Fallout Equestria: Sin and Sacrifice

Sin and Sacrifice

Chapter 1: From Yesterday

“The past is gone. It went by like dusk to dawn.”

Chrome felt a soft breeze that stirred him from his sleep, until he opened his eyes and looked up. Stars blanketed the sky above him, with the full moon shining down and bathing him in light. Sitting up and looking around, he found himself in a field of flowers. Looking closer, he recognized them as moonflowers, something his father always liked to grow in Princess Luna’s private garden in Canterlot Castle. After taking a few sniffs of one of the white flowers’ fragrant aroma, he stood up and shook himself lightly as the breeze ruffled his fur.

He suddenly went still as his mind flooded with confusion; he couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, but he knew something about his situation wasn’t right. While he slowly turned to take in his surroundings, he saw a willow tree a short distance away. After a few uneasy steps forward, he made his way towards it with some trepidation.

As he neared the tree, he could feel a soft humming that reverberated in his ears and throughout his body. Gritting his teeth against the discomfort, he leaned in to get a better look at the trunk of the tree and found words etched upon it. He recognized the words as the old language of the unicorns, the words that spells were written in and gave them their power.

Chrome was not familiar with this spell, as magecraft wasn’t his forte. The intense study and talent required for such was something left to ponies like the Princesses, Starswirl the Bearded, or Twilight Sparkle.

Still, for some reason Chrome found his focus on these ancient words, and surprisingly he was starting to decipher them into a coherent spell. Unsure as to why, he felt compelled to try this spell. He began to focus his magic, and its dark green glow surrounded his horn.

As the magic flowed through him, Chrome began to hear the words being spoken as if by thousands of voices all at once. At first they were little more than whispers in a concert hall, but soon enough they grew in volume and intensity. Soon the voices were overwhelming, and Chrome felt like his head was going to pop like an overfilled water balloon. Worse was that he had lost control of his own magic, his horn burning like an inferno before his magical energy vanished like a puff of smoke. He looked up in horror as an inky black liquid began to seep from the brightly pulsing words like blood from a deep wound. He tried to run, but his hooves felt heavy and rooted to the ground.

Chrome thrashed his body and head in a futile attempt to get his legs to work. Meanwhile, the liquid had stopped flowing freely and was collecting itself into a shadowy mass that continued to get larger. Finally his hooves could move and his magic was all but spent, but by then it was too late. The dark mass opened to envelop him whole, and he screamed.

* * * *

Chrome’s eyes shot open and looked wildly about. For a moment he wondered in horror if he was still back with the dark mass as he felt his body and legs refuse to move. But his mind clicked that he was not in the shadow’s grasp, but was instead in a metallic pod. Though that didn’t make him feel much better.

“Beginning resident resuscitation Stage 2: cryogenic pod thawing.”

Chrome felt the pad he was lying on emit a pleasant warmth as a hissing sound filled the pod.

“Opening cryogenic pods. All medical and scientific personnel stand by.”

The pod finally opened and Chrome was greeted by a wave of stale air as he stuck his head up and looked around. He coughed lightly as his body slowly remembered how to work. He felt his mind was an utter mess, and since his limbs seemed stiff and unwilling to move, he searched through his memories. His first thought was of his younger sister, and the huge fight they had gotten into. He remembered being at a golf course with his friend and squad mates, and things started to muddy at that point.

After a few minutes he felt confident enough to give his body a test as he landed on the metallic floor with all four hooves, searching his memories for what was going on. The room was bathed in a soft blue light that allowed him to see how filthy it looked, not to mention being in an extreme state of disrepair. He grabbed his head as he fought off dizziness and stumbled into a nearby metallic table, knocking over an empty medical tray. He looked at the reflective surface, and though slightly warped, he could make out his blue and green mane, his dark gray coat. But most importantly, he could make out a blue and yellow uniform. His Stable Suit, clearly marked with 111.

The memories of all of the events that had transpired came back to him, the loss of his good friend to the end of the world. He, along with a number of other soldiers and civilians, had been chosen to be the building blocks for a new world. It was quite the morbid thought, thinking that all he knew of the past was now gone. But there was a more pressing thought that concerned him: he was alone. Chrome then took another look around. There should have been staff to oversee the awakening, medical ponies on standby in case of difficulties, and robots handling basic maintenance of the facility. Yet there was no pony in sight. These facts added up with the appearance of the room to set his mind into worrying that something definitely wasn’t right.

He called out hoarsely for his friends, and feeling confident enough to move around, he took a few steps and instantly regretted it when a wave of nausea hit him, doubling him over. He was able to fight off the feeling for a little bit before heaving a strange purple liquid onto the floor beside him that had the most horrific aftertaste imaginable.

“Ugh, won’t hurt a bit, my ass. I think Dr. Sahti and I need to have a long talk.” He glanced around the dingy room once again, this time without feeling nauseous. “If I can find him, that is.”

