//-------------------------------------------------------// Fallout Equestria Frontier -by Katzen Irastra- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 - Little Apple //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 - Little Apple Introduction "The past torment us with mistakes made by our parents" My Story? How should I begin it ... oh yea? Let's start with the part of there was... Long ago there was a beautiful country that has never known war, which changed as its inhabitants. Natural resources depelet slowly, as hopes of good ponies. And at the end when the sum of all the sins committed by the ponykind was higher than the virtues of harmony ... it happened. From the sky for our own hooves  they fell. Balefire Bombs. Every life form was destroyed by powerful bomb’s dark energies, as zebras as ponies both paid a heavy price. But however this only represented another page in the great book of history where not all died. Survivors refugees in huge underground bunkers known as stables, those who were unlucky, only to face the ruthless Wastelands and its denizens. The generosity was replaced by the instinct of self-preservation. Kindness was killed by the vile sadism. Loyalty warped and became paranoid. Laughter became crazy Honesty was dethroned by the lies And the spark of magic ... never ignite again. It has been more than a hundred years. The ponies out there struggling to survive using their own weapons or hooves. My story is about something simple and nowadays nopony on Equestria appreciates. It's about all can have a little essence of that lost harmony no matter what you are. This is my story One about Cutie Marks. And it’s meaning... Fallout: Equestria THE CHRONICLES OF A CUTIE MARK Volume 1 "The generosity of the Equestrian Wastelands" Yes I know, sometimes the Wastelands are generous giving us a reason to continue or a reason for you to try to get up again and fight for what you want. But it is better to depend on oneself than others to always keep fighting no matter how terrible is the situation ... for example ... that pony I met… duststorm,  think, is a nice guy and all, but if you knew well you would realize that the Equestrian Wastelands have given so much and taken too much ... I am surprised that him. CHAPTER 1 Little Apple "I love those dear mares and and gentlestallions Those who always take care of Equestrians " Little Apple. A small town that don’t worth mentioning, right now or in the future. At least I think its inhabitants; not a fancy place like tenpony tower or a filthy place like New Appleloosa. We have a number of services called luxury on the wastelands. There is a warehouse where goods are bought and sold, a local jail, a tavern (the last was a well-deserved luxury), a small and functional greenhouse (a luxury extremely rare), a hotel and a city hall. And, of course...  a cemetery. Yes sir, the Wastelands had never seen a small town as picturesque like this, perhaps before the pre-war, but not today. Such luxuries attract undesirable living forms. Raiders, mutants and the occasional svacabenger believed that are faster than a rifle bullet. That's why the steel walls decorated with a cute and lovely barbed wire were needed for a long time. My home. Well a nice cave that is something dirty is located just behind the city hall, hidden of the midday sun and views of the curious ponies. I remember that day like it was recent, I was... <> <> <> <> <> <> "Damn!" I Shout as I levitated a mirror to my face level. "Those damn Bloatsprite again!" Right next to my coffee mane my ear bleeding from a small wound in the form of bite on my brown coat. Some of the Bloatsprite had entered my home and reached to bite with their sharp teeth into my mane, and ears. Splash! One of them died before the full weight of an anvil, the other two went flying in different directions. It was time to take revenge. I Levite always reliable Rose(mi gun) to aim at the first. PUM! PUM! PUM! Rose was on automatic, releasing three consecutive shots that hit a Bloatsprite and a whiskey bottle. Both, the bottle and the creature, exploded with violence. "Oh damn, not the whiskey!" I run in all directions, trying to locate the last of these monstrosities. I found it. The Bloatsprite was trying escape through a crack in the wall, a gap no larger than the hoove of a foal. While i reloading my gun and changed to manual, the creature manage to crawling on the crack, making a strange sound like water splashing while it continuing her escape. "Oh no you wont." I Levite a small charge of dynamite was not the most practical solution to end the Bloatsprite but now it was personal, and a challenge. I lit the wick from a safe distance, covering after a huge rock;  behind the rock I remembered were i left a new whiskey bottle. When my sanity back momentarily, remembered that he had a flame thrower. Too late... "Oh son of b..." BUM!!!!! The explosion killed the Bloatsprite, shook the entire cave and a fragment of rock that bounced off the wall destroyed the whiskey