Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

...when balefire consumed the world, many of those who survived did so within great underground Stables, built by Stable-Tec to protect those few chosen from the ravages of madness and death that had gripped the land. When many of them opened, the descendants of the original inhabitants set out across the ruins of the old world in an attempt to rebuild their society. New villages were established. New territories were formed.

It was to the west that many of these survivors would travel, to the city of San Ponsisco. Before the war it had been a rich port city, its shipyards renowned for the strength of their steel hulls and powerful engines of the ships built there. It would be within this city that these survivors would find a reminder of a time before war; before the Wasteland. By some miracle, or perhaps through simple dumb luck, most of the bombs destined to obliterate the city had fallen short, leaving a massive radioactive crater some miles from the city itself. Only a single warhead found its way within the city, and even it had fallen near its outskirts. While the blast was enough to level much of the city, a single sixty story building still stood within the cities heart, despite the ruin around it. The tower of glass and steel would become a beacon and symbol of hope.

So it would be here that they would try and rebuild. It would be here they would try once again to make Equestria what it had been so long ago. Hundreds would make the journey to the city. Most would die in the attempt. Starvation, raiders, or mutant beasts would claim many of their lives. But still they would come, for a chance at what they had lost so long ago. When those few brave souls at last reached the city, they found themselves entering a place unlike any other within the Wasteland.

One such pony would bring with her the foundation of a new government, for her Stable had been given a royal gift. Princess Celestia, in her wisdom, had foreseen the need to preserve the past, lest the ponies of the future make the same mistakes again. A vast library with the collected works of all of ponydom was built within Stable 52; stored within its network of computers. Containing art, science, history and law, it was a great treasure of knowledge, nearly all of which had been lost above ground as the great cities burned to the ground. It was the most intact library in all Equestria, downloaded upon twenty storage disks and carried within the saddlebags of a most ordinary pony.

As the years passed, what had once been a collection of different Stable ponies living within the ruins of the city united beneath the flag of the Confederate Stables of Equestria (the C.S.E.), dedicated to old-world values of law, order, peace and friendship. Its newly elected president, Starsong, the pony from Stable 52, set to work rebuilding the city. It would become her fledgling government’s capital. From here, she sent out messengers across the Wasteland, spreading the word of hope and peace. A fresh start to those willing to join her. But as her Confederacy grew, it attracted the attention of others who saw only a mighty prize worth taking.

Far to the east, across the Povoni Desert and within the ruins of the great cities, another society had arisen, united under a very different flag. A crude and wicked regime was being formed based upon the belief of strength, cruelty, and slavery. From this new society, a vast army of slaves, raiders, mutants, and griffin mercenaries calling themselves simply the Legion marched across the Wasteland. Wherever they went, death followed. They pillaged small settlements, killing and raping as they went.

Their leaders had learned of the Confederacy and its wealth, of the ancient factories still able to create technology of the past, of its farmlands, and of the hundreds of ponies and other creatures who now called it home. One, however knew of something forgotten by all, and would stop at nothing to claim it for her own...

War was coming once again to Equestria, and war... war never changes...

The thick black smoke rose slowly around me as I lay upon the cold, ruined steel floor. My body aching, I shifted slightly, wincing as I felt the hard points of bullets grinding against bone and muscle within my flanks and hind legs. Around me, a spreading pool of blood flowed freely around the empty bullet casings, staining the brass shells red. My blood. Slowly, I tried to open my eyes, the lids gummed with soot and ash. My cheeks were wet with tears from both smoke and grief. I had failed. Sweet goddesses above... I had failed. I lowered my head and felt the urge to sleep rise within me.

No.

Weakly, I struggled to rise to my hooves in one last attempt to stand. If this was to be my final minutes of life, I would face them on my own four feet. My power armour whined in protest, the armour-piercing rounds having shredded many of the magical wards and power sources of the ancient suit. It would not last much longer. With a snort, I reminded myself that neither would I. My fallen helmet rolled away from me, as my struggling hooves stumbled into it. The red lenses of the eyes reflected my image and I stared back at the battered pony before me. I looked as bad as I felt in those cracked glass lenses, the magic that allowed it to repair itself long since spent.

With a great deal of effort, I managed to fight my way upright, the loss of blood at once making me dizzy. My one good eye slowly focused once more, and I could see another body lying not far from where I had been. My labored breath caught in my throat as I saw the blood pooling under her limp, shattered form. Tattered, feathered wings were held at unnatural angles from her sides and her green armored barding was torn and ripped across her slender frame. Beside her, a broken sniper rifle lay where it had fallen, its wooden stock shattered, the barrel warped and smoking. Her saddlebags were torn open, personal effects scattered across the metal plating, photos fluttering in the wind, keepsakes soaking up her spilled blood.

Slowly, and with a great deal of effort, I made my way (or rather stumbled) closer to the prone form of my marefriend. One hoof in front of the other, although the sagging floor groaned with every step as I placed my weight upon it. Somewhere behind me, I could hear the sound of twisting metal as something gave way, accompanied by the loud crash as that same something dropped over the side to fall to the streets far far below. It would not be long now, not long before it would finally be over. Everything for which we had fought. Everything we had tried to do. Over. Failed.

Drawing closer, I saw she was not alone. The fallen yellow-coated pegasus lay beside another. My tired eye closed and my legs at last gave out from blood loss and the ache within my heart. Sinking to my armored knees, I lay my head against the railing to support myself. My helmet which had been rolling along with me as I'd stumbled forward bounced once and dropped over the edge of the roof. It disappeared within the thick black smoke rising from the abyss, the railing guarding me from falling into.

I looked away from the drop, from the city far below that I had failed, and instead looked back to the two still forms laying beside one another. My single eye at once went to the slender yellow mare, but after a moment it drifted to the the dark green unicorn beside her. His twin revolvers lay beside him where he had dropped them, their ivory grips carved with the images of the long-dead pony goddesses, Celestia and Luna. His flanks were covered in gashes, and his hind legs were gone, leaving a trail of blood across the roof from where he had crawled towards the mare.

I sat there, staring at the bodies of my two friends. It seemed somehow fitting it should end like this: together. A soft groan snapped me back to the present, as I noticed the rise and fall of the unicorn’s sides. Almost missed. Yet somehow, he still clung to life. An empty health potion bottle rested against his front hoof.

My eye wandered to the yellow pegasus, a slight bit of hope rising within my chest, which swelled into a flood of emotions as I noticed she too still drew breath. But not for long; neither of them would last much longer without care.

With a groan, I pushed myself against the railing. I had to get them out of here. If I could just make it to the elevator, I could get them down to the streets (if it still worked) and then... what? Our only means to escape the burning tower was gone, scattered across the city streets far below, along with the only pony trained in medicine who could have saved my wounded friends. Images of the burning sky chariot flashed into my mind: of my friends clinging tightly as it spiraled down from the sky; of the orange pegasus who had pulled it, her limp torn body; of the trail of smoke dipping below the shattered row of buildings; of the ball of fire that followed soon after.

There would be no ride home this time. No last minute rescue. We had failed...

“No...” I hissed, shaking my head. “...dammit to the fires of hell. NO!” I would not give up. I had never given up. I would find a way. I always found a way. They depended on me finding a way. My battered body, however, did not agree, and screamed at me as I fought to turn around. If I had to carry one across my back and drag the other with my teeth, I would. I would make that damned elevator take us down to the streets. I would find a doctor in the war zone the city had become. My legs shook as I tried to turn myself around, but the voice behind me drew me to a stop.

“I'll give you this... your friends fought well. But was there ever... any doubt how this would play out? I told you... how it would end, didn't I? When we... first met. Was it really worth... saving this city? Worth the lives of your friends? Worth your life?” The voice was harsh, raspy, female, and familiar. The words were followed soon after by the sound of hooves upon the loose gravel that covered the floor drawing closer to me. I did not turn around; I had no need to. I knew who it was behind me. I knew what she had come for, and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop her. My weapon was empty, and I did not need my helmet's E.F.S. to tell me that. Or to tell me the battered thing would never fire again. The multiple barrels of the gatling gun were twisted from the intense heat of constant firing. Looking up, I saw the row of antennas and dishes atop the building. Still very much intact. Still very much working.

My body finally gave out on me, and with a clang of metal armour, my weak, battered form dropped heavily to its knees once again. With a grunt, I pitched over onto my side. My head came to rest upon the yellow flank of the only pony I had ever loved, beyond my family. I could feel her shallow breathing passing through her body. Oddly, over the sounds of straining steel and fire burning unchecked within the building below us, I could even make out the faint sound of her heart beating. How many times in the past two months had I fallen asleep to that same sound? Despite it all, a slight smile formed across my soot-covered face. My single eye focused upon the twin revolvers laying between my love and the dark green unicorn. One still loaded, and oh so close.

The sound of hoofsteps once more drawing closer to me made my ears perk. I had been offered a slim chance. Once more the Wasteland was seeking to taunt me. It had never learned. Pushing myself forward with my front legs, I leaned over the yellow flank and reached out with my right front leg, my armored hoof rubbing up against the barrel, causing it to spin around slowly. It stopped, with the ivory image of Celestia shining towards me. The sun goddess beckoned me with her open wings, and graceful smile. So close.

A sudden fit of coughing struck me, and I closed my eyes from the pain running through my body. I could taste blood. It was becoming harder to breathe, and the world around me was growing darker and out of focus. Sounds became less clear to me than they had been moments before. So this was what dying is like? I didn't much care for it, but I was so sleepy. So tired. With my strength flowing out of me, I forced my eye open. Most likely for the last time. The smiling image of Celestia lay before me, the pistol so close, yet so far. My hoof rubbed against the edge of the grip. My body was nearly spent, and I realized I could no longer feel the pain that before had been wracking my body. Not long now.

As the hoof steps drew closer to me, and my right hoof became weaker, I looked into the still faces of my friends. Almost three months ago, I hadn't even known them. Now, it seemed fitting it should end like this. We had tried. I looked into the peaceful face of my love; she could just be sleeping, she looked so serene. With my left hoof, I slowly pushed back a lock of her purple mane from her closed eyes.

As that moment, I remembered something she had said to me not long after we had first met. I'd almost forgotten it until that moment for some reason. Perhaps it was sparked by the scent of her so close, somehow covering up the odor of smoke, blood and death. Perhaps it was sparked by my brain as it began shutting down from loss of blood. Whatever the reason, I turned and raised my face to the sky above. The gray clouds rolled past, as uncaring and unchanged since the day I had set hoof outside my home. Thick black smoke rose up into that joyless sky, mixing with the clouds that forever blanketed the land in near twilight.

Behind me, the sound of walking drew to a halt, and I could hear heavy breathing, wet and sickly. Not long now for any of us, it seemed. That smile that had begun to form across my muzzle spread more. Never missed a shot when it mattered, I thought to myself, stroking a yellow cheek.

“So... this is how you wanted it... your friends dead and you about to die, my empire I built for so long in flames... your city about to be razed to the ground... and I’ll still win,” the cruel, tired voice managed to spit out, before coughing wetly, wracked with pain. After a moment, she snorted, and the unmistakable click of a pistol being cocked echoed across the rooftop. “You and your little band of trouble makers have cost me... a great deal. At least I get the satisfaction of killing you...” I felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the back of my head. “Any last words...?” the voice hissed from behind me.

