The Stable

I am at the office of the overmare, sitting comfortably in the share behind the desk. This is proving to be an uneventful day. Why expect anything else? I have never experienced a riot, or had to deal with security issues.

I am the acting overmare, in place of the original founder; Starlight Glimmer.

I am inspecting a few minor excavations to enlarge the stable, or a breakthrough in technology or magic. Otherwise, I am mainly trotting around the stable to maintain the morale. Not very fancy, but it is my place and it needs to be done. Or, at least it is my image.

Alone at the office, I have time to ponder what was. A memory is floating into focus and I am relaxing. This is proving to be very interesting.

I am in Canterlot, trotting along the road to my destination. I spot the address and the door I had been looking for. The building clearly belongs to the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, sporting the mark of Twilight Sparkle.

I approach the humble looking building, putting up a hoof towards the door. There is a flash, and I light up my horn; as my horn lights up, the flash vanishes and the door quietly opens before me. I step right in.

Maybe I should not have, but I am invited and the door had eagerly opened before me.

“This could easily have been a trap, but it is too late to regret entering now!” I ponder.

As I finally do look down at the ground under my hooves; I notice that the solid stone feels like a magical construct. It is almost, as if I had been walking on cloud like a Pegasus. Is this even possible, but it is Twilight’s Ministry I am visiting.

To the right and left of the stones, I sense the pink ooze floating just a few feet under hoof.

“That is the first trap, I will just have to watch my steps and be very careful!” I ponder.

“Am I imagining it, or do I hear the wail of a Zebra from the depths of that oozing pink cloud?" I ponder.

Since I am already in, there is no point in turning back now. This is the address I had been given, the items I had been promised are stored within this very building.

I continue to trot over the four foot wide bridge of stones, from where I had come and to the other end of the wall. There is a door, magically opened in recognition of my aura. This building certainly is more fanciful, than the outside had it appear.

“What made Twilight rely on this level of trickery?” I ponder.

I enter the small cubical room, only nine feet at each side; only to notice the door behind me closing. I have one door on each wall. I look at each wall in turn, while I feel the stone floor under my very hooves. Of course, the walls, floor and ceiling are all a single, massive and very physical block of stone.

“Curious!” I ponder.

Now I am no longer hearing the eerie, soul screeching wail of that unfortunate Zebra. Whatever happened to it; could never have been good, or particularly comfortable. Did the Noxious, obnoxious and necrotic vapour get to it? If that is its fate, I am certainly not envious. The soul and spirit will be trapped within the structure of the building forever. Is it in fact, made into a soul-jar?

I shiver at the mere thought of the fate of this unfortunate soul. Even if it may have been a Zebra and enemy. Since I know little to nothing about the zebra and the people; I still do feel a bit sad for the one in the building. As a Pony, I feel for my fellow equine.

“I will have to trot on, or I will never reach my destination! This place is dangerous, and far too treacherous to just idly sloth about!” I tell myself, under my breath.

The room had been still, quiet; for as long as the shield is up and in place, while the doors are securely sealed shut. The doors will not stay closed forever; though that would have been just as deadly a trap, as anything else within this building.

While the shield is in place, sealing me in, I can’t hear anything from the outside, just as I can’t feel anything other than the floor under my hooves and the pressure of air within the small room. It could have been my tomb, or an elevator to a different level. Who am I to judge, when I have nothing to go on., No references.

I may be an expert at magic, for a young Unicorn, but not even I can penetrate what is taking place beyond this shield.

The door to my left opens, while the shield stays in place. I can see the path leading up to a commemorative plaque on the other side. The floor is slightly pink, due to pink ooze seeping out, like sweat on the back of a pony in the heat of a warm summer’s day. A white Pegasus stallion is trotting up towards the plaque, heedlessly stopping; reading the plaque before him.

While he is standing still, for but a minute; the ooze slowly coats the ground, under his hooves. I can see him twitch and then try to lift his hooves one at the time. He even tries his best to fly away, but the pink ooze has already fused his hooves to the solid stone under his weight. He is stuck, forever helpless.

For some reason, he never even had the notion to raise his voice in alarm; yelling out for help, to warn a friend behind him.

As he is flapping his wings, a pink mist is forming, slowly spreading up and encompassing him. While the mist is so thin, it is not directly hurting him; yet, it is still affecting him as it turns him into a Ghoul. He is forever trapped where he stands. No pony can rescue him, just as no pony is about to step forwards in his defence by any means.

