Chapter One: In Our Town

„You can’t have a nightmare if you never dream”

A silent crackling echoed through narrow, dim lit hallways. It reverberated through empty staircases and silent atriums before getting lost somewhere in the depths of a never-ending metallic maze of corridors and aisles.

Suddenly, a loud and overly-enthusiastic voice boomed, amplified by the rebounds from the iron walls. Yet, despite its overstated fervency, it still somehow sounded empty and hollow.

“Good morning, Stable!” – the voice announced with a little crackle. - “It is time for yet another cheerful and productive day in our glorious Stable; a utopia where we are kept safe from the horrors brought on due to the disarray caused by the differences of those before us. ”

A few seconds passed as whoever was on the other side of the speaker let their morning wishes sink in.

“This is why in our Stable, we are all the same. We are all uniform. We are all equal. ” – the voice resumed in a more serious and formal tone, having lost its over-enthusiasm. – “And that equality is what makes you and everypony else happy and safe.”

A slightly longer pause ensued as the announcer shuffled their papers.

“And now for this morning’s news” – the voice continued having regained its eagerness. - “The daily rations of porridge have been increased by three percent thanks to the hard work of our farmers down on the agricultural level. Be sure to congratulate them if you see one, and make them feel the appreciation we all have for their hard work.”

“In other news, the Overmare would also like to invite you all to the inauguration ceremony of our young foals into the working society of our Stable. The grand ceremony will take place this afternoon in the main atrium." - the voice concluded. - "And according a credible source - there will be cake after the proceedings."

With that, the broadcast ended, replaced instead with yet another gleeful march, this one singing about equality in some small town. By the time the song was over and replaced by another, similar one, the Stable's corridors were had already been filled up with silent chatter as ponies began scrambling around to their daily duties in the previously empty hallways.

*** *** ***

Somewhere in the Stable a Pegasus stallion stuck out his light grey wings from under the bedsheet, slightly annoyed by the rude intrusion of the morning broadcast into his slumber. Well it was more of a drowse, really; however, a pony takes what he can get. He carefully raised his head from the pillow, still groggy from the lack of sleep and the sudden awakening, and slowly pulled out his stiff forelegs from under it, stretching them. He did the same with his hind legs as he waved them around in the air, waiting for his muscles to start listening to his brain.

He lay like that for a couple more seconds, looking around his small, shady room, still on the fringe between being awake and falling back to sleep. This early in the morning and lit only by the red emergency lights, the room seemed even smaller than usual and he suddenly felt very constricted and out of breath. This felling was not unusual for the Pegasi in the Stable, as their natural instincts longed for the open skies which were quite short in supply in this small and tight steel bunker.

Looking around the room, the pony saw his small metal work desk which was bolted to the floor next to his bed and a grey metallic locker that stood across from it. In it was his Stable jumpsuit along with a small number of private possessions the Pegasus manged to acquire over the years. Most of it was junk, virtually useless machine parts which he salvaged while working the generator duty, however, hidden among them were also pieces of treasure - a few otherwise forbidden books stashed beneath a double bottom, safely away from the prying eyes of the guards which conducted weekly room inspections. He never really understood exactly what made these books so “dangerous to the well-being of the Stable” that they need to be disposed of. What he understood even less was how a book can be allowed one day and forbidden the next. It’s not like somepony adds anything new to them.

“It is time for yet another cheerful and productive day in our glorious Stable.” – he mockingly repeated the phrase from the morning broadcast while getting up, careful not to be heard by any security pony that might be passing by his quarters on their morning patrol.

He knew very well how those who spoke against the Overmare would end up. They would just disappear one day and later a rumour would spread that they had died in some sort of a convenient accident. It has always been like that, but especially so after that little crisis a few years ago when a group of Pegasi tried to kill the Overmare. Ever since, the Overmare has been cracking down hard on even the slightest offences, especially if there is even a slightest opposition to her authority involved. Even for the smallest offences for which there were no formal punishments, ponies would end up getting worse jobs at the rotation or the cantina worker would mysteriously run out of food when they came to collect their rations. All this made many, especially the Pegasi, who were much less numerous compared to other two races, secretly question if this “equality for all” thing is so great after all. Obviously, nopony dared voice their concerns.

How are all ponies even equal if there are those who rule and those who obey? How can a society except to prosper if those who rule keep those whom they rule over in a state of submission and fright, not listening or accepting their criticism? Can a society improve if there is no one to introduce new beliefs and opinions? These and many other questions occupied the mind of the grey Pegasus as he slowly made his way towards the small bathroom that was adjoined to his main room.

While somehow clenching the toothbrush with one of his forehooves and awkwardly circling it on his teeth, another reason why he envied the unicorns on their magic, he looked in the mirror at the framed picture of the light-purple unicorn staring at him from across the room. It stood above the small iron desk next to his bed, as it did in everpony’s quarters, staring down on them with the eternally serious gaze. Under it was a small plaque with the name of the unicorn - “Starlight Glimmer”. The sight of her name was so omnipresent throughtout the Stable that the Pegasus has even learned to read it directly from the mirror.

The pony knew very well who she was, as her heritage and legacy was something which was taught excessively in the Stable’s school. He could remember countless long hours he spent learning about her philosophy from the manifesto she wrote, which was something akin to a holy book in the Stable. It was also re-written in several forms, each one for a different age-group of ponies. That way, her thoughts and musings followed a pony from their birth until their death, always packed in an appropriate package, ranging from "Equality for Fillies: How to be Fair on the Playground" all the way to "Philosophical and Sociological Studies on the Equality Principles.".

This education was then furthered in schools, of course, in a special subject simply named - “Equality” - which, curiously, accounted for around fifty percent of the entire curriculum. The rest of the time fell off to general studies which a pony needed to perform work around the Stable. Because, as foals are thaught from the youngest age, the pony’s greatest purpose in life is to make their life better through work and sacrifice for the greater good. And to further enhance the sense of equality, nopony specialised in a specific occupation, but rather everyone was trained to do everything. The flaws of this system were obvious on every step from the rusty power generator to the quality of grown crops, however, nopony dared to question the Overmare or worse yet, Starlight's philosophy.

It should also go without saying that no studies of or attempts at art were encouraged. There were no musicians, painters or writers, as individuals with such talents would be just that – individuals, lone entities isolated from the collective.

The schooling system would often go to extreme lengths to make sure nopony got a Cutie Marks as they were viewed as something that broke the sense of equality in the Stable, disallowing the ponies to truly be happy as they would have to pursue their talent for the rest of their life. If a pony were to begin to show signs of proficiency at something, they would immediately be reassigned to another set of studies. Those few who still somehow managed to get their Cutie Marks would be forced to undergo a very physically and psychologically painful process of removal, and even after their mark of difference would be removed, they would always be on the fringe of society.

However, work still had to be done around the Stable so a rather curious system was implemented where a pony's job would be randomly selected every few months. This cycle meant nopony would have the chance to neither do something for longer periods of time nor specialise in a specific job which further reinforced the idea that Cutie Marks were nothing more than a hindrance.

Furthermore the ponies weren’t differentiated even by name as everypony was given a two part number to represent them in the collective. The first number indicated which race the pony was - 1 for the Earth Ponies, 2 for the Unicorns and 3 for the Pegasi, the last and the least favoured of all races in the Stable. The second number was being assigned on birth order via some system that only the Overmare understood.

"3-14." - the Pegasus mockingly recited his "name" between toothbrush strokes. - "Whatever genius came up with that one?"

Finally done with his morning routine, the Pegasus placed the towel back on its handle next to the small metallic sink and took a moment to admire his work in the mirror.

Looking at his face he saw that the lack of the sunlight left its imprint as his pale grey coat looked almost white in the cold light emanating from the diode light above his mirror. Similarly to most other ponies in the Stable who weren’t born with dark coat colours, the lack of natural light depleted his skin from any darker pigments, leaving it looking pale and faded. He tried many times to darken his skin, as darker skin was something of a status symbol in the Stable and automatically made a stallion more attractive due to its rarity, but this attempts were to little avail.

Not to fool somepony, he was far from ugly, but he didn't posses most of the handsome face features those war stallions in the history books had. However, what he lacked the most, in his eyes, was a nice muscular figure. Despite his natural Pegasus agility and the scarce rations, he still somehow managed to put on a few pounds from the lack of physical activity. The access to the Stable’s gym was only reserved for the members of the Security forces and all the jobs he has gotten on the rotation so far have been mostly sedentary: toaster repair, clinic duty, PipBuck maintenance and his latest job – food dispenser in the cantina. It was as fun as watching paint dry on a wall; however it did provide him with some extra food from the leftovers.

Well, at least there a saving grace in that his pale coat did contrast nicely with his black and grey mane, which despite his best attempts to make something out of, was still messy and disorderly from the sleep, looking like a burnt mop. A few runaway hairs poked him in the eyes as he did his best to comb them back in line with the rest. After several unsuccessful tries, he finally gave up, leaving the hairs scattered all around, from his forehead all the way to the base of his neck. Although long mane, especially so on the stallions, was something which was also generally frowned upon in the Stable, he didn’t really much care for it as he had no aspiration to become one of those model citizens which proudly paraded around with their medals. It was not that he didn’t have it in him to become one, on the contrary, he was a very bright and able pony, it was just that he had too much pride in him to suck up to the Overmare and her goons.

His look then fell upon his dark green eyes and the black bags underneath them, which he could swear added at least five extra years to his face. In spite of his best efforts to catch some sleep whenever he can, he still got very little of it. For this though, he knew he could not blame the Overmare, as he did for so much. It was his own fault that he often stayed up late, reading books he borrowed from the library. The books were mostly technical in nature, but he didn’t complain as they were one of the few sources of entertainment for him, especially when compared to the books which were sanctioned by the Overmare. He would take a book on the inner workings of a power generator over the “285 Rules of Equality” any day. Not to deceive anypony, he wasn’t one of those bookworm ponies, he in fact enjoyed hanging out with others whenever he had a chance, but his choice of friends was severely hindered by the fact that Pegasi in generally weren’t very popular. This was mostly thanks due to their low population and prejudices towards them going all the way to when the Stable closed. The origin of this tense relationship between the Pegasi and other ponies was that originally the Stable was supposed to be filled with equal number of Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi, 333 of each to be exact, however on the day of its closing, for reasons not known, only a hoof-full of Pegasi showed up at the Stable door. This mysterious disappearance made the Stable short-staffed, forcing the finely-tuned system to hastily adapt and operate at a lower efficiency. In turn, this also left the Pegasi as a minority, leaving them vulnerable to harassment of other ponies, as many believed that Pegasi had abandoned Equestria in the time of the greatest of disasters. Even though after hundred years the population ratio mostly returned to normal via some unpopular reproduction laws, the prejudices still remained, causing a deep conflict which split the Stable. There were only a few among Earth Ponies and the Unicorns who had no trouble with the Pegasi, and these were mostly the younger colts and fillies, who made friends with Pegasi during their earliest years.

Looking away from the mirror, the pony saw a truly alarming sight - his clock showed he was only five minutes away from the start of his shift. He quickly finished with drying up, jumped into his blue and yellow Stable jumpsuit with a big equality sign etched on the flanks and rushed out of the door and into the corridor. The metal hydraulic door leading to his room hadn’t even fully closed and he was already jumping on the first stairs to the level below, his hooves creating loud thuds as they made contact with the metal plates. The pony galloped down the stairs and though the narrow corridors, navigating the sharp turns and having more than one close encounter with the heads and bodies of other ponies.

