Chapter One: Beginnings
“How did I end up out here? No… Why did I end up out here?”
Pain.
I opened my eyes, finding myself in a darkened cave that had rigid and dirt covered walls feeling nothing but pain surging its way around my body at a rapid pace. The only source of light was coming from the gate which was at the end of the short tunnel; the light was a sickly yellow color which seeped through the gaps in-between the boards which had been nailed to the gate. I felt weak, and unable to move, as if my body had suddenly been paralyzed. But the only thing which made it obvious that I wasn’t was the pain… I could not stand the pain, and the heat which washed over me. It was alien to me - everything at this moment in time was alien to me...
The first thing I noticed as the foul taste resting on my tongue, and the horrid stench that floated around in the air. It was like the Stable's ventilation system broke down. On top of that, the familiar humming was no longer there. In its place was a soft whistling wind which delivered the warm and rotten breeze from the gate. I gagged as the breeze worked its way down my throat, reeling my head back as I choked on my own breath.
The pain, the smell, the taste... None of this I had ever experienced before. And I didn't want to... I didn't like change. Wherever I was now was not the Stable, in fact, I was right outside of the sealed door. Rolling onto my side to look at the door behind me, looking at it with my eyes only, I saw the large and rounded and scratched metal door with the number thirty plastered onto it in big yellow numbers. I blinked as I observed it, and groaned as I tried to lift myself.
I… I felt so much pain, so much of it raging into my body and I had no idea why.
Upon trying to lift myself up, I only collapsed again in a world of pain. This time, I didn’t want to get up - I wanted to stay down. Despite the floor being rough, and filled with all sorts of different rocks which stabbed into the skin, the floor was nice. Yes. Floor felt good. However, I knew I couldn’t stay here, I had to do something, I had to get out there and maybe search for some help… Help was what I needed the most.
Lifting myself onto my hooves again, I felt the pain rush into my hooves, but I tried not to fall. And the trying seemed to work. Hissing and groaning, I began to limp towards the gate at the end of the long and dark cave, groaning and wincing with each hoofstep as my steps echoed within the cave softly and the feeling of the warm and toxic breeze grew stronger as I grew closer to the gate at the end of the cavern.
Don’t give up… Yet… a whimpering pony in the back of my head urged me to continue, and continue I did…
Upon reaching the gate, I struggled to open it as it was a bit stiff and hard to open, but eventually, the gate swung back with a loud screeching noise from all the rust which had consumed its hinges and as it opened, a bright light flooded my vision, almost blinding me completely. I groaned, lifting my hooves up to my face and covering them as the light blinded me quickly. The crisp warmth against my unadapted eyes hurt and stung as the new alien light source filled my vision, and now that I was standing in the open, the feeling of the warm breeze against me trying to push me back into the dark.
The blindness began to fade out, and as it did, I slowly lowered my hooves only to be greeted with a desolate Wasteland filled with destroyed ruins of stand alone houses, and crooked and black trees which seemed to hunch over, looking at the mundane grey soil beneath them. The skies were almost clear, and the sky itself was a blue color but it had a tint of an irradiated green inside of it. The grey and desolate plains which filled my vision seemed to stretch on for miles, nothing but emptiness in sight. No ponies - nothing at all!
“Well… This is where it begins, right?” I mumbled to myself, coughing as the horrid stench of the Wasteland’s air filled my lungs. “M-my struggle to survive out here? I can’t go back to the Stable now… I’m on my own.”
I took a few gentle limps out of the cave and out into the Wasteland, taking my very first steps into my new lifestyle. Everything was so different now. There were no ponies wandering, chatting or even laughing at all - the sound of the Stable generator humming was no longer audible. And I felt alone… This new atmosphere really toyed with me for the first few seconds. I didn’t want to get used to this.
I breathed in the Wasteland air, I observed, I wandered. I kept walking out aimlessly into the emptiness of the Wasteland, unsure of what I would come across, but I was scared about what would happen next. The silence was deafening, and the lack of ponies in sight made it more unnerving to be out here. I wanted to go back home, but I knew I couldn’t…
My PipBuck began to spit static as it found a new radio signal. At first I jumped back in surprise, the sudden loud noise blistering its way through the silence of the Wasteland, and as the static began to fade, the voice of what sounded like a young male on the other side of a broadcast began speaking. The voice sounded forced as if the pony on the other side of the broadcast were trying their hardest to put on an act.
“...and that concludes the news, children.
