//------------------------------// // Home // Story: Fallout Equestria - No More Tears // by Darkstarr48 //------------------------------// I sat outside the door which stood stagnantly in my path. It was much more intimidating from the outside, and I honestly couldn't breathe, I whimpered, looking up at the 24 stamped in the middle of the door. I became aware of the constant clickety click of my Pip buck's rad meter. In my distress and confusion, I forgot that I had flesh melting radiation to worry about. I ran up to the door and began banging on it, my strikes simply being reflected due to my low strength which had already began to weaken. I looked up at the camera above the door which swiveled above me as if there wasn't a dying mare on the doorstep begging to be let in. My skin began to crawl with the realization that I would not be let back in, or maybe it was the radiation which had also began to make my skin itch and burn. I began to cry, staggering up and trying to gather my thoughts to hack the access panel to the door, however, the exhausting three meter trip rewarded me with absolutely nothing to hack. I whimpered as my muscles spasmed and I fell to the ground hard semi-lifelessly, feeling my life being leached from me. I couldn't cry, I couldn't control my muscles and the sickening realization washed over me. Alone and betrayed by my Stable, I would die. I awoke in a frenzied cold sweat, searching all around for the door, and the radiation, and the burning itch of death, which I never found. I was asleep in my warm, and relatively comfortable top bunk, and my brother was snoring as he does from below me in his bunk. I would usually ask myself why he got the bottom bunk since he could fly. Some days I came home too tired to climb up and just slept on the floor. But right now I paid that thought little mind. I was too terrified to think about much of anything. I peeked out from under the pillow wrapped around my head and mentally scolded myself for being scared like a little filly. There was virtually nothing to be afraid of on this trip. But the emotion stuck with me. Night after night my dreams would be plagued with the same dream killing me over and over again. I didn't understand the deep psychological meaning that I'm sure it had. But when I consciously thought of the topic, I wasn't scared in the least, in fact I was interested, even excited to get to go out of our Stable. I pulled my Pip Buck to my face to check the time and decided it wasn't worth it to try and fall back asleep, so I stared blankly at the dark ceiling for close to an hour, drifting in and out of deep thought, pondering what I might find out there. The alarm clock on my pip-buck buzzed loudly, I silenced it with my magic. I hazily turned over on my top bunk and yawned. From the bottom bunk, my brother's alarm clock sounded with the same drab tone. "Nuuu. I don't wanna get up" he complained, weakly bashing the pip-buck against his end table in an attempt to silence it. I magically turned his alarm off and sat up in bed. The fluorescent lights buzzed to life in the room. They were activated by timers to be a fail safe if our alarms didn't wake us. They were bright enough to wake anyone, any you'd do just as well sleeping as you would holding lamps over each eye. "Come on Wendy. Today's the day." "Day? What day?" He asked pulling his cover back over him. "And don't call me that, sis." I laughed and replied, "Today's the day we scout the outside world." The Overmare in our stable, High 'n Mighty, was beginning to get restless. We hadn't received any messages from Stable-Tec HQ, or any other stable nearby since we were closed in here about 150 years ago. She wanted a small group to go see if there was any civilization out there, and the dice had been rolled. I was one of the scouts, as well as my brother. He jumped up and began quickly trying to compose himself as he rooted through his drawers trying to find a clean stable 24 jumpsuit. I laughed triumphantly as I pulled a clean and folded one for me out of my dresser. I've always been somewhat OCD, but in contrast, my brother Wind-Fire was a total slob. Everywhere he went, he would leave a mess for me to clean up. Not because I was told to, simply because my disorder wouldn't allow his level of disorganization. It did help in my profession though, I’m an engineer, or more so a mechanic. Maybe a technician is an appropriate term. Whenever the Overmare needed something done that involved tech, I would be the only one to call. Literally. Instead of spending time with others as everypony else did as fillies and colts, I tended to lock myself away in my room and read old arcane tech manuals, textbooks, and various other informational texts. I was antisocial, maybe even a shut-in, but as long as I had my brother here to keep me in good spirits, I would be fine. My brother, in our natural contrast, was a bit of a "Jock". He spent his time in the stable with his friends in the food court. He worked as an entertainer, and most of his entertainment came from fire. Fire breathing, fire twirling, using his wings to spark flames, setting himself on fire. He is probably one of the biggest pyromaniacs I have ever known, and ever will know. Its a wonder that any of us are still alive because of him burning up all our air. But