Fallout Equestria: The Pegasus Out of Time

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One: The Beginning
Chapter Two: The Awakening
Chapter Three: The Wasteland. Day 1
Chapter Four: Adjusting

Prologue

Howdy. If you're reading this, then congrats on finding this pipbuck... I'm probably dead if you are reading this, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, the name is Lightning Flash. I was born before Equestria was a wasteland. Now I know what you're thinking, "how in the hell is that possible?" well, I'll tell you. You better pull up a chair for this. Best to save your strength for your adventure and whatever.

This is my story...

Chapter One: The Beginning

Today was like no other, There are clear skies and a warm sun. Perfect weather for a good lap around the park. The best part? I got the week off. Nothing could be better! being a weather pony myself, I felt relieved when I heard that it was going to be like this for the week. I guessed it makes sense that last week had been nothing but thunderstorms and dark sky. I was cut out of my thoughts from a knock on my door.

"Now who could that be?" I said to myself as I got off my chair and fly over to the door. I looked through the peephole and see a unicorn on the other side. she was no one I recognized. I opened the door and she took a step forward, she looked like a sealspony from what I could tell

"Hello sir!" she said as she lifted her clipboard to her chest with her green magic, "Now before you say anything. I only need a few moments of your time."

"What is this about?" I asked with a raised eyebrow

"I'm here to tell you that you've been chosen to be a part of the new local stable, Stable 222"

"Stable 222? what's that?"

"It's a safe house for when the ineffable well happen. Lucky that you have been hoove picked to be safe from the fallout"

A safe house? Well, I guess it I could always go there if something bad would happen. Besides, given from what I heard on the news, it doesn't sound like a bad idea.

"Alright," I said, "sign me up!"

"very good!" she said as the clipboard with a pen hovered to me, "all you have to do is fill out this questionnaire"

Oh boy... I absolutely hate questionnaires... But if it means I get a chance to live on when the spells fall, who am I to compline? I grab the pen with my teeth and started writing my name and answer the questions.

The questions were easy enough, they weren't personal or anything but some of them were rather odd ones like "are you strong an enough to hold a ton of iron?" and things like that. I place the pen on the board then she pulled it back with a smile.

"I'm gonna take this over to the stable." she said, "It is off to the east of here, so don't be afraid to get there just in case"

I nodded and thanked the mare as I close the door. I just hope that this wasn't just a scam... I slouch down in my chair as I relaxed and just let myself start to slowly drift to sleep with the TV left on.

As I wake up I start to hear the announcements on the TV.

"... Been confirmed..." the news pony said with dread and fear in her voice, " ... Cloudsdale has been hit with a megaspell..." I sat up in my chair. A megaspell hit Cloudsdale? I couldn't bring myself, no I refused to believe what I had just heard.

"And.." the newspony continued, "It seems that there are more spells heading to other major cities. Everypony is advised to find shelter as soon as possible.. and pray that you survive... may Celestia and Luna watch over you all" with that, the screen went to static. I quickly got up and dashed out of the door. I'm not sure if a megaspell was going to hit Manehatten, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I headed east to the stable, that's the only place I know is safe.

Damn... It looks like I wasn't the only pony with the same idea. There were ponies crowding the entrance gate to the stable. I had to push my way through to just get close. I was families of three to five and hoped that they would get in too.

"What are you talking about!?" I heard as I continued to push through ponies, "I'm apart of stable-tech! I should be allowed in!" When I got close enough, I saw the sealspony that knocked on my door earlier today

"I said get back!" a stallion in power armor shouted as the mini gun on his side mount started to spin.

"Alright! Alright! You don't need to get pushy..." the sealspony said as she turned away and trotted off. She seemed betrayed. This was my chance if I was ever gonna get in, I have to take it now before someone else does.

"I'm on the list!" I said as I jumped forward to the Griffin with a clipboard in her talons, "you have to let me in!"

"Let me see..." the griffin said as she skimmed through the paper on the clipboard, "Yellow Pegasus, stallion. Looks about right... Alright go ahead" she moved out of the way to let me through. I nodded and trotted passed her.

