Prologue

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A stallion with a silky silver coat and stress faded orange mane lay sleeping in his bed.
He had an a discontented and tired face as he rest.
Now this stallion wasn't the brightest, or the strongest, or the luckiest, and definitely not the happiest pony in Stable 45.
This dull stallion was named Speak Easy,
and unfortunately for him, he was the main character of this story.
How very unfortunate

It was very late at night, and as one would expect, the room was dark, dark to the point where one would have difficulty seeing their hoof if it was right in front of their face.
A single droplet of water slipped it's way though a crack in the ceiling and made it's way above Speak Easy's bed.

*Drip*
Hm?
*Drip*
I sat up in bed as the droplets of water ran down my face.
It took a few second to gather where I was, then another few second to regain my senses, and then another few seconds to realize that there was water on my face.
A droplet slid into the crescents under my eyes created from a lack of sleep due to work hours and my boss being a bitch.
I wiped my eyes with my hooves, removing the droplets and partially regaining my vision slightly.
*Drip*
The cold droplet impacted with the top of my head, which caused a shiver down my spine and my next reaction which was to look up at the ceiling, where I was presented with the problem.
I saw that the source of the droplets was an indentation in the metal plated ceiling that had split open.
An annoyed frown seemed to instinctively form on my lips.
Great, looks like the water purifier is leaking again, just what I need at...
I looked at my pipbuck to check the time.
The bright yellow light shone into my eyes, brightening my half of the room, I covered the side of the screen with my hoof so to not wake the pony who slept peacefully on the other side of the small area.
I looked over at my brother, biting my lip. After a few moments of silence, I turns my eyes back to my screen.
The sudden change in brightness cause a loss of sight for a few moments.
In the top-right corner of the display showed the time in small, black, six-sided digital shapes,
1:04am
"Crap."
I whispered to myself, the frown on my face growing even larger.

I sat with my head held in my hooves, a large part of my soul was still asleep while the other part wanted to go back to sleep.
Guess I might as well get it done now so I don't have to deal with being called up about it tomorrow... Again.
As quietly as possible, I slipped out of the bed. Hush was a light sleeper so making a mistake would cause him to react.
He would get pissed if he found out I went out at night without telling him where I was going...
Also Hush is quite pissy in the morning if he can't get any sleep, I really didn't want to deal with that situation again.
I grabbed my tool belt, pressing the tools to my chest so they wouldn't jangle, and hurried out of the room into the main hallway of the living quarters.
The halls were barely lit so it can sometimes be hard to see where your walking during night hours. Then again, its hard to see anything, anywhere at night hours.
Who's great idea was it to build a poorly constructed water purifier above the living quarters? More importantly, why above my room?
I thought to myself as I walked past the different rooms, the snores of sleeping ponies coming from some of them.
The yearning for my bed was starting to creep up on my shoulders, I was attempting to complain to myself in my mind to keep it awake.
I have to fix it nearly every week!
I also just wanted to complain.

I finally reached the stairs, and after stumbling over the first few steps, I regained my footing and began to ascend, all the while mumpling about the 'no elevator during night hours' policy that some dead asshole overseer decided to come up with years ago.
I yawned for the third time in the last minute and without looking where I was going, not that I could see much to begin with, I bumped into some unknown pony, falling down from the impact
Shit, where did they come from?
I thought to myself as I rubbed my now bruised forehead.
Fuck! The SCF are on patrol!
The SCF, or Stable Correction Force was Stable 68's way of 'enforcing the rules', but in my opinion, they were just a bunch of pride blinded assholes that shouldn't be in charge such power, especially in recent years.
I sighed and looked up at the pony of interest, prepared for any potential fate that were to befall me.
I nearly lept with joy to see the barely recognizable face of Taze.
Taze, or better know as Taser Jolt, was one of the few SCF that I respected and was friendly with, and that's saying something considering that she's an energetic drunk with the record for the most amount of times her boss has yelled at her.
Wait, she does know it's me right?

"Mother fucker. How dense must you be to bump into a SCF during night hours?"
She help up her flashlight with grey magic down the thin stairway.
The sudden change of lighting made my eyes squint in discomfort.
"Are you retar... Oh hey Spazzy! This is a bit embarrassing huh?"
The black manned, tan coated unicorn asked with a "friendly" smirk, rubbing a hoof on the back of her head. She was blushing a bit.

Spaz, the nickname I've come to despise. I have been cursed with it since I was little. The name was brought on by a stammer that I had outgrown.
Even though I was pulled out of school early, name calling never stopped, It was the bane of my existence back then, and it still annoys me a bit. Now I realize that I should have been more worried about school. If it wasn't for Hush, I would still be as uneducated as a brick.
Taze never seemed to realize that I hated my nickname, so she just joined the crowd and the name stuck.
She isn't the smartest or the most perceptive pony, but that's why we relate.

"First off, sorry about bumping into you."
I responded, trying to hide my disapproval of the nickname, blinking a few times at the brightness of the flashlight, my vision slowly restoring.

The unicorn smiled back, nodding her head.
"Well, I may have overacted a bit on my end. I'll let this fly since we're friends, but also because I don't want to hall someone into the station right now, kinda tired.
She gave a shrug complemented by an 'eh' smirk. Seeing my discomfort with her miniature floodlight, she turned it off and returned it to her bag, returning us to darkness. The effect left white splotches in my vision.
Taze have been a good friend of mine ever since I took the blame for her one time when she 'accidentally' knocked somepony out.

"Anyway Taze, why are you up so late? Did you get stuck into the late shift again?"
I said, trying to find the railing. Instead, I waved my hoof around like a lunatic for a few seconds before giving up.
Her smirk faded away
"Yeah, I was caught skipping a morning shift again so I now got to do a night hour patrol until seven."
She said, helping me find the railing.

Wow, until seven?!
I mean it's a mystery how she's still in the SCF! This is the fifth time she has gotten into trouble by skipping shifts.
This month!
Then again, it's probably because of the lack of members, after all, no one really wants to do that kind of job, and those who do don't do it for justice or whatever.

A sudden 'tang' sound from the pipes that ran along the ceiling reminded me of the reason I came out here in the first place.
I can't stand around and wait anymore, I have to get this job done, my sleep is in vain.
"Guess I'll leave you to it, I got to get my job done too"
I said with a yawn, hoping that I can get it done quickly.

She responded with a wave and a yawn of her own, smiling again.
Then we went our separate ways.
Why was she on this floor anyway?

The stairs tired me out more than I would have liked, despite only having going up a flight or two.
I made my way up a floor and toward the water purifier room, which was through the cafeteria/diner.
The lights are still on. Did someone forget to turn them off?
I opened the door to the diner to be greeted by Albert, the Mr. Handy unit stationed at the counter.
He was easily identifiable because of his brown coloring, and how a filly had drawn a bow tie and mustache in black marker on the front of the robot's oval shaped 'head' and thruster.

"Why hello sir! Can I help you with anything?"
The Handy unit chirped in programmed delight.
I guess someone forgot to power him down for the night.
Might as well use him to my advantage

I sat down in one of the swivel seats at the counter front.
"Hey Albert, the water purifier is leaking again so I thought I might as well get it fixed now,"
"Mind if I can get a coffee or something to stay awake?"
It seemed like the robot nodded at my order and floated over to the coffee station.
Coffee! a plumber's greatest weapon.
or a cold beer

"How would you like your coffee sir?"
The cheerful voiced robot asked, The metallic ring of the voice gave an artificial feel to the already programmed emotion.

I thought it over a while before responding,
"I just have it black"

Albert didn't talk much unless he was taking an order so I just sat there in the chair with my coffee for about fifteen minutes.
Part of me wished that the robot had the program to entertain in other ways, but that would be asking a lot from somepony and I sure don't know anything about programming, so the thought just disappeared into the void of my mind.

I got a bit bored, and when I get bored, I often think some deep thoughts. Which can often be bad, some good, but most of the time I just think about my current situation and life.
I don't have a very interesting life, in fact it's a very boring one.
At some point, I, like everyone else in this haphazard vault, is going to die in the chamber filled with other ponies you never bothered to meet.
It's not like it matters, I'm probably going to have a child that has to have the same fate till the end of his life.
Still, I'm lucky that I have friends to provide some entertainment and hope, but I just feel...

Empty

Woah, I'm starting to scare myself. I really need to get back to sleep before I start questioning life itself.

When I finished, I thanked Albert for the coffee and made my way across the cafeteria and into the water purifying room.
To this day I have no idea why there needs to be such a large room for two or three connected pieces of equipment that take up only 1/3 of the space
Upon walking toward the machines, the problem was easy to see, one of the filters leading into a pipe became clogged and that caused the pipe to detach, therefore, causing a leak.
I grabbed the tools needed to fix the problem in my teeth and got to work
luckily, I had the job done in about thirty minutes and it didn't need any replacement parts.
Yes!

That got me thinking
Why do I even do this? it's not like anypony is going to appreciate this anyway, and I'm probably going to get another, more tedious job tomorrow...
I really need to stop thinking about these depressing things, there're starting to get to my personality. I wonder if that's how some ponies in this stable view life?
whatever
I wiped the sweat from my brow and headed out.
I said goodbye and thanks again to Albert,
and before I knew it, I was already at the living quarters.

As I walked through the dimly lit hallway, I wondered if Taze is still on patrol or just got bored and is now passed out somewhere until somepony finds her, likely me.
She has done it before after all.
Oh yeah! what time is it?
Time had flown by at a surprising rate and I became worried that I might not sleep well enough tonight.
I checked my pipbuck again.
1:59am
That's a relief, it didn't take as long as I expected. Not like the job was too difficult or anything

The hallway was still quiet, the only sounds to be heard were the sounds of sleeping ponies and the hum of the reactor at the end of the hall.
Despite how loud it was, the hums were like white noise. They were relaxing and helped me fall to sleep at night.
Then you realize that there is a nuclear reactor so close to the living quarters.
I may not know a lot about nuclear reactors, but I'm pretty sure that if they leak radiation, they can cause a whole bunch of problems.
Either the ponies that built this place had no idea what they were doing, or Stable-Tec was run by a bunch of clueless filly scouts.
I found my room relatively quickly, it was located only a few doors away form the stairs and made my way inside.

And gee wiz was I excited to see Hush sitting up in his bed, staring right at me.
'Where were you?'
My brother signaled to me, an annoyed look on his face dug into my soul.

"Well Shit"

Chp 1: Stable Woes

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I just stood there. I could tell that I was going to get lectured about this at some point in the future.
I would really like to be anyplace else but here right now, this is really akward and I know that whatever I say, he's still going to be annoyed with me.
My mind raced

My brother rolled his eyes and motioned the sentence to me again
'Where were you?'
He looked a lot like me, his mane being a bit more yellow-y then my light orange one and his coat being a bit lighter than mine.

Hush often took it upon himself to watch over me despite him being the younger of the two of us.
Maybe it's because of that one time I got myself detained... He and Taz had to figure out a way to get me out, and judging by how he still bothers me about it to this day, it must have taken a lot of effort to do so.

"I was repairing the water purifier because it was leaking."
I said, finally being able to respond to his question.

'Why?'
He gestured.

"Because the water was leaking thru the ceiling and woke me up"
I replied

'When?'
He gestured back

"Um... about an hour ago?"
I replied again, trying to remember if that was right or not.

He looked me over a couple of times like he would be able to tell if I was lying just on that
He nodded to himself, with a look of agreement
'Alright.'
He gestured nonchalantly.
'Get to sleep, it's late and we both have to be up around eight.'
Hush gestured and then rolled back into bed and tossed the blanket over himself.

He's also annoyingly strait forward sometimes.
He either uses hoof signals or this makeshift speech program on his pipbuck to speak, but he prefers to use hoof signals for whatever reason, which may have been more comfortable for him, but it took me a few months to learn and figure out whatever the hell he was saying.

Somewhat displeased and annoyed by his uncaring and sleep deprived words, I snapped back with a remark quietly.
"Try not to wet the bed again tonight Hush."
I didn't need to look at him to know what two words he replied with.

Satisfied with my gesture of brotherly love, I made my way to my bed, dropping my belt on the floor along the way.
I'm probably going to trip over that in the morning, but whatever.
Making my way into the bed and making myself comfortable, I prepared myself for a well-earned rest.

I enjoy sleep,
it allows myself to wander off to someplace different,
someplace more interesting and exciting,
anywhere but the cold and boring setting of a Stable.
It makes me wonder what the outside is like, all I know is from my brief knowledge I learnt from short classes as a colt.
Also what is the reason we are stuck in this place?
Is the outside world really that dangerous?
Of course there are also stories created by people with too much free time brought on by the many propaganda posters on the walls,
but I really do wonder what's out there, waiting to be discovered.

There I go again, slipping off to the land of questioning reality, I've learnt that it's better no to ask questions like that.
I should probably get to sleep

...
..
.

I really shouldn't have had that coffee

Where am I?
I thought to myself, looking at my sudden change in surroundings.
It looked like I was in the shower of somepony's bathroom,
naked.
Oh this is just great.

The water was running, I don't know how, there wasn't any dial in sight.
I tried to open the door of the shower but it was locked,
there was no way out.

I decided that it the space above the glass door was to small for me to climb through.
Giving up on my effort to escape, I sat down on the tile floor, closed my eyes and decided to enjoy the water running down my body.

My moment of bliss didn't last long.

"Welcome"
said a deep voice that seeped to come from the walls.

"Mm, and where are you welcoming me to exactly?"
I responded, slightly annoyed,
I was just getting used to the water too...

