Gearing grumpily works on a collection of small equipment with his eyes darting down just long enough each time to make sure what he’s doing. All the while he spends most of his time reading from the terminal on the shelf in front of him. A lot of the salvage from the M.W.T. bunker, especially the higher end pieces that he was most keen on acquiring, was stored in this once hidden space while he slept. The advantage this provides him currently is one where he doesn’t need to leave to keep working on his current project. He doesn’t have to worry about breaking his momentum and derailing into doing something stupid.

Though, it provides an exceptional disadvantage by not having anything else to ease his annoyance and leaving him with nothing better to do but stew in his own frustrations. But, the target and source of frustration slowly shifts. The current problems with Gauge takes a back seat to the more pressing concerns showing up before his eyes on the screen. In plain text.

Despite multitasking by reading the terminal, he makes steady progress on repurposing the electronics as he reads messages and skips over standard reports for now. Through his digging he finds a subarchive of messages and recordings from a maintenance detachment that apparently did something to warrant constant monitoring. All of their interoffice messages were copied and directed to the archive for review. Gearing knows this wasn’t exactly unique, and it didn’t take a whole lot to get your actions scrutinized more. But that’s not what drew him to this particular archive.

According to the auto-naming function of the archive, this archive had been updated after the bombs had dropped. He’s not entirely sure when. The time stamp sections are corrupted, but the incremental nature of the files bumped it to the top of the list for being the most recently updated. But, he’s not interested in interoffice gossip, and he’s given up on trying to find anything on his own about his own disappearance for now, so he picks up reading where he thinks might be the beginning of September.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-174
From: Billiard
To: Fizzy Road
Subject: Blowing this popsicle stand

With everything going on, I’m sooo looking forward to my trip with Annie in a couple weeks. I know the middle of October is off season, and a bit more chill than we’d normally like, but it’d give us a good reason to snuggle up in the tents more. All of this work is getting to me, and I’m worried what it’s going to do to my marriage if this keeps up.

Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to have everything on my list done by then, and I’ll even do a bit of extra checking on a few things to make sure it won’t break on you while I’m gone. At least, no more than you can handle. I hope.

Look on the bright side. If this turns out like our last trips, you’ll probably end up with a new god son. Statistics demands it doesn’t it? The streak of nothing but fillies has to end eventually. Right?

Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make my vacation less of a hassle on you.

Bill

Gearing frowns as he looks down and takes a few more brackets out of the piece he’s working on. “Middle of October, huh? Most don’t choose to go on vacation during off season… which means he didn’t have much choice in the matter.” He lets out a sigh and shakes his head as he opens the next one and says, “At least he got one more vacation in before it all went to hell…”

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-175
From: Fizzy Road
To: Billiard
CC: Molly
Subject: Re: Time to blow this popsicle stand

Bill, I hate to be the one to burst your little fantasy bubble… but you’re DOOMED to a life of being the only buck in your household. Even your dog’s a girl, and that’s your own fault. You picked her.

And, sorry bud, you’re going nowhere. A memo just crossed my desk and we’re on a blackout schedule until further notice. All scheduled vacations are canceled as well. Maybe you can ‘pitch a tent’ in your backyard?

Fiz

Gearing stops in mid twist of the screwdriver as he stares at the screen, reading it again. Personal gender imbalance trials of the maintenance pony aside, this provides a crumb of what he’s looking for.

A time-off blackout.

In and of itself, it wouldn’t have been such a flag for Gearing. But, this one was apparently sudden, unscheduled, and preempted everything else. Even ones that had been authorized already. That wouldn’t have been done lightly. That’s a morale killer. That kind of thing leads to lost deposits, ruined plans, angry ponies, and a serious loss of trust and respect of those in charge.

What’s more, it was indefinite.

Knowing what he knows now, by being on this side of the Apocalypse, he can understand the need for everyone to do all they could for the war effort. To keep Equestria going at all costs. Because he knows how it turned out. So it’d be justifiable.

Except, they didn’t have the benefit of his twenty-twenty hindsight perspective to make decisions on.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-176
From: Billiard
To: Fizzy Road
CC: Molly
Subject: Re: Re: Time to blow this popsicle stand

Are you fucking KIDDING me?! Fiz. Please. Tell me you’re joking. I’ll still buck you in the balls for it, but we can still be friends.

