A Fated Meeting
I wonder how long I can keep stalling them.
“Ya know, we can’t keep up this stall much longer, you’re probably going to have to detonate the bomb yourself.” Pink appeared in the green mare’s vision hopping along while wearing a radioactive hazmat suit.
Well this was your idea, guess we get to find out if a recombulator can actually take a megaspell hit directly don’t we? Sunrise replied while setting up the detonator in her hoof and deciding upon a frequency by checking which ones around her were in use and narrowing down the range as much as possible to the final trip to the bomb she was trying to restore.
She wore a blue stable-suit and layed it with heavy armor of various types ranging from leather socks covered in ablative plates to a helmet that could stop an anti-material rifle and there was a dent in it to prove it once had.
Wandering Sunrise studied the circuitry closely, ensuring everything were precisely right. I’ve got what, maybe another day or two before Red Eye gets too impatient.
“Not like he really has a choice other than to work with you! He’s like a pie without filling if you don’t make that bomb work after all. How many experts in The Equestrian Wasteland knew how to rewrite and rework a droppable megaspell bomb and get it to detonate properly?”
They both knew the answer in the body they shared somewhere between less than zero and her. Unless some other Stable-Tec experiment or ministry monster had survived the first time the world burned in magical fire and happened to be an explosives expert.
The door opened and Sunrise reached for her shotgun turning around, angrily, to face whoever had disturbed her work. “I said it would be ready when it was ready, you can’t rush this unless you wan…. Oh, you, your? Hi.” She was caught completely off guard as before her were two mares. One rather plain looking mare that was about her height if somewhat slightly taller standing next to another mare that was a full size adult’s height colored white with a black and red mane.
“Who are you?” the white mare asked rather stunned but also sounding slightly drunk. All three of them were surprised to see other ponies in a stable-suits from three different stables, much less with all the heavy armor Sunrise was wearing that matched the opposite full sized mare with a white coat.
“Oh it’s these two! Oh boy! It’s time! It’s finally time!” Pink was incredibly excited and hopping so high she left Sunrise’s vision entirely as the spirit bounced around like a pongostick gone haywire.
Time for what?
“DJ Pon3 told you about these two! Now there are three! When the three get together, it will finally be time to heal! Angel, Security, and…. Oh I shouldn’t use her name yet, anyway! Say hello silly!” Pink pointed at them and waited for the introductions
“Hello, I am Wandering Sunrise, I have a good guess at your two names.” Sunrise pointed at the two observing the numbers on their collars. “2 and 99? So if DJ pon3 has anything to say on it, the shorter one is the Stabledweller and you must be Security?” The two looked at each other then at her.
“Okay you got us, yeah this is Littlepip,” Blackjack said ruffling the smaller pony’s mane. “And I'm Blackjack.”
“Angel is what the DJ calls me, Angel with a Shotgun I think it is still.” Sunrise explained as she got the circuits and set them down. Still keeping her shotgun controlled by her short tail just in case.
“You really don’t need this you know that?” Pink pointed out as she was the one having to operate the tail as if it were a hand.
Just in case.
Blackjack took a step back as if she were seeing a ghost. “Angel? With a shotgun? You’re a myth! A legend the zebras talk about in the quiet.”
Littlepip shook her head, “No, Angel with a Shotgun over there is something DJ and I discussed behind closed doors. Said if I ever met her to check and see if she was the Angel or Agent. So are you The Angel or The Agent?”
“Right now? Definitely Angel, have been for at least thirty years. Why did Red Eye let you in here with the bomb?” Sunrise looked up to see the Alicorn escorts pulling back and closing the door behind them putting the three stable-mares in a workhouse alone.
“Well, I needed to talk about that bomb. I have a plan for it.” Littlepip spoke making Sunrise raise her eyebrow and look up at the two of them. She looked at the bomb she had been working on then back to the two of them.
Blackjack pulled out a bottle of wild pegasus and took a long drink. “Sorry. But meeting a literal myth requires a bit of booze to really appreciate it, even if I’m already a bit drunk now.”
“I could say the same about you but I do not really drink. Burns too much, though if you’ve got some med-x we might be able to talk about that talk.” She turned to Littlepip who looked down and rubbed her opposite foreleg sheepishly while seeming embarrassed. Sunrise’s hoof itched and it signaled she had stepped onto a dangerous subject.
Pink, does she…
“She is recovering from mint-als, I would suggest you steer around that if you want her to trust you and get us out of this so you don’t have to stand in a megaspell detonation again.”
ONE TIME! Just one time and everyone assumes it’s now your go-to.
“You have a problem too, look I’m not going to inquire about it. I’ve been off of Med-X for nearly twenty-three years. But sometimes, ya know, you feel like you need to take the edge off. Just have to resist the urge.” Sunrise motioned them over closer to her. “Come on, let’s talk about what you wanna do and why Red Eye let you near this bomb that still isn’t working.”
