Fallout Equestria Fanfic. Joker
Chapter 1: The First Steps
What do I dream of? Most mornings, I can't remember any details of my dreams. Recently, however, it’s been different. This time I dreamt I was laying down, feeling what I always imagined to be the warm sun on my face, a cool, gentle breeze blowing over my muzzle and the lush grass under my belly. I was happy, with a blissful smile on my face, carefree as I ever could be and best of all, I could hear my mother humming.
Her voice made me feel so safe like nothing terrible would ever happen to us. I jumped onto my hooves and broke into a short gallop looking for her. It seemed like hours had passed, and I felt a small bit of panic when I didn't see her anywhere in the field. I was so relieved when I found her over by a small pond.
I could see her resting under a tree. Her brilliant tangerine coat and her short emerald green mane shimmered in the sunlight shining through the leaves. My smile widened when I ran up to her side and jumped across her back. She let out a yelp of a surprise then giggled when she looked back at me, smiling.
"Oh, Cobalt. You scared me." The soft rose color of her eyes was always a reassuring sight. I giggled as she nipped my mane and placed me between her forelegs nuzzling my cheek. "My cheeky little Cobalt."
I giggled and rolled onto my back kicking my legs up at her playfully. "Sorry, Mama."
I didn't want this moment of carefree bliss to end. I wanted to remember this. When I woke up, the good moments of the dreams always slipped from my memory. My mom nuzzled me again when a cold chill shot through my spine. The fear from before started to well inside my chest as a cold breeze washed over us making me shiver and nuzzle into her chest.
"Mama, it's getting cold," I said to her, a feeling of fear as cold as the icy wind weighed down heavily upon me.
She hugged me and held me close "It's okay, sweetie. I have you now."
The wind started to blow harder. It felt like shards of ice cutting into my skin, and then a faint whisper echoed in my ear.
“Wake up... Cobalt..."
My body started shaking, the familiar feeling of dread snaking its way into my mind. I knew what was coming. For the longest time, there had been something with me - Something bad…
I didn't want to wake up yet. I didn't want too! I'd lose her again if I did. Like the scared little colt I was, I clutched onto her and prayed I wouldn't lose her again. "Make it stop! Please make it stop, Mama!" I begged her. I didn't want to leave. "MAKE IT STOP, MAMA!" I screamed this time, but she didn't answer me. I looked up and saw a statue in my mother’s place. The mare who had been a loving and caring soul was now no more than a cold, heartless shell. I pushed away, panting; my heart racing like it was gonna jump from my chest at any second. "Mama! Please! Make it stop! I don't want to go back there!" Every word I spoke falling in ears of stone. Then the whisper spoke again, behind me this time. I spun around, and my eyes fell upon a young colt who looked exactly like me. He had the same coat and mane. But his eyes were black, cold and hollow - two dark voids waiting to suck me in. He opened his mouth and spoke the same words again.
“Wake up, Cobalt. Let me out of here.” My heart was racing. I tried to back away from him, but shadowy tendrils shot out from his mouth and coiled around my body pulling back towards him. I dug my hooves into the ground trying to fight back, but it wasn’t any use. I could never escape his grasp.
“Leave me alone! I don’t wanna do this! I don’t wanna leave!” I screamed. The shadow's mouth opened again as he bellowed out a sapphire blue flame engulfing me entirely. I flailed about trying to roll on the grass and snuff out the flames, but it didn’t make a dent in them. The colt grabbed me and brought me to his face, screaming at me.
"WAKE UP, COBALT!” More of the blue fire left an icy cold feeling on my face. Wait... cold flames? That wasn't possible. The dream started to melt away, and I found myself falling into a dark pit. The fall came to a sudden end when I opened my eyes realizing I had fallen out of my bed and landed on the floor. The obnoxious sounds of my alarm going off echoed all around my room. My vision was still hazy when I sat up and looked around.
"Damn it all..." I looked at the Pip-buck attached to my left foreleg. 6:00 am, Always the same hour every day since I became old enough to work. I hated it more than anything else. I had difficulty getting to sleep for the longest time since I switched to a first-shift job instead of pulling thirds. But I had to find why my face felt so cold. I reached up and rubbed my face with my hoof and learned my muzzle was wet. How did I...?
"Good Morning, Cobalt." A familiar greeting crackled through the speaker of one of my oldest friends, a sprite-bot I’d found in a trash compactor and repaired as a colt before I’d even had a cutie-mark. I asked if it was possible for me to take him home. The maintenance ponies didn't mind, neither did the guards. I can still remember my mom's reaction when I tracked oil across the floor that she had cleaned minutes before I came home. She nearly had a heart attack. But the lecture I received after she made me clean it up was well worth the time I spent bringing him back to life. I’d named him Glitch because he used to malfunction on a daily basis until, over time, I restored his circuits. With a smile, I looked up at him flying above me with a watering can in his utility hook
"Good morning, Glitch,” I greeted the little sprite-bot. I patted the top of his casing and pushed myself into a sitting position on the cold metal floor then let a loud yawn before shutting off the alarm on my Pip-buck. I looked up the ceiling thinking about the dream. I’ve had the same one almost every night since I was a colt. It began after I went to see the stable’s leading psychiatrist, Dr. Brown Fig told me it was a standard test, I sit down in a chair, he’d stick some wires on my head, I’d look at a monitor and I would tell him what kind of pictures I was looking at. After the third picture I remembered a flash in the room then I blacked out. Three weeks later and I woke up in the clinic with Dr. Hard Shell placing his stethoscope on my chest. The chill from the metal touching my skin made me giggle a bit. The excitement on his face when he heard me was something I’ll never forget. Since then I kept having the same dream every night or anytime I took a nap. My mom holding me close before she turned into stone, then that colt who looked like me. The way his eyes looked so hollow, like he had no soul. What really bugged me were his words every time the dream ended. Wake up, Cobalt. What did he mean by that? Was I asleep or did the words have a deeper meaning that I couldn’t grasp? I rubbed my eyes groaning out. “Goddesses, I really hate my mind. Just once can’t I make sense of anything I see in my dream?” Glitch whined as he nudged my elbow. I patted him on the top of his casing. “It’s okay, boy.” I looked at the picture on my nightstand. It was photo of my mom and me when I was colt. She was gone after the accident, her and most of the other parents whose foals were being seen by Fig and enduring the same test as I was. Not a single soul had a clue to where she had gone or how she got out. Perhaps my dream was a reminder of she dropped out of my life or maybe she was a figment of my imagination. I looked at my pipbuck again to check the time. 6:15 am, I would be receiving my work assignment soon. No point in sitting here dwelling on something I didn't have the answers to. I pushed myself up and made my way over to the bathroom.
I really hated getting up so early, especially when the busiest hours of the day came around 10 am. But I had my job, and I had to do it. I was one of the few ponies with a cross-trained position, or a Swinger as most of the stable ponies called us. Being cross-trained meant I had skills that could be used for any job. I wasn't proficient in the areas of reactor maintenance or caring for the ponies in the clinic but I was a wizard when it came to repairing the equipment that ponies used every day. It was alright I guess. It let me explore most the of the stable. It gave me the chance to scrounge up some parts for Glitch or whatever I could think of to work on as a side project. I had several unfinished ones in the works. However I still get uncomfortable going near the laboratory. It had been closed down since my accident. The Overmare had taken everything out and had the equipment sripped down for spare parts for minor repairs that needed to be done in other sections of the stable. I still get chills whenever I pass by the room where everything went down and I wound up in a catatonic state for three weeks. I turned on the bathroom light and looked at the mirror and saw my reflection staring back at me. The tired blue stallion with his greyish mane. The exhausted royal blue hues that stared back at me. I was a mess. Working the kind of ours that I did you would look like a mess too. My eyes drifted down to the scar under my right eye, how I got it was a story I couldn’t figure out. After I started to act like myself again I was told I had went crazy and attacked a guard. He struck me down and left the scar under my eyes. What had Fig done to me? My entire memory of the event was a complete blank and I only had eye-witness accounts to go off of.
A knock at the door broke my train of thought. “Work assignment, Cobalt.”
“Okay, Thanks!” I called out to the guard delivering the work assignments. Not many of the stable residents thought highly of the work we did but they’d be surprised how fast this place would fall apart without us here to fix anything. Mainly things like the electrical grid, the plumbing and the terminals everypony used for their work and to send private messages back and forth. “Hey, Glitch, could you grab the assignment for me?” He gave me an excited beep as he flew over to the door opened it and grabbed the letter. I was still looking at my reflection. I really looked like I was dead as could be. I could use a break, maybe I could talk to the Overmare about getting some time off. Glitch beeped and whistled as he came back with a thick yellow envelope in the utility claw I made for him last year. I took the envelope from him and ripped it open to see what I would be working on today.
Work assignment for Resident #253
Name- Cobalt Spec.
Assignment for the day- None.
Wait. None? That couldn't be right. I rubbed my eyes and read the first three lines again to see if I had misread it since I was still waking up. I read them yet again, and I still wasn't dreaming. I had no work assignment for today? This had to be a joke or something. Hardly anyone got time off in this place, especially ponies like me! I looked over the letter to see if I was missing anything and then I saw a personal note from the Overmare.
Cobalt,
This is a letter directly from the office of Overmare Dancing Heart. I would like to invite you to a meeting in the meeting room next to the social square today at noon. You and the other Swingers have been given the entire day off because we have much to discuss. I would truly appreciate you attending. The future of our stable depends on it.
Best Regards.
Overmare Dancing Heart.
Reading the letter I couldn't help but wonder what she wanted to discuss. I just shrugged before I slipped the letter back into the envelope.
"Cobby!" A mare's voice hit my ears from just outside my door. I trotted over and opened it to find Soft Mint. A mare who worked as a Swinger like me. She mainly worked in the clinic assisting the doctor and the nurses and then the food processing room downstairs. Her white coat like what you'd see with any kind of mint candy, her red and white striped mane hanging over her soft pink hues. "Hey, Cobby, Did you get the letter about the meeting?" Cobby, that was her nickname for me. Not sure where it came from but it stuck ever since we were young.
I nodded "Yeah, I did. You have any clue what the Overmare wants to talk about?"
"No idea. But it’s weird getting some time off like this huh?" She sat down and wiggled her front hoof across the floor. "So anyways I came to ask if you could come take a look at the air unit in my room. It's been acting really wonky and I have no idea what's wrong. Think maybe you can come over and work your magic? I'm not an awesome fixer upper like you, Cobby." She blushed a bit smiling at me. Soft Mint was never very subtle about her crush towards me. One day after she and I both earned our cutie-marks she left a note outside of my room asking me to go see a movie in the rec room. I turned her down. She was hurt for a bit, however, it didn't stop her from trying. I sighed and rubbed the back of my head.
"I don't see why not, but your brother-"
"Don’t worry! That grump slumped off to work a few minutes ago. He’s not going to-”
"MINT!!" The both of us jumped after Mint's older brother called out from the end of the hallway. I turned around and spotted the brownish green stallion. He just stared at me and then at Mint "Please tell me you're not talking to him about the air unit? I promised I would look at it later."
"Sour, you're a cook. The last time you tried to fix something it blew up and you were rushed to the clinic, remember?”
Sour groaned and looked at me. He shook his head and turned away. “Fine, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” He glared at me once more before he trotted to the end of the hallway.
"You can relax, Sourdough. I would never hurt Mint." I turned to her. “I’ll take a look at the air unit.” She giggled and hugged me before skipping away.
"Thanks, Cobby! You’re the best!" Once I was alone again I began to regret this. I suspected Mint had set up something to lure me into her room. To wasn't the first time and I seriously doubted that this would be the last. Her brother, however, didn't approve of me being anywhere near her. I heard one of the other cooks at the other end of the hallway speaking into the intercom.
"Hey! Can I borrow somepony for a minute?" It was Kettlepot. A stallion who made some of the best soups and stews. Even though the food was mostly processed he always made it into an art form.
"Kettle, you know the Swingers aren’t working today, don't you?" It was the Overmare's voice.
"I know Heart, but I have a situation in the kitchen."
"Alright, I'll see who I can find."
I waved my hoof to get his attention. "Hey, Kettle! I got some time to kill, what can I do for you?"
Kettle looked at me and smiled a bit. "Oh, hey Cobalt. Never mind on that request, Heart. I found Cobalt." He released the button as he trotted up to me and sat down. "I got message that one of the stoves in the diner has a leak in the gas line. Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble to come take a look at it?"
I shrugged a bit. "Kettle, it's fine. I have nothing but time on my hooves until the meeting. Plus I already promised I’d fix somepony’s air unit."
He smiled and bumped my shoulder. "Thanks, Cobalt. I'll keep Sour off your back." That made me roll my eyes.
"Kettle, I can fend for myself. Besides Sour tries to avoid me as it is anyhow."
"I know but he's always had some resentment towards you and I don't want to see either of you getting into trouble."
I waved my hoof to dismiss the whole thing. "I'll be fine. He won't do anything as long as I leave his sister alone."
