Chancer, a Stabledweller, barely fits into his Stable. But when he gets the ability to leave, will he take it?
Chancer is a Stabledweller who barely fits into his claustrophobic, smaller-than-standard Stable, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to explore new areas and see new sights.
But when he is given the opportunity to leave, is he willing to take it?
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...
...magic, true magic, the magic of friendship, was almost completely forgotten and casually discarded by the ponies, instead leaving an open fissure for greed, anger, fear and hatred to manifest and grow in the heart of Equestria. Nations took up arms against each other. Cities were reduced to rubble. Fire rained from the sky and scorched the land. And when the megaspells hit, it was then the once-peaceful land of Equestria was no more.
The good ponies of the world, the ones who had not forgotten the six aspects of friendship, had built life-preserving underground shelters called Stables, which housed thousands upon thousands of ponies, each one spared the horrors of their world being destroyed.
Stable 22 was one of those Stables, but as luck would have it, it was situated in one of the harshest regions in the Equestrian Wastelands.
Detrot.
Fuck...
I felt cold. My body was freezing up at the hooves. The soggy ground under me couldn't hold me up. I was caked in my own blood. Or was it theirs? I couldn't tell anymore. Blood is blood. And there was too much around me.
I wanted to just sleep. Let everything wash over me. Lay down and rest my head on this nice cool ground. But a little pony inside of me told me I couldn't just give up. I had to keep going. For my friends. For me. For Detrot.
My hooves were numb. How had I fallen over again? A machine near me, broken and bent, smoke billowing out of its cracked centre, kept letting of a persistent wail from its whistle. A sledgehammer lay a few feet away from me. There were ponies all over the damn place, scrambling for cover. Cracks of gunfire. Shouts, screams, curses, cries. I think somepony shouted my name.
I closed my eyes. I don't know when I opened them again, but I was still there. Everything was the same. The wail had grown softer, more pathetic. I think I chuckled a little before my body shook in violent coughs. More blood. Not good.
I had to get up. I tried to get up. One of my legs didn't respond. Another struggled to hold me up, before I slipped again and landed chin-first in the ground, splashing mud all over me.
What a really lame way to die.
"Are you quite finished, little pony?" A solitary voice said from out of the gloom, as the fog of war seemed to part in her mere presence. She was majestic, her violet coat almost shining. One of her hooves was coated in blood. Her azure mane remained untarnished. How was she still alive? Could that mare even die? This was, what, the seventh time?
"Not yet." I replied snidely as best I could, once again trying to lift myself up. And failing. I hated failing. But there wasn't much else my body could do. What wouldn't I give for a healing potion right now? Probably my hooves.
I felt myself being lifted up, a soft red glow around my body. I'd felt this before, but it was still alien to somepony like me. I groaned internally. Unicorns.
Everything was destroyed. To my left a factory plant was immolating, ponies scrambling around it. To my right, a warehouse had collapsed on itself. Vehicles, each different and coloured uniquely lay in piles of scrap. A slight whistle in the wind followed by a boom destroyed the last of our machines, a fragment of its chassis flying past me.
The creepy yet alluring mare walked achingly slowly towards me. An explosion burst right next to her, showering me in hot debris, but she ignored it. The explosion didn't exist for her. Did it exist for me too? The shrapnel in my hooves and body told me 'yes', but my dizziness decided to keep questioning it.
She pulled out a sharp, pointed object. Even over the din of battle, even though my killer migraine, I could hear the thing humming. Argh, that humming. My ears felt like they were being stabbed. Too many explosions. The pony stepped right up to me; she was way taller than me. But I was standing up... well, sort of. She was holding me up.
I wanted to lift my hooves up to cover my chest, but they were being snapped to my side. It hurt. I think I heard somepony call my name again. Nopony was going to shoot when I was still here. I was too close to her to risk it. Clever bitch.
"You have proven to be a remarkable fighter." The mare purred, almost at the same frequency as the dagger. Her right eye was hidden under her long mane, but I knew it could see everything. "But I'm afraid this is your last dice roll."
I chuckled, coughing a little. "Good thing I've made all my saving throws so far." Why was I quoting that of all things?
She smirked softly, snorting a little laugh. Did she actually find my pathetic counter funny? "Truth or dare?"
I blinked. "What...?"
"I asked you a question. Truth... or dare?"
I hated that question. But I laughed.
"Are you seriously asking me that question?"
She remained unfazed, that constant smirk on her face. Guess I had to answer the question.
"Alright then... dare." I chose the answer I knew had gotten me here in the first place. I'd probably end up worse off, but fuck it, she was going to kill me anyway, might as well do it for nostalgia's sake. And besides, I could chance it. It's in my name after all.
"I dare you..." She started, before her magic aura became a little brighter, and I felt something lance into me, hot and cold at the same time. I looked down. "...not to scream."
I didn't scream. I just laughed blood. And shut my eyes slowly. That voice called my name again.
You know how ponies say that your entire life flashes before your eyes when you're just about to die? Well, that's what happened to me. A lot of ponies don't actually get to say they witnessed it, now that I think about it. Probably because most of them died. Or they didn't see anything.
Looking back, it was a pretty shitty life. But at least I did some good amongst everything else. A few big errors, of course, but everypony makes mistakes.
But what did I see when I felt that unnatural blade carve into my chest?
Everything.
So much of my life was brought back up to me like radroach meat in my throat with a sweet taste of Sparkle~Cola in the mix - a lot of horrible, disgusting stuff with some lovely carrotty bits that just barely masked the rest. Carrots are cool.
Fuck, I keep going off on tangents. Where was I? Oh yes, my life. Well, most of what I saw was irrelevant. Moments in my childhood, test scores, getting my cutie ma- wait, that bit's important. Dammit! Hang on, let me start over.
