Fallout: Equestria - Wildfire

With a grunt and a bit of pain in my rear, I was forced into a chair opposite a scarred stallion that looked around my age. He took one look at me, noticed my obvious expression of confusion and nervousness, and snorted. “So you’re the arsonist we’ve been looking for? Should’ve guessed it’d be some sissy cunt.” He thinks I’m a what?

“Now hold on one moment,” I leaned forward, the metal cuffs around my forehooves jingling a bit as I did so. “I don't know who you think I am-”

“You know very well that we know who you are, don’t play dumb with us!” The stallion slammed his hooves down on the table. This guy clearly had some issues. I began to speak, but was almost instantly cut off once again. “Our president has worked very hard to build a stable community in our beloved city, and it’s shits like you that think it’s fun to fuck it all up!” However, I wasn’t going to simply take it this time.

“MY NAME IS EMBER BLAZE AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET MY LITTLE BROTHER AND GO THE FUCK HOME!” My sudden raise in volume seemed to take the stallion by surprise. “I’M FROM STABLE 33 IF YOU COULDN’T TELL FROM MY DAMN BARDING!”

After my outburst, I sat there panting heavily for a few moments before feeling a sharp pain in the back of my head. I blacked out for a moment as my muzzle slammed into the table. The feel of warm liquid and aching pain in my nose indicating I’d hit the metal surface hard.

As my vision was still returning, I felt the chair I was in get kicked over. My shoulder slammed into the concrete floor.

“Shut up!” He shouted. “Your lies are useless here! Now, tell us where your rebel friends are hiding! With the jobs you’ve pulled off, there’s no fucking way a bitch like you was working alone!”

“Like I said, I’m not-” Whatever words I was about to say were cut short as I felt a hoof impact against my ribs hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

“The next words out of your muzzle better be the location of your little hideout, or we’ll start removing things.” The scarred shithead said in an unnervingly calm tone. Having the shit kicked out of me made me realise that there was no way I’d get out of this, and with the threat of parts of me being removed?

I laid there coughing as I fought to get my breath back, my aching ribs either broken or at the very least bruised. “I-I told you…”

Another kick to my chest, a cracking feeling and searing pain rippled through my torso. It caused me to scream out in pain, only nothing came out from the lack of air in my lungs. The room went quiet around me aside from the muffled shouts of the pony beating the shit out of me. Before my vision faded, I saw the door open and a blurred shape barge in followed by more shouting. The pain and lack of air became too much, and I finally blacked out.

With a groan, I slowly opened my eyes. The bright sun shown in through a window next to the bed I was in. The terrible pain in my chest and muzzle were only a dull ache now, and when I shifted a bit, there was no stabbing sensation. As I sat up, I looked myself over. My barding had been removed and folded neatly at the end of the bed, my saddlebag and quiver combo hung off of a hook on the wall, and my crossbow and revolver were laying on a table a few feet away, glinting in the sunlight as if they were brand new. As expected, I was confused. Last thing I remembered, I was getting the shit kicked out of me by two ponies.

A mare with a long golden mane and bright blue eyes walked into the room and gasped. “Mon dieu, he’s awake!” The mare exclaimed as she rushed to my bedside, pressing a gentle hoof against my chest and pushing me back down. “Yu need tu ztay in ze bed, Monsieur.”

With a grunt, I flattened myself back on the bed. “Ugh...who are you? Where am I?” Confusion as well as thoughts of what was happening before I blacked out consumed my mind.

“Yu are in ze Prezeedent’s ‘ouse, Monsieur. I am Zouthern Zong.” The mare explained calmly, a warm smile on her muzzle.

I blinked at her for a moment, thinking of how a Pony could have such a name until my brain realised it was probably just her thick accent. After a few seconds of thinking, I spoke. “Southern Song? And what do you mean I’m in the President’s house? I was just in an interrogation room…”

Southern Song winced as I mentioned the interrogation room. “Monsieur, you’ve been zleeping for a ‘ole day...after what zey did tu yu.”

I frowned. “A day? Damnit…”

Southern nodded. “Oui, zey did quite a bit of damage tu yu. Luckily ze Colonel ztepped in and put zose zoldiers in zeir place.”

