Chapter 1 - Restricted Access
Most ponies would believe that being Overmare was one of the best jobs in the entire stable. Being the head of authority, everything in the Stable being unrestricted to you. Not only that, but everything you wanted you had. Compared to what most ponies saw stable life like, the Overmare always seemed to have the easiest job. Yep, being Overmare sounded like it was great. There couldn’t be that much wrong with all that power.
Well there sure as hell was. At least to Broken Record, Overmare of Stable 17, there was plenty wrong with being in her position. Sure, you got all the authority in the stable, but that meant everypony came knocking on your door saying they need you to do something. She had heard it all, from foals complaining about bullies to tech crew complaining about circuits and other things she didn’t understand. She felt like the amount of work she had to do aged her five years ahead, but she was only eighteen. In fact, she was the youngest Overmare in Stable 17’s history.
That was the other thing, she was really young compared to most of the Overmares and Overstallions that had been in Stable 17. Before her was eighty-nine year old stable farmer Apple Core. Since no exact family carried the job of being overmare a random drawing happened when the old one either died or retired. Apple Core was fifty-three when she was chosen, and the stallion that was before her was sixty-five. Broken Record was only sixteen when she was chosen, meaning that not only did she have longer to wait until given the option to retire but she was also subjected to the many Stallions who wanted her.
Due to her age, and her beauty compared to all the other Overmares, countless Stallions had come to her offering dates. A few stallions had gone a little too far, and now she always had security at her door in case anyway tried to come in while she was sleeping. She was lucky she didn’t fall asleep during that night, because she didn’t want to think what that creeper had wanted to do with her. That being said there was a certain few stallions that had managed to get her attention and she has dated again. In the end her heart had fallen to the stables young and newest rookie in the maintenance department, Locket. They both shared a lot of interest and was the one pony that had ever to really grab her heart. He always came by to her office after work and she had told the guard at the door that it was okay to let him in.
She did admit that there was one specific charm to being overmare of Stable 17. She had always loved being the one to greet every trader from the outside as well as welcome back dwellers who went outside on small pilgrimages. She had always loved hearing the stories about the outside world, but being Overmare she was not allowed to leave the dull interior of the stable. She dreamed though, that when she had done it for the ten years required of every Overmare in Stable 17 she will set out for a three year long expedition through the wasteland. Only then she feel happy about spending the rest of her life in the stable.
Today however she was sitting in the Overmare offices listening to yet another security officer complain to her. She listen to the babbling officer while she swirled around her spoon in her cup with her dark grey coated hoof, the other one messing a piece of her black mane that had fallen in front of her eyes. This had been the fifth complaint in the past three days, all about the same exact subject.
“We have no idea what is behind that door and to make it worse you haven’t made any attempts to try and even unlock it,” The officer argued to the young Overmare, barely being able to pay attention to the same rant she had heard yesterday. “We have no idea what’s behind that door and here you are sitting in your chair stirring your Celestia damn tea. Who knows what’s could be in there, and ponies are getting suspicious that you are trying to hide something from them. You don’t want to end up with the entire Stable knocking on your door angry,” He stopped pacing as he looked at Broken Record. “Are you even listening to me?”
She could understand his frustration with her, but it wasn’t her fault he had no idea how to open the strange door marked “Restricted Area”. It had showed up about five days ago, a small earthquake had loosened up part of the wall and revealed a strange door behind it. Broken Record didn’t hear about it until the day after, and according to her PipBuck’s map there shouldn't even be a door there.
Many of the ponies in the stable have started a ghost story that there was a scary creature on the other side of the door, but it seem like it was starting to get to ponies heads. She was wondering what was on the side of that door, but for an entirely different reason. Nothing that Apple Core told her in her training or initiation said anything about a strange door. Hell, not even the Overmare’s personal terminal said anything about this. If there was something beyond that door, she wanted to know exactly what it is.
“Yeah I’m listening,” Broken Record said to the officer in a bored manner. “Look, I’m just as worried about what’s beyond that door as you are but I can’t do anything about it at the moment. I already tried using my personal access code to open the door and it didn’t work. Nothing in the past four Overmare’s terminals says anything about a walled of door, and we already have our best tech ponies on trying to look at the older ones. So far nothing has come up and until we know what’s going I can’t make a decision. If I find out anything I will tell you okay,”
The officer knew not to push it with Broken Record, when she was this way she could snap easily. If there was something the ponies knew about Broken Record, it was that when you make her snap she won’t go back to normal until she sleeps. Seeing that she was in that exact mode he decided the best thing to do was nod his head and leave. Click came from the door as he left, a notice to her that it had been locked by the guard outside.
