Shaking. Rumbling. Screaming.
The world was dying, and it was trying to drag Stable 29 with its slow descent into Tartarus.
The walls of the Stable shuddered horribly, metal squealing almost like an animal's cry. The floor vibrated underfoot. A dull rumble, more like a terrible feeling of pressure, filled everything. It underscored the soothing words playing out over the public address system.
"This is an automated message from Stable-Tec Headquarters. Sensors have detected levels of radiation and heat consistent with large scale megaspell detonation over major Equestrian population centers. Omega Level Threat Protocols are now in effect. All Stable Residents are advised to remain calm and await further instructions."
Vinyl didn't notice them, or the screaming ponies filling the corridors, or the flickering lights as the arcano-technology of Stable 29 struggled to maintain its function in the face of catastrophe. She practically threw herself at the terminal in her suite.
OH MY CELESTIA!
Tavi, are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay. Oh, buck, I love you so much. Please tell me you’re okay.
"Oh, please please go through. Please, Celestia, Luna, anypony," she murmured, half prayer and half mantra, as she transmitted the message.
The terminal tortured her, every second it spend trying to transmit her desperate plea seemed like an eternity. Usually the messages sent instantaneously, but this one just sat on her screen. Taunting her with its small indicators of progress as it tried its best to find a working communication link.
Finally, a beep. A happy beep. The message sent.
"Oh, thank everything," Vinyl whimpered. And then the first tear fell, followed by another.
Vinyl, I’m here. I’m safe here in Stable 101. I’m . . . I’m not really fine, am I? None of us are.
It happened, didn’t it? It really happened?
What am I saying? Of course it happened. We could hear the explosions even from down here. We received the warnings from Stable-Tec.
The door is sealed now, just like it was supposed to.
Oh, Celestia, Vinyl. What are we going to do?
I miss you so much.
Author's Note
I'm working on the assumption that, despite the catastrophic damage of the Last Day, some parts of the infrastructure managed to survive. A few communication connections, barely working but still there, still stubbornly holding on as long as they can until time brings them down altogether.
Tavi, I'm getting worried over here. There's been a lot of accidents. Well, ponies are calling them accidents. I'm not so sure. Ponies have died. Including a bunch of kids.
I'm worried that something's wrong with the automated systems that are supposed to be running Stable 29. We have no idea what happened up there, but I doubt anything is left of Stable-Tec to be giving orders. And if that's the case, then who's running the Stable?
Shadowhorn is the chief engineer. She said she would look into it. Hopefully she can fix whatever's wrong.
Vinyl finished typing out her message and sent it. She waited, watching the terminal mark off its progress to send the message. Eventually, it gave up with a mournful beep. "Great," Vinyl muttered. "I'll just have to try again later." She stood up and secured her terminal again. "I guess I should just be happy I can manage to get anything through to Tavi at all, after what happened."
Vinyl slumped at her terminal, staring at the flickering green screen. Behind her, screams filtered through the heavy steel of the walls and doors. If she tried, she could almost imagine it was a foal shrieking in happiness.
She hurt all over. The deep lacerations in her body nearly hurt as much as the horror strangling her heart.
The blood pooled on the gleaming, spotless metal floor. The crimson matched her eyes.
It was the brightest color she'd seen since the door of Stable 29 had closed.
With a shuddering sigh, she leaned forward and placed her hooves on the terminal.
Tavi, I . . .
Oh, Celestia Above, what do I even say? Its all bucked up. Its all wrong. What the hay happened to us?
I don’t understand anymore. It doesn’t make any sense.
Everypony up there is dead. You’re a hundred miles away from me and I miss you so damn much it hurts.
But I don’t wish you were here with me. Not now. Not anymore.
Those motherbuckers at Stable-Tec are killing us. Their stupid robots and automated systems are killing us off one by one. I locked myself in my room, but I can hear the screaming from here.
Oh, Celestia, what happened to all those kids . . .
Tavi, I love you. I want you to know that. Because I’m not going to get another chance to tell you.
I’m dying too, Octavia. The damn robot chef went nuts with its stupid knife and came after me. It cut me up. Like, a lot.
Speaking of a lot, that’s a lot of blood. Oh, jeez. That’s really a lot of blood. I’ve gotta hurry this up.
Octavia, I love you. However many times I’ve said it, its still not enough. I just hope that you’re still safe over there in Stable 101.
I love you so much. Please, be okay. Somehow, please, be okay. For me.
And please, don’t forget about me. Don’t let my music die with me. It and you are the cornerstones of my life, my everything. Make it last.
Hay, maybe there will always be a DJ Pon-3 if people still have the music.
I love you, Octavia.
Goodbye.
Vinyl didn't bother to read the message again. She just hit the button to send it. She just had to hope it could get through, like some of her messages to Octavia had been able to ever since that awful day. She specifically did not think about the messages that had refused to send at all.
