Fallout Equestria: Don't Fear The Reaper

by The Zealot

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Tragedy, Crossover, Dark
Length: 19258

The wasteland is a very dangerous place, sometimes you have ponies trying to make it better, other times you have ponies simply trying to survive.

Sit down for a while, let an old mare recount her tale. I'll tell you of the world before the salvation of the wastes, of heroes and villains, truths and lies, and, above all, what we do to survive.

Once Upon A Time, In The Magical Land of Equestria…

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-13 02:15:38 UTC

Chapter 1

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 1

Many years ago, in the Marejave Desert...

I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock at the standard time of 6:00am. I groaned as I was awoken from my slumber, lazily turning off the clock with a slam of my hoof. I sluggishly pushed the covers off of my form, forgetting the temperature that I would enter after the heat my covers provided was gone. I groaned once more as I fell from my bed to the hard metal floor of my room, that woke me up right quick. I got to my hooves, moving pieces of my mane from my eyes, so as to see. I went over to my dresser and pulled a moderately clean suit of stable barding from the drawer. I walked over to the bathroom that was off my room. Taking a few minutes to brush my teeth and fix my mane, keeping one lock of charcoal black and grey mane over my left eye and having the rest frame my face while still being behind my head. After that I brushed out my charcoal black mane so it was presentable, finally I opened my door and was greeted by the horribly bright lights that lined the ceilings of the stable. I lived alone, my mother had died giving birth, and my father met his fate in an unfortunate accident in engineering. Over time, I had grown to accept that, it still saddened me when I saw the portrait that had been painted of them both on their wedding day, but I was happy by the fact that the were surely watching over me from the great beyond.

As I left my room I used my magic to grab the coat that was on the rack by the door, it was a rather light dark black, darker than my fur and closer to what I’ve read a moonless night on the surface used to look like before the war. It had many pockets on it, inside and out. I started walking towards the cafeteria, my first stop before going on to my job inside the security wing, I didn’t work as a guard, instead I kept reports of how the different sections of the stable were doing in the security department. Truly it was a boring and useless job seeing as how we never had any crime and the only thing security ever needed to do was, on very rare occasion, break up a fight. Still,  it was my job and I did it without question.

Upon entering the cafeteria I moved to the line at the serving kiosk, once there I found myself behind my only friend, Fleeting Breeze, she was a sea foam green mare with a dark blue mane that always looked a little windblown, even though there was no real room to fly in the stable. She was the daughter of the hoofball coach, and one of the few pegasi in the stable.

“Hey Nevermore, wow, you’re actually awake-looking, that’s new.” She said, looking me over, quite surprised that I wasn’t wandering about like a zom-pony.

“Yeah, waking up to a cold metal floor’ll do that. So, how was your wake up? I hope you didn’t spend all night reading again.” I said in reply, she took more to her mothers side and was an apprentice librarian, quite an undertaking considering the extensive amount of pre-war books that were stored in the stable.

“Nah, I actually slept, woke up to my mom rolling me out of bed, I can’t afford to stay up all night anymore, I’m an official librarian now!” She said with excitement, I gave her a gentle smile, happy for her that she had finally gotten past the apprentice stage in her training and onto the real work.

“Well, that’s certainly nice to hear, congrats on your ‘promotion’, so, think you can get me those books on war time weaponry I kept trying to get checked out?” I said, a mischievous grin on my face, you see, I had been trying for some time to get books on what the had during the war, I was a little bit of a gun nut considering the wasn't much else to do for 8 hours while I sat in my office.

“No, I will not get you the books the librarian specifically told you you couldn't have! I’m not risking my career for something like that, not even for you Nev.” She said, a bit of annoyance in her tone, I suppose I might have asked a bit too much, but come on, there was nothing else to do.

“Alright, alright, I’ll drop it, but I will find a way to get those books.” I said, mock determination in my voice and a light smile on my face. It was times like those, when we had these fake little arguments, that I truly enjoyed the fact that she was my friend.

After that little talk we conversed about some less interesting things, what her father was doing with the team, how the security department was handling things through the stable. We got to the front of the line after about  five minutes, I got two cups of coffee and a light salad topped with Parmesan cheese. We ate in relative silence and after we were finished we shared a few words of goodbye before turning and walking towards the doors that lead to where we were supposed to be. With one last look behind me, and a smile to her, I walked down the slate grey corridor that led to the Security section and, by extension, my office.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L Stats

S: 4

P: 6

E: 4

C: 3

I:  9

A: 7

L: 8

Chapter 2

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 2

Looking back on it, my cutie mark never really made sense for one doing office work. Try as you might there is no way you’d connect a gun and scythe crossed over a tombstone, to a desk job. To be fair, I don’t really know how I got it, the first time I saw I even had a cutie mark was a a few days after my father’s funeral, when somepony pointed it out to me. Anyway, my speculations on matters of life are not important, I shall get back to the story.

It’s not a very long walk to my office, it’s near the entrance to the security wing, so it was about a 20 minute walk from the cafeteria. Upon reaching the door I pulled a key from my pocket and unlocked the door. I looked around my rather pristine office, I didn't messy the place and it wasn't crowded with papers, considering the extremely low crime rate in the stable. And with those last thoughts I sat down in my chair and started playing solitaire with a deck of cards I keep in my desk. Two hours of playing solitaire later and I can safely say, whomever invented solitaire was a jerk. Anyway, the only real reason I stopped was because I heard screaming and the sound of multiple hooves running along the corridor. I got up from my chair with an eyebrow raised as I opened the door of my office and was met with the site of a dozen security ponies running down the hall.

“Hey, what’s going on? What happened?” I called out to one of the guards near the end of the group, a light beige stallion, his face and mane where encased in a riot helmet. I was very curious as to why there were guards going anywhere, especially in riot gear.

“The stable has been opened from the outside, we got a report from engineering before they went dark, we’re going to make sure that whatever happened is taken care of. Until we give the all clear that the stable has been secured go back to your home, tell any other ponies you see along the way to return to their homes, lock the doors and close the windows.” He said in authoritative voice that all security guards used when something important happened.

With a small nod I passed him and went down the hall, I was going to take the maintenance pathways since they would be out of the way and if anything was happening it would be a relatively safe way to travel considering not many ponies outside of engineering knew of the pathways. While walking down the tunnels I heard horrible things, mad laughter and screams, but worst of all was when I saw into the cafeteria. The whole room was painted with blood, bodies could hardly be identified, but the one that I could identify scared me the worst. It was Fleeting Breeze, bathed in blood, barely alive and missing her hind legs and a wing, it looked like they had been brutally hacked off by a dull cleaver. Using my magic I forced the long unused hatch from the maintenance ways into the cafeteria and ran over to Breeze, I lowered myself to her and was about to talk before she said something

“Nevermore? Is that you? Oh thank Celestia you’re okay, they… They killed everyone, crazy looking ponies covered in blood… They left me for dead… I don’t have long left, even if I did survive this it would be horrible, so… You have to live, you were my closest friend, you need to get out of here, fare the outside, it’s better than dying in a hole in the ground… Nevermore, after all we've been through, who thought it would end like this?” She said, a sad smile on her face as the light left her eyes, she died in my hooves, and I could do nothing.

“Breeze, I’m so, so sorry… I’ll make them pay, I promise you I will live and I will learn, and I will avenge you.” I said, barely a whisper as tears streamed down my face. I gently lowered her body to the floor and rose to my hooves, I made my way back to the maintenance hatch, I would return to my room, and then I would leave this place filled with death.

It was a relatively quiet journey to my room, it seems they had yet to reach the residential section, whoever ‘they’ are. I crawled through the vent that ended in my room and forced the cover off with my magic. As I crawled out I looked around my room, all I had in the world was in this room, and I would be leaving most of it behind. I walked to my dresser and grabbed the picture of Breeze and I, smiling after a prank on some of the other ponies. I put that in one of my inner pockets. Then I walked over to my bedside table and put the only picture of my family that I had, it was taken on the day of my mother and fathers wedding, it too went in a pocket. Lastly I took the one thing I thought I would never use. It was a Griffon made 45. ‘clawgun’ produced by the Equestrian gun company by the name of Colt, I believe the Griffon model year is ‘1911’. It was passed down in our family from the beginning of the vault, taken from the body of a dead mercenary some 200 years ago before the stable sealed. I pulled it and it’s holster from a case under my bed, along with an ammunition belt. The holster went on my left foreleg, the ammo belt went around my barrel. I loaded the pistol with one of the 5 magazines I had for it, each of them containing 10 rounds of 45. ammunition. With that last artifact acquired, I returned to the vents and started my crawl to the stable door.

Chapter 3

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 3

Now, a 10mm round is larger than a .45, it is also more common, however a .45 still has enough power behind it to, at best, knock someone down, and at worst, stop them in their tracks for a bit. I still keep that pistol around, under lock and key considering all the young ones around, but I still have it. Am I boring you? Sorry, I’ll get back to the story.

