Fallout: Equestria - Last Legacy
Chapter One: The World I Knew
Previous ChapterChapter One: The World I Knew
”Grey.”
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.
I'd resorted to this yet again. How many hours had I been sitting here, doing little to nothing? Was this healthy?
I swung my hooves over the back of the futon, admitting defeat. The clock was drowning out my thoughts yet again. I muttered a line of gibberish as my eyelids pestered for a midday nap. Each moment that ticked by seemed to only add to an eternity of them. "Ugh!" I flopped backwards unceremoniously onto the couch again with a loud creak, and then proceeded to repeat the action five or six more times. The springs never did very well with sudden changes in weight. At least the noise was semi-funny.
And before long, it was back to staring at my ceiling again. As I counted the cracks, my ears were engulfed by the ticking of the clock, and I found myself counting along once again. I stopped.
"This is getting ridiculous," I announced. Six more hours until work. Goddesses help me.
I practically kicked my screen door open on my way out to the porch, grabbing the lawn chair nearest the door and promptly sitting down. My yard, comprised of clean-cut grass and two rather large hedges that my parents had given me as a housewarming gift, stared back. One of the hedges, whom I'd taken to calling Bert, was strangely misshapen. Rather than maintaining an upright posture, as most of the hedges around town did, Bert had a disposition to bend over. I liked to draw my conclusions about a possible past life Bert may have had. Somehow the idea of a promiscuous hedge struck me as good humor.
Ernie, my other trimmed hedge atop whom I'd stuck a straw hat (so that I could tell them apart; as if Bert's suggestive posture wasn't enough), had raised one of his 'arms' into a sort of half salute. He never lets it down either. What characters.
I smiled at them, waving a friendly hello. Ernie stared at me through his pink hay bans.
"I take it you guys are enjoying this nice day?"
"..."
"You should probably get some sun tan lotion, Bert. The full moon might start burnin' if you're not too careful." I looked a little closer, noticing that the shaded area underneath Ernie's straw hat actually looked a bit lighter than the rest of him. "Woah, I'm likin' that tan line, Ernie. Keep it up and you'll end up with some real twigs and berries." I added a playful smirk to let him know I wasn't trying to hurt his feelings or anything -- Ernie's always been the sensitive one.
"..."
I sighed, licking the inside of my mouth and nibbling the walls of my cheeks. Over to my left sat the swing set beside my house. The hanging seats hadn't been used in years, but the old thing still looked just fine. I never fully understood why none of the townsponies had ever stopped by to use it with their fillies and colts. It was almost as if none of them knew where my house was... which was obviously untrue. 80 ponies in town; one of them (besides my parents) had to know where to find me.
I guess that's another thing about my humble abode: no visitors. Ever. Back when my parents used to live here we'd have the occasional guest to celebrate a birthday or something, but now it was like the old place had drifted completely off the known world.
I shouldn't complain too much. After all, an unpleasant visitor could just as easily show up as a welcomed one. Believe it or not, but not everypony in our town was as friendly as one could hope. In fact, some of them were just downright unbearable. But at least seeing somepony would be better than this. Anypony? It's not like the wrong kind of visitor had ever shown up before anyway.
The forest near the road outside was quiet. It had been that way for a long time. I still had memories of when the chirping of crickets and birds was notable, when the blissful splashing of the creak behind the treeline brought a kind of serenity. It was always so distinct, the way they sounded in unison. But after the millionth time of hearing it, any real spark was gone. Now it was just a gentle breeze and the rays of the sun that caught the attention of my senses. (That, and the ungoddessly clock in my living room.)
Some might say I was lucky to have lived that way for so long. But the boredom gets to you after a while.
Feeling jittery, I got up and stretched, my back popping a few times as I trotted out into the sun's welcoming embrace. The effect of warmth was immediate on my fur as I looked out to the horizon. Distant mountains. A land beyond this one. With wonders that nopony had ever seen before. I lived on a slope, which allowed me faint view of the many rooftops that formed our town. The houses surrounded the rocky shore of a small lake that served as our general townfare center.
