Steely Grey Stable

Chapter One: Steely Grey Stable

“Goddesses I hate my job. But I guess there are those small things that make it worthwhile, eh?”

I was lying there in bed, gazing around at my dull, unadorned room. All I really had was a cabinet that housed my gear, a bed, and a desk with a dusty terminal on it. I really needed to do some major redecorating... Ah well, I was content with reading my copy of "Guns and Bullets" for the time being..

“Haku! You’re needed as soon as possible in the Gambling district’s main hall!” the security broadcaster blared loudly into my ear bloom, “there’s a major disturbance down there! You need to report down there as soon as possible and assess the situation.”

Oh great, another issue in the gambling department. Sweet Celestia, can’t they stay calm and play nice for just one day? Just because we don’t have a full security force, doesn’t mean they must take advantage of the fact. I mean, we are normally able to handle most of the issues ourselves, but Plythy and I are being worked ragged. There should just be a required draft of ponies into the security force... Ah well, whatever.

I switched off the security radio and pulled out my ear bloom, put away my magazine, and grabbed my gear from the cabinet. I checked the condition of my security baton and gun using my Pip-buck, as well as the number of rubber pellets in my gun. Everything seemed to be in order, so I slipped on my dark blue Security Force uniform barding, and left my quarters. I trotted for what seemed like forever down the hallways; all of which looked the same; while angling towards the gambling department. I hated living so far off from the general population areas, in Wing C.

I briskly trotted my way into the main gambling hall a few minutes later and, surely enough, there were tables, chairs, as well as other gambling apparatus strewn about. I gazed around at the scene before me and beheld a “scraggly” group of ponies. Oddly enough, I spotted some faces I swear I hadn’t seen before... There was a light pink mare in the corner of the room, cowering with an older looking dark brown buck, who had taken refuge behind an overturned Blackjack table. I recognized the buck to be Mr. Twenty-Bits, the floor manager of this section of the gambling district. The pink mare was his daughter Claire; who, after a moment of thought, I realized I didn’t really know much about.

A short distance away from them were the three ponies I know I hadn’t seen before. Two light brown unicorns, one a mare and the other a colt, were each lifting chairs and tossing them at the overturned table that the Twenty-Bits were using as cover. The third “mysterious stranger” was a grey earth pony buck. He had an odd cutie mark, resembling a club or blunt object like a bat or something.

I took a few moments thinking things over, since I had never seen this lot before. I know most of the ponies in the stable, so I didn’t know why I didn’t know these three...

As I looked around, I noted that Plythy wasn’t here yet. That mare was late for almost everything. When we were young, our parents used to set up playdates for us, and even then she was late. She has been late for almost every one of our security checks, and even emergency calls; the current one being no exception. I thought I was lazy, but I’m starting to think Plythy bests me at that.

She’d better get here soon; I have a feeling I’m going to be needing backup before this is over.

On top of that, the goshbarned lazy overmare never does squat. It might just be me, but all she ever does is stay locked up in her little over-watch room, doing Goddesses-knows what. It’s really me and Plythy that do most, if not all, of the authoritative work down here. She rarely even gives out orders anymore. Well, she IS the overmare, so I guess there isn’t much I can do about it. But boy, I’d sure love to give her a stiff hoof in the muzzle...

I came back to my senses a few moments later, just in time to duck from a steel folding table that had been flung at me by one of the unicorns. It narrowly missed my head, but the contents that were on the table were another story. I found myself covered in an odd smelling mixture of wine, whiskey, daisy salad leaf shreds, and potato chips.

Gross.

“Hey you three over there!” I shouted out, my voice cracking as it echoed down hall, “Get this mess cleaned up and come with me. I don’t want to have to resort to force.”

They stared at me blankly for a few moments, but then; slowly but surely, they complied; at least for the time being. I watched them and my Eyes Forward Sparkle, its bars remaining the neutral indicating blue as they started cleaning up the mess. I trotted over to where the Twenty-Bits’ were taking refuge, to see if they were alright or not.

“Are either of you hurt?” I asked, not really directing the question at either one of them in particular.

“No, we’re fine, thanks Haku,” replied a very shaken up Claire, “I was dealing out cards, and right suddenly, one of those three swung a chair at me. My father came over and demanded they take a break from the gambling hall and they refused, instead turning on him. From there, everything just fell apart, and this whole mess happened. I’m so sorry to trouble you like this.”

