Well fillies and gentlecolts, welcome to my new Fallout: Equestria fanfic, Hidden Legacy, you're probably wondering exactly what I have planned for this one, and I won't keep you in suspense for long.
Now, its time for an awakening, and for our new hero of the wasteland to come into the light.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout or My Little Pony.
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PROLOGUE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE
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For over a thousand of years the Ponies of Equestria and their neighbors celebrated an age of peace and prosperity. A true golden age where all nations where able to prosper and war was nearly unheard of.
But it was not to last.
It started with the return of Nightmare Moon after a thousand years of imprisonment, while she was stopped by six friends, the world still took notice. Further threats like the god of Chaos Discord, the Changeling invaders, the former ruler of the Crystal Empire, and the being locked in Tartarus itself Tirek tried to threaten the peace, but they where each struck down.
But as the years went by, trade between Equestria and the Zebra Empire began to sour. The planet was running out of the precious resources that where needed, diplomacy broke down and gave way to war.
A war for the very resources of the planet, a Resource War, for which there could be no winner.
Celestia tried to broker for peace, but after Shattered Hoof, she abdicated the throne to her sister Luna, and the Zebras just increased their attacks and their resolve. The six friends who had faced so much evil became the Ministry Mares, placed in charge of maintaining the government.
It was from this turbulent time that Stable-Tec was built, a company built out of the desire to save Ponies as the threat of annihilation grew. I was one of the first to be hired, and after the first Stables where built, I was put in charge of figuring out a way to save Ponykind.
Sometimes I wonder if we deserved to be saved... had we lost our way? I didn't know, but I resolved to make sure that only the best of our species would be preserved. So that's when I started Project Legacy.
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"Doctor, I'm getting reports Stable-Tec, they're saying that Protocol Omega has been activated," a scientist said as she turned to look at a dark blue furred Unicorn Stallion. "What are your orders?"
"Close the Stable door," the Stallion said.
"But sir, not all the ponies who are assigned to the Stable are inside!" The scientist protested.
"Omega is very clear, we are to close the Stable up before the Megaspells can hit us," the stallion said gruffly. "Are the subjects ready for transfer?"
"Yes sir," the scientist said nervously.
"Good, then go upstairs Overmare, do your duty," the gruff stalion said. "There should still be enough ponies for our purposes."
"Yes sir," the Mare said and galloped out of the room.
The stallion just shook his head and turned to look at 6 tubes, each contained a developing foal. He pressed a button on a console and they slid without waking up into pods and magical energy enveloped them.
Without another word, the stallion opened up another pod and laid down in it, closing his eyes as the same magical energy flowed through his body.
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The end of the world came as we had feared, but Project Legacy was ready.
And even if it took centuries, that legacy would be born into a new world. Ponies would one day look back on my actions as necessary.
We built it to use pre-existing genetic material to populate the world after the end, we had always hoped that it would prove unnecessary, and our creations could live ordinary lives on the surface. But we where wrong.
Protocol Omega, the order to close the Stable Door and prepare to wait for the all clear. A fate that I did not even dare face myself. I was going to help build the new world, that was my destiny, my purpose, and my legacy.
I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of, I hurt ponies that trusted me, I chose to consort with the underworld to get my hands on what I needed for Project Legacy. Do I have any regrets? Yes, I have a few, but at the same time, I stand by my decisions.
Maybe history will yet vindicate me, once I am awake, I will make sure that I build Equestria back up, no matter what the cost. There is no justification needed.
After all, we where at war at the time, I don't have to justify my actions to anyone, especially not to you.
Because war, war never changes. But war can change a Pony.
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200 years later, the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows.
The pod that the gruff Pony had entered opened up. He got to his hooves and went to check the other pods, they contained now older ponies, each with blank flanks.
He smiled a little and went to a nearby terminal, inputting commands, setting them to each open at different intervals over the next 10 years, starting with the youngest and ending with the oldest.
"Sleep well my daughters, I will make a place for us in this brave new world," he said as he opened the door to the Stable beyond and left.
