Fallout: Equestria, Darkness Falls

Mystery.

What does one truly know about the world at large? Who can say where one place ends and where another begins? Wandering this strange new realm has me in awe every single day and teeming with questions. What is beyond the infinitely tall mountains? What lurks below the crest of the cliffs? What hides in the ruined center of Stalliongrad? The strange black triangle? The eerie green lights to the north?

And if I am lucky enough to see what secrets are held there, what lies beyond that?

That is just the beginning, isn’t it?

Whether I see these things or not, one thing is certain: what I thought was the entirety of the world, Stable 46, was nothing more than one small part. Less and less did I believe I was in Tartarus. No. Soon I would find out that the truth was far worse than I could have imagined.

I was alive, never dead at all, even though I had come perilously close and passed into something that now questioned everything I thought to be undeniable truth. Things I knew about myself, about others, history, and the strange ways of my Goddesses in the Everafter. For everything has a plan, a focus, some sort of ‘mesh’. I certainly could not see it. How did murderous raiders and heartless slavers fit into those plans? How about ancient artifacts of pure evil and malice?

I truly had no idea…

“Holy hell, you’re gorgeous!”

Urgh… there he goes again. That was, what? The twentieth time that he has said that to me? This mercenary stallion was beginning to test my last nerve, and it all made sense as for why Ghost had chosen to scout ahead of us by a significant distance. In some small way I wanted him to come back just so he could distract... what was his name? Blazer?

“Blaster, if you don’t stop ogling her, she’s as likely to geld you as I am…” came the less-than-pleased voice of our second companion, Scarlett.

Out of the three of them, she had me the most concerned. The spiked scarlet mane and tail and the various scars visible under her turquoise coat made me suspicious; she looked like a raider!

“Sorry baby, but can ya blame me?” Blaster, a brown coated stallion with a short-cropped black mane and longer tail, gave Scarlett a wink. “You know how I was before I met you.”

Scarlett rolled her eyes and allowed an amused smirk. “Yes, yes, I know…”

Then the two of them said in unison, “Old habits die hard…” Then they shared laughs like old friends.

I am sure that Ghost would have piped up with the fact that they were being too loud if he were back here with us. I thought so, as well, and I wasn’t sure if they were questionably experienced or if they were confident enough in their abilities to be loud. My imagination had me paranoid enough to watch the crest of every hill regardless.

The third of their group, a gray colored unicorn mare with cloudy blue eyes and a snow-white mane and tail, kept silent and to herself as her companions talked.

Though, Scarlett had a serious question, “I don’t know why you insist on us sharing a contract with her and the Reaper.” She glanced at me disapprovingly.

Before I could speak up, Blaster chimed in. “I told ya, baby. We get a little help, then we can bring out even more salvage from this job and that equals more caps!” He grinned widely, obviously counting his caps before they were in his hoof. Something I would have chided him for if I wasn’t already preoccupied in a staring contest with this less than pleasant mare.

Scarlett was still unhappy, but she shrugged and conceded his point. “I guess, baby.”

“And hey…” Blaster leaned close to her.

“Hm?” She glanced over.

“And when we’re done…” Instead of finishing his sentence, Blaster nipped at her ear.

Scarlett blushed and let a mischievous grin cross her muzzle that reminded me way too much of Shank. Their behavior confused me greatly; why did he nip her ear and what did he mean? Blaster’s tone was that of a shifty schemer that was obviously up to no good. He seemed to be the untrustworthy student that a teacher would need to diligently watch. Even more complexing was that Scarlett seemed to enjoy it.

Was I missing something? “I assume you three are close friends?”

Blaster looked up and chuckled while walking closer to Scarlett. Very close. “You bet, gorgeous. She’s my girl.”

My girl? I quirked an eyebrow and the only one that seemed to catch it was their third companion. The snow-white maned unicorn gave the softest of smiles. It almost seemed sad and I wanted to ask…

Before I could though, Blaster piped up with their life story. “See, I lived in this little gutter nowhere town. Maybe a hundred ponies. We were trying to get metal from this mine, and the town decided my talents with explosives would best serve them there--”

Scarlett pipes up with a derisive laugh. “That’s not how I heard it. I heard they exiled you to that mine because you kept hitting on every mare in sight!”

“Well, yeah, but it’s also because I knew my way around a stick of dynamite, girly.” He chuckled when Scarlett elbowed his ribs.

Whiteout seemed to notice my confusion at their behavior. “You seem lost…” she asked just above a whisper.

I blinked, caught unaware of my own behavior. “I suppose I am. I don’t understand the way they are talking to each other.” I really didn’t. Why did Blaster refer to her in that way? He did not seem to refer to Whiteout in the same manner, nor have such dialogues with her.

Blaster spoke up, “Well, Scarlett and I are together.” At my blank stare, he laughed before continuing. “I was preparing to blast a new tunnel when raiders attacked us. I ran into the cave to hide, and this one followed me in.” He gestured at Scarlett. “In my panic, I detonated the charges to keep safe, banking on the others to dig me out when the raiders were driven off.”

