It was dark and it was quiet. The hum of generators, the constant sounds of digging and the shouts of ponies were far behind us. A future I’d only dreamed of lay ahead. Jerry and I had left the museum behind as the sun had begun to set. The night grew dark before we found an abandoned shack. The door, if you could call a slab of sheet metal a door, had been bashed in but was otherwise intact. It looked as though the hinges had torn free of the rotten wood they’d been anchored in and with a little bit of effort Jerry and I managed to prop it haphazardly back into place. The interior was empty save for a trio of moldy bedrolls, a decrepit wooden table, and a footlocker that was more rust than metal at this point. The fading light filtered through the unevenly spaced boards of the walls, giving the whole place an otherworldly look.

Jerry, living up to her cutie-mark, managed to pull an old kerosene lamp out of the foot locker. She settled herself down on one of the bedrolls and fiddled with the lamp, trying to get it to light as I took up position next to her. The weapon that had been instrumental in my liberation rested between my hooves as I carefully wrapped the twisted rebar in strips of cloth torn from the spare bedroll. It was hard to believe that a hunk of literal junk would be the one thing that had been the difference between life and death. Freedom and slavery.

My Liberator.

I smirked. Sounded like a good enough name to me. Liberator. I leaned away from the handle to grab another strip of cloth and winced. I hurt all over, much like I assumed Jerry did. We’d only managed to find a few magical bandages in the warehouse and they didn’t pack nearly the same punch as a nice healing potion. I could feel several cold spots where my blood had soaked into the bandages and cooled. We ached, but we were free - free to go where and do what we wanted.

The lantern flashed and a small, flickering flame began to grow brighter within. Jerry smiled triumphantly and pushed it forward until it sat in the middle of the dirt floor, well away from anything that might catch fire. She settled herself down and stared at it quietly, her eyes unfocused. In turn, I watched her, unsure of what to say, let alone what to do. I’d dreamt of this moment for so long and now that it was here I was at a loss. I glanced down at my hooves and scraped them on the dirt floor. I took a deep breath and turned towards Jerry.

“What do we do now, Free?” she suddenly asked. My words died in my throat and I closed my mouth. Jerry looked at me, her eyes wide and shimmering in the firelight. “I… I don’t know what to do? Or where to go? How do we survive?”

My mind pored over the things I could say. I could tell her that I would protect her. Or that as long as we were together we could face any challenge no matter the odds. I could say nothing at all and kiss her… None of those things seemed like the right thing to do.

“I don’t know, Jerry,” I said after a moment. “We’ve been slaves so long, I don’t really remember much from before.”

Jerry lowered her eyes and nodded weakly. “It’s… kinda sad, isn’t it?” she muttered. I nodded in agreement and a silence fell over the two of us as the reality of our situation crept in. Somewhere in the deepest, darkest recesses of my mind was a small, terrified voice suggesting we return to The Dig. Return to those who did all the thinking for me. I closed my eyes and willed that voice silent.

Never.

“What do you know about the area?” I asked, opening my eyes and looking at Jerry again. She blinked at me, confused for a moment and then looked back towards the lantern as she thought.

“Well,” she said, pausing as her thoughts were gathered, “it’s big. There isn’t much of anything for miles around but desert and mountains. I guess even before the war this place was pretty desolate.” Jerry glanced down at the dirt floor of the shack and pressed her hoof into it. She twisted it back and forth, creating a small divot. “Let’s say this is The Dig,” she said, looking at me. I nodded and she continued, drawing a small line with the tip of her hoof to a small stone. “This stone would be the museum.”

I frowned at that. “So we’re not all that far from The Dig?”

Jerry shook her head. “No. And it won’t be long before we’re overdue. I guess they’d send somepony out to find us after that.”

“How long have we got?” I asked. Jerry shrugged and wiped her hoof across her crudely drawn map.

“A week. At most.” she said, looking back at the lantern.

A week.

A week to put as much distance between us and Fortune’s slavers as possible. With enough distance between us and them, maybe I could finally find the right time to tell her how I feel. Maybe… just maybe…

Jerry yawned as my mind raced. She lowered her head, sleepily staring at the lantern. “I wish Bucket was here,” she murmured.

I glanced over at her, watching her watch the flickering flame. I carefully reached over and brushed my hoof through her mane.

“Yeah,” I muttered quietly, “me too.” Jerry shifted a little closer and muttered something unintelligible. “Shh. Get some sleep,” I said softly. “We’ll be heading out in the morning.” She nodded weakly, already halfway there. I smiled at her and continued to stroke her mane.

Telling her would have to wait.

I opened my eyes several hours later. At least it felt like several hours. I blinked wearily and looked at the sputtering lamp sitting in the middle of the shack. It took me entirely too long to realize Jerry wasn’t by my side. I shut my eyes tight for a moment and reopened them, hoping it was some trick played upon my senses by the exhaustion, but she was still nowhere in sight.

I scrambled to my hooves, and despite the small size of the shack, looked around the interior, hoping to spy her somewhere. “Jerry?” I called. Nothing. Too much to hope for.

I galloped to the door and threw it open. Immediately a hoof smashed into my face, driving me backwards into the shack and onto the floor. The smell and taste of copper washed over me as blood dribbled from my nose.

“There you are, slave.” My eyes widened and I looked up. There, in the doorway, stood a zebra I knew only by voice. He looked down at me with a mixture of disdain and boredom. I started to get up but he reared back, balancing on his hind legs and gave me a quick series of jabs that left me twitching and gasping for air. With an almost unnatural grace, he lowered himself back down.

“You have made many problems for Master Fortune,” Zero said calmly, “and he has tasked me to extract reimbursement from your flesh and blood.” Behind Zero, two armored unicorns stepped into view, their weapons levitated in front of them and their features shrouded in shadow from the light spilling in behind them. “You will be returned to The Dig where your screams will serve as a reminder about what happens when you defy the master’s will.”

CLACK!

My heart stalled, skipping a beat as I looked down at my hind leg. A metal cuff was fastened around it, surrounded by hazy violet magic. A length of chain weaved around Zero and his guards and out the shack door. One of the duo turned and raised a hoof to his mouth.

