Fallout Equestria: Growing Darkness

Chapter 8: Sandy Storms and Starlit Movies
Loosehoof, ninety miles from New Trinity City

Emadron’s nights above the clouds were beautiful. The deep blue sky filled with numerous stars as far as the eye could see. The clouds nice and cool, a soft pillow for stargazing. Night below the cloud cover was far worse, which Star Shimmer learned the hard way. Walls of sand tore into Star Shimmer as she fought to keep up with Rusty, and wind roared in her ears. The hood of the cloak was pulled as far over her head as she could, part of the bottom flap had been wrapped around her muzzle for protection. Her hoof clutched Rusty’s as he pulled her forward. Over the wind, Star Shimmer’s pipbuck clicked madly. Every step seeming to be worse than the last.

“Just a little further!” Rusty yelled.

“Which way?” Star Shimmer called back.

“F-forward!” Rusty called out. With a firm grip, he pulled Star forward with renewed effort. Soon enough, they smacked into something large and solid.

Peeking between her eyelids, Star Shimmer found herself before a door. Rusty fidgeting with the handle, the rag covering his mouth holding on for dear life,“C-come on, you son-of-a...” Rusty mumbled. The handle simply jiggled back at him. Finally the rag lost the battle and flew off into the dust. Rusty began to cough, “Fuck!” In one swift motion, Rusty spun around and gave the door a resounding buck.

BAM!

The door flew open, the hinges barely holding onto the slab of wood. Without a second thought, Rusty hooked the back of Star’s neck with his hoof and dragged her in.

Once inside, Star Shimmer flipped her hood up and looked around. The movie theater walls rose high above them, meeting up with a ceiling that cracked in every which direction. The velvet that traced the outline of everything had rotted away. Movie posters of dashing heroes and dreadful villains were stained yellow from time. The hallways leading further into building were filled with debris, or caved in entirely. Continuing her look around she caught Rusty slamming the door shut, to which it simply flew open again. A blast of dust smacked into his face.

“I hate sand.” Rusty sighed. Turning, he coughed as he trotted past Star Shimmer, “Come on, let’s get somewhere safe.”

The two trotted deeper into the movie theater, the winds howling in the distance. Going through one of the hallways, Rusty checked each door they passed, “No, no,” He listed off. one door blasted the two with dust as he opened it, “Shit!” he slammed the door shut. Huffing, he glanced around at the other doors, “The restroom, maybe?”

Star Shimmer nodded and turned towards the doorway with a mare insignia next to it. The door had been ripped off its hinges, laying flat across the floor. Large gash marks covering the surface. Stepping around the door, Star Shimmer peeked into the restroom.

The white tiled walls of the restroom were covered in dirt and grime. In one of the corners grew a small patch of fungus that Star Shimmer recognized to be a fungus known as Brain Fungus. The mirrors were in surprisingly good condition, only being slightly smudged. To top it off, though the floor was rather cold, it was also dry. Walking further in, Star Shimmer noticed one of the stall doors stood open. She looked back at the movie theater hallway, the door still laying on the ground.

‘Come on Star, Breath.’ Star Shimmer took a deep breath and peered into the stall. Sitting on the toilet, was the skeletal remains of a pony. The skull was covered in small scratches. Its jaw and a revolver lay scattered on the floor. Ribs were either broken or missing, and one of the forhooves were missing. Claw marks and dark stains covered the inside of the stall. Catching her breath in her throat, Star Shimmer began to back away from the scene, until she bumped into something solid.

“KYAAH!” Star Shimmer flew onto the stalls and spun around.

There, snickering at her, stood Rusty, “Damn, what a sight. A pegasus acting like a pansy.”

Star Shimmer glared at him, “screw you.” A quick flap of her wings, and she landed before Rusty, “It’s clear, just a pony that didn’t make it.”

Rusty glanced into the stall, “Huh.” Stepping around Star, he walked into the stall.

Star watched closely, her glare deepening, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Rusty didn’t respond. Moving over to the gun and jaw, Rusty bit down on the gun and stuffed it into his saddlebags. Then, taking the jaw bone in hooves, he placed it on the toilet next to skeleton. Trotting out, Rusty took one last look at the pony, then lowered his head before slowly closing the stall.

Star Shimmer’s glare softened, her teeth biting her cheek. She took a step back, “You had to take the pistol?” she mumbled.