For a moment the town seemed to beckon to me. I beheld a short moment of aspiration to wander, and then it cut off as sloth reared its slow and tired head. As if I'd practiced this step-by-step process hundreds of times before (which I had) my hooves turned me around and brought me back inside. Closing the screen door and locking the main one behind me, I tossed the house key onto my coffee table and headed to bed, casting my room in darkness as I lowered the shutters and closed the door.
I fell face-first into the pillows.
Good 'ol Tranquility.
** ** **
Sometimes I wonder about what life would have been like if I hadn't worked here in this little store on the outskirts of town.
Truth be told, I’d have probably been doing something equally as boring. I mean, it's not like I had an entire foundation of exciting activities to choose from. I did have certain things that I did to occupy myself. Some I'd rather not share, but still, they occupied me. By the vast majority, my time was spent either staring outside or at a wall. But for now, it was spent waiting. Starting work each night at 7, and ending when the sun came up, I was pretty much alone for ten to twelve hours a night. I didn't see my manager more than twice a month, so I had all the time in the world to mess around. In the case of today, I'd already taken a midday nap, so I wasn't the least bit tired as I looked out to the darkening skies.
It should serve as a fun fact that I'm... was... afraid of the dark. Working the night shift always felt like such a challenge at first, considering the phobia I'd had for most of my life. Without going too deep into detail, I will say that it usually ended with me resorting to some pretty... unorthodox coping methods. By far the most common was standing in the middle of the store, right where the light was brightest, in hopes that if any happened to go out I'd still have another five or six to back me up.
But exposure dulls the senses. Now the most challenging part of my night was staying awake.
Funny how things work out that way.
Every once in a while I actually considered leaving to go explore. Ponies never came here at night. They never just happened upon that lonely restock station during some nighttime adventure to catch up with a perfectly nice, perfectly respectable store clerk mare. Sometimes I would hear about ponies who would go out on nightly escapades. The ones who went always came back stoked. Rumor had it that after walking long enough, you just couldn't go any further. Was there a brick wall or something? I never really asked... to be honest the topic was kind of taboo.
Maybe I could try it. I could go out, "catch some fresh air", and nopony would ever know. I could pack my saddlebags and just leave, and there wouldn’t even be so much as a wayward glance.
Oh Everdawn, you crazy mare, you.
I looked around, surveying the empty shop. The only real noise was coming from the freezer to the left of the canned food isle. Its low, steady hum filled the store with an air of complacency. The white noise did a good job of producing its own atmosphere, and it actually formed a bit of a melody if you'd listened to it long enough.
I checked behind me. The clock hanging on the wall ticked steadily, filling my ears yet again with the deafening presence of blank sound. I had to fight not to count along with the the littlest hoof.
9:15
More waiting. The wondering when the night would be over. This was usually the time when I’d slump back against the counter and pass the time by counting a wink or two. But tonight I was at a disadvantage with the nap I'd taken earlier. So instead of letting my head rest, I stared blankly at my reflection in the window of the shop. I straightened my posture in an effort to look dignified in my position, and gave myself a mental hoof on the back.
The move was a tad bit prideful now that I look back on it. I mean, I was certainly no mayor, but I liked to think that my job in our area held some kind of importance. Besides, the store manager was the mayor, so at least I could say something to benefit my social status. Our town only had 80 ponies after all, so needless to say it wasn't that big a deal that I knew the stallion. Still, the fact that I was well-acquainted with him brought comfort in some small degree.
In technical terms, the noble titles of "cashier" and "clerk mare" described my position. Choose whichever you like. Hell, call me both!
With the perks of being an honorary clerk mare, I was privileged with the responsibility of keeping track of the store's supplies, greeting customers like friends (which most of them were, if you think about how considerably puny our town was), and notifying the mayor when the need for a change in stocks surfaced. This changed from season to season.
"Good sales means a good salary, Everdawn," he'd remind me on one of his blue-moon visits to change the products out . But what was the point of working if you were going to be fed anyway? You seem like you're competent enough, he'd told me. For a while it was amazing that anypony trusted me so readily, especially with such easy access to Pay cards. But it was like the mayor said; I was pretty competent, wasn't I? I sure hoped so.
