Fallout Equestria: 221 [Group Bravo]

“Rise and shine, 221” an energetic and very clearly male voice sounded over the stable’s internal P.A. system. Those of you awake enough at this point were well aware that this was the voice of the ironically named Soft Chime, and, the reason said pony was currently attempting to wake you up at six in the morning, was, because it was routine.

Morning announcements, one of the many programs issued by 221’s first overmare in an attempt to return the population to a state of normalcy within the early days of its operation. The relative success of the program insured its continued existence.

The enthusiastic voice of Soft Chime proceeded with his announcements; birthdays, the day’s menus, various upcoming events… and a warning about how the lowest section of the stable, normally reserved for miscellaneous storage, had once again flooded and was to be avoided by the general population.

Such occurrences,  system failures, were becoming increasingly commonplace, so too, were Soft’s reassurances that the maintenance ponies had the situation under control. Most of 221’s population ignored these failures as harmless. The stable had provided them with everything they needed for generations now, and, the idea that it would stop seemed ridiculous---- after all, Stable-tec built these things to last, right?

“Engineering tells me lower storage should be dry again by the end of today, and, the overmare assures me that this flood had nothing to do with last month’s blackout. Don’t panic, kids, 221 is still kicking! If you see any of the engineering ponies, give them a pat on the back, will you? Those grease-heads don’t get enough credit for what they do around here.” Chime continued, laughing softly. “Anyways, B shift is over in about two hours, enjoy your free-time, A ponies. Chime, out.”

Work details in stable 221 were split into two shifts, A and B, to ensure that crucial systems were always attended to. The stable was essentially divided into two populations; the A and B shifts. The two rarely interact, seeing as they operate on essentially switched day-night cycles.


{OOC: You’re all part of A shift for your various professions. Two hours to do whatever it is you ponies want. Explore the stable, go get breakfast, go to the library. Your time is yours. One post per GM post, folks}

Aes yawned and rolled off his bed as he listened to the announcements, ears perked up. He grinned lightly as he dressed himself, sliding his jumpsuit on over his snow white fur and shaking off a bit of grogginess before he slipped outside his room and into his friend's grabbing her after seeing she was dressed and plopping her onto his back, the dog lumbering along on all fours with a massive grin as he waved to her parents. "How ya doin', Diamond? Awake yet?" He chuckled and shifted lightly as he loped along, shaking her awake if she already wasn't. The dog glanced around, his emerald eyes taking everything in again before he glanced at his Pip-Buck, the plating on it and the screen itself both as white as his fur, blending in quite well. He wasn't headed anywhere in particular, but was just wandering along with his friend on his back and a grin on his face.

Diamond stirred in her bed, still wearing her jumpsuit as she laid there. "You're kidding me....I dun wanna go fix more things...." She groaned, turning over and pulling the covers back over her head, trying to get back to sleep. 

A rather large unicorn walked over to her bedside, giving her a light tap. "Diamond....wake up little nymph...You have a big day ahead of you~" Her computerized voice sang out, forcing Diamond out of the process of going to sleep. The large unicorn was satisfied with her work, and departed for her own job, she passed by Aes on the way, smiling at the large diamond dog. Sapphire was out and already working, s he was a workaholic and an early riser, so Aes would have no trouble getting in.

Now Diamond couldn't go to sleep, thanks to her mother, and then Aes shook her, then picked her up and put her on his back. "Aes! What's your problem! Lemme down!" She pawed at him, trying not to hurt him, but at the same time, she wanted to be put down. She had planned on going to the cafeteria, but now that would have to wait.

Strawberry was already awake when the voice of Soft Chime played through the speakers. The voice, while normal for her to hear every day, was annoying to be constantly woken up by. So she simply willed herself to get up just a few minutes earlier. It took a few months though, but in her mind, totally worth it. She got dressed in her usual Stable jumpsuit, and after making sure her mane was combed, she exited her room and made her way towards the cafeteria, giving some hellos to other passing ponies as they went about their days.

