"Human comms keep lighting up." A hoof came down on a large button. "Odds are now over 90%. We've located Stable 2."

The room filled with whickers of amazement. "Do you have a location?" asked a mare from a large chair, sitting forward. "Get me a map!"

"Only a rough estimate." The pony at comms grabbed a map and made a few quick slashes across it. "Somewhere in this region." He passed it to a pony that hurried it over to the mare that seemed to be in charge. "They've revealed themselves to the local humans."

"Fools," grunted the mare, examining the map critically. "Any idea how long?"

"Long enough." The stallion turned his chair to face their leader. "They're trading with them. The humans know about them."

"Harmony forfend." The mare set a hoof against her face. "Home in on them. I want to know exactly where they are. We can't leave them there. They'll get themselves, and us, cooked."

"As you command, Overseer." The stallion returned his attention to the comms, pressing buttons comically overlarge for any human operator. But they were not made for any human fingers. "We're also getting a ping."

"A ping?" She sat forward. "What from?"

"A giddyup unit." He tapped at the console. "The serial number doesn't match anything in the records, but it is a giddyup unit, and must have the software or it wouldn't be--"

"--pinging, right," finished the mare for him. "If you have a ping, then you have a specific location. Give me that. That's worth checking..."

Stan marched. That was much of his life. Most were scared to leave their safe little nooks. They relied on the few, the brave, and possibly the dumb to carry things from place to place. Even the apocolypse couldn't force the mail service to end, just to rebrand a bit.

He was a courier, had the arm badge to prove it, and that certain steel in his eyes if that didn't do the job. "Aunt, you have a lock?"

"My maps are in fine working order," assured the floating handyman unit that was female. Miss Aunt was well spoken, unlike many robots, programmed for that task. "Just because I spent most of my life underground doesn't mean I can't be given maps."

"Right, but why?" Stan wobbled a hand. "Those were not gonna be much help while you were buried."

"Only my creator could know for sure," she said with a vocal shrug, accepting it as a casual bit of good fortune. "It does explain why I always wanted to go out and see the world. Getting a chance to see what all these maps point at is quite exciting, dear child."

"Detection," noted Giddyup, raising his metal equine head high. "Confirming... Quadruped? Mutant...negative. Cadence indicates... pony? Pony detected!" He hastened, a lively trot playing from inside him as he hurried towards the sound.

Stan tried to grab Giddyup, but his fingers slid off the smooth metal of his equine friend's shoulder. "Damn it, ya metal rascal. Even if it is a pony, don't mean we forget we're in the wastes!"

Giddyup was ignoring the calls for concern. Surely a pony would not be a threat.

"This is so exciting!" A glowing force beside her pressed at her Pipboy even as she danced in place in a canter with undisguised joy and nervouness combined.

"You haven't even been outside," caustically accused another in the exit chamber. They had four legs, just like the others there. Her snout was twisted in a sneer. "Twilight, you have no sense about you."

"Don't be mad at her none," chastised a third pony. "We're all new in the wastes at some point. It was brave of her to volunteer fer the task. Most woulda hid under their sheets." That third wore wasteland approved garb, with a wide rimmed hat that was pushed up by her ears, forced to bend. She had a brown leather duster over a grey shirt, with a bright golden star on display with three apples pressed in the center in an equally red display as if it were a proud badge of station.

"Thank you." Twilight nodded at the third. "Um, miss Applejack. I'll do my best to not drag down the team. This is of the utmost importance!" She thrust up a hoof, slowing her energetic dance. "We have to locate the source of the ping."

"Almost done," called the first male of the group, tapping at a console that was clearly more designed for human fingers. "I'll have her open shortly.

Applejack nodded at the stallion. "Thanks kindly. Now, Daffodil, calm down. We got two practiced ponies right here." She gestured at herself and Daffodil as the two she was referring to. "We can keep Miss Sparkle safe until we get back, hm?"

Daffodil turned to Twilight. "Or! You could just tell me what I need to do and we--" She pointed at Applejack and herself. "Can take it from there. It's not like I never saw a computer before. We're both vault dwellers!"

Applejack inclined her head. "Well, you and Twilight, mayhaps." She shook the same head. "Ah've been outside a bit long to be callin' a vault dweller these days. Ah'm gonna guess we need to do more than press a button er two, ain't that right, Miss Sparkle?"

"Without a doubt." Twilight looked quite proud of herself, in her element. "We need to interface with the giddyup buttercup unit. Hopefully, it will respond to security bypass phrases and allow us to access its data, but there is a considerable chance that will not work, and we'll have to patch in manually. Only a professional level computer technician could hope to accomplish this."

Daffodil grunted with obvious irritation. "Which is why we're dragging you along. I got that right?"

Twilight took an uncertain step forward. "Were you not briefed on the specifics of this mission?"

Applejack reached up, pulling down the front of her hat over her eyes. "'Course she was, but she was jus' payin' attention to the parts that went over what she had to do, not yer parts, Miss Sparkle. All she remembers is 'Find the giddyup and let Miss Sparkle do her thin' and keep her safe.'"

Twilight suddenly smiled brightly. "You don't have to call me that. I'm Twilight." She pointed. "Applejack. Daffodil. We're all equals. Not like the Overseer is coming with us."

