Chapter One: Into the Light
Chapter One: Into the Light
Fallout Equestria: Revolutions
Chapter One
Into the Light
By Comrade_Brony
Life in a stable can get incredibly boring, though, chemical amusements can make it all the more tolerable. Soul crushing monotonous tones of gunmetal gray walls can be much more colorful with a little dash running through your bloodstream. However, seeing the same ponies all around you day after day can become as welcome as a radroach in your boots, though, in Stable eleven we did not know of radroaches. I didn't encounter those joyful critters until later.
Of course, in my line of work, dull is usually good. When I was an apprentice doctor under Doc Aloe, I had learned the virtue of boredom. It meant that ponies I cared about were okay. It also gave more time for me to study and learn from the Doc which wasn't bad. At least it wasn't work. Work is for earth ponies, I always said. Of course, it might have been easier if I wasn't so damn small. Instead I would pretend to be studying while making my own amusements in the chem lab, but we all need hobbies, right?
Loathing work as much as I did, it seemed like a death sentence when I found my special talent was to be a medical pony. I really wanted to be an artist like they said my Daddy was. Creative ponies, in the stable, got to sit around getting high and making up songs and drawing murals. Instead, I found I had to handle the annual check ups of the nine hundred eighty five ponies in Stable eleven.
“How are we supposed to see all these ponies? Nine hundred eighty five is a lot!” I whined at Doc Aloe, the only father-like figure in my life.
“Well, Ms. Mercy do you really think you will see everypony each day?” Doc had asked me on my first day.
“That would take forever.”
“Exactly, you will give routine checkups to only about four ponies every day, and that is it for the preventive care. We will spend the rest of our time on your studies and you can use the memory orbs.”
Once I found the memory orbs, I had dedicated myself to my studies with great zeal. It was so much fun to experience the lives of other ponies through the magical recollection balls. I even found I really liked medical work. Those studies led to finding new chem recipes after all. But, I also discovered I really cared for the ponies in stable eleven.
My casual use of chems may seem a bit odd coming from a doctor, but in stable eleven we didn't discourage chem use. The ponies of the morale initiative even actively goaded those feeling blue to take some dash or buck here or there. Life underground can get stressful when you are locked deep underground in a giant tin can with the same ponies your entire life. You have to rely on everypony around you to keep each other alive and we found relief where we could.
Within two years of working with the doc I had delivered seven colts, pronounced 4 ponies dead of old age and one of an electrical accident with the spark generator I even helped the Doc excise a tumor from the brain of an unlucky earth pony. Annoyingly, the Doc made sure I even learned to stitch wounds and set bones without magic. It wasn't easy.
“Doc,” I said. “Why do I need to learn this crap? I'm a unicorn. My horn can just use a simple healing spell.”
“Oh?” he asked. “And what would you do if you had ten patients bleeding to death, but only enough magic to save one before your horn burned out?”
“Couldn't I just throw them in the auto-doc.” I replied.
“Of course, but how many fit in the auto-doc?”
“One?” I squeaked.
“Ayep.”
Grudgingly, I set myself to work. In time I came to enjoy what I did and committed myself to learning my craft. It was a real tough time, but I learned a lot.
Doc Aloe was getting old, in fact I think he was the oldest pony in the stable, except maybe for the Overmare. About the time I was completing my training we began experiencing epidemics throughout the stable. The first was a phosphorous deficiency caused by problems with the orchard not being able to produce enough grass. Engineering worked on the two hundred year old composters for days before they were working properly again, and even then, it took a few months before we got a good crop. Then came bouts of radiation sickness as the spark generators were having problems, again. Soon we had an outbreak of respiratory illnesses as the environmental filters were breaking down and mold was spreading.
During that trying time were some of the fondest moments I ever had in Stable eleven. I completed my apprenticeship with Doc Aloe, and despite my protests they made a big show of giving me a white coat ceremony. Doc Aloe, Overmare Candy Breeze, Chief Engineer Rusty Ratchet, and about Two Hundred other ponies all showed up to honor me. I was so embarrassed from all the attention, but, a part of me really liked it. The Doc had tears dripping from his big blue eyes as he placed the coat on my shoulders and pinned my name tag on that read “Tiny Mercy, PhD.” He wasn't the only one with water eyes. I blinked away my tears in pure joy. Even if they put my full name on the tag, I was officially the number two pony of the Stable Eleven Medical Collective.
Afterward, the creative and morale crews threw one heck of a party for me. It was better than any cutes-anera I had ever attended, and those were usually the biggest parties. I guess it was a big deal since doctors were hard to come by. Almost everypony turned out for the festivities.
That night I was more than a little bit drunk and I may have been experimenting with dash at the time. I kissed my fair share of mares and stallions. I even had my flank slapped once, turning my white coat a bright pink as I flushed with sudden arousal and embarrassment. “Mating ritual initiated,” I thought to myself giggling. Then somepony had brought out some party-time-mintals. I was floating one towards my mouth when Doc Aloe stopped me.
“After a party like this, you are already the talk of the stable, Doctor,” he lectured emphasizing my new title. “Do you want it to be good talk, or bad talk, Doctor?” Shaking my pink and lavender mane out of my eyeglasses, I grinned up at him for calling me Doctor. I still didn't feel like a doctor yet. I floated the mintal back to the tin and politely declined the black and red creative pony who was passing them out. I think he was a songwriter or something.