The fillies still slept soundly, not knowing that the world above them had just changed for the better, and that they would have a role in changing it once again.
They where a legacy, a legacy that they would only remember in the memories implanted by their creator. For even after 200 years, some connections transcend even time and space.
These six young ponies slept soundly, not knowing of their destiny. Soon, the youngest of them would awaken, and the world would never be the same again. Their home long abandoned, but still defended to ensure that no one could possibly disrupt the true experiment of the Stable. Nothing was ever going to be the same again once the door opened once more.
Project Legacy's goal was finally in sight. The awakening in Stable 114 would begin soon enough, and new heroes would rise from the ashes of the old world.
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FALLOUT EQUESTRIA:
HIDDEN LEGACY
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A FALLOUT/MY LITTLE PONY
CROSSOVER FANFICTION BY
RUIN QUEEN OF OBLIVION
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CHAPTER 1:
AWAKENING
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"Mommy, watch me!" I called out as I shot past my mother, a teal colored Pegasus with a distinct rainbow colored mane.
"You're doing great, Rain!" My mom said as she flew after me and caught up to me with a hug as she ruffled my mane. "You keep that up, and you'll be as fast as me one day."
"Aww, mom, you're embarrassing me," I said.
We where over a peaceful meadow, my mom, Rainbow Dash, always loved bringing me here. We weren't too far away from Ponyville, I could see our cloud home from here even.
"Come on Rain, race you home!" Mom said and sped off towards Ponyville, I laughed and went after her, my wings beating at full speed. I finally shot past my mom and came to a rest on the clouds.
"That was totally awesome!" Mom said and wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug. "I knew you could do it, just like your mom, best flyer around."
I smiled and started to open my mouth to say something when a voice echoed in my ears.
"Simulation shutting down..." A stallion's voice that I didn't recognize echoed in my ears.
What? Simulation? What was that voice talking about? This couldn't be a simulation, this was real life!
"What's wrong?" Mom said as the world started to fade around me.
"Simulation terminating in 5..."
"Mommy, what's going on?" I asked, holding onto my mother as tightly as I could. The fields around Ponyville faded next.
"4..."
"Rain, calm down, tell me what's wrong?" Mom asked.
"3..."
"I don't know, I keep hearing a voice counting down... it said something about the simulation ending!" I said as the town below faded.
"2..."
I cried, I couldn't bring myself to say anything else as our house faded from view. My life was fading away in front of my eyes, it was just me and mom in an empty void.
"1..."
"Remember, your mother will always love you," Mom said, and with that she too was gone, and the whole world went black.
"Simulation ended."
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My eyes shot open and I flinched, there was a bright light shining down on me as I covered my eyes with a hoof. I struggled to get up, but I just fell again. There was no one to help me up, I had to struggle to get to my hooves and managed to get out of the strange device I had been in.
I looked around, I wasn't in Ponyville, I wasn't even sure I was in Equestria anymore. I was in some sort of metal room with tubes and equipment lining the walls. There where six more of those, things that I had been in.
"Celestia, what happened to me?" I said, my voice was hoarse, it didn't even sound like mine. I tried to flap my wings, but they barely got me off the ground. "Mommy? Are you here?"
That's when a screen flickered on and an image of my mother, not as I remembered her, she looked, older almost. She was dressed in a black uniform, and looked at me with sorrow in her eyes.
"Hey kiddo," she said. "I know there's a lot of thoughts going through your mind right now, but I can promise you, what you're seeing is real. I never liked this idea myself, putting foals in magical stasis for Celestia knows how long?"
I nodded, but didn't say anything, I was starting to cry.
"So yeah, this egghead at Stable-tec approached all us Ministry Mares," mom continued. "He wanted us all to take part in something called Project Legacy, I was against it of course, but Luna herself endorsed it and insisted that we all take part. The idea... was to create six Ponies and place them in Magically induced Stasis in the event of all-out war."
