Chapter 1: Eternity

The air was stale. It was the first sensation Shimmer had as she suddenly awoke from what felt like an eternal slumber. She gagged multiple times as she let her vision return from foggy to normal. Her mouth was dry and her limbs felt foreign even to her. Of course that didn't stop her from heaving over and over again as strange purple liquid escaped her stomach and onto her chest. Shimmer choked almost immediately following the vomiting.

She pushed with all her strength but couldn't budge as she looked around her surroundings for the first time. She was on her back in some sort of pod, strange lines leading to her belly, limbs, neck, and temples. She began to breathe rapidly as she lifted a forehoof and pressed it against the glass. The chamber, somehow detecting movement activated and a soothing mare's voice filled the intercom.

"Occupant in Pod 247 has awakened. Technicians to Pod Chamber 3 immediately." Though the voice was muffled, Shimmer could definitely hear the voice through the glass.

The voice began again but this time from inside the pod, "Good Morning Occupant 247. Your sleep cycle has ended and your cue in the breeding program has begun. Please remain calm and await technicians to attend to you." The pod then cracked open as another voice filled the intercom.

"Hello?" A different voice filled the intercom, "Fuck is this thing even working!? Hello!?"

Shimmer coughed as she slowly reached up and pressed a button that was labeled "Press to Talk." Her voice was scratchy and hoarse as she replied, "Hello?"

"Thank Celestia! Look, I don't have a lot of time! There are Raiders in the Stable. They're destroying all the Pods!" The voice replied quickly, "You're the only one I could revive in time to warn because these things open on a timer! You got lucky kid!"

Shimmer rubbed her eye with her other hoof, "Timer? Raiders? What are you talking about?"

The voice now became panicked, "Oh shit! You're lagged aren't you? Fuck! Look, I'm opening your pod! There should be a small table at the far end of the room. There should be a syringe on the table. Get it and call me back! And don't waste time!" The intercom cut out quickly afterwards. The pod opened with a loud hiss and pop as the glass slid upwards and over. Fresh air filled Shimmers lungs as the pod opened and she slowly began to sit up.

As she raised her head out of the pod she paused in shock as she looked about. Pods like hers were all about the room in neat circles around a pillar. Each contained different ponies. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies were all stored here. Shimmer groaned as she sleepily pushed out of the pod and crumpled to the floor like a new sac of potatoes. She felt like hell and now she felt like an even worse level of hell now that stars danced around her head.

Shimmer pushed herself off the floor and shook her head again for what felt like the hundredth time. Her eyesight wasn't still at one hundred percent but she saw the nearby table. She slowly moved towards it and looked at the top of the table. The room spun and things felt like they were moving slow. Something happened to her in that pod and she didn't like it. But sure enough, just as the voice said, there was a syringe on the table filled with a red liquid. And right next to it, a small brown device with a black screen and several knobs.

She recognized the device, a Pip-Buck! These were supposed to be the ultimate in computerized devices in Equestria. She looked around, nopony else was in the room. She groggily slipped the device around her left forehoof and looked at it, finally finding the power switch. She pressed the switch and the screen lit up with bright blue. A picture of a Pony filled the screen that looked dreadfully sad. Several bars appeared next to each limb. The bars weren't completely full and that couldn't have been good.

Shimmer slowly pressed the button to change the screen to a more detailed view. On the screen read the STATS of the wearer. Under the tab she read the words aloud, "Stasis Pod Poisoning. Effect: Lagged! Oh no! You've fallen ill from being a Stasis Pod for too long! Seek antidote or you will feel groggy and unable to function for six hours!" Shimmer groaned as she flipped to the Radio Tab. There were only two frequencies available. Vault Communications and Unknown. "Great, some awesome selections." Shimmer thought to herself as she clicked the tab for Vault Communications.

"Hello? Are you there?" she asked groggily as she felt her stomach churning again. And once again she let more purple liquid escape her belly in a rather large disgusting puddle. She choked once again as she heard a rather disgusted groan fill the Pip-Buck's speakers.

"That was fucking gross! Don't do that again! Fuck!" A loud pop quickly followed with a quick whiz, "Did you find the syringe?!" Louder pops filled the air followed by several quieter colorful words being shouted.

"Needle with the red liquid right?" Shimmer asked as she gagged again.

"You fucking throw up again I'm leaving you here!" The mare shouted loudly and Shimmer instantly gulped, keeping the third round locked inside of her. "Good girl, now, inject yourself with that! It's the antidote and it'll cure you!"