"You are in my playground now, a place where I control your dreams."
The deep voice said, then breaking out into a quite evil and somewhat scary laugh

"So... Is this like your fetish or something?"
I asked, generally curious if that is what this is all about.

The voice stopped laughing,
"What?"

"I mean is it your thing to lock stallions in your shower or whatever and force them to see or do things? I'm not going to judge but this thing is kinda like something you would read in '50 Shades of Hay'."

"What!?"
The voice repeated,
"No! I'm a dream demon and I'm here to prey on your sanity by showing you horrible images from your future!"

"Well the only thing you've been showing me is real quality entertainment."
I said, now I was the one laughing

"Your a real asshole, you know that?"
The voice said, it was quieter now but you could tell it was very annoyed and embarrassed.
"I'm don't want to deal with you right now anymore, away with you."

I continued to laugh until my body suddenly went limp and everything went black.

I woke up still sitting in my bed.
What a weird dream...

Buzzer
Both Hush and I were woken up quickly by the blaring sound of Hush's alarm clock
Well to be fair, I essentially rolled out of bed...
onto the floor.
hard.

Hush helped me to my hooves and we quickly got ready for the day
I was almost ready but I couldn't find my tool belt
As I rushed back and forth in the room I decided to ask Hush if he could help
"Hey Hush, did you see where I put my to-"
bang
"Ow, forget it. I found it."
and the floor

Hush and I both had a couple of minutes before we had to do anything so we sat around and talked.

"Alright little brother, what are you planning on doing today."
I asked, actually curios.

He looked up at me from his pipbuck and answered
'I'm heading to the medical room to fix the air condition unit that was broken, or at least replace it.'

He really is to easy to tease sometimes, it's like he forgets I'm his older brother.

"Oh, are you sure you're not also going down there to see Doll?
I responded, with a smile knowing that I got him

The stallion's face turned red in a second.
He acts like such a foal sometimes

Doll is Hush's marefriend, she's a very kind hearted and pretty pony.
it's funny because Hush had a crush on her for the longest time, but didn't have the guts to talk to her.
I stepped in and introduced him to her two years ago, without his consent of course,
but now they're a pretty cute couple and Hush seems happy, even though he gets flustered every time I bring her up.

Hush recovered pretty quickly by walking out the door

To embarrass him a bit more I shouted into the hallway,
"Hey, at least you have a marefriend, you stud"
judging by how I could hear him stomping off and the sounds of mares giggling, it worked.
Hey, I had to do it!

A minute or two after Hush left I decided that I should head out as well.
After locking the door to our room, I made my way through the hallway of the living quarters once again.
Ponies with early shifts like myself and Hush were scattered around the hallway, most herding toward the stairs or elevator.
Another boring day, filled with boring jobs
I thought to myself, already wishing for the end of the day to come.

As I made my way into the elevator, I decided to put my earblooms in and listen to the radio.
Upon selecting the station, the crisp voice of Amp Jack, the Stable radio host, sounded in my ears.

"Good morning early birds, it's me Amp Jack with another day in Stable 45!"
The radio host exclaimed.
Amp Jack is interesting. He has always had a "Cool guy" sort of vibe about him, which can be annoying to some ponies but I always thought he was entertaining
"In recent news, four ponies have completed their lives in Stable 45 and are scheduled to the Chamber in a few hours. More on that in a bit."
"But first, let's start off your day with a Stable favorite!"
A catchy song began to play, despite hearing it nearly every day, it never got old and a brief moment of peace drifted over me.
Music always had that sort of effect on me, especially this song.

song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T5W-xJWuPE

I found myself humming the tune in my head and tapping my hoof until the elevator reached the third floor
One or two of the ponies and myself made our way out of the elevator and the doors shut behind us.

My pipbuck chirped indicating that I got a message, likely from the Stable's job organizer, Clips
Guess I don't have to go to her office to get my first assignment today...
I turned off the radio and looked down at the display to see that my expectations were correct,
A message from my boss was on the screen

Hey Spaz,
Two of the toilets and one of the sinks are having problems
in the stallion's bathroom on floor one, everypony else is
currently occupied so I need you to at least check them out
and repair them if they don't have to be replaced,
That would be great.

Lots of love, P. Clips
Bitch! I was just down there! and aren't the Hex siblings usually free right now!?
I thought
Whatever, there's no point in arguing about it, after all, it is my job and I have nothing better to do.

I turned around and waited for the slowest elevator in existence to return,
but after five minutes I decided that the stairs would be less of a hassle.

I made my way down two flights of stairs and into the bathroom before I realized I haven't put the radio back on.
Nothing interesting played while I worked, Amp just talked about the ponies that were being sent to the Chamber today, and then a song I didn't really like played. So I decided to turn the radio off again and finish my work.

By the end of the job, I had the bathroom equipment looking nearly perfect, or at least the plumbing did.
Then I got another message
Oh joy, what now?
The message didn't say much other then Come to my office with your brother
Guess I better go get my brother
Then I realized that I still had muck on my hooves when I nearly tripped for the third time today.
Oh yeah, nearly forgot that I'm filthy, I should probably wash off first
So I did just that and headed out to the medical wing on the second floor.

When I reached the medical wing, I could already see Hush chatting with Doll through the glass doors.
Hush was using a speaking program he installed into his pipbuck to talk because Doll couldn't understand much sign language.
Doll was smiling, but for some reason, Hush had a very disturbed face, as if they were talking about something he didn't like.
As I mentioned before, Doll is a very attractive mare, her real name is Joy Pill, she's albino so she's is almost completely white other than her pinkish red eyes, she has a short mane with long bangs that cover one side of her face, the only imperfection she has are the burns covering most of the front-left portion of her body brought on by an explosion one year ago that also cost her most of her front-left leg, her left eye, and one of her ears. Despite her deformities, she is still very kind and doesn't mind when people bring the accident up.
I'm happy for Hush that he managed to keep such an amazing pony.
However I am yet to have a marefriend for a week...

I walked into the cool, air conditioned room
Hush did a pretty good job
Ponies were rushing back and forth with different medical equipment, others were sitting around tables working hard, and a few were working with patients.
The medical wing always had this busy yet organized feeling to it, important work was being done here all the time, like nearly 24/7
Someone should really consider getting a coffee machine in here!
Oh, there's one.
or three

Doll was the first one to realize my presence and waved her prosthetic arm at me.
Then Hush,
and too be honest, I couldn't tell if he was really upset or really happy to see that I was here.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'm going to need to borrow your boyfriend for a second Doll."
I intruded

Doll's face turned from a happy one to a disappointed one and responded
"What for?"

In the background hush was using sign language to say the letters
'S O S'

"We were requested for by Paper Clips"
I said, somewhat annoyed that we had to talk to Clips in the first place

Doll took a second to respond,
"Oh ok, well you guys have fun with that."
For a doctor, she can be really simple minded sometimes...
I see why Hush and Doll attract to each other now!
She then looked over at Hush and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush, saying
"Let us continue our conversation later."

I grabbed a half flustered, half traumatized Hush and we hurried out,
and Doll waved us goodbye as we left.

"So... What were you guys talking about? You look like you really wanted to get out of there."
I asked, hoping I could tease him about something.

Hush looked at me with an empty stare, it was like his eyes had been through a war,
but he responded relatively quickly
'She was describing a surgery she did on a filly, in VERY close detail.'

Doll can also be very scary sometimes

Hush and I both made our way up to the third floor and toward Paper Clip's office
Judging by how long it took us to get up here and by Clip's personality, she's probably going to say that we-
"You two are late"
Paper Clip exclaimed the second I opened the door
Bingo!

The two of us walked into the room and sat in the two chairs in front of her desk.
With a quick analyses of her desk, I could see multiple papers addressed to the Overseer that had Denied stamped on them.
Paper laid her glasses on her eyes as she took a long look at Hush.
She must of realized how Hush is as stiff as a statue.
She looked confused for a second but then asked me
"Why does Hush look like he just witnessed a murder?"
Yep

I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I shrugged and said
"Relationship problems?"

That made her smile but she continued to talk
"Anyway, getting back on topic, I need you guys to do another job."

"Okay, but why did you have to call us to your office?"
I asked, curious but annoyed at the situation.

"Well it has to do with the Chamber"

-a minute or two later-

"To be frank, I thought she was about to tell us that we were literally going to be in the Chamber, if you can catch my drift."
I said to Hush once we were out of hearing distance of Clips' office.
He smiled at the joke, which is good, he has completed another step of recovering from looking like a soulless husk of a pony...

Instead, Clips just wanted us to make sure that the Chamber was functioning.
After all, the Overseer is one of the ponies scheduled for the Chamber.
At least, that's what she said was the reason for having us check out the thing.

I didn't have too much knowledge on how the reactor or how the Chamber worked, but I do know a lot about pipes. The pipes were to get rid of the radiation in the Chamber, I don't really know how but I just had to make sure the pipes didn't have any leaks or were not attached properly. While I was trying to grasp the idea of radiation being fed out by pipes, Hush checked out the electronic bits of the Chamber.

In about an hour we had the job done, but we decided to stick around to make sure that the whole event went smoothly.
Thankfully, it did.
There was quite a crowd, probably because of the Overseer.
He said his goodbyes and shed some tears while the other three had little to no time to say goodbye to the maybe five ponies that came to see them.
I didn't really like the Overseer anyway, all talk, no action.

Doesn't matter, The Chamber is the same thing every week or so...
What concerned me however was how the lights flickered once or twice after the deed was done.
I guess the use of the Chamber caused the reactor to go a bit haywire.

After the whole Chamber event and the bodies where disposed of, Hush and I decided to gather our friends and go get some drinks at the bar.
It's been a while since we've done anything special after all.

Also drunk Hush is hilarious.

-about 30 minutes later-

Hush, Doll, and myself met up with Taze at 'The Hole In a Hole' bar and ordered a few rounds of shots...
I don't drink strong drinks often so I just had a few beers
It was really fun watching Hush and Doll get drunker and drunker with each round of shots.
They're both total lightweights
By round two, You could see that they were already feeling the effects.
By round three, The were drunk.
By round four, their personalities seemed to change greatly.
By round five, Doll started cursing in between constantly making out with Hush, who was spacing out.
Then finally at round six, both had passed out cold...

That was around the time we decided we should head back to our rooms.
On the way out I asked Taze to carry Doll to her room since Taze lived in a room close to Doll,
while I carried Hush to our room.

He's going to have a real shitty morning tomorrow!

The lights flickered again as we left the bar, I'm probably gonna hear more about that reactor in the morning from Clips.

Hush must have really been out of it because he didn't even twitch on the trip back to our room
Even when I threw this nearly lifeless body on his bed.
That remind's me, I really hope that Taze is sober enough to remember where Doll's room is,
and then be able to make it to her own room
(she's passed out on the way to her room before in a similar situation)
I was pretty buzzed myself but I made my way to my bed, I also almost forgot to take off my tool belt,
and yes, this time I put it where it should be.

I felt the tiredness sweep over my body like a deep fog.
I was too tired to really think about anything so I just passed out
...
and forgot to turn on the alarm

"Hello Mr. Hay"
I joked finding myself in the same shower setting as yesterday

I heard an annoyed grumble coming from the walls

I wanted to follow up on my last comment only to soon realize that he had muted me.

Whatever, I'm happy with the reaction I got.

The water was warmer than last time, but it was still cold.
'Cool' would be the best way of describing it.

There was a sudden loud explosion somewhere I couldn't see, making my ears ring
Two words were then burned into one of the tile walls.
Pay Attention? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
The water suddenly rose rapidly in temperature, to the point where it burnt my skin.
Th whole area suddenly felt like I was in an oven, it hurt like hell.

I could hear Paper Clips' voice in the background but it was too faint to hear what she was saying.
Once the voice stopped, everything returned to normal.

But it wasn't over.

The temperature raised once again, this time green fog flooded the small area that made up the shower.
The fog made my throat, eyes, and skin burn in pain.
I fell to my knees, but the pain wouldn't stop.

For some reason I didn't know, all I could think about in that moment was Taze's face.
The deep voice whispered into my ear:
"She's next."

I felt my body go limp and as I fell into the green fog, everything went black.

I opened my eyes, for some reason I felt more tired than usual.
Wow that demon guy can't take a joke.
Maybe it's a girl...
That has to be the reason they didn't like my jokes!

I rolled to my side and looked at the clock, we were late...
It was around 12 when I woke up and realized that Hush and I had overslept.
I wonder if I'm going to get yelled at by Clips or not.

That's when the alarms went off.

Chp 2: One of Those Days

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I nearly fell out of my bed twice in one week.

The alarms were not like Hush's alarm clock, they were much the louder and the blaring could be heard throughout the Stable. Heck, I didn't even know we had alarms. That meant one thing,
Something has gone horribly wrong!
A feeling that I haven't felt in years stabbed at my heart,
Fear.
Shit! Is Hush ok?

I looked over to see that my brother was sitting up in his bed, probably wondering the same thoughts that were rushing through mine. Except he was still recovering from a nasty hangover.

I hoped that he could hear me as I tried to shout over the alarms
"Hush! You ok?! We need to get out of here and see what is happening!"

He looked at me and flashed an 'ok' signal at me before throwing up on the floor...

The was no time to worry about the bile on the floor right now, something told me that we had to get out as quickly as we can.
But then I thought
Wait, what if we don't come back? What happens if whatever is happening right now is so bad that it forces us to have to evacuate the vault, or even worse, it kills all of us?
I shook of the even idea of that, but just in case, I decided to bring my tool belt and told Hush to grab only what he would need

Hush nodded and rushed over to a drawer, putting different devices I couldn't identify into a duffle bag.
He made his way back to me, this time with the full duffle bag on his back.
Hush handed me a pill bottle labeled 'Rad-x'
"What the hell is this for?!"
I asked with the alarms still sounding in the background

He sloppily signaled back with a hoof on his head, likely from a nasty headache
'Stops radiation, take three.'
I just realized that my Geiger counter was clicking, indicating that there was a good amount of radiation flooding the room.

