Overture - A Fallout: Equestria Story

Prologue: Silver's Situation

"When tomorrow hits, it'll hit you hard."

I was sat alone in a very clean, very bland office, perched on what had to be one of the most uncomfortable chairs I'd ever had the misfortune of using. Honestly, what ever happened to a cushion on the floor? I sighed and glanced around the room for the nth time, there wasn't much else to do. A clock rhythmically ticked away on the far wall, and the terminal on the desk quietly whirled away. I internally groaned at the fact I'd ended up waiting in the dullest room of all time. It didn't even have a window for Celestia's sake!

There was a decorative poster on the wall, if you could call propaganda decorative. It was no different from the dozens of others I had to pass on my trip here: Celestia and Luna smiting hoards of Zebra soldiers with their magical might. 'Better wiped than striped!' No doubt I'd see it another dozen times on my journey home.

With little else to keep my attention, I settled for watching the few motes of dust I could see drifting lazily under the ceiling light. If I pretended they were actually pegasi floating about it was almost entertaining. I idly played with my guest ID lanyard. The 'receptionist' had given it to me so I wouldn't set off the security systems. I didn't really like interacting with robots, they always felt sort of off to me, for lack of a better word. Artificial, I suppose.

Eventually the owner of the office, Dr. Healing Touch, returned and broke the still tedium I'd been trapped in, hurrying to his seat with a ream of papers following in his magical grasp. "Sorry about the wait." He smiled apologeticly, setting down the sizable stack of documents on the desk top in front of me. "An admin issue, all sorted now. You know how printers can be." He chuckled, sliding the papers towards me.

"Now then Ms. Sterling, all we need is for you to fill out these forms and we'll proceed from there." He levitated a pen and about half of the documents into my hooves before turning his attention to the terminal, the mechanical clacking of the keyboard breaking the quiet. I sighed again and flicked through the books-worth of forms I'd been given. I hated paperwork. Who didn't, right? At least from the brief glances I'd taken it didn't seem like anything too viscious or mind numbing, just some medical type forms, disclaimers, bank details, yadda yadda yadda.

Name? Race? Sex? Age, weight, medical history, so on, so forth, right down to the 'By signing this document you acknowledge...' at the end. Pretty painless as far as playing pencil pusher goes. The next few pages was a bit more of a cause for concern, though, consisting mostly of blocks of waivers, disclaimers and legal notices for me to sign, which wasn't foreboding in the slightest. I knew logically it was probably a kind of all-encompassing boilerplate document, but the sheer number of mentions of 'accidents', 'incidents', 'unintended side effects', 'health implications', et cetera, was not very reassuring. Each one wanted a signature.

Once I was sure I had no absolutley recourse I turned to the next section. It was a much more welcome sight. Money talk. The real reason I was here.

That's not to say I didn't care about the programme, not at all! Anything that could save lives and help our troops had to be a good thing, it's just...

Let me paint the picture a little bit. My name is Silver Sterling, and to the surprise of probably nopony I'm a silversmith. Earned my cutie mark making jewellery (it runs in the family) and I love it, I have my little shop and I make my little trinkets and live my little life. The only problem is that times were pretty tough at the moment, with the war and everything, and silver was not exactly a necessity. It can't be magically charged like gemstones can and it's not as valuable as gold or platinum, so it's mostly just for decoration and accessories. Which is fine, everypony needs a little sparkle now and then! It's just that decoration is all it is, and as far as decoration goes it can be pretty pricy. As things got more uneasy demand had plummeted, which was obviously very bad news for me.

I was struggling to make ends meet, I needed money fast. Luckily for me, it just so happened that the Ministry of Arcane Science were trialing some new magical gadget and were paying for test subjects. Paying a lot of money. Danger money. Usually I shy away from risky business like this, but the bits were too good to say no to. I applied and got accepted, and that's how I ended up here in this office, signing paperwork.

Finishing up on a big fat confidentially clause, I looked over everything to make sure it was all correct and silently bid farewell to my personal information. Satisfied, I cleared my throat to get the Doctor's attention.

"All finished?" He asked, looking up from the screen. I smiled and nodded, pointing the stack towards him. "Excellent! Let me just give these a quick once over."

He took the forms in his magic, alternating between scrutinising them and typing, humming quietly to himself as he did. I sat quietly. He wad young-ish but professional looking, certainly not a chore to look at, but maybe a little plain. I settled on watching the way his purple aura glittered and danced around the paper before turning back to the dust motes.

