Jack S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
STRENGTH 8
PERCEPTION 6
ENDURANCE 3
INTELLIGENCE 4
CHARISMA 5
AGILITY 5
LUCK 10
Tagged Skills: Unarmed
Sneak
Explosives
Boring.
I walked down the hallway of Stable 28 I look around. Everything is so boring. To my right would be a grey wall, to my left the same. Ponies would be off to the side with their own personal conversations, ignoring me as I walked to my room. The lights above me would flicker once or twice, the continuous humming of a generator would enter your ears but living your life here would train you to ignore it. I would do the job assigned to me by the Overmare day after day like the rest of the Stable ponies. Life is boring.
I wish I could say that. I walked down the narrow hallway of stable 28, keeping my head down. I swear it's as if these ponies think that if I am looking at the floor I can't hear them. As I turned the corner where my room is, all conversations stop and people stare at me, whispering to their friends believing I was out of ear shot.
I overhear a mare, around her 30s, whisper to her filly, "Honey, don't go near that pony, you know he's dangerous." She said, using a hoof to keep the young one close to her.
"Yes mom."
Filly of a bitch.
A pony told another in what I guess was suppose to be a whisper I couldn't hear, "Oh my gosh, did you hear what he did to Strong Hoof a week ago? He's such a meanie."
"I know right?"
I didn't do anything to him! Well no physical damage anyways....
And another, "Look at him, he's probably just going to go to his room, he never does anything."
"Eh, good thing, don't want him to cause any trouble."
Strong Hoof causes more trouble around here than me!
Almost to my room, looks like some mare is whispering something to her mare friend, "Did you know his mom died last week?"
"Good thing, we don't want any more of him running around."
Oh fuck no, "Oh fuck no, you did not just say that!" I shouted, I started seeing red and green, my pip boy started ticking
"Oh my gosh, he can hear us?" She dropped down, covering her head with her hooves, "Please don't kill us, we didn't mean it, promise!" She pleaded.
-X-X-
A long, long time ago, well when I was just a colt. "Okay sweetie, remember, just because you still don't have your cutie mark, doesn't mean anything, actually it means you can be anything you want to be! Because you don't have a special talent means you can be a Pip Buck repair pony, or a security buck, or maybe the Stable's marriage counselor." She said the last one with a giggle.
That brightened up my day, "Hehe, thanks mom, see you after school!" I put some snacks into my saddle bags and started trotting down to the Stable's school. Being one of the last one to get a cutie mark sucks, the only other pony that is a blank flank like me is my friend Locks. Pretty funny name, considering he always breaks into them.
I heard that meanie, Strong Hoof around the corner. I usually just avoid him, like my mom says, however he had a brown pony with a chestnut mane about half his size trapped under his hoof. My friend Locks. Strong Hoof was the first pony to get his cutie mark, however, I don't think being really strong is a special talent that is hard to find. He always took every chance to bully Locks and me, he justifies it by saying we might get out cutie marks in being his personal punching bags.
"So you think you could break into my locker, and get away with it huh?" Strong Hoof said to my only friend. Dammit Locks, ever since you read that, Today's Locksmith magazine! "You do know you are the only one other than the overseer who knows how to pick locks, and I doubt the overseer wanted my box of cookies."
"Let him go!" I shouted, all looks turned to me. Oh Celestia, what did I just say? Oh I am bucked.
Strong Hoof stared at me in disbelief, I never attempted to stick up to him until now. He snickered, "Or what?" he threw me baseball bat, "Come on, pick it up with your telekinesis, lets have fair fight here." He was trying to keep himself from laughing. I looked at the baseball bat and concentrated my magic. My horn glowed green and purple as did the bat... well it more flickered green and purple. The bat did not do much as it roll around on the ground a little before my magic disappeared. Strong Hoof couldn't hold it in anymore he started laughing. "Come on! I'd be a better unicorn that you!" He tapped his forehead. Stupid earth ponies. I thought to myself. Well barring Locks of course.
"Leave him alone! I bet he'd make a better earth pony than you!" Lock said under Strong Arm's hoof, who provided a kick to Lock's side. I started seeing red and green and charged him. Once I got close enough, I lunged at him, however I was met with a buck to the face that left me on my back and dazed. I stared at the luminescent lights above me, blood ran out of my nose. I got back up still seeing red and green. I felt my horn glowing again. Wait am I going for the bat again? I'm not focusing on anythi- argh! My right hoof! It didn't feel like it hurt, however it felt, different. Did I land on my hoof and break it? Is this how it felt to break something with the adrenaline keeping you from feeling pain? Whatever the case was I charged again, Strong Hoof looked scared out of his mind. Now I had him under my... hoof? It looked like a hoof however something white was pointing out of it- oh my gosh is that bone? Did his Buck do that? AHHH!