I took four of the pills to be safe, handed back the bottle,
and once again, I stepped out into the dimly lit hallway of the living quarters.

I was instantly horrified
It looked like half the hallway was melting and the bodies of ponies were strewn left and right
Upon opening the door, our Geiger counters suddenly lit up clicking quicker and loader then before, we were taking large doses of radiation every second we stood around here.

I bolted for the stairs leading up, with Hush close behind me.
On our way, we saw the motionless bodies of ponies, just lying there.
Some looked like they were already rotting away.
What if we never woke up and were doomed to the same fate as these ponies

We ran as fast as our bodies could carry us, and as we ascended the stairs, our Geiger counters began to slow down.

When we reached the top of the stairs, there was still radiation present but very small amounts.

Ponies were crammed in between the two rooms that made up the fourth/ground floor.
Surprisingly, the crowd quickly parted, many of the ponies staring at us and whispering to each other.

I had no idea what they were talking about until I reached the front.
At the door of the Stable was my boss,
Waiting for us.

The mare let out a breath of relief and adjusted her glasses.
Paper Clips had the same monotone face as she always had,
even in a situation like this, her stance never fell
"Good to see that you two are still alive, you two are the only remaining mechanics in this Stable"
She said.

Mechanics? Isn't that a bit generous? I fix pipes and occasionally other things, and Hush fixes terminals and air conditioners.
I thought to myself, guessing it wouldn't be the greatest idea to make a joke right now.

"What the hell is going on right now? What do you mean we're the last "mechanics" in the Stable?!"
I responded, maybe a bit loader then I should of, the again, the Stable was falling apart around us.

Paper Clips continued with a different tone, one I didn't expect from her,
Guilt.
"I was in charge of everything because the Overseer was stepping down.
The main reactor blew last night because I didn't listen to the reports of it being unstable."
She exhaled and looked down at her hooves,
"Instead I continued the use of the Chamber."
That's why she called for Hush and I! It was to make sure the Chamber didn't explode!
That would have been great knowledge before we could have potentially died...

"The first idea was to evacuated everypony out of the Stable, it's too late to fix anything now,
but we can't leave the Stable because there isn't enough power left to open the Stable door."
She checked her Pipbuck before continuing
"I sent some ponies to attempt to turn on the backup generator on the second floor half an hour ago,
but they haven't made it back,
so I took a gamble and used our remaining power to sound the alarms, hoping that at least one of you were still alive."

I just realized that the alarms had stopped sounding.
Not much power at all.

"Who did you send out?"
I asked

Clips answered, quickly but quietly
"I sent out the hex siblings and somepony on the S.C.F. who volunteered to help them."

Shit, we really are the only ponies left who can save them.

I have an annoying feeling that we're all going to die

"So I'm supposed to go back down into the radiation wave that is eating away at the Stable and turn on this backup generator which is going to give us enough power to open the Stable door"
I wondered aloud, pausing for a brief moment before I carried on
"This is the task that a mechanic, a technician and a S.C.F. officer failed to complete but you expect a single plumber/mechanic to do this?"

Paper Clips nodded slowly
Ah there's that wonderful feeling again, regret!

"What if I'm killed?"
I finished

"Then we'll remember you, that is if you actually get the power working and we don't die."
Clips replied

Hush and I were both slightly taken aback by her comment.

I don't want to die, every pony feels the same way, even if they don't say so. I didn't want to be born in this Stable, told to work a job I never wanted to do from a very young age. I would have loved to die with happy and surrounded by friends and family, but no matter what I did, you couldn't escape an early death brought on by the Chamber. I would have liked to have someone to love. I would have like to stand by Hush to make sure has a good future.
Yet here I am, probably going to die and be forgotten by everyone

"Fine I'll do it."
I remarked, not knowing how low my chances of survival actually were.

As I prepared for possibly my last job, I took the last of Hush's RadX
Thank whatever deity that controls this world that my brother is dating a doctor!
I thought to myself, trying to brush of the idea of death that was looming in my mind.
Looking at the pill bottle in my hoof, I found myself smiling.
At least Hush doesn't have to do this, even if I die today, I'll make sure he survives this.

I signaled 'I wont die' to Hush with hoof sign,
he didn't respond, just gave me a concerned smile.
He had a face that was worried but hopeful.
I waved to Paper Clips and made my way to the stairs.

Eyes stared at me as I went, some with hope in their eyes, some worried, and some disappointed.
These were the eyes of ponies I was tasked to save.

There's that feeling again!

I could feel the radiation hit me as I made my way down a floor
Even with the medicine, I could feel the radiation grow stronger with each step lower.

With ever step the weight of my decision grew heavier as well
It felt like I was walking deeper and deeper into the core of a planet, the Stable got hotter and hotter.

I finally reached the second floor, almost tripping over a pony's body in the process.
It looked fresh, compared to the other bodies I've seen up to this point, this one wasn't as affected by the radiation yet
I guess Hush and I weren't the only one's who were woken up by the alarms.
The pony's face was twisted into a look of pure fear and confusion.
The idea of what she must have felt in her last moments scared me a bit.

I faintly remember who this corpse used to be, I think she was a waitress at 'The Hole in a Hole'
Her name had something to do with birds I think.
It's hard to believe that someone you see every other day is now dead right in front of you, even if you never bothered to get to know them.

For I reason I don't know, I didn't repulse or look away from the body, I just stood there for a minute, my mind blank.
I should be having a mental breakdown right now, or at least throwing up,
but somehow I feel unaffected by the fact that this situation is real.
Unless this is what it's like to have a mental breakdown

The clicking of my Geiger counter snapped me out of my trail of thought.
If I keep on wasting time, everypony's going to die!

I stepped over the mare and quickly made my way onto the second floor.
I rushed through the second floor, a place I would come everyday since the day I was born, but now might never see again.
A place that is now in chaos.

Judging by the dark smoke that was blowing out of the floor vents, the first floor is still in a radioactive blaze.
The smoke was making it hard to read the names of the rooms I passed, and breath.

My throat and skin began to itch and sting with pain, and my eyes were starting to water,
I couldn't tell if it was the radiation or the death around me that caused that last one.

I hurried past numerous bodies, some I could recognize, some I might of seen there faces somewhere
I passed a body with the orange and purple mane of Hex Code,
meaning that I'm getting closer to my destination.

I made my way past the Cafeteria, a certain Mr. Handy unit was keeping the door from closing.

Finally,
I made my way to the last room at the end of the corridor.
The radiation levels increasing slightly the closer I got to the door.
This has to be it.
There on the un-powered sign above the door read Emergency Power
Bingo!

I opened the door only to be blasted with an immense surge of radiation.
The heat alone forced me to cover my watering eyes,
fighting against the rays, I made my way step by step to the large furnace-like machine that called the backup generator.

Reaching the generator, I removed my hoof from my eyes only to allow them to have another reason to cry.
There in front of me was the S.C.F. officer that volunteered to help the Hex siblings,

A mare I used to know named Taser.

I wanted to scream, or do anything, but I knew that wouldn't change what I was seeing in front of me.

Taze's body was leaned on a corner of the machine, her body was heavily affected by the radiation.
Her skin was beginning to dry up and fall off, her hair was falling out, and it looked like some of her flesh was already rotting away.

At least she looked like she died peacefully.
Stop
I knelt down a laced a hoof on my deceased friends face,
she had a peaceful smile.
I can't...
A tear rolled down my cheek as the memories of my childhood rushed back
Stop Thinking About IT!
It took every will and muscle in my body to stand back up.
I have a job to do.

"Goodbye Taze, it's been fun."
Goodbye my friend.

I wanted to say something anything else to calm myself down, but the radiation stung my throat and made my head throb in pain.
If I keep wasting time, I'm gonna die...
I unconsciously made my way to the control terminal,
Hex Wrench's body was clasping to the keyboard.

I gently placed his remains on the ground and booted up the terminal,
only to be met with a screen that said Enter Password>_
Fuck!
I screamed in my head, as I banded a hoof on the metal surface of the machine
Thinking is starting to hurt...

I looked back over at Taze's body, about to give up, when I realized something:
Her hoof was pointing to he Pipbuck, which shown the words <Recording Finished>

Taze, I would kiss you right now if you weren't dead!
Shit, did I just think that?
That might be the radiation getting to me...

I took the holotape from Taze's Pipbuck, inserted it into my own and hit play.
Taze's welcoming voice sounded in the small room.

"Hello whomever finds this tape, I'm Taser, or I'm probably now the body that you took this tape from.
Anyway, I'm going to hope that you're Spazzy. The terminal to my left is to activate this generator, the
terminal needs this password that Wrench gave me before he passed out, I think he's dead. Anyway,
The password is 'ShitHitTheFan'...
Huh, well isn't that appropriate?
I think I might be dying now. Best of luck with whatever you need this generator for, and if you are Spazzy,
good luc-"
The recording ended there.

Taze was truly an amazing mystery that could never be solved.
She was crazy, but not psychological.

I inputted the code into the terminal and the system logged in.
I don't really know if I should curse out or praise fate right now...
The next screen had some text about the makers of the terminal and a link that said />Start Generator.
Upon clicking it, there was a rumble within the machine, fire spit out of the furnace and the power turned on again.

I would have felt joy in a moment like this,
but the indescribable pain that followed was horrible.
I fell from the keyboard and clenched my body.

The medication must have worn off because I felt the full force of the radiation in seconds.
It felt like my insides were in a high-powered microwave and I became extremely disoriented, my head felt like it was being crushed.

All I could think at that moment was:
I'm going to die.

I wanted to run as fast as I could to safety, but everything hurt too much as I limped through the second floor.
I wanted to get back to Hush and my everypony else, but the pain was driving me to want to end it all.
I wondered if it would be easier if I just laid there and died...

NO! I promised that I would survive to Hush, no to everyone!

My head was hurting more and more, I was starting to see things.
The hallway kept getting blurrier and blurrier the more I walked and some of the bodies began to twitch and move.
I managed to make it to the stairwell, but I coughed up a lot of blood and collapsed.
I laid there in a puddle of my own blood and sweat, all I could do was think:

I really am going to die here aren't I?
I guess I couldn't keep my promise Hush.
Hopefully you and Doll have a good life together.
At least I can die knowing that I saved everyone.
I thought to myself as a tear went down my face.
Wow, even crying hurts now.

Everything was fading away, it was getting really hard to think and I couldn't move an inch.
I saw pony walking toward me from the hallway, or it might be the radiation playing with my mind.
the figure stopped at my body and it felt like as if I was being picked up.
I closed my eyes, the world was black and peaceful for a moment.
When I opened them again, I saw that I was being carried up the stairs.

Could this stranger be saving me?
I thought to myself before I closed my eyes again
judging by how I could hear voices growing loader, the fourth floor is getting closer!

Suddenly, I was dropped, I didn't feel my impact onto the stairs because of the pain I was already feeling.
Something must have happened to my unknown savior because I heard something heavy roll down the stair well behind me.

It really is the end
I was so close to everypony too...

I'm... really... getting.... tired.

I could feel myself drifting off.

I could see the tile floor of the shower again,
the sound of water sounded faintly in my ears.

"Fuck It"
I muttered in a raspy voice, each word burning my throat.

I can't just give up like this!
I'm not going to have some stranger carry my sorry ass up these stairs, and then die because they weren't able to finish!
said the same small, raspy voice in my head.

I turned my body around and began to crawl up the stairs.

My Joints that I moved felt like it was being ripped apart.
My Organs felt like they were being scraped against a cheese grater.
My Senses were being assaulted to the point of not working.
My Brain hurt so much that every thought I had felt like a bomb going off in My Head.
But I kept going!

They were the most painful nine steps I had to ever endure.
I wanted to die, but I wouldn't let myself.
That little raspy voice in my head kept on dishing out the motivational insults.
I kept on going.

I finally made it to a clearing.
Nine more steps to go!

Thankfully, a group of ponies who were waiting at the top say me and helped me up before I could injure myself even more.
That is also when I realized how fucked up my body had gotten.

As I was picked up, I could literally feel my organs sink downward.
Ow, Holy Shit OOOWWW!

Ponies stared in wonder, joy, and surprise as I was lifted through the crowd.
I don't blame any of them for being surprised.

I was brought to the front where Paper Clips, Hush and Doll were waiting for me at the front,
I must have been looking like shit because Doll looked like she was about to have a stroke.
I felt like Shit...

Paper Clips fixed her glasses and cleared her voice, saying:
"You did good Speak Easy."
I didn't realize that she was kind enough to actually use my real name,
a name I didn't here for most of my life.

But, being the idiot that I am, I responded
"I bet your real proud, sitting up here with a thumb up your useless ass expecting me to die down there but at least save it."

I really hope I said that because of the radiation exposure, or I'm really going crazy.
Regardless, It felt amazing to say!
I'm lucky I passed out before I could hear her response.

Here I am again, using some stranger's shower.
I was standing up again.
The water was nice, it was warm and it felt good on my coat.
I was breathing slowly however.

The time suddenly stopped,
the water froze mid air and the world stood in silence.
Steam flowed out of the drain and spread all throughout the tight space before making it's way up and over the door, leaving the glass fogged up.
Voices entered where the steam left, there where tens, no, hundreds of them, all whispering the same sentence:
"Pay Attention"

The faces of ponies began to appear and disappear in the fogged windows, most belonged to the bodies I saw on the second floor,
including Taze...
The voices continued to chant quietly, some giggled at my reaction to seeing Taze's face again.