A light bulb somewhere on top of my head flickered on. I was so engrossed by boredom that I'd almost forgotten! I looked around, checking for a spying set of eyes. None to be seen. Setting the keys down on the counter, I trotted around to the back of the store and opened the door. This was one of the perks about being the night shift employee.
I rounded the corner of the establishment and hopped up onto the dumpster, making a quick leap to the wall near the door as I scrambled onto the roof and trotted fervidly over to a small sleeping bag. I'd brought it up here some months ago. By now, this was pretty routine, but it still didn't stop me from coming. I circled the spot of comfort, plopping down onto my haunches and looking up to the sky.
Nothingness! Just a dark, blueish nothingness. No vibrancy, no essential hue or shade out of place. This was the world I knew.
"Come on..." I adjured, "I know you want to." My eyes peered endlessly into the expanse, a sort of disappointed scowl beginning to make its way onto my countenance. I was a patient mare, but there are just some things that I don't much care to wait for. I'd almost looked away when they appeared.
The stars. Thousands of them. In such magnitude, too. A smile crept along my face as nature's blank canvas became freshly painted with starlight incandescence. My mouth hung open a little as I fell backwards onto the comfort of my sleeping bag. My head was met with the softness of a pillow as I continued to gaze upon the brilliant abundance of little lights that dotted the sea of darkening blue.
I beheld the sight with familiarity. It was a long-lost sibling to me, a family member I'd never actually had. A long sigh of contentment escaped my lips as I lay on my back staring into the vast array of lights that stretched across the horizon. This is what I looked forward to every time I came to work. Curious how a pony who enjoyed the nighttime so much had the cutie mark of a glistening sunrise. But I digress. While the ponies of the town were asleep, I remained, awake and in utter wonder of the world that seemed so far away, and yet so close. I reached out a hoof with longing as the moon appeared. Spontaneous, like it always was, the bright orb that swam through the stars with a grace unbeknownst to me kept alight the world below, simply doing its duty. There was a sort of feeling behind the night that I can't quite explain, something that made it so different from the day. The moon seemed lonely and... individual, while the sun was a constant ball of brightness and warmth. Nopony really relished in the moon's light.
I took a moment to ponder. Does it ever get jealous?
** ** **
The next day, I got home and locked the door behind me... which I didn't even have to do. I blame the bad habit on my parents. It was completely unneeded, but it had stuck. After all, what was the point of locking a door that would never be opened by anypony besides me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Anyway. Despite the fact that it was six o'clock, my body insisted that it was late-afternoon, and with each passing moment I felt the need to take a nap. I was rather tired from doing nothing all night long, and ready for a good ol' fashioned snooze. After a bite to eat, of course.
I looked into my fridge, yearning to sink my teeth into a nice cold sunflower sandwich. Some might argue that eating one cold is nothing short of disgusting, but I beg to differ. Everything is better eaten cold. Everything. And this particular morsel would have been no exception. I stared into my refrigerator blankly, looking at the neatly-packed grub in mild monotony. The sandwich sat amidst dozens of other snack food items, but suddenly it didn't seem very appealing.
I sighed. "Seafood sounds better anyway."
Rather reluctantly, I gathered my saddlebags and made my way onto the porch, the screen door swinging shut behind me as I casually locked it. I trotted past Bert and Ernie, nodding politely. "Hey guys, I'm just gonna be right back. Take care of the house for me, and if anyone comes by, tell them that I'll be back in a couple hours!" Ernie simply replied with his signature wave, Bert occupied with another stance altogether. What characters.
Sometimes I wondered what they did while I was gone. What if they tore the place down and rebuilt it before I got back? What if ponies visited me while I was away, but only while I was away? Thoughts like these were pretty frequent. Needless to say I've had my fair share of dives into the existential realm on these periodic walks. I hated it though, because soon enough it had me questioning who I was, and... well, let's be honest, nopony likes change, much less realizing how much they probably need it.
I looked down on the dirt road ahead leading into town. My mind traveled elsewhere, as it's always done. I can't remember what I was thinking about. I'm sure it wasn't anything too important, although I felt like I'd negated something.
Meh.