“Now, you know your ol’ DJ-PON3, I’m sure. Well. Littlepip and I were very close friends, and to say she’s now comatose in the S.P.P, it kinda drags down on me a lil’. I just don’t feel jolly anymore, I don’t feel like my old self -- maybe I need to take a break, I’m not sure. I love what I do, I adore it, but -- I dunno, Littlepip was just an amazing mare, and she went through so much to achieve what she achieved.
“We can see the light again… The skies are clear, no more thick and black clouds obscuring our vision, forcing us to imagine what it was like before. I know I don’t shut up about her, I know it’s been a few weeks now, but… Who could ever forget about her? If you really would forget about our little Stable Dweller like that, then you are not as grateful as you say you are…
“I-I’m sorry… I’m just in one of those moods…”
The broadcast ended with what sounded like a microphone dropping, as if the buck on the other side had just collapsed. There was just nothing but silence from the station from that point on, and I felt curious about who exactly this ‘Littlepip’ was.
I trotted into the Wasteland, completely unaware of everything. I kept glancing over my back, checking if anypony were there to kill me. However, I’ll admit, I was relieved to hear another pony’s voice on the radio station; I didn’t feel as alone as it seemed right now. I felt like there was some sort of presence nearby, and I wanted to find that radio pony. If I found him, maybe it would be a start to something - I couldn’t do this alone, surely. And I was hoping that this strange pony known as DJ-PON3 wasn’t too far either.
Finding a lone road which began at my hooves as I carried on, I began to walk down the road, hearing my hooves echo in the silence as they punched the cracked asphalt below my hooves. The road was cracked, and broken from a sort of blast and upon the black surface of the road was dry blood and chunks of gore. None of it was fresh at all, and beside the road were skeletons and other remains of ponies buried beneath the grey and dry soil as the calm breeze swept over them to bury them deeper beneath the dirt.
In the near distance were houses which sat on their own, or what was left of them anyway. The houses had been torn apart, the only part of them left were the frames, and inside of the small cottage like houses were chunks of rubble and wood which had been forced off of the beams which held it together. I stopped, glancing to the nearest one, wanting to go and look if anything useful was inside of it.
“It’s not… defiling is it?” I asked myself, as I turned my entire body to the house. “I mean… I’m just looking through a house which belonged to somepony else, and things that could potentially be their items…” No… I’ll be fine.
Quickly trotting off of the road and towards one of the desolated houses, the sound of my hoofsteps soon vanished as I returned to the dry and warm soil below my hooves. The doorway was still there, and comically, I walked through the doorway carefully, making sure I didn’t stab my own hooves on any potentially sharp objects that could be hiding within the rubble. Inside of the house were tipped furniture buried beneath the rocks, and stone, and desks which hugged whatever remained of the wall.
I walked over to the nearest desk, pulling open the top drawer only to find a few bottle caps and a few empty magazines of ammo inside of the dust filled drawer. I coughed as the dust was flung out into my face, and I soon wiped the floating dust away from my vision with my hoof, before returning to the desk and searching it deeper with my hoof. Nothing useful at all… In fact, the only thing worth taking were the bottle caps - just as a collector’s item I guess.
Pulling all of the caps in with my hoof, all of them read the words ‘Sparkle-Cola’ on top of them. The caps were bent, and rusted and were scarred along the surface of the paint which displayed the writing, taking the degrading red color behind the big and bold white text away completely. I awkwardly took the bottle caps, and placed them inside of a small pocket that inside of my Stable jacket, and soon ceiling it up.
I began to take some small steps around the house, searching another nearby desk which sat beside a rusting TV screen. The TV’s screen was smashed in, and it spat sparks as if it was still plugged into the socket behind it. The wooden desk which sat beside the TV had only one drawer, and the wooden material it was made out of was splintered and battered. As I began to search the desk thoroughly, the sound of low and raspy voices was heard from behind the house. My ear twitched as the sound of potentially nearby ponies channeled its way into my ear.
I stopped searching, attempting to crouch down, however, the rough and slanted surface of the rubble I was standing on made it hard for me to get comfortable. There were no sounds of movement, nor were there any sounds of weaponry or anything. All I could hear were the voices of the ponies who were waiting for me or anypony else to come out of hiding. Luckily, I was hidden by the rear wall of the house which still stood there unlike the rest of the house. I didn’t want to risk making a noise… Stay still…
The sound of hoofsteps was heard against the soil… Multiple ones, as if a small group were patrolling the Wasteland. I waited for them to show their faces, trying not to pounce out despite the feeling of needing to do so overwhelming me. I wanted to see who they were, but they weren’t showing yet… And soon, a hoof came into view, then a body covered with spiked and bloodied armor, and then face which beared the look of insanity as the greyed out eyes soon focused on me. The blood red mare whose piss colored mane was spiked in a mohican as she wore a rusted saddle on her back which held a rifle. The rifle was pointing at me, and as she caught sight of me, a sinister grin washed over her face.
