Prologue: Ties
“The infinite of night arises, and drift away from my plight. The hurt, and the blame. Alone from my soul, so here's my existence.”
I put the final piece on my master-work as the brush spread orange paint on the previously grey and mournful wall, and take a step back. I get the full wind of the artwork, not my best work, but you make due with what you have.
An orange pony, one I knew was the old ministry-mare Applejack... or presumed. I might have gotten the hair wrong, and it's hard to tell when you only have old dingy paintings in profile to work from. She bounced across the wall against a blue background, washing away the greyness of the boring wall.
The brush dropped from my mouth as I looked at my usually dark-blue coat. It was now more than one shade of every other colour in the rainbow. Ugh... I felt dirty, but we all have to make some sacrifices for art. Even my cutie-mark had some paint on it, though I had no idea how it got there.
The usual three bottles of Sparkle-Cola were covered in a blotch of green paint, and a sigh escaped my mouth as I went for the shower.
Click, click, click, my Pip-Buck so generously interrupted the mood as I got out from the shower. I sighed annoyingly, and brought it up to my face, pushing the button with my nose. “Yes?” I commanded.
“Overmare, they're ready for the daily speech,” a mare's voice scratched from the device. Her voice cooed softly yet she managed to sound way more demanding, and commanding than I ever would be able to.
I lingered for a bit, then spoke. “Fizzle, is that you?” No response came, and I spoke again, more demanding this time, but I doubt it sounded as if I was.
“Yes,” the voice screeched out from the Pip-Buck and I giggled back in glee. Fizzle was the best at her job, she was in charge of the security around the Stable, and I didn't doubt for one second that without her, Stable 53 would have perished long ago.
I pushed my nose against the screen again. “I'll be with you in just a minute,” I cooed into the device, and I could her a groan from a buck, so she wasn't alone. I shut it off as I'd rather not hear whatever it was that they were doing.
Looking back at the 'masterpiece' on the wall before me I smiled and neighed as I walked out the door, and down the metallic hallways. A light flickered, and another one was broken; they seemed to break every other month or so.
I turned a corner, passing two other mares in the hallway, and they stopped whatever it was that they were speaking of. Nothing could change what my predecessors had done, in spite of the fact that I tried my best, nothing would change that fact.
Shaking my head, I buried the thought, and put a smile back on my face as I walked. The sound of my hooves echoed against the cold walls as I turned to the right, and entered a classroom. Rows of desks were lined up with foals standing up next to each one. I approached their teacher: a white mare with a golden mane, and a brown textbook as her cutie mark. Next to her stood Fizzle: she was clad in black rubber barding, standard for security personnel, and her baton swung at her side.
“So, how many reported in today?” I asked, directing my question more at Fizzle than at the school teacher.
“All of them, Overmare Soft Soda. No one is away today,” the school teacher said with a smile and nodded towards me. I nodded back and could see Fizzle roll her eyes in my side-view. With a smile, I turned towards the class, and it was silent as they all watched me in awe... a legacy from my predecessors as well.
“Good morning Foals. I hope today's lesson will be a productive one, and I hope you learn something!” Jubilee erupted from the foals as they stomped their hooves. I kept my smile as I motioned for them to sit, and take their respective places. A smile, another nod towards the school teacher, and both me and Fizzle were out of the room, and standing in the drab grey hallway again.
“What's on the agenda?” I Cooed softly as I turned towards Fizzle, swishing my blond and silver striped tail gracefully as a pair of bucks passed. They didn't say anything, but I swear I could hear the faint sound of laugher and muttering as they walked further down the hallway. I pushed it back into the caverns of my mind.
Fizzle grimaced as she looked at her Pip-Buck, and her horn glowed faintly of pink as she flipped through menus until her face lighted up. “We're doing another sweep in the lower areas, some of the mares there have been complaining about hearing voices. We still have one foal missing, so I think we should pay her parents a visit,” she said dryly and stopped for a moment.
“And yes, another visit to maintenance. Apparently, Wrench has something he wants to show you,” she added with a muffled giggle; clearly she was trying to hide it.
I knew what she was thinking, and the thought had crossed my mind more than once I will be fair, but no... just no, that was out of the question. I perished the thought and nodded towards her as she lead the way down the hallway.
Now I got even more bad looks, and I felt bad.
We weaved through countless metal hallways, each was as dreary and moody as the last one. Yup, I had to paint more. Finally, we ended up at a seemingly normal looking door in the living area, and one of the areas where things actually worked! Almost... roughly 90 percent of the time.
Fizzle used her Pip-Buck, the green worked well with her barding, and pushed it against the terminal outside the door as the door whirred open. Inside sat a brown earth mare with a crimson mane, and a grey buck with a black mane. I nodded towards them as both me and Fizzle walked in.
The mare looked at me with narrowed eyes as she rose from her sitting position. “Have you found my filly yet?” she half-screamed at me.
“I-”
“No, ma'am. But rest assured, Stable security is searching every nook and cranny for her. We will find her,” Fizzle answered confidently, and probably forgetting for a moment that she had interrupted me. Perhaps I had gotten a little slack with the rules... no, I won't become as the previous Overmare.
I looked between the mare and the stallion as she broke into tears then and there. I stood silent alongside Fizzle as the buck sat himself down next to her, and brushed her mane softly as she cried into his shoulder.
He looked towards us, towards me. “Please, bring our filly back in one piece,” he pleaded to me. I nodded dumbly as it was the only thing that struck me as the right thing to do. I didn't do sadness well, so that was probably why I did my best to keep everypony happy.