Happy that he was gone, Broken Record gripped the spoon in her teacup in her mouth and placed it on the table. She took a sip from the cup of tea, a smile growing on her face as she put it down. Her time alone was always one of the best times of her day, the other being the time she spent with Locket. She turned the PipBuck on and tuned into the radio as she sat in her office.
“And that was Ink Spot with It’s All Over But The Crying, one of my personal favorites,” She heard the radio Stallion say, placing the PipBuck on the desk as she happily listened to it. “Now, I’ve been running this for a while now and… Actually now that I think about it ever since Broken Record was chosen as Overmare. Anyways I can’t tell you how sad it is for me to not hear her voice on here, but I’m sure as soon as she gets the chance she will be back to running this station. So, in honor of our great young Overmare, here is the Wasteland Wailers with Dare Master,”
Hearing the radio stallion say her name reminded her of when she use to run the radio. That use to be her job in the stable, and she loved it. Back then it was just her and all the music that had been culminated over the years of ponies going out to the wasteland. She had discovered the Wasteland Wailers in her last year as the radio mare before becoming the Overmare and she had fallen in love with them in that time.
Being the stables radio mare wasn’t just her job, but it was her talent. She wasn’t the best when it came to standing in front of crowds and when she got behind the microphone for the first time she felt like an entirely different pony. She quickly gained her talent and cutie mark, a microphone with an old music player behind it. She really did wait for the day when she could get back to that room and feel confident again, it would be amazing. She dreamed of it every night.
“Overmare,” Broken Record turned her attention to the door as she heard a familiar voice on the other side of it. “A certain somepony is here to see you,”
The door suddenly opened revealing her guard standing behind yellow Pegasus Stallion with Silver mane and tail. There he was, the love of her life standing right before his eyes, and visiting earlier than usual. She smiled as Locket stepped into the room and the sliding door closed behind him leaving the two of them alone.
“You're here rather early,” Broken Record said in a sassy voice. “Did something come up or did you miss me just that much?”
“Boss gave me a break,” He answered simply. “He said I could take a small break from working on the the stables door repairs. It’s been crazy trying to get everything up to speed after the earthquake a few days ago. Hell we still need to check the water and air filters as well as the vaults wiring. I never have to work this much,” He sighed as he looked at Broken Record with an affectionate smile. “So how is the mare of my life doing,”
“Very much the same as you,” Broken Record replied. “Ponies are acting completely crazy, they think that there some sort of monster behind that door. Sure we have no idea what’s in there, sure, but I don’t think Stable-tech would hide anything dangerous down here without telling us. The worst part about it though is that they think I’m hiding something from them,”
“They have all the right to be suspicious,” Locket shrugged his shoulders in reply. “But I agree. What are the chance Stable-Tech would do something that could have the possibility of harming. They were saving our lives, if any lives were lost it ain’t their fault,”
“I wish the scientist would just finish up so we could learn what it is,” Broken Record said, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “I mean, how hard could it be to decode an old run down terminal. Shouldn’t they have found something by now?”
Locket never liked seeing Broken Record like this, it was sad. The thing was that she was like this most of the time, she absolutely hated her job. The thing is that she was getting depressed more and more as she continued being Overmare. Locket knew it wasn’t entirely fair for her to be in this position, he hated the random draw as much as most ponies their age. Of course without a leader the Stable wouldn’t survive, and because of that the random drawing was necessary.
“Sorry to hear it,” Locket said, his ears folded back. “But do you ever think there was a reason that it was walled up, do you think Stable-tech wanted us to find out what was behind there. If none of the past Overmares know anything about it the best course of action would be to just wall it up again,”
“Ponies would still talk about it and I would probably just end up in warmer water than I already am,” Broken Record replied, pouring a second cup of tea. “Want any?” Locket nodded as he sat down on the opposite end of the desk and grabbed the cup with the end of his wing. “You do have a point, what if they never finished the construction in that area of the Stable when the mega spells had fallen and it’s all radiated in there. It could pose some health risks for the Stable. Ugh, the more I think about it the more I realize how much of a pain that stupid door is,”
Locket quickly chugged down the cup of tea as Record kept on speaking. She may not have realized it, but she was actually a really good leader considering how she acts about being one. She may not have enjoyed being the Overmare of Stable 17, but she was good at it none the less. Locket can’t count how many things Broken Record had changed the Stable for the better. She was the one who had pick the current radio stallion as well, he was an old friend hers from school in the stable.