His luck ran out, though, as he saw two ponies in Stable riot armour emerging from a side-corridor right in front of him. He only had a split of a second to admire their posture and outfit as he suddenly heard a loud crashing sound and felt a sharp pain spread through his head as he fell to the steel floor with a loud thud, spread all four of his legs around him. It looked like a scene from one of those pre-war foals’ comics; however the guard ponies found it much less entertaining as they both rose from the floor where they were thrown as a result of the sudden impact.

“Watch out …” – the brawny Earth Pony guard began with a deep and rusty voice, but then stopped for a moment as he recognized the pony underneath him and started chuckling. – “Why I am not surprised?”

“Just move on.” – the pony splayed on the floor replied pleadingly, trying to pull his legs under himself and get up.

“Who are *you* to tell *us* that?” – the other guard, a psychotic looking unicorn, joined in, shouting in the Pegasus’s face.

“You are late to work, 3-14. Again.” – the Earth Pony scoffed. – “And assaulting a member of the Security force, nonetheless.”

“Leave me alone.” – the Pegasus retorted with defiance, looking the duo directly in the eyes and trying to appear as self-confident as possible, hoping it would make the guards leave him in peace.

“Oh, ho, we got a belligerent one.” – the mare cackled as she pressed the Pegasus down to the floor and pulled on one of his wings. – “Perhaps we should clip off these pretty little wings and see if you will still be so rude. Besides, it’s not like they are useful to you for anything.”

The Pegasus winced in agony as sharp pain started bolting through his body, but did his best to keep up the defiant and stern expression which adorned his face. He attempted to wiggle out of the mare’s grasp but she managed to hold onto his wing and started pulling harder. The Pegasus could feel the pressure and sharp pain building up in his wing joint. A hint of panic rushed through his mind - he felt that there was a danger of the guard pulling his wing off.

However, he clenched his teeth, not wanting to give the mare the satisfaction of hearing him cry, and pleadingly looked into the Earth Pony standing next to the mare. His gaze was, however, met only with contempt and utter indifference coming from the brawly guard as he just looked away, seemingly uninterested.

With pain in his joint spreading all over his body and nopony coming to save him, the Pegasus decided he would have to get out of this one all alone. With his mind hazy from the torment inflicted unto him, he did only thing which he could think of and carefully reached with one of his forelegs towards the knife which was sheathed on the foreleg of the unicorn mare, above her PipBuck. He didn’t really know what he would do with it, as he was never trained to use any kind of weapon, but he hoped that a threat of stabbing might ease the mare’s grasp on him. Sadly, he never got a chance to test this theory as the Earth Pony which stood next to the mare took notice of his attempt and quickly caught his leg, twisting it and causing the Pegasus to wince in pain once again, his leg falling limp against the floor. As the mare realised what had just happened she started cackling, clearly amused by the Pegasus pitiful attempt at escaping.

“What were you going to do with it?” – she asked through her laughter. – “Stab me?”

The Pegasus didn’t answer as he was too busy fighting the pain he was currently in.

“You don’t even know how to hold it, let alone hurt somepony with it.”– the mare continued, levitating the small combat knife out of its sheath. – “But I can show you.”

She teased around the Pegasus’s wings with it, the cold metal sending shivers down the pony’s spine. The Pegasus wanted to say something back, but the sudden increase in pain caught him off-guard and he cried out in agony and desperation, causing the unicorn mare to cackle even louder.

"I think this is enough, you made your..." - the Earth pony guard began to speak in a attempt to calm the situation before a foreign voice reached the trio from the end of the corridor.

“What is going on here?” – the stallion asked the obvious, poking his head from the side corridor.

The sudden intrusion startled the guards and 3-14 felt a sense of great relief spread through his body as the mare’s grip on his wing loosed. The second relief for him came as he recognized the owner of the voice as one of the Pegasi with whom he worked in the maintenance some time ago, a pony by the name of 3-7. He was a brash and hardy young Pegasus who never turned down a fight and used any chance to give Stable’s officials what went their way. This often got him into trouble with the security due to public arguments and speaking against the Overmare and although he was never formally punished for these acts of defiance and bravado, he was somehow always assigned to the most hazardous positions such as an elevator repairpony or a part of the reactor maintenance crew. But this did little to break his spirit, contrary to what the Overmare had expected. Instead it only reinforced his rebellious nature and his opinion on her and her equality. However, probably the most importan of all right now, he was one of the few ponies 3-14 considered a proper friend.

“Move on.” – the Earth Pony broke the silence first. – “Nothing for you to see here.”

“Picking on helpless ponies again, eh mates?” – the newcomer shouted over the corridor as he slowly approached the trio, motioning to the guards with his foreleg. – “Well, why don’t yous mongrels come pick on someone yer own calibre?”

“Hey, I’m not helpless.” – the pinned Pegasus protested weakly, but was quickly silenced by a smack over his mouth from the mare which stood atop him.

“Buzz off, ‘7.” – the Earth Pony continued, now more aggressively, standing his ground in the face of the advancing Pegasus. - “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Ya are bullying one of me own, so I think it deadset right does concern me.” – the Pegasus retorted brashly and fixed his jumpsuit’s sleeves, getting ready to charge the Earth Pony.

In this situation, it is worth noting that, despite their behaviour, the Security ponies weren’t stupid, and so, not wanting to provoke yet another open conflict in the already turbulent relationship with the Pegasi, the Earth Pony decided to stand down, motioning the mare to do the same. Picking on defenceless Pegasi was one thing, but an open conflict with one could mean yet more trouble for the entire Stable. The mare neighed in protest at Earth Pony’s order, not wanting to give up her plaything, but finally gave in and stepped down in frustration after a deadpan look from her patrol partner.

Meanwhile, the sudden lack of pressure sent a massive relief through the body of the previously pinned Pegasus. He allowed himself to relax and spread out his body on the floor, waiting for his wing to recover from the unwanted force applied to it. As he recovered, he looked up at the situation in the hallway, anxious to see what will happen next. The guards and the newcomer stared at each other for a few tense moments. It looked as if it would surely all come to a head, but suprisingly the guard duo instead just turned around with scoffs and started marching off into the hallway across from the one they emerged out of.

Once the guards disappeared behind a corner, 3-7 finally approached the pony laying on the floor, helping him get up.

“You right mate?” – he asked extending a leg towards the Pegasus.

“Eh, I’ll be fine.” – the pony replied, trying to appear as tough as possible in front of other Pegasus, despite the fact he was clearly wincing in pain trying to stand on the leg which was previously twisted by the Earth Pony guard. – “I’ve had worse.”

“I doubt it.” – the other Pegasus replied with a chuckle, but decided to give 3-14 his moment of strength as he held his torso, helping him get on his hooves. – “But ya held out bloody well enough.”

“Thanks.” – 3-14 responded, finally managing to stumble to his hooves.

A few seconds of silence passed as 3-14 struggled to maintain balance on three healthy legs, moving around the fourth one in hopes the pain would rub off.

“Ya might want to get that leg checked out.” – 3-7 broke the silence, pointing his hoof to the leg which 3-14 was waving around in the air.

“No need.” – the Pegasus replied, still maintaining the brave face to the best of his abilities. – “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“I’ll just see what the PipBuck has to say about it.” – he continued, raising the other foreleg which held the metallic casing of the device to his face.

Not able to even raise his other leg, let alone press it against something, 3-14 spent some time pushing the buttons using his muzzle, trying to switch to the appropriate display on his PipBuck. Finally, the diagram of the pony’s body lit up on the screen, detailing the physical condition he was in. As he focused on it, he immediately noticed the medical warnings showing up next to his right foreleg and his wings. The first one told him that he had a minor dislocation in his leg, while the other showed his wing ligament was slightly sprained. Recalling what little he learned from his time spent working in the medical station; he knew this kind of injuries were not very severe ones, however seeking medical attention was advised due to possible complications, especially with the leg subluxation. Realising he was already very late to his shift by now and there was no sense in showing up as a likely disgruntled replacement was probably already called up, he decided it would be best to head towards the sick bay.

But them, as he raised his gaze from the glowing screen, a small metallic object lying on the floor and almost completely blended in with the steel plates, caught his attention. It stood around half a meter from him, near the place where the guard mare was first thrown to when she and the other guard collided with him. However it looked nothing akin to what the guardponies usually carried. It looked like two thin metal cuboids joined together at ninety degrees and from what 3-14 could see, the length of the larger cuboid measured around one fourth of his leg. At one end of this cuboid stood a hollow cylinder and the other end featured a weird looking half of disk angled at ninety degrees relative to the cuboid’s widest side. The imprint on the disk looked almost like if somepony had bit it, leaving the imprint of their jaw on the metal surface.

He motioned his head towards the mysterious object to the other Pegasus but he just returned a quizzical look at him, obviously unsure of the origin or the purpose of the object.

Curious as always, 3-14 limped towards the object, lowering his head towards it and giving it a probing sniff. It smelled of metal, same as the rest of the Stable, with a scent of oil which reminded the Pegasus of his time working in maintenance. Encouraged by the familiar smell, the pony carefully pushed the cuboid with his muzzle, causing it to shift slightly against the wall next to which it stood, revealing a small plate with an inscription “Ironshod Firearms” on the side of it. He recalled the name from one of the lesson about the downfalls of pre-war corporations, but he couldn’t clearly remember if they mentioned what the company had produced. Maybe it was some kind of fire safety equipment?

Still curious as alway, the Pegasus slowly angled his head to be parallel with the half-disk and bit on the jaw imprint, carefully raising the object in his teeth. As soon as did so, his PipBuck made a silent clicking sound, startling him and almost making him drop the whatever the thing was. Gazing over the object in his mouth, he raised the device into his field of vision and noticed it now showed the inventory section of the menu; a feature which he never really used before, as with the so few things ponies were allowed to carry, he knew exactly what he had on him at all times. However, this time he noticed that the inventory section showed an addition he never saw before, a “10 mm pistol” and next to it an accurate spatial projection of the object he was holding in his mouth. Under this picture stood some other information, like a bar informing him of the pristine condition in which the object was and how much ammunition it had.

Now it all clicked into place. He had heard of guns and their uses, however he never actually saw one as the Stable had a no-gun policy due to the fact that the “equality for all” also included the equality in distribution of power, meaning nothing that would allow somepony a power monopoly was allowed. Even the security forces were armed only with knives and batons to prevent them from thinking of themselves as superior to other ponies due to the advantage the firearms provided. Or at least that was what the Overmare said in her speech at every inauguration of the ponies into the security forces. The Pegasus always silently doubted her speeches and now there was clear evidence. There was no other way that this gun could have gotten where it had other than being dropped by one of the guards as a result of the crash. If he showed this to the other ponies, then the Overmare and the failure of her ways would finally be exposed.

“What is that?” – the Pegasus standing next to 3-14 asked, clearly anxious to reveal the secret of the mysterious object.

Before the other Pegasus could answer, a loud shouting from the side corridor reached the ears of the two Pegasi. They immediately recognized the voices as those of the two guard that have disappeared down that corridor just minutes ago. The guards seemed to be arguing among themselves, their conversation partially incomprehensible due to the rebound from the iron walls. However from what parts of it the two Pegasi could understand, they realised they were in big trouble.

“It must be somewhere here…” – the mare voice spoke first. – “… I couldn’t have dropped it far.”

“… you incompetent fool.” – the voice of the Earth Pony thundered. – “… you have any idea what would happen if they find it?”

“… Oh, c’mon, those chickens couldn’t find…” – the mare replied with clear contempt in her voice. – “And it’s not like they know what it is or...”