“Well look at this, boys!” the insane looking mare exclaimed. “We have ourselves an outsider… You’re not from these parts, are you?”
I gulped as soon as I noticed the rifle, too afraid to answer. I knew I had to. “Uh… Well… H-how do you know that?” I whimpered, cowering slightly and keeping my eyes on her, as her companions showed their faces, all of them being tough and bulky bucks. They looked much stronger than a little meek Pegasus like me. I was in the shit… And way too deep to even claw myself out of it… Day one and already facing my own fate.
“I’ll tell you how,” the scruffy mare’s dry voice responded as she took a step closer, almost as if she was going to climb through the remains of the house to get as close as she could. “You look way too clean to be from around here, and look at ya’, you’re scavenging for items… If you really belonged out here, you’d be prepared, and you wouldn’t be a pussy!”
A… pussy? Really?
“W-who are you calling a pussy?!” I stomped on the ground, trying to act brave… My stammering didn’t help though, in fact, the group of rotting ponies just laughed at me, and I felt myself cower deeper inside.
“How cute… Lemme guess, you’re gonna try and be the next Lil’Pip?” the rotten mare responded with a small dry snigger, as she climbed over the tiny wall which stood in her way so she could be within the house’s ruins with me. “Or don’t you know who that whore was?”
I didn’t know who she was… Oh great.
“No!” I exclaimed, trying to sound like I knew who she was. “I’ll be myself, thank you very much!”
More laughs. More laughs at me. I wanted to hurt them - but I knew I wasn’t strong enough. I just cowered away as they laughed, feeling their presence as they all entered the house, all of them bearing down on me as they mocked me of my weaknesses. I wanted to go back to the Stable, I needed to go back - I couldn’t bear another minute out here, first day, not even the first hour gone, and I was already being pushed around…
“Let’s grind his bones,” called one of the male’s, their voice low and dry as I felt the warm heating off of one of their bodies and onto me. That’s how close they all were. I glanced up at them, coming out of my cowering state, and looking at them in the eyes… All of them gazing down at me with the most horrid looks on their faces.
I gulped, quickly turning to go, and then darting out of the house at a quick pace, feeling myself trip and stumble on some of the more loose bits of rubble, and almost falling flat on my face. As I left the house in a hurry, I heard a couple gunshots ring out from in the distance, before I ducked my head. As I reached the road, the muffled gunshots blasted their way through the air like thunder, and just when I thought I was safe, I felt a bullet pierce my right hindleg, before I collapsed in a world of pain. Crashing to the ground, I yelped and fell onto my face.
“Got him!” I heard the mare cry out in triumph as the small band of ponies marched their way towards me.
“Gah!!” I cried out, rolling onto my back and trying to look at the wound that was given to my hindleg. The only evidence of a wound I saw was the blood trickling down my leg as the gory wound dribbled it all out. “I-is the bullet there?”
I heard the laughter ring out louder as they all grew closer; I began to look around frantically, needing help. And something told me that help wouldn’t come… In fact, the little pony in the back of my head, the timid and annoying side of my brain kept telling me that I was done for. What a great start, Tornado… First day out and you’re already on the verge of getting killed. Great.
I couldn’t even try and boost myself… I knew I was done for, I knew it. No way out now… It’s all over. Dead.
The small group of scruffy ponies gathered around me, as the same blood red coated mare stared down at me dauntingly with a wide grin, showing all of her broken and crooked teeth. Teeth of which were covered in blood, either from her gums, or from the ponies she might have eaten. And I was her next prey.
“The running type, I see,” she chuckled darkly to herself. “You can’t run very far, can you?”
She stepped over me, literally on top of me and making her rifle aim down at me as if she was ready to blow my head off. And she was, the facial expression she had suggested that so clearly to me as she peered over me with the rifle’s barrel right in front of my face… This was it.
“Goodbye lil’ pon-”
BANG!!
The filth covered mare soon stumbled back off of me, blood leaking from her neck as she screamed out in pain, holding the wound with her hooves as soon as she steadied herself. Each of her yelps and screams were now gargles as the bullet which had shot her pierced its way into her throat’s air pipe and filled it all with blood, and the bullet piercing its way through. Her eyes seemed to focus on a pony behind me, as the mare soon stumbled and fell… Dead.