A large bump hidden under a host of blankets and other soft fabric debris stirs at the sound of Soft Chime making his morning announcements and a wrench placed beside it is surrounded by magic and levitates into the air, seeming to be waiting for something. That "something" appears to be the announcement of the flooding in the lower level and the blackout that preceded it, because the wrench flies upwards at the speaker and as it normally does (based on the scoring and dents surrounding the PA speaker) just barely misses and clatters loudly to the ground amidst a pile of other tools. After a few moments, the lump stirs and a pile of covers peel off the body of a emerald-coated unicorn with her mane in ponytail and her tail in a braid. She's in a jumpsuit already and is laying on one side while the other sorts an array of tools that border on the oddly obsessive. The mare cracks her neck and then rolls out of bed so her hooves land on the pile of fabric she was using as covers.

"That's a lie, that's a lie, that's a damn damn lie," she sang under her breath as she trotted over to a mirror and picked up a comb to brush the part of her mane not styled yet. "Bucking thing's wearing out, I'm sure. No other explanation. Need to get out of this place, get a rad suit, gather raw materials. Only way to control it. It won't work, but it's the only way to control it." She sighs and shakes her head. "Can't allow panic, it'll interfere. Poor guy, made to lie, probably doesn't know it." She trots out of her room and looks left and right before heading off towards the cafeteria to get something to eat that she can carry with her to work.

Sweeps chuckled at the sound of moaning that came with the waking of the various ponies, and mixed other races, in the community. The griffoness was always throroughly amused by the large populous' disdain of the waking world. Of course, 221 wasn't the best of places, it certainly wasn't horrible... was it? They had a bed, clothes, and were fed daily. Routine made up a lot of the structure here. As such, Sweeps woke up extra early made sure do do what she wanted for a little bit, this normally included a morning jog, and some wake up exercise. The morning announcements were, to Sweeps, simply a way to know ehat was that days selection of food to eat.
Waiting halfway to the cafeteria she decided to follow the intercom voice's advice; give the engineers some credit. With a smile on her beak she gave each one a thank you and sent them on. Around this time came an emerald green unicorn. One she knew as Verde Tin if she was correct in this assumption. The unicorn was vastly above that of Sweep's own intellectual prowess, which as it stood, mainly consisted of combat methodology, combat, and persuasive skills. It's those very traits that put her on as security in 221. As Verde approached, Sweeps stretched her wings outwards and foled them back in, opening her beak to speak to the unicorn, "Good Mornin' Lassy! I see your a bag full o' joy this mornin'."

Morning routine in 221 proceeded normally, ponies greeted one another and headed towards whatever it was they wanted to occupy them during their two free hours. The sight of Aes and Diamond brought with it a few odd stares, it wasn’t everyday a pony rode a diamond dog through the halls of 221’s  residential sector A.

The engineering pony Sweeps credited replied with a thank you and a shy smile, quickly continuing on her way, notably towards the lower-levels.

Those who sought the cafeteria found it much as it always was, a jazzy, drab-grey, sterile rectangle. The various ponies that made up B shift’s kitchen staff stood behind counters, awaiting orders from the residents that were periodically filing into the cafeteria.

Aes grinned and chuckled lightly. "Ah, shush it, Diamond, you're getting a free ride to the cafeteria. Don't whine so much." He grinned, shifting and shaking her lightly, lumbering along until he got to the cafeteria, where he got himself some food and got some for Diamond, too. "There ya go, Diamond." He said, setting her next to himself and their plates down as he chose a seat, stretching to his full seven foot height before dropping to all fours and getting seated, grinning at Diamond. "Don't try to run, now, I've got myself a longer stride than you." He joked lightly, eating slowly and looking around. "Wonder where Strawberry is..."

Diamond sighed. "I'd much rather walk to the cafeteria like a normal pony who doesn't have a diamond dog who constantly grabs her out of bed." She was obviously not happy about the fact that she had to repair something every day, and it really wasn't Aes she was mad at. She sighed as she was set down in front of her food, levitating some of it up to her mouth, taking a bite. "Freaking overmare...I keep forgetting you have no taste in food..." She went back into the cafeteria line, getting rid of her current plate and getting a breakfast wrap, one made with an egg, cheese and hay bacon. She also got a cup of coffee. "There, now there's breakfast." She sipped her coffee, then started eating her wrap.

Strawberry entered the cafeteria in a pleasant mood and went to get her breaky, greeting those around her as she went. Seeing Diamond and Aes already seated, she decided to join them, setting her food down and sitting beside the two. “And a happy morning to you both.” She said. “Well, as happy as one can get with this slop. I swear, one day I’ll get to put my talents to much better use than just making this a little more edible.” She added, starting to eat her breakfast. “So, how have you been lately?”