bottle. That would be one bad day, definitely. I coughed, as the dust settled, my ears were ringing, my head ached and I was sober (bad combination). The walls of the cave had amplified the explosion and from one moment to another means Little Apple was out of my cave. Somepony asked if I was okay and green fur stallion say me that i mad; I swore that when I had the opportunity I’ll shoot him. I shake my hooves in the air trying to explain why I had to blow my own home to get rid of a Bloatsprites infestation. "Oh my…, we almost die, duststorm!!" Said Softcloud, a mare with good makeup and fine clothes. "Well, then you kill them?" Ask a stallion. I growled as I answered, "No fucking idiot, I invite them to take Te with two cubes of my own flesh as they love ... of course you fool!" "Have you?" He said, taking a position ready to jump against me. I Levite a piece of wood while he holding a stick with his mouth, really a  earth pony thought that he can beat a unicorn? Just as my anger began to boil, a voice at the same time elegant and seductive came behind the crowd. All ponies turned from a mysterious figure move to where the two of us were about to fight. "Gentlestallions, gentlestallions" "Oh mayor ..." said the earth pony releasing the stick from his mouth. An elegant white unicorn with purple stripes appeared among our midst, his mane purple with clearer lines bobbing in the wind. High quality clothing covering most of her body. "Seriously ,is necessary so many violence?" She asked with a delicate touch as chocolate and deadly as poison. "oh mayor Shady Flowers , I ... duststorm started," he said without regret. "I just wondered ..." "yes?" "No ... nothing" said the stallion as his head down. "Well as I see nothing happened here dear citizens of Little Apple," she smiled as he jogged with an elegant step towards the entrance of my home. "Sugarcube I'm very sure there are more effective and safer ways to end with the Bloatsprites." Turn my eyes, of course I had simplest ways to do so; had a flamethrower, an anvil, to my trusty Rose. But that damn creature deserved a more violent end. It's not a sadist. It was just that it felt good revenge. "I'll take that into account," I said as I glared at stud. "Well you heard my dear citizens, nothing has happened." Shady Flowers said while waving a helmet in the air. "Resume their work and make sure there is no damage." All spectators gone. The pony that I had picked a fight turned and beckoned me with hoove that i clearly interpreted as "I'm watching you". I aswer him, lifting one leg and sending him to hell. "You know , dust, one of these days will blow us through the skies." "Ha," said frowning. "Well as you want, but seriously I tell you." She sat on his flanks and put a hooves on my shoulder. "If that happens I'll have to hit up until you fall unconscious." <> <> <> <> <> <> I spend a good time waiting for the dust to settle ... When there weren’t dust cloud I note a number of interesting things. First there was a huge patch of something on the roof; apparently the pressure and the small space sent flying the creature against the ceiling. Second, a huge crack size of two ponies was on my wall. Third, i had no whiskey. That last was the worst of my problems. "Damn ... now why it's so cold?" Normally the temperature varied widely, from extreme heat in the day to a numbing cold at night. But it was morning and the thermometer in my cave marked a pleasant 25 degrees Celsius, which is rare. Some other debris were moist and others cold to the touch. I Levite several pieces of rocks and lumps out trying to clean up the mess caused, when finished i note that the crack formed a path to a deeper place. I could see it with dim light.  I took a flashlight focusing on the bottom was a space a little broader. It took me two hours to clean the rest of the way to get through but it worth. In the end I found what I thought was a kind of natural refrigerator. The cave leading to a small cave that was kept at a balmy 0 degrees Celsius, just imagine! I could keep food and freeze water. ICE! Blessed ice for my whiskey! The last thought I remembered something of vital importance, I occupied buy whiskey. Just when I was about to have to pay bottle caps for consecrated drink i note that there were two figures standing at the entrance of the new cave. An earth pony stallion with a misaligned blue black mane shaking, trying to smile without success,  that was Handy Hooves. The other was a red earth pony with a orange mane and a safe expression on his face, that was Sunrise. "Hey dust we heard that you almost blow yourself" Sunrise said moving a piece of debris aside. "You know, there are faster ways to die." "y-yes th-that true ..." Handy Hooves stammered. Not that I do not value my good friends, but sometimes friendships are a pain in the ass (especially if you're sober and angry). Sunrise was a pony that saw the positive side of everything and have ... well Handy was skilled at building things. "you two only come to watch?" "Nah," Sunrise