His ears twitched as he heard hoofsteps approaching. Considering the state of things so far, he entertained the thought that it might be somepony hostile. He tried to grab a metal tray from a nearby overturned cart only for a sharp pain to stab through his head and stars of pain to fill his eyes, causing him to curse and grab his head.

The heavy hoof steps stopped and a familiar chocolate-colored stallion’s head poked around the pod.

“Chrome! Thank the Sisters you're ok.”

This caused the unicorn to smile. "Good to see a friendly face, Deuce. Any idea what in the name of the Sisters is going on?"

“Besides my magic being on the fritz as well, not a clue. The stasis must have knocked everything out of whack.”

“Where are Whisper and Tig?” Chrome croaked as he rose on shaky legs and shook his head. “Where's anypony, for that matter?”

“I don't know about anypony else. Tig had to find a bathroom pronto. Guess she wanted to be a bit more dignified than throwing up on the floor as our bodies purge those chemicals they injected us with. But Chrome, I can’t find Whisper anywhere.”

Chrome looked up with a concerned look. “What do you mean?”

Deuce shook his head. “Her pod is empty. Seems like it hasn't been active for a while.”

“Guys, we’ve got a big problem.” Chrome turned to find that Tig had returned, and she looked worried. "Follow me and keep quiet."

The three ponies slowly made their way out into the hallway, which was illuminated by red lights that cast an eerie glow about. They were met with the same amount of filth and decay that was in the room behind them. Tig waved them forward and they all cautiously made their way to the end of the hallway and up a flight of stairs. Once on the next floor they came upon a room that held around twenty pods and peeked through the window to see a group of ponies dressed in power armor.

Chrome recognized the gray armor as the power armor of the Steel Rangers. His team had helped the Ministry of Wartime Technology test it back during the war. The black armor was less familiar to him. It seemed specifically designed for a pegasus, while the helmet was shaped in such a way that it made the wearer look like some kind of bug. The feature that drew Chrome’s attention was the scorpion-like tail that would flick occasionally. He had heard some talk about the Ministry of Awesome developing power armor for the Wonderbolts and other pegasi, but he’d never heard if it had seen full production or not. Perhaps this was a prototype that somepony had found, or maybe they had found a way to produce it.

His attention was brought back to the present as he saw the Steel Ranger move to where a pony dressed in robes typed on a terminal at the head of the row of pods. Chrome and the others moved around a corner to a window parallel to where the power armor clad ponies stood, near the door which was being held open with an automatic jack.

“Hurry it up, Scribe. You've already jeopardized this mission by setting off the the resuscitation system.”

“I’m doing the best I can!” The mare huffed. “More importantly, that wasn't my fault. Somepony activated the Stable wide pod resuscitation system from the Overpony’s terminal, but we haven’t been able to get up there yet because of all the security bots. Not to mention that SOMEPONY-" She glared at the pegasus. "Decided to antagonize the ponies of the stable!" The pegasus said nothing in return. She turned her attention back to the computer and let out a small groan. "It's no good. We stopped the awakening process for the civilians, but we can't stop the military pods from awakening. Best I can do is slow the process."

Chrome’s ears twitched as he heard heavy metal-clad hoof steps echoing toward them from down the hallway. The group quickly ducked behind a stack of storage bins as a pair of Rangers appeared around the corner with another Scribe, a unicorn mare that looked like an older version of the other Scribe, in tow. The lamps on their helmets bathed the hallway in harsh white light before they stepped into the room.

“Word from command,” one of the new Rangers began as they approached the others, “We’re to extract the ponies we’ve already captured, seal the lower tunnels, and dispose of the rest. We’ve already had firefights on the administration level with some of the ones that escaped.”

“It will only take me a moment to adjust the systems," the older scribe spoke, moving next to the younger scribe and waiting for her to move.

"Wait...WHAT?!" The second scribe cried out. "We can't! These ponies are from before the war! The knowledge they may have, the intelligence, we can't just-"

The older Scribe stopped typing and whirled on the mare. "Are you questioning orders, Scribe?" She glared with a raised brow, her voice cold and taciturn.

The younger mare’s eyes went wide and she took a step back. "No, mo-Elder Scribe. I apologize for my outburst." Her voice cracked with fear as she bowed to her elder. She quickly backed out of the room, stopping inches from the hiding ponies. “Sisters forgive me..." She turned her gaze away from the Rangers and the room, and her eyes landed on Chrome. They stared at one another for a long time before she looked away, a tear falling down her face.

The group of Rangers and the pegasus with them left the room, one stopping to remove the jack and then smashing the door panel for good measure, jamming the door closed. The group went up the hallway from which the other two had come and disappeared into the darkness up a flight of stairs.

