FoE: The Solaris Effect

by WeatheredField

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Dark, Alternate Universe, Science Fiction, Adventure
Length: 7034

A unicorn named Calidity Boreal enjoys her life, until devastating megaspells are dropped on Equestria. Calidity hides in a fallout shelter named a Stable, only to emerge 200 years later, in a new, deadly world.

A unicorn mare named Calidity Boreal just graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Equinology. Her celebration is interrupted by a megaspell attack from the Zebra Nation. Calidity finds shelter in an underground fallout bunker called Stable 107. She spends the next 5 years in peace, meeting a half-zebra unicorn named Finder Keeper. Art the end of 5 years, the Stable is our in stasis, only walking the two unicorns up after about 200 years had passed. The world they return to us not what they remembered, but rather a cold, bloody shadow of its once colorful bliss.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-23 06:31:53 UTC

C1: Equinology

From Calidity

“And that's how the Equestrian Wasteland was made!”

Skippable: Hello random reader! Weathered Field is my name, and I am the proud author of this book. If you are reading this, you most likely have read the book Fallout: Equestria by Kkat. Now, maybe, you want more out of the universe. That's why I wrote this book. Fo:E combines two of my favorite creative universes in a way that just worked. There are some new cities, but nothing that interferes with the lore. I don't add much to Kkat's world, other than characters, locations and some new megaspells. Nothing that rewrites what they made. I want to thank Todd Howard for introducing me to Action RPG’s. Thank you Lauren Faust for letting me know that there can be good in anything. Thank you to Kkat for providing a creative burst to get my writing juices flowing again, as well as entertaining me for hours with your book.

Bravo to you three.

I am proud to present to you, wonderful reader, an homage to Fallout: Equestria…

Congratulations Calidity Boreal!

Those three words stared into my pale blue eyes. They accompanied some regular ‘Hooray, you just spent the past four years of your life studying your own species, have an award!’ congratulatory notes.

I had just graduated from the university with a degree in Equinology, the study of ponies. It was my second choice, underneath the study of temperature, but that wasn’t an actual field of study. So much for a unique magic spell that allows the control of temperature.

Real useful.

Flipping my lovely copper and white scarf out of my way, I opened the door of my home. It was a small one-bedroom building in the middle of Princess Creek in the southern area of Equestria. A blue wagon pulled up infront of my house, with the words ‘Stable-Tec’ printed on the side. An earth pony with a tan trenchcoat hopped out, and walked up to me, tipping his hat.

“Any reason Stable-Tec is showing up to my door?” I asked, curious. The salespony chuckled.

“Of course! We at Stable-Tec are taking a select number of scholars, scientists, and service ponies to join in a state-of-the-art program designed to protect the future of Equestria and ponykind! And you qualify!”

“Go on, I’m listening, what program do you have for me?”

“The minds at Stable-Tec have created comfortable bunkers designed to be untouchable by the impending megaspell destruction coming to your doorstep any day now. These bunkers, or Stables as they're named, are made to bring the best of our world to safety. This is in hope that we may one day populate the globe with educated, talented ponies.”

“Thank you, but, again, why are you here? Why am I qualified?” I inquired, curious about why I was qualified. I guessed it was because I held a degree in the study of my own species, and something heat-based. Stupid Equinology.

“You see, we have a roster of everyone in each town with certain careers in science or military. I believe you fall under one of those categories. If you would accept, free of charge, just fill this clipboard out.”

The salespony turned his head to the side, retrieving a board asking for info like my name, area of qualification, my race, and my gender.

Easy. Calidity Boreal, just call me Cali, Bachelor’s Degree in Equinology, unicorn, mare.

I started handing the board back to him, carrying it with my soft blue glow of magic energy, before stopping.

“Wait, when the megaspells  do hit, how will I know where to go? I doubt there's going to be a path of arrows leading to a cellar.”

“Ah ha, of course not!” He said, chuckling, “Take this. It has all the info you need, from the Stable location nearest to you, which would be Coltsdale, how to get there, and what to expect in the Stable.”

“Hey, thanks again! Insurance isn’t usually this… cheap.” I wondered if I had just been scammed, but then I remembered that I wasn't paying any. And besides, I doubt I would live to see the day the world burnt under sheets of Balefire.