Rusty walked over to the other side of the restroom and shook off his saddlebags, “Do you think the pony would really despair over a revolver with a few rounds now?” Rusty began to take the junk parts, along with a mechanism Star Shimmer hadn’t seen before, out of his saddlebag. Without a second to wait, he took a section of pipe in mouth and started screwing it onto the mechanism, “I donth thake joy inth ith, buth ith how we thurvive outh here.”

Star Shimmer looked over to the stalls. The doors all looked the same now. If she didn’t know before, she could just imagine that they were empty of any dead bodies or dark stains. A dark thought, the image of Windshear being the one eviscerated behind that door popped into her head, ‘Come on Star… she’s fine, she’s with dad. I promise.’

“Hey,” Rusty stared at Star Shimmer, “You alright?”

Star Shimmer tore her eyes away from the stall, her eyes beginning to water up, “Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

His mouth twisting into a small frown, Rusty reached into his saddle bags and pulled out two of the food rations they had. He tossed one towards Star Shimmer, “Come on, sit down, eat.”

Star Shimmer looked at the measly, vacuum sealed package. A small nod her only response. Slowly, she walked over and sat across from Rusty.

“So that pipbuck, do you know how to use it?” Rusty asked as he tore open the package.

Star Shimmer raised an eyebrow at Rusty, “Yeah, why?”

“Turn on the radio.” With the ration open, Rusty returned to his work on the mechanism, “Check for station 107.3, Twin Beats radio.”

Star Shimmer’s ears peaked up. Pulling the pipbuck up to her face, she began to poke and twist at the dials and buttons with her hoof. Pulling up the radio section, Star Shimmer continued to fiddle around. Eventually spinning the radio to 107.3. A burst of static filled the room before being replaced with upbeat, fast paced guitar, backed with speedy orchestra. Finally, came the voice of a mare.

I don’t want no high class colt
Too snooty and fake to keep me awake
I just want a goodo’le downtown buck

To hold me and keep me so my heart don’t break

Rusty nodded, a small smile creeping on his face, “Ah yeah. Here we go.”

Star Shimmer cocked her eyebrow, “You like Rock-a-Bye Queen.”

“Of course I do, who doesn’t. The mare had a voice that could soothe the heavens.” Rusty brought his hoof to his mouth, his smirk becoming crooked, “From the posters I’ve seen, she was damn fine to look at too.”

Star Shimmer snickered, “You’re damn right, mare knows how to strut it.”

Rusty Chuckled, “Is that why you decided to steal her hairstyle?”

Star Shimmer put her hoof to her chest, a playfully hurt look on her face. “Ow.” The two broke out into laughter. Along with the glow of the Brain Fungus, and Rock-a-Bye Queen belting out a song, the room had a warmth that had not been there for centuries.

Rusty continued on the mechanism, screwing in another section of pipe into it. Star Shimmer lazily watched as she munched on her ration, the taste of overwhelming lemon filling her mouth, “So, I got a question.”

Rusty continued to focus on his work, “Shoot.”

“You’re an official Scavie right?”

Rusty nodded, “Yep.”

Star Shimmer made a rolling motion with here hoof, “The whole, scavenge the wastes with benefits?”

Rusty Shrugged, “You could say that.”

“So, how do you join exactly? Is there a contest? You guys go out and just be all like ‘I found the shiniest piece of metal!’ Or ‘I nabbed a hundred caps!’” Star Shimmer rested her head against her hoof as she watched Rusty. The more he tinkered with the mechanism, the more the shape looked strangely familiar.

Rusty snickered as he shook his head, “It’s not cheerleader tryouts. The Scavie Organization watches over the scavengers funds. You sign up, follow their rules, and just pay for the membership.”

Star shimmer raised an eyebrow, “Oh...so no wanted posters for tin cans and clipboards?”

“Well, I didn’t say that. Ponies are always looking for something, willing to pay well. They go through the Organization, and we get it to them as soon as possible.” Rusty patted his pack, “The Enclave specifically is always up for more scrap metal and ore.”

“So that’s why you bought those.” Star Shimmer thought about earlier, when Rusty had her barter a pony for a few clumps of metal. At the time, she had thought them useless weight.

“Yep.” Rusty clicked in the last chunk of scrap metal he had onto the mechanism. With a smile on his face, he held up a makeshift gun. “And now, the lonesome roaches of the wasteland shall know my name. With it, they shall be stricken by fear, for I have a boomstick.”