Other gunshots echoed loudly as one of the males took a bullet to the brain, blood and brain matter splashing on me from the opening wound. I closed up in alarm, curling up on the floor as I heard the remaining ponies charge at the anonymous, and as each of the insane ponies charged at the stranger, more loud gunshots echoed loudly before the sound of blood splattering against the dirt and before silence dominated again.
I remained in my ball of cowering, lying on the dirt as the warm breeze passed over me. The silence lasted for a few seconds, before the sound of hoofsteps trudging up to me were heard faintly upon the ground, my ear leaning right against the dirt to make it easier for me to listen to them. They grew closer, and closer before halting just right by me, before the sound of a forceful cough was audible.
“Ya’ can thank me later for savin’ ya’ life, buckaroo,” spoke the voice of a stallion. “Or now, if ya’ have the time o’ course.”
I peeked out to see a stallion starring down at me. He wore a similar saddle, but his carried two heavy rifles, both of which were coated in a custom design which resembled a dragon that breathed fire along the barrel. The guns were smothered in bandoliers and they were pointing at me as he peered over. The stallion’s coat was a dark, murky brown color, while his eyes were a bright blue color and his mane the gentlest of creams. He wore a Stetson which had a bullet hole in the front of me as if somepony had tried shooting his head off, but they had just missed and hit the hat instead. He had a scar down his left eye.
“Now… What exactly are you doin’ out here alone, lil’ fella?” he asked with a tip of his hat, staring down at me with a confused expression.
Yeah… what were I doing out here?
Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Combat Ready (tier one) - this perk has multiple tiers, and the first making your skill with guns increase by 10%, however, this affects the overall damage you do with melee weapons by 5%.
S - 6
P - 5
E - 6
C - 9
I - 5
A - 7
L - 2
Chapter Two: New Faces
“You know what my momma said: never speak to strangers.”
“Are ya’ gonna get off ya’ lazy ass or what?” his expression suggested that he wasn’t happy. And I wasn’t happy either. In fact, I didn’t like being out here and I’m sure he didn’t… If saving lives was what he did, then I understood that a job like that would surely stress a pony out.
I forcefully coughed, lifting my hindleg and pointing to the wound which I didn’t have a clear view of. “Yeah, about that - I can’t exactly walk with a bullet trapped inside of my hindleg, can I?” I spoke, pointing out the obvious as a small grin spread across my face.
“But ya’ can fly, right?” he said, pointing to my wings. “You’re a Pegasus for a reason.”
I shook my head in disagreement. “No… I’d rather not risk it. I’m not exactly from around here - who knows, I could get shot down and then fed to some cannibal.”
The young buck just nodded and spoke one word. “Yup.”
He walked over me, keeping an eye on the wound, and I kept my eyes on him. As he stopped in front of me, he grabbed my hindleg with one of his forelegs, observing the wound and then using the other hoof to touch it gently. I hissed in pain as my eyes widened as he tried to touch it. I reared my leg back, not wanting him to touch it, but he just dragged my hindleg back forcefully, blood now on the hoof he had been touching the broken skin with. He had no wings, nor a horn… Earth ponies were a rare sight. I mostly saw Unicorns and Pegasi in Stable 30, at least from what I could remember.
“N-no, don’t tear it out!!” I cried out, trying to get out of his grip. “It’ll hurt more than it did going in!!”
He stepped back and allowed a hoof to fall onto his face as he exhaled a sigh. “Don’t you realize that if ya’ leave it in, it’ll get infected’?” he queried, lifting a hoof off of the ground while holding my hindleg. “Infection is worse than tha’ pain, believe me on that one.”
I blinked, remaining silent for a second. Okay… Granted, I didn’t want an infection, but, my pain threshold wasn’t exactly high. Hell, I would just stub my hoof and I’d be swearing my head off for ten minutes. I wanted the bullet out, but… I didn’t want to be over dramatic about the bullet being removed, but wasn’t I doing that already? I’m sure I was.
“Now, c’mon… Stay’ still - I’m gonna do it on’a count of three.” I felt his hoof grab the bullet, and I already was hissing out in pain, wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. “One… Two… Thr-.”
“Nononono!!” I kicked him away, feeling the bullet move around in the wound as the sudden jolts of movement nearly pushed it out. I let out a loud yelp, tucking in as the buck before me soon facehoofed and began to lose his temper. I could tell by the expression on his face.
“Look, buckaroo, Ah’ need to try and remove that bullet… It may hurt at first, but once it is out, it won’t go back in!” I heard him exclaim as he trudged up to me again, grabbing my hindleg again. I tried to get it out of his grip, only to hear his stern voice again. “Stop strugglin’ so Ah’ can remove this thing… Believe me, it’ll help ya’ in the long run!”