The rest of the day droned on. I had decided to congratulate myself on graduation by enjoying a mug of sugared oats. It was a standard, bland treat, but it was still delicious nonetheless. I was levitating out the last few oats from the bottom of the mug, when I heard the news cut to something I had just written off.

The grayscale pony on the tv had his head buried in his hooves, reading off of a screen levitated in front of him. There was tears in his eyes. “We have confirmed reports that a Balefire bomb has been detonated in… by the sisters… Manehattan. Its gone its all gone.”

The newspony paused. “Another confirmed detonation in Cloudsdale and-” Any color hinted at by the grey screen faded from his face. “They’re bombing Canterlot. Oh no, if that shield fails, Princess Luna… Celestia, everyone there… cut the broadcast, we need to let-” The feed cut out.

Glass shattered. I looked down, and realized that I had dropped my mug onto the floor, breaking it. The sound brought me back to my senses, and I ran to the door, pulling it open with all my magical might.

I looked down the street, and spotted a group of ponies clamoring into a familiar blue wagon. The Stable-Tec wagon didn’t have enough space for that entire group, and I had to survive. Selfish, I know, but I didn’t care. The three biggest cities in Equestria had been bombed, and there were more Balefire bombs to come.

I slipped into the wagon- thank the sisters for my small frame- and looked out the back. After a few minutes, panicked cries, and angry shouts, the wagon closed its doors. All those ponies outside were dead. The stable was half an hours wagon ride away, in northern Coltsdale.

I sat, droning out the panicked noises behind me, as I kept a watchful eye for any balefire bombs in the distance. It must have been 20 painful minutes before my eye caught something strange. The others saw it too- a shimmering in the air around Princess Creek. It was as if a heat wave was rolling through the town, distorting-. At that moment, my thoughts got interrupted by a blinding flash of light. The world went white. Then black.

It must have been a whole minute of darkness before my eyes recovered, revealing the horrible sight before me. Princess Creek was burning. And not the green, sickly color of Balefire, but a golden, hauntingly beautiful flame enveloped the city. What just happened?

Realization dawned, not just in my mind, but the entire wagon realized that the zebra bastards were launching megaspells at us. This was a new kind, nobody was familiar with it. It was as if a giant magnifying glass had risen over the city, and ignited it. Not with an explosion, but with a flash. The city was fine one second, then, it was simply gone.

My home, family, friends. The artist across the street. What if they didn't make it out? I remembered my cousins that had moved to Canterlot. They might not see the end of the day. Then, again, by the end of the day I could end up just like Princess Creek.

With a start, I realized the wagon had stopped at the base of a mountain, and the other ponies were exiting. I exited with them, eager to survive, eager to see this Stable I had signed up for only hours before.

We climbed to a small plateau, surrounded by a fence and ponies in power armor. Steel Rangers. A green coated unicorn was checking us in, finding our names on the list, and urging us to hurry to the top.

“State your name, and hometown.” I had been too lost in my thoughts to respond. “Please ma’am, hurry, we haven’t much time, the zebras could drop a spell on us any moment and-”

I pulled myself back to reality and responded to his initial question. He thanked me and showed me to the center. It was a large, circular pad painted blue and gold laid in the ground, with a horseshoe design surrounding it. Stable-Tec’s design trademarks, which meant, this was it. Her last view of the surface.

Then, something caught everypony’s eye, and we all quieted immediately. Coltsdale was shimmering, just like Princess Creek. The soldiers and Stable-Tec staff scrambled to hold the people outside the fence back, as the lift started to descend.

My last view of the surface was fading, and I wanted to keep my eye on it for as long as possible, burning it in my eyes. Unfortunately, the megaspell in Coltsdale detonated, and the view of the surface really was burned into my eyes as the world, again flashed white then black.

I felt the air around me begin to burn, then cool as the lifts entrance closed. The entire trip down was engulfed in complete darkness, but eventually we stopped. Everything was still black, but I heard somepony welcome us to the Stable.

“Welcome, everypony, to your new home of the future! Here you will find all the commodities of a life on the surface, life food, bed, and water, with extra benefits! We have many terminals with all your favorite games and books, movies, and shows! If you would kindly step forward, Our staff will show you to your new home!”