put a hoove on his neck. "Shady Flowers said it was your turn to watch and asked us keeping yourself to don’t do anything stupid." "Anything stupid like shoot a townie?" Sunrise looked up and then on reflection neighing, "something like it." While packing up my binoculars and some caps. My two friends set out to take a look at my new unplanned expansion. "Heaven." Sunrise whistle as he felt the cold inside the cave. "It seems the old dust got nice things." "Yeah ... I can freeze water and make ice." "Oh come on." "Aa-ah g-guys you should see this!" I Finished packing when i hear what Handy said. "Yes, yes. We know that it is cold and there are rocks, Handy. " "No-it's no ... h, there's something on the roof." Sunrise and I returned to the cave. There were are, I pointed with flashlight that levitated and my two friends did not remove his gaze from the ceiling. "it… can be..." "A Steel Ranger." Embedded in the ceiling. Was intact metal figure of Steel Ranger’s armor. My eyes did not stop looking. I always wanted to put my hooves on one of these relics of the past and now I could! Sure would take it out before and see if its former owner still inside . But it would be mine! "I'm buy the drinks if you help me, guys." I Said without looking away from the ceiling. " deal." And so we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get that armor. We tried to dig around but the cold had hardened the ground and difficult the task of working on it. We took turns separately, trying to recover heat while you dug. When the bell rang marking the mayor that it was almost time for my turn I said. "keeping working" "hay hay Captain." Sunrise joking about. "I t-I have to leave ... Peach pie asked me if I could c-ca-care their fillies." I sighed and then put a hoof on my face. "Well, we’ll continue tomorrow. I do not want excuses. " The two nodded and we all said goodbye. The village lights slowly came on and the local shop closed only the tavern and "special" room on the hotel work on the night according to the rules imposed by Shady Flowers. The main doors of Little Apple closed to open until dawn just like our mayor ordered. A town with many luxuries such as ours town is a magnet for unwanted ponies, slave and raiders aren’t welcome. The ghouls and other intelligent creatures are received while not causing problems. All travelers to seeking a safe point were well received, if he could pay for the luxuries, within the town. The tavern offered a wide variety of alcohols, the hotel did not have the best deal with customers but offered clean sheets and safety, Peach pie offered her charms to anypony who pay for them. All these luxuries were really magnet for troubles But a good wall of 3 meter height with steel held in most of them. Occasionally a gang of silly raiders found their  death against the walls of our town. "Ah you?" Said the stallion of the previous occasion, he was standing before me, his stupid green coat with black mane that stupid crate as Cutie Mark, infuriated me. "Look Crates," evaluating the possibilities mentioned. "I hate you and you hate me." "Tell me something I do not fucking know kid." "Let's be reasonable, let's do this and each one do whatever." "Well ..." Part of being a citizen of Little Apple, involved doing a service to the community. Every week you should spend at least one night with the guards watching. almost year without attack by raiders or slavers. An occasional mutant or lost zombie was all. "Hey you dust the heck is that?" Crates with a helmet pointed to a distant hill. Levite binoculars to me, adjusting the distance. I could look like a donkey attackers were outnumbered by a group of ponies zombies. Look when one of them tried to escape and was held by the jaw of one of the zombies. "A group of assailants being the zombie ponies dinner the other day." "Think they’ll survive?" We hear a piercing cry through the night and then silence. "I don’t so." The rest of the night was almost well of calm. Occasional flashes on the horizon reminded me that we weren’t the only ones living ponies. The guards constantly walking from one side to the other by the length of the fence. Its thick armor had already wounded by bullets and some bullets were embedded. My binoculars had night vision, which allowed me to distract myself with the around was a good thing. The guards began to look me weird for look them weird. Far away on the horizon I looked different things happen. Occasionally, a group of raiders moving through the houses or mutants wandering aimlessly. I can clearly remember that day I saw something big moving through the sides of a hill, but until today I never know what was. Each hour the guards exchanged positions, rotating between guard the door and walk around the walls. The faint glow of lanterns placed along the fence was the only telltale glow of our existence. Below, around the wall where some bugs attracted to light. Occasionally one or two dared to try to climb the walls inclined, then it fall back until it was removed