“Ah well it’s no problem. It is my job to deal with situations like this,” I replied, in a possibly vain attempt to prevent her from feeling bad, “It’s no problem at all.”

I glanced at her father, and did a double take as I noticed he wasn't moving. I was a bit worried until Claire caught me staring and, in a "matter of fact" tone said "Oh don’t you worry about him, he's just asleep. He sleeps real heavy and real quiet."

"Oh, alright then. Just couldn't be sure," I replied, giving her a short smile.

I returned my attention to the other three, who were making almost desultory progress cleaning up the mess. I had half a mind to shoot them with my pellet gun just get them to hurry up. Just as I was turning around again, I caught a dark look from one of the two unicorns and shortly after, the three bars on my E.F.S. went red. If I hadn’t noticed until two seconds later, I probably wouldn’t have been able to dodge the stool one of the unicorns flung at me. With ease that came from years experience, I slipped into S.A.T.S. and studied my attackers.

The earth pony buck was nearest to me and by the looks of it, he was probably going to charge me. The other two unicorns were probably going to lift stools and tables to fling at me, but the earth pony was my biggest threat so best I took him out first.

I queued up three shots for the face, but silently cursed to myself as I realized I only had enough charge to take down the one buck. I figured if I could take him down fast enough, I could use my baton and try to get to the two unicorns. I steeled myself and let S.A.T.S. do its job. My rifle let out three bursts of sharp clacks and the buck went down in a heap, groaning.

As I drew my baton and turned to face the remaining two unicorns, I was hit full-force by a folding table similar to the one they had thrown earlier. My Pip-Buck was alerting me that I had taken injuries to my head and left forehoof, although it was kind of redundant. The little colt in my head was dancing around concerned. It wasn’t every day I had something interesting happen like this. I mean I was just smashed with a table for Celestia’s sake!

As I went down groaning, my head pounding and my hoof aching, I prepared for whatever else the unicorns might end up crushing me with. To my surprise as I lie there I heard a series of loud clacks, similar to my own pellet rifle. The two unicorns went down, groaning in pain similarly to the earth-pony buck.

I was still trying to process what had just happened, what with my thoughts swimming from being smashed in the head by a table. A familiar looking hoof entered my vision and helped me up as I took it. I regained control over my thoughts somewhat, and looked at my savior. As I expected, Plythy stood there smiling smugly at me.

“You’re very welcome my dear Haku, glad I could be of assistance,” she said, gesturing at me with a flourish.

“Oh, why thanks for coming in last minute after I had already been smashed with a table!” I replied, a bit aggravated at her late arrival, “Where were you this whole time anyway?”

“Wait. I’ll tell you later. We need to bind these three up first, and hide them somewhere.”

I stared at her, a quizzical expression distorting my face for a few seconds.

“Why would we want to do that? Shouldn’t we bring them in and lock them up?”

“No, we can’t do that. It won’t keep them for long.”

“What are you talking about? I was just smashed in the face with a table! Why wouldn’t we want to turn them in? I mean we can just...” I was about to start yelling before she silenced me by putting her fore-hoof on my muzzle.

“Not here, not now. I’ll explain everything later,” she whispered softly, “you need to make sure the Twenty-bits won’t say anything about what they saw, okay?”

I nodded silently in approval and she removed her hoof. Whatever was happening here, it was definitely going to make my day quite an interesting one.

Once we had bound and hidden the offending ponies in an old, dusty, unused broom closet as well as gotten an oath of secrecy from Claire (her father having been asleep through the whole event), Plythy and I began wandering around the stable.

“You still owe me an explanation for all this,” I accused, breaking the silence, “You’re hiding something from me. I didn’t know those ponies and, I mean, I know just about all the ponies in the stable.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll explain later. But first, we should get your hoof looked at, and maybe your head too,” she replied.

I couldn’t argue with that.

After we left the room and the initial adrenaline rush from the fight wore off, my head was pounding worse than ever, and I limped every time I put weight on my left hoof. If it bothered me this much while I’m not doing anything, it would certainly not be good if another incident like the one an hour ago happened.

We trotted, well I limped and Plythy trotted, over to the medical department. There we met Nurse Joyheart. She was a light purplish unicorn mare, with a pink mane, and a syringe with a red cross as a cutie mark. She trotted over, seemingly delighted, as she spotted us.

