Monday, approximately two hundred years after the death of Equestria and the end of the Equestria-Roam War.
0834

"You know, Colonel, I'm not much use without my magic. If we could try a match with magic...."

Colonel Hot Range considered, before nodding. "Very well, Firefly. Let's try hide & seek." Her sly, feral look made me immediately regret my decision. "Give me a minute's head start, then come and find me."

"Got it." Already committed.

She confidently trotted off into the darkened sparring arena while I crawled back to my hooves.

The sparring arena was really two separate rooms. There was the main room, the gym, a large, open room with mats on the floor where ponies were able to spar and practice hoof fighting. Then there was the sparring arena, which was a maze for fighting in a real-world setting. Some rooms were lit, some were darkened. The dull hum of life support equipment surrounding the arena blocked out low sounds.

I nodded to Security Officer Crescent Spark and her civie friend, Mineral Sands as they rose to their hooves and took up positions in the middle of the room.

"You sure about this, boss?" Lieutenant Rapid Dash, my partner in crime-busting, walked over to me with a faintly worried look. He was a maroon pony who normally defaulted to an irritatingly smug, lopsided smirk.

"Oh, absolutely." I've made a horrible mistake.

"You're a horrible liar." Already. Committed.

"I don't recall asking your opinion, Lieutenant." Our Pipbucks beeped, indicating that the match had begun. I gestured for him to head in one direction to head off Range. I'd follow her in and prevent her from doubling back. Dashie slipped off in the direction I'd directed him while I followed her into the darkened maze.

It was a hide and seek match. Range's objective was to get past us out of the maze. Dashie and I were tasked with preventing that. Either party could win via incapacitating the other, or Range could keep moving and attempt to slip past us and make it to the entrance we'd come through.

I followed her on my Eyes Forward Sparkle. Left, right, left, left... is she going for the light room?

After a minute of following her ping on my EFS, I located her tail disappearing around a corner. A quick look to my EFS confirmed Dashie was ahead of her. I sent Dashie a comm click. On three. He responded with two quick clicks. Copy.

Three... two...

Suddenly a stun bolt came out of the darkness. I neatly sidestepped... only to realize I'd also been hoofcuffed. I tumbled to the floor on my side, unable to move.

Crap.

A second stun bolt shot out of the darkness, hitting me in the chest as I attempted to cast the hoofcuffing counterspell.

Moments later, I heard Dashie groaning. "Not again..."

Followed by a meaty thud and a pained grunt as he slammed into another wall.

"Not very stealthy, Captain." I glared in the direction of her voice, feeling my legs twitching as much as they could in the hoofcuffs. "Two minutes, thirteen seconds."

That could have gone better. "Best of... fifteen, Range?"

"Don't be stupid, Firefly." Range emerged from the darkness, backlit by the glow of her pale blue magic as she finished the counterspell her stun had disrupted. "You're not your mother." The pale glow highlighted the scars crisscrossing her silver hide. Normally I was taller than her, but laying on the ground underneath her was a very different perspective, and her imposing frame towered over me. "You expected that, of course."

"That went better than I expected, to be completely honest." She offered me her hoof, and I let her pull me to my hooves, looking to Dashie. "You okay, Dashie?"

Dashie grunted in response and rolled over to his hooves, stretching. "Are you suggesting that actually hurt?" He threw me one of his annoyingly smug smirks. "I'm sure I'll feel that in the morning." He groaned as he glanced to Range.

I looked to my Pipbuck. 0840 "We've got Market duty in an hour. Let's get showered."

"Us? Together?" Dashie's amusement was tangible through his tone as he trotted off. "Ponies will talk, Captain." I glanced to Range, and she looked back to me disinterestedly as she stretched.

... This is a test. Did they plan it? I looked to Dashie's... hopeful? expression. Unlikely.

"Sure thing, Dashie." I shrugged and trotted off after him.

"Wait, you serious?" Dashie paused mid-step and looked to me.

"Of course not." His hopeful expression was dashed with an annoyed scowl. "Security policy 47-C states that 'Personal relationships between officer and enlisted members that are unduly familiar and that do not respect differences in grade or rank are prohibited'." I glanced to Dashie, ignoring his annoyed look as I continued to throw the book at him. "Such relationships are prejudicial to good order and discipline and violate-"

"Yeah, I think I got it, boss." Dashie talked over me.

Don't. Interrupt. Me.

I glanced to Range as she trotted off past us demurely. "Plus, Colonel Range would shit a brick if we started dating."

"For everyone's sake - particularly that of my anus - kindly don't forget that, you two." Range trotted out of the sparring room without a glance back, disappearing around the corner with a swish of her cropped, white and pale blue streaked tail.

Too much information, Colonel.

"I'll see you in an hour, Dashie." I waved to him.

"Mhm..." He groaned, stretching. "Sure. Right. Fine then. See you in an hour, Captain." He turned and trotted off shortly. What crawled between his flanks and died?

I sighed as I entered my quarters. My mother. She was, as usual, passed out on the couch. I spared her a sideways glance, before trotting off to my room.

Hrmph. Former Colonel Sapphire Aurora. Partner of Captain Crimson Nimbus, hero of Stable 30. Not my mother, just the mare who gave birth to me. If I was to accuse anyone of being a mother figure I looked up to, it would be Range.