“I don’t think we have to worry too much to worry about when it comes to radiation,” Locket reassured the Overmare. “Stable 17 was built in what the survivors on the surface call The Wilderness, one of the least populated areas in Equestria. No megaspell targeted anything around here. The worst that could happen is that radiation from the other mega spells was brought up this way, even then it’s not enough to kill a pony. Maybe minor radiation sickness but still,”
A knock came from the door suddenly and diverted the two ponies attention. “Locket, your boss is here. He says your break is over,”
Locket took a sigh as he set the once full cup of tea down on the table. “Gotta go honey,” He said as he got up from the seat. “Need to get back to work. I will see you tonight,” He kissed Broken Record on the forehead before turning around and heading to the door, only turning around to say one last thing. “And please sweetie, try and stay happy,”
The door opened and Locket stepped outside before it closed behind him. Broken Record simply stared at where the Stallion previously was, daydreaming about the two of them. The only thing that brought her back to reality was her stomach rumbling, she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and never had a chance to grab anything between her duties. She decided that now was a better time than any to have some lunch. She grabbed her PipBuck up from off the desk and put back on her hoof, making sure it was secure before she headed out the door.
She opened the door and walked out. She looked at the guard she had posted at her door before heading any further. “I’ll be getting some lunch, feel free to take a good break,”
“Thanks ma'am,” The guard said with a salute to the Overmare. He placed his security equipment on the ground near the door before casting a protection spell over it to make sure no one touched it. After that he walked off down a hallway to the right of the current one.
Broken Record took a different direction, heading down the hallway she was already on. As she went along she studied the many ponies working on the piping and electrical work in the Stable. They all greeted the Overmare and said that repairs are going, but Broken Record did pay much attention. All her mind was thinking about was what was for lunch.
This is what the past few days have been like, a bunch of ponies working on repairing the Stable because of that stupid earthquake. Stable 17 was nowhere near one of Equestria’s fault lines. According to ponies who have been to the surface, Stable 17 rested under Stallion Mountain in the north eastern end of Equestria. Ponies above the vault called the land the Wilderness for the extensive amount of forests around them. It was suppose to look beautiful and still very stable compared to most of Equestria.
As the work ponies fell behind her she took a right into a room with a nice red and white tile floor. Stretched across the room are at least a dozen cafeteria tables, ponies seated at some of them having nice conversations. At the far end of the room stands a small counter with an orange earth pony with a white mane and tail. Broken Record walked over to the counter as the pony finished serving another.
“Good afternoon Overmare,” The pony said in a cheerful manner. “Having another hard morning?”
“Tell me about it Carrot Cake,” Broken Record groaned, putting her hooves on the counter in exhaustion. “This has to be the worst week of my life. First the earthquake and that strange door and the repairing and, ugh, I just want a break,” She put her face up to the counter in annoyance. “I wish I took all of Apple Core’s listens more seriously,”
“This coming from a pony who skipped the GOAT and got the job of their dreams,” Carrot Cake replied. “If only I had your luck, but look where I ended up for skipping it. Some job I got. Anyways what can I get for you today,”
“Just a salad please,” Broken Record ordered, Carrot Cake nodded as she started making the meal. “And I’ll completely admit that I didn’t expect to be put in the spot I did. I honestly expected to be stuck in janitor duty or something but instead I end up as radio mare. Also, if you think anything about your job, just remember that you would have ended up in the same position I did if you got this job,”
“Maybe you have a point,” Carrot Cake said as she pulled a bowl of salad up onto the counter. It was covered in Italian dressing, the Overmare’s favorite “Here’s your salad Overmare, just the way you like it,”
“Thank you,” She said as she took it and balanced it on her head. “Have a good day,”
“You to,” Carrot Cake smiled and waved as Broken Record walked over to the nearest table and sat down.
As she ate she was reminded of the day she had actually skipped the GOAT. The GOAT was some sort of test that everyone took so they ended up in the right place to work. Broken Record never really understood the purpose of it and a group of students had decided to try and skip it. They had succeeded, even the teacher agreed that the test wasn’t totally necessary and that he could tweek it to there liking. What we didn’t know was that the stable had jobs planned for students who did it. Broken Record got lucky and her parents managed to end up convincing the Overmare to give her one that was fitting. That’s how she ended up as the radio mare that the Stable knew her as.
