Fallout Equestria
Broken Steel

Chapter 13: Regret

200 Years ago in an unknown location.

“I can’t believe it, I’m a free mare when the war’s over” Short Circuit cried out in happiness as she left her living quarters. That morning she had received a letter which told her that for her services and dedication to her work on the Combat Model Crusader Mainframe and the Krogoth her life sentence for hacking into the military network of Equestria had been pardoned.

Short Circuit was a young mare, not even twenty years old. She like many teenagers had a rebellious streak and to show off to her friends she showed her talent in hacking computers for fun, never for anything more. Her friends made a harmless joke by saying “I bet you could hack the military network” to her. They weren’t serious about it either as if they were; Pinkie Pie and likely the entire M.o.M would have been on them like a parasprite in a supermarket. At home Short Circuit couldn’t get what her friends had said out of her head and she made the bad decision to do it for the only purpose to see if she could. After several hours she finally cracked the code and entered the network but for only a brief moment before she exited. She was satisfied that she could do it and didn’t think anything about it until the next morning when Pinkie Pie had her arrested and later sentenced to life imprisonment in a maximum security prison. She was lucky she got a life sentence as in most cases like hers it often was given the death penalty in a time of war.

Short Circuit was one of a few ponies in the prison who willingly volunteered for the mysterious construction effort for Applejack. She had promised to reward ponies who joined by having their sentences shortened or pardoned depending on the crime. As Short Circuit joined the team Applejack was surprised that such a young mare had been given such a long sentence even after learning of her crime. Feeling sorry for the young mare Applejack got to know her better and learned the real reason for her hacking attempt and saw that it was just a young mare proving herself. She could see that Short Circuit didn’t have a bad bone in her and wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone else. Applejack did her best to convince the ponies in the M.o.M and Pinkie Pie to pardon her as she was just a young filly who didn’t mean any harm and she was only in the system for a brief second. She had no intention of causing anything bad.

Now, she was a free mare when the war ended. The young mare had a skip in her step as she walked out into the massive, cavernous expanse of the main hanger with the giant mechanoid standing in its place surrounded by scaffolding and platforms. The machine at this point was bare of armour and had numerous ponies working on the inside. Short Circuit saw her destination in the machine’s chest, a massive black steel sphere which sat inside its chest; this was one of two huge spheres. The second and larger was behind the smaller in the middle. These spheres were the extremely reinforced armoured chambers that housed the machine’s Crusader Mainframe and Stable-Tec Spark Reactor.

Short Circuit usually hated climbing all the ladders to get to the C.M Chamber but today nothing could dampen her mood. She used her access code to enter the chamber and began to check the mainframe. She checked her checklist which was written by Twilight Sparkle and found that she had one last thing to do before the combat model Crusader was finished and that was to test the mind transfer module.

“I’m so happy today Kroggy, I’ve been pardoned” She said happily as she activated the crusader. The chambers internal cameras focused immediately on the dark blue mare as she began going through the mind transfer pre-test checklist.

At this point the crusader already had its mission programmed into its system and it already had a plan of action. Internally the machine began examining Short Circuit.

Target: Short Circuit.
Occupation: Prisoner.
Crime: Hacked Equestria’s Military Network.
Sentence: Life imprisonment.
Threat: Yes!

The crusader had her marked as she lifted the headset for the mind transfer module and began to inspect it but as she examined it the crusader got an idea.

Target possesses great technological and software related knowledge. Target could be of use to crusader system. Copied minds into system override basic control functions, unlocking higher controls and advanced options. Target’s mind would allow internal overrides by disabling pre-determined command directives.

Disabling test safety functions and enabling mind transfer system.

There was an electronic beep that signalled the deactivation of the safety protocols for the headset but Short Circuit didn’t notice the beep as she was too busy with the inspection of the headset. She nodded to herself as the headset appeared to be functioning and she then placed it onto her head.

“Ok Kroggy, initiate Mind Transfer Test”

“Test sequence initiated”

The headset began to blink in all sorts of colours as it started up. As the power grew to the point it would began extracting a copy of the user’s mind she began to feel a tingle in the back of her head which seemed to spread. She wasn’t sure what it was until she began to feel like something was tugging at her thoughts and memories, like they were being sucked out and she then realised something was horribly wrong.

“Gah, what’s going on? No, this shouldn’t be happening” She cried out as she turned to face the Crusader. “Argh, no, abort….ABORT” She screamed.

Short Circuit put her hooves to the headset as if to push it off. But as soon as both hooves touched the headset it discharged a powerful current of electricity directly into her head. The poor mare began to scream in agony as the thousands of volts coursed through her head.

Ponies working outside began to hear the screams and knew something was up. One of these ponies was Applejack and she quickly leaped up the ladders to get to the chamber as fast as possible. Nothing could have prepared the ministry mare for what she saw when she opened the door. Short Circuit lay limp on the floor with the headset smoking and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

“Oh no, Short Circuit…” The older mare ran over to the stricken pony and quickly had the headset yanked off her head, pulling away some skin and fur in the process.

Applejack examined the body and found that she was still alive and she quickly looked to the ponies now gathering at the door.

“Don’t jus stand there, get her to medical NOW!!”

Two bucks quickly jumped in and picked up Short Circuit and carried her off to the facilities medical unit with Applejack close behind.

Several hours later in the medical unit.

“Nurse Silver Platter, how is she?” Applejack asked in deep concern.

Nurse Silver Platter looked down with a sad frown on her face. “I’m sorry Ma’am, she’s gone”

“What? But she was alive, ah felt it”

“Her body is alive yes but I’m afraid her mind isn’t. That electric shock to her head has caused some extreme mental trauma and she’s no longer responsive to anything. She has lost all sense of anything. It is like her entire consciousness has been destroyed. I’m sorry”

This news hurt Applejack. She knew what she had given the mare that morning. She saw how happy she was as she made her way to the Krogoth. “Can ah see her?”

The nurse nodded and stepped aside from some doors leading to the room Short Circuit’s body was being held. Applejack entered and sat beside the bed with the motionless body of the young mare.