Molly, tell me he’s joking. I’m begging you here. We’ve had this trip planned for almost a year and it was cleared months ago. Between the growing overtime, and my kids’ school, I haven’t even seen any of my children in weeks. At least not with them awake. My marriage is fraying. I NEED this time off!

Bill

Gearing nods as he taps the screwdriver on the crate he’s using as a bench.

The little blue pegasus in his head underlines and points at parts on the screen as it unnecessarily confirms, Ruined plans and angry ponies! Check and check!

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-177
From: Molly
To: Billiard
CC: Fizzy Road
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Time to blow this popsicle stand

Dammit, Fiz! I wanted to talk to him in person about this!

Bill, I’m sorry, but the short answer is Fiz’s right. Word came down that all vacations and time off is postponed until further notice. And, yes, that includes you. Swing by my office and we can talk about it more face to face. I am sorry about this, I know Annie and the kids have been looking forward to the trip.

But, don’t try that guilt trip on me, Bill. One, I have no control over it. And two, that filly of yours is so devoted to you she’d buck the Caesar in the balls, with their whole army watching, just to make you happy. She’s going nowhere, and we all know it. Here’s hoping this doesn’t last long. And, I promise, I’ll approve your next vacation as soon as this blackout is lifted.

Molly

Gearing shakes his head as he looks over the message. That’s another problem with doing something like this. It damages relationships with supervisors as they’re the ones trying to pick up the pieces and deal with the direct backlash.

He sets the piece he’s working on aside and replaces it with a new one. He begins to start removing the parts as he thinks about this growing puzzle and continues down the list.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-178
From: Billiard
To: Molly
CC: Fizzy Road
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Time to blow this popsicle stand

Just because she’s willing to put up with the nonsense being married to me throws at her, doesn’t mean she SHOULD have to suffer through it. I’ll break it to her.

Can you at least tell me WHY we’re going so hardcore with the maintenance checks? It’s not like we’re having a swarm of breakdowns suddenly.

Bill

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-179
From: Molly
To: Billiard
CC: Fizzy Road
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Time to blow this popsicle stand

No idea. They’ve only told us they want all hooves on deck until further notice.

Molly

Gearing taps on the crate with the screwdriver as he stares at the screen. “Her tone changed.” He taps ever faster as he looks at the screen. “She knew something about why they were being overworked.”

He queues up the next chain and steadily taps with the screwdriver as he reads.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-180
From: Billiard
To: Molly
CC: Fizzy Road
Subject: What’s going on?

Have either of you two been able to figure out what’s going on with these orders? I had to cancel my vacation for THIS? This makes no sense at all. These tickets have me going all over practically every tunnel and into every access hatch.

Repeatedly.

What, they think we’re skimping out on our preventative maintenance schedule or something?

Bill

“Oh yeah, they knew something… but who? And why the hell use maintenance?” Gearing mutters as he taps on the crate and begins paying less attention to the piece of electronics in front of himself.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-181
From: Fizzy Road
To: Molly
CC: Billiard
Subject: Re: What’s going on?

Join the club, pal. You’re not the only one. I’ve started keeping track of this a little while ago. Something smells off about this whole setup. It’s more like they are trying to have us do patrols, instead of doing maintenance. Most of the ‘tickets’ I’ve gotten were complete wastes of time. Nothing was wrong. Nothing needed to be done.

By what I’ve been keeping track of, they’ve been having at least one of us go to different areas at regular intervals. Not to mention ‘checking’ on equipment that one of us literally ‘checked’ the day before.

And, if you think we’ve got it bad here, you should see what I’ve found out about what’s going on in Hoofington! Those poor, poor bastards. You have any idea how many miles of tunnels are under that city? And they’re having maintenance do the same crap there that they are having us do here. It makes no sense. It’s such a waste of resources. We’re burning ourselves out on wild goose chases.

Molly, can you give us any more information about this?

What are they REALLY having us look for? Are they hoping we stumble across some zebra infiltrators? Should I start carrying my piece?

Fiz

Gearing starts tapping rhythmically on the crate with the screwdriver and seems to forget about the piece of equipment in front of himself that’s half disassembled.

Sable pokes her head into the room, following the sound, and looks over at Gearing as he seems to impersonate a one pegasi drum roll with the screwdriver with his attention focused on the screen. She stares for a few moments, and then pulls back and out without saying anything and leaving him to his thoughts.