"That can't be true... can it?" I wondered out loud, tears where starting to build up in my eyes.
"Its funny... I sometimes thought about becoming a mother, but with the war, I never could make the time," mom continued. "That egghead said if the war ended before it got that bad that he'd release you, but... well, if you're watching this then it reached that point. You're probably feeling a little disoriented, but its okay, you've got my blood running through your veins, I'll bet you're going to be awesome."
I actually smiled at that, finally she reminded me of my mom, the mom I had known.
"What happens next is up to you, you're going to have to leave this Stable," mom continued. "There where 6 of you born, so if the others aren't there, then you need to go out and find them."
6 of us? But there where 7 devices, who else had been in there with us?
"Now keep your head up, don't give up on yourself, and make me proud," mom said with a smile and the screen shut off. I couldn't hold it back anymore, I broke down crying at that point.
I knew that I would never see her again.
I finally managed to pick myself up and took another look at the screen when the computer started beeping. It read, "DOWNLOAD COMPLETE, PLEASE TAKE PIPBUCK."
I was confused for a moment when I saw a bar come out of the computer with a strange device attached to it. It looked like it was built to go around my leg, it was a strange little device, but it was customized a rich blue with mom's cutie mark on it. I carefully slipped my leg into it and it dinged.
"What's this?" I muttered and raised my foreleg to examine the screen.
STATE YOUR NAME FOR REGISTRATION.
"Rain Runner," I said as clearly as I could.
REGISTRATION COMPLETE.
SCANNING SUBJECT TO DETERMINE S.P.E.C.I.A.L. STATS.
Special stats? What the heck did that mean? I felt a strange tingle go through my body and the screen quickly changed again:
STRENGTH: 4
PERCEPTION: 6
ENDURANCE: 5
CHARISMA: 7
INTELLIGENCE: 5
AGILITY: 7
LUCK: 6
Oh, so it was an acronym, that made sense. I noticed there was saddlebags with the same cutie mark symbol nearby and I checked them out before doing anything. They seemed to be okay at least, there was some food and water, as well as bullets for what I barely recognized as a revolver with the word "Lightning Dash" embrazened on the side.
"Thanks mommy," I said, and took one last look behind me as I went through a door.
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I had to make my way through this, what was it mom had called it, Stable? I trotted up what seemed to be endless staircases, going past robots that didn't seem to pay me any attention.
When I looked in some of the rooms, I found them empty, but they still had a very lived in feel to them. Somepony had lived here, even if it had been a long time ago. I checked the rooms, but most of them where empty save for some bones on occasion.
"What happened to them?" I wondered out loud to no one in particular after the 6th and 7th skeletons. Finally I found a large room that seemed to be made up of two levels, I saw something lying on a table and picked it up. It was a book, Daring Do and the Temple of the Serpent.
I had to smile a little at that, I remembered mom read these books to me before I went to bed every night. I slipped it into my saddlebag and kept moving my way through the Stable, that's when I finally came across a large door with the number 112 painted on it. My PipBuck began flashing and I checked it
STABLE 112 DOOR READY TO OPEN.
It took me a minute to get acquainted with the controls for the door, but I saw a slot where I could connect a cord from my PipBuck to it, so I tried that first. There was a metallic scraping that grated on my ears as a strange metal, thing lowered from the ceiling and connected to the Stable Door.
Slowly, but surely, the door began to turn and opened. I took one last look back at Stable 112 which I guessed where I had been, and walked through the door.
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The world beyond was even brighter and blinding than the artificial light of the Stable behind me. This wasn't the Equestria I remembered, heck this wasn't even Ponyville, I was overlooking a desert, burned and scorched with Celestia's sun overhead.
"Well, well, I thought I was dreaming when I got the notification that the door was opening," a mare's voice said from behind me. I quickly turned around, drawing Lightning Dash, but the pony that greeted me was a friendly looking Unicorn mare with yellow fur and a dark brown mane. "The name's Dreamer, you're the sixth Pony I've seen come out of that place in as many years."