“Pull him out!” he shouted. The chain slithered out the lit doorway, drew taught and raised off the floor.

“No…” I muttered as I began to slide towards the door. My heart began to thunder in my chest as Zero stepped aside, watching me impassively. “NO!” I twisted ferociously, absently aware of the flesh on my ankle once again tearing free as I scraped my hooves at the floor. “NO! GODDESSES NO!!” I screamed as I drew closer to the door. I reached out my legs, catching the edges of the frame and with a great effort, halted my progress. Zero strode over, looking at me with that damned neutral face of his.

“How did you expect this to end, slave?” he asked. I stared up at him, teeth grit and eyes wide. He calmly lifted a hoof and jabbed the toe into the meat of my shoulder. Instantly my leg went numb, I was pulled through the door…

...and fell.

I was falling. Falling into nothing. Inky blackness roiled around me as the wind rushed past. I screamed, the sound lost to the void. Then there was light. The void retreated, slithering away from the bright vibrant light. I winced and squinted, shielding my eyes from the radiance. Then I screamed again as there came a sound that threatened to split my skull apart. A high pitched keening that echoed across the emptiness. I clamped my hooves over my ears and tucked my head down, trying to shut out the noise. It pierced my whole body, making itself known no matter how loud I screamed or how tightly I covered my ears.

I jerked awake in the early morning light, gasping for air and with my heart pounding in my chest. It was raining, if the pattering on the rusting tin roof was any indication. Jerry was curled up next to me, shivering in the chilled morning air. There was a crack of thunder and the entire shack shook. I lifted a hoof and rubbed at my eye as I peered blearily around our surroundings. No sign of Zero and Jerry was sleeping silently next to me. Both good signs. The lantern’s wick was a weak smolder, its fuel burned up during the night. I sniffled, the scent of copper strong in the air. I rubbed my nose on my foreleg, smearing a ruddy streak along my grey hide. I sniffed again and shrugged. Must’ve been from my fight with Bruiser. Just another thing to remember that asshole by.

I stood slowly, doing my level best to ignore the protests of my sore muscles and barely healed wounds. My movement elicited a groan from Jerry, and she curled up a little more, fighting that waking feeling with all her might. I smiled and stepped away quietly; she could take a couple of extra minutes to herself. I carefully moved the battered door aside, stepped out into the morning air, and closed my eyes, letting the rain wash over me. This was the only nicety I had enjoyed at The Dig. Taking a moment and just savoring the cooling sensation of fresh rainfall.

After a long moment, I opened my eyes again and stared out across the muddy landscape. Despite the cloud cover, the world seemed brighter than ever, but maybe that was the bias of not waking up to the guards’ screaming obscenities and threats. As far as I could see, while deliberately avoiding looking back in the direction of the museum, was nothing. Miles of puddles and mud with the occasional pocket of brush to break it up.

“I guess any direction is good as long as it’s away…” I muttered.

“...s’not.” I turned and smiled at Jerry as she sleepily wiped at her eyes. She was sitting up in the bed, but only barely awake.

“What was that?” I asked as I walked back inside and settled down next to her again. She leaned against me and yawned.

“We gotta be careful out here. I’ve heard Bruiser warn the others about something called the ‘ee aye eff’. I’m not sure what that is. But there’s also raiders, like Wrecker, only worse,” she added.

I had heard talk about the raiders around The Dig. More than once a slaving team had gone out and come back in bits and pieces. Word would spread that they’d run afoul of this group or that tribe. A week or so later a more heavily armed team would head out. They often came back a little worse for wear, but otherwise intact, and often bearing fresh slaves. For a while after that the runs would go more-or-less smoothly until the cycle repeated.

“What about... towns? Or settlements? Do you know of any place we could go?” I asked. Jerry frowned and shook her head.

“They never talked about that sort of thing around us. It wasn’t knowledge they wanted us to have,” she said, her ears flattening. I took a deep breath, standing up to carefully settle Liberator onto my back and secured it with a sling. Jerry watched me for a moment, unsure of what she should be doing. I stepped outside and turned back to smile at her.

“If you don’t know somewhere specific to go, then we’ll just pick a direction and see what we find.” Jerry smiled, stood, and trotted out to stand next to me.

“Okay then,” she said as she peered out across the muddy landscape. After a brief moment she jabbed her hoof out and pointed. “How about that way?” I winced and looked down at her.

“That way?” I muttered. “But I wanted to go that way,” I added, pointing off in the opposite direction. Jerry narrowed her eyes at me and I cracked a grin. She smiled and jabbed her hoof into my shoulder. My mind briefly flashed to Zero’s bored look. I blinked and shook my head, forcing the thought away.

“You ass!” she said as she trotted forward, heading in the direction she’d picked. “C’mon. Jeez, give a guy his namesake and suddenly he’s all jokes.”

Jerry and I stood next to one another. We’d slogged through the mud and rain the entire day. We were tired and soaked to the bone. After a day’s trek we’d found ourselves standing beneath a rocky outcropping that jutted from the ground like a broken femur, at the center of which was a yawning dark hole that disappeared underground.

“Think it’s safe?” Jerry half-whispered. I took a tentative step forward and peered into the inky depths.

“Is anything really safe?” I asked as I glanced over my shoulder. The light was fading fast and the prospect of shelter was better than the thought of sleeping in the open and vulnerable. “C’mon, let’s see what’s down there while it’s still light enough for us to run in terror,” I said as I trotted into the cave. Jerry stared after me, her eyes wide and a little startled.

“You! You are so not funny!” she said as she followed closely behind. The cave floor was a gentle slope that sank deeper into the ground.

Thankfully none of the rain had found a way in here, or surely the entire thing would be a reeking cesspit of stagnant muck. Soon we were walking along the wall, one hoof against it as darkness crept over us. “Free, I can’t see my hoof in front of my face. L-let’s get out of here.”

I could hear the worry in her voice. It was echoed in my mind. The hushed voice telling me to turn back because it was dark and scary. But I had to ignore it, I had to press on. “This was the closest thing to shelter as far we could see. You’d prefer to sleep out in the rain?” I asked. Jerry grumbled, but said nothing. I opened my mouth to reassure her, when there was a loud pop and a shower of sparks spilled down from the cave ceiling. Jerry shrieked and in the rapidly fading light I saw her cover her mouth. From somewhere deeper in the cave came a low, mechanical rumbling. Lights that had been hanging overhead in the darkness flickered into weak life, filling the cavern with wan yellow lighting.