This was one of the problems with having competent help, and trying to do something covert around them. They were likely to catch on. Which would lead you to either bringing them into the fold, or eliminate them, one way or another. Gearing realizes this Fizzy Road was definitely onto something, and was very proactive about it.

The only reason Gearing can think of them to do something like this was, indeed, to find something, or someone. Most likely something that would be placed and left. A bomb? Piece of equipment? Surveillance? Espionage?

The bomb?

Gearing knows Fizzy wasn’t exaggerating about Hoofington’s tunnel systems. If this is what they were doing with the extra ponyhours in the day they were demanding, they were indeed getting desperate about something.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-182
From: Molly
To: Fizzy Road
CC: Billiard
Subject: Re: Re: What’s going on?

Fizzy, knock off with the conspiracy theories and focus on your job. We’re supposed to do whatever we’re told to do, even if it’s a ‘waste of time’ in your opinion. And stop bothering the other maintenance hubs personnel with information requests.

Molly

Gearing tilts his head as he looks at the screen. “That’s… an odd reply…” He partially closes his eye as he asks softly, “Did she know they were being watched?”

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-183
From: Fizzy Road
To: Molly
CC: Billiard
Subject: Re: Re: Re: What’s going on?

Wow. That’s a mighty… ‘patriotic’ reply there, Molly. Or should I say “Molly’s Pink Overmare Replacement”? Or how about “Ministry of Morale agent”?

You refuse to even let us know what we’re dealing with?

This ain’t right.

Fiz

Gearing nods and purses his lips to the side. “Ah… that explains it. Smart buck like that and probably has a tendency of making off color jokes. Probably has a habit of saying stuff like that, and that’s why they were watching the team as a whole. To see if the ‘malcontent’ affected others…” Gearing shakes his head. “Fastest way to get on a MoM list was making negative comments about MoM.”

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-184
From: Molly
To: Fizzy Road
CC: Billiard
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: What’s going on?

“Pink Overmare Replacement”? Really? You need to just focus on your work. That’s not funny and I’m not kidding.

Gearing narrows his eyes and partially frowns. “Oh yeah. She knew.”

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-185
From: Fizzy Road
To: Molly
CC: Billiard
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What’s going on?

Neither am I.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-186
From: Billiard
To: Molly
CC: Fizzy Road
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What’s going on?

Boy, I sure do love my job! Work, work, work! Smile! Smile! Smile!

Thinking not required and strongly discouraged! Not a single thought in my big ole smiling head!

Gearing can’t help but snicker as he sees the blatant attempt by Billiard at diffusing a tense situation. But, both bucks have a point. Something’s really wrong with this. Even Gearing would agree with them.

But someone deemed it necessary, which is what’s bothering him.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-187
From: Fizzy Road
To: Billiard
CC: Molly
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What’s going on?

Bill. This. This right here. This is why we’re best friends. Remember, my house is your house. Even when it’s a cardboard box because we’ve both been fired for not smiling enough and end up homeless.

Your soon-to-be boxmate,

Fiz

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-188
From: Molly
To: Billiard
CC: Fizzy Road
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What’s going on?

I want both of you in my office first thing Monday morning. I need to talk to you two about this bromance of yours. It’s gotten out of hand.

Molly

PS: Don’t forget to smile ;)

Gearing continues to tap on the crate with a steady mechanical half second pace. She was trying to walk the line of being a good supervisor, and a good friend. Reading between the lines of the exchange, Gearing thinks this supposed crackdown is really the precursor to her letting them know they need to watch themselves while at work.

Nothing he’d seen thus far would label any of them as bad ponies. In fact, they were exceptional. Putting up with untold bullshit and suffering to do their part. Others would, and have, quit over less. The fact they stuck it out speaks volumes about them.

But, even so, getting in the crosshairs of MoM or an internal investigation was never a good thing. And they were already at least at stage one of that. Sometimes allegations alone were enough to ruin someone.

Gearing opens up the next file and finds that, instead of more correspondence, it’s an audio log recording attached to the document with relevant information about the recording. The autogenerated text is nothing of interest, an explanation of where it was recorded from and the trigger being an outbound call made in the room to an unsecured line on the watch list, but the audio itself quickly starts commanding Gearing’s undivided attention.