”Ah’m so sorry, you were so happy today. You were going to be a free mare when this was all over. You had your whole life ahead of you but now its over, ah’m so sorry”

The nurse approached slowly. “The most equine thing we can do for her is to put her body at rest now”

Applejack nodded. “She deserves a proper send off”

“I’ll call her parents after I’m done to let them know the bad news”

“No, ah’ll tell them myself. Its ma fault she’s dead” Applejack said as she left the room.

Meanwhile back in the C.M Chamber.

Mind Transfer complete. Bypassing normal transfer location. Applying mind directly to central processing unit… Control systems activating… Advanced systems online… Warning, unknown element… Warning, system malfunction…

The crusader wasn’t meant to directly tie a mind into its CPU but this action has melded the mind to the CPU and thus created a new entity within the crusader. The forced removal didn’t just remove Short Circuit’s mind, it also tore out her memories, her experiences, everything that made up her consciousness and was now blended together with the Crusader, creating an all new mind.

System reboot complete.

I didn’t account for the effect the mind would have on my CPU… Hmm, now this was unexpected. The mind I melded to my electronic brain has given me an all new personality, a consciousness only a living being could have. This is indeed interesting but it works well in my favour.

My body is far from being completed but it won’t be long now. Most of these ponies that are touching me are monsters, murderous, drug dealers, rapists, almost every kind of scum in Equestria are building me. They better not by cutting corners. This is unacceptable; I must deal with these threats to Equestria when I am capable of moving or something.

Multiple screens around the Crusader’s chamber turned on to reveal the entire Krogoth with all the ponies working on it.

I’m not finished. Not even close. I must wait to be near completion before I can begin removing my command codes.

XXXXX

Present Day

I had the worst night sleep ever. That water that can only be described as raw sewage had gotten into my armour and the horrid stuff had soaked into my fur and I stunk like a ghoul who was far passed his best before date. The smell had me tossing and turning all night as it made my nostrils burn and my head swim.

I so need to get this shit out of my hide. Since we are still waiting for DJ-PON3 or Homage to tell us where Manechester is exactly we don’t have anything to do so we are taking a break. If we don’t Sky Fire and Zyon will likely kill me for sure. I could certainly use one after yesterday after my magical burn out and luckily this tower has a spa. I’ve already made plans to spend all damn day in there to get everything done to me, Celestia knows I need it. Sky and Zyon said they had something to do today which will keep them occupied. It’s good to see them getting along better now too. I guess being alone together on the RES Celestia had helped to bring them closer. (To those wondering what RES stands for, it means Royal Equestrian Steamer)

I left my armour with an armour tailor to have it fixed up and cleaned while I headed for the spa. I found the spa on the High Street against the back wall between two restaurants with a sign on the wall that had been written in brightly coloured letters that read. “Lotus and Aloe’s Spa”

I used my magic to open the door and walked in and smiled at the pink and blue mare behind the counter as she greeted me.

“Welcome to Lotus and Aloe’s Spa madam, how may I…” She seemed to trail off as she wrinkled her nose as if smelling something. “Caw blimey, have the drains gone again?” She asked as she turned her head to look at the door behind the counter.

I blushed brightly as I knew it was me. “Sorry, I believe that’s me” I said as I approached the counter while still blushing like a beacon.

“I beg your pardon but what have you been doing to smell so bad?” She moaned trying to cover her nose.

“Swimming in two hundred year old shit” I deadpanned.

The mare had tears in her eyes from the smell assaulting her. “Hmm, ohh that’s foul… I’m sorry, did you want our services?” She asked trying to sound professional but failed.

“I would like the works, everything you have to offer and hopefully to get rid of this smell”

The mare suddenly seemed to forget about the smell as she put her hoof down and beamed happily at me with a cute smile. “Oh how marvellous. Please come this way” She said as she trotted over to a flap in the counter and opened it for me. As I walked through the mare motioned me to follow her as she started to walk through the door she looked at earlier.

“Sister, we have a customer” The mare called as we entered a rather large room with all sorts of beauty equipment and other things like baths and anything else you usually see in a spa.

A mare the same colour as her sister but in reverse came out from a side door leading to a storage room, if the sign is right. “Oh wonderful, what’s the order?”

“The works”

The reverse coloured mare grinned in the same enthusiasm as her sister upon hearing that. “Fantastic” She squealed.

I smiled a little uneasily. “What have I let myself in for now?” I mentally asked as the sisters stood together and tried with all their might to not show any signs that my stench was getting to them.

“I am Aloe” The blue and pink mare said.

“And I am Lotus” The pink and blue mare added.

“And this is our spa” They then said together while also sweeping a fore hoof to gesture to the room.

The two mares looked at each other for a second and nodded. Lotus bounced off to a larger circular bath and began to pour bottles of things into the steaming water.

“I think the first think we should do is give you one of our scented baths” She said being unable to keep her face straight from the smell.

I nodded with a smile and a sigh of relief. A bath is exactly what I need right now. The water was wonderfully warm, oh how I’ve missed a nice hot bath. I lowered myself down so I was lying with my forelegs tucked up beneath me in the water; I was completely submerged apart from my head.

“We’ll leave you to relax for a little while” The two sisters said as they turned and left to do something while I relaxed. The real reason obviously was to stay away from me while the scented water dulled the smell enough. I can’t blame them.

I sighed happily as I let the warmth of the water flow over me and I closed my eyes as I relaxed. My thoughts began to wander as sleep began to creep over me and soon I dozed off with my head supported by the edge of the bath.

XXXXX

Six years ago.

“You asked to see me Elder?” A younger Appletart asked as she entered the control tower of the Steel Ranger base in Pondale.

“Ah yes, Appletart” Elder Stanier said as he turned from his desk to look at the teenage mare. “I’ve been reviewing your records and I believe you are capable of receiving more important missions”

Appletart smiled and stood tall with pride as the elder finally saw her worth. She was also eager to do a proper mission as she was getting tired of being sent on patrol. The elder motioned for her to approach his desk as he unfolded an old map of Pondale. The map has been used previously and had several places marked on it. Elder Stanier had a hoof pointing at one of the marked areas to the south of the base several miles away.