I blinked a few times as my eyes readjusted to the sudden light. The cave we were in ended abruptly twenty feet ahead in a squat concrete slab, in the center of which was a steel door. Speakers on either side of the door squawked and squelched a moment before cutting out entirely. Yellow warning lights ignited and began flashing in slow circles as the door shrieked and began to ratchet open, protesting loudly the entire time. Jerry leaned against me, her hooves clamped over her ears as she stared at the door.

“Free! What is going on?!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. I just shook my head and watched carefully. It took several minutes for the door to open fully and then the cave plunged into silence once more. A small, empty chamber sat beyond the door. A small control box rested on a pole at the center of the room, a large red button it’s only feature. Jerry carefully peeled her hooves from her ears and opened her mouth, working her jaw to get her ears to pop. “What the hell is this place?!” she asked, a bit too loudly. I winced and held out a hoof to her. “Oh! Sorry!” she shouted again.

I shook my head, sighed and approached the open door. The room was round in shape, save for small alcoves that were at regularly spaced intervals. I stepped into the room, expecting something to jump out at me, but save for the mechanical humming somewhere beneath us, it was quiet. Jerry peered around me and pointed a hoof at the button.

“What do you think that does?” she asked, finally at a reasonable volume. I shrugged and walked around the small raised control box that housed the button. I’d seen similar things at The Dig, usually rigged up to makeshift gates and the like.

“I dunno,” I said as I reached out to press it. Jerry’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. She darted forward and slapped my hoof away. “Ow!” I said, shaking my hoof and looking at her.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she shouted.

“What? You wanted to know what it does!”

“You don’t just press a random button in a room hidden in a small cave! Who does that? That would be enormously stupid!” she said, as she reared back and shoved at me with both forehooves. It succeeded only in throwing her off balance.

“Do you want to know what it does, or not?” I asked. Jerry scowled at me.

“Not if it could cost me my life,” she said as she turned her back on me in a huff. I looked at her for a moment as my ears drooped.

“I’m sorry, J-”

My words were choked off as the whole floor lurched and the sound of metal on metal echoed through the chamber. Jerry staggered closer to me as I struggled to maintain my balance.

“I thought I said not to press the button!” she screamed at me. I vigorously shook my head.

“I… I didn’t!” I stammered as the floor lurched more violently and tossed Jerry and me from our hooves. We landed in a tangle of limbs, each struggling against the other to stand. The doors began to shriek again as they inched closed.

Jerry’s eyes bulged in their sockets and she struggled even harder. She pressed her hoof into my face, trying with all her might to get free. “Free! FREE! The door! Its closing! Get up! We have to-” she said as the doors ground closed with a resounding boom. Jerry rushed to the door and beat her hooves against the unyielding metal. The floor jerked for a third time and began to descend, the door gradually rising out of Jerry’s reach. She dropped to her rear and stared up at the door. “Well... that’s just perfect…” she muttered. I rolled to my hooves and rubbed my aching face.

“Relax, Jerry. It’s just an elevator. It’ll be fine,” I said as I stood. “We’ll just wait til this thing stops and go back up.” Jerry turned to fix me with a rather angry glare.

“How do you propose we do that?” she asked. My eyes darted around and quickly fell upon the only thing that gave me the faintest bit of hope.

“We’ll just hit the control button,” I offered, indicating the button with a hoof. Jerry looked at it and then at me.

“And if that doesn’t work?” she asked. My ears fell and I brushed my hoof across the back of my neck.

“Uhh, I guess we’ll have to look for another way out,” I muttered, not entirely convinced of my plan myself. It sounded doable. At least, I hoped it would be doable.

The elevator ground on for several more minutes before it finally screeched to a halt at its destination. The wall at the end of one of the small alcoves lit up and retracted with the hiss of escaping air. Beyond it, lights began to flicker on or explode in a shower of sparks, illuminating a narrow corridor. Jerry, all too eager NOT to go explore this opening, tapped her hoof against the control button. She waited, glancing around for some sign that it had worked. When she got none, she pressed it again.

“C’mon you stupid thing…” she hissed as she jammed her hoof against the button over and over. After several failed attempts she reared back onto her hind legs and ferociously beat her front hooves against it, all while growling like one of those feral ghouls from the museum. I turned away and slowly started down the newly opened corridor deigning it to be the safer option. It was looking more and more like option two was on the table. The air was stale, with a tang I couldn’t quite place.

Intake was stenciled onto the floor in faded yellow paint that seemed to glow in the wan lighting. From it extended a long line that lead into the next room. Curiosity got the better of me, and I followed it. This room was easily three times larger than the elevator that brought us down and was covered in a layer of dust and scattered paper that was brittle with age. I could also see the telltale droppings of radroaches. There were four long benches in pairs in the middle of the room with a series of numbers stenciled in front of each. A couple of feet in front of them was a set of thin dividing walls jutting out from the wall. Hoof prints were marked on the floor in faded yellow paint in each little cubicle, along with the words “Stand Still”. With a shrug, I poked my leg in and placed it on one of the rear hoof prints. A series of red lights set into the walls of the booth flickered to life and a grid of lasers formed. I yanked my hoof away just as the beams drew near and backed up several steps until I bumped into the bench behind me. A moment later the beams died and a small speaker crackled to life.

“Error. Improper alignment. Unable to generate measurements. Please remain on the indicator markers until the scan is completed.”

Measurements? I mouthed. I stepped back into the booth and hesitantly lined myself up on the indicated markings. I closed my eyes and hoped that these beams weren’t like the ones that came from some of the slavers’ guns. The red lights ignited and I braced myself as they traced across me. I peeked out of a barely opened eye and then sighed in relief when there was no pain. The beams traced across my body slowly and after a minute they turned off again.

“Thank you. Your barding will be complete when you finish the admissions processing.”

“Barding?” I muttered.

“Free? Where’d you go now?” Jerry called.