I was escorted by a soldier to the stable door which was not too far in a cave. The door was big, bigger than anything I could have seen and the number 222 was printed in yellow like my coat. there were a few other ponies waiting at the door to open for them as well. Somewhere unicorns, others were earth ponies. I was the only Pegasus here. Maybe the other pegasi are already inside and got situated. That should be the case. Some pony had shouted to open the door and sure enough, the door started opening with teeth hurting squeals. After a painful moment, the door was fully open.

"Alright," a unicorn mare inside said, "Everypony inside! now!" I didn't need to tell twice as I hurried inside with the others.

The inside of the stable was completely metallic. Of course that there was clear glass that showed empty living rooms that were waiting for ponies to start living in. I could hear the stable door close, with the same teeth hurting sound. I was told that we were the last of the ponies in the group went inside. There were ponies in blue jumpsuits that guided us through the first hall and to a three-way split of long rooms. Each room had a sigh on top of each doorway; a pair of wings for pegasi, a horn for unicorns and pair shoes for earth ponies. I trotted towards the room for pegasi as I see a Pegasus mare sitting on a chair. she, as everypony else, was wearing a jumpsuit and I could see something on her forehooves, possibly a pipbuck. I had read about pipbucks after I heard about them on the news and, if I remember correctly, they are surprisingly helpful. They have a lot of downloading space and high downloading speed with the ability to track what you have on you and what condition you're in, and with that eyes forward sparkle (EFS) I wouldn't get lost when I fly (not like that was an issue) and tell who was friendly or not. Don't get me started on what SATS (stable-tech arcane targeting spell) can do. Just reading about them just made me want one more! there so awesome!

"Oh hello there," she said knocking me out of my thoughts, "You're the last Pegasus of the day, right?"

"Eyup..." I said with a sigh, "That's me" she got up and grabbed a bag, with her wings, with the same jumpsuit.

"Here you go!" she said with a smile as she held the bag to me, "Welcome to stable 222!"

"Uh... Thanks" I said and I grabbed the bag with my teeth. Something about her smile didn't seem right... As if she knew something I didn't.

Another Pegasus trotted towards me. He was wearing a scientist jacket on top of his jumpsuit and he too had a pipbuck on his forehoof. He motioned me to follow him and I did so. The room had pods on each wall, they all seemed to be about pony sized. This also had me concerned. What are these pods for and what is their purpose? He leads me to the end of the room where one of the pods was still opened.

"I'm sure you're wondering what these pods are, yes?" his voice was deep and had a slight ascent. He's probably from Fillydelphia or whatever. I nod to answer his question.

"Well, to put your mind at ease, these are sanitation pods." he explained, "There quick and will clean you from any bacteria from outside. All you have to do is get into your new suit and step in."

I wasn't convinced, but I had no idea if he was telling the truth or not. If he's lying, he makes one hell of a poker face. I simply nodded and started to open the bag to my new clothing. The scientist waited patiently for me to take out and put on the suit. It was a surprisingly conferrable fit. The holes for the wings seemed to fit my wings as if it was a pair of connectable blocks interlocking with each other. Then I stepped inside like he instructed. I had to be on my back legs for the pod to close. There was a moment of silence before I started to get cold and tired. My mind went foggy as my vision started to fade to black. Wait a minute. If this is a sanitation pod, why am I getting tired? why do I feel freezing cold? That's when I finally blacked out.

Chapter Two: The Awakening

Cold and dark... It felt like minutes had passed until my vision started to come back to me. I started to cough uncontrollably, it felt like I had held my breath for a long time. My eyes started to water as I pounded on the pod door. With some effort, the pod door had opened up and I fell to the floor. My mussels felt weak and my body ached. It hurt to even try to get up.

"H-help!" I managed to scream, "Somepony, anypony, please! help!"

There was no response. I was all alone, no one to help and no one to put me back into the pod. I just laid there for Celestia knows how long before I slowly got to my hooves. How long was I out for? Where did everypony go? I thought to myself as I walked past the pods. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to get out of their pods. The two pods were both left open like I had left mine. But when I got closer, I saw something that I wish I hadn't. Only one of the pods were empty. The other pod had a corpse of a mare, with a bullet hole in the middle of her head. I gaged, somepony had killed her and left her body there. It was sickening. It was wrong. I don't even know who this Pegasus was but I couldn't help to feel bad for what happened to her. It would be disrespectful to move her body so I continued forward. Corpses of oversized roaches littered the halls as I ventured. The stable looks a lot bigger since there was nopony to show me around.