I could feel the grip of the revolver against my hoof; it was closer now. I could almost pull it towards me. Then I froze, my eye still cast heavenward, catching sight of something forming in the bleak clouds above. A small opening.

The oppressive gray blanket parted just enough for me to make out the dark blue sky, sparkling with the twinkle of white lights. Stars. The break widened, revealing the horizon beyond. The dark blue sky was giving way to brighter blues. The gray clouds turned almost golden as a yellow disc rose above the twisted landscape.

The sun.

As the warmth of the sun brushed across my face for the first time and last time in my life, I felt fresh tears forming in my single eye. She'd been right... sweet goddesses above. She'd been right. The sunrise was beautiful. My left leg wrapped around the neck of my love, as my right pulled the revolver towards me. Tears running down my face, I closed my eyes and lowered my head.

“You asked if it had been worth it... the answer is yes... it's been worth it...” I heard another snort, followed by the click of a trigger being pulled.

And then, I heard nothing at all...

The throbbing of my head at last forced my tired eyes to open, and I rolled over in bed. The buzzing continued beside me, and my sleep-addled brain was at first unsure what was causing it. After a few moments of staring bleary-eyed at something buzzing sitting upon my nightstand, I slowly came up with two options on how to make this most annoying sound stop: Option one, go find my shotgun and shoot it until it stopped making that damnable noise. Option two, find out was was making said damnable nose and see if there was another way to silence it.

Since option one required far too much work, I instead blinked my eyes and attempted to clear the sleep from them. Three large red numbers stared back at me from the nightstand beside my head; 6:00 a.m. was flashing over and over. Ah, it was my alarm clock. Sweet Celestia, whoever had decided to make these things so damn loud were sadists. Bad ponies. Bad!

Flicking my ears back against my skull and still blinking away the sleep that covered my tired eyes, I lifted up a hoof and slapped at the small buzzing box. Missing it completely. Bah! Another swat and another miss. What the? Swat. Miss. Swat. Miss. Why didn't the infernal thing sit still!?!

Finally, using both my front hooves so it did not dodge me again, I managed to hit the annoying buzzing box of loud noise that woke me up from a very nice dream about twin unicorns. The sound at last stopped, and I rolled back onto my stomach and grumbled. I should have gotten the shotgun.

I was just about to drift back to sleep when suddenly the sound of music began blaring from my overhead speakers. LOUD music. With a snarl, I grabbed my pillow with my front hooves and buried my head under it. Oh... she was going to pay.

After a moment of listening to the old time jazz, I pushed myself out of bed and landed face-first on the floor. I simply remained where I was for a time, hind legs wrapped in the sheets and blankets of my bed, face planted firmly into the metal floor plating, tail sticking up in the air above me.

Oh yes... she would soooo pay.

“Note to self... rum is not to be served at any more retirement parties,” I said once the room stopped spinning, though adding,“Unless it's mine.”

Pushing myself once more upright, I managed to untangle my hind legs from the death grip my bed had upon them. I know, old friend, I had no desire to part from your warm embrace either. Stumbling towards the bathroom, I glanced around my room and the mess it had become. The blue and yellow jumpsuit from the night before was half way between my bed and the door out into the hall. My security barding was just a bit closer to the door, along with my nightstick, badge, and belt. Well, at least I had made it home this time, and hadn't fallen asleep in the hallway.

As I entered the bathroom, the automatic lighting kicked in, the sudden brightness blinding me, and I all but stumbled into the counter. Another slew of curses ripped from my dry throat, as the large black spots began to clear from my vision. Blinking a few times, I found myself staring into the mirror with my reflection staring back at me with gold bloodshot eyes. Lifting a hoof up, I ran it through my long white mane. Wild strands stuck straight up from my normally flat cut. No matter what, I always seemed to get a bad case of bed mane. My coat was hardly in any better shape, with tufts of black fur sticking up all across my body. Turning my head away from the mirror, I glanced to my flank, and the cutie mark there: the one thing on my body that did not look disheveled, at least. A single green sprout with two leaves and a red bud on the end sat prettily on my flank. It looked the same now as it had when I'd received it in school. Oh, that had been fun. Hey look, everypony, little Shadow's got a flower on his butt! Oh yeah, that hadn't caused me ANY trouble in class. Still, I had been proud to earn it.

Stepping towards the shower, I turned on the hot water and waited for it to build up before climbing inside. I pushed the memories of my younger years away as I got myself ready for work.

As I finished drying my mane and tail, I stepped back into my room and glanced across the mess I'd left scattered across the floor from the night before, and snorted softly. Bending over, I began to pick each item up, starting near my bed and making my way towards the door. As I stepped into what amounted to the living/dinning room of my quarters, I became aware that I was no longer alone.

“Hello, Ebony, make yourself at home.... don't bother to knock.” I muttered around my barding as I turned to look into the kitchen and at the smiling pony standing at my small table, setting out two bowls.

To somepony else, it might suddenly appear as if I had once more stepped in front of a mirror. If not for the fact she was a she, we'd be completely identical. First, we both shared the same midnight black coats and long straight white manes. They were nearly to the same length, though you'd have to really look to see mine was shorter. Next, our eyes were both a deep golden yellow and shared the same warmth and spark. Though she was built more slenderly than myself, my near twin sister had two other distinguishing marks that made it easy to tell us apart to a passerby. Jutting out from her white locks was a black horn. She'd gotten father's side of the family genes, and I our mothers. Yeah, identical twins. The second was her cutie mark; where mine was of a green plant, hers was a silver scale, obviously indicating her ability to balance the needs of her ponies.

“Why, my loving little brother! Can't your big sister make you breakfast?” she grinned over to me, batting her lashes playfully.

Rolling my eyes, I picked up the belt that was still littering the floor and dropped it, along with the rest of the items I'd been carrying, into a chair near the door. Digging out my barding I began to tug it on as my sister moved around the kitchen. The smell of oatmeal drifted over to me. Only my sister could make oatmeal smell that good, a secret she had learned from mother.

“I had figured, quite correctly I might add, that my little brother would over do it last night, oversleep, and skip out on breakfast like he always does. But our family does so love a good party.”

“Hard to oversleep when somepony who shall remain nameless but who looks a lot like me sets the overhead speakers to blare music.” I snorted back between the belt in my mouth, as I tightened it around my midsection. A soft giggle echoed from the kitchen as my sister settled down at the table.

“Now, now, little brother. There's no need to be pointing hooves, I'm sure Shade had nothing to do with turning on your room's com speakers.”

Rolling my eyes once again, I tucked the baton into its holster and grabbed my badge. Oh sweet heavens no! Not poor Innocent Shade?! Why, it’d take somepony with a working knowledge of a Stable’s systems to do that, and she’d also have to be able to override the security protocols as well. Why, it’d take someone like the Overmare. Shocking? I know. Turning back around, I trotted into the kitchen, ignoring the grinning face of my sister, and began to fill a pitcher with water.

For her part, my sister simply sat and watched me as her horn flared to life with a soft white glow. Lifting the spoon down into her bowl, she scooped up a bite of fresh oatmeal and began to eat as her golden eyes tracked my movements through my quarters.

Pitcher in mouth, I made my way across the floor to the cold gray outer wall of my room. Tilting the pitcher back, I began to pour water slowly into a battered pot, soaking the soil within it and the small green sprout just beginning to rise up from the center. Moving my head, I stopped the flow of water, and stepped aside to begin with the next. On both sides of me, metal tables stood upon repaired legs, holding my little garden. Green plants rose up from the patched-together (and in some places improvised) pots. The overhead lighting had been angled down towards the tables, and though they were hardly the sun lamps we had down in the garden, they worked well enough. Some ponies found it a bit odd I had such a greenhoof when it came to plants. Some thought it was just odd that the head of their Stable’s security had such a simple hobby. In truth, it was very relaxing.

Once my task was finished and the pitcher empty, I finally moved over to the table and started the breakfast my sister had fixed for me. As I munched on my first bite of oatmeal, my sister at last spoke again, her golden eyes still fixed on me.

“You know, little brother, I still say you’re in the wrong line of work. I think you'd be happier down in the Stable's garden than running Security like father use to. If you’d like, I can ask for another pony to step in and take over for you.”

I munched on my breakfast and swallowed before answering her; this was an old argument, one we had almost every morning over breakfast.

“Maybe, but the tests showed I'd be of more use in security.” The test was something every Stable pony had to take once they'd earned their cutie mark. While I had earned mine during a trip my class had taken down to the garden, the test begged to differ. It showed I'd be better at protecting ponies and leading them instead of growing vegetables and flowers. But the test was never wrong and so, out of a sense of duty, I had signed up for security the next day.

Taking another bite from my meal, I glanced over at my sister, who merely shrugged, used to that response from me. It wasn't as if I hadn't been given a choice in the matter. Dad and mom had both told me I could decide what I wanted to do and I could take my time to decide. I think father thought I'd grow out of it, or come to realize it wasn't for me. Then, three years after I had joined, father had been seriously injured when he'd pulled two ponies out of a burning workroom after faulty wiring shorted out. All three had survived, but he'd lost his front hooves to third degree burns and so could no longer lead security. After that, I decided to take up responsibility for the safety of the Stable for him. He died of his injuries a year later.

“Did you hear Three Horn this morning?” my sister asked, breaking the silence that had overtaken our meal. I looked up at my twin and gave her a glare. “Right, too hung over... how silly of me.” She smirked and floated her empty bowl over to the sink, flicking her long, straight tail as she moved.

“Seems those ponies she calls raiders are moving deeper into the Povoni Desert again, hitting some town called Wastefall Gorge.” she continued, as I finished my breakfast. I muttered something between mouthfuls and mulled over the news.

Three Horn was a rather loud, mouthy pony who lived in or around the ruins of San Ponsisco. We'd been listening to her on the radio ever since the antenna atop the Stable had been repaired. It was the only signal we could get this far away from any major city; cities that were likely little more than piles of rubble after all this time. Still, there were signs of life; far away from our little hole away from home perhaps, but there.

“I think we need to try and contact her.”

“Sis, you know the council decided against that, at least until we have more information about what's going on outside our door,” I reminded her, pushing away my empty bowl, only to have her float it away to join hers. My sister snorted softly and shook her horned head, her white mane bouncing with the movement.

“We're hardly going to find anything else out by listening in and wandering around a few miles away from the Stable. We need to get out there, see what's going on, help with the rebuilding. San Ponsisco sounds like the best chance any of us have; the start of a stable government and ponies organized.” Her gold eyes nearly blazed as she spoke, always so passionate about rejoining the rest of Equestria and rebuilding it. It was why the Stables had been built, so that we could rebuild. But many did not see it like that. We were safe here; happy. Granted, it wasn't perfect, but it was better to some than the unknown. Of course, this was more than just a personal desire; she had another reason for wanting this. She wanted something more for her daughter. More than a life of cold, steel walls and recycled air.

“Well, regardless of what the council wants, in a few years we'll have no choice BUT to do something,” I said, sitting up. “The Stable won't last forever. Everypony on the council knows it, and most of the ponies in the Stable know it. They are just putting it off until they have no choice or until it’s somepony else’s problem. When they do however, I’m sure they’ll agree that traveling to San Ponsisco is the best choice we have.”