“Oh hello you two!” she sang out as she reached us, “To what do I owe the honour of your visit to the clinic?”

Was she always this nice? The little colt in my head kept hitting me, so I must have forgotten someth... OH, right, we helped her save her cat that got stuck in the ventilation system.

“Hello Nurse Joyheart,” Plythy replied with a smile, “we came to get Haku’s hoof and head looked at.”

“Oh my, did something happen?”

“Just a little job mishap, nothing too extreme.” Plythy offered.

Nurse Joyheart seemed unconvinced.

“Yeah, I only got smashed with a table,” I supplied, trying my best to sound unperturbed, but only ended up drawing a worried look from the nurse. “Don’t worry though, it wasn’t too bad.”

I could tell she didn’t believe me, and she escorted me into the back room quickly. She took a few x-rays of my fore-hoof, as well as did examinations on my head. It turns out I broke my fore-hoof, although my head wasn’t too bad, so she began to work her magic.

A few minutes later, I emerged with the pounding in my head gone, and my left fore-hoof working properly again. She advised me to try and keep off of my hoof for a while, or else it might not fully heal properly. I rejoined Plythy, and we departed the clinic after giving our thanks. We meandered through the hallways for a short while, and I began to wonder if Plythy even had a place to go in mind.

“Hey Plythy, mind telling me where we going, and explaining wha-” I began, until she silenced me with a shh and a short gesture. I had no clue what was going on, but I would go along with it for now. We continued through the corridors, as I checked my Pip-Buck’s map menu. We were headed in the direction of our quarters.

We hadn’t seen anypony in a while, and the monotonous sound of our trotting through the hallways was getting to me. I decided to break the silence.

“Plythy, there’s nopony near us, can you please tell me whaooahhh-” I was cut off as she shoved me through the door to her room mid-sentence.

I stumbled through and fell onto her bed in a heap, dazed and stunned. Ouch, I thought to myself, what in the world has gotten into this mare?

I stood up trying to shake off the shock from the suddenness of what had just happened. As I steadied myself I looked at Plythy and readied to begin my series of questions. The words died in my throat as I looked at her. She was staring at me oddly, and I couldn’t help but return the stare. And suddenly, I found her hugging me, and I hugging her.

Awkward moment...? Well, in either case I’m sure we both needed that... I thought to myself.

Aw, look at that, why don’t you two just go kiss already, eh? the little colt in my head mocked.

Oh go away, you. Yeesh. That little colt sure could get annoying.

I snapped back into reality as she suddenly broke the embrace, still watching me thoughtfully. We stood there in silence; neither of us daring to move or speak, until Plythy broke.

"S-sorry about that..." she mumbled softly, glancing away awkwardly, "I-I'm just really glad you're okay... You might not have realized it, but you were in some serious danger there."

Her response surprised me. The little colt in my head was prancing around worried, mumbling oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

OH BE QUIET YOU.

“What do you mean I was in real danger?” I inquired, staring thoughtfully at the mare.

“Well, there’s quite a bit I need to tell you and, well you might.. might not believe me.”

“Why would you think I would ever doubt you?” I snorted derisively.

She looked back at me, flustered, and I answered back with a wide smile..

“I-I didn’t mean...” she started, but I cut her off with a short gesture.

“I’m just pulling your hoof. But, honestly; tell me and I’ll hear you out,” I said, trying not to give her any reason to think otherwise.

She beamed back at me.

“Well?” I inquired.

“Okay well, first off: the overmare is a liar and an evil conniving little-...erm anyways, she’s been lying to us this whole time.”

I couldn’t help but look at her with a hint of incredulity, although she didn’t seem to notice and continued on after a short pause.

“The overmare has been recruiting henchmen, and bandits to extort the general population Haku. That explains the three ponies earlier. That was why we bound them up, because the overmare would’ve likely released them herself.”

“But then, why haven’t we ever seen them before? How could they have eluded us for that long?” I asked, my thoughts returning to the fight earlier.

“The stable door Haku,” Plythy replied flatly, “It’s open, and has been for years now. The overmare has been hiding it this whole time.”

I sat down on my haunches, staring at the white mare in front of me with a blank expression. Even the little colt in my head seemed taken aback.

You think she might be lying? Or going crazy? Or... The little colt in my head stammered, obviously wondering at the validity of what Plythy had said.