the dual air talismans in the maintenance levels that I fixed can handle any CO2 that he can pump out. And on the subject of the maintenance level, Wendy and I would have to go hang out there for a few hours before we leave. Regardless, the Overmare hated him for his fire, and I think she would prefer that my brother didn't come back when we went out with our scouting party. Despite our differences, my brother and I are best friends. When we both moved out of our parents room, we both decided we would room together. Most kids couldn't wait to sever all family ties when they moved out, but that wasn't the case for us. We've always been close, there to help each other when the world got us down. Which in my case, happened a lot. I was the meat of the stable, everyone saw me as a nerd. It's not that they didn't respect me, its just how things worked. There were three "Classes" in our stable, Blue, High, and then Scum class. My family which was a member of Scum class. The term blue wasn't a term for the color of their coats. I was blue, my dad was blue. you don't see either of us in any kind of high society. Blue was short for blue blood, and that's what they tended to be. Blue blooded assholes. That wasn't always the case, as some didn't act that way, some were even relatively nice.That wasn't the official ranking either, Mighty would never allow it. Bad for her image. Ironically, I'm who the upper class came crying to for help when their fancy Delta pip bucks crashed or broke or started electrically shocking them. I preferred the 3000 models anyway. Sturdy, reliable, and simple. A bit on the heavy side, but I don’t mind. I yawned as I slipped into my jumpsuit. I sat down at the table and got some eggs out of the fridge and began to cook them. Another important perk of being a technician is that I get access to food that noone else in the stable does. Well, I really steal it. The Blues have a replicator. It can make a copy of any kind of organic material that exists, living or dead as long as it's information is maintained in the database. Anyway, the first time I broke down, i saw my opportunity. I made some food, rigged it to break again next week and stole food again next time it broke down. They would be complete idiots if they weren't suspicious, but they haven't tried to stop me. Don't guess they want to risk all of their food instead of sharing a little. Greedy bastards. “So, who else is gonna come with us?” Wind-Fire asks sitting at the table, now in his jumpsuit. I think for a moment, “Lets see, I’m the brains if we come across any tech. you’re the strength if we need to carry anything. That leaves a medic.” “Who is?” I think again for a moment. “Logically, Rusty will be the medic.” "Awww. Not him! Hes bat shit crazy Gears!" he said as I sat a plate of food in front of him. “Exactly, he's expendable.” I say. “All the other doctors are needed in here, if the Overmare can get rid of him I’m sure she will be happy.” “And you are too?” "Am I what?" "Expendable? Are you expendable?" “I've got no choice, do you know any other technicians in this stable?” He flattened his ears. “The way you say it makes her sound like a jackass.” “Yeah, cause she is.” I say flatly. He shrugs and nods. The Overmare had a special grudge against my family dating back to pre-war times. Something about my grandfather breaking up with somepony named “Lotus.” None of us were really sure why the Overmare still held the grudge, and why she made our lives hell over something so insignificant. I sighed as we finished eating. I looked at the clock on my pip-buck, then at Wendy and excitedly squeaked, “Ten minutes until we have to head for the stable door” I pulled on my saddlebags containing some food, some lockpicks, various light all purpose tools and cables and a couple of books to keep myself entertained away from home. He nodded and did the same with his saddlebags. I headed over to the mirror by my bed. I levitated a brush out and brush my blue mane out of my face and fix my bed head. I inspected my blue coat for any dirt and wipe it off. I look at my teal eyes in the mirror and sigh. “Well, about time to head out huh?” I asked glancing at my brother who has done the same to his wavy orange mane and tan coat. He nodded and smiles. I trotted over to the door and reached for the button to operate it. As I reached for it, the door lifted open and a grey blur tackled me down in a hug. “HEY! Mom! You scared the hell out of me!” I exclaimed as I stood up. She let go and smiled. “Jumpy, are we?” My dad asked coming around the corner, his coat blending in being same hue as his stable Jumpsuit and his blonde mane graying to match the drab walls of the stable. I smiled. “Coming to see us before we head out?” My mom nodded and my dad replies, “Actually, bringing you something.” He smiled and produced a small golden figurine holding a sword in its mouth from under his wing. “For good luck.” he said smiling. I glanced at my mom who nodded again with an enormous smile. I smiled back. Sometimes I wish I could have heard my moms voice. A few years before my brother and I were born, there was an accident in maintenance which crushed her throat. She had to have her larynx removed in order to survive, which left her as a mute, usually communicating by a small blackboard she carried under her wing. “We’ll miss you two so much!” my dad said as my mom gave my brother and me each a big kiss on the cheek. "Mom! Don't do that!" we both said with a groan. She silently laughed and produced her blackboard. She wrote on it, turning it around to reveal her message. 