Fallout Equestria: And None Shall Follow

I awoke lying on a dirty moss-covered floor, unable to remember how I got there. I was still in my pack saddle, and dried mud was caking me from my hooves to halfway up my chest. My entire body felt sore, and I could feel several long stinging wounds in my sides. I tried to think back, the last thing i remembered was... The shot, Forge rocking back, then slumping to the ground, blood pooling around his head. Guards shouting, me running. That was it. It kept replaying over and over in my head. I had just watched what might have been the only hope for my species die. I wasn't sure how long I lay their, trembling, lost to the horror and sadness of my thoughts. Finally though, the kid... Flux, he was Flux, came into sight. I turned my head to see a barely intact doorway to my side that he had entered through. He was looking at me with a great deal of concern, and looked like he had been dragged through half the wastes.

I looked away, not daring to look at him. I wasn't sure I could look at him right now without him seeing the hate I was starting to feel for him. He had just shot my last hope, my only hope. I had said it myself, I had given up a long time ago, resigned myself to being the last of my kind. I had gotten back hope, had hope for three days. If I had stayed... I could have had a home, a family. All it would have cost was... my soul. And then, I had lost all that hope in one shot.

But it wasn't the same this time. Last time I hadn't really given up, not really, I had just told myself I had. But somewhere I had kept the hope deep inside, the certainty that I couldn't be the last one. Except now, now I had seen hope die, and no matter how hard I kept telling myself that if there was one more, then there could be two more, that I could be alone, I didn't feel it. I felt so alone, more alone then I had felt since I had crept back into Bray and found everyone dead and gone. Since I had crawled between my parents cold forms and cried until I slept.
I felt cold, though it was warm out, and I couldn't stop the shivering. I was lost, I was alone, and I didn't know what to do anymore. Where do you go when you have lost everything, even hope? I just stood there, staring at a wall, lost inside my own mind. I might have gone on doing that forever, until I dropped from thirst or hunger, except a pair of hooves wrapped themselves around my neck.

I looked down to see Flux hugging me. I broke. I simply sank down and began to sob. For a moment, Flux simply held me, before he to broke down and cried. We lay there, holding each other as we let our despair overtake us. Finally though, we simply ran out of tears, and were left just lying there. I felt... better. Not great, but better.

"So, now what?" Flux finally asked. I thought about it. I honestly had no clue. up to this point I had just been trying to survive in the wastes. Now... I needed a reason to keep going. I was lost, in more ways then one. I needed something to guide me, some direction. Well, there was one place I knew that just may hold some answers for me.
"We're going to see an old friend." I said.

....

We headed north. I had apparently gotten as far as the northern edge of the swamp before I had collapsed into sleep. Flashes of memory of the flight had come back, the shot, a desperate grab for Flux, racing through a swamp with him on my back, and collapsing in a run down shack from exhaustion before, according to Flux, sleeping through an entire day. It took two days of steady walking,for us to reach a rocky ridge. The landscape around us was barren, pockmarked with holes. The kid gave me a startled look when I walked right past the sign warning us of landmines. I just kept going. We had barely spoken a word in the past two days. Yes, the cry-out had helped, but I couldn't help but ruminate on everything. I had nothing left to give. I had lost everything, I had no purpose, no reason to keep going. I was alive, with no reason to live. I just kept putting one hoof in front of another, keeping moving more via momentum then anything else. I kept trying to focus, to think of everything I still had, Heck, I was one deal away from being one of the richest people in the wastes, but everything just felt... empty.
Finally, we moved into a field of large boulders, and I led the kid on a path through them, until we came to a small shack nestled between two large boulders, completely out of sight. I reached a hoof up and knocked. After a minute, the door swung open, and a pair of glowering eyes stared out at us. With a step, a large bipedal form stepped into view. Light brown fur covered a vaguely canine form that stood on two leg. A strange rifle was held in one paw, and his lips pulled back into a snarl as he gave a loud growl. In front of us stood one of the most feared creatures in the wasteland, a hellhound.

"Hi Short Claws," I said, working to put as much cheer into my voice as I could. "Mind me dropping in?"