I was still blind, and my hooves waving in front of me showed that. I heard the sound of a unicorn's horn igniting, and my vision cleared. I was rather surprised to see a unicorn colt in front of me, with a icy coat and a copper mane clearing my vision. He had a yellow coat on, the kind you wear, with a pink butterfly on the side. The Ministry of Peace.

I, with a start, wondered what the rest of the Ministries were doing right now. The Ministries of Arcane Science and Wartime Technology were most likely responding with megaspells of their own, making sure their last breath of life was a whisper of revenge.

The Ministries of Image and Awesome were maybe just cowering. The ponies at the M.o.I. were just dedicated to letting the world know that Equestria is prepared for all out war. They were probably eating their words now. The M.Aw was… who knows. They never did anything before the war, and were probably keeping tradition going.

======

Well. Shoot. Alright.

My entire life had just exploded, and I was here, locked in a tin can that I would never leave.

The world got greedy, began hoarding rocks, and they paid the price. Total megaspell annihilation.

That absurd idea struck me: The world might have just killed itself, all because of some rocks. So much for a promising career in Equinology.

Good riddance.

My heart was pounding like never before. My career was gone. My friends were gone. My entire life was gone. My family- well, no change there. They were gone.

I collapsed, sobbing. I wanted to tell myself that this was just a dream, the cause of eating sugar and falling asleep, but it was too real. I tasted blood in my mouth from biting my tongue. I smelled the sweat coming off of everypony, and felt the metal hallway underneath me.

The Overmare, and some staff greeted us, and ushered us down the hall to changing rooms. We donned coat-tight suits of bright blue, with golden stripes running down the center. It felt a little odd, this is what we're going to be wearing for the rest of our lives?

I remembered the Ministry Mare, Rarity. She would have gagged at the sight of the suits. I had never met her, but I heard stories. Ponyville just about worships those six. For the sake of fashion, I kept my scarf.

I stepped out of the changing room, lost in thought. "Ma'am?" A mare nudged me. "We need you to move, we're trying to get everypony changed as fast as possible."

"O- of course, I'll head right away." I walked down the hall in the only direction possible. Scientists lined the walls, directing me to a large auditorium.

After about 30 minutes, everypony wore their new Stable Suits, and had taken seats in the large hall. A mare stepped onto the stage, radiating power. She had a stride that reminded me of the Sisters. By the Sun, were they okay?

I had always assumed they were immortal. After all,  they had lived for thousands of years, and Luna had lived without air to breath for one thousand. They couldn't have died. Anyways, focus Cali!

"Welcome, to Stable One-Oh-Seven. Here, you will find all the pleasures of a surface life, just in a rather... Different environment. My name is Amethyst Star, and I will be your first Overmare." She talked with a false happiness, trying to bite back her tears. She was doing a poor job.

"While it's true that we will never see the sun again, we need to make sure that future generations can. This Stable, and all the others has a self-sustaining orchard, and a water and air talisman. The walls are made to prevent any radiation from seeping in."

That was good. An oversight like that would ruin Stable-Tec's good name. If there even was a Stable-Tec anymore. The company was about as shady as the Ministry of Awesome. All we knew is they made Stables. Nopony ever got to see inside of them, unless they were staff.

I had a job from Stable-Tec, back in college. (Stupid Equinology) They asked me to study various types of ponies. I wasn't sure quite why. Maybe they wanted to make sure the Stables were comfortable for all ponies? I wondered if that's the real reason Stable-Tec came to my door.

"A Stable-Tec exclusive PipBuck 4000 is standard uniform for everypony in a Stable. If you have your own PipBuck, you will have to remove it. We will transfer all files from the previous to your new 4k version."

Oh wonderful! I had always wanted a PipBuck, but they were so expensive that only the higher-ups could afford them. I had heard about their usefulness, and I was about to experience it first hoof.

"This new model features a sleeker, handier design, and a holotape slot. It also has new, moving visuals to make applying medicine a little more bearable."

I wasn't sure animated visuals would make a shot any more bearable. But, she was the Overmare, I was the Equinologist.

"The PipBucks, of course, have a tag system. This allows anypony with a PipBucks tag to mark it on their Eyes Forward Sparkle, or E.F.S. This allows a pony to find their friend from anywhere in the Stable. This also means the staff can find you, even if you hide. So don't try that."

I felt a slight nudge to my right. Until now, I hadn't looked at who was sitting near me, and I opened my mouth a little at the sight of the mare next to me.

