I groaned as I rolled out of bed, my leg swinging out at my alarm clock. I missed, flailing for a second before tumbling unceremoniously onto the floor of my room.
“Oof!” I exclaimed, getting back onto my hooves and shutting my alarm clock off.
Just another day in Stable 199. I thought, rubbing my eyes and making my way into my bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, studying it. My black mane stuck up oddly in several places, part of it covering my right eye, while the rest fell haphazardly over my ash-grey coat. Sighing, I scooped up a brush with a hoof and struggled with it until it looked halfway decent. I spread my wings, giving myself a good stretch before looking down at the PipBuck on my leg, a 4000 model. It was black, the display red. I looked at the notes scrolling across the screen.
Schedule: Breakfast, Firing Range, Lunch w/ Scopes, Meeting w/ Overmare, Patrol, Break for Dinner, Patrol.
I sighed, just the usual, ordinary, boring day. I exited the bathroom, pulling my security helmet and barding off the floor outside the bathroom door. I pulled the barding on with relative ease, slipping my helmet on so that the eyepiece hung down over my left eye. Opening my closet, I took out my baton and Ironshod Firearms Desert Eagle pistol, which I shared my name with. I slid the clip out and seeing it had all seven of the .50 caliber shots slammed it back into the gun. I slid it into its leg holster above my PipBuck, and then attached the baton to a spring-loaded mount on my front leg that did not have my PipBuck. With the click of a button, it would shoot out, becoming a metal extension of my leg. I grabbed five extra clips for my Deagle, as I called it, into some pockets on my barding.
Satisfied, I closed the closet door and exited my room as my helmet integrated with my PipBuck, the Tactical Assessment Computer display, or TAC, flickering up on my helmet’s eyepiece. I flipped it up and continued down the grey metal hallway towards the cafeteria. Hardly anypony else was awake as I emerged into the Atrium, hopping into the air and flying over to the cafeteria entrance.
I snatched up three apple pastries from the counter and made my way over to my table in the corner near the door, plopping down at it. As I nommed hungrily through my pastries I saw two ponies rush past the door uncharacteristically fast. Curious, I rose from my table and poked my head out the door after them. It was the Overmare, with the head of security, Melody. Melody seemed to know I was there, as she turned around as soon as I stuck my head out.
“Desert! Come with us! Quickly!” She said urgently.
I nodded, following the two mares out into the Atrium where the rest of the security ponies were gathered. There were five earth ponies, and one other pegasus besides myself, the rest of the ponies being unicorns. They were also all mares, except for me. I trotted over to the other pegasus.
“Hey Scopes.” I said as I arrived next to her.
“Hey.” Scopes replied, brushing her grey mane away from her brown eyes and pushing her black fedora up.
“You know what’s going on?” I asked her.
In response, the black pegasus pointed a hoof towards the stable door “That.” She said.
It was only then that I noticed the tapping and muffled voices emanating from the other side of the cog-shaped door.
Before I had a chance to say anything else though, the door hissed as the pin that locked it slid away, the arm slowly rolling the door away. I watched with the rest of the security ponies as at least two dozen ponies, clad nose to hoof in metal armor, with battle saddles displaying a range of missiles, magical energy rifles, automatic grenade launchers, high-powered rifles, and miniguns, stepped through the doorway and into the Atrium.
“We are the Steel Rangers, and this is our Stable now.”