"G-good evening everypony, that was the great um.. Sweetie Belle and I'm Traveling Miles. Well we have some good news tonight, for once.. er.. I think anyway. Reports are sketchy, but that big fight brewing in Poncord is all over but the crying. We don't know what happened, but traders coming into Diamond City this morning reported... where was it.. um , "lots of gunfire and a huge explosion lighting up the night." By the time the caravan got close enough to scout it out, there was just a lot of dead raiders and a big new crater in Poncord, no sign of the refugees from Whinny. Here's hoping they're ok wherever they are now, I guess the last Minutemare reported to be with the group was tougher than they thought, I hope... B-but I bet the Thundega raiders aren't too happy about whatever happened huh? Anyway this is Diamond City Radio and coming up we have... a hit from Velvet Remedy live from Tenpony Tower."

"Alright, ready out here Fast, give it a go!" Sturges shouted from outside the small shed I was sitting in, my pip-buck light spilling out of the open door into the early evening gloom.

"Ok!" I called over my shoulder and focused on the arcano-tech generator we had managed to finish installing before full dark. A spark flickered down my horn and a thin stream of lightning arced out to the spark chamber. Lights glowed to life and the device gave a shudder before dying again, dammit. "Nothing!" I called out to the fellow repair-pony.

"Here lemme take a look," The brown earth pony edged past Jade, who sat outside the door watching with interest, squeezing in next to me in the small shed and looking over the machine critically. "Hmmm... Looks good... I think I know the problem. Repairs out here aren't like working in a nice clean Stable Fast. Sometimes they need a little... persuasion!" he said, turning around in the cramped space and giving the generator a hard buck. "Ok try it now."

I looked over at him dubiously, but he was the expert out here. My eyes clenched shut as I summoned up another bolt of lightning, channeling it into the spark chamber. When the ancient piece of tech gave another rattle and hummed to life with a clatter, we both gave a whoop and stuck our heads out the door.

Lights were springing to life in the gathering darkness in the three houses we had connected to the power supply, a couple of sparks and a blown capacitor somewhere sounded out, but nothing burst into flames. That went better than expected.

Jade clapped her forehooves together with a smile, as the gathered ponies behind her gave an appreciative cheer, "Wonderful both of you!"

Sturges and I had spent the afternoon cobbling together the now functional electrical system, we were both filthy and tired, but seeing a repair done always felt good. We bumped hooves and walked out, taking a bow as the others whistled and cheered happily.

"Yes excellent work Master Fast, jolly good! I expected no less. Now both of you should sit and eat, you have been entirely too fixated on finishing your work at the expense of your health," Cogsworth lectured and started ladling stew from the large kettle he had set up over a popping fire outside. My stomach grumbled at the smell now that we had finished and I trotted over to sit at the mostly intact picnic table that had been dragged nearby.

I sat at the end, tucking into the food ravenously as Jade floated a bowl over and sat at the corner beside me. Mama Xara sat across from her, with Preston, Sturges and Long Jump filling the sides, Cloudy Sun sat on the opposite side from me eyeing the alicorn next to me with thinly veiled scorn, but thankfully kept quiet. Her foal Short Stack was even allowed out of her reach to prance about looking at the electric lights and other devices that had power restored to them. He stared in fascination at a tv through a window that now displayed a test pattern.

She may have managed to hold her tongue where Jade was concerned for the time being, but that mare had a permanent bad attitude and couldn't resist saying something that got under my skin. "Don't see why you two bothered, colt says he has a Stable just sitting out there. Why not just go there, I assume it has power already right?"

"You don't want to sleep there..." I answered through gritted teeth. I had let them know about Stable 111, but the place was still a tomb filled with the dead of Shift 4. Certain things were going to be done before I let anyone just wander around in there.

Preston nodded and took over for me quickly. Cloudy and I weren't going to get along so long as those waves of hate for all alicorns poured off her, making the beautiful blue one next to me keep her glance away from that end of the table nervously. "Fast's right, besides don't think we would even with it cleaned out again. Place like that is a good fall back position and fortress to try to rebuild the Minutemares out of, don't think I'd want to stay there all the time though. Plus we want to build a place up here in the wasteland to attract other ponies, Stables are not exactly easy to find."

"Besides dear, you remember some of the stories we've heard about Stables before. No offense to Fast, but I'd be too on edge actually going into one of those death traps to ever relax," Cloudy's husband Long Jump shuddered thinking about it.

"Death trap? But it was fine! Well, before it was invaded... but that was from the outside, the Stable worked perfectly," I couldn't help but be a little defensive, that Stable was my baby, I kept it running right along with Grizz and Sprockets and the rest of maintenance.

Mama Xara shook her head sadly, "Then you were a very lucky little pony. I've traveled far in my years and seen much. One constant has been Stables are dangerous places. All different in their madness but most deadly, I would not wish to live in such a place buried underground,"

Ok so I hadn't really liked the being buried bit either, but dangerous? deadly? madness? The Crusaders wouldn't have done anything like that! The founders of Stable-Tec were trying to save ponies. Hearing Scootaloo's sad, tired voice explaining our Stable when we entered had helped me feel less scared as a foal in a strange place.

She said they were trying to find ways not to repeat what led us to such ruin, ways to be better ponies. She said sleeping 90% of the time would mean we would survive much longer and each shift was like its' own small town, like Ponyville where she grew up.

How could other Stables be so bad? Looking around the table I didn't see any doubt on the others faces though, they totally believed what they were saying, even Jade looked at me kindly and nodded.

"Alright... I guess I'll bow to greater experience here. But 111 isn't... wasn't bad. Just don't judge it on what's left now..." I frowned and went back to my food.

We sat together in the small pool of light shining in the darkness, eating, laughing, telling stories, it was nice being together with other ponies. I never appreciated the simple pleasure of company when I had been surrounded by the others on Shift 3. Other ponies still made me anxious, but winding up in the wasteland totally alone made each of my new friends precious. I guess I had taken everyone in the Stable for granted, having them taken away made me change my attitude a little.

Eventually we all said our good nights and split up between the three powered houses, Mama Xara and Jade accompanied me back to my own house. I had let the old zebra take the one good mattress we had scavenged so far in the living room and sat down on my blanket in front of the couch in the garage again, tinkering with a small heater now that I could power it up.