** ** **
My hooves clopped rather loudly against the road as I made my way to the town. The sound of the trees swaying in the wind provided a peaceful backdrop for my thoughts while my hooves formed a distracting cadence with the concrete. The steady flow of air around me only seemed to add to the multitude of noises, and every new step reminded me that I was venturing to a place that I was not so used to going anymore. Perhaps this sensation was that of dread or anxiety, but there was also a sprinkle of excitement at seeing a few friendly faces again. No doubt the townsponies would still remember my name.
Right? How long had it been since I'd visited them? A week? A month? Time was always so hard to keep up with.
When the buildings first came into view, my feelings were that of zest. But as I thought about what my visit to the town would entail, I slowly began to have second thoughts. Once ponies saw that I was back, word would spread to my parents that I'd returned. And, knowing them, it could only be a matter of time before my trip to the docks turned into an interrogation session.
"Are you staying out of trouble?", "Do you say your prayers before you go to bed?", "Have any stallions caught your eye yet?", "Don't you think you could stand to get a manecut?", "Have you been eating healthy?" Oh, and don't even get me started on their opinion of my job. "You ought to be the mayor's Advisor," they told me when they'd found out about the Dart-Mart. I assured them that I still got to meet him on a fairly regular basis, but that didn't seem to cut it.
Maybe I was looking too much into this. My parents may not have even been awake yet. What time was it again? Dammit, I kept losing track! Why am I even dreading this so much? They might not even see me today. I mean, it was a small town, but it's not like everypony was within direct line of sight. Maybe they were still in bed, sleeping in or... ew, no. I quickly dismissed the thought. Besides, they just want to talk to me when I happen to stop by. I'm their daughter. What could really be so bad about having a little family ti--
"Honey? Honey! Harold, come quick, our little sunshine's back!"
Fuck my life.
** ** **
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Ugh! Mom, I don't know! Can you just drop it already?"
"Honey, all I'm asking is if you... failed--" I could tell she hated saying that word, "-- the leadership committee training on purpose! It's not a hard question."
"Mom, who honestly fails just to fail? What even makes you think that I --"
"Don't you use that tone with me, young mare! Harold!"
"Sunny," my dad piped up, "Respect your mother." He didn't even so much as glance away from his book.
This whole day was going exactly according to plan, much to my chagrin.
The interrogation had started when the subject of my involvement in the community came into question, and seeing as how I just couldn't keep my mouth shut, I had to go and have the last word that I hadn't been interested in the leadership committee anyway. And now, here I was, stuck alone with my mother in a boat just out of reach of the docks, while my father sat quietly reading by the edge of the water. As you could tell, she'd been bitching me out.
"Don't call me 'Sunny'!" I griped.
"Everdawn, did you or did you not fail on purpose?"
"No, Mom! I didn't fail on purpose!"
"... Are you sure?"
"Yes!!"
I facehoofed. The conversation had just looped around for a third time. It was time to go.
"Listen, it was nice seeing you and all," I quitted the boat with haste, making a leap up to the docks, "But I gotta go."
My mother gave a concerned look, "So soon?" She stared at me in disbelief.
"Yeah, sorry, got places to be," I hurriedly replied. Trotting past my father on the shoreline I issued one final good-bye, "See ya, Dad."
"Take care, honey," he replied without so much as lifting an eyebrow.
I guess my relationship with my parents wasn't bad, per say. It was just painful to sit through... particularly on days that I actually had to talk to them.
So I made my rounds at the Sea Shop, said hello to the fisherponies, and paid a couple of cards. No big deal. I gave my last few good-byes to old friends that I really wished I'd seen first, and I'd just gotten out of range of eyesight when I heard some faint kind of yelling on the wind. I couldn't tell where it was coming from at first; it was just kind of an omnipresence for the moment. But as I tuned in, I noticed that it got louder behind me. I turned around, spotting my parents some distance away, running toward me. They were carrying something.
I dropped the grocery sack to speak.
"What!"
"Unny! Weavasuriseferyu! Itaserbirdayaewaysago aneewerejusopingto stop by sometime, but we couldn't! I'm so sorry sunshine!!"
"... What?"