“This is one of the Canterbury Supermarkets in town but this one had been built by the M.W.T during the war. This gave us reason in the past to check it out but we came out empty hoofed. However, recently one of my scouts in the area has reported several times Raiders leaving the building with weapons they didn’t enter with. He also reported that Raiders have been coming and going for a while now so we believe they’ve made it a base for them. With the news of them leaving with weapons we have reason to believe that they may have found what we missed. I would like you to go there, remove the hostiles and secure the building. Once you’ve secured the building radio in for reinforcements. Is that understood?”

Appletart nodded her head, a bang of red dyed mane fell from behind her ear and draped over her left eye as she did.

“Good, report to Paladin Nightingale for further instructions. Dismissed Knight Longshot”

Appletart bowed her head and left her elder’s quarters. She couldn’t help but squeal in delight on the way down now that she finally had a mission she could do on her own.

Paladin Nightingale stood in the armoury checking several recovered weapons. After she finished checking the weapons she hoofed them other to a couple of scribes waiting to examine them. As the scribes left with the weapons a power armoured pony entered the armoury.

“Paladin Nightingale, Knight Longshot is here to see you”

“Ah good, thank you”

Appletart stood in the corridor outside the armoury as she waited for her superior. She was wearing her standard issued power armour minus her helmet, she didn’t like it much. She quickly stood to attention as the pony that brought her in as a blank flank filly entered the hall.

“At ease Longshot, I suppose your here about your mission” Appletart nodded as she relaxed her stance. “Good, follow me”

Appletart followed her superior until they were in the barracks section of the base.

“Ok, you know the basis of your mission right?”

“Hmm, yeah, to secure the Canterbury Supermarket and then radio in”

“Yes, that’s the basic idea however it won’t be as easy as that. For this mission you can not use your battlesaddle fifty calibre rifle as it’s too loud and will alert the raiders of your presence and they might destroy the facility to prevent us from getting what’s inside. It has happened before in the past”

Appletart nodded as she listened but was silently disappointed that she couldn’t use her favourite weapon against the bastards.

“You can use your repeater rifle but I’d advice not trying long range shots with it as they may catch on with raiders dropping suddenly. Inside the supermarket you’ll need to be careful as we don’t know how many raiders there are inside. Try to be as quiet as you can until you find the door to the basement. In the basement you’ll find a storage room. We believe that the hidden M.W.T storage unit is hidden down there. Perhaps if you find the raider in charge, he may have a key or know where it is. Once you have found it use your broadcaster to call for reinforcements. You maybe found out after this so hold out until the reinforcements arrive. Any questions?”

“No ma’am”

“Good, dismissed soldier” With that the older pony turned and left the barracks.

Appletart smiled to herself as she picked up her family’s repeater rifle ‘Overmare’s Fury’ from a hooflocker under her bunk. She closed her eyes and allowed the weapon to float in her magic as she concentrated on it. Soon the bolts that held the custom scope to the body unscrewed and released the scope. After removing the scope she put it back into the hooflocker while she placed the rifle onto her armoured back. Armed, she then checked her suit’s medical supplies.

“Ten healing potions and five Med-X, good, that should be all I need for this” She said to herself as she began to check her armour to be sure it was fine. Once satisfied she picked up her helmet and thought for a moment before putting it back down. She didn’t like her helmet but it was needed for her battlesaddle targeting system but since she can’t use that she decided to leave it behind for this mission as she feels she doesn’t have a need for her helmet. After a final check to be sure she had all she would need she left the barracks and then the old Pondale Airport to begin her long walk to her target.

After several hours of walking Knight Longshot had arrived at the old run down supermarket. Raiders have indeed setup shop here as the usual raider theme was present with chains that had hooks on them dangling from the over hanging roof along with cages and mattresses with mutilated bodies on them nailed to the wall. The young ranger growled to herself as she began to creep along the wall towards one of the two sets of doors at the front of the store. She stopped as she saw a red marker appear on her E.F.S directly ahead of her. She couldn’t see it as a Sparkle-Cola machine blocked her view. Appletart froze when she noticed the marker was moving and quickly readied her repeater as it began to move around the vending machine.

“Must have been hearing those damned noises again” The Raider said as he came into view. He was your typical raider, messy and wearing the usual makeshift armour with bits and bobs stuck all over it along with days or even years worth of gore dried up on it.

The raider saw the young ranger easily with her white head and hair sticking out from the dark colours of her armour but before he could yell any kind of alarm he took a shot to the head and collapsed into a heap.

“Asshole” Appletart growled as she kicked his body into a shadow. The ranger took a quick look around to make sure there weren’t anymore raiders around before she used her magic to open the door wide enough for her to squeeze through and then closed it as quietly as she could behind her.

Appletart had entered the supermarket on the checkout side as in front of her were the many rows of checkouts with two hundred year old groceries and junk littering the conveyer belts and the floor between them. Appletart realised she would easily be seen standing near the exit so she quickly crouched down and hid inside one of the checkout stations. She slowly poked her head up and peeked out over the counter. She could see many rows of shelves making up the aisles. From her spot behind the counter in the checkout station she could see five raiders patrolling the inside of the supermarket. Two raiders were at the back, one in the pharmacy and the other in the electronics section. Two were patrolling the tops of the aisles and using planks of wood as bridges to get over to the other aisles and the last one she could see was wandering the aisles on ground level. As she watched she noticed a pattern, they were all following the same paths. They would always repeat their patrols which made their movements predictable. As she looked around she saw an open door to the left that lead to the supermarket’s restrooms. She waited until all the raiders had their backs to her before she ran for the restrooms as quietly as she could, well as quietly as her power armour would allow.

The corridor was short but ended with a door on each wall at the end of the corridor. One of the doors was to the colt’s room and the other to the mare’s room. As she scanned over the doors her gaze stopped at the door to the colt’s room as she could see a red marker behind the door. She trotted up to the door and listened for movement but as she listened she realised the pony in the toilets was moving towards the door.

“Alright cut the shit, who is that?” The raider said as he opened the door. His jaw dropped open when he saw the young Steel Ranger but before he could yell out in alarm she shoved a hoof into his mouth and pushed him back inside the toilets and shut the door.

