Fallout Equestria: The Things We've Handed Down

Chapter 1: Saviors

“Huuurk!”

And just like that, this morning’s precious rations splattered all over the sink. A lone unicorn mare weakly lifted her head from the mess. Being a plumber, she knew how something as thick as vomit would build up in the piping systems and cause sinks and toilets to back up, though at the moment, the sight of half-digested carrots and small hunks of wet bread that peppered the sink made her want to take another shot at clogging the pipes even further. She turned on the faucet and watched half a day’s worth of rations swirl down the drain. “Doctor’s clinic it is, then...”

The air filled with the ever-present din of Stable life as she tip-toed out of her sound proofed room, trying not to wake any of the five roommates she was fortunate enough to share a room with that month, though at the moment, her recurring bout of nausea didn’t make her feel so lucky. Fighting back the urge to regurgitate whatever food her stomach was still clinging to, she took a deep breath and made her way down the hallway filled with makeshift beds and annoyed stable dwellers trying to make their way to their daily lives.

She gingerly pushed her way into the makeshift clinic that once served as an arcade room. She didn’t even notice that Mr. Times Tables lost the place until she was called to unclog a sink there not too long ago. She grimly ruminated how this room was much more popular now than it ever was as a recreation center.

“’The doctor will be with you shortly, Ms. Faucet!’ shouted the tired secretary behind a toppled arcade machine she was using as a desk.

Her voice was hoarse from trying to reason with the crowd before her.

‘It’s been a busy day,’ she said, rubbing her eyes.”

“Thank you. I can imagine...”

Another day in Stable 16. Always noisy, always busy, always up to your withers with ponies equally frustrated as you are.

***********************************************************************************************

“Pregnant...?” Leaky asked, brushing her gray-blue mane out her face. She rocked uneasily at the news. “But how could I be pregnant?”

The overworked Stable doctor raised an eyebrow and let out a long, sarcastic sigh.

“Have you experienced any sexual contact between two months ago to right now?” His recited deadpan did little to betray just how often he had this conversation.

The mare paused and thought back. There was that night in Mrs. Sugarbottom’s canteen. That one cute pink stallion with the funky hairdo bought her a few drinks and chatted her up, complimented her hair, that always made her feel nice…

‘Oh dear.’

“Well... is there any way I can... you know. Stop being pregnant?”

The mare knew what she was asking for, and judging by the doctor’s raised eyebrow, there was no question as to what she really meant.

“Leaky, you know we haven’t had the supplies for that in years. Besides—“ he sighed as he got up from his chair. “You’re too far into your pregnancy for that kind of procedure.”

“I know...” she groaned under her breath. “It’s just... months like these... month...” Her eyes widened as her pale yellow figure shot up from the examination table from realization, startling the eavesdropping nurse trying to look useful. “Wait! I can’t be pregnant! I’m going to The Outside in a month!”

“Ahh...that puts things in perspective doesn’t it?” The doctor frowned. “Unfortunately, even if I were to ignore the ethics of carrying out such a procedure at this late a term, we’re still severely undersupplied.”

The nurse trotted up to the doctor and whispered into his ear: “Doctor, 10 minutes per patient...”

He nodded at the nurse and turned to Leaky.

“You know I’m going to have to tell Overmare Sunny Days about this.”

Leaky’s ears dropped. “Ponyfeathers. She’s going to be—”

***********************************************************************************************

“Com-plete-ly irresponsible,” thundered the tiny Overmare. Leaky never liked the way she always accented her syllables. She’d prefer the radioactive death The Outside offered to being scolded like a little school filly by a pony that barely came up to her withers any day.

“You had ONE rule. ONE! Remind me, what was that...?”

“Don’t get preg--”

“DON’T get PREGNANT!”

‘Does radiation hurt?’ wondered Leaky.

“You were supposed to keep your DISGUSTING carnal behaviors in check for a few months. A FEW MONTHS! Was that so much to ask for?”

“It was only one—“

“Goddesses ABOVE. What am I going to do with you?”

Leaky quietly stared back at the Overmare, who was stricken with a mixture of despair and anger, strands of her blonde mane matted on her pale yellow forehead. It reminded Leaky of a half-plucked chicken.

She was snapped out of the observation by the Overmare’s sharp bark. “I’m asking you a question, you incompetent dunce!”

