//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - A Thousand Summers (Edited) // Story: Fallout Equestria: Three Aces // by ArchTea //------------------------------// ...bwaum. bwaum. bwaum. Bwaum. Bwaum. Bwaum. Bwaum! Bwaum! Bwaum! The ringing of a Stable-wide alarm hits my ears as I slowly regain consciousness, a dull pain spreading through my head as I try to drag myself upright. Failing in my efforts, I only succeed in putting myself on my back, the bright light above me blinding me for a brief second. The cold steel floor beneath me tickles my fur as I try once again to get myself into a standing position. Luckily for me, this time I succeed in my efforts, with the help of one of the chairs around the Overmare’s Quarters. Blinking my eyes into focus, I see that the Overmare must have moved me into her chambers at some point; the personal photo’s of the mare and her daughter proving that point. Groaning at the pain in my head, I slowly trot to the door, guiding my hoof to the door control. The gears in the door whir along as the slab of metal moves out of my way. In a way, I wish it hadn’t. The sight that fills my vision brings bile to my throat, an inevitable sense of dread filling my every being as I took a step back in horror. There, laying in a pool of her own blood, was the Overmare. Her eyes hung dulled and lifeless, stuck in a permanent state of emptiness. I feel my body shake in horror at the scene, the bile that had threatened to escape now doing its job. I don’t know how many times I puked then  and there, just that the only reason I stopped was because there was nothing left to come up. I felt weak and lightheaded, and completely terrified. If only I hadn’t hit my head, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe she would still be alive. Gulping, I slowly make my way over to the dead mare, tears threatening to escape my eyes. Feeling guilt wash over my body, I reached for her eyes and slid them closed. I may not have particularly liked the mare in any sort of way, but she deserved better than this. Whoever had done this hadn’t done it quickly. They’d wanted to make an example of her. Part of me knew that it had to be that stallion with the shard cutie mark. He’d killed her and then went for he- My mind screamed as I was reminded of the other mare I had helped escape the mob. Grinding my teeth in anger, I ran out of the Overmare’s office, my hooves striking at the hard metal floor. I had to find her daughter. I at least owed the Overmare that much… --------------------- It was just outside the Security office that I saw it. Wrecked Security Bots littered the hallway, scorch marks and dents on the walls, showing that there had been some sort of firefight. I took some solace in the fact that I didn’t see anyone who had been killed… Yet. Making my way forward, I came to a stairwell, the alarm still being the only noise I could clearly make out. That put me on edge more than anything, I at least hoped to hear the panic from earlier. That would at least indicated that somepony was still alive. Creeping down the steps, I gave a quick glance around the corner, letting out a sigh of relief when there was nothing there waiting for me. The stairwell led to another hallway, which would lead to the atrium and the upper living quarters. Stepping out of the stairwell, I finally came into contact with something living. Whatever it was, however, was not good. Whatever the thing was, it looked like a pony. It had a sleek metal casing, a pair of wings sticking out of its back. It stood slightly taller than me, and was dragging along a black bag. I’d seen those sorts of bags a few times as a foal, when I’d been in the clinic. It was a body bag! “This is Echo-42, calling Delta Squad. Upper Living Quarters and Security Offices are clear. Three Casualty. Other Occupants have been moved for extraction.” The thing spoke out, its voice metallic, like it was coming through an intercom. It paused for a moment, soft sounds coming from it indicating that somepony was replying to it. “Understood, moving to Lower Levels.” He replied before continuing on his way. Whoever they were, they weren't afraid to use lethal action against ponies. Taking slow and deliberate steps, I began to make my way down the hallway. I made sure to keep out of the view of the windows that lined it, just in case one of those… things was on the other side. Keeping my breathing steady, I leant against the edge of the door to the Atrium, counting down from 10. As I got closer to zero, I found myself oddly thinking about how I had played hide and go seek with my friends as a foal. It was slightly humorous to think that those skills would be so important at my age. If shit wasn’t going down, I would have probably made a quip about it. Taking a deep breath, I turned and slowly trotted into the atrium, hearing the soft patter of hoofsteps in the distance. I really hoped those hooves were going in the opposite direction to the Atrium. I would not be able to take one of those things on. Thankfully, from what I could see, the metal ponies had moved on from the Atrium entirely, leaving it empty and cold. I couldn’t really tell where the riot had ended and the invasion began. The scorch marks on the walls could have easily come from either the security bots or the metal ponies. From the overturned chairs and tables that sat in the middle of the Atrium, it seemed that some of the inhabitants of the stable had tried to act on a defensive. Though, from the large pocket of scorch marks and bent metal in the middle of the barricade, it was clear that those