“I guess doctor knows best,” I joked.
“Mercy, let me tell you a secret about being a doctor.” Doc Aloe began sloshing a glass of wine around in the air implying a philosophical epiphany about life. “Being a doctor isn't just about healing sick ponies. It is also about earning respect and being a leader in the community.”
“I thought it was more about pursuit of knowledge and being compassionate?” I replied. Doc Aloe chuckled and absently scratched his gray mane.
“Let me ask you this, Mercy, do you think Fluttershy was head of her ministry because she was simply compassionate and knowledgeable?”
“Well, I thought it had more to do with her being friends with Twilight Sparkle and being one of the Elements of Harmony.” I replied smugly.
“Yes, well, I am sure that helped” he said handing me another drink, “But Twilight Sparkle attracted friends who were leaders, friends who were driven, and most of all friends who earned respect.”
“So, how am I a leader for not taking a PTM?” I asked a little miffed that I couldn't join in the fun. He sighed.
“Mercy, what I am trying to say is if you leave the party now, you can leave with your dignity intact.”
“I see.” I said a little disappointed thinking about the Mare who spanked my flank, or was it a stallion? I couldn't remember anymore, my mind was spinning from cider, dash, and change.
“You might not thank me tonight, or tomorrow, or next month. But, remember to play the long game Mercy. Years from now, you will look upon this night with fondness instead of shame.”
“Shame?”
“Yes, you might be a Junior Doctor now, but when I am gone, you will lead the Medical Collective. Others will look to you for wisdom and you will be on the Council of Harmony. Do not sully your reputation with a night of debauchery.” Oh, why did he have to say that. Debauchery was so much fun.
“So, you won't be training any other doctors?”
“No, I am afraid I am nearing retirement and there aren't any suitable candidates. I am afraid you will be my legacy.” A somewhat grim look formed on my face and he stammered. “That is, I mean, you are a great and gifted doctor, but I haven't had the opportunity to train anypony else. My complaint is not for the quality of my successor, rather I was hoping for successors, you know, multiple and plural.” He grinned sheepishly at me, hoping I bit the bait. He continued on “The population has nearly doubled since I was a foal, and well, you know medical is more than a little strained.” He thought for a moment, I wasn't going to stop him after so many compliments poured out of his mouth. “It seems,” he continued with a hiccup, “that I really should take my own advice, and retire,” he paused giving a silly grin “for the evening. Shall we do it together then?”
“I guess,” I said glumly wishing I could get my flank spanked some more. Doc Aloe downed the last of his wine as did I. He then dinged a glass to get everypony's attention.
“It seems that my colleague and I are a bit fatigued by the festivities and more than a little inebriated.” A chuckle coursed throughout the atrium. “We would like to thank you for the party. Please, continue the celebration in our absence. However, some of us have to work in the morning.” There was a round of laughter and applause. So many ponies gave me hugs, well wishes, and waved good night. I smiled genuinely as the doc, the only real father figure I ever had, gently nuzzled me towards the stairwell and led us out of the ruckus.
Once in the hall away from the revelers we came to an intersection in the gray bulkheads that defined the paths of our lives. One led to the residential wing and another to engineering and ultimately the orchard. I stopped before Doc Aloe turned toward the residential zone.
“Doc, I have one more stop I need to make before I head for my bed.” I said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” I said sheepishly. “I need to go see my parents, tell them the good news. I haven't visited in a long time.”
“Oh, of course,” he said and he kissed me on my cheek in a fatherly manner and I gave him a big hug. “I will see you in the morning, bright and early.” He said as he stumbled into the bulkhead. “Okay, well, maybe not so early. Sleep in Mercy, doctor's orders.”
“Not a bad idea.” I giggled. I really didn't feel tired anyway. I was still flying on the dash.
I made my way past the sign labeled “Engineering Autonomous Zone.” Under the sign somepony had also scrawled in Royal Canterlot “Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here, The Cake Is A Lie.” I wondered what they meant about cake, I never spent much time in the labyrinthine tunnels of engineering, and never got their jokes, but the graffiti was new. My pipbuck began ticking a bit, the Geiger counter likely picking up the magical radiation from the Spark Generators. I then remembered why I avoided these spaces and hurried my drunk self up.
After a few minutes I came to the orchards. My pipbuck was silent again, thank Celestia. Above the door was painted a nice mural of fruits and grains and it read “Agricultural Collective.” I trotted in.
In the orchard, the sun was always shining. Magical paint had been spread across the ceiling to emit light that specially trained unicorns charged up every night with magic. I came to a place I knew all too well, an area shaded by our ancestors. Small apple trees populated the area, each with plaques noting whose body was composted beneath the tree. I came to two nestled side by side. Their plaques read “Tender Wishes Mercy, Beloved Mother” and “Treble 'trouble' Mercy, Beloved Father.”
Wishes, my Mother, was a unicorn pony who had worked in medical as a nurse. Trouble, my father, was an earth pony who worked in the creative collective as a singer and painter. Doc Aloe confirmed the stories that my father had won my mother's heart serenading her while she stitched a head wound he acquired while drunkenly falling to the atrium floor from the level above. Apparently thy had been quite the item and their courtship was rumor mill fodder for months.