This Colonel stepped in and saved me? I should thank him later… I thought to myself as I laid there.

The wooden door that Southern Song had entered through opened once again. A burly looking stallion in a fancy buttoned up uniform jacket stepped in, his neatly combed short scarlet mane shining a bit in the sunlight, indicating a layer of mane gel had been applied.

“Didn’ ah tell ya he’s a fighter? Ah say, y’all had us worried there, mah boy!” He said in a rather charismatic tone.

As I noticed the stallion entering behind him, my jaw dropped. “S-Stalker?!” I half-shouted, sitting up rapidly and startling Southern Song a bit.

Stalker, who was now wearing a uniform longcoat with many medals on it smirked at me. “Hey kid. I knew you had the same flame burning within.”

The burley stallion looked between the two of us. “Hoho! So y’all know each other after all! Ah say, ah had a hunch, seein’ as Colonel Stalker here said y’all were from tha same Stable, but a Stable’s a big place!”

Stalker simply chuckled and shook his head. “Ember and I don’t know each other that well, but his little brother did frequently listen to my stories.” Stalker simply paused for a moment. “Speaking of, someone’s here to see you.”

The old stallion stepped aside and the first thing to meet my sight was a messy peanut butter brown mane and two different colored eyes.

“Brother!” Charcoal shouted happily as he galloped over and leapt onto the bed, right onto my aching chest. I didn’t care about the discomfort as I wrapped my hooves around my little brother. Tears started forming in my eyes and I held him tightly.

“Charcoal, you had me so worried...never run off like that again!” I half-sobbed.

“I_I won’t, I promise! B-but…” Charcoal pulled away from the hug a little bit. “We aren’t...we aren’t going back, are we?”

My heart sank as a look of sadness spread across his little face. I simply sighed. “We have to, buddy. Our place is in the Stable, not out here.”

My brother pushed himself from my hooves and hopped off the bed. “B-but I don’t wanna!”

Before I could say anything in response, the burley scarlet-maned stallion spoke up. “Ah say, yer brother has a point. Our great Mustangia might be a beautiful place ta be, but it’s dangerous fer young’uns like yerself.”

Charcoal looked up at the stallion. “B-but Mister Sydney, didn’t you say you were working hard to make it a safe place?” Wait, Sydney? This was Sydney Jack, President of this Confederacy?

Sydney Jack simply chuckled. “Right ya are, Charcoal! But that’ll take some time. Besides! Yer brother came all this way, facing hell n’ high water. Y’all can see how much he loves ya!” The President smiled and looked at me. “But I must insist y’all stay fer dinner at least! Yer mah guests afterall, and ya can’t travel on empty bellies!”

“Alright, we can stay for one more day.” While I wasn’t keen on wasting anymore time, he had a point. The last time I set out without food or anything, I ended up collapsing and nearly ending my journey right there.

“Yay! ” While Charcoal didn’t like the idea of going home, he was overjoyed to hear that we’d at least be waiting one more day before going home. “I’ll go tell Little Talks!”

I blinked once again. “Little Talks? The filly I heard over the radio?”

Southern Song smiled at me and nodded. “Oui, she iz my little zister.”

“So you’re the mare who was singing over the radio, then? You have a great voice.” I said with a smile, eliciting a blush from her.

Sydney Jack audibly cleared his throat “While this were a pleasant meetin’, Miss Song’s got a performance comin’ up!” He gave her a rather dark look, to which Southern lost her smile slightly and nodded. As she got up, I noticed a few bruises once hidden behind her mane and.

In putting two and two together, I started to dislike Sydney.

When Southern Song said house, I thought of something in similar size to the shop that Joker had back in Junction 33. The grand foyeur of their large manor was at least twice the size of the apartment Charcoal and I have back in Stable 33.

An old, yet well taken care of chandelier hung over a grand staircase, the railings of which had wooden carvings of the Goddesses, standing tall and proud. A blue carpet draped over the wooden stairs connected with the one in the hallway I’d just left that lead to the front double doors. Several zebra mares in what I assumed we're maid outfits moved around the large room, cleaning vases and watering potted plants. As I took in the sight, my muzzle hung open in awe that something like this could exist in the wasteland.

