“In the wasteland. Friendships are unstable, allies are enemies and the wastes themselves are more likely take a life than those that inhabit it. No matter how hard anyone tries, it will forever remain like this, for centuries it has, and for centuries it will. Unless there are those willing to fight for a better future. If not, we all might as well lay down and die.”
For years, the once beautiful land of Equestria has been nothing more than a dead, diseased country filled with the remnants of of pony kind. With the pegasai fleeing to the clouds above to leave the unicorns and earthpony below, Time has gone past both slowly and painfully for all still stuck on the ground. If taint, radiation, raiders and ghouls weren't enough. Every so often something new, something terrifying reveals itself to the world only to bring suffering to all that it encounters.
For some, life has been made simple, livable and at times, even enjoyable. But for an out of place pegasus and a pony who looks more like a science experiment gone wrong than a pony. How well can things really go? Dodge Junction for years has been their home, their safe haven from the desolate wasteland. Away from the monsters that lurk beneath the surface and oblivious to anything that does not concern them. And when pulled in, how can they then save themselves?
* * *
Bright yellow light pierced the tin walls of the small weather-worn shack and bathed the dusty floor in dots of light. It was nothing much to look at, a few bent shelves sat against the walls, a battered locker tilting to the side and a dirty sheet less mattress pushed into the furthest corner of the single room hut. Curled up in a fetal position in the centre of the stain infested bedding was a single mare. Her coat was a light khaki brown and her messy mane a muddy brown. Multiple thin scars covered her feminine frame and a ragged breathing had her chest heaving, almost gasping for air. Though what may has stood out the most were the small pair of metal joints which sat in either side of her where a pegasus’ might have wings.
As one of the lights beams shifted to shine directly into her eye, causing her to groan in protest. She made the move to slide a hoof up from her stomach to brush against her muzzle but as her eye began to heat up from the constant exposure, the khaki mare rolled off the mattress and onto the metal floor.
“Can’t even get some damn sleep…” She mumbled, giving her left shoulder a quick brush. Her mane was a mess, tail not fairing any better but the mare being unbothered by either trotted firstly over to the shelf closest to the door. Mostly bare, all it held was a bottle of dirty water and an empty box of Sugar Apple Bombs. She gave the box a push and picked the water up in her hoof, twisting off the cap and gulping down a third of the water, grimacing as the sickening liquid travelled down her throat.
“Hey! Sandstorm!” A heavy hoof clanged against the door, making it shake. The brown mare, Sandstorm, winced at the mention of her name and placed the water back in its place on the shelf. Ever since she had gotten the small picture of a desert tornado on her flank, ponies had called her Sandstorm and seeing as she could no longer remember her real name she soon went along with it. Though the thought of it all was not a happy memory and the two metal nubs on her back were a constant and painful reminder.
“SHUT IT, SAVAGE!” Sandstorm growled in response only to get a chuckled reply.
“Fine… Sandy” Her eye twitched, being called Sandstorm had annoyed her for some time but still stood as her name. Sandy, made her get a little trigger happy and NOT in a good way.
“Right… Right…. RIGHT!” Stomping her hoof down hard against the floor and snorting like a bull about to charge, Sandstorm glared at the door before turning around and bucking it full strength in the centre, right where two deep dents had already been hammered in. Although the flimsy door came flying off, the metal snap of the hinges screeching into the air. The door stopped only a few feet from the intended target who soon began to laugh, the door lifting over his head to reveal a pale coated stallion. While he had no mane, a long, thick and black tail swayed out from his blank flanked rump. Layers of blood soaked bandages covered his eyes but the nightmare inducing smile was still visible. Holding up the door were a set of four black tendrils, each one with a large suction cup hidden inside the tip.
“Done showing off?” Sandstorm asked, tapping a hoof impatiently against the ground.
“Maybe, done kicking doors?”
“Next it will be your face.” The mare smirked as the stallion frowned.
“Why always the face?”
“Would you rather I rip those tentacles out of your back?”
“… I choose option three, give me a kiss and I will forget the whole thing.” Savage placed the door down on the ground by his side as Sandstorm snorted.
“In your dreams pale face… In your dreams.”
“See you when I fall asleep.” The stallion’s frown gave way for a smile.
“Ugh…” Sandstorm hung her head as Savage tucked the four extra appendages down against his back in a way it made them look like a saddle before clearing his throat and moving on to a more serious tone of voice.
“We are on rotation. Widget, Green Hills and Tetanus are going on a supply run and need us to provide cover as usual. Raiders are getting closer to the walls.”
“Widget?” Sandstorm groaned. “Last time we got stuck with him the damn mare got her head stuck in a metal box trying to reach the barrel of a beam pistol.” Despite having no eyes, Savage managed to give the scarred mare a grim look.
“I know I know but she is still the best mechanic we have and she knows where to look for the best junk. And I know you dislike Tetanus but…” He was cut off by an unamused snort.
“Yeah yeah best medic in all of Dodge” Sandstorm snarked, the two metal stubs in her sides wriggling up and down as if she was trying to flap imaginary wings. Savage smiled apologetically.
“Hey, look on the bright side. At least I get to have my waifu to help me ignore their complaining when you come back smelling, as usual.” Savage teased.
“I swear to Celestia…” Sandstorm huffed but held back from insulting the blind stallion and instead trotted out from her humid shack and into the open.
