Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, all living beings thrived under the rule of the Twin Sisters. The many different types of ponies walked together side-by-side as friends, together paving the way to a brighter future. But it was not to last. Fear, anger and disharmony tore apart this peaceful world, smothering millions beneath clouds of ash, fire, and magical radiation.

Still, the flame of ponykind’s spirit was not extinguished completely. The Stables, which had been built to preserve Equestria’s best and brightest in the event of the worst, survived the balefire bombs and catastrophic megaspells that laid waste to all else in the world above their underground corridors. One such place was Stable 64, a place where unicorns and earth ponies alike lived together in mutual harmony such that Equestria itself seemed to live on within. However, when infected by even the smallest trace of fear and suspicion, even the strongest balance can come crashing down. War… war never changes...

I cracked my eyes open, groaning and stretching my body to get myself awake. I slowly brought my PipBuck to my face, squinting at the bright green light.

After my eyes adjusted, I read the time. 10:00 AM. Dear Celestia, I was not a morning pony. I groggily crawled out of my bed, and started walking forward and stretching my legs to shake the last bits of sleep away.

Another day… another boring day… maybe something exciting will happen. Maybe. Probably. Not really.

I walked out of my room and into the living area of my residence, leaning against the wall to keep myself up as I was still not fully awake and looking around for my father. He wasn’t there. “Probably in the cafeteria getting breakfast,” I muttered to myself.

My name is Seren Starfall. I'm a security mare for Stable 64. I've had the job ever since the day I got my cutie mark—a plain old teal star. Ironic, considering that there's no room for stars in the stable. I guess I can pretend that it's a decent stand-in for those silver sheriff's stars you always see in the old Western adventure novels. I never really paid much attention to it, anyway, since I can't really pursue its meaning when I'm stuck in this job.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the only reason I'm even in security is because my mother was, as well? Sadly, she suffered a tragic death when I was just a filly. In Stable 64, it was tradition to take the same job your parent had when they died. That tradition could be broken if the pony who died didn't have any fillies, as the job would go to the most qualified pony in the stable... well, most of the time. Oh, ma, if only you could see me now… breaking up fights over sweet rolls, taking down rude posters from ponies' doors, and busting teenagers making out in the atrium. A real chip off the old block.

I did what I do every morning: take a shower, put on my jumpsuit, and walk to the atrium. Ponies tend to not notice me much as my gray coat and eyes make me blend into the background, or so they tell me. I was one of the blandest-looking ponies in the stable, my most notable trait being my messy black and white mane and tail, colors that many other ponies in the stable had. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to deal with any ‘zebra pony’ teasing, today.

The atrium was the main area of the Stable. Above, there were two balconies on either side of the room, with a suspended bridge connecting both of them. The Security and Medical offices were located on either side of the balcony. Straight ahead, you had the circular window of the Overmare’s office overlooking the ground floor. On the ground floor, you had a cafeteria and other various branching hallways with staircases that led down to the Residential area, which was the floor below the main atrium. This is the room that I usually patrol on my shift, and it gets kind of boring, to be honest.

I walked into the atrium, looked around, and decided to do something I don’t usually do. Eat at the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was one of the largest rooms in the Stable. Somepony was always in there, whether they were in food prep or just getting a bite, which easily made it one of the busiest rooms you could find at any time on the clock. In addition, there was the massive hydroponic farm right behind the cafeteria, though I’d only been back there once or twice; I certainly didn’t envy the ponies who had to sit around giant UV lights and troughs of nutrient solution every day. It was our only real source of fresh food, so nopony complained.

I trotted into the cafeteria and surveyed the area. Nothing unusual, just ponies getting their food and sitting down at the tables.

I walked further into the cafeteria, silently brushing my way past other ponies trotting by, until my gaze landed on a familiar yellow-maned and blue-coated unicorn mare sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the room. She had a green-silhouetted radio tower with three radio waves emitting off the top of the left and right sides for her cutie mark. It was Golden Riversong, my longtime friend since foalhood. I hadn't had the chance to talk to her in a while, since we worked entirely different jobs in different parts of the stable. I completely forgot about getting something to eat and started making my way over to her.

As I approached, I noticed that she was already talking to another unicorn mare sitting across from her. Ah, Starlight. If that dark blue coat and green eyes didn’t give her away, her flowing light-blue mane that she always kept brushed so straight certainly did.

I slid right into the seat next to Golden, which caused them both to abruptly stop talking and give me a surprised glance. Not the brightest move on my part, but Starlight took the initiative with a smile. “Oh, hey there, Seren. What’s up?”

