Who is Zero?

Before there was a scientist… was an orphan of New Hampshore. He didn’t remembered his parents. In fact, he didn’t even remembered his own name. What he did remembered, was the city slowly dying on its own. The young colt had wandered around, not uttering a single word of what was going on. He glanced at himself… his mane were yellow with red streaks across his mane, his eyes were magenta and his coat was dark blue.

“...who am I…?” The young colt muttered softly to himself as he tried to find his own identity. The only thing he remembered was waking up with twin lanterns next to him, along with a cardboard box that makes up for a bed, with a shadowy pony figure leaving him to be.

It was unclear on how he was raised, or how he was left on his own to defend himself. Afterwards, the unnamed colt. Feeling the uncertainty of the abandonment, he looked on as he aimlessly ventured through the deprived city of New Hampshore.

Who is Zero?

He didn’t had a cutie mark. At least, not yet. But his talent surely wouldn’t be counting numbers, would it?

No. No it wouldn’t.

He hid from other ponies, intent on killing one another whenever he saw them. It was all new to him, and the dangers were all too real. He would even have to drink water as his only source of meal, all while there’s still left. He strays from food, fearing cross contamination that could’ve already killed the young earth pony.

Of course, he wasn’t a slave. He avoided ponies he could find, knowing that even their niceness can be a grave mistake. He was quite the distant fellow.

It wasn’t long before an unfamiliar pony had spotted him as the mare with both the lab coat and Stable-replica outfit spoke with a never-before-seen ‘PipBuck’, “Sir, there’s a young colt wandering around New Hampshore. Unsupervised, too. What should I do with him?”

There was static emerging from the ‘PipBuck’ before a voice spoke out, “A young colt? In New Hampshore? Where is he located in?”

“Just next to an apartment complex entrance. He’s mostly harmless, but also defenseless.”

“Then we’ll meet you there. In the meantime, go and get the colt. Guard him until we arrive, Olive Oil.” The voice of the stallion spoke to her.

Olive gave a nod, “Yes sir.” She went over to him and in return, he saw her and scooted himself a bit back cautiously.

“Erm.. wh-who are you..?” The young colt spoke out, with uncertainty running inside his mind. He was afraid that she could be a Raider, or it would be his long-lost mother.

He softly asked her, “Mom..?”

Olive Oil stopped for a moment when he asked her before letting out a soft giggle and replied to him, “No, little one. My name is Olive Oil. What’s your name?”

He didn’t felt comfortable when she spoke in a sweet tone, but he soon relaxed himself for a good moment. Unfortunately, his reply was, “I… I can’t remember my name… I don’t even know what my name was...”

Poor little colt. Unable to remember his actual name from his birth mother. Afterwards, he went quiet and flinched a bit, afraid that he’ll be hearing her harsh comments. Instead, he heard her worried reply, “Oh you poor little colt who doesn’t know his own name… do you remember where your parents are?”

She gave him a hug. A warm, motherly hug that he never had. He cried a little and his cute voice spoke out, “I don’t know where my parents are… I don’t know who they are at all…”

It seemed that he had never physically seen his parents before. Much less name their own son before they had mysteriously left and never returned to him and feared that they were likely to be dead. The young scientist mare felt pity for him, who doesn’t remember his parents or his own name. He was simply born without a name.

All she could do was to comfort him, “Ssshh… its okay. Me and my team will take you someplace safe, and away from danger. How does Lab-00 sound?”

He looked up to the colt, tears still fresh from his eyes, “‘L-Lab-00’..?”

She gave him a reassuring nod, “Mmhm! Oh! And speaking of, my scientist teammates are here.”

A duo of scientist teams, both well-armed with the state-of-the-art, military grade weapons around them, arrived with both the unnamed colt and Olive Oil.

“So, who is this young colt?” The stallion spoke to her.

“I’m… I’m not sure. He doesn’t know his own name, Starshooter…”

Starshooter was slightly surprised by this, “A young colt without a name? Where are his parents, Olive Oil?”

“He told me that he didn’t had parents… more or less likely to be dead… should we take him to our facility?”

“Blue Print, what do you think?” Starshooter asked. She glanced at him, hiding a little into Olive. He seemed to be shy, not used to encountering other ponies before. Even holding back tears, too.

She looked back at Starshooter, “He’s an orphan, sir. I don’t think he has parents. Should we take him with us? I understand our headmaster had told us to retrieve any artifacts left over for our research purposes, but its best that we should also take him with us. Its not safe for him to be out there in New Hampshore all by himself.”

He gave her an affirmed nod while Olive comforted him, “Even if it's our priority, I feel as if he could be of use to us. And I’m certain that he’ll have a bright future. But he’ll need a name. A name that will fit him quite well.”

Olive looked back at the two before glancing back at him and gently whispered his ear, “These ponies are with me, and we’re here to take you to a new home.”

He let out a surprised gasp from her words. He was offered a home. A home that he never had in a wide, wide world of Equestria has ever known.

“A-A home..?!”

“And before you start with the waterworks, we also provide proper education and food. Not to mention shelter.” Starshooter paused briefly and glanced at his lab coat sleeve, with the insignia ‘L-00’ displayed in it. Starshooter asked him, “How does ‘Zero’ sound? Not as a means of a number, but like a rookie, future scientist you’ll be. Its a hard task at first, but rest assured you will get used to it afterwards.”

But the young colt couldn’t help himself. He was crying again and he eagerly nodded to him, not even saying a word but had let him know that he was willing to join up with them and away from the treacherous area.

Of course, he did asked, “I’m… Zero..?”

Starshooter gave him an affirmed nod, “Correct. You’re now known as Zero. Don’t think of us as your parents. Think of us as your guardians. Now, let’s head back to Lab-00 with our future scientist.”

He was at a loss of words. He clung onto Olive’s hoof, not willing to let go of her as he cried quietly. But his tears weren’t from sadness, but of happiness that he didn’t have to be on his own again and with trustworthy ponies who are willing to raise him as their own. The young colt, now known as Zero, had followed them into the facility of Lab-00. Once they arrived inside a barely-working elevator shaft, it slowly lowered to the bottom floor. As the sliding doors slowly open, the inside reveals to be a fairly large number of scientist teams, young and old, trotting around doing regular research studies and students being taught in each classroom sessions.

The cafeteria was well-run and maintained, all being served with adequate meals. The other side were a large number of rooms with cots to rest up, including bathroom halls. Olive Oil giggled at him and nudged him a bit, “Do you like it here?”

Zero was incredibly shy, but nodded up to her. He gave her a soft smile… a smile that he couldn’t have done before. It felt like home already.

“Good!” Olive smiled down to him.

Starshooter looked at Zero, “We’re heading to the conference room and see the Headmaster of Lab-00. I’ll let him know your intentions.”

All he did was nod. He didn’t want to utter a single word, much less interrupt him. Olive guided him inside the conference room, where a couple of ponies including the Headmaster were present. The Headmaster turned to them, “Oh? Starshooter, have you acquired the artifacts I’ve instructed?”

“Yes, sir. We even brought the colt with us. His name is Zero.”

The scientist ponies gasped and all eyes were on him. Zero lets out a nervous gulp and scooted himself back behind Olive Oil.

“Zero? Well, in this case, present yourself!”

His response was another nervous gulp, but Olive Oil gently guided him to the Headmaster of Lab-00. Zero glanced up to the elder stallion, “So… you must be Zero, huh? What were you doing out there in New Hampshore? Then again, that’s not important. What’s important is that you’re here.”

Starshooter responded, “He’s here to learn and grow, here in Lab-00. That’s the purpose we intend to give him, Headmaster.”

The Headmaster nodded to him, “I see. Then I’m certain that this Zero will have a bright future ahead of him.” He then turned his attention to the scientists.

“Scientists! We have a new member of Lab-00! We introduce you to Zero!”

He was already overwhelmed by a fair large number of ponies who had clopped their hooves, cheering for his welcome and that they’re happy to have him as the newest member. He did what he could to hold back tears to no avail, but did leave a wave before covering his eyes with a hoof with a sniffle to go for. Olive quickly ushered him from the stands and he had already left. He floated up a copy of a book and gave it to Starshooter, “Give him this. He’ll need a head start for tomorrow’s initiation test.”

The leader nodded and retrieved the copy with his magic, “I will. I’ll take to Zero’s new room for him to read and rest up.”

After a few hours from his very first meal, Olive looked at him, “How do you like it here so far, Zero?”

“I… I like it here…! Really, I do…” Zero replied. He wasn’t used to socializing ponies before, but it felt comfortable with other scientists around him, including Olive Oil.

“Good! Now, let’s go to your new room. Starshooter left a nice surprise for you to begin tomorrow.”

With that, he willingly followed her into his new room. He was surprised at the sight, including a terminal on a table and his small lab coat and a small Stable-Tec-like outfit hung onto the rack. Next to the terminal was a book and his eye caught on with it. “Ooohh... “

Zero turned to Olive Oil, rubbing his hoof to clear up the last remaining tears with him, “Th-Thank you, Olive! It was… it was great of you!”

Olive let out a heartwarming giggle, “We do hope that you’ll stay here in Lab-00. Now, rest up. You have a big day ahead of you.”

With a nod, she left him alone inside. He grabbed onto a book and laid himself down onto the mattress. He looked at the cover title before reading the book:

And within the next day, he wore his very first outfit before quickly galloping over to a classroom and eager to pass his initial test.

“I can’t wait! Olive, wait for me!”

Of course, Olive was already inside and she wasn’t alone. All the scientist ponies, including Starshooter, Blue Print and the Headmaster were already waiting for him. His excitement screeched to a sudden halt as his ears folded back in shock, “E-Erm…”

He was still not used to having this many ponies since his recent arrival. The Headmaster told him, “Zero. You were brought here today for an initial test to prove that you have what it takes to be a future scientist like the rest of us.”

“I-I-Initial test…?!” It seems this young new scientist wasn’t expecting this.

“Yes. And we’re expecting you to not fail at this. Build a new invention to impress us.”

He was given several tools for him to tinker and build with. He’s no unicorn, but even then, the Headmaster expected him to pass the initiation test without failing or risk being deported back to the dangers of New Hampshore again.

“Okay…”

Nopony said a word at all without impeding his concentration. It was his first time. It was hard, at first. He was struggling on getting the parts together with merely his hooves, but then later used his teeth to carefully wire the components and screw them together. It was turning out to be easy, even for an ordinary earth pony. After roughly two hours, he had finally finished his very first invention; it was modelled like a pistol powered with electricity.

“Ta-da! I call it the ‘Tesla Gun’! And um… I don’t wanna fire it because umm… yeah…” He did had a point; he had never used weapons before.

“I see. In that case its as close as it can get as being an an experiment, not as an actual weapon. And for that effort, you did a wonderful job. You’re now an eligible scientist for Lab-00… Zero.”

The headmaster told him and soon they cheered for him for his efforts, even chanting his name.

The young colt giggled softly and smiled to them, crying a little but with enormous joy as he sniffled a bit, “Th-Thank you, everypony! Thank you for letting me stay here! I did what I could… really! I did! Neighkola Tesla taught me a lot and I don’t want to disappoint you guys…”

And thus, Zero was born.

Author's Notes:

Not counting as a chapter, but rather, a focus depicting on Zero's history before the Prologue took place. Like an introduction you'd find in the original FoE, but directly to the protagonist himself of how he became a scientist and how the situation of New Hampshore would deteriorate and become much more dangerous as years went by (which then comes the Prologue).

Prologue: Three Years...

Equestria had been restored. Free from the great war that claimed hundreds of lives from warring factions, the land of Equestria has been freed from evil. Although, not all of Equestria have been fully restored. Different parts of Equestria face similar yet equal challenges that pits any surviving ponies into deadly tasks or die trying. While any living citizens of Equestria have undergone slow restoration of ponykind, from Ponyville to Canterlot, others were still suffering. The eastern side of Equestria had seen abysmal improvements, with few being left to deteriorate for years since then.

The Ponyunion Council were left powerless, as the majority of its members have left due to the uncertainty that’s still plaguing the other side of Equestria. Only three of its supranational members were left remaining; Germaneigh, Prance and Itrotly. Despite their best efforts, they were on a brink of fully disbanding after a recent occupation of the northern region of Itrotly. All was nearly lost, and they were unable to provide additional assistance. They had also cut off their funds from their allies, as bits declined significantly.

Hidden within the dreads of New Hampshore is Lab-00, a secret facility housed by highly-trained scientists to provide research studies in hopes to create new inventions. Or even the possibility of creating a cure. The facility was also known to provide hospitality and care among other war-torn ponies, in exchange for proper education and work to maintain the facility of Lab-00.

Lab-00 was also home to one of the most renowned pony scientists ever. Zero was his name, an earth pony scientist in hopes of bringing the light to Equestria. Today, we bring you the journey of an ordinary scientist pony...

Author's Notes:

Purely non-canon. Its set three years after the events of the Afterword, totaling up to 13. You'll get the reference from the number.

Chapter One: Every Scientist's Day

BEEEEP!

“Dr. Zero. You are needed at the Research Lab. Dr. Zero to the Research Lab.”

The speaker of an intercom spoke out above the wall, the sound of a mare in need my assistance as my sleepy ears picked up her words of appointments. Reluctantly, I slumped out of the bunk after hours of my last night’s recent experiments, barely losing my balance in the process. I quietly grumbled before trotting over to retrieve my lab coat, with the insignia ‘L-00’ on both sleeves, from the coat hanger, sliding my forelegs into the sleeves of my coat before exiting my room.

“Just another day.” I whispered to myself.

Looking left whilst making my way to the Research Lab consisted of other scientist ponies working on experiments, such as studying scrap metals and creating drug materials from different liquid substances with chemistry kits, protective goggles and all. Looking right I saw older scientists educating younger ponies concerning safety hazards and familiarizing with objects, some taking down notes to clipboards. I myself can’t seem to get at least a three-hour break. Its every scientist’s day.

I opened the door inside the Research Lab.

“Something you need, Olive Oil?”

I bluntly asked to the elder, olive yellow-coated mare. Unicorn, perhaps. I haven’t gotten much sleep from last night’s experimental studies. My overall mood affected as well before having to rub my hoof against my tired eyes to regain focus. I trotted over to the table she is sitting behind, waiting for her to wow me with the latest technology ponykind has made. Or just present me with the same invention as always. Olive Oil faced her attention to the drawer, focusing her magic to slide it open to retrieve the object. Same invention, I assume?

“Behold! The PipBuck 1000!” Olive beamed, floating up a compact-sized PipBuck.

I had mixed reactions from my tired gaze of the PipBuck 1000 she had shown. My mind was overjoyed at the sight of the unique device, but at the same time… it looks obsolete from its appearance. Past its prime, no less.

I stifled a yawn before asking the elder Olive. “PipBuck 1000? Is this our newest invention?” I asked.

“Indeed so, Dr. Zero! Our team found this in a state of disrepair during their research hunt in New Hampshore and it wasn’t able to normally function. Thankfully, we spent months repairing and restoring it to its former glory and there you have it; the PipBuck 1000!”

Hearing her explanation about the full restoration of a vintage PipBuck had me smiling a little, amid from my lack of proper rest. At least my team did a wonderful job at discovering our latest invention Lab-00 has offered us. Come to think of it, I wonder what the outside of this facility looked like? Surely they wouldn’t be travelling outside without safety and I’d feel bad if they weren’t back in one piece. It’s a wonder of what scientists are capable of. Me? I mostly reside in my bedroom, doing experimentations without interruptions…

...Which was short-lived. My rumbling stomach calls for breakfast as I gently pressed my hoof against it.

“Well, Olive. I thank you for presenting the PipBuck to me, so I’ll be--”

“Wait! Before you go, I want you to wear the PipBuck 1000, Dr. Zero.”

Olive interrupted me. A small spark fired up in my tired heart. I turned my head a bit to face her as I was heading for the door. The latest invention ever created, now a gift for me?

“For… me? Are you sure, Olive? I know I’ve done collaborative work for the team, but…”

I was at a loss of words.

“I’m sure. You’ve earned it.” She gave me a generous smile.

Turning around to face her the second time, it felt like a spark ignited with joy inside me before trotting to her. I extended my left hoof to her for the classic PipBuck to become attached around my hoof. I hear it hiss open before it was firmly placed onto my hoof, feeling it seal itself around me. My ears picked up beeping noises as the monitor is displayed, indicating my overall status and burden. I felt like a Stable Dweller already.

“Thank you very much, Olive Oil! It was appreciated!”

With optimism and excitement, the PipBuck 1000 is one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art ponykind has ever invented! Oh, how wonderful!

“I must head to the cafeteria now. My stomach’s becoming too weary for a proper meal. Again, thank you for the wonderful reward, Olive. It means a lot for you and our team.” I turn around to face the door as to make the exit from the Research Lab. I paused again before turning my head to face the elder mare for a second time.

“By the way. Just call me Zero.” It would’ve sounded rude, but the ‘Dr.’ name was getting a little silly for me. I’m a scientist, not a surgeon.

Nevertheless, Olive gave a heartwarming smile.

“Sure... Zero.”

Cafeteria. And the line was long. Longer than waiting for your next turn for a daily check-up with minutes ticking away. At least our team hadn’t protested regarding the unicorn chefs’ slow and steady cooking, but my rumbling stomach isn’t helping my patience, clutching my hoof around it in an attempt to silence it. Seeing other mares and stallions at the line I’m in, they were also clutching their hungry bellies, wondering if their meals are ready for consumption. Looking at a dining table, only a few number of them were eating fruits and vegetables. The bright yellow-coated, orange-colored mane, Solar Eclipse, is there having her meal. I had an envious look to the young, unicorn mare.

Goddess dammit, I should’ve been there first! My mind protested, ironically.

“Blueberry!”

My ears perked up and turn my head to the left to see the steel grey-colored, black, messed-up mane and tail, none other than Carbon Monoxide. I frowned from the word ‘Blueberry’.

“I’m Zero, not Blueberry, Carbon. My coat resembles nothing like a blueberry.” I reiterated to him to get his senses together. Either he hasn’t eaten like I have, or his hyperactive behavior clearly mislead me to either a different pony or a common fruit.

Carbon shrugged with a (failed) humorous chuckle, “Chillax, bro. I know its you. It’s just how I normally behave. Aside from a few mishaps back in chemistry class when we were foals.”

Not amused.

As the chef ponies goes to check the storage room to survey any available foods left over for our empty stomachs, Carbon took notice of my old, yet functioning PipBuck attached to my left hoof. “Yo, Zero. Is that a PipBuck? It looks old fashioned!” He was surprised at the sight. Old fashioned indeed. “Damn… I’m quite jealous of you! I wish I can get a PipBuck myself!” Carbon is now many silly fantasies over a PipBuck. I seriously doubt find a PipBuck for yourself would be easy. Much less invent them unless you have enough scraps of metal and electronics.

Nevertheless, I lightly chuckled to my fellow pegasus stallion. “One day, Carbon Monoxide. One day.”

One of the chefs in the kitchen informed us that there’s enough food inside for a good couple of weeks for us to maintain ourselves. The team stamp their hooves happily on the floor from hearing the good news. As the line went on smoothly and their dragon-like stomach rumbles lessened, the kitchen ponies announced their apologies for their inconveniences.

All was forgiven.

As the less-than-hungry ponies have their meals, normal conversation ensued inside the dining hall. Me and Carbon sat down on the dining table to finally have our normal breakfast, Carbon feasting on like a ferocious Cragadile; table manners are thrown out the window. Solar Eclipse, having finished eating herself, took notice on the stallion’s voracious eating habits. She approached us with a small smirk from her lips.

“Hello, boys.”

Her voice was a combination of Lightning Dust with Spitfire mashed together into one. Carbon was about to speak (with his mouth full) before she pressed her hoof against his food-covered lips, “Don’t talk with your mouth full, bucko.”

Carbon nodded insistently before swallowing up his chewed food. Solar turned her attention to me.

“Hey, Zero. Hope things are going well, amid having to hear thunderous sounds of rumbling bellies.” She lets out a soft giggle at her comment.

I calmly swallowed my food, “One of the chef ponies claimed that they’re having food shortages. We’re almost left to suffer from low amounts of foods for our daily breakfast. Glad that’s over with. Goddess only knows what would’ve happened.”

“All’s well that ends well.” She replied with assurance. As I continued to eat pieces of apples, I presented her my PipBuck 1000 attached to my hoof. Her reaction was, “Sweet Celestia! Is that the earliest version of the PipBuck?!”

“Yep. The team had worked months restoring this beauty back to its former glory. A classic, don’t you think? Olive Oil gave it to me as a gift.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I was expecting her jealousy be incited. What I got instead, was her forelegs wrapped around me, “Congratulations, Zero!”

Apart that I haven’t done any major contributions among Lab-00 or joining up with them in New Hampshore, I guess having recognition for my experience as a scientist has gotten everypony viewing me well. At least that’s what they’ve been saying. Speaking of, I wonder what New Hampshore is like?

I looked at the two, Carbon having finished his rather messy meal before asking them, “So, what are the plans this afternoon?”

Solar was the first to reply, “Starshooter will inform us later on to give us a mission regarding artifacts for research purposes in New Hampshore.. Should be simple enough, though its best that we would go in larger groups this time.”

Then Carbon, “With me around, I can kick Diamond Dogs’ asses and make th--”

“I’ll go with Solar’s explanation, Carbon. Thank you, regardless.” I interrupted. The last thing I’ll be hearing his latest fantasy story is rampaging squirrels. Carbon wasn’t amused of being interrupted, but it’ll teach him something before calling me Blueberry.

Back in my room now, I took a satisfied sigh onto the chair in front of my terminal on the desk, with my small chemistry set on the right and the bunk on the left. I began typing down current events from my journal with the tips of my forelegs.

Journal Entry #3

“Apart from my rude awakening today, I was given the oldest PipBuck in Equestria by a fellow scientist Olive Oil. Hard to believe it was still functional after months of renovation, and to top it off she gave me the PipBuck 1000 to me as a gift. Like an early birthday present, too! Besides the PipBuck 1000, Lab-00 has its pros and cons; its pros are providing ponies shelter and offer them work and studies to earn experience, with accommodations for them to reside. Furthermore, any objects in possession are used for research purposes. As for cons? Well, just today while at the cafeteria we had word about food shortages by the kitchen staff and that nearly brought hysteria within Lab-00. Thank goddess it was just a false alarm or hell would’ve broke loose already. At least things were calm and peaceful inside overall, apart from being called Blueberry by Carbon Monoxide. As funny as it sounded, I wasn’t amused at the slightest. Anyway, I received word regarding scavenging artifacts in New Hampshore, but larger groups this time. I wasn’t sure if there were dangers in New Hampshore; not that I’m aware of. I’ll see how this is going for my team.”

Journal done. And to my surprise, my PipBuck 1000 picked up the data of my written journal just as I had closed my terminal.

Neat! I re-opened the terminal for my device to pick up my two previous journals; the PipBuck did the job by acquiring both of my previous journals.

I leaned back against the chair, stretching my hooves as to finally earn my relaxation…

BEEEEP!

...Or not.

The voice of a deep-voiced stallion spoke via the speakers (and outside of my room).

“This is Starshooter, informing everypony for today’s important meeting. All scientists are required to meet at the Conference Room for the mission in ten minutes and await further instructions. I repeat, this is Starshooter, informing everypony for today’s important meeting. All scientists are required to meet at the Conference Room for the mission in ten minutes and await further instructions.”

Groan. Well, there goes my break. If this mission is more important than relaxing and letting my mind wander, so be it.

At least now my tired mind is awake and alert.

Making my exit from my room, ponies were already heading to the Conference Room. Seems I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t able to catch a break and they weren’t too satisfied from Starshooter’s announcement. Lab-00 had very little breaks, only four hours of sleep per day before having to wake up for eat and study for the purposes of discovering new inventions in Equestria. As rewarding as it looked, its purely demanding.

The posters taped on two front doors that lead to the Conference Room inside was ‘WORK HARD’ and pictures depict a gruff, male construction pony with yellow hard hats and orange vests. I guess this Lab has plenty more to offer us.

Once we were inside, me and other ponies took their seats facing in front of Starshooter standing on the podium. Despite his wrinkles from his silver coat and ragged sky blue mane and tail, he was still strong-hearted. His cutie mark depicted a shooting star on his flanks. Calm and collected, he awaited patiently until everypony are seated, the conversations becoming quiet now for him to make his speech regarding of our mission objective.

Starshooter cleared his throat to begin his speech.

“I thank you all for joining me for an important mission. We are gathered here today for the search of rare artifacts located within New Hampshore for the purpose of future research and developments. We’ve also gotten word about food shortages earlier today, but turned out to be a false alarm. Nevertheless, food shortages creates problems in Lab-00 so collecting food within New Hampshore is vital for our well-being. Furthermore, due to unprecedented events of one of my teams injured during the search, you will now be going in experienced groups this time. We cannot have our members coming back injured.”

The head scientist stallion displayed a black chalkboard consisting a map depicting New Hampshore.

“Blue Print, if you may.” Starshooter instructed the young, cyan mare. Her identity was mostly concealed due to her overall lab outfit, goggles and all as she floated up the chalk. I’d assume that her cutie mark would be a blueprint, hence her name.

He resumed his explanation, as she began drawing the details from the chalkboard.

“We will have three different groups from three to six different ponies, based on their experiences. These are; Recon, Scavenger, and Supplier. The Recon teams are responsible for monitoring any suspicious activity that is taking place outside of Lab-00. If this occurs, then danger must be deterred as for the two teams safely search and collect supplies and artifacts alike. Secondly, the Scavenger teams are responsible for search and retrieve any valuable artifacts in New Hampshore for experimental purposes. Lastly, the Supplier teams are tasked to retrieve food and medicine to ensure survivability of our team.”

As Starshooter finished explaining, he turned his attention to Carbon who fell asleep while giving out details regarding team groups. He stamped his hoof to the floor to wake the sleeping Carbons up, having grown weary of his constant laziness. Not to mention his cockiness that resulted in near-fatal accidents that could’ve resulted in more than a fire hazard in Lab-00. He told Carbon with a stern tone, “Mr. Carbon! I hope I had not bored you with the crucial details I’ve given to them regarding this important mission, or the last thing you’ll get is your license revoked.”

He was suddenly awoke by Starshooter after his unexpected nap. I worriedly looked on to him, fearing for his status to be ousted in Lab-00. Solar, on the other hoof, face-hooved. Even she couldn’t stand him just falling asleep during his explanation of the mission.

“S-Sorry, headmaster! Won’t happen again!”

His exaggerated smile would surely get him terminated on the spot. Starshooter let out a snort, “Very well, then. But know this will be your final warning, Carbon Monoxide.”

You’re better off working at a rock farm, Carbon. I thought.

“Yes sir! Won’t happen again, sir!”

Carbon did a hesitant salute to him, leaving him to a dismayed groan.

“Now before we conclude this meeting, we’ll be giving you weapons and headsets. These will allow you to ward off any danger you’ll encounter and to communicate with your teammates.”

He turned his attention to me, “Zero, you will lead the group under the Scavenger category. You’re with Solar Eclipse and Carbon Monoxide.”

Sweet! Even if Carbon is a slacker, I believe he’ll be a worthy team. He’ll even scout the area for us in the air! Me, Solar and Carbon hoof-bumped at each other.

“Well, Zero. You’ll be leading the way! You have your PipBuck 1000 in your hoof, don’t you think?” Solar giggled to me after commentating about my role as a leader. Normally, I wanted her to be the leader.

Carbon pumped his forelegs in the air with sheer determination.

“Aww yeah! I get to kick some ass in mid-air!”

Meanwhile, Starshooter listed out their names under two categories. We sat back and listened on. Afterwards, we were given weapons, medical kits and PipWalkers for our upcoming mission.

“Scientists! Its time for a lunchbreak. Once finished, we will be at the elevator shaft and proceed with your missions. Dismissed!” He concluded the meeting about the objectives we were instructed to do. We left the Conference Room and headed to the cafeteria for our quick lunch.

Starshooter and several staff ponies were awaiting our arrival. Me, Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse were waiting as ponies from groups Recon and Supplier entered the open elevator shaft that leads up to New Hampshore. Up next is the Supplier team as the elevator shaft slowly descended; it was quite old and worn, but still functioned normally. Once the Supplier team got in, we were next to set out on our mission. Carbon was armed with a hunting rifle and a couple of ammo bags strapped around his torso, while Solar has her yellow medical bag stamped with three pink butterflies onto it. I myself am simply armed with my gifted PipBuck 1000 around my left hoof. Go figure.

The gate slid open once the rickety elevator shaft arrived, and us to make our way inside for our important mission: retrieve rare artifacts for the purpose of research and study.

“Best of luck to you, Scavenger team.” Starshooter gave us a salute. Me and Solar returning the gesture, with Carbon staring at an open shaft entrance.

I heed no mind to Carbon’s antics, and we made our way inside as the gate closed behind us. The elevator shaft let out a “whirrr” noise, crawling us up from Lab-00. I look at her with a soft smile and said, “I didn’t know you’re into tending the injured.”

Solar replied, “I’m not just a student. I learned a couple of instructions on treating wounds, be it major or minor. Let’s just say I was a book worm like you are, Zero.”

I was given a teasing gesture with a tongue stuck out from her lips. I laughed a little at her reply, not like Carbon’s forced humor while waiting at the line for our meal.

“Carbon, as your leader, you’ll have to set your humor aside and gear up. Starshooter gave us the objective, to retrieve artifacts and return to Lab-00 afterwards. Got it?”

Now I sound just like Sharpshooter. Calm and collected, but stern and enforced.

He gave us a (belated) salute, “Yes, sir!”

I smiled a bit from his burst of confidence. We turned to face the sealed doors as the shaft grinds to a halt. This is it. Our first mission. The automated doors swung open, revealing us the outside world curiosity had been poking in my head one-hundred times and counting. As the doors opened, we got a brief glare from the blinding sunlight and we covered our eyes with our hooves as to prevent damage from the goddess-damned solar rays. (Not referring to Solar Eclipse, of course.)

As we stepped out of Lab-00 from the elevator shaft, my PipBuck 1000 gave me a notification. I pulled up my hoof and took a glance at the screen.

New Hampshore.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Brown Muzzle -- You’ve learned how to suck up to your superiors. You get +1 Charisma and another +10 speech for reaction roles when dealing with authority figures for each rank of this perk.

Zero’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:

Strength - 3
Perception - 5
Endurance - 4
Charisma - 3
Intelligence - 8
Agility - 4
Luck - 2

Chapter Two: First Mission

Ruins.

Skyscraper buildings may have remained intact, but the same can’t be said for the rest of New Hampshore. Many buildings were destroyed, most of the abandoned stores were the result of lootings. The air was also smoggy and hard to breathe. It was like breathing through all kinds of shit that’ll make you heave so much, you’ll be skipping meals to save your wailing stomach. I’ll admit though, the air isn’t too bad if you’re used to polluted environments. With that said, it's become a hollow shell. Who knows if anypony are still alive in a former, bustling city?

Up ahead, a large statue depicting Sapphire Shores still stood tall despite the fadings and cracks. Sadly, it was left vandalized with various spray tags, some which ‘modified’ her face in a derogatory manner. Whoever did such a heinous act deserved to have their third asshole ripped a new one.

As we traversed throughout the streets in search for items, I instructed Carbon to scout around in the air, “Carbon, check and see if you find any artifacts inside from the windows of each building.”

“Aye aye, Captain Zero!”

Again with his optimistic behavior, but nonetheless watched Carbon sprout his wings and flew up in the air towards the first window. So far, all he could find inside were rubble and debris. I looked up while Solar adjusted her medical bag around her waist so it won’t slip off.

“Find anything yet?”

He shook his head, looking down to me, “Not yet, Zero! I’m gonna check the second one!”

I carefully trotted towards Carbon’s direction. Street pavements were quite uneven to navigate around, some which have small fissures that could stop me in my tracks. Solar followed me, also treading carefully as I looked to him, “Slow down a little! The pavement’s a little impassable for us to get through.”

Following my orders, he did stopped just as he was going to arrive at the second building. He watched us carefully navigating through uneven terrain, while I was unfortunate enough to scrape my right hind leg against the jagged edges of the concrete.

I winced in pain from feeling my coat and skin cut open from it, “Gah! Goddess damnit…”

We were almost to the sidewalk anyway, even though it was strewn with cracks and rubble (at least they were even and safe to walk). She turned to see my hindleg drawing blood trickling down, her concerned expression looking on.

“Geez. Talk out bad luck, eh?”

Tell me about it. Life can be a total bitch if you’re already starting a mission with an open wound to go for.

I arrived at the sidewalk, as my PipBuck got a notification. Right now, I laid down onto the ground, presenting my wounded hind-leg for her in order to treat a minor cut I just got. Still hurts like hell, though.

Solar levitated her yellow medical bag and opened the case. Inside, she bad bandages, dressings and a single bottle of Heal Potion to treat wounds. Sadly, they’re limited and the other ponies from the Supplier team had already went in a different direction to retrieve any medicine still available and its highly unlikely that they’ll be meeting us to treat our own wounds during our progress. And even with help won’t be enough; their own objective was to deliver medical equipment to Lab-00. But, I digress.

As my wounded hind-leg was easily tended, Solar told me, “For a smart pony, navigation doesn’t seem to be your forté.”

My painful wound was easily treated. I have to admit, I’m not used to navigating through terrain like the street pavement before.

“You know what the old saying goes, Solar. Every journey begins with a single step, and it includes getting your leg cut by a damn pavement.”

Me and Solar exchanged a friendly laugh as Carbon looked on with a bored sigh. He gazed his sights at the shattered window from the third floor, his eyes suddenly glistened at the sight of a shiny object inside. After my wound was treated with a bandage wrapped, it was highlighted bright red but nothing too major. We looked up and saw Carbon gone.

She turns on her PipWalker from her wrist to speak, “Carbon, where are you? Over.”

There was brief silence.

Small static noise erupted in her PipWalker. We wondered if it was Carbon trying to channel through his own PipWalker. Then, his voice.

“Hello? Is this thing working? It feels like I’m trying to flip a channel through a television monitor! Anyway, I found a shiny, metal piece. I’d show it to you two, but I’m dealing with giant, nasty-ass roaches scurrying inside. They probably guarding it like as if it was treasure. But don’t worry about me, I can handle ‘em!”

We let out a relieved sigh from hearing him who is still there and alive, thankfully. Go and kick some roach ass, Carbon!

Inside a roach-infested room, Carbon stamped onto them before hy had any chance of take a bite out of him.

SQUISH! SQUASH! SQUELCH!

All ten RadRoaches were left in bloody, sticky yet foul mess. He looked like a complete mess with his lab coat stained, but still approached to a metallic and futuristic-lie artifact. He grabbed it with his teeth before letting out a muffled, “Woo-hoo!”

Down below, we waited for his return. We looked up to see Carbon fly down with a metallic artifact held onto his mouth. Initially, we cheered for his exceptional efforts in finding our first artifact that could be useful for our facility. Upon landing however, his stench was so goddess-damned awful! What the hell was he bathing when we first left?!

I quickly covered my muzzle with a hoof, as Solar did the same. Carbon puts down the artifact he found onto the ground before taking a look at himself, smiling innocently at us.
“What? I least I found the artifact for Starshooter! Besides, its not like he’d expect me to face off a monstrous Cragadile, right?”

I for one would beg to differ. No artifact would be worth it if all he could’ve done was to retrieve it without having to deal with numerous RadRoaches! Egad, the smell!

Solar replied with a muffled, angry tone, “Damnit, Carbon! You smell like rotten apples! And look what you’ve done to your suit!”

I looked at her, “We’ll have to take him somewhere to have him cleaned up, as well as his suit. The last thing he’s going to get when we return to Lab-00 is a hard banishment to the Sun.”

Solar didn’t comment, but nodded in response. They don’t call him Carbon Monoxide for nothing, only it looks like he’s had an affair with the Diamond Dogs!, my mind responded regarding Carbon’s questionable hygiene.

We arrived at the Sapphire Fountains that is surrounded by the dilapidated city, taking careful inspection to check the radiation levels. I told Carbon to keep his distance due to his foul odor from hoof stomping RadRoaches. Solar had kept the first artifact inside her medical bag for safekeeping. Soft clicking noises are heard from the PipBuck, showing only +1 Radiation. Not really lethal, so long as Carbon doesn’t stay too long in the murky waters. Solar took off his stained coat with magic before Carbon took a dive on the fountain, cleaning himself from the filth of RadRoaches. I take back on cheering for Carbon’s ‘pest control’.

“Come on in, you guys! The water’s fine!”

We’ll pass.

I looked back at my bandaged hind-leg, the wound already healed easily. I look at Solar, who is washing Carbon’s stained lab coat as she let out a disgruntled sigh. I can’t blame her for her reaction after his unwanted combat against the RadRoaches. As big as they were, they’re also disgusting to look at.

She shot up a glare at him, “Next time you’re stepping on RadRoaches, you’d be wishing you’d get gangbanged by them too!”

Even though Carbon gave no fucks about it and swam along the slightly irradiated fountain, I let out a small chuckle at her comments. Quite amusing.

“Solar, once he’s finished bathing himself, we’ll need to continue on for more artifacts.”

She nodded at me, “Yeah. Once Carbon cleans himself, we’ll proceed. For now, we’ll have to wait until he and his lab coat are cleaned up.” Carbon was of course, relaxing onto the water without ever noticing its irradiated contents. I pray that he doesn’t get a fifth leg. Or a third eye.

Once he and his lab coat were cleared of RadRoach fluids, he got out of the fountain and shook himself dry. We were a little wet, but at least Carbon got his shower. Solar floated the lab coat to him, “Wear it, and goddess dammit stay out of combat for once!”

He wore his coat, rolling his eyes at her resentments.

“Fiiine, fiiine.”

Displaying a bit of leadership, I looked at the two.

“Let’s move on, team. His shower’s more than enough, so we need to find more before it gets dark. We’ll also need to find any refreshments available along the way.”

We continued to traverse within the ruined buildings, scanning around as we saw several places of interests either looted or destroyed. Along the way, barely functioning neon lights were lit. It read as ‘SAP RE SA O’. I would assume ‘Sapphire Salon’. Up ahead is a deserted café (it didn’t had a name. Or it had a name, but the letters are gone due to an uneventful destruction); benches and tables were broken off. And…

...Skeletal ponies. We cringed at the sight. Carbon, however, “Whoa. What the hell happened to them?”

I shuddered a bit at the sight, with Solar watching in shock.

“They’re ponies, Carbon. Or what’s left of them anyway…”

I shook my head to forget about the horrible sight and cleared my throat before ordering them, “Let’s locate any remaining artifacts in this area, or find any available food and water to find. Use your PipWalkers to keep in touch.”

We split up; Carbon flew in a small café while Solar trotted inside an abandoned salon. We were a bit farther away, but I ordered them to stay up to date. I entered in a cramped alleyway in a search for any artifacts available. As foul-stenched it was, my PipBuck had detected no signs of radiation. Rats scurried into small cracks and under dumpsters upon noticing my presence. No luck so far.

Meanwhile with Carbon inside the rundown café, he took a glance at rotted chairs and stools on the tables. Seeing more skeletal ponies inside, he was wise enough to not make jokes around dead ponies he’d find. Looking over at a fridge, he’d wonder what’s inside. Hoping not moldy apples, or sentient sandwiches upon opening the fridge door. A hoof-ful of Sparkle-Cola bottles and three fresh applies to go for, “Jackpot!”

Inside the Sapphire Salon, Solar took a glance at the ruined interior while searching for any artifacts available within the area. A small static erupted from her PipWalker as she lifted her hoof at it to speak, “Hello?”

Carbon’s voice is heard inside the speaker, “Come in, guys! I just found food and beverages to keep our hunt going!”

Me and Solar cheered Carbon for his successful efforts. She replied, “We’ll regroup there. Stay where you are.”

I replied also, “Roger that. Carbon, collect any foodstuffs you find that are safe to eat.”

Looking around deep inside the alley, I sure have gotten myself lost from finding anything valuable. Not to mention the claustrophobic feeling to sum it up. I turned around to the same direction I’m facing and trotted off to regroup with the two. My PipBuck didn’t detect any living ponies or being so far. It feels like I’m being cramped in some common closet. Egad, the smell! (Not as bad as Carbon’s actions against these miscreant bugs, at least.)

As dark and gloomy the atmosphere is, I heed no mind to it. Regrouping the two is my top priority.

Me and Solar Eclipse regrouped inside the café where he’s already collected enough fresh Sparkle-Cola bottles left in the fridge, as well as some carrots and pears. For once, Carbon did a good job scavenging for items should we continue to trek along the ruined city for more artifacts to collect. He may be a jokester and a slacker, but sometimes gets the job right.

Solar had stored the collected items inside her medical bag before closing it up. She looked at us, “Shall we go, then?”

We both nodded and left the unnamed café and continued on.

My PipBuck gave me a warning; a red blip is shown inside the radar, “Whoa, hold up guys! We got a hostile!”

Carbon immediately armed his rifle and flew up in mid-air, scanning around for any nearby threat.

Carefully lifting up my PipBuck, I looked around from left to right. Nothing so far. Maybe under a manhole?

I looked at Solar and asked her, “I assume its in the sewers?”

“No. And even so, we can’t risk getting ourselves dirty. And we don’t know if its down there, so its probably your PipBuck glitching.”

She’s probably right. And even if its not glitched, we don’t know what’s down there due to low visibility. Furthermore, only he is armed and ammunition is rudimentary at best.

I instructed my team, “Alright, let’s move on. We need to find more artifacts before sundown.”

We moved on for the search of artifacts and if possible, more food and drinks. As we searched around, my PipBuck gave me the same warning of a hostile nearby but quickly dismissed it. If its a glitch, then I’ll have it fixed when we’re done. A shadowy figure slowly emerges from the manhole, the same manhole we spotted but Solar dismissed it due to uncertain conditions below. His only appearance, was his concealed goggles that hid his identity as he looked on.

.

“Let’s set up camp under the bridge. Should be safe.”

No luck in finding anymore artifacts so far. At least we’ll have a decent meal and a few hours of relaxing, as Solar floated out some fruits and a carrot. She kept the carrot to herself, but gave us apples and pears for us to eat. Warm, but tasty. The skies were slowly ascending into darkness, but we still have the time to search and retrieve. If not, we’ll rest up somewhere and safely return to our facility the next day. We talked and joked while having a meal. It was a normal conversation, even if Solar is still peeved at Carbon’s antics.

All three of us had finished our meal, with cold and refreshing Sparkle-Cola floated to us before opening up the bottle caps.

Holding the bottle with my hoof, I spoke out, “A toast to our first, successful mission we have done so far for Lab-00.”

We clinked our Sparkle-Cola bottles as we spoke in unison, “Together!”

All three of us drank the bottles. A warning blip from my PipBuck came up, indicating a very small increase of Radiation. They were still safe to drink, refreshing too!

I kept a bottle cap inside, glancing to it as if it represents good luck. We disposed our fully-eaten fruits and empty bottles, our rest sufficient enough for us to continue.

“Alright team. Let’s continue.”

The three of us left the the bridge underneath and resumed our search for rare artifacts to collect and experiment. The wind let out a gentle breeze, with debris in front of us blowing aside. Posters of Sapphire Shores were barely holding together against the walls, one which has half of her head torn apart. Traversing along cracked sidewalks weren’t as bad compared to walking on broken, uneven street pavements. A small piece of paper hit my hoof as I looked down at it, picking it up out of curiosity.

“Hm?”

It read:

Turn around and leave.

Okay? The writing was horrid anyway as I threw the paper away for the breeze to take it before the two would notice what I was reading. I’ll ‘leave’ when me and my team has collected enough for our return. What’s to prevent our mission anyway?

Aside from a completely, collapsed building blocking our path. Carbon looked at us with a groan, “Well godess dammit. Where do we go now?”

I looked at Solar who is finding an alternative route for us. Wonderful thinking, Solar! I looked at him and motioned my head, instructing him to follow her. I followed them both.

She found an open door of a partially collapsed building inside. A derelict shopping centre. I gave her a smile.

“Nice find, Solar!” I commended her before we carefully trotted inside. Most of the districts were buried, some infested with rodents and moths chewing away clothes. Up ahead, a giant statue resembling Sapphire Shores herself remained intact as we reached the center of the derelict shopping mall. Of course, the statue leaned against the stairs and did enough damage to block any form of exit or entrance.

Then, more red blips appeared in my radar. Five of them. I quickly looked at the two, “Quick, hide!”

We hid and even if Carbon wanted to engage in combat, we saw at least five ‘normal’ ponies (or at least they are indeed ponies, but my PipBuck told me otherwise) wandering around next to an electronics store. We heard comments, each swearing at each other. We heard sounds of physical beatings as we winced.

The tattered, dark brown and maroon-maned unicorn stallion yelled at the dark green and bright yellow-maned earth stallion after having beaten him up, “You little shit! If you’re snitching us at siding with the Western Raiders, you’d best hope I don’t toss you into the snake pit so our pet cobras will feast on you like yesterday’s buffet! Got it?!”

“Y-Yes, Mr. Venom, sir…” The beaten stallion spoke out. He received smarmy responses by other ponies with insulting laughters before Venom hushed them.

He spoke out, “Cobras! Let’s keep on finding stuff to steal for ourselves, but if any of you pinheads ever do something stupid by siding with the Raiders,” He floated out a menacing looking pistol as he pointed at the beaten and unnamed earth pony.

A gunshot rang out as it echoed (a pistol I presume), much to our surprise and shock. I looked at my PipBuck; there were four now which means he shot his own kind.

Venom glared at the other three, having shot the same pony he had beaten up. Regardless of what he said, the pony’s unfortunate fate has been sealed. He resumes telling them, “This is what you’ll end up like. Understood?!”

I turned to Carbon and motioned him to keep himself hidden and not engage any combat. Even with his rifle, I was afraid that neither he nor us would be able to last against them. He had no choice but to reluctantly hide, which is understandable as it seemed. Solar looked on in shock, as I let out a shuddering sigh as to forget what we have witnessed. I could go for another drink right about now, and not counting Sparkle-Colas. We watched them trot off, leaving their dead pony to fester.

“Alright team… let’s move.” I told the three after the unexpected events and my PipBuck clear of red blips, but Solar still stood there in shock. I went to her and wrapped a hoof around her neck to trot with her. I can’t blame her after witnessing a horrifying sight, but we’ll have to keep moving if we’re going to collect and return to our facility ASAP. And maybe have a drink with her and Carbon afterward to forget everything we saw.

He winced at the sight of a dead, beaten and now shot pony. Even if he committed those crimes, he didn’t deserve to die in a grisly manner. I looked at him and shook my head, “Best to leave him be. No artifact is worth getting if he has it with him. Go check inside the store and search for anything that’s valuable. I’ll go and comfort Solar.”

Without a word, Carbon slowly trotted inside the electronics store as I gently guided Solar to a bench where the large statue is. I sat down with her, and gave her a soft hug.

“Its alright, Solar. After this, we’re heading back to Lab-00 and convince Starshooter that we’re better of working inside. Okay?”

I saw Solar on the verge of crying, but nodded as she returned the hug to me. I gently stroked her back with my foreleg to console her. I know our mission was gonna go smoothly, but we weren’t expecting something like this just right now. Meanwhile, Carbon found at least three more metal parts for experimental use before grabbing it with his teeth. Trying to not gaze his sights at the dead pony, he returned to us while I was calming her down.

I turned to Carbon Monoxide with a small smile, “Good. Store it in her case and let’s get out of here.”

As he did so, sounds of deep groanings are heard in the distance. Oh fucking hell. As if watching a member (or leader?) killing their own wasn’t enough, a loud and booming thud of a giant statue gave way.

“Run!”

We ran and took a dive as the giant statue figure landed on the floor with a thundering boom, kicking up clouds of dust and rubble. We were nearly crushed by it but thankfully, all three of us were spared. I looked at the two, “Are you guys all right?!”

Both Solar Eclipse and Carbon Monoxide nodded, each saying that they’re fine.

“Good. So much for our exit. We’ll have to continue forward now.” I told the two. As we moved on, I took one final look at the dead pony. Killed, execution style. He had a grenade with him, and I took it with my hoof as a means of putting it to use before stuffing it in my coat pocket.

Our exit should’ve been our ticket out of here, but now we’re forced to continue on to find another escape route. Hopefully we don’t stumble upon those ponies again. Cobra, I presume? I don’t even want to fucking know anymore. Solar was still in shock, but I’m thankful that she’s slowly recovering. This was our first, and last time we have seen a dead pony before. Even took a grenade from him should we find them again, possibly in larger numbers.

What started as a simple mission seems we’re getting more than we’ve bargained for. I looked at the map from my PipBuck, and its leading us nowhere to the exit. It feels like we’re in a maze, and the exit signs only leads us to either more rubble, or worse. We can’t take any chances, though. We have to keep moving. Sometimes, you have to expect the unexpected.

Who are the Cobra anyway? Better yet, who are the Raiders I heard from Venom anyway? I’m guessing a group of factions, though seeing a pony of his own member killed seems that they’re a disorganized group. So far as we witnessed it, he’ll kill anyone including his own members. As leader as he looked, he is far from it. Even if you’d join up his group, the last thing you’ll be getting is a bullet to the back of your head. I felt really sorry for Solar’s traumatic moments. She was all better, but that took a good chunk of her mental state. Carbon wasn’t any better; he went from joking around to being concerned for our safety. I myself am just trying to clear the clouds of uncertainty in my mind.

We refocused our search for any more exits after finding nothing but rubble or strewn objects obstructing our way out. We found only one, and are blocked by the two same ponies we saw laughing heartlessly at their own dead stallion. I ordered the two to stay behind me as I slowly pulled a grenade inside my coat pocket, but I was held back by her.

“Don’t do it, please. It’s not worth it…” Solar pleaded me. As wrong as it is to kill somepony, its our only way out or we’ll never make it back to Lab-00. Its either exit, or be stuck forever. I felt that the ‘Cobra’ ponies aren’t leaving for the time being, so our time is running out.

I saw Carbon placing a hoof to her shoulder, assuring her with, “Its for the best. Let Zero handle this one, Solar. It’s our only way out of here.”

She looked at him, as if trying to object before realizing that he’s right. We can’t stay here forever, and these murderous ponies would’ve eventually found out our presence. I was given her look with a hint of shame, but nevertheless told me, “Do it. Do it for the dead pony we found, Zero.”

I didn’t have a choice either, and killing other ponies are wrong. However, I came up with an idea upon spotting an intact glass window display. A safer method would be a distraction. All it takes was a good throw and they would find out what’s going on while we make our escape. I looked at the two, “I have a better idea. Get ready to make our swift, yet quiet escape.”

I instructed them before chucking the grenade onto the glass window with enough force, shattering them into millions of pieces. Even though I was a lousy thrower, it was enough for them to take notice and wondered what’s going on as they head towards the sounds of glass shattering. Once they were inside an abandoned clothing store, we quickly made our way to the doors before they had any chance of spotting us.

Meanwhile, the two Cobra members had spotted shards of glass inside and spotted a grenade. They shouted out, “AAHH!! GRENADE!!”

Venom heard screams of the pair before letting out a disgruntled sigh after spraying graffiti on the wall with a black spray paint can, “What the fuck are these two screaming on about?”

As he arrived, he saw both of them cowering over an unexploded grenade. He frowned at the sight, “Are you two pussying out over a grenade that can’t even explode?! Just look at the pin! Does it look like its been pulled?!”

They looked at the grenade and sees the pin still in place. The two looked at Venom with confused expressions, “U-Uhh… sorry, boss?”

“You’d better be sorry, or I’ll have your dicks stuck in a grinder! If this is some prank by those pansy-ass Raiders again, let’s see how funny it’ll be when I piss on their corpses! And you two better grow some balls for once, unless you want to have them shoved down your throats! Do I make myself clear?!”

They nodded frantically amid having to listen to his threats, “Yes, sir!”

He took a glance at his grenade before levitating it up and storing it in his pocket, “Fucking newbie didn’t deserved to live anyway. Just grab whatever you fucks can find and let’s go. And grab Poison along the way! I don’t want him trying to fantasize over a goddamn mannequin.”

Nighttime. It was too dangerous for us to continue and we had to head on over to a run-down apartment building to set up camp. This is one mission that’ll surely be our last. We weren’t expecting dangers that would hinder our objective, much less going as far as to watch a beaten pony executed from our distance. I was still shaken from just witnessing this. We’re just glad we made out of here alive.

Even with street lights, it wasn’t enough for us to continue on. The screen of my PipBuck was barely lit; the map was too difficult to see. Besides, who knows what’ll happen if we ended up falling down due to extreme darkness?

I splayed on the gritty mattress, feeling nothing like a mattress that was in Lab-00. The two looked at us as I turned my head to see them before sitting up and explained to them, “I deeply apologize for this as the events were unexpecting, but at least we made it alive. As much as I want my team returned safely to Lab-00, we’ll have to stop here and rest up for now. Not only are we getting sleepy, but its also too dangerous for us to move on and we don’t know what’s up ahead. Furthermore, my PipBuck’s screen isn’t well-lit enough to tell us where we are.”

I finished explaining, with the two nodding understandably at me..

“So, how about a drink to wash away everything and rest up normally?” I asked.

Carbon merely shook his head in response, “Sorry, Zero. There aren’t any drinks when I first opened, and Solar can’t handle alcohol. She gets easily tipsy if she were to drink it.”

Solar also told me, “Yeah… its best that we rest up normally. I’ll just be with Carbon. He’ll be on a lookout for us.”

There goes that option. No drinks and Solar doesn’t take kindly to alcoholic drinks. I shook my head a little, trying to clear those awful clouds invading my head before laying back on the mattress. No coat hangers to go for, too. Time to sleep with my lab coat, I suppose.

The two went to a bedroom with the window broken off, allowing Carbon to scout the darkness with his rifle. As Solar fell asleep on the old bed, he eventually fell asleep as well. His rifle falling off of his hoof as it dropped down into the trash bin, creating a bit of a noise though we’re all too exhausted and tired to notice this.

A shadowy figure looked on, as a surgical mask and goggles are seen from the flickering lights. He made his way without us noticing.

Morning arose, and I was the first to wake up. I slumped out of the stain-ridden mattress before stretching my hooves, popping a couple of joins and all. I looked back and saw my coat now stained from the bed I’ve been resting on before letting out a sigh. What a day this has been.

I went to the abandoned bathroom and turned on the faucet to clean up my face to wash away the last few remaining thoughts that me and my team saw yesterday. Despite my PipBuck warning me about small amounts of radiation, I payed no mind. I shook my head to clean my face before looking at a broken mirror, adjusting my yellow-red and drizzled mane with my hoof, “There we go. Now to go and check on Solar and Carbon.”

I went to the bedroom the two slept in, only except they left. On such short notice? Hmm… they couldn’t have just gone without asking my permission, would they?

“Come in, Solar and Carbon. Do you copy? Over.”

There was no response from my PipBuck. Malfunction in their PipWalkers? I tried again, “Come in, Solar and Carbon. Do you copy? Over.”

Still no response. Looking to the left is Solar’s medical bag. The same medical bag she had with her as I trotted to her bag and opening it up. Nothing!

There was nothing inside! Not even the artifacts we had just collected! I shook my head vigorously. Calm down, Zero. They may have found Lab-00 and had called in a search and rescue team. But at the same time, they could’ve told me via their PipWalkers.

“Okay, calm down. They have to be around here somewhere…” I muttered to myself in an attempt to settle myself down from the sudden panic as I trotted down the stairs and searched them from the kitchen to the living room.

Still nothing.

I went back up the stairs and back inside the living room where Solar’s medical bag is. I lifted up my PipBuck and spoke one last time with worry growing inside of me, “Solar and Carbon. Do you copy? Over…”

No response. I heard no static, no voice. Nothing at all.

To make matters worse, all of our items and the artifacts we collected were stolen. Surely it wouldn’t be this Venom pony we saw inside the shopping center. There was no way he would’ve seen us and kidnapped them both after we watched him kill the pony. As far as I’m aware, he’d thrive on killing anypony (even to his own members) and would’ve done the same to me and my team too. Many of our important artifacts were stolen. Where has it gone? But the most important part was Solar Eclipse and Carbon and Monoxide. Where did they go?

Footnote: Level Up.
New perk: First in Class -- +5 [Medicine, Science] per rank. Mastery: 5 extra points in each of these Skills.

Author's Notes:

Fixed Chapter Two.

Chapter Three: Gone

Solar Eclipse. Carbon Monoxide. All are missing, and without a word. For a simple mission involving items that can be used to create inventions, turned out to be the worst. How am I supposed to return to Lab-00 without both of them now? What if Starshooter denounces my status as a scientist? What if I was banned from doing any research activities or they would throw me back to here? Now, I felt like I can’t return to Lab-00 until I can find the two. They’re important for our mission, but without resources means we’ll be getting stiff punishments when we head back inside. No matter the outcome, I’m pretty much in deep trouble right now.

I can’t give any explanation other than the fact that two of the important ponies have gone missing, with parts we found with it. Why them? How am I still here and not elsewhere? This left me too many questions. The pony in my thoughts reminded me of recent events in New Hampshore while we were making our escape.

It was far from empty, yes. But the ordinary paper I threw yesterday had hit my head hard. It wasn't just an ordinary, written paper; it was a warning. It struck out of nowhere and next thing you know, danger can strike at any time and anyplace. Even if you’re back at your designated place, it follows everywhere you go.

“Goddamn it all! If Celestia was here, I would gladly have her take me to the deepest core to the sun. Beats getting punished by Starshooter anyway.” I said aloud before laying back on the gritty mattress. I looked up at the cracked ceiling, wondering how and why was I even assigned to this in the first place.

I’d ask both Solar and Carbon if either or both are around, but what’s the point? They haven’t said a word since we… or I, rested up. Its not like they just vanished into thin air. My thoughts frantically debated on whether I should find the two, or head back to Lab-00 and give them the bad news and risk having my status as a scientist terminated.

I sat up. I held onto Solar’s now empty medical bag around my hooves.

“There weren’t any trails of the two. Just mysteriously gone, and I heard no sound of them. I can’t return to Lab-00. I just can’t. I need to find them. To hell with resources, I need to find them and return ASAP. I just hope they’ll eventually speak from my PipBuck.”

After talking to an imaginary pony I didn't know, I got off of the mattress and wrapped Solar’s medical bag around me. Trotting down the stairs, I headed to the kitchen to open up the fridge to see if there’s any edible treats before my stomach would protest. Only an apple. That’ll do for now.

Taking a quick swipe and a munch, I left the abandoned apartment. Before I left however, I took a glance at the rifle belonging to Carbon. I frowned at the sight, seeing it laying on top of the pile of garbage in a garbage can. Even so, I took his rifle with my teeth. Apart from the wretched scent, I held onto it before gazing up at the gloomy skies.

Time to search for my teammates.

Where the hell are they? My PipBuck isn’t detecting anything! Not like the pony martians arrived and abducted them for ‘experiments’. New Hampshore is like a maze filled with nasty surprises just waiting to happen. I looked around and saw nothing but demolished buildings and spray tags. One even displayed on the wall that says Sapphire Shores, but the ‘S’ was replaced with a ‘W’ by a spray tag. ‘Sapphire Whores’? Un-fucking-believable.

I went inside the Hampshore Office Complex building in hopes the two are inside. Nothing. I took a glance at a terminal and slowly trotted over, “Hmm…”

Booting it on, I was asked for a password. Should be easy.

The password was: “rubies”

I was shown only one entry from the terminal, news to be exact. Taking a look, I opened up to read the following message from the screen:

New Hampshore Unrest:

“Ever since Suri Pollomare had attempted to copy and ‘improve’ her version of Sapphire Shores’ bedazzling outfit, everypony had high expectations Sapphire to earn her tenth title in the annual fashion show competition in New Hampshore (originally Manehattan, but was relocated to New Hampshore for undisclosed reasons). Despite that Sapphire accused Suri of cheating, the judges still announced Suri Pollomare as the unanimous winner and claiming her first title. This sparked controversy as the fans accused the judges for announcing her the winner, rather than disqualifying Suri. Prim Hemline unfortunately, still announced Suri Pollomare as the clear winner. As Sapphire Shores outright yells at Suri with profane comments, rioting began to ensue in the city of New Hampshore. Suri however, was unfazed and calmly took her first title and declared Sapphire Shores a ‘disgrace to fashion’. Struck with grief and despair, Sapphire had quit her job as a pop star while Coco Pommel announced that she will no longer be doing fashion designs for the ponies after Sapphire’s title loss. Meanwhile, lootings and vandalism escalated in--”

The message ended with a mass of garbled symbols and numbers. A glitch I presumed, but closed the terminal anyway. Whoever Suri is should deserves the biggest capital punishment by the Goddess herself. Either way, it didn't took me anywhere to my missing teammates. Aside from my PipBuck retrieving its data, I left the office and moved on.

Perhaps they may have gone to retrieve something important. Hell no. If they did, they wouldn't be so greedy by taking resources stored in Solar’s case and keep it to themselves!

My pony thought is correct. They wouldn't do such a thing by being greedy and return to Lab-00 without me. Yet, they never left a note upon their absence.

All in all, I just kept going. Following the trail that never exists was quite a long way to go, its not leading me anywhere to my team. Hours gone by, nothing. Not a word from them. If I notify the others, they’ll wonder what my team is and have me court-martialled on the spot.

I give up. It’ll take too much hours just to search for them, so what shall I do now? I’ll probably let Lab-00 know that my teammates have gone AWOL. Then what? Am I gonna get a hoof to the face when I tell them that? Fuck that. I’m betting the Wastelands are taunting me behind my back, but I can’t give anymore fucks than that. I merely lifted up my hoof and set up a waypoint that leads to an unknown building. If it doesn't lead me to my teammates, then I’m not even going to bother.

“If the Goddess can hear me right now, I’m at wits end. I have Solar’s medical bag with me, and Carbon’s rifle. My communication’s seriously sporadic, and the last thing I want is a serious punishment from my fellow scientists.”

Travelling along the beaten path isn't the same as being with the two and I’m hoping I don’t run into jagged street pavements again. Now I just have to rely on the waypoint I've set up. Wherever it takes me, I follow. If its danger, then it’ll probably be the second time I’ll encounter such an inescapable situation.

After journeying the unforgiving paths (no creatures or ponies I’ve found so far), I arrived at the waypoint of the map.

The rest of the restaurant’s motto was cut off, but why do I care? I trotted inside just to waste my time searching for them. That, or just to grab a quick lunch.

“Hey Solar, did you know Suri was secretly a prostitute? Its no wonder she’s a cheater! Am I right, Carbon?” I asked nopony. I must be talking to my imaginary teammates that rarely exists. All while eating a stale doughnut in order to relieve my hunger.

I must be losing it. Or just being silly over the fact that my teammates aren't responding to me!

Yeah, I’m losing it. Why? Because I haven’t heard a word from my PipBuck. As I continued to eat, I heard loud and obnoxious buzzing noises inside the restaurant. The hell? Surely the lights didn't flickered, has it?

I turned my head to the direction of a small, cracked opening of a wall to see if this is source to the noise. A red blip shows on my radar, indicating a hostile. Something tells me that I’m not looking at a common insect buzzing around. I slowly moved my hoof to pull out my former teammate’s rifle and got off of the chair to take careful aim at the emerging insect.

The insect that emerged from the wall turned out to be a Cazador! And its flying towards me! Taking aim at its head and wrapping my tongue around the trigger to pull it.

BAM!

It landed a shot to the head, but the recoil left me falling off of the chair and onto my back, “Oof!”

To add my misfortune, the Cazador survived a shot to the head and flew aggressively towards me! I quickly stumbled out of the way from getting stung by that ravaging insect. It must have a thick skull to survive a shot to the head! Goddess dammit! I tried to take aim, but the Cazador flew erratically at me and threw my aim off, “Fuck! Hold still, you flying shit!”

I rolled out of the way for a better distance, but the Cazador managed to land a lucky sting against my right hind-leg.

“Ahhh! Goddess damn you! Damn you to eternal hell!!”

I took an aim of the rifle and fired another shot to the damned insect’s head, this time leaving its head crippled and dazed. Fuck! My leg hurts! I gotta finish this bastard off with one final shot…

BAM!

Down goes the fucking insect of the Cazador. Now the biggest problem I’m facing is my PipBuck warning me about poison that’s already coursing inside my right hindleg. I fucking hate karma. Once a bitch, always a bitch. Time to get out of here and find an Antivenom, unless I’ll be running into swarms of Cazador insects to poke me to death.

Dammit all to hell… if this was the Goddess’ job, she’d give that bastard Cazador the ultimate rape treatment! Where is it?! Where’s the hospital?! I’m fading. Fading…

My vision was blurry. I seriously hope I don’t have to look at my hind-leg, or myself to look like I’ve been recently decayed in a graveyard. Hopefully a red cross or a pink butterfly will take me to the antivenom. If not, then I’ll at least die trying to this day.

“Solar… I need medical assistance…” I called out to my non-existent teammate. Thankfully, I entered inside an abandoned, hospital facility in a desperate effort to find the Antivenom. Please Celestia, give me another chance…

After looking through every cabinet, I thought I was going to die here and now. Taking a glimpse of an Antivenom bottle, I’d hope for at least a drop of Antivenom so I can save my untimely demise. I grabbed it with my weak hoop and popped a cork in it and helplessly gulped it down, wondering if there’s any left. My taste buds exploded with good luck, there was some left! I quickly gulped it down to remove the poison in me before it had a chance to claim my life!

I still felt weak. The poison from a Cazador attack was still enough to nearly slip me into unconsciousness. Luck was on my side again and wrapped my weakened hoof around to inject my side. It did the work to replenish my long lost strength, but also resulted me to pass out in the process.

I weakly told karma to fuck off as I slipped into unconsciousness behind the medical counter. I hope Solar and Carbon returns for an evac. Who knows when. Or probably get dissected like a common frog.

My mind began to fantasize about the stands from the same competition I read from the terminal, oblivious to my surroundings as to let my mind wander around. Inside, I was yelling and making fun of Suri for winning despite that she obviously cheated. Nopony could hear me, but I wanted to vent all my rage to this bitch. I could probably haunt her dreams, even if she was dead. It’ll serve her right! If she would listen to me insult her behind her back, I’d tell her how much of a pitiful designer she is. She’d be crying in a corner right now, but even so would be fruitless. I haven’t woken up yet, after all. I'm pretty much a ghost inside my own dreams.

Back in reality (which I hope its not the Cobras or the Raiders that wants to play surgery on my lifeless body), a lone pony hoping to be Solar happened to arrive inside the medical facility. I heard armored noises, but my consciousness isn't allowing me to wake myself up to identify and I’m stuck in this damned yet amusing dream world for the time being. It (he or she, I can’t tell) saw my unconscious body behind the medical counter before picking me up and took me in an empty medical room. I reacted to nothing.

My seemingly lifeless body was tossed onto a gritty hospital bed. The armored, pony figure went to write something on a clipboard before placing it next to me and left. My body spasmed a little, signifying the end of my unexpected visit to a flashback.

I need to wake up, and fast.

What a dream. At least it didn't involved a swarm of Cazadores or I’d be dead already.

I took a glance at a clipboard, “What’s this?”

‘Survive’

Yeah. Sure. Being nearly dead by poison was survival enough already. Might as well take a bullet to the head, to top it off. On the plus side, my strength is restored and all that was left for me is to get out of--

“Where did my belongings go?!”

Make that a negative side. My rifle and medical bag went missing! I quickly stumbled off of the bed and quickly galloped to the medical counter and saw both of them untouched, “Whew! And here I thought you were stolen. Solar and Carbon would've killed-- nono, raged at me if I lost both of their rifle and medical bag.”

I carried them with me and made my exit of the medical facility to resume my search. At least my organs weren't pulled out, thankfully. I think the deserted city gave me a second chance, unless it wants me to face off another Cazador or any other lethal creatures I’d encounter. Then I’d be truly fucked.

Was that both of my teammates writing down the note and told me I have to survive? I haven’t heard their names but then again, I was unconscious and heard nothing except ponies protesting in my head regarding the cheating bastard Suri. Still, I can’t worry about that now and I still haven’t gotten a word from my PipBuck. The skies were getting dark and awfully cloudy.

I entered an abandoned building to take shelter if it were to begin the major downpour. Looking out the broken window, I spotted a trio of different ponies. All are armed and riddled with filth. Typical.

To my surprise, I heard another three ponies swearing at each other; the same ponies that we saw Venom kill his own teammate from our very eyes!

“Well, well, well. If it ain't those pansy-ass Raiders. Where the fuck is our payment?!” Venom called out to the three. The unnamed Raider’s response was:

“Fuck you! You wannabe Cobras are just begging for your sharp tongues to be cut off! Now, die!”

Guess the payment Venom demanded fell into deaf ears as gunfire rang out between two hostile factions. I’m just glad I wasn’t in the middle or I’d end up being a target for their heartless amusement. I looked on, seeing the Cobras easily taking down two Raider ponies with various firearms and so far both Raider ponies were single-handedly killed. The three laughed heartlessly and forced the lone Raider to retreat, “I’ll get more compadres this time! You’ll be wishing you fuckheads were never born!”

Venom took aim and shot the hind-leg of the unnamed Raider, resulting him to scream in agony.

“I’d like to see you try, you little shit! Next time you come back with your whores, I’m gonna make you my bitch!”

I heard the three laughing after gunning them down unscathed. As far as I saw, they seem to have better aim than the Raiders. Or just flat-out lucky that the Raiders were intimidated before they could open fire.

I moved on after watching a brief gunfight with Venom and his team prevailing. I’m aware that Solar told me that its wrong to kill ponies, but I was thinking more of cleansing them instead. I took up the stairs on a demolished portion of the building with an open view to go check if the Raider pony is still there. Probably a good idea to just end his misery (even though he’s a total neighsayer).

Crouching down and taking aim with my rifle, I attempted to enter S.A.T.S. No dice. My PipBuck told me that I was out of range and that the radar didn't pick up an obvious hostile, but I didn't give a damn. I still took aim and fired the gun. Missed.

Dammit. One shot left, gotta make it count.

BAM!

I didn't go for the head, but to the torso. That dropped him to the ground dead, regardless. At least I was a bit lucky to hit his vital spot, or I just aimed at him for nothing. I got up on my hooves, the rifle now empty inside. Time to move on.

“If I worry too much, I’ll never find my teammates. I just have to take a look at least one more time…” I muttered to myself. I can’t be bothered to scream out loud without the risk of getting unwanted attention I clearly don’t deserve.

Outside, Venom had just overheard a gunshot, “Hah! Better yet, become a bigger bitch for karma!”

“You said it, Mr. Bleak Venom! A shame he looked so hot and good-lookin’.” Poison replied with a mare-like tone to it. Venom looked at the purple-coated, violet-maned stallion (with a hint of makeup, apparently). He simply rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Let’s just go, ya tramp. And just call me Venom!”

Goddess dammit! My way out is blocked by rubble! Lots and lots of it, too. So much for my way out. Might as well turn back to where I came and get on out of here. And the narrow corridors isn't helping my dreary feeling of claustrophobia. Its like being stuffed in a delivery box and your movements completely restricted to do anything. But, what choice do I have?

There’s a way out, but that too has been collapsed. Seriously, can this get any worse?! Might as well use an imaginary jackhammer to bash my way through the rubble helplessly, only to lead myself into more danger. The open views were my only exit, but the ground is too uneven with jagged rocks and shards of glass.

“Geez. Show me a way out for once!” I yelled out with annoyance, questioning the Goddess’ intentions to me.

I trotted back down the stairs again where my exit was blocked by the same rubble. I slowly turned to my left, facing at an open door. Probably a way out, or just a trap waiting to catch me by surprise. I arrived inside the next room with both Terminals, broken off. No surprise there.

Still no word from my team. Maybe its time I deliver Lab-00 the bad news. If they revoke my status as a scientist, then so be it. They have to at least realize the dangers in New Hampshore. I made my exit and took a stroll on the outside dangers. Beats being cramped in between two or four walls. Or more than four walls, probably.

It not likely that their PipWalkers would malfunction easily. I can only wish they’d given me at least what has been going on. My mind spoke out. Even he was peeved at the missing teammates. That, and the artifacts we originally had were stolen. That’ll get me suspended indefinitely.

Why do I feel like the need to scream? Is it because my teammates value more than just mere artifacts? Or is it because the gloomy atmosphere is doing whatever it takes to drive me close to losing it? As empty New Hampshore looked, it was far from it. Its just watching me, waiting to strike at any time.

I groaned tiredly after a nightly stroll. “Goddess dammit all. Might as well let Lab-00 know what’s up.”

Turning on the speaker from my PipBuck, I spoke, “Come in, Lab-00. This is Zero of the Scavenger team requesting evac. Solar Eclipse and Carbon Monoxide have gone missing and have been unable to contact them in New Hampshore. I repeat…”

As I attempted to get in touch with Lab-00, a shadowy figure floated out a rusty pipe as he slowly snuck up behind me. I was unaware of my surroundings as I requested Lab-00 for evac. The surgeon-like pony slowly lifted the pipe in the air.

“...get our rescue team in New Hampsh--”

THWACK!

Down I go after being suddenly struck at the back of my head, knocking me out cold for the second time. It wasn't from poison this time, but from blunt force instead. Goddesses help my unconscious body up. Too much brutality in this so-called bustling city I’m experiencing now.

The masked surgeon pony hissed out, “Got you, my third subject. You will be such a valuable item in helping me with my ultimate creation ponykind has ever made!”

As he laughed cruelly, he floated my unconscious body (medical bag and empty rifle included) onto his back before trotting off. Wherever he’s taking me, I could use a desperate wake-up call right about now!

“Now let’s go, shall we?”

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Your Mother Was a Hamster! -- Through some great insult or rude gesture you draw an enemies’ attention to you. Once per turn, you may make a CHA test to force a single enemy to attack you instead of another party member. May only be done on CHA/2 enemies per combat and only against 'intelligent' enemies.

Chapter Four: The Silent Treatment

...and probably not wake up at all after getting knocked out cold the second time, and this time by an imaginary pony I never saw whilst informing others for an immediate evac from my failed search. And that moment where somepony or the Wastelands in general can strike you at anytime and you don’t even know it until it’s too late, means you’re done for. The next thing you know, you’re waking up to find your important items with you completely stolen from your hooves. Or worse, having your organs ripped out without feeling it and you’ll be waking up with nothing inside of you as death finishes you off before you’d even wonder what the hell happened.

Call me insane, but I guess this is how life goes. You’re given the task to retrieve objects that are deemed valuable which sounded simple enough. As it turned out, it was anything but. From my teammates missing to valuable items stolen. And to finish off, me being abducted. And you’re probably even wondering why you were sent on a so-called ‘easy’ mission when the harsh environments are just waiting for a moment to strike without warning.

As my inner mind boasts at me over a mistake I didn't commit (or that I did and pretty much ignored it like nothing happened of course), I guess it seems I’m better off relaxing on my bunk bed from a hard day’s experimental procedures back in Lab-00. Talk about a shitty way to go.

I was still unconscious, hearing nothing but the hums of what appeared to be a sadistic surgeon doing something and barely-lit lights on the ceilings. I deeply pray that he’s not planning to surgically remove my body parts for sickening purposes. I’d be a hoof-less stallion if that happened.

I let out a pained groan, “Where am I…?”

My blurry vision struggles to get a clear vision. One thing is for certain, that this isn’t the same medical facility I’ve visited for a desperate search for the antivenom earlier today. Instead, it looks complete run-down and dilapidated with dimly-lit lights flickering on ceilings. Walls were also heavily corroded and lots of used syringes littered on the table. I helplessly struggled against the metal restraints to no avail as my vision slowly restored.

I heard faint screams from a distance, but couldn't tell who. My head still hurts from being knocked silly before turning my head the left and… what the hell? Is that Solar’s hoof from an open door of another room?!

“Solar?! Solar, is that you?! Its me, Zero!”

I didn't heard her response, but I got a different one instead, “Quiet, subject! I’m busy concentrating!”

Turns out that it wasn't Solar, as I feared (or was it really her? I dunno). Whatever he’s doing to my teammate, he’s gonna bucking regret it! That is, if I wasn't strapped in restraints!

“Quiet, subject! I’m working!” Shouted by a hiss-like sound of a pony. I assume that he’s the bastard that kidnapped me. He exited the room and took a slow but dangerous approach towards me. I shot up an angry glare at him, but his expression’s unfazed at best. Its hard to distinguish on what he truly looks like; his goggles and surgical mask pretty much conceals his true identity, including his expression. Either way, I’m just defenseless with the metal restraints keeping myself from breaking free. Wonderful.

I dangerously asked, “What did you do to my teammates? If you so much as made cruel ‘experiments’ on them, you’ll be--”

Immediately, the surgeon pony cut me off, “Quiet, you lowly subject! Now then, out of all the experiments I tried to seek for a perfect voice, you happened to be the perfect candidate for my latest creation Equestria has ever witnessed!”

What?! Since when was I his perfect ‘candidate’ for his experiment?!

“Who are you and what do you mean by your ‘creation’, bastard?!” I yelled out at him. Again, his expression didn't even fazed by the slightest.

My response was a snarky cackle coming from him, “I’m Dr. Scalpel, Equestria’s renowned surgeon and creator! And you, are my latest donor for my latest creation!”

Hearing his cruel cackle was more than enough for me to kick sorry flank to the moon, if I wasn't strapped in metal restraints. At least he isn't going for my PipBuck by removing my entire hoof just to get it. Of course, I could be wrong. Also, Dr. Scalpel? Sounds a bit unfitting for a surgeon with no sanity level whatsoever. His cutie mark is hidden like his identity as well. If I can make up a thought, his cutie mark would be a bloodied scalpel, hence his name.

The mad surgeon floats out what appears to be a syringe. Probably a lethal injection that’ll kill me more than to slip me into unconsciousness!

I yelled out dangerously at him, “Don’t you even dare! You’re going to regret it if you so much as dissect me! You will release me and my teammates right now!”

Despite my harsh warnings, it fell into deaf ears. Dr. Scalpel nevertheless struck my shoulder inside, the sharp needle driven into me, “Gah!”

“Hush now, my latest donor… I can assure you that this won’t hurt a bit…”

It was apparent that he slipped a sedative in me, “You bastard! You’re going to wish you hadn't done that…”

And down I go for the third (and hopefully final) time, rendering myself useless as my defenseless body submitted to the effects of sedation. Now, unconsciousness. I just hope I don’t wake up with my insides removed.

Just my luck. I could hear nature laughing at my unfortunate demise right now. As he floated up a (hopefully fresh) scalpel, he surgically cut open my throat as the jugular areas were dangerously avoided. One accidental cut means its over for me.

Yet despite his mad-like behavior, he was quite careful and precise by cutting open my throat as it slowly began to bleed. I felt no pain due to the effects of sedatives, but I could tell that this wasn't going to be a pretty sight anyway. As Dr. Scalpel finished cutting my bleeding throat, he floated up a metal and heated object to slow the bleeding before proceeding to resume his work that violates all of ponykind. My mind swam with uncertainty, wondering how such a simple mission turned out to be a deathwish. I couldn't move at all. I could only hear and feel, but react to nothing of any sort. All I’m seeing is nothing but the blackness I've been trying to escape, but of no avail.

After hours of surgical procedure, he slowly wheeled me elsewhere. With me, still unconscious and struggling to even wake up.

“You’ve done well, my latest donor. But now, you are no longer of any use to me and must be disposed of.”

I was dead. Or so I thought. My hoof gave a small twitch as I slowly came to. Where am I? And why is the ground so soft? Surely I wasn’t laying on a spiked pit, am I?

My vision slowly comes to and what I’m seeing right now is a horrible one; piles of dead, mutilated ponies everywhere! And I’m lying on top of the dead, gorified pony! I sat up and screamed from the horrific sight, but there was a catch. Where’s my voice?! I could hear everything but my own voice! Seeing a mass grave of ponies were bad enough, but now I can't speak! How am I to let my teammates know regarding the situation, much less call for an evacuation now that I’m a mute pony?!

I frantically looked around to see if there’s any exit for me. I spotted an open vent which isn't too small, but not too big neither. If this isn’t my exit, then its safe to assume that its intent was to pin me completely with no hopes of escaping this hellhole. And this claustrophobic feel’s getting to me, with my thought giving me a flashback depicting of scientist ponies pinning me inside a closet for ten straight hours back when I was a foal. It was always a dreadful feeling…

Even then, the foul stench of dead ponies isn't making things better. Its just getting worse and I need to get the buck out of here. Its either the vents or being forced to feel the decaying corpses of everything on and around me. Buck it, I’ll just go for the vents. I got up to my hooves, suffering from slight imbalance due to the effects of the sedatives still trying to fully wear off. I slowly trotted forward, amid feeling the squishy, disgusting bodies just withering away while making my way towards the air vent. What I found along the way however, was a sign of life coming from a barely-alive pony whose voice was muffled by a mass of pony corpses with struggled movements.

I carefully trotted over to the movements of a pony. Oh please pray tell this is either Solar or Carbon!, my frantic pony wondered.

Quickly, I wrapped a hoof on the hind leg (wish I could tell who if I wasn't so damn anxious) and pulled out. What my ears picked up were muffled, agonizing screams. I hesitantly stopped and recoiled back from the pained shouts, but approached to the screaming mare again before pulling her out again. To my shock and surprise, the same yellow-coated mare is Solar Eclipse. And without her forelegs; they were cut off entirely!

Solar let out an agonizing scream, “Aaaahhh!! I-It hurts! S-Somepony help me!!”

I watched her in deep horror, her forelegs completely amputated. It was a terrifying sight to see, far beyond than having my vocal chord cut off which left me unable to speak whatsoever. I quickly prodded a hoof to her as an attempt to snap her out of it. Solar Eclipse was startled before taking a good look at me while trying to hold her endless pain.

“Z-Zero..? I..Is that… you?!”

I quickly nodded with a sad smile. Thank Celestia she’s still alive!

What I got however, was unfortunate news from the fore-leg less Solar.

“Zero… Carbon’s dead. The surgeon cut up his wings, tail and ears. I saw it before he… he…”

As there was a pregnant pause by Solar, my ears fell flat from the devastating news. Say it ain't so… Carbon dead?! This can’t be true! Tell me this isn't true! Solar, where were you two?! Why had you not radio me sooner?!

I clenched my fore-legs around her and pulled her into a sad hug, amid hearing her cry out in pain. I quickly lessened the hug, my eyes now filled with a stream of tears. As crazy as Carbon is when it comes to making try-hard jokes, he didn't deserved to die like this. I would scream out his name, yet my voice would emit no sound. I could just cry at the demise of my friend, including the mortally wounded Solar.

Solar had nuzzled into my teary cheek, “D-Don’t cry, Zero… we’ll get out of here ASAP…”

How? With the loss of Carbon, we could end up denouncing ourselves as scientist researchers. And with her fore-legs gone, I’m deeply unsure how she’ll last without losing too much of her blood. I guess its the painkillers that are keeping her alive. Even then, I can’t leave her behind. I have to try and get us out of here while there’s still a chance. Just hang in there, Solar!

I carefully wrapped my fore-legs around her neck and pulled her to the open air vent. Upon arriving there, I gently placed her head into the entrance for her to at least worm her way in. With a bit of strength left, she does so by inching her way in aside from the gory feeling.

As she did, I could hear pained gasps as she inched inside the vent. I extended my fore-legs and entered inside, followed by my head. As uncomfortable as it seemed, I managed to dug my way inside as I placed both of my hooves to her hind-legs as to pick up a slight pace. I felt a pool of blood seeping into my outfit, but its nothing compared to the death of our friend. All I can think of is getting the hell out of here.

It was a lengthy one. And I can only turn my head away as to not look at her flanks. Solar shouted out, “Were almost there!”

Yes! Thank you Solar with the good news!

As Solar arrived to the exit, she told me, “Wait! Stop!”

I abruptly stopped pushing her. What is it? Is it another trap?

“There’s a drop, and bunch of garbage bags below. Let’s hope its our safe landing… Ah! Fuck, it hurts..!”

I quietly sighed at the bad news she gave out. Let’s hope this is our way out of this, or we won’t make it out alive. I pushed her hind-legs forward as she was the first to fall down and land onto the pile of waste. It softened the landing, but her amputated hooves had only intensified the pain and emitting more of her agonizing screams. The landing was anything but soft and I closed my eyes as I quickly crawled out of the air vent and plummeted to the garbage bags.

I was dazed before looking around and I was thankful not to accidentally land on top of her, but now she’s bleeding profusely! Fuck! I trotted over and gave her another hug, in an effort to alleviate the pain. As I looked at Solar, she was getting pale; Solar is dying...

As she took one final look at me, she asked, “You’ve been quiet for a while, Zero… care to tell me why..?”

My eyes watered down to my cheeks again, seeing her now dying at my hooves. There aren’t any healing potions around here (or there are, just empty), much less a syringe to keep her alive. And even then, I’d come back only to find her dead already. Or that I will never be able to find any healing items just to save her. I wiped off the tears of despair from my eyes with a hoof, but it continued to trickle down before looking back to Solar. If I still had my voice, I’d have explained everything to her.

Instead, I lift my head back to show her my throat. I heard a soft, but shocked gasp. It was her reaction:

“Oh no, Zero… your voice… its gone… I.. I’m sorry…”

But she wasn’t finished, to say the least. She spoke to me in a dying tone, “I won’t make it… even if you found the Hydra somewhere, it’ll be too late. I need you to do me a favor…”

My ears picked up her soft words.

“End me…”

No! She can’t be serious! I’m a scientist, not a murderer! Yet, seeing her suffer like this was too much to bear. Goddesses, this can’t be happening! And there isn’t anything that’s deemed to be worth putting her out of misery. With no other choice left, I positioned my fore-legs onto the front and back of her head to torque my hooves with enough force to snap her neck.

I tearfully mouthed my words to my dying friend, ‘Forgive me’

CRRCK!

It was done. Solar is no more, I held my hooves around her now-dead body with sheer sadness and despair flooding my heart. Good-bye, Solar. May Celestia guide you forever…

I resumed exploring New Hampshore, my hopes gone and my status as a scientist completely devoted into a pony who claims lives from another like a common Raider. I had nothing with me now, and returning to Lab-00 is now a thing of a past. I can’t muster any more courage with both of my teammates gone and the inability of speaking normally. As I took a glance at a window display, my outfit was a complete mess. Riddled with blood and filth, it also became a grim reminder of how a simple mission can turn disastrous in a matter of seconds. Minutes even, days as well. My mind was right, I’m a devoted scientist. Outcast, maybe. With great inventions comes with horrible prices. And my throat was sewn with crudely-made stitches. As harmful as it looked, its nothing compared to the loss of my two important friends.

I lost both of my teammates, one which I did the unthinkable. As merciful as it was, I still can’t believe that I killed my own friend. I regretted every little of it, even if her suffering was too much to bear. Evacuation to Lab-00 is out the window, and now I’m going solo for this one. Dr. Scalpel is gonna pay for this when I see him again, taking both the important artifacts me and my former teammates have collected and claiming the lives from them and nearly my own.

I took a glance up at the dark and gloomy skies of New Hampshore. It seems the evil skies are watching me, nastily grinning at me from my misfortune. I don’t give a damn anymore.

The last thing I’ll be doing is befriending a pebble and name him Boulder. I spoke in my mind as a substitute of speaking normally. Turning my head to the side, I saw a saddlebag dangling from a pony mannequin inside an abandoned store.

Grabbing it and wrapping my body around with it seems convenient enough. Beats being a pack mule to carry lost items onto my back. As the skies grew darker, my PipBuck was barely even visible. I couldn’t tell where I was, other than to try and find a safe area to rest up inside. I opened up a saddlebag to check and there are at least two fresh carrots. Good enough, I suppose.

My PipBuck gave me a notification, but I can’t tell due to the screen’s low visibility. As I can’t predict whether its a friendly or a hostile, I quickly galloped inside a run-down pharmacy building. No way in hell am I getting abducted again! Being kidnapped and having to kill my own friend was traumatizing enough!

The smell was quite arid after arriving inside, but its nothing compared to a pile of dead ponies I was lying onto. Lights were softly buzzing inside before making my way through the aisle, between the shelves with a sparse amount of medication still in stock. I sighed at the sight, looking back at my hind-leg still patched with a bandage that was used by Solar. I moved my hind-leg forward and clenched my teeth to it to tear it off, revealing my hoof fully healed. Can’t say the same for my ill-received heart as I made my way behind the counter.

Setting down my saddlebag to grab a carrot with a hoof and chowing it down hungrily and swallowed it, or at least I tried to. I winced from the sharp pain hitting my throat inside as I tried to swallow again, followed by more pains inside.

Its become apparent that without my vocal chord, it makes ingesting a simple meal a tedious challenge. Fucking Dr. Scalpel! He took my ability to both speak and swallow food?! Oh, it is on!

He can take my voice away, but he’s not going to take my meal away! Not now, not ever! I gulped down the chewed carrot with enough force to down it inside my gullet and then inside my hungry stomach. As excruciating as it felt, it was also worthwhile. I placed my hoof onto the cabinet and slid open to the side, revealing to be a couple of healing potions. Much better than the previous one, but also small and cramped.

I pulled the cork open and chugged it down to ease the pain from my throat (but not my mind). It didn’t sealed my throat, but it’ll have to do for now. I laid my body down onto a makeshift bed made out of strewn cardboard boxes, allowing my mind to wander and escape from the horrible experiences earlier today. My body fidgeted a little from both the small space and… Solar.

I was in a body of a foal, or that I was clearly a foal version of myself inside a closet. I could hear laughter from other young ponies and making jokes to each other. What am I doing in a closet? Its small and cramped. I was told that they’ll pick me up later, but I knew this wasn’t true. Looking left and right, I saw both my lab coats and my retrofitted Stable outfits (none which bear any numbers to it and are most likely to be replicas).

Those were my days as a foal and how I hated small spaces. Its the equivalence of being stuffed in a box like a common house cat to be placed for ‘adoption’. I banged on the closet door, “Hey, let me outta this closet!”

The only response I got was being plunged into darkness. I screamed and helplessly flailed my hooves as I fell down, pretty much falling into an endless abyss. Or worse!

I landed onto an invisible floor. I grunted in pain, but I was still intact. Of course, I began hearing various voices as I frantically galloped my way out of here. Looking at an unfamiliar figure, I began to shout, “Solar?! Carbon?!”

The response I got was a dark one.

“Zero, why didn’t you saved me? What kind of failure of a scientist are you? What inventions did you made? A new way to kill ponies? You’re not a scientist, you’re a killer and a savage in Equestria! Consider yourself banned from any future research and inventions!”

“No! Starshooter, don’t do this to me! Anything but my status!” I pleaded.

Unfortunately, my words fell on deaf ears as the invisible floor I’m standing began to consume me alive. Fuck! This isn’t happening!

As I turned my head back, I could see a wide-open mouth with serrated teeth and is about to devour me whole! Goddesses, save me while you still can!

My body jolted awake as I let out a muted scream from the sudden nightmare. I was sweating profusely, but at least nopony barged in and killed me or stole things I had with me. I looked around at my enclosed surroundings before looking at my blood, sweat and filth-ridden outfit again. I clutched my forelegs around my head again, trying to rid the horrifying events and the claustrophobic feeling combined.

I fought hard to hold back the tears as I scarfed my muzzle down to the saddlebag to grab a piece of carrot and take a good chunk of bite from it. I bit off more than I could chew, but did what I could to swallow hard amid the painful sting burning inside my throat.

I silently panted before sitting up, allowing my vision to adjust itself for me to see clearly. So much for having a normal sleep, but at least its morning according to my PipBuck. Time to go, I suppose. My pony mind spoke out. I wrapped the saddlebag around me and stumbled onto my hooves before grabbing a couple of healing potions with me and leaving. What a nightmare. And where was Luna anyway?! I thought her duty was to visit ponies’ dreams even if she’s clearly not physically there!

As I left the abandoned pharmacy, I was greeted with four red blips from the radar. Well, this isn’t going to end well. Probably Dr. Scalpel’s murderous creation, a small pack of killer Raiders or even ravenous creatures out to get me. I’m armed with potions and a half-eaten carrot, and the chances of getting rid of them are slim at best. Might as well sneak my way out of this if I have to stay alive.

I then heard commotion, “Dammit, where are the fucking Cobras?! These motherfuckers have crossed us for the last time!”

Explicit aside, its no doubt that these are the Raiders. It seems to me that they have a really heated feud with the Cobras I saw a few days ago. I carefully snuck behind various objects as to not be seen by them; one was carrying a tomahawk with her mouth, the other carrying a worn-out revolver. The other two have battle saddles, armed and ready to raise hell. And they all looked filthy.

As they look around the area blocking into an alleyway, it seems that they’re not leaving! Think, Zero! Think! I can’t just charge at them without the risk of becoming a shooting gallery.

Looking right, I saw a chunk of rock and grabbed it with a hoof to lift it up. Despite the slight heaviness, I held onto it and waited for an opportunity. Once one of the Raider ponies faced elsewhere, I hurled the rock onto the distracted Raider. It landed onto her head, but not killing her. I left her dazed instead.

“Gah! What the--?! Who chucked a damn rock at me?!”

The Raiders were clueless at first, though one with the tomahawk began to look around as her scent was caught up, “Hmm…”

I quickly rolled onto the next object, but the mare quickly chucked the tomahawk and it barely missed me. Unfortunately, I recoiled in pain, clutching my hoof against my right eye. Sonofabitch landed a lucky shot! Gotta move, now!

The unnamed, charcoal Raider spoke out, “Ah got sumthin’!”

Their leader spoke out, “If its a wannabe Cobra or a regular pony, I want ya to skin ‘em alive!”

I stumbled into the street as I dazedly galloped off to escape. One of the Raiders found trickling blood on the ground (presumably my own) as he let out a wicked grin before they began to follow the blood trail. I barely escaped. Barely.

I was panting in pain before chugging down the heal potion to stop the bleeding. My body slid onto the dirt ground, lying against a demolished building. As if being mute wasn’t enough… I can’t see with my right eye now. Great! Just, fucking peachy! I look like a Raider already! I brushed my hoof against my mane to cover up my now permanently-damaged right eye. This day just can’t get any better. Not to mention that their hunt is still on. As long as I’m hiding and not make any sudden noises (ironic, of course), I’ll be fine…

In Lab-00, the situation had become worrying for one of the scientist teams, “Mr. Starshooter, half of the teams, including the Scavenger team, hasn’t returned in days! We last received a distress signal coming from Zero, but it was immediately cut off before the message was even finished.”

Starshooter sternly replied, “This situation is growing with deep uncertainty. Not only are we running short on supplies, but the members are becoming deeply concerned and are questioning on whether or not a relocation is our primary order. I’ve given them the simplest tasks to find and retrieve artifacts, as well as food supplies to maintain this facility.”

He paused for a brief moment before resuming, “Something is wrong with New Hampshore. Things are… changing. We need to evacuate this facility and relocate elsewhere. We shall notify everypony to gather all of our items and prepare for an immediate relocation.”

The elder scientist pony shook his head, “But sir, where will we go? New Hampshore is too dangerous for us to go out there in an effort to relocate! We’ve lost contact of our teams, we can’t afford to lose more of our members!”

Starshooter’s expression is unfazed, but showed a hint of worry in him.

“Then we shall stick in groups, no separation. That is an order, and nothing else.”

The scientist stallion gave him a nod, “Right away, sir. I will begin the news immediately.”

After his leave, Starshooter looked up at the ceiling, his mind wondering what was going on in New Hampshore.

Footnote: No Level Up.
Penalties: PER reduced by -1; Normal Speech now limited with written words.

Chapter Five: On Your Own

What a day. And New Hampshore’s just getting started.

With my teammates gone for good and me being forced to do the unthinkable, I’ve just killed a pony. My own teammate, Solar Eclipse. Not counting shooting down the first Raider (he wasn’t really worth saving anyway), she was my only surviving teammate who is now dead forever. I devoted myself from a scientist to a murderer, but even then, it was a mercy kill. A kill that I didn’t had any other choice, not when she had to gravely suffer like this.

It didn’t stop here; I lost both my right eye from a lucky Raider attack and my voice being taken away. But most importantly, my voice that was taken away by the bastard surgeon. Come to think of it, I’ve never done any hoof-sign languages before.

Either way, this wasn’t the kind of mission I was hoping for. Not by a long shot.

Overlooking a decrepit building with Sapphire Shore’s cutie mark made me wonder if she’s still reliving her legacy as a pop star. Of course, she knew she would win it had it not for Suri Polomare’s snide behavior and plummeting this city into a state of unrest. Perhaps I’ll make a visit inside, all while being totally unarmed and defenseless.

I took a good look at my PipBuck to see if there were any hostiles, only two, but rather far. Damn Raiders are still picking up my scent! Gotta hide!

I bolted inside the entrance of a building before these bastards have any chance of spotting me! I heard commotion, followed by a series of beeps from my PipBuck. I hid behind a wall and letting out a quiet, nervous pant as the Raiders began their manhunt for me. Are they ponies, or Diamond Dogs?! They can’t be both!

My ears picked up sounds of vulgar comments from outside as they continued their search for me (or possibly other victims for them to pick on), with me just venturing on inside the building. The plaque read at the center of a wall:

And a hoof-ful of skeleton ponies to go for. What happened in here? Were they killing each other, or starved themselves to death? My mind thought, but they’re dead either way. I trotted up the stairs leading to the second floor to search for anything valuable. And lo and behold, half of the computer terminals still work! I must be in technology heaven already!

Heading over to one of the terminals, I lightly shoved the skeletal pony off of his/her chair and taking the seat to boot up the terminal. Of course, password wasn’t exactly needed, so kudos for me! You’ve surely outdone yourself, Zero! Not just a scientist, but a master of technology!

Or so to speak. The terminal had three messages from the screen:

>Stocks crashed! Millions of bits gone!
>Supplies required for delivery
>RE: What’s going on?

Stocks crashed? Hmm… time to see what it says!

“Damnit! We’ve lost millions from our latest stock exchange from our loan with Manehattan Bank Services! And the Ponyunion Council had cut off our ties from recovering our assets! We’re going bankrupt, and nopony will shell out millions of bits to keep our businesses afloat! Brew Berrymore, we can’t go on like this. Whatever your plan was, the Council refused to cooperate with us. They informed us that they will no longer transfer bits overseas in order for us to stave off the debts we’re in. You did your best, but its time that you are relieved from your office. Until we settle our debts, we’ll be facing bankruptcy in the coming months. I’m sorry if it had to be this way, but I’m letting you go and never return. -Lucky Charm”

Well. Its no wonder New Hampshore spiralled into a state of chaos. Not sure if that was Discord’s wrongdoing or that the name Lucky Charm should be renamed as Un-lucky Charm instead, but it seemed that the city was at its mercy to begin with. Let’s see what the second one says regarding deliveries.

“Trailblazer, you are required to deliver medical supplies in Dodge Junction. The supplies over there are scarce and ponies are slowly dying from the deadly flu, so its imperative that you must deliver these supplies within two weeks. I’m counting on you.”

Whoever Trailblazer is, the name pretty much screams pegasus mare. I’m not sure if she even made it to Dodge Junction in time as I tapped my hoof against my chin, deep in thought. After some thinking, I opened up the third and final message from the terminal:

“What’s going on is that we’re losing bits! We’d ask Sapphire Shores to see if we can gather up some gems, but apparently she’s in a state of depression. And the mayor went AWOL when ponies were rioting over Suri being a cheating whore. Whatever’s going on, let’s just hope things will be okay by the next day.”

In the end however, there wasn’t a next day. Closing the terminal as I laid back against the chair, staring at a ruined ceiling.

New Hampshore was indeed doomed from the start. Be it from Suri or some freak accident, I’m surprised I hardly noticed the outcome during my years in Lab-00. But now, I expressed no desire in returning to Lab-00. In fact, its now experiencing the same way as it already is in New Hampshore! Hope everypony’s alright inside…

I’m still unarmed and I need to find something that’ll help me defend myself. Where do they keep their weapons in? In those two locked safes? From the maintenance room? What?!

How the hell am I going to pry them open?! This isn’t fair! Gah! Get a grip, Zero! Maybe if I can at least try to pick open the locks with a screwdriver and a bobby pin with my mouth altogether… no! Dumb idea! Too complicated to hold both tools in one mouth. If I was a unicorn, I would’ve made a complicated task not so complicated!

Groan. Maybe try wrapping both of my hooves together around a screwdriver and a bobby pin? Why not! I flicked my hoof onto the toolbox to open it up to find a screwdriver inside, with no other tools available. Clamping my teeth onto the handle, and grabbing a bobby pin onto the ground (the only one I found so far, the rest was stolen by you know who) as I begin to pick the safe open. Carefully placing the pin and the screw into the lock, I slowly torqued them to the right.

Steady, stead--

CRRNK!

Fuck! Both the bobby pin and the screwdriver snapped in half! I tossed those two away in a humiliating defeat. So much for uncovering their secrets. I could’ve wondered if those were lost bits inside, or maybe valuable weapons to get my hooves on. Guess now I have to be the defenseless pony in the wastelands. You can keep your secrets, New Hampshore. Not like I want them anyway.

Trotting downstairs meant my reward was all for naught, but at least the Raiders who were hunting for me had eventually left. Even ransacking the place even further. Guess they were bored like I am.

Making my exit means I’ll have to venture deeper inside this doomed city in hopes for finding things to defend myself. Maybe with some tunes, it’ll be less quiet. Lifting up my PipBuck, I turned on the radio as the song plays a random jazz to it inside. Not much, but it’ll help kill off the boredom. Looking around the buildings made me wonder how New Hampshore even looked like before they were partially destroyed. Or how it became a grim reminder if you misuse a stock exchange just to try and earn millions by bleeding bits dry from other stock companies.

The ground’s becoming too uneven, and I’m hearing faint buzzing noises. My pony head warned me. It wasn’t from my PipBuck or the song. If the Cazadores are planning a major swarm, I’d better get myself somewhere safe, and fast. Looking on ahead, I saw the manhole that’s completely left wide open. I shuddered at the sight, wondering what the underneath looked or smelled like. My lab coat’s already as ruined as it is, mixed together with my Stable replica outfit. The buzzings began to grow louder; its indeed a swarm!

I galloped to the open manhole and quickly and carefully climbed myself down into the sewers, as a swarm of angry Cazadores began to make its flight from a skyscraper building used as their nesting area. No time to wait, I need to keep going! Who knows if one of them flew inside the sewers just to hunt me?!

None of them went inside the sewers, but I kept going. I can’t stop to turn back to check now. I’ll keep on going until Celestia tells me to stop!

I eventually stopped and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. I figured a quick meal is in order as I set down my saddlebags and opening it up to eat up the second carrot I’ve been saving up. Despite the sharp pain from my throat due to the lack of my vocal chord, I ingested it safely. The pain wasn’t too severe thanks to the potion still taking effect, although it soon wore off.

I quickly took a chug of the healing potion to ease the pain from my infected throat before moving on. Looking down at the radar is flooded with red blips, indicating the Cazadors’ presence from above and overrunning the ruined city. Might as well continue on from below, lest one of them would fly down and go on a relentless hunt.

Goddess! The smell is getting worse! I hope there’s a way up where no killer insects are present or I’ll be bathing in tomato sauce for five straight days! Blech!

A ladder! Yes! Time to get out of this putrid sewers inside… except my ears picked up gurgling noises. It wasn’t my stomach, so I turned my head and saw bubbling waters inside.

What the--?! Is somepony taking a swim inside?

At least that’s what my mind pony mentioned. Of course, I was obviously wrong; a thing emerged from the waters, my PipBuck picking up a red blip. Not good.

My eyes went wide. What the hell?! Its a pony-crab thing! And its hideous-looking! I scrambled up the stairs, but the pony-crab thing began to pursue me. It looks heavy, especially with its back shell, and pincers to go for!

Aside from its face, it was all scary-looking combined with its intention to dice me to death. Gotta move, fast!

I’m back in the city with no Cazadores this time, but now I have a new threat pursuing me; the pony-crab thing is still after me! I could hear its clacking pincers, intent on turning me into pony filet! Damn you, Wastelands for pitting me against this freak with nothing for me to defend myself!

I’m starting to become exhausted with the pony-crab thing closing in on me. When did this become an ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ type of scenario?! I slowed to a stop and allowed it to close in on me. Maybe if I can give it a bucking, I could slow it down. Or become today’s special if that doesn’t work. Here goes nothing!

As its pincers lunged at me, I kicked it back with my hind-legs hoping for a hit. It didn’t killed it, but it was enough for it to recoil back, saving my death. Of course, I only managed to get it even more pissed, so now the deadly chase resumes!

For a pony-crab this size, its still able to pursue me relentlessly. I’m starting to lose my breath, yet this thing is still able to catch up to me?!

Then, gunshots were heard as they successfully shot at the pony-crab thing while narrowly missing me in return. It let out a pained screech before its attention now focuses on the gunfire, ignoring me completely. Just when I was safe, some of the shadowy ponies began to aim at me and started to fire at me. Wah! I’m not some hostile, much less a target practice!

I barely escaped into a junction of the street, seething in pain as I felt some of the bullets going through my foreleg and hindleg. Goddess damnit! I hope the pony-crab thing can kill those bastards for me, but of course, it’ll come for me next. I’m still alive, but damnit it hurts so fucking much! Almost like having a metal pole shoved inside my asshole!

I quickly looked around for a safe place inside so I can patch myself up, or I could slip unconscious and not be able to wake up for good from the blood loss. I didn’t even know I had hostiles, because they were all aiming at this monstrosity. Now they decided to shoot me? I’m not some common Raider! Or unless they are one, but I couldn’t tell because of the low visibility from the thick clouds. I arrived inside a small, abandoned medical facility for me to find any medical kits to treat my very first gunshot wounds.

I can’t believe its everypony for themselves… how am I this foalish?! Even if I seek help, the last thing I’ll be getting is something far worse than a gunshot wound, or even my vocal chord pulled off of my throat! Clearly, my pony mind was right and either way, I could’ve been either crab food or be shot to death. I just had to narrowly escape from certain death. My teammates were my allies, and they would’ve been by my side… oh fuck it! What’s the point?! My teammates are gone! I’m seriously by myself, especially with my PipBuck.

After venting my rage inside my mind, I began to poorly patch myself up with the dressings I found in the medical lockers. And to chug down the half liquid of the healing potion so it’ll begin to heal. And I’m still unarmed, my hindlegs didn’t do much to the giant bastard. I hope it got what it deserved from the bullets, but now I just need to find a place to briefly rest up after those antics. Who were they? And why were they firing at me?

I didn’t know they had a shoot-on-sight policy, so its no wonder these ponies who attempted to gun me down were crazy! I took a look at my PipBuck and turned off the radio. Looking at the name of the creature I’ve previously encountered turned out to be a Ponelurk. No wonder it had only a deformed face of a pony, much less having large, crab-like claws and legs, and a hard shell on its back. Even if I had weapons, its face is too small to get a good aim anyway.

Taking a small stroll inside the hospital facility had slowly given me a terrible reminder of how I was abducted back then… only except it looked a little more modern. And without the crazed surgeon who kidnapped me and permanently restricting my ability to speak.

New Hampshore’s gone amok. Even if I’d head on back and reasoned with them, I’ll probably be executed on the spot. My pony mind said.

I slid my saddlebags on the floor and clambered myself up onto the tattered hospital bed just for a brief rest. Rolling onto my back and pressing my hoof on the button from my PipBuck to detach it, I took a good look at it.

Remembering how Olive Oil gave this PipBuck to me as a special gift… it felt like a curse. A mother-bucking curse! I bashed my head against my own oldest PipBuck, figuring how I would’ve been better off yet so damn naive to even accept it as a gift.

My ears picked up robotic-like sounds and checked to-- wait… I removed my PipBuck off of my hoof. Now I can’t tell if I’m picking up a hostile or a friendly! I just closed my eyes (or eye, thanks to my permanently-damaged right eye) and waited for the inevitable to happen.

As the robopony arrived inside, I slowly opened my eye and saw it looking at me. Its a… nurse?! I was rather flabbergasted at the sight, especially from my recent encounter of course. One thing’s for certain, at least its not planning to kill me. It, or she, looked like Redheart with metallic parts and visors as eyes. She even had a nurse cap around her head. I’m still not sure if this one’s sentient, as she was built for limited programming purposes such as tending the injured. Or the opposite.

She then spoke to me in a robotic and mare-like tone, “Hello, my little patient! My name is Nurse Roboheart! Is there anything I can do for you?”

Okay, she’s not hostile. Whew! What a relief! I just hope she didn’t caught me stealing. I was bleeding and needed to find a way to heal myself! I showed her my (poorly) patched foreleg and hindleg, and they were still bleeding a little.

“Oh dear. Better get you a new one for me to patch you up!” Nurse Roboheart told me as she wheeled off to get medical supplies (if there’s any remaining of course). I was thankful that she wasn’t the least bit of a mindless, homicidal robopony. Who’d knew what’ll happen if somepony tampered her systems?!

I heard whirring noises as I saw Roboheart return with roll-up bandages carried onto her back. I simply relaxed back as she told me, “Now, hold still and let Nurse Roboheart take care of you!”

For a non-hostile robotic mare, she sure did a great job at patching me up better than I was. She even slid my PipBuck I previously took it off back onto my hoof. I have to admit that she’s been quite generous in nursing me back to health for a robotic pony. She reminds me of… no-no. Don’t let this get into you, Zero. She’s just a robot who treated me well. Nothing more.

Roboheart took a scan around me, probably thinking if I’m a threat to her or not. Of course, I heard a small beep from her. I gulped (or tried to anyway) from the sound.

“What happened to you?” The robotic nurse asked me. Since I’m unable to talk normally, all I could do was tilt my head up to show her my crudely-stitched throat.

The response I got was her ears whirring down in a sad tone.

“Oh no… what happened to your vocal chords? They’re gone!”

Heh. Tell me about it. Bastard surgeon pretty much stole my voice so that I can’t speak normally at all. My pony thoughts replied to her, even if Roboheart can’t read my mind.

“Its too bad I don’t have a voice modulator for you, young patient. Everypony had left and never sought to make newer equipments.”

I gave her a sad nod from the bad news. Guess I’ll be silent for life, huh? I gave her a pat on the metallic head with my hoof as a thanks. At least she patched me up better than I did. I got off of the hospital bed, hearing her happy whirring noises from the patting.

After wrapping my saddlebags around my waist, I looked at Roboheart and motioned my head a little, wondering if she would like to come with me.

“I’m sorry. But I’m not allowed to leave this facility, as I’m programmed to treat the wounded.”

Of course she can’t. She’s a robotic nurse and won’t even leave the facility whatsoever. I let out a quiet, sad sigh upon hearing her reject my offer to have Nurse Roboheart accompany me. Looks like I’ll be on my own again. I gave her a small and disappointed smile as I trotted off of the abandoned hospital. Her response was, “Be careful out there! Not everypony lives another day…”

Tell that to my dead teammates…

It seems there’s little buildings now, as far as I saw. I must be leaving this dreaded city already, all while still being so damn vulnerable! Is there of any chance I can find one of those? Looking at the radar from my PipBuck, the map shows me that I’m close to exiting New Hapshore and arriving in another area. I looked back at the depraved city, seeing that its done enough harm to me, both physically and mentally.

I ventured too far from my home place, but I can’t go back anymore. I’ve already devoted myself as a scientist for Lab-00 and therefore have no intention on coming back.

Taking a step forward of the eerily empty streets, I took a small glance at the torn billboard (with a picture of the upper half of a pony torn away), reading as:

Just here for a visit, not to reside there! My pony thoughts called out, as I made a long journey inside Mayne. What kind of name is ‘Mayne’ anyway? Is this the home of different styles of mane? I’m no expert in mane-styling but either way, I’m wondering what it has to offer. Probably a new way to get killed or get abducted by crazed ponies.

Mayne looked to be more rural than like the bustling skyscrapers of New Hampshore. I checked for any hostiles from my PipBuck. None so far, good. Though I’ll have to keep moving, its not safe to just stand there and wait for a deadly surprise to happen.

The streets are just empty. No sign of life at all, with half of the houses already abandoned, even some with doors barricaded with wooden planks. Stores were also abandoned inside, but now the skies are turning dark orange. Nighttime was already setting in and whatever happened over there, they didn’t lived off. And there’s not a single light in sight, so its basically unsafe to just explore in the dark. Time to move!

Looking left, there was a door left ajar. Most likely to be an abandoned house and soon enough, I entered inside as pitch black darkness rolled in. Hope any surviving residents living here doesn’t accuse me for breaking and entering. I took a good look around, and not a sound inside. Good. And there’s some barely-lit lights still working inside. More than enough for me to rest up for the night.

I arrived inside an abandoned kitchen and opened up the fridge door. Two fresh Maize, a Nuka-Cola and Whiskey. I’ll leave the Whiskey and take those three, I’ll need them for my nightly meal before resting up.

Storing them inside my saddlebags, I left the kitchen and let out a tired yawn. What a hectic journey this has been, especially with the Ponelurk nearly turning me into pony fillet. Not to mention these shadowy-figured ponies opening fire at me. Clearly, I wasn’t even a threat. Or they most likely misled me to a Raider which is either a mistake or their shoot-on-sight policy meant that they had little regard to anypony, even when they’re obviously innocent and mean no harm.

Looking ahead, there’s a secret passageway that leads down to the basement. Inside, there were bunk beds, storage shelves and a lit lantern. One of the beds I saw was a recording placed on one of the bunk beds. Perhaps I’ll listening to the recording whilst having a meal.

Turning on the recorder as I prep my meal, there was a following message:

“I don’t know what happened out there in Mayne… shit just went down before we knew it! We had no electricity, gunfire keeps erupting and the darkness is consuming us all!

My friends, my own friends, even went as far as to steal my bits, just to try and stave off the last few meals ever since Mayor Mayne was assassinated and the City Hall taken over by theses… these god-damned ruffians!

At least Crescendo Melody, my only friend, cared for me. Like an older sister she is. But even then, she was only here to try and make me forget the horrible situation going on here. She told me ‘Its okay, Tether. Everything will be alright’, but the next day became worse! I found her… dead. She wasn’t just raped, but dead as well! I found her body completely gutted, insides and all! I’m gonna get them… I’ll get them sooner or later!

Those bastards will pay for this!”

As the message ends, I paused for a moment. This message was eerily similar to Solar Eclipse, only the differences were being kidnapped by that crazed surgeon going by the name Dr. Scalpel. Even if I wanted revenge like him, I’ll accomplish nothing in the end. As much as I love to consider Solar as my sister, I don’t. She was not only my friend, but my teammate. Same goes for Carbon Monoxide. Nothing more.

Resuming to my meal amid my heart just slowly tearing itself apart, I guess a Whiskey should’ve sufficed. But even then, it could’ve greatly hinder my scientific skills in the process.

Maize done, now to lay back and rest up for the night. Of course, gunshots rang out and did my very best to ignore it and sleep it off.

The next day I’m now showering myself in a small, irradiated water to clean myself up from the filth I was thrown so far and even washing off the uncertain feeling from me. The sounds of my PipBuck slowly clicking up wasn’t exactly music, but it was close.

Turning off the shower handle and shook myself clean, I was a clean stallion to go for. For now of course, because the Wastelands here know nothing of proper hygiene. Not now, not ever. Putting on my stained outfit and saddlebags around me, its a good time for me to leave and see what Mayne has to offer. I’ll probably get a welcome with a bullet to the head anyway.

Either way though, if that message I listened to last night was true, then its safe during the day but not so during the night. Whoever Tether was, I’m not really sure if he sought revenge from them. Possibly ended up the same fate as Crescendo Melody did. Even so, I’m basically going solo for this one. Exiting the bathroom and out of the abandoned home, I was greeted with other pony settlers; armed to the teeth too!

Yet, they weren’t hostile at me. Even with rifles and shotguns around their Battle-Saddles, my PipBuck showed me nothing but friendlies/neutrals. They were all asleep. Looking right, I saw them even using dead pony corpses as their mattresses! Eugh! I winced at the sight. I’m guessing they’re nocturnal?

But seeing them fully armed isn’t a pretty sight, with me being fully un-armed! Maybe there’s a local firearms shop I can get one myself? Looking at the map from the screen, there were a hoof-ful of undiscovered places of interests. Might as well give this rural town a shot.

I wandered around the ruined town to search for a firearms shop and see if a decent weapon will help me defend myself, should anything bad happen.

Hmm… where is it? It has to be around here somewhere. These signs from the buildings are quite sparse, so I basically can’t tell.