For the love of Luna, will you please BE QUIET? I’m trying to think here... I silently chastised. With all the thoughts swimming through my head, now was definitely not the time.

“H-how did you learn of this? Are you entirely certain?!” I asked, staring at her in disbelief.

“I’m completely certain.” She replied decisively, “I learned this when she called me in to do maintenance on her terminal. I hacked into a few of the locked files, and it was there that I found evidence of what she was doing. There were multiple messages to somepony on the outside called Shred or something, but I couldn’t see much more without her noticing. I did notice though, that the stable door had been opened and closed multiple times over the past few years.”

I sat there, gazing at the small lamp on a nightstand in the corner of the room, my thoughts swimming. How could the overmare have done all this? Who is Shred? WHY? What does ANY of this have to do with ME?

I was snapped out of my reverie by Plythy waving a hoof in front of my face, calling my name.

“Oh sorry, I was... lost in thought for a moment...” I croaked out.

“Yeah, I can tell,” she said, facehoofing.

“Well, what does any of this have to do with me?” I asked, shooting her a quizzical, somewhat worried look.

“Well, I don’t know how to say this, and I hope you’ll bear with me...” she trailed off, then stared at me glumly, “I’m going to leave the Stable.”

The phrase rang in my mind over again, and the little colt in my head was prancing around like a crazy-colt. I stared at her trying to hide my disbelief, although I likely failed as her look grew more and more sullen.

“I-I was just hoping... maybe you would come with me...” she mumbled, looking away, “I take it you won’t be?”

I got up, staring at her with a blank expression, as she returned her gaze to me. I noticed she was on the verge of tears.

I plodded slowly toward her.

“Why would you EVER, think that I would leave you alone?” I whispered as I hugged her, “Of course I’ll come along with you. Somepony has to watch over you.”

“R-really? You’ll go with me...?” she asked, shakily. I could tell she was as shocked from my response as I was from this whole situation.

“Of course I will!”

“I spent a long time thinking about how I could convince you to come with me... But now I see that I should have known I could count on you.”

“You should never forget that. You can always count on me. So, uhm, now what?” I inquired.

“Well, there’s still a lot we need to do, but first we have to pack what we want to take, as well as supplies. From what I know, the outside of the stable can be a pretty harsh place. Mind helping me pack? We can get your things afterwards.”

“Sure, no problem,” I replied, already beginning to gather up some of the few belongings she had.

As was the norm with most ponies in the Stable, she didn’t have very much to pack. Mostly just work-related items, although she did have a few other items of note. I noticed her pack away a piece of lingerie, and she was blushing as she put it in her saddlebags hurriedly piling other things on top. She also had a few magazines and photos.

A few minutes later we set out to my quarters. Which was a very, very long trot...across the hallway.

I had a fair amount more to pack than Plythy did. Although that was on account that I was an avid magazine collector. It took about a half hour to pack and make a final run through on our items, making sure we had everything that we wanted, or needed from our rooms. We likely would not be seeing them again. Oh how things were changing...

We said our “final goodbyes” to our old rooms, and set off to the cafeteria and eating wing. We figured we ought to stock up on food, water, and supplies before we left the stable.

We trotted onward quietly, neither of us speaking a word. The shared silence between us being enough to convey how we felt about the situation. We would likely not be seeing our homes again after this day. Ponies we had come to know, the lives we were living, all about to change forever.

We arrived at the cafe which was startlingly empty, or at least empty by the stable’s standards. A few sparse groups of ponies here and there around tables, with a few waiting in lines at the many different food stands. Others were standing around or sitting and chatting.

We trotted over to the largest of the stands, set back against the far wall. I knew the mare we were looking for would be there.

We slowly cantered along towards large stand, absently answering back the occasional “Hi!” or “Hello.” we received from some of the other ponies. What I happened to notice was that there were a few unfamiliar faces here as well. My mind began to wander back to the fight earlier today, and what this might mean.

Suddenly, I walked straight into somepony, causing my train of thought to derail.

“Oh! I’m so sorry about that!” I yelped, looking down and brushing off scraps of what looked to be a salad. Plythy was giggling to herself off to the side.

“Smooth one, Haku,” Plythy retorted. Ugh, that mare...

“Oh, no, no, it’s no problem at all,” a mare’s voice replied, “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Oh, well I wasn’t either,” I chuckled, “I guess we’re both at fault, eh?”