Well, I suppose I should start with 'who the fuck am I and why am I telling you this?' The answer to the first part is simple; I'm Chancer. The Stallion in the Shadow of the Steel-Eyed Stranger. Luna-tier hero of Detrot. Leader of the Detrot Counterattack Force. And a number of other meaningless titles.
The second part isn't as simple. But it, effectively, boils down to 'because you need to know the truth of this'. There's things that happened that ponies need to know about. Not so they can be scared into submission by what terrors lie around, but what they could become if they let themselves become what they fear, and the mistakes our ancestors made. Oh, and, probably most important, can't forget this bit - how you really shouldn't face them. Not everypony's as lucky as me.
Ok, let’s stay focused here.
I guess a good point to start in my story is where I grew up. Is it weird a lot of heroes come from Stables? Because I think it is. But, anyway, that's where I came from; Stable 22.
Stable 22 was a pretty nice place, actually. It had clean water, fresh(ish) food, and a close-knit community. And by close knit, I mean 'half the Stable was closed off so we were kinda cramped'. I hadn't even been born at that time, but I had learned pretty quickly that there was some sort of radiation accident that closed half the Stable off. Nobody saw it coming. Apparently 20% of the population of 22 were trapped in that area. The foals said you could hear their screams at night, when all is quiet and the thrum of the overhead lights dimmed down. I barely slept for weeks after that.
The point is, we had no choice but to be close. A full thousand and something ponies fit into an area that could only accommodate half of that number. All the vital areas had been spared the radiation, so we still had all our facilities - toilets, doctors' offices, jails, cafeteria, security station, the works.
Unfortunately, the family of cows we had for milk didn't survive.
Where do I fit in all of this? Well, I was an outcast in society the moment I was born, then even more when I grew up. The first, because my mother was from the outside. The Stable had a policy - if you were from the wasteland, needed shelter, and weren't a health hazard, and didn't try to persuade everyone to leave into the wastes, you were integrated. I was told it was 'to keep our gene pool diverse'. I glazed over that lesson. But no, my mother was apparently one of the healthiest ponies anyone in here had ever seen come from outside. She was tired, exhausted, and weary from weeks of travel, one of her eyes was covered in bandages, but she was healthy.
While there was a law against discrimination against outsiders, it still happened. Coupled with my mother's shy disposition, she barely left her assigned room. My father only met her by chance. Let's just say she was cute, he was handsome, they got married, fucked, and pop, out I came. A tiny bundle of soft bones, matted fur and a brain only beginning to grasp life. Who knew that little guy would do what I've done?
The second part of my being an outcast was the fact that I was... well... how do I put it lightly? I was weird.
I never really wanted to play with other foals, but I always played loudly and with energy. I couldn't sit still, I practically galloped everywhere. Oh yeah, sure, I was friendly, but I never had real and true friends. If a pony were to talk to me I would reply with gusto. Gusto freaks quiet ponies out. The only friend I had was Mr Huggyhugpants (clever, eh?), a plush toy which went missing one day. Never found it again, but I grew out of it... eventually.
I barely passed school. Not because I was stupid, mind you (though I am slightly dumber than most according to popular opinion and various tests). I just couldn't do the work. I didn't see any need to learn about the war against these striped ponies everyone called zebras. I didn't need to know trigonometry. I didn't need to know the names of famous ponies. In fact, I was only really good at making pictures, playing sports and games.
As I grew up, my hormones started kicking in. The fillies I once thought were gross became eye-catching. My previous friends became more friendly rivals. My parents became more annoying, each of their actions an attempt to stop me being me. Y'know, usual teenager stuff. Stuff most wastelanders didn't get the chance to truly experience. Mum kept reminding me every time I whinged about my day.
I was so focused on looking at mares that I didn't notice everyone else looking at me gazing. I was told I had some pretty lousy peripheral vision by my friends. I always made a fool of myself.
After a friend of mine lent me a copy of a Sword Mares comic, I fell in love. Not with Sword Mare, mind you. But the story of her. A great fighter traversing a large, wild land, slaying beasts and defeating evil. I fell in love with the idea that, one day, I could leave this Stable and follow in her footsteps. Entering the Stable was difficult, but leaving was impossible.
I'll fast forward a bit. When I finally got out of school, and earned my cutie mark (winning a board game for some unlucky colt who's food for a month had been on the line), I was instantly shafted into maintenance, as I had failed to show much aptitude for anything else. Because of that, I got the most backbreaking job in the Stable.
Heavy lifting.
Work was annoying. My workmates even more. Lifting objects weighing at least 200 pounds for the ponies who can't even lift fifty. In the first week, I had to spend the weekend in bed with some painkillers nearby. Not a happy chappy.
Oh, yeah, I should also mention - I was seen as weird because I was also so damn lucky. I dunno how it happened, but just about every game I played, I somehow pulled victory out of my ass and turned the tables. I had spent an entire day being tested by my peers, in card games, board games, and sports. Most games I seemed to win. I was confused as fuck. They were too.
However, in just about every other area I was as normal as could be. I couldn't pick up chicks like Smoothie. I couldn't run a mile like Hundred Yard (though I nearly did once before my legs gave out). I couldn't do science things like Valence. I was just... normal. Aside from my other oddities, of course.
When I had time, run out of comics to read, and become bored and restless, I snuck out at night and explored what little of the Stable I legally could. And then some. I found a way to confuse the doors with a bobbypin and screwdriver. While some doors remained locked for me, many fell to my mighty tools. I wanted to see more. To not be exposed to the same boring walls every day for the rest of my natural life.
However, I was starting to run out of space to explore. And I yearned to see more. My mother's tales of the outside, while filled with horrors unimaginable and acts against ponies one shouldn't even think of, always made me wonder what I'd actually see when I got out there. She might have been giving me the bad and none of the good. Or vice versa. I still dreamed of wide expanses, wielding a sword in my muzzle as I charged to fight evils and save the world. I knew it was a dream, because I woke up from them every night. Only a few times, early on, did I cry, but that's when everything was so real I could almost taste the air, feel the ground under my hooves and the weight of my armour.