After retrieving a fresh Stable suit, I headed to shower, plugging in my ear blooms. Mostly, my ear blooms keep me in contact with Security constantly. It's certainly kept my sex life boring. This morning, however, I'm using them for their Stable-tec intended purpose - personal entertainment. Specifically, the local radio station.

"Heelllloooo, ponies! It's the one, the only radiopony in Baltimare! It's meee-" The radiopony's voice cracked, and I snickered. "- Lunar Note!" Lunar Note paused, clearing her throat. "So surely most of you have heard of that Stable Dweller in the north, right? He goes around shooting bad ponies in the face and saving good ponies? Yeaah... I've just heard about his latest exploit. He found a dragon - I know, you're thinking 'they still exist!?', me too, right? - and then he decided he'd go kill it. How? Fuck if I know! But it's legit. Carry on, Stable Dweller, carry on...." Lunar sighed. "That said? As always, for the rest of us non-hero ponies, watch your fire and stay on your hooves. Here's some Bits for Nothin'." Her voice was replaced by someone whispering "I want my PMV...."

Oh yeah, I love this song.

I spent a luxurious twenty minutes showering in pleasantly warm water, carefully inspecting my body for bruises, marks and other new additions.

It was glorious, as showers always are.

I groaned, stretching, as I felt water run down my neck and through my mane.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to hurt in the morning.

Finally I shut the water off, running my magic through my coat and mane to draw the majority of the water off before exiting the shower and dressing.

This has been a great morning, bruises notwithstanding.

Pipbuck M3000, check. Underarmor barding, check. My underarmor barding was my day-to-day Security uniform, a reinforced version of the full-length Maintenance suit with attachment points for armor plates. Boring yet practical and comfortable, I have to say I preferred it to the basic suit. I can't even remember the last time I wore the normal suit. Before I got my Pipbuck, definitely.

As for me? I'm a unicorn. Reddish pinkish coat. A mane that is long and two shades of pale blue. I tend to keep it mostly long and loose, with the locks that get in my face pulled back in a ponytail. The same colors as my father, from what I've heard. I never met him - he left the Stable when I was very young.

I walked out into the hallway, heading for the Cafe across from the Security station in the Atrium, spending a leisurely five minutes consuming a just-perfectly-heated yet bland apple fritter.

If I never have to eat anything apple-based again, it will be too soon.

I strolled off as I stuffed the last piece of fritter into my mouth and trotted off towards the Security Station outside of Operations.

Entering Security, I found the path blocked by a purple unicorn, her hair pulled back into tight braids. Her eyes glanced down to my barding. "Lieutenant." The look she gave me conveyed a strange blend of boredom, arrogance and anger. A Pipbuck M1500, the kind that was mostly only used for data storage, was held in her green magic.

Yeah, no.

"Actually, I'm Captain Firefly, miss...."

She had that fussy look about her, her suit perfectly clean and wrinkle-free.

Probably not part of Maintenance or Agriculture. Arcane Sciences? She doesn't strike me as an egghead.

Command, probably. Ugh. Likely one of the Council's gofers.

"Oh! You're Crimson's kid, aren't you." She spat it as if it were an insult, something to be ashamed of. She threw me a mocking salute and trotted off stiffly.

The end of the green ribbon keeping her mane in place hung tantalizing loose.

I considered pulling it free. Just a gentle tug with my magic would cause her braid to come free....

No, no, that's petty.

Don't be petty, Firefly. Be the better mare.

You obnoxious bitch.

I glanced around to make sure nopony else was going to attempt to run me down and headed into the Security station. Colonel Range was standing in the doorway to her office, glaring at the mare I'd passed. She nodded to me curtly, then turned and went back into her office.

"Hiya, boss." Dashie waved me over, sitting at his desk, working at a terminal. I'd once asked him how earth ponies used terminals; the answer haunted me to this day. "Ready for today's patrol?"

"Of course, of course." I glanced to my Pipbuck. 0903. "Still another hour to go." Dashie replied with a distracted grunt as he went back to typing on the terminal. I trotted to my desk and settled down, laying my head down on it, eyes closed.

Guh.

Headache. One too many blows to the head this morning, perhaps?

Ah! I levitated a shot glass and a Sparkle-cola bottle out of a drawer, settling them on the desk in front of me. After a full minute of contemplating the bottle of healing potion fluxing before me, I closed my eyes and leaned forward, resting the tip of my horn against the bottle and concentrated.

A long moment passed and I felt the magic flowing through me, through my horn into the glass bottle. After another long moment of follow through, I sit up and look at the bottle. Its movement had slowed, and I leaned over to press my right fetlock - the one without the arcane management device on it - against the cooled bottle.

I love being a unicorn.

My personal show of amusement over, I poured a shot and downed it, tucking the bottle and glass back where they'd been.

Ahhh... that's better. Right, back to work.

The next half hour passed productively. I wrote reports, signed off on requests. Finally at 0940, I called together several teams to the briefing room.

"Good morning, everypony." Several of the ponies scattered around the briefing room gave muted responses. "I said, good morning, everypony!" I stomped my forehoof loudly.

"Good morning, Captain Firefly!" rang through the room in response. Much better.

"It's Market Day." Obviously. "Door opens at 1000. Show of force, you know the drill. Convince the wastelanders that causing trouble is not in their best interests." I turned and projected a map of the Exterior Marketplace on the wall behind me, giving out patrol assignments. "Questions?" A silver wing in the back rose. "Do you have a question, Silver?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you like peeling apples, Silver?"