I eventually end up in a room with bunk beds and lockers. There were skeletons of dead ponies laid about the room as I looked around. Opening one of the lockers, I find a 10mm pistol and took it for good measure. Just if I wasn't really alone in this tomb of a stable. The other lockers in the room had nothing. Not even ammo for my new weapon. I was just about to leave when I saw a skeleton for a Pegasus. It must have been the same Pegasus that gave me the suit I'm wearing because of the pipbuck on its forehoof. The screen was off and seemed to have collected dust over years of being still and unused. As much as I hate the idea, I'm going to have to take it. She's not going to use it anyway now. I inched closer and grabbed the pipbuck with my wing and tried my best to slide the leg bone away without disturbing the skeleton too much.

"If I'm going to survive, I'm going to need it," I told myself as I examined the device. It looked like the lock on the pipbuck was already undone. Although that was odd, I slipped the pipbuck onto my left forehoof and secured the lock, keeping in place. with a flick of a switch, the pipbuck turned on instantly as if it was never turned on at all. I wiped the dust away with my other leg as I started to hover off the ground. Code went through the screen as it booted up. Then a blue outline image of a mare appeared on the screen. She winked at me as the screen whet to the stats menu. I seemed to be okay, according to my "new" pipbuck. I let out a sigh in relive, at least I wasn't going to die anytime soon. I looked away from my pipbuck and walked out of the room. Now I just have to find a way out... If I can.

As I wander through the empty halls of stable 222, I felt more and more like I was never gonna get out. I had my pistol held with my wing, although I'm not sure if that was a safe idea. I had finally figured out how to activate my EFS. Lucky me, there's something that wants to kill me here. Hopefully, it's just a big cockroach, yeah that's probably it.... Celestia just listens to me, I'm already going crazy in here. I need to hurry up and find the way out. Even though I don't know whats coming.

I looked at my pipbuck's map function and kept walking... well, more like flying with the pistol in its holster. I would have to figure out how to do all three at the same time at some point. judging on whats on the map, I should be getting close to the exit.

Sure enough, I started to get a seance of familiarness in the hall that I went into. It was the lobby where everyone was sorted into a frozen home... or tumb. The signs that showed the unicorns hall had fallen down as well as the pegasi sign just barely hanging by one chain. The earth ponies sign was nowhere to be found. dead bodies of cockroaches, no bigger than a newborn child, are littered on the floor. But my EFS still indicates that there's still something alive here that's hostile. I laned and pull out the gun with my wing and pointed it out. The last thing I needed was to die in this freezer.

Just out in the darkened halls, I start to see another one of those unnaturally large roaches moving on the wall. I took my aim at it and pulled the trigger. BANG! the sound of the gunshot echoed the halls of the stable as the roach fell to the ground with an uneasy cry of pain, then stopped moving. I let out a small sigh as I placed the pistol into its holster. my EFS didn't show anything else as the roach died. I was now alone, but I knew that I was close to the exit.

At this point, I began going through my thoughts. The first that came to mind was that what happened in the time I was frozen for. The second was will I recolonize my home when I walk out of this place.

As I approached the door, I could see that it was rusted with age. The number 222 was barely visible in its yellow writing. On the right side of the door, there was a button that's light flickered dimly inside of it. Having no better options, I walked to the button and pressed it.

Chapter Three: The Wasteland. Day 1

Nothing happened for a moment. Then, a siren started to sound. A machine had lowered its self slowly and move towards the door. Its prongs fitted perfectly in the holes the door had on it. With a somehow more painful squeal of metal on metal, the door that led outside slowly opened. The only thought running through my head was "is everything okay out there?". But when I was able to see outside, my question was quickly answered.