It took me about an hour to reach the stable door, in that time I had seen rooms painted in blood similarly to the cafeteria, I saw young foals cry over their parents, and then be brutally killed by these monsters that wore pony skin. At some point I must have succumbed to shock, as I wasn’t very surprised when I saw the stable entrance room covered in the bodies of ponies, engineers and security guards alike. For the first time in ever I activated the E.F.S, or Eyes Forward Sparkle, on my pipbuck. The E.F.S was a sort of radar function, it showed where there were lifeforms through walls, and through floors, it even showed if they were friendly or hostile through some advanced magic that I wasn’t skilled enough to understand. Seeing that nopony was around, I used my magic to force open the vent gate that led to the entrance room, unintentionally causing one of the bodies to roll down the small set of stairs leading to the door. I couldn’t tell what color he used to be, I could barely tell he used to be a stallion, most of his face was missing and the rest of him was covered in blood. I did my best to step around them as I made my way to the door, being extremely careful to avoid the majority of the blood that covered the floors. I made it to the stable door and was greeted with a rough-hewn rock tunnel with a wooden door at the end, a dim light was seeping out from the bottom of the door. I turned around one last time before slowly leaving my stable, the only home I had ever known. I knew there was nothing I could do, but that didn’t make my leaving any better, and at best was a feeble excuse for why I left all I had ever know. I made my way to the door.

Using my magic to push open the old door I was greeted by the site of… I don’t really know. There were… bodies, hung from their back legs, skinned showing all the muscle beneath, cooking in the hot air of the outside. That was the first thing I saw in this new world before me, and it made me sick, more so than any of the atrocities I had seen in my vault. Wrenching my gaze away from the hanging bodies I instead looked to the sky, it was mostly covered in… Cloud, was the word, a rather grey color with small patches of light seeping out. The one thing I had possibly looked forward to upon leaving the stable was the possibility of seeing the actual sun, not just pictures in books, or video footage from holotapes. Moving my gaze from the ‘sky’ I looked ahead of me, what I saw wasn't too jarring really, a rather broken street with bombed out buildings lining it.

As I was looking around I heard the sound of hooves on rock, quickly I hid behind a large outcropping of rock in a dark corner, slightly behind the stable door. I looked out from the shadows I had hidden myself in and saw around three dozen ponies, covered in blood, their packs bulging no doubt with things stolen from the stable. Leading them all was a remarkably clean cream white stallion with a red and green mane. He was wearing what looked to be a grey pre-war business suit, his face was covered in a multitude of scars and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark glasses. I almost considered jumping from my cover and putting a bullet in his skull as revenge for what he had led, but I knew that would be suicide and the dying wish of my only friend was for me to live. So, I backed more into the shadows and watched them pass, as the traveled down the street I saw them placing items from their bags into old metal boxes and some cabinets that were left in the houses.

Once they left I traveled down the same road and looked through the boxes and cabinets, I found a few boxes of apples from the vault, a pile of 12 gauge shells and a few magazines of 10mm ammunition. I also found a rather strange bandanna, it wasn't cut in a way as to wrap around ones head, so I surmised that it was to be worn as a mask. It had the normal teeth of a pony in white over it’s black surface, however, past the two front teeth and another there were two sharper, predatory teeth. The same was true on the bottom, though they looked sharper than the ones on the top, like they were made for eating meat. I decided to keep that with me, there was always the chance I would need it, either to hide my identity, or to staunch blood flow from a wound. The only other things of note I found were three 10mm pistols from the stable. I kept them around on the chance I could barter with somepony, there had to be some kind of village or town somewhere with traders in it, at least, that’s what I had read towns are like. No telling how things could have changed after the war. I disassembled the pistol and found that the inner working of two of the pistols were moderately damaged, while the other one was in pristine condition. I took the casing of the good looking pistol and put the damaged parts inside, closing it up I did the same in reverse to the more beat-up looking case. This way I would hopefully be able to sell the worse one for more based on looks, while keeping the well working pistol for myself. As I traveled down the road I saw that this small patch of houses gave way to desert, based on old pre war maps (Gotten from my pipbuck) I was in the area formerly known as the Marejave desert, no idea what the called it now. Not really having anywhere to go I used my map to place a marker near what was a pre-war river, hopefully it would still be there and hopefully a settlement would be nearby.

So, with my goal in mind and the ‘sun’ going down I started walking, before I went however I turned on the radio of my pipbuck, seeing a radio station I tuned in for my long walk and was met with a sweet and sad melody, no doubt sung by a pony long dead, it was still beautiful, if sorrowful, it seemed to fit.

Hoofnote: Level Up: Sneak increased to 45. Perk Gained: Tunnel Runner: Crawling through the cramped maintenance tunnels of the stable have made you more agile, + 1 Agility

Chapter 4

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 4

Would you like a blanket? It looks like you’re cold. No? Alright, but if you need one  I have one lying about somewhere. Well sorry but the last thing we need is another pony getting sick from the cold, medical supplies aren't exactly easy to get you know. Alright, alright, I’ll stop stalling. So, back to the story I suppose.

I walked for about two hours, nothing happened, honestly I was a bit disappointed. I mean, we were always told how the outside was this horrible place filled with death and whatnot, but when you go out really it isn’t too bad, other than those corpses by the entrance. Other than the heat and the occasional giant bug, it was a rather calm place, would be nice if the sun was out, but I suppose I would have to wait and see. Anyway, I eventually reached a small village, there was a sign along the road marking the village as ‘Goodsprings’. As I entered the town I took in the sites, there wasn’t much: a small building marked as a ‘General Store’, a larger building called a saloon and then a hooffull of houses along with some pens holding in strange animals. It was the middle of the night so nopony was out, it looked like the saloon was closed, as was the general store. I decided to lie down in the small alley between the saloon and the store, using my coat as a blanket and my fore leg as a pillow. I was awoken by somepony nudging me in the face with their hoof, I opened my eyes to see the silhouette of a pony wearing a hat.

“Now, I ain’t never seen you ‘round here before, who are ‘ya?” Said the pony, the voice marked it as a stallion, he had an accent that I had only hear before in holotapes of Applejack, the Ministry Mare for the Ministry of Wartime Technology.

“Yeah, um, not from around here, name’s Nevermore.” I said, getting up from the ground and using my magic to flap about my coat, getting the dust that had covered it off. I also brushed my mane out of my eye, getting a better look at the stallion I saw that he was a tan color, not unlike the desert around us, his mane and tail were a darker brown color, his eyes were a bright blue, kind of like I imagined the sky would be. He wore a black hat made of, well, I didn’t know what it was.

“Well Nevermore, it’s nice to meet ya, names Shady Sands, I’m the sheriff of this little town. Now, you wouldn’t happen to be from that stable up in the mountains, would ya?” He asked, looking down at my pipbuck.

“Yeah, Stable 42, these crazy ponies opened it up and killed everyone, I think I’m the only one left. When I got out of the stable I hid behind this rock and there was this cream stallion with a red and green mane wearing a suit, he looked like he was leading them.” I said, my eyes watering as I remembered what had happened, all of the ponies I knew dead, in a little less than an hour.

“Crazy ponies you say? Lead by a stallion with a suit; green and red hair? Yeah, sounds like Coin Toss and his gang, we’ve had trouble with them before. They usually work out of the Strip though, wonder why they’re coming out here?” He said, putting a hoof under his chin in contemplation.

“I don’t know, I was hoping somepony in this village might know anything about him and why he attacked my stable.” I said, determined to find out more about the bastard that killed of everypony I had ever known.

“Well, I’m sure we could point you in the right direction, but if you’re fresh out of the stable you probably don’t know much about the wastes, go talk to Sunny Smiles in the saloon, she’ll teach you how to survive out here.” He said, nodding his head towards the saloon behind him, I gave a quick thanks before passing him and moving around to the front of the saloon.

As I entered the saloon I looked around for this ‘Sunny Smiles’-

*BARK* “Cheyenne, stay. Don’t worry, she won’t bite, unless I tell her to.” Said an earth pony mare, she was slightly shorter than myself and was wearing some black armor, made of the same stuff as the sheriff’s hat. She had a red mane that was held into a tail using an old length of rubber, her cutie mark was what looked like a rifle above the skull of a… Lizard? “Anyway, I’ve never seen you around here before, where ya from, stranger?” She asked, tilting her head to the side a tad.

“Well, I’m from the stable that was up in the mountains and the sheriff here told me you could teach me about surviving out in the wastes?” I asked her, curious to see what I could learn to help me survive in these wastes.

“Hm, well ,if the sheriff sent you to me I guess that means you’re alright, meet me out behind the saloon and we’ll see how you are in the marksmareship department.” She said before turning and leaving out a back door in the building

I turned around myself and made my leave by way of the front door, eager to learn all I could about surviving in this new environment I found myself in.

Hoofnote: Level Up (Level 2): Under the (Unseen) Stars: You enjoy the cool nights air on your fur and can now sleep anywhere outside in any settlement with all the bonuses of an owned bed. + Well Rested Bonus for 2 hours after waking.