“Y’lookin’ fer sumthin’, sonny?”

My ears picked up the sounds of an elder pony before glancing at him. If I could still talk, I would’ve told him that I was looking for a firearm of the sort. All I could do is make up a sign language, posing in front of him like I was holding and aiming an imaginary rifle at nopony before looking at him in hopes that he would know what I mean.

The older stallion squinted his eyes at my pose before saying, “A rifle, eh? Too bad we got nun’ of those. Try lookin’ for dem if ya like, them rebels stole everythin’ they had.”

Huh… no wonder there was gunfire all over the damn place last night. I’d take one of their weapons, but that’s surely a foolish way to die, isn’t it? I simply waved at the old man and just went on my way. The elder one? Fell fast asleep afterwards.

My search resumes for a weapon I need to defend myself. Judging by the buildings, it seems the Mayor Mayne was indeed assassinated. Well, goddess damn it. This won’t make my search any easier.

Luckily, my PipBuck displayed its name that read as ‘Bucks Galore!’. Of course… I can’t really tell if this is really a firearms shop, or its a shop containing… stuff. Stuff that even I don’t wish to know. Nevertheless, let’s see what they have to offer!

Upon entering inside, there was nothing to offer! Nothing! The old colt was right; there wasn’t anything to find and obtain inside at all! How can this be?! Surely they wouldn’t leave a miniaturized gun that does laughable damage, or even a rifle that shoots confettis! Is there at least one weapon that isn’t stolen? Trotting around inside to see if there’s anything not stolen, there were tons of empty ammo boxes and floors littered with used ammo cases. Those ponies took survival way too far, I can tell.

And oddly enough, the shop owner isn’t there neither. Weird how nopony’s manning the Bucks Galore! shop, especially when things went out of control. Maybe if I can check behind the counter, I could find something useful. What the--?!

There’s a dead pony?! And he’s holding onto something precious? Trying to hold back the smell, I could see he’s holding onto a sniper rifle. State-of-the-art, too! It’d be a shame if I took it off from his dead hooves, but what can I do about it? And looking at him again, his name was Tether, the same pony who swore revenge from the audio I played it last night. The caramel-colored stallion pretty much never made it. He either died defending this shop or had sought refuge there to make his final stand against those bastards he had to avenge for his dead friend. At least he made some effort, but a sad way to end like this. Its surprising that nopony had even cared for him, much less recover his dead body from a bloodied gunfight. It was just total anarchy for a small town.

I gingerly wrapped my hoof around the rifle and slowly pulled it off of his dead hooves.

I’m sorry about this, Tether. Its nothing personal. You served your purpose at defending yourself from harm. Looking at my PipBuck, it was an SDM-9 Sniper Rifle I acquired. Looks to be military grade with an advanced scope, but with no bullets to go for. Guess he fired all of them just to ward off these anarchist ponies that were trying to kill him (and succeeded). I finally have a weapon, but now all that’s left is some sniper ammo for me to put it to better use.

‘Enjoy your stay!’ the sign tells me. Over my dead body! Day one of Mayne and I’ve already begun to hate it. Even with ponies still asleep, some shot me with glares with intent on killing me when night falls. This is not a great place to stay, and I need to get out of this town from becoming a shooting gallery. With my sniper that has no bullets, I’m still vulnerable.

Venturing myself deep into the heart of Mayne (and out of this damned town), I arrived at a park to relax myself. Sitting down on the bench, I nommed on another Maize I had to curb my daily hunger. It was not before my ears picked up a faint giggle. Quickly, I turned my head towards the source of the sound. Nothing.

I shook my head to clear my mind. Geez, and I thought the pony residents were crazy and cold-hearted. I resumed eating Maize before a second faint giggle went into my ears. Who the buck is laughing?!

Looking at my PipBuck, it didn’t detect and friendlies/neutrals or hostiles. Okay so I’m being a little crazed, but where’s that sound coming from? Might as well save this for later and look for somepony who’s doing foal-like activities.

Exiting the park with my new Sniper safely tucked between my side and my saddlebags, I had to find the source of the playful laughter. How the hell is this fun and games when this hostile territory is not a common playground?! I heard more giggles, and I’m traversing into a seemingly dense woods. Looking around at the burnt trees and leaves turned to ashes, I could even wonder if this will lead me anywhere to the source of a foal-like laughter.

Then, I saw a small pony figure. A foal? Filly, maybe? Unsupervised?!

“Hehe, come on, Bob! Stop! That tickles!”

Bob? Who’s Bob? My pony mind wondered.

The two figures revealed to be a young filly…

...and a robotic scorpion?!

I inadvertently stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. It grabbed the scorpion attention and it fired a laser at the sound, barely missing me!

I recoiled back from the shot. And just my luck, no bullets from my sniper rifle. I heard it make whirring noises as it makes an approach towards the sound. I looked at it, seeing that its fairly small in size but with amazing firing power! Fuckfuckfuckfuck!

Oh goddess, I’m so dead!

The young filly yelled out, “Hey, Bob! Where are you going?! Come back!”

Of course, I could pretty much die without making a noise as the robotic scorpion took a good look at me and was about to finished me off. The unnamed filly intervened and waved to him, “No, Bob! I didn’t tell you to shoot him! It was just an accident!”

With that thing nearly burning my coat to a crisp? Like hell it was just an accident! I quickly pushed my sniper rifle off of me to ensure the young filly to not mistake me for a common Raider. Please just say the word…

The filly lets out a giggle before looking at me, “Sorry, mister! Bob didn’t mean to do that, even though you look like a meanie Raider!”

Oh of course, I get to be degraded. Real cute, kid. Real cute.

The small robo-scorpion lets out a mechanic whirr as it (or he) skittered behind her. Who is she? And why did she had that robo-scorpion with her? Come to think of it… where are her parents?

Footnote: Level Up.
No New Perk.
Quest Perk Added: Computer Whiz - If the Terminal gets locked out on your first try, you can always go for a second try.

Chapter Six: Tootsie Roll and Bob

“I’m Tootsie Roll, and this is Bob! He’s my protector and best friend! What’s your name, mister?”

So the little, dark chocolate-colored unicorn filly is Tootsie Roll, huh? Her dark brown mane sure has pigtails with them as her name implies. She even had light brown eyes to go for, but no cutie mark to date. I could assume that when she gets older, she’ll contain tootsie rolls on her flanks. As for Bob? At least he’s not intent on burning me to a crisp. His small size isn’t to be messed with! His tail laser is enough to fry a minotaur with no hesitation!

As for me? Well, I could only point my hoof to the ‘0’ symbol from my lab coat sleeve to her. I hope she got the reference that my name is Zero.

“Your name is O? What kind of silly name is that?!” She lets out a playful laugh after obviously mistaking the number for a letter. I facehoof at her antics and opened up the interface from my PipBuck. It had the Personal Notes feature which is quite convenient for a mute pony like myself. Inputting at least two words, I showed it to the young Tootsie as it read as ‘I’m Zero’. Hopefully she’ll really get it.

Tootsie Roll took a closer look at the screen, “Ze...ro? You’re a number? That’s so silly!”

So is your pet robot, little one! My pony thoughts yelled out. I just let out an unamused expression regarding her, mocking my name in the most un-foal-ish way possible.

“I wonder if your cutie mark happens to be a number like yours!” Tootsie Roll said, with Bob still keeping a close eye on me in case I’d end up doing something I’ll end up regretting despite not deserving it. I looked at her who is lifting up my lab coat, my cutie mark being revealed but nothing like my name. Instead, it depicted a flask with liquid inside from my flank.

My response from her was, “Awww. That’s not a number! You’re a scientist!”

Well what’s it look like?! I’m indeed a scientist, not a number, kiddo! Just because my name is Zero doesn’t mean it relates to a number on my cutie mark!

Tootsie lets out a playful giggle before she took a good look at my SDM-9 Sniper Rifle. I looked at her in shock. Oh goddess damnit, she saw it!

“Ooohh… shiny! Is this yours, mister Zero?”

I gave her a nod. Yes, its mine. And no, you’re not allowed to touch it! Of course the young unicorn isn’t psychic. She’ll probably touch it anyway! Damn my inability to speak!

She tried to lift it up with her magic, though the rifle was rather heavy for her to lift it up as she grunted with effort, “Nnngh! Why is this darn thing so heavy..?!”

What do you think, kid? Its not some toy for you to play around with anyway! My pony mind replied to her. Hell, Bob is even heavier than the sniper rifle you’re carrying with! I patted a hoof onto her back to let her know that she needs to put down the rifle. Even when there’s no ammo inside, her pet (or friend) would open fire at me with no hesitation.

Bob took aim and was about to open fire at me with his tail that can fire off deadly lasers, Tootsie looking at me as she turned off her magic, “Oh… so that’s yours, Mr. Zero.”

I nodded to her before moving my hoof from her (it seems Bob’s really protective to the young filly) and selecting at least three words from my PipBuck and showed it to her that read ‘Where’s your parents?’. Her reaction was her chin being tapped by a small hoof in thought.

“Hmm… nope! Don’t remember my parents! They were probably taken by the baddies and never to be seen again, so Bob here is my one and only protector! And where are your parents?! Tell me, tell me, tell meeee!”

Jeez, calm down over there. You should know that I’m unable to talk normally, and contain your excitement for once! There could be nocturnal ponies who are out for blood by starting a major gunfight that could potentially kill us all, especially if the pitch black darkness would roll in! As for my parents? I merely shrugged to Tootsie Roll. I don’t recall having any parents in my foal years or even having siblings, though I was likely orphaned and raised in Lab-00. Guess my parents were dead too long ago.

“So your parents are playing hide-and-seek? No wonder! They must be really good at this game!” Tootsie replied to me. I feel like face-hoofing so hard right about now.

I went to retrieve back my sniper rifle to tuck it between my side and my saddlebags as Tootsie Roll told her robo-scorpion friend, “Its ok, Bob! He’s one of us! This numberized pony means no harm to us!”

Honestly, you’re clearly not helping. Being called Blueberry is one thing, but to use my name as a number isn’t improving my current mood!

I waved my hoof to the two as if asking to come along with me. Of course, with my lack of proper hoof-signs and inability to normally speak, I’m not sure how this’ll turn out. Hopefully they’ll make good substitutes to my former teammates whom had fallen at the hooves of Dr. Scalpel. But then I’ll have to supervise the young filly even with Bob taking care of her. But hey, three’s a team I hope.

“Oooohhh! Bob, we’re going on an adventure! Tootsie Roll, Bob and Zero in--” I interrupted her with a loud tap on the tree with my fore-leg. This isn’t fun and games, you know!

“Oh, right! Coming, Mr. Zero!” Both she and Bob began to follow me. Now to lead us out of the forest and somewhere safe where nopony would start to kill each other, or us.

We’re now out of the forest, though now I’m in desperate need of sniper ammo. I looked back the two and… where did they go?! I frantically looked around for them, they were gone! Surely they couldn’t have separated when I silently told them to follow me, would they? And even with Bob, he doesn’t provide us enough protection for his scatterbrained friend here!

Luckily, I saw the two returning back from having wandered around for no reason. And can’t they just give me at least a warning next time?! I was nearly worried sick of seeing you vanish suddenly!

Ugh, nevermind. I motioned my head to them to let them know that we need to keep moving, and to not separate again! Even with Bob, there’s no guarantee that he could survive those kind of attacks.

The two resumed following me again, with Tootsie just strutting along even when all hell’s already gone loose. We’re exiting the forest and entering the town of Mayne… only much more isolated than the residential one who were intent on killing each other. It looks so empty. Like, really empty. Not a single pony on sight.

“Ooohh… its a Ghost Town! Right, Bob?” Tootsie’s friend whirred in response. For once, she’s right. It is a Ghost Town. And my PipBuck isn’t picking up any neutrals or hostiles whatsoever. If I could just talk… then I’ll get no response, regardless. Yay.

I looked at the two and pointed a hoof at a nearby and abandoned workshop building to see if we can take a look inside.

Tootsie Roll and Bob looked at each other and nodded to me. “Yay! Let’s go inside! Let’s go inside!”

Its a workshop building, not some toy store! My pony thoughts told Tootsie Roll. You have to expect the unexpected, and there won’t be any toys to play around with. Just the killer creatures that are just dwelling to feast on us. Even if this town’s completely isolated, its far from it I can tell. I was even fooled when I first arrived in Mayne, when it was more of a hostile territory than just a ghost town. One thing’s for certain, I need ammunition for my sniper rifle or I’ll just be pointlessly pulling the trigger countless of times with no sniper bullets in it.

Let’s see what it has to offer…

Huh. Seems this one wasn’t looted like the ammunition store I visited. Lots of tools to go for so there should be a screwdriver in one of the toolboxes (or a lot, if I’m correct). I placed a hoof onto the toolbox lid to open it up to see what’s inside; duct tape, scrap electronics, and a screwdriver! Yes! Even if I can’t lockpick it myself, Tootsie Roll’s magic will help me pick through safes and doors!

Of course that brings up the question is if she’s efficient enough at picking through locks than harnessing weapons. One way to find out!

I grabbed the handle with my teeth and showed it to-- damnit, Tootsie! Why must you run off at the worst time possible?! I frantically looked around for her. This isn’t a playground, honestly! Then I heard her voice, “Oooohhh! I found a safe! And its locked, too!”

Did she say locked? If so, then this is my lucky day! I still had bobby pins in my saddlebags, so all the more for Tootsie to open it up for me! I quickly trotted over to her inside the management room, whom she and Bob are eyeing the safe. I stamped a hoof on the floor a bit to grab her attention as they turned around to see me, my teeth clenching onto the handle of a screwdriver I found. I pointed my hoof to it and then to the lock to let her know that she needs to lockpick the safe.

“Hmmm… oh! I see what you’re miming about! You want me to pick open the lock! Yay! I love picking locks!”

I lessened my toothy grip for Tootsie to grab it. Her aura from her horn was pure white as she floated the screwdriver off of me, “Now all that’s left is a teeny, tiny bobby pin and I’ll get this thingamajig open in a jiffy!”

I moved a bit to the right side for her to retrieve the bobby pins; all she took was one inside and soon began to pick the safe open.

“Picky lock, picky lock, gotta pick the locks!” She sang along while lockpicking the safe. I was quite surprised at the sight; for a mind-boggled filly, she knows more about lockpicking than I do! My ears picked up the sounds of a blessing.

“Ta-da! Safe is now open!”

Giving her a smile for a wonderful job, I placed my hoof onto the open safe door and looked at what’s inside.

Five sniper ammo cases? All in full? Hell yes! Now I’m fully armed and ready to go! Closing the safe and making a victory pose, I looked at the two and motioned my head to the side as if asking them if they’re ready to go.

Tootsie squees happily to me, “Yay! Let’s go to a candy store! Candy, candy, candy!”

I’m not all for sweets, but sure, why the hell not? Let’s give the already-hyperactive filly some treats so she’ll become even more hyperactive! We left the tool store and carefully made our way to an abandoned candy store. Still no hostiles, so far so good. Come to think of it, I’m having a bad feeling about this. This is way too quiet for a small town for it to be left abandoned. Even if my PipBuck hasn’t detected anything besides Tootsie Roll and Bob by my side, there could be somepony wearing a cloak that’s preventing my PipBuck from detecting it. Or some dreadful creatures just lying in wait.

Even though my pony mind is correct, I took a good look around the abandoned town; still nothing. To the candy store we go!

Mayne Candy Store. Who would’ve guessed? I’m betting a lot of stalls containing sweets inside must taste awfully stale, or sugary and sweet if she’s lucky. Trotting forward, there were a wide variety of candies stored inside the glass displays, ranging from simple circus peanuts to chunks of chocolate bars. Its a sweet tooth shoppe!

I carefully watched her, who was looking at a wide variety of sweets locked inside the glass door from the shelves. I fear that if she becomes too hyperactive from eating too much candy… well I hate to say that I’m not a dentist, and there’s no way I can tend her cavities so it’ll be a rather embarrassing but painful sight at this. As for Bob? He was zapping away the locks open for Tootsie to feast on. Seriously?!

All in all, there’s just nothing but sweets; none which interests me the most except for her. I just hope Bob’s actions doesn’t end up attracting unwanted attention. I selected at least four words from my PipBuck and showed Tootsie from the screen that read as ‘Don’t Eat Too Much’.

Of course, all I got was a frown from her in response from Tootsie Roll, “Okey-dokey-wokey.”

She took a small chunk of chocolate and took a bite. Her face scrunched in disgust and spat it out, “Blech! Yucky! Its stale!”

I tilted my head in a confused manner from her reaction. Stale? But weren’t they locked before Mayne spiralled into a state of anarchy? Unless of course there were gas grenades that somehow seeped inside and tainted all of the sweets… I’m surprised that she wasn’t poisoned yet, but I can’t take any chances. If what she said is true, then I’d better give her some Healing Potion before there’s a possibility that she could be poisoned from eating stale chocolate from the glass door that’s been melted through by Bob.

Opening up my saddlebag and grabbing a Healing Potion bottle with my teeth, I pulled it out. There was only a little bit left, but it’ll do for the young filly. I gave it to her so she can drink it to reduce the possibility of getting poisoned later on. She took a sniff and it and slurped her lips, “Ooohhh! It smells like blueberries! Gimme!”

Well, at least she’s referring to the potion bottle and not me or I’d be severely annoyed by it. She grabbed it with her magic and immediately chugged it down before chucking the now-empty Healing Potion bottle away, “Aaahh… that’s the ticket!”

Good. That’ll keep her safe and sound. I trotted over the counter to see what they have in particular, aside from tainted sweets. Just a hoof-ful of caps for me to collect from the cash register and a book. A Big Book of Arcane Sciences inside the cabinet from the counter? I let out an amazed surprise expression at the sight of such a big book filled with limitless knowledge! Eagerly, I wrapped my fore-hooves onto the book and pulled it off from the counter.

Gah! Damn, this book is heavy! Lifting it up from the heaviness of this book, I inadvertently dropped it at the counter before letting out an exhausted breath. Geez, there must be a lot of pages in it, but at least we’ll be fine here as long as Tootsie Roll and Bob doesn’t run off again. Opening up the first page of the book for the first time, I began to read. While most of the pictures from each page are unicorns, they mainly rely on unlocking terminals fairly easy. I let out a quiet sigh, just fantasizing of the wonders of endless science.

I looked back at the two, with Tootsie Roll looking up to me as I was reading the Big Book of Arcane Sciences.

“Ooohhh. That’s one big book, Mr. Zero! No wonder you’re a big, nerdy scientist!”

Well… yeah! Power of science! I gave her a small, playful grin to her and giving her a nod. Well I’m a scientist of course! I invent, build and repair things from scratch! And also including chemicals designed for medicinal use so long as it doesn’t involve PTMs or the usual overdose!

Of course, I highly doubt that Tootsie Roll can read my mind. She’s too young to having fully learned a spell involves reading ponies’ minds. I looked at Bob who was crawling onto the counter and scanned the book I found. Tootsie Roll looked right, facing at the windows from the entrance and saw shadowy-figure pony trotting along by.

“There’s a shadow-pony heading our way!”

As I read about ten pages of the Big Book, I heard Tootsie shouting of a ‘shadow-pony’ heading our way. I closed the book and checked my Pip-Buck. It didn’t warned me of a hostile heading inside, though I pulled out my sniper rifle from my side to take a good aim. Bob followed suit, aiming his laser tail at an unknown intruder. We didn’t want to take any chances on determining whether we’ll be getting a friendly or a hostile who’s about to enter the candy store.

The unknown pony figure trotted inside, and reveals to be just a regular, sleepless pony who is just browsing around fresh-looking sweets inside. She didn’t even noticed us at all, and my PipBuck even said it was only a friendly/neutral. I lowered my weapon and Bob looked at me in a puzzled manner. I’m confused as well; the mare’s completely ignoring us. No reaction, neither.

I looked at Tootsie who’s approaching at the emotionless mare and prodded a hoof at her. I hope she’s not planning on provoking her…

“Hey! Hey, ma’am! Hey! You! Are you here for treats? We have eeeeverything this shop has to offer! Just pay over to Mr. Zero and you’ll be on your way!”

I deadpanned at her comments. How the hell can I properly man the cash register?! I’m not even a shop owner!

Surprisingly enough, the mare paid no attention to Tootsie. She just acted like we don’t even exist. Afterwards, the mare just exited the store with the same lack of emotion we just saw.

Tootsie Roll frowned at the sight, “Awww come on! I’m not a ghost! Come baaaack!”

We saw her left the store and went somewhere else. I’m not even sure if she could speak like myself though I feel like its time for us to move and find something for us to eat. But the book I found is too valuable to be left abandoned! I can’t just leave it behind! I pulled the book and carefully placed it inside my saddlebags for me to read it later on. Despite its heavy weight, at least its not bringing me down.

I began to make an exit as I turn my head to the two, motioning my head for them to follow me.

“Yay! More adventures!”

Yes. More adventures. Adventures that are just waiting to strike us unexpectedly.

We’re back outside, but the cloud’s getting thicker now. And it wasn’t nighttime, but rather an approaching storm just gnarling its way towards Mayne, threatening to shower the depraved town with flash floods and sweep anything in sight. I looked at Bob, worried that he’ll become corroded and eventually short out from the rain. Need to find a safe place, and fast!

Tootsie nudged me a little, pointing the hoof at a bakery shop. I smiled brightly to her before we galloped (or in Bob’s case, skittered) our way inside.

Once we were inside, rainfall poured in like rampaging buffaloes. At least Bob’s unscathed, and even he clambered up to my back as a sure sign that he clearly hates water Of course, it wasn’t without my PipBuck warning me regarding incoming hostiles heading our way! Damnit! If I could just tell Tootsie Roll to hide somewhere or get behind me, she wouldn’t get hurt!

I wrote down three words from my PipBuck and showed it to her, reading as ‘Get Behind Me’.

I hope there’s nothing but Radroaches, but I could be wrong. Probably more Ponelurks like the one I barely managed to escape yesterday, just waiting for them to strike us...

What I heard instead were skittering noises heading our way, and they turn out to be five giant worker ants! At least two of them began to skitter towards us, but me and Bob took aim as he was the first to fire his lazer at it. It was a hit, though it kept skittering towards him like nothing happened! Meanwhile, I took careful aim with the help of S.A.T.S. and slid my tongue around the trigger before firing at its head. Enough to hit it, but not enough to kill it.

A second hit didn’t killed this monstrosity, but it was enough to damage its antenna for it to become frenzied and direct its attention to other worker ants. Bob was still firing his lazer at the frenzied ant, but the ant didn’t even paid attention and it became a free-for-all for the other ants! I let out a sigh and looked at Bob before giving him a smile as a thanks.

Though we’re not safe yet. These bastards won’t stay brawling each other until one or all of them are dead and come after us next. I looked behind to see Tootsie Roll covering her ears as she looked at me, “I-Is the bang-gang o-over yet?”

I shook my head to her. Apparently she’s afraid of gunfire, but what can I do about it? Me and Bob are doing what we can to defend ourselves and her fear isn’t going to improve the situation we’re in. I heard sounds of screeching from ants attacking their own kind. My PipBuck notified me that there’s four left now, as they’re coming in small yet terrifying numbers. Here comes the second wave!

Four of them took a wild approach on us and we opened fire at the other two, hoping one of can hit their antennas.

Of course, neither of us managed to hit them and my S.A.T.S. are still recharging. We moved back to avoid getting ambushed by two other worker ants, but ended up stumbling back from a broken tile that resulted in me falling off balance and onto my back!

Gah! Goddess dammit! My sniper rifle was off of my hooves and fired a stray shot against the crumbling ceiling as the other two preyed on me. I scrambled back from their menacing pincers intent on turning me into pony fillet! Oh fuck!

A portion of the ceiling cracked widely before rubble began to rain down on the killer ants, knocking one of them unconscious and the other dazed from a good chunk of rubble that left it disoriented. Huzzah! Thank you, Celestia! But now Bob needs my help! I grabbed my sniper rifle and went on to help out Bob, who is still firing at the worker ants. Tootsie Roll was hiding behind a table, still covering her ears.

“Make the chitters stop!”

I heard her speak out loud with worry, but I can’t stop to check her. I need to help her friend out! I slipped into S.A.T.S. again and took a careful aim at its antenna and opened fire.

Bam! Right into the antenna and made it turn against its own kind! Don’t worry, Bob! You’re safe! I heard the ceiling that my sniper shot with began to crack open again but wider this time; its threatening to collapse! I looked at Bob who is okay, amid having his metal claw slightly damaged from the worker ant attack before Tootsie scampered her way to us whilst the rubble trickled down, “Mr. Zero! Bob! They’re bringing the house down!”

She’s right! And we’re gonna get buried inside if we don’t get out fast! But if we get outside and its still raining, Bob will suffer heavy corrosion and blow up in the process! There has to be a way out without torrential rainfall… My thoughts were right; getting out of the bakery is suicide so long as Bob is with us. There needs to be a basement somewhere as we galloped inside the kitchen before the abandoned bakery shop has any chance of burying us alive.

Where is it?! Where the hay is it?!

“Mr. Zero! Down here in that storage thingy!” Tootsie Roll shouted at me, pointing her hoof down into the storage room. I looked at the right and saw worker ants still attacking each other as the rubble from the ceiling began to collapse and blocking the entrance, killing all the ants inside. Sucks to be them, but now I need to get out of here and fast!

Quickly, I made a run for it and narrowly avoiding cement raining down from the ceiling. Tootsie and Bob were inside and waiting as I dove into the open entrance and slamming the door shut. Made it! And not a moment too soon neither!

As derelict as the bakery shop was, the storage room is the only intact place we can take shelter in until the rain can finally stop… if there are any windows of course. And its dark, too! Tootsie Roll? Bob? Where are you?

I switched the light switch and the bright light flickered on, revealing to be a storage of freshly-baked bread from the shelves. These’ll be enough to satisfy our hunger (not counting Bob as he’s a robo-scorpion). I saw Tootsie Roll just hugging her injured friend, “Oh Bob… I’m so, soooo sorry I let you into this danger!”

Bob let out a sad whirr as a response. I slowly approached at the two and seeing the injured Bob who’s mechanical claw was barely functioning, as well as cracks from his visor. If I could understand what he said, he would tell her that it was alright and that he wanted to protect her and me from harm.

I looked at my saddlebags and pulled out the duct tape and scrap electronics I obtained earlier and I looked at the slightly damaged Bob. I could fix up his pincer and his visor, though I’ll have to get better tools along the way. For now, it’ll have to do. I inputted three words to Tootsie from my PipBuck, as it read as ‘I’ll fix him’.

“You will?! Thank you, Mr. Zero!” She hugged around my hoof and I gave her a heartwarming smile in return. It won’t be much, but it’ll do until I can find better parts to restore his condition. At least his hull wasn’t too bad.

Bob at first went into his defensive position when I leant down to him, but Tootsie told him, “Don’t worry! Mr. Zero will patch you up!”

I quietly chuckled at her comments as Bob eased up a little for me to make some repairs on him. Its alright, Bob. I won’t hurt you, even if you did attempted to hurt me before.

I attached some of the scraps into his metal claw which had loose wires from the attack by carefully clinching the spare with my teeth and tying it around for it to function again. Afterwards, I tore up a piece of duct tape and covered up the cracks of his visor. I repeated the same process until his cracks are covered up. Its not much, but it’ll have to do until I can find somepony who can fix him up to perfect condition.

There! Not good as new, but enough to get you back up and running, Bob! I heard him emit his happy trills as to thank me for patching him up. I patted onto his hull as a means of saying ‘you’re welcome’ as Tootsie looked at him, “Are you ready to go, my robo-scorpion friend?!”

Even after our battle, Tootsie’s excitement was unfazed and still content of her friend. I poked to her and pointed to the direction of a freshly-stored bread from the storage shelf. I figured that we should begin eating before getting out of here.

She went on to get fresh bread, “Okey-dokey-wokey! One fresh bread coming riiiight up!”

Of course, Bob can’t eat normal food at all. He’s just mechanically purring lightly as Tootsie came back with a footlong bread, “Let’s eat!”

We began to eat up bread she gave it to us except for Bob, just to curb our hunger. Even though I still have a half-eaten maize and a carrot left, this bread is delish! The outside is still raining, so I’m not sure if Mayne’s suffering a flash flood right now. At least it beats being caved in or our robo-scorpion friend won’t last against the heavy rainfall.

Once we finished eating, I looked back through the empty shelf behind me and I could barely see a hatch door that leads down below and hopefully leading our way out. Although if that’s true, I don’t think Bob can climb his way down himself and would need to be carried along. And even then, he’s too damn heavy, even if I’m quite taller than him! What to do… could he?

I got up from my hooves after our rest and motioned my head at the two, prompting them to follow me. I led them towards the hatch which is, of course, locked with no chance of lockpicking, but rather a key to go for. And that key is basically long gone after it was partially collapsed.

I pointed a hoof at the lock for Bob to fry it open and he did so by firing the laser from his tail, single-handedly disintegrating the lock for us to open up the hatch. As we opened it up, it revealed to be a ladder that’ll take us down below and immediately Bob climbed onto my back and clamped his metal claws down my shoulders. Guh! That had to hurt!

“Bob is scared of heights…”

Of course he is, Tootsie Roll. His vice-like grip hurts like hell, though! Tootsie was the first to head down the stairs from the open hatch as I went second, with Bob still clinging onto me and his claws are still hurting my shoulders!

Geez, loosen up a little! I don’t have robotic parts like you, Bob! My pony mind protested. I just hope my shoulders can hold out a little longer before we reach the bottom. It feels like a long way down, and I wouldn’t even dare to look down!

Let’s hope there’s a bottom of the ground, or I won’t be able to feel my fore-hooves the next morning!

We finally made it to the bottom and Bob released his vice-grip off of my shoulders. Damn, I was starting to ache! Any more and I could use a Hydra to restore broken bones. Looking up ahead, there were lots of lit light bulbs dangling above by wires. It seems we’re inside a mining tunnel deep under the fallen bakery shop. Even with lights, my PipBuck doesn’t have the flashlight ability for me to see the map. And it feels rather cramped as well, despite a more (but barely) breathing room.

“Here, lemme take these off for you!” Tootsie used her spell and proceeded to remove the bandages that were wrapped around my fore-leg and hind-leg. They were fully healed, and I gave her a smile in thanks before motioning my head at the two for us to keep moving. Hopefully we’ll reach to the surface if its not raining still.

Of course, it was just a temporary thing as we traversed deeper into the tunnel in hopes of finding our way out, and there was little lighting to go for. I can’t even see the map from my PipBuck! And its getting rather darker as we went deeper inside.

I stopped for a moment and selected two words from the barely-visible screen and showed it to her, reading as ‘Light spell?’.

As Tootsie squinted her eyes to see what it says, she let out a nod to me, “One working flashlight coming riiight up!”

The small filly struggled briefly for her spell to work before her horn lit up and giving us a bit of brightness inside. Not much, but it’ll do for us to not end up getting us separated. There’s a small dot of orange up ahead; we must be close to exiting. I galloped towards the light and the two followed me, “Hey wait up, Mr. Zero!”

There’s no time to wait, we needed to get out of the mining tunnel! Who knows what’ll happen if we remained inside?! As I nearly exited, I could almost feel the outside again but quickly skidded to a stop. Looking down, there was a cliff, and the elevation is steep! Damn it, Wastelands! How dare you trick me into leading me into a false exit?! At least the two stopped behind me or they could’ve followed suit by jumping down to our doom.

Tootsie Roll looked at the dark and gloomy orange skies, “Wow… its beautiful!”

Well, at least it stopped raining. The bigger problem is that we have to backtrack and find another route that won’t take us to the cliff again. I let out a quiet yet frustrating grunt, stamping my hoof against the ground and even shooting up a glare at the deceiving skies.

Ugh… whatever. Time to go back and find a different route. I waved a hoof at the two to inform them that we have to go back inside the cave in hopes of finding an alternate route. There were multiple pathways I didn’t found, mostly because my PipBuck wasn’t lit enough and Tootsie Roll’s spell wasn’t fully harnessed. It felt like we’re in a goddamn maze, a maze that I had no desire of it.

Where the hell’s the exit? Hopefully we don’t run into any danger that’ll kill us all. Goddesses, show me a way out for once! Of course, the goddesses aren’t mind-readers so its unlikely that they’ll even listen to me, much less show me a way out of the mine tunnel.

Up ahead, there’s an unused minecart connected to the rails. Hopefully this can lead us out of the tunnel, or end up taking us to a dead end.

“Ooohhh! A mine cart! Can we ride in it?! Can we, can we, can we?!”

Yeah sure, let’s ride a minecart that would either get us trapped even more or possibly derail on its own just to kill us! My pony thoughts yelled out in the most un-sarcastic manner ever. There isn’t any other option except to get on the cart and hope for the best. All three of us got onto the minecart as I pressed the lever forward with my fore-leg and it began to roll down, soon picking up speed from the slopes.

The filly and her robo-scorpion friend were having fun, but I'm sure as hell not! I clung my fore-hooves onto both sides of the minecart as twists and turns were barely keeping itself balanced, with me hoping that we don’t reach a dead end!

“Whee! This is fun, Bob! Are you having a blast, Mr. Zero?!”

Hell no!

We finally escaped from the mine tunnel the minecart slows to a stop, though it soon derails after the cart rail has run out. We fell off to the side and all three of us were ejected from the cart, with me on the back as well as Bob and Tootsie Roll. We were dazed, but we’re finally back onto the surface.

“Ooohhh… that was fun, let’s do it again! Again, again, again!”

Worst. Ride. Ever.

I got up on my hooves and shook my head to regain consciousness. My saddlebags were alright, except it was drenched with blue liquid… no! The Healing Potion bottles spilled open! Fuck!! It even ruined my half-eaten Maize and a carrot! As if this ride wasn’t bad, my inventory’s ruined! All ruined!

I dropped my stained saddlebags and the remnants of the potion spilled open, revealing to be maize and carrot, all soggy and wet from the potion. My sniper ammo wasn’t any better; they were filled up by the same potion that had spilled during our wild ride. I’m not sure if they still work or that they’ll likely jam if I reload.

Just my luck. Just my fucking luck. I tossed my sniper rifle onto the ground in the worst humiliation the Wasteland has ever given me! I shot up an even angrier glare at the skies who are laughing at my misfortune, and Celestia be damned if I ever get my hooves on them!

Bob looked at her confused as Tootsie took a look at me. I was on the verge of just screaming silently at the skies for pulling such a sickening prank on me.

“Mr. Zero…? Is something wrong?”

My ears shot up at her voice before I took a look at her, my anger mixed with utter grief and sadness, just trying to lose the waterworks in me. I just need a little more time to collect my thoughts together…

Celestia, I’m ready to be sent to the sun right about now… That’s all my mind could ask for. Instead, my response was both Tootsie Roll and Bob just nudging both of my hooves together as I took a good look at the two. I had nothing to say to them (which is obviously the irony).

“It was just an accident… no biggie, right?”

More than just a ‘no biggie’. So far, luck was against me than with me and looking at the barely-lit map, we were still in Mayne. We just somehow arrived in a dense forest equivalent to the Everfree Forest, but without the vicious creatures hunting us down. Just an empty, lifeless forest. Looking back at my ruined items, I closed my eye and grabbed the muzzle of my rifle with my teeth. My ears flat from luck being a total neighsayer, I looked at them and waved my hoof to come with me. I even carried my partially stained Big Book of Arcane Sciences around my back, just to be the pack mule I am now.

Without a word, both she and Bob proceeded to follow me. The skies were about to go completely dark and I even abandoned my things that were ruined from a minecart ride gone wrong.

Nearby, there was a small camp up ahead with a lit campfire and a tent. Inside the tent were two roll-up beds. My PipBuck even called it a ‘Abandoned Campsite’. I checked for any hostiles and its true that there weren’t anypony even guarding the campsite. Only a squirrel on a stick was still cooked from the campfire, and I’m not sure if I can even eat it myself. It just looked… unnatural.

At least I had a hefty meal with bread that’ll keep me from craving for dirt to hold off my hunger, but the latter result was a major disaster.

We went inside the tent. I didn’t want to hear a campfire song anyway, as Tootsie Roll and Bob went into a second roll-up bed for them to rest up. I laid down on the bed I was in, my hooves clung onto my sniper rifle.

As I went to sleep to forget about everything we’ve encountered today, Tootsie looked at her robo-scorpion friend, “Poor Mr. Zero… I hope he’s alright, Bob. I’d hate to see the scientist nerd waking up all messy and stuff. Good night, Bob!”

Bob let out a soft, robotic trill as the two went to sleep.

Her comments are doing more harm than good to me… just lay off the petty jokes for one day, will you..? My lamented pony mind spoke to Tootsie.

Just leave me alone, and let me sleep in despair from the horrible luck…

Footnote: Level Up.
New perk: Finesse - Your attacks are smooth, graceful and precise. You have a higher chance to score a critical hit on an opponent in combat, equivalent to 4 extra points of Luck.

Chapter Seven: Unprecedented Events

Yesterday:

As the Lab-00 staff exited the facility, they soon found a large swarm of Cazadores that’s overrunning the city of New Hampshore. They shouted in panic and had quickly retreated back inside the elevator shaft, despite being well-armed and prepared. They were large in numbers and some had barely breached to the elevator doors as they made a narrow escape. The situation had quickly escalated and proved to be too dangerous for the search party to begin.

“Starshooter, we have a problem! The cazadores are all over the place, we can’t go outside!” One of its staff members explained. Starshooter was shocked at the news regarding the search party being immediately cancelled.

He let out a sigh, “I cannot believe this… what has happened to you, Zero? And where are your teammates?”

Olive Oil looked at Starshooter with worry as the search and rescue team looked at Starshooter, “Sir, do you have any suggestions for this? We can’t head out when there’s a swarm that’s preventing us from searching for other missing teammates. It’ll impede our search and we can’t risk further casualties.”

There was a pregnant pause for the leader, deep in thought. He didn't expect New Hampshore to be this out of control, especially when he hasn't gotten word from Zero for the past few days.

“Gather everypony in Lab-00. We’re declaring a state of emergency and plan our evacuation.”

Starshooter finished telling his staff members, although one of his members objected to his idea, “Evacuate where?! If we head out now, we’ll end up getting ourselves stung to death!”

He gave out a stern glare at the pony scientist, “I know. I’ll explain everything once we gathered all of our staff members in the conference room for our very important announcement. Now, get to it.”

“Yes, sir!” The unnamed scientist colt galloped off to gather the rest of the team to the conference room.

“I hope Zero’s alright… I know he’ll find a way back from New Hampshore.” Olive Oil looked on with deep concern. Starshooter looked at her before facing forward at the open elevator shaft that was used to bring the team to New Hampshore that was now ravaged by a legion of Cazador.

“Let’s hope the goddesses are taking care of him. But the last thing we need is to go outside, and there won’t be much time left. Come on, Olive Oil. We must head to the conference room post-haste.”

As the commotion slowed to a halt, everypony had arrived inside the conference room where Starshooter and Olive Oil were at the podium. There were hushed whispers from other stallions and mares, be it from scientist staff members (albeit on smaller numbers now due to the others gone missing) or cooks, as Starshooter cleared his throat.

“I thank you all for joining me in this very important message regarding to the uncertain situation in Lab-00. Our mission was originally going to be retrieving artifacts or any other valuable items that are located within New Hampshore and return to the facility for our research. However, due to current situations that have resulted in several of our team members gone missing, the risk had reached beyond dangerous levels from a Cazador swarm that is threatening to breach within our facility. As a result, we've lost a hoof-ful of our search and rescue team from the attack whilst searching for our missing teammates.”

There was panic arising from the ponies after hearing the shocking news, but Starshooter tapped his hoof loudly onto the floor to asses the situation.

“Calm down, everypony. That is a direct order from your head scientist. Panic can and will result in serious accidents, and disorder will not be tolerated in Lab-00. I will not repeat myself again. Now then, I will begin the instructions and Olive Oil and other elder scientists will direct you during the speech. We must evacuate from Lab-00 and relocate ourselves into an undisclosed location until further notice. There is a secret passageway just south of the maintenance room that only I can unlock it in case of an emergency.

You will all gather up any research and inventions as many as you can; the chefs must gather up all of the food and drinks remaining and prepare for our immediate evac. Once again, panic and disorder is not tolerated and actions will be taken seriously.

Furthermore, food rations are crucial for us to travel to a safer location where we don’t encounter future problems that could impede our research, and for our well-being so take great consideration for food consumption. We may still have a lot with us, but even so, we don’t know where we will be going so don’t assume anything.

Now, before we conclude our meeting, Olive Oil, Blue Print and High Tide will direct you to specific locations for you to only gather important items prior to our evacuation from Lab-00. No ifs, ands or buts. Do I make myself 100% crystal clear? Because this will be the only time I've told everypony about the situation.”

All the staffs nodded to him and said “Yes sir!” in unity, with no objections or questions asked.

Starshooter gave a firm nod, “Good. Gather up all your things as instructed by the three and listen to their instructions carefully. Afterwards, meet me at the maintenance room with fifteen minutes and no more than that. We do not want any delays. Dismissed!”

They had all left the conference room without the risk of raising panic as they were lead by three different ponies, each whom are headed into their rooms to gather up their things. The cooks were storing up food to have themselves ready to leave the facility for good, as faint banging noises are heard from outside; Cazadores were still attempting to breach into Lab-00.

Today:

Journal Entry #1:

“Today, I had a blast in Lab-00! Science had never felt so much fun than to watch paint dry, I even had my own personal Terminal for me to familiarize with it! Sure beats living alone, especially when I met a teenage foal and teenage filly who went by the names Solar Eclipse and Carbon Monoxide, Solar’s quite the mature and well-thought pony, but Carbon? He’s… a bit of an oddball at times, but still quite the jokester! Didn't liked the way he called me Blueberry, though… Either way, they’re both really nice, and I hope they’ll help me become a better scientist like everypony in Lab-00!”

And that was all I wrote, all while chewing on a burnt squirrel that I really regret, even if it was to curb my morning hunger. Should've stayed vegan…

Bob had already left to search for new saddlebags while I was asleep. I didn’t hear Tootsie mention anything about having her send her robo-scorpion friend to search for new saddlebags for me. I looked at a partially-ruined Big Book of Arcane Sciences. Its still intact, but its really hard to look at the stains from a Healing Potion that spilled from a ride gone wrong.

It still won’t stop me from discovering new scientific ways, though! In the meantime, we’re sticking around inside the campsite until Bob returns. He was still fairly damaged, most notably from his visors, but I’m certain that he’ll manage.

It wasn't until Tootsie clambered up onto my back and rests her chin against my head. “I’m booored. May I read with you until Bob returns with your new saddlebags?”

I gave her a small nod as I began to open up the slightly stained Big Book of Arcane Sciences and resumed to read more about Terminals and chemistry with her. She had let out a quiet hum as she read with me.

Yesterday:

The Cobras took shelter inside a run down financial building, watching the mayhem unfold. Blood-curdling screams were heard from both the Raiders and some of the Cobras were stung and eaten alive by a swarm of Cazadores, with Poison, Bleak Venom and the others inside a run-down financial building, watching all the gory results unfold. Poison took a worried look to Venom, “Oh Venom, these poor ponies need our help!”

Venom replied with a snide tone to Poison, “Tch, like hell they are. Its their own goddamn fault for even going outside in the first place! I’ll piss on their corpses when these motherbuckin’ insects are done tearing these low-life bastards apart. If you wish to go out there, Poison, be my guest. But don’t come bitchin’ if ya can’t spare a limb or an organ to even save yourself!”

Poison frowned and whined from Venom’s harsh response, “Okay…”

The leader of the Cobras simply let out a snort and simply smokes a cigarette, not even giving a damn to Poison or his own fallen teammates at all.

“Look at ‘em. Bunch of pussies can’t even put up a fight!” Venom puffed out smoke while watching the gory event as he let out a heartless laugh before moving into the building deeper as to not get spotted, with Poison following him as he looked back at the bloodied ponies from the result of a Cazador attack.

Today:

Bob was scurrying deep within the grassy ground to avoid being detected. He found at least two heavily-armored ponies who were relaxing and having a brief conversation, “We should totally make a short trip to Vanhoover before we head on back to Itrotly, Ginger Snaps! That is, if we could find her...”

“Until we find her, our boss told us that we’re sent to find his daughter and return in one piece. Otherwise, he’ll have our heads if we would return with her still missing, or even returning her back gravely hurt. We can’t take chances, Lock-On. And no, we’re not going to Vanhoover. I’m sorry, but he gave us an order.”

Lock-On frowned at the armored mare, “Aww! But Vanhoover is--”

Ginger Snaps shot up an icy glare to the young colt, “That is an order, cadet! As your sergeant, you are given a clear order to extract the runaway Enclave and return to Itrotly in one piece! Understand?!”

He nervously gulped from her sudden, authoritative behavior, “Y-Yes, m-ma’am…”

As Bob looked on, he took a small glance at a saddlebag leaning against a ruined tree that belonged to Lock-On, currently unguarded. Bob skittered his way through the pathway and into the grassy terrain as to not be seen. Lock-On’s ears perked up before turning his head back, “D-Did you hear that, Ginger Snaps?”

“Yes… its you stuttering your tiny ass off, that’s what I’m hearing!”

Bob slowly reached his metal claw at the strap from the saddlebags before grabbing it and quickly pulling it inside the grass before being spotted. Lock-On simply whined to Ginger Snaps.

Of course, his response was her another icy glare, “Don’t you give me that look! Now, let’s move!”

The young cadet nodded and began to follow her. He suddenly gets a thought, “Oh! Wait! My saddlebags!”

He turns to look at his saddlebags that he left it behind the tree, but it was gone.

“What?! Where’d my saddlebags go?! Ginger, my saddlebags went missing!”

She let out an annoyed snort, “That’s what you get for leaving things unguarded, Lock-On. When we return, you’ll be given three weeks of toilet duty!”

The two soldier ponies moved on, with Lock-On frowning over the loss of his saddlebags that were stolen by Bob.

Hurriedly, Bob quickly made his way back but the weight has impeded his speed due to the heaviness from the saddlebag he acquired for Zero to carry around with. He hopes that his efforts were enough to make him happy as he skittered back to the campsite.

Yesterday:

Once all of the important items were gathered up, many scientist ponies, along with cooks and maintenance workers, headed towards Starshooter who is waiting for their arrival. Starshooter was standing next to a terminal that functions the hidden door behind him.

“Has everypony finished gathering up their things? Good. Now, we don’t have much time left before Lab-00 will be overrun by a swarm of Cazadores. Before we move on, I would like to say that Lab-00 has done great for our researches, especially with having a wonderful number of members who fought hard and died, especially from our recent mission that had gone wrong and claimed lives of some of our members.

That includes one of our notable members. Zero had not been able to return safely with fellow teammates Solar Eclipse and Carbon Monoxide due to the uncertain situation prior to the Cazador swarm.

This passageway will lead us to an undisclosed location, but I must warn you all that this is a one-time secret passage that once it opens and closes after five minutes later, it will never be opened again forever so everypony, line up and get ready to head inside as soon as I open up the secret passage from the terminal.

Don’t panic, and don’t push. Do trot quickly inside, but do not create panic. We need to evacuate in an orderly fashion or we’ll be falling victim to the deadly swarm once they have breached inside. Now, any questions before we leave?”

Nopony has any questions or objections again to Starshooter. They were anxiously waiting to get the hell out of Lab-00.

“Good. Now then…” He faces the terminal and proceeded to open up the door, and the five-minute countdown is displayed on the screen before it begins to commence the timer.

“Let’s go.”

One by one, the hundred scientists and other ponies enters the secret passageway that’s been opened by him. Olive Oil looked on to Starshooter, “Do you think we’ll be able to find Zero, Starshooter? I’m really worried for him…”

Starshooter gave her an affirmed nod, “We will, but we need to get out of here and find a safer location, Olive Oil. Lab-00 will soon become a nest for the deadly Cazadores. Now, go. I’ll follow you once our staff members are inside.”

As the timer now reached to two minutes, there were now a few of them remaining as they trotted into the secret passage. Faint banging noises can be heard within the distance, signifying Cazadores close to breaching into the facility.

Now with only a minute remaining and the rest of the ponies (save for Starshooter), he looked on at the soon-to-be abandoned laboratory, “Lab-00, its been a long and hectic journey since I've hired pony staff team to construct you and hoping to bring Equestria a brighter future it has never seen… farewell, old friend.”

With the door slowly sealing from a ten-second timer, followed by warning noises, Starshooter became the last pony to finally enter the passageway where everypony was waiting, the door finally sealing shut permanently behind him. Inside, there were well-lit lights from the ceiling amid the emptiness from the long and fairly narrow corridor from both sides. Someponies were complaining a little from the cramped space inside but were quickly hushed from Starshooter’s presence.

One of the scientist ponies asked, “Where should we go, Starshooter? Should we go this way, or that way?”

There was a pregnant pause from Starshooter as he was thinking on which way would he lead them to. Both are considerably long and uncertain whether they’re safe or dangerous.

After some thinking, Starshooter looked at the team as he motioned his head to the right side, “Follow my direction, everypony. Wherever we’re going, only this path will lead us to somewhere safer.”

Despite the ponies’ uncertainties, they followed along Starshooter through the narrow passageway, wondering what the path their head scientist has chosen leads them to. In Lab-00, it was breached by an angry swarm of Cazadores, wreaking havoc inside the facility and would soon turn it into a personal hive to grow a large number of their own kind. Lab-00 was no more.

Today:

Journal Entry #2:

“Worst. Day. Ever! I can’t believe these ponies had put me in this closet as if it was some harmless prank! They told me that they were gonna pick me up for five minutes… but then it was an hour later and realized that they put me in there without having to get out! What I didn't know is that they somehow managed to jam the lock so that I can’t get out of my room! Fucking hell these idiots can be! As smart as they are, they’re also senile as well! I felt like I was in a compressor with these walls just waiting to crush on me like a bubble eager to get popped!

At least Solar Eclipse came to my rescue yet another hour later. I was thankful but I was also cowering because of being in such a small space meant that they did more harm than good to me. They just took me for a fool! I’m a scientist, goddamnit! Is that so wrong?!

Solar at least reassured me and that they were given a temporary suspension for their hurtful prank against me and I thanked her for that. Even so, it just felt so goddamn dreadful that looking at small spaces means that its just so difficult to look at, much less go through them… goddesses, it felt like a bucking nightmare…”

Reliving the past was surely the worst thing that could happen in a normal life of Lab-00. And even then, I’m still not over the fear of small spaces. They just felt so damn unnerving that it almost felt like being stuffed in a small box with no breathing room to go for. You’d scream for help, but nopony would hear you. And the body restricted of any movement at all is the worst part ever. I pressed on the map of my PipBuck after having finished my second (and last) journal from the screen.

We were still waiting for Bob to arrive and Tootsie was just throwing small rocks in the air with a hoof. She looked rather bored, and I really can’t blame her. He was damaged from a recent attack, but it wasn't too severe and I managed to make some repairs until we could find a better repairpony to fully fix him.

Tootsie kept throwing rocks as her ears picked up the sounds of nearby, mechanical skittering noises. She turned her head towards the sound.

“Huh?”

To her surprise, it was Bob who was carrying a pair of fairly large saddlebags that has been dragged along with the strap around his mechanical tail. She clopped her fore-hooves happily at the sight of her robotic friend, “Yay! You found the saddlebags Zero wanted! You’re the best, Bob!”

Bob responded with a happy whirr as he turned around and skittered into the tent to see me. I gave him a smile for a job well done for finding a spare saddlebag for me to carry things with me. It was a fairly long wait, but it was also worthwhile. I nodded him in thanks as he moves the strap off of his tail and I just took it with my hoof to wrap it around my back. Its larger than the one I previously had, with more space to store items with, too!

Putting my book of limitless wonders back inside my new saddlebags and my sniper rifle tucked between me and my saddlebag, I left the tent and looked at the two and motioned my head to them to indicate that its time to go.

And with that, we left the campsite and ventured into the forests of Mayne. There was a dirt path with the left leading back to town. No way I’m taking those chances, so we’re going to the right instead. Wherever this path will take us, I’m hoping the townsponies of Mayne will take us lightly or we’ll be in yet another gun fight that we don’t want at all.

“Where do we go, Zero?! Where do we go?!” I heard Tootsie’s excitement from her question. I merely shrugged as I have no idea where we’re going. Even the map from my PipBuck doesn't have any idea; just the path and dense forests. That’s all there is to it.

I took a look around the dense forest while we were still following the pathway. Its sure as hell long, that’s for sure! But, we’re almost out of the forest, and I could see Tootsie’s bored expression and hitching a ride onto Bob’s back, “Are we there yet?!”

I shook my head to her in response which led to her groaning. I know that feeling all too well. The footpath was getting a little steep and we were trotting/skittering down a little quicker now! We were on a hill?!

We nearly stumbled down before finally skidding to a stop right in front of the board sign. It read:

Camp Mayne Six? Surely this can’t be the same campsite we had stayed there for a short period of time, did we? There’s a fairly large number of abandoned lodges, including the cafeteria up front and a watch tower on the left side with a broken, unused searchlight. There were even megaphones attached to wooden poles next to each of the six cabins.

As Tootsie took a good look at the logos from each cabin, she was amazed at the sight of it whilst Bob searched the area of the second abandoned campsite. I figured that we should head to the cafeteria for some lunch, if there’s any left of course. When I opened the entrance doors, I was greeted by a barrage of bullets just tearing through and narrowly missing me! I quickly ducked from the side to avoid getting shot at as the left side of the door couldn't take enough abuse and became the first casualty.

At least I’m still alive, though Bob went to check before he too narrowly escaped from a hail of bullets as he quickly skittered to a different direction I’m in. Had he gotten too close and he would've been a fine target practice. Looking back, I saw Bob cowering, his metal claws over his head. I didn't know robots were afraid…

Tootsie Roll finished looking at the lodges are was about to make her way to us, not knowing that she’s going to be caught in a line of fire by a sentry! I need to find the terminal and fast, or she’ll become swiss cheese! With no other choice, I darted inside the mess hall and was met with pony skeletons as my obstacle.

I ducked and rolled from the sentry turret that was mounted behind the food counter as I scampered under dining tables to provide cover. I felt hot bullets just grazing through my tail, and it felt like somepony lighting it with a matchstick! Goddess damnit! But I can’t check right now, and even with the PipBuck picking up an obvious hostile, I kept rolling under tables with the sentry turret trying to pick up its perfect shot.

In the distance, Tootsie Roll was obviously oblivious to what’s going on before Bob quickly skittered in front of her to intervene; the turret was too busy trying to gun me down, thankfully.

“What’cha doing, Bob? And is Zero playing hop-scotch with that turret thingy! Cool! I wanna play!”

As if, Tootsie! You’d be counting how many bullets you had in you before dying! I need to get to the terminal before Tootsie enters the guarded mess hall and the turret focusing on her instead of me! And if I still had my goddamned voice, I would've told her to stay put and don’t move!

Almost there… just needed to keep moving without getting caught by its line of sights…

I was almost caught as it turned to see me and shooting the ground and rolling into the kitchen. Made it! Now then… where’s the terminal?

Aha! Its right next to the take-out window showing the mess hall in front! Now, to boot it up and see if there’s a chance for me to disable them. Unfortunately, the terminal’s not being nice to me at spitting out the correct password and after a fourth (and very close) try from ever getting access to its controls, I’m locked out! Damnit!

I hesitated from having to dodge the turret (and firing at it is a waste of time due to its thick metal that makes gunshots difficult to penetrate), so… I re-booted the terminal for a second try! Alright, Zero. You can do this… but you better hurry, or Tootsie will be playing hop-scotch with death and Bob pinning the blame on me!

Come on, think! Give me the correct word to unlock this terminal or I’ll be locked out for good and Tootsie would be a shooting gallery… I thought hard. Harder than having recently failed my first and last lockpicking attempt with my mouth and hoof. Come on… come on…!

Yes! Finally! It was ‘MaudPie’! (Who’s Maud Pie anyway?)

Now that I have access to the sentry turret, I immediately inputted the disable command and thus the turret no longer works. I slumped back out of sheer exhaustion from having evaded a shoot-to-kill turret and disabling it for good. Once the two went inside the mess hall, Bob skittered to the kitchen to find my exhausted body laying back on the floor.

I rolled myself back up onto my hooves and gave them a smile, relieved that they’re all right or they could've become shooting targets. I turned my attention to the fridge and opened up from wrapping my hoof around the handle. Nothing but a bunch of a canned beans and Sugar Bombs. What kind of low-class cafeteria is this? Did the settlers ate all of the good food?

I guess canned beans will be more than enough for us, though Tootsie eagerly grabbed the boxes of Sugar Bombs inside, “Oooohhh! Sugar Bombs! I looove me some Sugar Bombs!”

Oh goddess, here we go…

We stopped by at the center of Camp Mayne Six in front of a campfire as I began to heat up a can of beans inside for safe eating while Tootsie Roll began to pour Sugar Bombs into her mouth, chewing loudly and gulping it down. With no proper manners to go for, too.

I feel the need to face-hoof, just imagining how am I supposed to curb her already-hyperactive behavior if she’ll be even more hyperactive if she ate too many Sugar Bombs? Once the can of beans were cooked, I pulled it off of the campfire and placed it on the ground, pointing my hoof to Bob on the unopened lid to imply that he needs to open it for me.

Bob grabbed the can with a metal claw and squeezes it as the lid popped open, even bending the can a little in the process. I smiled at his efforts and began to chow down a can of beans. It wasn't too bad, just not the best, but enough for my stomach to settle down for a good while. And no, I really don’t want to hear Tootsie singing a campfire song right now.

Once we were done eating, we went to the cabin with a logo of Rarity at the center of the door (I assume it’s a cutie mark) and made our way inside for us to rest up for a couple of hours. Seeing Tootsie, she wasn't too affected with the consumption of Sugar Bombs, but anything that won’t get her hungry for the time being is a good thing. Hate to see her hungry.

Inside, they were ransacked, with the mattresses a total mess, with one of them having a knife stuck into one of the mattresses. Not sure if the settlers were having altercations or decided to create a mess out of boredom.

At least there’s one that’s intact on the floor for us to rest on. Despite the name Cabin Rarity, the overall inside was a mess and disorganized. Oh well, I’m not Rarity so I’m not really liable to re-organize things if they’re gonna be a mess again. Tootsie flopped herself on the mattress with a yawn, “So many Sugar Bombs…”

Guess that did her in. I better rest up as well if we want to continue, as we rest onto the only mattress and rest up for a few hours.

Let’s hope all things go well…

And I couldn't be anymore wrong. Two hours later, I heard commotion outside of the cabin as I got up to my hooves, looking at Tootsie who was covering her ears in an effort to drown out the noise.

“Ugh… five more minutes!”

Not sure if those five minutes would suffice as I took a look from a screen window and there are ponies with security outfits and bulletproof vests with them. Wait, security? This can’t be right, they seriously don’t look like security to me even if they were! Unless…

“Alright, Powder Gangers! Let’s see how Camp Mayne Six has been doing!”

The unnamed leader spoke to others. Powder Gangers? Wait, Camp Mayne Six serves as their base?! Oh fuck! I quickly ducked down from the window before one of the Powder Ganger ponies saw me. I could hear hoofsteps approaching towards Cabin Rarity as I clenched my eye to assume the worst!

My heart jackhammered into my chest, to no end as the Powder Ganger pony was about to open the door before stopping momentarily when another called out.

“Hey, Lightspeed! Come and check out the cafeteria! Our turret’s been disabled!”

As Lightspeed was about to enter, she (at least that’s the voice of a mare) groaned in an annoyed manner and diverted her attention to the older stallion, “Are you bullshitting me?! How can the turret be disabled?!”

She turned around and trotted towards the cafeteria. My body just went limp against the wall, my heart still going uneasy from having to see her about to make her way inside. Who knows what’ll happen if she and the others saw us?!

At least we’re alright, but goddess damnit that was too close! Now the bigger problem is that the Powder Gangers would search around and catches us for disabling the turret, and the results will be gory! I need to get them out of here and fast!

Of course, I can’t carry both Tootsie Roll and Bob at the same time. I’m carrying my saddlebags and my sniper with me! I trotted over to the mattress and prodded to Bob as to wake him up.

I wrote down four words from my PipBuck as Bob looked at me before showing him the screen of my PipBuck, reading as ‘We need to go’. His response was his metal claw pointed at the sleeping Tootsie. At least I didn't have to carry both of them, and I slid myself under her for the filly to rest onto my back. We left the cabin from the door and made our way out of Camp Mayne Six that’s under Powder Ganger control while they were inside the cafeteria and made our way out of Camp Mayne Six that’s under Powder Ganger control. I couldn't tell how many were there, but I’m betting the turret I disabled had friends and I can’t risk trying to gun all of them down. Ammo is also quite scarce in the campsite anyway.

Inside the cafeteria, there was commotion as we left without risking a gunfight.

“Damnit, I can’t get it to work! Somepony’s tampered the terminal!”

Other Powder Ganger ponies looked at each other with confused expressions, “Wasn’t us, Taser! We were with you the whole time!”

Taser simply glared at an unnamed Powder Ganger member before glancing back at the locked-out terminal, “Well whoever did this, we need to hold our own. The Fiends are coming this way, and we need to get our asses up and be ready to gun ‘em down! And our pony mechanic’s dead as well… either way, we’re ready to kick their sorry flanks!”

We arrived inside a thick and dense forest now, away from a territory-held campsite. I’m just relieved that it didn't ended in a gunfight, or it could've been a traumatizing experience for the young Tootsie.

The forest is equivalent to the Everfree Forest, but without dangerous plants and animals alike hunting for us. And the skies are getting awfully dark. I’d go back to the campsite with the two, but then what? We’ll be met with harsh resistance that these Powder Gangers would consider us the enemies, even if I tried to reason with them… that is if I could talk normally! Screw that!

So far, I’ve encountered some of the factions and none whom are friendly. Especially these shadow-figured ponies that opened fire at me and shot both my fore-leg and hind-leg while trying to escape the Ponelurk. I’m not even sure what the hell’s going on right now.

WIth Tootsie Roll on my back, we really need to find a safer place for us to unwind or we’ll be running into gunfire again. We navigated through a rocky terrain which lead to a small creek in front of us as Bob wisely skittered onto the rocks to go over it without the risk of shorting out from the water.

It was getting dark, and the Wastelands’ not giving me enough time to find a not-so hostile shelter! Get out of my damn life, Wastelands!

Where in the wide, wide world of Equestria is this? And the low visibility of my PipBuck’s screen isn't helping at all, thanks to the lack of a flashlight feature. Some vintage PipBuck this turned out to be!

Down below, I saw light. Or campfire for an instance. My PipBuck let out a number of beeps, but due to the low visibility, I honestly can’t tell if they’re hostiles or friendlies. There were ponies down there who were performing something… and another pony in the distance being carried over. Wait a minute…

They’re tribesponies! Or at least that’s how they looked like, judging by their pots and pans, and other kitchen appliances. I’m worried that with a sleeping Tootsie on my back, I’m unable to get a clear shot due to semi-low visibility and with her on my back. This isn’t good…

“Fresh meat!” One of the tribesponies yelled out, and they were all hurling spears at us! Fuck!

The spears narrowly missed us and Bob opened fire at the crazy bastards down below, giving him a slight advantage with elevation, but now where are we supposed to go?! If I run, I could accidentally have Tootsie fall off of my back and hurt herself!

Bob managed to take down several ponies below, but more are coming and a retreat is an order! I prodded my hoof to him as he stopped firing to look at me. I motioned my head towards a different direction, indicating that we need to get the hell out of here. As the tribesponies (or not really tribesponies) cheered and declare hunting season on us, we’re forced to backtrack elsewhere but the skies are getting darker now.

Give me some moral support for once, Celestia! We’re in deep shit here! My pony mind yelled out to the obviously not-listening goddess. If we return to Camp Mayne Six, then its a sure way to get ourselves killed if they catches us disabling the turret earlier today. Why is the forest so damn dense?! In fact, I would love to be in the Everfree Forest right about now!

We escaped from the crazed ponies and found a dirt road that leads us back to a different section of Mayne; a slightly urbanized town up ahead. I looked back to check and see if Tootsie hadn’t fallen off of my back, which she is and still asleep. Probably because she ate too many Sugar Bombs that resulted her to become tired.

As we entered the town, there were at least five to ten ponies just exploring normally. And there’s lighting to go for, too! My PipBuck notified me that I’m in Stable Town. Huh… I wonder who named this town after a Stable-Tec? I looked at the sign and it had the name Whooveswick crossed out and replaced it with the words ‘Stable Town’. Well that was interesting, alright.

On the plus side, they weren’t as depraved or giving me cold and deathly stares from my recent visit to Mayne which followed with random gunshots outside. I’m just fed up with having to deal with ponies with their intent to kill me or worse, the still-sleeping filly on my back.

The pony settlers looked at me and gave me friendly greetings. Well this is a first, seeing as how the last time I visited Mayne from New Hampshore weren’t really as friendly as they looked, not since being shot at neither. I returned the smile to them as I gazed the sights at the Stable 75 sign attached to a building. Anypony living there?

Curiously, I went inside and there was a mare wearing a Stable outfit with the same number behind the desk. We went to her and she greeted us, “Why hello there, fellow strangers! Welcome to Stable 75, the finest hotel there is in Stable Town, Mayne!”

Hold up, Stable 75 is a facility that’s used as a recreational hotel?

“My name’s Sweet Cheeks, Overmare of Stable 75 and hotel manager. Are you here for accommodations?”

Sweet Cheeks? Overmare and hotel manager? I was quite confused at her introduction but nevertheless I gave her a nod. Her response was, “Yay! That’ll be 100 caps for one night, 500 for three or 1000 for a whole week.”

I only had 100 bits left in me though with Tootsie Roll on my back, I can’t pull down my saddlebags. Looking at Bob, I pointed my hoof to it as to indicate that he needs to pull it down for me which he did so by loosening up the strap with his claw before pulling it back. Of course, that also dropped the sniper rifle on the floor as I let out a quiet squeak. I hope she didn’t caught me carrying the rifle I have!

Sweet Cheeks just let out a friendly giggle, “If you want, I can hold onto your belongings.”

She floated up my saddlebags and my sniper rifle and were brought to her. Whew! Saved by a lucky magic. Bob skittered up to the counter and took a glance at her.

“Oh! Is that a robo-scorpion?” She looked at Bob, seeing him who isn’t considered hostile but also slightly damaged.

I nodded to Sweet Cheeks. Her response was, “Aww, he looks badly damaged. Rest assured, I’ll have your friend taken to a mechanic pony to have him fixed, free of charge!”

Even though he wasn’t too damaged (with his visor covered with tape and some of the parts that are (loosely) fitted into his right metal claw, I was happy to see that the Overmare is willing to fix him up. In return, I gave her 100 caps for me and Tootsie Roll to rest up for the night. Bob let out a curious and robotic purr from being carried over by Sweet Cheeks and I gave him an assuring smile before we went downstairs inside an already-open vault.

Stable 75. Now used as a hotel facility for tourists and locals alike, rather than to just turtle yourself inside just for the sake of safety. The hall has its visitors, wearing both the Stable 75 outfits and casual outfits, all having pleasant conversations with each other and some even playing billiards. I’m betting these Stable outfits are for recreational purposes? Not really… she told me that she’s an Overmare, so its likely that they’re served as staff members. One of them has led me to a vacant room for us to rest on.

I was amazed at the pristine condition inside of this room, so chic as well! As I gently placed Tootsie Roll (such a heavy sleeper she is!) on the bed, the stallion had asked that if he would like to have my clothes to have them fixed. Hope this doesn’t charge me extra as I took off my Stable replica outfit and my lab coat to his hoof. Afterwards, he bid me good-night and left.

Up front, there was a small bathroom section with a bathtub on the right, with a working sink on the left and towels in perfect condition. I smiled widely at the sight and hopped onto the bathtub for me to clean myself up! But first, need to take off my PipBuck so it won’t short out. I pressed the button from the back as it detached from my hoof and it landed on the bathroom mat. Afterwards, I turned on the handle and streams of refreshing water rains down on me.

I laid back and let out a content sigh. Ahhh… this feels so relaxing. I could feel the filth the Wastelands had thrown me washing away to the core. My mane and tail became wet, as the mane blocked my view, but it didn’t mattered. What mattered was taking a nice bit of relaxation, even if its for one night only.

After several minutes of pure bliss, I turned off the shower head and got off of the bathtub. Not willing to make a mess by simply shaking myself try, I wrapped a hoof around a fresh towel and began to dry myself up. Taking a look at myself from the mirror, I noticed a red scar across my permanently damaged right eye. I simply let out a small chuckle. I’m a one-eyed scientist pony.

I placed the now-used towel onto the floor for the staff member to pick it up by tomorrow before retrieving my PipBuck back and attached it around my hoof again. Back to our bedroom, I clenched my teeth on the bed covers and gently tucked Tootsie Roll in.

Sweet dreams. I myself flopped myself on the other side of the bed and turned the radio on to listen to music.

“...and now for more of Sapphire Shore’s best!”

Not sure who said it, but the radio played a smooth trance music that’s surely enough to drift me to sleep and forget about everything that happened. Well, almost everything.

The next morning, I was suddenly awake by Tootsie as she jumped onto the bed with excitement.

“Wake up, wake up, wake uuuuppp! Get up, Zero! Getupgetupgetupgetupgeuuuupp!”

Geez, calm down filly! I’m barely even up, give me a chance! My body responded with a sloth-like movement and barely keeping myself balanced from being rudely awaken by the ecstatic filly before shaking my head. I’m hoping a free breakfast is in order as I struggle to open my left eye, eventually doing so. I went to the bathroom to clean up my face for me to be more alert, amid Tootsie Roll’s overly-excited behavior. Guess the Sugar Bombs wore off.

I’m surprised she isn’t at least concerned for Bob as I splash up water against my face before heading back to her.

We’ll get Bob later, Tootsie. We just need to grab some breakfast and then get Bob. I could hear Tootsie’s stomach letting out an obvious rumble, “Darn it, stomach! Stop being so grumpy!”

I let out a quiet chuckle and we went to the cafeteria, just downstairs in Stable 75. There were large amounts of seats and tables and a buffet bar with a fairly wide selection of foods to go for. We only have some time before we leave Stable 75 and get Bob. We went over to the buffet line and picked up some of the fruits on the plates for me and Tootsie, such as pears and berries. (It should also be noted that its highly frowned upon to take the food and keep it for yourself from Stable 75, even if its a take-out.)

As we began to eat normally, a Stable pony trotted over to us and said, “Your clothes are in your room, so be sure to ready to leave in ten minutes. We also fixed up the robot scorpion last night. We also like to thank you for staying at Stable 75 here in Stable Town.”

I smiled to the Stable Dweller and gave him a nod from hearing the good news before we resumed eating our breakfast, my throat becoming rather less painful than my first try (still quite uncomfortable though!). With Bob all right, I’ll dress myself up and get Bob before leaving the facility that doubled as a hotel. Tootsie was quite excited from the Stable staff member telling us that her friend is doing okay.

Once we were done, we left the cafeteria and went up the stairs to return to our room to get my outfit.

Inside, my lab coat and Stable replica outfit were restored in perfect condition! Huzzah! They’ve done a wonderful job at fixing my clothes, even my trusty lab coat as well! Putting on first my Stable replica outfit and then my L-00 lab coat, we both left the room and made our exit from our temporary stay at Stable 75.

“You look really nerdy, Zero!” Tootsie Roll teased at me. What can I say? Brains prevail against brawns!

We went up from the open vault door and to the reception desk where Sweet Cheeks is waiting for us, “Oh, hello you two! Hope you had a wonderful time here at Stable 75! We’ve also repaired your robotic friend good as new!”

Bob jumped up on the counter and waved a claw at us, looking to be good as new indeed. Tootsie extended her fore-hooves to her fully-repaired friend, “Bob! You’re all right!”

He lets out an excited, robotic trill as he jumped to the filly for a hug. Sweet Cheeks let out a gentle giggle, “They sure are best friends. Would you like to ask some questions before we let you go, my fellow visitors?”

Letting the two have their time together, I turned my attention to the Overmare and inputted four words from the PipBuck as it read ‘What happened here in Mayne?’.

Sweet frowned a little from the question, her ears folding back. I felt quite regretful already from inadvertently asking a sensitive question I didn’t knew abou, although she did gave me a response regarding Mayne’s uncertain situation.

“Mayne was supposed to be a bustling town known for peace and tranquility, and to seek refuge for those who wish to work for a decent living. Their behavior became erratic, most likely from the use of Rage drugs and things… things went horribly wrong. They didn’t just attacked and killed each other, they even went as far as to kill Mayor Mayne. Innocent ponies had to escape to move elsewhere, several never made it.

And that’s where Stable Town was founded, by me. I used to run Stable 75, but now I use it for tourist reasons to keep this town alive and peaceful. The rest of Mayne, fell. That’s all there is to it, young colt.”

Damn… no wonder why I felt the need to cut my visit short. Everypony was killing each other, some didn’t want to be involved into this bloody mess yet ended up paying the price. While I’m not sure if this is the result of a megaspell or civil unrest in general like in New Hampshore regarding an incident between Suri Polomare and Sapphire Shores, Mayne was screwed either way.

Similar outcome, I suppose. Only my very first visit was these ponies were depraved and bent on killing each other during the pitch black darkness with little regard to others. There weren’t any factions (aside from the ‘tribesponies’ and Powder Gangers), as it were nothing more than a free-for-all.

In the end, I gave her a nod and waved her goodbye as we left the building from Stable 75. Sweet Cheeks responded with a wave, “Have a good day, and do be careful out there!”

Now, what to do in Stable Town?

As my pony mind was looking for a place of interest, Bob prodded my hind-leg with a claw. Hmm? What is it, Bob?

Bob pointed the direction where Tootsie’s looking at. I took a glance and there’s a large, mountain range a hoof-ful of miles from Stable Town. Not sure if there’s anything interesting… then again, I don’t have anymore caps so I can’t really buy stuff with no caps with me. We’ll come back later once we made our hefty journey to the mountainous range of Mayne.

“Come on, let’s go guys! Let’s go hiking!”

Tootsie’s enthusiasm made me feel rather unsure about this. Who knows what awaits us at the mountain we don’t know of? But, I suppose I can’t object to the filly now, can I? After I am a babysi-- err, I mean scientist, after all! I gave her a nod for her to lead us the way.

Her response was, “Yay!” and she immediately galloped off. Wait for us!

Clearly, Tootsie’s curiosity is gonna get the better of us! Who knows if anypony’s waiting for us in the mountains?! Better yet, how the hell are we gonna climb all the way to the top?! We can’t just climb up there -- and with the possibility of finding ponies who are bloodthirsty -- so I hope an inside will suffice! And I also meant brains, not brawn!

The filly skidded to a stop in front of a cave entrance with lit torches inside. This is the mountain, huh? At least it had a cave to go for. My PipBuck told me that this is the Mount Gallopmore Cave Entrance. I took a glance at Tootsie as she said, “Let’s go inside, let’s go inside! I bet there’s spooky scary skeletons to go for!”

At least it didn’t have to involve actual pony skeletons… of course, I’m just flat-out wrong. There are skeletons inside, even Sweet Cheeks warned us yet the filly completely disregard it! If she was my daughter, I would’ve grounded her for running into dangerous things with us in it. Sadly, she’s not and I have to look after her and her robo-scorpion friend Bob.

I let out a sigh and gave her a defeated nod. Hope it doesn’t involve mining tunnels inside or I’m gonna freak the buck out.

Before we went in however, a radio popped up from my PipBuck:

“And now, an important message from the citizens of New Hampshore.

*static noises, featuring garbled speech but not before it said Starshooter and Lab-00, followed by the word evacuation before the signal becomes lost*”

Starshooter? Evacuation? If this was New Hampshore already spiraled into hell, then all of the more reason to never return whatsoever. Then, it hit me. I began to suddenly remember the events of barely escaping a swarm of Cazadores before having to re-escape from a Ponelurk. As it turned out, it wasn’t just a weak signal that the broadcast barely managed to catch up before it was abruptly cut off, but New Hampshore was now becoming a one giant nesting place for these flying bastards! Even so, it can’t be saved and not even Lab-00. I’m on my own and that’s that.

Of course though, I’m not really on my own. Not when I have Tootsie Roll and Bob with me.

“Ooohhh… that sounded so static-y, Zero!”

Yeah. It was ‘static-y’, Tootsie. Now then, to the cave entrance we go! Hope this goes as planned for her. (Yeah right.)

Footnote: No Level Up.

Chapter Eight: Caved In

Darkness. Pure. Darkness from the cave entrance of Mount Gallopmore.

Even with lit torches and strewn lanterns struggling to stay alight, there’s just a bunch of stalagmites everywhere inside the cave entrance of Mount Gallopmore. Up ahead, there were crudely-made shanties and rushing waters echo deep within the cave.

And more pony skeletons to go for. I hope that counts as ‘spooky scary skeletons’ for Tootsie, and that our exploration is brief. I really don’t want to run into crazed fruit bats, or even phantom ponies that are out for blood.

The cave isn’t exactly like the secret mining tunnel we barely escaped from the collapsed bakery shop. Not cramped either, but the ambiance is quite eerie from the looks of it. It just gives me an uneasy vibe to it.

Tootsie yelled, “Helloooo!”

Her voice echoed throughout the cave. I let out a worried expression, fearing that she may have inadvertently provoked the bats!

Huh… nothing it see--

SKREE! SKREE! SKREE! SKREEEE!

Oh fuck! Take cover!

Bob was cowering onto the ground, though Tootsie surprisingly watches the horde of bats fly out of the cave entrance, while I dove out of the way! Damnit, Tootsie, take cover!

Amazingly, none of the bats took a bite on us. They weren’t hostile unless provoked. We were thankful, but her antics nearly had us killed! What the hell were you thinking?! I shot up an angered glare at her as she responded with her looks expressing innocence.

“Oopsies. Sorry, Mr. Zero!”

Honestly, Tootsie. If you hadn’t led us into the cave for your ‘expedition’, we would’ve stayed in Stable Town! I rolled my eye in sheer annoyance from her. I know I shouldn’t yell at her (because of my lack of voice, hint hint), but she needs to understand the dangers she’s leading us in! She even managed to frighten her robo-scorpion friend here!

“Come oooon, Zero! I wanna see the cave inside!” Tootsie Roll practically begged to me. Fine, fine let’s go into the cave see if we don’t find anymore bats that’ll feast on us!

Reluctantly, I motioned my head at the two (with Bob skittering behind her out of fear) for us to venture inside Mount Gallopmore. But goddess damn it all if Tootsie’s gonna bring us to even more danger.

Only the torches and the barely-lit lanterns are the only things that’s keeping the darkness at bay. Since my PipBuck doesn’t have a flashlight feature, I can’t see in the dark. And no night vision to go for neither.

At least Tootsie can use her horn to light up the darkness, but since she’s a filly, even her spell is limited due to it not being fully harnessed yet. Bob can see well in the dark, though its not enough for him to guide us without the risk of getting ourselves gravely hurt or killed. Overall, I’m seeing nothing but crudely-made houses with cardboard boxes as bunk beds, with some pony skeletons to go for. This is becoming a waste of time.

We stopped in front of a large lake from a waterfall crashing down. According to my PipBuck, there aren’t any hostiles underwater. Good thing, too. I was going to let her know about going back to Stable Town, though the interface shows that there’s a five-word limit to it. Well, goddess damnit. You can’t expect me to use hoof-sign languages, Celestia! You know well I can’t perform this kind of action!

“Ooohhh.. pretty waterfall!”

As Tootsie took her time to admire the sights, I looked on the left and saw an unused medical clipboard and a pencil with a chair in front. They’re between the stalagmites, but I took a look at her before trotting towards the direction of the table with the clipboard and a pencil readily available. Gotta keep a close eye on her, she’s known to wander in crazy places…

Arriving there, I grabbed the pencil with my teeth and began to write down words from the clipboard. With enough clear writing (even if I needed a unicorn to write it down for me, Tootsie’s the only one and she’s currently stuck in her fantasy world!), I set the pencil down and grabbed ahold of the clipboard and trotted back to her. And thank the goddesses she’s still here or I’ll be facing a hundred years in the moon for my lack of proper foal-sitting!

I tapped a hoof to her shoulder to grab her attention and Tootsie replied with, “Yes, Zerooooo?”

I showed her the written clipboard that reads ‘Let’s go back to Stable Town’. I figured that we need to cut our exploring trip short.

Apparently, this filly gave me a pout.

“Awww… do we have toooo?”

I gave her an affirmed nod. And no, your feigned innocence isn’t fooling me.

“Fiiiiiine…”

Her whining is the least of my worries, but her own safety and Bob’s. I tossed the clipboard aside and motioned my head to follow me as we made our hilly exit from the cave entrance.

Outside, a Powder Ganger pony armed with a rocket launcher spotted hoofprints that lead inside the cave. It seems this one was sent by Taser as he spoke from the headset, “Found one of them hoofprints, sir! It could be one of the Fiends you were talking about! They’re probably inside that cave!”

Taser responded through the headset, “If that’s true, then make sure they stay inside the cave and see if they can try and escape! Cave them in, Boom Boom!”

Boom Boom floats up the rocket launcher and took his arm at the top of the cave and yelled, “Boom time!”

FWOOOOOSSHHH!!! BOOOOOMMM!!!

Soon, the boulders come crashing down and the entrance is completely blocked from entering or exiting. The explosive pony cheers for his efforts, “All right! Let’s see if they can get out of here now! Bastards.”

“Good! Now, head back to Camp Mayne Six, Boom Boom.”

Soon, he left the cave to return to Camp Mayne Six for a debrief.

We heard a faint, muffled explosion as we made our way out of the cave. Not sure where was it coming from, as most explosions could be heard throughout inside. What the hell? My PipBuck isn’t picking up any hostile activity, just a random explosion. Climbing up a rocky hill was surely steep enough, too! But we’re almost out of--

What the--?! Our exit’s been blocked! Boulders everywhere had completely blocked our exit! I let out a shocked expression from the unexpected sight as our exit has been sealed by large boulders, rendering it as inaccessible according to the PipBuck 1000… who did this?!

“Awww! Oh well! That means more exploration!”

Great… there goes our exit. Now how are we supposed to return back to Stable Town?! And its highly unlikely Tootsie can teleport us back there, as she’s both too young and her magic have yet to be fully harnessed. Guess we’ll have to backtrack yet again, to find another exit. The map from the PipBuck is like a maze; there’s a lot of pathways that only one can lead us out of Mount Gallopmore and that would be another blocked exit. It felt awfully dreary to go through all this again, especially after my previous saddlebag got ruined during our escape from the mine tunnels, along with some of the items I had.

Fine. More ‘exploration’ it is. Because my PipBuck can’t even get a goddess-damned glimpse on the dangers inside this cave. Only a light will show us the way out and Celestia isn’t giving us a way out to date.

We ventured back down and without taking unwanted decisions, we went straight ahead into the first pathway. A risky move means we’d have to go all the way back to where we were and choose a different pathway which would last an eternity and eventually dying out of hunger (of course, Bob won’t die but will sure find the nearest pond to short himself out). All I’m desperately hoping now is to see if this is the right path, and a five percent of that too.

If this filly hadn’t took us further down, we would’ve returned to Stable Town! Celestia, I’d rather be bathing in the scorching sun than to even babysit Tootsie Roll! My mind yelled out at the non-existent goddess. Up ahead, there’s a bridge section that leads a long way through the deep pond. No hostiles so far, but I don’t feel comfortable trying to get across without Bob falling off balance and drowning to his doom. Its too narrow and slick as well.

I hate to say that I’m not an excellent swimmer and the contents of radiation from the pond is either lethal or nonlethal, and either will result in me drowning to my death. To my left, there’s a ladder that leads up to the cliff and I’m sure as hell am not taking Bob with me. His claws are too powerful and could risk dislocating my shoulders if we tried climbing up.

Tootsie Roll pointed a hoof on the other side, “Look, Zero! I see lots of shiny things!”

Shiny things? Unless there’s a way out, there’s a really small percentage that she’s even right. We followed her as she led us to the edge of the cliff. Down below, there was a pit with a rare, glowing Ponelurk battling against a fire-breathing ant worker. Not sure how this counts as ‘shiny things’, but all the more for it to take on that insect and not us. Of course, I really can’t be comfortable about it.

And Tootsie was close to making unwanted noise when she was about to shout as I wrapped a hoof around her muzzle! Damnit, Tootsie! Do you want either or both of them to kill us?!

“Mmmphh!!” Tootsie roll let out a muffled shout.

I really can’t let her cause foal-ish noises and we looked on, the Ponelurk (or in this case, a Sparklelurk due to its bright blue body coated all over it) prevailed against the fire ant worker, amidst severe injuries it had during its duel against the ant worker with burn damage.

Once the Sparklelurk turned around to look at us, I released her muzzle and quickly pulled out the SDM-9 sniper rifle and crouched down to take a careful aim at it. Going into S.A.T.S. to get a better aim at its small face and with a high hit chance, I opened fire at it three times.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

It wasn’t enough, but enough to nearly kill it. It started to make its way up to us, but Bob made sure he was ready to finish it off as he took aim with his laser tail and fired it off before it charged to us. It didn’t made screeching noises? Huh… maybe the other Ponelurk I met was a charger-type. This one… looks like a Sparkle-Cola version of it.

Was it tainted? Or was it inherited like this? Either way, I nodded to Bob in thanks as Tootsie took a curious look at the now-dead Sparklelurk.

“Ooohh… its glowing! I knew I saw shiny things!”

I deadpanned at her comments. Surely you know there’s a difference between shining and glowing, right?

At least its dead, and looking right I saw another tunnel entrance from the pit, albeit a little smaller this time. I turned to Bob and Tootsie Roll and motioned my head to let’s go. Heading down to the bottom without falling off, we stopped to look at the entrance. I let out a shudder from the sight from the small-ness to it. Damn claustrophobia…

“Let’s go in, Zero!” Tootsie told me. I’m not really sure, its just pitch black darkness inside and I-- of wait, Tootsie will just show us the way forward. D’oh! I forgot that she’s a unicorn filly who can use her horn to bring the light into the dark horizon. As her pure white aura lights up, she was the first to enter the tunnel, “Follow me!”

What, is this filly the leader now? Since when she’s the one bossing us around?! I’m way older than you, you know…

But whatever, just lead us a way out or get us even more lost. Its your call, after all.

At least we’re not finding anymore hostiles, but with different pathways means anything can and will happen at any time. The worst of all is the closeness of the cramped tunnel surrounding me as I’m doing my best to just not look at them!

Let’s just hope there’s an end to this tunnel or I’m getting dreaded thoughts in me.

“We’re almost there!” Tootsie Roll told us. We could see an exit and I let out a shuddering sigh. Goddess how much I hate enclosed spaces…

We exited the tunnel, but now we’d have to climb up there for the next one. Groan! I’d rather drown in a bottomless lake instead of having to go through a narrow tunnel again!

On the plus side, there’s a small campfire with a frying pan that’s been too much of use. I figured a quick brunch will suffice before we continued on to venture deep within the cave. Two cans of Pork N’ Beans for me and Tootsie? Good enough.

After our lunch and brief rest, we trekked up the steep hill to see another tunnel entrance. It was bigger than the previous one, even with torches hung against rocky walls as I let out a relieved sigh. Good, at least I don’t have to worry about the tunnel’s extreme closeness to me! But I’m still worried if we’ll ever find a way out or be trapped inside forever.

As Tootsie strutted along into the cave, I began to follow her with Bob following us as well. I began to think, How will we ever make it out and head back to Stable Town? Sweet Cheeks clearly warned us about Mayne’s uncertain situation yet this filly here downright ignored it and me, being forced to follow her! And there’s a wide number of pathways that only one of them is our ticket out of here.

What’s even more worrying is that oxygen’s quite limited unless there’s a nearby lake that supports it without having us to suffocate to death. Along the way, I looked to the left and there’s an open passageway that leads into an open area. THere’s even a small shanty house with a terminal set on the table. I wonder…

I poked a hoof onto her back as she looked at me, as I pointed my hoof to the passageway before we went inside.

“Ooohhh… a secret passageway!”

Not likely. I’m surprised that my PipBuck couldn’t detect it. But, its due to it not having a flashlight put to it. Thanks, Olive Oil.

When we arrived, I opened up the terminal. Sadly, its broken.

“Terminal Corrupted
Unspecified Error Occurred”

Underneath the table were to ammo boxes. I hope one of them are unused sniper ammo inside, because finding ammo is quite scarce inside. Of course, this isn’t really a surprise; its locked. I turned to Tootsie and pointed a hoof to the ammunition box as to have her lockpick for me.

“Ooohh! Don’t mind if I do!” Soon enough, she floated out a screwdriver and a bobby pin as she beings to pick the lock. WIth no difficulties, she pops the lock open.

“Ta-da! All yours, Mr. Zero!”

For a young filly, she does it better at lockpicking than I do! Way to go! Opening up a lock and I saw 20 shotgun shells and one, unused sniper ammo case. I grabbed it with a hoof and disregarding the shells inside. That was it, and a lucky guess too. Just a useless terminal and a dead-end to go for. Might as well head back to the original path we were in.

It wasn’t without echoed footsteps from far away, even though we were inside the tunnel. I turned my head back and mentally spoke, Who’s there?

I checked to see from the PipBuck and there weren’t hostiles. I’m hearing things now…

And to top it off, I’m really thirsty. I avoided the lake earlier because I wasn’t too sure if it even contains radiation or not. The good news is that we’re almost out of the tunnel. Up ahead there was a waterfall and a lake as I desperately licked my lips out of thirst (Pork N’ Beans weren’t enough!) before quickly galloping to the lake and took a drink. Even without my vocal chords, I was now able to swallow it a little easily and this lake is free of rads too!

My thirst’s now quenched although Tootsie Roll here immediately took a dip into the lake, “Wheeee!”

Me and Bob quickly dove out of the way from her cannonball. Damnit, Tootsie! Are you trying to inadvertently kill your own friend?!

Outside, a fully-armored pony scouts around the mountainous range of Mount Gallopmare, taking a full scan on the landscape. It seems that its searching for something.

“Hmm… there’s three now? One of them has got to be that colt I just rescued two days ago…”

Its voice was slightly robotic and distorted due to the full face helmet being worn that conceals the identity. The armored pony flew around the mountain range. Seeing the entrance blocked off by rubble, the unknown pony merely trotted to it. It tapped a hoof in thought and spoke in a distorted voice with a sigh, “Blocked. Need to look for another way in, I suppose.”

And with that, the unknown, armored pony flew back to find an alternative entrance to locate the three inside.

Great. Tootsie Roll got her very own swimming pool to swim at. At least she’s not getting me and Bob wet, and she would know better that her friend despises water! Bob was right behind me, using me as a shield should the overly-ecstatic filly perform another cannonball into the small lake again. And I am not getting my lab coat soaked, especially with my saddlebags again! I can’t have Bob go and fetch a spare one!

Tootsie just kept on swimming as if she was taking swimming classes, even if this cave isn’t some common classroom whatsoever. Water kept splashing against the ground and narrowly missing us before I stamped my hoof against the ground to stop her antics. Indeed, she stopped swimming around as she glanced at me, “Want to take a dip? Its fuuuun!”

I quickly shook my head to her in response. This isn’t fun and games; we need to leave this cave now! I motioned my hoof as a ‘let’s go’ gesture to her.

“Aww… do we have to?”

I gave her a stern nod. If we stick around any longer, anypony would’ve eventually found us and kill us! Or worse!

I was given a pout in return, “Fiiiine… we’ll keep exploring this boring cave.”

Boring? Boring?! Did you not see me coming this close to cowering from the closeness of the small tunnel you took us along the way?! Tell me that this wasn’t boring!

As she went out of the lake, she shook herself dry and sprinkling me wet in return. Gee, thanks Bob for using me as a living shield. At least you didn’t have to short yourself out.

Now then, let’s go before somepony does something she’ll regret!

At least I wasn’t too wet from seeing Tootsie dry herself up, but now I’m just really eager to get out of this cave.

The rocky walls were engraved with various letters filled with utter nonsense, none giving out any directions on exiting the cave. I suppose somepony was really bored and decided to write stuff all over the walls as if to describe how many days he/she/they have endured while being trapped in a cave. I can only assume that whatever this was written, its a bunch of words battling against each other.

Up ahead, there were more stalagmites to go for, acting as a corridor for our current pathway, with straws handing on the ceiling. I sure hope they don’t come crashing down on me. And thus, we ventured through while also making sure Tootsie’s outbursts in check. I really don’t want to see her trying to climb through them.

The pathway isn’t too narrow, though the closeness is getting me rather uncomfortable. On a positive side, its just one pathway that’ll hopefully get us out of here. The negative side? We don’t know what’s gonna be up ahead, so I’ll have to assume the worst.

Halfway there, there were a bunch of skittering noises echoing the cave and followed by a series of warnings from my PipBuck. As I glanced at it (with some of its lighting left inside), it was flooded with red! Damnit, thousands of reds coming this way! Only it wasn’t approaching us all in one corner, they were crawling from the walls; hundreds, maybe thousands of the same fire ants coming our way! I quickly tapped both of my hooves at the two before motioning my head as to make a gallop for it!

Tootsie glanced at the army of ants and shrieked, joining us for a mad escape. Even Bob can’t take on an army of fire-breathing ants and he skittered ahead than us. Every corner we find forces us to navigate through and also brings the ants one step closer for the kill and turn us into living barbecue!

And if that wasn’t enough, we suddenly fell into a large hole from the ground and resulted us to tumble all the way back down until we reached the bottom! And fuck me it hurt so goddamn much!

So goddamn much that I went as far as to get my hind-leg crippled from the harsh landing, hearing the sickening noises from my bones being cracked as I speechlessly screamed out in sheer pain. I held onto the crippled hind-leg, but the worst is yet to come; Tootsie had hurt herself when a small, jagged rock had managed to jam its way into her fore-leg, her screams and cries in agony was like an arrow striking deep into my heart. Oh goddess no…

Bob had scrapes and dents all over his body, but its now the least of my worries. Tootsie’s hurt and he’s gonna pin the blame on me! As I shakily got up, Bob was quickly skittering over to her to comfort her while I looked at the two, “I-It h-huuuurts!! My hoof huuurttss!!”

Oh damn… I don’t have any healing potions or stimpaks to go for; I had to spend the last few remaining caps to stay at Stable 75 for one night… I simply leaned back against a rock, letting out a pained but saddened sigh. We were far from these killer ants, but its only a matter of time before they would make their way into the pit and chase us again. I can’t make a gallop for it now that my hind-leg broke from a harsh landing.

Bob carefully clamped his metal claw onto the rock that’s leaking out blood and began to pull it off of her hoof. Tootsie let out a pained scream, “Aaahhh!!! S-Stooop!!”

Her screams resulted in my heart to slowly tear itself apart, and my ears folding back. Bob kept pulling the jagged rock off of her despite her pleas, which resulted her to sob and cry more before he rock was finally pulled free as it left a small hole into her wound and blood slowly flowing out.

I just want to get out of here… why bring me here in the first place? To watch you get hurt and hear your pained screams? As my mind spoke out, it was becoming a reminder of Solar Eclipse being in total agony from both of her hooves amputated and bleeding profusely, leaving me no other choice but to put her out of misery. But to do so on a filly is a crime against ponykind! I won’t allow it! You can’t make me, Goddesses!

Up ahead, I could see blurred-out objects with one of them being yellow. I can’t tell what it is, But at least Bob is carrying her onto his back. He’s a robot of course, and had no issues in retrieving my new saddlebag he found. I just hope he doesn’t have to carry me around. Not without risking excess weight as the ants skittered halfway inside the pit. I limply followed Bob as he already got his head start and went to the pathway that leads to a forked road. I was lagging behind a little thanks to my crippled hind-leg, but I managed to see a yellow box with pink butterflies to it.

I slumped my hooves on the ground and frantically opened up the box. One used stimpak, and the other unused… seems rationing the stimpak is out the window, isn’t it? I’d use it on myself, but its best that Tootsie needs it more than I do. I grabbed it with my teeth and slowly trotted over to Tootsie. My response was her terrified expression from the stimpak, “Waahh!! I don’t want needles!!”

Bob wasn’t hostile towards me from her reaction, and a good thing too. At least he’s more worried for her friend than to try and burn me into pony ashes. I need to treat her wound or she’ll continue to bleed.

Just hold still, I need to heal you. You need it more than I do, young Tootsie…

Even if my condition is getting serious, saving this filly will at least get her up to her hooves. I carefully injected it onto her hoof, being careful as to not poke her open wound. There… you should be feeling better in no time…

I dropped the now-used stimpak and leaned back against a rocky wall, panting harshly now as my crippled hind-leg felt like I was standing in hot coals! And every time I trotted brought much more pain than usual while making our mad escape.

Tootsie got to her hooves, her hoof still showing a visible wound though it now stopped bleeding, “Yay! I’m all better!”

Heh. Yay indeed. I pointed a hoof to the left pathway, indicating that we should go to this path if we’re to lose them.

“Ooohhh… no right, then?”

I shook my head. We don’t have time to second guess, as skittering noises were nearing in.

She lets out a happy squee and looked at Bob, “Race ya!”

Hey, wait up! I trotted slowly as to not harm my hind-leg even further as the two raced off. Goddess dammit all…

We were far enough for a legion of fire ants as they went on a different direction instead. The bigger problem right now for me is that I collapsed down onto the dirt ground, just close to the strewn cardboard used as a bed. No more trotting…

On a plus side, Tootsie Roll and Bob weren’t far and they were nice enough to come back for me. Despite her scatterbrained nature, its amazing how she quickly got over her fear of needles just for the sake of having to stop her wounded hoof from bleeding further. Now all that’s left is me and with no healing potions or anything that can repair the bone in me. For now, all I have to do is suffer as Bob carefully dragged me to the bed by clamping his claws at my fore-hooves. Maybe if we rest up, I’ll feel better. Just maybe…

Outside of the mountain range, the armored pony flew around and took a small glance at the four statue heads depicting four princesses; Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight. It took another scan to see if there’s an opening. It flew towards Luna’s open mouth and turned on the flashlight from its shoulder.

“I’m getting closer to them... and one of them has to be the same pony I found a few days ago.”

The armored pony flew into the statue of Luna’s open mouth and inside was a large cave filled with stalagmites to go for, along with rushing waterfalls in different areas. It carefully navigated through stalagmites as it could see three unidentified ponies (one of them wasn’t a pony) and glided through a narrow opening.

It flew onto the ground as the armor made soft clanking noises, recoiling back a bit fearing that it would have disturbed the three.

It let out a robotic and static-like sigh of relief, “Whew. That was too close for comfort. Now then…”

The unknown armored pony looked to the right and saw me (I was asleep and took no notice amid my crippled hind-leg letting out a pained twitch), “You again. And you’re hurt as well. Typical.”

Bob whirrs awake, with Tootsie Roll resting next to him as the robo-scorpion turned around to see an Enclave-armored pony, letting out a curious whirr. He saw it inject a needle from a portable syringe from the shoulder armor. He took aim at it with concerned, beeping noises as if intent on shooting the unknown pony.

“Relax. I’m here to heal your friend. Consider yourself lucky that I’m not here to kill him or you two, especially with a mechanical stimpak that can only be used once. I advise that you look after him.”

The robotic scorpion lets out a confused whirr upon realization that the armored pony meant no harm to me, as I was unaware that my hind-leg was healed and mended. Of course, this led me to toss and turn briefly as I let out a quiet mutter, implying that I’m hearing things. Even if I wake up, I just don’t have the strength to found out who or what it was. Probably Celestia who felt pity for me.

“Now before I go, I must write something down for him. Wake him up in three hours and show this to him.” The armored pony told Bob as it turned to face a strewn clipboard and a barely-usable pencil as a hoof was it crouched down and raised its helmet with a hoof, the muzzle revealing to be rounded and grabbed the pencil before writing it down. Bob had simply looked on, lowering his tail after seeing it not being hostile to him or the others.

After the slightly unmasked pony had finished writing, it puts the pencil down and carefully sets the clipboard next to me before putting the helmet back on, “Done. I shall wait outside. Three hours, no more than that. Your friend should fully recover soon.”

Once the armored and unnamed pony left, Bob looked back at the clipboard lying next to me. Of course, he went back to standby mode as to resume sleeping for the next three hours.

Three hours later and Bob woke up from his standby mode and skittered to me, prodding his metal claw against my head as I fidgeted a little before slowing waking up. I turned my head to him and gave him a ‘What is it?’ look. As I rubbed my hoof against my tired eye, Bob pointed at the clipboard that was lying next to me. I glanced down at the said clipboard.

Hmm? What’s this? ‘Meet me outside’? Is this another sign of the Wastelands that’s waiting to strike me hard like Luna’s strong buckings? Clearly this wasn’t written by the Goddess herself. And what outside? It hasn’t been a day, but its surely been hours since being caved in after our exit was blocked off by large boulders!

I slowly got up to my hooves and motioned my head to Bob as to wake Tootsie up as I went to get my saddlebags and my sniper rifle. The young filly let out a soft yawn upon being poked by her robo-scorpion friend as she opened her eyes, “Mmmnn… morning, Bob…”

Its not morning though it is getting fairly dark (unless its still daylight outside, then I'm not sure). I turned on the PipBuck radio and see if there’s any signal. Static. Turning it off before I looked at the two, my saddlebags and sniper rifle with me. Amid my concern after seeing her hurt herself, I waved a hoof to them to let’s go ‘outside’, as the clipboard implies. Of course, my eye caught on hoofprints. These were never here before…

If there was somepony inside already, I could’ve died already. At least not from Dr. Scalpel and his sinister intentions on cutting me up alive. I haven’t seen him whatsoever, so he could be anywhere.

“Ooohh… hoofprints! A mystery!”

I nodded to Tootsie. She has a point, an unknown presence of somepony is a mystery. In fact, these hoofprints are slightly bigger than any other hoofprints that were found! But who?

The trail ends here; a dead end. I looked up and saw a barely lit light way up above. What, did the Wastelands just mistook me for a pegasus?! They should know damn well that I can’t fly! I let out a quiet yet frustrated groan before I stamped my hoof against the ground, which inadvertently pressed a button as the dead-end suddenly creates a new path by having stalagmites push forward and reveal a secret passageway down the stairs. Tootsie and Bob looked on with surprise.

“Ooohhhh… you found a secret passage, Zero! You’re a genius!”

My high intellect doesn’t translate to good luck, Tootsie. It just happened.

Let’s see what this secret path has to offer us. Probably either fire ants waiting to roast us to death or just a common Raider carving us up like living art.

Its a secret facility! This deep inside the Mount Gallopmare caves? I wonder who’s in charge of this abandoned facility? Either way, it has at least one terminal next to the door as I let out a sudden, determined grin. This could be our ticket out of here! I opened up the terminal and the screen gave me a wide variety of silly names, including pony names. Alright… you can do this, Zero. You got this one in the bag. Even with those many names can’t outwit my scientific genius!

Let’s see… Trenderhoof? Let’s try that!

Denied. Three chances left.

Hmm… maybe try Lionheart?

Denied again. Two more left. And what kind of name is Lionheart anyway? Is it a lion with a strong heart? I dunno, but I seriously need to get this damn door open! And after wasting another chance, I feel like I’m starting to become too overconfident.

Relax, Zero! These words are mocking you! Choose one carefully…

There’s got to be a trick word somewhere, I just know it! Hmm…

“Try awareness!”

Awareness? Not sure if Tootsie’s right, but might as well give it a shot or risk getting locked out of the terminal!

I heard the terminal let out a successful beep. It is awareness! Good job, Tootsie Roll! I patted her head with a hoof as a token of gratitude as I turned my attention to the terminal and unlocked the main door. It slowly opened, revealing our hopes of escaping the dreaded caves! I was afraid if there are any hostiles waiting for us, but thank the goddesses that my PipBuck has picked up none. Good.

There were descending staircases and a small shelf on the left. This must be our exit! I went inside first and-- waitaminute. I glanced at… something. Looking left, curiosity turned my head on what appears to be a statuette. In this secret facility? The mare’s mane and tail were bunched-up together like balloons…

And pink to go for, too! She’s an earth pony like I am, though. I hope this isn’t the result of thievery, but why leave it behind? I looked at the two, wondering if I should take it.

Tootsie took a glance at the statuette in amazement, “Ooohh…. go on, Zero! Take it! Nopony’s watching except me and Bob! Besides, we didn’t know your favorite color is pink!”

What?! My favorite color isn’t pink! Not like I’m into girly stuff anyway… looking close, the name of the statuette was Pinkie Pie. Huh? What’s a Pinkie Pie? The other day I saw from the terminal was Maud Pie. I suppose that they’re related to each other, but I guess Tootsie’s right. Not like its a trap or anything so I grabbed ahold of it with my hoof and suddenly, magic surge began to surround the statuette as I jumped back in surprise! What the--?!

Both Tootsie and Bob looked on with surprise as the Pinkie Pie statuette glowed before our very eyes. The magical energy had made its way into me and even with my single eye that makes up for my permanently-damaged right eye, my eyesight has greatly improved! I can see clearly now, and my senses were sharpened as well!

“Awareness! It was under ‘E’!”

Whoa, what the buck?! Am I hearing Pinkie’s voice in me?! And what was this Awareness she told me about? Unless… it was the letter from the terminal I didn’t see before Tootsie Roll pointed it out for me. I smiled softly, seeing that even though this filly can get rather emotional at times, she’s proven useful even if she could be wandering around in ten different places!

I got up from my hooves and motioned my head to the two as we began to trot down the stairs, with Tootsie and Bob following me downstairs.

I began to think while making our hopeful exit.

Whatever your silly name was, thanks for making me see and think better. I owe you one, Pinkie.

My response was a “You’re welcome!” inside my head. Heh, who’d knew this Pinkie Pie can be psychic? As for the ‘under E’ part? Quite a handy quote.

Outside!

We’re finally outside! Although our lengthy trek down the stairs was enough for the skies to plunge into bitter darkness again. Of course this had to happen. Before I could think on whether the clipboard lied to me or not, I turned on the radio with a fresh signal to go for. As I listened on, I heard the news instead of music.

“Goooood evening Equestria! This is DJ Pon3 with some breaking news!

“If you’re intending on visiting New Hampshore, then this city is purely off-limits even to residents! Its overrun with wild Cazadores bent on chaos! Like getting stung by killer bees, only far, far worse than just a bee sting, children.

“Rumors are beginning to spread, especially with a lone scientist having just escaped from the lab! Just like a lab rat, no pun intended of course, who has escaped from its cage in search of new discoveries! Perhaps we’ll be seeing more of this silent scientist fellow!

“And with that, this is DJ Pon3! Spreading the news no matter where you’re from. Back to the music!”

That… was unexpecting. Who was DJ Pon3? And how did he knew about me?! More importantly however, is the chaotic situation regarding New Hampshore. I winced a bit as I closed my eye, a flashback was starting to hit me.

I could see myself fending myself against a Cazador that emerged from the walls while dining on a stale donut. I was barely alive when it stung me before I managed to kill it. It was really lethal yet then antivenom had helped a lot, which of course led me into unconsciousness from the stimpak I used on me. And another were huge buzzing noises inside a ruined skyscraper. I realized that it was used as a breeding hive and were planning to overthrow New Hampshore all along. Who knows what’ll happen if Lab-00 was fully destroyed! And even if I go back, how will that end? Their numbers were overwhelming and now the already-destroyed city is a playground for killer Cazadores to stay in.

If what this DJ Pon-three said was true, then I was right of leaving New Hampshore and Lab-00 for good. But I hope all the staff members are all right while I was on a permanent leave.

After some lamentation, I motioned my head at the two and proceeded to follow the blip of the E.F.S. Even though the pony waiting to meet is far away, the dense forest doesn’t stop me from navigating through. Again, thank you Pinkie for giving me increased sight.

It was a fairly long search, although the PipBuck told me that its still straight ahead. The blip never moved at all, not one bit. I hope the clipboard I just read wasn’t lying to me, or I’ll be greatly disappointed.

“Look!” Tootsie pointed a hoof at a figure. Hmm… is that the pony?

As we trotted closer, it turned its head to us. It told us with a distorted voice inside the helmet, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Waiting for me? What did it want from me? I tilted my head curiously at the armored pony.

What does it want? My mind curiously wondered. And a lone Enclave pony to go for? Hmm...

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Vigilant Recycler - When using Magical Energy Weapons, you are twice as likely to recover drained ammunition. You also have more efficient recycling recipes available at workbenches.

Chapter Nine: A Mysteriously-Armored Ally

An Enclave pony? What does he… or it, want?

Better yet, if I remember correctly from my scientist years, I was told that the Enclave were a notorious faction for performing un-foal-ish acts among other ponies. This one in particular isn’t showing any hostilities to us, not does it have the intention of shooting at us on sight. The armor really threw me a curveball, and its distorted voice had also concealed the true identity of an armored pony. My E.F.S. even said that this was a neutral, not a hostile.

As unsure as I was, it was merely looking at me. I wrote down three words from the PipBuck and showed it to the unnamed pony, reading as ‘Who are you?’.

“My name is not important at this time. What’s important is that we must return to safety in Whooveswick.” The unnamed pony replied. So, no name and Whooveswick? Wasn’t it renamed as Stable Town from our visit? Or was I seeing it wrong?

Taking a small glance, I saw it carrying twin plasma rifles carried onto its back. Battle saddles? Never seen those before… and filled with state-of-the-art technology, too!

Tootsie approached to it and attempted to poke at the plasma rifle, “Oooohhh… its glowing!”

However, the armored pony swatted her hoof away, “Don’t touch it, young filly. This is not a toy for you play with. Its a highly dangerous weapon.”

The filly’s response was a whine, but this one has a point. Its dangerous and who knows what’ll happen if it accidentally fired off?! It be all acid-y and gooey with fatal results.

It pointed a hoof at me and then both of my allies, “State your names.”

Tootsie was the first to introduce herself, “My name’s Tootsie Roll, and this is Bob, and the number pony, Zero!”

Not. Funny.

Bob waved his metal claw to the unknown pony as it nodded to us, “I see. Its a pleasure to see you three. Now, shall we go?”

Is this one in charge here? Unless its Starshooter in disguise, this one is more authoritative than it looks. And wasn’t I the leader previously back in New Hampshore? I merely shrugged and motioned the two for us to follow her. Looks like I’ve unofficially stepped down as a team leader.

Oh well. Back to Stable Town (or Whooveswick as mentioned by this armored pony of higher ranks) we go, oh mysterious and new leader of ours!

We arrived back to Stable Town (or Whooveswick as this armor pony mentioned) and the reactions we got were mixed; some of the ponies had welcomed us back, but some who are shooting up glares at the armored pony with threatening expressions. Its like they have the intent to kill this mysterious pony, or us! What did we do wrong?! Not my fault Tootsie Roll here decided that it was a good idea to explore the cave entrance of Mount Gallopmore!

It wasn’t long before one of the Stable Town residents took notice from Tootsie’s visible wound (even though it was healed after out exit), “The filly’s been hurt! I bet this Enclave did this to a poor filly!”

Oh you’ve got to be kidding me…

“No, it was this scientist pony!” The other pony proclaimed. Me?! The hell did I do?! It wasn’t my fault that we wanted to desperately get out of Mount Gallopmore!

One of the Stable Town ponies shouted, “Get them both! They’re the ones who hurt the poor filly!”

Before they went on a mad chase to us, Bob immediately took a defensive stance, aiming his tail at them and prompting them to stop. Even Tootsie Roll reassured them, “Nuh uh! They didn’t hurt me! Honest! I just fell is all and we were trying to escape from the killer dragon-breathing ants!”

Bob even knew that neither I or the armored pony inflicted any harm to this filly! They began to whisper against each other, not believing her at first before they quietly dispersed. They had also said sorry as they moved on. Good. The last thing we’d want is unwanted violence and bloodshed and I dismissively waved at the armored pony who was taking aim with twin plasma rifles.

It took a glance at me before it lowered its weapons, “If you insist… they did threatened us, Zero. So don’t think of letting your guard down next time.”

Oh great. I’m being told in an authoritative manner now? Might as well make it my foal-sitter, of course! I simply nodded to it, even if my senses were improved before I got chided.

I wrote down four words from the PipBuck and showed it to the unnamed armored pony as it read as ‘Lead the way, leader’.

“Follow me, then. And don’t separate.”

Sure thing, ‘leader’. And here I thought Starshooter was so strict… guess this one beat him to it by a landslide! But what’s there to stop it? I’ll just have to do what comes natural, especially since I’m still unable to normally talk anyway. Furthermore, Tootsie Roll and Bob separated from me a hoof-ful of times while trying to keep an eye on them. I’m a scientist, not a foal-sitter for pete’s sake!

We followed it inside a local clinic known as the Stable Clinic for Tootsie’s wounded hoof to be completely healed. We were greeted by a couple of pony doctors and nurses, “Hello, and welcome to the Stable Clinic! How can we help you, ponies?”

Tootsie was the first to trot over to one of the doctors and looking up a sky blue-colored mare, “I have a big boo-boo, though its not too bad! At least my numbered friend here helped it stop the bleeding!”

...really now?!

“‘A numberized pony’? Young one, I think you meant Zero. His name is far from a number.”

Thank you unnamed soldier whom I don’t even know, for giving me the benefit of the doubt!

“Though his coat does resemble a Blueberry.”

...I take it back from what I just said in my mind now. You and Tootsie had happened to double-teamed me, and I am greatly unamused.

“I see. I’m nurse Cloud Storm! Its nice to see you, little filly! And first visitors gets free treatment; second or more visits means payment in caps are needed!”

Free? Well, alright! That means it’ll be a quick time for her to be healed, though I did gave the armored pony a glare. I didn’t liked being called Blueberry, and you had somehow reminded me of the already-dead Carbon Monoxide. I selected two words from my PipBuck to clarify and let it know regarding name-calling, reading as ‘Not Blueberry’. Even if I had to suck up to major authorities, name-calling is just wrong.

The unnamed pony read and nodded, “Right… I apologize for that. I didn’t know that it was offensive for you.”

I gave the armored pony a nod as an act of forgiveness. Thank you for realizing this.

Tootsie Roll was guided into a medical room by Cloud Storm as other doctor ponies had taken us to the waiting room. Bob, on the other hoof, was given a curious look from one of the doctor ponies, “Hmm… you’re not from around here, are you little feller?”

Bob’s response was a curious whirr as he looked at the doctor pony back. He turned to us and asked, “Do either of you own him?”

I shook his head. And I blame my inability to speak though the armored pony next to me replied, “This robo-scorpion belongs to a filly, sir.”

“Ohhh… so this cute little robo-scorpion belongs to a cuter filly? Well then, how’s about I fix up those dents and scratches for you? I myself happen to be efficient at healing fillies and sentient robots alike.”

So I take this is the same doctor while me and Tootsie were at Stable 75 were staying in for a night. Unusual that Sweet Cheeks never mentioned us his name from our previous night. As for cute? Yeah… so long as you don’t get on his bad side, doc. His small size isn’t to be messed around with. His tail laser is quite deadly if you ask me.

I nudged a hoof onto the armored pony’s shoulder to grab its attention as I began to write down three words from the screen as it turned its head to me and asked, “Yes?”

It looked at the screen and read quietly before giving me a nod and turns its attention to the doctor, “Sir, may we ask what your name is?”

The doctor pony looked at us as Bob climbed up to his back, “The name’s doctor Ratchet. A pleasure to meet you both!”

We nodded at his introduction, though I pondered on his name… looks like Dr. Scalpel without crazy intentions on carving ponies apart and make terrifying creations. At least he resembles nothing like the crazed doc who took my voice away. Ratchet motioned his head to Bob, “Follow me, little one. I’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy again.”

At least its just dents and scratches. I’m not sure if Ratchet has enough parts to have Bob repaired again after having fallen down into the pit. I looked at the armored pony and chose five words and presented it from the PipBuck screen, reading as ‘You’re willing to join us?’.

It gave me a nod in response, “I will. At least, away from the others who had done the unthinkable…”

Unthinkable? What did it do to piss other ponies off, other than the Stable Town residents coming close to wrongly accuse us of harming Tootsie Roll despite that we had no intention of harming an innocent filly (even Bob knew we meant no harm to her!). Where else would we go anyway, other than to get ourselves trapped again inside the caves of Mount Gallopmore? And this DJ-Pon ‘three’ or whatever he is said that New Hampshore had been overrun by a massive Cazador swarm. At least that’s only in New Hampshore, the last thing I want to hear is a second swarm that’s gonna head over to Mayne.