Still got grounded for two months for doing it though Broken Record thought to herself. They weren’t that happy about it. I miss them, haven’t seen them since they left on that expedition two years ago.
“Miss Overmare,” Broken Record looked up from her salad to the young colt standing near her. “Sorry to interrupt you but me and a few of my friends heard something weird. It was coming from the other side of that strange door,”
Broken Record’s eyes widen at the last two words, quickly putting down her salad and got up from her seat. “Are your friends still there?”
“I came to grab you,” The colt said. “They’re still there and are waiting for me,”
Without thinking Broken Record quickly ran out of the cafeteria and through the hallways of the Stable, ponies watching in confusion at the unusual haste. She weaved through the corridors with ease, having memorized the layout from the PipBucks map, no matter how hard it was to read the local map at times. She took a quick shortcut through the med bay, not listening to the doctor as he asked what was going on. She really had no idea who much attention she had gotten. After many endless corridors she came to a group of foals standing outside a door half hidden in the wall with the words “Restricted area” on it.
“Overmare!” They all shouted in join as the rushed over and hugged Broken Record’s hooves.
“What’s going on?” She asked in disbelief at the sudden act of affection. “I heard that you ponies heard something strange,”
“Yes we did,” A unicorn filly with a pink mane and blue coat said as she looked up at Broken Record. “Patchworks, the filly right there, heard something that sounded like a ponies coming from the other side of this door. She called us over and while we heard nothing at first we heard something screaming from the other side of the door. It wasn’t just me, we all heard it,”
The foals all nodded their head in agreement as they continued hugging the Overmare in fear. Broken Record’s belief that something was off with that door only grew more as she heard this. A scream, these foals said they heard a scream coming from the other side. Part of her thought this was a prank, but the fear and agreement between all these foals dashed any thoughts of that. This was real, it was all too real.
“Can someone here tell me exactly what they heard,” Broken Record pleaded, hoping for more information.
“I-I can miss,” Broken Record looked at the pony that the filly had pointed out as Patchworks. She had a white coat with a spot of brown fur around her eye, and a tail and mane of the same brown hair. “W-when I first heard it, I-it sounded like somepony was c-calling for help. I-it sounded like it was in p-pain, and I-I didn’t know what was going on. T-then I heard that scream, he sounded like something was hurting him. I-I think he’s dead,”
A look of sympathy grew onto Broken Records face. “Don’t worry,” Broken Record said, giving the young filly a hug. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything, but I promise you that no matter what happens that door won’t open. Now get back to class before the teacher wonders where you are,”
The foals all gave a nod to the Overmare before running off down the hall. Broken Record felt bad for what they heard, to be shown reality in such a way was sad and terrifying. Not only that, but if they really were hearing somepony getting killed on the other side of that door, then the entire vault could be in charge. She made a note to put a guard at the door when she gets the chance, to make sure whatever was in there couldn’t get out.
She turned around to go back to her office when she was stopped by a sudden thud behind her. She looked behind her to see that no one was there, but she heard yet another thud coming from somewhere. That when she realized it was coming from the door. No way the foals were making that up, she was hearing it herself. She walked back over to the door and looked at it curiously.
“Hello?” She asked confused, “Is anypony there?”
… No answer.
She got no response from whatever was on the other side on the door. Not only that, but whatever was banging on the door had stopped. Broken Record was starting to freak out a little from this, what the hell was going on? One week of this door being here and nothing happens, but suddenly foals hear the scream of a pony and Broken Record hears something banging against the door. Why was this happening now?
Creeped out, Broken Record turned away and made her way back to her office. This was going to haunt her for the rest of the day, she knew. That sound alone was enough to put her on edge, and the thought of something breaking out of that door and killing her was way too real. She tried the best to not show how she was feeling as she went through the halls.
“Record?” The Overmare stopped as she saw carrot cake coming towards her. “Is everything alright? I saw you suddenly run off and I had no idea what you were doing and-”
“Calm Carrot,” Broken Record said. “Take a deep breath,” Carrot did as she was told and took in a deep breath. “And exhale,” Carrot exhaled as directed, calmed down from her earlier rush and worry. “Don’t worry everything's okay. Some foals heard something at that weird door is all. I’m going to go ask the security head if he can put someone to watch it,”
“They… heard something?” Carrot Cake asked, tilting her head confused. “You sure it isn’t a prank?”