“I know,” my sister muttered and stood up, washing the bowls and pan in the sink while I stood up and checked over a few things. My big sister, always taking care of me. I couldn't help but smile. As twins, technically neither of us was older; however, since she had come out first, Ebony liked to say she was my big sister. I went along with it for the most part, even if sometimes it annoyed me.

“Don't worry, sis, Tiny's happy here.” at the mention of her daughter, my sister smiled and glanced over to me.

“You know, she's been asking when her Uncle Shadow is going to come play with her.”

I chuckled and finished cleaning up my quarters as my sister walked to the door. My little niece Sugar Pie, or Tiny as I called the little pink filly, was a blessing to my sister, and to me, looking up to me like a father. My sister's husband had died before she'd given birth to their daughter, killed in another Stable accident. There had been a lot of them; the Stable was literally falling apart around us. The event had so emotionally wounded my sister, she'd nearly lost her daughter, going into labor two months before she was due. The little pink foal had been so small, few thought she'd last the night. Doctor Kindheart, however, did not give up, and spent the next two weeks personally seeing to the newest member of Stable 45's health.

“Tell her I'll stop by tomorrow; I have a few days off I can spend.” I'd been so busy with replacing retired ponies and updating the duty roster, I'd not had time to pay my niece a visit. I looked forward to them as much as she did. Perhaps more so.

“Oh, no. That just won't do. She's been wanting to stay with you for awhile now, and I think you owe her a sleepover.” My sister opened the door to my quarters and looked over as I trotted up towards her.

“You don't mind?” I asked, stepping out into the narrow hallway with her, my door closing and locking behind us as we trotted along towards Security. The thought of having the little scamp over for the night sounded nice. It’d been a few years since I’d been able to read her a bedtime story. I always added sound effects and different voices for the characters when I did, a fact that delighted the little filly to no ends. Ebony simply laughed and shook her head.

“No, I don't mind. In fact, it's been decided, by Sugar. She's put her hoof down and that was final.” The last portion was said in a passing impression of the tiny filly’s high pitched voice. I smirked and shook my head.

We walked on, encountering only a few ponies on our way. Most were from the night shift, making their ways back to their rooms. A few appeared to still be shrugging off the effects of the party and looked as if they'd never made it home to sleep. I vaguely remembered Brightblade reporting in about finding a couple in one of the storage rooms in a somewhat awkward position and asleep. That had been just before I'd managed to stumble back to my own room.

The two of us were talking about the sleepover and a dinner party she was holding for two of her friends who were planning on getting married soon as we trotted through the Stable. Tassles and her husband-to-be Silverglow. Luckily for me, we reached the intersection where we'd be forced to part ways before she could get on the subject of me getting a nice mare and settling down. Mother would be proud; she'd carried on the long tradition of nagging me about it.

With a sisterly nuzzle, she turned and hurriedly made her way down the hallway towards the living quarters and the Atrium, where her office was located on the second floor. I imagined she'd already have a few ponies waiting to speak to her about some problem or another. I did not envy my sister's job.

Turning away from the sight of my sister, I stepped to the side passage and trotted on down it towards Security. The door at the end of the hall looked like any other from the outside. However, as it slowly slid open, it was half again as thick as any other door within the Stable. The more important areas had extra plates around their rooms and stronger doors. Most had their own life support systems separate from the rest of the Stable. The black sign above the open door read simply 'Security Office' in bold white letters.

Once inside, and with the door rolling to a close behind me, I found myself nearly alone in the single large lobby room. Only Bluebelle, my com operator, sat at her station, a fresh cup of coffee steaming beside her at the desk. As I entered, the light blue unicorn looked up from her terminal, the green screen casting a soft glow across her smiling face and making her already emerald green eyes seem to shine. Her large headset was resting between her ears, matting down her short-cut yellow mane, with the mic lowered near her mouth. Like me, she was dressed in the blue and yellow stable jumpsuit we all wore, though she did not have on the security barding since her role was mostly to operate the radio system. Although she was a few years older than I, we'd both joined Security around the same time, along with Brightblade. The soft blue glow of her horn lit up as she lifted a clipboard up from her desk and floated it over to me. I took it in one hoof and looked it over as she turned away from me and began speaking into her headset.

“Don't worry, sir. I've already dispatched a Security officer to your location; he should be there in a few minutes. A technician and medical pony should arrive soon after. Just remain calm and stay on the line until they arrive.” She had a very soft voice, calm and professional; the perfect voice to relay orders and requests between the security officers (though it often distracted some of them as well).

Listening in on her conversion, I arched a brow and looked down to the clipboard in my hoof. Hmm, seems only a single pony had called in this morning. Grinning slowly, I could imagine why that had been and decided to cut the kid a break. After all, I'd nearly been ready to shoot my alarm clock an hour earlier. Behind me, Bluebelle seemed to be finishing her call.

“Yes, sir. I can imagine how it must feel, just remain calm... ah, they are there? Good. I'll let them get to work then. No, sir, it's quite alright. You have a nice day,” the soft glow of her horn returned, and a switch upon her console flipped up quickly with that same glow. Lifting a hoof, she pushed the mic up away from her mouth and took a sip from her floating coffee cup.

“What was that all about?” I asked, setting the clipboard down upon Brightblade's desk and walking towards a table in the corner of the room. A very old and ill-running coffee maker sat upon it, along with a stack of coffee mugs.

“You know Tinker?” she asked after taking a sip from her own cup. “The Pipbuck repair pony?” Her mug lowered back down to her desk as she turned to face me full, a smile on her lips. Oh, this had to be good if it had the mare smiling like that. Blue was known as something of a joker around the stable.

I nodded quickly and she pressed on.

“Yeah, well seems last night at the party he had a little too much to drink,” she began and I snorted, rolling my eyes.

“Who the hell didn't? I'm lucky I didn't wake up in somepony else's room last night.” Stepping up to the table, I leaned against it, gently taking the cup in both hooves, filled my favorite mug with the dark brew. That old ill-running coffee maker always made the best brew in the entire Stable, strong enough to wake the dead, or a hungover security pony. Blowing on the steaming cup, I carefully took a sip and felt the warm liquid burn all the way down.

“Well, at least you didn't get your sorry plot stuck in a toilet...” she said with a giggle.

I began choking on my second sip of coffee and nearly sprayed the office wall with the stuff. Coughing several times, I snorted and shook my head quickly. Setting the mug back down, I turned quickly back to Blue, who was ready to fall out of her chair from laughing at me so hard.

“Stuck in a toilet?” I repeated and wiped my mouth with the back of my hoof.

“Yes, well... he's skinnier than me! Some pony must have forgotten to put the seat down and well... he sat down and in he went!!” Tears began to form at the edge of her bright green eyes, “He must have passed out or fallen asleep, ‘cuz he woke up this morning with his ass wet from the toilet water and unable to pull himself out. He had to call for help with his Pipbuck.”

I stood there, stunned, my mouth opening and closing and eyes wide with shock. The image of a stallion half my size and all the strength of a small filly, his back side stuck in a toilet, popped into my head. He had the most annoying voice, and I could only imagine how much more so it would have been made.

And that's how he found us, the head of Stable security with his mouth hung open, staring vacantly ahead like a moron. Chief Radio Operator Bluebelle, doubled over, laughing so hard tears were running down her cheeks, her terminal flashing for her attention but getting none. I could only imagine his reaction to the sight, but knowing my friend, I’m sure it was good.

“Well... I hope somepony's going to share the joke with the rest of the class,” the deep voice of my friend said from the open door.

Shaking off my dazed expression, I looked over towards the door at the very large red unicorn who had entered, quite unnoticed by Bluebelle or myself. It was, of course, one of my oldest friends, Brightblade. His green eyes passed from Blue to me as he watched us with a grin on his face, then shook his head as he trotted over towards the coffee maker. The stallion’s cutie mark was of a rolled-up scroll and quill; he was quite the writer but had instead joined security with me. When I asked him why he felt the need to follow me, he told me I'd likely blow my own hoof off the first time they gave me a gun if he wasn't there to show me which end to point where. Perhaps I would have, but he'd proven himself just as capable doing this as he was at writing. He was second in command of Security.

“Well, it seems somepony got their ass stuck in the toilet last night,” I began to explain, while Blue finally got herself under control enough to start checking the board for the incoming messages (though I heard her snicker several times).

“Oh hell... tell me whoever you sent got a picture of that?” the large red stallion said as he turned away from the coffee maker to look at Blue.

“I asked Mav to try and get one discreetly, but knowing her she likely shoved her camera right in his face and yelled cheese before snapping a shot,” Blue said with a wild grin and pulled on her headset once more.

Floating a cup of coffee up off the table, Bright turned back to us and grinned, “I can imagine. Mav is not subtle when it comes to anything.” Taking a sip, he walked over to his desk and looked over the clipboard I had left sitting atop it. Setting his cup down beside the report, he glanced back up at me and snorted softly, “I take it the Overmare gave you one of her wake-up calls this morning?”

“That's the third time this month... you'd think I'd get use to it and stop falling out of bed.” I finished my own cup and walked over to his desk, “I've a few ideas on how to get her back, though.” I added with a grin of my own. My friend was just about to ask the details when Blue spoke up. Something about her voice made me stop in my tracks.

“Sir... I'm getting a report from the Entrance. Something’s going on.”

Both Bright and myself turned towards the mare. Her voice no longer carried the joking, happy mood of a moment ago, but had a note of worry and uncertainty in it instead. She floated her headset off and flipped a switch on her console, and at once another mare's voice rose from the speaker built into the com station.

“...I say again, the Stable door is opening. We can not override it. Techies said it's not them. I don't suppose this is a test of the door's mechanisms anypony forgotten to mention?” She sounded nervous.

I stepped quickly to the console and placed a hoof over a button before speaking. “Wendy, this is Shadow. There are no tests scheduled for the door until next month.” I lifted my hoof off the send button and looked to Blue, “How many are down there?” The mare began to quickly check the roster for the morning as we all waited for a response from Wendy. She was a good mare, came in with last year's replacements. Blue was just about to answer when the screaming and gunfire started.

“Holy shit! Get down!”

“What are they?!”

“They just killed Tanner! Oh goddesses they killed him...”

“Get the fuck down! Nova, get those Techies out of here!!”

I slammed my hoof into the send button,“Wendy! Report! What's going on in there!” only more gunfire answered me and screams of pain. Blue sat in her seat beside me, the soft glow of her horn fading, allowing the duty roster to fall to the floor. The mare's face blank with shock at the sounds coming from the radio.

“Sir! We need help!! We're being overrun!” Wendy yelled into her headset mic. I heard the sound of her shotgun firing wildly before she screamed in pain and something that sounded like a body hitting the floor a second later. Just before her mic went dead I thought I heard the sound of laughter over the gunshots, and then it all went silent.

None of us dared to say a word for several seconds. Behind us I heard the door to security open once more and the sound of hooves trotting in as ponies began to arrive for their shift. A voice called out to us; I think she was asking us what was wrong, but all Blue could manage was to sob softly. Turning, I pushed my way between the three newcomers and walked as quickly as I could towards two sets of doors. One would lead to my office, the other the armory. I had to type my password in twice before it took the code to unlock the door, but it finally opened as Bright began to explain to the others something was happening at the entrance.

Our hooves thundered over the worn steel plating as we sped through the narrow hallways towards the Stable's entrance. My mind raced with what we would find there when we arrived. The last report we had from within the room had chilled my blood.