I stopped struggling, blinking at him. “You… promise?”
“Ah’ promise…” he nodded, a small smile of achievement spreading onto his face. “Now… lemme’ get this bullet out, and after we do that, we’ll talk.”
Talk?
“O-okay… Just… Be quick about it… please,” I said with a soft reassuring smile. He smiled back, before he focused back onto my wound. Instead of using his hoof, he pushed his head against my hindleg and gripped his teeth onto it, knowing it would be easier. I just had to control my actions for a few seconds.
The sound of what sounded like a muffled countdown from the number three came from the buck. His grip tightened down on the bullet, and I took a few deep breaths as he slowly approached one, preparing to grip the dirt I was lying on, my already dirty Stable jacket itchy from the amount of dirt inside of it.
Try not to kick aw-.
R*IPPP!*
Gaaah~! Fuck… Ow, that hurt.
I tried to resist kicking, but I felt tears of pain building up in my eyes as I looked at the buck that looked achieved. He spat the bullet out to the side of him, and then looked to me with a warm grin as he walked to the right of me, and kept his eyes on mine. I tried to hold back the screams, I was already screaming internally from the sudden wave of pain as I felt the blood from the now completely open wound trickle down my leg.
“A-and what about… bandages?” I asked with a small whimper, trying not to look at the blood trickling down my leg. “Wouldn’t they help?”
“Ah’ reckon that I’ve got some back at my shack in Crimson… Maybe you should tag along and rest up,” the young pony buck offered, lowering his hoof to help me up onto my hooves. And the pain was still there… I didn’t want to move, I felt like every movement I made stabbed right into my hindleg, wanting to render me of my walking ability.
“Shack?” I asked. “You have a place to live?”
“Eeeyup!” he nodded, a grin on his face as he did.
“And you’d let me stay?” I added, turning my head to the side, his offering hoof still low and in my face.
“To an extent… yeah…” he spoke matter-of-factly, still waiting for my hoof.
I hesitantly took his hoof, lifting myself up and off of my back, now standing on all four of my hooves and feeling the pain flood my wounded leg. However, it wasn’t as bad as I initially thought it was going to be. In fact, it felt a little numbed after the bullet had been removed… Which was a good thing; I could walk on it at least without swearing my head off, let alone stand on it. But… It still hurt… A lot more than I wanted it to.
“So, what’s ya’ name?” he asked, raising a brow as he straightened up his hat, preparing to take his leave.
“I’m Tornado Dash…” I muttered, but just loud enough for him to hear me. “Just… Call me Tornado - I prefer that a lot more. What about your name?”
“Ah’m Cobalt - Ah’ll be happy to help ya’ - just don’t expect me to be holdin’ your hoof,” he grinned with a small chuckle as he began to venture deeper into the Wasteland, away from the road I had originally come from and into what seemed like an endless desert of nothingness. I followed him for a short while, but the sight of a few items by the bloody gore-ridden corpses caught my eye.
I stopped, peering down, trying to ignore the deep and sickening wounds upon the face of the one I was looting from. This one was one of the stallions. I couldn’t help it though, I felt sick inside and I just wanted to scream out, I wanted to go back. Though turning my attention to a few loose objects which had fallen off of the pony as soon as the gunshots had taken his life away. I didn’t want to touch the body; I saw enough as it was. Leaning over the large body of the dead stallion, I collected a pistol and a few magazines, these ones actually worth something considering the fact that they actually had some ammo. Picking it up within my jaws, and taking the ammo in my hooves, I noticed that the grip was specifically designed for a mouth.
I was struggling on where to put the ammo boxes… My Stable outfit had pockets, but small ones at that. And the ammo cases were a lot bigger than one pocket. I heard the sound of hoofsteps return to the right of me, as I gazed at who the pony was, seeing Cobalt standing there with a raised brow as he stood there proudly with his two heavy rifles inside of his battle-saddle. With a roll of his eyes, he handed his hoof out towards me.
“Ah’ll take ‘em, give them to me,” Cobalt seemed to demand as he waited for me to pass them over. “Crimson’s is quite the distance, Ah’ don’t think we’ll reach there until tomorrow - and by the looks of things, you can’t carry your own ammo, so give ‘um to me and Ah’ll be sure to give them you whenever you need them. At least until you find a saddlebag.”
I slowly passed him the rounds, and he swiped them from my hooves, before placing them into a pouch which he soon revealed by swinging it back around his neck so it hung loosely from it. Placing the two magazines into the pouch, he swung the pouch back around so it was no longer visible from this angle and smiled.