"I'm, Rain Runner," I said nervously. "You said there where 5 before me?"
"That's right, seems like Ponies started appearing out of that old Stable, but only one a year," Dreamer said. "Darnedest thing really, that Stable's been empty for going on 50 years, other than any idiot raiders or those crazy robots."
"Funny, the robots left me alone," I said.
"That's what the others said," Dreamer replied as we started walking.
"Do you know where any of them went?" I asked, it was a long shot, any information would be years old.
"Well, not really, the only one who really talked about anywhere in particular was Crystal, the mare who came out last year," Dreamer said. "She left town two months ago, said she was heading to New Pegasus."
"What's a New..." I started to say as we came over a hill and I stopped in my tracks. In the distance I could see a huge city built on the clouds and into a mountain, while most of it was in ruins, I could make out lit signs and buildings. "Oh, I'm guessing that's New Pegasus."
"Yep, you can make out the New Pegasus Strip from here," Dreamer said with a nod. "But if you need a place to stay, I live in a town just down the mountain, not exactly as nice as some of the places up in New Pegasus, but it'll do the job."
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that," I said with a nod as we started down the hill.
I had a feeling that I had a lot to learn about the outside world. I tried flapping my wings again, but I barely got any lift, at least they weren't as stiff as they where before. Was I going to be stuck on the ground for the rest of my life? I really hoped not.
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The town wasn't much to look at, it had a few buildings here and there with a saloon at the center of town.
"Welcome to Maresprings," Dreamer said with a smile on her face as several ponies came out to greet us, pelting me with questions.
"Oh hey, is she the Stable Dweller?"
"Wow, her mane is so pretty."
"How'd you get your mane like that?"
"Did you know Crystal?"
"Why don't you have a cutie mark?"
I so wished I could just flap my wings and fly away, I felt silly being asked all these questions that I didn't know the answers to. Well, some of them at least, actually I had inherited my mom's rainbow colored mane, but I thought it was silly to obsess over it.
"Come on, give the poor Pegasus some room to breathe," Dreamer said and the ponies backed off. "Rain, how about you go into the saloon and talk to the bartender? I'm sure she can help you out with anything you need."
"Thanks," I said and trotted over to the saloon and opened the door.
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The saloon was older than I had expected, the paint peeling in several places with a music player against the wall. I trotted into the next room where the bar was and I was surprised to find a white furred Pegasus mare with a cutie mark of a bottle on her flank.
"Well howdy," she said in an accent I seemed to recall one of mom's friends spoke in. "Yah must be the new Stable Dweller from the Stable up north, what brings yah here?"
"Yeah, I'm Rain Runner," I said.
"Name's Cider, Ah run this here bar," Cider said. "So what can Ah get fer yah, Sparkle Cola? Sunrise Sasparilla? Opal Orange maybe? Ah've got a vintage bottle of Opal Orange, 15 caps."
"Caps? Uh..." I said as I checked my PipBuck frantically. I didn't have any caps, I had some Pre-War Bits, but that was about it. I guess whoever had this packed didn't think they'd use bottle caps for currency. "Uh, I don't have any caps."
"Right, Ah plum forgot ya'll wouldn't know about caps," Cider said sheepishly and took out a bottle of Sparkle Cola and set it on the bar. "Here, have one on tha house."
I gave her a smile and popped off the cap, taking a sip. "So, uh, Dreamer said I should talk to you about anything I might need."
"Yep, that's right," Cider said with a smile, then she looked at me closely. "Has anyone ever told yah that yah look like Rainbow Dash?"
I was taken a little aback by that, she wasn't wrong, but no one else in Maresprings had noticed. I wasn't quite sure how to explain that either, I didn't know how much time had passed, so saying the truth would be, difficult to explain.
"So, what can Ah do fer yah?" Cider asked after I didn't answer for a few minutes. "Ah can teach yah anything yah need ta know about survivin' in tha wastes."
"Can you teach me how to shoot?" I asked, remembering that I hadn't yet learned how to actually shoot the gun I had.