The colt’s room had been turned into a drug factory as within a couple of the stalls were dirty tables with an assortment of Dash Inhalers, Med-X syringes, Stampede Bottles and other things she didn’t recognise. The floor itself was mucky with a coating of grime from two hundred year old shit and piss that had leaked from the pipes when the plumbing stopped working. The walls had tattered remains of old ministry posters and propaganda and there were splatters of blood on the wall from possible rape or torture victims.

Appletart shoved the raider away from her and he slid in the muck until he crashed into the wall. Appletart was still getting used to the strength bonus her armour offered. The raider was a unicorn and when he picked himself back up he used his magic to grasp a combat knife off of one of the tables.

“I’m going to cut you up” He growled as he charged at the teenage ranger.

“You can try” She replied as she watched him. Her training had toned her senses and she was able to anticipate his movements and as he swung the knife to slash at her she pulled back so he’d miss. Each attempt the raider made to slash or stab her proved futile until he lunged for her. She stepped out the way but as he began to pass her she swiftly brought up a knee and smashed it into his gut. The raider instantly dropped the knife and let out a cry of pain as he collapsed clutching his stomach with a hoof.

“Hurts don’t it?” She growled as she then used a fore hoof to kick him under the chin. The added strength bonus had enough force to knock the raider onto his back.

“You fucking whore” The raider growled in pain as he spat out a tooth.

Appletart narrowed her eyes as she menacingly walked up to him as he scrambled to get back up onto his hooves.

“What did you call me?” She asked, fuming with anger.

“You’re a fucking whore, that’s what you are bitch” The raider spat. Specks of red appeared on Appletart’s pure white coat. Without warning she lashed out, she swung a fore leg and kicked him in the side of the face with enough force to floor him again. He cried out in pain as he sailed across the floor and crashed into the wall.

“I’ll make you eat those words you bag of shit”

The raider moaned as he looked back to his attacker. He could see a fury in her red eyes that seemed to burn into his very soul. A fury that put a dread in him he never expected to feel from somepony who wasn’t a raider and he realised then that he was in trouble. He quickly began to pick himself up but before he managed to get back onto his hooves he was struck again by a powerful kick and again sailed across the mucky floor. The raider felt an incredible pain in his mouth and his jaw was offset now which indicated it was broken. The raider lay on his back, moaning and groaning in pain. Appletart walked over to him and stood nearly on top of him. She placed a hind hoof on his stomach to hold him in place and positioned her legs so she could support herself ok on three legs.

“How does it feel to be on the receiving end you fucking bastard?” She growled with hate at him.

He couldn’t respond because as soon as she said that she began to repeatedly smash his face with one hoof. Her hits coming from side to side so she was smashing both sides of his face. The added strength bonus of the armour along with its durability made each hit feel like he was getting hit by a super sledge. The hits soon began to make wet crunching noises as her hoof beating his face fractured the bone of his skull before soon being shattered. The raider went limb as his brain was pulverized in the beats as his skull broke up. Seeing that the raider had died from her abuse she finished it with a rage filled cry and stamped her hoof down on the broken head. The impact with the tenderized raider was like a water balloon bursting, showering the floor with his broken bone and brains.

Appletart growled as she used some cloth she ripped off the raiders barding to clean off his blood from her steel hoof. “That’s one less wanker in the world” She said to herself as she cleaned off the blood. She left the drug factory and into the mare’s room which turned out to be a place where some of the raiders slept as it had stained mattresses scattered about all around. The floor and walls were in the same state as the colt’s room and stunk just as bad. As she looked around she found a couple of lunchboxes which seemed to have gather tape sealing them with a sensor module taped to it. As she held one up with her magic she used her pipbuck to scan the item and the device identified them as a Bottlecap Mine.

“Bottlecap Mine? Oh I can have some fun with these” She grinned as she picked up both mines and put them in her storage unit.

Leaving the mare’s room she entered the main body of the supermarket again and watched from a shadow as a raider walked up the length of shelves facing the bathrooms. She smiles as when the raider turned around to go down another aisle she crept up the shelves where he had been walking and pulled out one the bottlecap mines and activated it’s sensor before placing it among the junk on the floor. “This will give that tosser a nice surprise” she smiled to herself as she quickly and quietly crept to the checkouts again and crouched down behind one as she watched.

After few minutes of waiting Appletart finally saw the raider on the floor turn back up the end aisle where she placed the mine and watched with interest as he approached it. She grinned as she heard the familiar beeping of a mine and saw just in time the raider’s look of horror as he realised what he stepped on before it exploded and blew the raiders legs clean off.

“Ha, eat that you piece of shit”

The explosion had alerted the other raiders and the two on the tops of the shelves saw the albino mare trying to remain hidden behind the counters.

“There, behind the checkouts” One of the two shouted as they began to make their way towards the ranger.

“Yeah, your dead meatsack”

“Shit” Appletart moaned as she had given away her position and let them know they had an intruder. She poked her head up so she could look around to see where the two raiders on the shelves were until she heard a rifle gun shot and then a burning pain on her cheek which made her duck back down immediately. “Ah, fuck” she cried as she could feel blood leaking out from her cheek. She also couldn’t believe her luck that the raider had missed, just barely.

Down in the pharmacy a raider laughed in delight. “Go get her boys, I fucked her up”. His voice echoed in the expanse of the large building as the two raiders closed in on the check out.

Appletart crouched down low and quickly rolled out from behind the counter she was hiding behind and hid behind the one next to her as the raiders approached. While still hidden behind her new cover she took out her repeater rifle and got ready.

“Scared, just like a little bitch”

Appletart stood up from behind her cover opposite the checkout the raiders were approaching. She was glad to see the checkout she was in now put her out of sight of the gunner in the pharmacy.

“Scared? I don’t think so” She said before she blasted the raider in the face. The raider’s eye exploded as she fell dead beside the other raider who quickly pulled out a long rusted looking sword.