Shimmer looked at the needle and then the Pip-Buck. Just what was she doing? Trusting a voice? Something was definitely wrong with this picture. But when a loud BOOM filled the speakers and the ground shook, she realized that she didn't have time to think this through logically or scientifically. She quickly grabbed the needle in her hooves and bit down on her lower lip. This was going to hurt wasn't it?

She slammed the needle quickly down into her right flank and screamed. The needle itself didn't hurt but whatever was inside burned insanely. She pressed the injector and the contents flooded her bloodstream. She threw the needle outwards towards the other pods as she jerked wildly. Her flank felt as if she had sat down on a bonfire. She screamed loudly, something she never thought she'd do.

The mare on the radio quickly called out, "Just give it a sec! You'll be just fine! It's working!"

"IT BURNS!" She screamed even louder at the radio.

"Yep! It does that! Just give it a sec!" The mare replied with a softer tone this time, despite loud pops and whizzes going off in the background. "It'll go away! I promise!"

Shimmer bit down as her body went stiff with pain and then-nothing. The burning sensation simply stopped. She blinked as she looked at her flank and gently poked it with her hoof. There was no pain. She then blinked as she realized that her vision returned to normal. And her nausea had also disappeared. Whatever that stuff was, it had a kick, but it worked.

She looked up and realized that there were several large windows overlooking the chamber. Several of them were broken. And even one had the lifeless corpse of a Stable-Tec Pony dangling from one. Her pupils went tiny as she turned her head and for the first time saw things clearly. There were corpses EVERYWHERE around her. Some still inside their pods, others were simply lying on the floor in dried pools of blood. Several in fact were missing their skulls.

Shimmer quickly backstepped and smashed into something behind her. She sunk to the floor again as a Pony skeleton fell on top of her. She began to hyperventilate as she pushed the bones off of herself. "What is going on!? What happened?!" She cried out loud as she looked up and saw a bright flash of orange and yellow above her in one of the windows. She raised an eyebrow as she slowly pushed to her hooves and looked up at it again. Squinting this time as she thought she saw movement.

The window quickly shattered into a million tiny pieces following by a very loud explosion. Shimmer covered her eyes from the brightness as she noticed a figure soaring through the air. Two Pistols floating in the air in a magical grip as a unicorn went flying through the air. The pistols discharging as the unicorn sailed. Her clothes looked that of old parts taken off of a car and turned into makeshift armor. Time felt as if it slowed to Shimmer as she watched the awesome and terrifying display.

The unicorn landed on top of one of the pods with a back-flip and kept firing upwards as three heavily armored ponies appeared at the now shattered window. The ponies up top began firing with an array of different weapons from pistols to assault rifles. The unicorn looked down at Shimmer and shouted at her.

"Don't just sit there! Find cover!" she screamed at Shimmer. That voice! It was the one on the radio! Shimmer was beside herself as she watched the display and the unicorn hopped down off of the pod quickly and ducked behind it.

Shimmer hadn't even processed the order until a bullet whizzed past her head and struck the glass of what was once her pod. She scrambled behind the same pod the unicorn had taken cover behind. As Shimmer kept her head down she finally got a good look of the Unicorns face. A bright pink scar ran down the right side, over her eye, and down to her neck. Her purple coat was barely visible under the armor but she made out the color easily.

"Do you know how to fire a gun?!" The unicorn shouted over the gun blasts and the now crazy laughing raiders. Shimmer blinked a few times confused and the unicorn simply asked again, more insistent this time, "DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SHOOT A GUN!?"

Shimmer nodded her head, "My husband taught me-"

"Good! Here!" She said opening her pack and presented a pistol towards her. This one was formed so it'd be able to fire by using ones mouth. Shimmer looked at it, at the unicorn, then back at it again. It wasn't until another bullet firmly seated itself in the metal next to her face did she get the hint.

She quickly took the pistol into her mouth, awkwardly at first but finally got it seated. The unicorn nodded once as she reloaded her own pistols. "Look I don't have much ammo so we've got to make these shots count." she said sliding one new magazine into one with her telekinesis. Shimmer nodded as she slowly poked her head up above the pod, instantly attracting the attention of the raiders who quickly opened fire. The Unicorn reacted in time to pull Shimmer back down before her head was blown off.

"For fucks sake! Are you TRYING to get yourself killed?!" she shouted at Shimmer as more bullets impacted the pods base. Shimmer simply replied with a scowl and looked immensely pissed. "Ugh look, just follow my lead okay? I got most of them. There's about five left but these three are the biggest threat. The other two are still at the elevator." She loaded another magazine into the second pistol and quickly sliding forward the slides, two rounds being chambered respectively. She slowly crawled on her belly looking around the corner of the pod. She grinned as she found her target, a hoof.

