Prologue: Life in Stable 81; The Solution to a Problem

"War... War never changes."

"Come on, Vanilla Cream. Just think. Think!" I said to myself.

I grunted in frustration and slammed my hooves into the worktable in front of me. Things were definitely not going my way today. First, one of the generators broke down, so I had to take apart one of the Stable jukeboxes in order to get enough materials to fix it. Now our water purification machine has broke down. We would have enough water to last us two weeks, but the water left behind will mix with the new intake, and soon enough, we'll be drinking irradiated water.

"Fuck it!" I shouted out loud. That smoky gray cloud created by my unicorn magic surrounded one of the sheets of metal in front of me, and I chucked it across the room. It let out a violently loud clang as it hit the lead wall of Stable 81.

"Just calm down, Vanilla Cream. You can think of a way to get through this. Come on. It's not that bad. There's a number of ways you can find a solution to this. You just need to find a strong, durable metal that can take a lot of stress, and use it to fix the water purifier."

I looked towards the wall I just threw the sheet of metal against. I then smiled as it came to me. "Lead. Perfect." Then I frowned, and banged my head against the table.

"Nope. Can't use Stable walls, Vanil. They're important to the foundation. And if I take those walls apart, I'll be exposing the Stable to some unneeded dirt." And based off of off how the upper residents react to dirt; they won't be needing any of that. No need to cause undue alarm.

My Pip-buck suddenly lit up, and a message sent by my little sister appeared on the screen. I smiled, and warmth spread through my body as I read her message.

Hey, Vanil. Maintenance from the third floor is sending some spare metal up your way. They hope it can help a little bit with repairing the purifier. And guess who gets to take the shipment to you. That's right; Me! I may be spending a little time up there with you, just to visit. See you soon.

~Butterscotch Candy

I turned my Pip-buck off, and stared at my face in the tiny reflective screen. Goddesses, Butterscotch got lucky in ways of looks. She had beautiful golden hair that stayed neat even when she didn't brush it, and her coat was a beautiful crystal white. Not to mention her eyes were the same blue-green as the Stable pool. Meanwhile, I had a coat the color of melted butter, and my long white mane was straight, until you got to the bottom, where it ended in knots and split ends. The only thing I had going for me were my smoky gray eyes.

Oh, and then there was my back.

When I was younger, before I even had my cutie mark, I used to help my dad with his work. He had the same job as me, first floor maintenance, programming, and repair. One day he built a very special machine, one I helped him with personally. A double Pylon machine that generates its own electricity using the electrical energy in the air.

We made the mistake of not containing it.

I suppose it was both of our faults really. One day, when we turned it on to test it, it exploded. And the explosion killed my dad instantly. And it took part of my spine with him.

To be perfectly honest, I believe I should have died that day. Even the docs said so. They agreed that I was "One lucky mare." After the explosion I was in a coma in the med bay for a month, or so they say. While I was in the coma one of my dad's friends, Fix Ser, built me a mechanical spine, as well as metal plate covering for the flesh missing on my back. And when I came to I was completely paralyzed. I was barely able to speak even. Then Fix Ser put the spine in... or if you want to get technical, installed it into me. Within a month after that, function fully returned to my body. I could walk again. Talk again.

Instead of absolutely trashing the pylon, like the Overmare wanted, I worked on it. And made it better, and safer. One year’s time passed, and I finished it. And found a cutie mark with a microchip on my rump. Since then, I've done a lot of things for both the Stable and myself. I even upgraded my back to where I could add attachments. Those took a while to make. But, what is probably my biggest project ever, is what is currently attached to my back right now. A pair of metallic Pegasus wings, made of carbon. And they work too.

And the only reason they work, is because of the goal of Stable 81. We combined earth pony engineering with unicorn magic, to create machines that shouldn't theoretically be possible.

Problem is, that I don't think Stable tech planned ahead. They didn't give us enough spare metal to last 200 years. In fact, from what I've heard, they didn't even give us enough to last 20 years.

And that's how I'm in the situation I'm in now with the purifier. Not enough spare metal in the Stable to go around.

I, once again, grunted in frustration. Negativity was the last thing I needed right now. And my dear sister was about to visit me. I couldn't afford to be so disgruntled. Then there was a knock at the door.

Ah, speak of Luna, and she shall appear.

"Who is it?"

"We have a package for a Ms. Cream. Two hundred fifty pounds of spare metal, assorted varieties." answered the sweet, soft, and lyrical voice of my sister.

"You know the door code. Come on in."

There was a moment's pause, before the door was pushed open, and Butterscotch walked in, with a rope in her mouth, dragging quite a large box in behind her.

Sometimes, I found it strange that my little sister was as strong as she is. She's too small to be holding all that strength. I had at least eight inches on her, and yet, I'm sure she would be strong enough to use her bare hooves to lift me up and throw me across the room. She could probably throw me farther than that, honestly.

Butterscotch was on the moving crew, which is a section of the Delivery department. And she is one of their best. Her cutie mark, in fact, was one of the very moving boxes we used here in the Stable.

"I swear, Butterscotch, for a unicorn you’re a pretty buff mare. Where do you get all that strength from?"

Butterscotch pulled the box into the room, before dropping the rope with a huff. She turned to me and said. "You know why. I can't quite get the hang of magic, so I'll do it the hard way instead."

"You should start a fight club. You'd probably be the best one there." I said as she gave a slight chuckle.

"Okay, Vanil. Let's not get crazy. You know I would never hurt anyone if I was given a choice.

I swear, sometimes my sister was too innocent for this world. She should have been born in a better, more peaceful, time.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true."

"Hey, Vanil. I haven't used my break yet. You want to hang out for a little bit?"

She had to ask that. She knew work was rough down here, and could tell I was close to ripping my hair out over this water chip. I looked down at the sheets of metal in front of me as frustration once again began bubbling to the surface. "Yeah. I think I could use a little break."

Butterscotch squealed in delight, and began jumping up and down in place.

"Okay, let me send a message to the Delivery Department to let them know I'm going on break. Then, I know where we can go."

"Really? Where is it?" I asked as Butterscotch powered up her Pip-buck and began to type in a message.

"It's this new food shop down on the third floor. They're really good at preparing their dishes. I delivered for them once, and they gave me some free samples."

Butterscotch's job may have been lower than mine, according to Stable standards, but boy, did she get a lot of leniency. But at least I was my own boss, considering I was the only pony on first floor maintenance.

"Let me guess; You ate it on the clock?"

"You know me too well, Vanil. So, you ready now? My boss said I'm good to go."

I gave one last huff. Geez, this purifier situation really left me frustrated.

"Yeah. I can find a solution to this later."

"Yippee! Alright, let's get to it."

And with that, Butterscotch grabbed my tail with her teeth, and dragged me out of the room.

~~~~~~~~

I practically spit out my water when I heard the news. "You're kidding? Fresh Gardens has a crush on you? Who'd you figure this out from?"

"Fresh Gardens." Butterscotch answered nonchalantly.

I paused for a moment. Man, I really needed to pay more attention to my sister's personal life. "Isn't Gardens a girl?"

"Yep. Which is why I'm going to have to say no. I want to find myself a strong man who can protect me. Preferably, someone who can beat me in a hoof wrestle."

Butterscotch and I both let out a chuckle at that. It's true, Butterscotch probably was the strongest pony among the top floors.

"Yeah, Gardens is out of the question. But..." Butterscotch leaned her head into her hooves, and started looking dreamily at the ceiling. "There is this one pony."

I couldn't help but smile. If she was happy, I was happy. "Looks like somepony's head over hooves about somepony else. Like, really bad"

"Yeah... his name is Copper Magnet."

Everyone knew Copper Magnet. He was, after all, the absolute hunkiest stallion in the Stable. And I'm sure that Butterscotch had never even met him before. Especially considering he lived down on the eighth floor.

"Now that's living in a fantasy, Butterscotch. He probably has other ponies in mind."

Yep, I received a frown from her for that. I thought I would.

"Yeah, well it's better than what you've got Vanil. You're what? Twenty five? You should be married by now."

"Well, I got special permission from the Overmare to stay single for a while."

"Well, maybe I'll get special permission from the Overmare to meet Copper Magnet. And then, I'll woo him with my words." She began. "And then, he'll agree to marry me. And then we'll have sex, and then have little foals, and then... yeah, you're right. I am living in a fantasy, aren't I?"

I took a few bites from my salad, before setting it to the side, and answering her.

"What'd I tell you? Now, My break is pretty much over. I'm going to go back to work."

Butterscotch looked down sadly. Goddesses, I hated it when she did that. It made me feel bad.

"Alright. See you in a few hours. Oh, hey wait!" Butterscotch knocked her chair over as she followed me out. "If you aren't able to fix the purifier, what'll happen?"

"Well, the Overmare will probably have everyone evacuate the Stable. It'll become impossible to live here if we aren't able to fix it."

"So, we'll have to leave, huh? I've never seen the Stable door open before. I wonder what it's like."

My eyes widened in excitement and realization. "The Stable door? The Stable door! That's it Butterscotch! Oh, that's it! Oh, you're a genius, Butterscotch, you're a genius!"

Butterscotch's slightly timid side of her personality caused her to shrink away from her excited sister. I couldn't blame her. I must have looked like someone in the psychiatric ward right now. "Vanil, what are you talking about?"

"The Stable has never been breached. Which means the door is incredibly strong. And durable. We can use the door to fix the purifier. Oh, it's genius!"

"But, Vanil, what if someone tries to leave?"

"We can just post guards at the front entrance, and keep anybody from getting out. Oh, thank you Butterscotch. You really helped me. Oh, I have to go talk to the Overmare about this. She'll need to hear about this."

Then, without a second's break from the end of my last sentence, I ran out of that little restaurant, leaving my sister standing there, looking incredibly confused.

~~~~~~~~~~

"That's all we need to do, simple as that!" I quickly spurted in excitement. I landed on the Overmare's desk, finally putting an end to my bedazzling show. My wings needed to recharge anyway.

"Very good, Vanilla Cream. Now, repeat that again. From the beginning.

"Again?" I shrank down, just a little bit. I'd already told her three times, now I had to tell her a fourth?

"Vanilla, you're talking way too fast for me to understand what you're saying. You really need to calm down a little bit."

"Right right, right." I took a deep breath, and then climbed down from her desk.

Alright, Vanil. Calm, cool, collected. You just need to say this slowly, in a way she can understand, without fudging it up.

"We can use the Stable door to repair our purifier problem. We just need to remove the door from its hinge, and take bits and pieces off of it."

She raised an eyebrow. She was definitely considering it, but she had some questions.

"And, what will we do if we are raided? Without a door, the Stable will be left horribly open."

"We can post guards at the door and, install an alarm near it in case of a breach. Plus if you really don't trust it that much, we can have ponies go out and scout the horizon for threats."

The Overmare honestly looked surprised. "Vanilla Cream, you certainly planned ahead. I see all kinds of red alerts in this plan, and yet... it's probably the only chance we have if it's all you could think of. So, it seems, we'll have to go through with it."

I jumped up into the air, and began shouting as I flew circles around the Overmare's desk. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh! I promise nothing will go wrong, and we'll all be drinking non-stagnant water soon, Ms. Overmare!"

"Okay, Vanilla. I'm very glad to hear that."

"So," I began as I landed, once again ready to act like a civilized pony. "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to need some pretty heavy machinery, some explosives of some kind, and pretty much the entire moving crew."

The Overmare gave a slight huff, but other than that, she seemed fine. "Very well. Give me a few hours to get all the paperwork for this signed, and then you can start the project. Oh and Vanilla Cream, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"You better hope to Celestia you are right about this."

I turned around and began to walk out of the office. "Don't worry ma'am. I have full faith in this plan."

~~~~~~~~~~

I walked into my Stable assigned living space, threw my knapsack into the corner, and threw myself onto the couch. It was a busy day today. Not as busy as I was expecting it to be. Four hours of work, and all we did was open the Stable door and knock it off of its hinge. That part took a lot of work. Not to mention the noise it made as it hit the ground. If you thought the door opening was loud, try dropping it on the ground.

Butterscotch trotted into the room. I was assigned to live with her until either she got married, or I did. The former was most likely to happen though.

"Busy day at work, Vanil?"

"Yeah. It was pretty damn hard. Lucky you got off an hour before we started, so you didn't have to lift that heavy ass metal."

"Jeez. That bad, huh?"

"That bad's an understatement."

Butterscotch took a seat next to me on the couch. I'm glad she did that, too. She's a comforting pony to be around.

I used a little bit of magic to tickle her on the neck. She let out a little squeal of laughter.

"Stop it, Vanil! Hey... I made dinner a little bit ago using a recipe I got from the restaurant. And I haven't cooked in a while, so I'd like you to try it out"

I sat up, then climbed off the couch. "Aww, did you do this for me?"

"Of course. You're the only one I have around ever since mom passed away, and I want it to stay that way for as long as possible."

That's right. I keep forgetting mom passed away. A year ago. Cancer. Sometimes, it still feels likes she's somewhere in the Stable, still working her job. And sometimes, I come home expecting to eat her cooking.

"Yeah, Butterscotch. That sounds great. So, what exactly did you make?"

"Oh it's great. You'll love it." She said as she jumped down from the couch, and began to push me toward the dining area.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sparks constantly flew into my visor as I welded the last little bit of metal into the purifier.

Igloo, my light blue earth pony associate from the second floor, was down at the bottom, holding the ladder into place. And, he was probably staring at my flank. Again. I'd already caught him twice today, why couldn't he just give it a rest?

"How's it going up there Vanilla?"

"I'm just about done." I let the metal melt into place a little bit more, before I turned the welder off, and pulled my visor up. "Alright, go ahead and turn this baby on, and we'll see if it works.

Igloo walked toward the control panel as I started to climb down the ladder. I heard him mutter under his breath as he walked toward the panel "I wish I could turn you on"

"What was that, Igloo?"

"I said: Let's get this sucker turned on."

He cranked up the machine, and put in the power code. The purifier let out a great roar of metal screeching.

I flinched... did I do something wrong?

My question was soon answered as the purifier gently purred to life, and it began operating. No spilling, no screeching, no grinding. We. Were. Done.

"Whew. For a moment there, I was genuinely concerned that I had messed up. But, it looks like we did it, huh, Igloo?"

"We sure did, Vanilla. And it only took half the Stable door to do it." He bumped my flank with his own as he walked out. "If you want to celebrate, I'll always be down in my room on the second floor."

I simply rolled my eyes as he disappeared out of the room. "As if, perv."

I stared up at the purring machine, and smiled. Five days. It took us five days to fix this damn purifier. Four to take apart the door, and just one day of welding it together. I was practically filled to the brim with self satisfaction. Finally. The Stable wouldn't have any problems for a long time.

Quest Perk Gained:
Spine of Steel
Your torso is 50% harder to cripple. You also gain a +3 boost to endurance whenever taking damage to the torso.

Caution: Manuscript section end.
Next section not found.
In order to continue manuscript please consult file name:
Chapter 1: Shattered Peace

INPUT CODE: S.P.E.C.I.A.L.; FOR:

[VANILLA][CREAM]

S = 2
P = 4
E = 3
C = 4
I = 8
A = 3
L = 4

Act 1: Saving Face

View Online

Vanilla Cream, a highly intelligent citizen of Stable 81, has the brilliant idea of using the Stable Door as a resource. This opens the Stable up to the hostile wasteland outside. And the Stable remains peacefully ignorant of the hostilities for several days. At least, until one day, a large group of Feral Ghouls enter Stable 81, and immediately start attacking its citizens. Now, Vanilla has a new goal; she must enter the dark and hostile wasteland to search for a new source to use as the Stable door.

Chapter 1: Shattered Peace

View Online

Butterscotch stared into the large gear-shaped hole where the Stable door used to be.

It was past curfew, and we weren't supposed to be outside of our rooms. Most of the Stable lights had been turned off, so the area was particularly dark. The two guards standing in front of the hole were either too lazy to report us, or just didn't care.

“I still can’t believe the door is gone. I didn't even get to watch it open.” Butterscotch frowned a little. “Aw well. At least I can drink water without worrying about my bladder mutating.”

“Yeah. It is pretty unbelievable. This place feels so open now.”

We sat in silence, and listened to the wind that flooded the entrance of our stable,now doorless, for what felt like almost an eternity.

Butterscotch was the first to break the silence. “Do you think anyone is ever going to come by, now that we're opened up to the world?

“I have no idea. When the scouts went out to look around the landscape, they didn't find a single living thing for a mile.”

“Did they even report what it looked like?”

“Barren. Dusty. Dark. Lots of adjectives. They also said the Stable is apparently located under a train station. Go figure. A Stable full of geniuses living under a train station.”

“I… I wanna go out there.”

I looked at Butterscotch. “Y-You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head. “No. I'm serious.”

Something wasn't right. This wasn't like Butterscotch.

“Butterscotch, are you ok?”

“Vanil. I'm going to go.”

I stepped in front of Butterscotch to block her path. “What's wrong with you? This isn't like you.”

Without another word, Butterscotch effortlessly pushed me down and started to walk toward the open hole.

I rolled back onto my hooves and turned toward her. The guards weren't doing anything. They just stood there, staring at me.

“Butterscotch!” I could feel the tears coming. “Butterscotch, come back!”

She walked past the doorway, and disappeared in the shadows. I ran toward her and stopped just before the doorway.

And then she screamed.

And the screams were followed by the cracking sound of bones breaking.

The shadows started moving. The darkness seemed like it was trying to swallow me. I backed up, and my rump bumped into something jagged.

I turned toward what I bumped into. Just where I was standing a half a minute ago, black crystals had appeared, and they stretched all the way toward the ceiling.

Panic, fear, and sadness were swelling up inside of me. What in Tartarus was going on?

I turned toward the door. I hoped that the guards were doing something. No, they had disappeared entirely. And a cage of the black crystals had surrounded me. And…

In the center of the cage was Butterscotch’s head, mounted on one of the crystals.

Tears filled up my eyes, and my vision became blurry. I started to hyperventilate.

The shadows started moving toward me. I backed up as far as the crystal cage would allow me.

The darkness started to gather in a pile in front of me, and formed a solid mass.

The… thing that formed looked like a large stallion. It looked like a unicorn, except its horn was curved, and was a fiery red. Its eyes were glowing a dark red, and it had green smoke trailing out from its eyes. It wore metal armor on most of its body, and it had a red robe on its back. It had a dark gray coat, and a black mane.

The thing spoke to me. Except, when it moved its mouth, it's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“You've opened up your home to the outside world, pony.” It sneered at me, revealing it's sharpened teeth. “Soon, your home will be part of my empire. I hope you look forward to it”

One of the black crystals manifested beneath me, and grew at an alarming rate. I tried to move out of its way, but it changed its course, and wrapped around me, holding me in place.

“Your worst fear is losing your sister, hmm? Good. If you ever try to stop me, pony, I will take her life.”

The black crystal began to inch closer toward me eye. I tried to move away, but it was useless.

The dark stallion sneered again. “I'm not strong enough to reveal myself yet. But you can look forward to my coming soon.”

The crystal jetted forward into my eye, broke through my skull, and pierced my brain.

~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up instantly when the ground met my face. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my breathing was heavy. My sheets clung to my sweaty body.

I rolled over onto my back, and stared into the darkness to let my eyes adjust.

That was a strange dream, yet it felt so real. I looked towards my sisters bed; seeing if she was okay.

Butterscotch was still there, tucked away underneath her covers. Breathing. Still alive.

Breathing a sigh of relief I stood back up, and as I did so a small dark object fell to the floor. I moved toward it, but it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I blinked, and shook my head. That dream must have still been messing with my head.

I moved out of the room, slowly, so I wouldn't wake Butterscotch up. I worked my way through the dark, and eventually made it to the small workstation I had set up in our quarters.

I clicked the lights on. Bad idea. I flinched back as the light blurred my vision. I shut my eyes, and kept them closed, seeing nothing but the soft glow of the lights through my eyelids.

After my eyes adjusted to the light, I opened them.

I levitated a wrench on the worktable, toward me, and started loosening the bolt connecting my right wing to my back. I winced as pain shot through my back from the electrical receptors in my wings disconnecting from the nerves. I pulled the wing out, and did the same with my left.

Then, I started removing the stainless steel plate covering off my back. It came off easily, but the pain was still there.

I set the covering down on the worktable, and started moving toward the personal restroom in our dorm. I had it put there thanks to a special request I put in to the overmare. She didn't hesitate to accept it, thanks to all the contributions I’ve made in the past years to Stable 81.

I pushed open the door to the room, and turned on the light. I approached the sink, and turned on the nozzle to cold. Once it became cold I splashed some water onto my face.

I turned showing my back to mirror. My body had tried it's best to fill up the missing space for the past ten years. Despite its efforts, a good eight inches of the top of my metallic spine was still exposed, and the pink flesh surrounding it still looked squishy and weak.

I gave a sigh. “Great. Now comes the hard part.” The shower. Now i’m not acting like a colt who hates baths. Showers caused me pain. My back was sensitive, but it did need to be cleaned lest I catch an infection.

After a half hour of gentle yet painful scrubbing, I got out of the shower.

I dried myself off, and wrapped my mane up in a towel. When I walked out of the bathroom, I was greeted by the smell of breakfast.

I smiled, and walked toward the kitchen. “Whatcha makin?” I asked as I walked through the doorway.

Butterscotch looked over her shoulder, gave me a bright smile, then looked back toward her cooking.

“Just some blueberry flapjacks. I wanted to try something new, so I had Gardens give me the recipe.”

I let out a light chuckle. “Alright. I'm going to go put my wings back on. Then, I'll enjoy your cooking. Oh, and what time is it?”

Butterscotch took a look at the oven clock. “6:50. Jeez, we both got up really early this morning, huh?”

“Well, why'd you get up so early?”

“I… I had a nightmare.” Butterscotch’s voice grew shaky. “You… you died. And then… a r-really scary stallion threatened me…”

I hastily trotted toward her. “You had a nightmare? With a dark stallion?”

“Y-yeah…”

“I did too…”

Butterscotch looked toward me, her eyes glistening from the tears building up. “R-really? Wh-what does it mean?”

I shook my head. “I don't know… in my dream, you were killed. And then he told me that was my worst fear…

“Y-you were killed in my dream… he said the same thing…”

We sat in awkward silence contemplating the realness of our dreams.

“I'm going to go put my back on now.” I said breaking the silence.

“Y-yeah.”

Butterscotch returned to her cooking as I left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

“A rumor is going around that everyone in the Stable had a nightmare about a dark stallion last night.” Butterscotch said, as she tossed the dice onto the game board.

“Eleven. Good roll.” Said Fix Ser.

Fix Ser, the brown unicorn stallion that created my spine and back, and Igloo, the light blue perverted earth pony from second floor maintenance, both intered our dorm, and somehow we began playing board games. I suppose this was supposed to be a celebration for the repair of our water purifier, but the mood was more somber than cheerful. Probably because of the nightmares.

Fresh gardens, the pony from the moving crew; Butterscotch’s friend, was also there. She wasn’t playing the game with us. She wasn't even in the room. Celestia only knew what she was doing.

I stood up. “If you’ll excuse me. If you come up to my turn, just go ahead and skip me.”

“Alright.” said Butterscotch as she moved her game piece eleven spaces up the board.

I walked toward the bedroom. Celestia may have been the only one who knew where Gardens was, but that didn't mean I didn't have a guess.

When I walked into the bedroom, I found the light green mare. She was rolling around in my sister’s bed. And she was touching herself.

I rolled my eyes, and looked away. I waited for her to either finish, or notice me for a minute, before I decided to end it prematurely.

“Either you're giving the canyon a massage, or you're masturbating.”

Gardens shot up and looked at me. She tried her best to cover up her privates with her hooves, and her face turned a bright red.

“I suppose you could be doing both.”

She looked down, probably ashamed of herself. “Sorry…”

“Am I the one you need to be apologizing too?”

“No…”

“Get yourself cleaned up, and then you should meet Butterscotch in the room.”

Gardens nodded, and then climbed out of Butterscotch’s bed.

I walked back into the front room. “How many of my turns did you skip?”

“Three.” answered Fix Ser.

“Good. I'm playing all three of those turns right now.” Collected groans of disgust sounded from everyone sitting around the gameboard.

About five minutes later, Gardens walked into the room. She tapped Butterscotch on the shoulder.

Butterscotch looked over her shoulder at Gardens. “Oh, hey. Whatcha need?”

Gardens swallowed. “I wanted to… no, I need to apologize.”

Butterscotch tilted her head. “For what?”

“Well… I-”

Gardens was interrupted by the Stable alarm going off. Everyone jumped up, startled by the sudden noisy blaring.

Igloo looked at the red flood lights going off on the wall. “Maybe it's just a security protocol, or a test.”

His question was answered immediately.

The Overmare came on over the speaker. “This is not a test. Hostiles have entered the Stable. The guards posted at the door are M.I.A. If you are in your room, lock all doors. If you are unable to find a place to hide, please turn on your Eyes Forward Sparkle on your Pip-bucks. And avoid red bars that may appear on your E.F.S. Please remain safe until the threat is disposed of. This message repeats.”

Butterscotch looked around, fear apparent in her eyes.

I turned on my Pip-buck, then turned E.F.S. on. Immediately in my field of vision, four green bars appeared. One for each of the ponies in front of me.

The others did the same, and lulled behind for probably a minute.

A red bar appeared on my E.F.S.

“The door!” Gardens blurted. “We can't forget the door!” She ran toward the door, so she could shut it.

Gardens screamed, and ran back into the room. And it followed her in.

It looked like a pony, except its flesh was rotting and its hair was falling out. I reeled back from the putrid stench of decaying flesh the moment it walked into the room.

And it was also fast. Faster than Gardens. It tackled her to the ground before she could make it to us. Gardens rolled over, trying to buck it off. Somehow, it was stronger than her too, and it didn't even react to her struggling.

The thing leaned forward and bit into her neck, and jerked its head back, tearing out a chunk of Gardens’ throat.

At that moment, Butterscotch took action. She ran toward the thing, turned mid run, and bucked it in the head. A violent crack followed the powerful kick, and it went limp and fell over.

“What the fuck is that thing!?” exclaimed Igloo.

That, however, was not my concern right now. I ran over to Gardens, her chest was rising and falling. Slowly.

“Fuck. Someone watch her. I've got to grab some of my gear.”

Fix Ser took my spot next to Gardens, and I ran into the workroom. I pushed a secret button located underneath the right side of the worktable, and a wall panel opened up over the worktable. Inside the panel were my projects. My wings, the pylons, and a buzzsaw and drill attachment for my back.

I pulled out each object, and stuffed all of them but the pylons into nearby saddlebags.

I threw the saddlebags into my hip, and buckled them down. Then I levitated a wrench over toward me and connected the pylons to my back. That's right, back when I perfected them, I made it to where I could attach them to my back.

I winced as the nerves connected, and the pylons powered up. A line of jagged blue electricity started to run between the two pylons.

Perfect. Now if I could just…

I concentrated, and electricity shot out from the center of the two pylons. Lucky for me, it fired just high enough to go over my head. It left a large star shaped burn in the lead wall in front of me. Better than perfect.

I ran back into the front room.

“She’s bleeding everywhere. We need to take her to the med bay.” stated Fix Ser.

“Yes, I know.” As carefully as I could, I levitated Gardens and put her on my back. I rested her gently between the pylons and my saddlebags. “The closest med bay is the one across from my workplace. I'll bring her there. And Butter-”

I looked around. Butterscotch was missing from the room.

“Where's Butterscotch?”

Fix Ser rubbed the back of his head. “Er… she rushed out of the room. Went down to the eighth floor, I think.”

“You just let her leave!?” I questioned, anger rising.

What are you thinking Butterscotch? They may have been fast, but there was no way they made it that far already. Second floor, at best.

“I'm dropping Gardens off at medical, and then I'm going after my sister.”

“I think Igloo and I are fine here.” Igloo nodded in agreement. “We’ll shut the door, and wait for you here.”

I nodded, and then trotted out of the room. I heard it close behind me.

Gardens gave out a grunt of pain. “Please…” She gave a wet cough. “Please don't run…”

I slowed down from a trot to a walk. “Are you ok, Gardens?”

“No. I have a fucking hole in my neck. There's blood in my mouth.” She coughed again. “And the only way I can keep myself from drowning in my own blood is to cough it out. Which is messy and hurts, thanks to the hole.”

“Don't worry. I'll get you to the med bay. They’ll give you some med-x, stitch up the wound. They'll make you better.”

“Don't bother.”

I turned my head to look at her as best I could. There was blood all around her mouth.

“Why not?”

“Set me down.”

“But-”

“Do it!” She coughed particularly violently this time. “Just do it…”

I did as she asked. I made sure to lean her against a wall.

“Thank you Vanilla.” Another cough. I saw the blood fly out of her mouth when she did it. “Don't worry about me. I wasn't going to make it to medical. Go after your sister.”

“No, I need to-”

Gardens shook her head, then shut her eyes. “Please… go find your sister. Make sure she's safe.

Gardens took a deep breath. “Do it for me…” Her body slouched, and the green bar representing her blinked out of my vision.

I nodded, and tried to fight back the tears building in my eyes. “I will. I would never let anything happen to her.”

I walked away from Gardens. I'd have to to tend to her body later. For now, I needed to find my sister, and kill every single last monster that snuck its way into here.

I started walking down the hall, toward the closest staircase. The moment I turned a corner, I was greeted by the flank of one of those undead bastards. It didn't appear on my E.F.S. Looks like they didn't appear on it unless they were aware of my presence.

I blasted an electrical beam straight into the cadavers head. The head exploded and bits of skull and mushy brain flew everywhere. My face got caked in its blood.

I kept walking toward the stairs. Every time I saw one of those zombies, I went straight toward the zombie. There’s a zombie. Zap. Look, there’s another. Zap. Their bodies were so brittle that even after the pylons lost most of their power, I was still able to kill most of them in a single shot. I didn't leave a single one standing, until I confirmed they were dead.

I worked my way down to the fourth floor, still killing every zombie in my path.

I was once again greeted by the backside of a zombie further down the hallway. This was the only one I saw on the entire floor. I worked my way toward it until I slipped on something wet, and mushy. Of fucking course. I was able to catch myself, but I made too much noise..

A red bar appeared on my E.F.S., which meant it heard me. It turned around, and gave a bloodcurdling howl, then rushed me.

I tried to fire off a shot, hoping to at least slow it down before it could get to me. The pylons give out a small spark, and then shut off.

“Son of a bitch.” Was all I could say.

As the zombie tackled me to the ground, I landed onto a pylon which propped me up. The angle I had gave me an advantage over the zombie, and I was able to flip myself over backward, throwing the living corpse off of me.

It hit the ground hard, but still managed to get up. This is one of those times I wish I had my sister’s strength.

I shifted my weight off of the pylons, and got back on all four hooves. By the time I got back up, the thing was already rushing at me once more ready to rend my flesh from my bones.

I opened up my saddlebag, and levitated out the drill. Let's hope these things were at least stupid.

Just before it reached me, it lunged. Just as I was hoping for. I jutted the drill forward, spearing the zombie clear into the eye.

It's body went limp, and it slid off of the drill. A gush of blood spurted from its eye socket when it hit the ground.

I sighed. Great. I won. But I'm also completely out of power in the pylons. It’ll probably be another ten minutes before they're able to fire another blast.

The alarms in the Stable shut off. Why?

The Overmare’s voice came on over the speaker system.

“The threats within the confines of the Stable have been dispersed. I would like to thank all of you who assisted with the dilemma. I would also appreciate it if Vanilla Cream would report to my office, immediately.”

I looked around for a nearby camera. When I found it, I looked directly at it, and pointed at myself.

“Yes Vanilla. You.”

I stared at the camera and felt the adrenaline leave my body. I placed the drill back onto my saddlebag, and began walking towards the Overmare’s office, wondering what she had in store.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Vanilla Cream. Thank you for coming to my office.” said the Overmare.

Those guards standing on both sides of her desk seemed really inviting.

“No problem, ma’am.”

“I’m banishing you from the Stable.”

I took a moment to register what she just said, before I stared at her in disbelief.

“Banishing. This… this is some kind of joke, right?”

“Unfortunately, no. It is your fault the Stable was left so open. So, I'm kicking you out, effective immediately, until you scour the land outside for a way to replace the door.”

I could feel my face turning red from anger, “Y-you're the one who approved this!” I yelled stamping my hoof down. The guards got a little closer pulling out their batons. “Yes.” She began “And look where we are. Ruin.”

“So a death sentence? You're giving me a death sentence?”

“Now, I never said-”

“You saw those things in the Stable. I'm sure you were watching them from the safety of your fucking office.. How do you expect me to survive with things like that out there?”

“How do you expect the Stable to survive with things like those coming inside?. Three ponies were killed today, Vanilla. And several more were injured. They may not make a full recovery.”

“So, you're going to send me out there, without any way to survive, and hope I come back with another twenty ton Stable door?”

“No. You're going out there with a way to survive. We will send you out there with food, water, medicine, potions, a gun, and barding.”

The Overmare reached underneath her desk, and pulled up a saddlebag that seemed to be packed almost full.

“Leather will protect you. Unfortunately, it was also all we had to offer.” She said almost sarcastically.

I scowled at her, but levitated the saddlebag and put it on by back.

“Is there anything else you would like to take before you leave?”

I looked at the two saddlebags on my back. The first one was still stained with Gardens blood.

“Yes. I want you to give Fresh Gardens a good funeral.”

The Overmare raised an eyebrow. “You don't want to take your sister with you?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t want her to be in danger. I want her to stay here. And I want you to make sure she doesn't leave.”

The Overmare nodded. “Very well. I trust you won't be needing an escort outside?”

“No.”

“I hope to see you soon, Vanilla Cream.”

“Fuck you, and everything you stand for.” I said, walking out and letting the door slam behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~

I stared into the gear shaped hole where the Stable door used to be. The memories from my nightmare last night threatened to push through, but I was able to push them back.

I took a deep breath, and walked into the hole.

Dirt. The first thing I touched when I walked through the door was dirt. It was a foreign feeling. Different, but new.

I managed to push myself forward. I kept walking, deeper and deeper into the cave. After a while, the walk steepened, and I was eventually climbing more than walking.

I finally reached the end, after what felt like thirty minutes. The last obstacle in my way to the outside, was a wooden double door in the ceiling above me.

I simply stared at it for a minute, before I powered up my Pip-buck interface, and sent my sister a message.

Butterscotch,

I’m leaving the Stable and going outside. Please don't hate me for doing it. I'll be back soon. Please don't follow me. I don't want anything bad to happen to you.
~Vanilla Cream

After sending the message, I pushed open the double doors. How did those zombie things even manage to get in here with this set up? Maybe they they were somewhat intelligent.

I climbed out of the cave, and took my first steps into the outside world. It was dark, barren and dusty, just like the scouts had described it.

I looked around, and checked the time on my Pip-buck.

19: 58

As I stared at my Pip-buck, a message popped up on the screen.

It wasn't from my sister. It was a foreign address to me. There was no writing. Only a single attachment. I opened it.

A picture of my sister, lying unconscious in a medical stretcher came into full view on the screen.

And her back legs were missing, both cut off halfway up the thigh.

Level Up

1>2

Perk gained:
S.A.N.S
Let Stable-Tec guide you The path to your closest quest target is displayed in S.A.T.S.

Caution: Manuscript section end.

Next section not found.

In order to continue manuscript please consult file name:

Chapter 2: Alone...

Chapter 2: Alone...

View Online

Ms. Vanilla Cream,
Official Stable records state that your are the closest living relative to Butterscotch Candy. However, the Overmare has banished you from the Stable. Despite this fact, we will keep in touch with you, pertaining your sister’s health.
An hour and a half ago, on the fifth level, your sister was surrounded by threats. Despite her best attempts to fight them off, she was knocked unconscious in the fight. She also received collateral damage to both of her back legs, and it was irreparable.
If it were not for Copper Magnet stepping in, and delivering her here, Ms. Candy would have lost her life.
We amputated both of her legs, to avoid future infection. Fix Ser from maintenance on the second floor has also taken it upon himself to create prosthetic limbs for her.
We will contact you again as soon as Butterscotch regains consciousness.
~ Dr. Lucky Eye

Message received: 22:02

