The Vault Dweller: A Fallout in Equestria Story

Chapter 5: Leaving New Las Pegasus

After the weird Pegacorn made of what looked like smoke disappeared it left the group with the question of what to do, and who was exactly who. It didn’t take long to learn that most of the ponies that had fallen, and were pretty much dead at this point, seemed to be the slavers of this area. Cinnamon Bun, or Cin for short, was among the ponies that seemed the most understanding of what was going on, or at least she was understanding to a point.

“Cinnamon!”

The two toned red and white maned, and tailed, mare looked toward the excited unicorn that was shouting at her. She grinned brightly at her, and hugged her granite colored friend.

“Cream! You got out! What are you doing back here?”

Cream shuffled her hoof for a moment before she pointed toward the lone human in the middle of all of this, “He wanted to come down and free everypony.”

Cinnamon Bun walked toward him, she tilted her head toward one side, looked at him, and then snorted, “Cream, your friend looks like a mutated Minotaur.”

“I can hear you, and I’m a human,” he replied.

She shook her head, “So, you’re one of those things that Lyra’s been going on about.”

“Hey! I can hear you too!”

Then the cream white coated mare with the two toned mane, and tail, walked around him, seemingly measuring him up for a moment before finally giving him a hug. She then lowered back down and took a seat on her haunches.

“What happened down here?”

Cinnamon shook her head, “I don’t exactly know. I mean we were trapped, the slavers were talking about which of us they were going to throw to the rat, and then somepony prayed to Luna. Right afterward everything got dark, some of the slavers screamed and then we woke up here with you.”

Cream seemed to look at her for a moment and shook her head, “It can’t have been that easy.”

Cinnamon studied her friend who sat there trying to make sense of it, “I’ve known fillies, colts, and even other beings that have spent countless days and nights praying to Celestia and Luna, only for nothing to happen. I can’t believe that on this one off chance she just happened to appear, and besides, that didn’t seem like her. It was nothing like the Luna I remember reading about.”

Twilight listened to them, but her eyes were looking in the darkness. She was judging, seeing the dark for what it was. A place where a shadow could hide, heal, and regain strength. Some of her memories were still muddy, things didn’t always exactly match up, but she remembered facing Nightmare Moon. She remembered the Elements of Harmony destroying the Nightmare and freeing Luna, so why would Nightmare moon still be alive.

“You look a little preoccupied,” a voice said.

She turned to see the lone human among them. A quick nod let her answer before she looked back at the dark, “Cream Pie is right. It doesn’t make sense.”

She heard the ground shift, and then felt his warmth next to her own. She didn’t turn away the fact that he was trying to comfort her, but instead she leaned into it, letting him rub her just under her wing joint.

“Since I’ve woken up the only thing that makes sense is that nothing makes sense. I’m in a world of talking ponies, something I’m still trying to write off as mutations gone bad, an impossible dream, or maybe I’ve died and this is the afterlife. I’m not sure which one fits, but I’ve been trying to convince myself that it has to be one of them. Unfortunately, I’m not have a very good time of doing so,” he said as she pressed against him, “All I can do for the moment is just roll with the punches.”

She looked toward him, studying his face as he looked at the endless black of the darkness before them, “So, just go with it?”

He shrugged before looking at her, “More or less. That’s all anyone can really do. Just roll with it.”

He slowly got to his feet, which in turn caused her to get to her hooves. What he said did make sense. It made far more sense than just sitting here, waiting, hoping, praying that things would be different. The two of them moved toward the others.

“So, does anypony know where we should take these ponies?”

He looked at Lyra who had decided to ask the question that obviously needed to be asked, but no one was really sure how to answer. Instead he looked around at the gathered group, the now out of commission slavers, and their weapons.

“I have an idea that I think might work, if all of you are okay with it,” he began, “It seems to me that you’ve got a potentially functioning community topside. I’m not sure what these slavers were having you do, but obviously you don’t have to do it anymore. Instead, why don’t you begin converting some of the buildings, working with what there is, and seeing if you can’t make a town right here. New Thunderhead is less than a day outside of here, and you could potentially start up a trade agreement with them.”

Cinnamon Bun walked toward him, and then she nodded before she turned around toward the others, “The hairless Minotaur is right. We’ve got the place to set up, weapons to defend ourselves, and we can make a go of it here.”

“But what about the stuff they did to us?!” a voice cried out.

“Yeah!” several others agreed.