Verde stops and peers curiously at the griffoness. "A bag full of joy." She frowns thoughtfully as she considers this, even going so far as to tap her hoof on her chin as an unconscious gesture of contemplation. "Mmm... sorry, not seeing it. That said, a good morning to you in return Sweeps. Hopefully, today will be more successful than previous days about controlling the slow decay of this hole's machinery and operational integrity." She gives Sweeps a wan smile before walking over to the dull grey institutional counter in the dull grey institutional cafeteria that even had dull grey institutional ponies watching her in a dull grey institutional way. "Some varied fruit, if you please," she says. "Got more work to do than I know what to do about, so if you have some kind of clean plastic bag or somesuch laying around to stick it in, I'd be deeply obliged to you for the effort."

"Oi, Verde you take my words too literally Lassy." Sweeps said with a sigh. Walking quietly in beside the green mare a muddled line went across her beak as she tried to decide between a smile or a frown. Chuckling softly as the mare ordered her food. As it was her turn she asked the same question as always, it was a simple joke on her part, "Do you have meat back there today?" She asked before taking the same plate of hash browns as she did everyday. Making her way over she joined her other three of four aquintances, Diamond, Strawberry, and Aes. Each of which she had grown up along side with, not exactly by choice, but she never had a complaint about it. Grinning as she sat down she greeted the group with nods and let Verde head to work undisturbed anymore.

Verde had no luck procuring a plastic bag for her meal, receiving instead what was that day’s standard meal on a tray. “Sorry, hun. Let the B’ponies take care of fixin’ things while they’re on shift, you deserve your break too, y’know?” said the older mare serving Verde.

Sweeps was rewarded with a hearty laugh from the same mare, who told her that she’d let the griffoness know when she finally got around to killing her husband, and gave her the same meal Verde was given.

With all of their meals acquired, the residents enjoyed their rather bland food, some more than others. They’d find their meal to pass by mostly uneventfully; their standardized gruel tasted like every other day’s, their apples were, as always, subpar, their music repeated… indeed, only two things of particular difference occurred that morning.

One: an announcement by Soft Chime, stating that the immediate area above the lowermost level was also declared off-limits by Blissful Ignorance, the overmare. Residents were warned to avoid that floor all together.

Two: A-Shift’s overseer, Ardent Vehemence’s rather abrupt teleportation spell. She had been talking to a small group of mares for one minute, and the next, she was gone in a flash of blue. The mares themselves also left, albeit not with her.

Other than one and two, breakfast was relatively… normal.

"If I didn't grab you each morning, you'd never get up." Aes chuckled softly, before grinning at the arrival of Strawberry. "Hey, crazy. How are you doing today, besides the old complaints about the making sure the food is edible?" He nodded in Sweeps' direction, waving a bit as she passed. Aes blinked as Ardent teleported away. "Ehh..." He frowned lightly. "Doesn't sound so good..." He mumbled quietly, sighing softly, before returning to, and finishing off, his meal rather quickly, before he yawned softly and looked around the room. He was watching everyone's faces, checking for the general mood of the ponies around him, before he turned to Diamond. "So, what will you be doing today, eh?" He also looked at Strawberry. "You, too, for that matter, crazy."

Diamond finished eating her food rolling her eyes at Aes. "I'd get up without you. My mother is constantly using her damned voice to wake me up. And I'm never getting to bed on time anyhow...not with all these repairs and such needing to be ma-" She was immediately cut off by the announcement from Soft Chime, informing her that there was more work to do today. Diamond slammed her head down on the table, rattling the silverware and letting out a defeated groan. "Aes...I'm going to be fixing the stable. Again......" She groaned again, very much defeated and unwilling to continue.

Strawberry chuckled lightly at Aes. “I dunno. I think I’m gonna do something crazy, since I apparently am crazy. Maybe drug somepony’s drink.” She looked at Aes quickly. “Um, I’m sorry. Did I say that out loud? I would never harm anypony. Or big fluffy guard dog.” She said, giving Aes a friendly nudge. “And as for my usual complaints… Well, it’s a dream I have. Don’t like it? Fine. But when it finally comes true, you won’t get a taste.” She added jokingly.

Looking at Sweeps, who she just noticed, she gave a smile. “And a good morning to you as well. How are things with you?” She asked the griffon guard. Seeing her and Aes reminded her that the Stable had some pretty tough looking guards. It also made her wonder what exactly was worth guarding. It could just be unnecessary curiosity and paranoia surfacing yet again though. She just continued eating, trying to suppress the thoughts.