Inside the medical room, Tootsie’s open wound was closed easily as she drank the healing potion given by Cloud Storm, “Now, drink up dearie. We want the filly to grow nice and strong.”

“Mmm… thank you!”

Her visible wound closed easily as she finished drinking up the Healing Potion. Cloud Storm trotted over to the desk and retrieved a red lollipop, floating it over to her, “Here you go, little filly! Since you’ve been so nice, you deserve a cherry lollipop. Enjoy!”

She happily retrieved the lollipop with her magic and placed it into her mouth, “Mmm! Thank you so much, nurse Cloud Storm!”

Soon, the energetic filly got out of the medical bed and safely landed her hooves onto the ground without harm. Cloud Storm then accompanied her out of the medical room to return to us, “Here you go! Your filly friend is all better.”

We nodded to the nurse before Tootsie asked Cloud Storm, “Where’s Bob?”

“Your robo-scorpion friend is with Ratchet. He’ll be fixed up in no time!”

“Yay! Bob is gonna be all better like me!” Tootsie happily replied. Now all we have to do is wait for Bob to return for us to head elsewhere. But to where exactly is that we hope to not return to the Cazador-infested New Hampshore. I lifted my head back, and it didn’t took long for Cloud Storm and the unnamed pony to notice my crudely-stitched throat that was still there.

Cloud Storm was about to make her leave when she indeed noticed the stitches on my throat, “Oh my… I could give you a voice modulator, but sadly we don’t have any. Our supplies are a little sparse at this time. But if you can find those, I’ll see if I can do so for you. Of course, I can’t guarantee safety as augmenting your throat can have potentially dangerous side effects.”

A voice modulator for me to talk again? As great as it sounded, there’s pros and cons and cons outweigh the pros in my opinion. I would speak, but I’m not entirely sure if I would even sound the same like I was before. I could sound like a robot trapped in a body of a living pony. And chances of enduring through lots of pain is too high, even with medical practice. I guess for the time being, I’ll have to stay silent as I waved a hoof to her as a ‘don’t worry’ type of expression.

The armored pony did asked me, “How did you lose your voice? Were you foal-napped?”

I gave it a nod. Sadly, I can’t give out a clear explanation due to both my inability to speak normally and my PipBuck having a five-word limit that impedes me of placing more than a mere five words for a full story. And unless I knew where Dr. Scalpel is, he’s probably long gone by then. Probably eaten alive by the Cazadores, but I could be terribly wrong. And the clinic has a small number of doctors and nurses alike, so that doesn’t make things better.

“I see. Rest assured, we will find a proper voice modulator for you.”

I sure hope so.

Ratchet had left the workshop with Bob onto his back as the robo-scorpion jumped onto the table with a happy, robotic whirr.

“Yay! Bob is all fixed up!”

And not a moment too soon. Its nighttime outside and since I don’t have anymore caps in me, we’ll have to depart ourselves from Stable Town and look elsewhere within Mayne. No caps mean no staying in Stable 75 for a night again, so this’ll be the last time we stopped by a local clinic in this town.

Ratchet smiled at us, “I hope this will be all for tonight. Now please take care of yourselves and be careful out there.”

We nodded before Tootsie said, “Bye, mister! And thanks for healing Bob!”

And with that, we left the clinic.

“Soooo now what, oh mysteriously-armored pony?”

Tootsie asked it for me -- not that I wanted to be the one to ask with my non-existent voice -- and the armored pony replied with, “I’m not sure. Maybe your scientist friend will show us the way?”

M-Me?! When did I become their navigator?! But on the bright side, it didn’t wanted to be the leader forever. But to where exactly is beyond me, especially when the map is barely visible. All I could do was to wave a hoof as a ‘come on’ gesture as I led them out of Stable Town and elsewhere and totally not Camp Mayne Six.

The three willingly followed me, with the armored one trotting close to me. I’d ask for some personal space, though I’d figured with those twin plasma rifles it has will give us enough protection.

“Its alright. I have a built-in flashlight from the helmet.”

It turned the flashlight on and goddess its bright! But on the major plus side, at least we don’t have to run into unseen traps that could kill me or my new allies. I gave it a smile in thanks before we continued on, keeping ourselves in the illuminated area that showed slightly dense forestation. Our only obstacle was a giant pit with no bottom and it stopped us in time with its hooves, “Hold on. There’s a pit. We’ll need to find a bridge. Zero, take us there.”

Right… Bob skittered up to the armored pony’s back, seemingly afraid of heights. I led them to a different direction. It was taking a little longer than expected, up until I read the map with the aid of the helmet’s flashlight. We were at The Giant Crater that has no entrance to it. You call that a pit?! Its too big for it to become a pit!

But as odd as it looked, there wasn’t even a giant meteor that struck into the land. In fact, there weren’t any meteor showers at all. Weird… I suppose we’ll have to find an alternative route to go for.

“Oooohhh… that’s one biiiig hole!”

Obviously, it is. And if we ask them about a giant crater, they’ll either become skeptical or that the question would be too sensitive and create panic and fear.

Up ahead, we saw a steep hill with an elevator door to it. We took an approach and I pressed on the elevator button. It still (barely) works as the sliding doors slid open and we went inside. I pressed the button that'll take us to to the bottom floor. The armored pony turned off its flashlight and as the elevator door slides open, I was suddenly shocked at the sight; the walls were tunneled through! And they’re huge!

“Those are biiig holes! Somepony’s been mining!”

I highly doubt it, Tootsie. They’re way too big for somepony to be mining something that doesn’t even exist. My pony thoughts replied. What could’ve caused this?

At least none of us are heading into either of the giant tunnels as I wasn’t sure which direction it goes anyway. I motioned my head for us to keep moving as we went down the stairs. Surprisingly, the ceiling didn’t collapsed the first time we saw this.

Suddenly, we heard and felt rumbling noises and those weren’t our stomachs. An earthquake?! And we’re still heading down the stairs! We quickly trotted down the stairs, fearing that the ceiling is threatening to collapse with us inside of it!

As we made it downstairs, the rumblings had suddenly stopped. I’m wondering if anypony were using a giant, half-assed mining machine while inadvertently causing hazardous earthquakes?

Up ahead were multiple cots attached against both sides of the walls and two terminals set on tables. We were becoming tired, but to how we rest up with sudden rumbling noises could be anypony’s guess. I suppose I can look up both of the terminals before calling it a night. Tootsie slumped herself onto the cot, “Guh… nighty night, you ponies! And Bob, too!”

I smiled softly as a returning good night as I booted up the terminal. Before I could figure out the password, an armored pony approached me as it tapped a hoof onto my shoulder. I turned around and faced it. Something you need, oh nameless armored pony?

“Make it quick with the terminals. We need to rest for us to venture on and reach to another area.”

I nodded to it, but despite my tired eyes my brain begs for knowledge. I waved dismissively to it and gave it an assuring smile. My response was, “If you insist, then. Just… please don’t overwork yourself.”

Its concerned about me now? Well… alright, if it insists. Regardless, I focused on cracking the code and found an easy password to gain access to the terminal. It was ‘tearuk’. (Whoever came up with the name ‘Tearuk’, I’ll never know.)

There was only one entry to show for. I suppose I can open up and see what it has to offer me.

>Thingy!

“We busy excavating tunnels for good treasure! Like, big and shiny thingies! Us alicorns need rich to build new thingies! Yes, new thingies! For us! Yes. Nopony else! Lunakin here wants treasure for herself! I say, ‘tis a lie! You share and care! Anyway, tunnel mining went bad! That giant worm thingy ate treasure as food!

“Stupid worm thingy! Come back with treasure! Treasure not food! I want rich and build thingies for Equestria! You have no reason, stupid worm!

“But that worm is too big, it ate good friends! How can I collect treasure without share and care?! Its too big and scary! My friends not food, stupid giant thingy! Return treasure, now!

“Alas, search is gone, worm gone, treasure gone, all gone! It not possible! Please, read this and don’t find treasure, and giant worm thingy!”

‘Giant worm thingy’? Well that would explain the giant holes and random rumblings… but I’m not sure what it even is. Probably a coincidence, no less. It also explains from a huge crater we saw, but still just a coincidence. I’m no animal expert, but I’m sure there isn’t any time of animal that can make giant holes boring through tunnels and burrowing into the ground which leaves massive holes to it. I closed the terminal and my brain wants to go to the other terminal, but my tiredness is already getting the better of me now. I’ll figure it out later the next day as I got off of the chair and slumped myself onto the vacant cot, with Bob simply guarding us should anything happen.

But for now, its off to sleep I go…

The armored pony was the first to wake me up as my shoulder was nudged, resulting me to roll my body a little bit and stretch my hooves before waking up. I looked at it as it asked me, “Do you have something for us to eat? As a soldier I require an adequate meal.”

In another room (presumably the kitchen), Tootsie brought in some boxes of food she scavenged from the fridge, “Found them! Also, he has one can Pork N’ Beans left!”

Gee, thanks for a wild guess, Tootsie! Truthfully though, I really do have one left. I did however, pulled it out of my saddlebag and offered it to the armored pony. Of course, I got a dismissed wave and told me, “Keep it. You’ll need it more than I do. I shall go and feed my own food the filly had found.”

I nodded. I followed it into the kitchen for us to begin our meal. Since the stove doesn’t work, perhaps I should just open up the lid and chow down. Of course, it was lukewarm at best but enough to help ease my stomach from rumbling inside. The armored pony looked at the box of Cram before looking at us, “I… think I should eat it privately.”

Huh? Eat alone? But why? Was it hiding something from us? Tootsie apparently replied with her mouth full, “Mmmphkay mypphry pnny!”

Its best to have manners for once, Tootsie. I selected five words from the PipBuck and showed it to the armored pony, reading as ‘Don’t wander too far’. Its response was, “I won’t. I’ll have Tootsie’s pet friend here to look after me.”

It seemed that even a well-armed pony needed additional protection from Bob. Fair enough, I suppose. I looked ahead at the closed door (hopefully not collapsed inside) and took a curious approach before opening it up. Empty and intact… and a reloading bench? Well, this is an interesting sight to see.

My sniper rounds had empty shell cases to them, so I suppose I can refresh my sniper ammo without the need of searching for some. It was quite simple to use and enough for me to be full with ammo again. And it didn’t took any effort to do so as well! I wish I could stick around and work more with the reloading bench, but I really doubt staying inside is the best way to go.

We needed to move on and find a safe place to go. I waved a hoof to Tootsie and we left the reloading bench room for us to get Bob and the armored pony, whom had already finished lunch. My glance barely spotted a visible muzzle. Its round instead of square… mare, I suppose? Or probably a stallion shaped like a mare? Damnit, Zero! This isn’t the time to guess! It looked at me and said, “Thank you for giving me your meal. It was thoughtful of you.”

You’re… welcome?

The rumblings resumed, and a red blip was shown in my E.F.S. though I can’t see which direction its going. Its moving in random places! I looked at them with concern and wrote down four words that reads ‘We need to move’ from the PipBuck.

“Ooohhh! More adventures!” Tootsie replied. There’s not going to be an adventure if we’re left buried alive!

The armored pony reiterated to Tootsie, “This isn’t an adventure; this is us getting back up to the surface without being buried alive.”

Thank you for that, oh nameless pony!

We went into the door that led deep into the wide tunnels. They weren’t excavated like the giant ones that burrowed through earlier but also had a functioning elevator shaft along the way. Still intact as well!

My E.F.S. kept showing me a red blip that’s still moving erratically around and deep inside, but nowhere in any direction. We got in and I wrapped my hoof around the lever and pulled it as it began to slowly make its way up to the surface. Halfway there, and the rumblings began to intensify again, and I’m anxiously waiting to get to the top. I looked down below and-- giant, purple scales?! Whoa…

We made it back on top and we were met with thundering clouds. Goddess damnit, who’s in charge of the weather anyway?! You’d know that Bob is vulnerable to water! To make matters worse, we were greeted by Slavers as we made our way to a nearby shelter! There were five of them, all whom are armed and dangerous.

“Well, well. It seems we got ourselves some outsiders! And our bargain for the take.”

Tootsie cowered behind me, “Wah! Scary ponies!”

One of the Slavers snorted, “We’ll take that filly of yours off of your hooves if you wish to save your sorry asses!”

Like hell we will! Bob immediately took a defensive stance, aiming at one of them with his laser tail as it let out angered beeping noises. I cautiously aimed at one of them as well, as the armored pony armed its twin plasma rifles. It dangerously spoke, “I don’t know what your intentions are, but if you lay a hoof on the filly, we won’t hesitate to take you down by force.”

Apparently, our response were their snarked laughters as one of them replied with, “And who are you supposed to be? Some white knight in shining armor?! And as for this little tinker toy, we’ll have to dismantle it! Even if we kill you outcasts, we’ll at least use your corpses as target practices!”

I don’t want to kill anypony and neither would my allies do the same thing. However, whatever their reasons are were nothing more than their cruel and sadistic intentions of using us as personal slaves for their negative beliefs, and I’m not letting them lay their filth-ridden hooves on Tootsie Roll!

The armored pony was the first to open fire at one of the Slavers, as its twin Plasma Rifles fired off green and highly-toxic goo.

PPRRRROOOWWWW! PPRRRROOOWWWW!

A direct hit from one of the Slavers as he was dissolved into green goo. And what power it had! Bob and I opened fire; I first took it down with the help of V.A.T.S. by getting a good aim at his head and taking him down with ease.

TZZZAT! TZZZAT! TZZZAT!

We were shot, though I was still alive with no bullet holes to show for as Bob killed another Slaver pony. Most of the bullets were easily deflected thanks to the armored pony’s thick armor that renders most bullets impenetrable whilst Bob’s own body armor merely deflected bullets coming from Slavers. Now there’s only one left and Bob took aim at him before the Slaver stammered, “W-Wait! W-W-W-We can make a deal! Y-You give us the filly and we’ll leave your asses b-b-be!”

Not happening. However, there were loud rumbling noises again as a red blip from the E.F.S. charged towards us! Oh fuck!

Apparently, it narrowly missed us as it grabbed its first victim, “Aaahhh!! Fuck! Get it off of me! Get it off--”

His screams of agony were cut off by sounds of bones crunching and gushes of blood spraying all over the ground before our unidentified hostile disappeared.

Sweet, mother of Celestia… what in the absolute hay was that…?!

I’m not sure if this was even luck that was on our side, but the armored pony told us, “We can’t stick around. we need to get somewhere safe now.”

I couldn’t agree more, nameless pony. Sliding my sniper rifle back in between my side and my saddlebags, I nudged a hoof to Tootsie who was covering her ears.

“I-Is the bang bang finally over?”

I gave her an affirmed nod. I’m aware that Tootsie isn’t used to gunfights, much less hearing Slavers wanting the filly more than us. And that it wasn’t right of killing them, but to have them even attempt to have us bribe them by giving our filly friend to us is a sure way of crossing the line. There was a semi-large mound that was caused by a possibly large creature (or ‘giant worm-thingy’, according to the terminal I found and didn’t bothered to check out the second terminal due to general sleepiness and our dire need of getting somewhere safe), but still enough for us to navigate into a building for our temporary stay.

There was nothing inside, except from our horrifying sight. Enslaved ponies… in chains! One of them was suffering from huge malnourishment (seeing that he hasn’t eaten in days due to lack of food); the rest… were no longer alive.

“Please… help me…” A young colt pleaded to us. He looked extremely frail, the tip of his horn cut up by the Slavers whom we killed (with a creature we don’t know devouring one in a bloodied fashion). With ribs and bones visible from the inside of his weakened body, I looked on in horror. I had nothing in my saddlebags; no food or syringes… nothing. And even with food and medication, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to live in this state.

I wrote five words and showed the PipBuck to Bob, reading as ‘Lead Tootsie to armored pony’. The robo-scorpion nodded and huddled to the filly, bringing her to the armored pony. I don’t know what its expression was, but its likely that it felt the same way I’m expressing. It told Tootsie, “Get behind me… and don’t look.”

“O-Okay…” Tootsie simply responded. What am I supposed to do with this colt..? Surely I don’t want to lay a bullet through his head, would I? I can’t risk traumatizing my filly friend. I just can’t…

“Please mister… please kill me…”

I shook my head in response. Hell no! I’m not some murderer! We only killed those Slaver ponies because they mistreated you and your friends horribly! I’ve already done this to my own teammate before, why now?! Please don’t make me, Goddesses!

The armored pony told me, “Its for the best… if we have nothing that can save this young colt, then you must put him out of misery in a peaceful manner.”

I still relented, regardless. What good will that do in the end? Am I going to become hated by my own allies for just killing a young colt? Do I really have to., Celestia…?

Eventually, I quietly sighed as I gave myself in. Slowly trotting over to him and my ears falling flat, I gingerly placed a hoof onto the dying one’s neck. I closed my eyes and began to press my hoof against the dying colt’s fragile neck and soon his neck snapped like a defenseless twig. I would’ve heard him say ‘thank you’, but it didn’t felt satisfactory. I was trying to fight back tears, but my hooves gave way and I slumped onto the ground, readying myself for another round of saddening tears…

“Go with your robo-scorpion friend, Tootsie Roll. We’ll have Zero regroup with us momentarily.”

As it trotted over to me, I felt my shoulder rubbed softly by a metallic hoof. I turned to look up to it, wondering what it wants from me. I didn’t asked for some company, but I’m just too weak to show resistance of what I’ve done.

“I’m aware that this was hard for you to put this young, weakened colt out of his misery. But it was the right thing to do, and without laying a bullet in him. For now, we need you to stay strong and keep moving. We don’t know that thing will ever return and we need you to lead us to safety. Okay?”

I slowly nodded, and in return, it pressed its metallic muzzle onto my cheek as if expressing care for me. I smiled softly amid having tears running down in my eyes. Rubbing my hoof against my teary eyes, I got up on my hooves and simply motioned my head to it as we regrouped with Tootsie and Bob. It seems she’s calmed down now, and not have to worry about gunshots.

What we do have to worry however, is for us to move somewhere else. The armored pony told the two for me, “Let’s keep moving.”

“O-Okay…” Tootsie merely replied. Bob patted her head with a metal claw as we left the slave-ridden room and into the open, deserted space again, albeit with blooded parts and Slaver corpses rotting onto the dirt ground. We’ll have to head north, and hopefully we don’t find them again.

There’s a (really) small town up ahead, though we’re now outside of Mayne and into an unspecified location. Only three ponies were residents in an unnamed town, the rest were inside the houses (though it’d be a crime if we’d try and enter inside), especially if its sparsely populated. Hell, even my PipBuck says that its an Unknown Town! No name, no named places… nothing! Nothing, I say! In my mind, of course. Tootsie asked one of the townsponies, “Hey, mister! What’s your name?”

It seems her response was, “My name is none of your business! Now beat it, squirt!”

Whoa. Talk about a harsh response.

“H-Hey! That wasn’t nice…” Tootsie’s ears fell flat after she got an insulted response from him. Bob skittered in front of the stallion and lets out a warning whirr, threatening to shoot him should he kept going with brash insults. Of course, he trotted past by him, as if Bob didn’t even exist.

I saw the armored pony taking it seriously and galloped over to the nameless stallion (who obviously refuses to give out his actual name) before it gave him a hard buck to the side.

THWACK!

It was enough force for him to fall onto his back.

“Gaahh! What the hell’s your problem?! Are you some white knight in shining--” He was immediately cut off when the armored pony pinned its hoof against his neck, expressing intent to harm him even further after having witnessed him insulting the filly. Geez, might as well bow down to it thanks to its high level of authority!

“Don’t you ever insult a filly, or you’ll be hearing it from me. And if you continue to insult her even further, I’ll make sure your ass will become a personal punching bag.”

Talk like a badass… noted! The unnamed stallion had received cold looks from the armored pony and without a word, he galloped off, with the other two ponies completely oblivious to what was even going on. I sat down and thought to myself, Damn, I wish I could be like my new armored ally!

Bob gently rubbed to his filly friend’s hoof with a metal claw as the armored pony assured Tootsie, “Its alright. He won’t bother you anymore. We’ll make sure of that.”

Tootsie nodded in response, “Okey-dokey-wokey, oh mysterious pony! Thank you so much! He was a big and ugly meanie!”

Heh. ‘Big and ugly meanie’. Good one, young Tootsie. Gazing my sights onto the left is an abandoned house that’s left wide open. Not sure if a pony resident had left and never returned at all, but anything that’ll help me scavenge at least a meal or two left inside and in good condition as well. Curiosity led me inside, but what really interested me was a workbench! Oh my gazing stars… its designed for endless possibilities!

Even better is that there’s an unused recipe from under the table! Oh how wonderful! I quickly grabbed it with my hoof and pulled it out, eager to reveal its secrets; a recipe for the Flash Mine! If I can think of what a Flash Mine is, its a non-lethal weapon but enough to render anypony blind for several hours, as well as their hearing impaired. This could be useful!

I’ll have to read them later, as I need to regroup with my team. They joined up with me after the armored pony’s brief physical altercation after the pony had just verbally insulted Tootsie Roll. The new recipe I acquired safe in my saddlebags. Of course it wasn’t without the armored pony taking a glance at me before telling me, “We need to head elsewhere… here is too unfriendly and we don’t want anypony further insulting the innocent filly.”

I nodded to it. Good idea; here is less than friendly than in Stable Town. Only problem is that we’re unable to return to that said town before, and the only way back is forward. I suppose we could find refuge from outside of Mayne, so I hope things go as planned.

We eventually arrived on Fhoal Island, small and dense. From the outer edges of the ‘island’ are littered with barrels of radiation. Take about a dumbest way to set up a barrier…

And the sign had the motto ‘The friendliest island in Equestria!’, when its pretty much not. On the plus side, there wasn’t a giant thing pursuing us. At least, not for the time being of course. Up ahead were abandoned motel buildings with nopony out there at all. The pathway would even lead us to it anyway, so its time that we’d take a brief rest before continuing on to see the rest of Fhoal Island.

“Fhoal Island? I suppose this will be fitting for our beneficial rest, Zero.”

I nodded to it as Tootsie groaned out, “My hoofsies ache!”

Yes, yes, I know that feeling, Tootsie Roll. But at least we managed to escape the beast of the unknown from pursuing us further. Sadly, there isn’t anypony out there and it just adds the creepiness within the atmosphere. Come to think of it, the E.F.S. has been displaying a green blip this whole time. This whole bucking time! Most likely a glitch of the sort. Maybe there’s a reset button somewhere?

Either way, we went into an empty motel room for us to rest up… save for myself as I took off the PipBuck and looked around for a reset button. Where the buck is it?!

Of course, the armored pony placed its armored hoof onto my shoulder and told me, “Don’t exert yourself too much. You need to rest before we can explore the rest of Fhoal Island. Okay?”

I looked at it with a nod and gave my PipBuck to it. It took a curious look when it retrieved my PipBuck, “Is there something wrong with your PipBuck?”

I nodded to it, wondering if it can find a reset button for me, or even fix it up for me.

“Hmm… it looks like its glitched. Its outdated if you ask me. I’m afraid I can’t do much about it, but I’ll keep it safe in your saddlebags until we can find a local repairpony. For now, come. We need you to rest up.”

Guess not even it can fix it, huh? Oh well. I slumped myself onto the vacant, strewn mattress before stretching my hooves and going to sleep, not even taking off my lab coat and slept with it. I heard its whisper in my ear, “Rest assured, your PipBuck will be safe in your saddlebags, as well as your sniper. It will be safe with me.”

This Enclave pony… is different. Nevertheless, I took a nap after hearing its comments. I felt my mane ruffled by its armored hoof as it went to get my sniper rifle and place it next to me. I’m PipBuck-less now, but for a good reason anyway.

Bob was already ‘asleep’ next to Tootsie. I heard a voice coming from the bathroom, though I quickly disregard it. Must be Pinkie doing silly sounds in my head.

To my lack of acknowledgement, the armored pony was in the bathroom and taking off its helmet, revealing to be a mare. She looked at herself in the mirror, “You can do this… no other Enclaves are looking for you. They’re just regular ponies, including this Zero fellow. I just gotta keep myself discreet for the time being. I don’t want them to find out that I’m just an Enclave that’s looking to kidnap them. I can never let my father tell me what to do…”

The unnamed mare washed her face away with the barely-working faucet before shaking her head to dry herself, “I need to rest up as well. A good three hours of rest will do until I can wake them up again.”

She slipped her helmet back on, completely concealing her voice and hiding her true gender with a distorted one again. I was merely too busy discovering the wonders in my dream realm, with this hyperactive pink pony going by the name of Pinkie Pie just jumping around on an invisible trampoline! How does one even defy laws of physics anyway?

After its three-hour rest, it woke up and went to first wake Tootsie Roll and Bob up.

“Wake up, you two. Its time for us to go.”

Tootsie simply fidgeted in her sleep before letting out a soft yawn, slowly waking up along the way. Bob was the second to ‘wake up’, as his servos whirr quietly inside before looking up to the armored pony out of curiosity.

I was the third to be woken up by the armored pony as it told me, “Get up. We need to find the repairpony to have your PipBuck fixed. Its too dangerous for us to go without your PipBuck to lead us.”

My ears received its mechanical-like voice and I slowly nodded, slinking myself onto my hooves before stretching my back. I looked at it with a nod before looking at the two and motioned my head for us to leave the abandoned motel room. We left, and no surprises neither. I no longer have a PipBuck in me, thanks to it malfunctioning. It can’t retrieve any information, check the map or even check my inventory. At least I have my SDM-9 with me along with my saddlebags. The problem is that I’m unable to engage S.A.T.S. for precise aim so I’ll have to solely rely on aiming down the sights without the PipBuck’s aid.

And even if I wore it back on, the screen would stay frozen with no response. If I remember… one of the gunfire from the Slavers must’ve grazed my PipBuck that rendered it non-functional!

Great. Now I’m unable to determine if I could encounter any creatures or other ponies, friend or foe. As we kept looking around, the ground shook below our hooves (and Bob’s legs) in a faint rumble. We stopped and I looked around, immediately worried!

“An earthquake..?!”

Not likely, armored and nameless pony! Equestria never had earthquakes at all! Tootsie spoke in a jiggly and shaky voice, “Hey, why is the ground shaking?!”

I don’t have a clue, and I really don’t want to know! It could be that ‘giant-worm thingy’ the poorly-written terminal it told me about yesterday!

The rumblings suddenly stopped. Not sure if this was either luck or just some freak accident that didn’t happen. We had to keep moving, with me close to the armored pone and both Tootsie Roll and Bob close to me for us not to separate.

“Whatever the rumblings are, at least it stopped. The repair shop is nearby.” The armored pony informed us. Thank goddess!

We entered inside and found a merchant. It appeared to be an elder stallion with transparent goggles over his head as the armored pony was the first to approach him, “Excuse me sir. You don’t happen to be a repairpony, are you?”

He looked at it and gave it a nod before giving us a friendly smile, “Yes, hello there fellow strangers! Welcome to Crankshaft's Tinker ‘Em All! I’m Crankshaft, your repairpony in all of Fhoal Island!”

Clearly, this is the most desolate location we’ve ever found. Bob skittered himself onto my back before relaxing himself on top of me. Tootsie excitedly waved a hoof up to him, “Hi, mister! I’m Tootsie Roll and this is my nerd-look--”

She was immediately interrupted by the unnamed pony when it cleared its throat, “Allow me to make proper introductions, Tootsie.”

I saw her making frowny faces, but at least she’s not going to introduce me as a number pony.

“This little one is, as already mentioned, Tootsie Roll. This is Bob, a sentient robo-scorpion. And lastly, this is our fellow scientist, Zero.”

“I see this one’s a scientist… interesting. And this young fellow he’s carrying with a robo-scorpion?! Oohhh… I’ve never seen anything like it before…” Crankshaft cleared his throat from his brief, amazed expression before turning his attention to it.

“Might I ask what your name is?”

It didn’t gave out its name to him, “My name is classified for the time being. Think like going undercover.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right. You’re an armored… Enclave soldier that’s here to rob me?”

Crankshaft apparently thought it would rob him because of its heavily-armored nature. I shook his head as to let him know that its not here to cause any harm on anypony. It replied to the elder repairpony, “I may be of Enclave, but I serve of no purpose to their heinous acts. I’m affiliated with the three with me and I intend on being by their side.”

He nodded in an understanding matter after it told him its different motives, “Well, alright then! Anyhow, what can I do to help you ponies? And that cute robotic scorpion, of course.”

It turned its attention to my saddlebags and slid its hoof inside to retrieve my glitched PipBuck 1000 before showing it to him (the screen was locked in place and unresponsive to commands even when latched around a pony’s hoof), “Here. This PipBuck requires repair.”

Crankshaft let out a surprised gasp, almost falling off of his chair. He has never seen a PipBuck like this before, “I-Is that… the PipBuck 1000?!”

We nodded to her with Tootsie saying, “Yup! Veeery rare!”

This elder pony can’t take the pressure he’s in but did managed to relax himself before he’d inadvertently hurt himself, “Ooohhh… is that a PipBuck? But… this… this is an older version of the 3000 one…”

I suppose that the 3000 is much more modern than my current, malfunctioned one.

“This is the PipBuck 1000.” The armored pony told Crankshaft. Despite his age, his enthusiasm is still quite young. Even his cutie mark bears his namesake!

“A PipBuck 1000… such an old model it is, too! But what’s this? Why’s the screen frozen? Hmm…” As he inspected the PipBuck, he noticed a slightly deep scratch from the edge of the screen that resulted it into not functioning properly.

“Oh! Its damaged! What happened to your PipBuck, Zero?”

The armored pony did the talking for me, “We were in a skirmish against ponies, who happened to be Slavers. What we didn’t know that the PipBuck was working fine at first until it started to glitch without warning.”

“It seems this one had bullet fragments to it and one of them managed to lodge its way inside, thus making it non-functional. I’m afraid I don’t have any PipBuck replacements, so I’ll have to rewire your PipBuck 1000 and give it replacement parts. I can’t guarantee you ponies that this’ll work, but I’ll give it a try. This is an outdated PipBuck, after all.”

So I’ll have to be stuck without a PipBuck, huh? Gee, thanks Olive Oil for your lack of warning when you first gave me the PipBuck! I was so damn excited that the PipBuck of mine showed defects prior to my leave for this ‘mission’!

“I see. Do you have a replacement for it?” The armored, nameless pony asked. To be honest, the PipBuck 1000 felt more like a curse than a blessing…

Crankshaft made some brief thinking before giving it a nod, “I do have only one, though. One which is state-of-the-art but nopony had been able to get used to it before.”

We looked at him in curiosity. State-of-the-art? Is it far more advanced than the 3000 version itself? I bet its screaming out my name! I excitedly smiled to him, eager to see what it is! Lemme, see, lemme see!

“But first, I need to have this repaired, so you kids go and explore Fhoal Island. I’ll have it ready within the next five weeks or less, but don’t go venturing too far! You whippersnappers have a habit of not even returning to my shop… nopony ever did returned to my shop so therefore, I started collecting! And I wanted to make bits, but noooo! Nopony’s buying!” Crankshaft let out a hacking cough after informing us in an effort to repair my PipBuck 1000.

Five weeks?! How can I handle five weeks with no PipBuck to go for?! Better yet, how am I to tell if any creatures or ponies I found are either friendly or not?! This isn’t right! My head’s like a running faucet dribbled with worry!

“Yay! We’re gonna explore this teeny tiny island! Let’s go, Bob!” Bob immediately hopped onto Tootsie’s back as she eagerly galloped off with him riding shotgun, and me wondering how am I gonna live five weeks of no PipBuck! This is not the punishment I’ve ever wanted!

The elder stallion looked at me as I was on a verge of losing myself, “Now, now, calm down, Zero. Its not like this PipBuck is gonna grow hooves and mosey on its own. Rest assured, this repairpony may be old, but he still has his repairing skills up in his sleeves!”

I seriously hope so. I’m really afraid of what will happen if one of us separates and we can’t find each other because of the lack of PipBuck. I just… I just…

“Zero, its time to go. We’ll need to start exploring Fhoal Island, with or without your PipBuck. Rest assured that you’re still well-armed like I am.” I heard the ex-Enclave of a pony told me. I haven’t got a choice but to nod to it as we both left the repair shop, leaving Crankshaft to work on the PipBuck.

The outer edges are littered with irradiated barrels that acts like a wall to prevent waves from even entering the sands. And the sands feel pretty eroded as we saw Tootsie making a sand castle. Honestly, this isn’t a summer vacation! We need to get to exploring if we need to scavenge for food and weapons. Or workbench shops for me to tinker shit around. Or probably have a hair trigger if I’m unable to tell what’s a friendly and what’s a hostile. Damnit! Pull yourself together, Zero!

The nameless Enclave pony told the two, “If you’re done playing sand castles, we have to go. We’ll return within the next five weeks. And stay out of the toxic barrels. They’re deadly.”

I nodded to Tootsie Roll and Bob as to agree with it. Even they’re smart enough to not go near the barrels, unless the filly would want to give it a taste and see if it tastes like jello.

“Okey-dokey-wokey! Stay off of bad barrels, Bob!”

Bob may be invulnerable to irradiated continents, but should he bring it to us means it can create a significant health hazard to us from the radiation close to us. At least he nodded to Tootsie; the robo-scorpion may not listen to other ponies except me, Tootsie and the pony whose name is yet to be revealed.

A bridge. Not wooden, thankfully, but its sure as hell uneven. The water below is murky and difficult to see, with hidden dangers waiting to kill us down below. Bob remained onto the filly’s back as we carefully traversed through the bridge. It was getting slightly foggy up ahead, though our armored ally had turned its flashlight from its shoulder and I nodded it in thanks.

Whatever’s up ahead, we need to be ready. I can hear feral growls in the midst of a fog up ahead. Not good. They’re slowly creeping up on us and without S.A.T.S., I can’t get clear shots on them!

“Something’s wrong. Tootsie, get behind us. Zero, Bob, get ready!”

I crouched down onto an even floor from the bridge and grabbed the sniper’s muzzle with my teeth as I pulled it out from my side and aimed it down. Bob took a defensive stand and took aim at the incoming hostiles, with the nameless pony taking aim with its twin plasma rifles. The growlings were getting closer; feral ghoul ponies! They were fairly large in numbers, but we need to make our shots count or we’re fucked!

We did our best to stay calm and mindless pony ghouls were shot down, some even melted into goop. Bob never runs out of ammo, he can fire off laser without the worry of being empty! I’m out of bullets and so is this armored pony, “I’m running out of plasma ammo. Gonna take matters into my own hooves…”

The last one was a glowing one (I’ll have to call it Bright One as I don’t have a PipBuck with me) who was charging towards us before stopping in front of it. It was about to emit its small radiation explosion before it gave a hard buck to the head, knocking the Bright One down into the ocean. Wow… who’d knew it can kick flanks like that?! I smiled widely to it as a wonderful job.

It glanced at me and spoke, “Just because I’m low on ammo doesn’t make me a damsel in distress… now that that’s taken care of, let’s go.”

Well, its obvious because you’re wearing armor and that your weapons are far more advanced than my own! Yours even rival Bob’s laser from his tail!

As I gained a small lead from the armored pony (stallion or mare, or neither because of the mechanical voice), Bob nudged Tootsie for her to follow him and us.

“Oh! Wait for us!”

We’re regrouped again and made it to the bridge as the fog clears up, revealing to be residential homes. What is this place? Is anypony living there? Or were they pony ghouls like the ones we killed in the middle of the bridge?

It looks abandoned, but I really don’t want to let my guard down for the time being. Even with mindless pony ghouls taken care of, I can feel the ground trembling very slightly against my hooves. Something’s not right here… I looked at them and pointed to one of the abandoned houses as to let them know that we should find food and ammo there. Apparently, Tootsie told me, “But isn’t it a bad thing to do by breaking into somepony’s home?”

Oh so you’d think canned food grows on trees, filly?! If that’s the case, then I’d rather have Celestia serve hot buns from my rear end! Okay so what my mind said was… rather unexpected, but still; you can’t expect a fresh meal to appear out of thin air, Tootsie Roll! At least this badassery of an armored pony reassured her, “Young one, we need to find food for us to survive or we won’t make it.”

Not to mention that we just barely survived against a horde of feral pony ghouls that were closing in on us. Tootsie lets out a cute pouty face, “Fiiiine… we’ll go get some foodsies…”

Great. No more objections now, so now we made our way forward and into the house. And hoo boy, its stuffy in here! Almost no air to go for, too!

But the lack of air was the least of our worries; we saw a couple of bloodied corpses with darkened blood stains scattered all over the wall and completely ruining the sofa. I winced at the sight, and am glad I haven’t eaten anything yet or I’d be sick to my stomach. Tootsie however, scampered under the pony’s wing, “Wah! W-W-What is that?!”

It covered the terrified filly with a wing as a means to censor her eyes from seeing the goried interior of the house, “Don’t look, little filly. Cover your eyes, I’ll take us to the kitchen. Zero and Bob, we’ll be at the living room.”

I nodded to it. Can’t blame Tootsie Roll for it, and I feel sorry for her already. Whatever caused it to kill this unfortunate pony must’ve went down with no means of defending oneself. I trotted upstairs, with Bob skittering behind me. Small corridors but less claustrophobic. On my left lead to a foal’s bedroom, nothing too particular inside of course except an interesting comic book strewn onto the cabinet. I suppose I could take it (probably worth it as it depicts of the use of Sneak). Up ahead is the parents’ bedroom and we went inside and opened up a large cabinet.

A basic rifle… and a couple of sniper rounds! Yes! Just what I needed. All in all, nothing in particular so we headed back downstairs, with Tootsie and the nameless pony waiting for us (too bad there isn’t any medication to find and collect). They’ve collected some foods of different kinds, “Find anything in particular?”

Bob answered it for me by crawling up onto my back and sliding his metal claw down to reach for the comic book I just found before pulling it out and showing it to the armored and no-named soldier pony.

“I see… aren’t you a little too old to read comic books, Zero?”

Nonsense! Comic books have worthwhile benefits! You’ll never know what it has to offer, obviously.

The filly let out a laugh as she looked at it, “Aww let him read, oh nameless pony! Reading makes him smarter, and nerdier!”

Thank you for-- hey! I’m not that big of a nerd!

“Alright. If it helps him benefit his IQ, then I won’t judge him.”

Bob had put the comic book back into my saddlebags, with Tootsie floating the foodstuffs they had collected inside my saddlebags too. I looked at the three as to wonder if they’re ready to head over to the next house. Before we went inside, I motioned my hoof to them to stop. Something’s not right inside. I took a small peek from the peephole of the door and saw a trio of Securitrons with faces on the screens depicting ponies (albeit warped). I don’t think they’ll be giving us a warm welcome inside, but all I can assume is that there’s medication in one of the rooms inside.

“What is it, Zero?”

I pointed a hoof at the peephole for it to take a look. As it trotted over there and spotted three securitrons wandering below level, it looked at me, “I have an idea. I’ll fly up there and check if there’s medical boxes inside. I’ll be back ASAP.”

I nodded and saw it spreading its fairly wide wings and flew up in the air as Tootsie watched with amazement, “Ooohhh… I didn’t know no-name can fly!”

Well, duh. I’ve seen Carbon Monoxide do it before.

It crashed through the window, which was enough to grab attention as it landed into the bedroom, “Right. Now to look for it before these robotic killers look for me. And I don’t have enough ammo left in me neither.”

The nameless Enclave pony trotted out of the bedroom and looked both ways before spotting an abandoned bathroom, “Let’s see…”

Inside were filth-ridden faucets and a bathtub, both rendered useless. Next to a broken mirror is a yellow box with pink butterflies to it.

“Aha! And unlocked as well so inside should have medication.”

Opening it up revealed to be four healing potions, two RadAways and four Stimpaks to go for. It carefully grabbed all of them with its fore-hooves and begins to spread its wings, “Alright, time to get out of here, and not risk spilling any of them. Need to be careful…”

One of the Securitrons spoke as it made its way up, “Scanning for threats.”

It was nearly startled but managed to fly through the broken window before slowly flying around the abandoned house and meet up with us, “Got them, Zero.”

I nodded with a congratulatory smile. Well done! I trotted aside and allowed the no-named pony to store them in my saddlebags. Seems like we’re good to go!

“I was almost caught by those Securitrons. They’re searching around so its best that we get moving right away.”

Sounds like a plan. Let’s go! And no, Tootsie. You’re not allowed to play with them!

We ventured deep, but the rumbling noises from the ground becomes intense as we were about to enter an empty area. Oh no… what’s that sound?!

“What in the wide world of--”

It was interrupted as the ground below us was beginning to engorge, and fast! We galloped out of the way, “Earthquake!!”

It was far, far worse than an earthquake as the ground soon erupted! Clouds of dirt was covering up the giant, snake-like figure as Tootsie looked on in a terrified manner as it let out a shrieking noise with its giant tongues wriggling from its gaping maw in the air, “W-W-W-W-What is that?!”

GRAAAWWWRRAAAAWWWWRRRR!!!

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Ministry Training -- +10% to hit when using rifles of any description.
Penalties: Without your PipBuck, you are unable to determine any living beings, be it friendly or hostile from E.F.S. Furthermore, you are unable to engage S.A.T.S. during combat or even check your inventory.

Chapter Ten: Intense Pursuit

Oh fuck!

It is the ‘giant-worm thingy’ the terminal has been telling me about! And its mad as the Goddess’ endless solar flares! Its black, tentacle-like tongues are shown from its maw! And they open up like a flower blooming… only except that it's not a flower blooming; it has three maws!

And it doesn’t take a PipBuck to let me know that this monstrosity is a hostile!

“Everypony! We need to get out of here now!”

The giant worm lunged at Tootsie as I quickly dove to get her, easily avoiding getting devoured but also propelling us forward when it burrowed down into the ground! Agh!

It left a massive hole on the ground behind us with Bob nearly avoiding imminent impact as he was lifted over by the ex-Enclave pony, who had quickly flown in time to save him. (In fact, it flew faster than any pegasi would! Such exhilarating speed this one is!)

Though this was far from over; the ‘giant-worm thingy’ emerged from the ground again and its tongue-like tentacles extended out at it and Bob!

Bob let out an alarmed whirr as he quickly opened fire onto one of its tongues, which landed a direct hit but not before it managed to ensnare an armored pony! Fuck! Quickly, I pulled out the sniper and aimed at its tongue before pulling the trigger with my tongue.

BAM!

“Ngh! Let me go, bastard!” The armored pony said as the giant worm screeched in pain from its tongue being shot through, forcing to let the pony go. Bob was doing what he can do to hang onto its back as the worm screeched in pain and flailed its head and tongues wildly, with one of its tongue-like tentacles knocking them off from the air as they both plummet onto the ground. Thankfully they both landed safely, but the unnamed pony’s helmet was knocked away.

Bob landed onto the soft patch of ground, unharmed but dazed as he got up and whirred dizzily.

Tootsie looked on in surprise as the ‘giant-worm thingy’ briefly retreated, “The mystery pony has been revealed! Zero, I’ve solved the mystery!”

When was this a mystery?! I glanced at the armored pony… a mare?! So it actually is a she!

I could ask her name, but thanks to my lack of a PipBuck, I’m unable to do so. The Enclave mare glanced back at us as she was recovering from a knockback, “...why are you looking at me like th--”

She realized that she had lost her helmet, “Oh fuck! D-Do not think of me as a mare! Just need to find the motherbucking helmet…”

Apart from the mare’s vulgar sentences, the helmet was standing at the edge of a massive hole and dangerously teetering side by side. She immediately spotted it and flew to retrieve it before it had a chance to fall off into the bottomless hole, “Gotcha!”

We saw her put it back on and spoke, “Now then… dammit! Why is the voice alteration not working?!”

She took off her helmet and tossed it down to the bottomless hole out of sheer frustration, “Damnit! Now I can’t stay in disguise! How in the absolute fuck am I gonna stay incognito when other Enclave troops are gonna be all over my ass?!”

Well… rants aside, she looks like a pseudo-Spitfire. Only she’s far different than Spitfire herself; with a sky blue coat to go for and a steel grey mane to go for (same applies for the tail, I suppose). Her eyes are also faint gray that vaguely matches her mane, but still burns up flames inside! I need to remind Tootsie, Bob and myself to never get on her bad side…

And to think of it, she still has the fiery personality like Spitfire’s! She gave me and Tootsie a flaming glare, “What are you two standing around looking at me for?! That worm thing is gonna come back any second now, we gotta move!”

She’s right! At any rate, that thing will just emerge on the ground and devour us alive unless we get out of here! And without any bullets in me, I can’t take it down in one shot. Even if I still had sniper rounds, its a goddess-damned behemoth! I looked at the filly and lowered myself for her to get on my back. Tootsie was still shaken after having seen the ‘giant-worm thingy’ for the first time, “L-Let’s get out of there, Mr. Zero!”

She got up onto my back as soon as the intense rumbling noises resumed, “Let’s go!”

I nodded to her and we soon bolted out of here, with Bob riding onto the armored mare’s back. Soon, the giant worm erupted from the ground again and began to pursue us at dangerous speeds! Not sure if splitting up would be a good idea as without my PipBuck, I’m unable to keep up with my allies. And a possibility that we may never be reunited if this happens! No. I gotta stick with them. I don’t care how much this monstrosity wants us to split up so bad! I don’t want a similar outcome to happen!

It opened up its three gaping maws again, threatening to swallow us whole! Tootsie shouted to the mare with no name, “Quick! Shoot that thingamajig! We don’t wanna be food!”

“I don’t have much ammo left in me, but I’ll try! Just hang on, Bob!”

Quickly, she turned around and aimed at its tentacle-like tongues with Bob clinging his metal claws onto her shoulder plates as he lets out a frantic beeping sound. Soon, the armored aimed and fired her Plasma Rifles at its tongues.

PRRRROOOWWW! PRRROOOWWW!

Another direct hit! It screeched in pain and lagged behind and resumed to chase us, albeit slightly slower than usual. Some of its tongues were crippled, but now I’m starting to pant out of exhaustion; I’m slowing down as well! Damn my unathletic hooves!

Tzzzt. Tzzzt.

“Oh for the love of pete. No ammo, you guys!”

Just as I feared; she doesn’t have any ammo. At least with Bob, he doesn’t miss his shots because the laser from his mechanical tail never runs out of ammo!

“Don’t worry! My friend Bob has no limits!” Tootsie’s right. Bob can still hold it off, but even then his laser isn’t too powerful to kill it. At least we know that its tongues are its weaknesses that results in slowing itself down.

We’re in a huge, open area of nothingness besides the giant worm still in hot pursuit. Even if we were to hide inside a building, we’re sure to get buried alive! Over the horizon, there’s a residential area that’s heavily guarded by a small army of Securitron robots patrolling the place. Let’s hope they can help us, or just gun us down without reason! My hooves are getting so goddamned tired from all the galloping!

“Halt! Identify yourselves or we will use force!” One of the Securitrons warned us when we were nearing in an area we don’t know about. We disregarded their warnings and soon enough, their attentions were diverted to the giant worm as it erupted from the ground again, emitting it screeching roar. They soon opened fire at it with missiles to no avail; its body has a really tough hide to penetrate! It wasn’t long until they were of no match of this monstrosity.

Well it seems we managed to shelter ourselves inside a convenience store while also delaying the inevitable at the same time! My hooves were aching like Cadence’s non-stop lovings! The armored mare glanced at me while we took a breather, “Great… what now, genius? That thing will come after us once they turned those Securitrons into food!”

I merely shrugged. I’m too exhausted to think and Tootsie Roll went with Bob to scavenge any food left over for us. If I had wings, we would’ve made an easy escape. All I could do was lean back against the corner of the wall just to try and set my mind straight.

And I’m still without a PipBuck…

“Hey, kid… don’t take it personally. Sure I may a badass Enclave pony with a high rank to go for, but that doesn’t mean I work for them and enslave innocent ponies for a living. Besides, I have to speak out for you for the time being.” Her words were very reasonable as I smiled at her in thanks. I didn’t want a argue. Not that I wanted to anyway because I can’t speak at all. I heard her approaching me and sitting down next to me.

“We need to have a very short break before we can keep moving. Those robots won’t hold that thing back for much longer. Plus, I don’t have any more ammo for my Plasma Rifles so we’ll have to find those along the way. Just nod to me as a reply.”

I nodded to her as a response. I don’t know how far will we go as long as we’re being chased. I still wondered what her name is once we escape from this ‘giant-worm thingy' for good.

“Good! That’s the spirit!” She told me, as Tootsie and Bob returned with a couple of purified water bottles, along with a hoof-ful of boxed foods of different kinds. I’ll have to figure out her name later as I took a sip of water and sprinkled my open mouth with an opened cereal box as to quell my hunger with both of my fore-hooves of course.

Once that’s done, I got up to my hooves again before gazing my sights at the mare’s Plasma Rifles before looking out the window. It was still distracted by Securitrons, but who knows how long until it finished eating them off. Maybe if I can find a Reloading Bench, I can refill drained ammo for her. But as there isn’t any, all we could do is hoof it as far as we could.

I tapped a hoof onto her shoulder armor and gave her a nod. In return, she replied, “Alright. Let’s go, you three.”

We carefully went outside, as there was one Securition left over the horizon. I don’t think he’ll even last so we made our way around the store for an alternative route we don’t know about. Only one thing’s for certain, my senses had warned me that it's about to pursue us again. Even with wounds that are shown from the giant worm, it was totally unfazed by attacks as we made ourselves scarce.

Of course, it didn’t took long for it to realize that its original preys were escaping and it pursued us again! We were a bit faster, but this one shows no signs of tiring! Damn this thing doesn’t seem to give up, could it?!

GGRRAAAWWAAARRR!!!

“Oh bite me, you overzealous tentacle fuck!” The ex-Enclave yelled out. Not sure how is smack-talking even gonna get it intimidated…

Its massive flailing tongues still show - despite showing signs of injuries - with the intent of eating us, especially with metal parts being displayed! It seems that it can eat through just about anything!

Tootsie held his hooves around my neck, “Go away, Mr. Beast!”

Its not going to listen to reason, Tootsie!

“Guys, we need to split up! I’ll find somewhere safe nearby with Bob on my back! I’ll go and get both of you afterwards!”

I shook my head as we’re still trying to prevent the worm from closing in. There’s no way! I don’t have a PipBuck with me and how am I gonna keep track of you guys?! Tootsie Roll told me, “The armored pony’s right! I wanna get out of here with you guys!”

No other choice, huh? I suppose that a nod will have to suffice.

“Alright. Bob, hang on!” She then spread her wings and flew off with Bob onto her back. The worm directed its attention to the duo and disregarding us in the process as I skid into a stop, watching the worm coming after the armored mare and the robo-scorpion riding shotgun. We even witnessed it launching itself in the air! As it plunged down, it narrowly missed them as I look on with concern. Come on, you can do it…

The ex-Enclave was luring the worm away from us to pursue them instead, as Bob did what he could to make sure its elongated tentacle-like tongues doesn’t reach to them as he fired lasers from his tail to keep it at bay. And so far, the worm wasn’t able to devour them thanks to the armored mare’s quick maneuverability and Bob’s excellent aim. The two eventually arrives at the cave from a high mountaintop, “Alright, Bob. Hop off of me and I’ll lure it back to me so I can get the other two.”

Bob nodded and watched her fly away as she looked down at the worm making its way up and shouting at it, “Hey, you giant tentacle-tongued bastard! Come and get me!!”

It lost attention to Bob and quickly turned its attention and attempts to lunge and extend its damaged tongues to her with no avail thanks to my ally’s amazing agility as she swooped down to retrieve Tootsie Roll next and leaving me last. Of course, instead of it coming after the two, it went after me! I quickly galloped out of the way as it narrowly missed me and it burrowed down into the ground. I frantically looked up to see the two flying back to the mountain as the ex-Enclave looked at me, “Just hang in there, kiddo! I’ll get back to you ASAP!”

I sure as fuck hope so! I’ll be worm food by then! My pony mind yelled out as I did my very best to not stand still; my senses were running wild, even my ears were twitching like mad! I quickly dove out of the way as it emerged from the ground with a threatening roar. Damnit, hurry it up! I can’t be shooting blanks at this monstrosity, and it will do nothing in the end!

I was sure out of breath from all the rolling around as it dangerously missed me, but one of its tongue-like tentacles caught my hind legs! Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuck! I thrashed myself around to no avail as it pulled me close to its gaping maws. Up above, she was swooping down as fast as she could and pressed her hooves down onto its tongues, emitting its screeching pain as it retreated back deep underground once again. Whew! What luck!

“Missed me? Now, hop onto my back and let’s go!” She instructed me and I was barely recovering from its tongue’s vice-like grip that had brought me close to becoming pony food as I clambered myself up onto her back.

“Now, hang on tight! This ride is gonna get wild!”

I gulped and wrapped my hooves around her and slamming my eye shut from the blistering speed she’s going. Too much speed!

On the plus side, the ‘giant-worm thingy’ wasn’t pursuing us again but I don’t think its planning on fully retreating from us. Without our ammo, we can’t hold it back or fully incapacitate it. We soon arrived at the top of a mountain cave.

I opened my eye and saw the ground and I nervously got off of her, but she wasn’t gonna wait and shook me off. Gah!

“There. Let’s just rest up for a while and keep moving.”

Gee thanks, oh great commander of a former Enclave…

Whatever that thing is, it has a huge bloodlust on us and is doing whatever it takes for us to become live food for it. Securitrons hadn't stood a chance and all we did was buy us very little time. In fact, nothing will ever get in its way. Not even the unfortunate Slavers that we happened to encounter as one of them met his bloodied, goried fate. And as far as I saw it can eat through almost everything it sees that’s in its way, be it flesh or metal. And none of our weapons were able to slow it down at all. Even Bob isn’t strong enough to put that thing down.

My hooves have had enough, yet I had no other choice but to unintentionally punish it even more as I saw Tootsie pulling my aching hoof to her, “Come oooonnn, we need to move! The mystery soldier told us soooo!”

Goddess-dammit all…

I got up from my hooves and adjusted my sniper rifle to ensure that its tucked in between me and my saddlebags and simply trotted along with them, venturing ourselves deep into the cave that’s not unlike Mount Gallopmore we were in yesterday. This felt more like a test of punishment than a test of endurance. I’m a scientist, not an athlete!

“Its not coming after us for now, Zero. Unless you want to sleep and wake up with your insides gone, we have to stay on high alert.”

My only response was leaning exhausted body next to her. I was too fatigued to respond but she pushed me back a bit with her wing to balance myself, “Hehe, hang in there kiddo. Lemme get ya some water from your saddlebags.”

I smiled in thanks as she pulled out a water bottle and placed the bottle tip onto my lips, “Here, drink up.”

I slowly chugged down the water to quench my thirst from my exhaustion. Ahhh… much better. She closed the bottle cap and placed it back inside my saddlebags, “There you go!”

I was no longer thirsty and trotted next to her to catch up with Tootsie Roll and Bob. We were led inside a hidden facility with a number of terminals and doors that leads to different paths. All of the terminals seem to be functional, but I really don’t have the time to read all of them as we don’t know when will that thing return.

“Just go whichever terminal and get the doors open to see where it’ll take us. And don’t take too much time, also!”

I nodded to her. I went to one of the terminals and booted up as it asked me for a password. Hmm… ‘gemstones’! Yeah, that’s it!

There’s two messages; one is to disengage the lock and the other to disable a turret. I suppose both are fine; none of us except Bob have any ammunition anyway. And… done.

I gave them a confirmed nod as I pointed a hoof onto the far right of the door that’s been unlocked. Tootsie was crazy enough to open the door first, revealing an empty room. The filly told me, “Just emptiness, Mr. Zero! Try again!”

One down, a couple more to go. And I have an uneasy feeling about this already. Who’d knew if somepony is watching me or the others, and without my PipBuck means I’m uncertain of any friendlies or hostiles! Alright calm down over there… time to boot up a second one. It didn’t need a password, but it sure as hell has no locking mechanism options for the doors. One thing that did caught my attention was a description of the creature we barely managed to escape. ‘Tatzlwurm’...? Hmm…

“This massive worm creature, known by the name Tatzlwurm, is a fearsome monster dwelling deep underground we found three hours ago. It has three, massive maws that resembles a blooming flower. Of course, we witnessed it devouring ponies and other animals alike in one gulp.

“To think such an amazing discovery proved to be far more dangerous than we’d have anticipated! It saw me and I made a run for it. I pleaded the pseudo-alicorns that the monstrosity is heading their way. Of course, they used me as bait. Bait for the creature to swallow me whole, but then it drew its attention to them and even they were of no match of the Tatzlwurm! However, it was wounded. I would think that its weakness were alicorn powers, but again, they were of no match.

“I’m not sure if the creature’s still alive as it retreated, but when it emerged from the ground, it sneezed… and goddess-damnit, its mucus were gross! They weren’t toxic thankfully, but it can leave living beings terminally ill…

“Its most likely to be dormant as of five days, but who knows when it’ll re-emerge from depths of Equestria?

“Bah! Either way, all that matters is this; the Tatzlwurm can eat through just about anything, friend and foe alike. And the tentacles from its mouth… once it catches its prey, their only means of escape is being eaten alive. Imminent death, in this case.

“At least I’m safe and sound! For now…

“Just hoping Celestia would be by my side.”

While it didn’t had the journalist’s name, I soon came to realization that the ‘giant-worm thingy’ I looked up from the past terminal turned out to be a Tatzlwurm. It was a massive worm-like creature with its predator-like instincts locked forever and devour anything in its way, even to its own kind (though we only saw one). It was impervious to any kinds of damage and despite that we managed to wound it, it was still after us relentlessly and giving us no breathing room to go for. It was pure monstrosity.

Its tongue-like tentacles were inescapable, and I nearly fell victim to it. Had it not been for my ex-Enclave ally, I would’ve become today’s special. I can barely walk with my hind-legs; its muscles were still recovering from the constriction that resulted from its vice.

The mad chase was far from over. I’ve only managed to delay the inevitable. And who knows what’ll happen if it emerges again? It’ll cave all of us inside the facility we’re in!

This is pure punishment from luck that’s tearing my ass a new one…

“Hey, Zero! What are you waiting for?! An invitation? Hurry up and get those doors unlocked!”

I snapped out of it and looked at her a nod. Right! And the doors can’t be lockpicked normally; they must be unlocked via the terminals.

Onto the third one!

No password needed again and I disengaged the lock and pointed it onto the first row on the left where the door is as it made an unlocking sound to it. Tootsie quickly galloped over to it, “On it!”

She opened the door and revealed to be a storage room inside, “Ooohhh… there’s ammo! More ammo in it!”

“Aww yeah! Nice going, little filly!” The older mare went inside to collect any remaining ammunition inside, including plasma ammo. I smiled at the good news before I went into the next terminal. Of course, my eye caught attention of the diagram of what appears to be a map layout from the whiteboard. All six of them have six question marks with behind us being a long path we’ve been earlier today. I merely shuddered at the sight as there was no door whatsoever.

Anyway, time to boot it up. This time it was a lot harder with very long words to choose from. Somepony isn’t too creative with passwords…

At least I managed to get one password right. Of course, I’m not even bothered to name them. It also feels like a puzzle, trying to open the correct door that’ll lead us to a new pathway from multiple terminals set on each row of desks.

Let’s see if this one works…

The door from the far left opens on its own as Bob skitters his way towards an open door and lets out an amazed whirr. He’s looking at a new, unlocked pathway that’ll hopefully get us to the bottom of the mountain and make our exit.

Tootsie turned her attention to her robo-scorpion friend and trotted over to him before looking at the open door, “Ooohhh… there’s a new path! Miss, Zero just unlocked a new puzzle for us!”

I turned off the terminal and joined up with the two. The armored mare had just finished collecting sniper rounds and plasma rounds as she regrouped with us, “Got them all! Now to stuff them into the scientist nerd’s saddlebags!”

Heh. I suppose my efforts had paid off. Now then, shall we go?

We went into a narrow passageway (which wasn’t what I wanted, but it's our only way to get to the bottom of the mountain) and down the stairs, quickly and carefully.

It wasn’t long until I felt the ground inside beginning to shake softly again; the Tatzlwurm is looking for us.

I motioned my head at the three for us to pick up the pace a little. We’re not gonna have much time yet and we need to move now!

We galloped (or skittered in Bob’s case) down the stairs a little faster now before arriving at an elevator shaft. I quickly wrapped my hoof around the lever and pulled it back as gate doors slid shut and took us down to lower levels. Soon enough, my tail began to twitch wildly as the rumbling noises became intense and the Tatzlwurm suddenly emerges from the wall, barely devouring us!

We were thrown back against the elevator wall and the worst is yet to come. It burrowed itself back inside but the elevator shaft was severely damaged as the unnamed mare warned us, “Oh fuck… hold on, everypony!”

I quickly held onto the elevator railings as Tootsie held on to me and Bob skittering onto the unnamed pony’s back as the elevator shaft soon begins to give way and plummeted down to the ground at dangerous speeds!

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHH!!! BOOOOOOMMMM!!!

“Gah!!!”

“Meep!”

Bob let out a dazed whirr with his systems inside being literally shaken from the impact as Tootsie was caught by our ex-Enclave ally when she was propelled forward, “Ack! Got ya, little filly!”

Me? I wasn’t any better. The harsh impact had broke me inside and out. I felt some of my bones break from the impact, and I was squirming in sheer pain. Damnit all… damn everything to hell…!

“Are you alright, Tootsie?” She spoke out.

Tootsie nodded in response, “I’m a bit hurty-wurty, but I’m okay!”

The same can’t be said for me. I was broken in various places as she looked at me with worry (even though only some of my bones were broken, but the fatigue had contributed to it), “Oh no… Tootsie, go and check on Bob... “

She trotted over to me, “Zero..? Are you okay..?”

I was far from okay. I was writhing in pain! I can’t even scream and even then my voice is non-existent! She lets out a worried gasp, “Oh no… guys, Zero’s badly hurt! We need to move ASAP!”

And just my luck, I wasn’t the only one who was hurt, “Bob’s hurt too! He says that his systems are hurt inside!”

“Oh damnit… hold on, we’re gonna make a run for it! Zero, just hold on until we can get ourselves to safety.”

I was now onto her back, with Bob onto Tootsie’s back as we were led into a straight and narrow corridor. Oh Goddess, how much I hate small spaces…

I weakly wrapped a hoof around the neck from my ex-Enclave of an ally as the two galloped as quickly as they could, but the rumbling noises soon erupted behind us; the Tatzlwurm has once again resumed chasing us! Damnit, all! Leave us the fuck alone, stupid worm!

“Oh fuck! Hoof it!” She quickly picked up the pace as Tootsie scampered on next to her, with Bob firing off his laser but missing each of his shots from his damaged state. The Tatzlwurm began to tunnel its way behind us as it was trying to extend its crippled tongues to no avail. Despite this, it was still doing what it can to catch up to us and swallow up whole by repeatedly clamping its mouths to us! To make matters worse, the entire area was violently shaking that’s threatening to bury us all inside and not just from an eat-it-all worm!

I weakly motioned myself forward to her, urging her to pick up the pace as it was trying to close us in! I slightly tilted to the side as I was about to fall off balance, but is stopped by her wing when she felt me about to fall off, “Whoa there, kiddo! Just hold on, we’ll get us out of this cave!”

I was held on by her wing, the rubble crumbling down on top of us as the everything-eating worm extended its tongues at us in an effort to catch its prey. Of course, our exit was nearly sealed before Tootsie Roll was the first to make a dive for it, and she was the first to get through with Bob as he clambered onto the ground.

I struggled to keep myself balanced onto her back as she fired off two Plasma Rifles from her battle saddles to blast her way through the rubble with the newly-acquired plasma ammo she found.

PPRRROOOWWW!! PPRRROOOWWW!!

With the rubble cleared away, she soon opened up her other wing and flew, “Hold on tight, Zero! We’re gonna outfly this worm bastard!”

Ohfu-!

The rubble behind us had soon sealed the exit, trapping the Tatzlwurm with it inside. Oh fuck me in the ass…

On the plus side, it stopped chasing us. Again. And it’ll be the last time I’ve ever seen it could give us a deadly chase. I’m now too hurt to even make a run for it. I closed my eye and just rested onto my armored ally’s back. She looked back at me with worry, “We’ll take you somewhere safe and away from that thing… the convenience store is just nearby.”

I didn’t nod nor shook my head in response. I was just trying to ignore the pain that’s slowly cutting me inside in the most un-prettiest way possible. She turned her attention to Tootsie Roll, “Let’s go, you two. We’ll rest up here. We need to heal Zero up. We’ll deal with your robo-scorpion friend later.”

“Okey-dokey-wokey… don’t worry, Bob! You’ll be better in no time!”

Judging by Bob’s condition, he’s been extensively damaged from the fall and the laser from his tail had been barely able to function. I’m just glad he’s still alive because the last thing I’d ever wanted was to see Bob self-destructing himself to his death.

I wasn’t any better. The impact had left me dazed and my sniper rifle came dangerously close to slipping itself off of me. Had it slid any further, then I would’ve been totally defenseless and forcing me to rely on my pair of allies with more weaponry than I do. But even that would mean they won’t last too long unless I can aid them. I wasn’t too sure who the pony from the Terminal even is, but the nameless pony never had the time to sign his own name and had to stop to make an immediate leave.

We were inside an abandoned convenience store where I was carefully placed behind the counter after our slightly long trek. My body wasn’t letting out spastic movements as the worm had stopped chasing us, for now.

“Damn, kiddo. You’re badly hurt. Hold on, let me take off your saddlebags and heal you up. A little Healing Potion wouldn’t hurt, now would it?”

I softly shook my head in response as I opened my mouth to allow her to pour the potion for me inside before gulping it down and laying back, allowing the potion to repair the bones (again) in me.

“Tootsie, go with Zero. I’m gonna check outside.” The ex-Enclave ordered the filly.

Tootsie performed a salute, save for Bob who was struggling to do the same gesture, “Yes, ma’am! Come on, Bob! Let’s go and guard Zero!”

Oh brother…

Bob reluctantly skittered next to her, letting out a weak whirr along the way; he was still in a state of disrepair. Are they supposed to be Celestia’s babysitters to supervise me? I’m older than this silly filly!

I felt my tail twitching slightly before I let out a soft gasp. Damnit, no! It can’t be! This bastardized worm still hasn’t given up the chase?! Its still looking for us! Doesn’t it know when it give up?!

Outside, the unnamed ex-Enclave was scouting around the area in mid-air when she heard rumbling noises, “Huh? Was that my stomach? No, it can’t be my… oh fuck! Its back?!”

The Tatzlwurm emerged from the ground once again after having burrowed its way down from being completely caved in. Despite having much more visible wounds showing, it was pissed as hell.

GRAAAAAAWWWWAAAAWWRRR!!!

Inside the convenience store, we heard the Tatzlwurm’s enraged roar. Tootsie let out a nervous gulp, “M-M-Mr. Monster is still a-a-after us, Z-Z-Zero!!”

Nothing I can do about it. My bones are still under repair, and to deliberately go out and assist my armored ally would be suicide. It just can’t be killed easily, not by a long shot. Even my sniper rounds, Bob’s laser and my unnamed ally’s plasma rifles didn’t even make it flinch in pain, apart from its tongues. Instead, all it did was retreat back until it has an opportunity to strike us without warning.

Outside, the ex-Enclave took aim at the Tatzlwurm who was now angrier than before. She shook her head upon realizing it, “No, I can’t waste ammo on this giant bastard. Need to lure it out of here…”

She then glares at the wounded Tatzlwurm, “Hey, big and ugly! Come and get me!”

She then flew up high which led to the already-pissed off Tatzlwurm to pursue her, lunging itself to her in an effort to devour her whole to no avail; her aerobatic skills were paying off easily. She did led it away from us, as I let out a relieved sigh as I heard distant roaring noises. Please come back alive…

Back outside, she had eventually led the Tatzlwurm at the edge of the cliff and stopped momentarily as she looked at it. It paused, taking a brief sniff of its prey before it opened up its three gaping maws and lunged at her. She flew up as high as possible, with one of its maws grazing through her armored hind-leg as it plunged down to its doom.

“Guh!” She snorted as she watched it plummet to its demise, “Haha, so long, sucker! Now to get back with my team...”

“Yay! The mysterious ally has returned!” Tootsie cheered as the ex-Enclave of an ally had made her way inside and ruffles up her mane witha hoof briefly.

“‘Sup, squirt? Zero doing okay?”

Tootsie nodded and led her to me. I was asleep, on a cold, hard floor as the potion were still working on fixing my broken bones together.

“Huh… sleeping like a little colt, isn’t he?” She looked back at her slightly damaged armor from her hind-leg.

“Well, at least it beats being eaten alive.”

Tootsie asked her excitedly, “Was the big bad worm gone?!”

She nodded to the filly, “Yup! It ain’t bothering us no more!”

“Yay! We’re not worm food anymore! We’re not worm foo--”

The armored mare hushed at Tootsie, “Ssshh… we don’t want to disturb him. He needs to rest up for now. If you like, I can tell you a nice, little story about me until he wakes up. As for my name? Well, my name was not important, but I figured that you ponies, and robotic scorpion, have earned enough trust for me to tell you everything about me. Now then, here’s a little story about me…”

Footnote: No Level Up.

Author's Notes:

A backstory depicting a titular former Enclave character can be found on Google Docs.

Chapter Eleven: Gale Storm

Gale Storm. The one mare who had been on the run from her own faction since having occupied Itrotly and had turned on their backs from their sudden mistreatment to both innocent ponies and to their own member of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. To be honest, I felt really sorry for her, but what can I do about it? Until I’m fully recovered, I can do nothing about it except to listen. Tootsie frowned from having heard her story and the filly gave Gale a hug, “Aww… poor Enclave baddie isn’t a baddie after all! You just need friends like me and Zero!”

And since then, they’re on a widespread search to retrieve her for ‘disciplinary reasons’ (save for the Cazador-infested New Hampshore) and it’ll turn out to be a bad one. I struggled a little to get my hooves working with no avail. Nothing…

“Thanks, Tootsie Roll… It means a lot to me.” Gale happily hugged her back, a small tear of joy trickled down from her eye and to her cheek.

“At least they weren’t looking for me. If they did, the punishment I’ll be getting is far worse than getting a dishonorable discharge…”

As my body came to, I soon got up of my hooves as I felt my bones now fully repaired before Bob gave a curious look at me. I merely waved at the robo-scorpion before looking at my-- oh wait; I still don’t have the PipBuck with me. Goddess damnit!

Where are we anyway? I’m not sure if we’re still on Fhoal Island or so, and I’m seeing huge trails of engorged dirt mound that was the result of a rampaging Tatzlwurm. I didn’t felt my body spasm out of nowhere, so I’m assuming that Gale Storm had taken care of the Tatzlwurm. But I don’t see its massive corpse, so I’m assuming that she lured its way somewhere that made it stop giving us a wild chase.

I let out a soft, relieved sigh. Thank. Goddess. I can’t even gallop for another mile.

Turning my attention of the two who are sharing their intimate time with each other, I let out a soft smile. But the skies are getting really dark and to get out of here means we don’t know what’s up ahead. And even with my sharp senses, the low visibility will be a major challenge to hostiles that are bound to attack without being seen.

And to make it even more challenging, there aren’t any mechanical and working parts that’ll allow me to fix up Bob. He’s still damaged from our fall and he can’t skitter properly, other than to shoot lasers from his barely-functional tail.

I turned to face the two again and motioned my head for us to get out of here. Bob can barely walk, so I lowered my head and picked him up for him to rest onto my back. With Gale Storm rubbing her hoof to clean away her tears, she nodded to me, “Roger that.”

“Yay! Its the adventures of--”

I quickly tapped my hoof onto the floor to interrupt Tootsie and to give her a serious expression. No fun and games. Got it?

“Oopsies! Lead the way!”

I quietly groaned. Damn her foal-ish antics…

We ventured deep into unknown territories. At any moment, somepony or something will emerge from the skies and come crashing down on us with deadly results. Since I have no PipBuck, I can’t check on the map that’ll lead us back to Fhoal Island. The end result is that I’m taking my allies much further away from Equestria. We’d be lucky if we were to find a merchant that can help fix Bob up to normal.

But even then, I don’t have any caps left in me. Items were rudimentary at best and we’re in an unnamed residential area where the majority of destroyed houses were boarded up so nopony can get access to it. The environment is just filled with emptiness. No sign of life whatsoever, except…

We found the remnants of destroyed Securitrons as a result of a Tatzlwurm attack. I wonder if their parts are worth salvaging? I looked back at the two, wondering if I can take them without carrying the excess weight.

“Only take some. You have that mechanical scorpion on your back and the next thing you’ll be doing is carrying a dead Securitron onto your back.”

Gale’s right, I’m not that strong enough to carry it with me. Much less drag it across the Wastelands with me. I simply scooped up any available parts with a hoof and stored them inside my saddlebags. Not much, but it’ll have to do until we can find a repairpony to fix him up. I can only fix some of his parts by holding the screwdriver handle with my teeth. Even then, I’m no expert in fixing things. But creating things? Maybe.

“Don’t worry, Bob! We’ll find somepony to fix! If only Zero was a unicorn…” Tootsie assured to her robo-scorpion friend. I wish I was a unicorn. I wish I was…

But just because I’m merely an earth pony doesn’t mean I’m useless at most things, apart from lock picking of course. It wasn’t until a wind let out an ominous howl that seeped into my ears. Thunder gnarled its way into the clouds and threatening to cause massive floods that’s sure to wash up any remains inside.

To where we go exactly, we don’t know. My ex-Enclave ally informed us, “We need to keep moving. To where we’re going is anypony’s guess.”

She’s right. And we can’t continue on in a possible torrential rainfall. Not with Bob with us and even a single droplet of rain will be enough to short him out and be blown to smithereens. But where? Celestia, show us the way!

We kept moving, looking around to find any intact buildings that can hold their own against the rain. Nearly all of them were boarded us with spray tags containing vulgar words to go for. Fortunately, we found an abandoned apartment complex up ahead and went inside. No name or anything, but it's more than enough for us to camp inside until it stops raining. The bigger problem is that nearly all of the rooms were collapsed and left to ruin. And what’s worse is the Raiders wandering around inside the building and out of rooms 34A and 34B! And they’re armed with (worn-out) shotguns and pistols floating around! Even one carrying a small bag of grenades inside!

Oh no… I quickly urged a waving hoof to Gale before pointing at them.

One of the filth-ridden Raiders commented, “Ugh, I’m bored… hey, Buzzsaw! Is my fucking Radroach steak ready?! I’m fucking famished!”

Gale whispered to me, “When he comes, I’ll give you the okay to fire. I’ll fire as well.”

I nodded her order.

“Tootsie, take Bob and get behind the corner of the wall.”

Tootsie whispered back, “Okey-dokey-wokey. Bob! Come with me.”

Bob let out a reluctant whirr and slowly skittered off of my back to join up with Tootsie. He was too badly damaged to engage in combat. And a good thing, too.

Inside 34B, Buzzsaw let out a nasty reply to his fellow Raider pony, “Oh shut your yap, Minesweeper! Its almost ready so calm the fuck down, will ya?! I’ll feed ya stooges once ya stop yer whining!”

There was only two, but I expect more of them inside either of the rooms. And something tells me that they’re gonna be bringing hell on us the moment their eyes are on us. Not taking chances. No way, no how. And-- oh wait… I still remember that I’m PipBuck-less, so I can’t slip into S.A.T.S. for a precise shot. Well, that’s going on about swimmingly. This is gonna be a roll on a dice, isn’t it?

I pulled my sniper rifle and laid my body completely flat on the stained rug and aimed down the sights. Gale Storm aimed her twin Plasma Rifles, readying herself to fire.

I could just feel my heart frantically pounding inside my chest. I’m trying to not shake as to not frantically miss my shots. I can hear one of them exiting the room after their brief argument…

Minesweeper, who goes by her name from the filth-ridden mare, had just exited room 34B and had soon spotted us, “What the fu--!”

“Fire!”

As per Gale’s order, we both fired at the Raider mare. Combined with my sniper shots and Gale’s plasma shots, the Raider pony stood no chance and didn’t just died from gunshots; she was dissolved into green goop.

It wasn’t long before the Raiders in both sides of the rooms inside heard gunfire.

“What the fuck was that?!”

Other Raiders had stormed out of their rooms and as they had discovered Minesweeper’s corpse, we gunned them down easily before they knew where we were. Some had turned into green goop, the others were just shot dead. It was our first, successful ambush. And I thank the goddesses that I didn’t have to worry about using S.A.T.S. or the E.F.S. to take care of them.

I got up to my hooves and smiled to Gale Storm, offering a hoofbump to her. She gave me the hoofbump, “Nice shot, kiddo.”

Gale glanced at the filly to inform her, who was covering her ears from the gunfire.

“All clear, Tootsie. The Raiders aren’t gonna bother us anymore. You can come with us now.”

Tootsie nodded as she moved her hooves from her ears, “Okey-dokey-wokey! Lead the way!”

Bob staggered to its legs and shakily skitters his way to us. He was still functional, but still badly damaged as he could barely keep himself balanced. He emitted his worried whirr to Tootsie Roll as she assured him, “Don’t worry… we’ll get you fixed up in no time! Its too bad the rain won’t let us go outside…”

She’s right. As we entered room 34A, thunder was booming outside of the complex. Rain was showering like Celestia’s endless solar flares with high levels of intensity to it. Looks like we’ll have to take shelter on here before we can keep moving. Gale looked at the open door to 34B and turned her attention to us, “I’ll go check if there’s any food left over.”

We nodded and I looked at the unused radio. It was turned off so I tried to turn it on.

Static. Figures as such.

I turned it off. Seems the radio signal was blocked off by the torrential rainfall, so it seems that there won’t any music for the time being. Either that or the signal’s out of range. Or both.

I went back to the two as Gale returned with Radroach meat! Of course, I can’t just stay vegan in order to survive, would I? Tootsie looked on with a disgusted expression, “Ewwww! Is that pony steak?!”

Gale lets out a soft and heartwarming giggle, “No, Tootsie. Its a well-cooked remains of the Radroach. And before you object, we need to eat to ensure our survival. It doesn’t matter how awful they taste or how gross they look. Survival is key here, especially when we need to keep our strengths up. Of course, your robo-scorpion friend won’t have to eat anything.”

I nodded to Tootsie. Gale’s right; as much as I don’t like to eat disgusting-looking meals, the last thing we need is to become hungry and weak.

Tootsie groaned a little as Gale had cut up a piece and offered it that is held on by a hoof, “Fiiiine…”

Reluctantly, the filly floated up a piece of Radroach meat and took a bite. It was crunchy and already she was scrunching her face with disgust before gulping it down, “Guh… so yucky…”

I gave it a taste as well as the ex-Enclave gave me another piece. I suppose the cooking has had very minimal radiation levels which makes it safe enough to eat. We had our dinner inside the room while outside was still madly pouring with droplets of rain hitting the windows repeatedly. Tootsie was still disgusted from the taste but it was all she could do to ease her hunger.

The filly was still disgusted, but we were all full. Bob cringed at the sight of heavy rainfall outside. Well, at least we’re not forcing him to go outside though I figured that I need to find something in room 34B and see if there’s anything useful that can help fix him up besides the screwdriver alone. I got up onto my hooves and looked at Gale Storm. I gestured my hoof to her, as to let her know that I’m going to room 34B to find something.

“I see. Alright, I’ll stay here with the two.”

I nodded to Gale and gave her a thankful smile as I trotted off of the room and entered 34B. Inside was a crudely-made campfire that is still lit and the windows closed. Only two of them were sealed with wonderglue so I opened up one of the unsealed windows to allow smoke to escape to avoid suffocation. I was slightly blasted a bit by the merciless wind that was raging along the stormy weather.

Turning right from the corner, I saw both the terminal and the safe. And on the right is a workbench. Heh, sweet! First off, the terminal. I took an approach and booted it up. ‘liability’ was the correct password. Easy peasy! No terminal can outsmart me! And with that, I disengaged the lock of the safe from the floor and a blissful sound of a safe door opening for me.

Inside were five bags of Rad-Away, a couple of ammo rounds and two recordings. I grabbed ahold of the Rad-Away bag and looked at it… it's orange. I wonder if it tastes like an orange juice?

I placed the straw connected to the bag into my mouth and began to drink.

Glug. Glug.

My face let out a disgusted scrunch with each gulp. I did my best to not spit it out, but goddess-damnit its disgusting! Eugh!

It tastes like cat piss merged with expired milk, and then blending the two together to make it LOOK like an orange juice that tastes NOTHING like any orange juice would! Blech! My mind was overwhelmed with how appalling the taste the Rad-Away is. Ugh… it’s gonna leave me a horrid aftertaste for a hoof-ful of days or so. On the plus side, at least it lowers radiation levels when consumed, but that doesn’t excuse of how morbid it tastes! Orange juice, my flanks!

I took everything inside the safe and gazed my attention to the workbench. I remembered that I still had the recipe with me in my saddlebags back in the other day. Of course, I can barely remember where I did acquired the said recipe because of our harsh landing while escaping the Tatzlwurm. Nevertheless, I pulled the recipe blueprint off of my saddlebags with my teeth and rolled it open onto the workbench table. My eyes glittered with such amazement…!

The Tesla Cannon! Oh my goddess… this could be my first discovery from Neighkola Tesla himself! From the looks of the picture of the Tesla Cannon, it is purely of high grade and state-of-the-art! Thank you, Neighkola Tesla!

The biggest catch there is to construct it is a tesla coil. And unfortunately, the tesla coil is non-existent anywhere in the area. Damnit! And to construct it alone adds up to the challenge, especially when it looks to be a very heavy energy weapon! But wait, there’s more! There’s a warning label at the bottom left of the recipe print that reads:

WARNING!

The Tesla Cannon has a massive knockback if not properly handled. Can result in severe physical injury from the recoil upon firing the Tesla Cannon. It is also HIGHLY electrical, so don’t even think of touching it when it's currently in use. Use it at your VERY own risk!

So this is indeed the most powerful weapon in all of ponykind, and the most lethal as well if used on the wrong hooves…

Another thought had suddenly hit me; our encounter with Cloud Storm inside a medical facility back in Stable Town after our escape from Mount Gallopmore and from a sudden unrest when they first encountered Gale Storm in an Enclave power suit. Could it be that Gale Storm is related to her? Maybe an older sister? I wonder why shy never told me this… then again, she was in disguise and didn’t want to reveal her true identity as to keep herself concealed. I’m not sure why but if this is true, I’ll have to ask Gale about this. (In written words, that is.)

Of course, without my PipBuck, I’ll have to keep carrying the recipe I’ve uncovered inside my saddlebags up until five weeks have passed and my PipBuck fixed for it to record it. I can’t risk losing it.

Underneath a workbench table lies a recorder, though I can’t tell if this is a second recipe or just a typical recording, but I stuffed it inside my saddlebags for safekeeping. No PipBuck means no way to store its data inside.

I went back to the room where the three are, seeing Tootsie already asleep along with Bob onto the mattress. Gale turned her attention to me, “Oh, hey Zero. The two are asleep and little Tootsie’s tired. Have you found anything from the other room?”

I gave her a nod and set my saddlebags down for her to check it out. She opened up the saddlebags to reveal packs of Rad-Away, three recordings (or recipe, whichever one of them is) and a couple of ammo rounds that doesn’t fit within the sniper or plasma categories. She discarded the unwanted ammo rounds from my saddlebags, “These won’t be needed…”

I’m not gonna object to her tossing away the ammo cases; I just felt like collecting things, heh.

“Rad-Aways? Now these could be useful… and recipes and recordings! Good find!”

Hooray for the compliments! I smiled excitedly in thanks (or at least I was trying to) before I let out a quiet and tired yawn. Damn I’m getting sleepy all of a sudden…

It wasn’t long before Gale took notice on my tiredness, “Sleepy, hmm? Looks like this scientist will need his rest.”

She let out a soft giggle and I had just quietly chuckled at her playful remarks. I suppose a rest will suffice until the weather calms the buck down a little. The ex-Enclave informed me that, “I’ll keep a close eye out for the weather from the window. Go and rest up for now, Zero.”

I didn’t object. My mind and body were tired from our lengthy trek and having to take care of the Raiders in order for us to take shelter in room 34A and wait until the storm’s settled in. Of course, it wasn’t until Gale caught a whiff of a scent of an aftertaste coming from my mouth.

“Eugh what is that smell? It smells like rotten oranges…”

I opened my eye and pointed a hoof at the Rad-Away bags. Clearly, it was the reason for me to have a horrid breath.

“Oh… figures. Somepony should’ve at least added flavor to it…”

Heh. Tell me about it, Gale. My mind spoke out. Soon, I dozed off to rest up.

The storm had ended. All I could hear were winds howling eerily.

I jolted myself up, but not from a nightmare (or at least I thought I was). I forgot to ask Gale Storm something! I looked around to see if there’s anything useful to write down… nothing. No pencil, no paper either. Goddess-damnit!

But wait… oh fuck! They’re gone! It can’t be! I frantically looked around to see if Gale, Tootsie Roll and Bob are around; they all left without me! H-How could they?!

And to make matters worse, is that my saddlebags and my SDM-9 sniper rifle are gone! Stolen, even! Gah! G-Get it together, Zero… this is all a nightmare, and it’ll be all over soon…

My heart was jackhammering like crazy, threatening to burst itself from my chest! Nonononono, this can’t be happening to me! Tootsie, Bob, Gale! Where the buck are you guys?! As if that wasn’t enough, the entire area around me was pitch black. No buildings, objects… nothing! Of course, it wasn’t until I was falling down, helplessly screaming without my voice ever making a single sound. Soon, I was in the Everfree Forest. Oh goddess, this can’t get any worse can it?

At least there aren’t any creatures on a hunt for me. Random lightning had struck and jolted me forward. Looking forward at the horizon, I saw two shadowy pony figures approaching me. Could it be Gale Storm? Or even Tootsie Roll? Or… oh goddesses no…

Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse?! And their faces were… were… hideously deformed!!

“Why didn’t you save us, Zero? What kind of a scientist are you?”

They both spoke simultaneously, with their voices warped in a sinisterly manner. My ears fell flat, fear just hitting me hard and not even from claustrophobia just getting to me. But the fear of my two former and dead teammates! I quickly turned around, but then I saw something even more frightful. The same, crazed pony surgeon who had abducted me a few weeks ago whilst I was searching for the two; Dr. Scalpel!

“Ready for your experiment, my latest subject?”

His voice was both raspy and ominous. I’m greatly unarmed and my only choice was to run! Fucking damnit all!!!

Oh goddess, why must it come down like this?! Why?!

I turned back and Dr. Scalpel wasn’t after me, but those blue leaves were! Damnit, damnit, damnit!

And just my horrifying luck, deadly blue leaves made slight contact to me. Soon I was not only blind, but deaf as well! I can't hear or see anything! Too many ringing noises inside my ear, goddess-damnit!

I was completely vulnerable… now wide open for anypony or anything to finish me off. Please, somepony wake me up…

Reality came crashing down to me as my face was drenched with water bottle from Tootsie Roll, with Gale Storm looking on with worry, “Come on, Zero! Wake up! Wake up!”

I jolted up from the bed a second time, this time into reality instead of a crazy-ass nightmare that nearly claimed my life. I was panting harshly, my lab coat and Stable-replica suit coated with sweat of pure fear and anxiety. W-Where am I?! Am I in the Everfree Forest again?!

“Yay! Zero’s awake!” Tootsie gave out a cheer to me. Was there anything to cheer about?

Gale gave me a hug out of worry, her forelegs wrapped around my back tightly, “Oh Zero… we were worried about you! You were twitching and sweating and we figured that you had a terrible dream. We tried to wake you up, but you weren’t able to. I told Tootsie to get the water bottle and pour it onto you just so you could wake up… I understand that you’re unable to speak, but at least nod to us if you’re okay.”

I was shaken. So shaken that my mind can’t really tell if I’m still in a horrendous nightmare or in an already-nightmarish reality. Either outcome, I fell flat onto my ears and I couldn’t nod. Instead, all I could do is return a hug to the ex-Enclave of a soldier and just cry really hard and silent. I just couldn’t bear with this… I just… couldn’t bear with it…

Tootsie lets out a sad gasp upon seeing me break down into tears, “Uh oh! Zeroooo! Don’t go all saddy-waddy on us! Pleaaase!”

S-Stop… not helping, damnit…

“Little Tootsie, stay with Bob. Me and Zero need some alone time in the other side of the room… come on, Zero… just come with me…”

I was led into 34B as she closed the door to allow Tootsie to have her fun with Bob. Me? Clearly the opposite of fun, just pain hitting me where it truly doesn’t belong. Not by a motherbucking landslide…

I simply sniffled and wept, just holding onto Gale (and hoping that she is really her…) and unwilling to let go. It wasn’t just the first bad dream I had; it was by far an emotional sight to see a disheartening vision that led from an insult to injury (in the hellish dream realm, of course).

“Its alright… we’re all okay, just please don’t cry… you have to hang in there Zero. We need you by our side. If anything, you can at least tell me something, even without your voice…”

I wiped away the tear from my working and reddish eye before I held my hoof around hers to guide it onto my chest. Maybe with the help of a magical effect from the statuette of Pinkie Pie, I could tell her… something…

I had a vision. A vision that I never once wanted to desire. I saw… both of my former teammates known as Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse. They were both abducted by a crazed surgeon going by the name of Dr. Scalpel. He took my voice. I couldn’t speak at all. It was like two of the important things that were taken away from me, the ones I held them near and dear. Gone… and to add insult to injury, I was in the Everfree Forest and I made a mad escape until those blue leaves got me. I was left blind and deaf, apart from being already mute. It was like a double whammy of the sort…

After allowing my pony mind to do all the talking, Gale let out a soft gasp with a concerned look on her face. It seems that it worked and what I got in return was a second hug, “Ohhh… I’m sorry to hear what happened in your dream, Zero. Sadly we can’t do anything about that. If your two teammates are gone, then there’s no hope of saving them. As for your voice? We’ll find a voice modulator for us to return to Stable Town and make sure you’ll be able to speak again, even if it's risky. But for right now, we need you to stay strong and head somewhere else before we can return to Fhoal Island to get your PipBuck back. Okay?”

I quickly nodded and cleared up the last few remains of my tear, doing what I could to give her a salute.

Of course, she lets out a giggle from my gesture. Yes I know that I’m not a soldier like her… but anything that’ll at least cheer her up, just to show that I can deal with authority figures like Gale herself.

“Hehe.. at ease, scientist. Now, set those waterworks of yours aside and let’s regroup with the two.”

Yeah. Good idea.

We entered back inside room 34A as I went to get my (totally real and not non-existent) saddlebags and my real SDM-9 sniper rifle. I originally wanted to ask Gale Storm, but until my mind is fully calm and restored, now’s not a good time. Same goes for the recordings I’ve recently found in the safe yesterday. And thank the goddesses that we weren’t hungry or we’ll be spending half the time removing boards from the doors, just to scrounge on food.

Bob was still quite damaged but was able to get onto his legs and regroup with us, along with Tootsie.

“So, we ready to go?” Gale asked. I really hate sleeping next to dead Raiders, they’re already starting to rot!

Tootsie saluted to Gale (with Bob doing the same gesture with his metal claw), “Yes, ma’am!”

This filly must’ve learned that from me! Of course, we went downstairs and left the apartment complex. Neither rain nor storm. It was cleared of the raging waters and we went on.

But of course, we had to stop mid-way as a couple of Enclave troops had left the abandoned cafeteria. Uh oh.

“Oh fuck… hide!” Gale ordered us and we quickly hid inside an ally (and goddess the narrow walls are killing me already!).

“Ooohhhh… are we playing hide and seek?!”

Gale and I shushed at the filly. It sure as hell isn’t hide and seek! She meekly replied as she covered up her mouth, “Oopsies! Sorry…!”

“No sign of Gale Storm. Do you think we should spread out and search?” One of the Enclave soldier asked the other.

“Negative. We were told to not get ourselves lost and to make sure that we don’t go too far away from each other. We need to keep looking and apprehend Gale and take her back to Itrotly ASAP.”

Seems like there’s a search party going on about. They’re looking for their former kind and whatever it’ll turn out, it's not going to look good.

Gale wouldn’t even fly up in the skies to find an alternative route. With the Enclave soldiers being solely pegasi, their chances of catching us are very high.

Behind us, a door on the left and a small open vent in between the two buildings that connect as one. In this case, a dead end. I can bet Bob can crawl inside and open the door for us, but we don’t know where the open vent will lead him to. I wrapped my hoof around the door knob to turn, nothing. Locked.

Wait! I have an idea! I poked to Tootsie and pointed the direction of the locked door, implying the filly to have it unlocked for us. Tootsie gazed at the lock before letting out a happy glee, “Yay! More locks to pick! Leave it to me!”

Of course, her excitement is sure enough to echo a little outside as I facehoofed so hard. Damnit, Tootsie! You’re gonna give us away!

As she floated up a bobby pin and screwdriver from my saddlebags, one of the Enclave guards had noticed the noise.

“Huh? What was that?”

“Its coming from over there.” The unnamed Enclave pointed out.

Goddess damnit! Make it quick before we’re discovered, Tootsie! Gale had nervously gulped before letting out a hushed voice to Tootsie, “Damnit, little Tootsie… better make it quick…!”

At least with Tootsie’s expertise in lockpicking, the door let out a soft clicking noise as to signify that the door’s now unlocked.

“Ta-da! One locked door unlocked!”

She floated them back into my saddlebags and we quickly darted into the building before closing the door before the Enclave troops had any chance of catching us! Whew! Too damn close for comfort!

The soldier looked at the narrow alleyway that we were originally in before letting out a small shrug, “Huh… must be hearing things.”

“Yeah, don’t let the Wastelands get to you. They make you hear things and all kinds of shit. Let’s move on and keep on looking for her.” The unnamed Enclave soldier assured to his fellow soldier. The search continues, and we’re still alive and not captured (or worse).

We were inside an abandoned supermarket, with the majority of foods in thirteen aisles looted clean. Seems that it was either the Enclave or the Raiders that scavenged them off like hungry vultures. The windows were boarded up as well so at least we don’t have to worry about them watching us inside. This place was ransacked and had left nothing behind. And by goddess are we getting hungry…

At least the storage room inside doesn’t require a terminal or a lockpick so we just went inside; only two unopened cardboard boxes were left inside. I hope that we don’t find any meat as I glanced at Gale, who was gently rubbing her hoof against her stomach. I looked at her with a bit of worry but was reassured with, “Its alright, Zero. I’ll be fine. Just open up the boxes and see if there’s any food inside. Even if it's… meat…”

Yeah… sacrificing your eating habits as a vegan is the only way to keep on moving or we won’t be able to live the next day. I don’t care… we have to eat something, even if it's meat…

I opened up the first box… only a bunch of Sparkle-Cola cans. Some which are full, the others are just empty. Typical.

I opened up a second box that reveals to be canned foods of different kinds inside. Well this is something I don’t see everyday… but, food is food and I collected them to store them into my saddlebags. Can’t expect myself or my allies to eat them uncooked and risk poisoning themselves.

We left the storage room and are about to make our exit outside. I stopped halfway as my senses started to kick in; there’s a tripwire outside! I quickly darted forward to block the path and eagerly shaking my head as to indicate a trap in front of us.

“You’re… playing hoof games?” Gale asked me.

What…? What kind of a dunce-headed question is that?! I pointed a hoof onto the tripwire, although Tootsie cluelessly walked to it (even as Bob let out an alarmed whirr to his friend). “Oooohhh… a wire! Can I cut it? Can I, can I, can I?!”

Like hell you will!

“Tootsie! Stay away from the wire. If what Zero pointed to us is true, then its connected between the two open doors. Look up above; grenade clutches as well.”

Thank you for the obvious statement, Gale Storm. I looked up and there were indeed clutches of grenades hung above. And unless I can safely cut the wire without the risk of having grenades dropping on us and blowing us to kingdom come, I don’t have a proper cutting tool to do so. We’ll have to come out the same way we came in.

Tootsie looked up and lets out a cute squeak upon seeing a clutch of grenades hanging above before quickly scurried back behind Gale, “S-Scary grenades!”

I motioned my head and led them back to the door we had gotten in before. I shook my head a little bit, trying to forget the goddess-awful nightmare I had last night (or day, because I lost track of time thanks to my lack of a PipBuck).

I opened the door but my eye quickly caught attention of an Enclave troop from the outside! Fuck! I quickly closed it before the heavily-armored soldier noticed us. (And thankfully, it’ll just say that its simply hearing things.)

“What’s wrong?” Gale asked me. I shook my head in response, as to let them know that it was a no-go. Their search was still ongoing, and its gonna make our escape difficult.

The filly whispered to her, “I think there was a baddie outside…”

“Oh. I guess we’ll have to go over the tripwire, right?”

I gave her an affirmed nod. I’m afraid its our only escape and unless the other Enclave soldiers can call off their search, they’re likely to stick around in this ghost town for a really long while.

We’re back to the same exit, with the same tripwire and the same grenade clutches. I turned my attention to them and I pressed my hoof against my breast, as to indicate that I should go first. They nodded to me and I gazed my attention back to the tripwire. And fuck me I’m sweating like I was in a not-so relaxing day at the spa…

I slowly moved my left hoof around it, then my right. My pony mind was running in places, knowing that even the smallest graze against the tripwire would result into instantly snapping itself in half and a rainfall of explosive death could mean the end of us. So far, so good… now gently, moving my rear hoof over and the other one…

Taking a closer look at my still-intact hooves, I see that I was outside! And with my limbs still with me! Gale could fly over there (and maybe retrieve the grenade bouquets for me, but what experience do I have with explosives, other than to inadvertently blow myself up to bloodied smithereens?) with relative ease and did so with no issues. As for Tootsie? I can only hazard a guess if she would even attempt to play hopscotch with it and end up snapping the wire clean, with grenades raining down along the way…

For the love of Celestia, Tootsie. Don’t fuck this up! Just… don’t. At least jump over it, please…!

I hope she can read pony minds. Gale told her, “Go on. Jump over it.”

“Okey-dokey-wokey! A hop, skip and a jump!” Tootsie indeed jumped over the tripwire, her hindlegs were dangerously inches close to it. Oh fuck! Whatever you do, do not think of touching it, much less grazing it. Not one bit…!

Now all that’s left is Bob. And how will he jump over the wire is seriously luck-determined. Its a serious limbo for both him and us.

Oh man, oh man, oh maaaaan! I seriously hope Bob has enough room to squeeze himself under it! The moment that tripwire snaps from the gentlest of touches…

Damnit! Keep it together, Zero! Have faith in your robo-scorpion friend! He can get through this! But… why am I getting severely anxious?

“Go on, Bob! You can do it! Its like a game of limbo! You can do it!”

At least we weren’t noticed by Enclave soldiers, but anymore will result of them to eventually notice. Bob carefully skitters his way under the wire, keeping his metal claws retracted and his tail lowered. I bit my lower lip with my worry level dangerously skyrocketing as he slowly squeezed through. Eventually, he was finally outside! (Or so I thought.)

“Hooray! Bob made it!” Tootsie cheered on, save for Gale looking on suspiciously as she saw his tail making contact against the tripwire.

“Oh fuck! Zero, get Tootsie!”

I hurriedly galloped over to Tootsie and carried her onto my back as Bob inadvertently lifted his tail up; the tripwire was snapped off.

Gale quickly retrieved him as a cluster of grenades (five of them) rained down onto the ground. We made a mad dash away from the abandoned supermarket before…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!

We were miraculously alive, though the explosions are enough to rattle the building and soon Enclave ponies swarmed in upon hearing an explosion.

“I heard an explosion! Could it be somepony setting off the trap?!”

“I don’t see any limbs flying around, though… only debris everywhere.”

The Enclave soldiers were left confused, but enough to search around for any non-existent pony that had set off their trap. At least they didn’t found us, but we kept running before we would become discovered. And a narrow escape, too.

Into a forest that isn’t too similar to the Everfree Forest (as I was never fond of nature to begin with) with an abandoned camp and a lit campfire to go for. All of our escape has made us hungrier, but at least we can safely eat canned beans (again) to curb our hunger. Even though Bob was still damaged, he can still hold his own well. And again, he’s a robot; robots can’t eat organic food.

As far as the skies go, its daytime and still dark and gloomy as always. At least no downpour are gonna interfere with us again.

“Say Gale? Where’s your mommy? Is she there?”

Of course, our mid-lunch was interrupted when Gale heard that. It would’ve hurt her feelings, but instead told her, “No. My mother was gone after her foalbirth.”

Tootsie frowned to her, as Bob looked on from the conversation.

“Aww… sorry to hear that… I bet mommy was really nice of you!”

“Heh. Tell me about it, little Tootsie.” Gale replied to the filly. I would told the same thing, but nevertheless we continued on to eat, sitting by the campfire.

Afterwards, my mind has yet to be fully settled even after our lunch. The dream I had wasn’t just any ordinary nightmare would… but to see not only my former teammates show up in a terrifying manner also came with Dr. Scalpel’s grotesque ‘creation’. I couldn’t get a better description but fear kicked in an instant. To makes things even worse, I was chased by deadly blue leaves (Poison Joke, I think?) and touched me afterwards. I was left blind and deaf which fills up the spot for my already-muted voice. I couldn’t scream for help, and even so I wouldn’t even hear myself or the others.

At least my new ally stood up for me and was determined to stick with me alongside Tootsie Roll and Bob. I gazed up at the lifeless skies, leaning myself against the boulder. Celestia, please show me the light. Just this once…

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Bookworm's Revenge -- Grants +8 DT and Strength increased to 10 whenever health is below 20%.
Penalty: Without adequate lighting, you are likely to experience night terrors and temporarily lose -1 INT for resting in a dark and unlit environment.

Chapter Twelve: Enduring the Days

Five days ago:

New Hampshore had became a home for the Cazadores to reside and use buildings, including statues of Sapphire Shores, as breeding grounds for them to grow and repopulate. Any living ponies that are already outside would become food for the ravaging insects. Even other creatures stood no chance against them. It wasn’t long until Lab-00 had been turned into their own personal hive. Everything that was left behind, even my own former personal room being left to ruin. What this DJ-Pon3 mentioned was right; New Hampshore is now off-limits to any living beings to even dare to travel there. Not without the risk of having your insides eaten.

Inside an unknown, abandoned facility, Dr. Scalpel had looked on his latest creation, “Yessss… you are finally complete! Now… arise, my creation! Ariiiiiise!”

Soon, the hideously-deformed creature that roughly resembles of both a pony and Discord slowly rose to its hooves from the surgeon table. It took a small glance at its new creator.

Dr. Scalpel marvelled at his latest creation, with many different parts from different ponies he had abducted and amputated them in order for him to make this monstrosity come to life. Its tail even has a live serpent he previously used to attach its body.

“Go on… speak, my newly-created minion. Speak, for Dr. Scalpel…”

It stared at its new master, its vertically-slit eyes blinking at him, hissing a bit with its forked tongue akin to a snake.

“Yes, master...” It spoke, taking up a vague resemblance of my own voice mixed with other ponies he had abducted for his malicious purposes. Many of its body parts were stitched together to make it vaguely resemble as an ‘alicorn’. His response was a maniacal laughter upon hearing it talk for the first time.

“Yeeeesss! Yeeeeesss! My creation is a success! Now then… you are known by your new name; Genesys!”

It looked at Dr. Scalpel curiously as it had been given a name and spoke, “Genesys…”

Behind Dr. Scalpel’s surgical mask lies a maniacal grin, just admiring of his own successful work of his countless days of bringing the alicorn-like abomination to life, not unlike most artificial alicorns would. He rubbed both of his fore-hooves together and letting out a crazed chuckle before clearing his throat, “Now, Genesys… let’ssss go and out of our facility, my newest creation! We shall finally show Equestria that nopony has ever witnessed! Let’s go and put you to the test…”

Genesys slowly grinned at the crazed surgeon, “As you wish, master…”

Yesterday:

“I don’t know what happened out there… me and my brother, Flapjack, were playing hopscotch and one of the older ponies told us that our parents are waiting for us at an old, ruined park in Whooveswick. At first, they were kind enough to give us protection, but when we were taken near the border of Caneighda… the border pony control took us! They didn’t asked us why, but they took us in a slave camp!

“At least, that’s what I thought… they weren’t border guards; they were slavers…

“They took my only brother and just… just… tortured him… I ran. Ran so far that I just left him to die… goddesses, what have I done?!

“At least I was barely alive… took a bullet onto my foreleg, but not too serious. Flapjack, I’m sorry I abandoned you… I’m sorry that I left you to die…

“How will I ever explain to his parents when I return? I’m all dirtied up, hungry and lost. And these slavers are looking for me. And they want to beat me up like some victimized animal… *sigh* I even had to patch myself up with used bandages, and my wound isn’t getting any better. Even with food and water, I’m still bleeding. And the forest gives me no support whatsoever.

“If there was a safe haven, like maybe Ponyville, I would’ve been there already. Instead… I had to be born in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just don’t know how will I last. If the slavers hadn’t killed me already, these horrifying creatures would. All I could think of was maybe… maybe reunite with my family and get out of this hellhole. Yet, why am I dying?

“Damnit, why can’t I stop bleeding… my hoof is getting infected...

“Goddesses... please… help me…”

The recording stopped. I just listened to the recording in secret while Tootsie Roll sang a campfire song with Bob and Gale Storm. Whoever that pony was, he’s already met a similar fate that had happened to his friend known as Flapjack. My ears were already folded back throughout his unfortunate demise. At least the three didn’t saw me listening in. I already hid myself behind the tree, but remaining myself close to them. And what in the wide, wide world of Equestria is a Ponyville anyway? Then again, that’s hardly important. Even my non-existent PipBuck would tell me that Ponyville is nothing but a mere myth, an urban legend just like the Tesla Coil I found from the blueprint, courtesy of Neighkola Tesla himself.

Furthermore, as I don’t have the PipBuck with me, I won’t be able to acquire data from four other recordings I found on room 34B. I’ll have to re-play them until those five weeks are over and for us to return to Crankshaft’s workshop in Fhoal Island. The only thing that worries me is how will we ever get back, especially when there are mindless ghoul ponies already forming a blockade.

Either way, my mind was too much to handle. I can’t handle another recording of another pony meeting his or her death. I just gotta stick with my team and rest up for the next day. I walked around from the tree I was sitting back and regrouped with the three as I sat down next to Gale. She looked at me and asked with a hint of concern, “Are you okay, Zero?”

I gave her a nod. Tootsie was fast asleep already after singing her not-so obnoxious campfire song with Bob sleeping next to his filly companion. Come to think of it, I’m falling asleep too, but I’m also worried on how are we gonna sleep normally without any creature waiting to feast on us or other ponies who are intent on murdering us on sight.

“I’ll keep a close eye out for you three. Don’t worry about it.” Gale pressed her muzzle against my cheek. I nodded again and laid myself down onto the tree stump and allowed me to slowly drift off to sleep. Uncomfortable, yes, but I’m not getting my lab coat dirty.

She even told me while I was sleeping, “And I’ll keep a close watch on your belongings. Just rest up, kiddo. You’ll need it.”

Hopefully the gunshots doesn’t startle us in our sleep. And the campfire is still lit, and I would surely need it or I’ll be running into another nightmare with no help from Luna herself.

Three-and-a-half days ago:

Starshooter and his team were on a long trek beyond the narrow tunnel and out of their former headquarters of Lab-00. The door did an excellent job at keeping the Cazadores inside but also losing their only home as a result. To whichever path they took, they didn’t turned back. Eventually, they were out of the tunnel and are now at the sewage plant inside. It was abandoned, but well-maintained.

The same can’t be said for the outside of the plant, as its mostly likely to be overrun with Cazador that are waiting outside for them to feast on their latest prey.

There were multiple stairs that lead to multiple directions, half outside while others lead into different areas inside the plant.

One of the scientists had asked their leader, “Are you sure this is the right way, Starshooter? What if one of those doors were ravenous insects just waiting on us?”

“We have to determine if we hear any buzzing noises if they’re Cazadores or not. If there aren’t any buzzing sounds, then I shall check to see if it's safe to enter or not. If it’s safe, I’ll give you the ‘all clear’ word. Stick with us and don’t wander off to open any doors unless if given a specific reason. We are to avoid another breach from the Cazadores and we need to make our safe escape from New Hampshore. Got it?” Starshooter firmly instructed his fellow scientist ponies.

They all gave a nod as Olive Oil carefully approached to the door and pressed the left side of her head against it to hear if there are any buzzing noises inside. All she could hear were low humming noises behind the door, but no sign of a Cazador inside.

“Status report, Olive Oil?”

Olive Oil notified Starshooter, “No Cazadores inside as far as I heard! Just machinery.”

She carefully opened the door and took a small peek as to double check and make sure the coast is clear. Olive waved a hoof to the team.

Starshooter gave her an affirmed nod, “Alright, team. Let’s get inside and rest up for a while.”

They were relieved from the good news that there weren’t any Cazadores inside, but had also wondered where is Starshooter leading them. Inside, there were pumping stations and several unopened doors, with one of them being a descending staircase ahead. There was little lighting as well with flickering lights barely hanging on ceilings. It seems that it was previously ravaged before it was left abandoned.

“So… what’s up ahead?”

“We can only assume that this would be our ticket out of New Hampshore. And I deeply pray to Celestia that we would happen to find a working subway underground…” Starshooter replied, his expression displaying uncertainty. It was either going outside and get ambushed by millions of pony-eating Cazadores or venture deep into the unknown.

Olive Oil gave him an affirmed nod, “All right. I’ll let my team know about this.”

She turned her attention to the staff team of the former Lab-00 as they were quietly talking to each other. She spoke out, “Listen up, team. We’re going to venture deep within the sewage plant. Wherever Starshooter goes, we follow. And no second thoughts, got it? When we do arrive, we’ll need to take a short break and take a quick meal before proceeding further.”

They nodded to her, with an unnamed scientist mare pointing her hoof up at the broken-off skylight, “Don’t look now guys, but...!”

An erratic-moving figure was seen at the top of the skylight and as it flew into the broken-off window, it turned out to be a Cazador! It wasn’t long before other ravenous insects flew inside as they screamed in panic and quickly making their mad dash to the door, “Starshooter, they’re here!”

Panic arose as they frantically made their way to the open door leading down the stairs. Despite Starshooter’s orderly personality, he told his fellow scientists, “Hurry, everypony! Get inside!”

Olive Oil and Blue Print were the first inside as the rest of the scientist ponies scrambled to get inside. Starshooter stood into the entrance, but the number of Cazadores were dangerously increasing and several unfortunate ponies’ lives were claimed as they were stung to death, their supplies with them. He was shocked at the sight and even with his energy weapon at his possession, there was nothing he could do; the numbers were too great.

About ten ponies (scientists and kitchen staff) had succumbed to a Cazador attack and with Starshooter looking on in dismay, he had closed the door and made sure it was sealed once the remaining surviving scientists and kitchen staff members were inside. They all looked on with traumatized expressions, some crying in despair after hearing their fellow teammates having stung and devoured from an unexpected attack. They were hugging and consoling each other, as Olive Oil let out a worried look at the head scientist, “Starshooter… we lost some of our…”

He softly interrupted Olive, “I know. We’ll have to stay underground until we can find a safe passage and prevent further losses. A Stable facility will simply not do. We’ll have to locate a safe haven for us to reside in, and it won’t be easy. If it's patrolled, then allow me to convince them. Do not panic and do not resort to objections. We cannot encounter a hostile environment and put ourselves into anymore danger. Understood?”

They all nodded to his orders as Olive Oil spoke out, “Take a short break and we’ll continue after ten minutes and no more than that.”

“Furthermore, we’ll need to find any source of meals along the way… we lost some of our kitchen staff team, and our supplies with them…”

Judging from Olive’s worried expression, she was consoled by Starshooter as he assured her, “We need to stay strong if we want to move on ahead. And we will get out of New Hampshore if we are to stay alive.”

As she nodded, they looked on as Blue Print went to search the railway to see if a tram is there and functional. Starshooter looked on to her, “Whatever you are looking for, do be careful, Blue Print. You don’t know what you might find.”

She nodded and gave him a salute as she searched around for a tram, hoping for it to be functional and enclosed.

Two days ago:

“Hey fuckheads! I got a shotgun with yer names on it!” Bleak Venom shouted at unsuspecting Raiders nearby as he and his allies opened fire at them. Before the Raiders could even react, they were easily gunned down, leaving one of them gravely wounded as he trotted over to the unfortunate pony, with Poison and the others looking on.

The unnamed and wounded Raider weakly spoke to Venom, “Y-You fucker…”

Without any remorse, Venom let out a maniacal grin and points the shotgun muzzle at her, “Tell me. How much does it hurt? Like having your head burst like a piece of grape you are!”

He shoves the shotgun muzzle into her mouth, grinning as wide as he could possibly do, “And before you ask, yes. I aim to not only surpass the so-called alicorns, but to that cheap excuse of a demigod known as Tirek as well! And nopony will stop me either! So… any last words before I turn your brain into a bloodied smoothie, toots?”

He carefully moved the shotgun muzzle from her mouth to allow the gravely wounded Raider to speak her final words to him, “Go die… in a hole!”

BLAM!

“Wrong answer!” Bleak shouted as he had mercilessly blew her head off into gory pieces, with his fellow allies cringing at the sight.

“Now then, before you neanderthals ask, yes, we’re gonna keep moving and find more useful stuff. And unless you asshats want to object and end up like these idiot Raiders, we will keep on moving! And no, Poison, ya ain’t gonna have ‘sexy times’ with those dead bodies.”

Poison merely whined at his leader as he and the others had followed their cruel, heartless leader.

Today:

I can’t tell if we’re either lost or the fact that not having a PipBuck with me means I would have to start relying on poorly-drawn maps just to navigate ourselves throughout Equestria, and find a way back to Fhoal Island. And being a scientist doesn’t make a me a globetrotter by knowing the names of unknown locations we’re currently in, including places of interests.

The only thing I could know is that I have a fair amount of supplies in my saddlebags. That’s all I could remember. But to find a way back to Fhoah Island that’s close to Crankshaft’s workshop is no easy feat, and I just plainly suck as their navigator.

What is this place? There’s so many cabins strewn around the forest that isn’t Everfree Forest and that is almost way too similar to Camp Mayne Six. I can’t tell if my pony mind is correct or not, but at least there aren’t any signs of pony life that are bent on shooting us on sight. I torqued my neck a bit to loosen myself up a little as I let out a relieved sigh. Goddess, this long trek of nothing is killing us…

Gale directed us to a nearby and intact cabin, “We should rest up inside for a short break. But… where are we anyway, Zero?”

I merely shrugged. I don’t know either. Tootsie let out a tired groan, “Finally! My hoofsies are getting tired! And Bob gets to hitchhike onto your back, no fair!”

Bob responded to her with a teasing beep as Gale turned to Tootsie with a soft giggle, “Well, you said you didn’t wanted to ride onto my back, soooo I figured that you needed some exercise.”

Heh, good on ya. Maybe then you wouldn’t be complaining like your robo-scorpion friend would. Tootsie let out a cute pouty face as we went inside, “Fiiiiine…”

Inside was a simple bookshelf, twin mattresses and a desk containing a terminal which I’m unable to record data from without my PipBuck.

As Tootsie relaxed herself onto the mattress, Gale sat onto the other mattress. Me? I booted up the terminal and contained some of the messages displayed on screen, with Bob letting out a curious beep at me. I only looked at him; if I still had my voice, I would’ve told him that I’m only going to look at the messages from the terminal. Not like I wanted to read somepony’s diary or anything deemed personal… they’re likely dead anyway.

I suppose reading a terminal and earning knowledge even without a PipBuck would suffice. For the time being anyway. Now, let’s see what it has to offer me…

“Neighkola Tesla was a fascinating stallion in providing us his latest inventions for our betterment of ponykind. He did warned us that his inventions were prototypes and can prove to be lethal and are also unstable. The Tesla Cannon was left a mystery and even Neighkola Tesla himself is still perfecting the Tesla Coil in order for the Tesla Cannon to be constructed. To when he’ll announce it would be anypony’s guess.

“As for me? Well… I’m no genius like Tesla himself, but even so, his inventions would prove useful to take out any remaining threats of Equestria and harmony would be fully restored.

“But the Ponyunion Council isn’t making things easy for us and until things have fully settled, I guess we still have to suffer. At least with Neighkola Tesla, he can provide help for innocent ponies. Until the next day, of course.