His expression didn't improve. Flux had already been at my side, but at the sight of a snarling hellhound, he did his best to vanish behind me.
"You brought pony to my home?" Short Claws asked, glowering.

"He's a friend." I sighed. Huh, had I actually just admitted that? "Can we come in or what?"

"Fine, bring little shaking pony, he look tasty." Short Claws said. The kid tried to shrink into the ground. I dragged him inside anyway. Inside wasn't much, just single room with a solitary bed, a hot plate, a workbench, and a scavenged set of lockers. However, the large tunnel by the bed indicated that this one room shack had, for lack of a better term, a rather extensive basement. Flux wasn't even looking around at any of it, his gaze just kept its lock on Short Claws, and his definitely not short claws.

I sighed. "Flux, this is Short Claws. He's a hellhound, and a friend. Short Claws, this is Flux, he's a mildly annoying Unicorn, and a friend." Short Claws raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Flux's eyes bugged out even further, if that was possible. Then he did the last thing I expected.

"You bedded him!?" He exclaimed rather loudly. I stared, turning rather brightly red. Short Claws jerked, hitting his head on a low roof beam.
"You told annoying unicorn?!" He half growled.

"No! How, but..." I sputtered. Then I remembered the guards back at Dodge, and my little joke to the shopkeep clear back in rain. Oh flying cheese blocks, the kid remembered that.

"How he know?" Short Claws demanded.

"I um, had to tell ponies why I stopped drinking, and um, I know they wouldn't believe me so.." I managed to sputter out.

Short Claws was silent for a minute before saying. "You quit drinking because of that? Didn't think I was that bad."

I fell over, sputtering, while Flux just looked confused. When I got my breath back, Short Claws just rolled his eyes and asked "So, why you bring pony to home?"

I sighed, the humor of the situation drifting away to leave me feeling cold and alone again. "Because I need you help." I sighed, then, remembering, I piped up "Oh, and I have a proposal for you."

"You wish get married?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten up last time I had fallen over, it saved time.

"Not that kind of proposal!" I said, face-hoofing. Seriously, since when had he tried this hard at humor? I sighed. "I... may have found a giant unoccupied underground base that MAY need someone to watch over it while I'm traveling." I looked up at him. "Interested?"

He looked at me hard. "Base not full of bad robots that try to kill dogs, and not full of stupid ponies?"

"Nope, completely empty." i said. "And it connects to a large system of caves you can tunnel through to your hearts content."

"Gem caves?" He asked, ears perking up.

"Nah, never seen any there." I replied.

He was still looking at me hard. "So what wrong with place?"

I blinked. "Nothing..." I said, unsure what he meant.

He shook his head. "No old place empty that long without having bad things in it."

"Oh." I said, understanding dawning. "It was a big secret, and we did have to shut down robots inside. But you can see if you can reprogram them to accept you." I sighed. "But, um... It is full of...uh, megaspells."

Short Claws eyes widened, and he growled. "Megaspells made dogs home bad, made dogs into hellhounds. What you do with megaspells?"
"Um..." Well, that wasn't the best response. "I, Uh, don't know yet." I decided it wasn't best to tell him I was still seriously considering selling them to the highest bidder. "But I need someone to guard them until I figure out how to dispose of them. And I figure its an upgrade from this shack."

Short claws took a long time thinking about it, then nodded. "I can guard this place for you. But was this the help you needed or the proposal?"

I looked over to the kid, and then to Short Claws. "Kid, stay here, don't touch his stuff." I ordered. Then I turned to Short Claws. "Can we talk outside. The Hellhound looked puzzled, but nodded, following me out after glaring at the kid.

"Why you not what pony to hear?" Short Claws asked.

"Because I don't want him to know he shot the only donkey I've met in fifteen years." I replied. Short Claws started to growl, but I stopped him. "It was an accident." I explained. "But I don't think the kid could take it if he realized what he did." I sighed. "I owe him that much for how I've apparently been treating him."

"So, why you need my help?" Short Claws asked.