With a steely gaze in my eye, one which matched the hefty blade in my muzzle, I looked at the towering thing in front of me. A monstrous mimicry of the Goddess Celestia, its sinewy green mane falling past its eye. One great emerald-coloured slitted eye looked at me, narrowed in anger and rage. While the armies below me were preoccupied with the scuttling armies of shapeshifters in front of me, I was alone to deal with the terrifying creature. I knew its name and new its name well. It had haunted these regions for years, praying on the innocent and reducing them to naught but husks, their life literally sucked out of their bodies. She had claimed a dear friend of mine, her desiccated corpse lying in the dirt in front of me. I had loved her dearly. And now, this monster would pay.
The great beast, Chrysalis, roared in anger, and I felt a tugging on my soul, my legs nearly giving out under me as the energy left it entirely. I fought the power back with all my mental might, but it was painful to push her suction away. Instead, with as much strength as I could muster, I charged forwards. The suction stopped and I felt my legs working again. She could only absorb souls whole once out of the body. As long as I moved she could not consume my very being.
I thundered on, dodging arrow, boulder, sword and shapeshifter. I ducked, slided, weaved and galloped towards the creature. She had been mighty from a distance, but getting this close, her massive form almost scared me.
In a blur, I had galloped up onto a falling siege tower that had been shot down before it could let our troops attack the hive from inside, jumping off it at the last moment to land on the chitinous, slimy walls of the hive. My enchanted greaves kept me on solid ground. I could not stop. I pressed on, looming ever closer to the giant insectoid alicorn. Her form sickened me. She was everything I hated - corruption, cruelty and apathy to ponykind. I would do my home a favour by tearing her apart.
The giant exploded in a shower of changelings who flew past me, trying to rake my sides with their horns and teeth. They were expert bombers, I had learned, but they dared not damage their hives. I dodged to the side of one, ducked under another, used one as a platform to the next, and so on, weaving a path to the glowing figure in the centre.
The creature that the many spawnlings had mimicked in large scale was simply floating there, eyeing me with a curious, smug face. I hated her with all my fury. I was not lucky when it came to lovers, but this had been a deliberate act to rile me. And by the Goddess, I was riled.
Jump. Dodge. Left. Right. Jump. Jump. Left. Dodge. Left. There were many changelings, but their attempts to kill me ended in failure, their heads and bodies being my stepping stones to the queen. At last, the final changeling passed, and using its rump as a platform, I sprang towards the foul demon, a war cry around my sword bringing it to a flaming, burning life, the heat of the blue fire washing over me.
I was an easy target. Her soul sucking ability, while diminished when not in her large form, was nonetheless potent. As I glared into her eyes, she took in a breath and opened her mouth.
I cracked open an eye. My floor greeted me to one side, my muzzle to the other. I tried to move my limbs but I was tangled up in my blanket. I struggled with sleep to open my other eye, looking around my room.
I had fallen onto the floor... again. My blanket wrapped me in a cocoon. My PipBuck beeped incessantly. My head felt like it had been caved in by a sledgehammer. My eyelids were heavy from sleep.
Why had my PipBuck interrupted me at the most exciting bit? I wanted to lapse back into sleep and let it finish. But I couldn't. I had to get to work.
Work. Bleh.
The scene that had been playing in my mind was a battle in Sword Mares issue #152 - the Wrath of the Queen of Fauxia. It had also seemed to blur with one of my old history lessons about a changeling queen called Chrysalis who the artist for the comic had based the Queen of Fauxia off. I think. I remember reading it in the back of the book. That one history lesson became suddenly slightly more important to me in my small, confined little world.
I struggled for a full minute to untangle myself, then smacked the PipBuck, the beeping stopping after ten tries. I trotted into the shower, stripped the cursed wrist-mounted device off my hoof and gave myself a thorough scrubbing and a good soaking in the water. It felt good to get rid of all my unseemly tangles in my hair and coat. I quickly dropped some waste and trotted out into the main room of my family's living quarters, groggy and disorientated but functioning.
My mother looked up to me from the book she had been reading - I couldn't tell what book it was, though. "O-oh, good morning Chancey." She said it in such a cute voice I almost forgot she used my childhood nickname.
Almost.
Groaning, I turned to face her, but probably looked over her as my eyes wandered from fatigue. "Mum, for the last time, call me Chancer."
I worried I had offended her, the sensitive soul she was, before she smiled warmly. "I know, I know, but you'll always be my little Chancey. And... well, it becomes habit after a while."
I had to concede the point. I looked around the room as I got myself a cup of coffeewater. I'd call it coffee, if it had milk. My father, being the hard-working guy he was, lay sprawled sleeping on the couch, still dressed in his lab coat. And, being the kind of guy after work he was, he had a half-empty bottle of scotch near him. Two cups, one drained clean the other barely touched. I must have been looking for too long, because my mum caught my look.
"Y-yes, your father did have a hard day's work last night. He said he wanted a drink and I got him one. He poured me one but you know I don't touch alcohol."
I nodded, returning to the coffeewater. Once it was ready I took it in a hoof and chugged it down, despite my mother telling me otherwise. It felt nice and warm, like a long shower for my stomach.
"Right, I'm off. See ya later, mum," I said, clearing my throat after. My mother got up and gave me a hug. I may have been tougher and stronger than her but it still irked me how she was taller than me. But only a little.
I returned the hug and briskly left, realising too late I had forgotten to grab something to eat for breakfast.
"Fucking... move!" I growled as I pushed hard against the fridge that had simply decided, just in the last leg of its journey, to give up. I leaned against it with my shoulder, again with my rear hooves, my head even. Nothing. The mare who wanted it moved did well to stand back while the angry orange earth pony pushed against it. I really wanted to be a unicorn just to deal with this.