Leaky straightened to attention. “I-I don’t know, Overmare Sunny Days. Extra chores? Kitchen duty? Vent cleaning?”

The Overmare sighed and shook her head. “No...as much as it would pain me to let such blatant disregard of authority go unpunished...”

‘How long would it take to die if somepony took a nice swim in nuclear waste?’

“...we’ve spent too many resources on you to let that go to waste.”

She paused in her pacing long enough to collapse on her chair, its empty back towering tall over both mares. She looked worryingly at Leaky, a sudden change of pace from her previous tantrum.

“You are to continue with your training and head to The Outside on your mission as planned.”

Leaky’s ears perked up suddenly. “A-are you sure, ma’am? What about my...my...”

The Overmare tilted back in her chair and closed her eyes.“We’re short on volunteers as is. Everyone’s too afraid of The Outside to step up and do the right thing. Anyone brave enough has already volunteered, and is either out there already or in your wave”. She paused, questioning the ethics of sending a pregnant mare into the Wasteland, before proceeding.“We need this to happen. At all costs. We’re running out of everything: room, supplies, even our water talisman is malfunctioning from overuse and the reactor isn’t far behind. At this rate, we won’t last the end of the year.”

Leaky looked down and touched her toned belly. “Yeah... I understand, Ma’am.”

“Proceed to training. You have a duty to fulfill.”

The unicorn mare turned and headed for the door as the Overmare spun her chair away from her. “Some things are bigger than all of us, Leaky. And… congratulations.”

************************************************************************************************

WHACK!

The duct tape-wrapped baseball bat slammed into the punching bag, nearly ripping it off the ceiling. Dust flew from the new cracks, stinging Leaky's eyes. She squinted and rubbed them with her hooves, setting down the stick down next to her. She rubbed vigorously with a groan, trying to find relief for her irritated eyes.

“Woah! Okay Leaky, that’s enough for today,” called out an earth stallion with a short peppered mane as he trotted into the cement-lined training room. “Any more swings at the damn thing and we’ll have to patch it up. Again.”

Leaky blinked away her irritation and looked at the worn training bag. She honestly wasn't sure what the bag originally was made of. Maybe it always was a patchwork of random fabrics. Still, getting the sand back in was a pain. “Yeah. ‘Spose.”

She trotted over to an adjacent wall and slid to her haunches, wiping the sweat from her brow. The stallion quietly sat next to her. They sat wordlessly under the omnipresent hum of the lights.

“So... how’s training?” he asked, trying to casually break the silence. The mare looked into his emerald eyes then re-affixed her attention to the worn training bag.

“It’s going alright, I guess. I’m still bleh with a gun. But the Overmare says I’m a natural at sneaking around and hitting stuff with a stick.”

The stallion joined her in staring at the sand-filled bag. “Heh. I’d believe that.”

The room was swallowed by silence again. The stallion shifted his weight with a groan and turned to Leaky, trying to find the right words to say.

He managed to choke out it out. “Leaky...the Overmare told me you’re pregnant.”

She inhaled sharply but remained silent. She looked at the floor in quiet shame, tracing the ground with the tip of her forehoof. “Yeah.”

The stallion raised his voice suddenly, causing Leaky to flinch while attempting to avoid his scowl. “And you’re still planning on going to The Outside? You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you do that.”

Leeaky turned to the stallion grimly, upper lip beginning to tremble. “They have no other volunteers… we’re the only ones who offered this wave.”

The stallion shook his head in protest, his voice cracking. “No. Let them take somepony else. Not from me…” his eyes began to water, showing off that old earth pony tradition of suppressing tears. “Not my baby girl...”

Leaky rested her head on her father’s shoulder and buried her face into his coat. That was one tradition she could never pick up. “I’m so sorry...” Her tears bled into his white coat, painting a dark stain in the messy fur.

He hooked a foreleg around her body and kissed the top of her head. “How’re you feeling, drippy?”

She looked up at him, orange eyes glazed with moisture. “Awful,” she said as she laughed, tears still streaming from her face. She rested her head on her father’s warm, rising chest. “All of my barding is getting tight on me, I threw up twice this morning, I’m even hungrier than usual, and yesterday I got stuck on some pipes in a boiler room for 30 minutes until somepony heard me crying. When she saved me I shouted at her for not coming sooner and made her cry...then I started crying with her.” She sniffled and rubbed her nose. “It sucks.”