Then, all the ponies' faces went away, leaving only one, it was a stalion with a dark blue mane, a brownish-green coat and bright blue eyes.
He wasn't anypony I could recognize, he wasn't a pony from Stable 45, that's for sure.

The voices stopped chanting,
but a mare's familiar voice said clearly into my ear:
"He's Next"

The world spun out of control with the hundreds of voices laughing with evil glee in the background.

I returned to the original bathroom shower scene, no fogged glass, no hundreds of vices whispering in my ear,
Just the sound of water droplets hitting the tile floor of the shower.

My head felt heavy and slow however, and something inside me told me to look at my hooves...
I lifted my hoof to my face,
it was covered in a thick red liquid.
Blood.

Am I bleeding?
Was all I could manage before I felt my body go limp.
As I fell, the world went black.

I woke up with sweat rolling sown my face and I was breathing heavy.
Where was I?

I came too somewhere different, it wasn't the Stable, the ceiling was higher...
I looked around a bit, It looked like one of those pre-war offices that were always in Stable-Tec commercials.
It looked like a private office, and judging by the hardness, I was laid on a hard wooden surface, likely a desk.
There was a needle in my arm that led to a bag filled with an unknown or orange liquid that read RadAway
Well at least that part's easy to figure out
There was also a tray beside the desk with empty bags of RadAway and empty syringes.

Wait... I'm not in pain?
Looking at my body, I could see that I had a few very large cuts down my chest, now being held closed by thread an staples.
Are those office staples?
I looked up and around the room I was now in
In the corner of the room sat a mare in a surgeon outfit, a mask dangling from her neck.
Doll was reading a magazine about medicine and had a pair of earblooms plugged into her Pipbuck.
Is there radio stations outside the Stable?
In the other corner was a coat rack sporting a single doctors coat, Doll's.
It was caked in dry and fresh blood on the sleeves, the original white was yellowing.
Is it mine?

She must have realized my wondering eyes because she put down her magazine, stood up from the chair and spoke up.
"I see that your finally awake."
"You feeling better?"

"More or less."
I responded, my voice cracking a bit but relatively back to it's original, non raspy self.

Doll gave me a friendly smile, almost as is she was exclaiming 'Happy Birthday' at a foal's party, and said:
"Welcome to the outside world Speak Easy"

Perk Gained:
Mini Motivator- You now have a little motivator in your head that helps to get things done!
+Critical chance, +Speech success skill, +Barter Skills, -Self Respect

Perk Gained:
Rad Resistance (rank 1)- You have experienced some genuine radiation! Your encounter has given you some resistance!
+25% Rad Resistance

Perk Gained:
Rad Resistance (rank 2)- You almost became a ghoul, Be more careful! Your encounter has given you some resistance!
+50% Rad Resistance

The Equestrian Trade Route (Lore/Backstory/Setting)

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Just below the Badlands and the Forbidden Jungle on the map,
Lies a land that is prosperous in Trade, Banditry, and History.
The Equestrian Trade Route, or T.E.T.R., is the longest road that connects Equestria and the Zebra Lands (spanning from the city of Canterlot to the border of the Zebra Lands), probably the longest road in all of Equestria!
Most of the land was brought from the native buffalo and bull population, who agreed with the terms as long as only a road was to be built.
The road itself was build shortly after after and Equestria established trade with the Zebra Lands as it's main use.
The long stretch of road was a key access point for the coal/gem trade.
Trade was constant on the road and it eventually became a popular tourist attraction, spawning startup towns, roadside attractions, and plans for Stables were made.
Huge bunkers, military offices, and checkpoints were also built to ensure the safety of local ponies during the war.

Of course, the native buffalo and bull populations were against the building of other structures.
Angry letters of confusion were sent to the nation's capital but none were ever answered properly.
These events led to The Buffalo Uprising, where 12 ponies were killed but 43 buffalo were slaughtered or badly wounded.
The Bull Uprising followed a month later, where 6 ponies were injured and 4 bulls were killed/injured.
These events forced the Buffalo and Bull population to sign off the remainder of their land and their freedom for the acts of treason.
When the bombs fell, they were denied access to Stables.

Stable 45 was built mostly by the local population, who made full use of how the buffalos and bulls owed them, forcing them to do the blunt of the hard work.
Slave Labor.

Nowadays, most of the T.E.T.R. is now known as a long stretch of land called The Long Walk, and is still an important and prosperous trade route, even though contact with the Zebra Lands and most of Equestria has been almost completely cut off.

At one end of the road now lies small city run by both Zebra and Pony,
This city is commonly called Borderline since it is based around and inside the four massive walls that separated Equestria from the Zebra Lands built right before the war began.
At a hefty fee, one could travel between the two countries, not that the Zebra Lands are safe.
There are tales of the land ravaged and destroyed by megaspells that would give a dragon nightmares...

Of course, one could sail around the border with some effort, if you can find a working boat that is,
and you survive whatever lurks in the Zebrinica Sea.

On the other side of The Long Walk is the remains of the Forbidden Jungle, almost all of the trees were cut down during the war.
Above that in the Badlands of Equestria lays a larger city, filled with occupants that keep ponies from entering and leaving,
hence the name: Dragon Town.

There's also the railway that leads into The Long Walk, but you'd be blessed if you can get past the train-worshiping tribals that camp on the edge and inside of the cliffs on either side.

The startup towns and roadside attractions from before the war are now trade towns filled with ponies that will always be kind to you as long as you toss a few caps their way, after all they all live by the same motto:
"Either you trade, or the raiders will be trading you."

The surplus of caps and trade has also given The Long Walk the largest raider and bandit populations compared to any other area in the Equestrian Wasteland.
Some of the meanest as well.

The buffalo and bull populations are still around too, most are now feral ghouls though;
they travel in large herds, and despite now being mindless ghouls, they still have a burning hatred for ponies.
There are Zebra tribes that have been around longer then the trade towns.
Worse of all, there are huge bloodworms that are like landmines, once you stand on the loose soil above them, they spring from the ground and kill you before you can blink.

So when you visit the long walk, doesn't matter why or how,
bring protection, watch your back, be smart, and whatever you do,
Don't Leave The Road.

Chp 3: Well It Couldn't Get Worse

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"Well shit, I was expecting it to be more barren, and scary."
I don't really know why I decided to make the joke, but something told me that we could both you a laugh.

Doll giggled at my response, she took out her earblooms and sat back down in her chair.
"Technically, we're not really on the outside."
Her smiled disappeared as she continued.
"When we opened the Stable door, we found ourselves in some sort of basement, and soon enough, we found out that it belonged to this building. We then sent out a few ponies, including Hush, to push upstairs and scout out the floor above us to see if it was safe."
He face grew sadder, as she took a deep breath.
"Turns out the building had a pretty brutal turret security system, about a forth of us were killed and a few were injured before Hush could get the system down. Twenty when up, only two were able to limp back downstairs."
She looked over at her bloody coat as she finished,
"After that we didn't know what to do with the bodies so we spent the night here moving most of them downstairs as we tended to you and the other ponies injured in the scouting party."

"Most?"
I asked, hoping I would get an understandable response

"Well, it turns out the radiation your body took in really did a number on your internal organs."
Doll declared, now in a much more general manner, trying my her hardest to ignore my question.
"One of your lungs needed to be transplanted, your bloodstream had taken a diver, and it's a miracle that your brain and Reproductive Track are somewhat unaffected.
You may have also lost just a little bit of hair."

I'm bald...
I thought as I placed a hoof on my head, crying a little bit on the inside.

The radiation caused most of my mane and tail to fall out,
somepony that operated on me shaved off what was left of my mane and my tail was rendered to a few strands of orange hair.
Patched of my silver coat were missing as well, what remained were spots of pink, puffy skin.
This is one of those times that consequences for your stupidity didn't exist.

"and the bodies?"
I asked halfheartedly her, not sure if she heard me or not.

She sighed before she continued,
"Well, I had to find a lung that was healthy and you know, I 'recycled'."

Who in the right mind gave her the right to be a surgeon and doctor?!
I looked back to the doctors coat hanging in the corner.
That explained the mess

There was a moment of silence that felt like forever
"Oh, and one more thing."
She waited till she had my full attention before she continued.
"When the the doctors and I were performing your surgery, there was something different about your heart."
She stood up again, and walked over to a shelf with a single video recorder.
Picking up the recorder, she then turned it on and walked over to me, showing me the screen.
There was a short video of a heart, my heart, and there was definitely wrong with it.

In the short video, every time the heart pumped, a bright green glow emanated from the veins.
I didn't know what to say, my mouth hung open.
I don't know if it was because my heart is now a beating glow-stick or the fact that Doll decided to record my heart in the middle of a surgery.
Why does she even have a recorder for surgeries?
I looked over at Doll to see she was biting her bottom lip and had eyes that shone with fascination.
Oh that's why. Everypony's boat floats differently I guess.
Hush has some marefriend...

Doll took a while to put the recorder away, even after the video ended.
She then walked over, put the recorder back on the self, patted it, and finally sat back down into her seat.
"Any other questions?"
She asked, her tone was completely different then how it was a minute ago...

"Um, yeah I do. Where is everypony?"
I was wondering since nopony else has entered the room in the time I've been awake.

"Dang, I nearly forgot to tell you!"
Doll said, she seemed a bit embarrassed.
"Paper Clips didn't want to stick around here too long so she left and the rest of the ponies followed, she told me and Hush to stay behind with you."
They're really loyal to her, even though she's the reason that most of the ponies in Stable 45 are dead right now.

I was pleased to hear that Hush decided to stick around as well
"Where is Hush by the way?"
I asked looking at the old wooden door of the room, it was almost falling off it's hinges!

"He got bored waiting for you to wake up, he's read all the magazines here and then he said he was of to do something with the terminals."
She said, rolling her eyes.
"You should be healthy enough to walk right now so you should be able to meet up with him."
Upon saying that, she put her earblooms back in, fiddled with her Pipbuck a bit and then picked up her magazine.
Where did she get a magazine from?

I took out the needle in my arm and lifted the blanket that were covering me, now realizing that it wasn't actually a proper blanket but a dusty carpet that I presumed was from the floor.
How considerate.
A sharp breeze down below reminded me to find some clothes.
I took a step off of the desk, my legs felt weird, like I haven't been able to use them in a decade.
Barely able to stand up, I looked around the area again to find my Stable jumpsuit.
The room's in pretty good conditions for being so old.
I found what I was looking for folded nicely in the back-right corner of the square room.
On top of the jumpsuit was my tool belt and a saddle bag, which had a small note on it saying 'for Speak Easy'.

That was rather nice of somepony to do that, what wasn't nice was the fact that they put it next to the blackened and old skeleton of a pegasus in and office chair, I presumed that this used to be their office.
It was strange that I wasn't even slightly taken aback by the bones, maybe it was because I've already seen enough dead ponies that one more really old one wasn't that bad.
I clumsily walked around the desk to the corner and grabbed my jumpsuit, trying to keep as far away as possible from the skeleton.
The bones was wearing a faded black suit and had a bottle of whiskey in one hoof, a faded picture of a unicorn mare holding a baby and a young colt to her right in the other, there was some faded writing on it as well that read: My darling Clover, Silver Jr., and little Spade.

There was a letter allowing access to Stable 45 and a holotape player in his pocket as well.
I ejected the holotape inside and decided I should give it a listen.

"Denarius that fucking swine!
I should have known he would pull something like this to get me out of your life.
'Don't worry, I'll make sure you all have tickets he said', should have never trusted the stallion
Using the Stable that I had built to separate us because he never liked me! The balls!"
(sound of something being thrown)
*annoyed exhale*
At least you and the kids made it into the Stable, that's all that matters.
Guess I broke my promise to the kids huh? The one where I said I would take them to Sparkle land?
Crap, now I'm crying and I don't even know if you'll ever hear this!
I think now is the time I open up the expensive whiskey I was saving for our anniversary.

When the recording ended, I found myself a lot sadder then I was a minute ago.
To be respectful, I put the holotape back into the player and slid it back into his pocket.

I dressed myself and headed for the door.
I was getting used to walking again pretty quickly.
Doll looked like she was enjoying her magazine so I didn't bother asking her for directions.

I made my way into a hallway, definitely not the cleanest hallway.
Maybe it was how the building was a few centuries old, or maybe it how dried blood was trailed across the ground in front of me.
The blood of a Stable 45 pony that I saved, only to be murdered brutally minutes later.
I made my way to the stairs, which at the entrance to the stairwell was a sign saying Second Floor ->.
I began my search for my brother somewhere in the building.
The building was pretty small and easy to get around.
It looks like there were four floors, not including the basement, with five to nine private offices on each floor except for the first, which had a lobby and front desk.
There were also a lot of blood only a day or two old.
There were blood trails on the floor and staircase where the bodies of my fellow Stable 45 dwellers were dragged, not even allowed a proper burial. There were some shreds of jumpsuits here and there. There were even pools of blood and gore that were still left in the corners where their owners died.
It took a while to dismiss the thought, with it came a newfound hatred for a certain mare I used to be bossed around by in the Stable.

I finally found Hush in one of the offices on the forth floor, sitting at the computer.
I knocked on the open door to get his attention.
He smiled the instant he saw me and welcomed me with a hug.
'You had me worried there.'
He signaled to me after releasing my neck.

I just realized that he had bandages on his own.
"What happened to you?"
I asked, tilting my head.

