Chapter One: The Portal to Hell
My life was in one word, utterly boring. Wait, that was two words. Never mind. I was kind of busy at the moment. Icy Breeze groaned impatiently, and I hit one of her pressure points, causing her mouth to close suddenly. "Be patient. You know the check-ups take time, Icy."
Icy moaned in frustration, but stilled. I used my magic to feel along her spine, checking for any dislocations. Icy worked in the machinery department, building and maintaining the machines that kept the place running. That meant a lot of time bent over inside of machinery, so maintenance ponies had weekly check-ups. In the words of the Overmare, "We want to keep the faithful workers of Stable 83 100% safe and sound!"
"So, tell me, what's been going on with you? I can talk while we do the check-up." I tried to look as comforting as possible, which was difficult. Icy had a bad habit of being abrasive and secretive about her personal life, but one of the most important things about being a doctor was being able to comfort and connect to her patients.
Icy bit her lip and looked around a bit, apparently looking for somepony, even though she knows for a fact that the medical rooms are private. "Well... I've been considering... Having a foal." Her eyes lit up. "With Happy Hour. I would need permission from the Overmare to access the Storage of Life, but all that time would be worth it."
I smiled from ear to ear. "That's wonderful Icy!" Icy and Happy Hour had been together for roughly a year now, and even though Icy was tough to get along with, everyone could see her face light up whenever the bar tending mare had walked through the door. "In that case, you wouldn't mind me making sure you are all capable for having a foal?" Icy nodded, and I focused my magic. I was no good at healing ponies. My special talent lied in sensing problems. I could sense ponies' injuries, mental disabilities, and even how fertile mares were. I allowed my horn to glow brighter, and a light blow glow extended over her lower body. It glowed brightly, and I walked around her, noticing everything. I could see a healed injury from when she had leaned against a burning stove and got a now very faded scar, I could sense a nasty bruise she had gotten falling out of a tree.
Besides some healed injuries, nothing seemed to be wrong, and I told her. She smiled widely and gave me a hug, her navy blue coat starkly contrasting my white coat. She practically skipped out the door, and I smiled after her. It soon melted, and I turned to look in the mirror above my desk. It was just near enough to the floor where my height allowed me to see my Cutie Mark, a red acupuncture needle with a few light blue sparks surrounding the tip of it. I ran a hoof through my mane, a few stray light purple hairs falling out. My light blue eyes looked tired. It was difficult being a medical pony sometimes. You had to stay cheery for everyone, but seeing all these ponies, especially the ones in pain, could drain you. I thanked Rarity that nothing had been wrong with Icy Breeze.
I heard a knock on my door and turned my smile back on, pushing away any feelings of dread. It was time for me to help somepony out. I opened the door. "Hello, I'm Dr. Pulse. How can I help you today?"
I yawned widely, stretching my back and legs out, feeling my body pull itself. I continued walking through the Stable hallways, heading towards my least favorite pony. I had left Dr. Ace in charge for the night, and needed to get my PipBuck fixed. I had been tired from an excessive amount of magic use, and wasn't watching what I was doing. I had washed my hooves clumsily and fully soaked the PipBuck, causing it to short circuit.
Our PipBuck repair pony was an utter nuisance. He was good at his job, sure, but didn't bother to greet anyone with even a sense of kindness. You gave him the PipBuck, showed him the problem, then left until it was fixed, which knowing him, might take a day or a week. He was lazy. I sighed but walked towards the station, already hating the idea. But I needed it fixed, that was for sure.
It was only a few minutes until I located the door, knocking politely. Despite my feelings on Maneframe, there was no reason to be rude to him. The stallion opened the door, his blue eyes red and tired. I didn't bother to ask. I didn't care that much. "What d'ya want?"
I showed him my PipBuck, reclining as it sparked a little. "I accidentally got my PipBuck soaked." He scoffed and levitated tools out of his room, starting to pry it off.
"One of the few PipBucks not installed with waterproofing, and you get it wet now." With a click it slid off my foreleg, and he vanished without a word. I didn't realize until later not only had I not seen inside of his stall, he had referenced 'now' as if doing something important.
I was waiting inside of my room, waiting for my patient to arrive at 4:42 on a Thursday. 12 minutes after Stop Watch’s appointment time, and 12 minutes after she usually arrived. I was immediately nervous. Watch was never late and never missed an appointment, immediately making me suspicious. I walked over to my desk and pressed the nurse’s intercom button, waiting for her response. “Yes Dr. Pulse?”