Jade stood in front of me, shifting uncomfortably looking from where I sat on the floor to the couch behind me, "You should go to sleep Fast, I am sure you are tired and you need your rest to heal."

"Mmm-hmm, I will soon. Go ahead, I'll be quiet," I muttered fiddling with the thermostat and gestured over my shoulder to the vacant couch.

"I meant you should sleep on your couch..." she said softly stepping closer.

I looked up in surprise, "Huh? No I'm fine, the couch is yours, I couldn't!"

She was looking down with a smile and her eye twitched, "No, you are hurt still. I thank you for taking care of me and letting me sleep there, but it is your turn now, doctor's orders."

I could see her point, but this wasn't happening. I wasn't going to have her sleep on the floor while I lounged on the comfy couch. Besides, I really wasn't tired anyway, "Nope, I'm busy, be at this for awhile. I... I like the floor anyway! G-Good for my back..." I still couldn't lie looking into those eyes, but I could make a lame attempt.

Suddenly I was wrapped in a field of light blue-white magic and started hovering off the floor toward the couch. No fair! I hugged the heavy heater to myself, which threw off my balance enough to float upside down, but didn't seem to bother her in the slightest otherwise. Flailing, I hooked the underside of the couch with my forelegs and braced against the back with my hindlegs, "Nnnngh! No! Not... gonna... take... it..." I grunted as her horn flared.

The blue alicorn furrowed her brow watching me struggle, "You are exasperatingly stubborn Fast," she sighed while I gritted my teeth, eyes clenching and struggling madly to avoid making contact with the soft couch. "Fine! You win," she rolled her eyes and the telekinetic field popped like a soap bubble.

Of course I had been putting enough into fighting against her magic, as soon as it was suddenly gone I flew forward and rolled out of the garage, landing headfirst in the driveway.

"F-Fast?" I heard her squeak behind me as I watched the stars above me spinning.

Frost glittered on the hillside in the morning light as we climbed the path up to Stable 111 and passed through the gate checkpoint. The others were looking around curiously, but didn't seem to see anything out of the ordinary. Looking ahead to the large circular metal elevator ahead, I had to hand it to Stable-Tec again.

The illusions cast on the hilltop made the whole place look like nothing special to them, while my pip-buck granted me immunity to the spell. If they were some random wasteland pony, they wouldn't know anything was here unless they happened to walk across the elevator itself and noticed the change beneath their hooves. Stables were not made to be easy to find alright.

Once I stood on the metal surface, my pip-buck dinged and elevator controls flashed on the screen. I hoofed at them to prime the system and the illusion fell. The others gasped as it seemingly appeared beneath me and yellow warning lights around the circumference flashed.

Short Stack leapt into the air and looked around in wonder between his parents, "There really is something here!" he yelped and pranced around the metal disc marked with a large yellow 111.

"I told you Short, it's just hidden is all. Now before you ask again, you can't go in right now, sorry. It's... not safe yet, ok?" I called to him as he bolted all around the hilltop.

"But!" the foal started to whine as his father Long Jump collected him and nudged him back towards his mother by the cart with a shovel in his magical grip.

"You heard him son, maybe later alright? The Shrouded Stallion wouldn't lie right?" The unicorn stallion winked at me as they cleared the elevator.

I flushed a little, but it did serve to make me a pony to be listened to as far as the foal was concerned. "Right... Besides, I need you to help your parents and Cogsworth for me while we're in there. I need a strong colt like you helping to dig those holes we talked about ok? They're... very important to me, like a special mission."

Short's eyes widened and his expression grew serious as he saluted smartly, "You got it Shroud!" He shouted and floated his own shovel out of the cart Preston unhooked himself from.

"Do a good job and I'll bring you a present, how about that?" I asked and shook my pip-buck leg at him. He seemed to get the implication and squealed with joy, beginning to dig frantically. "Cogsworth, keep them safe ok bud?" I asked the robot floating behind them with Mama Xara.

"Of course sir! You may attend your work without concern, their safety shall be my primary consideration," the Mr. Handy bobbed in the air in a nod and waggled his eyestalks.

Jade, Preston and Sturges had joined me on the elevator and nodded they were ready. I wished I was...

"Alright, we'll be back soon with the first load... T-Thanks for doing this everyone," I said to the ponies remaining behind as they spread out and got to work.

I expected some kind of snide comment from Cloudy Sun, but the mare simply started digging without complaint. She hadn't balked when I asked for help with this, she wasn't all bad really, her normally dour expression had even softened a bit as she hummed a sweet, somber melody.

I hoofed the pip-buck controls and the alarms sounded as I felt the locking mechanisms beneath our hooves release and the elevator started to descend back to Stable 111. I could see Short peering over the edge for quite awhile, his small head in front of the receding sky, framed by a circle of blackness.

The trip down passed in silence, my stomach was upset, my heart was beating too fast, sweat stood out on my brow... I didn't feel like talking and the others left me be. Finally we reached the bottom, I walked out past the chain link gates and up to the huge gear shaped door on shaking hooves. Standing in front of the control console, I stared up at the big 111 printed on the center of it, shivering.

A large blue wing folded over me from the side and I started, brought back to the present by the alicorn standing next to me looking at me sweetly. "Fast.. it is ok. We are here, you are not alone."

I gulped, looking from those big blue eyes to Preston and Sturges waiting patiently. "R-Right... sorry..."

I patched my pip-buck into the console and waited for it to convince the system I was authorized. Moments later the cavern filled with the flashing lights and klaxon alarm as the gear slid back into the stable with a screech and rolled to the side, waiting on the other side was that sad banner. 'Welcome to Stable 111'.

I felt Jade stiffen next to me, while Sturges gave a long, low whistle at the carnage left sitting here for the last eighty years from whoever invaded the Stable. "What happened in here Fast?" the repair-pony asked quietly.

"Something bad..." I replied mournfully, shaking my head and moving past the threshold into the Stable. At the first set of skeletons I floated up a dusty pip-buck from the first bony leg and checked the data, as Jade unfurled a rotting cloth next to me. "Winter Flake" I said softly as I floated up the skeleton and wrapped the bones carefully. Jade nodded and brought out a piece of charcoal, scratching the name into the cloth.

The pip-bucks were too incredibly useful to just rot down here, my brief time in the wasteland had proven that to me. Even now, they were performing one last service for their previous owners, allowing me to identify each of the Shift 4 ponies who had died and honor them properly. One down, 99 or so to go...