Fizzle ushered me outside again as we walked away from the room, and down another set of hallways. A set of stairs, and we arrived in the atrium. Metal benches set up neatly around a green tree in the middle with food-courts at the far end, and at lunch-time it was stacked with ponies, but it was abandoned now.
We continued to walk, and more security personnel filled the corridors as we passed into the wing that was maintenance. I had issues about posting so many guards, but Fizzle assured me it was necessary. I deferred to her judgement since she was after all head of security.
The smell of oil flared and burned in my nostrils, as we walked through the large metal airlock door that lead into maintenance. I instantaneously got an headache. I wavered for a moment, my hooves shook, and my breath sounded raspy. I swallowed hard, and lifted my head to look into the red eyes of a very disappointed Fizzle. Whatever, I was the Overmare, I was in charge.
My ears perked as squeaking sounds became louder and louder, when suddenly a yellow shape trundled into view. “What was it that you wanted with me, Wrench?” I asked the buck softly as I looked on the saddle he wore: Large blue rubber wheels at each side, and his back legs rested on a metal plate under his body.
The ingenuity of the ponies in my Stable never ceased to amaze me.
Wrench smiled back at me, but frowned when he looked at Fizzle. He had lost his legs several years back when a large vent had collapsed on him and crushed his legs, and Fizzle had been... less than willing to help.
“Yes, I do!” he stated enthusiastically as he rolled out of view.
I regained my composure, and walked forwards alongside Fizzle as we entered the actual workshop. Ancient equipment lay strewn about on large metal worktables, and that included a few Pip-Bucks, both old and new models. Wrench led us towards a smaller and more secluded table in the workshop, so I suspect it was his worktable
“Ta-da!” he said as he motioned towards a charcoal Pip-Buck with red stripes that lay on its side. I frowned, Fizzle frowned, and Wrench... didn't frown. He groaned and proceeded to lift the Pip-Buck off the table, and cradled it in his hooves.
“Clearly you two have never seen a Pip-Buck like this,” he said with glee as he turned the Pip-Buck over onto its side, brandishing the fur lining the inside. That settled it, I wanted it. “This is a Pip-Buck 2000... yes, I know that isn't a victory in itself, but, and here's the kicker. This one is unique,” he added boastfully as he grinned so much that I feared he would stay that way forever.
“Different, how?” Fizzle inquired, and wrapped the Pip-Buck in a levitation field as she tore it from Wrench's hooves.
“I bet you want to know, Fiz,” Wrench said mockingly, and got a thousand yard glare in return from Fizzle. I giggled, too loudly as half the ponies present in the room turned their gaze towards me. My cheeks turned to fire, and I waved a dismissive hoof, trying to look as commanding as I could.
“Just tell me, Wrench, or I'll be forced to turn your remaining limbs to mush,” Fizzle said as she twirled her baton in the air.
He was about to talk when the entire room moaned and creaked as the lights went out in a flash. The sound of breathing ponies were the only sounds in the room. A scream shook the silence as the pale yellow lights flickered back on. Another buck galloped up to Wrench.
“It's Nickel, he's hurt, bad,” he added as I could see two ponies drag a pony out of another side room, and a crimson trail followed him, from his hoof as far as I could tell. Then another mare came behind them, and in the air she levitated a decapitated hoof.
Bad was undercutting his situation.
“Great, I'm another worker down, and this shitty equipment never works!” Wrench shouted and swung a hoof against the metal table, so hart that his face contorted.
“Did that help?” I said softly.
“Yes,” Wrench responded and held his hoof limply in the air.
“Did that hurt?” I added coyly.
“Yes,” Wrench said and clutched his hoof as his face contorted in pain. I giggled as we filtered out of the room, and Fizzle still levitated the prototype Pip-Buck in a pink levitation field.
****
The brown walls of my office were more than depressing, it was horrid. I desperately needed some paintings in here, but for now there were more pressing issues. I poked at the prototype Pip-Buck that lay on the wooden table in front of me. A spark of wonder ignited in my head as I got the equipment out that was needed to remove a Pip-Buck from your hoof.
Somehow, I managed to strap the prototype on my hoof and activate it. It was seemingly similar to my usual one, and it had apparently belonged to somepony called Cold Front. I didn't remember the name, so either this was very old, or she was dead... yeah. Suddenly wearing the Pip-Buck was creepier than ever.
I flashed onto the map menu, seeing the interior of the Stable. Using my nose to manoeuvre through the maps, I stumbled upon another level of the Stable, and one that I, nor anypony else had apparently seen before, except for this 'Cold Front.'
I must have jumped four feet into the air when my own Pip-Buck clicked to life on the table, and my heart pounded as I rolled it over to look at it. I frowned and clicked my hoof against it. “Yes?” I asked dryly.
“We found the filly, Overmare,” the voice from the Pip-Buck said and my face twisted into a smile. I giggled gleefully as I pushed to respond.
“Good, then we can tell her parents the good news.”
The Pip-Buck cracked and the voice scratched out again. “I mean... we found the remains of the filly. Equipment malfunction. As far as we can tell she was hiding in food-processing when the machine turned on.” I grimaced as images of pony-mush flashed before my eyes.
“I see...” I commented sadly.
“What should we do with the body, and who should tell her parents, Overmare?” I paused, let that thought linger for a few moments. Dear goddesses! I would have to tell them, me? Only a day ago I had promised to bring back their filly, and now I have to tell them that their filly got turned into goo!
Nope, not going to happen. “Get Fizzle on it, and... process the body,” I said and closed the communication line with security. “Another day, another problem,” I muttered softly to myself as I walked towards the big rounded window that looked out on the atrium. It was one way, so the ponies couldn't see me, but I could see them. Another addition by the previous Overmare.