'Oh this?'
He pointed at his neck like I couldn't already see it.
'A bullet from the security system tore up a bit of my neck, luckily it just grazed the left side and didn't actually go into anything important.'
His face looked slightly annoyed as he sat back down into the office chair.
'Doll uses it as an excuse to sleep close to me at night to make sure I don't "Sleep on that side".'
Aw! That's cute and strangely creepy and the same time!
Yet, now I know why he fells slightly uncomfortable sleeping with his marefriend of two years.
I thought, looking at the terminal he was working with, thinking about Doll's video recorder.

'Your not making fun of me'
He signaled, giving me a suspicious eye
'Usually you would make a joke about me being shy and shit'
He took a minute of looking me in the eyes before continuing,
'You found out what she's into didn't you?'
How the hell do I respond to that?
This is so fucking awkward!
He looked away from me, put his head in his hooves and shuttered a bit.
I think we both subconsciously agreed to let this conversation die there, even though I hadn't said anything.

"Anyway, I'm curious about this place, judging by how you hacked most of the terminals and invaded the privacy of ponies that died ages ago, did you find out anything?"
I wondered, thinking back to the stallion's skeleton.

Hush lifted his head and spun around in the chair to a familiar duffel bag on the wall and pulled out a notebook.
'Well, from what I can piece together, This used to be an office building owned by a stallion named Silver Tongue that operated on passports and immigration before and during the war. they held most of their work in secret, to the point that most of the employees had no idea what was going on in the company.'
Flipping through the pages, he continued.
'This was the main office of Mr. Silver's company, "A New Start".'
He read from the notebook that he had now placed on the table.
'Mr. Silver happened to also be associated with a mafia run by another stallion that went by the name Denarius that was growing in power in this area from smuggling zebras into Equestria and ponies into the Zebra Lands.'
He paused to read over a page before continuing.
'The mafia had a deal with Stable-Tec to employ local ponies to build it, Mr. Silver offered his building as the site so he could marry Denarius' daughter, yadi yadi yada, Stable 45 was built.'
'That's all I have on Mr. Silver as of now'
Huh, it makes sense now
I thought abut the skeleton, now realizing that it used to be Silver Tongue.

Hush saw my puzzled gaze
'What's the matter?'

"You remember the skeleton that was in the corner of the room that I what sleeping in?"
I asked
'Vaguely, Why?'
He signaled back to me, placing his notebook back into is bag

"I think that is Mr. Silver."

I told Hush about the skeleton and the holotape that he recorded in his last hours.
He wrote all of it down into his notebook as I spoke.

When were where finished chatting about the history of the building we were in, Hush got back to gathering information from the terminals.
On my way out he handed one of the Sparkle Colas he found in one of the offices.
I popped the cap with the edge of my Pipbuck and enjoyed.
It was warm, which was expected, and it had a weird aftertaste, probably from being centuries past expiration date.
Despite that, I enjoyed the carrot flavoring, bringing a sense of nostalgia that I couldn't remember from where.
Finishing the soda, I put the bottle and cap into my bag because I couldn't find a garbage bin.

I decided I should probably figure out what the plan was,
Hush seemed busy so I decided to look for Doll.

As I made my way downstairs I began to wonder some things to myself.
Why did Denarius have Silver Tongue locked out of the Stable?
Mr. Silver and Denarius' daughter, I think clover was her name, seemed to have a happy relationship.
What was Stable-Tec doing having deals with a mafia?
Why Does This Entire Building Have No Windows?!

She wasn't in the room she was in last, her recorder and coat were gone as well.
I looked at the remains of Mr. Silver and though it would be respectful If I put him back to where he was.
I placed the skeleton back into his chair and put his things back onto his desk, Including a dusty nameplate that said Mr. S. Tongue.
I'm pretty sure that it would have been nice to not die with a bottle of whiskey in your hoof but when I went to put it away, I swear I heard the skeleton grumble.
As a finishing touch, I put the photo of his family back into his hoof and left the room.
I like to think I made him smile one last time.

I made my way onto the first floor, Doll seemed to have relocated herself from the second floor to the lobby.
She gave me a smile and a wave as I entered, a new magazine in hand.

I signaled her to get her attention.
She took out one of her earblooms.
I could hear the faint sound of a mare singing coming from it.
"Yes?"

"Just a quick question Doll, when are we leaving exactly?"
A curiosity to find out what was outside has been growing inside me for a while.

She checked her Pipbuck before answering, music still playing.
"Well it's almost dark, I don't think it would be the greatest idea to wonder aimlessly into an outside world when who knows what is out there."
She has a great point
"I think we should spend another night here just in case and then head out in the morning."

I checked my own Pipbuck,
8:06pm
"Alright, thanks Doll."

The albino unicorn nodded and returned to her music and magazine.
I flopped down onto one of the padded seats nearby, they were definitely old, judging by how dust flew up and how the foam was stiff, making a weird sound when I sat down.
I grabbed an old magazine on the table nearby, and without even bothering to look at what it was about, I began to read.
Turns out the magazine was titled Guns & Bullets and as one would expect, it was about guns.

I remember that Taze used to really like these magazines, she had a ton of them and used to beg me to read them.
Her fascination with weapons concerned me.

The first article was pretty cool, talking about some new form of 'Plasma weapons', it was announcing how it could be "The New Energy".
The second and third page were pretty boring though, it was all about what certain people thought about it. Then the fourth page was about the science behind it. There were four or five pages going on about some company called 'Cobra Artillery' and how they only made guns with problems that could easily be fixed and there was a whole page about something called the 'Enforcement Destroyer' shotgun and how it flopped immediately because of the controversial name alone.
Woah, no shit!
The gun itself looked very strange, it had this huge 'feeding drum' that was slow and often didn't line up with the barrel and the gun itself was supposedly too heavy to be wielded properly.
An annoyed reviewer made a funny comment saying "It's like a shotgun and a revolver made a baby, but then it was aborted and somehow survived."
Talk about controversial!
I thought to myself as I began to think who the audience of these magazines actually were like...
I decided to keep the magazine in my bag just for the reviews alone.

In the next two hours I have read almost every dusty magazine in the room.
I found two more Guns & Bullets magazines, one of them had a pretty long article an the common types of guns; something told me I was going to need them.
The fact that there was a popular magazine installment about guns during the war scared me though.

There were a few other magazines and even a children's book.
The magazines didn't grab my interest but I put them into my bag anyway for when I get bored again.
The children's book had the familiar title, Your SPECIAL!!
I flipped through the pages and memories began to rush back, it was the same as I remember it.
You could instantly tell it was made by Stable-Tec because their mascot, Stable mare, was the only character used and how this was the first book almost every pony born in a Stable, like myself, read. The word Charisma interested me because it was fun to say the word and it was what most ponies used to describe me.
Closing the book temporarily, I looked down to where my cutie mark usually is, the image of an exclamation point inside of a speech bubble was currently covered by the number 45.
I smiled to myself.
Thinking about it, I remembered all the good memories I had in the Stable.
Life was so much fun back then, but it was also difficult, having to drop out of school early to continue my father's job, who died from a heart attack.
As the saying goes: "You don't know what you have till it's gone"
Is that how it's used?

I opened the book again, this time to the page about intelligence, being reminded about Hush instantly.
Hush had a bit more schooling then I did before taking over our mother's job, despite only having a month or two more of schooling then I did, he was almost twice as intelligent as I was.
However, what he had in intelligence, he lacked a lot of the common sense and cunning I had.
Still, having intelligence is a great thing to be born with, Hush and his marefriend are very lucky to be gifted with it.
I closed the book and placed it back on the small table, thinking about how great to have intelligence is.

I looked over at Doll again, she was giggling at some doctor jokes in her magazine, not even good ones, they were the kind that only foals and senile old stallions would laugh at.

I like how fate has to poke fun at everything I say and make me wonder why I exist.
It's real fun...

We all sleeping on the second floor because it was cooler then the first.
I found myself laying on the floor of the meeting room, on some heavily aged couch pillows we grabbed from the entrance.
I couldn't go to sleep.
Maybe it was because I just woke up from sleeping for a day or two only a few hours ago
or maybe it was because there were no blankets and I was freezing my ass off.

I got up and decided I should do something to pass the time before I can finally snooze off.
Grabbing my bag and headed out.
Hush and Doll were closer to the door so I had to be very quiet to get passed them without waking them up.
As I quietly stepped past, I got a good look at them.
Doll was casually cuddling Hush, she had a satisfied grin on her face
While Hush on the other hand, well,
every nerve in his body looked on edge as hell, he was covering his stomach with both of his arms, and his body was halfway to rolling into a ball, other than that, he seemed pretty okay with the situation he was currently in.

I quietly rooted for him as I left the room.
He's going to have to get used to it if he want's to progress his relationship with Doll
I thought to myself as I walked through the dark hallways, lit only by the small flashlight function on my Pipbuck.
I could only see five feet ahead of me so I followed the blood trail to find the stairwell.
This reminds me of the living quarters in the Stable late at night, but I couldn't actually see anything and I didn't have to be led by a stranger's blood trail to find the stairs back then
I thought to myself when I reached the stairwell.

As I descended, I began to think of what I should do, ultimately deciding to go to the basement.
I don't exactly know why, probably because I wanted to pay my respects to those ponies that were killed so we all could make it into the outside, and I was also a bit curious of what else is down there.

I made may way hastily down the stairs, which was likely a bad idea because I tripped and almost fell three times.

When I finally reached the door, my excitement hit a wall quite hard, killing it in it's tracks.
The putrid smell alone would make anybody turn back at this point, but my sense of curiosity was stronger then my sense of smell.
The stench made me instantly regret that idea.
If one were to describe the sent, it would be like this:
It was like somepony urinated and defecated into the rotting corpse of a roadkill skunk, let it sit in the baking sun for a day or too, and then forced your face it's open rib cage.
Or
Really Fucking Bad!

It took a few minutes to get past the wall of pure hell if it was a sent.
My eyes were watering but the smell eventually got more tolerable, meaning I either got used to it which is bad Or it has destroyed my sense of smell, which is also very bad.
When my mind was finally focused I got a good look of the room.
bu the entrance were at least fifteen bodies piled on top of each other,
the smell was bad enough so I couldn't stand looking at IT for long. I just said a little prayer to whatever beings(s) that controlled the universe.

The room was pretty big, in the center was a line cue put together with rusted metal bars, hell everything made of metal in the room was at least a little bit rusted. On the wall at the end of the room had collapsed into a pile. To the right of the line cue was a shaky looking yellow platform leading to the huge door of Stable 45 and looking a bit closer at it, I could see it was poorly welded shut by some industrial blowtorches to keep the radiation in.
Smart.
On the opposite side of the room was a small laboratory, I could tell it was a laboratory because it had the only window in the whole building, allowing me to see inside.

Other then the freshly rotting bodies piled by the entrance, there were also quite a lot of skeletons. I could tell that some have been dead as long as ol' Mr. Silver upstairs because of how they were deteriorating and blackened like his. There were also some that had to be only a year old or younger, meaning that somepony else was here recently.
Somepony from the outside...

I made my way to the door of the laboratory as quietly as I possibly could and tapped the control button slowly, it made a little click when I released it and the door opened. As the door slid open, another blackened skeleton in a aged yellow lab coat greeted me, sitting right next to the door. I hate to admit it, but that really made me jump a bit, blowing my cover to any pony in the room. I let out a breath of relief, knowing that at least it wasn't somepony wanting to kill me.

I made my way into the room and came face to face with the killer, long dead thankfully.
The stallion's body was sat in an old folding chair in the corner of the room, facing the window, a surplus of supplies on one side and a 'Tommy Gun' possibly a M1928A1 on his other side. I was using the brief knowledge I gained from reading gun magazines in an attempt to impress nopony in particular, I guess myself. A small radio playing static was underneath his chair.
He was relatively new compared to the skeletons of his victims because he still had a good portion of his flesh still on his body, the reason for his death a I couldn't figure out however. It couldn't have been from a bullet, there wasn't any visible wounds on what's left of his body. So I ruled out that he probably choked on a piece of the now rotten can of food is his hoof as his killer. Pretty pathetic way to die, but that's karma for you.

I looted the body for anything useful, I didn't really need any food or water so I decided not to take any. I did take the .45 mil bullets, the two loaded drums, the three loaded magazines, and the Thompson he had. I don't know why, but I had a feeling I was really going to need it.
This guy was really prepared!
I had a sinking feeling that this wasn't going to go well, the only gun I've ever shot was an old bb rifle that Taze let me play with once , I was an average shot at best.
The fact that Taze had a bb rifle is questionable and very concerning, but I never bothered to ask.

When I was finished my search, I looked around the small area some more and found it to be more of a control room then a laboratory. There were large computers on every wall and there were three operating areas, all with their original operators still there.

I made my way the the one by the window and I saw a holotape labeled Stable 45 Welcome that was in the player on the computer, the tape had been ejected from the computer but it hadn't been taken out.

I grabbed the holotape and placed it into the player on my pipbuck.
Upon closing the player, the message began.