“The situation is already tense enough.” – the Earth Pony’s continued his angry rant as the guards’ hoofsteps approached the place where the Pegasi stood. – “We do not need another…”

“Well maybe if you payed closer attention, this wouldn’t have happened.” – the mare retorted angrily, her voice now more clear to the Pegasi as the guards got closer to them.

“Oh, you are blaming me?” – the Earth Pony shouted. – “You are the one who dropped it. And you’ll be the one who will tell it to the Overmare.”

“There will be nothing to tell. We will find it and…” – the mare started to respond but then suddenly stopped in her tracks as her eyes met with those of the Pegasus holding the gun.

“Well, you better hope so, because otherwise…” – the Earth Pony also began his sentences but then stopped in his tracks next to the mare as he emerged from around the corner a moment later.

The four ponies stood still for a couple of seconds, staring at each other as tension once again started building up in the air. Nopony dared to take the first step, fearing how the other side might respond. The two Pegasi suspected that the guards might be hiding more such weapons, while the guards feared that the Pegasi might try to get back at them for earlier now that they got their hooves on a gun. They all knew very well that if this situation is not properly resolved, somepony could end up in the reprocessor, their lifeless body drained of nutrients in a never-ending cycle of life and death.

Complete silence, save for the ominous sound of ponies’ heartbeats, fell upon the corridor as this bizarre staring contest continued.

3-14 could swear he could hear the throbbing of his injured leg as pain pulsated through it. Small tingles passed under the skin of all the ponies and hairs of their fur began springing up as the tension in the air reached sky-soaring levels. The ponies’ mouth went dry and their joints became numb as nopony dared to move even a muscle. Even their breathing became shallow and irregular in the anticipation.

Wanting to lessen the strain in his jaw created by tightly holding the gun with his mouth, 3-14 carefully loosened the grip on the metal piece clenched in his teeth. However as he did so, his tongue shifted slightly and he felt it scrape against something springy. Feeling the foreign sensation in his mouth, his jaw reflexively clenched the metal piece once again, his tongue hitting against the spring and, unknowingly to him, starting a chain reaction that would forever change his life.

First, a small, imperceptible thud echoed from inside the larger cuboid of the gun as the hammer fell down, striking the firing pin and pushing it forward. The firing pin then hit against the primer, causing a small explosion and producing fire which engulfed the powder within the bullet casing. The fire rapidly grew in power as pressure started building up in the base of the barrel, causing the bullet to propel forward and the slide atop the gun to push back. The bullet then rushed through the barrel, gaining momentum, as small nicks along the barrel caused it to start rotating around itself. Finally, the bullet exited the barrel with a loud bang, surrounded by wisps of smoke and fire as it lunged through the air in the direction of the mare. On the other side of the gun, the slide violently jerked backwards, impacting against the Pegasus’s muzzle and causing him to drop it along with the ejected casing which flew out of the barrel as a new cartridge replaced it.

All these events that transpired within the gun were unknown to any of the ponies standing there in the corridor, but their consequences would very soon become visible as the three pieces of metal flew through air, each following its own trajectory. The bullet found its target first as it ripped through the leg of the unicorn mare, not even giving her time to react. It pierced through her skin, teared through her tissue and punctured a few minor blood vessels before exiting on the other side of the leg, having just narrowly missed the bone. The nerves around the hole left by the bullet immediately flared up, causing the mare to scream as blood from the wound started spurting all over the pristine metallic floor. This scream was followed by another, albeit more silent one, as the Pegasus became aware of the pain which the gun’s recoil caused him. Finally, amidst all the screams, two thuds were heard as the casing and the gun impacted against the steel floor one after another.

The Earth Pony moved first, immediately jumping to screaming mare’s side and pressing his forehooves against the wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Near them, the two Pegasi still stood motionlessly, their ears still ringing from the shot, and watched the situation which was unfolding in front of their eyes. Panic rushed through 3-14’s mind as he tried to comprehend what he had just done. He just shot another pony. He killed somepony! How could he live with that on his conscious? At least, he knew, he wouldn’t need to live long with it weighing down his mind as the Overmare will certainly have him executed. He will surely disappear like all those other ponies he had heard stories about. Cold sweat streamed down his face and his legs started trembling despite the fact he was barely able to feel them.

He was torn from his panicking thoughts as he heard the mare shout his name through the screams of agony. He knew the screaming would soon attract the attention of other guards who will come to investigate what is happening. His rational mind still busy with frantic panicking, he acted on his self-preservation instincts instead, kicking the gun away from himself and making off. His Pegasus friend quickly followed his example.

This attempt was noticed by the Earth Pony guard who quickly rose up from the mare, shouting for the ponies to stop. Seeing they had no intention of doing so, he ran after them, pulling out his baton with his teeth. He lunged it at the escaping duo, but before it could cause any harm, the Pegasi turned behind a corner and the metal rod harmlessly ricocheted from the solid steel walls. Intent of giving chase to the two, the Earth Pony instructed the mare to apply pressure to her wound until the other guards could come to her aid and took off after the Pegasi. He quickly turned the same corner behind which the Pegasi had disappeared just moments ago and continued to give chase, stopping only briefly to pick up his baton.

Hearing the loud thuds of the guard’s hoofsteps behind them and seeing the dead end in front of them, the two Pegasi ran into the only place they could, a side staircase leading to the main atrium. They escalated the stairs as quickly as they could and once they were atop the staircase, 3-7 hit his hoof against the door control, causing the hydraulic door to slowly start rising. With the guard hot on their trail, they had no time to wait for the door to open completely, so as soon as they could, they squeezed through the small opening and into the main atrium where preparation for that night’s inauguration ceremony were being made.

The sudden bursting in of the two Pegasus startled everypony in the atrium and they all ceased their activities, laying their eyes upon the two newly arrived Pegasi.

“What is going on in here?” – one of the older unicorns asked, but his question deftly answered by the appearance of the bulky guard who burst in behind the Pegasi, causing them to continue their run.

“Seize them!” – the guard shouted behind the two Pegasi as they made their way across the atrium. – “Somepony stop them!”

In accordance to the guard’s orders, several Earth Ponies tried to jump in front of the Pegasi, while the Unicorns used their magic to hurl all kinds of junk in hopes of hitting the two runners. However, none of these things stopped the Pegasi as they made for the door at the other end of the atrium. To their advantage, a metal plate thrown by one of the unicorns already hit the door control and the door now stood wide open, waiting for them to escape through it.

As they yet entered another corridor, the duo noticed that the number of security ponies chasing them has increased as guards from the atrium had recovered from the initial shock and joined the Earth Pony in his pursuit. Running past a side corridor, the two ponies noticed a large group of their fellow Pegasi emerging from the one of the staircases leading down, clearly curious to see what all the conundrum was about. The group exchanged quick glances with the duo and upon seeing the guards after them, they quickly and without question joined the chase in the favour of their fellow Pegasi. They positioned themselves along the width of the corridor, restricting the guards’ access to the two runaways and allowing them to catch a much-needed break. The posse slammed into the wall of ponies blocking them from their target, but the Pegasi held and the hustle began. Many insults were thrown at the Pegasi in the clamour, only some comprehensible to those present.

“Move this instant!” – one security pony shouted, pulling out a baton with his teeth.

“No way!”- one of the Pegasi from the grouped shouted back in the face of the advancing guard.

“You birds are obstructing justice.” – a second guard continued, more violently this time, pushing into the wall of ponies.

“We have had enough of you bullying us!” – another Pegasi shouted, spitting in the face of the guard closest to him.

“Move, you worthless chickens.” – a third, younger guard, joined in as he levitated a baton from under his armour and aimed it towards the closest Pegasi, eager to get some personal fame by apprehending the suspects which hid behind them. Other followed his examples soon after as batons, shock prods and knives were pulled out from their respective sheaths and holsters.

For the Pegasi this was the last drop as one of them ran towards the nearest guard in an attempt to wrestle a baton out of his grasp. This attempt was quickly foiled by the guards standing next to their comrade as the group of them knocked the Pegasus to the floor and started beating him with their batons. Seeing their fellow Pegasus being beaten like this, the rest of the Pegasi quickly jumped to his aid, charging the guard line.

In the ensuing confusion, the Security ponies answered the charge, slashing and bludgeoning many of the Pegasi. Bones crackled under the metal rods and skin punctured under the edges of knives as with every passing moment more Pegasi fell down, the floor beginning to gain a red hue from the blood sprouting from the newly created wounds. More combatants on both sides joined in and the battle escalated, spreading to the side corridors. The fighting was still most ferocious in the middle where it began, as the guards were clearly in the lead, cutting down several Pegasi, but still unable to break through the wall of the bodies. Seeing how the situation was unfolding, the senior and more experienced security officers shouted for the guards to cease their attack, but it was in vain as it the situation has developed way beyond their control. The red hue tinting the floor now turned into a pool as several Pegasi lay or kneeled on it, bleeding from the cuts that the guards had inflicted. In some of them, leg bones protruded through the skin, having been broken and dislocated by the strong impacts of batons. Only mere meters from them, a few guards lay in similar state, although their numbers were much smaller than those of the wounded Pegasi.

Having regained their breath and having witnessed what was going on, the two Pegasi resumed their run and were quickly joined by several of the surviving Pegasi as they bolted away from the initial conflict that had just happened. The guards, seeing the Pegasi continuing their run, made for one final push through the weakened line and broke through, giving chase once again while leaving the wounded Pegasi bleeding on the floor. The chase continued through a few more hallways as security ponies tried to outflank the Pegasi through various side corridors, failing every time as the group changed their path. A few Pegasi fell during the chase, becoming nothing more but immobile obstacles for the security ponies to traverse. As they ran all over the Stable, they occasionally saw other ponies at the ends of corridors. Some covered in fear at the sight of armed guards, while others aided them. Only the Pegasi joined in to aid the runners as they tried to knock down the chasing guards, only to be thrown back with various degrees of injuries.

It was only after the group ran past a sign announcing the Stable entrance is nearby, that 3-14 realised what the guard were doing: they were not trying to cut them off; they were herding them into a dead end. But before he could warn anypony, the group burst into the Stable’s entrance chamber, tripping over the small stairs that led down from the platform and towards the massive Stable door.

As they recovered from the fall, the Pegasi saw the trap which they were led into. They were now standing alone with against the entire Stable security force; all of which were in their full combat readiness, clad in Stable riot armour and pointing their weapons at the runaways. Curiously, 3-14 noticed, none of them wielded their guns; am interesting observation that he would have certainly given much more thought had the situation not require otherwise. Seeing the armed guards, the Pegasi tried taking a step back, but their flanks impacted against the cold steel of the Stable door, causing some of the guards to laugh at their pitiful attempt.

“This is all my fault.” – 3-14 whispered silently, as he looked over the small Pegasus group, a tear forming in his eye. –“If I hadn’t picked up that gun…”

Almost all of them were now lying on the floor, succumbing to their wounds as small pools of blood formed around their unhealed slash wounds or places where their wing bones penetrated the skin. Even 3-14 himself was trembling as the pain from his leg, which he had ignored all this time, spread through his body. The only Pegasus who stood his ground was 3-7, pacing from one pony in the group to another and checking on them, paying little attention to his own wounds.

“Ey, don’t blame yourself mate.” – 3-7 whispered as he came to 3-14’s side, trying to comfort him. – “You couldn’t have known.”

“Ignorance doesn’t make me any less guilty for taking somepony’s life.” – he replied, with a weight on his heart.

“Oh, c’mon mate, ya barely grazed her…” – 3-7 started, but before 3-7 could finish, a shifting among the ranks of the security ponies caught his attention, making him and the rest of the Pegasi look up towards the source of this sudden and unexpected movement. It lasted for a few moments, before the two guard closest to them moved apart, revealing a figure they all knew too well emerging from the sea of black riot armour – the Overmare. She walked to the front of the guard formation, stopping only a few meters away from the ragged band of Pegasi. She took a moment to look over them, no doubt to admire the work her posse did.