Dodge Junction. Or what was left of it. The old town was never a high target in the war and over the years it has remained a small haven for traveling traders, nomads and even the occasional runaway slave. If there was ever any trouble here, it was quickly dealt with to avoid drawing attention. Most of the old stores, barns and otherwise original buildings had been reinforced with concrete pillars or steel plates to keep them standing but to add to an ever growing town, small shacks like Sandstorms were now a common thing. The biggest change to Dodge Junction was the 15 foot tall wall which boxed in the down and left only two ways in or out. The main entrance guarded by a spiked metal gate to discourage raids. The wall might have been tall but being made from rusted metal, rotting wood and anything else they could weld together, it was far from being the best line of defence.
Sandstorm looked up to the yellow light she had built her shack underneath and grumbled, blaming the ponies in charge of the electrical grid rather than herself for building her home there in the first place. Interrupting her internal pissed off behaviour, Savage placed a hoof on her right flank and sighed.
“Go get geared up. I heard Point Blank wanted to give you a special surprise after the last batch of goodies you gave him.” Even with the stallion touching her rump, Sandstorm let go of a small smile. Point Blank was one of her very few friends and like herself was also missing bits. That and he had a love for any weapon that made a large mess, just like her.
“Alright. I will meet you by the front gate when I am ready to go.”
“Don't be late.” He replied in a half playful, half serious tone.
Patting her flank lightly, the stallion left to follow the main road into the centre of town while Sandstorm took off into a happy jog along the side road and in the direction of Point Blank’s store.
‘Point Blank’s Ordinance’ had been painted in large red words on what could have been mistaken for an old saloon but inside the swinging double doors were enough to make Sandstorm grin. Being a town of scavengers, traders and small enough to not get too much attention made Dodge Junction a place full of hidden treasures to the right (or wealthiest) buyer. From 10mm pistols right up to battle saddles designed for those who can carry the weight of a missile launcher was a large assortment of deadly weapons and of course, the stores security, a Mark V laser turret which soon whirred around to target her head as Sandstorm practically bounced into the store.
At the far end of the room came the hearty laugh of a war torn stallion, he lacked one eye and the right side of his face looked as if it had been sanded down to the bone while his pickle green coat was filled with too many bites, scars and burns to even count. It was a miracle that any of his short forest green mane had survived along with the rest of him.
“Stormy! Just the mare I was looking for!” he teased, with a childish grin and a wave of his hoof. Determining that for now that the energetic mare was not a threat, the ceiling mounted turret beeped and took its barrel off of the mare. Sandstorm gazed down at the weapons just behind recently cleaned glass and placed both hooves against the casing with a deep sigh, eyeing off the rows of shotguns both refurbished and in need of repair.
“Someday… I will buy you…” Raising an eye at Sand’s odd behaviour, Point Blank took a step back as her gaze went from the shotguns to him, or what he thought to be him but was really Sandstorm staring dreamily at the wall mounted missile launcher just above his head.
“Err… Right. Down to business.” Point Blank coughed, Sandstorm blinking once and blushing a light red in embarrassment.
“Y-yeah, Savage said you had something for me?” Taking a step back from the glass counter, Sandstorm looked hopefully around the store as green stallion nodded in confirmation.
“I heard your next few scavenges are going to be on caravans hit while transporting goods on the way to Dodge, meaning if the raiders who hit them have left most of the supplies behind like usual and only taken the dead bodies…” looking a little more green in the face than usual, He shivered. “Then anything like spare parts and medical supplies should have been left behind.”
“And if we are lucky, maybe weapons.” The khaki mare added hopefully.
“And weapons if we are lucky. But till then I have a few toys for you that will be helpful in wide open areas with not too much cover.” Point Blank reached down, underneath the counter to where Sandstorm could not currently see and lifted out a simple leather saddle which had attached to either side two identical guns.
“Five point fifty six millimetre rounds, clip. Each will hold twenty four rounds. Each side is fired with the same trigger and will both fire one after the other, saves ammo that way.” By now, Sandstorm’s eyes were already gleaming with delight as she stared at the gun but Point Blank laughed.
“Now the fun part, to make reloading a little easier, the guns will be tilted up and pushed forwards, enabling you to hit in the next clips while still keeping an eye on your targets.”
“How much?” Was all the deformed Pegasus could ask without just snatching up the saddle. Point blank took a moment to scratch at the bone showing on his face before looking back down at his handiwork.
“Three hundred caps of your next payment and it’s all yours. Of course ammo is included. Eight clips between the two plus what they already have loaded, makes ten. That should see you through your first find. Though if I were you I would grab a few of those toys you keep for rainy days. Just in case.” Sandstorm winced from the price, it was fair for what it was and he had probably given her some sort of discount but her ‘salary’ was all dependant on what the group was able to find and sell.
“Open to trading in any weapons I find?” The Pegasus mare asked, remembering that her protective barding could also use a few repair so caps would need to be handled carefully.
“Always am as long as they work.”
“Deal.” Extending their hooves over the counter, both ponies shook on the agreement. Sandstorm being eager to get herself suited up, swiped the saddle off of the counter and with slight difficulty managed to wriggle her way into the numerous straps that held the weapons in place. While it added a little extra weight, she found it easy enough to carry and with very minimal restriction to her movements, even with the metal bar running up beside her neck to hold the trigger to her muzzle. She bid Point Blank a farewell and trotted back out onto the street with her new prize.
* * *
“You sure this thing won't just blow up in our face? Feels like a death trap.” Waiting at the front gate for Sandstorm, Savage had gotten together the rest of the ground while studying their mode of transport. Instead of a Brahmin or pony pulled caravan, Widget had spent the last few months building what most would call a metal monster in her garage. The bottom frame had been stripped from a horse drawn cart, reinforced with metal bars to heighten its strength. The sides had also been removed and in their places were rusted iron plates just high enough to protect all but the head of a pony unless they ducked, having smaller squares cut out of the centre to stick a gun through. The wooden wheels had been completely torn off and replaced with plated versions to avoid them caving in from pressure.