The wing disappeared. "No questions, ma'am...."

"The Door will open in fifteen minutes." I glanced up at the PA system as the voice of the Overmare echoed through the Stable.

"Well, ponies, you heard the Overmare. Let's go get dressed." I grinned in spite of myself.

Leaving the Stable is always kind of a rush.

A short trot across the main Security office brought us to the locker room and Armory.

"Morning, Captain!" Sergeant Slate Weld, the armory master, was field stripping a rifle. He set it aside as I entered the locker room and trotted over to my locker.

"Morning, Slate." I opened my locker, levitating out my armor while Weld started preparing our weapons. I retrieved my weapons, two IF-21 pistols, eight magazines of 10mm Auto ammunition and a baton, and headed to the door, waiting for the rest of the team.

"The Door will open in ten minutes."

I looked around to the team, finishing up. "Kit check, kit check." They nodded, confirming, and I lead the way out of the locker room, through Security and down into the Atrium. "Comms check, comms check." All around us, ponies bustled about as we passed through the sea of Stable suits to the Door. Booths for depleted spark battery for recharging, empty Sparkle-cola bottles for healing potion and radaway use and medical treatment were being set up. "Test, one two three, test, test."

Everypony checked in, confirming they heard me, switching to do their team tests.

"So, boss, you got any plans tonight?" I glanced in Dashie's direction as he fell in on my flank.

"I dunno." What am I going to do tonight? "Curl up in the shower and masturbate, maybe." I allowed myself a satisfied grin at the strangled sound Dashie made over the personal comms. Comms work.

"You know, I could help you with that...."

Yeah, thanks, no. "Range. Anus. Brick. That is all."

Dashie made another strangled sound. "Too much info, Firefly."

I snickered at his expression. "Wanna bet that won't improve her mood?"

He looked over at me uncharacteristic seriousness. "I'd say, I don't know, three to two odds it would actually piss her off even more." Crap. "There's stretching to account for, after all." Don't go there. "I'm not... intimately familiar... enough with the Colonel to comment on the elasticity of her-" Ewww!

I cut him off before he finished that thought. "I think that's a bit more than I needed to hear, Lieutenant."

Ugh. Okay, Dashie, you win.

I glanced to him, and the slyness faded from his eyes as he donned an equally uncharacteristically concerned look. "You seriously need to get laid. How long has it been?"

Hrm... six months? No, no, that ended with us cuddling while he cried on my shoulder.

Ugh, was that awkward.

"My last coltfriend broke up with me after about a month." I frowned. "About a year or so."

Wow.

"Celestia, Firefly, a year? That's like, forever, mare!" Yes, I'm aware of that, Dashie....

Great.

Now I'm super horny. Dashie glanced in my direction, and I got the feeling he picked up on that.

Damn it, Dashie.

"The Door will open in five minutes."

We entered the door room airlock, and my team took up positions out of the way of the maintenance ponies working.

Think unsexy thoughts.

Shower tonight.

"Good morning, Captain." Security Officer Winter Green, better known as Minty, waved to me. I heard muttered swearing and saw Winter's partner shoot to her hooves as she realized I was there.

"Good morning, Minty. As you were, Dawn." Security Officer Dawning Petals nodded, somewhat unsuccessfully attempting to suppress a yawn as she looked around. Minty and Dawn were in my generation and had been long-time friends, joining Security around the same time I did. I stepped over to the pony by the door console, a maintenance pony I didn't know by name. "Everything ready?"

"Everything ready, Captain." A lavender unicorn I recognized as Overmare Book Keeper slipped into the entrance hall from a closet - what? - flashed me a pleasant smile and ducked into an out of the way corner.

"The Door is opening now." Idly I wondered how the Overmare managed to be physically present while her voice rang through the Stable.

I raised my hoof. "Ready weapons." I suited words to action and drew my pistols, inserting a magazine and racking the action. Around me, I heard my troops loading and cocking their weapons. Dashie's weapon consisted of a battle saddle containing a belt-fed heavy machine gun that had been converted to fire twelve gauge shells.

I nodded and the maintenance pony reached over and pressed the big, red button to open the Door.

A hazard alarm blared and lights on both sides of the Door lit up, lighting around it. With a screeching rumble of metal on metal, the Door slid out, away from us and rolled halfway into the wall. Lights in the ceiling lit up the cave outside the Door, granting access to the Wasteland surrounding our Stable. Visibly dusty air rushed in around the door, and I moved aside slightly to avoid the worst of it. Even the air in the Wasteland was foul. "Security, forward!" I waved my hoof forward as I lead the way out of the Door, Dashie flanking me a pace behind me to my right, and up the hallway to the checkpoint we'd set up in the surface building that the Stable had been built under.

The Stable Marketplace was really two separate Marketplaces. There was the Atrium Marketplace, where ponies went in to receive medical treatment or turn in empty bottles or spark batteries, and then there was the Exterior Marketplace, set up outside of the surface building. That was where the Wastelanders set up their trading booths, and that was where Security needed to have the biggest presence. It consisted of barbed wire run around an area around a prewar building, and some sheets of plastic stretched over poles to keep the area somewhat dry when it rained.

