Fallout Equestria - The Tale of Stable 112

A cold blooded visitor

Pending quests: Escape, Save the Stable

As the blinding light faded away I was surprised to see the terminal in front of me, it took me awhile to gather my bearings as to what just happened. As I stretched my neck I peered around my location and was shocked to see I had returned from the simulation. It worked! I slowly pushed off the glass paneling from the pod and jumped out from inside. I fell onto my haunches, noting that they had lost feeling after such an extensive period of time, as sensation returned to my legs I stood up and checked the main terminal. As I slowly trotted there, my nose picked up a horrifying stench, it smelled as if something or someone had died or has been dead for quite the period of time.

Turning the corner to view the terminal my eyes saw a truly nightmarish scene, the scientist stallion’s remains laid sprawled on the ground, the stench protruding from his body was horribly foul. My stomach was already hurting from the actions done in the simulation and this pushed it over the line, I quickly turned away and threw up what little I had left in my stomach. His body was not only blood covered but some of his remains were already rotting away to the point his skeleton was showing. Just how long were we in there for? It hasn’t been a day in the simulation but the body looked like it had been in here for months.

Covering my nose with my hooves I looked into the terminal. I was shocked when I checked the stable’s status, It had been 8 months since we’ve entered this stable yet it was only one day in the simulation. As I kept analyzing the terminal’s files I noticed there was one that kept flashing repeatedly, I navigated to it and saw that the citizens of Serenity Square had heard word of the murder. I felt a twinge of guilt as I read the file, the police believed without a doubt that I had killed her, they were on the look out for me everywhere in the simulation. Had I not escaped, that simulation would be my cell and my tomb, I shut off the terminal and looked down at the blood stained floors. I had to save them, even if I did would they forgive me? I hadn’t a clue but I already made my commitment when I killed that mare.

I carefully moved from the terminal, respectfully avoiding the scientist’s remains as I made my way up into the common area. There wasn’t anything too spectacular about the common area, a couch with some magazines on a coffee table and a receptionist desk, it looked like we were at an office rather than a stable. As I made my way past the common area I came across the stable cafeteria, my stomach grumbled at the thought of having a meal. The kitchen lights flickered on as I walked inside, surprisingly it looked very normal and it brought memories of when I used to work on-site at Stable-Tec offices. I shook the memory away and proceeded to raid the fridge when a happy sounding robot startled me by calling out to me, “Miss Azuli! I hadn’t realized 30 years had passed already! You must be famished, I’ll cook you up something special. Say, where are the others?”

I pulled my head out from the fridge and sat at a booth near the robot as he grilled away, “Hey, the others um, wanted to extend their stay in the simulation as they loved it that much.”

The robot looked back without stopping his cooking and replied very cheerily, “Wonderful, oh I wonder how Susan and the foal are doing. Hopefully that rapscallion Thomas hasn’t done anything bad in there,” he sounded like he had known the people inside, like he was great friends with them.

I nervously chuckled into a glass of water as the robot muttered to himself, eventually I decided he might have knowledge of where the keycard may be. “Excuse me, um... robot-”

“I prefer my dear, but do go on.” He replied very politely, perhaps wanting to establish a friendship.

“Right um, Mr.Handy, do you by any chance know where I can find the overmare’s keycard?” I asked nervously, hoping my journey wouldn’t be too far.

He stopped his grilling and looked back at me as if I had insulted his creator, “The keycard madam?! Why do you need such a thing?”

I knew he knew had friendly ties with everyone but what would he do if he knew that I put all their lives in danger? As much as I hated it, I needed to tell him the truth. “Listen Handy, the people of Serenity Square are trapped. The program intends to kill them if we don’t shut off the protocol.”

He floated there silently, almost as if he was deep in thought. “How long till that happens?” he asked, the cheer vanishing from his tone of voice.

