Fallout Equestria: Aurora
By CaptainSparx
Chapter One: Stable 33
“The night will last forever...”

Cold. The chill of the air grew around me. It felt almost like a calm before the storm. Except I had been living the storm in my dreams. The never ending torment of my single nightmare. But then again, to remember one’s nightmare you have to be awake. A slight tingling in my hooves, a slight itch in my wings. The darkness was slowly fading away as senses remembered their function. The screams in my head, the crying, they all started to fade away. Soft light invaded the darkness as my eyes fluttered open. Focusing on my reflection on the glass inches from my face. I took a deep breath.

PANIC. There was nothing! No air to fill my lungs, no warm breath of life to sustain me. It was at that moment the nightmares became real. Only this time I was fully awake. Grabbing at my neck in fear, my hooves quickly came up to the oxygen mask on my muzzle. Ripping it away with a resounding pop. The seal broken I could feel the cool moisture against my muzzle as I inhaled greedily. The air tasted foul, much like a stallion’s gym room, but at least it was breathable. Coughing a little as my breathing returned to normal. I placed my hoof against the mask to feel for a breeze. Nothing, no air brushed against my sweaty hoof, the mask was no longer working and with that I decided it was in my best interest to leave. Glancing down I fumbled for the hatch release. Depressing the large round button as the air was starting to get harder to breathe. At most there was five minutes of air in the pod. Who knows how much I had used up already with hyperventilating. I pressed the button again in anticipation. Still nothing happened. Craning my neck to get a better look I saw that the lights that had once glowed a vibrant shade of green now barely flickering a pale red. I was going to die in here. Panic started to seep back in. The fear of being killed by the very machine meant to save me and countless others from the balefire if that threat was ever unleashed. The fact that I was stuck in one of these pods was proof that it had.

In one final glimmer of hope I slammed the button hard. The button shattered under the impact, scattering bits of plastic around the inside of the stasis pod. Well I was rapidly running out of options. The screaming in my head fading to a low moan. I was breathing in short gasps, doing my best to hold my breath to give me time to think. Only I didn’t have time to think. The longer I waited the more I sealed my own fate. It was miserable. Seconds felt like hours as my life raced before my eyes. Instinctively I drew into a fetal position as I started to cough once more in the slowly poisoning air. A spark. An idea grew in my mind as a final desperate attempt at life. I could either concede to my fate and die in the stasis pod, or try my damndest to get out and maybe still die. I hate dyeing. It really sucks to tell you the truth. But given my options I guess I didn’t really have much choice. Kicking out with all my might I slammed my rear hooves into the glass barrier that held me trapped in my coffin.

A dull thud echoed in the stable. Followed by another, and then another. The blows growing less frequent and quieter as I expended what energy I had. Sweat was stinging my eyes, soaking my body. My lungs screamed out in torment for a breath of air. But there was none. No life giving particles remained, only death. Striking again I felt my hoof twist against the glass. A mild numbing sensation radiated from my ankle. But the sound of the glass chipping from the blow gave me hope. In a final surge of adrenaline I lashed out for one last blow. Striking the glass squarely on the small crack in its surface. There was a brief moment of resistance and then my hooves burst through. The air rushed in through the hole I had made as I exhaled the last of the poisoned air. The screams were becoming more distinct now. I could hear them calling my name. I felt wet. And cold. But none of that mattered anymore. I was drifting back to sleep. My body exhausted from its struggle for life. I needed to regain my energy, I needed to sleep. The nightmare was calling my name and I felt compelled to answer.

“Lieutenant, can you hear me? We have arrived sir. Lieutenant Sparx?” The voice was distant as if I was dreaming. But I couldn’t be dreaming. It was all too real. The bump of the sky wagon as we had landed, the smell of sweaty pegasus drifting in the air. The young unicorn stood at the door to the wagon. He was too young to be a soldier. But then again the war was requiring a lot more of the younger generation than it had. The young perished on the front lines, and the older, more experienced, sat behind desks. Pushing papers and scheming plots. I was ever so thankful when I could get out on an assignment. “Sir,” The unicorn asked again. His soft yellow coat offset by the jet black plate armour, and the battle saddle slung across his back.

“I’m coming.” I slowly stood up and walked to the door. In stark contrast to the unicorns armour I wore a cap with my rank and unit patch. A long rain slicker protected me as I stepped out into the rain. Of all the times to schedule a deluge, why’d it have to be now. Looking around I could see an assortment of ponies milling about, lab coats and utility coveralls the predominant choice of attire, rain slickers tossed on in haste to cope for the weather. A black armoured pegasus was talking to one of the workers. She didn’t seem too happy as she waved her beam rifle in the stallions face. The worker turned quickly and started off with a quick trot towards a group of scientists as the pegasus cantered over to where I stood.

“Lieutenant, sir.” The pegasus saluted me with her wing. I returned the salute, and she dropped hers. “Sir. They are currently advising the supervisor and will bring him to us shortly.” Good, I hate long waits. Especially when it’s raining. Thankfully it didn’t look like we’d have to wait long. The worker stallion was returning our way with a unicorn in a lab coat following briskly beside him. The unicorn wore a worried expression on his face, not in the least surprising. The worker pointed over at my group, getting a nod from the unicorn and then proceeded to return to his own work. The unicorn put on a rather tense smile as he approached.

“Well good afternoon sirs and ma'am. To what do we have the pleasure of this visit?” I stepped forward and he stopped in his tracts. What was possibly more intimidating were the cold hard stares of the black clad ponies on either side of me.

“I am Lieutenant Sparx of her majesty Luna’s special intelligence forces. We are investigating a lead of several missing documents.” The unicorn paled. Usually the ministry of morale looked into things like this. But if intelligence got involved you knew something was going down. That’s why I loved field assignments so much. I missed the action when I just sat in the office back in Canterlot. So any chance I could I would pick up assignments. Being chief of special intelligence definitely had its perks.

