Fallout Equestria: We Lucky Few

CHAPTER 2: A CHANGE OF PLANS

The stable was, if anything, easy to navigate. The first floor housed nothing more than the stable door, a few processing rooms, and a flight of stairs. The second floor had all of the necessities: Bathrooms, cafeteria, entertainment room, a small gym, water filtration, community garden, and the security room. The third was where the living quarters and Overmare's office were located, and the fourth was nothing more than storage and the primary power source of the entire stable. While this seemed like a decent amount of information, this was my home for the time being, and it obviously has been since I was born. So, naturally, the layout of the stable was practically burned into the back of my mind. Every nook and cranny of this place was something I had seen before. Hell, I even knew exactly how many steps it could take if one were to go from one area another.

It was exactly 103 steps from my room to the Overmare's office.

Around 390 steps to get to the cafeteria.

And from my room to the security office was roughly 430.

Just goes to show exactly how boring this place truly was. Only made me further wish that whatever the Overmare was about to tell me would change this day for the better, and with only another 30 steps to go, I was soon to find out.

It wasn't too much longer until I was facing the door to the Overmare's office. It was a larger door with a bright yellow 76 directly in the middle. It was designed to resemble that of a large sprocket style shape, very similar to shape of the stable's main entrance. Above the oddly shaped door frame was a small sign reading 'Overmare Frost's Office, come in with a smile!'.

"Smile my ass." I huffed under my breath as I pressed the intercom button on the outside of the door.

It released a highly familiar yet horribly distorted buzzing noise as I released the button. Almost immediately following, the door began to hiss and creek open as it was mechanically absorbed into the floor. This abundance of noises didn't even have a chance to die down before I was bombarded with Overmare Frost's rather overly enthusiastic voice.

"Ah! Silver! I take it Bouncer delivered my message to you as he promised?"

"Well yeah, otherwi-"

"Of course he did! Why else would you be here on your day off?" She cut me off as she began rambling on about how Bouncer was one of her favorite security ponies when it came to reliability.

Overmare Frost was something of an overachiever. She was destined to run the stable at a young age, or at least thats what her stable door shaped cutie mark told all of us at least. According to the other ponies, the Overmares and Stallions of Stable 76 all came from the same bloodline of overly adept unicorns. Apparently the first Overmare of Stable 76 was some sort of Stable-Tec big shot, so I guess it was meant to be in a sort of way. I mean, by no means were any of them bad ponies. Overmare Frost was just, how could you say, rather annoying at times.

"He, uh, he said you wanted to see me about some sort of schedule change?" I finally managed to get out amongst a break in her non relevant rambling.

"Oh! Indeed I did! Apparently your fellow security worker Fire Light slipped and fell in a puddle of water while she was trying to help with the mess in the break room. Apparently she sprained her hoof on the fall, said she'd be out for a day or two and needed some pony to cover her shift. You happened to be the only one available." She said, as if she thought she was giving me an option rather than a demand.

"Uh, sure. I wouldn't mind. When do I need to start?" I questioned.

"Splendid!" She smiled. "For today, if you could simply go help out with the spill in the break room, that would be all that is required. As for tomorrow, it'll be a standard night shift from five till midnight. Any questions?"

"Actually, yes. Not that it's an issue or anything, but do you happen to have any idea who I'll be working with?"

"Hmm ... Let me check." She smiled as her horn began to glow, a smooth, magical tapping sound emitting from her personal terminal. "It seems that Bouncer and Rusty Armor will be joining you for the night shift."

Well, I guess I couldn't really complain about the shift then. Bouncer was easy to get along with, and as long as Rusty Armor wasn't being a klutz he was a rather chill pony to hang around. There was really only one pony on the security team I could honestly say I disliked, and quite frankly the odds of her actually showing up for her shift was slim to nothing.

"So, is that all you wanted to ask?" Frost continued.

"Yeah, that's all I needed. I'll go ahead down to the security room and grab my uniform, then I'll head down to the break room." I unenthusiastically responded as this wasn't exactly the type of schedule change I was hoping for. That being said, it would at least make this dreadfully slow day go by slightly faster, so I guess I really couldn't complain that much.

"Splendid!" She yelped as the tapping emitting from her terminal began to speed up, her head seeming to cheerfully bob as she started to hum a strange tune.