I watched my mother yell again, my father trailing after her and closing his ears each time her shrieking voice came out. She gradually got clearer as she came along. I watched her little hooves shuffle down the road for a good long while, taking note of a box she had placed on her back just as a glint of sunlight reached my eyes from behind the swaying leaves of the treeline. Maybe it wasn't too late to reconcile. I had the rest of the day, and it wasn't like I was doing anything productive.
"WehaveyourBirthday present honey!" My birthday? My... my birthday. That's what I'd negated. I hadn't even so much as come by to see them. It had been over a year since I'd seen them? A whole year?! Of course it wasn't too late to reconcile! I had the rest of the day! And it wasn't like I...
But it happened.
I hadn't even noticed it at first. It just kind of felt like a bit of pressure, like when you hold your breath to go underwater. Only I wasn't coming back up. Without the message fully hitting home, my body forced my mouth open in a small attempt to increase the airflow, with no good response. I kept an eye on my parents as a burning discomfort built up in my lungs, until finally it had stolen my attention away from them. I tried to ask what was happening, but no sound came out. The pressure grew. I made a move to yell for my parents' help.
"...!"
My mouth only moved. Not a peep.
Was this a nightmare? Was this really happening? I gasped loudly, looking around wildly in search of abnormal conditions. The gentle breeze pushed on my back one final time before I sank to my knees. I looked up to my parents, who had noticed my fumble and were now in a much more hurried pace. My eyes went wide as the first wave of oxygen deprivation hit me. Without warning, my vision flashed to a darker place, somewhere... else. It returned back just as soon as it had left. My parents reached my side as I collapsed on the ground. I couldn't breathe. What was this? This was like not being able to eat or sleep. How could I... not... breathe? My lungs expanded rapidly all of a sudden, and I really began to panic as the adrenaline kicked in.
Can you blame me? How could I have known what dying felt like?
My mother was yelling something as the second wave hit me. Whatever it was, it hurt! And this time, my vision flickered in between the road and their faces to... someplace darker again. The same place as before. It was like... blueish, with specks of stars making their way into my peripherals. I barely got the chance to look around before I was hurled back into reality. My mother was standing above me, my father crouching right behind her. The light returned to my vision as my current setting began to slowly fade around me. The sky became darker blue, the trees started to wiggle erratically, vibrating in a sort of odd motion I'd never seen before. The only real point of relative peace was my parents as the world around me distorted in static. Their faces. Goddess, if they could've seen their faces. Those are the kinds of faces you look up at and expect a brand next to. The sun shining behind them, the tears in their eyes. For a moment I couldn't even concentrate on how much it hurt to die.
"Honey, we hoped you'd be dreaming, but..." She really began to cry. My mother. The stick in the mud. The mare who had raised me with class, who had told me never to let somepony see you show weakness... couldn't control herself as she looked down on her little baby filly struggling for her last breaths. She finally caught herself. "It's okay honey... it's okay to let go... we're he--" she suddenly couldn't speak, and her eyes went wide. She looked over to Dad. His focus darted between her and me as a somber sigh escaped his lips.
The world flashed to static for an instant. Then another.
He put his hoof around Mom, leaning down to my face and giving me a kiss on the forehead. "I'm sorry it had to happen this way, Sunny. Just know that we --"
And just like that, they were gone.
** ** **
I was in a state of limbo when the final wave of suffocation hit me, and believe me when I say that the past few rounds weren't even remotely close. It felt as if my ribs had imploded. My lungs probably had. I opened my mouth in a silent scream of pure agony, my vision fading a little as tears burst forth from my eyes. I was in the darker place again. My mother and father's faces disappeared from sight entirely as, for the first time in my known life, I opened my eyes.
I was inside a tube of sorts. There was some kind of television screen in front of me, but its contents were blank and lifeless. I hardly had time to look around. Every second was worse than the last as my chest continually built up burning pressure. I felt as if I just wanted to let go. I just wanted to go to a place where I wouldn't have to do anything ever again as long as I didn't have to feel this feeling. Whatever it was, I just wanted it gone.