“Next room,” I called over my shoulder as I glanced at the door leading to the next chamber. I heard Jerry trot up behind me and turned to look at her. She was glancing around the room curiously, or perhaps warily.

“Well the elevator doesn’t want to work, so I guess we need to find that other way out you mentioned,” she said as she adjusted her mane. “What is this place?” I shrugged and gestured at the booth with a wave of my hoof.

“Beats me. But this thing just told me I’m getting barding when I complete some sort of admission process,” I muttered. Jerry glanced at it and then back at me.

“We probably shouldn’t be messing with this stuff. Goddesses only know what it’s all for,” she said as she stepped away from the booth and toward the next room. I looked between her and the booth and quickly trotted after her.

“You don’t want to try it and see if you get barding?” I asked her. She sighed dramatically and glanced back at me.

“C’mon Free, this stuff is ancient. The chances of it working are almost zip,” she said. She reached out a hoof and the door in front of her opened with a hiss and she paused. I trotted past her, looking at her as I did, a smile on my face.

“Wow. That’s some zip.”

“Oh, shut up,” she grumped, following me.

The next room was similar to the last in that it was empty and dirty. Instead of little booths with scanners in them, there were desks and chairs set up. “Please wait for your name to be called” was stenciled on the floor in the same scuffed, yellow paint. Everything appeared… intact, if a bit worse for wear. The desks were moldy, as well as the chairs, and it looked as though the upholstery had been chewed apart by radroaches. Jerry stepped through the room, looking at each of the desks with a curious look on her face. We both jumped when speakers set into the ceiling squawked.

“We’re terribly sorry. No one on the admissions team is currently available. Please wait a moment while an admissions drone is activated to assist you.”

“What’s an admissions drone?” I asked, looking up at the ceiling.

“Why, I am!” called a tinny and wholly unnatural voice. My eyes dropped from the ceiling onto the nearest desk as an orange pony rose into view from behind it, though calling it a pony would be generous. It was in a vaguely stallion-like shape with a hard plastic exterior. It moved in awkward, jerking motions and sported a permanent rictus grin. All of this was made creepier by how run down it was. The plastic was brittle and cracked. In some places it had fallen away completely and gave brief glimpses of the oily metal skeleton hidden beneath. “Hello-o-o-o there, and welcome to your new ho-o-o-ome underground.” I glanced sidelong at Jerry who was simply staring at the not-pony with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and disgust. If the drone noticed, it didn’t react. It turned to look at Jerry and then back at me in awkward jerking motions. “How can I-I-I help you today?”

“Um…” I said. The drone turned and fixed me with its glassy, unblinking eyes. “What is this place?”

“Why, this is St-st-stable One-Two-One. The latest in Stable-Tec’s underground magical fallout shelters,” it said with the gesture of a crooked limb. Jerry’s eyes widened a bit as the drone kept talking. “In fact, Stable One-Two-One boasts nearly tot-t-tal automation of all vital functions so our dwellers can l-l-l-live in peace and comfort without having to lift a hoof to help.”

“So… where are the other residents?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, but with your current status as admissions applicants, I am not at liberty to discuss the current goings-on in the Stable. However if your application is accepted you will be welcomed into Stable One-Two-One with open hooves!” the drone said, spreading its forelegs wide. Its left leg groaned and a moment later fell lifeless to its side. My eyes followed it down, then I glanced back up at its unblinking eyes.

“That’s quite alright. I don’t think my friend and I are suited to... better living, underground,” Jerry said as she nudged me back the way we’d come. “So I think we’ll just be leaving, if it’s all the same to you.”

Taking the hint, I nodded politely at the robot and started back towards the elevator. Its head slowly rotated to follow us, but it said nothing. Just as we were about to pass through the open door, it snapped shut in front of us, missing my nose by less than an inch.

“I’m sorry, but once the application process has begun it is important that we finish it. You will only be allowed to leave once your admission has been approved or denied. This is to ensure that Stable-Tec doesn’t allow anyone valuable to the future of Equestria to ‘go it alone’,” the drone said, raising its good leg and making quotations in the air with it. Jerry shut her eyes tight and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly and turned around.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with,” she said as she trotted over and took a seat in front of the desk. She stared down the drone, almost as if she expected those molded plastic eyes to blink. After a moment they both turned to look at me.

“Oh… uh, sorry,” I muttered and trotted over and took my place next to Jerry. The drone waited until I’d seated myself and then continued.

“I will now begin the test. Please answer-r-r all questions honestly. You are approached by a frenzied Stable scientist, who yells, ‘I'm going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!’ What's your response?”

I blinked slowly and glanced at Jerry who did the same.

“Uhh, what?” I asked. The drone looked quickly between the two of us and repeated his question in the exact same tone. Yeah… no… still no idea what that means. “Um… I guess I would say nothing, grab a nearby pipe and hit the scientist in the head to knock him out. I don’t know what all that science-y stuff means, but it doesn’t sound good.” The drone nods and then turns to look at Jerry.

“Oh… I say nothing and sneak away while he’s distract with his own lunacy,” she said.

“Excellent. However the question is moot as Stable One-Two-One has no-o-o need scientists as all scientific functions are automated. Next question. While working as an intern in the Clinic, a-a-a patient with a strange infection on his hoof stumbles through the door. The infection is spreading at an alarming rate, but the doctor has stepped out for a while. What do you do?”

“I wait for the doctor to return,” Jerry said quickly. I looked at her and then at the drone. I narrowed my eyes as a thought popped into my head.

“Nothing. Stable One-Two-One has no need for interns,” I said.

“Absolutely correct. Our doctor is a top-of-the-line Mister Handy unit and as such would never have to leave the Clinic for any reason,” the drone said. “Next question.”

“Excuse me, before you continue. How many more questions are there?” I asked.

“There are a total of sixty eight questions. All of which are designed to determine your fit into this Stable,” the drone said. I looked over at Jerry and then back at the drone.

“To answer all your questions. We would do nothing. This Stable is fully automated,” I said. The drone looked quickly between the two of us.
“Processing. One moment please.” The drone slumped over suddenly, its plastic face cracking on the desk.