I looked back up, having dusted off most of the food scraps and noted the light brown mare standing in front of me, with a dusky grey mane, and a strawberry milkshake as a cutie mark. It took a moment for my brain to register who exactly I was staring at. It was exactly who we were heading to see.

“Oh! Shake! Just the mare I wanted to see,” I blurted out suddenly, somewhat surprised.

“So I can see, and to what may I have the privilege of seeing the stable’s security here?” she replied with a faint smile.

“Well we needed to ask you about a few things,” Plythy answered, and seeing Shake’s slightly worried look added, “but you’re not in trouble or anything, don’t worry.”

Shake nodded, and led us to the back room, where all of the foodstuffs were stored. They kept a constant stock since she and her brother were related to the ponies who ran the farming district. Family ties and all that...

We all sat down in the small employee lounge at the far end of the storage room. There was a small round table, a few chairs, a microwave, and a vending machine. I trotted over and bought myself a water, grumbling at the overpricing of two bits for a bottle.

That price is outrageous! I sure hope that things aren’t this pricey out there... I thought to myself, as I trotted back and took a seat.

“So, uhm, what did you want to see me for?” Shake inquired, her calm demeanor betrayed by the slight tinge of worry over her features.

I smiled reassuringly and replied, “Hey, don’t be so tense. There’s nothing wrong and we’re your friends, there’s no cause for alarm.”
“We have something to tell you, and something to ask you. If there is anypony in this stable we know we can trust, and that we can call our friend, it’s you,” Plythy cooed.

“W-well okay then..” Shake stammered, “what.. exactly d-do you need?”

I sighed, sitting silently for a moment, trying to find the right words to say.

“Well I trust you, Shake, so the situation is thus: Plythy and I are going to leave the stable,” I declared, each word dropping like a hammer blow. It seemed an outrageous prospect, even to myself.

The effect was much greater on Shake, as she looked from me, to Plythy, and back to me. Her face a contorted mess of incredulity and disbelief.

“Y-you can’t be serious..” she chuckled out, although her demeanor changed once she noticed out stern gaze. “O-oh..” she whispered.

“We wanted to know if you could give us a few supplies for our journey, since we don’t know what we might face out there,” Plythy stated outright.

We stared at her intently for a while, as she gazed hardly at the table, tapping her hoof against it all the while. For what seemed like hours, although it was probably more like minutes, we sat there. The monotonous tapping of her hoof against the table filling the room.

Suddenly she broke the silence as she let out a long sigh. “I.. I’ll give you guys some stuff. But I can’t give much, I mean I have a business to run...”

Plythy and I nodded, it was completely reasonable. I was surprised she was going to give us anything at all.

“Thanks so much!” Plythy squealed, jumping on Shake. Both of whom toppled to the floor, as I facehoofed.

Shortly after the exchange, she gave us a few food rations as well as a few bottles of water. We then departed from the cafe, saying our final goodbyes. I sighed inwardly thinking, we likely will never see her again...

Plythy and I meandered through the halls, mumbling and talking between ourselves, ignoring the occasional “Hello” or “Hay!” as we walked by other ponies. We didn’t need any other distractions and such on our minds, or another thing to hold us back. We just wanted to get this whole thing over and done with, it is hard enough as it is having to leave. Let alone the fact that I would likely never see these ponies again.

“So where are we going now?” I whispered quietly into her ear.

“We’re going to the maintenance hall,” she replied flatly.

“Why there?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” she said with a wink, hushing me.

What.. could she have meant by that... Could it... No, no.. I thought to myself, a bit awkwardly.

As it was, I followed silently without complaint, as we headed down into the lower levels of the stable.

The rumbling of the generators, hissing of steam and valves, as well as other various noises which were a result of the machines and mechanisms that helped support life within the stable, were very prominent here. I had only been down here twice before, to look for runaway “criminals” so to speak. Could we really consider them criminals down here? We all have the same basic stuff anyways...

My thoughts were interrupted by a jet of water spraying me in the face from a nearby pipe.

“GYAH!” I shouted, the water was freezing cold.

Plythy spun around, drawing her baton. Realizing what had happened, she sheathed it and fell over on the ground laughing.

“Yeah, yeah. Very funny,” I mumbled, “Let’s see how you like it...”