Currently it was filled to the brim with chattering ponies, and I could feel a cold shiver down my back that made me sweat with nervousness. I couldn't help but wonder what the other Overmare had thought about those ponies down there, and suddenly memories flashed in my eyes. Memories of whips, rules, and broken males, so I had to push it away and back into the depths of my head.
I frowned and held my newly minted Pip-Buck up to my head, flipping through the menus until I came to one containing four audio logs. I pushed my nose against the first one, and the Pip-Buck hissed, sputtering in response as 'CORRUPTED FILE' flashed on screen in big red letters. Clearly, I wasn't going to get anything remotely useful from that.
I pushed the second one.
“We finally settled in, and I got my orders from Stable-Tec today, and my official uniform. How sweet isn't that?” a voice sounded with glee from the Pip-Buck, and I rolled my eyes. The uniform wasn't all that great. “Anyway, mom and the rest are settling in. I managed to get them a room close by mine, perks of being the Overmare,” she continued with a giggle and the recording vanished in a regalia of static as it finally clicked out.
When I pushed the third one, the same error message popped on screen followed by the rattle of audio scratching. I groaned and paced back and forth. I couldn't rid my mind of it, so I had to tell them. I removed the prototype and put my own Pip-Buck back on, and pushed the communication button. “Hold the thought, security. I... I'll tell them,” I said wearily and got a dry 'okay' in response.
****
As I paraded through the hallways, I pushed the communication channel for Fizzle's Pip-Buck, but there was no answer. For the last few months she had disappeared every day around this time. More than once had I thought about monitoring her movements, but my better sides decided against it.
I reached the door, and knocked. The brown earth pony mare opened the door and looked at me with blood-shot eyes, and her cheeks wet from crying. “C-can I come in?” I asked, and she nodded in response as the door closed behind me.
She wanted to give me some tea to drink but I waved a dismissive hoof; I didn't want to be here any longer than I needed to. “We-we f-found y-your f-f-filly,” I managed to stammer out.
“Yes?” the mare said eagerly as her face lit up several lighter shades of brown as she wiped her nose with a hoof. I grimaced, and shuddered.
“I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!” I blurted out, “we f-found her in f-f-f-food p-p-processing, s-she's d-d-d-”
“Dead?” The mare finished my sentence for me and I nodded melancholy back to her as her face twisted in sadness and she cried. I felt out of place as her husband gripped her, and tried to comfort her. I rose and left the room with another 'I'm sorry' though I doubt they heard me.
The door closed, and I collapsed against the cold metal walls. I wanted to scream, but that wasn't a good idea, so I banged my head against the wall several times. My head hurt... in fact that was the positive thing.
“You okay?” a voice said and sprung me awake as I looked to my left and saw a mare, a few years younger than me. She wore the same security barding as everypony else in security did. Her coat was white as snow, and a curly red mane donned her head.
“You okay?” I snapped to as she repeated the question, and I shook my head as I rose to my hooves, but I was still a little shaken.
“Y-yes! Of course I am,” I said with a fake smile. During the years I had practised that many times, but I doubt it fooled anypony. The mare nodded to me with a smile as she vanished down another corridor, and twirled the slick black baton around her hoof.
“I hate security,” I muttered to myself as I walked back down the long corridor that lead to my office.
****
“What the hay?” The words caught in my throat as I looked at Fizzle, and a few other security mares rummaging around my office as they tore out any papers they could find. Needless to say, the effort they used in trying to break the encryption on my computer was useless, not even they knew my password.
Fizzle turned towards me with a glare as she levitated the prototype Pip-Buck into the air next to herself. “Did you know?” she asked, her voice dangerous and low.
I shuddered. “Know what?” I asked, sounding confident. Fizzle giggled ominously, and turned on the Pip-Buck as a recording sputtered on after a few scratches.
“I got word from Stable-Tec. The experiment is a go, every equipment in here is designed to break down every second month... I can't help but feel a bit saddened, knowing that I have to deceive my family like this, but Stable-Tec duty comes first, it's my duty as Overmare.” There was a brief pause in the recording, but I could definitely hear laboured breathing. “This is my confession I guess. Curfew will go in effect as of today, because of that I can at least minimize the risk of something bad happening... Cold Front, Overmare of Stable 53 signing off for the last time.” The recording sputtered to a halt as the Pip-Buck dropped to the floor.
I didn't have words for what I had just heard. For decades the Overmares had deceived them, and deceived me. “I... I...” I was mute, not that I think I could have convinced Fizzle that I had nothing to do with it anyway.
Fizzle approached me slowly, carrying her glare the entire time. “You lifted the curfew, you inherited your mother's job, you deceived us! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you outside!” Fizzle shouted at me and I cringed, lowering my ears as I felt her breath against my cheek.
“I.. I'm y-your f-f-friend?” I asked, and she neighed back – she shook her head and turned towards one of the other security mares.
“Initiate the plan,” Fizzle commanded to the mare who instantly turned on her Pip-Buck, and on to the Stable's PA system, which you could do from any security Pip-Buck.
“Listen closely Stable fifty-three. We have learned grave news today, and grave news indeed. The overmare, our protector and idol, have betrayed us.” I could hear the roar of ponies from the atrium, and I slumped together even more. At this rate I would be curled into a ball on the floor in a matter of seconds. “She, along with her family actively worked against the Stable, and caused the deaths of many ponies, including a filly recently,” the mare stopped and looked at Fizzle who looked towards me.
“It's either them or the outside?” she giggled mischievously. I swallowed hard as I could see the faint lights of the atrium, and the ponies there scurrying about. I took a step back, and nodded towards her and the group.
****
They walked with me down the corridors until we ended in the large chamber with the cog-shaped steel door of a beast that lead to the outside world. One of the security mares walked over to an ancient terminal, and perched her hoof against a steel lever with a T-shaped wooden handle.