The mist slowly evaporates and the ooze retreats; the door closes and I can no longer see the poor stallion.

The vision is a warning, letting me know just how perilous this place truly is; letting me know, I have to watch my steps very carefully in these halls.

The door to the right of where I had been standing is snapping open, and the shield flickers out with a snapping noise right behind me. I turn around, carefully inspecting the floor beneath my hooves before I am stepping out. I sniff the air and scan the entire room. I am not forgetting this easily, or any time soon. Would I step out of line, I may end up like that unfortunate Pegasus, or the unseen Zebra.

I am not going to stop and read the plaques, not without keeping a watchful eye to the ground.

“I wish I could turn back, now; but at least my stable is safe, after all the preparations I set up for them!” I ponder.

“Pay heed, take caution; pay heed, take caution!” a voice echoes, over and over in a Zebra’s voice.

“Is that the Zebra I heard earlier+ Is she trying to scare me, or warn me for something that is about to befall upon me?” I ponder.

The echo remains, shifting in and out, as I continue. It is there, yet it is not. I hear it, one moment; the next it is fading out. It is, as if I had been trying to tune in a radio station; traveling on the train through mountain ranges.

I can’t tune her out, and I can’t tune her in; she is constantly there, even if I can’t clearly hear her.

“I came here for a reason, and by Celestia; I am going to pick up the promised delivery, so help me!” I vow, quietly under my breath.

Whatever is hidden within this building, is bound to be mighty important; considering the effort, put into these traps I have already encountered. Maybe this is built, to look important in the guise of being bland; in the hopes of luring Zebras and Collaborators into the Tartarian trap.

I only hope, I am not part of the plans, of making this into such a devious trap. Whomever it is set to catch, and whatever the reason behind it, I still wish no part of it. I am merely here, in order to pick up an item I had been promised.

While the echoes of the unfortunate zebra is still present, and the bridge is swaying this way and that; there is still the pools of pink ooze seeping out, in the surface.

I continue my perilous trek through the large cavernous room, trotting over the bridge, from one gate to the next.

At the end of the path, I am opposed by a cylindrical tower; reaching towards the ceiling and sky, with a wooden door. I can see the path continuing to the right and left around the tower, a flight of stairs encircling the wall. The perilous path, merely a foot wide. As I approach, I see a window in the door, and bat like creatures within the space behind the door. These are no mare fruit bats, naturally. How they ended up here, or how they became what they are now; not even Celestia knows.

While I guess I could have followed the wall, to the respective openings I can see; but the door into the tower is clearly not an option I am supposed to choose. As a Unicorn, I could maintain my shield for long enough to trot to the next door. I am assuming the ponies of Stable Tech should have known this much of me.

With the options examined, I follow the stairs spiralling up towards the next level, where I incidentally do find a door. The door is open, and the small room is empty.

“Why does it feel, as if I had already been here before? It feels exactly like the room I entered the first time!” I ponder.

Every detail is identical. The cubical form, the dimensions, the smooth stone surface and the shield. The shield feels exactly the same, as well.

Somehow, I have the strangest feeling of Deja Vu; I have been here, I have done exactly the same thing over and over. This is the exact same room. In a sense, I have been led in circles, over and over.

“I really hope this is the last time, I will have to see this room!” I ponder.

I cough, suddenly. I had not noticed it, but the room is now bathed in the faintest of a pink haze. The room is slowly filled up with the pink gas. I am inhaling it, there is no avoiding it.

“Cough, cough!” I hear from my own mouth.

Oh, and there it is again, the coughing.

I hastily set up my shield, in the hopes of limiting my exposure.

There is another cough, before the vapour withdraws and I let my shield fall. The air is clear and I can breathe out.

The door before me opens, the shield drops and in steps a fairly lucid Zebra Ghoul. A Canterlot Ghoul, that is.

“Is she a collaborator, for Celestia, Twilight or any of the Ministries?” I ponder, but does not ask.

The mare is stopping before me, as if on a secret command I could not hear.

“Here, accept this token! Make haste, put it on!” she pronounces.

I accept the gift and slips on the charmed fetish around my neck.

“Thank you!” I respond, but she had already vanished.

“Where did she go?” I ponder; but no response, and no answer is forthcoming.

I trot out of the room in the direction the Zebra had come into the room.

I had been judged? Did I pass whatever test I had been presented? Questions, questions, questions; but now answers forthcoming. I am still trapped within the loop I had been tricked into entering. Yet, I had been given something, I had been approached, by a Ghoul and a Zebra no less.

