Fallout Equestria: Grim Prospects

by RadiationRed

Prologue

FALLOUT: EQUESTRIA

Prologue

Grim Prospects

An MLP:FiM fanfic by Radiation Red

War... war never changes. Everything that unfolded in the two-hour long pause, and the years of armed conflict before was an inevitability when push came to shove. Hope for victory, along with the hope for peace slowly receded as conflict escalated beyond imaginable. Mistakes were made, mistakes that ripped Equestria to pieces a little by little.

Underground shelters known as 'Stables,' were built to house the great, the wealthy, the influential, and those found necessary for survival. The best pony-kind had to offer were stockpiled inside – technology and resources, as a last best defence against the oncoming fire.

Stable 9, was meant to be a powerhouse for the great minds of science, magic, engineering, and combat. The residents of the Stable were meant to lead the post-apocalyptic world of Equestria into a new golden age, but the new world would be a harsh one.

As the bale-fire bombs rained down upon the ground above, the giant steel-door of Stable 9 slid shut, sealing them from the horrors of the world as it ended.

*

Euphoria screamed, “No!” Her voice trembled from fear as she whimpered and her bag was torn from her side, as a hoof struck her in the face, and she slammed hard into the earthen ground. The young mare crawled forward, shaking as her eyes had trouble in focusing. Euphoria tried her best to forget the shadow that loomed over her, but found that difficult as well – as her ears constantly twitched at the sounds of her bag being torn, and emptied out somewhere behind her.

She had carried it with her since she was just a foal, and Euphoria could almost feel her heart breaking, but she didn't want to give her attacker the delight in seeing her writhing in agony – of course, she couldn't stop her shaking, but she could at least hold back her tears as much as possible. Yet, she sniffled as she could see torn fabric fluttering to the ground, as her attacker cackled manically. “Well, well...” he said gruffly.

A waft of dull browns and greens filled her vision, as Euphoria propped her body up on her shaking hooves and shifted her weight so she could see what was going on. The buck stood over a heap of supplies: Health potions, decks of discoloured cards, a few boxes of Mac N' Cheese, and a collection of books where the pages had long ago yellowed. Euphoria could see her life vanish in that pile of things she had worked so hard to acquire.

“You thought you could get through Marauder territory without paying a fee?” Euphoria's attacker said, as he flashed her a toothy grin – yellow, jagged teeth glinted in the sharp sun that glittered high above. “It's time we ended your little business!” the buck said and laughed maniacally as he approached her , and she crawled backwards as her orange eyes were fixated on the violent stallion.

The young mare backed away, as fear crawled up her spine, and suddenly she felt very tiny in front of the buck. His coat glistened from sweat, blood, and caked debris that had accumulated over time, so you could barely see that his coat was brown underneath; on his head, the buck had a green mane slicked back into a pony-tail, but it didn't make him look any less intimidating; He wore no armour, and had no weapons, but even then he was a weapon due to his sheer size.

As the buck gained on Euphoria, with his slow-moving steps, something pinged into a charcoal rock on the ground close to the stallion, so fragments ricochet into his coat – leaving fresh wounds that dripped blood down one of his front-hooves. He seemed unfazed by this, as he kept his steady walk towards Euphoria and she kept crawling backwards.

It got more and more difficult by the second, as Euphoria whined against the pain that flared up in her flank, and the jagged rocks beneath drew fresh blood. She could feel the pale-green eyes of the buck burning holes in her head – he was almost fuming with hatred. Several more shots pinged into the ground, and Euphoria froze as one of the bullets nearly hit her in the side, just barely missing.

Somebody in the distance were taking pock-shots at the two, but none of them could see who it was, and Euphoria didn't care as she just stared. “S-stay away!” she shouted, her voice betraying her attempt at sounding vicious – her shaking hooves only compounded the whole thing, as the buck snickered back.

One bullet pinged into the ground, as another hit the buck in the hoof, and he backed away rapidly as his mouth spewed unpleseantries. Knowing that the moment would soon be gone, Euphoria mustered as much courage as she could and got to her hooves, pressed her lips together and focused. Soon, she was galloping down the open wasteland – a shack on the horizon being her objective.

She had seen it a moment earlier, but her hooves wouldn't budge, and even then – the buck would have caught her before she had gotten too far ahead. Birds chirped happily; bugs crawled along the ground, and Euphoria frowned slightly as one of them squashed under her hoof – splattering into gore and yellow goo that reeked of death and decay.

“You fucker!” a voice roared into the air behind Euphoria, and as she stole a glance behind herself, she yelped loudly and pushed with all her might. Hot wind rushed against her as she ground her teeth together, almost biting her tongue as she focused on that shack that slowly crept closer and closer.

Euphoria tasted metal as the soles of her hooves hurt. Her heart beat fast in her chest, and it felt as if it would burst out of her chest any second. Adrenaline along with dread surged through her body, as a burning sensation slowly crept up her hooves. The pain grew in intensity as Euphoria kept galloping and she wanted to stop, but the sound of heavy breathing close behind her kept her moving.

Was the shack coming closer? Euphoria didn't know any-more, as the stark sun thundered down on her – beating her with the steady heat, that the slow wind refused to cool. Heat shimmered in the air, as she tried to focus her eyes on the dilapidated building that rested in the shade of a withered tree; the only two things in this sea of nothing, except for a few rocks.