“Now, come on, up on ya’ hooves,” Cobalt said, lifting a hoof. “Can’t exactly walk when ya’ on your flank, right?” I stood up onto my hooves, and he nodded with the reassured smile on his face. “Now, come on… And stick close, Ah’ don’t want to be responsible for your death.”
He turned, and began to walk back into the emptiness of the Wasteland, and I soon began to follow, feeling glad that I was leaving the disgusting corpses of the ponies who he had killed behind. And I had looted from them. Walking alongside Cobalt had made me feel slightly safer than before - I felt less alone, and less vulnerable. I at least had my first taste of what I was going to experience, in fact, most if not all of it experienced at once. I felt relieved that it was over, but I was glad I had experienced all of the chaos sooner rather than later.
As we walked into the bitter emptiness of the Wasteland, nearby roads and villages seemed impossible to stray across. The harsh and dry dirt below my hooves made it uncomfortable to walk on, and the crisp and warm breeze which blew over us both took a toll on my energy yet again. I felt tired, and weak, still not used to the conditions even though I thought I was. We were in the middle of nowhere. However, despite my short time out in the Wasteland, darkness already began to coat the land slowly.
The skies changed from the blue-ish green color to a beautiful shining amber color, the whole area around us getting darker as we continued onwards. We were in the middle of nowhere, no roads, no houses, no ponies... Nothing to aid us. The only thing in sight was grey stretching plains, and small hills that made the Wasteland what it was. There were a few nearby caves, and as Cobalt noticed them no doubt, he halted, putting his hoof out in front of me to deny me of moving forward. I gasped under my breath, looking at his filth covered hoof as it stayed there in front of me, nothing but silence between me and him for the time being.
"Ah' reckon we could find a cave to camp out in," Cobalt suggested, removing the hoof from in front of me. "We'd have to pass through one anyway at some point, may as well, right?"
A cave? Were we really going to stay in a cave?
I didn't say anything. I honestly thought the idea of staying in a cave was... dangerous. But then again, weren't we in danger now? I had a weapon to defend myself with at least, so if anything were to happen, I would be able to defend myself instead of relying on others to do that for me. Thankfully. As long as he would be with me, anything with was okay - I was already starting to consider him a friend, even though we had barely known each other. Maybe... that's what we'd need to do when stop... Talk to each other. Despite the filth he was covered in, he seemed to be a very friendly pony... Especially since he saved my life, but he probably did that for anyone.
As the sun began to reach the horizon, the part of the Wasteland we were in seemed almost pitch black. Other than my PipBuck's bright green screen and a few bright lights within the far distance, there were no lights visible. I felt lost... I had no idea where we were at all. And something told me he didn't know either... Which made things worse, especially since he was meant to be the expert and I was meant to be the novice - the one who was meant to follow the instructions of the expert.
I cranked up the brightness of my PipBuck's screen by turning on the built-in flashlight which made the tiny radius of my PipBuck's screen enhance and light up at least a few meters. We could see what was ahead of us, but not was was around us in the distance. Cobalt was quick to cover his eyes, and I chuckled to myself in an apologetic manner before nudging him with my hoof and then pointing to the brightly lit up screen fixed to the terminal on my leg.
"Pretty handy, right?" I commented, a grin spreading across my face as he rolled his eyes.
"Sure," he continued off into the darkness, and I followed. Or tried to. He was too fast... He
soon disappeared into the night, and I was left on my own and before I could even give chase, he was already gone. I tried to call, but my throat felt dry...
Upon continuing, remains of ponies within the PipBuck's light were seen scattered along the dirt and buried untidily beneath the crispy and dusty dirt of the Wasteland. It was as if no one made the effort to bury the remains properly. I tried not to look at them. I didn't want to lose focus now... I had to stay close to him. I had an idea to why the Stables existed, but their purpose wasn't to protect ponies. My Stable felt like a prison, keeping us inside and refraining us from the outside world. Life seemed to have ended out here, or at least that was what the stories said -- Stable 30 was just our cage, the thing preventing us from expanding our own existence.
But... I understood why. This place wasn't what they had described it as.
"Ah' found a cave!!" I heard a call in the dark, Cobalt no longer by my side. I stopped in my tracks, frantically looking around for him. "It's over here!!"
"Where are you?!" I called out, looking around quickly, before beginning to take small and meek steps, feeling my hooves sink into the dirt and grind against the brittle bones beneath the dirt. I let out a gasp, instantly looking at the soil to see a ribcage gripping onto my hoof lightly as I stared down into the empty sockets of a skull. And at that moment, I heard other voices...
Unfamiliar voices...