~~~~~~~~~~

They had made the entrance to the cave look like a basement entrance on the side of a train station. Not a lot of people would go into a dusty old basement, unless they were trying to hide, or were looking for food.

I looked forward, but I could barely see ahead. The outside was darker than the Stable after curfew.

Of course, there were already plenty of things outside that I had never seen in the Stable. Straight ahead of me was nothing but rocks and dirt. To my right were train tracks, rotting and damaged from years of unuse. The tracks connected to the station behind me. The control station itself was rotting as well. It looked like the walls had started falling down a hundred years ago. Beyond the train station was a large, steep ridge. There would have been no way I could have climbed that.

I turned around and climbed up onto the railway platform, then walked into the control station. The moment I walked inside, a message popped up on my Pip-buck.

New Location Registered: Hoof’s Ridge Station

In the center of the station were six simple seats. They too were rotting, and the padding inside the cushions were missing, probably long gone. To the right was a desk, with a simple terminal on it. Well, If I wanted to find out where in the world I was, this would be a good place to start.

I walked over to the desk. On the other side of it, attached to the desk, was a safe. Locked. Might as well start somewhere else then.

I hit the power button on the terminal, as a joke to myself. Much to my surprise, it actually powered on.

After displaying a few startup messages, it asked me for a password. Great. Now there's no way I can get information. I tried the first word that came to my mind; Stable. A message popped up after i pressed the enter key.

Password incorrect. 1/5 characters correct. 3 attempts left.

I looked at the little message. I typed six letters. If this were a simple machine, it would only count the first five. After a moment of thinking, I typed in what I figured the password was; train, then pushed enter.

Instantly, the terminal logged me in. I rolled my eyes. Whoever made this password made it way too easy to guess.

After logging into the terminal, I checked the three options on the screen.

Train Schedule

Important Notice!

Unlock Safe

Without a moment's hesitation of reading it, I clicked the unlock safe option. I heard a soft click, and the safe below the desk slid open slightly.

I pushed it open all the way, and took the contents inside, a bag full of gold bits, and a gun. I wasn't sure exactly what kind it was, but I put both the bits and the gun in my saddlebag anyway.

Then I selected the first option, train schedule. Maybe I'd be able to figure out exactly where to go from here.

Station Arrival Departure
Apple Loosa Start 09:30
Ponyville 10:04 10:10
Canterlot 10:47 10:54
Crystal Empire 12:31 12:40
Hoof’s Ridge 13:07 13:13
Vanhoover 15:03 15:09
Hoofington 16:27 16:34
Las Pegasus 16:52 16:59
Canterlot 18:08 18:15

After that, I just stopped reading. It was nothing but a stupid schedule. It didn't even include any cardinal directions.

As a last ditch effort to get any kind of information, I selected the last option; Important Notice!.

To all staff working in the train stations spread throughout Equestria.
On the sixth day of the third month, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire and her husband, Shining Armor, will be boarding the 12:31 train. I don’t know why they simply fly in a carriage. Probably don't want to get shot down by zebras, or something. Regardless, I wish for all stops afterward to be set for maximum security until the Canterlot stop at 18:08. Thank you.
~Train Conductor, Ringing Bell.

Again, nothing that could help me at all. With a frustrated sigh, I shut off the terminal.

I turned on my Pip-buck and navigated my way to the menu bar. Now that I was actually exploring the Pip-buck interface, I saw many things I had disregarded before. An inventory bar, that magically tracked the contents of my saddlebags, and conveniently arranged them by type. I had two guns under weapons, the one the Overmare said was packed for me, and the one I picked up. Apparently, both were 10 millimeter pistols. Also under weapons were my pylons, which the Pip-buck had named Electro, and the saw and drill, which the Pip-buck counted as only one weapon, and called them The Surgeon’s Toys.

Gee, Pip-buck. Real dark.

It stuck my wings under Armor and Barding, and it named them Pegasus Pride. The leather armor packed for me was also labeled there.

Other than forty eight 10 millimeter bullets, some assorted foodstuffs, water, and medicine, there was nothing else of interest in my inventory.

Another setting that caught my eye was the world map. Most of the locations I read on the train schedule were now registered onto the map, as well as my current location. Hell, the thing was a giant map of almost all of Equestria. Maybe the schedule was more useful than I thought.

One more setting that was useful was S.A.T.S., short for Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. It was a spell system that apparently assisted with aiming when activated, increasing my chances of hitting something drastically whilst also slowing down time. I would definitely make use out of this.

I opened up my saddlebag, and levitated the leather armor out, and strapped it on. It was a little bit of of a snug fit, but it was the only protection I had.

With the armor on, there was only one more thing to do: figure out how a gun worked. In the Stable, I never got a chance to use a gun. We didn’t even have books on guns.

I grabbed a nearby empty glass bottle off the ground, and set it on top of the desk. I backed up a few paces, then levitated out one of the pistols. I held it up, looking down the sight.

“I think this is how you do it.” I said aloud.

I gave the trigger a telekinetic squeeze, and it gave out a mechanical click.

I stared at the gun in disbelief.

“Why aren't you working?”

The gun remained silent in pure defiance of my question.

After ten minutes of looking up and down the pistol to figure out what the problem was, I found my answer. I didn't put a clip in. One step at a time I was getting the hang of it.

I slid the cartridge into place, making sure I didn't forget to fill it with bullets. Then I looked down the sight again, and fired. The empty bottle shattered in a small shower of glass shards.

The gun may have been small, but I had never fired a gun before. The recoil almost made me drop it from my telekinetic grasp.

The actual gun was quiet, not as loud as I was expecting it to be. This would have to suffice; until I found something more suitable to my liking.

I began to walk out of of the station, when a strange sight caught my eye. I backed up, walking back into the station, then took a peek around the corner.

It was one of those zombie things. Probably a straggler that didn't enter the Stable with the rest of its group.

I deemed it was a good time to test the actual firepower behind the gun.

I moved the gun in front of me, and fired. The bullet whizzed past the zombie’s head, narrowly missing it.

It's bar appeared on my E.F.S., and it turned toward the train station. Damn.

I fired off four more shots. Two of them hit the zombie, but only in the chest.

It started to run at me, completely ignoring any damage the wounds may have caused.

“Fuck it.” I said aloud. I walked out of cover, and activated S.A.T.S. I fired a single bolt, and the force from the shot disconnected the thing’s two front legs from its body, and it fell over pitifully. It's bar went out on my E.F.S.

“Good. And stay down, you undead prick.”

Well, compared to Electro, the 10 millimeter pistol was almost useless. Not that I was going to actually trash it. I might need it in case I ever ran out of charge in Electro.

But one thing was for sure, I needed to get out of here. Anything nearby could have heard the gun go off. Hell, that's probably why this one came over.

I walked all the way onto the train platform, then climbed down onto the tracks. I took one more look at my Pip-buck’s map to find the closest place on it.

With a destination in mind, I began to follow the tracks toward the northeast. Toward The Crystal Empire.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ms. Vanilla Cream,

Exactly fifteen minutes ago, your sister woke up. She told us her back legs hurt. She quickly found out that she didn't have back legs anymore. She seemed distraught by the news, but overall she seems fine. After about ten minutes, she asked for sedatives. We do not know why she asked for them, since she adamantly refused to tell us, so we denied her request. We believe she may be experiencing terrible ghost pains, however.

Your sister has also not heard the news about your banishment. She has not gotten a chance to check her Pip-buck yet, due to her restricted movement. We would like to know if you wish for us to tell her.
~ Dr. Lucky Eyes

Message received: 03:19

Tell her. Not now, but as soon as she is able to mentally handle the news.

Message sent: 03:22

~~~~~~~~~~

Beside the occasional small animal wanting to rip my face off, getting this far hadn’t been a problem. Well, except that after an hour of walking, my legs ached. After three hours, they felt like jelly. It wasn't until just after six hours of walking that they finally gave out.

I took one more step down the tracks and tripped on one of the rails. My jaw hit the ground quite hard, but I don't think it damaged anything.

I grunted. The pain spread throughout my head and legs. I needed to rest. Bad.

I maneuvered my head into a position that I could look around. Off in the distance was a small black dot I hoped was The Crystal Empire.

Lucky for me, some derailed train cars happened to be off to my left. I wasn't one to question peculiar things, especially when they played out in my favor. I pathetically crawled the distance toward the cars.

After spending thirty minutes trying to find one that was either unlocked, or didn't look like it would cave in on me, I climbed into one.

I wasn't just going to rest. I was going to sleep. After over twenty hours spent awake, and a fourth of it spent walking, I could seriously use it.

I crawled into the corner of the derailed train car, which was resting on its side, and curled up into a ball.

The cold metal I was rested against definitely made it harder to sleep, but eventually, I found rest…

~~~~~~~~~~

I opened my eyes. Somehow, I was standing on all fours again. And I was in pitch black darkness.

“Oh Celestia. Please let this just be a dream.”

“Only in reality, little pony. But I am indeed talking to you, in a sense.”

Oh goddesses. That voice. It was the one that came from everywhere from my last dream. The same one that came from that stallion.

I turned around, and was greeted by his red eyes, glowing in the pure darkness.

And we both stared at each other in shock.

“Y-you're that cyber mare from the underground city! What are you doing outside?”

Really? He was stunned by that?

“And you're that nightmare stallion from my dream last night.”

“I asked you you a question, pony. What are you doing outside?”

“I'm not answering that question until you answer some of mine. Who are you, and why do I keep seeing you in my dreams?”

He gave a toothy grin. Goddesses, I hated those teeth.. “Oh, we have a bargainer, hmm? Well, those are simple questions I can answer at any time. My name is King Sombra of the Crystal Empire.”

Makes sense. He looked like a king. Kind of a tyrannical king, though.

“So, why did you do those violent things in my last dream? Like killing me and my sister?”

He chuckled, once again bearing his fangs. “I didn't do that. You did. You lived your worst nightmare that night. It's one of my specialties.”

“So you used some kind of magic on me?”

“Now you're delving too deep, pony. You've dived beyond the point that I can answer in a way you can understand.”

“I'm a smart pony. I'm sure I can understand anything you tell me.”

He gave a grunt of frustration. “Persistent. Fine. I do not use use a magic like you normal ponies. No. I use a magic bred of hatred. The more hatred I have running through my veins, the stronger my magic becomes.”

“And that's how you're able to make me dream my worst nightmare?”

“Yes. Perhaps I misjudged you, pony. Maybe you are intelligent.”

I just had one last question for him. One I had already pieced the the answer to just moments ago. “You're not a real king, are you?

His smile finally disappeared from his face. “My crown was stolen by that damned Celestia. I took the Crystal Empire and ruled it with an iron hoof, and she took it from me. Using those damned Elements. So I put a curse on the empire. If I went, it came with me. One thousand years later, I came back, along with the empire. And she used the Elements to take it from me again! Except this time, in pony from!”

He gave a deep sinister laugh. It's echo came from everywhere. “And here I am again. Two hundred years later. And this time, Celestia and the Elements won't be a problem.”

So that's where he got the hatred that fueled his dark magic. His hatred for Celestia ran so deep, he could probably keep me in this nightmare forever.

I looked at him in horror. “What are you going to do?”

“Simple, I'm going to get my empire back. And my slaves.”

Horror etched deeper into my face. I started to back up. “Goddesses, you're mad.”

His smile returned to his face. “Not goddesses. God. I answered your questions, pony. Now you answer mine. Tell me, what are you doing outside?”

I backed up, not wanting to answer the question. But I'm sure he could find a way to make me talk. So I answered anyway.

“I was banished. The Overmare kicked me out. Apparently, my plan was stupid.”

“Oh really? My, how disappointing. I expected something more exciting, like a massacre, and you were the only survivor. Ah well, I guess things don't always go my way.”