Scarlett gave a nod and piped up. “Yup. Fucker trapped us both.”

I blinked, then furrowed my brow as the words sunk in. I stared at Scarlett. “You’re a raider.” I tensed in memory of Goldpeak and my numerous encounters with her kind.

Scarlett frowned and glared back, then sternly put her hoof down. “Not any more. I put that fucked-up life behind me. Didn’t want it in the first place, so don’t you think of me like those losers.” There was enough conviction in her tone to give me pause.

“Then you know what they are like and will excuse my caution around you,” I answered back, my gaze never leaving hers for fear of more treachery. Truth be told, I was not in the presence of any trustworthy company right now. Scarlett was a raider, Blaster made me very uncomfortable (his comments seemed very similar to one of the first stallions I had met outside of my Stable), and Whiteout was a bit too quiet. But most of all, they were a part of this corrupted, evil world that I found myself temporarily trapped in. I could not afford to trust any of them and not expect a dagger in my back. Thankfully after this contract we planned to part ways.

Blaster continued, intent on breaking the ice. “Ooookay, well, we were down there for some time. Wasn’t any point in me killing her or her killing me, we were both stuck. Spent the hours talking to each other while waiting for rescue, and I can tell ya, she wasn’t meant to be a raider.” There was a fondness in his voice and eventually Scarlett softened, then I gave my attention to him.

“Raiders took her and killed her family.” He paused to gauge Scarlett’s reaction. He continued when she gave the most imperceptible nod. “She did what any smart kid did to keep herself alive. Ya see, if you show raiders weakness, they pounce on it like fire ants when there’s the blood of an injured brahmin nearby. But, you show them you’re not somepony to be fucked with, that stays their hoof… at least a little bit.”

I blinked, again surprised by their words. I glanced to Scarlett and took in those scars in a new light.

“Yeah, well,” Scarlett bitterly spoke up. “The fuck would you have done? Huh?” she asked me and I did not have an answer. I had already been in the ‘welcoming’ hooves of raiders and I barely escaped with my life… multiple times. “Exactly,” she said when she read my non-response.

I sighed. “I apologize.”

“It’s fine. Just, you know, don’t judge a mare by her mane-do.” Blaster nodded good naturedly with a small smile. I nodded in kind.

Blaster laughed, then nodded to Whiteout expectantly. “Well?”

She hummed and glanced up.

“Come on, tell her.” Blaster gently poked the gray unicorn’s side.

“Do I have to…?” Whiteout whispered with a frown.

“Oh, come on, Whitey.” Blaster nudged her again and she gave up.

“I guess…” Whiteout sighed, then opened her muzzle to start stalking, when…

“Hey!”

The four of us paused at the call and looked forward. We had been a third of the way up a large snowy hill, following the very faint hoof tracks in the snow left by Ghost. The stallion in question was at the hill’s crest and calling down to us.

Blaster gave a snirk. “Saved by the bell, eh, Whitey?” Then he started up the incline with Scarlett quickly in tow. Whiteout soon followed with a relieved sigh and I fell in behind her, left to wonder what she was about to say.

Once we arrived with Ghost, the hill gave way to a gradual decline. Just beyond, where the snow terminated into a cracked road, were dozens and dozens of buildings. None of them were as monstrously tall as those in Stalliongrad’s center; many were simply single story or had a couple floors. Off to the east, the buildings thinned and gave way to another long stretch of road that led to Stalliongrad proper. In the west, the town kept going until it stopped by the base of another barrier of hills. Off in that distance I could see the mysterious black triangle, and the eerie green lights to the north.

“What is this place?” I asked while studying the area. Unlike where we came, I could not see any pillars of smoke. I doubted that there were any settlements in this area.

“Borhoof,” Ghost answered. “It’s part of Stalliongrad, but somewhat its own township.” He paused. “Similar to Goldpeak.”

“Well, I hope one aspect of Goldpeak is absent at least.” I frowned, trying to see any movement down below. Borhoof seemed completely deserted as far as I could tell. Would we cross raiders as we went? Were they just lying in wait? I tried to think of what Ghost might do if he were down there looking through a scope at us. That thought degraded to my imagination placing crosshairs on my own forehead.

“Well, l-let’s go….” I winced and started down. Or tried to, something bit my tail and I jerked to a halt. I glared backwards and yanked back. “Do not bite my tail!!” I yelled.

It was Ghost. He dropped my tail before responding and then I checked it for his slobber. “Don’t charge into an unknown place, stupid.” He scowled back, ignoring my outrage.

“We’re exposed here,” I replied as calmly as I could.

“Yes, we are, however… if we charge down the exposed hill and they fire halfway down…”

“Then we’re in the open with nowhere to go.” Blaster was looking out towards the town and finished that train of thought. He then pointed towards a long string of rubble. “Looks like a highway collapsed over yonder. We could use that as cover to get into the town.”