“Stop worrying, you don’t even have much of a face left.” The voice of a young sounding mare came from the front of the modified wagon, her head under a welded together engine casing. All that stuck out was her ash grey tush and cyan blue tail, a hammer and spanner cutie mark on each flank. As she wiggled her flank from side to side, leaning further down into her work, Savage withdrew his tendrils and sighed.
“Ah hah hah… What about Sandstorm, Tetanus and Treasure?” If he had eyes, one of them would have been raised in question. Backing out of the motor, Widget peeked out to the side. Her face was covered in grease and a spanner caught in between her teeth but with a small horn and deep, sky blue eyes, she still looked cute enough for ponies to misjudge her experience. The thin barding she wore looked specifically suited to hold her tools and nothing more.
“Well, Tetanus is already dead, Sandy has a bunch of scars anyway and you can sit in front of Treasure to protect her.” The tool muffled her words but enough had been said to earn a grumble from the pale stallion.
“If we were to go down in a flaming wreckage and live, Treasure would probably crawl around gathering whatever is still in one piece.” Savage replied. Widget, huffing quiet, slammed the metal cover down over whatever was hidden underneath and shrugged.
“At least we will have an inventory rather quickly. And relax. I know what I am doing.”
“Oh really? And what about that time the entire power grid for Dodge shut down after you claimed to ‘know what you are doing’.” Both Widget and Savage turned their heads in the direction of the gruff, cold voice. Approaching down the road was an earthpony ghoul. His coat (Or what was left of it, hanging from the rotting flesh.) looked to be a bloody red, his mane and tail nothing more than a darker shade of the red. He wore a simple white lab coat which stopped just short of his bleeding heart cutie mark.
“Doctor Tetanus…” Savage nodded a greeting and in return got a mocking bow.
“The junk mare is on her way… I hope we have everything else in order?” Tetanus rose from his bow, glazed over and clouded eyes shifting over to Widget. The mare shivered.
“S-savage has packed us a healing potion each. His own personal weapons, a laser pistol, my gear is in the back, and you have your medical kit in case we find nothing like that. O-oh and enough saddlebags to have two each.” The deathly gaze of the ghoul made Widget uneasy and desperate to escape it, she climbed into the wagon and sat herself down into a makeshift seat up front, placing her fore hooves against the wheel.
“And I thought the last caravan in town looked scary.” The ears of each stallion perked up as the familiar sound of Sandstorm's voice stood out over the noise of the background. Over the leather strapping but not the guns themselves had gone a second set of straps but instead of weapons this one held together an assortment of thick leather armour to cover her chest, sides and back while curved metal plates had been strapped to her fore hooves. Behind her came a bouncing unicorn mare, she looked to be just out of her filly hood with a golden coat and silver mane. A treasure in the dirty wasteland. Instead of a protective barding or even something that signified her job, Hidden Treasure wore a holey pair of overalls with so many extra pockets sewn on, it was hard to tell what the original piece of clothing even looked like. The two mares strode up to the gathering group and as Treasure giggled and hopped right into the back of their ride, Sandstorm approached Tetanus.
“If there are any ghouls lying in wait for us, I will need you to try and keep them off of us, less ammo and time we waste the better.” Her expression was blank and her tone of voice hard, Tetanus nodding to keep the conversation short before climbing into the wagon next to Treasure who had already began poking her nose into the small bag of supplies Savage had gathered together.
“Well, if we are lucky, should be all clear.” Widget forced a burst of nervous laughter as she thumped her hoof down against the ignition, the khaki pegasus and the pale stallion both looking at one another then laughing. Nothing was ever easy and luck was something that they always lacked.
“Sure widget, it will be a breeze.” Sandstorm chuckled, climbing onto one of the sides of the wagon and hooking a hoof over the side instead of climbing inside.
“A walk in the park.” Savage mumbled, doing the same but on the opposite side. Every pony on board, the cyan maned unicorn started the engine, a small puff of smoke rising out from under the metal covering. Unbothered by the smoke, Widget nodded to a pair of heavy built stallions to open the gates, each one grabbing hold of a metal bar in their mouths and slowly pulling the centre apart. The pieced together vehicle lurched forwards as the gap widened just far enough for Widget to crawl through, the two ponies guarding the gate grunting as they pushed the gate shut. As their transportation began to pick up speed, matching that of a pony in full gallop, widget began to grin widely as Sandstorm laughed with surprise, her eyes looking to the ground.
“Gotta hoof it to you Widget, that brain of yours saves us a lot of work at times.” She shouted over the steady hum of what lay beneath the hood. Either too afraid or shocked to take her eyes off either the road or the shaking of her seat, Widget returned the laugh.
“Saves us the energy of lugging everything back!” The mechanic shouted back. Meanwhile, Savage had his ears up and his nose to the wind. His inability to see may have meant he had no sight but his hearing, sense of smell and ability to pick up even the smallest vibrations in the ground had increased to inpony levels. Something in the air smelt off. Dead, almost.
“As long as this little toy of yours can keep going without tossing us off I am more than happy to take this over running.” Tetanus mumbled, his eyes rolling to the side to stare at Treasure for the most part had kept quiet but not still, investigating every part of the wagon she could safely.
“Engine is of my own design, runs off of a combination of crystals, that gunk I find in those old barrels out back and one of those arcane whatchamacallits out of a Steel Pony’s armour.” Widget looked back over her shoulder just far enough for one eye to meet the ghoul’s gaze. “As long as something doesn’t come under constant stress, it should hold.”