Suddenly, one of the crystals from my last dream shot up beneath me. It speared me right through the center of my body, and came out of my cybernetic back.

~~~~~~~~~~

I shot up into an upright position the moment I woke up. Why did he insist on killing me to wake me up? My body ached due to the uncomfortable sleeping position on the metal ground.

I looked out the train car window. While I was asleep, it got brighter outside. So the outside went on a day/night cycle, just like the Stable.

I looked down to check the time on my Pip-buck. I got about five hours of sleep, but but because of that dream it felt more like fifteen minutes.

I walked over to the other side of the train car, and opened up the large metal sliding door. A loud metal screech sounded out. Red bars appeared on my E.F.S. I held my breath. You know, for a smart pony, I do some really stupid things.

Somepony spoke. “Did you guys here that?” said a deep gruff voice.

“Eh, it was probably nothing. maybe just a wild animal messing around with the train cars.” said a higher, female voice.

“I don’t care what the fuck it is. If it's an animal, that’s some eatin we could do. If it's a pony, we could be havin’ some fun.” I shuddered at that voice. It sounded like a stallion talking through metal, and the only reason I could hear him was because of a speaker or something. “Spread out and find whatever it is.”

The red bars separated in my vision, and I was able to count them out. Five. Damn it. Five ponies that probably wanted me dead. And worse, two of the bars were coming my way.

I levitated out one of the 10 millimeter pistols. RIght now, it looked like the situation was shoot or be shot. But maybe I would be able to reason with at least one of them. I weighed my options, and ultimately decided the best one would be to try and sneak away.

I crouched down as low as I possibly could, and started trying to sneak my way out.

“Hey lookee here! We got ourselves a mare!” Well, that went well.

I turned around to find a green earth pony stallion with a spiked up mane running at me with a sledgehammer in his teeth. Without hesitation, and more out of fear than anything else, I activated S.A.T.S. and fired off six shots. Three of them hit home in his face.

With a heavy thud, the stallion fell over. Oh, Celestia. I just killed a pony. I looked at the stallion’s limp body in horror. “Oh, by Luna’s name, what have I done?”

I didn't have time to be like this. Two of them had already started closing in,

“Come on out, little pony. If you be compliant, I promise we’ll make your death quick.”

“Oh sure, let me just hand myself over so you can break your promise. You’ll probably torture me. Or rape me. Or both.”

“I like this one Crackerjack. Can we keep her?” I heard the mare ask. She sounded farther away from me than the rest.

“It’s certainly worth considering.” answered back the surrounded-by-metal voice. He sounded just as far away.

Great. First day in this Wasteland, and I already had somepony that wanted to torture me, rape me, and keep me as a pet.

I turned back around, and was greeted by a purple unicorn stallion brandishing a knife. He tried to stab me with it, but I turned with agility I didn’t even know I had. His knife hit nothing but metal plate. I took advantage of the moment of his relapse to levitate the 10 millimeter pistol in front of his face. His eyes went cross just to get a good look at the gun.

“Drop the knife, or I will fill your face full of lead.” the stallion nodded, then gulped. The knife clattered to the ground. “I want you to take me to your leader, or your boss, or whatever the fuck you call him. I just want to get out of here, peacefully. I don't want any problems.”

The stallion nodded. “I said get moving!” The stallion jumped up, and started walking toward the outside of the derailed train cars, leading me toward two red bars standing next to each other. One of them was missing. I looked around, just realizing my mistake.

I heard a loud bang, and the stallion in front of me fell over, a large hole appearing in his head.

“Damn it, I missed.” said a stallion. Yeah, real nice shot.

I turned toward the voice, and found a quite large red earth pony stallion standing on one of the train cars, He had a gun between his hooves that made the 10 millimeter pistol look minuscule in comparison.

He put his eye over the sight, and aimed at me again. He fired again, this time the shot hit the ground just in front of my feet. That spurred me into action.

I fired out the rest of the ammo in the clip of the 10 millimeter. My strategy wasn't to hit him, but to suppress him. I wasn't that good of a shot anyway. But, It worked. The stallion climbed down from the train car, landing behind it.

Those two bars from earlier hadn't moved at all. From what I could piece together, those two had to be the covered-in-metal one and the mare.

I could concern myself about that later. I reloaded the pistol, then skirted around the train car, hoping to get the jump on the stallion with the big gun. The moment I turned the corner to get behind it, a metal apple landed on the ground at my feet.

If there was one thing I had learned in the Wasteland so far: It was that you don't trust anything. Especially if it was something shot, wielded, or thrown by a red bar.

I jumped away from the metal apple. Right after that, it exploded. The force of the explosion knocked me out of midair, and I landed in a painful heap on the ground. And the explosion hurt. A lot.

Luckily, other than a few new bruises, I seemed mostly okay. I stood up, and brushed the dirt out of my fur.

Just then, the stallion turned the corner of the train car, and aimed his rifle at me. He fired.

I screamed in pain. The shot hit just below my neck, and hit me right in the chest, It got lodged just between my armor and my chest.

I gave the stallion a death glare. “That fucking hurt.”

The stallion stared at me in fear, and dropped the gun. “S-sorry?” The stallion looked at me with pleading eyes. “I-I'm out of ammo. Do you think you could spare me?”

I walked toward him, and he shrunk back in fear. I pressed the 10 millimeter on his forehead, right between his eyes.

“Take me to your boss, before I fill your brain with bullets. I need some kind of hostage. it increases my chances of getting out of here.”

The stallion gulped, and then nodded. He got off of his haunches, and started walking toward the two remaining red bars.

I telekinetically grabbed his gun off of the ground, and stuffed it into my saddlebag. My Pip-buck labeled it as a ‘.32 Rifle.’

The stallion led me outside of the train cars, towards two ponies. One of them watched us, with curious, yet insane eyes. The mare. She was a unicorn, and her mane was wild with strands of red and brown spread about everywhere, with no particular pattern. Her coat was a lighter shade of the brown in her mane. Her cutie mark looked just like the happy and sad theater masks, except the sad one was replaced by an angry one. Her eyes were both different colors. Her right eye was red and the left was green. The worse part about her was the large gun levitating just over her head. It had several barrels, and apparently used so much ammo that the ammo belt extended about three feet out of the gun.

The other one stared at us through a visor. The large covered-in-metal stallion was indeed covered in metal. The thick metal armor covered him entirely. Legs, head, body. Hell, even his tail was covered by it. His visor even seemed bulletproof. The armor was a little rusted around the joints. Strapped to his side were two large guns. There was only a single bullet in each of them, but they were large bullets. Missiles. They looked like missiles. I had seen pictures of missiles in books about the war back in the Stable. Those were definitely missiles. Each of the guns had a single word written on them in red paint. Goddesses, I hoped that was red paint. The right one read ‘Fuck,’ and the left one read ‘Bastard.’

Yeah, these were definitely not friendly ponies,

The stallion was the first to speak. “So what? you killed the other two, and then took this one hostage? Hoping to use him as some kind of leverage?”

“Whoa… what the fuck is that on your back?” asked the mare.

I glared at the both of them. “You’re nothing but a group of raiders.”

The mare rolled her eyes, very similarly to the way I did whenever someone was being stupid. “Well duh! We get what we want, how we want it, whenever we want it.”

Gee, straight to the point, huh?

I pressed the 10 millimeter against the back of my hostage’s head. “Let me go. I walk away, peacefully, and you leave me alone. don't follow me. As soon as I think I’m safe, I’ll send him back here.”

The mare chuckled. “Beside a few patches of blood and dirt, you don’t seem dirty at all. Ya new to the wasteland, huh?”

I kept my glare going. A click came from the metal armored stallion.

“Yeah, I thought so. Alright, let me explain how things work with us: either you comply with us, or we’ll blow you the fuck to hell.”

The stallion finally cut in. “Alright Cinnamon Sweet, looks like you're not convincing enough for her." Another click sounded out. “Don't worry, I know how to convince her.”

Oh shit. “Alright. Let’s not get… uh, hasty. Can’t we just work out a compromise, or something?"

Cinnamon Sweet laughed. “Oh, poor dear. Now things aren't in your favor, huh? Well, I hope you have a blast! Fire away, Crackerjack!”

Crackerjack, the pony in the metal armor, fired one of his missiles. I moved out of the way. Unfortunately for my hostage, he did not. The missile hit him directly in the chest, and I watched in horror as he was completely torn apart and reduced to nothing but flying bits of flesh, bone, and blood. The force of the explosion knocked me to the ground, again, and the sound made my ears ring. As quick as I could, I recovered, and ran toward the train cars. I was hoping to use them as cover. Another missile flew past me, missing me by less than a foot. It hit the train car directly in front of me. The explosion tore apart the metal wall of the car, and left a giant gaping hole in it.

Perfect. I could use the inside of the train car as temporary cover. Just before I jumped into the hole, I heard a machine whir on. Oh please, don't let that be the giant gun Cinnamon Sweet had.

Just as I jumped through the hole, bullets rapidly hit the ground and wall behind me. One hit me on the back, right where my prosthetic back connected with my side, and left a heavy stinging feeling. It also left a tear in my leather armor.

After jumping inside, I took a moment’s break to pull out a healing potion from my saddlebags, and gulped it down. The wound on my chest closed up, the stinging feeling disappeared, and the ringing in my ears subsided.

I trotted over to the other side of the car, and tried to open it. Luckily, it was unlocked, and slid open with a heavy clang.

I jumped out of the other side, and made sure to keep an eye on Crackerjack and Cinnamon’s positions with the E.F.S. So far, they were still behind me. If I ever met up with Cinnamon, I’m sure I could take her on, since she didn’t have any armor on. The giant machine gun would make it a lot more difficult, so I would definitely rather avoid meeting up with her again. And I did not have near enough firepower to take on Crackerjack.

I ran wildly about the train yard, barely keeping track of my own movements. Take a left. Go through that train car. Run straight. Red bar ahead on the E.F.S. Take a left to avoid it. Turn around and take the right instead.

As I was running, one of the red bars turned green. “Hey, I’m sorry.” I heard Cinnamon yell.

What the hell was going on? “I don’t mean to hurt you, and I’m sorry I scared you! Look, just keep running. And don’t let Crackerjack find you. He won’t leave anything left.”

Just ignore it, Vanilla. It’s a trick. She’s trying to make you come to her, so she can trick you. But why did her bar turn green?

I kept running. I ran out from between two train cars, and kept running. I left the derailed train cars behind me. The red bar and the green bar both disappeared from my E.F.S. I kept running. Just follow the train tracks. Keep running toward that little dot in the distance. Toward the Crystal Empire.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ms. Vanilla Cream,
Butterscotch Candy has been crying for the past hour. She checked her messages on her Pip-buck, and figured out what happened to you. We were forced to confirm it. We apologize for this inconvenience.
~Dr, Lucky Eyes

Message Received: 06:44

Vanilla,
Yo, Fix Ser here. I heard the news about what happened. That must suck. I don’t think the Overmare should have banished you. Just between you and me, I always thought the Overmare was a bit of a bitch. Hey, at least she let you keep your Pip-buck and stuff, so we can still contact you.
I’m sure you’ve heard the news about your sister too. I’m building her legs. Progress is going great so far, but I might not be done for five to eight days.
Hope you’re able to contact me soon. And please, don’t die on me.
~Fix Ser

Message Received: 10:21

Fix Ser,
I’m glad you miss me. But I also don’t think I’m going to survive for very long out here. I’ve been out here for less than a day, and already I’ve had missiles fired at me. Don’t worry though, I’ll try my best.
~Vanilla Cream

Message Sent: 10:35

Vanil. Please come back. I miss you.

Message Received: 10:54

~~~~~~~~~~

Running certainly does make you gain distance faster. But it also tires you faster. After just a half hour of running it felt like my lungs were trying to escape from my chest.

At one point I thought about giving my legs a rest and flying the rest of the way. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a wrench from the Stable, and there was no way I was getting the bolts on Electro off with pure strength. So, I was grounded.

I still wasn’t entirely comfortable with stopping either. Either of those two crazies from earlier could still be following me. They could easily be watching me from a nearby hill, out of range of my E.F.S.

While running, I passed a small community of buildings. They looked like houses, but they were way too damaged to tell for sure. In fact, I wasn't exactly sure they were houses, until I saw one in near perfect condition. I stopped running the moment I saw it, and moved toward it. Other than a hole in the roof, and paint peeling in several spots around the house, it was completely fine. I looked toward the small dot in the distance that I hoped was The Crystal Empire. I really wished the train still worked. This trip would have been so much easier.

I turned back toward the house. Might as well try it, right? I walked toward the front door, and tried the handle. Locked. Damn.

Maybe it had a back door? I walked the distance around the house. The back door was missing entirely. How lucky. I walked into the house, and the moment I did, a single green bar popped up on my E.F.S.

I moved toward it, cautiously at first. This was the first green bar I had seen in the Wasteland that didn't try to kill me beforehoof. I walked through the back hallway, and into the kitchen. There I found a floating orb with multiple arms, each ending with different tools.

“Whoa.” I stared at it in wonder. Why did no one in Stable 81 ever think about making something like this? “That’s amazing.”

The thing looked at me through three robotic glowing orbs, which was probably its eye. “Ah young Mistress. It has been two hundred three years, seven months, twenty one days, nineteen hours, and sixteen minutes since I last saw you.

I looked at the thing curiously. “What?”

It looked me up and down. “Ah it seems I was mistaken. You are not my original mistress. However, molecular scanning has shown that you share enough of her genetic DNA to be her great great great great great great-”

“Ok, ok. I get it. A whole lot of greats. Do you mind telling me what you are?”

“Yes Mistress. I am a prototype model of the MK III model of the Mr. Handy, a service robot commissioned years before the war began. Property rights state that inanimate objects are passed on from generation to generation, meaning that you may do with me as you please.”

Alright, sweet. Now I had a robot. “Who built you?”

“Your great great great great-”

“Skip the greats.” Geez, this robot couldn't simplify things itself, could it?

“Very well, Mistress. Your ancestor from two hundred years ago, Mistress Scented Candle, built me. I was commissioned as a test series that specializes in both housekeeping as well as combat.”

“A war maid?”

“How humourous. Mistress Candle called me the same thing. In fact, that is the name she gave me.”

So, I had walked into this house, which probably belonged to my great-whatever grandmother, and met her robot, which she built herself. Talk about convenient.

“Do you have any pictures of her, my grandmother?”

“There are plenty in the living room, on shelves, and counters. You will see them. And mistress, before you leave the kitchen, may I ask your name?”

“You can just call me Vanilla. Don’t bother calling me Mistress, or ma’am, or anything like that.

“Very well, Vanilla. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“This is my house now, right? That means I can take what I want, right?”

“Of course, Vanilla.”

“Alright. Thank you, War Maid.”

“You are very welcome, Vanilla”

Before leaving the kitchen, I opened up the fridge and took all of the leftover food and water from two hundred years ago.

I entered the living room. It was well decorated, and the layout somewhat resembled the living room in my Stable living space, but bigger. Spread out about the room were opened textbooks, most of them damaged, but a few in somewhat of a good condition. There was also a lot of paper on the ground. Most had long, complex equations scribbled on them that befuddled even me, and some must have done the same to my grandmother too. A lot of them were unsolved and many more ended with a question mark, like she didn't know the answer or was never able to find it.

On one of the two desks in the far corner was another terminal. Curiosity overwhelmed me, and I walked toward the terminal. I hit the power button, and it turned on. After giving me the startup message, It asked me for the password.

I stared at the monitor in disbelief. A seventeen character password, and it was only giving me one chance to put in the password. I shut off the terminal after seeing that message. There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to guess that password in one try.

“Er, War Maid.” I yelled across the room. “Do you happen to know the terminal password?”

War Maid floated into the room. “I am quite sorry, Vanilla. Mistress Candle never told me the password.”

“Right.” I looked around the room.

“It appears I was mistaken. I am sorry Vanilla. It has been one hundred fifty years since I last entered the living room. It appears the pictures have disappeared in the time since then.”

“It’s alright.” I started opening up the drawers on the desk. I was trying to find something, anything that could have been a clue to get into the terminal. One of the bottoms of the drawers seemed a little higher than it was supposed to be. Perfect. I pulled up the bottom of the drawer, revealing a secret compartment.

Inside was a picture in a frame. A light brown unicorn with brilliant gray eyes and a white mane was standing next to a black earth pony wearing a black hat that covered his mane. His eyes were blue, and he was wearing a suit. The unicorn was telekinetically holding a small unicorn foal in the same smoky gray magic I had. No one in the picture was smiling.

“Think I just found my great-whatever grandfather.”

“Ah, yes.” answered War Maid. “His name was Runner. Master Runner was rarely home. He was always busy with what he called ‘The Business.’

I levitated the frame out, and opened it up. I flipped the picture over. I knew this wasn't just a photo the moment I found it hidden away. On the back was another equation, longer and more complex than anything else I had found in the house. A lot of the algorithm looked like it was missing, and like many others, the equation ended with a question mark.

I held up the equation to War Maid.

“I have no idea, Vanilla. Mistress Candle liked to keep many things secret.”

I tucked the picture away in my saddlebags. My Pip-buck named it ‘Family Photo.’ I walked into another hallway. In that hallway was the entrance to two bedrooms, and a bathroom. I entered the bathroom first, and opened up the medkit on the wall inside. I netted myself a couple of healing potions, and a syringe of med-x, as well as a weirder chem. My Pip-buck called it ‘Hydra.’ I put all of it in my saddlebag, and walked into one of the bedrooms. The master bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, lying on the queen sized bed, was a two hundred year old skeleton. I gagged, and did everything I could to keep from losing my last meal. Ugh, seeing a skeleton just lying around was not a pleasant sight.

After giving myself a moment, I looked back toward the skeleton. It was still an unpleasant sight, but at least I didn't want to lose my lunch this time. I walked toward the bedside table on the side the skeleton was lying on. On top of the counter was a magazine, a screwdriver, and a box of bobby pins. The magazine was titled ‘The Fundamentals of Locks.’ I floated the magazine over, and started flipping through the pages. There were a lot of pictures and diagrams that showed what a lock looked like on the inside, and how they worked. It may have been a mistake on the author’s part, but it also explained how to open a lock using small household objects if you ever locked yourself out of the house. After reading the magazine, I floated the box of bobby pins and the screwdriver over, and placed both them and the magazine into my saddlebags. Well, now that I knew how, I could break into a locked box or building whenever I needed to.

I walked over to the other side. Resting on the bedside table was a single piece of paper with a small blue orb resting on it. The paper looked like it was a hoof-written note. I picked the orb off of the table, and put it in my saddlebag. I floated the paper over, and started reading it.

Look here sweetcheeks, I’m sorry. I know ya ain’t ever gonna read this note, since they already made ya leave for the Stable and all. Hell, this note is more for my sake than yours. Look, I’m sorry. I know I was never around. The Business was rough, and I got some ponies who still got some debts to pay. I had Pearl make this orb for ya, but ya ain’t ever gonna see it. It’s the first time we met, from my point of view. So, if you ever do see this note, I want you to see the memory. And I want ya to know that I loved ya. I cheated on ya. I was unfaithful, I know. I cheated on you with the very mare that made this orb. You’re a smart mare, so you had probably already known I was cheatin. And ya probably forgave me for it too. Look, all I’m tryin to say is sorry. And when she’s old enough, I want ya to tell Little Twinkle I’m sorry too. I wasn’t there when she was born, and she needs to know that. Thank you, Scented Candle, for makin my life the best it could be. I loved you with everythin I had, even if I didn’t show it. I hope ya can forgive me.
WIth all the love in the world, Runner

I looked at the skeleton lying on the bed. Was that Runner? I could only assume that it was.

“War Maid?”

The robot floated his way into the room immediately. It seemed he was always nearby and ready to help. “Yes, Vanilla?”

I pointed a shaky hoof at the skeleton. “Is that my grandfather? Is that Runner?”

“Yes Vanilla. He passed away some time ago. about two hundred years ago. He lived in this house for a year, and waited for Mistress Candle to come back. He passed away of radiation sickness.”

“Oh.” I looked at the skeleton. “Do you think I could bury him?”

“Yes. We should have a shovel in the tool closet in the back hallway.”

I nodded. “I’ll get to it as soon as I explore the last bedroom.”

“Very well, Vanilla.” And with that, War Maid floated out of the room.

I started to move out of the room, before I noticed a suitcase at the foot of the bed. I levitated the case over, and tried to pop it open. It held itself closed. Locked. Well, now was the perfect chance to try out picking locks.

I levitated out the screwdriver, and a bobby pin, and started working on the lock. I maneuvered the screwdriver around, and started pushing on the lock. The bobby pin snapped in the lock. I levitated out another bobby pin, and started over again. The bobby pin snapped in the lock again. I was starting to get frustrated. I levitated out the entire box of pins, and poured them out onto the ground around me. I grabbed another pin, and stuck it in the lock. It snapped too. I set the suitcase down and took a deep breath.

“Calm down, Vanilla Cream. Just calm down.”

I picked up one more bobby pin, and floated it into the lock. I started working on the lock again, and went much more slowly than I did the times before. After pushing the lock around one more time, I heard a satisfying click. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I took the screwdriver out of the lock and picked the bobby pins off the ground, and put them all back into my saddlebags. I opened up the suitcase. Inside was a folded up suit, and a black hat. They were the same hat and suit Runner was wearing in the picture. I lifted both of them out and started hoofing through the pockets of the suit, hoping to find something else to use. When I didn't find anything, I placed the suit in my saddlebags, and put the hat on my head. My Pip-buck simply labeled them as ‘Runner’s Suit’ and ‘Runner’s Fedora.’

Before leaving the room, I grabbed Runner’s skeleton with my magic. I walked to the back hallway. I opened up the tool closet that War Maid said was there, and grabbed a shovel from inside. I also made sure to grab a wrench from the closet before I walked out as well.

I walked into the backyard, and started digging. Half of the the soft dirt ground fell back into place after every shovel stroke, and made my work take longer.After nearly a half hour of digging, I placed what remained of Runner’s body in the hole, and covered him back up.

I walked back into the house. I think I had seen everything I wanted to.

“Alright War Maid, I’m leaving.”

“You’re not staying, Vanilla?”

I shook my head. “I’ve probably stayed here too long. I‘ve got some ponies that are probably trying to hunt me down and kill me. So I need to get moving.”

“Very well, Vanilla.” I hope to see you again soon. And if those ponies come by, I will take care of them.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

“I am unable to leave the premises until I get an official Seal of Approval from the Ministry of Wartime Technology.”

“The Ministry of Wartime Technology? Mind explaining?”

“The Ministry of Wartime Technology, or M.W.T. for short, is one of six ministries founded by Princess Luna to keep calm in Equestria during the war. I would tell you more, but unfortunately, that is all I know about any of the ministries.”

“Thank you, War Maid.”

“Anytime, Vanilla. I hope you will come back. Now that I am expecting visitors in the future, I’ll have to make sure and clean the house up.” War Maid reached up and opened a side panel in the side of his head. He pulled a key out of the panel, and then shut it. He handed me the key.

“I will replace the back door, and put a lock in it, meaning the doors will be locked next time you come. You can use this to come inside.”

I took the key and put it in my saddlebags. “Thanks War Maid. I’ll be back, don’t worry. See you soon.” I said as I walked out of the house.

The robot waved one of his mechanical arms at me as I left.

I checked my Pip-buck and went to the map to see how much farther I had before I got to the Crystal Empire. I teared up when I saw what my Pip-buck had labeled the house as.

Home.

I wiped the tears from my eyes, then pulled out my wrench. I disconnected Electro, and attached Pegasus Pride, my wings. After doing that, I started flying toward the small dot in the distance.

Home had presented a lot of questions. A lot of questions that I wanted to know the answer to. What was on that terminal with the impossible password? What was the meaning of the equation on the back of the photo? And what was ‘The Business?’

All these questions flooded my mind as I walked toward the Crystal Empire.

I was alone again. Alone on what was probably an impossible journey.

~~~~~~~~~~

Butterscotch,
Sorry I didn’t answer you earlier. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I was busy. It’s pretty crazy outside.
On the bright side, I found our great great great great, yeah a lot of greats, grandmother’s house today. It’s my house now, I suppose. I also got a really cool hat.
Don’t worry. I’ll be back home as soon as possible. I think I already have a way to replace the door. I love you. Be good for the Doctor.
~Vanil

Message Sent: 12:03

Level Up
2>3

Perks Gained:

Hacker
Knowledge of cutting-edge computer encryption allows you to hack Advanced Terminals.

Fundamentals of Locks
Lockpicking is now permanently slightly easier.

Weapon Info:

Electro
Energy Weapon
A double Pylon weapon created by Vanilla Cream. They resemble Tesla Coils. They are capable of producing their own ammunition. They charge up a single full-power bolt for every twelve minutes of inactivity. They are unable to create more after maxing out at nineteen bolts.
Damage Per Shot: 57

Caution: Manuscript section end.

Next section not found.

In order to continue manuscript please consult file name:

Chapter 3: Carrot Cake

Chapter 3: Carrot Cake

View Online

Vanil
I really miss you. I wish you could come back, but I know you won’t be able to. I know you don’t want to worry me, but I really want you to tell me what’s happening out there. I want to be kept up-to-date.
I love you to, Vanil. I know I might not see you for a while. But I want to see you again. I don’t want to live knowing that you might die out there.
So please, come back safe.
~Butterscotch Candy

Message Received: 12:10

~~~~~~~~~~

About an hour ago, I had discovered my new favorite feature of the Pip-buck. The radio. Somehow, even two hundred years after a nuclear apocalypse, the radio system stuck around. Some ponies must have gotten together and put it back together. I had found two radio stations that interested me in particular, mainly since they were the only radio stations in my area. One run by a stallion called DJ-Pon3. I used my smarts, and a little bit of my computer skills, to relay the main signal of the station to a place called Tenpony Towers.

The next station, and the one I was currently listening to, was Crystal City Radio. It was run by a stallion named Voice. He seemed new to the job, but at least he did it. And he sounded confident enough. It’s source came from the center of the Crystal Empire. Which helped assure me that there was at least somepony else that had the idea of taking up residence there.

I was no longer running. There really was no need to run anymore. I was sure I left the super-armored stallion and the psycho mare long behind. And I was on the ground again. Pegasus Pride was great and all, but much like Electro, they had a recharge countdown. I couldn’t infinitely use them. Full charge lasted me about forty five minutes.

I was skipping now. A new song had begun playing on the radio. A much happier, more upbeat song than the previous ones I had listened too. One by a mare named Sweetie Belle who lived before the war. The chorus was repeated so often, I soon found myself singing to it.

I’m standing in a wonderland of snow

Standing idly by, while I watch the crystals glow.

Oh yes it’s perfect

It couldn’t be better

My life has been great, seven days in a row.

I found myself trying to remember the whole song, and found myself distracted. That’s the reason I didn’t notice the green bar blink onto my EFS to my left. That’s why I didn’t notice it’s slight wiggle, indicating that it was coming closer. And that’s why I quickly found myself screaming, when I came face to face with the most rotten-looking, foul-smelling creature I had seen in the entire wasteland.

What little patches that were left of the zombie’s fur was orange, and his eyes were green. His mane, which was mostly fallen out now, was the same shade of green as his eyes. He had several parts of his body that looked like flesh had been torn away from it, exposing the bone below. His nose was missing, and I could see the bone around the nostrils.He had his tongue hanging limply out of the side of his mouth And that tongue was a disgusting shade of gray.

After just a second of staring at the creature, all I wanted to do was puke. Which I did.

The creature retracted his tongue back into his mouth. “Now that’s just disgusting.” It’s voice was deep, scratchy, and sounded hoarse.

I glared up at the creature while slowly levitating one of my pistols out of my bag. Then I hesitated. Why hadn’t he attacked me yet? He was one of those creatures that had attacked my Stable, wasn’t he? So why isn’t he trying to kill me, like the others of his kind?

He eyed me, one of his eyes noticeably slipping out of his skull. He pushed it back in before it could fall out, thank goodness, and smiled. His teeth were yellow.

“Never seen a mare that’s a quarter robot before. You’re a fucked up kind of special, you know that?”

After a long moment of hesitance, and staring at that stupid rotten-toothed grin of his, I put my gun back into my sheathe. The only reason this… this thing was still alive was because my EFS said I shouldn’t kill him. Or at least that he wouldn’t kill me.

“Just get out of my way, before I shoot you.”

His grin widened. “Oh, somepony’s making death threats! Somepony thinks she’s a tough mare.” He lowered his neck, bringing his face down to mine, and his smile disappeared. I held my breath. “Guess what, little-miss robot wings. I’m stronger, faster, and larger than you. Before you could even draw that gun, I’ll have bitten into your jugular and ripped it out.”

My eye twitched.

His grin returned. “Good. Glad we’re on the same page.” He moved his face away from mine. I breathed out in relief, at the same time he pushed his eye back into place again.

“Fucking creepy zombie.”