'Be safe out there, We love you' We smiled and hugged her and dad. "We love you too." I say. "We'll be back within the week." They nodded, my brother and I took breath and we headed out the door. We trotted down the hallway semi-aimlessly. We sort of gravitated towards the stable door, but didn't ever seem to get there. I looked over at him, and he was already staring at me. "What?" I asked as we both grinned, starting to crack up. "What're you staring at me for?" He asked defensively, his snicker beginning to form into a laugh. "Me staring at you? You looked at me first!" I give him one of my weak little punches to the side, which he returned only a little harder. We kept shoving at each other walking down the hall until we broke out into a fight, limply flogging one another with our hooves laughing like we were foals. That was another thing about my brother that I was thankful for, he was cheery and playful. If I so much as sissy slapped one of my "friends" that I have, they would have stomped me without hesitation. It seemed our family was the only one capable of fun. Maybe that's why the Overmare hated us, she was just jealous. "So, want to head to the hangout?" He asked, finally letting himself stop laughing. "Why wouldn't I?" In fact, I was hoping he'd ask, I spend all my time down there anyway, its nice to have him around so I don't feel like some creepy old hermit lady living in a cave. I followed him the way we both knew, down the main hallway and down the flight of stairs to a wall terminal and a locked door. Of course I already hacked the door and reset the password, so my brother and I spent the next week trying to come up with the most nonsensical, unguessible password in equestrian existence. After many suggestions, we settled on the phrase, 'cheeseburgerismeat.' We were never very good at logic. I have a knack for fixing things, but I always wanted to be an artist. The password was entered and we both snickered at it. It never stopped being funny. We trotted along until we met a hole in the floor going straight down twenty feet. I went first, catching each rung of the ladder with my hooves until I felt the sturdy support of concrete floor under-hoof again. I looked around into the darkness. I clapped my hooves and declared, "Lights." And perfectly on cue, the voice recognizing toggle switches did their jobs. A warm, soft glow illuminated the room in harsh contrast to the hard cold fluorescent lights in the level above. I trotted over to my favorite spot, a big gap between two empty vats, whose purpose was unknown to us, and we had spent many hours telling stories to produce sensible but sometimes terrifying lore behind their origins. They lined the walls all around the level, but we never opened them. Neither of us had the guts. The warm glow of the incandescent lights just wasn't enough for Wendy's compulsive fire starting, and he had a small fire built in no time inside a ring of old cinder blocks and bags filled with a grainy substance which had also eluded identification. I let out a sigh of relaxation. Twenty feet higher may be where my family lives, but this place that not even the Overmare knew about was my real home. I kicked my hooves up onto a cinder block and cracked open a tech manual discussing the evolution of the Pip Buck from a pocket watch to the sleek delta models of today. Wendy simply busied himself prodding the fire with a metal rod, shivering in satisfaction every time cinders and sparks flew up into the air. It was sort of disturbing. It didn't help that there's hardly anything flammable down here. I didn't even know how he started them. We had a few hours to burn, so after I got my nose out of the book I joined him by the fire, his fascination was total, he never looked away as long as it burned, but he still payed attention to me. "I like fire." He incoherently grumbled to himself, rocking back and forth every time the mysterious kindling popped. "So I noticed." I said prodding the fire with my magic. He stared blankly into the fire. "So what do you think about the outside world? What do you think we'll find?" "Well, I expect absolutely nothing. If the legends hold true, all it is is a dessert in all directions as far as they eye can see." "According to Mighty." I snorted. He nodded hollowly, still distracted by the fire. "You know that she's hiding something, just because its her. She can't be trusted." Another shallow response of agreement. I pause for a while before asking, "So.. what do you think the chances are of... dying out there?" This time he had actually taken this in and turned to me. "If all goes as planned, Slim to none. Why are you worrying about it? Scared?" I shook my head quickly, denying it, "No, no, not at all, I'm excited to go out there, its just.. I've been having the nightmares again." "He gave a small chuckle and clapped a hoof on my shoulder, "Sis, you're a big filly now, and if you keep your mind right, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, okay? Don't worry." I only nodded, whenever