Fallout Equestria: Memento Mori

"Did you not see the signs?"

"What the fuck is that?!" someone shouts behind me.

    I don't even bother looking behind me. Pumping my wings I perform a backflip and land on the owner of the voice's back. I send Memento into the back of his head. The steel easily punctures his skull and I rip the blade out none too gently. It's then that I realize I had killed a zebra. Good. I remember the pain in my shoulder with a wince and pull a health potion from my bag. Popping it open I down it, grimacing at the bad taste, then start toward the Salt Lick.

    When I get there I stop in my tracks. Just as I walk in a zebra snaps Maple's neck. She falls to the floor, dead. I look at him and he just stares right back. Without a word I rush him. He raises his gun and fires at me. A bullet whizzes harmlessly by as I slam into him and slit his grungy throat. The zebra gets a panicked look in his eyes as he places his hooves on his open throat in an attempt to stop the bleeding. I spit on his pitiful form and sneer at him. I look around the ruined bar. Both Maple and Hotstuff are dead and Greasy is laid out on the counter with a pair of knives in his back.

    Another zebra runs into the shop entrance. I spot a knife at my hooves. I slam my hoof down, sending the rusty knife into the air and send it flying at the zebra. It buries itself into her shoulder and she goes down with a grunt.

    I trot over to her with a blank expression. She looks up at me with an angry glare," Your kind wi-"

    I cut her off by sending nine inches of Memento into her retched skull trot out of the Salt Lick and make my way to the Armory. I duck behind a trash bin when I spot a pair of zebras securing a bunch of green orbs to the armory shed. What the fuck are they.. I realize what their doing.  I glide silently over to them. Their backs are to me as they start fiddling with a timer. Surging forward I graze one of my wiingblades along one of the zebra's side and flew straight up.

    "Fuck!" he shouts as he goes down. I circle back around and make a slice at the other zebra with Memento. She jumps to the right but my blade still catches her along the cheek. Blood spews from her wound and I land on her back. Hard!

    She goes down and I slide Memento into the back of her skull. Her body goes ridged before going limp. I pull Memento out and none too gently dispatch her companion as he scrambles for the timer. I look at the timer as I let him fall dead in the dirt. It reads two minutes and is counting down. The fucker primed the bomb! Frantically I flap my wings, launching myself into the air in an attempt to get as far away from the blast as possible.

BOOOM!!!!

    The force of the explosion sends me careening through the air. Luckily I'm far enough away to not be killed by it. Unfortunatly I'm now spiraling toward the ground at Breakneck speeds.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

    I try with all my strength to stop my rapid descent only managing to slow myself just enough to not die on impact. When I hit the ground everything goes black.  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pain.

Dull, aching pain.

    I slowly find my way back into consciousness and am greeted to my body screaming at me not to move. Its night and I'm in a crater of sand. I decide to count my blessings in the fact that I didn't hit a rock bed and end up a bloody smear. I try to stand up, groaning as I do, and succeed for the most part but my body hates me for it. Fluttering my wings gently I sigh in relief when I find neither are broken, just goddess-awful sore. A groan escapes my lips as I look at my Pipbuck. No broken bones according to the device but I do have some radiation exposure. Damn it and I don't have any Rad-away. Looking into the distance I see a column of smoke. That blast sent me a good couple of miles away.

    "Fuck," I mutter as I take a step forward. Looking around and I spot a shack in the distance amid some burnt trees. I find that my best bet right now. Heck maybe I'll get lucky and find some Rad-away there.

Here's hoping.

    It takes me awhile to get to it but I eventually get there. Up close the shack looks rundown and abandoned but you can never be too careful. I carefully open the door and peer inside. I had heard stories about raiders and I wasn't taking any chances. The inside was dark but my eyes adjusted enough that I could easily see without worry. Only a dirty mattress was inside and some whiskey bottles scattered across the floor. The room reeked of stale alcohol but there was a small pink and yellow box beside the mattress. Going over to it I find it's locked. Damn. I don't know how to pick a lock. Hmmm maybe...

    I flick Memento out and slide the blade under the lid. The tip goes in and I start trying to jimmy it open. Finally after about a minute or two the box pops open and inside is a health potion, about six caps and some Buck. Pocketing the contents I move on to the small filing cabinet I notice beside the door. Luckily it isn't locked, inside is another health potion and a few caps. I pocket both. That's when the gravity of the situation hits me. I had just lost my family, my home, and all my friends. I'm utterly alone. Tears run down my cheeks. Damn it quit crying you've got to be stronger than this.

'Like when you killed those zebras.'

    I flinch at that little voice in my head. What the hell was that? I begin thinking on what it said though. I shiver over how I was able to so easily take another life. I just reacted, didn't bother thinking. I didn't have time to. But I wasn't shaken by how I had done it. I was shaken over how I didn't care, how it felt...good.

    "I-I enjoyed killing them," I say out loud.  There's no stopping it when I vomit all over the floor at my revelation. I had actually enjoyed killing them. Goddess what is wrong with me?