“Actually, the politically correct term is ‘ghoul.’”

“Politically? Isn’t stuff like that down the drain nowadays?”

“Fuck. You’re right.Fine. The not-politically-correct term, but the term that everypony that isn’t offensive uses- is ‘ghoul.’”

I ignored the zombie pony and looked past him. Finally, the Crystal Empire was forming into a definitive shape. I saw the small crystal shine even from this far away, and could make out the tall tower near the center of the Empire.

The pony turned to face the way I was looking. “Oh. You’re going to Crystal City?”

“Crystal City? But I thought it was called the Crystal Em-”

“Oh nonono. That was before the war. Nowadays, ponies call it Crystal City. Only a small part of it is safe to live in nowadays, and that’s a small circle just outside the castle, and the area within it.”

“The castle huh?” I eye the tower in the center, singling it out as the castle. The I turn back to the ‘ghoul.’ “So, why aren’t you killing me, or at least attacking me? The most you’re doing is being a bit of an asshole.”

“I can be more of an asshole if you want me to.” He gave a chuckle at my frustrated groan. “I ain’t attacking you because I’m not feral.”

“But, you’re a fucking zom- sorry, ghoul.”

“Not all ghouls are evil. Just about eighty percent of them. It’s some kind of psychological thing. Ghouls were created in atomic blasts. We were far enough away to not get killed instantly, but we were close enough to receive a head-on blast of nuclear radiation, and suddenly, we were transformed into this rotting fucks. It ain’t all bad though. I’ve never seen a ghoul die of old age.”

“But… what about the feral ones?”

“Them? I said it’s psychological. They kinda go crazy, whether it’s from mind rot or being alone too long, it just kinda happens.”

I studied the ghoul, now more curious than angered. I was getting ready to say something, but then he interrupted me.

“How new are you, Stable dweller?”

“Uh… first twenty four hours.”

“You looked up yet?”

I began to angle my face upward. “No…” Then I saw it. There was a blanket of clouds that covered the sky. Which was really, really high. It felt like the world started spinning as a strange sense of vertigo set in. I wanted to puke again, but I managed to hold it in this time. I looked back toward the ghoul, suddenly very dizzy.

“I don’t like that…” I managed to get out.

“A lot of Stable ponies don’t. Now, lemme hear your story. Tell me why your back is metal. And lemme know why you’re outside the Stable.”

And so, I told him. He was the first living being I had to communicate with since I left the Stable. And for some strange reason I felt I could trust him, despite the fact that other ghouls had attacked the very Stable I lived in. By the time I was finished with my story, concluding it with the part where I left the house, he seemed to have settled down, most of the sarcastic energy he previously had disappearing. I wasn’t worried about his smell anymore. It seemed a very easy smell to get used to.

“So, you found a memory orb’ and you didn’t even look into it?”

“Huh?”

“The orb you found in the house. By the note. You said it belonged to Runner?”

I nod.

“Touch it to your horn.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

And without a second thought as to what might occur when I did what he said, I levitated the orb out of my bag, and touched it to my horn.

--ooOOOOoo--

Oh goddesses.

Oh sweet Celestia.

What was that thing between my legs?

I tried to panic, and quickly found that I couldn’t.

I gave that up, and tried to piece together what was happening. I was obviously outside of my body. I was looking at a mare. A beautiful sky-blue mare with a slightly darker blue mane.And she sparkled like a diamond. We were in a cafe of some sort, and all of the ponies there seemed to sparkle like crystals. Both the pony I was inside, and the mare were sitting on the same booth, the booth across from them completely empty.

Then the pony whose body I was in spoke. “How much longer ‘til the client’s here, Pearl?”

“I’m not sure. She hasn’t contacted us quite yet.”

I recognized that name. From Runner’s note. It took me a matter of moments to put everything together after that. Obviously, I was in Runner’s body. It was his memory orb after all, like the note said. The mare he was talking to was Pearl. That was who he cheated on Candle with. And he mentioned on the note that this orb was the first time he met Candle, which meant…

A mare sat across from the pair, and they both turned toward her.

“Scented Candle.” Said Runner. He seemed instantly infatuated. He studied the mare, and I felt him memorize every detail of her face, her body. It was quite strange for me.

The mare nodded. She looked younger, less tired than the mare I had seen in the picture, but other than that, matched her to a T.

“I need bits. A lot of bits.”

“That’s what most ponies come to us for, dear.” Say Pearl.

I feel Runner nod. “Is there an approximation?”

The mare visibly hesitated. “Twenty thousand…”

Strangely, neither Runner nor his partner seemed the least bit surprised. Pearl nodded her head this time. “Twenty thousand bits is easy money. We could get that delivered to you by the end of the day. The real problem is whether or not you’ll be able to pay it back within a fixed timeline.”

Candle swallowed hard. “Depends on the timeline…”

“A month, at best.” Runner states.

Candle gulps again. “I really, really need the bits.”

Runner gives a nod. “Then we’ll have it to you tonight.”

“You’re not going to ask why I need the bits?”

“It’s not our business. What is our business is that we get our bits back, plus interest.”

“W-wait, you never mentioned interest!”

Pearl snickers. “You seem to have forgotten the type of ponies you’re asking for bits from, dear.”

Candle sighs loudly. “Fine… I’ll get you your bits back, however much interest you charge and all. Maybe I can get a loan from the Ministry…” She mumbled the last part, and I barely made it out. Runner and Pearl however, did not notice, and if they did, they didn’t seem to care.

Runner gets up, and climbs out of his booth, Pearl following his lead. “Remember Ms. Candle. Get the bits back. Or you’ll lose what ya got. We’ll ruin your life.”

And then Runner and Pearl walked toward the exit without another word. Runner took the smallest glimpse back toward Candle, then left the cafe.

“She’s hotter than the pictures make her out to be.”

--ooOOOOoo--

I suddenly snapped back to reality, and looked around. The ghoul stood nearby, scanning the area. He didn’t seem to notice that I had come back to. It looked and felt like I had fallen over. Slowly, I stood back up.

“I’m up.”

The ghoul turned to face me. “That memory was about 10 minutes long, eh?”

“Yeah. Felt like it. Did that actually happen?”

The ghoul nodded. “Yep. They’re memories extracted from a pony. Quite a few exist nowadays. Most of them are from ponies that lived before the war. I’ve heard that quite a few ponies are piecing together memory orbs to try their best to write pre-war history books up in Crystal City.”

I levitated the orb off the ground and studied it. “Not much history they would be able to get out of this orb. It seems more like a personal memory than some historical context or important event. Just my great-whatever grandmother borrowing money from my great-whatever grandfather.”

The ghoul shrugged. I looked at him, studying his face more closely. His appearance really was grotesque. I placed the orb back into my bags.

“I never got your name, ghoul. I know I told you mine when I gave you my life story.”

He snickered. “Look at that. Miss IQ forgot to ask my name. It’s Carrot Cake. And no, not Carrot Cake the pre-war Ponyville baker. I’m tired of ponies that have peered into too many memory orbs asking me that. I just happen to share his name.”

I tilted my head, just the slightest bit confused.

“I’m actually unrelated to the Cake family. I’m part of the Carrot family. Carrot Top’s my aunt.”

“I don’t know any of those names…”

His grin returned. “I know you don’t, Vanilla.” His focus turned away from my, and his eyes turned to look behind me. His eye slipped out again, and this time he didn’t catch it. It hung from his eye socket by a red thread. I gagged, and almost vomited once again.

“Slavers?” Said the ghoul in a confused voice.

I slowly turned to face the way he was facing. I couldn’t get an exact count on them thanks to the distance, but there were roughly six ponies all guarding a cart. On that cart, which was being pulled by one of the ponies, was a cage. Inside that cage were three more ponies. All of the guards, or slavers, were well armed. I stared at them, my mouth slowly dropping.

“What the hell? What are ponies doing enslaving each other?”

Carrot ignored my question. “What the hell are Fillydelphia slavers doing out here? Are they capturing ponies to sell to Redeye?”

“Slavers? Capturing ponies? Selling them? What the hell are ponies doing capturing and enslaving each other!”

My shouts brought on some much unneeded attention. Six red bars appeared on my EFS as the slavers heard me.

I turned toward them, seeing they had abandoned their caged carriage and were heading toward us, their weapons drawn. One of them had what looked like a miniature micro-oven formed into the shape of a pistol.

“Fuck…” I turned my head back around to face the ghoul and give him orders. He had already run off. He’d even disappeared off of my EFS. The fucker.

I turned back to the slavers, who were now approaching dangerously fast. I levitated out both pistols, and activated SATS, where I patiently waited for the chance to hit one of them to rise above fifty percent. It felt like that took a full five minutes. In real time, it probably took about twenty seconds. The moment it went above fifty percent, I targeted six shots at the slaver, three from each pistol, and fired away. Only two hit home, and they didn’t even come close to doing any serious damage.I cursed as time went back to it’s normal pace, and dodged the first slaver that tried to tackle me to the ground. I put two bullets into the back of his neck as he hit the ground. An efficient kill.

Unfortunately, while killing the other, my back had been turned to the others, and the moment I had turned around, the pony with the micro-oven gun blasted me in the face with some strange energy ring.

The world shifted strangely, and my vision blurred. My body felt lighter, and I couldn’t help but wobble due to the sudden deliriousness.

Where was I? Who was I? And what was I just doing?

My focus rested on one of the ponies in front of me. His formed shifted around strangely in my blurred vision.

“Wha… Where am I?” I managed to sputter out.

I think one of the ponies grinned. I couldn’t tell for sure due to his shifting constantly features. “Doesn’t matter. We need you to hand over everything in your bag, and then put this around your neck.” He handed me a strange metal collar.

“Yeah. Okay. Makes sense.” I reply. And as quickly as I could, I removed my barding in saddlebags, handing them to the other ponies, and immediately put the collar on my neck afterward. It worked on a clamp and lock mechanism, which seemed simple enough…

Hold on a second! Something wasn’t quite right here. Didn’t I just shoot one of these ponies? I only shot ponies if they were an obvious enemy… I think. So, if they were possibly my enemy, then why was I doing what they told me to do?

The moment I snapped back to, I was already in the cage with the other three ponies. I immediately stood up, much too quickly, and the cage shook slightly.

“Oy! Keep the movement down to a minimum!” Shouted one of the slavers.

Mother fucker. That micro-oven gun was some kind of mind control device. But how? Mind control would only be able to be achieved by magic. And if that magic were transferred in the form of a gun, it would be weakened, to the point that it would barely affect me. I slowly started to put the pieces together. The gun might have emitted concentrated microwaves. Was it possible that such a form of the waves could make a pony delirious enough to be controlled?

I looked at the other three ponies in the cage with me. Two earth ponies and a unicorn. I tried to think out a plan. I was weaponless. But I still had my wings. I found I could move them, which meant they had enough charge to be used, even if for only a few moments, or even seconds. Then I used a small amount my magic to caress the collar on my neck, hoping the slavers wouldn’t notice the tell-tale shimmer noise caused by it. Bingo. The smallest of holes near the clamp. Probably a button inside to release the locks. I dissipated my magic before a slaver turned around to face the carriage, and he shrugged it off like nothing had happened.

And out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Carrot Cake. I had assumed he abandoned me, but he hid behind a rock, watching the slavers, perhaps waiting for an opening. Was this stallion really trying to help me after I only met him less than an hour ago? And if he was, how could I integrate him into my plan? Maybe…

After about thirty minutes, I had my plan set into place. Carrot had managed to follow the slavers from the shadows, and it seemed that I was the only one that had managed to follow us this far. I had managed to communicate to the other three enslaved ponies through constant hoof motions, a lot of pointing and some very silent movements about the cage. Everypony was finally in the positions I needed them to be in. The two earth ponies on opposite sides of the cage, ready to push it back in forth in an attempt to knock it off balance. The unicorn and I stood at the far end of the cage opposite the slavers.

I gave the signal, a stomp, and the earth ponies started pushing back and forth, not starting to tilt the wagon until several seconds had passed. By now, the slavers had noticed.

They were shouting threats, telling us to “Lay off.” or they’d shoot us.

Unfortunately for them, that meant they had taken their attention off of the area in front of the cage, and had their backs turned to Carrot. He noticed, just like I hoped he would, and was already charging his way toward the slavers.

One of the slavers stook his gun, and terrible looking double-barreled thing, through the bars, and threatened to shoot us down. The earth ponies ignored him, and gave the cage a hard push. The bars shifted enough to make the slaver drop his gun, which the unicorn picked up to claim for herself. She shoved the gun into the slaver’s face through the bars and fired, and the stallion’s head exploded in a flash of blood and skull.

Carrot got close enough to pounce, and did so, pinning the slaver farthest from the cage to the ground. The ghoul bit into the slaver’s jugular, and ripped it out, releasing a gargled scream from the slaver. I froze in fear. What carrot just did reminded me too much of the event that occurred with Gardens.

I was so frozen that I didn’t notice one of the three unmolested slavers produce a button, which he pushed. I didn’t notice all four of the collars in the cage start to beep, each still on the neck of it’s host. I was only snapped out of it when the unicorn fired her gun through the bars of the cage again, tearing the apart the chest cavity of the slaver with the button. The loud blast caused from her gun is what snapped me out of it.

The beeping from the collars could not be a good sign. I pressurized a shimmer of magic, forming it into a fine needle point, and shoved it into small hold at the clamp. There was a soft click, and it unfastened. Then the beeping sped up. I threw the collar off. Throwing it outside the cage. And helped the unicorn with her collar, getting it off of her neck within a matter of seconds. Then I turned to help the earth ponies.

I was met by a spatter of blood, skull, and brain. I couldn’t help but scream. Both of the earth ponies were now headless, and their bodies stood upright for a moment before falling over. It was a disturbing sight. One I felt sure would be permanently etched into my memory. I threw up, I won’t lie.

I long lost focus of what was going on outside the cage. Carrot Cake was effectively cleaning up. Without an effective containment source that was a pony’s neck, the devices exploded in an effective radius. Since I had thrown the devices out of the cage, fortunately in the direction of the scrambling, confused slavers, they had exploded violently, killing one instantly, and severely injuring the other, leaving one left alive, as Carrot had finished off the other he was attacking long ago.

Carrot was about to attack the last one, but I shouted for him to “Stop!” He surprisingly did so. I honestly didn’t expect him to actually stop.

I looked at the last standing slaver, waiting for her eyes to meet mine, and when they finally met mine, they were full of fear. I could read her emotions. She didn’t know how this happened. It surprised her.

“Lay down your weapon. Or you’ll get it from the ghoul.” I said, putting on my best brave voice I could, which was quite hard to do when the only thing on my mind was getting the blood and gore out of my mane and coat before it stained.

Quite visibly hesitant to do so, she laid her weapon, which was a pistol similar to mine, on the ground, and backed away from it.

“Key. Now.”

The slaver mare tossed the key into the cage, and I unlocked it, so that the unicorn and I could leave the gore-filled cage behind.

I shifted through the bodies until I found my saddlebags, and put them back on my back after making sure all of my weapons were there. The slaver injured by the explosion had passed, due to the blood loss.

My plan had definitely gone awry, but with some improvisation, I managed to save one of the enslaved ponies and a slaver, who was now bound and unable to move thanks to some help from the unicorn and Carrot.

I moved over to her, and asked her a simple question. “Why?’

She broke down in tears, and babbled something about a ‘family’, and ‘not enough caps’.

I patiently waited for the mare to calm down so I could get out a coherent answer from her.

That took a while.

~~~~~~~~~~

Butterscotch,
You know that feeling you get when you know you did something wrong, but you can’t quite put your hoof on what exactly it is you did? That’s how I’m feeling right now. I’ve done a few things since I left the Stable. Things I can’t decide whether I’m proud of or not.
I’ve killed ponies. It may have been self defense, but I still did it. Now their blood is on my hooves, and I feel like something in my head has snapped. I’m not a mare meant to kill ponies, Butterscotch. It feels wrong.
And I have two more pony’s blood on my hooves as well. I didn’t kill them directly, but it was still my fault. I put my life ahead of theirs. I could have saved them if I weren’t being so selfish.
And I spared one of the very ponies that captured, and later, tried to kill me. Why? Was this the right choice? I don’t know.
And I made an acquaintance. One of those things that killed Gardens. He’s not like them though. He’s not insane. I’m not going to say he’s nice. He’s actually a bit of a prick. But if it weren’t for him, I’d definitely be dead right now. Yet, for some reason, I feel that by making friends with him, I’d somehow betray Gardens. And you.
I can’t tell what’s right or what’s wrong anymore, Butterscotch. Please help me.
I’m a broken mare.
~Vanil

Message Sent: 14:13

Vanil,

I’m sorry. I really don’t know how to comfort you. I didn’t realize how bad it was outside. You’ve had it going rough. I know. Just, keep doing what you’re doing. Keep surviving. All that matters is that you stay alive, right?

Vanilla, you better come back safe. I wanna see you again. Please, please, please don’t leave me. I couldn’t stand to be here without you at my side.

Message Received: 14:17

~~~~~~~~~~

I’d made good distance in the time I had spent talking to my new allies. While I wouldn’t call them my friends, we were certainly getting along.

The unicorn slave from earlier, her name was Divinity. Apparently she had been traveling to Crystal City like myself, when she was jumped by the slavers. She was quite honestly, beautiful. At least compared to me. Her mane was a mint green, with matching eyes, and her coat She came down from Appleoosa. Old Appleoosa, not New Appleoosa, she had to keep reminding me. There was a difference.

They had used the micro-oven gun on her as well. Apparently, it emitted a microwave signal concentrated and powerful enough to disrupt a unicorn’s magic. The magical disruption is powerful enough to cause disorientation and a sense of amnesia. Oh, and I should probably mention that the Pip-Buck called it a Microwave Emitter.

Carrot Cake himself was a pre-war carrot farmer. Go figure. He had a few connections to the Apple family in the past, trading apples and carrots occasionally.

Nowadays, he’s a wanderer. He literally walks aimlessly around the wasteland without a thought as to where he’s going. He’s had countless numbers of close calls, considering he never uses any weapon beside his own teeth. He was actually quite reckless. The only reason he ever stays away from a situation is if he’s absolutely sure he’ll end up dead. Otherwise, he dives right in.

And now, our special guest star, the slaver. Though I suppose she’s now an ex-slaver She sat on the ghoul pony’s back, bound, but not gagged. We needed to hear her story.

Orange mane, orange coat, and what would you know? Her name is Orange.The only part of her that wasn’t some shade of orange were her eyes, which were a fuschia color. She had two foals, without a father now, as he was one of the other stallion slavers we killed during our escape. I couldn’t help but feel guilty, since an exploding head caused by a point-blank shot from a shotgun is hard to come back from.

So now, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy toward the widowed ex-slaver that used to be my enemy. And who could really blame me? Anypony with an actual heart would forgive her. Unless she were lying of course.

Now that everyone had finished their stories, they all walked in silence. Divinity had managed to find a few more shells for her shotgun. Looting deceased ponies felt wrong to me, so I left that up to Carrot and Divinity. Maybe one day I could work up the courage to loot the dead, but definitely not today.

I began to get severely bored, and out of boredom, I plugged in the ear bloom on my Pip-Buck, and tuned the radio to Crystal City Radio. And I was met with a pleasant, albeit somewhat curious surprise.

The song was coming to an end. That meant Speaker would be giving us his wasteland update soon. It was usually something drab or drole, like cautioning about raiders, telling listeners to stay away from strange caves, or don’t get into a melee fight with a Hellhound.

Today was a little different.

We have an interesting update today, Crystal Citizens. A Stable dweller has emerged from her little hole in the ground, and is cleaving a path toward Crystal City. One thing is for sure, she’s a fighter.
Reports say she tangoed with Cracker, and miraculously walked away unscathed. Though, Trainyard does look a little worse for wear with all of the explosions going down.
Oh, and she was… enslaved, right? Yes, enslaved. Bomb collar and all, and yet managed to walk away unscathed, even saving a couple of slaves.

Correction: One slave and a slaver.

She’s definitely a miracle worker. But that’s not the most curious thing about her, Citizens. Oh no. It’s the fact that she’s cybernetic. With a chrome lined back-

Steel plated. Not chrome lined.

-And attachments she has put on her back, she’s pushed through. And very soon, we may see the Cybermare walking in the streets and halls of our very own Crystal City.

Well, his reporting skills weren’t perfect. Some of his info was a little off. And I couldn’t help but wonder how he got the information. Cameras? Satellite? Didn’t matter really. But it definitely peaked my curiosity.

And he was right about a few things. They would indeed be seeing ‘Cybermare’ in their streets.

I smiled to myself. We were now less than ten minutes away from the sparkling Empire. Not quite to Crystal City, but almost there.

Five miles to go, and I would finally be safe.

Level Up
3>4

Perks Gained:

Science!
Take full advantage of advanced technology with access to base level and Rank 1 high-tech mods.

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Chapter 4: The Crystal Empire

Chapter 4: The Crystal Empire

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“Orange is down!” Divinity shouted as loud as she could.

Of course Orange was down. We were five minutes into the Crystal Empire, and already we were being shot at. By sparkling ponies! Now that’s both insulting and embarrassing.

So, we crossed that border into the Crystal Empire. My hooves went from walking on dirt and train rails, to walking on crystal roads. We had difficulty following the train tracks after that, due to the massive amounts of Crystal Rubble, which meant we had to take several detours. We had also decided as a group, that it was safe to finally undo Orange’s bindings. And she actually proved to be somewhat trustworthy. We didn’t give her the liberty of having a gun, however. She had to do with a pool cue that we found in a Crystal Bar.

Well, should say that during one of our several detours, we were intercepted by a five of the Crystal Ponies. They attempted to mug us, for everything we owned. Divinity was not having any of that, and quickly filled his Crystal Face with shotgun shell. That spurred off the shoot-out. We would have been fine, beside the fact that we were both outnumbered and outgunned. Their equipment was definitely better than ours.

Divinity and I both managed to find cover behind a half-destroyed building. Carrot Cake had done his disappearing act down one of the alleyways between two destroyed Crystal Buildings. He was good at that. And I’m sure he’d be back within a few seconds, biting out the throat of one of the Crystal Muggers.

Orange had decided it was a good idea to tango with a pony that looked like he had a chainsaw on his hoof. She quickly found that wood is not as good for blocking a constantly whirring blade as one might think they were. Before the mare could realize it had happened, her pool cue was reduced mere splinters. And I couldn’t tell from this angle, but I’m pretty sure Crystal Chainsaw had taken off her arm entirely at the shoulder. Based off of the intense cries of pain coming from her, he probably did.

I don’t know why I cared so much. She was one of the ponies that attempted to kidnap and enslave me, but those wretched cries of pain made me spur into action. I didn’t realize it until late, but I was thinking about my sister. I didn’t want anypony to end up like she had. Missing limbs had to be worse than a missing back. I jumped out of my cover, and levitated out both pistols, and activated SATS. Six shots, straight to the head of Chainsaw. Even at medium-range, four shots still hit home, and his red bar blinked out before he got a chance to do any more damage to Orange. Of course! Even their blood sparkled!

I wrapped Orange in my magic before the Crystal Muggers could start another rain of bullets, and dragged her to cover. That massive blood trail was not reassuring. And my suspicions were completely confirmed. Not only was I dragging a near-unconscious Orange, I was also dragging her completely severed, and utterly limp front right hoof.

I broke. That was the moment I really realized where I was. I was not in the Stable anymore. I was outside. In the wasteland. And it was horrible. Unforgiving. I wanted to curl up and give up right there. Let the wasteland take me. But I couldn’t do that. Every time I took a look at the bare stump left on Orange’s shoulder, the picture of Butterscotch that I received on my Pip-Buck when I left the Stable flashed into my mind. I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t. I had to stick around, so I could see Butterscotch again. Funny, how killing other ponies didn’t break me. Funny, how watching two supposedly innocent ponies have their heads blown off didn’t break me. Funny, how a severed arm did break me.

I didn’t know how many healing potions it would take to heal the bloody mess of Orange’s shoulder, so I just took all six of my remaining ones left and shoved them at Divinity. “Use these until Orange’s wound closes. Make her drink them. Don’t let her deny them.” I leviitated out the Hydra I had found back at my house. “And what does this do?”

Divinity considered it for a moment. “Hydra. That stuff makes you really hard to kill. Bullets hit you, then they just fall out at the speed of your regeneration.”

“Can it be used on Orange?”

“No. I’ve never seen a pony healed that drastically by Hydra. But it does some pretty serious stuff to-”

I didn’t bother hearing the rest of what she had to say. I injected the needle into my arm, and instantly felt my heartbeat speed up. It was going too fast. That couldn’t be healthy. “I’m going to take these fuckers out. Don’t worry about me. Worry about Orange. Carrot and I have these Crystal Fuckers. Let me see your shotgun.”

And she gave it to me. The amount of anger-fueled adrenaline surging through my body gave me the energy to go above and beyond. The magical energy I needed. I walked out of my cover.

With seven guns trailing behind me, surrounded in my magical energy. Three pistols, three rifles, and a shotgun. And the hunt began.

I sent each gun after a different pony. Most of them were unfortunate enough to have two guns go after them. Shotgun blast to the face for one. I was certainly learning from Divinity. They tried to fight back. And I must say, they tried. But a pony on an anger high with Hydra flowing through their veins? Bullets don’t do much to hurt them.

Each remaining pony got a rifle and pistol each, and I filled them with led. They couldn’t really fight back. I was aiming the guns at them without magic, and firing into them at point-blank rage. And I never even moved from my spot just outside of cover. Before I knew it, the area was covered in their Crystal Blood, and I had been firing into them long after they were dead.