“He went missing when his research facility was raided by fellow Enclave soldiers. Although he escaped, he never returned to his work ever since, and I’m worried on how will I ever witness the Tesla Cannon’s amazing power. I feared that his invention will never come to light, and hasn’t returned since. I had a feeling that he may not have made it. I could be wrong.

“Our search was in vain; no trace of Neighkola Tesla… nothing. Never left a trail at all. I’m not sure if he’s either missing or dead.

“I can only hazard a guess that he must’ve sought refuge in Canterlot, but those are just rumors. How will we ever discover the power of the Tesla Cannon when he’s gone missing? I’m afraid that we would have to call off the search and declare him deceased.”

I turned off the terminal after reading it with Bob. Seems somepony was eager to discover the Tesla Cannon like myself, but to realize that Neighkola Tesla himself went missing and having never returned to his facility had me wondering if his inventions were true after all. As for Canterlot itself is a rumor indeed. Just like this Ponyville, Canterlot seems to fit as a mere urban legend as I’ve never heard a thing called Canterlot before. More importantly is the Tesla Cannon not being invented because a Tesla Coil is needed to construct such a powerful weapon…

Even the Book of Arcane Sciences has hundreds of pages that contains nothing about the Tesla Coil for it to be constructed into a Tesla Cannon. Bob looked at me and I looked back, as if wanting me to take him to his filly friend and Gale before I let out a nod and took him to the two.

As me and Bob joined up with Tootsie and Gale, the young filly glanced at the ex-Enclave’s tail, “Ooohhh… are you part-scorpion like my pal Bob, Gale?! That’s soooo cool!”

Part… what?

Gale let out a soft giggle to her with a hoof gently pressed against her lips, “Not exactly, little Tootsie. Sure my tail resembles that of a scorpion, but I’m nowhere near a scorpion-pony hybrid. Its what us Enclave use to paralyze anypony who tries to resist us, be it lethal or nonlethal. Of course, I’d rather use it as a means of defending you guys, and nothing more.”

I sat down on the mattress next to them as I listened to her conversation, “Of course, I didn’t wanted to be some cruel and heartless Enclave even if I was given orders to make sure the occupation of Itrotly was secure… I wasn’t expecting to being treated harshly by my own kind. If my father hadn’t persuaded me, I would’ve been working more as a nursery mare instead of working with the Enclave… now how am I gonna explain everything to my younger sister?”

Wait… she has a sister? Hmm… could it be Cloud Storm we met back in Stable Town? It’s no wonder she didn’t noticed the heavily armored Enclave that turned out to be her sister. That’s why she’s been silent while we took Tootsie Roll and Bob for a medical procedure. My pony mind thought. I would’ve asked her, but eh. No PipBuck and no voice means I can only rely on my thoughts and my ears to listen on.

“Ooohhh… was it Cloud Storm?” Tootsie asked, although her initial response was Gale’s brief glare as the filly quickly covered her mouth with her hooves, “Oopsies! Sorry…”

Of course, she expressed no hostility to the young filly as she let out a soft sigh, “Its fine. Cloud Storm is indeed my sister, but I remained quiet inside a clinic back in Stable Town because I didn’t wanted her to know who I was. I had to stay quiet while she focused on healing you, Tootsie Roll. Don’t ask why I didn’t took off my helmet. I was afraid that she would hate me because I joined up with the Enclave. It wasn’t my fault, my father can be quite persuasive and strict when it comes to selecting ponies to join his cause. Not to mention their advanced weaponry given to me…”

Now I feel really sorry for her. Tootsie frowned and gave her a hug, “Awww! Don’t be saddy-waddy! We’ll go back to Stable Town and have you talk to her!”

Sadly, she shook her head to Tootsie.

“No. I can’t. All she’ll think about is scold me for being an Enclave soldier. And it’s surprising that she didn’t even noticed me when we entered the clinic to have you two treated. Guess she’s just as naive as always…”

I simply looked on, not wanting to interrupt or anything. Not that I can’t speak anyway.

It wasn’t before Gale turned her attention to me, “Zero? I understand that you can’t speak at all, but I wanted to tell you that you’re quite the silent scientist I’ve ever met, and a brave one too.”

I gave her a smile in thanks for the compliment, with a nod to go for. It felt comfortable inside the cabin with no danger coming in from the outside. For now, at least. There was only one screen window that was partially broken off, allowing a cool breeze enter the room although the outside is eerie and lifeless. At least that’s what my non-existent PipBuck told me.

Of course, my smile was only temporary as I laid back onto the mattress. To top it off, the Pinkie Pie in my head began a mental conversation with me.

“Oh come on! Its just a silly little PipBuck! You don’t need that silly old thing! You’re better off without it!”

A PipBuck isn’t a silly old thing, Pinks. Its a device that lets me check my inventory, logs and more importantly check on waypoints from the map. Not to mention that it allows me to use E.F.S. and slip into S.A.T.S. for better precision and be able to determine either friendlies or hostiles. Without it, I’m pretty much vulnerable without my PipBuck letting me know what’s going on.

“Pfft, no wonder you’re such a nerd! You love technology too much! Get some fresh air, mingle around with other ponies, or even make friends with rocks! Heck, Maud here had a pet rock named Boulder! Can you believe that?! More importantly, why not move to Ponyville?!”

For once, fresh air doesn’t exist. Its lifeless and every breath I take is like breathing emptiness and possible death. Second off, I’m a scientist and I dare not to be resigned as such! Thirdly, who in the buck is ‘Boulder’ or ‘Maud’ anyway? And lastly, Ponyville is a myth, and even if it was meant to be true, what makes you think I can sprout wings and fly all the way from where I’m living in to Ponyville? Or even turn myself into a false alicorn and teleport my ass off over there?

“Hehe, you’re so silly! Ponyville exists, and filled with joy and happiness! Why aren’t you happy?!”

Gee, I wish I was happy if it wasn’t for New Hampshore being both in shambles and then later overran by a swarm of Cazadores. Or maybe Mayne going into a state of a free-for-all. Or maybe having to barely survive from a hungry, relentless Tatzlwurm that’s intent on turning me and my friends into food! This Ponyville may have joy and happiness, but in the other side of Equestria I’m living in… it’s a complete opposite. I don’t care how many times you deny my statement, but the truth of the matter is that we’re still suffering and that’s that. And don’t get me started on my old friends. They were gone for good, and it wasn’t easy being a scientist by being sent on a simple retrieval mission gone awry which resulted in the loss of both of my older friends and teammates.

“Awww! You’re making Pinky all frowny-wowny! How can you say such things?!”

Maybe if you were taking the Goddesses’ places and are still alive, you’d be realizing that not everything is filled with joy and happiness. And perhaps if you were an alicorn, then you could’ve taken me and my new friends out of this hellhole. Otherwise, why are you convincing me to be happy? I’ve lost my former teammates, and my home with it. So whoop-de-doo for me, Pinkie Pie.

And before you release those outbursts to me, don’t. Unless there’s happiness, the Wastelands have other plans for the time being. Thanks for trying to cheer me up anyways.

“You’re welcome! And good luck, neeeerd!”

Sheesh. Nopony heard Pinkie except me. And the only pony who’s heard a voice in my head which sounds really silly because only I could hear her. My friends are gonna think I’m crazy as I kept looking on the ceiling, wondering how will this day pass by.

It wasn’t until Gale Storm sat on the mattress next to me as Tootsie Roll rested up on the other side with Bob, “We’ll return to Fhoal Island once those weeks pass by, Zero. I have a feeling that your PipBuck is gonna take some time until it becomes fully operational again. Remember, you have us and nopony will ever take it away from you.”

I guess. It felt like a treasure to me and to let it go means its gonna be difficult on our journey as our days pass by.

Even if this Pinkie Pie was telling the truth, I’m thinking that she’s just trying to force me to think of happy thoughts. If I was happy, then Equestria would’ve been the same way. What I got instead was pain and suffering, which all began in New Hampshore and later on in Mayne. Especially with our brief encounter with the slavers and barely escaping a ravenous Tatzlwurm… and going as far as to put my old friend and a suffering colt to their merciful death.

Two days ago:

“Have you located something, Blue Print? We have to hurry before the Cazadores realize that we’re hiding inside an underground subway and proceed to attack us. And we also don’t know if this door will hold them off any longer.” Starshooter informed her. In response, Blue Print pointed at the century-old train sitting on the tracks.

The train had broken-off windows, which can make attacks susceptible by ravenous Cazadores and create further casualties among the staff members of Lab-00. Starshooter nodded before informing her, “We need to barricade windows, should we reach the surface where the Cazadores are waiting for us. We cannot have any more casualties and further losses to our remaining supplies. Team! Search for any boards or any objects that can barricade windows for our escape.”

After their break and their tear-ridden emotions from the loss of their members by being stung and eaten alive by the insects that breached inside the sewer plant from the broken-off skylight, the remaining scientists and staff members went off to search for boards or metal sheets to barricade the windows of the only working train that is sitting on the tracks. The train was small and compact, but enough to fit the team inside and get out of New Hampshore while they still can.

“Be sure to return post-haste and do not wander off too far; we cannot allow anymore further casualties that will hamper our escape! Understood?”

They saluted to him and left to scavenge for items in different areas inside the abandoned subway tunnel to bar the windows as to prevent Cazadores from breaching inside. Olive Oil looked on, her emotions mixed between confidence and worry as she glanced at Starshooter, “Will they be…?”

He gave Olive an affirmed nod, “Yes. They will be alright. We are to refrain from further casualties. And we will get out of New Hampshore for us to relocate elsewhere. Not only that, even our best weapons can’t hold off against a huge number of Cazadores and ammo is scarce in this area.”

Meanwhile, Blue Print was looking for an operating system inside the train, finding a lever that goes either forward or back. There is even an ignition button on the right side from the lever to start up the train.

Of course, she wasn’t sure if the train is fully operational as it hasn’t been used in years or even a century. She waved at the two as they entered inside the train.

“Tell me if this train is operational, Blue Print.”

Her only reply was a shrug. She hadn't dared to touch the lever yet and wanted to wait for the group to return.

“Hmm… perhaps we will wait until our team has returned with sufficient parts for us to board up windows before we can make our escape.” Starshooter instructed her.
The three went inside the train that is unclear of whether it still functions or not as they wait for their members to return with boards and/or metal sheets. Hours go by as they were concerned if there are any hidden dangers that could bring possible injuries or worse upon return.

A voice echoed out from a distance within the corridor, “We found boards and metal sheets, sir!”

The three had heard the pony’s wonderful news as the team had safely regrouped with boards and metal sheets they had found strewn throughout the abandoned subway tunnel inside. As they made across a train bridge, Starshooter was the first to exit the unused train and waved a hoof to them as to instruct to bring them over inside.

“We must begin construction immediately by boarding up windows as a form of a barricade, but we also must leave very small gaps as we don’t succumb to suffocation. Once again, we don’t know where we are going, but we’re getting out of New Hampshore and find a safer location for us. Understood?”

Starshooter gave them additional details, “And before you ask, yes, our field of vision will be hampered by our improvised barricades, but we must ensure that we cannot reach the surface unprepared. The threat is still imminent and there could be thousands of Cazadores waiting out in the open and preparing themselves for a sudden ambush.”

With proper tools in their possessions, they began to drill and hammer to barricade broken-off windows as to shield themselves from yet another possible Cazador attack.

It took several hours to fully barricade the windows and leaving smaller gaps to allow them to breathe without the risk of suffocation while preparing for their long and uncertain travel to unknown territories. Once everypony was aboard inside the train, Blue Print slowly pushed the lever forward as the train had begun to gradually increase speed throughout the subway. The scientist members would celebrate, but it wasn’t time to do so. Not while waiting for the inevitable to happen whether or not they’re about to emerge the outside world. Especially with ravenous insects lying in wait.

Blue Print looked on from the small gaps from the boarded window; she could see a barely-lit light up ahead of the tunnel. All other crossroads were buried in rubble, rendering them impassable. Whatever lies ahead can mean life or death for the remaining scientist members of the former Lab-00, as the light ahead brings uncertainties to the team.

As they emerged from the tunnel and into the environment filled with nothingness, it seems that there aren’t any Cazadores on sight. Of course, with windows boarded up to shield themselves from a possible attack, there’s no guarantee that these would hold them off while traversing their way out of New Hampshore.

Starshooter ordered the team, “Lower your heads and do not look out the windows unless if given reason. We don’t know what’s outside and only Blue Print is navigating us somewhere and also getting us out of New Hampshore. We need to ensure that further casualties are prevented and that we make it out of here safely. The situation is too unpredictable at this time, so keep your heads down until Blue Print gives us the all clear sign. Understood?”

They nodded and no objections were made as they ducked down, keeping their remaining items close to each other as a sudden gunshot can be heard within the distance. It wasn’t aimed at the train but the bullet had ricocheted off of the train. Faint, blood-curdling screams are heard from the distance, most likely a lone pony falling victim to a Cazador attack. It seems the threat remains high as they made their way out of the now-ravaged New Hampshore. Statues depicting Sapphire Shores were partially covered up by Cazador insects before they took notice of the train’s presence before they begin to fly erratically towards the moving train.

Muffled banging are heard from the outside as the scientists and kitchen staff members gasp in horror; The Cazadores were attempting to breach into the train!

“Oh no! They’re here and they’re trying to break in!” The unnamed scientist stallion yelled out.

There were panicked shouts as Starshooter ordered his team, “Everypony, calm down! Ready your weapons and ward them off until we get out of New Hampshore and out of the ambush! But be sure to point the muzzles at the small gaps and open fire, should they attempt to breach inside the train! Furthermore, make every ammunition count! We cannot afford to waste ammo by firing it in the air!”

“Blue Print, push the lever to speed the train but carefully! We can’t risk derailment with all of us inside…”

Blue Print gave Starshooter a salute and slowly pushed the lever forward as the train soon began to pick up speed in an attempt to outrun the Cazadores. Soon, the train began to tilt from the excess weight of a fairly large number of Cazadores on the roof; they were approaching a wide curve from the rail as the scientist ponies shouted in surprise and clung onto each other from the curve and their weapons dropped in the process.

SCCCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Starshooter shouted orders at the team while Olive Oil was hanging onto the side as the speed combined with excess weight was about to give way, “Quickly! Move to the other side! We need to rebalance the train before we get derailed!”

Without objections, they quickly scrambled to push the train to correct its position as they grunted with effort and with all their might. The train was still dangerously tethering to the side but once the curved rail became straight again, it soon corrected itself onto the rails again and the risk of derailment was minimized. Even the Cazadores flew up from the roof of the train, but had resumed their pursuit.

The team slumped back with a sight as Olive Oil looked on, “Quick! Grab your weapons, everypony! We’re not out of here yet… and I hope the goddesses can take us somewhere safe…”

The scientist ponies grabbed their weapons as the kitchen staff team were guarding of what remains of their food that became a mess from the train nearly derailed.

A couple of twists and turns later, the Cazadores were still pursuing them with no regard of losing interest of their prey before they were gunned down by two guardponies inside the watchtowers. Of course though, a voice yelled out from the megaphones as the train approached to a restricted area, “Stop the train or we'll blow it up, trespassers! This is your first and final warning!”

Blue Print realized that she and the others were approaching a restricted area before pulling the lever as the train soon screeched into a halt, with some of the ponies propelled forward from the sudden stop.

They were dazed, but unharmed. Starshooter glanced at the boarded window which left a couple of dents from the Cazadores attempting to breach inside, “Hmm… it seems that we’re out of New Hampshore.”

He glanced at the team with a concerned but strict expression, “Everypony, do not say a word and let us handle the situation at hoof. We’re in a restricted area and I urge everypony to remain calm and conceal your weapons unless if given order by a supreme commander… now, then.”

The boarded door was soon cut open by a saw blade covered by a magical aura as the team retrieved their weapons and hid them in their bags.

Outside, some of the heavily-armored ponies were gunning down the last few remaining Cazadores before one of them gave the ‘all-clear’ sign to a fellow soldier. The bodies of dead Cazadores are seen lying onto the ground, with one of them being dissolved into toxic liquid.

Starshooter, Olive Oil and Blue Print looked on and what appeared to be a heavily-armored pony soldier as he pointed a highly-graded rifle at them, “State your business, strangers. What brings you here to Ranger Delta North?”

The scientists startled in fear as they backed themselves against the back of the train, with Olive Oil slowly and wisely stepping back with Blue Print simply looking on, her face still concealed with a scientist mask.

“And another question; did you brought those ravenous insects to us?”

Starshooter cleared his throat before speaking out to a high-ranked Ranger, “We were being pursued by ravaging Cazadores that had overrun New Hampshore, so therefore we boarded the train and made our escape. Although the latter result was the loss of our scientist team and staff members who had fallen victim from a Cazador attack, and some of our supplies were also gone. We’re in dire need of safe refuge, sir. We can’t return to New Hampshore as it’s now been overrun by the Cazadores you also killed them.”

“We normally don’t take any stragglers into our base unless if given a specific reason. However, we do accept a team of scientists that can help us creating state-of-the-art weapons and provide them any available shelters inside our base. As for New Hampshore… if what you said is true, then I fear the city can’t be saved by any means especially when the numbers are too high for the city to be contained. Until there’s a possible solution, you will have to come with us for now.”

There weren’t introductions yet, but the Ranger had instructed Starshooter to bring his team inside the base. He turned his attention to his members, “We are given an order to head inside the base. Grab your items and let’s go. The soldier’s waiting for us at the entrance.”

Today:

We had left the cabin and we were sticking ourselves close together with a barely-lit lantern that was carried around by me, grasping the handle with my teeth. To find any remaining meals in this dreadful wastelands is a must. We’re also out of the forest, but the skies are still dark with no light source to go for. And don’t get me started with not having a PipBuck with me.

Bob is still riding shotgun onto my back as he can’t walk on his own. And we’re still looking for a not-so abandoned repair shop so somepony can fix him up again. Tootsie let out a bored groan, “Uuuugh! Why are the skies so dark?! Skies, stop being dark and miserable!”

Like that’ll work.

“Sweetie, the skies have always been dark. Nothing we can do about it.” Gale assured the filly. She’s right; the skies have always been dark and miserable, no sign of life anywhere. And if there was, there’s always something that’s gonna get us killed.

Tootsie let out a cute pout from the ex-Enclave’s replies, “Fiiiine… but I wanna see the skies smile for once! How bad can it be?”

My ears let out a soft twitch, followed by a short spasm from my tail indicating a possible danger up ahead.

You just had to ask, Tootsie Roll. Whoo-fucking-hoo.

“Body spasms, Zero?”

I nodded to Gale, though I would’ve told her that it wasn’t any ordinary body spasms if I had my voice back or my working PipBuck strapped around my hoof.

“Maybe there’s a Steady somewhere…”

What?! I’m not nervous, Gale! Ever since I acquired a Pinkie Pie statuette, my senses were heightened to the point where my body twitches whenever a possible danger is present! Not to mention that I could see better, even with just one eye with me…

At least we’re out of the forest and into a town with many broken-off billboards and signs that makes the location difficult to identify and I’m not sure if it has living inhabitants that doesn’t include shooting us for no apparent reason.

Gale took a small glance at a glistening object inside an abandoned building, “There’s something inside that building...”

Is there? I looked at Tootsie as to wonder if we could check it out. She gleefully squealed at us, “I bet there’s candy in there! Maybe toys, too! Let’s go inside!”

Heh. Hyper as always, Tootsie Roll. We went inside, with Bob still on my back; he was still in no shape to walk with us until we can find a repair shop to have him fixed.

As we went inside, lights were flickering inside, with some of the bulbs barely hanging on. The shelves were ransacked and many items were littered onto the floor, with a cash register going as far as being ripped in half. Behind the counter lies a skeleton pony who is sitting on a chair. I let out a quiet shudder at the sight before the filly ran to the counter and waved at the obviously dead pony, “Hey, mister! I want chocolate candy bars, please! Heeeeey! Are you even listening to meeee?!”

Its dead. How would a dead pony even listen to you? Much less respond to your shenanigans? Even Bob let out an annoyed whirring noise from your silly antics. I simply face-hoofed at this.

“Tootsie Roll, that skeletal clerk isn’t really alive. It’s been dead since then. We’ll need to keep looking around to see if there’s any food to find.”

Tootsie pouted to Gale’s response, “Awww… okey-doke… at least our pal Zero listens!”

And how am I compared to a lifeless skeletal pony, per se? Honestly, Tootsie…

We looked around in different aisles to see if there’s any food left over for us to scavenge and store inside my saddlebags if we’re gonna venture forward. I could hear music inside the storage room as I poked Gale’s shoulder with a hoof to grab her attention.

“Hmm? Is something the matter, Zero?”

I pointed my hoof at the storage room door, with a faint song playing inside.

“Whatever’s inside… go and check it out. I’ll look after your saddlebags so you don’t have to come over here.” Gale instructed me. She’s trustful enough to look after my things as I gave my saddlebags to her with a nod and a small smile in thanks. Afterwards, I opened the door to the storage room and went inside and taking Bob with me along the way. It looks like a Sprite-bot, without its wings and is just sitting on the table, not being able to move and all. It was playing a random jazz music before it was abruptly cut off and replaced by the same familiar voice I’ve heard after our escape from Mount Gallopmore.

“Goooood morning Equestria! This is DJ Pon3, here with some breaking news!

“Remember when I told you that New Hampshore is purely off-limits even to residents? Well, it’s indeed off-limits! New Hampshore had just become a one, big nest for the nasty Cazador insects and have made a once, bustling city into their own home! Children, if you’re still in New Hampshore, hide while you still can! And don’t set hoof on that dreadful place!

“What’s also surprising is a massive creature that nearly went on a bloody rampage! Thankfully, the danger is deterred and the giant, pony-eating worm is no more! And it's all thanks to a fellow scientist and his, you guessed it, an Enclave soldier willing to help restore the greater good of Equestria!

“Now don’t be surprised, children. The Grand Pegasus Enclave may be notorious for their heinous crimes, especially after Itrotly was taken over, but know that not all Enclaves were evil! Some would rather work for themselves or follow different pathways!

“As for the scientist himself? Well, you could say that he was named after a number, but it could be more than just a simple number! And that, children, is Zero! And he’s here to bring the light to the rest of Equestria, so best of luck to our fellow and muted scientist colt!

“And with that, this has been DJ Pon3! Building new inventions since discovering fire. And now, back to the music!”

It then resumed playing jazz music briefly before the signal died out and became static. I was… really surprised from my standing ovation. Still, who is this DJ Pon3 I just heard of again? I could only guess that this DJ Pon3 had somehow found the signal within the Sprite-bot to spread the news. But I haven’t done anything to save Equestria. At least not for the time being…

There was however, the intense situation that occurred in New Hampshore. I rested my forelegs against the table as I looked up in thought. New Hampshore had been completely overrun by Cazadores. I wasn’t sure if this was their beginning of their offspring or that New Hampshore was their starting point. Oh goddesses, what will happen if they go into areas like Mayne for example?! It would be a massive migration for the killer insects! The remaining ponykind won’t survive an onslaught of ravaging Cazadores!

Damnit… if Celestia was still alive, she’d wipe the Cazadores from their fucking existence!

As for the ‘giant, pony-eating worm’? It must be the Tatzlwurm he’s referring to. Lucky escape too, all thanks to Gale. And speaking of, she was mentioned by this DJ Pon3 and mentioned that not all factions are evil. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s not.

At least he took my name seriously and not some insult as well… thank the goddesses. I would’ve snapped if I heard him refer my name as an actual number.

I should check on the two and see how they’re doing. Before I opened the door, I glanced to my left to see an opened container box with a couple of empty Sparkle-Cola to go for and-- what’s this? Why is that one Sparkle-Cola bottle… glowing?!

Its also clear-looking! And there’s no bottlecap as well… somepony left it open and never sealed it back in. I suppose I'm the first to give it a taste, wouldn’t I? I mean, how bad can it be? I picked it up with my hoof and read the label (also being careful as to not spill it):

Sparkle-Cola Quartz

Hmm… I wonder what it tastes like? I would share it with my allies, though I suppose the old saying is ‘finders keepers, losers weepers’ and me to discover it for myself!

Oh well. Bottoms up!

Glug. Glug. Glug. Glug. Glug.

Huh… feels warm from the radiation. Nothing out of the ordinar--

FOOOSH!

What in the everlasting hell was that?! My entire body is glowing! And I could see well inside, like increased visibility for some reason!

Bob would’ve been surprised, but he’s still too hurt to even see my new glowing body. Tootsie did noticed this as she looked at a visible glowing light inside the storage room, “Oooohhh… Gale, I see something glowing inside that room!”

Gale had just finished collecting any available food inside my saddlebags as she looked at her, “Glowing?” She looked at a glowing body inside the storage room inside, “Zero..?”

The two approached at the door, the saddlebags in Gale’s tow as she slowly opened the door. The two gasped in surprised as I looked at the two, my body still glowing brightly.

“Whoa! Zero looks like a living flashlight! So cool! What did you do to yourself?! Did you wanted to become a living light bulb?!”

Wh-What?! I never wanted to be a living light bulb, Tootsie! Whatever’s in that drink made me all… glowy and shit! Seriously, how will Celestia or even Pinkie Pie react to this?! My pony mind complained out loud inside my head from Tootsie Roll’s utter shenanigans.

“Hmm? What’s this?” Gale picked up the empty soda bottle as she reads the label carefully.

“Sparkle-Cola… Quartz?!”

Gee, who’d knew the ex-Enclave must’ve found out I drank it? Blame curiosity, Gale!

“Zero, please tell me that you didn’t just drank the entire bottle of it!”

I… sorta did. I slowly nodded in response. Gale’s eye twitched in disbelief, “Y-You’re a scientist, for pony’s sake! You’re supposed to experiment new things by discovering potentials, but not by ingesting the whole bottle!”

Gee, blame curiosity. Of course, Bob let out a beeping mocking laugh at me for drinking the whole thing before I gave it a glare. And what are you laughing at?! You dare mock a scientist?! Of course, Bob stopped letting out his beeped laughter and merely looked around innocently.

It wasn’t until Gale let out a groan from my unintentional actions, “For a scientist, you sure need to avoid discovering new things and misuse them, especially after you had somehow ‘experimented’ your own body…”

Great, I have to take orders from her now? For an ex-Enclave, she does have a point and all. Still, it tasted delicious! I couldn’t help myself, hehe…

“Anyway, let me put your saddlebags and your sniper back on you. Tootsie, get Bob.”

Tootsie let out a playful salute to Gale, “Yes ma’am, will do ma’am!”

She waved at Bob, “Come on, Bob! You already rested, time to get up and get your legs moving!”

Bob had reluctantly got off of my back to join up with Tootsie to allow Gale to place my saddlebags onto my back, and my sniper tucked in between my side and the saddlebags. It felt a bit heavy, though I assumed that she had found any remaining food available inside a small market. Come to think of it, drinking Sparkle-Cola Quartz had somehow curbed my morning hunger. I figured we should head elsewhere now.

I gave the three a nod for us to head off now. Gale was the first to respond, “Right. And Zero, please don’t drink anything that has unusual substances again. You don’t know what might happen, even if you’re a scientist. Remember, curiosity can get the better of you if you’re not careful. Okay?”

She’s quite authoritative, I’ll give her that. But at least she’s showing her care for me as we left the market, my body still glowing brightly that illuminates the darkness this DJ Pon3 calls it ‘morning’. Time to keep going and see how long will my newly glow-in-the-dark body will last after having (inadvertently) chugged down a bottle of Sparkle-Cola Quartz.

We were in a town, but we don’t know what. Hopefully with any living residents, they wouldn’t be opening fire at us or we’re gonna have problems in our hooves.

Two days ago:

Ranger Delta North. It was housed with hundreds of Rangers inside the base, all armed with military-grade weaponry around their battle saddles with some being carried by magic from unicorns. The scientist team explored the base inside, almost like a museum to them. One of them asked, “Sooo, are there any rooms for us to rest and continue with experiments?”

The unnamed commander shot up a glare to him in a strict and authoritative manner, “I ask the questions around here. Understood?”

He let out a nervous nod in response, “Y-Yes sir.”

Starshooter gestured the scientist team and kitchen staff members to keep their mouths closed until they have arrived inside the quarters. Once inside, the Ranger commander turned his attention to the team before taking off his helmet with magic to reveal himself, “Now that we’re here, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Commander Midnight Lancer, leader of Ranger Delta North. We scavenge any pre-war weaponry and put it into better use for highly-advanced technologies we could find in Equestria. Since you’re here, you’ll be aiding us in our assistance and no questions asked.”

It seems the burnt sienna-colored stallion doesn’t take no for an answer as they listened on. Lancer pointed his hoof at the room leading to the cafeteria, “Any remaining chefs you have with you are free to work and cook in the kitchen.”

Starshooter kept himself calm and collected, though he was overall impressed by the qualities they have inside their base so far. He motioned his head to Olive Oil, “Lead them inside the kitchen and have them present our remaining meals we have with us… even it was a mess from our hasty escape.”

“Got it. I’ll lead them to the cafeteria.” She followed the remaining staff members inside the kitchen area from the mess hall, “Present of what you have left in your bags and begin to assist them. I see that there’s only four chef ponies inside and would need a lending hoof…”

Despite their traumatic experience, they immediately began to focus on assisting the Ranger Delta North’s myriad number of ponies serving up meals for them. Meanwhile, Midnight Lancer presented several dorm rooms that are currently vacant. They were small, but convenient. Starshooter nodded at the rest of the scientist team, “Rest up for tonight, scientists. Me and Blue Print shall continue on under a new order from Midnight Lancer. We have a long day ahead of us, and we need all of you to be in top shape when you wake up. Understood?”

They gave him an affirmed nod and each went inside the dormitories to rest up for the night. The two were led inside the auditorium where it currently sits empty, “Here is the auditorium, where performances and announcements take place.”

Starshooter cleared his throat to Midnight Lancer, “I hate to interrupt, but I figured that it's time that we make our introductions to you. I am Starshooter, head scientist of the former Lab-00 in New Hampshore. And this is Blue Print. Not a talkative pony yes, but she gets the job done.”

Blue Print gave a nod before removing her goggles and mask to reveal her face to them. Midnight Lancer released a neutral response, “I see. Well, now that we have made proper introductions, let’s asses to the matter at hoof in my office.”

“Blue Print, you may go and rest up as well. I will see you tomorrow.” The elder scientist informed her as she wears her mask and goggles back on before heading off to rest up. Midnight glanced at Starshooter and motioned his head, “Come with me.”

Today:

My body was still glowing for a good moment as I led them somewhere that isn’t sitting in isolation or occupied by Raiders or any other hostile faction. As great as it was to ingest Sparkle-Cola Quartz for the first time, my currently illuminated body is sure to give away to anypony or creature to come after me like moths frantically searching for a light source.

We arrived in a small residential area that was totally not destroyed by a Tatzlwurm hellbent on devouring us all (and thank the goddesses that this monstrosity isn’t after us now!), with some doors and many windows being boarded up as usual. Oh, and who can forget pony skeletons littered around the area?

Now if only I had an existing PipBuck, I would’ve known what location we’re in. I’m a scientist, for pony’s sake! I’m not some navigator!

“Well, apart from getting us lost, at least we’re not looking at Slavers or anypony starving themselves to death, right?”

Well, it was either that or we have to waste ammo to defend ourselves. And with Bob still in disrepair, I don’t think there’s any repair shops nearby neither…

And apart from the isolation, its pretty empty, but I figured I could lead them into a vacant home for us to rest for a while before moving along. Too bad I have nothing to write with; the ground’s too hard for me to even write down one word for them. All I could do was point a hoof at a house that wasn’t boarded up inside.

“A vacant house? Well, I suppose we could head inside and rest up for a little while. Maybe there could be some things we could find?” Gale asked as Tootsie already got a head start. Well, there’s your answer. Wait up, Tootsie! We don’t know what’s inside yet!

I quickly caught up and blocked the door before the excited filly to try and grab the door handle, “Heeey! I wanna open first!”

I frowned in response. You have no idea what’s behind the door, do you?

Gale giggled quietly to Tootsie Roll and gently patted her head, “Now, now, little Tootsie. Zero’s our faithful leader, so he should be the one to check what’s inside first.”

Thank you for doing a better job at foal-sitting than I do, Gale Storm! I know how to swing barn doors the right way! That is if doesn’t include ravaging Cazadores… or Dr. Scalpel himself. Ugh…

Okay, pony self. Time to set those excitements aside and see what this door has to offer us. I slowly and carefully pushed the door open…

Crreeeeaaak.

I took a small peek, my ear letting out a small twitch. Danger? Hmm… I don’t see any creatures or a pony greeting me with a buckshot to the face. Unless…

It was dark, but my illuminated body allowed me to see the floor littered with armed land mines! As a beeping commenced, I quickly slammed the door shut and frantically waved a hoof at the three as to move!

“Gale, Zero wants us to go inside!” Tootsie unwittingly ran towards me as Gale looked suspicious until she realized that I wasn’t intending on bringing the filly inside.

“Wha…? Tootsie, get back!”

As she skidded to a stop, I quickly lifted Tootsie up to my back and galloped from the beeping noises! The ex-Enclave realized that it was a trap and quickly picked up Bob and flew off, “Explosives!”

The mine beeped faster from the door being slammed shut until…

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

It let out a series of explosions as the house was completely disintegrated, with me being propelled forward from the blast and crashing through a fence! Ack! Tootsie fell onto the ground, dazed but unharmed, “Wah! Why did the house go ka-blooey?!”

If I would’ve told you, the house was littered with landmines inside! Of course, Gale Storm told her for me, “There were landmines inside! That’s what Zero was trying to warn us!”

Thank you for that! Bob glanced at shadow-like pony figures heading our way as he lets out a warning beep to us, “What is it, Bob? Something’s coming our way?”

It seems so. And I honestly can’t tell if they’re hostile or not. No E.F.S. means no way to determine whether they’re friendly or hostile, so we’re gonna have to assume the worst. As they emerge from the shadows, several armed ponies were making their approach. Oh no… its the Slavers! Four of them, but they also have somepony else in tow; a purple, tattered mare in chains! Oh hell no!

The slavers were all unicorns, with the slaver being a mere earth pony like myself. Quickly, I turned around to the three and thought of a plan… a plan that involves me trying to speak with my non-existent voice. I whispered to Gale’s instructions (which is of course, my only method of quietly saying things up close to my ally) ‘Ambush them in the air’. I couldn’t hear my own voice, I sure hope to goddesses she understood what I told her.

“Ambush them in the air…?” Gale was clueless at first (goddess-damnit!) before I pointed a hoof at the approaching slavers and the unnamed mare held captive.

“Oh! I get it now. Will do, Zero! Just create a distraction.”

Afterwards, she flew airborne with her twin Plasma Rifles at the ready while I led Tootsie Roll and Bob behind the side of an abandoned, unexploded house. I shushed at Tootsie as to not make any noises as I took aim with my sniper rifle. I can’t tell if I could tell her to open fire as I pretty much have no way to talk without my actual voice; she wouldn’t even hear my whispers from way up above.

“Oi! Don’t be mistreatin’ her until we get to th’ Sacrificial Temple, ya twat!” One of the Slavers spoke to the other. He let out a snide snort in response.

“Oh please! I’m not mistreating her! Just sprucing her up, Kill Switch. Besides, at least we didn’t ended up like those buffoons who became lunch with that monstrosity of a worm. Sucks for them!”

The mare let out a muffled speech from the muzzle restraints preventing her from making any normal speeches as another Slaver pulled the chains close to him, “What was that? You wanted to be free? Well, too bad, toots. You’re too valuable to be moseying along.”

No S.A.T.S. with me as well. Might as well do this the old fashioned way. Steady now…

I slid my tongue around the trigger and pulled it, resulting the sniper rifle to fire off the shot and driving through Kill Switch’s head, killing him (talk about being kill switched… damn, my pun was off!).

“What the bloody hell was that?! Kill Switch’s dead!” One of the Slavers shouted as he and the other Slavers were met by a barrage of Plasma Rifles. They ducked out of the way, with the mare defenselessly cowering against the ground. Gale had missed, but one of her shots did managed to land a hit onto the Slaver’s leg as he shouted, “Damnit! We’re being ambushed!”

Soon, they fired back at Gale from above though I provided her covering fire as I fired another shot at the Slaver square in the head. It didn’t took long for one of them to open fire at me (my body stopped glowing along the way, as the effects from the Sparkle-Cola Quartz had finally wore off) as I quickly moved my head and my sniper rifle away from gunfire. Ugh! Damn wooden fragments spraying a bit from bullets…

There was only two left as the Slaver told him, “Go an’ take care of that sniper, Vandal! I’ll take care th’ one from above!”

“Got it, Royal Pain!” He was now targeting me! I gotta take him down before he grabs me and possibly Tootsie and Bob! I turned to aim at Vandal, but the bastard managed to catch me off guard by knocking the sniper rifle off of my hooves and tackled me onto the ground! Ack! Get off of me, you conniving bastard!

Despite Bob’s injuries, he managed to land a shot as Vandal was floating a meat cleaver at me and allowing me to give him a headbutt to distance myself before grabbing the muzzle of my sniper and smacking him hard with the rifle.

THWAP!

“Guh! Why you little-- come here!” Vandal shouted at me as he lunged at me, only for me to fire the sniper rifle at point blank range, which hits the torso and forcing him to land on the ground. I soon shoved the muzzle inside his mouth and and gave him an angered look.

Even if I’m a scientist, I’d be damned if I even let you bastards get your filthy hooves on an innocent pony! Not now, not ever!

Mercilessly, I pulled the trigger and the bullet drove through his head and killing him instantly. No need to S.A.T.S. for this one (at least not for the time being, of course). Tootsie was covering her ears as always to muffle out the gunfire. The ground was splattered with blood, with some of my face and my suit stained with it. Ugh… bloodstains aside, I could see Gale holding her own though Royal Pain somehow managed to get a lucky shot through her wing as she shouted in pain!

Oh no! Gale! Hold on, I’m coming!

“Gah! Fucking bastard got my wing…!” She was struggling to get airborne from her damaged wing that was driven through by a bullet. I whistled as loud as I could to grab the bastard Royal Pain’s attention, taking aim at him again. Not sure how many bullets I have left in me, but if I have one in me left, I better pray to the goddesses I make it count!

Even without S.A.T.S., I may pull this one off so long as Royal Pain here doesn’t throw me off guard. Come on, Zero. Focus…

“What the--?” Royal Pain caught my attention from my whistles. Too late, you chauvinistic Slaver…

BLAM! Click. Click.

That was my only shot and I managed to single-handedly take him down as Gale painfully flew back onto the ground, tending her wing as she winced in pain. I stood up and waved at Tootsie to come with me as I rushed over to Gale, skidding to a stop to look at her wing that was bleeding from the gunshot.

“Gah… fucking hell..! Please tell me you killed him…”

I gave her a confirmed nod. I slid my saddlebags down and checked to see if I have any healing potions and hopefully bandages from our endless trekking. Aha! They’re they are, though I’ll need Tootsie’s help to patch up her wing. She’s a unicorn and I’m just an earth pony with no method of carrying more than one things. The filly arrived with Bob next to her and I showed her the bandages and a healing potion bottle for Gale, “Ooohhh. Doctor Tootsie is in and I will heal this not-baddie Enclave up, Doctor Zero!”

I let out a quiet chuckle from Tootsie Roll referring me as a doctor. I need to check on the chained-up mare, though. I motioned my head to Bob to follow me as I looked at the unnamed mare, who was still cowering in fear from exchanged gunfire. Once we arrived, I nodded to Bob to fire at the restraints for them to come loose. I could hear her whimpering and crying softly from the restraints holding her back as Bob returned the nod to me, firing off laser shots onto the chains as they break off. Afterwards, he carefully fired the muzzle lock off for her to speak.

She scrambled back from us, frantically waving a hoof, “D-Don’t kill me, please! I-I-I have nothing to give you, I swear!”

Bob let out a soft whirr as he waved a metal claw to her, as to indicate that he and I mean no harm.

“Wait… you’re not… Slavers, are you?”

I shook my head and offered a hoof to help her up with a soft smile to go for.

She recoiled back at first, but the mare soon placed her hoof onto mine as I helped her up once she realized that we’re not one of them, “I… I don’t know what to say… thank you… I don’t know what would happen if those Slavers did awful things to me… again, thank you mister…”

I smiled to her, the mare’s words were quite moving and sincere. She also giggled at Bob, who was waving his claw to her as she waved in return, as she looked at me, “I don’t have anything to give you except this.”

I received a heartwarming hug from her and returned the hug to her. She lets go of me and glanced at me before galloping off, “You’re my hero. I’ll never forget that.”

I felt a pang in my chest. She called me a hero… that’s… really awesome...

Me and Bob watched her leave as we turned our attention back to Tootsie Roll and Gale Storm, as Tootsie had already patched her wing up, “There! All better! Doctor Tootsie hereby thanks for your service!”

Gale giggles softly from her foal-ish and playful behavior, “Thank you for treating me, Tootsie Roll. Looks like I won’t be flying for a while, I guess…”

It sucks that she can’t fly now, but at least she’s still alive. That’s what mattered most. Our consolation will have to wait, however. My tail let out a sudden twitch, indicating that our danger isn’t over yet… I can only hazard a guess that Slavers have somehow sent reinforcements. I could even hear commotion from a far distance.

I waved a hoof for us to make a hasty leave. We need to get out of the residential area or we’ll be spotted!

Gesturing my hoof to the three, we need to get out of here. Gale looked at the two with a nod, “Zero’s ordering us to get out of here. I don’t think we should be sticking around inside for long…”

Tootsie saluted to her and looked at Bob, “Ten hut! The Enclave goodie has told us to go, pronto!” Of course, all Bob could do is crawl onto her back as all of us left the area. It wasn’t until I took a small glance, facing right to see that they’re not slavers… but Powder Gangers! At least they didn’t saw us; they were there to survey the damage as the result of a chain reaction of explosions that destroyed the house altogether.

“Boom Boom, what’s the damage?!” Taser yelled out. There was a small pair of Powder Gangers, but their weapons are lethal enough to blow you to smithereens.

“The Fiends were there! But no bodies, sir!”

Taser immediately gritted his teeth in between out of sheer anger, “Those damn Fiends are getting smarter by the minute, aren’t they?! Well no matter! We have Lightspeed already setting up a trap within northern Fhoal Island, so when she catches the Fiends, we’re gonna cut them up to pieces and show them that us Powder Gangers are a force to be reckoned with!”

Two days ago:

Both Starshooter and Midnight Lancer were inside an office, with Starshooter explaining the situation regarding New Hampshore, “...which is why we had no other choice but to make our escape from our own facility. Not only have we lost Lab-00, but New Hampshore altogether. Unless there’s a way to find the source of the Cazadores’ offspring, New Hampshore is no more. We can’t return without the risk of further casualties and we don’t have enough firepower with us, and my scientist teams are not combat-ready to eradicate those insects head-on. Furthermore, we had to call off the search and rescue because of the situation that’s dangerously increasing lately. If you have any available solutions, Midnight Lancer, now’s the time.”

The commander of Ranger Delta North tapped his chin in deep thought after thoroughly hearing his distressful explanation, “Currently, there is none, Mr. Starshooter. However, I will address the situation to my fellow rangers tomorrow morning. It seems like you ponies had made a hectic run from those vile insects. For now, rest up and I will debrief with the others addressing the situation at hoof.”

Starshooter bowed to him and got off of the chair as he left the office, “Thank you for allowing us to stay in your base, sir Lancer. It was appreciated of you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Today:

Once again, we’re now in a dense forest this time. At least leaves are still (barely) alive as I was still relieved from having saved a mare from being used as a ‘sacrifice’ of some sort. All we could do now is find real pony inhabitants or maybe find ourselves back to Stable Town.

We looked around and see nothing but dead, lifeless trees and twigs snapping along the way. This is gonna be a long and tiring journey. Tootsie was humming along a random song with Bob whirring along in tune. Too bad we don’t know where we are because simply put, I have no PipBuck attached to my foreleg. Woo-hoo.

Now, where is--

Wah!

I suddenly fell down into a pit! Of course, just my luck; I couldn’t even scream! I landed hard onto the soft mound, enough to daze me silly. I thought for sure I was skewered, but... the bigger problem is that the three hadn’t noticed me having fallen into the pit! I wish I could shout at their names. I really should…

As the three moved on without me, Lightspeed was perched on top of a branch with a snide grin, “Gotcha, you bastard Fiend…”

She flew down into the pit and saw that it wasn’t a Fiend (obviously), but me, being too dazed to get up, my saddlebags and my SDM-9 sniper rifle tossed aside from the harsh landing. Damn I could feel my bones breaking apart!

“What the--?! You’re not a fiend! Or are you? Either way, you’re coming with me.”

With my broken-off body immobilized, I was defenseless. Lightspeed (who is obviously a Powder Ganger I saw weeks ago during our stay in Camp Mayne Six) grabbed my body, my saddlebags and my sniper rifle and flew out of the pit as I was taken somewhere else. Great, now I’m being foal-napped. Damn my lack of voice… dammit all!

I sure hope my friends realize that I’m missing, or they would find me carved up alive. Goddesses, help me out for once!

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Hobbler -- Your chance to hit an opponents' grounded limbs is increased by 20%.
Quest Perk Added: Blackjack’s Fury -- As a “child of the bottle,” you fight better when you are drunk. You receive a 10% bonus to your Unarmed/Melee skill and +d10 corresponding damage (choose when picking the perk) when under the influence of alcohol.

Chapter Thirteen: Unlikely Alliance

“Say… where’s Zero, Tootsie?” Gale asked Tootsie. Tootsie glanced around and saw that I wasn’t there, “I bet he’s playing hide and seek, not-baddie!”

“Hide and seek? I don’t think he-- wait… Zero?! Zero, where are you?!”

It became apparent that I wasn’t with the three before her expression grew with worry, “Oh no… Zero?! Where the hell are you?!”

She frantically looked around in search for me before Bob let out a beeping noise to Gale before pointing his claw at an opened ground. Tootsie glanced at the hole, which turned out to be a pit and a used net that was still dangling above a branch, “Ooooohhh! You found a clue, Bob! Gale, Zero fell into the pit!”

“Wh-What?!” Gale had a worried look on her face as she quickly galloped to the pit, seeing that it had been used but saw that I wasn’t inside the pit.

Tootsie glanced at the worried Gale, “Soooo… should we look for him? I bet he’s back at Stable Town!”

Of course, the ex-Enclave shook her head frantically as she was trying to calm herself down after finding me gone missing.

“No… if he was, he would’ve told us. But, we have to start looking for him. Tootsie, you’re gonna have to tell me where Zero was last seen. And going back to Stable Town would mean a very long way to go, and the chances of getting us lost would be far too great. And to the point where we would never be able to find him…”

“Well, we could always go back to Crankshaft’s place and see if Zero’s PipBuck is working again!” Tootsie suggested. Bob simply let out a groan-like beep as to indicate that this isn’t a good idea.

With no other choice, Gale gave the filly an affirmed nod, “Well, we could head back to Fhoal Island and see how he’s doing. I really can’t wait five weeks with Zero gone AWOL… goddesses I hope he’s alright… let’s go, Tootsie.”

The young Tootsie gave her a salute as she went to search for me, “Yes, ma’am!”

Ugh… where am I… and what is this place..? Gale..? Tootsie…? Bob? As I slowly came to, my body didn’t felt any sharp needles driving inside. However, as I glanced around… my sniper and my saddlebags were gone, stolen too! As my vision comes to, I could see ponies… all whom are Powder Gangers and mostly armed with explosive weapons. This is seriously not gonna end well for me…

“Get up.” A Powder Ganger ordered me. I slowly struggled myself up to my hooves, looking at the same pegasus I saw during my stay at Camp Mayne Six. The same pony that nearly found me and Tootsie Roll and her robotic companion!

I was in shock as I witnessed a large group of Powder Gangers forming a large circle surrounding both me and that mare next to me, as if intent on killing me with no questions asked! Oh goddesses, what the hell have you brought me into?! A scientist like myself doesn’t deserve to die by firing squad, and its a crime too! (That is, if the Wastelands have any laws, of course!)

Taser gave a sharp glance at me, “State your business, stranger. Are you affiliated with the Fiends?”

I was given cold stares by others, with Lightspeed next to me with the intent of pinning me against the ground. Goddesses, where the hell are my friends…

“Well? Are you gonna talk, scientist? State your business.” Taser spoke dangerously to me. The hell was I supposed to do?! Make poorly-executed hoof-sign languages?! And to make matters worse, Taser has gotten his hooves at the SDM-9 sniper rifle! My sniper rifle!

I only pointed a hoof at my (former) sniper rifle and pointed at myself as to indicate that its my sniper rifle. Hopefully he’ll get the idea. Taser glanced at it before looking at me, “Oh? This is yours? Well I hate to break it to you, but finders keepers, losers weepers. Now, are you gonna tell us your name or what?”

Oh fucking horse-apples! That’s thievery!

Now, if I still had my non-existent voice, I would’ve told him my name but since I can’t talk whatsoever nor do any of those ponies read minds, I could only lift my head up and presenting my stitched throat to him. The Powder Gangers let out a surprised gasp from the sight, while Taser’s expression remained unchanged. He did say, “I’ve cut out ponies’ tongues before in my life in order to silence their treasons as the leader of the Powder Gangers, mainly both those typical Raiders and double-crossers, yet this is the first time I’ve met a scientist pony who’s vocal chords had already been cut off, eh? Surely your tongue must still be intact after somepony silenced you from ever talking again, right?”

I nodded and opened my mouth as I extended my still-intact tongue before pulling it back in, “Well, that settles it.”

Taser turned his attention to one of his members and ordered her, “You. Go get the medical clipboard and a pencil for our silent scientist over there so he can tell us his name.” He then turned his attention back to me, “Not like we’re gonna call you Fido or anything.”

Har. Fucking. Har.

The unnamed Powder Ganger returned with the clipboard and a pencil before setting it onto the ground and regrouping with the others, with Lightspeed still standing next to me (I can only assume that this one must be Taser’s second-in-command) as she gave me a nod for me to write down my name. Without any objections, I grabbed the end handle of a pencil and wrote down my name on the clipboard as a means of introducing myself to the unfamiliar and not-yet-hostile faction.

Once I set the pencil down, Lightspeed scooped up the clipboard and read my name before announcing it to her leader, “Sir, his name is Zero.”

“Zero, huh? Kinda like rookie, newcomer or however you come up with. But either way, I’m Taser and I’m the leader of the Powder Gangers. And before you ask, which you obviously can’t because you can’t normally talk, we don’t take kindly to trespassers, yet Lightspeed told me that you fell into the pit she set up from the outskirts of Fhoal Island. We thought that you’re one of the Fiends, but judging by your appearance, you sure as hell don’t look like one of them. Well, you’re brought here for a reason, so consider yourself as a temporary recruit. Got it?”

Temporary recruit? Are you bucking kidding me?! I’d rather have Gale Storm barking orders at me, thank you very much!

Of course, Taser tossed the saddlebags in front of me, “Oh, and you get to keep your saddlebags. Not like I want any of your stuff anyway, but ‘your’ sniper rifle belongs to me now. Any objections will be met with explosive force.”

“Yeah! I will go boom boom all over your ass, nerd!” Boom Boom boasted at me. Oh sure, not like I want it anyway after my previous rifle belonging to my former teammate Carbon Monoxide got stolen by Dr. Scalpel anyway… on the plus side, my uneaten foods, medicine and other miscellaneous items are still safe inside my saddlebags. I guess this Taser fellow wasn’t stupid enough to go as far as to clean my saddlebags whole. The negative side is that not only Taser stole my SDM-9 sniper rifle and now claiming ownership, but its apparent that he has a proposition for me (most likely a dangerous job specifically). Whatever he has to offer me is surely gonna force me to delay my search for my friends…

Of course, Lightspeed was holding me close to ensure that I can’t make any unnecessary movements as she whispered to my ear, “I’m Lightspeed, Taser’s second-in-command. Don’t get any ideas of trying to escape. We don’t want our own little base become littered with corpses, would we? Now, be a good little colt and listen to what our leader has something to give you, understand?”

Her voice was soft and succulent while dangerous at the same time, and I could totally feel her hoof gently rubbing under my chin! I was already trickling with beads of cold sweat from her sudden closeness to me! A little personal space would’ve sufficed! (Besides, I have maybe tens of Powder Gangers watching you trying to seduce me!)

I let out a heavy, uneasy gulp and slowly nodded to the second-in-command in response. Fuck, why does my heart feel the need to self-destruct in many awkward levels?!

“Good. It’d be such a waste to lose such a wonderful scientist like yourself…” The second-in-command told me, giving me a bit of space, but still keeping herself close to me.

Goddesses, my hooves felt like noodles already! I feel like my heart is about to burst through my chest at any moment!

“Oh don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal, you silly nerd! That must mean she likes you!”

Likes me?! She looks like she has the intention of shooting me in the back, or even blow me up to smithereens! Surely you didn’t think they’d go easy on me, would you?!

“Pfft, you’re such a sourpuss! At least you’ve made a tooooon of friends to go for! Now you don’t have to be lonely anymore, mister… Blueberry? Is your name Blueberry?!”

NO! And I refuse to be addressed as such! I’m Zero, and don’t get any funny ideas of referring my name as some common number, okay?!

“Oooookey-dokey-wokeeeeey! But she’s still into you, mister Zero! Wink wink, nudge nudge!”

Goddesses, I really can’t engage into a mental conflict with this Pinkie thing here! I could also hear her giggle playfully in my head… and even Tootsie’s not that scatterbrained! Okay, Zero… calm down… but the way Lightspeed was so close to me almost made me lose it, and not a good thing as well because they’ll consider me a crazed scientist! Of course, that’s when reality came back with me as Taser gave me a sudden electrical shock from the cattle prod poking me in the rear end.

KZZZZT!

Ack! Fuck me!

I looked around a bit before wincing a bit from the electrical shocks. Damn, it hurts so fucking much! I fell to the ground momentarily from the painful shocks.

“Did you just fell asleep with your eyes open while I was giving you a task, or were you just daydreaming? Lightspeed, tell our clueless scientist what I just told him.”

Lightspeed nodded from his orders and soon picked me up to my hooves as she ordered me, “Pay close attention to us dear, because this will be the only time I’ll be telling you under Taser’s orders. You, me, Boom Boom and two of our Securitrons will be infiltrating the Fiends’ base and making sure that there’s no survivors. And that we’re taking their belongings with us as well. So, any objections?”

I shook my head to her, because I sure as hell don’t want to be prodded to death by a cattle prod!

“Good. Now, go and get yourself cleaned up. Taser will be with you momentarily.”

I slowly nodded, having no choice but to call off the search of my real friends for the time being and just follow her orders. Goddess damnit…

As I took a nice, not-irradiated shower (I think?), I can only assume that I’m back at Camp Mayne Six while I was out cold from having fallen down into the pit that Lightspeed had apparently set up without my knowledge. Seems my sharpened senses were countered this time. Woo-hoo. Yay me.

And I really hope I don’t have to wear one of their clothes or goddesses help me I’m gonna be facing more trouble than its already worth…

I heard a knock from the door and Taser’s muffled voice is heard outside as he informed me, “Zero, we’ve also washed up your clothes for you. Again, you’re our temporary recruit, so we’ll go easy on you unless you do something you’ll end up regretting.”

Trust me, I’m regretting everything right now. The shower may be nice and all, but its delaying the inevitable of me not being able to search for my friends at all. All I have to do is raid the so-called Fiends’ territory and they’ll let me off. Or probably give me another, unwanted task that’s going to further impede my reunion with my allies. I don’t think they can last without me… Gale may be an excellent shooter, but with her wing damaged and her ammunition of her twin Plasma Rifles uncertain, even the ex-Enclave may not last. Tootsie can’t even put up a fight and Bob can barely hold his own and has yet to be taken to repairs.

Once the shower was done, I shook myself dry and went to retrieve my clothes from the locker room. Seems Taser wasn’t there and did at least kept his word with my Stable-replica outfit and my trusty lab coat sitting on the bench. Of course, there’s also a Powder Ganger body vest next to my two outfits. I’m guessing extra protection? Well either way, better suit myself up. Hope my friends are doing alright...

“Hey, I know what we can do! We can go back to Stable Town so we can have your wing fixed up!” Tootsie suggested to Gale.

The ex-Enclave let out a sigh, “I guess. We’ll have to look for Zero later. Its too dangerous out there and without him, I don’t have much ammo left in me. And your robo-scorpion friend isn’t looking too good either. His servos are acting up and his tail can’t fire off lasers, so I’m afraid he’ll have to wait until we can get back to Stable Town. Even if we’re too far away, at least this terrain isn’t too rugged…”

“Okey-dokey-wokey! Bob, think you can hold on until we return to Stable Town?” Tootsie asked her damaged and barely-functioning robo-scorpion friend. In response, he emitted his weak whirr as a nod.

“Yay! I knew you could do it!”

The three moved on, with Bob riding shotgun onto Tootsie’s back as his mechanical legs were barely functional and sought to return to Stable Town to get themselves fixed, though a long and treacherous journey awaits them. As for me? Well, I just hope they’ll live as much as I do. Not sure how I will end up after making an unofficial affiliation with the Powder Gangers…

I’m now dressed up with the same outfits but with an armored vest to go for to provide extra protection against gunfire. Being forced to form an allegiance with the Powder Gangers can prove to be a risky gamble. Defy their orders and they’re sure to put you into their crosshairs and blow you up to kingdom come. It didn’t had to come down to this, but what choice do I have? Would I follow their orders in exchange for freedom, even if my allies would appear at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or would I turn on their backs and receive instant death as a penalty?

I’m fine with Starshooter ordering me around when it comes to retrieving artifacts scattered around the Wastelands for research purposes, but when it comes down to unwittingly working with a hostile faction, you’ve been given those two obvious and life-threatening choices. FOr now, I’ll just roll with the punches and see what’s the outcome when I fulfill Taser’s orders…

I left the locker room where Taser guided me into the mess hall, which serves as a meeting room for planning attacks and raiding bases for a hostile takeover and expand their morale. I was also joined up with Taser’s second-in-command, Lightspeed, and demolitions expert Boom Boom as we listened to Taser’s latest objective for everypony… and me.

“Zero. You’re going with Lightspeed and Boom Boom, and everypony else will follow. Stick with them and you shouldn’t have any problems. Understood?”

I nodded at his orders. It seems that we’re not gonna be raiding the Fiends’ base alone and Taser’s making sure that he has enough of his members to raid the base and claim it as their own. As much as I love allies, this is not what I had in mind. I hope the Goddesses forgive me for this.

“Alright, ponies, you know the drill. Let’s move!” Taser rallied his Powder Ganger members as we left Camp Mayne Six, all are armed with explosive weapons as I reluctantly followed with them, with Lightspeed keeping close to me. Great. I got me an actual foalsitter who’s actually armed to the teeth. That’s sure to lighten up my day. As for myself? Well, I’m weaponless as a sign of ‘fuck you’ from Taser himself who kept my sniper rifle as his own.

Maybe if I could scrounge their weapons should they meet an unfortunate death, then I wouldn’t be too defenseless… that is, if I knew how to use them. I’m a scientist, not a demolitions expert like Boom Boom here!

I’ll admit that I’m not claustrophobic around other ponies, but the way Lightspeed has an unusual attachment to me proves that my awkwardness was shown and my guard was completely lowered until Taser tased me for me to get back into reality. I hope this is the first and final assignment I was given before I can continue my search for my real allies. All I could do now was follow the rest of the Powder Gangers, aside from Lightspeed keeping a close watch.

“Once we arrive at the Fiends’ base, I’ll give you a weapon so you don’t have to run and hide.” Lightspeed instructed me. Oh joy, I wonder what I’ll be getting. A stick of dynamite? Or maybe a grenade launcher that’s sure to malfunction and blow me apart in the process?

“Oh… and I’d keep my distance from Boom Boom. He’s pretty wild when it comes to explosives. I wouldn’t let anypony lay harm on such a wonderful and quiet scientist like you…”

Oh goddesses, here we go again… we haven’t arrived yet, and I’m already sweating bullets! My heart was already suffering internally from your… your seductions!

Okay, calm down… she’s just… well, seducing you in all of undiscovered yet questionable manners that doesn’t include bodily harm, thankfully…

I saw Powder Ganger members moving in different areas, most likely as to set up flanking positions as we’re close to the Fiends’ base. (I think? Because my non-existent PipBuck would sure as hell say otherwise.)

Boom Boom was grinning wildly as he aimed at the Fiends patrolling the area (whom are ponies as well, who are also well-armed and ready) with a soft yet crazed chuckle, “Boom Boom shall give these Fiends the biggest ka-boom they’ll ever have…”

My eye widened at the sight, and not from the same RPG I even saw before… but the one I heard from the explosion while me, TooTsie Roll and Bob were about to leave the cave entrance of Mount Gallopmore! He was the one who caved us in with no acknowledgement other than the fact that he never had a second thought and trapped us inside! I’m not sure why, but all that matters right now is getting the hell out of here once that task is finished.

All right, just focus on the task at hoof. At least you get to sit back and watch. No weapons to go for other than food and medication, after all. What could go wrong?

Well… apart from having battle saddles placed onto my back containing twin grenade launchers, of course. Lightspeed grinned benevolently at me, “You do the honors for us, Zero. Make your first shots count, and don’t hold back.”

Great… I’m first in line to create explosions for those Powder Gangers. Celestia forgive me for causing collateral damage. Blame Taser for treating me like some lapdog…

Right… here goes nothing!

I grabbed the string with my teeth and pulled the triggers as both grenade launchers fire off explosive rounds at them.

BOOOOOOOM!!!
BOOOOOOOM!!!

Body parts from the patrolling Fiends faction were flying everywhere, blood included, as the Powder Ganger ponies rallied and charged towards the base. Warring factions ensued, and I’m stuck in the goddamn middle.

“Charge! Let’s show them what happens when you mess with the Powder Gangers!” Taser shouted, as I followed Lightspeed, who made quick work on a couple of those unfortunate, heavily-tattooed ponies with only her wings. And they’re sharp too, enough to cut clean through a tree! Were they augmented?! Better yet, is she a cyborg mare?!

Gah! I’ll figure it out later! Right now I need to focus on helping the Powder Gangers take out the Fiends and their base for them as me and Boom Boom fired off explosive (and rocket) rounds at the remaining Fiends. There weren’t much at first, but I wouldn’t be too sure about it. In fact, this is too easy… why so many Powder Gangers against so few Fiends guarding their base? In fact, this is just a scratch on the surface as I heard them cheering and some already raiding the base inside and making a clean sweep inside.

Even my tail was still twitching. Turns out that the remaining Fiends had somehow called for backup before their base was raided. Looks like this has become the calm before the storm…

I carefully went inside with Lightspeed monitoring close to me as an unnamed Powder Ganger told his leader, “Sir, we infiltrated their base! The Fiends hadn't stood a chance!”

“Good. They may be smart, but they sure as hell don’t know how to put up a fight. In fact, they should’ve ran while they have a chance. I mean, what kind of ‘weapons’ do they have anyway?! Poorly-drawn poles?! Bah! But yes, it’ll teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget.”

I pretty much contributed very little apart from killing ponies under the orders of a second-in-command known as Lightspeed. I didn’t get it… I just didn’t. One thing that really strikes me odd is her overall appearance she’s been concealing throughout. Her outfit is not unlike other Powder Gangers. Goddesses, why am I getting this dreaded feeling that she’s anything but an ordinary mare…?!

I quickly glanced at the window to see if any further danger is coming our way (or in this case, to see if there’s any clearing for me to make my stupid escape) and saw a couple of ponies just settling in with their new base while the others had already left to return to Camp Mayne Six. As I made my leave, I was intercepted by Boom Boom who blocked my one exit, “Nerd pony not leaving until leader says so!”

Of course I couldn’t. And even then, where would I go?

My still-twitching tail led to Lightspeed to give me a curious look, “Something the matter, Zero?”

Oh goddesses! What’s with her voice! Here I thought her voice had a hint of lust, or that’s what I thought, at least! W-Why is her voice… half-robotic?! Is she a… a…!

Fuck! I need to snap out of it or Taser will give me a painful shock again! I backpedalled myself against the wall as Boom Boom galloped to the leader inside a derelict office, “Sir! Zero going mad again!”

Taser’s response was an annoyed groan, “Goddess-damnit, Boom Boom… every scientist pony are known for their craziness, so why are you telling me this right now? For me to give him a reality check? Fine…”

As he left the office, I pointed a hoof at Lightspeed’s robotic eye, including a portion of her head and her ear replaced with a mechanical one. She blinked momentarily before realizing what I was pointing at, “Oh, my mechanical eye? Heh, well there’s more than meets the eye, Zero. I’m part-cyborg, part-pony.”

I can only hazard a guess that Dr. Scalpel must’ve turned her into part-murderous robot… I heavily gulped down at the sight. Even her voice was part-robotic, though I was so caught in the middle of a mental argument with Pinkie Pie that made me think that I was hearing her normal voice! I quickly shook my head as to try and snap out of it. No, this can’t be true…

I didn’t think that I’m beginning to develop an irrational fear of augmented ponies… not now, not ever. Its becoming like where Solar Eclipse’s forelegs were completely amputated through and… fuck!

As Taser was about to tase me a second time, his second-in-command held him back with a robotic hoof, “Hold on. He’s never seen a partially-robotic pony like myself before, Taser. You go with Boom Boom and scout the area, I’ll have a private conversation with him.”

With an affirmative nod, Taser motioned his head to Boom Boom, “You heard her, we need to scout the area in case more would come, Boom Boom. As for you Zero, you better have a spine when you’re calm and not end up wetting yourself just because Lightspeed looks different from us, got it?”

I didn’t respond, but I was soon ushered into a vacant room by Lightspeed. Once the two had left, I was in a loss of words (literally) over the sight of her augmented appearance. I was frozen. No movement at all besides the unexpected shock just hitting you from a sudden realization.

“I suppose I owe you an explanation. Just man up for once and listen; I was an ordinary mare months ago before I was fatally injured from an RPG blast by the bastard Raider that I never saw blew me to smithereens. I succumbed to my injuries, sure, but a hoof-ful of Steel Rangers found me and instead of burying me alive, I was instead revived and augmented to become part cyberpony. Let’s just say I went mindless because I was part robot and left afterwards… and that is where Taser came in and recruited me. I was their perfect killing machine…”

I eased up a bit and listened on as I soon realised that she was a former, ordinary pony before being transformed into an almost-mindless cyberpony. I was still uneasy, but to hear her withstand such an unavoidable death was miracle enough. Or just dumb luck.

But Lightspeed wasn’t finished, “And as for those Steel Rangers? Let’s just say they never lived another day… serves them right for creating a monster like me…”

Her voice became robotic in a dark and sinister manner… monster… why does that awfully remind me of Dr. Scalpel and his never-before-seen creation…

She soon finished with a partial robotic tone competing against her normal voice, “But as for you? You’re not a threat. Not unless you do something that’ll end up directly in your grave. Of course, it’d be a waste to put down on such a wonderful scientist like yourself… so, rest up, and I’ll debrief you afterwards.”

Again, I didn’t respond whatsoever. This was the first time that a cyberpony was giving me orders, and the smallest mistake will prove fatal. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing. Why am I still afraid? Its like bravery was taken from me without warning and resulted in a switch from bravery to cowardly. I’m a scientist, not some… scaredy pony…

Lightspeed gently pressed her robotic hoof to me and gingerly pushed me forward as I uneasily rested onto my back on the mattress. I slowly shut my eye as I took small, deep breaths in an effort for me to relax. I felt her muzzle pressed against my cheek and softly spoke to me as to attempt to mask her killer, robotic voice, “I will see you in three hours. Do rest up, you’ll need it.”

I still feel uneasy from the way she sounds like. I can’t even think straight and my body felt frozen, unable to let out spasms as to warn me regarding incoming dangers heading our way. I just can’t… why the fuck am I scared over an augmented pony? Bob may be a robo-scorpion, but at least he didn’t had organic parts to go for as he was fully mechanical. Oh goddesses, if you were even alive, you’d help on getting over this stupid fear. Hopefully a well-deserved nap will suffice…

Two hours later and I’m still asleep, having already calmed myself down and keeping my first irrational fear at bay. The worst thing I’ll be getting is getting killed in my sleep and my belongings from my saddlebags taken in the process.

It wasn’t until the door slowly crept open without my acknowledgement, revealing to be Lightspeed as she took a small glance at me, showing a hint of remorse before making her slow approach to me and laying down behind me, her forelegs (both normal and mechanical) embracing around me. I tensed up at first because of her mechanical nature, but I was soon relaxed after realizing her intentions on consoling me and not kill me in a bloodied fashion.

Her tone was still robotic yet gentle against my ear, “I want you to listen carefully… not all cyberponies like myself are mindless beings. Only robobrains are major threats to us, so please, Zero. At least show us your bravery, that you’re not just a scientist, but also a brave colt who will do whatever it takes to save others. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I kept myself asleep but all I could do was nod in response.

“Good. Now, do you wish for me to keep you company until I wake you up within the next hour?”

I didn’t have other choice. All I could do was let out another nod to the half-cyberpony.

“Alright. I’ll keep a close watch on you in the meantime.”

I felt her warm embrace around me, the irrational fear of augmented ponies (which was the first time I’ve ever encountered in the Wastelands) soon vanishing from my mind. It felt as if she was my mother… a mother that I never had before. (That, or my actual mother pretty much died and never saw me ever since. Same goes for my non-existent father.)

My shut eye soon trickled a tear down to my cheek. Lightspeed’s quiet but solemn words were, “Don’t cry. Just rest and let me stay by your side…”

“Sir, we’re under heavy fire!” An unnamed Powder Ganger shouted at Taser as muffled gunfire are heard outside. I jolted awake from the sudden gunfire while Lightspeed instantly got onto her hooves and her red, cybernetic eye began to glow before she gave me orders, “Get up, Zero! The Powder Gangers need our help! Grab your things and get a weapon, and no second thoughts! That is an order!”

I scrambled myself up to my hooves, with no time for me to think straight at all as I immediately went into my saddlebags. The Fiends are back?! Fuck!

I went to fetch the grenade launcher and a couple of explosive rounds before rushing outside. What I saw weren’t the Fiends, but… what the hell are they?! They’re heavily armored and armed with military-grade weapons! But they’re not the Enclaves…

Whoa!

I ducked out of the way as a laser round burned clean through a door. They’re not the Enclaves, but they’re differently colored and dangerous! I’m not even sure if the Fiends even called in reinforcements, or another faction intent on taking over the recently raided base camp from the Powder Gangers, but one thing’s for certain, they’re here to make sure there aren’t any survivors and me with them. I can’t let that happen… I can’t!

I glanced at the corner of the wall and found a grenade launcher (though I’m not entirely sure if it has any ammo left), but all of the more reason for me and my unofficial allies to stay alive as I galloped outside, avoiding any incoming fire hurtling towards me before diving behind a large boulder with barely any cover to go for. I really didn’t think this would quickly become an unexpected all-out war!

At least those heavily-armored ponies weren’t aiming for me yet, though I can’t stay in one spot or they’ll discover me and fester me with lasers, plasmas, all of the above! Carefully taking aim with the (seemingly unreliable) grenade launcher at a trio of heavily-armored, not-friendly ponies as they were firing at the Powder Ganger Squadron. (Even though the Powder Gangers are holding their own so far, several had already died from gunfire. As for those three key members? I don’t know.)

Steady… aim…

FWOMP! BOOOOMMM!!

I flinched as my tongue was in sharp pain from the launcher’s recoil, but the explosion was enough to critically would the armored ponies, but not enough to kill them entirely. To make matters worse, the unreliable grenade launcher was broken into pieces! What neighsayer decided to leave it unmaintained?!

I’m weaponless yet again now as I was applying pressure to both of my own cheeks with my forelegs, though my recovery was cut short when a stray laser shot (most likely from an armored pony) grazed through my hind leg! I was frozen in place, my face letting out an agonized painful expression as I opened my mouth and let out a voiceless scream! Goddess-fucking-damnit, it hurts!!

As I fell onto my back and writhing in severe pain (with my saddlebags thrown back onto the ground), the armored pony dangerously approached me with the intent of finishing me off. I slammed my eye shut while trying to hold off the searing heat that grazed along my hind leg. Fuck…

“Say your prayers, you--"

“Die, you Steel Ranger scums!” Lightspeed yelled out with a ruthless, robotic tone as her wings sliced through it as the armored pony… or Steel Ranger, let out a muffled and blood-curdling scream, opening my eye a bit to see it being cut through horizontally…

I would vomit, but my mind is currently focused on the nasty burn of my hind leg. I was soon picked up by Lightspeed from the back of my lab coat and had me sit behind a boulder. I was panting harshly, grinding my teeth against each other from the searing pain as Lightspeed glanced at me before looking at my partially-burned hind leg, “You’re hurt. Stay right here. We’ll deal with them.”

Yeah. Coming from a half-cyberpony who happened to appear out of nowhere while trying to avoid the inevitable death. And what the hell is a Steel Ranger anyway?! Ugh… it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m at the sidelines and Powder Gangers are holding their own while dying in the process. Taser was a close-combat specialist, incapacitating a Steel Ranger with that cattle prod of his that leaves painful, if not fatal, electrical jolts. Boom Boom is, simply put, just blowing apart those Steel Rangers amid suffering from minor wounds.

And me? Well, I’m just a fucking liability. All I could do is sit this one out.

“We must take down Lightspeed at any cost! Don’t hold back!” A Steel Ranger ordered the others. So I guess they’re the ones who revived her into part pony, all killing machine? Yep, that sums everything up.

Lying next to me were strewn whiskey bottles. Two of them and miraculously not broken from the gunfight. Probably from a dead Powder Ganger, but what fucks do I give? At least they’ll help me forget the pain I’m having and let the Powder Gangers take the reigns for me. Wrapping a hoof around it and I began to take a sip when…

“Wait! That stuff will make you all woozy-doozy!”

Meh, what do I care? I have a goddess-damned burn on my hind leg and my saddlebags are out of my hoof’s reach. And goddesses help me if I don’t happen to find a so-called Steel Ranger popping out from the bushes and land a lucky shot to the head that’ll also end my life for good.

“Oh well! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Pfft, I’m a scientist. What harm could it be for just a little drink? Oh well. A toast to my own, miserable efforts.

After concluding yet another mental conversation with Pinkie Pie, I start to gulp it down. Huh, not bad. Of course… my mind’s getting a bit tipsy…

I guess a second one wouldn’t hurt… would it? Bottoms up!

It wasn’t long until I tossed the whiskey bottle aside, the thought of my pained hind leg completely forgotten and numbed, like as if the burn wasn’t even there…

I let out a silly, drunken grin as I looked on to the left, seeing a couple of Steel Rangers left, all focused on Lightspeed and other Powder Gangers… hell, even the explosions were muffled, like exploding confettis!

Now to make my move… whoo I may be a drunken scientist, but you can totally bet how many fucks I give when I smack them silly!

I slowly crawled around to find a perfect flanking position as I scanned the area around and about, all while this trippy, tilting image of mine seems to have a mind of its own. Get it? Of course not! As they were out of ammo, the Steel Rangers (or however the fuck you can call them) were ready to charge at them head-on. Not if I - the great and magnificent Zero - have anything to say about it! (Of course though, it doesn’t include my actual, slurred speeches.)

“Damnit! Where’d all the explosive rounds go?!” The unnamed Powder Ganger shouted. Lightspeed gracefully and dangerously flared her razor-sharp wings, “I’ll finish them off.”

As she zoomed towards the few remaining Steel Rangers, I myself had unwittingly lunged myself and tackled on a Steel Ranger as to disarm him (or her, I don’t really give a fuck). Along the way, a part of my mane was inadvertently sliced through by her wing. Armored or not, time to slug this bastard!

Even with both decapitated heads flown in midair with blood spraying all over the place, I wasn’t even fazed by the bloodstains as I took off the Steel Ranger’s helmet, revealing to be a mare as she angrily shouted, “Get off of me, bastard!”

Unfazed by her insults, if those Steel Rangers are this evil, then its time for me to rough ‘em up a bit! One, two, my forelegs struck against the mare because she and pretty much the others were responsible for turning Lightspeed into a freak of nature! Blow after blow came with me headbutting the everloving fuck out of the unnamed Steel Ranger’s face repeatedly. Of course, the Powder Gangers looked on with disbelief as I soon collapsed onto the side and off of her, the female Steel Ranger writhing in pain. The drunkenness finally got the better of me as I pass out, my forehead also splitting itself open from the headbutting as a trail of blood trickles down the left side of my head. Sleepy times…

Lightspeed angrily approached to me and dangerously spoke with a robotic tone, “How dare you defy an order from your second-in-command! I oughta cut you up for this!”

“Wait!” Taser ordered, “He did managed to incapacitate this Steel Ranger. Let us handle this for now and we’ll take this Steel Ranger prisoner. Take Zero back to Camp Mayne Six. We’ll meet you back there for a debrief. Understood?”

She stopped for a moment, the tip of her razor-sharp wing pointed dangerously at me as she was about to make her kill. She frowns at his orders and bared her teeth in an angered manner, “But sir, Zero defied an order, and you’re going to let it slide?!”

“We’ll check him out later. For now, take him back to Camp Mayne Six. That is an order from your leader, Taser.”

She snaps and snarled at his orders, but soon gave him an affirmed nod, “Yes sir...”

“Good. And grab his belongings along the way.”

I was too drunk and passed out to even listen, or even see Lightspeed threatening to cut me open after just downright attacking a Steel Ranger. As for her? She was covering her hooves around her face in pain as I was pulled away from her by Taser’s second-in-command. Inside my mind is where Pinkie Pie was poking fun on how reckless I was, or how I was hitting on a mare. Excuse me, but I was drunk! And even if I wasn’t, what makes you think that this mare wasn’t intent on killing me?!

Shenanigans aside inside my blank mind, Lightspeed went on to carry me on her back, along with my saddlebags in tow. I wonder where she is taking me…?

“Are we there yet?” Tootsie asked Gale Storm, looking bored from their long trip.

Gale shook her head, “No, but from the looks of it, at least we’re back in Fhoal Island… maybe we could ask Crankshaft how Zero’s PipBuck is doing along the way?”

The filly nods to her, “Okey-dokey-wokey! We should also ask him if he can fix up Bob!”

“Good! Now, let’s go to his workshop before we can get back to Stable Town.”

The three arrives inside Crankshaft’s workshop as to check and see if my PipBuck had been fixed, even if five weeks hasn’t passed yet. Upon arrival, Crankshaft himself was still working on the PipBuck, albeit struggling as he was having a difficult time getting the PipBuck 1000 to work again, “Flabbergasted PipBuck dun’ seem to be workin’...”

“Crankshaft, how’s Zero’s PipBuck doing?” Gale asks, with a hint of curiosity mixed with concern.

“Oh! What are you fellers doing all the way back in Fhoal Island? I thought ah told ya to come back in five weeks! But ah guess that doesn’t matter now… darn PipBuck from your friend doesn’t seem to be workin’. Ah tried t’ fix the screen, but it seems that it ain’t functioning no more. Ah tried fixin’ with spare parts, yet yer friend’s PipBuck ain’t workin’ no more. Its ancient history now.”

“Wh-What?! What do you mean?!” Gale was shocked to hear that my PipBuck couldn’t be repaired despite Crankshaft’s efforts.

“Aww! No extra PipBuck either?”

Crankshaft even shook his head as he delivered more bad news to the three, “‘Fraid not, little feller. This ol’ PipBuck is just as outdated as my age. An’ PipBucks are hard t’ come by, too. And even then, they’re mighty expensive! So, sorry fellers. Ah tried my best but again, this PipBuck is no more.”

The two let out a disappointed frown. Despite Crankshaft’s efforts, the PipBuck is of beyond repair. It seems that even with five weeks, this PipBuck is irreparable. Perhaps his old age made him miscalculate the deadline. Tootsie slowly approached to the counter before looking up to him, “Well… could you try and at least fix my friend Bob? He’s not looking too good…”

Bob’s response was a weakened whirr, as the extensive damage inside his systems from a harsh fall during the escape from a raging Tatzlwurm left him in a near state of disrepair, with his tail unable to fire off lasers. Despite Crankshaft’s elder age, he nodded to the filly, “Of course ah can! I’ll fix him up in a jiffy. Why don’tcha stay here for awhile, while I get yer scorpion thingy fixed up.”

Tootsie gives out a hopeful smile, “Yay! Gale, he’s gonna fix our friend up!”

Gale suddenly struck a thought before waving a hoof to Crankshaft, “Wait! What about the PipBuck 3000?”

“Huh? Erm, what’s that? A PipBuck 3000? Hmm… my ol’ noggin isn’t what it used to be… oh! Yes, ah have it! I think? But first, I’ll fix yer scorpion friend up before ah can show it to you!”

She lets out a sigh of relief before sitting down next to Tootsie, “Good… for a minute there I thought you didn’t have it… you got me worried there for a second.”

Even with his old age, Crankshaft was still kind-hearted to customers even those who never returned to his workshop for years since. Once he deactivated Bob, he went down to work on the damaged robo-scorpion’s servos. Tootsie even used magic to turn on a barely-working radio as it began to play an old-timey music just to pass time. Inside Crankshaft’s workshop, Bob’s damaged CPU were replaced with newer ones in order for his mechanical tail to function properly again.

“Say Gale, what do we do when we get back to Stable Town? Should we play hide and seek?” Tootsie asked the former Enclave, with innocence to go for. Gale shook her head in response.

“No, sweetie. We need to rest up and start looking for Zero. We’ll have fun and games later, but for now, we have to wait until Bob is all fixed up.”

The filly nodded a bit with a soft sigh, “Good point… I want my friend Bob to be working again. He loves playing hide and seek…”

Gale Storm let out a soft giggle and pressed her muzzle against the filly’s head, “I’m sure he does, little Tootsie. I’m sure he does.”

Ugh… what the fuck happened…

Am I back in Camp Mayne Six? I dunno. That’s for certain…

Or am I waking up only to die in shock because my insides were cut open by… Dr. Scalpel?!

Gah! Fuck, my head! I clutched my forelegs around my head, seething in pain. Lightspeed took a small glance at me, “You’re awake. Good. Seems you have a moderate headache from both your developed drinking habit to headbutting a Steel Ranger repeatedly that resulted your forehead to split open. You’re lucky you didn’t physically harmed yourself further, or you’d be dealing with me. And I would’ve ended you in a bloodied fashion if you did that.”

Wait, what? When did I headbutted a Steel Ranger? Much less started to drink? I rubbed my hoof against my head in a confused manner… I also felt a bandage that was wrapped around my head. Wait, I was bleeding?! Whoa… at least it wasn’t too serious, I think. And what the hell is a Steel Ranger again?

She did smiled at me however, “Of course, you’re still alive. Can’t believe a wimpy scientist like yourself would have the balls to charge in a Steel Ranger and even managing to incapacitate her before you passed out. I like that.”

Huh? I did? I dunno what she’s even talking about but all I could do was nod to her.

“I see you can’t remember anything, huh? No wonder you have a tendency to headbutt everypony after drinking and then passing out in the end. Is your high intelligence not enough for a scientist like yourself? Typical. You colts are all the same…”

I merely looked at her, like as if I was stupid. I winced a bit in pain from my same hind leg that received burns from a laser shot earlier today. I reached my hoof out, though Lightspeed intervened, “Don’t touch it. Your hind leg had a nasty burn from a laser shot, so you’re better off resting a little more before you can move again.”

At least she’s looking after my saddlebags, just like Gale Storm would. Even this partial cyberpony wouldn’t go as far as to steal things unless if its from dead enemies. Sadly, I have nothing besides my items. Nothing to defend myself from harm as I rested back and letting out a sigh. What a bucking day this has been,,,

I could feel her robotic hoof pressed against my cheek as a form of comfort, “Don’t feel bad. At least you were brave enough to try and not end up getting killed. Like I said, it’d be such a waste to lose such a wonderful scientist like yourself. Now, just stay here. I’ll go and fetch you something to eat. You must be awful hungry from a hectic battle…”

Come to think of it, I am hungry… I could feel and hear it rumble inside before giving my stomach a pat with a hoof.

If only I could remember… its slowly but surely coming back to me now. I guess I do remember some stuff, even my own friends after all. Lightspeed came back with radroach meat coated with Pork N’ Beans served on a dish plate. Even if its meat, I’ve relinquished my rights to stay vegan so chow time!

I was eating vigorously and coating my muzzle with Pork N’ Beans sauce as I heard the half-cyberpony letting out a soft giggle, “My, you sure are hungry, Zero. Almost as if you were my son… speaking of, do you have parents? Not that it’s important anyway.”

As I kept eating and almost finishing my meal, I stopped for a moment when she asked me that. I simply shook my head before hanging my head down a bit with a hint of sadness. If only I knew who were really my parents… too bad they’ve been long dead before I even knew who my mother and father was. Most likely from either a megaspell or being completely dead by the Wastelands themselves.

“So they’re dead, I presume?” Lightspeed asked as I gave a nod. Even if somepony would declare me as their son, how the fuck am I even fit as a true blood relative?

“Huh… well, I suppose I do treat you in a motherly manner, even if my approach was… rather subtle.” Her robotic giggle was let out as I was left confused. Oh wait, I know what she meant… fuck my virginity…

I knew nothing about the simplest basics on approaching anypony like that… its just so… weird and leaves with questionable results. Eugh…

“Well anyway, how about this; assuming that you don’t have actual parents, would you like me to be under your temporary care? As to treat you like my son?”

I cleaned my muzzle with a bed sheet, because I sure as hell don’t want to ruin my trusty lab coat, as I was suddenly surprised to hear this. Lightspeed wanting me to be her adoptive son? This was… unexpected, but…

I did what I could to hold back tears, though despite her near-monstrous appearance, she seems to display her caring to me even if she were to cut me up with her razor-sharp wings just because I disregarded her order. I slowly nodded to her in response. To have an adoptive mother seems so sudden, but anything that can make up for my actual, non-existent parents.

As another response from Lightspeed herself, she gave me a warm, motherly hug, her forelegs embracing me, “Good. Now, just lay back and rest. We’ll wait for Taser to return and I’ll debrief him. Understood?”

I nodded again, just to show that I can obey any order that doesn’t include me binge drinking and charging head-on in a drunken, suicidal manner. Once she had released me, I laid back against the mattress, now well-fed. Of course as always, I couldn’t say anything because I have nothing to write down with. But I suppose waiting until Taser and his compadres would return to Camp Mayne Six with me resting inside a cabin. Not sure what, but I’m too overwhelmed to think of anything at this time.

After seven hours of a lengthy trek, Taser and the Powder Ganger team had soon returned to Camp Mayne Six. Entering the mess hall, he presented a salute to Lightspeed, “Report, Lightspeed!”

Lightspeed returned the salute, “At ease, Taser. Zero’s recovery is doing splendid.”

“Excellent. We’ll leave you at that. Ince Zero recovers, he is free to leave. Unless he chooses to stay with us, he’s better off on his own.”

“Affirmative. Although, I do wish to temporarily accompany him for only a week. As far as he can take care of himself, he doesn’t have any weapons with him. With brains require a lot of brawn, and Zero has yet to earn any brawn. Furthermore, he doesn’t have a PipBuck with him… and I understand that it doesn’t concern you, but to me, he’s proven a worthy ally for the Powder Gangers.” Lightspeed replied to her leader. He was left puzzled at first, wondering what this partial cyberpony meant.

“You wish to accompany him? Well… I suppose if its really temporary, then do return back here afterwards and not a moment too soon. We need to make a plan on where the fuck did those Steel Rangers come from and take them down. Got it?”

Lightspeed gave her leader a salute, “Yes, sir. I assure you that you won’t be disappointed. Speaking of, shall we check on Zero before he can leave with me?”

Taser gave her a confirmed nod, “Yes. Let’s see how well he is doing.”

I was still asleep but soon heard the door swinging open before opening my eye, seeing Taser, Lightspeed and a couple of Powder Gangers coming to see me. I sat up and listened to what Taser has to tell me, “Listen up, Zero. You’re not one of us, but you’re proven a worthy ally for us. And we trust that you put Lightspeed under your care, but only temporary. She’ll likely leave you after an entire week of being your companion before she can return to us. And we need her to find out the source of this… Steel Rangers, or however the fuck you can call it, and take them down. Do I make myself clear? We need her in one piece after a full week has expired. No exceptions.”

Taser’s authoritative behavior proves that he means business, and for Lightspeed would be extremely crucial for their upcoming mission. All I could do was give him a nod.

“Excellent. We’re counting on you to ensure that she makes it back alive and in good health. You’re a scientist, so you’re smarter than this.” Taser instructed me. Oh sure, its not like I would be working on a rock farm…

I got up from the bed before nodded to Lightspeed for us to make our leave. As we left Camp Mayne Six, Taser informed me, “Word of advice. Lightspeed is very fierce, so its best to keep her sanity in check. The last thing she would do to you is to turn you into pony filet. And we’re not going to be held responsible for your unexpected death.”

Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. She’s threatened me a hoof-ful of times!

“Ther’ ya go! This little feller’s all nice and fixed up!” Crankshaft returns with Bob fixed good as new. Bob emits a happy beep and waves his metal claw at Gale Storm and Tootsie Roll.

Tootsie was asleep before being nudged awake by Gale Storm, “Wake up, sweetie. Your robo-scorpion friend has been fixed.”

The young filly was resourceful at first but soon woke up, seeing Bob being fully repaired and good as new. For a pony from his age, Crankshaft did have the right parts to get him back up and running. He even made his mechanical tail be able to fire off laser shots again. She lets out an excited squeal, “Bob! You’re all better!”

“I gave it a bit of extra armor so your scorpion feller can take a few nicks and about, so he’s all good to go!”

“Thank you very much, sir! I’m sure Bob is all better for us to head back to Stable Town… say, you were going to show us the PipBuck 3000, right?” Gale asked the elder pony. Crankshaft’s response was a confused expression, his head tilting to the side, “Erm… come again, missy?”

The two looked at each other, seeing that his elder nature has either gotten the better of him or they realized that he doesn’t have the PipBuck 3000 with him as Gale asked Crankshaft again, “The PipBuck 3000? Remember? Surely you have it with you.”

His second response was a shake to the head. “Nope, don’t have it. An’ even if ah have, its long dead like that 1000 thingamajig… sorry, fellers. But there is another, far more advanced version of these two hootenannies! The 4000!”

Tootsie hurriedly gallops behind the counter as she eagerly says Crankshaft, “Can we see it?! Pretty, pretty pleeeease?!”

He recoils back a bit from her outburst behavior, “Whoa easy there, little feller! Ah ain’t an expert in findin’ things, so I dunno where the PipBuck 4000 is. Rumor has it, that its quite state-of-the-art… at least, that’s all ah can remember. Wherever that trinket is, I dunno. Y’all have to look for them yerselves. Ah’m afraid ah can’t help ya out any further. Besides, ah’m too old to go for adventurin’. Ya best be on yer way now. Thanks fer stopping by!”

After hearing Crankshaft’s rumors regarding the PipBuck 4000, Gale gave him a confirmed nod to Crankshaft before turning her attention to Tootsie, “Tootsie, get Bob. We need to go. And thank you for the help, Crankshaft. It was very appreciated.”

The three had soon left from Crankshaft’s workshop to return to Stable Town.

“So, where do we go to?” Lightspeed asked me. Hell if I know. If I had a voice, I would tell her where we’ll be going. And even then, I’m still PipBuck-less. And I have nothing to write with inside my saddlebags either, so all I could was mouth her as ‘Stable Town’. Hopefully this cyberpony will get what I just said. With no voice of course.

My (temporary) companion had tapped her chin with a normal, non-cybernetic hoof as she took her time to think, “Hmm… Stable Town, you said?”

I gave her a nod. Yes, that’s it! In return, she nodded me back, “Right. I’ve pinpointed the location, follow me.”

Well, it seems Lightspeed can be quite handy as a navigator! A perfect substitute for the long-lost and pretty much broken-down PipBuck! My body hasn’t let out any spasms so far, but I wouldn’t get comfortable just yet. No E.F.S. means I’m unable to determine any possible hostiles coming our way. At least I’m familiar with the footpath before, but its safe for me to follow Taser’s second-in-command.

Hopefully I’ll be able to return back to my friends. Its been a full day and I’ve become separated from them, resulting my insecurities to show. Not just from my lack of weapons, but also from the lack of my true allies. My hooves aren’t made for combat, so taking out a Steel Ranger was pure, dumb luck. In this case, luck was in my favor for a short period of time.

The skies even looks a bit clearer… but still dark and miserable to look at. I almost feel sorry for the Goddesses’ mismanagement of the skies. Oh well, it doesn’t matter anyway. And hoo boy, this is gonna be a lengthy trek!

But we made it back with no issues to go for (and a good thing too, because how in the absolute fuck am I gonna take on hostiles with no weapons with me?), and we’ve made it to Stable Town! Can’t say the same for its inhabitants; they were already feeling dread from Lightspeed’s presence. They did what they could to look away and resume with their normal lives.

“We’re here. Now what?” Lightspeed asked me. I have to give her orders now? No no, she’s only your temporary companion, Zero. Don’t get too cocky.

I turned my attention to Lightspeed and motioned my hoof for her to follow me. She replies with a nod, “Lead the way, then.”

Hopefully my real friends are around. I can’t be bothered to track them down with my non-existent PipBuck in tow. I scanned the area around for a bit… there! I pointed a hoof at the two and a robo-scorpion. She proceeded to ask me in a seemingly authoritative manner, “Are they of threats of yours?”

Hell no! Goddess-damnit, for a cyberpony, you sure have a hard time telling what’s hostile and what’s friendly! I feel the need to face-hoof really hard right about now!

I quickly shook my head and made a seemingly poor hoof-gesture as to instruct her to not fire at them and to let me handle it. Hopefully she’ll get it, or I’ll have to wonder when a voice modulator is even happening so I can stop miming and start talking.

“Hmm… very well then. Lead the way.”

Good! At least she got the idea!

I quickly galloped over to the three before letting out a whistle. It wasn’t loud, but hopefully they’ll hear me.

Gale’s ears perked up at the sound of a whistle, “Huh? Who’s there…?”

She turned her head and had soon saw me and Lightspeed before giving her a hug. Gale, Tootsie, Bob! I’ve missed you so!

“Oh! Zero, you’re back!” Gale lets out a happy giggle and returned the hug around me, with a peck on the cheek from a kiss to go for. My face was red already! Damnit, Gale! Now’s not a good time!

“Yay! Zero’s back and ooooohhhh… he’s brought a half-robotic friend with him!” Tootsie glanced up at Lightspeed, who is indeed a half-robotic mare with me. Lightspeed’s expression remained neutral, unfazed by my reunion with my allies.

Bob whirrs up to her curiously before slowly and carefully skittered forward to her. She glanced down at him in return as she took a quick scan of him, “Hmm… a robo-scorpion blaster MK3, and miniaturized as well, roughly the same size of a young foal. You also express free will.”

He lets out a surprised beeping noise upon seeing that Lightspeed knew who he is. Tootsie lets out a surprised gasp, “You knew who he is?! Soooo awesome!”

Gale soon glanced a bit to her, “Umm… who are you, might I ask?”

“I’m Lightspeed. A partial cyberpony and a second-in-command of the Powder Gangers. Rest assured that I pose no threat unless if provoked.”

“I see… first time I’ve ever seen an augmented pony before… also, shall we explain everything later? We need to rest up.”

Good idea. My hooves felt like its been through a fifteen-hour marathon…

“Oh! Let’s go to Stable 75!” Tootsie suggested. Hopefully with enough caps in me from Taser’s small reward (not sure if it was from my act of bravery or sheer stupidity) was enough for us to stay for a night or two.

As we all left to Stable, Lightspeed asked Bob a question, “Do you have an owner?”

Tootsie eagerly waved a hoof to her, “Oh! Oh, oh! Bob’s my friend! I take good care of him!”

“Bob, huh? Well, its no surprise that you have your mechanical scorpion friend here as your pet.”

I nodded to them before turning my attention to the counter. Time to set introductions aside, as I tapped a hoof against it to grab Sweet Cheek’s attention.

She was browsing along the terminal before she turned to look at us, “Oh! Hey, you’re back! And I see you’ve brought friends with you! Are you here to revisit Stable 75 again and rest up for the night? Same night and same fee.”

I nodded as I went to grab the bottle caps inside my saddlebags while Bob hopped off of the cyberpony’s back and onto the counter to see the overmare and manager, “Oh, why hello there, little guy! I remember you from your first visit with that filly and that older colt! Aren’t you quite an adorable sight? And you look brand-new, too!”

The small robo-scorpion emitted happy beeps from Sweet Cheeks as Tootsie asked her, “Would you like to look after him? He must be happy to see you and wants to stay with you for a night too, Sweet Cheeks!”

“Oh but of course, little filly! I’ll be happy to look after your mechanical friend here while you ponies rest up.” Sweet Cheeks had happily accepted Tootsie’s offer as I gave out the usual 100 caps for her, “And I’ll also be looking out for your saddlebags as well if you may, sir.”

I smiled to her with a nod and slid my saddlebags off of my back before giving it to her. As we trotted inside Stable 75, Bob waved a claw at us goodnight as Sweet Cheeks had also waved a hoof to us, “Have a pleasant night, ponies!”

“Wow… this looks amazing…” Gale looked on in awe, seeing Stable Dwellers working as hotel staffs whom are serving accommodations to visitors. It was business as usual, and we were taken into a different yet cozy room with different beds to go for. All spick and span, with a bathroom to go for that’s also clean from rads.

Tootsie jumped onto the bed but was soon stopped for a moment by Lightspeed, “Refrain from making unwanted ruckuses. You ponies need rest, as do I as well.”

Lightspeed’s right. We’ll wait until the next day as I took off my lab coat and placed it on top of the drawer before slumping myself onto the mattress. So nice and relaxing…

It was pretty brief. Brief enough for me to get a well-deserved rest. As for Gale? Well, she was the first to clean herself up as I had soon fell asleep. Now all we can do is wait until the next day is better than the last. Or worse. Or anything in-between. All I need is a working weapon and I’m good to go. Let’s hope that’s the case after Taser had wrongfully stole my sniper rifle and claimed ownership.

Footnote: No Level Up.
Quest Perk Added: Hammer Space! - Where the hell did that come from? You may carry up to 15 WG of items, that do not count towards your carry weight and all items carried in this way count as having the 'Concealed' special rule. And you seemingly pull these items out of thin air...
Penalty: Too many headbutts can result in a minor concussion, reducing your PER by -1. Ouch!

Chapter Fourteen: The PipBuck 4000

Resting in Stable 75 felt much more rewarding than sleeping in strewn, bug-ridden mattresses, even if its only for one night only again. I should come and visit - and maybe live in - Stable Town more often. Of course, its not cheap to live in. Especially when you need to keep this town safe from harm. I have a feeling that Stable Town is a healthy place but security is pretty slim for possible future attacks. They need protection. And they’re gonna need it as well.

I was still asleep, but had soon felt a warm embrace around me. I fidgeted a little from the closeness but had soon relaxed, seeing that it felt better than those enclosed walls around me.

My ear could pick up a soft, humming noise coming from Gale Storm herself. Maybe when the time is right, I should owe Stable Town a huge favor. For now, sleep is a big must.

“Five minutes before breakfast is served.” A Stable 75 dweller/employee notified us as he left. I was the first to wake up, stretching my hooves after my wonderful relaxation. Our clothes (and Gale’s armor) were also washed clean, including my lab coat, as they were placed on coat hangers from two large cabinet doors hanging out. I glanced at Gale Storm behind me, still holding her forelegs around me.

I softly smiled at Gale expressing care for me before I gently pried myself off of her and get myself dressed up. I don’t think the Stable 75 employees will approve our overstay inside. Once I’m all dressed up I nudged to Gale Storm to wake her up and then Tootsie. Lightspeed, on the other hoof, woke up on her own… did she have an alarm inside her brain or something?

Well either way, at least everypony's awake, save for Bob who was under Sweet Cheek’s care. Before Gale dressed herself up, she gently grazed her tail against my cheek as she grinned at me, “Good morning, our little scientist.”

My face was immediately burning up from her comments! Damn, my virginity is (nearly) showing again!

Shrugging off and hiding my… obviously embarrassed looks, I left the room first as I went to the main hall of Stable 75 and wait for my friends to come. Not counting Lightspeed of course, she’s a goddess-damned savage if you were to get on her bad side.

During our breakfast (with Stable Town residents chattering quietly in the background), Gale was explaining me regarding the PipBuck 4000. I was intrigued by this as I simply listened on while Tootsie Roll munched on, “...the PipBuck 4000 is, as far as I've heard from Crankshaft, the state-of-the-art and the most advanced PipBuck there is. Unfortunately, Crankshaft doesn’t know the actual design of what the PipBuck 4000 actually looks like, so we’ll have to search for it ourselves.”

I can only hazard a guess that Neighkola Tesla must've designed the PipBuck 4000. But even I don’t know what that PipBuck 4000 even looked like. I was still recovering from an unwanted, explosive battle against the Fiends and inevitably allied myself with the Powder Gangers. Not to mention having one of the Steel Rangers having partially scorching my hindleg from a laser shot. Fuck, I could still remember it. Just barely.

“Lightspeed, how can you still eat? You’re a robot! Well… kinda!”

Lightspeed glanced at the young filly with a neutral expression, “My internal organs are still organic and not artificial, young one. I still have to eat, despite my… modifications. Long story short, I’m still just a regular mare, just a tad different than I look.”

Guess she isn't fully cyberpony. If she were, then Lightspeed wouldn't be able to eat anything at all.

“Oooohhh. Well, Zero here is mute!” Tootsie replied. What, you didn't know I was mute the whole time? Honestly now…

The partial cyberpony assured the filly, “I’m aware. But you might need to refrain from making fun of his muted nature.”

I nodded in agreement to Lightspeed; my name and my overall appearance isn't to be made fun of.

“Okey-dokey-wokey, half-robot, half-pony, ma’am!”

Once we finished our normal breakfast, we left the Stable 75 entrance to get Bob. Sweet Cheeks had been polishing Bob’s metallic shell as she turned her attention to us, “Oh, you’re back from your stay! Hope you had a wonderful time here at Stable 75! I've been taking good care of your robotic scorpion friend, and he’s surely a cutie!”

Bob emitted his happy beeping noises from his stay with Sweet Cheeks, his overall armor looking shiny as ever. Seems the Overmare/hotel manager did a wonderful job at taking care of our robo-scorpion friend! And I’m starting to like Stable Town. Now if only I had my voice or - more importantly, a PipBuck - for me to ask a favor for her, or whoever is managing the not-dead town.

Sweet Cheeks did have a small, concerned expression at Lightspeed, “Umm… hi? You look kind of… different.”

Lightspeed gave her an assuring smile, “Don’t worry, I express no hostility to you or others. I’m still a normal pony, just with… augmentations and whatnot from an accident.”

“Yup! She’s a friendly robo-pony!” Tootsie clarified further as Bob skitters to his filly companion. I went behind the counter and searched for something, besides our belongings.

Of course, the Overmare and hotel manager giggled at the sight before pointing a hoof under the counter, “If you looking for your belongings, they’re right underneath.” She then showed it to me though I corrected her with a hoof gesture, as it indicate for me to write something.

“Oh, you need to say something? Sounds reasonable! Wait… didn't you had your PipBuck from your last visit?”

Gale responded for me, “His PipBuck suddenly stopped working, so now we have to look for a new PipBuck, the 4000 Crankshaft mentioned us about.”

“PipBuck 4000? I’ve never heard of that device before… I don’t really know where that is, I’m afraid. If you intend to look for it, then do be careful. The Wastelands are known to claim lives of innocent ponies, so if you’re gonna be searching for this PipBuck 4000, you’ll have to find it for yourself.”

After Sweet Cheeks told us on the difficulties of finding a replacement for my PipBuck, I found a blank paper and a pencil and began to write down words after setting it on the table. I set the pencil down and showed it to her which read as ‘Who is the mayor of Stable Town?’.

“Huh? Hmm… I believe that would be Quickdraw, who was the only mayor and security for Stable Town. As strange as it sounded, he never returned back to Stable Town after telling his residences that he needed to retrieve supplies for Stable Town. The ponies are still living normally, but I fear that our supplies will gradually diminish within a few months... “ Sweet Cheeks explained, hearing that Stable Town has a mayor gone missing. From the looks of it, this won’t end well for Stable Town if this Quickdraw doesn’t return…

“Oh dear. No wonder why its so sparsely populated. Not to mention that there’s rarely any security…” Gale explained further for Sweet Cheeks. With Quickdraw missing, Stable Town would fall victim to future attacks, be it from Raiders or a raging Cazador migration. And I can’t be security, as not only do I have no weapons with me, I’m ineligible to be his replacement as mayor and sheriff of Stable Town. I've got way too much time on my hooves, considering as how I need to find a new PipBuck badly, or I’ll be forced to rely on sheer luck on navigating around the Wastelands with a non-existent map to go for.

I turned the paper around with my teeth and began to write it down again as to reply the Overmare and hotel manager of Stable 75. I presented it to her which read ‘We’ll try and find Quickdraw and return him safely’.

Sweet Cheek’s response was a surprised gasp upon seeing my intentions to search and rescue Quickdraw, “Oh! You will?! Oh, that’s wonderful! We could use ponies like you to help rescue Quickdraw! He told everypony five weeks ago that he left to Pegas County to scavenge for supplies but hasn’t returned since…”

Something’s striking me odd… why did it sounded so similar? Its like retrieving for artifacts, but more of a rescue mission than a retrieval…

As for Pegas County? Well, this is a major setback for me; I have no wings to go for, and even Gale Storm has a damaged wing that’s yet to be fully recovered. I wonder if there’s a way to find maybe a large, hot air balloon that can take us there? Because I certainly can’t, and neither does Tootsie Roll and Bob.

Lightspeed is the only one who can fly, but she’s only staying with us for an entire week so she’s not our permanent companion. And no healing potions in my saddlebags either. Great. Just great.

“Oh boy, a rescue mission! Come on, Zero! We have to save Quickdraw from an impending doom!”

With what, Tootsie? Unlike the three, I have no weapons with me!

I regrouped back with my team (not counting Lightspeed) and strapped my saddlebags onto my back as Gale took notice that my sniper rifle went missing, “Say… where’s your sniper rifle, Zero?”

Oh fucking horse-apples. The last thing I want now is a gunfight when Gale realizes that Lightspeed helped Taser confiscate my weapon. In this peaceful town on its last hooves, too!

Lightspeed lied her way for me, “It was stolen by the Raiders and even went as far as to render it unusable beyond repair.”

Good. A lie is only good for one thing, and that was to prevent a bloody gunfight inside the hotel facility. And I hate to be in the middle.

“I see. Zero, you can use one of my Plasma Rifles. Do take great care of it.” Gale strapped the Plasma Rifle in between my side and my saddlebags. I’m at least armed for now and I nodded her in thanks.

“Well, we better get going now. We’ll go find Quickdraw and bring him back safely.”

Sweet Cheeks nodded, “Just be careful out there, ponies. If you bring him back to safety, you’re always welcome to stay over in Stable 75, free of charge!”

The reward she offered was not only unexpected, but worthwhile too! All that’s left is for us to head to Pegas County, find Quickdraw and bring him back to safety. That is, if some of us can fly. Hopefully I don’t have to walk on clouds.

“Yay! We’ll get ourselves a free of stay!” Tootsie proclaimed.

Only if we could find and bring Quickdraw back to Stable Town, alive.

Once we left Stable Town, I glanced at the team. I reminded them by presenting my PipBuck-less hoof to them, so our priority would be searching for a working PipBuck before we can find Quickdraw. I can’t afford the risk of getting ourselves separated again. Even my Pinkie sense doesn’t know what’s up ahead. In fact, even my non-existent PipBuck doesn’t know where we are. Just another typical forest that’s completely devoid of true nature.

The last thing I’ll be doing is being one with nature. And I hate this kind of nature! Its not even alive, just… dead. The only reason for it to be alive is that hungry, pony-eating creatures are waiting to pop up out of nowhere and finish us off!

At least Pinkie herself isn’t making silly remarks over what I just said in my not-so preoccupied head. I’m a scientist, not a navigator. I can’t guide them anywhere without my PipBuck! And why am I going crazy over a lack of a PipBuck?!

“Zero? Is something wrong?” Gale asked me with a hint of concern. I only shook my head, though the trickling sweat is already showing from my head. Gale gave a worried look, “Well if you say so… I know you’re worried about your PipBuck, and that there’s no known location of the PipBuck 4000, but you have to stay calm. We have your back, and that’s all that matters.”

I gave her a confirmed nod, even if Lightspeed’s only here for a limited time. Even then, she’s not the best navigator there is. Despite her cyborg-like appearance, Lightspeed doesn’t know the actual location of the PipBuck 4000. Gonna have to rely on my wits here and there.

We arrived on what appears to be an entrance inside the bunker. And a terminal of course.

Looks like I get to unlock it. Booting up, it features a wide variety of letters that requires me to unlock it. This is gonna be a tricky one… and I can’t afford the risk of locking it, even if I go for a second try. I need to make my first try count.

Let’s see… ‘Steelrangers’? No, that’s not it. Three tries remaining.

‘Trampolines’? Not it either. Two tries remaining. Goddesses, this is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, without magic! I’d have Tootsie lockpick it, but the door’s too damn big and the locking mechanism is far too complex comparing to unlocking safes and other normal doors.

Come on… ‘Calamity’? Damnit! Not it either! Only one more left… and what the hell’s a Calamity? Is it Calamity Jane? Fuck it, one more will have to do… and for goddesses’ sake, Gale, stop checking on me! You’re not making things easy for me!

All right, just one more will suffice… first chance is all that matters…

‘’Rainboom’! Fucking finally! And not a moment too soon; once the bunker door slid open, we quickly head inside as a couple of ponies were approaching. I’m seriously not gonna determine on whether they’re friendlies or hostiles.

Once inside, we could see multiple rows filled with different paths which doubles as a goddess-damned maze. The corridors also feel rather, uncomfortably narrow… a claustrophobic feeling as well. I let out a quiet shudder from the sight.

Fuck it, might as well brave it and move on. Tootsie scanned around different paths from the interior of the bunker, “Ooohhh… its like we’re in a maze! Maybe Zero can show us a way!”

Yes, unless you want your scatterbrained behavior get the better of you and separate from us with no way of regrouping whatsoever! Stick together, Tootsie Roll. If I could only speak, that is.

“Sweetie, we need to stay together. Don’t wander off, this place may be quiet, but anypony can get themselves lost and may not return in one piece. Do you understand?” Gale advised the filly in a motherly manner. Great, she’s being a mother to her now? And here I thought Lightspeed is my adoptive mother, which is rather awkward for a half-cyberpony and full Powder Ganger…

So now I have two objectives in my mind; find the PipBuck 4000 and rescue Quickdraw. Boy, that’ll be a fucking hoot. With no other choice, I motioned my head and led them to the path of my choosing and mine alone. I don’t want them separated even for a second.

Lightspeed hasn’t spoken a word, other than staying close to me. I’d like a bit of personal space, but the last thing I’d want is for her to lose it. And I sure as hell don’t want any part of it.

Bob glanced around as he emitted soft, whirring noises in a curious manner like some common cat. Tootsie replied to her robo-scorpion friend, “I know… it looks sooo weird… like a lab!”

Lightspeed hushed at the filly, “Quiet, filly. We don’t know what’s up ahead, so I suggest adjusting your tone of voice. Understood?”

“Oopsies! Okey-doke-- I mean…” Tootsie lowered her voice, “Okey-dokey-wokey.”

Good. My body hasn’t spasmed yet, but the raised voice is enough to attract unexpected attention that might land us in hot water. We’re now walking along the grated floor and below us are a couple of Robobrains and Securitrons patrolling underneath. Great, more killer robots to go for. I’m not sure how they’ll even react to both Lightspeed’s partial cybernetic augmentations and Bob being fully robotic yet have free will. All we gotta do is stay calm and not make any sudden noises and continue on.

Up ahead is another terminal. Great, more for me to impossibly crack through it! What more does the Wastelands want; test me if I’m even bulletproof?

Ugh, whatever… I booted up the terminal anyway; no machine can ever outwit my high intellect!

I turned to my team and gave them a ‘shush’ expression as to not make any noises. We don’t want to risk drawing attention of Robobrains and Securitrons below us - and I require absolute concentration as well. This one isn’t gonna be a cakewalk.

Gale gave me an affirmed nod and shushed to Tootsie as for the filly to stay quiet. Tootsie however followed suit and shushed at Bob as well. Not sure why would she do that; its not like Bob can normally talk like we do. He’s a robo-scorpion that only talks in whirrs and beeps.

Now, for me to get the second door unlocked. This one is rather… unusual; it had a lot of jumbled-up symbols and numbers, but not a full, single letter shown on the screen. This one’s pretty tricky…

I would ask Lightspeed for help, but seeing as how I can’t speak, I’ll have to resort in motioning my hoof for her as she took an approach, “Something you need help with?”

I nodded to her answer as I pointed my hoof on the screen to see if she can find the letters for me. My sight hasn’t recovered from headbutting a Steel Ranger that rattled my noggin. Damn, I could still feel it rattle a bit in my head…

“Hmm… and you need me why? You’re a scientist and therefore don’t require my assistance in hacking through a terminal. Its like finding a needle in a haystack. You should know better.” Lightspeed gave me a robotic giggle, with a hint of tease inside. Are you suggesting that I’m stupid?! I may be a smart scientist, but to decipher a code is like trying to get a damn Memory Orb to work (and I’m not even a unicorn)! With a reluctant sigh and my help rejected, I guess I’ll have to rely on my intellect and see if I can find one single fucking word on the goddess-damned screen!

C’mon, where the hell is it? I hate to take an alternative route that would possibly lead us directly to those murderous robots. Where… where… aha! There you are!

Fucking finally! Its was ‘Littlepip’! Wait… what the hell is a ‘Littlepip’? Is it a miniaturized PipBuck that doubles as a novelty toy?

Not sure where Pinkie is in my mind, but regardless I selected the word and eagerly opened the door. It reveals to be descending stairs and facing left as well. Well whatever that would lead us, hopefully we won’t be confronting Robobrains and Securitrons. Lightspeed went first and brushed her tail against my cheek, “See, was that so hard? Our little scientist is quite the learner.”

Fuck! My face is burning up again! Damnit, Lightspeed!

Gale playfully giggled and wrapped a hoof around mine as Tootsie Roll and Bob followed the partially-augmented cyberpony, “Come on, oh faithful leader. Let’s keep moving.”

Double fuck! I think I just felt my heart beginning to pound against my ribcage inside! Body, don’t you dare shake on me now! Focus!

I slowly wrapped my hoof around Gale’s in response and nervously went down the stairs, following the three - all while my hooves are helplessly shaking like noodles - before stopping behind them. Facing right is a narrow pathway that hopefully doesn’t result in me thinking of claustrophobia. Fucking hell…

Okay, you can let go of my hoof now! A scientist can’t think when you’re this close to me, Gale! Cease and desist at once, goddess-damnit!

“Oooohhhh! Somepony likes a maaaaare!”

Pinkie, where the hell did you come from?! And what pray tell did you meant by ‘somepony liking a mare’?!

“It means yoooouuu’re in love with Gale Storm!”

What?! A scientist knows nothing of… of intimate romance, Pinkie Pie! Now, I need to focus before your future shenanigans are gonna jeopardize my current mission, damnit!

“Ooookey-dokey-wokey! But I can still bet that you’re in loooove!”

Fucking goddess-damnit all!

Alright, just focus on the matter of hoof! I let go of Gale’s hoof as I took a deep breath with a sigh, my face still burning up but lessening now.

Oh fuck, I need to get a grip…

I squeezed myself to lead my allies through a straight and uncomfortably-narrow corridor and see where it’ll take us. Fucking walls, I swear…

At least my body isn’t letting out spasms so far. And a good thing too, or we’d be encountering killer, non-sentient robots bent on killing us all. And I highly doubt that they’ll be fooled by a fully-sentient Bob. Whatever the path I chose lead us, I’m hoping to Celestia that we don’t happen to encounter any ravaging ponies that are this trigger happy to us. Up ahead, we saw a main hall containing a couple of safe boxes (all whom were pried open), several withered posters barely sticking on walls and more doors. Whoop-de-doo, more doors! (Not!)