I was born same day they died, premature just like their deaths. I remained in Medical in an incubator. That night, as my parents slept an air purification talisman became corrupted by radiation emitted from the spark generators and turned it's magics dark. Carbon monoxide leaked into the ventilation system from the tainted talisman. The heavy gas had pooled in the first room it came to. My parents' residence was that room, the first on the exchange. I like to think they died sleeping in each others arms dreaming of me, the child they would never get to hold.
It brought a tear to my eye. I obviously had never known my parents, so I couldn't really mourn them, but I mourned the idea of them. I wished they could have known me, at least for a little while, and see the kind of filly I had grown up to be.
“Hi Mom, Hi dad.” I began. I imagined other trees in the area gave me some dirty looks. “And Grandpa, Grandma, Great Uncles, Great Aunties, and anypony else related to me, okay?” I said, a little rumpled by the selfish trees. Maybe I shouldn't drink that much? Maybe I shouldn't take dash on top of it either? Anyway, I turned my focus back to my parents. I sat under their shade and leaned on my Daddy. “So, did you notice my new lab coat and pin? I'm a real doctor now!” I think my Daddy tree sagged a bit. “Oh, don't be sad Daddy. I still draw.” I think the tree perked up a bit at that. “Anyway, I start my first day tomorrow, and well, I am a bit scared.” The Mommy tree gave me a look. “I know Mom, its the same job I have been doing. But, its just that this time, its all on me. I won't have Dr. Aloe to rely on. Well, sure, he will still be there, but if I mess up, its all my responsibility, and well, I've never had somepony's life entirely in my hands. I'm kind of scared.” I rambled. It was then an apple fell from my Daddy tree and I took the hint. “Okay, okay, I'll quit acting like a foal. I know I am a full grown mare and can handle full grown responsibility.”
I sat there a while more drowsily thinking in my drug induced haze. I took a bite of the apple and it was sweet. I sleepily snuggled against the trunk of my Father and I swore that in the twilight of my drug addled consciousness I heard “That's Daddy's girl” as I drifted off to sleep.
I was right that taking on that kind of responsibility was a daunting task, but it seemed I was up to the challenge. More problems began to crop up. Sickness was spreading in our little vault. Brown outs were becoming a daily event as the Engineering Collective worked on the problem. The doc and I worked overtime beyond our normal office hours just to produce enough healing potions, rad-away, and rad-x to handle the problem.
In true Stable 11 fashion the Overmare, dear Celestia she looked stressed, assigned us to form think tanks and focus groups. We all gathered into appropriate groups to work out the problems. The engineering team came up with an advanced refit schedule in conjunction with the agricultural team who would supply the extra muscle. They were mostly earth ponies anyway.
My medical council worked with the sanitation crew and we prescribed sterilization of all common areas of the stable to reduce the spread of the sicknesses. We worked with the creatives to release informational packets on the proper cleaning of the private areas. We also added a suggestion to convert some of the common spaces to more residential housing as space was becoming tight and disease was able to spread easier.
The creative groups began a morale boosting campaign of spontaneous musical sing-a-longs about friendship and overcoming adversity. There was also a new mural in the commons with all the leaders of Stable 11 in a big group hug that read “Stable Eleven, Friendship, Harmony, Equality, and Community” I nearly spit my bit when I saw myself included in the painting with my arm around Doc Aloe.
The Food Service Union began serving bigger vitamin rich meals to those working extra hours using the pre-war emergency rations from storage. They also got creative with some of their ingredients. The soy ice cream sundaes with sugar apple bombs and fudge topping was a huge hit. The sugar rush alone kept me going in my lab for hours. Screw dash, I wanted ice cream!
The Unified Education Co-op gave all the foals time off from school so they could add to the labor pool while learning trades from their parents. The poor things had to write a paper about their experiences afterward. In the mean time, the teachers were using the time to help moderate the think tanks.
Things seemed to be on the up and up. We even had the creatives pop into medical for a spontaneous sing-a-long about the magic of friendship and equality. The power was shut off in parts of the Stable during the refit. There were concerns about the plans for new residential units, as the Overmare considered the community space of great importance for morale and harmony. The space was an open ceiling two level atrium with a surrounding balcony. We were working with the engineering team to see if we could convert just the upper level to housing and leave the space below before we made our second proposal.
Everything seemed to be just going so well. I remember that day like no other. I was in the lab late that night making more healing potions with nurse Funny Cakes when an orange earth pony buck ran into my office yelling “Doc Aloe, Doc Mercy! Come quick, Rusty Wrench has been electrocuted in engineering!” In shock I nearly dropped the alchemical reagents I was mixing.
“I'll head straight there,” I yelled back as I quickly grabbed my responder kit. “Doc Aloe is in his room, number three hundred eighty two, the third floor. Bring this to him,” I said as I magicked the doc's responder kit into his hooves. The earth pony didn't even respond, just ran straight out the door heading for residential.
Nurse Funny Cakes grabbed her first aid kit and galloped after me. I was quite out of breath when I got to engineering and a gray earth pony mare I didn't quite remember with a spanner cutie mark and goggles on her head was waiting to take me to the scene. I couldn't help but admire her cute tight flanks as we trotted to the scene.
Once we arrived, everyone was in the halls outside the spark generator room. I figured no one knew first aid and was waiting for the medical ponies to arrive and do their job. I thought we would have to start some classes to help with that. I remembered from my memory orbs that a good first aid course for everypony would reduce the severity of injury by about twenty five percent.