At the end of the bridge, there is no building or even a door, just a flight of stairs spiraling upwards. As I reach the stairs, I start climbing up, and up, and up. I reach the top of the stairs and continue forwards, towards the next flight of stairs. These stairs continue to take me upwards, towards an endless sky it seems.

Below the next bridge, I could see ponies and or zebras, ghouls or living once milling about. The floor or ground, covered in a pink haze halfway up their legs. Yet, they are not bothered.

I have no time to waste, so I continue along the bridge towards the next door. The door eagerly slams up and remains open, as if to greet me and permit me entrance.

The room inside is not stone, nor a magical construct; it’s stainless steel and grass covers the floor. Green, living grass. On my right side, the wall is lined up with doors, all glimmering in a sickly greenish yellow.

One door opens, just as I am reaching it. I look in, only to see the darkness in the seemingly empty room.

Once I enter the room, there is a bright pink glow, illuminating the small room. In the middle of the three by three foot floor, I see a saddle bag with my mark on it. Whoever placed the bad here, clearly intended for me to find it.

I light up my horn, lifting up the bag onto my back. These bags are heavy, and I feel the contours of its content scraping the sides of my body. I lift up the flap on the right side and pick up an item from inside.

“A Pip-buck!” I breathe.

These are intended for the Ponies of my stable. Naturally. Now I will have to return, and make haste.

As I am examining the small metal item, I notice the screen lighting up. It now sports my mark. The next thing to happen, is the logo of Arcano Tech Systems, the operating system of my buck lighting up.

I had been given my very own buck, but these were made by a conglomerate of major interests of the dying spark of Equestria’s greatness.

Ministry of Arcane Science Spell Matrix. Stable Tech general design. Ministry of Wartime Technology owns the pattern behind the design of the buck. Ministry of Image green lighted the use of this device and permitted me to hold it. Powered by the Ministry of Awesome. Artificial Intelligence (AI) designed and powered by the Ministry of Morale. Intended to fulfill the ideals of the Ministry of Peace. Approved by the Equestrian Board of Education. Celestia’s and Luna’s seal of approval.

“This item has been given attention by a great deal of very important Ponies!” I realize, awestruck in the instant it hit home.

List of contents; a full compliment of Pip-bucks for a full-size stable.

“A full-size stable, but I have nowhere near enough Ponies for that?” I ponder.

With the buck fitted just over the hoof of my right foreleg, I leave the empty room. There is nothing more for me, and nothing more to see.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content; Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks!” I read.

“Okay, these are my pip-bucks for the stable!” I ponder; as I continue, further down the hall.

I pass a few more of the doors, then I notice a door swinging open and I enter the room. This room is identical to the one I had just left. On a small table, I see a pink orb on a glossy white silk cushion.

“Pinkie Pie’s orb of memories, for Starlight Glimmer!” the buck on my right fore hoof pronounces.

"Curious, Pinkie Pie prepared a memory orb for me?” I ponder.

Before I had the time to consider, I can clearly see a beam of magic light reaching out from the crystal in the fetish
around my neck. The orb floats on the light and soon finds its way into my saddle bag. The light flickers out.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content; Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks, one pink orb of memories!” I read.

The journey had been perilous and the price high, but the content gained is quite priceless.

A third door opens before me, and I step in. There is a table, identical to the one in the previous room. On the table rests a purple orb on a white cushion. This room is identical to the one I left, safe the orb on the pillow. This is Purple, where the previous is Pink.

Before I had the time to consider, I can clearly see a beam of magic light reaching out from the crystal in the fetish around my neck. The orb floats on the light and soon finds its way into my saddle bag. The light flickers out.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories
3. one purple orb of memories!” I read.

A fourth door opens before me, and I am stepping right in with expectations painted on my face. There is a table, identical to the one in the previous room. On the table rests a white orb on a glistering, black runner coated leather cushion. This room is identical to the one I left, safe the orb on the cushion. This is white, where the previous is Pink.

Before I had the time to consider, I can clearly see a beam of magic light reaching out from the crystal in the fetish around my neck. The orb floats on the light and soon finds its way into my saddle bag. The light flickers out.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories,
3. one purple orb of memories,
4. one white orb of memories!” I read.

A fifth door opens before me, and I am stepping right in with expectations painted on my face. There is a table, identical to the one in the previous room. On the table rests a white orb on a glistering, black rubber coated leather cushion. This room is identical to the one I left, safe the orb on the cushion. This is white, where the previous once are Pink and Purple.

