I sighed, looking on as the overmare made a “motivational” speech to the gloomy and dark stable. She tended to do this every morning, to keep everyone happy and productive in the stable and encourage them to do their jobs. It got boring fast, and it took every ounce of strength in me to keep from falling asleep. Damn, I shouldn’t have left behind my cup of coffee. Wait a celestia ridden second how the heck did I suddenly know exactly what was going on.

I looked frantically around the dim lighted room, trying to recall where the hell I was and how I had gotten there. The little pony in my head suddenly remembered I was in the overmare’s office, and that it was around 4 in the morning I wanted to scream at where the hell I was getting this info, but of course before I could the answer hit me. I was onyx, with all her memories of the past years in this stable.

I calmed down a bit, and took in some of the scattered posters, from before the war. I remembered hearing something about a great war happening, but thinking back I didn’t know exactly what the war was about. Something about Zebra’s and ponies fighting, but not much more. Heck I technically shouldn’t know anything about the war, so I was happy for just that much. Some of the posters showed metal clad ponies, covered from head to tail in battle armor, while some showed a yellow pegasus mare, with three butterflies on her flank.

“Onyx?” I snapped my gaze back onto the overmare, who I remembered being named Crystal, as her timid voice sounded in front of me. She had been the pony nobody really expected to be overseer. Shy, she had fur that looked like pink crystal, shinning barely in the light a light pink. Her mane was like blue crystal, and her eyes a brilliant shade of violet. I didn’t think anyone in the stable thought she wasn’t beautiful, and many had thought she would be a famous singer in the stable. Her GOAT test had surprisingly shown that she had possibility for a management job.

How the job system worked in this stable was a bit wonky. We did a test to see what they thought we would be good at, and give us an option. We also could get our cutiemark, which could also be our career. I remember getting my cutiemark, er Onyx’s, when she had been singing for fun at a party. While singing my flank had glowed for a few seconds, then my cutiemark appeared. I decided I would become a shift manager, because then I could help other ponies and still get to sing.

Crystal had decided too be overmare over her cutiemark, which was a magnifying glass over a piece of glass. She had a talent for making things proper, clean and with making things like glass. She had decided she would make the stable clean and try to keep the troublemakers from causing, well trouble. That hadn’t been going well, and from what she was saying moral was dropping slowly in the stable, as well as social standards. Most of the time all I could expect out of a pony was a grunt, nod, then they would walk away.

“Yes Crystal?” I asked, and she flinched a bit. “Overmare,” I corrected myself, and she smiled a tiny bit. “Could you go around and make sure everyone and everything is holding up? I’ve been getting a lot of complaints,” she explained, and I nodded. She was right, at least from what I had seen. It would be nice to see what was going on that was making everyone so cranky. Like seriously I asked the baker for a muffin and instead she waved a pistol at me.

“Alright, I’ve been wondering why everyone has seemed so on edge lately,” I intoned, and she nodded. “If I ask anyone they clam up and keep walking, which is a first,” she agreed, and I could see a bit of hurt shimmering in her eyes. I felt bad for her, even though the actual me barely knew her Onyx knew her pretty well. We had grown up together, playing and laughing together, doing the GOAT together. Thinking back the actual me remembered that, Crystal had waved at me before I went up to give my test. In all the time I had known her though, she had never reacted well to people purposefully ignoring her, especially when she didn’t know why. In the past she could go in a corner and tell her problems to me, but now as the overmare she couldn’t deal with her problems like she used too/

True what she did hadn’t been exactly healthy, but this was even less so. Even the dumbest pony in the stable could tell she was majorly stressed out, and from how well I - Onyx, knew her she was close to snapping. The thing I didn’t know though is what would happen when she snapped. Whatever her reaction would be though, it wouldn’t be good.