And then the Hydra left my system. Seriously? A minute? That’s all I got?I stumbled back behind cover, suddenly aware of the pain I was in from the bullets. Hydra may have healed the injuries, but it certainly did not dull the pain of it.

“How’s Orange?” I asked. I did not like the amount of blood that was behind our temporary shelter from the bullets.

“She’s lost a lot of blood. But it looks like she’ll make it. At least she will to Crystal City. Maybe that have somepony there that can help her better than we can?”

I nod, and sit down beside the injured mare. Carrot Cake had shown up some time ago. I lost track of when.

“Hey Orange. You okay?” She nodded weakly. She was shaking badly. She thought she was going to die. I could tell from the weakened look in her eyes. And before I realized it, I started telling her about Butterscotch. I told her about our time together as children. The way she visited me in medical every day after my incident with my back. The way she would always try to crack jokes, but due to her nervousness, she would end up butchering them. I told her how I laughed anyway. She calmed down. But I didn’t want to stop talking. I just broke. I needed something to keep me from doing something stupid. Butterscotch was my anchor. And for some reason, Orange made me think about my sister.

My story lasted for an hour. Orange, Divinity, or Carrot never complained or interrupted. They all seemed intent on listening.

~~~~~~~~~~

Vanilla!
Progress is going great out here. And wouldn’t you know it? You’re almost twenty four hours gone. If you’re uh… don’t want to talk about it.
Legs are kinda new to me, since the only cybernetics I’ve made in the past were a spine, a back, and a few eyes. But regardless of that, You’re sister will be, uh… not good as new. But good in a few days.
And hey, Vanil. Sorry this ever happened to you. Your father and I were good friends. When he passed, I promised I would never let anything happen to you. I’m so sorry.
~Fix Ser

Message Received: 19:37

I want a progress report.
~Overmare, Stable 81

Message Received: 21:07

Fuck off.

Message Sent: 21:08

~~~~~~~~~~

01:17. That’s the time that I was awoken by Divinity for my watch. We were sleeping in shifts, each one of use taking a four hour shift, and one of us was always awake to keep guard. Orange, of course, got an exemption. I was actually surprised that Carrot Cake was sleeping. I didn’t expect ghouls to sleep.

We had bunkered down in a Crystal Bakery. There was plenty of two hundred year old stale bread to go around. None of us ate it. I had actually lost my appetite.

Upon being awoken, I grabbed myself a rifle and walked outside. And I stood guard for a couple of hours, before I heard a low hum. Like music?

That didn’t make any sense. I had turned off my Pip-Buck radio ages ago. I couldn’t help but facehoof myself. Common sense, Vanilla. If it’s not your Pip-Buck, it’s some other source. And the source was getting closer. It sounded like some kind of military marching theme. It was actually somewhat invigorating. Made me want to march.

I found myself drawn to the music. I wanted to know what the source was. But then it suddenly cut out and I lost track of where it might have been. I was actually somewhat disappointed.

“Boo!”

Of course I jumped. Who wouldn’t? It’s the middle of the night, and I was in the middle of a destroyed world that probably wanted me dead.

I turned to the source of the noise, pointing my rifle its way. I was surprised to find a metal orb, with two antennae, and small, thin wings. It was painted black. Where the paint peeled up, I saw dark gray metal. Now that I think about it, it resembled some magical bug I read about in some book all those ages ago.

And thank goodness. There’s finally something in this place that didn’t sparkle.

“Ha! If you could get a good look at you face right now-” I made sure my face was that of an annoyed anger. “Er… never mind. How’s it going for you, Stable-pony?” The thing motions what I supposed was its face at my Pip-Buck.

“It’s uh… it’s going good.” I lowered my rifle, but kept it ready. This thing didn’t pose an immediate threat. That didn’t mean I had to keep my guard down.

“That’s good. That’s good. Look, I know you Stable dwellers. Your type is always trying to become a hero of some such. Don’t even bother. Ever since the Lightbringer activated the Gardens of Equestria there hasn’t been much else anypony had been able to do. So, don’t play hero. Your heroism will be unwanted and unnecessary.”

Oh, the nerve of this robot. Almost enough to make me want to shoot it. “The hell do you mean, ‘don’t be a hero’? I’ll do whatever the hell I want.”

“Nope. If you can, head back to your Stable. If not, keep going to Crystal City, and build a life for yourself there. Unless some cataclysmic event occurs within the next year or so, your help is really, really unwanted.”

I hoped she could see how red my face was. “I don’t even care. I’m not out here to play hero. I just want to survive. I’m just out here to find another Stable door.”

“And the Lightbringer ran out here to chase down her childhood crush. And guess what. She took out the old Redeye and The Goddess.”

Redeye. Didn’t Carrot mention a pony like that? “Old Redeye?”

“Two Redeyes. The old one, a little bit of a tyrant. The new one? A stallion slave that looked up to the old Redeye. He followed in the old one’s hoofsteps. Even gouged out his right eye just so he could replace it with a cybernetic one.”

I cringed. “He mutilated himself? Why?”

“Because he looked up to Redeye. He wanted to be just like his old master. So, a year after Redeye’s death, new Redeye took over the operations. Built himself up from scratch. And without the Lightbringer to stop him, and everypony else staying away from him so they can rebuild their own homes, he’s managed to rebuild some of Redeye’s empire.”

“Fuck… you’re kidding me, right? Alright… so how long has it been since the Lightbringer activated the Gardens of Equestria?”

“Three years. That’s two years that new Redeye has been rebuilding. And just like the old Redeye, he has an army of supporters.”

I groaned, and rubbed my head. I had a headache. “Look. I am not out here to play hero, okay? Just…. Just let new Redeye, or old Redeye, or whatever, do what they want. Let the Lightbringer do whatever they want. I just need a Stable, preferably abandoned. And a way to transport a two ton door.”

The robot buzzed. It sounded like laughing. “Why not take the train? It goes to Hoof’s Ridge station every three days, then back to Crystal City.”

I groaned. My headache got worse. “You’re telling me that I could have gone straight to Crystal City if I would have just waited by my Stable for a little while?”

“I didn’t say that exactly. But yeah, I suppose that’d be the case if your Stable is near Hoof’s Ridge Station.”

“It’s right underneath it.”

“Yep. You would have saved yourself a lot of pain.”

“Of course I would have.” I rubbed my face. “Ugh. Do you have a name, so I know which annoying face to avoid from now on?”

“Oh, I have a name. But I’m going to give you a fake one instead. You can call me Mask. I took over Watcher’s job of guiding Stable ponies in this area ever since Watcher retired way back when. And you’re the first one I’ve found in three years.”

I laid down. I was done. My head was pounding. Whoever was on the other line of that transmission was really annoying me. “Just go away. I’ll listen to more wasteland problems and shit later.”

“Fine. Just watch out for the Remnant. They aren’t very happy with Stable dwellers after what the Lightbringer did to them five years ago.”

The thing gave a quick zzzt! and started to hover away, the military marching music playing again. I grabbed it in telekinesis before it could get too far, and opened up it’s back. Yes. Transceiver. Just what I was hoping for. Using my smarts, and some serious help of the Pip-Buck, I was able to trace Mask’s transmission. It was coming to a place far to the south of here. Another Tenpony Towers transmission. I’ll have to go there one day in the future.

With a huff, I let the floating bot go, and it sputtered away, the song playing, with the occasional annoying buzz. Then it exploded with an electrical blast, and fell to the ground. Guess I played around with the insides a little bit too much when I was tracing the transmission.

I checked the time on my Pip-Buck. Shit. 05:31. I was late waking Carrot up for his shift.

Thanks a lot Mask.

~~~~~~~~~~

Butterscotch,
I’m so tired of all of the beautiful. Everything, and I mean everything in the Crystal Empire sparkles. After a while, it hurts the eyes. Then you get used to it. Then, it just gets annoying. Ugh. But, I may be one step closer to a way to replace the Stable door. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a Stable in the Crystal Empire. And maybe, just maybe, It’ll be abandoned and still have a door.
I might be back soon! I love you lil’ sis. I can’t wait to see you again.
~Vanil.

Message Sent: 09:50

~~~~~~~~~~

We were walking again. Much slower and way more carefully than before. I was keeping a solid eye on my EFS, making sure nothing popped up that was hostile. Orange was on Carrot’s back, still too weak and in shock to be able to walk herself on three hooves. Divinity had taken the lead, and I kept to the back.

I insisted that Carrot Cake take the chainsaw. He complied quite easily, and now had the dangerous device on his front right hoof. I myself was beginning to get over encumbered. While I wasn’t the one actually looting the bodies, all of the treasure, which were mostly weapons and ammo, were getting piled on me. True, the metal spine and back did help. But not entirely. It was actually starting to take a bit of a toll on my back.

I had also failed to mention my conversation with Mask earlier. But honestly, I didn’t really find it worth mentioning. Instead, to entertain myself and pass the time I set the channel to Crystal City Radio.

For those of you that haven’t heard the news from good ol’ DJ-Pon3 themself, DJ Pon3 is stepping down. That’s right. They’re retiring. Unless somepony wants to fill the old speakers place, the radio might be cut down. Which means ponies outside of the Crystal City area won’t be receiving the daily updates that they might need. I would take over the job, but I uh… heh-heh. I don’t exactly have the bravado to throw my voice at millions of ponies. I’m quite alright with the thousands here in the Crystal Empire.
On another note, you remember how I said Cybermare was coming to Crystal City? Seems I was right in that prediction. I should be a seer. Anyway, she’s cleaving a path through the Crystal Empire now. And Cybermare. If you’re listening in on this, keep an eye out for the Remnant. That nasty bunch of pegasi isn’t as forgiving as they were three years ago.
Now, Here’s ‘A Good Time’ by the lovely Scarlet Melody!

There they were again. First, Mask mentions something about the Remnant. Now Voice is talking about them too? Who, or what exactly were they? Whatever they were, ponies were making a big deal out of them. Well, if they were such a big deal, I would avoid them.

After turning the radio off, and pulling the ear bloom out, I walked up next to Carrot. “You’ve been around for a while, right? What’s the Remnant?”

Carrot scoffed a little. “Classic Stable-pony question. The Remnant, or as they like to call themselves, The Enclave, are what’s left of the, well, the Enclave after the Lightbringer basically destroyed them five years ago. Bunch of irrational pegasi is what they are. Most of the other pegasi left the Enclave and joined the rebuild effort. But them? They don’t understand that what they did was wrong. So now, about five thousand pegasi that refused to leave the Enclave now from what everypony in Equestria call the Remnant.” He laughs. “I’ve never actually killed a member of the Enclave or the Remnant. Their armor is more terrifying than even that of the Steel Rangers. Makes me think of bugs. Especially scorpions. They even have strange little scorpion tails at the end. And the better suits of armor? They actually have venom coursing through the tails.”

I groan. Threat after threat keeps popping up in the wasteland. Why was the world so eternally fucked?

Three red bars pop up on my EFS. “This way.” I say, and point a direction for Carrot to change course, moving away from the bars. Not until they disappeared did I return to our original course. I was getting used to moving around the Crystal Ruins. They’re cracking and falling patterns were forming into a pattern, and it was getting predictable. Of course, I was the only pony here smart enough to realize that. When Carrot Cake kept walking into dead ends, I decided I would have to take lead to keep from getting us lost. “I’m taking the lead. Watch my flank.”

“That’s what she said.” Said Carrot as he moved behind me to let me take the lead.

I smiled. “Shut it.” While they could be annoying at times, Carrot’s wisecracks definitely helped with the mood. I planned on turning around in a flash soon. And so help me Celestia, if his head was angled wrong when I turned around then… Could ghouls feel pain?

“Carrot. Can ghouls feel pain?”

“Yep. It’s extremely dumbed down though. A bullet would feel more like a pinprick. It’d take something super serious, like an intense, slow crushing to actually hurt us. I suppose intense neurological torture could work too.”

“I didn’t think you knew what neurological meant.”

It was his turn to chuckle. “I’m not stupid, Miss IQ. Just not as smart as you. What’s your IQ at anyway?”

“Last time I took a test in the Stable, they put me at one seventy three. It was the uh… the highest in my Stable.” I didn’t want to sound like a braggart. But it was the truth.

“Impressive. A hundred seventy three. Will it be useful out here where brains don’t matter anymore? Where it’s all about strength and the ability to survive?”

I turn down another road. A road that I had correctly guessed would be completely devoid of rubble. “Oh. You have no idea how useful my brains have been out here already. True, they haven’t been as useful as my guns. Or my wings. Or my Pip-Buck. But if you think being smart out in the wasteland is useless, then you’re wrong. Because ever since I’ve taken the lead, we haven’t hit any dead ends. If it weren’t for my intelligence, I would be dead. I would have died a long time ago.” My voice was rising. And I don’t know why, but I was breaking down in tears. Was I really hurt so badly by a simple, small, basically harmless insult to my intelligence? No one in the Stable had insulted me before. I was sure Carrot Cake couldn’t see my face from behind me, but... if I wasn’t careful, he would hear my sniffles.

My attempt to hide it but my sudden mood shift was noticed. He may not have been as smart as me, but he was perceptive. “Vanilla? Are you okay?”

“Shut up. Leave me alone.”

“Sorry. I didn’t think I would insult you with that question. I’m not exactly the most… charismatic pony in the world. I don’t communicate with people well. Sorry if I got on your nerves. If you want, I could just leave.”

I turned around to face him. His head was hung low, and he was looking at the ground. Was he actually ashamed? Believe it or not, I did consider sending him away. But ultimately I decided against it. Not while he looked so guilty.

“Hey. Sorry Carrot. I uh… I didn’t mean to snap on you there…” Hey look. Orange was finally coming back around. Maybe she’d be easier to talk to than Carrot was right now. “Hey Carrot, would you mind taking the lead again?”

The ghoul nodded, Goddesses, why did he look so somber?, and walked ahead of me to take the lead.

I positioned myself between Carrot and Divinity, who was watching the back. I stared at Orange, who was still draped over Carrot’s back, and waited for her eyes to meet mine. When they finally did, her eyes were full of exhausted pain.

“It hurts…”

I walked closer to her. “I know. We did the best we could. But four potions would only close the wound. And we need the last two in case anything worse happens.”

She nodded, though I still think she was too out of it to really listen. She was probably just finding comfort in my voice alone. She reminded me of my sister…

Before I knew it, I had pulled her off of Carrot’s back and was hugging her. She was surprised at first, but then wrapped her last remaining arm around me.

“Thank you… thank you so much Vanilla. I don’t know why you’re trying to help me, but I appreciate it. I was so horrible to you when we first met. I’m glad there are still some decent ponies in the wasteland.”

She slowly let me go. Seemed that a hug was all she needed. At least, for now. It took her a moment to gain her balance on three hooves, but she managed. She tried to walk forward, but stumbled. I managed to keep her from falling by catching her in my magic. “Watch it. Don’t strain yourself.” She gave me a weak smile, and took a few more steps forward, this time managing to maintain her balance.

“I think I can walk myself for a little while. Thank you.”

Despite what she said, I leaned against her, offering my support, which she accepted. “Turn right here Carrot. How are you feeling, Orange?”

She paused for a moment to rub her stump with her free hoof before moving forward again. “It hurts. And occasionally I have this pain where the leg used to be. Like a ghost.”

“Phantom pain. It’s a psychological thing.”

She nodded. “I guess. Why do you care about me? Why are you protecting me? I enslaved you. I was the one that put the bomb collar on your neck.”

I shrugged a little. “Forgive and forget, I suppose. The others didn’t really get as much of a chance as you did.” No. Idiot Vanilla. That’s not what she meant. She’s not asking why you spared her. She’s asking why you’re so nice to her. I gave myself a mental facehoof. “At least, That’s what it was at first. But after the incident, you started to remind me of my sister. You remember her. I told you all about her. Butterscotch Candy. You have a nervousness that’s similar to hers. And uh… the missing limb thing.”

She nods in understanding. “Yeah. Thank you, again Vanilla.”

I smiled, and opened up to speak to her, before my face met with Carrot’s flank. I jumped back, and Orange fell to the ground without my support.

I spit. “Gross! Grossgrossgrossgrossgroooosssssss! Carrot Cake! Why the hell did you stop?”

“Dead end.” I looked forward. No. That was impossible. That wall of rubble wasn’t supposed to be there. I calculated it in my head!

“You did go right, right?”

“Of course I went right right.” Shut up Carrot Cake. Don’t mock me. “Why wouldn’t I follow Brainymare’s instructions?”

I helped Orange stand up, realizing far too late that we were in a dead end.

And before I knew it, seven particularly raggedy looking ponies had pinned the four of us against a wall. And of course, the ponies were sparkling.

Once again, they were more well-armed than the rest of us. I couldn’t think of a plan. They were threatening us again. They wanted everything we had, and they’d leave us be. They even wanted to take Divinity hostage, as some kind of ‘insurance that we wouldn’t follow them.’ The nerve of them…

And yet, I actually couldn’t think of a plan. We were trapped, without cover, outgunned and outnumbered. Carrot couldn’t perform his disappearing act, since there were no alleys or open windows to disappear into. Divinity almost raised her shotgun to blast one of them. I actually had to tell her to stop. Obviously, not everyone out here realized when they would lose a fight.

As they approached, I thought harder. I needed a distraction. Or a way to stall. “Well, uh, there are a few things in our bags that are basically useless. I have some, uh, some things that only work when they’re attached to my back.” I turned to show them my back.

They’re eyes widened. “Holy shit. It’s the Cybermare. The same one that took out Juke’s gang?”

A little bit of confusion from me. Did word really spread around that quickly in the Crystal Empire. I put on my toughest mean look I could give. “Yeah. That’s right. That’s me. And if you screw with me and my friends, I’ll do the exact same thing to you that I did to them.”

Four of the seven bars turned from red to green as more than half of our assailants turned tail and fled. Hah! They actually bought it. Unfortunately the last three didn’t seem as intimidated. Fortunately, we were evenly matched.

“Divinity, do your trick.” And before one could react to her words, they received a shotgun to the face, followed by a head-splosion.

This spurred the other two into action. Luckily, Carrot and I were both ready for a moment like this. Carrot ran forward, his hoofsaw powering on.

Two pistols, levitated out of my saddlebags. SATS. Six shots. Five hit home in his head. Dead in less than four seconds.

I heard a loud bang, and turned toward Carrot’s asaillee. He had managed to fire a rifle round into the ghoul’s chest. Of course, the ghoul barely reacted to the ‘pinprick pain,’ and started slicing and biting at the Crystal Mugger. He was downed within a seconds.

Carrot raises the blood-spattered saw. “You know what Vanilla? You were right. This chainsaw thing really is fun!”

That earned a sheepish smile from Orange, “Sorry I couldn’t help out.”

Carrot grinned. “No probably Three Hooves. Yo, Vanilla. Sorry I ever doubted you. Never would have thought of using my radio identity to make a couple of raiders back off. Obviously, brains are useful for something out here.”

I wave off his comment. “It wasn’t my original plan. It just kind of happened. Glad it did though. Otherwise we might be armorless and down a friend, or all dead.”

Divinity sighs. “You know what they were going to do, right? What they meant when they wanted me as a hostage?”

I started to walk out of the dead end. I had already put that puzzle together a long time ago. “Yep. They were probably going to rape you. Probably be a gang rape.”

My three allies look at each other, exchanging glances.

“She’s a smart mare. Gotta give her credit for her brains.” I hear Carrot say.

And my three allies followed me out.

~~~~~~~~~~

Butterscotch,
You didn’t reply last time I sent a message. You’re usually an early riser, but I guess you’re probably still resting since you just lost your back legs recently and all.
Three ponies that I previously considered my acquaintances are now my friends. For sure. The first one is Carrot Cake. He’s an earth pony, and a ghoul (you know, one of those things that invaded our Stable). He can be a bit of an ass, but at least her tries, you know? The second is a unicorn by the name of Divinity. She’s not one for words. I’ve only got three sentences and an incredibly shortened life story out of her. Now that I think about it, I barely know anything about her. But I do like the fact she likes to blow off faces with a shotgun.
And the third, is an earth pony mare named Orange. Her parents must have been very creative in naming her. Her whole body is orange. She’s been through a lot. More than anyone else in our group. Mostly because she’s lost a limb. Like you. She actually reminds me of you. She has your same nervous vibe.
…
Butterscotch, would it be weird to say that I’ve fallen for somepony that tried to enslave and kill me? Literally less than a day ago? I don’t know why, but I just…
Nevermind. I guess you wouldn’t understand. Love you little sis. Message me soon.
~Vanil.

Message Sent: 12:33

~~~~~~~~~~

Whenever the make-shift gate that surrounded Crystal City game into view, I made a break for it, and left my other friends in the dust. I must have looked like an attack, because the guards on the wall at the gate aimed their guns at me.

“Stop right there!” I skidded to a halt. “No further. Let your group catch up. Then we can start negotiating whether you can get inside or not.” I nodded, nothing but ready to comply. My friends soon caught up, Orange moving the slowest due to her missing limb. Finally, safety!

“Are any of you ponies insane? Or flesh eaters?” He eyed Carrot at that statement.

Carrot scoffed. “Oh please! You accuse me of eating flesh? How can I have a hunger for pony meat. Nope, this stomach is specifically devoted to two hundred year old Sugar Bombs and a few plants.”

The guard seemed satisfied enough at the answer, albeit annoyed. “Any of you Remnant sympathizers?”

I shook my head. “I’ve never ever seen a member of the Remnant in my life. I couldn’t tell you what they look like. And I can assure you that none of my companions have ever shown signs of any distrustful or Remnant-ish behavior.” I gave a sheepish smile. Your social stupidity is showing again Vanilla.

Again, the guard gave a nod, satisfied. “You seem good enough. Please keep any weapons that you have that are larger than a rifle at the gate. If you want to trade them, come back here.”

Lucky us, none of us had anything larger than a rifle, considering the biggest gun we had was a rifle.

And so, we crossed the gate. And of course, Crystal City shined. Well, yes, it did shine. It wa in the Crystal Empire, and everything there shined. But no, I mean it shined. The moment I walked inside, I spotted a crowd of ponies negotiating trade with a pony at a jewelry stand. Which there were ton of. But there weren’t just jewelry stands. It seemed there were shops for everything. Medicine, guns, armor. There were some shops that specialized in weapon mods, and some in special types of ammo. Some just sold junk.

Before I even realized it, I had migrated over to a jewelry stand. My eyes had landed on a particularly nice pair of Smoky Diamond earrings that I knew would just look perfect on my ears. They matched my eyes!

“You have a nice eye miss. That ;particular type of gem is really rare. But- Oh! You’re that Cybermare, the one I heard on the radio!”

“How much for them? The earrings. How much?”

“Well… since you’re radio famous and all, I could give ‘em to you for… thirty thousand caps.”

My gaze slowly drove from those beautiful earrings to his face. “Caps?”

“Dontcha know by now? The currency used in the wasteland is bottle caps. Nopony uses bits anymore. Long dead currency.”

I quickly found myself migrating away from the jewelry stand. “Sorry. That’s out of my price range.”

My friends joined up with me soon enough. “Whatsa matter? Can’t afford the special jewels, Newbie?” Seriously, Carrot. Your incessant teasing is not appreciated.

So, instead of fueling his teasing, I ignored his question and asked my own. “Any idea where I could find a Stable?”

Divinity pointed to the top of Crystal Castle. “Ask the mayor. The mayor’s office is at the very top floor of the castle.”

I looked up at the top of the castle. That was a very, very inconveniently long walk.

With a sigh, I turned back to the rest of my group. “Well, are we going?”

Divinity simply turned away. “Nah. I thank you for helping me get here and all. I would have definitely died if it weren't for you and the ghoul, but I was honestly just using you.” Well, there went our friendship down the drain. “See you around I guess. Right Vanilla.”

I sigh. “Maybe.”

And with that, Divinity walked away. Leaving me behind for good. I turned to Orange.

“Oh. I don’t think I can really climb stairs in my current condition. I’m just fine staying down here, thank you.” I nodded in understanding. “But, uh, Vanilla. To tell you the truth, I’m going to hitch the next most convenient ride to New Appleoosa. You know, stop my slaving activities and such. Raise my foals.” She smiles, a little sadly. “See you later Vanilla? I’ll make sure and repay you the next time I see you.”

Fake smile for her, Vanilla. Fake smile. Why did I feel a small part of me die inside? “Yeah Orange, see you around.” I gave her a quick hug, then turned to the ghoul. “I suppose you’re going to go about the wasteland again, huh? Continue your wanderer career?”

He smiles widely. His eye was slipping out again, but he caught it. Why did it seem to mostly due that when he smiled? “Nah. I think my wandering career is just about done. I found a new career. Helping ponies that don’t know jack shit about the wasteland learn about the wasteland. Starting with you.”

“Thanks. But I’m not stupid.”

“But you’ve only seen about three percent of what the wasteland has to throw at ponies. Trust me, the wasteland is going to try its hardest to break you. Better to have somepony that’s been around for 200 years showing you the ropes, huh?” His smile widened. His eye fell out.

“Could you push your eye back into place?” I gave him my best smile. Maybe I did actually have a friend out here. True, he was disgusting, rude, obnoxious, and a bit of a prick.

But hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

“Let’s go sell these extra guns, and get going on our way to the top floor of the castle, huh?’