"Jack stop!" I heard Lock's voice shouting with distress. I stopped seeing red and green and backed away from Strong. He ran up to me as I watched the bone from my hoof coming back into my hoof. "Are you okay? What happened?" His voice was full of distress, we always looked out for each other, I helped him out more than he has for me, but he always put himself at my side whenever given the chance. I just kept staring at my hoof. I started to hear heavy hoofsteps march towards us. Probably security ponies bogged down by their armor.
"You FREAK! Stay away from me!" Strong shouted retreating to his friends who were just as scared as him. He attempted to hide behind the others but they wouldn't let themselves be at the front.
"Jack your cutie!... mark." Lock said, his voice becoming quiet at the end of his sentence. I looked at my flank. It was a picture of three pointy bones. Okay I am defiantly not being a marriage counselor... maybe I could be a doctor still. The security mare took me and sent the two of us to the Overmare's office.
-X-X-
Back today.
"Jack!" I heard Ledete, our overmare shout to me. I quickly calmed down and stopped seeing my "rage colors" as I redirected my attention to her. I looked at the mare, then at Ledete, then at me, then at the bone coming out of my forehoof, then at Ledete again.
"I wasn't going to hurt her, I swear!" I said trying to sound as innocent as possible. Pretty hard if you have a bone sticking out of your hoof charging at pony with flowers for a cutie mark.
"Jack, you know what you have to do." Fuck. I trotted to an empty room. The walls were covered with sheets of metal that was dented in some places form my last visit here. I poked at my pip buck, it was still ticking. Now usually the pip buck has a couple features such as the S.A.T.S system, EFS, and some kind of storage keeping spell.
It also has a Geiger counter, which is used to tell you if radiation is near you. Which as far as I could tell from school, is something very bad, however it's not like any is sneaking into the Stable, so the maintenance pony made it so it keeps track to my 'special points'. The more I use my 'special' magic, the more the special counter ticks. If it gets to 1000, my body can be destroyed, more points means that it is harder for me to maintain my magic, as well as the more points, the bigger chance my magic will collapse, leaving me insanely weak and unable to do my magic. I've learnt that I have to let the special points drop slowly as if I let it drop too fast I drop to the ground unable to do anything.
Whenever I have one of my moments, the Overmare forces me to use magic in this room until I collapse. I heard the door close behind me and I focused my magic. I make sharp bone come out of my back and hooves and hitthe walls as hard as I could, this was a really good way at letting me vent my rage.
Tick. I striked the wall. Stupid Strong Arms, probably going to pick on me after this, he only fights me when I can't use my magic, what a coward!
Tick. I striked the wall. Lock is probably breaking into something right now, and of course I'll have to bail him out if he gets caught, he really needs to stop this obsession of his. One time he broke into my room rather than knocking just to see if he could.
Tick. I striked the wall. Stupid ponies, just because I can do different magic doesn't mean I'm a monster.
Tick. I strike the wall. And why were those ponies talking about my mom's death.
Tick. I striked the wall. My mom's death.
Tick. I striked the wall. It wasn't fair, it wasn't her time!
Tick. I striked the wall. Why couldn't it be somepony else? Why does my life have to get all the bad things in this stable?
I striked the wall. Why is life so unfair!
I strike the wall on last time, this time I felt my hoof go into the metal deeper than it usually did. The wall got pierced and I heard something crack. Well that can't be good. Wow, I feel tired, looks like I reached my limit. I staggered back and fell as I felt the bone slip back into my body. I looked at the hole in the wall, wait what's that? It looks like a water talisme- it's cracked... and is about to break... fuck.
"Okay, it sounds like he's done." I heard the Overmare say outside, "Okay next time try not to- Oh my..." The Overmare and a couple security ponies rushed inside and inspected the water talisman, "Quickly, get the maintenance pony, whats-his-name, this is bad!" She looked at me as the security ponies ran out to get Wrench, "You screwed up big time Jack." I put my head against the wall. Shit.
