go there.” I nodded to signal that I had understood, but still crawled to the edge of a clearing in the rubble. There, I saw three Ponies in armor made of… leather? What the heck? The armor seemed in good repair, as did the weapons the ponies carried. One of them, a rather nimble unicorn mare, levitated a familiar looking gun next to her. Where’d she find a coilgun? I thought Enclave had invented them after the cloud curtain had been sealed. Anyways, it obviously had been looted somewhere, what meant, she’d stolen it, most likely from an Enclave pony. So there was no harm in taking back what was more righteously mine than hers, right? I changed a look with Watch and crawled back a few steps.
“What do you say. What are the odds we can get them?”, i muttered as quiet as possible. He thought a few moments, peeking around the corner. Good thing his fur was so unobtrusive. I had been lucky that the black cap of my uniform covered my blue fur and my slightly more greenish mane.
“If you can take out the mare with one shot, it’s two against two. The other ones are sitting and first have to get up, so we’d have an advantage over them. Plus, they both are earth ponies, so they have to aim manually and turn their heads to where they shoot.” I nodded. That was the same conclusion that I had come to. But the weapons of the two earth pony bucks startled me. One carried a heavy shotgun and the other one… How’d he even lift that thing? It was a gatling gun, if I have ever seen one. on the plus side, I had read that these weapons need about a second to spin up before the first bullet is fired. Maybe we really had a chance. I silently pulled the rifle from my back and rested it on a fallen over trashcan. Carefully aiming, I nodded towards Watch, who pulled a scratched SMG. With my wing, I counted down from three, before I pulled the trigger. The mare instantly went down, the coilgun toppling to the floor. The others jumped to their hooves, just to get chewed up from a barrage of 10mm bullets from Watch. I aimed at the one with the minigun and managed to hit the engine, which gave a cloud of steam and jammed. Cursing, he dropped the gun and charged right at me. I was ready, shooting right through his muzzle at point blank range. The last one had meanwhile been dropped by Watch. With a Nod, I got to my hooves and trotted to the dropped coilgun, examining it closely. It was in mediocre condition. With a smile, I searched the mare’s body for some cartridges fitting the gun. I found about twenty. I smiled, but then remembered that coilguns needed two cartridges per shot. Well, still better than nothing. I stood up, holstering both the rifle and the coilgun, just to see Watch wiggling into one of the armors.
“Are you crazy? That’s leather! You know, like dead things’ SKIN!”, I exclaimed, shocked by his coldness.
“So?”, he just asked, “It’s dead either way,and he doesn’t need it, so why not use it?” I hated to admit it, but he had a point. Still there was no way he’d get me into one of these armors. I’d keep to my uniform. Without a word, I continued searching the saddlebags of the three ponies for ammo and healing potions. Watch seemed to take interest in the minigun one of the bucks had wielded. I rolled my eyes, but kept saying nothing. There was no way he’d be able to use it, even if he got it repaired.
“Looks like we need to get back to the chariot”, he told me. What for? Did he have some storage there? I just shrugged and we trotted back to the vehicle. back there he sat down the huge weapon, then took out some tools and told me to keep looking out for enemies who might have heard the shots. I nodded and with a few beats of my wings landed on the roof of the house we had hidden the chariot behind. I used the time to disassemble and clean the coilgun, carefully polishing every part. The familiar task calmed me, enabling me to think of what I would do once we’d have reached the SPP tower. How’d I explain what had happened? Would they believe me? And what would prevent the twins from getting rid of me again? I shook my head. They would believe me. What proof did they have for me having actually entered the ruins? None, because I hadn’t! I was sure, anything would become clear once I got to talk to somepony.
I still hadn’t spotted anyone and reassembled the gun when Watch told me I could come back. I effortlessly jumped back to the ground and looked at him. No ridiculously oversized weapon. What had he done with it? Then I turned around and froze. He had actually mounted it on the chariot. And it looked like it actually belonged there! How’d he make this? Well, it definitely wasn’t a bad idea to have some firepower at disposal, right? I nodded approvingly and helped him to once again cover it. Then we again made our way back to the center of the ruined town.