Before she could open her mouth to speak, 3-7, his blood still boiling from the recent events and seeing this as a perfect opportunity to avenge his fallen brothers, used the moment to run towards the mare, lunging at her.

“Ya monster!” – he cried out as he flew through the air towards the Overmare. – “This is all yer fault!”

However, his attempt was abruptly stopped as two of the Overmare’s guards enveloped him in their magic, stopping him mid-air. He continued shouting insults until another unicorn used his magic to clasp his mouth shut, much to the amusement of the rest of the guards who laughed at the Pegasus’s failure. However, their cackling was promptly silenced by the Overmare with a wave of her hoof and she finally used the moment to speak.

“Do you have any idea what you have done?” – she spoke in a silent, serious tone, looking over the Pegasi in front of her. – “What were you thinking going around shooting guards? And as if that was not enough for you, you went on to engage in open conflict with the guards.”

A few seconds of silence passed as nopony dared to answer to question.

“We had done what was right.” – one of the wounded Pegasi from the group said weakly, turned back to the group for support. – “We showed everyone that we had had enough of your bullying and discrimination.”

He was only supported by a few weak and silent voices, not unlike that of his own.

“You are wrong.” – she answered. – “By attacking the Stable officials, you attacked the very system which we all live by. What will other think when they hear of this?”

“And what good is a system which crumbles when those who belong to it fight for their freedom and basic pony decency?” – another Pegasi shouted. – “What good is it?”

“It is the best we have!” – the Overmare shouted back, this question obviously hitting her in the nerve.

“If there is room for improvement, then it is obviously not the best.” – yet another Pegasi threw himself in the conversation with a bit of sarcasm.

“Tell me, do you really think you were the first with who stand before me with such demands and ideas?” – the Overmare said, regaining most of her composure. – “Ponies instinctively reject that what is foreign, just like a body rejects an organ which is not its own. And the only way to make it work is to supress the immune system; and isn’t suppression that what you rebel against the most? Don’t you see? This is the way the things have been working for the last century and a half and this is the only way they can work. I will not sacrifice the majority of the Stable to accommodate the few.”

“So you decided to slaughter us all in the hallway?” – the Pegasus continued with unwavering determination. – “Is that your answer?”

“So much for all that equality crap you feed us to keep us docile.” – another one joined him.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have fed you anything at all.” – a particularly witty guard threw across the room, looking at his comrades for approval.

“Silence, all of you!” – the Overmare finally spoke again, amplifying her voice with magic.

This sentenced silenced the both groups mentioned as they started at the Overmare. Seeing this as his opportunity to perhaps make things even little better, 3-14 slowly stumbled forward to face the Overmare and deliver his speech.

“As one of the main causes of this incident, only thing I can say is that I’m very sorry.” – he began, fighting tears. – “I never intended for this to happen.”

3-7, still suspended mid-air, made an effort to stop him with a motion of his hoof, but the Pegasus just brushed it off, continuing his speech.

“I will surrender and go peacefully to whatever fate you have intended for me…” – he continued, now looking the Overmare directly into the eyes. – “…if you agree to let go of the others and give them the medical attention they need.”

“As if you could do anything else.” – one of the guards retorted at the Pegasus, but was quickly silenced by a deadly look from the Overmare.

“I am afraid that will not be possible.” – she finally said, looking over the grey Pegasus and the rest of group, trying to sound as reasonable as possible. – “You and your friends must be made an example of. What will ponies think if they see you fighting with Security one day and walking around the Stable the next day as if nothing happened?”

“So what? You will just slaughter us like them other Pegasi?” – 3-7 shouted in the Overmare’s face, finally breaking his muzzle free of the unicorn’s spell. – “And the security will go unpunished as always.”

“Despite what you think of me, I would never order a massacre.” – the Overmare replied, still maintaining the calm and serious appearance. – “I’m not a monster,some of you obviously think me to be. I only do that what is best for the Stable.”

“Then what is the point of this little rant you held just now?” – the Pegasus asked, still shouting in the mare’s face.

“Because I hoped it would provide you with at least a little explanation as to what I am going to do next.” – she said as she took a few steps back and motioned towards the guards.

The guards nodded and, suddenly, the chamber started emptying as the guards exited through the hydraulic doors, leaving only the Overmare’s personal guard standing around her. The Overmare herself climbed the platform and walked towards a small yellow control panel that stood in its centre. Before she reached it, however, she motioned for two of the guards to stop, and 3-14 immediately recognized them as the duo he had met in the hallway when all of this madness started. Now he had at least had some comfort knowing he will not have to live with a life of another pony on his conscious. He knew it was a selfish thing to think, given the situation of the other Pegasi, but it provided him comfort, nonetheless.

“You will join them.” – she said, motioning to them once again, this time towards the Pegasi which stood near the door.

“What?!” – the Earth Pony stallion responded confused, unsure of what the Overmare meant by her request. – “Why are you putting us in the basket with them? We did nothing wrong.”

“Yes.” – the Unicorn mare quickly joined in to support his comrade. – “Is this some sort of a sick joke?”

“Your actions are what caused all this to start.” – she said as she began pushing buttons on the console. – “And as such, it is only fair that you share the part of the punishment.”

“But it’s all their fault.” – the mare continued in an effort to save her flank, pointing towards the Pegasi. – “Those chickens started it all.”

“But…” - the Earth Pony guard also opened his mouth to protest again, but was promptly silenced by a deadly look from the Overmare as two of her personal guard walked towards the other two guards, intending to escort them towards the Pegasi.

Seeing nothing can be done and hoping to retain at least a portion of his pride, the Earth Pony fixed his gaze on the floor and started walking towards the Pegasi, while the mare tried to struggle in hopes of galloping towards the Overmare and begging her not to punish her. However the guards firmly gripped her and carried her towards the Stable door, throwing her among the ponies that stood in front of it. She continued laying there, realising her defeat. A strange silence fell on the chamber as Overmare tinkered with the control panel, turning levers and speaking in some strange language of letters and numbers. This went on for some time before a small, yet a sad, smile appearing on her face marked that she was clearly content with her work and she raised her head from the panel to address the group of ponies in front of her.

“The only way for the Stable to have any chance to return to normal is to make the other Pegasi believe you were punished for your crimes. Otherwise your presence will only more problems. And as such, the only way to do so is to remove you from the Stable.” – the Overmare proclaimed after another moment of silence, once again amplifying her voice and making sure to catch the attention of everypony still present in the chamber. – “I hereby proclaim you guilty of treason and expel you from the society of our Stable.”

A collective gasp filled the room as the ponies in front of the Stable door realised the meaning of her sentence. Everpony, except for the Earth Pony guard, clamoured and pleaded the Overmare to reconsider but their pleas fell on deaf ears as she pulled a handle on the panel, causing the metal gears around the great Stable door to come to life. First, a huge cylinder descended from the ceiling of the room, connecting itself against the Stable door and slowly pulled them out of their frame with a loud hissing noise as the hydraulic systems struggled to keep the massive steel door from falling over. Then the cylinder retracted, letting the gears around the door roll the huge disk of steel and chrome aside. A gust of cold wind ran over the bodies of everypony in the room as the door finally opened, revealing the darkness beyond them.

“So what, instead of killing us and bloodying your hooves, you’ll let the irradiated desert do it for you?” – 3-7 bellowed as he faced the Overmare once again, having been released in the meantime. – “Ya bloody coward. You know deadset right that the wounded won’t last a day out there.”

The Pegasus continued to throw insults, but despite the shouting aimed at her, the Overmare remained silent and unmoving as she looked into the darkness behind the ponies, collecting her thoughts. After a couple seconds, she motioned to her guards once again and some of them stepped forwards, forming a half circle which slowly pushed the ponies towards the Stable door, one of them even levitating two sets of saddlebags over the ponies’ heads and into the blackness behind them. They impacted against the ground with a loud thud as their contents rumbled inside. Seeing this as a cue to leave and faced with no other choice presented to them, the ponies slowly got up. The Pegasi supported each other as much as they could while the disgraced unicorn guard kept his distance from them as much as possible, trying not to make eye contact with any of the ponies present. Slowly, heavily, under the watchful eye of the Overmare and a couple of her personal guards, the group made their way through the door, loud thuds echoing through the room as their weighty hooves impacted against the steel rim of the Stable door’s frame. The unicorn exited last, looking over the Overmare and the Stable, her face betraying a feeling of anger and resentment due to, what she though was, an unjust and undeserved punishment.

Just as she stepped on the dirt on the other side of the door, something else flew through them as well, landing near the 3-14’s hooves with a hollow metallic sound.

“There!” – one of the guards shouted from behind the door with a sadistic grin. – “I took out the magazine, but there is still one in the chamber. Should be enough to blow your skull.”

It took him a moment to recognize what it is in the darkness, but when a single ray of light shone on it, he immediately realized what it was. The shape would be something he wouldn't forget anytime soon. It was a gun. The gun. He was sure it was the Overmare’s last act of mockery. But then again, as he looked back, he caught a glimpse strange emotion which bled through her otherwise stoic façade. It looked like… lament? He couldn't be sure. He didn't get much time to wonder, though, as moments later, the Overmare pulled the lever once against, beginning the door's closing sequence. Moments later, the door indeed started closing, slowly depraving the ponies of the cold light which was coming from the Stable. The group’s attention was now devoted solely to the massive steel disk as it rolled back in it frame.

Seconds before it closed, one of the wounded Pegasus stumbled to his hooves and rushed towards the door in a desperate attempt to get in. This attempt was, however, quickly foiled by the guards who stood on the other side of the door as one of them struck him with a baton and sent him hurtling towards the ground. Other Pegasi rushed to his aid, but before they could even reach him the door closed with a loud hiss, leaving the group in complete darkness.

Chapter Two: The Other Side

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“'Cause right now I'm learnin'
How to get to the other side"

“Would ya stop that noise already?” – a voice shouted through the darkness as the latest in a series of metallic thuds echoed in the empty cave. – “Ya do realise that thing is so thick it can probably withstand a direct hit from a bloody balefire blast? It’ll do no good but give us all headaches.”

Whoever this message was intended for seemingly ignored it as a new series of desperate knocks reverberated in the dark.

“I swear I’m going to…” – the owner of the voice mumbled to himself, straightening up in the dark, ready to silence the noisy offender. However, whatever he was about to do was interrupted as the Pegasus holding onto him collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Concerned, the stallion quickly gave up on his intentions and bent down to see what’s wrong with his friend - a task made much more difficult by the darkness that surrounded everypony in the cave. Several other ponies also rushed to their fallen friend, all eager to help out if they could.

Having relatively recent experience in the medbay and eager to do something, anything, to ease the guilt that was already slowly eating away at his insides, 3-14 was the first to extend his hoof. Relaying solely on his sense of touch, he slowly gilded it across the wounded Pegasus’s body in an effort to identify the cause,all the while hoping it could be treated. After getting his friends kicked out of the Stable, the last thing he wanted was to have a death on his conscious as well. To his horror, however, the further he went, the more his hoof became enveloped in a viscous liquid that sent shivers down his spine and froze him in place.

He knew all too well what blood feels like on one’s coat.