"Wow, Stable 45?! how long did this thing take to build?
(Another mare mumbles in the background.)
What do you mean by Proof of Concept? Yes it does! It'll matter to them when they hear this."
"Whatever, let's just get this over with."
Hello future occupants of Stable 45! I'm talking to you currently as the vice-president of Stable-Tec,
Scootaloo, and as you may know, Omega-Level Threat Protocols have commenced meaning that
it is dangerous to go outside currently-"
(The mare in the background was mumbling again.)
"Alright, fine! There's no need to rush me!"
*Inhale*
"Mr. Silver Tongue and the "A New Start" company were kind enough to let us build this Stable under this building, so you should all thank him.
Your current appointed overseer is Mr. Denarius.
*The sound of papers being flipped*
Denarius, you'll find more details on your duties on the terminal in your office"
*Exhale*
"There are you happ-"

The holotape ended there, it was a bit of a let down not being able to learn more about my Stable, but at least I learned a bit more about a different kind of shithole.
The backstabbing mob boss Denarius, now I know HOW he screwed Mr. Silver, but I'm yet to find out why. I severely doubt that he decided to separate Mr. Silver from his family and essentially murder him just because he 'didn't like him'

I was so focused on my thoughts that I almost didn't realize the strange clacking noise coming from the rubble of the fallen wall.
Not knowing what it exactly was, I carefully walked over to the pile of rocks and began to lift off the different pieces of ruble gently. After I had a good amount of the rocks out of the way, I could figure out what was under the rocks, It was another pony skeleton in a Stable-Tec security uniform, but what was strange was how it was being pinned to the wall.
Another skeleton?
I moved a few more rocks to reveal yet another skeleton. but this one was larger,
and had horns.

I learnt about southern buffalo tribes from stories passed down for generations in the Stable, some describing them as horrifying monsters, in some they were traitors, and a few depicted them as nothing more then pest. That's how I learnt about The Buffalo Revolts and how because of it, the entirety of the buffalo race were denied access to every Stable in Equestria and were forced off most of their land.
Still, an entire race doesn't just decide to revolt for no reason, and they were the ones who were effected by the Revolts the most
My heart sank as I stared down at the remains of a buffalo who had a last ditch effort to get into the Stable.

The larger skeleton that had multiple bullet wounds in the back of the skull and spine. On it's cracked leg bone loosely hung a purple and white cloth. On it's skull laid an almost completely deteriorated feather headdress which seemed to be the source of the noise. Upon further examination, I found a lock of brownish-blond hair made into a loop with two beads hanging in the loop, they were hitting each other to create the sound in the headdress. The sound continued with no visible source.
A chill went down my spine as i dared to reach for it.
When I picked up the charm, the two beads stopped for a few secnds, but then started up again, clacking the same pattern, stopping for a few seconds, and then looping all over again.

It took me a while to figure out that IT was trying to "talk" to me using Morse Code.
Hush and I used to talk using the Morse Code we learnt from a book before somepony taught us how to use and understand Hoof Sign.
I think I still remember the alphabet.
I waited for the charm's loop to restart so I could understand it.

'H-E-L-L-O'
The charm repeated once again.

"Why hello there."
I responded, now realizing that I'm talking to a piece of hair with two beads dangling on it.
I began to wonder if it was that time at night when your so tired that you begin to hallucinate things.
Maybe it was the time rigt after that one that you realize that you need a drink...
Fuck it, I'll just go with it.
"What's your name?"
I dared, trying to grasp if I'm really seeing this.

'S-T-R-O-N-G-H-E-A-R-T'

The charm when limp and didn't speak again, so I decided it was about time I head back to the conference room and get some rest.
There was no more space in my bag to put the charm, so I attached it to the barrel of the Thompson I just retrieved.
Strangely, the beads didn't make a sound like you would expect it would when I slung the gun over my back.
As I walked out of the room, I saw three or four other skeletons similar to the one pinning the security pony to the wall, almost all of them had bullet holes penetrating certain bones.
It wasn't just a single buffalo fending for himself, but perhaps he charged in, attacking the pony to the wall in order to cause a distraction?
Judging by how none of the buffalo made it inside, I would guess they didn't make it before the bombs dropped.
Whoever these buffalo were, they certainly weren't happy with Stable-Tec, or ponies in general.
I paid my respects by nodding my head to every one I saw.
Strongheart seemed to like my thoughtful manner and gave one last clack as I entered the stairwell.
Well at least I hope that's what it did.

I made my way to the second floor again, and found the conference room by memory.
Hush and Doll were still fast asleep.
Looking at them again, Doll was still pretty happy, and Hush had calmed down a bit.
By a bit, I mean his muscles were just slightly less tense then how they were when I left.

Smiling, I made my way back to my area of the room.
I placed my bag and the Thompson onto the wall next to my bed, I stared at Strongheart wondering what I'm to do with the fact I have a haunted hair thing currently attached to a submachine gun I found right in front of me.
Something about that whole picture seemed just a tad bit unbelievable, I couldn't be dreaming because I'm neither naked or in a shower.
Unless Mr. Pervert Ghost has decided to change things up.
I pinched myself just to make sure I definitely wasn't.
Ouch. Nope, wide awake and delusional.

My eyes felt heavy as I yawned, stretching my hooves out a bit.
Guess I go pay the Pervo-Ghost a visit again
I laid down on the stiff sofa pillow and drifted away into a dream.

I came to in a setting that was starting to get really bland.
The water temperature was the same as last time, and as usually, I was naked.
The only difference I could see was that Silver Tongue's skeleton was sitting on the closed toilet, he would be eyeballing me right now if he had any.

I don't really want to do this shit right now.
I thought to myself as I signaled 'let me talk' the best I could in hoof sign.
I think I'm still muted...

A annoyed grumble that I haven't heard in a while spoke up from the walls.
"What do you need?"

"Well,"
I said condescendingly as I sat down on the wet tile floor.

"This whole setting, hell this whole thing is kinda getting boring.
Whatever the fuck you do."

"I feed off your sanity."
The deep voice interrupted

"Fine, you feed off my whatever-the-fuck.
My point I'm trying to get to currently is, can at least change this weird pervy ass shit you have going on here?"
I continued, pointing at the shower scene around me.

The demon let out a sigh
as the world around me melted.
"You know, It's not like I wanted to be trapped in your head."
Shit, there goes my plan for asking him to leave.
"Darkness forbid you ask me how I feel!"
"I've thrown shit that would traumatize a minotaur for life at you and yet your sanity hasn't budged since the day your Stable blew up!"
"I'm starving!"
I'm already starting to regret that I said anything. Can we just go back to the weird nightmare shit?

The world I was in transformed into a void of nothingness and when I blinked, I found myself in a large white room sitting at a black table with the demon on the other side.
'He' kind of looked like a shadow shaped in the rough image of a pony, two red eyes shown through the mist. The shadow had it's arms crossed and was looking at me sternly.
I looked down, and became very grateful for the fact that I now had my Stable 45 jumpsuit on.

The misty ghost continued.
"This is the best I could do for now.
Oh, and just for the record. I didn't the shower nightmare scene, your own brain did."
'His' voice was much clearer now, it was just like a stallion's just with a little bit of an echo.
"It's some weird metaphorical future bullshit."
He made a disappointed glare to his right and muttered,
"I could create better without even looking."

I made a sound with my throat to make sure he was finished before I began to talk.
"Okay, now that we've let a lot off our chests, I've been wanting to ask you some questions."

The red eyes focused back on me.
"Alright, fine.
My name is Cremvh.
I have no idea how I got in here, but it likely has to do with that bet I lost...
I can't leave, I've tried.
Yes, I've been inside the heads of other ponies in Stable 45.
Yes, I have also been around before the war.
No.
No.
No.
Oh, and Luna's a bitch."
"Anything else you wanted to know? You have one more question."

I wasn't even going to ask most of those questions...
Bet?
What was the outside world like before the Great War?
What the fuck is with all the No's?
Is he talking about Princess Luna?
I think his answers are just creating more questions.

I opened my mouth to speak when something prodded my head.
"That's not you poking my head right?"

The misty pony shrugged and looked up at a clock that just appeared on the wall,
"It's probably something from outside your head. It's morning already so you should probably deal with that."
He gave me a satisfied look,
"Good luck!"

"No Wait!"
I was cut short by my body going limp and everything turning black.

Should've known a demon would be an asshole
I was awake, but I decided I shouldn't open my eyes.
Whatever it was, it was still poking the left side of my head.

An unfamiliar male voice spoke from the source of the poking,
"You sure your friend's still livin'?"
"I've been pokin' him for a good minute."

I could faintly remember where I put my gun on the wall.

"I'm gonna take his stuff if he don't wake up."

I rolled over to the wall, grabbed my gun and tried my hardest to imitate the stance ponies used in the issues of Guns & Bullets that I read yesterday.
I was still tired so it took me a second to aim the sights at the intruder's head.

"Well I'll be damned. Hold your trigger there virgin."
The stallion had calm eyes yet a cocky look on his face, his coat was sickly brown which blended in with the dust on it and his dark blue mane was short, dirty, and mangled, and on top of his head was a red hoofball cap. He was wearing a dusty coat with enough pockets to hold a weekly supply of canned food and then some, which coincidentally, it was. On his back was a heavy looking and well-worn backpack. There was a stick in his hoof, probably for poking sleeping ponies to determine if he should loot their stuff or not

The fact that he looked familiar had went through my mind, but I was more interesting in what he just called me.
"What?"
My focus faltered for a second but I kept my gun aimed at his head.

"Oops, you really are new aren't you?"
The stallion said with a smile,
"First, I ain't gonna hurt you, I'm just a scavenger, an' don't aim a gun at someone when the safety's on. You look stupid."
Crap, I didn't even realize that!
I looked over to see that that Doll and Hush were looking over at the scene as well. They were sitting down, enjoying the show, but practically unharmed.
I lowered my gun, I ruled out that if he meant any harm to us, he would have either already stolen our stuff while we were asleep or already have killed us.
The Stallion let out a breath of relief and continued.
"Virgin is a word we folks on the Walk to describe newcomers, but I think ya'll the first Virgins of The Waste I've met in a while, the first time in this area."
The Walk?
The stallion, said lifting one of the sleeves of the heavy coat.
"I would know."
On his arm was a standard issue Pipbuck.

About a minute later, I found myself walking next to stranger down the stairs, Hush and Doll where close behind.
He was an outsider that definitely knew more about the world then we did, so I was glad that he was okay with taking us to the nearest town, even after I pointed a gun into his face.

My curiosity forced me to start another conversation.
"So, what Stable did you come from?"

The stallion grinned and lifted his heavy jacket, revealing a surprisingly clean blue t-shirt with the number 14 printed in a large, yellow font.
The movement caused his backpack to shift as well, the objects inside shifted with it, causing a metallic and dusty noise.
I happened to get a good look at his cutie mark as well, it was an rough image of Equis with a hoofprint trail cutting through it.
"14 is far up North-East of here, there used to be griffon living there too."
He said with a chuckle.
"It also happens to be right at the border of Equestria an' another country like your's."
He must have been to the basement already, saw the remains of Stable 45 and everything else that I saw last night.
The stallion had a sad look as he muttered something under his breath about a Southern Buffalo or something similar.
I thought it would be best not to mention Strongheart even though I could feel the hair brushing against my neck in disapproval.
Suddenly the stallion hoofplanted.
"Dang I almost forgot to tell ya'll my name. I'm Globe Trotter."
Trotter said, with an embarrassed grin.

I was opening my mouth to say something but the stallion cut me off before I could.
"Your friends already introduced you an' themselves."
He put a hoof on his chin, scratching the stubble on the bottom as he named us individually.
"Your Speak Easy, the one who can't talk is Hush, an' the unicorn ghost left in the oven too long is Joy Pill, or 'Doll'."

"Excuse me?"
said a certain mare behind me.

We made our way int the lobby and headed for the exit.

Trying to remove the topic before a fight broke out, I spoke up again.
"I saw some unusual things down there in the basement, can you explain the buffalo and the bandit in the folding chair?"

The earth pony looked like I would never ask, he had a face of foal-like glee.
"Well the squatter is the reason for comin' to The Long Walk two years ago, bastard robbed me in Baltimare and I've been chasing him since."
I felt a bit bad for Trotter, he seemed to have traveled so far only to find out that he wasn't able to get his justice.
and what the hell is The Long Walk?
"For the buffalo bones, well they're a long story, I'll tell you on the road.
Road?

"One more thing. What's The Long Walk?"
I asked

Trotting just chuckled at my statement like it was a bad joke and gestured to the doors.

We pushed through the double doors and all three of us were blinded by some strange light, while Trotter had a good laugh at our our first reaction to the world outside the Stable.
As my eyes settled to the brightness, I figured out what that bright light was:
The Sun.
I've read books giving details on what the sun looks like, but I never knew it would be that bright!
Woah, I guess that's the sky.
I stared up at the fast blueness, not completely sure why I was so entranced by it, guess it was because I never saw anything higher then a ceiling three feet above me. The clouds looked like cotton balls that were beginning to phase out of existence.

I had to tear my eyes from the mind boggling sight to see the rest of the world.
I saw mostly plains, a few remnants of centuries dead society scattered around it.
To the far right was a beach followed by a huge mass of water, in the distance was a barely visible island with a large volcano on it.
To the left was a some jungle life that blocked vision of anything beyond.
A long and wide road cut strait down the middle of the plains that stretched as far as the eye could see, separate roads and streets split off from the main one and buildings of many different sizes littered the main and side roads.

"This,"
started the stallion, making sure we could all hear him.
"This is The Long Walk."

I was amazed, overcome even.
I could never imagine a universe this big, let alone only a fraction of a whole country!
The vastness and the fact that Trotter himself has traveled from the top half of the country to here hit me like a bag of bricks.

I heard a sound in front of me that sounded like a quiet 'tch'
I looked over to see a creature I've never seen before, a griffon, eyeing me and my friends over.
The griffon was leaning against the fence of the property.
"Who're they? I told you that you shouldn't have gone alone."
Said a just slightly monotone female voice.
The griffon looked like a mix of a large lynx and a cardinal with grey eyes and a short beak that had a 'pissed off' curvature to it.
On her chest was a heavy duty but dusty looking vest, a few magazines for the Tac-9 holstered over the vest.