“Ooohhhh, doors! Yay! Isn’t this exciting, guys?! We get to open doors!” Tootsie shouted excitedly for no apparent reason aside from her scatterbrained behavior. Gale shook her head in response, “We don’t know which is which, so we need to be careful on opening a door that could put us all in danger. Zero, care to do the honors for us?”

Certainly! For I am-- focus, damnit!

I trotted over to the first door and pressed a button. It opens up to reveal a safe and an intact poster glued against the wall, depicting a pony named ‘Shining Armor’. He’s depicted a white coat with varying colors of blue from his mane and tail. And he’s a unicorn as well, though not sure where the real one is. I mainly focused on the unopened safe; I think its a good idea for me to get Tootsie to unlock it for me.

Turning around, I exited the door and waved a hoof at the filly, “Ooohhh. Something you need, Zero? Did you found a safe?!”

I gave her a confirmed nod. Tootsie emits her excited squeal, “Yay! More picky locks to be picked! You three wait here!” Lightspeed watches Tootsie skipping along to the door as she glanced at Gale, “Does this filly act like this through her life?”

The ex-Enclave merely shrugged her shoulders in response, “She’s just young and learning new things is all.”

“Well hopefully she doesn’t learn on how to befriend a Raider…”

Once Tootsie arrived, she giddily floated the screwdriver and a bobby pin from my saddlebags, which were surprisingly stolen by either Taser or his explosive faction, “Now, alloooow me!”

She hummed a song as I watched her work on the safe. Of course, this particular safe seems to show resilience as the bobby pin snaps off, “Awww! The lucky bobby pin broke in half! Stupid safe, learn to open, why don’tcha?!”

I chuckled softly at the filly’s comments; reminds me on how I couldn’t even get one, stupid safe open because I’m merely a pony with no natural abilities whatsoever, be it flight or magic. (Or maybe a little bit of both.)

She took a second bobby pin from my saddlebags and began to pick the safe open again, “Now, don’t be a big meanie, safe! We just wanna see your secrets, and maaaybe borrow them for our adventure!”

By borrow, I think she meant steal them for our trek. Well, stray items don’t belong to anypony if they’re dead anyway, so that’s pretty much moot. My ears picked up the sounds of the safe door popping open as I blissfully grinned at the noise, “Ta-da! One not-so-meanie safe now open to take”

I nodded her in thanks and I trotted over to see what this safe has something to offer me - a recording, five unused plasma rounds and a recipe! Hot damn! I also need to remind myself to play unused records I’ve acquired back the other day, but only if I could find a working PipBuck.

Eagerly, I took the ammo, recording and a recipe that I don’t know about because again, no PipBuck.

“Did you got them all? I bet you did!” Tootsie eagerly asked and I nodded in response before leaving the room, “Yay! Mr. Zero got his scientific items!”

We left the room and Gale asked me, “Did Tootsie opened up the safe and acquired valuable items inside?” I nodded in response.

“So, care to open the next doors, son?” Lightspeed asked me in a teasing, yet motherly tone. Oh brother…

I motioned Tootsie to regroup with the other three while I get the rest of the doors open, because who doesn’t love to open doors? I certainly don’t!

“Okey-dokey-wokey! Bob, time to play a bit of hopscotch while Zero can get more doors open!”

How the buck can a mechanical scorpion even play hopscotch when he can’t even jump?! Ugh, whatever. Maybe those doors can lead to another not-deadly path? Let’s see if this one does wonders.

The door opens up for me and… empty. Wow. I just made a new discovery: nothing!

My annoyed frown burrowed as the Wastelands seems to enjoy wasting my precious science time in finding a new pathway for us to continue along. And I can bet Pinkie is laughing inside my head.

Onto the next, and I’ll probably discover nothing other than maybe a sudden ambush that’s sure to test my sharp senses. Opening up another unopened door revealed to be a single shelf littered with unused and used stimpaks and healing potions lying on the floor. No actual pathway, but this one’s a big plus!

I immediately stuffed the untouched stimpaks and healing potions inside my saddlebags as they’re crucial for my allies, save for Bob who would need parts should he happen to get damaged. And even if his body has a tough shell to it, I can’t guarantee that he could survive from weapons that could penetrate his armor but I’m confident that he can manage his own. He is a free-willed robo-scorpion, after all.

Right. Onto the last door and Gale was the first to approach, “Did you find anything yet?”

I showed her my saddlebags, inside were stimpaks and healing potions. Gale beamed up to me, “Oh good job on finding healing items along the way! I’m so proud of you!”

Well, I haven’t done anything good yet, just making sure that me and my allies would stay alive for the remainder of our mission. I motioned to Lightspeed as I went to the last, unopened door. The partial cyberpony notified to the filly, “Tootsie, get your scorpion friend. We’re ready to go.”

“Okey-dokey-wokey! C’mon, Bob! We’re gonna get ready for our search for Zero’s long-lost PipBuck!”

W-What?! My PipBuck 1000 was damaged beyond repair, rendering it nonfunctional! What makes you think that my non-existent PipBuck has any sentient life, eh? Bob followed Tootsie, still confused of what his ditzy friend meant by hopscotch. He can’t jump, much less hop!

I proceeded to open up a final door; this time leading to a new corridor. There was a catch - there was no visible light from the ceiling. Fluorescent lights were burned out, with some buzzing and flickering as they struggled to stay alight.

My ears twitched as I took a closer look; the flickering lights reveal to be… three Robobrains! Oh fuck! I quickly retreated and motioned the others to hide before they’d notice us!

“Are there ponies inside?! Oh boy, oh bo--” Gale quickly interrupted Tootsie by wrapping a hoof around her mouth, quickly shushing her before retreating back inside a storage room (same poster with a used safe inside).

“Sssshh! They’re Robobrains…”

I went in a different room, and Bob was there with me along with Lightspeed. Unfortunately, Tootsie’s antics were enough to grab the Robobrains’ attention as they slowly and dangerously rolled out into the main hall.

“Scanning…”

“Scanning…”

Dammit, we can’t get through! Even with both Plasma Rifles and Lightspeed’s sharp wings, there has to be a plan… there just has to be! Charging in even with three of us well-equipped would be suicide, regardless! I glanced at both Bob and Lightspeed as I pointed my hoof at the robo-scorpion for him to provide at least a distraction, “Hmm? You want him to distract them? Am I not a viable option for this?”

I shook my head. Not yet, not now. Even if you’re partially a cyberpony, those Robobrains are less likely to be fooled by your looks and still consider you a threat. Bob on the other hoof is fully mechanical and there’s no way those robobrains will be able to tell what’s organic and what’s mechanical, because Bob has free will for a robotic scorpion!

And I don’t think these three are even planning to move, much less leave to their original places…

“I suppose if that’s the case, then this Bob will be a viable plan for you.”

I nodded to Lightspeed before looking at Bob. He looked up at me as I gave out instructions to him regarding in dealing with Robobrains. Seeing as how I couldn’t speak, all I could do was make silly poses and whatnot in front of him, and I’m hoping he’ll get the picture by distracting them. Lightspeed looked on, confused at my actions, “Are you making ridiculous dances at this time?”

I stopped dancing and shot up an annoyed glare at Lightspeed. No, I wasn’t making ridiculous dances! I’m giving Bob instructions on distracting Robobrains! Honestly, if Dr. Scalpel hadn’t taken my voice, I would be talking normally in the first place! Goddess-fucking-damnit!

Luckily, Bob nodded up to me and gave me a salute with a metal claw before skittering to a killer, robotic trio. I sure hope to Celestia they don’t mistake him for a pony…

Bob waved a claw at the three Robobrains as he emitted a couple of beeping noises.

Their attention was now faced at the robo-scorpion as he began to make silly poses.

“Scanning…”

“Scan complete. Hello, friend!”

Yes! It worked! Bob wasn’t deemed to be a threat to them! Now, just distract them a little longer while I aim at them with Gale’s Plasma Rifle. Gale herself followed suit as she gave me a nod, and I nodded back to fire on my signal. Keep going, Bob… I can’t yell out at Gale for us to fire so all I could do was nod at Gale again as I wrapped my tongue around the trigger and pulling it.

PRRROWWWW!! PRRROWWWW!!

Direct hit! It was barely alive, and Gale soon returned fire at the robobrains, “Fire!”

“Come out! We on--”

“We want to ki--”

Bob quickly skittered out of the way as the Robobrains had soon dissolved into goo. That was an awesome ambush! Lightspeed smiled at me as we headed into the corridor (coast is clear as well), “For a silent scientist, you’re quite a wonderful tactician.”

Heh, thanks.

“Ewww! They’re all green and gooey! Blech!” Tootsie looked on as she followed us along, along with Bob.

The room was filled with littered tables and terminals strewn all over the floor, which creates an unnecessary obstacle for us. Whoever was maintaining the place - aside from Robobrains - did a lousy job.

“Well… this place is truly a mess. How in the wide, wide world of Equestria are we gonna get through?”

Even if Gale could fly, her wing hasn’t been recovered yet and even with her wound healed, it doesn’t mean she’s physically fit for flying. Of course I have Lightspeed, who can still fly flawlessly; her metallic wings are pretty invulnerable to fractures!

“Let me see if I can search for something. Just stay here.” Lightspeed ordered us as she was the first to fly as to survey the damage before flying up and over strewn desks. My curiosity brought me to what appears to be a diagram littered onto the ground. What could that be?

As I flipped the diagram over, it revealed to be a picture of the PipBuck 4000! State-of-the-art, too!

The PipBuck 4000

-Voice command
-Very durable and waterproof
-Identifies on the wearer (e.g. health stat, inventory)
-Built-in flashlight

Designed by: Neighkola Tesla

My eye widened with such amazement… the PipBuck 4000 is real! Oh, how wonderful! It’d be a shame that I just laid the 1000 version to waste and that I’d leave Olive Oil disappointed, but the 4000 shows promise! And I should thank Neighkola Tesla if he’s ever alive; if he was, I could ask for his autograph! Oh the joyness is springing in my mind right now! Thank you, Neighkola Tesla!

“Oh? That’s the PipBuck 4000? Looks so… futuristic.” Game told me as she glanced at the diagram. Meanwhile, Lightspeed had already found an opening that leads to another path ahead, “I found another path up ahead. I’ll come and pick up the filly first, along with the robo-scorpion.”

Me and Gale gave her a nod as Tootsie Roll and Bob were the first two to be carried by Lightspeed, “Now, don’t fall off. It’d be a real pain if you get pinned in between littered desks.”

“Okey-dokey-wokey!” Tootsie responded as Lightspeed had carefully carried the two into the pathway. Soon, Gale was next. Even if Gale’s wing is all right, she’s still unfit to fly for today. Despite her armory, Lightspeed took her to Tootsie and Bob with no issues. And thus, I was the last to be carried by Lightspeed as I clambered up to her back and avoiding her razor-sharp wing, “Hold on tight… son.”

I gave her a neutral nod in response. I don’t recall having a partial cyberpony as my mother, nor are we closely related by blood…

I hoped she was gonna fly fast and relentless, yet this flight was short and smooth - I’ve never been riding shotgun on a pegasus before!

It wasn’t long until she landed onto her hooves and I got off of her back. Looking ahead is yet another corridor leading straight ahead. Great. Just fucking great. I have to navigate through a narrow, fucking corridor?! I swear, this is getting me claustrophobic again!

But what choice do I have? I need to lead my allies. There’s no way to go back now. Hell, this hellhole is claustrophobic enough already! Once I retrieve the PipBuck 4000, I need to return to the surface with them and find this Quickdraw pony. And bring him back to Stable Town.

We’re in a huge room, and up ahead were ascending steps. Inside was a sealed tube containing…

The PipBuck 4000! Yes!

I motioned a hoof at the four as to wait there. Gale nodded to me, “Okay, we’ll wait for you there. Just be careful.”

“Oooohhh… is that a PipBuck sealed inside?!” Tootsie looked on with amazement.

“Yes, little filly. That is the PipBuck. If Zero was chosen to retrieve it, then it is his choice.”

After arriving up, I gazed the amazement of the real PipBuck 4000. Its so amazing…

Then, a holographic screen emitted depicting a face of what appears to be a middle-aged pony:

“Greetings, fellow rookie! I am Neighkola Tesla, and you are hereby chosen to own the PipBuck 4000!

“But before you are proven worthy for the PipBuck 4000, you will be given a series of questions.

“If you answer at least five out of ten correct questions, the PipBuck 4000 will be yours! I designed it myself with great integrities and with flawless technology, courtesy of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences!

“Be warned though that these given questions are far from easy. Should you get more than five answers incorrect, this terminal will be locked for the next twenty years until you can go for a second chance to own your very own PipBuck 4000! And no, you won’t find it anywhere else within the Stables. The PipBucks you’ll find are nothing but cheap, outdated items! Or so to speak.

“Now, are you ready?”

This holographic pony may not be the real Neighkola Tesla, but if there’s anything, anything that could please my idol is that the PipBuck 4000 will be mine for the taking and that I won’t have to go PipBuck-less forever! The biggest setback is if I get half of the answers incorrect, the terminal will get locked out with no way of rebooting it back. Even if I were to override the terminal, it won’t be any consolation as this is a one-time event of this puzzle. I have to do this. I must. And I know I’ll be putting my high intellect to the test and stay myself calm as I hope to Celestia I can earn it myself. And for my friends, even lost ones too.

I pressed a hoof against the button to let my pseudo-idol know that I’m ready.

“Excellent! Best of luck to you, rookie! And don’t fail!

“Message end.”

The holographic pony soon disappeared, but not before a seemingly large screen had activated and it soon began to write down the first question. This is it; a series of tests that’s going to put my brain to the ultimate test. Its all or nothing.

“Question One: Who led the Wonderbolts during the Cloudsdale air show event?”

Hmm… I’m no Pegasi expert, but I can guess Spitfire, so I typed down her name and pressed Enter. Hopefully this is the right answer…

“Correct!”

Yes! Got my first answer correct! Behind me, Gale and Tootsie were cheering me on, “Go, Zero! You can do it!”

Even Bob beeped repeatedly as to try and mimic their gestures, save for Lightspeed who is just looking on. I aim to please!

“Question Two: What Stable number that was located within the interior of Sweet Apple Acres?”

Oh… fuck. Its a number game now. What Stable number in Sweet Apple Acres? And what in the absolute hay is a ‘Sweet Apple Acres’? A place for harvesting apples? Anyway, I’m guessing the number… 24?

I typed down two and four and pressed enter. The answer I got was this:

“Incorrect!”

Damnit! There goes a good head start! Four more incorrect answers and I’ll never get the PipBuck 4000! Firing it open to get it myself would be no easy feat - its imperious to even alicorn magic! Neighkola Tesla - my very own idol - doesn’t seem to make things easy for me. But I can’t just give up now!

“Oh no! Zero got it wrong!” Tootsie proclaimed.

“Its alright; Zero has a couple chances to go. I’m sure he can do it.”

Thank you Gale for giving me a standing ovation. I need to get at least five questions correct instead of getting all of them.

“Question Three: Who is the current broadcaster of the Equestrian Wastelands?”

Pfft, that’s easy. As far as I know, DJ-Pon3 or whatever that name is should fit in with the question. Of course, there’s a trick I thought up. instead of inputting ‘o’ as a letter, I instead replaced it with the number ‘0’ (hence my-- don’t get any funny ideas regarding my name!). Here goes nothing!

“Correct!”

Huzzah! My luck has been doubled for my effort!

“Question Four: What is the number for the original model of the PipBuck?"

What comes before 4000? Hmm… I know! 3000! Let’s see if that’s correct!

“Correct!”

Just two more and the real PipBuck 4000 will be mine! I can bet Neighkola Tesla will be pleased with my efforts! Even give him a chance to construct a Tesla Cannon once I retrieve the Tesla Coil!

“Question Five: $@&%*$ the name of %#@^%#?”

The buck? When did it started to glitch randomly? I’m not sure how, but I can bet that the luck universe had started to shift unexpectedly. Oh fucking horse apples… guess I should write down Fillydelphia and get an automatic wrong answer, I suppose.

“Incorrect!”

Knew it. I fucking knew this would happen. Once I began to progress through, these simple questions turn into tough answers. And tougher questions lead to even tougher answers. Goddesses, I hope this doesn’t happen again…

“Question $@#@!: What resulted in a massive devastation of $@%tria?”

I can bet that’s Equestria. As for a massive devastation? I’m not entirely sure…

Maybe social unrest will suffice?

“Incorrect!”

Goddess fucking damnit! How is that an incorrect answer?! My mind yelled out.

Pinkie apparently rebutted me with, “How can you not know that it was the Megaspell that caused this?! You’re a scientist, for pony’s sake! You’re supposed to be a genius!”

What in the actual fuck is a ‘Megaspell’ anyway?! I know almost anything except weapons of mass destruction!

“That’s why you need to study more!”

Ugh, study more she says…

A scientist doesn’t create weapons with destructive firepower! That’s not even my strong suit! But goddesses did I got two incorrect answers in one go…

“Just hang in there, Zero! You can do it!” Gale yelled out. This wasn’t any consolation so far; this unique terminal is clearly testing my intelligence.

“Question Seven: What does S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stand for?”

I got three right and four wrong. Just one more incorrect is enough to prevent me from getting my hooves on the PipBuck. I can’t let my chances go to waste!

Let’s see… Strength; Perception; Endurance; Charisma; Intelligence; Agility; and Luck.

“Correct! You’re one step closer to success!”

Now its all or nothing. I must get one correct answer! I must! I was panting harshly, beads of sweat trickling down my forehead as mental pressure was sinking deep in my head. Just one, correct answer is all it takes… and I can’t disappoint my idol, too…

Come on, Neighkola! Show me what you got!

“Question Eight: Who were the two Princesses of Equestria prior to the Great War?”

Gonna make this final question count! I don’t care if there’s two extra questions left to do! The Princesses are known as Luna and Celestia! There! Get it right!

“Correct!

"Congratulations, rookie! You are now eligible to own your brand-new PipBuck 4000! May the Goddesses be with you, young genius, as for I, Neighkola Tesla, shall venture on to newer horizons!”

The screen had soon died out, but not before the small pod sealing the PipBuck 4000 slowly hissed open. Oh my Celestia… its real… its really real! My eye grew wide and became watery, gazing at the sight of the PipBuck! Meanwhile, the four joined up with me as Gale and Tootsie cheered me on.

“You did it, Zero! Nopony would ever outsmart you!” Gale gave me an optimistic smile and even gave me a hug.

I returned the smile to Gale as I reached out a hoof to the PipBuck 4000. To my sudden surprise, the PipBuck had floated up and slid around my left hoof, attaching itself onto it!

“Whoa, your PipBuck did something!” Tootsie proclaimed, watching it firmly attach itself around my hoof. lightspeed was neutral, but she too was surprised at the sight.

“Scanning…

“Welcome, Zero.”

It… it knew my name?! The screen was fairly bigger than the 1000 and the 3000 version! Sweet Celestia! And its durable as well!

I really gotta shake Neighkola’s hoof so badly when I get to see him! It wasn’t long until the screen showed up a map to see where we are. Whoa… so advanced…

I turned my attention to a large, freight elevator on the right. I bet this could lead us back up to the surface! I motioned the others to follow me as we went into the freight elevator to prepare ourselves. Once inside, I nodded to Gale as she pressed the button as we slowly made our way back up to the surface.

Next up: Rescue Quickdraw and bring him back to Stable Town, alive and well. Whatever we are going, we're gonna have to wait and see. But with the new PipBuck 4000 in my possession, things won’t be so complicated.

Footnote:Level Up.
New Perk: Team Player -- You have learned the basic skills of teamwork and sharing. Good for you! Whenever all members of the party are within moving range of your character, he or she gains +5% to all skills.
Bonus: You have obtained a PipBuck! S.A.T.S. and E.F.S. are now available for use.

Chapter Fifteen: Second Mission

We made it back to the surface! Still dark and gloomy, but we made it! Only except… where are we?

“What is this place?” Gale scanned around abandoned buildings, unsure. As we left the freight elevator, I looked at the map of the PipBuck.

Hmm… Conneticolt? No wonder why those buildings are so abandoned akin to New Hampshore (minus the Cazadores). I began to search for a different one, and has a lot of things to offer, including searching for anypony. Sweet! Now, let’s see…

‘Last seen Quickdraw?’

And it looks like I can write my PipBuck down again! It then spoke:

“Searching…

“Quickdraw was last seen in Conneticolt. Last location unknown.”

So Quickdraw is around here somewhere. Not sure where, but we need to start searching. And we’re totally not separating.

“Looks like we’ll have to start searching for Quickdraw. Where do we start off, Zero?” Gale asked me. There are a couple of undiscovered places of interests to find, but the E.F.S. has not detected any living beings; friendly or hostile. But before I could lead my team, Lightspeed took a curious look at me, “Zero, what has happened to your eye?”

Huh? My right eye? I moved my mane with a free hoof and presented her my permanently-damaged right eye, with a red scar that was shown vertically through it.

“Oh… how did this happen?”

I wrote down the words from my PipBuck from the note feature (and with no word limit as well) before writing down a couple of words and showing it to Lightspeed, reading as ‘I got attacked by a Raider’.

“Damn. Well, at least they didn’t cut off your own head and mount it on a pole.”

Heh. Tell me about it. But its nothing compared to how I’m unable to fully speak whatsoever. And unless there’s a reliable voice modulator that could help emulate my voice, a surgery is too risky for the time being - not to mention not having enough caps to perform this kind of augmentation.

I pointed to the direction we’re going; an abandoned department store. Gale gave me a nod as I began to lead the way, “Got it. Let’s go, ponies.”

Once we arrived, I noticed a blip appearing on the E.F.S.; its green, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable.

Gale looked over me and asked, “Do you think this Quickdraw is inside?”

I merely shrugged. I really can’t be sure if its true. Even my new PipBuck isn’t sure if its really Quickdraw. But whatever’s inside, it could be anypony. And there are ponies who are eager to greet us with bullets all over us.

Aside from a poor slogan draped against the wall, we went inside. And we’re gonna expect resistance while searching for Stable Town’s mayor.

This place was ransacked, with many shelves being strewn all over the floor. And all items for us to retrieve were also pilfered. And to top it off, a sea of red blips appear on the E.F.S. that also obstructs a green blip. Well this is a ‘great’ way to start it off. Whoo-fucking-hoo.

We didn’t happen to find any obvious hostiles from here. The PipBuck 4000 displays red blips with a down arrow, meaning that they’re below us. Bob immediately skittered onto my back and let out a few beeping noise, pointing a claw at the shelves as to indicate that he can’t climb onto it. Of course he can’t; Bob doesn’t have a jump feature.

I nodded to the three as I began to climb onto overturned shelves, looking up ahead were descending stairs that faces to the left side.

“Why do ponies take stress on shelves? Its stupid! They shouldn't even be this messy!”

To be honest I have no clue either, Tootsie. Probably a shop owner having OCD of some sort. Either way, all the items were taken away without leaving a single can of food behind. What matters is finding and rescuing Quickdraw and bring him back to safety.

What we found downstairs is what appears to be a hoof-ful of rooms that lead into wine cellars. I seriously don’t want to think of drinking right about now. Up ahead is a closed, wooden door that are guarded by two Securitrons; they were covered in spray paint, with black spray paint completely covering up their faces. No doubt they’re hostiles and if those are the work of Raiders, then they sure as hell managed to tamper them in order for two Securitrons to do their unforgivable bidding. Their rocket arms were also aimed at us at the ready!

Fuck! I quickly pointed a hoof at the wine cellar room,as to tell them to take cover as I went in the opposite side of the room! I sure as hope they don’t fire at us, or the blast radius could shatter a hell of a lot of wine bottles that could not only flood in the area, but it could also kill Bob if any liquid could soak him up! Goddesses dammit all…

“Scanning… No threat detected.”

Whew! Good! We need a tactic to take them down; we can’t charge in and attack. Not without having our body parts being blown to smithereens or even cause a major flood from wine bottles bursting open from a rocket blast with the possibility of drowning us all - and not all of us here are waterproof.

Gale whispered to me (who is at the opposite side of the room next to me), “There’s only one entrance for us to get to Quickdraw, Zero. What should we do?”

I wrote down the three words from my PipBuck, as Bob utterly refuses to get off of my back due to the intact wine bottles stored behind us. I carefully showed her the screen as it was written down as ‘Divide and Conquer’.

“But how--” I waved a hoof to interrupt her as I accessed into the map interface from the PipBuck and began to draw a couple of lines with a hoof; one line involving going to the open door that leads to the exit of the cellar, the other line the same thing - with me and Gale staying in this area in hopes that Lightspeed and Bob can distract them both while we aim and fire them. Hopefully the ex-Enclave will get the idea because I’m not a damn unicorn.

“Hmm.. oh! I see now! That means you and me should stay while the other three should distract those tainted Securitrons, right?”

Yes, and no. We’re not putting an innocent filly into the crosshairs. I glanced at Lightspeed and pointed a hoof at Tootsie before shaking my head to indicate that we can’t be putting her in danger. The partial cybermare gave me a nod and gazed to Gale, “The filly stays with Zero. Me and Bob will distract them.”

Bob skittered off of my back and curiously glanced to Lightspeed with a soft, whirring noise. She glanced back at him and informed the robo-scorpion, “You, go to the opening on the left to distract the Securitron. I myself will go to the right side. Tootsie, stay behind Zero. You two, open fire when we distract them.”

We gave her a nod as we prepped ourselves with Plasma Rifles as I took a careful aim at the Securitron from the left side, with Gale going for the right. Now we wait for the signal…

Both Bob and Lightspeed positioned themselves as they faced against those tattered Securitrons. Bob emitted a beep while Lightspeed yelled out, “Hey, blockhead! I’m over here!”

The two immediately turned their attention to Bob and Lightspeed and began to aim their rocket arms at them. Oh fuck! Need to go to S.A.T.S., and fast!

Alright, good ol’ S.A.T.S.! Now, I instructed Gale Storm to take down the Securitron on the right and mine on the left. And we need to take them down fast, or we’re gonna have too many problems in our hooves! We can’t let them blow up the wine cellars and risk having both Bob and Lightspeed blown to smithereens. Now… here I go!

PRRRROOOWWW!!! PRRRROOOWWW!!! PRRRROOOWWW!!! PRRRROOOWWW!!!

Neither I nor Gale missed our shots and they were both taken down. They weren’t dissolved into goo, though some of them were eating through metal compartments as they were already on the ground. Yes!

“Yeah, we did it!” Gale cheered, as Tootsie was usually covering her ears to muffle out gunfire. However, our victory was just temporary; a sea of red blips were still shown as we heard muffled noise behind the door.

“What the fuck was that?! You, Collateral Damage! Go and check our Securitrons!”

Uh oh.

I quickly motioned my hoof to Gale, as if telling her to hide! I quickly shut the door and went to retrieve Bob before shutting the door as well.

“Oh fuck!” Gale had quickly shut the door, “Lightspeed, somepony’s coming! Close the door, quick!”

Lightspeed could hear the door opening before she too shut the door and listened on, whispering to her, “Looks like the plan wasn’t just a success, but a fluke as well…”

Collateral Damage - whom appears to be a common, drug-addled Raider pony - looked at the two, destroyed Securitrons that were shot through, “Oh fuck! Somepony’s here and they took out our robots! Hey, Golddigger! We gots ourselves some problems!”

“What?!” Golddigger shouted angrily at the distance, “Western Raiders, go and find those fuckers, and I want their heads mounted on my fucking wall! Now!”

Oh goddess dammit! They’re coming this way! I quickly wrote down the words from my PipBuck and showed it to Tootsie, reading as ‘Get behind me’!

“Wah! Th-The baddies are coming our way! Bob, block the door!”

Bob and I held the door as Gale told Lightspeed from another room, “Oh no… they’re coming! Light, I’ll hold this door, you hold the other! If all goes to hell, we’ll give them everything we got…”

At least ten more Raiders had quickly barged through different rooms, but not before some attempted to barge through the doors we’re in, “Boss! There’s somepony inside!”

Oh goddess fuck! This isn’t good! They’ve discovered us! we backpedalled as I quickly armed myself with the Plasma Rifle and-- wait! I need to regroup with Gale Storm and Lightspeed! Gale can’t reload if I’m not here! I quickly motioned a hoof to Tootsie and Bob for us to regroup with the others,and fast!

I quickly barged through the door to another room where Lightspeed and Gale Storm are as Tootsie yelled out, “We need to move away from the baddies! They could blow up the room and make us drown!”

I nodded in agreement to her as Lightspeed rebutted the filly at first, “No, we’ll take them on! We’ll tear them into bloody pieces!”

“We can’t! The rooms are filled with intact wine bottles! Any explosives and we could drown, and Bob could short circuit if this happens!”

Lightspeed emitted a reluctant growl, “Fine… but I get to draw first blood on those other ponies, do you understand?”

Before Gale could reply, gunfire erupted by Raiders as the two were the firsts to make a quick escape as I used the door as a shield until my companions can retreat back up to safety. I have a feeling that there’s quite a large number of Western Raiders (as mentioned by Bleak Venom) in this area!

“If those ponies must be this Bleak Venom’s proteges, kill them! I want their heads as my personal collection!”

I frantically waved a hoof at the others as to signify I’ll meet up with them later. To my misfortune, a shotgun blast tore through the door and at me! Gah! Fuck!

I was thrown back, skidding along the ground as I let out a pained expression; some of the pellets from the shotgun tore some of my lab coat and the others nearly went in deep inside the armor! I’m still alive, but goddess fuck it hurts so much! I quickly scrambled to arm myself with the Plasma Rifle and aimed at the charging Raider as he yelled out, “C’mere, you!”

Too slow!

I quickly went to S.A.T.S., and I don’t have much left. I can’t reload; not as long as there are fairly large number of those Western Raiders coming after us. Need to make those last two shots count, one for the head, and for the other one as well on the right side. Gotta make them count!

PRRRROOOWWW!!! PRRRROOOWWW!!! Click. Click.

Fuck, no more ammo. On the bright side, the two Raiders I shot them had soon dissolved into goo. As I got up to my hooves, I felt a couple of bullets graze through my coat before one managed to land a lucky shot through my right hoof! I recoiled back again and let out a pained look on my face; goddess fuck, you bastard!

“Warning:

“Bleeding detected; administer medical items immediately.”

Yeah… no shit, PipBuck...

I frantically scrambled back before pinning myself against the ascending stairs behind me. A fresh Plasma ammo rolled out of my saddlebags, but as I begun to reload, a Raider pony swatted the Plasma Rifle off of my hooves and socked me through the cheek with a hoof, “Hah, I don’t think so, you lowly little scrap! We’re gonna put the test on a test subject!”

Fuck…!

“Bob, rescue Zero before they shoot him!” Gale shouted at Bob as she quickly turned to Tootsie, “Tootsie, stay with Lightspeed!”

“Aye aye!”

Bob had quickly skittered down the stairs and lets out a charge-like beeping sounds and fired off laser shots against them, one that struck in the eye of a Raider pony and the other burning through a hoof. Me? I’m just scrambling to get the healing potion just to slow the bleeding!

“Gah! Fuck! Buckshot, take care of that stupid robotic thingamajig!” A Raider mare yelled out as the pain was still shooting up hard in me from both a gunshot wound in my hoof and several pellets that nearly pierced through me. While my injuries are (so far) minor, it still hurts like hell!

Bob made easy work in crippling a couple of Raiders despite not killing them - though his lasers can inflict major radiation levels upon coming to contact - as Gale has come to aid me, but I quickly waved to her and pointed at the Plasma Rifle that was swatted off, hinting that she needs to retrieve it before one of the Raiders have any chance of getting it and use it against us! Bob himself was proven a distraction for the Raiders and they all opened fired at him to no avail; his tough, body shell easily deflects most of the gunfire as bullets were bounced onto walls, but one of them narrowly missing my hind leg! Oh, shit! And that was all while I was seething in pain, too!

“Oh! My Plasma Rifle!” Gale quickly went to retrieve it before gunning down several Raiders while I was applying pressure against my wounded hoof with an intact one. Fucking hell…

Both Gale and Bob did quick work before she retreated back to me and searched for a healing potion inside my saddlebags, “Hold on, Zero! I’ll find the saddlebags inside…”

Once she pulled a fresh healing potion from my saddlebags, I eagerly gulped it down to slow the bleeding from my hoof before letting out a quiet gasp as she nuzzled my forehead, “Its okay. And you’re okay, too. We took care of them.”

I nodded to her, though the E.F.S. still shows a red blip. I quickly got up to my hooves though I winced a bit despite my hoof no longer bleeding any further. Fucking hell! But I shook off the pain and proceeded forward, with Gale tucking a wing over me as we went to the next room to find their leader and rescue a (possibly friendly) captured pony. Lightspeed stood by with Tootsie outside of the basement entrance as the filly was curiously poking a hoof at her metallic hoof, “Ooohhh… are you gonna be a fully-robotic pony Lightspeed?!”.

The partial cyberpony let out a soft shrug, “Who knows. Only time will tell, young one.”

I glanced at the unopened, wooden crate before we could proceed. I pointed a hoof for Gale and Bob as I slowly trotted over to the crate and found a lock that needed a key… its so rusted and old-fashioned that it doesn’t take a unicorn to pick through an ancient and derelict lock. Bob slowly skitters towards the locked crate and glanced at me in a curious manner, pointing the lock with a metal claw. I nodded to him and wrote down at least three words from my new PipBuck before showing it to him, reading it as ‘Fire it open’.

Bob nodded to me in response and soon faced the locked crate and aimed at the lock with the laser tail, charging it up and then firing at the lock clean.

TZZAAATT!!

As the lock disintegrates, Gale glanced at me and asked, “I wonder what’s inside the crate?”

I’m not sure. And its surprising that none of the Raiders even tried to pick it open. That, or they were too busy dealing with a hostage that all attention to it was lost when we destroyed both Securitrons that were blocking our path. I slowly approached to the crate and flicked the lid open; a StealthBuck? That’s what they’ve been trying to unlock? Oookay then.

Once I acquired it, we heard a faint scream coming from downstairs; gonna have to find out what this does when we get there, we gotta save Quickdraw!

“Quick, we need to go!” Gale ordered. I was the first to head downstairs as the two followed me along the way before we were stopped by the Western Raider’s leader, Golddigger.

“Don’t even think of moving a hoof closer, or this sheriff will get a high noon he’ll never forget! Back off!” Golddigger warned us coldly; he has a revolver floated and the muzzle pointed at Quckdraw’s head. He is the mayor! But… is he? I looked at the PipBuck and I saw his name… but something is off; is he really Quickdraw? Either way, I need to get rid of Golddigger. I turned to Gale and nodded as I quickly returned upstairs, “W-Wait, where are you going, Zero?!”

“Tch, that’s what I thought. You two oughta do the same unless you want his brains splattered all over the place!"

Bob let out a warning beep, expressing hostility to him but knows that if either him or Gale fires, Quickdraw would be shot.

While I was upstairs, I tried out the StealthBuck into my head and turned it on; soon enough, my body is gone! Where the hell did I go?!

I moved around a little after jumping a bit from the StealthBuck that was just activated before heading back downstairs, with Gale, Bob and Golddigger in a tense standoff. Looks like they didn’t saw me. Good. Now to go around the bastard and take him down…

I went behind him and spotted a sawed-off shotgun holstered to the side. Now, if I was a unicorn, I would’ve easily stole it and blasted him to smithereens… but since he’s a unicorn, he would’ve detected it already and my stealthy attempt would be compromised.

Maybe try and steal it? I could try, just need to be careful. I slowly reached a (non-existent) hoof towards the shotgun. So far, so good; Golddigger’s too focused on Gale Storm and Bob. Just hope he could keep the trigger from pulling… slowly… slowly…

Got it! I managed to steal his gun and stood back a bit for me to take a good aim at Golddigger. Here goes nothing…

BLAM!! Click.

His back left a large, bloodied and gaping holes as he recoiled forward and back, bleeding profusely. Fuck! I didn’t kill him! Mortally wounded, yes, but not enough to kill him! Only one shell was spent…

On the plus side, Gale easily pinned Golddigger and aimed her Plasma Rifles at him, “Any last words, you Raider fuck?!”

Golddigger panted harshly as he spits out blood onto her face as a response, but not before turning his attention at the pony, “G-Get them..”

She lets out a furious growl and mercilessly fired off two shots of the Plasma Rifles to Golddigger, dissolving him into a pile of goo to his demise.

I went to untie the pony, but quickly saw that his coat was covered in paint, his mane and tail dyed in a different color! Oh shit, this isn’t really Quickdraw! I saw my E.F.S. changing from a green blip to a red one; its a trap!

“Hah! Got ya! Ya can’t find Quickdraw, so its game over for you fuckers!” The female Raider yelled out and uncovers herself, revealing to be strapped with remote bombs around her! Oh, no, no ,no!

Bob lets out a surprised beep with Gale gasping in shock as the unnamed Raider laughed maniacally and began to detonate herself as I quickly galloped towards them both, immediately diving and pushing them behind a couple of wooden boxes!

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

The force of the blast propelled me back and forcefully crashing against the steps as I let out a silent yet pained scream; the boxes were disintegrated and despite Gale covered with several splinters, she and Bob were alright, but I was not. Both of our ears were ringing from the blast as Gale shouted, “Bob, are you hurt?! Where’s Zero?!”

Bob let out several, dazed beeps as the StealthBuck began to frizzle and deactivate as a result from the explosion that damaged the newly-equipped StealthBuck, and the ceiling from below level beginning to buckle and collapse.

Just my fucking luck…

“Oh no… the ceiling is starting to go! Bob, get upstairs and let Tootsie and Lightspeed know what happened! I’ll go get Zero!”

Bob gave her a salute as he quickly skitters upstairs and out of the wine cellar room as she went to retrieve me. She picked me up onto her back, and I was writhing in pain as we had quickly left before this area has any chance of collapsing into mounds of rubble.

“What happened?” Lightspeed asked with concern.

“Did you rescue Quickdraw?! I bet you guys did! You’re our heroes”

Gale quickly shook her head as she gently put me down onto the floor as I was coughing up harshly; my head was ringing… I can’t hear a goddess-damned thing…

“Quickdraw wasn’t here… the Raiders had set us up. It was a trap and… Zero somehow went invisible and saved me and Bob; in that case, she nearly blew us all up. As for Zero? He’s having a serious concussion, mine was only minor…” Gale finished explaining at the two.

“Soooo was it a double?” Tootsie curiously asked, but Lightspeed countered the filly, “No. If what Gale said was true, then she used herself as a live bait in order to kill herself with you three in it. The real Quickdraw is somewhere else. Zero isn’t of use for us for the time being. You’ll have to carry him around throughout until he fully recovers. Use his PipBuck to find Quickdraw’s whereabouts.”

Gale Storm frowned at her suggestions but reluctantly nodded, “If you insist.” She then turned her attention to me, gently stroking a hoof against my cheek, “Just hang in there. You’ll get through with it.”

Oh goddesses, give me a break…

My head is still ringing from the explosion caused by a fucking Raider who played the victim, only to try and blow us up to smithereens. I’m just surprised that I’m still able to breathe normally, but now I have to ride shotgun onto Gale Storm’s back until my head stops ringing so I can get back into action.

“Let’s keep looking around and see if we could find the real Quickdraw without interference from Raiders or other drug-addled ponies bent on murdering us with no specific reason. According to his PipBuck, there are at least five more green blips shown on E.F.S., but we don’t know which one is the real Quickdraw. We’ll have to assume the worst.”

As Gale had finished explaining, my ears picked up nothing but muffled noises coming from her. In fact, I can’t even hear any normal conversation whatsoever!

“Good idea. And little Tootsie, do not wander off on your own. The last thing we’d want is a young filly returning severely injured. Understood?”

Tootsie nodded eagerly and stood close to her robo-scorpion companion as she gingerly brushed a hoof against my mane, “After all, we don’t want our scientist getting hurt even more, now would we?”

I felt somepony brushing my mane… it’s Lightspeed, isn’t it?! Goddess damnit!

As we ventured through, Gale scanned around Conneticolt to try other places of interests, “Hmm… I really don’t think Quickdraw went to Pegas County. If he was, then we’d have to search for the Raptor for us to reach over there, and I don’t think there aren’t any Enclaves left a single Raptor here.”

“Aren’t you an Enclave yourself?” Lightspeed questioned her before Tootsie shook her head, “She’s not an Enclave baddie, though! She’s one of us! Those other meanie Enclaves went too hard on her!”

“Thank you, Tootsie Roll.”

Nope. Still loud ringing in my ears, so I can’t hear shit of what they’re even saying. Hell, I could feel my back still rattling inside. Did I mention that I’m hungry, or is my brain too busy trying to recover which could possibly take hours before I could find out where in Equestria I was.

“Let’s check over the abandoned pharmacy store. If its just an innocent pony, we’ll free them. We just have to be careful; ponies like to play the victim just for their own selfish gains, like that Raider in disguise that narrowly killed us all. And we need to be on high alert for this one; we don’t know who we’ll encounter.” Once Gale finished explaining, she and the others enter the abandoned pharmaceutical store, with me in tow. I wonder how this is gonna end…

“Looks like this place wasn’t looted. More medicine in stock and whatnot, but no sign of Quickdraw… let’s see what his PipBuck will take us.”

The three nodded to Gale, save for me as I was slowly wandering my head as the ringing noises are beginning to lessen. I could hear what’s going on, but I can’t think of what.

“I think this one’s close by behind the medical counter… watch your backs, ponies. We don’t know if this one will be friendly or hostile…” She warned to them while I’m just trying to get myself some senses back together. I seriously need to get a weapon of my own unless some fucker wants to steal it again so I can be weaponless forever.

“Hellooooo? Come on out and stop playing hide and seek!” Tootsie called out. The pony figure slowly emerged from the counter, revealing to be a middle-aged pony with his coat strewn apart, “Oh! Are you ponies here to buy something? We got all medicine available! Of course, some of those Raiders looted them and got away with it...”

Gale lets out a surprised gasp; it wasn’t Quickdraw, but this pony surely wasn’t hostile either, “Oh! A real, friendly pony!”

“Hooray! A not-baddie pony!” Tootsie cheered as she quickly galloped around the medical counter to see the unnamed pony, with Bob catching up to the filly. Man, no wonder she always act like this…

As they arrived to see the middle-aged pony, my mind had came to and free from the concussive noise inside before I quickly rolled myself off of Gale’s back and onto my hooves, but soon felt the sickening crack inside my back. Fucking hell that smarts! I quickly slumped back onto the floor, writhing in severe pain. Goddesses fuck, I felt my back being broken off from the blast earlier!

Fucking hell! My back is shot, and I can’t stand onto my hooves!

My mind yelled out, and my PipBuck emitted a warning beep to indicate that my back was fractured, rendering me immobile from even moving around. Great… just my goddess-damned luck… again!

“Zero! Your back is hurt from the blast! Please, don’t get up…” Gale pleaded me as I squirmed a little from the sharp pain. Thanks for the sympathy, that’s the last thing I ever needed.

“Oh dear. It looks like your friend has a nasty fracture. Hang on, I’ll go and fetch the Doctor’s bag. You’re lucky I have plenty, or I wouldn’t be able to heal you properly without Hydra if you had come in here with several, crippled limbs and let me tell you; Hydra is extremely lethal if its used too many times. I’ve seen ponies turned into… living mass from even the slightest of overdose. It wasn’t a pretty sight, I say.”

Gee, thanks for the warning, doctor obvious. He soon returned with a fresh doctor’s bag to go for, “Now, hold still while I work on that fracture. Oh, I’m Licorice, the only pharmacy clerk running here in Conneticolt. We don’t get a lot of inhabitants around here. In fact, everypony evacuated when all hell broke loose.”

Lightspeed glanced around the store before her eyes were on him, “Licorice, huh? Well its surprising that nopony had completely ransacked the place clean, or you would’ve been out of business.”

Licorice responded with a lighthearted chuckle as he tended my crippled back, “Well, population here in Conneticolt is very sparse. Like I said, we don’t get a lot of inhabitants around here; just these other ruffians who seeks thrill by causing damage around buildings, even murdering their own kind. They call themselves the Western Raiders for all the foal-ish reasons.”

“Well, we took care of them. It was a close call too, especially when that one Raider had a detonator vest around her and nearly killed us all. And I thank Zero for his bravery, even if it nearly cost his own life for that. I’m not sure if there’s more outside as even if their leader is dead, there’s bound to be more Raiders outside.” Gale explained as my crippled back is now fully healed up, allowing me to get back onto my hooves with no issues and no sharp back pain. I wrote down a single word from the PipBuck 4000, displayed as ‘Thanks’ from the screen.

Licorice narrowed his eyes from the screen, reading it a bit before giving me a nod, “Its not a problem. Say, are you able to speak, young one?”

My only response was to tilt my head back and presenting my still-stitched throat (though barely visible now as it was eventually dissolving itself into my skin). He let out a winced expression at this, “Oh my… a pony whose ability to speak normally was cut off. Shame I can do no such thing to replace your long-lost voice. I’m afraid I don’t have a voice modulator anywhere. And even so, there’s no guarantee for it to work, so I’m afraid my medical expertise is limited; you’ll have to find somepony else who could augment your vocal chords inside your throat.”

Well no shit. You’d need a highly-advanced technology or whatever things that are related to Arcane Sciences, but the book itself found none regarding it. Maybe I could find Neighkola Tesla and having him do so, but nopony knows where he is.

“Oh! Maybe you would like to come with us to Stable Town? We could grab as many medical items and use any medicine available for the ponyfolk there. Its much livelier, but much less secure due to Quickdraw going missing. Think you can do that?”

The middle-aged colt’s ears had picked up regarding the ex-Enclave’s proposal to gather as many items and bring them to Stable Town and its citizens. There was a pregnant pause of this.

“Perhaps I can gather up supplies and relocate this Stable Town or however you ponies might call it, but sadly, I can’t transfer all of the remaining medicine available elsewhere as nopony has ever sought to help out. I sent a distress signal, but nopony answered. The only ‘help’ we got were Raiders; then everything ran amok.” Licorice explained, also expressing disappointment.

“Sounds like you’ve sent the wrong type of help. These Raiders simply can’t be reasoned with.” Gale reiterated as Tootsie even nodded in agreement, “Yeah, those baddies are always up to no good! They like to steal things for no reason!”

For a scatterbrained filly, she sure has a point; Raiders are a lost cause and needs to be dealt with.

However, I learned that Conneticolt failed to receive actual ponytarian aid from other ponies who would take them elsewhere to safe haven (and Stable Town is the only location that was free from any danger, though its lack of adequate security makes residing more trouble than its already worth).

Lightspeed thought up of a suggestion, “I could send my team and have them bring medicine to Stable Town, and Camp Mayne Six.”

“What do you--” Licorice interrupted himself as he gazed at Lightspeed’s partially-cybernetic nature, “Oh my Celestia, I have never seen an augmented pony before…”

“Surprised? Well, its a long story so I’ll keep it short; I was experimented on and I went against their wishes. That’s all there is to it.”

Licorice nodded in response, “Well then,perhaps that would be a wonderful idea for you to send your team for delivery.”

I reminded myself and began to write down from my PipBuck and showed it to Licorice that displayed as ‘We’re looking for Quickdraw. Have you seen him?’.

“Quickdraw? Hmm… I have seen this fellow, who’s nay-high and wearing a ten-gallon hat, and a revolver for a cutie mark? Well, I did saw him crashing down somewhere. Maybe try the lake? Do be careful; it may be irradiated!”

Looks like we’ll have to disregard other ponies from the E.F.S. and find Quickdraw from a lake. I’m guessing the park? The map doesn’t specifically say, but its possible.

“We’ll go look for him, then. Let’s grab some of the supplies and find Quickdraw, Zero!” Gale was optimistic as she wrapped a hoof around mine and quickly pulled me to go with her. Oh goddess, here we go again…

“Take care of yourselves, ponies! And do be mindful that Conneticolt has hidden dangers that even your PipBuck may not be able to pick it up!”

I’ll keep that in mind. Who knows if there are any invisible ponies that’s waiting to catch us by surprise.

Once we collected as much medical items as we could inside my saddlebags, we set off to look for Quickdraw, the mayor of Stable Town gone missing. I know Lightspeed isn’t gonna stay with us for long because after a full week, she’s going back to Camp Mayne Six with her faction. Let’s hope Quickdraw is still alive.

“I bet Quickdraw is playing hide and seek! How many bits do we bet on whoever finds him first?!”

Bits are non-existent in Equestria; only caps. Whatever silly idea you came up with is more than enough for the Wastelands to listen and put us into inescapable danger. My mind spoke out, so I clearly need to remind Tootsie Roll that any danger we face is far from fun and games.

Lightspeed points a hoof to the direction of the lake Licorice told us about, “Over there.”

My E.F.S. still shows a green blip ahead and never moved. We must be getting close, but we exercised caution; we don’t know what’s up ahead. Of course, I quickly stopped them when I glanced up of what appears to be both crudely-made towers standing within the park area, as two red blips pop up from E.F.S.; looks like there’s two more Raiders using those towers as snipers’ perches. There’s also laser sights aimlessly wandering about unless it finds targets. Up ahead is a pony tied up and kept in a crudely-designed cage. Hmm… if I could provide distraction and hopefully not get shot, Lightspeed and Gale could fly over there and take them down for me. Of course, I’ll need Bob’s help to provide firing cover as to distract them both while I could get to Quickdraw (and hopefully not another Raider disguised as Quickdraw).

“Hmm… do you have a plan, Zero?”

Of course I do! I’m a scientist that makes plans, Gale! I opened up the interface of the map and began to draw lines of it, doubling as a tactical plan for rescuing Quickdraw. Tootsie wouldn’t count as she’s far from combat-ready and is too vulnerable to take down the overwatch snipers ahead.

According the plan I’ve drawn onto the screen, Gale will flank on the right side while Lightspeed will flank on the left. I, on the other hoof, will charge in and Bob will provide firing cover so they’ll be too distracted to even keep track.

“Okay, so it looks like I get to flank on the right side while Lightspeed flanks on the left side and you charge forward and Bob covers you. Got it. We’ll go when you charge in first.” Gale went to her designated position as Lightspeed notified me, “Don’t get shot. We’re not gonna be picking up your body if your plan fails. Just watch yourself.”

I’ve been through hell before, so I don’t think this’ll be the first time I’ll be charging through with no weapons in my possession.

Before I did, I wrote down a couple of words from the PipBuck and showed it to the filly as it read as ‘Start the countdown on three once I start galloping’.

“Aye, aye sir!” Tootsie saluted to me as Bob was standing behind me, his laser tail at the ready. Right… here I go!

Once I quickly dashed forward, Tootsie Roll started the countdown for both Lightspeed and Gale Storm, “Okay! Three, two, one, go! Take out them baddies!”

The two nods and began to fly off in different directions. One of the sniper Raiders spotted me and began to aim down the sights at me, the last sight already caught me, “Ooohhhh! Somepony is eager to get himself killed!”

The distance between us and the crudely-made towers are slightly further away from us, but Bob began to fire off a laser shot above to distract a sniper Raider. Soon, the Raider jumped back from it, “Wah! What the actual fuck was that?! Hey, Nails, did you see that?!”

The other Raider turned to her in an annoyed manner, “Yeah, its you being a paranoid fuck, Daisies! Now shut the fuck up and kill the charging colt that’s about to get our prisoner! Besides, I call first dibs on shooting him and that cowpony of a sheriff the next morning, so you get no squat!”

Daisies grumbled and went back to aiming as she was the first to fire a shot at me. Whoa, fuck! I felt my tail twitch and evade it at the split second. Of course, a second shot from the sniper perch on the right whizzed by, as the bullet nicked through my right ear, and by the goddesses that hurts! It started to trickle blood, but I can’t stop now; need to save Quickdraw who is caged inside!

Behind me, Bob kept firing laser shots in the air as to throw the two off-guard. Lightspeed has her razor-sharp wings at the ready; Daisies was about to fire another shot - or rarely, due to Bob covering fire for me - as the razor-sharp wing zoomed through her neck. Daisies emitted a bloodied, gagging noise before her head soon slid off of her neck and was sliced clean off as a gush of blood erupted from her severed head, dropping down dead in an instant.

I finally arrived to the cage door where Quickdraw (and I hope its really Quickdraw this time) was held captive, gagged and tied up. Those duo Raiders can’t even keep the cage door closed so I swung it open with relative ease and I began to untie him. Meanwhile, Gale flew towards Nails and he tried to aim at her and fired off a shot, “Boom, down goes the birdie!”

His cockiness had only managed to graze her cheek, but it didn’t slowed her down as she knocked the Raider out of the tower and for him to fall to his demise, along with his rifle as it plummeted to the ground, “Fuck!!”

CCRRRRCCKK!!!

Once I untied him, he began to cough, “Gah! Fucking hell! I thought I wasn’t gonna get on outta here and get to Pegas County! Guess that’s out of the equation. Huh… thanks for saving me there, partner. I thought ah ain’t gonna get help and become target practice from dem Raiders.”

Both Lightspeed and Gale Storm regrouped, with the partial cyberpony taking notice of her bleeding cheek, “You’re hurt. You’re lucky he didn’t hit you square in the head or you would've been dropped dead already.”

“Oh, its nothing. Just a few battle scars to go for.” Gale giggles softly as Tootsie Roll and Bob regrouped with us, “Yay! The baddies are gone and the good guys saves the day!”

“Y’all came to rescue me? Well darn tootin’! We should drop by for some eatin’ before we should keep going!”

“But first, are you Quickdraw, mayor of Stable Town?” Gale asked, just to make sure that he is the real Quickdraw.

“Indeed ah am, missy! Why’s that?” The mayor asked her curiously.

“We were sent to find you and get you back to Stable Town. Turns out that the overall safety and security over there is starting to dwindle, and they needed you back. Who knows what’ll happen if Stable Town would fall under the hooves of Raiders, or worse? And nopony has the willpower to hold their own.” Gale explained to the mayor of Stable Town regarding future risks of his town being overrun with dangers that could risk the lives of the inhabitants.

“Yup! Sweet Cheeks sent us to save you!” Tootsie jumped around him with excitement and glee.

Quickdraw went to retrieve his hat before giving them a nod, “Well darn tootin’. Y’all must be brave enough to take down them Raiders and rescue me along the way. Now then, let’s all mosey on before more of them would find us.”

“Good idea.” Gale responded. I went to get the sniper rifle that fell onto the ground so I don’t have to be weaponless yet again. (Up until somepony decides to steal it for a third goddess-damned time!)

Once our lunchtime was settled, we left Connecticolt as we ventured throughout the Wastes to bring Quickdraw back to Stable Town alive and in good health. So far there aren’t any red blips shown from E.F.S., but I wouldn’t get comfortable just yet; anything can happen and strike without warning, with your senses put to the test. We’re in a dense forest and the ground is way too uneven, with irradiated stream running across. Nowhere safe to drink too.

Bob was also riding shotgun onto Gale’s back as Quickdraw’s curiosity drew to him, “Say, who’s this mechanical feller?”

“That’s Bob! He’s a robo-scorpion who also hates water! But he’s also protective as well!”

The robo-scorpion lets out a beeping noise in agreement, showing his detest for water, “And he says that water would short him out and go ka-blooey! And I don’t want him to go ka-blooey!”

“Ah see. Well, he’s quite a nice little feller for a robotic scorpion, all cute and harmless, but also fearless.”

As Quickdraw finished replying, my ears twitched along with my tail. Even without E.F.S., I have a feeling that we may need to find somewhere safe inside…

“Oh! Zero detected danger! I wonder what that means?”

I could hear faint voices… all which are vulgar-sounded, mainly from the remaining Western Raiders. On the plus side, the unnamed town isn’t too far according to the PipBuck. I motioned to others for us to keep moving before they would eventually find us; I have a feeling that venturing through the forest seems rather unsafe.

“Let’s hope this is a safe place. Even if Quickdraw can hold his own, we need to make sure he makes it back unhurt.” Gale instructed. As we moved forward, I winced from a ringing noise whining inside my head. Fuck, what the hell was that…

I’m hearing something… why am I hearing ominous mutterings? And Pinkie isn’t responding yet… perhaps if I could take a nap from a safe area, then I wouldn’t have to hear unfamiliar voices in my head. Pinkie may be overly ecstatic, but she’s the only one who would try and keep negative thoughts at bay.

No response from Pinkie as expected. I really don’t know what’s going on, but I figured a rest would suffice. I would also ask Lightspeed to cut the week short for her to return to her team, even if it were to sound selfish (which I can’t speak for it anyway).

We arrived at a seemingly derelict and ruined town of South Mayne. Not unlike the other side of Mayne where other ponies engage in a free-for-all, and that it was a lawless town to go for from a week ago.

There was only at least one, not-ruined house on the right side with nopony residing there of course. Gale suggested, “Let’s rest up over there. We’ll continue later on.”

“Mah hooves are chafin’ so yeah. We should get a bit of shuteye before we can continue.” Quickdraw agreed before I stood in front of Lightspeed and wrote down several words from the PipBuck as it displayed as ‘You need to return to the Powder Gangers regarding Connecticolt, we’ll take it from here’.

The partial cyberpony gave me a small nod, “Perhaps I should reconsider staying with you ponies. Do take care of yourself, son, I know you’ll do well with your allies.” She of course gave me a hug and planted a soft kiss on the forehead. Unexpecting, but I did hugged her in return. Shortly after, she flew off, waving a hoof to me as I waved at her in return.

The inside felt cozy, but it feels rather empty for some reason. Quickdraw was already lounging on the couch with Tootsie and Bob relaxing next to him with Gale glancing at me, “Where’s Lightspeed?”

I replied with the use of my PipBuck ‘I told her to return and get supplies back in Conneticolt’.

“Oh… will she return?”

I merely shrugged. There’s no telling when she’ll return as I looked around the inside of the house; its small, but not claustrophobically small.

“I see. Well, rest up for a bit, we’ll continue later on.”

I nodded to her and went to a bedroom. My eye had soon gazed upon a statuette sitting on a desk next to the mattress; another earth pony like Pinkie! Only this one is a bit similar to Quickdraw, but a mare! Huh… who could it be?

‘Applejack’? Yellow and orange in color, too. Hmm… I suppose it doesn’t hurt to acquire it, doesn’t it? Its not thievery unless its to be used for the greater good. Her cutie mark bears three apples on her flanks, too. I suppose I could keep it, would I? Even Pinkie doesn’t seem to mind at all! If she’s there in my head, that is.

Nevertheless, I slowly and carefully grabbed ahold of the statueete and, just like the first statuette, a sudden surge of magical energy emitted as it slowly floated up in mid-air, I jumped back a little but the magic soon surged directly into my body! I could feel myself… stronger! Stronger than ever before! I feel less weak, and the bullet that was lodged into my shoulder dissolved completely! Damn, I feel like brand new already! Awesome!

Of course, my increased strength only wants me to take a nap even more as the statuette is now safely tucked inside my saddlebags. I should probably jump less and simply endure it. After that, I slumped myself into the mattress and began to rest, my eye shutting itself closed. The bed also creaked a little due to added physical strength.

“Be strong!”

After several hours of napping and not a single E.F.S. warning me of a hostile coming in, I slumped myself off of the bed and stretched my hooves as Gale entered the room to see me, “Ready to go, Zero?”

I nodded to her as I left the room, seeing the three (or two, because Bob is a robot and only sleeps if needed) having rested up with the filly jumping along excitedly, “Come on, let’s go back to Stable Town! Sweet Cheeks is waiting for us!Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s goooo!”

“Now take it easy there, little feller. Don’t go rushin’ off on yer own, besides, there’s dangers lurking on about so its best to stick with us.” The Stable Town mayor instructed Tootsie as she soon stopped jumping. She’s a young filly who’s nowhere near combat-ready apart from lockpicking so we’ll always have to stick in groups and not get ourselves separated. I know I have.

The skies are getting a bit dark as well,and with no adequate lighting either. The door even locked itself from us too! Oh well, I suppose using strength alone will have to suffice. I pointed a hoof to myself as to volunteer to open the door for them - no point in wasting ammo anyway.

“Sure! Go on ahead. We’ll move back.” Gale motioned the others to keep a distance as I torqued my neck left and right before turning around, pistoning my hindlegs against the door. The door stood no chance as it propelled forward and onto the ground, now broken in half. Whoa! Looks like the second statuette I had really increased my bucking powers!

Everypony was surprised at the sight as Tootsie gasped in awe. “Whoa! That was awesome! Zero isn’t just a scientist, he’s also a really strong scientist by combining brains with brawn!”

“W-Whoa… that was…” Gale was speechless, holding a hoof close to her lips as Quickdraw whistled to me, “Boy howdy! Who’d knew you have the strength of ten ponies to even kick the door right down! Ah’m amazed at this!”

Heh, I just don’t really know my own strength is all. Let’s just go before I inadvertently punch a hole in the wall, which is surely not my intention by the way. I turned on a new flashlight from the PipBuck 4000 to illuminate the darkness and I flinched a bit. Bloody hell, that’s bright!

“Oooohhh… Its sooo briiiight…” Tootsie was somewhat mesmerized before we moved on. Its a flashlight, not a light show...

We’re almost back to Stable Town, but a flash of lightning began to crash down from the dark and miserable skies. Oh goddess-damnit, there’s a thunderstorm brewing around. We gotta keep moving, fast!

“Ah see Stable Town! If Sweet Cheeks was th’ one who sent y’all to rescue me, tell ‘er that I’m at my office safe n’ sound. By the way, what are yer names?” Quickdraw asked before arriving at the town, as the citizens took shelter inside homes and other buildings.

Gale was the first to respond for me, “I’m Gale Storm, and this is Zero.”

“And I’m Tootsie Roll! This here is Bob!” Bob waved a claw at him after Tootsie was second to introduce herself and her robo-scorpion friend.

“Well, darn tootin’. Pleased to meet y’all ponies, and ah’m grateful for yer rescue there, ponies. Them stupid Raiders seem t’ lack proper knowledge an’ such. So ah’ll be on my way now. Again, tell Sweet Cheeks that I’m at my office safe n’ sound. Now, git before a thunderstorm pours in. Y’all best take care of yerselves, y’hear?!” Quickdraw tipped his hat with magic before trotting off. I bid farewell with a wave before trotting off. I heard the two saying good-bye before they followed me as we went back to Stable 75; trickles of rainfall began to pour through Stable Town as another thunderstorm boomed from the distance. Thank goodness we made it inside, we didn’t want Bob getting wet and short circuit from water getting into his systems.

We saw Sweet Cheeks at her desk as usual, reading the Book of Arcane Sciences as she took notice of us, “Oh! Its you ponies again! How was it? Is Quickdraw safe and well?”

Gale gave her a confirmed nod for me, “Yup! And its all thanks to Zero and his thought-out plan. Quickdraw is alive and well.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news! I knew I could count on you ponies! Now that he’s here, Stable Town will be good as new when Quickdraw can bring others to protect this town, and you’re welcome to visit here as much as you like! Thank you so much for rescuing him…”

I felt Sweet Cheeks exiting the desk and gave me a heartwarming hug. I’m not used to being hugged by other ponies, but this surely moved me and I returned the hug, a small tear in my eye trickling down as I felt being appreciated by another, unfamiliar pony for the first time since becoming a privileged scientist back in Lab-00. It really moved me…

“Say… where’s the half cyberpony?” She curiously asked us.

“She left to retrieve others to gather supplies from Conneticolt. Its apparent that this was where Quickdraw was held captive and since its not as populous as it is in Stable Town, we’d figured for her to retrieve medical supplies and bring them to here. I apologize if this is considered petty theft, but a local pony doctor told us that he’d rather have his available items back to another town where its safer and that its citizens will stay healthy from future illness.” Gale explained to the Overmare and hotel manager. Sweet Cheeks nodded in understanding.

“Well, it was the right thing you ponies did. The Wastelands are a treacherous place and they often never come back alive, or return gravely hurt. Mayne was the prime example, where ponies fought against each other, even dying along the way. Quickdraw had to lead other innocent ponies to Whooveswick and renamed it as Stable Town. Hard to believe that I was born in Stable 75 and did my job to shelter ponies inside. I objected at first when one of the ponies wanted to escape, but after some thinking, I had to open the Stable 75 door, even if we were to face the dangers that are going to come right at us. Of course, we saw other Mayne survivors. They asked if we needed help to restore this part of town to its glory… it wasn’t much, but we established a town of our own, and that’s where Stable Town was born.”

So that’s why these ponies were trying to seek a better life, even if the Wastelands were to desecrate the only safe haven with all the evilness that would put any living citizens on edge…

Gale expressed sympathy to her. “Oh no… I'm sorry to hear of what happened…”

Bob had skittered his way to Sweet Cheeks, emitting a couple of sad beeps as if feeling sorry for her. Of course, she lets out a small giggle and gently rubbed a hoof to his metallic body, “Hey, its okay. At least we’re safe, now that Quickdraw is back. You three do look tired. Why don’t you rest up for the night?”

I was wiping out the eye that was about to water down tear, but I made sure that it wasn’t too noticeable, though Tootsie decided to be with Sweet Cheeks, her eyes were obviously watery and tears were running down from her cheeks as her voice started to break, “Nuh-uh! I wanna stay with you, Sweet Cheeks! I don’t want a pony who cries! If she cries, I cry, too!”

And who could blame the filly for wanting to stay with the Overmare?

“Aww… the filly wants to stay with me? Well, of course you shall! Don’t cry now, little filly, and let Sweet Cheeks take care of both of you.” She turned her attention to us, a small tear was slowly running down to her cheek, “You two have a good night’s rest, okay?”

Sure thing. I nodded to Gale as we went down into Stable 75, with Gale sniffling softly from having heard Sweet Cheeks and Tootsie Roll. I don’t blame them, I know…

I gently pressed a muzzle against her cheek as we were taken to a vacant room for us to rest up for the next day. As for Pinkie Pie? She’s still not responding inside my head, and this is getting me a little worried.

My greatest concern of what’s going on outside of Stable Town. Not just New Hampshore, but the Wastelands in general that has another trick up in its sleeves, waiting for the right time to raise some hell. For now, I’ll have to wait until the storm’s settled for us to figure out what to do next.

Pinkie, where are you in my mind…

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Mental Block -- Mental Block is the ability to tune out any outside mental interference. You must have learned this talent from a passing guru, or from a really late night at the bar. When being still, silent and sitting, you gain +2 PER and +1 INT.

Chapter Sixteen: Big Trouble in Little Nightlight

Still no word from Pinkie Pie in my head.

I’ve realized it now; the blast gave me a concussion, which disrupted my mental communication with a ditzy pony that was in my head after having collected my first statuette back in Mount Gallopmore. I’ve been thinking hard now, yet all I’ve been getting is increased sight and heightened intelligence, but still no pinkie Pie. Where is she?

I need to find a way to bring her back so I could hear her again. Even if she’s quite crazy, she’s the only ‘alive’ pony in my head. Just not physically.

As for Stable Town, I could get used to living here. However, there’s a large matter at hoof, and that’s eradicating the Cazador population. Of course, without a strong army and powerful weaponry, charging through would be suicide.

At least with Quickdraw now managing his town, it feels a little safer to stay in, but now its a matter of hiring and training a few ponies who are sworn to protect the town from future attacks. I tuned in to the radio from the jukebox as I went to wash myself while Gale Storm was asleep on the bed.

“Goood morning everypony! This is DJ Pon3 with some scientific news! Get it?

“Well, without further ado, things had been frantic so far from a near-explosive escape to a daring rescue from a scientist who also made a new discovery in acquiring a brand-new PipBuck! You won’t find it anywhere else in the Wastes, folks. He may be a grade-A nerd, but he’s not to be underestimated with! And you can bet that he can do more than just a simple math, children.

“And a reminder regarding New Hampshore; stay away as far away as possible. You do not want to become food for those ravaging insects. Rumor has it, Stable Town is the only safe haven to live in, just like in Tenpony Towers!

“All in all, let’s see how many more good ‘inventions’ this Zero fellow can offer us! Stay tuned for more! And stay safe out there, children! This has been DJ Pon3, bringing a whole new meaning of science within the Equestrian Wastelands!”

It was soon cut off with another jazzy music as I went to wash myself up. Gale fidgeted in her sleep, but soon stretching her hooves and waking herself up as she slumped off of the bed with no Enclave armor with her as usual. Much like my lab coat and Stable-replica outfit (along with the armor vest) that was taken to the cleaners. Without me knowing, Gale stood by outside the shower room, her body resting against the side of the open door, her eyes half-lidded, “Hey, Zero…”

I nearly jumped in surprise and almost fell out of the shower; can’t a scientist have a moment of privacy without another pony having to look at me like this?!

“Don’t keep an ex-Enclave waiting. Besides, you are making a name of yourself, after all.” Gale’s words were enough to-- wait... is my nose bleeding?! Fuck! Focus, damnit!

I thought we were through from this yesterday! Oh wait, that’s right; no voice! Once I finished with my awkward shower, I quickly covered myself in a fresh towel and quickly trotted off of the bathroom, doing what I can to avoid eye contact with Gale Storm, lest I end up getting a nosebleed further!

She lets out a soft yet playful scoff, “For a scientist, you sure act weird sometimes…”

Goddess-damnit!

Before me and Gale Storm left Stable 75 to get the filly and the robo-scorpion, I couldn’t help but notice the sight of her cheek that stopped bleeding from yesterday as I pointed a hoof to her cheek.

“Oh? My cheek?” Gale gently pressed her hoof against her slightly wounded cheek (which was already healed on its own), “Oh… its nothing serious, really. I deal well with minor injuries, just not severe ones.”

I gave her a nod, though I was rather worried just looking at her being hurt and all. Of course, she had gently pressed her hoof against my cheek, “Hey, don’t worry about me. I can manage well, but, its nice to see that you care about me. Just goes to show that you’re always there for us, no matter what.”

My cheeks began to flush red from her words and I simply nodded in response from her positive words. Why am I getting butterflies fluttering inside my chest for some reason? Either way, I simply smiled in thanks.

Before we went to get the two, I wrote down on my PipBuck and showed it to her, reading ‘Do you know Cloud Storm?’.

Gale’s ears fell flat.

“Oh… my sister… I saw her when we were taking Tootsie and Bob to have them fixed up. I didn’t said anything because she would scold me for joining with the Grand Pegasus Enclave with my father while my sister decided to stay as a caretaker for younger foals and fillies. Even though I was doing a great job as an Enclave soldier, I was shunned even by others and Cloud Storm as well. Now my father sent his lackeys to come looking for me and… you know the rest.” Gale explained sadly to me; I can easily relate on how I refused to return to Lab-00 after Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse were dead. What choice did I have? That I return back to my former home that brings creates more problems than solving them? Of course, she wasn’t finished.

“I don’t know if I have the courage to face my older sister after what I did… she’ll hate me deeply for this…”

I may not have siblings (likely dead anyway like my non-existent parents, even if Lightspeed was my adoptive mother which basically doesn’t count), but I seriously can’t help to hear that Gale’s sister and her soldiers - even her own father - that treated her miserably, but mostly her own soldiers that treated her like a doormat. Even if I had to speak out for her, the only thing I could do is give her a caring hug. Despite my lack of knowledge in embracing others, why would I leave her to wallow? She doesn’t deserve it! Not now, not ever!

Her response was a surprised gasp, seeing that I was reciprocating for her, “Heh… well, that makes two of us. Thanks for lighten me up a little, even if my sister would shun me for joining up with the Enclave with my father. What do you say we’ll go and get Tootsie Roll and Bob with us?”

I nodded and went out of Stable 75 with her to get the two; neither they nor Sweet Cheeks are there, but rather a Stable 75 employee who is manning the desk, “Oh, hey you two! If you’re looking for Sweet Cheeks, she went to take the filly and that umm… scorpion thing to Quickdraw’s office, so she’ll be back in ten minutes. In the meantime, she told me to give the saddlebags to you… Zero, is it?”

Yes, that’s me. And no, you’re not to make fun of my name. You don’t know where its been.

“I see. Well, can you at least tell her that we’re gonna take a visit to the Stable Clinic in Stable Town?” Gale asked a favor to the unnamed employee. He confirmed us, “Certainly! When they return, I will let them know posthaste. You take care of yourselves, and do be careful out there!”

Yesterday:

“Hey dipshits! Pick up the fucking pace, will you?!” Bleak barked at his ‘allies’. Poison groaned out a bit, “Are we there yet? We’ve been trotting for hours with no breaks! Can’t you give us a slack, oh great leader?”

He lets out an annoyed snarl at Poison, “If you want to be a whiny bitch so much, then why don’t you go back to New Hampshore? Maybe those pony-eating insects will be happy to oblige by eating you piece by piece! Otherwise, you’re sticking with me, no exceptions! Do I make it clear, you bitchy filly?!”

The Cobras said nothing save for his ‘second-in-command’ who let out a soft whine from his threats. Bleak Venom merely rolled his eyes as he cocked his shotgun, “Now, let’s keep moving and see if we can find any living fucks we can kill for a living. Any objections, and you’ll be answering with my shotgun that’ll blow your fucking heads off like fucking grapes! And if we ever, ever encounter one of those cheap alicorn knock-offs, give ‘em hell or back out like a bunch of pussies y’all are!”

As they had continued their trek throughout Mayne, Bleak took a smoke from a cigarette box before puffing, “Looks like there’s something up ahead. You fucks better arm yerselves or you’ll be digging yourselves in your graves.”

They reluctantly armed themselves to the teeth as they carefully approached towards the uncertainty ahead of them. Poison felt concerned as he wondered that his leader was only tricking them.

“Little Nightlight, huh? Well, that figures. Let’s go inside, and no buts along the way! I don’t care how big of pansies y’all can be!”

With his sharp threats and leading the Cobras with an iron hoof, he led the team inside, albeit reluctantly and afraid that Bleak Venom will kill anypony in cold blood - with no remorse as well - as they head into Little Nightlight.

Today:

‘Are you ready?’ is what I wrote from my PipBuck to Gale Storm. I’ll make sure that I stand by her side when she’ll be facing with her older sister, Cloud Storm. I need to ensure that things are kept civil, even if there’s gonna be strains between the two siblings.

With a confirmed nod, Gale replied to me:

“Yes, I’m ready. Even if Cloud Storm would yell at me, I hope she’ll forgive me for my past actions.”

Despite her uncertainty, I gave her a nod as we went inside the Stable Clinic. Cloud Storm was about to greet us before she paused at the sight of her own, younger sister, still in her Enclave armor minus her helmet, “Gale… Storm?”

Gale’s ears had immediately fallen flat from hearing her, “Hello, sister…”

“Wh..What are you doing here? Weren’t you with our dad when you were with the Enclaves? And you joined his cause… why?!” Cloud yelled out with a hint of worry and despair; this isn’t gonna end well. I can’t imagine if Ratchet is here to intervene or he’s out having his daily breakfast. Either way, I quickly looked left and right to make sure he’s not hearing this. This sibling drama’s already beginning to rise rapidly.

Gale attempted to reason with her elder sister, “I only joined because I didn’t want you to get hurt… he was forceful and wanted to join him and his lackeys just to.. to… occupy the northern region of Itrotly…”

“H-How… How could you do this?! There were innocent ponies out there, an occupation of a region is unacceptable! Do you realize what our mother would’ve told us before she died of complications with radiation that led to acute hemorrhaging in her brain?! She told us to never join our father’s cause, yet you did! Just because you defended for me, doesn’t mean you get to do what he says! I… I can’t believe you…”

Fuck… now I really wanted to speak out for Gale and reason with her older sister…

And to add insult to injury, Gale was already beginning to break out her tears with her voice starting to break, “But that’s when I realized how th-they treated me poorly! E-Even our father went against me and… and shunned me because I…” She let out an abrupt pause as her tears were showering down from her eyes, “I ran… I ran away and now… now they’re looking for me…”

“...so you could either get court martialled, or rejoin for their heinous cause? Is that what you wanted?” Cloud still scolded at her younger sibling. I just couldn’t speak. I wanted to speak out, but even my PipBuck isn’t enough. It just isn’t, and it struck me hard. Why did I brought her - and myself - into this? All I could do is keep my distance as Cloud Storm continued to scorn her younger sibling.

“Please… please if anything… I’m sorry… I just didn’t want you in this mess… all I ask now is forgiveness…” Gale was starting to softly sob as her hooves buckled down onto the floor. Now, I felt purely guilty for this…

Cloud too teared up after hearing her younger sister beg for forgiveness after realizing that she only volunteered just to spare her sister into taking care of other ponies rather than vilifying them, even going as to take over an inhabited location. She slowly trotted over to reconcile her sister, “Its okay… what you did was wrong, yet you didn’t want to bring me into our father’s heinous actions. Even after he threatened me, you stood up to be with him and nothing more. I see that now. And after the way he treated you, you wanted to change your ways…”

I slowly left the Clinic to leave the two alone. Goddesses, what the fuck was I thinking? I just downgraded myself from a smart scientist to a clueless subject. Fucking Wastelands are now just laughing behind my back because of my foolish actions. I can’t let Tootsie and Bob know; they’ll hate me for this and they’ll pin the blame on me, even going as far as to hate me and call me a pony who hurts other ponies’ feelings. Even Quickdraw will banish me from ever staying in Stable Town for eternity. I just… I just can’t!

I might as well be on my own… again! And for good measure! At least I have my sniper rifle I acquired yesterday during the rescue. All that’s left is for me to move on. And not turn back.

Please forgive me, but I caused more problems than solving it. I’m not a scientist, I’m a… an outcast!

No word of Pinkie Pie at all, but its enough for me to just move along before I cause more damage than its already worth. Just… no more! I already pinned the blame on myself, and my own consequences are banishing myself from Stable Town in order to save myself from Gale and her sister (even Tootsie Roll and Bob, and maybe Sweet Cheeks) shunning me! I deserved it anyway!

Yesterday:

“Listen up, scientists. The threat regarding the Cazadores are the most pressing and may spread further if this situation isn’t contained, so you are required for training instructed by Midnight Lancer, who will give you a debrief on your upcoming objective. And we’ve gotten word that Ranger Delta North will require ponies like you to train hard with extensive training. And believe me, it will not be as easy as researching alone. And if we don’t act now, Equestria as we know it will become the home of ravaging Cazadores.” Starshooter explained the current situation at the remaining scientist team. He wasn’t finished explaining as he turned his attention to the kitchen staff, “As for the other team, you’ll have to remain in the cafeteria for safety reasons. We’ve lost a couple of our team and we can’t risk further casualties. Understood?”

The remaining scientists and kitchen staff members alike cheered in agreement, with some expressing worry regarding Starshooter’s explanation of the dangerous situation.

Olive Oil took a slow approach to him, “What about Zero? Will he be alright?”

“We’ll have to worry about him later. Our priority is to have those Cazadores eradicated. As for him? We don’t know if Zero is alive or not, but right now, he have bigger problems in our hooves.” Starshooter replied before trotting off of the podium stand, “Scientists! Return to your posts for a debrief; Midnight Lancer will lead you scientists to training rooms for us to be combat-ready and hope New Hampshore, and all of Equestria, shall remain alive. If not, then all of ponykind will be in grave danger.” He expressed with a warning, knowing that he’s putting his remaining scientists on the line to face a far greater threat than the Wastelands itself.

“As for kitchen staff members, follow me. You’re all far too valuable to be placed in a battlefield against those ravenous insects.”

All the staff team had followed under Starshooter’s orders. They felt traumatic enough to be out there to witness their friends eaten and stung alive by them. It was a nightmare that they and their leader himself are hoping to forget.

Today:

Made it.

I made it far enough so I would unintentionally revert my lonesome ways. And I felt that Gale Storm and the others would hate me, all because I brought her to Stable Clinic to meet up with her older sister. Boy, that was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. And to think such a promise I made to her turned out to be a one, big lie. A lie that stabbed me in the back hard. And in fact, everything is a goddess-damned lie! I made Gale become emotional, and its all my fault!

I might as well confront Dr. Scalpel and his ‘creation’ myself and kill him for all the wrong he caused to not only my two, previous friends, but to myself as well. I may be alive and well, but I’m sure as well was dead on the inside ever since. I turned my head back, looking on as my ears fell flat, knowing that my current friends and Stable Town’s residences will never forgive me for this… but its too late. I have to move on. I have to.

As for the area I’m in, I’m looking at an overhead sign that’s barely hanging on against a worn-out metal pole:

Yeah, there’s ‘happiness’ alright; its filled with misery and despair as far as my PipBuck can tell, with a couple of red blips displayed on the E.F.S. to go for. Yay me.

Most of the picnic tables were derelict, with some being broken off in half. There’s a couple of metal boxes leaning against the rocky wall, three unopened sacks tucked underneath the picnic tables… and lots of elevation changes due to the hilly and uneven terrain. I need to keep my head in the game; I don’t see any enemies so far, but I need to keep my guard up.

I felt my ears starting to twitch around as I scanned the area in Little Nightlight. Nopony here so far, but I can only assume that these ponies are using StealthBucks and using cliffs as sniper perches. Even without Pinkie Pie in my head, my senses are still sharp enough to detect hidden dangers. I just can’t go around and shoot at nopony; its a waste of time and ammo.

Looks like I’m arriving at a cliff, and I can see a couple of ponies down bel-- wait… no… these are the same ponies who had their leader execute the unnamed pony while we were traversing through an abandoned shopping centre back in New Hampshore! Wha… what the actual fuck are they doing here?! I quickly crouched down and observed at least five of them trekking along the isolated campsite. I didn’t go over the edge of the cliff as to not risk myself of both falling off and being spotted by them.

I wonder what they’re talking about from down below…

“Poison, if I ever hear you bitch about Little Nightlight again, I’ll skewer you like a living pig you are!” Bleak Venom threatened him, with Poison letting out a gulp and kept himself quiet regarding Little Nightlight. One of his ‘henchpony’ pointed up above a cliff to the right (though not at me, thankfully, but rather a large, pony figure), “Bleak, I spotted something from up above!”

Huh? A ‘something’? Well, at least he’s not pointing at me.

Something’s odd about that figure, though… my PipBuck didn’t detected an extra hostile, but my eyesight proves that this ponified figure is anything but ordinary. I glanced back down to the group as Bleak noticed the figure before it soon vanished, “What the fuck?! Looks like we’re not seeing things for once… eyes up, Cobras!”

What the--? It vanished?! There’s no high humidity, and even I wasn’t hallucinating! Something isn’t right here…

Soon, a pseudo-alicorn teleports directly in front of the Cobras as they jump back in surprise, save for Bleak Venom who spat his cigarette off of his mouth, “What the fuck are you supposed to be, eh?”

An alicorn?! No, it can’t be! Only Luna, Celestia and Cadance (and Twilight, I think?) are the only true alicorns in Equestria! This one is… is a replica of it, a dark purple color with a sinister look!

And I have an unnerving feeling that this alicorn is far from being all alone.

“What brings you here, mortals? Have you deviated yourselves into our own little sanctuary? Or have you arrived in Little Nightlight as to declare you our slaves?!” She let out a menacing grin from her booming, threatening voice. This is not gonna end well…

Apart from Poison (who had wisely gallopped behind a large boulder), Bleak and the others let out a laugh at her threats.

“Pfft, as if! If you think we’re gonna bow down and beg for mercy to some cheap, alicorn knock-off like yourself, you sure are stupid enough to be running your mouth like that! Even Tirek would make your kind a living joke!” Bleak reiterated with the purple-colored alicorn. He sure has a deathwish, doesn’t he? And I’m so glad that I’m not in the middle!

“Is that so? And what makes you think that Tirek is of any threat to us in Equestria? As far as we know, Tirek is currently imprisoned with no means of escape; his threat proves very little to us and your little theory is all but flawed!” The pseudo-alicorn had soon laughed maniacally, having countered Bleak’s false statement as he lets out an annoyed growl, “You’re still a cheap knock-off that’s all talk and no action! You’re still a living joke!”

“Perhaps. But are YOU any better? If Tirek were to surpass us, then we wouldn’t stand a chance. But for now, you foolish mortals have sealed your fates!”

Four more of her kind had soon teleported directly in front of him and the others as Bleak hesitantly floated up his shotgun in front of her, “Don’t fucking test me! I can take all of you knock-offs and show you why I’ll take over Tirek’s powers and become the most powerful pony you cheapskates has ever lived!”

The Cobras had soon yelled and charged towards the alicorns, whilst Poison made a hasty escape. Bleak Venom soon watched in disbelief as the pseudo-alicorns fired off deadly magic, spearing through his lackeys and killing them instantly, “W-What the..?! Y..You… you won’t intimidate me that easily!”

BRRRAM!!

The shot was proven fruitless as the pseudo-alicorn easily teleported away from the gunfire before teleporting back behind him as the alicorns soon formed a circle and surrounding the Cobra leader, “You were saying about calling US ‘cheap knock-offs’, pony?! Maybe when you’re in Tartarus with Tirek after we kill you, you’ll be savoring your demise by him over and over again!”

And this is the part where I will be making my quick leave before they’ll eventually discover my location. No point in saving Bleak Venom or even kill him for myself; he’s a dead pony anyway.

“I’ll most likely laugh at my own death! And I’ll be laughing at your poor attempts at playing pretend! Once I took care of Tirek, he’ll be wishing he wouldn’t be torturing me in a repetitive fashion, you feeble-minded, princess-wannabe fucks!” Despite Bleak’s attempts at refuting them, the pseudo-alicorns weren’t intimidated at even the slightest as one of them fired a powerful, magical shot at his shotgun, disintegrating it instantly before the other dangerously spoke to him in a deathly manner, “Goodbye.”

Bleak’s realization that the alicorns weren’t as easily intimidated as the Raiders would came too late as the purple-colored fired off deadly, magical blasts en masse, disintegrating the unfortunate Cobra leader into ashes. Thus, Bleak Venom was no more. As for me? I was fortunate enough to realize that these alicorns have a strong bloodlust and are out to kill anypony who trespass into Little Nightlight, and I’m next! I have to get out of here ASAP!

Two red blips popped up from the E.F.S. as two green-colored alicorns showed up blocking my only exit (yet they left the entrance wide open). Fucking damnit! I quickly skid to a stop and hid behind an overthrown picnic table as I saw my exit blocked by the duo. Great… at least on the plus side, they won’t detect my non-existent magical energy. I’m just a mere Earth pony with no unique abilities! Need to think hard on finding a way of sneaking past through them without being spotted…

Earlier today:

As the two had reconciled together, Gale Storm felt something amiss, “Zero? Where did you--” She gasped in shock when she saw that I wasn’t with her, “Zero?!”

“Wait, wasn’t he with you?” Her sister asked with a concerned expression. Gale nodded to her, “Yes, he was. He’d never run off like that, much less on his own without telling me! Sister, please tell me you have a device that can track down his PipBuck!”

Cloud didn’t shared her panicked expression like her younger sister before heading to the back room, “I do happen to have a PipBuck detector somewhere, though its mainly a prototype and there’s no guarantee that it might work. The real one is under development, but if you do want to rescue your friend, I’ll see if I can get this prototype to work with a magical device we retrieved from the Ministry of Arcane Sciences.”

“Please do so.” Gale muttered to herself, “Zero, why did you run… all I wanted was to say thank you…” It wasn’t long before Tootsie Roll and Bob arrive inside accompanied by Sweet Cheeks, “Yoo-hoo! We’re baaack! Where did Zero go, playing hide and seek without us?”

Gale shook her head with a sad sigh, “No. He’s not. He ran off and hasn’t returned. And no, I didn’t said mean stuff to him, he just… ran off…”

“What?! But he’s a scientist, he never runs away!” Tootsie proclaimed before Sweet Cheeks glanced around for a moment, “You know, that Enclave fellow is right; I haven’t seen him anywhere. This isn’t like him, is it?”

“No… I’m not sure if its something what I said. But even if it was my fault, he gave me the courage to speak with my sister; now I have to return the favor for him. For a scientist, him running away like this only creates more problems for Zero, and I have to find and rescue him…” Gale let out a soft sigh.

“But what about us?! Can’t we go as well?!” As Tootsie offered, Cloud returned with the working prototype on hoof before Gale would answer the filly, “Gale, I got it to work! However, use it with great care; it only lasts for ten hours before its deactivated. Your friend is located far south from here so wear this so you may be able to track him.”

Gale nodded to her sister as she straps it around her hoof, “Thank you very much, Cloud. I’ll see if I can pinpoint Zero’s location.”

Cloud explained to her younger sibling, “Its not advanced as it looks, but its sure to detect any PipBucks depending on location. Of course, there aren’t many working PipBucks in Equestria so you might be lucky to find only one. There’s no map displayed so you’ll have to rely on the blip shown on the interface to find him. If you do intend on finding him, then please be careful out there; not just from the damned creatures in the Wastelands, but also the Grand Pegasus Enclave that are looking for you now. I’m counting on you...”

“I will. Tootsie, Bob, would you like to come?” Gale glanced at the blip which displays a white dot inside the interface, facing right. Primitive, but effective.

Tootsie nods with excitement as both she and Bob gave her a salute, “Yes, not-so-evil-Enclave ma’am!”

She let out a soft giggle before waving a hoof to her sister, “We’ll be going now. And thank you for your forgiveness.”

“Its not a problem. Now, go and rescue your friend. If you find him, tell him to return back to Stable Town, okay?” Cloud asked a favor for her younger sibling in which she gave her a confirmed nod.

“Right, then. Let’s go, you two!” Gale left the clinic as she sprouted her wings as to airlift both Tootsie Roll and Bob as Sweet Cheeks shouted, “Please do be careful out there!”

“We will!” Tootsie informed the Overmare. With that, their rescue mission begins.

Note to self:

Never run away when there’s probably tens of hundreds of pony-murdering alicorns on your FUCKING own! Never again!

Easy for you to say, pony mind! I barely managed to escape from the alicorns, which now makes my quick escape extremely difficult! Not to mention that Bleak Venom’s already dead at the hooves of those purple-colored alicorns. Fuck, I hate to be that pony.

If I even open fire at them, they would’ve noticed and teleport directly in front of me, thus catching me off guard! I could throw objects as a means of distraction, but what good will that do when these alicorns probably know where I am right now?!

I only have two options; either stupidly charge through alicorns to my death or venture myself inside the cave and hopefully find an exit without inadvertently running into them again.

Running into the cave it is. If anything, I have to stay alive and keep myself hidden from alicorns. Turning on the flashlight from the PipBuck, I saw corpses… or ashes, to put it loosely, of what remains of mostly living ponies. Ugh, and its stuffy inside too.

On the plus side, the PipBuck’s map is still visibly displayed so all I need to do is follow a designated path that’ll take me to the exit of Little Nightlight and hopefully not having to end up meeting with killer alicorns.

There’s nothing interesting inside as well; no food, no water, and pretty much no medical boxes. Speaking of water though, I glanced to the left and saw a large, Stable door that’s been left ajar, but it was completely caved in with no means of getting in at all. Figures as such. Stable 13 is pretty much nothing on the inside except boulders. All that was left was a spray tag next to 13, making it look like a -13. Somepony must’ve been bored.

My eyes batted at the intact canteen lying on the ground in front of an inaccessible Stable facility. Even though I do have some purified water in me, I guess a taste of an unused Stable 13 canteen won’t hurt. After all, the number 13 does signify ‘good luck’. (Hence the sarcasm.)

Well, bottom’s up!

Glug. Glug. Glug.

Huh… much better than any Purified Water would. I slightly jumped back in surprised when the canteen emitted its bright blue magic aura around it, soon refilling fresh water on its own. Holy--! It replenished on its own!

Convenient enough, I’m just gonna keep it for myself and give the Purified Water bottles to my friends; they’ll need it more than I do.

Now to continue along with the designated path inside the catacombs where red blips are still present form E.F.S., except they’re not inside but outside. I basically delayed the inevitable yet again; if I was a unicorn, I would’ve teleported my sorry ass out of Little Nightlight. Of course, that’s an alicorn’s job and Goddess help me if I saw one directly in front of me.

All while sufficing a quick meal of carrots in my saddlebags, I spotted an opening that - hopefully - doesn’t lead me to murderous alicorns.

“Are we there yet? Better yet, is Zero gonna be okay?” Tootsie asked while riding along Gale’s back with Bob hanging on. Gale was carefully scanning around the area, looking at the PipBuck detector as it was showing a white, yet grainy dot shown from the interface, “Barely. I think he went underground, though its dangerous for us to fly low because we have alicorns below us.”

Tootsie Roll took a weary peek, her eyes squinting as she could only see blurry dots teleporting in different directions, “You mean those thingies that are going all over the place?”

“Yes, those. I’ll fly us a little lower so I might find Zero easily. Hold on!”

Gale had soon lowered the flight altitude to get a better view, also being careful as to not be spotted by artificial alicorns for a better view to look for me. I’m still well-hidden in a cave, but I can see a vaguely bright light ahead of me from a steep path along the way.

Finally, a way out!

I don’t see any teleporting alicorns so far, but an alternative exit is a must for my hasty escape. Instead, I spotted a trio of green-colored alicorns, all with their shields at the ready. The sniper rifle I have has no ability to penetrate through their shields and even if they don’t have shields, they can react to gunfire quicker than my own Pinkie sense.

My best option is to find and objects and hurl them at things as a means of distracting them while making my move. I’m not sure how smart they are, but they shouldn’t be this smart enough from getting distracted.

There’s a hoof-ful of strewn objects next to the cave entrance/exit. And three, different-colored alicorns patrolling around the area. Hopefully if they don’t see me throwing stuff at them, I could sneak past by them, though this isn’t gonna be easy!

As my mind spoke, I glanced at the map to see that I'm slightly farther away from that one and only exit of Little Nightlight; everything else has been barricaded with no other way out of here. I scooped up a rusted tin can to hurl it in the air. The tin can lets out a soft clang once it landed on a large boulder from a distance which drew attention of the three.

“Who’s there?” One of the green-colored alicorns spoke out. They took a careful approach at the source of the sound as I quickly gallopped through, but also being careful as to not make too much noise. Their shields are still up, but are distracted enough for me to sneak past them before they would eventually figure something out. Fuck, that was close…

I glanced up in the dark skies, spotting what appears to be a pony figure flying up above of Little Nightlight. My PipBuck even picked up three, green blips from E.F.S.

Wait… Gale Storm?! Why is she looking for me?! I’ve already created problems weighing down my shoulders earlier today so why is she and the other two are looking for me? To maybe lecture me, call off all communication, or even consider me as her enemy?! Oh great. Now I have both problems coming my way; trying to make my escape from Little Nightlight and having Gale Storm put her own life on the line with Tootsie Roll and Bob with her. And maybe getting a lecture from Gale herself.

Fucking goddess-dammit all! Now I have more of those damned alicorns up ahead with no other path to take except in front! Does the Wastelands have their sick amusement in pitting me against these near-unstoppable alicorns, or even make my life a living hell?!

Up above, Gale carefully lowered her altitude to get a better view though it wasn’t long before the alicorns took flight and began their pursuit to them, some with their shields down. Oh goddess no…

“Gale, those scary-looking alicorns are chasing us!” Tootsie clings her small fore-hooves around her neck as Bob emitted his alarming beeps. She glances down and spotted the alicorn pursuers chasing them, “Oh fuck! We need to get to the ground and fast!”

I witnessed magical energies being fired off of their horns in an effort to take out Gale Storm. I quickly pulled my sniper rifle and sat myself down on the ground and took an aim at one of the five alicorns pursuing them. The last thing I wanted was to see them getting hurt. Even with Gale’s twin Plasma Rifles in her arsenal, these alicorns are fast and deadly as they can dodge through most of the gunfire but not while they’re distracted.

I was still able to enter S.A.T.S. and all I need to do is shoot their wings to at least slow their pursuit. I only have a 50% chance or less on the wings so I need to make my shots count and hope to not miss. One for each wing; three will have to do.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

My first shot was a miss, but the other two shots were enough to pierce through each of those damned alicorns’ wings and slowing them down for a good moment. Of course though, this only led to this; one of the unharmed alicorns ordered another to pursue me! Can’t the Wastelands ever give me a goddess-damned break?!

“Come here, little pony!” Her hooves extended forward and her horn lighting up with magic as I backpedalled and barely ducked down from the magical discharge towards me. She zoomed right past by me and turned around to fly towards me again. I hastily performed a throat slit gesture by sliding my hoof across my throat which in turn aggravates the dark blue-colored alicorn and forcing her to turn invisible, but not before slipping myself into S.A.T.S. to get a clear view of her before she would be fully invisible. I should go bare-hoofed for this, going for her foreleg and her wing to slow her down. Here goes!

THWAP! POW!

“Gah! Leg hurt!” The alicorn’s invisibility was thwarted once I managed to cripple her hoof as she came tumbling down to the ground. Soon other alicorns took notice and instead gave chase to me despite gaining a small advantage on the three, with Gale’s wings receiving superficial burns which made her slow down. Fuck, I don’t think S.A.T.S. will have enough time to regenerate! Damnit, I’m getting outnumbered quickly!

“Gale, are you okay! Your wings are hurt! Bob tried, but there’s so many of those scary-looking alicorns!”

Gale gave the filly a confirmed nod, “I’ve had worst injuries, but right now we need to help out Zero! Hold on tight!”

Bob was nearly thrown off of her back as he lets out a beep-like yelp and clings his claw onto her armored tail as she fired off a couple of Plasma Rifle rounds on the alicorns.

PRRROOOWWW!! PRRROOOWWW!! PRRROOOWWW!! PRRROOOWWW!!

A couple of Alicorns were gunned down whilst they were focused on chasing me, save for the green-colored alicorns who still have their shields up. I was galloping like mad to find some cover after not being ready to wield my sniper rifle at them! Fuck, they can’t catch a break!

And these damned green-colored alicorns won’t lower their shields for once! If only I had magical weapons that can negate their effect, or ammunition that can penetrate their shields and kill them altogether!

Bleak Venom deserved to die (because he’s that much of an asshole), but there’s no way I’m letting them hurt my friends!

Turning myself from cover, I took aim at the charging alicorns fired off a couple of shots while S.A.T.S. is still recharging.

BLAM! BLAM!

Fuck, I don’t have time to reload! Luckily, they crash landed onto the ground after being shot but my ears twitched erratically as another alicorn barely lunged at me as I recoiled myself back and pinning myself against a rock wall. I scrambled myself to get more sniper ammo before the shielded alicorn took a dangerous approach towards me, just when I had finished reloading. Of course, that damned shield is fucking impenetrable and I can do nothing about it! If I fire off, it’ll simply deflect my shots!

The green-colored alicorn had soon inadvertently lowered her shield as she charged up magic from her horn (I would say now’s my chance, but firing off a shot will result in raising her shield again), “Bye-bye, you dumb-dumb!”

“No you don’t!” Gale lunged the green-colored alicorn with enough force to strike her back. Tootsie Roll and Bob quickly got off of her with the robo-scorpion letting out a dazed beep while trying to keep himself balanced.

Before I could check on the two, I quickly rushed over to Gale who was wrestling with the green-colored alicorn, her shield still down. It seems Gale doesn’t have the time to reload (unlike me as I did reloaded) before skidding to a stop and aimed down the sniper rifle again, taking careful aim as for me to not shoot her by accident. The last thing I would want is a friendly fire.

She turned to me while pinning the alicorn as the green-colored one was charging up her magic, “Don’t wait any longer; shoot her before unleashes her magic to bring me down!”

My twitching ears are right; need to make it count or Gale will be gravely hurt, or worse! Wrapping my tongue around the trigger, I took a careful aim at the goddess-damned, unrealistic alicorn…

BLAM!

The bullet drove deep into the alicorn’s abdomen, hitting one of the vital organs inside for her to scream and writhe in pain as she soon succumbed to her death. Gale had quickly gotten off the fallen alicorn. She was going to say thanks but time is short as more red blips popped up on the E.F.S. with more alicorns heading our way, “No time to celebrate; let’s head somewhere so we can regroup and figure things out…”

“Okey-dokey-wokey! Let’s get out of here before more alicorn baddies arrive!”

No rest for the wicked, I suppose…

THWACK! THUD!

“What the hell was that for, huh?! Why did you run off on your own like that, Zero?! Especially when the Wastelands will only bring you even more harm!” Gale yelled out after I received the unofficial beatdown from her. Maybe because it was my fault from getting you overly emotional over your older sister scolding at you? At least Tootsie Roll and Bob aren’t watching or hearing this after she diverted them somewhere in the cave for the two to have fun while I end up getting the punishment from the ex-Enclave.

My face was battered and bruised from her actions yet I didn’t want to retaliate; I caused the problem for not just myself, but to her as well. She gave me a teary look before giving me a third and final smack to the face from her hoof as her voice began to break again, “Don’t do this to me… don’t do this to yourself, or the others! Tell me, why did you run?! Is it because my sister Cloud yelled at me for what I caused, yet forgave me for this in the end?! You running away only had caused more problems than solving it! You’re a scientist, for fuck’s sake! You should know better than to run away from me or the others, especially those who are in dire need of help! How would you like that if somepony you’d care about ran away from you?!”

I merely shook my head. She was right, and I was wrong to run off like this… all I could do is allow a tear from my eye to trickle down to my bruised cheek. I didn’t want to fight back; for a smart scientist pony like myself, I made a grave and foolish mistake, even if it was the right thing to do to get her to reconcile with her older sister. I’m expecting yet another beatdown from Gale yet she gave me a caring, heartwarming embrace, “Please, Zero… stay with us. My sister may have forgiven me, but now I expect the same from you. You running off like that only hurts me more than my sister would lecture me for ever joining up with the Grand Pegasus Enclave with my father…”

She then presented me with a device on her hoof, “This is the PipBuck detector my sister gave me, to look for you. At least you’re alive, but when we return to Stable Town, I’m afraid I’ll have to discipline you because of your actions. Just… just at least promise us you won’t do it again. Please…?”

I let out a solemn sigh once she told me that I’m gonna be given a disciplinary action from her, even if security is lackluster in Stable Town. My only response was returning the embrace around Gale as more tears from my single eye began to flow down to my cheeks. Goddesses, what was I thinking…

Gale softly smiled at my embrace as she wiped away the tears both herself and me, “I’ll take your hug as a yes… now, pony up and let’s get ourselves out of here.”

I gave her a confirmed nod, hopefully my punishment won’t be too severe when we return after escaping Little Nightlight.

Outside, reinforcements are arriving and are shocked to witness their fellow alicorns having fallen mainly from gunshot wounds. One of the purple-colored alicorns yelled out, “Find killers, get heads!”

It seems these reinforcements are the least intelligent beings there is, but their powers are still quite deadly. We need to be careful for this one as security of Little Nightlight had sharply increased.

“Let’s go and get Tootsie Roll and Bob; we’ll have to navigate our way into the catacombs.” Gale released her forelegs as I gave her a confirmed nod. We went to get the two, but Tootsie took a glance at my bruised face, “Zero, why is your face all bruised up? Did those alicorn baddies hurt you?!”

She clarified this by clearing her throat, “Not exactly, filly. We were just… talking to each other! No alicorns here and whatnot, hehe.”

For a scatterbrained filly, Tootsie Roll wasn’t buying Gale’s story regarding her sparring with me, “Are you suuuure? His face looks battered up!”

Some ponies are easy to lie to, but when you lie to a filly, it seems both of us are inadvertently causing problems than solving it, even if I was the main cause. My pony mind spoke out and still no Pinkie Pie in my head. Gale felt uneasy from her failed lie as she then spoke truthfully to the filly, “I’ve… been roughing Zero up a bit… nothing personal, really.”

Bob let out a confused beep, whirring to Tootsie as if wondering what Gale meant.

“Well… okey-dokey-wokey! You’re a soldier, after all! Or should I say, not-baddie soldier!”

Gale lets out a small giggle and motioned her head as we left to find an alternative exit out of Little Nightlight.

Even with the flashlight on from my PipBuck, there’s barely any visibility inside the caves so all I had to do is sit myself down in a meditating stance and began to think hard. Before my friends would find out what I was doing, my mind starts to become clear again, my eyesight becoming sharper than before. I can see different paths now!

“Zero, what’s going on?”

My only answer was getting up to my hooves and pointed it at the left side of the direction before motioning them to follow me, galloping along the path.

“Hey, wait for us!” Gale followed me with Tootsie and Bob catching up. Tootsie glances up to her, “I bet Zero found an exit! Hopefully he’ll lead us away from alicorn baddies!”

Hopefully so, as the E.F.S. hasn’t detected any red blips yet, but its only a matter of time before we reach the surface yet again. We need to make our escape, even if I’ll be disciplined by Gale Storm.

Up ahead, we saw another, vaguely-bright light from the exit of the cave. To my surprise, no alicorns are found on sight! This could be our only chance out of this hellhole, and with no shielded alicorns guarding the exit! Fuck, I almost forgot; there are invisible alicorns hidden directly in front of us. No wonder E.F.S. can’t pick up anything!

I motioned to Gale and Bob to keep a watchful eye out for any invisible alicorns that are still guarding the exit. Gale was confused at first, but even she felt uneasy of this as she armed her Plasma Rifles from her battle saddle, “You have a good point there. Something’s not right, ears up, ponies.”

My ears twitched softly; silent and unseen hoofsteps coming our way. Without thinking twice, I reached my tongue around the trigger of the sniper rifle before pulling it whilst aiming at the specific direction.

BLAM!

The shot was a success without S.A.T.S. as the invisible alicorn was shot through and collapsed to the ground, negating her invisibility spell in the process. Thank you very much, Pinkie sense!

“Whoa! H-How did you know she was there?! We couldn’t find anypony that’s guarding the exit!”

Tootsie giggles playfully as she turned to Gale (save for Bob who was emitting confused, beeping noises), “That’s because Zero has the pink pony statue thingy with him! It makes him sense things that doesn’t exist!”

It wasn’t long before the second, invisible alicorn relinquished her invisibility and began to charge towards us. (In a total, careless manner of course.)

As she charged toward us, we engaged the alicorn in a firing squad as the filly simply blew raspberries; the alicorn stood no chance due to her recklessness and allowing the window of opportunity to open wide for our hasty escape. Gale could hear commotion from a far distance, “Shit, we have to get out of here, and fast, before they’ll start looking for us!”

Good idea. We hurriedly galloped our way out of this goddamn hellhole before the alicorns would figure out what happened.

“Babs Seed was formally suspended from Stable-Tec from her irrational behavior. Not sure why, but she’ll need a proper evaluation as the Cutie Mark Crusaders had agreed to give her proper re-evaluation before she is to work with Stable-Tec again. Otherwise, we’ll have to monitor her activities to reduce the risk of causing problems among our Stable-Tec staff members.

“We’re worried that she may have been psychologically traumatized as a young filly when other foals had bullied her repeatedly, resulting in her questionable emotions being shown. She also seemed to have a detest for Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, mentioning that Babs Seed would wish that she was the head of Stable-Tec. Too bad it didn’t turned out as planned.

“We also had word from the Crystal Empire that they’re establishing at least three new Stables 131, 100 and 65. However, word that Princess Cadance and her husband Shining Armor was either gone or under King Sombra’s spell and...

“Crystal Empire was left to ruin. Everypony was now distant to one another, even some were rebellious, with the inhabitants calling themselves the Crystal Raiders or something, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. They went rogue ever since.

“As for Babs Seed herself? We’ll have to start monitoring closely to her. I fear that her behavior is starting to change…”

Babs Seed? Crystal Raiders? Well, shit.

Once the recording is finished, I began to think while sitting near a campfire after our hectic escape from Little Nightlight:

Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were either dead or under King Sombra’s spells, using them as slaves. And as for Crystal Empire, I have no fucking clue where it is. Rumor has it that it usually appears ever thousands of years or less. The same can’t be said for their inhabitants, however. If we do ever find those ‘Crystal Raiders’, then this will be a whole new challenge the Wastelands will throw at me with everything it has.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we’ll be returning to Stable Town unharmed. Gale Storm had already declared punishment against me from what I’ve done. I wonder what Celestia would think of me right now after what I’ve done.

Back to Stable Town we go, and face my well-deserved punishment…

Footnote: Level Up.
No New Perk.
Quest Perk Added: Blind Luck -- Your are blind but not doomed. During combat, your luck is boosted to +10.

Chapter Seventeen: The Lesson of the Story

Mistake.

The worst thing I’ve ever committed in the Wastelands was to leave Gale Storm in despair even after having her reunite with her older sister Cloud Storm. Now I’m a prisoner for only a mere day inside a sherrif’s office with the holding cell I’m in while relaxing back on a cot, thinking on about how foolish I was to even run off on my own and having left Gale severely disappointed from my actions.

Even after she forgave me, I still felt regretful of what I’ve done. What’s keeping me from breaking down yet again is listening to a not-so emotional radio as to try and forget everything that happened earlier today during our escape.

Gale Storm had already requested Quickdraw to be their security only for today, which he accepted. She’s just sitting outside of the holding cell, keeping an eye out for me. Even so, it was no consolation from what I’ve done to get her disappointed like this. All I’m just waiting is for her to hate me because of my foolish decision by leaving her be with her sister. I bet even her sister felt bad over what I’ve done.

Having left on my own accord became a painful reminder of my days in New Hampshore; to venture on my own with nopony to help and to stay by my side.

Nighttime had already dominated the dull, gray daylight and my saddlebags were kept in the locker along with my lab coat and armor vest for proper washing as per Gale’s orders. And she was right, and I was wrong. Wrong for me to run away from the problems I’ve caused. Wrong for me to hurt her feelings. And most of all, wrong for me to leave the inhabitants disappointed. I can tell Celestia is shunning me right about now…

I could hear the cell door swing open and close behind me as I was already curled around my body and hugging my own pseudo-Stable-Tec outfit as she took a slow approach and lays herself behind my back. Even after what happened, it seems that she’s still showing care for me as I felt the warmth of her forelegs wrapped around me as she gingerly whispered to my ear, “Like I said before, don’t take it personally. I may a badass Enclave pony with a high rank to go for, but that doesn’t mean I work for them and enslave innocent ponies for a living. I care for ponies, especially you.”

I slowly uncurled myself in response as to allow her to embrace me, with added warmth from her wing tucked around me. If I could speak, and maybe write, I would tell her thanks for still caring for me.

That was my first lesson on the story:

Never leave your friends and allies alike behind by running off on your own.

The next day I was let out of the holding cell by Gale and gave me back my lab coat and my saddlebags as she gave me an assured look to me that everything will be alright. Well, almost everything. Just needed to get my sniper rifle before I joined up with her.

The streets of Stable Town seems awfully empty, despite that the inhabitants do reside in this still-intact town. We were soon approached by Tootsie Roll and her robo-scorpion friend, accompanied by Quickdraw.

“Howdy there, you two! Sorry if this town got eerily quiet; them ponies are practicing a lockdown should we encounter any danger. Its their nature an’ all, but we’ll need security if we’re sure to protect Stable Town from future attacks.”

A lockdown? From what? Wait… I can bet he meant from a possible Raider attack, or even a Cazador that would threaten the whole town.

Of course, this was nothing more than a routine drill on practicing on defending oneself from another. Tootsie Roll waved at us in greetings, “Goood morning, you two! Ready for mooore adventure?! Because me and Bob are excited to see new places, and new ponies as well!”

If it means having to encounter hostile inhabitants with the intent to kill us, I don’t see the reason not to. After all, what could go wrong after our hectic escape from Little Nightlight anyway?

“I suppose we can venture further within the Wastelands, don’t you think?” Gale gave me a suggestion. I gave her a confirmed nod, so long as we don’t ever return to Little Nightlight ever again. There are several undiscovered areas for us to scout around except New Hampshore, which was currently engulfed by hungry Cazadores that’s sure to blanket the entire city.

My second lesson of the story are threats are still looming around the Wastes, far greater than any typical Raider pony would emerge from the damned surface. Of course, there are some ponies who are willing to join the cause - apart from Taser’s second-in-command Lightspeed - so long as they don’t happen to turn on your back and stab you with it. My decision was final; we continue on and venture ourselves deep into the Equestrian Wastelands to see what danger awaits us.

Tootsie responded with a gleeful expression, “Yay! Let’s go, Bob and the gang!”

Oh brother. We departed from Stable Town as I waved a hoof goodbye to Quickdraw.

“Y’all be careful out there, ya hear!” Quickdraw said his goodbye to us. Let’s hope we don’t run into an unwanted gunfight along the way.

We’ve come across a misty area known as Foggy Forest, which of course is farther north of Mayne. Much like the Everfree Forest but with fog that blankets the entire area. Even with the flashlight turned on, the visibility is still low as Gale stood close to me. While my cheeks started flaring up again, I’ve grown accustomed to her closeness whilst Tootsie Roll huddled up with us. Bob had no difficulties in dealing with the foggy weather; he’s a robot and isn’t hampered from reduced visibility.

Of course, that isn’t to say on what’s up ahead. Even if its daytime, it feels like nighttime came early. So far, E.F.S. hasn’t picked up any friendlies or (mainly) hostiles yet.

That’s not to say on how unsettling Foggy Forest is. Even without killer animals, the environment itself elevates the level of creepiness due to how fucking isolated Foggy Forest is. If no killer animals are coming out to kill us, what will?

It wasn’t long until we heard eerie noises from a distance. “W-W-What the heck is that noise?!” Tootsie let out a heavy, nervous gulp as I shone the flashlight around … nothing…

E.F.S. doesn’t seem to pick up any hostiles around it, yet the eerie noises makes it a very unsettling feeling. I stood closely to Gale as my uneasy look was shown, “Let’s just stay together, guys. We don’t know what’s ahead…”

Oh goddess I sure hope we don’t encounter a hellhound, Gale…

oooOOOOOOOoooohhhh…

What the-- am I hearing ghost ponies?! Better yet, we’re seeing them floating our way and my E.F.S. doesn’t pick up as obvious hostiles?!

“S-S-S-Scary GHOSTIEEEES!!” Tootsie screamed out loud as she quickly bolted herself forward from the pursuing ghost ponies. Hey, wait up!

Bob glanced at the ghost ponies floating towards us as he followed suit when he emitted frantic beeping noises, quickly skittering to his friend. I look back and saw them eerily floating towards us! Fuck! And don’t get me started on shooting them; no weapon can kill things that aren’t solid! “Fuck, let’s get out of here!” Gale yelled out, feeling my hoof clinched around as I was quickly pulled along for a ride, and not the ride I’m expecting either!

WhooOOOOOooooohhhh…

Fuck, I hate their spooky noises! As we made a mad dash, all of us soon began to tumble down on a steep slope whilst escaping from those damned, spine-tingling ghost ponies! Double fuck!

Its apparent that the goddess-damned fog had blanketed the steep hill for us to fall off and land ourselves onto our backs. We were dazed, but miraculously unhurt. The ghost ponies had soon vanished themselves into nothingness. I should’ve giggled at the ghosties, but that’s probably too late for that.

“Guh… is everypony okay?” Gale was dazed after the stumble and my only reply was a nod; my brain was rattling inside my head from the dizziness before regaining vision. Tootsie and Bob were also unhurt, but they too were stumbling to their hooves (and legs). I took a sip of the a Stable 13 canteen as I let out a quiet sigh. So much for going back up to Foggy Forest again. Up ahead was a large Stable 22 door that was ajar from the large vines that kept it from ever being closed down.

Wait, vines?! I don’t recall wildlife being within the Stables, is it?

I checked on the PipBuck and the map clearly shows that this is indeed Stable 22. The lever that was used to open/close the Stable door was rendered non-functional.

And there’s no way for us to climb back up to Foggy Forest. Even if Gale can fly us up there, she is bound to be spooked by ghost ponies who would keep us from heading back up. With no other solution, Gale gave us a suggestion, “Soooo anypony want to have a quick lunch before we can venture ourselves into Stable 22 that’s filled with unfriendly wildlife inside?”

I nominate on Gale’s favor on a short lunch break.

“Can’t you just take us up there? You can fly us back to the spooky forest!” Tootsie attempted to counter her suggestions but were quickly turned down. “With ghost ponies that are bound to spook us further? No can do, little Tootsie. And even if we could shoot them, our shots will phase right through them unharmed. And I don’t think we have such a device that could permanently repel the ghosts. We’ll have to find our way out, and that’s venturing ourselves into Stable 22. Hopefully there’ll be somepony inside that can guide us out of Foggy Forest.”

The Stable 22’s entrance has a slightly wide gap for most of us to enter inside, but this is clearly one unsettling place of interest to the next.

Tootsie reluctantly finalizes her decision to go to Stable 22 with us, “Fiiiine… the ghost ponies were too spooky anyways.”

As we went inside Stable 22, two shadowy figures loomed over to us from the edge of the hill and one of their eyes narrowed.

Stable 22.