Applejack's expression brightened. "Right nice to hear ya say that. First name it is. Jus' didn't want to be insultin' ya or nothin'."

The area flooded with red lights, a siren blaring. The vault door was starting to move. "Got it!" declared Door Man. He had exactly one talent, but it was an important one. He could work the bits and bobs that were sized for humans, given enough time. "Good luck out there, ma'ams!"

Twilight began to clop her hooves with a new wave of excitement. "I wonder what sort of things we'll find. Do you think we'll get to introduce our brotherhood of ponies to the other vault's population? They could become bronies too!"

Applejack snorted softly. "That ain't our mission, sugar cube. Stay focused."

As one, the herd of three emerged into the wastelands, leaving the safety of their stable behind.

Giddyup recoiled, his trotting noises ceasing along with his forward momentum. Whatever he had seen had surprised him thoroughly.

"Huh?" A man was there, perched atop a great beast that was looking at Giddyup with short snuffles. He was on a horse, a real horse, full sized. "Shoot, a robot?" He lifted a pistol into view.

"Hey!" Stan pushed aside some bushes, forcing his way closer. "Don't put no damn holes in Giddyup. He ain't gonna hurt ya."

With a rush of flames, Aunt came into view, circling around the bushes instead of trying to force through them.

The man laughed, what else could he do? "You gonna tell me why a ghoul has two bots with 'em?" He shoved the pistol away though, the risk of violence dropping by the moment. "Ah shoot! That a courier badge?" He had clearly spotted it.

"Sure is." Stan stood up tall. "We're on a delivery when Giddyup here." He rapped the side of his still startled mechanical friend. "Heard a fellow horse and ran off to check it out."

"Any bot that comes rushing for a look at Fancy has a few bolts screwed in right." The wastelander patted the thick neck of his horse, Fancy. "Didn't know they made robot mini-horses though."

A fact Aunt was delighted to address. "Giddyup Buttercups are designed to be pony sized to make them easily ridable by young children. Playful and considerate, they make for an ideal addition to any home, even in city and suburban settings due to not requiring exercise to stay healthy."

Giddyup swerved his head towards Aunt. "That advertisement was excellently stated." He swayed back to the strange man. He couldn't just turn his head as a human might, he had to move his entire neck along for the ride in sweeps. "Greetings. I am Stan's Giddyup." He pointed a metal hoof at Stan. "I have never seen a horse before. May I attempt communication?"

The man leaned forward on his saddle. "Don't go spooking Fancy now. She ain't much used to robots."

"I am programmed to behave in authentic horse patterns." Giddyup looked as proud as a robot that couldn't make facial expressions could be. A friendly nicker played from his speaker as he approached carefully in a circling way, putting himself right in Fancy's field of view.

Fancy locked their eye, only one facing Giddyup, on the robot, but kept it trained entirely, whole of attention on the strange metal thing that made somewhat horse sounds at it. Fancy took a step forward and began sniffing Giddyup directly, nose to nose, inhaling the scents of the metal pony.

Giddyup could not sniff back. He had no lungs. But he could stand patiently, allowing the greetings and gently rubbing the metal tip of his snoot back against the horse. "Greetings successful," he reported with some joy.

The rider burst into laughter. "Yep, that's how Fancy says 'Who are you? I think I like you.' Well, courier, good luck on your delivery." He tipped his hat. "But I got places to be too, ya know how it goes."

"Reckon ah do." Stan was smiling at the man. They had found a point of commonality. Their horses had met one another and neither hated the other. "Ya stay safe now."

"Right back atcha." He pulled at his reins lightly, drawing Fancy away down the road.

"They were nice." Aunt hovered beside her two companions. "It's so good to meet a friendly face once in a while." She'd been with Stan long enough to learn that many faces were far less friendly. "Now, if I know Giddyup, it's about time for lunch."

Giddyup cantered in place. "You are correct! Thank you for your assistance." He turned towards Stan. "Are you prepared for lunch?"

"No." Stan smirked softly. "But ah'm gonna do it anyway. Swear, you must be programmed fer way hungier little kids."

"A small lunch," promised Giddyup. "Miss Aunt, can you prepare a small lunch?"

"Already on it." Not that she was cooking anything, more taking food out of packages and making a plate of them to serve up to Stan. "Now you eat up."

A short distance away, a furry snout peeked up over a stump. "Is that it?" Daffodil peeked down at the others. "Pretty sure that's it."

Twilight bobbed her head. "That is, assuredly, a Giddyup Buttercup unit. Applejack's intuition was spot on!"

Applejack polished a hoof against her chest. "Follow a horse to find another horse. Jus' common sense there, ah reckon."

Daffodil pointed. "The giddyup's with a... Miss Nanny unit, and a sick looking human."

Twilight's ears pricked. "I'm impressed. Not many could identify a Miss Nanny unit. Still, considering how sick he is, the Nanny might be an assigned caretaker?"

They considered how to approach. Their mission depended on it!

What, ya thought this was over? Hay no! Welcome to the second season! Now with more canon ponies! They want what Giddyup has! This updates every week(on mondays at time of posting). See you next week!

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