Clang

    I'm pulled from my thoughts as I hear something from outside. I peer out of the window and mouth a curse at what I see. A pair of ponies in spiked, wicked looking armor were coming toward the shack. Raiders.

"Oi what do ya think happened?" one asks as he spots the plume of smoke in the distance.

"Fuck if I know," the other says. "Come on lets get inside."

    Acting on impulse I silently jump onto the filing cabinet just above their heads. They are dragging the mutilated body of a mare behind them.

"My turn with it." The one on the right says as he points to the body. The other sneers at him,"It's mine get yer own."

"Chienne I killed her."

"Yeah but I got to her first so its mine!"

    They looked ready to kill each other. Goddess they were actually arguing over who was going to fuck a corpse. What a couple of sick fucks. And what's more how can they not notice the pool of fresh vomit? Not too observant if you ask me. I feel an involuntary growl escape my throat. They must have heard it because they whipped around to face me. I don't even give them a chance as a now, familiar, chill enters my body With a rush of my pink wings I surge forward and sink Memento into the first raider's throat.

    "Fucking he-" the words die in the second raider's throat as he stares at me with wide eyes. He is actually shaking in his armor. Then I realize why he's scared shitless. I catch my reflection in a crusty mirror on the other side of the room. In the darkness my eyes glow slightly and despite my pink fur I look akin to a demon. Well, well, well, so raiders do feel fear. I purr unintentionally at this, a dark smile gracing my lips.

"Aww how cute the big bad raider is scared," I slink toward him like a cat.

     The raider's shock wears off as he shakes his head and reaches for what I can only guess is a weapon. Never found out, I just slit his throat. I notice I always go for the throat. Huh well if it works... I feel so alive as blood starts spewing from his gaping wound. I had just had my first taste of being feared. I felt strangely turned on by this. I look at the raider still bleeding out on the floor. Sick creature. I kick him in the side before I start looting the bodies.

    I find sixty caps (hell yes) , a pack of gum, and a knife from each of them. I take the sheathes from their armor and secure them to my leather barding across my chest for quick access. I sheath the knives and move on to the mare's corpse. All she had on her was a bloody duster and a small badge. A Regulator huh. Not many regulators come this far east. I'd heard that their from The Equestrian wastleland mainly. With a quick search of her pockets I pull out a small lever action shotgun and about twenty shells. I pull her holster off and secure it under my wing and pocket the shells. I had only shot a gun a couple of times and only at unmoving objects that didn't fire back but I knew the basics thanks to Potsy.

    I pull my jump suit's cowl down and my eyes return to normal. Fluttering my wings and find they are back to being feathered. Noted. I look at my Pipbuck and it says 'all items sorted.' I finally decide to explore this thing a bit more. I find that it has a radio function and click it on. After a minute or two I find a channel that isn't mind numbing static. A song had just ended from what I could tell. Not bad either.

    "And that was Velvet Remedy, hailing all the way from The Equestrian Wasteland. This is Retrospect givin' you colts and fillies out there soma those sweet sweet tunes. For a moment though I got some news you cats might wanna hear. Not too long ago Steel ranger scouts witnessed the small town of Petitesabot's destruction. From the look of the radiation reading they got, it looks like a balefire bomb went off there but they saw a pegasus fly away just before the settlement went up in flames. They couldn't tell if she was Enclave or not but if she is the lone survivor from that little town then our hearts go out to her. Now for some sweet music from Soft Sound, stay chilly."

I click the radio off. I can't stand Soft Sound's music. As for Retrospect his station was alright but I never really l listened to him.

    I look up at the night sky and see the moon in all its glory. Over the last few years the once thick cloud cover had dispersed. I look at my Pipbuck's map and angle myself north according to it's direction. A light breeze ruffled my fur. Taking a deep breath I relish the gentle night air. The night sky is a sight behold, a true work of art. I've always felt better about flying at night. Dad always said it in my blood. Heh I wonder if my liking to kill is in my blood too, that smartass part of my brain snorts.

'Yes it is.'

    That little voice echoes in my mind again. It sends an involuntary chill down my spine. Whatever that voice is it isn't from me. Am I going crazy? Maybe I am.

    After about an hour or two a large (compared to Petitesabot at least) settlement came into view. My Pipbuck says were in Mioville. I remember that name it hade been a military base before the war and now was another trader village. Dad would travel there every two years for the Merchants Union that convened there. Upon flying above the city I find its dead silent and no lights are on in the town. I start to descend but then the sound of a gunshot rips through the air as I take a bullet in my wing. With a bloodcurdling scream I fall from the sky and hit the ground. Hard. Luckily none of my bones break from the fall. Grunting I get up and am faced against two zebras, both with rifles (attached to battle-saddles no less) pointed right at me.

I am beginning to hate zebras.

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Level up!

New Perk added: *Friend of the Night*: You are now able to see in low light settings.

Quest Perk added: *'Tis Tradition*: You are now 10% harder to detect when in stealth mode.