Wiping the device down with the next cloth laid out, I rooted around in my tool kit for an orange handled, square key. In a normal Stable I had heard there was a dedicated Pip-buck Technician job for this, but with only 100 of us up at a time, those duties were part of maintenance and rolled into my own.

With a click the pip-buck opened and I turned to Jade as she laid out more cloths by each skeleton. "You're first Jade," I called and she trotted over, holding a hoof out daintily.

I adjusted the wrist cuff out and snapped it on her hoof gently, these things would automatically adjust their fit but I wasn't going to squeeze her slender leg into it. With a series of beeps the arcano-tech device booted up and narrowed itself perfectly.

I had to get distractingly close to the alicorn to run through the pip-buck's new user sequence, but went through it quickly as she watched. The home screen displaying health of the user flickered a moment, adjusting for the unknown biology of its new bearer, before the cartoon picture of an earth pony was altered into an alicorn. It had images for a horn or wings for unicorn or pegasus users, it simply used both and displayed status for all areas of the body it could. I noticed with interest the rainbow colored radiation counter immediately went from green, to yellow, to orange, normally that would be cause for alarm.

Jade blinked and shook her head softly, the H.U.D. and E.F.S. systems must be working, on a whim I adjusted the coloration to a light blue and she smiled.

"Ok, I-I'll show you everything in more detail later if you want. It's pretty simple. Health, inventory, status, map and radio, holotapes slide in here, this is the connector if you need it to patch into things, everything alright?" I asked, gazing up at her as she looked it over and nodded.

"Oh... umm... if it starts putting up a bunch of weird messages about things like 'Missions' lemme know ok? No idea how that works..."

We went back to work from there, two more pip-bucks (Sea Foam and Brick Breaker) were opened and found new homes on Preston and Sturges. Soon half a dozen bundles of bones marked with names were sitting on the elevator, waiting to go up and we walked into the Stable.

Now that the others had their own pip-bucks and knew the basics of using them, everyone could check names before bundling more remains further inside. Eventually every pony would leave this place, I promised, for now best to show them around where other tasks waited.

Entering the silent atrium, the others looked around quietly. This place felt like a tomb, everyone treated it as such. I risked a glance over to the diner and winced... I had to do this myself. "Sturges, Preston, bring up your maps. I'm going to put in markers for the Water Talisman system. There's two down there on the maintenance level, primary and back up, just pull one for now ok? Sturges, you shouldn't have any problem figuring things out. I tried to shut down the biggest problems on the way out, but take a look around," I flipped through my own map and broadcast the markers to the two of them, you had to be close, but they could talk wirelessly to each other at least.

"Sure thing Fast, glad there's two of us though... right creepy down here. No offense," Sturges ran a hoof through his dark pompadour mane looking around what had been the heart of the Stable.

"It wasn't always. Shout if you need anything ok? I'll be up here for a bit," I replied sadly glancing to the diner with a shudder.

"Right, don't push too hard though Fast. I can't imagine what this is like for you," Preston tipped his jaunty hat and followed Sturges to the stairs down to the maintenance level, leaving me and Jade standing alone in the large chamber.

I shuffled and looked up at her as she watched me silently, "Um.. the medical bay is over there, I went through it for supplies the other day, but I'm sure there's things I didn't know to get and you and Mama Xara will want. The chief physician liked zebra stuff so I bet she'll want some of it. I-I have something I have to do in the diner..."

I turned to trudge away and stopped, hearing hoofsteps behind me. I looked back slowly and saw her standing right behind me, still watching with wide eyes. I took another step and so did she... "Um... It's over there..." I nodded to the medical facility.

"I know," she answered and continued standing there watching.

"The diner is this way..." I said, trying hard not to let my voice quaver as I took another shaky step.

"I know," she took another step behind me.

"Er... I-I'm o-ok... really... J-Jade.. I.." I really couldn't lie to her... how annoying under certain circumstances.

She stamped her hoof and looked down at me softly, "Go on. I am not going anywhere, so just forget about it Fast. You are not very good at lying or hiding things from me, something in there hurts you greatly. I am not leaving you alone."

She noticed, great. So much for even trying to lie from now on.

Sighing, I hung my head, ears drooping and walked to the diner slowly, listening to her hoofsteps behind mine. "You won't like it either..." I muttered to the floor.

She took in the scene at the diner as we entered and I crossed into the kitchen. I sat in front of the lone skeleton guarding the freezer door and floated out 'Best Served', "Hi Forks... I told you I'd come back. I wanted to thank you, I don't know where you got this thing, and I guess you might freak out if someone else was touching your fancy cooking knife normally but... It's saved me more than once, I hope you don't mind. I swear if I get the chance I'm gonna use it on whoever did this. You were a good pony Forks, I never knew how much 'till I saw... saw what you did here. I'll find a way to get them back for you so... you just rest easy ok?" I spoke softly to the bones lying beneath me, removing his pip-buck and wrapping him up, writing 'Hearty Forks' on the cloth.

With Forks relieved of his doomed guard of the freezer, I pulled the door open and walked in, stopping in the same place I froze just the other day. Jade had walked in behind me and I heard a sharp gasp. I looked back to see tears spilling down her cheeks as she took in the skeletons of the foals that died in pain and terror. I tried to keep her away...

"I-I owe you guys too... It doesn't make it better at all, but... thinking of you guys has saved me out there... B-bad ponies have paid for what happened to you already, even if they didn't know it. The one who did this though... they're going to know your names...I swear it. I wish I could do more for you."

I could feel that red fire in my head, baking the inside of my skull just looking at them. I started floating up pip-bucks and memorizing names. I was going to carve them into somepony with Forks' knife... that seemed fitting. Pulling their little bones apart from the heap they made was hard, everything was all blurry... Still, I put together one bundle after another, searing each name in my mind; "Spring Shower, Wispy Water, Neon Glitter, Mocha Mug, Radish Sprout..."

I was startled out of it by Jade hugging me tightly from behind and sobbing in my mane, "P-Please stop Fast... Please... Please do not say their names like that... not here!" she wailed and took the last bundle away from me in her own magic.

"W-wha? What's wrong, I have to say their names Jade.." I answered, trying to look up at her as I felt tears soaking me.

"Not like t-that... N-not when your eyes l-look like that... p-please! It-it is wrong... it hurts.." she blubbered behind me and wrapped her wings around my chest, shaking.