She was a zebra, but a unicorn too. A zebracorn? I blushed as she pushed my jaw back up. "Hey, don't gawk, it's rude. I just wanted to get your two bits on this whole deal, and get to know somepony in the process."

"Oh, uh, sure. It's all a little... surreal." I looked at her striped hooves and neck. "It's hard to believe that my whole life is gone, replaced by this one. Weird, huh? Everything we ever knew is gone. My name is Calidity Boreal, but just call me Cali. What ar- who are you?"

The zebracorn chuckled. "My name is Finder Keeper, call me Finder. I'm a half-zebra, to answer your first question. Zebra on my father's side. But I prefer okapi."

I blinked. Okapi were related to giraffes, not ponies. Finder knew what I was thinking. "And yes, that isn't correct, but it's the closest and easiest word for it. And it helps to not call myself a zebra, y'know?"

The overmare was still talking, describing Stable-Tec's journey through the years. "Yeah, I know  a few folks that would sooner shoot a zebra than look at one. Stupid bigots. Equestria shares just as much blame in this war as the zebras. We hoarded gems, they hoarded oil, and tensions grew."

I sighed and shook my head. It was still sad that the downfall of the world was rocks and dead things. We both turned our attention back to the overmare, who was now talking about jobs in the Stable.

I sighed at the mention of work. The world just died, why couldn't jobs die with it? "Each of you will take a test called the S.O.A.P. test, or the Stable Offered Application for Position. This will determine your job in the Stable until you retire."

Finder beside me chuckled at the name. Acronyms were weird. "We assure you that this test is 99% accurate, and will assign you the job you will be the best at."

"After the S.O.A.P., you will take the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. test. This test analyzes, and rates your skills based on seven specific attributes."

I had heard of that last one. It was a book printed for foals, to read to them when they were young. Why in Equestria was it a test in a bunker designed to save ponykind?

The assembly ended, and we took the two tests. The first was a multiple choice with the most bizarre options ever. What even was a photonic resonation chamber? The second was a physical evaluation, asking us to lift weights, stack cups, and the sort.

After we finished the two tests, we stepped up to a printer. It spat out little cards with plain text on them, in two rows. Levitating it in a soft blue glow, I read mine in anticipation.

Stable Temperature Manager

S:3 P:5 E:3 C:2 I:8 A:6 L:1

Oh. Well shoot. "Well, Cali, you wanted a career in temperatures, and here it is." Whoop de freaking do. I flipped the card over, and it instructed me to report to an area in the Stable the next morning. I had to get instructions on my job and receive my PipBuck .

I caught Finder waiting for me on the way out. "What'd you get?" Her face held anticipation.

I showed her the card and sighed. "I got my dream job." I put as much sarcasm as I could in the sentence.

"Ouch. That's gotta be tough, how in Equestria do you manage the temperature of and entire Stable? Fires?"

I raised the heat of the air around us with a glow of my horn. "Oh right, magic is a thing. I was wondering what your cutie mark meant."

My mark was rather small. It was a sun and a moon, halves connected. The frosty color of the moon matched my eyes and my magic, while the sun matched my mane.

I looked at Finders hindquarters, looking for a mark. There was nothing there. Best not bring it up.

"I see you eyeing my flank." Finder said with a sly tone. I blushed and stammered. That wasn't what I was looking at! "Nah, its cool ,I know you were looking for a cutie mark. "

"Honestly, I'm not sure I can even get one. Zebras just tattoo a glyph on when they get a job, and I haven't heard of any other half-zebras out there."

"Huh." Sure, it sounded rather boring, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. That sucks? Sorry you can't ever get the thing that defines a pony? ‘Huh’ was the best option.

"What did you get," I inquired. "Hopefully it's better than what I got."

She levitated her card up. Her magic was white, matching the majority of her coat.

Stable Security Chief

S:3 P:8 E:1 C:2 I:5 A:8 L:1

"Wow.” Security Chief was a nice job, I was sure. Nopony to boss you around but the Stable heads and the overmare. “What's up with the Perception and Agility scores? Were you in the military?"

Finder sighed, and lowered her head. "Was. And I don't mean 'the military is ash in the wind' was. I got kicked out for taking what wasn't mine. Good timing though, got out a few weeks before the world exploded. The Stable-Tec rep came a week before."