Chapter 5

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 5

I often look back on that day and thank Sunny, if only in my mind, for all she taught me. Without her instruction I surely would have died in those first few weeks out in the wastes. Still, I find myself going back to her teachings, even now, to help do what I can for the community. Tracking, hunting, gathering, skinning, and trade. I might teach you, someday. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, back to the story.

When I reached Sunny Smiles she hoofed me an old beat up rifle, it looked as if it had seen its fair share of use. While looking old it was obviously in working condition.

“Here, I don’t have much use for this anymore, so you can use it to practice. Here’s some ammo, and here's a little parts manual, for fixing it up if you get the chance.” She said, also giving me sixty rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, and a small grey booklet with ‘Equestrian Arms’ written across the front.

“Oh, interesting, thanks. Anyway, what now?” I asked, looking over the rifle in more detail as well as stowing the booklet and the ammo in a pocket on my coat, I found that while it had a bit of a rattle and the sights were slightly misaligned, it wasn't that bad off for the obvious years of wear and tear on it.

“Well, now we see how well you can shoot, make sure you don’t die from inaccuracy. now, see those bottles on the fence over there, use that rifle and try to hit a couple of ‘em” She said, frowning at the death by inaccuracy bit, before motioning to some bottles set up on a fence; some of them were the recognizable blue-purple color of Sparkle-Cola, but the rest weere a golden-amber color and said ‘Sunset Sarsaparilla’ on them I also noticed a strange variant of the Sparkle-Cola bottle, proclaiming itself to be 'Sparkle-Cola RAD' I still wonder what that could have meant.

“Alright, so what, just hit the bottles? Seems easy enough.” I said, holding the rifle in my magic and bringing it to my eye, I loaded it with five rounds and steadied myself before firing. I hit my first shot, missed two more, and hit two more.

“Not so easy, is it? Try getting better footing, hold your breath, and squeeze the trigger slowly.” Sunny advised, setting the bottles back up on the fence, how they weren't shattered from the bullet impact, I don’t know. Perhaps after my bit of training I could do some experiments to see what the soda bottles could survive.

So we kept on like that for about ten minutes, in that time I eventually managed to hit every bottle in one go. I was pretty proud of myself, considering I’d never used a rifle before. Then, I thought about how most, if not all, of the ponies in the wastes already had more practice in this skill than I had. That only meant that I had to get better, which couldn't be too hard, right?

“Well, looks like you got a good grasp on shooting, want to help me clear out some geckos from the water wells?” She asked, I hadn't noticed before but she was wearing a saddle that had a rifle attached to it. I admired the craftmareship of it, it had seen use, yes, but it still looked to be in prime condition.

“Sure, I guess, but aren't geckos like, small?” I asked, remembering the classes on animals that we had to take in the stable. From those classes I remembered that geckos were small lizard-like creatures. We had learned that geckos were curious creatures that would most likely have survived nuclear fallout due to their burrowing characteristics, allowing them to absorb ambient radiation rather then die from it.

“Oh yeah, they used to be, but after a few generations in the wastes they got to be about as big as you or me, pretty deadly little buggers if you let them get close.” She replied to my question, loading the rifle on her saddle by means of a mechanical system that loaded the bullet and pulled back the bolt on the rifle. Truly it was an amazing contraption.

“Well that’s interesting.. Anyway, I'll help you clear the wells, least I can do after you helped me learn to shoot.” I said with a smile before checking over my weapons, I loaded the rifle and checked the magazine on my pistol, seeing that all was fine I returned the pistol to it’s holster and slung the rifle over my back.

“Well alright then, take these and let’s go clear out those geckos.” She said with a smile, giving me sixty more rounds of 5.56 ammunition to replace what I had used at the ‘firing range’. I had managed to use up most of the ammo she had given me at the start of our session and I was thankful that I wouldn't have to use the limited amount of ammunition that I had for my pistol.

So, we left the town proper and went on to their source of water, with the goal of clearing out any and all geckos that may be around the wells. Walking out of the town a small box popped up in the top left corner of my vision proclaiming 'Quest Accepted: Clear out the Goodsprings Source of geckos'. It was a good feeling to be going out to help somepony, especially those who had given me help in my time of need. Really, helping them keep their water source clear of animals was the least I could do to repay the lesson Sunny had taught me.

Quest Complete: Back on your hooves.

Hoofnote: Level Up (Level 3): Small Guns increased to 45. Perk Gained: Sunny’s Teachings: You took Sunny’s teachings to heart, you are now 30% better at taking care of rifles and other small arms weapons.

Chapter 6

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 6

It was a short walk before I could see the well, just before the clearing was a large rock outcropping which Sunny hid behind.

“Alright, let’s see if we can take them by surprise, be quite.” She said, lowering herself slightly and stepping carefully from the rock to a bush, I did the same shortly after she moved on.

When I was behind the cover Sunny had previously occupied I saw our targets, five rather large lizar- sorry, geckos. As I looked at them I took a second to look back on what we had learned in the stable, all that I was taught had been lies, we were told that geckos were small, they were huge! Sunny snuck up behind one of the geckos and I did the same to another, quickly she snapped it’s neck, I tried to jam a knife into it’s throat but I missed, causing it to let out a shriek which alerted the the rest of them. Quickly I backed up and put the rifle to it’s skull before pulling the trigger, this had the intended, if messy, effect of blowing it’s head off. I blanched at the sight before turning to the other geckos. I had seen enough blood in the stable that the deaths of these animals didn't shock me as it might have somepony who had not been through the experience of seeing everypony they knew die. I lined up a shot on one of the geckos before remembering something, S.A.T.S. the Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting System. I activated it and watched as time slowed to a crawl and the gecko I was aiming at went alight with green, S.A.T.S. allowed me to target different body parts of the gecko, and gave me a percentage for hit chance. I keyed in two shots to the torso and felt control of my body leave me for a few seconds as S.A.T.S. followed the commands I had given it, I was left with a dead gecko in front of me.

“Well, that could have gone better, anyway, we still got this place clear, let’s move on to the next one. Also, don’t worry about stealth anymore, they probably heard what happened here and will be expecting us…. Damn geckos.” I barely heard the last part which she muttered under her breath, I gave her a simple nod before looking around a collecting the cases from the rounds I fired from my rifle, hopefully I could find somewhere to remake them into real ammo.

As we were walking I heard a scream coming from below a rock outcropping, I ran over and saw a mare getting attacked by geckos, without a second thought I jumped from the ledge onto one of the geckos, stunning it, I turned to another gecko, noticing a strange sword sticking from the abdomen of one of the geckos, paying it no mind I activated S.A.T.S. and keyed a shot to the remaining gecko’s head. Turning back to the gecko I didn't kill I saw it with a gaping hole in it’s chest, not caused by a bullet but from something sharp…. Strange.

“Are you alright? Good, you should get back to the town, it’s dangerous out here with the geckos roaming around.” I said to the mare, noticing that she was wearing some light clothes, probably to help with the sand of the desert, she was a lime colored mare with a light blue mane.

“Y-yes, I’m fine, thank you for saving me. I didn't know there were geckos out here and I was just getting some water. I’ll go back to town and wait until the wells are cleared.” She said, turning around and trotting back up the hill, hopefully back to town.

“I always tell these ponies not to come out here without somepony else, oh well. Good job keeping her from being gecko food, that was the last well anyway. So, what do you say I teach you something else to help you survive out here?” Sunny said, looking down on me from the ledge I had jumped from not minutes before.

“Um, thanks, I guess. Anyway, yeah, anything I can learn to survive out here would be appreciated.” I say, giving her a smile and walking back up the hill to where she was. She started walking off to where a campfire used to be and sat down next to it.

“Alright now. We’re going to be making something folks on the trail call Healing Powder.” She said, taking an old beat up lighter from her armor and using it to start the campfire up anew.

“Now, you’re going to need some Xander Root and some Broc Flower. If I remember correctly there should be some Xander Root by the old schoolhouse, and I think I saw some Broc Flower growing up by the cemetery.” She said, pointing out said locations on a small map she had retrieved from her armor.

“Alright, I'll go get the ingredients, shouldn't be too hard.” I said with a smile before turning towards the marker that had appeared on my EFS, along with an indicator that appeared in the top-left corner of my vision proclaiming ‘Quest Complete: Clear Out The Geckos.’ and then ‘Quest Accepted: By a Campfire on the Trail.’ I assumed that the marker lead to one of the things I would need for this ‘quest’.

I never really questioned how the Pip-Buck made up these quest indicators, nor how it new the locations of needed items. I could understand that it made up it’s map using old pre-war satellites along with the auto-map function built into it, how it marked ponies and things on that map I had no idea.

It was a short walk to the cemetery, barely five minutes. When I arrived there were these huge bug…. Things. As I got closer they started spitting at me or something, and my EFS marked them as hostile. There were around three of them so I just decided to use my magic and slam them all together. Proceeding to do that, I found they were very weak creatures, slamming them together had about crushed all three of them. Leaving to the dirt I looked around for the Broc Flower, Sunny had shown me what they look like before I went to get the ingredients, so it didn't take long for me to find the orange flower. As I was leaving I noticed something peculiar, on one of the graves was an old pre-war snow globe, upon closer inspection I saw it was of Canterlot. With a small shake of my head I turned from the snow globe and made my way down the hill the cemetery was on, and into the town proper so as to get to the schoolhouse.