The roaring fire in my head disappeared all at once and I slumped, "I'm sorry Jade... I'll stop..."

I felt bad knowing I had hurt her. I almost heard a faint whisper in her breath as she held me, 'Be Kind...' and I wanted to. Some darker little pony in me though just stared silently from the shadows at the crying blue alicorn and that whispery voice. It wouldn't let them see if it could avoid it but nothing changed that parts' mind.

Somepony was going to pay, and pay, and pay...

After we had collected ourselves, we moved on together. Jade still refused to leave me on my own in here, so I went with her to the medical wing. She brightened considerably in there, pulling out medical supplies and equipment of various types and stacking them outside the door in a pile.

After going in the recovery room and bundling the unfortunate pony who had been in one of the medical beds, she wheeled one of the others out and lifted the whole pile of salvage on top of it. She was putting together enough for her own doctor's office if she wanted...

In Tree Hugger's office, all the zebra herbs and knick-knacks got added to the pile. Eye charts and Ministry of Peace posters with Fluttershy were pulled from the walls, the mostly unused terminal was lifted out as well, I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well... having a terminal for doctor's records is important. Besides... it makes ponies feel at ease, looks professional..." she shrugged with a slight blush. I thought it was a valid point and watching her try to justify it was cute, I didn't care why she wanted it, it was hers.

There wasn't much more to grab right off the atrium at the moment, the hydroponics and Stable orchard would take more time to mess with than I wanted to spend right now. I wanted to go to my old room and grab my bed at some point, the pony occupying it on Shift 4 may be different, but the bed didn't change. The trail of death leading to the living quarters made me put it off for now though.

I'd go back for the Overstallion on the way back up, right now we were getting close to needing a trip back to the surface and I had one last thing I wanted to make sure I did first.

We met Sturges and Preston down on the maintenance level, Sturges had pulled one of the water talismans already and had accumulated his own pile of treasures to take back stacked by the stairs. Judging from all the components he had taken apart and added to it, we'd be busy back in Sanctuary for awhile. I asked the two of them to come down to the icebox with me and they followed along without complaint.

Preston looked around the last stand at the entrance to the Icebox with an appraising eye, "They really went down swinging didn't they?" he asked reverently. I supposed the last Minutemare felt a kind of professional kinship with these security ponies, he had been in a similar situation himself not long ago and knew all about fighting a losing battle.

With a toss of his head, he flipped his funny hat up and held it to his chest, bowing his chin and whispering a prayer to the goddesses. Then he and Sturges started bundling the bones, taking care to extract not just the pip-bucks here, but the security barding still in good condition. While they worked, I walked down to the floor of the Icebox and started trotting to storage room 3.

Jade flapped overhead and gave the room a quick lap, making me smile and think of mom, only room in the Stable worth a damn to fly in... She landed next to me as I stood in front of the door to the storage room and waited patiently.

The door slid open and I waited for the lights to flicker to life again, able to see where pod #101 sat in the darkness. I walked in and turned back to the console to the left of the door, sitting down in front of the skeleton of Sprockets.

I took his pip-buck from where it had been wired into the door and set it aside in my bags, along with others I had been separating on our way down; Sprockets, Forks, Tree Hugger, one of the foals, I'd add the Overstallion's soon. I wanted to ask the others to let me exchange the first ones we grabbed on entering with these special ones, I hoped Sturges would wear Sprocket's...

Putting his pip-buck aside, I reached in my inventory and pulled out two Canterlot Pale Ale beers, putting the dusty empty by Sprocket's outstretched hoof aside and replacing it with a fresh one. I had to ask around to get these, Sturges eventually gave them up after teasing me about being too young. Jade watched and gave a disapproving 'tsk' as I popped the second open and took a long drink.

"I woke up here... right over there in that box with the number 101 on it," I waved vaguely behind me and took another drink. "Sprockets here saved me... if it weren't for him I'd still be in that coffin."

Jade looked where I gestured curiously, then back to Sprockets, taking in the scene while I continued. "He died doing it... saving me. I hardly knew him at all, we only saw each other once a year... He drank my first one of these with me the last time I saw him," I took another pull on the beer with a grimace, finishing it and gently bundling Sprockets up, opening his beer to drink for him since he couldn't.

Floating the bundle along with me, I weaved along the torturous path I had taken from the door back to pod #101 and stared up at it, taking another drink and tipping the bottle up at it. "You did it Sprockets, I made it out. It took awhile but you did it, thank you."

Jade sat beside me as I took another drink staring at the stasis pod, "He sounds very nice. I am glad he saved you Fast. It must have been hard... you woke up here and walked out through all that? I'm sorry..." she floated the half empty bottle away from me with a disapproving whinny. "I think that's enough though, leave the rest for him."

I goggled back at her, feeling a nice, warm, fuzziness in my head. I really liked her, "You're pretty!" I smiled goofily.

The alicorn blushed a little and smirked, "T-thank you... Did you know alcohol is more effective on smaller ponies Fast, especially those that don't drink?"

What'd that have to do with anything? "Nooo... I mean it though, I should say that more often. You're pretty Jade! I like you!"

The blush spread a little as she shook her head and smiled, that just made her prettier! I should say so. I looked over to follow up on that thought, seeing her cocking her head with a funny look at pod #101.

"Fast, this was where you slept?" she asked quietly.

"Yush!"

"No one else used this pod of yours?" she was staring up rather intently.

"Noooo"

"What is that up there on the lid?" she gestured with her hoof, then reached over to turn my head since I was uninterested in looking at that blasted box, I liked looking at her more. Groaning, I looked up at it where she pointed. Hmm... something red...

"It looks quite a bit like a kiss mark in lipstick does it not?" she asked, looming over me with one eye arched.

"Ummm...."

Trying to explain my prize from Sunset that adorned pod #101 was quite helpful in sobering up. It took awhile and by the end I was mostly able to string together a coherent thought again.

"So you grew up with this Sunset Mist pony?" Jade asked dubiously as I walked the echoing floor of the icebox and she fluttered beside me just above the cold ground.

"Yes! She lived next door, the house I won't let anyone use. She's like a sister!" I repeated, I had been trying to convince her of this for a little while now.

"And she liked this other friend of yours? This Grizz pony?" she asked again.

"Yes!" I nodded my head rapidly.

"And she put a kiss on each of your stasis pods? As some kind of bonus prize to this contest of yours? Because you tied?" she continued.

