Fallout: Stupidity

Chapter Two

A New... Dawn?

"If God had wanted you to live, he would not have created me!"

Five years later

I had watched the Megaspells slaughter every last semblance of life in Equestria. I had seen the pegasi close up the sky, draping the Equestrian Wasteland with a grayish light instead of the typical clear sunshine. Various denizens of the Wasteland had stolen all of my weapons, believing that I was dead. I couldn't speak, so their beliefs were nearly correct. Celestia and Luna had put up a massive shield over Canterlot, keeping it protected from the Zebra onslaught. After a short time, I saw the shield slowly turn bright pink. It wasn't a change in magic. There was some kind of gas inside it.

Then, in an instant, I felt a twitch in my right leg.

What the hell? Am I... moving again?

I rose to my feet and felt my spine crack loudly, looking around me at the horrifically poisoned world that had once been Equestria. The skeleton of a unicorn sat on the ground next to me, a box laying beside it with a note that read, "Open this when you get it. -Twilight".

"I wonder what's in here." I pulled the box's lid off, revealing a small sleeve made from an unusual material that looked almost like plastic. A light green screen covered part of the object. There was an inscription on its side.

"PipBuck MK. 3000. The vital tool of any Wastelander!

Copyright of Stable-Tec Industries."

I looked back at the box. Inside was an instruction manual, likely for the PipBuck.

"Let's see..." I followed the directions and fixed the machine to my wrist. It automatically powered itself on, showing me a long message.

Greetings, Stable Dweller!

If you are reading this, then you have officially recieved your standard issue Stable-Tec PipBuck 3000 MK. V. This also means that you have finally gained your cutie mark, and you will be assigned a job within your Stable shortly. The PipBuck 3000 MK. V has a large variety of useful features, including a flashlight, inventory organizer, radiation detector, and a radio, pre-tuned to your Stable's broadcast frequency. We give you the best of wishes in your survival.

Sincerely,

Stable-Tec

I plugged the included earbloom into the PipBuck, hearing an all too familiar voice.

"Hello?" Twilight called. "Is anypony out there? My name is Twilight Sparkle. Myself and the rest of the Elements of Harmony are safe inside of Stable X, but a dear friend of ours sacrificed himself to save us. Many of you may know who I'm talking about. The Savior of Equestria, Arrick. If you're listening to this, find Stable X and Arrick. He can open the door for you and give you shelter.

Arrick, if you're listening, then I assume you got the PipBuck I sent you. Open the Stable door as soon as possible!"

The message began to repeat. I toyed with the frequency, finding another radio station.

"Good evening, children. This is your faithful pal, DJPon3. My assistant went out for a while and brought me some records she found. Here's the newest addition to the Wasteland Radio, "Ain't Love A Buck to The Head?", by Deuce Domino!"

"Was that... Vinyl? I need to find out where this signal is coming from. But first up is getting this damn door opened."

I instinctively reached to my back, before I remembered that my Blades of Exile had been stolen by a hellhound two years ago.

"Do I still have my powers?" I focused on lightning coursing through my body. Nothing. I decided to start pushing on the door with all my strength, but to no avail.

"Maybe there's something around here I can use." I opened the barn door, finding a complete and utter stockpile of weapons. Clearly, the defense system had kept anyone from breaking into here.

Which meant that I was next.

"Oh, shit!" I dove out of the way before the turret could start shooting at me, picking up a somewhat heavy shotgun and unloading it towards the robotic death machine. Only a small amount of the spread hit my target.

Wait. S.A.T.S.!

My knowledge of Fallout: Equestria is really coming in handy.

I pressed a few buttons on my PipBuck. Time slowed down for a brief period, allowing me to strike the turret with practically surgical precision. I had switched from the shotgun to a pair of revolvers, finding them to be much more accurate. A shower of sparks exploded from the turret, allowing me to continue my search. I decided to pick up a few of the weapons, carrying the two pistols, a shotgun, and a sniper rifle. Finally, my quest found victory.

In the form of a crate filled with grenades.

"Jackpot!" I dragged the crate outside, pulling a gun from it and firing a few grenades at the Stable door. Surprisingly enough, they didn't do anything more than dent it.

Well, ain't this just fine and dandy?

I bolted back to the barn, finding a large rocket launcher. Immediately, I pulled the trigger, sending an exploding tube of destruction at the rock I had sealed the door with.

"Yes!" I just barely managed to squeeze through the opening, and my weapons made it a lot harder.

"You better turn around right now, punk." a blue pegasus held a pistol to my eye, ready to shoot me if need be.

"I'm sorry, but that's just not possible. Where's Twilight?"

"You mean my mother?" he bit his tongue in anger. "I'm not telling you."

"Mother!? How did she have a foal? There were only mares in here when I locked the door!"

"Locked the door? You're Arrick?"

"Yes! I was trying to tell you that! Now where's Twilight and the others?" he pointed to a silver door behind him.

"Thanks. What's your name, kid?"

"First of all, I'm not a kid. I'm technically twenty-four. My name is Jet Stream."

"Interesting name."

I inserted a small cord into the door, unlocking it with ease. Twilight and the Elements sat in a circle, quietly conversing with each other.

"Twi?" I tapped her shoulder, making the mare stagger in fear. She smiled at me for a moment before breaking free of her stupor.

"Arrick!" she jumped up from the floor, wrapping her forelegs around my neck.