On her way into this part of the wastes, Euphoria had noticed the shack but hadn't given it much thought. The fact that ponies went out into the desert and built shacks, so that they could live alone were nothing new. After all, living sheltered and being able to have the drop on any-pony seemed perfect for most ponies in this age.

Euphoria had made her way into what was known as 'The Bowl,' in an attempt to set up peaceful trading relations with one of the factions within. Now, as she kept running, and was certain that the building was in fact getting bigger, she was certain that somebody had tricked her in coming here; her naivety had made her into something she didn't want to be.

Her chest heaved and dropped heavily, as her breath ghosted ragged and her pace slowed. No! No! No! Don't stop! Come on! Her thoughts echoed dimly, as she got spurred on by the last strands of her remaining strength. Sweat dripped down her face, and Euphoria had to shake her head to be able to see the path ahead; her matted dark-red and crimson streaked mane clung to her head, with the edges only faintly flapping in the rushing wind.

Euphoria strained her eyes as her breath hitched, and she coughed violently as she struggled to keep herself moving.

In a matter of minutes, when Euphoria almost choked on her ragged and beaten breath, she held a shaky hoof out, and knocked away the flimsy wooden door with as much strength she could muster. Splinters and rotting wood showered inwards, as Euphoria stumbled over her own hooves, collapsing on top of the shredded door.

A loud yelp escaped Euphoria's lips as she hit the floor hard, and slammed her head against a nearby desk. Her mouth tasted vaguely of copper, as she with a groan, rose to her shaky hooves. Dirt-covered coffee cups clattered to the floor, shattering against the floor covered in years of dust.

Euphoria used a hoof to clear her eyes as she panted wildly, and examined the room as quickly as she could – there had to be something there that she could use. The shack consisted of a single room with sparsely furniture, that seemed to have at some-point belonged to some-pony at least. A dented, severely rusted skeleton of a metal-bed stood in one corner of the room, and a dirty mattress lay on top, jutting out across one side of the framework, hanging limply in the air, and Euphoria suspected the dark stain on one end of the matrons was the remains of blood.

On the other end, in front of Euphoria stood the rusted metal desk she had hit on her way inside the shack. Several of the drawers had been roughly pulled out, leaving scuff marks in the empty holes, but Euphoria couldn't find the drawers themselves. On top of the table itself, lay stacks upon stacks of scorched books, among the clutter of coffee cups and broken pencils. Nothing useful... Euphoria huffed to herself, as she tossed her head around, scanning her environment further.

To say that the shack was in ruins was an understatement. Much of the metal roof was perforated badly, letting sunshine glint through the holes – gunfire? Euphoria wondered, and let her eyes drift to something that shined vividly in the sun, and it was hidden under the bed. How had she missed that?

There was no time to think about how, as Euphoria flicked her ears at the hoof-beats that rose in pitch, and she leaped across the room – skidding to a stop in front of the remarkable well kept box. She had to strain as she reached a hoof under the bed, her hoof barely making contact, but after some effort she pulled the rectangle hulk of metal out.

It was badly dented, and had scratch-marks that had been made over years of decay. Euphoria had a grin on her face as she faced the box fully. “What!” Euphoria's voice echoed as she groaned and hit the rusty lock with her hoof. “No! No!” she screamed, slamming a hoof against the lock. “You can't be! You just... can't....” her voice faltered and cracked as she sunk together, almost accepting her fate.

Her heart thumped heavily in her chest, as Euphoria panted, and felt the slowly rising drum-beat reverberate in her ears. “Don't do this.... Get up!” she almost screamed the words, as she pushed herself back into a somewhat serviceable state as she tossed her eyes about again. There has to be something – anything!

Sadly, there were nothing to find in the room except rotting books, wood, and a dingy old bed. “Okay, okay... what do I have?” She looked at the desk, and quickly tossed her head the other way, ignoring the shadow hurtling towards the door. “Wood!” She grinned, and groaned as she tore a board from the floor, and slammed it against the lock.

The sound of wood against metal pinged in the room, and Euphoria rose her hooves into the air again, but suddenly the air in her lungs were forced out and she collapsed. Her ribs hurt, her head thumped wildly as a slow cackle rose in the room. “Oh, filly!” Euphoria shot her eyes open and stared at the stallion.

“Nobody runs from me. Especially a pony that tries to smuggle mail across my territory!” His voice tore through everything, as it was both sharp and deep. As the stallion chuckled and made a move to kick Euphoria, she bucked out with her hind-legs, and hit the stallion in the knee of one of his hooves, so he went down like a stack of bricks.

Euphoria had no time to savour her victory, as she scrambled for the piece of wood and slammed it down against the lock again, as it groaned and opened slightly while the wood-board cracked. “Fuck you!” the stallion said, spitting venom as Euphoria rose her hooves in the air with a whimper and brought the rotting board back down with a loud crack, as it splintered into pieces; the lock clanged to the floor.

A hoof grasped around one of Euphoria's hind-legs and as she kicked out and heard the loud yelp, she glimpsed the bleeding face of the stallion looking back at her. Whimpering, Euphoria tossed the box open, scrambling for the only thing inside.

The stallion behind her growled, and Euphoria saw the shadow looming over her just as she screamed loudly and fumbled with the thing, finally managing to bite down on the trigger in the last minute. A purple beam spilled through the room, as the stallion flew over Euphoria, screaming and flailing as he hit the wall of the shack – pulverising against the metal.