I couldn't work out what they were saying, but I knew I was in trouble. The voices had a similar tone to what the ones back at the house did, and my heart sank as soon as I identified the tone of the voices. More of them. I tried to release my hoof from the bones which now had a tight grip on my hoof, trying to yank it out of the bones, but I had gotten it stuck and the remains were not moving inside of the ground. It was as if they were fixed and held in some sort of hold themselves. A small little twinkle in the distance reflected the same color as my PipBuck's light, and the twinkle was pretty close by. I gulped...
"Y'see that?" one of the voices called, the sound of a bolt slapping back as if it was some sort of gun was audible.
"Cobalt!" I cried out, literally trying to lift myself free. Nothing. Had he abandoned me? Some pony he was, especially since he "saved" lives and promised me that he would take me to a safe place. Was I safe as of now? No.
And as the pony engulfed by blackness stepped closer, a muzzle became visible, then a torso, then a hoof, then the rusted metal armor that the pony wore. In front of me stood a tall, brittle and skinny Unicorn male, with a rifle suspended in a blood red aura which glowed from his horn. His eyes were pale white as if he was robbed of his vision, but he wasn't... He could see me; I could tell just by the way he was looking down on me as if I were his prey. His coat was a dark brown color and his mane... non-existent. His teeth seemed non-existent too other than the two front teeth which were sharpened like knives. His tail braided and locked in a sort of swirling motion. Burdened with scars, and horrific facial features such as missing teeth, and twisted gums, I prepared for what would now be my end.
I wanted to cry out, but I felt silenced. I felt like I couldn't speak...
With zero regrets, I quickly dug myself into my pocket and yanked out the gun that was tucked away inside of it before entering something new that I had never come across before in my life. Time seemed to have stopped, and the filthy stallion's body was soon surrounded with glowing green aura. Numbers and figures had been fixed to each of the limbs on him. My PipBuck displayed him as an enemy, and the name of the pony was displayed... 'Raider'.
S.A.T.S and E.F.S.
**S.A.T.S:* The Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell is a built in spell inside of your PipBuck. This handy feature aids Stable-Dwellers in combat whenever they need it to protect themselves - it allows you to target separate limbs at once to either cripple or kill your target. The higher the percentage of a limb, you more chance you have hitting it.*
**E.F.S:* The Eyes Forward Sparkle is another addition to your PipBuck. It can help detect threats, friends and strangers close-by. The color RED represents an enemy, somepony who will most likely attack you on sight. Yellow however will normally be friends or neutral ponies that will not attack unless being attacked.*
I targeted the two front legs, and also his head to apply the finishing blow.
BLAM. BLAM, BLAM!!
The world seemed to go in slow motion, showing me every gruesome detail when the bullet made its impact into the skin. The skin on the legs rippling before bursting open and spraying blood onto me as they hit his seemingly weak skin. And then, the killing blow. As the bullet hit the head of the Raider, it smacked him right in-between the eyes as it pierced its way into the skin and beyond the bone. Blood began to squirt out, before the bullet was no longer visible, his face only just beginning to cringe from the pain in his legs as his body began to collapse slowly.
Once everything returned to normal, the Raider collapsed to the ground with a massive hole inside of his head with blood gushing out. Once he hit the floor, the river of gore continued to pour out down his face and onto the grey soil beneath him. For a few seconds, I just stared at his body with no emotions whatsoever... At least, before it hit me. And then... Panic, fear, regret, guilt... All of those emotions rushed through my body, and I staggered back before collapsing onto the ground, my mouth opening and dropping the small gun that I had killed him with onto the ground.
I gagged and quickly glanced away, and as I did, I noticed my skin was slightly damp and so was my Stable jacket. Looking to my hooves slowly, seeing that they were illuminated by the bright green glow of the PipBuck's screen. My hooves were coated in fresh blood. But then it came to me... It sounded like he was talking to more, and as soon as I realized that, my eyes went small from fear. Glancing back into the darkness... Nothing. Nopony at all? Not even Cobalt... Had he ditched me? And if he had, maybe he would have died himself?
And as the silence washed over, hoofsteps padding along the dirt were heard, before I quickly scurried to the gun which was now sitting on top of the surface of the mud, quickly picking it up in my mouth and aiming it at the direction of the sound. The hooves kept coming, but I put on the best brave face I could, despite how scared I was as of now.
"S-stop!!" I commanded, sitting up right and glaring at the direction of the sound. They kept coming. "I-I will shoot!!"
"Woah!" called a familiar voice. "Calm down, Ah' think you should put that away."
Stepping into the light, Cobalt became visible with a bemused expression upon his face. With a roll of his eyes, he stepped closer to me, stopping right in front of me before glaring down at me. Was he pissed that I killed a pony, too? Oh Celestia, please... If I'm to survive, do I need to make enemies in the process?