“4 months, the terminal said it’d do it automatically if we didn't disable the protocol.” I responded, guilty that I had ruined this bot’s cheery life.

“Dear god… Madam you have to find that keycard, I attend to them while they're inside the simulation. I cannot leave, but you.. you can go and find it.” He said, his voice sounding stern and demanding.

“I know, as overmare I must save them... Where is it?” I asked, knowing full well I had no choice in the matter.

“Stable-tec Offices which is located in Fillydelphia, about a 5 days travel on hoof.” He took care to explain to me which path to take and the best route there.

“How do I know which way is correct? The city and all the signs might be gone.” I asked worriedly, unsure what lays above ground.

“You need a pip-buck then, take this key and go to room right across the kitchen. It’s the overmare’s office.” The bot handed me a rather rusted key and pointed me to the door.
“Thanks. I’ll save them Handy, I promise” I told him confidently, trying to give him some comfort in this dire situation.

“I know you will madam, don’t forget your lunch too.” He responded, laying a plate with some veggies on it.

“Why did he grill veggies?” I thought to myself, pondering this bot’s culinary experience and picking up the plate with a thanks. Making my way to the overmare’s room I chowed down on the lunch Handy had prepared, wasn’t too bad but the char marks didn’t help it. Using the key I opened the door, inside laid a note with a bracelet looking object.

Examining the object closely I managed to read the words “Pipbuck 3000.” I opened it’s sides and slipped my hoof inside, closing it nice and tightly. Once I had adjusted it more comfortably I picked up the note and sat on a nearby couch, reading it carefully.

“Welcome to Stable 112, you are the designated overmare for this stable and as such, have obtained this special pipbuck. Along with it’s default abilities, you’ll also be able to track your stable’s health and condition from anywhere in equestria. Please refer to your issued pipbuck manual for more information.”

Awesome, now I know if there’s anything wrong with the stable on my adventures. I sat up and examined the room a bit more. Opening the closet I, found a nice looking purple sweater and a white scarf, they looked really nice so I figured I’d wear them, no one was certain how it was outside but it gets cold everywhere.

As I kept scavenging the drawers of the room I heard an alarm go off in the main hall, Mr Handy quickly rushed into my room, he sounded distressed and panicked.”Madam! Madam! There’s an intruder at the stable door! He intends to enter and kill us all!” He screamed.

I jumped from the sudden notice, I had no idea ponies would try to break into the stable. Would I have to kill them? I had no other choice but to protect my stable at any cost. I assumed Mr. Handy wasn’t too fond of hurting others but he knew that if push turned to shove it would be up to him to protect to stable dwellers.

He guided me to the stable entrance, as I followed he extended his arm at me, a pistol being grasped in his robotic hand. “Take this madam, if I cannot fend off the intruder then you must deal with him.” He said in a very stern voice, it sounded like he was scared of what was going to happen. I only nodded and took hold of the gun, it had been the first time i’ve seen one up close, it seemed modified for ponies to shoot and it looked well taken care of.

We reached the stable door in a matter of seconds, any cameras we had were obliterated in the blast so we had no vision of the outside world. Mr.Handy explained that my Pipbuck can open any stable in equestria, nervously I followed his instructions down to the last word. The big door rattled to life and began to move, the gears helped it move to the side and a blast of cold air hit me directly.

As the doors slid fully open we saw no figure, I stood my ground with the pistol pointed outwards. No matter who or what came in, there would be bloodshed, seconds seemed like hours as we waited for the thing to show itself. Right as we were about to close the door, the sound of skittering rang in my ear. Something was coming closer and it seemed small, I quickly looked around the area, searching for the cause of the noise. It sounded closer now, it was basically in my face but I could not find the source of the noise. The sound drew even closer, was I going insane? Is there actually a noise? Mr. Handy looked equally terrified so I knew the noise wasn’t my imagination.