I'm not sure how to accurately describe what I saw then the word, wasteland. Everything was dead. Nothing was green and nopony to be seen for miles. the skies were covered with dark clouds that stretched for what seemed like infinity. It was a horror show come to life.

I can feel my legs buckle as I fell to my knees. My entire life as I knew it was gone. My family, my friends. They were all dead. And it also felt like I would end up the same way unless I started moving. So I got up and took a deep breath before walking out to the barren wasteland.

The first steps I took seemed to be the hardest. Because when I could see my home city, I had frozen up again. What I could tell from where I am, it was empty. No one to be seen within the city limits. My home was probably looted when I was frozen in there. That's when I noticed the ticking on my pipbuck. When I looked at it, I saw the RAD meter slowly go up. Was Manehattan really been hit with a megaspell? No. If it was, most of the buildings would have fallen by now. So it must have been something else. But what was it? For now, it doesn't matter. My RAD was rising so I had to get away from here. At least far enough to be safe from radiation poisoning.
As I opened my wings, I noticed what seemed to be an impossible number of red tics on my EFS. I almost believed that it was a glitch. there was no way that that many hostile entities where alive in there. The radiation was hitting me from the stable doors, so how could anyone be alive in Manehatton? I had to force myself to look away and take off, flying south-east and away from my home. Sometimes I wish I hadn't even gone into the stable in the first place.

As I flew in the sky, for what felt like hours, nothing would change. Everything I passed looked the same, dead. I was beginning to wonder if I was the last pony alive in Equestria. Then that thought left my mind when I say a grey tic show up on my EFS. A neutral entity? Well, whatever it was better than nothing. So I started to lower myself down as the tic was growing bigger. Who or whatever it was, I wanted to know if it was going to be friendly.

Scanning the area, I could see a unicorn pony covered in what could assume was amour of rubber, metal sheets, and some sort of leather. I had lowered myself to the point to the point where she could hear me and called out, "Hay! Can you help me out?"

The mare responded by jumping in surprise and pointing a 9mm pistol at me with a magical grip, the tick turning to red. I had stopped in my tracks as she held me a gunpoint, getting a good look at her terribly scared face. Her sister grin felt like she was already had several screws in her head and there was no way to get them out. I could already tell that she had no intention to help me.

"Well lookie here," she said with a snicker, "looks like a pegasus from a stable had lost his way. And when I thought I had lost my luck."

she mad motioned me to land with her firearm. I did so, not wanting to get shot with whatever bullet her gun was holding. I could feel myself lower a wing down to my 10mm as the mare walked toward me. The mare cocked her head as she studied me.

"You must be freshly out as well, given how clean you look." She giggled as if I was a child, " But that doesn't mean you don't know how to protect yourself with that gun of yours!" she then shot her gun at me, hitting my wing that had a grip on my gun. I yelped in pain and fell to my knees. the pain was unbearable like a furnace was burning in my wing. I could hear the mare's crazed laughter over the screaming in my head. Whoever this was, she was completely lost up there. The insane mare then knocked me across my face with her pistol. To her displeasure, I didn't fall down to the ground like she forcefully tried to. I could tell that she didn't like me not doing what she wanted as she pointed her gun at my forehead. Using my reflexes, I knocked her pistol away and pull out my own and pointed it at her.

BLAM! BLAM!

My wing jerked painfully as I shot a bullet into the mares head. Blood and brain matter splatted onto my face when I closed my eyes. I could hear the corpse fall to the ground as I panted heavily. cleaning my face, I looked down at the mare I killed. Adrenalin had taken over my senses as I put my pistol away and leaned down to the corpse. For some reason, I couldn't feel any guilt for this pony that I just murdered. Instead, I felt glad that I had ended her life. Realisation about my gear led me to take everything this mare had; from her barding to her weapons and armor. surprising enough, the mare had 2 potions (witched my pipbuck declared that they had healing properties) and drank one. then I placed the holster of the 9mm on my other side.

Of course, the armor was too small for me to wear so I just put them in the saddle bags the mare had. the potion started doing its work as I feel the bullet push out of my flesh and started to heal up. I let out a pained sigh and sat down to collect my thoughts.