"Y...yes...."

"Fast...." she looked down at me, drawing out my name. Dammit... forgot I can't lie... yes that was going to be a problem.

"She did yes! Just... I won actually...." I answered sheepishly.

"But you said you did not see if you had or not. Now you say you won?" she asked silkily.

"Er... yes... She saw, I didn't know until she... told me," skirting into dangerous waters here...

"She told you? But the winner was to receive this prize of hers, yes? A prize I assume you wanted since you won? Under what circumstances did she tell you this Fast?" she followed the chain of logic she had been dragging out of me all too well.

"Um..." I rubbed my cheek thinking desperately, "When she closed my pod..."

Jade narrowed her eyes and hovered down to my face, "This filly kissed you right where you are rubbing, did she not Fast?" there we go...

I winced and hung my head, "Yes..."

"I see, very friendly for a sister, hmm? She seemed to know how to motivate you quite well. From what you tell me she seems quite affectionate... for a sister, yes? I want to see her," Jade demanded, leaving me stunned.

"Er... so do I actually, she's gone though remember? Her pod should be sitting right over there.." I gestured off to where #44 should be sitting right now.

The big blue alicorn swooped down and landed in front of me, "I want to see her Fast. Now."

How did she do that? Sighing, I flipped through my inventory and pulled out the faded picture I had pulled from my refrigerator back home showing me, mom, dad and Sunset at my fifth birthday party and floated it up. With a snort she snatched the picture up in her own magic and stared at it closely. She smiled sweetly looking at me blowing out my candles, looked with interest from mom grabbing us all in a hug and dad smiling to the left, then narrowed her eyes at the bright yellow unicorn filly with the fiery mane to the right.

"Hmmm.... She is one of those bouncy ponies that likes smothering others with affection, isn't she? She is very bright and small..." Jade huffed, looking down at her own blue hide and sticking her nose up.

"We were five..." I answered.

"She is still bright and small, is she not?" this was going so well...

"The last I saw... yes. Comparatively small anyway, she was a little taller than me."

Jade waved that aside, apparently her being taller than me was never in question... "She liked teasing you and your friend with such a prize? Rewarded you after pretending it was a tie?"

"Yes, she liked messing with me..." I replied hoping to get through this.

"I do not like her." she intoned with finality. An imperious tone crept into her voice, I could just imagine it came from her mother from what she had explained about the goddess to me.

"What? You've never met her! Look she really was just a foalhood friend, she was always like that from all the way back when that picture was taken. She's really nice, I bet you'd like her Jade," I stammered up at her as she continued fluttering along with lidded eyes.

"No. I do want to see her now though. You will find a more recent picture. That will do until we find what happened to her, then I wish to talk to her." Jade floated the picture in front of her and kept staring at it.

Well that sounded ominous... though at least we shared the goal of finding her eventually. I was curious about her interest now though. "All the photos would be packed up in long term storage now, we only kept personal effects in our pods with us, why do you want to see her?" I asked, foolishly extending this line of conversation.

"Because I do, that is why. You will find these pictures, I want to see more of you like this as well, and your family," she gestured to the faded photo, pointedly blocking Sunset with her wingtip.

For some insane reason my pip-buck decided to chime in, flashing text at me along with a map marker;

Mission- Because I Said So
Objective-
--Find Photos

Why the hell was it doing that? Was mine the only one? No one had said anything about getting weird messages from their new pip-bucks so far.

A strange, foreign thought slowly started to get processed in my still alcohol soaked brain, "Jade... you're not jeal..."

"NO"

Now that was a voice I could see coming from the goddess she told me about...

I blinked as she kept fluttering along and looking at the photo. Ok.... This had seriously never occurred to me, my interactions with fillies had never progressed to the point where this minefield came up. Jealousy would mean that; 1- A filly liked me and 2- viewed a second liking me as a possibility. Neither of those conditions had ever seemed remotely possible before.

"Because that would be silly... if you were that is... Sunset's just a friend it would be crazy to be je..."

"I AM NOT" her words rolled across the vast room.

"And I really like you... so... there'd be no reason.. if you were that is... which you're not... obviously.. Can I have my picture back?" I asked quietly.

"No, I like seeing you like this. Find me others and maybe, I will hold onto this one for now," she answered smartly.

Sturges' voice called down from the catwalks above us, smirking, "Lover's spat?"

We both jumped, Jade actually hit the ceiling far above and hung there, but I felt a little relief. He seemed to delight in messing with us, but he had effectively short circuited this conversation. Besides, we were nearing the secret passage I wanted Sturges to come look at anyway.

"No! Come here a minute Sturges, there's something I need you to see..." I called up and trotted off to the still open hidden door.

Sturges sat munching apple chips thoughtfully on the hillside by the elevator, hoofing at Sprocket's pip-buck I had exchanged for the first he had wore. The earth pony scratched his head, going over the schematics of the machine in the secret chamber of Stable 111, before turning to look at the panel with the strange logo we had taken with us.

"I think you're right Fast, it's a teleporter. Can't do anything with what's there unfortunately, I'm more concerned with this panel personally," he nodded to circular logo of a pony spread out to each corner of the square of metal.

I looked up from trying to get Short Stack to hold still, the colt was shaking with excitement too much to allow me to attach the pip-buck I held. Fortunately, he had been distracted by Sturges' proclamation as well and I snapped the device in place quickly. It was one of the ones I had brought up from the diner's freezer, at least some part of those foals deserved to be up in the sunshine.

"You know what that means Sturges? That C.I.A.T. on there?" I asked trying to hold back my excitement.

"Ayup, from before the war, Commonwealth Institute of Arcane Technologies. Folks round the Commonwealth just know them as The Institute now..." he answered, wiping his hooves on his mechanic's coveralls and sighing.

Preston paused from loading up some of the salvage we had brought up from the Stable with a stricken look, the Overstallion's pip-buck resting on his leg. "The Institute... you think they were responsible for this?"

Sturges shook his head, "Not saying that, just saying they made that machine down there. Don't look good though..."

I looked back and forth between them frantically, they knew something! Their expressions weren't very encouraging, but anything was better than what I had so far. "Who are they?! What's wrong? Are they bad? Where are they...." The shadowy little pony in my head perked up with interest, someone to blame... excellent...