I saw my patient through the door, he was sprawled on the ground with a nearly blackened foreleg. My goal in sight, I galloped right in. As I did so, I heard someone yell “Mercy, No!” I halted in my tracks and skidded to a stop on my plot as the sudden realization dawned on me that of course they knew first aid. I had taught many of them. Instead, I had made the biggest noob mistake. I was supposed to find out if the scene was safe before trotting in. That was the last thing I remembered before a bright light flashed and searing pain struck my hind quarters. I couldn't move, or even breath. I spasmed as everything went black.
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Nightmares, they sucked. They never made much sense. There was lots banging and screaming in my head as I drifted through unconsciousness. My mind kept hearing Doc Aloe repeat “They're walking, they're walking, oh dear Celestia, I thought they were dead!” Over and over again.
I blinked awake. The world was fuzzy and my head throbbed. I began to move and found I couldn't move very far. Then I noticed all the tubes in me and some text floating backwards on the glass before my vision. It read “Health ninety percent, Radiation 0 REM, Taint zero percent, Food five percent, Hydration five percent, Power one percent. Emergency release activated, please refill auto-doc. Thank you for choosing Stable-Tec as your auto-doc distributor.” I was in the auto-doc. That explained it. I tried to yell for Nurse Funny Cakes, but a dry coughing wracked my throat. I waited there for what seemed like hours but no one came. My hydration now showed four percent. I decided I needed to get out of this auto-doc and at least find some water right away.
Weakly, I activated the emergency release button. The empty IV tube was removed from my arm and a catheter was yanked out from somewhere I didn't want to think about. It had pretty good form, but I thought the auto-doc could use some better bedside manners, such as a warning next time. The glass slid aside and I groaned as I got to my shaking legs. I went straight for the nearest sink.
I hung over the side, my mouth parched as my magic turned the handle. Nothing came out. I tried to swear in frustration but just coughed some more. I wobbled to the supply closet and found some sterilized water for cleaning wounds and sucked. The water hit my tongue and it was like heaven. I chugged the whole bottle and felt sick. That is when I remembered my training. I was severely dehydrated and needed more than just water. I found an IV bag with glucose and saline and quickly had a line into my foreleg. I taped the bag to my flank so I could look around some more. I looked at the health meter on my pipbuck and it showed my hydration rising towards twenty five percent and food had moved up to seven percent. I would need more than glucose.
My head was becoming clearer. I began to notice that medical was a wreck. Debris spread the floor, an alchemy set was smashed on the counter. The power was off and only the emergency lights were on. Worst of all, bloody hoof-prints stained the floor in a rusty red.
I found my voice was coming back. Coughing only a bit this time I choked out “Doc! Fanny! Where are you ponies?” There was no answer. I tried the door out of the operating room to the office beyond, but it was locked. It was then my fore hoof stepped upon something. I found it was a key somepony had slid under the door. I opened the door, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw in front of me.
There was a pile of dead rotting ponies in the waiting room. Spent shotgun rounds littered the floor. The stench of rotting ponies was unbearable. I screamed and retched. The bodies were so desiccated I couldn't even tell who they were. Thank Celestia for small favors, as I had nothing to throw up. What in Equestria had happened here? My mind swam. I realized in my mind fog that after I had screamed, I had gotten the attention of somepony. They were inside the morgue and were banging against the door to get out. I heard some kind of guttural growling spurting noise coming from beyond. They must be dehydrated like me. The door was chained shut with a padlock. The door said “Dead inside, do not open.”
“Don't worry, I'm here,” I yelled through the door. “I'll get you out!”
Why would they lock living ponies in the morgue? It made no sense and if that banging was a pony signaling for help, I would have to get them out, and then maybe they could tell me what had happened. They might be in worse shape than me.
“Hello?” I called again. There was no response but the banging stopped for a second before it resumed. I figured that there had to be somepony in there. Maybe she could tell me what was going on. It sounded like she needed my help. I looked at the lock. It was the lock we used to lock up the med-x and I knew right where the key was, in my desk. I went straight to it, trying to ignore the massacre before me. Life comes first, I could mourn the dead later. Maybe it was Doc or Nurse Fanny in that room banging and I had to hurry.
I magicked the key right up to the lock and had the chain off in seconds. I opened the door. Inside were several bodies that looked like they were burned to a crisp. “Hello?” I called looking for the pony who was making the banging. One of the burn victims was standing up, banging into one of the drawers that stored the dead. Then it turned and looked at me. A horrid vision of burnt flesh and cracked skin turned to look at me. I couldn't recognize the pony through the blackened flesh and I cringed. But, I was a doctor and I wanted to help. I could help, I knew it.
“I can get you some med-x for the pain, and I can try my best to heal you. What's your name?” I asked stepping forward a bit. Then, the other bodies all turned their heads towards me and sat up. Startled, I backed up a bit. The earth pony that had been standing rushed toward me in a hobbling gait. I knew she might be happy to see me, but this was sudden. I opened my fore hooves wide for a hug, a good Stable Eleven harmony hug. “It's okay, I can help you,” I said. But, the mare had other ideas.
I was thrown to the ground with a thud, my barely working body ached. The mare then tried to bite me! I have had combative patients before, but this was something new and awfully wrong. I dodged out of the way of her bite but still took one in my shoulder. I cried in pain. I was pinned and hardly able to move. Others were rising and probably coming to join the fun.