My head spun violently around, looking for a way out as my hooves banged limply on the glossy surface of the glass tube around me. It had been fogged over. My feeble strikes were only wiping some of the condensation away. It felt like I was lying in a partly-upright position. Making these final assessments, my body began to convulse and shake, my chest constricting again and again and again. My legs all began to spasm out of control as my eyes rolled back a bit, my world growing darker and darker as I fought for something... anything. Everything became a blur -- a really dark blur -- as a tingling sensation raced across my skin with a boiling heat. My last two or three seconds alive were going to be a blinding ball of pain.
I hadn't even noticed the tilting of the glass. A deep electronic sound echoed through my thoughts without any real meaning. My eyes began to shut. My limbs went numb. I felt a rush of cold around me as the door to the cylinder opened upwards, the screen in front of me disappearing from sight as fresh air flooded in.
My body responded in an instant. I rocketed upwards, lungs filling with new oxygen as I slumped forward and fell out of the chair. The hardness of the floor, the wet slap as I made contact with the steel, I don't think I've ever felt so... alive. My veins pulsed with new life and energy as I breathed in the air around me, sucking it in like a sponge as I gasped like a lunatic. I gulped for it, twisting and turning in hopes of attaining more. I wanted everything to do with it. I wanted it forever, to never lose it again. A wave of dizziness hit me as I breathed in the holy essence of the atmosphere around me.
And then I threw up.
All over myself. All over the floor. Over and over again, I heaved, until there was nothing left in my stomach. And then I heaved some more. My tongue stuck out, dry gagging and choking noises getting in the way of my attempts at respiration. I sucked in air between retching, just happy at how much I was getting now opposed to the tube. When my belly finally stopped contracting, a little bit of scarlet liquid dribbled out of my mouth. I couldn't be sure of what it was, but it had a particularly strong smell to it, almost like rock but... sharper? It tingled my muzzle a little bit as I stared at the small blotch on my hoof. I fell back, weary from it all.
Wait. Where am I?
My eyes made lazy motions to and fro around the semi-lit room. The dim glow of overhead lights illuminated the space around me, allowing faint sight of the rest of the spacious metal chamber as a number of other tubes surrounding me beeped furiously. Everywhere I looked there were stars, but at least I could see again. The ceiling looked particularly tall, with a strange pillar connecting it to the floor. It danced with blinking lights. Excluding that, the rest of the room appeared utterly destroyed.
How did I get inside a building?
"H-Hello?" My voice sounded weak and worn as I noticed just how dry my throat felt. My eyes began to droop just a little bit. So damn tired. "Mom... Dad?" No answer. The silence gave its signature response.
Wherever I was, I needed to find a way out. I wanted to know what in the Goddesses' names was going on.
Well, easier said than done. I quickly noticed just how extraordinarily difficult it was to hoist myself up. Eventually I gave up and decided upon looking for an exit and crawling. I resented the thought. Why should I have to crawl to wherever I'm going? Haven't I done enough already? Behind me, some meters, was a hallway. A dim light shone across the room enticingly. The chill of the room seeped through my fur and into my skin, drastically cooling me down.
The floor was freezing! And crawling suddenly seemed like a very good idea.
I grunted loudly, putting my hooves in front of me in hopes of gaining some traction on the smooth metal floor. I had been reduced to near-nothing. I was spent. Done. Pooped. Dragged down and worn out. Couldn't I just stop now?
I clung tightly to the floor with my aching hooves, giving way to feeble inching across the large room and toward the entrance to the hallway. As I finally reached the corner of the corridor, my vision began to fade once more. I hurled. This time, there was enough fluid for it to serve as a projectile. It promptly splattered against the wall. I breathed heavily now, laying down next to the puddle as my last few moments of consciousness approached. Something was happening at the end of the hallway as I lay there, huffing erratically. Movement.
The darkness moved in from my peripherals to the center of my vision as my eyelids slowly forced themselves shut. My world went black with the sound of hooves and a resounding voice throughout the chamber.
"Abeth, quick! She's alive!"
Hoofnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Forbearing One -- Years of living alone has taught you the value of thinking time and being an individual. Isolation now boosts your luck and intelligence skills by 1 point each.
New Soundtracks Unlocked: Prosaic