Chrome and the others emerged from their hiding spot and peered through the window as the pods started to open and ponies emerged. The two stallions turned when Tig gasped and followed her pointing hoof. Hanging from the ceiling in the four corners of the room were automated turrets that came out of their protective shells and began scanning the room. The first pony that left his pod didn't even have time to scream as the turrets shredded him to pieces. Chrome looked around quickly before grabbing a crowbar out of a toolbag that had been knocked over on the floor and tried to pry the door open, but the heavy door would not budge. He then turned his attention to the window and began pounding at it with the crowbar. He got in a few swings that started to crack the window before Deuce got ahold of him in his strong grasp and pulled him away.

“Stop, Chrome! Stand down!" He smacked the crowbar away from the enraged unicorn. "It's too late for them, and if you go in there in your state you'll get mowed down too.”

Chrome cursed as he turned his gaze helplessly and watched the horror inside. Mercifully, most of the occupants were killed before they even realized what was going on. But a few poor souls had managed to collect themselves, screaming as they ran futilely to the damaged door.

“The bastards reprogrammed the targeting parameters.” Tig sniffled as she slowly approached the glass, visibly repulsed by the carnage inside. She suddenly jumped back with a cry when a bloody hoof smacked against the window and a stallion looked through the glass at them, his eyes wide and body shaking as shock began to set in. Tig stepped forward and placed her hoof against the glass over his, meeting his eyes in an attempt to comfort him as his life gradually left him and he finally began to slip down out of sight, leaving a bloody streak on the window. “I want to get out of here,” she sniffed, turning to Chrome and Deuce.

“Agreed.” Deuce nodded. “But first we need to try and rescue those that have been captured.”

Chrome rose to his hooves, holding the crowbar in his shaky magic. “No, we should link up with those ponies on the administration level, if they're still alive. Right now we are good to nopony with what we have now.” He then turned one last time to his slaughtered brethren, and gave a bow. "May the Sisters watch over you."

Chrome helped gather the knocked over tools with Tig, placing the crowbar in the bag. The trio made their way cautiously up the flight of steps the Rangers had gone up, arriving in another area with a pod room. The door opened, causing the trio to freeze as a pony came out of the room. They relaxed as they saw an earth pony wearing a Stable suit come out of the room, who noticed them approaching and waved with a smile. Several explosions went off simultaneously in the pod room, sending shrapnel into his body even as he slammed hard against the nearby wall. After the ringing in their ears stopped, they looked into the room and found only pieces of equipment and ponies left behind. The earth pony had a large chunk of shrapnel in him, and he muttered something ineligible with a look of pained surprise on his face before his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Deuce grimaced. "Damn. They really are going to kill everypony they find..."

"But why?" Tig asked as she turned away from the destroyed room. "Why kill everypony when they could just leave us on ice?"

"Somepony must have gotten to the Overpony’s office and told all of the pods to activate, which means more potential hostiles they’d have to deal with," Chrome stated, gritting his teeth as he did so. He wasn't sure if he was more angry at the Rangers, or at the pony who forced their hooves. "But the question is, why didn't all of the pods activate at the same time?"

Tig thought for a moment. "Given how banged up the Stable is, my guess it doesn't have the power for a mass awakening. It can only handle one pod room at a time."

"Giving the Fallen Rangers time to kill everypony inside," Chrome said. The others didn't argue with the name he had given them. "We need to get weapons and equipment, or we won't stand a chance against them."
Deuce nodded. "Agreed. Tig, you know the vault’s layout better than anypony else. What would be our best bet?"
She pondered for a moment. "The armory, but that’s in the same direction as those murderers, and a place where they wouldn't have been able to get past the security system without a lot of losses."

"Which means they will be heavily fortified in that direction," Chrome said as he looked back into the destroyed room. "We won't make it with what we have. Any other ideas?"

Tig bit her lower lip. "The only other place that would have equipment would be the crew quarters and security office. But there wouldn't be weapons capable of taking out power armor, assuming there is anything left."
"Still, we have a higher chance of getting there then going through the pod rooms to the exit," Deuce stated.
Chrome nodded in agreement. "We’ll head to the security and crew quarters first. Sisters willing, there will be something we can use."

They slowly made their way to the main hall, stopping to check around corners and into doors and windows before moving past rooms. The Stable, Tig explained, had ten levels, not counting the entrance. The bottom six were purely for cryo storage, with six rooms of twenty pods each. The next three levels they passed through held only three pod rooms, with the rest of the space for the staff members that would watch over the sleepers, with the final floor being the entrance itself. Chrome and his team had been posted on the fourth floor, where the main generator and engineering section was located. The security and living hub were on the next level. They had chosen not to investigate the other pod rooms, in part to avoid the Fallen Rangers, and in part to avoid seeing yet more massacres.