“Wait!” I exclaimed as I turned towards Fizzle and the rest of security, or what I suspected was the ones who supported her as I didn't see the mare from earlier here. “Can I get the prototype Pip-Buck, it's after all my family's,” I said wearily as Radiant shrugged and hovered it to my hooves. I strapped it onto my other hoof, and now I had two Pip-Bucks! It was only temporary, I hoped.
Fizzle nodded towards the mare who had her hoof perched on the lever. “Open it, Baton!” she said excitingly as the mare used all her might, and lowered the lever. The room filled with steam as a giant steel arm extended down from the roof, and pulled the large metal beast door from it's place. It rolled over to the side as light gleamed in through the gear-shaped opening.
A vile cackle sounded and the room deafened. “Oh... meet some friends of mine,” Fizzle giggled as a group of three decrepit ponies walked in through the door. They smelled acrid, the pungent aroma of rotting flesh the most notable one. The leader: a dark orange buck with a spiky green mane walked forwards. I also noted that they were clad in barding, not looking anything as that of the security; and it looked cobbled together from scraps of clothing.
Fizzle strode forward. “Here, I hoof the stable over to you, but my people go free. You can have the rest except for my security ponies,” she said and the orange buck nodded in response as his left eye twitched, and his eyes descended into pinpricks.
“What?” I shouted in confusion as I looked befuddled at Fizzle. “How can you do this? You call me a traitor and then you do this?” She smiled mischievously back at me.
“Why? Because I'm going to live, and live wealthy once I get out of here,” she cooed to me and turned back to the buck. “Now, where's my reward,” she said enthusiastically and closed her eyes proudly.
I watched as Fizzle got turned into a pile of entrails, blood, and guts. Fizzle was everywhere, dear goddesses! Fizzle was on me! I froze as the orange pony cackled, and the rest of the group lunged against the security mares. He had fired off his shotgun(which I recognized from several books inside the Stable), and decimated Fizzle, and now one by one the others fell beside me, and their screams echoed through my ears as shots rippled through their barding and hit the flesh beneath.
Suddenly I felt the coldness of the floor against my fur. In the confusion I hadn't noticed that a buck had tackled me to the ground, and I could feel his breath on my neck. “Now, now... what have we here!” he said excitingly, his grating voice tore at my ears. OH NONONONONONO!!!! I felt my tail move, and I clutched it to my body as he continuously tried to move it out of the way, and the rest of his body pinned me to the floor.
“Stop moving, bitch!” I moved, there was no way I would stop moving! Pain tore in my skull as I felt wood hit me in the jaw, and blood splashed across the floor. “That's a good mare,” he cooed softly as he moved my limp tail out of the way. Another cackle sounded as I looked around frantically. The room was strewn with blood and torn bodies, and I could hear muffled groans and shrieks coming from inside the stable.
My eyes widened as pain shot through my back, leading from my haunches all the way up my spine. “A virgin too!” the buck over me snorted eagerly, and leaned down closer to me, and I could smell the stench from his mouth. “I'll be gentle,” he said and I felt another twang of pain from my haunches.
Gentle? That was not being gentle! Dear god... my vision blurred as the pain intensified and I looked back, and oh my god! He was rutting me! Without my permission! Tears blurred my vision more as I reached out with my hooves. “P-please...” my voice sounded raspy and torn as he cackled again, and another sharp pain followed.
And again...
again...
again.... The world whitened and faded in front of my eyes as excited moans from the buck rippled in my ears.
****
It was cold. I shivered when I flashed my eyes open, and it hadn't been a dream. The room was still smeared with blood, and torn bodies laid around the room. The buck had vanished along with his friends. I moved to get to my hooves as pain shot through my body as electricity, and I looked at my haunches. Bloody... my tail was smeared with it, along with other less savoury things.
I crawled into a ball, and leaned against the metal stairs as I tugged my tail close to my body. I wanted to bathe, to just immerse my body in water, and to just forget what had just happened. It couldn't have happened, yes, it was all a dream! The pony inside my head kept telling me.
Wake up, wake up, Soft Soda! I pinched myself, but the pain wouldn't subside, and the room didn't clear up. I wiped my eyes as I removed my hooves and looked at the room. It had turned night outside, and it was dark and cold inside; without supervision the generators had no doubt stopped working.
I could see the mangled body of Fizzle in a corner, blood covering her flank and mouth, and the security barding had been torn from her body, leaving her mutilated and gutted on the hard metal floor. I felt sad, angry, and regret... it was my fault after all. My family had deceived them for years, and that filly's death was on my head, and Fizzle's death was on my head.
Tears welled up in my eyes again, not a single good thought entered my mind. I blanketed and sobbed as I huddled my hooves close to my body again. The chilly wind coming from the rocky tunnel outside tore through my body
You can't stay here, leave! A mental pony shouted at me, and immediately I rose to my hooves, and I keeled over, vomiting. I clutched my sides as I looked at my cutie-mark. Two thirds of it was covered in blood.
Born into being the mascot for a famous company, how about that?
Groaning, I managed to get to my hooves again. I limped with my remaining strength to the door leading into the rest of the Stable, and poked my head through the opening. The walls were bloodied, limp bodies of mares and stallions decorated the hallways, and offensive writing was painted on the wall, and I couldn't figure out if it was paint or blood, probably the latter.
I grimaced and looked away as I tore the bloodied Stable uniform from my body, using my teeth to shred the material. With that out of the way I turned on the E.F.S. on my Pip-Buck. It was blank, not a single red, yellow, or green bar of life. I was truly alone.