I decided not to pry. It wasn't my past, and I could tell she was done talking about it.

We decided to head off for the night, and meet again in the morning. It had been a long day.

The night was a nightmare of fire, light, and screams.

The next morning, I woke to the grating sound of an alarm. I got up, shocked at first by the environment, before remembering the day before. I fell back, and cried silently.

After donning my Stable Suit, I headed off to my new office. It was cool, at least, to be the head of others. As I arrived though, I realized that I was the only one on the job. So much for being a leader.

The job was simple enough: Ponies pressed a button, and I went there and changed the temperature.

Every job had a PipBuck design specific to it. Mine was silver, with red and blue stripes on either end. After the staff pony secured it to my forehoof, I switched it on. The PipBucks display was blue, with an amber E.F.S. They were really laying the symbolism on heavy.

My job was, as I discovered, both easy and infuriating. I walked around the Stable, until a notification on my E.F.S. popped up, notifying me. The foals liked to press the temperature buttons, I soon learned.

With a happy little skip of my heart, I realized that the Security area had requested me. I figured it was Finder, paging me. I walked through the doorway, and nearly screamed as Finder popped up behind me. She hadn't even shown on my E.F.S. That was some serious stealthy skill.

"Hey temperature pony, how's the job?" She trotted in front of me, flashing her new PipBuck. It was solid black, with a red display. "It's been pretty boring around here so far, nopony had done anything illegal so far."

"Good to know its boring for you too. So far, only 3 ponies have actually needed me to manage the temperature. Seven other calls haven't actually been for temperature. Sorry, eight others."

She chuckled. It was a nice chuckle. "Yeah sorry. I wanted to check in on you, and grab your PipBuck tag. Then I don't need to page you."

We traded the codes, and tested out the marker. Every time we toggled the tag, a little pip showed up on the E.F.S. radar. The radar showed the general direction and hostility of ponies, marking them in red. Unfortunately, it didn't show distance or height.

We talked for a while, before I got paged away to another foal call.

Time went by fast. Finder didn't get an actual assignment until a week after her job, when some idiot tried to open the door. Life continued. The one year anniversary had a similar incident. Some foal went to the door, thinking the party meant an all-clear. Security was assigned to always be on shift near the door from then on.

Time passed rather plainly for the next 4 years. Finders friendship with me grew, and the overmare passed away, replaced by her daughter. Sapphire Moon wasn't happy to be in the position. She came out of her office after reading her instructions, crying.

She made life more entertaining, assigning ponies to write books and holotape games. There were a few times when ponies tried to revolt, storming the overmares office. Finder and the security ponies always took care of it effortlessly.

Today was the party that celebrated another year in the Stable. 5 years since ponykind burned to death. The party was all day, but ended at 3:27 PM, the exact time the Stable door closed. It was 3:13 PM, and Finder was nervous.

"I just can't shake the feeling that something is up. Sapphire hasn't shown her face at all. She's just holed up in her office, crying her eyes out." Finder quieted as a Stable-Tec pony rushed by. "Even the Stable-Tec staff is active, buzzing around like bees."

She was right. The staff hadn't joined the party, and was rushing from one restricted section to the next. "I'm sure it's all fine," I lied. "It's probably just some talisman that got bumped, and it spooked Sapphire."

Did I really believe that?

We all counted down as the clock, showing 3:26 PM, ticked way to the next minute.

The seconds hit 59, then 00, then stopped. I stopped. Finder stopped. The entire Stable Froze, locked in place.

And so we waited.

Calidity Level Up!

Level 2

New Perk: Science! (1)

Gain access to rank 2 high-tech mods at workbenches.

Finder Level Up!

Level 2

New Perk: Sneak (1)

You are 20% harder to detect when sneaking.

C2: A Nightmare

From Calidity

“How was that not the doozy!?”

I collapsed in shadow.

Something was wrong. Pain flared in my stomach as I vomited blood. Definitely wrong. I rolled over and whimpered as I hurt more. The lights were turned out, and my eyes weren't adjusted.

What was going on? Had something happened? Why was I coughing blood?

Where is Finder?

I fumbled around for the light switch, stepping on the sticky floor. While stumbling, I stepped on something sharp. Pain shot up my hood, as I stumbled back and collapsed again. I remembered the lamp on the PipBuck, switching it on with a flick of my hoof. I regretted it instantly.