Scarlett was the first to get going. “Come on, scaredy fillies. Let’s go already while the good is getting!”

“Ya mean ‘while the gettin’ is good’.”

“That's what I said!”

Ghost frowned but gave no rebuke to their suggestion. Seemed it was the same idea he had, but of course he still did not like it. The two of us followed while I ran the conversation back in my head; what they said made sense and it occured that, yet again, I had things to learn about surviving here. I frowned at Ghost’s back, annoyance gnawing at my breast. Did he have to be so rude? Never before have I wanted to get away from another pony so badly, save for the ones that sought to end my life… or worse.

We reached the broken highway with no problems. The town seemed genuinely deserted as we made our way into the buildings. Unfortunately the lack of ponies also meant that there was a major lack of things to scavenge. Anything of worth in the first half dozen buildings had been pilfered long ago, much to Blaster’s disappointment. And even though Ghost didn’t say a word on the subject, I could tell that the emptiness annoyed him as well. What was with ponies that wanted to take everything that wasn’t nailed down?

“Does anypony see the building we need?” I asked quietly as we made our way down the main street. Just behind us was the towering monoliths of Stalliongrad, some distance away but clearly visible.

“Umm, what are we looking for again?” asked Whiteout.

“Contractor said the stable was in a wagon servicing garage.” Scarlett looked around the corner.

I frowned. I didn’t like that our target was one of the Goddesses’ sanctuaries. Blaster noticed my expression and poked my shoulder. “What’s wrong, darlin’? See something?”

I relaxed a little and shook my head. “What? Oh, no, no… I just don’t like that we’re looking for a Sanctuary.”

He stared blankly at me. “Ya mean a Stable?” He then chuckled and noted my pipbuck. “Well, girlie, don’t worry about it. Stables are nothin’ but death traps and mass graves.”

My cheeks reddened. “No, they are not. Stables are a holy place for the Goddesses’ children!”

Taken aback, his eyebrows shot up. “Uh, ok? Not sure who told ya that fairy tale, but all I know is that every Stable I’ve seen or been around had been nothin’ but a nightmare or deserted.”

I glared up at him, certain that it was because of ponies like him that caused those Stables to fall from grace. “That doesn’t surprise me.” Before either of us could say more, Ghost gave a whistle from the next intersection.

Blaster gave one more look at me, then trotted off with Scarlett to see what Ghost had found.

“You’re from a Stable, aren’t you?” came the soft whisper of Whiteout behind me.

I paused and looked back at her, unsure if I should answer. Whiteout seemed like a decent enough pony. I definitely did not want Blaster or Ghost to know precisely where I came from, and that went triple for Scarlett, but what about Whiteout?

“Yes, I did. And I apologize, but I cannot tell you where.”

She blinked, but nodded gently as if she understood. “That’s okay. I just noticed your pipbuck and was curious.” Her tone remained soft as she moved up next to me. “You shouldn’t need to worry about Blaster. He’s a lech, but not a bad pony.”

I blinked, a bit surprised that she could deduce that. I glanced ahead and started moving with her. “You’re not like the others, are you?” I asked softly.

She shook her head, but instead of answering my question she asked one of her own. “No, but neither are you, right? I’ve never seen clothes like yours. And a pipbuck is really rare out here…”

I frowned, thinking about how pipbucks are everywhere in Stable 46. Every mare has one once she is old enough and the ceremony is timed right.

“You are protective of your Stable. Why would you take this contract?”

It was my turn to pause. Why did I take this job? “Well…” I glanced to the others up ahead as they rounded a corner. “This was the only job that didn’t involve murdering someone for money.” That made Whiteout’s ears perk up. “All the rest demanded that somepony be killed in order to get the reward. I wasn’t about to take such a job.”

“Is that all?”

I hummed. “No. I wanted to be involved with this Stable, to make sure nopony’s life was taken. My intention is to negotiate with the High Priestess of 68 to get what we need and to…” I paused. Did she need to know about the orphans? No, she didn’t. Just in case. “And to avoid bloodshed and find a compromise.”

Whiteout gave me a curious look. “You care a lot, don’t you?”

I smiled a little. The corner was almost upon us. “I do. I am blessed with the responsibilities of the Goddesses. I have to care. More than that, I want to.” I thought of Harmonics and her new charge, Golden Belle. Flicker and Petal, every mare and filly in my home. More than that, what I was out here to accomplish was for the orphans, not to mention find Whiskey. Determination in my breast, I continued strongly, “I am blessed with purpose. Purpose that I will see through to the end.”

Whiteout made no comment except to watch as I spoke. Soon we rounded that corner and saw the others. A red brick building with three large sliding doors stood there. On its roof sat a badly weathered billboard that read ‘Greasy Wrench’s Autowagon Repair’ and below that, ‘No Job is Too Dirty for Us!’. It had the picture of an earth pony mare with orange coveralls, a determined grin on her muzzle and with a wrench held in her mouth. Next to her was a beaten and battered picture of an equally disheveled automotive wagon not unlike the metal skeletons I had seen before we left.