The two stallions looked to each other and shuffled uncomfortably, trying to decide what to say and who would say it. Mama Xara interrupted however, looking up from the fence pickets she and Short had been carving the names written on nearby bundles into. "The Institute is a boogeyman in the Commonwealth Fast. A group of survivors from the old C.I.A.T. university outside of Trotson, no one knows much about them. There are stories however... a group of mad scientist ponies, still running their bizarre experiments on the residents of the Commonwealth. Prewar insanity, killer robots, terrible medical abominations, abductions..."

I stood up and stamped my hooves, I could feel my eyes burning again as I scowled... abductions... that was the key word. "WHERE?" I managed to not quite shout, but there was no mistaking the force of the demand.

Jade looked over from where she lowered another bundle of bones into a freshly dug grave with concern, floating the small marker to the front. "Fast... calm down. It is alright," she soothed, making the fire in my head back off a little.

"I wish I could say little pony, when I say no one knows I mean no one. The old C.I.A.T. campus has been picked over for 200 years with a fine toothed comb, yet no one has ever found a trace of them. The only times the ponies of the wasteland are made aware of their existence is when they decide to allow it, usually to the sorrow of many," the elderly zebra mare answered softly.

Cloudy Sun glanced to me from examining Short's pip-buck he now held out proudly, her own newly resting on her hoof, "Tell him about the night of the broken mask." The normally dour unicorn looked up at me sadly and returned her attention to her foal.

"I was just going to yes," Mama Xara nodded back, "Nearly fifty years ago, another group like the Minutemares before their fall rose to prominence in the Commonwealth. They spoke of many of the same things, rebuilding and becoming strong again, though they went about it through different means. They planned an empire built on slaves and force, but they did meet with some success. Eventually, they managed to collect leaders from the disparate groups of the Commonwealth and hold a meeting, attempting to forge an alliance. My father was invited as the leader of our tribe and I was allowed to travel with him to Diamond City for the meeting."

The zebra looked sad, closing her eyes and bringing back the memory. I glared with a good idea where this was headed, "I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

"No, indeed not little pony. The meeting was closed, so I wandered the city, taking in the strange sights. I was young and it was all new to me... Suddenly there was a great commotion, shouts and gunfire... I ran to the places of power the meeting took place in, pushing past the crowds that gathered and saw a scene of horror. The gathered leaders were all dead, my father among them. Most of the attackers had turned to puddles on their deaths, but one was still... alive... if you could call it that."

"A pony, one of the guards of the city there to protect the gathered representatives, was held down by his comrades. He had suffered great wounds, I could see my fathers' hoof on him and that should have been enough to insure his death. His arms were twisted at horrible angles, his chest was caved in, his neck twisted nearly backwards... and yet still it bucked and fought under the guards. Half his face had been torn away by the griffon representative, Grimclaw, and beneath his hide... metal..."

Xara shook remembering the sight, she wasn't telling tales to the Stable-pony, she saw this herself and it still scared her.

"Metal? Like... like a cyper-pony?" I asked slowly, I had read articles in the Big Book of Arcane Science before that discussed such things, and Overstallion Shore's last message mentioned one...

"No, that idea was brought up but quickly discounted. The ...pony... kept struggling and trying to kill, everyone was in shock and yelling, somepony said just what you did. Grimclaw ended the debate.. Even bleeding from a dozen wounds, the mercenary limped forward, grabbed the creatures' head in his claws and ripped it off. What was inside that... thing... was never a pony. A robot's innards lay beneath what looked like flesh but wasn't. A synthetic pony..." she told the tale and stared straight at me, dead serious.

That was too fantastic for me to hold onto my anger, "A robot? A robot that could pass for a pony?" I asked incredulously.

Mama Xara nodded, "Just so, in the mayhem that followed I gleaned a few things. Guards or assistants from each of the gathered groups had suddenly attacked, each of them believed to be like the one that remained, synths. What terrified everyone there however, was these were not ponies that came from nowhere and infiltrated. The attackers were long time confidants, guards, assistants, friends, lovers... Either they had been robots from childhood, which seemed unlikely, or they had replaced trusted allies so perfectly they weren't found out until they chose to act."

"You can imagine the effect it had. The leaders of Diamond City moved to cover it up, but the truth was already being whispered. How could anyone trust another, when they could be a robot in disguise? A perfect mimic waiting to strike. The idea that anypony could just be abducted in the night and replaced with one of these things sowed fear and mistrust. Any chance of gathering the Commonwealth together died that night."

"Grimclaw tossed the head away and it rolled to my feet at the edge of the meeting and I screamed, the vision I had seen on our way there stared back at me. I-I hadn't told my father because it was too impossible, but there it was. A pony's head, with a gleaming, silvery skull showing through half of it from torn hide. A red eye that slowly dimmed and buzzed, engraved on its metal skull I saw that symbol... the Institute."

The old zebra shuddered and pointed at the panel with the strange sigil, a tear slipped from her wrinkled eyes.

I stood on shaking hooves, looking down at Xara in shock. What she described was... I wanted to say impossible, the repair-pony part of me insisted it was impossible. Robots could not be that advanced, robots were things like Cogsworth, they couldn't pretend to be ponies and fool anyone, could they?

It was true the war had created some amazing technology, and my friends had filled me in on some of the advances made I hadn't been aware of... The blue alicorn watching me closely was proof things had gone much farther than I could have dreamed but... synthetic ponies? My mind reeled.

"If this Institute has technology like that... why haven't they just taken over the Commonwealth themselves? Or all of Equestria for that matter? What could stop them?" I asked everyone around me in a whisper, this was my prime suspect now? How was I supposed to find everypony from the Stable if this Institute was responsible?

Preston trotted over and sat down by Mama Xara, looking back thoughtfully, "The most popular theory is basically they either don't want to, or they're busy with internal problems. Synths are something that keep the Commonwealth turned on itself and afraid, but they're not the only thing out of a bad prewar sci-fi story out here. The Institute seems the most likely source for all of them, but they're all different and can work at cross purposes. If they're the ones who stole your Stable though... I don't envy you Fast. Nopony fights the Institute..."

I sat down hard and slumped. I had a lead at least, but it seemed to lead nowhere. Like the faint trail I had followed to the secret chamber where 1000 stasis pods just disappeared into thin air in the Stable below. What clues that were there were hard to find and lead to nothing...

Jade came up and sat beside me, leaning against me and waiting quietly. Not trying to console or cheer, just there for me to lean on.