Getting to the schoolhouse also didn't take long, four minutes at most. Upon entering the yard I was met with the sight of two large praying mantises, it seemed that they had been mutated by the radiation in the wastes. Behind them I could make out the shape of the Xander Root, I got a short look at it before the mantises charged at me, I did the same to them as I had to the bug things, picking them up in my magic I crushed them together with a wet crunching sound. Dropping their mangled bodies to the ground I stepped around them and picked the Xander Root from the earth.

With the ingredients I needed gathered I made my way back to the campfire Sunny was lounging by, I thought for a third time how small Goodsprings really was, it took not five minutes to get from one end to the other, the time it took to get to the wells was also quite short. Upon reaching the campfire I was greeted by Sunny and Cheyenne

“So, I take it you got the Xander Root and Broc Flower? Alright come over here and I’ll show you how to make Healing Powder.” She said as I walked over to her, I sat down a retrieved the ingredients from my pockets.

“Alright, first thing you do is hold the ingredients over the fire to dry them, your magic’ll make that easier.” After she said that I used my magic to levitate the herbs over the flame of the campfire, keeping them there while turning them slowly for a time, before Sunny held her hoof up in a stopping motion.

“That’s good, now the next and final step is easy, just take a bowl or plate or something and grind them together, mix that up in a bag and you have Healing Powder.” She said as I moved the ingredients from the flame, she nudged an old plate towards me with her hoof, so that I might have a surface to grind the ingredients up on.

I wasted no time in using my magic to turn the flower and root into a fine powder, I then picked that up with my magic and dumped it into a small brown canvas bag that Sunny had produced from her armor.

“Now, just rub that on any wounds you have and it should fix you right up, be careful though, it’ll make you a bit woozy if you use too much.” She said, getting to her hooves from her sitting position, I placed the bag into one of my coat pockets after using a string to tie the top of, closing it up.

“Well, I've taught you all I know about surviving out here, that's relevant anyway, any more you’ll have to learn yourself. If you’re planning on leaving, go talk to Amber Light in the saloon before you go.” She said turning from me, she started to walk back towards the town.

“Sunny, thanks for teaching me all of this, I’m sure it’ll be useful when I’m out there on my own. I’ll go see Amber, have a good da- um, night.” I said, only then noticing that the sky had turned from it’s regular muted light to a darker black, how I didn't notice the time earlier, I have no idea.

Sunny gave me a nod and a smile before heading back towards the down, probably to turn in for the night. I followed her into the town and made my way to the alley I had slept in earlier, using my coat as a blanket and my leg as a pillow I once more drifted off into the land of sleep, content with my learnings for the day.

Quest Complete: By a Campfire on the Trail.

Hoofnote: Level Up (Level 4): Survival increased to 35. Perk Gained: By a Campfire: You gain 4 more health each second from food items you cook at campfires and hotplates.

Chapter 7

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 7

No, I never did find out where or who that sword came from, it’s followed me in my travels for some time, randomly helping me out in times of need. Sometimes I wonder if it’s one of the old world gods helping me out, or a pony trying to be nice. Whoever, or whatever they are, they’re fast, I know that. You’re right, maybe I’ll go out sometime and see if I can find anything relating to that sword, might entertain me for a while before I decide to settle down again. Anyway, back to the story.

As I woke up the next day I once again lamented the fact that the sun and sky where perpetually covered in these dirty grey things I was loathe to call clouds. I got to my hooves and for the second time shook my coat about me, causing a cloud of dust and sand to fly into the air. I moved out of the cloud and walked out of the alley, turning to my left I walked to the front entrance of the saloon, using my magic I gently turned the knob and pushed the door open. I found it was cooler inside the saloon then out, which was interesting considering the lack of any sort of fan. I walked into the bar area and looked behind the counter to see a peach colored mare with a dark brown mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a bottle of vodka crossed over a beer bottle, I suppose it made sense considering where she worked.

“Well now, you must be that stable pony that the Sheriff told me about, nice to finally meet you.” She said with an upbeat tone and a smile, cleaning glasses with a questionably clean rag while she talked.

“Nice to meet you too, so you’re Amber Light? Sunny told me I should talk with you before I left town or anything.” I said, sitting down on one of the stools in front of the bar, more relaxing than standing, anyway.

“Well that’s nice of you, it’s true, I always like to have at least one talk with any new pony in town, see what they’re like and all, and I must say that I’ve heard some good things about you.” She said with a grin as she put aside the glass she had finished cleaning and replaced it with another.

“What do you mean you’ve heard some good things? I haven’t done anything around here, other than have Sunny teach me about surviving out here.” I said with a slight frown, I hadn’t done anything particularly good, I was polite, yes, but that wasn’t anything overmuch.

“So saving that mare out by the wells from those geckos isn’t doing something good? Maybe not to you, but out here, a lotta ponies would just turn their heads and let her get eaten, it’s pretty rare that somepony, let alone someone new in town, would help another pony out.” She said with a sad smile as she explained the mentality of the wastes.

“But, that’s, that’s horrible… Isn’t it just normal to help somepony in need?” I said, slightly distressed that ponies would let other ponies die. Even when they could easily do something to help, it was unheard of in the stable to have a mentality like that.

“Sadly, no, it isn’t. Out here, it’s everypony for themselves, others’ll either leave you alone, or try to kill you and take what you have. It’s a cruel reality we live in, and you’ll have to get used to it. Anyway, good deeds deserve a reward so here, these should keep for a few weeks.” She said, placing two containers of food? Yes, food, on the counter. That was good, I was almost out of the apples I had retrieved from those boxes along the road to the stable.

“And, a little piece of advice, wherever you go, there will be ponies trying to kill you. It doesn’t matter if they have a good reason or not, they will. You either need to fend them off yourself, or travel with somepony who can. You’ll also have to start looting those you kill, take ammo, caps, food, and any medical supplies. Depending on where you are, you might even find codes to terminals or keys to doors. It may seems gruesome the first time, but it is necessary that you take what you can.” She said with a grim frown, it seemed that even if necessary she still didn’t like that looting aspect either, I couldn’t believe I would ever have to do something like that; then I thought back to those ponies who invaded my stable, others like them would probably attack me, probably from nothing else than plain insanity.

“Wait a second, what do you mean ‘caps?’ like, bottle caps or something? Why would I need those?” I asked, confusion apparent on my face, I had wondered why there were stores of bottle caps in the containers I looted, but it had never occurred to me that they would have a purpose.

“Well you see, since we don’t really have a way of making old world currency, most of the machines are broken down, and even then they’re all out east, so everypony just sorta took up bottle caps as a currency. It works pretty well, there’s a finite amount of them, and they’re easy to carry around. There are some groups that have their own money, the NCR uses paper bills, and the Legion uses old Zebra coins, remade using stuff out in the wastes. You can use that stuff, sure, but bottle caps are recognized everywhere and anypony’ll accept them as payment.” She said, a kind of light coming to her eyes as she got away from the gruesome topic of looting, and onto the topic of currencies. In any other place, she could have been a teacher.

“Well that’s certainly… Interesting, thanks, I guess it’s kinda important that I know how to buy stuff. Anyway, thanks for the food and the tips, I have to go find the sheriff and ask him if he knows where I should go, goodbye I guess.” I said, giving her a smile and a wave as I turned and walked out into the desert town, I went north from the center of town, heading for the Sheriff’s office which was up on a hill.

As I walked out of the saloon and towards the sheriff’s office I was surprised to see a number of ponies who gave me smiles and waves,  I returned them as best I could, but I’m sure I missed somepony. It saddened me a bit to see that even here such common generosity like helping somepony out wasn’t a big thing. I pushed those thoughts out of my head, reminding myself that I had bigger things to worry about and more important things to do; like tracking down that bastard that killed everypony I knew.

As I entered the sheriff’s office I found that it was really just a one roomed building holding a desk with two chairs near the back along with a few lockers and trunks along the walls, there was what looked like a small waiting area near the entrance and a few pre war posters on the walls, other than that it was rather empty, as I finished looking I around I noticed the sheriff sitting behind the desk, apparently waiting for me to go over. With a few short strides I had reached the desk and sat down in one of the chairs, they were surprisingly comfortable. I looked up at the sheriff just as he was starting to speak.

“So, I assume that Sunny gave you you’re training? If not then you’re damn good at adapting, I heard how you saved that settler out by the wells, nice job.” He said, with a smile and a tip of his hat towards me. “Now then, what can I do for you on this fine day?” He said, motioning with his hoof for me to speak.

“Well, you remember how I got here, I’m sure, and I was just wondering if you happened to know anything about this Coin Toss fellow, where I could find him perhaps.” I said, narrowing my eyes as I spoke his name, unbridled rage still came up anytime I thought of that guy, walking out of my stable completely clean, leading a force of blood covered ponies.