The unicorn was visibly trembling. I gave a stern look to the pegasus at my side and she lowered her sidearm. She may not be the most charismatic but she at least knew how to follow orders. Turning my attention back to the unicorn I continued. “We are investigating the disappearance of several classified documents from the Canterlot Archives. They have been tracked to this location and we believe they may be being stored down in the stable.”

I mean, honestly. If you were going to steal some super-secret, super important, super classified pieces of paper where else would you hide them other than a hole in the ground. It made perfect sense, right? The blank stare the unicorn gave me pretty much summed up how I expected this whole thing to go. “Um, I uh. I don’t know of any documents down in the stable. We’re just here to add the final finishes to the stable.”

“Fine,” I wasn’t about to play any games. And I definitely didn’t have time for a MoM agent to sift through his memories to prove him wrong. “Gather up all the workers and have them assemble in a central area so I can address them.”

“But, but… that will cut into our schedule. I don’t have room for… for, that kind of delay.” The unicorn stammered. I was really starting to not like him. I noticed my pegasi comrade had raised her side arm again. I didn’t say anything, she could blast his head off for all I cared. I just needed those documents and then everypony could go back to their boring old lives.

“You will assemble everypony, or I’ll give you plenty of time to think about it at Shattered Hoof.” The unicorn grew visibly pale, his jaw fidgeting as he looked for words. “Do it now!”

He scampered away as fast as he could. Nearly tripping over the tails of his lab coat. “Raspberry what’s your take on all this?” I turned to the young unicorn to my side.

“I… I don’t know… sir. It just… it feels like something’s amiss here.” The young buck, barely older than when I had first seen war. He was lucky he was smart enough to be shuffled into my department. He was bright but he also had this, extra sense about him. Raspberry Crème. Maybe in another time he would have been a baker, or a chef. But in the sick world we all lived in he was a soldier. He wasn’t the first, and he wouldn’t be the last. “I just can’t place it but… I actually think he was telling the truth.”

Okay, score one for science ponies. It didn’t matter it he was telling the truth or not. I just had to turn up the missing documents and we’d could all go home.

It took the better half of half an hour to get everypony assembled. I jumped up on some piled crates to address the crowd. Maybe only about a hundred or so ponies. They all looked nervous, scared even. Low whispers and murmuring filled the air as I struck my hoof down on the crate for attention. A few ponies looked up. KRZZZCK! A beam of red shot into the air from behind me. Immediately drawing everyponies attention to the black clad pegasus. I could tell she was rolling her eyes under her visor as she pointed a hoof in my direction. Everyone gazing in the direction of her hoof. “Thank you sergeant.” The pegasus gave a curt nod. “Now that I have everyponies attention. I am Lieutenant Sparx, of her majesties special intelligence forces.” Everyone started looking around at each other, a low murmur rising. “I am tracking several missing documents from the Canterlot Archives. We believe they may be located somewhere in the stable. Any pony who has knowledge of the whereabouts of these documents will immediately make such knowledge known or face strict punishment.” A few ponies fainted in the crowed. Usually my words didn’t do that. I had a hard enough time convincing most ponies that I would even punish them most of the time. “This facility is now under direct control of me and my team. No pony is permitted to leave until the missing documents have…” KABOOM

The sound wave hit, drowning out my words and nearly knocking me from my makeshift podium. When sound finally did return, the air was filled with screams and a warm green glow was becoming brighter with each passing moment. I turned, the green cloud rose in the distance as it spread out in the sky. A bomb. A zebra balefire bomb had been detonated! “Everypony in the stable!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Still most ponies were too terrified to notice. I glided overhead to the entrance down to the stable. Several ponies took notice and started running for the only possible shelter that could save us from the approaching devastation. Raspberry Crème rushed up to me and I grabbed his rifle. “Get everypony in the stable!” I yelled. He looked terrified, but then who wasn’t? The green cloud would be upon us within a few minutes. Argh, the screams. They echoed inside my head. I fired several rounds in the air to garner attention. A few ponies responded appropriately, the others scrambled for any make shift shelter they could. Fear gripped at my heat as the rising cloud started to fan out at the top of its brilliant green mist of death. I couldn’t feel my own legs as I turned and ran down the corridor to the stable entrance. I bolted through the door, ramming and knocking over several of the ponies gathered in the small room. A loud metal whirring, flashing lights and moving parts roared to life as the door began to close. “No, no, no! Keep that door open!” Ponies were still racing for the only true shelter this desolate place had to offer.

“I can’t! It’s closing by itself!” I looked in shock at the pony frantically scrambling with the controls. “It's all automated!” I turned back to the door. Another pony rushed in, and another. Suddenly the gap was too narrow. The next ponies couldn’t fit. A hoof reached in as the door was pushed into place. Suddenly the hoof spasmed, then went limp. Sliding along with the door a ways before it dropped to the floor. Blood smeared the wall and was quickly pooling on the floor under the severed limb. Several mares screamed at the disturbing sight. The door sealed, the hissing as it pressurized spat a few drops of blood into the air. I think I’m going to be sick. Banging, and yelling came from the other side of the door. Then within moments the banging stopped and was replaced with the horrific screams of ponies being burned alive. The screams rose to match those inside the stable. Inside we were safe. But inside, we would die.

“Get that door open!” I slammed against the door, beating on it furiously with my hooves. I can’t just stand here while innocent souls are dying.

“I’m sorry, but there's nothing we can do. Stable 33 is pre-programmed to close in the presence of radiation and will only reopen when outside radiation levels have dropped sufficiently.” The unicorn project manager sat next to a few others at the controls.

“We’re all going to die in here before that.” I hissed. The screaming outside had turned to a low wail. A good deal of the ponies inside were sobbing. Families, co-workers they would never see again. I thought of my own wife. The war had already taken so much from us. Would she be safe? Was this the only place that got attack? Would she have to live the rest of her life without me? Well, that might not be so bad. I was going to die in this hole. One way or another I was already dead. “Okay, new plan.” I glanced around at the ponies in the room. A good forty or fifty of them. Only one wore black clad armour. I quickly pushed that thought out of my head. So many lost. No. Don’t Think of that. You can save these. You can keep them alive, you won’t let them die, their survivors.