Nothing had crossed our path except some mutated cockroaches, when we finally reached the industrial part of the city. The houses were replaced by large factories and storage halls. Most of the locks were either picked or forced open, while some of the more elaborate ones were unharmed yet. I approached one of the latter and examined it closely. With enough time and some equipment I could maybe get it open. I turned to Watch and asked him for a screwdriver and some lockpicks. Instead, he gave me a pack of… bobby pins? Well, they had to suffice. Carefully I went to work, the screwdriver in one wing and one of the bobby pins in the other. I twisted the pin, listening for some clicking inside the lock, sometimes slightly turning the screwdriver. With a snap, the first bobby pin broke. I cursed quietly and reached out for another one. I was already close, I knew it. With the third I finally heard the satisfying click I had waited for. I opened the door and found myself in a dusty, but largely unharmed office. After pocketing the remaining bobby pins and returning the screwdriver, I sneaked inside. It seemed to have been a factory for armored clothing and combat armor. I grinned. That was more like it. With a wing I motioned Watch to follow me…
...just to immediately reel back as a ceiling-mounted turret opened fire. I jumped to the air and fired the rifle at it, but the bullet ricocheted  from the armored machine without even leaving a dent. Groaning, I dodged another beam while shouldering the rifle and drawing the coilgun. That’d definitely suffice. But now the turret aimed at me and I was too close to dodge another shot. So I took the risk and dropped to the ground. My joints popped, but I made it without broken bones. As fast as I could I raised the gun and aimed at the turret. The shot teared up not only the armored casing, but also the ceiling above. I had to jump back to avoid the falling debris. Then I looked at Watch.
“Get in deeper or go on to the center?”, I asked him. I really didn’t mind some delay as I still had to think about what I’d do once we reached the tower. He nodded, so we decided to split up. I’d fly up to the top floor through the new hole in the ceiling while he’d go through the door on the right. I took off and hovered through the hole. It was barely large enough, but I managed to get through. I found myself in what looked like a storage chamber. I quickly went through several crates and found some ammo for my rifle. Some of the magazines had colored stripes on them, but I had no idea what they meant, so I just pocketed them and went on. The next one contained, and I almost squealed in joy at that sight, a large container of cartridges that would fit the coilgun. I really didn’t think about that, of course an armor factory needed some defenses. Maybe these were originally for the turrets. The Turrets! Did Watch have anything to deal with them if he was to encounter more? I dove through the hole back to the ground floor and gallopped through the door…
...just to find him sitting on a steaming turret, calmly picking out the valuable parts. I blinked in surprise and sat flatly on my rump. He was incredible! How’d he manage to turn it off?
I stammered. “Wha… how?” Not really elaborate, but he seemed to understand and just pulled out a grenade with a blue tape around the middle.
“Spark grenade”, he replied shortly, grinning. I just stared at him in awe, before something dawned on me.
“Why didn’t you use that on the first one?”, I asked. That’d have saved us quite some trouble and we’d probably encountered the storage where I found the ammo anyways. Then I shook my head, adding “Nevermind”, before I got out the three coloured magazines with rifle ammo. One was taped in red and the other one in green. He looked at them and smiled.
“The green one contains hollow point ammo. Huge damage against flesh and skin, but useless against armor. The other one may be either incendiary or even explosive rounds, I’m not sure.” I grinned and put the magazines in a separate pocket. They’d come in handy later, I was sure. Then I turned back to him and raised a brow.
“Maybe it was not a good idea to split up. Let’s continue together, okay?”, I asked him, partly relieved to see him nod. He jumped from the wrecked frame and took out his SMG, which he loaded with a yellow taped magazine. I raised a brow and asked “Armor-piercing?” He nodded again, smiling.
“You’re a quick learner, aren’t you?”, he replied. I guessed I was. So I pushed the next door open with my wing, finding myself in a corridor, leading to an armored door that spanned the whole width of the hallway. Somehow I didn’t want to get near to whatever was behind it. I looked at Watch uncomfortably.
“Maybe we take another way?”, I suggested. He looked at me in surprise.
“Why?”, he asked, “Are you afraid of doors?” I shook my head and looked at the door.
“No, but something about this feels off. I can’t put my hoof on it, but I doubt we’d make it through to the door.” Let’s take the other door. But then the world collapsed, or at least the corridor did. About a dozen Sentry Bots rolled out of niches in the walls. I knew these, because the Enclave utilised similar ones. I took out the coilgun and loaded two fresh energy cartridges into the chamber. Then I aimed at the nearest bot and pulled the trigger. The shot, ionised through the sheer speed, pierced through two of the bots and penetrated a third one, rendering its gatling laser useless. Instead of reloading, I holstered the coilgun and drew the rifle, loading the red magazine. I aimed at the already damaged bot and shot.
The bullet just cut into the electronics, causing a little flame. So it was incendiary ammo, not explosive. I backed out to provide a clear shot for Watch. The armor piercing round proved way more valuable than then incendiary one, despite the smaller caliber. He in fact managed to take down two more of the bots while I searched his bags for another spark grenade, which I threw at the remaining ones. It gave an electrically blue flash, and the remaining Sentries fell silent. I took a deep breath.
“See? Told you!”, I said, despite a small grin on my face, doubtlessly from the adrenaline rush. I carefully trotted to the smoking robots, searching for more cartridges, but the ones the Sentries used weren’t compatible with the coilgun. I still pocketed them, just in case. Maybe we’d find a gun that could use them. And I already got the notion that a pony couldn’t have too much ammo. We continued through the corridor, just to find that the grenade had also roasted the door controls. Dead end. With a sigh, I looked at Watch.
“So, what now?”, I asked, which he answered with a shrug. So we made our way back out of the factory. Outside, we found the sky already darkening and decided to spend the night in one of the abandoned houses. I picked the lock and let him in before I followed him inside. Thankfully, there weren’t any remains of dead ponies. Watch volunteered to take the first watch, so I laid down on the dusty bed and soon fell asleep.