"Relax Red. They ain't raiders, just some Virgins from the Stable in the basement of this place"
The stallion said in response with his signature grin, gesturing to the building behind us.

"Yeah? Well I'd love to relax with the 1250 caps I'm getting for this job, but that won't happen if you die going into some strange place without protection. Am I wrong?"
The griffon snapped back.
Are all griffons like her?

Trotter scoffed before responding.
"I know what I'm doing Red, I've been ding this for years,
and I thought I was hiring a body guard, not an overprotective sister."

Red looked quite upset with him.
She opened her beak to say something but closed it, looking down the road, defeated.
"We should head out now."
Was all she said before beginning her silent walk on the road, not looking back.

Trotter sighed and chased after her, signaling for us to follow, which we did without hesitation.

We began walking in a line, Red was leading us in the front, followed by Hush and Doll, then Trotter, and finally me at the rear.
I looked back at Silver Tongue's building as it slowly shrank in the distance.
There was a large sign on the side of the building reading
'A New Start co.'
The remains of Stable 45 and so much other history was yet to still be uncovered in there.
Maybe in a year or two, a different pony will dare to go inside and rediscover what we left behind.
The'll enter a festering pot of long dead emotions and memories,
almost all of them negative.
That pony will find that out soon enough.

We've been walking for a good mile and I was now realizing how a pony could hate the Sun.
It's very hot.
I was sweating already, this jumpsuit doesn't allow a lot of air flow.
I held a hoof over my eyes to help out with blocking out most of the sunlight from my eyes.
I can't imagine how hard this is for Doll right now. I read in a book somewhere that ponies with really pale skin often get these things simply called 'Sunburns' a lot easier and faster then ponies that aren't as pale or albino.
I looked in front of Trotter to see that Doll already had a few pinkish-red spots forming on the back of he neck, ears, etc..
There were only a few, but they were quite large red spots.
I hissed a bit, feeling really bad for her.

Traveling and exploring the surroundings with my eyes was interesting, but tedious as all hell. Sometimes I'll spot something weird or interesting, but then at other times, I could have sworn we passed the same barn sinking into the ground ten times.

I decided to make conversation with the pony in front of me, which happened to be Globe Trotter.
"Hey Trotter, you said that you knew something about those buffalo?"

"I did say that, didn't I?"
He responded, slowing down a bit so we could walk side to side.
"Those buffalo were actually part of a local tribe simply called the Southern Buffalo Tribe.
My main goal in life as of now is to write a second issue of my book 'History of The Waste', an' one of the chapters I was plannin' on writin' is about this tribe in particular, after all, they started the revolution."
He saw my look of confusion and explained.
"It was caused because Ponies are idiots and can't follow their own contracts."
Oh! Yep, that sounds like ponies alright.
"Anyway, I wanted to track down the remains of the Chief that started it, and well, it led me to the skeleton of Chief TrueSoul, or the skeleton in the wall."
No way!... Wait a minute.
"Did he have any affiliation with a female buffalo named Strongheart?"
I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head from a pair of beads hitting it,
and then clacking:
'J-E-R-K'
Now I don't understand mares well, females in general hurt my head,
but I'm pretty sure I didn't deserve that.
I think...

"Oh yeah. She was the leader of one of the Northern tribes and his secret w-"
Globe Trotter was cut off by a certain griffon yelling:
"We're here!"

In the distance was a massive red and white tent about the size of a Stable, a large blue flag at the top blew pridefully in the wind. Around the tent were multiple structures made out of carts, trailers, and whatever other scrap was around. The was also a large welcoming sign that said BIG Top (It also said 'circus', but the letters fell off). The whole sight was magical yet terrifying at the same time,
and we were walking towards it.

Perk Gained:
Guns & Bullets (x3)- You just read the critically acclaimed magazine series 'Guns and Bullets'!
+5% extra critical damage with ballistic weapons. (x3), +Gun Skill Experience (x3), +New favorite magazine series.

Perk Gained:
See Through Friend- You now have a second pair of eyes and ears! Even though they are invisible, and not really eyes or ears. The point is you have a paranormal friend watching out for you! (StrongHeart)
+Haunted Object gun mod (+50% accuracy), +Someone to watch you back (Perception +2), +A Friend, +Chill down your spine

Perk Gained:
Pump It Up- Your heart has mutated from radiation, It is stronger and has a glow function now. Your chest cavity is like a night club!
+2 Endurance, +1 Agility, +A cool fact about yourself you can tell people that don't care

Perk Gained:
Virgin of The Waste- Your in a whole new world!
-Sense of Direction, +Not knowing that this is actually a insult

Chp 4: Not Quite The Way I Pictured It.

View Online

The settlement was big.
Really big.

The settlement that I quickly learned to be 'Big Top',
based on the large sign with the only two letters remaining on it being those exactly. Perhaps there was once a 'Circus' there as well.
As we came closer to Big Top, the sight grew larger, it's true size becoming more and more present.
There was a large strip of flat-land covered in faded asphalt, a huge parking lot of some kind that was once pitch black in coloration, now a cracked and overgrown patch of light grey rock.

The real eye catcher of the area was the enormous red and yellowing white tent, it's age revealed itself as we came closer. Patches of cloth painted sloppily to blend in with the rest of the tent were stitched here and there.
both were surrounded by a makeshift, yet sturdy looking scrap fence.
There was a few ponies arguing with a serious looking mare in a blue uniform at an entry point in the gate.
Two watch towers by the entrance was patrolled by two ponies in body armor with large, scary guns.
One looked at us as we came closer, I tried my hardest no to make eye contact.
I managed to sneak a peek inside however, there seemed to be a few makeshift houses, but other then that, I couldn't see much.
We stayed clear of the situation because it didn't look like it was going to end well.
I heard three bangs behind me and a few scream of pain answered my hypothesis.

I knew that it wasn't my business, and I knew that if I had involved myself, I might have met the same fate,
but something told me that the guns were not necessary.
Whatever the argument was about.
I don't think I'm going to like those ponies in blue.

As we continued to walk, I could see past the large focus point.
Behind the tent was a town,
a large one, but not quite as large as the parking lot.
The fence didn't protect it either.
Shops and houses were made out of booths and smaller tents, hinting that the area was possibly a small carnival or fair before the fallout.
The town was bustling with ponies walking and hurrying to and fro, no real destination in sight.

We made our way around and gathered into a group at the entrance of the town.
There was a makeshift sign that read 'Little Top'
Not very creative...

Trotter took a deep breath and smiled.
"Nothin' like the smell of a busy market in the mornin'."
Hundreds of conflicting aromas lashed at my nostrils, a bit over-whelming
Nothing like it indeed.
Trotter continued, now facing the three of us,
"How 'bout you three go an' see if you can find residence here,
I'll go sell what I've picked up, and Red.."
He paused for a second, looking at the griffon.
"What do you usually do?"

The griffon scoffed and walked off,
"I'll be by the job board, don't go out of eyesight dumbass."
See grumbled without looking back, disappearing into the crowd.

Trotter scoffed himself, looked over at us one last time, and then disappeared as well.
These two are very good at leaving you lost. Must be a gift.

We ourselves entered Little Top shortly after, the crowd wasn't as dense as it looked from the outside.
The market place was the only area that was difficult to move through,
which was great because we had to move through there to get to the large tent, which I assumed was where the pony running this place resided.

Of course, as usual for my luck, there's a line of ponies nearly the size of the 'A New Start' building.
Well that might have been a bit of an over-statement,
but judging by how the line hasn't budged in the last twenty minutes,
well,
your mind begins to overlook some details.

Suddenly in the corner of my eye, I saw a very familiar and very welcoming word flashing in bright and large, yellow letters
'Bar'
Well, the sign read 'The Jolly Bull Diner and Bar',
but it had booze, and that's what mattered right now.
At that moment, I had forgotten all about our original plan, and the fact that it was still morning...

I told Hush and Doll to save our place in line as I ran to grab a drink,
both were a bit unhappy with the fact that I got to wonder off, but were ok with it.

I walked out of the surprisingly well organized line and made my way to the structure I had set my target on.
I wonder, does this place have a police or law force?
I had seen a few buff looking ponies in blue uniforms 'escorting' some drunken looking ponies before.

The bar/diner was interesting looking, Multiple buildings and mobile homes were welded together to form one larger building,
similar to a few other of the larger structures in Little Top, but this one was much more, 'professional' looking.
The welds were neat and the different sections were put together smoothly, unlike the other similar structures that had haphazard welds and looked like they were being held together by a few screws, duct tape, and some gum.

I pushed open the metal door that once had glass windows, but had been smashed some time in the past,
a little bell rang as the door slid open with a little bit of resilience.
a few pairs of eyes watched me as I stepped into the diner, but slowly drifted back to what they were looking at before.

The interior of the Diner/Bar was remarkably nice, the walls had a faded peach wallpaper plastered on it, the floor has some relatively clean white tiles, the bar top and tables were polished nicely, and the decoration made the whole area feel very comforting.

I sat down next to another tough looking stallion in a blue uniform, he had a scratched golden star on the left of his chest, somehow it was still shiny despite it's condition. I was surprised to see that the pony had wings! A mysterious lightning shaped scar was where his cutie mark should have been. The pegasus looked at me for a second, but didn't really acknowledge my existence. He continued to consume the breakfast platter in front of him.
I decided not to pry into his business.

A slightly pudgy looking mare made her way over to me on the other side of the counter, leaning on the marble and making eye contact with me.
Now that I could see her closer, I could see her age.
It was weird, seeing somepony that was at an age you never knew existed.
I never knew that your body wrinkled and your hair became grey.
Of course, the mare wasn't that old, but she had a few strands of grey in her bun of maroon.
She had the same clothes as every other waitress/waiter serving there, but she seemed to have more authority.
"What can I get you darlin'?"
The mare said with a tired yet professional smile.

"I don't suppose you would have alcohol at this hour right?"
I asked with a bit of a yawn, trying to hide the fact that I was fascinated by her age.

The mare chuckled and stood up from the table, grabbed a small notepad out of a pocket in her apron and flipped through it.
"Well no, but I can get you a coffee and pour some whisky in it."
She said, making eye contact with me yet somehow still looking through her notepad.

Fuck it.
"Sure, thanks."
I said rubbing my eyes.

The mare made her way to a shelf right below the order window, it was filled with different types of beers and wines.
It took her a while to find an almost empty bottle of whiskey and placed it on the counter, and then beginning to prepare the coffee.
"You new to the Walk. Right boy?"
The mare said, her tired, purple eyes. Seeing my confused and curious glare, she continued.
"It's the way you carry yourself, I've seen many characters walk through that door, so trust me when I say you're less experienced than a brain-dead brahmin."

I didn't quite understand the metaphor but I still felt a bit insulted.
The conversation ended in silence for a minute or two before I brought up a different topic that I believed would be more helpful.
"What can you tell me about Little Top and Big Top?"
I asked, deciding that anything would be helpful knowledge at this point.

The machine behind the mare sounded, breaking the silence, the rattling of plates and other utensils came from the kitchen.
Placing the coffee on the table, the mare topped off the rest of the cup with whiskey and put in front of me like hurrying an almost over-filled cup over to a customer one-hoofed was a piece of cake.
Taking a sip from it, the coffee was hot, which was nice, but the whiskey really had a kick to it.
I wasn't sure if the whisky over-powered the coffee or the other way round.
"Well, I'll start with the mayor, or the 'ring leader', as we call him/her due tradition."
She leaned on the counter again.
"He and a small group of ponies run Big Top, Little Top, and The Lot"
I haven't even been to The Lot yet, perhaps it's the parking lot in front of Big Top?
"From what I can tell, Big Top is where all the merchants live, The Lot is where the ponies that are cast away from society live, and Little Top is where most visitors, shopkeepers, and where ponies like my husband and I live."

"What do you mean by ponies like my husband and I?"
I interrupted, quickly apologizing.

The mare gave her tired smile again,
"Well, my husband and I used to be personal merchants for the previous ring leader, but we got attacked by raiders,
my husband lost a good chunk of his skull while I on the other hand,"
She lifted one of her back legs, the entire lower forelimb was missing, leaving only her thigh,
a makeshift replacement was made out of a modified crutch.
"I lost both my back legs."
She lowered the 'limb' and continued.
"We spent the next few years in this horrible place, the raider utopia itself, Sparkle-World."
The mare finished with a hiss.

I whispered an apology despite not knowing what the place was like, but she instantly dismissed me with a grin and continued,
"Thank the two sisters that we got out."
"When we made it back to Big Top, the ringleader set us up with this nice place, we've been running it for a good few years."
She looked over at the stallion next to me.
"We have a pretty nice enforcement group here, if the ponies in the blue shirts can't handle a problem, we have plenty of bang stored in Big Top."
The pegasus must really be enjoying his breakfast because he didn't even raise his head a bit to realize that the topic was now relating him.

The mare looked up from the counter toward the door, her tired smile turned to an annoyed grimace.
I heard the bell above the door ring as the whole Diner went silent.
Almost every customer hurried out of the door,
well one tried to hurry,
but his lack of three legs slowed him down a bit.

"Well that's a warm welcome home."
said Red.

There was a moment of silence,
even the sounds of the kitchen stopped.

The pegasus clad in a blue shirt, who could have been mistaken to be dead up to this point,
stood up from his chair next to me.
He nodded to the mare, placed a few bottle caps on the table, and left.
On his way out, he patted Red on the back, silently her luck and for her survival.