I quickly checked over my mental list of people who I should check, and settled for first checking with the baker. Her name was Golden crumbs, her fur a golden brown and her mane the color of honey, to her parents it seemed they knew she would become a baker, and they had been right. Out of all the stable residents she always seemed to be cheery, so it was troubling she seemed to be so distraught. Now the only problem was could I get her to tell me what the celestia was wrong.

Saying my goodbyes to Crystal, I left the overmare’s office and headed down the long hallway. My eyes wandered across the barren, gray walls as I went, taking it in. No wonder moral was down in this place, it looked like a metal coffin. The few posters that were in Crystal’s office must have been the only ones, because everywhere else was just the same placid gray, except for the streaks of yellow running across the walls. I heard a faint beeping coming from my hoof, and confused I looked down at it.

I stopped trotting immediately, the hoof I was looking at in the air as I took in the strange metal contraption plastered onto it. It seemed to be the same metal of the walls, but instead of it being the same gray as the walls it was painted. Onyx had painted it black, adding small blue streaks leading from the screen to a small dot of blue paint she had made on the back. The screen to the strange metal contraption, which I remembered, or onyx remembered, was called a pipbuck, was a turqoise blue which corresponded nicely with her charcoal coat. My charcoal coat. Oh whatever the fur color.

It was currently beeping at me, showing me the map of the stable. I stared at it for a couple seconds, taking it in, and trying to make a path the the bakery section in my mind. Alright, first left, two rights and another left then just straight.. simple enough. I went right instead of left, then immediately went the other way as my pipboy gave an angry beep. Okay maybe I should just keep an eye on the map. Yah probably a good idea. Damnit I could already feel the little pony in my head, who now looked like onyx, taunting me for missing the very first set of directions.

From then on I kept an eye on it, and within a few minutes I got to the baker section, Golden sitting in the corner. Okay now that was weird, she was constantly baking but for some reason she wasn’t getting anywhere close to the oven or counter. I walked behind the counter to great her when a radroach jumped at me, making a hissing noise. “Gah!” I yelped, and brought my hoof down on it, squishing it under my hoof with a sickening crunch. Oh celestia I just killed something. Despite that realization, I didn’t feel bad at all as some green goo began to come out of its crushed shell. Like seriously that was just gross, and threw away any appetite I had into the void.

I heard the click of a… i think it was a hammer action? I whipped my head towards Golden, who was pointing a gun towards me, a look of fear showing in her eyes. Oh bloody horns in my flank she was going to shoot me. Well, she would if I didn’t do something about it. “Calm down, i’m just here to ask why your so worked up,” I said gently, trying to defuse it. Her magic started to sputter a bit, the glow around the gun flickering. “Please calm down, everything is fine,” I said in a soothing sing song voice, surprised with how good I sounded. After a second, the magic went out and the gun clattered to the ground.

Wow, okay that had been tense. I had only been in this world for five minutes and somepony had already pointed a gun at me. I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard quiet sobbing coming from Golden, and I looked up to see her curled up, sobbing. I hesitated, not sure how to respond, before walking forwards and gently resting a hoof on her back, moving it in gentle and small circles. While doing this, my eyes landed on the gun, and the few magazines of ammo she was carrying.

With how messed up she was right now, she might accidentaly shoot a pony who just wants a cake to cheer up their family. That wouldn’t be good, so I should probably take these off her hoofs, for now at least. With that thought, I reached forward and gripped the gun in my mouth, my teeth sinking a bit into the soft leather around the handle. My tongue grazed the metal of the finger guard and I shivered, the cold touch of it surprising me. Looking to the saddlebags that had been strapped onto my flanks before I left, I slipped the gun inside as well as the magazines.

Okay, so if I did my math correctly I should have around thirty bullets. If I was right and they were all six shot magazines that is. Golden stopped crying after a few more minutes, then proceeded to uncurl and stand up shakily, her eyes red and puffy. I stood up as well, having to catch myself as my legs remembered how to hold my weight again, before looking at golden. “Alright, now that everything is more calm what is wrong?” I questioned, and she gave a visible shudder.