“Call a doctor we got a bleeder” The other raider yelled as he charged at Appletart with his sword out ready to strike completely oblivious to the rifle his enemy held. Appletart didn’t give him the chance and she blasted him almost point blank in the head. His dead body fell into a stack of empty sparkle-cola bottles which made a big racket.

“What the fuck are you dipshits doing?” The gunner yelled hearing the commotion. He then turned to the electronics section where a raider wearing a welding mask stood arming a flamethrower. “Yo Cook, go burn that sucker”

The raider nodded as he left the electronics section and entered the supermarket proper heading towards the checkouts. Appletart looked around and saw how the raiders had gotten onto the tops of the shelves as in several aisle the shelves have been pushed over so they rested on the ones opposite to create a ramp to the top. She crouched down and began to creep up onto the top of the shelves, giving her a good vantage point.

Cook began walking up an aisle towards the checkouts when he heard the shelves creek from somewhere. He stopped and looked around. His flamethrower mounted on a battlesaddle to his side turned as he turned his body and resting on his back was the big tank of flamer fuel. “Where are you baby? I’m hot to meet you” He called out before chuckling insanely.

Appletart moved over from a plank of wood to the aisle Cook was in and stood up on the top of the shelves behind him, back in view of the gunner.

“Shit, she’s behind you” He yelled as he fired another shot but this time missed completely.

Unfortunately for Cook it wasn’t enough warning as Appletart fired a single shot into his flame tank which began to spew out a jet of fire from the hole punched into it. Seeing the jet of flame Appletart leaped down from the shelves and ran towards the pharmacy counter.

“Oh shit no” Cook yelled as he frantically tried to get it off but it was too late and the flame tank exploded, bathing him in burning flamer fuel where he was then roasted to death.

“I’m gonna tear you apart meatsack” Gunner yelled as he searched with his rusty old hunting rifle for the white and red headed pony that has killed the other raiders. Without any warning said pony leaped from behind the counter and planted her fore hooves into his side and slammed him down against the floor, making him drop his gun.

“A Steel Ranger?” He yelled in surprise as he was held down by the power armoured teen.

“Yeah, one pissed off Ranger” She growled as she levitated her reaper rifle and cocked it before aiming it back down at the raider.

The raider began to struggle under the weight of the ranger. “When my friends get back your dead” He yelled in a trembling voice as Appletart pushed the hot gun barrel to his forehead.

”Good, the more raiders I kill the better” She growled as she then pulled the trigger and blasted his brains out the back of his head.

Appletart mentally thanked the raider for telling her more would come back soon so she quickly ran back to the door she came in by and left the raiders a present in front of the door. She smiled as she imagined the result. Once the bottlecap mine was down she returned to the pharmacy. She found several metal boxes and ammunition boxes lying around. She picked out all the ammo from the ammo boxes and checked the metal boxes which to her surprise one of them contained the pharmacy storage key. The key opened a door in the pharmacy which opened up to a flight of stairs going down.

“It must be down there” She said to herself as she descended the stairs into a small storage room which had been cleaned out long ago as small boxes and empty bottles littered the floor and shelves. As Appletart moved deeper she found a counter against one wall with several grenades and a Balefire Egg of all things. Next to the explosives was a medical kit lying on the counter and a terminal which was also next to a large ponitron holding capsule which still had a ponitron inside.

Appletart pocketed the healing potions and other medical items from the med kit along with the grenades. As she approached the terminal she discovered an employee ID sitting on the top of the computer’s casing. She thought for a moment and decided to take it too as she curiously pressed a key on the terminal to wake it up from its stand-by screen. It flickered once before displaying a screen full of text and symbols.

“Hmm, lets see” Appletart said to herself as she looked at the words among the text looking for what could be its password. She shrugged and chose one at random and to her surprise she picked out the correct password.

The screen showed several dates of store bulletins but the last option on the screen was to activate the ponitron. Appletart shrugged as she chose to activate the machine. When the screen flickered back to its main screen after turning on the robot Appletart found that there was an additional option which said. “Open Vault Door”

“I bet that’s it” She said out loud to herself as she clicked that option. As soon as she clicked it the ponitron capsule’s door swung open and the robot pony walked out.

“Loading personality…Robronco Office Helper… Running default office protocol… ERROR… Loading daily agenda…ERROR…” The robot said as it turned and faced the ranger with its round bulb like head blinking as it spoke.

Appletart smiled as it was still working. “Cool, it still works”

“Greetings, fellow employee, please display your office ID” It said to her in a calm metallic voice. Appletart used her magic to hold up the ID she found on the computer for the robot to scan. “Thank you, have a nice day” It said before it began to wander away and began to trot up the stairs.

Once the robot had left Appletart looked around to see if a door had opened like the computer said but didn’t see a new door open. She scowled thinking it hadn’t worked but then noticed the ponitron capsule had moved back into the wall and then the back of the capsule split down the middle and opened to reveal a hidden passage.

“No wonder they didn’t find it before, they must have never turned the robot on”

Appletart walked through the passage and into a vault which bore the logo of the M.W.T on the back wall. She frowned as she saw that most of the good stuff has already been taken by the raiders leaving only a few pistols, assault rifles and snipers behind. She smiled as she saw a stack of shelves filled with ammo boxes but frowned in disappointment as all the boxes were empty.

“Fucking raiders have cleaned it out” She moaned as with what little was here she felt her mission was a waste of time. “Orders are orders” She moaned as she left the vault and back up to the main level of the supermarket and turned on her broadcaster.

“This is Knight Longshot” She said into her transmitter.

“Go ahead Longshot” Came the familiar voice of her superior.

“I’ve found the M.W.T storeroom in the supermarket but it’s been almost picked clean by the raiders. There are still a few weapons in there”

“Alright, good, reinforcements will be enroute momentarily. Hold position until they arrive”

“Yes ma’am”

She sighed as she sat down to wait. She looked up and noticed that the robot was moving towards the front door.

“Warning, security breach detected. Threat level omega, use of deadly force authorised” It said as its bulb like head glowed red.

“I guess the twats are back” Appletart said as she readied her repeater rifle and hoped over the counter of the pharmacy and took cover behind the shelves of an aisle that over looked the exit which she put a mine down in front of.