Star Shimmer rolled her eyes so hard that the back of her sockets started to hurt, “I think you have a better chance at blowing your head off with that junk.”

Popping the Boomstick open, Rusty pulled out two of the shotgun shells and slid them into the barrels. With a quick flip of his hoof, the Boomstick snapped shut. “Maybe, but it could be the only thing standing between us and a very pissed off Tank Roach or dirt dog.” Rusty pulled his battlesaddle over and began to strap the Boomstick into his battlesaddle, “Besides, wouldn’t be the first time.”

Star Shimmer stared deadpan at Rusty, “Uh-huh, that’s what I’m worried about.”

Chuckling a bit, Rusty finished his ration. Leaning back, he nestled up against the wall, his eyelids sliding shut, “No need to, just keep your head down and we’ll be fine.” Rusty let out a yawn, “You should get some rest, it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”

Star Shimmer let out a small sigh. Nibbling on the last bite of ration, she listened to the radio. Her eyes went over the restroom again, and again. Her thoughts jumping from the ship crash, to her parents, to what lay before her. Even with the thoughts swirling in her head, Star Shimmer found herself drifting off to a dark and uncomfortable sleep.

///

Wind howled in the distance as Rusty Bottlecap checked the theater’s hallway. Rusty had learned early on to sleep lightly when in the wasteland, too many ponies eager to steal your supplies, or monsters wanting a late night snack. As Rusty stepped into the hallway, he glanced back at Star Shimmer laying in the restroom, ‘An hour more wouldn’t hurt.’

Walking down the hallway, Rusty scanned for any changes in the scenery, the Boomstick’s barrels following. Hoofprints, claw marks, anything that could say something had been through. After every step, every turn of the head, Rusty felt his nerves calm. Nothing changed, ‘Same old ruined dump.’ Rusty made his way to the main hall.

Most of the dust that had made it into the main hall had settled on the ground, while small puffs entered and left through the front doors. Scanning the room, Rusty spotted the concessions counter to his right. His eyebrow peaked up, and his hooves began to trott towards the counter. As he closed in, Rusty could see a few packs of candy in the glass case. One in particular caught his attention. A princess sized Tangerine Twist chocolate bar. The bright orange fruit logo standing out against the wrapper’s background.

A wicked smile grew on Rusty’s face as he licked his lips, ‘Jackpot!’

Rusty Checked his left, then his right, no pony in sight. Without a second thought, Rusty hopped over the counter, his hooves clopping against the tile floor behind the counter. Rusty jerked his head around searching to see if some unknown foe may have heard him. When nothing charged out of the shadows to tear him apart, Rusty continued on his quest for the candy bar. A small, sliding door was all that stood between him and citrus, chocolate heaven. Raising his hoof, Rusty closed his eyes as he imagined the wonderful bar in his hooves. With that, he pulled on the door.

Then he pulled on the door again, and again, and again. Rusty peeked down at the door. It opened just a crack, not even enough to fit a hoof through. Rusty leaned in to take a closer look. Debris and rust covered the sliding door, it wouldn’t take much more to force the door open, but the sound would ring out.

Rusty sighed, ‘I’ll just grab it on the way ou-’ Through the glass case, he spotted a shimmer from outside the doorway. Rusty froze, his eyes fixated on the opening to the outside. The shimmer didn’t reappear, but Rusty had a deepening feeling that he was no longer alone.

Crouching, Rusty shuffled over to the counter’s bar door. Pushing ever so slightly, he crawled through with only the slightest of creaking. Once he was free, Rusty jogged over to the hallway door, his eyes searching from floor to ceiling for a possible threat.

Rusty pushed through the doorway, then he heard the pitter patter of hoofsteps on the roof. ‘Shit!’ Rusty broke into a full gallop, every step echoed through the hallway

As Rusty neared the restroom, the floor squealed under him. ‘Double shit!’ Rusty vaulted through the entrance as the floor caved in under him. He tumbled to a stop, his head smacking against the stall wall.

Star Shimmer jumped awake, “W-wha’s happening, mo-”

Rusty rushed over and shoved his hoof over Star’s mouth, his other hoof going up to his, “Shh!”

Low, beastial grunts sounded from outside, “Where pony go?” A voice asked.