“Ya sure this is it?” Blaster asked to Ghost, staring up at the sign with him as we approached. Scarlett was a short ways down the street, making sure that we were definitely alone.

“Unless you see another auto-wagon shop, yeah, this is it.” Ghost then made his way forward even as Whiteout and I arrived.

I looked to the setting sun, hidden behind the cloud layer. “We should camp here for the night before we begin. It has been a long day and a hard travel.”

Ghost turned half back to stare at me. “No. We go in, get our shit, and get this done.”

I frowned. “Look at the others. We’ve been walking here all day. The Stable is not going anywhere, nor is what we’re here for.” Not to mention I needed to prepare for my negotiations with 68’s High Priestess. Calm words would triumph over violence this day, and nopony will die. I looked to Blaster and Whiteout for backup.

Blaster shrugged. Whiteout hummed, then nodded. “I wouldn’t mind a rest… plus, if we loot it now we would need to wait for darkness to pass anyway…”

I nodded and smiled. “See? This can wait until tomorrow.”

Ghost frowned back at us but didn’t say a word to argue. I allowed a small but triumphant smirk. He did not have all the smart ideas.

Work went by quickly with more than just Ghost and myself. The auto-wagon repair shop was cleared of any hostiles and the windows and doors were barricaded quickly to keep out the stygians. A fire now crackled in the main garage, where the five of us sat around and devoured some preserved food (Insta-Mash, Loaded with Flavor!). I learned through some idle chit-chat that this place used to repair the rusted chariots outside. Apparently Equestria, and its cities, became so vast that travelling solely by hoof became a time consuming chore (which only partially made sense to me, because Stable 46, while large, never needed such things and the closest we had were elevators to the different levels). Stalliongrad, being one of the largest cities, had thousands of these automated wagons.

As small-talk continued, maintenance on our weapons began as an afterthought. Ghost was among the first to finish and now worked on cleaning his second weapon. I stared at Conviction and ultimately decided not to, as I had cleaned it the day before and it had not been used or exposed to any significant amount of dirt. Plus I still loathed the thing.

Blaster gave a low whistle upon seeing the beam rifle. “That’s a fancy gun ya got there, Silver.”

“Um, thanks?” I frowned, unsure if I liked being complimented on something that would be scorned in my home.

He chuckled and quirked a playful smile. “Come on now, it’s a fine weapon! That thing would get you a lot of caps if’n ya sold it. But me? I’d rather keep something like that. Must come in handy in a pinch and probably packs a punch, don’t it?”

I hummed, now realizing that I didn’t really know. Ghost said that Conviction was some kind of suped-up magic energy rifle, so I guessed so? I hadn’t really had a good opportunity to see what it could do. I hoped, at least, that it wouldn’t be against another pony.

I shivered as the memory of Deathrain flashed in my mind and suddenly the gritty dirtiness of his ashes coated me from head to hoof.

“You all right?” Whiteout asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost…”

“Ha.” Ghost chuckled dryly without looking up.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine... just, remembering things.”

Scarlett piped up somberly. “Things you’ve done? I know that look.”

I froze, then glanced at her. She was farther away from Ghost, Whiteout and I, but still close to Blaster. “I… yes…” I gasped, the demonic eyes of the museum suddenly blacking everything else out for a second. A sudden chill and sweat from nowhere as I shivered not from the cold wasteland.

I felt the eyes of everypony in the room. “I’m okay, I’m okay… I just... “ I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It’s nothing.”

“You sure? I mean, you could--”

“I said it’s nothing!” I snapped, then took my things and made for the edge of the fire’s light, near one of the barricaded windows.

There was the smallest crack that I could see out into the darkness. Nothing else in the nearby buildings moved. No light, no sound other than the whistling wind. Not even stygians, though I knew they were out there through some sixth sense. That, and my pipbuck’s EFS occasionally showed them as red pips that scurried about quickly. They were there and gone in an instant, and would have been completely invisible if I did not have my EFS.

The soft shuffling of hooves brought back my attention. Whiteout had come to join me and I sighed. “Everything’s fine,” I whispered the lie.

“You’ve killed before and didn’t like it, didn’t you?” Whiteout asked the non-question, surprising me at her clarity. When I nodded, “It shows. Talking about it may help.”

I hesitated. What did she know? How would talking about this monumental sin to her help me? The crushing way it gripped my heart seemed answer enough. “I suppose…”

Surprisingly it took a lot longer than I bargained to get the story out. Whiteout had listened silently the entire time, only leaving once to get us some warm water to drink from the fire. It wasn’t the tea or coffee I was accustomed to, but it did help (and now that I thought about it, I would give anything for some coffee right now, or some more of that Firesprite that Ghost had).

“That’s not a good idea,” Whiteout spoke up softly.

“Hmmm?” I asked, my mind had been elsewhere.

