Fallout Equestria: Joker

Fallout Equestria Fanfic. Joker

Chapter 1: The First Steps

What do I dream? Most mornings, I can't remember any details of what I dreamed about. Recently however, it seemed different. I was laying down, feeling what I always imagined to be the warm sun on my face, a cool, gentle breeze blowing over my muzzle and the lush grass under my belly. I was happy, with a blissful smile on my face, carefree as I ever could be and best of all, I could hear my mother humming.

Her voice made me feel so safe, like nothing terrible would ever happen to us. I jumped onto my hooves and broke into a short gallop looking for her. It seemed like hours had passed by, and I felt a small bit of panic when I didn't see her anywhere in the field. I was so relieved when I found her. Over by a small pond, I could see her resting under a tree. Her brilliant tangerine coat shimmering in the sunlight shining through the leaves. Her emerald green mane which she always kept short. I never questioned why and to be honest I thought nothing of it. I felt my smile widen when I ran up to her side and jumped across her back. She let out a yelp of a surprise then giggled when she looked back at me smiling

"Oh Cobalt. You scared me" the soft rose color of her eyes was always a comforting sight. I giggled as she nipped my mane and placed me between her forelegs nuzzling my cheek "My cheeky little Cobalt."

I giggled and rolled onto my back kicking my legs up at her playfully "Sorry, Mama". I didn't want this to end, this moment of carefree bliss. I wanted to remember this. Whenever I woke up the good moments of the dreams always slipped from my memory. My mom nuzzled me again when a cold chill shot through my spine. The fear from before started to well inside my chest as a cold breeze washed over us making me shiver and nuzzle into her chest.

"Mama, it's getting cold" I said to her, as a feeling of fear as cold as the icy wind, weighed down heavily upon me.

She hugged me and held me close "It's okay, sweetie. I have you now". The wind started to blow harder. It felt like shards of ice cutting into my skin, then a faint whisper echoed inside my ear.

“wake up... Cobalt..."

My body started shaking, the familiar feeling of dread snaking its way into my mind. I knew what was coming. For the longest time, there had been something with me. Like a part of me was always missing.

Something bad…

I didn't want to wake up yet. I don't want too! I'd lose her again if I did. Like the scared little colt, I was I clutched onto her and prayed I wouldn't lose her again.

"Make it stop! Please make it stop, Mama!!" I begged her. I didn't want to leave! "MAKE IT STOP MAMA!!" I screamed this time. But she didn't answer me. I looked up and saw a statue of my mother. Who had been a loving and caring soul, now no more than a cold, heartless shell. I pushed away and started panting, my heart racing like it was gonna jump from my chest at any second.

"Mama! Please! Make it stop!! I don't want to go back there!!" every word I spoke falling on deaf ears of stone.. Then the whisper spoke again, behind me this time. I spun around and my eyes fell upon a young colt who looked exactly like me. He had the same royal blue coat and navy pinstriped mane, but his eyes weren’t the same as mine. They were black, cold and hollow. Like two dark voids waiting to suck me in. .

He opened his mouth and spoke the same words again “Wake up Cobalt. Let me out of here.” My heart was racing as I tried to back away from him but shadowy tendrils shot out and coiled around my body pulling back towards him.

I dug my hooves into the ground trying to fight back, but it wasn’t any use. I could never escape his grasp.

“Leave me alone!! I don’t wanna do this! I don’t wanna leave!!” His mouth opened again as he bellowed out a flame of sapphire blue fire engulfing me entirely. I flailed about trying to roll on the grass and snuff out the flames but it didn’t make a dent in them.

The colt grabbed me again and brought me into his face screaming at me "WAKE UP COBALT!!! “. More of the blue flames leaving an icy cold feeling on my face. Wait... Cold flames? That wasn't possible. The dream started to melt away and I found myself falling into a dark pit. The fall came to a sudden end when I opened my eyes realizing I had fallen off my bed and landed on the floor.

The obnoxious sounds of my alarm going off echoed all around my room. My vision was still hazy when I sat up and looked around the room. "Damn it all...". I looked at the Pip-buck attached to my left foreleg.

6:00am. Always the same hour every day since I became old enough to work. I hated it more than anything else. I had difficulty getting to sleep for the longest time since I switched to a first-shift job instead of pulling thirds.. But I had to find why my face felt so cold. I reached up and rubbed my face with my hoof and learned my muzzle was wet. How did I...?

"Good Morning Cobalt" A familiar greeting crackled through the speaker of one of my oldest friends. A sprite-bot I repaired as a colt. I named him Glitch. Merely because he used to malfunction daily until I repaired his circuits over time. With a smile, I looked up at him flying above me with a watering can in his utility hook

"Good morning Glitch”. Glitch, A little sprite-bot I had found in the trash compactor when I was just a young colt. I didn't even have my cutie mark yet. I asked if it was possible for me to take him home. The maintenance ponies didn't mind, neither did the guards. I can still remember my mom's reaction when I tracked oil across the floor she had cleaned minutes before I came home. She nearly had a heart attack. But the lecture I received after she made me clean it up as well as all the hours I spent bringing him back to life were worth it.