Chrome thanked the Sisters as they were able to sneak past another group of Rangers and make it into the living hub and into their room. This area looked a little better then the pod rooms, though early stages of rust could be seen on the walls. Worn and faded sheets covered the furniture and jukebox, but the pool table was different. The dirty sheet had been deposited haphazardly onto the floor, with several used bandages and empty healing potion bottles laying nearby. Up on the pool table itself the group saw a large blood stain that had dried to a dark brown on the felt. There had been a fight in the Stable well before the Fallen Rangers arrival. Further investigation showed old bullet casings and even low level magic weapon scarring on the walls.

After an initial search in the rooms by Tig and Deuce that came up empty, they decided to split up. Tig went to explore the security hub while Deuce searched the other living quarters for anything that could be of use.

Chrome chose to investigate the main room to see what could be found. The paint on the walls had faded and begun to peel in a few places. He tried the door to Fancy and Fleur’s room, only to find it jammed shut from lack of maintenance. He pulled the sheet from the jukebox, thinking what a shame it would be if all of that classic music from his time was damaged, but to his delight it looked little worse for wear. Even better that the many records and tapes still seemed intact, though there was no power to the unit. He was about to turn away when something caught his eye. All of the holotapes were black, save for a colored strip that helped identify the music they played. But one of them was white with hoof writing, and sat ajar in its rack.

"Well, that's curious..." He checked the jukebox and found, much to his surprise, that it was already unlocked. He used his magic to gently opened the jukebox and lifted the tape out from the others. He inspected it and found that there were initials scribbled on it with a recognizably elaborate hoof, or horn, in this case.

"F.P. Fancy Pants? Why would-"

"You're doing it again, you realize?" Chrome turned to find Deuce smirking at him. "You tend to talk out loud a lot, you know?"

"Old habit I guess." Chrome then looked over his friend, noting that he had a few civilian-looking saddle bags. "No good stuff?"

As Chrome turned the tape over in his magic to inspect it, Deuce shook his head. "Other than some left over clothing, food from the cafeteria, and miscellaneous items, no. No weapons, armor, or even spare Pip-bucks. Everything is gone, along with everypony. Though it didn't look like there was a struggle here at least."

"Well that's inconvenient to say the least. Guess we'll just do what we do best. Improvise." Chrome took one of the saddlebags and then looked at the jukebox. "Well, I don't just want to leave these behind..." He then used his magic, carefully picking up each of the holotapes. Everything else had already gone to hell, the least he could do is make sure something beautiful managed to make it out. "By the way, where is Tig?"

“She needed a moment. Everything we just saw got to her.”

“She was always the more empathetic of us, kept us from going to Tartarus too soon.” Chrome tucked the last of the holotapes away before shaking his head and walking a few steps away with a hoof on his chin, thinking. “Steel Rangers working alongside these strange armored pegasi, killing their fellow ponies. Something isn't right. I think we may have awoken to a real shitshow, old friend. Or more like somepony decided to wake us.” He mused for a moment at the thought. "Think it might have been Whisper?"

“Doubt it," Deuce stated. "Tig figured the pod had been open for a few years, along with the rest in our section. Must have been something wrong with ours to not awaken at the same time. Also, if that Scribe was to be believed, they didn't do it either.”

“Well, the Rangers did mention armed resistance. Based on the fact that there has been no sound of fighting from here, best guess is they’re on the floor above us. We need to get up there as well if we’re going to stand a chance at surviving this.”

They turned as Tig stepped into her doorway looking a bit refreshed.

“Better?” Chrome asked.

She nodded, stepping out to join the two stallions. “I found some Stable Security barding that had been tucked away, along with a few security batons.” The trio went back into the security room and began to change into their new uniforms. "I was able to access the security system cameras. Bad news is that the main entrance is a no go, but the Fallen seem intent on getting to the Overpony’s office. Security bots and turrets are holding them back, and those weapons at least register Stable Dwellers as friendly."

"Any other friendlies up there?" Chrome asked.

"Yeah, looks like a small squad is holding out there.” She studied the screen for a bit longer. “Best bet is to take maintenance tunnels that lead near the Overpony’s office. Chrome nodded. He felt a little better about their chances, and the security barding would give them moderate protection now. The group made their way back out into the hallway, right into the bright white glow of a headlamp.

“You! Stop right there!” came the electronically amplified voice of a Steel Ranger.

"Beat it!” Deuce shouted.

The trio ran to the maintenance tunnel at top speed, hearing the heavy metal on metal of the pursuing ponies as they ran for their lives. Flashes from the Fallen Ranger’s magic weapon danced around them, but they were able to avoid the initial attack. Tig shut the maintenance door as Deuce used his magic to lock the door. The Ranger started firing into the door, but the trio weren't going to wait around for him. They quickly made their way through the somewhat narrow tunnels, Chrome leading the way. It only took a short time for them to reach the next level.

