Fallout Equestria: Don't Fear The Reaper

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 9

How was my first kill? I’ll admit, I didn't think much of it at the time, it was necessary, I needed to live and they threatened that. I was not remorseful, they were insane and dangerous, if anything, it was a mercy that I took their lives. There were times I lamented the death of somepony at my hooves, there were many times I cared not that I took a life. It doesn't go away though, you will always remember those you kill, pray you never have to take another’s life. Back to the story, I suppose.

It was nearing the middle of the day and I decided to take a break from walking so as to eat lunch. Moving over a large boulder I sat down and leaned against it, using my magic to pull a one of the salad lunches that Amber had given me, taking the lid off the box revealed healthy looking green lettuce leaves and a few desert plants mixed in, agave fruit and cactus flowers, mixed together in a beautiful looking salad. The crisp leaves that I had never expected to find out in the wastes were delightful, the sweet Agave fruit contrasting with the bitter flavor of the cactus flower, all in all it was a delicious meal that I was rather thankful to have. In the stable we never really had good food, it was all stuff grown in the groves under magical light, we had apples, carrots, lettuce, and other fruits and vegetables, but they never tasted much like anything. Anything one could eat in a stable that was fresh was usually bland and tasteless, due to being farmed under artificial light that gave the plants no nutrients. My lunch finished I packed up the empty box and put it back in a pocket next to the other salad box, deciding to just sit for I while, I looked out over the desert and the road. If you could get past the rather dreary atmosphere obtained from the only light source being the gloomy luminescence that passed through the clouds, the desert itself was rather nice, if barren, the occasional cactus or flower giving it small splotches of color against the otherwise uniform brownish grey orange color of the desert sand and rocks. The faded black asphalt of the road did little to take away from the view, looking like a dirt road due to years of disrepair, it looked like the path one would see going through a forest in a book, if the forest were a desert, that is. Getting back to my hooves I shook out my coat with my magic, defeating the whole purpose of doing that due to my raising a cloud of dust and sand. Moving out to the road I shook my coat out again, this time actually clearing it of the dust and sand that had accumulated on it’s exterior. Through some feat of magic no sand had managed inside the coat, even during the nights I slept outside, it was fantastic, not to be annoyed by the feeling of sand against my fur and skin. My little bit of ‘cleaning’ done I wandered off the road over to some honey mesquite trees that were along the side of the road, I had never had them before but Sunny had said that they were edible, and I trusted her. Collecting the pods from the tree I stowed them in the empty lunch box so they didn't get crushed, that done I went back to the road, before I started walking I decided to check my vitals on my pip buck, it truly was amazing how it could diagnose anything wrong with you and then tell you how to fix it, fantastic indeed. Looking over my medical scans the only thing I could see that was wrong was drop in nutrients taken in, which was probably due to my not eating three full meals a day, considering the need of rationing out in the wastes. That being done I also checked the time on my pip buck, which read that it was 1337, why it used military time I had no idea, considering it was a mostly civilian product in pre-war times. That done I set my hoof to the ground and started walking again, taking note of the occasional old building I might come across, marking anything that looked interesting on my map. To be fair, I was surprised at the lack of carriages on the roads, I had read that they were a very popular form of transportation, and was wondering why there were none to be found in the miles of road I had walked. Pushing the question aside I continued walking south on the road to Dice, keeping an eye out for anything that could threaten my health. As I was looking off the road I  noticed what looked to be a sunken carriage, stuck halfway in mud, walking over to it to see what could be inside I was stopped by a ticking coming from my left fore leg, looking down I noticed it was my pip buck, clicking away due to the levels of radiation rising above ambient levels, quickly I stepped back from the mud pit. Surly whatever could be in that carriage was not worth the Tartarus that radiation poisoning would put me through. With a sigh and a shake of my head I marked the location of the sunken vehicle, tagging it with a radiation symbol, before turning back to the road. Looking one last time over at the possible treasure that I wouldn't be able to obtain I sighed once more before continuing on my south-bound journey to Dice.

Five more hours of walking, really, I was bored out of my mind. I had nothing to do but walk, couldn't read because I was walking, couldn't write ‘cause I was walking, couldn't play solitaire because, once again, I was fucking walking. I may have started to talk to myself.