“Well we can all go take a nap.” Seriously? If I still had a gun I’d blast his head clean off. I glared at him from where I sat near the door.

“And then we can all wake up and it will all have been a bad dream.” I spat the words out. “Thanks doc but I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to help right now.”

“Oh on the contrary my feathered friend. This stable is equipped with state of the art stasis pods. I doubt their intended occupants would mind if we borrowed them.”

“Sure take everyone down for a nap. I… yeah, you do that I’ll be along shortly. I’m just going to wait for the screaming to stop.” Several ponies gave me odd stares as they got up and headed deeper into the stable. We can all just sleep this off. Wake up in a year or so and get back to our normal lives. Sounds pretty decent to me. I looked up at Raspberry as he walked over to me. Goddesses how long were they going to take to die out there.

“Sir?”

“What is it Raspberry?”

“Um, they uh.” He looked lost for words. “They stopped screaming about five minutes ago.”

I took a deep breath. The screams in my mind drifting to a low whine as my eyes winked open. I felt cold and tired. I could barely feel my rear hooves. Glancing down I could see why. Both hooves were covered in the dry matted mess of blood and glass shards. A medium sized hole broken and stained with my blood was letting air pass in and out of the pod. Flexing, I could feel the cuts under my fur reopening. My right ankle was slightly swollen and was rather tender as I tried to move it. I just hoped it wasn’t broken. “Well so much for getting out easy,” muttering to myself. I wasn’t sure if anypony could hear me or if they were even awake yet. It didn’t really matter. I was awake, and I needed to get up.

I slowly chipped at the glass with my hooves. Shielding myself from the shard with my wings to avoid further injury. Once I had cleared a large enough opening I rolled onto my belly and stood up, shaking the glass below me. My ankles were still slowly bleeding as I hopped out of the pod onto the cold clean floor of the stable. I lay there for several minutes. Not really sure what I should do now. Glancing around I didn’t see anyone else. I proceeded to pick the shards of glass from my fur. Several deep lacerations and a swollen ankle were all that remained after my quick clean-up. Standing up on three legs I gently put pressure on my injured hoof. “OW,” okay, that really hurt. I jerked my hoof up against my belly, teetering on three legs, my wings spread out for balance. Slower and more careful I set it down again. I winced at the sharp pain but didn’t jerk it back. It wasn’t broken, or if it was it was minor. But with the amount of swelling and not being able to put any pressure on it I figured it was at least a pretty hefty sprain.

I hobbled on three legs around the room, wings spaced out as if they were wet and I didn’t want them to touch me. Several other stasis pods formed a ring around the small room. Ten pods total in this room. You could see the frost on the interior, signs of the deep sleep imposed on the inhabitants. A few pods lacked the chilling mist and sparked my interest. Hobbling over to pod three. The exterior readout scrolled error messages across the screen ‘error: power below minimums… occupant status: deceased’. I took one look inside the pod and lost it. My insides quickly decided they wanted to be outside my body as I heaved up whatever juices I had in my stomach. When my body was done I shakily looked back at the pod. The pony inside was practically mummified. Strands of its mane plastered to its face still held a slight hue of orange in contrast to the graying and rotting skin. But that wasn’t the part that really turned my stomach. Scratches lined the glass. On the inside. Dried blood covered the bottom and sides of the interior and the hooves where a hideous brown. The dry open eyes felt as if they were looking right through me. And the mouth was locked open in a silent and horrifying scream.

I backed away. My inside churning as my head reeled. The silent screams. The last cries of the dead. They had ceased long ago, but in my head. In my head they never stopped.

I looked around at some of the other pods. Most still had the frosty sheen, but a few were dark and devoid of life. I walked up to another. Most of the occupants were workers whom I didn’t even know. But as I approached the pod a sickening sense came over me. I swallowed, daring to look at the pony inside. The ribs were poking through the yellowed tinted flesh of the young unicorn. Rot had already set in and was making slow progress under the blackened plates. His bright red mane clung to his face and to the respirator still attached to his muzzle. Despite the state of his body he still looked, at peace. I prayed that Raspberry had died without waking up. I could only shudder at what could have possibly been responsible. I hadn’t known the other ponies, so they were just lifeless corpses. But this one. I had known Raspberry personally. I was determined to see him be successful in his military career and now his rotting corpse was all that remained of the once bright and brilliant young mind. I looked into a few more pods. Out of the ten in the room only four actually had living ponies still trapped inside. Two of the frosted pods had failed to seal properly and had let the slow decay of time eat at the sleeping occupant. The bad seals would also explain the chill in the air as the cryonics were pumped into the room.

“Okay, not so safe after all.” I hobbled to the override console. I needed to wake the survivors or risk them running the same fate as me or their compatriots. A large red button labeled ‘deactivate pods’ immediately drew my attention. Balancing now on two legs I pushed the button down until I heard a click. Then there was a beep and a message flashed across a readout display. It scrolled past and I waited for it to start over. ‘Error unable to activate wake-up procedures. Insufficient power levels for safe operation’. “Okay, guess it’s time for plan B. Um… yeah plan B.” Just what was plan B? Heck. What was plan A even? I was alive, cold and hungry. Well I was more hungry now that my stomach had decided to empty itself of anything and everything it thought it had in it. Were there others awake and about like me, or were they like the other pods? Hovering on the edge of life and eternal slumber, their fates decided though faults in machines meant to sustain them.