They finally made it to the door that connected the tunnels to the main stairway, and Chrome opened it to find two more Fallen Rangers in front of them. One of their allies lay dead nearby as a pegasus fired magical green beams at a turret, while an earth pony used his grenade launcher to blast a protectron standing in their way. The pegasi turned towards Chrome, and before his opponent could react, he brought his baton down right on top of the insectoid helmet. The pegasi screamed in alarm as the impact made her visor go dark. Temporarily blinded, she fired her weapon wildly, causing new scorch marks to decorate the walls. Chrome then turned his attention to knocking the magical weapon out of her grasp.

Deuce came out next, focusing his efforts on the earth pony. Taking two batons, he brought them down onto the barrel of the grenade launcher repeatedly, bending the barrel. Unable to discharge the weapon, the Ranger stashed his grenade launcher and reared back in an attempt to buck Deuce with his forehooves. Tig saw this as an opportunity and ran into the Ranger. With a combination of Deuce’s pushing from up high and her using her earth pony strength down low, they were able to shove the off-balance Ranger down a flight of stairs. The Ranger tumbled and clanged off the stairs before landing in a heap at the bottom. With that one out of the way, the pair turned to find Chrome using his security baton to deflect the pegasus’ flailing tail as she waited for her visor to boot back up. Unfortunately for her, in the course of her flailing, she ended up backpedalling away from where she last remembered the threat being and tumbled down the stairs as well, landing on her compatriot at the bottom.

The trio took the opportunity to make their escape, taking the stairs up two floors to where Tig indicated that the Overpony’s office would be, and skidded to a stop when they came to a wall of guns pointing at them from behind a makeshift barricade.

“Hold on! We’re friendlies!” Chrome managed to get out between hard breaths.

“Get down ya idiots!” A mare shouted.

They hit the ground and huddled around each other just as the hallway filled with the sounds of screaming ponies as the temperature around them suddenly dropped by a few dozen degrees. When everything had stilled once more and Chrome dared to poke his head up. He saw two Rangers encased in a thick ice. One was at an odd angle and fell, causing Chrome to wince as the armored pony broke into several pieces. The other Ranger fell back down the stairs, with a similar sound of shattering glass echoing through the hallway.

“Quick, get over here.” The voice reached them from the other side of the barricade once more as a hole appeared that was big enough for them to crawl through.

They quickly entered through the hole, Chrome bringing up the rear. Once they had all made it through, the hole was promptly sealed back up and had two ponies stationed over it. Chrome took in his surroundings. The hallway was barricaded from two sides, one that lead from the common areas that they had come from, and another that lead to the cryo pod area. A dozen ponies were armed with energy weapons as they took positions on either barricade. The center led into the Overpony’s office. The trio approached a young unicorn mare who was sitting with her back against the barricade wielding a magic weapon unlike anything Chrome had seen before, a tired expression on her face; he also took note of a set of chevrons hastily sewn onto the sleeve of her Stable suit.

“Lieutenant Chrome Alum of the 1st Special Forces Detachment. What outfit are you all with?”

“A little bit of each, actually.” She said with a wave of her hoof. “Sergeant Sand Star of the 83rd Field Artillery."

“Who’s in charge?”

The mare chuckled and blew a strand of mane out of her face. “I guess I am. For now, at least.” She motioned to a corner of the hallway where some bodies laid. “CO of the 526th was in charge until the third wave of Rangers came at us. Some of them broke through and put a hole in her chest. Poor bastard with her lost his shit, took a shit ton of Rage and Buck we’d taken from med bay and caved in the skull of the fucker that did it, helmet and all, before they finally got him too. Took all of them to do it, he was so far gone. Though he held them back long enough for us to finish them off.”

Deuce had stepped up to the pair and studied them where they lay slumped against the wall. The stallion, which had been the one that mostly everypony knew was her lover, had dragged himself to the mare’s side and the two had held each other as death claimed them. Chrome saw Tig look away, instead focusing on the weapon the mare had. The unicorn smiled grimly. “Nifty toy somepony based off the cryo pod technology. Unfortunately that was the last charge it had. Thing is practically useless now.” Though instead of ditching the weapon she placed in in her saddle bag and took up a pistol.

As Deuce went off to look for something to cover the bodies with, Chrome turned his attention back to the Sergeant.

“How many of you are left?”

She shrugged. “About fifty that escaped, and twelve of us left here. At first we tried to escape out the main entrance, but the elevators were busted and the only way out was by a lift the Rangers-”

“Fallen Rangers,” Chrome interrupted.

The mare laughed as she blew another strand of her mane out of her face. "Yeah, that's a good name for them. Anyway, when they initially woke us, they seemed friendly enough. Apparently they had already escorted the second level out when they got to us. Things were fine until one of our more zealous members praised the Sisters and one of the pegasus made a... rather nasty remark." Her face soured at the thought. "Poor idiot was still groggy and took a swing at the pegasus, and was rewarded with a plasma shot to the chest. All hell broke loose after that."

