Chapter 3
Darkness in the Stable
BEEP BEEP… BEEP BEEP… BEEP BEEP…
Stupid alarm clock. Why did it have to go off right then, I felt so good. I must have had an amazing sleep because I felt all warm and fuzzy and happy and lots of other good stuff. I wondered if this was how pegasi felt when they slept on clouds. I’d like to imagine it is.
“C’n shumpony pleash turn of the alarm clock?” Why was I slurring my words? I didn’t remember drinking.
Somepony answered me, “Unfortunately no, we can’t. But the good news is that ‘alarm clock’ means you’re alive Sargeant.”
“Of coursh I’m alive, why wouldn’ I be. I feel sho good.” I finally opened my eyes. I was in the clinic, of that much I was sure, but something was off. Everything was red.
“Well you very nearly weren’t. And the reason you feel so good is the med-x drip we’ve got you on.”
“What happened?”
“There was an explosion, down in the reactor room. The spark generators have been severely damaged, as have you.”
An explosion? That couldn’t be right. If there had been an explosion I would remember that, “Whatsh wrong with me?”
“Nothing too severe. Some second and third degree burns along your back and neck, and some shrapnel as well. No broken bones as far as we can tell and a slight concussion. You’re luck considering some of the other injuries we’ve seen.”
Oh crap. “Wheresh Shummer?”
“Who?”
“Shummer Nightsh, my wife.”
“Oh, Summer? I thought you said ‘Shimmer’ She’s fine. Minor burns. She’ll be out of here within the hour. If you hadn’t been there she probably would have died. And sorry about the slurring, side effect of med-x makes it a little hard to talk.”
“What about Imp?”
“Who’s Imp. Do you mean Impact Crater?”
“Yesh!”
“She’s not doing so hot. About as bad as you. Her suit thing saved her from the worst of it. Some shrapnel did pierce one of her lungs, but all in all she’ll be out of here alongside you.”
“You shaid there was worsh. What happened?”
“There was one casualty. Valve Knob had a piece of shrapnel piece his temple. He died instantly.”
“What caused the ‘splosion?”
“Miss Crater was still conscious when we got there. She claimed there was a ‘frag mine’ in the generator. We’re not sure that’s a thing so it might be shock.”
I remembered. I remembered everything. Looking for Red Team, going to see Summer, the mine. “It wasn’t an accident. It was shabo… saba… a trap.”
His expression changed from one of calm and concern to one of fear and concern, “Are you sure? I mean, how could they make a generator explode?”
“I’m sure. It’sh that thing you shaid, the mine, it’s an explosive that explodes when a pony gets near it. It went off when Shummer opened the thing.”
“I should probably tell the General.”
He turned to run out the door, but before he could get out I stopped him, “Hey, wait! One more question. Why’s everything red? Is something wrong with my eyes?”
He was just this side of panicked, but the question calmed him a little, “No your eyes are fine. It’s the generator. When it exploded the lights went out, then red lights came on, and a new message from Scootaloo played over the radio.”
“New message? What new message?”
“Right after the red lights came on the new message played. It was something about a ‘critical system failure’ and ‘emergency protocols’ and some other stuff. She said the backup generators would last for a few years if we were careful and the Stable door was opened so we could get out, just in case.”
That raised some alarm bells, “Wait, what?! The doors open?”
“Sure, I mean, I guess. I haven’t checked, but I suppose it should be.”
Dots were connecting in my head, and they were drawing a picture I didn’t like. “Okay, go tell the General, and tell him I need to see him.”