"Geez, didn't they teach ya'll anythin' down in that Stable?" Cider said, then shrugged. "Sure, meet me out back in a few minutes, Ah'll teach yah how ta shoot."
"Thanks," I said as the white Pegasus trotted outside.
I looked at my wings, it was weird. I had always been able to fly before, but, was that real? I felt so useless, a Pegasus who couldn't fly, all the more reason to learn how to fight.
I finished my drink and trotted out of the saloon.
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"All right missy, first of all, do yah have any idea how ta fire a gun?" Cider asked as she finished setting up the bottles.
"Well, umm, no..." I said. "Where I come from, there never really was any need to fire a gun."
"Geez, most Stable Dwellers know at least that," Cider said. "Just tha lot of yah from Stable 112 haven't."
"Its a long story," I said sheepishly, I still didn't really like talking about that. "What did Crystal tell you?"
"Not much that made sense, she said she was the daughter of some mare who died 210 years ago," Cider said. "Which didn't make that much sense ta me, what do yah think?"
"I don't know, maybe she was right," I said with a shrug before I nodded to the weapon holstered at my side. "So how does this thing work?"
"Okay, yer gonna want ta take tha handle in yer mouth like so..." Cider said.
It didn't take me long to get the hang of the pistol, though I couldn't be the only one who thought it was weird that they where built to be held in your mouth.
"Okay, yah need ta line up tha site on the end there with what yah want ta shoot at," Cider explained. "Then yah bit down on tha trigger and yah have it."
I nodded, and lined up a shot on the first bottle and bit down. There was a kick that sent the shot flying wild off to the side.
"Okay... yah might need some work," Cider said and shook her head. "Okay, try again, but brace yourself for the recoil."
It took me a few more tries and some reloading, but I finally managed to shoot all but the last bottle. I had to make this shot count, but my PipBuck started flashing before I could line it up. I raised my foreleg to read the screen:
STABLE-TEC ARCANE TARGETTING SPELL (S.A.T.S.) READY.
I had no idea what that even meant, but I hit a button on my PipBuck and everything around me suddenly slowed down. I could focus on a single area, and pointed Lightning Dash at the dead center of the bottle and bit down.
There was a sound of breaking glass as the bullet pierced the bottle and time returned to normal. I slid the pistol back into its holster, but I had no idea what had happened with that at all.
"Huh, first time usin' S.A.T.S?" Cider asked and I nodded. "Don't ask me how it works, Ah've got no idea, but its handy when yah need it."
I looked at my PipBuck again, it was displaying my status, nothing else. What exactly had happened?
"Hey, how about yah come with me ta tha Spring?" Cider suggested. "Lizards have been messin' with it somethin' fierce. Yah could use some practice against livin' targets."
"Sure," I said as Cider flapped her wings and took off. I frowned and tried to flap my wings again, but they where still stiff, I wondered if I'd ever fly again. "Uh, this is kind of embarassing..."
"Oh, yah can't fly huh?" Cider asked sympathetically.
"Yeah, its weird ever since I left the Stable, I just can't get my wings to work right," I said sadly.
"Huh, weird, well I'll stay close then," Cider said.
I nodded and noticed that on the, thing in my vision I could see a compass and a marker. I started walking in that direction with Cider following.
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"Yah never did answer mah question," Cider said, which caught me off guard. Which question was she talking about?
"Uh, what question is that?" I asked.
"Why yah look like Rainbow Dash," Cider said. "Believe me, that manestyle has not been popular in tha last 200 years, especially among Pegasi."
I brushed a lock of hair from my eyes and sighed. "You'll think I'm crazy."
"Try me," Cider said. "Ah can't promise Ah'll believe yah, but Ah'll listen."
After that it all came pouring out, my mother, the pods, my, real mother, what I saw in Stable 112. I had to actually stop, it was like it had all hit me again, tears flowed down my face, I couldn't help it...
