Fallout: Equestria - Lost Souls

“So much for finding shelter for the night.” Sane's voice cracking as they trotted along the ruined highway. The last rays of sunlight wavered on the horizon, giving in to the darkness of the night.

“Sane? Are you okay?” Milky asked.

“Y-yeah, why wouldn't I be?” Sane replied quickly.

“Sane?”

“What!?”

“Are you afraid of the dark?” She asked with a hint of amusement.

“What gave you that idea? Of-course not.” Sane replied with an over corrected false confidence.

As they were walking Milky kicked a rock up behind her and giggled when Sane pulled his gun and turned quickly. He found nothing. “What was that?” He asked hesitantly.

Milky couldn't help but to toss another rock ahead of him so he would get the picture. She giggled in response to the agitated look that crossed his face.

“You really think that is such a good idea? Scaring a pony with a gun?” Sane retorted.

Milky merely continued her manic giggles until Sane huffed and turned back around and continued his trek. Though to Milky's amusement he cast another nervous glance behind him.

When she regained her composure she hurried to catch up with him. While she was not terrified of the night, that did not mean she wanted to be left alone in it.

“Its fine Sane, there's nothing wrong with that.” She reassured him. “Besides, it's not all dark out here. The moon is almost full and the stars are shining quite nicely.”

“I-I know.” Sane replied. “I was scared as a colt as well. I never got over it like most others and never got the chance. The Stable was usually well lit and I never really had to deal with the dark.”

“I understand.” Milky nodded. “Being out here must not help either.”

“Yeah... I mean if you think about it really. It's not so much a fear of darkness, but what can hide in the dark. However, the paranoia of the idea for so long has caused my mind to fool itself into believing the dark is what I am afraid of... So, does that mean I am afraid of the dark?”

“Okay hold on a minute, I'm confused. You just-” She paused to replay his theory in her head to make sure she was not missing any details. “You just contradicted yourself.”

“I know.” Sane sighed. “Talking just keeps me distracted.”

“Now that makes since.” Milky smiled. “I've no problem with that, I like listening to you talk.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you were the only pony in the stable that would talk to me without pulling my tail or have some petty insult tacked on at the end of a statement.”

Sane did not need that explained to him. He knew all to well of the cruelty of the other colts and fillies. The memory of it brought about a fresh wave of empathy for Milky. “I just couldn't comprehend why they were inflicting pain on somepony who shared their fate.”

“I don't know, foal nature I Guess. Either way that does not matter now.” Milky replied with a hint of sadness.

Sane knew she was right, so there was no point in re-living the past when they had many other immediate threats about them. So he decided to change the subject with the first thought to came to mind. “Now if my mind simply convinced it was the dark to be afraid of would that make it true? Or just a trick and not at all an absolute fact?”

Sane's only response was another fit of giggles. When she was done she noticed a rusted bus up ahead. “It's not a five star hotel but maybe we could wait out the night in that bus. Won't save us from the cold all to well but we'll be hidden for the most part.”

At the mention of the temperature Sane shuddered involuntarily and was faced with the fact that as the night went on it would only get colder. However the bus was much better than nothing at all. “Sounds good.”

Once they got closer to the bus they were able to make out details. A lot of the paint was chipped and replaced with rust but they were still able to tell it had been a red bus. Not the right color for a city or school bus so they figured it had been part of a private shuttle company. All four tires were flat, a couple of windows busted as well as a taillight and the rear bumper which was hanging from the body of the bus. Upon circling the bus they saw that the front end had been smashed in however there was not another car so close to the bus to have been involved in the collision.

The door itself was jammed and the glass was tinted so they could not see very well inside. However they heard nothing and just to be safe Sane checked with his thermal vision sight on his M61 to make sure there was nopony with the same idea as themselves inside. Sane found nopony and put away his rifle to begin struggling with the door that budged ever so slightly every time he yanked at the door.

With one last tug the doors flew open, losing his grip Sane fell to the ground.

“I swear, this is better than television.”  Milky stated then froze when she looked inside the bus.

“Milky?” Sane got back to his hooves and trotted next to Milky. “Oh... shit.”

In the drivers seat sat the skeletal remains of a pony who's head had detached from the body and rolled onto the dashboard of the bus. The bones themselves looked as if they had been picked clean long ago. Milky took the first step onto the bus and as she did the skeletal remains of the pony crumbled into the seat, causing Milky to jump.

“Aww, you scared him.” Sane said.

“Shut up and get on the bus.” Milky replied.