"Okay, then. Drop by when you can. I'll make sure the gas is turned off." He got up and left for the diner. With a heavy sigh, I got up and went into my own room looking for my tools. Usually, I left them in my locker but after fixing one of the lights on the same floor as my room I decided to bring them with me. Glitch chirped as he reached into the space between my bed and my nightstand, grabbed the strap of my tool bag pulling it free. I chuckled a bit. "Heh, thanks, boy." I patted him and grabbed my tools throwing them over my back. Under the edge of my bed was a box containing a small project I had been working on. Something to pass the time while I break. Sliding the box out I rubbed my hoof along the edge. "It's been awhile since I took it out. Think it's ready Glitch?" Glitch chirped excitedly as he nudged the box closer to me. It made me smile a bit before I rolled the collar of my stable barding down. Exposing a metal strip on the back of my neck. Under the strip was a microchip I had repurposed for my own use. After the accident that gave me my scar it was discovered that many of the fillies and colts had a microchip implanted at the base of their necks. The purpose of the chips was unclear and no one had known they existed. Fig had refused to give up any information on them. Eventually, Fig and his team found a way to escape the stable and their research was destroyed after Dr. Shell and the doctors at the clinic determined how to safely remove the chips from the other kids. I kept mine, however. I was confident I could put it to good use. After I regained my senses I snuck out of the clinic one night and snuck into the Overmare’s office. I wanted to get some answers as to why Fig implanted these chips into us and how he managed to do it without a single pony noticing that he had successfully tagged nearly every colt and filly in the stable at the time. Sadly, I was very successful with my own mission. When I tried to access the information on Fig’s terminal it triggered an alarm that woke up the Overmare. The only information I got from the terminal was how the chips were designed and how they were attached to the spinal cord without injuring the nerve tissue in any way. Looking over the specs I had discovered something else. My mind was working in a way it never had before. I could see the details coming together in my own mind. It was scary at first but then I began drawing up my own design for the chips, repurposing them for something good rather than what Fig what intended. When I got older I had learned the stable had sent ponies out the surface on several occasions. We began keeping an archive of the information they had accumulated during their time on the surface. One bit of information was the application of cyber augment limbs for wounded soldiers. I learned everything I could from the limited information we had and modified the chip over time. I approached Dr. Shell with the new design, at first he didn’t even care what I had done with it. He was more furious towards the fact I taken the data to begin with. I was being escorted to the Overmare’s office fearing the worst until we heard that Runny Yolk had had an accident in the playroom. She was born with a medical condition which made her bones very brittle and easy to break. I was dragged along back to the clinic where we discovered Yolk wouldn’t be able to walk any more. She couldn’t move her hind legs anymore. It nearly destroyed Dr. Shell. I pushed for him to look at my design for the chips, I even volunteered to be a test subject. It made sense since I was already a test subject once before. He reluctantly accepted and together we made a chip that allowed Yolk to walk again. It also gave me the ability to create some gadgets only I could use. Not that anypony was eager to have the chip in their necks again. That was seven months ago. Today seemed like a good day to test out my newest gadgets. I called them the H.A.N.D.S.
Hydralogic
Ambidextrous
Nimble
Digit
Servitors.
They were a pair of gauntlets I had been developing on and off for the last two years. I hoped I'd have an easier time with my tools without having to use my mouth for everything. It was often maddening trying to fix everything with just my hooves and what I could fit into my mouth. I picked up the HANDS and threw them over my shoulders. They slipped on like a pair of gloves, a magnet inside of the strap that hung against my neck clicked as it grabbed the metal strip.
The sudden shock of the two making contact made me jump a bit. Ow, I should look into some kind of insulation for that. I took in a deep breath then released it when I got ready to turn them on. With a final check to make sure they were firmly strapped on tight I grabbed the connector from my pipbuck and plugged it into the socket over my left shoulder. With a hum, the gloves started to come to life. Four digits on each of my front hooves sticking out and wiggling about. I had browsed several books about griffins, diamond dogs and other creatures who had these kinds of appendages to be as accurate as I could. I just hoped this was going to work. Okay let's see if I can move the index finger. I imagined having fingers on my hoof then I tried to move the index finger on my right. Nothing, it didn't show any reaction at all. It was the first attempt but it was already frustrating me to no end. "It hasn't learned to talk to my brain yet. Just keep at it." I muttered to myself, trying to move the finger again. I haven't had much practice with the HANDS since I tore a chunk of my own mane out a while back. I couldn't let that slow me down today. I kept picturing the finger moving around. After several long and infuriating minutes, the index finger started to move. I let out a small chuckle when I began to move onto the other fingers. Soon the middle finger began moving along with the index. I kept practicing with each of the fingers until I was able to move all 8 fingers. Feeling satisfied with the results I stood up, the fingers retracted back into the hands and I placed my hooves firmly on the floor. Almost no discomfort at all but I could still feel the metal through the padding. I was going to need something softer later on. However, I have a couple of obligations to attend to. I looked at the time and read 7:27 AM. Wow, looks like I let time get away from me. “Wait here Glitch. I'll be back.” Glitch beeped and lowered himself down onto his changing dock as I started making my way to Mint's room, then knocked on her door.
"Who is it?" Mint’s voice sounding less cheery than it did earlier.
"It's me, Cobalt." She squealed with delight as I heard her trotting up to the door. It opened up with a bright beaming smile directed at me.
"I was starting to think you stood me up again." I could see her flank wiggling with excitement. I sighed and pointed at the air conditioning unit.
"I'm just here to fix something and that's all."
She pouted at me and poked out her lip "Come on, Cobby! You act like I’m some kind of monster. I’ve-”
I narrowed my eyes at her "Mint, we've been over this. I'm not interested in dating right now." I looked over at the air unit. "Now is there actually anything wrong with it or did you set this up trying to get me alone?"
She scoffed and got up trotting over to her desk "I wasn't lying. I couldn't get it to turn on this morning. It was fine yesterday." She picked up a pencil with her teeth and started to doodle a bit on a pad in front of her before she looked at me. Her eyes widen as she looked at my HANDS. "Uh, Cobby? What are you wearing?"
"Oh they're my HANDS, Hydraulic Ambidextrous Nimble Digit Servitors. I crafted them to help with my duties around the stable. That way I can focus on using more than one tool while I make repairs. You know that I have trouble using my hooves and my mouth fiddling with my tools."
She trotted back over to me and looked them over. "Wow, Cobby. Where the heck do you get these crazy ideas?" With a soft giggled she rubbed her hoof along the metal.
"I was reading a book on griffins in the library and it sparked an idea." I smiled and popped the fingers out making Mint jump a foot away from me with the most girlish scream I had ever heard. It took everything I had to keep from laughing.
“DANG IT, COBBY! That's not funny!” She placed her hoof against her chest.
“I'm sorry, Mint. I couldn't help it.” I chuckled while I extended all eight of the fingers I built into the gauntlets wiggling them about before I trotted over to the air unit. It was built onto the floor about three feet from Mint's bed. Just from a look, I could see a stain on the front of the unit. I slipped my hoof out for a second and touched the spot seeing that it was sticky. “Mint, did you spill some juice on this thing?” I turned around seeing Mint blushing rubbing her front hooves together looking down at the floor.
“I may have a couple of nights ago. I was doing something and one of my legs kicked over my carrot juice...." I immediately raised my hoof to stop her.
"No, just no."
"I didn’t even say anything!" She blushed while I slipped my leg back into the gauntlet and extended the fingers to grab a screwdriver only to drop them on the floor.
“Damn it.” I tried to pick it up but the fingers wouldn't grip the handle. Finally after several tries and Mint giggling at my failed attempts i grabbed the screwdriver raising above my head like I was now the king of Equestria. “VICTORY! Now to fix the air unit. It may need a new control board. I could have one laying around in my room."
“I don’t even see how you sleep in that room of yours. It makes my skin crawl just smelling the oil.” I shrugged it off as I grabbed a screwdriver and slid it into place I popped the front off of the unit and I was able to confirm I was right. The juice had shorted out the control board. I sighed and pulled out the board showing it to Mint. "I really wish they built these things up near the ceiling."
"Yeah, it'd be a lot safer. Scared me when I started seeing sparks popping out."
I blinked at her. "You didn't tell anypony?"
She scoffed and turned her head away. "I don't need my brother breathing down my neck anymore than he already does. It's bad enough when I talk to you."
"Fine, I’ll’ be right back." I left her to room to search mine for a control board. One of the biggest issues with living in the stable. We were running low on supplies and had to ration most of everything we had left. Could be what the Overmare wanted to discuss at the meeting. However, it could be something else entirely. That was for later however, it didn’t take even a second when I turned on the lights and I found a control board I needed. I also had some hose stashed near the bathroom that would probably solve Kettle’s problem. Might as well grab the parts before heading out. Grabbing the control board and a few lengths of hose, I made my way back to mint’s room to slide the control board back into the unit and it hummed back to life. Nodding, I popped the panel back into place. "I have to ask though. Why does Sourdough have such an issue with me anyway?"
She shrugged at the question. "Not sure. He wasn't the same after you had your accident and that crazy doctor was kicked out.”
The accident. I had pushed the very thing to the back of my mind. Everypony had completely changed since it happened. Almost every foal was treated like we were the most fragile works of art.
"Nopony was the same since the accident. Everypony was walking on eggshells around all of us. Nearly every one of the Swingers had been part of the experiment, remember?"
She sighed and sat down next to me leaning on my shoulder. "Yeah, it's crazy. My brother had it the worst. He kept walking me to class, carrying my books when I was well capable of carrying them on my own, and then he was always shadowed me everywhere I went." She sighed heavily before she wrapped her leg around mine. "I thought moving into my own room would be the end of it but that doesn't stop him from being the nosey big brother."
I wiggled my leg a bit to slip free. "You have any idea what happened that day?"
She shook head. "Nopony does. All I heard from my brother was you went in for your test, after an hour you started screaming like a maniac and the guards were yelling. Then, when everything was silent, you were being wheeled out on a stretcher with blood all over your mouth. He said he saw Brick House inside the exam room with his right ear missing.” One more reason I tried so hard to not think about the accident. The way everypony looked at me when I walked to and from class. They eventually began to speak to me again but the way they treated foals like me, Soft Mint or any of the other foals that were tested on was never the same. I reached over and hugged her.
"You know I'm never going to hurt anypony right?"
She hugged me back giggling. "I know you won't. You're too awesome for that." I felt a kiss on my cheek before she looked me in the eye. "Thanks for coming over, Cobby. I owe you one.”
"You actually owe me several from fixing your terminal so you could play your games." She giggled and waved to me before I walked away heading to the diner in the Social Square. It was the biggest block of the stable where everypony came to relax, eat or hang out. Sourdough, Kettlepot and the other cook ponies worked around the clock in the Social Square and I didn't envy them for it. Turning the corner where the stairs lead down to the social square I saw the flank of somepony I knew quite well sticking out of the wall wiggling about while he grumbled to himself.
"Piece of garbage I don't see why we put up with these damn useless parts anymore..." It made me chuckle a bit before I announced myself.
"Hey Sticky! Need some help?"
Sticky Paws, the ironic name since ponies don't have paws, was a copper brown stallion with a glue stick for a cutie-mark. Sticky was one of the best Swingers. One step above me in all actuality. He stuck his head out and laughed a bit seeing me.
"Cobalt! Goddesses, am I glad to see you. Yeah, I could use some help. The damn lighting in some of the rooms has gotten out of control. They keep flickering and driving ponies crazy. I think I've narrowed it down to the main conduit I got my hooves on right now. Think you can look inside one of the rooms and tell me when the flickering stops?”
I nodded and trotted over to one of the rooms. The flickering made my eyes twitch a bit before I covered them with my leg. "Wow, that is bad. When did this start?"
"A little over 48 hours. It was just minor tremors then it escalated into what you're seeing now." He dove back into the wall fiddling with the wires. "Okay, I'm going to try a bypass until we find the proper parts to fix it. Let me know if it stops." The last thing I saw was a huge spark that made Sticky jump hitting his head on something hard then the entire block went dark in an instant. Fear welled up in my chest as I backed up into the wall.
"Stick?" I called out shaking like a leaf.
"Sorry, Sticky Paws isn't here right now. May I take a message?" I spun around seeing the demonic colt from my dreams. He sat there smiling at me. He tilted his head to the side. "You plan to ignore me again like you always do? It's time to end these games and let me out. You need to wake up."
I shook my head but never broke eye contact. "You're not real. You're just a part of my imagination run amok. Now leave me alone." He leered at me and stood up.
"You can't keep this up forever. The very moment when you're at your weakest and I will take you down. I will not be ignored, Cobalt. You will see things my way." The flash of the lights coming back to life. blinded me for a bit making me rub my eyes. The colt was gone and I looked over at Sticky who was staring back at me with a worried expression on his face.
"Cobalt? Are you okay?" I sighed shaking my head before I looked at the spot where the colt had been sitting. He vanished when the lights came back on. He always hated the lights.
"No, I'm not."
"Maybe you should go see the doctor?" Sticky suggested. I nodded although in all honesty I really didn't want to bother him with this. He spent so much time taking care of me after the accident I couldn't bear to disappoint him. When I was old enough to take of myself I promised I could handle myself. I didn't want to break that promise. Sticky must have read my mind. I felt his hoof on my shoulder. "Cobalt, it doesn't mean you can't ask for help every once and awhile. Admitting when you need help is a big step you can take to really fix the problem. I'm certain the doctor will understand if you just go talk to him."
"I suppose." I rubbed the back of my head thinking of everypony Doctor Hard Shell had to take care of. Me, Soft Mint and Sourdough among them. Sticky was right. I owed him that much to let him know what's been going on. "Okay, I'll go talk to him. He should be taking a break right about now." I checked the time.
8:17 am.
"Yeah, he'll be in his usual seat in the diner."
Sticky patted my back and smiled. "I can't say I know how it feels but it doesn't mean you have to endure it alone." He frowned a bit. "We've all lost something because of Fig."
"I know Sticky, I know."
He nodded and stood up. "I better get back to work. I'm certain you've got other plans as well."
"Yeah, I have to check the gas line in the diner."
"Oh? I think I remember seeing Big Bear and Loom messing around in there last night." I blinked at him.
"Big Bear and Loom? Were they fighting? Last I heard they had a massive argument in front the whole Social Square."
"Yeah, apparently Bear had been cheating on Loom with another stallion."
"You're joking..."
"Nope. You know Loom is paranoid. He always comes up with some crazy fantasy inside his head every time he starts going manic. I don't see how Bear puts up with the guy."
I chuckled a bit, trotting towards the Square. "Loom needs somepony who can be his rock. Bear has chosen to be that rock."
Sticky smiled and nodded a bit. "We all need a rock to lean on." He waved to me. "See you around Cobalt." I waved back entering the massive Square. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as full since it was really early in the morning. The diner had a few pre-war arcade machines everypony played every day. All the kids loved it when they got their allowances. I looked over at the pinball machine where a young, coffee colored colt was extremely into his game.
"Come on! New high score!" He grunted rapping away at the buttons at the side of the machine dancing on top of a barstool. I trotted over and smiled looking over his shoulder.
"How's the game going, Coffee Bean?"