"Ah believe yah," Cider said, she wrapped a foreleg around me. "Ah wanted ta see, if yah had tha same story Ah'd heard before."
"You've, met others like me?" I asked through my tears.
"2 others," Cider said. "First one was a mare named Joy, then there was Crystal. But Ah've heard tha story before, mah momma was tha Overmare at Stable 112, and she told me tha story, passed down ta her from her momma. Six ponies, and somethin' called Project Legacy."
"Why would somepony do this to us..." I muttered. "Was any of my life even real?"
"Who's ta say what's real and what's not?" Cider said. "Look, Ah think yah should head back into Maresprings, Ah'm just a bartender, Ah ain't much of a therapist. Ah suggest yah go talk ta tha Doc back in town."
"What about..." I started to say.
"Ah'll take care of 'em, Ah'm still tha best shot in town," Cider said with a smirk, for a moment she almost reminded me of mom. "Trust me, talk ta tha Doc."
"Okay then," I said as I started to walk back towards town.
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When I got back to Maresprings I was pointed in the direction of a house sitting on a hill not too far away. I trotted up the hill, but I was too nervous to knock on the door.
I wasn't used to the outside world, I was a Pony lost in a world I didn't know about, and I couldn't even fly for crying out loud. I wondered if this Doctor could maybe help me with that.
I reached a hoof out to knock on the door, but it opened on its own. I peered inside, there wasn't anything in the immediate area, but I could see shadows of Ponies on the wall, and they didn't look friendly.
I carefully drew Lightning Dash out of its holster and slipped in quietly. I could hear voices coming from down the corridor.
"Listen here doc, the boss doesn't like it when small town Doctors interfere with his buisness," a gruff voice said.
"I'm a Doctor, your boss left that poor Pony half dead, did you really think I'd just let him die?" The indignant voice of a Stallion said, he had a voice that was, familiar somehow, but I couldn't place it.
"Well, the boss sent us to deal with you," a third voice said. "You're not gonna be helping any Ponies anytime soon."
I slipped down the hallway and peeked around the corner. I could see two ponies, both Earth Ponies, standing over a third who had a short dark mane and pale brown fur with a cutie mark that looked like an hourglass.
I had only seconds to do something, so I quickly slipped into S.A.T.S. again, and the world around me slowed down. I picked my targets quickly and aimed for the two ponies, I didn't have time to consider what I was doing as I squeezed the trigger twice.
There was a scream as both bullets hit their mark, but the Ponies didn't fall dead. Instead they turned towards me, aiming their weapons in my direction. I barely got out of the way of the counter attack as I fired again at the ponies.
As quick as it had started, it was over... by Celestia, I had killed two ponies. They where trying to hurt another Pony, but still... I let Lightning Dash fall out of my map as the adrenaline rush wore off.
"Well, that was fun..." the Pony said as he got to his hooves. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I'm..." I started to say when I looked at the Earth Pony who's life I had saved. It finally clicked who he was, we had only met in passing in Ponyville, but still. "Doctor Whooves?"
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The shock of what I had to do and who I had saved had finally worn off. I was sitting on an old couch as the Doctor checked me out. He had explained that he wasn't really the Doctor Whooves I knew, but that he was his descendant and that he preferred to be just called Doc.
"What where those Ponies here for?" I asked as he examined my wings.
"They work for a Pony in New Pegasus named Lucky," Doc answered. "He's a big time gangster and the current leader of the Chairponies."
"The Chairponies?" I asked, I hadn't heard that term yet.
"One of the Three Families that runs New Pegasus," Doc said. "They're not exactly the most trustworthy bunch either. A few days ago, Lucky himself came through here and shot a Pony up by the old Graveyard. I managed to heal the poor Pony, but apparently word got back to him."
"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.
"Yes, of course, they just got the jump on me," Doc said with a nod. "So, you must be the latest Stable Dweller out of 112."
"Yeah," I said. "Cider said I should go talk to you."
"Of course, you're the third Pony to come out of that old Stable," Doc said. "I'm guessing you're Rainbow Dash's daughter."