"How's it goin'?"

"Pretty well, thanks to you! Although, I did have to use some... embarrassing magic to create our foals in case we needed a second generation in here."

"Speaking of which, your son almost killed me a minute ago."

"Yeah, he's a bit of a fighter. Takes after his mom."

"What?"

"Rainbow Dash, not me."

"Oh.

Hang on. Foals? Like, with an S?"

"The others are in the next room."

"... I'll be right back."

I strolled forward into what I assumed was their foals' home, where three large beds sat in a semi-circular organization. In one was a white unicorn with a nearly platinum blonde mane and a cutie mark of a crystal apple. She looked up at me, seeming quite confused.

"Hi." I said flatly. The filly just stared at me.

"You okay?"

"W-Who.... who are you?"

"I'm Arrick. Don't worry, I'm your parents' friend. I'm not gonna hurt you." I smiled warmly, letting her ease back into her former demeanor.

"My name's Amber Gala, but everypony just calls me Amber." I shook her hoof with my hand. She stood up, lifting a bottle of Sparkle-Cola with her light purple magic field. I noticed that she was a lot taller than Jet Stream. Maybe she was older, too?

"Where's the other foal?" I asked Amber curiously.

"He's in here." she pulled a string with her telekinesis, turning on a massive lamp that practically covered the entire ceiling. A butter-yellow earth pony rose from one of the other beds, his dark pink mane draping over his eye.

"Somethin' wrong, Amber?" he asked. "Why'd you turn the light on? I was tryin' to sleep."

"You do that all the time, Berry Blitz. I think you can live without a few minutes of unconsciousness."

"Whatever." he sighed, climbing out of his bed and walking up to me.

"Who's this dude?" Berry Blitz looked at me in confusion for a moment, while I simply waved at him awkwardly.

"Name's Arrick. I'm the one that sealed the Stable door a while back."

"Sweet. I can't even tell you how awesome you are."

Seems like my kinda colt. Does that make me a narcissist?

"Welp," Berry stretched for a second, "I got sleep t' catch up on!" he flopped back into his bed, completely ignoring Amber's exasperated groan.

"If he would just get out of that stupid bed for ten minutes..." Amber whispered to herself, shaking her head in disappointment. I strolled back into the previous room, sitting down next to Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Twilight," I said curiously, "how is it that I'm even still alive? I mean, I was sitting completely still for five years straight. I shoulda died of hunger or thirst way before now."

"What do you mean by sitting still?"

"I forgot about the new defense system in the barn, so when I tried to climb up to get some Rad-Away, I was shot by a bunch of poison darts. They basically paralyzed me for half a decade. I ended up watching everything, from Canterlot being destroyed to the pegasi closing the sky. Plus, all my weapons were stolen, and for some reason, I can't use my powers anymore."

"Canterlot fell!?"

"The pegasi closed the sky!?"

"Yeah. Celestia and Luna put up a shield over Canterlot to keep it safe from the Megaspells, but then out of nowhere, it starts turning pink. After the shield dropped, I realized that it was some kind of Megaspell that had been set off underneath the city. Then, after a couple years, the pegasi put a cloud cover overtop of the entire Wasteland. I don't think anyone's seen sunlight in years. But, I thought of some things. However, they're simply based on something I remember from back on Earth. It was a lot like this, so I might be able to plan a good amount of really important stuff.

Rainbow Dash, how'd you like to help me steal a flying tank?"

"You mean... from the Enclave?"

"Yep."

"I dunno about that. I mean, the Enclave has the entire sky patrolled constantly by elite soldiers. It'd be suicide to go up there, much less steal something from them."

"That's why I have an idea. I'll need to do some research first, though."

"What would that entail?" Twilight asked me eagerly.

"First, I need to go to the Everfree Forest, then to New Appleloosa."

"There's a New Appleloosa?"

"Hopefully. Also, I'm going to need your help. There'll definitely be a requirement for your magic skills."

"When are you leaving?"

"As soon as possible.

Hey, did anyone else notice that weird clicking noise? It's getting really annoying."

"I heard that too..." Rarity noted, looking for its source.

"Hang on." I realized.

"It's my PipBuck!" I moved it around, trying to see where the clicking became strongest, but it never changed.

"I think it's coming from me!"

"Stand still for a second." Twilight instructed, wrapping me in a magic field.

"What did you say happened after you closed the door again?"

"The poison darts paralyzed me, and I essentially watched the end of the world as we know it."

"I have a theory as to why you're giving off this strong of a signal.

Your body's been nearly infused with radiation from the amount of time you spent near it. Apparently, the overwhelming strength and paralytic effects of the poison put you into a strange form of stasis, which explains why you're alive."

"So I am radioactive." I smiled at my semi-intentional reference. "And there's no way to purge it from my body?"

"I could, but if I used the spell, there's a large chance that you'll die."

"I think I can deal with this for now." I chuckled for a second, finding it a bit refreshing.

"Okay. By the way, are you going to be ready to leave tomorrow?"

"Actually, I've got some things to do that'll probably take me about two days. I'll be back in a couple hours."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to go out there alone?"

"Don't worry, Twi. I can handle myself just fine, even without my powers."

I crawled back through the hole, reloading my pistols in the process. I was only partially prepared for what awaited me.

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Night Visions - Your body itself is radioactive, allowing your vitality to regenerate faster when you are near sources of various toxins.