"Well..." i desperately tried to find the words. "I don't know." I finally sighed. "But I don't have anyone else I can talk to about this, and last time I felt this bad, you helped."

Short claws blinked. "I do not remember this."

I sighed. "It was when we met."

Now he looked even more confused. "How did that help?"

"gave me hope." I answered with a shrug. "Figured if I was lucky enough to find a Hellhound that didn't kill me, I had to be lucky enough to find just one Jack." Well, I might have even taken it a sign from above even. I was a little desperate at the time.

"So then, how do you expect me to help now?" He asked.

I could only shrug. "I don't know really, I just didn't know what else to do." I admitted. "But, your alone out here, you can't go back to your own kind. What keeps you going?"

He thought about it. "I am not like you, I know I still have a kind." He grinned. "Plus I could just let them have your head, and they take me back." I just frowned at him. He sat back on the earth, appearing deep in thought. "Never really thought about it. I am Hellhound. I dig, I make territory, I look for gems. I make rifle better. I wait for you to bring me things. I wait for rest of pack to realize we not be able to fight pony forever, that packs must find new way, if packs to continue. To many ponies, to few dogs. I know others felt like this. I know I eventually see dogs and ponies friends." He looked at me. "So, why you keep going?"

I shrugged. "I... Don't know anymore. I just barely managed to keep going long enough to get here. I... I'm lost, and donkeys don't get lost. But what reason do I have to keep going?"

Short Claws seemed to think that over for a bit. "I don't think I can tell you that." He said at last. "You must know why you live. I not able to tell it to you."

I sighed. "Great."

"But," He said. "What you think happens to little pony if you go?"

I blinked, then sighed. "Heck, even he would probably be better off if I'm gone. I've been dragging him across half the wasteland without a thought. Heck, Forge treated him better then I did, and he was a slaver!"

Short Claws blinked. "I think you need to tell me this story."

So I did. In brief anyway, tell him how I had dragged the kid... Flux, literally across half the wasteland on this accursed treasure hunt, and how it took Forge pointing things out to me to realize I had been a complete jerk to him the whole time.

Short claws took it all in, thought for a moment, then spoke up. "You are really an ass."

Before I could kick him, he continued. "You remember we used to travel together. You always ass to ponies. Even nice ponies who not shoot us. Now you care, but I think only because other donkey not like it. Now you feel bad, but for you, not colt. I think you really care for colt, you make things better, not give up and die."

I stood, stunned, jaw opening and closing, unable to think of a response. Before I came even close to one, he spoke up again. "I think you no want die. You be dead if you want that. But if you that sad, I tell you, you have me as friend, you have colt that needs help. And you still alive. If other donkey's still out there, you not find them if you dead."

Then he stood. "I go in, make sure colt not breaking my stuff. You stay and think, come in when done."

I sat to think a while. Short claws may be right. Forge had started me questioning if I had really been the decent equine I always thought I was, but most of that was just based on me not being a pony. Heck, I had gone along treating the kid like little more then a slave, all the while confident in the fact that I was better then him. After all, I had grown up learning how ponies and zebras had destroyed everything, and donkeys had just had to endure, as always. But Forge had shown me where that thinking led, to someone who did what they wanted to others, still confident that their species was the better one. I wanted none of it. Heck, the only friend I had made in 15 years was a Hellhound outcast, even though I was around friendly ponies often enough. But was the Hellhound right? Could I simply be a better donkey, change how I worked just to be... better? How could I just change behavior that had been ingrained for years? And did I really want to live for the kid... Flux, dang it. Here I was again. If Flux had been a donkey, I would be his friend. Heck, if he was anything but a pony or zebra, I would have at least treated him different. Well, I could try, at least long enough to get him set up someplace decent. I guess I owed him that much.

I sighed, and entered the shack, and froze. The last sight I had expected to see met me when I opened the door. Short Claws and Flux were sitting at the work bench in front of Short Claws rifle, with Short Claws showing the unicorn colt how it had been modified to be claw fired. I just watched them for a while. Apparently Flux was better at making friends then I would ever be. When they finished, Flux turned and saw, and trotted over with a smile.