I patted the top of his casing and pushed myself into a sitting position on the cold metal floor then let a loud yawn before shutting off the alarm on my pip-buck. I really hated getting up so early. Especially when the busiest hours of the day came around 10 am. But I had my job and I had to do it. I was one of the few ponies with what was called a cross-trained position or a Swinger was most the stable ponies called us. Meaning I had skills that could be used for any job. Not the advanced jobs like maintenance on the power reactor but it was work. It was all right I guess. It let me explore most the of the stable, more specifically the ones that were limited to certain ponies. Like the maintenance ponies who worked in the boiler and incinerator areas. It always gave me the chance to scrounge up some parts for Glitch or whatever I could think of to work on as a side project which I had several unfinished ones in the works. But there was one area I tried to avoid which was the laboratory. I hated how the egg heads always looked at me and watched every move I made. Ever since I was a colt they had me made and all the other kids come in and perform various monotonous tasks. Bounce this a certain way or complete this puzzle or whatever they could think of us to do. I never got why they did this. Every filly and colt had to do this until we each came of age. I was so happy to hear I didn't have to go anymore. But I was bummed that I didn’t get to see Dr. Hard Shell anymore. He was the only one of the scientists who was nice to me. Even more so after the same accident that gave me a scar below my right eye. I tried to ask how I got it but he refused to tell me along with everypony else. It drove me nuts not getting any answers.

There was a knock at my door as I heard the guard pony on the other side "Work assignment for you Cobalt”. I dreaded the work assignments. Every random job nopony else wanted to do. Like I mentioned before I was trained to have a wide variety of simple skills. Nothing major but enough to get me by. I pulled myself from the floor and trotted over to the door. While passing the bathroom, I looked up at the mirror and the reflection of the tired blue stallion looking back at me. You could see how exhausted I was, bags under my eyes and the expression on my face that said anything from 'Please don't speak to me' to 'Would you kindly leave me the fuck alone'. The small pink scar that went vertically from my eye to my cheek was another feature I had no idea on how I had attended. Everyone said I had gotten it when one of the tests went wrong but I can't recall what happened exactly. So, I'm stuck with the usual he-said-she-said bullshit. I sighed out from pure annoyance I continued to the door and opened it. I hadn't turned on the lights on the rooms in the room so my eyes haven’t had a chance to adjust to any bright lights. I groaned and shielded my eyes until they adjusted. I heard the guards trotting away as they handed out the work assignments to the rest of residents. The envelope containing mine was on the floor. I hesitated to pick it up, I had a feeling I was going to get a lab assignment today. Glitch turned on the lights while I leaned down and picked it up by the corner with my teeth.

I closed the door and sighed "Glitch, could you open this please". He gave a confirmatory beep then opened the bottom of his casing extending three utility arms I had installed so he could help with some tasks. I gave him the letter and waited for him to open the letter. He tore open the envelope, grabbed the letter inside and unfolded it for me to read.

Work assignment for Resident #253
Name: Cobalt Spec.
Assignment for the day: None.

Wait. None? That couldn't be right. I rubbed my eyes and read the first three lines again to see if I may have misread it due to my impaired vision. I read them again and I wasn't dreaming. Had I no work for today? This had to be a joke or something. Hardly anyone got time off in this place! Even ponies like me. I took the letter from him and continued to read. There had to be a catch to this. Below the usual transcript, I saw a personal note from the Overmare.

Cobalt,
This is a letter directly from the office of Overmare Dancing Heart. I would like to invite you to a meeting between you and me in the lounge area of the atrium later today at Noon. You have been given the entire day off because we much to discuss. I would truly appreciate you attending. The future of our stable depends on it.

Best Regards.
Overmare Dancing Heart.

Reading the message over again to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Why would my opinion matter to anypony? Let alone the Overmare herself. I started to picture some very bad scenarios in my head until I shook them from my head and set the alarm on my pip-buck for 11 am. It was still 6:24 am and I planned to get the most out of 4 and 1/2 hours of sleep. Locked my door again, made sure my blinds were closed, turned off the lights, Glitch flew over to his charging pod and I laid my happy ass back in my bed "Any sleep is worth getting" I said closing my eyes. Even more so when you're a working adult.

11:22am
Glitch had to dose me with the water can since my alarm failed to wake me up again. I seriously need to find a better way of waking up in the mornings. I had made my way towards the atrium of the stable where we had our shop's and everything else that you would consider a marketplace. The minute I stepped through the door every set of eyes were on me. I never knew the entire reason but the residents feared me. An accident occurred years ago, when I was just a colt, I was the subject of the test. Some experimental procedure, the details of which I cannot recall. All I remember was lying on a table looking up at some bright lights and then waking up in a security cell hours later. After that, my mom literally never left my side. Whatever had happened and it changed things for me for the worst.

I passed by the diner. Their menu hardly ever changed but at least the food was real and not some imitation food paste or whatever. The moment I knew I had stared for too long, everypony in line gave some a huge step backward. The stallion in front

“Go ahead, Cobalt. We can wait.” I blinked and shook my head walking passed the line “I’m not hungry today.” I continued heading towards the lounging area when a couple of the mares started whispering to each other

"I can't believe he came out of his room" a sunflower mare named Seeder. She was one of the mares working in the greenhouse.

"Tell me about it. Normally he never leaves his room. Gives me the creeps" Bookmark, the grayish blue mare who assisted ponies in the archives and handled the teacher's materials for the classrooms.

But they were right. I hardly left my room for this exact reason. I was tired of everyone looking at me like I had some infection I could pass to the other ponies like I was going to snap at any time as if I was mad or something. The small favors they did for soon got on my nerves after awhile when I noticed how differently everyone treated me. They’d offer me small discounts, extra snacks from the kitchen and some of the ponies offer to let me off early from my daily work schedule. It was enough to make me scream. But that would probably make things worse. Trotting towards the lounging area I hoped to avoid any trouble. Until it practically jumped in my face. Getting knocked flat on my haunches by a bully named Bench Press. The bulky brick brown earth pony who always seemed to have a problem towards me just stood there chewing on a carrot sticking out of his mouth

"Well, well. If it isn't Mr. Special" he leaned down getting eye level with me and snorted in my face "Going somewhere Special?".