Star Shimmer’s eyes widened, and she looked to Rusty.

“Search area, can’t let Enclave get drop again.” Another voice responded.

Rusty motioned to the center bathroom stall, and dragged Star into it before she could respond. As they passed through, Star Shimmer hooked the stall door with her hoof and pulled it closed.

Letting go of Star Shimmer, Rusty pressed himself between the toilet and the stall wall. Star Shimmer scrambled onto the did the same on the opposite side. Holding their breath, the two watched the small crack between stall wall and bathroom floor.

First was a small clattering against the tile floor. Then came the hind paw, its nails clattering as they hit the tile. Star Shimmer felt the blood drain out of her face as she stared at the limb with patchy brown fur and blackened pads. The large, sharpened claws brought up the image of Star Shimmer being torn apart in a dream long forgotten. A second hind paw landed next to it. Clickity. The first paw stepped towards Rusty’s saddlebags, a small furry spiked club of a limb swung just above the ground. Clack. The other one followed closely. Clickity-Clack. A third paw, this one twice the size of the others, and made to grab and hold, lifted Rusty’s saddlebags up and dumped out the contents

The contents scattered across the floor, in particular, the revolver slid just under the stall door. Rusty and Star Shimmer glanced at each other, Star Shimmer shook her head, Rusty nodded. Taking another glance at the paws, Rusty began to stretch his hoof out for the gun.

BLAM!

The saddlebags fell to the floor just in front of the stall door. Star Shimmer brought her hooves up to her mouth as she bit back a gasp. Rusty froze for a second, looking at the paws. The paws hadn’t moved, still standing before a few of the fallen items. Then, Star Shimmer watched the larger, third paw pick something up. The sound of something sniffing feverishly filled the room.

Rusty’s hoof touched the revolver, and he pulled it quickly to himself. The sniffing stopped, a low grumble taking its place. The paws turned. Clickety. And began to walk towards the door. Clack. Clickety-Clack.

Click. Rusty gripped the revolver in mouth and aimed it at the door. His eyes darted over to Star Shimmer. He motioned to the small gap leading to the next stall with his hoof. Letting out a muffled breath, Star nodded.

“ARWOO!” The howl echoed through the bathroom, and was followed closely by the eruption of gunfire. With a low growl, the creature spun around and clattered out of the room.

Rusty kicked the door open and rushed to gather his dropped items, “Time to go!”

Star Shimmer peaked out of the stall, The commotion outside of the room grew louder as shouts and energy fire roared, “You sure that’s a good idea?”

“Nophe!” Rusty tossed the ten millimeter pistol at Star Shimmer, “Catch!”

Stretching out her wing, Star scooped the pistol out of the air and brought it to her mouth. A quick bite down on the handle, a pull back on the slide, and it was ready, “Tthen why doth we waith?”

Rusty strapped up the battle saddle and shouldered the saddlebags, “They’ll probably just shoot us if we’re found, I don’t think either side is gonna care whether we die. Personally, I’d rather try and escape rather than cower in a stall.” Taking one last look around, Rusty trotted for the door, “Stay behind me, keep your head down, and keep your steps light.”

Star Shimmer took a deep breath to calm her heart, the image of her father appearing in her head, “A-arwighth, where are we going?”

Rusty paused at the lip of the doorframe and scanned from side to side. A large hole sat in the middle of the floor, fresh bullet holes and plasma burns covered the walls and ceiling. Down towards the main hall, Rusty could hear the roar of a firefight. Howls and yipes echoed from the hole while hoofsteps and orders thundered overhead, “We’ll get to one of the screen rooms and leave out the back door. Then it’s basically a straight line out of town.” Rusty looked back at Star, “You got it?”

Star Shimmer looked to the door, then at Rusty, and nodded.

Without a second thought, Rusty spun around and charged out into the hall, Star followed close behind. Taking another quick look, Rusty locked on the door to his right. His hooves carried him forward as the bashed through the door. Before he could even see, an energy beam slammed into his shoulder, and Rusty rolled over to the side. A row of chairs now stood between him and his assailant.

Star Shimmer yiped and backpedaled behind the doorframe, her eyes focused on Rusty. From there, she could see that his shoulder was charred and smoking, “Are you okay?”