"Yeah, that's me, Rain Runner," I said with a nervous smile. "Though I'm confused, I was the sixth or seventh one to leave the Stable."
"Well, only three of you came through here," Doc said with a shrug. "But anyway, I might have some answers for you."
He walked over to a shelf and picked out a box and handed it to me. I opened it and it seemed to contain two small devices. I picked one up with my hoof, and tilted my head at it curiously.
"Put it in your Pipbuck, a Pony gave me these 10 years ago," Doc said, I shrugged and slid one of them into a slot in my PipBuck and pressed a button.
"I don't know about this, Twilight," a familiar voice came from my PipBuck, it was my mother's. "What he's asking, has the war really gotten to that point?"
"Hey, you volunteered to go first," another mare's voice, this one sounded more refined, Twilight Sparkle, I remembered her name from my memories. "And you know better than any of us how bad the war's gotten."
"Yeah, but, creating ponies?" Mom questioned. "And raising them in some sort of, artificial environment for that matter? Plus you're already a mother and Applejack has that secret boyfriend of her's..."
"I don't like this either," Twilight admitted. "But Luna gave the okay, and you said you'd go first. Besides, there's always a chance that cooler heads will prevail and they'll have ordinary lives."
"Twi, with all due respect, you haven't been on the front lines like I have," my mom countered. "The Zebras have been getting more and more zealous since Shattered Hoof, I'm not sure cooler heads will prevail at all."
"Then why agree to the project?" Twilight asked, I could hear my mom sigh.
"I don't know... maybe I wanted to leave something behind," mom said. "You know what happened to the Wonderbolts... maybe I'm just hoping for another chance."
There was a silence between the two, I almost thought the recording was over before I heard a new voice.
"Ms. Dash, we're ready for you," a Stallion's voice said.
"Well, time to get this over with," mom said, I could hear the sound of her walking against a metal floor followed by the sound of a door closing, and with that the recording was over.
"Your mother was a brave mare," Doc said, finally breaking the silence. "Every story I've ever heard of her exemplified that. She was the only one of the Ministry Mares who fought on the front lines, protecting her home and Equestria from the Zebras."
"Yeah, that sounds like mom alright," I said with a smile. "Always working to do what's right."
"Well, your wings aren't quite ready to actually fly yet," Doc said and shook his head. "Probably a side-effect of the magical stasis or the process that made you."
"I see..." I said with a sigh. "Do you think I'll ever fly again."
"Hard to tell, you're the first Pegasus I've run into that's spent 210 years in magical stasis," Doc said sheepishly. "There's probably one more out there, but they didn't pass through here."
Right, mom had a Pegasus friend, Fluttershy, that was her name. Logically if this, Project Legacy created me and possibly somepony from Twilight Sparkle, then Fluttershy would make sense too.
"What do you know about this, thing?" I asked and raised my foreleg to show the PipBuck.
"Well, just what I learned from Joy and Crystal," Doc said. "I also found some files at a Stable-tec facility outside New Pegasus that called it a PipBuck Delta model, it was built for the Ministry Mares, but I guess they never got it."
That explains why it had my mom's cutie mark on it. I wondered if maybe they where really built for Project Legacy.
"It has all the usual features of a PipBuck of course, but it also can transmit radio messages in addition to receiving them," Doc continued. "Is there anything else?"
"Do you know anything about where Crystal might've gone?" I asked, she was the best clue I had so far.
"I'd try New Pegasus," Doc said, I frowned, I had already heard that. "Definitely one of the Casinos on the strip, if you can get into it at least."
"Is it hard to get in?" I asked.
"Well, its not easy, but I'm sure you can figure it out," Doc said. "In the meantime, I think you should stay in town for at least tonight, unless you have some pressing need to get to New Pegasus. Cider should be able to rent you a room."
"Okay..." I said and walked out of the house. I felt a little bit better now at least.