We entered the surface building and split up. I lead my group straight through the main entrance, weapons out, timing my exit so that teams Two and Three exited from opposite sides of the building at the same time, splitting up and patrolling among the traders. Most of them had seen the show before and simply continued setting up their booths. However, a few had looked up in surprise, and one seemed to go for his weapons before deciding that opening fire on a dozen armed and armored ponies was not ideal.

"Mornin' folks. Carry on with your business." I tucked my weapons away as I trotted around the Marketplace. A couple of ponies watched me while most of them went back to their business. Of course it was raining.

But then again, this is Baltimare.

It's always raining.

"Top of the mornin' to ya, Firefly!" Broken Enamel claimed he was a former Stable dentist. Which Stable he was from had never come up. "Glad to see ya, actually. I was hoping to talk to ya."

"Mornin', Enamel. What's up?" Dashie followed me over to Enamel, looking over his caravan.

"We ran into a spot of trouble on the way here from Haven."

"Raiders?" That could be a problem, considering what happened to the Stable last time a raider gang started getting bold.

"Nah, raiders don't mess with caravans, not since the last time...." He broke off. "Right, anyways. Not raiders. Zombies!"

"Zombies? Surely you can't be serious." Idly I remembered some of the books I'd read.

"I am!" I shared another glance with Dashie. "Feral ghouls, a bunch of em!" Ohhh! "They came outta nowhere, screechin' their manes off and biting everything they could get their teeth on. Killed two of my guards!"

"So y'want us to go hunt them down and kill them?" Dashie glanced over as he spoke up, studying Enamel's caravan.

"Kill em? Why would I care about that?" He shook his head. "Nah. I want some of your ponies to escort my caravan back to Haven until we can find some more guards." He considered what Dashie had said, rubbing his jaw. "Although, killin' em probably wouldn't be a bad idea."

I thought about that, adjusting my helmet to give me a moment to think.

I'm not sure.

We do need to have an increased presence outside of the Stable.

"Check in with Security before you leave and I'll see that you have your escort." I smiled to Enamel brightly.

"Thank ye kindly, Firefly." Enamel turned to his trading station before he rushed off, yelling at one of his ponies. "What are you doing? No, no! This goes here, that goes there!"

A squad of Steel Rangers clanked past us towards the Stable. Most of the crowd cleared out of their way.

I glanced to Dashie; he looked concerned. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Firefly? Authorizing troops out of the Stable?"

"The Stable does need to have an increased presence in the Baltimare area, outside of the Stable."

His worried expression remained. "Do you think the Council will approve?"

For once, I was the smug one smirking at Dashie, who had a worried expression more typical of me. "I have a feeling about today."

He stared at me for a long moment, before nodding. "I hope you're right."

Makes two of us, Dashie.

I levitated my canteen out, uncapping it as I felt... something.

Something was coming.

Something big and powerful, that didn't care whether it was expected or not. I glanced up, noticing unicorns across the marketplace perking up.

"Boss?"

I shook my head. "Something's coming."

A group of alicorns popped into existence, just outside the wire.

Alicorns.

They were tall, majestic... and wrong. They felt like they shouldn't exist. They were... aberrations.

There were five of them - two of them were a dark lavender, two others were an olive green and the fifth was a brilliant azure. Their ethereal manes flowed in the wind, even when there was no wind, and they wore no barding, their coats perfectly brushed no matter the situation.

Some part in the back of my mind wanted to ask them for tips on how they looked so amazing.

They were also one of the Stable's most notable trading partners, and nopony made any trouble while they were around, so I was happy to put up with their presence, as disturbing as it may be.

A couple of wastelanders went for their weapons, and I was pleased to see my ponies do a fine job to convince them not to.

They gracefully trotted to the line where the Stable traded water. Those in their path mysteriously found other places to be, and the alicorns moved to the front of the line.

"GREETINGS, PONIES OF STABLE THIRTY. WE BRING SUPPLIES TO TRADE." After a moment, they recoiled as one, wings spread.

Uh oh.

I hurried over to intervene. "What seems to be the problem, ponies?" I glanced to the Stable zebras at the stand.

They shared a look and shrugged.

The alicorns turned as one - Celestia, was that creepy - to look at me, and as one they boomed out. "DO YOU INTEND US INSULT, STABLE PONY?"

"These are members of the Stable, just like me. What's wrong?"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? THE GODDESS DEMANDS TO KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE BLIND, SECURITY PONY, OR PERHAPS SIMPLY DAFT. THEY ARE ZEBRAS. THEY ARE STRIPED. THEY ARE THE ENEMY." They glared at the zebras in their creepy, simultaneous way.

Oh.

"Hold, please, while we fix our mistake." I trotted a short distance away, calling the Security station. "Captain Firefly to Security."

"Security here. What can I do for you, Captain?"

"Get some water merchants up to the XM ASAP. Make sure they're not zebras." I glanced in the alicorns' direction.

"Yes, ma'am. Hold please." To his credit, he made no comment otherwise. "They're on their way now."

"Excellent." I turned and trotted back to the alicorns. "I have found some ponies to assist you. They will be here momentarily. Please accept our sincerest apologies."

The alicorns looked at us, shot a nasty look at the bewildered zebras, before nodding dramatically. "THE GODDESS FINDS YOUR ASSISTANCE ACCEPTABLE."

Well shit, acceptable is just great.