Coffee Bean, the son of one of the cooks was a young colt who had way too much energy for his age. He didn't look at me once while he continued to play. "It's all good! I'm nearly close to my high score!!"
"You've been working on that for a few weeks now."
"You bet I have!!" The lights and sounds filled up the corner of the Square. Some of the other kids started to crowd around me and Coffee Bean.
I looked down at some of Bean's classmates. "Wait a minute. Why aren't you guys in class?" I felt like a dummy not realizing sooner. One of the fillies pulled on my sleeve.
"Mrs. Chalk woke up with a stomach bug this morning so we got sent back to our rooms early today."
"Oh, that sucks. I hope she gets better soon.” Chalkboard was one of the sweetest ponies I've ever known. She's been teaching as long as I can remember. I can remember she worked tirelessly to help the fillies and colts like me getting back to some semblance of normal after Fig was exposed.
"Well, guys I have to get going. Good luck on your high score, Bean!" I trotted towards the kitchen as he waved at me for a split second never taking his eyes off of the machine, practically hypnotized by the lights and sounds. Entering the kitchen I spotted a tall and slender, cotton grey stallion with his dark green mane tied into braids down the back of his neck. He stood against the wall while he whistled a small tune. It was Loom, the charismatic tailor of Stable 18. "Hey Loom. Waiting for Bear?"
He spun around and smiled brushing his braids back from over his eyes. "Who else would I be waiting for? Today is our anniversary."
"It is? That's awesome. This makes it three years right?"
He chuckled and blushed a bit looking away. "Actually it's been four years. We were nervous about everypony was going to act if they knew we were a couple so we hid the news for a year."
I smiled and came up patting his shoulder, "You two were meant for each other."
"Heh, everypony says that but I have days where I'm not sure about it.” I patted his shoulder again.
"Loom, Bear loves you."
He sighed and smiled drawing a heart on the tile floor with his hoof. "Yeah, he's been so patient with me. I don't know how I got so lucky." He frowned and looked at me with a worried expression. "Do you still have those nightmares?"
"Yeah, do you?"
He nodded. "Bear said I woke up one night and slugged him across the jaw.”
"Damn, is he okay?"
He smiled. "Of course, my cuddle Bear is the toughest stallion in here next to Brick House and Bench Press."
"That's good. Any idea what your dream was about?" He shook his head slowly.
"No, not a clue. I don't remember what I dream anymore. Which I think is a good thing."
"Yeah, I agree. Anyhow, I should be going. I have to see what's wrong with the gas line and then I have to talk to Dr. Shell."
"The doctor is in the dining area if you want to catch him. I think he's about to leave. I overheard him saying something about a meeting."
"The Swingers are having a meeting with the Overmare. Not sure what the topic is though. It must involve him too." I sigh and turned around heading back to the dining area.
"I'll see you around, Loom. Happy Anniversary!"
"Thanks, Cobalt."
I heard him say before I walked out of the kitchen. Fortunately, the dining area wasn't crowded so it was a cinch to find Dr. Shell. The eggshell white unicorn sitting in the booth at the very back snacking on some processed veggie chips. I didn't take two steps before he looked up from the book he was reading and smiled waving me over to him. I sighed and trotted over to his booth with my head down a bit. "You were expecting me?" Which was probably a dumb question.
"Yes, I was. I wouldn't be a very good doctor if I didn't keep an eye on my patients whenever I can.” He nodded at the seat across from him. "Have a seat. We have much to talk about." I didn't really want to buy I obliged him and climbed into the booth. He leaned on the table and crossed his forelegs. "Now then. You're still having the dream, correct?" I nodded. "Has it changed since we last talked about it?"
"Not really. Well, there was something new at the end. Blue flames came out of his mouth. They were cold. However, I think that was from Glitch hitting me with cold water to wake me up."
"Hmmm, that is possible. The mind always works in the oddest ways. So you're seeing the foal as always. Any other changes?"
"Yeah, there was. I saw him in the hallway earlier. Like he was right in front of me." His eyes widened as he stared at me.
"You saw him in front of you? Cobalt, that's... Damn it. That's very disturbing." He reached over and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "You should return to your room. I can't let you go to the meeting.”
"What? Why not?"
"I can't say. With this new development in your condition, I think it's best you sit this out until we can talk about this in detail later." Usually, I've never been so quick to anger but something about his decision made my blood boil. Talk it out in detail meant I'd be under constant watch again. They told me I was catatonic for weeks before I started to show any kind of reaction to anything around me.
"No, I'm going to the meeting. The Overmare said it was important and I want to be there to show my support."
"That's all well and good Cobalt but-"
"But nothing!" I blurted out slamming my hoof on the table rattling salt and pepper shakers. "I'm not a goddess damned foal anymore! I am an adult and I can make my own choices!" Within a second a flash lit up the space between us and I found myself unable to speak. My mouth was still moving but no sound was coming out. I looked at Dr. Shell and saw the dim glow on his horn. The jerk had taken my voice away! He pointed at the looks we were getting from my outburst. Now I felt a bit embarrassed
"Cobalt, please listen to me. I'm doing this as your doctor. I strongly recommend you stay in your room for the rest of the day. However, this doesn't mean you need to listen to me. You can attend the meeting if you want." He released the spell and I felt my voice coming back. I narrowed my eyes and got up from the table.
"I'll see you at the meeting, Doc." I was certain you could hear the frustration in my voice. I didn't want to tell anypony for this exact reason. I could take care of myself. I wasn't a colt anymore.
"Cobalt, I'm not trying to force you to do anything." I stopped and looked back at him. "I just want you to know that me, the Overmare and Brick House are here to talk if you ever want to open up." He got up and trotted over to me then placed a hoof on my shoulder. "We're all here to help each other. Don't forget that okay?" He smiled and continued on his way. I felt like an ass for my outburst now. I keep forgetting about everypony who were affected by the experiment and everything that happened after we discovered the truth.
"Thanks, Doc. I'll see you at the meeting."
"See you there, Cobalt." He waved back at me before he turned the corner heading to his office. His recommendation of me staying in my room had me concerned though. What was the meeting about?
I shrugged it off and trotted towards the kitchen. I'll find out when the time comes and I still have to check the gas line for Kettle. Pushing the door open I spotted Sourdough rolling up some biscuits for breakfast. I waved at him "Hey Sour." He looked at me and nodded his head at me.
"Hey, I was wondering if you were going to make it down here or not." I chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, it been an interesting morning for me." He shot me a glare. "Relax I didn't touch Mint.”
He sighed and waved it off. "Forget it. I couldn't stop her if I tried." I blinked for a second before I came up to him.
"Sour? Are you okay? You seem more of a grump than usual."
"I just don't like seeing my sister growing up, okay? After our folks vanished I was the only one she'd ever talk to. You remember she never spoke to anypony but me?" Sourdough and Soft Mint had lost their parents much like some of the other foals who were victims in Fig's experiment. I didn't learn about it until after I regained all of my senses and moved in with Dr. Shell.
"Yeah, I remember. Everypony thought she was mute." I patted his shoulder. "You know I would never do anything to harm her. Or anypony else."
"I know, Cobalt. I just can't stand the thought of somepony hurting what family I have left."
"You're a good brother, Sourdough." I caught a small smile before he looked at me.
"I try to be. Even though she drives me crazy sometimes." He started rolling the biscuit dough around on the counter then slapped the huge wad with some flour. "Which reminds me. How come you always turn Mint down when she mentions you two being a couple?"
"Oh, yeah. I just never had an interest in looking for a marefriend at the moment. It's nothing against Soft Mint. She's very cute don't get me wrong. It's just..." He looked at me and cocked his brow.
"Just what?" I sighed and sat down.
"I'm still having the nightmares." He froze staring at me.
"You're still having them?” He took a big step back pulling the dough with him. “Does the doctor know?”
"Yeah, I just spoke to him outside in the dining area. I don't want to scare her with everything."
“Right, Just making sure.” He was inching his way towards a knife laying on the counter. Sourdough never trusted me that day he saw me attack Brick house. I couldn’t blame him really. I got up and trotted to the back of the kitchen. "I'll talk to you later Sourdough. I'm going to take a look at the gas line and see what the damage is."
"See you around, Cobalt." I looked back at him before I trotted over to Kettle's office and knocked on the door. I took a second to take in the scent of the place. The smell of food getting cooked, the bakery next door flooding the area with the aroma of fresh baked bread and the wonderful buffet the chefs always laid out for everypony when lunch came around. It was heaven. Although after years of our supplies running low the scent wasn't what I remember at all. It sucked that we didn't have those wonderful scents to enjoy anymore. If we can't figure something out everypony would die in here. The door slid open and Kettle emerged with a soured expression on his face.
"Damn it. What the heck are we going to do? The food stocks are even lower than I remember."
"I'm not sure but we will figure something out." I looked up seeing the Overmare Dancing Heart trotting out of Kettle's office. She was the youngest mare to take up the position and her youthful appearance made her the heartthrob of every single stallion in here. Including me when I started to notice a certain change starting to happen. Especially when I woke up one morning with a kickstand between my legs. She looked over at me and smiled. "Good morning, Mr. Cobalt. I thought I had given you and the other Swingers the day off." I chuckled a bit.
"Uh yeah, You did. But you know not everypony is accustomed to having any free time before the afternoon hours. So it was a bit of a surprise when I read the letter.”
"I know but with our current situation we'll be struggling until we can find a solution."
"Maybe you'd have a better chance if you start evicting ponies out of the stable. Maybe that'll solve all our problems." We all turned around to a stallion leaning against the wall with a toothpick in his mouth. His horn glowing with a dull green aura as he levitated a comic in front of his face. One that I'm certain he's read so many times he could draw it in his sleep. The swamp green unicorn looked over the top of his comic to see the disgusted expressions shot at him. He scoffed at us and closed the comic. "Don't give me those looks. It's not my fault were all stuck on this sinking ship with her as our beloved captain." He pointed his hoof at the Overmare. She huffed and marched over to him and pushed his comic down with her magic.
"Crackshot, why aren’t you at work?"
"What's the point? We don't have the supplies to fix anything, food to feed everypony in here and on top of that, we don't have any kind of a plan to find a solution. So I'm not going to waste my time working in the administration wing while you trot around here like there isn't a damn thing wrong with this stable. It's going to turn into a tomb before long." Loom entered the kitchen and looked at Crackshot.
“Oh, I thought I heard your voice.” he brushed his braids back as he pulled himself up on a stool. “Like a hoof on a blackboard.” Crackshot leered at him as looked at his comic again. Loom smiled as he turned to Kettlepot. “Hey, is Bear almost done?”
“He’s should be just about finished, Loom.” Kettle knocked on the cooler door. “Hey Big Bear! Loom is waiting for you.” The cooler door opened up, pouring a cool mist across the floor. The second biggest stallion emergd, pushing a box out with him. His mud brown coat covered in spots of frost, his wood brown mane speckled with ice. He shivered shaking it all off and smiled before he trotted over to Loom and kissed him.
“Hey, Baby. Feeling better?” Big bear was one of the gentlest ponies in the stable. Almost everypony was glad somepony he was the one who had stepped up to help take care of Loom. Loom giggled as he hugged Bear’s leg as he took the stool next to him.
“Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Babe.”
“Dig yourself into another pit of depression,” Crackshot chimed in with his usual abrasive charm. However I wasn’t interested in staying in the same room as him. I asked Kettle to show me which stove had the leak and the two of us pulled it out from the wall. I found the gas line that had the leak without a problem which meant I can get to work and be finished for the day. “Say Overmare, you talk about the dwindling supplies but yet Cobalt had no problem finding a gas line. Who’s to say he doesn't have everything stashed in his room?” Needless to say I ignored him, however the Overmare couldn’t. She pushed his comic down again.
“Mr. Crackshot, if Cobalt was stealing supplies we would have taken him into custody like any other pony in here.” He scoffed and flipped the comic back up in front of his face.
“Sure, you would. Just like you did when Fig found a way to escape.” I disconnected the gas line as the Overmare raised her voice.
“Are you suggesting something, Mr. Crackshot?”
“Yeah, I am.” he closed the comic and rolled it up pointing it at her. “I say you helped him out and allowed him to escape so you could run the stable without him calling the shots. He was your boss after all.” I turned and saw the Overmare glaring at Crackshot. “You, Brick House and the quack Hard Shell all claim you care about the stable, yet we’re slowly circling the drain and you three ponies haven't done a damn thing to actually find a solution to our problems. So as far as I can see you don’t give a shit about us. You only care about holding your position for the perks.” The Overmare snatched the comic away and pointed it back at him.
“Mr. Crackshot! If you think I haven't made my own sacrifices for this stable you are sadly mistaken. I will not tolerate your constant mocking of everypony in here. Now you can either spend your time elsewhere or you can actually do some work.”
“Please, I have better ways to waste time then to try working with the bullshit supplies we have as it is. I’m certain the faggot with the braids has the same reason for not being at work himself.” Loom nickered as he leaned against Bear’s leg.
“Please, my work actually lasts more than a few hours. I make the stable suits to last.”
“Whatever you say, faggot. Your work doesn’t matter like the others do. At least the waterhead Cobalt has some purpose in his work.” After I tightened the gas line and mounted it back on the wall I got up and threw my tool bag over my back.
“Why are you bringing me into this? I haven’t done anything to anypony so I don’t see why you’re mentioning me to begin with.” I looked at him as he just stared at me. He stood up and snatched the comic from the Overmare with his magic.
“Because you're the one I can stand the least out of everypony here.” He got up and walked over to the exit just before he kicked the stool out from under Loom dropping him to the floor. Bear jumped down to help him up from the floor. Crackshot smirked as the Overmare grabbed his collar.
“Mr. Crackshot! What exactly is your malfunction? Nopony here has ever done you wrong and you constantly test everypony’s patience. What reason could you possibly have for this kind of behavior?”
“Who the hell said I had one? Maybe I just don’t care for this stable anymore. Maybe I’m tired of acting like there isn’t a damn thing wrong with this place and none of you want to face the truth.” Bear stomped his hoof down shaking the room as he stared Crackshot down.