She fired a single round and the bullet tore through the air at supersonic speeds and lodged itself in the far wall. But of course, not before it had passed through the hoof of the raider she was aiming at. With a howl the raider dropped and grasped at his hoof.

"Fucking bitch! You shot my hoof! AGH!" The raider cried out loudly. The unicorn chuckled and Shimmer just blinked in horror. "Get those fuckers!" The injured raider screamed loudly as he pointed a hoof in their direction.

The unicorn quickly rolled back around, "Shit! Here they come!" And sure enough the other two began running right at them. One was blasting away with a pistol in her teeth, the other a shotgun levitating a foot away from him. Bullets and buckshot clanged into the pods base, sending metal and shards everywhere.

Shimmer poked her head out and looked at the nearest charging pony. Something clicked and a moment later, time literally began to slow for her. Shimmer looked down to see the Unicorn slowly pulling a hoof away from the Pip-Buck, she pressed something. Shimmer looked up and saw the Raider running slowly and several bars appeared in front of her. HOW they got there, she couldn't explain but she SOMEHOW knew what to do. She targeted a foreleg and a torso of the nearest pony and instinctively she began to fire. Time slowed as bullets tore from the muzzle of her pistol.

Three of the bullets made contact with the pony but the fourth missed completely. The pony fell with a loud thump and rag dolled towards a pod and stopped as her body became lifeless on impact. The second raider met a similar end when the unicorn quite literally dove from cover, firing bullets from both pistols. Many of the shots finding their target but some completely missed and lodged themselves in the far wall.

And just as quickly as it started, it was over. The raiders were either dead or dying, all except for the one still cursing about his hoof being shot. Shimmer dropped the pistol as she began moving towards him. Her natural instinct as a healer now kicking in she tried to approach him. But was greeted by a floating sawed off shotgun pointed directly at her face. Her ears drooped as she saw the inevitable coming. That was until a shot ran out and the unicorn raider's head exploded outwards towards his back. A shot from the two pistols behind her followed by the unicorn.

Shimmer looked back at the unicorn and attempted to speak, "I...I-I-I just-"

The unicorn didn't take too kindly to the stammering and swiftly slapped Shimmer in the face with a hoof. "Pull yourself together! There's two more out here and it's just you and me! We can talk about what happened later, let's go!" she said pushing Shimmer forward hard towards the door. Shimmer recovered and felt a bit more calm, despite her cheek being on fire but she moved towards the door. The unicorn quickly searched the pockets of the raiders and found more ammo for her pistols and some medical supplies. But she didn't stay there long.

She approached the nearby airlock door and pressed a button. The female computer voice began speaking again, "Warning! Occupant Leaving Stasis Room Prematurely. Vault Security to Stasis Room."

Annoyance was on the unicorns voice as she replied, "Oh shut the hell up will you? Ain't no one alive in here 'cept us for the love of Celestia!" She quickly galloped out of the room and Shimmer followed right after her. All the while thoughts danced around in Shimmer's head.

"I just killed two ponies and they tried to kill me! Am I a murderer? What will they do to me if they find out? Am I a bad pony now? I'm a healer! I could've done something to- OOF!" She slammed face first into the unicorns flank hard, not paying attention to where she was going.

The unicorn scowled as she turned around and faced Shimmer, "Watch it will you?! Goddesses! Why am I even trying to help you?! You're a damn Stable-Dweller! You're gonna get me killed!" she said harshly as she turned back around and looked down the long corridor. Right at the end stood two unicorn ponies. Both holding rifles in their telekinesis and keeping a determined watch of the corridor.

Shimmer took a moment to gulp nervously as she ducked down. The unicorn next to her sighing. "This is not going to be easy..." she muttered.

Shimmer's head snapped up as she then yanked the Unicorn down and looked her in the face and said, "What the hell is going on? And who are you?" she said quietly but VERY insistently.

The Unicorn sighed as she lowered her head, "We don't have time for-"

Shimmer quickly pushed the unicorn with a hoof, "Answers now or I am not moving from this spot." she said firmly as she glanced back down the corridor.

"Alright! Dammit fine!" The unicorn said quietly, "Just don't push me again! They might see!" She sighed as she looked down the corridor again, "I'm Blossom Rocket, though most ponies call me Rocket. And those are Raiders. This is Stable 45, where they LOVE to hunt the ponies that come out of stasis for fun and FOOD."

Shimmer blinked, "Did you say, FOOD?"

"Yeah dumbass, food. Meaning they kill you, rape you, and then eat you. And if you're LUCKY, in that order." Rocket hissed as reply. She looked up again, they hadn't moved. "Now, I'm here because I was told I could find some tech to sell. Well guess what? I fucking found something else and now I'm trying to save your Stable-Dwelling ass from raiders. Got enough information?"

