Slowly opening my eyes, the first think I took note of was that I was not in the overmares office. The second, my pipbuck lamp was the only light in the room. The third, it was that I recognized this place, which made me feel confused. I was sitting at the bar in Sleepy Hooves Diner, though everything was dark, and looked rundown.

Their was a purple earthpony mare behind the counter, she was looking in the other direction, giving me a good look at her flank as she moved her hips, humming a song that I could not make out. Her mane and tail were pale blue with a jade-green streak in it, the mare's cutie mark was that off a hoof shoe with an exclamation point going through it. I gave myself a little slap, and it hurt a little. Fragment was outside the dream now, which didn't make any sense.

"Fragment, what's going on?"

She stopped, and turned herself around. She had a smirk on her face. "Don't know. I was looking for some food, but if it hasn't turned to stone, its turned to dust." Walking around the counter, she took a seat next to me. "And I so wanted to try a hay burger. Not that we could cook it if we wanted to. No power or gas."

I starched out my neck, and legs. they all made a poping sound as I loosened up. "Bummer. so how did we get here, I mean this can't be Sleepy Hooves Diner?" The place certainly looked like it, but everything looked worn down, and colorless. No color at all, just different shades of wight, black, and gray.

Fragment shook her head. "Don't think so, I even took a quick peek outside. Long story short, there is no Applewood out there. Just a hole lot of nothing."

Looking at the window, she was right, all I could see was inky blackness. The windows would shake now and then, and what sounded like light hail wrapped on it.

It turned on the radio, on my pipbuck. The motions felt awkward with the 2600 on my right leg. Making a tapping sound every time pipbuck hit pipbuck. The gave nothing, not even static, I turned on the auto tracking, but it found nothing.

"Where are we, there can't be just nothing out there?"

Fragment crossed her hooves. "Well, when we first arrived, I did feel another come with us, we two others come with us."

"Let me guess, one was Phobetor." She nodded. "But then who the other?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. But if we find them, they might be able to give us some answers, maybe they know a way out."

"But were to start." We couldn't just run out in a random direction and find this pony.

A sharp pop and crack came from a window at the front of the door. The windows were warping inwards like something was pressing agent it. The wrapping became far more constant, and I could see what looked like a black fog on the other side. Well not so much as see, but feel it on the other side.

"Well I suggest we start by going out the back door." I nodded at the suggestion.

As we bolted to the back of the diner, and out the back door. I could hear the sound of braking glass, wining metal, and snapping wood. Looking back as we ran, the Diner collapsed in on itself.

The landscape outside was simply a bleak dark on darker, with only some hills to brake up the mostly flat horizon. What ever destroyed the diner was following us, slowly, but still there moving our way. In the distance ahead of us we could see a faint light, so we galloped to it.

My body didn't feel as in pain as I ran, mostly just numb. I considered that a good thing right now, not wanting to question why I didn't feel like shit anymore. "What do you think that thing was, could it have been Phobetor?"

"Probably, do you know of anything else that likes to move as a big black fog?" Fragment had a point. If that was Phobetor, then she didn't feel like talking anymore. I couldn't blame her, after what I did.

"Well if she catches up to us, we need a plan to deal with her."

Fragment laughed. "Don't worry I already have one, we just need to find that other pony."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's good to know, care to tell me what it is?"

She shook her head. "It's a surprise." I didn't feel like prying, so I turned my focus back to were that light was.

The Light we had ran to turned into a large hospital building. The was light coming from one window near the top floor. The building had three letters on it "M.O.P." We didn't wast time, jumping into the building, and moving what we could to block off the door.

"Kind of like the horror movies, don't you think." Fragment helped me push a desk in front of the door as she spoke. "Big dark hospital, some monster trying to get at us, what do you think they call this movie."

I had to think about that for a moment. "Medical Nightmare maybe." Fragment shook her head, and I had to agree. "We can think of movie names later, we have to find this other pony first, then deal with Phobetor." Fragment placed a few more chairs on the barricade, and each time she went back to grabbed another one, she would fade into the dark. I was the sole light source in this place.

Fragment stopped when she saw that I was looking at her. "What's up, Is their something wrong?"

I sighed. "You sould probably stay close to me until we find another light source. Everything is just too dark here."