Sweet Celestia, it was like she just had to hear herself speak sometimes. I really didn't get it, by no means was Overmare Frost a bad pony. In fact, she has never really done anything to get under any ponies skin. There was just something about her. Her voice, the way she carried herself, her mannerisms, they all just seemed to rub me the wrong way no matter how nice of a pony she was. I really didn't understand it myself, but I knew there were other ponies in the Stable who agreed with me. I guess it really didn't matter in the end though, as long as she wasn't doing anything to earn my hate, then I really had no reason to voice it.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then." I said as I turned around and exited the room.

"Have a good day Silver!" I felt her grin as the door closed behind me.

Alright, next stop, security room. Shouldn't be any more than 300 some steps to get there. I'll take my sweet time though. I mean, come on, why did they even need a security pony for a freaking water leak? I highly doubt anything violent could even come from it, as it wasn't like any of the maintenance ponies had issues with each other.

But again, I really needed to stop complaining. I'm the one who was dead set on figuring out something to do today, so I really needed to stop being, well, a bitch. Guess it was one of my flaws I suppose. Whenever things weren't going how I'd like them to, I would always let it get to me. Usually I'm able to rationalize issues and decide when I should and shouldn't be upset, but lately I've just been off. It was almost as if I'd had an off feeling about something these past few days, but just couldn't quite pinpoint it. Hell, I was just at the point now where I had just assumed that I was slowly but surely coming down with something. Besides, if something bad was going to happen it would have happened already. And even if I gave it the benefit of the doubt, how bad could it possibly be? The Stable has literally never had any tragic, unexpected events. The worst thing I had ever witnessed in the Stable in all my years was a single time where the water filtration room went toxic, and even then the maintenance ponies had it fixed in a matter of a few days. So yeah, I must have just been coming down with something that was just horribly affecting my mood.

The security room was empty when I walked in.

It was a small room, as there were never any more than six employed security ponies at a given time. It had just enough room for six personal lockers (each with our names poorly scribbled in at the top), a small bench in the middle of the room, a closet with the required tools to maintain armor, a small bathroom with shower, and a single transparent safe that housed the only actual weapon in the entire Stable.

It was a simple magazine fed riot shotgun that was attached to a basic Stable-Tec brand combat harness. I was pretty sure that the thing had been locked in that safe since the day the stable was built, and was even more sure that it had never left the safe since then. We only had a hoofful of shells for it as well, and even then they weren't lethal rounds, just simple beanbag rounds that could be used to render a pony unconscious if needed. In a Stable like this though, that thing was the most useless object in here if you didn't include the ridiculous crackers they gave us for snacks sometimes.

No ... I take that back. The crackers were so stale that you could probably fashion a functioning shiv out of one if needed. So yeah, the shotgun was definitely the most useless thing in the entire Stable. Either or, I guess it was better to have it and not need it.

I opened up my locker and began to pull out my uniform. It was a basic blue and yellow Stable-Tec utility barding that basically just had heavy grade polymer pieces attached to it in order to protect against basic blunt objects. Anything more than that and I could imagine that it would be damn near useless. It also had a few accessories such as a full helmet with plastic face shield, leg guards, and even a heavy grade vest that one could put on if they really felt necessary.

But again, those were all items that could honestly be runner-up for most useless item in the Stable. At least these have actually seen some use though, as we were required to put them on when dealing with any fights that happened within the Stable, whether we thought they were going to end with violence or not.

I switched out my basic Stable 76 barding for the security barding, sliding the basic barding into my personal locker. It closed with a metallic clank that echoed throughout the small room. I checked to make sure the uniform was in order. Name tag was in place, none of the pockets were inside out, and I didn't accidentally skip a button trying to fasten it.

"Alright, to the Break room." I ironically said to myself as I exited the Security Room, ready to start (or should I say speed up) my day.

It wasn't a long walk to the break room. Only about another 60 steps. But it was during this time that I noticed that the Stable was rather quite today. Usually this floor was teeming with sounds. Talking ponies, the sounds of hooves on metal, lights flickering, air conditioning pumping, but today was different. It almost felt dead today. The only sounds I could regularly hear were the basic everyday day mechanical sounds of the Stable. It was honestly sort of unsettling.

However, that silence was quickly cut off as I turned the corner to the break room.

"Just go get the damn tape or something!" The familiar voice of Ivory echoed from within the room.

"Why in the hell don't you just have that with you?" A far less familiar male voice responded. "And why do I have to go down and get it?"