The sudden thump of a stamp broke me out of my boredom. Healing Touch plopped the papers down on the desk, now adorned with a big green 'Approved' sign across the top. "Well Ms. Sterling, I'd say you're good to go!" He announced, getting up from his seat and opening the door. "If you'd like to follow me, I'll get you up to speed with the finer points of the trial."

"Now, as you're aware, Project 1013 is a sort of test run for a new kind of preservation spell we've developed in conjunction with the Ministry Of Peace. After this we're hoping to be able to roll it out for use by military medics, and eventually civilian hospitals and paramedics too." Dr. Touch explained as we navigated the frankly cavernous building. "I'm sure you know the trial is a week long, but the time frame might be a bit more literal than you're thinking."

He led me into a small elevator, pressing the button for 'Sub Level 3' and sending us slowly down underground.

"So, what do you know about Cockatrice?" He asked, almost casually.

I stared at him for a moment, the only sound around us was the gentle drone and clanks of the elevator. I did not like where this was going. “Cockatrice, as in the incredibly dangerous magical creature Cockatrice?”

Healing Touch chuckled.

“Ms. Sterling, I can promise that whatever you’re thinking right now is far worse than what we’re actually doing here.” He paused as the elevator stopped and the door opened, leading me once more. “But since you’re familiar with Cockatrice the explanation should be easier.”

That didnt put me any more at ease.

The doors slid open revealing a large industrial atrium. The place was far bigger than it appeared from the outside. According to the elevator we were five floors underground now, and this level looked like a maze compared to the offices above, corridors and tunnels spidering off in all directions. We broke off from the main hallway into a corridor lined with labs, windows allowing me to peep inside.

Everywhere I looked there was something happening, ponies in labcoats running from room to room, great big sheets of data being printed and moved, formulas being written on chalkboards, chemical vats being pulled along on trolleys. This place really was a proper working laboratory.

The path took us past several labs and data banks before Dr. Touch directed me into a small room. “Now, this is going to be something of a briefing, so if you take a seat I’ll begin explaining the process.” He said, closing the door behind him. I was pleasantly surprised to be presented with a cushion on the floor this time.

“So,” Dr. Touch started, trotting in a slow circle at the front of the room. “You seem to have some knowledge of Cockatrice, do you know what they’re capable of?”

I nodded sagely, to cross paths with a Cockatrice was a cruel fate.

“Did you know” He said, slowly settling down in front of me. “That the Cockatrice’s ‘curse’ can be undone?”

I blinked in surprise, this was certainly news to me. “No, I had no idea."

Healing Touch smirked. “That’s right, the whole petrification process is totally reversible. Fluttershy actually discovered this years ago.”

“That’s amazing!”

“It is,” He continued. “But unfortunately it’s not that simple. The spell can only be broken by the same Cockatrice that casted it, and the chances of that happening in the wild are… infinitesimal.”

Okay, maybe not so amazing. But. “If the chances of it happening are so low, how did Fluttershy find out about it?”

“Fluttershy has a way with animals,” He explained. “From what I understand a Cockatrice had actually petrified Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy essentially berated it into reversing the spell.”

Huh. That didn't sound plausible to me, but I wasn't the expert here.

“Now this is where Project 1013 comes into play. Our Ministry was tasked with finding a method to halt grievous injuries until such time that proper medical treatment became available. Let me ask you, can you imagine a more perfect method than petrification?”

“Wait, what?!” I blurted out. This was crazy, they wanted to turn casualties into stone?

“Think about it!” He continued. “Any bleeding would be stopped instantaneously, the symptoms of diseases and infections would be paused, and it would allow medical staff more time to work, with incoming patients effectively frozen in time!”

Stars above, these ponies were insane!

"There will likely be one or two issues until all the kinks are worked out, but the theory itself is sound.” He finished, turning to me again. “That’s where you come in.”

I was really starting to have second thoughts now.

“After careful experimentation our mages have managed to replicate the Cockatrice’s petrification spell, with some modifications to make the whole experience, shall we say, more pleasant. For instance, during earlier testing we found that the recovery phase of the spell induced a rather unpleasant bout of amnesia and dizziness, so we've worked on removing that aspect, as well as speeding the whole process up, making a more comfortable transition for the patient." He paused, taking a breath. "What we’ve managed to do is work the spell into an arcane device, one that anypony could use. What we need you for, Ms. Sterling, is to make sure everything works safely.” He said with a smile.