“That’s not a good idea,” she said again. “Keeping it all in like that. It’ll drive you bonkers, and sooner than you might think.”

I blinked and stared at her, then thoughts of Watcher came to mind.

And you need some friends that you can trust and rely on. While being trusting isn’t a bad thing, don’t rush headlong into a situation that you don’t understand.

Could I really trust Whiteout? Or any of them? We had just met and, well… was anyone in the Wasteland trustworthy? They were not my fellows from Stable 46, whom I would trust with my very life.

That last thought had me glancing in Ghost’s direction. The mere notion made me frown and look away.

This did not go unnoticed by Whiteout. “And how did you meet the Reaper?”

My frown grew and I said very bluntly, “He shot at me.”

Whiteout’s eyes widened a bit. “You’re still alive after being attacked by a Reaper? That’s…”

I snorted. “He was missing on purpose, but still grazed me.” I remembered that stinging pain where I had been hit, despite the absence of the wound.

This seemed to confuse her even more, but she wisely chose not to ask. That was good, since I did not want to lead into talking about the foal.

After some silence, “So, I know you don't want to tell me where, but can you tell me about your Stable?” Whiteout gave a cute and curious smile, like one of the young fillies asking her teacher a question that went beyond the planned curriculum.

I sighed gently and decided to relent. “Okay.” I laid down to get a bit more comfortable.

I paused for a few moments, contemplating what I wanted to tell Whiteout. I started by describing how the Stable looked; the whitewashed walls with molded gold trimmings, places like the grand cathedral, which would hold everypony in the Stable, and the enormous marble statues of the Goddesses. I told her of the Arboretum and its immaculate gardens that starkly contrasted the dreary death of the wasteland. She asked if there was snow and I answered that there wasn’t, that my first encounter with snow was when I left. I mentioned Harmonics and her new charge, and my guardian.

I paused when Whiteout gave me an odd look. “So, there’s no stallions in your stable?”

I shook my head. “There aren’t.”

“But… how does your stable stay alive?”

That was a silly question. “Well, guardians raise the new foals that the Goddesses bring to us.”

Whiteout blinked a few times and frowned. “But where do those foals come from?”

I tilted my head and reiterated. “The Goddesses.” Whiteout sighed and I couldn’t figure out why. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“No,” she replied, then paused for a moment. “So you don’t have mothers or fathers?” I shook my head at the alien concepts. “A mother is a mare, a father is a stallion. They… raise foals just like your guardians do, but there’s two of them and they love each other.”

My turn to frown. “Love is reserved for the Goddesses, however.” Sure, there was companionship and friendship between mare and fillies and foals in Stable 46, but the deepest love was for Celestia and Luna, just as the deepest contempt was reserved for Nightmare Moon, Discord and demons. “That can’t be right. What unicorn mare would allow a stallion to raise their charge?” I was more or less asking myself that question, as the mere concept felt like it would only brew trouble.

“But it is.” Whiteout offered a small smile. “My mom and dad died when I was really young, but they both loved me.” That smile became an even smaller frown and I offered a hoof for her to hold. I may not have agreed with the concept of mother and father, but the memory was clearly painful.

Whiteout took my hoof, as well as a deep breath. “When ponies love each other, when a mare and stallion do, they--”

“They bang!” came the unexpected shout and laughter from Blaster.

Whiteout blushed and I glared at the stallion.

“Anyways…” Whiteout continued, ignoring her fellow mercenary even as he continued to laugh at his own joke. Imbecile. “A stallion and a mare make a foal.”

How is that possible? The power to create and take life belonged solely to the Goddesses. Celestia created each pony with love and care, then imbued them with purpose and responsibility. Luna, when each pony’s time eventually came, guided their soul to the ether where they would be judged. If their life was pure and without blemish, they were allowed to be with Them again in the everafter. But if they were cruel, hateful, or… or....

Again I was covered in the bodily ashes of another, the clicking of an empty weapon and the crying of an innocent foal drowned my ears, falling on me like an unstoppable sheet of water.

I yelled out as hooves shook me, and the vision of the dilapidated building disappeared and was replaced with a very worried Whiteout. Shortly behind them I glimpsed Blaster a few feet away, and further than that Ghost and Scarlett were staring.

Words came but I did not understand. It took a few repeats before I could comprehend what was going on. What is happening to me?

“Silver, are you okay?” Whiteout asked again.

I nodded and closed my eyes. “Yes, yes… o-of course…” I rolled onto my hooves but stayed sitting down. Standing felt like a bad idea right now.

“Jeez, girl.” Blaster came a bit closer, his earlier mirth gone. “You zoned out hard with a thousand yard stare that could beat a painted pony in a staring contest. You ain’t okay.”

I sighed heavily. I had wanted to avoid this. “I’ll be okay.” Then with an apologetic smile to Whiteout, “Perhaps that’s enough talk of that right now?”

The white mare nodded and shooed Blaster away. “We should all get some sleep.”