“It’s alright, it’s alright...” He patted her shoulder with a hoof. Her father’s heartbeat was steady, consoling her.

“I need to do this, dad...” she said as she lifted herself off her father’s chest. She wiped her puffy eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. “Overmare Sunny Days told me that some things are bigger than us… this is what she meant, I think.”

“I know...” He leaned his head on his daughter’s. “Just… I don’t know. Be careful out there...fuck this shitty Stable, don’t risk your life for this place. I’d rather have to leave here with no plan than have you get hurt. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”

Leaky chuckled and sniffled. “Promise.”

********************************************************************************************

"Let's get STUPID!"

Mrs. Sugarbottom's canteen was livelier than it'd ever been. Music was blasting through the jukebox, the Overmare had sanctioned the release of condoms from deep emergency storage, and even Mrs. Sugarbottom herself broke out a wide selection of 170 year vintage alcohol. Which would be great… if Leaky could drink. She looked down at her glass of watered-down cola and swooshed the ice around. She hadn't had soda in over 7 years, when her and a friend her dad had called a "bad influence" raided a rations storage room and ate until they got sick. While it tasted as great as she remembered, she would have preferred something… stronger.

She sat alone in the corner under a flickering overhead light, watching the other volunteers have the time of their lives before heading out to near-certain death tomorrow. Leaky loved fun as the next pony, but the other volunteers had largely ignored her since the party started. She tried to be okay with that, but Leaky was a social pony by nature. She took another sip of her soda and sighed.

"Ah, now ere's a lovely face I aven't seen in ages! What a party, eh?" A well-aged unicorn mare trotted up to Leaky at her table booth, her poofy ginger mane bouncing as she swayed happily. "I aven't seen ponies this happy since ‘fore the rationin’!"

Leaky looked up and flashed a warm smile. "Hi, Mrs. Sugarbottom."

The canteen owner pulled up a chair next to her and sat down, ignoring calls for another round. "Say, why aren'cha over there avin' fun with the rest of 'em ponies? You're quite the party pony yerrself, if I'm goin' by last time I saw ya. I'm sure all those stallions you took home know too, eh?" She winked furtively and tittered, causing Leaky to blush.

"Ah...I guess." She looked down at her glass again. It was mostly soda-flavored water at this point. "I dunno...I don't think I can have fun like that anymore..."

"Oh, that's downright unfortunate, right there!" She spoke with a nod. She paused and tilted her head. "Wait, why's that, lassie?"

"Well..." she began. She pointed at her belly as her ears folded back.

"Oh my!" Mrs. Sugarbottom whispered loudly. "No wonder ya asked fer a soda!"

She looked around and leaned close.

"It wasn't that good-for-nothin' goat-lover Spring Step, was it?"

Leaky lowered her head, ears still folded back. "That's the thing...I don't even know who's the father. I've been looking all over the Stable for him. Do you remember a gray pony I left with about a month ago?"

Mrs. Sugarbottom shook her head sadly. "Sorry, dearie. I don't even remember wakin' up this mornin'. Radroaches suckin' on me old-arse brain."

Leaky sighed and folded her forelegs onto the table before laying her head down. "I just...I don't know. I want to tell him what's going to happen to me tomorrow. Tell him he's going to have a foal, if he'd have any interest in taking care of it with me... That kind of stuff."

The older mare scoffed and waved a hoof. "Nonsense, honeybun. You got a great head on yer shoulders. Yer smart, yer hard-workin'. You'll do great without 'im."

Leaky's ears perked, her head still laying on her folded forehooves. "You think so?"

Mrs. Sugarbottom nodded a single time as she got up. "I know so." She floated over a bottle of magically preserved pre-war soda and freshened Leaky's drink. "Children are a blessin’, even in a place as fucked as ours."

Leaky took a drink, swishing the cup around with her magic. She looked down at her belly and placed a hoof on it. "Yeah... a blessing."

***********************************************************************************************

“How the hay are you gonna put this on...?” asked a curly-maned filly holding a set of standard issue Stable-Tec security barding. “You’re huge!”

An earth-colored mare slapped her on the back of the head and gave her a glare, then flashed Leaky a sincere smile. “Sorry, Leaky! No filter on this one...”

A visibly pregnant Leaky returned her sincere smile. “It’s alright...”

