Ch.1
“I've got sunshine enough to spread
It's just like the fella said
Tell me quick ain't love like a kick in the head?”
Deformed ponies clawed forward on half-torn legs and shattered hooves, gasping as they made their way towards the portal that offered them solace, toward the lone figure that stood in their way. Wordlessly, the stallion donned his environmental protection suit helmet and stepped through as the Stable Tech brand stable door began to close. He faced forward and bit his cheek - drawing blood - to give himself another reason to cry. Nothing, however, could block out the sickening squishing and cracking noise as four tons of metal liquified all skin and flesh trapped between it. All was quiet - no more blaring alarms or gasping, gurgling, mutated throats - aside from the young stallion’s tears. The blank flank turned as he heard the sound of soft scratching.
Vibrant Affliction Jolted upright, tossing his hemp blanket aside and gripping his gun tightly. The feeling of the heavy metal against his rapidly rising and falling chest comforted him, like a sadistic teddybear. Wordlessly, he stood and donned his armor before exiting the small cave he called home and trotting down through the wasteland night sky to the lone water line he used for drinking water. After checking the horizon he dipped his head and had a drink, trying to shake the nightmares from his mind.
Once Vibrant was stable, he pulled the Stable-Tech pipbuck from his bags and flipped through it. The parts that weren’t damaged - map, radio, date, time, and note holder - had proven to be a lot of use to the lone blank flank. They kept him organized. They probably kept him sane, but he doubted the word applied to him anymore. He flipped through his many notes, one for each day since he had found the damned thing.
Working the controls with his hooves, the earth pony managed to key in the information from his latest nightmare, taking care to get everything in detail. He dated the note and saved it before hobbling back up the rocky slope, fixing the rotting wooden door to his hole before entering and taking a look at everything he had - one Stable-Tech survival sleeping bag (he had found it in the back of a Super Quick-ee Mart, along with a couple of bottles of Sparkle-cola), one Ironshod “Your Gun And You!” gun cleaning manual (he hadn’t gotten a chance to use that, as he lacked the supplies), four empty bottles, a dead fireplace, four days worth of firewood (painstakingly scavenged from all over the desert) and a mostly-destroyed striped scarf.
Vibrant grinned happily, picking the scarf up and wrapping it ‘expertly’ around his neck… and muzzle… and eyes… before beginning to pack. His bottles were smashed and the glass was put into two small packs he set aside before placing everything else in a hemp saddlebag. Last but not least, he picked up his hunting rifle, slinging it over his shoulder and heading for the door again. With one last glance he looked back and bit his lip, before slamming the door again and hurriedly galloping down the stone path.
~
Vibrant Affliction stood atop of the rusted, metal autocarriage, hopping on it here and there as he looked for anything he could use. When he lept on the back the trunk popped open, tossing him off into the dusty desert floor. After scrambling to his hooves, Vibrant looked in, grinning and pulling out a pre-war bonnet that was still surprisingly usable and hopping off down the baking, cracked pre-war highway. The pipbuck in his bags chortled out a muffled “Hey there Miss Derpy” as he carried on, thankful for his new hat, and liking the fact that it kept the cruel sun from attacking his eyes.
A dark shadow fell over Vibrant, but passed. Looking up, he saw a balefire phoenix searching for prey in the afternoon sunlight. He waved casually before looking around and whipping out his rifle to take a few shots at a gecko, spending two of his thirty bullets before walking over and beginning to skin it. Tonight he would make the meat into jerky. Now, all he needed was some water.
The blank flank noticed a large, fat cactus gord and snuck over, poking it with the knife he used to skin the gecko, and watched as a drop of water trailed down the edge of his blade, dropping into the hot sand with a sizzle. He took out the only bottle he had not smashed and cut a small hole in the slop of the cactus’ keg-like structure, getting about half a bottle’s worth of juice before trotting along again.
Suddenly three things happened. Vibrant’s pipbuck began to chirp loudly as it intersected another pip buck’s radio signal, there came a crack like thunder, and Vibrant Affliction felt a sharp kick to his head before everything went black.
Vibrant
Sex appeal: You’ve got the “Right” stuff!
Lone Wanderer: You’re not like other ponies. You prefer to work alone
Blank flank: You haven’t found your special talent yet
Ch.2
“To the town of Appaloosa came a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business no one dared to make a slip
For the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip”
The colt adjusted his baseball cap and sat beside his father’s desk in the lab, waiting patiently for his father to finish working on the blue matter fusion reactor. He leaned back and nearly fell over when she walked in. She was gorgeous, a picture of beauty worth more than a thousand words. Her long, flowing mane coiled and bounced with every step her hooves made, and she approached with a rhythmic shake to her flanks.