"For the first question: It's because I had to rush here because you weren't doing your job correctly. For your second question: Because I'm the only thing keeping this pipe from bursting!" Ivory's annoyed yet demanding voice retorted. "Now go get the damn tape!"

I was now standing in the doorway by the time I saw the two maintenance ponies that I could now for sure identify as Ivory and a unicorn known as Monkey Wrench, who was now storming passed me, a strange feeling of both anger and acceptance radiating off of his body.

"Long day I take it?" I sarcastically grinned as I leaned against the doorframe of the break room as I took in Ivory's rather dirty appearance yet cute appearance.

Usually her coat was a pearly white and her mane was a light gray, but she seemed to be so soaked in most places that she all around seemed a shade or two darker.

"Oh! Silver! I didn't realize they were sending you down here." She jumped, apparently not realizing I was even here until I said something. "Thank the goddesses though, I wasn't sure if I could put up with him any longer." She sighed. "So, how's your day been Silver?"

"Pretty uneventful. I was supposed to have the day off, but I guess Fire Light managed to hurt herself down here, so the Overmare sent me down to cover for her."

"Oh, well I'm sorry I had to ruin your day off." She said, unable to make eye contact as she maintained focus on the leaking pipe. "If it helps, watching Fire Light slip how she she did was rather entertaining."

"Trust me, I'm not upset or anything. This day was dragging, so I'm kind of glad I at least have something to do now." I smiled. "So, how's your day been?"

"You're basically looking at it." She angrily sighed.

"That bad huh?" I tilted my head.

"Well, every time we fix a section of this pipe, it decides to leak elsewhere. This is the third section today I've had to work on."

It was then when I realized the massive abundance of water filled buckets and broken sections of pipes scattered throughout the floor.

"Any idea how this happened?" I asked.

"Not a single fuckin' clue!" She yelped as a quick spurt of water blasted her directly in the eye.

"Ooh, you okay? Need help with anything?" I quickly asked as I handed her one of the soaked rags laying on the floor.

"In all honesty, your company is enough." She let out a small sigh of relief as she wiped off her face, an oddly adorable black streak of grime being left behind by the rag.

Sweet Celestia, she was adorable. I could always feel butterflies in my stomach when I was around her. Not like it mattered, at this point I was more than certain that she had friend zoned me into oblivion.

It was at this time when Monkey Wrench re-entered the room.

"What, was my company not enough for you?" He smirked as he levitated the extra strength duct tape over to Ivory.

"You want the honest answer?" She frowned, quickly looking up at me as if to say, "See what I have to dealt with?"

She then began to quickly and efficiently rap the piece of cracked pipe with the tape, a soothing magical sound bouncing off the walls of the room as her horn glowed with a blue hue. I watched as she went to work. Everything she did was very precise, or at least as precise as fixing a pipe could possibly be. Ivory was always extremely adept at Magic, and was honestly damn good when it came to her artistic abilities. Her cutie mark was actually a small paint pallet with a matching paintbrush, which would make one wonder why in the world she wasn't a part of the entertainment team instead. This is until you thought about it. I mean, not to undermine her work or anything, as I personally always found it nice in the past when I was able to just sit and watch her work on one of her art projects, but not many would honestly sit and watch someone for hours on end paint a nice picture. So, according to the Overmare, the next best thing for her was maintenance as she had no issues at being precise due to her skills in painting.

"And ... Done!" She let out a deep vocal sound of relief as she sat up, stretching out as I imagined she had been sitting for what had to have been hours. "Now we just have to hope it stays."

"Well, glad I could be of assistance!" Monkey Wrench grinned with a cocky smirk.

"Oh hush. You barely did anything." Ivory responded as she continued to stretch her more than likely numb limbs.

"Hey! I helped! I got the tape AND helped keep the floor clean!" He responded.

"How about you try telling that to Fire Light?" I butted in, receiving a small chuckle from Ivory and a disgruntled scoff from Monkey Wrench.

"Fair enough." He said, finally admitting defeat as he left the room. "Have a nice day girls." His hooves then echoed throughout the stable, eventually dying out as he gained distance.

"Is he always this much of a pain in the ass?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, he can be quite a handful at times, but his hearts in the right place." She said, soon after letting out a small chuckle.

"What was the laugh for?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing." She paused. "It's just that he sounds rather similar to this one other pony I know." She then smirked as she lightly tapped the end of my muzzle.

"Oh ha ha." I sarcastically laughed, attempting not to blush.