I just murdered somepony. just like that, dead. without a moment a hesitation. I killed the first pony found within miles of anywhere. It would be traumatizing to any pony before this... this wasteland. But I had to do it. It would have been me dead if I didn't do anything about it.

I stayed there as I let the potion heal me for a moment longer. then I stood up and gave my wing a few test flaps. My wing was still sore from the quickness of the potion. I considered it too dangerous to fly now, so I started to walk southern.

About a half an hour later, I noticed that my pipbuck had been making some sort of sound. As if it was notifying me of something. When I looked at my pipbuck, I noticed that the map function was going crazy. working away at my surroundings of this barren wasteland. To my disappointment, there wasn't any place that could be friendly within days of walking. One statement that seemed the closest to me was to the west, but it was longer on foot than in the air. The settalment didn't have a name, but it was better than nothing. I needed to see if anypony was still sane and not crazy like that mare. Knowing that would put me at some ease. I turned left and headed west my new destination.

walking takes longer than I expected... I haven't made it half way and night had started to roll in. Princess Luna must be watching over some dreams of fillies and colts by now, If she and her sister were still alive. the night wind had already arrived in as I shuddered in my jumpsuit. I guess stable-tech didn't plan on anyone facing cold weather or any weather for that matter. I needed to find a way to warm up.

looking around I managed to find some sort of firelight to my right. activating my EFS, I could see that there were three tics on my campus. two of them where red. the other was blue. I assume that two of those crazy ponies had captured someone. But that blue tic is what caught my attention. Blue means someone friendly, someone sane. I pulled out my 10mm and quickly flew towards the camp as quietly as I could, landing a few feet away and couch down. The two where stallions from what I could tell from the conversation they were having.

"...and those damned ponies in new appaloosa." one of the crazed ponies said, " A bunch of pains in our ass."

"Oh well," the other chuckled, "We still managed to get something afterward."

I assumed that they meant the pony that they had hostage. What exactly did they have in mind for this pony? Torture? Slavery? It doesn't matter, I was going to save that pony. Even if it means I could die trying. I took a deep, slow breath before I stood up and shot two rounds into one of the crazed ponies skull, this one being another unicorn.

The other pony, an earth pony, jumped to attention as his companion dies, quickly pulling out a bat with his teeth and rushing towards me. Standing my ground, I went to fire another round into his head. Click. I had fired my last round into that unicorn and I had nothing else to reload it with. before I knew it, the earth pony was already on top of me as he swang his bat at my chest. the force of the hit was enough to knock the wind out of me and possibly broke a few ribs as I was knocked to my back. I had no time to think about the pain as I pulled out the 9mm with my other wing. somehow, I had activated the SATS, allowing me to get a good shot between the earth pony's eyes. He landed next to me as he died.

It took a moment, but I managed to stand up and put my pistols away. looking over the stallions a had just killed, I began taking their things. It didn't feel right to be doing this but it had to in order to survive. the unicorn was holding ammo for my 10mm as well as my 9mm. I also found a shotgun of some sorts with some shells to go with it. I put them in my saddlebags as I went to loot the earth pony. he was holding more than just the bat. Food and water to keep me going for a week at best. I also found a medium sized pouch. it had some weight in it so I decided to check it out later.

when I had finished looting and reloading my guns, I walked over to the fire. in the firelight, I saw a mare unconscious on the ground. she was an earth pony as well. I began to wonder what had happened to the pegasi in Equestria? I couldn't be the last one, could I? Shaking my head, I disregarded that thought. that sounded impossible to even think about. what I should be worried about is that this pony was okay. she seemed so peaceful as she slept. I shouldn't wake her up now. in fact, sleep sounded really good right now. even if I had to sleep on the dirt. I picked the softest spot of dirt I could find and lay down, letting the comfort of sleep drag me under.

Chapter Four: Adjusting

My sleep was dreamless. No vivid images of my life back in pre-apocalyptic Equestria. No good memories to be watched. Only darkness filled my vision.

I had woken up to the sound of my saddle bags being emptied. I sluggishly sat up to see the mare frantically going through my bags. As if she was looking for something. I was surprised that she got them from me without me noticing.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I yawned, rubbing one of my eyes. She jumped and gave off an "eep!". Her silver eyes gazing at me with fear.