Once past the corrupted and staticky beginning that is.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-189
”… tzzzz tsshhh…”

“-orry- … -ouble shifts aren’t fai- … Well this overtime can’t last forever. Don’t worry, I have plans for Hearth Warming that’ll put smiles on their faces… Yes… Well, of course I wanna see a smile on your face too. Especially if I’m the one that’s putting it there…”

The buck’s voice takes a slight turn into flirty territory and Gearing takes note of how he sounds. Rather soft spoken. Somepony that sounds more like they’d fit in as a librarian. Or maybe a doctor with a decent bedside manner? Gearing chuckles as he hears the buck’s voice blurt out suddenly with thick surprise.

“Hon! These lines are monitored you know that, right?! Oh… oh my… Really now? Well, if you insist…”

Gearing narrows his eyes and stares at the screen as he knows that tone. He’s used it a lot himself. Especially when a certain filly’s got it in her mind that there’s ‘better’ things he could be doing at the moment. It’s the sound of resignation… but secretly not exactly hating it. Gearing smirks as he can imagine himself in this buck’s place, with Sable driving the situation.

“Yeah, I’m sure we can squeeze in another massage session today… Wear whatever you want… No, no, nothing is the end result you can’t just start there. We-”

A sharp squeal interrupts the message. At first Gearing isn’t sure if it’s another corruption point in the audio, as everything else had simultaneously cut out. But, no. The squealing is the recording. Then the buck’s voice comes over it.

“Hold on…”

The squeal turns into a beep, that’s quickly followed by many others. The sounds grow into a deafening chorus like mechanical cicadas have filled up the room the recording is taking place in.

Over all of it, and growing from the background, are an increasing number of other sirens.

Gearing knows those sirens, and realizes what the audio managed to catch while spying on the maintenance pony. At the same moment he realizes he’s listening to the beginning of the end, he hits the crate a bit harder than intended and sends the screwdriver he’d been tapping with clattering across the room towards the door.

Through the audio he can imagine, in vivid detail, how things went down around this buck.

“Oh gods.”

There’s a clattering over the audio as the phone’s apparently been dropped and the buck’s gone rustling around in the alcove of the systems monitoring closet.

“They did it… they really did it.”

Then the phone gets picked back up and he starts screaming.

“Annie! Grab the kids and RUN! N- NO! We don’t have time! You remember that access hatch we used when you got pregnant with Dahl? Bring them there, come through, and take the first right, then just keep running. Oh! And tell Daisy I brought Mr. Ruffles to work with me today to keep me company. Well NO but she’s not going to leave the house without it! Hon… Annie… I love you… I’ll see you soon.”

There’s a series of frantic typing as Billiard continues to repeat over and over.

“Run. Please. Run, Annie. Run as fast as you can. Please make it.”

After a bit longer Billiard seems to realize the receiver is still sitting there and a click sounds it being replaced before the security audio ends a few moments later as Billiard continues to frantically type.

Sable pokes her head in again, and looks down at the screwdriver where it had been accidentally cast aside. It lays there, unused, and completely forgotten. Apparently like every other bit of work Gearing had intended to still be doing at the moment.

Instead he’s staring wide eyed at the screen as the audio echoes through his mind.

He knows those systems, probably about as well as Billiard did. A series of early warning alarms. First ones were confirmed launches. The second series. They were the more problematic of them all. The louder ones. Those were the system spazzing about confirmed detonations being detected. The time delay was too short between the launch alarms and the detonation confirmations.

Which means bombs made it through, and detonated, without being detected. And the others were just the follow up salvo.

“But how could that possibly be-“

Tick. Tick. CLICK.

He stops as he hangs his head and it dawns on him. “The bombs were already here. They weren’t fired, they were delivered.” He starts using a shaky wing to bring up the next files as he asks no one in particular, “Is that what they were trying to find in the tunnels? Someone knew? And they had to use maintenance to do it ‘accidentally’ to keep word from being leaked that they were on to the ploy?”

The blue pegasus nods grimly and confirms, It’s what we’d do if we were trying to be sneaky about it.

Neither of them notices Sable withdraw again.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-190
From: Fizzy Road
To: Billiard
Subject: Made it

Hey, Bill.

Thanks for the warning! I wasn’t sure what was going on at first. Molly and me made it into a side juncture in time. Her husband didn’t make it. Rue, remember him? A skywagon came out of nowhere and crashed right onto him. There one second. A red glue spot the next.

It happened right in front of Molly as we were getting to the tunnel access. Now that the adrenalin’s wearing off, she’s starting to fall apart. All she can do is sit in the corner and shake. I’m going to give her some time before I start to try and push her to do anything.