Robbing what I could of the meagre supplies in the room, I managed to fill two saddlebags, emblazoned with the official Stable-Tec logo. That was one part I couldn't rid myself of. Finding one canteen of water I tossed it across my back. I didn't want to go further into the Stable, I couldn't...
My eyes turned watery again, and I used a hoof to clean them. I looked back and moved forwards towards the open door. I breathed slow, exhaled and lifted hoof as I limped out the door. I was truly alone now, for the first time in my life.
====
Footnote: Level up(2.)
New Perk: Swift Learner – You are indeed a Swift Learner with this Perk, as each level will gain you an additional +5% bonus whenever you earn experience points.
Chapter 1: Winter Wasteland
Chapter 1: Winter Wasteland
“The world will cut you down, steal your soul, and use it against you.”
I froze as a statue. A living statue made of flesh, arteries, feelings, memories. I looked back down the rocky corridor, and into the nightmare that was the grave of stable 53. Never before in my life had I though I would see the outside world, I had also never thought... that would happen to me.
Okay, got to push that way for now.
First things first though. I removed my old Pip-Buck from my hoof. The one that I had inherited from my mother, and the one that had made me Overmare. I left it behind, and I dropped it to the floor with no ceremony or order; It just thumped against the rock flooring. I sighed, the last piece was gone.
The overmare known as Soft Soda was gone, and I was now Cold Front. A mare of far greater strength than me apparently. I wished for her to appear right there, next to me at that moment, and say that I did good, but no – nothing.
It was still my fault.
Cold chilly wind tore throw the cracks in the wooden door at the end of a long rocky corridor, that seemed to stretch on for eternity. The wood was cracked and rotting in several places, but was largely intact. I slowly pushed my hoof forwards and the door slid open with a moan, and more wind flowed into the room, enough to make my mane flutter.
Everything was a brilliant shade of white as I stepped outside, and keeled over when I looked at the sky. More so because of my limp than actual vertigo. My Pip-Buck so generously started to click violently as I lay there in the whiteness of it all.
I moved it to my face, and saw that the little needle in the rad-meter was rising, nothing lethal or harmful yet, but it was rising. Only on rare occasions had that thing been useful inside the Stable. Another clicking noise, and I moved to another menu. My map filled with markers, one for Stable 53, another for a Stable 8 in the distance, and another: 'Point Hoof' it said. According to my map it was a town, and I was close.
I shrugged and had it as a mental note, for now I wanted to do only one thing. I giggled and rolled around in the white whatever it was that was on the ground. It was cool to the touch, and melted if I held a portion of it in my hooves for too long, and it even seemed to descend from the sky at an even pace.
Finally, after several moments of rolling in my white little piece of paradise, I got to my hooves, and my Pip-Buck agreed that it was about time, as the violent clicking grew heavier and heavier.
I stopped and took another glance back at what used to be my home. The red smears in the white outside the wooden door echoed everything inside of Stable 53. It was then that I knew. I wouldn't become as them; I would never pick up a weapon; I would never kill another living thing, so we were different.
With sheer determination I hobbled forwards, ignoring the pain in my flank still. Gentle! The word tore through my head just as when you have a song you can't forget. I wanted to forget, but my mind didn't, and maybe it was for the best, but at that moment, I just wanted to forget it.
I refocused my eyes and stopped to look at my Pip-Buck. It was a brisk march to 'Point Hoof' whatever that was, but it was the only thing I could dare aim for at the moment. I looked through a few more menus and landed at the one relegated to transmissions.
Three distinct stations popped up. The first one was just gibberish, so I switched it off. The second was dark, though I could swear that I heard faint orchestral music in the background. I moved on to the last one.
A high-pitched squeal erupted from my Pip-Buck's speaker as I pressed the screen to allow for the radio-broadcast to come through. After the whine, it was silent, then a voice came through, clear as day.
“Eight... Eighty-seven... twelve... sixteen... fifty-three...” – The voice was interrupted by a electrical hiss, and a grating sound that followed a pattern. Grating hissing sound, a minute's pause, and then the hissing noise sounded back in. The voice that was speaking sounded as a mare, but with a little touch of machine to it, but I couldn't quite put my hoof on what was wrong with it.
I can't be sure how long I stood there, but I waited for the voice to sound back in again. It didn't. Knowing that, I turned off the recording and walked forwards. The white material crunched underneath my hooves, and felt soft to the touch, yet hard enough to walk on, so it still puzzled me.
A cackling laughter, pitched high, a mare perhaps? Sounded. I froze, it was familiar, yet new somehow. A pony skidded down a hilltop next to me and came to a stop a few feet in front of me, and she was a mare indeed, though her appearance would say otherwise. Her mane was pulled up high into a Mohawk, probably to make her look more menacing. Her flank showed a cutie-mark that seemingly looked as a chainsaw.
Her coat was dirty and dingy, much like the ones that attacked my Stable, so I physically trembled at the thought. Then I shuddered and looked away, so she laughed in return. “Scared, Stable-filly!” she retorted back at me, but I didn't look back at her. The smell was horrible, and stung in my nostrils.
At least I smelled slightly better after rolling in whatever that white stuff was, and I could hear it crumble as she moved towards me, and she continued to cackle menacingly.
A thunderous bang, and I looked up, my eyes wide at the sight before me. A rusted blade stained with blood fell from the decrepit mare's mouth as she wobbled, and her eyes had descended to pinpricks as she looked at me, smoke trailing off of her side.
“I... I...” Her voice cracked as she fell to the ground, and blood poured from a hole in her side, so it coloured the pure-white paradise a ghastly crimson. Turning my eyes skyward, I saw a shape, a shadow, something, fly across the sky and dissipate in the heavy grey cloud-layer that hung over everything.
