My Little Apocalyptic Wasteland

So here I am, alone, scared, confused. Those ponies, they took my friend. My only friend. I suppose I'm going to have to get him back then huh? But how? They had guns and knifes and all I have is my own two hoofs. Of course I have my magic to don't I? I'm about to get myself killed aren't I?

  Approaching the town a large concrete sign is standing on the ground "Welcome to Ponyville" it greets. Walking in this place gives you a creepy feeling. The feeling of someone watching you, but not like someone alive is watching you. More like one of the unfortunate souls that was stuck out here when the spells hit.

  So if I was a psycho pony who kidnaps others where would I be? After several hours of searching I manage to find a large barn out near, what appeared to be a large orchard, or at least was an apple orchard.

  As I get closer I noticed ponies standing outside, guarding it. I scan the area. Flintlock! Thank the goddesses he's still breathing, beaten to hell but breathing non the less.

  I run towards a bale of hay ducking down as to avoid being seen. Slowly but surely I make my way closer to the barn. Ducking down behind cover ever so often to avoid detection. As I get closer my heart begins to beat faster and faster. finally I make it to the barn doors, well almost anyway. The burnt up tree next to the barn door to be exact. Of course this just happens to be the same barn door that is being guarded by two ponies. I looked around trying to find anything to lob near them to draw them away from the door. That bucket there will do nicely! I levitate it in front of me, readying myself to run when I throw this thing.

  You ever get that do or die type feeling? That feeling of "If I fuck this up I'm totally screwed!" Well that's the exact feeling I have this second. Ok ratchet, on three, one, two, two and a half. Fucking three! I throw the bucket in front of the ponies. It lands in front of them hitting the ground with a loud clang They stop for a minute before rushing over to it. In this time I Gallop as hard as I can to the barn door and throw it open. Getting inside I close the door shut as quickly and quietly as possible before leaning on the wooden wall, catching my breath and closing my eyes.

  I look up to my horror, cages containing ponies are hung from the roof. Makeshift cells made from the stables of the barn holding ponies that have clearly been beaten and starved. I begin to walk around trying to locate my friend.

  "Ya- y'all gotta help me..." I turn around to see a blue coated Pegasus with a white mane that conflicts with the blackened wood of the barn, locked in a cage. Her face is bruised and scratched up. She holds out a hoof through the cage almost as if I was the key to her prison.

  "How, how can I help you?" I ask, there's no way I can just leave her here.

  She points to the key hole of the cage and stares me in the eyes, full of desperation. "One of the raider ponies in the farm house... they have the keys to all the cages, please, please get the keys and help me, help us."

Raiders, so that's what their called. "Ok, just stay here, I'll be back!"

  What am I saying? All she can do is stay here. But before I leave I need to find Flintlock, he must be in here.

  "Flint! Flintlock! It's me, Ratchet! Are you in here?"

  I hear a faint whisper of a voice "Ratchet, I'm up here buddy."

  I turn my gaze to right above, seeing my friend. By Celestia, he's been here not even a day and already looks like all the others in this hell hole. "Don't worry Flint I'm going to get you and everypony else out of here!"

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  Getting to the house turned out being easier than I would have thought. A simple pattern of hiding and distracting the raider ponies proved that their not very smart. Then again what would you expect from a bunch of murders without the slightest amount of education exept for a lesson in killing other ponies?

  Entering the house I can't see any raiders in the room. Quietly, I walk near a room that seems to be a kitchen. Peeking around the corner I see a raider pony sitting down eating some sort of disguisting meat and quickly hide behind the wall.

   A pony in another room begins to talk. "So where did you find that white one again?"

  "Just out in the wasteland, sleeping. He had a friend but we killed that one. Ha! Smashed his head into the butt of my gun!" He boasts.

  The voices begin to get closer and closer "Ha! Nice one man!"

  I turn back to the kitchen to make sure the pony was still sitting in his seat.

  "Well look what we got here! Fresh! Meat!"