I could not have agreed more.

I sighed once more into my improvised pillow, which was just my outer robes folded into a small-ish square.

Everypony had gone to sleep a few hours ago. All except one. I had the nightmare again, the one with the hellish red eyes and the demon in the museum’s basement. It had only been two days (or three? I was losing track..) since that incident had happened, but it came back every night, and sometimes even when I was awake.

Exhaustion just was not enough to bring about the peaceful oblivion that I sought. That, and now my bladder was telling me that going to a bathroom would be a good idea.

I forced myself up and stretched a little, sighing once more with my sleepy head hung low. The fire was still going, sending little flickering shadows this way and that. Ghost was on the outskirts of the fire’s light, sniper rifle in his lap with himself propped against the wall, facing the doorway. Of course he was, he would want to watch the most likely entrance for intruders. Whiteout, however, was curled up next to the fire, her back to it so she could sleep. I smiled a little, she looked cute curled up there.

Anyway, my bladder insisted, how about that bathroom!

One quick look around and I found it. A push-door with the universal looking silhouettes of ponies, one a mare and the other a stallion. It still irked me, but such things were secondary to the release that I now needed.

I quickly and quietly made my way there, not even questioning the quiet sounds I was hearing nor the fact that there was a tiny sliver of light coming from under the door. All of that was secondary to what I wanted now and--

“Oooooh…” I paused, hearing what sounded like a groan from inside. My ears twitched and could hear grunting and some kind of… slapping? What the hell?

“What could they possibly be…” I muttered, annoyed because of the growing need. I slowly swung the door open, ready to--.

I certainly didn’t expect this.

Scarlett and Blaster were both inside, slightly hidden by one of the stall booths. I only knew it was them because I could see both of their cutie marks and their colored coats in the gap between the floor and the stall wall. Scarlett was on her back and Blaster on top, with the latter vigorously doing… something… on top. Blaster’s flanks moved back and forth and the motion had Scarlett rocking back and forth on the floor. The sounds of the slapping and grunts and moans from each.

I don’t know how long I stood there, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He wasn’t hurting her, that I was sure. She wasn’t bound in any way. I didn’t see any blood, nor were any weapons involved since all their gear was piled in the far corner. The smell reached my nose and I winced, stepping back as sweat and something else mixed… and…

Wait…

I watched, squinting a little closer. Where they were making ‘contact’ was right where Scarlett’s-

A jumbled pile of thoughts wrestled in my head.

My mom and dad died when I was really young…

… when a mare and stallion do…

They bang!

Oh Goddesses!!

Suddenly it all horrifyingly clicked. Maybe not all of it, maybe not coherently, or completely, but it clicked and I wished it didn’t! Goddesses I wished it didn’t!

I scrambled to close the door, my face red and eyes wide.

The slapping stopped.

“Wh-what was that…?” came Scarlett, out of breath.

“Eh, it was nothin’ girlie…” Blaster, also out of breath, sounded annoyed. “Jus’ the wind.”

Scarlett hummed once, then she giggled. “All this excitement, you’re making me hear things…” The honey in her voice made my blush deepen.

Blaster chuckled, but there was a curiosity there. “Like what, sweetheart?”

“Like the door was just opened and closed. Wait, look under the door, at the light.”

I looked down, the light from the fire still glowed and would silhouette my-- oh no!

“I bet I know who that is,” Blaster said. “Come on in, we’ll give you a lesson!” He then laughed with Scarlett as I scrambled away.

No thanks, I’ll skip class today, bye!!

My commotion disturbed Whiteout as she brought her head out and blearily looked at me. “Silver…? What’s going on?”

“Nothing!” I whispered, hurrying back to my pillow, bladder forgotten. “Nothing at all, gobacktosleep!” And I buried my reddened face in my pillowed robe.

“Huh…?”

“Sleep!”

“Um, okay?”

I curled up and hid as much as I could, still unable to sleep and unwilling to move around as I contemplated what I saw. Some time later I heard the door open and two sets of hooves walked out. I chanced a one-eyed peak and saw them both. They spotted me and chuckled quietly when I squeaked and hide in the my robe pillow.

The eventual morning came.

The sorry excuse for sunlight weaved its way from the depressing cloud curtain above, driving away the stygians and reflecting my current mood perfectly. Funny how a severe lack of sleep can make you feel like a mop head that had been dipped in all manner of disgusting muck, over and over and without any cleaning of yourself.

“You look terrible.”

I looked up blearily at Ghost, now awake and staring down at me.

“Come on, we need to get going.”

I groaned and forced myself up, despite every fiber of my being crying out in defiance. I wanted sleep. I wanted coffee. I wanted my bed. I still needed to use the bathroom, but after last night I didn’t think I could. And definitely not in the same room. Thankfully there was another down the hall, and in the other direction as my bladder insistently won that battle in a landslide victory.

I cast a furtive glance at Blaster and Scarlett, both of them enjoying some breakfast with Whiteout. “Easier said than done, ugh…” was my tired reply.