As the viscous red fluid dripped from his hoof and onto the dirt floor under him - an uninvited memory suddenly tore through his mind…

- - - - - - - - - -

It was a truly special morning for 3-14 – the first day of his working life in the Stable. Just yesterday, he was but a mere schoolpony, reciting equality poems and writing never-ending essays on the topic of impartiality. Just yesterday, he sat with his fellow ponies in school benches (divided of course, in three equal rows, each containing an equal number of ponies of each race) and listened on to how the ponies before the apocalypse destroyed each other due to their differences. Just yesterday, he received his Star Diploma, a sign that he had graduated and was ready to contribute to the Stable’s society like all grownups do.

He vividly remembered how immediately after receiving the said certificate he also received another piece of paper – one containing his first workstation assignment – reactor maintenance. It was not the shiniest of jobs – that’s for sure – in fact, it was one of the more dangerous ones, but the mere prospect of joining the working class made him stay up all night. He could already see himself in a new shiny jumpsuit, standing among his fellow workers. He could feel the smooth cold touch of polished metal plates. He could hear the metal screeching of wrenches as they scraped against rusty screws. He could smell the scent of lithium grease and motor oil as it is rubbed against the big steel bearings. He could taste the savoury taste of broth as it is served in the canteen between the shifts as he sits down after a day of hard work. He even dared to imagine that one day he would stand before the entire Stable as the Overmare presented him with the gold medal of the Hero of Stable Labour – the highest honour anypony in the Stable could earn.

“Yes!” – he thought, as childish idealism surged through his mind. – “That is something everypony should strive for. And that is something he would dedicate his life for.”

After all, if he had managed to handle all the trouble he got in at school, he could surely handle everything that was in front of him.

Now, it wasn’t that he was a trouble-maker at school, but trouble somehow always seemed to find him and his friends. He couldn’t be sure as to why, but he suspected it had something to do with the fact that they were all Pegasi and the students of the other two races didn’t really like that. They used to tease them and call them names, which led to hoof-fights on more than one occasion. To be fair, these fights weren’t serious nor did they last long as they were always quickly broken up by the ever-present Security ponies. But because of all this, 3-14 took great comfort in the fact that he was done with his school days. After all, surely everything would be better now that is joining the “real” life of the Stable and will be regarded as equal to everypony else.

All these thoughts and many more similar swarmed through his head as he headed towards his workstation, a fresh new Stable suit tightly fit around his body. The shiny tools secured around his waist jingled as he bounced through the corridors, greeting and gleefully smiling at whomever he came across. This gesture got varying degrees of response, from happy hellos from his fellow Pegasi to grumpy grumbling or even snarks from some of the Security ponies who passed by him on their morning patrol. Finally, he arrived at the elevator which was to take him to his new workstation. As the lift slowly descended further down into the depths of the Stable, he could barely contain his excitement. Not even the omnious beeping of his PipBuck could distract him from his happy thoughts.

He was almost there. He had woken up especially early in order to be the first there to show his resolve. As the elevator arrived at the lowest floor, he knew that in just a few more seconds, the door would open, revealing a ticket to a new chapter in his life. He practically jumped in place; at least to an extent it was safe to in an elevator.

However, as the hydraulic system screeched under the weight of the metallic door that it was rising, 3-14 was met with a much less promising sight. Instead of the lone Security guard that usually stood there guarding the entrance into the reactor room, in front of him stood a large group of ponies, all clad in sickly yellow radiation suits. As he surveyed the room, he quickly noticed that most of the ponies sat in the corners, shaking and trembling while the remainder stood in the room’s centre, carefully watching the door to the reactor chamber. The only thing offering an insight into the identities and emotions of these ponies were the big glass helmets that encompassed the ponies’ heads. Taking another quick look over the group, 3-14 he recognized several of his fellow graduates among the group, as well as some older ponies he sometimes saw in the corridors. For reasons yet unknown to 3-14, fear and pain adorned the faces of most of these ponies, with only a few of them wearing cold, indifferent gazes. However, what puzzled the Pegasus the most was the fact he couldn’t see any of his Pegasus friends that he heard also got assigned to this position, albeit in the earlier shift. To his horror, the reasons behind this observation and his earlier ones for this became apparent very soon as the comm that linked the reactor room to the antechamber buzzed to life.

“What’s taking you *cough* so long?” – a voice spoke from the other side. – “With these levels of radiation, *cough* we won’t last much longer…”

Despite the voice’s distortion, the constant coughing and the frantic beeping of PipBucks all around him, 3-14 immediately recognized the voice on the other side as the one belonging to one of his classmates, the savvy blue Pegasus who sat two tables behind him on Work Ethics. He was the one to graduate school with flying colours and for that he was put among the lucky ones who got to start their work a bit earlier than others, being assigned to the night shift in the reactor maintenance a week or so ago. But all this apparently meant nothing to those in yellow suits as nopony made an effort to respond to the desperate plea.

“What is going on here?” – 3-14 shouted to the group, making his presence known. Hearing the unfamiliar voice, everyone in the room instantly turned their heads towards what appeared to be an unwelcome newcomer.

“1-28! I thought I told you to disable the elevators.” – one of the senior Security ponies shouted towards a brawny black Earth Pony as she quickly recovered from the initial shock. – “I swear, you can’t rely on these new recruits for anything.”

“I’m sorry ma’am! I thought I had disabled it ma’am.” – he immediately shouted back in apology, bringing one of his rubber encased legs to his glass helmet in a salute. – “It won’t happen again ma’am!”

“Yes, yes. They all say that.” – she said, rolling her eyes and turning back towards the newcomer. – “Now what do you want?”

“Well, I came down here for my shift.” – 3-14 started carefully, still eyeing the group in front of him. – “Is everything alright?”

“There is absolutely no need to worry.” – the mare smiled, trying her best to put on a friendly, care-free face through her murky spherical helmet. – “There are some minor difficulties, but everything will be solved soon and you will be able to go back to your work. For, now, I’d politely ask you to return to your quarters. A security pony will be sent for you once the issue is resolved.”

Now, 3-14 wanted to believe the Security mare, as that was what he was taught at school and what every good little pony in the Stable would do, however, hearing the previous comm transmission, an unknown feeling invaded his mind. A feeling he never before experienced. The feeling of - doubt. He knew it was wrong to second-guess the words of Stable officials as they always do what is best for the entire Stable, but something about the entire situation seemed off to him. The frightened workers, the sheer number of Security ponies, the warm feeling spreading through his body, the beeping of his PipBuck and the ominous plea. All of it pointed to the fact that not everything was as benign as the mare said it was.

In the end, this newly created dissonance in his mind was done away rather quickly as the next message took hold of the airwaves.

“H-hello? *cough* Can anyone hear us? *cough* *cough* T-the door is stuck.” – the comm sprung back to life once again. – “W-w-we are *wheeze* dying in here. We need those *cough* radiation suits right away…”

As the last words of this new plea hung in the air, it became apparent to everyone in the room that the jig was up. In accordance with this, the Security mare quickly dropped her amiable act in a favour of her earlier cold and calculated gaze.

“Listen to my orders! Return to your quarters!” – she snapped at the Pegasus, taking a few firm steps in his direction.

“I-I won’t leave u-until one of you explains to me what is going on in there.” – the Pegasus said, motioning towards the closed door on the other end of the room. This bold statement gave everyone a pause, as some of the ponies, which by now 3-14 recognized as the members of the Stable Security, began exchanging a few silent whispers among themselves. It took several tense moments filled with no sound other than the frantic beeping of PipBucks before a sound of a pony's voice filled the room again. However, instead of the firm, cold voice of the security officer, the voice that spoke was a meek one belonging to a reactor technician who sat in the corner of the room.

“T-there was a… a m-ma-mal-malfunction.” – the Unicorn repairpony stuttered as he got up to his hooves, not daring to face the Security which was already sending murderous looks his way. – “Something b-b-broke and the… the reactor started l-leaking radiation into the c-chamber.”

“We managed to get most of the maintenance workers out.” – another, older and more collected voice joined in. – “But we do not have enough radiation suits for everypony and because of that...”

However, before the Earth Pony could finish his answer, the Security mare from earlier jumped in, interrupting his speech.

“And as you can see, there is no need to worry. Everything is under control.” – she said, once again trying to make her voice seem calm and friendly. – “Now, please proceed back towards your room.”

“Shouldn’t he visit the medbay first? Even here, the radiation levels are-” – the young Security guard silently said from the back of the room, earning only a displeased look shot at him by the mare.

“Bu – but, my friends are in there!” – 3-14 shouted, remembering the familiar voice he heard from the comm earlier. – “I’m can't leave until they are safe. Maybe, maybe I can help?”

“I’m afraid there is nothing we can do for your Pegasus friends.” – the mare said, her calm façade once again falling apart and giving way to annoyance and anger. – “As 1-8 said earlier, we simply do not have enough radiation suits for everypony. Now get out of my way and go back to your room!”

This statement made 3-14 pause for a moment as he thought it over. He suddenly realised that apart from him, he saw no other Pegasi in the antechamber. A quick glance over the crowd confirmed this - all the ponies clad in yellow suits were either Earth Ponies or Unicorns. As he pondered on this newfound observation, a rather unpleasant thought rushed through his head. He remembered how other students in school would talk behind his and his friends’ back about how Pegasi are a lesser race and how they are nothing but a nuisance in the Stable. He also remembered how some older Pegasi would occasionally grumble about the same things, complaining about their food or job over weekly evening meetups. He never gave it much thought, always chalking it up to things like childish teasing or oldster grumblings, but looking at the situation in front of him, he realised that those statements might have not been as inconsequential as he had thought. After all, he knew for certain that at least 5 Pegasi ought to be in the room with him. The rules dictated that there was always to be a 15-pony team working at this level – consisting of 5 ponies of each race. He knew for sure that 3 of them were his friends from school, one of which was the pony he had previously heard over the intercom. He wasn’t certain as to the identities of the other two Pegasi, but they were most likely some older and more experienced ponies. No one would be crazy enough to put a group of newbies in charge of the reactor, no matter what the official Stable policy on job experience says.

“Wait…” – 3-14 thought as his mind went over who the remaining two Pegasi could be.

In a moment of clarity, 3-14 remembered the words his mother said to in the morning before he rushed off to his workstation. Words that he had almost forgotten in the earlier state of excitement and the subsequent shock at the unexpected drama unfolding in front of him.

“Here, I saved these rations from dinner yesterday.” – he remembered his mother saying to him with a smile as she handed him a hastily packed paper bag. – “Take them to your father. You know how hungry he gets after all the hard work he does down there. Oh, and give him a kiss from me.”

To confirm his suspicion, 3-14 quickly raised his hoof towards the small saddlebag he wore on his tool belt. And to his horror, he could feel the paper bag scrunch under his heavy touch.

“No… It can’t be! “– he shouted as the weight of his realization hit him.

This once again drew the attention of everypony in the room towards him. But it mattered little at this point. It was not only his school friends boiling inside. It was his father, too. He reflexively clenched his jaw and scrapped his hoof against the floor, preparing to charge at the door at the end of the room. The guards didn’t matter, nor did the now alarmingly warm feeling in his body or the slight light-headedness that was slowly overtaking him. All that mattered was getting his father and his friends out of there. However, to his misfortune, or maybe fortune, the guards closest to him immediately noticed his change in behaviour, and quickly went on to take action, grabbing him by the sides to stop him from doing anything foolish.

“Let me go!” – he shouted as he trashed, trying to throw back the guards that held him. – “I must get inside. I must get them out! I must get him out!”

“Hold him!” – came a reciprocal shout from another side of the room, likely from one of the technician ponies. – “If he gets inside, the entire Stable could be at risk!”

“I don’t care!” – 3-14 answered in borderline delirium as he continued thrashing, a feeling of light- headedness still increasing and now becoming accompanied by a raising need to vomit. – “Let me go!”