“Too close! P-pull me out!” Euphoria said, her voice strained and hoarse as everything around her flickered and turned into pixelated walls. The shack vanished; the emotions fled her; the stallion was no more; the beam gun wasn't real, and the only thing that was real, was the white roof above her that slowly came into startling reality.

Above Euphoria, the soft blue glow that tinted the inside of her claustrophobic prison faded away and there was a loud clang as familiar machinery hummed, and gears churned as the roof dropped away into itself – layer upon layer until Euphoria was free. She dropped from the shell and fell onto the hard metal floor beneath, coughing wildly as her lungs burned. “C-crap....” she managed to say between her coughing-fits.

“Less than stellar results,” a strange disembodied voice commented dourly. “Your attempt at getting the box open nearly got you killed – not acceptable.” Euphoria groaned and tapped a hoof against her pounding head, as she flopped onto her side, feeling the stress of the simulation finally hitting her. “Miss. Euphoria, are you listening?”

“I...” Euphoria started and stared at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes; the humming of the lights above seeming to calm her for the moment. “I was, but you lost me at the point where you began to blame me for doing a poor job, when you!” She jutted a hoof into the air momentarily, before it fell to the floor limply again. “When you went ahead and changed the conditions on me, in the last second!”

“Miss. Euphoria, I only work under the conditions that Miss. Prudence has set forth, so your pony anger should be directed at her; not me.” Euphoria felt her right hoof itch, as she rubbed it furiously. “Please, get up from the floor, Miss. Your time in simulator pod eleven is at an end for today. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

The young mare frowned for a moment, groaning, Miss. Prudence this and miss. Prudence that...

A set of hoof-beats rose to its crescendo, as Euphoria felt a gust of cold wind that made her shiver, hit the top of her head, as the door out of the room slid into the wall with an electrifying whoosh. “He's getting more polite by each day,” said a green buck with a fiery orange mane, and a pair of black glasses as he looked down at Euphoria, meeting her gaze. “Want help getting up?” he added with a light chuckle and held out a helping hoof.

“Do you even have to ask?” Euphoria said with a grin and took the buck's hoof.

*

Idle chatting echoed around Euphoria, as she sniffed the air – a faint aroma of pancakes hanging limply there. She had briefly closed her eyes, to bask in the glow of anything other than simulator-drawl, as she herself had deemed it. “No balloon-ride this time?” the buck's voice interjected, and Euphoria shook her head in response as she tried to inhale as much of the delightful smell around her as possible. “No horrible operation, either?” Again, she shook her head. “You're lucky that your mom is head researcher on the project.”

“Lucky?” Euphoria asked and blinked one eye open as she looked across the table at the buck that was scarfing down a tray covered in hay-fries. Around them, in the large atrium sat dozens of ponies, enjoying their various lunches.

The room itself, was put up in metal-plates with very visible seams, as if it had been put together at the last minute. For the most part, metal-tables lined the room in several rows, where each could sit at least six ponies, but none we're full. Above them, hang large lights that hummed audibly, and shone bright white light down upon the ponies – fluorescent tubes powering them.

In one end of the room, opposite of the door leading out of the atrium into the living quarters, there were large, slick metal-bar tops. Behind those, stood several ponies making various food, and slowly they hoofed them to ponies as they reached the end. Before they got get their food, each pony had to give away a small blue paper ticket with some writing on. “The persistent machinery of science....” Euphoria groaned as she looked at the diminishing line up at the counter.

“Yeah!” the buck said, chomping down some more hay-fries as he looked over at Euphoria. “You could have ended up in an expedition crew otherwise.” Once again, the buck ate more of his receding pile of food. “Wanna know what I heard?” Even before Euphoria could respond, the buck was in full run with his story. “I heard they found some kind of settlement, and all the ponies they found, had these weird growths in their bodies – leaving them horribly disfigured, like monsters!” His eyes shot opened at that last remark as he stopped chomping food for a brief second.

She stared at him, her muzzle forming into a lop-sided grin. “Horror-stories – that's all they are and nothing more.” Euphoria let her gaze drift a little as the buck snorted back, and finished up his meal. One table had a full mass of ponies attending, and they were chatting quite briskly among themselves; each one wore a blue uniform with yellow lines running up each side, with the number nine embossed on the back, and underneath 'Maintenance,' stood written out.

Their conversation wasn't loud, and even if Euphoria had cared about it, she would have had to perk her ears and lean in to figure out what they were talking about. “Maintenance... they get all the good toys, don't they?” she said, and got a glare in return from the buck sitting opposite of her.

“Don't.”

“What?” Euphoria offered with a forced smile.

“Don't be jealous. Besides, we got the best toys.”

“Hey guys!” a sudden voice tossed the two ponies' personal conversation back into the public eye, as a mare slinked over and sat down next to the buck, grinning at them both. “How'd the test go today, E?” Euphoria fidgeted in her seat as she looked over to the mare, and as always her staring was drawn to that stark, red mane of hers.

“It was fine, but HE changed the parameters at the last fucking second, and according to him, it was my mom who made him do it. If you take away all that, I feel good... didn't get a food ticket though...” Euphoria commented dourly, as the mare with a red mane scrounged through her saddlebags, and after tossing out reports after reports – with a big red stamp on them that said: 'Classified,' – onto the table, she hoofed Euphoria a blue ticket.

“I got doubles today. Yeah.” The mare smirked at the two. Euphoria stared for a moment, blinked her eyes and just shook her head as she almost leaped from her seat, towards the line of ponies waiting eagerly for food.