‘Week-long medical trial’ my plot, they were going to turn me into a statue! This is nothing like how it was described in the application, and I’d already signed away all my rights upstairs! This was entrapment pure and simple, and I had half a mind to storm out right there and then.

But...

I really did need the money, desperately. If I didnt get some income going soon I'd have to sell my shop, my home. I was already late on payments. As much as I really didn't want to carry on with this, I didn't really have a choice. I clenched my jaw and resigned myself to the fact that if I wanted a place to live, I was going to need to do this whether I liked it or not. And he did mention some earlier testing they done, so it's not like I'd be the first pony ever having this casted on them, they knew how it all went.

Right?

“Y-you’re going to petrify me?” I asked, very much hoping I’d somehow gotten the wrong end of the stick.

“That’s correct.” He answered. I mentally cursed. So much for a miscommunication, this was actually real.

“So, tell me what’s going to happen.” I said with great trepidation. Dr. Touch either didn’t notice my worry, or didn’t care.

“An excellent question!” He said, setting down in front of me. “At the moment, we’re testing the application of the spell over different lengths of time, so you’ll be in a small magical isolation booth. As it stands, we have a enchanted emerald based arcane structure built around a discharge vane, a ‘magic wand’ if you will.” He chuckled. I didn’t really feel like chuckling.

“Essentially, the spell matrix is stored in the emerald and cast through the vane, we can control it from the outside. We’ll set you up inside the booth, and all you have to do is look into the gem, and the test will be over before you know it!”

I didn't doubt that at all. Actually I'd have been more surprised if being turned into a rock didn't mess with my perception of time a little.

"We’ll be monitoring how your body reacts to the spell being cast and broken, and there will be some simple follow up tests just to establish your condition once this is over. We've successfully tested the process before, but we want to investigate how the body might react to petrification over a longer time span.” He finished.

Nothing he’d said had really reassured me all that much. There was no other way of looking at it, they were going to turn me into a garden ornament and then make sure my brain still worked afterwards.

"A-and if I change my mind?" I asked in a last ditch effort to not let this happen. I could find another way to make bits.

"Oh, you'd be free to go." He intoned, eyebrows raised. "Of course, we'd have to charge you for the assessment fees and for the cancellation of the completion cause of your contract. And I'm sure some questions would be asked about you abandoning the war effort, probably not a good look for a mare like you..."

Fantastic. Of course I wouldn't get an out, not really. I was honestly a bit shocked that they'd even use public image as leverage, that was kind of despicable. Unfortunately, it also worked. Nopony would ever come to my shop if they thought I was dodging duty, whether it was true or not. I was stuck in a lose-lose.

One losing option paid out, though.

"Okay, fine." I replied, deflated.

"Wonderful. If there are no further questions, we'll take some baseline readings and get you set up and ready for the spell."

I had several questions, actually. Most of them regarding the stability of the ponies running this programme, but it was probably fruitless to start kicking off now, so I kept my mouth shut. My silence was apparently satisfactory enough.

"Alright, let's get started!" He smiled. I shrank.

I really had a bad feeling about this.

The booth was cold, for lack of a better word. Almost deathly sterile. I may not have been a Unicorn, but being totally cut off from all magic was really quite an uncomfortably empty feeling. I was in one of three booths, one for each race according to Dr. Touch. I'd been told the next booth over was currently 'occupied' by a Pegasus mare doing the same test as me. The last one was empty, apparently they were still looking for a suitable Unicorn to run through the experiment with, although there certainly wasn't a lack of Unicorns in the building by any stretch. Apart from the booths the room was pretty empty. One wall had a big window into the control room, and in an opposite corner was a huge machine, some kind of magic computer I think. They did explain but it was all a bit technical for me.

Said Unicorns had spent the last hour or so taking all kinds of measurements and readings from me, hooking me up to machines that did Celestia knows what and making notes. I felt oddly violated by the whole process, even though objectively it wasn't all that different from a clininc check up. After what I was given a thin hospital gown. I was told the garment had some kind of sensors built in so they could monitor me remotely and an ear bloom so they could talk to me from the control room. All I could say about it was it was stiff and scratchy. A couple of cables ran from the chest area into a socket on the wall.