“What did you do?” Jerry asked in hushed tones, not taking her eyes off the prone form draped across the desk. I shrugged a shoulder and looked over at her.

“It said the Stable was automated. Why would we NEED to do anything in any situation?” Jerry opened her mouth to argue and then shut it as nothing came to mind.

“I… I guess that works…” she muttered.

“Either it works and we pass admission, or we’re denied access and asked to leave. Either one will open up a way out,” I added.

Suddenly the admissions drone spasmed and jerked upright, leaving the shattered plastics of its face on the desk. The interior of the drone was a tangle of greasy mechanical bits and bobs that I couldn’t begin to understand. It looked at each of us with what remained of its sculpted eyes.

“Congratulations! You have successfully gained entry int-t-to Stable One-Two-One,” it said as it suddenly thrust its working foreleg out at us. I hesitate and then reached out and shook it before it twisted and did the same with Jerry. “On behalf of everypony at Stable-Tec, we welcome you to your new home. Please proceed to the next room where you will be given your barding and a pip-buck, and thank you for choosing St-st-stable-Tec!” Without another word the drone descended through a panel set into the floor and disappeared.

“W-wait!” Jerry said as she jumped to her hooves. She leaned across the desk and looked down at the floor panel. “What if we don’t want to stay?!”

The panel reopened and the admissions drone shot up in an instant.

“I’m terribly sorry, but as an admission drone I can only approve admissions. For exemption, please speak to the current Overmare or Overstallion,” it said, and just as quickly as it arrived, it disappeared back underneath the floor. Jerry opened her mouth and let out a choked scream before dropping her head to the desk in frustration. Tentatively, I reached out and placed my hoof on her shoulder.

“C’mon. The only way out is forward,” I said softly. I removed my hoof and trotted into the next room. This room, much like the previous ones, had benches in the middle of it. Where the scanning alcoves and the desks had been before there was now a small slot in the wall with the writing ‘Insert Left Hoof Here’, along with a pointing arrow for convenience. Jerry stepped up next to me and looked around.

“What fresh hell is this?” she grumped. Ignoring her, I trotted over to the hole in the wall and lowered my head to peer into it.

“Beats me,” I muttered as I stood up straight and pressed my left hoof into the slot.

“Free, what the fuck is wrong with you!?” she shouted. She galloped over and threw her weight bodily into me and fell to the floor. I looked down at her as she scrambled to her hooves. “Pull your hoof out! You don’t know anything about this place! What if it cuts off your leg and you bleed out on the floor!?” I smirked and gave her an awkward shrug.

“Then at least I died a free pony,” I said. Judging by the face she made she didn’t find it nearly as amusing. “C’mon Jerry. What part of this place has seemed all that dangerous so far?” Suddenly I felt something clamp down hard on my hoof, locking me in place with a dull clunk. I gave a test tug of my trapped limb. Sure enough I was held fast. My eyes widened and I glanced at Jerry. “Okay… I think you were right to worry.” The speakers overhead crackled and a pleasant mare’s voice chimed in.

“Warning. The attachment device has been known to cause serious bodily harm. To minimize the risk, please refrain from any movement. Stable-Tec is not responsible for any injury or mutilation that may occur. Thank you.”

“Mutilation?!” Jerry and I shouted in unison. I began to struggle harder as Jerry did her best to help pull me free. She wrapped her forelegs around my chest, braced her legs against the wall and pulled with me. It was no use, I would lose the leg sooner than be freed that way. From inside the wall came the rumbling and clanking of machinery turning on for the first time in a very long time. I felt something clamp around my forelimb tightly. I blinked and suddenly line after line of text flooded my vision.

“W-what is this?” I muttered as I began to grow dizzy.

//Initializing Pip-Buck 3001 Start-Up Sequence…
//Calibrating To New User Biometrics…
//Calibration Complete - New User: Earth Pony
//Attuning To Ambient Magical Energy…
//Attunement Complete
//Attempting Wireless System Update Via Stable-Tec Servers…
//ERROR Servers Not Found
//Attempting Wireless System Update Via Nearby Active Pip-Bucks…
//ERROR No Active Pip-Bucks Found
//System Update Cancelled
//Please see a certified Stable-Tec Pip-Buck Technician at your earliest convenience to assure proper Pip-Buck functionality.
//Boot Sequence Complete

Suddenly my leg was released and I yanked it away as though I’d been burned. There, just above my hoof, was a shackle just like the one that Dig Deep had worn. It was snug, but didn’t cut into the flesh of my leg. All the same, it set me on edge, reminding me a little too much of the night I became a slave. Images of rusted metal, the glistening muscle where the skin had peeled away and the blood forced their way into my head. I pressed my hoof against the edge of the shackle and pushed, trying to slide it free. It didn’t budge. Not even a little. Jerry looked nervous, and watched, unsure of whether to help.

“I can’t get it off!” I grunted as I struggled with the device. The screen flickered into life and as I tried to force the thing off my leg I spied a cartoon version of myself trotting on the screen beneath the word ‘STAT’. It even had the same scars. Wow, I’ve been brutalized over the years. I’d never really noticed just how scarred up my flank and sides were. The outright absurdity of the moment relieved my panic.

“Free? Are you alright? Is it hurting you?” Jerry asked as she took a tentative step in my direction. I looked at her and took a deep breath before nodding.

“I’m fine, it just… reminded me of a bad memory. Had me freaking out a little bit…” I muttered as I shunted the memories to the back of my mind. I couldn’t let them control me. I lifted my hoof and glanced at the device attached to it. It had knobs and buttons and I didn’t have the first clue what any of it did. Jerry moved over next to me and peered around me. I angled the screen so she could get a better look. “Any idea what it does?”

Jerry scrunched up her nose and prodded at one of the buttons. “It looks like a terminal… only portable,” she said. She then turned her focus to a notched knob at the top of the device. When she turned it, the cartoon version of me disappeared and was replaced with a semi-detailed image of Liberator. Beneath that was its weight, its value, and a bunch of information I didn’t understand. “Oh wow, it keeps track of the stuff you’re carrying. See?” she said as she tapped the small screen. “It recognizes your club.” She looked up slowly, one brow raised. “You named it Liberator?” she asked. I flushed and took my hoof away.