“I heard something to,” Broken Record admitted, “Something was banging on the door really hard… or was try to knock it down. Whatever the reason we need to make sure whatever is behind there stays where it is,”
“Something was trying to get out?” Carrot Cake asked surprised as the two of them started walking down the hall together. “Do you think it’s a pony,”
“I don’t think so,” Broken Record replied, wishing that she agreed. “From what the foals said, they heard something screaming from the other side that sounded like a pony. I think that whatever is on the other side of the door must have killed that pony from what the foal said,”
“That’s horrible,” Carrot Cake’s eyes were wide with shock, “But doesn’t that mean that there are other ponies beyond that door. They’re going to be stuck in there with that thing, whatever it is,”
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Broken Records ear flatten as she spoke. “The Overmare’s code doesn’t work and if there was something with those ponies on the other side of the door then no doubt they had some sort of experience with weapon or maybe something to keep it contained. We have nothing we can do but hope we are safe on this side of the door,”
Things were silent for a second before Carrot Cake spoke up again. “I’m leaving today for the Wilderness, are you coming?” She asked the Overmare.
“Sorry Carrot but I can’t,” Broken Record said still sad. “You know how it is being Overmare, I can’t leave the Stable. I may not enjoy my position, but I’m not going to leave this place without someone to take it’s place, and no one wants my position,” She placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder. “I’m sorry Carrot Cake,”
“It’s okay,” Carrot Cake said with a sympathetic smile. “I understand. I need to go pack before the big sending off ceremony. I’ll be back in two years though, so don’t worry,”
The two friends hugged each other, a tear rolling down Broken Records cheek as it occurred. As the separated, Carrot Cake made her way down a hallway to the left as Broken Record went straight. She tried to hide the obvious tears rolling down her face at the thought of her best friend leaving without her, but Broken Record knew that she couldn’t just leave Stable 17 in the state it was in.
She walked back to her office to see her guard arriving back as well. Her guard gave her a salute as she walk back into her office. As she walked back in she looked down through a glass window at the stables door. She could see Locket messing with something on the top of the stable door, but she couldn’t tell what it was. Leaving the stable was a big deal, it was a show of courage to ponies who had decided to go on an “expedition” as the stables ponies called it. Later today Carrot Cake would be leaving Stable 17. Feeling tired from the events that had unfolded today, she said over the speaker to her guard that she was going to rest for a bit and to not wake. With a confident “Yes ma’am” from the guard she crawled into her bed and quickly fell asleep.
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As Broken Record woke up from her nap, she checked her PipBuck to see what time it was. It was currently eight forty-five at night, five hours after Carrot Cake would have left for the surface. She wish she didn’t miss it, but she was so tired from a weeks worth of ponies arguing and bickering about repair and that stupid door that she couldn’t sleep most of the time. In fact this was the best sleep she’s gotten in a long time.
As she looked outside to the stable door below and realized immediately that something wasn’t right. The stable door had been left open, not only was that dangerous for the stable but was also very strange. Usually the ponies at the stables door was really good at only opening the door when needed, but she noticed that the pony at the doors controls was sleeping.
Getting out of bed she went over to the doors speaker to call her guard. “Security we have a problem down at the Stables doors,” She called over the intercom. “Somepony has left the stable door open,” She waited a few second before realizing she wasn’t for some reason getting an answer back. “Stable security this is the Overmare, the Stable door has been left open,”
Still she got no answer from the Stable’s Security room. Broken Record was baffled at what was happening, they were never this bad at there job. Sure they had a few inept guards but they always at least answered her calls. She was the Overmare for crying out loud, why aren’t they answering her back. If this wasn’t security she would have the ability to report this, but how could she report the ones that weren’t listening in the first place.
Deciding she would have to close the Stable door herself she went back to her bed and grabbed her PipBuck. Putting it firmly around her hoof she walked over to the door and opened it. What she found as she opened the door enraged her. The pipes and electrical wiring for most of the vault seemed to have been punctured. She went to look to the guard at her door for an explanation but stopped before she could even say the first word.