“And you think it’s okay to torment ponies like Loom?” Loom tightened his grip on Bear’s leg to keep him doing anything stupid. Crackshot smiled and trotted out of the kitchen.
"No, you two faggots are easy targets. He makes it way too easy." The Overmare growled as she tapped on my shoulder.
"Cobalt, I would like to speak to you before you do anything else."
This caught me by surprise. Everypony knows Crackshot always got underneath the Overmare's skin but I had never seen her as upset as this before. Obediently I stood up and followed the overmare out of the kitchen as she lead me into a corner away from the view of everypony else. She sighed and took her glasses off. "Cobalt, I can't take much more of his behavior. You of all ponies know it literally takes everything in creation to make him angry." She looked at me and grabbed me by the cheeks in her hooves. "Which is why I need you to find something I can use to throw him out! I hate speaking like this about anypony but he is getting worse by the day and today he's hellbent on making an enemy of everypony."
"Find something? Why can't you just throw him out?"
"I want to, trust me, but it'll make it a lot easier to maintain control if I go by the book instead of letting my personal feelings get the best of me.”
Okay, she made a lot of sense. No matter how much we all couldn't stand Crackshot, The Overmare needed to act professionally about the entire situation. I nodded confidently.
"Where do I begin?"
"Go to his room and look around. I can keep him in the social square. We have some beer we can use to ensure he stays put."
"Right, he loves his booze or whatever we have for him to kill his brain cells."
She nodded and looked around to see if anyone was looking at us. "Okay, go look in his room. I'll do what I can to keep him here." I nodded one more time before she trotted away and approached one of the mares whispering in her ear. I made a bee line for the exit which would give me the quickest route to Crackshot's room. He resided on the far side of the residential wings so it was going to be a bit of a walk. I felt bad about breaking my promise to Kettle but hopefully, he'd understand one the Overmare explained things. Fifteen minutes later I arrived at Crackshot's door. He didn't even bother to lock it. I couldn't help but shake my head at the thought of him being so careless about keeping his room locked. The door hissed open and I leaned inside looking around. I had to admit, his room was the complete opposite of mine. Clean, organized and you could bounce a bit on his bed. Never would have guessed the biggest jerk in the stable was this clean. There was no way I would be getting away without leaving some kind of a trace that I had been in here. However, I noticed one thing that was a bit out of place. A holo-cassette on his desk. I moved closer to see if there was any kind of label on it. Getting a better look using the light from the hallway I could read today's date on the side. It from was today. I quickly grabbed the holo-cassette and slipped it into my pipbuck. I looked around to see if Crackshot or anypony else was coming before hitting play.
The plan is working so far. I've gotten the Overmare so angry with me that I'm certain she will fast forward her plans to open the stable door.
Open the stable door? Why the hell would she consider something like that!? How the hell does Crackshot even know about it!?”
All I need now is to push her a little further, then she'll have to kick me out. Perhaps I should step things up and target somepony. Maybe that skinny queer would make a good target. If I can't get to him maybe Soft Mint will do. Make her think of somepony else asides from that retard Cobalt.
My heart dropped to the floor. He was going to target Loom or Mint!? I had to do something. I looked around the room to see if there was anything physical to support this. This was exactly what we needed to finally kick him out. I checked the nightstand, his dressers, and under his mattress. I found a pile of papers stacked together at the far corner of the bed. I grabbed them up and dropped the mattress back down. I looked the papers and learned they were notes on a few specific ponies in the stable. Namely Soft Mint and Loom like the recording said. Their daily habits and places they always went after their work shift. How the hell did he have the time to collect all of this information? I didn’t have time to think about it. Bolting out of his room like a bullet I rushed to the social square as quickly as my legs could carry me. Which was pretty fast because once I rounded the last corner I tackled the Overmare to the floor and landed on top of her. I pushed myself up and helped her to stand up again. "Are you okay?" She nodded and brushed herself off.
"Yes, I am. I came to warn you that Crackshot gave us the slip...."
"We have to find him!" I rewound the tape and played it back for her. The color drained out of her face before she turned on the broadcaster of her pipbuck. I covered the microphone before she could say anything. "COBALT! What are you doing!?"
"We can't let Crackshot know we're onto him! If he finds out he's going to panic and who knows what he'll do when he does. I’m going to find Mint and make sure she's okay." She slowly nodded and switched off her broadcaster.
“Okay, But be careful. I don’t know where she’s gone. I’ll contact you over the intercom once I hear anything.” I nodded and made my way to the Square. Knowing the stable there always something that needed fixing. Once I came out of the hallway I saw Coffee Bean galloping towards me.
“Hey, Cobalt! You got a sec?”
“Uh, sure. What’s up, Bean?”
“It’s my classmate, Tumbleweed. He has terminal his mom gave him and he said he can’t get it to play some holo-cassette he found. Think you can take a look at it?”
“Sure, lead the way.” He nodded and the two of us ventured off to Tumbelweed’s room. It was a good ten minute trek from the Square which made my anxiety get worse. The moment we reached the door I saw a beige colt wiggling a screwdriver in the front slot of the terminal.
“Dude!” Coffee Bean pushed tumbleweed aside. “I told you not go screw with it until I got back.”
“But you don’t get it! My mom kill me if she finds out I broke it.” I get a little bad for the kid so I walked over to the terminal and pressed the eject button. The holo-cassette popped out with a whirring sound like they always do. Bean looked at Tumbleweed.
“I thought you said you tried the eject button?”
Tumbleweed groaned “I did! But the dumb thing wouldn’t come out.” I looked at the terminal and hit the button again. It did nothing this time.
“Hmm, looks like the button isn’t working as it should. I’ll take a look at it later before the day is over with.”
“Thanks, Cobalt.” He nudged Tumbleweed. “Come on, let’s go see how Mrs. Chalk is doing!” Both colts trotted out of the room and down the hallway. I sighed as I entered the hallway myself. “Where are you, Mint?” I heard the Overmare’s voice booming from the intercom.
"Cobalt, I saw Mint. She just left the social square. I think she and Sourdough were heading back to their rooms. I've decided to extend the time off to other departments." That wasn't a surprise. I nodded and took off full gallop to Mint's room. If Crackshot tried anything to hurt her, I'd... Heh, I'm not sure what I would do. I'm not the type of pony who physically harms others.
However, I knew what kind of pony Crackshot was. I was galloping as fast as my hooves could carry me. Once I reached our corridor I heard Mint making odd noises which only increased my panic. Sliding to a stop in front of Mint's door I grabbed the panel next to it and began rewiring the lock mechanism.
"Cobalt!" A voice from behind made jump yanking the mechanism out of the wall. I spun around seeing Sourdough stomping towards me and slapped the mechanism out of my hooves. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"I was trying to make sure Mint was okay! Crackshot was planning something and he was targeting her!" I quickly explained before we both heard knocking from inside Mint's room.
"Guys! What the heck is going on? I can't open the door!"
"Cobalt pulled the lock out of the door!" Sour grabbed the mechanism and shoved it into my chest. "Put it back and get her out!!"
I shoved it back to him. "Just connect the red to the red and the blue to the blue!!" Before he could get another word out I made a break to the social square. Loom was the other target for whatever he was planning. I had to find him and fast. When I exited the hallway I saw Bear pacing around inside of Loom's shop. He looked worried and that just made me panic a little more. I ran over to the door and knocked getting his attention. "Bear! Have you seen Loom!?" He jumped a bit which was odd to me. He was never the skittish type. Bear shrugged as he sat down and hugged himself.
"I have no idea. He said he was heading back to our place to get some sewing needles he had hidden under the bed. With the supplies running low he wanted to keep the best ones for himself. Not sure if there is a difference. A needle is a needle."
"Damn it!" I broke into another gallop heading for Loom and Bear's room. I heard Bear calling out to me.
"Cobalt! What is going on!?"
I couldn't answer him. I didn't want to. After the scene in the kitchen, he was ready to get any reason to beat the shit out of Crackshot. Almost everypony did. They hated him and I think in turn he hated us. None of that mattered right now, I had to find him before he does something to Loom or anypony else!
My lungs started to burn as I raced down the corridor. I was never in the best of shape but I couldn't let that stop me.
"GET OFF OF ME!"
"Shut up you little, Faggot!"
When I turned the corner I heard the fighting coming from Loom's room. Crackshot didn’t even close the door. I saw him trying to hold Loom down to the floor with his magic. Luckily Loom seemed to be a lot stronger than he looked which made it more difficult for Crackshot. In the chaos of the whole event, I charged into the room and slugged Crackshot across the jaw. It gave Loom the chance he needed to break free and run away.
I landed on the floor which knocked the wind of out me a bit. I tried to draw in a breath when Crackshot climbed on top of me and pinned me down to the floor. Even with the HANDS I could shake him off. His whole body weighing down on my legs he wrapped his magic around my throat and started squeezing. "You little bastard! I am so sick of you!" I gagged and tried to speak but it was no good. I saw the look in his eyes. He hated me. But why? What possible reason could he have to feel like this? I have never done anything to hurt another pony in the stable until now.
He tightened his grip making it impossible to swallow. My vision started to blur and my eyes began watering. My mouth hanging wide open I tasted copper on my tongue. I felt a switch flip inside of my mind. My leg shot up and slapped Crackshot across the muzzle and sent him rolling into the wall.
"You honestly thought you had a chance?"
I knew my lips were moving but not wasn't me saying those words. My body moved on its own jumping at Crackshot before he could recover and I wrapped the HANDS around his throat strangling him. He gasped as he tried to pull himself free but the HANDS themselves proved to be a challenge to remove.
My ears twitched as I heard hooves galloping down the corridor.
"Cobalt!" It was the Overmare. "Cobalt, stop! Let him go and let us handle this!" My lips curled up into a grin while I turned to look at her. Brick house and Hard Shell were with her as well. Sudden fear came to their faces when they saw me.
"Sorry, Overmare. But some animals need to be put down." A wicked chuckle echoed in my throat when I looked at Crackshot who was still trying to fight me off. His movements began to slow down as his body started to shut down from the lack of oxygen. The grin melted off of my face when I heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Move!" My head spun around like a top but the last sight I remember was a black boot slamming into my muzzle, sending me flying into the wall. I was out before I hit the floor.
I started to open my eyes, I saw the familiar red and white ceiling of the infirmary. I spent enoughf time here to remember every scuff and scratch in the paint. The next thing I noticed was a splitting headache coming on. Rolling over to my side I held my head in my hooves. "What hit me?" I muttered under my breath just before I heard a crunch and an unfamiliar voice.
"Sorry about that." My head slowly turned around seeing a mare laying on the bed next to mine. A mustard yellow mare with an earthy green mane. She was incredibly slender. She was grimy from head to hoof and her clothes looked like something from a pre-war catalog I saw in the archives. A leather vest, a turtleneck sweater, and black boots on all four hooves. She was reading something on her bed before she looked up at me and smiled before biting into some kind of a purple fruit, licking the juice from her lips. "See something you like, stud?"
I stared at her for a moment before I managed to get out a few words.
"Uh who... are you and why are you here?" The mare sat up and took another bit of the fruit she had on her hoof.
"Sorry, Hun. I don't give out my name freely." She tossed the leftovers into the nearest trash can and smiled at me again. "Why don't you tell me your story?"
"Story?"
"Yeah, from what I've been able to gather from your little stalker you've never been one to actually hurt anypony before. Then out of nowhere, you tried to strangle that walking pile of shit and you were smiling about it." My heart sank into my stomach. Was I really smiling?
"Wait, how did you know I was smiling?" She just kept grinning at me
"Who do you think knocked you senseless?"
"Okay, first. Why did you kick me in the face? And second: where did you even come from? I know just about everypony here and I sure as hell don't recognize you." She chuckled a bit before sliding off of the bed.
"I'm from the surface you dope. Your Overmare let me in so I could help your stable establish some trading with my company.
"Trading with your company?" Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I looked at the clock on my pipbuck. 2:37 pm. "Fuck!" I jumped up from the bed, intent on scrambling to the door and trying to find the Overmare. However, fate seemed to have another idea when my legs went taut dropping me to the floor like a ragdoll. I groaned and looked back at the bed and I was chained to the bed posts. “What the hell?”
The mare came up giggling a bit before she offered me a helping hoof. "You okay there, slick?" I looked up at her and sighed as I accepted her help standing up.
"Yeah, I'll be okay." I noticed she didn't move a bit from me pulling on her leg.
"Are you sure? You're staring at me again." My cheeks flared up like a fire which made her giggle again before she tapped my shoulder with a hoof bump. "They wanted to make sure you couldn’t leave the clinic until they spoke to you first.”
“Damn it. Can you find somepony to get these things off of me? You can use the intercom-” She didn’t wait for me to tell her how to use it as she pressed the call button.
“Can somepony get a hold of the Overmare, please? Blue boy is awake.” she smiled at me as she sat down next to me. You still haven't told me that story." I narrowed my eyes and back against the bed.
"You already heard what happened. Why do I need to tell you anything else?"
"One. You wanted to know my name. Two. I want to hear it from your point of view." She was right about her name. I was more than curious about who she was. I sighed and leaned back telling her my version of the story. "As for my side of things. I had a moment where I literally lost my mind. When I saw Crackshot trying assault Loom I didn't think. I just leaped at him and kicked him as hard as I could. I think the added weight of my HANDS might have..." I looked at my hooves and noticed my HANDS were gone. I started to freak out inside trying to think of where they could be.
"You mean those fancy techno-boots you were wearing? That doctor said he was going to hold onto them until you woke up."
"Dr. Shell took them? Heh, at least they're in good hooves. He helped me build them. Well, the chip that helps me control them at least." I took in another breath to refocus myself and recounted everything I could remember before it all went black.
"He had you pinned? How the fuck did you get loose?"
"I'm not sure. Towards the end, I remembered tasting copper on my tongue, that's when..." My whole body froze. The colt from my dreams. Did he actually take control of me? The mare tapped my shoulder again breaking my train of thought.
"When what? Come on, Don't leave a mare hanging here." I looked here in the eyes and without thinking, I said the first thing that popped into my mind.