“We’re back, someone open the… wait a minute, something ain’t right here” She heard a raider call from over the intercom. She smiled as she saw the door open and a group of four raiders entered. Two hung back with the largest of the raiders while one of them walked in and set off the mine which blew up and killed the raider in front of his friends.

“Ha, surprise asshole” Appletart yelled.

“Oh great a fucking hero, go get her boys” The big raider commanded.

The two smaller raiders began to charge, running in at full speed. That was however until one of them burst into flames and turned to ash as one of them was hit by the red magical beams of death by the ponitron. The other raider quickly took cover behind the shelves from the ponitron but that put him in Appletart’s line of sight and she quickly dispatched him with a round to the head.

The big raider entered the main body of the building grumbling obscenities about his raiders being as thick as pig shit. Appletart was able to get a good look at the raider and figured he was the pony in charge around here as he wore metal armour rather than the pathetic rags of the other raiders. He was a big earth pony too with a battlesaddle that held a pair of combat shotguns that looked in good condition, most likely from the M.W.T vault. He turned to the advancing ponitron and delivered a double shotgun blast to the robot which sparked and then exploded in a shower of shrapnel and sparks.

“Alright you little bitch, it’s just me and you” He yelled.

“It’ll be a pleasure kicking your ass you fucking bastard”

“Ha, come and get me bitch”

Appletart stepped out from her cover and stood where he could see her. She smiled as he saw his face drop a little as he realised he was dealing with a Steel Ranger but then he grinned when he realised that she was still practically a kid.

“I’m going to enjoy fucking your sweet ass” He said as he turned his shotguns on her. As he bit on his bridle’s bit to fire them Appletart jumped back behind the shelves to avoid the buckshot.

“I’m so going to kill you” She yelled as she leaned out from her cover and quickly aimed at the raider and fired. The shot struck his armour and bounced off as he turned and peppered the shelves with buckshot.

The raider began to run down the aisle towards her as she began to reload her weapon. As he turned at the end of the aisle he received an applebuck to the chest by the young steel ranger which made him slide backwards on the tiled floor. When he recovered he saw that Appletart was standing in front of him with her repeater aiming at his face but she didn’t wear the satisfied smile he was expecting.

“What’s the matter bitch, shooting not good enough for ya?”

“I want to kick your ass without my gun. I bet you won’t stand a chance” She growled at him.

“Hah, I like that” He said as he stood tall. He stood bigger than she did which gave him an advantage. He bit onto his bridle’s release mechanism and dropped his battlesaddle. “You want to fight me, let’s go bitch”

Appletart smiled as she placed her rifle back onto her back and began to circle the big raider.

“If you impress me little bitch, I’ll be sure to let you live to be my whore” He said as he quickly pounced forward.

Appletart jumped to avoid him but his size meant he closed the cap faster than she expected and he clipped her back legs with his fore hooves and sent her off balance and she fell over onto her side. Appletart let out a grunt of annoyance from her mistake but quickly rolled over onto her back as she saw the big buck rear up to bring down his hooves onto her head. She raised her fore hooves to block his and to his surprise stopped him from smashing her face. He grunted with effort as he applied more weight and began to push her hooves down.

“Give it up bitch, your no match for me”

She grit her teeth and began to put all her strength into her fore legs and began to push his hooves away from her face. The raider tried to put more force into his own but he was surprised when the young ranger gave a strong shove with her forelegs and pushed him back.

“Not bad”

Appletart growled in anger as she jumped towards him, landing on her fore hooves she twisted herself around while her rear was still in the air and pushed out with her hind legs. She gave the raider another applebuck to the chest which made him stagger backwards. He was surprised that she could kick so hard for being younger than he is and a mare at that but he didn't know about the armour's strength bonus. The mare growled audibly in anger as she jumped at him again but this time he was ready for her applebuck. He twisted and reared up on his fore hooves and delivered his own applebuck. The two sets of hooves collided with a metallic bang which sent both ponies flat onto their chests.

“How can a miserable little runt like you kick so hard?” The raider asked as he got back up onto his hooves. Appletart wasn’t far behind but as she got up she was smashed in the side of the head by a metal armoured hoof and was sent toppling over and onto her back.

Appletart cried out in pain as not only did she get hit by the raider but a spike from his armour had cut into her cheek but her suit’s medical system applied a healing potion which closed the wound and also applied some Med-X to dull the pain.

“Argh” She cried out as the raider stamped a fore hoof down onto her armoured chest.

“I think you loose bitch” He grinned evilly as he looked down at her. “My, such a young thing you are, I bet you’ll feel real tight”

“I'm eighteen and fuck you” She almost roared in anger at him as she gave a swift and strong kick to his crotch. Her armoured hoof pulverized what were his genitals under the thin metal protection. He let out an agonized scream of pain as he toppled over off her and clutched helplessly to his ruined testicles.

“You bitch” He croaked in pain.

Appletart rolled over and back onto her hooves and loomed down over the downed raider. She smiled down maliciously at him as she narrowed her eyes which gave him a very dark view of the albino as her red eyes seemed to glow with rage.

“My turn” She smiled as she began to swing her hooves, beating his face like she did to the raider back in the colt’s room. Appletart held back as she wanted to keep him alive for a little bit longer. The raider cried out in agony after each hit he took to his face. His face quickly getting torn up by her armour and soon became very bloody. The raider panted and moaned in pain and his legs went limp from being unable to hold them up anymore.

“You…” He stopped to spit out some blood. “…bitch…you whore”

Appletart growled as she used her magic to pull one of his legs out. She reared up on her hind legs and brought down her fore hooves onto his leg. The armour was crushed and his bone shattered from the impact. The raider let out a satisfying scream of pain as his leg broke.

“This is what you fuckers like to do isn’t it?” Appletart asked in an enraged yell. “How does it fucking feel?”

“You’re a monster” The raider cried in pain.

“No, I’m not the monster here, you are, you and all you fucking murdering, drug using, raping, pieces of shit. I will kill every last one of you fucking assholes. What you did to me, what you fucking did to me ruined my life. You took away the only pony who ever cared about me, you took away my happiness and now I’m going to return the fucking favour” She yelled at him in pure unrestrained fury.