"How long have I been down here?" Shimmer asked aloud without thinking.

Rocket blinked, "How the fuck would I know? I just know that this is their hunting ground from what I heard earlier from one of them." She looked around, "From the look of those pods, many of the ponies died a long time ago, some were recently released and eaten. So, you're the LAST survivor of Stable 45."

Shimmer shook her head, "No, that can't be. There were hundreds of survivors. Not all of them can be dead."

Rocket pointed a hoof to the room they had just left, "Hello! Did you not just see the butcher shop you just woke up in for fucks sake? You are the LAST one. Meaning YOU are what they're after, not me!"

Shimmer frowned, "Will you stop saying that word?"

"The fuck?" Rocket replied, "What word? And seriously?! At a time like this?!"

"That word!" Shimmer replied being as stupidly vague as ever.

Rocket took a moment to think, "You mean, 'Fuck' right?" Shimmer nodded and Rocket replied with a shake of her head, "You're kidding right?"

Shimmer's face simply sat there with as neutral of an expression as possible. Anyone looking at her could tell that she wasn't kidding.

"Good Goddesses...I save a Stable-Dweller and she happens to be a prude. My luck just DOESN'T run out does it?" Rocket asked upwards. As if Celestia was gonna actually hear her.

"My name is Shimmer Jubilee by the way, thanks for asking." Shimmer added with more annoyance than ever on her voice.

Rocket literally smashed a hoof into her face, "Really bad timing you got, don't you know that?"

The conversation was cut off abruptly at the sound of throats being cleared. Shimmer and Rocket both looked up and finally realized that during their moment of bickering they completely forgot about the two Raiders who were supposed to be guarding the elevator. They both looked at each other and then back up at the Raiders.

And then in unison, both shared a single word to appropriately sum up the situation, "Fuck."

Rocket quickly kicked her hind legs outwards, her hooves connecting with the Raiders hooves. Knocking them both off of their feet. Then at the same time, Shimmer and Rocket both drew weapons as the Raiders attempted to get to their hooves. With several loud bangs, both raiders died in a rain of gunfire from the two. With the raiders dead Shimmer and Rocket once again looked at each other, this time in disbelief.

Shimmer spoke first, "Is this...normal for you?"

"Killing raiders? Yep. Getting that lucky and killing them like that? Hell fucking no." she said still wrapping her head around what just happened. "Usually these idiots don't wait to shoot."

Shimmer looked down at their bodies, "Maybe they thought our conversation was funny and got bored?" She offered not even believing that explanation herself. Rocket just shook her head in reply.

"Look, lets just get some stuff off of them and get the hell out of here. I don't like this place." Rocket said as she began to pick over the raiders corpse. Pulling a few boxes from his bags and placing them in hers. She then tossed a set of bags towards Shimmer. "There, your own saddlebags, put whatever crap you find in there. Just don't carry so much you'll be weighed down."

Shimmer looked at the blood stained bags and frowned but nodded and put them on none the less. Her Pip-Buck beeped a few times as the bags were placed on her body. She lifted the Pip-Buck and looked at the Inventory Screen. Reading the different tabs she finally reached the bottom and noticed the numbers 10/130 lbs. She then noticed that some of the weight was from the few items in the bags. Apple Whiskey, Sparkle-Cola x2, and Rad-away x3. She withdrew the whiskey and threw it to the side, losing 2 lbs from the tracker. She then moved to the raider nearest to her and began picking through his bags.

She grabbed a few more bullets for the pistol she was given. Enough to fill two magazines. And some more Rad-away and bandages. She then looked back at the Whiskey and put it back in her bag. She smiled, she could use the whiskey as a sterilizing agent if she needed to patch herself up. Shimmer looked up at Rocket who was watching her.

"All set?" Rocket asked as she moved away from the Raiders body. Shimmer nodded as she began to follow Rocket.

Shimmer looked at the giant elevator and the control panel in front of it. "So um thank you." she started as Rocket looked at her with an eyebrow raised, "For saving me." Shimmer added with a smile.

"You're welcome. Just...try not to get killed okay? The Wasteland isn't exactly what I'd call...as friendly as I am." she said as she slammed a hoof on the control panel. Lights and alarms began sounding as a very loud and very rusty elevator began lowering down.

Shimmer then blinked and thought to herself, "Wasteland? Rusty elevator? Just what has happened? How long was I out?" The questions kept coming even as she stepped onto the elevator and it began to ascend upwards. Unknowing that her fate and that of Rocket's as the lift reached the surface.