Cinnamon shook her head, “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, or fun, but I am saying that we have a real chance here to do something most ponies never get the chance to do. We have a chance to set up a community, becoming a trading station, and maybe even make more of a life than just hoping that the next slaver won’t be more sadistic than the last! If we band together, we work together, we can make this work.”

Slowly several of them nodded, and with that decision made he lead them up out of the sewers, to the basement of the Silver Cloud, and then out into the dimly lit streets of Las Pegasus. Cinnamon Bun looked it over, and then looked at the Silver Cloud behind them.

“Okay, I say we start here. We know that this casino is mostly safe, so we work from here out. But for tonight, I want everypony to relax, take time off, and just get some rest.”

Several seemed to agree as they moved toward the doors and back into the casino itself. After a few moments she looked at the small group still standing out there with her.

“Thanks for giving us a home. I don’t know how well we’re going to do with it, but thank you,” she said.

He nodded, but it was Cream Pie that moved forward and hugged her again.

“Cinnamon, you’ve got this, right?”

The off white mare with the two toned red and white mane nodded, “Yeah, I’m going to be fine. I’m free tonight, with any luck at all for the rest of my life, and I owe it to you and your friends. Cream, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but you and your friends are welcomed back here anytime. Know that Las Pegasus’ gates are always opened to you.”

Hearing them talk the Vault Dweller thought of those ponies still in the Vault itself. He explained to Cream what he planned on doing, headed down, and had Donald unlock the Vault. When he went inside he was greeted with seeing the freed ponies from earlier, sitting together, eating some vegetables that appeared to have been frozen, and recently thawed for them, and animatedly talking among themselves. When they noticed him, he was once again the subject of various hugs, delighted thank yous, and informed that he was a good pony, or Minotaur, or whatever it was that he was.

Once they had that out of their system he began to explain to them about the situation above them, that the others were freed, the slavers wouldn’t be bothering them anymore, and if they chose they could head up top. He’d be back, later, but it may be a few months. Without hesitation all of them elected to stay in the Vault.

He understood their reasoning for staying inside of the Vault. There was safety, protection, and no one would ever be to get into the Vault without him there to verify to Donald to open the Vault door.

“Okay, I’m going to be gone for a while, not an exceptionally long time, but at least a month or two. I want to see this Crystal Empire, find out if there is more of my kind there, or someway to get to them, and then I’ll come back. If you all don’t mind I’d like to ask you to help Donald, monitor the pods, and when the others start waking up just take time talking to them.”

They nodded, and then Bluebelle hugged him again. He scratched behind her ear, walked toward the Vault door, and told Donald the same instructions. Donald informed him that he understood, and with that he left the safety of the Vault, headed back up to the surface, and rejoined his party. Cinnamon Bun, and three others, followed them to the gates, and once there, Cinnamon stopped Cream Pie.

“You don’t have to go you know. We’re going to make this a place worth living in, and you’d have a home here. You can stay, with me, and well with the others. That’s the same for all of you. You’re welcome to stay here.”

He looked out at the desert waiting for them. The wasteland awaited, and he had a feeling that this was a wasteland even before it became the wastelands that it was today.

“I’ve got to get answers, and what little I’ve heard says that I might find them in the Crystal Empire.”

Cinnamon Bun then looked at Cream who shook her head, “Salty… well all of them would be lost without me. Besides, I want to visit the Rock Farm, check on Maud, and there’s just still too much to do.”

Cinnamon nodded, hugged them in a large group hug, and then as soon as they stepped through the gates closed, and locked. Once more they were out, and this time it was closer to night. He knew which way New Thunderhead was. They’d been there already, and it wasn’t so far that they couldn’t make it. But heading back to New Thunderhead wasn’t really going to get them any closer to where he felt he needed to go.

“What’s the fastest way to the Crystal Empire?”

He felt someone brush against him and he looked to see Twilight, “The Friendship Express went there, if we can find the tracks we could follow them.”

It seemed as good of an answer as he could come up with, so he nodded, and their small group began walking out into the desert. His Pip Boy was showing the current area, nothing overly sticking out, and it seemed to continue to show more of the same, over and over again until they neared something that caused his Pip Boy to react with a name and small emblem appearing, much like what happened with New Thunderhead and Las Pegasus.

“Friendship Express, Railway Station number fifteen?” he said.

Looking ahead there was an old building out in the distance. The back of it looked half covered with sand, old shutters were closed, and beside it an old soda machine was softly running, sounding like it was on its last legs. They walked toward it, he carefully listening for the sounds of weapons being loaded and aimed toward them, but instead it was just night, lots and lots of night that was surrounding them.