“Could you please call maintenance and see where Miss Stop Watch is? It is unlikely she is ever late. She would have called.” The mare affirmed that she would and disconnected. I walked into the lobby and announced, “Next patient, please?” I wouldn’t hear back until later.
I heard a knock and opened the door, surprised to see Icy again. “Icy? What’s the matter? Your appointment isn’t until later this week.” I was concerned, but I couldn’t see anything wrong at the moment.
She shrugged and pointed down the hallway. “I just got a message from Maneframe. He wanted to thank you for saving his sister, and said that your PipBuck, and to come by after your shift was over.” Ah, Stop Watch. The mare had been found crushed underneath a piece of metal that had been rusted through by a leaky pipe. Both had been fixed, and the mare had been found in enough time to save her life.
I smiled. “That’s perfect! My shift is actually ending early, Dr. Ace wants to gain some more vacation hours and is taking over early. I’ll message him now.” I walked to the intercom and buzzed the nurse, alerting her to my request, and immediately started trotting down the halls, Icy walking away.
When I got near the door it opened on its own, which should have immediately set me off. Deciding whether I cared or not wasn’t on my mind when I saw what was inside. Sitting on a terminal was a metal object curved like a horn. I touched it just as a voice shouted angrily, “Don’t touch that!” The horn latched onto my skin, and I screamed. Metal from the terminal seemed to liquefy and follow it, absorbing my left front leg under it. It went up my chest in a line, crossed my cheek, went over my eye (creating some sort of clear visor) and finally reaching my horn where the horn shaped object covered it.
I was tackled, my screams cutting off. It hadn’t hurt, but being tackled did. “No! NO! WHAT DID YOU DO YOU BASTARD?” Maneframe slammed my head against the floor, and I saw stars. I pushed him all I could with my magic, and he skidded backwards a couple feet as I stood shakily to my hooves. My telekinetic power had been doubled, it felt like. He suddenly grabbed my PipBuck off of his desk and threw it at me. I closed my eyes and wished he would stop attacking me.
The air filled with ozone and a crackle of electricity, a blinding light nearly piercing my eyelids. If my right eye had been open, I feel I might have gotten blind in that eye. I opened my eyes to find a melted and broken PipBuck, along with the charred corpse of Maneframe. I vomited as a red light bloomed from a compartment in the ceiling, and sirens started screaming. May Fluttershy forgive me.
I had found everything I would need for a journey outside of the Stable in some Saddlebags, realizing Maneframe had probably meant to do exactly as I was doing now. Water, food, potions, Rad-Aways... I had also accidentally downloaded some of his personal files off of a terminal, the screen over my left eye filled with text requesting my approval to download files located in a nearby terminal. I had focused and thought “Yes”, assuming it followed the same logic as the horn had earlier, even if the horn had caused an undesired effect.
I left, not daring to look at the corpse once more. I galloped through the halls at full-speed. I was probably being irrational, but murder was punished with death. And as honorable as I might have been, I didn’t want to die. I nearly ran into a guard as I turned a corner, and used my twice as strong magic to move her enough to hit her against the wall, the mare falling unconcious.
I charged towards the door, noting four guards. They raised pistols, aiming them at me, and I skidded to a stop. The fired the guns at me and the horn reacted before I could. Lightning arced from them, and I barely closed my eyes in time. Shrapnel flung everywhere, and I felt some sting my right foreleg. I groaned in pain and rushed past the guards, who were recoiling from the pain of the shrapnel they had received the brunt of. Blood coated the bottom of my hooves, and I lowered my horn towards the terminal near the door. ‘Regrets’. If that wasn’t ominous, I don’t know what was. The door started to swivel open, and I turned.
Only one of the guards had gotten up. I felt sick to my stomach. What had I done? I lifted the mare and forced myself to glare. “Run. I don’t want to hurt you.” She stares for a moment before galloping off, limping heavily. The door finally opened behind me. I ran outside and slammed the door closed with all of my telekinetic and physical might. It slammed close, and I was faced with silence. I looked around, finding myself inside of what looked like a dilapidated museum exhibit. Red rope was lined between pillars, warning ponies not to enter. The skeletons of a few ponies lay, silently, on the floor, some having been moved when I opened the door. I leapt over the rope and read the sign that had been knocked over, the words barely readable in the shattered glass case.
Welcome to Stable 83: Protection and safety for all in the unlikely event of the Apocalypse!