An earth pony mare and a unicorn colt in the regular Stable barding trotted over to the stand, confused. After a moment of discussion with the ponies at the stand, they then took over for the zebras.

The zebras carefully drifted in our direction, away from the alicorns. "What was that all about?"

"Ancient, prewar hatred, I suspect." I shrugged. "Could you do me a favor and convey to your boss that it would probably be best if you kept at least one Equestrian pony on duty on the surface?" I paused, frowning at how that sounded. "Sorry. You know what I mean."

The zebras stared at me blandly, an expression I recognized (from my own use) as hiding their feelings. "I thought we had advanced past all that... pettiness."

"We did," I stressed 'we', "the wasteland has spent the past two hundred years tearing itself apart over and over again instead of advancing."

They shrugged and fell silent as the four of us watched the alicorns get their water. Afterwards, the alicorns carefully counted out their payment, threw another dark look at the zebras beside us and teleported off.

"Sooo... that happened." Dashie was, unsurprisingly, the first to break the silence. "Nice flanks on those alicorns, doncha think, boss?" He grinned at me.

I spared Dashie an aside glance. "Sure." I shook my head, rose to my hooves and trotted back toward the Stable. Dashie fell in on my flank.

"So, what do you think the alicorns are doing with the water they keep buying from us?" Dashie spoke up after a moment with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I've heard rumors that they're delivering it to towns who can't afford it."

"That's interesting."

"Kind of nice to know Stable 30 is helping the wasteland, even if we're not doing it personally, don't you think?"

I nodded back towards the surface building above the Stable. "Let's check up on those Steel Rangers."

"Can I help you folks with anything?" I trotted over to the foursome of Steel Rangers in suits of power armor, Dashie flanking me. Compared to their gleaming armor, I'm sure our kit looked like improvised barding at best.

"Yeah, you can fuck off, Stable." A low mare's voice came from the towering suit of armor in the far side. The one in the lead looked at them, and I suspected she was being reprimanded.

No, you can fuck off!

The leader looked to me. "We require nothing from you, security pony. We will pay for what we require and we will be gone." His tone was somehow placating and condescending all at once.

How does he do that?

I should ask him... but no.

"Of course, of course. If you require anything, ask for Captain Firefly and I will make sure it happens." I trotted off after giving them a polite, bland smile.

"Nice folks, don't you think?" I glanced to Dashie and shook my head.

"As long as they're not shooting at us, I'm fuckin' thrilled." I glanced to the ceiling where The Gun sat in its little niche. "I don't want to have to spray out any suits of power armor." Or even be present for that happening.

"I can't complain about that." I trotted off into the crowd, Dashie at my flank. "Fortunately, that's not our job. That's Maintenance's."

Ew.

My ear blooms rang with the Dispatcher tone. "Captain? We're almost ready to begin The Gun test."

Perfect timing.

"Shall we begin?"

"Hold for my mark."

"Of course, ma'am."

I gestured to Dashie. "Test in five. On me." Dashie fell in as I headed to the stairwell at the corner of the Atrium, up to the second floor overlooking the main Atrium floor. "Plat, Nimble." I looked to the overwatch team on the balcony, a white earth pony and an orange and blue unicorn.

The unicorn scanned the Atrium. "All clear, ma'am."

"Test ready?" The dispatcher confirmed. "Hold onto your bowels." I glanced to Dashie and he winced. "On my mark. Three... two... one... mark."

A high pitched hum filled the Atrium, a sound that invaded everywhere and everything, just below the upper level of equine hearing range. I clamped down on my bowels as all liquids inside me attempted to escape through the most unpleasant route. After a few seemingly endless seconds, the sound died down.

The crowd on the first floor paused their dealings, and I cast a voice amplification spell. "Nothing to worry about, ponies. Just a routine test." I looked straight at the quartet of Steel Rangers that everypony was giving a wide berth. Impossible to tell through their opaque, supposedly bullet resistant visors, but I believed they got the hint. Another moment's pause and the crowd resumed their business, but subdued.

I cast the voice amplification counterspell as I turned to Dashie, trotting off. "I'd say that went well, Dashie."

He resumed his position a hooflength behind me to my right. "Maybe for you, but I wouldn't want to be Maintenance tonight."

"I don't think anyone shit themselves."

"That's an..." Dashie paused, glancing over the railing. "... optimistic assessment, I think." He glanced to me as we headed down the stairs. "I'll ask dad tonight, get ya an answer on that tomorrow."

"I think I'm good, thank you...." My ear blooms pinged again - this time with the Command tone and I ducked into a niche by the doors on the first floor, Dashie a hoofstep behind me. "Hold, Dashie."

Is it Range?

Of course it was Range. "Everything okay down there, Captain?"

Mare, I love it when I'm right.

"Situation okay, Colonel. Just testing The Gun."

"You know, Colonel, if you needed help with that brick of yours, I'm sure The Gun could be of assistance...." I turned and stared at Dashie. He tossed me a sly grin in response.

No, Dashie.

Range fell silent for a moment before apparently deciding the best response was no response. "Firefly, if situation's okay down there, I need to see you in my office."

"On my way, Colonel." I switched to the intra-Security channel. "Lieutenant Dash is taking command of Marketplace Patrol." A dozen teams acknowledged and I turned to Dashie. "See you in a bit, Dashie."

I turned and trotted back up the stairs to Security and into Range's office.

"Captain Firefly, reporting as requested, ma'am." I saluted.