'Special', Bench's little nickname for me. I wish I could ask why he had such a sour attitude towards me but his answer would have probably been a right hook to my face. I just gave him a glare and stood up brushing myself off "The Overmare has asked to meet with me and a few others. I do not wish to be late so if you would let me by I would appreciate it. Thank you".

The behemoth got in my face right as I said it. "You think you're so fucking special don't you!? Think you can talk to anyone in any way you want Huh?"

"I wasn't trying to be disrespectful Bench. I simply asked if you would let me by?" Trying to be nice to this guy was like putting your bare hoof into the hot oil. Never a good idea.

He glared at me and leaned forward enough to force me back on my haunches "I'm so sick of you! You get all kinds of special treatment and for what? Just because you had some accident when you were a runt!".

He was right. I was always given all kinds of special favors and treatment ever since the accident from my youth. The test. They were trying out some new medical treatment that would improve a pony’s memory, cognitive functions, and motor skills with electric shocks to the brain is but something happened. A surge shot through my head and I blacked out. I woke up hours later inside one of the security cells with a muzzle on my face. I tried for weeks after that to get some answers from the grownups. I even asked my mom but she hid the truth like the others did. I hated being in the dark on the whole thing. I just stared back at him "I didn't ask for this, Bench. It's not fair for anyone else."

"You're damn right it's not fair!! The rest of us bust our asses to make it through the day and you get a free pass? Not this time!"
He cracked his neck just as Clover jumped in between us.

"Knock it off Bench! I'm tired of seeing you picking fights with Cobalt!”. Four-Leaf Clover, A grass colored mare who had I known my entire life. We weren't friends but she never allowed anyone to be a bully to anyone else. She placed herself between me and Bench probably to keep Bench from swinging at me. The brute had feelings for clover and everypony knew it. Especially Clover when he left her a flower at her door he got from the greenhouse every other day.

He glared at her and stomped the floor "Move Clover!"

"No!" she said back to him as she got in his face "We've talked about this Bench. Every time you see Cobalt you're always trying to start some fight with him. I'm getting real sick of seeing you act like some teenage school bully! Either this is the last time or else I'm dumping you"

He gawked at her "Clover! Come on don't do this to me! I just wanna see him get treated like the rest of us... "

She raised a hoof to his lip "Last time" she said in a stern tone. He deflated in defeat and turned around trotting away. Clover watched him turn the corner and sighed before looking at me "Why does every have an issue with you?".

I shrugged and stood up shaking my head "No idea. Thanks for cooling him off, though"

She smiled and hugged me which made me flinch "You're welcome. He's a real sweet guy if you give him a chance". She let me go and frowned when she saw the expression on my face. "Are you OK?".

It must have been obvious that touching another pony wasn't something I was comfortable with. I forced a smile so I didn't hurt her feelings "I'm fine really.". I walked passed her hoping she believed me. The last thing I wanted to Bench another reason to harass me. After that little episode, I finally made my way to the lounge where the meeting was being. But seeing the massive figure waiting at the door made me stop a few feet away.

The only pony who was bigger than Bench Press was his father, the head of security. Brick House. 'Built like a brick shit house'. That's what they always said about him. Had the grayest coat on anypony I had ever seen with a cinder block for a cutie mark. He kept his mane cut short so no one could try and grab it during a fight. At least that's what I thought. I looked up at the little stub where his right ear used to be. I asked him how he lost it one day.

His answer: Just an accident on the job. Leave it alone.

I never felt comfortable around him. Especially when I saw the min twitching and he rubbed it with his hoof. That always happens when I was anywhere near him and sure enough "Come on in, Cobalt. The Overmare is waiting for you and the other swingers. "

I chuckled a bit and moved closer to him hoping I could talk to him about Bench’s attitude towards “Hey Brick! Listen I was hoping I could talk to you about Bench". He looked up at me and narrowed his eyes then pointed at the door. Guess he wasn't in the mood for small talk. I shrank down to the floor and walked into the room letting out a small sigh "Luna damn me if I do and damn me twice for trying". Looking around the room I saw the tables and chairs arranged around the massive table in the center of the room. Two coolers filled with some ice and several bottles of Sparkle Cola. Ok, now I was getting thirsty. I noticed the Overmare was one of the first to arrive. The elderly unicorn was hovering some documents in front of her so I don't think she noticed me. Her purple and gray striped mane combed back behind her ears. Her pinkish coat shimmered in the light while she shuffled through the papers. I didn’t have the heart to tell anyone I once had the biggest crush on her. She was kind and sweet even though she could become your worst nightmare if meant doing her job. I made the mistake of calling her an old bag at one point when I was younger and she instantly made me regret it when I was assigned toiletry duty for a week. I looked down at her cutie mark which was a pair of ballet slippers. I had always guessed it was because she did everything with unnatural grace or something. But then my mind started to drift away into a daydream taking in the beautiful mare sitting at the table. You couldn't deny she was an attractive mare.

"Taking in the sights Cobalt?".
Her voice made me turn pure red in the face as she placed the papers on the table and smiled "You honestly didn't think I had ever noticed you staring at me all these years?”

I choked. I was physically unable to speak from being so embarrassed while my face flared up like a cherry bomb. Finally, I dropped my head looking at the floor "I'm sorry Overmare. It won't happen again". I tried sounding as humble and apologetic as I could but then I heard her laugh.