Or what’s left of it anyway. Most of the walls were covered with black vines and leaves, with ceiling lights barely dim from its years of neglect and abandonment. Several rooms have their own gardens that were left unchecked yet grew normally without the use of water to keep them fertilized.

Behind the windows were oddly-colored spore pods within the makeshift garden. Not sure what purpose do they have, but they sure as hell don’t look good. At least it beats getting pursued by ghost ponies before making an unofficial discovery. After our quick lunch, we continued on within Stable 22. And by the goddesses, its already as unsettling as in Foggy Forest.

I heard faint, grunting noises in the far distance as E.F.S. had picked up a couple of red blips inside. Not ghost ponies this time, but real hostiles.

“This is rather unsettling for a Stable, especially when vegetation had dug itself deep within the facility, much left small patches of gardens being left untouched and strangely intact…” Gale muttered with a hint of uncertainty. I led my team inside a bedroom that was left to neglect but overall untouched by the out-of-control wildlife that had invaded inside Stable 22.

Tootsie felt obviously uneasy as she held herself close to her robo-scorpion friend. The lights were still barely dim within the ceilings. “This place is even spookier than ghost ponies themselves…”

Yeah, I don’t blame you. Its like a horror flick only much more real and way less fictional.

I kinda wonder what the hell is Pinkie doing in my head. And still no mental reply at all. I sat back on the chair and booted up the terminal. The screen is displayed from the following:

>Specimen #00
>Specimen #42
>Specimen #109
>Plants considered ‘Out Of Control’

Hmm… that explains why Stable 22 is creepy as fuck. Three specimens, two incidents. Let’s see…

Specimen #00

Name: Gutwrench
Gender: Stallion
Cause of death: Rapid mutation at a cellular growth as a result of spore liquids injected inside which led to multiple organ failure

Summary: Gutwrench was our first volunteer in our experiments on granting ponies eternal life with the use of modified spores from our spore pods and combined them with Rad-X, RadAway, among other drugs we’ve used. At first, he did not experienced any symptoms after testing our modified medicine inside, but within the next day, he started to experience harsh aggression, seizures, internal haemorrhaging, sweating and after at least three hours of these initial symptoms, multi-organ failure. Our final test was a fluke, but upon closer inspection, we’ve begun to see… changes from his body. Miraculously, he was alive thanks to the spores that’s keeping his brain active, although it wasn’t at it seems. He wasn’t himself; he… or it, was showing feral behavior, and his whole body became plant-like, leaves growing out of his body and his breath seems to emit deadly spores that are considered hazardous even by medical standards. We had to keep him contained until we can perform further analysis.

...I didn’t understood any of this. Why would anypony be this insane to use another pony as a live test subject only to turn out to be the biggest fail science itself has to offer. I’m not sure if they were stupid or they didn’t thought up of making different ingredients that doesn’t include mutating yourself into a mindless freak after an instantaneous death.

I glanced behind to make sure the door behind us was shut perfectly. Good. Still locked. Most of the doors were malfunctioned, most likely from the vines that prevents them from ever closing shut, just like the massive Stable door itself.

Gale was busy relaxing back against a rickety bed whereas Bob kept a watchful eye out. Tootsie was still feeling uneasy due to the Stable’s haunting nature and huddled herself over to the former Enclave soldier.

I read two more ‘Specimens’ from the terminal to see if I could find any clues before I could go to the last part.

Specimen #42

Name: Flower Petal
Gender: Mare
Cause of death: Paralyzation from spore gas

Summary: After our second experiment with the use of our modified spore pods to Flower Petal, she did not experienced any grotesque mutations. However, shortly after our experiments, she died suddenly from paralyzation from the noxious gas emitted from one of our spore pods, thus shutting down her brain in the process. We can’t say any further, but we’ll look into it the following day.

Spore pods emitting noxious gas results in paralyzation… I bet said gas is potentially lethal, should anypony breathe onto it, even unwittingly.

Let’s see what the third and final ‘Specimen’ reads…

Specimen #109

Name: Wild Card
Gender: Stallion
Cause of death: Unknown

Summary: Classified information.

No actual case from the cause of death, huh? I suppose that’s alright, as the three ‘candidates’ were likely dead from experiments gone wrong. I’m not sure how or why the Overmane or Overstallion expressed no concern over their victims after being used as specimens for uncertain reasons. If their intent was to try and seek the cure, then they were doing it all wrong which yielded more deaths than expected which later led to Stable 22 being overrun by sentient plants.

“Zero, ready to go?”

I gave a nod to Gale, but before we left, I wanted to read what it says regarding… plants.

“Shit! What the hell is going on?! Why are there black vines seeping out of the walls, and gasses leaking through air vents?!

“Somepony is gonna be held responsible for letting hell breaking loose! Goddess dammit… Stable 22 is gonna be consumed at any moment now, we’re gonna have to initiate a lockdown inside. All we can do now is prepare for the inevitable…”

It was short, but clear enough to see that Stable 22 was soon consumed by out-of-control plant life, resulting it in being next to inaccessible. But the only way back out is forward. I am not heading back to Foggy Forest without ghost ponies chasing us again. Not to mention hidden traps that dwell within the fog that are waiting to catch us by surprise, so we have no choice but to venture ourselves deep within the abandoned Stable facility.

I got off the chair and nodded to Gale Storm. Let’s keep moving.

As we traversed on, the black vines had soon come to live, snaking their way to cover up, with fresh spore pods growing along the stems. It didn’t took long for those vines to cover up the door behind us. Something tells me this is not gonna be good. Even though E.F.S. has detected at least three red blips, the main ones are the black vines yet are oddly not detected by the E.F.S. itself. Quickly, I armed myself with the sniper rifle whilst Gale and Bob arm themselves as we prepared for the worst. Gale Storm instructed the filly, “Tootsie, get behind us and cover your ears. Things are about to get a little crazy…”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Tootsie quickly covered her ears as we heard grunting, guttural growls closing in. Three same ‘specimens’ the terminal had told me about, only except they’re…

Plunderseed carriers?!

Shit! They’re black in color with plant-like looks popping out in grotesque ways, and they’re black like those damn vines, too! And if I’m correct, those spore pods are actually Plunderseed pods!

“Grrr… graaahh!!” One of the Plunderseed carriers began to lunge at us unexpectedly. I was first to fire off a shot and Gale Storm soon followed suit. He… she… it was soon gunned down with ease, but not before its body ruptured and emitted noxious gas in the air. Oh fuck!

I quickly shook Gale and pointed at the deadly gas that’s airborne, as to urge her to use her wings to ward it off. “Huh? Oh fuck!” Sure enough, she flapped her wing as to repel the gas away from us. However, two more Plunderseed carriers began to lunge at us aggressively as we were thrown aback and pinned against the floor.

“Gah! G-Get off of me, freak!” Gale struggled as the Plunderseed carrier was trying to bite through the sniper rifle I was using as a shield to prevent it from biting my face off. Bob jumped into action and fired off laser shots at the carrier that was pinning her down while Tootsie Roll quickly hid herself under the desk. The Plunderseed carrier was hit, but didn’t really flinched. Instead, the shots only made it aggressive as Bob fired off a couple of shots, seeing as Gale can’t get a clear shot herself.

TZZAAAT! TZZAAAT! TZZAAAT! TZZAAAT!

It was finally gunned down, but the noxious gas was soon emitted as Gale had frantically flapped her wings to keep the deadly gas at bay before she quickly rushes in to my assistance; my sniper rifle is getting teeth marks from that damn carrier! And they’re sharp as hell, too!

With Gale up to her hooves, she quickly took an aim at the carrier with the twin Plasma Rifles, “Hey, plant-freak! Eat this!”

I quickly rolled back when Gale opened fire at the Plunderseed carrier and killing it easily before the noxious gas was emitted. I’d get the sniper rifle, but the gas is hovering on top of it and making it risky for me to retrieve it. Shit…

Should I hold my breath and retrieve it while delaying the inevitable? No… I have a better idea. I waved to Bob and pointed a hoof at the sniper rifle to retrieve it; since he’s a robot, he can’t get poisoned by the deadly gas. Bob emitted a confirmed beep and skitters forward to retrieve the rifle for me as he clamped both of his metallic claws around it. Afterwards, he turns around to me and skitters away from the gas and gives it to me. I tucked it between my side and my saddlebags and patted his head in thanks.

“Are the bang bangs over, guys?” Tootsie Roll asked as to be sure that the gunfight is over. Gale trotted over and took a peek under the desk, “You can come out now, sweetie. We took care of those monsters.”

“Yay! No more scary-looking plant-pony things!” The filly cheered and slinks herself from under the desk and looks around a little. She voiced with concern, “Let’s find another exit before those mean-looking vines come to life!”

I couldn’t have said it better myself, Tootsie. Which is ironic as I’m still unable to speak in any way.

In front of us is a sealed door that wasn’t totally covered by the sentient, black vines as I pressed a hoof against the button and opened the door, revealing absolute darkness. Gale nodded at me to signal for me to turn on the flashlight. Once I turned it on, the light reveals to be more black vines! Looks like the vines did a good job at completely covering up the ceiling lights, but the stairs that are leading down aren’t covered up, thankfully. Narrow corridors, light obstructed by sentient plants… this is gonna be a long day.

We also need to be mindful of those Plunderseed pods; even if my PipBuck can’t detect any obvious hostiles, those pods can catch us by surprise without warning.

Geez, how far is this place anyway?! Hopefully those damn vines aren’t blocking the next area or we’ll be forced to trek back up the stairs again.

On the plus sides, the Plunderseed pods are relatively small and growing seemingly slowly, giving us enough time to navigate down without any issues yet. Goddess this is stuffy… and no breathing room, too! I’m seriously hoping Stable 22 has an alternative exit and that it doesn’t lead us back to Foggy Forest. Ghost ponies are too spooky for us.

We eventually entered the next room and in front of us were live, Plunderseed plants. And they’re sure as hell pissed!

“Hissssss!!”

“Eep! Evil plants!!” Tootsie yelled out, quickly scampering behind us as five - ten of them, maybe - began to spit unknown (yet potentially deadly) fluids at us! Fuck, scatter!

“Oh shit!” Gale quickly flew out of the way before the fluids had any chance of hitting us. It landed on the ground, with a sticky, splattering noise to go for. It released a steaming hiss, realizing now that those killer plants are spitting acid! Not good. Not only can it eat through metal, but also through flesh and bone!

With quick reaction, I fired back at the acid-spitting Plunderseed plant, slipping into S.A.T.S. for an accurate position. One from the open mouth, and taking aim at the second one. Here goes nothing!

BLAM! BLAM!

The Plunderseed plant emitted a pained screech as it soon began to wither and die off. The second shot however, only grazed against the second plant’s stem, which otherwise did little harm to it. It began to spit another ball of acid to us again, Bob narrowly avoiding getting splattered by acid as some of the droplets seeped through some of his legs as it began to chew through metal. Gale winced from the splatters that hit some of her cheek onto her power armor, “Aaahhh… fuck, that’s so damn hot…”

Second-degree burns had already begun to show onto her cheek as she responded by firing the Plasma Rifles back at the Plunderseed plants. They screeched in pain from her marksmanship as they were soon dissolved into green goo.

“Zero, throw me the Healing Potion!”

I nodded at Gale’s orders and quickly pulled a healing potion and tossed it over to her to catch it. She flew forward and caught the potion before it landed onto the ground. I gotta say that even as a scientist, I’m not an excellent thrower, but she did managed to catch it and downed the potion to repel the second-degree burns that were still trying to burn through her.

She rubbed her cheek that was burned to check if her parts of her skin and coat were restored; it felt smooth and the burns were never there, “Much better… we need to keep moving, guys. Those plants are starting to regrow as we know it!”

Looks like she has a point; the Plunderseed plants we killed are starting to regrow and our only option is to retreat on the left side of an open corridor leading to the living quarters of Stable 22! Let’s get out of here ASAP!

Those goddess-damned black vines are pursuing us now! Its like being chased by a damn Tatzlwurm all over again! Even shooting them will only cause the vines to regrow again and the only way to stop them is to form a barricade or - stupidly enough - ignite them. Of course, that would mean we’ll suffocate as no ventilations are working whatsoever.

Tootsie was riding onto my back because of how fucking narrow this section is, just to get to the living quarters! On the plus side, we’re almost there while the black vines were still pursuing us; at least they lagged back for us to arrive into the living quarters and shut the door behind us. Inside was a main hall with a few pool tables, some broken off and the others tossed against the sides.

Small tips of vines were trying to wriggle and pry the door open to no avail. Looks like we’re safe for now.

Tootsie then got off of my back, “Who made so many messies?! Why is this room too dirty?!”

I really don’t think complaining is gonna help. Its always been like this…

“Well, we might need to find an alternative exit and I’m hoping its in the Overseer’s office.” Gale instructed to us. We don’t know who the Overseer is based on any gender, but what matters is that we need to get the hell out of Stable 22 before the Plunderseeds could breach through the door. Hopefully the non-existent Overseer doesn’t mind us getting the hell out of here by finding an alternate exit.

We followed Gale’s lead as I looked around, seeing most of the section left intact but the walls are filled with rust that’s deteriorating the inside of the living quarters. No red blips so far, but I didn’t even let my guard down. Not one bit.

As Gale arrived to the door leading to the Overseer’s office (unclear whether stallion or mare), she pressed a hoof against the button only to receive an ‘access denied’ voice from the intercom. “What?! What do you mean ‘access denied’?! Open up, goddammit!”

I went to a vacant bedroom as Gale banged on the door. Nopony’s gonna answer, Gale. Just us and those Plunderseed vines being held back by the door, but who knows how long until it breaches through. There’s got to be an activation key somewhere to open up the Overseer’s office door…

I crouched down to take a peek under the bed; nothing yet. I took a closer look by sliding my PipBuck-attached fore-hoof underneath the mattress and still nothing. Lots of junk, but no passcode.

Looks like I’ll have to keep looking any unfamiliar areas that contains a passcode to enter the office. I hate to see Gale Storm losing her patience; I wanna get out of here as well, but I’m sure as hell am not gonna be taking on those fucking Plunderseeds that’s basically impervious to everything. At least the Plunderseed carriers can’t be regenerated after their death.

Now where’s that passcode? I checked the drawers, desks and terminals (which are non-functional, by the way) and found none. Dammit, where is it?!

“Zero, if you’re finding something, you oughta make it quick! That door isn’t gonna keep the vines at bay for long!” Gale yelled out regarding the Plunderseed vines that are slowly leeching their way through the door and close to prying it open. Not sure how she’s assuming it, but it doesn’t sound like good news to me and my search is getting harder than I expected! Where the fuck is the motherfucking passcode?! Goddesses, give me a hint for once for me to get us out of here!

I went to different bedrooms and scanned different areas to see if an Overseer passcode is there. I have a feeling that the door can’t be lockpicked at all, nor can it be unlocked through a terminal; only a passcode can unlock it open.

I arrived at the main hall again and it turns out she was right; the vines are already halfway through the sealed door! Fuck! Come on Zero, think! If I was Pinkie Pie, where would I hide the Overseer passcode? Apart from the letter ‘E’, that is.

I got it! Maybe its in the cafeteria? I better go and take a look-see before the vines could breach through the door. Hmm… lots of fresh, uneaten veggies stored on shelves and the kitchen table. On the left side are two refrigerators. Maybe I can stock up food for us to continue along and get out of this hellhole. After collecting up fresh and not-irradiated foods, my eye caught the sight of an Overseer passcode below the freezer from the fridge. That must be the passcode we need to unlock it! But… who in their feeble minds would keep a passcode in a freezer?

Regardless, I quickly grabbed it and galloped my way back up to the office entrance with the passcode in my saddlebags as I waved a hoof to the three. “Zero? Tell me you found the passcode.”

I quickly nodded to her as I was catching my breath before presenting her the saddlebags. She quickly rummaged her hoof inside, soon finding the passcode from my saddlebags and letting out an excited squeal, “ohhh yes! There it is! Thank you!”

“Yay! Our nerdy scientist has done it again!”

Heh, oh stop it Tootsie. I was suddenly kissed on the cheek by Gale herself, and now my cheeks and my whole face is burning up now! D-Dammit, that was too soon! My heart’s just jackhammering inside my ribs! Okay, okay.. calm down now... calm down…

I was close to sweating profusely from the sudden kiss while Gale went to unlock the door to the Overseer’s office with the passcode on hoof.

“Aaaanndd… got it! We’re in!”

The door hisses open after she unlocked the Stable door; once we entered the Overseer's office, the room was mostly intact. As I glanced on the window, the worst was yet to come when the Plunderseed vines had finally breached through the door, forcing it wide open! And its growing at a faster pace, too! Looking behind me, Bob pointed his claw at the intact terminal that could help reveal a hidden passage and hopefully make our escape.

I nodded to Bob and trotted over to the terminal as I booted it on. Gale informed me, “You gotta make it quick; those vines are gonna be coming back for us, Zero.”

All I need's a little bit of concentration, even if time is running short. I just gotta focus hard and figure out the password to reveal a hidden passage. I could hear banging against the glass window, revealing to be Plunderseed carriers! And the E.F.S. is flooded by red blips!

“Hurry! Those freaks are trying to break in!” Tootsie yelled out, which impeded my concentration for a short while before re-focusing on the terminal to find the right password. I can’t mess this up, not even once. I need to make it out because time is ticking away. Where… where?!

‘Backwoods’! There it is! Right, now to reveal the secret passage.

As the Overseer’s chair slides open to reveal the (hopefully) escape route, the carriers kept lunging and slamming their heads against the window as it began to crack. Ohhh fuck me, fuck me! Open up already!

We nervously looked on as the Plunderseed carriers were close to breaking in; at least the secret passage was finally revealed and I instructed Gale with basic hoof-gestures by pointing a hoof at myself as to indicate that I want to go inside first and then pointed my hoof to her before writing down a couple of words from the Pipbuck, reading as ‘cover us’.

Gale observed closely at the PipBuck before using her wing to give me a salute, “Will do! You three get ahead; I’ll cover you from behind!”

Thankfully, the passage isn’t too narrow as we were the first to enter inside whereas Gale Storm followed last as Tootsie looked back, “Come on, Gale! Let’s get out of here!”

Once she entered last, the window from the Overseer’s office was soon shattered into million of pieces, allowing access for the Plunderseed carriers to pursue us again. It didn’t took long for them to figure out that we were inside a secret passage as we followed along the path. “Alright you fuckers… come at me.” Gale had also given me a reminder, “Zero, when I yell ‘reload’, toss me the Plasma ammo, because I can hear them coming!”

Got it! Let’s hope this passage doesn’t take us deep within Stable 22 or it’ll be more trouble than its worth.

“Reload!” Gale yelled out as I went to get Plasma ammo for her from the saddlebags; the pursuit wasn’t over yet with some of the Plunderseed carriers still chasing us inside. She caught the unused Plasma rounds and resumed firing at the remaining carriers before we could continue. It was frantic, but on the plus side there doesn’t seem to be anymore of those creatures chasing us anymore nor are the vines and plants growing out of the stems.

“Okay guys, I think that was all of them.” She notified us once the carriers were taken care of. I gave her a nod in response and ventured ourselves deep into what appears to be a maintenance room. Once we were inside, we barricaded the doors with metal sheets to prevent the vines from breaching through again.

I’m wanting to find out what origin lies from the Plunderseeds and where did it come from. They can regrow when shot and may be resistant to fire and can only be repelled with a special magic of some sort. At least the inside of the maintenance room is intact, but nonfunctional.

“Bob, find us the exit!” Tootsie instructed her robo-scorpion friend as he responds with an affirmative beep and began to scan around for any possible exit routes. As for myself, I found a working terminal and booted up, displaying a single log from the screen. Curious enough, I read the words from the only log shown on the screen.

“Those damn Plunderseeds are everywhere! How did they burrow themselves deep inside the Equestrian soil?! I’ve heard rumors that the Plunderseeds were originated from a draconequus-like creature known as Discord. As far as I know, he must’ve been responsible for planting those fucking seeds inside. I just can’t figure out on how to stop them, and neither are those damn scientists who were clueless enough to use one of those Plunderseed pods for their experimental use… well, jokes on them!

“I’ve heard other rumors that only alicorn magic can repel Plunderseeds altogether so they wouldn’t have to regrow again. Sadly, none of the alicorns I found can be reasoned with and their hunger for sheer power and would only resort to killing so there’s just no hope.

“If anypony is reading this and you find a statue of Discord, tell him that he has doomed us all and that we’d wish that he’d never exist in this living hell of what was left of Equestria.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a word of that fucking Overmare and say that she’s overstayed her welcome in Stable 22. She shouldn’t have brought in those damn Plunderseed pods and turn our Stable Dwellers into living monsters! Fuck her! Fuck her life! ANd I hope to Celestia that she was never born! I’ll get her one of those days!”

Now I’ve seen it all. So this ‘Discord’ was the one who planted the Plunderseeds deep within the soil of Equestria that began to seep inside and had eventually made their way into Stable 22 and created monsters, but also transforming it into a living lair.

As cliché as it seems, the unnamed Overmare was also known to claim responsibility according to the log as she had also resulted the Plunderseeds to grow wild and out of control, going as far as to use her own Stable Dwellers as ‘subjects’ for the scientists to perform sick ‘experiments’ on them. And I as a scientist am offended of this greatly. The scientists I knew back in Lab-00 had never performed such sick atrocities, mainly using their own kind for experimental purposes.

If we had alicorns who aren’t quick to resort violence and death, they would’ve dealt the Plunderseeds with relative ease and eradicate them altogether. Too bad the ones from Little Nightlight weren’t as friendly as they look.

As for that Overmare? She’s probably dead or missing. Hopefully karma had hit her hard.

Gale approached to me, “Zero, Bob found the exit. Let’s get out of here.”

Yeah. Let’s.

The barricaded door is holding back the vines pretty well as we made our escape. All we’re hoping now is reach back to the surface and not back into Foggy Forest. Lights were buzzing along from the ceiling as we traversed along and out of the maintenance hall. All that leads are stairs that leads up into the depths of the unknown. Obvious enough, Bob can’t climb up the stairs so he hitches himself onto Gale’s back as me and Tootsie began to climb up the ladder.

“Just hold on tight, Bob. I’ll fly us up there.”

Bob kept his legs in place onto her back as we made our way up.

And that was my second lesson on the story:

Never, ever travel in unfamiliar areas that have spooky ghosts and Plunderseeds that contains parasitic ponies that are eager to carve your flesh inside out. And I bet this Discord here doesn’t give any fucks.

Out of Foggy Forest and into an uncharted territory that doesn’t involve spooky ghost ponies or Plunderseed-infested Stables. Fucking. Finally. I hated Stable 22 from the very beginning and I still hate it. Once we were out, I closed up the manhole cover and glanced around. According to the map, we’re in Manehattan East. Looks like a bustling city that hasn’t been ravaged by Cazadores, albeit left in ruins. Surprising enough, there’s some civilization with at least hundreds of ponies, all dressed regally with only some casually. There’s some signs of life there, all right.

“Ooohhh… we’re in a big city! Come on, guys! Let’s go sightseeing! I wanna go to that place over there!” Tootsie eagerly

I glanced to the right and I saw a really large tower adorning the heart of Manehattan. I then looked back at Gale and shook my head; we don’t have time to sightsee, much less explore all of Manehattan. I wrote down a couple of words from my PipBuck that reads ‘We don’t have time for sightseeing. We need to keep moving as we had only delayed the inevitable’. Even though the vines aren’t after us anymore, I have a feeling that we may not be welcome here.

“Well, let’s find a place for us to rest up before we can move any further, okay?”

Yeah. I suppose we could; we were pursued by those damn vines and I could use a bit of rest. We’ll have to ask one of the local ponies, but I’m also hoping they’ll be in good terms with Gale Storm; she’s an Enclave yes, but she doesn’t express any hostility after her own kind had betrayed her. I wrote down a couple more from my PipBuck to her ‘Ask one of the ponies if they know a nearby place for us to rest up for today’.

Gale carefully inspected her Enclave power armor as she grinned rather nervously, “Well if you say so… I’m not entirely sure how the inhabitants will react when they see a lone, Enclave pony with the three of you at my side. Let’s hope they don’t take me seriously.”

I’m sure they won’t unless you end up doing something that’ll make them run for their lives and have local security rain down all over our asses and force us out of Manehattan or face imminent threats. We approached towards a Manehattan resident as Gale was the first to ask him. “Excuse me, sir. Is there a place nearby for us to rest up for today?”

The resident was rather uneasy when he took a sight of Gale with her Grand Pegasus Enclave power armor, “Erm… I beg your pardon, but we don’t normally get along well with the Enclave, even they’re already gone…”

I’m not really sure if that’s the case. There’s different Enclaves from different regions so…

“But this one is not a baddie, mister! She’s a good Enclave! Honest!” Tootsie stepped in to defend her. He was a little skeptical at first, but soon realized Gale’s intentions, “Huh… I suppose not all Enclaves are bad so I’ll point you pony folk out the nearest direction so y’all don’t have to trot all the way to Tenpony Tower.”

...what the hay’s a ‘Tenpony Tower’? The one that’s this big from a far distance to where we are? Well there are different buildings that rivals its size so its pretty debatable. I’m not even gonna find out for myself anyway.

The stallion led us to a nearby hotel, which was partially abandoned but well-maintained to keep the building up to code.

“Here we are. This here’s Manehattan Hotel. Not the best there is compared to Tenpony Tower, but it sure gets the job done. Now, y’all take care now! And welcome to Manehattan!”

I’m gonna pretend that Manehattan Hotel is actually a Tenpony Tower, only less luxurious and more low-to-middle class. I’m still speculative that there’s even a ‘Tenpony Tower’, especially with bustling skyscraper buildings that could possibly rival their massive height. But, its nighttime and its time for us to call it a day. And we are not here for sightseeing, much less visit this Tenpony Towers that middle-aged stallion told us about.

We were taken to room #326 on the third floor, with at least two beds for us to rest on. Nothing spectacular, but still worth it for us to have a good night’s rest. Tootsie slept next to Gale as she let out a cute yawn, “Will we ever go sightseeing tomorrow, Gale?”

“We’ll have to ask Zero if he’s okay for us to go on a tour. Zero, are you okay with this?”

I wrote down a couple of words on the PipBuck and showed it to Gale, reading as ‘Yes, but we need to make our tour very short before we can continue further and not sooner’. Damn was I reluctant.

“Yay! We get to go on a tour and see Tenpony Tower!” Tootsie gleefully pounces onto Gale as she lets out a small giggle, “Now, now Tootsie. Save your energy for the next day, okay?”

“Okay! Good night!”

Why, oh why did I even bother to do this?

My third lesson of the story, is that foals/fillies like Tootsie Roll here always get what they want by being so fucking innocent! Why do I even bother…

Morning.

And the skies are clear for some strange reason. And they’re blue, too! Something strikes me odd. How are the skies this clear? Unless of course its just another crazy dream and if that’s true, then I’ll have to roll with it until I can actually wake up. No biggie!

Tootsie was already eager enough to pull my hoof as we approach to a nearby carriage that contains a couple of ponies seated. Great, I’m a scientist about to become a tourist. Whoop-dee-doo.

“Come on, the seats are almost full! I wanna see what Manehattan is like!”

Even Bob was reluctant to go on a tour while Gale just went along with it. This is gonna be a long day…

The bulkier pony began to pull the carriage once we were seated, with the mare acting as a tour guide for us. “Hello, everypony! My name is Compass and I’ll be your tour guide for today! Now, let’s begin our tour, shall we?”

I tilted my head back and went to take a nap while listening to our tour guide. Remind me when we get to this ‘Tenpony Tower’ and maybe I’ll be a little bit amazed. Otherwise, I don’t really care much anyway and I seriously blame my naivety for even accepting Tootsie’s decision in going on a tour around Manehattan.

“...and here we have the Tenpony Tower, home of the high-class but also a very secure building which has strict policies such as Raider activity and those caught doing so will be rewarded with steep penalties! And if you want to reside there, well good luck! That could take years before you’re granted citizenship within Tenpony Tower!”

At least we don’t plan on residing there. I’d rather work at a rock farm than to even try to live there.

We kept listening on to Compass as she gave further details of the Tenpony Tower.

“The Tenpony Tower is also home to the legendary DJ Pon3 who does broadcasts 24/7 throughout Equestria! And we recently had a word that a pony scientist named Zero who was doing his hardship in keeping what’s left of evil things at bay!”

ME?! WHAT?!

I quickly took off my lab coat and concealed it behind me, trying to feign my innocence as I whistled on. Who is this Zero? I’m totally not that pony!

“Yep, and he’s a good scientist!” Tootsie informed our tour guide. Goddess-dammit, you little tattle-taler!

All eyes were on me, mainly the tourist ponies, and they clopped their hooves and cheered for me. Umm… well, this is awkward. I got a standing ovation for being a tourist, all because Tootsie here wanted a silly tour! All I could do was let out a sheepish smile as I was cheered on. The level of awkwardness has now reached critical mass, now that my failed attempt at concealing my identity has been officially exposed.

I hope you’re proud of yourself, Tootsie! You made me feel embarrassed! And Celestia, don’t EVEN get funny ideas of my name AND my current status!

I simply put on my lab coat again because the filly managed to expose myself in front of everypony as we continued on to the next and final tourist stop; a large, concrete statue of what appears to be a… pony that’s roughly the size of Tootsie’s.

“And here we have a legendary heroine; once a Stable Dweller escapee from Stable 2 in search of her friend, Velvet Remedy, Littlepip became the Light Bringer of Equestria, but was also shunned as a Hellmare after the events of Arbu. Although her actions were deemed dark among all of ponykind, she had stopped Red Eye and the Grand Pegasus Enclave were eradicated from ever tainting all of Equestria.”

I wrapped a hoof around Gale and gingerly pulled her close to me as to protect her from possible harm. The name ‘Red Eye’ seems rather funny; I’m thinking like any variety of colors that ends with Eye. So long as it doesn’t involve me being called a Blueberry.

What got me curious is that there’s another Stable, but a mere 2, which was home of this Littlepip or however the fuck you name it and Velvet Remedy. (Why do I feel the need to eat a slice of cake for some reason from that name I heard just now?)

As I gave it a good look at the statue, my eye batted at the sight of her PipBuck attached around her hoof, which was a memento of my days in Lab-00 when I got my first PipBuck, only except it was much older and outdated than the 3000 model. At least with the 4000, I could make this statue jealous that I have a better PipBuck! But there are however, other things that got me wondering regarding this… Arbu, or, something like that. Why was this Littlepip regarded as a ‘Hellmare’? Did she turned to the dark side? Or did she do something to make Manehattan and all of the Equestrian Wastelands turn their backs on her? Then again, she did the impossible to put her own life on the line to restore Equestria.

“Umm, Zero… you can let go of me now, the ponies are fine with me around.” Gale instructed me with a small smile from her expression. I glanced at the hoof and nearly jumped as I quickly moved a hoof away from her! Awkwardness level rising again! And my face is burning up as well! Dammit, get a grip, Zero!

Compass began to give us further details regarding this Littlepip or whatever her name is called, “Littlepip also had a keen interest of mares, if you get what I mean.” She interrupted herself with a giggle before resuming, “But, all that aside, Littlepip became the savior of Equestria after overcoming the dangers the Wastelands threw at her, even if it meant for the death of SteelHooves. Her virtue is... well, we don’t want to spoil secrets for our tourists, now would we? However, these virtues are known as Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty and Kindness. The rest? Well, only you pony folk can discover them out for yourselves! Of course, those are just examples on how one’s virtue is earned and Littlepip has indeed found one virtue that became the pinnacle of all ponykind. Well, tour’s over, everypony! Our designated carriage driver will take us back to our destination spot so everypony can have a wonderful day. And we thank you for taking part of our very own Manehattan Tours! Have a pleasant day!”

Virtues?

This was the first time I’ve ever heard such a word before. But how to earn them? Well, don’t ask me. I’m a scientist, not a psychic. Virtues have a meaning, mainly for the greater good of all the remaining ponykind, or if virtues have a darker side to it that could open its wound with no way of mending it together. A virtue needs to have a strong, positive meaning that could repel every bad things that lurk underneath and then emerge without warning.

Whatever this Littlepip did, sure did a great job in making the skies look clear as bright as day. Yet for some reason, I’m not smiling. The joy of the skies is pretty much short-living as we’ll have to leave Manehattan right now so I can’t expect having a permanent stay. We’re outcasts in this territory, even if their kindness are well appreciated. The main reason why is because the Wastelands had still left a nasty surprise, and that’s the Cazadores repopulating to not just engulf all of New Hampshore but eventually other places as well, including Manehattan. Just because it feels peaceful, doesn’t mean its been fully free from the Wastelands’ evil ways. If this Littlepip can save Equestria, we can too. But goddess-dammit I really don’t want to be felt embarrassed any further just because I’m making good deeds. I’m just doing whatever it takes to protect myself and my friends from harm. And I also have to keep in mind on exacting revenge on Dr. Scalpel and his sickening ‘creation’, both who are responsible for the death of my two friends and teammates. To where I’m gonna find them is anypony’s guess. Right now, I need to focus on the upcoming tasks at hoof. The clear, blue skies will be the last thing I’ll ever see before we would head back to the other side where hell is still brewing.

Still, I’m really skeptical of what Compass explained during our tour. What kind of a pony’s name is ‘SteelHooves’? Like, hooves made of pure steel or something? I’m not sure, but the only hint I’ve ever gotten that it probably has an identical power armor that’s equivalent to Gale’s.

And as for Littlepip liking other mares?

...I simply have no comment.

“Yay! That was so much fun! Littlepip looks like me, except she has a cool PipBuck like you have!” Tootsie was jumping around with ecstatic as she gleefully squeals over her delight of having her first Manehattan Tours with us. And its all because I was so damn reluctant to accept her decision.

While Bob was gazing the sights at the clear blue skies, Gale Storm adorned the bustling skyscrapers before looking back to me. “Where do we go now?”

I checked on the map and saw what appears to be a geographical shape that resembles a dam. Not far away from Manehattan, too. I pointed a hoof at the direction we’re going, and that’s up north.

“So up further north it is, then?”

I gave her a confirmed nod. No reason for us to stay in Manehattan any longer. And I’m not gonna waste my time even trying to stay or look at Tenpony Towers inside. It’ll only force me to delay the inevitable anyway.

“Alright. Let’s move on, you two. Say goodbye to Manehattan, little Tootsie.” Gale instructed the two. Tootsie yelled out as per Gale’s order, “Byeeee Manehattan!!!”

Okay, that was just unnecessary.

Whoover Dam. Located in the outskirts of Manehattan, it seems to be left intact except most of the asphalt were demolished, rendering the whole route impassable. The only way through is to get inside the dam, and that’s where the stairs are that leads to the door. The broken-off road leads to the border of Caneighda.

Waters were roaring through Whoover Dam as we made our way down the stairs and into the entrance. As much as I love to talk, a screaming contest will be one-sided because the rushing waters are this loud.

“Whew… geez, the dam is really loud. Hmm…” Gale inspects the sign that’s mounted on the wall, “‘Whoover Dam’?”

Must be it. Too bad nopony is managing the dam so even though its functional, its pretty much left abandoned for unclear reasons. And there’s nopony maintaining Whoover Dam as well. Let’s see if we can investigate the Dam inside and find out what’s going on.

As we explored throughout Whoover Dam, most of the heavy machinery were still operating normally and allowing rivers to be filtered into clean, radiation-free water flowing through the turbines. Of course, I’m getting no blip whatsoever so there’s no trace of anypony inside. Could it be that they left it to ruin in order to seek a better life? Or were they dead and no trace was ever found?

“Hello? Anypony there?” Gale called out to see if there’s any response. There was none.

“Do you think anypony is there within the Dam, Zero?”

Hell if I know. It could be anypony using a Stealth Buck to conceal their identities, though my senses hasn’t detected any movement. Plus, its such a huge building so there’s no telling what we might find. I glanced at the electrical grid, which are still functioning normally. That still doesn’t explain the absence of the dam workers that went mysteriously missing.

Something isn’t right here. Unless there are invisible alicorns present, I haven’t even spotted one, much less sensed one that are ACTUALLY invisible.

As my mind spoke out, my ears twitched a little; I heard a bit of commotion at a far distance. My friends may not have heard this, but it seems I could detect it myself albeit without Pinkie Pie’s assistance in my head.

All I could do is wave a hoof to Gale and motioned her to follow me as I led them towards the direction of a seemingly faint noise I heard. She motioned a hoof at the two as they followed me, “Whatever Zero’s taking us might be important. Come on.”

Down below from a catwalk, I spotted some things patrolling around the pump stations. The E.F.S. had displayed them in red and they obviously don’t seem to be friendly. Oh fuck…

Ponelurks! And a Ponelurk King!

Gale gasped at the sight of the Ponelurks, which had a combination of crab-like appearances with deformed faces that resemble that of a pony. The Ponelurk King appears to resemble half-fish, half-pony with webbed fins for hooves, including its ears and cheeks that act as gills, and they spotted us! At least they can’t fly, but what’s to stop the Ponelurks from heading up the stairs to catch us?!

“Shit! Zero, Bob, get ready! Tootsie, get behind me!” We nodded at Gale’s orders as she positioned herself at the corner just outside of the catwalk while me and Bob crouched down and readied ourselves for Ponelurks coming our way.

The Ponelurk King took notice of Gale Storm’s presence as she opened fire at it. It took a couple of hits before the Ponelurk King retaliates with a sonic attack fired from its mouth as she and Tootsie barely moved out of the way. “Look out!”

The concrete wall that was used to provide flanking position was destroyed and I painfully winced from the high-pitched ringing noises as the catwalk nearly buckled. Fuck, that Ponelurk King is powerful, and it looks as if it took no damage whatsoever! The Ponelurks soon made their way up and began to relentlessly charge at us as I quickly slid into S.A.T.S. before they have a chance to close in on us. Need to make the shots count; with a section this narrow and the numbers increasing, I can’t afford to miss. All three shots go into its small, deformed face. Let’s hope they’re enough to bring it down!

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

All three consecutive shots the the face, enough for it to recoil back for brief amount of time and crippling it along the way.

However, it soon retaliated as it began to charge his head towards me and I was rammed onto it! I was tossed back and slid across the floor, losing my sniper rifle along the way and I clutched by fore-hooves around my chest; fuck, I felt one of the ribs crack! The armored vest does nothing!

“Zero!” Gale stopped firing at the Ponelurk King; even though it took a lot more damage from the plasma rounds, its tough skin makes it difficult to kill as Bob quickly ducked down from its claws and returned fire, quickly retreating back to catch up to the pursuing Poneluck. I was quickly scrambling back to try and retrieve the sniper rifle, wincing again from the sharp pain hitting my chest inside as I was struggling to breathe from the broken ribs. Goddess-dammit…

The Ponelurk King emitted another sonic attack at Gale to stop her in her tracks as it too began to make its way up towards us. She quickly skid to a stop to avoid getting hit by the sonic wave which barely grazes through her, still enough to make her ears ring loudly inside, “Gah! F-Fuck!!” Meanwhile, Tootsie Roll was screaming and barely avoiding the Ponelurks’ claws as four of them were surrounding the filly, trying to get her with their deadly claws.

Bob was firing off his lasers at the Ponelurk trying to get me. Its back shell was indestructible, but enough for it to turn its attention to him. As it charges towards him, he fired off another laser shot at its crippled face, resulting it to recoil back as Gale quickly realized that Bob is protecting me and soon charges at the pack, firing off another round of plasma, “Hold on, Tootsie!”

She quickly flew up as the Ponelurk pack were shot repeatedly while I quickly rummaged through my saddlebags to get the stimpak as my vision was slowly fading away. Gotta inject it… quickly…

Gah! Fuck! I pieced the needle into my abdomen and injected myself as the cracked ribs inside began to heal up together. Aahhh… that’s better… but there’s no rest for the wicked. I have to help Gale out. As for Bob? He’s single-handedly taking care of that Ponelurk as he was close to killing it. Right, time for me to get my sniper rifle and kill them. Of course, the pack weren’t able to reach their claws to Gale as she instructed Tootsie while firing back at the Ponelurks, “Tootsie, go with Zero! I’ll hold them off, I promise!”

“O-Okey-dokey-wokey!” She scrambled up to her hooves and quickly galloped her way to me, “Zero, fire at the ugly crab-thingies!”

No need to tell me twice! I’ve just reloaded, after all!

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

After landing a couple of hits, Gale finished off the rest of the pack while staying airborne, with their claws out of their reach as they were soon dissolved into goo. The other Ponelurk was dropped dead after Bob fired off a final shot at its face. He quickly skitters to us as Gale flew back down to the floor and offered a hoof to me. As I was gonna be helped up, my ears twitched at the Ponelurk King coming out way; I quickly shook her hoof and pointed at their leader!

“Oh shit.. quick Tootsie, find somewhere to hide!”

Seems we’re out of the frying pan and into the fire! Let’s fire at this bastard with everything we got!

And as we kept firing at it, we’re wondering what does it take to kill this bastard! Despite getting hit repeatedly, it doesn’t seem to go down easily!

Each wave of sonic attacks were almost dead-on as we barely moved out of the way, but Gale seems to have run out of ammo for both of her Plasma Rifles, “Zero, I need a reload, stat! Bob, cover him!”

Right! I quickly scooped a hoof down to my saddlebags to get a fresh load of plasma ammo (and the last ones as well) as she quickly retrieved them. Bob was distracting the King as it fired off sonic waves at him while skittering out of the way and firing off laser shots at it. Even though the lasers were doing little damage to it, mainly due to its overall thick and hardened body that further explains its high levels of durability. Thankfully, he bought us enough time for her to resume attacking it and me resuming firing. I’d enable S.A.T.S., but that’d be a waste; this fucker doesn’t really die so easily, even if you have badass weapons in your arsenal!

As we resumed firing at the Ponelurk King, it emitted another sonic attack at Gale which missed due to her aerodynamic speed, blasting through the ceiling as she was blasted back and landing onto the floor, leaving her dazed and clutching her head from the high-pitched ringing noise. The blast was strong enough to leave her dazed and despite Bob’s efforts, it seems to be relatively unaffected from the laser shots as it charges towards her and leaving me no time to reload!

At least Tootsie hid an unused and inactive pump station to avoid the Ponelurk King from getting anywhere near her, but now I gotta help out Gale and fast or she’s gonna get seriously hurt!

As it reared its head back for another sonic attack, I lunged at it as hard as I could, tackling it but also causing it to release the attack and missed her, but the blast was in close proximity and enough to penetrate into her right ear, resulting her to shout in severe pain, “Gaaahh!!”

Dammit, no! You stupid, wretched excuse of an abomination! Fucking die!

I punched my hoof against its sickening face repeatedly, again, again and again! Fuck you for hurting her! Fuck you for making her deaf! And fuck you for even existing in the fucking Wastes!

The final blow was enough to finally kill that bastard of a Ponelurk… and not unlike the one that chased me within the New Hampshore sewers. In this case, it had friends. Friends that must’ve left it to chase me and unintentionally used myself as live bait to lead it to a seemingly unknown, hostile faction as a means of distraction. Well, no more. At least now they won’t have to leave Whoover Dam and ruin the peaceful city of Manehattan. I panted harshly, and gazed my attention to Gale Storm. I fell to the floor from exhaustion and scrambled my hooves towards her before collapsing myself onto her. Dammit, no… not her… she.. she didn’t deserve this… at least she’s still alive. As she looked down at me, she wrapped a hoof around me with a soft, but pained smile. “Thanks… ack, my ear’s shot up… maybe with a couple of day’s rest, I could hear normally again. Bob, go get Tootsie.”

Me being mute was now the least of my worries; all it mattered to me was her well-being. As Bob went to get his filly companion from the unused pump station, I looked back up to her as if wondering if she’ll be alright.

“Let’s go and rest up a little before we continue on. And I’ll be alright. Again, thank you, Zero.”

Heh, not a problem.

As we moved on to rest up somewhere after a fierce battle with the Ponelurks and its King, I began to think about my final lesson of the story:

Never assume that any ruined or intact buildings are completely abandoned and that they’re not filled with hideous creatures that are waiting to attack you left and right. The Wastelands always leave nasty surprises to even the most well-prepared Wastelanders.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Math Wrath -- You are able to optimize your PipBuck’s targeting spell logic. S.A.T.S. attacks cost now 5 AP less.
Quest Perk Added: Too Drunk to Die (1) -- While you are drunk there is absolutely nothing that can stop you. You gain a +5 to your Damage Threshold while under the effects of alcohol.

Chapter Eighteen: Bullseye

Deep within Whoover Dam, and it looks to be in a dilapidated state. Seems out peaceful time in Manehattan was only temporary and only delays of what’s been truly going on from the other side of Equestria that’s still suffering. And after our hectic battle with the Ponelurks and their King, I’m kind of wondering if there’s even a peace.

If Manehattan was a prime example of a peaceful city, I’m not sure what of it for this… Ponyville, or however you may call it as such. I’m just still skeptical after our tour earlier today. Everything else are nothing more than mere rumors.

Even if I wanted to stay at Tenpony Towers, the rules are too damn steep and basically limits the ability to become fully accommodated inside. Its just not worth it anyway. Personally, I prefer to stay over in Stable Town and Stable 75 than to scrape the bottom of the barrel to even become a residence in the Towers, much less visit. I just have too much problems on my hooves already.

We heard something down below the main level. Who could that be? I glanced at Gale who asked me, “Should we check something out? I think there’s somepony in Whoover Dam.”

I suppose that’s true. No Ponelurks would normally talk like that. I gave her an affirmed nod as we ventured down to the lower levels. At least they’re not as noisy as the pumps we had when we were fending off against the Ponelurks. All we can do now is hope that there aren’t any hostiles waiting to ambush us by surprise. I led my friends down the stairs to find the source of the voice, hoping that we don’t run into any noises within the Whoover Dam.

E.F.S. had soon displayed a green blip on the PipBuck. Seems this one isn’t a hostile, so that’s a plus. I’m eager to see if this one doesn’t stab us in the back.

The noises within the Dam had drowned out the sound of a distress call, but the E.F.S. made sure the green blip had stayed on the radar for us to track down an unknown friendly/neutral. Its not far from us now, but the door ahead is locked. No problem; I’ll have Tootsie Roll pick the lock for me.

“Ooohhh! Yay! I get to pick the big door open!” The filly gleefully floated up the bobby pin and screwdriver and proceeded to pick the door open. What she makes up for her lack of actual combat, makes up for picking even the toughest locks open. And it didn’t took long for her to pick the lock open as she safely floats both objects back in my saddlebags. “Ta-da! One big door now open!”

Let’s see what this area leads us to.

We saw a couple of makeshift holding cells inside the room, all which are locked but nopony inside. (Who’s crazy idea was it to create makeshift holding cells out of crude junk? And why hasn’t the Manehattan residence noticed this?!)

“Zero, do you hear that?” Gale asked as we heard raspy - or ghastly - breathing noises nearby. Okay, I’m starting to feel uneasy and I’m wondering if E.F.S. is telling me the truth or not…

Then, we heard a voice (which was far from normal):

“Hey, is anypony there? I need out of this lock so I can get back to work… or not.”

My eye widened at the shocking sight. Is that… a living ghoul?!

Gale and Bob were shocked at the sight, save for Tootsie Roll who was just freaking out at the sight of a pony ghoul wearing a boilersuit, “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! It talks, and its scary-looking!!!”

It… or he, soon turned his attention to the filly freaking out at a live and not flesh-eating ghoul pony, “I was expecting a bit of a bailout after ponies imprisoned me while maintaining the pipelines, yet all I got was a filly calling me scary-looking. Woo.”

Ooookay, so this one is indeed friendly and doesn’t crave for pony flesh. Of course, as any ghoul would, most of his mane and tail were burnt away, along with his overall burned body that also gets rid of his cutie mark altogether and only has a green, dirt boiler suit to go for that covers up his ghastly appearance.

Tootsie was hiding behind me out of irrational fear as Gale Storm carefully glanced at the pony held inside a cage before turning her attention to me, “Do you think we should release him?”

If he’s not here to devour us, then yes. I gave her a confirmed nod; no point in leaving him inside to fester. As surprising as we were when we first saw him, he expressed no ill-will to attack us. Of course, Tootsie is too terrified to lockpick the cell door so I looked at Bob and pointed a hoof at the lock, as to fire the lock away. Indeed, he fired off a laser shot at the lock, disintegrating it easily and swinging the door wide open for the unnamed pony ghoul to exit the makeshift holding cell. I carefully approached at the ghoul pony with a curious look before writing down a couple of words from the PipBuck, reading as ‘Who are you?’.

“Me? Name’s Bullseye. Used to work in Whoover Dam until I ended up locking myself inside so those pony-crab things wouldn’t come after me.”

We learned now that his name is Bullseye, a lone worker in Whoover Dam… and why the fuck did he had to lock himself in?! Apart from avoiding getting eviscerated by the Ponelurks he mentioned, did he somehow threw away the key inadvertently just to leave himself to suffer afterwards?

As Bullseye exited the cell, he glanced at me (his eyes are totally greyed out and dead!), “Thanks for saving me, boss. Should I call you that?”

I think now I should be having Gale here be the new leader. You oughta be thanking Bob for firing the door open; I’m just sitting at the sidelines, dammit!

Gale of course, wrapped a wing around me and pointed a hoof to me, “Yup! He’s our leader, Zero! He’s not only a scientist, but a brilliant leader as well!”

I feel the need to facehoof really hard right about now…

“So he is, then. Who are you three?” Bullseye politely asked, even with his gravely voice to it. Tootsie hasn’t gotten over her sudden, irrational fear of non-hostile ghouls. “I’m Gale Storm, and this is Bob and umm… Tootsie Roll… rest assured, Bullseye! I’m sure this young filly has never met a friendly ghoul pony like yourself before.”

“I-Is he… a not-scary pony, Gale?” The filly was unsure as she let out a nervous, uneasy gulp. Gale reassured her with a soft, motherly rub onto her mane with a hoof, “Its okay, sweetie. He’s a friendly fellow, even if he’s not what he used to be.”

Her words were enough to quell her irrational fear and little Tootsie slowly trotted next to Gale, tucking herself under her wing. She was still uneasy from the sight of Bullseye, though his reaction seemed rather unfazed and his focus was all on me. While Bob went to comfort her, Bullseye took a slow approach to me. I couldn’t ask him anything because well, I just can’t speak at all. Of course, I wrote down a couple of words from the PipBuck before showing him on the screen ‘Would you like to come with us?’.

Without any objections or having second thoughts, he accepted.

“Well, seeing as how Whoover Dam is in tiptop shape and with the Ponelurks gone, sure. So, where shall we go, or do you just want five minutes of time-wasting conversation?”

You can’t strike a conversation to a pony who obviously can’t talk! And I wasn’t born mute either, thank you very much!

I nudged a hoof to Gale on telling him what to do, like continue to venture further into Whoover Dam or get on back to Stable Town… or maybe take a revisit to Mayne.

“Umm… oh! We were heading back to Stable Town, so if you want, you’re welcome here.” Gale suggested to Bullseye for me. “Of course, we’ll need an alternate route back there; a trek from Manehattan would be too lengthy.”

And don’t say Tenpony Tower, please. Unless if you meant that hotel we went yesterday… same thing!

The ghoul pony gave us a curious look, “You sure you don’t wanna stay in Tenpony Tower?”

Goddess-dammit! We have a new guy and insists that we want to stay over in Tenpony Tower! I call bullshit on that question!

“Well, we don’t have anymore bottle caps for us to stay even for a day. But, we do get a free stay in Stable 75! I’m sure they’ll welcome you to their town!” Gale beamed up after giving him a different suggestion. I’m not sure how their inhabitants will react to a living ghoul pony with freakish looks…

Bullseye then expressed a neutral shrug. “I suppose. I thought you guys were high-class or something, but sure. Let’s go.”

Gee, its not like we’re a bunch of stinking rich and snooty ponies for some reason. Just be thankful that you’re not planning to badger us by making us take a visit to Tenpony Tower. And we’re not gonna go on a second tour neither.

Bullseye had led us into an underground tram system which was still functional after too many years. It was aged, but still functional. “Did you know I’m also a train operator? I was before.”

I thought he was a Dam worker! When did he get multiple jobs at once?!

“Umm.. I didn’t know! Awesome!” As we entered the tram, Gale gave an awkward whisper to me, “He seems rather odd for a ghoul pony, Zero…”

I couldn’t agree more. Can’t believe we had a ghoul pony as our unlikely companion…

As Bullseye slowly pushed the lever forward, the tram had soon lurched along the rail; despite its pristine look, its as if its been left unused for hundreds of years. I’m surprised this thing’s still working! Of course, he did gave us a warning. “Just letting you ponies know that up ahead is where lights no longer work, soooo if you have a flashlight, now’s the time.”

Well, at least I have a PipBuck that has a working flashlight, unlike the 1000 model I previously had. As visibility becomes dark, I turned it on so we don’t have to freak out too much in the darkness. It was bright enough to illuminate the darkness, but as we’re now inside a tunnel, Gale and the other two huddled close to me, even feeling her wing draping around my back. What, are invisible ponies gonna come and attack us? Please… (On a plus side, Gale’s wing feels pretty soft.)

The E.F.S. hasn’t picked up any red blips, though the map on the screen of the PipBuck is becoming rather fuzzy, making it difficult to determine where we are. Hopefully not Manehattan because let’s face it; I got bigger problems to deal with right now and that’s figuring out a plan to eradicate the growing population of the Cazadores. And I have none so far, too dangerous to take them on with just the five of us.

Might as well wait until we reach to whatever our new, ghoul ally takes us there. Whether its Stable Town or otherwise, let’s see what this tram would take us. I’d listen to the radio to pass time, but seeing as how we’re underground is where signal reception is non-existent until we reach land.

“Hehe, don’t ask how, we’re just not used to the pitch black darkness. Thanks for using a flashlight, Zero.”

I felt Gale pressing her muzzle against my cheek as the reddish-ness started to light up on my cheeks. Aww shucks. Just doing my job. Even Tootsie Roll would say the same thing just like her, just without any comment.

I’m just waiting to see what’s up ahead. Hopefully I don’t get to see another Stable for the time being.

Eventually, we were out of the underground rail tunnel and back in Mayne… or in this case, South Mayne. Abandoned, derelict and completely isolated, its lack of civilization only elevates the level of creepiness after our two-hour ride in the tram. “We’re here. South Mayne.” Bullseye notified us as he shuts off the tram. Many buildings were left in ruins, but were not related to a Cazador attack. Pretty obvious that it was the Megaspell that levelled the town.

“South Mayne?” As we stepped off the tram, Gale scanned the area around for a brief moment before gasping at the realization, “There’s nopony there? Zero, does your PipBuck show any signs of life in these ruins?”

I shook my head in response. The E.F.S. doesn’t show any living ponies or other things in here. None at all.

And I really don’t want to recall the events of Mayne where civil unrest and sudden violence in the night. I can already bet those uncivilized ponies had already pushed themselves onto the brink of extinction. Of course, I did mean only Mayne, not Stable Town, not Manehattan either. But New Hampshore? Pretty much in danger because of the ongoing onslaught of Cazadores, but I can’t save it yet. Not when I have very few ponies and with the lack of state-of-the-art weaponry related to Arcane Technology, we won’t be able to stand a chance against them. And if this is really Dr. Scalpel’s wrongdoing, then his ass is mine and so is his ‘creation’.

As much as I like to know about their whereabouts, South Mayne doesn’t seem to be a good place to start. My new ally isn’t very bright at being a navigator, is he? I checked on the map and saw that we’re pretty far away from Stable Town. Great. More trekking to do. And because South Mayne is in total ruin, there’s nothing to scavenge except rubble. That’s about it, really. Of course, my ears picked up faint buzzing sounds at the very distant ahead from us; its certainly not an electrical grid, is it? Electricity is rather abundant in the Wastelands, except from different locations of course.

But where is it coming from? I motioned my team to follow me to find the source of the buzzing noises - they were skeptical at first before Bullseye commented, “Sure, lead the way, boss.”

I’d object, but what’s the use? Even if I correct him, he’ll still refer to me as ‘boss’ anyhow so I’ll just have to roll with it for the time being. As we got closer and deeper within the isolated area of South Mayne, red blips began to flood into the E.F.S. Ten of them, too! And Bloatsprites!

I quickly stopped them by extending a hoof, knowing that any closer and they’ll start to take notice and fire off stingers at us in the worst way possible. At least they haven’t took notice of us yet…

“Gaaahh!! W-What are those giant, gross insect-thingies?!” Tootsie’s frantic yell had already given away our position and soon their attention were directed towards us. Fucking goddess-dammit, Tootsie! Look what you did!

“Uh oh. Get ready ponies! Here they come! Tootsie, get behind me!” As Gale prepped herself for battle, the Bloatsprites had already begun to shoot out miniature stingers at us. Shit!

As I scrambled to position myself for a clear shot with the sniper rifle, Bullseye was quick to react and pull out his revolver (his magic aura has a very dull blue color to it!) and fire off at least six rounds at the attacking Bloatsprites, enough to critically wound them. Damn! Talk about lightning fast reflexes! Of course, he took a couple of hits from the stinger shots as me, Gale and Bob fired off shots at the critically wounded Bloatsprites; we had no place to take cover and even if there is, they’d easily surround us and ignore cover altogether.

Despite our minor injuries (save for Tootsie Roll, who stayed out of combat, and Bob for having his very own impenetrable armor), we managed to single-handedly take down all ten Bloatsprites. That was a short yet unexpected battle we’ve ever faced. Weird…

“Did you know I’m also a gunslinger, too? I was a ten-time gunslinging champion before I worked at a tram and in Whoover Dam.”

Just how many jobs does this ghoul pony have anyway?! Surely at least one job is more than enough, right? Damn, for our new ally that has marksmanship aim, he’s quite an oddity to go for. Nevertheless, let’s just keep going and see if there’s any places of interest that isn’t deemed to be dull or isolated. Or if we could find its inhabitants without the intent of killing us. Let’s hope we don’t run into another Bloatsprite again or their numbers would be enough to cause us even more problems.

Gale scanned the area around before giving Bullseye a small suggestion, “Don’t you think we should be going back to Whoover Dam? I’m sure we could find our way back to Stable Town with you on our side.”

Of course, he rejected her suggestion. “Sorry, but the tram only goes one way. Forward and not back, so South Mayne will have to do for now… by the way, do you have any friends here in South Mayne?”

Okay, now he’s just spewing random questions to us.

“No… but you’re welcome to be friends with us if you wish! Tootsie well… she hasn’t gotten used to seeing a ghoul pony like yourself just yet. The last time we encountered ghoul ponies… they were intent on killing us.” Gale gave a sheepish smile to him, hoping that her brief conversation wasn’t too awkward.

“Well, I suppose new friends are always great. The last friend I made was a mural of Maud Pie next to Pinkie Pie… that’s about it, really.” Bullseye’s reply made me curious about the two; they’re mostly related, but I wanted to know more about this Maud Pie our ghoul companion mentioned about as we traversed throughout the isolated land of South Mayne. I softly whispered to Gale as to ask him regarding Maud Pie.

“Hmm? Oh! Umm… Bullseye? Zero wanted to know more about Maud Pie if you’re interested.” Seems she managed to get the idea from my non-existent voice which could only be heard pretty close.

Bullseye gave a neutral nod, “Alright. I’ll tell you who Maud Pie is along the way.”

As we ventured ourselves out of South Mayne, I began to listen and understand further details regarding this Maud Pie I saw from the terminal weeks ago.

“...Maud Pie worked at the rock farm, deep into the quarries of Ponyville if you ask me. Pinkie Pie offered help, but she was backed by the Ministry of Morale so Maud Pie is unable to be her backup. Same goes for her other sisters, Marble Pie and Limestone Pie, even her obviously-dead parents. Unfortunately for Marble Pie, she received the death penalty by being shoved into the radiation pit and well, she was turned into a mutant mass before they put her out of her misery. Limestone Pie, on the other hoof, became an outcast from the quarry. Never returned to her siblings ever since. As for Maud Pie? Well, she got the killing joke treatment where she was permanently encased in a rock and then crumbled together. Despite her efforts, she was a slave and died like one, too. Her strength were of no match for those damn Slavers.” Bullseye concluded his details regarding Maud Pie and the siblings.

So the fate of this Maud Pie was finalized; she fell the victim of a killing joke by the damn Slavers, turning her into a living rock and became disintegrated into pieces. Marble Pie, well, she had the most gruesome death out of all the Pie clan whereas Limestone’s whereabouts were unknown ever since. Most likely dead, perhaps. Now as for Pinkie Pie, seeing as how she can’t so much as to talk to me inside my head for unknown reasons, I’m starting to wonder what the Ministry of Morale is. Does it consist of a rebellious faction? Or is it something else that’s closely related to that? And another question that brought up to my mind; how did Bullseye knew about the events that happened after the Megaspell went off? Or is it another kind of a Megaspell that included hard labor and eventual death? Turns out he wasn’t like any ghoul before so he must’ve been a survivor unless he’ll wind up telling us that he used to work at the quarries of what location… Ponyville maybe? Or perhaps the outskirts of it?

I just felt a little mixed. I believed what he said until he mentioned Ponyville. Is Ponyville even real? Am I supposed to believe this sort of hootenanny or something? Because even the PipBuck 4000 would mention nothing about Ponyville. I’m really curious about Bullseye’s past motives before he was turned into a living ghoul freak.

“So how did you managed to escape? And how did you end up a ghoul pony?” Even Gale was curious about him and wanted to find out how he barely escaped the quarries or whatever its called.

“I just did. Of course, I had a taste of an irradiation grenade by the damn Slavers. Too bad they didn’t killed me enough; all they did was cause my coat and skin to peel away, my eyes going… well, dead, and my voice sounding shitty afterwards, yet still alive. Too bad I don’t have a mane and tail anymore so fuck if I could remember.” Bullseye further explained on his own previous appearance. Well, at least his original personality is still intact.

At least he got his five minutes of time-wasting conversation. Up ahead are a couple of crude, abandoned shacks that has no inhabitants whatsoever. Then again, even with such an empty area, its not without traps so that’s something we need to watch out for.

We went to search to different shacks to see if there are any items or fresh, uneaten foods that are deemed salvageable while Tootsie Roll stood close to me while her robotic friend went to search for items that are deemed useful. The E.F.S. had picked up nothing besides the Bloatsprites we just killed. And speaking of Pinkie Pie, I had no word from her ever since I first picked up the Statuette of her. Maybe the Pinkie Pie statuette had lost power which nullified my newly-acquired abilities?

No, that’s impossible. My senses are still sharp and my eyesight hasn’t been affected. Now, let’s see… ah! A couple of stimpaks, fresh maize, and bottles of antivenom to collect. And a doctor bag as well. I wonder what the others have found?

Gale Storm had returned with various and useful items to us, “I found a couple of Purified Water and fresh fruits. I also added Stimpaks in my power armor so here, let me heal you up.”

I pulled up the sleeve of my hoof with my teeth and presented it to her as the mechanical needle was soon injected into my hoof. I winced in pain at first, but soon felt the stimpak fluids poured into my hoof and effectively healing the minor injuries I had. Huh… looks like I’m all better! She carefully moved the needle off of my hoof, “There you go. All better now.” Gale emitted her lighthearted giggle and motioned her head to me. “Come on. Let’s keep on moving.”

Now that we’ve managed to stock ourselves up, we continued to venture ourselves into the unknown and out of South Mayne. And this area is even more isolated than South Mayne itself. Fucking hell, this is gonna be a long day…

As we trekked along the unknown within the Wastelands, we saw up ahead on what appears to be a very large, ancient temple. And it looks largely untouched from the Megaspell, so they must have ancient civilization here! (Wait, what?)

Of course, we had to stop by at the nearest campfire for rest up for the night. It was getting awfully dark and to continue on would be suicide. We had a late-night meal in front of a still-lit campfire, seating ourselves onto the rocks. I wrote down a couple of words from the PipBuck before presenting the screen at everypony ‘We need to rest up for now before we could discover the unknown temple, we’ll need plenty of sleep’.

“Sounds like a plan. We’re pretty hungry after scavenging and dealing with those crazy Bloatsprites anyway.” Gale agreed with me. Even she needs to rest up before we can continue ahead.

“So why are we resting up? I’m not a normal pony so I basically don’t need sleep. I’ll just keep a lookout if I could.” Well, Bullseye sure has a way with words. It doesn’t take a genius like myself to know that ghoul ponies require little to no sleep. (I could be wrong, however.)

“That’s fine and all, but… just do your job, okay? We have a long day ahead of us.” Gale spoke out for me as we soon finished our quick meal and begin to rest up on the boulders close to the campfire, ensuring that the pitch-black darkness is kept at bay. Whatever new things we’ll discover, is bound to bring us new and dangerous challenges.

The Temple of Ahuizotl

That’s what the PipBuck deciphered from the ancient writings. Not sure how or why, but we’re not gonna laze around Stable Town and do absolutely nothing. And the stairs… fuching hell is it a long way up! Even Gale wouldn’t hitch all of us at once onto her back; it’ll wear her down in seconds.

Even Gale looked pretty uneasy when she gave a nervous look to us, “Soooo… who wants an extra fifteen-minute trip of all the way up to the temple?”

Well, at least you can fly, per se!

“But its tiriiiiing!” Tootsie whined like a true filly she is, complaining of her refusal for a grueling trek up the stairs to the temple. Of course, Bob skitters up to my back as to show that even he hates climbing up the stairs. Oh great, now he gets to hitch onto me?! I refuse to be the burden of our lengthy, undesirable climb to the temple! I have my saddlebags thank you very much, now please kindly off of my back!

Shaking my body seems to end up triggering his bad side as he threatened me with a laser tail pointed dangerously close to my face, his metallic claws clanging as a saying of ‘carry me or disintegrate into ashes’. I hesitantly gulped and tried to crack a smile as to indicate that I will indeed carry him on my back for us to head to Ahuizotl’s temple.

Note to self: Don’t ever get on the sentient, robotic scorpion’s bad side, especially with a weapon that’s bound to turn me into a pile of pony dust. My own pony thought warned me. This is gonna be a long day, I swear to Celestia…

Gale motioned the filly over as she bends her hooves down a little, “Hop aboard, Tootsie! We’re now boarding The Gale Express!”

I wonder when was the last time I played pretend in this hellhole back in my younger years? Besides staying alive and being a completely nameless pony with pretty much non-existent parents apart from the partially-cybernetic Lightspeed who considered me as her son, even though she could’ve used a little bit of personal space in front of the Powder Gangers! Seriously, I nearly collapsed because of this!

Once the filly got onto her back, Gale’s wings unfurl gracefully and began to ascend in the air and soon flying off to the temple with Tootsie in tow, “Race you there!”

Hey that’s not fair! You just made this race one-sided already, Gale!

Well, fuck. Might as well make a tiring climb up to the temple whilst Gale Storm flew her way up easily. Bullseye informed me, “Don’t worry. A scientist deserves a normal exercise up the temple. Let’s go, boss.”

This isn’t exercise! Its a fucking torture! Of course, with Bob hitched on my back, what choice to do I have? I’d rather get my hooves worn out than to have him disintegrate me altogether. Well, here goes nothing!

I would’ve hitched Gale, but why would I? That’ll weigh her down even more, and only Tootsie Roll was light enough to hitch a ride. Fuck, this is gonna take a while. And all while the clouds are dark and miserable, with a chance to rain really hard. The last thing I would want is to have Bob self-destruct and killing me in the process should even a single drop of water get into his electrical systems. Even his tough, metallic shell isn’t clearly waterproof (and even then, he’ll short out should he drown so either outcome would be horrifying).

Even Bullseye is struggling to not tire out as we made our way up to the temple, “This is gonna take a while… and my teleportation spell is useless so all I could do is carry things around.”

Well you’re obviously not an alicorn, you know.

And half an hour later and we’re nowhere close to reaching the top. Only Gale and Tootsie made it to the top with no effort whatsoever. At the far distance, she yelled out, “Pick up the pace, boys! We wanna see you all fit as a fiddle!”

Oh great, now she’s going drill sergeant on us. Here I am struggling yet Bullseye looks as if he doesn’t even give a damn at all! He’s just neutrally climbing up the stairs like its not a big deal! And Bob? He does nothing other than weighing me down! He’s gonna have functional climbing legs soon, so let’s see who gets the last laugh…

Shit. Muscles constricting… yet I’m almost there… don’t you dare give up on me, dammit! If I look back, I would fall off which is enough to either kill me or paralyze me. Our ghoul ally had already made it to the top while I barely made it before my hooves eventually gave themselves in as I collapsed onto the stone floor whereas Bob skitters carefreely off of my back to join up with the filly. Goddess-dammit, Celestia… why must you do this to a scientist…

“Hooray! You made it! At least I didn’t have to make you do fifty pushups, isn’t that right, Zero?” Gale ruffled my mane a little as I was trying to catch my breath and listen to her authoritative-like comment to me. I’d rather bathe in Hellhound shit than to climb all the way up to this fucking temple. And there’s no way I’m making my way down either. I’d reach for my Stable 13 canteen, but my hooves are too damn exhausted to move right now.

The former Enclave lightheartedly giggled and went to get my saddlebags as to give me something as she buried her muzzle inside, “Here, let me help.”

She retrieved the canteen and flipped the lid open with her teeth as she moved it close to me, “Here, drink up, kiddo.”

I quickly chugged down the water from the canteen before giving her a confirmed nod, letting her know that I finished drinking. She nodded me back and closed the lid of the canteen before putting it back into my saddlebags, “I see you’re satisfied and not dehydrated now. Shall we take a look inside the temple? I bet we could find lots of valuable treasures inside. We could be rich!”

Fancy jewelry won’t make a perfect substitute for caps. In fact, it’ll only make you look… well, better. And either way, no ponykind will accept expensive jewelry as currency so it’ll be a no-go. Either way, there’s no going back now. To climb back down would be like an eternity, so I’m clearly not doing that. I was helped up by her as Bullseye asked me, “So, boss. Can we check out the temple and see if we could find any treasures your friend mentioned?”

Meh. I don’t see why not. Beats having to climb all the way up here, right? Let’s see what The Temple of Ahuizotl has something to offer us.

Footnote: No Level Up.

Chapter Nineteen: Daring Do's and Dont's

Maze.

Just what we needed. A fucking maze in this fucking temple. Even the PipBuck speaks for itself; paths are everywhere! This goddess-damned temple expects me to navigate through tedious paths like as if this is a game. Well, its not a fucking game and all the different paths are bound to have either visible or hidden traps that could potentially kill us all!

My Pinkie senses are pretty active and can detect even the most well-hidden traps and I urged Gale to not fly, knowing that this temple is known to take cheating very seriously. “Well, if you insist. I won’t use my wings inside the temple, but hey, you’ll never know when I’ll be using them again.” She gave me a wink with a hint of using her wings again despite my order, but only for emergency uses which are fine.

The Temple of Ahuizotl is quite huge for anypony to explore, but I have a dreadful feeling about this… its as if this temple is designed or impossible puzzles to solve and only the chosen few like us would be able to survive them.

“Tootsie, stay close to us. There’s hidden traps that are waiting to strike without warning…”

The filly nodded and stood close to Gale. And she has a point; there’s hidden booby traps that’s a sure sign of anyone letting their guard down means instant death. Up ahead contains numerous tiles engraved with various kinds of animals on the floor. Up ahead is another path, but I’m already having a feeling that we’re not gonna traverse through it easily. “What are you thinking, Zero?” Gale had asked me with a hint of curiosity. I pulled an item from my saddlebags; a maize. I took a quick meal to make sure I’m well-fed and as soon as they’re emptied out, I tossed the emptied maize in the air as it lands on one of the tiles - a cat - and it sinks down.

Suddenly, arrows from both walls began viciously firing from both sides! Thankfully, it hit no target except the spent maize, but we backpedalled in surprise, “Well… guess flying is no longer an option, r-right?” She nervously chucked at us, with Tootsie Roll being obviously terrified at the sight.

“E-Erm… s-should we… tippy t-toe on the f-floors without us b-becoming d..dartboards?!” The obviously-terrified filly suggested. Great idea, if we don’t want to get pelted with arrows that could kill us in an instant! Right, then…

I carefully scanned the tiles around and these animals have the following: Cat, Gryphon, Dog and Mouse. All are ancient and possibly vicious-looking, too…

Now, which one of the floor tiles have the least predatory looks?

“Please be careful, Zero. Many tiles are instant death the moment you set even the slightest hoof to it…” Gale cautiously warned me. Trust me, I could feel cold sweats snaking through my face right now. Let’s see… a rat? Mouse? Or simply a rodent? Either way, I carefully placed a hoof onto one of the tiles, which is a mouse. I slammed my eye shut, expecting the worst…

Nothing. The tile I stepped on didn’t sink in. I opened my eye and saw the tile still intact after stepping onto it. Whew, what a relief! I turned my attention to Gale and pointed a hoof at the tile as to indicate that we have to navigate through times that only has the mouse carved to it. Every other tile that isn’t a mouse is instant death.

“So, the mouse tiles are considered safe to step on, huh? Alright guys, we need to only go for the mouse tiles in order to get through this puzzle. Tootsie, on my back. Bob, get on Zero’s back. Bullseye, follow us and avoid stepping on any tiles that doesn’t have carvings of a mouse. Understood?”

Oh great, Gale’s ordering Bob to hitch onto my back. AGAIN!

But hey, what can I do about it? He can’t jump whatsoever so unless he can jump at considerable distances, its virtually impossible for him to do so. We’re gonna have to start navigating around tiles with mouse carvings to it; every other tiles that aren’t mice are a no-go.

Right, here we go. Avoid other tiles that is not a mouse. I went in first, taking a step onto the mouse-carved tile as I carefully navigated along the mouse-covered tiles and narrowly avoiding other tiles that could mean instant death, all while Bob lounges himself onto my back. Great, he’s perfectly calm while I’m sweating nervously and profusely!

Gale was up next and she limits her flight as to not completely fly over the tiles, considering that this puzzle - and possibly other puzzles - takes cheating very seriously. Bullseye, on the other hoof, was left behind as he seemingly forgot on what he was supposed to do, “Remind me again on which tile am I supposed to step on, boss?”

For a ghoul pony who works for nearly everything, he apparently forgets things, too! Goddess-dammit, I hope he doesn’t jeopardize us all!

“Step on the cute, mice floors, mister not-scary ghoul pony!” Tootsie reminded him while hitching onto Gale’s back as she was carefully flying and stepping on mouse tiles as we were almost through this puzzle, save for the clueless ghoul ally whose puzzles are nowhere near his strong suit.

“Umm.. mice floors… ah! Found one.” He finally got the idea of what the filly just said and began to navigate through mice-covered tiles around it. One of the mouse tiles has a fairly long distance to make that jump and if the landing were to be short or missed, it could spell trouble.

Fortunately though, Bullseye was able to remember on navigating along patterns of the tiles. I myself am not so fortunate as the tile I needed to step on was further away from me that leads to the next and final mouse tile. If I screw up the landing, we’re all dead. Goddess if I was a unicorn, I would’ve (slowly) levitated my whole body towards it! Why does this temple make this first puzzle oh-so fucking impossible?!

Gale realizes that I can’t make the jump as she glides forward to me, scooping me up with her forelegs, “Hold on, Zero! Let me take you to a nearby mouse tile!”

Well, I hope you don’t throw me towards our death, Gale! I’ve had enough having to climb all the way to the top of a goddess-damned temple!

And I sure as hell hope she doesn’t accidentally kill me! “Quick, set your hoof on the mouse tile! Hurry!”

I would if you put me down! Nevertheless, I reached my hoof down whilst wincing in pain from Bob clamping his metal claws onto my shoulders. Fucking hell, you’re grasping it too tightly!

Luckily, I was able to reach my hoof onto the tile. She released me shortly afterwards with Bob lessening his vice-like grip on my shoulders. Fucking hell…

I stood by and waited for Bullseye to catch up. And I hope to Goddess that he doesn’t step any tiles that aren’t considered mice. Luckily, Bullseye was able to navigate along the patterns with relative ease and catch up to us. As we got through the first puzzle, the ghoul pony had inadvertently stepped onto the wrong tile which resulted it to sink, “Oh shit!”

Gale had quickly shook the filly off before sprinting towards him; thousands of arrows slid dangerously from the walls and began to fire off shots! Oh no! Gale!

She was quick enough to retrieve him, but the arrows, while her armor were able to deflect a barrage of skin-piercing arrows, managed to penetrate her wings. She let out her agonized yelp and coughed up a bit of blood as she scrambled her way out of the arrow trap with Bullseye in tow. I was immediately worried at the sight of her being barely alive from having taken the punishment from those arrows and I quickly opened up the saddlebags to get the healing potion; Bullseye’s injuries were minor but Gale’s were severe as she collapsed onto the stone floor. Tootsie screamed out with her voice immediately breaking, “Gale! Y-You’re hurt and your pretty wings are covered in arrows!!”

Goddess fuck, this isn’t a good time… I need to heal Gale Storm right now; she’s too important… a couple of healing potions will have to do, but how the hell can I take those arrows off of her wings without causing further harm, or even killing her… no, I don’t want her to die. I lost Solar Eclipse and Carbon Monoxide; I refuse to lose another! I refuse!

I quickly trotted over to the severely wounded ex-Enclave before glancing at the ghoul pony. I would’ve blamed him for setting off a trap that nearly killed her, but I had no time to play the blame game. The filly is pretty helpless as she was already in tears at the sight of the bloodied mare. I quickly wrote down a couple of words on the PipBuck with the use of my muzzle, showing it to Bullseye as it reads ‘Carefully pull the arrows off of her wings so I can pour the Healing Potion into her mouth’.

“Hmm… got it, boss.” The ghoul pony focused his magic on the arrows that pierced through her wings as he carefully slides them off of her. Her agonizing moans rung out from her mouth and made me wince more. Please don’t die… not now, not today either.

Eventually, all of the arrows were out of her wings, which shows bloodied, gaping holes festering her wings. She was about to lose conscious and I gingerly placed a hoof under her chin and lifted up a little, soon pouring the first healing potion down into her slightly open mouth. I need to give her more for the wounds to close up because they were still bleeding. Please just hang in there… you’re too important to us…

After using up all the Healing Potions, I could see her wounded wings having sealed up from those goddess-damned arrows, but her mouth was still bleeding a little bit and her face was beginning to grow pale. She wasn’t dead (thankfully), but she slid into unconsciousness. I let out an uneasy sigh at this; it would’ve been severely traumatizing if she would no longer be able to fly ever again. Tootsie’s cries were lessened, but it wasn’t much. All we have to do was keep moving and hope for the best. Please feel better, Gale. We need you now more than ever if we’re gonna get out of this temple of pure hell.

Despite the weight from Gale Storm’s power armor, I carried her along my back as we ventured along the path within the temple. I can’t believe that the first, simple puzzle went to hell within a blink of an eye which nearly killed my friend from a barrage of wall arrows. I used up all Healing Potions just to save one pony who saved me back in New Hampshore, and I’m willing to return the favor for her. And I’m not letting her die in vain.

The stimpak I used on her was enough to keep her resting until she can fully recover and assist us within the Temple of Ahuizotl.

“Hey, Zero? Is our good Enclave ally will be better soon?” Tootsie was still worried over her condition. All I could do was reply with a hopeful nod. I doubt there’s a medical facility in this ancient temple. And if there is, there’s probably living ponies that possess unusual remedial skills with questionable results. I’m no medic pony, but I did what I could to keep my friend from dying. If any, this is one fucked-up temple we’re in.

“Boss, I think there’s a second puzzle up ahead. Filled with unusual writings, too.”

After being notified by Bullseye, I carefully lifted a hoof for the PipBuck to scan and decipher the writing engraved on the stone wall.

“Scanning…

“Scan complete. Translating…

“One must navigate through platforms to reach the button of savior. Only the brave can lessen Ahuizotl’s unquenchable desires and move on to the next, lest the floors below rise within.”

‘Navigate’? Did it meant jump onto the platforms?! Holy hell, this puzzle is railing me up against the wall here…

And with Gale being unable to fly, none of my allies are capable of flying or jumping. And I myself am just miserable; nowhere near athletic at all. But, what am I gonna do about it? Unless Gale is fully recovered, she can’t take us up to those platforms so I guess I have to fill it in for her and take the risk. Climbing back down out of the temple is out of the question; its most likely barred us from exiting anyway.

I finalized my decision, that I’ll be the one to navigate through the treacherous platforms. The plateaus are seemingly high and the only thing that can propel me up is Bullseye. As far as I know, there aren’t any hidden springs that can propel me towards them. Carefully enough, I set Gale down against the stone wall for her to lean on and sympathetically looked at her. I had a guilt-ridden expression.

Guess now I have to return the favor for her, huh? I wrongfully killed Solar Eclipse out of pure mercy before, but Gale Storm… she’s just too important right now, including the others.

I wrote down the instructions from the PipBuck to Bullseye, reading as ‘Throw me as hard as you can onto the platform, and don’t have me killed along the way’.

Even though it seems rather vague, it was still enough for Bullseye to understand. “Got it, Boss. I’ll launch you onto the elevated platform.”

Yeah, you’d better or I’ll be falling to my death and have you to blame for it.

Of course, Tootsie was very skeptical regarding on how high the first platform is. Her only suggestion was, “Zero, you won’t be able to make that jump! You don’t have wings! Surely we could just have Gale do so for us, right?”

She’s still unconscious and even Bob’s efforts of waking her up by nudging his claw against her hoof isn’t gonna jolt her awake. She’s still recovering from the arrows that pierced through her wings. And even if she wakes up, I’m greatly concerned if she’ll even be able to fly again. The nerves in her wings would still be very sensitive should she attempt to fly.

All I could do was shake my head in response.

“Awww…” She frowns with her ears folded back. Bullseye readies himself with his forelegs scooped onto my hind legs, “Okay, boss. I should warn you that I don’t know my own strength very well so just hang on.”

So you as a living ghoul pony has the strength to lift ten ponies at once?! Surely you must be joking…

Of course, knowing a ghoul pony with unpredictable strength, he launched me up high in the air, enough for me to land onto the first platform… and holy fuck, that was seriously unexpected! I was in sudden shock on how Bullseye’s strength surpasses my own! (And I had an Applejack statuette before, too!)

Well, at least I didn’t fell down to my unexpected death. That’s a plus. The negatives are having to jump over two more platforms. And suddenly; rumbling noises. And not from hungry stomachs at all.

The platforms soon began to slowly but surely move side-by-side, all while are even levels, but now this makes platform jumping a lot more challenging than it ever is. Goddess-dammit, having to deal with reaching up to a high platform is one thing, but moving platforms?! Celestia, how dare you treat a scientist this way by giving me deadly, death-defying obstacle courses?!

Great, now I have to time the jumps carefully if I wanna make it to the switch up ahead. A single misstep would mean instant death.

Right… I carefully stood back, but not too much as to not fall off balance from the moving platforms, including the one I’m standing on.

I scanned its patterns as it was moving along left and right at medium speeds. Timing is everything and even I felt the platform I’m standing on are moving the same (albeit in opposite) directions. After a small amount of minutes of analyzing its patterns, I began to quickly gallop forward and propelled myself forward onto the middle platform and nearly throwing me off-balance. Thankfully, I landed chest-first which was a big relief for now. Too bad S.A.T.S. doesn’t work on moving platforms; it would’ve been a lot useful to time my jumps very easily.

Now its just a matter of getting over to the last platform and activate a switch mounted on the wall, all while speed was picking up which makes things quite more complicated than it seems.

I was hesitant enough to make the jump, resulting me in falling off-balance and fall down to my death! Fuck! I motioned myself to control the flow of my fall, but was shortly interrupted by a third moving platform as I was slammed against it. Gah! Dammit!

I barely held on to the rocky platform as it dangerously moved back and forth. I could feel the tips from spiked floors barely grazing against me, and I’m beginning to think what sick and twisted puzzle is this. Even Gale can’t help out much because let’s face it; she has yet to be fully recovered and here I am about to die for her. Just how fucked up is the Wastelands anyway?! (Especially on how twisted and fucked up on whoever is writing this!)

All I could do is pray hard to Celestia as I slowly climb myself up on the platform while enduring its unpredictable speed, and my hooves are dangerously shaking with the intent of losing its grip and for me to fall down to my certain death. Need to stay focused…

Despite its unpredictable speed, I was already halfway up as Gale soon came to. “Nnngh.. Z...Zero…?”

Her vision was blurry but slowly coming to, her sights gazed upon me as I was barely holding onto the third, moving platform. And I was starting to fade from the harsh impact earlier. Despite my efforts, I was short on reaching up to the final platform as my hooves were weakened. Fuck this…

“Zero!!” She cried out before wincing from the sharp pain from her wings, but had quickly ignored it and took flight; I was shutting my eye, waiting for my inevitable demise.

Bob had quickly waved his claws at the filly as to indicate for her to cover her eyes. Tootsie was confused at first, but had quickly realized that I was falling and Gale was on a daring rescue as she quickly covered her eyes with her small forelegs, “Wah! Please let me know when this is over! This temple is too evil to begin with!”

“Boss!”

As Bullseye looked on, Gale quickly flew down o retrieve me just when I was about to get skewered by the spiked floors, “Gotcha-- ack!”

Her wings still unleashed stinging pains like thousands of needles driven into her but it didn’t stop from making a split-second rescue. I slowly opened my eye, wondering if I was still dead… to my surprise, I wasn’t! In fact, Gale came to the rescue after her recovery from a barrage of arrows! H-How?!

She flew above the moving platform with me in tow as she bucked her hind leg against the switch, triggering the platforms as they stop moving and slowly descended down below; spiked floors slowly retreating back down with the stone floor emerging from the other end and soon connecting to another, creating a new, safe path to cross through. Gale was having trouble keeping flight due to her wings not being fully recovered even after having used up all the Healing Potions into her. “Ahh! F-Fuck! My wings are still..!”

She was desperately trying to hold onto me as we’re now in mid-flight. Despite her efforts, she lost her grip and I soon began to fall down; again!

“Hold on, boss! I’m coming to rescue you!” The ghoul pony shouted and galloped as fast as any athletic ponies would from Equestria games (which is never held in the Wastelands anyway and if there is, they’re probably twisted and death-riddled events that were previously held) as my (obviously) wingless body fell down, but I didn’t hit the ground this time; I instead landed on my own ghoul companion!

THUD!

“Gah! I got ya, boss!” Amid the struggle from the weight, Bullseye managed to keep his hooves in place after I was landed onto his back. I stumbled onto the stone floor with a bit of daze from falling down twice and being hit by the moving platform. On the other hoof, Gale landed on the floor but backpedalled for a brief moment due to her wings unleashing painful spasms inside. The other two rush over to me, “Zero! Are you okay?!”

I nodded at Tootsie before laying back on the floor. I swear to Celestia, this temple can kiss my scientific ass for all I care…

All I could do for now was nod to Bullseye in thanks. I got myself up to my hooves and went to check on Gale Storm; my expression became guilt-ridden.

As she was carefully tending her wings, her eyes were on me and she seemed pretty worried about me, “Zero… what’s wrong? I’m perfectly fine, just wasn’t able to fly properly. I’m sorry if I was forced to let you fall down again, but know that I deeply care for you ponies. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Even though Gale was the first to admit her guilt to me, I quickly countered with writing down a hoof-ful of words from my PipBuck, though I was visibly shaking that resulted me in accidentally choosing the incorrect words and had no time to fix it as I showed her the screen, reading as ‘It wasn’t not your fault, I am fault for hurting you’.

At first, she didn’t understood what it said. However, as she muttered the words carefully and realizing what I truly meant, Gale gave me a sympathetic smile and gave me a caring embrace, “Aww… well, we’re both to blame and we forgave each other. Its nice to know that you seem to show a lot of care for me, even inside this deathtrap. And before you cry, I need you to toughen up a little and keep moving for us to get out of this temple. Okay?”

I gave her a confirmed nod. She responded, “Good. That’s what I like to see.”

I was even rewarded with a kiss on the cheek. Her soft, warm lips pecking my cheek was enough to not only stop me from going on the verge of breaking down again, but my cheeks and my face become really warm! Oh my Celestia…. a… a former Enclave kissing me?! I… I was really surprised….!

And her kiss was enough to boost my confidence as I hopped up to my hooves and motioned my head at the three, as to let them know that we need to keep on moving.

“Aye-aye, Mr. not-number pony!” Tootsie marched along with both Bob and Bullseye. And for the love of Celestia, don’t refer my name as a goddamn number!

My ears picked up faint noises from above, somepony (or something) talking about stuff but I can’t determine anything.

“Do you ponies hear something?”

We nodded to Gale, but until we could find the source of the indistinct conversation, we have yet another puzzle to solve, only its significantly less harmless than the previous two. This is something akin to solving Neighkola Tesla’s questions in order to retrieve the PipBuck 4000 and made it my very own.

The floors contain tiles engraved with strange objects with a passageway currently sealed by a stone wall door up ahead. Before long, the tiles on the floors start to flash and change at random before becoming blank. Only one engraved tile was shown from it. I have a feeling this will be the biggest time-wasting puzzle solver this fucked up temple has ever come up with…

“Well, we can’t go back now. We need to get this over with or we’ll be stuck in here forever. And the nerves of my wings are still damaged so I can’t carry you ponies all the way back down, and I don’t want to risk further damage to them.” Gale advised us, stating that she can’t use her wings without damaging it further. Guess now we have to heavily rely on our wits in order to complete this near-impossible puzzle.

There aren’t too many tiles to say the least, but it doesn’t excuse it from being the most challenging puzzles there is. And one mistake means they reset themselves, forcing us to start over from scratch. We need to get through this. We just got to.

“Ready to do this, Zero?”

I gave her a determined nod; if we’re gonna get out of this fucked-up temple, we will.

Even if it takes grueling hours until our stomachs start to protest for food, we want out of this hellhole once and for all.

All I could do was use my sight to figure out the clues regarding on matching the correct tiles on the floor, lest we end up starting it all over again. But we’re confident enough to get through this.

“Stand onto that tile.” Gale pointed a hoof at the direction of the tiles. At first, I didn’t know what she was pointing at, but I soon realized that there was a faint flow pointing at the tile… wait, a glow?!

Before I would proceed, I quickly texted to Gale from my PipBuck, showing it to her which read as ‘Did you see the glow ahead?’

Unfortunately, she didn’t believed. She had a confused look on her face, “What glow? I don’t see any kind of glow. You shouldn’t get too overconfident…”

What?! I understand that we’re in a dire situation, but how could she have not seen an obvious glow directly in front of her?! Maybe Tootsie can believe it? I showed the filly the screen of the PipBuck with the same text. And I get the same reaction, “I see no glow thingy up ahead, silly scientist! You’re supposed to be a smart pony, not a grown pony who plays pretend!”

Now I’m really dumbfounded by the filly who accuses me of being superstitious! I call lies and slanders! Maybe her robo-scorpion friend knows? I mean, he’s a robot. Surely he would detect a really-obvious glow directly in front, right?

Bob himself shrugged, emitting his ‘I Don’t Know’ beeps after trying to convince this robot on what I meant. Just… goddess-dammit, how come I was able to see it yet you can’t see them yourselves?! Seriously, what’s a very smart scientist like myself being viewed as superstitious?!

“Boss, the filly’s right. Can we move along, please?”

Okay, fine! If NONE of you believes me, then I’ll PROVE that I’m not CRAZY!

So much for my determination; seems everypony has no beliefs in having me as their trustworthy leader. Hmph.

Shaking my head to regain focus, I gallopped over to the nearest glow pointing at the tile (which is considered non-existent by my own allies, of course) and soon stepped onto it; the strange engraving was soon revealed, which matches the original tile shown on the far right. Yes!

Gale and the others gazed on with amazement, “Whoa… how did you know that this was the right tile, Zero?”

...I feel the need to facehoof to ridiculous levels when she asked me that.

The next engravement emerges from the tile behind me. Looks like I can complete the next ones in a cinch, even if I were to be told that I’m a psychic despite having no unicorn characteristics or being able to read other ponies’ minds. If I can pull this off, we’ll be one step closer to exiting this goddess-damned temple.

And just when I was getting the last puzzle from the tiles, I suddenly heard a familiar voice in my head.

"Hello! Sorry I was away, was busy travelling on what your head is like inside and yowza! You’re clearly a grade-A nerd after all, and I made it easy as well as you were inside that weird-looking temple with your pals! By the way, were you worried about me? Well, shucks. Sorry I was away, needed to take a rest inside your head, which was all nice and comfy and I heard that you’re into that Grand Pegasus Enclave pony, amiriiiite?! She must be thinking about you already!"

What the-- Pinkie?! Where the hell did you come from?! You had no response from me when I was thinking inside my head and you stopped responding! What, did my injuries involving my head being jarred from being attacked by Ponelurks, being overrun by Plunderseed Carriers, ambushed by Bloatsprites AND having nearly fallen down to my death by a large, moving platform which I couldn’t get a hold on?! Do you have any idea on how I’ve been going through?!

My mind was ranting along from Pinkie’s unannounced presence in my head. Like, how and why she didn’t appeared sooner instead of later?! Its completely baffling! And don’t get me started with the ‘it just came out of nowhere’ bullshit, either!

"Pfft, for a scientist, you’re still quite a silly little sourpuss! Of course I didn’t respond because even I need naps, y’know! So c’mon! Finish the last puzzle and stop slacking off, silly Zero! And I don’t mean your name as a number, riiiight?"

The last thing I wanted was to be called Blueberry, and its just as insulting as being mentioned as a number! Now cut the nonchalant jokes and let me focus!

I think I liked it better when Pinkie Pie wasn’t making overused jokes in my head at all…

Now, the final puzzle. A gentle press to it and it’ll be all over.

And… done! All the engraved tiles began to glow simultaneously and become blank as we’re rewarded with a large stone wall opening up for us to enter. Fucking. Finally.

I was soon greeted by Gale who gave me a hug that showed success, “Hehe, what can we do without our scientific leader?”

Obviously when you ponies said that you couldn’t see an obvious glow earlier, or because Pinkie here tricked me into thinking that she was long vanished in my head for unexplained reasons other than to make an unnecessary prank on me. Even though I was proud, I was unamused at the same time. Talk about a goddamn farce.

No new puzzles for us to solve, which is a good sign. The bad news is that its a total vanishing point up ahead. Now I’m wondering if we could either find hidden passages or find treasures that could help curb the hunger. There’s bound to be, anyway.

“Does this temple have a fast food restaurant somewhere, like a Hay Burger or something? I’m hungry!” Tootsie whined. Do you honestly think a temple would have a Hay Burger joint in here? Its nowhere invented! And the other Hay Burger restaurants are probably destroyed by the Megaspell and even the foods managed to survive, they’d be considered highly lethal and inedible whatsoever.

I scanned the area around and wrote down a couple of words from the PipBuck, showing it to my friends as it read as ‘Find any walls that has secret areas inside, but be careful about traps’.

The others gave a nod with Bullseye replying to me, “Gotcha, boss. Avoid the traps in secret areas, even if it’ll take hours.”

For Celestia’s sake, I hope it doesn’t take hours…

We began to search around the temple to find any hidden switches from the sides of the stone walls. All of us pressed our hooves (Bob with his metal claw) as we carefully strafed to find anything that has hidden switches within the area. Gale Storm was next to me.

I guess Pinkie was right… for once, that is. I do have an interest to her, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m romantically interested of her…

That is, unless my pony mind is attempting to impede me with unnecessary eagerness inside. Then I want no part of it. My own Pinkie sense isn’t going off as of yet but now it would be a good time for it to go off, especially when we’re in need of leaving this temple. I feel as if we’re overstaying our welcome and sooner or later, somepony or something will eventually discover our presence.

I felt the tile suddenly sink inside when I pressed my hoof against it. I quickly backpedalled and armed myself (which I’m extremely thankful my sniper rifle stayed in place or I’d be fucked in too many different levels), with Gale providing assistance. Let’s see what this first surprise has something for us…

“Get ready…” She warned me. The other three stopped for a brief moment to look on, albeit cautiously because even they know this temple has traps that are waiting to strike.

Inside reveals a small treasure chest that was currently closed, but can be opened without the need of a lockpick. I was a little uneasy at first as I was the first to slowly approach the treasure chest with her following me behind, “Right behind you, kiddo.”

Thanks. A bit of backup will do nicely.

I carefully pushed the lid off of it as it slid off and land onto the ground with a bit of a noise from its landing. I let out a hard swallow, fearing that a curse would be let out loose. I waited a couple of seconds… nothing. No curse whatsoever. That’s a plus.

She took a peek first from the open treasure being revealed; inside were strange, edible meals inside of unknown origin.

“Hmm… they look weird-looking…”

I don’t blame you, Gale. They look weird indeed. I shone the flashlight and shone over to the hieroglyphic writing which resulted the PipBuck to decipher the writing engraved on the treasure.

After the PipBuck had deciphered the writing, it read as ‘Those who consume edible treats are blessed with eternal strength for a limited time. Only one can be consumed each’.

Huh… well for once, its a food that isn’t filled with a deadly curse. I showed her the screen of the PipBuck from the writing and even she was unsure about this, “Are… are you sure they’re safe to eat? I mean, we don’t know what purpose do they have, they could be lethal even though the--”

She was unexpectedly interrupted by the rumbles of her needy stomach inside as Gale gently caressed a hoof around her hungry belly. Her cheeks reddened brightly with a hint of slight embarrassment, “Then again… we ate worse before, just to keep the adventure going.”

I have to agree with that. We need to conserve our strength if we want to keep going. As strange as they look (which resembles as sausages), we have to do so just to curb our hunger.

“Well… let’s just grab those… things and show the other two before we can start eating, okay?”

I gave her a confirmed nod, considering as how its one of each and enough to save one in case of emergency (knowing how Bob is incapable of eating anything, much less metal). Not sure how they’ll taste, but if we need to curb the hunger, so be it. We took the chest with us and showed the three strange-looking, edible meals shown in a small, treasure chest. “Why do they look weird?! I’m not sure if I can eat those!” Tootsie Roll had a mixed reaction to it as do Bob, who emitted his confused beeping noises as they have no idea what they taste like. Even Bullseye was mystified of its true nature, “So… I guess we’re supposed to eat them, boss?”

What choice do we have? We need to eat something in order for us to continue or we won’t have any strength to proceed on through. All I could do was nod to him.

“Well, I suppose. I’m a ghoul pony so I’ve had worse anyway. At least it doesn’t involve bathing in radiation or I would’ve become mindless and eaten you already. But, I’m not that kind of a ghoul, to say the least.”

I really hope Tootsie didn’t heard what he just said. Then again, she’s too hungry to be scared and floats up a piece of an unknown, edible object and took a small, cautious bite out of it. Sure enough, it was pretty tasty, “Mmm… tasty! And no weird flavors, too!”

Huh… so they’re safe to eat, then. I took a bite myself with another piece to test it out. And it turns out, the filly’s right; it is tasty!

After Gale tasted it herself and nodded in approval, we chowed down the temple has given us. For once, that is.

Right. Our hunger’s been curbed back - even though Bob doesn’t need to eat anything - and we continued on along the long path towards the unknown. Hopefully there’s an exit, but as we continued on we heard indistinct conversation echoing within the temple.

“Do you have any idea who is talking about, guys?”

We shrugged in response to Gale’s question. None of us are experts in architect so anyone is making unusual comments deep within.

“Say… I once read a book about Daring Do my sister showed me when I was a filly. She told me a weird-looking creature known as Ahuizotl. It said that he had strong desire to unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting heat with the Rings of Scorchero, even after a failed deal attempt with Dr. Caballeron and his henchponies. Of course, that’s when Daring Do herself came to stop him from doing so. Appearance-wise, he has a weird-looking hand for a tail and uses feline creatures that doubles as his servant in order to hold her back, but that failed in the end. But, all in all, those are just basic, foal-ish rumors, hehe. Besides, Ahuizotl’s most likely dead anyway.” After Gale finished her story, I think I finally caught the idea of the temple’s true nature; it was run by the strange creature known as Ahuizotl. His only appearance I’ve been told by her (and the most notable one, too) was a strange hand for a tail, and also had an unlikely deal brokered by Dr. Caballeron and his men, but I’m not entirely sure if the deal was finalized or not.

Still however, these traps and puzzles had put a strain in our minds and bodies. Not to mention Gale Storm’s near-death experience or incapacitation to the point where she would never fly again stung me really hard. Same goes to my own near death as well when that pillar-like platform hit me so hard that I lost grip and was about to be skewered through the spiked floor before she came in to save me. Turns out that there are some good left over, even if its one of the Grand Pegasus Enclave soldiers gone rogue.

As for Daring Do? I’m not too entirely sure if she was still alive along with the creature going by the name of Ahuizotl. All that matters is getting the hell out of here and settle ourselves back in Stable Town on what to do next.

“Oooohhh, is Daring Do and Ahui-whatchamacallit real, Gale?!” The filly’s eyes glittered with excitement, hoping for an answer. Sadly, she shook her head in response. “I’m afraid I don’t know if these two are real or not. Its been too long since I read that book, little Tootsie.”

Tootsie pouted in response. Surprising enough, the E.F.S. has yet to detect any friendlies or - more obviously - hostiles. Guess we have to keep on venturing deeper, huh?

If that’s the case, so be it.

A large shrine adorned a row of tribesponies and feline creatures sitting dormant next to a throne that is currently seated by an unusual, mythical creature; Ahuizotl, onlooking at his servants chanting about the sun, with three, yellow rings of varying sizes currently sitting into the stone pillar with the last ring still missing.

“Caballeron should be pleased with all the treasure I’ve given him… for it will be his last, and all of Equestria’s inhabitants as well! Soon, the eight hundred years of sweltering heat shall commence!” The malevolent creature grinned and gently strokes a tiger with a hand-like tail as it purred contentedly. “A shame Daring Do isn’t here to stop me from going along with my meticulous plan. I’ve been waiting years for this! YEARS! And everything will come true.”

Emitting his diabolical laughter echoed throughout the temple. It was enough for us to pick up the sounds but we’re still too far away to get anywhere close, and the E.F.S. was still unable to pick up any traces of living beings.

“Do you hear that, Zero? I think we’re getting close, but unless we can find any secret passages, it’s gonna be a while…”

I could only shrug to Gale. With so many confusing paths, its like we’re getting nowhere. And I doubt using explosives would be a good idea to blast the walls open; not only will we get spotted by them, but if we’re up high, its impossible to get down from here and she’s not capable of flying fully yet. All we can do now is keep on moving.

We could hear faint chanting noises as we made our way downstairs. Probably ponies from the other side of the temple.

“I don’t like the sound of this, boss. What could it be?” I have to agree with Bullseye. Something’s going on and its not a good sign. I know how fucked-up this temple is, but ponies? Are they… chanting? Well, they’re not chanting the goddess Celestia herself but rather… another god, or goddess? No. But they’re worshipping at something that are significantly different than other deities…

Once we were at a lower level, I (inadvertently) stepped on a tile that sunk down; rumbling ensued. And not from our stomachs either.

“Eeep! W-W-What was that rumbling n-n-noise?!”

Oh fuck… please tell me I did NOT just set off a trap!

“Whatever it is, Tootsie… we gotta hoof it NOW!”

The floor behind us began to collapse and in an instant, we galloped as quickly as we could! And my Pinkie sense failed me this time because it doesn’t detect well-hidden traps very well! And the floor collapsing below behind us is nothing more than a bottomless abyss!

To make matters worse? The door in front of us was slowly and dangerously closing in, threatening to trap us inside if we don’t pick up the pace! I quickly lowered my head and scooped Tootsie Roll up to my back, with Bob being picked up by Gale, considering as how his small legs aren’t enough for him to go faster. Bullseye on the other hood, was simply keeping the pace.

Fuck me if I’m not athletic enough to get through this shit; I just want us to be out of here alive and well! The stone door was already slowly and dangerously halfway to closing down our window of opportunity, and I’ll be severely pissed at this stupid temple giving us yet another impossible challenge!

We were almost there, and the door in front of us was about to trap us inside as its opening gap began to close down; we hoofed it as fast as we could. Even Gale proclaimed, “C’mon, we gotta hurry!!”

You don’t have to tell me twice! You’re just as athletic as the rest of us are!

Almost there…!

We lunged ourselves forward with Tootsie hitched onto my back with Bob hitched onto Gale’s in our last ditch effort to get through this deathtrap. And with the door crawling to a close, the filly grasped onto me tightly whilst Bob’s metallic back grazed along the stone underneath.

My eyes were shut, wondering if we had fallen into the bottomless abyss. Miraculously enough, we all made it through!

“Nnngh… everypony okay?” Gale Storm debriefed to us after our hasty runthrough. Goddess, what’s next? Are we gonna eat each other to death? Because I loathe cannibalism!

“Yeah… we’re okay. I’m not the best runner I used to me.” Bullseye replied; even our ghoul companion didn’t have much stamina in him, apparently.

Still though, we had just narrowly escaped through hell and back. This temple is seriously sadistic, and we want out of here!

Of course, even I’m out of breath and while Tootsie Roll got off of my back, Bob did the same by skittering himself off of Gale’s back and I was just leaning myself next to her to keep myself balanced. She gave me an exhilarating smile, “Hehe, that was fun, wasn’t it?”

I don’t recall adventure being fun when your wings barely function and I was still recovering from having to deal with a pony-killing platform that included spikes on the floor. Its miraculous that we’re still alive yet still trapped inside the temple of no return. I’m starting to get the feeling that the only way out is to find a secret exit that doesn’t involve maiming all of us to death. I felt her wing draped around my back and I nodded her in thanks. Her wing does feel soft, too…

“Let’s keep moving. We don’t wanna keep hanging around here for too long.”

Yeah. Not planning on sticking around anyway. Although I forgot about one thing regarding Bullseye… is his small, intact moustache. How did his moustache survived after he became ghoulified?!

And to top it off… wait, why am I getting this fluttery feel in my chest? Am I… interested in her?! The ex-Enclave who’s my ally?! Oh fuck I hope Pinkie isn’t watching this…

Nevertheless, we continued on along and we were a bit of out of breath, save for Tootsie Roll and Bob, who hitched onto our backs instead of having them running with us as the filly’s hooves are too small to catch up with faster ponies, and Bob having small, mechanical-like arachnid legs which are significantly slower than normal ponies.

I seriously hope I don’t happen to step in another tile that sets off another deadly trap. I’m tired of solving death-defying puzzles that not only nearly killed me, but Gale as well.

“Bwaaahahahahaaaa! Its almost time! The eight hundred years of unrelenting heat is nearing in! Rise before me, servants! Riise!!” Ahuizotl bellowed as he rose from his throne, his animal servants roaring (and meowing) triumphantly, along with tribesponies who cheer on their sadistic master. The ceiling atop slowly slid itself open, hoping the angry sun come blazing down in order for the ritual to be fulfilled.

What the creature god received instead was… nothing. Dull, gray clouds had completely blocked the scorching sun from gaining entrance within the temple. Silence ensued.

Tribesponies looked on in disbelief, as the same with Ahuizotl’s animal servants. He couldn’t believe that his ritual had ultimately backfired.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”

His angered roar echoed inside the temple, and we were able to hear him, despite that we’re in another room.

“Looks like somepony’s pissed from the other side…”

I really doubt it’s a ‘somepony’ when someone screams louder than any alicorn would. But, at least there aren’t any traps that would be set off and put us into yet another daring escape which we don’t exactly want. All we want is out of this temple and return to Stable Town for a well-deserved rest. Tootsie of course, hid behind me in fear because of the sudden, loud and booming voice. Who can blame her?

“Sounds like its coming from the other side, boss. I think there’s an exit on the left side. Don’t ask why, I was a navigator before.”

Well gee, thanks for pointing the obvious. It makes my PipBuck 4000 completely obsolete. Wonderful.

“Follow me, boss.” Bullseye instructed. So he’s the leader now? I’ve had Gale Storm taken over my leadership before she was even a mare and now I have a ghoul ally who claims his place as our leader?! Celestia, what the fuck is going on in here and why did I unexpectedly lose my privilege of leading others by my side?! What’s next, am I gonna be told what to do by Tootsie?! This is goddamn preposterous!

Well I hope he’s not lying or I’m gonna land him upside his head when Bullseye ends up leading us into yet another booby trap that could kill us all.

We heard someone ranting angrily along the way; we must be getting close to (hopefully) an exit Bullseye told us about. I still felt rather skeptical about this. Is he sure he’s leading us to an exit and not double-crossing us unintentionally?

Me and Gale looked at each other. “Let’s hope to Celestia he’s right. If not, then we have to expect the unexpected. This temple will always leave nasty surprises so be armed and ready.”

I nodded and went to get--

Wait… where’s my… oh no…

My eye went wide.

“FUCK!! I LOST MY SNIPER RIFLE WHILE I WAS NAVIGATING THROUGH MOVING PLATFORMS!!!”

My pony mind had burst into bouts of unfortunate rage. I. Can’t. Believe this is happening to me! I’m unarmed yet again! First I lost Carbon Monoxide’s rifle back in new Hampshore after being abducted by the fucked-up surgeon Dr. Scalpel, then I had my sniper rifle stolen by Taser and claimed ownership, THEN this doubly fucked-up temple had made my sniper rifle I got back in Conneticolt slipped away between me and my saddlebags without my acknowledgement with no way of retrieving it back! How can the Wastelands be THIS fucked up like Celestia’s hot, scorching buns is beyond me! I’m having a severe case of bad luck-entitis and its pissing me off just by thinking about it!!

Oh man, how is Gale gonna find--

“Wait… Zero, where’s your sniper rifle?”

DOUBLE FUCK! She already did!

I’m not sure what to tell her… even if I’m (ironically) silent, she’s still wanting to find out on my missing weapon! Why does the Wastelands have a sadistic sense of humor on making me weaponless?! AGAIN?!

“Why is the scientist had no weapon? I mean, he’s supposed to protect us from harm, not use his own body as a weapon! Zero is such a silly scientist!”

Not helping, Tootsie! Not even at the slightest!

Gale shrugged a little, “Well, we’re not gonna wait and find out what happened. We need to get out of the temple or we’ll be here forever and the edibles we ate won’t keep our hunger forever so we need to ready up, ponies… and robo-scorpion.”

It’ll be the biggest suicide run of the century. At least for me, of course. They’re well-armed and I’m not.

Once Bullseye lowered the lever that was mounted on the stone wall, the entrance slowly ascended to open up a new window of opportunity. Of course as it opens up, we could hear screaming rants echoing the throne room up ahead; sounds like this Ahuizotl was inside regarding of a botched ritual. There’s also tens of hundreds of tribesponies and wild animals (mainly feline ones) who were looking and talking to each other as to wonder why their false god’s ritual attempt had failed. As we carefully entered the room, there was sudden silence. Their attention were diverted to us. Well… triple fuck.

“What is this?!” Ahuizotl’s voice boomed inside the large room. Seems Gale’s description of Ahuizotl’s appearance were right all along. And he’s pissed as well!

“You DARE set your hooves inside MY throne room?! Especially with-- wait… are you… Daring Do? THE Daring Do that had been resurrected after eight-hundred years?! Impossible!”

Gale looked nothing like a Daring Do pony as the tribesponies armed themselves with spears, ready to take us on.

She clarifies this. “No, but I’ve read about her back in those days when my sister first introduced me to her latest issue. She told me all about your past attempts that were refuted by Daring Do herself, and she stopped your efforts in bringing eternal harm to Equestria. But, one thing puzzles me… how come you’re still alive yet Daring Do isn’t?”

Her story had fallen to the creature’s ears with a booming laugh, “Bwaaahahahahahaaa!! Foolish pony! Do you still believe in Daring Do’s false fairy tales?! Sure she may have stopped me, yet I had gained the upper hand in succeeding a ritual that could bring all of Equestria to its knees with eight hundred years of unrelenting heat! But the darkness of clouds have foiled my plan yet again, even after Daring Do had ceased to exist eight hundred years back! And before you ask, no. Dr. Caballeron and his lackeys never made our deal, so his loss, my gain. You must be Daring Do’s successor! Or should I say, new Daring Do!” He spoke dangerously from his final sentence, his sharp teeth dangerously against each other.

Wait… Daring Do is dead? How?! Old age, maybe? Curse that had afflicted her? I don’t know? I'm a scientist, not an architect!

Looking at them, its clear that even with ancient weapons, we’re still outnumbered. And unless I have my rifle to thin the numbers, we’re as good as fucked.

“Get them!! And get the new Daring Do, too!!” Ahuizotl bellowed at his tribesponies and feline animals, as they roared and charged towards us. A sea of red had flooded the E.F.S. and it looks like we’re gonna have to fight our way out of here, even if it means we’re going down hard!

We charged forward with Bob, Bullseye and Gale Storm firing off shots at the ponies and animals while me and Tootsie were just avoiding on being speared, mauled or clawed to death. Of course, Ahuizotl was quick to leap from his throne and leaped along the pillars as we fought through them. If his ritual couldn’t succeed, he’d take matter into his own hooves (or hands, paws, whatever you might call them).

His eyes were on Gale Storm as we gunned down a couple of tribesponies and animals to get through (save for me and Tootsie; neither of us are armed).

As we went to find a switch in front of Ahuizotl’s throne, the mythical creature swooped down and caught ahold of Gale Storm as she and the others were fending off deadly animals and tribesponies alike, “H-Hey! Let me go, you monster!”

Oh fuck! Gale! The other two had to evade their relentless attacks and tried to shoot Ahuizotl down. Despite their efforts, the mythical creature was too agile and the bullets only pierced into the pillars. And as I have no weapon with me, I could only watch and try to think of something to retrieve Gale Storm back. Think, Zero! Think!

“Use PTMs if you have any!”

The fuck are PTMs anyway?! Post-Traumatic Mondays?!

“No, silly! Party-Time Mint-als! It’ll help you think better!”

WHAT?! I’m a scientist, not a drug addict! Party-Time Mint-als are the bane of its existence! I’d rather use my wits alone to get out of a hairy situation!

“Pfft, you’re such a sourpuss! But oh well! Not gonna force you or anything, tee-hee! Just don’t die out there!”

What purpose do Party-Time Mint-als have, huh? That it’ll get me addicted as fuck so that I’ll be in a depraved state 24/7?! No! I don’t have time to get myself drugged over; I need to rescue Gale, no matter the cost, even if it means going out there weapon-less!

Hold on, Gale! I’m coming!

“Wait, Zero! Where are you going?” Tootsie asked, not wanting to be left alone as she was already close to the lever behind the throne. “What should I do about that lever thingy?”

I quickly skid to a stop when she asked me that. Fuck me…

All I could show her was motion my hoof around and pull back, as if instructing her to pull the lever. I really hope she gets it or all she’ll be doing is prolong my rescue attempt. Besides, that was seriously bad timing, little filly! She was rather clueless at first but soon nodded in understanding, “Ohhhhh! Okey-dokey-wokey, oh faithful scientific leader, sir!”

Thank you! As I diverted my eyes, I could see both Bullseye and Bob having managed to single-handedly gun down all the tribesponies as they look upon Ahuizotl making an escape, “Boss, that… thing is escaping! Should we stop it?”

Along the way, Tootsie Roll pulled the lever which soon reveals a secret passage in front of her, “Yay! I did something good!”

No time to celebrate just yet; we gotta rescue Gale and fast! She was struggling to pry herself free from Ahuizotl’s grasp. “Nnngh! Let me go, bastard!”

“Never, New Daring Do! You will not be continuously interfering with my flawless plan, not after having to wait eight hundred years for this moment! My ritual will happen with or without my henchponies to do my bidding!” Ahuizotl boasted as she was helplessly trying to fire off shots, but soon the Plasma Rifles mounted on her battle saddles didn’t had any ammo left and can’t reload with his hand-tail grasping her.

“Fuck! Dammit all! Zero! Everypony! Help me!”

Her yells of distress were enough to echo through the throne/ritual room we’re in and I waved a hoof to Tootsie Roll as we need to rescue our ex-Enclave ally, pronto!

“Aww… well, I suppose rescuing our not-Enclave baddie is better than discovering what that secret passage is ahead anyway! C’mon, let’s go!”

She wasn’t very far as we caught up to Ahuizotl easily. He however was waiting for us and my Pinkie sense failed me this time as Gale’s warning came too late, “Wait, don’t step on a tile! Its a trap!”

We inadvertently fell into the hidden net trap as we took a step closer, the catching net trap going off and snagging us up inside as we’re not suspended in mid-air! Dammit, my Pinkie sense didn’t work how?! Was it because I didn’t want to take those goddess-damned PTMs which hardly exists in this fucked-up temple?! Or was it because Pinkie Pie shut off the Pinkie sense on purpose just so I could learn it the hard way?! Either way, that wasn’t funny, Pinks!