She nodded, and we moved deeper into the hospital. It was not long until we heard the sound of Phobetor banged on the door from the outside. So we added a few light barricades that we had to pass through. The sooner we find this pony, the better.

I have nothing agents hospitals, but this one creeped me out to no end. Each room had manikin ponies in them, all dressed up as doctors, nurses, and patients. Room by room had a different seen, with doctors looking over patients, and nurses helping doctors. Fragment burst out into laughter when she opened up a closet to find two manikin ponies with disheveled nurse uniforms.

The second floor was much of the same, but this time we found a closet with only one manikin pony in it. I had to push fragment along before she cracked any jokes about it.

On our way to the third floor, the sound of smashing wood, and braking glass echoed behind us. We decided to not waist any more time rushed search. As it turned out, we were wasting out time even looking in the rooms, as light from under the door stuck out in all the darkness. The problem was that it happened to be the only door locked in this hole place.

The sound of bending metal, and cracking tile got closer, and Fragment started to panic. Knocking vigorously on the door, I was worried she was going to put a hoof through it. "Any pony in there, let us in, let us in now, pleas!" She took a step back from the door, and looked at me. "I'll get it open." I just watched as she got herself into a runners position, her head low, and flank up high. Once again I found it cute, but I was also a bit worried about her hurting herself. It must be how much she looked like me now, but I came to the conclusion that I was not a bit attracted to her, she was just cute, and that was it.

Charging at the door, it opened right before Fragment hit it, sending her flying in and crashing into what ever was inside. "Ow!.. what are you, insane!" The voice sounded very familiar, and in taking a look I was surprised to see Healing Herbs on the floor, tangled with Fragment.

"Your alive?" I helped her get back on her hooves, leaving Fragment on the floor. "but how, I.. I.."

"Shot me, yes I remember that." she patted some dust off her lab cote. "Don't worry, I don't blame you from my death. I don't think I could live with myself after what she made me do. What she tricked me into doing. no I tricked myself, it's as simple as that."

The sound of metal scraping on glass was now much closer, and I quickly shut the door, Healing Herbs locked it. "We can have the pity party later. But right now we need to know if there is a way home, if you know one I mean."

The room I was in was not big, more like a small library. A small candle on a desk was the only light in the room other then my pipbuck, it flicker as though threatening to go out at any time.

Healing Herbs sat in a chair, and opened up a book with her magic. "If I were to guess, you sould just do the same thing that got you here. You teleported with the pipbuck right, well just do the same thing to get back. All you need is a signal for it to follow, but there is no grantee were you will end up on the other side. So be careful with that."

This was good news, it meant we already had half of what we needed to get out of here. "What about you? You can't stay here, Phobetor is ripping her way up here."

"I'm already dead Slowtrot. You know that, so just get out of here as soon as you can."

I shook my head. "not buying it, your here talking to me, that means you are still alive right now. So unless you can give me a better explanation to why you have to stay, I'm taking you with me."

"Fine, of you want to know why I sould stay dead, then I'll tell you." She shut her book with a slam. "I helped make the first magaspell, It was actually my healing spell that was it's core spell. I was on the team who thought it up, and we came to the conclusion that it would do nothing but good. And the worst part of it all, I was the one who convinced Fluttershy, my best friend, that we sould make it in the first place." She glared at me. "My actions I help destroy our world, and all the blame was passed to the one pony who wanted to save it." She opened her book again. "Now unless you outstanding speech to convince me that I can do better, don't try. I already tried my best, and look at were it got us."

I was a bit stunned. I realy didn't know much about Healing Herbs, and this was all a bit heavy. She was right, someone like me would have no chance to convince her to do anything she didn't want to do. "You win. But before we go, How do we get a signal?"

She looked over and glanced at the 2600 on my right leg. "Have you checked the radio function? If a portal is still open, then all you need is a radio signal to give it the direction it needs to jump through."

I sighed. "Nothing, I checked earlier, but theres nothing on the radio."

"Hmmm. We did open the a portal with a megaspell, so it sould still be lingering. Do you have a broadcaster?" I nodded. "Then theres your answer, with the brodcaster, you sould be able to force a connection, you just need to boost it with..."

"MORE MAGICAL POWER!" Fragment interrupted Healing Herbs as she shot up, standing on her two back legs. "We just need to use some magical power source to boost the broadcaster. Reach out and grab any signal it can find. Then we use the teleportation spell to get back to our world. It's quit simple when you think about it."