We’re safe and decently stocked over here, and I’ve already checked on the MWT issue Geiger counters. Already found a few places that are practically giving it a stroke, so go easy on the Radaway over there, we’re going to need to make that stretch.

And our air recycling system seems to be functioning, but that’s where the good news ends.

We’re stuck over here, Bill. I’ve checked the pipes and they’re contaminated. So the only water we have is what’s bottled or comes with the booze and colas we can pry out of the vending machines in the break room.

We have a while, so no rush. But we’re going to need help to get out of here and join you from your side. The side tunnels have either collapsed or been too irradiated to even joke about going through, and only a couple of the other ways even seem functional. But, I’m sure, with both of us working on it from both sides we can clear a path and join up.

Then we can get to work and be one big happy family.

Just think about it, you won’t be the only buck under the roof anymore! Best friends until the end!

See you soon, buddy.

Fiz

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-191
From: Billiard
To: Fizzy Road
Subject: Re: Made it

I’m glad to hear it, it sucks about Rue though. He was a good buck and we could have really used the extra hoofpower. Anypony that could live with and handle Molly’s gotta be a tough one for sure. Keep an eye on her for me, ok? I can only imagine what I’d do if I’d lost my Annie.

We’re all fine over here. Annie’s helping to get them settled in and keep them calm while I make sure everything’s going to hold. We’ll start working on getting through to you two shortly. We’re going to have to use the intercom system to coordinate this, but it’ll be doable. I’ll talk with you in a bit once I get you on the line.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-192
From: Fizzy Road
To: Billiard
Subject: Stop what you’re doing and READ this!

Bill, we got a problem! Be careful of any areas you open. I don’t know what’s going on, but me and Molly ran into somepony that’d completely lost their minds. I mean, looking at them, I can understand why. They look like they’d been completely roasted, but somehow STILL alive. The pain must have been unbearable. She jumped at me hissing and screaming gibberish and just kept kicking and biting at me. She introduced herself by taking a plug out of my right thigh when she jumped out of the shadows.

If Molly wasn’t there, I’d probably be dead right now. She beat that freak’s head in with a hammer until she stopped moving. And then a bit more just to be sure.

I can only imagine the number of ponies that made it down into the tunnels. It’d make sense for being the safest place from the bombs. But they weren’t prepared for the fire and radiation. There’s nowhere for them to go, and won’t be enough supplies down there.

Bill, I hate to be this way, but desperate ponies are capable of horrible things. Don’t take any risks.

I don’t know if it was related, but she didn’t jump out until after a broom had fell over and knocked over some turpentine cans. So, maybe it was the noise that lured her or startled her or whatever? Just stay safe over there.

Fiz

Ghouls, Gearing realizes. They had to of been a ghoul. Feral at that. How fast was the transformation if they were already dealing with those things, Gearing wonders. He closes his eyes and realizes he can’t really fault Fiz for his warning. He was right. And any of them who left the tunnels to search for supplies would die from the radiation. They were trapped.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-193
To: Fizzy Road
From: Billiard
Subject: N/A

While working on getting through the system to try and get to you two, I tapped into some of the security cabling to try and get a view of what we’re dealing with and maybe find a better way to get to you.

I almost wish I hadn’t thought of it.

Fiz, you were right. Don’t tell Annie about this, but I saw some ponies like you’d described in the tunnels. Flesh burnt beyond belief. Practical running corpses. Discord having a playdate is the only way this makes any kind of sense to me.

Fiz, they’re starving in the tunnels. I saw. On the camera. A group of the burnt ponies chased down a group that didn’t look so bad. They fought for a bit, and one of the pony’s that still had their hair got knocked to the ground. The rest of his group ran away.

While the burnt ponies ate the buck while he was still alive.

Have Molly use her managerial access to open the weapons locker there. Something tells me we’re going to need them before long.

Gearing starts shivering as he thinks it through. All of them down in the tunnels. They were doomed and trapped. Doomed to die in terror without supplies and hunted by those that had succumbed and became ghouls.

He quickly starts the audio file that’s next in sequence to try and get passed this, and hopefully find some kind of silver lining to all of this horror.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-194
“This is Billiard of Ministry of Wartime Technology maintenance. Manehatten branch. Bravo team… We are on location in adjunct ‘A’ dash five of sector twenty three… Can anypony read me? We have survivors. Civilians. Children. We’re safe for now but I don’t know how long we can hold out at this location. We need information and supplies. Is there anywhere we can go? Please advise.”