Luckily, it was still early in the morning, and most of the ponies were still in their rooms just waking and preparing themselves for the day ahead. What kind of day would it be for them, a normal day? Or would it be something else?

Skidding around a corner, I half slammed, half bounced off the opposite wall. My hooves left skid marks on the already-scuffed flooring. Shrugging it off quickly, I raced ahead, hearing the others following close behind me. I was leading, of course; it never seemed right to not lead by example, a lesson I had learned from my father. Behind me came four other security ponies, the only ones I could round up so quickly. Not all would have been my first choice for the vast unknown we found ourselves racing towards. Two I could rely on fully, but the other two...

Hot on my hooves came Brightblade, the red unicorn stallion floating his pump action shotgun beside him as he followed me. Black security barding was strapped across his large frame and over his blue and yellow Stable jumpsuit, both barely fitting him (we'd had to fix up a special suit just for him because he was so large). Strapped onto his armour he wore his usual baton, tucked into the equipment webbing along with a few spare rounds of ammo and a sidearm. He never wore a helmet, although we'd never managed to get one to fit him well enough, to be honest. As such, his long blond mane whipped about in the air as he pounded down the hallway behind me. I was thankful he was here to back me up.

Beside him, easily keeping pace with the larger pony, came Cinnamon Twist. With no magical field to float her weapon along with her, she was forced to hold her weapon the way the rest of us earth ponies did: in her mouth. The dark brown mare's helmet kept her red and pink mane out of her face and her deep green eyes. She'd been in security for as long as I could remember; hell, as long as some older ponies could remember. She had even worked with my father when he held the position as head of Stable Security. She was the Stable's most talented weapons pony. There was not a weapon we had in the armory she could not use. Once, she had even managed to take apart and resemble a shotgun blindfolded with only her hooves and mouth, a talent more commonly found among the unicorns. She'd taught me a few things about weapons and how to keep them working. Even though she'd long since reached the age to be allowed to step down, she had politely refused... scratch that, she told us to stop fucking asking her to retire.

Trying his best to keep pace with the older security ponies was Whisper. He was a soft-spoken, shy colt, barely old enough to drink, let alone carry a shotgun. His security barding had been hurriedly strapped on this morning, though it rarely ever fit his light brown frame. We'd never gotten around to getting him his own specially made armor like Bright. For good reason, as he'd only just joined Stable security this month and none of us expected him to stick with it. He'd only joined because of his grandmother, who had raised him since his parents had died in a fire some years ago. His helmet rattled around his head, his small horn doing little to hold it in place. It and the armor were the smallest size we had, made for a mare. He was too damned young.

Finally, bringing up the rear was Flash. Sweet Celestia and Luna, what was I going to do with that one? The young colt was damned cocky, and a bit full of himself. He was very willing to please, running errands for the older security ponies and taking extra duties when they wanted the night off. I quickly put a stop to it. Still, it had not curbed his need to prove himself to them. The young blue earth pony seemed to worship the ground I walked on, but I had no idea why. He even went so far as to cut his mane and tail like mine, and I caught him trying to copy the way I spoke and acted a few times. Unlike Whisper, his security barding fit perfectly and he'd likely make a good security pony... if we could smooth off his rough edges.

“Any idea what's going on, boss?” Cinnamon Twist asked as we turned another corner in the hall, nearly running over two ponies coming towards us. Upon seeing the four heavily armed and armored ponies charging towards them, they hugged the wall and allowed us to rush past. Normal ponies in a Stable ran from danger, but security ponies ran towards it. It was our job.

“Not a clue, Twist,” I answered, eyes fixed ahead of us. I trusted Twist and Bright to be able to handle the news, but did not want to spook the two rookies any more than they already were. “All we know is that the door's open and some ponies may have gotten inside. Wendy's transmission went dead soon after that. Likely just another glitch from our overworked systems.” I skipped the part about the screaming and cries of pain we'd heard, the sounds of gunshots, and the fact Wendy's transmission died just after them.

Dammit, who'd opened the door?? A snort behind me made me turn my head to look over my shoulder at the large red pony following closely behind.

“Likely just more of those damn radroaches we keep getting in the lower levels.” Brightblade piped up behind me. “Nasty little buggers probably managed to get in somewhere around the door and shorted it out.” He glanced towards me; he'd heard the transmission same as I. Wendy was no rookie. She'd not waste that many shotgun shells on radroaches.

“Maybe, but I want every pony ready. Safeties off, helmets on, visors down, and eyes open,” I ordered, turning to look back ahead of me. I did not need to see if they'd followed my orders. We had trained heavily for all types of possibilities, much to the complaints of many of the Stables inhabitants. But ever since we'd first set hooves back on the surface some sixty years ago and seen what it was like, we knew that sooner or later we'd need to be ready. My father had started the training, and I continued it. The Stable would not last forever as my sister had said.

At last we spotted the door leading into the large open room that was the entrance to Stable 45. Few ponies went there, save for techs and security, and perhaps a few kids who liked to make out away from the prying eyes of their parents. It was one of the least used rooms in all the Stable, perhaps an oddity seeing as how space was at a premium and there were over two hundred ponies living within the stone and steel walls of this underground complex. The door before me was one of two entrances into the room, this one leading to a platform above the actual room and off into the control room. The second door was at ground level with the rest of the entrance room, and lead off deeper into the Stable. It was rarely used, and had been sealed for many years. It was also on the other side of the Stable from Security and as such would have taken us longer to reach.

The Stable door itself was used only once every five years, to send out search teams who would look for any signs of life within the blasted wasteland above us. It was also one of the most vital doors, being our only link to said blasted wasteland above us. If anything was to ever happen to the Stable, it would be our only means of escape. And given how much trouble we'd been having lately, we might one day need it.

Trotting to a halt, I stared at the door for a moment. It was still closed tight. The console built into the wall beside it still showed red for locked. Breathing heavily, I glanced back at the others and snorted softly to myself. Whisper seemed to be having some trouble with his visor. The soft glow of his horn surrounded it, but it seemed to refuse to slide down into place. Looking up to me, his pale blue eyes went wide, then blinked and dropped to the floor.

“S...s...sorry, sir...” He'd spoken so softly I'd barely heard him. At last the visor went down over his eyes, but only after Twist had stepped up beside him. A simple touch of a brown hoof to unsnap the lock from the helmet's side was all it took.

“Thanks, grandma...” he said as he looked back up to the mare, who simply shook her head and tightened the buckles on his barding and checked his weapon for him.

Turning away from them, I looked to the sealed door once more. The room beyond it was silent (though given the thickness of the walls that meant very little). Reaching down to my chest, I clicked the safety off on my own shotgun. Unlike the others, which were all pump action style, mine was one of only five combat shotguns the Stable had been given, an Ingrum ‘Defender’ model 12 gauge shotgun. Security Chiefs have always been issued with these, along with high ranking security officers. This one had been used by my father, and had some sentimental value to me, even though it wasn't technically my gun. The drum hanging underneath gave the weapon a great deal more weight, but also far more ammo than one with a pump action. It was also capable of firing full auto, a plus for an earth pony who had to use a hoof to work the pump of a normal shotgun. I adjusted my helmet one final time, then reached up with a hoof and touched the side just below my ear, pressing the button there.

“Blue... anything?” I whispered. For a moment, I heard only static, before the mare's voice responded. She had obviously managed to collect herself after sharing the last transmission from Wendy with Brightblade and myself. I knew Wendy was a friend of hers; hell, there really wasn't a pony in all the Stable who wasn't friends with nearly everypony else.

“Nothing. Link is still down, mic's dead.”

“How far off is backup?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Ten minutes, max. Blaze just left with most of the morning shift. June's rounding up the night shift from the living quarters and loading them up with their personal sidearms. They should reach the east door in just under fifteen. I notified the Overmare about what's going on, like you asked. She's getting everypony away from the entrance until you know what's going on... but that's going to take time.”

Ten minutes. I could either wait ten minutes and have nearly a dozen armed ponies backing me up, leaving the ponies trapped within the room to their fate. Seven ponies. Ponies I'd swore to protect. I could wait, or I could move in now in the slim hope any of them were still alive and able to be saved. Sevens lives versus over two hundred. Was it even really a question? Perhaps for some... but not for me. Everypony was important. They each deserved to live. Another lesson from my parents, this one from my mother.

Taking a deep breath, I narrowed my eyes and nodded towards Bright and Twist. The two moved forwards to take up positions near the door, awaiting my next order. Turning, I waved Whisper and Flash to hug the wall beside me, and to follow me in. The two young colts nodded, Flash looking excited. Whisper swallowed and muttered softly to himself, looking like he was about to be sick. I reached up and lightly tapped a code into the console, the light turning from red to green.

Looking back around, my eyes locked with Bright's and nodded. The red unicorn's horn glowed brighter as he turned the manual lock on the door and spun it quickly to unlock it. Unlike most doors in the Stable, the two doors leading into the entrance were built more like large hatches, allowing them to be more firmly sealed should the Stable door ever be breached by radiation or anything else that might have been used during the war. You had to unlock both the manual and the electrical lock to open them. Beside it, Twist stood with a flashbang grenade ready in her front hooves, her shotgun hanging around her neck by its strap. Her eyes were fixed upon the spinning wheel.

This was it. There would be no turning back now.

With a soft click, it opened an inch, light spilling out from inside, along with a smell few ponies would know. I knew it, as did Twist and Bright, as would most of the medical staff. It was the stench of death. Despite how safe the Stable was, accidents happened. Ponies lost hope and would choose to end it. Trips to the surface rarely went smoothly and some pony would often get hurt or killed. Shortly after the click from the door, another sound echoed about the narrow hallway: the sound of laughter, laughter unlike any you would hear during one of the Stable's picnics in the orchards. This was a cruel sound, almost insane. It was soon followed by a cry of pain.

Twist looked away from the hatch to me, her normally stoic expression replaced with one of anger. Rarely did the earth pony get angry, but when she did it was best to not be the target of her rage.

I nodded my head to her and there came a soft click as the pin was pulled on a grenade.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!” Twist yelled out, tossing the round canister into the room beyond the door. I heard it bounce and roll around the concrete floor, followed by the shouts of alarm from unknown throats.

BANG!!

Reflexively, we had all turned our heads away from the open door at the mare's shout, and while we heard the near-deafening bang, we missed the blindingly bright flash that followed it. But judging by the sounds from inside, it was clear those strange voices had not missed it.

With a yank of his magic, Brightblade pulled the door open fully with enough force to slam it heavily against the wall. The thick steel door had barely settled when I charged into the open doorway, shotgun held tightly in my teeth, sweeping it from side to side looking for any targets.

As I stepped forward to allow the others to follow me in, I felt my front hooves strike something laying in the floor beside the door and sink into something soft. I stumbled forwards, barely managing to keep from tripping and planting myself face first into the floor.

As I recovered I saw what... or rather, who it had been I'd nearly fallen over. Staring up at me with sightless eyes and wearing a look of shock and pain was the face of a young mare. She'd been a tech engineer; I could still make out the silver cog symbol on her blue and yellow jumpsuit, despite it being covered in her blood and ripped open with numerous bullet holes. Laying beside her in a pool of blood was her tool box, turned over onto its side spilling her tools all across the floor around her. She had died near the door, leaning up against the wall, likely having tried to escape.