Hobbling over to the door into the room I pressed the activation button. Nothing happened, great. No power here either. I sat with my hurt hoof awkward held up in the air as I grasped the manual release with my hooves and slowly cranked the door open. I was sweating by the time it was up all the way, despite the crisp coolness in the room. Actually in comparison to the hallway, pod room seven was warm. I shrugged and struggled back onto three legs. I took three steps and stopped. The walls looked odd in the flickering and failing light. Brown smears covered the walls, the floor and in some places even the ceiling. I could make out words. Complete sentences even scrawled out. ‘Help us’ read one, ‘it’s a trap’ and ‘death is the only way out’ smeared across a wall. Another ‘they are coming’ trailed off as the ‘g’ continued in a rusty brown streak to the floor. A rusty stain rested on the floor where the trail ended and rusty drag marks could be noted leading away. Oh goddesses. I gaped as I realized what all this was. This writing, these final messages were scrawled in blood. I could taste the bile in my mouth as I did my darndest to keep my innards inside me. So I wasn’t alone. Or rather, I wouldn’t be alone if I could find any ponies still alive and sane enough to converse with. I looked down the hallway in both directions. To the right were more stasis pod rooms. I shuddered as I saw streaks of dried blood coming out of several of the doors. The left led up and away to the stable atrium. Several more streaks flowed this way. My stomach growled, startling me at its sudden outburst. Okay, first things first, find something to eat. I hooked a left and started hobbling towards the stairs.

Drag marks, bloody pools and creepy writing are everywhere. Reaching the top of the stairs I passed into the long hallway that twisted its way around to the atrium. The light flickered on emergency power, several banks completely dark. It reminded me of nightmare night festivities from before the war. And then the war came and all those once scary spooks became old hat to the horrors of battle. I rounded the corner and could see a shadow cast upon the far wall around another bend. I could barely make out the rough form of a pony. The dim and flickering lights making it seem to sway. Okay, maybe there was somepony else alive down here. But with all the blood and writing I doubt they’d be very sane after a few days of living like this. I can’t afford to take any chances, not knowing what an insane pony would be capable of after being trapped down here. I needed a weapon. Something to defend myself in case I was attacked. Glancing around for anything… Oh perfect. I picked up a large plumbers wrench that was still hanging up on a valve of some sort. It was hefty, giving it a few test swings with my head. Yep. Plenty heavy enough, I stumbled left and right, trying not to fall over as the swinging shifted my weight rapidly between my three hooves. I needed to make this quick. Deciding on friend or foe before they can react. Swallowing, I walked up to the corner, pushed up tight against the wall. One, breathe… two… breathe… three. I pivoted around the corner, striking a low ready stance as I gritted my teeth on the wrench. I looked down the hall at my opponent.

The wrench hit the ground with a loud clang. My insides soon followed and sprayed the ground around me. I couldn’t help but take my eyes off the ghastly sight. Several bodies, not just one, hung from wires. Strung up like piñatas in the middle of the hallway. Their flesh rotting and peeling as their faces screamed silently at my intrusion. Limbs had rotted off and lay decomposing on the floor, the stench was miniscule but I knew that if disturbed the stench would be unbearable. I couldn’t turn away, I had to move forward. Picking up my wrench, the acid taste biting at my tongue from my own vomit, as I approached the hanging dead.

Oh this is just great. No matter how I tried, I just couldn’t seem to fit through without brushing against the dead bodies. I shook out every last thought of disgust as a shiver went down my spine. Taking a deep breath and holding. Run. The bodies danced in the flickering light. Twisting and spinning new shadows as I brushed by, smearing their hideous remains on my coat. Trying to scrape the rotting fragments out of my coat and feathers once I was clear. I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. I needed air. The thought of suffocating in the pod rushed back to me. Oh goddesses this was going to suck. A short sharp breath. It tasted like sewage, the scent burning my nostrils as the pungent odor wafted off of me. I barely held my stomach. Honestly it had emptied enough at this point already that I was suspecting it had something to do with being in stasis. I took a few steps forward. I could see the atrium doorway just up ahead. It was open and a bony foreleg lay in the opening. I girded myself and shuffled forward on my three good hooves. The wrench now tucked up under my wing for quick retrieval.

Several dead ponies lay here and there. Most had decayed much better than their hanging friends and the discolored bones were a much more welcome sight. At least these didn’t seem to be screaming. The atrium as a mess. Besides the bodies there were several overturned and smashed crates. Long devoid of anything useful. Papers and tools were scattered about and I set about looking for anything I could use. I thought about stuffing a few papers in my gullet to stave of some hunger but decided against it since I didn’t really want to think about several of the off-color stains. The only decent finds I made were a security key card and a knife. Not some flimsy makeshift do-dad mind you. An honest to goodness blade of fine Equestrian steel. It was light, well balanced and reasonably sharp. I wrapped the blade in some paper to form a sheath and then tucked it up with the wrench. Food was still a priority but with all the hobbling I had done I really felt stabilizing my ankle would be in my best interest.

Thankfully the crates offered plenty of splinting material. I ripped up several good length planks, now I only needed some cloth or bandages to strap them down and immobilize my injury. One of the skeletons had the tattered remains of a lab coat. I picked it up in my teeth and was about to rip it up when I tasted something foul. I spat the cloth out as it started to disintegrate in my mouth, kicking it over with my hoof. The underside was coated in some slimy substance. I notice the skeleton itself sat in a pool of the stuff. Oh gross. I had just stuck that pony in my mouth. I stuck my tongue out and rapidly raked my wingtips over it an attempt to dispel the dreadful taste from my mouth. So much for cloth.

My stomach growled again. It was getting louder, and I swear it sounded angry to. I wasn't all too familiar with stable layouts. I knew no two ever seemed to be the same so chances are I would wind up lost in some forgotten maintenance room or something. I need a map. And boy was I glad for that little flap of metal clinging to wall next to the door. A ‘you are here’ marked a spot in the atrium and showed many branches leading to various areas of the stable. ‘Engineering and Mainframe’ two doors down and then down a flight of stairs, ‘storage’ was straight ahead and ‘utility’ was down a corridor to the left. Well storage sounded like a good place to look for something to eat.