The world was a nightmare, and someone was screaming. Was that me? I looked at where I had stepped, and heaved. It was a skeleton, or at least part of it was. The front half of the pony could have been sleeping, but the back was decayed, crushed bone.

I looked around the room, holding my forehoof from the ground. There were corpses everywhere, all decayed like the first. The floor was red with a layer of caked blood, like someone had decided on a new tile color.

I turned, and my heart dropped. It was a pony, but the stomach was extremely bloated, like something had been rotting in it for centuries. The ponies face was open, eyes frozen in horrified shock. I screamed again, sobbing. There were my friends. Ponies I knew. The mare that slept a few rooms down from me was sticking out of my forehoof.

I collapsed again, and closed my eyes. I was back at the part, nopony was dead, and I wasn't lying in blood.

Beep

A noise brought me back. I recognized it, and was sure I dreamed it.

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep

What the buck? I opened up my E.F.S. and saw the notification.

Request to raise temperature in Security Booth 4C

Finder! By the sisters, that had to be her! That was her booth, and only she would pound the button like that. Well, maybe her and some foals. I vomited again, the foals were on the floor too.

I tagged Finder, marking her on my E.F.S., and headed to the Security Booth. I walked in, illuminated by the glow of my PipBuck, and the glow of my horn. I was washing my telekinetic field over everything, making it glow softly. I didn’t know a light spell, but this worked just fine.

I say Finder lying near the temperature control leaning against the counter. Her muzzle was soaked red, and her hooves were covered in blood. I probably looked the same. Panic rose as I realized she was unconscious. “Finder!” She had to be alive. “Finder c’mon wake up!” She was just tired. “Finder I need you!” She coughed, spitting blood.

Shifting slightly, she looked at me groggily. “Medical office… healing potions… hurry!” It sounded more like “Mdkl ofs… heal poshn… hre” But I got the idea. I didn’t want to leave her side, but I went anyway. I ran down the corridor, heart pounding as I dodged corpses and various objects. The medical station was still organized.

As I levitated the healing potions, I chugged one of them. I heard a light clattering as shards of bone dropped to the floor. After a long run back to Security Booth 4C, the shards were gone, and the skin around it closed up. From the lack of pain and blood, I assumed my stomach had stopped bleeding too.

As I entered the Booth, I slid down to Finders level and tipped the glowing red liquid down her throat. My PipBuck, when I held the potion, read ‘Greater Restoration Potion’. I needed that ‘Greater’ now more than ever. They were saved for injuries like lost limbs and massive gashes, or other injuries that killed of blood loss. Normal potions healed slowly, and I needed speed.

After a couple painful minutes, Finder gasped, breathing in life. “What- wha--- Cali? What happened, why are the lights out?” There was a fear in her eyes, like I had when I first saw the nightmare around me.

“Hey hey, it's okay, do you remember anything since the party?”

“What do you mean? The party just ended. You feelin’ okay Cali?” My heart pained. I would have to show her the corpses, our old friends. At least she, at the moment, was still blissfully ignorant. I leaned my head against the wall.

“Finder, what do you notice about the room right now?” The room was dark, save for the frozen light of my PipBucks lamp. Finder flicked her wrist, bathing the room in a red light, creating purple when it hit my light. The walls that were illuminated were worn down, rusted by time. There was a skeleton and bloody patch in the corner.

“Its dark and…” Her irises shrunk when she noticed everything. “Oh buck. What the bu-”  She backed away from the skeleton, and vomited over the counter. “What in Celestia's name happened?”

“I don’t know, but time has passed since the party, I’m not sure how much. My PipBucks clock has been counting from the party. Before we go out, I want to warn you that this skeleton is a nice sight compared to out there.” Finder looked at me, at first confused, then fearful.

She braced herself, and I opened the door, our lamps flooding the hallway with purple light. She gasped and cried out as the corpses were shown. Some could have been sleeping, others had maggots crawling on them.

Finder collapsed, mourning the dead. I joined her, we had lived with these ponies for 5 years, growing together and close. I opened my PipBuck and looked at the tags. They pointed in different directions, all marking a corpse. Gusty Skies. Wheat Field. Pop Fly. I knew them like family.