The terminal's screen flickered, showing her its efforts as it tried to obey her command.
It was taking a long time.
Vinyl closed her eyes.
"I love you, Octavia," she whispered.
Her eyes did not open again.
Sending transmission . . . . . . . . .
Transmission failed. Communication network primary transmission route unresponsive.
Trying secondary transmission route . . . . . . . . .
Transmission failed. Looking for available routes . . . . . . . . .
Transmission failed.
Message not sent.
Retry? Y/N
Author's Note
So, here we are the end of this little fic.
I recently got sucked into re-reading Fallout Equestria. Then, I saw that Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Day was coming up on EqD and I decided I wanted to do something. And then this story happened.
Just a few things I wanted to point out about it. I only drew from two sources here; Fallout Equestria's demonstration that Vinyl was in Stable 29 when it closed, was alive to host a party 3 months after the Last Day, and was presumably still alive there up until she met an unspecified fate after the Crusader Maneframe starting culling the population. I also drew from psp7master's story Fallout: Equestria - Vinyl and Octavia's Story (which you should read, btw). That's where I got the idea that Octavia was in Vault 101, and presumably lived her natural life there since Vault 101 lasted until Red Eye destroyed it.
I hope my small contribution to the annals of Fallout Equestria is well-received and that it brought you some enjoyment. Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, or critiques as a comment or PM.
Vinyl Scratch lay on the silk covers of her bed. Of course, it wasn't really her bed. It was in the Stable, it was in the room she had been given, and she was laying on it, but it wasn't really hers. It was too . . . lonely. No matter how nice it was, it just wasn't right without Octavia.
Groaning, she rolled to her hooves. The sterile metal surfaces gleamed, practically reflecting her own self back at her. She pushed the feeling of being trapped in a shiny box to the back of her mind and sat down in front of the terminal that graced her small desk. A few quick hoofstrokes had opened up its menus and she swiftly navigated them, finding the right one to let her compose a terminal message.
Hey, Tavi! How are things over in Stable 101?
Hopefully its a little more exciting then things here. We’ve been on this “test run” for a week now and its honestly pretty boring. A lot of ponies are getting antsy. Have you heard anything about when they’re planning on letting us back out?
Did that message sound alright? Would the Ministry of Morale label it as being seditious? After a few seconds of consideration, Vinyl pressed "send." A happy beep signaled that it had gone through.
If they didn't like it, too bad. She was down here and they were up there. And no matter how much she tried to lie to herself, she couldn't shake the feeling that those facts weren't going to change anytime soon. But she would hope. For Tavi's sake, if not for her own.
Hello, Vinyl,
No, I’m afraid things are quite dull here as well. I’m just grateful that I had time to bring my cello with me.
I have asked our Overmare several times about when this trial will be complete, but she either doesn’t know or isn’t allowed to say. Have you tried asking yours?
Love,
Octavia
Author's Note
Fallout Equestria never mentioned that Vinyl had a terminal in her room. I'm gonna go ahead and say that Pinkie Pie arranged it for her, like she apparently had a hoof in Vinyl getting a room as well (according to psp7master's Fallout Equestria: Vinyl and Octavia's Story). It was then removed at some point following her death, leading it to be absent when Littlepip and company found Vinyl's room centuries later.
Vinyl clip-clopped back into the confines of her room. No matter where she went, she couldn't escape the feeling of being entombed. At least in here she could have some space to herself, though. So many ponies tried crowding themselves into the Atrium that it was practically standing room only a lot of the time.
Not that Vinyl didn't get it, though. Ponies need other ponies.
Right now, she needed Octavia. Of course, she was far away from her right now. But, the magic of technology at least let her words reach her in some way. And that was almost good enough.
She sat down, logging into her terminal and reading Octavia's message. She facehoofed, realizing that she had forgotten one very important detail about Stable 29.
She typed her response out with a series of clicks.
Tavi, we don’t have an Overmare, remember? Stable 29 is supposed to be remotely controlled by Stable-Tec. I’d pretty much just be asking the walls and I don’t think they’re gonna answer.
She paused, lost in thought for a second. She debated putting it into words, even. But in the end, she decided that Octavia should know her thoughts. She deserved that much.
You know what, though? If the megaspells really do fall, who the hay is gonna be left up there to run this place? Seems kind of like a dumb design to me. Kinda makes me wonder what Stable-Tec was thinking when they designed this place.
Vinyl,
My apologies, love. I had forgotten about your Stable’s unique design. I suppose we shall just have to be patient. It surely can’t be much longer. These ponies have families and jobs that they can’t be away from forever. I’m sure Stable-Tec knows that. With any luck, we’ll both be home before we know it. And I'm certain that Stable-Tec wouldn't be so foalish as to take any risks with these Stables, given how important they might be.
Love,
Octavia