"Well I'm going to.." I finally said to my new friends. "I don't know how, but if they're responsible then I am going to fight back. These ponies deserve it," I waved to the forest of graves that was slowly sprouting around the entrance to the Stable thanks to our work. "I wish I had more to go on, but Mama Xara's story told me one thing. They don't want ponies coming together out here, so that's something I do want. It's one more reason rebuilding the Minutemares is the right thing to do for now, so that's what I'm doing."

The next few days passed in a flurry of activity around Sanctuary and Stable 111. Having things to fix helped keep my mind off obsessing over the Institute, there was simply no more information to be had about them. The best I could do to console myself right now was keep busy.

A day spent crawling through the sewers of the island Sanctuary was built on and under various houses, had seen the backup water talisman from the Stable installed, supplying fresh water to the four houses we were now focusing on. More repairs beyond certain shut off valves would bring more of the water system back online when we needed to spread out, and we had clean water to drink in the meantime.

The power system had been improved as well, making our way around beneath the island, we found a power relay station. With some work Sturges and I were pretty sure we could cobble together a more substantial power source than the small generator from the Red Rocket with parts from the Stable.

For now a handful of street lights worked again, pushing the darkness of the nights back even further than the glow from our four houses. Heaters glowed cheerily in each home and kept everypony warm during the autumn nights, and the sound of music drifted through the neighborhood from radios that now worked. All tuned to the nervous sounding DJ Traveling Miles on Diamond City Radio, an odd, post war station that played a limited number of songs, interspersed with news that slowly filled in my picture of the wasteland.

Completely wrecked homes were being disassembled slowly, their parts used to repair the ones standing and their scrap stacked haphazardly, forming makeshift walls between the homes in a small area. The roofs of my house, the one Sturges and Preston occupied and the one Short Stack's family had taken residence in all kept the rain out now. Without being drenched regularly, they were all starting to dry out and lose that musty smell. Newly repaired walls kept the winds at bay and the heat in better than their swiss cheese forms had before.

We had been clearing Mr. Hawthorne's house next door lately for Mama Xara. On seeing the drug lab, the old zebra had made herself quite at home and strange smells drifted from the half repaired home at all hours. Zebra brews and potions were being stockpiled and Jade spent quite a bit of time with her over there, as the two of them were building a sort of apothecary / doctor's office together.

The blue alicorn filly had been quite happy in her own work, this was her mission as a Follower of the Apocalypse after all. She was disappointed the only foal around was not allowed to attend classes she wanted to teach, but Short Stack's mother still wanted nothing to do with alicorns.

I tried to cheer her by volunteering to be a practice student and spent time each night reading some of the holotape books she carried with her. The Book of the Lightbringer and The Wasteland Survival Guide were amazing and helped me understand a lot of things that had been confusing me about the world I found myself in. It still annoyed me she wasn't able to teach Short Stack. Knowing she was being shunned like that by anypony stung, but I couldn't force the sour faced Cloudy Sun to be pleasant.

I could however do whatever I could think of to make her happy otherwise and did so in my free time. I was ecstatic she still chose to stay in my house, even though there were more options every day now and did what I could to show she was welcome and make it a home.

I had made her take the master bedroom, it was the largest in the house and more fitting her stature, letting her take mine would have left her a little cramped. Some modifications while we were fixing the roof left her with a covered exit to fly in and out of if she wanted that she seemed pleased with too.

I had also retrieved the photos from the Stable storage she wanted for whatever reason. I expected that weird mission to clear once I completed the strange objective and it did cross that off, but the mission itself stayed there. She busied herself in the evenings while I read going through my old family photos with a smile, putting ones she liked up on the walls.

Seeing my baby brother Better and myself as a foal had made her happiest and these she put up in places of honor. Pictures of mom while she had been pregnant also held her interest greatly and she looked at them almost wistfully, hanging a number of them up in her own room.

I asked her why she was so fascinated by all the old photos and she explained she liked seeing memories. Her own were jumbled and faded scraps from an unknown number of different ponies, so she didn't have a past like the ones in the photos.

It didn't quite explain her fixation on foals and having them, but I figured she'd explain that when she wanted. Maybe I'd understand better when I got to the end of the vast story of Little Pip. I still couldn't reconcile the terrifying alicorns that I had just reached mention of in the story, with the gentle blue one in front of me.

I also wasn't very clear on why she had insisted on seeing pictures of Sunset closer to her current age. She got a funny look on her face when she ran across these. It didn't help that anytime Sunset was photographed, she usually had me in some crushing hug or embarrassing pose for the camera, each instance of which I had been questioned about. One of the most difficult had been from my 11th birthday.

"She is licking your face..." she glowered at the photo.

"Yes, there's cake on it see? She pushed me into that cake actually..." I had tried to tell her.

"I fail to see how it was necessary to lick it off..." she said in a very goddess-y kind of voice.

I had found it a good idea to make myself scarce if she had photos like those out. I knew she'd actually like Sunset if she met her, she was kind and caring like her and a good friend. She just wasn't getting a good view of the fellow Stable pony from all these pictures, Sunset's sense of humor simply didn't help. I didn't think I'd ever figure out the convoluted reasoning she had for simultaneously disliking the bright filly and continuing to look at the pictures, until that evening.

Living with a filly my own age had been difficult to get used to. Mama Xara acted as a kind of chaperone while she stayed in the house, but with her own home mostly fixed it was just the two of us. Well, plus Cogsworth, but he kept to the kitchen and living room mainly. I had given him free reign to improve his areas as he liked and he had been putting together quite the collection of cooking implements and improvements for the living room.

My own domain of the garage was a regular workshop now and I spent a lot of time out there tinkering. Today had been a long day and I had wound down taking apart the half dozen 10mm pistols I had taken from the Stable when I left. I had combined the parts into two in perfect condition, one even had a suppressor I had cobbled together. Stowing them both in my bags, I walked through the living room with a yawn. Sturges and I had fixed the hot water heaters today and I was looking forward to a hot shower for the first time in eighty years.

"Finished for the evening sir? Dinner shall be ready shortly!" Cogsworth chirped from his kitchen, floating between half a dozen items spread out on the counters and repaired stove.

I waved with another yawn, "Thanks Cogsworth, smells good. I'll be out in a few minutes, can't wait to try this out," I nodded down the hall towards the waiting shower through heavily lidded eyes.

