Fallout: equestria, hard steel

Stable 310.

It was small, I never really saw how small it was until I had been in every room that wasn't off limits to a chef. It was as if it was never made for the 400 ponies living in it. As though more had crammed themselves in just before the door was sealed. I had become used to every room, every wall, I knew them like they were a part of me. They made up the whole world as I knew it. In one day that all changed.

"J.j! Come on! where's my coffee!" Shouted the red mained mare from just outside the kitchen. I hadn't gotten her name; no pony takes the time to tell then chef their name or ask how you were. Not in the morning anyway. I rushed through making her coffee with practiced ease, I had learned how to make all the easy stuff first and was just starting to get into stuff like cake and muffins. As much as I wanted to rush in and do it, no matter how much fun I would have baking a cake or a tart, if I did it wrong there would be hell to pay.

"Coming! Just a minute." I made my way out of the kitchen and into the main atrium, behind my small counter and floated the cup of hot bean water over to her. I had never understood what was so good about the drink but everypony else in the stable loved it for some reason. I would much rather have something like apple juice, but that was saved for important ponies like the overmare, or stallion, depending on who was in rotation.

In stable 310 every pony had to take a turn being overpony it was such a stressful job these days with how much stuff would break down that the last 3 had killed themselves. My rotation was due in 5 years, 400 ponies with one taking a turn each month meant you got a pretty long break. It also meant nothing ever changed because no pony could stand being the overpony long enough to make anything happen. In essence we might as well not have had an overpony.

A bell rang, high and annoying, with its shrill ring that echoed around the atrium; but that bell meant my shift was done and I could go look for something to do. not that there was much to do. I made my way to the library, in the 20 years I had been alive there were still books I had to read, mostly the fiction stuff. But I was running out of science books to read. I picked my favorite book, a book about the different uses of magic, I had never been good at magic really all I needed to cook was levitation.

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An hour had gone by, I had read almost the entire book, and in doing so put myself in a much better mood. I made my way to my room to do some stuff but was stopped by an intercom message.

"Could all guards report to my office please?" Said the slightly tinny voice of Mrs. loose Screw, my foalhood crush and current acting overmare. I had hoped we'd be something, but unfortunately, she fell for the head of security. At the very least she cared about ponies, not in a way that made her suitable for overmare as she was likely to give all our water for the week to one pony if the cried long enough. But thankfully we didn't have many ponies like that.

That was when I heard it, an explosion, an ear defining sound that rocked the stable floor, as well as me. as I rushed to investigate I could hear more, smaller explosions as well as gun fire. I had only heard gun fire twice in my life, once when somepony tried to kill the acting overpony, and the second time when overmare Sparkling Water shot herself. Guns where loud, but not as loud as whatever that fist explosion was.

Entering the main atrium I saw them for the first time, big ponies wearing magically powered suits of armor. they stood a hoof higher than everypony else, had large guns attached to their armor, and were (at the moment) either killing off, or restraining ponies from Stable 310.

I ducked behind my counter, it looked like they hadn't quite seen me yet, but given how fast they were finding ponies I assumed they must have some kind of EFS system in their armor. I decided the only way to get past dying or being captured, the former far more likely, I would have to get past them to the stable door they had no doubt blown off.

Making my way back the way I came I could see three doors, one to the rooms, one to maintenance and one to the elevator to the door. And they were unguarded. This felt too easy, I've been lucky at times, but this seemed like something beyond mere birthday skipped my overpony duty kind of luck, But I would be damned if I let this chance slip.

Something stopped me though, the thought of just leaving them to die or be captured felt wrong but, even if I wanted to do something I couldn't. I was unarmed, had no armor and worst of all, no combat experience. If I wanted to help them, I would have to do it after the fact, assuming they were still alive, and given that I didn't die when I left. The attackers armor suggested that the wasteland was more hostile than I could probably handle.

Going up the elevator I made my way up to the administration level, this is where the overpony, head of security, and head of maintenance lived. It was also where the stable door was, along with lots, and LOTS of storage rooms. Down the hall and through the door was all I had to do, that and find some help after the fact, I was not going to come in here solo to deal with these ponies, not even if I found a megaspell cannon or something stupid like that.

Through the door I went and out into a cave lit by something, I assumed it had to be light from the sun as that was what supposedly lit up the whole place outside. I didn't have time to figure that out though I had to find someplace to hide and fast. I made my way down the short cave and found a trampled security gate; it looked as though it had been trampled long before today.

Not wanting to slow don't and investigate I continued past and out into an open field, the yellow grass and brown tree's catching me off guard. I had expected more cave, and only cave, it went on in all directions. This was both good and bad, it meant that the chances the armored ponies and I went in the same direction were slim. It also meant that I would have one hell of a Time finding help, or weapons for that matter.

Now with certain death behind me, and only probably certain death ahead of me I made my way out of the field and to a nearby building that looked to be some kind of tool shed and waited inside for the day. I wasn't going to just leave like that, I would wait for the steel ponies to leave then go back and see who survived and get what I could to help me on my journey.

Footnote: Level Up!
new Perk! well educated, you time spent reading the non-fiction in the stable has given you great knowledge!
+1 to intelligence
Level 2