"N-n-nothing!" she stammered with a voice much younger than I anticipated.

"Well, it doesn't look like nothing." I said, "You're going through my bags."

"W-well... I-I..." I could hear and see her gulp. She was terrified to even speak.

"It's alright." I assured her, "I'm not with those dead ponies back there."

I had motioned behind her. When she looked I knew that she was shocked. She probably assumed that nopony was going to save her. She even looked back at me with a friendly face.

"I'm sorry..." she said, pushing my bags to me, "You cant be so sure about everypony in the wasteland. Especially when it comes to raiders."

"Raiders?" I asked, "What are raiders"

"Crazy and dangerous" She explained, "Can't trust them for even a moment..."

"I see... So what happened to you?" I asked curiously

"I was on my way home to new appleoosa..." she paused for a moment, "But then I was jumped by those two raiders. By the time the guards noticed, the raiders had knocked me out and took me to where ever this place is."

There it is again, New Appleoosa. It's not a town I'm not familiar with. I wanted to know more about it. A place of somewhat safety sounded promising. Then I had an idea.

"How about I help you back" I offered to her, raising my pipbuck, "I got a map, all you have to do is point to where it is. In return, I'll let you keep what you were looking for."

She rubbed her chin. I'm sure she knew where to go if she had a moment to look around. But if she went alone, she would get attacked by more raiders. We both knew what her answer would be in the end.

"Alright," she sighed, "You got yourself a deal."

I smiled and stood up, putting my saddle bags on and stretching my wings. I noticed her walking to me and I raised my pip buck to her to show my poor excuse of a map. Lucky enough she was able to point out her destination, witched turned out to be the settlement I was going to already.

"Now before we go." she started, "I want my shotgun. Including the shells for it."

"Always good to plan ahead, huh?" I commented, pulling out the shotgun out of my saddlebags as well as the ammo for it. I had already had a wing onto my 10mm, in case she was going to betray me right then and there. She gladly had put the gun on her back... Well sort of.

The mare had this frame on her body with a piece of metal close to her muzzle. When the mare had put the gun away, it had moved to her side ready to be used. She smiled happily to be returned to it.

"For a stable dweb, you're pretty trusting. That sort of thing will get you killed." she said coldly

"It's better to trust something than nothing. Even its with a pony I don't know." I countered

"And if you were wrong?" she asked

"Then that's on me. Simple as that." I replied. She must have thought of that to be amusing because she chuckled a bit. I crouched down and smiled, opening my wings.

"Hop on." I told her

"I'm sorry?" she sounded confused at what I said

"I said hop on. We'll get there faster if I fly us there."

She was hesitant at first. But she climbed onto my back in the end. Shortly after she did, I flew up and out west. She couldn't be more scared then when she thought I was a raider myself. I could feel her front hooves almost choke me as she held on for dear life. This flight looks to be a long one...

It didn't take long for the mare, which I learned her name was Apple Kettle, had calmed down and loosened her grip. Not by a lot, but enough for me to breath normally. I already knew that this was Kettle's first time flying, so I didn't blame her for being so scared. If anything, this could be a learning experience for her. Back before all this had happened, it was usually pegasi and the princesses that could be in the sky. But that was then, now is a different story. If it meant survival, anything goes.

I was knocked out of my thoughts as I feel a bullet enter my right hind leg. I let out a cry of pain and wabbled. Doing this had only made Kettle tighten her grip on me. The pain from my bullet wound felt like Celestia herself was digging a dagger made with the heat of the sun into my leg. More bullets wised by us as I tried to fly straight. I couldn't breathe and I was getting shot at. The situation wasn't looking good already.

Another bullet had hit its mark as I fell it go through my left wing. I had gritted my teeth this time, taking the blaze of hell its self inside my lungs as I flew faster. My body couldn't keep up any longer. I could feel myself losing altitude as I began to black out. We were going to crash land and there was no avoiding it no matter how hard I tried. One bullet had grazed my flank and another landed into my shoulder. I was being bomb barded with infernos as my decent went faster and faster. My vision went dark just before I had hit the ground.