Inquire more with your local Stable-Tec scientist!
I looked at the devastated museum, full of graffiti, ruined exhibits, and skeletons. I lay down in front of the skeletons, bowing respectfully, and wept.
If I hadn’t been so busy sobbing into my hooves, I would’ve noticed I was about to be attacked. Instead I felt so,etching collide with me and bite at me, tearing away some flesh. I screamed in pain and my horn sparked, turning whatever had attacked me to a crisp. I climbed out from underneath it and looked around me, viewing walking corpses. Bile erupted from my throat once more, and they converged on me. There were about 5 of them left, maybe more outside. I focused my horn and zapped 2 more, recoiling at the smell of rotten flesh that berated my nose once more. The corpse behind me had the strongest smell. One was able to tackle me, and I pushed with my magic, but I knew I couldn’t hold two of these things off.
That’s when a gunshot rang through the air, and the decayed remains of the closest monster’s brains decorated the walls, other monsters, and me. I vomited once more, but nothing came out. I had already emptied my stomach. I screamed, and my horn reacted to my horror and fear by erupting an enormous amount of electricity, zapping every other creature to char. I ran towards an exhibit featuring a wall of cement that had been removed from somewhere. The graffiti was less extensive than what had been on the Stable door, but it was vulgar, with swears I would have never heard from even the most vulgar Stable pony. I waited, but no more shots rang out. I heard the sound of hoofbeats, but didn’t move.
“Hiding isn’t very bloody smart when you are as big as you are, let alone the shiny metal horn.” It sounded like a mare, but her accent was quite posh. I looked over and gasped, pushing back against the wall. It was another living corpse! She had patchy gray fur and a ruined black mane and tail. On her destroyed flank was a Cutie Mark of a purple music note, and her saddlebags looked tough. Melted to her foreleg was a bow for a cello.
“What are all of you!? D-Don’t hurt me, I have a weapon and I’m n-not afraid to use it!” I lowered my horn, hoping she couldn’t see me physically shaping. She
She scoffed. “If it hadn’t been for your magic trick and those feral ghouls, I would have already shot you. I’m not going down yet.” She trotted closer. “I am a ghoul, notice the lack of feral. My name is Octavia, and I would not appreciate you electrocuting me.”
I looked up, trying to not come off as attempting to battle, but I still shook like a nervous patient’s heartbeat. Octavia looked me up and down in disgust. “I can see you’re from a Stable, but that metal doesn’t look natural.” I cowered, and worked my tongue, attempting to speak. I opened my mouth, but no words come back. Wonderful, I was having experiencing freeze out of the three fear responses.
“Wow. You’re easily spooked.” The ghoul walked closer. I didn’t move a muscle. “You’re not moving, so this is easy.” Before I could respond, she suddenly leapt forward and hit me on the head. I collapsed, the metal horn not even able to let off a spark from the sudden attack.
I woke strapped to a surgical table, a giant saw spinning and lowering towards my head. I looked around quickly, noticing a few things - doctor’s desk, giant mirror, bones, blood - and looked up. It was getting closer. I looked at the saw and focused my magic on it, trying to stop it’s movement. It slowed, but didn’t stop. I let go and screamed. “Let me out!” Nothing answered me. I looked up at the saw and followed the arm it was connected to. It ended at the wall above the mirror. I focused and closed my eyes, feeling the still unfamiliar crackle and scent that accompanied the shock. The wires exploded, and (thank Rarity) the saw stopped moving. I looked around, thankful for the moment of silence. The straps were made of leather and were locked. If I could remove one hoof I might be able to use two hooves to pry them open, along with telekinesis.
I suddenly remembered I had a new metal hoof. If I had had it longer, I might have thought that. I pulled it, along with my magic, and thankfully the leather snapped. I freed myself and ran to the desk. My saddlebags were there, thankfully untouched. I looked through the desk. Ancient files, bottle caps, bandages, and (thank Rarity, again) a ring of keys. I ran to the door and unlocked it. Suddenly I stopped. I was not in some place good for me. I had just been kidnapped!
I put my ear to the door and listened, trying to near enemies, or really anypony. Suddenly the see-through green glass lit up. Eyes-Froward Sparkle appeared, and I barely held back a gasp. Of course! If this was made to assist while being in the outside, you might want to know if someone or something was not friendly. E.F.S. showed nothing right outside the door, but two red dots were nearby, but they moved slowly. Nopony seemed aware of my escape. I opened the door softly, already focusing, getting ready to electrocute any enemies.