by our guns. It was the fourth time we guard the door and the eighth hour on duty, one hour more for freedom. I decided to repair the old radio while waiting for the town bells sounded. "Hell this was the most boring night of my life." I affirm levitating my tools. "No kidding," Crates said putting his head in a bucket of water. "fucking  radio!" While i trying to repair the radio notice something funny about all this, it was the first time I saw a radio that had not been shot. The internal components and the frame was fine but the buttons were completely broken. "I think I can fix it ..." "If you make it work put DJ PON3 station," Crates reconsidered one time. "Well actually ... I think he better  that stupid of Fillydelphia." "First it work then complain." Replace missing buttons with two nails and lit it with a soft touch of my horn. At first it was static,  one strong and very noise, then was beginning itself to tune. I Try to locate the frequency DJ PON3  and think that I made but I started hearing a voice of a mare. Was DJ Pon3 a stallion? "... I do not want stupid moves, guys , that goes for you smile, you screw up and it's over. I'll make sure you do not come back. " "That does not sound like DJ PON3" Crates said as he turned towards me. "Shit. No errors, it's simple what we charge. We just have to burn the whole fucking town and make sure the only thing left are cruelly dismembered corpses. " "... Horseapples, I hope it's a joke." Crates began loading the bullets in his gun and motioned the guards at each end of the wall. The guards were prepared. "The boss ordered us to explicitly meet the objectives or not to return." We were all ready, the reliable Rose was ready with full drum, Crates holding an old gun at his side activated by a specially designed mechanism (a string tied to the trigger) and the three guards were ponies unicorn. The confidence that we could deal with any threat filled us body with pride. "Well hopefully the bastards." Crates clarify proudly looking around. "I just hope it does not take too long." "Rush take care of the door" When the voice of the mysterious mare Crates said that much as I turned around in all directions. There was absolutely no pony in front of the door and the only living thing was a horrible butterfly. "Ok ... I'm confused ...HORSEAPPLES!" Screamed as a pony covered by a strange armor appeared a few meters away from the door. In his battle saddle was a missile launcher and one of them had been fired to metal gate that was the entrance to Little Apple. THEY HAD MISSILES?!!!! <> <> <> <> <> <> The flames quickly consumed one side of "everything for everypony" and a piece of steel nail into the wall of the prison. It was completely unfair to those bastards had a pony with a missile launcher attached to his combat saddle. When the door blow out i knew that things will be serious, what kind of raiders had rocket launchers? And when the rest of them came I realized that they were not. I counted six ponies, wearing strange armor like a Steel Ranger but more intimidating. Two of them charged at lightning speed against entry. The rest was devoted to shoot with everything they had. "SHIT!" Shouted one of the guards noticing a missile that was heading to him. A small explosion erase any trace of the turret where he had taken refuge. We were attacking and we could not answer them. The shooting stopped for a moment. The flames consuming the wood and metal twisting was all I could hear. "hey I think they fled ..." Crates said as he lifted a can with a stick. The tin Was a second on the edge of the post before being pierced by a bullet. "I guess not." I Levite a rose next to me. For a second I thought they were robbers, that idea did not last long, turning to look everywhere as one of the two ponies that were introduced in the village held a knife in his mouth and sank into the neck of the charge of "everything for everypony ". The other packages mysterious invader was getting gray in every corner of town. "Who the hell are these ponies?" Asked, pointing to the nearest. BANG! BANG! BANG! The reliable Rose shot three bullets, two of them bounced off the armor of the invaders but the third entered by the goggles. A stream of blood began to flow from the invader while it hits the ground. The second assailant he realized his fallen comrade and turned to me. Crates turn and began firing at the second invader, every shot bounced off agains invader’s armor. When he noted that being attacked sprinted towards the entrance. Try to shoot but fails repeatedly. With its speed does not take long before their peers, I can bet, I saw it when I paint a big smile across his face knowing it was the following. "... What the hay are they laughing?" Hell no! Packages. That invader had put those packages for a reason. The specifically placed not far from each other. Those were explosives. Levite my binoculars to look one of them laughed as he pulled out a small device. Damn we going to blow into pieces by the hooves of invaders who knew how