"The colt from my dreams took control of my body."
"Okay?" She waved her hoof over her head and whistled. I could the skeptical look in her eyes.
"Went right over your head?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, fine. If you want me to finish you have to at least tell me your name." She smiled and held out her hoof.
"Call me Suzy." I must have had a dumbfounded look on my face because she started laughing while she covered her mouth, pointing at me. "Oh, Goddesses! The look on your face." I just rolled my eyes.
"Okay, it’s funny to you. I get it! How the hell does a pony get a griffin name anyways?"
She just smiled and shook her head. "When you're an orphan with no family to give you a name you have to find one for yourself." Now I felt like a jerk for getting mad about her laughing.
"Oh damn. I didn't realize-" she waved it off then hit me in the shoulder.
"Not many ponies don't. Anyways, you still owe me an explanation." I sighed and crawled back onto my bed. Once we both sat down I gave her the full story about my dream and the colt that haunted me every time.
A half hour passed and Suzy was staring at me. "So you have this little colt inside of your head that gives you nightmares and you think he took control somehow?" I nodded and she rubbed her chin a bit. "Didn't you say you tasted copper?"
"Yeah, I did. What do you think it was?"
"If I had to guess I'd say you tasted blood for the first time-"
"BLOOD!" I freaked out and blurted it out just as Suzy clamped her hooves over my mouth. The rubber smell invading my nostrils. She looked around to make sure nopony had heard me.
"Okay, and we’re clear”
"What the hell?!" She glared at me which made me squeal like a mouse.
"Are you trying to freak everypony out in here?" She moved closer and whispered. "I think maybe a drop of blood hit your tongue and it caused some kind of change.
"Okay, but where did it come from?"
"Crackshot had a nasty gash on his bottom lip when they dragged him to the holding cells. I bet it was his blood that did it."
I began thinking about how Crackshot was holding me down. "I think you're onto something."
"Yeah, its the only thing that makes sense. However, it begs the question- Would you tasting your own blood work the same way?"
I shook my head. "Hell, No! I'm not taking the chance that it might." I got off of the bench. "For now I would like to go see the Overmare and the doctor before any other kinds of crazy starts oozing out of me." I heard her stifle a laugh.
"Not a good choice of words, Cobalt."
"You haven't hung around me long enough." I smiled just as I looked down and saw a tear in Suzy's boot. "Hey looks like you got a hole in your boot. I can fix that if you want." She looked at her boot and pulled it out of my reach.
"Thanks, Cobalt but I'd prefer it if I kept them on. I uh...." Her eyes darted to the side. The only time I've seen this was when Sourdough was thinking of a lie. "I have some scars I'd really like to keep hidden."
"Oh, okay then." Her sudden shyness surprised me a bit. What kind of scars would be so embarrassing you'd hide it from everypony? I shrugged it off.
“I see my patient has woken up.” I looked up and saw Dr. Shell in the doorway with my HANDS and my tool bag thrown over his back. He smiled as he walked into the room and placed everything at the end of the bed. “I hope Miss Suzy hasn’t been bothering you.” I shook my head and lifted my hooves up, rattling the chains.
“Are these really necessary?”
“After what we saw we couldn’t take the risk.” He looked me in the eye. I could see he was nervous to be next to me. “Are you in control, Cobalt?”
“Yes, I am Dr. Shell. You can let me go.”
"Right. See you around, Cobalt." She got up and trotted away looking around the social square. "Now where is the little mare's room?" I opened my mouth to give her some directions but she kept going.
"Okay?" I shrugged it off as Dr. Shell released me. I rubbed my legs a bit before I got up slipped my hooves back into my HANDS, feeling shock when the metal strip hit the magnetic I secured the harness around my chest before the doctor and I started walking towards the administration wing. There were only five offices that made up the administration wing. Medical, Security, Residential, Maintenance, and the Overmare's office itself. It was always the last door at the end of the room. He pointed at the bench and asked me to wait outside. I sat down and he went into the office. A half hour passed and I could hear Dr. Shell and The Overmare arguing. I got up and pressed my ear against the door.
"Heart, I know we agreed on the plan but you know as well as anypony else we can't let Cobalt leave."
"Hard Shell, that isn't fair. Don't you think we should at least talk to Cobalt first before we make a decision?"
"Heart, please. You saw what happened today."
"Hard Shell, we all know how you feel about Cobalt." Brick house was in there with them. "You helped take care of him after his mother vanished. He's like a son. We get it." I backed away from the door and fell back onto the floor. The memories of Hard Shell taking care of me came rushing back like a flood. I was always forgetting he had given up a lot of his life to help me bounce back from the accident. Hard Shell and his wife, Bookworm, the stable's lead archivist. There was also his daughter, Yolk. She was the most energetic little filly I've ever known. Despite the fact she was confined to a wheelchair due to a medical condition that made her bones very brittle. After an accident Yolk had injured her spine and lost most of the feeling in her hind legs. Dr. Shell was especially worried that she wouldn't fully recover from it. However, the day after she was allowed to go back to her family's room she was the exact same as she was before. Chipper, cheerful and Goddesses know where she got all her energy from.
I heard a small clank that brought a smile to my face. "Nice try, Yolk."
"Aw come on!" I turned around to see an annoyed banana yellow and brown maned filly as she scowled at me and stuck her tongue out. "You suck!"
"Hey!" I couldn't help but laugh a bit. "It's not my fault you're still learning to walk in those new braces of yours." She smiled and trotted over to me. Her back hooves clanking against the metal floor.
"It beats being stuck in that wheelchair." She sat next to me and bumped her elbow into mine. "Thanks for that."
"Anytime Yolk." I looked at the braces to see if there was anything wrong on the surface. "Have you had any issue with the chip?" Yolk was the only other pony who had a chip implant similar to mine. The difference between her and I was she needed the braces, I just made the hands for the heck of it.
She shrugged a bit. "It itches a bit. Dad said it was from my skin healing around the chip or something like that." She smiled at me and hugged my leg. "But I can walk again thanks to you." Hearing those words gave me a great sense of pride.
"It's nothing, Yolk."
"Are you kidding me? I can take care of myself." she stood up and kicked me in the shoulder. "I owe you, Cobalt. Anything you need you name it!"
"Oh really? Then I'll take a coffee! Black with two sugars, Please." She laughed a bit and punched my shoulder again.
"You suck, Cobalt."
The door opened with a hiss and Dr. Shell stepped out with a smile. "Yolk, why are you torturing cobalt?" Yolk giggled and hobbled over to her dad hugging him around the neck. He chuckled and returned the hug. It was always adorable how their family acted when they were together. He looked over at me. “You feeling alright, Cobalt?”
Yolk looked at me and then at her father. "Dad, what happened? I heard Cobalt got into a fight with that bully, Crackshot."
Before Dr. Shell could reply I smiled and leaned towards her. "I taught him a lesson about being a bully." Her eyes lit up as she leaned closer to me.
"Did you whoop him good?" I nodded making her giggle a bit.
"Your dad can tell you himself. He and the Overmare swooped in to break it up." Dr. Shell sighed as he patted Yolk on the head.
"Yes, he got him pretty good. Now, sweetheart, we need to talk to Cobalt, okay?"
"Aw, is it grown-up stuff?" He nodded and smiled when she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, you'll be talking about grown-up stuff too when you're older."
"I'm still too young for grownup talk dad. Are you coming back to home anytime soon? You promised we'd have some family time since everypony is getting a break."
"I will be, sweetie. Now head back to the room and I'll be along in just a bit." The filly hugged him before she trotted away. Dr. Shell sighed as he looked at me. "Cobalt, are you sure you’re well enough to do this?” I nodded slowly. "Okay, let's do this." His horn lit up with a dim white glow opening the door. I watched him walk inside before I followed him inside. The overmare and Brick were talking back and forth.
"We can't afford the risk of him staying in the stable. Let's just kick him out like we originally planned."
"I want to, but we can't do that, Brick. He's obviously up to something if he’s been planning this for so long. Believe me, after attacking Loom and targeting Mint I want nothing more than to be rid of him until we get some answers I am not letting him out of my sight."
Hard Shell stood next to me and whispered. "Crackshot had slipped a holo-cassette into Loom's terminal. It sent a message to the Overmare's terminal with a virus. We've been trying to get him to tell us where it came from but he hasn't said a word for hours.”
"A virus?” My voice alerting the Overmare and Brick to my presence in the room. I felt the heat on my cheeks as my face turned beet red. Chuckling nervously, I waved to the Overmare. "Hey, You wanted to see me?"
She just stared at me holding her chest. "Yes, Cobalt. I am glad you could make it." She took a deep breath and smiled at me. "I'm also glad you're okay." She pointed at her head. "He's not awake is he?"
I blinked and rubbed my head. "No, I haven't seen him or heard a word out of him since Suzy floored me earlier."
"Oh, so you've met Miss Suzy already?"
"Yeah, twice. She seems a bit off."
The overmare sighed as she adjusted her glasses. "She’s definitely unique. Which brings us to why she is here. Has she told you anything?" I nodded.
"She said you wanted to establish some kind of trade with her company?"
She smiled and nodded. "That's right. As you recall, we destroyed the research notes Fig had left behind, except for the notes that pertain to you that chip in your neck." Dr. Shell chuckled as he pushed his glasses up. "We also kept a batch of notes that described what Fig called the 'Acquiring of New Genetics.' He had sent various mares and stallions to conceive new foals for his experiment. You remember how your mother told you the stories of her time on the surface?"
"He sent them to the surface just to get pregnant?"
"It wasn't just mares, he sent stallions as well. However, this is beyond the point. What we have considered doing is repurposing this idea to establish trade routes and resupply the stable." Okay, I have to admit this was a brilliant idea. I smiled getting closer to the desk.
"And you're sending the Swingers out there to establish those routes?"
She tapped her nose with her hoof. "Bingo! Anypony with the skills and the tools we use to make everyday repairs would be very valuable on the surface. Suzy said that would be a very sought after skill set. Especially in a town called Arena.”
"Arena?" The door slid open with a hiss, Suzy was standing outside with a box tucked under her front leg.
"The best damn town you'll ever see." She smiled heading over to the couch and sat down before she gripped the corner in her teeth and ripped off the top of the box. I looked at the label.
Sugar Bombs! 100% daily value of Sugar in each bite.
"Those can't be healthy." She shrugged and poured herself a mouthful, chewing loudly. The Overmare sighed as she brushed back her mane. "Anyways, Miss Suzy has informed us that Arena would be the perfect place to start trading and we can expand from there." She got up and trotted around the desk standing next to me. "Now, before I tell you what the rest of the Swingers thought. We'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter." I sat down to think. It was a big deal to consider and given our situation, it seems like we would benefit greatly from it.
"Are there any dangers on the surface we need to be aware of?"
"Oh yeah! All kinds of nasty shit." I looked at Suzy as she poured some more of the sugary cereal in her mouth. "Raiders, slavers, and all kinds of mutated creatures that'll give you nightmares. Oh, there's also the radiation to consider.”
"Radiation? I thought...."
"Sweetheart, if you thought that kind of thing would ever fade away you need to wake up to reality. Radiation is forever. Always has been and always will be."
"Suzy is right." The Overmare's horn lit up as she grabbed some papers from her desk and held them in front of us. "Fig's reports indicate the same thing. There are patches of radiation all over the region."
"There's also the Hot Zone."
"The Hot Zone?" I asked while Suzy nodded consuming another mouthful of her sugar bombs.
"It’s a part of the region to the South West that is completely covered by radiation. Some say it was the original site of a mega spell detonation towards the end of the war. Nopony has ever dared to go near the region. Well except the Children of Bale Fire." Brick rolled his eyes at the mention of the name.
"Fucking hate those kooks."
Suzy looked at him and tilted her head. "You know about them?"
"Yeah, I was actually born on the surface. Lived most of my life up there under a different name. I met a young mare who was a resident here in the stable, we fell in love, had a foal together and I gave up the surface to raise my son."
"Awe, that's so sweet! So who were you before you came here?"
He waved it off. "That's a story for another day. For now, let's get back to the dangers on the surface.”
"Brick is right." The Overmare grabbed a stack of index cards off of the table with her magic and levitated them in front of me. "These are the votes of the other Swingers. We asked everypony what they thought of the plan and if they believed we should go through with it. Before I show you the votes I want to know what you think of it."
"Are you kidding me? YES!" The excitement in my voice was more than obvious. "We need to do something or else we're going to run out of everything." My eyes went from the Overmare to Brick and then Dr. Shell. Each of them smiling at my reaction.
"And with your vote, Cobalt, it’s unanimous. We’ll be selecting which of the Swingers will be representing the Stable next week. I’m certain you’ll be eager to go as well." The smile vanished from Dr. Shell's face as he cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry but Cobalt is staying put.”
I had that feeling again. Like the doctor just kicked me in the gut. I stomped my hoof down and glared at him.
"I told you the last time! I am a not damn colt that needs to be coddled whenever something goes wrong!"
"I don't care, Cobalt. You're staying and that's final."
"If that's the case then you can find somepony else to trade with." We all looked at Suzy as she stood up and threw the empty box into the trash can. "If this is how you run the stable then you ponies are doomed to fail and I will not conduct business with ponies that can't respect the choices and decisions of others around them."
Dr. Shell's face turned beet red when he heard this. "Now you listen here. We decided what is best for this stable. Your opinion is duly noted but don’t think it means we will be taking anything you say seriously."
"Oh really? Because if that's the case then it sounds like this place is more of a prison than a stable. Which makes all three of you wardens who dont give a shit what the ponies think of you or how they feel. So if you think I'm going to believe you actually care about anypony here then I cannot take anything you say seriously."
I had never seen Dr. Shell lose his temper faster than when Suzy claimed he didn't care about the ponies of the stable. Before he could say anything the Overmare clamped his mouth shut with her magic.
"Hard Shell! That is enough. I’m agreeing with Suzy. Cobalt has the right to choose whether or not he leaves the stable." She looked at me before she released him. "Cobalt, what do you want to do?"
