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

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

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

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

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

New Location Registered: Hoof’s Ridge Station

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Train Schedule

Important Notice!

Unlock Safe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gee, Pip-buck. Real dark.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I stared at the gun in disbelief.

“Why aren't you working?”

The gun remained silent in pure defiance of my question.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ms. Vanilla Cream,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And we both stared at each other in shock.

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

Really? He was stunned by that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yeah, these were definitely not friendly ponies,

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

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

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

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

Gee, straight to the point, huh?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vanil. Please come back. I miss you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I looked at the thing curiously. “What?”

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

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

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

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

“Your great great great great-”

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

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

“A war maid?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Of course, Vanilla.”

“Alright. Thank you, War Maid.”

“You are very welcome, Vanilla”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Right.” I looked around the room.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I held up the equation to War Maid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“War Maid?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Alright War Maid, I’m leaving.”

“You’re not staying, Vanilla?”

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

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

“You’re not coming with me?”

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

“The Ministry of Wartime Technology? Mind explaining?”

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

“Thank you, War Maid.”

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

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

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

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

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

Home.

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

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

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

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

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

Level Up
2>3

Perks Gained:

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

Fundamentals of Locks
Lockpicking is now permanently slightly easier.

Weapon Info:

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

Author's Notes:

Please, if you like it, add it to your favorites, and keep up with it. Also, thanks to Kkat for writing the original Fallout Equestria, and thanks to many other authors with their own Fallout: Equestria fanfiction for inspiration to create my own.

Also, a huge thanks to Ernest Wood and Starlight Nova for editing my story, and making it 20% cooler.

Please, comment on it. Constructive criticism is accepted, as well as positive comments.