"Put the gun down," Cobalt demanded, blinking slowly and frowning. "Ah'm not a threat, and before ya' accuse me of not helpin' ya', this was more of a lesson to test you... Ah' wanted to see how you handled yourself, and you seem more than capable to do it, so before you point the hoof at me, don't!"
I removed the gun from my jaws, before placing it into the pocket within my Stable jacket and sealing it up before looking back to Cobalt, whose expression had changed to a warm smile. Climbing onto my hooves, I shakily stood by him, as he soon wrapped a hoof over me to comfort me. For the most part, it worked, but I didn't feel safe. I just wanted to get out of this place, I wanted to go home and never come back out again. I had seen too much and I hated it.
"Ah' found a cave - maybe you should settle down there... Ah' think Ah' explain a few things to you," Cobalt let go of me, before wandering back into the darkness. "Stay close this time, okay?"
I quickly trotted after him, this time, staying as close as I could. The flashlight on my PipBuck illuminated so little, only enough for me to see him and a little bit around me. But not much. In the far distance remained the light I had seen earlier, but other than that and my PipBuck's light, it was like being in an abyss. Nothing but darkness, and that darkness was so thick; it blinded whoever walked into it.
Oh Celestia... Why do I have to put up with this?
We reached a deep cave not too far away from where I was. There was nothing but dirt inside of it, and the mouth of the cave went deeper and deeper as if it led to a mining area. Stopping by the entrance and allowing Cobalt to stray, I blinked, staring at the lack of renovation inside of it. No beds... Nothing. The cave walls were rigid and sharpened, some of which had blood red graffiti painted onto the cave's walls. Warning messages.
They all abandoned us... This is their fault... Curse the Goddess and her whore-like ways!!
The paint seemed to be decaying as if it had been there for years, maybe even longer. Cobalt sat down on the dirt, staring at me with a weak smile and signalling me to come over. Was I really having to get used to this? Yes? Okay... I walked over to him, putting on a fake smile before sitting down next to him and feeling the hard and cold soil against my flank. Cold... I held my right foreleg with my left hoof to try and warm myself up even the slightest, Cobalt's face which sat in the dim area of the flashlight only just visible as he looked at me.
"Now... Ah' know a liar when I see one, and Ah' know you ain't a liar... But, Ah' don't feel assured that you just woke up outside your Stable," Cobalt spoke, obviously wanting to start some sort of conversation with me. "There's gotta be more to it."
"I don't... really know myself," I sighed, looking to the ground. "I just woke up - I had no idea how or why I was there, but something tells me somepony wanted me gone for all the wrong reasons."
"And those reasons were?" Cobalt asked, lifting a hoof.
"I... don't know myself..." I looked away. I didn't want to talk about this; it only made me want to go back more. "What's your story?" I asked, looking to him with a raised brow.
"Mine?" Cobalt asked rhetorically, obviously not wanting an answer to that. "Well, Ah' used to be a gambler in the city of Vanhoover... Which is why y'see all those lights in the distance. Ah' had a bad addiction, Ah' hurt ponies because of it -- Ah' was a bad loser, Ah' hated it... Ah' always had to win one way or another, whether that was by bribin' or mercifully killing my opponent or simply just accusing them of hidin' an extra card in their tux."
I felt my heart sink, but I remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"Ah' even cheated myself... And somepony took the wrap for me. My family left me and the city behind while Ah' stayed behind to gamble. They soon found out about my methods of winning, including the fact Ah' hid cards in my tux each and every night, and Ah' was soon kicked out of the city... And here Ah' am now, trying to wipe away the bad deeds Ah' committed, and tryin' to do some good for the Wasteland and its inhabitants," Cobalt explained, his ears lowering as he spoke each and every word which had left his mouth.
He had it bad. I couldn't imagine how it felt, nor could I even say 'I understand' because I knew he would say I didn't. Which... I actually didn't. He was a good pony from what I had seen, but to find this out about him... It just seems unreal. It doesn't seem normal for a pony like himself to do any of this stuff, but he did it. I could tell by the look in his eye that he wasn't a liar, and I wanted him to know that I was here for him. Always.
Footnote: Level up!
New perk: Off By Heart - Your speech has increased by 20%. This allows you to access unique dialog options when talking to ponies, making it easier for them to believe you when you could be lying.
Companion: Cobalt - This young and friendly buck is officially a companion of yours. Your relationship with him is still building, but considering that he has helped you and you have stuck close to him, a companionship has been built.