After the seventeeth attempt, I slumped down, exhausted and panting. "Goddess... this thing's stubborn..."
"Um..." the mare muttered. "W-well, maybe it's because..."
"There's a... uh... thing in the way," One of my colleagues, Nail, said.
"The room's completely clear," I retorted.
"No, a little gap-stopping thing," he countered again, leaning down and pointing at the strip of metal below the door. "Y'know, it's a Model B door, they've got these things."
I froze for a second, the gears in my head whirring to life. Once the near-audble click of 'dumb pony gets it now' sounded in my head, I slammed my forehead on the fridge. "Gaah, stupid!"
"Yer not stupid," Nail muttered. "Yer just blind."
I gave him a glare, then, with his sound advice, managed to get the fridge in the room. The mare thanked us for our efforts, and gave us a few coupons. It wasn't our payment for the job, we got that at the boss's office, but I gladly took it, thanking her in kind.
The next stop, for our assigned lunch break, was the cafeteria. Mmm, food... I spent a coupon getting a sandwich and sat down on one of the FREEZING FUCKING COLD benches, happily chewing on my meal while my haunches froze solid. Nail moved to meet up with some other friends on the same row. I could listen to them, and I did for a while. Something about a party.
One of the doors across the hall opened. Out of it stepped a few members of security. One of which I knew fairly well.
Blueberry Cream.
I admit, even though she wasn't really too much to look at, I still tended to look at her. She was a pretty young unicorn mare, more or less my age. Unlike many in security, she was not bulky and heavy-set, but very much looked ready to spring into action at any point. She wore a smile that made me grin stupidly in return. Her creamy hair always seemed to fall straight. Her navy-blue coat blended well with her barding. She looked awesome in that armour. And don't even get me started on her flanks, a pair of blueberries marking her as... well, her. I'm not a poet.
"Equus to Chancer, we'd like our malfunctioning pony back," Nail said into my ear, snapping me out of my trance. I blinked and turned to face him.
"What?"
"Nothin'. Y'were staring again."
I turned a little scarlet. "Well, yeah, I'm bored and I've got no sandwich left."
Nail smirked and chuckled. "Face it, yer never gonna get her."
I shrugged. "I might one day if I play my cards right."
"Always with the game analogies. Who were ya staring at?"
I blinked. "You mean you didn't know?"
"Hey, I ain't psychic. Come off it then, who was it?"
I gave him another one of my glares. "Come on, that's private shit."
"Was it that security mare?"
"Which?" I said with a smirk on my face, confident I had outwitted him.
"Blueberry."
My smirk dropped. That was cause enough for him, and his friends, to laugh.
"Oh yeah, good luck trying to get her!"
I wanted to beat the everliving shit out of him. But I didn't. Instead, I just waved him off with a hoof and decided to make the most of my time left. I slid off the bench and I swear I heard my flanks thank me.
"Where ya going?" he asked, half his mouth around a sandwich.
"Where do you think?" I countered with a grin and trotted off down to the lower areas of the Stable.
I wasn't very good at sneaking, I'll be honest, but fortunately nobody really came down here anyway. Earlier, the lower areas of the Stable would have been a no-go zone for most ponies. But with so little space to use we had to open up some of the areas. Down here, only maintenance was allowed. Lucky me, I was maintenance! If anypony asked what I was doing, I'd say I was checking to see if all the doors and safes were locked, y'know. Gotta make sure nopony can break in, right?
I found this one little corner of the generator room that had an unmarked door. Opening it was easy, and I was greeted with a storage cupboard. Joy.
I would have left that area in frustration were it not for the safe tucked behind a shelf. I smirked and trotted up to it, leaning down and beginning my work.
If I were a unicorn, I would have easily manipulated everything, but holding this sort of thing in my hooves and mouth was difficult. Good thing I'd had so much practice with this. The lock refused to open to me for a while, but after a few bobbypins I heard the soft click that signified my success. I chuckled, then swung the door open.
The safe's contents made up for what the room lacked. Inside of the small metal box there was a wad of paper things that looked like coupons but were obviously not. I flicked my PipBuck light on and looked at it. On one side of the paper leaflets there was a depiction of a mare, the other a stallion, both with similar freckles on their cheeks. It said 'Equestrian Bits' on them, with a 1 in the corner. Vague memories from my school days crept into my mind but nothing solid. I snuck them into my saddlebag and decided I'd show my parents. They'd probably know what they were.
Also in the safe was a comic book. Biting my lower lip, I gingerly pulled it out with a hoof and read the cover.
Sword Mares. Issue #1. And in mint condition.
I actually squealed in delight, stamping my hooves on the ground in child-like glee. This was a dream come true for me. Well, one of. We had a database of all the comics from before the war, but to have a physical copy of it, in absolutely pristine condition, was just simply amazing. I wasted no time in opening it and flicking open to the first page, barely able to contain my happiness.
I was only three panels in when I felt something tap the side of my head. I turned my head to face the security stallion and my smile disintegrated in an instant.
This wasn't the first time I had been caught before. I might have be lucky in my finds, but not when it came to not getting caught. I was seated in a small interrogation room, with only a desk and two chairs. I hummed, whistled, swung my legs around, anything to keep me from going crazy with boredom. I couldn't even read my comic.
Somepony finally entered the room, and to my horror it was a pony I knew well; Blueberry.
She silently slid into the room, a seriously unimpressed look on her face. What wouldn't I give for her to smile right now.
"This is the fifty-seventh time you've been caught where you're not supposed to be." She muttered loud enough so I could hear her. The room was small so it probably wasn't that loud. "And yet, you keep going at it."
I nodded. "Fifty-seven, hm? What's the record."
She scoffed. "Why should I tell you that...?"
I was about to open my mouth, but the door opened. One of the security bucks had opened it, and in walked a sheet of pelt on a barely-muscled boney framework. Blueberry snapped to attention. I just sat there, the colour draining from my face.