Range momentarily looked up to me from the pre-hoof mounted Pipbuck M2500 on her desk she was studying intensely. "Good, good, you're here." I noticed that Overmare Book Keeper was also present. "Sit down, Captain."

I smiled to Overmare Keeper, and she flashed me one of her ever present dazzling smiles in return. "Good afternoon, Captain."

One part of my mind pointed out that this was perfect(ly coincidental) evidence of the fabled unicorn uprising conspiracy theory.

The vigilant part of my mind suggested that this would be an excellent target for a crazed Isolationist who wished to kill three of the strongest proponents of wandering outside the Stable.

The rational part of my mind pointed out that the chances of that happening were almost nonexistent, so I put it aside.

"Colonel Range and I were discussing your proposal for an external Scout team, Captain." Overmare Keeper rose from her cushion gracefully.

"I'm listening, ma'am." I knew I had a good feeling about today.

"I have convinced the Leading Council to grant you one expedition, with further expeditions granted on an at-will basis, depending on the outcome of this one."

Yes!

"Colonel Range has put together several plans of action, and I believe she's chosen one."

Oh dear.

Overmare Keeper turned to Range and calmly returned to her seat. "Colonel?" She sipped a glass of water as she turned her attention to Range.

"Thank you, Overmare." Range looked up from her Pipbuck, rose to her hooves and trotted over to the map that dominated one side wall of her office. "What we have here is a map of the Baltimare area, as of two centuries ago." She levitated a pointer over and tapped a pentagon inside a square on the map labeled 'Equestrian Strategic Command Headquarters'. "We don't even know if this still exists. What we need is hooves on the ground outside, which is the primary objective of Operation Baltimare. Blah blah blah, you know all of this, you're the one who's been giving reports to the Council on this."

"Operation Baltimare?" I snickered. "Wait." I raised an eyebrow at Range. "Operational planning happened without me?"

"The Leading Council was very insistent that you not be involved, at least in the initial strategic planning." Range made a face. "And yes, I know. It's a shitty name. The Council demanded results quickly."

"That's comforting."

Also a gross violation of the chain of command....

"The Leading Council doesn't have any faith in your abilities, Fi." Range scowled sharply.

Ouch.

"What Colonel Range is saying, is that you haven't proven yourself, in their eyes. Given the..." Overmare Keeper paused, searching for the most diplomatic way to say what she was thinking. "...tenuous... relationship the Council and your father had, I would expect nothing else." She rose to her hooves, studying the map. "For what it's worth, Captain, I have the fullest confidence in you." She shifted her gaze to Range, who was tapping a hoof against the floor. "I apologize, Colonel. Please, continue."

Range's scowl lessened as she resumed. "The objectives for Operation Baltimare are as follows. One, intel. We don't know what's out there beyond the wire, and we can't prepare for what we don't know about. No preparation, no defense. Two is increasing favor for the Stable. When Stable Security shows up, we want these ponies not only happy to see us, but willing to help us. We're going to need all of the support we can get out there, and we need to start doing it now." She sipped from her flask, looking to her Pipbuck M2500. "To that end, you have been authorized to speak for the Stable should a situation arise you feel can be used for the benefit of the Stable."

"Rules of engagement?"

"You're scouting, not preparing for war. If somepony tries to kill you, go right ahead and kill them back, but be discreet about it." She paused, glancing to the map. "Leave the Ironpony in the Armory."

Damn it.

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded. I had been searching for an opportunity to bring out the IF-88 'Ironpony' for some testing for some time. Unfortunately, this was not to be this time. "While I'm out there, what about the last team?"

Range and Overmare Keeper shared a glance. I wonder what that's about... "You may pursue leads if you find anything substantial, but intelligence is your primary objective, not finding your father's team." I covered a wince with a bland expression as she levitated a Pipbuck M1500 over to me. "Review these plans, pick your team and be ready to leave by tomorrow morning. Check in before you leave so I know what you're doing."

"Yes, ma'am." I tucked the M1500 away.

"Anything else?" Range gave me a steely look that clearly attempted to dissuade me from saying yes.

Challenge accepted!

"You're not secretly trying to get me killed, are you?"

Range stared at me for a long moment as I suppressed an amused grin. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, Captain. Dismissed!" She barked the last word with a sharp, not-so-subtle message of 'shut up, get out'. I saluted and turned to leave her office. "Fi, wait." I looked back to her. Book Keeper did, too. Range looked to me for a long moment. "Stay safe out there." I got the feeling that's not what she'd meant to say.

Hrm....

"That's the plan, ma'am." I paused. "Oh, unrelated. Who was that mare this morning?"

"Huh?" Range gave me a confused look. "Oh. Ruby Blossom. She's the personal gofer of Councilmare Rose. She was observing our planning session and carried a transcript to the Council." She made a face. "Rude little shit. Thinks she's Celestia's gift to the Stable because her mother used to be Overmare."

"You know, Colonel, if the Council hears you talking like that...." Overmare Keeper had a quietly reproachful yet amused tone.

"Tell me, Overmare, what are they going to do to me?" Range looked to Overmare Keeper with a disgusted look. "If they could find a justification to remove me from office, they would have done so long ago."

"I know, I know. Still..." The Overmare sighed, looking to me. "Sometimes it feels like I'm foalsitting every pony here." She glanced back to Range as she laid down. "I know you don't like the Council, Range, but could you at least pretend to be polite?"