he was around or in front of fire, he turned into this sagey old man type figure. It was weird, but helpful and comforting nonetheless. " Yeah. Guess so, thanks." "Bout that time though, isn't it?" He asked reluctantly bringing his hoof down snuffing the flames and standing up. I nodded again and looked around the room which had been substantially dimmed by the lack of fire. The wise man act was usually nice, but today it just seemed unsettling. I couldn't wait to get topside and have my goof of a brother back. Sure hope that things aren't on fire outside. I turned and headed for the ladder and was followed by Wendy up the ladder. I squinted my eyes once they met the painfully hard light and headed on down the hallway. I locked the door behind us as we ascended wordlessly, heading to the door. We arrived a few minutes later, waiting for us were various friends and other dwellers watching us come in. After sitting for a while, staring aimlessly at the large metal puzzle piece in the wall, the Overmare walked in through the security door, leading from her office. Trailing behind her was a reddish orange Pegasus with red eyes and a slicked back yellow mane who was soon recognized as “Rusty” by my brother. And behind him were a couple of the blue security guards who protected the Overmare. One of them shot me a dirty look which I returned. Her head swiveled to my brother and she almost visibly winced. I think she remembered the harsh bucking she received from my brother a few years back, and I don't mean that romantically. All I know is stable facial reconstruction surgery will never be the same again. The attack shocked me, even though he was a jock, Wendy tended to be the gentle giant. Then again, I would have tried the same thing if I found my sister being beaten with a lead pipe. Ironically enough, we all were punished for it, but in the end,crowbar was the one who walked away better for it. That's blue logic for you. My train of malicious hate was derailed as rusty broke my concentration. Rusty walked over to us with two first aid boxes in place of his saddlebags, which my brother and I had draped over our backs, ready to go. “Hello there.” he said in a scratchy timid voice. He appeared to be visually shaking, but not malnourished or anything we had expected. There were rumors about him that had been told since he caused the accident that killed his parents and muted my mother. He was already emotionally unstable due to the loss of his parents, but the jeers and taunts about being a murderer from all the other fillies and colts is what cracked him. some say he's spent the last fifteen years in the lower levels of the stable alone, when in reality, hes been up top working at the clinic. He only had been put into solitary confinement over a nervous breakdown once, which I considered to be pretty good for someone who's lost everything and more. It seems we both knew what it was like to be alone. But If i could say, he had it off much worse than I did. I wanted to feel sorry for him, but he seems like he's received too much pity, if I were him I'd be sick of it. We smiled at him and looked at the Overmare who levitated us each a gas mask. my brother whispered in my ear, “No radiation suits? Pretty ill equipped for a facility built to survive a nuclear holocaust huh?” to which I laughed and nodded darkly, trying to accept my brothers attempts to raise spirits.. “Laugh all you want, but this is all we've got.” the Overmare said with a grim smile. “Besides, sensors read fairly low radiation levels so you should be fine.” That phrase didn't help ease my worries. 'Fairly' was a slightly vague concept. “Just help us when we start keeling over.” My brother said snatching the mask out of the Overmare’s telekinetic grip. “Whatever.” she said dropping the remaining two masks in front of me and Rusty. I pulled mine over my head and looked at rusty who was struggling to get it on. I took it in my magic and put the mask over his head. He nodded in thanks to me and we stood in a line expectantly by the door. Wendy swished his tail nervously as the onlookers withdrew to a safe distance from the door. The Overmare walked up to a control panel. “Ready?” I asked my brother “Ready as I’ll ever be.” He replied straightening up. A loud buzzing alarm sounded in the large metallic room and the hard fluorescent light was replaced by a warm glow of a siren. After a few seconds a large hydraulic arm lowered itself to the large gear shaped door with a dull click. it began sliding back. The Overmare cringed and we covered our ears as the door screeched across its pre-war rests. The ground shook as the door began to roll aside. ================================================================================ Footnote: Level Up Perk Added: Educated - In your time in the stable, you've acquired numerous books on varying topics, reading them in all of your spare time instead of socializing has cost -1 Charisma, but you've gained +1 Intelligence, and helpful insight for the above world. ================================================================================ I'd like to thank KKat for writing the original Fo:E for writing an unbelievably great story, and Somber, for writing Project Horizons, the story that pushed me over the edge and forced me to try my hand in writing.