She was right though. Always has been. I guess that was part of the reason I considered her a good friend. She was always really nice to me since since the day we met. She was kind, straightforward, and never had an issue with telling you if you've done something wrong or not. God, if only I could have her for myself.

"So, uh ... " I trailed off.

"What was that?" She tilted her head.

"Well, umm, I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to come to my room and hang out for a little bit since were both done with our shift now. You know, have one of those mares nights we haven't had in a while."

I was nervous to ask, but I figured it was at least worth the shot. Besides, I'm sure it would be perfect for both of us. She would have some time to relax, and I wouldn't have to be alone for the rest of the day.

There was a long, pondering pause as she stared at me, more than likely trying to think if she had anything else to do for the day.

"You know, that would be amazing." She let out a large sigh of relief. "Let me just go freshen up and dry off, then I'll be over."

She then began to leave the room, "See you soon Silver!" She said as she turned the corner and left, her light hoof steps eventually dissipating into silence as she grew further away.

I did a small victory dance as I began to head to my room. I was definitely in a far better mood now. It had felt like ages since I had an alone day with Ivory. But it was amidst my internal celebration that I realized that I was currently emitting a rather pungent odor.

"Ooh, that's ladylike." I frowned as I gave myself a quick sniff, realizing that being trapped inside this rather tight security barding while stuck in a small, hot, enclosed room had caused me to build up a rather gross stench. My light trot then turned into a small jog as I made my way back to the security room to remove my barding and get a quick shower. I didn't want Ivory to show up to my room without me there, so I knew I was going to have to make it both a quick and effective shower.

It seemed that I made it back to my room with no time to spare, as my mane was still wet from the shower when I heard the knocking at my door.

"Come in!" I excitedly yelled as I watched the hydraulic door shoot open, the now clean and rather shiny Ivory walking in with an odd sort of swagger.

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood." I smiled as I noticed the small saddle bag drooped over her back. "What's in the bag?"

"Oh, just some of my painting supplies. You seem to be one of the few ponies in this place who actually appreciate the arts. Wanted to make sure I wasn't getting rusty." She smirked, knowing all too well that her art was nothing less than amazing.

"Yeah, like somepony with your level of skills could be rusty." I laughed.

"Oh, well aren't you the flatterer." She playfully blushed as she began to unpack her bag, pulling at brushes, small tubes of paint, and a small canvas.

I had to admit, I've had the hots for Ivory for the longest of time, but I had always been bad at the whole relationship thing. I always got nervous and tripped over my words. That is if I even got that far. Hell, usually I would get myself so worked up even thinking about asking her on a date that I would get sick to my stomach. And again, I was more than certain that she had friend zoned me for good, so it wasn't like anything was going to happen. But then again ... I did get her here, didn't I?

"Silver? You there?" I heard her suddenly ask.

"What? Yeah, I'm here." I said, confused more than anything.

"You sure about that? You spaced out there for a few."

Damn, I must have got lost looking at her and thinking about the possibilities, something I admittedly fantasized about rather often.

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine." I quickly said as I attempted to give as honest of a smile as I possibly could.

She raised a quick eyebrow and then let out a light, heartfelt chuckle.

"Silver, you know I'm not stupid, right?" She unexpectedly said as she sat down next to me on the bed, scooting in far closer than she ever has before.

I could feel my heart racing. What in the world was happening? "Umm, what do you mean?" Was all I could manage to get out.

"Come on now Silver, I know why you invited me here." She smiled. "I've always noticed the ways you've looked at me in the past. It doesn't take much to know when you have a secret admirer."

Oh boy, you really did it now Silver. Was this to sudden? Was this what you actually wanted to happen when you invited her over? Sweet Celestia and Luna, my heart was racing uncontrollably. I didn't even imagine anything like this would have happened in a million years, let alone all of a sudden and on accident of all things.

"No words huh?" She smiled. "That's okay, actions speak louder than words, right little miss security mare?" She continued, slightly flaunting her rather sexy behind.

I was too focused on freaking out that I didn't even realized that she was smoothly leaning in to plant a soft yet firm kiss directly onto my lips. I felt myself blush as my legs buckled when she pulled away.

"How about now Silver? Is everything clear to you now?" She said with a nice, lighthearted smile that told me everything I needed to know.

This was meant to happen.

I eagerly leaned in for another, and was easily less than a centimeter away when both mine and Ivory's Pipbuck suddenly let out an unfamiliar ding that we usually only heard when the Overmare would send out important messages.