“Help! Help! Haaaayeeelp!” I pleaded as the pony chewed and ate the flesh it had torn from my shoulder. I screamed in horror as instinct took over. My magic reached around for the nearest heavy object, a paperweight on Doc Aloe's desk behind me. I slammed it into the zombie pony's head. “Yes, they were zombie ponies,” my mind thought at me because anything else and I would be a murderer. I couldn't handle that at the moment, even if it was self-defense. The impact was enough to stagger the pony to the side and I leapt out from underneath the mare. My heart pounded with adrenaline and the pain in my shoulder was enormous. I slammed the door shut and was able to replace the chain in time for the zombie ponies to begin pounding on the door.
I crumpled to the floor, sobbing my eyes out. My I.V. had been ripped out and I left a trail of blood on the floor, I would have to get a new one. I began cleaning the wound on my shoulder before I applied my healing magic.
Lost in thought, reality began to settle in. What nightmare was this? What had happened to my home? My friends? They were my family. Sure, I was raised by the collective, some of them closer relations (two hundred years of interbreeding will do that to a population), but the entire stable had been my family in the truest meaning of the word. My sobs abated as I thought of what Doc had said about leadership. Maybe that was what made me different. Unlike everypony else in the stable, I had no immediate family, and thus treated everypony as family. I stood to my hooves.
“Come on, Mercy,” I said to myself. “You are a full grown pony, Get it together.” I remembered from my psychology studies that talking to yourself could be quite therapeutic during stressful events, as long as I wasn't surprised by the answers.
“Priorities,” I muttered, “healing, food, water, something to protect myself, information, other survivors maybe? Then I can start a plan.” I shoved all other thoughts out of my head and began triage on my situation.
I replaced my I.V., cleaned my wound and applied healing magic from my horn. I found some Sparkle Cola and a box of Fancy Buck Cakes in Fannie's desk. I took them in the autodoc room away from the smell. I chowed down like I hadn't eaten in weeks. In fact, that very well might have been true. I was thinner than I had ever been and I could see my ribs through my coat. Knowing that, I began to eat slower. I didn't want to put myself in shock.
My hunger sated, for now, I found my lab coat on it's hook and put it on. At least I would have pockets now. I gathered my stethoscope, it was my Mother's and it was very dear to me. I found a set of EMT saddlebags and began loading them with everything I could. There wasn't much left, but I was able to finish some potions that were nearly completed before they had been abandoned. I found a nice stash of chems, medical tools, and bandages. Everything I could pretty much carry with me. I found my pipbuck was kindly keeping track of my inventory for me. According to this I could carry about forty more pounds. Then it hit me: pipbuck.
I quickly went into the communications subsection. There I looked for active radio signals. The Stable-Tec emergency frequency was active. I loaded it and listened to the streaming audio. A robotic sounding voice was repeating “Stable -Tec, Stable Eleven, Zion Illineigh, critical reactor failure. Celestia level event imminent.” Then there was a digital burst and the message repeated itself. I tried to read the digital file being sent, but it was encoded. I downloaded it to my Pipbuck and I would check it out later.
I dove into my communications. I had tons of messages from well wishers. That was heartening. I could get to those later. The newest messages were from the Overmare, security, engineering and others. I read the messages from the Overmare first.
My Little Ponies,
As you all know, an accident occurred during the refit of the spark generators this evening. I am placing the entire stable on lock down except for all responders. Please return to your residences. Anypony outside of their residences will be detained until the event is over. If you want to help, stay in your residence and send a message to the Emergency Inbox. If your skills are needed, we will contact you. Otherwise, stay out of harms way.
Candy Breeze
Her next message read:
My Little Ponies,
The explosion you just heard was spark generator number two experiencing a critical failure. There was a magical radiation release. Please stay inside. Rad-away and Rad-X will be made available as soon as possible. It will be delivered to you. Stay inside.
Her final message was an audio file:
“My Little Ponies,” she began sobbing. I heard her take a swig of something, probably alcohol. “the other spark generators have been shut down. So many have perished from radiation poisoning, but not all. They, they, they are alive. Not really, but I don't know how. They just get up and, and, and...” She trailed off. “I didn't want to, but she attacked me. If anypony out there is still alive, I'm sorry.” Then there was a gunshot and silence.
Stunned, I held my head in my hooves. Through my sobs I began to wonder. How could she have sent the message if she was dead? There might be another survivor, maybe more. I saw the date of the message and looked at the date on my Pipbuck. Twenty eight days had passed. Almost a month I spent in the auto-doc, and it made sense that supplies would run out.
I looked at the other messages in my inbox. I read the one from engineering next.
“You Motherfuckers! Come and get us out of here! We are still alive! I don't know how, but we are still alive! Some of us are hurt bad! What the fuck! We are holed up in the orchard.”
Okay, that was not what I was expecting. So I moved on to the message from security, it was sent to everypony in the stable. Strangely it contained an executable file. Curious, I ran it. Text began to float in my vision.
Run deputize.exe
Loading
Complete. Execute.
Do you wish to continue?
I pressed yes, curious. A series of arcane symbols and computer code scrolled across my vison. Then it read:
Deputize active.
Load Eyes Forward Sparkle files 12/12
Load Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell files 107/107
Load Medical Software files15/15
Error newer version already exists
Load Map Software files 1/1
Load Maps files 4892/4892
Jailbreak Y/N?
Unsure but still curious I pressed yes.