Lockpicking increased to 80

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t listen to people trying to hold you down. You can shine no matter what you’re made of.
        
        I was woken up by Watch around midnight. I don’t know how, but I somehow always knew the time to a certain degree, even in closed spaces. I never really thought about it, but now I had enough time for thinking. I glided up to the roof to have a better view. Somehow I always felt my look pulled towards the factory. It was as if there was something telling me that I had to go there again. Since there was nopony around, I decided to give it another shot. Silently I took off and flew back to the entrance. It was dead silent, except for the distant hum of a still running generator inside the building. I slowly picked a flashlight out of my uniform and tried it. The light flickered heavily, but it was better than the pitch-black darkness without it. Guess I should be thankful that it worked at all after falling out of the clouds with me. I proceeded and it wasn’t long until I found myself in front of the armored door. I somehow got the notion that there was something important behind it. In the flickering light of the flashlight, I could read the writing on the door. It looked like sprayed stencils, obviously it was put on the door after it was built.


PROJECT ARES PROTOTYPE MK. II






        I had no idea what Project Ares was supposed to be, but did it matter? I had to get into that room! But how? There was no way I could repair the terminal, and without it, the heavy door would definitely not open. I looked around and found a hatch on the top side of the wall. Maybe there was a ventilation shaft behind it. Pulling out the screwdriver I had taken once again from Watch, I unscrewed the hatch and slipped through. The shaft indeed went right through to the room behind the armored door. Slowly, I crawled through the narrow shaft, my wings closely pressed to my body. The hatch on the other end was screwed in place, too, and there was no way to release it from inside the shaft. I tried bucking it open, but there was barely enough room. After thinking of an alternative, I returned to the corridor and started searching the office at the entrance. In a locked drawer I found a laser pistol. That would do. With the pistol in my mouth, I returned to the air vent and fired a steady beam at the joints. It took a few minutes and several cartridges. I mentally patted my shoulder for having pocketed the ones from the Sentry Bots earlier, as they fit the pistol perfectly. Finally, the hatch clattered to the floor and I waited a few minutes for the metal to cool down, before I slipped through.
        I didn’t know what I had expected, but definitely not what I had found. There were dozens of terminals, all connected to a large maneframe in the middle of the large room. Inside it was something that remotely resembled the simulation pods the Enclave used for flight training. And the pod was occupied! It looked almost like a pony, but not exactly. It had matte white armor plates all over its body and its mane and tail were of a red that closely resembled rubies. Was that… a robot? I had never seen anything like it. The screen above the pod showed only scrambled letters and numbers, occasionally interrupted by the word ERROR. What was this? And why was it in an armor factory? It really didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it still seemed to be operational. I approached the closest terminal and activated it. But then I hesitated. What if it was hostile? Still, I felt like I had to do this. The thought that something might control my mind creeped me out, but it felt more like an instinct than anything else, like spreading my wings when falling. I had no choice but try. I was pretty sure I’d be able to deactivate it if I had to.
        Hacking the terminal proved as quite a challenge. I had to back out several times to avoid permanent lockdown, but after about ten minutes, I cracked the Password: Infiltration. The irony was strong with this one, considering I had infiltrated the facility, at least kind of. There were only two options: Reactivation and Documentation. I chose Documentation, but the files were damaged and impossible to read, except a recurring phrase: O.I.A. What did that mean? Office of Indifferent Acronyms? Possibly not. Well, there was no way I’d find out here, so I toggled Reactivation.
        With an enervating hiss, the pod opened. the room went cold from the heavily cooled air inside it. Then the thing inside moved. It opened its eyes, which actually glowed in an emerald green, and looked directly at me. Then it got to its hooves and climbed out of the pod, several cables disconnecting from its neck. I backed away as it started to approach me, its eyes locked on mine. Then it began to speak.
“Expecting orders”, it said in a neutral, but doubtlessly female voice. Also, I started to notice its features and frame resembled an earth pony mare. “Connection to O.I.A. network failed. Returning to vocal command.” So… It expected me to give orders?
“Erm… Get that door open”, I stammered, fascinated, but also a little afraid of the thing in front of me. It was better than nothing, I guessed. And without wings there was no way it could get to the airshaft.