“Oh. Makes me feel so much better…” The dead stallion mumbled, unheard by all but Treasure who glanced at him in curiosity.
* * *
“I spy with my little eye, Something beginning wiiii…”
“Trees.”
“No.”
“Wood.”
“No.”
“Dirt.”
“I haven't even said what the first letter is!”
“Rocks.”
“Sandy!” Treasure whined, after spending the last hour in utter silence, save for the sounds of metal against dirt and dust, the younger filly had baited Sandstorm to play a game with her. Unfortunately, the battle hardened pegasus never let her finish.
“What? There is nothing more than that out here.” Sandstorm snorted, her ear twitching from the nickname. The snort earned her a hoof stomp on wood and a cute glare, the only one the young mare could muster. Sandstorm almost giggled from the sight, almost.
“There is… Bugs! And Bones! And… And… And um… Dead Stuff?” Treasure frowned, feeling the cold stare that Tetanus was now giving her.
“Not to mention.” Sandstorm was cut off by Savage climbing into the main part of the wagon and reaching out with his tendrils to pick through their bag of supplies as Widget began to slow down. Up ahead, scattered across the road were crates, burlap sacks and half a dozen ponies. The supplies had come from a Brahmin which after the attack, had been pulled off to the side of the road and by the looks of it, had also been bitten into. The caravan owner and his mercenary guard had both been torn to shreds in their dirty clothes and light protective barding, little else being left other than bones, hair and inedible entrails.
“Smells fresh… Not raiders, no stink of shit.” Savage began to mumble as Widget brought them to a complete stop, the pale stallion’s suction tipped tendrils reached up and out in each direction, waving from left to right. “Nothing was fired.” The four black appendages recoiled grouping together on Savage’s back as Sandstorm dropped to the dirt, her dual rifles locked and loaded.
“Okay, same deal as always. Widget is on replacement parts for anything that can still be of use. Tetanus is hunting for medical supplies and Hidden Treasure…” The khaki pegasus thought quiet for a moment as each of the other ponies jumped out of the wagon. “Just… Grab anything you think you can sell. Savage and I will keep a lookout.”
“You know, I don’t see why small caravans like this are hit. I mean, a Brahmin? Really? That’s it? These things by themselves are slow and can only carry as much as you can stack on their backs. It would be more worth hitting a fully loaded wagon.” Widget already had her hooves on a wooden crate and was in the process of prying off the lid with a screwdriver from her utility belt.
“But smaller traders always have the best stuff! They aren't always having things bought from them so what they DO find usually stays with them for a while!” Remaining optimistic, Treasure had already pulled a pair of locked ammunition boxes out from underneath the dead Brahmins corpse and placed them in the back of the wagon. Savage slapped the centre of his face as he felt the golden mare’s bouncing through small vibrations traveling in the ground.
“They also tend to have these” Tetanus held up a small bottle of clear water, earning a small gasp from Widget who had given up on her current crate and now had her eyes focused on the purified water. “There is a crate of twelve here and a few packets of Radaway but, no health potions.”
“Any Med-x?” Sandstorm asked, the majority of her attention on the line of dead and fallen trees to the right side of the road, too far away to pick out many small details.
“No Med-x.” Tetanus repeated, more irritated than saddened by the lack of medical supplies.
“Great. Another day without healing potions… People are going to start complaining if we can’t find any. There is starting to become a bucking shortage of them!” Both annoyed at her crate and the lack of salvage she had managed to find while Treasure had been grabbing worth even a few caps, Widget picked up the crate in her levitation spell and tossed it further down the road. She only managed to get it a few feet before the crate came back down with a wood-splitting crack, a bright light flaring out along with the detonation of a shock grenade. The blue field enveloped the repair mare who screamed and fell to the ground twitching from the rush of electricity in her nerves. Sandstorm flinched from the noise while Savage ran to Widgets aid.
“Sandy, check the crate. Tetanus, get your rotting flank over here.” Savage carefully picked the twitching mare up in his tendrils, the black appendages coiling around each other underneath Widget to form a living bed. Tetanus placed the water bottle back down in its crate and grumbled quietly as he made his way over to the injured mare. He looked down at her twitching form and huffed, getting both a glare from Widget and Savage.
“She will be fine, convulsions will stop once her system calms and no permanent damage is usually caused by shock grenades.” Was all Tetanus said before turning his back and going back to what little he had found. Sandstorm at the time had pushed the crate back up and had her head lowered to look through the cracks in the wood. The sky was dark and clouded so very little light had gotten through but the silver contents of the crate had Sandstorm wriggling with excitement.
“They are called Pulse grenades you idiot and there is a whole lot more than one. Best guess is there should be another seven in here if
the detonation of the first didn't damage any of the other ones.” The armed Pegasus almost began to giggle as she tried to pry open the wooden box.
“Hold on…” Savage mumbled. By now Widget had fallen still save for the steady rise and falling of her chest so he placed down the ash grey mare and took the crate away from Sandstorm. She snorted in disapproval but stared wide eyed at the bouncing metal rocks as Savage’s tentacles tore the crate’s lid off. Thankfully the pin in each one stayed firmly in its hole but four of the remaining pulse grenades were covered in black soot and a fifth had a jagged gash running through the side. Two however were not affected by the blast in any way and had kept their silver sheen.
“Savage, get the lids off any other crates you can find and tell me what’s in them. There might be a few more things we can use.” Carefully rolling the pulse grenades back to the crate, Sandstorm only placed the best two back inside while taking the soot covered (and most likely faulty) explosives and placing them on her back, clipped onto her barding.