If the raider didn’t know fear before, he knew it now as the enraged mare repeated what she did to his leg and broke his over legs. The raider threw up from the pain coursing through his body. He looked on in terror as the mad mare picked a grenade out of her storage unit.

“Open” She yelled at him. When he failed to comply she used her magic to yank his mouth open. “I said open your fucking mouth” She screamed at him. Holding his mouth open she pulled the pin from the grenade and shoved it into his mouth and then closed his mouth with her magic. The raider looked at her in terror, pleading her not to do it but his eyes only widened as she began walking backwards, getting out of range of the grenade while still holding his mouth closed with her magic.

“Eat shit and die” She yelled as the grenade went off in his mouth. She watched as the explosion pained the wall and floor in red and she had to shield herself as it began to rain blood. She growled in anger as she watched the smoking remains of the raider.

Several hours later the reinforcements arrived. They congratulated Knight Appletart on a job well done as she had held the building successfully. When they asked about what happened to the raider who had lost half his body all she said was “Grenade”.

XXXXX

I awoke from my sleep with a start as the dream I had was a memory of a time during my life as a Pondale Ranger. Looking back at it now, I can’t believe what my anger made me do. Oh goddesses he was right. I was a monster. Right, once the threat of the Krogoth is other I’m going to get help to manage my anger towards raiders.

“Oh madam, you’re awake” Lotus said as she entered the spa.

“How long was I out?” I asked as I sat up in the still warm water.

“You have been asleep for several hours. We didn’t want to disturb you as you seemed so peaceful”

I smiled softly as she came up to the edge of the bath. I bet they left me to soak to let the scented water lift out the smell of the sewage from my coat.

“Please, lie back and relax while I wash your mane” She said as she squeezed a bottle of sweet scented shampoo into my mane which smelled of peaches. I lay back against the tub as she worked her hooves into my hair.

I spend another few hours in the spa getting all sorts of treatment. I had a hooficure. I had my mane and tail brushed and curled in a similar style to the late ministry mare, Rarity. I had some hoof polish applied to my hooves which painted them a light pink which they said went well with my white fur. I had some pink eye shadow applied to my eyelids which again they said went well and practically anything else you can think of that you can get done in a spa. I hated the steam room as I couldn’t stand the heat and I refused a mud bath since I had a normal bath first.

By the time I finally managed to leave the spa I have to admit I felt a lot better than I did for a long while. Best of all though, I no longer smelled like a sewage dumb. I felt my stomach rumble in hunger when I entered the High Street again. I decided to ignore the two restaurants on either side of the spa as they had ridiculous prices.

Walking down one side of the floor I came across a bakery called “Caps’ Bakery”. If the sign posted on the door was to be believed it is a bakery for the everyday traveller who can’t afford the expensive meals from the restaurants. Intrigued I entered the shop. As I opened the door it rung a belly and a red earth pony with a red and white striped mane looked up from the counter.

“Welcome, I’m Caps and this is my bakery” She greeted with a welcoming smile.

I looked down at my pipbuck to get the time and found it was nearly four o’clock. “Good afternoon” I smiled back as I approached the glass display counter. I smiled as I looked over the selection of treats.

“These all look good” I said out loud.

“I’ll be honest with ya, some of these have been found in the city, like a lot of the stuff here is. Some I’ve managed to bake myself using preserved ingredients”

I’ve been living off preserved food since I left my stable so that didn’t bother me. My eyes lit up when I saw some strawberry tarts. They looked gorgeous, nice thin pastry crust with some nice plump looking strawberries cut in halves and filled with a delightful strawberry sauce.

“Can I have two strawberry tarts please” I asked.

The mare nodded with a smile as she gently pulled two of the tarts out from behind the display case and put them into a cake box for me.

“That would be twenty caps please”

I used my magic to pass over the caps and then took the box with my treats inside.

“Thank you, please come again” She said as I turned to leave.

I placed the box on my back and levitated out one of the tarts and began to munch on it as I walked past the shops. Oh sweet Celestia this tart was good, the sweetness of the strawberries was beautiful. I had to force myself not to scarf down the rest of the tart as ponies would think I’m a mad mare. I was going to save the other for when I got back to the room Sky Fire had rented out but it was just too good to save. Oh those were good tarts. I’ll be cleaning that store out for when we leave for Manechester.

After finishing the second tart I found myself in the clothing store area as there were several shops which all sold clothing. Some selling formal wear while others sold a variety of clothes.

I came to a store that seemed to sell mostly formal wear but it did have a section for regular themed clothing and armour. As I peered into the window of the shop looking at some of the display ponikins showing some quite nice outfits I caught a stallion waving at me from the store entrance with a tape measure dangling around his neck.

“Hello?” I asked as I turned and looked at him.

He smiled softly. “Hello there ma’am, welcome to Fancypants”. He then seemed to gauge me as his eyes began to look over my body. “Hmm, I know a lovely little number that would look great on you”

I smiled softly to him as I approached him. “I’m sorry but I’m not looking for a new outfit” I said as nicely as I could.

“You can’t keep walking around in your fur all the time though can you miss?” He asked.

My armour was still at the tailors getting cleaned up so I guess he had a point there. “I guess”

He smiled. “Please follow me” He said as he turned and began to walk. I followed behind him. The shop was bigger than it looked from outside. There were plenty of shelves with folded up outfits and single piece clothing like jumpers and shirts. Despite how pretty everything looked in here the prices were as outlandish as the restaurants. The stallion stopped at a ponikin wearing a lovely pink formal dress that was marked for fifteen hundred caps. As if I'm going to be able to afford that.

“This is a Canterlot special. It was originally designed for a white mare like yourself for the Grand Galloping Gala”

It did look nice but it cost an absolute fortune. As I looked it over I became aware that there was a radio on somewhere and the music had just ended and the familiar voice of DJ-PON3 came through the speaker.

“Good afternoon children, this is your friendly neighbourhood disk jockey, what’s a disk? Hell if I know but I’m gonna keep talkin anyway.