"Oh, Cobalt. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Honestly, it makes me feel better knowing I can still turn a few heads even with my age". She smiled and got up out of the chair trotting up to me. I shook my head trying to get my head out of the gutter. I looked around the room and my mind to drift away again. There was no one else here... Okay! Not the time to be thinking of scenario out of some smut novel!

I literally slapped myself and cleared my throat as I tried to regain some dignity "Brick said everyone was waiting for me. It's just the two of us."

"Yes, I told him to lie about that so you'd come in and we could speak alone" she explained as she pulled out a chair with her magic "Have a seat"

I looked at her and sat down "Why would you tell him to say that?".

She took the seat in front of me "Because you would have been walking around wasting time waiting for them to show. You hate standing still. You must occupy your mind or else you'd go insane. You told me that on several occasions".

She was right. I hated being in one place. If I didn't something to do or had something to focus on my mind would often drift into some bad areas of thought. I simply nodded "Yeah, I did”

She nodded with me and let out a sighed as she pulled me closer with her magic "Now to business. Cobalt, before anything else you're going to be the first pony outside of the chain of command inside the stable to learn the truth of its purpose".

The stables true purpose? What was she trying to tell me? "Wasn't the stable built to protect ponies from the mega-spells during the time of the great war?"

She shook her head. That didn't sit well with me. If protecting ponies wasn't the intended purpose, then what reason did they have for building it? "Then what was the stable's purpose?"

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled "The freedom to experiment with the ponies inside without the risk of punishment or consequence”

I felt like I was kicked in the face. The freedom to conduct any experiments they deemed necessary "What... But why?". It was the only thing I could think of to say.

She looked over at the Stable-Tec emblem on the wall "Nopony really knows why but that's the truth. Our stable was built to house several individuals with some history of mental illnesses or psychological disorders for the distinct purpose finding the genetic markers which define them". She looked down at the table "The tests you had to sit through with you were a colt were meant to trigger some form of an illness inside your mind".

I jumped up and slammed my hoof on the table "YOU PURPOSELY TRIED TO MAKE ME CRAZY!?". she jumped and gasped while her glasses hit the floor. Brick entered the room with his baton in his mouth as she threw her hoof up at him

"It's Okay, Brick!! Cobalt is calm!" she looked at me and nodded slowly "You're calm, right?”

I looked at them both and exhaled slumping back into the chair "Yes, I am calm. I didn't mean to yell."

Brick sighed sliding his baton back into his holster "Are you sure you're OK with him alone?" he kept giving me a look like I was some violent criminal and it was really grating on my nerves.

I leaned closer to the Overmare "Does this have anything to do with why everyone is scared of me?"

She stared into my eyes and then slowly nodded "It has everything to do with it. The original purpose of this stable was what lead to the night of your accident Cobalt. The night they tried to perform a brand-new procedure. One that was never tested and they wanted to push it on the ponies of the stable".
She looked over at Brick and closed her eyes "One that made you attack the doctor's performing the procedure and ripped off Brick's right ear

I felt like I had been kicked in the gut. My heart started beating faster and I developed the urge to puke. I slowly looked between her and Brick. Brick had the expression on his face which confirmed what she said was true. At least to me it did. He walked over and placed a hoof on my shoulder. The look on his face. It made me feel like I really was a monster. The fear and... Guilt? Why would Brick have a guilty look on his face?

"It’s my fault." he said, "They told me to hold you down while they performed the procedure. You were just a colt." he turned away from me his hoof shaking like a leaf. "You were screaming and crying for your mother. But we didn't listen. We just kept going"

Dancing Heart sniffed as she wiped away her tears "We did this to you, Cobalt. It's our fault you've been treated so sourly by your peers"

I jumped up and moved away panting hard feeling like my mind was going to explode any second "You two? You were part of it!?” All the anger and frustration I always kept bottled up began to boil over. I backed up against the wall panting heavily. My heart was pounding so fast I thought it was going to jump into my throat, and it felt like it did because I couldn't breathe. I shook my head and took off for the door. It opened and I caught the sight of a silhouette standing in the bright light then a brown flash struck me and I hit the floor with a thud. Everything went into slow motion. All the panic and anxiety faded away. All there was now was an insane sense of bliss. I was still conscious so I could see what was going on. A smile came over my lips and I spoke only a few words "Right on, man"

The figure in the doorway smiled "Euphoria spell does it again”. The Euphoric spell. One of Hard shell’s specialty. Mimics the effect of certain drugs that elevate a pony’s mood. But with no risk of addiction.

The Overmare sighed "Thank Celestia you came to Dr. Shell." the figure nodded

"Not a problem. We are responsible for his condition after all". An eggshell brown stallion walked into the room. His mane completely gone leaving a pale streak down the back of his neck. He was one of the oldest unicorns I knew inside the stable.

I looked up at him and smiled waving like an idiot "Hey Doc! So, you fucked with my brain too huh?". Goddesses I wish I wasn’t aware of what I was saying or feeling for that matter. I wanted so much to get angry, to hurt somebody, I wanted to scream and swear every kind of curse word I knew. But the spell he used on me kept me from saying nothing but "So what's next? You're gonna use my junk to make a balloon animal?"

Brick and the Overmare looked at me then at Dr. Shell. The Overmare's face turning red with embarrassment at my choice of words "Please tell me that's the spell talking”

He sighed and lifted me up with his magic "Yes, it's the spell. Now let's wrap this up and get ready for the meeting. Our guest is waiting." he sat me upright sitting me down on the floor. The spell he cast on me started to wear off. It never lasted long. Just enough to get a grip on someone if they started to get violent.

"Guest? What guest?". I asked them while I was still under the veil of the spell.