“Well, at least there aren't anymore of those crazy ponies, I mean really, they were eating somepony. It’s also nice that there aren't anymore giant animal things. Those geckos were just annoying, and I don’t exactly have ammo to waste… Maybe I should start collecting teeth or something.” I muttered to myself, looking over to the gathering of geckos in a ditch a ways from the road, debating whether I could use something from the desert to use as string. “Nah, not worth the trouble of getting string, maybe if I had some ready I would, maybe later, after I get some stuff done, like killing that one guy.” I said, turning my gaze from the geckos and back to the road, continuing on my walk.

I continued on much like that for the next few hours, talking about random and nonsensical things, admiring the scenery, finding way around the occasional giant scorpion. Eventually it started to get dark once again, however, this time there was no conveniently placed petrol station. So with that in mind I decided to just keep walking through the night and sleep at some point during the day, at the very least it would be warmer to sleep during the day. With that decision made I also decided to eat something, it was technically lunch somewhere and I would need food so that I could walk through the night. It was still light enough to see at this point and so I picked out a nice little patch of mesquite trees and made myself a little place to sit inside of the cover their branches provided. Deciding to save the other boxed salad I had I thought it would be a good idea to try and cook, making a rudimentary fire pit wasn't that hard, using the dead mesquite branches for kindling and fuel was also easy, lighting it was the hard part. You see, I had no kind of lighter, nor did I know how to start a fire by myself, so, I got creative. Taking one of the 5.56mm rounds from my pocket I used my magic to force open the casing, pouring out a small amount of the powder onto the kindling I then took my 45. pistol from it’s holster, removed the magazine, and ejected the round in the chamber. That done I used the hammer striking the firing pin to make a spark, I did this a few times until it caught the powder, which then lit in a flash of heat and light. When I looked back there was a small fire going, wasting no time I removed three apples from the box, holding them in my magic, I then used a small metal plate from a broken toaster to put the mesquite pods on, after slicing the apples into quarters I placed them on top of the mesquite and waited for them to cook.

Five minutes later I had some nice steaming honey cooked apples. I had never cooked with mesquite before, but I knew the basic reason one would do so is to add flavor, the ones I used are supposed to taste like honey. I waited a few moments for the apple to cool before bringing one to my mouth and taking a bite, it wasn't so bad if you could get past the fact that they were over 200 years old. The honey wasn't as pronounced as I had hoped, but there was an undertone of it behind the apple flavor, it was pretty good, actually. As I was eating my ‘lunch’ I looked up to the sky through the mesquite branches, I was quite surprised to see, what was it called, the moon? Yes, the moon, through a clearing in the cloud layer, it was beautiful to say the least. It was the one thing that I had seen that looked pure in this wasteland, it provided a gentle light across the wasteland scenery, the desert took on a silver tone as the moonlight washed over it, the normally harsh looking desert sand and rocks instead looked beautiful in this new light. It was a sad fact that the moon didn't stay out for much longer than a few minutes, the clouds eventually covered it again and the wastes were thrown back into the dark. Finishing the last few slices of apple that I had, I smothered the small fire using some sand, throwing the apple box into the sand, to join the countless relics of the old world, I got to my hooves. Returning the 45. magazine to the pistol, and the pistol to its holster, I walked from the mesquite trees, with a last look towards the sky in the hopes of seeing the moon again, I returned to the road. Checking my direction on my pip buck I started walking down the southbound road once again, excited that I would soon reach Dice, and hopefully find a lead on this ‘Coin Toss’ stallion who was the cause of my anger and sorrow. As I was walking I once again faced the incessant boredom that walking came with, then however, a thought came to mind: the standard pip buck comes with a radio! Quickly stopping my slow trot I brought my left foreleg up, tabbing over to the radio screen I looked to see three radio stations available, I selected the top one by the name of 'Marejave Music Radio’ and tuned in. As my walk continued, it was accompanied by the accented voice of a stallion, singing of home along with the sound of a guitar.

I can see that lone star from a thousand miles away

Calling me back home though I've ventured far astray

When I see that beacon shining for me all alone

It calls me back to Horston and to home

Lone star shine down on my home town

Fill my memory light my way

Cattle in the old corral, the open range all ‘round

Sunlight and the smell of new mown hay

I remember though I've wandered and much happiness I've found

Still I wish that I could be back there today

I know my home is waiting for me by the river shore

I know that all the ones I love would welcome me once more

In dreams I see them now though it seems I’m bound to roam

My thoughts are still of Horston and of home...

Hoofnote: No Level Up Gained.