to deal with us, how infiltrate and when. We were screwed. I closed my eyes as I watched one of the invaders laughed and lowered his hoove into the big red button and prayed to Celestia and Luna at least  it wasn’t painful. My eyes closed as I felt a breeze run down my mane. I had to open them again to see packets flying out of town wrapped in field levitation. I can bet my mane that invaders smile became a frown when the packages detonated outside of town. The wastelands bathed in napalm and fire. "Hottest Celestia Flanks!" Crates whinny while  the invaders running through the wastelands engulfed in fire and destruction. "what the hay!" "Seriously, perhaps my guards who i pay and my dear ponies can not stop a few robbers?" Shady Flowers said as she levitated combat shotgun. "Ma-mayor!" Both the two guards and Crates chorused. We were badly wounded and overcome in tactics. Flowers Shady smiled while she reload her shotgun and levitated a grenade next to her. The five raiders jumped over the rubble of the doors and were greeted by multiple fires of our guns. Two metal plates levitated becoming temporary shields. One of invaders, anyway, fell being trapped in rain of the shotgun shots. When they entered the village quickly split, two scurried down the aisle between buildings, two gave back the way between the wall and the store, the last stopped at front Shady. "well, well but if the mayor in pony ..." "I know you?" Said Shady Flowers elegantly as she levitated her shotgun. "The boss will interested to know this ..." BUM! He don’t have time to finish, the gun emptied a wave of death upon him. His armor received each pellet by reflecting  most but not to those who went to his forelegs. "Sorry," Shady excused himself as she blew the smoke from his gun, "not heard the last." All that time she had been watching two invaders  when we only managed to deal with one. Really were a pathetic excuse for guards. "Haa ... damn ..." the invader knelt as the blood out of his foreleg. The shotgun wrapped in a telekinetic field levitated off the invader's head right where  is his horn. The barrel of the gun was on the horn. "Didn’t you know manners?" BUM! The invader's helmet kept its contents while the pellets make his skull into pieces, disgusting and horrible sound accompanied the invading pony to the other world as his inert body bathed in blood. "Remember to say please and thank you when you talk to the mayor." One of guards  said before her head was pierced by a bullet. "Take cover!" I yell as i opened fire against the invaders. Three out of combat three still alive. Two guards less and a very angry Shady Flowers. They were at a disadvantage. The next few minutes was a constant exchange of gunfire and hide, bullets were too valuable for us to spend and the invaders did not care to waste them on us. I didn’t know how  they keep up but two of the invaders constantly trying to end the life of the last guard, Crates and mine. Shady Flowers had disappeared I don’t  what she was up but should be a good or we end up dead. My mind flashed to the ponis of Little Apple, I began to wonder, why they did not go to help ... my mind too quickly reminded me that except for me, all the ponis had no guns. The only ones we had were for the guards, two of whom were dead. We were screwed. A shot bounced off the rim metal while Crates crouched and tried to find ammunition. "Curse," Crates cry as he checked that he had run out of ammunition, "I hope you have more bullets in that gun of yours." I opened the drum to check. I still had three bullets and one of them was an ammunition AP, nodded and said, "I have to kill those bastards ... but I need a clean shot." A missile left a trail of smoke as it passes overhead. The stupid invasive with rocket launcher. My fears grew when I realized that he was still alive, but they were quickly drowned when I looked it was being maimed by a shotgun of Shady Flowers with repeated shots she rip two legs and part of the armor that protected the neck. Now it was another body and pool of blood. There were only two attackers, it was time to go on the offensive. My eyes widened when I decided to get off the wall and start hunting invaders. <> <> <> <> <> <> "Give me the detonator or she dies!" My words rang while the invasor was bleeding deeply  under threat of my gun, crying and whispering that she don’t want die. "Put the gun down or the pony dies!" Said an invader as he put his hooves dangerously above a detonator. Handy Hooves was turned into a pony bomb, several packages of explosives were attached to his body and he shaking every time that one of us scream. How we end this? As an action movie cliche? how? I down of wall and find an invader. My trusty Rose failed me, forget, remove the semi-automatic mode. Three bullets were launched towards invasiveness. Two bounced off the armor and the third penetrated deeply invading the chest. I was about to finish her off when Handy Hooves came walking from the corner wearing that explosive outfit. Now we were at a