As soon as Widget recovered enough to stand, the rest of the salvage went along without interruption. Three more crates had been broken into and three more weapons stashes had been found; one containing frag grenades, one frag mines and the last pulse mines. Golden had also picked out sack after sack and stacked them in the back of the wagon but without telling anyone what was actually inside. All added up, they had found four locked metal boxed and the small crate of clean water and enough explosives to bring down a small house, no problem.
“I think I got it all…” While the other four had climbed into or onto the wagon, Treasure poked her muzzle around what was being left behind. Empty tin cans, coffee mugs, a pipbuck. “Oh!” Treasure almost pounced on the arcane tech, scooping it up in her hooves with a gleeful squeak.
“Come on Goldy! We gotta get back to Dodge!” As the engine sputtered to life, another plume of dark smoke rising, Treasure had instead sat herself down on the road and tried to turn the small hoof device on, her eyes sparkling as the green screen buzzed and flickered. Only to shut off a moment later along with the wagons engine.
“Oh for bucks sake…” Sandstorm muttered under her breath as Widget looked back over her shoulder, laughing nervously.
“So… Who feels like pulling?”
Author's Note
Well after freaking out just a little bit... Here is chapter one. Probably has a few minor errors but it has been checked by myself and a few friends so hopefully nothing stands out. Of course, this was inspired by Kkat's original story. Things like a pegasus being in Dodge and what Savage actually is will be explained in a later chapter.
The sun had begun to set and even though it could not even be seen behind the grey cloud curtain, the lack of dim light was hindering the group’s already slow process. Pulling a wooden cart? Easy, any well sized pony could do it. Pushing a wooden cart reinforced with steel plating and a heavy propulsion device hidden in the front along a dirt road? That was painful.
“So… Freaking… Over this…” Savage panted. Because of his suction cupped appendages, the pale stallion had been placed out in front, his tendrils acting as reigns as he struggled to keep up a brisk trot. Using their heads to push from behind were Sandstorm and Tetanus, the mare had broken into a heavy sweat as the ghoulified stallion kept his gaze down, the fact that he wasn't technically alive helping his stamina.
“Hey I’m trying to fix it alright!?” Widget shouted from underneath the hood, her tail wrapped around a bar on the hood to keep herself in place. Treasure sitting in the driver’s seat and giggling as she made engine noises with her tongue.
“Well then fix is faster…” Sandstorm growled.
“Oh, oh… HOW ABOUT YOU FIX IT HUH!?” Pulling herself out from her work, Widget leaned over the side to glare at the swaying tail of Sandstorm, that being the only part of the pegasus she could actually see from the front of the wagon.
Before Sandstorm could give the repair pony a heated reply, Treasure cut in. “Hey, why are we letting Savage steer and stuff? I guess he is the strongest but… He can’t see where he is going…” Choosing to ignore the second half of what the golden unicorn had mentioned, Savage shook off his exhaustion and gave a lurch forwards, trying to put a sense of pride into his walk.
“The junk mare has a point.” Tetanus added gruffly, Widget snorting and going back to her work as Sandstorm sighed, tilting her head to look at the ghoul while avoiding a rock in her path.
“Main reason is he has built in ropes, meaning while we push he can keep us going in the right direction, unless….”
Savage tripped, falling into a hole caused by the explosion of a grenade or a rocket.
“BUCK!” He shouted, Treasure giggling madly and rolling back out of her chair and into the back of the wagon. Being forced to detach his tendrils, Savage curled up in ‘his’ hole and lay still, grumbling while the wagon rolled overhead.
“Unless he trips?” Tetanus smirked, already knowing the answer while he stopped to stare down at the pale stallion.
“Unless he trips…” Sandstorm added, frowning down at Savage.
“I thought you could smell what you were about to step in?” Tetanus asked, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
“I can't smell holes…” Savage grumbled, earning a snicker from Sandstorm. The khaki pegasus reached down with both fore hooves to pull savage back onto his own hooves and up out of the hole.
“Then what about the residue? Surely you could have picked that up.” Tetanus looked down at the blackened sides of the hole in the path as Savage rubbed the back of his head, the Pegasus mare batting at his nose.
“Maybe we just need to turn your sense of smell back on.” Sandstorm joked, the pale pony pushing her back a few steps and frowning.
“My sense of smell is fine, but something like that I have been able to smell for the last few days. I just thought it would be the raiders wasting their stashes again. They get bored, they blow stuff up. Even if that stuff is just a big pile of nothing…”
While the three talked behind the wagon, moving on to how Tetanus had no sense of smell, Hidden sat up on the wooden boarding of their vehicle and sighed heavily, rubbing the back of her head. She sat looked down at Widget, her mumblings mixed in with small electrical pops and zaps followed by a shower of sparks jumping from under the hood. Uninterested by what was going on either in front of her or behind, Treasure chose to instead to pick up the dead Pipbuck from where she had tossed it. The screen was dark and the power button unresponsive, it would have been worth a lot of caps or a lot of supplies if it worked but for now it was nothing more than trash.
“Hmm… Maybe if I could get the power matrix out or… use the screen as a light…” The golden mare turned the arcane device around and flipped it over but no matter what way she turned it, her skills were not high enough to disassemble the wrist band. And while Widget worked on the motor, there was not any other way to get it apart.