I did not need to look far to see what she had been trying to escape. My E.F.S. was merrily glowing with red dots for threats. They were standing around the entrance room below us, stumbling into one another as the effects of the grenade wore off.

No two were dressed the same; those few who wore clothing were dressed in dirty rags covered in blood and gore, over which they wore armor. Or rather, strips of leather and plates with spikes and hooks attached in several places. All appeared ill cared for, much like their weapons; though despite the rust and grime that covered nearly all of them, they were no doubt deadly, as the seven bodies spread out before me could attest. Like their gear, the ponies (for despite the fact they looked more monster than pony, they were in fact ponies) themselves were a riot of colors, much as those I had known my whole life. Yet, unlike my fellow Stable dwellers, these ponies’ coats were a mass of scars, disease and vermin. So, these were the Raiders Three Horn spoke of so often on the radio.

Still swearing, a few began firing towards us, their shots missing wildly, which was lucky. Whisper and Flash had followed me in like we’d trained, but then they’d frozen at the sight of the dead bodies and the strange ponies before them. They stood still, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Luckily, they had slipped their weapons over their heads by the straps so that they were simply left hanging uselessly from them, instead of uselessly on the floor.

"Cover!" I snarled, and ducked behind the hatch’s control panel in the room as another round of bullets flashed past. It seemed their aim was improving. I was thankful to see both rookies dive for cover themselves behind the metal railing near the hatch. Whisper lay on the ground, busy throwing up the contents of his breakfast. Beside him, Flash stared in shock at the body of the mare beside the door not five feet from his hooves. Bullets bounced off the thin cover they lay behind.

From the doorway, Twist and Bright began snapping off shots towards the raiders. Luckily we held the high ground, and their hurried shots downed several, and forced the rest to seek cover as they recovered their wits.

Bringing my own weapon back up to bear, I poked my head up over the console and tried to take stock of our situation. The raised platform we had exited out onto was only a few paces above the main room. To my right was the control room, it's door blown off its hinges with a dead body laying inside behind the controls. The windows were shattered by bullets and smoke drifted from the consoles. Directly below me, the entrance room was filled with those bizarre ponies, at least three dozen or more. The platform seemed free of them, Twist and Bright's shooting having downed the few who had been standing up here. The stairs leading up to our platform was also free of any standing ponies, just a body. I froze at once and blinked. Oh, goddesses above...

“Hel... help me... p-please.....” the mare lying just a few feet away from me begged. It was Wendy. The once lovely young purple mare lay across the stairs with what appeared a spear shoved into her hind quarters, pinning her to them. Her shotgun lay just out of reach at the top surrounded by spent shells. Beside her was a dead raider, a hole in his chest still smoking from where Twist had shot him. However, another group of three seemed intent on dragging the wounded mare back down the platform. One tugged on her rear hooves, causing her to cry out in pain as they pulled against the chunk of wood impaling her lower body.

Taking aim, I snapped off three rounds into the raiders around her, dropping one with a lucky shot and wounding the other two, who stumbled back down the steps. Diving back down behind the console, I was rewarded with several rounds slamming into my cover. One high-powered round ripped straight through the metal casing and cables to nearly take my head off. Moving, I looked over to the doorway at Twist. The look on her face told me she'd spotted the wounded security pony as well.

Between us, Flash and Whisper continued to stay down, nearly huddling up against one another as the shots pinged off their own cover. If they did not start firing, we'd be overrun despite our advantage.

“Flash! Get off your fucking ass and return fire!” I snarled. The young colt blinked and looked over at me, eyes wide in fear. I couldn't blame him. In the past few minutes, they'd seen more blood and death than any average pony in Stable 45 had in nearly a hundred years.

Rising back up, I activated my Pipbuck's S.A.T.S. (Stable-Tech's Arcane Targeting Spell), and time seemed to slow as I locked onto the nearest threat, a pony trying to climb the steps and slam what appeared to be a sledgehammer into Wendy's head. Eyes narrowing, I targeted his chest with three rounds, since his crude armor would likely stop one or two at this range. Time began to slowly speed back up as I pulled the trigger, feeling the weapon buck in my mouth. Once. Twice. Three times as another shell ejected, spinning past my face with smoke trailing along behind it. The first round slammed into his chest, the solid shot shattering the crude armor plating he had been wearing and likely a rib or two. His body jerked back from the impact, face twisted with pain as shards of metal flew out from the point of impact. The second shattered the armor completely, burying several chunks of jagged metal into the flesh below it. The third found little to stop it. The solid round burst into his chest with a blast of blood and bone, the force of it sending him spinning to the ground. His body landed heavily upon the stairs beside Wendy, the red dot on my E.F.S. winking out.

Suddenly, my head snapped back and I fell back onto the floor with a cry of pain. My shotgun dropped beside me as my mouth opened. I heard somepony calling my name, but they sounded far away. My vision was all blurry for some reason. Red warnings appeared in before my eyes as my E.F.S. updated with information on a wound and damage to my armor. I hardly noticed, so dazed by the sudden hit.

It took me a few seconds to crawl back against the console, rounds striking near my hooves as I fumbled for my weapon. A large red form was sitting beside me from seemingly out of nowhere. Turning, I watched as Bright's face hovered into view. His horn glowed and I felt my helmet’s strap come loose and lift off my head. At first I was confused why everything became so much clearer, then I blinked as the helmet spun around and I saw a massive dent in the front, right above my eye. The visor had shattered from the impact. Looking closer, I could see a bit of blood where my forehead would have been, and I felt something wet run down my face.

“We need to rescue Wendy!” I shouted, as the sound of gunfire had increased in the last few seconds. Looking past Bright, I saw both Flash and Whisper at last returning fire. Although poorly aimed, it was enough to keep heads down. Looking back to Bright, I saw the look of worry in his eyes.

“Shadow, you’re bleeding. You could have a concussion, or worse,” the large unicorn said, tossing the worthless helmet aside as his weapon floated up closer to him. Another wave of fire bounced off the console; it wouldn't last much longer. Already I could look through several holes to see our attackers readying themselves to come charging up at us. Seems Stable-Tec did not intend for these to stop bullets. Odd, since they tended to over-engineer some things.

Ignoring my friend’s concern, I leaned up and worked out several more rounds to help keep their heads down a bit longer. My S.A.T.S. was still recharging, so I was forced to fire blind. Dropping back on my plot, I reached over and slid the selector on the side of my weapon to full auto; we'd need the extra firepower to keep their heads down for what I was planning on next. I slapped the eject switch for the ammo drum and reached back to my side to begin reloading it from the small ammo pouch I wore. I glanced up from my weapon and looked towards the open doorway with Twist standing in it. The mare had dropped back into cover and taken advantage of Whisper and Flash's wild fire to reload her own weapon. Spent shells rolled around her hooves.

“Twist!” I yelled, causing the mare to look up from her freshly reloaded shotgun. “Get another grenade ready!” She nodded and began pulling it out from her web gear.

“Whisper, Flash, provide covering fire on my command!” The two rookies dropped back down and looked my way, Flash nodding. It was hard to tell with his visor down, but Whisper’s cheeks looked wet from tears. I couldn't blame the kid.

Looking back to Bright, I jerked my head back towards where Wendy lay on the stairs, still struggling to rise, her front hoof weakly trying to get her weapon to her. She needed medical attention, and soon. It could already be too late; there was a lot of blood around her.

“I'll need your help to get that spear out of her and lift her up.”

“Fine, just don't tell your sister I let you do this,” he said with a snort. His own shotgun reloaded and floated up beside his face.

“Lips are sealed,” I answered and looked back to Twist, who nodded her head, the second of her grenades already in her hooves, ready to toss. I waited until I heard the firing slow, Either they were reloading or getting ready to charge us. Whatever their plan, they'd get to do neither.

“NOW!”

Biting down hard on the pin of the grenade, Twist jerked her head and pulled it out. Stepping out into the open, she tossed the canister out into the room over the rookies’ heads. Watching it sail through the air I saw it strike against the head of one of our attackers who had stood up. He comically blinked in surprise and looked down to at what had just struck him. I ducked back down and covered my ears as best I could. The others followed suit, though we all still heard and felt the loud crump of the explosion as it filled the room. The light from the burst down below was followed by swearing and yelling.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Almost at once, Flash and Whisper rose up and began firing down at our stunned attackers. Behind them, Twist began pumping out shots as well, nearly all of hers managing to strike their targets or close enough. With the covering fire, Bright and myself stood and rolled across the ruins of the console. A shot from somewhere below struck where my head had been a moment before sending out sparks from the abused control panel as a chunk of metal was ripped away.

Slipping in the bloody mess on the floor, I dropped heavily beside Wendy, landing beside her on the stairs. Bright managed to keep his footing and moved past us, snapping off a shot into the face of a stumbling pony below him.

“Wendy, stay still. Bright's going to try and get that thing out of you, then we're getting you back inside!” I yelled over the sounds of shotguns and screaming. The wounded mare simply nodded her head, eyes closed tightly from the pain. She was a mess. Three bullet holes in her back, luckily stopped by her barding, another four in her hips just where the armor ended. She had several deep gashes on her lower body. Shit, it looked like they had started to randomly carve her up. The spear itself had been driven right into her cutie mark, destroying the musical notes that had once adorned her flank.

The shaft of wood sticking out of her flank began to glow as the unicorn standing beside her attempted to remove it. Slowly, it began to lift up, causing Wendy to groan in pain, fresh tears running down her cheeks to mix with the blood below her head. After a moment, he thought better of it and released the spear. Focusing his magic upon the spot where the spear entered the mare’s body, the unicorn snapped the wood as neatly as he could. Once finished, the glow of his horn began to surround the wounded pony and gently began lifting her up off the ground and the tip of the spear.

A round struck beside my front hoof and I focused once more on the fight. Stepping past Wendy, I trotted further down the stairs and leveled my shotgun down towards our attackers, who were beginning to recover their wits. I saved S.A.T.S for the time being and simply held down the trigger, sending out a spray of shells, knocking one down and sending the others to seek whatever cover they could.

Wendy yelled out in pain, causing me to turn back to see what had happened. The mare lay across Brightblade’s back, the spear tip still embedded within the stairs where she had lain. It’s barbed tip was stained red with her blood.

“We're done here, let's go!”

“Go! I'll cover you!” I shouted back. Gripping the shotgun once more in my mouth, I fired below me and began backing up the stairs. I heard the clatter of hooves behind me as Bright carried his charge towards the open doorway. Bullets whizzed past my face and hooves as I backed up the stairs slowly. If I happened to trip now, I’d be dead in a matter of seconds. After making it halfway up without falling on my flank, I decided to turn and run up the stairs. I had just lowered my weapon and started to turn when something caught my eye.

The east door stood open, and several dozen raiders were rushing down the hallway that would lead them directly into the Stable's Living Quarters and the Atrium. For a moment I just stood, stunned. How had they gotten the door open? It was locked at all times. Then it hit me: those raiders were flooding into the heart of the Stable. Into ponies’ rooms and small rec rooms. Oh sweet Celestia...

“Shadow! Move your plot!” Bright's voice yelled from behind me, snapping me from my stupor before a charging earth pony with a sledgehammer could smash my skull in and end all my problems then and there.