A tired sigh rushed out from my lips. “About a hundred and one meters of solid metal and rock,” I deadpanned, drooping my head down on the table. “As a start. You know how it is.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at me. “You don’t usually come here, though.”

"Hey, you try wolfing down yesterday's dried apples for breakfast three times a week by yourself. Then talk to me about routines."

“Alright, alright, you got me there,” she said, and gave out a light chuckle. “At least get your head off the table, it’s dirty.”

“Fine,” I muttered back, slowly lifting my head off the one-legged metal stand, before turning to the orange-eyed pony next to me. “So, uh... how are you, Golden?”

Golden gave me a soft smile. “Actually, I’ve been feeling a bit better, thanks to Starlight.”

I smiled in return. "It's good to see you out and about, actually. We don't see you around the cafeteria much."

"Pot calling the kettle black," Starlight muttered with a snicker. “Anyways, yeah, I just thought I’d swing by her office and ask if she wanted to shoot the breeze for a little while. I figured, ‘must get boring looking at machine parts day in day out.’” A knowing expression came onto her face. “‘Plus paperwork. Especially the paperwork.’”

“Yeah,” Golden nodded. “Things have been real exhausting for me lately, so its just nice to know I have someone to talk to.”

I smiled back. “So what are you two talking about, exactly?”

“Oh, nothing much, really,” Starlight replied. “Just checking up on her about her new job and all.”

Oh, right. Head of Maintenance. Can’t imagine that being easy for her to handle. I turned to Golden and asked, “How’s that going for you? You holding up okay?”

“It’s a bit busy,” she replied meekly. “I-I’m still trying to get used to it, and I have to keep track of a lot of things, so...”

“You’ll get the hang of it, don’t worry,” Starlight smiled reassuringly. “It’s only been two weeks, after all.”

“I know,” said Golden. “It’s just that I… I…”

I then noticed her starting to tear up. “Golden?” I asked, my brow furrowing slightly in concern.

“I…” Golden croaked one more time, before shaking her head. “I need to get back down to Maintenance, I’ll… I’ll talk to you two later…” She slowly lifted herself from the table and promptly walked out of the cafeteria, with several ponies looking on after her. I could’ve sworn I saw a few tears drop on her way out.

Ok, that didn’t look like regular old stress. I guess I could chalk it up to having a last-minute work ticket to take care of, but...

“Seren.”

It was only then that I realized I’d been staring at the cafeteria doorway for the better part of a minute. I turned to Starlight with a start, noting the worried expression on her face. “Hm?

“I’ve been very worried about her lately. Ever since her mother Sharp Eye died two weeks ago, she just hasn’t been… herself, you know?”

“Well, I would think that’d be kinda obvious…” I replied. Of course, I guess I wouldn’t really know, since I barely even knew my own mother to begin with. “What have you been seeing with her, exactly?”

“Ever since she got her new job as Head of Stable Maintenance from her mother dying, she’s just been very… distant.” She sighed. “Every time I approach her about it, she just doesn’t want to talk about it and… walks off.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like right now?”

She nodded. “Exactly.”

A little pang of guilt wormed its way into my chest. I had to find a time to visit Golden one of these days. “Well, I guess the most we can do is be there for her. She’s never been good at dealing with stress like this, especially since she tries to drown it out by finding excuses to double-check the electric circuits or CO2 scrubbers. Golden’s always been a bit of a workaholic. At least with her knowing she can come to us, she has options, so...”

Even though I trailed off a bit uncertainly, Starlight picked up on it with a slow, affirmative nod. “Can’t help but agree with that.”

We sat there in silence for a few moments, just letting the clanks of silverware and chatter of the cafeteria fill the gap in our conversation.

There was one more question I wanted to ask, though. “Hey, Starlight?”

“Hm?”

“Do you really think Golden was the one that poisoned her mother?”

She frowned. “No, I don’t.”

“Good, because I don’t either,” I said confidently.

She waved her hoof in dismissal. “Just an apocryphal rumor some stupid and insensitive ponies made up. Don’t let it get to you.”

“Hey…” I began slowly. “Starlight, what was the name of the poison that killed Sharp Eye, again?”

Starlight tapped her hoof against her chin for a few seconds before saying, “Oh, yeah... I think they said there were traces of cyanide found in her coffee. Very deadly stuff, but surprisingly, it doesn’t do anything to you right off the bat; it has to mix with some kind of acid to be toxic, first. Like what’s in your stomach. Or in coffee, since that’s basically chock full of acids.”

Poor Sharp Eye must have never had a chance, I thought to myself. “Why exactly would something like that be in the Stable, though? Is it useful for something?”