Naturally but sadly, both Silver and I dropped what we were doing to raise our Pipbucks up to our face. What we saw was something we had never seen before.

URGENT MESSAGE FROM STABLE-TEC

Dear Stable 76, it seems that the surface has healed slightly quicker than we

initially assumed. Naturally, this means that you all will be receiving a new date of release for:

6/24/2201

We thank you for using one of our glorious Stable's in a way to further the

future of Equestria!

We wish you the best of luck!

We hope you all use this amazing opportunity in order to

better Equestria!

Sincerely: Stable-Tec

What?

This was so confusing. What was all this about? I looked over at Ivory to get her input, but I could instantly tell that she was every bit as confused as I was.

It was then when I realized that the date mentioned was tomorrow.

Tomorrow?!

Is this even real? Where did it come from if not?

It wasn't much longer until another single message came through on the Pipbuck, this time from the Overmare.

Dear all Stable 76 residents,

I am sure that you all just received the shocking news from Stable-Tec regarding the new release date.

I am happy to say, while it is very last minute, that this is an official Stable-Tec message

and that it is completely true!

This means that some time tomorrow the Stable Doors will be unlocked and the doors will finally roll open

for the first time in what will be 145 years!

This being said, a lot of things will need to change for tomorrows schedule!

All members of Security and Engineering will report to the Stable entrence tomorrow at 8 am

to ensure that everything goes smoothly!

We have no clue what kind of new world we will be greeted by, nor who will be there to greet us!

So we must do everything in our power to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible!

As for everypony else, a small social party will be held at the Stable door starting at eleven A.M.

Of course, everypony is required to attend.

I will see all of you tomorrow, and wish you all a good night and good luck for our future!

Sincerely, OverMare Frost

No way.

No fucking way this was happening.

Tomorrow?

Is this serious? Like, was this actually happening right now?

"Oh my god." Ivory managed to speak before I could, her voice having the same feeling of confusion that I was having.

"So this is legit, isn't it?" I responded in awe.

"It has to be, the Overmare confirmed it as an official Stable-Tec message." Her face was beginning to crack a smile.

"How does she know it's official?" I asked, still in complete shock.

"Official Stable-Tec messages apparently have some sort of code attached to them that the Overmare must confirm as official with a sort of password. If she types in that password upon receiving the message and it decodes, then it's an official Stable-Tec message." She said, almost sounding too good and thought out to be true.

I was at a loss for words. This was actually happening.

"Why on such short notice though?" I questioned.

"Who knows. Besides, aren't you excited?" She asked, suddenly springing to life. "You have always complained about being cooped up in this place!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I sighed, an odd, unplaceable feeling beginning to fill my stomach as Ivory lifted her Pipbuck to her face once more.

"Oh my! Look at the time! I need to get going if the Overmare wants us there that early."

As Ivory said this I pulled up the time on my own Pipbuck, only to realize that it was nearing one in the morning, meaning I already had to be up and back to work in about 6 hours if I was to be at the door on time as instructed.

I was still in shock to the point where I didn't even realize Ivory was packing up all her things and about to head out of my room.

"Oh, how could I forget!" She smiled as she trotted over and planted one quick but passionate kiss on my lips.

"Once we get settled in outside of the Stable, I promise to give you the real thing." She playfully smirked as she left my room with a cute "Good night."

"Yeah, you too." I was still so confused that I couldn't even process what was just said ... but as soon as the door shut I realized what was just taken from me.

"Luna damn it!" I frustratingly huffed as I finally came to terms that I was just completely sex-blocked by a company that was more than likely miles away.

I was so close. So close to receiving what I had only dreamed about, and quite frankly, I think that made it even more frustrating to come to terms with it. However, she did just say once we get settled in outside I would get the real thing.

Wait, what did she mean by we? Was she insinuating that we were going to live together? What is going on right now? This is all happening so fast!

"What in the actual fuck is going on?!" I yelled out as I flopped back onto my bed, the feeling in my stomach revealing itself to be intense butterflies.

Well, guess all I could do now was attempt to get to sleep and prepare for the morning. And while I knew it was more than likely going to be a rather sleepless night, I really hoped that the morning came quick as I was now far to nervous and excited to even process how much my life was about to change.

Foot Note: Level Up

New Perk: Nervous tendencies

You have a knack for sensing when something is about to happen, causing you to have very strong preparation skills at the cost of charisma.