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

~~~~~~~~~~

I was exhausted. Why did they have to make the building so tall? And why couldn’t they install and elevator?

I collapsed at the top of the stairs. Carrot Cake, of course, bounded to the top. “Poor pony. How many rests did you take?”

“Seven.” I unsteadily rose to my hooves. We were finally at the top floor. Just a few moments break. Just a few moments.

As I stood there, panting and sweating, I recounted my little excursion up the Castle stairs. I saw a large variety of different creatures. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi. My first time to see a pegasus in the wasteland was when I entered Crystal City. But they weren’t all I saw. Six-foot-tall dogs. Griffins. Alicorns?

Carrot explained the Alicorns to me. Apparently, some horrible creature that called herself the Goddess was creating Alicorns as an army to eventually overthrow the old Redeye and take over Equestria for herself. Her original plan was to use Redeye to create male alicorns but apparently those didn’t come easily.

I sifted through the items in my bag using my Pip-Buck. I was finally up 360 caps. Bad news? I was almost out of 10 mil ammo. After a silent debate with myself, I used my wrench to disconnect Pegasus Pride, and put on Surgeon’s Toys. After giving the saw and drill a test whirl, I folded their long arms against my back. Didn’t want to look like I was out to assassinate the mayor now, was I?

Finally, I had caught my breathe. I began my walk to the door with Carrot following behind me. Just as I reached out to open the door with my magic, it flew open. Standing in the doorway was a blue pegasus with a goofy grin on her face and goggles over her eyes. “Oh hey there. Take it you're here to talk with the mayor?”

I gave a small nod. “Yeah. Take it you just finished a conversation with them? And based off of your grin, you got something you wanted?”

She laughed. “Oh no. I actually just got fired. But it’s the reason I got fired that I’m quite happy. Some incident with a Brahmin. The story’s pretty funny. I couldn’t retell it and give it the glory it deserves. So, whatever. Nice back by the way.” And with that, she moves around me and heads to the stairs.

Carrot watches her go, most noticeably watching her flank. “I like her. I’ll have to keep her face commited to memory in case I ever see her again.”

I rolled my eyes and walked into the office, making sure to close the door behind me so Carrot couldn’t follow me inside.

The mayor was a pudgy little thing. Not quite obese, but definitely overweight. She had a light blue mane and tail, and light gray mane. And she sparkled. Her cutie mark was a scroll and a quill. She had a label with Opal written on it standing on her desk. Mayor Opal, huh?

She noticed me come in, and looked up from the paper she was reading. “I just got done firing our sheriff. I’m a little booked looking for a replacement. If there’s something you need, make it quick.”

I took off Runner’s Fedora and placed it to my chest while giving a small bow. “Yes ma’am. My name is Vanilla Cream. I’m the Cybermare.”

She nodded a little. “I’ve heard of you yes. Voice speaks quite highly of you, even though you haven’t done anything special in my books.”

I placed my hat back upon my head. So she’d be a little bit of a hard case, huh? “Yes. I suppose you’re right. Well, I’m looking for a Stable. Preferably one that’s abandoned and still has a door. And I also need a way to transport to Hoof’s Ridge Station quickly.” I paused, waiting for an answer. Goddesses, let someone that’s not undead help me in this wasteland.

“I could help you, Vanilla.”

“Really? Oh thank-”

“But I want your help with something.”

I had started to hop up and down with joy, but suddenly settled down. “Uh. Of course. Whatever you need.”

“I’ll give you the location of Stable 5 if you do me a favor. We’ve recently lost contact with one of our small settlement communities in the southwest section of the Crystal Empire. And it just so happens there have been reports of Remnant activity in that section. Bluesky was supposed to check it out, but I just fired her for her mistake. So, if you go check out Liverpool, and come back alive with any kind of report, I’ll give you the location of Stable 5, and a healthy sum of caps. Let’s say 1000.”

Of course. A pony was asking me to throw myself at the very thing I had been told to avoid up until now.

“What’s so important about Liverpool?”

“They’re the town that supplies us with the coal we need to run our train to Hoof’s Ridge. They struck a coal vein down there some fifty years ago. So, if you do this, and successfully link them back to us, you’ll get your Stable, 1000 caps, and the quick transportation you need.”

“Deal!” Sweet. I got everything I needed in one simple task. Problem was, how would I deal with the Remnant?

“Very well then. Good luck out there Vanilla.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks.” I turned and left the room, Carrot Cake soon joining me. And lucky for me, Liverpool was marked on my Pip-Buck map.

~~~~~~~~~~

The trek to Liverpool took less than an hour. An hour of what was thankfully raider and mugger free. It wasn’t roach free though. Those things were everywhere, but I could crush them underhoof, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

Liverpool, much like Crystal City, was surrounded by a wall. Unlike Crystal City, their wall was basically blasted to rubble. Something had definitely blasted their way through. I approached it silently, with Carrot following behind me, just as silently. I barely poked my head through one of the holes blasted into the wall.

What I saw made me incredibly angry.

There was a group of about twenty pegasi, all dressed in black carapace armor. They matched Carrot’s description of the Remnant perfectly. Worse still, those scorpion tails on the flanks of their armor were not particularly inviting. They were driving about what looked like fifty ponies, making them walk into a cave with pickaxes, saws and drills.

It was easy to tell what was going on here. The Remnant had enslaved the citizens of Liverpool, and were now making them mine the coal and likely having it shipped off to the Remnant base. Wherever that might be. What the purpose for it was, I have no idea.

I turned to face Carrot Cake. “We need a plan.”

“I have a plan. Run in, kill them, and get this over with.”

“By kill them, you must mean kill us. It’s ten to one in there. Unless…” I looked at the enslaved ponies. “I have a plan. Do you think you could sneak into the mine, and start spreading word of a revolt? Tell ponies to use their pickaxes as weapons, and take out the Remnant?”

Carrot Cake nodded. “That’s why you’re the smart one Vanilla. Sneaking in there might take some time, but I’m sure I could do it in less than fifteen minutes.”

And with that, the ghoul had performed his disappearing act.I honestly have no idea how he managed to disappear when he was standing in front of me a matter of seconds ago. I stood by that hole in the wall, watching and waiting for my plan to work. All the rebellion needed was a little spark. I would be that spark. If I could take out even one of the members of the Remnant

“Well well. Look what we have here. Cybermare’s trying to be sneaky.”

I slowly turned around, careful not to make any sudden movements. Sure enough, two Remnant pegasi stood behind me, a mare and a stallion.

The bottom of the Remnant suit’s helmet was exposed, so I could see when they both grinned. They had thought they’d won.

“Alright. You caught me. My plan has been compromised.” I say nonchalantly. “You won.”

Both of their grins disappeared, and the stallion walked closer. Yes. Perfect. “You’re playing a game, Cybermare. But you’ve lost it. You don’t realize that. Just surrender and-”

He walked to close. I jumped forward while jutting the arm of the drill forward, straight into his visor. The drill and the saw were both made for cutting through metal. Reinforced glass was no exception. He barely had a chance to start screaming as the drill bore through his visor, then his eye, then his skull. In a matter of seconds, I had a dead Remnant on my hooves, which I used as a shield against the mare’s bullets. As I his behind the body, I began to rethink my plan.

It had been eleven minutes since I sent Carrot to start a rebellion. With the mare’s shooting, the other Remnant would be aware of my presence now. Which meant it was now or never. I pushed the body at the mare, then stood up. SATS, six shoots, go. They barely penetrated her armor. But at least they made her flinch. And the body falling on top of her didn’t help any. I spurred into action, and jumped on top of her pinned body, and slid the saw against her neck. The two inch cut into her neck killed her instantly.

I ran back to the wall, and poked my head through a wall. “The rebellion has started! Use your pickaxes or whatever weapon you can find and take them out! You outnumber them!” The bullet hitting me in the shoulder was probably a sign that I needed to duck back behind the wall, which I did.

I put a hoof over my new wound. Now that I think about it, this was the first time I had actually been shot and injured in the wasteland. And it hurt a lot. I whimpered. It hurt a lot!

The sounds of fighting, and metal hitting metal was a good sign. The copious amounts of gunshots were not. I floated out one of my potions and downed it. The bullet slid out, and my shoulder wound closed. Thank Celestia, the pain subsided with the wound. I levitated out my twin pistols. Six shots left. Better make them count.

I turned around the wall and ran into Liverpool. The battle was more like a small war. A few Remnant pegasi were down, but the number of their bodies nowhere matched the number of citizen bodies. A few citizens had managed to grab some guns from the Remnant corpses, and had taken cover, taking potshots at the Remnant that were smart enough to actually take to the air. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Carrot sawing into the back of a Remnant’s neck.

My target was the surprised Remnant officer just inside the walls. His special surprise was a drill to the neck.

It’s funny. Looks like I’ve built an intolerance to ponies that enslave other ponies.

I took cover behind a fallen piece of rubble, only daring to take looks every now and then. The numbers and the battle was so jumbled, so I couldn’t tell who was winning. But after about ten minutes, the gunshots slowed down. I chanced another peek.

The citizens of Liverpool were rushing to help the injured. It looked like their were about twenty survivors. A small cluster of Remnant soldiers, maybe five at most, were flying away from the rebellious town of Liverpool. I gave a triumphant laugh. It was a shaky victory, but I did it. I retook the town of Liverpool.

I moved out from behind my temporary cover, and started to help Liverpool. They moved all of their injured civilians into a building just outside the wall, which looked like and old hospital. Carrot and I both helped the small town. Not until we had moved all of the injured was I confronted by a sparkling rust brown earth pony stallion wearing a rancher’s hat.

“Ya did a mighty fine job, Ms. Cybermare. The ghoul told us that the way ya helped us was all yer idea.” Funny. I didn’t think northern ponies could have southern accents.

“It was nothing.” I said sheepishly, yet proudly. “Just another day of being the Cybermare, you know? Whatever I can do to help.” Funny, I didn’t come this way to perform any heroics. Yet I felt like a hero.

“Nonsense. If it weren’t fer ya coming along, we’d still be trapped by those damned Remnant. Ya saved us, Ms. Cybermare. That’s a matter of fact. How’d ya like to stay here for the night.”

“I think I’m good. I have somewhere I need to be as soon as possible.”

Carrot gave a pitiful fake whimper. “Oh come on Vanilla! I wanna sleep!”

“Thanks again, Cybermare. If ya ever need our help, just call.”

I smiled. I finally had more allies. Supporters even. It almost made me not want to leave the wasteland. Almost. “You’re welcome. And please, Don’t call me Cybermare. My name’s Vanilla Cream.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Butterscotch,
You there? I’m actually kind of worried. It’s getting dark outside and you still haven’t answered. I hope you’re just resting from your injury. I can only imagine how exhausted you are.
But on another note:
I did it! I did it! I know where a Stable is now, or at least will know where a Stable is. It’s abandoned and has a door. And a train will transport the entire door there. Isn’t it great? I did what the Overmare said! I’ll be able to come back soon!
I can’t wait to see you again!

Message sent: 17:51

~~~~~~~~~~

“So they were attacked and enslaved by the Remnant? I guess I should have really expected that.” Says the pudgy mayor of Crystal City.

I was too tired to reply, so I simply nodded in response. After over ten hours spent shooting, getting shot at, walking, and climbing stairs, your body wasn’t exactly the most energy filled.

“Then I suppose you want your reward?”

“I wanna sleep.” My speech may have been a little slurred there. What I actually said was more along the lines of: “I wan slep.”

She seemed to get the message though. “I can deduct eight hundred caps from your pay, and give you a room.”

“Sounds great.” I mumble.

“Okay then. Just get back up here whenever you wake up in the morning. I’ll give you the rest of your payment. Your room will be the free one just below my office. And Vanilla. Thank you. Now that Liverpool is back in communication, we can get the train running again.”

I nodded, only catchin half of what she said, then stumbled out of the door. I pointed down the stairs, not even bothering to look for my friend waiting outside.

“Carrot Cake. Carry me downstairs to the first room you see. Lay me in the bed. I’m gonna sleep.”

I felt myself lifted up, and draped over the ghoul’s back. I fell asleep before he even got to the bottom of the stairs, gently cradled to sleep by the rocking of his hips as he walked down the stairs.

Level Up!
4>5

Perks Gained:

Treasure Hunter
You’ve become accustomed to the shine of the Crystal Empire. While in gem caves, your eyes are not blurred by the blinding shine, and you do 10% more damage to anything that shines like a crystal.

Caution: Manuscript section end.

Next section not found.

In order to continue manuscript, please consult file name:

Chapter 5: Jawbreaker

Chapter 5: Jawbreaker

View Online

I realized I was in another dream the moment my eyes opened. How did I know?

Sombra was staring me in the face. He grinned. “You’ve made a name for yourself, Cybermare.”

“Seems I have.” I try to move around him, only for a black crystal to appear in my path.

“And you’re going to-”

I snap toward him. “I’m not going to do shit. The only thing I want to do is save my Stable. I don’t give a shit what you do to this pathetic wasteland. Do whatever the fuck you want with it. Okay? I’m not a hero. I’m just a pony. A pony that doesn’t want to see anything bad happen to her family and friends.” I take a deep breath. “So take back your kingdom. Take back your slaves. I don’t give a fuck. But leave me, and all of Stable 81, out of it.”

He seemed taken aback, but his shock quickly turned into a sneer. “I don’t think I will, Cybermare. You can’t really stop me. But you really need to hurry and save them. Because if you don’t hurry… Stable 81 will be gone.”

“Wh… what do you mean.”

He gave a menacing chuckle. “I wonder why your sister hasn’t answered your messages in a while.”

I took a few steps back. “She’s just resting. That’s all. Nothing’s wrong in the Stable. It’s in tip-top shape, like always.”

Sombra gave another chuckle. “Poor delirious pony. Can’t accept the truth.”

I ran at him, angered, only to receive a black crystal scythe to the face.

~~~~~~~~~~

Unlike the other two times that Sombra molested my dreams, I woke up from this sleep slowly. I sat up, and rubbed my eyes. After opening them, I gave my Pip-Buck a quick check. Still no new messages. Not even any from Fix Ser or the Overmare.

I slowly sat up on the… bed? Oh yeah. That’s right. Turned in my little quest last night. Got my reward and exchanged part of it for a room. Which meant the mayor still owes me a few caps and a location.

I lazily climbed out of bed and landed on something soft and squishy. Ah, that was comfortable under my hooves. Whatever it was shifted, and started to crawl away. On no you don’t! I tackle hugged the soft thing, and rubbed my face against it. It was warm too. Bonus!

“Vanilla. Would you mind explaining to me why you’re rubbing your face against my hips?”

Why was my warm squishy thing talk-...

I sat up. “Hah-hah! Sorry about that Carrot! Totally a… prank! Yeah, it was a big prank.” I gave a sheepish grin down at the ghoul.

He smiles, and fortunately catches his eye before it slips out. He stands up. “I’m sure it was. I bet you were still half asleep.”

I dart for the door. “You’re not making fun of me today, zompony!”

He chases after me. “Hey! I find that very offensive and racially discriminative!” He states with a goofy grin.

Glad I made a new friend, Carrot Cake.

I ran the entire way to the room just upstairs and stopped in front of the mayor’s office. Carrot skidded to a halt just behind me. I knocked on her door, and it was followed by a “Come in,” which I did.

The mayor looked up from the papers on her desk. Hey, weren’t those the same ones she was looking at yesterday? “I take it you’ve come back for the remaining caps and the information you need?” I nod, and she hands over a small bag of bottlecaps. “Stable 5 is in the castle’s basement.”

I grin, but I can’t help but let my eye twitch. It was right there the entire time, and I never bothered to check? “Thanks, mayor. I really appreciate your help.”

Without bothering to wait for a reply, I left the room, and bolted down the stairs, making record time. I don’t know if Carrot Cake bothered to follow me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Abandoned Stable? Check. Giant Stable door? Check. Two hundred pounds of TNT or plastic explosive to knock the door off of its hinge? Seems I forgot that little detail.

Instead of worrying about it right now, I chose to explore Stable 5 out of curiosity. Learning is great for an intelligent mind. The first thing I searched for was the Overmare’s room, which I found within a matter of moments. It was easy to find, since it was in the same position as the Overmare’s office in Stable 81. On the second floor, just above the atrium.

I turned on the terminal, and after a quick hacking session, which the password to was ‘Diamond,’ I managed to get into the Overmare’s terminal.

Message from Stable-Tec

Citizen Log

Stable Reports

All interesting choices. Curiosity got the better of me. I selected the first one, and it downloaded an audio file onto my Pip-Buck. Don’t know how it managed to connect with my Pip-Buck without me ever plugging it into the terminal, but it did. I might have to figure that out later. I selected the audio file.

Scootaloo from Stable-Tec here and…

Ugh. How many times have I done this now? What was that Sweetie? This is the two hundred seventeenth? Damn.

You know what? Screw it. Stable 5. We stuck everyone in the Crystal Castle down here. That includes Princess Cadence, Shining Armor. Basically all of the nobles of the Crystal Empire. Actually, that kinda makes me wonder. Why the heck are the two ponies in charge of the Crystal Empire not actually crystal ponies? That doesn’t really make any sense.

You know what else doesn’t make sense? The fact that Stable 5 is our two hundred seventeenth Stable. Did we plan this? Sweetie? Of course we did. I don’t remember signing anything that said we’d be doing this. Ah well, guess it’s what we get for doing everything south of the Crystal Empire first. How many more of these am I going to have to do? Cause I’m kind of getting tired of recording these messages.

Scootaloo signing ou- Hey, Sweetie! Give that back!

Sorry about that. This is Sweetie Belle of Stable-Tec. It’s obvious that Scootaloo can’t be trusted with recording the messages anymore. She’s not exactly on-topic with it these days.

This is Stable 5. If things went as planned, then the Crystal Empire will be one of the last places to be targeted by the zebras. Especially since you guys decided to stay out of the war as much as possible. There’s also the possibility you guys might never be targeted at all. But of course, in case we aren't lucky enough for that to happen, we’ll be building eighteen Stables around the Crystal Empire. Stable 5, the one you’re in right now, is one. There’ll be thirteen more in and around the Crystal Empire main city. There’s going to be one in that farming community to the east of here. Of course, one in the mountains for any yaks in the Crystal Empire and any mountain dwelling ponies. And the last two. Well, we’ll let you set up contact with them. Stable-Tec is going to need constant reports of what is going on in Stable 63 and Stable 118. If communications fail, then the Stable has either fallen, or something in the transceivers between the Stables have broken. If this occurs, please report it to Stable-Tec headquarters immediately.

This was Sweetie Belle from Stable-Tec. Thank you for your cooperation. No Scootaloo! You can’t complain about always doing the recording and then complain about not getting to-

The recording cut out at that. I couldn’t help but chuckle. The argument was a little pathetic. But, only two really close friends would get into an argument about something so feeble, I suppose.

Hey wait a moment. Sweetie Belle? Wasn’t she a singer? Yeah. I heard Voice say her name several times over the radio. She was definitely a singer. But she also worked for Stable-Tec? That was a curious double life.

I shrugged it off, and clicked the next option; Citizen Log.

Year 1: Citizen report: Overmare Blossom Jewel: 65 of 700 designated citizens made it into Stable 5 before the doors shut. That is less than 10%. Furthermore, both Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor are both unaccounted for. Shining Armor has not been seen for more than three days, and is assumed to have disappeared. Princess Cadenza left a mere hour before the first megaspell hit to go on a search for him. It is assumed she has been killed by the megaspells, but we can only hope for the best. What is a further concern is the lack of citizens. Our gene pool is not quite large enough for surviving to the time specified. By the third generation, we’ll be inbreeding. This is a major concern.

Year 86: Citizen Report: Overstallion Diamond Dust: Our population is at an all time high. With a total of 287 ponies living under our Stable three generations later, I can only form the summary that Blossom Jewel was wrong. She didn’t think like Overmare Amethyst did. When she enforced the strict marriage and breeding program, why, I thought that was genius! Every marriage has been sorted out for the next three hundred years. Each couple has been given specific times and numbers to have children and get married. It’s perfect. I don’t see any way this could fail.

My name is Capulet. And I’m the last fucking mare left alive in this fucking hellhole. If anyone is reading this, and especially if you’re from Stable-Tec, this Stable was a fucking disaster. After Amethyst died, Diamond Dust took over. And that fucking hermit had no idea what he was doing. It didn’t take long for everything to fall to fucking anarchy. Everyone wanted that damn Overstallion dead. So what does he do? He locks himself in his room, and shuts down the water. Then guess what? He has a fucking heart attack while he’s trapped in his office. Guess his body must have fell on top of a power grid or something, because the power shut down. Not to mention what’s left of his body is fucking fried. Now, here we are. Trapped in a fucking hell. No water, no food. The door won’t fucking open. Hell, it took us six days to disengage the lock on the Overstallion’s door. I have two other stallions alive, but they have no idea what to fucking do. Nope. Make that one stallion. Nopony is going to make it out alive. Heh. That noise sounds like alarms… Of course the Stable door is opening, just when I’m getting those black spots in my vision. Well, at least that last stallion will make it out. After all, it was obviously him that opened the door. .

Well, let Stable 5’s memory be etched in stone and memory. At least most of it. I could get the basic history of what happened. I started to wonder why I hadn’t seen any bodies in the Stable, but I supposed that the citizens of Crystal City had probably cleared them out a long time ago.

With only one option left, I selected Stable Reports.

Stable Reports:

Stable 118 report 1: Stable-Tec was still working on this Stable when the first balefire bombs fell on the Crystal Empire. As a result, it is completely abandoned. Any and all messages that are sent are relayed by Stable-Tec, and they tell us the same thing every time. Stable 118 was never completed.

Stable 118 report 2: You would assume the messages Stable-Tec sends pertaining the current condition would change slightly every time we sent it. But no. They send the same message every time. Even after 80 years of persistence. I’m beginning to think Stable 118 was completed, and they just don’t want us to know what was inside.

Stable 63 report 1: This is a Stable meant for experimentation. Of course, this doesn’t come without its downsides. Experimented subjects tend to escape, it seems. They wreak temporary havoc on their citizens until they’re either subdued or put down. I’m quite glad I was put in charge of this Stable rather than that one.

Stable 63 report 2: Their reports are getting sent less and less over time. Not only are they running out of experiments to perform, their population is dwindling thanks to the escaped subjects. Ultimately, they’re putting down everything they can to use as fuel for future experiments.

Stable 63 report 3: Communications with Stable 63 have fallen entirely. We have not received a report from them in over six months, so we’ll be reporting this to Stable Tec.

Stable 63: report 4: We’ve been getting messages from Stable 63 again. Threats and brutal descriptions of what somepony will do to us if they ever find us. The pony sending us messages calls themselves Songbird. They claim that they murdered everypony in Stable 63, and that they’re coming for us next. They also claimed they were immortal, and wished us luck whenever we tried to fight back.

Note to self: Avoid Stable 63.

I shut down the terminal after reading the last message, and left the Overmare’s, or should I say Overstallion’s, office. The Stable was actually really clean. And it sparkled. Can’t ever forget that it sparkled. Especially in the Crystal Empire. I didn’t realize why it was so clean until I passed by a few citizens in the Stable. Of course. It made sense now. They used the castle as a living space. Why not use the Stable below it as a living space as well? I smiled as an Alicorn walked past, then left the Stable. I don’t know why, but those Alicorns gave me the heebie-jeebies.

It didn’t take me long to meet back up with Carrot Cake, since he was waiting just outside the Stable door for me.

“So. I hear you’re going to be leaving the wasteland behind after you knock that door off of its hinge.”

I scrunch my face. I actually don’t remember telling him I would leave the wasteland behind. “Who told you that?”

“You did. Did you know you sleep talk? And sleep cuddle?”

“Shut up.” I say, my face becoming a light shade of pink. “I am not attracted to you in any way, shape, or form. Got it?”

That emissioned a bout of laughter from the ghoul. “What’s the unattractive part? Is it the slowly rotting flesh? The flesh in general? Is it my sarcastic and overall rude nature? Is it the eye?” And to make his point more clear, he grinned and let his eye slip halfway out.

“Put that back in. And no. It’s not any of that. The flesh part I could get past. The eye is a little disturbing, but that’s another thing I could get past. And your personality? If you’ll believe it, I actually find it attractive.” I received a stunned face. Did I say something wrong? “But I’m not actually attracted to you. Some stallions are hot, sure. And I’ve found myself staring at my fair share of stallion flanks. But I’m not completely attracted to them, you know? Stallions are hot, but mares are sexy.”

The stallion’s shock transformed into a grin. “So you’re gay!” He said much too loudly, which caused many pony’s heads to turn our way.

“I think I would call myself bisexual, but with more of an attraction to mares.”

The ghoul laughs. “Funny! I think I’m the exact same way.” He winks at me. “Stallions and mares are both great in the bed. But mares are a lot more fun. And you’d be surprised about the number of crazies that go for a ghoul boning.”

“Okay Carrot. You can stop saying words now.” I leave the castle, Carrot in tow, and approach the first explosives shop stand I find.

“I need about 200 pounds of plastic explosives. And a detonator.”

The shopkeeper looks at me, quite surprised. “I don’t think I have quite that much ma’am.”

I huff. “Any idea where I can find one?”

He thinks for a long moment. “Actually, I do. You ever hear of Compresium?” I raise an eyebrow. “It's an incredibly powerful explosive crystal. It’s native only to the areas of the Crystal Empire. With just ten or eleven pounds of it, you could blast a hole in several layers of metal.”

I gave a grin that would make Carrot Cake proud. “Perfect. Where can we find some?”

“Well… here’s the thing about that. You can only find it in crystal caves, which are pretty far out of the way. The closest one isn’t even within the pre-war ruins. It’s about five miles outward.”