dead end. "Drop the gun!" "No, you drop that detonator!" I threatened with a gun without ammunition to a invader while the other invader threatened to send us directly to the moon with the movement of a single hoove. Time to pray to celestia and luna for a miracle. "I'll put a shot to your partner if you not do!" The invader grimaced and then he check him options, for a brief moment I felt the tension in the air become so solid as dust, then he said, smiling. "that gun don’t left bullets, right?" Shit! Shit! SHIT! "Wanna bet? Your friend could lose more than some bottlecaps. " The invader stopped smiling, a deep fear came from my guts. Now who was scared was me. "Smile?" He asked. "Y-yes ..." replied the invader from the pool of blood that formed under she. "I'm really sorry," he said grinning, "but let's face it, you’re useless like kappa so to be a gamma." I felt the world turned against me but i look something that changed my luck. Now it was my turn to smile, first to the invader looked annoyed while I down my gun thinking if I should do. He raised his hoove a little doubtful of my sudden decision. "Now kick it to me." I gave it a light kick sending it to him, the gun bath on the blood fo the invader and dust of the ground, the invader took between him teeth mumbling some words that I could identify as "a last wish?" Before pulling the trigger. Click. Click. Click. It was wonderful to see the look of surprise as he lifted hoof to give a strong stomp to the detonator. Handy Hooves was almost scared to death between us, trembling and sweating like a disgusting pig. "deadly mistake hoofpony." A female voice said. He Try pressing the trigger but  he could not , physically, he was levitating above the ground away from the detonator and more in the air. It was not my levitation it was from Flowers Shady who was coming out from a corner smiling. "Seriously darling," she said as she levitated a bit higher the invader who attempt to escape his telekinetic grip, "there are better ways to doing things." "Good to see Shady ... goddesses thought that things could be something explosive." "s-st-stupid almost fli-flight on thousand pieces!" Cry Handy before starting to breathe hard. I frowned as I trotted beside the invader and deactivated the trigger making sure before removing explosives weakling body of handy hooves. The invader had given up and resigned to his fate, seemed to mutter something under his breath but even at this short distance from he I could not hear. "And what we should do with our guest?" "Ah I don’t care,  let him rot in the prison ... but I think this invader is still alive." "Uhm seriously, well that ..." "ugh Caught by a stupid with luck and an old unicorn mare..." Uh oh. A very serious mistake friend. And one really stupid. "Excuse me did you call me old?" The invader pony magically turn for thte magic fo shady, now he was face to face with something worse than the same balefire bombs. Not a horde of zombies or a whole herd of manticoras was comparable to the fury of Shady when she was called old. "And if so,what will you do old mule?" "Oh sorry but I am a unicorn pony zebra for your information." Shady's words were well chosen dangerously while that the invader was not, but did not know he was digging his own grave. "what you will leviting me to death?" He laughed imagining that. Shady Flowers began to sing a tribal chant I had never heard before, the brightness of its horn became stronger and finally shine as much as a flare. The invader began to lengthen ,screaming. Then a moment later he was halved splattering blood and horror. Hell! That image would haunt me to rest of my days! "Well I see your interior is just so dirty as your outside." A great way to end a conflict ... <> <> <> <> <> <> The sun hidden behind horizon, another night but this was different. We had been attacked and were seriously injured, most of the store was consumed by the flames and some of the houses near the entrance were very damaged. "My fellow citizens of Little Apple!" Shady said by the speaker levitated in front his face, "today we have suffered serious injuries but we survived" Crates, the surviving guardian pony and I were up on a podium next to Shady Flowers listening as she charmed the villagers with their sweet words. "But Mayor what we’ll do to survive? The store almost lost all it food! " "Coins, brother our deceased shopkeeper will take care of business, he ensures that we have food to spare, and will use some of the vegetables stored." Shady Flowers continued his speech while we gazed her behind her back. "She has a nice ass ..." Crates said. "But I fear that the repairs will cost some caps." A wood plank of the store fell against the tavern and broke a window, Shady turned with an innocent smile on her face flushed and said, "well maybe will take a little more of caps ..." Footnote: level up! New benefit: Mr. Bad Luck (Level One) - death always walks beside you and your friends, all teammates have an additional 10% crit for every level of this perk.