I paused. Was that? Oh yes it was. A water fountain. I trotted over and stepped on the hoofplate to activate the stream of water. Dirty gunky stuffed sputtered out but was eventually replaced with some much cleaner looking liquid. I took a long drink, then stuck my head under the running tap. It was very much refreshing. Shaking out my wet mane and taking another sip. I spent the next several minutes using the water to clean the blood and bits of rotting flesh from my coat. I’m sure I looked awkward as I dipped one wing under the faucet then deftly used the collecting pool to splash my body. Short of finding the shower this was the next best thing. I carefully cleaned my cut ankles. Inducing some slight bleeding but I was now confident I had gotten all the glass out.

Dripping wet and mostly clean I pulled out my knife and wedged it under the map plague. Prying it away from the wall to take with me so I could trace my steps. Though I guess I could just follow the drips of water. Oh well. It wasn’t like anypony in here was going to be making use of it anytime soon.

Storage was decorated with much the same rusty brown decor as the rest of the stable. Surprisingly the atrium was fairly decent, only a few scribbles marring its walls. ‘Food storage’. I looked up at the sign then peered into the room. Not a crumb remained. Overturned crates, smashed boxes. Even a few cereal boxes had been chewed or nibbled on. Great, I’m going to starve in this glorified tomb. Well maybe I could find something I could eat in one of the other rooms? I mean how bad could stuff be after only a year or two?

The other storage rooms were in similar states of disrepair. Nothing even remotely edible remained. I did manage to scavenge a tool belt from one of the maintenance closets. It proved much handier at holding my wrench and knife. Strapping it tight I headed back out of storage and headed in the direction the map indicated was utility. My hoofsteps echoed off the walls. It was noticeably darker in this section of the stable. I figured since there must be less vital stuff down here power had probably failed here before the others. The hallway ended with a single door. It was nothing special, but I cranked it open anyway. You never knew what Stable-Tec might have stashed away in the remotest rooms of even the most remote stables. I opened the door halfway before it stuck. It could go back down but going up further wasn’t an option. I slipped under into the dark room. The only light was that creeping in from the partially opened door.

I let my eyes adjust to the darkness before I started looking around. When I did I was rather surprised. The room was remarkably untouched. Shelves lining the walls and spaced in the center of the room. Identical boxes covered every inch of shelf space. A numbered plaque in front of each one. I wonder what was so special about these boxes. I took the first one off the shelf and shook it. Maybe not the safest of options. But since it didn’t blow up in my face I figured it was pretty harmless. Turning it over in my hooves as I sat, I noticed some writing on the box. It was too dark to read so I took the box with me and slipped back out the door. Alrighty, time to see what you’re all about mister box.

‘Stable 33 resident equipment package’. Okay pretty self-explanatory. I continued reading, ‘contains one PipBuck MK3Kb, stable specific uniform and attire and access card’. Well a uniform was made of fabric. I slit the seal with my knife and opened the box. Dumping the contents on the ground at my hooves I rummaged through the loot. There was quite a bit more than just what the label had read. I set the heavy metal box containing the PipBuck aside and picked up what appeared to be a night shirt. Not anymore! I made quick work of the material. Slicing it into strips and using it to bind up my ankles to stop the bleeding and using some longer strips to tie the slats of wood into a splint.

Standing up I gently put some light pressure on my ankle. It was tender. I drew it back up and tightened the straps. Gingerly I set it back down again. I shifted my weight from one hoof to another as I tested the splint. It still hurt a little but it was manageable. I limped a few paces. And limped back a few more. Yep, still hurts but at least I can walk on all fours again. With that resolved I turned back to the rest of the loot. A blue and gold set of stable barding. It looked rather rugged. I frowned when I noticed it evidently wasn’t made for a pegasus. I set it aside for now.

Taking up the PipBuck I flipped open the latches and opened the lid. It was a rather sleek looking piece of equipment. Much more refined than the military models I was used to. Those M15S’s were a real pain to use in the field. All that fancy encryption and long range targeting crap. I lifted up a sheet of paper that was tucked in with the device. ‘The PipBuck Mark 3000b is the latest in series 3000 PipBucks’. Great a sales pitch. ‘This model shares many of the same features as the 3000 such as a fully functional S.A.T.S., a terminal interface cable, radiation and medical monitoring, item sorting and holographic EFS display. Additional features include a short range biomedical scanner and radio communicator’. Sweet. Everything a M15S could do and more. All tucked into a neat little package. Honestly I swear they used the military as a testing ground and gave the best equipment to the public. Setting the paper aside I picked up the device. It resembled a large clamshell with a terminal screen on the top. It swung freely in two halves but once latched it could only be removed with a special tool. Well, I was going to die soon anyway at this rate so why not?

I snapped the device on above my front right hoof. Oh damn it’s itchy. I scratched at the area around the device as it booted up. A purple hued trotting pony illuminated the screen as a progress bar underneath slowly filled. Once booted it asked for a name to be entered. It was slow going but I managed to use the devices limited button and dial interface to spell out my name. Sparx. Well at first I tried my full name but that was too long and honestly I never use the last part anyway. I mean come on. Chromawing is a terrible last name. Sure it was the name of a well to do pegasi family in Las Pegasus but they had pretty much disowned me when I joined the army.

And you might wonder why they were so well off. Well, all members of the Chromawing family had a gene for hued feathers that differed from their coat. I was lucky and only had a pair of blue flight feathers. Some had plumages that were so over the top that they looked like a walking rainbow. The family dabbled in politics mostly, a life I could care less than a zebra’s ass about.

I let my thoughts wander as the PipBuck finished booting up. The soft purple glow was soothing and brightened the dark hallway rather nicely. Once it was fully set up I scrolled through the different menus. It was nice to see my knife and wrench under the weapon tab. I don’t think I could use a wrench for much else down here. The map quickly filled with a schematic of the stable. I guess I don’t need this anymore. Tossing the metal plague aside. A loud clanging of metal on metal echoed down the halls. I winced. Well if I wasn’t alone that would be a sure way to fix it.