Jailbreak execute
User “Mercy” is now Root “Mercy”
Please restart your Pipbuck.
Restart? I never had to restart this thing before. It wouldn't respond to any other command now so I just started pushing buttons on the thing. I hoped I hadn't broke it. To my luck, it started flashing.
“Restart? Y/N”
“Aha!” I shouted a little too loud and I heard the banging on the door to the morgue resume. “Fucking zombies,” I muttered. When my pipbuck came back to life the world stopped again.
“Welcome to Stable-Tec Security, Root User Mercy. You may now use your Eyes Forward Sparkle to see threats and notice points of interest. Red tics on your EFS will represent threats. Yellow means they may become threats, and green means friendly. Remember, red means dead. You may activate the Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell at any time to pause time and direct your attacks as you wish. Just remember that the spell is limited and needs to occasionally recharge. Also, it is not SATS that is directing your actions, rather SATS is directing your body to obey directions you have already given. Stable-Tec is not responsible for any injury that may occur during use of SATS. Would you like to use the tutorial?”
I chose yes, and the Pipbuck ran me through all the uses of SATS and EFS complete with simulations. It was an interesting application similar to the medical software I already had. Reality resumed for only an instant before more text appeared.
“Welcome to Stable-Tec Medical Software Root User Mercy. A newer version is already loaded on this pipbuck. Would you like to run the tutorial for version 1.0 anyway?”
I chose no, and once again time stuttered.
“Welcome to Stable-Tec Map Software Root User Mercy. You may now use your map and task software together to plan your day in a Stable-Tec Vault. Would you like a Tutorial?”
Cringing I realized it was efficiency software. I chose “No” enthusiastically. Several more tutorial requests appeared and I kept choosing “no” already bored with it. Finally, it came to the end, and one more notification appeared. “SL-1909 decoded for Root User Mercy.” Curious I opened the file. It was a short message containing coordinates of the stable and “Value = 1”. Is that it? Why the big secret?
/)(\
I had gathered everything I could. I was much more comfortable with my surroundings once I had EFS. I could see the zombie ponies through the wall were red, but no others near me. No blue bars either, but I couldn't complain too much. I found a baton, a small short barrel twenty gauge pump shotgun, and a ten millimeter pistol on a security pony in the pile of bodies in the entrance to medical. I wanted to take his security barding, but I didn't want to get covered in the blood. I was thankful the corpses were decayed beyond recognition. I didn't want to know who they were. I would try to find a clean set if I could. The weapons were heavy for me, but it would do. I had twelve rounds for the shotgun and seven for the handgun. I hoped to find more in case I ran into those, those things. I had loaded up on all the medical supplies I could.
Just before I left, I saw the paperweight I had used on the zombies in medical. It wasn't a paperweight, it was a bobble head of a medical pony that Doc Aloe had on his desk since I knew him. It said, “Nurse Redheart” and beneath that it read “We need all the help we can get.” On the bottom it read “Limited Edition from the Ministry of Image, 5/13, Gotta collect them all,” it read. I was filling up my weight in my inventory really quickly, but I somehow felt connected to this thing. I went to put the bobble head back when I noticed my inventory sorting software didn't count it's weight. I wondered if this was a spell on the pipbuck. Either way, I figured there would be no harm in keeping a memento or a few.
Carefully, I snuck out the door of medical. Nothing showed on my EFS yet, that was good. I went towards my quarters. I had more medical supplies stashed there that I had “liberated” for things like emergencies and, well, umm, parties.
I saw one red bar on my EFS, but I didn't need to go that way. I picked up my stash from behind the top drawer of my dresser. Then, I noticed the only picture I had of my parents. It was taken on their first date and they both looked so cute and awkward. I considered taking it with me, but I wasn't really planning to leave the stable, was I? The world was supposed to be blasted and irradiated. But, was I safer here with the zombies? I could never get the orchards to run, I had no idea how to run spark generators, not to mention the air circulation. It had taken an army of ponies to run Stable Eleven. How could I alone do it?
It was then my stomach growled reminding me that I needed to eat something other than Fancy Buck Cakes. I didn't have any snacks in my residence, it was rude to hoard. So, I went down towards the cafeteria. As I entered the cafe' I noticed three red bars in my vision. I immediately felt adrenaline surge in my body and I ducked underneath one of the tables. They came closer.
Suddenly they were upon me. Not zombie ponies, rather some large looking roaches. I drew the baton, it shimmering in my lavender magic. I hit the super roaches until they squished. One more came in from the kitchen and this time I decided to try out SATS. As I slid into SATS I noticed that my chance to hit was much lower than in my tutorial. Sighing, I queued up three hits to the roach’s body with a seventy five percent chance on each swing. It was strange as my body followed the instructions and I didn't even have to do anything.
Reality came back to normal and I began searching the kitchens. Everything was picked through. I might have to get into storage in the lower levels of the stable.
I headed down towards engineering, to find the pre-war storage. As I got closer, my pipbuck began ticking, it was slow at first so I kept going. I turned a corner and it spiked so that my pipbuck sounded more like static than ticking.
That's a big nope! I jumped back and trotted back up the stairs to head towards the orchards. I noticed that I already had twenty REMs, from just that short time. I decided to head towards the orchard. I wasn't far.