Dr. Shell sat next to me "In a bit cobalt. But first, we need to fill you in on a few things". He nodded at her and Brick. They returned the rod and quickly left the room. Shell smiled as he stood up and walked over to one of the coolers on the table and pulled out two ice cold Sparkle Colas from it "Thirsty? “

I shook my head feeling the weight of reality kicking in and I looked over at the colas the doctor was offering. I gave him a short glare and sighed "Sure, why not?". I didn't want the cola to be entirely honest but I needed something to calm my nerves after what I had just learned about the stable and everything I was lead to believe.

He popped both bottles open and sets mine down in front of me and sat down sipping his first "So then. Why don't you tell me what you've been told so far?".

"Sure. Let's see. The true purpose of the stable was some Goddess damned experiment, the doctors here have been fucking with everyone's brains and now I learned I could be a potential murderer! Sound about right Doc!!?" my voice began with a soft and civil tone then rose up to me yelling my lungs out until I was red in the face.

He just sat there and looked at me sipping his cola "Hmm. Seems they left out quite a few details"

"A few!?" I snapped and kicked the cola bottle into the wall "YOU ASSHOLES LIED TO ME!! To everypony!!! How could you mess with our minds like that when we were taught this stable was built to protect the first generation who lived here all those years ago!!"

He gave me a serious look "Would you trust Stable-Tec if you knew their true intentions with the stable?”

When the question hit, I felt every bit of my anger subside almost instantly. How many ponies had they lied to? How many lives were hurt or lost because of some Goddess forsaken experiment? I sat down while my brain was in overtime imagining all the things Stable-Tec had done. Finally, I looked up at Dr. Shell "What was the purpose of our stable?" I instantly dreaded asking the question but my mind wouldn't be satisfied until I knew the truth. "Please. I have to know"

Dr. Shell took another sip of his cola and swirled the contents of the bottle "Once we ring this bell Cobalt. There will be no going back. I need you to promise you'll hear everything I have to say". He gave me the expression that I wasn't gonna like this but I knew I had to know.

I slowly nodded "Yes, I promise". With that, he placed his cola on the table and walked over to the door

"Follow me to my office. We'll talk there" he opened the door and motioned for me to follow. I hesitated for a few seconds and stood up following the doctor out of the room and into the atrium. Once again, every pony was looking at me. Goddesses, I wanted to scream every time
But after learning about what I did I can see why they would be staring. It made sense why I was treated the way I was. They wanted to keep keeping from having another episode. I looked up at the doctor

"Dr. Shell, how does the purpose of the stable relate to what happened to me?".

He looked back at me and cocked his brow "I'm sorry?".

I sighed and trotted up to his side. "What the hell lead everyone to use me as some guinea pig?".

He stopped and placed a hoof on my shoulder "Soon Cobalt. For now, let's focus on Stable-Tec". He opened the door to his office. His desk was sitting over in the corner facing the door as always. No pictures or anything a normal pony would have on their desk. But then again I never did think Dr. Shell was normal. My attention was turned to a projector and a screen pulled down from the ceiling. Shell smiled and motioned me inside "Let's watch a movie”

I looked at the projector tilting my head to the side "A movie? Uh... Doctor, I don't think now is a good time for a picture show"
He chuckled and walked over to the projector flipping the On switch with his magic. The light flashed to life as he went to his desk and pulled out a box of holo-cassettes from the top drawer

"Trust me. You'll wanna see this”
He picked out a holo-cassette and slides it into a slot on the face of the projector. The cassette clicked into place and the Stable-Tec emblem appeared along with the company slogan underneath "Prepared for the future".

I looked at it for a long time before I read it aloud "Prepared for the future? What does that mean?". Dr. Shell sat on the opposite side of the projector "That is what is known as a slogan. A simple little phrase or a couple of words many companies before the war used to attract customers into their place of business." he explained pressing a button changing the image displaying various posters and pictures of ponies signing up for a place in the stables

"And Ponies just lined up for this? They had no idea what Stable-Tec was really planning?"

"I truly doubt even Stable-Tec knew what was going on. Either that or they didn't care at all" he explained as he stopped on a photo of three mares. "And here we have the mares who started Stable-Tec. Applebloom the president, Scootaloo the vice president and the head of public relations Sweetie Bell”
My head tilted to the side as I looked over each of them

“Wow" I cocked my brow when I started to take a closer look at each of them. "Wait a minute... Applebloom? Wasn't she a member of the Apple family?".

Shell nodded "She was the younger sister of Applejack. The head of the Ministry of Wartime Technologies."

I looked at him and back at the photo "One of the Ministry Mares. Sweetie belle was Rarity's younger sister."

He nodded again "Rarity oversaw the Ministry of Image."
The Ministry Mares. That was one subject we often avoided in the stable. The archive which was supposed to be a complete set of records from before the war. Everything from birth records to military service to family history but after what little information I got I began to think this was intended for the purpose.
"Everyone already knows of this Dr. Shell, so why tell me this all over again?". I looked over at him as he changed the slide.

"Just to make sure you're paying attention. Now as Dancing Heart may have already told you. The stable we live was built with a very specific purpose in mind. As have many others across the Wasteland above"

"Wait... There are others like ours?"

"They were built with their own purpose. But let's focus on our stable. Okay, Cobalt".

I nodded and looked at the screen "The Overmare said this stable was built to for some research behind mental illnesses"

"That's right. More specifically the genetic markers in a pony's bloodline or family history

"An insane asylum? What the hell were they thinking?" I shook my head thinking what a moronic question I had just asked him. "They weren't thinking at all"

He chuckled a bit "That's what I always believed. They never focused on the results of their choices but I doubt they ever thought ponies would actually get better over the years"

"Wait. The stable ponies actually got better?"

