Fallout Equestria: Between wing and hoof

The smallest things, no matter how inconsequential they seem at the time, have the potential to alter the lives of hundreds, sometimes even thousands.

A mare decides to visit with her friends one night. She had no way of knowing her coltfriend had been planning a surprise visit for some time. Nor that he would try to get ahold of her for hours, halfway between jealousy and worry. This event led to their first fight, which led to the stallion calling in sick the next day, simply too drained to go to work.

The stallion worked at a weapons and ammunition manufacturing plant, which was now short one pony. This might be a minute disturbance most days, but this is also the day that a special contract from Stable-tec was awarded to the company. The resulting chaos led to a bit of oversight in the quality assurance procedures—a single batch was not inspected properly, with nopony realizing the error as it shipped out.

Now, this single test batch was not overly important in the grand scheme of things. None of the bullets were meant for an assassination attempt or for the protection of anypony important. No, they were simply shipped into a stables armory, and found their way into the magazine of a pistol wielded by a former resident of that stable.

One by one, they were sent from the guns barrel, harmless flying past the three ponies that chased after the guns wielder until only one was left. The former stable resident, a mare taking cover behind a boulder and surround by bare dirt and weeds, sobbed brokenly as what little hope she had turned to dust. She pressed the gun against her temple, squeezing her eyes shut tight and pulled the trigger.

A bullet did not fly forth from the barrel. Small fragments of metal shot out, searing into her skin, but aside from some painful burns, didn't come close to killing her. Rather, the side of the gun had blown out in an explosion that left the nearest ear ringing painfully. She stared down at the mangled gun, her one chance to escape taken from her. Tears fell from her eyes before she dropped it and looked to her pipbuck, a small device on her hoof. It showed three red lines behind the rock, quickly coming around.

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the three ponies, an action not made easier by their laughter and lewd shouts. When she leaned back against the boulder, she failed to see the single yellow blip coming behind the red.

The earth ponies held their guns in their mouths, bloody straps of leather armor molded to their dirty hides. The mare wasn’t shooting anymore and they could almost taste the sick pleasure they’d be taking from her soon. They galloped forward, just turning the corner to gaze on the unicorn who had her back to the rock and hooves covering her ears. An ear piercing shriek that filled the air stopped them before they could advance further—rather, the short scream of the pony in the back stopped them.

The second earth pony just had time to turn before the blood covered, razor edged monster crashed into him. The last, furthest from the beast, just had a second to see it and shoot, the bullet going wide before he died.

The mare kept her head down, trembling as something wet splashed across her coat. Her hooves covered her ears and she kept her eyes closed. “Go away go away go away...” she whispered, as if the raiders were foalish nightmares that would go away if she just focused hard enough. Something grabbed her shoulder and shook, though she refused to acknowledge it, praying they'd just shoot her and be done with it. All of the horror stories about the outside world flooded her head as she tried to keep from crying.

Instead, her hooves were yanked away “Open your damn eyes!” an harsh, angry voice said.

She did so, and screamed. Looking down, her coat was streaked with blood. She looked up at the creature in front of her and screamed again. It was a mass of feathers, blades and claws, all coated in gore—mostly fresh. She screamed and screamed, pulling away. The monster released her abruptly. “S-stay back! Get away, go go go away!” She reached for anything to throw, but there was only dirt.

The creature’s beak twisted in a sneer and it lunged forward faster than the mare could see. It’s claw wrapped around her throat and she shoved her down, pinning the pony to the ground and driving a single bloodshot eye close to her face.

“I save your life and this is the thanks I get? Worthless little grass eater. I should have let them kill you first.” It growled. Droplets of blood dripped from its plumage, splattering against the pony’s body.

The mare let out a whimper, bringing her hooves up as if to protect herself, tears flowing down her face as it released and stood above her. The creature looked at the digital device on her arm, then up at the mare's mostly clean mane and clean white coat. It pulled back and let go. “You're a stable dweller, aren't you?” It's voice, which the mare thought sounded vaguely female in a smoky rasping husk kinda way, sounded less angry and now seemed almost amused. “What in the nine hells are you doing out here, you little bitch?” A claw reached down again, but this time it grabbed the mare's shoulder and pulled her to her hooves with the same ease the filly would have picked up a cup. “Hell, how the fuck did you get out here? You lot never leave your little heavens. Didn't think there were any here left in this territory.”

The mare gulped and nodded, quickly babbling at the terrifying creature. “Y-yes. I am a stable dweller, or I was. My name is Tainted Silver. I... I messed up and I was banished for... for...” Her eyes looked down at the small set of saddlebags she had been wearing moments ago. It lay on the ground at the base of the boulder she’d hid behind, strap broken and sitting in what was now a damp bit of dirt as water soaked through the fabric.