The Overmare had come to see me.
Ok, this was some serious shit. It was almost like a goddess had walked into the room. And, well... after I had accidentally snuck in on her daughter having a shower a few months back, I don't think she and I were on good terms.
She must have seen my reaction, as she smiled softly and croaked "Good afternoon, Chancer."
I barely managed to say "good afternoon" back. I think it sounded more like 'gurr fnrrnrn'. Bleh, stupid words, why don't you work?
That's when conversation stopped. She pulled herself into a chair, pushing the glasses on her nose up a little and placing some papers down.
"Chancer. You've been found in areas restricted to authorised ponies only, and have been found on numerous occasions before. Normally, the law for this would be a sentence of one month per felony-"
I raised a hoof like I was in school.
"Yes?"
I gulped. "Have you been waiting so I could get maximum jail time?"
"No, I have been considering my options," the elderly mare continued. "We have, however, discovered more spots for you to explore that we believe aren't full of radiation."
"Aaaand...?" I said, raising my bound hooves up.
"The Board of Inquiry and the Board of Assigned Roles have been meeting, and have decided to offer you a job."
I tilted my head, muttering a "eh"?
"We have decided that we could put your skills to work. You will be assigned a radiation suit and a firearm, and you will check areas for potential habitability accompanied with members of security and other ponysonnel you may need." The sagging pony lifted her glasses up again. "Your charges will be ignored but you will be exposed to many hazards. However, your records say you are naturally tougher than most ponies, so I dare say you could take on such things."
I leaned back on the chair, an eyebrow raised. "And if I decide to refuse?"
"You will be incarcerated for fifty-seven months, or four years, nine months."
"Which is longer?" I asked. A facehoof from Blueberry made me realise how stupid I sounded, and I shrunk back a little into my chair, ears flat on my skull and a sheepish grin on my muzzle.
It was a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation. One one hoof, I would be watched constantly and be exposed to radiation and ghosts (I quickly reminded myself that ghosts don't exist). On the other, I was going to stay locked up in this cell, given occasional exercise and food, and I wouldn't be able to support my parents; as irritating as they could be, I saw no reason for me not to look out for them.
I sighed, and made my choice.
I sighed happily, gently laying the comic book down on the bed. The second time I had read it, it was just as good as the first. Maybe better, considering I wasn't fanboying as much. Even though the art wasn't as good as more recent ones, and the story was mostly just talking with a little bit of fighting, I still loved it. Probably because it was mine, all mine, mwahahahahahahaaaa!
Ahem.
I slid the comic book away into my sparse book-shelf, and flopped down on my bed, giggling like a filly. Goddesses, I was on top of the world! My life was complete! I felt like dancing and singing through the Stable.
Except I wouldn't. Because that would be silly. Didn't stop me squirming on my bed, though.
Finally, after who knows how long, I calmed down. I still had a dumb grin plastered on my muzzle, but I stopped giggling. I looked at the time on my PipBuck - 6:27 PM.
God damn it, now I was gonna be awake for about six hours with nothing to do. I didn't want to over-read my comic book, I'd read all my others, and there really wasn't much else to do.
My PipBuck beeped again, and I yelped, hitting the ceiling with my forehead. Pain hurts. Groaning, I pulled it up to my vision, and noticed I had received a message from Nail.
One thing I should mention about my PipBuck, and other PipBucks from Stable 22 - they can send and receive messages while in the Stable's range. It's magic shit, I don't know how it works.
I flicked the message open. Naturally, it was indecipherable. 'chncr, want 2 cum 2 teh party 2nite? recroom 8pm’
I pressed reply, and typed 'fuck you dude'. After a moment of thought, I erased it and wrote 'whats the plan'. Then I erased that a few more times, before I finally sent a simple 'sure, why not'
I didn't really like parties. If anything because everypony at these parties didn't like me. Well, not much anyways. Especially when it came to games, as I tended to win a lot.
I glanced at the time. 6:29 PM.
Fuck, I hate waiting.
One dinner, twenty minutes of napping, and the rest of the time doing things you really shouldn't know about, later, I managed to get myself to the recreational room. It was a large room with a kitchen attached to it, and normally all sorts of functions happened in there. I could already hear some music playing through the door - a heavy, thudding track that made my head both bob to the beat and throb to the headache it caused. I knocked on the door.
"Password?" a chipper young mare replied through the speaker, barely audible over the music. Why did we need passwords? This was the common room!
"Uhh... apple?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Aardvark?" Wait, what the hell was an aardvark?
"No, silly."
Think, you stupid squishy grey thing in my skull! "Uhhh... Blossom is best pony?"
"Aww, thank you!"
Success! I smirked and walked right into the closed door.
"But that's still not the password," Blossom giggled.
"I swear you did that just to hurt me," I deadpanned. "Just let me in already."
"Nope! Not unless you give me the right password!" She had to be enjoying this.
"Damn, thought that would be right."
"Come on, it's easy!"
I groaned. "Blossom, please just let me in."
"Correct!" The door opened with a whoosh, the music becoming louder and a lot more annoying. On the other side of the passage stood a pink and white filly. Well, she looked like a filly, but she was a year older than me. Which was a little disturbing, when you thought about it too much.
"Remind me to kick Nail in the ass," I chuckled, stepping past her. "Password my technicolour flanks..."
"Aww, don't be so grumpy, Chancer! It's a party!" She zipped up to me and wrapped a hoof around my body. I tensed up, as I always did when a mare touched me. "Just relax, be social, have some fun!"
Fun. Right. Let's have fun. Let's go find Nail and hit him in the face.
I found an alcohol bottle shoved into my mouth. "Here! Have a drink!"
I didn't feel like giving felatio to glass, but I had to admit, the drink wasn't too bad. I pulled the bottle out. "Thanks, Bloss."