"I told you. I want to go and see what the surface is like. I want to help!" I didn't think about it. It's what I wanted to do. Suzy smiled as she came up and patted me on the shoulder.
"Can you accept that Doctor?" Dr. Shell looked at me with an expression that made my stomach twist into a knot. He shook his head and got up leaving the room. Watching him leaving was the longest moment in my life. Suzy sighed as she nudged my shoulder. "Relax, he has to accept you're not a colt anymore and you got to leave the nest at some point."
"I know but I dont want to ruin our relationship."
"If you ask me he's already done that. You couldn't possibly do any worse."
I nodded. "Yeah." A small alarm began to ring from the Overmare's terminal. She trotted over to her terminal and looked at the screen.
"What is this?" She typed at the keyboard before she turned around and hit a switch which opened a panel in the wall. Five monitors extended from behind the panel. A microphone rose from the desk as the monitors flickered to life showing several ponies waiting outside of the door. "There are other ponies outside the door."
Suzy looked at the monitors and tilted her head. "Do any of them have an eye patch? I have some ponies coming out to help escort Cobalt and the others to Arena." Suzy got up and moved closer to the monitors before her eyes locked onto the one sitting right at the front. "Wait, something isn't right. I don’t recognize any of those ponies." The Overmare looked at Suzy before she grabbed the microphone.
"Hello, this is the Overmare speaking. Who, may I ask are, you and what is your business here?"
The stallion smiled as he looked around for the camera. "A mare in charge? We'll need to correct that." He looked into the lens as his smile curled up into a grin. "As for who I am you can call me Master."
Level Up!!
New Perk- Iron Hoof. You are now 10% more effective with melee attacks.
Author's Note
I wanna thank Kkat and Somber for the inspiration to write my own FoE story. I hope many readers will enjoy it like I did writing it.
Chapter two.
All of us were frozen, staring into the eyes of the stallion on the screen. He wasn't physically in the room, yet it unnerved us, even Brick House was frozen. Finally, we were snapped back to our senses as Suzy grabbed the Overmare by her collar and screamed, "LOCK THE STABLE DOWN!” Everypony watched in shock as Suzy threw the Overmare into her chair and bolted from the room screaming as loud as she could. "Lock it all down!" The Overmare shook her head as she fixed her mane.
"What is her deal? How does she know about the lockdown procedure?"
Brick hit the alarm as he looked at the Overmare. “I don’t know, Heart, but I’d do as she asks. If this stallion is a threat I’m not taking any chances.” He left the office as she nodded and turned to the terminal and typed the codes to activate the lockdown. It buzzed when she hit enter.
"What? It's not accepting my codes!"
"What!" I rushed to her side looking at the screen. My eyes drifted to the clock at the corner of the screen. "What is that?" I pointed right at it before the Overmare tried to input her codes again.
"That appeared when the virus hit my terminal. We think it's part of it." She stopped and looked at me. "Cobalt, do you think the virus is doing this?"
"It has to be." I took off trying to pick up Suzy's trail. She mentioned the stable's lockdown. How did she know we had anything like that? The Overmare's voice booming from the intercom made me change direction.
"Cobalt! They're attempting to open the door!" I could hear the alarm blaring as I pushed my body to its limit trying to make it to the stable door. When I finally reached the door. I saw Suzy pushing against the coupler arm that opened the stable door.
"Arrrgh! Come on!" I watched as Suzy had wedged herself in between the arm and the stable door itself. The grinding gears started to screech as she pushed it back. How could any pony possible have this kind of strength? It was impossible.
"Suzy! You're going to overload the arm!" It was no good. The coupler exploded and Suzy dropped to the floor like a sack of meat. Her head making a hollow thunk against the metal floor. She groaned and pushed herself up, shaking a few pieces of shrapnel from her clothes.
"Damn it, at least those Slavers won't get inside."
"Get inside? We can't even get out!" I looked at the arm as smoke poured from the side. "We're stuck in here." Suzy looked at me brushing her shoulder off.
"What the hell do you mean we're stuck? You can fix it right?"
"No! We don't have the parts. You just trapped us inside!" Suzy looked at me as she started to panic. I could see the fear in her eyes as she hung her head down shaking it.
"No. No, no, no! This cannot be happening. Fuck!" She started to shake like a leaf, sinking down to the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I watched her from a short distance. Suzy wasn't the same mare as before. She had completely changed since I mentioned we were trapped in here thanks to her.
"Hey," I tried to get her to look at me. "Suzy, what's wrong?" She just shook her head.
"I-I hate being restrained!" She blurted out making me jump back a bit. "I can't stand being stuck. Fuck! What am I going to do?"
"You? What about the rest of us!? You trapped everypony in here, not just yourself!" She shot me a glare that sent my heart into my throat.
"You honestly think I care about that?” It was like an animal was staring at me. Ready to strike at the slightest bit of agitation. But this was getting us nowhere. The stable was now sealed shut and we had no way of getting the door open. I was racking my brain trying to think of a solution when the intercom crackled to life with Sticky's voice.
"If anypony can hear me, I need some help down on the reactor level! The power grid is shutting down block by block and I can't get them to come back on!" Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. I left Suzy at the door and ran down to the Square. I saw everypony gathered in the center of the floor looking up at the Overmare's office window. Calling up to her for help or guidance in this time of a crisis. I just hoped she was up to the challenge. Finally, her voice was heard over the intercom.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts, please, remain calm. I know you are confused and frightened by what is happening but I want to assure all of you that no harm will come to anypony in this stable. If you are in a section without power. Please proceed to the Social Square as calmly and as quickly as you can. Please help any of those in need if you can. All Swingers are hereby ordered to help in every section affected by the crisis. Goddesses, watch over us." Hearing the Overmare's voice helped calm down a few of the ponies. If it was one thing Dancing Heart knew how to do, it was getting everypony's attention. Sticky would have to wait, I took a sharp turn heading up to her office. She was leaving the administration wing when I spotted her.
"Overmare!" She jumped giving off a squeak as she looked at me. "Overmare, we have a problem. Suzy locked us in. We can't get out now."
"She what? Cobalt, what happened up there? You're not making any sense."
I sighed sitting down. "Suzy wedged herself between the door and the coupler arm, it overheated and exploded after she pushed it back away from the door. It was insane." The Overmare was staring at me like I had lost my mind again.
"Cobalt, that is impossible! She couldn't possibly be that strong. Nopony is."
"You'd be surprised, hun." We both spun around looking at Suzy as she entered the administration wing. "He's telling the truth. I broke the door. I have a slight mutation that makes me a bit stronger than your average earth pony.”
The Overmare's started to twitch erratically as she fell down on her flank. "She... broke... the door..." She repeated the same line again and again. Suzy looked at her and sucked on her teeth.
"Seems I broke her too."
"How the hell are you so calm about this?" She laughed and shook her head.
"Hun, if I was calm I'd be chowing down on my last box of Sugar Bombs. Right, now I want to punch the door down just to get some fresh air."
"Ugh! Forget it, right now I just wanna know why you freaked out when you saw the stallion on the monitor?"
"He's a slaver. The way he looked at the camera, the way he spoke. I've dealt with too many other ponies like him." She grabbed my leg and dragged me back into the Overmare's office and pointed at the screen. The stallion was sitting just outside the door. He looked up at the camera and smiled. I felt a chill shoot down my spine. "See how calm he is, Cobalt? He's come prepared to round up everypony in here. I bet your buddy in the jail cell told him to get here and how to get in."
"For one, he's not my buddy and second, how the hell would Crackshot be able to contact somepony like this guy, to begin with? I'm not even sure if our broadcasting equipment even works anymore."
"Trust me it works." Suzy grabbed my leg and pulled me towards the Overmare’s desk then she reached under the desk and grabbed a manual throwing it on top. "This is the Overmare's manual with all of their procedures. How would you like to make a bet there are pages missing?" Hesitantly I reached out and grabbed the manual. Flipping through the pages I watched the numbers at the bottom of each one. Then I saw it. There was a skip between pages b47 and b55. A whole section was missing! I quickly flipped back to the index table at the front of the manual and skimmed over it until I found the missing section.
"You're right! The missing pages are for the emergency broadcasting equipment in the radio room. It was sealed up two years ago to save power since we never used it." Suzy nodded as nodded at the door.
"Shall I meet you there and we can do some investigating?" I gave her an odd look and just stared back at me. "Hey don't give me that look. My life is on the line too.”
"Pretty funny an orphan knows about the emergency manual and the lockdown procedure for the stable?" She clapped her hoof over my mouth.
"Oh no! You're not going to try and make it look like I lied to you. I told you the truth. I didn't have a family as a filly and I didn't have a name, I had a number! Whether or not I came from a stable isn't your damn business." I pulled away from her and moved out of her reach.
"And why shouldn't I ask? For all, we know you could be working with those ponies outside and Crackshot to snag us up."
"Wow! I honestly thought you were smarter than that but I guess even a smart pony can have a brain fart every once and awhile.”
"Brain fart? You overloaded the arm that opens the stable door, you know more about the stable than I'm comfortable with and you expect me to trust you? You're more deluded than Crackshot.”
“Well, dipshit if I was helping them do you really think I’d break the only thing that allows ponies in and out of the fucking stable? Normally hindering threats is a sign that somepony is on your side!” I couldn't deny she was right. If she was helping she could have easily pulled the door open and we would have been up a creek without a paddle.
"Okay, You have a point but I still find it hard to believe your strength came from a simple mutation. Unless you have some cyber limbs you’re trying to hide under those boots of yours." I got nervous when I saw Suzy smirking at me when I said that and she closed the door.
"Can you keep a secret?" She bit the tip of her boot and slowly pulled it off. Once it was off I felt my heart drop into my stomach. She had claws! Suzy had claws instead of hooves.
"What the fuck are you?"
Suzy chuckled as she slipped her boot back on. "You help me get out and maybe I'll tell you.” I just stared at her as my brain struggled to process everything I had witnessed in the half hour. First, Suzy is insanely strong. Strong enough to overload the stable's door and prevent it from opening. Second, she has claws instead of hooves. Did she have them on her hind legs too? What else was she hiding? I shook my head to refocus on the current situation.
"Okay, but after this, you owe me a story for once!" She giggled and sat down next to the door.
"Maybe if you've earned it. I don't just give away my life story to anypony. That little privilege is earned. Not given.”
"Ugh! Fine whatever, but I'm going to the radio room alone. You're staying here to tell the Overmare exactly what happened with the door." Suzy gave me a sour look when I walked over to the door and opened it.
"You're seriously leaving me here with the mother hen?"
"Who better to tell her what happened with the door?" I pushed the talk button on the intercom. "Glitch! If you can hear me meet me near the radio room." Suzy watched me as she tilted her head to the side.
"Glitch? Who's that?"
"You'll meet him in a bit. For now, keep the Overmare here long enough for me to check the radio room." Before she could she react I walked through the door and made my way to the Social Square. The Overmare was standing at the end of the hallway rubbing her temples in frustration.
"Celestia help us. What else could possibly go wrong?"
Anypony could see the stress was getting to her. I trotted up to her and placed my hoof on her shoulder. She looked at me, her eyes red from crying. Her cheeks still wet from the tears. "Cobalt, please tell me you have some good news. I really cannot take on any more problems than we already have. My plate was beyond full before the day started." I shook my head.
"I'm sorry, Overmare. I just found out your manual was tampered with. The entire section on the emergency broadcaster was ripped out. The only idea I have in mind is that Crackshot may have taken it." The Overmare groaned as she clapped her hooves over her eyes and leaned back against the wall, her head hitting the metal.
"You what!? Couldn't you have at least brought it to my attention first? Fuck me, Luna! What else could you possibly do to us!?" She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Cobalt, if Crackshot has been using the radio room. I want tangible proof. Understand?" I nodded and trotted passed her.
"I'll find it. I promise."
"Cobalt." I turned around and saw the Overmare sliding a key towards me. "Take the key in case you need it." The key was for her room. Two years ago Dr. Shell and I had helped her hide a weapon in her room. She had always suspected Crackshot being capable of something awful. If we only knew the truth sooner. I nodded and continued to the radio room. It was sealed up when we began rationing the resources the stable had left. It's been out of use for at least two years now. Located next to the administration wing it was always one of the first rooms to get the news of the day. It was a sad day when they had closed it down. Getting closer to the door I heard Glitch trilling excited when he buzzed by my head, making me jump to the side.
"Hey! Slow down Glitch, you could hurt somepony." He growled a bit before he started to speak in a series of meows. "I know I made you worry but the Overmare said she wanted to see me right away.” He growled again as I reached up and patted him. "I know, boy. Come on. We have to look into something." He thrilled and hovered at my side as we made our way to the radio room. Glitch jetted ahead and meowed as he pointed at the lock. I came up to him and looked at where he was pointing. "What did you find, Glitch?" He was pointing at sine scuff marks all over the keyhole. The lock was picked, no doubt who it was. I opened the door and peeked inside. What I found didn't surprise me. The terminal that operated the radio equipment was on. I trotted over and pressed a button on the keyboard. The screen lit up and displayed a message being exchanged between Crackshot and somepony else. "He didn't even put a password. I don't know whether to call him careless, lazy or just plain arrogant thinking nopony would find this."
"Why not all three?" I spun around and saw Mint and Sourdough in the doorway. Mint smiling as she shoved her brother aside and tackled me with a hug.
"Oh, Cobby. I was so worried you got hurt!" Sourdough rolled his eyes as I smiled and hugged her back.
"I'm okay, Mint."
"Alright, You saw him now let's head back to the Square before somepony notices we snuck away."
"Dang it, Sour! Why can't you just relax around Cobalt?"
"Mint, I will not get in trouble because of your damn crush on him. Now let's go or I swear I will drag you back kicking and screaming." Mint glared at him as she clamped her forelegs around mine.
"I am not leaving! I am tired of you being a jerk to Cobby!" Sourdough growled as he reached for her. The whole block went dark which made Mint scream in my ear.
