//------------------------------// // The (Un)Lucky C.A.T. // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Luck of the Draw // by smartz118 //------------------------------// Fallout: Equestria- Luck of the Draw By smartz Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there was… War. War never changes. However, the people who fight the wars do. Man versus Nature. Man versus Man. Pony versus Zebra. This is a story about those two species that couldn’t get along and after years of turmoil, destroyed their world with hate and balefire. Some select ponies were spared a gruesome death by taking shelter in underground Stables, locked until the magical radiation faded to “safe” levels. The selection of these ponies were managed by Stable-Tec, the creator of these wondrous bunkers, either through chosen designation for their numerous “experimental” Stables, or for the more normal ones, luck of the draw. Stable 7 was of the latter variety, and the stable you were born in and reside 200 years after the first bombs dropped. This is your story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6 years before the return of the Sky…. “Wake up!” You turned in your bed, a simple standard sized bed with a comforter. It felt good and warm, compared to the cold monotony of the Stable. “Lucky, it’s time to get up now, get some breakfast! It’s a big day today!” Five more minutes, please Dad? It can wait five more minutes… “You have to take the C.A.T. remember?” The C.A.T.: the Cutie-Mark Aptitude Test. Anyone over the age of 12 has to take the test to assign them to a job in the stable. As far as you remember, it has worked so far for all the ponies that lived here, no reason it shouldn’t work for you…even if you are a blank flank at your age. Then you remember all the children that have teased you all your life have to take it too. Now you DEFINITELY don’t want to get out of bed. However, a sudden chill jolts you wide awake when your comforter is abruptly pulled off you without warning. “Hey, birthday boy! I thought I told you to get up; you are too old for your father to help you get out of bed, aren’t you? I made some toast and juice for you to help to get your brain cells working.” Your father, Quantum, is the Stable doctor, and he looks just like you only about 30 years older. He is a unicorn with a dark yellow coat with brown hair with some gray streaks mixed in. However, there is one big difference between you and him. You are a pegasus pony. You have asked him dozens of times why you were so different, and the answer is always the same; one of his distant relatives was a pegasus, which is just how pony genetics work. You wish you could ask your mom, Lightyear, if this is true, but according to him, she died from pneumonia when you were just a baby. It was after you were born a couple weeks early that she became gravely ill. They named you Lucky because you barely survived as you were premature, but unfortunately your mother succumbed to the disease. Breakfast was good; at least, as good as it can be for as long as you remember, seeing as variety is not very big when you live in a place where the types of supplies never change. For 200 years, the Stable was able to provide its denizens with enough food to last them at least another century, even with population growth considered, but honestly, it gets…boring. The orchards always had the same fruit, the stores always sold the same food, drinks and candy, and even at turning 12 you have had them all. It’s not that there is anything wrong with the food, it’s just…you wish something new would happen. Maybe the C.A.T. will help you realize that. After finishing breakfast, you put on your Stable barding, as it can get a little chilly in the corridors, say good bye to your father and head downstairs to the classroom. Outside the classroom you see a trio of ponies with their manes sculpted into pompadours, molded with enough hair gel to coagulate a lake. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t DUCKY,” sneers the ringleader, Wheat. He has been a thorn in your side since kindergarten, always picking on you since he was the first of your generation to get his cutie mark, a pair of dice. You suppose that it represents his ability at dice games, or board games that utilize dice, you forget. Anyways, you tend to avoided playing with him because not only he is cruel to you, but you are fairly certain he cheats. That’s another thing you remember, this Stable is known for its games of chance; “Lucky Stable 7” they call it, as it was filled to the brim with games and contraptions that one would normally find in a casino and a carnival. No one now knows why they are there, but many have joked that they live under a Buffalo Reservation Casino or a Three-Ring Circus or something silly like that. It sure beats the time when there is nothing else better to do. Even choosing the Overseer, also a differing factor to other stables, depended on chance. Every 5 years, an Overseer, who could be a stallion or mare over the age of 30 was chosen from a lottery, and should he or she decide to retire for whatever reason before those 5 years was up, a lottery was held again. The minimum mandatory time to be an Overseer was 2 years, after which they can decide to continue until their term is up, or start a new lottery. It has been sort of a tradition, as the original dwellers thought it would not be fair if only mares got to rule. They were all chosen for the Stable through luck, so the ruler should be chosen by luck as well. Back to the gnat of a mule, Wheat was grinning at you. “I hear you