I trotted over to a nearby pressure valve wheel, took a short glance at the laughing mare on the ground, rolled my eyes, and turned the valve. Water sprayed from what had been a small dripping leak, all over Plythy. I stared hard at her for a moment, and soon burst out laughing, unable to help myself.

She scrambled out of the cold water glaring at me.

“What’s the matter? Colt got your tongue?” I sneered, still snickering.

She glared hard at me for a few moments, then she smiled and giggled along with me. We sat there in the hallway against the wall for a little while, laughing and poking fun at each other.

We continued on our way through the maze of corridors and hallways until we reached a door in the farthest section of the maintenance halls. It HAD to be in the deepest recesses... It couldn’t just be right by the entrance oh no, all the way in the back... Dear Goddesses...

Plythy stopped abruptly and I almost walked into her.

“Uhm, what are we doing all the way back here?” I inquired, shooting her a questioning stare. Before she could answer, I noticed that this was the restricted access door. Nopony except the overmare could get in or out, due to it being on lockdown.

“Well we’re going to go inside of course!” she squealed.

I shot her an odd look, answering, “But the door’s locked, and only the overmare has the passcode.”

“Yeah, but I have the passcode as well.”

At that point, my mouth was slightly agape, and I must have had the weirdest look on my face because Plythy had attempted to stifle a giggle.

“How in Equestria did you manage that?” I managed to croak out a moment later.

She tapped her hoof a couple of times before answering, “Remember that time she called me up to the overlook to work on her terminal?”

“Yeah what about it?”

“Well as I was working on the terminal, she left me to my devices. I was looking through a couple of her files and she had more than a few suspicious messages and notices... I read for a little while and well... I learned a lot.”

I was staring at her suspiciously, not sure whether to believe or blow off anything she said.

“At that point, I decided I would need to take measures into my own hooves. I did and, well, here we are now!” She exclaimed, throwing her forehooves into the air for emphasis.

I opened my mouth to ask her a question, but she hushed me, again, and put a hoof to my mouth.

“Not now, I’ll explain more once we get out of here. Just, bear with me alright?”

I nodded, and she moved her hoof away slowly.

“Alrighty then!” she cheered as she keyed in the code on the terminal, “Let’s see what’s behind the door!”

The door hissed and screeched with disuse, as the pistons holding it slid from their slots. I had to cover my ears and grit my teeth at the noise. Plythy was similarly affected, shooting me a troubled look. It’s not that it was really loud or anything.. just very, very, annoying.

As the hissing and screeching stopped, we both looked back towards the now-open doorway. We beheld a narrow hallway, green and blue lights dimmed, and flickering on the ceiling. At the end of it was another doorway, although there didn’t seem to be a terminal lock on this one. Although you never know for sure...

“Shall we?” I asked, looking over at Plythy.

“Let’s!” she almost squealed, obviously eager to see what was on the other side of the door.

We proceeded cautiously down the hallway, but we reached the end without encountering any sort of resistance. As with the door before, the one we stood before showed signs of disuse. I tensed in preparation for another round of horrible screeching and opened the door. Nothing. The door opened with nary a screech, and was probably the quietest door in the stable.

That’s a bit... weird? I thought to myself, How come this door was almost soundless, but the other one was so... irritating?
The little colt in my head shrugged and urged me on... He is quite the quiet little fella, compared to earlier...

I trailed off as I beheld the interior of the room.

The room was a small room, only a little bit bigger than my living quarters. It had the same green and blue light pattern on the ceiling as did the hallway before it. What really caught my attention was the large, wall-mounted terminal as well as the lockers and safe-boxes lining the four walls. The little colt in my head was doing backflips.

“Uhm, Plythy, what is this? Some sort of bank?” I inquired, slowly trotting around the room.

She shook her head in the negative and replied with a wan smile, “Nope, it’s an armory.”

I spun around and stared at her, mouth agape.

“W-what?!” I croaked in disbelief.

“You heard me.”

I turned back around and trotted up to the terminal, tapping my hoof on a key to power it on.

Surely enough, the terminal read: Welcome to Stable 83 “Civilization” Stable Security Armory

I stared at the screen in wonder, hardly able to comprehend what was going on. Plythy trotted up next to me, and began pressing keys on the terminal. Once she had finished, I saw the screen switch over to a menu of sorts. I was guessing the selections would open up the various lockers and compartments along the walls.