“Okay, bringing up EFS and, tada.” My vision filled with little bits of technical data. A compass in the lower left and health and radiation status bars on the right. I reached out to touch them. Right. Holographic. It just a magical projection inside my eye. Nopony else could see it and I couldn’t touch it. It’s been awhile since I used one of these. I looked around. The compass rotated in the side of vision. Little yellow markers showing up as I looked directly at a wall. I glanced down at my PipBuck and brought up a map. Okay just in front and a few floors down was the stasis pod rooms. I really wish these things would tell you up and down and not just direction. Maybe they’d fixed that in the 4000 model, I shrugged. Looking back up I stopped. Wait. Stasis pods don’t move… but. Holding as still as I could I watched the little yellow bars on my Eyes Forward Sparkle. There it was again. Some of the bars were moving. Well crap. Just what I needed. At least they were yellow and not red. Red is dead they always said. There was no telling how long it would take them to get here.

So I did the only reasonable thing a pony would do. I trotted off to go meet the yellow bars.

Big mistake. Big, big mistake. The skittering in the atrium should have been enough of a warning as I watched the yellow bars dance on the other side of the wall. Just one peek, that’s what I told myself only I didn’t really expect anything to be staring back. I poked my head around the corner and looked right at the yellow bar. A giant, ugly, filthy and utterly revolting insect half the size of a pony glared back. Its antennae twitching and mandibles clicking as the bar immediately turned red. I dashed away as fast as I could. The swarm of red bars flooding the doorway behind me. Why’d it have to be bugs! I hated bugs. And these were as big as my body and wanted to eat me I was sure. I scrambled under the door in utility and cranked it closed as fast as I could. Even with my injury I was impressed with how quickly I had moved without using my wings. Granted, it was a little tight for flight down here anyway.

The door clicked closed as the insects burst upon it. Thankfully they didn’t have enough brains to figure out the hoof crank. Panting I sat and tried to count the bars on the other side of the door. One, two… four… five. “Oh just hold still will you!” I shouted in frustration at the door. That only seemed to stir them even more. Okay at least five, maybe six? And only one me, running on empty. What a wonderful predicament. I turned up the brightness on my PipBuck. A warm purple sphere of light emanating from my hoof as I took some time to look over the other contents in the room. A total of eighty boxes lined the shelves. All of them containing similar contents. I pulled out some of the uniforms. One of the uniforms looked like it was for a worker pony. The extra pockets and heavier material confirmed as I read the tag under the collar, ‘reinforced utility jacket’. Sweet now if only they came in a style with wing holes. I didn’t find any. In fact of the twenty boxes I went through I only found two more of the utility jackets.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. And well… I had a knife. I only ruined one of the jackets before I got it right. Slicing a pair of slits above the shoulders so I could slip my wings through. The jacket was snug, rolling up the sleeves to expose the PipBuck. The gold emblazoned ‘33’ on the collar identifying it as belonging to the stable. The jacket had slots for some tools so I moved my knife and wrench there and discarded the belt. It was chafing in a rather uncomfortable area as it were.

The frantic scurrying drew my attention back to the door. The bugs weren’t going away anytime soon. I swear they had looked just like cockroaches. But sweet Celestia… that size. I doubt a can of insecticide would be effective on those monstrosities. I looked away from the entrance. I could die in here from starvation or I could find a way to kill the buggers. Choices that weren’t really choices. Standing up I limped around the room. Picking up the various key cards from the boxes I had opened. Several different colors, but no identifying marks of any kind. The card I had found earlier must have belonged to one of the workers. Then I saw it. The gleam of metal as the light from my PipBuck caught the frame of the door. Trotting over to small entrance at the rear of the room. ‘Janitorial’ read the wording on the front. Well, accidents happen.

I didn’t really know what to expect. Mops, brooms a few buckets and boxes of chemicals. Nothing seemed to scream ‘bug killer’ at me. Maybe I could smother them to death with a mop. Snickering at the thought I turned to leave, banging my hard head on an object near the door. “Ow, damn it.”

Rubbing my sore noggin I looked up at what I bumped into. A small yellow tin box was affixed to the wall. A trio of little pink butterflies adorned the front. Score. A Ministry of Peace first aid kit, ‘for all your boo-boo’s’.

Flipping the latch I was pleased to find the contents untouched. A first aid manual, a healing potion and some real bandages. Well I was in decent shape right now so might as well save that potion till I really need it. The first aid booklet found a home in my front pocket when a thought occurred to me. The PipBuck was equipped with a biomedical scanner. Maybe I could use that to see just what I was facing off against?

Okay well maybe heavy metal doors weren’t the best thing to try and scan through. It still didn’t stop me from trying. And trying again. Still nothing. Well might as well kill the nasty things and then find out what they are if they don’t kill me first. Just how should I… bingo.

Holding the wrench in my mouth I slowly started cranking the door open. The red bars in my EFS danced in eager anticipation. Trying to slip under, the bugs had to flatten themselves under the door. Now if the door was fast enough I could squash them right there. But when had I ever been that lucky. Instead I darted over and activated S.A.T.S. The world slowed around me as the spell highlighted the bugs various parts, even showing my chance of hitting. Well the head was an easy target and with a chance of ninety percent where could I go wrong? Selecting my blows then letting the spell do the rest. CRACK. The plumbers wrench collided with the insect's head. A second blow and the head was torn clean off and sent flying across the room like a golf ball. Green goop splattered my face. A little getting in my mouth. It tasted rather bitter.

A second bug scrambled to get under the door. “Uh na ya donth,” I hissed around the wrench in my mouth. I targeted the critters head. One blow missed and ripped off an antenna. The second crushed in the carapace shell that protects the critters brain. I brought up S.A.T.S. on a third as it sank down twitching. Damn. Not enough charge. Well as long as they came one by one I could handle them.

