Prologue: Filly of Stable Eighty Six

I should probably start by introducing myself. My name is Amethyst and I'm a unicorn mare that resides within Stable Eighty Six with five hundred ponies and about fifty zebras. Our ancestors took refuge in Stable Eighty Six when the great war came to a close. Balefire Bombs were dropped and the ponies stuck on the outside were doomed to the decimation of the land and blanketed in lethal radiation where they were left to die an agonising death.

This story may be a long one but before I tell you about the fun I had getting shot at, sliced at, chased, threatened, frozen, and a whole bunch of other things that I cannot really explain, I do need to tell you of how I came to be and my sweet, easy, carefree and boring life in Stable eighty six.

As a young filly I grew up with my mother. My father had passed away from a work place accident when I was a very young foal and I don't remember him. My mother was tasked as personal assistant to the Overmare so she had very little time for me growing up.

As a unicorn I was expected to learn magic. Unicorn ponies were taught separately to Earth ponies, so as a result, there were two different schools for each. I attended the Stable Eighty Six school for Unicorns. Subjects from magic to literacy and numeracy were taught. I excelled at most things, except magic. Of all my peers I was last to learn my first spell (Telekinesis), last to earn my cutie mark and last to get a Pipbuck.

Typically as a rather different filly/mare I had a hard time with getting along with my peers. Last to learn magic followed by last to get my cutie mark were sure things to doom my entire childhood. To put it simply, I was the class punching bag and it only got worse when I entered adolescence and everypony learnt that I was attracted to other fillies.

Mother found out about this of course and like the ignorant pony she was, it seems that she was still absolutely certain I'd marry a stallion, have foals, grow old and die like everypony else.

I took extra-curricular activities after school before I got my cutie mark to stray from boredom. Mother was too busy keeping in touch with the “Important Ponies” and getting drunk to even spend any time with me. As such I spent most of my time learning medical to follow my dream of becoming a medical pony, I even got a certificate to show I passed basic medical and attempted to move onto Unicorn Medical Training. I failed as I could not perform the spells given to me.

I got my cutie mark well after any of my class mates and had to endure some twelve months of torture, half the class gave me the nickname “Blank Flank” until I finally got it. The late appearance of my cutie mark was probably my own fault. As I wanted to be a medical pony, everything I tried or did was to get the right cutie mark so I could become a medical pony within the stable. Due to this I did not want to do anything else.

When I finally got my cutie mark I was extremely disappointed. It was like opening a gift and you did not get what you wanted. I didn't know how I got my cutie mark until my mother pointed it out. I went from shock to joy to disappointed in ten seconds flat. It was a purple gem with a thin purple quarter circle line to the bottom right of the gem. I guess whenever I forget my own name I can just look at my flanks. Unlike other ponies who knew what their special talent is, I have no idea what my own is. I guess my body said “Well Amethyst since you don’t have a cutie mark and at this rate you will never have one, let’s just give you a random one.”

It wasn't until my second week after I got my cutie mark that I noticed something strange. The half circle part glowed very softly. I guessed it was part of my talent. Even still, I had no idea what was on my flank, perhaps it was a reference to my shield spell. I don't know.

After we get our cutie mark we get a PipBuck. Each pony gets a pipbuck at his or her Cute-Cenera (Normally the first weekend day after the cutie mark appears). Like everypony else, my Pipbuck was given to me by the Overmare of our stable, a fierce pink coated and blank maned mare. This also meant that I was assigned to certain tasks within the stable, even though I already knew I wouldn't be, I was still hoping to be placed in the clinic working with the medical ponies.

When my pipbuck was presented to me I was ecstatic and had the overmare bind it to my right leg just above my hoof. The Pipbuck displayed everything I could think of. I have worked with terminals before but never been able to access a Pipbuck before.

And with a sink of my heart a note pined on my pipbuck. I was due to start my first shift first thing in two days. I was assigned to what unicorns do best.

Maintenance.

My placement was disappointing but I soon excelled as technology was something I loved playing with. While I worked in maintenance I tended to most terminals in the stable, my natural talent was recognised and I was assigned to working on, fixing, changing terminals and basic robotics in the stable. Something of a talent of mine.

By the age of thirteen and nearly two years after I got my cutie mark, I lost interest in becoming medical pony and simply honed my skills on where I knew I did well. Computers and Technology.

I was also assigned to mundane tasks such as changing bulbs and testing equipment as well but normally only during downtime when there was nothing else for me to do.

That’s me in a nutshell. Not that it explains much.

Here’s what happened…