“Wait here. Don't move,” the creature ordered before walking to the bag and pulling out what was salvageable. Two water bottles, both riddled with holes, were dumped on the ground. A small, thin blanket, now soaking wet, was tossed to the mare. “You're a lucky little bitch. Not a wound on you. Your supplies weren't nearly as lucky.” She then began going through the raiders remains, stripped them of their gear. She tossed a few bullets, one of their guns, two strange brown clumps and a single grimy water bottle at Silvers hooves. “You can have this, I'm keeping the rest.”

Silver stared down at the supplies, her hooves pulling the soaked blanket close and hugging it. After a few moments of trembling, she looked up at the creature. “W-what can I do with these? I-I don't even know where I am! Where anything is. I don't even know what you are. Some kind of mutated pegasus, right? You have to be, you seem intelligent enough to speak. Unless you have an advanced form of mimicry. Perhaps some kind of experiment? Do pegasi normally have-- ahhhh!”

The creature had wrapped its talons around her throat, moving disturbingly fast yet again. “I’m a griffon. Name's Kree. Understand?” she asked, a low growl in her throat. “You take it. Water, food and a weapon. Better odds than most out here, and way better than a lot would give ya. Worse comes to worst, use the gun on yourself.” She then shoved the mare back. “I take the rest. If you don't want it, then leave. You are annoying little bitch of a pony.”

Silver nodded rapidly, trembling as she got to her hooves and gathered her new things. “Y-yes ma'am, right away ma'am.” She put everything in front of her in a small pile. Her horn glowed and all the dirt, grime, oil and blood disappeared both from her and her supplies, which rather caught the griffon's attention.

“How the balls did you do that?” Kree asked, staring at the now spotless mare. She then glanced down at her own wings, the attached blades and feathers almost solidly caked in blood and dirt. “Can you do that to me?” She held out her wings.

“It's a spell,” the mare muttered. “After you called me a bitch, I don't see why I should--” She glanced down at the mutilated corpses a few feet away and gulped. “--n't. As uhhh, thanks for saving me and being generous enough not to kill me.” She took a step forward and tapped the griffon twice with her glowing horn.

Kree glanced down at herself and smiled. She was spotless! Everything, even down to the base of her wings were completely clean. All the dead skin, dirt, blood and grime, just gone. She felt two pounds lighter and even with a dozen storms she doubted she could do it quite as efficiently. She spread out her wings and started to preen them. “By the gods that feels amazing. I haven't been this clean in years.” She then moved to the last corpse.

“Yeah, I imagine you haven't,” Silver said, before quickly changing the subject. “So, what's a griffon? I haven't heard about your kind.”

“What's that supposed to-- oh, it's not crap!” Kree said happily as she tore apart some of the raider's gear, pulling a knife free. “Sharp too. And I'm a griffon. We're cat, bird and bad ass.” She tossed the knife in the air a few times, feeling the heft and balance.

“W-wait, we? There are more of you?” She shivered as visions of blood covered, feather coated beasts of destruction wandering through towns, leaving death in their wake. “So... you're not a type of... pony then? Or an experiment?”

“No. We're not. Not too many up here any more, but head far enough south-east and you'll be in our turf. If you live that long.” Kree slid the blade under one wing, hiding it from view, and glared at the pony. “There are a ton of us. We're far better than anything you ponies could ever dream of.” She flared out her wings dramatically, causing the blade to fall out of its hiding spot and stab her talon, pinning it to the ground. She looked down for a moment before swearing and yanking it out with a grumbled, “Ow.”

“That... that looks painful.”

Kree held up her bleeding talon, examining it closely. “It looks worse than it is. You any good at that medical stuff? I'm out of healing potions, and I didn't see any on those fuckwits.”

“N-no. I don't... here.” Silver's horn glowed, and one of the filthy rags masquerading as raider clothing tore itself into a long strip. She quickly cleaned it with her spell and wrapped around the wound. “It's not sterilized, but it should stem the bleeding. You'll need to get a proper medical professional to look at it, otherwise it might get infected and you could possibly lose it.”

“Heh, thanks. Ain't a lotta doctors out here. So, what are your plans, kid?”

“I... I don't know. I can’t go back to the stable, even if I thought I could find the entrance again. I thought... what were these ponies? I just greeted them and they started shooting and chasing me!”

“Raiders. Gods, you stable dwellers are sheltered. They're murderous rapist bastards who'd slash off your hooves just to watch you crawl on glass. That's on a good day. How long you been out here? Hell, where is this stable of yours?”

Silver glanced at her pipbuck. “About…uh. Ten, twenty minutes that way?” A slight pause before she added, “Ten minutes before I met those raiders. Twenty minutes running for my life after that.”

“Well, don't you have all the luck? Ten minutes and already meeting raiders.” she looked the pony up and down a few times before sighing. “Come on, you're coming with me. You're too dumb to wander out here alone, you'll be dead in a week.” She glanced at her talon and smirked. “Besides, you might be useful.”