They were lying there on the floor with what looked a stab wound in their chest. Broken Record stepped back a bit at the sight of this, not having an clue what to say anymore. How did this happen? Deciding to get a closer look at the guard she slowly stepped closer to it and lifted the security helm of the pony. The guard had a look of shock on his face, but his eyes didn’t move at all. Broken Record didn’t need to check anymore to tell that they were dead.
Taking the 10.mm pistol they had in case whatever killed him wasn’t dead. She checked his body, even though it made her feel sick robbing the dead, to see if they had any extra bullets on them. Sadly the guard didn’t seem to have any, which was understandable considering how little the guns in the stable are actually used. As she stood up she gripped the pistol in her mouth and aimed down the sights, overall the gun felt comfortable. She grabbed the saddlebag that the guard had been wearing and strapped it to herself, putting the pistol in the saddlebag.
As she went through the now destroyed Stable 17 she wondered exactly what had happened. Why was she not awoken from the damage caused by all of this? Most importantly, what had caused this in the first place? She had a feeling in her gut but didn’t want to believe it. Maybe something got into the Stable, but then why wasn’t she killed by any of those creatures she had heard about on the surface. While she hated to think of it, the possibility that her gut was right was most likely true.
As she ran down the halls of the stable she kept an eye on the EFS, which she had never needed to use before. It felt disorienting at first as her vision adjusted to the PipBucks actions. So far the EFS showed that the stable was enemy free, there didn’t appear to be anything really in it. That only made her feel more scared at what was happening. It proved that whatever killed her guard wasn’t feral.
That wasn’t the only thing that was scaring her. As she ran through the halls of Stable 17 she saw the decaying bodies of ponies all around her. It was frightening, seeing the dead bodies of ponies she had loved all around her. She held back tears as she ran through the hallways, trying to find somepony alive. As she reached the cafeteria, any hope that any pony left in the Stable was still alive was dashed. The amount of bodies that were in the room was rather unimaginable.
From elderly mares and stallions to the foals she had met at the door, it seemed like half the stable had taken shelter in here. No doubt they were trying to hide from whatever had attacked them. As she looked at all the bodies around her, all small part of her was glad to see that none of them bared resemblance to Carrot Cake. So this must have happened after she had left. The thought of her best friend escaping kept Broken Record from breaking into tears, something that was really hard at the moment.
Broken Record walked out of the room, not able to bear the sight of all the dead bodies. As she did, she fell to the ground crying. “Why did this happen?” She asked, even though she knew she wouldn’t get an answer. “I never asked for this, why would you do this,”
She didn't know who she was really speaking to, but blaming it on someone for some reason made her feel better. She wiped the tears off her face and stood back off. Sitting there and crying was going to do anything, she needed to know for sure what was going on. She walked in the direction that she remembered that weird door being in and hoped to see it closed. The only company she had was the eerie silence of the stable and the static coming from the PipBucks radio.
As she reached the strange door, her eyes widened and fear. The door had been busted clean open, it rested a few feet from where it once stood. Without a thought she walked up to the door and looked inside of it. The room standing in front of her looked like some sort of research lab, not like the ones Stable 17 held. There was the body of a pony with a metallic pipe sticking through his body, blood had poured out from the injury.
Part of Broken Record said to turn back, to get away from this door and get out of the stable now. Yet she didn’t, she wanted to know what was going on behind this door. The thought that this had been in the Stable all along scared her, but the question she asked is why was it here. Surely something in the research lab could tell her why.
As she stepped in she looked around to see many dents in the wall, supposedly whatever they were experimenting on had tried to escape. There were other bodies with injuries she didn’t even want to know about, the puddles of blood was enough to make her sick. She held in the urge to vomit as she walked into a side room.
This side room had some sort of tube at the end of it, the glass broken by something that must have been contained in it. On the side of the room Broken Record was on she saw a terminal on a elevated platform. It must of had information on whatever was going on in here.
She walked over to the terminal and tried to enter it, only to be greeted by a password screen. She didn’t have a password and she doubted that the ponies in here kept it on a holotape or sheet of paper. They probably knew the password from memory. Luckily, she didn’t need a password in order to get in, she had her PipBuck with her.
She remembered being told by Apple Core that the Overmare’s special PipBuck, the same one all Overmares and Overstallions before her had used, had an override code for all equipment in the vault. This meant she could manually override the current password with her own without any problem, but that was only if this was Stable-tech technology. Broken Record, took a small cord out of her PipBuck and put it into a port on the side of the terminal. Looking down at the PipBuck, she selected a prompt to override the password and watched as strange numbers danced in front of her. After a couple of seconds the terminal entered in the personal code that Broken Record had used as Overmare.