00000
Luckily Cider was more than willing to rent me a room to stay the night at a reduced rate ("Ah do have ta make caps yah know"), but there was the matter of how to pay for it. Thankfully I was able to sell the gear I had gotten off of the two gangster ponies, which was enough to pay for the room and for a meal.
That night, I couldn't sleep, I kept staring up at the ceiling, tossing and turning, but I couldn't get to sleep. I remembered the other datafile and loaded it into my PipBuck, this time I put in a pair of headphones that connected to it.
"Personal log," the voice of the stallion I had heard before said. "Subject Rainbow Dash was reluctant at first, but agreed to provide her egg cells for the experiment. Conception as of yet has been unsuccessful, leading to some concerns from Stable-tec of the validity of the Project."
I frowned at that, I considered turning the recording off, but something told me I had to keep listening.
"Sweetie Belle came by the lab today," the stallion continued. "She wanted to see if we had made any progress. She probably wants to use the project in some sort of PR stunt, "See the children of the Ministry Mares, this is the future for Equestria in the Stables" or some crap like that."
Wait, Sweetie Belle was one of the Ponies running Stable-tec? Geez, what else was different in this place? I shook my head, I had to stop thinking about it like that, this was the real world... as much as I hated it, this was the real world...
I really, really hated that.
"We finally had a success today, thank Celestia for that," the voice continued. "The Ministry of Arcane Science was helpful in that regard. While I could not get the spell Twilight herself used, I was given access to some of her notes. Magic and science to do what ponies have done for centuries naturally... some Ponies may accuse us of playing god."
May accuse him of playing god? He created life, he actually created life for Celestia knows what reason. I had to keep listening, maybe I'd get some sort of answer.
"The war is the worst thing that's ever happened to Equestria," the stallion continued. "Maybe what we're doing here at Project Legacy, we're trying to give hope to the future. Hope... hope is a funny thing, maybe its all unnecessary...
"I pray to whatever deities there are that it will be."
The recording ended and I just laid their in bed thinking about what I had heard. Was this the answers I was looking for, or was it something else entirely? I really missed my mom, she would know what to do here.
I pulled the covers over me and tried to go to sleep. It was going to be a long night.
00000
"Howdy Rain, how'd yah sleep?" Cider asked as I trotted into the bar area.
"Terribly," I said and shook my mane loose. "I just couldn't get comfortable all night."
"Yeah, sorry about that, all we have are beds from before tha war," Cider said, she was a little embarrassed by that.
"Eh, its not that, I'm just not used to sleeping on a non-cloud bed," I said with a shrug. "Your bed was fine."
"Right," Cider said with a nod. "So, what's next for yah, are yah goin' ta stay here in Maresprings fer awhile?"
"Sorry, but I should get to New Pegasus," I said appologetically. "I was the last Pony in Stable 112, I should go see if I can find the others."
"If yah say so," Cider said. "But if yer gonna be leavin' town, Ah suggest yah go ta tha General Store next door. Tha pony there will sell yah any ammo and bardin' yah might need."
"Thanks, can I get one of those Sparkle Colas?" I asked.
"Sure thing," the white Pegasus said and placed a bottle on the bar. "4 caps."
I nodded and set the caps down on the bar and popped open the bottle and took a long drink.
"Thanks Cider," I said and trotted out of the saloon.
00000
It didn't take long for me to go into the General Store, the Pony inside was named Roma, and I bought an armored suit of Stable Barding from Stable 112 and ammo for Lightning Dash.
I started to walk out of the small town, and took one last look back. Doc waved to me from his house, I smiled and waved back before continuing on my way.
My journey had begun.
LEVEL UP
Perk Earned: Fish out of Water
Details: You've taken your first steps into the new world beyond your home Stable. You gain an extra 5 points to be distributed among your skills.
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Well, that's chapter 1 for you, I hope you all enjoyed.
Next chapter, Rain starts her journey to New Pegasus to follow up on some clues, but she has to deal with some issues while she's on her way there. Come back next time for chapter 2, "Trip to Pegasus."