My body was frozen in place again, and it wasn't the cold that was the culprit. I shuddered as I saw the mare before me die, and I knew that she would just have killed me, or worse... no... It couldn't get any worse, I was... defiled.
I felt fear grasp at my heart as I wobbled, and dropped to my haunches. I winced as my rump hit the whiteness underneath me, and I was still sore. I could still feel the grating, breathing, and smelly breath of my attacker on my neck. I shuddered violently and wiped my blood-red eyes as I got to my hooves again.
Looking back at the wooden door to my old home, I fired up the auto-mapping spell on my Pi-Buck. 'Point Hoof' was too far away for me to make it there today, so I needed somewhere else to stay or the cold would get me, and no way was I going back to the nightmare of the Stable; I was done that place the minute I walked out of there.
I sighed and lowered the Pip-Buck. Nothing but the three familiar spots were lighting up, so I walked past the body of the mare, and she still twitched horribly. I crept slowly into a brisk trot, wincing every time, but time was what I didn't have. I'd never been this cold before, but remembering my schooling, something told me this was bad.
The same gorgeous white thing that was on the ground, fell from the sky in small lumps. One of them landed on my nose and melted away, so I shuddered. My Pip-Buck clicked again, and the radiation warning had spiked.
I shook my head and cleared my mind as I watched over the white land. This was not how Equestria was supposed to look, at least not from the imagery inside the Stable. Though, I suspected my family had been in on that lie as well.
A hope ignited in my heart as I saw orange light flicker from inside a building, the wood-boards barely visible under the white that covered everything. Looking down the hill I was standing on, I hesitated. It was quite the drop, and if I did anything wrong I would crack a limp, snap my neck, or be impaled on hidden sharp rocks.
Lifting a hoof, I slowly stepped forward, sliding a bit, then a bit more. Soon I was almost in full gallop down the white-capped slope, and my Pip-Buck didn't aid the situation. I felt a sharp pain in my left-hoof as I slipped and tumbled over, ending my sled-run down the slope.
I shook my head and wiped off all the white, though it was wonderful, it did make me colder. When I got to my hooves, my E.F.S. flashed medical warnings that it shouldn't be, ouch. On second thought, my entire body hurt now... worse than before, a second ago I would have thought that not possible.
Cancelling out the warning, I crept forwards, but I still couldn't walk right. With everything going on, I didn't need my Pip-Buck to bug me about everything wrong with my body at the moment. I knew what was wrong, so I didn't need a machine to tell me that. The horror at Stable 53's door had taught me that.
My ears perked as I thought I could hear a sound... nothing. I must have been imagining it, but in any case, I proceeded forward. The house, albeit a ruined house, was closing in on me. I had made progress.
Yay, inner me!
I stopped at the edge of a half-broken white fence, and sighed melancholy as I looked at my Eyes Forward Sparkle Compass. To my surprise, a yellow light kept swinging back and forth between North and South, and then it disappeared. Okay... that was creepy.
Pushing forwards, I opened the broken door that simply fell to the floor as the rusted hinges were not able to hold it any longer. I shuddered and grimaced at the sound, not stealthy at all. Considering what I had seen, I did not want to make any more sound than needed. In urgency I checked the compass again... nothing.
I walked into a small room, seeing where the light was coming from. A fire roared in a rusted and battered metal barrel next to a weather-worn, and blood-soaked ruined mattress. Frowning, I looked around the room. The walls were peeling badly, a few specks of garden-green paint was still there, but for the most part it was gone.
The room itself was barren, except for a few posters on a wall. I recognized one of them, but the two others were too badly worn. The one I recognized was a Stable-Tec one, showing images of ponies flooding into a stable underneath a mountain of grey rocks. The words 'BUILDING A BETTER TOMORROW, TODAY!' echoed on the top, but I shuddered.
****
The day roared on past me as I lay down on the ruined bed in the room, and the small comfort the bedding gave – I honoured. I kept looking through my Pip-Buck. Since I had taken on the name of Cold Front, I wanted desperately to know more about her, but what remained was only the four audio-files in it, and nothing more.
I pushed the last working one, wanting to hear another friendly voice. Cold Front's voice boomed from the device on my hoof, and I felt a small smile forming on my face as the heat of the fire washed over me. In under two minutes the recording ended, and it hadn't changed. Deep down I wanted it to not be true, but no matter how I looked at it, it was.
My family had lied for the Stable, and knowingly let them suffer for orders they didn't even need to follow. The transmissions from Stable-tec had ended years before I got put in charge, though I didn't know that until it became my turn.
My ears perked again, and this time I definitely heard a sound coming from outside. Looking at my E.F.S. Compass I could see a yellow line zipping back and forth again. At this point I felt my heart drop. What if the Pip-Buck was damaged, and in reality somepony else in the Stable was still alive. I wanted to go back, but at the same time I couldn't face it... not after what happened.
“What are you doing on my bed?” A voice sounded from behind me as I was enveloped in a pale telekinetic field and was lifted into the air. I flailed my hooves wildly as I was turned around, facing the Unicorn doing it. He had a red coat, in stark contrast to the outside, and a golden cropped mane adorned his head. I could see two yellow lightning bolts on his flank.
“What. Are. You. Doing. In. My. Bed?” the buck said more commandingly now.
“I... I.... Well, I saw the light a-a-a-and I thought...”
“You just walked into my house, and use my bed, and then expect hospitality from me? No, forget it sister, give me one good reason why I shouldn't just throw you to the slavers and get a good chunk of caps?”
My lips were frozen solid, not literally. I couldn't speak, I couldn't even form a single syllable. The buck had a frown on his face as he looked at me, and I shuddered again.