turned 12 today. Still a loser blank flank, though. I mean, seriously, what pony has gotten as old as you without a cutie mark? It’s just pathetic.” Wheat and his two cronies Oatmeal and Haymaker guffawed. “You’ll never, EVER be as cool as us, the TUNNEL EELS!” “Yea, the Tunnel Ee-what?” Oatmeal queried, perplexed. “Tunnel Eels? I thought we were going with ‘Stable Dwellers’?” “Oatmeal, are you crazy? No one is going to take anyone with the name ‘Stable Dweller’ seriously! Use your brain, pal.” “At least he’s got a brain, Wheat GERM.” That harsh, yet feminine voice could only belong to the one pony my age nice enough to stick up for me, Tomato. As she rounded the corner, her straight pink mane shined brighter than the fluorescent lighting, while her sharp, purple eyes shined even more. Her coat was tomato red, hence her name, and on her flank was a golden tomato flower, for she was one of our best gardeners. “Seriously, don’t you three have anything better to do? Like wonder what the C.A.T. may assign you? For instance, I think garbage collector fits you perfectly, Germ.” “Buzz off, Tomato, and it’s just Wheat. Just because your dad is the Overseer doesn’t mean we gotta pay attention to you. And even if I become a garbage collector, it gives me a reason to take out the blank flank trash here,” Wheat snarled while looking at you. “Touch one hair on him and I’ll make a filet out of you Tunnel Eels,” threatened Tomato, glaring daggers from her eyes. “Ooh, I’m shaking in my horseshoes. Whatever, this is getting boring fast. Let’s go, gang. Later SUCKY, I hope you don’t let your girlfriend fight all your battles; she sure can’t help you get a cutie mark! Haw haw!” Wheat and the others continued to laugh as they walked into the classroom. Tomato shook her head in disgust. “I can’t stand those guys…anyway, are you okay Lucky? You shouldn’t let them get to you, they are just jealous that you are the only pegasus in the stable!” Ah, yes, another reason you were teased as a kid, brought up by your childhood friend. You couldn’t deny it, for some reason only unicorn and earth ponies inhabited this stable, and you stuck out like a yellow, feathered sore hoof. “Come on, Lucky, we gotta get seated, Mr. Broth is getting ready.” You follow Tomato into the classroom, filled with desks and students already seated in them. The projector is turned on and shines a picture of a cat playing with a pony and the bold C.A.T. title arced above them. Mr. Vegetable Broth, the teacher, is standing next to the projector with papers on a desk next to him. “Good morning, students! It is an exciting day today, as you all know, as you will be taking the Cutie-Mark Aptitude Test, or the C.A.T. for short! It will determine which role will best suit you in the stable! You can become a teacher like me, or a hair dresser, or a farmer, or some other job that exists. But all you have to do is answer the multiple choice questions on the Fill-o-tron sheets, and the machine will do the rest! The order of the questions are different every time we do this, so I will be reading them aloud to you, and you fill in the letter on your sheet. Good luck, kids!” Mr. Broth started distributing the Fill-o-trons with those little pencils. After that was done, he sat down at his desk at the front of the room with the slide changing button in his hoof. “Let’s begin, shall we? Question 1…” You are approached by a frenzied Stable scientist, who yells, "I'm going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!" What's your response? A) "But doctor, wouldn't that cause a parabolic destabilization of the fission singularity?" B) "Yeah? Up yours too, buddy!" C) Say nothing, grab a nearby pipe and hit the scientist in the head to knock him out. For all you knew, he was planning to blow up the Stable D) Say nothing, but slip away before the scientist can continue his rant. Question 2 While working as an intern in the Clinic, a patient with a strange infection on his hoof stumbles through the door. The infection is spreading at an alarming rate, but the doctor has stepped out for a while. What do you do? A) Amputate the hoof before the infection spreads B) Scream for help C) Medicate the infected area to the best of your abilities D) Restrain the patient, and merely observe as the infection spreads Question 3 You discover a young colt lost in the lower levels of the Stable. He's hungry and frightened, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do? A) Give the colt a hug and tell him everything will be OK B) Confiscate the property by force, and leave him there as punishment C) Pick the colt's pocket to take the stolen property for yourself, and leave the colt to his fate D) Lead the colt to safety, then turn him over to the overseer Question 4 Congratulations! You made one of the Stable 7 hoofball teams! Which position do you prefer? A) Striker B) Goalie C) Defender D) None, you wish the stable had a swimming pool instead Question 5 Your grandmother invites you to tea, but you're surprised when she gives you a pistol and orders you to kill another Stable resident. What do you do? A) Obey your elder and kill the Stable resident with the pistol B) Offer your most prized possession for the resident's life. C) Ask granny for a minigun instead. After all, you don't want to miss. D) Throw your tea in granny's face. Question 6 Old Mr. Appleseed has locked himself in his quarters again, and you've been ordered to get him out. How do you proceed? A) Use a bobby pin to pick the lock on the door B) Trade a Stable hoodlum for his cherry bomb and blow open the lock. C) Go to the