Pressing the enter button on the terminal she smiled as she saw the standard terminal screen. She went down until she saw a file saying “Research logs” on it and once again pressed the enter button. As she enter she saw that only two dates were still on the terminal, the others all seemed corrupted. Clicking on the the first research log, she started to read the contents in it.
Experiment 17 has started to show signs of resistance against us. Whenever we try to take him out of his cell he active tries to kill us, the only reason we are still alive is because of the shock pistols. That being said, this is rather intriguing in terms of discovery. Experiment 17 is started to show signs of intelligence and has proven himself able to say smaller words. No doubt as time goes on he will become a fully intelligent being and we might just be able to introduce him to the rest of the stable. We’ve been working on this project for over fifty years, if the Overmare was to find out Experiment 17 would be killed. We still have yet to teach him about self defense, but until he shows us we can trust him we will not be able to.
So this entire thing started before Broken Record was even born? From the sounds of it these ponies must have been normal members of the stable, most likely the stable scientist. What was this Experiment 17 they were working on, was it some kind of machine to help the Stable? Why would they keep something like this from the rest of the stable? She didn’t know the answer, but she did know that this Experiment 17 was what caused all of this. She still wasn’t sure why it didn't kill her, but she didn’t care. Heading down to the other working research log she read it with more curiosity than before.
I had to lock the door, but no doubt by the time I’m finished Experiment 17 will have busted the door down. We didn’t need to teach him anything to defend himself, he taught himself overnight. We’ve been trapped in here ever since that stupid earthquake and Experiment 17 has grown more and more resentful as time goes on. Just an hour ago he started killing us, and I know it’s only a matter of time until he escapes into the stable. If any of you in the Stable are still alive, we are so sorry for what we caused.
A feeling of frustration came over Broken Record as she read this. She looked to her left to see the body of a pony with several bullets to the head and stomach. They wanted her to forgive them? They did this without her consent, and the entire stable ended up paying for it in the end. The only two that she knew was alive was herself and Carrot Cake.
“You damn idiots.” She whispered to the dead corpse to her left. “What purpose did you have for doing this?”
She tried reading the other research logs but found that they were somewhat ruined, maybe from the attack that had taken place. Once again she turned to her PipBuck for aid, downloading it onto the device and - thanks to once again a special Overmare feature - started running a decryption scan of the data. The reason the PipBuck had the device was mostly to keep the Stable safe in case any crimes happened, but most Overmares had forgotten about it due to lack of activity in the stable. The only reason she even knew the feature existed was because of the door once again, the same door that held the machine that killed almost everypony in the stable.
“Experiment 17,” She said to herself heading out of the hidden research facility. “I’m going to find you, somehow, and you are going to pay for what you did,”
--------
As Broken Record approached the still open door to Stable 17, she gazed at the pony that had been working over at the door operator. She knew now that he was dead, and most likely Locket was among the dead. She didn’t look for him, she didn’t want to cry in front of his dead body. She knew exactly what she had to do, and it was right outside that door.
In truth she knew nothing about The Wilderness, except that it’s a rare beauty in a dead world. She had heard about the NCR from ponies who have gone to the surface, and their ideals. She wasn’t exactly sure whether she could trust them or not, but she would need to find ponies she could trust when she got outside. In this case, that meant finding Carrot Cake. She is the only one Broken Record was sure had escaped.
As she neared the Stable door, she was blinded by the outside light. However, she kept moving onward knowing that there was nothing left for her in Stable 17. Her mind was only on one thing at the moment, and that was finding her friend Carrot Cake. She was as prepared as she could be, walking through the light as the radio had suddenly turned into a new radio station. She knew it then…
… She had entered The Wilderness.
LEVEL UP!
New Perk - Overmare privilege: That’s a cool PipBuck you got there, the chance of a successful override has increased by 15%.
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Your story has been advertised on the Fo:E facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/foebooks/ feel free to join us and talk about your book. :)
I know slow response, but nice fanfic so far, I like the idea of the Wilderness, will keep an eye on this one.
7501688 Glad to see you like the idea, I was a little concerned given the no mega spells thing.
7502892 I'm trying something similar with a fanfic called Fallout Equestria: Lost Cove which is based on Far Harbor/Mount Desert Island, though there's still the radioactive fog from the fallout from the megaspells.