“Well, they usually keep it around in Maintenance for certain applications involving metals, or in Medical for experiments with synthesizing organic compounds, as I understand it,” Starlight responded. She absentmindedly fiddled with one of the salt shakers between her hooves. “I don’t know much about that, but Medical did report a missing bottle of it a few hours after the murder. It still hasn't been found, actually.”

“Yeah, I remember hearing about that in the security briefing a couple weeks ago,” I chimed.

“Oh, you mean you actually listened that time?” she smirked.

“Shut up.” I glared at her, which just made her smile even wider. “Maintenance isn’t even my beat, and I don’t really know anypony aside from Golden down there, Security or otherwise.”

After a few more moments of thought I had remembered that I was looking for my dad, maybe Starlight would know where he is.

“Oh, uhm... Starlight?” I said. “Have you seen my father?”

Starlight pondered for a moment. “Oculus, right?”

“Yeah.”

To my disappointment, she shook her head. “Sorry, can’t say I have.” She started to get up from the table. “Anyway, I have to get back to Intelligence. It was nice talking with you, Seren. Have a nice day.”

I smiled at her. “You too.”

And with that, she got up and trotted off, leaving me alone as the sole occupant of the table.

Not too much longer after Starlight left, I got up from the table and started walking to the back door of the cafeteria. I wasn’t looking towards where I was going, however, and wound up slamming into another pony.

I grunted in surprise, taking a couple steps back. And then I got a good look at just who I’d bumped into.

“Oh, uh, sorry Combine,” I quickly apologized. “I’m just, you know, lost in my thoughts right now…”

Combine didn’t respond and just glared at me coldly with her sapphire eyes, until she finally said, “Seren, you really need to watch where you’re going.”

With that, Combine just trotted off towards the front door of the cafeteria.

Combine, much like myself, was in security, and we were on the same shift. She was usually easy to pick out because of her bright-orange coat and yellow-green mane. For some reason, she didn’t seem to like me and would always glare at me, or shoot me dirty looks behind my back. I really wish I knew why she hated me, but I just shrugged it off and went out the back door of the cafeteria.

What I really needed right now was some sort of clue as to where my father could’ve gone. One thing that Stable 64 had were Data Management Terminals, or DMT’s, which were just used for archiving files. There were three DMT’s in all, one on each floor, which anypony could access if they needed to. DMT2 was somewhere in Residential, while DMT3 was located at the hallway entrance right outside the cafeteria.

However, most interestingly there was Data Management Terminal 1, which was located somewhere down in Maintenance. It was only accessible by the Head of Maintenance and the Overmare, as well as the Head of Security should the need arise. It was designed to watch over and access every single terminal in the Stable, which meant the Head of Maintenance could see every file stored in them and pull them up. The system may have initially been for network maintenance, but it was one of the most unsettling things in the Stable to know that somepony was always watching you. Of course, the only terminal that the DMT1 couldn’t access was the Overmare’s.

I logged into Data Management Terminal 3, hoping that I would find a note that my father would have typed up, preferably on where he would be going. I didn’t find anything. Just then, I looked at the clock on my PipBuck, and to my horror it was 12:05PM. I was supposed to be in the Security office for the B shift briefing five minutes ago!

I sprinted as fast as I could to the Security office, thinking to myself that Fairlaw would kill me for being late for briefing again.

Just as I came up to Security, I saw a light-blue coated mare walking out of the room. Speak of the devil. Upon seeing me, she rolled her purple eyes. I said to her, “I’m sorry, Miss Fairlaw, did I miss the briefing?”

She scoffed at me and whipped her short black mane. “Oh, so nice of you to show up, Seren. And just in time to watch me leave!” With that, she walked away and said, “Ask one of the other ponies about the briefing. You should know better than to show up late.”

Fairlaw Baton was the Head of Security, and one of her pet peeves was when ponies were not there to hear her briefings, so I knew she would probably penalize me later.

I trotted into the office. Many of the B shift ponies didn’t notice me since they were too busy putting on their equipment and barding. I looked around the room until my gaze landed on a scarlet-coated mare putting on her barding. I hurried over to her and said, “Hey, Arcanea!”

She turned around and looked at me with her magenta eyes, a bit surprised. “Oh, hey, Seren. You missed the briefing.”'

“Yeah, I know,” I murmured. “So can you tell me about it?”

Thankfully she didn’t seem too annoyed. “Basically, Fairlaw said that it’s a normal day. A filly was reported lost so we need to keep an eye out for her, but other than that —” She brushed back her red and yellow striped mane. “—we just stick to our usual routes and just keep an eye out for any crime.”