"If you mares will excuse me, I have things to be doing...."

"Tell your mom I said hi!" Range waved a hoof in my direction and I made a quick exit. "Polite, polite, polite! That's what I hate about all of you pencil pushers, you're all about politely stabbing everypony in the flank!"

"You know, Range, your job description makes you one of those 'pencil pushers' you're talking about...." I could hear the Overmare's coy smile through the door to Range's office from my desk.

"I know! And that's what makes it even worse! I kind of miss being the Armorer's assistant."

Huh. Range used to be Assistant Armorer? Interesting.

I looked to the M1500 Range had given me, tuned out the surrounding ordered chaos and got to work reviewing the plans.

An hour later, I decided that I didn't particularly like any of them, but in lieu of a proper plan....

Ugh.

I sighed and rose to my hooves, crossing to the Cafe to nibble on something to eat while I thought.

Mmmm, mushy apple fritter.

After an hour of laying in the cafe, Dashie came off duty and joined me, crunching on a box of Sugar Apple Bombs. "Review these, would you?" I passed him the M1500 with the plans. "I don't understand how you can eat that crap." He stared at me blankly, and I looked to his box.

"I'd think that after several years of eating nothing but apple-based foods, you'd be interested in something else." He poured another mouthful and pointedly went back to the M1500, browsing through the plans as he crunched on his cereal.

Finally, he looked up to me and swallowed his mouthful of cereal. "None of these plans are all that good, boss."

"Well, you can take that up with Colonel Range, if you feel so strongly about it."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Dashie suddenly sat up sharply. "Hey!" He turned to me. "Whatabout Enamel's caravan?"

"Pardon?" You might be onto something here.

"We could go with his caravan to Haven."

...

Bingo.

"You know, that's not a bad idea." I glanced to the offending M1500 with its plethora of shitty plans. "A lot better than heading off in the direction of Equestrian Stratcom and hoping we find something there." I stretched, rolling my head. "Right then. Dashie." He hopped to his hooves and saluted, mock all fired up. "Go get kit. Enough for four ponies for..." Dashie raised an eyebrow at 'four' as I paused, thinking. "A week. Food, supplies, etc. Anypony got any questions, direct 'em to Range." I glanced to my Pipbuck. 1503. "Meet at the briefing room at 1600. We'll head out with Enamel's caravan tonight. Questions?"

"None." Dashie trotted off briskly. "See ya in an hour."

I picked up Range's M1500, the trash we'd accrued from my laying about and headed off to Security, typing up a quick summary of my plan and headed into Range's office, knocking on the door frame.

"Hey, Colonel-" I glanced up from the M1500, noticing she had a visitor. "Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

"No, nothing at all really." She turned to her visitor. "G'bye, Mend. It was nice talking to you. I think...."

"Maybe we'll do this again in a couple of months, Range. It's been fun." The pale blue unicorn rose to his hooves with a groan. "'Scuse me, Captain...." A Sparkle-Cola bottle followed him out, wreathed in his bluish green magic.

I glanced back at him as he left the Security station. "Dare I...?"

"No." Her voice took on an unusually cool tone. "That is not a door you want to open, Captain." On closer inspection, Range seemed more relaxed than she had been a couple of hours ago. She sighed, taking a moment to compose herself, and she almost smiled. "Tell me you have good news."

I trotted in and passed her the M1500. "I have a plan."

"That's not necessarily good news, Fi." She pulled an IF-21 magazine towards herself protectively as I settled down. "Is it a good plan?"

"No offense, Colonel, but it's better than any of the plans you had."

"Implying that tactical planning is my area of expertise, or, in fact, part of my job description." She held up a sheet of paper and screwed her face up in a look of pure astonishment. "Oh, look! It's not." She narrowed her eyes at the paper. "In fact, I believe that's your job!" She tossed the paper aside and looked to me.

"You're hilarious, Colonel. Perhaps you should retire for a position in comedy. Perhaps a transfer to the Department of Morale?"

Perhaps I should stop tempting fate.

"No, I'm an overworked, under appreciated security pony with nopony to blame but myself for it."

Oh, praise the sun.

She fell silent, focusing on the M1500. "I like it." She set the M1500 aside. "Can you make it out of the Stable in the next hour?"

"Ma'am?"

"The Council wants to approve any plan of action before it goes into effect. Unfortunately, because of red tape, that will take ages. Get your team out of the Stable in the next hour and I should be able to convince the Council that it was necessary for you to leave immediately."

"Yes, ma'am!" I turned and trotted out.

The next hour seemed to take forever and yet passed in a blur.

I had a couple of officers on duty at the XM inform Enamel that we'd be ready to leave by 1600. I tracked down a team for Enamel's caravan who would be accompanying us to Haven.

I wrote a report on the incident with the alicorns at the XM.

Chewed out Ivory Charm for showing up out of uniform for the third time this week. I showered and changed into clean underarmor barding.

Dashie, Platinum Starlight and Nimble Shine reported to the briefing room at 1600. I trotted over to the podium. "Thank you for being here. You are now part of Operation Baltimare. Operation Baltimare is the Stable's defense strategy. I'll skip the backstory, but we're leaving the Stable. The objectives are as follows. First of all is recon. We don't know anything about the Baltimare area beyond the wire, and we can't prepare against what we don't know exists." I took a sip from my flask. "The second is spreading fame. We're going to be operating outside of the Stable, as part of the wasteland as a whole, and we're going to need allies. When Stable 30 shows up, we want the wastelanders not just happy to see us, but willing to help us. We scratch their backs, they'll scratch our backs later on."