In front of me was a device that looked something like an eccentric radio with a broken antenna, presumably the petrification device itself. A sparkling green emerald sat in a claw like setting on the end of a pole that was pointed directly at me, right between the eyes if I stood where they wanted me to. The gem glowed gently, belaying it's enchantment. It was the only source of light in the booth.

I'd only been inside for a couple of minutes, but that was more than enough time to really work myself up about this whole ordeal. I was about to get turned into a statue for money, this was really happening.

I was, admittedly, morbidly curious about the whole process, though. Mostly, I was hoping it wouldn't hurt and that this time next week I'd be out of here no worse for wear.

I jumped as a burst of static filled my left ear, breaking me from my train of thought.

“Hello Ms. Sterling, can you hear me?” The voice of the unicorn I’d been informed was the project leader, Dr. Bright Spark, came through on the gown’s built in ear bloom at a near unbearable volume.

“Good. We’re just about ready to begin the test on our end, I thought it’d be pertinent to give you a final run down of what you need to do.” He said.

‘Final run down’ sounded more ominous than I liked.

“Go ahead.”

"Wonderful. Now, I’m sure you’ve been told multiple times about how the process works, so I’ll keep this brief and we’ll get going. When the casting starts, you’ll see the gem light up as the rod discharges the spell. We need you to focus on the light and stand perfectly still. The whole thing will be over in a matter of seconds as far as you’ll know.” Dr. Spark explained. "We'd like you to pay close attention to your experience, we'll get all the details from you during the post-test debrief."

Okay, look at the light, don't move, and remember everything. I could do that. Then I'll come round and this will all be over and done with. Easy.

"Alright, EEVIAC is linked, spell is prepared. We’re set to commence the test now, so if you’re ready we’ll begin.”

This was it. No big deal right? Just look at a gem and wait to be woken up again, it was hardly the end of the world. I took a deep breath, widened my stance and looked squarely at the strange device at the end of the room.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I said, resigned to my fate.

“Acknowledged, we’ll begin the spell. I’ll count you down as it’s cast, and remember, focus on the light. 1013 instance two ready.”

I steeled myself. I could do this, it would be fine, I'd barely even know it was happening.

The green light from the gem got a little bit brighter, surrounding a new, deep red gently glowing in the centre of the crystal, and the pleasant chiming of magic filled the silence. The light painted shimmering patterns across the walls, not unlike water. It was slowly getting more intense. I blinked and stared right into it like I was told, I really didn't want to do something wrong, who knew what the outcome would be? I certainly didn't want to find out.

"Five."

I noticed the tell-tale aura of magic surround the rod-antenna-thing part of the device, and muted green that sparkled in the air. Combined with the impromptu light show in my peripheral vision it was actually a little dazzling.

I was starting to experience a distinct, if hard to describe feeling of oppression. Almost as if all the air in the room had suddenly gotten heavier, a subtle weight pushing against my whole body. I tried not to pay it much mind, however unpleasant a feeling it was.

That was when I first noticed the numbness.

"Four."

I couldn't feel my hind hooves. It felt like my body just ended halfway up my legs. In a weird way it sort of just felt like they'd always been like that, but the sensation was entirely unpleasant. I didn't look back to check, I couldn't bring myself to look away from the light, something about the way the gem shone had me transfixed.

The booth felt eerily chill, the temperature had definitely dropped somehow. The chiming was filling the air louder now, coming from all directions and playing with my hearing.

The numbing was spreading, I could feel the unsettling wave of nothingness rolling past my hocks and up my hind quarters. The magic sort of felt like pins and needles inside and out, a tingling before the absence of feeling.

"Three."

Alarm bells started going off in my head as the wave of magic sludgily crept along my barrel. This was wrong. The process was now also starting to take hold in my forehooves, feeling slowing fading from my frogs. It was indescribably unpleasant to have this moving wave of emptiness creep up your body and meet with a part of you your brain is telling you isn't there. Almost nauseating.

This is when panic finally settled in. Much to my horror though, I realised that not only could I no longer move, but I couldn't breathe either. My whole chest had turned to stone. There was nothing I could do to stop it now.

"Two."

The horrible, unstoppable tide of cold rolled it's way up my neck. I would have shuddered if I could. I grit my teeth as it carried on up. When the encroaching emptiness met the base of my ears it made me feel sick, though I was sure vomiting would actually be impossible.

My vision started to darken and sound started to fade away, the last of my senses finally being overpowered to the spell. My mind slipped away, no more thoughts, no more feeling.

I never made it to 'one'.