Finder was the first the two of us to stand back up, wiping tears away and forming a posture that befit her military background. “Cali, get up. We need to leave. Whatever caused this could happen again, and I don't want to join the dead.”

I got up, sniffling. “We need to find out what did this, and I’m betting the overmare knew. Let’s head that direction.” We walked through the halls solemnly, our hooves echoing on the metal floor. We walked through the overmares door, and spotted a unicorn skeleton collapsed on the desk. The was a gun lying next to it, and the skull had a hole in it.

We moved the skeleton aside, and turned on the terminal in front of her. Green text flickered on, and a large array of characters came on, with words interspersed. “What the buck?” I was perplexed, I had never seen something like this.

“It's a simple security system. You have to find the password by finding words like it.” Finder stared, lost by the screen, and started pressing keys with her pale magic. I was watching my E.F.S., fearful that something was going to come through the door. There was only the yellow arrow that indicated Finder and…

“OH BUCK NO!” I leaped back, scared by the red dot that was moving on the radar. Finder looked up, and flicked her E.F.S. on, her eyes gaining a red sheen. Her irises shrunk as she noticed the enemy too.

“Ok Cali, whatever comes through that door, shoot it with this.” She hovered the pistol that was next to Sapphire to me. I took it, though I barely knew how to use it. Seeing my confusion, Finder pointed to the bit in the back. “That's the trigger, push that in while pointing at the baddie.” Simple enough right? “Remember to use S.A.T.S. too.”

She continued on the security system, and the red dot stopped. That either meant it was heading our way, away from us, or had frozen. It dashed behind me, causing me to jump. I realized it was above or below us. I heard a click and text printing as Finder shouted.

“Aha! Got it.” She scrolled through the entries, and played the first audio file. Its date was before the bombs fell. The voice wasn’t Sapphire Moon’s voice, or even her mother's. It was definitely a mare's voice, although rather tomcolt sounding.

Hello, to any overmare who may hear this. You have been assigned to Stable 107, an underground fallout shelter designed to preserve the pony race in case of megaspell attacks. You will stay here until the surface is safe to inhabit again. My name is Scootaloo, and I am the President of Stable-Tec Industries.

She sighed.

I am sick and tired of making these tapes, but they’re mandatory.  This Stable has been built with a spell that, after 5 Years, will freeze all non-important in a 200 year stasis, except for a select few. After the spell ends, the surface, hopefully, will have returned to livable levels. We will return to our home and start rebuilding ponykind. A predetermined overmare will take hold of the group of ponies that lived in this stable, and she will be responsible for our brighter future.

The audio clicked, and stopped.

200 Years? Finder and I had been frozen for that long? These ponies bodies have sat here for two-hundred years? We opened the next entry.

Hello. My name is Amethyst Star, and I am the first overmare of Stable 107. They want me to try an keep these entries, so I'll try. It's been a week since the Stable closed, and it's been quiet.

There was a long pause, and when Amethyst spoke again, she sounded like she was going to cry.

I can't do this. I spend everyday knowing that these ponies have a clock, then they get frozen like ice cubes for two centuries. Then, once the bleeding stops and they learn about the side effects, they're supposed to be able to live with themselves? Will they even be Equine any more? The world is going to want them dead, and they won't know a thing about it. It's going to be a slaughter. This is Amethyst Star, and I hope Stable-Tec is happy.

Click. Yearning for answers, we played the next entry.

Buck. Some pony just tried to open the door. We almost died. I'm going to get someone to put a password on it, not sure why there wasn't one before. Anyways, I wanted to make this to talk about the Stasis spell. I'm going to go insane if I don't. The spell, in theory is simple. The pony just stops in time, and when the spell continues, it's like they just had a nap. It's just a prototype though. It's only been tested for months at a time, and was kinda spotty.

There was as long pause, we expected to hear the click of an audio file ending.

That makes me wonder, how is it going to act over two years? The spell has side effects not seen before in any spell. Any pony exposed to it… I'm not sure how to say this. They… Pause? Their body stops needing things like food, water and sleep, along with… It still seems like fiction. The ponies become immortal. They stop aging. I don't know if they thought about those effects, but there are foals here. They will be a child for the rest of their life. How bucked up is that? They would never be an adult. So, if you hear this, the spell has passed, along with me, hooray! You survived and don't have to eat any more. You can, but you don't need to.