Alright. Just another boring day. Aside from a stray filly possibly appearing I was just stuck patrolling the atrium. Again.

I put on my security barding and started gathering my equipment. All the security ponies in Stable 64 were issued the same gear: a baton, a keycard, and a 9mm pistol. The keycard was used for accessing locked doors, and despite the fact that it’s basically useless for anypony not assigned to patrol Residential, everypony was assigned one. Everypony was also assigned a 9mm pistol; however, I never took mine with me even though everypony during their shift was supposed to have one for their protection. It’s not that I don’t know how to use guns, I just don’t like to use them. Besides, what would I need it for if I had my baton, anyway?

I’d been in the atrium for at least four hours. Only half my shift had gone by. Dear Celestia this is boring, I thought to myself. Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do to pass the time without getting scolded by Fairlaw or even the Overmare. Sometimes, when nopony was around I would take practice swings with my baton. Fairlaw would get on my case with that, too, claiming that I could hurt somepony. So mostly, all I could do to pass the time… was patrol. Of course, Stable 64 was overly peaceful. One thing that security looked for was bad talk about the Overmare, but since the Overmare was so good at her job, not a lot of ponies bothered to talk badly about her. Another thing was ponies committing crimes, but since Stable 64 was no bigger than medium-sized, that didn’t really happen except for maybe once a month.

Sometimes I question why Stable 64 had a security force in the first place. I also questioned my duty, which was to walk the floors of this atrium room eight hours a day doing nothing but “looking for troublemakers.” Troublemakers that seldom appeared, if at all. When I thought about it, I shuddered at the fact that I’d probably have to do this for the rest of my life.

I emotionlessly scanned the atrium with my eyes. Just as boring and uneventful as always, with nopony to talk to. However, I was very concerned with where my father could’ve run off to. The life of a stallion in Stable 64 was relatively boring. Stallions weren’t allowed to work; they were supposed to be in Residential watching over foals, or if they didn’t have foals or a spouse, they would keep their living areas clean. Males weren’t only restricted to Residential, though. They were free to roam around as they pleased. That being said, a stallion roaming the hallways looking for something to do was not an uncommon sight.

And just then, I saw Golden Riversong come out from one of the hallways into the atrium. She must have been done with her work already.

I smiled. Screw it, the atrium wasn’t going anywhere. “Hey, Golden,” I called out. “How’s it going?”

I didn’t get a response. Her eyes were glued to her PipBuck.

A worried frown pulled at my lips. I trotted closer to her, saying, “Hey… Golden? Are you okay?”

Again, no response. I went right over to her and pulled on her foreleg and brought her PipBuck to my face, just to read whatever she had. That seemed to get her attention.

“Oh, uh, Seren!” she yelped. “W-Where did you come from?” she asked in a timid voice.

“I’ve been here the entire time, silly,” I said, still reading her PipBuck. “So what are you reading here? Must be some real... good...”

I trailed off mid-sentence, and raised my eyebrow at the text.

Stable-Tec Sleeper Agent. Activation Code: [DATA USED]. This agent has awoken and is ready to carry out Project SI64

Sleeper Agent...?

Golden?

My frown deepened even further. What the hay was going on here?

Golden suddenly yanked her hoof away, and started backing away nervously. “S-sorry Seren,” she stammered. “I-I gotta go!”

And then she started to make a break for the hallways. Now whether she was my friend or not, it didn’t matter in that moment. I thought that message looked suspicious and that it should be reported to the Overmare. Without hesitation, I quickly levitated my baton and tripped her up, causing her to fall onto the ground with a thud. When she looked back and saw me approaching her, she immediately cried, “Seren, please! I… I can explain!”

“Sit up,” I ordered.

“But Seren, please! I—”

“Sit. Up.”

She whimpered and promptly sat on her haunches, shaking like a leaf. She continued pleading to me and said, “P-please, Seren! It’s just a misunderstanding! L-look, I—”

Her pleas were cut short when I placed a pair of hoofcuffs on her forelegs, locking them together. She immediately started to panic and hyperventilate. She looked up at me again, this time with tears in her eyes. “Seren, please don’t do this to me! You don’t understand!”

I really didn’t want to do this to my best friend, but I had to follow the next part of security policy. “You are hereby under arrest for possession of suspicious files on your PipBuck, and will be escorted to the Overmare’s office for further questioning. Failure to comply will result in immediate placement in a detention cell for an indeterminate amount of time. Do you understand?”

She blankly stared at me, with a profound expression of dread on her face.

“Golden Riversong!” I nearly yelled. “Do you understand?”