I hope they're not out, Euphoria thought and mulled it over, as she fixed her eyes on the blue ticket. 'Redeemable for one meal,' stood scrawled out in stark yellow writing, standing out against the dark blue. On the other side of it, a bar-code was stamped on, but Euphoria's mind drifted back to the smell of pancakes, and the heat from the lights above as her stomach rumbled.

“So...” the mare with a stark red mane and an equally as red coat said, and jabbed the buck in his shoulder, as he tensed up and glared back at her. “Did you tell her?” She smirked at him, seeing the way his ears twitched at her question, and she knew she had hit a sore spot. “Oh, come on, you can tell me.”

The buck looked across the atrium at Euphoria, smiling softly, as his cheeks burned for a moment, and quickly he glared back at the mare with a red mane. “Tell you? No, I won't tell you, and I won't tell her. Some-times it's best to simply let things wander.” He let his eyes drift to the empty foil plate in front of him. “Besides, her mother would tear me a new...” The buck looked at the mare who was grinning wildly at the prospect of bad language. “...hole.”

“That's it? You're such a prude!” The mare jabbed his shoulder with a hoof once again, but quickly sat down and perked her ears as klaxons rang sharply in three short spurts. “Do they really have to do this every single time we have lunch?” She tossed the buck a glance, as the overhead intercom crackled to life.

An upbeat song played for a few seconds before a mechanical voice clicked on. “ Vault nine residents, your break is over. Remember: 'Progress Is Our Blood.' Have a nice day of healthy production as your job demands.” The mare with the decidedly sanguine mane frowned at the words, but stepped away from the table.

“Tell her, Blueprint. Just think of something sweet, and she'll return the feeling, trust me on that.” The mare smiled gently at the buck, tossing her head as she started for the exit along with most of the ponies in the atrium. “Euphoria tells me stuff you know. She even told me about that time she saw you...” The mare stopped and looked back at Blueprint, meeting his nervous eyes as she made a motion with her hoof. “In the shower, and all!” she added with a giggle and headed off.

Blueprint frowned and thumped his head against the hard metal-table, groaning in both pain and embarrassment as his mind drifted into a place he did not want it to – not now, and not as he's ears jerked at the sudden noise of some-pony sitting down opposite of him again. The smell of fresh pancakes hung in the air, and Blueprint jerked his tail about, almost feeling Euphoria's hooves brush against his own.

“Mare, don't I love pancakes!” Euphoria grinned and shuffled a hoof-full of sweet, delicious pancakes into her maw, munching happily on the food as she stared off into the distance, looking at a light flickering in one corner of the atrium. Forgot one... Euphoria thought, and she would have snickered if it weren't for the mountain of food she was busy devouring.

“E....” Blueprint said, half-sighing as he lifted his head from the table, blinking at the mare in front of him. “Um....” He found himself speechless as he looked at her, slurping down her food.

“What?” Euphoria said, staring at Blueprint as she swallowed her food, trying on her best smile. “I like pancakes.”

*

After what had seemed like an eternity, Euphoria had managed to finish at least three plates of stacked pancakes, and she found herself moaning, as her stomach rumbled – echoing against the matt, metal-walls surrounding her. “Oh.... I really should have stopped sooner....” she whined, and leaned against a wall – her stomach almost swaying heavily under her.

“Ugh....” Euphoria got a few odd looks from ponies as they walked passed her, and she had to almost crawl her way forwards – using the wall as a support. Her mind wandered back to the way that Blueprint had fidgeted in his seat the whole time she had eaten, he seemed... troubled, but for now, she decided to shove it out of her mind as she left the wall, and slumped through the door into her quarters.

With a heavy drop and a deep rumble from her stomach, Euphoria hit the rough fabric of a carpet, and she rolled onto her back, not even bothering to roll the rest of the way into her room – laying with her tail outside the door. A pneumatic hiss rang out, and for one brief moment, Euphoria looked back at her tail, grimacing as the door closed on it.

Then, as the door left a sigh of air and opened up again, Euphoria tugged her tail to her body, smiling. “Thank Celestia that we have air-operated doors instead of hydraulic ones.” She laughed shortly, and tapped her pip-buck with a hoof so the screen shot up in vibrant blue colours. “Now... evening radio... where... where are you?”

Using her remaining strength, Euphoria brought the hoof-mounted computer up to her face, as she pressed her nose against a button mounted on the side and scrolled through menus. After looking through slides dedicated to: Inventory, Health, Radiation, and other decidedly boring menus at the moment, her face lit up when she landed on 'Broadcasts.'

Happily, Euphoria pressed her nose against the button, and initialized the station marked as: 'Stable 9 PA.' Crackle filled the room for a second, and then a voice came through the system – metallic and raspy-sounding. “Welcome once again, to the late night science informational broadcast. Today, I will be teaching you about the Stealth-buck – a small, but convenient device that clicks into your personal Pip-Buck with ease, and can help you out if you find yourself in trouble.”

Euphoria grinned just as a shrill voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. “I heard about your performance today, Euphoria. I'm disappointed and angry...” The voice took on a hard edge, as Euphoria bumped her nose against the computer, letting the station fall deaf as she turned around, groaning as she lay on her stomach. “The over-mare wasn't pleased either and I have to put in another late shift today.”

“S-sorry, mom....” Euphoria's voice drifted off as she nervously looked at the floor.