"Can she possibly be any louder?" The nightmare me's voice made my blood run cold. I turned my head to see the shape of him lying on the floor rubbing his hooves on his temples. However, he looked different this around. He looked... older. I looked down at his flank and saw he had an identical cutie mark like mine, except it was backward. My cutie mark was a pony with a third eye on its forehead, the side of the face was black and pointed towards my own flank. His was pointed towards his face. He looked at me and cocked his brow as he sat up straight. "What is that look for?"
"You're not the same-" He blinked and looked down at his body. Smiling he started to rub himself all over in an eerie fashion.
"Well, this is different." It made my skin crawl when he smiled at me. "I wonder what could have produced this? Heh, either way, it doesn't matter. Thanks to recent events I believe I know how I can make you listen to me for once." He opened his mouth and in tandem, my mouth opened as well. With a swift bite, I felt my teeth break the skin of my lips, my own blood touching my tongue. Yet nothing was happening. I sat there in a bit of shock while The Nightmare me continued to force me to lick up my own blood. "Grr! Why isn't it working? Crackshot's blood was enough to shake me loose." Asserting my own will I managed to gain control again.
"No way in hell you're getting out again! You're not using me as a meat puppet again and I'll make sure you stay buried! Got it?" He just smiled as he started to fade into the shadows.
"Perhaps you will today, but I'm not the one you need to worry about."
He vanished as soon as the lights came back on. The last sentence had me worried, so I spun around to Sourdough pushing Mint out of the door while she tried to push back. "Sour! He needs help, he's been hurt!"
"HE DID IT TO HIMSELF!" Sourdough gave me a glare that tied my stomach in a knot. It was just like before. They heard me talking to the dream colt and now Sourdough had even more of a reason to hate me. He finally shoved her out in the hallway and pointed her to the Square. "Go back to the Square, now. I'll be right behind you." Mint looked at me, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes. I nodded for her to listen to Sour and not make things any worse. She hung her head before walking away. Sourdough glared in my direction as he pointed his hoof at me. Glitch growled as he hovered in between us. "Whatever is going on inside that head of yours, Cobalt, it better stay away from me and my sister. If I find you anywhere near her again, Crackshot won't be your only enemy." He left the room and closed the door behind him. I sat there with a bloody lip as Glitch softly whined and nudged my cheek. I patted him and sighed.
"I'm fine, Glitch. Everything is going to be okay." Which was a lie. I had no idea how things were going to turn out. With the colt taking control of my body and gaining a new appearance, I was scared that something terrible was about to happen and I had no way of stopping it.
I took a deep breath and let it out before I turned my attention to the terminal and turned it back on. “Either Crackshot is going to be the one to kill or It’ll be Sourdough,” I muttered to myself. before I heard
“You really think the grumpy brother would go that far?" Suzy's voice called from the door which made me jump a bit.
"Ah!" I spun around and looked at her while holding my chest. Glitch dove under the terminal hiding just out of sight "Suzy? What are you doing here?" She stepped into the room and closed the door.
"Mother Hen was driving me crazy. I get she's mad at me for the coupler arm but I don't need a damn lecture."
"Yeah, she can be like that sometimes." I stared at the terminal screen and looked at several entries it had on there. Selecting the first entry I hit return and a full conversation between Crackshot and somepony with the initials B.C. filled up the screen. "Whoa, Suzy look at this." She walked up next to me and stared at the screen.
"So Crackshot has been talking to somepony on the outside, huh?" She pointed to the first entry date. "That was last year."
"He's been planning this for a year? How did nopony see this until now?" It was a stupid question to ask. Suzy just shrugged it off.
"Guess Closest Pony wasn't the only one who was careless, I guess." I looked at her with a confused expression. "Closet pony, That's what I'm calling Crackshot from now on.” I just shook my head and looked at the screen reading everything out loud.
5/08/76
Crackshot: Hello! My name is Crackshot of Stable 18. I am reaching out to anyone out on the surface. If anypony is receiving this please respond.
5/12/76
BC: Hello, Crackshot. Am I correct to assume you’re from a genuine stable?
Crackshot: Why the hell would I make something like that up?
BC: Let’s just say there are some undesirables who would take advantage of a pony’s curiosity. Now you said you came from Stable 18? Is it still operational?
Crackshot: If you call circling the drain “operational.” We’ve been running low on supplies for years now and it’s getting to the point we’ll be killing each other before we know. I’m trying to find my way out of here before that happens.
BC: Perhaps I can assist you in that regard. All I ask is that you find a blue holo-cassette for me.
Crackshot: A blue holo-cassette? I didn’t think they made those.
BC: They were only popular among the military and other high ranking members of society
Crackshot: Okay, so where would I even find one in my stable? Would something like that actually be in here?
BC: No doubt it would be in the Overmare’s office along with the other cassettes.
Crackshot: Other cassettes? How many could be in there?
BC: Possibly 4 or 5 depending on what the procedures specifically were constructed for your stable.
5/13/76
Crackshot: Okay, let's say I believe you. Who's to say you won't just stab me in the back?
BC: I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm simply asking you to have a look around your stable and get back to me when you find some evidence that confirms what I'm looking for is there.
Crackshot: Right... I'll have a look around.
"Okay, so closet was looking for something and this BC jerk wants it." Suzy stated as I just gave her shrug.
“Yeah, but what exactly is it?” She shrugged and pointed at the screen.
“Good question, now keep reading.” I nodded at Suzy and continued to read.
5/22/76
Crackshot: Hey, I found the holo-cassette! It was inside the Overmare's office. Didn’t expect it to be so small.
BC: Excellent, Now we just need to get you out. Have any suggestions?
Crackshot: There's a hidden section of the stable my mom showed me when I was a colt. Not a single dolt in this place knows about it. I can use it to sneak out. I just need something to keep the Overmare busy.
BC: I can arrange that. However, I will require some time.
Crackshot: Whatever, Don't keep me waiting.
6/26/76
Crackshot: It's been over a month and I still haven't seen or heard anything from you. Don't tell me you're backing out of the deal?
BC: I'm not. I told you I required some time to arrange your removal from the stable. You're not the only one with a pair of eyes watching over their shoulder.
Crackshot: What? I thought you said you called the shots?
BC: Within a certain group, yes; however I’m working with a well-known group who have the resources I need to accomplish what I have set out to do. For now, I ask that you be patient and wait for my signal.
6/28/76
Crackshot: At least tell me why it's blue instead of beige like the others.
BC: The short answer - you need special hardware to read the data on it.
Crackshot: Special hardware? Is that why the holo-cassette feels so much smaller?
BC: Correct, the blue holo-cassettes were designed to be approximately 13% smaller and had greater security. Once the data is recorded on the blue cassettes it stays on there. It cannot be recorded over or rewritten.
7/03/76
Crackshot: So it's permanent? What's the point?
BC: Like I mentioned. Security. The cassettes you could find at any military base. They were cheap to make. The readers are rare, however. They only made at least 100 I know of. Who knows how many survived the last two centuries.
Crackshot: Okay, I get the concept. So when are you getting me out?
BC: I told you to be patient. I have to work around somepony who's been keeping an annoyingly close eye on me and I can't afford any mistakes on my end.
Crackshot: Who?
BC: The Sledge.
Before I could read anymore Suzy shoved me out of the way giggling as she looked at the screen. "Oh shit! I have got to read this!" I punched her in the shoulder which didn't didn't seem to phase her and left me with an aching hoof. No surprise coming from a pony who overloaded the coupler arm.
"You actually know that guy?" Suzy smiled at me in a way that made me feel uneasy.
"The Sledge, my naive little pony is the biggest badass that the Dead Hills has ever seen. Took on a dragon with his own hooves and survived with almost no injury except for a big slash across his shoulder. Some ponies say he's bulletproof, explosions can't hurt him and fire just keeps him warm."
"He's... bulletproof? You really expect me to believe that?"
"Well do you really expect me to believe that you have a pony dancing inside your skull?" She smirked leaning her head against her boot. "You really wanted to kill Crackshot didn't you? Admit it."
"Ugh, forget it. Now either you can read the rest or move out of the way." Suzy took a big step back and I moved back in front of the screen. I had to search for the spot where I left off. "Okay, here we are."
Crackshot: Who the hell is that?
BC: A very ruthless raider boss who has taken most of the region under his command. He's not somepony you want to make your enemy. I have to move carefully or else he'll discover what I'm doing.
7/10/76
Crackshot: Okay, so what am I supposed to do once I get out of here?
BC: I have a plan in motion. Can you open the door without raising the alarm?
Crackshot: No, I can't. But there is a second door I found in the hidden section.
BC: A second door? That's rather odd for a stable.
Crackshot: What do you mean by odd?
BC: That second door shouldn't exist. Every other stable I've ventured into only had one door to it.
Crackshot: So there was only meant to be one door? I think we can use that to our advantage.
BC: I believe we have the same idea in mind. Do you have a way of broadcasting a signal from your Pipbuck?
Crackshot: Hell if I know. I hardly ever use the thing. They just make me wear it so they can track me down whenever or wherever, but it doesn't seem to work in the hidden section. I screwed around in here and fell asleep for a few hours. When I went back to my room the Overmare grilled me for two hours trying to find out how I managed to avoid security for so long. I just told her I turned my pipbuck off and she believed me.
BC: Not the brightest pony, is she?
Crackshot: Oh, you have no idea! Anyways she hasn't taken her eyes off of me since, so it's going to take longer to get a message to you.
BC: Not to worry. However, if you do possess a broadcaster on your pipbuck and you get outside for at least 5 minutes I can send some supplies you'll need for your new life on the surface.
8/02/76
Crackshot: You're sending supplies? Is this cassette really worth that much to you?
BC: In more ways than you can imagine. Now, I'll have the supplies to you as soon as I am able. Please endure things for a while longer and I promise it'll be worth the wait.
Crackshot: Damn well better be.
It was no surprise Crackshot made a deal to get out of the stable. I pointed at the last entry. "See this? Almost every date after this he just logged in to see if this B.C. replied to his messages or not."
"So closet pony makes a deal to escape the stable and BC wants some kind of a blue holo-cassette as a payment for their help," Suzy closed the door as she stood up on her hind legs and removed her boots wiggling her claws around. "Sounds like they're well organized, smarter than most ponies on the surface." I did a double take when I saw her standing up straight on two legs. She merely smiled as she ran her claws through her mane. "Yeah, I can walk on two legs. You'd be surprised how much of a pain it is walking on all four legs."
"Okay, then." I looked at the screen. "You said they were smart and organized. You really think they have the resources to pull off what they're promising Crackshot?"
"I'm damn sure of it. If this BC is working under the Sledge's command they're probably using a false name to have access to the resources would be otherwise restricted from other ponies. The Sledge keeps a close eye on his resources so nopony steals them and uses them to do some real damage." She looked at me when I gave her an inquisitive gaze and her smile just grew wider. "What? You suspecting something, Hun?"
"Suspect? It's like you're practically telling me every secret detail that only a member of the Sledge's gang would know. So why don't you drop the merchant act and tell me who you really are?" She laughed as she crossed her forelegs.
"I could tell you, but in all honesty it'll be more fun to show you. Hehe. Just to see the look on your face."
I just rolled my eyes and looked at the screen. I noticed one last entry on the screen. "Suzy! Take a look at this." I pointed at the last entry dated only months ago.
Crackshot: Okay, I have the supplies you sent me along with the weapon, it looks like it was made in somepony's garage.
BC: Pipe weapons are very common out on the surface. You should get comfortable with it while you can.
"Pipe weapons?" I asked. Suzy nodded as she sat down next to me.
"Yep, they're a kind of weapon that is cobbled together from scrap parts you'd find just about everywhere." She leaned closer to the screen and pointed at the next entry. "Look at this. It looks like Closet Pony kept his supplies just inside the door that leads into this hidden section." She hit the arrow keys to move the cursor down and stopped at one particular section. "Ah, there it is. Looks like there is a door that opens up into the hidden section. Right next to the stairs leading to the reactor level."
"Alright!" I got up and walked over to the door. "Come on, Glitch." Glitch buzzed by Suzy making her jump to the side and stared at the two of us.
"What the hell?" She tilted her head looking at Glitch. "Wait, that's Glitch? It's a spritebot. Where did you find it?" I smiled and patted Glitch.
"He was in the trash compactor when I was a colt. I took him home and pieced him back together." Suzy blinked as she looked at him.
"Wow, you must have been a smart little pony. But I have to ask one question. Where did Glitch come from?"
"What? He was in the trash compactor I told you that."
"I know you did, but what I'm asking is where he came from? He's the only one I've seen so far. Have you ever considered whether or not he may be the only spritebot in the stable?" I looked at Glitch as he whined a bit. We had never considered the possibility of there being other spritebots like him.
"No, I never thought about it." Glitch groaned as he nudged my leg. "So how did Glitch wind up in the trash compactor?" Suzy shrugged as she slipped her boots back on.
"No idea, but I think you should ask around." She smiled and walked over tapping my shoulder. "After that, you should consider joining up with the Sledge's crew. You'd be making a shit ton of caps within a week with your skills if you can revive something like Glitch." Glitch beeped as he buzzed around us. I nodded and opened the door heading towards the reactor putting the mystery of Glitch's origin on the back burner for another day. I could hear Sticky swearing as he tried to shut off all the alarms going off at once in the P.D.R.
Power
Distribution
Room.
"Son of a fucking mule! Somepony help me shut this shit off!" He screamed into the intercom before he grabbed some oily cloths from his tool bag and stuffed them into his ear trying to drown out the noise. After hearing him yelling I dashed over to the main terminal and pressed the volume down button for the speakers in the room. Sticky was holding his hooves over his ears so he didn't notice me until I tapped him on the shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he spun around and looked at me. "COBALT!" I almost covered my own ears when he started yelling at me. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAME TO HELP! I CAN'T GET THE ALARMS TO SWITCH OFF!" I grabbed his hooves and pulled them away so he could see that the room was silent again. "Oh, Thank you." He said sheepishly while he pulled the clothes out of his ears.
"Sticky, What the heck is going on in here?" He leads me over to the terminal that displayed every kind of warning you'd see with the power grid.
"I have no blooming idea!" He pointed at the screen.
Air circulation- Malfunction
Power Grid- Malfunction
Mainframe connection- Malfunction.