My mind raced to what it could be, suddenly the noise stopped. Had it left? Are we okay? I nearly smiled but was scared shitless as the source appeared in front of my eyes, “blep” cried a small little gecko. I stared at the gecko with despair, a gecko... We were attacked by a gecko... This is embarrassing even for my standards.

“Haha! Madam we overreacted for no reason! It was just a harmless gecko! A leopard gecko at that. Wonder how he managed to survive this long.” Chimed the now happy robot, relieved that we weren’t under attack.

“Yea, I guess we can shut off the door now.” I replied, picking up the gecko with my hoof. Examining it closely, “Hey.. this gecko has a camera on it. This belongs to someone!”

The robot was shocked by my discovery but we both were scared stiff as another voice peered through the door. “Yes.. she belongs to me.. Please.. Help me.” They sounded in pain and were probably hurt.

I wasn’t going to risk it, I drew the gun but was immediately disarmed as the gecko climbed quickly up my arm and started to get into my eyes and mouth. “H-hey! Why should we trust you?” I asked the voice, pulling the gecko off me and setting it on the terminal again.

“I mean no harm... Please... I am very injured...” Responded the voice, it was notable that whoever was out there struggled to even speak. It spoke again “Here.. I’ll throw in my weapons. Please just help me..”

A bag flew into the stable and landed by Mr. Handy, it had a lot of weaponry and even some food. I couldn’t let them die... I knew it was probably a shitty idea but I had no choice. “Okay, how badly are you hurt? Come inside quickly, there better be only one of you,” I responded, pulling out my weapon again.

The hooded figure stepped closer and we were able to finally see who it was. I was dumbfounded, it was a pony! There were survivors! I examined her and saw that she was bleeding profusely from her left side. “Mr. Handy grab the first aid kit, I’ll help her inside.” The robot hesitated but followed as instructed, rushing out to grab the supplies.

I waited till she slowly shuffled inside and proceeded to close the door, the gears moving it shut once again. I jumped down and went to her, the gecko following right behind me. “Who are you? What happened? Are there more survivors?” I asked, curious and concerned.

“C-can we save Q&A for later? I’m in a lot of pain.” responded the mare, she pulled off her hood and huffed softly.

“R-right sorry.” I replied, a bit embarrassed of my enthusiasm.

I carefully laid her hoof over me and helped her slowly trot to the main common area, Mr. Handy met us there with the medical supplies.

“I’ve got the supplies as you instructed, I’ll take it from here miss Azuli. Can you fetch me some water? I need some to wash off the blood.” Instructed the robot, pointing towards a bathroom.

“Sure, I’ll be right back.” I answered, heading to the bathroom and grabbed a bucket by the sink. A million questions running through my mind as I filled the bucket, “Was she attacked? Who is she? Are there people looking for her? Is she a criminal? Oh god what if I led some bandits here?!” I thought to myself, snapping back to reality as I noticed the bucket was almost full.

I carried it back to Mr.Handy, resting it on the floor next to the couch. “How is she?” I asked the robot.

“She’ll pull through, gunshot wounds and seemed like she was attacked by some sort of animal” He responded, sounding rather impressed and concerned. “There must be some nasty creatures out there.. Miss Azuli, I don’t think you should go anymore.”

I stared dumbfounded at the robot, “What?! No I have to go, the whole stable depends on me finding that keycard!” I shouted at the robot, angry at what he had said.

“I know that Ms Azuli but what if you get injured or even killed out there?! It’ll be my fault for sending you out there in the first place.” He exclaimed, turning his gaze to me.

“Then I would’ve died trying, what would I accomplish sitting here while they die? I must and I will go find it, end of story.” I snapped back, not wanting to argue with him about it.
Mr.Handy only turned back around and sighed, “Fine but go shower first, best to leave refreshed and clean.” He returned back to mending the unknown mare’s injuries.