“Don't do that. Why can't you just be like the others, E? Why can't you just learn to be a productive member of our society, huh?” Euphoria looked up from the floor briefly, catching the sight of her mother's pink-striped mane and yellow coat – partially hidden behind her blue Stable-armor, lined with yellow stripes. “You're embarrassing me, and the rest of the Stable by your act.” Her mother looked sternly at her, as her horn glowed briefly and she shifted a picture of a young smiling earth-pony filly and unicorn mare back into place, as it hung on the grey steel wall.

Euphoria mumbled, “...You were the one who changed the....”

“Don't take that tone with me, lady!” Euphoria's mother called out sharply, and the young mare flattened her ears against her head. “Now, I want you to go into your room and study, so that your stay tomorrow with security might be productive.” The young mare rose to her hooves, albeit a bit resentfully as she walked towards a door at the other end of the room decked out in horrendous flower-patterned wallpaper. “And wear your Stable-Tec issued vest tomorrow!”

*

The day slowly rolled away as Euphoria sat in 'Security,' staring through a plastic-sheet of glass set up in front of metal-bars that looked into a room. This was what compromised as a cell, though it had never actually been used, since in Stable 9 – every-pony did as they were told, and was a productive member of the enclave.

With her in the room was another pony – an elderly buck, clearly bored as he sat back in his chair, balancing a golden bit on his nose. Euphoria looked away from the glass for a second and gazed at the buck. “Is this your job?” she asked the buck, silently wanting the job if it actually just consisted of sitting on a chair, doing nothing.

“W-what....!?” The buck's voice rose suddenly in pitch, and he flailed his hooves wildly before he fell to the floor hard, and he shut his eyes abruptly as the coin flew into the air, and pinged back against the metal-floor. “... No... of course not. Your friend just doesn't usually get called into a meeting with the over-mare, and the rest of the important ponies.” The buck clearly said the word with disdain, as he got back onto his hooves and tipped the chair back into its usual position.

Euphoria sat outside the cell silently for a few moments, until hoof-beats echoed down the hallway outside the small room, simply consisting of the elderly buck sitting on a metal-skeleton chair in front of a table, and a monitor that glowed green. In one end of the room, opposite of Euphoria – a row of metal-lockers stood, each branded with a name. The door leading into the cell, had a red arrow going down the middle, with the words 'No access' painted beneath in the same deep-red.

Without warning, a red mare with a stark red mane stepped through the open-doorway, and cast a look at the old buck that said it all, before she tossed her head towards Euphoria, and her muzzle quickly twisted into a smile. “Looks like I won't be seeing you for a bit, kid. The Over-mare is sending me, and most of security on a scouting-mission out of the Stable.”

“Another one?” Euphoria asked, grumbling lightly as she absent-mindedly rubbed the floor with a hoof.

“I don't make the rules, but yes.” The mare said and stepped over to the locker marked 'Buckshot' and opened it – pulling out a Stable-uniform over laid with dark, padded-armour that would protect against most dangers. “We're even bringing with us a few technicians this time, not Blueprint though – apparently he's too 'important.'” Buckshot smirked at Euphoria. “Know some-pony named 'Nightpick?'”

“Excellent in lock-picking, but also a real wiz' on the Pip-Buck. The Over-Mare even trusted her to encrypt the Stable-door terminal.” Euphoria frowned, but got to her hooves, looking over at Buckshot. “A blue mare with a yellow, curly mane.” Buckshot gave her a nod, and motioned with her head for the other three ponies to leave them alone for a moment.

Once they had left, she sat down next to Euphoria. “Look, it's clear to me that she has to see something in you too, or else she wouldn't have chosen you to work with the mainframe, and be the test-pony in the VR-pod. Even then, and trust me on this – there's nothing interesting out there.” She smiled at Euphoria. “I've been on two trips so far, and I've only seen scorched ground.”

The young mare with dark-red mane smiled back as she got to her hooves. “Maybe....” She turned and headed for the doorway, only stopping to look back at Buckshot as she sat against the wall. “Thanks!”

*

Euphoria's ears rang and her head pounded, as she rolled out of bed and hit the hard metal floor with a squeal as the coldness sent a shiver up her spine. The sound of an alarm came in long-drawn out, muffled bursts that seemed somehow wrong. She shot her eyes opened and panted, as her ears twitched against the static pouring out of the overhead PA.

“Wha-what the....?” She groaned, and got to her hooves, shambling out of her room, but she stopped and blinked at the mess in front of her. The room that was considered to be the living room, was a mess. Everything had been tossed to the floor, the dresser had been toppled over, and the small table had been cracked in half – splintered pieces of wood decorating the floor.

She stepped up to the door, but frowned as it didn't open, so she leaned over and touched a button on a panel next to the door, so it opened with a hiss. That's odd, Euphoria thought, It's not usually locked...

A shiver went up her back as she peered down the maw of the hallway, lights flickering wildly as electricity sparked from a few lamps and arced to the nearest spot. A phrase had been painted on the wall in front of Euphoria's room in stark red paint that dripped slowly down – it was fresh. 'Stable-Tec fucked us, so we fuck you!'

For a moment, a feeling of dread invaded Euphoria's mind as she contemplated the message, and stepped into the hallway. Could that be blood? It looked like blood, but it could have been paint – and there was no way that she would taste it to be sure. This is just some kind of sick joke, Euphoria thought to herself and trotted down the hallway, ducking under a light that hung on by just a screw.