My grin faded. “Great. More traveling.”

~~~~~~~~~~

This time, we had managed to leave the Crystal Empire ruins in less than a day. Mostly because we were quiet, quick, and avoided getting a pony injured this time. By the time we left the ruins, the day was beginning to end, and night was starting to settle.

I was beginning to get used to the hustle of the wasteland, and had barely broken a sweat despite our long walk. After giving my Pip-Buck a quick check to make sure we were heading in the right direction, which we were, I started to walk.

Carrot skipped behind me. “You know. I’ve never killed a diamond before.”

I turned to look at him for a second, then looked back forward. “I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

“Didn’t the shopkeep tell you? Crystal caves are usually infested with Diamond Beasts. Huge diamond like creatures that were mutated by radiation. I think they were like little bugs before the war, because I’ve been told they look an awful lot like giant millipedes.”

I looked up toward the setting sun. That cloud cover I had seen two days ago had receded, and I could see all the up to the ‘ceiling’ of the blue sky. It was still a little unnerving.

“No. The shopkeeper never told me anything about that. And it really doesn’t sound inviting. Carrot Cake, why I am I risking my life for this?”

He took a moment to think, before giving his answer. “It’s obvious, ain’t it? You’re doing this so you don’t look weak. You’re doing this so you can prove to your Overmare that you’re better than she suspected. But most of all, you’re doing it for your sister.”

Was it bad that I was surprised by his heartfelt and genuinely kind answer? In retrospect, I suppose it was.

I nodded. “You’re right, Carrot. You’re absolutely right.” I took a moment to switch Surgeon’s Toys for Pegasus Pride, then turned to the ghoul. “Let’s make this quicker, huh?”

“Sure.” he said, and I took off and wrapped my arms around his chest to lift him up. “Awesome! I’ve never flown before! This is great!” He widened what was left of his cheeks and let his tongue hang out to flap around in the wind.

Despite being larger than me, Carrot was surprisingly light. I suppose the fact that he barely had any flesh on his bones helped with that. Actually, now that I thought about it, all the other ghouls I had seen were a little more meaty than he was.

“Carrot? Do you starve yourself?”

“Yep. Gotta look perfect, you know? Those ladies love a skinny stallion.” He chuckled. “Of course I don’t starve myself, Vanilla. I eat quite regularly. Once every two or three months, maybe. It’s not really my fault. Much like we age slower than regular ponies, we use much less energy in our day-to-day activities. I just so happen to have less of an appetite than other ghouls.”

“How is that possible? Radiation magic or something?”

“Probably. Something to do with how the balefire bombs screwed with our genetics.”

I nod. I think I understood. Within moments, the mouth of the cave came into view. It was lined around the top with crystals. There was also a little shack nearby. It looked recently built, no more than five years old, and it looked like it barely supported itself, like somepony wasn’t really watching what they were doing when they built it.

I sat down for a moment, in front of the cave. I I had just finished switching between Pegasus Pride and Electro when I heard a low hiss. My ears perked up, and I turned to the mouth of the cave.

Holy shit, that thing was huge. Diamond Beasts were exactly as Carrot had described them. Giant millipedes that were made of crystals. The one in front of me was easily ten feet long, and came up to the middle of my neck. It’s eyes were a glowing red crystal, and its chitin armor, if you could call it chitin, was a dark, nearly black crystal. And did I mention his pincers? They were huge. Each one was at least the size of my head.

I backed away from the cave entrance, a scream starting to build up in my throat. The Beast apparently decided I would make an excellent supper, and started to skitter away from the cave entrance, heading straight for me. I fired a shot from Electro at the monster, but when the electric bolt hit the thing, the electricity coursed over its body then dissipated.

No way! My best weapon didn’t do shit to that thing.

I continued to back away. The thing slowly rose up to where it was only moving forward with its hundreds of back legs and it towered above me, and I got a good look at its underside. And trust me when I say, everything about this creature was armored with crystal.

Whenever Carrot Cake jumped at the beast with a mighty yell, his hoofsaw whirring to life, and the creature effortlessly batted him to the side with a row of legs, I knew I was fucked.

So, instead of fighting, I kept backing away. I closed my eyes and poured as much magical energy into my horn as I could. I needed a miracle.

And I got one.

Just as the creature lunged at me, my entire body flashed. I felt entirely weightless for a tenth of a second, then my hooves were firmly planted on the ground again. I opened my eyes, and saw the Beast land a few meters to the right of me.

No way… did I just…?

The creature looked confused. It had lost sight of me. I took advantage of its moment of hesitation, and focused on Carrot’s now unconscious body. I tried my hardest to focus on bringing it to me. In a flash, his body appeared next to mine.

I did! I learned how to teleport! Not only myself, but other ponies. Yet, for some reason, I felt strangely weaker.

The Diamond Beast looked to its right, at where Carrot Cake’s body used to lie. I took advantage of the creature’s distraction again, and focused on both Carrot’s body and my own. I needed inside that nearby shack… But my focus wouldn’t take us inside for some reason. I settled instead on teleporting to just outside the door. I tried the handle, luckily finding it was unlocked, and dived into the building, pulling Carrot in behind me.

The exhaustion settled in after that. Double vision started to settle in. Did I really push my energy too far with just a few short distance teleports?

Despite my weakness, I gave a triumphant laugh. It was loud enough to make Carrot start to stir. I shut myself up when the creature outside gave an angry roar. I didn’t think bugs could roar. I kicked the door shut behind me.

I drug Carrot underneath the bed that was inside the shack. Funny how this bed was larger than other beds I’ve seen before, so both Carrot Cake and myself fit underneath it.

I found myself wanting to fall asleep. Those teleports were very taxing on my body. The double vision was beginning to subside, and of course it was replaced by a numbing pain at the base of my horn.

Carrot sat in silence while I rubbed my forehead. At least he understood when he needed to be quiet. The creature outside gave another angered roar, and I found myself wishing I could be smaller than I already was. At least my sister’s size.

But some loud gunshots, and I mean loud gunshots, sounded outside. I shrunk back further under the bed. I heard something heavy fall to the ground outside, but the gunshots continued for a few seconds before stopping.

The next few seconds felt like an eternity. Then I heard something like claws scratch against the front of the shack. I subconsciously curled into a ball to make myself as small as possible. The scratching stopped, and the door opened.

I was surprised to see a rather large griffin walk into the shack. I barely caught a glimpse of his golden furred lion back legs, and his light yellow eagle talons that took the place of his front legs. I took a dare, and poked my head out from under the bed just a little. He walked over to a pre-war fridge, causing him to turn to the side. He wouldn’t have been able to see me. If he could see. His eagle feathers were a color of gold a few shades darker than his fur. And his eyes… He had vertical scars over both eyes, which looked like he was cut. And based off of how straight those scars were, it was intentional. His actual eyes were dead, both irises had turned blue, and he had a cloudy layer over them that were a definite hint that he was blind.

I waited patiently for a chance to escape. I just wanted to get in that cave and get some Compresium. But the griffin stayed in that shack, which I pieced together was his home. Even though he was blind, he knew exactly where everything was. His kitchenette, his gun cabinet. He was surprisingly quick at loading and cleaning his guns, which were two very large rifles that were attached to the left and right side of a specialized saddle. In fact, he seemed mostly to see with his hands. Whenever the blind griffin couldn’t find something he needed, he would patiently feel around the room until he found what he needed.

It took nearly thirty minutes of Carrot and I hiding under the bed before our charade ended.

“I know you’re hiding. I can hear your breathing.” I held my breath. “If you wanted me dead, you would have shot me by now. So if you come out, I promise I won’t kill you. Immediately.”

I looked at my companion, who just gave a slow shrug. With a sigh, I crawled out from under the bed. “Sorry. Sorry. We were about to enter that cave when we were suddenly-”

“Attacked by that Crystal Beast outside? Don’t worry about it. It’s dead now. I would say the same for you, but you haven’t made any sudden movements yet.” He said, without ever turning away from cleaning his gun to stare at us. “Based off of your voice, you’re… a unicorn mare.”

“What? How did you-?”

“You pick up a few tricks whenever you can’t see out of either of your eyes. Like noticing that unicorn’s have a certain quality to their voice that no either race has. And based off of the raspy breathing of your friend there, you’re traveling with a ghoul.”

Carrot Cake grinned, and gave a nod. “Yup. One hundred percent radiation zombie.”

“Deep voice. Definitely a stallion. Gravely.” The griffin lowered his head for a moment in thought. “Earth Pony?”

Carrot Cake looked at me. “He’s good.”

I nod to the ghoul, then turn to the griffin. I take a cautious step toward him, and when he doesn’t react, I walk to his side. He does nothing more than raise an eyebrow, but still continues to clean his gun.

“Excuse me, griffin. Can I get your name?”

He pauses for a moment, then sets his guns against a wall and stands up. He had at least a head of height on me. “Name’s are trivial in the wastelands. But if you’re willing to hire me, I can give you my name.”

“Hire you?”

The griffin nods, while giving a dead stare.. at the wall behind me. “I’m a retired merc. I’ve been out of the business for eight years now, ever since I lost my eyes. And yet I’ve been surviving out here all on my own all this time. I’ve had annoyances show up. Like the Rangers. Enclave. Most recently, a dragon. And I’ve dealt with all of them, whether it was slowly or quickly. So, who’s to say I don’t make some kind of comeback?”

“Retired merc, huh? How good were you?”

“One of the best. Ask Gawdina Griffinfeathers. She was basically my boss. I was one of her highest sources of income.”

“How much are you?”

“I start simple. 150 caps a day, or a set amount of caps for specific types of jobs. The prices might go higher or lower, depending on the employer.”

“I’m the Cybermare. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” I say in an attempt to get a better deal on hiring him.

“No. I’ve never heard of you. I suppose that would explain the small mechanical creak I hear coming from you. I thought it was just some kind of gun I had never felt before.”

Did my back make a creak noise whenever I moved it? “Uh, yeah. Most of my back is cybernetic.”

“I kind of figured that. So why’d you run away from the Diamond Beast? They’re easily disposed of.”

“No they’re not! I shot at that thing with my most powerful weapon, and it didn’t do anything to him.”

“Were you using an energy weapon?” As he said it, he reached over to his gun cabinet, and felt around. Then he pulled out a strange, plastic, box-shaped rifle and threw it on the ground in front of me. The thing looked like it had been clawed to pieces. “Because plasma doesn’t work on those things. I’ve tried.”

I lowered my head. “Yeah… I was trying to use electric bolts.” I turned on Electro just to give the blind griffin a sound to place my weapon to. The electricity arced between the two coils. “I’m a Stable pony. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m still learning about the wasteland.”

He raised an eyebrow then shut his eyes in thought. “First day’s free. But only cause you’re a Stable pony.”

I looked up at the griffin. “Really?”

He nodded. “Of course. You remind me of some other Stable pony I met a long time ago.” He seemed to smile in remembrance, but his smile quickly faded. “Never you mind that. You needed to go in the cave for a reason. What was that reason?”

“I need to get some Compresium so I can blast a Stable door off of its hinge.”

“Sounds intense. Alright. Let’s get it down, Stable pony. My name is Jawbreaker.”

“Jawbreaker huh? I’m Vanilla Cream.”

“Carrot Cake!”

The griffin, and my new ally I suppose, nodded. “Very well. A Stable pony, a ghoul, and a mercenary. This is certainly an interesting group.” He straps on his saddle, quite quickly for a blind griffin, and attaches his guns to the side of it. “I can’t wait to hear of our tales of grandeur.”

I smile at the griffin, even though he can’t see it. “What, already consider us friends?”

He shook his head. “Oh no. Not at all. You’re nothing more than employers.”

My smile faded. “Right. Let’s get going then. To that Crystal Cave.”

“First, do you have a weapon that isn’t energy based?”

I levitated out one of my pistols. “Yeah, but it’s only a 10 mil. And I only have six shots left in it.”

“A 10 mil doesn’t have enough bite to do much to a Crystal Beast.” The griffin felt around his gun cabinet for a moment, then pulled out a pistol that was considerably larger than my gun, along with a box of quite large bullets.

“This is Dessert Griffin. One of my old friend’s customized guns. I must warn you, it has a much tougher bite than your pistols. That also comes with a harsher recoil. Whatever you do, don’t hold it between your teeth. You might find you’ll be missing a few.”

I grabbed the gun with my magic. Or at least, I tried to, but I quickly found my magic had given out. “Right. I’ll keep that in mind.” I grabbed the gun and ammo with my teeth and placed them in my saddlebags. That was a strange feeling, mind you. I was always used to carrying objects in my magic.

With a turn, I led my friend and employee out of the old shack. I was not happy with what we found outside.

If you’ll look to the right, you’ll see a pile of crystals that used to be a Diamond Beast. If you’ll look dead ahead, you’ll see a raider in full metal armor and his mare acquaintance with mismatched eye colors. Both of which want me dead.

It took Crackerjack and Cinnamon Sweet a moment to recognize me, but once they did, Cinnamon grinned.

“Well well, look who it is! It’s the Cybermare that got away from us Crackerjack.” She swiveled the large chain gun in her magic. “And it seems she’s made some friends. Let's blast them to bits too!”

I grit my teeth, and look just to the right. The cave entrance was within running distance, but I wouldn't be able to reach it before Crackerjack blasted me to bits or Cinnamon filled me with bullets.

Carrot laughed. “Damn Vanilla! You’ve already made enemies. And one wears power armor and has twin missile launchers, while the other has a minigun.”

Not helping, Carrot. “Look, uh, guys. What’s so bothersome about me? I’m nothing more than a pony that’s just trying to survive. You know?”

One of Crackerjack’s guns gave a click. “Exactly. You survived. I don’t think we’ve ever had a pony manage to escape our hooves alive. Cinnamon.”

Cinnamon’s gun started spinning, a very bad sign, and she started to laugh. “Night night, Cyberpony!”

Even Jawbreaker seemed conflicted about what to do. If he fired at either pony, he’d probably end up dead.

And then I received a favor from the goddesses. Cinnamon’s bar on my EFS turned from red to green. The barrel on her gun stopped spinning before it could fire, and her face softened from insanity to kindness. She looked at me and my companions as Crackerjack turned toward her. “Cinnamon? What the hell are you doing?”

“Cyberpony, ghoul, griffin! Run!”

And she turned her gun on the power-armored pony. The bullets were hitting Crackerjack at almost point-blank range, but they bounced off uselessly, most putting a few dinks in his armor. Rather than firing a missile at his suddenly traitorous companion, he solidly planted his two steel plated back hooves into her chest. With a resounding crack, she flew backward and hit the ground, completely unconscious. Crackerjack turned to us, only to find the three of us running into the cave. He fired an unaimed shot, which didn’t hit it’s mark, of course. Instead, it hit the top of the mouth of the cave.

With a shudder, the roof of the cave around the entrance started to collapse. Jawbreaker and Carrot had already made it inside, and I had to make a leaping dive to avoid being crushed by a falling crystal.

I stood up, and rubbed the dirt and crystal powder out of my coat, then turned to the entrance. It was a complete cave-in. The entirety of the mouth of the cave had collapsed due to the force of the missile, and the rubble piled up to the ceiling, effectively trapping us inside.

Jawbreaker turned to the crystal wall keeping us from the outside world. “We’re trapped, aren’t we?”

I nodded, then quickly realized he couldn’t see me nod. “Yeah. We are.”

“That’s fine. These caves are like a maze with multiple entrances and exits. I suggest we start moving, before some Diamond Beasts get attracted to the sound of the cave-in.”

“Right. Then let’s get going.”

I started to walk deeper into the cave. As Jawbreaker had stated, it was like a maze. There were multiple twists and turns. Many ended in dead ends. But like the ruins of the Crystal Empire, I was able to quickly map out a pattern. True, there were times it definitely didn’t follow it, but for the most part, I didn’t think I was lost.

The inside was also quite bright, illuminated by the shine of the crystals. Even though it was probably brighter inside the cave than it was outside at midday, I still found myself perfectly capable of seeing. I couldn’t help but notice that Carrot had to squint his eyes.

We met a few Beasts during our excursion through the caves, but Jawbreaker handled them with a few shots from his rifle. The way the fell apart into crystals upon the moment of their deaths was quite spectacular.

We kept exploring for what felt like several hours. I kept a lookout for what the shopkeeper had described Compresium to look like. It was a gray color and it crystallized into the shape of a cube. It proved a little bugger to find. I never even saw the smallest traces of it.

It’s not until we came to a room infested with Diamond Beasts that we found what we were looking for.

“Look at that one in the middle.” Whispered Carrot.

And so I looked at it. The Beasts was at least fifty feet long. It was the tallest one I had seen yet, and while it laid flat on the ground it had to be at least twice my height. And it was wrapped around a cube of Compresium that had to be at least as large as me. The rest of the Diamond Beasts in the room looked like your common, ten-foot-long, garden variety crystal millipede. There were at least five of the smaller ones.

I turned to the other two and started to whisper my plan. “Carrot. Use your sneaky skills to saw through the first few without bringing up the alarm. Jawbreaker, will a hoofsaw get through those things?”

He nodded. “But only if you go for the face. Which puts you dangerously close to their pincers.”

Carrot grinned, then pushed his eye back into place. “Ah, I’ll be fine. My eyes have adjusted to this cave by now. So I shouldn’t be too distracted.”

“Good. Take as many of them down as you can without raising the alarm. The moment it goes up, Jawbreaker and I will rush in there and take the rest out. I get the feeling the giant one will be a bit more of a problem than the rest.”

Carrot gave a silent giggle, then ran into the cave. He slowly sneaked his way in, heading toward the closest of the normal sized beasts. He lunged at it, ran along its back, and shoved his hoofsaw into its face before it could react much.

Unfortunately, it still got a chance to roar. The moment it roared, both Jawbreaker and I ran into the large room. I drew Dessert Griffin. The hours we had spent exploring the cave gave my magic a chance to regenerate, so fortunately I didn’t have to hold the gun between my teeth.

Jawbreaker was right. Compared to energy weapons, guns that used actual bullets worked much better. Every time I fired the large bullets into a Diamond Beast, it tore away part of the creature’s body through sheer force alone. It took two shots to take down the first one.

Jawbreaker was killing much more efficiently than I was. By the time I had taken out my first one, he had taken out the last remaining three. He wasn’t lying about himself. He was good.

The bigger one was now angry, and he rose up to full height, using only the back of his body to move toward us. And he was fast. My attempt to dodge one of his attacks was cut brutally short when I was smacked to the side by a row of insect legs. Jawbreaker had the idea to fly upward as I recovered from the dazing attack.

Flying blind apparently wasn’t easy. Jawbreaker rose too high, and ended up ramming his beak into the ceiling of the cave. It didn’t seem to faze him much. But at least he was out of reach of the crystal millipede. He angled his body slightly, and started to fire down at the Beast, which fortunately took its attention off of me and to the griffin. I took that opportunity to activate SATS.

Carrot Cake was running toward the creature in slow motion, his hoofsaw powering up in an equally slow motion. Jawbreaker was firing his gun down at the creature, and I could actually see the trail left behind by the bullets as they traveled toward the creature. His bullets were quite fortunately biting chinks in the millipede’s armor. Chinks that if they were struck again, would definitely bite away at the creature.

I targeted three shots at the weakened armor, since that was the most SATS would let me put in with this gun, and fired away, Two shots hit the creature, but none of them hit the already created chinks, instead creating chinks of their own.

Whenever SATS deactivated, I started to manually fire at the millipede.

“Carrot!” The ghoul turned to face me. “If you can, climb up its chitin. Put your saw in its holes!”

“That would sound really weird out of context!” Carrot shouted back as he started to climb up the millipede’s back. Luckily, it didn’t seem to notice.

I ran out of bullets and started to reload the powerful pistol. Jawbreaker continued his firing, reloading as soon as I finished with my gun. We managed to keep the Diamond Beast distracted for long that Carrot was able to climb high enough. He shoved the saw into one of the chinks in its armor. With a resounding loud crack noise, the creature’s armor started to fall away. Its main body was soon taken with it. Within seconds, Carrot Cake was performing a merry jig on a pile of crystals that used to be a fifty-foot-long millipede.

Jawbreaker landed on the ground, quite roughly. “Well, that was quite the escapade.” He shakes to get the dust off of him.

I winced in pain, just realizing the millipede had injured me when he batted me to the side. Carrot Cake was knocked unconscious by an attack from a normal one. I could only imagine the injury I had just received.

I dulled the prominent pain in my chest with my last potion, and pointed at the Compresium cube. “Let’s grab that thing, and get out of here. I’ve had enough crystal caves to last a pony a lifetime.”

Jawbreaker raised an eyebrow. “Are you hurt? You’re breathing sounds slightly labored.”

“I’m f-”

Without a word of warning, the griffin placed a hand on my chest. I winced in pain. He felt around my chest. “You wasted your potion. They can heal bones quite well, but only if the rib is set into place beforehoof.”

“I...I have a broken rib?” He nodded. “Great…”

“I’ve got the Compresium. Carrot will carry you out of here. You need to rest so we can get to a doctor who can help you”

Carrot lifted me up onto his back. Within moments, I had drifted into unconsciousness. Why did a broken rib hurt so damn much?

~~~~~~~~~~

Butterscotch,
I’ve been out here for six days now. And it wasn’t until just two nights ago that I got my first injury. The doctor down in Crystal City had to perform a surgery and everything. Apparently the rib had pierced my lung, and then shattered. Basically, I had little fragments of bone swimming around in my lung. Good thing Carrot Cake carried me here. If I moved around to much, I probably could have made it worse. So, I’ve spent the past two days in a tent, recovering.
Of course, this also means I’m down a rib. And my left lung has little pockets of holes in it. They won’t be a problem, the doctor says. And anybody can trust doctors. Especially shining sparkly ones.
And I made another ally and acquaintance the other day. His name is Jawbreaker, and all I know about him is that he’s a blinded, ex-mercenary griffin.
Anyway, I hope you get better with whatever it is that’s troubling you. Be good.

Message Unable to Send. Recipient Pip-Buck is offline.

Butterscotch?

Message Unable to Send. Recipient Pip-Buck is offline.

Fix Ser,
My sister isn’t answering. What the hell is going on? Tell me!

Message Unable to Send. Recipient Pip-Buck is offline.

Level Up!
5>6

Perks Gained:

Magical Prowess (Rank 1)
You have risen above the beginner level unicorns that can only lift things with telekinesis. You now have access to intermediate level unicorn spells, such as short-range teleportation, fireballs, and electrical shocks.

Partner Perk Gained:

Your relationship with Carrot Cake has gone high enough to receive the following perk:

I’ve Got a Ghoulfriend!
As long as Carrot Cake is in the party, all ghouls, both passive and feral, will not attack unless provoked.

Caution: Manuscript section end.

Next section not found.

In order to continue manuscript, please consult file name:

Chapter 6: Operating the Train

Chapter 6: Operating the Train

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One week after leaving the Crystal Caves…

Ever since she blew Stable 5’s door off of its hinge and loaded it up onto the train with assistance from the citizens of Liverpool three days ago, Cybermare has gone quiet. I’m sure she’s been in hiding. She’s likely biding her time for something. A lot of ponies need your help in Crystal City, Cybermare. A lot of ponies are relying on you.

And I know what you’ve been up to thanks to some words from the citizens. Whatever’s gotten you down, Cybermare, just know that Voice is still out here supporting you. All of Crystal City is supporting you. You’re scaring the raiders away from our borders just by being here. You brought back enough Compresium from the Crystal Caves to spare for our citizens.

I swished the mouthful of imported Yakistan vodka around in my mouth before swallowing it. It was a wretched taste, but at least it brought me away from the reality of where I was with enough of it.

Let’s take the focus off of Cybermare for a moment. I’m sure most of you have heard, but the lovely Melody has taken DJ Pon3’s spot. But she doesn’t hide her voice like the old DJ did. She makes her voice loud and clear on the radio, kind of like I do… Heh. Well, trust me when I say that ol’ Voice has been around the block a couple of times. Melody is an old friend of mine from a long time ago, and I can assure you she’s the right pony for the job.

I sigh, and drop my face into the bar counter. “Could somepony change the station. To somepony that isn’t talking about the Cybermare?”

“You alright there sweetie?” Asks the mare tending the bar.

I momentarily shift my head to give her a quick glance, then rest my forehead back on the bar counter and stare at the surprisingly polished wood. She was a blue unicorn mare, with a darker blue mane, and eyes that were a slightly lighter shade than mine. Oh, and she sparkled.

“No. I’m not alright.”

She moves over to my general area and grabs an old, dirty cup. She starts to wipe the inside of it with a rag. “Tell me about it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Dear, you’ve been here every day for the past five days. Every day, you purchase a more potent mixture of alcohol and leave the bar more drunk than the last time. Trust me, you want to talk about it.”

I move my head off of the counter, and grab the bottle of Vodka.

“Ah-ah. You put that bottle down right now.” I very hesitantly do as ordered. “You’re the Cybermare, right?” I nod. “I thought so. Your back kind of gave it away. You’ve done a lot since you left your Stable. And I mean a lot. You’ve been here for a little over a week, right?”

“I’ve done a whole fucking lot. I think I’ve done more in the wasteland than any other Stable pony ever has before they finally die or get killed.”

The barista bursts into laughter. “Oh dear. You really haven’t been out here this long, have you?” I shake my head as she wipes a jolly tear out from under her eye. What the hell was so funny? “Trust me. A lot of Stable ponies have been through a lot more than you have. One in particular was caught in a megaspell blast, burnt to a crisp by a dragon, who was also her friend beforehoof, and had her Pip-Buck melted into her forearm three years ago. And guess what. Technically, she still isn’t dead.”

“Technically? How the hell does that work?” I was starting to perk up, and my inquisitive nature was bringing me out of my depression to find this answer.

“I’m not sure myself. Something about her body being dead, but her mind or her soul or whatever getting transferred into a machine. You can find published books about her all over the place in the slightly more southern parts of Equestria. But that’s enough about her. Let’s hear about you. What’s got you so down in the dumps?”