Click. We looked at each other, horrified. Stable-Tec had used the spell, knowing that it might not even work. Not only that, but this spell scarred the ponies afflicted. What other side effects would manifest now that we had been frozen for 200 years?

“What the actual buck was wrong with Stable-Tec?” I asked, shaking, furious, and terrified. May the holy grace of Celestia give those buckers mercy. I looked at Finder. She looked furious.

Finder spoke through clenched teeth. “I don't enjoy being treated like a rodent. I grew up in a hellhole of a city with aristocratic ponies that thought the idea of not being able to put food on your plate was a joke. Not only that, but I'm part zebra. I represented everything wrong with their otherwise perfect lives. So they beat me, hoping that if I could run from battle, the zebras could too.”

I was silent, she had never talked about her foal hood before. She was right though. We were, in Stable-Tecs eyes, lab rats. Chosen to be experimented on, overseen like a cage of mindless rodents. I didn't enjoy it either. But I knew we couldn't stay here. Wasn’t right. I downloaded the rest of the files and nudged Finder, who was in tearful memories.

“C’mon, we gotta go. It's not right to stay here, this Stable is nothing but a tomb now.” She agreed, and we headed out. We grabbed our saddlebags, supplies, and weapons from the security both. It was just some simple batons and 10mm pistols, but it would do. Better than nothing. The only intact security barding was Finders uniform, so I stuck with my Stable suit.

We were walking down the entry hallway to the massive steel door, when Finder and I froze. Our E.F.S. had lit up red in the sides, indicating hostiles behind us. Whatever we had seen before had returned. We spun, dismayed to find that most of the radar was now marked red, or diamonds for Finders already red display. We walked down the hallway as a scuttling sound grew, then we ran. As we saw our attackers.

They were massive cockroaches, swollen in size by the radiation of the surface. How had they gotten it? I didn't recall any roaches in those 5 years. Finder turned and let loose a torrent of shots from her pistol, killing only a segment of the massive hoard of insects. A door was up ahead, so we closed it after getting through. Only three roaches made it through, and they pounced at us.

I slipped into S.A.T.S. For the first time in combat. I was familiar with the slow feeling, but I had never actually used it for combat. Two roaches, titled radroaches by the overlay, sailed towards me slowly. I targeted both their heads, then felt the spell take my body over, firing shots into the radroaches.

The spell lasted as long as it had energy, which was based on your agility. If you were fast, the spell lasted a long time. Every shot tagged and fired drained a chunk of energy.

The radroaches flew back, dead. I heard a shot from Finders gun as the last roach fell too. “What the buck? Why are the roaches so big?” I panted out, adrenaline still pumping. The roaches bleed a white liquid that spread across the ground from where their heads once were.

“Didn't you see? The E.F.S. tagged them as radroaches. Radioactive roaches. The rads outside must have changed them up, mutated them. If that's what roaches look like…” Finder trailed off, but I got the message. The animals on the surface could be nasty.

Something in Finders head rebooted as she exclaimed, and rushed over to the Stable door controls. “When Amethyst put a password on the door, she had security do it, and i just so happen to be security!” She turned on the terminal, and the same jumble of characters came up. She typed in ‘apologies’ and the security screen fell.

She navigated the terminal, pressing the option to unlock the Stable Door controls. “Ready to see whatever mutated horrors lie out there?” Not really, no. I grabbed the switch with my magic, and pulled it.

Machinery whirred and hissed, a massive drill descending from the ceiling. The drill placed itself into the cog-shaped door and spun, creating a screech of rusted metal. The drill, with the Stable Door in tow, pulled back, and swung to the side. A platform extended through the door to connect to the other side.

I hadn't seen this room for 5- no, 205 years. It was the first room in the Stable. It was here that a Stable-Tec medic healed my burned vision. I'm a way, that was a representation of giving up my previous life. My last glimpse of the outside was cleaned away. Time to start again.

Finder spoke up. “So, you ready? Who knows what hellscape awaits us out there.” I gulped, swallowing my fear.

“Yeah, I'm ready.” Saddlebags on our backs, we stepped onto the elevator platform and ascended to the new world.

Calidity Level Up!

Level 3

New Perk: Gunslinger (1)

Damage from pistols increased by 20%

Finder Level Up!

Level 3

New Perk: Hacker (1)

You can now hack advanced terminals.