He looked at the building for a moment, seeing no movement, they walked around the side of it, toward the front, and there they found a wall. A wall made from an old shipping container, and another, and another, and another that was stacked three high, and who knew how many around. It seemed like the wall went around the building, toward the front, where when he walked toward the front of it he heard the sounds of weapons like he was expecting.

“Welcome to Railway Town, I’m acting mayor, sheriff, and judge Bronze Star. You’ve got about six seconds to explain who you are, what you want, and if you’ve got intentions that will lead to the injury or death, of the folks here with me. If you give answers I don’t like… Well, Mr. shotgun is going to give answers in response to me. We understand one another?”

“Sir, we’re not here to make trouble. It’s dark, I’m sure you know that the wastelands are crawling with things that can, and will, kill a pony faster than a bullet, and we’d like nothing more than to just come inside of your town, do a little trading, and of course get a room for the night. Nothing more than that.”

He looked at Cream who seemed to be more than willing to do a good deal of their talking for them.

After a moment there was a sound of gears catching, and soon it began to slowly move. The it being the gate seemingly made from simple metal panels off of the sides of some old shipping crates. When it opened what stood there was a small collection of ponies, and to his surprise an Actual Minotaur. She was easily eight foot tall, if her bust and hips were anything to go by she had an hourglass figure, but her arms had muscles that looked like they belonged to foundry worker. She smelled of old leather, hot iron, hot glass, and burned copper. He watched as she moved toward them, her eyes drifting toward each and every one of them, at least once over, before stopping at him again.

“You’re that thing DJPon3 talked about aren’t you?”

He looked at her a little surprised, “DJPon what now?”

She looked toward him, raising her arm, and showing him a similar Pip Boy as his own, and suddenly a radio station began to come in tuned.

“Alright all of your wasteland and settlement dwellers, there’s news that a new Stable Dweller is out there, and from the sounds of it he’s making friends all over. Las Pegasus is no longer a slaver town, good going, and it sounds like New Thunderhead has some new tasty treats thanks to this wasteland adventurer! It’s a little early to decide, to really know, but maybe, just maybe this new Stable Dweller will be the same kind of breath of fresh air that our favorite Light Bringer was, and still is. For now, this is DJPon3, bringing you the truth, and of course the best music in the Wastes, here’s a little something from a long time ago, Razzle Dazzle by Countess Coloratura.”

“Woah, wait, wait just a Goddamned minute, how in the royal, unholy, god of pornography fuck does this person, sorry pony, even know who in the hell I am?!”

The Minotaur looked at the others with him, “He’s special isn’t he?”

Cream sighed and pointed off in what seemed like a random direction, “You can’t see it now, but about midday there’s a giant white tower over there,” she looked to see his disbelieving face, “Trust me it’s there, there’s hundreds of them, and they allow anypony that has access to them to see practically anything. The single pegasus, or pony, or something project. I know enough about the Ministry that built it to know it was their only contribution to the war effort. It’s what let the sky open up finally, and it lets ponies see around all of Equestria.”

“So… this person has been watching us?”

Cream nodded, “Most likely, yes, I’d say so.”

“It’s most likely connected to any prewar technology as well,” Lyra said from beside him.

He shook his head. It sounded almost like the project ‘Light Net’ that was being developed between the Chinese and the US Governments. A system that would provide free internet to anyone that wanted it, but several people had been shouting out that it would also allow the two governments to spy on any individual, or company, they wanted to without even having to get a warrant to do so. If that was similar, then it made sense that this thing was connected all over. It would practically be a super hotspot for any device that needed to be connected to a wireless signal.

If that was the case then it could be another instance of how this was his world, his home, but it didn’t explain the Minotaur, the talking ponies, or the use of what obviously appeared to magic, or living smoke that looked like pegacorns. He shook his head. The more he thought about it the more likely it was that his home, his world, even if it was this one, was long gone. For a moment it made him question the quest he was currently on.

There wasn’t any guarantee that he’d find anything connecting humanity to this world, and even if he did, he wasn’t sure it’d be the humanity he knew. He had hopes, real hopes that he’d find someway into a human settlement, a place that would explain all of the insanity he’d face so far, but instead his mind was left with the realization that what he was chasing might be nothing more than a pipe dream.

