Fallout Equestria: We Lucky Few

CHAPTER 1: LIFE IN THE STABLE

It had been a rather long day at Stable 76. To be completely honest, most days within the Stable were fairly boring on account of there not being much one could do within the stable (unless you considered working or sleeping entertaining activities). However, one could occasionally find something to do to entertain themselves on their days off as long as it remained within the Stable's security guidelines. In other words: Don't do anything illegal.

However, today was not one of those days.

I had the day off from my usual job as a security pony as everypony in the stable usually got about one day a week to relax and do as they pleased. Usually on these days I would try and see my childhood friend Ivory, a pale white mare who worked in the maintenance section of the stable, but today was not one of those lucky days where we both had off. That being said, it wasn't like we usually had the same day off every week, so I always had a plan B of hanging out in the break room and simply conversing with the ponies that came through, but even that room was off limits today as apparently there was a small water leak in one of the overhead ceiling pipes that caused it to be sealed off for maintenance.

So here I lay. A lone earth pony in her small, dull, and square-shaped room that had nothing more than a bed, ceiling fan, nightstand, chair, and a single pony desk with a personal Stable-Tec terminal. I flopped back onto my bed and began deeply staring into the ceiling, almost as if I thought that if I had stared long enough I would magically be given an idea of something to do for the day.

But alas, no such idea came. It was just me and the ceiling having an intense staredown that it would for sure win. I rolled over and let out a dramatic sigh as I attempted to at least catch some sleep to just make the day go by faster, but my mind seemed to somehow be far too active to allow this to happen. My eyes shot open in frustration only to be greeted by the same grey material that practically every inch of the stable was colored in.

Grey.

A color that made me think of myself. My name alone, Silver Phalanx, had something to do with the color grey as silver was basically a shinier version of the dull, expressionless color. Didn't exactly help that my coat was a light grey color that often blended in with the stable walls if I held still in the right lighting (something that helped in my filly days of playing hide and seek with Ivory). Even the main base color of my roughed up, side-swept mane resembled a grayish color as it was simply dark black with a single blue streak (which was quite frankly the only thing that allowed my body to have any sort of actual color). Even my cutie mark (which resembled that of a pale blue shield with a yellow crown resting in the middle) seemed to be lacking in color compared to the other ponies throughout the stable. In fact, the only thing on my body that really popped out when it came to its color was my eyes. They were a dark maroon color, almost completely red if I stood in a dark room.

Oddly enough, I often got teased for it when I was young. Really wasn't sure as for what reason, as it's not like having red eyes really made me that different or special compared to other ponies. I honestly just thought they picked on me for the sake of picking on me. They seemed to just be grasping at straws in poor attempts to get under my skin. Nonetheless, it still didn't explain why jokes about my red eyes were far more common than other insults that were thrown my way.

Luckily I wasn't one of the fillies who seemed to be plagued with a life full of bullying. All of my troubles seemed to stop when I got my cutie mark earlier than everypony else. I was around 9 at the time, which was about two years earlier than all the other fillies and colts that I grew up with.

I actually received it the day I met Ivory. She was a small pony at the time (and still sort of is). Same age as me, but was of a far more dainty build. She has always been rather scrawny, even in Unicorn standards, but she was especially so back then. Naturally, this caught the attention of the stable bullies. I can honestly say that I don't remember too much from that day. All I can strongly recall is that they were all huddled over her, each of them yelling out obscene things (especially for foal standards). She was on the verge of tears. Despite me just passing by at the time, I remember suddenly gaining a small sense of bravery and courage when I saw the act. I marched right up to those bullies and told them off one by one. It wasn't long until one final pony was left between Ivory and I: A male Earth pony known as Iron Saddle.

Iron saddle was (and still is) a bit of a loudmouth. While yes, he has calmed down quite a bit throughout the years, it isn't exactly rare that you would hear complaints from other ponies directed towards him.

However, with all that said, he was exactly that: A loudmouth. And literally everypony knew it. His cutie mark is even a megaphone, something we often give him shit for here and there. Of course, as fillies, we all just thought of him as a big, mean, scary bully. That was up until that day.

I marched right up to him and gave him a single warning to leave Ivory alone. All he had in response was a chuckle and a less than creative comeback that I don't even slightly remember. So I did what I assumed anypony would do when another pony was yelling in their face.

I head-butted him.

I remember him falling to the stable floor, his left nostril letting out a small drop of blood. His two little friends who had always followed him around screamed and ran off into the stable as he laid there covering his nose. I remember it hurting me as well, but I was too busy trying to act tough for the crying filly whom had somehow managed to make me muster up enough courage to do this in the first place.

I only told him one single thing as I slowly leaned in towards his lightly bleeding muzzle.

"You need to stop."

I then remembered helping him up as he scampered off in the same direction as his two friends.

It was then when I walked over to the cowering filly, who looked up at me in a weird combination of shocked and awestruck.

I'll never forget the first time I touched her hoof to help her up. She was soft, light, almost as if she felt brittle to the touch. She was one of those types of personalities that could never hurt a soul. I remember the cute little thank you she gave me as we exchanged names. It wasn't seconds later when I felt a small sensation cover my haunches. I looked back to see the crowned shield cutie mark that I was apparently destined to have.