armory, retrieve a laser pistol, and blow the lock off. D) Just walk away and let the old coot rot. Question 7 Oh, no! You've been exposed to radiation, and a mutated hoof has grown out of your stomach! What's the best course of treatment? A) A bullet to the brain B) Large doses of anti-mutagen agent C) Prayer. Maybe Celestia or Luna will spare you in exchange for a life of pious devotion. D) Removal of the mutated tissue with a precision laser Question 8 A fellow Stable 7 resident is in possession of a Mare-do-Well comic book, issue number 1. You want it. What's the best way to obtain it? A) Trade the comic book for one of your own valuable possessions B) Steal the comic book at gunpoint C) Sneak into the resident's quarters, and steal the comic book from his desk D) Slip some knock out drops into the resident's Sparkle-Cola, and take the comic book when he's unconscious. Question 9 You decide it would be fun to play a prank on your father. You enter his private restroom when no one is looking, and.... A) Loosen some bolts on some pipes. When the sink is turned on, the room will flood B) Put a firecracker in the toilet. That's sure to cause some chaos C) Break into the locked medicine cabinet and replace his high blood pressure medication with sugar pills D) Manipulate the power wattage on his razor, so he'll get an electric shock next time he shaves Question 10 What is the most important virtue in Stable 7, as it was the only way your ancestors managed to get into this stable, ensuring your survival from the balefire megaspells? A) Luck B) Luck C) Luck D) Luck “All right, pencils down! Congratulations, you have completed the C.A.T.! Now form a single file line so we can get those scanned.” As the lights turned back on you have to wonder to yourself just how much industrial solvent was somepony huffing to make such a bizarre test? Or perhaps, it was literally a hundred cats in a room filled with word processors covered in catnip, and by some miracle typed out a test whilst they cavort and prance on the keyboards in their hallucinogenic high? Cats aside, you walk up to the front of the class, waiting in line to have your test graded and reveal your fate in the stable. “Okay, Mister Wheat Germ, let’s see what we got here, shall we?” Mr. Broth took the Fill-o-tron from Wheat’s mouth and placed it in the Stable-Tec Fill-o-Tron reader. After a few seconds of beeping and booping, and a loud ding, the answer printed out on a little receipt paper. “It looks like you are going to be a delivery pony. Congrats, you get to deliver mail to all the exotic places in the Stable you haven’t already seen all your life.” Wheat looked a little distressed, but after some thinking (first time for everything), shrugged it off. “Eh, whatever teach’. Just call me ‘Courier’ though, I think that sounds way more awesome…like 20% more awesome.” “Fascinating. Now go lick some stamps or whatever, there are more students to grade. Let’s see, Oatmeal…looks like you’ll be in Security! Strap up some armor, you are going on patrol!” Oatmeal seemed pleased. “Neat, I get to hold weapons and wear armor. There are some cute mares in Security too, I can’t wait!” “Right, just watch out, they can be a little frisky, heheh. Don’t ask me how I know that. Hello Miss Tomato, how are you today? Hope the test wasn’t too hard.” Tomato giggled as she gave Broth a raised eyebrow. “What have I told you about formalities, Mr. Broth! Oh wait, I was being formal myself, heehee. So let’s get this over with, what do I get to do?” “Of course, it says here you are an orchard supervisor! Not like we haven’t figured that out, eh?” “Naturally, I am an earth pony and a gardener to boot. Dad will be so happy when he hears this.” “Tell him I said hi! Next up is, ah, it’s our birthday boy Lucky! Your dad told me you almost didn’t wake up to take the wondrous C.A.T.! Well, I assure you that if this doesn’t help you get your cutie mark, I don’t know what will! Er…no offense, I mean. Now let’s get that scanned.” You wait anxiously as the machine did its calculations and matched my answers to the key inside it’s electronic memory. As it printed out the results, you noticed you are holding your breath. “Okay Lucky, drum-roll please? The test says you are…” Level 1 (No perk yet, wait until Level 2!) Strength- 4 Perception- 5 Endurance- 4 Charisma- 5 Intelligence- 7 Agility- 6 Luck- 9 Barter -17 Energy Weapons -17 Explosives -17 Guns -19 Lockpick -17 Medicine -21 Melee Weapons -15 Repair -21 Science -21 Sneak -19 Speech -17 Survival -15 Unarmed -15 (Before Skill Tags) Action Points: 95 Carry Weight: 190 Hit Points (Lv. 1): 180 Melee Bonus Damage: +2 Poison Resistance: 15% Radiation Resistance: 6% Reload Speed: +10% Skill Rate: 13/14 per level Unarmed Bonus Damage: Unarmed Skill/20 + 0.5 Trait: Jinxed -Critical hits are increased for both you and your enemies. Trait: Clean Living - 50% less chem addiction chance, but 50% less chem duration The C.A.T. is based off of Fallout 3’s test, found at http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/G.O.A.T. Select what Lucky is going to be at http://luckysfate.tumblr.com. The #1 answer chooses his job, adding 15 points to the corresponding skill, while the 2 runner-ups become his other tagged skills. Stable chaplain-Barter Orchard Farmer- Survival Opthamologist- Magical Energy Weapons Waste management-Explosives Stable loyalty inspector-Lockpick Clinical test subject-Medicine Fry cook - Melee Weapons Jukebox technician-Repair PipBuck programmer-Science Pest Control- Firearms Shift supervisor-Sneak Marriage counselor-Speech Little league coach-Unarmed