Sunrise turned back around to resume working on the bomb more as the other two mares approached her.
“Hey, so what’s wrong with it?” Littlepip asked for a place to connect her PipBuck so she could hack into the bomb's computer.
“Detonator was never installed. Someone dropped this knowing it wouldn’t go off. Probably say it was a dud then say they did their duty.” Sunrise spoke in a way that made them both unnerved for a second. “So I am having to build a detonator from scratch. Though I have been stalling, I do not want to end up with that unity bunch or inside some slave camp afterward.”
All three of them exchanged glances and then Blackjack pulled out ‘Sexy’ her shotgun and started to load it. “Well then I suppose we may need to get ready to blast our way out of here if we wanna take you with us.”
Sunrise observed the Ironhoof shotty with a whistle and a smile, “Oh, that thing is rather nice.” While her own weapon was primitive by comparison the upgrades she had done on it made it quite the capable shotgun that could outdo the Ironhoof in raw power but not match its rate of fire.
Littlepip pulled out the double barrel she got when she first escaped from the raiders at Ponyville and checked to make sure it was loaded too. Sunrise took her own ‘Sunray’ from her tail and held it up to make sure the load was full. Even if she knew the rounds that would come out would be completely random compared to what she loaded. Pink had a habit of switching them on when she wasn’t looking at the old fashion pump action shotgun. “Look, it is good to know we can fight her way out of here and compare our shotgun styles but—”
“Yeah I don’t care how much med-x and alcohol we got, we aren’t about to slug our way out of here and rescue you in the process. We can get out no issue but you, you’re kinda stuck here.” Blackjack explained as she put her shotgun away to take another slug of her booze. “Want a little romp to get the blood going.”
Sunrise shook her head, “Sorry we just met and my husband might not approve of you.” She pointed at the stripes on her rear leg. “But what exactly do you need this bomb for?”
Littlepip spoke up next, “To kill unity.”
Sunrise dropped her shotgun to the ground stunned at the thought. She was running the calculations and the pathways on how it might be possible. “Are you serious? How would you get it in there?”
“By making him think it’s for something special and giving me the detonator to set it all off when the time is right.” Littlepip replied matter-o-factly. Sunrise started seeing the idea forming in her head.
“What kind of special?”
“What do you need to give us the bomb?” Blackjack said waggling her eyebrows at Sunrise in the drunken state. She wasn't interested in answering the question at the moment.
“I need to know what you intend to do with it.”
Littlepip cleared her throat and nodded, “To get rid of Unity, permanently.”
Sunrise looked shocked for a moment then quickly checked around and looked over at Pink, Can anyone have heard that?
Pink shrugged, “Probably not, even the Alicorn’s can’t see in here with their magic much less hear you three.”
“You help me escape from here and I’ll trust you with the bomb to do just that. That was my plan but if you have got a way to get it to the site, then I think you might be the better candidate here. I just need to get out without Unity noticing.” She replied and looked at Littlepip.
“I mean unless you got an army to deal with the Enclave, I don’t really think you can help me beyond making sure the bomb will work.” Littlepip replied with a sigh realizing her plan was coming together but it was still heavily flawed.
Sunrise picked up her shotgun and nodded, “I can get you an army in three days. All you have to do is get me out of here. The bomb is actually ready, I just need to put two circuits in place and set the detonator frequency. Then, anyone within range will be able to set it off. Problem is that you will be in the blast range when it goes off.”
Blackjack growled and leapt forward, “What? What’s wrong with you? Build a better detonator!”
Littlepip placed a hoof on her chest, “You intended to go down with it, didn’t you?”
Sunrise laughed and smiled, “Yes and No. Yes I would be caught in the blast and certainly die but I get back up when I die. And I have taken a megaspell to the face once before and gotten back up later. So the intent was to blow myself to kingdom come and get up in a couple of days, deal with the radiation and fallout for a bit then get back home.”
Blackjack’s jaw was agape as she heard that. “What? How?”
Sunrise tapped her chest, “Ancient Ministry of Morale tech that the less you know, the better we both are. Look, I’m gonna finish arming it and give whichever of you wants the detonator but the range is too short to promise you will survive the blast.” She took in a breath and then looked at both of them. “I need a favor if I’m going to get out and summon my army in time to help you.”
“You really do have an army?”
Sunrise nodded, “Yes, near Las Pegasus, several little settlements banded together under one banner who may have put down a couple of Grand Pegasus Enclave Raptors in their day. So you want the cavalry I have to get out of here.” They were moving fast now.