He nodded again "With each new generation the very conditions they were trying to isolate faded out and left the science team in charge was losing their purpose”

"So, they stopped with the experiment right?". It was wishful thinking I know but I have to ask. He shook his head which made me regret even asking it, to begin with.

"They needed genes to work with. For the longest time, they considered some options but eventually they decided to release some of the ponies out into the wasteland."

Once again, I felt like I was kicked in the head "They released ponies out into the wastes!?". I really hated Stable-Tec right now after this.

Dr. Shell nodded and turned off the projector "And they used the most plausible excuse they had to convince the ponies to leave. If we did not gather some outside influences into the gene pool of the stable, we would be forced to incestial inbreeding

I listened to all of this and my emotions started to swirl around in my gut. I stomped my hoof and stood up pacing the room "I can't believe this shit! So, they just fed them some bullshit lie and they went out into the wasteland to suffer?!"

Dr. Shell sighed "It wasn't a lie. If they hadn't released the ponies back, then the current generation would have been forced to such an outcome"

I halted to a stop and looked at him "Are you serious? We would have been...."

He nodded "Your mother was one of the ponies who returned with a child. You”

"WHAT!!" I started panting and fell backward on my haunches "My mom was one the ponies who left!? How many did they send?" I had, even more, questions but I was trying to focus on the one involving my mother

"15 mares and 10 stallions. All of them returned with a child and a few even came back with the other parents of the child. Brick House was shut a pony"

"You're shitting me... He was a wastelander before he came here?" he nodded again "OK. So, what happened after that?"

"Your accident. We had another scientist named Fig. He conducted an experimental procedure on your which involved electroshock therapy and ancient black magic”

I looked at him and rubbed my chin "I think I remember him. He said he wanted to take the bad out of me." the details of which were vague to me

"That's what he told everypony but after you went on a rampage and attacked the staff. We stopped the project and everything Fig and his lackeys were doing." he stood up and walked closer to me "Because of you. We learned Fig had been experimenting with some darker elements than was originally intended. We had him locked away inside security but he managed to get away. Before he escaped the stable he set his office on fire destroying all the data on his work and flew through a second entrance nopony knew about

"There is a second door? Does it still work?"

He shook his head "Fig disabled the terminal which is located next to the door itself. Only the access codes on his pipbuck would open them." he placed a hoof on my shoulder and smiled "But for now we have a guest to see. Somepony came looking for you."

I blinked and gave him a double take "Looking for me? Who is it? Did they say what they wanted?"

He nodded at the door and began to lead me to this guest was waiting for me. "It's a Pegasus. She said she was hired to bring you a package”

Wait... A Pegasus? Last time I heard they abandoned Equestria during the war. "OK, it’s a bit odd but I guess it's OK to see what they have to say.... ". I turned the corner towards the atrium and saw something straight out of a creature feature. A zombie pegasus sitting at one of the table nibbling on a muffin. Her eyes dancing around all directions when she blinked, her gray coat falling off in patches. I stood there with a twitching eye as I slowly turned to Dr. Shell "What is that?"

"Ditzy Doo is a ghoul. They're ponies who have been exposed to a great deal of dark magic and radiation. But they didn't get the luxury of dying."

I looked at Ditzy and watched her. She acted like she was still a normal pony. I couldn't imagine a worse fate. Ditzy blinked as she looked at me and smiled waving. She reached into her bag pulling out a chalkboard, slipping a piece of piece of chalk into her mouth. She began writing on the board for a couple of minutes and lifted it up to where everyone read it

Hello! You must be Cobalt? My name is Ditzy Doo. I have some packages for you. The Overmare asked me to place the others in your room.

I nodded slowly “Ok, thank you.” What the hell did she bring me anyways? I started to worry about glitch. She reached into her bag and pulled out a holo cassette. I looked at her and walked forward taking it from her. She wiped her chalkboard clean and wrote on it again “I have to go get the others from upstairs. I slowly nodded and sat down opening the cassette player on my pipbuck and slid it in. I hit play and the next sound I heard sent a cold chill over my body

"Happy Birthday, Cobalt. It's me, sweetie, your mom". The tears started to stream down my cheeks as I heard her sing happy birthday to me
I clutched the pipbuck into my chest. My mother was alive! She was alive and she remembered me!

"She's alive". The only two words I got out when the song finished

"My sweet Cobalt. I am so sorry for this. I never wanted to hurt you in any way but I couldn't stand being in the stable any longer. After the accident, I had to get out. So, I offered to have another foal. The moment I got to the outside I removed the pipbuck and ran for my life. I had never been so selfish in my life. I'm not asking for you to forgive me. I'm not asking for you to forget what I have done to you. I just wanna be a family again. I want us to start a new life. I hope this reaches you when Dancing Heart, Brick, and Dr. Shell will have kept their promise. I love you, baby. I hope to see you soon. Happy Birthday, Cobalt."

I couldn't fight back the tears as I looked at The Overmare "What promise?"
She smiled and walked up to me

"You and the other swingers Cobalt are gonna leave the stable to contact other settlements across the wasteland. You're gonna find your mom, sweetie". The flood gates opened and I instantly broke down in the middle of the atrium. I was gonna see my mom again. Even after the truth hurt me. I didn't give a shit! She was alive and I'm gonna see her again!