Ghost had no sympathy. “Then you better get food now, because we’re going in five minutes.”

I grumbled and withdrew a can of carrots from my bags and began to eat. The food helped a little bit to wake me up, as did some stretching and head shaking. Some cobwebs remained and I only hoped that it wouldn’t hurt my negotiations with Stable 68’s High Priestess.

If my fatigue didn’t adle my mind, then my looks would have turned her off. I found a mostly clean mirror to have a look at myself and I almost wished I hadn’t. My mane was severely disheveled, eyes bloodshot and baggy, and my coat was filthy. Not even the dark charcoal color of my coat would help to hide how dirty I was. I whimpered a sigh and desperately wished for a bath. My heart sunk as I thought about what my friends would say if they could see me now. And because of the collapsed general store in Goldpeak I had none of my brushes or other self-care items, so I had to do what I could with my hoof, magic, and a very light spray of water.

It didn’t help much. Wonderful, my life is wonderful...

“Hey, we’re going! Let’s go!” Ghost called from deeper in the auto-wagon shop’s interior, standing next to the others.

“I’m coming!” I yelled in reply, then looked at the mirror one more time. “Yeah… I’ll be right there,” I whispered dejectedly and collected my things. I just had to hope the High Priestess would be understanding.

The upper level of the auto-wagon repair shop was a mess of tools, lifts, and many machines and barrels. The basement (of which I nearly refused to go) was surprisingly different, as the door had been hidden in a rather curious manner; a forklift, its forks embedded in a wooden pallet that had a rusted engine block on it, had its load stacked right on top of the trapdoor. I expected a storage place of more tools, wagon parts, and other such refuse, but instead we found a long and dark hallway that gradually descended at a very slight decline. The tunnel had two directions, though one side had been caved in and Ghost made a guess that that entrance was somewhere behind the repair shop. The tunnel was large enough for two wagons to drive down side by side, and thus had more than enough room for five ponies. Long rows of lights once lined the corners with only a few remaining lit.

“Seems we’re on track.” Ghost held up a lantern as we walked, taking the lead with Blaster as we descended.

“Ee’yup. Ain’t no repair shop gonna have a tunnel like this,” Blaster added.

“So what does that mean?” I asked.

“It means this tunnel is most likely the one that the construction crews used to build the stable. A highway of sorts to get materials and supplies to where it needed to go.” Blaster had a light on his helmet, which he used to outline the many black streaks that ran parallel with each other and down the hall. “See these?” I nodded. “They’re vehicle tracks. Rubber wheels leave these behind sometimes.”

If Blaster had told me this a few days ago I would have disputed that ponies created the Stables, instead asserting that the Goddesses created them. But after what I had learned out here so far, I was not one-hundred percent certain any more.

I shook away the disbelief and sighed. No, this didn’t mean anything. The Goddesses did create the stables and copulated them with Their faithful. There was no other solution…

Ghost kept just ahead of us for the journey as we all lapsed into relative silence, the only sound was the clip-clopping of the five of us. Time went by, as did the seemingly endless tunnel. I checked my pipbuck timer and we had been walking along for more than an hour. How long was this place!? I sighed, my hooves already aching, as if I had walked the entirety of Stable 46 three times over.

“Does anypony know how much farther?” I’m sure my voice was whiney and testy, but I was just too tired to care.

Scarlett chuckled, probably at my expense. “Not too much farther, Princess.”

“Do not call me that,” I muttered, my face reddened. But she paid no further mind to me.

I think another half hour passed before we actually saw a change in the tunnel. The decline gradually leveled out and just beyond the reach of our lights the tunnel opened up into an expanse of room, guarded by a small booth with a black and yellow striped board that stretched over the road.

“Hold up.” Ghost signaled with his hoof and brought up his sniper rifle.

“What’s he checking for?” I asked Blaster.

He hummed for a moment. “Probably defenses. Sometimes these here stables have automated turrets guarding the entrances. Some of ‘em can be real nasty, having either armor-piercin’ ammo or shoot magic energy beams.”

Oh. Those sounded useful! Perhaps I should consider bringing a few of those back with me for Stable 46. Perhaps make them look active just to deter future aggressors. It seemed a good idea.

“Two turrets.” Ghost swiveled between each side of the tunnel. “They’re powered down.”

At his report the rest of us trotted up towards the security booth. I paused to stare at the turrets as something seemed off. “Hey, Ghost?”

He grumbled and turned back. “What is it?”

I pointed at the turret. “I’m no expert in the function of these things, but shouldn’t they be facing the other way if they’re supposed to be guarding this place?”

Ghost, now intrigued by my question, came closer to confirm my findings. He looked at each machine and nodded. “Yes… they should.”

Huh. That surprised me. I half expected him to tell me I was being stupid again and just dismiss me.

Blaster trotted up to us with Scarlett and Whiteout. “Interestin’, but we should get a move on, here.”