-X-X-
A couple of days after I got my cutiemark. There were around two dozen ponies outside my Mom's room. They were all complaining to her about her son was a freak, and how I shouldn't be allowed to be near the other kids. The purple mare with a short blue mane who was my mom used herself as a barricade in between the crowd of ponies and Lock and me. Our stable had a bad history with death, a good amount of ponies would just die one day, without any cause. My dad died when I was too young to remember, both of Lock's parents died around the same time. Mom adopted him and we grew up together, a duo that could never be separated. For better or for worse.
"That freak you call a son endangers the safety of our children! Hell, I don't even understand how you can even live in the same room with him without fear when the rest of us are scared out of our minds when we're in the same stable!" A stallion who I could guess was in his 70s shouted at my mom. She stood firm and kept him out of the room. "I say, maybe the whole Stable is in danger of destruction with the son-of-a-bitch in here. I'm sure we can remember what happened when the last one of his kind was born, I say we kill him now before he kills us!" Oh hell no. I could care less that the geezer wants me dead. He did not just call my mom a bitch. I started channeling my magic the same way I did a couple days ago. Locks looked at me and shook his head, putting his hoof on my horn. That always calmed me down for some reason.
"Ya know, you a'tually point 'dere." I heard a click and my mom actually backed up a little before standing like a wall again, albeit one starting to crumble. "Ah'd hate 'or mah 'ittle 'un to suffer layke Ah did when Ah wuz 'is age!" The other Stallion sounded like he was well into the 80s he was one of the old timers who spoke with this weird accent. I could see an old cowboy hat on his head as he peaked into the room, a small pistol now in his mouth.
"Now that is enough Old Mixer!" I heard the Overmare's voice boom down the hall. Old Mixer turned around allowing me to see his cutiemark, two drinks going into a bottle. He was the Vault's bartender. I heard a couple of young security ponies accompany her, gun at the ready. I heard the gun drop to the floor.
"Now Ah know what dis look layke, but you youngins barely knows what destruction and mayhem 'is kaynd can do to us normal folks, Ledete, youz should knows 'ow why the last Overmare needed to be replaced."
"That's enough Mixer," The Overmare took a pause, "Let it be known that I will make sure that such an event does not happen again! I will take measures to make sure that the Stable is safe, and that include Jack! He is under my protection now, and if any of you would want to take drastic actions, you will have to go through me!" The two security ponies readied their weapons, "As well as the security force, are there any questions?"
Old Mixer looked at her with discontent, but walked away, the other ponies followed soon after. "Thanks Ledete." My mom told the Overmare, who doubled as the leader of the security force.
"Don't worry Brushie. You know I owe you and your husband, especially your husband, more than this." My mom, who was the Stable's dentist blushed at Ledete's pet name for her.
"I thought you agreed you were to use Brush!"
"And I thought this would let me use it again." Ledete and my mom giggled. Ledete then turned to me and my mom let her walk to me. "Don't worry little one, your mom has been a good friend to me, and I'm going to be a good friend to you."
-X-X-
The Overmare gathered a crowd of ponies in the atrium, she cleared her voice and started to speak as the crowd silenced, "Mares and Gentlecolts, I have some disturbing news, as you all know we get our water from a water talisman, said talisman was destroyed by a pony who shall not be named." I felt stares look down on me. "We will perish if we do not get more water, so we will need some volunteers to get another water talisman... from the outside." I heard gasps from all around me, ponies frantically whispering to each other. However nopony stepped up. "So any volunteers?" Still nopony stepped up. We were all desperate for a hero but no one wanted to be him.
I took a breath, I didn't like this place anyways. I trotted up to the Overmare, "Come on, we all know I broke the water talisman, it should be me who get another one." I said, "Now come on, if we don't get a water talisman, the whole Stable will suffer, anypony else brave enough to come with me?" You know, I was expecting for somepony to raise his hoof, then another to join in, until I got like a dozen ponies coming with me. Well at least I got a single pony to come with me. Lock, my best friend, well by virtue of being my only friend took a place by my side.
"Hey," He whispered into my ear, "If I come with you, we're equal for all those times you saved my ass."
"Okay, fair enough." Wait a sec, "You just want find more locks to pick, don't you?"
He looked at the cutie mark of an unlocked lock on his flank, "I'm going to be the best lockpick in Equestria, the best there ever was!"
I smiled, looks like no one else is coming though. I trotted into my room and looked into my mirror, I stared at my reflection. I wasn't very tall, but wasn't short, I wasn't big, nor was I small, I looked pretty bland with my black mane and brown coat. I met up with Locks who was preparing his tools for the trip and we went to the Stable's door. There were no actual lockpick kits in the Stable so when Locks found his special talent, he made a make-shift kit by himself. Eventually he got pretty good at creating things out of the trash ponies threw out.