  I turn back and see the two ponies having the conversation standing in the hallway. Both of them with guns in their possession. One with a shotgun strapped to his back and the other with pistol in his mouth. The stallion in the kitchen stands up and reveals a knife strapped to his hoof.

  Well... Shit... I dive out of the way, just barely dodging the bullets as they whiz past me, flying through the air. Seeing a vase next to the shotgun pony I slam it into his face making him fall to the ground in pain.

  "Goddess damn him! Kill that son of a bitch!" The fallen pony yells.

  I levitate the table that was holding the vase and slam it into the head of the pony wielding the pistol, crushing his skull and making him tumble onto his friend. I turn and see a pony galloping towards me with his knife at the ready. He lunges at me pointing the knife straight at my chest. I move out of the way and force the pony to the wall, holding his hoof with the knife. After a brief struggle I gain the upper hand and plunge the knife into the chest of the raider pony. Blood pours out of his wound as he collapses to the ground, forcing the knife even deeper inside of him.

  A muffled voice comes from outside the front door. "Come on! In here!"

  I quickly run over to the corpse of the shotgun pony and take his weapon and head over to the wall of a bedroom, taking cover. I remove the drum barrel of my new weapon to check how much ammo is left. Ten rounds, well that'll have to do then. Four ponies rush into the main room. I dispatch one by shooting a shell into it's head sending bits of skull and brain onto it's allies and splattering blood onto the walls. A barrage of bullets find their way into the wall I was taking cover behind. Peeking the barrel of my gun out of cover I fire three rounds blindly at the raiders. A scream breaks out, signifying the success of at least one of my shotgun blasts. six shots left. I move away from cover to look through the sights of the gun and fire, sending yet another pony to the ground. Five shots now and just one raider. She gallops towards me with a knife causing me to back up further into the bedroom. I aim my shotgun at the door frame waiting for the raider to appear. As soon as she does I unload a spread of metal into her chest causing her corpse to fly back into the wall outside the bedroom and exposing her insides. Oh goddesses I think I'm going to puke!

  Wow... that was, intense, to say the least. Looks like Flintlock showing me how to handle a gun paid off. I give myself a moment to collect my thoughts before observing the room I was in. Looking to the wall I notice a damaged picture of presumably the owner of the farm. A orange coated mare with a cowboy hat and the cutie mark of three apples sat next to a large red stallion and a olive filly. The picture seems so innocent. I wonder what it must have been like before the world was reduced to what it is now.

  Remembering my mission I begin searching for the keys and relies where they are. On the corpse of one of the raiders. I return to the shotgun pony and look of his corpse. Can I really do this? I killed these ponies. Sure it was in self defense but their dead because of me, and now I have to loot one of their bodies. Noticing a saddle bag I open it up and look inside. The bag holds a surprisingly large amount of items, a screwdriver, a pack of ten bobby bins, five more shells for my shotgun, and thankfully the keys.

  Upon re-entering the barn I focus my attention to the pony from earlier.

  The pony gasps "y'all came back, I heard gunshots and thought you'd gone and gotten shot!"

  "Don't worry 'bout me, it's Ratchet the repair pony to the rescue." I boast.

  "Ratchet huh? I like that name. Helpin' Heart."

  "Well I like your name too Helping Heart." I say as I open the cage with a satisfying click.

  The mare stumbles out of her cell for a moment before finally regaining her balance. She spreads out her wings "Go help your friend." She suggests "I'm going to try to find some medical supplies in the mean time."

  I go up some stairs to the top floor of the barn where Flintlock's cage is located.   "Thanks Ratchet but I could have handled this on my own." He jokes

  "Yeah, I'm sure." I respond.

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  As I look at the food in front of me it makes me want to eat less and less. Helping heart is practically stuffing her face as if she hasen't eaten in days, which to be fair, doesn't seem so unlikely as I think about it. "How can you eat this stuff? For a matter fact, what is this stuff anyway?" I ask as I levitate a strange, light blue fruit near my eyes, matching Helping heart's coat.