“Bwaaahahahaha! You fell RIGHT into my trap, now your friend will be perfect for Daring Do’s replacement, and my ritual shall be completed, no matter what!” His maniacal laughter echoed within the room with Gale Storm still in tow as she was still struggling to pry herself free from Ahuizotl’s grasp.

“Uhh… quick, Bob! Try and fire off your laser thingy onto that weird creature’s hand-tail!”

Bob shook himself in decline; the net trap doesn’t have any opening for him to fire and refuses to risk on hurting us and himself. He even pointed his metal claw at the net, which was layered with mesh that prevents it from being fired open or allow his tail gun to squeeze through the net to open fire. “Aww… well, at least you were honest about it! Besides, we’re too high up anyway and we can’t fly”

Well, neither is Gale.

“Now, to complete my ritual with or without my henchponies! A shame Dr. Caballeron isn’t here to witness this, but you ponies and that… thing will have front row seat as your new Daring Do shall succumb to the eight hundred years of unrelenting heat, and Equestria shall be whole again!” Ahuizotl emitted his maniacal cackle; his first attempt had failed, so how will his second attempt will succeed? Its probably nighttime anyway!

Still, how are we gonna get out of this net? It seems to be difficult to chew through and mostly resistant to magic, bladed weapons and firearms so all we can do is hope that Gale Storm can make it out alive.

She of course gritted her teeth together, being easily irritated of Ahuizotl’s constant boasting of his ritual. “First off, I’m NOT Daring Do! Second off, I’m not some kind of pony who WISHES to become a sacrifice for your stupid ritual! Now let me go, dammit!”

“Silence! Don’t interrupt my speech, new Daring Do, whether you like it or not! My ritual will be fulfilled!” Ahuizotl ties her hooves up with ropes that connect to the boulders, rendering it impossible for her to free herself. Shit, I need to think of something, and quick!

As Gale helplessly struggled, I glanced up at the stone ceiling, seeing one of the tile coming loose in front of us. If I could maybe swing us back and forth for me to reach it up there, it could free her and stop Ahuizotl once and for all from completing his sadistic ritual. I glanced at Ahuizotl, who is currently chanting using a strange, foreign language not heard in Equestria as I motioned my hoof to Bullseye’s shoulder (even if it felt… rather icky and slimy for some ungodly reason), “Yes? Got any plan, boss? We could sure use one right about now.”

I confirmly nodded to our ghoul companion as I quickly typed in a couple of words from my PipBuck and showed him the screen, reading as ‘We need to swing ourselves back and forth for me to reach on the switch that will hopefully free us and Gale before Ahuizotl finishes with his chant’.

“Hmm… alright. Little one, boss told us we need to swing ourselves back and forth so he can reach over to the switch thing on the ceiling.” Bullseye instructed Tootsie. She was a little uneasy at first as she hasn’t fully interacted with a living ghoul pony before but does give him a nod. “Okey-dokey! Bob, hang on! This is like playing on a swing back in Mayne!”

We don’t have much time left, so we need to time our motions and reach for that tile before his ritual is finished!

We swung ourselves back and forth as we picked up momentum. Gale would shout, but quickly clamped her mouth shut, knowing that interrupting Ahuizotl will resort him to unleash violent acts against her and even a likely death.

Almost there…

I reached out my hoof, pressing against the net as it pressed against the tile from the ceiling, which was enough for it to sink inside and the trap net begins to lower itself down with us inside and freeing us in the process for us to make a mad dash for Gale, just as Ahuizotl had finished his chants! The ceiling above begins to slowly slide open, this time revealing a scorching sun! “Guys! Hurry!!”

As Ahuizotl emitted his booming laughter of his success, Bob fired off laser shots at the ropes that were soon burned off and allowing our ex-Enclave companion to free herself before she would’ve gotten herself worse than radiation heat. And not even sunscreen can protect it!

She frantically flapped her wings amid the sharp pain spearing into her to avoid the scorching rays that were making its approach, and she was struggling hard. “Nnnghh!! C-Can’t fly so much…!”

A voice was soon emitted; no pony figure to encounter as well.

“You can flap too, you know!”

Ahuizotl’s boastful laugh was interrupted by the voice only he was familiar with, “What..? Was that… no… Daring DO?!” And before long, he witnessed Gale already beginning to soar up in the air as a result of the voice of an unseen Daring Do motivating her to endure the pain.

“I can flap too… I can flap too, you know!” Gale’s wings were graceful and the pain from earlier when the arrows struck her had completely subsided as she flew towards us with significant speed, “C’mon, ponies! Let’s get out of here!”

As we made our mad escape, Ahuizotl snarled furiously at his second attempt being refuted and emitted a threatening roar. “You have foiled my ritual plan for the second and LAST TIME!”

Before long, he was relentlessly pursuing us by jumping from wall-to-wall and swinging along the vines to catch up to us. And by the goddesses, he is PISSED!

“Boss, anytime we could shoot that thing down now!” Bullseye suggested me, but Gale quickly countered this, “No! Save the bullets for when we get out of this fucked-up temple!”

At the same time, the temple began to give way, threatening to collapse and bury us whole as I took the lead and motioned to Gale to follow my lead. The exit is in the throne room, behind the chair.

“Alright. Everypony, follow Zero!”

It was race against time, all or nothing. The temple we’re in was shaking violently and we were hoofing it as fast as we could with Ahuizotl still hot on our tails. “GET BACK HERE!!”

We inadvertently stepped onto the wooden cart and we were plunging along the tracks, with him narrowing catching us but failing as we’re riding along the twisty tracks and clinging onto each other. (Wait, am I holding onto Bullseye?! Goddess, his flesh feels like mold! Gross!)

The temple began to crumble down, burying Ahuizotl while we’re going along for the crazy ride, “Hang on, everypony!”

This is like a rollercoaster ride from hell! Why does Celestia think that this is a good idea to even ride in it?!

We clung onto each other as we were screaming (except me, due to having no voice for obvious reasons; blame Dr. Scalpel for that one) and loop-de-loops and twisting turns about as we were escaping the temple and leaving Ahuizotl to suffer and die in his own screwed-up temple and his fucking rituals.

Soon enough, the wooden cart screeched to a stop; we were now deeper underground and still inside the temple, although relatively intact.

“Everypony okay?”

We nodded to Gale as Bullseye and later Tootsie and Bob got off of the wooden cart. Of course, being unintentionally clingy, she had her fore-hooves around me and we were immediately blushing as she looked at me. I was really hesitant to move at first but I moved back a little and she followed suit afterwards, “Oh! Heh, sorry, kiddo… dunno what went in my mind just now.”

Yeah… its fine, really. I let out a soft, nervous smile and an awkward, silent chuckle as we got ourselves off of the cart.

The inside of this temple are adorned by lit torches with unusual engravings on stone walls as I led the others in hoping to resurface back to the usual Wastelands. Up ahead lies a shrine with a large book that’s sitting onto it. There are steps, but not as much compared to the other temple that took nearly hours getting up there.

“I wonder what that voice we heard before, Zero?”

I merely shrugged; the E.F.S. never detected anything apart from Ahuizotl who was chasing us and all we heard was Daring Do’s voice Gale Storm talked to us about.

“Hmm… wait here, you three. Me and Zero are gonna check something out.” Gale ordered them, assuming her role as second-in-command as they’re aware of the temple’s surprising traps, “Alright. Be careful, you two.”

We nodded to Bullseye and the two sat and waited, “Just be careful about scary booby traps!”

Trust me, we’ve been there before and it wasn’t at all entertaining. In fact, it was a plethora of sheer madness throughout our hellish journey.

“Hmm…” She inspected close at the book that was seated on a small stand, unoccupied.

I took a glance of the PipBuck for it to identify the name of the book:

It even has the cover art of Daring Do herself! And there’s virtually no chance of it setting off the trap, although I could be obviously wrong regarding of the temple’s nature.

“Oooohh… should I take it, Zero?” Gale gleamed at me, her eyes sparkling with sheer eagerness. Well, it seems I’m not the only one who admires an idol as I myself idolize Neighkola Tesla as a young colt three years ago.

I motioned my hoof to the book in response with a caring smile to my friend. I’m not stopping you from getting the book you cherish the most.

She emitted her fangirlish squeal and grasped me into a hug, “Ohhh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu!”

Gale even gave me another kiss to my cheek before eagerly taking the book to fulfill her strong and fanatic desires on reading Daring Do’s journey. My cheeks were burning up again, but at least I didn’t felt too embarrassed for that. Instead, I feel quite happy that she got her chance of reading Daring Do! Come to think of it… does she share similar interests as I do?

And the plus side is that this item is purely harmless; no deadly traps or anything, just this book that needed its new owner. The real Daring Do is somewhere, but its mostly unlikely. She must’ve been really old if she were to be alive. We went back down from the shrine and Gale Storm was the first to show the others the Origin Story book she had obtained, “Look what I got, everypony!”

“Oooohh… looks so cool!” Tootsie emitted her gleeful squee at the sight of the cover art of Daring Do. Bullseye nodded briefly before glancing back at me, “So, boss. Should we get out of here now?”

I suppose. All we could do now is find an ancient elevator shaft that could take us back to the Wastelands. Gale stored her book into my saddlebags and I led my team to another room where an unused elevator shaft awaits us. The bigger problem is that I had no weapon with me for the third time, which means the temple became extremely anal when it comes to handling weapons. Too bad its unrecoverable and this makes me utterly defenseless. I swear, this shit is getting old…

After we arrived inside an elevator shaft, I pulled the lever down and we were taken up to the surface. I wrote down a couple of words to Gale personally, reading as ‘Sorry about what happened earlier that nearly killed you’.

She gave me another sympathetic smile, “Hey, I’m alright now, Zero. You don’t need to worry about me too much, but judging by your facial expression, its almost as if you care much about me. And its really sweet of you to think of me as such.”

Erm… no need to take things a little awkward; there are three of our allies listening in and there’s a high possibility that I’ll be teased at. But yes, I do care and… you remind me too much of Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse combined. I lost both of them, and now I don’t want to lose you and our friends.

At the aftermath of the collapsed temple, Ahuizotl, gravely injured but still miraculously alive, emerged from the rubble and coughed a couple of times from the dust pluming in before gazing up to the skies angrily and raises his clenched fist, yelling out loud,”Curse you, New Daring Do! Curse yoooouuuu!!” before slumping his head and cries audibly in defeat.

Once we reached up to the surface, it was pitch black already. Nighttime already?!

I immediately turned on the flashlight and it turns out to be a wide space of nothingness!

“Umm… where are we?”

Yeah. Good question there, Tootsie.

I glanced at the map and as I took a closer look at the screen, we’re further away from Stable town, twenty miles even! Is the Wastelands that chauvinistic or something?! I utterly refuse to make a very long and unnecessary trek back to Stable Town! I utterly refuse!

“Ohhh boy… guess it’ll be a couple of days until we return to Stable Town, huh? Whaddya say, ponies? I know its not pretty, but once we return to Stable Town, we’ll rest over at Stable 75. Remember, I can’t fly all of you ponies back over there at once.”

Gale has a point and unless we have wings, it’ll be a long journey back to Stable Town. Furthermore, since I lost my sniper rifle, I’ll have to rely on my wits to avoid any possible dangers we encounter. And there doesn’t seem to be any radio signal at all, just static. Most likely as a result from the extreme darkness that prevents normal radio broadcasts to be picked up by the PipBuck so we’ll have to follow the map.

Tootsie frowned at first, but nodded in understanding, “That's fine! C’mon, Bob! Let’s go!”

The robo-scorpion emitted his beeping-like groans, him complaining that his crazy adventures regarding escaping a crazy temple wasn’t just enough and now being forced to make a long trek back to Stable Town. I hate walking too, Bob, but what can you do? You’re a robot, you basically have limitless stamina and you never eat anything organic at all.

Bullseye asked me while we are traveling along the path into the unknown, “So, boss. Where do you think we’ll be going?”

I don’t know where we’re going. Unless there’s a functional station back to Stable Town, we’re gonna check what’s up ahead and rest up for the night.

And we’re sticking together. No matter what happens.

Even if the nighttime is dangerous, it beats living off an infestation that’s ravaging on the other side of Equestria.

Let’s see where this path I’ve chosen takes us.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Action Filly/Colt -- Gain an additional 15 Action Points.
Penalty: Your repeated loss of weaponry has reduced your Firearms skill by -5. Handle with care next time!

Author's Notes:

Major credits goes to Kkat for allowing me to use Daring Do.

The Origin Story is used in the chapter with permission of Kkat herself.

Chapter Twenty: The Fact of the Matter

Darkness. And we were out of our range to Stable Town or any other cities and towns alike for us to settle ourselves in. Strangely enough, we’re not tired as the effects were still active from those strange edibles we had from the temple we went through. Oh wait… I spoke too soon. Once the effects wore off, we were now tired and in dire need of sleep. “Ugh… anypony else feeling sluggish all of a sudden?”

Yeah… you tell me, Gale. I think the edibles we ate has their side effects that makes us feel tired and sluggish, rendering us unfit for venturing further. The problem is finding a place to rest.

Tootsie let out her notable yawn, “Gosh, I’m soooo sleepy…”

Well, it seems Bob is the only one in our group who isn’t tired because one, he’s a robot; two, he is never hungry. All I could do was continue to lead my team forward because to sleep out in the open with no campfire is a deathwish waiting to happen. Even if we have to sleep in a damp, inadequate building which is hopefully not infested with Radroaches, its either that or having to sleep in an open air and wake up the next morning having your parts cut to pieces… and I needn’t to be reminded of Dr. Scalpel and his hideous creation. When I see him and his sickening creation, I’ll get back at them and avenge my fallen friends. But with what, exactly? With no weapons, I’m defenseless and using solely my hooves will simply do pitiful damage. And I can’t rely on both Bullseye and Gale Storm to do everything for me; even they need ammo to keep the fight going.

Fuck, tiredness is setting in fast. Well, at least it beats having to fight hungry or we wouldn’t have any strength left to get out of the temple. We’d die of hunger anyway.

If I could still remember back in Lab-00, I had to endure a long line in the cafeteria when I overlooked the sight of food shortages. As for searching for artifacts throughout the Wastelands? Well, that’s pretty much out of the question.

And to sleep out in the open with no adequate lighting is a goddess-damned nightmare waiting to wreak havoc in my head. Not to mention that I’m gonna need to find a reliable weapon that’s strewn throughout the Wastes if I’m gonna be well-armed again.

All we could see are barely-lit lights up ahead so I’m hoping that there are cabins, motels or any other buildings that can offer us a well-deserved rest. On the plus side, its not far away from us so we still have time to make it there. No red or green blips showing up on E.F.S. so that’s another good sign. And I hope to keep it that way, too.

I felt Gale’s wing tucked around me and gave me a tired smile, “We’re almost there. Just stay with us.”

Heh, I always needed that.

Tootsie however, fell asleep before she even made it there first. Bob quickly skittered towards his sleepy friend and struggles to pick her up to his metallic shell and made whirring-like grunt noises as we were heading towards an unmanned motel building. I can’t figure out the name but it didn’t mattered. Sleep is what mattered the most and I was the first to open the door to see what’s inside. The inside of the room is mostly intact, apart from being in a depraved state, with two mattresses still kept in fair condition. I’ll probably pay the owner of the motel another day when we’re rested.

I slid my saddlebags down and immediately slumped myself on the bed. Bullseye rested himself onto the other mattress; seems even the ghoul pony is suffering the effect of the strange edibles that makes him tired like us.

No time for good nights. Before long, we were fast asleep as we know it.

Morning arose. And we were greeted by the motel owner who we didn’t saw last night is an elderly mare with orange mane that’s curled up. Together with a pale, tangerine yellow coat and dark orange eyes, her cutie mark had also depicted an orange wedge to both of her flanks.

Her sight was awfully faint, indicating her nearsightedness as she had trouble identifying us, “Excuse me, but I’ve never seen you ponies on here before. May I ask who you fellers are?”

I was the first to wake up and normally I would take, but I’m sure everypony knows by now that I’m able to talk normally whatsoever and Gale was just about to wake herself up as well. “Mmm… somepony talking to us..?”

“Why, yes! Welcome to Nowac! I a… erm… what’s my name?” It seems the middle-aged mare had forgotten her name momentarily. She shook her head to jog her lost memory, “Oh, yes! I’m Poppy Blossom! Its so wonderful to meet you new fellers!”

Bullseye was already in the bathroom to clean himself up and Tootsie had just woken herself up from her five-minute nap.

“Yer lucky that this motel’s currently vacant soooo unless you fellers can pay up for another night, you’re free too! Otherwise, we already have other houses that provide free-of-stay… albeit with lowered quality, if you get what I mean.” Poppy let out her lighthearted giggle and left the motel room. We were left confused.

Gale and I exchanged our puzzled looks, “So… do you wanna go get breakfast? We could sure use one before we can continue on.”

I nodded to her as our ghoul companion had left the bathroom. “Hey boss. Where should we go now?”

I’m pretty sure Gale already beat you to it, but I figured we should have a free meal first. Hopefully none of the houses Poppy Blossom mentioned were currently occupied and that nopony would accuse us of stealing fresh edibles. We can’t survive throughout the Wastes, even with the Stable 13 canteen currently in my possession. I led my team out of the motel and towards the direction where a couple of houses are. Along the way, there were a small number of pony inhabitants in and out of Nowac who were also settlers. Of course, that isn’t to say that its a friendly community or hostile; just neutral.

Regardless, judging from the way Blossom greeted us with no way for us to introduce ourselves made us feel rather uncertain at her strange behavior. Some of the doors from the houses were boarded up with no way of getting inside as we traversed outside of the motel building. At least some of them were open.

“We need to be careful to not intrude anypony in their homes. Who knows what could it be inside?”

I wonder too, Gale. But we won’t make it another day if we can’t keep our hunger in check, and its vital that even if its inhabitants (or otherwise completely vacant) won’t believe us, sometimes we have to survive and keep on moving for the greater good, even if it means forcing us to defend ourselves.

I was the first to enter the unoccupied house carefully and inside was pretty well-maintained albeit abandoned and without somepony residing there. Seems this was more of a rental, just like the motel rooms in Nowac. I waved a hoof to given all clear sign as they entered inside. Let’s see if the kitchen has any good eatings left over in the fridge…

Tootsie shuddered a bit and scampered close to Gale, expressing uneasiness to it, “Ooohh… this house is spooky. I don’t like this…”

“I’m sure we won’t be staying for long. Bullseye, why don’t you look for any ammunition in the house in the meantime? Zero’s finding food for us.” She assumed her role as second-in-command to the ghoul pony as he gave her a confirmed nod, “Got it. Hope the boss found enough for us to stave off.”

Well, you can’t honestly depend wholly on me, Bullseye. To be called a ‘boss’ is like saying I’m a Steel Rangers leader for some reason when I’m clearly not. And I utterly despised them already and sooner or later, I require a huge explanation for their ruffian behavior against the Powder Gangers. That includes me also.

Hmm… fresh apples, maize, squirrel on a stick (which I clearly detest eating it), mutfruits, Bloatsprite sliders and two fresh bottles of Sparkle-Cola Victory. Huh.

Wait, Sparkle-Cola Victory? I squinted my eye as to take a closer look at this unfamiliar beverage from the same brand. They’re… orange! I do feel a little parched as the Stable 13 canteen was only quenching my thirst, but it wasn’t enough. I remembered what happened during my first attempt of consuming a Sparkle-Cola Quartz which resulted my whole body to glow and illuminate. I suppose I could keep the other Sparkle-Cola Victory for crafting purposes unless there’s no other choice. I kept one bottle down to my saddlebags, along with a fairly wide selection of foods down inside while grabbing the second bottle from the fridge before popping the cap open. I could see Gale Storm sitting down with Tootsie from the brief conversation regarding the unsettlement in a house we’re intruding in. Everything you find in the Wastelands are considered unsettling by default.

Apparently, the Victory still has ten rads per second like the Quartz, forcing me to debate on whether I should drink this or not. I already lowered radiation to safe levels, but what else would I do? I’ll need a RadSafe so I don’t have to endure the atrocious taste of the RadAway. I checked the cabinets to see if there are any RadSafe bottles somewhere. Along the way, I overheard Bullseye regarding having found a couple of ammunition; too bad I don’t have my sniper rifle with me as it succumbed from the temple’s traps. And I need a weapon of my own as well and taking extra care of it too if I do find a reliable weapon with me.

Aha! There’s a couple of RadSafe bottles for me (and the others depending how much I have with me) to use that helps significantly reduce the amounts of radiation I receive. I popped the bottle open and chugged down the RadSafe pills (I’m seriously not a drug addict, mind you!) and tossed the empty bottle away, keeping the fresh ones in my saddlebags for future use. Now that the possible radiation levels have been lowered, I began to drink up the Sparkle-Cola Victory. My face scrunched up a little from that strong taste I’m receiving from Sparkle-Cola Victory. Goddess fuck, it feels really cold too; I could feel it send freezing tremors down into my spine!

I let out a breezy sigh of relief after downing the Sparkle-Cola Victory. Wait, why is my sight suddenly foggy from a far distance? Well on the plus side, at least I managed to hold off hunger pangs. Before I could regroup with the others though, I batted an eye at the written paper that was left from the counter, despite my sudden, foggy vision. Seems like there was somepony who had been there before their unexpected leave. I looked at the written words and read it:

‘Guess I’m getting evicted from my own home as per Poppy Blossom’s order after not being able to conserve electricity, which is fine and all, but failing to keep the house up to code? Bullshit! I’m not THAT much of a slob, at least I keep the floors nice and tidy! I mean, what a bitch! I might as well go back to Las Pegas where all the shit goes down, even if its far away because all the trains are out of service. Seriously though, she can die in a hole for all I care!’

Doesn’t specify who was the former owner of the room, but I guess housing policies were thrown out the window. I’m not sure if she was feigning innocence, but its not entirely my problem for the time being. I regrouped to the others and motioned my hoof for us to leave the home. “Oh, looks like Zero found a couple of meals for our early breakfast.”

I nodded to Gale. And I call dibs on the Bloatsprite slider. I bet it must be pretty tasty!

Once I heat it up from the lit campfire, I took a bite from it and hungrily like a starving colt I am. Not bad, not bad at all.

We all shared our breakfast I found from the house, but as we’re eating throughout, I’m starting to think of something on whether or not the note I just read were true or just purely superstitious. In any case, I should find more clues and ask the inhabitants with the help of my friends who would interact them for me. My PipBuck isn’t enough; I need a voice as a substitute for the time being and Gale is one of them.

Once we were done with breakfast, I wrote down a couple of words from my PipBuck (I had to squint my eye because my vision is currently impaired from the effects of the Sparkle-Cola Victory) and presented it to the others, reading as ‘We need to explore closely to Nowac. Something is fishy here’.

“Assuming that we’re further away from Stable Town, I suppose we’ll stay here for a little longer. What places should we explore in the meantime?”

I merely shrugged to Gale’s question, which is all I could do. Believe me, if I would still be talking normally, I’d tell her and the others we’d look for clues for anything suspicious here. We got up from the campfire and I motioned a hoof to follow my lead. Tootsie Roll huddled up next to her robo-scorpion friend, assuming the location’s unsettling atmosphere despite having a couple of pony settlers roaming around outside of Nowac. As for Nowac itself, its a two-story building with multiple motel rooms but half of the door entrances were boarded up to prevent access. There were also some of which other residents reside there that serve as their homes. Of course, what really stands out to Nowac was a sitting pony that vaguely resembles as… DJ-P0N3, or Vinyl Scratch. I’m not entirely sure, but the colors seem slightly different, mainly the coat from her body.

And a door entrance on the… side of the… flank… why am I not surprised.

“Should we go in? I hope we don’t end up intruding anypony inside the shop.” Gale voiced her slight concern to me. It doesn’t have a name, but the name displayed on the PipBuck is known as ‘Homage Gift Shop’. I don’t see why not. Hopefully this statue-like building can provide at least useful weapons for my survival, not just my allies.

The inside seems to be well maintained, albeit a little narrow for my liking. There are various picture frames hung against the walls depicting a mare that loosely resembles as either of the two.

“Ooohhh… who’s that? She looks awesome!” Tootsie asked the question from the picture, and I merely shrugged as none of us know who she is. We head upstairs to see a wide collection of Vinyl Scratch/DJ-P0N3 novelty statuettes and a counter is manned by a dark red-colored stallion. He was currently asleep whilst leaning back against the chair with the radio playing what appears to be a blues song, with the mare singer being heard within the broadcast.

Gale whistled at the sight of the novelty statuettes stored on the shelves for display. “Wow… that’s a lot of novelties for one pony.” She turned her attention to the stallion who is apparently both the cashier and an owner, “Mister? Can you wake up for a moment. We’d like to ask you something if I may.”

He was startled awake and falls back from the chair, “Oof! What the--?!”

The stallion got himself up to his hooves, dazed but unhurt. “Ugh… oh, hey! Welcome to Homage Gift Shop where we sell Homage souvenirs and trinkets! My name is Scrap Heap, and I’m the owner of Homage Gift Shop. How may I help you ponies?”

While Bullseye and Bob browsed around the items he had with him up for sale, Tootsie Roll was first to ask Brick, “Hi, mister Scrap Heap! I’m Tootsie Roll! And we’d like to ask on what’s a Homage?”

“Oh? Well hey there, little filly! As for Homage? Well, she was a well-known radio broadcaster in Equestria, who is also titled as ‘The Voice of Freedom’ as she provides different news throughout each day and is also said that she’s fond of Littlepip, former Stable Dweller turned Wastelander heroine. Who’d knew?” Scrap Heap finished explaining us regarding this Homage. Seems these weren’t just statuettes; they’re actually trinkets.

And as for this Homage liking Littlepip? I’m not entirely sure if a mare would be interested in another mare as it defies logic for ponykind, but why should I care? I’m a scientist, not a dating expert.

Furthermore, how does this Homage - or whatever’s called - earned the title ‘The Voice of Freedom’? I mean, I haven’t done any research regarding survival or virtues (which is funny I knew knew what virtues were. I was too busy trying to stay alive) whatsoever. Besides, Starshooter never told me about a Homage or anything like that. Just seems superstitious to me…

Anyway, I don’t think its important right now. What’s important is that I need new weapons, but I’m short on caps. Goddess-dammit all! The Wasteland can’t expect me to lay fisticuffs with my hooves, do they?

I selected a couple of words from the screen and showed it to Scrap Heap, reading as ‘Do you have any good weapons available?’.

He was a little skeptical at first as he took a glance at me, “Hmm.. I haven’t seen a mute pony in my life before. Then again, not many ponies are talkative in Equestria anyway. But sure! We have a wide variety of weapons, few which are cheap; the rest are mighty expensive, if you catch my drift.”

By cheap, he meant flimsy and unreliable to the point where they’ll break and no longer function for future firefights. And even if they still work, Raiders will easily shrug it off and go in for the kill. Unfortunately though, reliable weapons are too pricey and I haven’t found any caps that’ll get me armed to the teeth so it’s a huge setback for me. The last thing I would want is a melee weapon that’s at least reliable, even if it meant bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Oh well. I suppose I could fork up a couple of caps for both Bullseye and Gale to conserve their ammunition and leaving me defenseless yet again.

Before I did so though, I wrote down a couple of words again and showed to him which displayed as ‘Do you know anything regarding this Poppy Blossom in Nowac?’.

“Hmm… Poppy Blossom… yes, she can be quite nice and friendly, but something is odd about her. There’s been word that Sharpshooter’s wife went missing but Poppy herself never said anything about this. If you’d like to explain more, talk to Sharpshooter about this though I’d be careful if I were you. He tends to be a little… jumpy, but don’t take him too seriously. He just gets a little paranoid around new strangers, especially after his wife went missing. He told me to not tell you her name so you’ll have to do some convincing for me and he’ll tell you the name of his wife. I just stay out of situations like this but if anything, I’ll tell you a bit of secret; Poppy Blossom is not to be trusted with, even when she’s the self-proclaimed ‘mayor’ of Nowac. Just be careful.” Scrap Heap explained on the recent events that occurred in Nowac and wanted us to meet Sharpshooter personally instead of him, citing personal reasons. First, I’ll need a weapon and then go and check Sharpshooter to get more details from him. I have no choice; its either die fighting or die like a defenseless victim.

I might as well buy myself a pea-shooter of a handgun for 50 caps. Not like there’s anything for me to barter my way out for discounted prices. I suppose a pea-shooter will have to do for the time being until it breaks on its own and forcing me to scavenge for yet another weapon that’s bound to break or be stolen again.

“Excellent! Pleasure doing business with you. If you wanna meet Sharpshooter, tell him I said hi. Just be careful; he’s not in the best of moods right now. Oh, and here, take this trinket; free of charge. Your filly friend will love it.” Scrap Heap generously offered a Homage trinket to us and I happily accepted it before nodding in thanks.

We regrouped back with the three, “C’mon, let’s head up and see Sharpshooter, guys.”

“Okey-dokey-wokey!” Tootsie Roll jumped a bit and Bob skittered up to my back, knowing that he isn’t too fond of stairs. That, or he’s just a lazy robot in general who would rather hitch onto a pony’s back. Of course, I showed a Homage trinket to her before storing it in my saddlebags, “Ooohhh. She looks cool!”

Right. And apart from earning my very first unreliable pistol, we went up to the top of the stairs to meet Sharpshooter.

“Oh… hey. Didn’t expect to see new ponies here in Nowac. Name’s Sharpshooter and I work as a lookout in this particular town. Don’t ask why; I just do my job.”

He looks seriously depraved, from what I can tell. He has a red beret hat draped onto his head and sunglasses that partially hides his eyes along with a grey, dirty shirt with a crosshair for a cutie mark to go for. He also has a wood-carved sniper rifle resting onto his side. No doubt he’s a unicorn, too. He looks middle-aged as well, just with more droopy features on his face.

And he looks miserable as well. Not from the Slavers but from Scrap Heap’s explanation of his wife having gone missing. Of course, I allowed Gale to speak to him for us, “I’m Gale Storm, and this is Zero, Bob, Tootsie Roll and Bullseye. We’d like to know about what’s going on in Nowac, if you don’t mind me asking?”

I cautiously ushered Tootsie to stay behind me and Bullseye. Of course, Sharpshooter gave a stern answer, “None of your business, ma’am. As for Nowac, well things went to shit, even if things were peaceful. Too bad that’s not entirely the case. Why, did Scrap Heap told you this?”

From the looks of Sharpshooter, he seemed delirious to go along with paranoia combined with a few days of no sleep. Not only that, but from his wife being missing. “I’ll humor you, though. Slavers came in five days ago and took my wife somewhere to goddess-knows-where. Too bad I was busy scouting the area at the top of Homage Gift Shop that I always thought of a silly rumor to be false. Of course, when I went to check the house where me and my wife rest in, all I found were trails of blood across the floor and…” Sharpshooter paused abruptly when he brought it up, but it was enough to leave all of us in shock upon hearing the news.

“Oh dear… I’m sorry to hear that…” She expressed grief and I was covering Tootsie’s ears with my forelegs so she wouldn’t feel too traumatized to hear his explanation. “We could help you find your wife and search for those responsible. Mainly the Slavers, of course.”

Sharpshooter snorted at her reply, “Well fucking good luck with that; she’s probably dead by now. But if you’re eager to shed some blood against the Slavers, then I ain’t stopping you. The Wastelands’ just about as fucked up as Equestria itself. If you do happen to find her, just let me know. I can’t tell you where she is though because I was at the gift shop I’m in the whole time. You’ll have to look for her yourselves. Her name’s Orchard Peak, about having a purple, wavy mane and those purple eyes. Not to mention a periwinkle color to her body… that’s all I could ever give you the details. Now, just skedaddle on outta here; I need to get back on my job.”

After listening to his further details regarding his missing wife, Orchard Peak, we were told that Slavers were responsible for the abduction for financial purposes, or worse. The problem is where to find her.

Slavers are uncommon to find but they’re not that easy to locate. And this will be a tedious task to do, all the while trying to get back to Stable Town for a debrief. Right now is finding Sharpshooter’s missing wife. We’ll have to start with Nowac and then the outskirts of it.

“Thank you for giving us the details, Sharpshooter. We’ll look for your wife and hope that she’s still alive and well.” Gale nodded before diverting her attention to us, “Let’s go, guys. Zero, you lead the way and find any clues regarding Orchard Peak.”

I move my fore-hooves from Tootsie Roll’s ears and motioned my head. Of course, the filly started asking unnecessary questions to us as we were leaving Homage Gift Shop, “Oh, oh! What was he talking about? Is he talking about the weather that’s raining confettis?! Or maybe this Homage-thing can read our minds like a psychic?!”

“Alright, boss. Where to start?”

Half of the houses are currently occupied by Nowac settlers whilst other houses sit there empty. We already searched the house over there, though I haven’t checked the mailbox from the same house we’re in. As I opened up, it revealed to be the latest issue of Neighkola Tesla and You! Oh-ho-ho, sweet! I bet the unnamed pony - apart from Sharpshooter himself - has no idea what he/she had missed out the wonders of science!

Of course, it doesn’t lead to an actual clue of Sharpshooter’s missing wife, but you can’t blame me for getting a look on Neighkola’s latest issue. He’s my idol, after all.

“Oh? I see that would be Neighkola Tesla, Zero?”

I eagerly nodded to Gale, and he’s my idol, too! Acknowledging this, she nodded me back with an admiring smile, “I assume that you idolize him, then. You’re a scientist, after all.”

Why yes, of course I am! But let’s focus on the matter at hoof. I kept the magazine into my saddlebags and continued to look search around the residential area of Nowac to see if there’s anything familiar regarding Sharpshooter’s wife’s abduction.

As we explored around the houses, we were greeted by a settler, a young mare with a plain white, tattered shirt filled with dirt and grime. I couldn’t get a good description of her because she’s wearing a robe that conceals her overall appearance, “What are you ponies doing in Nowac? Poppy Blossom would tear you up a new one if she catches you…”

We weren’t sure if she was threatening us or warning us, but it was enough for me to retrieve the first clue regarding Nowac’s ‘mayor’ Poppy Blossom herself. However, I wanted more answers from the mystery mare. Whilst Tootsie Roll cautiously and shyly approached the unnamed mare, we cautiously looked after our filly companion, “Excuse me, ma’am, but umm… Poppy is a nice pony and…”

She received a harsh scoff response from Tootsie’s comments, “Filly, she may be nice and all, but that’s the reason she’ll use your naivety to her advantage and sell you to the Slavers.”

“S-Slavers…?!” The young filly’s ears immediately fall flat from the mysterious mare’s words before backpedalling back behind me. Whatever triggered her must be very serious. I quickly motioned Gale to have her comfort Tootsie before I approached to Bullseye, writing down a couple of words to him ‘Stay with the three. I’ll have a private conversation with this mare’.

“Alright, boss. How’s the filly doing, by the way?”

I pointed a hoof to Gale, who is soothing her before the filly could break into tears. I really don’t want to hear what’s going on until I can find out what is this mare trying to explain. Bob, on the other hoof, glanced suspiciously at her, already beginning to look distrustful over her as he aimed his laser tail at her, intent on shooting her for provoking the innocent filly. She didn’t seemed fazed by his threat and I took approach to wave him off for Bob to be with the others. I wrote down several words from the PipBuck and showed to her, reading as ‘Can we continue the conversation privately?’.

Bob let out a reluctant whirr and soon went to help Gale comfort the emotion-stricken Tootsie. “Fine. Lead the way.”

I led the unnamed mare in between two houses for me to be more one-on-one with her as I began to ask her questions via PipBuck shown on the screen which reads as ‘How do you know about Poppy Blossom? And what do you mean Slavers? Does she have a connection to them?’.

All she could do was lower her head to get a better view of the screen, I heard soft muttering from her reading my question. After she finished reading, she took a glance at me, though I couldn’t see her eyes due to her concealed appearance. “Before I can answer your question, I must ask this; why are you writing me with your PipBuck? Couldn’t you at least talk for once?”

I lowered my eyelid from her question, to my slight annoyance. If I were to ask you, you won’t be able to hear me talk whatsoever. I lift my head back and presented her a scar that was recently formed due to stitches being fully dissolved. She had a grimaced look before giving me a confirmed nod, “I see. So you were originally able to talk before somepony made you permanently mute, huh? Well, that sums up the answer.”

You can thank Dr. Scalpel for that.

“Now for my actual answer: Its unclear what, but it seems that she does show connections with the Slavers and some…” The unnamed mare paused for a dramatic moment before resuming, “...other faction known as Caesar’s Legion. And before you ask, which you can’t because you’re unable to normally talk, they’re the most notorious and dangerous factions known to ponykind and they’re known for their sick and twisted cult acts, using other captured ponies as sacrifices in order to appease a ‘god’ of some sort. And they have a silver tongue to go for, just to show their pure intimidation to even Alicorns themselves, and they weren’t afraid of them. And those that turn against the Caesar’s Legion would be met with instant death. Hell, even Raiders are afraid to even go near them. Not without being used as a sacrifice of any sort. Even Slavers were wise enough to give them personal space. Now that I’ve finalized my explanation, I hope you and your friends would stay out of Nowac as soon as possible.”

I was in shock. Slavers working with the Caesar’s Legion?

I’ve never heard of the Caesar’s Legion before, but if this confirms that they’re indeed sick cultists, then this is enough to link the missing connection regarding Sharpshooter’s missing wife. But I still need answers if I’m going to confirm this. I can’t just frame Poppy Blossom without first obtaining proof, much less knowing the actual location of Sharpshooter’s abducted wife. I wrote down a couple of words from the PipBuck and showed it to her, displayed as ‘Where was Sharpshooter’s wife last seen? And where do we find her?’.

Of course, the mare pressed her hoof on my PipBuck to display the map and trailed it along before pointing to me at the upper right corner of the screen, “This desolate island is northeast, approximately fifty miles from where you’re standing. Unless you can find reliable transportation that’ll take you there, you’ll be hoofing your ass for the next two to three months just to get to that island. And even if you somehow make it there, once you arrive there, there’s no turning back. You either live or die at the hooves of the Caesar’s Legion.”

How in the absolute fuck am I ever gonna find a reliable transportation that doesn’t involve me and my companions on a lengthy trek into an unknown, isolated island that’s most likely surrounded by irradiated waters? I’d need a plane for that! Of course, there’s always unfriendly skies to watch out for so we’d be dead before we even make it there. Trains, maybe? I dunno. Their destinations are predetermined and they’ll just take us off-course and further back in the process. And don’t get me started on teleportation. Even if I was a highly-skilled unicorn or an all-powerful alicorn, I can’t teleport all of us to said destination because even if I were to successfully teleport us there, I’d have to endure an extremely painful magical surge that prevents me from using magic any further until many moons have passed to use them again.

Well, I certainly have no other options. Even Gale can’t carry us all at once just to fly us to the island that serves as Caesar’s Legion’s territory. Its either a long trek until a reliable transportation is found or we’ll be travelling far until we can reach our destination, only to find out that we failed our objective.

Wait a minute…

This reminds me; I’m interacting with a similar pony just like Gale Storm did while I was trying to escape from New Hampshore whilst disguised as an escaped, Grand Pegasus Enclave soldier. Why does it strike me odd that I’m getting a deja vu feeling to it? And I highly doubt that she’s Lightspeed. She doesn’t have a robotic tone to it nor are her augmented, robotic parts added to it.

I wrote down another question for this mysterious mare and showed it to her as ‘Who are you?’.

She was silent at first. I don’t get it… who is she? And why was she warning us about Nowac, Poppy Blossom and the Caesar’s Legion in the first place? I want answers, and I want them now. “You want to know who I am?” She pulled her hoodie back for me to get a clear view of her face. Even with bags on her eyes and her messed-up mane, she was still as young as I am. And she’s an earth pony like me! Wait…

Am I missing something here? No, no. She clearly can’t be my mother. Not like I remember who my actual mother is anyway. Or even my father. Guess I was just born out of thin air.

“I’m Cherry Petal. I work as a post mare in delivering warning messages to select ponies, and you seem to be one of them… Zero, is it? Star Paladin Cosmo had told me about you. And judging by your looks, your database showed that you never had an actual birth name before…”

I slightly cocked my head to the right side. Who is this ‘Star Paladin Cosmo’ she told me about? And how is this Star Paladin knew about my name? Unless somehow Starshooter had sent personnel files about me to the Steel Rangers! But how?! I’ve encountered those Steel Rangers before and so far, they’ve been not so nice about me during my temporary stay with the Powder Gangers!

I grew slightly suspicious and wrote down an extra question for Cherry Petal. I showed her the screen which read as ‘Are you working for Steel Rangers?’.

Cherry firmly shook her head and explained her intentions to me, “Used to, though. However, because they were so damn greedy of their technology over the innocent ponies’ lives, I had to go into exile and started working with Applejack’s Rangers in secret.”

Applejack’s Rangers? Never heard of that name before… then again, that’s not entirely important right now. I’m done hearing every single detail regarding Sharpshooter’s wife, so I’m now more than determined to get to the island of death she’s told me about. I need to debrief my friends about this.

As I was already about to regroup with the others, Cherry waved a hoof at me, “Wait! Before you go, I can take you and the others to a decommissioned train station just up north of Nowac and close to the border of Mayne. Just meet me back here when you can.”

Right. I should do so, but she’ll tell us that there’s no guarantee for us to make it there, but I have hope that we’ll do whatever we can to search for his missing wife.

I regrouped with the four, who were waiting for me right next to the house we were while me and Cherry were privately interacting. Gale and Tootsie were each playing patty cakes with their hooves whilst Bullseye was blankly staring at a cracked wall from the dilapidated house and Bob took notice of my presence before emitting beeping noises at the three and pointing his metallic claw at me. “Oh? Oh! Zero, how did it go?” Gale asked before taking notice of the mystery mare’s revealed appearance, “Huh? Who are you?”

“I’m Cherry Petal. And I work as a post mare for Applejack’s Rangers in delivering messages for select ponies. I believe your friend Zero is one of them.” Cherry revealed her intentions to the others. Bullseye glanced at her which made her flinch at his sight, “What? You never seen a ghoul pony like myself before?”

“Well…” Cherry cleared her throat momentarily, “...I have met a couple who are indeed ghoul ponies like yourself, but I didn’t think you’re allies with them as well. Now, I can’t promise you ponies anything, but there’s a decommissioned train station that might get you to the last known location of Sharpshooter’s wife, but again, I can’t guarantee safe destination.”

Gale looked on with her face showing signs of worry, “What do you mean by that?”

“They’re probably guarded by Raiders or other hostile creatures, so I hope you ponies are armed and ready if you’re gonna make it over there. Now, follow me.” Cherry instructed us to follow her to the abandoned train station. Tootsie looked at me with a hint of concern, “Are we gonna be okay when the nice mare takes us to safety?”

I merely shrugged. I don’t think she’s taking us to safety. We needed to get to the train station and hope for the best. All we could do now is prepare ourselves on what’ll be lying ahead. I motioned a hoof to the others to follow me with the messenger mare. They all nodded and we followed Cherry Petal out of Nowac for the time being.

“Here we are. This is as far as I can take you ponies.” She pointed the direction of the abandoned train station just down the hill. Looks like its boarded with fences and barbed wires with a largely-intact steam train guarded by Raiders. Typical.

Gale Storm glanced at her, “Aren’t you gonna help us?”

Of course, Applejack’s Rangers’ messenger shook her head to decline our further help, “I don’t have weapons, and even so, I’m more trained to avoid any danger ahead than to suicidally charge head-on against hostile species, including our own, unfriendly kind. I’m just a post mare, not a fighter. Thanks for your concern anyway. Now, I must go. I’ll keep in touch of you, Zero. I’ll have word for Star Paladin Cosmo.” Cherry soon galloped off, leaving us to think up of a plan to get around them and hijack their train without getting too much attention. And it won’t be easy either; the abandoned train station is heavily guarded and engaging in a gunfight against them would be too dangerous. There’s even sniper ponies at the two, makeshift watchtowers from both sides that are guarding the main entrance.

“I hope you have a plan, Zero. We need to converse our ammo more carefully, and your current weapon isn’t versatile enough to take them down all at once and there’s about thirty of those Raiders, too. I’ll see if I can scout around without being seen by two sniper ponies and search for a possible opening.” Gale had thought up a solution, though I’m clearly hoping she doesn’t fly too high which will lead the Raiders to discover her and gun her down.

Tootsie glances up to her, expressing concern, “Will you be okay? We don’t want those meanie Raider thingies hurt you!”

There’s also a gate up ahead that prevents the train from departing, though I doubt they’re strong enough to block the train entirely.

I wrote down my PipBuck to instruct her to ‘Fly low to ensure that the Raiders don’t spot you while you scout around, Gale’.

“I will. I’ll be back around five minutes or more until I can search for an alternative route.” Gale spread her wings and took flight, flying as low as she could to avoid detection and we sat there to wait. I lowered my head with me ears falling back, still expressing disappointment that I had a flimsy pistol instead of a sniper rifle that would allow me to make precision shots against those sniper ponies. Of course, its goddamn impossible to aim at really long distances with a pistol. Even if I had a scope to it, it wouldn’t be able to land a single headshot against them because it’ll just land on the ground and Raiders would’ve taken notice.

All I could do was keep a watch out for the way these Raiders are patrolling the train station, with some having the usual, violent scuffles against one another… yep. Typical Raider behavior.

While we are waiting for her to return for a debrief, Gale had already landed onto the crevice of the hill, ensuring that there’s enough elevation for her to have a better look without being seen. “Hmm…”

She slowly moved her head left and right, hearing Raiders jerring on the scuffle while finding a hidden opening. “Nothing so far; walls are too solid.” Gale softly whispered and took flight towards the next area. She slipped at first from her hoof losing traction against the loose terrain but quickly went airborne before flying over to the next spot. One of the Raiders took notice when her ears perk up at the sounds of rocks clattering against the wall, “Hey… hey, Piledriver. Do you hear something?”

“Yes, Daisies. Its you hearing things! Now shut the fuck up and start guarding the fucking train!”

Daisies rolled her eyes in an annoyed manner and continued her patrol around the train station while Gale kept scouting around for another possible opening to gain entrance without detection. Of course, it wasn’t that easy due to a large amount of Raiders guarding the area. A good amount of distraction would do, but how she will do it is up to her.

She muttered quietly while flying low, “Where is it? Where’s the opening for it?”

After several minutes with no success of finding an opening, she did managed to find a medium-sized hole from the wooden wall, none which will fit through except both Tootsie and Bob. “Hmm…”

Gale gasped as she was almost spotted by one of the Raiders before quickly flying back to give us a debrief. Another Raider looked on, “Was was that somepony flying over our base, Buck-Off?”

“Will you shut the fuck up, Dynamite? Goddess, you’re worse than Daisies over there…”

She flew back to us as Gale began to debrief us, “Okay, I found an opening for us to get through, but it won’t be as easy as it sounds. The hole in the wall is only enough for any small pony to squeeze through, and Bob is only armed enough to hold his own against gunfire, I mean, being a robotic scorpion and all… but I figured that stealth will be key here instead of just trying to gun them down. I haven’t seen anypony with explosives, but I don’t think we’re gonna wait to find out. And I don’t think there’s another way but inside.”

Seems we’re gonna have to enter the abandoned train station the hard way, just to get a ourselves a free ride. Its either that or we’ll never make it to the island.

“B-But I don’t want my friend Bob to be all hurt! Those mean Raiders aren’t nice to us!” Tootsie proclaimed, attempting but failing to object Gale’s plan. Let’s be real here, Tootsie; the Wasteland is never nice to begin with.

Gale reassured the younger filly and gently pressed her hoof to her cheek, “Sweetie, your friend will be alright. We just need him to find an alternative way for us to get in without having to resort to… defending ourselves.” She avoided the word ‘gunfight’.

I wrote down for an additional plan and showed it to the gang, reading as ‘We could have him find an entrance switch for us to try and get in before the Raiders find out’.

And considering as how its nighttime, its only a matter of time before even the Raiders would start falling asleep or risk sleep deprivation.

She agreed to my idea, “Yeah. As far as I know, they look like that they haven’t slept in days, so we might have an advantage as long as we don’t disturb them. Of course, there’s no guarantee.” Gale turned her attention to Bob, “Are you prepared for this?”

Bob nodded and saluted to Gale Storm as she led us to the area she was in earlier. The hill was steep for us to climb through, but at least we were unnoticed by the Raiders. Tootsie was already hitching onto her back, knowing how much she hated walking through steep inclines. We inspected an open hole in the wall and Gale was right; nopony can fit through this hole except Bob. Probably from a makeshift grenade that did this as a result of their antics. More or less of a dud but still did a number to this wooden wall. We’d probably break them open to widen the gap, but then we’d end up grabbing their attention in a bad way.

“Right, here we are. Just be very careful out there, Bob.”

He gave her an affirmed nod and slowly skitters his way into the opening inside the guarded train station. Once inside, he quickly skittered underneath the unused train before one of the Raiders noticed his presence. We could hear the male Raider’s grumbling, annoyed sound before he continued to patrol the area.

Bob’s visors - functioning as eyes of course - scanned around for anymore Raiders patrolling around. It wasn’t night time, but it sure as hell cloudy with a chance of increased fog that reduces visibility.

We waited outside, and I don’t feel too comfortable in sending him out like this. I gently pushed the wooden wall with my foreleg; it made loose, creaking noises. Sounds like its too uneven, way before an explosion happened, too. Poor construction, even.

“Boss, what should we do while we wait?”

I figured we could barge in and take the train and have it to work, but that would be suicidal without having a thorough plan first. Gale answered this for me, “We have to wait until Bob returns for a debrief. But if we ever hear gunfire mixed with laser shots, then we have no choice but to break in and get on outta here and save Bob in the process, Bullseye. And we all know how Tootsie cares for her friend…”

“If you say so, amigo. At least I’ll be armed and ready when you fellows are.”

Not sure what kind of fancy word he said, but then again, that’s not important. Tootsie gave us her nervous expression, “I hope we have a second plan. I don’t want my friend to get all hurt…”

“Sweetie, he’ll be alright. We just need to keep our hopes high. I’m sure he’ll make it through.” Gale reassured the filly as I’m just leaning my own weight against the wall to relax myself. Bob, on the other, hoof, was treading carefully along the area and looked left and right before slowly emerging himself from under the train and from the train tracks before returning to us.

It wasn’t until one of the Raiders noticed something moving (specifically Bob), “Hey!” and began to fire a shot at him. He missed the shot, but it was enough to alert other Raiders as the bullet grazed at Bob’s metal sheet. We soon heard gunfire and Bob had successfully squeezed through the open wall, but the bigger problem is that we’ve been spotted.

“Oh shit! Whatever happened must’ve made the Raiders notice him. We’re gonna hoof it and take the train, and get the hell on outta here!”

Fuck! Well, I hope they’re too tired to aim or we’ll become shooting galleries! We should also bear in mind that there are sniper ponies at the watchtowers!

As the sliding gates were opened, we heard yellings from Raiders who are barking orders at each other to spread out and search. Seems we got ourselves a window of opportunity. I was strong enough (thank you, Applejack statuette, or whatever your name was!) and bucked my hind legs against the wooden wall to widen the open space and for us to enter the train station. Easy enough, the wall gave way and widened the gap for us to squeeze through easily and take the train.

The train station was empty within seconds, already turning into a search party, save for two other Raiders at the watchtowers. And the searchlights were already turned on as they moved around in an effort to find us.

I shook Gale for a moment for her to speak for me, “Huh? Oh, right! Avoid the searchlights; those damn sniper ponies are looking to score some headshots…”

We were careful enough to navigate around the moving searchlights easily, with Tootsie Roll grasping tightly around Gale, knowing that she didn’t want to get shot by those bastards.

And we didn’t have enough time as the bright beams were still trying to track us. I wrapped a hoof around the train door’s handle to pry it open. It wasn’t locked, but its sure as hell heavy and rusted! I quickly waved a hoof at the others with a need of help to get this door open and both Gale Storm and Bullseye rushed over to assist me, “Bob, try and keep the searchlights at bay while we get this door open! Avoid getting shot, too!”

There wasn’t any guarantee that Bob has quick reflexes due to his robotic nature but nevertheless, he confirmly nods to her and directs his attention at the searchlights. Tootsie would be worried, but decides its wise to stay quiet and let her friend worry about distracting the sniper ponies while we’re trying to pry the damn door open. Fuck, this thing’s heavier than Celestia and Luna’s two-way with Cadence!

As we were halfway there, we heard firing shots from snipers that landed some shots against Bob. The bullets didn’t pierced him, but they were enough to put a couple of dents on his metallic body. He’s not entirely bulletproof and we need to get this thing open ASAP!

“Almost… there…!” Gale strained along with her words as we finally pried the train door open and I was the first to head inside. “Bob, let’s go!”

While Bob was still alive and well, his body was already dented badly from the gunfire as he quickly skitters inside the train. It didn’t took long for the search party to return and found their base to be compromised and their train - which serves as their mobile hideout - were being hijacked. Fuck! They weren’t far enough to realize this, and even some had never left the train station!

“Quick, Zero! Get us out of here!” Gale ordered me as I quickly rushed over to the conductor; there were two train levers to use, one to move it forward and the other to pull it to a stop. I heard commotion coming from outside of the station and I was darting my head in different places while my friends were trying to settle in and I was quick to push the lever forward in an effort for the train to go. And surprise, surprise; it didn’t even budge! Goddess-dammit all! Has the wastelands cursed me yet again or what?!

Then of course, my eye (I said eye, because my other eye was permanently damaged) diverted to a pile of unused coals and a shovel leaning against the corner of both walls. Up in front lies a lit furnace that’s used to power the train with the use of coals. This could be my one chance to get out of here before the Raiders start breaching in, or worse.

I grabbed the shovel handle with my teeth and started to scoop up the coal and toss them into the lit furnace. (I’m not even sure why they’d use the furnace as a campfire in the first place. Its not a convenient place anyway.)

And after several times of scooping them inside, the heat brimmed the train up to power. There was shouting coming from the Raiders and were all trying to break in. I didn’t look back twice and quickly began to push the lever forward. The train turtled its way along the tracks as it was starting to pick up speed, though I heard a barrage of gunfire as they were still trying to breach inside. I quickly regrouped with the others, with Gale Storm trying to keep the entrance door closed and Bullseye firing back with his revolver through the window, “Shit! Hold them off, Bullseye!”

“I’m trying, but they keep firing! Caray!” Bullseye did his best to keep the Raiders at bay. I wasn’t sure what word he spoke; kinda sounded ancient to me.

Outside of the train, Piledriver barked orders at his fellow Raiders, “Stop that train, you asshats! Nopony hijacks our train and gets away with it! And you fucks better pick up the pace and keep firing!”

As the train slowly lurched forward (even with the lever having pushed forward entirely), it was still being riddled with gunfire and soon, explosions rang out. Oh fuck! Can’t this piece of shit go any faster?! We’re gonna be fucked if this train can’t pick up the pace!

“Out of ammo, boss!”

Despite Bullseye’s efforts, the Raiders kept coming. He had only managed to mortally wound a couple of Raiders yet they seem to be armed to the teeth as they hurled grenades at us in an attempt to blow the train open, “Shit! Take cover!”

BOOOOOOOMMM!!!

We quickly dove out of the way, save for Tootsie who had run off to the back of the train and Bob being hurled back from the blast as a result of an explosion outside, but thankfully unhurt. The wall from the train is still relatively intact, but still enough to create a seemingly large dent, threatening to tear itself an opening if another explosion was let out.

“Dammit, regroup! Tootsie, stay inside the closet; Bob, stay with the filly!” Gale ordered and me and Bullseye regrouped with her while Tootsie Roll quickly retreated inside the closet. And by the goddesses, the E.F.S. is flooded with a sea of red! The train was already starting to pick up the pace, but the Raiders outside kept firing relentlessly with another explosion ringing out as a result of one of their grenades.

BOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Fuck! This isn’t good! The second blast had managed to rip a seemingly large hole from the train, allowing any murder-hungry Raiders to breach inside! I can’t let Tootsie get hurt like this!

“Zero, wait!” Gale extended a hoof to me, but I was already off and running and making it towards another room. She was about to follow me, but stopped when she saw a hoof-ful of Raiders - five of them at least - having already breached the train and prevented her from going any further, “You ponies aren’t going anywhere! And this’ll be your last ride!”

“Shit… Bullseye, get to cover!” Gale immediately flew behind the row of seats to her right while Bullseye went to the left side. “Where did boss ran off to?!”

“I dunno! He left to get Tootsie Roll and Bob, I think! Now, open fire!” She instructed and began opening fire at the Raiders. They took cover as well, save for one who was immediately gunned down and dropped dead to the floor.

“Well, there goes Sledgehammer! He’s a stupid motherfucker anyway!” One of the Raiders proclaimed whilst the others were firing back with their worn-down firearms, “Hey asshole! You and Daisies should check the back of the train while we deal with these wannabe hijackers!”

“Alright, but you owe me a solid, Road Rash! Let’s go, Daisies!” The unnamed Raider led Daisies to the back room while both Road Rash and the other fellow Raider exchanged gunfire at the other two.

I was looking around for Tootsie and Bob, wondering where could they be. “Psst! Zero!”

I could hear the filly’s voice, albeit hushed. I look down and saw both of them hiding underneath the strewn seats. I quickly waved a hoof to Bob, giving an all clear sign. But just as when I was about to give the two an all-clear, my ears start to twitch and I quickly turned my head to see two Raiders approaching and opening fire at me! Fucking goddess! I quickly dove out of the way, with shotgun pellets fired by Daisies barely missing my hind legs. Dammit, I just can’t get a break, can’t I?!

The Raider had smacked Daisies on the back of her head with a hoof, “You bitch, ya missed the shot! Go and find that asshole!”

I didn’t have the time to get a good description of these two; I’m too stuck with a fight-or-flight situation right now! I had the pistol armed to the teeth, readying for an ambush, and I’m hoping Bob can provide assistance. Two-on-one is definitely not in my favor!

Daisies grumbled from the way he chided and looked around for me, “Come out, you little colt… Daisies is gonna push you to your death!”

That was the worst pun I’ve ever heard in my life…

I clenched my teeth around the pistol at the ready, and I still have plenty of ammo to spare, even if there’s not much firepower in this flimsy weapon. Once Daisies arrived within my line of sights, I quickly slid into S.A.T.S. before she could take notice of me.

It seems I have a relatively high percentage on her limbs, including her head and torso. Although judging by the pistol’s weak nature, even landing a headshot isn’t gonna be enough to kill her. I’ll just go for the torso, just to ambush and catch her by surprise.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Not enough, but at least I managed to hit one of her vital organs that sent her reeling back and stumble onto the pile of chairs, “Guh!”

“Shit! Daisies!” He rushed towards me, but is quickly ambushed by Bob’s laser shots once he emerged from underneath the chairs, despite Tootsie’s initial plea to not take the Raider on by himself.

“Ahh! Fuck! What the fuck was that?!” The Raider protested and we soon double-teamed him before he could get any shot at us, and we’re not gonna give him a chance to retaliate.

The poor bastard - whom I don’t feel sorry for - was riddled with bullets and lasers penetrating through him, killing him before he could hit the ground. Seems that me and Bob had planned an unannounced ambush against them both, and I nodded Bob in thanks before Tootsie Roll was second to waddle out from hiding, “I-Is it over?”

I nodded to the filly. Normally, I’d scold her for running off like that, but I think hiding would’ve been a viable choice. She can’t hold her own, even with her robotic companion.

“We need to check on Gale and Bullseye, Zero! We wanna see if they’re okay!”

Yeah, good idea. Let’s hurry back and check with the others. There’s still two more we need to take care of, and fast.

One Raider was already incapacitated as a result from gunfire and the second one was slowly melted into goop. Seems these two made easy work!

Gale stood poised at me with a confident grin, “Where were you when we were gunning down those two remaining Raiders?”

I was getting the filly, Gale! What was I supposed to do, clean windows?!

“Don’t worry, boss. We took care of everything here.”

Well, I was pretty impressed that both Gale Storm and Bullseye had held their own while I was retrieving both Tootsie and Bob. Especially while inside a moving train that’s now up to normal speed along the tracks. Wherever this train will take us, I hope it doesn’t deviate us towards an unspecified location we don’t want.

“Well, now that that’s over, we’ll just relax back and you get to commandeer the train. Oh! Can I have the book about Daring Do, Zero? I want to know about her journey…”

Seeing as how she’s interested in Daring Do, just as how I’m interested in Neighkola Tesla himself, I opened up the saddlebags (which Gale happened to store it inside my saddlebags after having left the temple) and gave it to her. ‘The Adventures of Daring Do’, huh? Well, now I know why. I didn’t want her to leave her disappointed; she deserves it, after all.

“Thanks.” Gale emitted her fangirl-like squeal before beginning to read the very first chapter whilst I entered the cockpit in front. Tootsie had made herself comfortable and sat next to Bullseye, giving him a curious look. “Say, mister Bullseye? What’s it like to be a ghoul?”

Bullseye merely shrugged in response.

“Its a long story. And it all began when the Balefires went off…”

“...in the sweltering summer ten years before the return of Nightmare Moon. I had just completed my first year at the Baltimare University, where I was attending on a full athletics scholarship. I had also been fortunate in that my high school had offered cooperative credit courses with the University, allowing me to start college with several of my general studies requirements already completed – primarily writing and arithmetic, the former because I took every class in it that I could and the latter because I made the effort to get those studies out of the way as swiftly--”

I unintentionally interrupted Gale as I pulled the train horn string down, signifying that we’re arriving at our unknown destination. Tootsie had startled awake along with our ghoul friend as I began to slowly pull the brake lever as to stop the train. I’m surprised was pretty sturdy to withstand those kinds of attacks earlier today.

“Oh, we’re here?” Gale folded the book back and got off of the chair to check up on me inside the cockpit. The train let out a steaming hiss after coming to a full stop. She had kept her book down into my saddlebags.

“Check outside and see while I go get the other three, Zero.”

I confirmly nodded at her instructions and trotted off to head outside, not minding the dead Raider or that melted goop on the floor. I would open the door, but thanks to a grenade blast that had surely left a seemingly large gash from the wall, it’s basically a secondary enter/exit now. Of course though, the edges are too jagged which are sharp enough to cut somepony’s skin open so I simply wrapped a hoof around the train door handle and scrunched my face as I pulled this heavy thing open. Gah! Damn, it feels like its been wedged in!

KREEE-EEEE-EEEE!

And the sound of the door struggling to fully open is irritating to our ears!

There we go… fucking finally! Now to check what the outside is like. I was obviously the first to exit the train and found myself trying to struggle my eye to not get caught from that sudden flare that’s screaming sunlight from the grey clouds. Geez, when was the last time we had actual daylight?!

I looked at the map and it tells us that we’re in Outer New Hampshore…

NEW HAMPSHORE?!

This place was overrun with Cazadores to begin with! Why did this goddess-fucking train took us all the way back to once I came?! I quickly galloped to the other side of the train and darted my head left and right to ensure that no Cazadores are on sight or we’re fucked. To my right faces the docks area, with an unoccupied ferry boat to go for (though I’m gonna safely assume that there’s a captain manning the ship); to my right faces the outer skirts of what was left of New Hampshore. It was only several miles away, but I can see multitude of dots just flying and swarming around the city, with skyscrapers having been festered by those bastard bugs.

Fuck, I’m getting pressured by this…

“Okay, you three. We’re here, but we have to wait until Zero gives us the okay for us to get out of the train and continue on.” She instructed the three while I was still trying to get a clear head, and without trying to scour for PTMs. Okay so returning to New Hampshore is obviously out of the question for the time being and the moat would take us somewhere. There’s also an unintended island stacked up by a bunch of large, fence posts and smoke billowing above. I’m guessing this must lead towards Sharpshooter’s missing wife, though I can’t always guarantee that. But we’re not going back to Nowac until we can confirm that Sharpshooter’s wife is indeed there, be it alive (hopefully) or dead.

Right. I think I’ve collected my thoughts enough for me to get back to my friends and let them know as soon as I entered back inside the partially-damaged train, writing down only two words from my PipBuck (with the use of my muzzle, of course) and showing them that ‘Its clear’.

Gale took a glance at the PipBuck’s screen and gave a confirmed nod to me before turning to the three, “Alright, coast is clear. We should disembark the train now.”

“Ugh, finally! I was sooo bored of sitting around!” Tootsie proclaimed, stretching her small hooves to loosen up her muscles, “C’mon, Bob and… Bullseye! We got some adventuring to do!”

“Well, if you insist, little Tootsie. Let’s see what our boss has something to show us.”

We exited the train and all I could do was point a hoof at the ferry, which will lead us to an unintended island that could take us to Sharpshooter’s abducted wife. At least, that’s what the map indicator of my PipBuck is telling me.

“Hmm… we should check on who’s manning the boat, though. Come on.”

Its more of a ferry than a boat (or a little bit of both), Gale. But yes, I led the others with her as we approached the ferry. There was a blip on the E.F.S. which shows a neutral.friendly ahead. Once we arrived at the boat, we were greeted at by a middle-aged stallion with his sailor outfit. His short, dark brown mane was adorned by a sailor’s cap, with his navy blue eyes and caramel coat akin to Tootsie Roll (almost, of course), “Ahoy there, fellow travelers! What brings you here to New Hampshore? Here for your travels, I presume?”

I’ll just let Gale Storm talk to him for me.

“Not much of a travel, but more of a rescue mission. You see, we’re trying to find some clues regarding a missing somepony and we figured if you could take us over to that island.” She points a hoof towards the direction of the island, “And before you ask, we don’t have enough bits to pay for a one-way trip. Its an urgent mission we have to do.”

After her explanation which required no negotiation for a fee, the older stallion let out a heartfelt laughter, “Only the second trip requires bits for me to take you there, but since this is your first time visiting here, its free of charge! But are you sure you don’t want to take a visit to New Hampshore? Its the best there is!”

Is he clearly unaware that New Hampshore has gone to shit?! I mean, I sure as hope he hasn’t taken any PTMs himself! Even the news I heard from weeks ago stated that it was off-limits due to the Cazadores wreaking havoc with no signs of letting up!

I quickly wrote down several words from my PipBuck to reiterate this - even Gale was unsure if New Hampshore is considered safe to visit - and presented it to the stallion, reading as ‘New Hampshore is overrun by pretty much millions of pony-murdering insects known as the Cazadores’.

He squinted his eyes and muttered softly from the words I’ve put down before recoiling himself back in shock, “Oh dear. That sounds serious, isn’t it? Well, shoot! I’ve been told that New Hampshore was a great city with the memorial of Sapphire Shores to it, but, I guess I was wrong.” He cleared his throat to introduce himself to us, “Anyways, my name’s Salty Spitoon, and I’m the captain of the Sapphire Shores ferryboat! And the only one manning it as well.”

“Hey, Mr. Salty Spitoon? Do you think we get something to eat inside? I’m hungry!”

“Why of course there is, little filly! Not much to go for, but I always make sure to keep them in stock whenever we run out of supplies!” Salty confirmed to us. Good, I always thought we’d eat something before he can take us there.

“But, what’s the catch?” Bullseye neutrally asked the captain. Salty wasn’t sure of this and he’s soon to have an uneasy feeling, “Oh right… I forgot to remind you that this island you folks were talking about is the homeland of the notorious Caesar’s Legion. They’re quite the rare sight, and the last thing you’ll be seeing, too. One look of them and you won’t be making out here alive. Are you ponies absolutely sure you want to go there?”

He was right to be worried for our safety, and it looks like this leads us further to where Orchard Peak is, even if the threat seems very dire. But we still have to check over the island, regardless; we can’t just lie to Sharpshooter to imply the latter if we haven’t investigated ourselves.

“We’ll take that chance. We’ve been through hell before and we sure as hell we’re gonna do it again. For everypony’s sake, too.” She confirmed Salty regarding our intentions.

He gave us a slow nod, “Well, alright then. Climb on aboard, and I’ll take you there. Just gonna have to be discreet if we don’t want to be seen by them.”

I motioned my head to my friends and we boarded ourselves into Salty’s personal ferryboat for us to traverse ourselves into the most dangerous path the Wastelands will put us in. Once there, there was a foghorn blaring out as we were taken to the island that’s currently occupied by the Caesar’s Legion. And I sure hope we were wrong…

Salty had stopped the ferryboat mid-way with Caesar’s Legion guards present at the front gate and had to backtrack to another route to avoid detection. And for good reason, too. However, the terrain seems pretty steep to climb onto and that there aren’t anymore passageways for us to get across without being seen. “Sorry, ponies. But this is as far as I can go. Any further, and these… savages would find us. Things wouldn’t end well.”

“We understand. I’ll fly low and find a secret entrance if any, Salty.” Gale informed the captain, putting her flight and stealth combined to the test. I placed my hoof onto her shoulder and she glanced at me, “Yes, Zero?”

I gave her a nod as a means of telling her good luck and released a soft smile from my lips.

And Gale smiled back at me, “I’ll be okay. Thank you.”

I could feel my heart flutter again from those words. Her voice may show her tomboyish nature (along with her overall appearance), but it also shows her sweetness and caring to it as well. Her wings were unfurled and took flight as she flew off from the ferryboat and carefully glides down just inches along the water without getting herself detected. The island was fairly large, geographically speaking, of course. Knowing Gale, she’s just as fast a flyer than Spitfire herself and it didn’t took long enough for her to find a large, rusted-out sewage pipe that has been unused for centuries since. “Bingo…”

Soon, she regrouped with us with Salty asking, “Have you found an alternative, ma’am?”

She gracefully landed on her hooves and gave him a confirmed nod, “Yup. Its just up ahead on the left. I saw a large, drainage pipe with sewer grates broken off. And nothing gross there is inside, too.”

Tootsie’s face scrunches when she heard the word ‘sewer’, even if Gale confirmed that there was no gross things inside.

“Well, alrighty then! Let’s go there!” Salty had fired up the ferryboat again and carefully drove to the area where Gale had seen.

Seems like this is the place she had found. Impressive, too!

“Here it is. Took us a couple of minutes to get here, but I hope this is the one you’re referring to, ma’am.” Salty had soon begun to set up the walkboard connecting between the ferryboat and the entrance of the large, drainage pipe, with the sewer grate being ripped open. Well, this looks like our official stop.

I motioned to the three for us to disembark the ferryboat. Bob was already tired of waiting and hitched himself up to my back as I was the first to leave the boat with Bullseye giving me a hint of a tease, “‘ey boss. This Gale is checking you out. ANd she likes you too, hombre.”

Fuck! Can you not mention that, Bullseye?! My face is burning up again! My inner thoughts shouted; this ghoul pony HAD to bring that subject up!

Need to stay calm and focus on the matter at hoof here…

“We’ll be back once we rescued somepony trapped in this island. We hope that she’s still alive. Give us at least three hours or less for us to come back. I really hate to carry my friends back to New Hampshore once that’s over…” Gale instructed the captain and Salty nodded a bit, “Well, alright. Just be careful when you get there. Those Caesar’s Legion are not to be taken lightly…”

We’ve been through hell before, and the Wastelands had already scratched the surface. Tootsie held close to the older mare from the inadequate lighting inside the drainage as I had turned on the flashlight from my PipBuck to illuminate the darkness. I have a feeling that darkness will be the least of our worries…

We heard faint, chanting noises up above as we were climbing up the ladder leading the exit. I don’t think this sounds good; its like they’re saying words that are… un-goddess-like. As I slowly and carefully opened the sewer lid, I took a peek and saw a row of ponies, several whom are wearing animal hide (specifically foxes) adorned with some armored plating to it, along with flag banners onto their backs. I didn’t took a clearer look, but from its overall outfits, its clear that they are indeed the Caesar’s Legion. And their looks are just the beginning.

I slowly scanned around to see if there are anything for us to move behind them without being caught by those… those sadists. And I call them sadists because from the way they’re wearing and judging by their natures, its become clear that it spells trouble. And a huge one, too.

“What are you looking for, Zero?” Gale carefully whispered to me, I pointed a hoof to the corner where the tents are for us to stealthily move along.

I was the first to exit the drainage entrance and she was quick to hold it open without causing noise. And I was also quick and stealthy enough to get behind one the tents, with Bob in tow on my back as well. “Follow my lead.” The ex-Enclave carefully instructed both Tootsie and Bullseye; she was the second to exit and leaving the manhole open and docked her wings back before making a dash towards the tent I’m in. The other two had followed suit, the filly grimacing at the sight of Bullseye’s ghoul body, which felt like mold upon holding his hoof.

One of the Legion had turned around upon sensing suspicion and nudged to his fellow comrade to notify the situation, “Seems we have intruders in our territory…”

The other Legion nods and silently heads over to its leader to inform what’s going on. Meanwhile, we were just catching our breath and I’m still wondering how we’re ever gonna find Orchard Peak if all the E.F.S. is showing are nothing but a sea of red. Seems one of them moved, but I can’t be too sure about this.

“Is everypony okay?” Gale whisperdry asked and we gave a confirmed nod to her, “Good. Let’s find Orchard Peak and get out of here while we still can.”

Let’s hope so. We’re in an extremely dangerous and hostile territory and if we’re caught by one or more of those Caesar’s Legion, then we’re as good as dead. And I don’t think I have any spare Stealth Bucks with me for us to even search for her without being detected and even so, there’s no guarantee. Its even considered too powerful and harmful for a young filly like Tootsie Roll.

All we could do now was to keep moving. Of course, my ears emitted spasms as to indicate that one or more of them are already on the move and searching for us. Ohhh fuck this shit. The Wastelands seriously can’t catch a break, can it?

I held my hoof around Gale’s - even though my face is instantly flaring up yet again - and apparently, she, too, was blushing! “Umm… Zero? What are you holding my hoof for?”

Fuck, now’s not the time for me to get nervous! I pulled Gale close to me for safety purposes but… dammit, now’s not the time for my face to be burning up intensely now! Need to stick with the mission at hoof!

I showed her my PipBuck, displaying the E.F.S. which indicates a sea of red blips, with some of them already on the move while the rest were just standing in one place.

“Uh oh… we need to stay close together, guys. They’re already trying to search for us and we need to look for Orchard Peak, and fast.”

All three of them huddled close to us and we continued to search around for Sharpshooter’s missing wife. However, its gotten complicated now that some of the Caesar’s Legion members were already on the move. There are also dead ponies, mostly mutilated and crucified, too. I cringe at the sight. Even Tootsie can’t bear to look and had already hid her face onto the side of Gale. Fucking hell…

I didn’t want to stop to glance at their horrific demises. Orchard Peak is still our priority, though judging by the way these sadists used their victims as a form of ritual of some sort, its clear that the island was isolated outside of the Equestrian Wastelands, though not uncommon for these sadists to be roaming themselves around in the Wastelands in search for potential victims. Even if you’d strike a bargain with them, they’ll just turn their backs against you and use you as a sacrifice.

Even if there would be a green blip to the E.F.S., its difficult to tell; there’s too many of those Legionnaires.

Focus, Zero. Just find Orchard Peak and if she’s alive or dead, just escape ASAP. No exceptions!

Thanks, my inner self. I really appreciate the optimism when really, we’re just traversing through hell island. Of course, we still haven’t been spotted yet, though I soon heard a couple of words from one of the Caesar’s Legion, mentioning about increasing search priorities and all the red blips had started to move. Goddess-fucking-dammit! They’ve grown increasingly suspicious of us!

And there aren’t any alternatives, either. Its make or break time.

“C’mon, Zero. Stay focused. We don’t have much time left; just find Orchard Peak and let’s get out of here.”

She’s right. We have little time left, too. If we don’t get the hell out of here when we find Orchard Peak, we’ll become the next victims for their sadistic rituals! Where is she?!

Eventually, we found Orchard Peak… or what’s left of her…

I was trying to not throw up at her mutilated remains; she didn’t even last a day (and its now difficult to describe her appearance). Gale stood there in horror and immediately gagged before galloping off to the other side, with audible, retching noises and forcing her stomach to relinquish her meal.

“Whoa… that’s sick, boss. I assume they’ve done this?”

No doubt about it, Bullseye. This was the Caesar’s Legion’s doing. Even Bob was covering his robotic eyes with his metal claws; even he can’t stand to look at this… this heinous act committed by them.

And don’t get me started with Tootsie Roll either. The last thing I want is to traumatize her even further.

As Gale returned with her wobbling hooves, I spotted a partially-bloodied note written along.

‘Sharpshooter, if you’re reading this, then that means I’m already dead. The Caesar’s Legion had brokered their deal with both the Slavers and Poppy Blossom herself, whom she thought of me being a liability, or that she thinks that she was short on caps and hired the Slavers on me. Unfortunately, help is too little, too late. I’m already gone, and there were too many of them that any escape will result in a death penalty. I died either way. Sharpshooter, I love you, and I hope I see you in your dreams… -Orchard Peak’

This was a will, and a final one too.

“Oh no… is… is this what’s left of Orchard Peak?” She looked on in dismay.

I solemnly nodded to Gale. This was Poppy Blossom’s doing, and the Slavers were an alibi. She imposed a hit on Sharpshooter’s wife in an attempt to earn a quick payment on caps. Caps are good for keeping ammo, food and parts in stock, but this was earned out of pure greed and possibly jealousy. I carefully scooped up the note with a hoof and stored it into my saddlebags. I looked back and see that they were still searching for us. Even with proper ammo with us, we won’t stand a chance against the Caesar’s Legion. Theirs are in good condition and they also have spears that almost never misses their preys.

I quickly guided my friends inside a nearby, empty base camp, with at least two medical boxes on both sides, even another manhole of what appears to be our way out. I hope. I pointed my hoof to both medical boxes for both Gale Storm and Bullseye to retrieve and I motioned over to Tootsie to help me open up the lid.

“I want out of this craziness, Zero…”

Trust me, Tootsie. I want out of this hellhole, too. And once we’re out of here, we’re gonna frame Poppy Blossom so hard that her true colors will be revealed. What lies under the smile of a friendly, carefree mare, is a heartless, sadistic monster.

“Alright… got them! Let’s get on out of here before they’d find us here!”

Almost… there… (For fucks sakes, this lid is heavy!)

There! Its open!

I was the first to climb down the ladder leading down to the sewage. Gotta love that stinky smell which doesn’t involve gore or any other things that would make us end up like poor old Orchard Peak. And we have a second, major threat to deal with besides the Cazadores currently ravaging New Hampshore.

Soon, everypony else had followed me and we made a mad dash for an exit, though the path is basically different than when we first entered. “Please lead us the way where we first entered, Zero.”

And it wasn’t long before we heard faint commotion behind us, one notifying his member that we must’ve escaped inside this manhole. Dammit, this is fucked up from the very start! And to engage a gun battle against them is obviously suicide! Their numbers are far too great!

Just gotta keep moving. I have to understand the patterns of behavior inside the maze-like sewage which is also hell.

And Sharpshooter won’t be liking the news…

“Salty! Get us out of here, quick!”

The captain had startled himself awake whilst he was waiting for us. He fell off of his chair and landed himself onto the wooden floor. He was briefly dazed but had quickly gotten himself up to his hooves and batting his eyes at us, “Why, what’s going on? Did you fellers find anything?”

She immediately shook her head, “No time to explain, take us back before the Caesar’s Legion finds us!”

I immediately vaulted myself forward and onto the ferryboat, with the other three having hopped along as well. Gale simply glided herself to board onto the boat before the captain had immediately fired up the engines and began to evacuate us from the island. Of course, knowing how slow this is, despite having the throttle stick pushed at maximum, this resulted in six of the Caesar’s Legion emerging from the sewage entrance/exit thanks to their flesh-eating dogs leading their way to us before shouting and hurled spears at the boat, piercing through the wooden walls.

Fuck! Near miss! I quickly backpedalled against Gale as more spears were thrown, still managing to pierce through the ferryboat before we finally made a miraculous yet narrow escape. Salty had managed to keep himself under control, even with the spear tip dangerously close to the side of his head. “All aboard to New Hampshore!”

The Legionnaires had stopped attacking the boat, seeing it fully retreating. One of them turns his attention to his fellow Legionnaires and raises a hoof and rests onto his fellow ally’s shoulder. “Caesar must know about this. That we have unwanted trespassers into our territory, and had shown no honor among the Legion.”

Another one nods in approval. “Yes. We shall show them what its like to be feared by the Caesar’s Legion. Everypony in the Wastelands shall kneel before us, and with utter mercy as well…”

Fuck…

This was definitely not our day to start off with. The search wasn’t cold. It was bloody. If she wasn’t completely matted with her own blood - guts included - I would’ve at least get a description of her. Right now, all I have is Orchard’s note to go for. And that note was her last will, too.

“So, what happened out there ponies? Also, she ain’t gonna be running for long. One of those primitive spears had somehow pierced the engine bay.”

Seems the worst is yet to come. One of the spears thrown by the Caesar’s Legion had managed to penetrate into the boat’s engine as it began to make violent, rattling noises inside. And then, a small explosion from the engine bay as it had slowly lurched to a stop, just halfway to New Hampshore, too. And that was before Gale even had the time to explain too.

“Well, bugger… engine is out, ponies! Looks like we’re gonna be drifting ‘till we get to New Hampshore.”

Of course, he heads to the room to check up on us, all whom expressed disappointment save for me. I was merely relaxing next to Gale, trying to forget the horrific sight.

Gale expressed a disappointed sigh and draped her wing around me before finally explaining the recent events we’ve been through, “Well, we were trying to escape after we found Orchard Peak or… or was left of her anyway. To make matters worse, the Caesar’s Legion were searching for us and the numbers were too big, we would’ve been easily outnumbered. And I don’t think this is the last time we encountered them…” She gingerly rubs a hoof around the sleeping filly’s mane.

He slowly nodded to her explanation, “I see. So the rumors about the Caesar’s Legion were true after all. They’re indeed one of the most intimidated ponies in the Equestrian Wastelands ponykind has ever known. Now you fellers understand why.”

As we arrived back to the outskirts of New Hampshore, we understood the Caesar’s Legion’s sadistic intentions. Now we’re just gonna hope we can fend them off for ourselves or even lure them to different factions to duke each other out. Of course, Raiders wouldn’t stand a chance against them, but now that we know we were up against, its a whole new game for the Wastelands’ twisted surprise.

“We’ll keep on the lookout in the future, then… thanks for helping out, Salty Spitoon. We have to go now.” Gale got herself off of the completely-damaged ferry boat and we followed her along. The partially-damaged train was still waiting for us and our ticket back to Nowac, hopefully.

“You fellers take care now, ya hear!”

We had soon left the outskirts of New Hampshore via train and on hoof again. Its time to tell Sharpshooter about Orchard Peak’s fate before we confront Poppy Blossom.

We did scoured along the train station and grabbed whatever that’s deemed edible - food, presumably - to hold back the hunger before making our way back to Nowac, ammo included. It was a fairly long trip, but we need to tell Sharpshooter about this and have Poppy Blossom turn herself in. And its obvious that she’ll be doing so the hard way.

It was already dusk, but nevertheless we arrived inside the Homage Gift Shop building to find Sharpshooter. He’s still up on the lookout area, having never left at all.

His eyes were on us, expecting a news.

“So, you came back. Is Orchard Peak alive in there?”

This was gonna be a hard pill to swallow. And Gale was the first to hand out his wife’s untimely demise, “Your wife didn’t make it… she was killed by Caesar’s Legion. But that’s not all; Poppy Blossom was the main reason Orchard Peak was kidnapped as a result of paying off Slavers to have her kidnapped. It was really difficult to determine because well… she was cut into pieces. Zero, show him the note.”

Sharpshooter was dealt with an emotional blow inside, his heart having immediately dropped down, and that was just the beginning. I pulled the note from the saddlebag and showed it to him. Sharpshooter was visibly shaken and once he began to look at the note and read a few notes written to it, he was left speechless.

Words couldn’t describe on how completely heartbroken he is when it comes to having his loved ones - namely his wife - abducted and being killed, even if a ransom was met. The final outcome would’ve been the same…

“O...Orchard… is…”

He quickly stormed out of the building to confront Poppy Blossom.

“H-Hey, wait!” Gale extended a hoof to Sharpshooter with no avail.

“Boss, let’s try and stop him! We don’t want him to do anything harsh!”

No need to tell me twice, Bullseye! “Come on, we don’t want him to do anything bad!” Tootsie voiced as well.

Once we quickly left the gift shop, we immediately arrived at the main office where Sharpshooter was pinning Poppy against the wall, with the muzzle of his rifle pressed against her forehead. He was already vengeful. (But this isn’t the kind of revenge we wanted to witness.)

“Say your prayers, bitch! Because of you, my wife is dead!! You better have those final words before I splatter your brains all over the fucking wall!!!” He screamed out with pure anger boiling within his blood.

“W-Wait! Y-Y-Y-Your wife i-i-is just a mere afterthought! W...We can work this out, Sharpshooter! Come on, I hired you as security for a reason; to keep Nowac safe and serene!” Poppy pleaded mercy with the vengeful stallion, and she was sweating from his enraged behavior.

It wasn’t long before we were the first to intervene, “Sharpshooter, stop! Killing her isn’t gonna solve anything!” Gale attempted to reason with him. I stood there cautiously, strafing on the right side while she was speaking out to him for me. She’s my voice and I’m the one solving the rest.

“Tootsie, Bob, get behind Bullseye! Bullseye, cover me if anything goes wrong!” She ordered her friends; Tootsie and Bob stood behind to Bullseye whilst Bullseye readies his revolver.

I merely stood back and ensure that the situation is defused.

Sharpshooter gave a glance to her, his eyes already burning with revenge, “Don’t tell me you’re going soft on Poppy! The skank is gonna get what’s coming because my wife is dead!!”

“You’re wrong. Very wrong. She may be the main culprit behind the abduction of Orchard Peak, but killing Poppy isn’t gonna bring your wife back; it’ll only lead you to more despair.” She kept her civility and reasoned with him further.

“D-Do as she says! Killing me isn’t going to--”

Sharpshooter quickly cut Poppy off before she could finish her sentence and forcefully swings the rifle’s muzzle against her cheek.

THWACK!

“SHUT UP!”

Poppy coughed up blood from receiving a harsh blow. Gale immediately stomped her hoof and approached to him with a stern expression. Bullseye kept his aim steady, knowing that he won’t shoot unless if ordered to or if the situation gets out of hoof, “Stop this now! If you kill her now, you will feel even more devastated because your wife is dead! Killing her will not solve everything! I ask you this before you do anything harsh; is this what your wife wanted? Does she accept you of your desire to kill a pony, even though she’s dead? No. She doesn’t want that.”

Sharpshooter’s ears were picked up by her words, and her words were right. Its not worth killing somepony as an act of revenge. Revenge will get you nowhere. Even if you were to avenge a loved one by murdering a pony, it yields no rewards. Just anguish and despair, just like how the Wastelands would want.

Once he lowered his guard, I swiftly moved in and pinned him against the wall with his own rifle. I gave him a similar look to Gale’s as she closed in on him, her expression solemn.

“Orchard Peak wouldn’t be happy if you were to kill Poppy, or any other pony, just to satisfy your revenge. It only makes matters worse. And the fact of the matter is that your wife wouldn’t allow you to kill unless if its in self-defense. Please, take great consideration to this, Sharpshooter. Is this what your wife wanted?”

I nodded to Gale for me to write down a hoof-ful of words and she kept him pinned against the wall. He was already surrendering, realizing that rage was clouding his mind and realizing that killing the perpetrator will get him nowhere. Once that’s done, I wrote down three, simple yet important words from the PipBuck and showed him that was displayed on the screen.

‘Vengeance Solves Nothing’

Eventually, he gave in.

“Y...You’re right, I… I don’t think Orchard Peak wanted this… and if she were alive, she’d scold me for that…”

We soon released him after Sharpshooter had seen the error of ways. That revenge doesn’t solve anything, even if its for a good cause.

Bullseye had soon lowered the weapon and Tootsie - who was covering her ears - poked her head to look at the three, relieved to see the situation defused.

“Good… now, just don’t do anything harsh and talk to Scrap Heap. He’ll be there to help you out.” Gale briefly consoled him and we let him leave the office. She then diverted attention to Poppy (still coughing up a bit of blood from the attack), who was about to thank her but was cut off again, “And you, you’re not off the hook yet. You’re coming with us, and you’re gonna turn yourself in for the crime you caused.

And she was serious for a reason as she pointed her scorpion-like tail close to her, “And you’re not gonna have second thoughts. Got it?”

Poppy Blossom has had enough abuse from Sharpshooter himself and the last thing she wants is being pierced through by Gale Storm. And I was thinking the same thing as well; its time that she turns herself in for the heinous crimes she caused.

“O...Okay… just… just don’t bring me to Sharpshooter, please…” She pleaded us, showing no intention to turn her tail and escape.

We gave her a firm nod, “Good. Because I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.” She kept her tail pointed under her chin and we left the office and out of Nowac. Tootsie Roll blew a raspberry at Poppy, “Big meanie!”

Seems that even the filly hates her.

Along the way back to Stable Town with Poppy Blossom in tow, my ears started to twitch and swivel at the direction, which are pointing up. I glanced up at the skies and let out a shocked gasp. Not good…

“Hmm? What is it, Zero? Something wrong?”

I pointed a hoof up to the direction of the skies; many, large-looking shadows were mobile and moving forward to our direction. And not the Cazadores as they’re too slow to fly. Instead, they resemble as large ships.

“Hmm…” She squinted her eyes and soon let out a worried look on her face as her ears folded back, “No… no, it can’t be…!”

“What can’t it be?” Bullseye asked. He himself wasn’t worried, but he’s sure as hell concerned.

“The Grand Pegasus Enclave are on the move…”

Fuck… seems they’ve increased priority into searching my friend further, and they’re seriously determined to find and retrieve Gale Storm for treason.

We need to get to Stable Town to take Poppy Blossom into a holding cell, and move further away if necessary. I just hope to Goddess we’re not too late…

Footnote: Level Up.
Skills Note: Science has reached 100%
New Perk: Adrenaline Rush – You have a fear of death that allows you to fight harder when you are wounded. When your character's HP drop below 75% of their maximum, your character gains a +2 Strength bonus, but cannot go above the racial maximum.

Chapter Twenty-One: Breach of the Peace

Five days ago:

A knock on the door was heard.

“Who is it?”

“Its Ginger Snaps, with cadet Lock-On to give you the debrief, Polar Storm. And its not a good one either…”

Polar was very stern and already began to grow a weary expression on his face, “Come on in, and this better not involve my daughter killing off our own soldiers, Ginger Snaps.”

Ginger Snaps dangerously gritted her teeth and gave a sharp stare at Lock-On, who was hesitant to follow her. “U-Umm… mister Polar? I umm… I lost my bag and…”

The older stallion coldly narrowed his eyes at the younger colt, “And? Did you find Gale Storm?”

She shook her head in response. “No sir. We found no signs of her.” She quickly shot up another glare at the cadet, “And its because YOU don’t know how to look after your belongings, you little shit! What do you have to say for our leader, huh?!”

Lock-On stammered nervously as he glances up to Polar, fearing something worse than punishment.

“Lock-On, you’ll be on cleaning duty for the next five months for your lack of proper guard for your belongings! And as for you, Ginger Snaps, you are off-duty until further notice. Both of you did a terrible job at finding my daughter!” Polar roared out in anger and disappointment upon handing them out stiff punishments. Ginger gritted her teeth from this and gave a sharp glare to the cadet, “This is all YOUR fault! We got our punishment because YOU decided to whine over your stolen, filly backpack than finding Gale! Fucking little brat!”

The leader stomped his hoof onto the desk to clear things up, “Silence! You two are dismissed until further notice! No exceptions! I will start to send out more troops to increase search priority to search and retrieve my daughter whilst you two will be sitting back and think about what you’ve done! Understood?!”

Ginger Snaps was quick to feign her smile and even nervously nods to him, “Y-Y-Yes sir! We’ll gladly take the punishments, sir!”

“Good. Dismissed!” Polar dismissively waved a hoof at the two as they leave his office. She seethed her teeth angrily at Lock-On as they left, “I’ll have your head if you continue to fuck this up!”

Lock-On simply whined at her threats. Meanwhile, Polar Storm activates the intercom to begin his announcement to his fellow soldiers, with speakerphones heard throughout northern Itrotly:

“My fellow Enclave soldiers, I have announcement regarding the search of my daughter and to increase top priority for it. Half of the soldiers will be deployed for increasing the search of my runaway daughter and ex-Grand Pegasus Enclave, whom she must be dealt with punishment from treason. I hate to do this to my own daughter, but action MUST be taken and if she has friends, they shall be taken in for questioning! Only those who are willing to stay and patrol northern Itrotly will do so, while the other half will be deployed throughout Equestria to search and retrieve Gale Storm, and that she must be brought in alive. Now, go and search for my daughter!”

Soon after his announcement, hundreds of Grand Pegasus Enclave soldiers had boarded the Raptors and were deployed from Itrotly to mainland Equestria in search for Gale Storm. Of course, half of the other Enclave soldiers remained within the northern region to guard and patrol whereas Lock-On and Ginger Snaps had also remained, albeit with punishment until further notice.

Today:

With Poppy Blossom in a holding cell for her crimes, we left the Sheriff's Station and let Quickdraw handle everything from here. With so many Raptor planes having flown past by from above, its clear that the Grand Pegasus Enclave had already set a maximum priority in searching and retrieving Gale Storm. Seems that peace in our time has been breached. Our break was cut short as a result of them.

Sweet Cheeks waved a hoof and called out for us, “Guys! Get in Stable 75! Quick!”

I glanced up at the skies and I was worried that they could make a landing anytime now. And darting my head to the direction of the town, the whole pony citizens were already in lockdown, and a real one this time. “Zero, we can’t stay out in the open like this. I don’t want to be spotted by them, and we have to take shelter in Stable 75.”

Gale’s right. We can’t afford to leave ourselves out in the open like this. Not when one of the Raptors would make a landing at anytime just to interrogate anypony in order to obtain any information of my friend or risk death. I motioned my hoof to the rest and we were led into Stable 75 by Sweet Cheeks before the large, Stable door behind us closed shut.

Inside, there were employees and other citizens who sought shelter inside, with random, exchanged conversations regarding the current situation. And there wasn’t anyplace to sit or relax; it was a full house.

“Whoa… didn’t expect lots of ponies in one Stable.”

I couldn’t agree more, Gale. Tootsie stood cautiously next to me with Bob following suit; they were afraid of getting themselves separated from us. Sweet Cheeks further explained to us, “We had also heard on the radio when DJ-P0N3 informed us that the Enclave were heading to Equestria to search for their umm…” She briefly paused with uncertainty, afraid of mentioning Gale’s name, “Soldier gone rogue…”

As Bullseye was getting mixed reactions from the pony settlers in Stable 75, the ex-Enclave soldier’s ears fell flat from the words ‘soldier gone rogue’, but I reassured her by gingerly pressing my hoof to her shoulder to let her know that everything will be all right. Her younger sister stepped in, glancing to her older sibling and back to me. “I assume you ponies made it out okay?”

Bullseye took a glance at Cloud Storm, “Yes, boss made us out okay.”

When Cloud gave her first impression to our ghoul companion, she was aghast and backpedalled at the sight, “Wah! G-G-Ghoul pony! Don’t eat my brain!”

I don’t get it. Bullseye is a ghoul pony, not a zombified pony. (Unless if that’s the same thing, then I call bullshit.)

Even Bullseye was left confused before Tootsie quickly galloped over to her, “He’s not a zombie, Cloud! He’s a nice, not-zombified ghoul pony!”

“Yeah umm… what the filly said.” Bullseye further reiterated with a hint of uncertainty to it. Guess he felt a little offended from being mistaken as a zombie.

Her older sister had also reassured Cloud, “Sis, this is Bullseye. And he means no harm to us, honest.”

Cloud cleared her throat to refresh her mind. “R-Right, sorry about that… pleased to meet you, I’m Cloud Storm!” She’d extend her hoof, but lowers it back down, afraid of getting the slimy feel of Bullseye’s decaying yet living body. She cleared her throat to give us the latest information, “Right. As I was saying, DJ-P0N3 had given out the latest news regarding the Grand Pegasus Enclave having already mobilized in search for their ‘high-value target’ and…” She was hesitant to let out a heavy gulp and whispered to her older sister, “...they’re looking for you, Gale.”

Gale gasped out in shock before she quickly covered her hoof to her mouth, “Shhhh! We can’t cause a commotion on here. Not without resorting into panic”.

While Tootsie Roll had huddled close to me to not get herself lost, Sweet Cheeks agreed to Cloud, “Yes, I agree with Cloud Storm. We need to go somewhere more private deep within Stable 75. If any, we’ll have to be under the radar. That includes you, Zero. Your PipBuck acts as the homing beacon outside, in case you’re wondering.”

Wait… I’m being tracked as well?! How?! I never tinkered around my PipBuck, or even installed a tracker to it unless… its automated! Dammit! Why hasn’t Neighkola Tesla warned me that the PipBuck 4000 acts like a homing beacon to it?! Maybe if I can override it and remove that feature, I should be fine… if I had the right tools, that is!

I was really, really baffled from Sweet Cheek’s comment. Has she been researching this whole time while we were away? I can’t believe such a high-end technology would have cons mixed with pros…

I tried to hide the PipBuck away but that was already too late. They already found out and all I can do was reluctantly nod. Sweet Cheeks instructed her employers, “I want you Stable Dwellers to handle the situation for our citizens in Stable Town until Quickdraw gives us the okay to go outside. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am!” The Stable 75 staff salutes to their Overmare and Sweet Cheeks and Cloud Storm soon led us to a secret passage that only Sweet Cheeks herself has access to. Inside reveals a seemingly empty passageway which soon reveals to be a storage room inside, but there’s more to it; ahead leads us to an underground path, not like those filthy sewers.

“Alright, everypony. This is the room where we use it for an emergency escape, though its not needed because we currently have a wide variety of supplies, such as food, clothing, medicine and appliances.” The Overmare explained upon revealing her secret passageway to us before continuing, “There’s also a path that’ll lead us to… goddess knows where. I’m not allowed to tell anypony about this, not even to my settlers, so I want all of you to Pinkie Promise to never tell anypony about this. Understood?”

Well, as long as we’re safe and hidden, albeit with a small amount of oxygen coming from the ventilation shafts, we should be fine without Enclave soldiers snooping around for us.

Cloud had also approached softly to me, “Please take great care of my sister. I know she can handle herself, but as long as she exiled herself from the Grand Pegasus Enclave, they won’t stop until they have found her, and even you ponies as well. That means you too, Zero.” She held my hoof up for her to look at the PipBuck 4000, “I’m not sure how your PipBuck was fitted with a tracker for any high-end factions to detect, but for whatever reason, it activated a beacon to allow them to track you far too easily. You’ll need something to countermeasure this or you’ll just make yourself an easy target and making you an easy target, no matter how well-prepared you are. I can’t tell you what as this PipBuck is far too advanced than the 3000 model would. I’m afraid this puts you and your friends more at risk unless you have a way to completely mask your whereabouts. You as a scientist have to figure out a way somehow.”

WHAT?! I’m being TRACKED?! Goddammit, Neighkola Tesla! How in the ever-loving fuck would you do this to me?! Why haven’t you told me that you had placed a beacon in this fucking PipBuck in the first place?! Why, oh why, must you add a beacon instead of - oh I don’t know - a tracker that can find other PipBuck users?!

Sure there aren’t many factions who aren’t too skilled with technology -Raiders being a perfect example - but for high-end factions like the Grand Pegasus Enclave, or even other highly-technological ones, is just as fucked up as Dr. Scalpel’s experiments!

Already in a state of panic, I tried to pry this accursed PipBuck off of my hoof, but Gale Storm was quick to intervene, “Don’t, Zero! Don’t do this to yourself. And don’t leave yourself PipBuck-less…”

I froze. And gazed to Gale with a guilt-ridden expression, too.

“Cloud’s right. You’re a scientist. You can find a way to solve this, just… just calm down, please. Especially not in front of a young filly.”

As she consoled me, I slowly moved my head to see Tootsie huddled behind Bob, looking scared and worried about my well-being. Bullseye merely stood there, expressionless. “When will we go, boss?”

That’s all he could say.

And unless there’s an unknown devices that masks my presence, I can’t risk tampering with it such as an EMP that could potentially disable the PipBuck 4000 and stop functioning altogether, even resulting in severely injuring myself. A device that’s highly-advanced will be very difficult to find. And even if there’s one available, it’ll be either nonfunctional or it will be functional by a vendor, but at exhorbitantly high costs in caps. And even black market ones wouldn’t sell a rare piece at cheap prices, either.

It took me at least one minute to get a clear head before nodding my head to Sweet Cheeks. Its time for us to be dwellers, I suppose.

“Good. Then let’s get going, Zero. We have enough supplies for us to venture underground. Thanks, Sweet Cheeks.”

Sweet Cheeks nodded. “We’ll have more than enough supplies to keep the inhabitants nice and healthy. Please be careful out there, everypony. We’re counting on you.”

Guess we’re truly going underground for the time being. If we try to reach the surface, then we’ll have the Grand Pegasus Enclave waiting on us. And I can’t let them get my friend.

Looks like now we have a long, undisclosed road ahead of us.

As troops mobilized to mainland Equestria, they thoroughly interrogated everypony they find who aren’t deemed armed and dangerous whilst they made regular killings to armed Raiders and the others that are deemed dangerous, mainly irradiated creatures dwelling around the Wastelands. Of course, that’s not what the Wastelands had in their minds, right? At least the Grand Pegasus Enclave won’t kill the innocent until proven otherwise. They were here for a reason; to search and retrieve their troop in exile.

Moreso, they had a recent, state-of-the-art technology that rivals Arcane’s version which allows them to detect any PipBucks nearby, though so far, they are too few and far between.

With their search in vain, they continued on along.

And in the meantime, we were still travelling along the narrow tunnel which I’m not greatly fond of and we’re wondering if Sweet Cheek’s suggestions seem a little exaggerated. We need oxygen sooner or later, lest we die from lack of air, even if the air itself is dead.

My friends were already suffocating, save for Bob who needs no oxygen due to him being an autonomous robot, “Zero, when will we ever get to the surface? I know Sweet Cheeks expressed concern regarding my own faction, but there’s no ventilation here and we need to resurface. Even if it meant that the Grand Pegasus Enclave would start searching for us, we have to get oxygen or risk suffocation.”

I’m not entirely sure, Gale. All I’m doing is leading you guys to whatever the Wastelands will take us. Luckily, the ladder up ahead that leads us back up to the surface isn’t too far. Might as well see what awaits us.

Nothing.

There wasn’t any sign of life for the moment. Just a vast, empty and isolated environment.

That’s a first; probably the last, too. I became unaware that the PipBuck 4000 I’m wearing had silently activated its beacon inside, which is difficult to gain access to without some arcane magic and very advanced decoding programs and deactivate it.

Still though, at least its empty, though the clouds are relatively thick, which might indicate that nighttime has already arrived. Might as well look for any place that isn’t riddled with pony-eating creatures. Maybe I could find a real and reliable weapon along the way to protect ourselves.

“Its so dark and spoookyyyy…” Tootsie huddled close to us, her robotic companion following suit. As isolated as it seems, we can’t just stand there and wait; we have to keep moving no matter what.

“Zero, let’s keep moving. We can’t afford to stay in one place, especially since we don’t know where we are.”

Agreed, Gale. All I could do was pull her close to me in a protective manner, which made her cheeks flush a tint of red in return. I won’t let the Grand Pegasus Enclave find us, especially you. Of course, if they do find me, they’ll just brutally interrogate me. As for the Steel Rangers? Well, they have a strict shoot-on-sight policy for the sake of technology for their own, selfish purposes.

As we kept going, my eyes (or simply eye) is starting to grow heavy on me, tiredness was beginning to set in. Yet I can’t fall asleep now or the next day I’ll wake up bound to a chair being wrongfully and brutally beaten alive as a means of interrogation.

“Are you okay, Zero? You don’t look too good.” Gale noticed of my deprived looks on my face; all the battles we’ve been through so far and to capture Poppy Blossom with little rest to go for is eventually gonna take its toll on both my body and my mind, thus leaving me wide open for the Wastelands to do nasty things on me and my friends. Even if Gale Storm would help, it won’t be enough.

There just has to be a place to rest, yet the visibility is too dark to see anything.

“Hmm… there! Everypony, let’s rest up over there by the house.”

The house? Wait, we’re in a residential area? But the streetlights were burnt out to the point where normal visibility is nonexistent! What trickery is this?! Fuck, my head’s feeling heavy and I’m slowly nodding off…

We entered inside and I was guided off to a nearby bedroom by Gale Storm, whereas Bullseye and Tootsie Roll relax themselves on the worn-out sofa. “Whew! My hoofsies are getting tired!”

“You tell me, little Tootsie.” Bullseye replied, with an expressionless look but still showing hints of tiredness after a pretty lengthy trek.

As I kept nodding myself to stay away, Gale had carefully set me down on the bed and rested herself next to me. I felt her wing tucked around me, which provided warmth since there were no bedsheets. I’m too worn out to even object so I’ll let this one go for the time being. I’m hoping the next day we don’t end up waking up with bullet holes festered from our bodies.

I felt a nudge from Gale, her nose pressed against my cheek, “Time to wake up, Zero. We have to keep moving.”

Well, at least I’m well-rested and not suffering from sleep deprivation. But to stay in one place means we’ll eventually be discovered by the Grand Pegasus Enclave, and even arrest Gale Storm for defecting her faction. We went to get Bullseye and Tootsie Roll, Bob included, but as we are about to leave, there are scores of Enclave soldiers having already arrived outside and are searching house to house. Shit! How did they get there so fast?!

“Oh no… they’re here already…” Gale quickly scanned around the room to see if there are any alternate exits, and she was indeed quick enough to find a door that leads down the basement (and hopefully not a dead end). She groaned out when she noticed that the door is locked, “Dammit… Zero, we need a lockpick for this!”

Tootsie’s ears perked up and quickly grabs a screwdriver and lockpick from my bag, “Coming, Gale Storm! One lockpick-unlocking coming right up!”

Bullseye carefully looked out the window, witnessing a fairly large number of Grand Pegasus Enclave troopers scouting house-to-house. “Boss, looks like they’re looking for us.”

Well no shit, Bullseye. Of course they’re looking for us! What do you expect them to do? Sit in a prayer circle or something?

My ears picked up the sounds of the lock giving itself up from Tootsie’s excellent lockpicking skills, “Got it!”

“Okay, Tootsie got it opened! Let’s go, ponies!”

Me and Bullseye head down the stairs and slammed the door shut with my hind legs, just before the Grand Pegasus Enclave gained access inside the house. In front of us lies a secret - yet rather obvious - passageway. And its unlocked too. The room’s vastly empty yes, but we didn’t have the time to search for valuable items as we’re still under radar, and my PipBuck 4000 keeps making silent blips from the screen.

For fuck’s sake, PipBuck! Stop giving us away our hiding place!

Despite my mind’s protest, it seems the PipBuck isn’t too cooperative today. Unless the same Enclave somehow managed to hack into it and installed a bug in order to keep track of me. Of course, even if this applies to all other, functioning PipBucks if available, it seems I’m their higher priority.

As we continued through, I had already illuminated the dark and unlit room, though this room virtually has little to no oxygen levels. Its goddamn stuffy in here, too! (Of course, Bob here doesn’t need to breathe; robots can’t suffocate from lack of oxygen.)

“Ugh… well at least this isn’t a dead end or we would’ve been in deep trouble.” Gale gasped for air. Well, its more of an ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ scenario. We’ll have to find a way to resurface again or risk dying. Hell, I think dying of lack of oxygen makes it less brutal than getting eviscerated by a firing squad that is the Grand Pegasus Enclave!

And I really hate how narrow the corridor is; its not making situation any better! I merely huddled myself close to Gale while Bob and Bullseye scanned around for any exits. Gale wrapped a hoof around my own and my face was already burning hot again, “We’ll get through this, Zero. Don’t worry about it.”

Tootsie Roll basically took notice of this and smirked at me. “Saaaaaay… you like that not-evil Grand Pegasus Enclave pony, don’tcha Zero?!”

WHAT?! GODDESS DAMMIT, WHY OH WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BRING THIS UP, YA FILLY! MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT HAS DERAILED AGAIN!!!

And I was on the verge of passing out, too! Even Gale took note of my hyperventilation as she tried to calm me down! “E-Easy there, Zero! She’s only giving a compliment is all!”

WHAT FUCKING COMPLEMENT! MY HEART’S ABOUT TO GO OFF LIKE A FUCKING BALEFIRE BOMB!!

My mind had officially fainted on me. Pinkie Pie then took over and filled in the spot for her to do all the thinking for me in my head.

“Hehe, haha! Seems your little self has passed out sooo I’ll be doing the thinking for you!”

Until my own pony mind regains consciousness, Pinkie had assumed her role in my head to do all the thinking. I swear, if Tootsie brings that subject up again…

“Boss! There’s an opening from the wall and a ladder. Its our way out.” Bullseye found our ticket out of this hellhole. Of course, we’re still in this hellhole, just with oxygen now. I let go of her hoof and was the first to climb up, but not before Bob rode shotgun on my back and clamped his metallic claws at my shoulder blades to keep himself in place. I pretty much ignored the pain and soon, others followed suit, with Bullseye trailing behind along with Gale, though now being able to fly with Tootsie Roll on her back.

Let’s hope we’re not out of the frying pan and into the fire when we resurface…

Empty. Like the Wastelands itself. Just a vast open emptiness. No Grand Pegasus Enclave snooping around. Even as my PipBuck was still making faint blip noises, there aren’t any red blips to show for. Seems we’re in the clear.

That isn’t to say that I can think clearly until further notice. Pinkie had already taken full control of my mind so she’s doing the thinking for me. But of course, I still have free will. Not like I’m a crazed, power-hungry alicorn trapped in the body of an ordinary colt.

Once my friends resurfaced, Gale took a cautious look to see if she doesn’t have her own troops looking for them. “Hmm… looks like everything’s clear. Where do we go now?”

Well, we can’t keep on running. The more we run, the more problems we’ll be facing. I’d suggest heading to Stable Town, but until we make the Grand Pegasus Enclave give up their search, its very unlikely that they’ll even stop. Up north might be a town, not too far. But goddess help us if we ever run into Raiders, or worse.

“Go on, Zero! Go thataway unless you want the nasty Wastes to get you and your friends!”

Will do, Pinkie. Goddess what have I gotten myself into…

I motioned a hoof to them as I lead them to a seemingly unfamiliar town. Supposedly it’d be daytime, but the thick clouds made visibility impossible so I turned on the flashlight from my PipBuck along the way. At least its not raining, thankfully. However, there’s a thick mist that prevents me from ever determining if this is really a town or not, especially with a strong wind kicking in.

Only two green blips from my PipBuck? Well as long as they’re friendlies and not hostiles, we should be good. According to the map, we’re in Little Appleloosa.

Of course, this seems quite farfetched; its nothing but a large, crudely-made shack and despite the its population consisting of 417 (at least that’s what the sign says), only two of them remain there, both a stallion and a mare. My guess is that the rest of the settlers were either wiped out from the Megaspell or were wiped out from various things, like radiation poisoning or didn’t last against various hostile factions.

“H-Huh?!” The unnamed, paranoid stallion noticed our presence, “Oh no, its the alicorns again, sis!”

Well that was interesting, alright.

“Hold on, sir! We’re not alicorns, just us regular ponies and… robot.” Gale Storm tried to ease the situation. Though the stallion’s appearance look like he’s been through a massive war, he appeared to be of having an indigo mane (which was tattered) and with a light cyan coat to it. His right eye is yellow but his left eye was greyed out, most likely having lost his partial vision from an unknown battle. Just like mine, only except my eyelid was permanently shut, making it impossible to open it at all which also resulted me in having this damned scar. And his cutie mark resembles a typical screwdriver.

The unnamed mare was quick to respond and help calm him down. It was evident that he's clearly having posttraumatic stress disorder. Though this doesn’t explain how and why Little Appleloosa’s population was nearly wiped out as a result of an unknown war.

“Hey, bro! Just calm down; they’re nice ponies! And umm… a robot, too?” The mare easily defused the situation before things got out of hooff. Bob curiously whirred at her; at least he wasn’t mistaken for a pony or he would’ve fired off laser shots.

The unnamed mare cleared her throat (and since the two are related, they’re likely earth ponies), “Sorry about that; my brother has mental issues. He’s not used in encountering strangers arrive in Little Appleloosa. Or, what’s left of it anyway.” She awkwardly chuckled.

“So umm… got any names?”

I’ll just let Gale Storm do all the introductions for me. She stepped forward with a gallant pose.

“My name is Gale Storm. My friends are Zero, Bullseye, Tootsie Roll and Bob.”

I merely waved a hoof at the two.

“I see… I’m Greasy Wrench and this here’s Screwdriver, my older brother. We’re the last of our kind in Little Appleloosa.”

I’m not sure why, but… they named themselves after trinkets or something? What’s their third sibling’s name, Screwball? Oh wait, I shouldn’t be making fun of their names. I know I have; I’ve been called Blueberry and being used as a number. Neither has ever appealed to my liking at all,

I was second to enter of the remnants of this nearly-extinct town and surveyed the damage. I’m still curious as of what happened to this place and would love to get some answers.

Tootsie huddled behind Gale, “Ooohh… this place is too spooky…”

Her robotic companion stood defensively in response to protect Tootsie Roll. Bullseye trotted next to me, “So, boss. I guess this is what’s left of Little Appleloosa, right?”

I nodded. I still need answers, regardless. I regrouped with Gale and wrote down a couple of words to Greasy Wrench (her appearance is too hard to tell, apart from her eyes identical to Screwdriver’s; her whole body is covered in ashes, mane and tail included) before displaying the screen to her from my PipBuck ‘What happened to Little Appleloosa? Where is everypony?’.

She squints her eyes with a hint of slight suspicion as she read the words displayed on the screen. “Hmm… y’know, for a scientist, how come you’re not actually talkative?”

Oh geez, here we go again…

Gale answered her question for me, “He was attacked by an unknown, mad surgeon, who surgically removed his vocal chords, thus eliminating his ability to normally talk.”

Thank you for that.

“Makes sense. At least y’all aren’t here to wipe us out. Now, as for your question, we were ransacked and attacked by…”

There was a pregnant pause. I was looking concerned now, even though she did this without further risking her own brother into a huge breakdown. Could it be alicorns? Raiders? Slavers? Or worse…?

“By… who?” Gale had cautiously asked.

Greasy had resumed, “...those nasty, massive swarm of insects worse than Bloatsprites. We were defenseless and underpowered. None of us stood the chance and me and my brother had sought refuge underground from our shack until hell decided it had done enough carnage and buzzed away. It became a horrific sight to see the settlers slaughtered by… those damned bugs from Tartarus!”

We gasped in shock, whilst Bullseye had widened his eyes in shock. I know what could’ve done this. And its clear enough that the Cazadores were responsible for nearly wiping out Little Appleloosa. And to my utter surprise, these were the same ones that had completely overrun New Hampshore. And my last encounter with one is like wrestling with death the whole time. The Wastelands had now unleashed its deadly arsenal that could threaten all of ponykind, be it friend or foe.

“Caza...dores…?” She was in utter shock and froze in place. I looked at Gale Storm, having expressed horror after hearing the events by Greasy Wrench. Screwdriver was silent, not wanting to scream out loud; he’s been traumatized enough.

Tootsie Roll was already in the waterworks and huddled under her wing, burying his face to the side of her body as her obvious sobbings were muffled. At least this filly wasn’t traumatized yet, but she was very emotional and couldn’t bear to hear anymore of this.

Its become clear that Little Appleloosa was just the beginning…

“Yep. Those massive, insect bastards aren’t like those nuisances that’s called Bloatsprites. Cazadores are deadly, relentless and show no regard for anypony around them. And they sure as hell won’t stop until they’re satisfied in claiming their victims.”

Looks like we’d need a really large army of ponies to fully eradicate the Cazadores, but we can’t right now. Not while we’re on the run from the Grand Pegasus Enclave. And to fully eradicate them ourselves is suicide.

Gale rubbed her wing under the crying Tootsie to comfort the filly, “So, you mentioned about the shack deep underground. Does it have a pathway that leads us somewhere?”

She gave a confirmed nod, “We have, but never used it amid all the chaos we’ve been going through. If you want to take us somewhere safe would be very appreciated.”