As we trotted to the Stable's door we passed by the Overmare's office, which was usually guarded with two security ponies, and even if you did get pass the guards, a camera would follow your every move, so you were screwed eventually. However on this day, all security were brought to the Stable entrance, and almost everypony were waiting at the entrance to see Locks and me go off on our adventure. Also, it's pretty obvious if two ponies left the Stable in a couple of minutes, it wouldn't matter if the camera recorded us going into the Overmare's stuff, as when the recording was reviewed, they'd be long gone. Now that was just a thought to me, however to Locks, who has seemed to figure it out a tad bit fast than me, it was a plan.
"No." I said to him as he took out two bobby pins
"Yes." he put the two pins into his teeth and started picking the lock.
"No!" I sad louder than before, but still quiet as I didn't want anypony to catch what Locks was doing.
"Yesh!" He answered with the bobby pins still in his teeth. he was pretty good at talking while picking locks.
"No-" The door opened. Locks put the bobby pins away. We looked at each other for a couple of seconds, then he trotted into the Overmare's room.
"Yes."
Locks started lockpicking everything, granted he didn't take anything, he just did this for the challenge. Every single desk that could be opened was opened. However one last thing that caught Locks's eye right as about he left the room was the Overmare's computer. "Don't" I told him, but he was already tapping on the computer.
"Come on! Don't you want to see if the Overmare has any secrets in here?" Locks went through the files and only one had a [LOCKED] icon on it, It read, THE TRAGEDY.
"It's like locking picking... but just with technology!"
''You've never even hacked a computer before!''
"Yeah, won't stop me from trying." He plugged his pipbuck into the computer and a bunch of random characters popped up on the screen. Sometimes a thirteen letter word would appear. "How does this work?" Locks asked himself as he clicked on a random word.
[WRONG 1/13] popped up on the top of the screen. "What? Wait a second, I remember borrowing this a while ago." Locks took out a book called the Big Book of Arcane Sciences out of his bag. Yes, "borrowed" was the word he liked using a lot. "There was a section here about Arcane computers and how to get into them if you lock yourself out of one. "It looks like for every letter I get right in the right place, it'll tell me, only got four tries though." He tried again.
[WRONG 1/13]
And again.
[WRONG 2/13]
"Now, I could log out and start again with all my tries..."
[WRONG 1/13]
ADMINISTRATION KEY REQUIRED
"Oh well, at least it can't get worse." Locks said, tapping the buttons a bit more out of boredom.
'INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" The alarm started ringing from the computer.
"Whoops." Locks said, backing up from the wailing siren. We looked at each other and dashed away from the room.
-X-X-
"Okay." The security officer said while handing us our saddlebags, "In here is enough food to last you a week and a half if you ration it," he looked at skinny Locks, "so you can go ahead and keep your figure, there are five health potons for the each of you, a couple packs of rad-away-"
"By the way, is it safe to go up there?" I asked, remembering that radiation was bad.
"Well the Stable's computer systems is able to figure out how much radiation is surrounding the area, so we would know if the radiation up there is deadly, however there is still some radiation up there, so keep the rad away." He handed us each 10mm pistols while chucking at his pun "There is extra ammo in your saddle bags," Finally he handed us some new clothing, "armored Stable uniforms, you know, just in case." He tapped some buttons on a monitor and the Stable door opened, I didn't see how it opened, I was to busy putting on my Stable uniform.
Locks and I walked out of the Stable, hearing the door shut close behind us. We were in a dark cave, a small, wooden door was ahead of us. It had many cracks in it which light shone out of. "Ready Locks?"
"Let's roll."
We walked towards the door. We didn't know what adventures awaited us, the places we'd go, the enemies we'd create and the friends we'd make. All we knew was that this rickety old door in front of us separated us and the quest of a life time. We stepped out and- fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, my eyes!
New Perk: Dark Magic - level 1
You have the ability to make bones come out of your body... creepy ass mofo, ain't you?
Traits: Kamikaze
"When he fights, he has mutually assured destructive tendencies, as in both he and his enemies are mutually assured to be destroyed"
+5% to critically strike on your attacks when you purposely put yourself into harms way.
Greased Chicken
"Your as fast as a greased chicken, ya punch like one too!
Your melee attacks are 20% faster but 10% weaker.