“Indeed I do remember, I have heard that they stay up near New Pegasus, but to get to your stable they would have had to come through Dice, I suggest going up there and asking around, see if anypony know where they went on the way back. Dice is a couple days travel south, south-east from here, you may find some roving traders, but more than likely the only ponies you’ll find are one trying to kill you and eat you. Even if you don’t come across any raiders, the radiation has fucked up the wildlife, you’ll find huge scorpions, ants, and as I’m sure you know, geckos. Other than that advice, I’ve got nothing else that could help you, all that’s left is to wish you good luck on your journey.” He said, furrowing his brow and bringing out a map, pointing to a marker that said ‘Dice’ on it, looked to be about twenty miles from where Goodsprings was marked at, making the sheriff’s claim of it taking days a very true assessment. As I studied the map I noticed that in the corner of my vision an indicator came up saying ‘Location Discovered: Dice’, and one that said ‘Location Discovered: New Pegasus’, I assumed that the second one was the marker placed far north-east to Goosdprings, considering it said ‘New Pegasus’, I would visit there soon enough, I was sure.

“Well, this is helpful, alright Sheriff, thanks for the hospitality from you and everypony else, and thanks for the warnings on what’s out there, I honestly hadn’t expected to get any leads, but now I have somewhere to go. Hopefully the ponies out in Dice’ll be as generous and kind as all of you have, it’s all I can hope for. I promise you, once I avenge my family and friends, I’ll come back and repay my debt to you, thanks, again, for all you’ve done.” I said, there was really nothing else I could do to offer my thanks, but I would keep well on my promise.

“You are most definitely welcome, and don’t worry about any debts, wouldn’t be right to let a pony fresh out of the stable die ‘cause she didn’t know about the wastes, just make sure you don’t lose yourself out there, and make that bastard pay for what he did. You might not know it, but there's a whole bunch'a ponies that have a score to settle with him, you'll be doing everypony a favor.” He said, I replied with a smile and a nod as I rose from my seat and walked out the door, the ‘sun’ was still bright, and there's no time like the present.

As I reached the edge of town on the road leading to dice I looked back, with one final smile I left the town of Goodsprings, goal in mind and with new skills in my repertoire, I would make that stallion pay, for the lives of all those he had killed.

Hoofnote: Level Up (Level 5): Speech increased to 35, Barter increased to  26. Perk Gained: Desert Adaptation: The days you’ve spent out in the Marejave desert have made you tougher, stronger, + 1 Endurance

Chapter 8

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 8

How is it traveling out in the Marejave? Well it’s a unique experience, most of the time it’s quiet and peaceful, give you time to reflect on what you've done and to think about what you’re going to do. Of course, a few minutes later something’s trying to kill you again, whether it be mutated animals ranging from scorpions, to ants, to geckos, and anything else in between.  Of course, if it’s not animals it’s raiders who want to rape you, kill you, and eat you, sometimes not in that order. Then if it’s not raiders it’s other ponies trying to kill you for some reason. Well, enough about that, back to the story.

After a day of walking down a single desert road for around eight hours, finding edible plants along the way at time, it was finally nearing night. As the sky started to darken I looked to an old and abandoned-looking petrol station that was alongside the road, thinking it would be a rather safe place to stay for the night, I made my way to the front door. I drew one of my 10mm pistols from it’s holster, holding it in my magic, as I did this I used a hoof to push open the door to the petrol station, I wasn't expecting what I saw inside. I’ve seen rooms full of blood and guts, yes, just yesterday, actually; never before I have a seen a room where the bisected bloody bodies of ponies were nailed to the walls, the bodies were paired with bloody mattress, some covered in body parts. Perhaps the most interesting, if gruesome, thing was that the bodies and parts looked to not have decomposed at all, perhaps they were fresh but I severely doubted it. Keeping myself alert and looking down to my EFS I lowered my stance a bit, my equivalent of ‘sneaking’ and walked further into the room, catching the door with my magic so it wouldn't slam. My EFS told me that there were four things in the building, be they ponies or animals, they were all hostile. As I got near the first door leading to a different area of the building I heard laughter, not the happy kind, mind you. I gently pushed open the door with my hoof and was met with an empty hallway, it actually looked rather well taken care of, if dingy. I was broken from my amazement at the state of the hall when I noticed blood pooling out from under on of the doors down the way. It also figured that the life forms my EFS were picking up where directly behind said door. I slowly walked down the hall to the door, being careful not to step into the blood I did my best to open the door quietly as possible. It was not meant to be, it seems, for as I pushed the door with my hoof it opened with a horrid screech, telling of years of not being taken care of. Obviously this loud noise alerted the ponies in the room, who I noticed had been in the middle of eating a dead pony. Truly it was one of the most horrifying sights I had seen in my brief time out in the wastes, I was so shocked by the scene in front of me that I didn't react as quickly as I could have when the ponies in the room turned around, the mare in the center speaking in a insane tone of voice

“Look boys! Another talking meat puppet!” She yelled, showing of her blood stained teeth, her yellow tinged eyes shining in the light of the room, as one they all rushed forward, causing me to run out of the room, into the hall, and back into the entrance room.

“I wonder what your face, would look like on mine!” I heard another of the crazy ponies call out to me, I was currently hiding behind a desk in a darker corner of the main room, trying to formulate a plan that didn't involve me being the next course in their horrific meal. I quickly popped my head over the side of the desk, looking out into the room, I saw the insane ponies checking around the room. I was about to duck back behind my cover, however, I was too slow as one of the ponies looked over at me and let out a savage yell, before rushing at me.

Acting quickly I lined up a shot with my 10mm pistol, aiming at the center of mass, I let fly four rounds, two of which pounded into his chest. I didn't think two shots would kill him, but it seems I had been lucky and hit him in the heart. As the spark of life left his eyes his body stopped moving, however the momentum of his running caused him to slam into my makeshift cover. Whilst this was taking place I hadn't noticed the other ponies until I heard one of them yell out "Look at me when I'm charging at you!", turning my head I saw them doing just that, running at me with a mad glint in their eyes, holding things like pipes and rusty knives. Knowing I couldn't line up the shots myself I activated SATS, using it’s targeting to key in a shot to the head and chest of each pony, I let the spell take hold of me as time seemed to move in slow motion I saw the heads of two of the ponies pop whilst the third stumbled to a stop, falling to the floor.

I let out a sigh as I dropped out of SATS time, looking around the room I saw blood and brains, along with bits of skull, plastered to the ceiling, there was also a large pool of blood on the floor around the three ponies. For a few meager seconds I felt sorrow at the death of these ponies, at the loss of my innocence, then I thought of the pony they had been feasting upon, how they would have killed me, how I would have to do this many times over to survive out here. I remembered what Amber had told me and moved over to the bodies, being careful not to step in the blood, I used my magic to search through their pockets and belts. In my searching I found twenty-six Sparkle-Cola bottle caps, twelve old war coins, and seven twelve gauge shells. As I gathered the loot into one of my pockets I carefully stepped around the bodies and blood in the center of the room, heading for the hallway. Upon entering the hall I went back towards the room with the half eaten pony inside, I was about to close the door when I noticed there were boxes of food and metal containers. Using my magic to gently place the desecrated body of half eaten pony into the corner, I stepped around the large pool of blood and went over to the supplies. There were around six boxes of old pre war cereal, loaded with enough preservatives to last until now, along with boxes marked with the Equestrian Military’s emblem. Placing the boxes of cereal and a few stray boxes of apples into my coat I used my magic to pry the lids off of the metal containers. Inside I found a gun nut’s wet dream, the first container was filled to the brim with silver apple shaped objects, fragmentation grenades. The second container held four twenty round 5.56mm magazines, along with two eight round 50. caliber magazines. There was also a broken down twelve gauge pump action griffon shotgun, the only reason I knew it was a griffon weapon was because of the way the parts looked, I would have to carry it around in pieces until I found somepony who knew how to put it together. The third and final container wasn't actually a military box, it was a medical kit that was under the other two, inside were two healing potions and four bandages. Placing all of my new supplies in multiple pockets across my coat, specified by ammunition or medical supplies, soon I would need to get some kind of carrying bags. Looking around the room I saw nothing else of interest, there was an old terminal in the corner but I wasn't really in the mood for looking through pre war stuff, I was rather tired all things considered. Walking out of the room I closed the door behind me, making my way into another door which I had seen mattresses behind, finding the least bloodstained one I got myself in a comfortable position, placing the picture of my parents and the picture of Fleeting Breeze and I next to my head, I slowly drifted to sleep.

Waking up the next morning as light streamed in through a window, I got up and stretched my limbs, cracking my neck and joints. After that was finished I replaced the pictures of the lost to their pocket in my coat. Checking my coat I made sure everything was in it’s place, pistols in their holsters, extra one in a pocket, rifle slung over back, pre-loaded magazines in either an ammo belt or in a pocket, loose rounds in another pocket, parts of shotgun in another, food in  yet another, and lastly medical supplies. That done I lifted my left hoof to check the time on my pip-buck, seeing that it was nine in the morning I decided that it was a good enough time as any to get back on the road heading to Dice. Doing one final sweep of the building and finding nothing but almost broken cutlery and pony flesh I made my way back to the front room and pushed open the door with my magic, leaving it open as I left. Making it back to the road I made sure I was going in the right direction and started walking, the rising sun to my left and the road ahead, I was another day closer to my goal.