"You beat them back?" Chrome asked with a surprised tone.

Sand Star smiled grimly. “Well, when two hundred angry ponies descend on fifty enemies in close quarters, things get ugly on both sides. We lost half our numbers before we tried to get out of the Stable. Lost quite a few more trying to reach the main exit, and with no options left we hoofed it to the Overpony’s office, and found out there's a secret exit out of here that could be reached through a secret tunnel under the floor. So we looted the armory and prepared ourselves. Unfortunately there weren't enough weapons to deal with armored ponies. Not like we anticipated to fight our own.” She let out a forced chuckle as she shook her head. “Twenty of us volunteered to stay behind and hold here for any other survivors, as well as discourage any followers. Lucky us somepony had turned the defenses on that identified Stable Ponies as allies. Really, that's what bought us the time to hold out.” She pointed to several destroyed protectrons. “We were getting ready to leave when we caught chatter of some ponies heading this way, so I sent the last of them to be a distraction. Guess it paid off.”

“Then I thank you for the aid, they definitely helped. But, I think you can leave this place behind now, Sergeant. From what we’ve observed the Stable has been completely taken over by these Fallen Rangers. They plan to seal the lower levels and purge all of the upper ones.”

“Well, damn.” She let out a deep breath as the other ponies of the squad gave her worried looks. “That’s what we were afraid of. You’re the only friendly ponies we’ve seen in the last hour, but we just wanted to be sure before we bugged out and blew the tunnel so they couldn’t follow us.” She let out a small curse. "Damn it though, we were hoping to reach the civilians..."

Chrome nodded and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You did a great job, Sergeant. Get your ponies ready, we’re getting out of here.”

The mare nodded and hopped to her hooves, relaying orders to the ponies under her command. As Chrome looked down once more at the bodies of his fellow Equestrians lying on the floor, Deuce approached to stand at his side.

“What are we going to do with them?”

“For now, nothing.” Chrome sighed. “Right now we have to focus on the living. Like Tig said, this place has become a tomb. Their tomb. Maybe once we’ve gotten things figured out we can return and give them all a proper burial. Or at least what’s left of them.” He sighed again as he remembered the scattered remains of ponies on the levels below. The longer he stood there, the more he felt like the Stable was becoming his own tomb, pressing upon him from all directions, not wanting to let them go and instead leave the ponies of the past to the earth.

“Guys,” Tig called from the Overpony’s office, “come check this out.”

The stallions entered the office to find Tig sitting at the Overpony’s desk typing away at the terminal. As they stepped up to the desk they could see a large hole in the plush green carpet with a set of stairs that led down into darkness. Chrome poked his head into the hole and looked around. The steps led down into a dimly lit concrete hallway with a metal door at the end. He could see crates of supplies stacked up on either side of the hallway. He pulled back up out of the hole and move to stand behind Tig with Deuce.

“So the message the Sergeant was talking about is a set of directions to this town called Bunkerville, about fifty miles to the north. Also, interestingly enough the lower levels have their own generator. If they are planning on sealing it off and cutting the power, this secondary one will come online and keep the civilians alive for at least another fifty years. Guess Stable-tech really wanted to make sure they made it, and from the looks of things, they have no idea the generator is down there."

Chrome allowed himself a smile. "So all isn't lost. There is still some hope after all. Good work, Tig."

"Thanks, but when I did some poking around in the terminal I found a hidden secure message from an unidentifiable outside source about a week ago, and it’s addressed to the Darkstalkers.”

The file name filled Chrome with interest, as it was also the name of their team. “Have you been able to unlock it?”

Tig shook her head. “Not yet. I figure a few more minutes.”

Chrome nodded and looked around the room. While Tig did her work, he figured he could solve the mystery of the hidden holotape. He didn’t see any Pip-Bucks, but did spot a holotape player sitting on a shelf against the wall behind them. Making his way over, he pulled the tape out with his steadily improving magic and placed it in the player. At first there were just cracks and pops but then somepony cleared their throat. The trio listened intently as Fancy Pants’ voice came out of the speakers.

"Friends, I hope that by some miracle of the Sisters that you get this message. There is much to say but very little time." He paused with a sigh. "As I record this message, it has been over two hundred years since we were sealed away. It turns out that's exactly what this place was meant to be: a depository designed by Stable-Tec’s misguided leaders to seal away the relics of the past, never to again see the light of day. A foal putting its toys away when it has tired of them. But I am getting ahead of myself. The Stable received the 'all clear signal' and awakened the administrative level ponies, meaning Stable-Tech. By a small miracle, myself and Fleur were last minute additions to that group and awoke with the rest of them. The protocol stated that the Overstallion and others would determine if the surface was viable before allowing everypony to move to the surface.