Just for the sake of it, and to slake her own curiosity, Euphoria turned on the radio, but she had to stop since she wasn't a fancy unicorn. She blinked at her Pip-Buck, and tapped the display, turning the broadcast on and off a few times, not believing her own ears. Only static poured out of the tiny speaker on her Pip-Buck.

In the dim light, echoing briskly over the low hum of the Stable's power generators, a loud scream came – a scream of agony and fear, and that familiar feeling of dread filled Euphoria as she gritted her teeth and bolted down the corridor, as the voice rose. This had to be a test, there was no way that something bad had happened; The pride and glory of Stable-Tec couldn't be under attack.

Euphoria came to a skidding halt as she saw a mare through the doorway, pinned down by the shadow of a buck inside the security room – her shrieks came in sharp bursts, as the buck groaned and tugged at her mane violently. “Well... hello!” Euphoria turned just quickly enough to see the pale blue hoof hit her in the face, and down she went – slamming against the unbelievingly hard metal-floor. Sure, she had fallen before, but this was painful.

Coughing, she gripped her nose with her hoof and winced as she looked up at the buck that had hit her. His coat was a pale blue; his mane and tail a mix of purple and dark-green – all over him, he was covered in red paint drawn in streaks and quick jabs, but the three going across his face stood out.

The buck leaned down as Euphoria moved away, but he quickly bit down on her ear and was soon looming over her, pinning her down. “Fucking Stables!” he said, and cackled wildly. “Ours for the taking, little mare!” Euphoria clenched her eyes shut, shaking as she thought back to her virtual-reality training, and instantly she bucked out.

Her hoof simply wafted through the air, as the buck moved his hind-leg out of her way, and he grinned, baring his hot breath against the back of her neck. “Feisty... good...! I like' em struggling!” He cackled more as he bit down on Euphoria's mane, and caused her to arch her back painfully as he pulled her up – her front-hooves dangling limply in the air.

Then, a loud bang thudded in the hallway and Euphoria opened her eyes as she yelped loudly, feeling wetness drip onto her back along with the heavy body of the stallion. She flailed, tossing the limp body of the stallion to the ground. In the other end of the corridor, staring at Euphoria, mouth agape, an ivory unicorn mare stood, shaking uncontrollably as her telekinesis imploded, and the boxy-pistol she was holding dropped to the ground with a loud reverberation of metal on metal.

From inside the security room, a stallion grunted as his hoarse voice called out. “Flash! Flash! Fuck, you should try this one out! Her screams are so cute!” Cute? Cute! Euphoria felt angry, seething in fact. This was long past a simple test, this was very real. Getting no response, the buck got out of the security room and stared at the frightened mare, paralysed by her own fear. “You!”

He didn't waste any time in charging for the mare, and even though he was hurtling towards her, the mare didn't move – she simply stood there, shaking. And then the buck hit her and slammed her against a wall, as he viciously bit her in the throat. The mare thrashed violently, trying to move, but the buck held her in place with his weight as he tore his muzzle free from her neck, as he ripped flesh from her, so blood poured out from her newly-opened wound; strips of meat and hide dangling from his muzzle.

The unicorn convulsed for a few seconds, and finally went still as blood pooled between her and the psychotic stallion. Seizing the moment, Euphoria headed for the gun on the floor, but the buck caught her in the last second and bucked out. He missed, as Euphoria slid across the now blood-streaked floor, gun in mouth. Quickly, she slipped into S.A.T.S., aiming the gun at the stallion's right hoof.

In the calmness of S.A.T.S., she fired two shots and he stallion tumbled to the floor right next to the mare he had just ripped apart. It was clean, efficient, and not deadly, but enough to leave him writhing in agony, as Euphoria tried to figure out what was going on, and who the heck these ponies were.

“Fucking cunt!” the stallion roared but Euphoria was already headed down the hallway.

All she had to do was follow the sickening smell of decay, and blood-smeared walls, as these 'Raiders,' didn't leave much to imagination and instead was very vocal and graphic about what they did. Most of the doors in the dorm had been violently ripped open with the bodies of dead mares and bucks alike, laying in pools of their own blood.

Casually, a mare walked out in front of Euphoria, her entire body coating in blood, and the stench of death reeked from her. Euphoria stopped, and stared at the dark-orange mare, but it took the mare a moment to notice the young mare and her eyes froze. “Fresh meat!” she bellowed, and Euphoria slammed her pip-buck into the mare's muzzle, knocking her to the ground with a loud crack.

The mare cackled and bucked her hoof out, knocking Euphoria to the floor as well, and quicker than any-pony Euphoria had seen before, the mare was on top of her – baring her yellow, jagged teeth. “Bitches think they can run! Fast-food I call it!” Euphoria wanted to vomit. In fact she just wanted to crawl into a ball and cry herself to sleep, but priorities.

Saliva dripped from the mare's mouth, as some-pony shouted in the distance and Euphoria rolled the mare over onto her back.

“Be! Quiet!” Euphoria screamed and slammed her pip-buck into the mare's face so many times that she lost count, and the horrible mare fell unconscious with a sigh. “Damn psychos'....” she muttered and stepped away from the mare, slumping against the wall as her hearth beat frantically in her chest. “Oh no... I... I... left her....” Euphoria said, suddenly realising that in the heat of the moment, she had abandoned the mare that had been raped by the buck earlier.

