Fallout Equestria: After Burn
Chapter 2 - Curiosity Kills
“It was unnecessary”, the Overstallion’s voice boomed through my head as I felt it go through my entire body, I felt like punching him right in the jaw for being so ignorant about all this.
“It was NOT unnecessary! Those ponies are infected and them knowing about it is crucial.”
“Crucial? I think I know what is right for my Stable. And what is right is that they live their lives peaceful without the knowledge of this infection. Not another word about it escapes your muzzle. Your job is to keep the Stable healthy and alive, not to throw around these facts and horrify everypony. You keep them alive, I keep them happy. Understood?”
“Look, I get that yo-”
“Understood?”, I could feel his voice raise and I got uncomfortable in my seat, I shifted around on it as I nodded slowly, “Yes, sir.” I flatly stated as I got up without any hesitation and trotted out his office.
What a fucking moron! How the hell did he even get to be an Overstallion with that kind of logic? Sometimes I swear I could become a better Overstallion then he ever could have been. Ponies like him are the reason why things go to shit.
I wander towards my office, my burning rage melting my insides as I curse the entire time I walk. I slump open the door to my office with a large bang as it echoes throughout the entire Stable. I bet the Overstallion even heard that, I bet he's chuckling to himself the bastard. My messy desk has better logic. I decide to neatly fold all my papers and folders off my desk and into the cabinets. If he doesn’t want to tell these ponies that there’s an infection, then why study the infection? There isn’t any infection! He said so himself! It’s just the common cold after all, right?
“Oi Dipstick!”
Please no.
“Dippppyyyy!”
For the love of Celestia and all that is holy.
“DIIIIII-”
“WHAT?” I practically scream as loud as I can as I see the familiar annoying sack of energy that is Wick enter my room. His expression always the same.
He looks at me with a raised eyebrow, still sporting his usual creepy yet happy grin, “you feeling alright doc?”, he begins, “I was following you for a good bit there, you seemed upset. What did the Overstallion say?”
I take a few seconds to ponder what he just said as I shake my head, “What? Following me? Look, don’t do that and secondly, I just.. The Overstallion has requested that I stopped telling the patients about the infection. I’m not going to be even helping the patients because why bother?”
He laughs to himself for way too long before looking up, “I like the new you Doc!”
“What?”
“The new you silly! You’re finally realizing that you can turn the tides on ponies if you don’t like how they treat you and your opinions! Fuck em all!”
I raise one of my eyebrows and he begins to speak once more, “Look Doc, these ponies cannot be saved. They’re FUCKED. You’ve already seen it, half of them are dropping like flies! Some of them aren’t even that bad but they still seem to go down… you’re wasting your time.”
“Enough!”, I slam my hoof down on top of my now clean desk, “I will not have you decide the outcome of my patients, now leave. I’m not going to hear this from anypony and especially not you.”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat as he doesn’t show any emotion but just stares at me for almost a minute before giving me a small smile and leaving my room quietly. Has Wick ever been that quiet when leaving? I don’t think so, usually he storms out like a literal mad pony.
I lean back in my seat and look up to my ceiling. He has a point though, I will admit, the patients have been dying rather quickly since a few weeks ago when the infection began showing higher symptoms but he was also right about how the not so infected patients were dying off. That doesn’t make any sense, why would the healthy yet infected ponies die off? Does the infection not give a shit and not lead to symptoms first before killing them off? This isn’t making any sense at all, what the hell is going on?
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I stare out into the hallway at the still lit lights. The lights were always on even when everypony slept which I figured was for safety or something. I however was not asleep tonight, actually let me correct that because I haven’t slept in a few days. I lean back in my office chair as I watch the hallway with drowsy eyes. My mind wanders off as I’m startled by a loud clang of metal against metal and rise from my seat. The hell was that?