After a few weeks of being kept in the dark, I began making inquiries as to why the rest of you were not awakened yet, only to be met with silence. When I inquired with Doctor Sahti, even he was unable to provide me with an answer.

After a time Fleur sneaked into the Overpony’s office to find out the truth, where she was able to use Mako’s lockpick tool to get his safe open and discovered the Stable directives. It would appear that one of the mares at the head of the company believed us military ponies to be the source of all of Equestria’s troubles. Instead of going along with the official mission of the Stable, which was apparently Miss Applejack’s idea that she was able to convince her sister into implementing, the Overstallion was to abandon us non Stable-Tec ponies and leave us in stasis indefinitely.

Thankfully, not all of the Stable-Tec ponies agreed with this directive when I shared this news with Doctors Sahti and Fig, who then relayed it to their fellows. We learned later that the Overstallion had lost his entire family to the war, and blamed all non-Stable-Tech for his loss. He took to his role with extreme zealousness, detaining any who questioned or stood against him. Eventually, rebellion took hold, and myself, along with those rogue Stable-Tec ponies, fought back against the Overpony.

Unfortunately, we are too small a force to claim the stable and free everypony. We have managed to secure the entrance, though even that will not last. So we are taking what supplies and weapons we have managed to get ahold of and are making our way to the old San Palomino Military Base. With luck, the underground bunker there has remained sealed and untouched by either the environment or scavengers. We can then use the resources inside to return and free everypony. But if fate should so decide to intervene again in the meantime, and you find yourselves awakened, I am leaving you this holotape. If you do find a way out of the Stable, I will have hidden some of your belongings in our rooms inside the lodge. Unfortunately, I will not be able to leave behind much in the way of weaponry, as we will need all we can if the old base has become occupied. I wish you luck and the blessings of the Sisters. Fancy Pants, signing off.”

The trio just sat there for a few minutes, dumbfounded by the message. They had been betrayed and left to who knows what kind of fate. Though the revelation still left a big question in everypony’s mind; who exactly had awakened them? The Scribe had said that the order had come from the Overpony’s terminal, but if they hadn’t done it, then who? Chrome speculated that whomever opened the pods could have also put the encoded message on the terminal as well. Furthermore, that didn't answer the question of why Whisper’s pod had been opened, yet he and the others had been left behind.

Chrome turned back to Tig. “Did you get the message decoded?”

“Yes, but all it is is a frequency.”

“Write it down and let's get out of here. This place is starting to make me uncomfortable.”

The Stable shook slightly, telling the surviving ponies that the lower levels had just been sealed by the Fallen Rangers. Suddenly somepony outside shouted ‘grenade’ as one came bouncing around the corner. Thinking quickly, Deuce grabbed it with his magic and returned it to its sender. Chrome swore he heard something about cheating unicorns before it exploded.

Chrome and Deuce made their way to the door as ponies began running through the door and down into the tunnel, some dragging either bags of supplies or their wounded comrades. The Sergeant brought up the rear, dragging a wounded stallion with her as she fired a captured plasma rifle over her shoulder, bringing the final count to eight of the original twelve the trio had first come across. Chrome grabbed the plasma rifle from the mare with his own magic.

“Deuce, get them out of here.”

Deuce nodded and in one quick movement, swept up the wounded stallion onto his large back.

“You two better be right behind me!” he shouted to Chrome as he ran past Tig and down into the tunnel.

“You should leave too, Sergeant. Those ponies need you more than us.”

"Well forget that," Sand Star said. "Lost plenty of ponies fighting those idiots, and I'm not losing any more. You hold the door, and your friend here can help me set up a little surprise for our friends out there."

Chrome nodded and fired a few shots out into the hallway. As the Rangers broke through the barricades, they found themselves caught in the land mines that had been set as a gift. Chrome was somewhat unfamiliar with the plasma weapon, but quickly found it wasn't too different from a laser rifle. He used it to devastating effect, turning one of the Fallen Ranger survivors into a pile of goop. Sand Star and Tig worked together to prep the Overstallion’s office for the final surprise. Chrome’s weapon was quickly running out of power. He scanned the room and noted that there were still energy weapons on the battle saddles of the Rangers that had fallen. He focused his magic on all of them, setting each of the weapons to overload. The strain was greater than anticipated as he dropped his own weapon, his magic not fully recovered from stasis. He became dizzy as his weapon clattered to the ground, and nearly lost his head to an energy beam if Sand Star hadn't pulled him back into the room while Tig closed the door, damaging it similar to how the pegasus from earlier had trapped her fellow ponies. Moments later there were several detonations from the other side as the spark batteries in the energy weapons exploded. There had been a few cries of pain, followed quickly by a plasma torch starting to cut through the door.

“Probably won’t stop them for long.” Tig stated.