Half an hour had passed. I had seen Nail, but he was busy chatting with his actual friends. All the mares were steering clear of me, leaving me all alone, and the table of food. Fine by me, if nopony else wanted it. Om nom nom indeed.
"Hey, everypony!" Blossom shouted over the music. She was in charge of this, I'm sure. "Let's play a game!"
A stallion, thin and wiry, held his hoof up. "What sorta game?"
"Something fun!" Way to narrow it down, Blossom. "Like 'seven minutes in heaven', or 'truth or dare'!!
"Truth or dare?" another mare called out. "That's a foal's game!"
"Not if we make it super sexy!" Blossom countered. "Anyways, we're all adults, we don't have to do kids’ stuff in the game."
Nail stepped forward. "I'm fer that."
A few moments of chaos later, we were all seated in a big circle that reminded me of a demon-summoning ritual. The thin, wiry colt, whose name I just remembered was Valence, and Blossom, were sitting either side of me. Good thing too, I don't know how I would have coped with the prettier mares next to me. Mmmmaybe I should stop thinking about mares too much.
Blossom spun the bottle with her unicorn magic, giving me a twinge of jealousy. She had chosen to go first. The bottle spun... and spun... and spun...
And stopped very far away from me, at a short grey earth pony with a scroll on his flank. He gulped.
"So, Script!" Blossom chimed. "Truth or dare?"
He bit his lower lip and looked around, sweat on his forehead. "I'll... uh... I'll go... oh dear... t-truth?"
"Truth," Blossom repeated, smirking. "Do you have a crush on anypony here?"
Y'know, I was expecting something a little more... juicy from Blossom. Script seemed to think quite the opposite as he gulped and, after some more looking around, uttered a 'yes'.
"Who?"
"I-I can't say, y-you can only ask one question."
Blossom pouted. "Alright, next time I'll ask. Your turn to spin the bottle, Script!"
Sighing with relief, he spun the bottle with his hoof. It finally slowed down, pointed at the largest pony in the room - a mare with a long grey mane and light blue coat. Silica, I think her name was. She let out a quiet eep.
"Truth or dare?" Script asked, no emotion in his voice.
"U-umm... d-d-d-dare?"
"I dare you to... hmm..." Script put a hoof to his chin in thought. What sort of horrible schemes was he plotting? "...no, too embarassing..."
"It's supposed ta be embarassing, ya twit," Nail muttered through a sweetroll.
"I dare you to... not go to the toilet for twenty-four hours."
She sighed. "I can do that, I think."
"Oh yes, and you have to drink all of this." He rolled over a bottle of water to her. Her eyes shot wide open. "After the game of course."
Silica muttered a quiet "ok", before she used her hoof to spin the bottle around. Spinning... spinning...
It stopped, pointing at Nail. I grinned; here comes the vicarious vengeance.
"Truth or-" Silica started.
"Dare," Nail said with a cocky smile on his muzzle.
"...dare, right." Silica thought for a moment, before her eyes brightened and she smiled. "Ooh! I know! I dare you to kiss Plank on the lips!"
Plank, a dark brown-coated pony, shouted "WHAT?!" as he scooted back a little. Nail, to his credit, actually looked surprised.
His look didn't last. "Sure, no prob."
"Hang on hang on, don't I get a say in this?!" Plank continued, scooting further back.
"Aww, shuddup and take it like a stallion," Nail groaned, walking up and planting his lips against Planks.
I didn't look away, even though I really wanted to. Again, to his credit, Nail had gone full-on with the kiss, and if you didn't know any better, you could say he had the hots for the other guy.
Plank, on the other hoof, looked just about as reluctant as you could get. Were it not for Nail holding him in place he probably would have been half-way to Manehattan by now. Eventually, the snog was broken and Nail grinned, wiping his muzzle. Plank gasped for air and retreated to the far corner of the room to get himself drunk enough to forget it ever happened, as well as drown out the taste of stallion.
Silica squeed to herself. I smirked as I a) realised she had the best view, and b) thought she'd be fantasising for months about this. Me? I'd be just as content to forget it ever happened.
Nail sat down, that smug grin still glued to him. "That wasn't so hard. Just none of ya speak of it again or else."
Everyone nodded. Except me. I didn't particularly care.
Nail craned his neck. "Right, my turn." He leaned forward and spun the bottle, and I watched it spin, spin, spin, spin...
And it stopped pointed right at me.
My brain worked slower than normal as I looked at the bottle, its short end facing right towards me. Ok, so it was pointing at me. That much I knew.
"Truth or dare?" Nail asked.
I tried to say something like 'huh?' but it came out as a 'buh'. Not too far off, but still not right. "What?"
"Truth or dare, ya twit?"
I gulped, my heart pounding. Normally, I would have been less nervous. But with Nail being the one with the challenge... I was fucked, and that was putting it lightly.
I finally made my answer. "Dare."
Dare?! Of all the choices, you had to choose dare?!
"Alright then, dare. And I've already got one fer ya."
I forced my nervousness down. Hell, I should be revelling in the challenge! A test of my guts, worthy of my skill.
"I dare ya to leave the Stable for a month."
Absolute silence followed. Whether it was my ears, or everypony else saying nothing, I dunno.
"What," I muttered, the gears in my tiny brain whirring to life.
"Ya heard right. Ya gotta leave the Stable for a month. Come back early, ya lose. Come back late, ya lose. Don't come back, sucks to be ya." Nail leaned back, his grin widening.
Gears still working...
"You mean..." I began, slowly. "I..." I pointed to myself. "... leave here... for a month?"
"Yup."
"Uhhh..."
Nail facehoofed. "Twit, ya still workin' it out?"
"Hang on!" Blossom shouted. "You mean to tell us you just challenged him to leaving the Stable? Don't ya know that sorta thing's against the rules?"
"Course I do. But rules didn't stop the last two who left."