“Connect the cooling to… This, blue to blue and black to blank and… Got it!” The ash grey mare squeaked in surprise as the engine sparked to life. Savage sighed in relief as his tendrils fell from his back to drag along the ground, happy for the rest. Sandstorm, simply smiled before jumping up onto the side of their wagon and hooking her hoof into the railing to stay balanced. It did not take long for Savage to retake his earlier position.
“A little late but hopefully we should save another hour of trotting and ride back to Dodge.” Widget smiled in triumph at the others who returned her smile with polite ones of their own while she climbed into her driver’s seat. All but Tetanus who stood behind the wagon, eyes staring back into the darkening distance. Noticing the pause, Sandstorm looked back at the ghoul and then in the direction of his gaze. In the low light she guessed that the object of his stare was the gathering dust cloud in the distance.
“Winds are picking up?” The pegasus asked, her attention turning to Savage who had gone still, ears up and tendrils stuck to the side of the wagon. The frozen stallion gave Sandstorm a reason to worry, the ghoul twitched with enough speed that his legs might have snapped as he turned around to grab onto the wagon and heave his weight over the side and land into the back on the gathered supplies.
“RAIDERS!” Sandstorm and Savage shouted frantically and in union.
“Get us out of here!” Tetanus growled even as Widget slammed her hoof down, the metal wagon crawling forwards at first and slowly picking up speed. Snapping into action, Sandstorm threw herself into the wagon as Savage grabbed Treasure and pushed her into the front left corner.
“Tetanus! Stand behind Widget!” The pale stallion barked while his tendrils reached picked up one of the twelve frag mines. Sandstorm kicked out a section of the back of the wagon, stationing herself in the centre while pulling the firing mechanism of her battle saddle into her mouth.
By now the deranged screams and laughing of insane ponies came to echo through the air, unnerving Widget and scaring Treasure to the point she clapped her hooves down over her ears. Savage stood close behind Sandstorm and one by one, tossed the frag mines high into the air, each one of the deadly traps bouncing along the road and becoming active as they stopped. A heavy calibre bullet tore through the metal sheeting like it was paper, narrowly missing Tetanus and the mare behind him but causing both enough distress that Widget veered almost off the road, struggling to get back into the slow moving vehicle.
“Come on you stupid thing!” Widget whined, the added weight and poorly repaired engine slowing their speed down dramatically and allowing the raiders behind to gain ground with relative ease. Close enough now that their tattered bardings were in view against their dirty, grease covered coats. Sandstorm roared and opened fire, her dual assault rifles kicking back as round after round blasted forth out of the barrel to litter empty shell casings either on the road or into the wagon. A lot of the shots missed, only a few hitting their intended targets but as the frag mines left behind detonated with screams and clouds of red, it didn’t matter.
As good as that was, they were now closes enough to return fire. Small arms fire dented and bounced off of the reinforced wagon as Sandstorm dived to her right to reload, Savage going to the right, feeling around for the box of frags and again, grabbing four.
“I should retire, take up gardening!” Sandstorm shouted over the demented laughing and gunshots, Savage adding his own laugh to the mix.
“Garden what!? Radroaches!? You can’t even KEEP anything alive to begin with!” He shouted back as a red striped grenade bounced into the wagon only for his hoof to swing by and knock it back out in time for it to detonate and a raging fireball fill the air a meter off the ground.
“I would rather grow crap than be shot at!” Sandstorm rolled herself back into the centre while releasing a second volley from her saddle, this time three raiders took the shots directly to their skulls and collapsed while another two fell with bloodies holes in their fore hooves. That left thirteen more. Pulling the pins on each grenade, Savage rolled them off the wagon and ducked back down as shouts of warning called out, soon becoming muffled by explosions. Eight left.
Treasure crawled out from her corner and scooped the Pipbuck up while rolling back against the side of the wagon. Fighting terrified her and the device would serve as a distraction. She began to fiddle it but got the nervous glance of Widget. Sandstorm loaded in her third lot of rounds and leaned out into the open just in time to catch a trio of 10mm rounds to the side of her neck, falling back with a gurgled cry as the bullets ripped through the unarmoured part of her flesh.
“Tetanus!” Sandstorm cried as her back hit the wagon, her hoof shooting up to push down against the bloody holes. Each bullet had missed her throat and arteries but bleeding out was still a large possibility and not something the khaki pegasus planned on doing. While Savage pulled the back of the wagon back up and secured it in place to block any more shots, Tetanus jumped for the medical supplies, his earlier coldness fading as he tore a healing potion from the bag and uncorked the top, wasting no time in pouring the sour tasting liquid down into Sandstorms throat. She drank it greedily and in the end gasped for air as the three holes began to stitch together.
“Fresh meat!” One of the remaining raiders, a stallion unicorn with a snapped off horn leapt onto the side of the wagon and tried to claw his way inside but was met with a ripper blade carving its way through the side of his neck. Savage had pulled a pair of the vicious knives out of the supplies he and brought for himself and was now using them to keep any unwanted passengers out of the shaking vehicle.
“We need to slow the buckers down!” Sandstorm groaned, rolling back over into a sitting position and coughing into her hoof.
“Agreed…” Savage’s grip on the two chainsaw knives tightened as the stallion launched himself from the back of the wagon, fore hooves outstretched and tendrils swinging around to catch two raiders in the necks with the rippers and the back two sweeping under the legs of a second pair. Down to five raiders and in close combat, Savage growled and attacked another raider armed with a combat with the ferocity of a manticore, his hooves pinning the struggling opponent as the dual rippers were driven into his eye sockets.