She wrapped her issued armor in her telekinesis and examined it closer. The ceramic plates were dirty and scratched; this one even had a ketchup stain on it. She sighed and cleaned it with a rag she had on-hoof. Only the best equipment for the heroes.

“So uh...” started the mother of the filly. “How ARE you going to wear that?”

That was a good question. Leaky looked down at her belly, where a very noticeable bump had formed in the past month. It was certainly going to make things difficult.

“It’ll work...” she said. “It won’t be comfortable though...”

“Oh, what a relief! You’ll certainly need it!” chirped the mare. “How far along are you, anyway?”

Leaky began to walk towards the next supply station. “3 months...”

“Oh my…”

A stallion with a shaved head sat behind a metal crate, the supply station’s makeshift ‘counter’. He had an annoyed wrinkle stitched into his brow.

“Name?”

“Huh?” His bluntness caught her off guard.

He rolled his eyes and repeated. “Name. I need your name to give you supplies.”

“Uh...Leaky...Leaky Faucet.”

The stallion opened the crate and examined the contents. He picked up a burlap sack labeled “L. F.” with his teeth and muttered “Thif if yourf” through an occupied mouth, then dropped it on the crate.

“Thank you.” Leaky picked the sack up with her telekinesis and blinked at the supply station attendant expectantly.

The stallion huffed and motioned her to leave. “They’re starting briefing soon and I still have ponies to attend, so if you’d kindly...”

“Oh...okay”

The sack was light, lighter than she was comfortable with. She knew that supplies weren’t exactly plentiful here, but she had hoped to be better equipped to scout The Outside.

A tight squeeze, a long line, and a couple more cranky station attendants later, Leaky soon joined the small crowd gathering around the stable door. They all wore armor identical to Leaky’s stable security barding, though some were in better condition than others. Surprisingly, none of the volunteers were hungover or tired. The sobering realization of what they were about to embark on kept them sharp.

An elbow nudged at her side, snapping her at attention.

“Are you security?” A green stallion with long, spiky light-blue hair beamed sincerely at her. She wasn’t aware teeth could be that white.

“Uhm, no... plumber. Are you?”

“Nah. Dentist.”

‘That explains the teeth’

“My brother is, though. Taught me how to shoot. Mostly radroaches though!”

Leaky nodded politely. “Cool.”

“Hey, uh, I noticed you’re a little...pregnant.”

‘Straight for the jugular, eh?’

“Are you gonna be alright?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She wasn’t too sure herself.
“I don’t—”

“ALRIGHT, everypony. LISTEN UP!” boomed a familiar loud but squeaky voice. The Overmare had climbed on top of two stacked crates near the door to get the crowd’s attention and was using her trademark voice amplification spell. “I want to thank you all for volunteering. This was not a small favor.”

She looked over the fifteen or so under-equipped ponies who had her undivided attention. Pride and frustration came over her.“ You have chosen to risk your very lives for the good of your people. Your neighbors. Your children. And for that, there’s a debt I can never repay. A debt that none of us can.”

She paused, collecting her thoughts. “Our Stable is dying. Our supplies are drying up, and our people are getting restless. You are to venture to The Outside and find us a new land capable of supporting our people, and you are to find it through any means necessary.”

The Overmare swelled her chest and exhaled.

“The home we’ve made for almost 170 years beckons us to spread our wings and expand outwards, and under the protection of the Goddesses Luna and Celestia, we will not fail.”

The crowd murmured slightly before falling to a hush as the Overmare raised a hoof. “In your bags, there are supplies specialized for each of you based off of your previous talents and GOAT scores. These were all donated to you by your people, so you will have a little piece of home with you at all times acting as your sword and shield. You may look through them now.”

Leaky opened her burlap sack and rummaged through its contents. A first-aid kit, assorted bags of dried food, three filled canteens, and other assorted baubles. Even with the Overmare talking, Leaky continued to look through her bag. She floated out a noticeably worn 10mm pistol out of the bag. Someone had etched ‘piece of shit’ on its handle, barely readable through years of use. Placing the pistol and the holster it came with around her left flank, she peered into her bag and recoiled in surprise.

Being careful to not hit anypony with it, she slid out a long, perfectly preserved machete. ‘Specialized? What do these ponies think plumbers do?!’ she thought to herself in amazement.