Oh. Of course. The two escapees. They disappeared one day and never came back. They were supposed to be bad ponies, but I really didn't care. In fact, I was kind of envious of them, being out there, free to explore and move.
Then, like a brick wall hitting me at supersonic speeds, the realisation hit me.
I could be free.
With sudden vigour, I stood up and thumped my chest with a hoof. "Challenge accepted!"
Everypony looked at me like I was psychotic.
The plan had been set. Nail would get the door override code from the Overmare's daughter... somehow. I would prepare myself for the journey. Tomorrow night, I would go to the main entrance, trot out, and be free!
Of course, I had my first day of my new work to go to for the majority of the day. So my adventures had to wait.
I had been shoved into a loose-fitting, bright-yellow radiation suit and given a gun that I realised I would have to use with my hoof. I swore loudly about unicorns, and from the glares the two unicorns keeping an eye on me, I think they heard me.
I was shoved forwards into an open hatch way, and my PipBuck began ticking. It had been fastened on the outside of my suit, so I could still look at it. I gazed forwards into the gloom, and activated my PipBuck lamp, illuminating the green-misted halls. Everything looked... spotless. No rust, no mould, nothing. Were it not for the persistent green-ness of it all, I swear it hadn't been inhabited.
A surge of energy hit me. I could explore deep inside here, and nopony could stop me!
"Hey, scrub, is it clear?" one of the unicorns asked. She was looking less than interested.
"As in radiation-free?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Yep."
"Nope."
"Then get outta there and let's go."
"But I wanna see what's down here!" I whinged. "Come onnnnn!"
"Overmare's orders. You're not allowed to wonder off without us following."
Grumbling, I trotted out to them. "Damn it..."
"Tough luck, scrub. We got a hundred more doorways to check out."
"Aaaaaand nopony else is on this job?" I queried.
"Nope. Far as I know, you're the first."
"Wonderful!" I snarked, earning a little whack from the mare's silent companion. "Hey!"
"Overmare's orders," he began. "You act sarcastic, you get a smack."
"Oh, isn't that just grand." Whack. "Ow!"
Passage number... seventeen? Eighteen? I dunno. It was just as empty as the others, but the radiation was apparently lighter.
"Well, I can say that it's safer than the other areas," I said as I looked up from my PipBuck. "Course, that means shit-all."
The mare yawned, coming out as a crackle through the radio. "Uh huh... come on, let's go check out the next one."
As she spoke, a red dot appeared on my compass-y thing. It moved slowly. Funny, I had only ever seen a red dot once before, when I had gotten into a fight with another colt.
"Uh, hey, there's a red dot on my compass thingy."
"Your EFS?"
EFS? What the shit was an EFS? "Nnnno, my compass thingy."
"That's called an EFS, you idiot."
"Ok, fine, my EFS. There's a red dot on it."
"Then there's something down there than wants to beat you to a pulp," the mare dryly commented. "Better get outta there."
I blinked. What could be down here that lives in radiation? As far as I know, nothing was supposed to live when exposed to this much.
Except they could already be dead.
I shrieked like a little filly. "Ghosts!"
"Don't be a fucking moron, ghosts don't exist."
"Well, I dunno, I remember seeing a ghost back when I were young..." the buck next to her added.
"Not helping!" I screamed.
"Ugh, look, there's no such thing as ghosts, ghouls or whatever-the-hell. That's probably some stray animal."
"Then..." I wavered as a figure stepped into the light. It was a pony. Emphasis on was. It now looked more like a corpse now. It turned to me and hissed. "...why is it a pony?"
It charged at me. I yelped and backpedalled like mad, my ass hitting the door. I had gained some ground, and I took this opportunity to draw my pistol and carefully aim-
Fuck it its too close! Squeezing my eyes tight, I just emptied the clip at it, using one hoof to support the firearm and the other to press the trigger. The hissing stopped as my gun went click click click click click. I opened my eyes. The pony had fallen over, several bleeding holes on its chest and neck, the head rolling down the hallway.
"We heard gunfire, is everything ok?" the mare asked, a little panicked herself.
"Oh, don't mind me," I said, my voice quivering. "It's not like I was charged by a zombie or anything, that'd just be silly."
My little escapade with the zombie had left me less shaken than I had thought. The sight, however, had made the stallion watching over me lose his lunch, and the mare had quickly let me off for the day, rushing off with her friend and leaving me to deal with my own kit.
An hour later, I was back in my room, flicking through Sword Mares issue #1. I'm glad I didn't see much of the zombie, or else I'd probably be freaking out too. I still felt a little jittery, though. I yelped as I heard a knock on my door.
"O-oh my, sorry Chancy!"
"Chancer!" I yelled back, then sighed. "S-sorry, mum, just-"
"I-I know... I heard about what happened, are you ok?"
"I'm fine, mum," I called back. "Little bit jumpy, though."
"Oh thank goodness..." she sighed, a soft thunk coming from her end. Likely her head resting on the door.
I sighed and got to my hooves, stretching. "When's dinner?"
"Any minute now," she replied, her hooves stepping away from the door.
'Any minute now' later, I had already begun digging into my meal. It wasn't brilliant, but for what we had at hoof, mum had done a great job. We sat at the table and ate.
"Something wrong, son?" my dad asked.
"Hm?" I looked up at him, half a delicious leaf in my mouth. "No, nuffin'f wrong."
"You're normally done by now. I haven't seen you eat this slowly since that time..."
Way to remind me about my failed date with Chedder, dad. "Yeah, yeah, I know."
"Still shaken up from the fight with the zombie?"
What?! I spat the leaf out onto my plate and faced him. "How did you-?"
"Your mother told me."
Oh. I picked the leaf back up and quickly ate it.
"Well?"
"I'm fine, dad. It's something else." Great, now we could switch topic!
"What's wrong?"
Ooooor not. "Nothing's wrong."