When I reached the orchard, there were bodies all around. Most were charred like the ones in morgue. I wondered if that was what had happened to me, but I was the only lucky one to be put in the Auto – Doc. The doors were open to the orchard, but the magical light was gone and was probably gone for days. I stepped over a crude barricade and turned on my pipbuck. I could see red bars at the edge of my EFS. So far, I was okay. Quietly I trotted toward my parents' trees. I could see that their leaves were all gone. Rotten apples littered the ground. The trees were dead. I could just feel it. It was then I knew that I couldn't stay here. I would surely starve to death. I thought about heading down into the radiation. If I found enough Rad-away and Rad-X, I should be okay. We should have some in storage down there.
I had gotten to just the point where the rads spike and had second thoughts. What if I couldn't get to the medical storage? I would be irradiated without enough to fix it. It was a risk I just couldn't afford. I turned away. Maybe I would come back if I couldn't get outside.
I began to walk away, and it was just my luck that as I did, a red bar appeared and I heard a throaty hiss. Then I ran. I could hear it running after me. I galloped and through the cafeteria, through residential, through the workshops, past medical, and I was up to the Overmare's office, yet it was still behind me.
I drew the shotgun with my magic, the thing was getting close. I slipped into SATS and queued up four rounds straight into it's head. Celestia save me, the thing was almost on top of me. I hit execute and time resumed. The zombie's head exploded in a bloody mess of eyeballs and brains all over the wall. I was hyperventilating from the adrenaline as I heard more screeches from below. They must have heard the gunshot. I turned to the Overmare's door. It was locked.
/)(\
I stood looking at the door, wondering how to get through. I tried kicking the door and pushing it up, but to no avail. The zombies were getting close. I looked around and saw security across the atrium. I galloped right into the room, saw the crazed zombie ponies coming behind me. I closed the door and flipped the latch on the inside. The zombies began pounding on the door, but since I was in here. I figured I was safe for a while, and I might be able to wait them out.
“I can't hear you!” I shouted at the door immaturely. I began to look around security. I found most of the place cleared out. However, I found a box of rounds for my pistol and a set of security barding that somepony hadn't died in. I put it on, just in case. Conveniently, the Security patches were velcro, and I replaced them with a set that read “EMT” I found in an open crate labeled “emergency.” I figured if I went outside, I didn't want to do any false advertising. There were others with “Over-mare,” “Engineering,” and “Fire.” Inside the metal box I also found a dozen water bottles and three pre-war boxes labeled “Meal Ready to Eat.” The box seemed pretty picked over. I threw those in my bags as well.
Then, I turned to the computer. I needed info. It was locked. I smirked at this. Few terminals had stopped me in my misspent youth, and this one wouldn't either. I removed the access tools I had “liberated” as a foal and was about to use them to get into debug mode. I really didn't need to bother, as the terminal unlocked at my touch. It said “Root User Access Confirmed.”
“Huh, how nice,” I thought, putting my access tools away.
The first thing I noticed was a countdown. To what? I didn't know. It said three hours and twenty six minutes. I looked at the other entries. I learned nothing new, well except that the author had the hots for another security pony. Under utilities I found the security command software. Alarms were all over the place. The two remaining spark generators were ready to go beyond critical. I figured this might be the countdown. I was able to pull up a graphic of the stable and inside were lots of red bars. I figured there was some sort of EFS all over the stable. Red bars were mostly in engineering and the orchard with three outside of security and one blue inside. Crap. I really was the last pony. That made my next trick a lot easier.
Under the defenses menu I clicked activate. All over the stable I heard turrets popping out of the ceiling and laying waste to any red bars. I wondered why they hadn't done that earlier. The mindless zombies were not able to retaliate and within minutes, all the red was gone. That left just me. I cried. Everypony I ever knew was dead and I had killed them. I knew they weren't really alive, that they were those zombie things. Fanny, Doc Aloe, the Overmare, all the cute ponies in the creative collective, everypony was dead. I lay there on the floor for a while, drying my tears. I think I fell asleep a bit. I couldn't be sure.
I looked at the computer. The countdown had moved from three hours and twenty six minutes to just two hours and four minutes. That made me nervous. I suddenly felt the need to leave, and fast. I didn't want to become one of those things. I wasn't sure what created them, but I only assumed it was the magical radiation. I looked at the security control screen. I unlocked the Overmare's office remotely as well as the vault door. Well, that was easy.
I trotted over to the Overmare's office. Sighing I shoved Candy Breezes' body away from the terminal. “Fucking coward,” I admonished her dried corpse. I accessed her terminal. I began perusing files. I needed to know what was going on. The file labeled “Overmare Instructions” caught my eye. It was a short video file, so I played it. I figured I had some time.
The first couple of frames were of an orange pegasus with a pink mane, she opened her mouth and the video switched to another pony. This new pony was lavender, with a purple mane and shock of pink running through her mane. She looked old and tired and wore reading glasses as she read from her script.