"I already took a break" Verde says with a small smirk as she accepted the food. "I spent all of it flat on my back under a blanket with a mechanical relaxation aid." Her smirk vanishes. "So now I'm ready to get working as fast as I can. It's hard to keep a hole in the ground working and safe, and the more I work at it the better I am at it. For example, it sounds like it'll be all hooves on deck in about fifteen more seconds so I've got a really short time to masticate our nutritional slop and get my tools. Wish me luck." And then Verde finds a table, sits down, and begins doing her obvious best to swallow the contents of her tray whole.

"I'm as fine as always Lassy, thank you for askin'." Sweeps said as she dug into her food. Without turning she noticed a unicorn teleport. Catching the flash of magic from the changing glint in her parallel acquaintance. Their pupils growing smaller before growing again. That and the light changed for a split-second within the confinements of the building. Shoveling her food down before speaking again Sweeps pulled out a question for the engineers, "So what's yer agenda today? After we go to our long jobs to waste another few hours."

The kitchen mare Verde had been speaking to smiled kindly, wishing her good luck--- seemingly unaware of what the engineer implied her free-time activities consisted of. The residents in the cafeteria went about their meal, a few minutes of relatively nondescript eating, socialization, and, most commonly, complaints about the lovely nutritional food they were given, passed by rather quickly. Indeed, it seemed the previous announcements were quickly dismissed in favor of more important things.  Very few residents showed Verde’s enthusiasm as they ate, then again, most didn’t have the sense of urgency--- or dread, in the case of Diamond--- that the ponies of engineering had trying to keep the so called hole in the ground running.

After this nondescript moment of leisure, however, an alarm began to sound over 221’s P.A system, followed shortly by the voice of the overmare, Blissful ignorance. “Residents of stable 221, I implore you, do not panic. At this time, I would like to ask you all return to your rooms. Members of stable security, I request you report to the medical wing at your earliest convenience.” The urgency in her tone seemed to indicate, that by earliest convenience, she meant drop whatever you were doing and get to medical yesterday.  

The overmare’s announcement had the general populace in the Cafeteria slightly shocked. It seemed that, telling ponies not to panic, led them to panic…  They looked at one another in silence.  First the flooding, and now this? An announcement of this sort had never been made before… what could possibly have prompted the overmare to call upon all of stable security? And to the medical wing, one of the deepest areas of the stable? Unheard of. The residents’ eyes settled on Sweeps and Aes, known members of 221’s security force, silently asking what they should do.


Should anyone take it upon themselves to go to medical to find out what the commotion was about, they’d be met with the rather gruff head of security, Wild Pitch, clad in his 221 security barding.  Wild was an older earth pony, though, his massive form towered over most. His coat was red, and his mane brown, and his eyes were a rather boring shade of gray.  If you happened to have access to an EFS, you would see a single red dot amongst the green of the stable’s security ponies.

Verde swallowed the last of her gruel as the announcement came over the P.A. system, twitching an ear but registering no other reaction. She calmly leans her chest against the corner of a table, breathing in and out for a minute to settle her diaphragm after the hiccups-inducing speed that she'd just eaten at, released a polite belch and a muttered "excuse me", and then turned to the herd in the cafeteria. "As our esteemed overmare's name suggests, ignorance is bliss my fellow spam in this very large can," she says loudly. "If you were in danger, you'd be told to get to your rooms and lock yourselves in, or go to one of the other common areas that can be sealed off. So stay calm, go to your rooms, and let the ponies whose job it is to get themselves in trouble go off and get themselves into trouble." She smiles. "We mean to keep you safe, so go calmly to your rooms please."

She doesn't pause to see how her words are received but slides a crowbar out of her vast tool belt and trots out of the room towards the sealed-off lower levels whistling "What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor" cheerfully. The cheer, however, is mere show; beneath her confidence and cheerful exterior, Verde Tin is running all the possibilities through her head and deciding that she does not like the things populating the high percentile.