“A few days ago I saw a radroach crawling over my stove, and like you would any radroach I smushed it,” she said, and I nodded. I had the feeling I knew where this was going. “The next day I saw two of them, one of them had been reasonably large and the other about normal,” she continued, and I looked back at the giant monstrosity I had killed minutes ago. Was that a normal size? If so, what was a big one like? “There continued to be more and more, until the whole kitchen was filled with them,” she moaned, her legs buckling under her as she slumped back down into the corner.

I looked slowly around the whole kitchen, but everywhere I looked it seemed clean and perfect. “Um golden, I don’t see any radroaches,” I pointed out, and she made a sweeping gesture with her hoof.

“They like to hide under the equipment nowadays, like the one that jumped out at you,” she explained, sniffling a bit. I thought about it for a second, then looked down at my hoof, still creamed in green blood, before looking back up and saying, “I am willing to help out, but first.. where is a sink I can wash my hooves at?”

A few minutes later I walked back into the kitchen, clenching the magnum in my teeth. After I had seen the few ticks that had been added to my radiation meter, which I guessed was bad, I had decided smushing them and getting their radioactive blood all over my hoofs would be both gross and harmful. So instead I was planning to shoot them. The gun felt strange in my mouth, and I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it much. I slowly got down onto the ground till I felt the ground tickling my belly fur, then moved forwards, turning my head from side to side to check for radroaches.

Celestia in the middle of a bukkake she was right. There were practically a hundred radroaches, scampering and hissing under the utilities, seeming to be a family per utility. This was going to be messy.. And probably extremely gross. I took a deep breath, then aimed the barrel of the gun at the radroach, preparing for any recoil the gun might have. Wait a minute, what would happen if I shot a gun in the stable? Would everyone start panicking?

While trapped in my own thoughts, one of the radroaches had noticed me and let out a warning his, which of course I hadn’t heard. I wish I had listened a couple seconds later though, as it sprung at me, letting out a loud hiss of a battle cry as it flung itself towards my face. I shrieked, and using my tongue pulled the cold trigger, watching as the barrel spun and a bullet came out. I hadn’t it expected to be so fast, and in a split second the radroach was just green paste splattered against the bottom of the refrigerator and floor. Of course though, this shot alerted all the other radroaches to me.

I began to back away slowly as they all hissed at once, the sounds blending into a single high, threatening note. “.. Fuck,” I mumbled past the handle of the gun, before turning and galloping away, hearing what sounded like a parade behind me. Turning my head, I saw my earlier count of them had been way off. Their were only 10, but surprisingly those 10 were pretty fast. Although I was slowly crawling ahead of them, they were right on my tail, while I wanted to keep. Of course though I didn’t notice the turn in the wall, and my face crashed against the cold steel wall.

Pain blossomed across my face and I let out a “OOOWW,” as I felt my whole face begin to bruise. Moaning softly in pain, I put a hoof up and rubbed at my face, which didn’t really help but it just felt nice. Wait, why had I been running again? As I felt small hooked limbs close around my tail, I remembered just why. I whipped my head around, and immediately time slowed down to a crawl, leaving me to look as half of the radroaches propelled themselves at me. What the heck was going on?

I glanced at my pipbuck to see it had activated a program called S.A.T.S, or Stable Assisted Targeting Spell. Oh, well that would probably help. Looking back at the giant radroaches, I mentally checked the head of each one of the insects, and also a final check on the one on my tail. The pistol spurred to life along with my body, my teeth quickly clenching down on the hammer trigger to fire shot after shot at each of the radroaches.

Luckily I had been fairly accurate, and the five radroaches that had been jumping for me landed in a bloody pile on the floor in front of me, heads now scattered across the hallway. Of course though I had only five shots, so when it came to the one on my tail the gun dry fired. Oh crap how was I going to get this thing off my tail!? Oh, wait I know.