Healing Herbs closed her book again. "Before I didn't care, but Slowtrot, who is mare, and why dose she look like you."

Before I could answer, Fragment silenced me with a hoof in my mouth. "Names Fragment, well it's more of what I am, so I might change the name if I stop being a fragment. Simply, I'm made of some left over peaces of the souls and memory's that got left behind in the pipbuck 2600."

Healing Herbs lifted an eyebrow. "Charmed. But how do you know about boosting the broadcaster?"

Fragment grind. "Easy, I know it all from you. You're not actually Healing herbs, well you are, but just a a peace that got sherd off by the 2600. which means your like me." This actually explained why she was here, if she was like Fragment, then it would be logical that she was moving around like Fragment was.

Healing Herbs slammed her book down on her desk, the force was enough to put out her candle. "You know, never mind. I don't care to hear any more of this nonsense." Her voice was strained and quivered. "You sould just leave now, before I do more things I will regret."

"I'm sorry miss Herbs, but.."

The book flew at me, and I just ducked in time to avoid it. Fragment had scooted off to the side, avoiding Healing Herbs gaze. "Just get out, I already helped you, so go, let me die with some peace!"

"but go were, Phobetor is probably right outside the door!"

"That's not my problem, no get ou..." She hit the ground after taking a bigger book to the back of the head.

Fragment smirked, lifting Healing Herbs onto her back "Okay, now we can go."

My jaw felt like it almost unhinged itself. "Why did you do that!?"

"Cuss like I said, she's a fragment. And well, I can't just leave her here. It be like leaving a sister, or, well something like that to die."

"But why knock her out?"

She walked to the door, and flicked her tail at me. "She was being a stubborn nag." The door bulged with a violent bang. "And were taking the window!"

I was first out, finding the ledge was large enough for us to stand on. Fragment hoofed over Healing Herbs for me to carry, and joined us outside just in time as the room inside exploded. Not far from us was a fire escape. Somehow not surprisingly it only went up, as the part going down had become a bunch of twisted metal.

Phobetor followed us to the legged, the black fog somehow staying on it as it pursued us like we were pray.

"Hmm, why dose my head hurt?" Healing Herbs awoke as we we raced upstairs. I felt her hooves suddenly tighten around me "What is that!?" she lifted a hoof at pointed at what was Phobetor.

"Didn't I tell you that the nightmare was after us." Healing Herbs responded by using all four hooves to hold onto me more firmly. I pushed a harder up the stares, knowing that she wasn't going to just fall of me.

Once on the roof, I let Healing Herbs off of me, and we ran for the rooftop door. The damn thing was locked, so this time I was the one to ram the door. "One, Two, Three!" I hit the door with as much force as I could, but it did not budge. Taking a quick look, the black fog slowly pushed itself up onto the roof. "One, Two, Three!" this time I bucked the door, pushing as much force as I could muster to my back legs, and the door flew open with a bang.

Not wasting time, we all ran for it. For all her talk of excepting all this as her punishment, Healing Herbs was the first one through the door.

With the nightmare on our tails, we headed strait for the exit, practically sliding down the stairs, and flying through the halls. In the lobby, the remains of our barricade was everywhere, with the exit clear and open to us. We were getting out of here, except for one problem. Holding a flickering candle, a mare stood before us, with a black coat, main, and tail. Along with to angry gold eye's.

I slid to a stop. "Pobetor!?"

She glared at me, but its affect was not as effective as it could have bean. One of her eyes were swollen shut, and she was covered in scrapes and bruises. "Surrender Slowtrot, be my host and we can return to equestria." Her voice quivered as she talked. Before me was not the proud, and in control nightmare of an ancient era. What I saw was a mare desperately putting on an act, but too frail to fool anypony.

"What? No! Get out of our way, were running from you!"

She took a step back, looking confused at my response. "wha.. what!"

The building shook, the smell of dust and decay drifted in all around us. The floors cracked, the walls flaked, and a deep groaning could be heard from further in. The building was coming down.

"Fuck this." I didn't have time to make sense of what was going on, so I charged Phobetor. The other two following behind me closely. Phobetor actually flinched at my sudden closing in on her, dropping her candle, leaving the only light from my pipbuck. Lowering my head, I felt her belly slid over me, and with a push up she was on my back.