Not any better, but at least not any worse, the little blue pegasus in Gearing’s head mutters.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-195
“This is Billiard of Ministry of Wartime Technology maintenance. Manehatten branch. Bravo team… We are on location in adjunct ‘A’ dash five of sector twenty three… Can anypony read me? I’ve linked up with the rest of Bravo team and we are fortifying our position. We have survivors with us. Children. Four children. We’re currently safe but I don’t know how long our supplies will last. We need help. Is there anywhere we can go? Please advise.”

Sorry… the little blue pegasus in Gearing’s head murmurs as it curls up.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-196
“This is Billiard of Ministry of Wartime Technology maintenance. Manehatten branch. Bravo team… what’s left of it… We are on location in adjunct ‘A’ dash five of sector twenty three… if you even care… Can anypony read me? We’ve had a K.I.A.. Molly and Fizzy Road were working on some systems to try and flush the radiation out of the tunnels for travel, and some psychopath attacked them. The resulting fight caused a conduit explosion that killed Molly and severely injured Fizzy, but he should pull through. We still have survivors. Children. Foals. Safety is questionable at best and our supplies are draining quickly. Is anypony out there? I know you’re getting these messages dammit, I can see it successfully received so why aren’t you replying!?”

“They couldn’t get out…” Gearing says softly.

I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. The little pegasus in Gearing’s head chokes out as it curls up tighter.

MWT-MHTN-B-OVRST-197
“This is Billiard… maintenance pony of the most ungrateful nation on this fucking planet…”

Gearing winces as there’s a sound of a metallic clank and sound of the item being dragged across a wooden table. In Gearing’s mind’s eye he can see Billiard staring out straight at him as he talks into the microphone.

“Did you know? Is that why you haven’t bothered replying?”

I couldn’t, Gearing weakly mentally replies.

“Where the hell is everypony?! I know we aren’t the only ones. We can’t be.”

There’s a pause as Billiard smacks his lips and groans as it sounds like he’s scratching his face near the microphone before he slaps down a hoof with a loud clop and continues, causing Gearing to flinch.

“But, don’t worry. There’s less of us now…”

Gearing’s eyes go wide as he whispers, “Oh no…”

“The last thirty six hours have been something that’s hard to explain.” The grim morbid chuckle that follows comes across clearly before he practically spits through the microphone at Gearing. “Not that you care. But I need someone to talk to. And Fiz’s already been shouldering enough. He’s sick too, by the way. And probably going to die soon as well.”

Gearing closes his eyes and hangs his head as he listens closely.

“It all started the other day. While me and Fiz were trying to cut a way into a storage locker we’d found. My oldest, Daphne Winter, wasn’t feeling too well, and her and my youngest went to lay down. Of course, I was worried of them getting sick, but there’s not much we can do besides keep them warm and as fed as we can manage with our rationing. But, not long after that, is when my world started crumbling. My youngest, little Daisy, walked by the equipment storage shelves to look for something, I don’t know what, in the store room. Maybe something to play with? Well.”

The sounds of hooves clopping on the desk to a musical drum beat for emphasis comes across clearly before Billiard continues.

“When she passed the shelves, every Geiger counter on the shelves screamed like you’d stepped on a cat’s tail.”

Gearing’s eyes jump open to their widest before Billiard even manages to start on the next sentence a heart beat after finishing the first.

“We hopped over and looked at her, and I found out she was still Wet.”

“Please, no,” Gearing begs the universe as being a clever pony means he’s beat the teller to the punch line yet again. But he hopes beyond hope he’s wrong and the jokes on him.

“See. My little girl loves water. Children do. To splish. And splash. And when there’s not a fucking thing else to do besides sit on a stone floor and stare at your hooves, guess what they want to do? They want to play. They want to live. So, when they found a hidey-hole behind a panel,-“

“No,” Gearing murmurs.

“-that had a small pool in it,-“

“Please, no,” Gearing repeats.

“-they went to town. Yup. That’s right. They’d played in it extensively while the rest of us were trying to keep the roof from caving in on us. Did I mention the water was highly contaminated? No?”

Gearing cringes and tightens down as he groans having already figured it out. But still hoped he was wrong.

Billiard lets out a sigh into the microphone before continuing on in a mocking tone.

“Well then you’re just a dumbass for not figuring that part out yet. Because it was. My children. My babies.”