“We can’t…” – another Security ponied joined in, but was cut-off as the comm turned on once again.

“*wheeze* S-stand b-back… *cough*” – the voice said, his words barely understandable between the constant coughing and wheezing. – “We… we a-are *wheeze* coming o-out. We found a *cough* w-way to open the… the door. We can’t *cough* h-hold on much longer…”

Unlike the previous pleas, this time, the comm didn’t cut off after the message, instead continuing to broadcast the sound coming from the other side of the door. Everypony turned their head towards the small metal speaker next to the door, listening in horror as the ponies on the other side vomited and wheezed, their breathing fast despite the shadow of death hanging above them.

“Damn it!” – one of the guards cursed, letting go of 3-14 and rushing towards the door. – “We can’t risk opening that door. “

“Reactor crew, do you hear us? Stand down! You must not open that door! It is the only thing keeping the radiation from getting out.” – another Security guard said in the comm device, his hoof pressed against the microphone button. – “Repeat! Do not open that door!”

But in a twisted sense of irony, this pony’s request fell on deaf ears, the same as the one from the ponies on the other side did on his and those of his fellow Security guards. He tried repeating the message several times, but it made no difference as a sound of whirring and clanking joined in with the sick harmony coming from the other side of the door.

“Damn it!” – the guard from earlier cursed once again before pointing towards one of the repairponies which sat trembling in the corner. – “You! Show me how to override the door control.”

The pony looked around, hoping perhaps this demand was directed towards someone else. However, seeing as everypony around him slowly backed away, he stood up and silently walked towards the nearby control desk, motioning the guard to join him. As everyone was distracted, 3-14 saw his opportunity and rushed towards the door, almost tripping as his nausea took the better of him. By the time he got to the door, he felt as if his insides were burning and vomit built up in his stomach threatened to be violently thrown out. Once again, the guards rushed towards the Pegasus, hoping to remove him from the vicinity, but before they could get to him, a metallic screech echoed throughout the room, signalling the thing everypony dreaded. To everypony’s, save for 3-14's, horror, the metallic door started slowly rising, revealing the vast room behind them.

The next few moments went by in a blur for 3-14 as a lot of things happened in such a short period, assaulting the Pegasus’s senses with a variety of stimuli.

First came the beeping. A cacophony of PipBuck started loudly beeping all at once; their high-pitched pulsating signalling something ominous. Then came the frantic shouting for the technician to close the door. This was then followed by an equally fraught response from the said technicians that they are doing everything they can. However, all this noise paled in comparison to the collective scream which pierced the air as something horrifying emerged from the room beyond. It resembled a pony; but to say it looked like one would be an embellishment. The normally pale skin that Stable ponies had was now a mix-match of red and brown burns, spreading all the way from the creature’s head to its hind legs. The front portion of the creature’s coat was covered in vomit and blood, while some of the skin on its flanks was peeling off, leaving gooey patches which stuck to the metal floor and revealing more burned flesh with veins and arteries clearly revealed and oozing blood. The creature's mouth hung open; in it a mix of blood, saliva and vomit which was slowly dripping out down his neck and beyond to join the charred skin on the otherwise pristine floor. Not even the creature’s blood-shot eyes revealed a clue to its identity as they rapidly moved from side to side, unable to stop and focus. As it moved forwards, the whole creature shook similar to its eyes – its legs trembling and its wings rapidly twitching around as it uncoordinatedly shambled towards the crowd.

This sudden and ghastly appearance made even 3-14 stumble back as the creature reached towards him. But before he could take anything more than a proper step, a wave of heat washed over him, firing up his insides and causing the contents of his stomach to be released to the general public. He struggled to keep his balance as his head exploded from pain, but this was a battle he quickly lost, painfully landing into a pool of his own vomit. As he looked up from the floor, he blurrily saw the outlines of the door coming down right as the creature stuck its head through the opening. However, as opposed to the dramatic, slow opening he witnessed before, this time the metal hatch came down lighting fast, stopping at nothing until it met with its locking mechanism which was bolted in the floor. Not even the neck of the creature emerging from the room impeded the momentum of the door as its head flew right off, landing right beside the downed Pegasus. As consciousness slowly left him, the last thing 3-14 felt was the warm touch of a dark red liquid that was rushing from the severed head, slowly coating his body…

- - - - - - - - - -

A sound of somepony hitting against the ground jolted the kneeling Pegasus from his memory. Blinking a few times in order to get the gnarly image out of his head, 3-14 realised he was staring at an empty rock floor as somepony must have moved the wounded Pegasus during his trip down the memory lane.

“Are you okay?” – a concerned voice shouted out in the dark a few seconds later.

"Y- ye-" - 3-14 began to answer before realising the question wasn't posed to him.

“Yes, yes. Everything’s fine. I must have tripped on something.” – another voice answered instead as its owner slowly stood up, dusting off his front hooves. – “I can’t see a thing in this darkness.”

Still dazed by the violent flashback, 3-14 slowly turned his head around and, still unable to firmly stand, began to drag himself to what he hoped was the nearest corner of the room their were currently in.

“If only you had a lamp on your leg.” – the Earth Pony guard grumbled from one of the cave’s corners, his eye roll hidden by the all-encompassing darkness.

“Right.” – the Pegasus replied with a frown, lifting up his hoof to stare at the PipBuck. Back in the Stable, the PipBucks were used almost exclusively for tracking and medical purposes; actions which didn’t even require the Stable’s inhabitants to switch from the default diagnostic screens. Using anything else was simply redundant for an average citizen and as such was merely glossed over way back in foal school. The only ones who received further training were Security ponies who weren’t really interested in sharing their knowledge. Because of this, it took the pony several seconds of fiddling and a few wrong tries before he finally found the right button which he needed to press. With a sigh of relief and a small smile of quiet pride in his achievement, the Pegasus tapped his hoof against the dial, completing the circuit and freeing the path for electrons to rush towards the diode. This was, however, a decision he instantly regretted. For, as soon as the cold white light spread throughout the cave, a horrible sight was revealed to the eyes of the Stable exiles.

Piles of bones dominated the cave. No, not piles of bones, they realised upon further inspection, but skeletons. A good portion of them were nothing but a collection of dusty bones held together only by loosely tied pieces of cloth - degrading remains of what surely were once fabulous suits and dresses. Scattered amongst the skeletons were also the remains of their personal effects; the handbags and suitcases serving as the only indicator that these piles of rotting grey bones were once living and breathing creatures with their own lives. Everywhere the ponies’ sight reached was full of what seemed to be ancient skeletons. Some were lying on the floor, curled up as tightly as possible, no doubt in a vain attempt to preserve heat or silence their now long-past hunger. Others leaned against the cave wall, their skulls blown open, spraying whatever hopes and dreams on the wall behind. A few were even hanging from the metal-reinforced ceiling like a sickly carousel of rotting bones. But perhaps worse than all of that were the eyes which stared into the beyond. The eyes of the dead. Or more precisely the remains of what once were the eyes and were now just empty holes; holes in which all the joy and happiness and ideas and ideals and dreams were forever lost. Holes that once blossomed with life and now only reflected the decaying state of their owners. Holes that seemed to swallow that little light that now disturbed them from their blinded gaze. The holes, which are appropriately said to be the mirror of the soul, now displayed nothing but the exact lack of it. Their empty gaze unsettled even the normally stoic and solemn Earth pony guard who diverted his eyes to the side, hiding his face in the shadow cast by one of the rusting support beams.

Dreaded like never before, the Pegasus tried to spare himself and others from this nightmare, but no matter where he pointed his PipBuck, he was faced with the same ghastly image.

He watched as the Pegasus took a step back in sheer horror and quickly turned off the light, seeking any escape from the grim stage set up in front of him. Unable to see anything, he could only hear as his friend tripped and fell once more, landing with a dull thud. Almost simultaneously, he heard a tearing sound as what he imagined was a sharp tip of a bone the pony tripped on earlier impaled his body. Not daring to imagine further, he quickly buried his head back into his forelegs, hoping that the adrenaline from the earlier shock made the whole thing painless for the fallen Pegasus.

By the time the first of the ponies recovered from the shock and light once again flooded the chamber, it was already too late. The pony’s own weight forced the bone further in as it tore through his skin and muscles before eventually settling deep into his intestines. The Pegasus was now lying limp on the blood-stained ground, the life from his eyes seemingly absorbed into the sockets of the skull staring back at him. All his friends could do for him was to gently pull his eyes shut, one of them silently muttering the only prayer to Celestia she knew from an old foal’s book which has long since been outlawed in the Stable.

In truth, none of them really knew what they were supposed to do. Death was never a subject that was openly discussed in the Stable. Death of a pony was viewed as nothing but a part of the natural cycle of life and no special formalities were ever held when somepony died. As soon as a pony was proclaimed dead, the corpse would be dragged out by Security and unceremoniously tossed into the incinerator. Furthermore, in line with the official sentiment of looking to the future instead of the past, any records of the deceased were scrubbed as if they never existed. Even their families rarely mentioned them ever again, supposedly either out of respect for the dead or to help the remaining relatives move on. 3-14 never really understood this, but he knew better than to challenge the official procedure. Fittingly, however, the only exception to this was the death of the Overmare. In case she died, a funeral with mandatory attendance was held with her body being paraded through the main corridor before being buried in a special underground garden. Additionally, every year, each of the dead Overmare had their own remembrance day where their life achievements were celebrated. The reason for this was that the Overmare was regarded as somepony who significantly impacted the Stable and as such deserved to be remembered. Regular ponies on the other hoof were nothing but uniform cogs in the great mechanism of the Stable and as such deserved no special recognition.

Regardless of this, 3-14 and the other Pegasi currently grouped around their dead friend felt he deserved better than to just be left lying there surrounded by his own blood and bones from ponies long past. If nothing, they were now no longer a part of the Stable, so they might as well throw away the traditions that still bonded them to that place and their former lives.

“What are you doing?” – the Earth pony grumbled from his corner as 3-7 grabbed the body of the impaled pony in an attempt to load him over his back. – “You do realise he is dead, right?”

“That does not mean we should not show some respect for him.” – the Pegasus replied with a groan as he strained his muscles to lift the still warm body. – “I would not expect you to understand.”

“We have no time to waste on the dead.” – the Earth pony stated firmly, properly standing up from the wall he was resting against. – “Unless you want to be paying respects to all of us, we need to make a plan.”

“And I suppose you would be the one to make this life-saving plan?” – the Pegasus replied with an acid bite as he got his footing from underneath the weight on his back. – “In case you didn’t notice, we are no longer in the Stable. Over here you are no better than any of us. You’ll die just like the rest of us.”

“Why must you Pegasi be so dense?” – the guard asked as he slowly approached the struggling Pegasus. – “Perhaps we wouldn’t even be in this mess had you been able to just follow the damn orders.”

“Oh, shut it!” – the stallion quickly retorted to the guard. – “If it wasn’t for you and that psychotic bitch over there, we would have never gotten in this bloody mess, as you say, in the first place.”

“Oh, really?” – he too was fast to respond. - “Last time I checked it was one of you who decided to go shooting at Security ponies.”

“Not this again. We had this argument already.” – the stallion continued, setting down his fallen comrade and, facing the now ex-guard. – “It wasn’t ‘14’s fault you security ponies go around carrying guns without proper safety.”

“But it was his fault he went and messed around with it. Didn’t they teach you in class that you shouldn’t touch stuff that you do not know anything about?” – the guard also stood up, facing the stallion in the dim light that the PipBucks provided. – “Besides you are the ones who went ahead and tried to start another uprising or something. We could have resolved this in a more civil manner.”