"When your told to go pick up a mare, I don't think that's what they meant Slowtrot." Fragment laughed as she galloped next to me.

"You said that fog was Photebor, but shes on your back right now, so what going on?." Healing Herbs shouted from my other side.

I had the same question, and knew one pony I could ask. "Fragment, you seem to know more then what your telling me, so what the fuck is going on?"

Fragment snickered. "Honestly, I don't know what that thing is. But Photebor, she's another fragment. Same as how I have a bit of you in me Slowtrot in me, the 2600 sheared off a bit of every pony here."

Wait, a peace of me! "What was that! A bit of me in you?"

Fragment pulled in ahead of the group. "You, Thorn, Healing, and Phobetor all had the 2600 on. That little bastard seems to realy like keeping souvenir of it's users."

I slid to a stop, something finally clicked, well not clicked, but a big question became clear to me. The others also stopped. Healing herbs looked worried and confused. Fragment had that cocky grin on her face she had from when I first woke up. Phobetor flank hit me in the back of the head, and she made a squeak like sound. "What the hell are you Fragment, what are you realy?"

She shrugged. "I only know as much as you... well I did, but I also now know a ton from miss Healing Herbs. Dieing with that pipbuck on imprinted a lot of you onto it. And the nightmare, in the end she was just some old mare that didn't understated anything about what she was using. So with Healings's death, some of Phobetor got imprinted into it too." She steped towards me, and tapped the 2600 on my right leg. "It's strange, I felt like I was almost gone, still there, but nearly gone. And then you put that back on. Suddenly everything was me again, but more me, a lot more me. So if I was to make an educated guess, I'm probably the 2600 itself."

"How is that possible?"

Fragment rotated her hoof. "Just think about it, it had fragments of memories and souls in it. How cold it not come to life, how could I not become something more. All I needed was an ego, and being forced out of the pipbuck, and into you did just that."

"Okay, so your the.. you were the 2600, now what?"

"Next, I absorb those two, and I leave this place."

I stood their confused and stunned. Fragment jumped forward, and hooked a hoof around the back of my neck. Phobetor suddenly felt much light on my back. Letting me go, she then jumped for Healing Herbs. looking over to see just in time, Healing Herbs crack and fall to peaces in Fragments embrace. Checking my back, Phobetor was gone as well.

I shook my head to regain my composer. "What's the point of this, you said it yourself, we would need more power to even reach out and get a signal? I don't see anything here that can help us do that!"

She laughed. "That's because your a simpleton, a fool, and not that bright." a horn formed from her head, and glowed gray. "I just need a battery with enough power to do what I need it to do." A spark of magic shot from her horn, and hit me in the chest. I felt all my strength drain from me, as I crumbled to the ground. "You will do as that battery, all you need to do is stay there, and let me do the rest.

The 2600 came to life with the sound of static. It went on until I heard a beep, which was followed by a few more beeps.

"Ahhh, there it is, a bit faint, but I can work with that." A gray glow enveloped Fragment's horn, and her pipbuck. "This is goodby Slowtrot, It was fun, but we have to go our separate ways now. Think of it this way, I'm leaving just the same way as I came into your life. Sudden and unexpected." With a pop, she was gone.

The black fog finally caught up with me, surrounding me, and doing nothing more. From my position, I could see that it didn't get any closer to were the pipbuck light touched.

I could not muster the strength to move, not for a good long time. All I had the strength to do was cry. The sound from the 2600 slowly widened down and it went dark. When I could finally move a little, the over sized pipbuck just slid off. The pipbuck was dead, and with it, my way home.

Getting up, the fog that surrounded me never closed in, and would move when I did. My only guess was that it was adverse to the light of my pipbuck lamp. So I slowly trotted off, in hopes to find something, anything.

As far as I could tell, this was a dead world, or whatever it was, it was dead. I would curses the mass that surrounded me, but every time I would make a run for it, I would see nothing but darkness passed it. There was quite literally nothing here, other then me, this weird mass that surrounded me, and the light from my pipbuck.

The time I spent wandering, I lost count. I rationed the food and drink given to me, as my pipbuck organized when I sould eat and drink to maximize how long it would last. I saved the hard pear cider for when I finally ran out.

Strangely enough, after the forth or fifth time taking a nap. I had lost count actually. The black fog had left, leaving me with nothing but the bleak landscape.