The other five were standing back, now wary of me as I simply sat down, squishing the radroach under me. Ewwwww, I would have to shower after this and add a whole bottle of shampoo to my flank. Like seriously, I hope that wouldn’t stain my fur. My hoofs flew to my saddle bag and I quickly reloaded my magnum, S.A.T.S refreshed by then, and put the final five radroaches down with shots to their bodies. Looking around to make sure their were no other sneaky radroaches, I got up, flinching as I felt the goo on my tail and flank come up with me, then began the walk back to Golden Crumbs place.

She had been fairly grateful to me for getting rid of the radroaches, and even gave me a cake to show. I seriously couldn’t wait to eat that later. I looked at the blood still on my tail and flank, and considered continuing on to the other stable residents.. ooor taking a shower first. The shower idea won, and I began to head back to my room, trying to avoid any other ponies. I didn’t want them to see me with radroach goo all over me, or for their eyes to look at my flank to see said radroach goo.

I let out a happy sigh as I felt the water begin to cascade down onto my back, washing away the dirt and blood that had collected their. My face was still aching a bit, but I had somehow got out without a bloody nose or any broken facial bones, so I could deal with it. So, in one day I had seen my first radroach, shot my first gun ever, first got a gun pointed a- no wait, police ponies had done that before, but their aim was worse than pontroopers in space wars. I sat down in the small shower, closing my eyes as the water washed my mane, a small smile tickling the corners of my mouth.

A bottle of shampoo and drying later, I was laying down in the main room of my area, looking through a comic. I needed a quick break, and a comic seemed the best way to get that break. Plus it was pretty interesting, and actually gave me a bit more knowledge on firearms. I hoped most of them were real, because they looked really cool. Closing the comic, I sat up and looked around the room, seeing what else I could do. The room was pretty barren, the only thing remotely interesting in it was the tv in the corner, which I promptly turned on.

There was no connection. Of course there was no connection. I glared at the tv screen as all it showed was static, and swore in my mind I would find what was wrong and fix it so I could watch my damned TV. I remembered there actually was a connection area in the vault, and decided I would check their next. Suddenly tired, I decided I had had enough for today, and after a couple seconds I found myself blinking back into the real world, Riptide sleeping next to me. Wait.. I still had all of Onyx’s memories in my head.

To my own surprise I was actually happy with this. I know had twice the experience as most ponies would, and plus I felt a bit like her, diplomatic, strong, and capable. Although I doubted I would be able to wake up the heaviest sleeper in equestria, who was snoring right next to me. Oh wait, I knew exactly how to do that~

Leaning down, I kissed him on the lips, which like always immediately woke him up as he kissed back. It was like putting a key into a door and turning it, it always worked. Plus it had benefits for both me and Riptide, so neither of us had a problem with it. “Hey sleepy head, what time is it?” I teased, laying down next to him as his hoofs wrapped around me. He chuckled, then replied, “It’s three in the morning, you have been in that game for more than 3 hours,”

“Really? It only felt like fifteen minutes,” I said, a bit shocked. Three hours? Sweet celestia how did I not notice?

I grumbled to myself as I realized most of that time had been from the break I had after the whole radroach thing. The shower had been nice too, and I might have gone a bit longer than usual because I didn’t have to worry about a water bill. At least I think I didn’t. Please don’t tell me there are in game taxes too. My thoughts slowly melted away as Riptide snuggled me against his chest, along with the rest of me. I did my best to return it, but because of the way I was facing I couldn’t get my hooves around him.

I settled for burying my face into his hoofs and curling against him, trying to get as much warmth as possible. Within a minute or two I could feel his chest rise and fall rhythmically as he fell into sleep, and from the yawn I let out I could tell I wasn’t far behind him. I cast a final look up at his calm face, before closing my eyes, letting sleep swamp my senses. This, had been a very interesting day.

Author's Note

this is the first chapter of fallout equestria the onyx note, which is just my own little thing of fallout equestria. I greatly enjoyed that story, so why not make one of my own? hope you all enjoy! ^^