She selected the first option which caused a sharp snick and a wide flat lock box to slide out from the wall on the left of the terminal. I trotted over to it and tried to open it.

Locked.

Plythy shot me a slightly worried look, but I reassured her with a smile and pulled out my trusty bobby pin and screwdriver. I had some experience with picking locks in my childhood, although that did lead to a little bit of trouble...

It only took a few moments of working the lock, which shortly after let out a soft click as the lock box’s top raised a little bit. I smirked at Plythy who gave me a shrug, as I turned back to the box and lifted the lid.

Inside were a couple of suits similar to our own security barding. Yet they were somewhat heavier and had some sort of padding or plates sewn into them. They were all a little torn up, but I decided we might as well take them anyways. Goddesses know what we might need them for, and it’s better to have them and not need them than to not have them and need them.

I nodded over at Plythy, and she selected the next option, which caused a beep and the screen to read “Passcode Required.” She shrugged and keyed in the Over Mare's passkey. It remained stubbornly locked.

“We probably need the passcodes of the original owners of whatever’s inside the box. I’m willing to bet more than a few of these boxes will be locked as such,” Plythy stated with an exasperated sigh.

“Well then how about we hurry up and open whatever we can and get out of this place, eh?” I replied with a small chuckle.

She rolled her eyes and giggled a bit, selecting the third option. This time a loud click sounded and a large lockbox on the wall right next to the terminal slid out of its place. I trotted over, my tools at the ready, but the safe wasn’t locked this time. Inside were bundles of papers and documents which i had readily shoved aside or otherwise ended up strewn about the room. Underneath the layers of papers, however, was a small black case, as well as a few bottles of what looked to be a liquid of some sort. I shrugged inwardly and placed the bottles in my saddlebags, and pulled out the black case. I set it on the ground carefully, my mind flashing green with pique and interest. I attempted opening it, then shortly after noticed it was locked.

No problem for us, eh? the little colt in my brain said.

Of course not! I replied, again feeling a bit silly talking to my own thoughts.

I pulled out my lockpicking tools and attempted to force the lock open as Plythy retrieved various items from the lock boxes and safes lining the walls. To my annoyance, the lock refused to budge and the box remained steadfastly closed. I let out a small huff of annoyance and placed the box into my saddlebags. I also took the papers from the safe as well, they might give a hint as to how I can get the thing open.

I looked over at Plythy, who was rummaging through a large, low-set safe when I heard a series of loud clangs and sharp whispers from beyond the entrance hall to the Armory. I shot a quick glance at the door and back at Plythy, who was looking towards the door cautiously.

“We have to hurry, and get out of here quick,” she whispered, never taking her eyes off of the door.

“I know,” I replied quietly, reaching to draw my baton.

“Wait, take this,” Plythy mumbled, and I heard something scrape against the floor and hit my hoof.

I looked down and saw it was a firearm of some sort. I figured it might have been a BB pistol, but this one had been made of a shiny metal, unlike my pellet rifle which had a dull colouration and was made with plastic parts. I sheathed my baton and picked up the pistol, which was heavier than I expected. Heavier than my pellet rifle. It was then that I knew it was a real firearm, one that fired ammunition which could maim or kill. I looked over at Plythy, and she motioned to the open safe to her left side.

Inside the safe was a small number of ammunition clips, labeled “9mm”. Each one was already loaded with bullets, and I slid one easily into the retainer of the pistol. It locked in place with a soft click. I placed the other clips in my saddlebag, seeing them register on my Pip-Buck and took a position near the door. I peered into the hallway as Plythy finished collecting various objects from the already open safes and containers. I spared a glance back and saw she was closing all of the safes and logged off of the large terminal.

“Took you long enough,” I whispered as she trotted up to me.

“There was quite a lot of cool stuff I didn’t want to leave behind, in case we end up never returning,” she replied in that “matter-of-fact” tone of voice. She then unholstered a pistol similar to mine and cocked it.

“Well, we better proceed cautiously,” I said, smirking turning back to the hallway.
Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk!: Foal Friend: Increased disposition and unique speech choices when communicating with

ponies of a younger age.
Quest Perk!: Skull of Steel: Any attacks directed at your head have 50% reduced damage.

Skill Note(s): Guns: 50

Melee Weapons: 25

Speech: 25

Follower Note(s):

Companion Gained!: Plythy

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