Ducking nearly too late, I felt the blast of air flow through my mane from the near hit of a very heavy looking hammer. With a grunt, I leveled my shotgun up into my opponent's face and fired. There was no need to use S.A.T.S.; being this close I couldn't miss. The barrel of my gun exploded in a blast of fire and smoke as the slug flew out and into my attacker’s near-unprotected body. He was sent off his hooves by the impact and went flying back into the room below. However, it did not seem to deter the other two ponies rushing up towards me.

A flurry of shots sent them diving for cover, as Flash and Whisper rose up and began firing down at them, giving me the time I needed to turn and charge up the remaining steps. I yelled for the rookies to fall back. Already bullets were striking all around them, a few close enough to make Whisper flinch. Ducking back down, they started to run back towards the door.

The three of us managed to stumble into the hallway beyond the door just as the raiders stormed up the stairs behind us. Whisper dropped down in front of me with a grunt of pain. Unable to stop in time, I tripped over his fallen form and landed in a heap against the far wall. Twist stepped in between us and fired off four rounds into the oncoming mob just as the large steel door began to glow and slammed shut with a deafening boom. I’m unsure if she hit them all, but I was sure she’d at least injured a couple of them. Brightblade stepped up near us, the glow from his horn fading. Wendy still lay draped across his broad back, her wounds bleeding freely.

Reaching up to my helmet with a hoof, I was about to order Blue to lock the Stable down when I noticed I had no helmet. Swearing, I looked up to my friend. “Bright, get on the radio, tell Blue to lock the Stable down. Lock every fucking door there is. Have her reroute Blaze’s team to link up with June’s; she’s going to need help containing that many raiders. Then contact Ebony. We need to get everypony some place...”

“Whisper?” Twist’s voice cut me off. Both Bright and myself turned to the brown earth pony as she stood near her grandson. The blue unicorn had managed to stand and now leaned against the wall behind me, his breathing labored and his small form shaking. As his grandmother drew closer, the young unicorn slid down the wall and lay upon the floor. Looking more closely, I could see spreading red spots staining his blue and yellow Stable jumpsuit.

The old mare dropped her shotgun to the floor, the weapon rattling against the steel plating as she dropped to her knees beside the young buck. Gently taking her grandson’s head in a foreleg, she lifted his head off the floor and pushed off his helmet.

Shit.

Beside me, Brightblade began relaying my orders back to Bluebelle. Across his back, Wendy lay softly whimpering, her blood staining the large unicorn’s jumpsuit and barding. I knew we’d have to act fast to save them both, but I knew we’d need nearly every able-bodied pony to fight off these raiders if we were going to survive the next few hours.

Rising to my hooves, I walked over towards Twist and Whisper. The young colt’s breathing was shallow and his eyes remained closed. Laying a hoof upon the mare’s shoulder, I spoke up. “Twist, I need you to get Whisper and Wendy to medical. Take Flash with you; he can carry Wendy. Bright and I will head down to the Atrium and try to link up with the rest of security.”

The old mare nodded her head and carefully rose up onto all fours. Helping her lift the wounded colt up off the floor, I laid him across her back as gently as I could. With a soft glow, Wendy floated over to lie across Flash’s back. Glancing over to the rookie, I was thankful to see he had managed to come to terms with what had happened and seemed to be dealing with it well enough.

Hell of a way to be forced to grow up. But then, after today, everypony in the Stable would be forced to grow up. It wasn't all smiles and laughter anymore. We’d been attacked. I shook my head and hurriedly secured Whisper to Twist’s back so he wouldn't fall off, as Bright did the same for Wendy.

Wasting no more time, the pair quickly set off back down the hallway we had moments ago raced up. Turning my head back to the door, I wondered if they’d manage to get it open too. Bright seemed to know what I was thinking.

“Not much more we can do with it, beside lock it and pray they don’t get it open.” He stepped forwards and tightened the manual lock, before pressing the controls on the console.

I snorted and shook my head. How was this even happening? Looking back to my friend, I started down the hallway, with him stepping in beside me.

“I know. Let’s get back down to Security and see what we can do to stop them from pushing any further into the Stable. Goddesses help us if they make it that far in...”

As we entered security, it was clear things were not going well. Bluebelle sat at her console giving out hurried orders and updates to the security ponies around the stable, while two other security ponies stood arming themselves near the armory, as well as tossing shotguns and pistols into a duffel bag beside them. All stopped and looked up as Brightblade and myself stepped inside. They looked grim.

“Bluebelle, I could use some good news about now...” I said, trotting over to the armory myself and restocking my supply of shotgun shells. For a moment I glanced to the thicker riot armor we had hanging near the back, but I doubted I had the time to change. The mare’s words confirmed as much.

“June’s team was nearly wiped out. They just didn't have the firepower needed to hold the store rooms from our attackers. If it wasn't for Blaze and his ponies arriving when they did, the raider’s would already be in the living quarters. They’re holding them at Level B junction 4 near the Rec Room.”

As she spoke, I quickly glanced up to the map of the Stable on the wall, eyes tracking the twists and turns of the corridors until I spotted the area she’d mentioned. It wasn’t far from the stairs that lead straight to the living quarters on the next level. Bright swore darkly to himself as he followed my eyes, as Bluebelle continued with the news.

“The Overmare’s managed to get most of the ponies out of their rooms and into the Atrium so by now most of those living quarters are empty, but if the raiders breakthrough Blaze and June’s position, they have a straight shot to the Atrium. I’ve also gotten reports of raider’s cutting their way into the access shafts and popping up in other areas of the Stable. I’ve got multiple distress calls from ponies trapped all over the place and not enough security to send to their aid...”

The news seemed to get grimmer the more she told. My ears pressed down against my head as I growled angrily. How the hell had this happened? Behind me, the two security ponies, Lucky Stars and Crosswires, were trotting for the doors; I watched them as they left.

“Blaze ordered weapons brought up to them, while the hallways are still clear. He’s got a few unarmed security ponies using dropped weapons to help hold the tide but it seems they can only use them so long before they stop working. In his words, ‘they are pieces of goddess-damned shit’.”

I was still looking out after the two when the doors began to close. Movement from within the hallway caught my eye and at first I thought perhaps raiders had made it past Blaze and June and into here. But then I saw frightened looking ponies running towards us: Hope and her three young foals, along with their grandmother, Happyseed. I stepped forwards and held the door with a hoof as they approached.

“Please...we’re cut off from the atrium...” Hope began, tears in her eyes as her three young foals held tightly to their mother and grandmother.

“Of course, come on in,” I said, helping the elderly mare inside and looking back the way they’d come, still half expecting to see raiders rushing after them. Luckily there was nothing. At least not yet. Helping the family in, I lead them towards my office and helped Happy into my chair.

“You’ll be safe here. Just sit down and try and stay calm.” Stepping back out, I walked hurriedly over to Blue and waved a hoof at Bright to join me. I lowered my voice as I spoke next.

“Blue, I want you to call my sister and tell her to start moving everypony into the generator rooms, the doors are thicker and I doubt the raider’s have anything that could breach them. After that, I want you to put out a call to any ponies left on this level to head to security, keep the door open as long as you can but seal it up at the first sign of trouble.” The blue unicorns eyes widened as I spoke, “Get them into the armory and seal yourselves inside.” She nodded her head as I turned to Bright.

“We’re going to make our way down to Blaze’s and help him try and hold that hallway. If we can, then maybe we can contain the few who managed to slip deeper inside the stable.” It was a chance; a small one, but still a chance. My friend nodded his head and started for the door.

“Good luck, sir,” Blue said as I followed my friend. She’d opened up a drawer next to her radio set and pulled out a basic 9mm pistol. It wasn’t much but it would have to do for the moment. “Celestia watch over you.”

“Hopefully she’s watching out for all of us.” I replied before starting down the hall and the stairs leading up to the next level. Already I could hear the sounds of fierce fighting taking place just above us.

A storm of lead struck the wall beside me, sending up a shower of debris as the fast-moving rounds blew out bits of concrete. Ducking back down, I gripped my shotgun tightly in my mouth and growled. To say it was not going well would be a massive understatement. To say we were seriously screwed was not. My E.F.S. was flashing updates as quickly as it could; the swarm of red dots at the end of the hall were pushing forwards once again, seemingly uncaring about the number of their own dead that littered the floor between us and them. Prone bodies lay in pools of blood surrounded by spent shell casings and dropped weapons. It was something straight out of a nightmare. The number of green dots around me was pitifully few, and growing fewer by the second. We couldn’t stay here. They just kept coming, as if they had dozens of lives to throw away at taking this single point. Where were they all coming from?! As bad as it was here, it was worse down the hall, where six green dots lay pinned in open doorways; Blaze and June, along with what remained of their teams.

Rolling back out of cover I aimed down the hallway and pulled the trigger, sending a hail of slugs towards the raiders. Every shot hit something. A leg here, face there, a neck or a chest. It was impossible to miss, there were so many rushing up the passage towards us, ready to spill our blood. Across the hall, Blade and Lucky fired as well. Crosswires lay on the ground between us, shot through the head as we’d tried to reach Blaze and the others. I barely gave the dead pony a second look; there would be a time to mourn later... if anypony was still alive to mourn.

“We can’t stay here much longer!” Blade yelled, ducking back as a raider unloaded an automatic rifle towards the large red unicorn. 7.6mm rounds struck the door frame where he had been moments ago and punched several small holes through it and into the wall.

I knew it, and so did the raiders, but every second we stayed gave the others a chance to fall back towards us. They’d already managed to duck down another two doors towards us while we covered them. Through the smoke, I could see my security ponies hunkering down for another push by the raiders. Quickly, I checked my pouches and found a single grenade left hanging from my web gear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a warning pop up from my E.F.S. about being low on ammo and of a number of minor wounds. I ignored it and glanced back towards the raiders.

Biting down hard on the pin, I yanked it free with a twist of my neck and rose up to toss it down the hall. I put everything I had into that one swing, knowing the lives of my ponies depending on it. The grenade flew through the air from my outstretched hoof, landing on the ground not far from where the raiders took cover. One of the raiders had the smarts to reach for the explosive to toss it back, but a shot from my trapped security team dropped him back onto the floor with several holes in his crude rusty armor. I ducked back down as the blast lit up the hallway, sending shrapnel flying in every direction. Screams of pain echoed down the hall from the wounded raiders.

With a yell, Blaze ordered his ponies up, and the remaining security team charged down the hallway towards us. Nearly all were wounded, two having to be helped by their teammates. Blaze was carrying a wounded mare over his back as he ran, and I saw a young stallion dragging a swearing June along by the scruff of her neck. The light green unicorn gripped her shotgun in her hooves, firing off towards the raiders like a pony possessed. For a moment it looked like they might make it, but as quickly as it had stopped, the raiders once more began to open fire. Their shots were less organized, but still very lethal.

One went down directly in front of me, shot through the back of his left hind leg. He yelled out and scrambled back up, only to be hit again along his flank, but adrenaline kept his legs moving and he stumbled beside me onto the floor. Reaching out with my hooves I wrapped them around his neck and pulled him back behind cover as Blade and Lucky’s shotguns roared out.

A second later Blaze dropped down beside me and tossed the wounded pony against the wall before standing back up and snapping out a few more rounds. Another stumbled up near Blade and dropped in a heap, gasping for breath. I looked back down the hall, and my heart sank. The pony dragging June had stumbled over the body of a raider and was trying to rise back up. Rounds struck all around him, yet he wouldn’t let his squad leader down and stubbornly went back for her, despite her yells for him to leave her. Chomping down onto the collar of her jumpsuit once more, he began scrambling towards us, eyes closed as he strained with the mare in armor.

