I sat, wrapping my burned foreleg with bandages from one of the first aid kits I had found. The radio played music that sometimes made me want to cry, and other times made me want to get up and dance. I relaxed.

Once I felt like my leg was wrapped enough, I cut the bandage with medical scissors, also from the fist aid kit, and listened to the music. I was free now. Actually free. Now that security had no way to track me, I could wander the entire stable. I could do whatever I want.

Right, time to formulate a plan. I needed to get the other stallions our of their cells. Something told me that was easier said than done. From the very beginning, they brainwash the stallions into unquestioned servitude to mares, and ultimately the Overmare. An armed revolt could be entirely destroyed if the younger portion of the stable's stallion population were more loyal to the Overmare than to each other. They would be the most difficult to convince.

Then there was the matter of actually arming and armed rebellion. They would need to raid the armory and would need to be in and out before the head of security or the Overmare knew what was happening. Maybe the Overmare would listen to reason, and there wouldn't need to be an armed rebellion in the first place. No shots fired, nopony gets hurt, stallions walk free, everypony wins. Those were the plans for the long-term.

I levitated the two pip-bucks in front of me. Upon comparing the two, Harvest's was actually quite different than mine. I glanced at the skeleton, propped against the wall on the other side of the door frame so Rose couldn't see him.

His pip-buck had three buttons beneath the screen. There was a little wheel at the top right. There were gauges for measuring air toxicity, temperature, and radiation levels. There were many other useful gadgets that mine didn't have.

Mine was a little smaller than his. It had scorch marks and only one button. There was a knob on the left side that changed between notes and inventory. I guessed it could tell you whatever you had in your pockets.

Harvest's pip-buck had a particular feature that caught my eye. The tracker inside it could be turned off. There was a switch on the top left side of the little supercomputer that was labelled "SEC TRACK OFF/ON." Maybe if I were able to get his pip-buck on, then I would be able to have the conveniences of having a fully-operational, yet undetectable pip-buck.

Either way it would have to wait. I wasn't in much of a rush to melt my leg to get one pip-buck off, just to put another one on.

Perhaps it's about time I explain a little bit about pip-bucks. They are little computers that ponies wear on their foreleg ankles. Most ponies' pip-bucks have an EFS, SATS, Inventory, map, personal stats, and many other little things that help out with life around the stable. There are special ponies and maintenance that keep up everypony's pip-bucks. These pip-buck technicians are the only ones that are supposed to be able to remove them. They are also the only ones that can access pip-buck programming.

For example, EFS stands for Eyes Forward Sparkle. It tells you which direction you're facing, and where ponies are. For most ponies, friendly ponies appear as yellow bars. Things like bugs, bullies, and the Overmare appear as red bars. My pip-buck didn't have an EFS. It was disabled, as well my SATS, map, and the stats setting. Again, the only operational parts of my pip-buck are the notes, jobs, and items tabs.

SATS stands for Stable-tech Assisted Targeting System. It is a spell that is built into pip-bucks and can be activated at any time. The spell allows ponies a brief pause, as it seems to stop or slow time enough that you can get a few of whatever if it you are using off in a fight. Security used the feature the most, and it made it extremely difficult to beat a security pony in a fight.

The map is exactly what it sounds like, a map that shows general information of the topography of your area. I'm not sure how it works, considering it works no matter how deep inside the stable you are.

The stats tab shows general information about your health, even going as far as to have each limb highlighted. Essentially, it will tell you if your leg is broken. Hopefully you wouldn't need a computer to tell you something like that though. It also shows how much health potions you have on you. Thank Celestia I haven't needed to use any yet. Out of all of my medical cases, I only had about a dozen health potions and four super health potions.

Stats also shows an estimation of how hungry you are and how dehydrated you are. Very helpful in an enclosed space with food and water synthesizers. Still, nothing beats good old-fashioned homemade cooking. It also tells you how long it's been since you've slept. Again, very useful in an environment that is entirely based on shifts.

Pip-bucks are a key part of life in the stable. Everypony has one. They get issued shortly after one gets their Cutie Mark and they start working a job. With that said, it's clear why one of these devices that can't be detected by security would be extremely helpful. Maybe I would put Harvest's aside until after my wound heals.

I held the two pip-bucks in my levitation field for a long while. The music was still playing.

Eventually, I reached over and turned it off. As beautiful as the music was, hours of it can get annoying. My hideout became draped in blissful silence.

My eyes fell back to the pink orb. It was still in the corner where it had rolled after I dropped it. Cautiously, I reached out and touched it with my hoof. Nothing happened. I touched it again. Still, nothing happened. Maybe it only activated with magic.

I picked it up and placed it and the radio back in the box. Then, I set the box apart from the others.

After I put it away, I opened the door into Rose's room. I would have thought she would want to talk to me the moment she got back from her party, so surely it wasn't wrong to want to stretch my legs after being cramped in that small space all week.

The moment I opened the door I regretted it.

Rose was back from the party all right. She had brought a friend too. She and a large red mare with a blue mane were all over each other in her bed. The smell of alcohol was strong in the air. I slammed the door shut and pressed my back up against it.

No no no no. She couldn't have gotten drunk. Would she have told somepony where I was? Had they seen me as I opened the door? Also, looking back, I recognized the mare she was with. She was just another thug from security. Praise the Overmare and all that.

I chewed my hooves, but they never came. Fortunately, they were too distracted with each other to notice a door materialize, open, close, and disappear again. Thank Celestia. At least, that's what I had thought.

Almost half an hour went by. I was scared stiff. I just stared at the door. If that security pony found out where I was. I would get hurt. Even worse, Rose would get hurt. I grabbed my revolver and reloaded the bullet that I had shot. I was starting to really get nervous. I pulled the hammer back and pointed it right at the door. Oh, I sure looked tough, but was I actually capable of shooting a pony if they came after me?

Thank Celestia I wasn't.

The door opened. Rose was standing there. Her cheeks were red. I don't know what she had, but the odor of liquor filled my room, when she spoke.

"Hello, I-I was just thinking you could c-come out here and help T-Tide and me with something."

I shook my head, "No, I can't come out! You're going to give me away!"

"Awe, isn't that s-sweet. Tide promises not to tell anypony, don't you T-Tide?"

Tide was laying on her side on the sheets. She grunted and tried to wave her hoof. She was so far gone, she wasn't going to remember any of this.

"I can't come out"

"It looks like you m-managed to get your p-puck-bip off. Er, p-pip-buck."

Buck!

"No, I'm not a service pony any more!"

"Y-you said that you were willing to be my personal s-servant in exchange for not t-telling anypony where you are."

My heart was beating fast. Was she bluffing?

"You never said 'yes' to that agreement."

"I n-never said 'no' either and that intercom is still there."

She began walking towards it. Surely she wasn't serious. Then again, she's drunk. I pointed my revolver at her.

"Please don't."

"Y-you're not going to shoot me. You didn't the o-other day, you won't today."

What in the name of Celestia was she on. She pushed the button on the intercom.

"Operator," it said.

My eyes were wide.

"Yes, put me th-through to security."

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes, just put me through to security."

"Please hold."

Buck, she wins.

"Fine, just hang up, don't call security. I'll do anything!"

Rose gave a devious smile.

This day went from good to terrible in all but a few seconds.

This story has reached ten chapters. Ten whopping chapters! Thank you everyone who reads this. I'm loving writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it. What do you think of the tenth chapter? Leave a comment.

Brohoof /)