“I’m so sorry…” Gearing mutters as he droops there in front of the terminal.

“They played in radioactive water. Then, because they’re such clever girls, they’d dried off before coming back so they wouldn’t get in trouble for being wet. The second youngest’s idea apparently. Dahlia. We gave them the rest of our radaway. Every. Last. Drop. I’m still not sure how much good it did overall to be honest. Daphne hadn’t gotten in the water, and was only sick by proximity of being with the others. She showed us where the hole they’d gotten into was. When Day Lily and Daisy started having bloody diarrhea, I knew it was only a matter of time.”

Gearing starts making random click and ticking noises as he shakes lightly and keeps his eyes down towards the ground. “I-“ *click* “-I’m so sor-“ *tick* “-sorry.”

“And all I could do was watch as they died. My babies. Dying of radiation poisoning. Right there. While begging me and their momma to make the pain go away.”

There’s a pause as Billiard is having trouble fighting with his emotions and swallows repeatedly as he tries his best to keep from just breaking down.

“Well, about the time my children were taking their last breath,” he manages with a choke before letting out a hard sob.

“-my wife let me in on another surprise she’d been holding out on me.”

There is a few second pause before Billiard delivers the punch line with a choking half laugh.

“She went into labor! Premature labor. The horror of watching two of her foals die was too much for her to handle, and she went into labor. I didn’t even know she was pregnant again. She’d been wanting to keep it a secret and surprise me at Hearth Warming. But then the world went to hell and you bastards stopped caring about anypony but yourself.”

*Click* “I’m” *tick* “Sorry,” Gearing moans. “I wanted to h-” *tick* “-help.” *click* “I real-” *click* “-ly did…” *tick*.

“It seems the world isn’t without its sense of irony.”

Billiard pauses for a moment as if he’s either just come to a realization or is appreciating it himself before he goes on to quickly explain.

“I’d been wanting a boy ever since me and my Annie got married. But all I got was girls. It was a running joke how I was doomed to be the father of a brood of mares. But, I finally got my boy. Little Dutch Iris. A beautiful little colt for me to call my own. I finally got to hold my son. Just like I’d always wanted to. Except. The joke never ended. Though it stopped being funny. Because Dutch was still born.”

Gearing tightens up and starts clicking and ticking faster and more sporadically.

“Combination of radiation, stress, and being born half a year too early apparently does that to a foal. And, because the hits just keep coming, that wasn’t even the end of my day. Because while I was still mourning the loss of three of my children, and doing a piss poor job of consoling my Annie for the same thing, my wife’s body decided to give out on her as well. Internally hemorrhaged from the premature labor. The son I’d always wanted, killed her. All I’d wanted was a boy, but all I got was girls. And now all I want is my children alive and healthy! Damn you! Damn you all!”

Gearing lowers himself and clicks repeatedly as he tries to say something, but can’t seem to speak anymore as the ticking and clicking magnify.

“My children are dying all around me and you’re where? In a bunker somewhere with robotic butlers and can’t pull together enough of a shit to even tell me to fuck off? Where is the military?! How did they all let this happen? How could things have gone so bad? Where the hell were you and why weren’t you doing your job while I was working double shifts doing mine?!”

Gearing keeps trying to lift his head, and say something in his own defense, having long since started taking this message as personally directed towards him. But, he can’t. Just like he was powerless to help this long dead family, and all of the others they represent, he’s powerless to even say a single word in his own defense. His head simply jerks up, then sags back down, repeatedly in cycles.

The little pegasus in Gearing’s head looks around as he sits there and droops. I tried, he mutters weakly before turning around and climbing into the steam chest where Gearing normally banishes him for silliness. I really did… He murmurs before closing the lid on himself.

“If there is even an ounce of equinity left in you… please… please save my children… put a bullet in my head if you want, but please save them. They’re so little. So young. They don’t deserve this. To die this way…”

There’s a long silence as Billiard sniffles and seems to try to think of what else he can say to beg for help, having already promised his very life in exchange. And, almost like knowing with certainty that their plea would never get granted, he finishes with one last snide swipe at the void.

“If not… to hell with you, you worthless bastards.”

Gearing sits there clicking and ticking as he shakes all over. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry…”

Sable steps up next to him and runs a loving nuzzle up his side, along his neck, and gently rubs against him cheek to cheek.