“Come with you? You're terrifying!” Silver squeaked. A series gun shots rang out in the distance, sending the mare cowering against the boulder. “O-okay. I'll come.”

“Good. Name's Kree, don't forget it,” she started walking away.

Silver sighed and took out one of the water bottles, downing a mouthful before spitting it out, holding out her tongue. “T-that's disgusting! How can this be called water?” She took a closer look, her eyes going wide in horror. “Its full of dirt and grime!”

“It's raider water. You'll be lucky if there's only dirt in it.” Said Kree. “Come on. We got a lot of ground to cover.” She paused before chuckling. “And I hate to break it to you, but that's probably the cleanest water you're going to get for a while. Just think of it as flavor.”

“What? But how do you shower? Bathe?”

“The hell makes you think I've showered before?” The griffon said with a confusion expression. “You wanna get clean, you wait for a heavy enough storm. Not many of those, though.”

Silver groaned, following besides the creature with a sad whimper. She cast her spell on the water, managing to remove at least some of the 'flavor' before drinking. “I never should have panicked...”

“What was that?”

“Nothing. How about... food. Is there anything decent to eat?”

“I gave yah some things. Cooked bloatsprite, it's a specialty out here.”

“Those... brown things?” she asked with a shake of her head. “How about apples? Berries? Fruits? Even lettuce?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” The griffon said, giving her a blank stare as they walked.

“You know, fruits, vegetables! Colorful things, usually green!”

“I've got cake,” Kree said, before pulling out an old, dusty box from her pack. “Some of it's green.”

“Ohhh, is it fresh?” The mare imagined some of the cakes from back home...

The griffon just stared at the box for a moment, so old the words had long faded, before shrugging. “Sure, why not. Help yourself.” She held it out.

Silver opened it and stared. The weird yellow tint made her suspect it wasn't quite as fresh as the griffon said. She took a small bite, and became quite certain. Still, in the absence of real food, it would have to do and she was hungry enough to ignore most of the flavor. “It tastes stale.”

“Stop bitching, or you can just eat bloatsprite.” She eyed the pony, swiping the treat back once it was half gone and closing the box. “That's enough. The rest is mine.”

“I think I'm going to be sick,” Silver mumbled, a hoof rubbing her stomach before she let out a nasty tasting belch. “There has to be... something real to eat here, right? Some proper plant life?”

“Go ahead,” Kree said before motioning to a nearby tree, the bark and branches warped, surrounded by brittle looking brown grass. “Try not to choke.”

Silver sighed and hung her head, trotting behind the creature. “Back home we had proper meals. They had entire--”

“Well this ain't your stable home!! Why didn't you eat before you left if it was so damn important!” Kree snapped, shaking her head. “Skies and storms, Most things out here would have raped and cooked you by now, so shut your mouth.”

“C-cooked me? But... but...”

“Meats the name of food around here, bitch. You'll learn to like it if you--”

“Y-you eat pony?!” Silver asked with a shriek, dropping down on her stomach and cowering. “P-please don't eat me. I-I'll clean your feathers every day, massage your talons, do whatever you want!”

A flash of anger twisted the griffons face. “I don’t eat pony.” She growled at the mare. “So relax. Out here, you kill what you want to eat. If you’re feeling fancy and want to waste some flavor, you cook it. Now, c’mon. Theres an outpost a few hours north east. They might be able to take you in. Maybe you can get down to Equality. Somepony like you would probably live longer there than anywhere else.”

“Oh? Somewhere safe and with a nice, warm bed?”

Kree chuckled then, shaking her head. “Well, you'll get one of those if you're lucky, but it won't be the bed. Might get some straw if you're lucky, about as clean as that water.”

“But the water's not clean...”

“Kinda the point. This is the wasteland, honey. Ain't princess pamper land.”

Silver nodded, keeping her head low and trying to keep calm as she felt more panic bubble up in her. She brought a map up on her pipbuck and to her delight it seemed to be able to (slightly) map the surrounding area. “Can you point on here where it would be?”

Kree looked down and chuckled. “That's pretty useful. Right there.” She lifted a talon and pointed to the east, a short distance from a mountain. Presumable, one of the mountains looming in that direction. “About there.”

“Oh, ummm... we’re going the opposite direction though.”

“No we’re not,” Kree said, before quickly turning around and walking back the way they came.

“But there are the bodies of--”

“Shut up.” Kree snapped.

They passed the bodies in silence a few minutes later, Silver trying to keep the cake down as the scent of fresh blood filled her nostrils. Her hooves trembled and she struggled to keep from toppling over. She quickened her pace, slamming into the griffon who came to a sudden stop.

“Shhhh. Don't move,” Kree whispered, her wings slowly spreading out.