“Wait... “ he said as he looked over my body, and his eyes widened when he looked at my flank and tail. After a few seconds he lowered me down onto the mattress again, and released me from his grasp. “...I can't believe it... not again!” He screamed as he stomped back and forth angrily.
I on the other hoof felt faint as a headache pounded through my head, and I fell to the mattress, feeling the soft fabric against my cheek as I closed my eyes.
****
I felt... I felt weak... OH GOD! It's happening again! I flashed away as I felt hooves run the length of the side of my body, and I rose to my hooves so fast that I got a head-splitting headache, but I moved away from another shape in the room.
“Don't!” I screamed as I clenched my eyes shut, expecting either foreign hooves on me or foreign objects in me. None of the options was appealing at all to me.
A soft chuckle made my eyes open, but I still trembled as I looked at the stallion in front of me. “It's okay. I was just fixing up your leg,” he said softly as he motioned towards one of my back-hooves. Looking down, I could see that he had bandaged it, and I had been bleeding. That would explain the pain I felt whilst I slid down the hill.
“Thank you,” I commented as I tried to get on my hooves, but I didn't have the strength and merely fell to the floor again. I saw the unknown buck approach me, and my heart started to pound again as I scrambled to cower in the corner.
The smile leapt from his face, and he walked out of the room, but I could clearly hear the sound of a Pip-Buck. Suddenly, I looked at my hoof, and yes it was still there. I could feel the lump in my chest descending as I caught a voice, and it wasn't the voice of the buck. Unless he suddenly turned female.
“War-torn Anchorage is back under Steel Ranger control, my dear ponies, and Sparky here have you covered with the news out of there. And for you that have not been listening to my last few broadcasts! You are bad ponies! Very, very bad ponies!” A chuckle erupted from the next room as the buck walked back in, and I saw the Pip-Buck on his hoof. It looked similar to mine, actually... I looked at mine again, and low and behold. It was exactly the same! Apart from the fact that his had more scrapes than mine that is.
“Anyway, to give you an update: The band previously known as AppleJack's Rangers have been eradicated, but do not lose hope. Point Hoof is still holding strong, and I have reports from Tenpony Tower that the war over there is still going well.” Another chuckle escaped the device, and the buck turned off the Pip-Buck as he turned towards me.
“So, who are you?” he asked casually, but his voice carried the intention of malice as he spoke with a lowered tone.
“No, you're not,” he replied back with a sour tone, and I wanted to flee at that point. Sadly, my body had decided otherwise, and wouldn't let me walk, crawl, or anything really. A smirk crept across his muzzle as his horn lighted up and I could hear the usual clicking of a Pip-Buck, his in fact. It glowed an eerie green as a recording(I presumed) scratched on.
“-ts gone. The whole fucking thing is gone! Steel Rangers assaulted the Stable, and stole one of our generators. They ripped the entire thing out of the wall. Had I not convinced them that we had nothing else to take, they would have even taken the Stable door. Luckily I got everypony in safety before they hit. Only because of my Pip-Buck did I get enough warning...” The recording sputtered to a halt as the unicorn buck's Pip-Buck stopped glowing.
I recognized the voice, and that was clearly the voice of Cold Front, but.... The language was disturbingly colourful, and she sounded more angry than she had in the recordings of her that I had.
Having no plan and no voice, I clicked my Pip-Buck and chose the appropriate audio file. If nothing else, the recording would at least cooperate with my lie. The stupid grin he had the entire time, faded when the recording began, and it instead turned into a frown.
The recording finished as abruptly as I remembered, and the buck turned around.
The soft sound of fabric hitting the hard floor echoed through my ears. Suddenly, my saddlebags laid on the floor in front of me, and I looked up at the buck. His face was cold and emotionless, and the anger from before had vanished. Perhaps he knew this Cold Front? I didn't really care, and frankly if he could help me get away from here, I would happily oblige to not being Cold Front. My life hadn't really improved after I assumed that role.
“Where are you going?” I asked as I regained my voice and got to my hooves, gripping the leather strap between my saddlebags. It tasted of blood. Probably mine. In one swift motion I hoofed it over my back, and now I felt less naked.
“Nowhere,” he replied stoutly, and turned his back. He too picked up a saddle, though this one didn't have the official Stable-Tec logo. It was in fact a saddle equipped with two rifles, one at each side. I didn't know which kind, not that I studied guns that much in any case.
“You sure?” I asked again, this time lowering my voice into soft and dull tones. Maybe he listened more to mares who actually sounded as Mares.
He frowned at me, but his expression was soft. “I'm going to replenish my supplies,” he commented as he proceeded to walk out of the house. As he left I could feel the coldness of the vacant house around me, and I practically galloped after him. I was not about to be left alone again.
When I caught up to him, he frowned at me, but didn't do anything else to denote me from following him further. We walked together for a while in silence, and it was truly deafening. Having lived in the Stable my whole life, I had always had the quiet hum of the Stable generators, but out here, the only sound I could hear was the faint whooshing of the wind.
Looking around me I could see nothing but the whiteness. It seemed to perforate everything and huddle it inside itself, as if it was some kind of sleeping beast. I looked over to him but got no look in return.
Biting my lip, I finally couldn't contain myself any longer. “What is this?” I asked as I motioned at the ground with a smile, and limped forwards. The buck grinned at me, then he broke into a chuckle, but I couldn't really see what was so funny about it.
“Really? You've never seen snow?” he asked with an enthusiasm that was rather unnerving. I shook my head and he laughed some more, so much in fact that we had to stop so he didn't fall over and strand both me and himself.