Even Blackjack, in her inebriated state, was able to keep up with just how this plan was shaping up. But something was really bugging her and she needed an answer. “Just how are we supposed to get you clear without anyone noticing?”
“Shoot me, dead.” Sunrise replied deadpan as she put the last circuits in place and the bomb interface came to life with several electronic beeps. She held up a detonator and passed it to Littlepip.
“Excuse me for asking but how is shooting you going to help us get you out of here?” Littlepip took the detonator into her telekinesis and checked to make sure it how worked. She observed the two safeties and the final button trigger.
“Wait! You said you get back up when you die, even if we hit you with the bomb in here?” Blackjack said as the realization dawned upon her.
“So long as I know it’s coming well in advance I can keep all my memories in one piece too. I mean I haven’t actually tried it since my mom put two in my chest and one in my head but,” She stopped as she saw both of the Stable-Mares looking at her flabbergasted.
“You do realize it is really not normal for someone’s mother to literally shoot you and kill you right?” Pink giggled as she spoke at Sunrise.
Pink, since when are we, our husband, our friends, or our children, normal?
“You make a good point.” Pink looked at her stunned by that revelation.
“Right, long story. Look, can you shoot me, claim my body as your personal salvage and just drop me off at TenPony Tower then tell them to call Nyota of New Oasis and Stormy the Griffon Regulator of The Roof to come get me? DJ Pon3 should know the protocol, if it was passed on properly.”
“You know about DJ Pon3?” Littlepip and Blackjack both asked in stereo.
“I figured every famous stable-mare knows about that situation. Just a matter of whether Echo Chamber passed the protocol about me to Homage.” Sunrise nodded as she packed up her stuff.
“Any other questions?”
“I got like a million of them but I figure I can only ask like three or four.”
Sunrise shook her head at Blackjack, “Ask away.”
-One Million Drunken Blackjack Questions and an Hour Later-
“So that is what you meant by your mom shot you. Alright I think that’s all my questions. You got any Littlepip?” Blackjack asked, turning to the small plain mare.
“Just one, where should we shoot you and what do we tell them afterward?”
“Tell them I threatened to set off the bomb and kill us all.” She pointed at her forehead. “As for where, right here, you ready Pink?”
“Yeppers, got the regen protocol set to bring you back up in two hours and all the energy conserved and built up to get your memories intact. All ready for well, death I suppose. Too bad it’s only temporary.” Pink looked disheartened at the thought as she let out a sigh.
This one is a necessary temporary Pink, besides; I’ll be young and spry again. Not to mention, you and I both know the day is coming that we get to cross over.
“They’re waiting for us, you know.”
“I know Pink. and I will be so happy to see them.” Sunrise snapped too realizing she was talking out loud.
“You umm.. .talking to yourself?” Littlepip raised an eyebrow at her.
“You do not get to live this long and not have a little ghost of a friend you talk to sometimes. Alright, I should be ready.” Sunrise braced herself for the pain. No matter how instantaneous it was, death always hurts. Even if her brain stopped in an instant, it still hurt to die and took what felt like forever to finally feel her body stop. “Just remember to grab my gear and helmet. Oh and wear your helmets, you will need them.” She passed her helmet and saddle bags over to Littlepip and hoped that the things DJ Pon3 said about the little plain mare were truthful and she was honest.
“Three days, we’ll see you in three days, from which way?” Littlepip asked with a long sigh for what she was about to do.
“If it makes you feel better, I did ask for it and I won’t feel anything. Look for me on the dawn of the third day. All my friends will be coming from the west with the banner of an Angel with a Shotgun.”
“Three days, west, got it. Sorry I won’t remember this until later but I’ll make sure the ponies who need to know, know what to do.” Littlepip snapped her double barrel closed and slowly, hesitantly pointed it at Sunrise’s head. “Are you sure about this?”
“It will mark the thirty-ith and hopefully last time I’ve died and come back. Yes, I’m sure.”
Blackjack stepped forward, “Not for you little one, this is a job for someone who already has dirty hooves.” She leveled her revolver and smiled. “See you later, Angel.”
Bang!
And that’s how Littlepip got a working Megaspell Bomb, also how Sunrise escaped certain dipping to become an alicorn at the hooves of Unity and Red Eye while keeping the recombulators a secret all at once. Afterall, Blackjack was too drunk to remember half of what happened and Littlepip extracted it all from her mind. Sunrise would be the only to remember and she took this story, almost, to her grave.
Though do not worry or fear, the bomb repair chamber was not the Angel’s grave; far from it. She would get up just as she said she would and raise an army to help stop the Enclave in time for the Lightbringer’s Big Final Mission.
But the Angel’s grave, Lightbringers Fate, and Security final destination are all their own stories for another time. Perhaps look into the original Fallout: Equestria, Project Horizons, and Dead Tree to learn where their paths go.