“It... seemed appropriate,” I mumbled. I glanced down at the screen. How did IT know I named it Liberator? I hadn’t even told Jerry. After a moment of contemplation I shrugged it off. I would just chalk it up as yet another thing I didn’t know. I took a moment to myself, pressing the various buttons and turning the knobs. For the most part it was pretty easy to mess around with, but doing anything too much more complicated than that was easily beyond me. There was also some sort of… tray or compartment on the top that looked like it could hold something. It popped open with the press of a hoof, but was empty.

“If you keep playing with it, you’ll go blind.” Jerry trotted towards the next door, a smirk on her face. It opened before her with a faint hiss. She stopped in her tracks and looked down as her ears fell. “Goddesses…” she breathed. I came up behind her and looked over her into the next room. Two bodies were slumped in a heap on the floor, little more than grimy skeletons in filthy, bullet riddled barding. Judging by the way the bodies lay, these ponies had been shot in the back as they’d run away.

“Well… that’s definitely not good,” I muttered as I pushed past Jerry and took the lead with her following a few steps behind. Further down the hall was a makeshift barricade made of plush couches that had been pulled away from the walls and overturned. The defenders of this barricade had fallen at their posts. One’s head had been blasted apart, the other had simply been perforated by a hail of bullets. “This place looks like a warzone…” I said as I stepped around the barricade and continued down the hall. The stable was worlds different than both The Dig and the museum. Everything here looked, well, stable. Nothing appeared to be falling in on itself or ramshackle and aside from the corpses and a layer of dirt or dust, everything looked rather… secure. The hall ended in a juncture with signs on the wall indicating that to my left was the living quarters and to the right, the atrium. I glanced both ways and seeing nothing in particular of interest in either direction, I decided to head right.

The atrium was a scene of carnage and changed my mind about the Stable as a whole. Corpses lay across the floor, draped across overturned tables or tangled up in the safety railings on the second floor. Tools and weapons lay strewn about, presumably where they’d fallen out of mouths or magical fields. Aging, ruddy brown stains marred the floors, walls and tables. Jerry and I stared in hushed silence, looking over what had clearly been a battlefield. Each body was clad in the same blue barding and bore pip-bucks. A closer look revealed that each corpse’s barding bore a hoof-made patch of some kind. Some bore a stylized sun, while others bore a moon, a flower or some other such emblem.

“What happened here?” Jerry asked softly as she stepped forward. She reached out with a hoof and gingerly scraped one of the fallen pistols closer before bending down and picking it up in her mouth. A moment later she winced as the taste hit her.

“I dunno,” I said as I stalked among the bodies. “But whatever it was was worth a lot of spilled blood.” A skeleton several feet away jostled and I froze. For a moment I feared some sort of living skeleton, but a putrid brown radroach squirmed out from beneath it. It looked up at me all wriggling antennae and gnashing mandibles. Then as quickly as it had appeared, another skittered free.

And then another.

And another.

Nine grotesque abominations stared at us through huge black eyes. Jerry and I tensed, unwilling to move lest it set them off. They might just be bugs, but there were a lot of them. More than once I’d seen other slaves in Doc’s office with chunks missing from these ravenous insects.

“Easy now. No. Sudden. Movements,” I said quietly. For a long minute the only movement was from the twitching of antennae. Then one hunched and launched itself forward, its carapace opening and prismatic wings unfolding to carry it through the air.

“Oh come on!” Jerry grumbled as the mutated insects attacked. I reared back and batted the nearest to the floor before coming down on top of it. Its carapace buckled under my weight and foul-smelling white sludge spurted from its crushed body. Jerry yelped as one of the radroaches landed on her flank, scrabbling for purchase with its clawed legs. She reared back and toppled over, falling on top of her attacker and crushing it. She rolled to her hooves, a look of disgust on her face at the thick paste that clung to her hide. “I hate this place!” she said as she turned and quickly stomped another radroach beneath her hooves with a loud crunch.

I opened my mouth to make a quip, but the sensation of mandibles sinking into my ankle transformed it into a cry of pain. I bucked hard and felt the radroach tear free of my leg and smack wetly against the atrium wall. It thrashed around on its back until it righted itself and then scurried down the corridor and out of sight. The fight was over shortly after, leaving Jerry and I panting and covered in the ruptured innards of radroaches. I glanced around and when nothing else made itself known I let out a low sigh. “Scrounge up what you can, Jerry. Guns, bullets, whatever. I’m sure we’ll need it when we get back topside.” Jerry nodded absently, but began to stalk amongst the bodies, patting them down and carefully retrieving things that might be of use.

“Well… I’m a dead pony. There’s nothing else to it. They elected me Overmare out of spite or… just because they could. It’s a death sentence. Everypony in the stable knows it. Never in a million years did I think it would be me on the chopping block. I’ve seen so many ponies get elected. I’ve seen the devastation written on the faces of their loved ones, the joy on their enemies, and the smug look of the elite who orchestrated it all. I just wrote it off, as I think we all do. Well… can’t write it off now, can I?

“I know that Rose Thorn and her Solar Bloc cohorts have been exerting pressure on ponies to vote the way they wanted. Its likely been going on longer than I’ve been of voting age, but… that’s all over now. Zero-Three, take note. My first official act as Overmare is to hereby dissolve the current voting system. Zero-Three will hereby assign a number to each dweller and a number will be chosen at random. I won’t let anypony control anypony else’s fate. Is that understood Zero-Three?”

“Understood Overmare.”

“Good. Label it Executive Order Four-Four-Eight. It can only be overturned by me. Understood?”

“Understood Overmare.”

“Heh... Suck on that, Rose Thorn. You may have taken my life, but I’ve taken your power.”

The recording clicked off and I glanced up at Jerry as she took inventory on the supplies we’d scrounged up. I was expecting her input, but she was carefully looking over a pistol she’d picked up. I opened the small compartment on the pip-buck and removed the cartridge and dropped it on the floor. After a moment she sighed and lowered her head to the table.

“I wish I knew more about these things. I can’t tell if they’re any good or if they’re one shot away from exploding,” she said as she tapped the pistol with a hoof. Arrayed on the table next to it were several other pistols, all in roughly the same state, at least as far as I could tell.