"You see this? I've been trying to reset the system to clear everything up but the system won't respond and nothing seems to be wrong." I looked at the screen and turned to Sticky.
"Sticky, I think I have an idea what's going on? We discovered there's a hidden section to the stable. The door to get inside is supposed to be close by." He blinked and looked over at the stairs.
"A hidden section? And you mentioned a door?" I nodded. "You know, Cobalt, I think I might know where it is. I found something odd when I tripped over the mop bucket running down here. I was lucky i didn't come rolling down the stairs." He leads me back up to the top of the stairs and pointed at a sign.
Safe work is Good Work!
Wear your safety gear!
He walked over to it and lifted it up showing a keypad underneath. Suzy gave an impressed whistle when she walked up to it.
"Wow! Guess we found our way in but how the hell do we get it open?" Sticky just shrugged.
"No idea. What do you think Cobalt?" I looked at Suzy and smiled.
"I say we get Closet pony to open it for us." They just blinked at me before Suzy smiled at me and popped her neck.
"Want me to twist his legs behind his back?"
"Whoa! No, that's not what I meant. I have an idea. But we need the Overmare and Brick house. Plus you get to help Suzy.” She just groaned at me while we started back towards the Square to find Brick and the Overmare.
"Come on, Cobalt. You can say he doesn't deserve to get managed a little bit for setting everypony up like this." I shook my head.
"Sorry, Suzy. If he gets mangled it'll be the wasteland to do it. Not me." Two hours later, Brick, Suzy, The Overmare and I were sitting outside in the hallway just a few minutes away from the security cells where Crackshot was waiting inside his cell.
"You're certain he's still in there, Brick?" Brick house nodded firmly.
"Yeah, I made sure he couldn't get out after his stunt with Loom. Though I don't see why Cobalt would think he has a way of escaping."
"Trust me. He's been planning this for an entire year. He's got something up his sleeve."
"If that is the case then we should interrogate him and get some answers." Brick started to walk away before Suzy grabbed his leg.
"Hold on, Big guy. You actually think you can scare him into spilling his guts? I'm pretty damn sure he's a hell of a lot more stubborn than you give him credit for." Brick snatched his leg away as he glared at her.
"He's not that damn smart if he managed to get caught."
"Brick," the Overmare tapped his leg. "Suzy is right. It pains me to admit it but Crackshot has been plotting this scheme behind our backs and we never considered the possibility that he was capable of deceit. I'm sorry, but we need answers and this may be the only way to do it."
"By me going in there and ordering away the only two guards we could spare to watch his sorry hide so the couldn't try anything?"
"Hey!" Everyone looked at Suzy. "Let Cobalt explain one more time and we'll go from there, okay?" The Overmare nodded first and reluntcally Brick nodded too before they turned to me. I took in a deep breath before I gave them my plan again. "First, Brick will go in and order the guards away so Crackshot will be tempted to try and escape. Before he gets away I'll step in and talk to him while he's still locked inside the cell.
"At which point you'll give us some kind of a signal to determine how Suzy and I will carry out our roles." I nodded and looked at Suzy.
"Then Suzy will play as a slaver." Suzy raised her hand.
"One question, Why am I the slaver in this little charade?"
"Because you have the most experience with their kind. So you'll be able to act like them and make it look like they got inside. She looked at me for a split second and smiled as she popped her neck again.
"Okay, I see where this is going." Brick sighed as he walked away from us.
"Celestia help us if he causes any more trouble." It wasn't a minute later that we heard Brick yelling as loud as he could. Which in all honesty was enough to rattle the pipes on the ceiling. "LISTEN UP YOU SLACKERS! I need you both to come with me to the Square! We have a riot in progress and I need all hooves on deck!!"
"Are you serious, Captain?"
"Yeah, What about Crackshot?"
"Leave the shit stain in there. I need every guard in the Square now!" We saw Brick and the two guards running towards the Square. Before I could take a step the Overmare grabbed my leg.
"Cobalt, How do we know what kind of reaction Crackshot has?" I hadn't thought of that. From this distance, they wouldn’t have been able to see anything. Luckily I was a fast thinker.
"Okay, I'll stay in the light so my shadow extends into the hallway. I'll wiggle my ears to signal you ladies. My left ear will be the mark to act like you're making a deal with Suzy." They nodded as Suzy pointed at her own ear.
"And the right means Mother Hen gets dragged away." I nodded back at them before I made my way to the security office. Crackshot glared at me from his cot.
"Come to finish the job, Cobalt?" I'm not sure why but I just smiled as I sat down looking at him. I was praying to anyone who was listening that I could at least pull off a good enough bluff.
"Not really. I just came to say thanks for the gear before I left." That got his attention when he sat straight up.
"The what? What the hell are you talking about?" I widen my smile before I cross my legs.
"The supplies gave you. I have to say they gave you an impressive collection. Especially that blue cassette." He just narrowed his eyes at me.
"Bullshit, you only know about the holo-cassette because I left the messages on the radio terminal." Damn it, He knew he left a trail of breadcrumbs but that didn't stop me from trying. I reached into my pack and pulled out one of the blue holo-cassettes I borrowed from the Overmare. I scratched the label off of it. It was pretty but it was enough to get a reaction from Crackshot as his eyes widened at the sight of it. He launched himself at the glass separating us hitting it with his full weight. He glared at me huffing like a bull ready to charge. "You son of a mule. If you think I can't get out of here..."
"If you do have a way out why haven't you escaped by now?"
"With the two babysitters watching me? Wake the fuck up! I'm not getting caught again so they'd throw me into some other cage."
I just shrugged and stood up. "I see. Oh well, I better get going before the slavers get inside and take everypony." He blinked and took a step back from the glass.
"Slavers?" He started to pace back and forth from one end of the cell to the other. "No, No. That wasn't the deal. He said he was sending a trader, I thought..." He looked at me. I could see the fear in his eyes. Was he actually afraid? "You're telling me that skinny bitch doesn't work for BC?" I shrugged it off.
"Honestly, I don't know and I don't care. After the way, they chained me to a bed I could care less about this stable anymore.”
"What?" His expression said it all. He hadn't expected any of this. "They chained you to a bed?" I nodded as I wiggled my right ear.
"Yep, they chained me down after we had our little tussle this morning." The moment I heard the Overmare scream I dove under the desk to act like I was hiding from her.
"LET GO OF ME, YOU CUNT!!!" She dashed down the hallway trying to get away from Suzy. Suzy chuckled as she bit her tail and pulled her back then pinned her down on the floor.
"Hehe, This is getting exciting. I hardly find anypony who could outrun me. Makes it so much more entertaining." She licked the Overmare’s neck making her squeal and squirm in her arms. She looked up at Crackshot and smirked. "Oooh, Hello. BC sends their regards. I'll be back for you in a bit." She grabbed the Overmare by her neck and pulled her away kicking and screaming.
The look on Crackshot's face was almost perfect. The mix of fear and anger was more than obvious when he punched the glass.
"THAT ASSHOLE! He said nothing about slavers!" He looked at me and shook his head. "Damn it, This isn't what we agreed on. I need your help Cobalt. I can't get out on my own. It'll go a lot faster if we work together." I crawled out from under the desk.
"Last time I checked you said you hated me. So why suggest we work together? If anything I'd be pretty suspicious that you'd shoot me in the back and take off with the goods."
"You have the fucking cassette tape, Alright! I don't have any damn choice in the matter. If you want out of here like I do we can speed up the process if we work together." I sucked my teeth like Suzy did to keep up the act. Finally, I shrugged and smiled.
"Okay, deal. But we're waiting for Glitch."
"That flying rusted toaster of yours!? Are you kidding me? It's going to attract too much attention. Not unless you gave him a silent mode or some shit."
"You really think I haven't thought of that? I can turn off his speaker." Speaking of the devil, Glitch flew into the room beeping softly as he hovered around my head. Crackshot groaned as he held his head.
"Fuck me, Celestia." He looked at Glitch and then at me. "Are you really attached to that damn thing you can't leave it behind?"
"Hey! I built him back up with my own hooves so he's my child. If you got a problem I can go my own way." I started towards the door.
"WAIT!" He blurted out before he his head on the glass. "Fine! Just open the cell already! The override password is Rough Diamond." Rough Diamond, she was Brick's wife before she and the other mares vanished from the stable. I walked over to the terminal and entered the password then opened the cell. Crackshot wasted no time heading for the hallway, heading for the reactor level. I followed behind him. Suzy and the Overmare were hiding in one of the rooms we passed. I stopped for a brief moment.
"Overmare, Use my pipbuck tag to follow us from a distance. I'll explain everything when you catch up." Before they could respond I ran off catching up with Crackshot. He was already at the keypad typing in the code. I caught the last three numbers. 6-5-3. He looked at me and cocked his brow.
"What took you? I thought you'd be right behind me."
"Brick and his goons were behind me. I took a side route to lose them." He just looked at me and hit enter.
"Smart." He said before a panel opened up revealing a door underneath. It opened with a hiss letting Crackshot and me inside. The thing I noticed even before I stepped into the hidden section was the smell. I covered my nose trying not to gag.
"Oh Goddesses! What is the hell is that smell?" Crackshot looked at me and nodded towards the end of the hallway. I followed him a short distance where he showed me a corpse laying on the floor.
"Whoever lived on this side didn't make it. The whole section has corpses around every corner.”
"Any idea what killed them?"
"Why would I care about that? Let's just get out of here before they catch us again." He leads me towards the second door. Along the way, I noticed the other bodies inside the rooms and laying on the floor. My stomach was in knots from the smell. I stopped in front of one marked 'storage closet.' My curiosity was getting the better of me so I opened the door. A rush of air nearly pulled me inside.
"Whoa!" I looked around to see what the hell was pulling the air inside. Crackshot looked back at me and groaned.
"You idiot. We need to keep moving." He came over and lit up his horn into the room. When I saw the rows of shelves full of spare parts reaching the back of the room. A quick glance and I saw a huge number parts we desperately needed. "This whole place has everything they'll need to make repairs for a few more weeks. The other side has a fully stocked kitchen so they won't starve either."
"You've known about this and didn't tell anypony?"
"Last thing I want to be stuck with the responsibility of having to support this shit hole. Once we get outside we won't have to worry about anypony else but ourselves." I just stared at him.
"So is that the whole reason you acted like a major ass this whole time?"
"What do you think?" He doused the light from his horn and kept walking. "Last thing I want to be stuck with the job of having to babysit this stable after we leave. The Overmare will just pawn off all the hoofwork onto us to do." Unbelievable, Just when I thought Crackshot couldn't any more of an asshole he springs this on me. Glitch groaned as he nudged my shoulder. I patted him before I followed behind Crackshot.
"Just a little longer boy. We'll be free in a bit." A full 20 minutes had passed as we approached the second door at the back of the hidden section. There was a massive difference between the two. This door was a third the size and there was no coupler arm. Which left me to consider how the hell were we going to open it? "Um, how are we going to open the door?" He pointed to a mechanism attached to the door and a groove in the floor.
"The door slides out onto that groove and opens just like the main door at the other end of the stable." He nodded over to the room next to the door. "We need to reconnect this section to the mainframe to restore the power. We have to act fast if we wanna make it out in one piece." He took the lid off of a nearby trash can and pulled out a huge duffle bag. Placing it down in front of him Crackshot opened it up and pulled out the pipe weapon I read about along with a box of ammo. I looked up at the expression on his face when he found the blue holo-cassette still in the bag. "You fucking lied to me?" I just smiled as I waved my hoof back and forth.
"Well I needed to get you to cooperate somehow so I figured if you thought your freedom was on the line you'd be more inclined to help me out." He glared at me.
"I see." He turned his attention back to the duffle bag and pulled out some other items. I recognized the med-x syringes. They were exactly like the ones the doctor used but there were a few bags filled with some orange liquid. I heard a small click just before I saw Crackshot charging at me with something on his hoof. It looked like a metal glove. I froze, every part of my body was screaming at me to move but I couldn't move a single inch. Everything was moving in slow motion as he got closer to me. Before he made contact, however, I watched Suzy ram into him and sent him flying into the wall. The impact left a dent and Crackshot fell to the floor out cold. I looked at Suzy as she grinned at me.
"Seriously? You didn't think he wouldn't turn on you?" I gulped and fell back on my haunches.
"I had a feeling he would but he moved so fast I didn't have a chance to react." I took in a deep breathe then let it out. "Damn it, he would have killed me." My ear twitched when I heard Suzy pop her knuckles. I just noticed she wasn't wearing her boots. "Suzy, You're not wearing your boots."
"Yeah, I can't run at my full speed on all fours so I ditched my boots for the moment." She started to chuckle a bit. "You should have seen the look on Mother Hen's face when she saw my claws! It was hilarious!" She stopped when she saw the door. "Holy shit. I can easily pull that door open. We can leave!" The expression on her face was that of pure joy. Her smile couldn't possibly get any wider. "Yes!" Like a wild animal, she dug her claws into the door and growled pulling it back into the groove in the floor. Rolling the door to the side Suzy stood there smiling as she panted heavily. "Finally, we can head outside. Alright, Cobalt, let's say you and me go and take care of the slavers." The thought made me flinch.
"What? Why me? I haven't been in a single fight or do I have any kind of fighting skills!" She just smiled at me before she rolled the door back into place and grabbed Crackshot and threw his limp body over her shoulder.
"Relax, You give yourself too little credit. Now I'm going to drop this jackass off at the security station and I'll be right back. Maybe you and glitch can check out his gear for anything we can use." She winked at me before walking away. Crackshot's weapon clattered to the floor. I looked at it and picked it up. Glitch mewed as he hovered around me.
"Yeah, it looks like some kind of a glove."
"Power Hoof," Suzy said at the end of the hallways. "It's a melee weapon worn around the hoof. It gives your punches a bit of a kick. You should consider taking it with you. Might give you an edge." She turned the corner heading back towards the exit.
"Power Hoof huh?" I looked at the weapon and turned it around to give it a better look. "Mmm, maybe I can use this as a chance to see what the surface is like."
Level Up! New Perk: Intense Training: Charisma +1