Confusion swept through the stunned raiders, their pursuit ending and their attention shifting to Savage. Scrambling to her hooves, one of the ponies he had knocked over, a dirty earthpony mare, gripped a .32 revolver in her mouth and shot Savage in the side of his flank. As the bullet punched a small hole into the stallion, he hissed in pain and used his tendril to whip the weapon from her mouth. She opened her mouth to curse at the stallion but was hindered by an already bloodied ripper being jammed into the back of her throat, the grinding of the weapon overpowering her cry of agony as her body went limp. Three left.
Another shot, the same round that had blown a hole right through the wagon’s plating whizzed past Savage’s head, making him flinch not from the blur of its flight path but from the whistling sound it made as it brushed past his ear. The shot came from a bulky, scarred stallion. Whatever his raider barding didn't cover was either dirty or blood stained, hiding the true colour of his coat and giving it the look of muddy gore. The wounded stallion glared in his direction but that second of lost concentration allowed the remaining two smaller raiders to tackle him down, dusty hooves beating down on the mutant pony.
“Get off of him you bastards!” Assault rifles rattled and cracked as the two raiders atop Savage became riddled with bleeding holes, giving him a chance to push the dead weight off and roll away as the larger stallion raider brought his sniper rifle around to aim at his head.
“RAAGH!” Sandstorm screamed, galloping full speed and slamming herself into the raider. He grunted but soon went wide eyed as the Pegasus punched him multiple times in the throat before her guns tore through his chest and continued to click even after they were empty and the raider dead. Savage almost swung at the mare, believing her to be another raider but picked up on the faint, cleaner smell of his friend and smiled.
“Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes.” He joked, deactivating the rippers and standing himself back up, brushing a small collection of dirt off of his right shoulder. Sandstorm didn't answer, she lowered her head and panted but said nothing while she backed off of the bloody corpse underneath her hooves.
“So I live to fight another day thanks to my guardian-“
“Don’t…”
“Why not?”
“Just… Not in the mood…” Sandstorm whispered as Widget came up from behind, driving the wagon. Her nerves looked shot by the pale face and empty look in her eyes but physically she was fine. So was Treasure. Tetanus, like always. Was still dead.
Taking the hint, Savage fell silent and moved from raider to raider picking up anything of use, a pistol, a small SMG taking the same ammunition as the pistol, the revolver he had been shot with and the large sniper rifle that came with half a clip already loaded. Every other gun was either empty or almost empty, the raiders having no spare clips on them.
“That’s… Weird…” Savage mumbled, placing each of the weapons into the wagon while Sandstorm quietly climbed on.
“Maybe the ammo for them is in the locked boxes we found? Those raiders could’a been the ponies that ate those other ones at the caravan.” Hidden Treasure added, looking a little worried at the bleeding hole in Savage’s flank.
“Only way to find out is get back to town.” Sandstorm added in as Savage grunted, dropping to his knees. Tetanus took out a second of the health potions and gave it a small toss to savage who caught it in his tendril and wasted no time in drinking the contents. Discarding the empty bottle, he climbed into the wagon alongside Sandstorm and nodded to Widget who coughed and turned the wagon around, starting back towards the town.
* * *
The journey back was quiet, awkward and the bumps of the road made even more uncomfortable from the added weight of what the group had found. It had grown dark and the only lights were the pony made lights from Dodge Junction, the moon hidden and kept black from above the clouds. Widget slowed down and angled her horn up, it glowed a pale white for a few seconds before sending out a small sparkling flare, a return green flare being sent up and over from behind the gate which began to slide open.
“We should probably try to get some sleep… Turn in what we found to Hopper tomorrow.” Sandstorm stood up as their transportation rolled into Dodge, turning down the road and heading towards and old barn that had been turned into a garage.
“Agreed. We could all use the rest.” Tetanus huffed, getting a glance from Savage and Treasure.
“You sleep?” The golden mare asked curiously.
“At times, doesn't everyone?”
“I just… Cause you're a ghoul… Um…” The small mare trailed off and lowered her head, backing back into the corner of the wagon as the rotting stallion rolled his eyes. Widget stopped the wagon just outside of the barn’s double doors and looked back over her shoulder.
“Alright guys, everyone off. Anything that you wanna take I would do it now but more you take, less we get paid.” As she talked, a pair of the clean bottles of water floated out from their box to hover beside the mechanic as everyone but Tetanus took a single bottle for themselves. Other than that, Sandstorm was the only one to take anything else, the remaining four frag grenades to add beside the damaged pulse grenades she had already taken. Nothing else being said, the two mares and stallions disembarked in their own directions, leaving Widget to take care of the wagon.
Sandstorm resisted the urge to bite into the side of her bottle as she trotted home. Pure water was a rarity compared to the irradiated water that was consumed on a daily basis. Of course the town had a purifying plant but that only lowered the radiation to tolerable levels that did nothing for the taste.
“Wonder what would happen if I crushed up some Mint-als into powder and mixed that into the water… Might make the taste better… Or worse…” The pegasus thought, sighing in exhaustion. Now was not the time to think on how to make better tasting water, but the random thoughts kept her mind from going to places she purposely kept it away from. She had been stuck on a wagon with at least two ponies she despised, a small mare that bugged her at any given chance and a stallion that continued to give her every smart comment that came to mind. Sandstorm stopped outside the door to her small shack and smiled, the bottle in her muzzle hiding most of it but to any who could see, it was still a smile.
Entering her small home, Sandstorm was met with the familiar aroma of dirty clothes, bedding and large amounts of dust. Nothing else ever made her feel more relaxed. She placed the bottle of water down on her shelf, stripping free from her barding soon after. While the barding itself and the guns on the underlying straps were stuffed into her locker, the two sets of explosives were carefully placed on the shelf besides the water in two neat rows. Sandstorm looked at the weapons, wondering if they were safe to leave but soon shook her head and grabbed the bottle back on her teeth, just about to slump down into the single pony mattress as a hoof knocked on her door.