Biting his tongue, Rusty held his good hoof to his mouth. His breath quivering against his fur. Shakily, he began to crawl towards the far wall, his movement slow and jerky as his joints began to stiffen. Fighting through stiffness, Rusty peeked over the row of seats as he did.

Through a hole in the ceiling, a dark armored pegasus peered into the screening room. Twin ovoid devices sat just under the wings. The red glow of their helmet’s visor gave of the look of a large insect stalking its prey. The pony slowly scanned the area, their head drifting from one side to the other.

Clenching his teeth, Rusty made it to the corner. His head propped against the chair’s back, he glanced over at Star Shimmer.

She stared at him with wide, fearful eyes. Her body shook as she just stood there. Star mouthed something to him, but Rusty couldn’t tell what it was. It might have been something like, ‘Are you okay?

Looking back at the hole, Rusty watched as several more black armored pegasi soared past the hole. The pegasus peering in turn to their companions, and with a quick nod, lifted into the air. As they backed off of the hole, A couple of black cubes detached from their side and fell into the hole.

Rusty only needed one look at the pulsating red light to know what they were, and once the pegasus was out of sight, he stumbled for the door, “Run!”

Star Shimmer backpedaled as Rusty lunged towards the door, then the bombs went off.

The shockwave ripped through the doorway, and sent debris and Rusty crashing into the hallway, “R-Rusty!” Star Shimmer ran over to the husk of green fur. She stared down, gun falling from her mouth. Wood and metal pierced his body all over, his hind hooves bent at extreme angles, and his tail was holding on by a small patch of flesh.

“S-Shi-” blood rolled out of mouth, puddling under his face. His eyes rolled over to his saddlebags.

Taking one last look at Rusty’s condition, Star Shimmer went for the saddlebag, and pulled out a hydra. Gripping it tightly in her mouth she popped off the rubber top off with her hooves. Star stabbed it into Rusty’s side, and pressed down slowly on the plunger.

Slivers slid out of the body, either plopping to the ground or getting caught in fur. The legs cracked and twisted themselves back into position, and his tail stitched itself back onto Rusty. As the last of the wounds disappeared, Rusty shook his head, “I don’t think that’s the kind of thunderous applause I think ponies talk about.” Coughing up a few specks of blood, Rusty slowly stood back up.

Star Shimmer glanced back and forth at each end of the halway, “So what now. We still gonna run into who knows what?”

“No, no, let’s look before we run.” Rusty shook his head, “Alright, Enclave’s up high, and Free Packs are down low… Looks like it’ll be trickier than I had thought.”

Star Shimmer’s ears perked up, “Hold one, if they’re Enclave then they’ll-”

“Shoot first, ask questions later.” Rusty picked it up the 10mm pistol. Without a word, he held it out to her. Star Shimmer hesitantly took it, “You think pegasi only exist in the enclave?” Rusty said with a tsk. He glanced around, “Alright, let’s move… carefully this time.” Rusty started for the next door, his ears swiveling this way and that.

“You wure tha one wo goth tthoth.” Star Shimmer mumbled as she followed.

“Another word, and I swear to the goddesses that I will jump in a Free Pack hole and leave your ass up here to die.” Star didn’t respond.

Creaking the door open, Rusty peaked into the next room. First, he looked to the roof, ‘No holes,’ Then glanced at the floor, ‘And no pits, bingo!’ Rusty turned back at Star Shimmer, nodding his head. The shine of the gun barrel sticking out of the pit behind them was all Rusty saw. His body sprung forward, hooves wrapping around Star Shimmer. With a great heave, he threw both of them through the doors as bullets flew past them.

The two smashed through the first row of chairs, collapsing into a pile of wood and metal.

“Gah!” Star Shimmer struggled to roll over, splinters of wood sticking to her coat.

Rusty shot up, “Come on, keep moving.” Hooking his hooves around her, Rusty dragged Star up onto her hooves.

“A-Alright,” Star Shimmer wobbled a bit, her eyes focusing on the ground before her. Sitting atop the rubble was her pistol, without a second thought, she picked it up and started for the theater’s back. Rusty followed behind, hoofsteps echoing into the through the room. The two rushed forward, passing row after row of old, decrepit seats. As Star’s hoof hit the ground, the sound of floor boards cracking echoed, and the ground fell out from under her.