“I suppose we could test fire them,” I suggested as I counted out bullets into separate stacks. “We’ve got enough bullets to spare.” Jerry lifted her head and gave me a look.

“No thanks. If it does explode, I’d prefer it not to be in my mouth when it does,” she said, giving me a flat look. I frowned, my ears flattening. I honestly hadn’t thought of that.

“See. That’s why I’ll stick with Liberator. Its big, it’s heavy, and I hit ponies with it. Very little room for error there,” I said as I reached over and gave the club a pat. Jerry rolled her eyes dramatically as she scraped the guns aside to lean on the table.

“And what will you do if somepony shoots at you?” she asked. I faltered, unable to think of anything so quickly. “BLAM!” she shouted, slamming her hoof down on the table. Several bullets jumped and rolled onto the floor. “Liberator won’t do you much good without getting in close.”

I hadn’t really thought about that either. Brawls between slaves were always hoof-to-hoof. At worst, one of the guards might toss in a tool to make it more interesting to watch. But out here there was no such balance. The next ponies we come up against might very well put a bullet in my head long before I ever see them coming. I looked at Jerry as she slid off her seat to pick up the fallen bullets.

“You just need to think about things a little more before you act, Free,” she said as she pinched a couple of bullets between her hooves and put them back on the table. “It’s a different world outside The Dig,” she added as she stood and started looking amongst the bodies again.

It took us a couple of hours to completely dig through the chaos that was the atrium. When all was said and done we’d found over a hundred bullets of varying sizes, a few sealed bottles of water (two of which were promptly opened and drank), some sealed packages of food (which were also consumed), and various bits and bobs that Jerry thought might come in handy. We’d also found a pair of saddlebags that weren’t too terribly worn, in which we’d safely deposited our findings for the time being. I glanced around the open atrium and the corridors branching off of it.

There was a lot more to this place, and likely more things that would help us survive on our own. Chief in my mind was some more medical supplies. The magical bandages had helped, but they lacked the kick of a good healing potion. I stood in front of one of the corridors, this one marked with a yellow cross over a pink diamond with three butterflies in the center of it and the word ‘clinic’ printed neatly below.

“Okay, I think that’s everything of use in here,” Jerry said as she wiped her brow with a foreleg. “Once we find a trader we should be able to trade this for some good barding, supplies, and a weapon that’s probably seen some maintenance in the last decade.” She trotted over to where I stood and looked at me expectantly. When I didn’t say anything, she sighed and gestured back towards the way we’d come in. “That means we can go. As in, let’s get the hell out of here.”

“We should look for medical supplies,” I said, nodding down the corridor as I started down it. “We might need them.”

“What? No, we’ll be fine. Let’s just get out of here,” Jerry said, not following me.

“You told me to think a little more before acting. So I am. We need more medical supplies. Doc isn’t here to patch us up and Bruiser very nearly killed the both of us without much effort. Something tells me we’ll need them,” I called back over my shoulder.

Jerry fidgeted and glanced around nervously before hurrying after me. “Dammit Free, you’ll be the death of me yet,” she muttered.

The atrium may have been a battlefield, but the clinic was a slaughterhouse. The double doors were blackened and blown apart and bullet casings littered the floor in the hundreds. Pockmarks and bullet holes stitched winding paths across the room. Pony skeletons covered each bed and the floor, leaving barely enough room for somepony to walk from one end to the other. The once white flooring was little more than a ruddy mess that would never truly come clean. The crumpled form of a multi-limbed robot lay in the middle of the room, its frame shredded. Ponies had stood in this doorway and riddled the room, and its occupants, with bullets. We both stood in stunned silence for a long time.

“Goddesses…” Jerry breathed as she stepped into the room, scattering several casings out of her way with soft, jingling noises. “Free… what kind of monsters would do this?” she asked, “Who slaughters defenseless, injured ponies?” I shook my head quietly, stepping carefully over the bodies. None of them bore the sun motif, so I had an idea. At the back of the clinic a metal cabinet had been pried open, its contents missing. A unicorn skeleton lay slumped against the wall near it, a pistol resting in its lap, the back of its head blown out, and a sun patch laying on the floor next to it.

“I’m guessing it was whoever took all the healing potions,” I said with a shake of my head. Coming down here had done nothing but make the pair of us uncomfortable. I turned to leave, my hoof jostling the skeleton with the pistol. Its pip-buck clicked and opened, a small cartridge sticking partway out. I looked at it curiously and then bent to retrieve it. I popped it into my pip-buck and it began to play automatically.

“What did you do?” a concerned and stunned stallion’s voice cried.

“I did what I had to.” a deeper voice responded, sounding far less concerned. There was a quick shuffling and what sounded like something being slammed against a locker.

“Had to? Why did you have to?! We already had the healing potions!!” the first screamed, the concern in his voice quickly consumed by burning anger. “There were kids in there, Comet!”

“Well they were on the wrong side! You’re either solar bloc or you’re dead! You know that Harpsichord. Don’t be so naive.” the second stallion, apparently named Comet hissed. There was another loud slam.

“You bloodthirsty fuck! They couldn’t fight back!”

The conversation devolved into the sounds of a knockdown, drag-out fight as the two stallions beat on one another. After several minutes and the unmistakable sound of somepony getting beat to a pulp the fight came to an end. I heard the pip-buck get smacked against the tile floor and the wearer coughing and groaning in pain.

“You… you fucking monster…” Harpsichord coughed.

“Fuck you, Harp! This is about survival!” Comet spat. I glanced at the floor and saw a small bloody stain that must’ve been the spit.

“Go ahead… see if you... can live... with killing foals…” Harpsichord hissed. There was a long drawn out silence and then the sound of hoofsteps growing more distant. Slowly, the sound of sobbing filled the recording. “I’m… I’m so sorry… None… none of you deserved this…”

There was a faint ripping sound. I glanced at the patch on the floor, torn from the unicorn’s barding. “But I… I deserve this…” There was the distinct sound of a hammer being cocked and then the echo of a gunshot as the recording fell silent. I looked back over the body and then turned away again. Jerry stood nearby, silently staring at a small body cradled between two big ones, all three riddled with bullets.