Hours later I was in my room sorting through the presents my mom had sent me. She called it a wasteland exploration starter kit. Some leather armor with metal studs I could wear over my stable barding, some bottle caps ponies used for currency and a few healing potions and pouches of Radaway. Ditzy threw in a signed copy of her Wasteland Survival Guide. I skimmed over a few chapters and found some sound advice. I highlighted a few details to remember. Man, I couldn't wait to leave the stable! The last item was a hoof mounted weapon called a Power Hoof. From the looks of it, the weapon didn't have any special features to it. But a quick modification and I made it a weapon that would make even Brick House think twice. A conductor, some wires, and a few other parts I modified it to send a nasty jolt into anypony who would attack me. I couldn't help myself when I smiled and tried it on.

ZAP!!

I screamed pulling the metal contraption off my leg and winced looking at the burn it left behind "Note to self: Protective layering for insulation".

"You might wanna consider something with some distance before considering physical combat." I looked up and saw Brick House standing in the doorway with a box on his back "Brick? What are you doing standing in the doorway like that?"

He ducked under the arch when he entered the room "Brought you a little something" he said moving towards me and slides the box onto my bed. I looked at it for a second before I got up from the workbench and walked over. I raised my hoof to open the lid when "Happy Birthday Cobalt.". My eyes looked up at him and saw the tired smile he had on his face "Listen, I know Bench has been a real pain since you were kids and I wanna make it up to you." I could hear a slight strain in his voice. There was something else. There always was. I sat down and gave him a serious look.

"Brick, please. Tell me how you really feel”

He looked at me and hesitantly sat down on the floor. He rubbed his head when he began looking down at the floor "You have to leave Cobalt. I know I sound like an asshole for saying that but you really need to leave"

Once again, I felt that kick in my gut. I had guessed this was coming but I never expected to be so soon. I sighed and stood up turning back to my workbench "Wow, thanks for making me feel welcome."

"It's not like that Cobalt. We should have done this a long time ago and let you be a normal pony like everyone else." I turned back to him with my brow cocked "I'm serious Cobalt. With the way, we've had everyone acting around you to make sure you didn't have another episode things were getting more difficult to keep the trust the ponies of the stable in The Overmare, the doctor and myself. They look up to us. But we wasted so much time being focused on keeping you safe we neglected everypony else”

My heart sank into my stomach. The way everyone looked at me, acted towards me and said behind my back. I could only imagine how much they wanted that to stop, to change. I looked at the workbench and all the scrap parts and various electronic junk I collected over the years. Glitch was the only friend I had. But I made him so can I really say he's my friend? I turned back to Brick. He looked at me with that tired expression on his face "Where's the secret door Fig used to get out?"

He eyes widen and jumped to his hooves "How did you find out about that!?"

"Dr. Shell told me. He said Fig used it to get away from the stable after the accident". I watched him as he hung his head shaking it

"I'm gonna have a long talk with him" he looked up at me "But more importantly why the hell are you so interested in it?" His expression changed right around as he waited for me to answer

I hesitated at first but I stood up and faced him "I wanna leave. Using that door so nopony should be bothered with me again”

"ARE YOU...." he covered his mouth before he alerted anyone that may have been outside. He inhaled and then sighed giving me the serious stare guys like him had which meant he wasn't joking around "Are you insane? Do you have any idea what could happen if you go out there alone? Don't you think it'd be a smarter idea to go with the group? There's safety in numbers."

I answered his question with one of my own "And How do either of us know for sure none of the ponies here wanna shoot me in the back?". He opened his mouth to respond but stopped as he thought of the situation I was in. "Nopony here likes me, they're scared of me. I think a good number of them are waiting for the chance to put me of their misery. I've seen it Brick and I know you have too"

He just stood there staring at me and eventually nodded his head "It's behind Shell's office. There's a panel that will slide open when you press the Stable-Tec emblem on the sign on the wall." He pointed at the box "But first open this. You're gonna need it. Trust me".

I blinked then looked at the box. I was honestly very nervous to even consider touching it. But Brick was trying to help me so I’ll put my into trust him. Raising my hood to the lid I lifted off and peeked inside. It was a pistol. It looked almost brand new like it had been cleaned. I looked back up at Brick who smiled back "Called that little piece The Judge.

I gave him a puzzled look "The Judge?"

He chuckled a bit "Got the name from a comic back in my younger days." he smiled and walked over to the other side of the bed "Let me show you how it works and you can take it from there.”

I smiled and nodded as he taught me a few basics. How to aim and pull the trigger with the mouthpiece. Reloading was a bit of a challenge. Once I practiced everything he nodded with a satisfied smile.

"All right. With some practice, you'll be a sharpshooter in no time". He started to leave the room "I'll go get Dancing Heart and Shell. I packed some ammo extra caps, and potions as well." He looked back at me and sighed "You find your mom but promise me something"

I looked up at me while I was getting the feel of the safety on the pistol "What's that?" I neglected to take the gun out of my mouth

"If you find anything about Bench's mom, Rough Diamond. Please tell us”

When he mentioned Bench's mother I froze with the ammo clip on my hoof. I spit the pistol onto the bed and looked up at him "She's gone too? I didn't realize she left. Who else was there?"

"Just Rough Diamond and your mother. Both discarded their pip-bucks and disappeared into the wastes. After that, we didn't have the numbers or resources to search for them.”

I never considered how Bench felt. We had both lost our mothers and yet I was the one who was recognized as the victim. Plus, I never paid attention to anything else outside of my work. I looked up at Brick and nodded "I will".

