Fallout: Equestria: in The Footsteps of a Stranger

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