“That's not funny, and It's not my fault. I lived underground my whole life!” I shouted at him as he rolled in the snow, and suddenly after I spoke, he got to his hooves again and stared at me blankly. What the hay was the matter with this guy? What's wrong with this entire surface-world actually?
“You've lived in a Stable?” The buck asked dryly, his former enthusiasm seemed to have left him. I nodded in return, and he groaned as we trudged forwards again. The sound of the 'snow' crumbled under my hooves. I wanted to live in this 'snow' thing from this point on.
“Which?” Which what?
“What?”
He face hoofed. He was about to speak when his ears perked, and he narrowed his eyes forward as I could hear the sounds of music. The buck poked me with a hoof.
“Do not touch me!” I screamed in return at him, and his ears lowered.
“Fine, just follow me!” he retorted back as we moved towards a group of boulders and he hunched down behind the stones as the music grew louder and louder. It hit a huge note, and I could hear the faint sounds of the Equestrian national anthem as it vanished into silence again.
The buck peeked his head out from the stone, and a sigh escaped him as he returned to his usual stance. What they hay was this guy's problem?
“We're safe,” he said with relief as he moved out from the stone. I followed swiftly. Soon we were on our way. As we walked, I continued to check my map, and saw that 'Point Hoof' crept closer and closer, but we were diverging. Instead of going south, we went south-east.
“What's Point Hoof?” I asked rather bluntly.
He looked at me with a glare that reminded me of Fizzle, then I saw her mangled body flash across my eyes. I swallowed hard, and stared at him in return, or at least some kind of stare. The best stare that I could muster.
“Death,” he answered back, though I wouldn't count that as an answer; it was merely a word, and not a word I liked.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at him. “Death?”
“Death,” he agreed.
This was really good. I would have been better off alone in fact. This guy was as useful as an audio recording, no actually, a recording was more useful. In there they actually strip away crap that's not useful and only leave the important bits. In conclusion, I like reports.
“Would you care to elaborate?” I asked and pushed forwards with the conversation.
He looked at me, but again his look softened. Now that was getting on my nerves. “Raider town, and I don't have to explain what a Raider is to you.” Huh? OH! Yeah, there's no introduction needed there.
I noosed my head, and the conversation stopped again. This buck wasn't the talkative sort, but I had seen what the talkative sort talked about, and this was preferable though eerie. We passed a few broken houses on our way towards wherever, and it suddenly dawned on me as I saw an old post-box with a name inscribed on it.
Starcatcher, I think it was. The lettering was terribly faded, and we walked past in a hurry. We were actually speeding up.“What's your name?” I asked softly, seeing as that had worked so well earlier.
“Hah!” Another one word reply. Damn, that was annoying.
“Hah, what?” I asked back, but no glare this time. It wasn't needed.
He looked at me, and smirked. “I could tell you my name was Destroyer, or Sunflower, or maybe I'll get real creative, huh? How about, Wildforce?” He kept reciting fictional names in a sarcastic tone as we walked. I preferred the silence.
Fine then, but... oh! Oh yes! My bad memory came to haunt me again, but I remembered back to the house, and maybe there was something better than silence. I stopped briefly to check my Pip-Buck, and by golly was I right! Another station had cropped up on my communications tab, not one I recognized, but it would have to work.
Galloping after the stallion, I resumed my position next to his side as sweet music poured from my Pip-Buck. The buck didn't say anything, but I didn't care. As the music kept on playing, I noticed that I hadn't heard this one before. The Stable had only ten songs, or just about that number, and there were no musically inclined ponies there. That's what you get when you have a Stable where the mechanical department is bigger than half the living area.
With a pop, and an electrical crackle the song stopped. It was interrupted half-way to its intended finish by a stallion. He had a gruff voice, gravely, and almost grating, so I felt sick of the memory it perked.
“In other news: We have no more reports coming out of the Steel Ranger's number station up south, they keep telling it's not theirs, but ponies in full armour barding similar to that of Rangers have been seen, so watch yourself out there. And here's another song, this one by Gravestone!” His voice vanished with another electrical crackle and my Pip-Buck shut off, magically.
What the hay? I turned to look at the buck, a faint glimmer of magic around his horn vanished. Now, he was getting on my nerves... again!
“What was that for?” I asked, dumbfounded since I should have known the answer.
“I don't listen to Gravestone,” he noted, but didn't look at me. Clearly something was bothering him, and it had to do with this 'Gravestone'. I suddenly felt as if I got bombarded with names, and I secretly hoped my Pip-Buck had an auto-remember-names spell.
It didn't.
Me and the buck walked for a few more miles as the sun went down. I walked behind him, and he walked in front. Unsurprisingly he wasn't very nervous at me, and honestly where would I go? The light of our Pip-Buck lighted the way.
Suddenly, I could hear the Equestrian national anthem again, but this time the buck didn't waver. My Pip-Buck started clicking again, but I didn't look. If I lost the buck out here, I wouldn't be able to find him again.
We strode in front of a town. A bad town, but a town nonetheless. Right in front of me, a huge rusted metal sign hung limply from two rusted poles, and it said 'Hoofy' in large, also rusted metal letters with one of them hanging from its supports, almost ready to drop.
Looking at my Pip-Buck, I was surprised that it didn't mark the town as 'Hoofy' as in the name, not the badly made pun. Instead it marked it as 'Strom' … Okay?
When I looked back up at the dilapidated town, I noticed that the buck was gone. In retrospect, I should have known. He never wanted me to follow him again, but crap. I was alone again, and in a badly kept town.
Not good.
Footnote:Level Up(3.)
New Perk: Swift Learner(2) – You are indeed a Swift Learner with this Perk, as each level will gain you an additional +5% bonus whenever you earn experience points.