He ran off and I was left in my bed. I tried to look around but my view was blocked by privacy curtains. I looked around my little area and found some clampy tong things that could extend my reach. I grabbed them in my mouth and stretched over to the curtain on my left. I gingerly opened the curtain. When I saw what was on the other side I nearly dropped my tongs. It was the tech pony the doctor had mentioned. He was looking at me with lifeless eyes and a wedge of metal sticking out of the side of his head. I tried to close the curtain again, but I couldn’t reach it. I went to reach for the other side, but I could still feel his eyes looking at me. I did my best to ignore the dead buck and hoped the other side was less grim. I pulled it open just an inch or two to make sure. I saw something moving, so that was a good sign. I flung them open the rest of the way and was surprised to see Imp.
She looked back at me and smiled, “Hey, Boss. What’s up?”
“Oh, not much. Got exploded.”
“Really? Me too. Small Stable, huh?”
Her torso was wrapped in bandages, oddly enough, over her suit. “Why are you still wear your exo?”
She got a really dreamy look on her face, “They couldn’t figure out how to get it off, so they operate around it. Hey, Boss, am I flying?”
“No, doctors said it’s med-x.”
“Med-x? More like *snrkt* heaven-x.” She started laughing at her own joke.
I didn’t think I was going to get through to her now, “Amber, you still there?”
Imps pipbuck lit up and I could see an amber fillies face smiling at me, “Where else would I be?”
“I don’t know, but could you tell me if she’s okay?”
“She’s fine. High as the sun, but the doctors did a good job.”
“Good.”
“Hey, Boss, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“When you were looking for Red Team, why didn’t you ask me to scan for their pipbuck tags?”
“Their what?”
“Their tags. Each of their pipbucks has a locator in it that anypony else can use to find them, why didn’t you ask me to look for them.”
“You mean the whole time we could have just found their exact position?”
“Well, yes and no.”
“What do you mean ‘yes and no’?”
“You would normally be able to find them with their tags, but theirs have been disabled. Which is weird because users aren’t supposed to be able to disable them.”
“Then how did they?”
“You’d need someone about as tech savvy as Imp to physically remove it.”
Imp giggled, “No one else could figure it out, trust me, cuz I’m the smartest pony in the whole Stable!”
Amber was slightly exacerbated, “Little Miss Modest isn’t too far off. She’s the only pony I know of who could have done it, and I know she didn’t.”
“That doesn’t bode well for any of us. I need to talk to the General.”
The door hissed open and the same doctor who’d run off walked in with General Bullet.
“General, we need to talk.”
He came to my bedside, “I should hope so. Two of my soldiers are in the clinic after an explosion, tell me what happened.”
“We’d just finished searching the bottom floor and we were going to start the next one when I suggested we take a break. We went to the reactor room so I could visit Summer. While we were there Summer mentioned some trouble with the reactor and Imp volunteered to help. Amber found the problem and Summer went to fix it. When she opened the panel I hear a frag mine triggering and I tackled Summer out of the way before it exploded.”
“That’s good work son. How do you know what a mine sounds like?”
“The weapons demonstration, remember, all those years ago?”
“Ah, yes, I do seem to recall Sergeant Clip nearly blowing his leg off with a mine.”
“That’s not all sir. I think I know who put it there.”
“You do!? How?”
“Did you know pipbucks have locator tags?”
“I… nearly forgot, we could use them to find Red Team.”
“That’s just the thing sir. Amber says that Red Teams have been disabled.”
“Is she sure?”
“If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have told me.”
“I see. Do you have any other evidence?”
“Well, the mine. You can only get those from the military armory, not even the guards can get in there. And I think I know why they blew the generator, so the door would open automatically and they could make their escape.”
“You’re right. It’s circumstantial, but at this point I’m willing to believe it. Red Team has betrayed their home. The only question is why.”
“That’s what I intend to find out. Sir, with your permission I’d like to take Blue Team out to hunt them down.”
“I’m not going to order you to. But once you’re out there you’re free to do what you believe is best for the future of the Stable. For the moment, however, your orders are to stay in that bed until you’re well again and get some rest.”
I saluted him, “Yes, sir. Shouldn’t be a problem sir.”
He returned my salute, and like that I was out.
***
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