My neck was sore and my jaw numb when the last one finally stopped twitching. Eight. There had been eight of the ugly things. So what if I miscounted. I spat my wrench out and did my best to get the green goopy stuff out of mouth and off my face. Now to see just what you are. I pulled up my PipBuck and activated the biomedical scanner. A blue cone of energy radiated down on the corpses as the device searched for information.

>Medical scanning in progress
>Please wait
>
>Scan complete

I flipped through the information. Just how many words for dead were there? I knew it was dead. I killed them, just tell me what it is that’s dead. Oh, look. A species notice. Radroach? What the heck was a radroach?

Evidently I had killed eight of them. And I still had no clue what they were. Never heard of a Radroach in my life. Come on, you can’t just pull a name out of thin air like that. Can you? I wonder if they taste good.

Bletch. The mere thought of chowing down on one of those critters was sickening. Okay, maybe if I find a way of cooking it wouldn’t be so bad. Pulling out my knife I gutted one of the smaller bugs. Not much to a radroach apparently. Some weird organs and more of the green goop. Well better than nothing. Wrapping some of the less revolting pieces in some cloth I slung them over my shoulder. To my amazement my PipBuck inventory added Radroach Meat to its list. Well, it must be edible at least I thought to myself. And then, how the hell does it know this kind of stuff.

I really need to get out of here before more show up. I still hadn’t explored engineering. Why not, I thought to myself. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do.

A big yellow and gray stripped door blocked my way. No cranks, no levers. Well looks like another dead end. The lights flickered and I noticed a faint red dot of light on the wall beside me. Looking closer I could see the raised plate and lights that indicated I had found a card reader. Maybe all those cards would come in handy after all.

“Okay scratch one card.” The light flashed red three times and then returned to its steady state. “Three times a charm?” Again access denied. My stack of reject cards was steadily growing. Please work, please work. I tried another card. I was down to my last three and Lune be damned if I was going to have to go back and get all eighty cards to try.

A yellow flash? Then it turned red again. That was… new. I tried the card again. A yellow light blinked three times and then DING. A green light turned on and I could hear the doors unlock and start moving. Figures engineering would be the last place to lose power.

I collect my cards back up, making note to put the engineering access card on the top of the stack before putting them in one of my jackets numerous pockets. The lights were dim as I walked through the open doorway. Machinery littered the floor, terminals sitting on desks. Yet everything was rather clean. A few burnt out panels were wires had shorted but other than that it still looked factory fresh. Now if I had been mechanically gifted maybe I could have crafted a better weapon than what I was carrying. But that wasn’t on my list of priorities at the moment. I wanted answers. And the mainframe had better serve them to me on a silver platter.

‘Central Mainframe’. The sign flickered as the door slid open. I had needed to use the access card again to get the door open but it sure was easier now that I had sorted the cards somewhat. Inside, wires bundled together arced through the air. Leading from a central tower to various outlets in the ceiling of the room. A single display screen was affixed to the tower and a keyboard and card reader was below that. Well no time like the present.

Trotting over and planting my plot down I struck a key on the keyboard.

>Insert ID

Insert what now? I looked at the card reader slot. Well here goes nothing. I inserted the card that had gotten me this far.

>Welcome
>Chief Engineer Cogwheel
>Credentials accepted

Well who ever this Cogwheel fellow was I thanked him. Screens of technical data and folders of information of every system or piece of equipment in the stable was suddenly at my wingtips. I wonder…

>Stasis Pods
*click*
>Pod Room 7
*click*
>Pod 7-4 status
*click*

Navigating to the pod I had been sleeping in till only a few hours ago.

>Pod 7-4 currently inoperable
>Power supply: offline
>Life support systems: offline
>System requires immediate attention
>Occupant Status: unknown

Well that’s encouraging. At least I wasn’t dead. I scrolled through several more logs of pod data. Similar results. Loss of power, life support failures. Some occupants deceased. Others unknown. A select few still were operating though at dangerously low levels of power. I noticed I could override the wake up protocols from here but I’d need a power core with at least fifteen percent power to do that. I barely even had five.

So much for waking everypony up and walking out together.

Backing out of the system and logging off I tried several more cards. A few names that meant nothing to me. Some had limited access to some systems or programs most had nothing. Still one card piqued my interest. A mister ‘Golden Ledger’ with a title of master historian and overstallion. Well wasn’t that nice. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I just helped myself to his files. I did have his ID card after all. I clicked on the first file. A message from Stable-Tec.

>Congratulations Overstallion/Overmare,
>Your stable has been selected to preserve the history of Equestria.
>This stable has been fitted with life-support pods to ensure all members safely make it the end of any foreseeable catastrophe.
>The door is linked to an external sensor array that will open the door after ensuring safety outside the stable and then wake the sleeping populace of your stable.
>In the event that the door doesn’t open you are authorized to disengage the electronic lock and implement a manual override to vacate the stable in the stable door control room.
>A false wall at the end of the pod chamber hallway houses a door to access the historical archives once Equestria is ready to reestablish or properly direct a government should the need arise.
>Stable-Tec

So there is a manual override. Damn. If I had known that how many could we have saved? One? Five? Twenty? I shook the thought form my mind as the screams of ponies rose in chorus as I dwelt on the dead. No, there was nothing we could do. Nopony knew of the override. They couldn’t have. Nopony who was supposed to be in the stable ever made it before the balefire hit. Still maybe I could get out and find help. I downloaded the override code to my PipBuck as I sat there thinking. I could find another power source to save the ponies still trapped in their cold timeless prisons. Speaking of time. I wonder how long I’ve been out.