"So, do you know what we are doing yet?" He asked.

I blinked at him. "Huh?"

"Well, we came here when you didn't know what to do. Do you now?" He asked.

I thought for a moment. Well, I had given Short Claws a new place to stay, and if I was to give a try at making Flux's life better, I was going to need to get the haul I planned. "We need to head for manehatten again." I said. I peered outside. The sun was already beginning to set outside, and we weren't going to get much further tonight, even if we left now. "Mind if we stay the night?" I asked Short Claws.

"Ok. But only one bed." He answered, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes and brought out my sleeping pad. We brought out our own dinners. Flux and I had pre-war goods, Short Claw brought out some sort of meat the he got from deeper in his tunnels. As we ate, we chatted, mostly going over everything that had happened to me and Flux so far, as Short Claws didn't know about most of it yet. After a while though, the kid pipped up.

"So, how did you meet a Hellhound anyway Scrounger?" He asked. "I've only heard about them from ponies talking, but they all made them sound scary and mean." At that, Short Claws growled, but I waved a hoof dismissively at him.

"Yeah, most ponies wouldn't know much about Hellhounds, they don't get along so well." I gave Short Claws a look, asking permission to tell the story. He nodded. Talking may not be my thing, but at least equestrian was my first language. "Well, several years ago I was out traveling when I ended up short cutting through Hellhound territory." I began. "I felt the ground shake, and before I knew it, I was surrounded by Hellhounds, including Short Claws here. I was lucky really, usually I would have been dead already. But it turned out Short Claws was just old enough for his first pony hunt. So instead of one of them just coming up from below and cutting me to pieces, they were going to let him do it alone." I raised an eyebrow. "But he wouldn't. I hadn't fired at any of them, and he refused to kill a "pony" that hadn't even fired back. Pack got real mad then, thought they were going to tear us both to pieces, but they ended up just barking something at him and headed off alone."
I shrugged. "He told me later they told him he couldn't come back into the pack until he brought them my head. Guess they figured it would only take him 10 minutes to take off my head and get back to the pack. Instead we tried traveling together. Worked for a little while, but folks kept trying to shoot him on sight. So I found him this shack, and I check in with him every once in a while and bring him trade goods."

"So your pack kicked you out because you wouldn't kill Scrounger?" Flux asked Short Claws, who nodded an affirmative. "But I don't understand, why didn't you fire?" He asked me. "You were surrounded."

I opened my mouth, shut it again, opened it, and shut it. My mind raced for a moment, before I finally managed to spit out. "Just out of ammo." The kid seemed to accept this. Later though, he had dozed off on a corner of my sleeping pad, and Short Claws spoke up in a low voice. "We both know you never run out with that thing, it even shoots rocks." He raised an eyebrow. "And I to have wondered why you not shoot dogs."

I sighed, but gave him a brief smile. "I told you before I owe you my life for that day."

"Yes, and I tell you that not killing you does not mean I save you." He replied.

"Yeah, but I never told you that wasn't why." I admitted. I sighed again. "Did you never wonder why I, someone who knew every trail in the area, picked the one that ran though hellhound territory, and everyone knew not to take?" I looked up at him. "I told you, you had already given me hope once after I lost it. Think about it."

He blinked, thinking back. Then his eyes widened in understanding. "You came to die." He said softly.

I nodded. "I had just followed my last lead on other donkeys halfway across Equestria. Just an old note about a few settling in a little nowhere town just before the war ended. Took me weeks to get there. All I found were bones and a few old logs. They only lived a week after the bombs fell, radiation got them. I just... couldn't take it anymore. I had spent half my life looking, and found no one. Even the most out of the way settlements hadn't survived the war. Got so bad that I just walked straight into hellhound territory and waited for your kind to take care of me. Then... well, everything happened." I shrugged. "Like I said, I owe you my life, you brought me hope again, and I can never repay that."
We didn't say anything more after that, I guess there wasn't anything more to say. We just sat until sleep came.

Level up!

New perk added: The magic of Friendship, level one: You have discovered the power of friends. +1 to all stats.