I get out of my office space and slowly open the door to the hallway and peer out both ends of the hallway, noticing that the right side of the hallway there were two of our security guards hanging a right down the other hallway. Strange, they don’t usually patrol at this hour. I shut the door behind me with my magical grip as I trot down the hallway as quiet as I possibly could. Near the end of the hallway was the place I dare never to go. I turn my head around the right side of the hallway near the lower parts of the Stable that the Overstallion owned. Well technically he owned all of the Stable but his personal area was down in this place. I’ve always wondered what the hell he kept down here considering he could use his own room for his own personal things. The strangest thing about this was that there were no guards at all keeping lookout for anypony to walk down here, should I? I mean, I’m the head Doctor of this place I’m sure he wouldn’t mind it right?
I open the cellar looking door as I see complete darkness down into an endless void. Nothing a quick light spell can’t fix! I flash my horn and there appears a small light on top of it. I slowly creep down the flights of stairs and notice something a bit odd in the air, something chemically to the scent of the air specifically. I venture further down into the staircase and finally reach the end of it, the room down into the area was bright enough so I turned off my light. As I finish my magical light spell I look around and see several rooms set in a single corridor. I expected more to be quite honest, lots of build up for this? Seems like..like..
I glance up from the corridor and see a glass wall connected to one of the rooms on the far left of the corridor. The glass isn’t what catches my eye but rather what’s on the glass wall. A fine and bright red streak going from the middle to the bottom corner of the glass wall. I creep up further down the hallway and I see it. I see the thing I never would ever want to see inside of a Stable I thought was safe.
Ponies.
Dead ones. Scattered inside of each room and it's not just any pony, each and every patient of mine that has been proven to have the infection lie on the hard metal floor, some have been there longer than I thought.
“No no no no no no no no no no no..”, I back up slowly out of the corridor and hurry up the stairs, running back into the hallway of the regular Stable walls. I trot quickly to my office as I hear another two guards wander up behind me and turn to the basement area and begin to stand watch like they usually do.
Dammit this isn’t how I expected this to run, not at all. I can’t have my patients die in the slightest, the Overstallion has been killing off the infected? What is with him? I trot back into my office and slam the door behind me with an audible bang.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
“What a beautiful day in Stable 63! I am so proud of all of you, now to the announcements..” booms the Overstallion’s ever growing annoying voice as I mentally shut him out of my mind. I can’t live like this, I could walk past one of my living patients and know that one day they’re going to die by either the infection or the Overstallion.
I raise my head off of my desk and look out into the hallway. Empty, silent, eerie. I get up from my chair and wipe away the sleep from my eyes as I open the door into the corridor and I look both left and right. Some of my patients wave to me and I’m forced to casually wave back like nothing is wrong. Everything is wrong. My mind races and my thoughts scatter as I inhale and exhale deeply, quickly as I'm slowing letting myself become paranoid and anxious. What if I get the infection? What if I get killed like all those others? I trot nervously inside the hallways and completely ignore the basement that I walk past as some of the guards look me over. I panic and go a little faster when I see them look at me with the corner of their eyes. They must know about this, all the guards. They have to know about what's been going on down there. As I think this my heart races faster, I can’t live here, I can’t be here. I turn back around and head to my office and open my door. I’m leaving now, I can’t live here anymore. If I were to stay the patients would eventually die off and the infection would still spread, there is nothing I can do about it.
I grab my saddlebag and fill it with as many things as I can, two books of medical practices as well as my science logs just in case. The only thing left is my medical equipment, I shove a small box of surgical tools inside alongside a bunch of medical items such as bandages. I open my drawer from my lab and pull out a medium sized bone saw, good enough. All I need is to get out, should be easy enough, right?
I wish I could bring all these ponies with me but I can’t do that, there's nothing I can do to.. save..
A thought goes through my brain and gets stuck there, not leaving when it honestly should. I shouldn’t be thinking such thoughts, I’m not one of them. I can’t.
I walk past the Overstallion’s office and glance through the small window that’s on his door, he gives me a friendly wave as I just stare at him with no emotion. My eyes wander down to the hallway that will eventually lead to the Stable door. I would need a password in order to get out anyways right? Maybe my idea isn’t bad after all. Yes.. yes that sounds wonderful. I use my magical grip and pull out my bone saw. I open the door and close it behind me. The Overstallion won’t be hurting anypony anymore.
What a beautiful day in Stable 63.