After slowly moving down the large staircase, I heard the sound of a colt’s laughter coming from outside the front doors. My horn lit up as I slowly pushed the doors open, only to be met with the largest front yard I could ever imagine. It was at least the size of Stable 33’s Apple Orchard. A long brick road stretched from the manor to a gated fence at the far end of the yard.

The source of the laughter was soon made apparent when Charcoal ran by. He was chasing a pitch black filly with a short, pink mane, and the wings on her sides indicated that she was a pegasus. A smile crested my muzzle as I watched the two of them play, my mind drifting back to the many times I came home to find Charcoal having pretend adventures with his friends.

Charcoal finally managed to catch the speedy filly and the two of them tumbled through the grass, laughing and giggling “Gotcha!” My brother shouted with glee. “You’re it!”

The two of them continued to play as I simply watched. It may have been a good idea for me to go restock for the journey home, but that could wait. After the hellish past few days I had, a small moment of rest like this should be cherished.

I heard the door open and close behind me, the voice of Sydney following after. “Ah say, ain’t it grand ta see this nation’s future play free’a tha harshness’a tha wasteland?”

Without turning to look at him I simply nodded. “Yeah, Charcoal really likes it out here…” I continued to watch the two play, a small feeling of guilt building within my stomach from knowing I had to take him back to the Stable. Away from all of this freedom.

A firm and heavy hoof was placed on my shoulder, finally causing me to turn to face the President. “Ah say, y’all’r more than welcome ta stay! Iffin yer concern be about his safety, ain’t no place safer’n this here city!” Sydney flashed his bright white grin in my face. “Bein’ tha President o’ this fine nation, ah can set ya an’ yer brother up with a nice home.”

I blinked. “But earlier you agreed with me, said we should both go back to the Stable.” Shaking my head, I gently pushed his hoof off of my shoulder. “Sorry, no thanks. Our place is back in 33.”

Sydney’s grin disappeared for a moment before returning. “Ah understand, mah boy! Tho, y’all can’t stay underground ferever! See, ah gots a proposition fer ya that ah think we both might like…”

I didn’t like where this was going, but after all he’d done for my brother and I… “Alright, let’s hear it.” I said warily.

“Well, tha only part o’ Mustangia I ain’t been able ta bring inta tha fold, is Juncion 33 an’ that there Stable o’ yers...Stalker’s been tryin’ ta help with it, ta bring everypony tagether, but he ain’t been havin’ much luck on his own.”

Letting out a soft sigh, I looked him in the eyes. “You want me to help convince the Junction and my Stable’s Overmare to join you? That’ll never work. I’m just a boiler pony, nothing special.”

Sydney Jack laughed at my words, causing me to frown slightly. “Mah boy, iffin’ you ain’t nothin’ special, then how’d ya go through hell’n high water ta get yer brother back? In mah books, that takes a special pony right there, it does!”

“But-”

“Ah say, not just anypony can survive tha wild frontier out there!” Instead of giving me that flashy grin, Sydney gave me a genuine smile this time. When he put his hoof on my shoulder, it wasn’t firm and heavy like before...it was light and gently.

Charcoal ran up to me with the filly he’d been chasing. “Ember! Ember! This is Little Talks! She’s super cool!”

Sydney chuckled and looked at me. “Think on it, Ember. Might be better fer yer brother.” With that, he turned and walked away, giving me something more to think about.

Putting it out of my mind for the moment, I put on a grin and looked at Charcoal and Little Talks. “So, I guess you like cooties now?”

Charcoal’s face went bright red under his black coat and Little Talks giggled, covering her muzzle with one of her wings as she glanced sidelong at Charcoal. In response to my comment, he simply kicked my foreleg in frustration.

Little Talks and I laughed at Charcoal’s expense, though my laughter died down the moment I saw one of the Zebra maids wander the lawn. Something metal with a red blinking light caught my attention, as it poked out slightly from under her collar.

--Chapter End--

“Out of chaos, order arises.”

Quests Finished: none

Quests Started: Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Levels Earned: 3 → 4

Perks Earned: Weathered - +5 [Survival, Poison Resistance and Radiation Resistance] per rank. Mastery: 5 extra points in Survival and both resistances.