Even the servers had fled to the kitchen.
The hole situation made me feel like I had a rock in my throat.

I sat there like an idiot in the middle of all of it, staring down at my drink.
It was starting to cool down, which was a bit annoying,
but at the moment, it didn't matter.
I was too busy worrying about my own safety.

The mare walked calmly around the counter, and in front of the griffon.
They stared at each other for a moment or two,
the silence was broken by the sudden slap Red received across the face.
I feel really out of place at the moment...
I just wanted a drink.

Red held a claw to the location on her face,
I couldn't see the mark the slap left because her feathers completely covered the area, but judging by force of the sound,
it must have hurt like a mother fucker.
She looked like she was in a daze, shocked, yet understanding.

The mare, the other hoof, held her arm in the same location for a few seconds,
a look of anger, and long awaited justice replaced her usual calm look.
Females in general are scary, but mares in the wasteland are terrifying.
The glare melted away into a very complex one, but one that looked like she wanted to use for years.
The mare lowered her hoof and embraced the griffon in a hug.
"Thank Celestia that you're ok..."
The mare said, a tear rolling down her eye.
"I missed you too, mom."
Red replied with a smile of her own, giving into the hug.
I feel really fucking out of place...

A minute went by, and the two finally let go of each other.
I tried my best to not exist.
"What happened? I thought that the raiders took you."
The mother asked, wiping a tear from her own eye.

"Yeah, after you and dad got out, I got my ass handed to me."
The griffon said, wincing as she placed her claw back onto the area of her face that was slapped.
"They sent a group of trouble makers and myself to The Hoof, a lot of ponies died..."

Judging by how Red's mother reacted to the mentioning of this 'Hoof', I could assume that it was not a very friendly place.
"Made it look like I was dead, and since then, I've been surviving the last few years being an independent mercenary."

Her mother didn't seem to like that either, but nodded her head.
"At least you made it back in one piece, You want anything to eat?"

I coughed by accident
Shit

"So I see that you've met baldy over there?"
The griffon asked the mare, who replied with a shrug and a
"Briefly, you know him?"
I really, really, really don't like fate.
I faced them, trying my hardest not to be awkward, but I think my chance had already been blown.

I made a half-hearted attempt to introduce myself,
"Hello, my name is Speak Easy, I've met your daughter a few minutes ago..."
I'm an idiot

The two stared at me for a while Red saved the microscopic amount of dignity I had left.
"This is one of the Stable dwellers my current client found, decided to take him and his friends here."
She then looked at me,
"Baldy, this is my mother, Desired Lane."
I wish she didn't call me that.

"Lane is just fine, Plytra's father should be in the kitchen."
The mare chirped, the mention of her birth name made the griffon look a bit embarrassed.
Plytra? I guess that must be Red..

Lane turned back to her daughter and spoke again.
"Why are you here anyway? Knowing you, you'd get whatever business you had to do in town before you visited us."

The griffon tapped her claws on the ground as she spoke,
"Well, I was just at the job board... I was wondering if the dweller wanted to come with."
The response made the mare scoff.
"Fine, I'll go tell your father you're in town."

Now looking back at me, she continued.
"You're gonna have to pay the tab some way anyhow."
That sentence kind of felt like I was just shot in the heart.
I was hoping to slip out without having to pay, especially since I had no money to my name, whatever the money used out here was.
She saw strait through me.

"You want me to fix a toilet?"
I asked the griffon as we were walking through the market.

"Yeah, the job's 50 caps, so I thought it would be a good idea to grab it."
The griffon said, she was holding a lighter to a cigarette she had just placed in her mouth.
"Problem is, I don't know a shit about plumbing. I took a gamble and guessed that you had more experience then I did."
She held the lit cigarette in her claws as she blew out a cloud of smoke with a grin.
"Happens that I made the right choice."
What's it like having luck? Is it nice I wouldn't know...
Red, or Plytra had a completely different way of speaking/acting when she was everywhere else but with one of her parents.
Interesting.

"What's in it for me?"
I asked, watching the ground ahead of me.

"50/50, You get 25, I get 25."
She answered, some burnt remains falling from the cigarette onto the ground.
I was a bit annoyed, how come I had to do all the work, yet she gets half of the profit.

"Can I at least get 3/4?"
I asked.
"No."
The griffon firmly responded.

"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"No"
"How about you shut the fuck up before I put my smoke out with your eyeball?"
The griffon finished.
"Honestly, what the hell do you think I am? A tomato seller?"

We walked in silence for a few minutes before she spoke up again,
"If you keep relatively quiet for the rest of this job, I'll buy you a hat. Your head is weird looking, and it's kinda distracting."
Thanks.

It took only a minute more till we reached our destination,
I would feel more accomplished about my first job outside of the Stable,
it it didn't involve fixing a centuries old, overused toilet in one of the most disgusting public bathrooms I have ever seen.
Then again, I've only seen three public bathrooms in my life, but this bathroom looked like it was still going through the days right after the blast.
The note specified the mare's bathroom, so I took a deep breath and made my way in.
The smell inside was very putrid and very unique, the term that one would use to describe it would usually follow, which happened to be my reaction to such a smell.
"It smells like fucking shit."
Now, I don't usually curse out loud, mainly because I don't get very angry often,
but looking back and seeing that the female griffon whom followed me inside had a gas mask on,
made me just a little bit 'pissy'.

I found the problem fairly quickly, one of the two somehow working toilets didn't flush.
Which was great because I couldn't figure out if this was a problem that could be fixed with a simple plunger, or if the drainage pipe was blocked.
The fact that the plumbing was a couple centuries old only added to the frustration as well.
I began using the plunger that was already by the toilet,
wondering why there was one in nearly every stall.

I don't understand why I'm even doing this? I haven't seen one pony come near this place and it look like nopony has in a while. Well, anypony after the bombs of course.
I kind of had a nicer picture of what the first thing I'd do to help somepony on the outside would be.
Feeding a poor pony.
Delivering an important message
Stopping a criminal
Hell, even saving a cat from a tree!
But nope, I'm back to pushing shit down a pipe with a plunger. Reality is a bitch.

I attempted to pass the time by starting a conversation with Plytra.
"Anyway, weren't you watching Trotter?"

The griffon was leaning on the stall door, bored.
"Yeah, but he decided to head to his room at Big Top and write a report on your Stable."
Her voice was s;lightly distorted by the gas mask that she wore.

That confused me, I stopped and looked back at her.
"Trotter doesn't strike me as the type that would write a book."

That made the griffon laugh for a second before continuing.
"You have a keen eye. He doesn't, but he works for some mare that hired him to collect information on spots that might interest scavengers."
She said, scratching the red feathers on he neck.
"I forget her name, but she said she'd pay me 2000 for the job. 500 for keeping Trotter alive, 1500 for bringing his findings back in one piece."

Huh, so this mystery mare values Trotter's life over his well being. I'll have to keep that in mind for when I meet her.

I continued to work for a few minutes in silence after that.
Even after using the plunger so many times, It wouldn't flush. I was getting quite annoyed with it.
I lifted the tank cover to inspect the flushing mechanism and found the reason.
The lever and chain were gnawed apart by some kind of animal.
You know what? I'm not going to question it, just going to fix it.
I found a spare one of the other broken toilets, it's bowl was smashed open and few dirty magazines were stuffed inside.
Not going to ask, just gonna fix the toilet.

The repair was easy, just had to replace the parts, plunger the bowl a few more times, and I was done.
Satisfied and relieved, I watched as the dirty water swirled into the unknown and more replace it.
How the toilet was still working, even after a few generations of not having been worked on, was a miracle.
The bubbles that came from the trap and the gargling sound were not usual however,
nor was the snake that shot out of the toilet and attempted to grab my throat.

It barely missed me with it's fangs luckily, but I wasn't sly enough to not get slapped in the face with its tail.
The snake landed just outside the stall, curling into a coil ready to attack once again.
I dashed out of the stall and was stopped by Plytra, who already had her tec-9 out and ready.
The large serpent watched us with angry eyes.

"May I ask what the fuck that is!?"
I screamed, my eyes not leaving the viper.

"It's an adult RadViper. Dangerous fuckers. Never seen one jump out of a toilet however, you must have pissed it off by flushing water on its head."
The griffon said, her gun didn't flinch off of the snakes head.
"We have to be careful. One bite and you die, no cure, lots of pain."

I looked at the creature's huge fangs dripping with venom, they were at least three times the length of the snake's head!
Well heads
There was a second head right behind the first one, it's fangs were just as long.
The scales were like razor blades and shifted as the snake swayed back and forth.
Tired of waiting, the viper's two heads hissed loudly, and its scales shook.
It pounced at us, but didn't get far, it was shot out of the air with five bullets from Plytra's gun and collapsed twitching on the ground.
I let out a breath of air that I had been holding for a while.
I almost died there.
I stared up at the rotting plaster ceiling of the bathroom and laughed.
You are a real asshole fate, a real fucking asshole.

I took a step toward the corpse but was quickly grabbed by Plytra.
"Don't get and closer, it may be dead, but it can still pounce and kill you. I watched it happen once myself."
She said in a serous tone, still watching the corpse.
"A stallion I knew was killed by a RadViper as he was trying to skin it. Poor bastard."

I stared at the corpse in horror, if Plytra hadn't told me that, or stopped me, I could have ended the same way.
God damn it fate!

We waited there for at least thirty minutes, until Plytra was certain it was safe to leave.
I watched as the griffon cut the head off of, skinned and bagged the remains of the RadViper before we left.
She put the snake's heads into a metal tube just to make sure everything was safe.

"Why did you have to do that? Skin the RadViper or whatever."
I asked, enjoying the fresh air once again.

"To sell it. RadViper venom sacks and skin can get you a couple caps, I'm not going to use the money I gained from the job to buy your hat."
The griffon said, taking her mask off. the remains of the snake were in a sack she had slung over her back.
I didn't know whether to feel grateful for her buying my hat, or insulted and annoyed.
Somewhat a combination of both perhaps?

I stopped in my tracks remembering something that I'm probably going to regret.
Shit! Hush and Doll!
"I need to go! Like now!"
I yelled at the griffon as I ran toward the huge tent,

"But what the fuck I'm I going to do about your hat?"
The griffon asked nopony as she watched Speak Easy disappear into the distance.

I haven't realized how much time had passed since I had left my friends on the line.
As one might guess, they weren't very happy with me,
even after I explained the situation I was just in.

'So let me get this strait.'
My brother signaled, with a judgmental and annoyed face.
'You went to get some coffee, you got caught up in some family matters, the griffon gave you a job, which you accepted without our consent. Then, as you were doing said job, you were attacked by a snake with two heads, which after killing it, you had to wait a half and hour to make sure it was dead and that you could then skin it?'
Hush showed off his strait-forward-ness once again by somehow transforming my rambling into a single yes/no question.

"Yes."
I said, hoping the both of them would be just a little bit less angry.

'Bullsh-'
The stallion quickly responded, but was cut off by Doll.
"Were you bitten?"
Doll didn't look at me as she asked that question, just stared at the scene in front of her.
This was what she usually did when she was angry, as I was told by Hush when they had just started dating.

"No, luckily. I was told by Ply-... Red that the snake's venom kills instantly. I did get waked in the face by it's tail."
I said to the uninterested mare, who didn't respond.

We waited in silence for the rest of the time we were on line.
By the time that I had returned, Hush and Doll had moved further up the line then I had expected, and it only took around twenty minutes before we reached the entrance of the large tent which made up a district of Big Top.

A stallion in a blue uniform was standing at the gate,
Unlike the other ponies in the blue uniforms, he was a lot scarier.
By scarier I mean he was at least twice the size of the other blue uniformed ponies, and so were his muscles.
He had an overpoweringly stern and focused face, and he starred at us with cold, red eyes.
If I had the choice, I would hire him as security as well, in a heartbeat.

"State yer names, occupation, previous destination, time ay stay an' business here."
Said the monster of a pony, his voice and tone could turn sand to glass.
He had a accent that he was trying to hide, foreign, and I couldn't quite put my hoof on what it was.

We looked at each other, and spoke up one by one,
"Speak Easy, mechanic, Stable 45, unknown, to speak with the 'Ring Leader'?"
The stallion raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and looked over to Doll.
"Joy Pill, trained surgeon and medical doctor, Stable 45, unknown, same."
Then Hush.
"Hushed Novelty, mechanic, Stable 45, unknown, same"
That made me raise an eyebrow. I haven't heard Hush's actual name in a while, let alone from himself.

The large stallion looked us over one last time looked us over one last time, and smiled.
He spoke up again in a kinder tone, but this time his accent slipped out, heavily.
"Ye frae th' sam stable? huvnae seen a crew ay dwellers in a guid while!"

I don't think any of us understood a word of what he said, so we just nodded our heads, smiling and trying not to laugh.
"Anyway, ye can go through, guid luck wi' whatever ye need tae dae."
I'm very confused.

He opened the large gate behind him and let us through.
It swung closed with a bang.

As we continued inside, I could hear the stallion behind us mumble about his accent, then repeat himself to whomever was behind us in line.
"State yer names, occupation, previous destination, time ay stay an' business here."

What a charming, yet terrifying stallion.

Perk Gained:
Absolutely Nothing- You have no new perks! Good for you!
+1 Wasted Anticipation

Fallout Equestria: Odd Jobs

by SumDankPony

Stable 45 (backstory)

Prologue

Chp 1: Stable Woes

Chp 2: One of Those Days

The Equestrian Trade Route (Lore/Backstory/Setting)

Chp 3: Well It Couldn't Get Worse

Chp 4: Not Quite The Way I Pictured It.