My ears fell again. “Nothing.”

The barista leans over the bar counter. “Lemme know. There’s lotsa ways that even I can help out.” She waves a hoof in a circle, like she’s thinking. “Like moral support, or whatever.”

I chuckle. “You have a way with words.” I sit up in my seat and push the vodka off to the side. “Alright. I’ll tell you. But can I get a refund on this?”

“‘Fraid not. But you can save it for another day or something. You know, a day that’s less action filled than your normal day. The name’s Moon Shine. Bartender. It’s a little bit of a cruel irony, considering I didn’t get my name from that alcohol, but rather the shine of the moon.” She chuckles to herself, and I join her. “Alrighty then Cybermare. Lemme hear what’s wrong.”

I lean against the counter, relaxing a little bit. “Fine. But only because you seem slightly trustworthy with this information.” I take a deep breath. “It all started back when I was in the Stable. Our water purifier shut down. Broke. We had to fix it.” I sigh. “I decided it was a good idea to fix it with the Stable door. Overmare passed the idea. Now that I think about it, we were both idiots. We took as many precautions as we could. Sent scouts out. Posted guards at the entrance. But it wasn’t enough. Our Stable was overrun. Ghouls. Of the feral variety. One of my sort-of friends died in the attack. And of course, the Overmare blames the event on me, and banishes me from the Stable until I can find something to replace the door with. I suppose that’s the root of my whole mess.”

She nodded along as I spoke. “You’ve been through quite a bit already. Apparently Voice doesn't say everything on his radio. But you just said that was the root, right? So was their some kind of plant that grew up from that root? Other existential crises that popped up, and shoved you into this slum-like depression?”

I nod. “Oh yeah. Definitely. Conflicts with myself. The… amount of blood on my hooves…”

“Everypony in this wasteland has killed somepony else. Actually, that may be a bit of a stretch. Not everypony. But anypony that has traveled has had to kill somepony. And from what I heard, you traveled all the way from Hoof’s Ridge up here to Crystal City. That’s a two day journey in and of itself.” A pony down the counter calls the barista over. “Ah, hold that thought. Got a customer.” She said as she moved down the bar.

I took this opportunity to check my Pip-Buck. My messages still hadn’t been received by any other Pip-Bucks. I had constantly sent messages, hoping one would finally send. At first I would send long, heartfelt paragraphs, Now they were just down to frantic, random messages like:

Kchew;ofgqw

No joking.

The barista returned to her spot in front of me with a small smile. I smiled back sadly.

“Want me to continue?” I asked, and was replied with a nod.

I took another deep breath. “Recently, I’ve been trying to send messages to my friends in the Stable. But they aren’t even receiving the messages, so it’s not even worth it to try and…. Wait a minute…” I took another look on my Pip-Buck.

“What is it?” She asked as I sorted through my sent messages.

“Even if their wearer is dead, Pip-Bucks are still online and can receive messages. That means their Pip-Bucks have either been damaged beyond repair, or destroyed completely. Which means their Pip-Bucks were removed from their bodies and destroyed, probably while they're still alive. Which means somepony doesn’t want them to contact anypony else. Which means…” I look up at the barista. “There’s a chance they’re still alive.”

“Wait… there was a chance your friends were dead?”

I nod. “Yep. I need to talk to the citizens of Liverpool. We’ll need a lot of coal if we’re going to be pulling a giant metal gear on a train, aren’t we. See you around Shine.” I started to leave, but she suddenly called me back.

“Hold up. What’s your name, Cybermare?” She pushed the quarter-drank Vodka I had forgot to grab to the edge of the counter.

I walk over and grabbed the bottle. “Vanilla Cream. I may be back around. But first, I have a few friends I want to get a hold of.”

She smiles and nods at me. “I’ll see you around. Pay me a visit sometime. You seem like a nice mare.”

I smile back, this smile being much less a sad one and more of a genuine one. “Thanks for helping me talk about my problems. It gave me motivation to actually keep going.”

With a final exchange of smiles and nods between the two of us, I found myself falling, if only slightly, for another mare beside Orange.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just control your hormones?

~~~~~~~~~~

Luckily, I managed to meet up with Carrot Cake again. I apologized for suddenly abandoning him, and stated I was a terrible friend, and bad at controlling my emotions when it mattered.

He waved a hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry about Vanilla. I’ve had much worse break-ups in the past.” He chuckles to himself and grins, and then catches his eye before it falls. “One psycho mare in particular tried to cut my-”

“Carrot. Please shut up.” He replies with a grin, and lets his eye slip halfway out before catching it. “Where did Jawbreaker go? Did he go back to his shack near the Crystal Caves?”

Carrot shrugs. “I dunno. Probably. He didn’t exactly let himself get attached to you and I.”

“That’s simply what you think, Carrot Cake.” Said a familiar blind griffin’s voice as he walked up. We both turned to look at him. “But I get absolutely no business out there. Especially since I’m the only one that lives close to the caves. Not to mention that most of the ponies that live in Crystal City don’t have much of a desire to walk around the wasteland with a mercenary bodyguard, or have enough to pay the caps to leave somepony else dead.”

Carrot and I look between each other. “How much are you going to charge me for hiring you?”

He pauses in thought for a moment. “I originally charged 150 caps per day, correct? SInce you seem to be a decent mannered mare, even though you let yourself fall into a depression earlier. I assume the reasoning for that will come clear later in the future. But for now, I can charge you 50 caps a day.”

I check my Pip-Buck. I had a little less than a thousand caps after selling the leftover Compresium to the shop pony running the explosives stall. At least enough to keep that griffin with me for nine days. And from what I’ve seen of the wasteland, nine days was a long time.

I nod, and fish out fifty caps from my bag and count them out to make sure I got the amount exactly right before handing them over. “There you are Jawbreaker. Welcome back to the crew. Your first job as my personal bodyguard is to assist me in the investigation of what happened to my friends in Stable 81.”

He gives a curt nod. “Very well. Whenever you’re ready to move out, Vanilla.”

I smirk. “Alright. Now we just need coal from Liverpool. And the train’s already loaded with a Stable door.”

“Less work for us. And Vanilla.” The griffin smirks slightly, but it disappears. “You should have hired me on the first day of business. You just lost 50 caps for absolutely nothing.”

I open my mouth to say something, then close it. Then I open it again. “Dammit. You’re right. I guess you could just follow me around. Or… Would you guys mind if I did my own thing for a while?” I was met with a nod from both Carrot and Jawbreaker. “Alright. My room is the one just below the top floor, near the base of the stairs. You guys can wait there if you want.”

I trotted off, leaving them behind me as I ran to the bar down on the first floor. I may have let Orange get away from me. But I wasn’t going to make the same mistake with Shine.

I walked inside, acting as casual as I could, and sat down at the bar counter. I motioned to the pony running the bar right now to come over, who was unfortunately not Shine. “Excuse me. Where would Moon Shine be right now?”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s in the back, cleaning up from her shift. She’ll be off in about thirty minutes. You can catch up to her then, if you want to ‘talk’ with her.”

“Uh… okay. And could I get three bottles of vodka?”

“167 caps.” He says as he grabs the bottles off of the shelf.

Damn. Alcohol was expensive. I set the caps down on the counter and he handed over the bottles, each of which I put into my bags. Without another word I walked outside of the bar and waited just outside for Shine to get off of work.

It took a little longer than thirty minutes, but Shine finally walked outside the bar. She seemed pleasantly surprised to be greeted by me.

“Vanilla? You’re back already?”

I smile at her. “Yeah. I wanted to thank you. You actually helped me. I got back with my friends. And we’re going to save my Stable, I hope.”

She smiles. “That’s great Vanilla! Glad I could help.”

I smile back. “It’ll probably be a while until Liverpool has mined enough coal to make another run to Hoof’s Ridge and back though. Maybe a day or two. I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out.”

“Well, sorry Vanilla. But I’m actually…” She paused when she saw me pull out a bottle of vodka. “Well… I might be free for an hour or two.” I levitate the bottle over to her, and she grabs it out of midair. “Thank you, Vanilla.”

I nod. “No problem. Want to hang out in your room or something? My room is kind of occupied right now.”

She smiles. “Okay. Thanks for the drink, by the way.” She turns and starts to lead the way.

I grin slightly and teleport in front of her and start to walk backward at the same speed she walks forward. She looked quite surprised. “So. Whatcha wanna talk about?”

“Uhm…” She looks around sheepishly. “I don’t really know. It depends on what you’re trying to do.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

She looked me straight in the eyes. “Are you trying to sleep with me? Kidnap me? Make me fall for you?”

I chuckled a little nervously. “Definitely not the first two…” I look away from her. “I’m not gonna lie. Ever since I left me Stable, I’ve been falling for ponies left and right. Well, not really. Only two. An ex-slaver and a barista.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Really? What were the two of them like?” She asks, clearly leading me on.

I chuckle. “Well, the slaver reminded me of somepony else. Honestly, with her personality and demeanor, I can’t imagine how she ever became a slaver. But, she left. And if she hasn’t yet, she will.” I sigh. “It’s a little bit of a shame. I don’t even know if she likes mares.”

“What about the barista? How much do you know about that pony?”

I pause, and Shine bumps into me. “Not that much… She helped me out, and I fell for her for that.” I chuckle nervously, and look down. “Kinda too early for stuff like that, huh? Since I barely know anything about her and all.”

She smiles and puts a hoof on my shoulder. “Well, maybe if you got to know her a little bit better. I’ll give you a hint though.” She shakes the vodka bottle slightly to emphasize it. “She definitely appreciates favors. And gifts.”

I smile. “Do you think I have a chance with her?”

“Oh yeah. For sure. Maybe with a little bit of time. Or, if you have enough alcohol, tonight.”

“Uh…” I look around, a little bit embarrassed. It didn’t take a fool to figure out what she meant. “Well, I mean… I would rather not take it that far in a single day.”

“What? Why not?” She asks disappointedly.

“I’d rather get to know a pony first before we sleep together. Like, you know, make sure we’re serious first.”

“Ugh. You’re one of those ponies.” She says disgustingly. “Loosen up. Have some fun.”

“Excuse me!?” I stop, and jab a hoof into her chest. “One of what kind of ponies? An honest pony. The kind that doesn’t use other ponies like the way you’re trying to use me?”

“Well, I-”

I yelled at her, and swiped the bottle of liquor out of her grip. Any and all infatuation I had felt for this pony was now gone. “See you later Shine. For a moment there, I thought I had found somepony nice.”

“W-wait, I-”

“You what? Just want me in bed with you? You want to fuck me? Is that all you want me for?”

She took a few steps back, looking down at the floor. “I’m…”

“What? You’re what? Are you a whore? Alcohol for sex? Is that what it is? Is that your price?” It slowly dawns on me. “You didn’t want to hang out until I showed you the bottle.” I hold up the vodka and shake it mockingly similar to the way she shook it. “But the moment I had alcohol, I was good enough for you.”

She gulped. “I’m sorry… Can we start again?”

I glared at her. “No we can’t fucking start again! I’m not going to try and start a relationship with you.” I turned and started to walk away. She tried to stop me but it was too late. I was already down the castle hallway, and turning the corner. I gave her one last glimpse before disappearing down the adjacent hallway.

If there was one thing I hated being, it was used. Especially if it was just for sex. And super especially if it was from a mare like that.

~~~~~~~~~~

I stared out of the train’s window, watching the wasteland pass by at twenty miles per hour.

It had been two days since my little moment with Moon Shine when I technically broke up with her before we ever got together. She was a nice mare, but she also tried to use me. I couldn’t get over it. In retrospect, I may have been a bit harsh, but I also think she deserved it. Even if it were just a bit. But really, now that I thought about it, she had never actually directly stated she was just using me. For all I know, she could have just said I would get lucky, and she would sleep with me on the first night, right? She seemed completely surprised when I snapped on her like that. She was an incredibly nice mare, not to mention she tried multiple times to explain herself, and I interrupted her every time. And that last minute there, she was probably trying to apologize. Maybe she was just a fun loving mare? Maybe there was a chance that she really did want to go on strong... Did I screw up?

I sighed louder than I meant to.

“What’s the problem?” Asked the ghoul sitting beside me.

“That’s the sigh of somepony that’s upset with themselves.” Said the blind griffin across from me.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” I looked between the two of them. At least somepony was worried about me, right?

Jawbreaker only nodded in response. “It’s never nothing. But if you don’t want to talk then I won’t press you for the information.”

Carrot nodded in agreement perhaps a little too quickly, since his eye nearly flew out. “Yeah. Don’t wanna talk about, and I won’t ask. Don’t wanna be rude to basically my only friend.”

I smiled to the two. And started to say something until the crystal pony from Liverpool with the strangely country accent walked into the car. “Howdy there you three. Cybermare.” He tipped his hat at me. “Looks like tha Remnant is still mighty pissed about the incident in Liverpool.”

I sat up. “What do you mean?”

He pointed to the back of the train. “Our gunners in the casboose says they saw a few Remnant Vertibucks flyin around in tha horizon. Says they’re comin our direction. We may have a firefight on our hooves if we ain’t careful.”

I climb out of my seat, pushing past Carrot. “What was that? The Remnant? They’re chasing us down?In VertiBucks? What the heck is a Vertibuck?”

“Sum kinda flyin machine invented before the war. Powered by coal. Probably why they captured Liverpool. So they would have enough ta power their Vertibucks.”

I nod. “Great… How many bullets does it take to take one down?”

“Er… between two and three missiles. If yer lucky, one.”

I groan, and rub my face. “Let’s try and avoid them if we can. Let’s try and avoid combat. Is there any way we can run this train faster?”

“Eh-nope. This train is more than two hundred years old. It’s a miracle it runs in the first place, but if we push it to go faster, it’ll probably fall apart. So, if the Remnant is comin after us, we have ‘bout fifteen minutes ‘til they’re bombin us.”

“Jolly. I’ll make sure and leave a message for the Remnant, tell them I’m tired of them. Jawbreaker. You and I will be taking out a Vertibuck.”

Jawbreaker and Carrot both got out of their seats at the same time. “Why can’t I help?” Carrot blurts out.

“Because, wingless, we can’t carry you and fight a giant flying machine at the same time. It’ll be a little encumbering.” I motion for Carrot to head to the caboose, then quickly realize my mistake. “Uh, Jawbreaker, head to the back of the train. I’ll wait for you there.”

Jawbreaker nods and heads to the next train car down. Carrot hangs his head. “Okay… I see how it is.”

I put a hoof on Carrot’s shoulder. “Hey bud. It’ll all be okay, eh? You’ve already helped out plenty.”

He nods and smiles at me. “I call dibs on the next big combat thingamajig though, okay? I want all of the action.”

I nod at him. “You got it. Next time we got a big problem, you get a lot of the kills.”

He nodded and I left him behind, following Jawbreaker to the back caboose. The “southern” crystal pony from Liverpool followed behind me, drawing a rifle.

“Whatcha got planned Cybermare?” He asks.

“Right now? Absolutely nothing. I find it’s better to improvise than to actually create a plan out here in the wasteland. Nothing ever goes the way you want it.”

He nods. “Then what’s yer general idea?”

“You and anyone else with a gun will cover Jawbreaker and I while we fly toward the Vertibuck and try to take it out..”

“That’s a very risky and insane idea.”

I nod and smirk. “Sounds like me. Crazy ideas left and right. Ever sleep in a trainyard?”

“Not particularly.” He looks like me like I was insane. “Ya slept in a train yard?”

“Yep.” The two of us arrive on the caboose, and walked outside the train onto the balcony-like platform at the back of the caboose. Jawbreaker already waited out there for us. It was a tight fit on the small platform for the three of us, especially with the griffin’s large size. I can’t deny that it felt great when the wind whipped my mane back.

The crystal pony reached into his bag and handed me a pair of binoculars. “Don’t think i ever got yer real name, Cybermare.”

“Vanilla Cream.” I looked through the binoculars. Off in the distance was some strange pure black flying machine. It had four rotors, and looked like it was big enough to hold 6 ponies. Seven if you counted a pilot, who I could barely make out through the tinted windsheild at the front of the machine.. And it was approaching us rapidly. Fifteen minutes was a serious understatement. We had closer to five minutes.

“Ma name’s Black Tobacco.” Says the crystal pony.

“Nice to meet you Tobacco. Gather up as many ponies aboard this train that are willing to fight as you can, and have them guard me and Jawbreaker.” Tobacco nodded and ran back into the train to rally his men. As quickly as I could, I replaced what I had on my back for Pegasus Pride. I beat my old record, finishing in just under two minutes.

“Can you hear it and track it, Jawbreaker?”

Jawbreaker nods slightly. “I do have to warn you though Vanilla. Despite being a griffin, aerial combat is difficult for me. When both myself and my opponent are flying, it throws some things off for me.”

I nod to him. “Don’t worry about that Jawbreaker. I have full faith in you. 50 caps a day have to be worth some skill, right.”

Jawbreaker grins, but it quickly disappeared. “You’re right about that Vanilla. Are you ready?”

I nodded, and crouched low. “Follow the sound of the wings. Shoot at any wing beats that don’t sound mechanical.” Jawbreaker nods again, and I take flight with Jawbreaker following close behind. I make sure and draw Dessert Griffin just as two Remnant armored pegasi emerged from each side of the Vertibuck.

I motioned for Jawbreaker to take the two on the left, then mentally facehooved myself. I needed to stop making that mistake. The griffin was blind, Vanilla.

“Jawbreaker. Two emerging from each side of the Vertibuck. You take the two on the right. I’ve got the two on the left.”

Jawbreaker nods to me, then flies a few feet to the right. He starts to fire, most of his bullets going astray.

I turn to my two targets. One was already flying dangerously close. One had planted himself on the roof of the Vertibuck and was taking time to aim at me through a scoped rifle. I slowed down time with SATS and used this time to think. I was stuck between an abnormally large crystal and a hard place. Maybe…

I tried to see if I couldn’t load a teleport into my SATS system to a position just behind the approaching pony. To my great surprise, the system actually took it. Unfortunately, it took about ninety five percent of SATS’s energy to use.

The pegasus in front of me flew to a halt. I flew up behind him, pressed Dessert Griffin to his back, and with a single shot, disconnected an entire wing from his back. He plummeted to the ground, screaming. He hit the ground quite hard, and I think the fall was just high enough to permanently cripple him.

I yelled out as I felt a heavy round pierce the side of my gut. My wings went limp for a moment from shock, but I recovered and started flying along with the Vertibuck, but flew below the Vertibuck’s elevation. Damn it. I forgot about the sniper. Jawbreaker was hanging low too. He wasn’t lying about being bad in the air. He had several bullet holes in his body. None of them seemed fatal, but he was still looked hurt pretty badly.

And speaking of bullet holes, my own was profusely bleeding. I searched my bag, but the best I could do was procure some bandages that I clumsily wrapped around my gut.

The sniper pegasus had come out of his cover. I was about to take advantage of this, but he suddenly ducked back inside his Vertibuck door.

Our five minutes were up. I had to swerve to the side to avoid hitting the caboose of the train. Jawbreaker wasn’t as lucky and hit the caboose of the train head on. He quickly recovered however, and listened for the Vertibuck.

I looked toward the flying machine.It was flying over the train now, and two small doors opened on the bottom of the Vertibuck. My eyes widened as bombs started to fall from the bottom of the Vertibuck. They hit the roof of the train, exploding upon impact. The poor two hundred year old train cars didn’t stand a chance.

“Jawbreaker! Inside the train, now! Save any and all survivors!” Jawbreaker nodded and felt his way to the caboose door. I was inside before he even got close.

I was greeted by fire and rubble on the inside of the caboose car. I felt the inside of the train violently shake as it was probably hit by another wave of bombs. I stumbled my way to the next car, slightly singing the fur on my hooves on the way to the there. When I emerged on the next car, I was greeted by7 the sound of a few ponies groaning in pain. Somepony was yelling. And was was the yell of somepony in intense pain.

I started to shift through the rubble as best as I could. The first pony I found was a mare. She had a metal pipe spearing her through the gut. She looked at me with pleading eyes.

I sat beside her. Jawbreaker entered the room and started to help the others. The shaking of the train almost knocked me over, but I sat beside that mare. Blood started to dribble out of her mouth. And she kept pleading with me. When I finally couldn’t take her look of misery anymore, I gave her the last comfort she would ever need.

Jawbreaker jumped at the sound of the gunshot, and turned his head my way. “Vanilla. What happened? Are you okay? That was Dessert Griffin.”

I nod and wipe the tear away from my eye, and I pull my gun away from the skull of the corpse. “It was nothing, Jawbreaker. I’m heading to the next train car. Wish me lu-”

My sentence was interrupted by gunshots in the next train car up. I turned that way. “Jawbreaker. We’ve got company. I don’t think the Remnant wants survivors.”

Jawbreaker nods, and runs into the next train car ahead of me, but I wasn’t far behind him. When I emerged into the next train car, we were greeted by Remnant soldiers putting down any survivors that were crushed by rubble. In a fit of rage, I felt my horn spark out a spell, and the armored pegasus in front of me fell to the ground, convulsing violently as a large amount of electrical energy passed from my horn onto their body. The fact that their armor was metal seemed to help damage him more.

Jawbreaker covered me with gunfire, quickly suppressing the other two Remnant soldiers into cover with a spray of bullets from his rifles. I slowly zapped the life away from the Remnant soldier in front of me. I didn’t stop until he was down to post-mortem twitching, then dove into cover. The base of my horn was sore from casting the lightning spell for so long, but I didn’t care. I hope that damn Remnant died a painful death, for what he did to the ponies aboard this train.

Jawbreaker found cover, and started to reload his gun. I readied Dessert Griffin, and dove out of cover, activating my now regenerated SATS spell. I was surprised to see the remaining Remnant flying out of the Windows of the tarin, closing them behind them in slow motion.

I deactivated SATS, and a wave of confusion washed over me. That confusion lasted all of three seconds, when I suddenly heard the loudest explosion I had heard all of my life. Then everything went to shit. I was suddenly flung to the side as the train car I was in flew off the rails, and hit the ground. I hit the wall, which was now the ceiling, and busted through one of the train car windows. It hurt a lot, but I recovered and took flight with Pegasus Pride. I looked ahead, and saw the train engine in flames. It exploded again, and I saw the Vertibuck change course, leaving us behind.

I stared, open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the scene ahead, until I was suddenly knocked out of the air my something large and heavy. I hit the ground, hard, and had the air knocked out of me. I rolled over and looked up to see what had knocked me out of the air. I didn’t have to activate SATS for the next part to move in slow motion. My life flashed before my eyes.

My first memory, seeing the lights of the Stable powering on for the first time. The first time I saw my little sister. She had just been born a few hours ago. I cooed over her like a baby doll. The explosion that made me lose my back and part of my spine. My first kiss, a stallion named Metal Gear. The day I finished repairing the water purifier, and then my attempt at a partner just yesterday, and all of the memories between. Every single one of those memories passed through my mind as the train car fell, threatening to land directly on top of me.

And then everything blacked out just as it hit me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Somepony was speaking, but it sounded like I was underwater. I could barely make out the noise, much less what they were saying. I tried to open my eyes, and luckily found I could. Everything was blurry, and there was a large red spot in my vision. I tried to move, and that’s when the pain settled in. My whole body flared. Everything except for my back legs. I felt a warm liquid pooled around me. There wasn’t much. But I knew what it was. My own blood. I tried to scream, but I was too weak, so I let my body go limp.I felt shattered glass dig into my skin.

I groaned again, and the red spot in my vision shifted, then grew larger.

“We have another live one here! Somepony help me out!” Yelled a mare’s voice.

Two more spots came into my vision, a blue one and a purple one. All three of the blurs filled my vision entirely, and suddenly my body flared in pain as I was dragged.

“What happened?” Asked a stallion’s voice.

“Looks like her back legs were crushed under rubble. The way the glass was shattered around her, it looks like the train car fell on her, and her life was spared by the fact that she was in the exact position she was in.” Replies the mare’s voice.

They dragged me out of the train car, and set me down on something soft outside.

“How much surgery will she have to go through?”

The blue and purple spots left my vision disappeared, and the red spot shifted, to my right, then to my left.

“Are you awake?” Asked the mare’s voice.

I tried my hardest to form a coherent sentence, but the pain was too intense. Instead, I just weakly nodded, which sent its own flare of pain through my neck.

“Good. That means you’re not damaged too badly. Can you move your limbs for me? One at a time.”

I tried to obey her instructions, I really did. The pain that flared through my front arms was so intense, I could barely move them. But no matter how hard I tried to move my bottom limbs, they wouldn’t obey my commands.

The red spot waited a moment. “Can you not move your back legs?” I shook my head. “Damn.... Sorry.” The red dot shifted again. “I’ll have to dig out all of the glass from her body, then I’ll have to sew together a few muscles together to return use to her legs.

I closed my eyes again. The pain was so unbearable, I just wanted it to stop. My wish was granted seconds later when I blacked out.

Level Up!
6>7

Perk Gained:

Broken
With a near death experience under your belt, you've grown accustomed to pain. Your damage resistance from all weapons has gone up by 5%.

Caution! Manuscript Section End.
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To continue manuscript, please consult file name:
Chapter 7: Caramel Apple

Fallout Equestria: Surviving Light

by FaultyScrewdriver

Prologue: Life in Stable 81; The Solution to a Problem

Act 1: Saving Face

Chapter 1: Shattered Peace

Chapter 2: Alone...

Chapter 3: Carrot Cake

Chapter 4: The Crystal Empire

Chapter 5: Jawbreaker

Chapter 6: Operating the Train