“Celestia damnit, covering fire!” I roared and turned by shotgun back towards the raiders, but I knew it was too late. I knew what was about to happen, but I had to try and stop it. Had to try. As I watched helplessly, a round struck the young pony in the head and he dropped to the ground, his helmet rolling off to the side of the hallway, blood coating the inside of it. June dropped fully to the floor, swearing and rolling on her back and into the cover of a doorway. Down the hall, I could see the raiders starting to charge forwards. We couldn’t hold them back, not with so few ponies and so little ammo.

June looked back up the hallway towards me, pink eyes locking with my gold ones, I could see the tears in those large round orbs. She knew it too. She nodded her head to me with a grim smile, and I nodded back, tears in my own eyes. Her right hoof toying with a grenade on her barding. We had to leave. With a grin she winked at me and yelled back towards us.

“Get yer asses outta here, boys! I got your back... these fucker’s aren’t so tough. A single mare can handle these bucks with one leg knocked out from under her!”

Blade looked over at me, knowing what I was about to say. His horn glowed as he picked up the wounded pony beside him. Like me, he knew what was about to happen, how this was going to end.

“Fall back to the Atrium,” I ordered, looking back to the wounded mare, who’d managed to reload her shotgun and prop it up on the edge of a air vent at the base of the wall. Beside me, Blaze hefted the wounded pony he’d carried back onto his shoulders and looked back to June with tears in his eyes, but he turned away quickly and started running down the hallway. Back the way we had came.

Giving a last few shots, I rose up and started following the others. Behind me I heard the sound of a lone shotgun spitting out death, and the voice of the Stable’s bravest pony yelling out to her attackers as they swarmed towards her.

“Come on, you ball-less bastards! None of you are bucks enough to take on this mare!!”

I’d just reached the stairs and began to descend them when the sounds of the lone shotgun firing stopped suddenly. I heard the roar of triumph from our attackers seconds before an explosion drowned out all noise.

June’s sacrifice had bought us a few more minutes, but even if we had an hour I don’t believe we could have prepared for the final onslaught as the raiders pushed their way into the Atrium. We’d barely gotten a couple tables turned over near the adjoining hall when they burst in on us, killing two ponies with their wild fire. Neither had been Security, but just normal ponies attempting to help us herd the others to safety. At least they had died quickly. However, as we ushered the survivors into the hallway, panic began to take over and it was becoming as much a death trap as the Atrium had been. The overhead lighting had given out, replacing the soft white glow with the the harsh orange glow of emergency lighting. The small enclosed space echoed with cries of fear and pain, and the stamping of hooves upon metal. Some cried for themselves, others for loved ones that had been separated from them. The names of children, husbands, and wives were mixed with the sobs. Over it all, the distant sounds of fighting drifted back up the hallway towards us: the angry bark of gunfire from our shotguns and the raiders’ mix of automatic weapons and single shot rifles, the shouts of the crazed raiders ripping into the Atrium and of the defenders attempting to stem the tide of madness into the heart of the Stable. It was utter chaos, but I had to maintain control, or it would become far worse.

“Keep moving! You'll be safe ahead, just keep moving!” I had to shout to be heard over the sounds of panic. Standing to the edge of the hallway, I urged the ponies around me to keep moving. I was a single black-coated stallion amongst a sea of bright colors.

Behind me the sounds of gunfire increased; the ponies I had left behind to hold off our attackers would not be able to hold out much longer. Already the raiders had gotten into the maintenance areas. Several ponies had been cut off in the medical section, including Twist and Flash and nearly a dozen wounded ponies. Had I saved Wendy only for her to die in a hospital bed? As of an hour ago Twist and the medical ponies were still holding their own, having sealed the doors behind them when we'd been cut off. Most of my security teams were either holding the Atrium, cut off in small losing battles across the Stable, or dead. Sweet Celestia, how had it come to this?

When I glanced across the chaotic hallway to those remaining security ponies I had, the frightened faces looking back to me told me they would be of little help. Like Flash and Whisper, the two young mares with me were rookies, barely three months into their training and barely eighteen years into their lives, replacing older ponies who had retired the night before. The ponies I had shared drinks with, laughed with last night. Those same ponies who were either dead or dying somewhere within the Stable.

Already one green mare's black barding was smeared with the blood of her now dead partner. Her wide violet eyes darted back towards the end of the hallway with every cry of pain or roar of victory. The young unicorn’s legs shook and her levitated pistol rattled about in her unsteady magical grip. She’d been one of the ponies my sister had suggested I try asking out once; I’m sure it was a joke...

The thought of my sister brought with it fresh fears. She'd dragged several wounded ponies into her office in the Atrium when the raiders had swarmed in from the two opposite hallways. She'd sealed the door behind them, but if those beasts got inside...

“Keep them moving!” I shouted to the green mare. She nodded her head, the helmet rattling around her horn as the straps hung loosely beside her cheeks, “Get everypony down into the generator room! Get the young ones into the most secure place you can find, and you hold it!” I reached down and checked my shotgun; the weapon was coated with gore, but fully loaded. Goddesses, how had it come to this?

Turning away, I began trotting back up the hallway. The orange lighting began to flicker, giving everything a nightmarish tint which I found rather fitting, given the day's events. With a flick of my head, my shotgun bounced up from it's strap across my chest and into my snout. Teeth clamped down upon the bit to aim and fire it, and I increased my pace. The sounds of fighting ahead of me had reached a fevered pitch. As I reached the doorway leading into the larger open Atrium, I walked into yet another nightmare.

The once peaceful gathering spot for the ponies of Stable 45 had been turned into a smoke-filled, body-strewn war zone. Tables had been overturned all across the large open space, making crude cover for both sides of the battle. Jagged scars in the walls and flooring were a testament to the heavy fighting and explosives being used by both sides. Thick acrid smoke rose from nearly everywhere. The broken bodies of ponies lay scattered about the Atrium, draped across tables or each other. Some twitched as they tried to draw in just one more breath, others remained deathly still. All bore looks of surprise and pain.

Near where I had entered, the security ponies had erected a barricade over the doorway, tables and chairs piled up along with the mangled bodies of the crazed raiders. Many of the security ponies were already wounded, and two lay propped up against the wall, their battle at an end. Most were scared, and who could blame them? How could they not be afraid? This was not something you could prepare for. It was not something we could have truly expected.

Among the pitifully few ponies I had left, I saw Brightblade among them, the large red unicorn easy enough to spot. A white bandage had been wrapped around his right front shoulder, already stained with fresh blood from the wound beneath. He glanced back towards me, a grim look on his face. We both knew if things did not change, and change soon, we'd never be able to hold this position.

Beside him sat Blaze, the orange stallion reloading his shotgun as best he could with his right front hoof wrapped in bandages. His body was marked by a dozen smaller wounds, much like everypony else. His black mane was matted with dried blood from the wounded pony he’d carried back and his eyes were lined red from tears for June, his dead marefriend.

Lucky Stars slipped a fresh clip into his pistol, his shotgun having run out of ammo back in the hallway. The white unicorn with the light blue mane looked up as he felt eyes on him and gave me a weak smile. His light purple eyes were red from fresh tears; Crosswire had been a friend of his, much like Blade was to me. He looked away and went back to checking his weapon, for Celestia knows how many times.

Beyond the barricade came our attackers, moving with reckless abandon. Their mismatched armor and collection of rusty weapons were smeared with fresh blood. As I watched from behind an overturned table, one stopped over the dead form of a pony and began to slash it with a knife, laughing madly to himself. Truly it seemed as if hell had spat its most twisted citizens out upon Stable 45.

“We're gonna die...” a pony next to me whimpered. Turning away from the smoking ruins of the Atrium, I glanced to him. He was holding his shotgun close to his body, security barding dented and scarred from the heavy fighting. Blood dripping down his face from a nasty gash just above his right eye. Beside him, a blue limb moved to try and bandage his head. Looking closer, I saw the mare wearing a medical saddlebag, equally as banged up as the pony she was attempting to treat.

“Shhh...we'll be okay, Charger,” the mare sought to calm her friend as she treated him. Beside her, another pony sat, tears in his eyes as he reloaded his shotgun.

At this rate, we'd not need the raiders to charge us; our own fear was going to finish us off for them. All they'd need to do was stroll across the open, climb over our barricades and put a gun to our heads.

“The hell if I'm going to let it end like this!” Narrowing my eyes and snorting, I picked up my shotgun and looked over to Bright, the unicorn arching a brow at me before his eyes opened wide.

“Shadow....” he began, but never got a chance to finish as I reared back and jumped across the overturned table, landing with a clatter of hooves on the other side, bullets striking nearby. At once I entered S.A.T.S and locked onto the nearest pony, the one who'd been so gleefully hacking up the fallen corpse of one of my security ponies. He was so close, I could see the rotting brown teeth within his twisted mouth as he grinned, the sharp rusted edges to his armor, the sick bloody trophies hanging off his barding. Red and yellow eyes rose up from his twisted work and fixed upon me. He began floating his assault rifle up to gun me down but would never get the chance. As time speed back up, the slug from my shotgun flew out like a bolt of lightning and knocked him back onto his hind quarters and sent two of his companions tripping as they rushed forward.

Through gritted teeth I shouted out to the ponies behind me as I charged forwards into hell.

“For the love of the goddesses, fight! Fight for your families, fight for your loved ones! For Stable Forty Five!! FOR EQUESTRIA!!!” I snarled out around the grip of my shotgun, not bothering to look and see if they responded. I slammed into one of the raiders who was still picking herself up after falling across my first target’s bleeding body. My front hooves slammed into her chest, sending her back down onto the blood soaked floor gasping for breath. Twisting my head, I emptied another round into the side of her companion, and watched as he crumbling to the ground with a gaping hole in his side.

The smoke was beginning to fill the room from the gunfire and fires the raiders had started, the ventilation system having likely failed from all the damage the Stable had been taking.

With a grunt of pain, I was reminded I hardly had time to worry about it, as the fallen mare slashed at me with her dead partner’s bloody carving knife. It left a long jagged and bleeding scar across my unarmored flank. Luckily she'd not been close enough to slice deeply. Snarling around the bit of my shotgun I shoved the barrel into her face and fired, splattering myself with bits of bone and brain. But in death, she may have managed to kill me: the spent casing from my shot jammed in my gun.

Bullets whizzed past me, as I slammed my hoof into the jammed shell, looking up I saw five more of our attackers rushing towards me, firing wildly as they charged, screaming for my blood. Again my hoof slammed into the jammed weapon, again it refused to eject. Their wild fire struck the floor and bodies laying before me, a couple grazed my flanks, and one struck my shoulder guard and bounced off.

Suddenly, bright puffs of blood jetted from the body of the lead pony, sending her skidding across the floor as the others jumped over her fallen form. Another was sent sprawling as a round slammed into his chest. Jerking my head around, I saw the remaining security ponies of Stable 45 charging forward. Brightblade was in the lead, floating the assault rifle of a fallen raider before him spraying bullets into the remaining group charging me. Beside him came the no longer shaking young colt, his head wrapped in bandages and yelling with enough fury to put the raiders to shame.