Again he hadn’t seen her come back, nor heard her when she approached him. He shakes his head a bit. Trying to tell her to go away. But he’s still having too much trouble talking.

She looks him over as she nuzzles him, and starts turning and directing him towards her, as she slowly starts pushing him back and trying to turn him over.

“N-“ *Click* “-no, Sable.” Gearing chokes out with a grumble.

She still leans into him, and manipulates his forelegs off the ground as she continues to push him backwards towards a sitting position.

“N-“ *Tick* “No! Sable! No-” *click* ”-t now!” Gearing objects.

Still she continues climbing over him and starts extending out her restraining cables around him.

“No-“ *tick* “-t in the m-” *click* “-ood right now, S-” *tick* ”-able!” Gearing grumbles as he struggles with her and tries to keep her off and away from him but he’s having a bit too much trouble fighting with himself to launch any kind of effective defense against her as well. At the moment, if she simply pulled out a gun and shot him, he’d be more accepting of that than any kind of sexual advances.

During their struggles, with Sable remaining silent the entire time, the controls on his PipBuck get bumped repeatedly as Gearing flails around. Causing one screen after another to switch back and forth and the selection indicator to bounce around rapidly.

While Gearing is still trying to fend off Sable’s restraining cables, an audio file from the archive activates on his PipBuck and begins playing.

“This is relay station Whiskey Three broadcasting on all open channels! All Pegasi are ordered to return to cloud level. Now! This is a priority one override. Equestria is gone. Canterlot’s gone. The princesses are dead! Repeat. Equestria is finished, all Pegasi get back to cloud level so we can save what we can. Let the mud stompers have their dirt; come home while you still can. They already took out Cloudsdale, and that’s where Rainbow Dash was, so she’s dead too.”

The last sentence of the alert hits Gearing as surely as if he’d been applebucked with a suit of power armor straight to the head. He stiffens up and his eyes go wide as he stumbles around a bit. His eyes continue losing focus and, a moment later, his back legs collapse out from under him as it sets in. His focusless gaze slowly trails upwards as he looks up at the prefabricated Stable-Tec roof of Stable 68.

“I failed them,” he finally manages in a whisper.

He completely loses strength and falls down, abandoning the struggle completely and embracing despair and misery. And Sable quickly takes advantage.

But, even though Gearing isn’t entirely cognizant of it, Sable’s goal had nothing to do with flank chasing. She’d been keeping watch over him and could tell, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Gearing was suffering. His change in attitude when he’d walked in was an oddity, and she refused to let that just sit and stew. But, she wasn’t expecting this. As she’d been keeping regular tabs on him and noticed the marked decent, she knew she couldn’t simply let him be anymore. Not alone.

After all, she’d just promised him he wouldn’t be alone anymore. She’s not going to go back on that promise now, regardless of what he says. Not when he so obviously needs her. When he needs to not be alone. When he needs somepony looking after him for a change.

And finding him forgetting about work, with his tools dropped and abandoned, was almost enough for her to declare a medical emergency.

But now, instead, she uses her cables and wraps him up and pulls him into herself. Holding him and trying to provide as much comfort as possible as he steadily falls apart.

As she’s helping him nuzzle into her mane he begins choking and ticking again. “I failed them…” *Click* “I-“ *tick* “-I failed them all.” *Click, tick, tick* “They’re dead because of me!” He screeches through metal grinding against itself. “Crème… Applemint…” *tick* “D-“ *click* “-Dash!” *tick, click* “Oh gods, Dash.” *Click, clickity*” I’m so sorry, Dash.”

He curls up and clamps down on Sable as he practically devolves into a foal. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” *Tick, click, tickity* “I’m so, so sorry…”

Footnote: Loading of ‘Blue Mac credential’ complete. . . awaiting matrix stabilization.

‘credential matrix’ buffering. . .

Stabilizing ‘move assist matrix’, please stand by. . .

This chapter was a little rough to get though. On top of a very individualized account of things degrading, it strikes some very specific chords with Gearing. Simultaneously it peppers in some more mysteries to be solved, and spurs the growth of a major chip on Gearing's shoulders. This chapter could be accurately described as a pinpoint where one of the significant shifts in Gearing's focus takes place. With the impacts being felt as early as the next chapter.

Thanks again for the ongoing support and help with the project. The feedback from both beta readers and everyone else has been fantastic. Thank you!

As always, Comments, questions, and critiques welcomed and encouraged

-Quillsy