The tv was producing static as I wake up inside my house. Was it all just a dream? Did I just imagine it all? My head was pounding, aching with pain. I had already placed a hoof on my head, hoping that would dull the pain where it wasn't as bad. Everything looked normal, but something was off. I just couldn't put my hoof on it.

As if my migraine couldn't get worst, there was a knocking on my door. The sounded had amplified the pain ten- no twentyfold. I let out a groan of pain as I get up and walk to my door.

"Hello?..." I said as I opened the door. But as soon as I opened it, I was met with my mother, a mane stylest named Hover Snips. Her face was filled with sadness and despair.

"M-mom?!" I said surprisingly, tilting my head, "Whats wrong?"

"Why did you leave us?" she asked quietly

"Leave you?" I questioned, "What are you-?"

"Why did you leave us?!" she asked louder. Her words had started to echo in my head, growing louder and louder as more voices, voices of my friends and siblings, joined hers. I had taken a few steps back as my mother disappeared into the darkness.

I covered my ears with pain as I crouched down. It was as if the voices were weighing me down with guilt. Darkness had begone to surround me as they didn't let up. My friends, my family, all of their voices were screaming in my head and growing louder.

"I-i didn't know!" I shouted, tiring to fight back, "I didn't know what was going to happen!'

It was fruitless. The voices had continued to grow forever louder and louder. There was no stop to their rath. I finally let out a cry of pure terror as I collapse onto the ground. Darkness had engulfed me completely.

I had jumped awake with a scream, sitting upright. A cold sweat had formed as I panted heavily. I just had a nightmare... Or was it a night terror? I don't know. I had never experienced one before. It had felt so real. More real than my normal dreams.

It had taken me a full minute to realize that a mare was trying to talk to me. This mare was completely different then Kettle. This one was a unicorn, wearing a nurses uniform from what I could tell. If that uniform bore Fluttershy's color and her cutie mark on the shoulder.

"I-im sorry," I said to her, "I... I had a bad dream."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" she shouted, "The kind of fall you and Apple Kettle had taken at least a month to recover from! Let alone the bullet wounds you had taken!"

"Apple Kettle?!" I asked surprised "She's here too?!?"

I had just about stood up from the bed to have the mare push me back on it with her magic. Either I was very weak at the moment or she was surprisingly stronger than any unicorn I've seen. Then again, the only unicorns I've encountered were from before the spells and those raiders I killed.

"That's enough Silver," a stallion said from behind the nurse, "go check on the other patients."

The nurse gave a shallow sigh and released me from her magical grip. Then she walked to help other ponies in the room. I had just sat up again, feeling completely sore, as a stallion walks towards me. His get-up shouts "I'm the boss around these parts" to a high degree. A scared face that hid years worth of a troubled past, weapons where he could get them with his magic, even wearing some sort of badge on his tattered leather jacket.

"Don't mind Silver Stich," he said, " we haven't had any other medical ponies in a while. Shes just trying to do the job alone."

"Alone?" I asked as I looked around. Sure enough, inside the room I was in, Silver was the only one trying to mend all the ponies with me. Ranging from children to fully grown ponies. No other medical ponies to help her. Just how long has she been doing this for?

"Eyup," the stallion said, "Ever since more ponies had shown up here we've been getting attacked by more and more raiders. Innocents get hurt, killed, or worse."

"I don't mean to be rude," I interrupted, " but where am I?"

"You're in New Appleoosa," he said, "you can call me Sheriff."

"A-alright Sheriff," I said, "I'm Lightning Flash. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," sheriff said with a nod

"How did I end up here?" it seemed like I had a million questions to ask him. But I wanted to know the important things first before asking anything else.

"Well..." sheriff paused, scratching the back of his head with his hoof, "When the guards saw you flying close to town, they thought that you where an Enclave hunter. So they decided to shoot you down. If it weren't for Apple Kettle, they would have killed you when the two of you crashed landed."

I let that sink in for a moment. A pony that only decided to go with me to avoid getting captured, and yet she stopped the guards from killing me when I blacked out. I had no idea what the Enclave was but they must be bad enough that they got me shot and nearly killed. After a moment, I stood up from the bed. My body had racked with pain.