Her wings kicked into action, lifting her up out of the black pit, but not before large, gnarled claws shot up out of the darkness. White hot pain ripped across Star’s torso, and she let out a muffled scream. Her wings shook, but continued to pump downward, giving her just enough lift to fly over the pitt’s edge before collapsing onto the ground.

The roar of gunfire filled the room as Rusty fired into the hole. A yipe following shortly after. Another shot, then there was silence. Hopping over the seats on the side, Rusty made his way to Star Shimmer.

Star Shimmer, hooves shaking, began to stand up, “Ah-I’m fine.” One of her hooves gave out from under her, and she collapsed onto the ground, “Gyah!” She cried out, her teeth clenching down on the pistol.

“The hell you are.” Rusty lifted up the flap of his saddle bag and pulled out a health potion. Popping off the lid, he pushed it into Star’s muzzle as he pushed her up, “We can’t stop no-”

Two more pits formed on either side of the two, and claws began to reach out for them. Rusty pushed Star at an angle, avoiding the walkway and hopping over the nearest row of chairs, “Alright, new plan. I give cover fire, you fly as low as you can to the back.”

Finishing the last of the potion, Star dropped the bottle and nodded. Her wounds begun to stitch themselves up, and Star gave her wings a quick flap, ‘Let’s fly!’ Heart pounding in her chest, she lifted herself from the ground, and shot forward.

Rusty popped open the Boomstick’s barrels and loaded in two more shells. With a hop, he made it over another row of seats. With a quick spin on his hoof, he faced the pits. At this time, two large beasts clad in leather armor were nearly out of the holes. ‘Fucking Dirt Dogs!’ Rusty thought as he recognized the canine heads and massive pillars the creatures had for arms. Their jowls pulled back, showing rows of sharp, pointed teeth. Rusty bit down on the battlesaddle reigns as fast and hard as he could, giving them several good bites, and the Boomstick flaired to life.

One of the Dirt Dogs yelped and dropped back down into the hole, while the other dove for cover behind another section of seats. Rusty followed it with another quick succession of shotgun rounds.

As the Boomstick popped open, sending the used shotgun shells flying into the air, the Dirt Dog rose up and fired a string of rounds at Rusty.

Rusty ducked behind the seats, two more shotguns shells already in his mouth, ‘Alright, with these, that’s ten left. Gotta hurry this up.’

Another string of bullets flew over Rusty’s head, then he heard the click of an empty gun. Jumping out of cover, Rusty bit down on the reigns. The Boomstick stayed silent, but the dirt dog shrunk behind the seats for protection.

Rusty took advantage of this and began to hop over the rows of seats behind him, all the while continuing to bite down the reigns of the battle saddle. Finally a blast of pellets shot out across the room. Rusty began to vault over another row of seats, his head turning to focus on making it over. A flicker of movement out of the from the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he looked up to see Star Shimmer hiding in the stairwell. She peaked out, pistol in mouth.

‘Good, she made,’ Star’s eyes widened, and she swung the barrel of the gun in his direction. Rusty’s heart skipped a beat, ‘Shit!’ He forced himself the rest of the way over the seats and dropped as fast as he could.

The rat-a-tat of gunfire rang out as a bullet tore up the side of Rusty’s face. As he smacked into the floor, he could feel the blood splash across his whole head. A second shot rang out, followed by a pained howl.

Rusty struggled to his hooves, blood beginning to seep into is left eye. Looking around, Rusty couldn’t see the dirt dog, but he caught sight of Star Shimmer, her pistol trained on the area the dirt dog had stood. Without a second thought, Rusty jumped out into the isle and charged for the emergency exit.

Pistol firmly in her mouth, Star Shimmer kicked the exit door open and stared out. The door led to a narrow alleyway, old dumpsters littered either side, giving a narrow gap for a pony to run down. Further down, Star could see a main street void of life. Up above, a grid of clouds stretched across the sky, slowly filling in the gaps and seaver the sight of the sparkling night stars. Somewhere beyond the door, soldiers shouted orders and beast howled war cries, all while gunfire roared throughout the town.

“I fink we’re clear.” Star hopped out, moving aside as Rusty rushed by.

“Come on, let’s go!” Rusty’s hooves slapped against the ground, and he launched onto one of the dumpsters. He landed with a loud BANG! Twisting his body, Rusty jumped off to the next dumpster, “Fly low, and fly fast!”

Without complaint, Star Shimmer lifted into the air, flying above Rusty’s head, “Where to now?”