Before I had the time to consider, I can clearly see a beam of magic light reaching out fro
m the crystal in the fetish around my neck. The orb floats on the light and soon finds its way into my saddle bag. The light flickers out.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories,
3. one purple orb of memories,
4. one white orb of memories,
5. one black orb of memories!” I read.

A sixth door opens before me. There is a table, identical to the one in the previous room. On the table rests a black orb on white cushion. This room is identical to the one I left, safe the orb on the cushion. This is black, where the previous once are Pink, Purple and White.

Before I had the time to consider, I can clearly see a beam of magic light reaching out from the crystal in the fetish around my neck. The orb floats on the light and soon finds its way into my saddle bag. The light flickers out.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories,
3. one purple orb of memories,
4. one white orb of memories,
5. one black orb of memories,
6. one ember orb of memories!” I read.

A seventh door opens before me. There is a table, identical to the one in the previous room. On the table rests an glowing red orb on leafy, green cushion. This room is identical to the one I left, safe the orb on the cushion. This is ember, where the previous once are Pink, Purple, White and Black.

“A virtual repository of memories representing the greatness of Equestria!” I ponder, in stark realization.

Before I had the time to consider, I can clearly see a beam of magic light reaching out from the crystal in the fetish around my neck. The orb floats on the light and soon finds its way into my saddle bag. The light flickers out.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories,
3. one purple orb of memories,
4. one white orb of memories,
5. one black orb of memories,
6. one ember orb of memories,
7. one red orb of memories!” I read.

An eighth door opens before me. This room is identical all the once I have previously been in. There is a dais crafted out of prime apple wood and lacquered a high gloss black. I can see two mannequin heads wearing a necklace in the same style as the elements. Only this time, the symbol is that of radiation and bio hazard, respectively. As I ponder the significance of the gifted items, the charm springs to life. I can see the magic slowly lifting up both necklaces and slipping them into my saddle bag.

“Curious!” I ponder.

Since I have everything the room had to offer, I turn around and trot out of the room.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories,
3. one purple orb of memories,
4. one white orb of memories,
5. one black orb of memories,
6. one ember orb of memories,
7. one red orb of memories!” I read.
8. a pair of unification necklaces!” I read.

A ninth door opens before me. This room is identical all the once I have previously been in. There is a dais crafted out of prime apple wood and lacquered a high gloss black. I can see four mannequin heads; wearing a tiara crown, in the same style as the original element of magic. Only this time, the symbol is that; of a Pony, a Zebra, a Deer and a Giraffe head, respectively. As I ponder the significance of the gifted charms, the charm springs to life. I can see the magic slowly lifting up both items and slipping them into my saddle bag.

“Okay!” I exclaim.

Since I have everything the room had to offer, I turn around and trot out of the room.

“Blip, blip, blip!” the buck says.

“List of content;
1. Full compliment of Starlight Pip-bucks,
2. one pink orb of memories,
3. one purple orb of memories,
4. one white orb of memories,
5. one black orb of memories,
6. one ember orb of memories,
7. one red orb of memories!” I read.
8. a pair of unification necklaces!” I read.
9. a quartet of Chimera familiarity, Tiara charms!” I read.

A tenth door opens before me.

“While I do appreciate what they are doing for me, and my stable; but this has gone on long enough, I really hope I can return home to my stable now” I mutter under my breath, as I continue towards the next room.

Once I am safely inside the room, the door slams shut behind me with aloud bang.

“Just perfect!” I ponder, not even bothering to pronounce the words.

Before me, is the gate, out of this rat trap I had found myself in. I see the star-metal frame work. It looks, almost as if it had been a door. Only there is no door, but a glowing field of strangely sparkling blue magic.

“One exit, coming right up!” my buck announces.

As if on command; I notice my necklace charm springing to life and shooting forth an iridescent beam to the mechanism of the gate.

“Step right through, and you will be out of this sticky mess!” the buck instructs me.

“I guess I have nothing to lose, by trying!” I point out, as I step forth.

While I step through, there is a momentary discontinuity, but then I am clearly outside the compound. I am safe and sound, back in Canterlot.

“I suggest you meet up with your other half, she is by the gate of the city proper!” the Buck points out.

I nod, and follows the instruction. Of course, she is there. Just not the way I remember her. Now she is a proper Ghoul, not the Pony she was as she had left the Stable.