Fallout Equestria: Good Guys

“Please attention, civilians, this is the Overmare Sunken Voice, please gather in the common room, the drawing will start in five minutes.”

The voice resounded, echoing in the whole stable from the intercom.

Today was not a good day. It wasn’t supposed to be. I gulped, looking around only to see the resignations of everypony’s face, few of them vainly wearing masks of confidence. All of them, different from me, color and Cutie mark; only our age were the same.

I hoped, prayed, and begged, to whom? I didn’t know, but I begged so that I wouldn’t draw the short straw. That, my name, Lucky Star, would actually support my luck. It was a vain hope, but it was enough, at least to fill me with courage, false as it was.

The door to the room opened as the Overmare, Sunken Voice, a mare with gray-white mane, pale gray-blue coat and her Cutie mark; an white square device with speaker. An intercom. Wrinkles adorned her face, a sign of her old age. Her horn glowed with palpable pale-blue aura as it held a box right beside her.

The false courage from before diminished rather quickly.

Two bodyguards, suited in armored guard outfit, flanked both of her sides, following slightly behind. Their faces remained stoic, as they ever had, when they’re in their job at least. Uncle Guard Break was always nice to me when he’s off job.

I gulped as the Overmare set down the metallic box. It was the time for our… well, I didn’t know what it was about. But we knew it was going to be bad. We’re going to be ‘forced’ to leave the stable… to ‘scout’ the outside.

But we knew, we’re not stupid. And the Overmare definitely knew. There were rumors after all, theories that was reinforced by the fact that those who goes outside never came… back.

Essentially, one of us we’re going to get kicked out of the Stable, to who-knows-where, and what-knows-what.

It was a death sentence. And unless the outside is a happy place that those who went outside would never wanted to go back again, then it would still be a death sentence.

I glanced at my Cutie mark. A stable. Specifically, MY Stable, my home, where I had grown up from a filly, raised into what I am now, ‘The fake janitor’ of Stable 30. I inwardly chuckled at the nickname, slowly crippling a small fear in my heart. It wasn’t the best job, doing odd-jobs everywhere, helping those who needs fixing, cleaning, sending, picking, and helping those who would pay. I was practically the mare who would do anything, short of doing something that would arrest me, or worse, kicked me out.

It definitely wasn’t the best job, but I did what I can. However small it was. Beside, what’s a working a community if one didn’t do their jobs?

The clearing of the Overmare’s throat quickly tensing my muscles again, cutting me off from the short reprieve, and restored whatever benefits that short reprieve gave.

“Good afternoon, everypony,”

“Good afternoon, Ma’am.”

We all replied in unison. It was always like this. Respect the Overmare, listen to the Overmare, and obey the Overmare.

It wasn’t nice… but it worked. I briefly wondered if other stables were anything like mine.

She sternly gazed at us, watching us under the uncomfortable scrutiny from her blue metallic eyes. “Alright, everypony,” she started with a smile, “today is the day when one of you would go out from this stable to scout the outside.” She nodded to box settled in front of her. “All of your names are inside of this box; I will pick one randomly and read them to you all. The one that would be called please step forward and we’ll outfit you with the scouting equipment.”

I swallowed the lump that was forming under my throat. I prayed again as clenched my eyes, hoping that it wouldn’t be me. A click resounded, signing that the box was unlocked. I peeked under my eyelids, just in right time too, as she took one slip of paper to the front of her face. Her eyes rose slightly, before reading it aloud.

“Lucky Star, please step forward.”

I froze, my eyes wide opened in terror as I stared at the wrinkled face of the Overmare, looking straight at me. I held down the bile that was forming under my throat and let out a whimper instead.

“Please step forward, Lucky Star.” She repeated, steel behind her voice.

I shook my head, eyes clenched shut, “No, please, no… you can’t do this to me, please!” I stepped back, opening my eyes, looking fearfully at the Overmare.

She wasn’t too pleased, “Now, now, Lucky Star. You’re lucky to be chosen, so please come here, or we will use… a more unsavory force.”

“NO! Please- just… “ I clenched eyes more, tears threatening to fell. An idea, a foolish idea, but I was grasping for anything at this point. I opened my eyes, tears unbidden, “There’s a mistake please! There must be a mistake!”

Denial.

“Guards!” She simply said.
The guards both moved to approach me. I was about to run, before something hit the back of my head. Hard. And then everything went a blur as I fell sideways to the cold floor. The last thing I saw was the small twitch on Sunken’s mouth.

I was beginning to hate her.

Then everything went black.

~ ~ ~ ~

I groaned, feeling very, very, uncomfortable. Wincing as the lump behind my head throbbed painfully… I froze. Quickly opened my eyes. I quickly regretted that action.

I was outside!

My chest rose and deflated quickly as I breathed faster and faster. The air was dry, too dry, as if the air itself didn’t have any… air. I gulped as I saw the landscapes. The pale orange ground unbalanced, no more firm and clinically cold floor of the Stable, but only endless, craters, road, and desert on the horizon. No more protective wall, but only sights of ruins, what used to be buildings, and the sky…

I held down the bile that threatened to come out.

I took a deep calming breath. There’s no point in panicking. I calmly, or as calm as I could considering the situation, looked at my new outfit. It was familiar to my normal Stable 30 jumpsuits, but instead of the plain one, there’s now armored padding on the jumpsuits, a piece of metal covering one side of left forearm. There’s a morbid thought of how they changed my clothes.

Shaking those thoughts away, I remembered that the Overmare said that I will be given… equipments. I snuffed a sob; instead a sniffle escaped. I levitated a saddlebag placed on a blanket, briefly looking around, I found that I was currently in the middle of nowhere. Opening the saddle bag, I stared at the inside.

There were few canned foods and drinks, if my math was correct, it would only last for a few days. But my eyes weren’t caught by the food, the drink, nor the drugs. No, it was caught on the L shaped object.

A gun.

I stared at it, a part of me really wanted to do it, really wanted to end this, so that I could avoid the possible horrors this… this Wasteland would show me. I levitated it, staring at it as I dropped the bag on the ground.

Sweat began to drip as I stared at it blankly, my grip shaking as I aimed the gun to my head. I know, at least, how it works. Open the safety, check the bullets, and pull the trigger. A lesson I got once I saw my uncle relieving his stress in the target practice room, after his fight with his wife. Which, thankfully, ended happily.

I gulped, staring at the barrel of the gun. Grimly, I guessed it was a 10mm pistol, silenced if the tiny barrel stuck on the bigger barrel were any sign. My grip of the gun shook. Just a pull, and then it would be over.

Tears threatened as I dropped the gun, buckling under my knees on the ground, as in the second time of the day. I cried.

I cried at my life just a few hours ago, and the new life I will need to endure. I cried at the friends in the Stable, I cried for my cowardice, and I cried at many things. Finally, the broken dam slowly fixed itself into nothing but cracks. I sniffled, looking at the gun, before opening the magazine; 12 bullets, and tucked it in the holster inside the bag before sticking said holster into the side of my new jumpsuits.

I put the saddlebag on my back as I stared at the empty, broken asphalt called road.

And I walked.

()()()()

New Perk!

New (kinda) resolve: You’ve, rather forcefully, being kicked out of your normal life in the Stable, but that’s okay! You’ve just gained a new resolve… kinda. You don’t think it would be that quick, did you? At least you’re not a coward, so that’s a plus, oh, and you do 10% damage againts those Stable Dwellers! Because fuck those guys, that’s why! Also +1 END for the effort… I guess.