“Just go straight. Get out of town!” Rusty lunged for the next dumpster, BANG! Then he jumped for the ally’s entrance, tucking into a roll as he hit the ground, “Watch for me when you’re far enough.”

“Wha-?” Star turned to see Rusty as he turned and ran down the street, “Where you go-”

“Gotta make sure they don’t follow us-,” A hole tore open before Rusty, claws reaching up for his throat. He leapt to the side and continued running, “GO!”

Star Shimmer watched as Rusty rounded the corner of the street, dark pitts opening in the ground around him. Heart pounding in her chest, she tore her gaze away, and flew in the opposite direction. Keeping low, she sped past building, slowing only to turn down another street. Throughout the town, small pockets of Enclave and dirt dogs shot at each other from their cover. Star kept a wide berth, her eyes darting around to make sure no one followed her.

Explosions erupted, and buildings collapsed. If this kept up, the town would be flattened into small mounds of rubble by daybreak.

Bullets and green energy lashed out, scoring the walls of the town. Even at her distance, Star had a few close calls from stray rounds. Then, she found herself soaring past the edge of town. A dilapidated billboard with a smiling buck telling her to ‘Return to Loosehoof soon!’ waved her off. Star continued to fly, the sound of gunfire growing fainter and fainter. She scanned the horizon, searching for a building, a bus, hell a rock! Just some sort of cover to help her at least get her bearings. Then, she spotted a dark speck on the horizon. ‘Bingo!’ Flapping her wings harder, Star flew fast to the speck. It didn’t take long before it grew from dark speck, to building’s silhouette.

As Star Shimmer neared the building, her wing flaps became erratic, and she started to falter in her flight. Her body began to scream for rest, her wings beginning to feel like flimsy bed sheets flapping in the breeze, ‘Damnit, come on wings, don’t give out yet!’. Star Shimmer eyed the building as best as she could. The small building had the telltale signs of a rest stop. From the convenience shop in the front, to the flanking large slabs of metal that covered the parking lot around it. A large red chariot sign lay crumpled to the side of the building, it’s letters spelling out a small sign.

WELCOME TO MED-WAY

Along with the usual assortment of prewar constructions, several additional structures seemed to be set up as well. A small covered hut made of old waggons sat atop the building, while the front and side door was covered by a barricade made of scrap metal and concrete. Star Shimmer stared harder, trying to see any possible guard or watch, but no pony or creature guarded the place.

‘Please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me.’ Star Shimmer flew down, landing hard on the ground. Small pins shot through her hooves, “Fuck, ow, ow, ow!” Star Shimmer hissed, her hooves lifting up off the ground to ease the pain a bit. Her eyes darted to the rest stop, then out into the desolate wasteland. No pony ran over with a gun, no monster erupted out of the ground, just nothing. Star waved her hooves a little, and slowly began to walk towards the front door of the store. Gun gripped firmly in her mouth, she scanned the windows for any form of life. As she got closer, she began to notice bullet holes and blackened stains plastered against the concrete walls of the store.

Star Shimmer’s breath began to go uneven, ‘Don’t worry, you got this.’ Passing the barricades, she peeked through the front doorway. Once stocked with roadway snacks and small trinkets, now housed overturned tables and chairs. More dark stains splattered across the floors, and papers were strewn across the floor. To the side, the cashier’s counter held a terminal flanked with a radio on one side, and a crumpled map on the other. At the far end sat two doors, with a sign showing the outline of a stallion and mare. Yet there was still no pony in sight. Taking one last scan of the area, Star Shimmer glanced down at the papers. Using her hoof to move them around, she began to read one.

Patient: Snake Tail

Sex: Stallion

Age: 19

Aliment: Snake Tail sustained a bite on his left hind hoof from a maw lion. He was lucky enough to get away before it could cause serious injury or even death, but due to the pathogens in the creature’s mouth, a particularly bad infection has already began to spread across his hoof. It will have to be treated immediately if we are to avoid amputation.

Treatment: A dose of antibiotics every eight hours over the course of three days, along with careful and repeated cleaning of the infected area.

Sidenotes: I don’t know how or why Snake Tail managed to find a monster like that this far from the jungle, but considering he’s not the main entree of a maw lion dinner, I’d consider him very lucky! Now we just need to make sure the dumbass doesn’t try and fly out again until he’s healed up.