I turned back to the fight in time to barely dodge another crazed attacker, the only survivor of the group who'd charged towards me. As his fire ax sailed over my head, he slammed into me and sent us both stumbling into a pillar, knocking the wind out of me. He tried to bring the ax back up, but we were too close. He did not seem to register this fact, even as my front hooves broke his jaw, and forced him to drop the sharp deadly weapon. Yellowed crazed eyes locked onto mine as he did not even seem to register pain and simply headbutted me to the floor. My shotgun lay beside me on the floor, dropped when I'd been tackled. As he reared up over me to bring his hooves down on my head, I did the only thing I could think off. Kicking out with my hind legs, I slammed my own hooves into a spot right between his legs. He registered that, by the goddess. He went down on all fours and gasped for breath, as I pulled my shotgun over to me.

I just managed to clear the jam from the weapon when a hail of bullets ripped into the whimpering pony, ending his pain for all time and nearly me as well. I just barely managed to scramble back behind the pillar as rounds slammed into both it and the spot I'd been in a moment before. Seems I was drawing their fire. Oh good, they’re paying attention to me.

I ducked down further into my shelter as another storm of bullets chewed away at the concrete pillar. Another pony slammed down hard into cover beside me. I twisted my head around, ready to blow his head off. Then I noticed who it was.

“Hey, Shadow. Nice speech, I see you've been taking lessons from your sister on how to motivate your ponies,” Bright said with a grin. Turning away from me, he floated his newly acquired assault rifle up and snapped off a quick burst into a raider who'd either gotten brave or stupid, but all she really got was dead. The mare crumpled to the floor, bleeding from several new holes.

“I suppose I've been keeping notes at those breakfasts we've been having” With a snort, I turned back and fired off a few rounds myself as S.A.T.S recharged. My response was enough to get a laugh from my old friend. Around us, the other security ponies had dived into new cover and attempted to hold the new line we'd forcibly formed.

“Well, does your sister know you’re thinking of becoming the next Overmare? I think you'll have to do something about your equipment though, seeing how it’s a position for a mare and not a...” his words were thankfully drowned out as something loud roared to life from the hallway beyond us. Bullets ripped across the Atrium, shredding tables and ponies alike. Brightblade yanked his horned head down and tried to press himself as flat to the floor as he could, and I followed suit.

Holy bucking Celestia!

The pillar we sheltered behind was being torn away in large chunks by the sheer amount of firepower focused on us. Puffs of powdered concrete rained down on us as the bullets screamed across the room in a deadly flood. As suddenly as it came, the roaring stopped, ears ringing I peeked around the edge of the pillar. I caught sight of four ponies working on what looked like a heavy assault cannon of some type; it appeared to have jammed. The weapon was tripod mounted, it's barrel smoking and hundreds of spent casings littering the ground around it. Like all their other weapons, it was poorly maintained, and this had saved our lives. Turning back to Blade, I nudged his side.

“They've got some heavy machine gun set up in the doorway.”

“No bucking shit!” He floated his assault rifle back up and ejected the clip, checking the rounds left and slapping it back in

Stable security wasn't meant for this sort of thing. We had nothing to fight back with but shotguns, batons, flash grenades, and few frag grenades. Our light barding was next to useless against something that would chew through concrete or steel walls (I doubted even our heavier riot armor would stand up to that). If they got that thing back up and running we'd be as good as dead.

“If we don't put that thing out of action, we're as good as dead!” Bright shouted back to me, stating the obvious and my own thoughts.

I scanned the floor around us and spotted two ponies I'd shot earlier. Their blood had pooled under them, eyes staring up at the ceiling with their dropped weapons scattered around. However, I had spotted something else hanging off their crude armor and belts. Grenades. Frag Grenades. Most of the ones we had had already been used up, or lay on the bodies of our dead. Both of the raider’s bodies lay out in the open, which is what had killed them. Looking around the pillar, I saw several other raiders starting forward, trying to reach the defenders while their heads were down. This would be close.

“Bright, I need you to give me some covering fire. I've got an idea on how to take that damned thing out.” Beside me, the red unicorn blinked and looked at me confused, until he followed my eyes to the bodies. Slowly, he shook his head and snorted.

“Hopefully this goes better than your other plans,” my friend the smartass said.

“Now!” I shouted and rose up to my hooves. I don't know who was more surprised, the attackers or myself.

Bright rolled back around the pillar and began sweeping the area around the nearest doorway with automatic fire. Either by pure dumb luck, surprise, or both, I managed to cross the distance without being shot at. My hooves slipped in the blood and I landed heavily on my wounded side with a growl of pain. A bullet struck one of the bodies I'd landed beside, filling the air before me with red mist. Without a second thought, I grabbed the round grenades off them. Another round struck the floor near my hooves. Behind me, Bright ducked back into cover and tossed away the useless assault rifle as he’d emptied the clip, floating his shotgun back up to him.

Taking a deep breath (and wishing I hadn't due to the stench coming off these dead ponies), I closed my eyes and clamped my teeth over the pins of the grenades. No, this was not a good idea. With a jerk of my head I yanked the pins free and tossed the grenades into a pouch on my barding. Jumping to my hooves I thundered towards the doorway and the tripod mounted weapon.

As I closed the distance between myself and the doorway, one of the ponies working to clear the jammed weapon looked up, his eyes widening in shock as he saw me racing towards them. The crew had laid their weapons down as they worked, counting on their fellow raiders to cover them. That was a mistake. As the one reached for his weapon, a old model shotgun, I snagged the pouch holding the grenades and ripped it free from my harness.

Growling around the pouch I tossed it towards the gun crew and their weapon. It seemed despite this being a really bad idea, the end results were good. As the pouch struck the top of the assault cannon it popped open, spilling the grenades out. They bounced and rolled over the weapon and one dropped into the ammo box mounted beside the weapon. Oh shit...

I’d already started turning as the pouch left my mouth, my hooves skidding across the flooring as I began to run back to cover. I had just enough time to take a half dozen steps and leap across a nearby fallen table when the grenades went off and a massive explosion ripped through the weapon and the ponies around it. Shards of metal, twisted and smoking, flew across my vision, along with bits of the raiders who had been beside it. As I hit the floor, I felt something slam into my hind quarters and push me down onto the floor with a grunt of pain.

Opening my eyes, the first thing I noticed was one of the still-smoking barrels of the cannon speared through the table I had ducked behind. Leaning up slightly to look over the side of the table, I saw the carnage I had caused. The grenade had cooked off all the rounds of ammo in the weapon and stored nearby, causing a chain reaction. The gun crew no longer existed, save as bits of smoking flesh and ash, and large parts of the doorway no longer existed either. Chunks of the ceiling had given way from the blast and crushed the twisted remains of the assault cannon. Blinking in shock I pushed away from the table, intending to stand up, but fell over with a grunt of pain instead. My legs didn't seem to be working.

Turning around, I saw another one of the cannon barrels sticking through my hind leg, and into the floor under it. Oddly, I remember the first thing I thought was I hoped Bright didn't see that. He'd likely make some joke about me liking it up the rear. The next thing I did was laugh. I laughed. Dropping back down onto my side, I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I laughed. It was the last thing I remember before passing out from shock.Shadow (lvl 1 Stable Dweller)

S: 5

P: 6

E: 6

C: 7

I: 5

A: 6

L: 5

Tagged Skills:

Small Guns: As a Stable Security Pony you’ve trained with shotguns and pistols nearly your whole life. As such, you know how best to use these small but lethal weapons to maximum effect and how best to care for them when they wear down. You gain a bonus whenever using one of these weapons.

Locking Picking: You’ve managed to pick up a less than honorable skill while working in Security. While most ponies frown on such activities, you’ve found it a useful ability to know in a jam. With the proper tools, your chance to pick a lock is increased.

Speech: As head of Stable 45 Security, you’ve learned how best to motivate the ponies around you (plus you picked up a few things from your sister, just don’t let her know you’ll never hear the end of it). Your ability to convince others to follow you is impressive and you’ll never have much trouble getting your way if you truly want something. However, be careful, as even the best liar will get caught, and it’s hardly heroic.

Welcome to Lvl 2!!

Perk Added:

Gun Nut: Having been raised around weapons your entire life, you’ve picked up a thing or two from your father and his friends. +5 Small Guns +5 Repair

Author's Notes:

Well, if you've made it this far, I’d like to thank you for humoring me. Hopefully it was not too painful a trip reaching the end of Chapter One. This was my first attempt at writing a story, so feedback is welcome. Even if you don’t have anything super positive to say, I’d like to know how I’m doing.

Now, I’d like to take a moment and thank a few folks for making this all possible and please note, this won’t be showing up in future stories unless something changes.

Firstly, the legal crap... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON’T SUE ME!!!! For the love of all things pony I’m Innocent! Er... right... um... anyway, Ponies and Fallout belong to their respective owners. I own... um... this nifty watch. It’s so shiny...

Lauren Faust for starting this crazy, crazy thing called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Friendship is indeed magic. Oh God, I’m so sorry for blowing it all up! Please don’t send me to the moon!

Kkat, for writing the original and best Fallout Equestria fanfic. Compared to that, we’re all just playing in the little leagues. Well, except for Somber... he’s getting up there with the best of ’em. And well maybe myself, I’m in a league all my own... yeah, yeah, it’s the preschool league.

Ilushia, for her own FoE side story New Beginnings and giving me the idea to include the above stats on my own wasteland hero. Thanks, and keep up the amazing work!

For my pre readers and editors who are as follows:

Editor and Chief: TheGamefilmGuruman, whose ability to spot spelling errors is second to none and who has managed to keep me on the straight and narrow as far as weapons and trying to make things realistic (What? You mean I CAN'T have a gun with a 1000 round clip? A co worker said I could... of course, he also claims to know Chuck Norris and to have held off the FBI...). He's counting every bullet, every bit of food and making sure its as correct as it can be while dealing with brightly colored miniature equines who use magic and fly.

Editor: Avi, Game's partner in crime, who blazes through my chapters but still manages to catch a sizable chunk of errors. He’s also immune to heart wrenching scenes... I’ll be putting that to the test later (update: Oh yeah, I sooooo won and I am sooooo evil!!). Sadly in the later Chapters he's been unable to keep up due to his Collage work. But RL has to come before fiction, luckily he still watches the show, cause that comes before RL as we all know.

Pre- Reader: MagicLlama, who recently joined the team with Chapter Six. As he says, the other guys make it readable, while he makes it pretty. I tried doing that myself, but discovered the doc can only hold so many pink bows and balloons before it crashes the file. Oh well. Oh, he also writes his own story. Clicky his name to go to it.

Pre- Reader: Bronyken, who joined the team while Avi's busy with his learning. He's also the guy behind the audio chapters of my story. I have audio chapters for me story... hehehehe.

TimeForSP who was awesome enough to edit my old cover for this story. He made it look about 20% cooler than what I did. Here’s the link

I’d also like to thank all my friends from the msg board where I normally hang out for their awesome support and friendship. Yeah, friendship really is magic.

And a huge thank you to the many many artists for the music that inspired me to write. I provided links in the story to those pieces and to those responsible (either by putting them up or by actually writing them).

The National Rifle Association of Equestria. Who without their support, we’d not be able to blow away so many brightly colored raiders and bad ponies.

And from support from viewers like you.

Thank you.