“Hello, I am Minister Twilight Sparkle of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. If you are watching this, then it has happened. The Zebras have attacked, and you are safely in Stable Eleven. As Overmare, your position will be very important for the rebuilding of Pony society. The files I have added to your terminal explain how I wish you to form your government and culture. In short, you will base your society on the principles of friendship and harmony. You will need to keep a stable population of around five hundred for everything to run smoothly. You should have enough contraceptives for a stay of one hundred fifty years. But we would like you to begin sooner. Once on the surface, your descendants will need to begin to rebuild, repopulate the surface, and execute a very special mission. This mission is classified, and the instructions will only be unlocked once all stable inhabitants have reached the surface. The stable has been designed to begin failing after one hundred fifty years, should your descendants attempt to stay. By around 200 years, if your descendants have not left yet, the reactors will begin to critically fail, killing everypony. Yes, it sounds brutal, but after all they will be afraid of the surface. We need the surface repopulated with good ponies, ponies like you Overmare. As one of my trusted agents, I hope you will take on this role in earnest. Should my projects fail, I will need you and your descendants to carry the torch for Ponykind. I have added files to this terminal that will detail your further orders, but they will only unlock once they are beyond the vault door. Overmare,” she saluted, “it is now up to you. Remember, friendship and harmony. Then, back to the surface as soon as you can, you have one hundred fifty years.” The video finished.
“Murderer!” I yelled at the screen as it went dark. “How, how, how dare you!” Then I looked at Overmare Candy Breeze's slowly mummifying corpse. “And you! You knew about this! What, were you afraid you bitch! You had a job to do!”
I glanced at the time remaining. I had an hour. It was time to go before I was cooked by a two hundred year old murderer. What could be so important that he would kill our whole stable? Some secret project, huh? I had to admit, my curiosity was piqued. If only she were still alive I would remove her skeleton bit by bit without anesthesia.
Running out of time, I just downloaded all the files to my Pipbuck. I was also able to unlock a safe. Inside were bunches of useless papers. Pushing them aside, I found a weapon more to my liking, a small laser pistol and several spark batteries. I shoved those into my packs and found myself overloaded according to my pipbuck. I certainly did seem to move slower now, and didn't want to try to run. I considered my equipment and tossed away some of the junk I had been dragging around, a bunch of ashtrays I had some how grabbed in my haste, several changes of clothes, a silverware set, a softball, and a couple of clipboards. Sighing, I threw off the restrictive and hot barding in lieu of my lab coat. I felt much more myself. That done, I looked at the countdown. I had thirty minutes. Shit. I suddenly really did not like countdowns. I wasn't sure exactly what would happen, but I knew it wasn't good.
I trotted to the vault door and activated the open sequence on the panel. Every moment seemed to take an eternity. My gut lurched as I realized what I was doing, leaving the stable. Yellow lights flashed and an alarm sounded that startled me. A drill like device pulled the vault door back with a grinding screech and a blast of damp smelling air hit me. I had twenty minutes. If only I hadn't dawdled in the Overmare's office.
I was scared to step beyond the door. My whole life had been here. My friends, my family, friends who were like family, and even those that I really didn't like, but knew all the same. They were all part of that magical place, Stable Eleven, my home. It was all over for them, but it wasn't for me. I tossed my mane back and trotted at the door and stopped abruptly, my heart palpitating.
“Oh, come on Mercy.” I chided myself.
I began walking tentatively out the door. It was a cavern as dark as the stable had ever been. I switched on my pipbuck light and the area lit in an amber glow. Beneath my hooves I saw the bones of ponies all around the door. Were they trying to get in when the bombs dropped? How long was it before they perished? Had some other horrible fate befell them?
Suddenly there was red on my EFS. It was just a rat, a rather large and scary rat, but just a rat. I gave it a wide berth and tried to sneak away. I had about eight minutes before the countdown was over. The rat apparently didn't care if I was a big pony trying to sneak away, and lunged for me.
“Oh Celestia, ew!” I said as I magicked my laser pistol out of my bag and shot at the thing. I was a terrible shot on the fly. The rat tried to bite me and nearly got a chunk out of my fore-hoof. I remembered I had SATS and entered the all too cool time stop targeting spell. I queued up three shots to it's torso and executed the spell. My laser pistol landed the second hit and the rat fizzled into a pile of ash. I was happy to be able to dispatch the little beast, but I was running out of time.
I began a gallop and took whatever path led up. I was beginning to huff and puff as I reached a decrepit wooden door. A soft glow came from the other side. I heard an electrical explosion behind me. My pipbuck flashed “Reactor Exceeded Criticallity” and “Celestia level event”. The Geiger counter on my pipbuck began ticking so fast it was like one long note and I saw the needle on the gauge was at one hundred REMs a second. However, that was the max. It could have been one thousand and I wouldn't know the difference. Not wanting to be cooked from the inside by a giant microwave, I crashed out the door and stumbled down a hill in my haste. Okay, maybe it was more of a cliff and maybe I did more than stumble.
Alarms were going off on my pipbuck. A sad looking pony appeared on my pipbuck indicating her foreleg was crippled. My radiation meter screamed that I was suffering from extreme radiation poisoning. Everything was blurry. I looked around. It was like the biggest room I had ever seen. Little pinpricks of light littered the ceiling. I couldn't see where the room ended. I was outside, and it was bigger than I could ever imagine.
Then, my pipbuck chirped. “4 files unlocked,” it read.
Footnote: Level up!
Traits
Four Eyes: +2 Perception while glasses are worn. You receive a -1 to perception when they are not.
Small Frame: +1 Agility, but you suffer 25% extra damage to limbs.
Tag Skills – Energy Weapons, Medicine, Science
Choose a perk
Daddy's Girl: Gain +5 to Barter and +5 to Speech. Your Father was a natural performer and a tree.
Author's Note
A big thanks to KKat, Somber, Noone, and many more for being such inspirations.