-Dr. Heartbeat

Star Shimmer read another paper, then another. Sure enough, they were all medical reports. Each one pertaining to either somepony that lived close by, or had found their way to the small rest stop. Star sighed ‘These ponies should be decent then.’ She glanced back at the dark stains, and her heart dropped a little. ‘Oh no...’

She shuffled over to the front counter, eyeing the map that sat atop of it. It had been an old traveler’s map, possibly before the war, showing the western half of Emadron. Several locations had been scratched in by pencil. Mainly the settlements found around the area, including New Trinity City, New Hayven, Bastion, and Med-Way itself.

An electronic chime tore Star Shimmer’s attention from the map. Looking down, she noticed her pipbuck glowing faintly. Sitting on her haunches, she brought the pipbuck up to her eye level, ‘What’s up little brick?’ Using her wing, she began to fiddle with it, turning dials and flipping switches. She flipped from tab to tab, weapons, apparel, aid, notes, ‘Wow, this is surprisingly convenient, should’ve looked at this earlier!’ Finally, she made it to the map tab. On it, a whole map of Emadron appeared, with several blips filling out the western section. Some of the locations like Med-way, and the town of looshoof were filled in with a little icon, a small medical icon for the former, and ruins for the latter. Other locations were still blank though. ‘Well, At least that takes care of how to get back home.’

Looking it back over, Star Shimmer notices an icon just past the map In the lower left corner. When she flipped over to it, it simply stated ‘activate compass’. Raising an eyebrow, Star Shimmer activated the option. A hiss came from the pipbuck, then Star’s vision went blank. “Wa,tha-” Shaking her head and blinking, Star’s vision returned. When it did though, a small green line sat right at the bottom of her sight, pegs evenly distance from each other across the length of the line. One of the pegs rose above the others, and atop it sat an E.

‘Woah, no way!’ Star Shimmer began turn in a circle, the compass spun as well. Pegs with an S, E, and N all appeared accordingly. Along with that, a small pip indicating Med-Way’s entrance hovered just above the pegs. ‘This is so cool!’ Star gave it another test spin, ‘With this, I’ll be able to make it home in no time. Me and-’ The image of Rusty rushing off around the building’s corner popped into Star’s head. Her smile fell from her face, and her ears folded to the side of her head. She trotted for the door, her mind thinking of the Enclave forces and the dirt dogs ripping each other apart with energy beams and bullets.

Outside, the wind blew faintly against Star’s coat. Her eyes finding their way to the sight of the town. Instead of old buildings, she now only saw a grey wall of fog covering the whole town. The fighting had settled down, only the occasional gunshot or energy blast could be barely heard, ‘Shit, Rusty,’ Star thought. Even if he survived, how would he know where she was, how would they regroup.

Star Shimmer looked back at her pipbuck, her frown lessened. ‘I can make my way there, and he knows the way. We’ll find each other on the road. Or New Hayven.‘ Star nodded to herself, ‘He’ll be fine, I’ll make sure he gets a small reward… just a small one.’

A yawn escaped Star’s mouth, and she stretched her back, ‘Damn, I’m tired.’ Star looked back into the building, it wasn’t the cleanest place, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Her eyes glanced at the old stains and bullet holes, and the image of the crazed ponies on the Eagle flashed in her head, their ramshackle armor and wicked rusty weapons made more prominent in her mind. Star’s eyes wandered up to the hut sitting atop the building, the faintest smirk formed on her jaw aching face. ‘They want me, they need to work for it.’

Pulling the last strength from her wings, she flew up to the hut. Inside, she found a small shoulder pouch and radio in one corner, and an old bed roll in the other. The hut seemed empty of bullet holes or stains, ‘Good sign.’ Star shuffled herself over to the bed roll. The roll itself seemed to be made of some sort of leather, and a small bundle of cloth sat at the top in place of a pillow. Star gave it a quick sniff, aside from a faint, old smell, it seemed fine enough.

‘Better than the floor.’ Star thought as she slumped onto the bedroll. Putting the gun to her side, she rolled her jaw around. Her wings ached, and stomach turned. Closing her eyes, Star imagined her mom, hiding away in a locked up room as raiders trotted just outside. Then her dad, his black power armor, what he could be thinking right now. Before she fell into a deep slumber, she muttered a small prayer.

“Goddesses, please, let me see my parents again.”