“We do. There’s a settlement called Stable Town, though we’ll have Zero lead us there and you two follow us.” Gale answered. Tootsie’s waterworks had finally subsided and had calmed herself down. I obviously can’t guarantee safe passage for these two settlers of Little Appleloosa; getting back to Stable Town won’t be as easy as it sounds, especially since we’re being tracked down by the Grand Pegasus Enclave. I can only hope to Celestia that we don’t deviate ourselves further away and into more, unknown hazards. And my PipBuck simply won’t stop flashing its light, its acting like a homing beacon for them to track us down easier. I’m not sure if there’s a reset button to this at all.

Yep. No reset button.. Just looked around my PipBuck 4000 and there’s no such feature. What kind of highly-advanced PipBuck that doesn’t have a reset button?!

“Come on, boss. Lead us back to Stable Town with both of the settlers.” Bullseye nudged me, showing signs of impatience. Alright, alright, I’m moving! Geeze!

I led the ponies (save for the obvious non-pony Bob behind me) down inside yet another secret passage Greasy mentioned. Looking back at Screwdriver… and here I thought I was a silent fellow. I don’t need another silent ponies in my goddess-damned life.

Its just one of those days, I guess.

Having resurfaced once again, its now nighttime and visibility is non-existent. As I turned on the flashlight of my PipBuck, it shows us an abandoned section of Mayne with a sign that reads ‘Stable Town is this way!’, sprayed in white paint onto the wooden billboard and the arrow facing right.

Well, at least we’ve made progress so far. But it seems food is now our top priority, and I don’t have sufficient eats enough to keep us full and energized. And the majority of buildings had its front doors completely boarded up, some even chained shut with no way to pick a lock inside.

“Well… we’re almost there, and in time too. We’re almost to Stable Town, you two. Just hang in there…”

Gale seemed pretty tired after our lengthy trek back to Stable Town. Tootsie Roll was nodding off but her rumbling stomach that demands for a decent meal makes it impossible for the filly to ignore, “Mmnn… shut up, ya noisy tummy…! I wanna sleeeeep…”

I merely rubbed my eyes with my hoof; they’re getting pretty heavy too. Next morning I’ll need to personally talk with Sweet Cheeks to inform that to run away from a pony-hunt creates more problems instead of solving them.

And our way back to Stable Town, we were met by Quickdraw, Stable Town’s only sheriff and mayor who stopped us from returning back to his town, “Now hold up there, pard’ner. Where are y’all coming back to this town fer? Can’t y’all see its currently in a state of lockdown?”

Goddess, I don’t have time for this…

“Quickdraw, we’re tired and we had to come back here because we found both pony settlers from LIttle Appleloosa that were nearly wiped out by a Cazador attack.” Gale stifled a yawn after having explained the current situation we’ve been through. The mayor was quick to be baffled at her story.

“Did’ja say a… Cazador attack? Ah can’t believe what ah’m hearing, but either way, that ain’t nun of mah business. What’s mah business is that y’all can’t be out ther’ when a lockdown’s in place, ‘specially when ya bring in those untrustworthy sett’lrs who ain’t here ta bring peace to our pony s’ttlement. Y’all best skeedaddle until sunrise.”

Greasy pleaded with Quickdraw, “Please sir… we have nowhere else to go! Please let us stay as our new residents! Screwdriver’s really traumatized and he needs help! We can’t go on like this!”

It was clear that Screwdriver is having a severe mental breakdown, causing him to shout nonsense words as he sprinted along the alleyway into a dead end. Quickdraw looked on before I quickly wrote down a couple of words to Bullseye, instructing him to ‘Go get Screwdriver and return him to us safely’.

“Sure thing, boss.” After Bullseye quickly read amid Greasy Wrench looking back with worry whereas Gale Storm stood next to me. This was sufficient to change Quickdraw’s mind. “Well… alrighty then. Come with me. And you fellers, get to mah office if y’all want some grub and some shuteye.”

Good thing too, because we’re not sleeping out in the open whatsoever.

Of course, Quickdraw led us up to his personal, private suite, “Ah’m takin’ y’all upstairs to avoid Poppy Blossom. She’s a bit ah… unhinged, if ya know what ah mean.”

And rightfully so, Poppy - the mare who is currently detained for her crimes from our visit in Nowac - is giving us death-like expression, hinting her absolute revenge against us. I don’t appreciate criminals who are looking for revenge when she’s clearly the murderer and playing the victim will get her nowhere.

The room was well-made, restored to its former glory too. The left side of the room has a couple of beds also well-made and most likely restored.

Gale was quick to admire this, though Tootsie Roll was the first to splay herself on the mattress and was quick to fall asleep. “Y’all best rest up now, ya hear? I’ll see y’all in th’ mornin’.”

Once Quickdraw had left, Greasy Wrench had guided Screwdriver to bed to sleep with him. Gale took me to bed with her for us to rest up for the night amid having skipped a meal, but I’m sure we’ll be able to sleep it off. I’m starting to like Gale Storm for some reason…

The next morning we were having a pretty normal breakfast at a local café managed by Lockjaw. Quickdraw told us earlier today that its on the house and had already paid in caps for him to provide us a decent breakfast. Lockjaw himself though looks to be wearing his brown overalls, his head and muzzle completely concealed of his identity from his full-facial helmet and his speech is entirely muffled out, making him difficult to understand (as his name implies of course).

Screwdriver, on the other hoof, was taken to Stable 75 with Greasy Wrench to help with Screwdriver’s mental disability though Sweet Cheeks is with us. She was initially disappointed with us at first, but had given us assurance. “I suppose no matter where you go, problems will just follow until those said problems are solved. Now, Zero. We need to do something about your PipBuck.”

Gee, you think, Sweet Cheeks? This ‘state-of-the-art’ PipBuck doesn’t have a reset button at all! And don’t even get me started on how hacking into my own PipBuck works, because there’s no such manual for this kind of method.

And even so, the Grand Pegasus Enclave had somehow gained access to my PipBuck without my knowledge. At least in Stable Town there aren’t any Pegasus Enclave soldiers present for now.

Once our meal was finished, a radio was heard in the background inside the café which had been turned on by Lockjaw, “...Hampshore has been now rendered inaccessible. Do not, and I repeat, do not enter New Hampshore. The threat levels are critical and its best that everypony stay as far away as possible.”

Wait a… was that… Starshooter?! How did he-- nono, how did he managed to escape the Cazadores?! Dammit all… goddess-dammit all… I should’ve been back on Lab-00 while I had the chance and told him what happened. But even then, it wouldn’t make a difference. Dr. Scalpel had already cut off my vocal chords which negates my ability to talk normally whatsoever.

“And that was the message from our caller, Starshooter. Stay the buck away from New Hampshore; don’t get near it even! This is DJ-P0N3, wishing you have a safe journey and not at the hands of those creepy crawlies!” It was soon cut off by a random, jazzy music. Those ‘creepy crawlies’ DJ-P0N3 mentioned were actually Cazadores. I slumped my head down on the table in disappointment.

“Zero, what’s wrong?” Gale asked while Bullseye had left to the restroom. Sweet Cheeks further asked me with clarity, “Zero… I assume you’re from New Hampshore, right?”

I slowly nodded, already buried my face with my forelegs. My inaction is what’s causing ponykind to be in danger of facing possible extinction. But it was my lack of preparedness that played a big factor in this. Without assembling different factions (Raiders and other hostile factions are exceptions), the Cazadores will continue to grow and threaten all of ponykind. But to try and reason with other ponies will be no easy feat, and most will never be met with reason, just with further violence.

I just can’t fathom on how such little problems can create big ones if they were left unattended. But Dr. Scalpel was also the second, responsible for the death of my two, former friends for his sadistic creation and most likely causing an offspring for the Cazadores.

But I just can’t keep on lamenting on everything. Dr. Scalpel was the cause, and I was the effect. It was then Gale reassured me and rubbed her hoof around my shoulder, “We’ll figure everything out, Zero. Somehow…”

I can only hope.

“Yeah, you’re a big and tough nerd! We can do it, right Bob?”

Bob nodded in approval to Tootsie’s question. I guess there’s glimmer of hope at least, but how long will it last? We’d have to assemble thousands of well-armed ponies to help eradicate the Cazadores, but for now, I just want the Pegasus Enclave to stop looking for me all the damn time.

“So, shall we go to Stable 75?”

I nodded again to Sweet Cheeks before looking back, seeing Bullseye having returned from the restroom, “I’m not sure how many years its been since I last used the restroom.”

O...kay, then. That’s the last thing I wanted to hear.

With that, we left the cafe and followed Sweet Cheeks back to Stable 75.

Once we were back in Stable 75, the dwellers were baffled in trying to get my PipBuck 4000’s tracker disabled. “Geez, I dunno. This isn’t like any other PipBucks would. Its far too advanced and without the proper resources, we can’t do anything about it without the risk of tampering with it by accident.”

And for highly-advanced parts to get is very scarce in the Wastelands, and most of them are at the hooves of either the Steel Rangers or the Pegasus Enclave. Even Caravan sellers rarely have them and if they do, they’re very expensive, at 500 caps, maybe a thousand unless you know how to barter them the right way and they’ll be obliged to sell their parts at a discount.

“Well, can’t say there’s anything else we can do about that PipBuck.”

Gale glanced to the Stable employee, “We can’t keep running like this. We tried underground and we almost suffocated. We can’t go on for much longer and…”

Bullseye had a clear look of my PipBuck and tapped around a couple of times with it, which had soon stopped blinking. “There you go, boss. Its no longer an issue.”

My eye widened at this. Did Bullseye just… deactivated the beacon?!

“Bullseye, you… are a genius! For umm…” Gale cleared her throat a bit, “Ghoul, that is.”

“Well, I figured it needed a bit of elbow grease and gave it a couple of hard taps for it to stop flashing around. It was making my eyes feel sore. Or at least I felt them because I hardly feel any soreness in my eyes.”

I would’ve hugged Bullseye, but I wouldn’t want to feel the moldiness of his body if I did that. I don’t wanna end up throwing myself up not from his bad hygiene, but from his ghoul nature I’m touching.

On the plus side, I nodded to him in thanks. It was very much appreciated. He nodded back to me in return.

Although we now have to worry less about the Grand Pegasus Enclave’s hunt for us, I’m wondering what will we do next. These settlers aren’t combat-ready and Quickdraw needs to maintain his town, and Greasy Wrench is helping Screwdriver cope with his mental instability. And even then, they’ve already faced a greater threat enough. The greatest problem is my inability to normally speak as it makes it impossible to make negotiations with other ponies, and I can’t continue to rely on Gale Storm forever. As for Neighkola Tesla? His whereabouts are currently unknown for the time being.

“Oh! Zero, I need a favor to ask, if you don’t mind.” Sweet Cheeks began to give me an offer. I’m all ears, so let me have it.

“Is it okay if I keep Tootsie Roll and Bob for a while? Ratchet and I have been talking while you ponies were away and was thinking that we wanted to give Bob upgrades for your long journey. Please take my word for it; I care for you and your friends. We just thought we’d make sure he doesn’t get too badly damaged.”

Interesting, though I’m not sure why she asked me and not Tootsie Roll (most likely because I was considered their leader). But, I need to hear Tootsie’s story on how she found Bob and how he became self-aware unlike other robots like the Securitrons we faced. And maybe Robobrains too.

I wrote down a hoof-ful of words from my PipBuck and showed it to the filly ‘How did you encountered Bob?’.

“Bob? Oh! I saw him while I was on a big, big journey in Big Mountain when I wandered myself in a place where robot thingies were built, and there were tons of robo-scorpions being built by umm… you know, a building that builds robots! I umm… kinda replaced a memory chip with a different memory chip inside and when he woke up, he looked at me timidly at first! But once I got him to learn a few things or two, I decided to call him Bob and declared him as my pet. After that, me and Bob had a veeery long journey together and he’s been my BFF, too!”

Me and the others were amazed at this. Its no wonder Bob was protective, but also self-aware to top it off. He was created and manufactured from an assembly line at Big Mountain and Tootsie replaced the memory chip that makes other robots with limitations which also includes shooting ‘enemies’ on sight - in this case, innocent ponies - to another memory chip of unknown origin that makes it behave normally like us ponies. Her story wasn’t just intriguing, but also amazing. Seems my mystery regarding both the filly and Bob has been solved after all. But as for Bullseye? I’ve yet to learn about his origin, though I’ll assume that he survived the Balefire bombs. But even so, I still needed to learn more about him.

Tootsie Roll had finally answered for me with another question, “And oh? You want Bob to make him extra cooler?!”

She gleefully accepted Sweet’s offer, “Yay! Bob is gonna look cooler than ever and bring more baddies down!”

“Excellent! Bob, come with us down into the workshop and we’ll start giving you upgrades. And Zero? We’ll let you know through your PipBuck. Here,” She inserts a small card inside, allowing the PipBuck to download its contact as for her to send me a message in advance, “There. I’ll sent you a notification via Overseer’s terminal I use. Its linked to your PipBuck.”

Sweet. And knowing how trustworthy she is, she and the others will look after the two and for me, Gale Storm and Bullseye to continue on whilst Tootsie Roll and Bob remain at Stable 75.

And of course, I felt Gale planting a small kiss to my cheek, resulting my face to brighten up with redness to it, “Nice choice, Zero. I’m proud of you.”

“Now, I assume you best be on your way, you three. We’re going to work on your robotic friend now.”

I had a thought. I quickly pulled out my unused pistol that I bought the other day and placed it on the table, moving it to Sweet Cheeks. “Oh? Oh, I can handle myself, thanks for your concern, Zero.”

I shook my head. Not what I obviously meant.

I wrote down two words from the screen to show it to her ‘Better rifle?’.

I seriously don’t want a weak weapon to carry around. And I lost all three rifles with me before; one that was stolen by Dr. Scalpel, the other at the hooves of Taser and the last one completely devoured by the temple.

“Hmm…” She points a hoof to one of the Stable Dwellers, “You, get the DHC-6 Sniper Rifle for Zero.”

Sounds really high-grade, if I’m hearing it right.

“We’re making sure that you don’t have to go weaponless and rely on your friends, or having to rely this peashooter.” Sweet informed me as she takes my not-as-effective pistol as he returns with the DHC-6 Sniper Rifle floated along and set on the table in front of me. It also includes a foldable stock and detachable muzzle and scope with it. And its of military-grade, too! Amazing! Without changing my mind, I took it from the table and snugged it between my side and my saddle bags. I also took a couple of sniper rifle ammunition and stored it in my saddle bags.

“Now, off you go ponies, and please, stay safe out there. The Wastelands can be very cruel and heartless.”

It already has, Sweet Cheeks. It already has…

We left Stable Town again, this time without Tootsie Roll and Bob, and its just the three of us. And this time, I’m well-armed and ready for anything, but I’m hoping my rifle doesn’t get stolen or lost. I doubt that Sweet Cheeks has a replacement for it so I need to take extra care of it. Its irreplaceable and for it to fall into the wrong hooves means trouble for me and my companions.

Gale Storm stood close with me, as we ventured into the unknown. “I feel protected by you. Even if I’m well-armed and combat-ready, I felt like you are my knight in shining armor, Zero.”

My mind is still unconscious yet my heart was just relentlessly beating away in my chest from her comments. I’m not entirely sure how would a scientist like myself be dressed up as a knight in shining armor? Its… its baffling!

"Ooooohhh! Somepony likes you very muuuuch!"

Would you can it, Pinkie?! You’ve already made my mind unconscious, now you want me to lose consciousness, too?!

Right then. At least without the Grand Pegasus Enclave after us, we have a bit of breathing room until Sweet Cheeks can give us a notification about Bob.

“Boss. Something isn’t right here…” Bullseye notified me. This doesn’t sound good. There was a breach of the peace in our time.

Gale and I stood alertly and I pulled out my DHC-6 Sniper Rifle and glanced around. No red blips here, but the scenery is as unsettling as it gets. My Pinkie sense has started kicking in as well, my ears twitching along. Where is the threat coming from?

I looked up and see an obvious dot starting to dive bomb from the skies. A red blip does appear and it looks like trouble! Shit!

“Uh-oh, I’m gonna fly up and go air-to-air combat to stop it from crashing down on us!” Gale spread her wings and launched herself up in the air to engage combat against it. She fired off shots at it, which was successful, but it soon let out a guttural, unusual roar, mixed with various voices to it. What the…?

I entered S.A.T.S. while Bullseye was firing off a couple of shots but had missed because the target’s too high. As it closed in on me - and flew away from pain afterwards - I suddenly froze. Are those… body parts from different PONIES?! All stitched up together, too?! And the face… its… its horrifying!!

Abruptly exiting S.A.T.S., these body parts weren’t just from different victims; both the wings and the forelegs belonged to Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse!!!

“Hurt… hurt!” The franken-pony spoke out, and… that was my voice, too! MY OWN VOICE, GODDESS-DAMMIT!!

My forelegs went limp, dropping the sniper rifle down to the ground as I looked on with sheer devastation. No… this isn’t-- no… this cannot be…

“Boss! Boss, wake up!”

I didn’t respond momentarily as Gale flew in close, but stopped to check on me. “Zero, what are you do--” She cut herself off, taking notice of my deeply shocked expression from my face. “Zero…? What’s going on?”

Before I would answer, a second, red blip had popped up from my PipBuck and looking at the second threat is the mad surgeon himself, Dr. Scalpel. The bastard who stole my voice and killed both of my friends for his sickening creation. My blood boiled with sudden rage and anger, I quickly entered S.A.T.S. again and began to get a clear shot of the bastard who killed my friends and took my own voice! Fucking die!

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

BZZTZZ! BZZTZZ! BZZTZZ!

What the--!

Dr. Scalpel let out his maniacal, sadistic laugh as his creation, currently wounded, shields itself inside with him, “I see you’re back alive, my test subject. And I see that you’ve met my creation, GeneSys! You should feel ashamed for hurting my precious creation, but no matter! It was merely a flesh wound.”

His face is pretty much never shown, but even then, what lies behind his surgical mask, is something that’s far more sadistic than any other Raiders would. He then further explained, “And I see you managed to keep me alive with my portable, electromagnetic field that’s kept around my wrist, which keeps me unharmed from any attacks you throw at me.”

Bullseye stood defensively as Gale shouted at Scalpel, “Just who the hell are you and what is that… sickening creation you have?!”

“I am Dr. Scalpel, and this, my dear, will be my ultimate perfection!” Dr. Scalpel laughed sadistically as I fired off another shots at him, but are easily deflected and rendering my clear shots useless until I was obviously out of ammo.

She suddenly had a thought and asked, “What about the Cazadores, then?!”

It was then he revealed his menacing intentions as he clearly answered her question, “Why yes, dear. I have an intention on making them grow and help me rid of this filth-ridden world you call Equestria so that I can build a new and better Equestria!”

“W-What… you… you MONSTER! How could you do this?! You’re threatening to bring ponykind to extinction! Th… This isn’t how the Wastelands wanted this! Not like this!”

Dr. Scalpel was quick to dismiss her warnings, “I’ve had enough of your blabbering! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must fix my creation up, and it will be better than ever! Always got to iron out the flaws, isn’t that right, GeneSys?”

“Yes, master…” GeneSys spoke as the two had left. Gale would’ve went after the two, but I was quick to stop her as I grabbed ahold of her tail with my foreleg.

“Z-Zero, let go! That bastard’s gonna…” She came to a realization that I was equally traumatized as Screwdriver. Having just witnessed his sick creation and my efforts to end Scalpel was in vain, and even if Dr. Scalpel had claimed responsibility for the cause of the Cazadores overrunning New Hampshore, it won’t ever bring my former friends back. They’ve been dead, and that was that. I began to hyperventilate, stream of tears running down my eye. I felt weak, helpless and full of remorse. I was too afraid to speak through my PipBuck. This peace was all too temporary, all because of the two, who showed little care for ponykind, and had threatened to wipe everything out.

I just want to keep moving. Even if I wanted to kill him and his creation, it won’t mean a clear victory. Not while I’m unprepared. Its too soon to end like this…

And this was just a preview, too. It wasn’t a battle for revenge, but rather, a preview of what’s coming ahead.

Gale had finally relented and went to comfort me, her forelegs wrapped around me as to provide me comfort. “I don’t know who were they, but… please don’t cry, Zero. Let’s just keep moving and pretend that none of this happened. Chin up, my little scientist.”

I was soon beginning to calm down, thanks to Gale’s aid. I would’ve explained everything to her, but GeneSys had stolen my voice. The voice I needed to speak out to my friends and strangers alike.

My hooves were like noodles when I got up on all fours, but were soon steady and we continued on. “Boss, are you okay?”

I didn’t answer.

“Bullseye, let’s leave Zero be. Let’s go and find someplace safe for us to relax and allow Zero to recover so he can be ready.”

Thank you, Gale.

“And now, for Velvet Remedy’s latest hit song! Brought to you by yours truly, DJ-P0N3!”

I could go for some cake right about now, unless that pony is named after one. Then I’ll rather just eat a muffin if there’s any.

The song was at least calming my mind inside the abandoned convenience store. There weren’t any threats so far thankfully, because after having just witnessed Dr. Scalpel and GeneSys, I think its best for us to stay out of combat for the time being and let us just relax. But of course, the Wastelands doesn’t know the definition of relaxing and hearing cans clattering on about as I turned back to see a figure. Oh goddess, not again…

And yet my PipBuck isn’t detecting an obvious threat closing in on us.

Just as we’re about to get ready, I soon hear a familiar voice, which has a robotic tone to it, “Holster your weapons.”

As the figure trotted forward - mechanically sound - in front of us, the shadowy figure reveals to be Lightspeed!

And she’s been given further augmentations, too?!

She slowly moved her head down to look at me.

“Hello, Zero. We meet again.”

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Math Wrath -- You are able to optimize your PipBuck’s targeting spell logic. S.A.T.S. attacks cost now 5 AP less.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Close Encounters

Lightspeed. Part pony, part machine. What have they done to you?

“I’ve been given additional upgrades, if that’s what you’re thinking, Zero.”

Wait, she can read my thoughts? What did Taser do to her?! This isn’t even related to Arcane Sciences or other miscellaneous things! She looks less of a pony and more akin to a Protectron!

Bullseye was initially defensive at first, but was smart enough to holster his revolver, knowing that she looked as powerful as before, appearance-wise too. “Boss, are you sure we can trust this… thing?”

Yes, and we’re not second guessing. Lightspeed may not be our companion - mainly because she’s still affiliated with the Powder Gangers - but she’s still considered our valuable ally. Just don’t get on her bad side and she’ll get along well, even if she’ll most likely lose her free will once she is fully augmented into a full cyberpony. I scoot myself next to Gale to give her room to sit with us for a normal conversation.

Lightspeed sat herself in a circle with us as she took a quick scan of me, “Hmm… your heart rate reads as stable, yet you have an unsettling expression to go for. Is it my overall appearance?”

I shook my head in response. Nope, definitely not that! Besides, I’ve seen scarier stuff in my life and… yeah. Besides, its harrowing enough that the last thing I wanted is a nightmare that I’ll never wake up from.

“Let’s just pretend nothing bad happened, Lightspeed. We’ve been through hell and back and we just want to relax ourselves. Call us liars if you want, but for some of us, we…” Gale paused for a moment before resuming, “We just want to relax and avoid any confrontations for one day. Away from those mutants, Raiders, hostile factions, and murderous insects.”

The half-cyberpony nodded in understanding, “Alright. Now lately, Taser has given me further upgrades with the help of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. I didn’t tell them about your whereabouts, honest; Taser paid them in caps and told them to upgrade me instead of knowing your last location, Gale Storm. Of course, we were met with hostilities at first, but I was quick to change their minds and have them upgrade me instead of trying to interrogate me. For them to try and intimidate me just to tell them your location would’ve meant a swift death for them. So you’re safe.”

“Thank you. At least you were being honest, even if you’re a cyberpony despite not being a full-on cyberpony.” Gale let out a small sigh of relief from the good news.

“Oh, I’m definitely a cyberpony, alright. Just ah… needed to iron out the bugs and glitches I have with me. A couple more parts and I’ll be pretty unstoppable.”

Hmm… She still has fur most of her body, though mostly grafted and melded to resemble as such. Maybe they needed to make her light and faster? Appearance-wise, she’s clearly half-pony, half-cyborg, but still the same Lightspeed I knew after having no choice but to form a temporary alliance with the Powder Gangers. I can’t imagine if there are other cyberponies who lack any free will and attack everything on sight, be it friendlies or hostiles.

I was so driven with revenge that it ended up falling abruptly short when Dr. Scalpel had his force field at the ready, and even with his sadistic creation being easily injured from the initial hit, I didn’t finished it off. Those parts that were stitched together were the victims of other ponies, including my friends Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse. Even if I was lucky enough to kill both of them, the threat would be all but over because Cazadores were endlessly multiplying and on the brink of covering New Hampshore completely. My personal victory would’ve ended prematurely anyway.

I listened to various, normal conversations between Gale Storm and Lightspeed while I’m just sitting there silently. BUllseye had left to scavenge some things inside the abandoned store to see if he could find anything useful.

“Where are both Tootsie Roll and Bob anyway? I haven’t seen them since our last encounter.” Lightspeed asked, noting the absence of Tootsie Roll and Bob. I let Gale Storm answer her question for me.

“They’re in Stable 75, with Bob getting upgrades of his own like yourself.”

Lightspeed let out a robotic yet lighthearted giggle, “Oh, is he? My, I bet he’ll look stunning when his upgrading process is complete.” They both let out a small laugh after Lightspeed’s comment.

Now she’s getting suggestive to our robotic companion in Stable 75. Like honestly now, robot love? How does a robot fall in love with another? That seriously defies normal logic, doesn’t it? I had to deal with Securitrons that don’t have any form of emotion and sees living beings as threats, prompting to enact a shoot-on-sight policy on everything that moves!

Bullseye returned with some of various supplies he found, including Stimpaks, “Boss, I found some of the supplies for us to continue on whenever you’re ready.”

I nodded to him in thanks as he stored them in my saddlebags.

Lightspeed may not be our companion due to her current affiliation with the Powder Gangers, but she’s also our worthy and formidable ally.

Yesterday:

At Ranger Delta North, Starshooter had an uneasy expression at the press conference room. His scientists had completed their basic combat training and were given access to state-of-the-art weaponry under Midnight Lancer’s permission. They had helped with weaponry, but he figured that they would put their weapons to use from a hard, training procedure. With the Cazador threat increasing, former Lab-00 leader Starshooter knew what he was facing. He tapped his hoof on the microphone, which had a small, feedback noise to it. He cleared his throat to make his announcement.

“My fellow scientists. Today is a dark day in Equestria. The Wastelands have unleashed hell in New Hampshore and has threatened to wipe out ponykind as we know it. We cannot run or hide anymore. We need to stand and fight - or die trying - for the sake of Equestria. But we’ll need all the pony-power we can get; this is our ultimate test, we’re testing out wits, minds, strengths and endurance. This is not unlike facing off the Steel Rangers, the Grand Pegasus Enclave, or any typical Raiders we would deal every day of our lives. No. This threat is so big, that it could mean the end of our kind, and Equestria altogether.”

“We need to band ourselves together as one, to eradicate the ongoing threat we’re truly facing. Even if we don’t come in equal terms, we do have a similar goal in mind. To save our beloved planet from the impending doom. If we run, we die as cowards; if we fight, we die as heroes. Unfortunately, our goddesses Celestia and Luna are unable to be with us and eradicate the Cazadores for us, so now we must aid them, at any costs. We are the last of their troopers and we must face the inevitability if we are to restore peace.”

“That concludes my message of the coming, inevitable threat.”

Today:

I still can’t get that sickening image from my head. Its just impossible to get it out of here and even Pinkie Pie herself is having a hard time getting it out of my head. Seems that her innocence had fallen silent on me, just like my own inner self in my head.

And as far as I know, she’s trying to erase everything that’s been going on from our previous encounter with Dr. Scalpel and his sickening creation. But even so, I can’t delve in too much of those recent events. I have to keep moving and hopefully get ourselves fully prepared for the coming battle to save our kind.

We left the store once we were stocked up to head off to the unknown depths of the Wastelands while our other two friends remained in Stable 75 with Sweet Cheeks. Though it wasn’t without both Gale Storm and Lightspeed just closing themselves next to me, as if they’re competing on who gets to have me to protect either of them. Seriously, I can’t tell whether I’m embarrassed by this or just knowing the fat that both of them have a seemingly high interest of me!

I know these two have equal terms - mainly because they’re not competing on who gets to claim me as their own - but is it really necessary of them to try and get me flustered?! I’m a scientist! Not some… magnet for certain ponies! Goddammit! And Bullseye was just looking at me and then forward, just slowly shaking his head.

What’s your deal, Bullseye?! Not entirely my fault both of them seem to want me from my looks more than you! (Shit, did I just said that? Wow, that was clearly racist of me. Then again, I can’t talk normally so I should be good for now.)

Still, we’re wandering in a seemingly wide open space filled with nothingness unless there’s something useful to find that doesn’t involved getting ourselves killed. Up until we could find a seemingly abandoned building up ahead, which also appears to be Stable-Tec HQ.

“A Stable-Tec HQ! Seems we get to find out where do Stables come from, right?” Lightspeed teasingly asked me. I had an uneasy look on my face. At least Lightspeed won’t be staying with me for long until Taser orders her to return back to the Powder Gangers. Gale Storm pouted at her question.

Let’s just see what Stable-Tec HQ has in store for us, even though its in ruins as a result of the obvious Balefire bomb attacks. The sign itself was barely holding up, especially when its hung from the main entrance in front. Its clear that I’m not waiting to find out what will happen if it gives in and collapses down with a high possibility of being killed by an inanimate object. “Boss, should we head inside to see what this… building has?”

Well, at least I won’t worry about two of them getting so damn close to me. Though the only thing we’ll be worrying are hideous creatures, killer robots or even the typical Raiders waiting to eviscerate us the moment we step inside Stable-Tec HQ. And I didn’t have the time to look at my PipBuck to see where we’re at because of these two! Even if the city we’re in (not New Hampshore, thankfully) is filled with ruined buildings, I wasn’t still able to know where are we at, thanks to them…

“Hello? Anypony out there?” Bullseye asked. Echo was head throughout the interior of Stable-Tec HQ, but no response. This place has been utterly decimated the moment we arrived inside. No doubt about it, too.

At least Gale Storm and Lightspeed had let me go for me to provide space. My lab coat was partially stained from all the sweat trickling down my head from their unwanted closeness to me. And it was a good coat too, dammit! How do you expect a scientist to concentrate when you two had to treat me like… like some toy! (Was gonna say bodyguard, but that’s obviously redundant.)

“No answer. Looks really empty, eerie even.” Gale Storm replied, while Lightspeed had begun scanning for any possible threats. I approached the reception desk and booted up the reception terminal. It offered up a couple of logs of interest (mainly from sent mails via terminals), also including a recorded log.

I wonder how Stable-Tec HQ ended up like this?

Come to think of it… looking at the dates from those logs, it dates several years back! Nevertheless, let’s see what the first log has something to offer.

‘Stable-Tec HQ, providing safe haven since Ponyville!
Welcome back, Honeycomb!

Entry Logs:

To: Topaz
Subject: Stable-Tec HQ evacuation

‘Topaz, I’m afraid radiation has breached the facility from the latest Balefire attacks. Gas pipes had ruptured from below the building and radiation levels had skyrocketed. Even backup generators have overloaded and only a few of them remain intact. Even so, we had no choice but to seal our employees down in the generator rooms. Even if we were to save them, they would’ve succumbed from radiation poisoning and possibly revived as ghouls.

We’ll have to get up to higher levels for safe refuge. Hopefully somepony will come and rescue us while we still have our available resources. Of course, they’ll need to tread carefully, especially when said explosions has caused our Securitrons and Protectrons’ internal electronics to become haywire, resulting them in going rogue and it makes it dangerous for us to safely deactivate them. Only a fool would dare destroy them single-handedly…’

Good thing the whole building wasn’t entirely collapsed or it wouldn’t even be accessible in the first place. The bigger problem is that their personal robots have turned against them and simply views everything (excluding their own kind) as threats and aren’t hesitant to shoot them on sight, no questions asked. I’ve had a couple of run-ins from Securitrons before,and they weren’t a pretty sight.

Now, let’s see what the second log is, and I’m going only for the important ones too; the rest of these are just minorities.

‘To: Honeycomb
Subject: HELP!

HELP US!’

O...kay? I mean, its an obvious plea for help, but that’s not what I meant. Lemme see the real logs, you stupid and defective terminal.

‘To: Everypony in Stable-Tec HQ
Subject: Evacuations

Everypony, I’ve come an announcement that evacuation is complete. However, the damage was irreparable and we had to make full evacuation as our personal robots have turned against us and will shoot us on sight. I, along with Topaz, shall remain inside the facility until help arrives. Goddess help us all…’

I closed the terminal. Before I began to do some thinking, Lightspeed had approached me, “No threat, though there are invisible lasers throughout the building. I suggest extreme caution if we’re to venture inside the building. But, its your call.”

“Invisible lasers, huh? This will be very tricky…” Gale had an unsure tone to go for.

The ruined headquarters’ fortified with lasers, enough to unleash a horde of murderous robots out to hunt us. At the same time however, there’s both Honeycomb and Topaz trapped inside this building. They’re most likely alive, but to leave these two with no means of defending themselves against Securitrons and Protectrons means lives are lost and me taking the blame for not taking action.

So, what should I do? Leave Stable-Tec HQ and leave them for dead, or try to navigate through a labyrinth of impending doom? I’m betting that we’ll have to face those robots en masse if any mistakes were made, even if they’re unintentional. We either die as heroes, or make it out alive as cowards.

I wrote down the words from my PipBuck as to finalize my decision for me and the others to ‘Let’s find the two ponies and get them to safety’.

Gale looked at me showing slight concern, “You sure about this? Lightspeed told us regarding invisible lasers and there isn’t enough space for both of us to fly over to upper floors.”

If there are survivors, then we can’t leave them to die. As long as we’re not rescuing Raiders, of course. I look back to Lightspeed, sharing the same expression as Gale’s. “Judging by your expression, you wish to risk saving them, rather than just leaving them for dead, correct?”

I nodded to Lightspeed. This was indeed my final decision.

“Alright. Let’s go look for them.”

I’m a little concerned with Bullseye. He seems to be spacing out more than when we first saw him in Whoover Dam and rescued him from self-imprisonment. Then again, he’s like this even before he became a ghoul. Who knows what his backstory is about.

But our top priority right now is to find and rescue both Honeycomb and Topaz. Though with the ruined building completely fortified with heavy security, a slight misstep would mean big trouble.

So far, so good. We’re at the second level of Stable-Tec HQ without any issues, though I’ve yet to see two, green blips from the radar. This building has hidden traps waiting to happen, and even my Pinkie sense can’t detect any. Whose psychotic idea was it to set up invisible lasers and robots that ends up going rogue from even the smallest glitches anyway?! Seriously, nopony ever learns from their mistakes. Nopony!

“I’m detecting no invisible lasers so far.” Lightspeed notified me. Bullseye looked at her with a hint of disdain before whispering to Gale, “Why does she look different?”

She merely shrugged and whispered back. “She’s augmenting into a cyberpony. Just don’t push her buttons too much, though.”

Lightspeed didn’t like the idea of the two gossip about her appearance before she dismissed them by rolling her eyes and focused back to me. Along the way, there are open doors that lead to different rooms, with various items to scavenge too.

I nudged to Gale and pointed to one room, while I nudged Lightspeed to go to a different room. And Bullseye had gotten the idea and went to a different room. Gale made sure as she asked me, “I assume you want us to scavenge for valuable items to ensure our survival, right?”

I confirmed her with nod. “Got it.”

All three had left to get the items while I kept a watchful eye out from the hallway. My PipBuck isn’t picking up any signs of life, but at least no red blips as of yet. Still, from reading through the logs from the terminal, any traps that are set off without warning is sure to send a battalion of pony-killing robots after us. I’ve dealt with Securitrons, Robobrains and now I have to deal with Protectrons? Geez, Stable-Tec HQ needs to reconsider having too much security…

It wasn’t long until all three came back with various supplies, from Stimpaks to Purified Water bottles. No food but hey, at least we can keep ourselves alive without getting ourselves severely injured from our long journey.

But without Bob to deal with robots, this can be a challenging task. While we do have Lightspeed on our side, we can’t rely on her for too long before she is called to return with her faction by Taser, so we’ll need to find and retrieve Honeycomb and Topaz before she unexpectedly leaves. However, we still have to tread carefully inside the ruined building that is Stable-Tec HQ. And their whereabouts are still unknown.

We traversed through the hallway and up the stairs towards the third floor. It was then Lightspeed began to warn us, “I’ve detected lasers from each rooms. And I’m detecting two heat signatures inside, not obstructed by invisible lasers, but it seems they locked themselves inside the room.”

Must be Honeycomb and Topaz. Forget trying to dodge nonexistent lasers, this is easy!

I had an enthusiastic expression and hurriedly went to the room where these two held themselves captive as I knocked on the door several times.

“Hello? Anypony inside?” Gale asked to ensure that Honeycomb and Topaz are inside.

We heard muffled noises inside, most likely from a really thick, door entrance. Even explosives wouldn’t blast it open, and wasting countless of ammo just for it to open is basically shooting at an impenetrable wall.

“Are you… oh my goddess, Topaz! They made it alive to rescue us! I’m Honeycomb and if you did come to rescue us, you need to listen carefully. The door we sealed ourselves in requires a master code that can only be used for opening and closing. I’m afraid trying to unlock it yourselves with other means are impossible without it. The door itself is made of completely thick steel, so please, don’t waste your time shooting it, much less trying to blow it to kingdom come. I wish I could tell you where it is, but…”

There was a pregnant pause by Honeycomb herself.

“But… what?” Gale asked. Lightspeed’s cybernetic features allows her to hear Honeycomb’s words inside, even if us normal ponies can’t hear it normally.

“We were overrun by our own robots that we panicked and huddled ourselves inside so we don’t know where we put the keycard in. All of our workers in Stable-Tec HQ were slaughtered by them, some were… ghoulified. Topaz and I are okay, though we used up our remaining supplies, just to keep ourselves alive and well. I thought we wouldn’t make it the next day. If you find it, please retrieve it as soon as possible! And be careful out there!”

I soon realized that the room they’re in is a fallout shelter, and the last of their supplies have been fully diminished. And apparently, their shelter has become a prison, with no way of getting that door to open without a keycard. Forget trying to lockpick it, trying to enter the terminal to try and unlock it by normal means is impossible, regardless of experience.

“We’ll reward you if you get us out of here, but watch out for the lasers! Hundreds of robots had gone rogue as a result of those Balefire bombs that had malfunctioned their internal systems, so please, proceed with extreme caution!” Topaz warned us further.

What’s he gonna reward us with? I’m sure saving their lives only means earning respect. Caps would be fine, as I haven’t been earning caps from whatever I would find in the Wastelands, but again, if we escape, then we’re actually leaving them for dead and the Wastelands will vilify us for our heinous, cowardly acts. If we try and save them, then all hell will break loose so we have to be ready for this if we want to free Honeycomb and Topaz.

The room Lightspeed mentioned us earlier is anything but simple to walk into. Only she is able to detect it but even if she were to retrieve it would mean no easy feat. Its a deadly maze that even the slightest error can bring dire consequences.

“If you want, ponies. I shall retrieve the keycard.” Lightspeed volunteered.

Gale was unsure at first, but I nodded in acceptance. I looked at her, knowing that she’s the only one who can detect hidden lasers and retrieve the keycard and we wouldn’t. Even if we have a smoke grenade, it may reveal the lasers but also reducing visibility, making normal navigation even more impossible from the enclosed space.

She soon nodded me back and then looks to Lightspeed, “Be careful out there. We’ll be on lookout if things go south.”

Lightspeed had soon entered the derelict room infested with lasers only she is able to see. We armed our weapons at the ready, checking our surroundings as the cyberpony flew with sheer precision and avoiding the slightest touch of laser beams. She was able to scan through invisible obstacles and maneuver without issues. Luckily for her, the cabinet’s unlocked as she opens it up. “Bingo…”

She retrieved the keycard from it and made her way out of the room. We were still on guard though as she made it out of her room, the tip of her tail had barely grazed the hidden laser, which is still sufficient enough to set off a loud, blaring alarm noise.

Well… shit. This can’t be good.

“Shit! Lightspeed, what the fuck did you do?!” Gale yelled out. Lightspeed yelled back, “Hey, don’t look at me! The alarm tripped on its own for no goddess-damned reason, okay?! Be happy that I got the keycard so less arguing and more saving!”

Bullseye wanted no part of the argument and went to follow the two. I merely stood there and kept my guard up. I know I wouldn’t play the good guy here, but at this point, you gotta make or break eventually.

Lightspeed gave Gale the keycard for her to open the door to free Topaz and Honeycomb. There was a sea of red blips overwhelming my PipBuck, with legions of robots heading our way. Protectrons and Robobrains may be fairly slow, but Securitrons are fast enough to keep up to even athletic ponies,

Gale slid the keycard into the terminal, which grants through the master code and allowing her to free the captives. It didn’t took long enough for the murderous robots to reach up the floor and fire off barrage of laser shots at me. Shit!

I couldn’t go to S.A.T.S., much less getting a clear shot; there’s WAY too many of them to take on and they’re closing in! Dammit, these laser shots are everywhere!

Bullseye provided covering fire for me (even though bullets do woeful damage against their hulls) while both Gale Storm and Lightspeed went to retrieve the two former Stable-Tec employees. Shortly after, Honeycomb and Topaz were extracted by both Gale and Lightspeed as they swooped down to get them to safety. Of course, we have to get ourselves pinned by an army of murderous robots! Thanks for leaving us to die prematurely!

I had no choice but to fire as well. It did some damage to some of the murderous robots, but not enough to destroy them. I could even feel laser shots barely missing us, but goddess, these lasers are HOT!

And the reason why they’re not getting a clear shot is because they’re crowding themselves all in one space as Bullseye looked down from the railing, “Get us next, you two! Boss and I are nearly cornered!”

“Hang in there, boys!” Gale shouted, taking flight before Lightspeed followed suit, “Go, I’ll take care of those robots!”

I was already shot from the searing laser that hit my left hind leg as I was reeling back from the sheer pain coursing in me. Dammit, it hurts big time!

“Boss!” Bullseye yelled out as he was doing what he can to keep the murderous robots at bay; they were still firing shots at us (at least I held onto my sniper rifle, thankfully) And Bullseye’s ammo in his revolver isn’t going to last.

Thankfully, the two pegasi had arrived quickly and Lightspeed armed herself with laser beams that shoot from her eyes, making quick and easy work by slicing through murderous robots like butter. I, on the other hoof, wasn’t so lucky; I was still writhing in pain from the searing heat in my left hind leg, the heat just eating away through flesh and small pockets of radiation was seeping into me.

Gale had arrived, only to have a worried expression after noticing an obvious burn wound from my hind leg. “Oh no, Zero!” She rushed over to me and scooped me up to her back, “Hold on, Zero! Let’s get the buck out of here!”

Bullseye was soon picked up by Lightspeed, once she had dispatched the hostile robots. Next time I’ll have Lightspeed take care of the robots for me, but oh wait, I forgot something; I still can’t talk normally, can I?!

My left hind-leg had third-degree burns from a laser shot, which burned through fur and searing my skin inside. I couldn’t stand up properly because the burn is so fucking severe. Lightspeed had already retrieved Bullseye, though she had a disgusted look on her face because she isn’t used to interacting with ghouls before.

“Well, good thing we have a few Healing Potions with us or you would’ve went into shock.” Gale went to retrieve one in my saddlebag and pulls the cork open before spitting it off from her mouth. She poured it down into my mouth as I gulped it down. Who’d knew that a single shot from a laser would be this deadly? If I was shot in the head or chest, I would’ve been dropped dead. I chugged down the potion to allow it to tend my burn wound from my hind leg.

“Amazing… how can we repay you ponie-eeaaAAAAHHH!” Honeycomb freaks out at the sudden sight of Bullseye. He merely scoffs at this, “I’m not here to eat your brains, señorita. I’m not a zombified pony.”

Talk about premature celebration.

“Bullseye’s right. Don’t take him seriously, he’s quite friendly than you think.” Gale reassured before Topaz was on the brink of freaking out as well. Both she and Lightspeed helped me up to my hooves, feeling right at full strength again. “You alright there, bucko?”

I nodded to her in thanks. I approached the two former employees and wrote down a couple of words from my PipBuck, but they were quite marvelled at the sight before I would tell them, “That PipBuck sure looks advanced, mister! I mean, that can’t be the PipBuck 3000, can it?!” Honeycomb enthused. I’m pretty sure that the PipBuck I’m wearing isn’t the 3000 model, but rather, the 4000 model. Even Topaz reiterated, “Nah, Honeycomb! That looks way too advanced for it to be the PipBuck 3000! I’ve never seen anything like it, even!”

Gee, I’m suddenly getting fans now? I didn’t expect them to be total fanatics over a PipBuck. Not like I invented it anyway.

I merely showed them the screen which reads ‘We have safe refuge in Stable Town in Mayne’.

“Stable Town? In Mayne? We don’t know where it is, though…” Honeycomb expressed concern, having never heard of the place themselves. Lightspeed grabbed my hoof and lifted it up to scan it. I didn’t resist, and it seems she was only going to the map menu and scan the coordinates for Stable Town into her. Does she have a hard drive that had substituted her brain, too?

“There. So far, Taser hasn’t called me back yet. You three keep moving, I’ll escort both Honeycomb and Topaz to safety.”

I only nodded to the cyberpony, and Bullseye was pretty mystified from the sight of Lightspeed. I merely motioned my head to Bullseye, assuring that everything’s okay now. At least she and Bob are the only nicest robots that aren’t driven to murder everypony they see.

Of course, as we were about to move on to our adventures, I noticed Lightspeed winking at me and blowing me a kiss before she left with the two. Gale didn’t approve and looked back, her cheeks puffed out with obvious signs of jealousy before heading off with me. I myself was left confused by this. Was Lightspeed trying to… no that’s silly. Why would a cyberpony be trying to flatter me? It’d feel… odd.

Gale draped her wing over my back and pulled her close to me as we were approaching the ruins of Whinnyapolis, which isn’t surprising to me compared to other cities they’ve gone through. Is my face turning red or is it just me. Bullseye himself doesn’t seem to care of what’s going on because he doesn’t want to get in the way and ask what’s going on between me and Gale. At least I won’t end up in a… yeah.

On the plus side, there are a couple of settlers inside, though they look pretty war-torn and who can blame them? At least they’re not Raiders. Of course, we were stopped by a guard pony, “Hold it right there. Who are you and what brings you here in Whinnyapolis? Hope you’re not here to stir up some trouble.”

Oh joy. A pretend guard threatening us because we were just passing by. Though he does have a firearm so he’s not to be taken lightly. And his voice is pretty gruff, too.

“We’re just passing by is all. No trouble here.”

Gale’s doing all the speech check for me. It was a success at first but the dark green-colored guardpony took a suspicious look at her, “How do I know you’re not here to wipe us out?”

“I defected myself from the Grand Pegasus Enclave…”

His eyes widened slightly, “Defected from the Grand Pegasus Enclave? So… you’re a Dashite, then. Thousand pardon for my behavior, just keeping Whinnyapolis safe and sound, away from Raiders and other creatures. Steel Rangers included. Come on in.” He does take another look at Bullseye before diverting his attention to me, “You sure got some weird friends…”

You should see Bob, a self-aware robot accompanied by a filly. Everything the Wastelands give me has varied results. Nevertheless, we ventured ourselves into the remnants of the city turned into a makeshift town. Seems they have their own medical station, gardens to harvest fresh foods, weapons shop, even small, residential houses exclusive for the settlers. Good security too, though I prefer Stable Town in my honest opinion.

“Sure seems secure here. Why don’t we rest up and get something to eat. Hopefully we have caps with us.”

I think we do have enough to buy something from them. Of course, something hit my mind. I’ve heard this guard mentioning something about a Dashite, which I’ve never heard at all before. Nopony has ever told me regarding a Dashite before, not even back in Lab-00 either. Seems curiosity is getting the best of me, and I’m willing to find out if Gale Storm is a Dashite or something else.

Though first things first, I moved a bit for her to open up my saddlebags and retrieve the caps stored inside. Yeah, I know I still have a couple of food inside, but the recent battle with those murderous robots (no thanks to Lightspeed who had to destroy them at the very last second) has pretty much worn my mind out. I relaxed back on the bench and waved a hoof at the two and they left to buy food while I merely sat on the bench.

I slid my hoof down to my saddlebags and pulled out a fresh carrot (thank you, Sweet Cheeks!) and chowed down to it. Still pretty tasty and intact, even though it hasn’t been used in a short while. The two returned with various of fresh food bought from a local food stand which serves as a grocery shop. They stuffed them in my saddlebags as Gale looked at me, “So, shall we relax and wait for Lightspeed to come back?”

I nodded. Lightspeed wouldn’t have left without at least telling us. Gale sat herself on the bench next to me and simply laid her head down to my shoulder. I’m not sure how public displays of affection will affect the residents of Whinnyapolis though it seems they’re simply minding their own business, save for Bullseye just jiving me an odd look before shrugging off and merely gazed up in the dark, cloudy skies that’s obstructing daylight.

“Sooooo have anything to ask me something, Zero? I know you can’t talk normally, but hey, you have your trustworthy PipBuck with you, right?”

I’m feeling a rather shortness of breath here for a brief moment; goddess, what’s with her sudden change of tone in her voice?!

Calm down, Zero! Just ask her about her cutie mark, that’s all!

I tried to keep a steady hoof as I typed in a couple of words on the screen. After finishing up, I showed it to her and closed my eye, getting ready for the inevitable. It read ‘What is a Dashite?’.

Gale blinked a few times before looking around, looking rather uncertain. “Umm… oh! Hey, Bullseye? Could you stay here and wait for Lightspeed for me? Me and Zero have to… talk in private. It won’t take long, I promise!”

“Whatever. Just be sure our boss isn’t gone for too long.” Bullseye replied, showing little concern regarding Gale’s privacy. I was soon got up from the bench by her, and taken to an empty alleyway in between two buildings.

“Ooooohhhh! Somepony’s in loooove!”

Lay off, Pinkie! How can a brilliant scientist like me express love, much less romance?! It basically defies any form of logic in the Wastelands, dammit!

Well, at least I get to listen what she’s going to tell me. She let out a soft sigh.

“Its when one of the Grand Pegasus Enclave soldiers have defected from their evil intentions and join on the good side for the greater good of ponykind. Let’s just say that… I was too pissed off to notice it, after my troops had been name-calling me and my father and merely deserted them afterwards. Yeah, they were looking for me, but what can I do? My sister is pretty naive in nature, even younger than me too. I guess its because I was considered a favorite to my father over Cloud Storm, mainly because I was older than her and even you, or because I was just a hardcore tomboy and put up more of a fight than those other colts in the line of duty. In the end, I don’t care about them anymore. I care for my new friends who show compassion, and you’re no exception. What you have done so far, just to survive the Wastelands here and there, proves that your name is more than just Zero. To me… you’re a hero. And if we die together along with our friends, at least we’ll know that we’ve put up a good fight to date. Here, let me show you.”

She stripped herself out of her Enclave armor, which would soon reveal her true cutie mark (if I haven’t seen it before already, then long journeys and grueling battles didn’t allowed me to retcon the past events). And there it is; a real Dashite in place of her cutie mark. She puts on her outfit again after having shown the Dashite she possesses.

Now I know why Gale left the Enclave, because even if she was fit to battle, they had completely shunned her, equivalent to being literally racist of her because they were judging of her, and that her father provided no support for his own daughter. And I wasn’t too sure how she was older than me - she looks pretty young like myself - but then again, her calling me a hero seems… pretty moving. Really, it was. My heart fluttered out from her words; guess I’m Zero to Hero now, huh? I like it. I felt at ease now.

It wasn’t until Gale made her move.

“Zero… I…” Those were the only two words she spoke as she leaned forward to me, I was pinned against the wall but did not resist. Her eyelids slowly shuttered shut as I could feel her lips nearing in to me. It wasn’t long until Bullseye called out, “Gale! Boss! The cyberpony has returned!”

Gale’s eyes suddenly opened up before leaning back from me, looking at the side. “Oh! Coming! Let’s go, Zero!”

I was speechless. Literally. My heart instantly went back to jackhammer mode. Goddess Celestia, did I… did I nearly got a kiss from Gale?! I-I-I-I almost went to first base, goddess-dammit!

And I could feel my head just sweating profusely after this! Just… what the ever-loving fuck was that all about?!?!

My hooves feel rubbery all of a sudden, too! Dammit, Zero, hold it together! Just regroup with the others!

After quite the struggle, I had finally regrouped with the other three, but not before Lightspeed took a quick scan to me, “Zero? Are you okay? I’m indicating accelerated heart rate, along with your nervous systems being unstable, along with your brain activity being constant. Is everything okay?”

I shakily nodded! I’m 100% okay, no Raider that happens to grab me by behind and beating me senselessly, right?!

“Riiight…” Lightspeed grinned, giving out a pretty obvious hint.

“Have Honeycomb and Topaz arrived safely to Stable Town?”

Lightspeed nodded to Gale, “They have, yes. Safe and sound.”

Oh! I forgot all about my Stable 13 canteen! I rummaged through my saddlebags and downed the whole canteen (which will regenerate later on, obviously), just to calm my nerves. No, a scientist should not get himself into drugs.

I need a break from having to take on too many gunfights. An army of murderous robots was more than enough for me to take a pretty long break from engaging gun fights on anything the Wastelands would throw at us. Seriously, can I at least get a breather here?

“I have a good five minutes or so before I can head back with the Powder Gangers.” Lightspeed informed us.

Seems Taser is eager to make her a fully-augmented cyberpony. I’m still wondering how would a cyberpony would try and flatter a normal, regular pony like myself? Then what? Would Gale Storm want to be augmented as well?

Goddess, this is getting weird…

I spotted a lone Raider wandering around the town and was quick to react as I pulled out my rifle, but upon closer inspection, this one doesn’t seem to be acting in a hostile manner like usual Raiders would. Normally, they would just murder anypony on sight with no obvious remorse to show. Even my PipBuck is telling me that this one was not hostile to us.

Still, pretty unusual for a lone Raider to be just wandering around in the town. One of the residents trotted to us, “Oh, you ponies must be new here. Welcome to Whinnyappolis!”

I glanced at the mare who greeted us - obviously a resident here - as I glanced back at the Raider, making a purchase from a local stand. I still don’t understand him…

She lightly tapped a hoof to my shoulder as to grab my attention, “Excuse me, sir? You’re looking at Jericho. Sure he’s a Raider who’s not nice and has a thrill for murdering ponies, but… he’s changed.”

My ears perked up at this and glanced at the dark-greened mare. Did she say changed?

Aren’t Raiders supposed to be completely and impossibly irredeemable?

Even Gale quirked a brow, “Ma’am? I ahh… don’t recall Raiders being redeemable. They usually go and backstab other ponies pretending to be nice, as far as I’m concerned.” Gale’s right, of course. Raiders are irredeemable by default.

She rebutted Gale’s statement, “That’s true, but he deserted his own kind, admitting that killing other ponies and stealing other things were not worth it; it wore him out and went to try befriending other ponies. Things didn’t go well at first, but after a few days, he got along well with other ponies. Of course, he’s kinda temperamental if you ever get on his bad side so just be careful.”

So this Jericho stallion is kind on the outside, but still a murderous Raider on the inside. Like a beast that would wake from its slumber if its disturbed. Right…

“We’ll… keep that in mind.”

The mare smiled and had left to head off elsewhere.

Bullseye himself didn’t look too surprised, “I’ve seen worse. Even saw them Ghoul Raiders before too.”

Ghoul Raiders? Wow, the Wastelands has all kinds of weird all around us.

“Oh! My time is up. Sorry ponies, but Taser’s calling me to head back. I’ll send him regards.” Lightspeed informed her time to leave and return to her faction. She spread her cybernetic wings, “Ta-ta for now.”

She took flight, creating a small yet noticeable sonic boom, which caught the attention of other residents, Jericho included, gazing their sights at the cyberpony having already gained altitude and flown out of the town.

“Geez, somepony sure is a showoff…” Jericho muttered before taking a seat at a bar, having a bored expression. His coat is tan, covered in dirt, unsurprisingly enough. His mane is nonexistent - mostly having been shaved off to the scalp - though still sports a dull-black beard with him, and he was covered in crude, armored outfit too. Totally of Raider-quality too.

“So, boss. Do you think we should greet this fellow Raider?”

Hopefully not. Yet I reluctantly nodded to Bullseye, regardless. Gonna keep him in check without setting him off. Of course, killing him would mean the residents of Whinnyappolis will consider us a threat. And I’ve had enough trying to not let the Wastelands get all trigger-happy on my ass. I got up from the bench and nods to Gale Storm for her to do all the talking for us.

“Tread carefully now, Zero.”

Thanks for the obvious warning, Gale.

Jericho batted his eyes at us as he took a sip of a fresh, Sparkle-Cola, “Huh? Don’t see you around here before. Who are you three supposed to be?”

“I’m Gale Storm, this is Bullseye and this is Zero.” Gale introduced to herself and us.

Jericho quirked a brow, looking at us with a puzzled expression. “Geez… a nerdy scientist, a ghoul with a ‘stache, and a lone Enclave? No wonder why I stopped using chems; they fuck me up to no end, even if it were to drive me to kill somepony. Then again, most of my ‘friends’ just treat me like shit. Name’s Jericho, by the way.” He took a sip of Sparkle-Cola, his voice was also pretty gruff for a typical Raider.

“What brings ya to me? And don’t think of pissing me off, either. I’ve dealt with enough shit before I even came here.”

Again, thanks for the obvious warning, this time from Jericho.

“Well… we thought we’d like to get to know ponies in Whinnyappolis, and what interesting places we could find. Any ideas?”

“The fuck do I look like to you? A tour guide?” Jericho drank down the last of Sparkle-Cola before setting it on the table. “Well, you ponies don’t seem to be aimlessly wandering around like mindless, feral ghouls. No offense, pal.”

He’s brash, all right. But even then, we kept ourselves in check because this town doesn’t take kindly to inciting violence. Even if he’s a Raider, there’s a good amount of security guards patrolling the area.

“None taken. Just wondering if there’s anything interesting this town has.” Bullseye was slightly annoyed from Jericho’s remarks.

“Hmm. Tell ya what, rest yourselves up and I’ll tell you know first thing in the morning. Before you get any ideas, no, I’m going to kill you ponyfolk in your sleep, nor would I pilfer your things. I’ve had enough shit and the last thing I want is to take PTMs. And those PTMs can fuck you up big time. I know I have.”

“What are those ‘PTMs?” Bullseye asked, with a flat tone to it.

“Party-Time Mint-als. Makes you think straight but then you’ll end up thinking about suicide when it wears off. Stay the fuck away from PTMs, seriously. You’re better off dead from a gun battle than being dead from OD’ing yourself. I had to endure months of this shit and believe me, withdrawals ain’t a pretty sight so don’t end up like me or those fucked-up Raiders that used to be my ‘friends’. I’m serious.”

For a Raider with a tough, not-giving-a-fuck personality, he sure gives out an advice pretty well. Good thing I’m a scientist and not a drug addict. No drugs, even if they’re considered harmless, will hamper with my genius mind!

“Anyway, you need a place to rest,” He points a hoof to a vacant house, “This is the place. Nopony’s been using it for awhile but at least its free from filth-ridden Radroaches.” He also lets out a groan, “Can’t believe this has been the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had since Sickle tried to rape me in my sleep…”

“Right… thank you very much. We’ll see you later, Jericho.” Gale responded as we left to the abandoned house for us to rest up for the night.

“Yeah yeah, whatever…” Is all Jericho responded.

Once inside, the house seems vastly empty and depressing-looking, but at least it wasn’t ransacked or infested. The fridge from the kitchen doesn’t have any food or drinks left inside. Small and daft too. At least the bathroom has a working, non-irradiated shower in the bathroom for us to clean ourselves. “Yeah, I’ll just sleep on this sofa here. Good night, boss.”

Bullseye was the first to get some shuteye after slumping himself on the couch to get some shuteye. I went to the bedroom myself for me to take off my lab coat and set it on the chair. I let out an exhausted sigh and merely flopped on the bed. At least there’s pillows to support my head with.

Gale, on the other hoof, went to the shower herself and took off her armored outfit and stepped into the shower to turn it on. I could hear her humming and singing randomly. I could even hear her call my name, but my eyes feel too heavy for me to wonder anyway. All I could do was lay myself to the side and let my whole body go into slumber.

I was soon asleep afterwards. I hardly noticed Gale having finished cleaning herself up and joined on the bed with me, with her fore-hooves embraced around me. My ears picked up faint words from her though hard to tell what she is telling me, as I’m already asleep and waiting the next day to rise.

Day has arrived and I was the first to wake myself up, letting out a big yet obviously silent yawn. I looked down and saw both fore-hooves wrapped around me, her wing included. I didn’t know her attachment to me would be strange, but at least I’m not complaining about it. At least nopony barged in and opened fire at us, and even Jericho was a man of his word and made good on his promise.

I tried to wiggle myself free, but Gale’s fore-hooves aren’t letting up, even while she’s still sleeping. Now’s not the time to get all… yeah. Not gonna describe it because simply put, a scientist doesn’t require to say suggestive things throughout my journey. Speaking of, I haven’t written anything on my PipBuck for the past countless days since having my PipBuck 1000 replaced with the 4000 model. Then again, I lost interest with it, and the 1000 was basically outdated anyway.

Gale fluttered her eyes awake and released her grasp from me, allowing me to take a shower myself. It wasn’t until a knock on the door was heard, “I’ll go get the door, Zero!”

Bullseye was next to wake up, clumsily slumping from the couch and landing on the floor. Behind the door reveals to be the same resident of Whinnyappolis, “Hey! Its Jericho and no, I’m not armed so don’t think I’ll be saying hello with a buckshot. I ain’t that kind of monster I used to be.”

She let out a sigh of relief when she opened the door. He took a peek inside to see my ghoul friend getting up as well before looking back at her, “Where’s your nerdy friend at?”

“He’s showering. Something you wanna tell us?”

The former Raider nodded, “Yeah, though first we’ll wait for that silent nerd to show up.” He still looked weary from the sight of Bullseye but made no comment of it. He does have a smarmy, rude attitude but even he knows better.

After a few minutes, I arrived at the door, lab coat and everything with me. Jericho nodded, “Good. Follow me. There’s a pretty large library nearby and for fucks sakes, stop looking at me funny; you’re gonna make me start shooting everypony around!”

Well gee. I didn’t know you were still - and always will be - a hardass Raider…

“Here it is. Knock yourselves out, otherwise you’ll have to pay me in caps. As for stealing well… not my problem. Anyways, we never met so if anypony asks, I wasn’t there.” Jericho left us and we were left puzzled at his sudden, brash behavior.

“So umm… shall we go to the library? Studying would be good.”

I suppose we could, Gale. Not like there’s anything to do for the time being.

Whoa! The library is huge! Despite its vast emptiness with a small portion of ponies reading and studying books without making any noise (Jericho lied, but not worth coming back to him anymore), but by the goddesses, there’s so much potential books to read! Gale whispered to me, “Seems this is why me and Bullseye are the greatest companions there is. You’re truly a nerd with limitless discoveries.”

I simply marvelled at the sight of the wide selection of books, all are in great condition even after its been through the great war. Going through one aisle of books after the next until my eye was locked at the latest book of Neighkola Tesla! This is like a dream come true! My smiled was wide enough for me to grab the book and merely hugged it before heading to the table for me to grab a seat. I opened up a book and Gale Storm sat herself down next to me to read with me.

‘Chapter 1: Energy Weapons

‘How are they created, you ask? Well, I shall tell you how they’re created though mind you that they’re scarce and finding and crafting them isn’t easy as you think! They’re of the property of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, courtesy of Twilight Sparkle. They’re usually powered with unicorn magic, but also powered by other unknown sources. Like balefire bombs.

‘These are not like any regular firearms would; these resources are very hard to find and are powerful if used correctly. Even then, its no easy feat.

‘One should be warned about its radiation levels upon coming into contact. Its not airborne but can still contract it by simply touching them. Cautionary is advised when handling such objects, be it plasma or lasers. They’re lethal as well!

Now, you’re wondering why there’s no complicated math equations in this page yet because you’d either wonder why its complicated or it makes no sense as Discord used to say. Well, its found on the next page, though have a look at the diagram of the Laser Pistol before proceeding to the next page.’

Not bad so far. I’m familiar with complicated numbers, specifically algebra (shame on you other ponies reading this for not studying hard enough) on the picture of the Laser Pistol imprinted on the page. Of course, these kinds of resources are used by technologically-advanced factions such as the Steel Rangers or the Grand Pegasus Enclave. Or to put a term loosely, artifacts. Speaking of, I’ve never scavenged for any of them at all. I’m not going to mention my past events, trust me on this. But… what’s a Discord? Some kind of electronic equipment, maybe? I dunno.

Anyway, onto the next page.

The second picture on the left shows the accuracy range of both the Laser Pistol and the Laser Rifle. Again, complicated numbers and whatnot so I don’t wanna bore you with the unwanted and boring details. Too bad I don’t happen to have Energy Weapons myself and Gale Storm is the only one who has two Plasma Rifles from her battle saddle.

There weren’t any words written on the page either. Just some complicated math and diagrams of Laser Pistols and Laser Rifles. Gale whispered to me softly, “That’s some complicated mathematics on that page, Zero.”

Well, good thing I was gifted to understand complicated numbers. Speaking of numbers, what do they mean?

Ah well, onto the next page.

‘Rookie users are not recommended for handling Energy Weapons. These are very dangerous and mishandling them can lead to… disastrous results. Its called science for a reason, not some toy to play with!

‘And yes, E.F.S works on anypony of any type, not just unicorns and alicorns. Don’t ask, it just works. Now, the Ministry of Arcane Sciences has provided a diagram of Plasma weaponry as shown here:’

Lasers and Plasma? Now this is a worthy read! Yeah, Gale Storm has two Plasma Rifles of her own. I did used one-half of her rifle before but even so, I’ve not fully mastered the true potential of Energy weapons. And the picture of both the Pistol and Rifle variants of Plasma is surely unique, deadly too. Can pretty much turn any living thing into green goop with precise shots.

Sadly, this book doesn’t contain anything regarding the Tesla Coil. The books are pretty large yes, but only a small number of them are relatively intact; the rest of them are burnt out, rendering them unreadable.

“Hey, Zero? I don’t want to interrupt your fascination with the book, but I figured we should head out and eat. We haven’t had breakfast yet and my belly’s starting to protest for food.” Gale’s rumbling belly was pretty notable, yet other librarians seem to not mind. I’d keep the book for myself, though I can’t risk being overdue. I suppose I’ll have to stop reading the book of the famous Neighkola Tesla and feed ourselves. Bullseye flatly commented, “Your belly’s saying something, señorita Gale.”

Her eyes narrowed to Bullseye with slight annoyance, “You think?”

I got up from the chair and took the book, placing it back where it was originally found. If Neighkola Tesla was real, I would seriously praise him for his scientific achievements and I’d forever be his massive idol. Goddess, that would be very amazing!

Don’t get any funny ideas, Pinkie! I know what you’re gonna say and you’re not going to ruin my perfect image!

“I haven’t said anything, silly nerdpony! You’re such an egghead like Twilight, and maybe Rainbow Dash!”

How dare she compare me of an egghead than the two names I’ve never even heard or seen of?!

Ugh, I’m not gonna strain my mind again. We’ll head outside for a quick meal so at least I’ll have a clearer mind. Besides, Pinkie has made a permanent residence in my head since retrieving the statuette of her back in Mount Gallopmore. Oh well; less mind-talking and more food-eating, I suppose.

Several foods I ate were fruits, all of which are the labor of Equestria. Freshly-made, even!

Gale had carrots while Bullseye simply had Sparkle-Cola. At least he didn’t took the Sparkle-Cola Victory I still have; I’d be really pissed if he drank that, especially since it has pretty high radiation levels than a regular Sparkle-Cola and being potentially lethal if leaving radiation untreated. Our breakfast wasn’t too heavy, but still enough to keep our energies up.

And its simply the three of us sans Lightspeed, Tootsie Roll and Bob. I tuned the radio which has some jazz music to it. I have no specific taste in music, but at least it helps easing my mind except I’d have to turn it off in case we’re exploring uncharted territories, including various creatures and Raiders. Or Legion. Or Slavers. Or other hostile factions.

Once we were done, we arrived back inside the library. It was only a quick meal and not a slow, heavy one. I’m not a glutton for food, even if its to keep myself alive. Overeating can be hazardous.

Seems there’s nopony in the library. Weird… we didn’t took that long. Where did everypony go?

“Hello?” Gale’s voice echoed throughout the building. No response.

“Seems they left.” Bullseye reiterated. The library’s pretty big so they must’ve used a secret exit. Its odd though; the sign said ‘CLOSED’, but we somehow managed to open the entrance door without any issues. Hopefully this doesn’t mean we’re trespassing or anything. Management must suck inside.

Guess I’ll be receiving ALL the knowledge inside, and my brain’s hungry for it! I motioned my two friends and arrived at the first aisle to browse around whatever book I could find, all which are burnt and unreadable or even too generic for my liking. Seems I change my mind. My brain WAS hungry for knowledge, but none of these books interest me so besides Neighkola Tesla. I’m a pretty fast learner too so there’s no need for me to read the same thing.

“So… should we find a secret entrance of this library, Zero?”

I suppose, Gale. As much as I love reading, I don’t like staying in one place and have to continue to move on to see if the Wastelands doesn’t try to murder us.

We went up the stairs to the second floor of the library (it never had a name as its letters had fallen apart, making it difficult to tell what it is), to see what they have to offer us; the door opens which reveals to be an elder mare.

“Oh?” She looked rather surprised, “What are you three doing back in the library? Its closed.”

Gee, I wonder why the main entrance was never locked at all?

“Well… the library wasn’t really closed, it was still opened. You might ah… want to secure them properly next time, ma’am.” Gale informed her, “We’ll be leaving them. Just please lock them next time.”

The elder mare seem to stood still for a few moments before asking, “Oh umm… who are you ponies again?”

Short-term memory loss much? Because it sure seems like it. I nudge Gale and motion for us to leave the library. We don’t want her to think we’re trespassing inside. “Hmm? Oh! Right, we’ll be on our way, ma’am.”

“Right… best be careful now, ya hear?”

For a library owner she seems… rather odd. Oh well, not like we’re curious enough to see what the library offers us anyway. The name is going to be left unknown.

At least my brief reading about Neighkola Tesla was enough to keep me satisfied. Still, I’m disappointed that this library has limited to non-existing books to read. None besides the previous one I read interest me at all. What a farce this has been.

We’re outside again, and there’s still a couple of settlers what I thought it’d be. Could’ve sworn Whinnyappolis might have been deserted, but it seems I was wrong. Bullseye hasn’t spoken much but at least he’s not being much of a bother, even though he’s a valuable companion who happens to be an obvious ghoul and has a moustache that doesn’t fall off from all the radiation that goes with his strange accent I’ve never even heard about before.

Then again, I could care less. All that matters is just move along. To see if I have the will to band all the other ponies together to fully eradicate the Cazador threat is not easy. Picking the wrong factions can lead to high tensions and break out an all-out war against each other, and we’ll end up losing while Dr. Scalpel and his sickening creation will win. And without my voice, I can’t negotiate with other ponies and I simply can’t rely on Gale Storm doing all the diplomatic work for me. And I’m limited to my PipBuck and even that isn’t enough. I need a voice. A voice of reason that would change everything. Until that happens, its simply not going to be easy until the time is right.

Seems we’re about to leave Whinnyappolis, with the exit just up ahead. Nothing interesting to see other than the library, along with the library owner with an obvious case of dementia. Pretty boring overall. Didn’t interacted much with settlers as well, though I bet they’re not too fond to strangers. Suppose that normal socialization is out the window. It isn’t without Gale Storm being close to me again, and I’m entirely unsure that displays of public affection would be of help. I don’t want other settlers to look at us funny, and even Bullseye simply rolled his eyes out if lack of interest.

Its also odd that there’s no security at a security checkpoint, so we simply left the town without any issues.

“Hehe, don’t mind me, Zero. I just have a bit of interest to you is all.” Gale admitted.

Of course you do. But not before you went really close to me and I nearly collapsed from the unexpected closeness!

Up ahead appears to be a sealed entrance with a terminal. Good timing too; thick clouds are rolling in, with low, thundering noises creeping its way, effectively blocking out any source of sunlight. At least unlocking the terminal will be a cinch, no doubt about it.

I booted up the terminal, which had at least a few number of words. ‘Snakes’ was the correct password and I unlocked the door. “Hurry up, boss. Thunderstorm’s heading this way.”

Can you not rush me with this one? At least I have a strong concentration that’s difficult to break without being pestered constantly. Once we were inside, we had a sigh of relief, with intense battering noises coming from torrential rainfall that was trying to break inside but had failed. The inside was of pitch black darkness and I turned on the flashlight. We’re in a tunnel? Really?

Its stuffy in there, too! No oxygen, even! Well, at least we’re not in a dead end so at least this path will take us somewhere.

“What is this place?”

I dunno, Gale. But at least we’re not gonna die from lack of oxygen. Let’s go.

We moved forward through the tunnel mining entrance inside. We could hear a faint, electrical generator running inside. As we approached into a wide-open area, the room is filled with functioning bulbs lit inside and I turned off the flashlight. There are also other tunnels bored throughout, creating multiple paths for us to choose.

This is gonna be a long day…

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Jus’ buck it an’ it’ll be fine! - Firearms now have a 75% to not jam when jamming would normally occur.

Author's Notes:

Originally released on September 2017.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Tunnels

Pathways.

They either lead you to something safe, or they lead you into something far more dangerous where death is inevitable. Its one of those dreaded puzzles that often comes with a negative outcome. At least on the plus side there’s some breathing room. The outside is currently under a hard thunderstorm, with a faint, muffled booming thunder behind us.

I’m not great when it comes to decision-making, am I?

“So… any suggestions on what tunnel should we take?”

While waiting to decide from Gale’s question, there was a metallic catwalk up ahead that splits into forks that takes us to either of these paths. They’re pretty durable and sturdy enough to support us and not give way.

Suppose we could go straight. Considering as how there isn’t any Raider activity going on. I led them forward to the middle tunnel inside with a large door that happens to be the entrance. There was some muffled noises in the background, with random conversations and loud, thrash music being played. I knocked the door three times with a hoof. A sliding peep door was conjured by magic as it open to reveal two eyes, “Whaddya want? We ain’t accepting no reservations.”

His accent sounded rather funny - in a non-humorous way of course - from an unknown origin. It didn’t took long before he shifted his eyes to us. “Wait… youse ain’t delivery ponies I ordered about. What brings ya here to Tunnel Snakes headquarters?”

Tunnel Snakes? This is new, as I’ve never heard such a thing before. Must’ve been like that Tatzlwurm we encountered before. But Tunnel Snakes seem a pretty odd name for a faction.

“We came here to seek temporary shelter, away from the bad weather. Normally, we’d pay you in caps but we don’t have much at this time. We recently left from Whinnyappolis until the weather suddenly went bad and it was raining quite aggressively.”

His eyes squinted at Gale’s statement, “Must’ve been those goddamned alicorns, always making the rain fell goddamn miserable to everypony. But what makes ya think I’d let somepony enter our headquarters, from the likes of a Grand Pegasus Enclave like ya too? Especially a ghoul and a nerd?”

“Well for starters, I left the Grand Pegasus Enclave after they defiled me because of their repeated discrimination against me. And I won’t go back to them for as long as I live.”

He grumbled indifferently before sliding the peep door shut. Well, that was short-lasted. Or so we thought; the guard opened up the entrance door, “Come on in, but on one condition.” Seems this club we’re about to enter has strict regulations. Gale and Bullseye were reluctant at first, but after I entered inside without having a second thought, both of them entered inside with me.

“Youse three follow me, I’ll take ya to Copperhead, leader of the Tunnel Snakes. Youse ponies gonna relinquish your weapons to him until you’re gonna leave, or whatever you do so long as you don’t do no funny business.” The bouncer explained. He has a leather jacket, with the back logo consisting of a snake, with letters stitched as ‘Tunnel Snakes’. His mane is… pretty interesting. Never knew his mane was perfectly combed, mostly covered with unknown substance (looks pretty greasy too).

Once inside, there was a party going on. The bar on the right consists of drunken ponies shouting various words that are hard to hear due to a large crowd, and the above ceiling is covered in smoke. Geez, so many of them having way too much cigarettes, and you’d wonder how they managed to survive in this kind of half-assed environment!

Gale was even coughing from the polluted room though Bullseye seemed pretty unfazed by this. Is Bullseye secretly a smoker? How can living ghouls endure something like this?!

We soon entered up a second floor and directed to the door that leads to an office inside. The bouncer knocked on the door, “Yo, Copperhead! Youse not new visitors in Tunnel Snakes HQ!”

There was a muffled voice inside behind the door, “Well, bring ‘em in! And if they have weapons on them, tell them to put them in my safe!”

“Alright, youse three know what to do. Enjoy yer stay and don’t think of no funny business, ya hear?” He soon left as I entered the door, with the two following me inside his office. Copperhead swiveled his chair around to face us, with a copper red coat and a dark gold mane… pompadour?! I’ve never seen that kind of mane style before!

I was the first to set my DHC-6 sniper rifle on the front desk, with Bullseye setting his revolver on the desk as well.

Copperhead arched a brow to Gale Storm, “What? Ya expect me to greet you with that look, missy?”

Gale clearly didn’t approved his comment and she puffed her cheeks at this. She begrudgingly surrenders both Plasma Rifles and sets them on the table in front of him, “Don’t ever call me ‘missy’ again…”

I went to comfort her as to de-escalate any potential situation; Copperhead seemed to disregard her comment and nodded at us, “Good. Seems you three listened to Adder so when you come back, I’ll give these weapons back to you three. Name’s Copperhead, and I’m the leader of the Tunnel Snakes, and the Tunnel Snakes rule, get it?”

Sounds like an awfully cheesy motto for a faction. His friends were so damn rowdy and drunk that they’re completely lost from reality. I’m surprised that almost all of them are still standing and not having killed themselves from smoke inhalation or even alcohol poisoning.

“So, what’s your names and how’d you find us here? If you were Raiders, you’d be dead already.”

Do we look like Raiders to you, Copperhead? The Wastelands just can’t get any weirder, honestly…

Gale Storm filled the introductions for us, “I’m Gale Storm, this here’s Zero and this is Bullseye.”

As Copperhead gave an affirmed nod, he curiously looked at Bullseye, “Say, don’t I know you? Unless you’re a different kind… must be your mustache; surprised that it didn’t fall off of you as a ghoul.” Bullseye merely rolled his eyes in return, “Its just part of my nature, hombre. Nothing special.”

“Well, no shit. Well, suppose I’ll give you three a tour, and maybe a place to stay in the meantime. Just follow me and no wandering off, alright?”

Great, he’s gonna take us to that loud, rowdy lobby again, isn’t he? Because I’m not all into rowdy ponies throwing wild, drunken parties. And I sure as hell do not want to be involved in a bar brawl because I can’t imagine them using objects as improvised weapons while we’re disallowed to use any of them for self-defense. Not to mention the risk of being kicked out of the club and leaving us weapon-less. And I’ve grown weary from having my weapons falling at the wrong hooves; first was Taser who claimed my former friend’s rifle as his own, the other completely devoured inside the temple. I’m not losing my third and current rifle, and it’ll be over my dead body if anypony would ever take it away from me.

As we followed Copperhead on a tour, Gale simply held her hoof around my own and stood close to me in a protective manner, which is understandable. The Tunnel Snakes are all stallions and mares are nonexistent. We followed Copperhead back to the bar lounge, with the party already showing signs of other members already taking a break and exhausted; most had passed out on the floor from alcohol use and the loud, thrashing music had already died out. The lone bartender was cleaning up the bar table, not giving a single care about his drunken patrons.

“So, this is the bar lounge, as you ponies have already witnessed. Don’t mind the smoke inside, we usually had a no-smoking policy before, but the Tunnel Snakes here wanted to party hard. Of course, the use of Party Time Mint-als is death because we don’t want them to go as far as to become addicted to that candy-flavored drug. Gotta be smart about that.” Copperhead explained, especially with the Mint-als part. Never even took Part Time Mint-als and they’re lethal as fuck. It takes a scientist like myself to know these kinds of consequences upon consuming Party TIme Mint-als.

“Looks like they’ve been partying really hard that they passed out.” Gale reiterated, having a slight, disgusted look from the sight of drunken ponies. “I’m surprised that they managed to not end up killing themselves from alcohol poisoning.”

Copperhead replied her statement, “Eh, they have strong livers. We did have some that never made it through, despite our bartender’s warnings. But what can you do, really?”

“Least they’re not too addicted, hombre.” Bullseye replied to his statement.

“Well no shit, hombre. If they were high on Mint-als, they’d be taking a long dirt nap.” Copperhead reiterated this.

Even with a set of rules, the headquarters is horribly disorganized, and its really messy as fuck to walk into - or even live in as well. They also have no regard for proper hygiene either, so that’s pretty disgusting and repulsive in itself. Seriously, they’re like Raiders who are also untidy! Sheesh! (At least they’re not armed.)

Gale was still holding me protectively as we followed Copperhead to the cafeteria. Looks a big mess to go for, with trays and spoiled foods left half-eaten, or uneaten, yet somehow it manages to store a good amount of fresh food for later meals. Still pretty repulsive, especially with strewn trays stained with various foods. Who’s even the janitor in this?! Even in the Wastelands, its still a health code violation!

Of course, it wouldn’t matter because health inspectors are nonexistent in the Wastelands. Its their own funeral.

Gale Storm expressed disgust at the sight, “Ugh… are they a bunch of sloppy eaters? Have they no shame?”

“Well, I’m not their nanny, am I? Not my fucking fault they can’t try to eat like civilized ponies. Besides, this isn’t Canterlot, this is the Tunnel Snakes HQ. But yes, this is the cafeteria. Least we have a working garden so that none of us could cannibalize ourselves without starving to death.” Copperhead replied and mentioned the area before taking us upstairs to the next floor where there are dormitories. Looks to be a mess, but at least it wasn’t so severely disorganized.

Still can’t blame Gale having her disgusted look. She has her reasons to not like the environment. Bullseye himself didn’t seemed to care; guess he’s used to disorganized places like this. “So, this is the dormitories where they sleep, hombre?” Bullseye asked as to be sure.

Copperhead nodded at his question, “Yep. Not much but hey, I’m not their maid. Their problem, not mine, or my second-in-command and bouncer Adder.”

I’ve heard that before. Just ask Taser. Gale simply whispered to me, “Hopefully if we’re not tired, we could just head on elsewhere after our ‘tour’.”

Her soft tone of voice has some suggestiveness to it. I’m not sure where’s she going with that.

And Pinkie, don’t get any ideas as always. I don’t want Copperhead here to look at me funny. Besides, I’ve already gotten weird looks from that lone Raider in Whinnyappolis before. But this headquarters is untidy as fuck, and I’ve seen partially-destroyed buildings that are quite clean and pristine on the inside!

As much as I love to stay here for more tour, its feeling pretty stuffy with the ventilation system being severely unmaintained. Wait, who’s even maintaining this facility anyway?!

Copperhead soon realized this, “Oh fuck… I forgot that I was supposed to have Black Mamba to fix some shit! That fucking slacker…”

Great. Another one of his members named after snake species. Might as well get animal control while we’re at it.

“Follow me to the maintenance room, ponies. Hopefully one of you guys know how to repair faulty equipments.”

Well, if there are any tools and spare parts found, that would come in handy. Otherwise, don’t count on me using telepathy; I’m not a unicorn so I don’t possess magic of any kind.

Fortunately for Bullseye however, he replied to Copperhead, “Well, I’m known for fixing up knick-knacks back in Whoover Dam. I got this covered, boss.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, Copperhead would need him in order to get the Tunnel Snakes HQ back up to speed. “Alright then, ya weird ghoul with that mustache. Follow me. You two stay here in that dorm room over there. Pretty vacant too and I’ll make sure your ghoul friend is safe.”

Gale was uneasy at first before giving the two a confirmed nod, “Be careful, you two…”

Once the two departed, let out a rather deep, heavy sigh. This feels pretty unsettling, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem half bad that Gale wanted me. Of course, I could be silly and just say she simply cares about me. But what have I done so far? Yes, I protected them from a Caesar’s Legion attack - who are currently on a pony-hunt for us - and even did various things that are too much for me to list out. I simply slumped on a partially-broken mattress, with Gale laying herself next to me. “So, mind turning on the radio to see what’s on the news?”

I turned on the radio from my PipBuck, hearing that the music was already coming to an end.

“Hey there, everypony! DJ Pon3 again with some thundering news! The rain is intense and unfriendly, with thunderstorms brewing and may last weeks on end so stay indoors unless you wish to catch a cold, and that wouldn’t be a good thing unless you’re well-equipped with medicine! But anyway, onto the REAL news; New Hampshore is officially off-limits for ANYpony - yes, you heard right - and I mean ANYpony from getting near the area as its been completely infested with butterflies from hell! Or, Cazadores. Not sure what’ll happen next, but whatever you do, never, EVER get near New Hampshore under any circumstances. Even had word from Starshooter here and told me to give a shout out to Zero, a unique and interesting scientist who hopes to become the hero of the Wastelands - just like our own Littlepip - to help and eradicate the greatest threat we’re currently facing.

Zero, if you’re tuning in, you’re surely making a name for everypony around here in Equestria! We sure appreciate of what you’re doing for the greater cause so far! So, without further ado, here’s a tune that’ll make those gloomy days bright and shiny! Stay tuned for more of yours truly, DJ Pon3, where even the miserable weathers can be overcome by the shining light of Equestria!”

Soon, the radio cuts to a snazzy jazz music after DJ Pon3’s latest news. I never even met this DJ Pon3 before in my life and I’m suddenly commended for my actions? Actions for what, exactly? I hardly made any contributions to the Wastelands, much less Equestria! And since when did Starshooter became an eavesdropper if I’ve yet to return myself to him?! He’s already holding a goddess-damned grudge against me despite the fact that I was fucking abducted by Dr. Scalpel, even silenced me in order to complete a total monstrosity that is his ‘creation’ and not only did I fail to exact revenge, but the threat in Equestria is far from over as a result of a growing number of Cazadores completely engulfing the city of New Hampshore, which could definitely put us ponykind on the endangered species! And even if I had exacted revenge against Dr. Scalpel and his monstrous creation, it won’t make a damn difference because I’ve let both him and my team down, and I’m sure as hell am likely to be held responsible for the deaths of my two former colleagues Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse.

I felt that the only reason I was commended is because somepony feels sorry for me. And I’m far from being a hero anyway. I’m just a scientist who’s doing whatever it takes to protect my friends and even try to settle in a friendly town that isn’t planning to poison us or shoot us en masse. At least Stable Town is the only likeable place I got to stay in. Fuck everything else, really. Manehattan’s nice and all, but its too… trendy for my taste. And I wouldn’t fit in to Tenpony Tower at all, really. I’m not a multi-billionaire anyway.

My mind is on the edge of venting anger and embarrassment, but it seems Pinkie Pie is basically keeping my mental state occupied. Still, what have I contributed to Equestria anyway? What have I actually done so far to make life-changing decisions? Nothing! Nothing, I tell you! Those little things I did were just of self-defense and just killing those bastard creatures, ghouls and Raiders who are too damn drugged up to be reasoned with, and even Slavers who want to make a quick buck on selling victims to others. And don’t get me started on the Legion who are currently on an ongoing hunt for us right now.

It wasn’t long until Gale let out a smile curled from her lips, “I knew I wanted to be by your side, Zero. I’m sure our friends will agree to this. Keep this up and you’ll be officially rhymed as a hero.”

I suppose. Still, me being the hero of the Wastelands means very little to me. Collecting artifacts, or just scouting around and trying to just survive… I’m simply far from being the hero of the Wastelands yet.

Meanwhile with Bullseye, he surveys the damage from the main transformer, which had been worn down to the core as a result of lack of maintenance and the maintenance worker being nonexistent to help maintain the headquarters, “Where’s your worker at? He ran off?”

“No, he left to take a leak and never returned. Seems like he wanted to bail from the Tunnel Snakes instead of fixing shit up. Yes, he ran off on us, and nopony ever caught up to that bastard ever since.” Copperhead responded to his question, much to his disdain.

“So ah… who is this ‘bastard’ you mentioned, señor?”

“Pfft, I dunno. Black Mamba, I guess. He was the only maintenance crew the Tunnel Snakes has ever had, but secretly bailed out on us and never returned. When I find him, he’ll be marked for death… for now, see if you can fix it up before we suffocate ourselves to death here.”

Bullseye didn’t questioned Bullseye’s intention with Black Mamba and proceeded to pull the worn out fusion core from the main generator, resulting all the lights within the building to be shut off. Emergency lights flicker on with us inside the run-down dormitory as Gale held onto me protectively. I mean, I can handle myself that’s fine.

Bullseye began disassembling a couple of worn-out parts from the main generator and headed to the maintenance room to find the working, unused parts, floating each one with magic. There is also an unused fusion core - only one left - locked in a container that requires a password to unlock it, and Bullseye himself doesn’t actually know how computers work. “Hmm… gonna get boss to unlock this, dunno anything about advanced gadgets…”

He returned back to the generator, easily fitting in new parts and easily fitted them inside as Copperhead arched a brow, “Where’s the fusion core, bud?”

“Ay, will have to get the boss to unlock the password. Its locked in a containment.” Bullseye answered his question. Copperhead merely face-hoofed at this, “Oh great… no wonder why Black Mamba bailed on me because he can’t even crack a fucking code…” Bullseye begrudgingly regrouped to us, “Hey, does one of you know how to use terminals? This ghoul here needs a bit of education.”

Was that a threat to Bullseye, COpperhead? He may not be bright, but if I have my voice, I’d tell you to watch your mouth, because that kind of comment means we’re not gonna get along from your snide remarks regarding his intellect. He may be a ghoul and doesn’t know much about technology, but to badmouth my friends puts you on thin ice. Even Gale Storm did not approve of Copperhead’s comments to Bullseye, but remained silent as to avoid confrontation.

Bullseye pointed a hoof at me, “There he is. My boss can hack any terminal.”

Gee, I wonder why he chose you and not me in the first place? Thanks for wasting time, by the way. I got up from the mattress and Gale followed me afterwards. I don’t really blame her for really wanting to protect me. “Alright, just follow me, you three. Its not like its the end of Equestria as we know it.”

You must be THIS wrong to say such things. The only reason why Equestria’s life hasn’t ended yet because we’re merely delaying the inevitable! My mind berated for me.

We went to the generator room with Copperhead,w ith the main fusion core having been removed along with parts. The air’s getting stuffier too so I have to make it quick because the emergency power isn’t gonna last forever.

I went to the terminal and booted it up. And thanks to my expertise with terminals - because well, I’m a scientist, no less - I was able to easily unlock it, with ‘Nodes’ being the password. The sealed door soon hissed open, revealing a fresh and unused fusion core inside. Why didn’t his friends do this in the first place? Were they that lazy?

I wrapped a hoof around it and pulled the Fusion Core off of the storage chamber and went back to the main generator where Bullseye had just finished reassembling the parts into it. Copperhead and Gale Storm nodded to me and I slid the unused Fusion Core into the main generator, the generator whirring itself up as full power begins to restore the entire facility, and the air much cleaner and easier to breathe in now.

Copperhead nodded to me, “You done good, kid. For a dork that don’t speak, you sure know how to handle things yourself.”

If I were to ask you again, why did you brought Bullseye and not me in the first place? A thanks wouldn’t have been necessary anyway; your Tunnel Snake fellows need to stop slacking off and party less and work more and be socially active without getting themselves drunk and being inept at doing their jobs.

“So, now that its been fixed, I think we should start heading elsewhere before you’ll start charging us a fee for just visiting the… Tunnel Snakes headquarters.” Gale was obviously skeptical and didn’t want us to overstay our welcome here, which is pretty understandable. This kind of faction is really disorganized and I don’t think we have any reason staying here any longer.

Copperhead frowned at Gale’s sight of detest, “Well, its not like I’m asking you guys to join my gang or anything, sheesh. And its not like I’m asking you guys to even stay here anyway.”

“Fine, fine whatever. I’ll give you ponies your weapons back and let you guys be on your way.” He motioned his head for us to follow him to his main office to give us our weapons back. We left the generator room and went back to his office, having already passed the passed-out ponies who had one drink too many. (Their sound systems were on the fritz too, just a fuzzy, static noise to it with a small, feedback noise coming from the microphone laying on the ground.)

And as promised, Copperhead gave us our weapons back and opened up his personal terminal as to open up a secret passageway behind him, “You’re free to go. I’d tell you ponies to fuck off, but you did helped out on restoring our HQ back to normal so… yeah. Just don’t get lost in the tunnels now.”

Oh please. That was nothing more than a mundane task because you and your slack-offed partners are too afraid to handle maintenance in your own building! What a waste of time this has been, seriously. We entered the secret exit and none of us said good-bye to him, for obvious reasons of course. Copperhead didn’t reciprocated this either and simply shut the passage door behind us. Seems we’re heading downstairs into another tunnel path with a multitude of paths to take… seems we’re now underground dwellers.

“So… take your pick, Zero. We’ll follow you.”

Thanks for the motivation, Gale. Even so, I’m a scientist, not a navigator. And I’m sure as hell am not an architect either. Even the map itself from my PipBuck shows multiple pathways that isn’t gonna get us anywhere. Even when we have a good amount of supplies with us, we might have to eventually resurface yet again to restock or risk getting ourselves trapped underground forever.

And either way, it just feels awfully isolated.

I led the two to the right side of the path of my choice (because apparently, a scientist must assume leadership… which was the case back in New Hampshore), and they both followed me. We didn’t liked Tunnel Snakes HQ anyway; this kind of faction is too dysfunctional and too disorganized to even be a faction. They weren’t even hostile or friendly, just… dysfunctional and disorganized.

At least there’s lit bulbs in tunnels… I’m not gonna question regarding the Wastelands’ budget on excessive lighting. I bet they’re mostly powered by Arcane… sciences and stuff I don’t know about. Yes, I’m a scientist, but I’ve not heard or seen Arcane-related things.

We soon come across an obviously empty and isolated camp area with nopony around (I checked my PipBuck and no red blips anywhere). My Pinkie sense doesn’t sense any dangers here, be it hidden or obvious. Gale lightly tapped my shoulder, “I’ll scout the area, Zero. Just rest up, will let you know if something’s happening.” She nods to Bullseye as he soon follows her. “Rest up, boss. We’ll be back.”

I nodded at the two and they soon left to scout around the area, with me setting my saddlebags down before taking off my lab coat as to treat it like a blanket. I laid back, but I felt something rather small but hard upon laying my head back. I sat up and turned around to see a holotape just sitting here. Why would anypony leave a holotape on a sleeping bag? Its not a pillow or anything.

I picked up the holotape and played the audio from my PipBuck. Oddly enough, however, nothing’s being played. Seems that holotape has been unused by anypony. Is it a dud? Looks fine to me… geez, its like somepony brought a holotape and did nothing about it. What a wasted potential. I tossed the holotape away and simply slid myself to sleep.

The two have returned, with no signs of trouble. Bullseye got the vacant sleeping bag whereas Gale Storm sat herself next to me, Everything’s clear, Bullseye. Suppose we should rest up for the night… or day, seeing as we’re still inside the tunnels. But we sure as hell are not going back to the Tunnel Snakes building. Many stallions just look like a bunch of drunken ruffians and they’re just a disgrace to ponykind. Besides, I wouldn’t want a single, dirty stallion going near me and catcalling me in the most degrading manner, so I’m glad we decided not to stay here…” She nods to him, “No offense, Bullseye.”

He merely shrugged, “Its not a concern to me. I’m just a ghoul pony who’s just doing what comes natural. Least boss is asleep.”

Gale slowly turned her head to me before turning her head back to him; I heard the conversation, but was already asleep for me to even ask what was going on.

“Just stay on guard in case something happens, Bullseye.” She slowly lays herself back and rolls herself around to the side before unfurling her wing and tucks it around me to provide extra comfort. With Bullseye keeping his guard up, Gale fell asleep next to me in a protective manner. I paid no mind to it, this day’s been rather hectic, especially with lack of proper management in that facility too.

I was the first to wake up to see Bullseye having already fallen asleep after keeping guard. There weren’t any gunfire or any hostile groups swarming in on us, or the Tunnel Snakes trying to pursue us. Or even the Legion having strapped an explosive vest around us; no red blips from my PipBuck either. Seems our rest was well-deserved without incident.

I turned my attention to Gale, seeing that she’s still asleep next to me. It seems she’s showing her affection to me, which is surprising in itself, but I don’t want to express my embarrassment over her attachment to me. At least Tootsie Roll isn’t here to see this or she’ll just relentlessly tease me.

Gale shifted herself awake, fluttering her eyelids open before gazing up to me, “Hey, Zero… did ya sleep well?”

I nodded to her in response. Bullseye himself was asleep after staying up all night keeping guard, which eventually led to his tiredness as a result. At least I have a couple of food supplies left in my saddlebags with me. She dug up my saddlebags to grab at least two, unopened canned food, mostly just uncooked beans, soon prepping the two onto a campfire and the two began to cook up.

The Tunnel Snakes were, again, a total mess, disorganized to the point where they’re more of total nuisances than a dangerous threat. I faced worse factions, namely Raiders and Slavers, but the Tunnel Snakes were too difficult to be taken seriously. And Copperhead was more of a slacker than a leader, I have no pity for him, honestly.

Once both canned foods were cooped up and their lids popped open, I’m wondering how am I gonna eat it without making a mess of myself. I’m an earth pony, not a unicorn. And Bullseye’s asleep too so unless I could stuff my muzzle inside without it getting stuck… this is gonna be a challenge in itself.

And I really hate to have my lab coat stained too; the Wastelands don’t give a fuck about cleanliness, but I do. And Gale’s already gotten a head start ahead of me. No fair! Oh well, bottom’s up!

Although even if she considers this as a race, I myself wanted to take it nice and easy, with cooked beans slowly sliding down from the can and into my open mouth, with the sauce dripping down to the ground as I’m doing my best to keep it at bay from staining me and my outfit.

The beans slowly slid down from the can and into my open mouth, adjusting the can to its original position as I clamp my mouth shut, chewing them up inside. Mmm…. delicious! Least it beats trying to hold a spoon with my mouth and trying to feed myself with said mouth, which would be obviously impossible unless I’m a unicorn, which I’m not of course.

I repeated the process, with the sauce dripping out of the can and effectively missing me. The can soon came up empty, but also leaving my stomach full and satisfied. Gale finished hers, even though she made a bit of mess of herself. She playfully grinned at me, “What?”

My only response was a shrug, but I did returned the expression. Bullseye stirred himself awake; good thing I have an extra food for him to eat so I pulled a third, canned beans and gave it to Bullseye. He easily floated it up with magic once it was well cooked and the lid popped open and he simply guzzled it down. Honestly, am I the only one here who cares about personal hygiene? Least we had our quick meal finished for us to keep going.

Once we got up, I led the two to the chosen path from the seemingly large tunnel. “Ooohh, I hope Tootsie Roll can give us information on how Stable Town is doing so far.”

Not sure how it’ll be possible, Gale. We’re underground and signal’s nonexistent for the time being. And even if we reach the surface, my PipBuck wouldn’t notify me yet regarding both Stable Town and the ongoing process of Bob’s upgrade. I mean, unless there’s a radio tower underground, its not a guarantee that it’ll pick up the signal outside of the Wastelands, just underground. Only a rush of echoing waterfall can be heard up ahead, which isn’t surprising really.

Other than that, there’s nopony inside so far. At least there aren’t any Raiders who are about to jump on us. Just a couple of fresh ammunitions strewn across the area so I gathered them up to find the right type of ammunition and gave a couple to Bullseye, leaving me with none since there’s no sniper rounds at all. And none have any plasma cartridges whatsoever for Gale’s Plasma Rifles.

I still remember that I have my Sparkle-Cola Victory with me that’s been unconsumed from my saddlebag. Maybe if there’s a crafting station around here, I might figure out its purpose for this. And I still remember having consumed the first one, which had a pretty strong, if not sour, flavor. Especially from its high radiation levels like the Sparkle-Cola Quartz. I’ve yet to try out the Sparkle-Cola RAD myself, but it can’t be as bad as the two, previous beverages I tried them out. Sparkle-COla Quartz is a different story; it was pretty tasteless and not only was I able to see darker environments, my body became a living flashlight (for a temporary time, thankfully). Crazy times, isn’t it?

I’m not seeing any exit around here, though the stairs lead up the next floor. Though there’s no railings so we had to tread carefully up the stairs, but Gale herself had wings so she flew up next to us in case either of us end up falling off-balance.

We made it up the stairs and it looks to be a settlement of a sort, but a small one too. Only three ponies, none who are hostile, thankfully.

“Halt! Who goes there?” The mare was well-armed, as are the other two. Seems they're not defenseless and we know they’re not Raiders, but they sure don’t take kindly to intruders. Gale waved a hoof to her, “Its alright! We mean no harm. We’re just looking for an escape route, nothing more.”

The mare slowly blinked her eyes a bit and holsters her rifle, with the other two also holstering their weapons though their leader took a good look at Gale, “Hmm… I assume you happen to be an ex-Grand Pegasus Enclave?”

She gave the unnamed mare an affirmed nod and answered with only a single word, “Yes.”

“Okay, then. Let them in, girls.”

The two opened the main entrance gate as it swung open. Looks like a settlement for just three of them. We entered inside and the three mares correspond each one of their types; unicorn, pegasus and earth. My guess is, are they siblings?

“So, who are you three?” Gale asks, the unicorn mare glancing to her in response, “Address your names first.”

Seems she’s the kind of pony who doesn’t take kindly to strangers asking like that.

Gale frowned, but still introduced us, “I’m Gale Storm. This is Zero, and this is Bullseye.”

“My name is Crescent Star. The earth mare is known as Rocky Road and our pegasus friend is known as Wind Valor. So you said you want an escape route, huh?”

Rocky Road’s name fits the aspect of her overall appearance, mane, tail, eyes, even cutie mark included. But why a flavor of ice cream,though? Of course, the same would apply to me as why I’m even called Zero.

Crescent Star looks to have a midnight blue coat with an equally-darker blue mane and tail; even her cutie mark is a crescent-shaped moon, along with five, small stars to them. And it seems she’s the leader of the pair too, no doubt about it. Rocky Road is… well, her appearance and cutie mark says it on the tin.

And for Wind Valor? Well, she looks pretty brave, owing to her name though isn’t much of a talker. In addition with her clear white mane/tail combo (wavy too), her coat is sky blue with light-green eyes. I seriously hope she isn’t sharing my idea of being mute; I wasn’t born mute, you know!

“There’s only one exit route that only we can go through. But even then, we’d rather return here afterwards. Last time we had that incident well… they never lived to tell the tale. You sure about this?” Crescent warned.

Gale nodded affirmatively to her. “We have to reach the surface soon.”

“Alright… but first, let’s just find a rest area so we can get to know each other a little more. No need to rush things, really. I understand that you three want to escape, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.” Crescent motioned us to the seats. “Come, sit.”

We took a seat and I set my saddlebags down, but ensured to keep the sniper rifle by my side as to not lose it. Its just too precious for me, especially after having lost both of the previous rifles.

“So, care to share your stories?” She enthused us.

“Well… Zero himself is just a scientist with amazing prowess and a pretty high intellect too. Judging by how he dresses, and how he looks. If he could talk, he might tell you more about him.” Gale shared the story about me. Thanks for filling me in. “As for myself? Well… I defected from the Grand Pegasus Enclave after being repeatedly mistreated by my own comrades, specifically stallions… no offense Zero, Bullseye.”

“None taken.” Bullseye neutrally replied.

Gale continued, “After that, I ran away and going rogue in the process, in hopes of finding better ponies. Of course, I met my younger sister Cloud Storm back in Stable Town and, even though she didn’t appreciate in me joining my father and the Grand Pegasus Enclave, she reconciled with me afterwards. I felt appreciated by her words, too.”

Once she finished with her explanation, Crescent Star inspected her closely, “Lemme guess. You’re a Dashite, right?”

Gale only gave her a nod. I still don’t understand the concept of a Dashite myself. Its almost as if her cutie mark had been branded into another cutie mark that overlays the original cutie mark. Then again, what do I know?

And I don’t think her ex-soldiers are looking for us anyway. They’ve probably called off their search a long time ago.

Crescent’s attention turns to Bullseye while WInd Valor and Rocky Road resume their patrol, “So uhh… what’s your story? Aside from being a ghoul that is.” Apparently, Bullseye seemed to be spaced out at the moment, “Huh? Were you asking me?”

Her brows furrow, looking rather annoyed at his question, “Yes. Care to share your story with me? Or do you rather keep it to yourself for personal reasons?”

I’m pretty sure his ghoulish nature doesn’t always benefit a better memory of his ghoulified brain. Give him a chance, Crescent.

“Used to work at a mining quarry until radiation happened… this is how I look like. Even worked as a maintenance worker at Whoover Dam before… having imprisoned myself for no reason, other than my altered mentality from radiation, of course.” Bullseye briefly explained.

Crescent gave a small nod to him. “I see. Least you’re not like other feral ghouls who would just attack anything that moves, let alone eat them in a cannibalistic manner.”

“Well, not all of us ghouls are like that. So long as we don’t go out in irradiated areas too much, we are perfectly fine.” Bullseye glanced at me. “So boss,should we move on?”

I dunno. At this point, aimlessly wandering around seems rather unfeasible and to return back to Stable Town seems a waste of time. Unless I have word from Sweet Cheeks, there’s no way on returning back to the town unless there’s an emergency. And I haven’t gotten a word from her either, just to check up on Tootsie’s pet robot.

And we’re seriously not going back to Tunnel Snakes HQ. Too unsanitary and Gale Storm was already uncomfortable enough when they approached her in a questionable and inappropriate manner.

“We’ll need to relax first, Bullseye.” She replied him for me. “We can’t waste our energies on just walking around.”

“We have a room for you to rest up.” Crescent pointed to the next room, with a functioning ventilation shaft providing air conditioning that cools throughout the room, and the settlement area as well so we wouldn’t asphyxiate.

With a nod, we followed her to the guest room for us to rest on. And there’s still no signal from the PipBuck either, just static. I slid my saddlebags and my trusty, high-grade rifle down before laying back on the mattress. Sure wish we could resurface soon, but hopefully one that doesn’t include a flesh-peeling irradiated environment that will kill us. Gale was second to lay herself close to me, her wing draped around me. Bullseye however, stayed with Crescent, “I’ll be glad to assist you while my boss will be resting up.”

“We’re perfectly fine as we are well-equipped, but I don’t mind lending you a helping hoof while your friends rest up.” Crescent accepted his offer. Rocky Road was preparing a meal in a small, kitchen area whereas Wind Valor performed maintenance work in makeshift buildings and electronics.

Gale gently pressed her nose to my cheek, which isn’t surprising anymore as it took me a while to suppress my… embarrassed reaction from physical contact.

I really hope I don’t end up getting those weird fantasies running in my head…

Two hours later, I was nudged awake by Gale herself. Is it morning already or… wait, we’re still underground. Dammit!

“C’mon, Zero. Food is ready for us.” Gale left to the dining area, prompting me to follow suit. I mean, our own food supply is pretty light, least we get to have our meal free of charge. Bullseye never slept at all; he only sleeps whenever he feels like it.

Looks like steamed casserole served on the table; I’m gonna take a wild guess that they have a working hydroponic garden somewhere which would be the reason for them keeping their food supplies steady, but where would they get sunlight from? My guess would be artificial sunlight that makes food grow, really. There’s really no other source that can do such a thing, and even with advanced magic isn’t sufficient enough (unless you’re an alicorn) to grow fresh produce.

They look and smell good too!

“We just want to make sure that you’re indeed ready to move on so Rocky Road prepared a meal for you three while you two were asleep. We found no intruders at all, thankfully. And we aim to keep it that way.” Crescent’s offer was appreciated, even if her shared hospitality with us is only temporary. Least we can keep on exploring with a full stomach. We sat ourselves down on the chair and enjoyed our dinner (or is it breakfast? Ah who cares), and they indeed taste delicious.

Shame they don’t allow any additional visitors except themselves, and us (even if its only temporary). Least they made this settlement highly secured and not allow any threat to set their hooves on their territory.

We finished with our meal and I let out a satisfied sigh. Could learn how to cook, even though I’m severely limited with only a hoof and my mouth. “All done?” Crescent asked. Gale nodded with a response, “Yup! They were very tasty! Thank you so much, Crescent Star.”

“It was a pleasure. Although, this is one time only, as this is true to most of our previous visitors. We take provisions very seriously and we disallow them any form of service if they’re of gluttonous nature. Or worse, greed, just to take what they want.” She had a stern, authoritative tone, revealing her intentions on protecting their provisions at any cost, especially in a strict manner.

I sucked it up and gave her an affirmative nod.

Crescent wasn’t finished, “And we haven’t forgotten that you three needed a way back to the surface. There’s no alternative routes that provide resurfacing back to the Wastelands. There is, however, a secret passageway that only I show our visitors another way out. However, we dare not to enter inside the room ourselves; I only ventured myself halfway inside before I had to return back here. I refuse to deviate myself from Wind Valor and Rocky Road, especially since our personal settlement cannot be left unattended by any means. We do not ask you three to stay, but I must warn that you must tread carefully for what lies ahead. I cannot explain further to you so if you do enter the passage I mentioned you about, you’re on your own.”

It seems we’re likely to face a new challenge, but if it means resurfacing back to the Wastelands, we will. I’m not a mole that enjoys burrowing deeper into Equestria until I reach its earthy core. And with my PipBuck unable to pick up any signal, apart from the Tunnel Snakes building that provided signal through a signal broadcast (which had surprisingly worked amid its deplorable state), there’s no way of picking up any future broadcasts, such as distress signals or other miscellaneous broadcast frequencies.

We can’t keep looking for different routes that’s guaranteed to get us more lost than finding an exit. Suppose it was rather foolish to enter the large, tunneling area from Whinnyappolis when torrential downpour commenced, but the rainfall had radiation contents to it and it was anything but a harmless weather. Come to think of it, I wonder if it had already stopped raining a long time ago? Then again, I’m not a weatherpony so I sure as hell don’t have wings, and Gale Storm herself isn’t qualified to be one either.

“Shall we go, boss?” Bullseye asked, which seemed like an unnecessary question when we’re gonna get ourselves moving regardless.

“I’m sure his looks mean we do indeed have to go, and assume the worst. But its our only way, really.” Gale reiterated the ghoul pony. “Oh, and Zero?” She levitated my saddlebags and rifle that was placed next to the mattress before giving them to me. “Don’t forget these. Never go unarmed and unprepared.”

I nodded again to her in thanks, strapping my saddlebags and slid my DHC-6 Sniper Rifle in between me and my saddlebags so it’d be firmly in it so it won’t slip off of me.

“Now, follow me.” Crescent motioned her head to us so we followed her to the designated path where the secret passage is as mentioned by her.

Once we arrived, it appears to be a dead-end right in front of us after arriving from a narrow crevasse. We’re certain that this is anything but a dead-end.

Crescent began to close her eyes, soon casting a rather powerful magic, the aura emitting from her horn having a darker color to it. Her tone of voice was dark and different, making chanting words that are never heard from normal ponies. She was speaking with an ancient language that’s only been done by alicorns, though it seems Crescent Star had learned dark, advanced magic that even regular unicorns weren’t able to execute.

The ‘door’ in front of us soon rumbled open, revealing to be an obviously-dark entrance. Crescent had finished chanting and opened her eyes, looking directly at us. “Go. You only have a good ten seconds before it seals itself shut. I cannot guarantee safety, but regardless… good luck out there.”

“Thank you.” Gale softly spoke before we made haste and entered inside the pitch blackness of what its called a secret passageway. As Crescent left to return to her makeshift town, the door behind us had sealed shut. I was quick enough to illuminate the darkness with my PipBuck’s flashlight. The room inside is empty, covered in cobwebs in corners of the walls. Seems Crescent didn’t told us that this room is stuffy!

And oxygen is very limited, with no ventilation either.

“Zero, we better get moving. I don’t think I want to breathe in here…”

Yeah, me neither. I hurriedly led my team forward as we navigated through every turn we find. Meanwhile, I looked at the map from the screen, which shows me that there’s only one, albeit long, path before arriving the main room. I need to pace myself without wasting my energy and die from lack of oxygen.

And as we continued throughout, my vision was starting to get blurry. Bullseye had to strip his boiler suit as he was becoming out of breath, his last of his stamina hanging in the balance, as are my own. “Boss… are we there yet…?”

Oh lay off… fuck, my brain’s going around in circles…

“Zero… the terminal… up ahead..” Gale wasn’t any better either; she wasn’t just losing oxygen, but also becoming dehydrated from having to keep up to head to the main room.

I barely made myself to the terminal as I booted it up. Fuck, if only I could think clearly, I could crack open the code and get this door open. Too bad no proper oxygen meant that every second of delay means death is creeping up on us. Even with beverages won’t make up for the lack of oxygen; could quench thirst yes, but only after I get this damn thing open. Otherwise, it’d be a serious waste of a good drink because we’ll just start sweating again… oh who am I kidding? I clearly can’t think straight, can I?!

As for the monitor screen from the terminal… I can’t even see symbols, much less words. Goddammit, I’d have to be crazy enough to mash every word that even I can’t make up for it. I squinted my eye as hard as I could as to try and correct my sight a little, with no improvement.

Also, Pinkie Pie fell asleep in my mind which is a goddess-damned way to go. Guess even she can’t provide mental assistance when my mind is too foggy to make up to the words displayed on the screen.

After getting three wrong answers, out of sheer luck is where I managed to get one, correct answer from a word chosen that I wasn’t able to describe. The glorious beeping sound was music to my ears, but I quickly prompted the command to open the door. Once it does, a savior has allowed us to breathe again, that is, oxygen. It was quick, because the longer we had to wait, the dire the situation can get. As short our venture was, we were never warned that there wasn’t gonna be oxygen when we stepped in. I was surprised there weren’t any corpses or bones, and even so, we wouldn’t have to stop to see because we were losing oxygen fast.

Gale let out a relieved sigh before fainting herself forward to the main room; the main room appears to be a very large, but also abandoned, atrium, which was dark blue in color. There were eerie voices echoing throughout the room. They were soft, but still enough to be heard.

Of course, we were too fatigued to freak out from the sudden loss of oxygen and near-dehydration so we sat ourselves down to catch a breather. I opened up the saddlebags and handed out various beverages (except the Sparkle-Cola Victory) to Bullseye and Gale Storm.

We chugged them down and they were great enough to restore our lost energies back in almost an instant. And also enough to get ourselves back onto our hooves and for us to recollect our thoughts. “What is this place…?” Gale had an unnerving expression while hearing more of those eerie sounds and voices inside an atrium. There were stairways that lead to one story up to another, as well as ghost ponies phasing in and out, completely oblivious to our presence.

There were winds blowing softly inside, which is unusual for such a room; there’s no windows at all. The door behind us soon creaked itself shut, this time forming itself into a solid wall. Guess now we really can’t turn back.

My PipBuck soon notified me that this room is known as Nightmare Atrium, which pretty much explains the unsettling decor and spooky setting. Gale held herself close to me out of fear from witnessing ghosts whereas Bullseye approached one of them. His hoof ends up going through the ghost’s body; it felt cold, as if the spirit doesn’t interact with solid objects, much less living ones. “Huh… do ghosts normally behave like this, boss?”

I shrugged, and none of the ghosts seem to react when Bullseye spoke. This is weird; least they’re not the kind of ghosts that possess ponies’ bodies for puppetry uses.

“Umm Zero..? Can we uhh… keep moving? These ghost seem creepy… hell, this room is creepy in itself.”

I held Gale close to me. I don’t blame her from how unsettling this room is. Maybe there are more things to explore, but hoo boy. This is gonna be a long day (again)… or night, if you count this room.

Footnote: No Level Up
Quest Perk Added: Leader - You have some natural leadership abilities and have managed to cultivate them. Any party member within moving distance of you gains +1 to their Agility, up to their racial max, and +2 to their DT. You do not get these benefits – that’s the price of being a leader.

Author's Notes:

Originally released on September 2017.