She recoiled a bit from my outburst, but then tried to plead with me again. “Seren, I… I… the message! It’s not my fault! It’s just—”

“Answer my question right now or you will be sent directly to a detention cell.”

Her ears wilted as she looked down and dejectedly said, “Yes… I understand…”

“Follow me, then,” I said.

She complied, and we both walked to the Overmare’s office without another word.

Finally, we arrived at the entrance of the Overmare’s living space. I activated the intercom next to the door and said, “Overmare, are you there?”

A voice droned in response. “Yes, I’m here. What is it?”

I then told the Overmare about what happened and what I saw on Golden’s PipBuck.

“Fine, come in,” said the Overmare. I heard the door unlock, allowing me to open it. Both of us walked through and entered.

The Overmare’s living space was expansive compared to the rest of the residences in the stable. We stood in front of the entrance of the main room, which was simply a wide rectangular area that connected the other parts of the living space. To the left, there were doors lined along the wall that led to a restroom, a locked supply closet, and a couple of guest rooms. Ahead to the right was the entrance to the Overmare’s office. We approached it and entered.

The Overmare was one of the more distinct ponies of the Stable, being one of the few ponies that had a legitimate green coat. She had a pink-and-blue striped mane and tail, and hazel eyes. Because of her unique appearance, many ponies were able to identify her quickly. She sat at her rounded desk in the center of the room, her gaze focused on some paperwork spread out in front of her.

She looked up with her hazel eyes and saw us enter through the door. I ushered Golden in and I approached the desk as she stayed near the doorway, her legs a bit wobbly.

I looked at the Overmare and said, “Good afternoon, Overmare. Sorry to bother you about this.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” she replied in a bored tone. “So what’s all this about?”

“Well, I found a strange file on Golden’s PipBuck and I think you should take a look at it.”

“All right, give me her PipBuck, then,” she said.

“Yes, Overmare,” I affirmed.

In addition to a keycard and other tools of the trade, security ponies also carried a special key designed specifically to unlock PipBucks and remove them from Stable citizens, should the need arise. Golden’s eyes widened in terror as I approached her with the key in my telekinetic grasp, slid it into the barely-perceptible slot along the back side of her foreleg, and levitated the Pipbuck to the Overmare.

I sat beside the Overmare’s desk as she fiddled with Golden’s PipBuck a bit, before motioning to Golden to come closer. She displayed the file in question, showed it to her, and asked, “Would you like to explain the meaning of this?”

Golden glanced at her PipBuck and slightly flinched. “W-well,” she stammered, “I was doing maintenance on one of the data management terminals… you know... r-routine stuff! A-and I... found it... I didn't know what was in it, s-so I saved it so I could look at it later…”

It was clear from the Overmare’s face that she wasn’t playing around. “I don’t believe that for a second,” she muttered, causing Golden to wince. Then she pulled back the PipBuck, brought up the file, and started reading it.

Golden just sat there with her ears drooped down. She looked like she’d been whipped or something. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

The Overmare began reading the message aloud, snapping me back to attention. “Stable-Tec Sleeper Agent. Activation Code: Data Used. This agent has awoken and is ready to carry out Project SI64" The Overmare looked up at her again. “Who sent you this?”

Golden just stared at her with fear in her eyes, like a mouse trapped in a corner. The Overmare continued to stare at her, waiting for her response.

The only response she gave was a pitiful squeak.

Obviously the Overmare wasn’t going to deal with this today. She let out an annoyed cry and slammed a hoof down on her desk, startling the poor mare. “Golden Riversong,” she growled, clearly on the verge of exploding at her. “I don’t have time for games, or any of this nonsense. If you’re not going to talk, then I’m afraid there will be consequences.”

She glanced at me. “Seren, you caught her, you’re in security,” she sternly said as she briskly turned around to her terminal. “Lock her up in a cell and I’ll deal with her later. Check her PipBuck for any more suspicious files and report to me your findings.”

“Yes, Overmare, ma’am,” I said with as much professionalism and confidence as I could manage. With that, I escorted Golden out of the office, who was now even more visibly shaken.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Fallout Equestria: Hidden Enemies. I'm actually impressed that this was able to be written and posted. I thank everyone who worked with me on these first two chapters and I hope you like what I have in store!

This fanfic is of course inspired by the original Fallout Equestria written by Kkat. She deserves mention; without her writing the original fanfic and creating this post-apocalyptic equestria, none of this would be possible!

special thanks to
KitRifty and Setokaiva for helping get this project off the ground
0__0 and PersonalGamer for their tireless edits
and to themusicdude3 on deviantart for the titlecard

and Kkat for originally writeing Fallout Equestria