"Hmm... alright, but if there is something wrong, let us know."
I nodded and returned to my dinner, finishing it off quickly. Once done, I washed it up and moved back to my room.
I caught my father speak as the door closed, and I put my ear up to it.
"...sure he's ok?"
"He's a big boy, Shade," mum replied. "He's... y'know... good at dealing with things."
"I know, but I'd be practically catatonic if I saw what he did."
"There's worse." Mum's voice was calm, serene, almost more assertive than when she was talking to me. "Trust me."
"Oh, I trust you, don't worry. It's just... well... I'm worried about his mental health."
"He's not crazy, Shade. He's just... resistant to these sorts of things."
That, and I had my eyes closed for the most part.
"Why, I'm sure, tomorrow morning, I can guarantee you he'll be fine."
Something heavy fell in my chest. I remembered that I wouldn't be around tomorrow morning. Admittedly, as excited as I was to leave, I'd be abandoning my family. For the first time since I got the dare, I felt reluctant.
But, even as much as I wanted to stay, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Besides, I'd only be gone for a month. A month isn't a long time, right?
I left all my coupons, the ones I had been saving for days where I was really hungry, or needed to get food for just in case, out on the kitchen table for my parents, along with a note that said 'I'll be back in a month, don't worry about me, here's some coupons to make up for the stuff I raided from the fridge. Love, Chancer.'
I also raided the fridge.
Sneaking around had been... harrowing. The Stable was dark this time of night, and making it to the main entrance was difficult enough without the guards patrolling the halls.
Some of them really needed to get some sleep. I crept past one, right behind him, without so much as a noise. He wandered off, and I took the opportunity to open the door to the main entrance he was standing near.
A gust of cold air pulled at my mane as I slipped in, pressing the button on the panel next to the door and hearing the satisfying whirr of it closing behind me.
"Took ya a while," Nail muttered quietly. "Almost thought ya chickened out."
I chuckled. "Yeah, and miss out on this?"
He smirked, and turned to the door. It loomed ahead of us not unlike a giant... thing. "Now, just t'make sure yer gonna come back, I'm gonna need somethin' from ya."
"I'm guessing my word isn't enough."
"Nope."
"Well, I don't have anything on me that I won't need out there," I half-lied. I did bring a few of my comic books, but I thought I might need something to read when out there, when I wasn't bouncing around with freedom.
I found a comic book in front of my eyes. "What, y'mean ya need these?"
That was the mint-condition issue #1! I flailed to grab it back, but Nail held me back with a hoof while his other held the comic out of my reach. "Hey!"
"Ooh, issue #1. Don't mind if I hold onto it while yer gone."
"Son of a bitch, give me that back!" I struggled against his hoof, gaining no ground.
"Ah ah ah!" he chimed. "Ya wanna go out there, ya gotta have a reason to come back. If you want yer comic book so badly, then ya'll have no reason to stay out there."
I growled, but conceded. I promised myself, as soon as I got back from the outside, I'd beat the everliving hell out of him.
"There we go. Now, remember. Stay out for less than a month, you lose and I keep yer comic book. Stay out for more than a month, and I keep yer comic. Oh, don't worry; ya have a window of three days to come back."
"Why do I lose if I stay out for more than a month?" I asked.
"Cause I said so, ya twit," he replied. "I have my reasons; ya don't have to know them."
"Greeeeaaaat." So I was walking out here with restricted freedom and with my prized posession at risk. Totally didn't ruin my plan, did it?
Eh. Once I got back, I could just sneak out again if I was that desperate.
Nail moved over to a control panel and, plugging in his PipBuck and tapping away at it, made the red light on it turn green. He chuckled. "Well, dayumn, it worked."
"And what if it didn't?" I asked.
"Then I'd hack it, duh."
"And if that didn't work?" I continued.
"Then I'd've thought of something else."
I rolled my eyes. "Gonna open the door or what?"
"Hold your horses, I'm working on it." He reached up to the lever and gave it a tug, causing a loud crash to ring through the halls. The alarms sounded off, loud enough that I was worried it would be carried throughout the Stable. A mechanical arm swung down and connected itself to the door, sliding in with a rhythmic clunking. Once connected, it pulled the door into the chamber, and dragged it to the side, all with a horrible grinding noise that gave me a headache.
Finally, it stopped, lights, sound and all. Outside the door was... another passage, made of metal. This passage, however, lead up to a flight of stairs, which lead off... somewhere.
I gulped down all hesitation as I stepped forwards to the opening. "Well, here goes nothing except my entire being."
"Yep. Have fun out there, or don't. Don't matter to me." Nail chuckled, waving me off.
My eyes drifted past him to the opening door to the halls. In the passageway stood two ponies. One was the unicorn buck who I had accompanying me earlier, the other was a familiar blue and cream unicorn, dressed head-to-hoof in security barding.
Blueberry Cream.
I pointed a hoof at Nail and shouted "he did it!" before I scampered in the best direction to get me away from them.
All of this happened at once:
Blueberry shouted "take hold of him!" and charged towards me.
The buck lept forward, pinning Nail to the ground.
Nail flipped the switch to the Stable door.
The lights and alarms went off.
The final door to my freedom was pretty pathetic, just a standard maintenance door. However, no matter how many times I pressed the open button, it did shit-all and wouldn't budge. I hoped it was locked and not, you know, rusted shut. Looked pretty clean to me.
"Hold it right there!" Blueberry barked, grabbing my hindlegs and sending me to the ground, dragging me back. I hoofed at the ground, trying to get back to my impending freedom. No fair! "This is the last time you go wondering off, you slack-jawed..."
The door grinded shut.
I turned to face Blueberry, grinning sheepishly, as she turned to me with a wide eyed stare.
"Sorry?"
Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Running Tackle - When all else fails, just run into your enemies! You can sprint into enemies to tackle them, pinning them to the ground.