        It… she?... stared at me, her green eyes flickering lightly, before she spoke again. “Voice recognition running... Please be patient… Match found… Dr. Green Leaf, O.I.A. cybernetics expert. Access granted. Will execute.” With these words, she walked up to the terminal next to the door and just put a hoof on it. The screen began to flicker, showing long columns of letters and numbers. It took only a few seconds until the door lifted into the ceiling with a mechanical hum. The robot looked at me, almost expectantly.
        I searched my brain for something to say. How was I supposed to call it? Or her? Could a robot be a Her? “Erm… What is your purpose?”, I asked, unsure if these were the correct words to say.
        “Access restricted. Hoofprint, retina scan or password required”, came the answer, in the same neutral tone. I shook a hoof to dismiss the question.
“Do you have a specific designation?”, I tried instead. That should work, I guessed.
“My official designation is Ares MK. II”, she answered without hesitation. Well, that should at least be something. Now I knew how to call my new… friend?
“Is there anything you can tell me about you without requiring additional authorization?”, I continued. Then I stopped. Had it just referred to itself as “I”? Don’t tell me it was…
“I am an experimental AI, developed for testing interaction with ponies and personal defense.” Oh, cool. That seemed almost too good to be true. With a nod, I trotted up to the door and looked at the terminal next to it. It was just as scorched that the one outside and didn’t work. How’d she get it to work? Well, advanced robotics, I guessed. Did it really matter? Anyways, I had been in here way too long. Hopefully Watch was okay. I went through the door.
“So, Ares… How long have you been in that pod?”, I asked casually. Her answer didn’t really surprise me.
“My last activation has been 203 years, 4 months and 7 minutes ago”, she answered, still in that creepily neutral tone. But somehow it felt as if she wasn’t exactly happy with neither that fact nor with her voice. Her next statement surprised me. “You are not Dr. Green Leaf, right? He was an earth pony, not a pegasus. Who are you?”
Well, that sure was one smart robot. The first one to notice the difference between then and now in fact. “My name is Cloud Striker. I am a military recruit and loyal to the equestrian empire.” That was true as long as you don’t think about what part of the empire I was talking of. My answer seemed to suffice, as she didn’t instantly attack me. “The Ponies who built you are most likely all dead by now”, I added, “Ponies don’t tend to get that old.”
She trotted up next to me, nodding. “That seems plausible. I will keep you company until I find somepony who has the right to execute orders. Is that acceptable?” Wow, she’d actually asked a question instead of just stating that she’d stay with me. She sure wasn’t your everyday Spritebot. Well, it’d be definitely not the worst thing to have some more company.
“Uh, sure”, I answered, “But I’ll have to ask my friend if he agrees with this.” Truth was I had no idea if it was a good idea to keep her around. Watch would have more of a clue. He’d spent his whole life on the surface. Yeah, He’d know what to do.
“Friend? You mean your squad member?”, she asked. I just shook my head. There’d be enough time to talk when we’d get to where Watch was. I didn’t want to explain everything twice.

I wasn’t far from the factory to the abandoned house. I could hear hoofsteps inside. Either Watch had woken up or there was somepony else inside. I lifted a hoof to make Ares stop. “That’s not good”, I said, “Maybe there’s somepony in the house. I’ll go in first, you wait here.” Silently I proceeded inside, the rifle under my wing so I could move easier inside the building. I crouched around a corner…just to run into Watch. He looked at me in surprise, just as tense as I was.
“Cloud! Where have you been? I thought somepony had found you!” I looked at him sheepishly. Why hadn’t I woken him up?
“I somehow had the feeling that there was something important behind this door in the factory. And I was right! Come, I’ll show you!” Without waiting for an answer I trotted outside and noded in the direction of Ares, to show both her that Watch was my partner and Watch that she didn’t pose an immediate threat. At least I hoped so.
He looked at her blankly, like he couldn’t process what he was seeing. I smiled a little despite not knowing how I managed so well. Maybe it was sometimes not the worst thing to not know what one had to expect. This way, it was a lot harder to actually be surprised, I guessed. But did it matter?
“Let’s get some rest until the sun rises”, I suggested, yawning. It had been a long night and an exhausting trip. But definitely worth the effort, considering what I had found. Or should I say who I had found? Urgh, thinking about if Ares was a person or not made my head hurt. I’d let her decide herself. Yeah, that should work. Let a machine make decisions. What could possibly go wrong? Urgh, I was too tired for thinking. I needed some sleep. Yes, sleep…

Footnote: 25% to next level
Perk added: Low Profile: It is now easier for you to maneuver in small areas.