“No fucking way!” I balked at the numbers on the screen. According to the computer the last recorded entry to the computers was made roughly two hundred years ago. I couldn’t have slept for that long. There was no way in Tartarus that I could be this healthy for a two hundred year old stallion. Okay well maybe the pods did halt ageing. But still, damn. Two hundred years. Everything would be different. Nopony I knew would be around waiting for me to come home. No, job well done soldier. I was a nobody, missing in action, a headstone with no body ever found. No. I was somepony. To those still sleeping, I was their only hope at survival. And Luna burn me with moon fire if I was going to just give up on them.

Well I had a goal in sight. Just no idea of how to accomplish it. I guess the first step would be to open the door and see just what kind of world Equestria was now. I could have gotten up right then and left, but I noticed a file I hadn’t seen before. A listing for volumes in the historical archives. You know. Maybe that was where the missing documents had disappeared to. That would explain why nopony knew about them. Only the overstallion would have known, and he wasn’t even here. Stable-Tec must’ve been behind the theft.

I clicked the file and scrolled though several of the titles. They were listed alphabetically and I had no idea what most of them were. Until I noticed one file particular, ‘Changelings: Collections on the Hive’. Well wasn’t that a surprise. One of the missing documents was surely hidden down there if they had that document. It hadn’t even been reported missing yet, but then again, it would have only been a matter of time. It was a highly classified document. Only a few ponies besides the princesses had even seen its cover, much less the contents inside. And how did I know this? Well, you’re looking at the pony who wrote several of the reports contained inside. Once the changelings were subdued they more or less fell from the public eye. But that didn’t mean we didn’t still keep tabs on known operatives. They stayed neutral in our war with the zebras, thank Celestia. Who knows what could have happened if the Zebras got their dirty hooves on the hivemind. This report documented every known encounter with the strange race. I think I’m just going to have to take a quick look at this so called historical archive.

The pod rooms hummed quietly as I walked past. I could see through several of the viewports, my EFS telling me which pods still were functioning properly. There were a lot less than I would have hoped. It was revolting. Stables had been meant to save ponies. But now this one was just slowly killing them off. This wasn’t a stable. It was a tomb. One where the bodies would never be buried. Where no one would come to mourn the fallen and no one would care. No one, but me.

The hallway ended abruptly. A spattering of blood and streaks of rusty brown lined the edges of the broken false wall. The two wooden doors forced open into the hall. Inside was blackness. But that wasn’t the only thing. I turned up my PipBuck light and looked through the doorway, taking a cautious step inside. My hoof brushed against something and I looked down at a worn book. It looked... chewed? “Oh shit....”

The words were barely out of my mouth when I picked up the distant skittering sound. Then little red bars flickered to life in my vision. More roaches. I bolted back with a quick flap of my wings. Ow, that hurt. Ever since a crippling flight accident I hadn’t been able to fly for more than a few brief moments, and only then with extreme pain. The MoP had offered some experimental reconstructive surgery but I had turned them down. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea at the time.

I turned in the doorway and hooked the doors with my wings. Swinging them closed, and then bouncing back open a little. “Great no locks,” I muttered to myself. I was about to get attacked by a library full of pony eating radroaches and I didn’t even have a door to hold them back. Or maybe I didn’t need one? Holding the doors shut I pulled out my wrench and wedged it under the handles not a moment too soon. The onslaught of insects slammed against the other side. The doors bulged outward slightly, but they held. I wasn’t about to stand around and wait for to see for how long either.

As fast as a limping pony could I made for the atrium and from there followed the map on my PipBuck to the stable door. I cranked the door closed behind me, thankful that I wouldn’t have to worry about the bugs getting in that way.

The immense Stable door stood resolutely in place. The only obstacle between me and finding a way to save the ponies down below. Limping over to the maintenance terminal in a small room off to the side I booted the system up. It was slower than molasses on hearth warming eve. I logged in as the overstallion as fast as the machine would let me. Eons seemed to pass before I was prompted with a line of text.

>Override stable door locks?
> Y/N

Um… yes? I pressed the ‘y’ key with my wingtip. It’s surprising how dexterous a pegasus’s wings really are.

>Enter password and hit enter

Okay here goes nothing. I glanced at the note on my PipBuck and started typing. H...I...S..T..O..R..Y. ENTER

“What a stupid password.”

Suddenly the monitor screen went dark. What the hay? I tapped a few keys. Nothing. Then I heard it. A loud sound of something metal unhinging. Perking up, my ears swiveled in the direction of the sound. I stepped out and saw the locks being released on the door itself. And I saw the small hoof crank that was illuminated by a flashing beacon. Once the locks had stopped making noise I started to crank the door open. The door hissed as air rushed in the broken seal. The smell was dull and stingy. I scrunched up my nose as I continued to crank the door open.

Once it was open enough for me to see through I got up. The door started sliding closed on its own. Well curses. If I did get through, I might not be better back in. Well I’d definitely die or risk being eaten if I stay here. And I’m sure I could think of something eventually to get the door open on the other side. I opened the door a bit further, then made a mad dash for the exit. The door screeched closed behind me as I was plunged into darkness.

One step and I heard an ominous crunch. Oh, goddesses please let that not be what I think it is. Turning on the PipBuck light I looked at the twisted and blackened rib cage that encircled my hoof like a trap. A shiver ran down my spine as I shook it off and looked at the charred remains of the countless ponies who had died because those doors had closed them out. I could still recall their dying screams and I couldn’t take it anymore. I joined in with them. Screaming as I ran. Running as fast as I could out of the shaft, scattering bones in my wake as I made for the exit. I only stopped when it was all behind me. The bones, the stable, the screams. I stood there, panting. It was at that moment that I looked up at my surroundings. The demolished wastes as far as my eyes could see. Time having taken its toll on the neglected work site. And as I looked around I noticed something.

Everything was gray.

____________________________
Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Exterminator- You deal 50% more damage to mutated insects

Author's Notes:

For those of you who are taking a second look you will notice this chapter is different from the original. This is due to me having some extra time and not being overly pleased with how the first few chapters turned out. So I will be writing and rewriting as I go to improve the quality to a level I'm comfortable with before submitting them for readers.