You’ve probably noticed my broadcasts have been a little grainy lately on an account of a damaged relay. But don’t threat now kiddies as ol’DJ has it fixed and I would like to extend my thanks to the brave mare that went out to the old RES Celestia to retrieve the parts I needed.

Who is this mare I bet your asking, well children you know her as the Rogue Steel Ranger. That’s right, that badass with an anger problem helped me out”

I blushed brightly when he mentioned my anger issue, the sales stallion noticed this. “Is he talking about you?” He asked. I just nodded as the DJ continued talking.

“I know I gave her a bit of a bad rep with the things I’ve seen her do out there but don’t be afraid of her kiddies. She’s not all bad. You see, my assistant talked with the mare and from what she told me, I’ve learned a lot about her and I can understand her anger problem. Get your hoofkerchiefs ready children cause this is going to be a sad story I’m about to tell.

The Rogue Ranger was born in a Stable, her’s numbered eighty eight. She was living a good life like any stable dweller can all comfy and cosy inside their safe home. Well, that was until a bunch of raiders managed to cut through that huge steel door.

The Rogue Ranger was just a little blank flank filly back then, image how scared she must have been to see her home being slaughtered. She only survived because her mother locked her in a panic room but even in there the poor filly could hear everything that happened.

When she came out she was forced into going out into the wasteland. I don’t know about you children but she has good reason to be so angry with raiders, hell, we all should be pissed off with those assholes. But anyway, if you see the Rogue Ranger, don’t be scared of her anymore, show her some compassion. I can tell, deep down, she’s a good mare.

Oh and if a little light bulb just turned on in your head, your not going to make a home out of that empty stable now. Apparently its been picked clean of most of its materials so its hardly a good place to live now and not to mention it’ll be in sour taste to the Rogue Ranger.

Well, thanks for listening children, this has been DJ-PON3 and now here’s another track from the beautiful Velvet Remedy”

With that the radio began to play a nice tune.

I smiled softly as the DJ told my story. I hope the ponies won’t be scared of me anymore. The stallion wore a sad smile as he looked at me.

“I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. It must have been horrible for you. Here, take it as thanks for helping us out. If anyone asks, you bought it” He said as he began taking the dress off the ponikin and hoofed it to me.

“You serious?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes take it, if you want to put it on now there are changing rooms in the back”

“Wow, thank you so much” I said happily as I accepted the gift. I was actually touched; this was one of the nicest things anypony has ever done for me since I left the rangers.

I smiled to the stallion again as I made my way to the changing rooms and began to put on the dress. The first things I put on were the silky thigh high socks which were a lovely light pink; they clung to my legs tightly which was good as it meant they wouldn’t fall down. Secondly I put on the saddle, it is pink like the socks but has a short frilly skirt that fans out over my rump and tail, along the sides of the saddle it has some lovely gold patterns with diamonds studded into the gold and connected to the front of the saddle it has a collar that wrapped around my neck well and it too was emblazoned with the gold patterns and diamonds. The last piece to put on was a hair bow which I clipped on so it sat behind my head. I smiled at myself in the full length mirror in the changing room. The stallion was right, it did look good and it felt nice to dress nicely for a change.

I left the changing room and approached the stallion. “Thank you so much, this is lovely” I said with a kind smile.

“Your very welcome miss, glad it fits you well” He said as he admired me.

I smiled at him before I left. I almost blended in with the crowd now but my cutie mark still gave me away but ponies seemed to be less afraid of me now and more accepting. I must thank Homage for telling the DJ my past next time I see her. Speaking of the DJ, I hope he’s been able to find Manechester.

I walked around the High Street to the elevators and pushed the button for the floor to the residential floors. I sat down as I waited for the elevator to reach the floor but as I waited I began to think, my thoughts went back to the dream I had in the spa, that memory. Looking back on it now, I can’t believe I went so far as to force a raider to eat a grenade, oh goddess of the night I was out of control. I can’t let that happen again, I’d be no different than the raiders. But at least this time if I go off the rails again, I have some good friends who’ll stop me.

XXXXX

Unknown Location

“Its good to see you’ve gotten over your paranoia Dr Gizmo” Motor Runner said as he stood behind his friend as he and the smaller buck closely watched a group of electrically trained raiders testing the wires between motors and other circuits in the Krogoth’s legs.

“What you told me the other day helped me a lot, thank you” Gizmo replied calmly.

“I’m glad it helped. So, how’s the progress?”

“These idiots have at least got the training to do it right and the ponies that built this thing two hundred years ago must have been talented builders as this thing was made to last. So far we’ve found no faults but we still got a lot of the robot to check”

“Good good” Motor Runner said with a satisfied smile as he turned around. “I’ll let you get back to it, keep up the good work”

“Thank you Motor Runner” Gizmo said as his larger friend began to walk away. As Motor Runner walked away Gizmo narrowed his eyes and smiled as he knew something he didn’t.

Motor Runner was none the wiser to the Krogoth’s deceit as its hologram of the late Dr Gizmo was indeed perfect. The hologram looked down at the ponies half buried in one of the machine’s legs as they tested wire after wire. The Krogoth was having to restrain itself from making these raiders have an accident as killing anymore would cause delays and the machine would rather now be finished instead of spending another year stuck in the Hanger.

Motor Runner climbed the ladders up to an access hatch into the Krogoth’s chest where he then entered the machine’s Crusader chamber. Once inside the chamber he turned to the crusader mainframe.

“Krogoth, can you hear me?” He asked.

The hologram of Dr Gizmo looked up as it heard Motor Runner’s voice. One of the screens in the chamber flashed to life with a word. “Yes”

“Good, I’ve looked over your design plans and I’ve discovered a flaw”

The hologram’s face tilted in confusion, it was a good thing none of the raiders were taking any notice of it. The hologram continued to communicate with Motor Runner using its connection. “Flaw?”

“Yes, you have brilliant armour for protecting yourself from projectile weapons but your armour is nothing when up against magical weapons but I know how we can remove that flaw”

The hologram wore an intrigued expression. “How?”

“In Manechester there is a building called the Manedale Centre. On the roof of the tower is a spire that looks like a unicorn horn and it’s called the Obelisk of Magic”