Guilt wrecked her mind as she thunk her head heavily against the back-wall, wincing at the pain, sobbing at her own selfishness. Of course, she could have gone back, but behind the guilt loomed dread, and fear – Euphoria couldn't go back, and there was no turning back no. There had to be an answer, and if some-pony knew, it had to be the Over-Mare – the self-righteous unicorn that had basically kicked her to the curb from the moment she had been born.

In Stable 9, you were nothing if you weren't in one of two basic groups: Maintenance or Research. Euphoria as so many others had the unfortunate luck of getting a teddy-bear cutie mark with a heart on its stomach, which essentially meant she was a healer. A healer, was born into the hooves of mare that was the head of Research. To say that Euphoria was doomed from the start, was a bit much but she didn't have a great beginning.

Euphoria got up as quickly as she could, shunting the guilt-trip to the back of her mind for now – there was a time and a place for that, and this was neither. The streaks of blood slowly faded as she stepped out of the hallway, into a much larger room with several doors going off to various parts of the Stable.

The door to the Atrium had been sealed up, and with Euphoria's pip-buck proclaiming – very loudly – that it was locked, she didn't care to open it. Above her, the lights flickered as the heavy drone of the generators cut out briefly, but quickly came back on. Opposite Euphoria, the door to the male dorm was wide-open, and as she squinted her eyes down the darkened hallway. Within, she could see a limp hoof smeared with blood, as it hung limply out from a door.

She grimaced and stalked the room with her eyes, carefully eyeing the two remaining doors – one leading into the V.R room, and the other leading to the entrance, and to no surprise, it stood wide open. “Well... HE should known something,” Euphoria said, grumbling as she slowly trotted towards the simulation room, cowering against the wall as she heard hoof-steps coming from inside.

“Stupid machine! Stupid ponies! Burn!” A buck snickered and cackled in a raspy voice as the sound of metal-on-metal echoed outwards from the room, stinging in Euphoria's ears. The rotting smell coming from the room, didn't make matters better either. “Fuck! Fuckers! Fucktoad!?” The buck cackled as machinery hissed and crackled heavily – clearly, he was doing damage to the room.

“Will you stop that?” Euphoria smiled at the sound of the eternally stoic machine. A voice-enabled mainframe did have its perks. “You are damaging my circuitry and if you don't stop, I'll have to take matters into my own hooves.” At the sound of his threat, the disillusioned and insane pony inside answered back by hitting something else, and it gave off a loud 'twang' as he hit it. “Fine. Guns!” The loud hum of very high caliber turrets being lowered sounded, but the banging continued.

For a brief moment, the roar of gunfire echoed and when it ended the banging had stopped; also, there was no more psychotic laughter. Euphoria peeked her head inside the room, seeing the brown buck laying dead on the floor, his side painted by enough holes to make him a swiss cheese. She grimaced at the sight, and looked towards the dented egg-shell still fairly useable. “Hello, HE. Can you tell me what the heck is going on?” Euphoria almost screamed the question at the air, as she stepped through the mangled doorway, avoiding the bloody corpse as much as possible.

“Oh. Hello, madame. Invasion is the most appliacable word, but I'm surprised that you are still alive. Thirty minutes after the intial assault.” Only thirty minutes? Euphoria frowned at the thought, feeling that defeated feeling wash over her now, partially blood-covered body.

“What about the Stable? Where are the others?” she asked, carefully stepping over the stallion as she inspected the damage he had done on the terminal sitting comfortablly atop a metal-table.

“My sensors have been severly damaged, but 45% retreated into the Atrium, and inner laboretories of the complex, including your mother. I have been trying to raise the others, including the Over-Mare, but my access codes seem to have been revoked. Her mother didn't trust me, and now she seems to have come to the same conclusion.”

Euphoria looked over the terminal, growling at the cracked screen and partially ripped out circuitry. Luckily, the storage-unit had survived the minor assault she surmised as logs tallied on the screen of her Pip-Buck when she hooked it up to the terminal. “I'm not surprised at all. What about the scouting-party?”

“They haven't showed up on my sensors, but twenty or so attackers entered the doors along with one recorded Pip-Buck wearer: #215.”

Nightpick.... Euphoria scrambled to her hooves and ran out of the room, her hooves almost slipping on the wet floor as she bolted through the doorway to the entrance. She heard nothing but the sound of her own hoof-beats, as walls of metal-panelling swished past; the wind hurtling against her body.

The hallway that connected the entrance to the rest of the Stable, had never seemed longer than it did now. Euphoria let her goal drown out everything. Her fear, her guilt, her nagging want for any sort of answer – It didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was that Nightpick, a fellow pony was in trouble.

Euphoria stumbled to a stop, nearly falling face first down the set of lettuce-work stairs that lead from the door into the entrance-room. Her stomach heaved and she retched – the stench of rotting flesh along with a deep musk of semen hung in the air. Through the half-open gear-shaped door, harsh sunlight illuminated the room.

Mangled bodies lay in heaps around the room as one pony walked amonst them, chuckling low to himself as Euphoria stood by the entrance to the inner Stable, shrouded in the looming darkness. “Nothing! Fucking Gearshift!” the pony cursed and kicked into a limp body, cackling as he brought out a blade from the saddlebag that hung across his chest.

It sliced deftly through the air, and then through the hoof of a pony as the stallion ripped the Pip-Buck off of a dead mare. “Valuable? Can trade.” He nodded to himself, clearly happy with his blood-soaked retrievel. In the other end of the room, a mare sat limply against a wall – blood covering her body from muzzle to flank, a pool of the grimey stuff collecting under her torn golden tail.