defenses had failed them. Edging closer to the door that would lead to the Stable exit, and hopefully to everypony that had survived the onslaught. I heard the signature sound of a door opening on the other side of the atrium. I felt my stomach drop as I heard the metallic clanging of the invaders hooves as they entered the Atrium. I prayed to Celestia that they would not notice me… Apparently, Celestia would rather fuck me with her almighty horn. Slamming my hoof on the door controls, I dodged rainbow lasers as I raced for the exit, ignoring the shouts for me to stop. Coming to the Stable door, I could see it was left ajar by the invaders. The metal was warped and melted, black markings covering the entire thing. Nuts and bolts lay scattered along the floor. Whatever these things were, they were advanced. Advanced enough to break through a Stable door. A door designed to take on a megaspell. Directly. In hindsight, we were pretty fucked to begin with. Bounding through the door, I found myself running through another set of tunnels. These tunnels were completely different from the halls in the vault, the metal was rusted and layered with dirt and dust. The thick air launched into my lungs like a manticore to a ball of yarn, making my lungs burn and my need to cough go overboard. Biting back any sort of cough or splutter that begged to come out, I raced up a flight of stairs. Going higher and higher for what seemed like forever, I finally made it to a door and barged through it, only to get my eyes assaulted. Cringing back, I shielded my eyes to look at what the light was. I kind of wish I hadn’t. There, standing in formation with guns mounted to their backs, where hundreds of the metal ponies from the vault. They stood behind several large flood lights which shined on the entrance to the Stable, lighting the area and assaulting my eyes. I could feel my vision blurring as I froze in place. “Citizen of Stable-157, you are to remain calm and stationary. The Enclave has chosen to liberate your Stable, and therefore would appreciate your co-operation. Be warned, we are not above using lethal force.” One of the metal ponies said through a megaphone, sounding gruff and irritated. I could hear the metal clanging of hooves getting closer to me and wished I could do something.  “One of my operative is going to place a collar on you. Do not fight them.” Looking around, my eyes finally adjusting, I saw that I seemed to be in the middle of a large airfield. The husks of broken sky chariots were scattered across the runways. Across the airfield I could see a rather large building with the word ‘airport’ labelled on the side in worn lettering. Gulping, I looked to my side to see another of the armoured ponies come up to me. He was holding onto a thick metal collar with circuitry on the side. Closing my eyes, I felt the collar clamping onto my neck, thankfully not digging into my fur. Taking slow breaths, I felt a surprising shock run through the collar, making me yelp in pain. “The collar on your neck will keep track of your location and allow us to shock you if you get out of line. Now follow the operative to your left. You will be escorte-” The voice cut out as the sound of gunfire began to go off a little ways away. The ponies in formation all began to take flight, firing on something in the distance. Before I could get a good look at what was happening, the pony who had put the collar on me began to push me towards a sky chariot. “Move.” The metal pony, a mare, commanded as she pushed me along. Gulping, I nodded and hopped onto the chariot, my eyes straying to the battle that was happening on the other side of the airfield. The mare jumped on next to me, commanding the two driving the chariot to begin their flight. I felt my stomach turn in several directions as we lifted from the ground into the air, slowly gaining speed as we began to climb. I was panicking now, afraid of just where these ‘Enclave’ where taking me. The clouds were heavy above us, blocking out the stars as we climbed. Closing my eyes, I resigned to my fate. There was no fighting it now. They had me exactly where they wanted me. As if Celestia herself had decided to stop fucking with me, one of the two ponies pulling us along suddenly lost his head. Gore went right over both me and the mare as the chariot banked to the side, obviously not designed to have only one pony driving it. “Get us back on course!” The mare shouted in anger. “I can’t ma’am. I’m not strong enough to pu-” His excuse stopped as his own head exploded in a shower of gore, sending the chariot into a spiral. The force of the spinning was too much for my body. Suddenly, I found myself being flung from the chariot, set to plunge to my death. Its funny the kind of things your mind thinks about when you know you’re going to die… other than panicking about the fact you’re going to fucking die! As I fell, I felt myself slipping back to the first day of school, my parents wearing happy smiles as they walked their special little colt off to class. I could remember the face of my teacher, as cheery as ever in her job as she wrote my name on the board and had me introduce myself to the class. It’s with that thought that I closed my eyes and smiled as my body hit the River Maresey and felt the warm embrace of Luna take me for the last time. ------------------------------- Footnote: Trait Gain Short Sightedness Being assaulted with intense light when exciting your Stable, you have damaged your retina. When not wearing eyewear, you have a -2 Perception Score. Didn’t you read your exciting the stable manual?