Hoofnote: No level up.

Chapter 9

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.

Chapter 10

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 10

Yes that was my first attempt at cooking, yes I got better, no I was not the one that started the fire in the mess hall! Come on, give me more credit than that. What? The Explosion last week? No, nothing to do with that. Look, explosives and I don’t really mix, there’s a reason I don’t mess about with mines and rockets. We can talk about this later, for now, back to the story.

I was growing tired, I will admit that walking endlessly was not my smartest idea, only the sound of the radio kept me in the waking world. So it was that I managed to fall from the road and into a ditch. I awoke from my forced slumber apparent hours later, feeling rejuvenated it took me a few moments to notice the ache in my bones born from the way I had slept. Climbing up the ditch and back onto the road I shook the dirt and sand from my mane and face and continued to walk, switching the radio back on as I did. Curiously I was not met with music, I pondered for a moment what that could mean before the voice of a stallion came from the speaker, it was not music however.

“This is Radio New Pegasus, and I’m your host, Mr. New Pegasus. And in case you’re wondering if you've come to the right place, you have. It’s just about time to get you some news. Troubling word from Dice, as merchants report a large presence of armed and unsavoury figures patrolling the town. Residents are nowhere to be found. That’s the news. This is Mr. New Pegasus, filling in for… Mr. New Pegasus. In New Pegasus, we know the pain that numbers can bring us. Well so does Silver Lining, whose got Heartaches by the Number.”

At the point that music began to play I switched off my radio, thinking of the report on Dice, something must have happened relating to these ‘Unsavoury Figures’, perhaps relating to the group of ponies who had come through the town. It wasn’t long after that, actually, that I found myself looking ahead at the walled in town I assumed to be Dice, the only entrance was a bridge that looked about ready to crumble, getting to the bridge would take one up a hill and through a group of buildings and tents marked with a strange animal symbol, it was the head of a unicorn in yellow turned to the side, however wings of blue were also present around the head, this was emblazoned over a crimson star. Strange indeed, whoever these ponies were, hopefully they would allow passage into Dice. As I neared the slope that lead to the apparent outpost a pony wearing grey-tan cloth and leather, Sunny had told me that was a commonly used material out in the wastes, armor. On the front of it was the same symbol as on the flags and tents her, for I found it was a mare, face was covered by a length of cloth and a wide brimmed hat combined with goggles.

“Hey, where the hell do you think you’re going? Dice is off limits, what with the gang that’s taken over. NCR isn't letting anypony in, best if you just turn around.” She said, it was then that I noticed the saddle she was wearing, a saddle with a rifle attached to it, the model of the rifle I had never seen, but I did know of these so called ‘battle saddles’ they were used by Earth Pony and Pegasi forces during the war, as a means to carry larger weapons into battle.

“What’s this about a gang, what’s going on in Dice? Did something happen?” I asked, concerned that my only lead might have been taken from me due to some random gangers. Truly that would have put a stop to my plans of vengeance, it would also be the start of a long period of wandering around and trying to find out where the tartarus that stallion went off to.

“Yeah, group of convicts who escaped from the NCRCF got together, they've been making life a living hell for the NCR in this area, anyone in Dice is either dead or in hiding, we've been diverting travelers from here.” She replied, her eyes darkening a bit at the mention of their escape from this ‘NCRCF’, I wasn't particularly happy about being told to turn back and not try to get into Dice, it didn't matter to me, I was getting in, one way or another.

“Look, I’m sure I can take care of myself. Anyway, if they’re just escaped convicts, why haven’t you lot taken them out yet?” I said, adding a bit of venom to my voice when I said I could take care of myself. I was, in fact, curious as to why an obviously well equipped military couldn't take out a group of probably poorly equipped and organized group of gangers.

“You know what, fine, you can go in. Just don’t say you weren't warned. As for why we haven’t cleaned it up, well, honestly we would. Thing is, we don’t have jurisdiction in Dice, I don’t know the particulars of it, seems a bit idiotic to me, but I’m just a grunt.” She said, apparently it was more a ‘suggestion’ to stay out, and they didn't really care much about letting you in. I suppose it’s too much to ask for your soldiers to actually care about their job, especially one that seems so boring as keeping guard of a city.

With an appreciative nod of my head I walked past the poor mare who had to keep watch over the road, walking to the bridge I had seen from the road below I gave another nod to a stallion who seemed barely awake, he didn't seem to notice so I didn't say anything. As I was about to walk across the bridge I stopped myself, looking down I saw some tannish-grey discs with bright orange lights in the center, landmines! I carefully stepped around them, doing a sort of dance to get around the mines positioned around the bridge without setting any of them off, I knew they were mines but that doesn't mean I knew how to disarm them.

As I entered the town I saw hostile life signs pop up on my EFS, taking to the shadows I slowed my trot to a barely audible slow walk, making myself as small as possible. As I neared the corner of a building I heard voices, peeking out I saw what looked like two stallions and a mare, all wearing blue and black barding, on the ground was a dead mare…. missing her head. I was about to step around and kill the gangers but I stopped myself as I heard one of them speak. Still looking around the corner I saw the stallion in the center step closer to the corpse.

“Well it looks like she,” he said, pausing for a moment as he dug a set of dirty sunglasses out of a pocket on his barding, “lost her head.” he finished, a moment after that the mare yelled a very drawn out ‘yeah’ which must have lasted at least five seconds. I took that time to just stare in shock, not at the dead pony, I had resigned myself to the fact that this was to be a common occurrence in the Wasteland, no I was in shock just because of how inconceivably bad that joke was.

I pulled myself together as the mare was wrapping up her shout, planning it out in my head I decided I would back up a ways and try to use my rifle to pick them off, switching to my 10mm pistol if they got close enough to warrant its use. After the planning stage was done I put the operation into action, backing up to the end of the street I unslung my rifle and took aim, firing off a round I managed to hit the stallion closest to me in the chest, not the target I was going for, but it would work. The gunfire had, of course, alerted the other two to my presence, charging the bolt I fired once more at the stallion I had hit, the round slamming into his head, killing him. Pulling back the bolt again I kept firing at the other two ponies until they were dead, three rounds and a new magazine later, and the gangers were dead. I was quite happy with my performance, no wasted ammunition, and it was all wrapped up rather quickly. Slinging my rifle back to it’s former position I walked over to the slain ponies. Using my magic to check through their pockets I found myself with around forty bottle caps in total, twelve rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, as well as a full clip of five from a rifle one of them was carrying, following that came two magazines of 10mm ammo, lastly I recovered six stick of dynamite from the assorted corpses, I didn’t trust myself to use it, but I’m sure I could ask somepony in town.

Placing my loot into the corresponding pockets on my coat, I turned to look at the door that the gangers were standing outside, looking up I saw the sign above it declare the building the ‘Sapphire & Ruby Casino’, the outside didn’t look like much, but neither did a lot of the wastes. This building would either be home to more convicts, or be the place that the citizens of Dice were hiding out in, I was hoping it would be the latter. Taking a breath of surprisingly clean wasteland air, I unholstered my 10mm pistol and pushed open the door.

Quest Update: Find somepony in Dice who knows where Coin Toss and his gang came from.

Hoofnote: Level Up (Level 6): Survival increased to 40. Sneak increased to 52. Perk Gained: Light Hooves: Being a fairly agile pony has it’s advantages, landmines take a few extra seconds to start their countdown, and you move almost silently whilst sneaking.

Chapter 11

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Chapter 11

Yeah, I know what you mean. I was a little detached in those early times, I mostly contribute it to the shock of where I ended up, combined with a vengeance that was very prominent in my heart. It’s not really an excuse, I do remember my first kill, I don’t regret it, but it’s never a feeling you get over. You never forget the first time you take the life of another sapient creature, pray you never have to go through that child. Yes yes, meaningful talk aside, let us continue the story.

Pushing open the door I almost immediately reholstered my pistol, the reason being that the casino was a full, lively place. There were multiple ponies around, none of them gangers. They went about with their lives, apparently not caring that the town they live in is full of dangerous ponies. I was about to take a step inside before I heard some music start up.

It started off with a combination of guitar, bass, and drums, melded together in a cacophony of sound that was loud yet pleasing to the ear at the same time, then came the lyrics, sung by a stallion who sounded to be in his mid thirties.

Life is so boring

It's really got me snoring

I'm wearing out the flooring in a cheap hotel

And I don't have to worry

I might be sinning

But I'm never gonna have to hear the ring of the school bell.

Doo-wee, do do do do do do do do do do

At this point the bass and drums took over, with occasional cords from the guitar.