“Yeah…” I said, staring at the turrets for a moment longer. There was something significant about the turret’s position, but I could not put my hoof on it. Could the High Priestess have set them this way on purpose or was it just coincidence? I imagined that if these turrets could swivel, as their name suggested, then perhaps they were programmed to turn every now and again to scan the room. And whenever they lost power that just happened to be the position they remained in. It seemed plausible enough, so I shrugged and moved on with the intent of informing maintenance of this problem. After all, what good was a security system without power?

Beyond the security checkpoint was a staging area, full of only slightly rusted trailer wagons and several neat stacks of boxes and barrels, all of them bearing one logo or another (I recognized the M.A.R.S. lettering as the same from the orphans’ new home, but the latter was something called ‘Stable-Tec’, which drew questions). At the end of the room we found a much larger version of my Stable’s elevators, large enough to hold half a dozen pony-sized boxes with room to spare. Scarlett and Ghost made for the elevator’s onboard control panel and began to work. Whiteout, Blaster and I waited on the machine’s deck, so we would not waste any more time once they got it working. Plus, I wanted to shut my burning eyes for a little bit without the need to move any time soon.

It was not to be, however. “So, what exactly happened last night?” Whiteout asked with concern.

I frowned and shook my head. “I would rather not talk about what I saw…” Oh, shoot. I just clued her in didn’t I? Confound me...

Whiteout tilted her head, then looked at Blaster and Scarlett, who were blessedly not paying attention; she was focused on the panel and Blaster was focused on her. Only now I knew precisely why and it made me shiver when I traced where his eyes were looking. Not necessarily because of him, but because it was now very painfully clear what the raider ponies had in store for me back in Goldpeak.

“Why would a mare willingly have that done to her?” I muttered in disgust.

“Oh,” Whiteout realized. Crap, I did it again. “Well, Scarlett and Blaster love each other. But sometimes there are those who force it on others who don’t want it. Raiders and slavers do that, sometimes others too.”

Even though Scarlett didn’t look like she was paying attention, I noticed her ears fold back.

I sighed, the cat was out of the bag so I might as well make the conversation. “I imagine there is a name for it?”

Whiteout whispered, “Rape.”

I shivered. Just the sound of the word was bad. “I see.” I then told Whiteout about my experience in Goldpeak and how one of raiders had been ogling me when I was bound.

Whiteout nodded gently, then put a forehoof over my shoulders. “I’m glad you got away.” I agreed.

“And why exactly do ponies do these things?” I asked, my thoughts darkened.

“Well, sex - that’s what it’s generally called - is done for pleasure. But it is through sex that foals are made. The mother - a mare - gives birth to a foal, either a colt or a filly.” I frowned and tried to focus on what Whiteout was saying. It wasn’t hard to understand, I understood perfectly. No, what made it hard was that it went against everything I had been told for my entire life.

A mare’s ‘secrets’ were meant to be hers and hers alone. No pony was to touch or stare, period. Foals came from the Goddesses, Celestia and Luna, and were raised by their assigned Guardians, who were approved by the Stable’s High Priestess (myself, or previously Eternal Dawn). Yet… here was this mare that was inadvertently telling me that everything I knew was wrong.

No. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t! I’m not wrong, Dawn isn’t wrong, my home and everything I had been told wasn’t wrong! There was proof, it was just… elsewhere.

And yet…

I glanced over to the nearest barrels that bore the Stable-Tec logo. That existed. That was there, flying in the face of everything I knew and staring me down.

“Silver?” I blinked and snapped out of my thoughts when Whiteout spoke up, then noted her concerned expression. In the background I could see Blaster trying to subtly watch too. “You zoned out and your face got really red, like you were ready to lash out.”

“Oh.” I took a deep breath, both surprised and unsurprised by her words. “I’m okay now, I promise.” I smiled a little, but the questions lingered. I had a couple more things I wanted to--

“Ah-hah!” came the joyous squee from Scarlett and moments later the elevator had power.

Looks like my questions will need to wait. Now I shifted my attention to what I was going to say to the High Priestess of Stable 68. Perhaps she can shed some light to this Stable-Tec business.

“Great job, babe!” Blaster complimented.

“It was nothing,” Scarlett now bragged, then pressed a button. A metal cage door swung down. “Safety door works, let’s descend!” She pressed another button.

For long moments nothing happened. We each exchanged glances.

“Aw, come on! Stupid piece of shit!” Scarlett growled and pushed the buttons several more times.

“Hey, hey! Careful, you’re gonna break--”

SCREECH! The elevator lurched a foot.

“--It?”

We all stood frozen. Tense, wide eyed and unwilling to so much as breath as worrisome creaks and twinges sounded all around us. They steadily grew and a metallic groan grew louder with each passing second.

Ghost scowled at Scarlett. “You and your big MOOOOOOU---!!”

We plummeted into the abyss!

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Intense Training: You gain +1 point to one of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats. +1 to Endurance.