Two ghouls turned the corner. One was dressed like a doctor, and the other dressed like a nurse. “Redheart,” The doctor was saying, “make sure to not touch the horn with your hoof. Who knows what it could do with an untrained Earth pony?” The nurse pointed at me, and as the doctor turned, all he saw was the bright flash of blue that charred them. Smoke rose off their body, and an ancient sprinkler system kicked to life. A gauge appeared on the screen, reading “Radiation Detector”. A hoof was quickly heading towards the yellow. I quickly downed a Rad-Away and ducked into a room adjacent to mine.
This one didn’t have any sprinklers, luckily, but it did have two chairs facing a window into the operating room, along with some cabinets. I realized it must have been a one-sided window. I opened the cabinets and found more files, but I did find one more locked one. I circled through the key ring, and finally was able to unlock it. I carefully slid the drawer out of the cabinet.
Inside there was one item, a strange sphere I immediately recognized as a Memory Orb. These were rare in the Stable, but few existed. Most of them were owned by the Overmare. As she always said, “Stable 83 wants to keep this Stable free of secrets and lies!” Ironic, considering she didn’t share them. I crouched under a desk jutting out from the wall near the window and focused on the worn, feeling the world ebb away.
<-=======ooOOoo=======->
I was looking through the window into an entirely different doctor’s office. The nurse I had electrocuted, Redheart, was taking to a blue-maned Unicorn who was laying on the table, but there were no straps. The saw wasn’t even there. This must have been better times. The Unicorn had one of her forelegs in a sling. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt. I had just killed this nurse. But they were about to expirement on me. Did I have a choice?
Then I remembered they were Earth ponies. I did have a choice. They could not have used the horn, most likely. But I didn’t choose the right option.
A familiar voice next to me said, “Is she all right? No nasty zebra posions or the like?” The Earth pony turned to look at her, and I realized two things. First, the pony I was in was an Earth pony. It was strange seeing three Earth ponies. Sure, the Stable had Earth ponies and Pegasi, but they weren’t nearly as common as Unicorns. Secondly, the mare in front of me was Octavia in her heyday. She was gorgeous, and I could tell the stallion I was seeing through the eyes of thought the same thing.
“No Miss Octavia, she’ll be just fine.” His voice was comforting and quiet, a perfect blend. She looked a bit calmer. “There was nothing left in her besides slight metal from the blade. It was non-toxic. If it hadn’t been for one of the dancer’s being particular aware, she might not have been okay. But she is, so you can relax.”
Octavia sighed in relief, but still looked tense and angry. She started to pace. “I can’t believe this. Some-some zebra is so cruel and depraved enough to attempt to kill a mare who is just trying to make ponies happy!? May their souls rot in bloody Tartarus.” Her words were bitter and angry.
I watched us put a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “Relax. Perhaps you should focus on your tour? With everypony nervous and scared, this might be a good way to cheer them up. Everyone is scared of MoM, even though they’re trying to cheer everyone up.” What? Why were they scared of his mother? I didn’t have too much time to contemplate, as he continued speaking. “This war will blow over. We have to believe that.”
Octavia nodded. “Alright, I’m going to do just that. Thank you doctor.” The mare exited the room, and I watched as we walked over to the file cabinet. In the same box where I had just encountered the Memory Orb, he pulled out a singular file. I followed his eyes and read as much as I could before he could put it back in the box. The papers looked new. “From the desk of Stable-Tec: Stable-Tec requests Ponyville hospital to join Canterlot hospital and the Ministry of Arcane Sciences in seeing the effects of technological implantation on all races of ponies.”
A door opened and the stallion immediately slammed the file down and closed the drawer. He relaxed when he saw it was only the nurse. “Nurse Redheart. How is the patient?”
“She is perfectly fine. Shaken and worried about Miss Octavia’s performances, but perfectly alright.” The mare bit her lip. “But back to the other topic. Are you sure about this project?” She was obviously referring to the files we were just reading.
The stallion nodded. “We are getting requests to work with the Miniatry of Arcane Sciences! Not only could this be huge for Ponyville’s reputation, I myself am rather curious about the project.” The stallion smiled, and cantered on his hooves.
The nurse nodded, and she seemed to grow more confident. “For the betterment of Equestria.” The stallion repeated the moniker and the two left the room. The memory ended.