"Can you take me to Kettle?" I asked, " I want to thank her for saving me."

Sheriff nodded and motioned me to follow him. I did so, my entire body was slower then I wanted to. From how badly my body wanted to stop and rest, I must have been out for either a few hours or a few days. I had hoped that it was a few hours.

I was taken to a room down the hall. Kettle was the only one inside, unconscious in the bed she was put on. Her breathing was slow but noticeable. It was my fault that she was there. But it was better then what the raiders had in mind for her.

"It's only been three days since you and Kettle arrived." The sheriff said, "I didn't expect you two to wake up until next week. Your pretty tuff for a new survivor"

"Three days?!" I exclaimed, "Was it that bad?"

"It would have been worse if Kettle didn't defend you before blacking out." Sheriff commented

I had already known that I would have died if Kettle blacked out as soon as I did. I had to repay her eventually, but now she needed to rest and recover. I wanted to apologize that she was in that bed and thank her for saving my life. I owed her a lot for it. It doesn't matter if she didn't want me to owe her.

After my visit with Apple Kettle, Sheriff took me on a tour of New Appleoosa. Surprising enough, there was also a library as well as a variety of shops and restaurants. To my added shock the ponies of the wasteland went to using bottle caps rather than Bits. I had learned this when Sheriff gave me 100 caps for retuning Kettle to town. Bits, however, didn't lose all of its value. They were, of course only good to get more caps. Either to get them from vending machines or from merchants. The whole concept was just absurd to me. But if it meant survival, I would have to get used to it.

After the hole tour was over, The sheriff went out to do whatever he did. I took this time to see if I could get something better then just a jumpsuit. Everyone that I asked for barding all pointed to the library. Apparently, the pony who worked in there also did barding. But they also warned me that I needed to be careful with her. I wasn't sure why they warned me. But as long as I get something decent to protect myself, it didn't matter to me.

The library was like any library in the wasteland would go. The books were old and tattered, save for a section of books called "Wasteland survival guide" by a mare named Ditzy Do. I assumed that this mare wasn't my best friend Dizty Do ponies called Derpy Hooves. I was sure that she was out doing deliveries when the spells fell. There would have been no way that she would survive the number of spells that exploited in the time I was frozen for. Although, the sound of a survival guide for this world peeked my interest. Helpful tips on surviving the unforgiving wasteland could save my flank more than anything. I decided to grab a copy of the guide, with full intention to buy it, and continue my search for better barding.

My search came to an abrupt stop when I saw what I could only assume was a zombie pony behind the counter. Her back was turned, working on something. I was frozen at the sight of the zombie, afraid that she was going to jump out and eat my brains when she saw me. But when the zombie did turn around, she only smiled and beckoned me to come closer with her hooves. I was hesitant, but I eventually broke free of my fear's grip and confronted the zombie. She seemed happy that I had shown up as if nopony had come in for days.

"D...do you own this place?" I asked more shakey then I wanted. The zombie simply nodded in response. It didn't seem like she was a talker.

"O-oaky," I said holding out the book to her, " I'd like to buy this, please."

She nodded again and pulled out a notepad and pencil. She then began writing on it. I assumed that she was writing me a receipt but then the zombie showed me what she wrote. It read, "that'll be 30 caps please". She couldn't speak. Was it because she was rotting away? Or was it because she was born mute? I pushed the image of her tongue falling out to the back of my head, pulling my pouch of caps, which already had 15 caps inside before placing the one's sheriff gave me and placing 30 of them on the counter. I had just noticed the zombie's left eye was off center from her right eye. Almost exactly identical to Dizty's eyes. But I decided not to put too much attention to it. I'm sure that she already had ponies poking fun at her for it.

"Also," I said, causing the zombie to look at me, "can you also make me some sort of barding? I sure I'm gonna need it if I go back out there."

"Of course," she wrote, "Can I get your name?"

"Lightning Flash," I told her

"Lightning?" she wrote, taking a moment to nod a bit, "Got it. It'll be done by the end of the day"

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. I've been lazy on this one. also a happy new year to me. I may be four days late but that's alright