Its blade looked fiendishly sharp, serrated teeth running down the length of its spine, giving it an almost hacksaw-like appearance. Its gem-embedded handle was a glossy magenta wood of some kind, polished to an almost mirror sheen.

‘Definitely enchanted...’ thought Leaky in amazement.

She pulled the scabbard out of her bag. It was in a noticeably worse condition than the machete, with pieces of its darker magenta cloth ripped and threadbare. Whoever enchanted it must have forgotten to do the scabbard as well. As she put it away, Leaky noticed faded yet elegant cursive written on its torn cloth.

“Dead bees make no honey, mom! Lots of love, Pinchy”.

She looked around to see what the others got. The dentist seemed to have gotten a sort of long rifle. One mare even got what seemed to be a flamethrower. She stared at the tanks on her back, wondering incredulously if the mare had been holding that thing this whole time and she hadn't even noticed.

“...to reiterate...be aware of the Demons.”

‘Crap...’

She had completely blanked-out through almost the entire briefing.

“The Demons have proven to be smarter than we initially thought, and that makes them an even bigger threat. The majority of scouts sent to observe the Demons have not come back. The few that have described an… unexpected… ability to use weaponry.”

The volunteers gasped and murmured.

“I do not need to remind you of the threat they pose. They are death incarnate, mutated abominations designed for the sole purpose of killing. If they see you, you are already dead. If you see their tunnels, run the other way. If you cannot..." She shook her head. "Only the Goddesses could save you. Avoid engagement at any cost.”

The crowd fell silent as the air hung thick with dread.

“I have no doubt that you will not fail this mission. I have complete trust that each and every one of you are the heroes Stable 16 needs. You venture to The Outside as everyday ponies… and you will come back to us… as our saviors.”

***********************************************************************************************

The Outside was just as vast and empty as Leaky remembered. And hot.

She had only gone outside a few times during training, only when absolutely necessary, so she wasn’t at all used to… all of this. The infinite ceiling still made her uneasy and though she was used to the idea of having a limitless emptiness above her at all times, she sometimes caught herself feeling as if she would fall upwards.

The group gathered at the mouth of the Stable. The massive metallic churning of the Stable door’s gears shutting the impenetrable entrance to the only home they’ve ever known made their hearts sink.

"So..." asked a dark gray pink-maned earth mare with spiked gauntlets on her hooves. "You guys really think we can do this?"

The group looked at each other silently.

"Fuck that," spoke up a light purple pegasus with a laser rifle slung over his shoulder. "You know how much of a hard-flank Overmare Sunny Days is. Did you see the way she talked to us? If she really thinks we can do it, we can. You heard her. We're Saviors."

The volunteers exchanged one final wordless nod and walked their own separate ways.

Leaky climbed the highest hill on her path and looked back at the ponies slowly disappearing across the horizon. She focused on the wind blasted dunes ahead of her and the parched plant life dotting its plateaus. She had never been so alone. An entire lifetime of being shoulder to shoulder with other noisy ponies brought this moment of utter solitude into perspective.

A rush of light-headedness brought her to her flanks. Bile ran up her throat and she spat it on the ground, knees trembling.

‘Alone...’

The concept, unlike the dead irradiated expanse that was The Outside, was not something she could get used to. She looked down and caressed her belly through her security barding.

‘Maybe not entirely alone...’

Her Pipbuck let out a small blip, signaling it had picked up a radio signal. She looked at it wearily and blinked. A radio signal surely meant civilization. Somewhere. As she tuned into the new signal, her Pipbuck alerted her to the name of the region she now had to find a new home in.

“Marizona.”

“—and then she was like “wah wah no please, my baby” while I loaded it on my Rock-It Launcher.

“Well, faggots, that’s all the storytime Papa Muckraker has for right now. I’ll be back later to tell you all about my awesome tales of conquests throughout The Zona. Till then, here’s some more music for your sick, sick listening holes. This is your lovable neighborhood pillager Muckraker, telling you YES; you DO look fat in that dress.”

“~ ♪ The city streets are empty now THE LIGHTS DON'T SHINE NO MORE
and so the songs are way down low TURNING TURNING TURNING
A sound that flows into my mind THE ECHOES OF THE DAYLIGHT
of everything that is alive IN MY BLUE WORLD ♪~”

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Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Super Slam! Fwoosh! Boff! Bip! All unarmed and melee weapon attacks have a chance of knocking down your opponent. Chalk it up to your maternal rage!