  "What do you mean, what is it?" she questions " ain't you ever eaten before?"

  "Of course i've eaten before! It's just that, there's nothing like this from where from where Flintlock and I are from."

  "Well where are y'all fro-" She stops as she stares at my vault suit for a moment. "Wait a moment, your from one of them vaults aren't you? can I get in, are they letting people in 'em?"

  "No, there was a fight and Flintlock and I were the only ones to get out." I answer.

  "Oh, i'm sorry" She appologizes. "Well listen, we should really get moving.  I live in place called Grayhoof, now I ain't to far a walk so if y'all wanna come with me then let's go."

  "I'll go." Flintlock volunteers.

  Okay so much for talking about it then. "I guess that means me too."

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  Walking out in the Equestrian wasteland starts to make you miss the vault. The clean air anyway. Out here the air itself seems to be poisoned which has to make me wonder how anypony has managed to even stay alive.

  "So Ratchet, Flintlock, how do ya manage to get a name like that?" Helping heart asks.

  Flintlock speaks up "Well my dad used guns a bunch in the vault, whether that be him maintaning them or firing them, and a Flintlock is a weapon from long before the war."

  "My family were a bunch of mechanincs basically. They wanted me to become the best one in the vault so they named me Ratchet. My cutie mark ended up being the same thing. So, it seems like they were right." I look down at Helping Hearts flank to see her cutie mark, a heart with a blue, glowing potion inside. "How did you get that cutie mark?" I ask.

  "Well when I was a filly ma dad got shot by a raider and my home had no health potions, nothin' strong enough anyways. So I ran into our house and tried to make a health potion. To be honest I half expected for the thing to kill 'im but it never did, it made 'im better. So when he got up and was completely healed." She explains. "My cutie mark appeared. From that day I've wanted to help ponies, ah wanted to become a doctor.

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  After about a day and a half or so of walking, Grayhoof appears out of the distance. To be honest it looks more like a pile of rubble than a settlement. However to be fair what else should I expect? All of Equestria was hit by giant, destructive spells and I suppose that Ponyville looked just about the same.

  "So Helping Heart" Flintlock begins "How do you survive out here? I mean the air alone feels like it could kill you, let alone the raiders and Luna knows what else!"

  "Well I guess we all just got used to it out here. After all, it is more survivin' for us than living like y'all are used to." She explains.

  Wait a minute is she saying that she's angry with us for living in the vault? Sure, we had it much better in there but I didn't decide to be born there!

  "You and Ratchet were both pampered beyon' believe what with you gettin' the free food, clean air, clean water, the kind of things that ponies out here would give anythin' for."

  "I suppose you'd be right." I reluctantly agree. I can't help but feel horrible. We left the vault because we hated the overseer, because we hated our lives in there, but also because we wanted to help ponies. However at the same time we left without realizing how bad the ponies in the wasteland have it and how good the vault really is, but if I'm out here now than. I might as well do what I came here to do. Start in Grayhoof I guess.

  "Here we are!" Helping Heart announces. "Welcome to one of the few civilized places in the Equestrian wasteland!"

  A yellow coated, black mane wearing stallion practically busts down his door to gallop towards us. " Helping Heart! Thank the goddesses your okay!" He hugs Helping Heart

  Flintlock and I both stare at the two awkwardly. I just shrug to him as I turn and look at the town. As I expected the town was in shambles. Just a bunch of broken down buildings that house the families of ponies. Though I can't help but feel inspired. These ponies out of most others managed to band together and make a place to be safe at and live, though I can't imagine that the barbed wire fences keeps out much.

  "Ratchet this is my dad." Helping Heart explains. "Dad this is Ratchet, he saved me from the raiders, and this is Flintlock, he was captured by the raiders too."

  "Hello Ratchet, I'm Sun Stone. Thank you so much for saving my daughter!" He thanks. "Welcome to grayhoof."