I nodded and headed out to the overmare’s bathroom, the bathtub was so elegant and really spacious. I started to fill the tub with warm water and proceeded to strip off the clothes I had found, I stepped inside when the bath filled halfway full. I sighed softly as the warm water seemed to ease my worries away, I soaked for a few minutes before starting to wash my mane and coat. Rinsing away the soap from my mane I heard a familiar skittering out from the tub, I peeked an eye open to see who could be spying on me.

From the corner of my eye I saw her, that damn gecko riding a tiny duck it found by the sink. How it had both found it and dragged it in here still baffles me to this day but I wasn’t in the mood to question it. We both laid back and enjoyed the warm water, after about 15 minutes I decided to hop on out and dry off, the gecko following behind me and skittering away again.

As I entered the overmare’s bedroom I saw her, the random mare was looking around the room for something. “Hey, what are you doing in here? This is my room.”

She looked back at me as she put down my pipbuck, I was concerned what her intentions were. “So you're the overmare of this place then I’m assuming? Funny how this stable was meant to be ruled by someone else but you're here instead.”

“W-what are you talking about? I’m the head mare of this stable, always have been.” I replied confidently, hoping she’d buy it.

“You don’t have to pretend so hard sweetie, I know you got put in charge here because of the unexpected detonation of a mega spell.” She explained, making me feel kind of embarrassed for lying to her.

“H-how did you know that?! Only the people inside the stable would've known” I blurted out, amazed she knew how I became overmare.

“Old scrapbot over there spilled the beans, he’s really chatty when he wants to be.” As she explained how she knew, the mare lifted a gun towards me. Did she plan on killing all this time?! Fuck me sideways why did I trust her?!

She only laughed as she pulled the trigger, a hollow click sounding from the gun itself. “If you plan to defend your stable at least make sure you have bullets, hun.”

I nearly wet myself as I heard the click of the gun, a bright blush filling my cheeks as I heard her statement. “H-HANDY DID YOU GIVE ME A GUN WITH NO AMMO?!” I screamed angrily at the robot who was in his room across the hall.

“Loaded weapons are dangerous Ms.Azuli,” he replied, honestly I’ve never been more ready to kill a robot than that moment right there.

The mare only laughed some more, setting the gun down on the bed. “I’m Aslania, I’m sure you’ve met my pet as well. Solaris is a very curious gecko but a real pain in the flank if she’s attacking you.”

The gecko slithered up her leg and rested on her mane, looking really happy to see her better. “Yea, we’ve gotten acquainted. Say you’ve been outside a lot longer than me, any chance you know how to get to fillydelphia?” I asked, hoping she’d know how to get me started.

“Fillydelphia? That city was wiped out completely, only rubble and a sealed stable are left.” I nearly gave up hope, but hearing her say that a stable survived made my heart skip a beat. Could it be that the keycard is in there? It was a long shot but I’d no other choice at the moment.

“How do I get there? Do I go east? West? North?” I excitedly asked, hoping to get my journey started. She only looked away as I asked my questions as if avoiding what I said entirely.

“You're a sweet mare, Azuli but you’ll get killed out there. It wouldn’t be right of me to tell you where to go if it meant I’d be sending you to your death.” She sat on the bed and sighed, she looked as if she were trying to figure out how to explain it better.

“I have to get there, my stable’s citizens depend on me succeeding in my task. I don't care if I die if it means I get to save them.” I stated, ignoring the fact that I was scared out of my mind.

“Fine, if that’s how it is,” she said, standing back up with the gun in her hoof. Pointing it right at me, “I rather kill you now than let you suffer.”

She loaded the gun with a clip she had found in one of the overmare’s drawers. “I’m sorry but I can’t let another fall victim to the waste.”

“Was she serious?! I saved her?!” I thought as I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as the gunshot rang in the small, metal room.

End of Chapter 2

Level up: (3)

Perk added: Honest hearts- A friend is an enemy you’ve kept at bay.
Allies are easily lost and enemies are easily befriended.