“Oh hor huss sahes….” The Pegasus grumbled, spitting the bottle out onto the floor and irritated, opened the door inwards, being met with the sight of a frowning Savage, his tendrils tucked in by his sides.
“… What?” Sandstorm asked after staring at him for a few moments.
“Can I come in?” Something in his voice hinted at worry, the khaki coated Pegasus closing her eyes and sighed heavily. She stepped to the side and lowered her head down, shutting the door when Savage’s hooves clopped along the steel floor.
“Can't I just get one night to relax, no worries no… Hang on…” Loosing herself to thought, Sandstorm failed to notices the black tendrils coiling around her back hooves until they had reached far around her hips and up towards her midsection. The warm, smooth limbs gave her a sense of both safety and fear. She shivered.
“Savage, let go before I- Mmph…” The tip of a third placed itself over Sandstorm’s muzzle, effectively muting her as the forth pushed up into her chest and in doing so, slowly lifted the annoyed mare up off the floor.
“Calm down Sandy.” Savage cooed softly, his tendrils gently setting her down on the mattress and uncoiling from her hooves as she growled into the one against her muzzle. Not taking the hint of the mare’s aggravation levels rising or more likely just not caring, Savage sat down beside her, taking away the last tendril.
“One day I will cut them off and use them to tie-”Again the pegasus was interrupted, this time by a nuzzle on the cheek.
“I get it I get it, you hate them touching you. I would like to know why but not here for that. More worried on if you are alright or not. You did get shot. Again. Three times.” Savage reached over to place a hoof on where three new scars had made their home under Sandstorm’s coat. The mare moved to slap him only to have her hoof stop a few inches from his cheek and drop back to the bed as she not only looked away from the stallion but also flattened her ears against the sides of her head.
“I know stallions like mares with a bit of a backbone and scruff Sandy but soon enough there will be more scars than mare.” Savage took his hoof away and chuckled, His tendril reaching around to caress Sandstorm’s cheek and tenderly tilt her head back in his direction.
“Ever tried dodging?”
“Little hard to dodge bullets, Squiddy.” Sandstorm smirked, hoping to get the same reaction out of him that he usually got from her after so many annoying nicknames. To her dismay, Savage chuckled.
“Granted, that it is. But as a pegasus you should naturally have a good level of agility, even without your wings. You aren't a sturdy as an earthpony to try to avoid taking hits. You will last longer that way.” Savage reached forwards to tap the centre of her forehead. “You are also lacking a horn, so shielding is out of the question.”
Sandstorm snorted softly, knocking his hoof away with her own. “I had wings long ago and might as well be an earthpony. I have learnt to keep up with them all my life, how to power on through my problems, not weave my way ‘gracefully’ through them.” The mare gazed down to the mattress and frowned.
Savage sighed in slight irritation as two of his tendrils found themselves attached to the mare’s cheeks and lifting her head back up.
“Look, either you learn to dodge or I will force you to stay in Dodge until I find a way to stop you from getting so many injuries.” He would have been glaring at her if he was not lacking eyes, but the commanding tone in his voice was clear enough.
“Oh yeah? And how do you think you are going to keep me here? Tie me to a pole? Tape me to the wall? Oh, what about locking me in a closet?” Sandstorm tried to pull the tendril off of her left cheek with both hooves, grunting as her coat began to tear free, causing her to give up.
“No, Like so.” The second set of tendrils shot out to wrap around the mare and ignoring her yelp of protest, pulled her forwards into a tight hug involving the stallion’s forehooves. The pegasus swore and struggled but to no avail. The khaki mare fell still and sighed heavily before her head fell limp against his shoulder.
“Thanks for giving a damn… But you really gotta stop this…”
“Afraid that the mare you hid away is still in you somewhere?”
“That part of me was a weakness and will sooner or later get someone killed…”
“I am still here.”
“Minus your eyes and parts of your humanity…”
“But I am still here.” Detaching one tendril from her face, Savage ran the appendage down through her mane and let go of a sigh of his own as Sandstorm slowly but surely returned the hug, nuzzling her head into the side of his neck.
“But you are still here…” She repeated in a cracked voice. She wanted to remain there for as long as pony possible, to just escape the day to day life and sit in peace with the stallion. But even a bit of silence was too good to last long.
Savage flicked his head around back to the door as a high pitched whistling, quiet at first, gradually and alarmingly grew louder. It was not long before Sandstorm noticed it too. Wasting no time, the stallion released the mare and hastily trotted out of the door and onto the street. While Sandstorm moved to the doorway and gazed up into the dark sky, Savage moved his head around, sniffing at the air while his ears moved like small radars.
“It is probably just Widget or one of the guards, Savage. Things like this always.” Each of the stallion’s tendrils slammed forwards into her chest, knocking the startled mare back into the hatch. She opened her mouth to scream, not for the sudden attack but at the sight of a single missile slam into the ground right between her and Savage.
The world moved in slow motion as the black tendrils disappeared in a plume of smoke and fire moments before gunshots and zaps filled the town, all that was left for Sandstorm however, was for her head to smack against the wall of her steel shack and her body to fall unconsciously to the floor.
Author's Note
Ugh, Shorter than the first but I tried to make it a little more interesting. If anypony is actually reading this, I thank you for taking the time to read it and ask if you could leave a comment ^^ And when i say comment I mean to help not be a troll...