“Well perhaps we wouldn’t have had to if you ponies treated us ‘equally’ - as the Overmare would like to say it.” – the Pegasus stood his ground, his jaw clenching.

“Well perhaps if you hadn’t been acting all special all the time, we would have.” – the Earth Pony mocked him, inching closer to the Pegasus. – “If the system works for everyone else, it should for you, too.”

“You bastard…” – the stallion shouted, preparing to charge at the Earth Pony, but before any bruises could be inflicted, a yet unheard voice interrupted the two.

“Stop it! I can’t listen to you anymore.” – a grey Pegasus shouted from the corner, lifting his teary eyes for just a second before burying his head back into his legs. – “It was all my fault, anyway…”

This seemed to have the desired effect as both ponies stopped their argument and turned their heads towards the crying pony. Standing like that for a moment, they unanimously decided to stop the argument, for now at least, choosing instead to return to their respective places instead. Soon after, silence fell down on the dim-lit room once again. Even the loud banging from before seemed to have slowed down, the only thing left of its metallic beat being an occasional desperate thump.

“You okay, mate?” – 3-7 whispered as he silently sat next to the weeping grey Pegasus.

The only reply he got was more silence.

“C’mon mate. Talk to me.” – he tried once again more gently, putting a firm hoof on the pony next to him. – “What’s on your mind?”

His words however didn’t seem to reach the crying pony at all. And so, once again, the silence was the only one to speak. It seemed as if the mind of the grey Pegasus was as blank as the expression of the pony which lay motionlessly on the cold floor across from him, a viscous red liquid dripping from bandages and pooling on the cave floor underneath. In reality however, the Pegasus's mind was racing with conflicting thoughts, all of them centered on the event which took place not a hour ago. The still burning injuries didn’t help his situation, either.

On one side, he knew he shouldn’t blame himself for what had happened. Although he heard of guns in school, he hadn’t known what a gun looked like and he knew even less how to operate one. Nopony in school taught them that. Furthermore, he had no intention of wounding the guard, which is the most important thing, is it not?. Afterall, accidents happen; they are told as much every day by the Overmare. So wasn’t this just another accident? An unmeant mishap, leading to an unintended injury. It could have happened to anypony, couldn’t it? And others seem to agree with this, don’t they? No pony blames him. So why should he? He did nothing wrong. Yes, that’s right. It wasn’t his fault.

It wasn’t his fault.

Or was it? - Another side of his mind questioned this assessment. Surely, somewhere deep down he knew what the object he was handling was. He must have. Perhaps he saw it in a history book or one of his stashed magazines. They were contraband for a reason, after all. No matter the origin or intention, he knew what he was about to do and he did it. He pulled that trigger, sending a bullet hurtling to the guard pony. And it wasn’t like there wasn’t any reason for it. That big dumb idiot almost broke his wing moments earlier. He abused him for years. All of the Security abused the Pegasi. And they paid the price for it.

They paid the price for it.

But so did he, yet another side reminded him. His actions, whether intentional or unintentional, caused this entire mess. He hurt another pony and caused all of his friends to be expelled from the Stable and into certain death. Some of them are already dead, like the one whose empty eyes are currently staring at him, and surely others will follow soon. They have no chance to survive here. There is no food or water, no warm bed to sleep in and probably a hundred of who knows what monstrosities waiting out there for them. And although others do not blame him now, they surely will once they realise what had happened. Once they realise it is his fault they were thrown out from their safe and relatively comfortable existences. He can already see their judging eyes, full of hatred and disgust. Who knows, perhaps they will even kill him right away and spare him the slow and painful death from hunger and exhaustion. Or perhaps they will leave him to suffer. They are his friends, sure, however there are some things not even friends can forgive. And a sentence to certain doom is absolutely one of them. How does one even begin to deal with this? And it is his fault.

It is all his fault.

This thought caused 3-14 to once again burst into tears, further staining his coat and the cave’s floor with teardrops.

“It is all my fault...” - his last thought echoed in his voice, serving as the only reply to the pony standing next to him. - “It is all my fault.”

“Oh, stop it.” - 3-7 replied, doing his best not to show the slight annoyance that his friend’s behaviour caused. - “I already told you it is not your fault. It was an accident. If nothing, it was the fault of the blasted Security and the Overmare.”

Yes, that’s right, it is their fault, not mine - his mind latched onto the words he just heard. They should have followed their own rules. When they broke them, bad things happened. They shouldn’t have gone around carrying guns in the first place. The Overmare said they weren’t allowed. And she affirmed this when she kicked them out. They were guilty.

It was their fault.

But that same mare also ordered him to leave, so clearly he too did something wrong - the mind of the grey Pegasus wouldn’t let him rest. He did wrong and now they were all going to die. Because of him.

It was his fault.

“B-but, she expelled m-me. And all of us along with me.” - the grey Pegasus continued crying. - “Now, we are all going to d-die because of me.”

“No one is going to die.” - the other pony replied with a slightly angry undertone, reflexively moving his body in between the grey Pegasus and the dead body across from him. - “We must make sure of that.”

“W-we can’t s-survive here.” - 3-14 seemed inconsolable. - “T-they said that whatever is out there is deadly. I-I doomed us all.”

“Damn it ‘14, pull yourself together and stop with this.” - the other pony finally let go, deciding that the weeping grey pony needed some tough love. - “I told you it was not your bloody fault. But if you keep sitting here and crying, it might as well be. We are not lost yet, but we do not have the luxury to dwell on the past right now. Swallow whatever sentiments ya have and get up. There will be time to deal with feelings once all of this is over. 'kay?”

No it isn’t okay - the Pegasus mentally disagreed. However, he still decided to follow the advice. He cannot allow himself to indulge in feeling right now. Whether or not it is his fault is a debate for another time. If nothing, he must use this opportunity to make amends.

“O-okay.” - 3-14 nodded slightly, his eyes slowly drying up, but not daring to look at those of the other pony.

“Ace.” - the pony next to him smiled, also nodding his head. - “I’m going to give ya a few moments to recover and then it is time to see what we can do.”

After saying this, 3-7 slowly got up, giving a few affirmative taps to his friend. He was just about to turn around and see how others were doing, when a small metallic reflection caught his eye from behind a rock pillar. Against better judgement, he approached it, hoping it may somehow be useful to the situation at hand. This hope however quickly disappeared as he rounded the column and it turned out the reflection was coming from a bunch of holotapes resting on the ground near a pair of skeletons, one larger and one smaller, propped up against the cave’s wall and wrapped around each other - any visual clue as to their identity claimed by time long ago.

“Damn, seems like this bad trot won’t be ending anytime soon.” - the Pegasus sighed to himself, lowering his head to examine the scattered holotapes.

After a few moments, he picked out one of the holotapes at random and carefully took it between his teeth, the thought of potential hygiene problems not even entering his mind.

“Here!” - 3-7 shouted as he swung his head to toss the holotape from his mouth to the recovering Pegasus. - “Some music might help cheer you up. Whatever tis, 's probably a step above those damn marches they keep shoving down our ears.”

The metallic box flew in an almost perfect arc towards 3-14, landing in front of him with a silent thump. The grey Pegasus hesitated for a moment, but his natural curiosity soon got the better of him and he slowly extended his hoof towards the newly acquired object and brought it closer for inspection. He had seen a few of these in the Stable, mostly while working his time as the “Stable DJ”. While on this post, he remembered using tapes like this to play music, if overly-gleeful marches can be considered as such, as well as some pre-war speeches by various important ponies, chiefly the “glorious” Starlight Glimmer herself. Quite interestingly, though, his job didn’t include making any live announcements as those were made by a different pony - a Unicorn selected by the Overmare herself. Apparently, others lack the enthusiasm (and blind loyalty) this particular pony displayed. Needless to say, he absolutely despised her the whole time he was assigned to work with (or rather for) her. He found her morning announcements about an “another cheerful and productive day in our glorious Stable” to be particularly annoying. The only thing he found unusual about the tape in his hooves was how bland it was. All the tapes he had seen so far had been brightly coloured with small pictures of smiling pony faces and big labels announcing their content. In contrast, the tape he was holding was of a drab grey colour, showing in its case nothing else but scratch marks and first signs of corrosion. Since there was no label, he couldn’t even be sure what was on the holotape, however he guessed it was indeed some kind of music as 3-7 suggested.

He examined the metallic casing for a few more seconds, eyeing it from all sides before switching his weary eyes to the PipBuck mounted onto his left foreleg. He tinkered with it for a few more seconds and then went ahead to try and insert the holotape into the appropriate slot. At first, the casing got stuck due to a small deformation on one of its edges, but some more fiddling and prodding eventually solved this issue and the holotape slid right into the intended opening. The pony then once again returned his gaze to the PipBuck and turned the big dial on the side, switching the view from default to a screen containing the detailed account of all the things he had on him - this collection currently consisting of his now dirty Stable jumpsuit and the newly acquired holotape.

Quite curiously, unlike the tapes he came across back in the Stable, this one didn’t have any name attached to it. His PipBuck instead denoted it by a simple sequence of numbers. A sequence which the Pegasus immediately recognized. How could he not? This particular string of numerals was among the most important ones he was ever taught in the Stable. Even he thought so. It was - a date - one of the few that his normally lenient history teacher made sure everyone remembered even if woken up in the middle of the night. A date of the utmost importance for both his Stable and the world itself. A date which marked the end of the War, and the end of the world. And on the flip side, it also marked the beginning of the Stable and was celebrated as a holiday; despite its grim implications for the rest of Equestria.

“It was the day true virtues of equality and unity finally triumphed over unsustainable corruption.” - as the Overmare would always say during these celebrations.

However, not wanting to get his head back to the other side of the steel door, the grey Pegasus quickly shot down this line of thought and instead focused his mind on his new prize. Despite what pretty much everypony said to him, he was always fascinated with the world before the bombs and the Stable. It seemed so distant and mystical and yet he knew only a little more than a century separated him from it. He still remembered from his foalhood when the last of the first-generation ponies died. As usual, there wasn’t any funeral or anything, those were organised only for the Overmares, but things somehow felt different after that old mare no longer walked the hallways, serving as the living remainder of what Equestria was once was.

“She was a fitting token.” - some ponies would say years after her death. - “A decrepit old hag really is an appropropriate depiction of Equestria as it was.”

3-14, on the other hand, never thought so. He still remembered some of the stories she would secretly tell to anyone willing to listen. Stories about shining cities and their sprawling streets, about huge factories and glowing power plants, about labs housing some of Equestria's best and brightest and the grand capital of Canterlot with its extravagant parties and high society. It goes without saying, of course, that all of these things, they were taught to detest at school. The teachers painted them as decadent and corrupt and responsible for the eventual omnipresent destruction. And yet, 3-14 couldn’t help but feel a sense of fascination for these, as they called them, degenerate societal constructs.

And so, hoping to perhaps uncover a gem of the pre-war world, the pony navigated his PipBuck towards the recording and prompted the device to play it. As expected, after a few initial cracks, the holotape came to life. Unexpectedly, however, it began not with a song, but with a dry voice of a seemingly distressed mare punctuated with an occasional crackle or brief slivers of silence.

“H-hey, it’s me again. “

*crackle*

“Look, to be honest, I do not even know why I am recording these messages at this point. I know they can’t reach you, but perhaps I still foolishly hope you will one day find them. I suppose it beats just sitting here and waiting until we die...

“I-I still can’t believe they wouldn’t let us in. Much less that they s-shot at us. I thought Stables are supposed to protect ponies!”