Vibrant Affliction opened his eyes slowly and rolled onto his stomach, then attempted to get up. This maneuver was interrupted by a sharp spike of pain to his head that sent him slamming back into the mottled and torn hospital mattress.
“Shit!” a female voice came from behind him, causing him to leap out of the bed - curling and clenching his head with a grunt of extreme pain once he landed. “No no no no shit! don’t move!” a pure white griffon came around the bed and tried to help him back into it “And next time don’t wear homemade armor! it makes you look like a goddess damned raider!”
Vibrant fought against the griffon before she gave up on putting him in the bed, then looked around curiously.
“looking for your stuff? Sheriff Curds has it. He assured me you didn’t have anything too dangerous, but figured he should… Why are you looking at me like that” the snow-colored griffon noticed his enraptured stare. “Uh… are you okay…” she snapped her talons in front of his face a few times “Hey, say something!”
The brown earth pony shook his head slowly and looked around, picking up a pencil and writing down on the closest paper. Can’t Talk.
“Oh. Oh shit I’m sorry! I-I’m sorry for shooting you too, shit!” she looked around “Well… since you can write I guess you’re fit enough to get your shit back… By the way, I’m Snowgale, but folks around here call me Gale.” Snowgale walked around the bed again and opened the door, gesturing for Vibrant Affliction to look out. He stepped into the warm morning air and looked about
“Welcome to Fetlock, Partner!” The griffon chortled ecstatically, pushing the pony out the door.
~
So, what you’re saying is that I can’t have my stuff back until I officially become a ‘resident’ of Fetlock? Vibrant Affliction scribbled quickly before sliding the paper over to Sheriff Curd.
“Ahyep. ‘Fraid them’s the rules aran’ he’” he shrugged, “But Gale he’ can set ya right up in one o’ the ol’ mobile home towa’s.” The Sheriff of Fetlock’s accent was thick, and it was rich. Vibrant liked it.
“Curd! you damn well know he can pick his stuff up at any time! Don’t you go makin’ people sign up for houses they can’t affo-” Gale began, but stopped when Vibrant slid a new paper across the table
Sounds good. How much, and how do I get the money? He had written, at which Curd laughed enthusiastically. “Tell ya what, Vibi. You do somethin’ fer me an’ th’first month’s free! Ya see, ah’ve got some Cinderwolves up north that have been stealin’ cattle fer awhile nah! Y’go up there with Gale an’ clear ‘em out!”
“Why do I have to go!” Gale said disdainfully. “I mean… I’ll go anyway, gotta make sure no one else shoots this moron in the face, but still…”
Sounds good. Give me my gun and my armor at least?
~
“Are you sure you’re up for this? You just got out of the hospital. You just got a bullet removed from your skull! do you even know how to use that gun?” Gale complained, gesturing to the .357 revolver that Vibrant Affliction held in his mouth. He glared over at her with a look that said ‘I can hold the gun or I can write. not both’ and went back to staring at the herd of Chimichanga Chinchillas. The large, fluffy creatures had been domesticated since before the war after being imported to equestria by Pinkie Pie, though they owed their large size and third eye to the rain of balefire brought on by zebras. Other than that, they adapted quite well.
“Aww, they’re so adorable!” Gale commented idly, “And delicious looking. Great, now I’m hungry. We’re getting some food after this, Definitely! Have you ever tried an Chimichanga Chinchilla steak? Goddess, they’re orgasmic. Not that I think about orgasming while eating stea-”
Vibrant affliction plucked a jalapeno off of a bush he had spotted and pushed it into the Griffon’s beak, causing her to flap wildly and stuff her face into the nearby bucket of water
“Dick!” She sighed and gestured to the rocks at the other side of the pen. “See that green light? Cinderwolf. They used to be Timber Wolves. Once were more of an issue in places with forests, but a couple would come down here. More of them came down after the bombs fell, turned into Cinder Wolves by the balefire. Shitty deal, if you ask me. Being on fire constantly kind of makes them pretty hyper. Bet if they could talk they’d shout ‘OH SHIT ZIGGA AH’M OWN FIYAH’ or something.”
She casually raised her rifle - a custom job, a cross between an assault rifle and hunting rifle, able to swap between single shot or burst fire. Gale called it the blizzard. Vibrant said that sounded stupid. She had hit him for that, then apologized.
“Watch this.” Snowgale said playfully, switching the rifle to hunting mode and raising the iron sights to eye level. After a few moments of careful aiming, she fired. The green figure in the distance yelped and retreated. “Won’t kill them, but it will definitely annoy them enough to stay away for the time bieng.”
Gale
Small Frame: +1 to agility, +25% damage taken to limbs
Built to Destroy: +3% critical hit chance, Weapons decay faster
Early Bird: +2 to stats early in the morning -1 stats when late