<-=======ooOOoo=======->
I frowned deeply. That was heavily unsettling. Some Stable out there might have technological implants on ponies. And somehow something related to that must have been brought to Stable 83, where Maneframe would eventually gain the knowledge and expirement. I was about to leave when I remembered about E.F.S. I focused and brought it up. Nothing appeared to be here, but that might not last for long.
I left the room and found a window nearby. Looking out I realized I was on the second floor of a three story building. I was tempted to jump out the window, but that might break one or more of my legs. I didn’t want to risk it. I crept around, constantly checking E.F.S., looking for stairs leading down. I finally found some and descended, checking the E.F.S. for this floor. I was not checking for potions or Rad-Aways or anything, because I didn’t want to risk staying any longer in here. There was no way those were the only two ghouls in here.
I was right. When I reached the ground floor, the E.F.S. lit up. Red dots littered what I could see if the floor, roughly seven. However there was one unmoving green dot located - and not moving - in a room far to the right. I knew I should probably run, but they needed help. It wasn’t safe being surrounded by enemies. I checked the hall way they were down, frowning to see that four enemies were that way.
I peeked around the corner. The two nearest were engaged in a deep conversation, luckily faced away from me. Further down the hall the last two stood guard outside of the ally’s door, pacing about a little. If I could kill the first two without getting tackled, I might be able to get the last two. I took a deep breath, walked into the room, closed my eyes, and sent electricity arcing through the air. They barely had time to scream. The two guards galloped forward. I sent another arc of lightning through the air, and the ghouls slid to a stop in front of me, nothing but charred remains.
I trotted to the door and used the key ring to open it. Strapped to a table with a saw-blade about to cut her open was a silent and somber Octavia. It never reached her snout.
We hadn’t spoken as I freed her from the table, but I kept her hooves tied together and her saddlebags on the desk. “Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
She immediately bit back with a retort of “Want to tell me what the fuck you are first?” We glared at each other for a moment, unwilling to back down.
I have in first, deciding I was new to this place. “Fine. I’m a Unicorn doctor from a Stable, the PipBuck technician made some sort of technological horn that attaches to me and merged with me and it won’t come off. Are you happy?” I was bitter. I hated having my privacy invaded, and this mare had just knocked me out and expected an answer.
Octavia nodded, and took a moment before speaking. “First, ghouls. We are ponies who survived the apocalypse, but... It had different affects on us. Our bodies melt and become corpse-like. Radiation heals us, along with normal potions. We are difficult to kill, but it’s possible, as you probably know. There are three types of known ghouls. The only two you need to know about are feral ghouls and ghouls like me.
“The feral ghouls have lost their minds and just want to kill everything. Ghouls like me and the others outside are sane, but obviously not all are good. I’m sorry for kidnapping you and bringing you here, but they said they had answers for me. They lied.” Her voice erupted in quiet anger towards the end. “I’m not going to hurt you if you untie me. It would be bloody useless now.”
I glared at her, but I couldn’t see any fault in her logic. I untied her hooves and moved her saddlebags over to her. Pulling up E.F.S. I blanched, seeing five red dots outside the door. “We’ve got five enemies outside the door. Do you have a weapon?” I turned to see the mare holding a rifle in her muzzle, black with gray highlights and a pink curl painting the side. “Don’t look at the electricity.” She nodded and I opened the door.
The ghouls could barely react before they were all dead. Two had their heads painted across the walls while the other three were crisped. Once I alerted her that weren’t any nearby, she sheathed her gun. “What did you mean about answers?”
The ghoul was silent for a few moments. “I was seeing if they had any information on a friend. They promised they would assist me if I could find them ‘somepony with technological implants’. I don’t know if they knew you were there or if they were expecting someone else, but I followed through. It took maybe a couple hours to get all the way to Ponyville. Once I had given you to them they had congratulated me, saying, ‘With his technology we will make this town so much safer.’ I assumed they meant bartering with Steel Rangers. I asked my questions, and instead of answering me, immediately grabbed me. Bloody liars.” She growled.
I nodded and turned, walking towards the exit. “You ready, or is there something you need to grab?” The mare shook her head, and I opened the door. This is where I got my first look at the Wasteland. I looked out into a ruined town, gore and graffiti everywhere. I felt a crushing sense of despair. “What in the hell happened here?”
Octavia gave me a grim smile. “The apocalypse.” We lapsed into silence, and I followed her into the ruined town.
Fottnote: Level Up
New Perk: Robocolt - You are no longer just a pony. +10% Defense and new dialogue options