I turned, projecting a map on the wall beside me. "For this first mission, we'll be heading to Haven." I pointed, and a gear with nine cogs inside of a box appeared, representing the Stable. I then traced a path along the road by the Stable to the northeast, where a square with an icon of a house popped up. "This is the settlement of 'Haven'. We don't know a lot about it, but it's a trading town between the Stable and what used to be the city of Baltimare. We'll be going along as escort for a trading caravan. There have been reports of feral ghoul attacks on the road between the Stable and Haven. Questions?"

Platinum Starlight raised her hoof again. "Ghouls, ma'am?"

"Undead ponies, turned by incredible amounts of radiation exposure. Ferals have... well, lost their minds, I guess."

The three of them shared looks.

"Yeah, I know." I glanced around. "Lieutenant Dash and I will be Team One." I gestured to the two mares. "Platinum Starlight and Nimble Shine will be Team Two. Teams One and Two will proceed to Haven with the trade caravan. Team Two will stay with the caravan as escorts until the caravan returns to the Stable for market day next week."

Platinum Starlight raised her hoof again. "And where will Team One be going?"

"Good question. Team One will be sticking around Haven, performing recon on the town and the area around it. If everything goes well, we'll be able to do some things for them and make them like us." I turned to the map, pointing out another location, and a pentagon inside of a square appeared. "This is, or was, Equestrian Strategic Command Headquarters. We're also going to be checking it out to see what's there. For all we know, it's just an irradiated hole in the ground. If we're lucky, it's an untouched cache of prewar military equipment. Any more questions?" There were none. "Let's get dressed, folks." I lead the way to the armory. "Afternoon, Slate."

"Hello, Captain." He glanced past me to the three ponies following me and their grim expressions. "This isn't a routine mission."

"Nope. We're leaving the Stable." The edges of his mouth turned down into a similarly grim frown. "We need kit for a week's excursion, not that I expect it to last a week. Weapons, ammo, excursion kit."

"So your petitions finally worked. Congrats." He nodded and turned, browsing through the racks, levitating out weapons, ammo and equipment for everyone while they dressed. Battle saddles for Dashie and Platinum, pistols for everypony. Knives, flares, a coil of rope. Mirrors for everypony, a couple of tools and a shovel for the carriers. Quad power hooves for Dashie.

I checked the time on my Pipbuck. 1620. "Kit check, kit check. Comm checks. Everyone ready?" The three ponies facing me confirmed they were ready. "Let's move." I turned and trotted out of Security, pinging Range. "Colonel? We're leaving now."

"Good. Stay safe out there, Firefly." Range sounded happy. I couldn't blame her. I was a bit giddy myself.

Months of petitioning and borderline begging with the Council for this mission.

It was finally fuckin' happening!

Author's Notes:

Traits:
Healing Potion Connoisseur
In spite of your hypocritical "all drugs are bad" stance, you maintain a small addiction to healing potions. You could totally quit whenever you want, but you're not ready to, yet. You gain a 20% bonus to your natural healing rate, but when you down an entire potion in one go, its restorative effects and duration are reduced by 20%. Your state of being constantly fit and healthy provides a charisma bonus to ponies who find you attractive. As a side effect of your constant healthiness, you are more tired, and withdrawal... is unpleasant.

Efficient Spellcasting
You are innately skilled at optimizing your spellwork, but in return, learning new spells is draining for you and learning more complex spells is difficult. After a dozen casts, your spells require less effort and come more easily, but the first dozen are draining and complicated. As an additional complication, learning advanced spells such as teleporting or shield barriers is nearly impossible and even after learning, your optimization is limited.

Precision Telekinesis
Your telekinesis is capable of incredible precision, allowing you to pick locks without tools and interact with things, such as firearms, from a distance. As a side effect, your ability to lift heavy things is highly limited, and levitating yourself? Not a chance in hell. However, as an aside - you need to understand what it is you're interacting with to be able to interact with it.

<Notes>

Welcome to the first chapter of Fallout Equestria: Stable Scout, thank you for reading. The theme is a more... military atmosphere rather than "vigilante ragtag band of misfits" like many other stories.

<Credits>
KylerAdams - for most of the writing, etc.
CrimsonVixen - for coming up with most of the basic concepts for the roleplay I adapted into FOE:SS
TK "Gigantic Dickasaurus Rex" Knorr - Editing, ideas. Moral support?
Most of the Sulura group, Anailaigh, my NaNo group - misc spitballing, editing, suggestions, etc. Moral support? Sure.
The Amazing Fo:E Writers group - for being pure awesome and writing incredible fics.
Brandon - ALL THE PUNS. Well not all of them.

Neigh Anything: Part 2 - ALL of the 80s songs I will reference in the coming chapters and MORE. Also for being an AWESOMELY hilarious comic.
Dire Straits - writing awesome music, including (in this case, particularly) "Money for Nothing".

e: completely rewritten on 01.31.16, because the original draft was horrifying.
e: rehosted the logo on 02.14.16
e: minor fixes on 03.02.16
e: minor reworks on 09.05.16