“C’mon Jerry, we’ve still gotta find a way out of this place,” I said as I ushered Jerry out the door. She kept her head low, staring intently at the floor as we stalked back down the silent halls heading for the atrium.

It wasn’t hard to find the Overmare’s office. It was safely ensconced behind the large circular window that overlooked the atrium. The fact that it was literally ‘over’ the other ponies, was not lost on me. It took a little doing, but eventually Jerry and I managed to circumvent the warrens of barricaded hallways and reach the office. Like the clinic, this door had been blasted open, the metal warped from heat and force. The room should have been a posh living space, with two doors leading to other rooms of the quarters, but the brutalized skeleton of the Overmare really ruined that feeling. Unlike all the other bodies, her barding had been removed. Each of her legs had been tied to a corner of her desk, leaving her open for… well, I preferred not to think. Several knives had been embedded in the desk near her head, their blades grimy and worn with obvious use.

“Celestia save us…” Jerry breathed, “The ponies in this place were no better than Thrasher.” On the floor in front of the Overmare’s remains was another small cartridge like I’d found in the clinic. I hesitated a moment before putting it into my pip-buck.

The tape opened to labored breathing.

“You stupid. Spiteful, little bitch...” a mare hissed. I heard one the knives get pulled free of the table and the sounds of pacing. “We’re all that’s left... Just us six. Everypony else is dead or dying downstairs…”

In the background I could hear sniffling. It didn’t take an egghead to realize that this was Rose Thorn and the Overmare.

“Y-your f-f-” the Overmare began to stammer, but was cut short by a high pitched shriek of pain and the wet sound of flesh being cut.

“NO! DON’T YOU DARE TRY AND PIN THIS ON ME!” Rose Thorn screamed. “You couldn’t just shut your damn mouth and accept your death like the others did! Noooo, you had to try and fix what wasn’t broken!” The Overmare sucked in a few sharp breaths and then managed a weak chuckle. I could practically hear Rose Thorn’s rage in the silence. “You’re LAUGHING?!” she shrieked. The Overmare screamed again as Rose Thorn cut her once more. She sucked in several breaths and then spoke.

“Just… made things… fair…” she breathed, weakly. Rose Thorn screamed again and with one last meaty slash, the Overmare’s voice was replaced by a wet gurgling.

“It was never supposed to be fair…” Rose Thorn half whispered. The next several seconds were the death gurgles of the Overmare as she choked on her own blood. When it finally fell silent somepony cleared his throat.

“What do we do, Rose?” a stallion asked. “Everypony is dead save us s- five…”

Rose was quiet for a minute.

“The Stable still needs its blood…” she said softly, “And we have nothing left. Gather up some drinks and let’s head to the sacrificial chamber. It may as well take us all…”

The tape clicked off leaving Jerry and I in stunned silence once more.

“I don’t recognize you.” came a metallic mare’s voice. I nearly jumped out of my skin and spun around, quickly placing myself in front of Jerry. A bulky, tracked form in the vaguest shape of a pony rolled into view in the doorway. Atop its body was a glass dome, adorned with a single mechanical eye. Inside the glass dome was a floating brain. “Are you from Stable-Tec? I’m afraid that the experiment did not go as predicted.”

“Experiment?” I asked. The strange robot staggered forward on rusting tracks, allowing me a closer look. Its metal housing had been perforated, dozens of holes punched clean through the plating, exposing more than a few internal workings.

“Yes, Stable One-Two-One’s social experiment has unfortunately failed. We must inform the main branch of the results,” it said. Its mechanical eye whirred and clicked as it looked between us.

“We…” Jerry started, casting a glance my way, “We’re here to collect the results for Stable-Tec. Can… Can you please tell us what happened here?” she asked. The robot stared at her for a moment.

“Of course. The ponies of the stable took up arms against one another. Not long after the stable sealed, voting groups formed. Over time some grew more powerful than others and used that power to ensure that none of their own were voted in as Overmare or Overstallion. The stable reached the tipping point when Overmare Orchid Jewel instituted a new rule that eliminated the voting process in favor of a random lottery. The Solar Bloc, led by Rose Thorn, began overly aggressive actions to force the Overmare to rescind her ruling. When she refused, open violence occurred that culminated in the death of all the stable’s residents.”

Jerry swallowed the dry lump in her throat while I stayed silent. The ponies here had killed each other.

“And… and what happened to Rose Thorn?” Jerry continued.

“Rose Thorn and her surviving compatriots entered the stable’s sacrificial chamber and ended their lives,” the robot said flatly.

“I see…” I said quietly. I could scarcely believe what I was hearing. Hundreds of ponies dead over a stupid rule. Had I not seen the stacked bodies I would’ve thought it impossibly stupid. “Zero-Three. My friend and I would like to exit the Stable. Can you reactivate the elevator for us?”

“Of course,” it said. From somewhere in the facility, we heard a generator kick on, a dull roar somewhere below my hooves.

“Thank you. We’ll… take the results of the experiment back to Stable-Tec,” I said as I gestured towards the door.

“Safe travels,” the robot said, lifting an arm and waving after us. When were safely out of earshot I let out a long slow breath.

“Let’s get the hell out of this place,” I muttered to Jerry.

“Yeah, I’m all for leaving and never coming back,” she said with a nod.

Once back in the atrium we gathered up our saddlebags and started back the way we’d come in. As we trotted through the admissions rooms again, I stopped. There, resting in an open alcove was pristine blue barding emblazoned with the number 121 in vibrant yellow. I glanced after Jerry, and then slipped it into my saddlebag. Waste not, want not. Jerry waited eagerly next to the elevator button which she jabbed a hoof into before I’d fully stepped onto the platform. The doors ground shut and with a jerk the elevator began to rise.

“Let’s not go into any more of those Stables,” Jerry said quietly as we rode the lift.

“Agreed,” I muttered.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Waste Not, Want Not -- This scavenging thing ain’t so hard. Increased chance of finding valuable loot.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Here it is! Chapter 4 in all its glory! Once again a big thanks to Mimosa Vendetta for being an amazing and patient editor!

1-3-18: Minor edits.