Euphoria muttered the name under her breath, “Nightpick....” The grim stallion perked his ears and instantly he fixed his gaze on the young mare with the mahogeny coat, standing in the way. “Oh... hey....” Euphoria started nervously as she watched the stallion step forward so he had a clear shot to her from his spot. “Mind leaving Stable 9?”

lluminated by the fierce sunlight from behind, the silhoutte of the stallion looked even more dangerous than the pony himself. Saliva was dripping from his blood-caked muzzle, and jagged yellow teeth. His face carried several severe scars that had never fully healed, and one of his ears was missing a large chunk of it from the tip. He also wore some kind of mangled-together barding that looked like it would fall apart at the slightest touch. It had clearly been made to look more fierce, than to actually protect the pony underneath.

Even though the buck said nothing, Euphoria knew his mind was already hard at work at thinking up all the things he wanted to do to her.

Coming out the other side, Euphoria slid and fell against the floor heavily, as she flailed her hooves as she looked into the eyes of the insane stallion following her. Quickly though, the look of menace turned to a look of fear as the stallion braced his hooves, but it was too late, and he screamed as he stumbled.

His hooves made contact with Euphoria's struggling body, and he went crashing into the floor, tumbling to the heavy metal-door leading into the Atrium with a loud thunk. “Thank you!” Euphoria said, and thanked her stars for her own level of luck. At least, in some matters.

“Turn him to cheese if he moves, would you?” Euphoria smiled, as she focused her eyes on the egg shell, waiting for a quick response.

“Certainly,” the robotic voice replied, and as quickly as he had replied, Euphoria bolted back to the entrance area, stifling her own gagging-noises as she stepped down the lettuce-stairs and approached Nightpick. She stared off into nothing, her eyes glazed over and empty. She wasn't even shaking, she was just not there any-more; she was emotion-less.

“Hey,” Euphoria said as she sat down in front of Nightpick, forcing a smile; her ears twitchint at a low ticking sound. “I know it hurts, but you can't stay here. The over-mare...” Euphoria frowned briefly, “I don't know what's up with her, but it's you and me now.” Nightpick continued to stare into nothing, but as Euphoria reached a hoof out to touch her, Nightpick jerked back, panting as she shivered and stared in surprise at her fellow Stable-mare. “Welcome back.” Again, Euphoria did her best to force a smile.

“T-they...” Nightpick shook uncontrollably for a moment as her head drooped, and she stared into her own murky pool. “Y-you d-d-don't know anything.... Oh Celestia... i-it was horrible...” she bit her lip, and shook her head – her matted mane falling deftly into her eyes, but she didn't care. “T-the things th-they did...”

You don't have to tell me, Nightpick. I know I haven't treated you that well, but we have to leave, and we're better off in a group.”

“D-didn't help the others,” Nightpick said sternly, staring into Euphoria's eyes, her own hiding deeper pain than she let on. “The over-mare... s-she... did this.... She told me herself... Our expedition? It was all a trick! Ju-just a way to lure these” – Nightpick's eyes darted around the room briefly as she searched for the right word – “things!” she blurted out suddenly, and whimpered, tucking her hooves in tight as she sat, still shivering against the cold wall.

atchwork frowned, but even she didn't believe that the over-mare could do that. Sure, she was a bit of a paranoid, but to go as far as to murder half the Stable, and then not to admit to it? No, that had to be a lie. “Come on, you don't believe that? I mean, she adored you!” Euphoria felt a twinge of jealousy, but simple shoved it away as this was not the time – it was never the time.

The shivering pale-purple mare touched her pip-buck with a limp hoof, as scratched audio came out from the small speaker – a recording of some kind. “Open this fucking door!” A grim stallion blurted out, as a mare whimpered in the background. “Shut that bitch up!” Another batch of scratch came through, before the stallion's voice returned. “Do you think I'm fucking with you, whore? I'll fuck your Stable to pieces, and sell your remains into slavery unless you open this door!”

“He did....” Nightpick said slowly as a low beeping noise came out from her, and Euphoria's eyes went wide as she saw the lines of explosives packed neatly against Nightpick's waist.

“Peek-a-boo!” The voice sent a shiver down Euphoria's back as she looked towards the door-opening, seeing a grinning charcoal stallion standing there, his smile going from ear to ear as he bit down on a small device with a red button, and the explosives tied to her friend's back, gave off a single tone.

Oh no! Euphoria scrambled to her hooves but she wasn't quick enough, and her entire backside was painted in the gory remains of Nightpick. She didn't scream, and Euphoria just stared at the stallion as he cackled and galloped out the door, his hooves slowly echoing lower and lower.

“You...!” She said, gritting her teeth together as she darted out the door, following the stallion as only one idea occupied her mind, and nothing could keep her away from that.

This raider was going to pay, and he was going to pay hard.

Footnote: Level up

New Perk: Mommy's filly -- Just like your precious mother, you've devoted your time to intellectual pursuits. You gain an additional 5 points to both the Science and Medicine skills.

Comments

[Prince_Staghorn]

Love it already!

[TheBobulator]

Alright, you have my attention. I'm interested in where this goes.

[Noakwolf]

I can't believe no one has formally greeted you. Since that is the case... Welcome to the FoE community! By creating this story you have join many who have also created stories based in the FoE universe. I welcome you, and hope that you and your story prosper!

I also read a bit of your story, and from what I can see it looks pretty good. As such I leave you with a like, and mustache.

- Noakwolf