If that was the case then it meant that the only other humans around would be the ones back in the Vault under the Silver Cloud, and most of them would be in cryogenic sleep for he didn’t know how long. He moved, following his companions, hearing, but not really listening to the Minotaur cow, or the ponies, leading them toward one of the station buildings. They stepped into it, and he felt himself feeling colder, and more empty as he stood there.

He wasn’t alone, not really, his companions were here, but in so many other ways he was really separated in ways he couldn’t even begin to think about without breaking down further from where he already was. It’s not like he was an unlearned man. He’d been to college, studied, but Thoreau didn’t go through this with his Walden experience. There was still people around him. He could see them in the distance, his family and friends cooked and cleaned for him. For all of his writing, all of his experiences, Thoreau hadn’t truly been disconnected from humanity in the way he was right now.

He felt a nudge, then something warm against his side. Slowly the warm filling was surrounding him, almost like a protective barrier from his own feelings. He followed the warmth, the motion, the herd he’d become part of up to a room where they were let into it. When he took a seat the warmth didn’t leave him, and instead it began to move in closer.

“It’s okay,” a soothing voice said.

He looked ahead, the weight of it all threatening to crush down on him, yet the warmth wouldn’t let it in. The warmth kept it back, fighting to keep him from slipping into the darkness of the abyss that had formed when he began to realize how alone he was. It fought to keep him here, to keep his mind in tact. Slowly his eyes drifted down slightly and he saw every one of his pony companions hugging against him. Lyra, Salty, Cream, and Twilight was hugging him letting him know that they were there.

“You’re going to be okay.”

He leaned back the weight of it all finally settled, his mind accepting, fighting, refusing, and slowly relaxing through it all. His eyes closed, and sweet sleep claimed him. After he was settled, his body relaxed, Cream laid her head on his chest.

Salty had seen Pegasus mares do that for their foals. Protectively keeping them safe, daring the terrors of the night to come and attack, and somehow he felt that it fit Cream.

“Bound to happen,” Lyra said as she yawned.

“What ya mean?” Salty asked.

She laughed mirthlessly and looked at the their sleeping companion, “He’s a lone human in the middle of a society that doesn’t even know how to respond to him. I know for the last couple of days we’ve been running on adrenaline and purpose,” she touched his leg, “He hasn’t had time to think about what it means to be here, as himself, as a human, in a world where there are no other others of his kind.”

Twilight looked at him, moving slightly so his head could rest better on her stomach. Her memories slowly opened to her, and she thought of Spike. Spike her number one assistant… her… her son. He’d been such a small drake when he was hatched, and he was so small for so long. It was a little different for Spike, in several ways, but at the same time he knew that he was very much alone in a world full of ponies. He had friends, she remembered that, and she remembered that he had even briefly dated, but in the end he was still an outsider looking in on a society that just didn’t quite know how to act or respond to him.

It might be a little different, in truth it was different, but it wasn’t so completely separated that she couldn’t seen the similarities. Their new friend obviously felt what Spike must have felt, and if he did then it meant she needed to try and help him realize that he had friends. She couldn’t nuzzle him, give him that comfort, but she found that part of her instincts was telling her to use her wing to help cover him.

She spread her wing down, letting it cover part of his chest, and part of Cream Pie, as they lay there. Feeling that she was indeed doing some good Twilight felt sleep moving in, and she welcomed it. Her eyes closed, and she relaxed with him.

Watching it all, trying to figure out what to do, and feeling that the best he could do was to just press against his new friend, helping to keep the bad feelings out, and just being there was what Salty continued to do. He watched as Lyra yawned, but kept a soft light going, he also watched as a small harp appeared out of thin air. Gentle melodies that reminded him of his own mother singing began to play, and Lyra hummed as she leaned against Cream Pie and their human friend.

She looked at Salty, giving him a soft smile, and then she turned her attention back to the music that was playing. Her gift to their new friend was a peaceful night, a lullaby, and the hope that the next day would be a bit easier to accept.

It might have been unintentional, but the group of new and old friends had come together in a way that once saved Equestria from a biting cold brought on by supernatural forces. Once again the warmth of the hearts, the feeling of friendship battled a threatening darkness, one that was located in the wide and infinite space of a mortal mind, but one that was no less dangerous than the creatures of the old world that threatened to freeze everything. That night the feeling of friendship and safety spread through the small settlement of Railway Town, showering its inhabitants in a feeling most hadn’t ever truly experienced.

Author's Note

(Yeah, I couldn't help it. Every version of Equestria needs a Hearths Warming. Thanks for reading!)