“Ahhhh!” Silver cried out, lunging under the griffon and cowering.

It took Kree a few moments to notice before she glanced down. “The hell are you doing?” She looked back up and let out a hiss. “Damnit! It got away!”

“W-what? A monster? Raider? What?” Silver looked at her pipbuck, but saw nothing aside from two yellow marks. “I-I'm taking cover.”

“Get. Out. I am not cover,” she grunted. “I thought I saw a rat. Was hoping for a decent meal.”

“A rat? But they're disgusting! Diseased! Full of... who knows what! They're living creatures, too!”

“I'm a griffon. I eat meat, we've been over this. Besides, that's why I roast it first.” She said, exasperated. Though, she preferred not to. They had much more flavor raw.

“That's disgusting, you're disgusting.” Squeaked the trembling Silver

“You're the one lifting your tail for me,” Kree said, motioning down to the prone pony under her.

“Lifting my tail for... you're a girl! There's nothing for me to lift my tail at!” Silver said defensively, before pausing. “Wait, you are a girl, aren't you?”

“GET OUT FROM UNDER ME!” Kree roared, causing the mare to lock up. There was a moments silence as the griffon stared down at the frozen mare, before nudging her a few times and stepping to one side. “You dead?”

“P-please d-don't eat me, I don't t-taste like rat,” Silver said, staring up with wide eyes.

“I don't eat ponies. I eat bacon, bloatsprites, rat, things like that. Crap that doesn't talk back. I am not a cannibal!” the griffon yelled, stomping a claw down. “Understand? Call me one, hell, imply I'm one one more time and I'll hack off that pretty little mane of yours and make you eat it.”

“Y-yes ma'am...” Silver slowly got to her hooves before looking down. “Ummm... what's bacon?”

“Heaven. You'll... you'll find out. Just stop being dumb.”

Silver froze, her eyes narrowing. She stomped her own hoof down. “I'm not dumb. I just, I haven't had the same experiences as you. Do you know how magic works? Do you understand most of the inner workings of a ponies body and how to tend to sprains and breaks? Do you know how to resuscitate a pony after they've had a heart attack? How about how to best calm a teething foal? How about the basic principles of a spell matrix? Well?”

Kree stared for a few moments, her eyebrows slowly but steadily climbing, before letting out a chuckle. “Well, seems you do have a bit of a spine after all. And no, I don't. I know six ways to snap a pegasus' spine in midair, how to yank a bullet out of my own ass without screaming, and what kinds of cactus to eat to get fucked up. Look, you may not be dumb, but out here you don't know shit. Listen to me, and maybe you won't die.”

“Fine, just don't expect me to eat meat.”

“Don't expect me to hunt plants for you.”

“How hard could they be to find? You have wings and they grow, just fly up an--” the mare stopped midword as her eyes took in the sky and she really grasped its vastness for the first time, before quickly lowering her head and taking deep breaths.

“Yeah, I hear the sky can be a bit of a doozy for you stable ponies. Look around, there's no plants to find. You're going to have to get used to it. Now come on,” Kree said as she started walking again.

Silver sighed and after a few moments to allow her stomach to settle, looked down at her hooves. She walked closely to the griffon, just in case she started to fall up. The wings had to be good for something. “You're going the wrong way again.” She muttered

Kree paused, and pivoted ninety degrees to the left. “Shut it.” She growled.

The two climbed the last rise and the town came into view. Kree stopped short as her eyes narrowed on a wheeled cage resting outside the perimeter, two ponies with guns guarding it. Ponies, bruised and crying, could be seen within. “Damn it,” she hissed before slowly walking forward. “Stay behind me, they won't try anything in the town.” It took her a few moments to realize the unicorn wasn't following. “The hell are you doing?”

“There's... a-a lot of ponies there.”

“It's a town, what did you expecting? It's called Bloody Tartarus, last town this far north for a damn long time.” She motioned towards it. It was backed up against the mountain, great mounds of trash and refuse creating a wall around it.

Panic began to leak across the mare's face. “I... I need to cover myself. Or, or something. H-hide. I mean, lots of ponies, I, it could, I-I--”

“You want a cloak now?” Kree asked with a roll of her eyes. “Fine, come on. Keep close,” she ordered before grabbing the pony's leg and dragging her along. She narrowed her eyes and did her best to look intimidating, hoping the cage guards would ignore her as more trouble than she might be worth. She ignored Silver's whimpers as the mare tried to pull away from the town and the griffon dragging her towards it. When they came closer, the unicorn's horn lit up and she quickly pulled the now somewhat dry blanket from her supplies, wrapping it over herself.

Creation traits:

Stable Dweller – You were once a stable dweller, why the buck would you leave?

Megaspelled – At least it's not radioactive.

Kamikaze -- You like to make a mess of everything, including yourself.

Bloody mess-- A really, really big mess.