“Yep. Time for this pony train to leave!” Sand Star said. Both she and Tig balanced Chrome as they helped him into the tunnel. He regained himself about half way through and they quickly reached the end of the tunnel. Opening the hidden door, they found Deuce waiting for them, rifle pointed straight at them.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He grinned sheepishly and turned to Sand Star. "Your troops went ahead. Said they would wait for you at the entrance." He trotted up and clopped hooves with Chrome and Tig before rummaging through a bag slung over his back. “Got a going away gift for our friends.”

Chrome’s ears flicked as he heard a series of explosions come down the tunnel from the Overpony’s office. Sand Star and Tig's trap had gone off. Colorful swearing could be heard from the Fallen Rangers, and Chrome noted it was the same one that had complained about unicorns being cheaters. “Well, whatever you're gonna do, do it fast. Sounds like our friends got through.”

Deuce nodded and stepped up to the door. He slid it closed and proceeded to stretch a cord across the bottom, connecting it to a grenade bouquet that he then hung from the ceiling with his magic.

“Probably won't do much to them with their armor, but it might give them more pause about following us too closely.”

Sand Star opened her own pouch and threw down the last of her land mines. "Let's just make this day long for them, shall we?"

Chrome and Tig nodded and the group continued through an opening on the opposite wall and followed the passage deeper into the cave. Sand Star paused to dig a few small holes which she set mines down into.

“This cave goes for about a hundred yards and then comes out at the emergency exit. Did one of my ponies give you the detonator?”

Deuce nodded, and used his magic to float the small box with a smiley face that said 'Have a Nice Day =D' and gave it to the her.

"Excellent. Before the first group left, they lined both the entrance and exit with plenty of explosives.”

The group nodded and followed Sand Star through the somewhat narrow cave. They heard the explosion from Deuce’s trap a little ways back and knew that the Fallen Rangers were hot on their trail.

After a few more twists and turns in the path, they stepped out of the narrow tunnel into a large pony-made cavern. A quick look around revealed empty crates and some litter from first aid boxes. A set of scaffolding stairs went up to a ledge where a large, gear shaped door was set into the wall of the cavern. It was already open with some of Sand Star’s group standing watch.

"Alright ponies, final stretch! Through that back door and we can leave this tomb behind!" Sand Star called out.

Chrome turned to smile at his companions, only for a look of horror come across his face. A Steel Ranger rounded the corner behind them and fired his laser weapon. Tig had seen her companion’s face and turned just in time for the beam to strike her right foreleg. At first she didn't even feel the pain as her leg sliced off and burned to ash. She didn't register that the security barding was the only thing that kept her entire body from burning away. She didn't even register Chrome catching her, the screams of her allies, or the firing of weapons. Instead, her mind registered that she needed sleep right then and there, and she passed out from shock.

"BLOW IT!" Chrome yelled, which Sand Star was happy to oblige.

The cavern appeared to fall silent before a series of thumps were heard far down the tunnel which kept getting louder and closer. "What is with these ponies and explosives?!" One of the Rangers yelled as they broke into a mad gallop to the entrance.

One was still in the tunnel and found themselves buried as the stone walls fell in on them. The sheer pressure shot out and knocked over almost everypony still in the large cavern itself, which dropped a few stalagmites. One actually pierced through one of the Rangers, killing them instantly and pinning their body to the ground. Sand Star’s crew opened fire on the remaining two, killing one and forcing another into cover. Chrome noted that it was the same one who complained about (and somehow survived) every other trap that had been set. The Fallen Ranger took cover behind some of the abandoned crates and supply boxes, refusing to come out.

Chrome had used his body and magic to soften the landing of Tig, not wanting her to go through anymore trauma if it could be avoided. Still, his horn burned at being used to lift more than a security baton, and he had to fight hard to stay conscious. He was thankful when Sand Star’s crew ran down and helped him and Tig up. She and Deuce had fared a little better and were already getting themselves dusted off. A few ponies took potshots at the hiding Ranger who had survived, but the power armored pony seemed fairly content to stay in his hiding hole.

Deuce and Chrome looked at their injured friend, her body tense and covered in a sheen of sweat from the pain that had to still be sweeping through her. Chrome hoped that Fancy had stashed some medical supplies with their stuff. Or given the way things were going, he hoped that the stash was still even there.

Chrome exchanged a look with Deuce, “Let's get out of here.”

Tig was the first to be taken out of the vault, with Deuce and Sand Star following close behind. Chrome stopped for the briefest of moments as the sun shown down on him, and a cool breeze carrying the scent of what he could swear were moonflowers. Shaking his head, he exited the Vault, and took his first step into the unknown.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perks:
Frozen in Time: Once you were a feared soldier with deadly skills. However, your time in stasis as left you muddled and slow. Your level has reset.

Lead by Example: Ponies can't help but feel inspired as you lead them into battle. All nearby allies gain 10% bonuses in combat while you are conscious and fighting.