Well don't you remember, you told me in December

That a boy is not a man until he makes a stand

Well I'm not a genius but maybe you'll remember this

I never said I ever wanted to be a man

I would have been content to listen to the rest of the song, but I was brought out of my trance by the sound of a pony clearing their throat, not ten hooves from me. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked up, standing in front of me was a stallion who looked to be at least in his seventies. He was wearing some more or less standard desert clothing, which covered most of his body. His mane was a dark blue with silver streaks going through it, his coat was a deep turquoise, his eyes were of gold and showed a long and hard past, filled with sorrow and loss. It was then that he spoke, in a voice befitting the age he looked, with a slight accent, not unlike the many other ponies I had talked to so far.

“I don’t know what it was brought you to Dice youngster, but you might want to rethink your plans. Whole towns gone to hell.” He ended that with a sigh and a shake of the head, I would feel pretty depressed if my town was suddenly taken over by bloodthirsty ex-convicts, but I didn’t really have anything much like a town to go back to, Stable 42 is… well, I don’t actually know, other than being strewn with corpses and painted with blood I would also think quite a few valuables were taken, it was no place to return to, anyway.

“I came here looking for some information, I was told to come here by the sheriff of a small town called Goodsprings, came about a stallion named Coin Toss, and the rest of his gang. According to the sheriff, they would have had to pass through here if they were to bypass Goodsprings and, well, I’m trying to hunt them down. I don’t suppose you would conviently know anything about them?” I didn’t have much hope for the convenient knowledge bit, but I can hope, right?

“Well, I do remember something about a large group of travelers coming through here, I don’t know where they were heading, I would suggest you ask the deputy, but the Boomers took him, don’t know if he’s still alive. If you really want to, the Boomers set up base in the old Silver Rush Casino, if the deputy is still alive, he’ll be in there somewhere. Why are you hunting after this stallion anyhow? If you don’t mind my asking, that is.” The information he had given me was interesting, and even though I'd rather not, it seems my only real option was to wipe out a group of ponies, if this is how my days would go every time I talked to somepony, I would really rather not live in the wasteland.

“Alright then, go to this casino, wipe out the gangers, save the deputy." This shouldn’t be too hard, I hope. As for what that bastard did, he came into my home, the only place I’ve ever know, and he killed everypony there. Foals, the elderly, everypony died, except for me. So, I’m going to hunt him down, I’ll go to the ends of the Earth if it takes that, but he will die.” I said, a tone and look of determination coming over me, I may not have experience in this wasteland, but I wouldn’t let anything stand in my way.

“I can’t say I approve of your motives, revenge is never a good cause, but if it helps this town, well, more help to you. Although, you may have the armies of seven different nations trying to hold you back. Keep that in mind, try not to make any enemies of the big players in the Marejave.” He replied with a tired tone, one of understanding and experience, perhaps he had been on a quest for vengeance some time in his life.

That all said and done I was about to leave the way I had come in, it was getting late and I was of the opinion that it would be easier to take out the so called ‘Boomers’ at night instead of in the ‘day’, however, I remembered the disassembled shotgun in my pockets, and thought to ask… Uh, I didn’t actually know his name.

“Um, one last thing, well two really, I don’t really know your name, mines Nevermore, by the way, and I was also wondering if you know anypony that might be able to put this back together?” I asked, using my magic to pull the pieces of the shotgun from my coat and float them in front of myself.

“Ah, of course, how rude of me, name’s Cerulean Blur, although most people just call me Old Blu. On the matter of that there shotgun, yeah, I think I could fix it up. I used to travel with a few griffon mercenaries, respectable all of them, I fixed up their equipment now and then. Leave it here when you go off to take out the Boomers, I’ll have it fixed by the time you make it back.” He said, an old light returning to his eyes, he seemed somewhat lost in memories, so I just gave him a nod and gently set down the pieces on a table, after which I turned around and stepped out the door.

As I entered the cool night air I stopped outside of the casino and though, words began to formulate in my mind, along with thoughts of where I would go and what I would have to do. This world will never be what I expected, and if I don’t belong, well, who would’ve guessed it? I thought to myself. I had gone from a boring job in a safe place to live, surrounded by ponies I knew and loved, and then it was all ripped away, taken by one stallion and his gang. In but moments I had lost everything I had known, everything I had worked for, my only friend. As I thought of her I came up with only the hopeful thought that she had passed on to the Better Life, and that her afterlife would be filled with things she loved, there was a good chance I would join her soon, but I had to try, try my hardest, to stay alive in this horrible excuse for a world.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and started walking over to the large building with a sign marking it as the Silver Rush Casino, looking around the streets and buildings revealed nothing much, a few more buildings, some side streets, some of the buildings were probably the homes of the ponies that were holed up in the casino.

Reaching the doors I checked my EFS, finding that there were no life forms on the other side of the door, I quietly pushed it open, unslinging my rifle from its position on my back, using my magic to hold it aloft. The room I walked into was a dirty lobby area, there were two tables in front of a doorway serving as some kind of cover, to the right of the entrance was a counter as well as a door presumably leading to a back room. I made the decision that I would search the building for any loot after dealing with the Boomers and saving the deputy, that way nopony could sneak up on me while I was looking in a safe or something.

Shutting the door behind me I stepped farther into the lobby, noting that the only way onwards was through the door with tables set up in front of it, I walked around them and through the doorway, which opened up into a hall. Looking down it I saw that there was a large open room at the end with three doors along the side, one of which was a stairway. Stepping out into the hall I took to the shadows, walking down towards the large open room revealed that there were many mattresses laid out around there, and of course, multiple ponies dressed in dark blue prison barding, some of them wearing police armor. I counted out about twenty of them with varying levels of armor and weaponry. The ones wearing police armor had larger armaments for use, such as rifles, the few unicorns of the group got the advantage of magic, while the other ponies were using battle saddles. The ponies in less armored barding where using apparently common 9mm pistols, some didn’t even have those and were carrying around knives and lengths of pipe.

I unslung the rifle from my back and looked down the sights to get a feeling of range. I could probably hit at least seven of them from where I was, the others were out of range. Of course, that was if they were still, as it was, quite a few ponies were walking around. Now, there is an advantage of being a unicorn, that being the ability to hold multiple things at once. Keeping the rifle to my eye I also drew my 10mm pistol, along with my .45. I moved my way down the hall until I was at the point where the ponies in the room should have been able to see me by all rights. Activating SATS I spread out the points I was given to put at least two rounds into eleven different ponies, using the rifle for longer range targets and the two pistols for the ponies near me.

Taking a deep breath still inside the frozen time that is SATS, I finally activated the sequence. At the end of it seven ponies were dead and I had thirteen more shooting at, or running at, me. I ducked around the corner and started reloading, making sure to take my time so that SATS would also have time to recharge itself, I reholstered my .45 pistol seeing as how I didn’t have much ammunition for it. Raising my now loaded rifle to my eye and leveling my also loaded pistol I ducked back around the corner to see four ponies with knives and pipes chargin me, as the rest tried to line up a shot with pistols and rifles. Dropping into SATS I used the few points I had to take out the four ponies chargin me, using up most of my pistol ammunition. Once control returned to my body I lined up a shot on another unicorn mare, she was trying to do the same with a rifle similar to mine. I fired at her first, the round punched through her skull and she fell to the ground in a heap. I turned my attention to another pony with a rifle right in time to see a pistol round go past my face. Hastily lining up a shot I fired twice at him, two rounds to the chest later and he fell. It was at this point that the few ponies with rifles started firing, surprisingly, most of them missed. I say ‘most’ because one of them was good enough, or lucky enough, to hit me in leg. I dropped to the floor, my rifle clattering to the ground as I lost control of my magic.

This was the first time I had been shot you understand, all ponies that worked in security were trained on how to deal with gunshot wounds, but not many of us had ever actually been shot. The gang ponies lowered their weapons and started to move towards me. My only choice now was be taken captive or force my way through my pain, I chose the latter of course. Pushing myself to my hooves I grabbed my rifle with my magic and ducked around the corner, falling back against the wall. I looked at my leg to find the dark metal of the bullet lodged in. There are some advantages of being a unicorn, magic comes to mind. I set down my rifle and pistol and focused as hard as I could, fighting to maintain control as I pulled the bullet from my leg. My wound clear I thought of what to do, then I remembered the box of medical supplies I had found. Pulling a healing potion from my pocket I opened it up and downed the purple liquid, feeling better almost immediately, I watched as the hole in my leg closed up. Getting to my hooves I tested my leg and found I could put weight on it with no pain at all.

I then remembered where I was, quickly pulling my rifle in my magical grasp back to me, I loaded the rounds I had used and turned around the corner yet again. The gangers had taken back to their old positions, training their rifles at me. I acted quickly, well, maybe not. I hit SATS and watched as time halted, giving me the ability to place carefully calculated shots into the heads and chests of the seven ponies left, I would be left out of ammo if I didn’t kill one of them, yes, but between my rifle and pistol I was sure they would all be on the ground soon enough. I hit accept, time continued, and when I finally got control of my body there were two ponies left alive, albeit barely. I reloaded my rifle and pistol, stepped out into the room, walked past all the corpses, and picked up a pegasus stallion by the throat.