I owed them this much. I owed Brick so much for everything he's done for me. Even if he was an ass at times. Brick nodded and left the room. I sat there looking at the Judge. Did I really deserve a weapon like it? Something which was sentimental to Brick. A reminder of his past. I exhaled and picked it up and rubbed it between my hooves "I have to make this up to them. All of them"

Two more hours passed. I waited until everyone had retired to their rooms getting ready for dinner or for bed. I left glitch in his charging pod so when he joined me he’d be at full power when we left the stable. Trotting down the halls I made my way to Shell's office. I had slipped the leather armor over my stable barding and made sure The Judge was firmly holstered where I could grab it. I looked up at the poster and read the slogan again like I have countless times before "Prepared for The Future!!". Was I prepared for the road I was about to take? Did I even have a clue of what I was supposed to do next? I only had one way to learn for sure. I pressed the emblem and the panel opened upwards into the ceiling. Inside Dancing Heart was sitting at the top of the stairs with a tearful look on her face. Anyone could see how she felt about this whole thing. I walked up to her and placed my hoof on hers

"Don't ask me to reconsider. You know this is the right thing to do for everypony else in the stable. You have a duty as the Overmare to watch over them". The tears started to fall as she grabbed me by her front legs and hugged me like I was her own foal.

"Please Cobalt! You can't expect me to stand by and let you do this!!”

I sighed and pulled away from her "Heart, I'm sorry but I have to do this. The ponies here are gonna look to you for leadership when you open that door. I can't stay and expect things to work out. I wanna do this". The tears flowed even more as I turned and walked away. Heart sniffed as she wiped her nose on her sleeve

"Cobalt. At least let me tell you something first. Something I've been keeping to myself for a long time". I sighed and stopped. If I knew Dancing Heart she was gonna try anything to make me stay. I do mean anything. I turned around to face her.

"Okay... What is it... Mff!" My face flared in a crimson red when she suddenly kissed me! Not some motherly kiss on the cheek or forehead. But A full-scale lip lock! She kissed me like I was her husband. I fell back on my haunches as I stared at her. Her cheeks were flared up like mine as she sniffled again.

"I Love You, Cobalt”

I just blinked and stood up brushing off my stable barding. With a heavy sigh, I looked her dead in the eye "You really expect me to believe you're gonna return my feelings after all this time? I'm sorry Heart but you need to focus on the stable. Not me. I'm leaving and that's my final decision". I turned away and trotted towards the second door when I heard her stomp the floor yelling as loud as she could.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD!!! After everything I've done for you!!". The tears were falling faster from her cheeks. I was a bastard. With those words, I crushed her heart and soul along with any feelings she had for me. "I hope it's worth it Cobalt! Because I never wanna see you around here again!!" she stormed off back to her room sobbing as she ran. I turned around and lowered my ears.

"I'm sorry Heart I really am." I heard Glitch give off a sad whine in the hallway as he hovered into view. I turned towards him and watched him as he looked at me "You wanna come along boy?". He slowly nodded and hovered towards me. Once he was close enough I reached up to him on his casing "Let's go then". The both of us heading towards the door. Dancing Heart's words echoing in my head. I didn't think I deserved her kindness. Nor Brick's or Shell's. They put so much on the line for me. To protect me. If I didn't learn to protect myself I would never be over any of this.

I quickly found Shell and brick bent over the terminal which opened the second the door. After seeing the main door at the end of the stable I could see why this one was so well hidden. It was a fourth of the size of the other door. It was so small anyone who looked at the blueprints wouldn't be the wiser

Shell tapped his chin "So do we reboot it and try again?"

Brick "And wait for it to start up again? Forget it. We need to get this door open for Cobalt"
I cleared my throat to get their attention. They both turned around and sighed. Shell stood up walking over to me "Cobalt, maybe you can help. This door has beaten me in every way possible”

I looked at him and then leaned over looking at the terminal mounted on the wall "Let me look at it. You're not the tech savvy guy doc. No offense."

He pushed his glasses up and moved to the side as did Brick allowing me some room to work while I looked at the green letters on the terminal "Let's see. The mainframe is connected. I'm getting data from other parts of the stable as well. So why won't it connect to the door?” I scrolled over the options to see what was what

CHECK VENTILATION STATUS
MAINTENANCE INBOX
OPEN SECOND STABLE DOOR (error... Connection not established)

Hmm... Not established. I looked at the side panels mounted under the terminal. The corner of the very bottom panel next to the floor was bent to hell and it seemed someone had sealed it back with putty. "Glitch, open the panel please" he beeped and flew up grabbing the bent corner of the panel pulling it free. Once he moved to the side and I looked at the wall "Thought so. Fig cut the cables to the door.”

Shell facehoofed when I said it "Of course he did. I would never have thought to check those".

I smiled looked around for a way to turn off the power to the cables. Once I found the conductor switch I flipped it off and pulled out my tools then got to work reconnecting the cables. Stripping the rubber off wasn't easy. I saw Brick's shadow loom over me and I signaled glitch for a light. He flashed his headlamp on the cables "What is it, Brick?"

Brick "I hope you know what you’re doing Cobalt. We wanna see you come back alive.”

He patted my shoulder as I cut and capped off the wires. Then I felt Shell's hoof on my shoulder "You did the right thing Cobalt. As much as none of us would want to see you go..." he sighed heavily "...You're right about this. We have the stable to look after. We need to focus on the ponies here." he patted my shoulder and walked away. A tear rolled down my cheek as I stood up and hit the command key on the terminal. The alarm sounded as the lights lit up and the massive arm which opened the door slide into place. I was a bastard for hurting her. After everything Heart and the others did for me I had no right to hurt her like that. The door screeched open and the air from the cave outside came rushing in. I nodded and looked at Glitch

"Let's go, buddy" he nodded and we made our first trek out into the wasteland that was once known
as Equestria.