Aes slowly blinked and stared up at the ceiling as he listened to the announcement, before chuckling and waving at the other ponies who looked in his direction. "Don't worry, everyone, everything's fine, head to your rooms, I'm betting this is another one of those annoying drills. C'mon, Sweeps! Get a move on, we got orders." He said cheerfully, smiling at everyone as he got up and wandered out with a soft hum, moving at a quick pace to the medical wing, for him, it was a light jog, but with his long stride, he'd be moving rather quickly. He lost the hum and smile as soon as he was away from everyone, however, growling under his breath. "What the hell is going on now..." He mumbled softly, and as soon as he got to the medical wing, he looked around slowly, and as he entered, he noticed Pitch. "Hello, sir." He said respectfully, bowing his head slowly in his form of salute.

"Oh, but Aes I was enjoying my perfectly digestable vomit for breakfast." Sweeps replied as Aes told her to get a move on. She was just as confused as Aes on the matter of what was happening. Either way this wasn't going to be goo. Looking around Sweeps bellowed to the crowd, "Do as our Overmare said and head back to your rooms. Consider this a extra time lapse to be lazy." With that she practically flew out the door, her body fluttering above Aes the whole way there before she landed to the left of Aes. Raising her front right claws into a salute.

Strawberry watched the others leave to do whatever they were going to do. At least, what they have been instructed to do. This pink mare already resigned herself to doing something crazy though, so she might as well do something crazy. And that crazy was defying instructions! Oh, so rebel.

After Aes and Sweeps had left for the medical wing, she decided to follow. Getting to the medical wing wasn’t hard, since she had been there many times previously, plus she was following other guards who were heading there as well. Though, what called for every guard to be present at one spot kinda baffled her. Did something happen to somepony? Did something get into the Stable? These thoughts only made the mare more curious.

She stopped around the corner from the medical wing, trying to listen in on anything going on. Strawberry hoped she’d not get spotted by the security’s EFS, otherwise her fun would ruined by the party pooper security. Oh, and she’d probably get shot. That would be very bad.

Diamond finally finished eating her not-so-tasty food, not even bothering to move the plate. And then the 'do not panic' announcement came on the intercom. Well then...looks like mom and I have the day off for the moment... She very calmly made her way back to her living quarters, but decided that she was going to do something else. She sought out the nearest terminal, and if she found one, she would try to hook up and see if she could get a look at the medical wing.

Verde Tin:

Verde’s journey to the sealed off lower levels would be relatively unopposed. On the way there, she’d walk by several maintenance ponies who had been responding to the flooding heading away from the sealed section she was heading towards, apparently when the overmare said “Everpony” she really meant, everypony. Never the less, she wasn’t stopped by them. When Verde did finally reach the door to the lower level, she would find it sealed and locked. She had no way of unlocking the door, if she tried her regular access card (the one given to maintenance ponies to bypass normal security locks applied to keep normal residents away from unstable-maintenance needing sections of the stable) she’d find it was denied access, the door panel claiming she did not have the authority to unlock the door. Just what was going on here?




Sweeps and Aes:

Wild Pitch noded to the two security members in front of him. “Hello, you two.” he greeted them. Pitch waved to another guard, who trotted over with two 10mm pistols in her magical aura. She hovered them near both Sweeps and Aes, waiting for them to arm themselves, and when they did, she returned to her position near the entrance to 221’s medical wing. “The situation is… Ardent Vehemence has gone insane. She’s holed up in medical with half the armory’s magical energy pistols and refuses to come out… The majority of B-shift’s medical team is still in there.” he said, catching them up to speed. “Look, just sit tight… we’re waiting for ord----”

It was at that point, that the door to Medical exploded. knocking ponies, griffons, and diamond-dogs alike onto the ground, and, in some cases… out cold. Alarms began to blare and the stable’s fire prevention and exhaustion system kicked in, showering the hall in a mixture of chemicals and water. To those unfortunate enough to get any in their mouths, they’d find there are worst tastes in this world than 221 standardized gruel. It should be noted that, should any of you check, none of the security ponies seemed to have perished in the blast. Calculated distraction, or good fortune on the part of the stable ponies? Who knows...

Strawberry and Diamond:

Both Strawberry and Diamond were watching the happenings as they occurred, but their distance from the doorway saved them from the blast. However, they were no longer alone. Next to them, in a flash of blue magic appeared Ardent Vehemence, panting from the exhaustion of casting such a teleportation spell. She noticed the two and leveled three magical energy weapons at them… before pointing them elsewhere. “Come with me if you want to live” She told the duo, and began to run in a direction opposite of the medical wing.