“Now, you are going to tell me where the deputy is, or I will make your last moments in this world extremely painful. Now, where is he?” I said in the coldest, calmest voice I could manage, it worked apparently, for he answered not second later in a scared and shaken voice.

“H- he’s in the storage rooms, b-behind the door marked ‘employees only’. Celestia forgive me, for I have sinned.” He managed his final prayer before his neck snapped in two. His lifeless body fell from my magical grasp, to join the rest of his fallen comrades. I turned to the other pony left alive, a unicorn mare, unable to stand due to wounds. I ended her pain quickly, a 10mm round to the head, and the life left her eyes.

I had to kill these ponies, they were criminals, the attacked a town, but that didn’t mean I would prolong the suffering I had caused. I took my time, the deputy should be the only pony left alive, I had time to loot the bodies. It took me awhile, but at the end of seven minutes I found myself with quite a few new things. I had taken the bulletproof bardings of some of the gang members, using a knife I had picked up to cut off the ‘NCRF’ patch and anything else tying it to the gangers, I put it on under my coat and over my still worn stable barding. It was black, relatively light, and should at least help me stay alive. It also had many more pockets across the chest that were full of 10mm and 9mm magazines. I had a few new rifles to fix up mine, if the parts were worth it. Quite a few new pistols, most of them 9mm but a few 10mm ones. I could use those to fix up my own, and sell the rest. I was also now in possession of around two hundred bottlecaps. There was also, of course, a large supply of ammunition and explosives. The amount I did not count, but I did know I wouldn’t run out anytime soon. As for the explosives, around twenty sticks of dynamite, five apple shaped fragmentation grenades, and little else. There was a final thing I deemed worthy of taking, upon the head of the apparent leader, for he had more armor and better weaponry than the others, there was a very nice cowpony hat, similar to the one of the Goodsprings sheriff. Placing it on my head I made my way over to the storage room, keys from the leader floating in my magical grasp.

Upon opening and unlocking the door I was treated to the sight of a young earth pony stallion tied up and on his side, his coat was of yellow, his mane was a dirty white. He opened his eyes when he heard the door open and I saw they were an amethyst purple. He tried to make himself smaller, tried to back away from me, of course, this was not possible due to his bonds.

“You are the deputy, yes? Don’t worry, I’m here to get you out.” I said, waiting for a response from him. It took me a moment but I noticed that he was gagged with some dirty looking cloth. “Ah, sorry, didn’t notice that.” I said, removing the gag from his mouth and using my new knife to cut his bonds.

“Ugh, that thing tasted horrible. Thanks for saving me ma’am, I’m the deputy, or, I guess I was. Can’t really have a deputy without a sheriff. Um, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just make my way out of this casino and go back to the Sapphire & Ruby.” He said, getting to his hooves and stretching, with a nod of his head he tried to walk past, I held out a hoof to stop him.

“Now look, this might seem a bit mean, but I saved you for a reason. Stallion in the casino, Old Blu, said you might have some information about a stallion named Coin Toss and his gang, now, I’m not asking for much, just tell me what you know and you can walk out of here and get back to your life.” I really didn’t want to be cruel to this guy, he was a prisoner here for goddess knows how long, but I needed information, and now was a time I could demand he give it, before he could deny me.

“Well, alright then, I don’t usually give out information, but you did save me. Here’s my journal, I don’t quite remember when those fellas’ came by, but it should be in there. Um, just return it before you leave, please?” He said, hoofing me a leather bound book. I gave him a nod and lowered my hoof to let him pass me, at which point he crossed the room, presumably to return to the casino.

I took twenty minutes to look over everything in the journal that was recent, apparently Coin Toss and his gang had left towards the South-East, perhaps Old Blu knew about some places near there that they could’ve gone. I placed the journal into a pocket and turned around, looking over the room of corpses. They would never get a proper burial, would probably start to rot soon in the desert heat. I shook my head and with a sigh I made my way back to the lobby room, I was about to leave before I remembered the back room.

Walking behind the counter I tried opening the door, only to find it was locked. I was never the most active pony, but the door didn’t look to be in such good repair, two hundred years couldn’t have been good for it. I turned around and bucked the door with all my strength, hearing a satisfying cracking sound and the feeling of broken wood. Turning back around I saw the door lying on the floor in pieces.

Walking inside I noticed a bed in the corner, as well as a working terminal, there were also a few hooflockers and a cabinet, as well as a work table. I made my way over to the terminal first, pressing a key lit the screen up, showing that it was a log of sorts.

[Cracker Jack’s Log]

February 23rd, 2278

I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool. I’m gettin’ tired of startin’ again, somewhere new. Every time we have to move, ‘cause of the NCR or something else, I just can’t take it anymore. Pretty soon, pretty soon I’m gonna step down. Maybe get Full Circle to take over. I don’t know, I just know I need out. This whole gang, hell, this whole place, I gotta leave it behind. Leave the Marejave, maybe go out East. This’ll probably be my last log, whoever ends up gettin’ put in charge, it’s been fun, but I’m never comin’ back.

~Cracker Jack

[End Log]

Interesting, maybe he was the stallion whose armor I have now. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, he was wanted to leave the gang, perhaps he couldn't take what they were doing. I’ll never know, not that it’s important, just another life that the Wasteland will claim, another one that I've taken. It won’t be the last, I know that. I powered down the terminal and turned to the hooflockers, there were three of them. Opening them up and looking inside saw that only one had anything in it, there was a black case inside. It was large, not too large, but large enough to be interesting. I picked it from it’s case with my magic and levitated it to my back, I would open it when I got back to the casino. Turning once more I opened the cabinet. Inside there was food, canned beans and the like. Gathering a few cans I put them in my pockets, I couldn’t carry too many due to the way my coat was made, but I would be fed for a few more days. It was then that I noticed, back in the dark of the cabinet, there was a bag. Pulling it out with my magic revealed a dust covered grey single bag, they were made to be worn on the back instead of over ones flanks, books that I had read back in the stable claimed they were never popular, and so few were made. The few made, however, were apparently very durable, as this one was not even slightly damaged, only a tad dusty. Shaking off the dust I look inside the bag, finding nothing I close it up again. Moving the black case and rifle from my back, I replace it with the bag, securing it with two delta straps, coming together against my belly. With my new bag in place I open it up and slip the case inside, along with it goes the journal, and my heavier food items. These items are joined by most of my ammunition, leaving me with about six reloads for each weapon in my pockets. Closing up the bag I sling my rifle over it, very happy to find that everything fit and that it wasn’t overly bulky.

With nothing else to be found in the room, I turn and walk out the, now shattered, door. Going back into the center of the lobby I take a look around, nothing else seems to pop out as interesting, or useful. Shaking my head I walk over to the front door, pushing it open with my magic, I use a hoof to shield my eyes from the midday sun. Seems I had been in there longer than I thought, odd. Shaking my head yet again I walk back down the streets to the Ruby & Sapphire Casino, finding myself at the door I push it open as well, greeted by more music. It started off quite, the strummings of a guitar, soon followed by the voice of a stallion.

Keep you in the dark

You know they all pretend

Keep you in the dark

And so it all began

At this point drums and bass started up, the song continued.

Send in your skeletons

Sing as their bones go marching in… again

They need you buried deep

The secrets that you keep are ever ready

Are you ready?

I’m finished making sense

Done pleading ignorance

That whole defense

Spinning infinity, boy

The wheel is spinning me

It’s never-ending, never-ending

Same old story

What if I say I’m not like the others?

What if I say I’m not just another one of your plays?

You’re the pretender

What if I say I will never surrender

In time or so I’m told

I’m just another soul for sale… oh, well

The page is out of print

We are not permanent

We’re temporary, temporary

Same old story

I stopped listening then, and went off to see if Old Blu had any insight on the directions I had read.

Quest Complete: Clear out the gangers and save the Deputy.

Item Effect: Courier’s Bag: +20lbs to carry weight.

Hoofnote: Level Up (Level 7): Medicine increased to 34. Speech increased to 44. Perk Gained: Shadow of Death: Even when surrounded by death and destruction you keep your cool, managing to have a level head even in the middle of a valley of corpses.

Prologue

Fallout Equestria: Don’t Fear The Reaper

By: The Zealot

Prologue

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

…War was never a thing known to ponies, they were peaceful, they never needed to know of such a horrible thing. Until, on one day long ago, the land of Equestria took up arms against the Zebra nation, over a petty dispute of gems and coal. The details are pointless and trivial. The reasons, as always, purely our own. A land of peace and harmony evolved into a place where the only thing that mattered was the advancement of murder. How, you might ask, did we come to this? The answer is a simple one: Fear. Ponies feared for their families, for their nation, it did not help when a school was massacred, no, that just made the solution to their fear clearer: A genocide upon the Zebra populations. And with this goal, they became the monsters they had long feared. After millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of ponykind could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into a bottomless abyss of balefire and radiation….

...But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of pony history. For ponykind had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes.

In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters known as Stables. But in the world outside, the scars left by the war have not yet healed. The wounds run deep, and now they are being felt in the Equestrian Wasteland.