*crackle*

“I showed them the damn a-admission tickets, but the guard simply said the Stable was already full. F-full. How can you issue tickets to ponies and then not have enough space? Bastards. Damned bastards. All of them. You would think dedicating your entire life to Equestria would count for something in the e-end.”

“He let that rich-looking Earth Pony inside, so how c-couldn’t he find space for u-us. Or for my… - our foal at least. *sob* ...and now we are all going to die. Before he *sob* even got a chance to l-live…”

At this point, the mare on the recording broke down into a silent cry, her ancient sobbing piercing the heart of the grey Pegasus even in the present day. It threatened to overwhelm him and cause him to break down into tears once again, but despite this he simply couldn’t bring himself to turn off the recording and so silence her. He needed closure. No matter how hard the rational part of his mind screamed at him to spare himself the emotional anguish of listening further, he had to continue. Despite the signs, he still naively hoped perhaps all will turn out well in the end. Perhaps the ponies will turn back and help her. Or maybe she will get up and do something. Or maybe her husband will appear and rescue her. Or maybe…

Suddenly, however, the Pegasus line of thought was interrupted as the recording exploded in a loud and high-pitched wail. He instinctively covered his ears with his hooves, but before he could even adjust to this unexpected disturbance, it died down as quickly as it appeared. It was replaced instead with the warm and soothing voice of the mare, or at least her best attempt at it, as she tried to placate the foal..

“Shh... shh…”

“It is all going to be alright. Mommy is here. Nothing can h-hurt you.“

“Here, say hi to dad.”

*crackle*

“Now, go back to sleep. You must be tired from all this. Mommy is tired, too. Rest now. She will join you soon...”

“S-soon…”

After a few moments of silence, a song finally started, though it was not anywhere near what the pony had expected when he first played the recording. It was instead, a gentle, almost inaudible lullaby. It repeated on and on, each time more silent and more heavy. Finally, after what seemed like countless repetitions, it abruptly stopped with nothing but a silent gasp. The recording, however, went on, the only audible thing being the silent crackling and a single pony's regular rythm of shallow breaths pierced by an occasional soft snore.

Desperate and once again on the brink of tears, the Pegasus fast forwarded the tape in an attempt to find the closure he needed. However, no such thing happened and eventually the PipBuck silently beeped, announcing the end of the recording. The Pegasus played it again, hoping in vain things might change this time around. But once again, no such thing happened. No matter how hard he hoped, the mare’s fate was sealed more than a century before.

And yet, he wouldn’t accept it. He was just about to replay the tape for a third time, still stubbornly refusing to accept reality, when another more contemporary situation stole his attention. Shouts and insults reached his ears, pulling him out of his emotion-induced daze.

“What point is there in staying here?!” - a voice shouted. - “They were pretty clear they do not want us.”

“No. No! NO! You are wrong!” - the guard mare replied frantically, trying equally to convince both herself and one of the Pegasi standing between her and the Stable door. - “They must let me in. She will realise it was a mistake. She will open the door. She must. This is only a prank. Just give her time. Yes, give her time. More time!”

“Damn it, we can’t just sit around here and hope the Overmare will change her mind.” - the Pegasus countered. - “Our best hope is to move forward. The supplies they gave us can’t sustain all of us for long”

“No! You can’t go out there!” - the mare continued in a stubborn desperation, not giving an inch. - “The outside will kill you. We must stay here. We must return to the Stable. I must return to the Stable!”

“Well, I can’t believe I am saying this, but I agree with the Pegasus.” - a deep voice suddenly interjected as the Earth Pony guard stepped next to the aforementioned pony. - “We can’t stay here. You know what happens to those who stay.”

“Yes, he is right. We can’t…” - the Pegasus concurred before pausing and turned to the guard next to him. - “Wait a second. What do you mean by ‘those who stay’?”

“Do you really think we are the first to end up like this? What do you think happened to all those ponies who disappeared from the Stable?” - the stallion replied matter-of-factly, as if talking about his breakfast. - “ I’m honestly surprised we didn’t see more of those fresh skeletons.”

“You bastard!” - another Pegasus suddenly shouted as she joined the trio. - ”How can you talk about them that way? I swear I’ll....”

“Look, I believe there are more pressing matters at hoof here.” - the guard interrupted the shouting mare, his voice still not betraying any emotion. - “There will be time to discuss things when we get out of this mess. So I suggest we focus on that, alright?”

“How can you say that?!” - the mare continued yelling, seemingly unsatisfied with the Earth Pony’s answer. - “You are one crazy psychopath! All of you Security ponies are!”

“We only did what was best for the Stable.” - the guard continued, not missing a beat. - “It may look barbaric, but you have to look at the larger picture. Stability needed to be maintained if we wanted to preserve our way of life. Those spreading dissent and causing rebellion had to be dealt with one way or another or we would descend into anarchy which would benefit nopony. And, the way the Overmare saw it, exiling ponies is comparatively better than summary executions. At least they are given a chance. A chance most of them waste sitting in front of the door until they die! And I have no plans of dying so I suggest we get a move on.”

“You wanted to preserve ‘our’ way of life only because it benefited you.” - the mare quickly replied in a somewhat calmer voice, her anger slightly held back by the guard’s unexpectedly rational response. - “You always talk about equality, but would treat us worse than others. Hell, we wouldn’t even be in this mess if you had felt the need to go and bully poor 3-14 over there.”

“Listen, I already said there will be time to talk about the things that happened on the other side of that door.” - the Earth Pony spoke as he took a step towards his fellow Security guard. - “But for now we should let bygones be bygones and not let our differences tear us apart.”

As he said that, he extended his hoof towards the guard mare in front of him, gently motioning her to come with him. However, instead of accepting this offer, she just stumbled back, her eyes desperately searching for an opening which would allow her to get around the ponies blocking her way to the steel door. As the Earth Pony steadily moved closer and closer to her, she thought she finally saw one. In a split of a second she took advantage of the space between the Earth Pony and the other Pegasi and made a break for the door, knocking over one of the saddlebags and spilling its contents on the dirt floor. The sudden movement startled everypony around her and before they could even react, the mare was already standing in front of the great steel structure, her gaze fixed on the yellow circled in the middle of the giant disk.

If he was slightly annoyed, the Earth Pony’s face gave no indication of it as he turned around and once again began to approach the clearly crazed mare. At first everything went well, but as the Earth Pony guard got within a hoof’s reach of the mare, she suddenly turned around, her twitching and bloodshot eyes staring directly into those of her fellow patrol guard. She once again tried taking a step back, but this time she was met only with the cold bite of metal as she rubbed her flanks against the steel door. Seeing no other choice, she lit up her horn, using her Unicorn magic to free her combat knife from its sheath and put it between herself and the advancing stallion.

“You stay away!” - she shouted hysterically, waving around her weapon. - “You will not trick me into leaving! Somepony will open this door, just you wait. They will open it! They must let me in! I can’t stay here!”

“Woah!” - one of the Pegasi that had come to observe the unfolding scene shouted as he and the newcomers tooks a cautionary step back. The Earth Pony on the other hoof remained unflinching, digging his hooves into the dirt and locking his stoic eyes with those of the now-armed mare.

“Calm down.” - he said in a strangely calm voice, once again offering his hoof to the mare. - “Put the knife down and we can talk.”

Sadly, however, at this point the mare was most likely beyond any rational thought. 3-14 always suspected not everything was completely alright with her head, so he could only guess how the recent events impacted the precarious balance in her mind. Still, he somehow couldn’t find it in himself to feel any guilt for the clearly deranged and desperate mare. He knew he should at least feel sorry for her, if nothing because he shot her just earlier. However, whenever he tried to empathize with her, a thought of some way she abused him shot through his mind, instantly crumpling any built-up empathy. And perhaps he could have forgiven her had the marks of her behaviour towards him not been burning through him as his wing and his foreleg throbbed, recovering from the recently inflicted pain. It was all together quite a new feeling for the young Pegasus. A feeling she got what she deserved.

He imagined that the Earth Pony stallion had a similar feeling as the mare suddenly slashed her combat knife through his extended foreleg, causing him to reflexively pull it towards himself. It immediately became obvious it was only a shallow wound, letting off only a few drops of blood as the knife grazed through the upper layers of the skin. Still, it got the message across. Sighing, the Earth Pony finally backed down. For a moment, 3-14 could swear he saw a tear form in the eye of the Earth Pony, but this vision quickly disappeared as he turned around to the crowd which had gathered behind him.

“Alright, then.” - he said calmly, not even giving the mare the benefit of looking at her anymore. - “The rest of us must move on. I’ll take the supplies and let's get out of here.”

“And just who elected you as the leader of our merry little company?” - one of the Pegasi protested. - “As far as I am concerned we should leave you here with her.”

“I elected myself because I am the best suited to lead you.” - the stallion retorted in his usual impassive voice, picking up one of the saddlebags as if it was empty. - “Besides, I do not see anything else volunteering for the position.”

A few moments of silence fell upon the ponies as everypony considered the challenge which was just issued by the guard. Despite their bold words, nopony, 3-14 observed, dared stand up to the guard. Soon, they all began to look around, as if looking for somepony else who would dare take the stallion up on his offer. And 3-14 could only guess which particular Pegasus they all had in mind. However, having looked around the room himself, he saw no trace of the pony in question. An uneasy murmur broke out as this fact became apparent to the others. Even the guard looked around the cave, pointing his PipBuck light at various corners as if expecting somepony would just jump out of one.

And he was not far from truth as in the next moment, a head emerged from one of the passages. This head was soon followed by a pair of legs and wings, before the whole pony revealed himself.

“If you don’t mind...” - 3-7 spoke as he stepped fully into the light. - “...I went ahead and did a little sightseeing while you were arguing over here. I believe there is a way out.”

“And yes, I do volunteer for the position.” - he added soon after, throwing a venomous glance towards the stallion.

Soon after this announcement, the Pegasi proved far more cooperative as they began to form a column tight enough to fit into the small opening their friend just came from. The healthy Pegasi went first and last, instinctively sandwiching their wounded comrades between themselves. One of the Pegasi, a cute blue mare, even offered 3-14 to help him walk, but he steadfastly refused, not wanting to appear weak in front of such a beautiful mare. This however, worked out less optimally than he expected as he accidently stepped on his injured leg, almost instantly sprawling himself on the ground. Defeated, he finally allowed the mare to help him stand up and support him as he walked, his legs still shaking from the aftershocks of his torment.

At one point, the last Pegasus in the row went back to retrieve the other saddlebag, but he was promptly stopped in this attempt by the Earth Pony stallion. He tried to protest, but quickly decided against it as the guard sent a deadly look his way, causing him to hurry back to the group.

Looking back from the cavity entrance, 3-14 noticed only three ponies now remained in the room - the mare, the guard and 3-7. The former was still standing in front of the Stable door, slashing her knife in the air as is fighting invisible enemies. The latter two, on the other hoof, argued over something once again, but only bits of the conversation managed to find their way to 3-14's ears.

“...so just leave it here.” - the Earth Pony rumbled . - “It already brought more harm than good.”

“...like that wouldn’t you.” - the Pegasus replied, stooping to the ground and placing something beneath his wing. - “You want us nice and defenseless so you…”

“...idiot!” - the guard continued, slowly approaching the Pegasus. - “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn…”

Seemingly not interested in further discussion, 3-7 turned his head away from the Earth Pony and marched towards the crack which 3-14 was currently peeking from. The black stallion followed him closely behind, giving only one last look to the straggler who once again broke into tears and resumed her sporadic banging on the great steel door.

Fallout: Equestria - Decadence

by WinterShade

Chapter One: In Our Town

Chapter Two: The Other Side