I ran out of food and drink.

Opening the fist bottle of hard cider, I chugged the content. It was good, too damn good. The other bottle I sipped, holding onto the buzz the first bottle gave me. Flipping through the radio, I got nothing but nothing. No surprise.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

I hated this, I hated it all. Hate was a strong word to me, and I hated like I never hated before. But there was nothing to hate. hating nothingness was pointless, but I hated it because it was the only thing left to hate.

I threw an empty bottle, and the sound of braking glass didn't even echo. nether did the second, or the soda bottles I smashed under hoof.

I give up.

What was the point.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

My mind finally gave way to the hunger and thirst. I was hearing the sound of music. it was a friendly sound of a guitar playing.

The voice was that of a stallion, his voice was clear, and quite good. There was the subtle use of a drum I think, it was only being used for a tapping. A piano joined it to make a fun melody. Last, a bass guitar joined in.

At this point It clicked, this was not in my head... It was my pipbuck! I didn't have much strength left in me. But I had enough to check the pipbuck.

I laughed, it hurt, but I laughed anyway. I had one half of the thing I needed to get home, and the other I left far behind me, dead in a dead world. But shit, at least I got some music to die with now.

I messed with the pipbuck, turning up the volume.

I felt it was a funny that the last song I would hear was a love song, kind of felt like life was mocking me a bit.

Turning off the radio, I took out Chekhov's Promises and looked down the barrel. It shook in my hooves grip. "It's a good thing I know one way to shoot. Ironbuck, enter S.T.A.T.'s" There was a free aiming mode for firing a gun, so I just turned it onto myself and selected entered. I had a %99 to hit, good odds.

*Bang*

"FUCKING FUCK SHIT FUCK!" It missed, it fucking missed and shot myself in the leg! Picking up the gun, I shoved it back into my bag. I seriously just gave up.

"Ironbuck, what's the damn point."

"I do not understand the question."

I plopped down, letting myself bleed out. "Ironbuck, when I die, will you suddenly become your own pony and go off on your own."

"Sir is suffering blood loss. Suggest sir seek medical attention."

"Ironbuck, there is nothing medical around, I'm going to die, and that is it."

"Activating emergency protocol. Sending sir to closest settlement. Signal found, activating one time use teleportation spell."

"Whit wha...."

"Hello Wasteland, that was the Wasteland Wailers with their song, Touch Me. This is DJ Pon3, and now I bring you that light in the dark, the news. Now I now you all are exited over the upcoming Light Bringer festival, but seriously ponies, don't drink and chariot race. There was a

nasty crash between four morons, but the good news is that no pony died, but they will have to miss out on the festival."

"In other news, Raiders have been sighted outside of old Appleloosa. I know, I know, didn't the N.C.R. get rid of all the raiders? Well they did, but this is some new group, they attack at night, and hide in the day. Troops have been sent out to deal with them, but any pony out around old appleloosa best bunker down at night, just to be safe."

"On the topic of Appleloosa, a pony fell from the sky right into New Appleloosa last night, right out of nowhere. Yes, I know a lot of you don't care if another pegasus falls out of the sky and hurt themselves, which is racist, but the odd thing is, it was not a pegasus. It was a stable dwelling earthpony if ya would believe it. Clear skies as far as any pony could see, and wouldn't you know it, crashed right onto a building run by Followers of the Apocalypse. Some luck, luck for a pony falling from the sky itself. Now I'd go and get a comment from said pony, but the good doctors say that the pony in question is currently in a coma, and will not be waking up any time soon."

And that's it for the news. And remember my little ponies, just because the water isn't dirty, dose not mean it's clean. Boil all water before use, or risk getting real sick. Now for some music...

Fallout Equestria: Stable-Tec R&D

End

Do you wish to start a new game, Y/N?

Author's Notes:

Well if you got this far, thank you for reading Stable-Tec R&D, and I'm more surprised then anyone here that I actually finished it, much less started it,

For the song Wasteland Wailers - Touch Me Thanks for the interesting, and original music, leep up the good work.

Once more I send a big thanks to Kkat for the original Fallout: Equestria this would have never existed without you.

And to anyone who want's more, keep an eye out for my next story Fallout Equestria: Chumming Waters. So until next time, fight the good fight.