“Well then.” Sane trotted onto the bus, stepping over one of the bones that had rolled down the stairs. The inside of the bus fared no better than the outside. The seats near the busted windows of the bus smelled of mold and a few were torn, one in the back unrecognizable. Glass was distributed randomly through the interior along with random bits of leather from the seats. However the only skeletal remains of anypony had been the driver of the bus while the remainder of the seats were vacant. The only sign of blood was also in the drivers seat and it had long ago become nothing but a stain on the steering wheel, floor and seat.

Milky and Sane found a section near the center where most of the windows had remained intact making it the cleanest and safest place to sleep for the night. It did little to shelter them from the cold however and the idea of a fire had been squashed seeing as it would serve as a beacon for any and all to find them.

Sane took the seat to the right on the bus and Milky the opposite of his on the left. Sane pulled off his vest and laid it among his saddlebags on the seat behind him while pulling a small survival blanket out. He did keep his pistol within hooves reach however. Being on the bus gave him a small sense of security from the night seeing as he was hidden from the world.

When Milky removed her armor Sane was struck with a realization as he gazed upon her cutie mark. It looked like a small galaxy of all sorts of colors. The most distinct was that of a small faded orange dot in the upper right hand corner of the design. “Milky! How did you get that?”

“Get what?” Milky inquired as she rolled over on her stomach to face him from her seat.

“Your cutie mark. I like it.” Sane replied.

A small smile of amusement crossed Milky's muzzle. “Staring at my flank then Sane?”

“Wha No, I mean yes, but I was just looking at your cutie mar-”

“I know I know.” Milky giggled. Sane's muzzle and cheeks blushed furiously underneath his fur. “The Enclave had a space observatory that they had no real use for. It peaked my interest quite a bit but when I went to play with it the damned thing was broken. One of the Enclave maintenance teams set it up for me, saying it was a small fix they had never gotten around to because they had no real use for it. I spent the majority of my free time exploring the night sky and I even created a few maps but I can't vouch for their accuracy. However, when I finished the first one I got this cutie mark. It's nice to know there is still a little magic in the world.” She smiled.

“If... If they had no need for it then why was it there?” Sane inquired.

“Their mane base was built around a space observatory. They had no use for the telescope but the observatory had great security and thick walls. A perfect place to set up a fortress.”

Sane nodded his head in understanding. “You said you mapped it? Do you have them, I'd really like to see them.”

Milky sighed with contempt. “No... No I don't... I left them in the observatory before the attack on the Stable.”

“Oh... That's too bad.” Sane murmured.

“Yeah...” Milky agreed absently. “Yours?”

“Self explanatory.” Sane replied. “I was quite the shot on the range in the Stable.” He stated proudly.

“Awesome.”

Being no further room to continue the conversation silence settled.

Sane lay back, letting his rear hooves hang from the edge of the seat and listening to the steady gentle wind that blew against the bus. However he had a difficult time baring the chill that blanketed the Waste. For over an hour he lay there, perfectly still yet unable to sleep. His mind was racing and the chill nipped at his ears and hooves. He glanced over at Milky where she lay wrapped in her own blanket, already asleep from what he could tell.

A high pitched screech suddenly pierced the air around him. It sounded far but that did not stop Sane from snatching his pistol from the floor. Another screech, a little longer this time tested his nerve. It was definitely coming from his side of the bus. Against his better judgment he peaked over the edge f the glass into the dark Wasteland. A ways away he could just make out the figure of a pony running. From what soon became apparent Not far behind was a figure Sane did not recognize, chasing and gaining on the pony.

In one fail swoop the beast was upon the pony. A brief struggle ensued. The pony pulled something from their belt and hit the beast with it, causing it to let out another blood curdling screech and for a moment, it looked as if the pony would get away. However the beast clamped its jaws down on the pony's throat. Sane could just hear the scream of the pony over the wind before it was cut short when the life left them.

To Sane's horror the beast did not let go, but instead lifted his prey and carried it off, deeper into the night. Sane was just thankful that thing had not come their way. He found that he was shaking at this point. For the past two days his resolve had been chipped away by the recent events and this did not help. Still shaking he allowed himself to lay back into the seat and replace his weapon on the floor. Whatever that thing was would be satisfied with its meal tonight. That is at least what he told himself anyway.

He considered waking Milky to talk to her and settle his nerves but he wouldn't feel right taking the chance that she to, may lose sleep over this.  Another hour of tossing and turning underneath the thin blanket that did little to ward off the cold and at last he drifted off to sleep.