Evidently, my cutie mark was a sign of strength and courage, so it wasn't long until I was signed up to be apart of the stable's security team as that was how job placement worked in Stable 76. It was listed directly in our PipBuck's Stable-Tec Directory notes. Rule number three to be exact. It was said that once a pony received his or her cutie mark, she would be assigned a job that best matched whatever the cutie mark was earned for. Of course, sometimes I didn't exactly feel like my cutie mark mattered that much as nothing ever really happened in the Stable. Sure, there was an occasional argument or fight here and there, but nothing that ever required more than basic Stable-Tec Riot padding and a helmet to block against the occasional flying hoof.

If anything, that just further proved exactly how boring life in the stable was when even the security team was bored out of their damned minds every single day.

"Ugh." I groaned as I lifted my PipBuck up to my face.

The PipBuck was a standard piece of Magical Stable-Tec engineering that granted the user with a multitude of benefits. However, most of them were next to useless. I mean seriously, I know these things were designed pre-war and all to help with the war effort, but who in their right minds needs a targeting enhancement tool when they're trapped inside a stable their entire life!

They weren't completely useless though. In fact, I rather enjoyed the device. It helped with the organization of notes and the items you had on you (don't even ask me how it worked, all I know is that it did), navigation throughout the stable, and even had a function that apparently allowed it to pick up radio signals on the rare occasion that the stable actually decided to broadcast music. As a security pony, the most useful tool for me was the organization that this thing could pull off. It had every little note and idea that I had ever written down in neatly organized folders. Of course, the folder labeled "Stable-Tec Directory Notes" was always automatically sorted to the top of the list no matter how you tried to arrange them. Always following that was a folder simply labeled 'The Date', something that meant a great deal in Stable 76.

'The Date' was something we all learned about as colts and fillies from a very young age. While yes, we were taught about the Great War and all that transpired during it up until the MegaSpells hit, we were also taught about 'The Date'. This was, according to our teachings, the day Stable-Tec calculated to be the day that the surface would be safe, and all stables would finally re-open so the dwellers inside could come out to a new, cleansed world. Of course, some had their skepticisms about this, but no pony ever had a legitimate reason to doubt them.

Besides, the date was scheduled to be exactly 150 years after the MegaSpells hit, which (scientifically speaking) was far more than enough time for the world to heal itself and for any survivors to start new. As that is exactly what the MegaSpells were apparently created to be: A fresh start for the future of Equestria.

In fact, it almost sounded too good to be true at times. Not like it currently mattered however, as this date wasn't said to happen for about another five and a half years. Couldn't exactly say that this rather large amount of time really stopped us all from getting excited though. Every single pony inside this bland place was more than eager to leave. There wasn't a single day that went by where any of us truly wanted to stay inside this place. I guess we were just tired of the same thing all the time. I mean, could you really blame any of us though? What's so wrong with wanting to be free ... and, you know, not stuck in a claustrophobic hellhole for once!

"I'm so damn bored!" I yelled out to myself, listening to my voice ping off the metal walls as I sat up from my bed. However, the noise was eventually drowned out by the sudden opening up of the door to my room. The loud and metallic screeching caused by the violent metal on metal action seemed to never fail to make my skin crawl.

I looked over to see the massive posture of my fellow security member Bouncer. Now, Bouncer was an interesting fellow. He was loud and unaware of his own strength, but he was a nice pony where it counted. His coat was a light hue of blue, and his buzz-cut mane rested at a natural jet black. His dark green eyes seemed to match the coloration of his police baton cutiemark. While he was older than all the other members of the security team, he definitely had the kind heart of a child and was definitely an honest joker from time to time.

"Silver! You in here?" His voice boomed off of the walls.

"It's a single room with no other doorways in it, I'm not exactly that hard to miss Bouncer." I yelled in response, attempting to regain my bearings. "And learn to knock! Nearly scared me half death!"

"Oh, sorry Silver. Couldn't see ya due to you blending in with the walls and all." He smirked.

"Oh ha ha!" I sarcastically retorted. "Haven't heard that one before."

"Oh lighten' up Silver, you know I was just trying to have a laugh." He smiled. "Anyway, The Overmare wishes to speak with ya, told her I'd come an' get ya' on my way through."

"Ah, gotcha." I said, finally leaving the comfort of my bed. "Did she say what she needed?"

"Not really. I guess it's just something about your shift tomorrow." He responded.

"Alright then. If you're able, tell her I'll be up in just a second. If not, guess she'll figure it out when I show up."

"You got it Silver! Have a good day now, ya' hear?" He then turned and trotted off, the hydraulic door to my room hissing behind him until it closed with a loud thud.

"You too." I quietly said as I opened up the small nightstand next to my bed that housed my typically colored blue and yellow Stable Barding. I reluctantly and lazily began sliding it on as I attempted to straighten out my messier than usual mane.

I then checked my PipBuck one last time to make sure I had everything before I began making my way to the Overmare's office. It wasn't much longer until I was reopening the door that peered into the stable's somehow both dimly and brightly lit hallways.

"Hopefully the day won't be as boring as I thought it would be."