Cogsworth said something back, but I was at the door and really had nothing else on my mind but hot water. Crawling around in the sewer and electrical service tunnels under the island the last few days made a hot shower my biggest priority. I reached the door and nudged it open, not noticing the ribbon of steam coming from under the door.

Staring into the steamy bathroom I swore I could hear a fuse in my brain just completely fry, I could actually smell the whiff of ozone. Jade was standing there, steaming water dripping off her, as she looked in the full length mirror and posed fetchingly.

A towel and brush floated nearby, along with a photo she glanced at before fluffing her wings and looking at herself critically. She turned and posed seductively, her expression drooping when her eyes crossed her blank flank, which looked perfect to me.

Work brain... come on work! Do something! Don't just stand here like an idiot! Move! Shut the door! Bad Fast! My stupid brain refused to cooperate and I stood there like a statue that was turning a bright red. Come on, do anything brain!

"...wow..."

Anything but that! The least helpful thing my smoking head could have done is what it volunteered.

Jade turned to me quickly, eyes widening, while her face matched my crimson color. She gave a short "Eeep!" then she vanished...

What? She just vanished... poof! Did she know how to teleport? No, there wasn't a flash of magic, she was just gone... like a wisp of smoke. Of course, I was hallucinating the whole thing, phew! That would have been embarrassing...

"O-o-out F-Fast!" the room squeaked at me as I was pushed back by a field of blue-white magic and the door slammed shut in front of me. Huh??

I stared at the door for a few minutes...

Slowly, my hooves turned me around after getting no response from the brain and I walked back down the hall to the kitchen. Cogsworth said something I didn't hear as I walked through to the living room.

"Put the pancakes in the flag jar..." I muttered and walked out to the porch, my mouth was apparently on its own too.

I flopped down to my rump on the porch and stared at the moon. I must have been out there awhile, I wasn't quite sure, time stopped meaning anything. It must have passed though, Jade walked out behind me in her clean lab coat and sat down after awhile.

"Umm... the s-shower is free Fast..." she said nervously.

With an internal grinding of gears, my brain finally re-engaged, "Jade! I'm sorry! A-accident!"

The alicorn blushed and nodded, "I- I assumed... it is ok, we will need a sign I suppose, now that we have a working shower...D-did you see?"

I saw a lot actually... internal circuits started overheating again and I shook my head, "Wha-What?"

She sighed in embarrassment and floated a picture out of her coat pocket, Sunset posing for the camera fluttering her eyelashes over her shoulder, as she sauntered away. Slowly, I started being able to think, very carefully... over what I actually saw. Jade looked at the picture... looked at herself...looked at her flanks...easy there....posed in a similar manner to the picture...didn't look happy... hrrrr...

"Do... do you... not like how you look Jade?" I asked, slowly working it out.

The blue beauty sagged and nodded her head, closing her eyes in a pained expression. "I am...I am not a normal pony...I do not even have a cutie mark. I see these pictures with this Sunset and you and think... I should be a pony like that..."

I nearly fell over trying to wrap my mind around what she was saying, "But! But you're p-perfect! Why would you think that!? I like you the way you are!"

Jade smiled and scooted over to lean against me looking out off the porch, "Thank you Fast. It is just... sometimes I wish I were normal, there are things about being like this I do not like. Being different...I cannot help but compare myself and think it would be so much easier if I were normal. You really mean that though, don't you? You are the first pony I have met that... that looks at me the way you do... l-like I am just another mare. You really do like me, even though I look this way?"

I nodded enough to make myself dizzy, stopping only when she leaned her head over and sighed happily into my mane. We sat together looking out at the night sky for awhile as I tried to process things.

"Jade... if you don't mind me asking, w-why don't you have a cutie mark? Not that it matters to me but... it bothers you huh?" I asked quietly, hoping not to upset her, but still curious.

"We do not know Fast. None of the alicorns I have met possess one. Since the mother died, some have wondered if we ever will, while others repeat rumors of those who have regained them. I like to believe the latter view, that we have to find them again, that being remade into... this... means our special talent changed and we will eventually get a new cutie mark. I do hope so. Every time I see that blank flank, I feel like the monster Cloudy thinks I am and worry I will always be this way. Plus there are... other things... about being like this that concern us all I fear will never change. That I will never get to.. well... that I will always be different in that way..." she answered sadly, her eyes shimmered and she looked down at herself, absently rubbing a hoof over her stomach.

I turned to look at her seriously and took in the sight of her bathed in the moonlight, how could she be self conscious about her appearance of all things? "I think you're right, I bet you'll get your cutie mark in no time and we'll have a big party, like I did when I got mine! I don't know how you feel, the things that happened to you... but you're not a monster Jade. Don't say that, don't even think it. You're... y-you're still a princess to me, you shouldn't compare yourself to other ponies like that. You get your cutie mark for finding what makes you special right? So you have to be yourself, not somepony else."

Her eyes widened a bit as she considered what I said and smiled warmly, "You are right Fast, I had not thought of it that way, thank you..." She shifted, pulling me into a huge alicorn hug and nuzzling me happily, life wasn't so bad.

BLAM!

My eyes shot open as the alicorn stiffened above me, as I watched a stream of blood ran down from her shoulder from a small hole right next to my head. If she hadn't grabbed me...

I stared, transfixed on the blood marring her blue hide as more shots rang out in Sanctuary and I could feel that red rage burning in my head. Things had been nice, we were all making a home together here, playing house...

Red marks sprang up on my Eyes Forward Sparkle, the wasteland had come knocking...

New Perk Added!-------------------------

Extra Special - Endurance--
You've been busy since leaving the Stable, all the work and exercise has done you good. Your experiences in the Wasteland have allowed you to add one to your endurance.

Quest Perk Added!----------------

Undertaker--
-You kept your word and the dead of Stable 111 have been laid to rest. The spirits of the Shift 4 ponies watch over you, reducing damage by 4%

Reputation Change-----------------

Minutemares-- Liked
- Dedicating yourself to rebuilding the Minutemares has put you in high esteem with this group, they'll do what they can to help you and have your back!

Followers of the Apocalypse- Idolized
- There's may only be one member of the Commonwealth branch, but she completely trusts you! As this group grows you'll have a lot of pull with them.

The Institute- ???
- No one knows enough about this group for you to have any idea how they feel about you, but you know how you feel about them...