I am The Survivor: A Cold Heart

Chapters

Ch 1: Cold Greetings
Ch 2: First Impressions Never Mattered
Ch 3: Arrival at the settlement of Cinders

Ch 1: Cold Greetings

~Ω~

Some say when one door closes, another opens. For some this would bring them joy into their lives, but for others would bring only suffering and agony. The latter had befallen the world as it was thrown into chaos in the midst of war to which ended in total atomic annihilation throughout the world of Equis, leaving only death and distant memories behind.

Only few have survived by the use of underground Fallout shelters known as Vaults. Built for the occasion of a Nuclear Holocaust, the company behind the manufacturing of the Vaults was Vault-Tec, the very same corporation that would ruin the lives of those that survived.

As time went on, the few who survived were subjugated to a specific experiment, whether it was to see how their lives would be when given a daily dose of hallucinogen or to see the effects of long term exposure to white noise. Though there were a few selected Vaults in which the experiments weren't so severe but despite whatever severity any if not all Vaults had, they all ended in failure in one way or another.

These experiments inspired future researchers to conduct their own experiments in hopes to achieve what Vault-Tec could not. These researchers were a part of a large faction formed to bring order back to the country of Equestria and hopefully, the world as a whole. This faction was known as the New Canterlot Republic and with their mass armies that grew over the years with their intentions to bring peace at any cause, Equestria slowly became the very country that was destroyed long ago.

Deep underground under a facility long forgotten through time, an old research and development facility can be found rusting through time and covered it either cobwebs, vines or piles upon piles of rubbish. Insects by the hundreds have taken the corridors and rooms as their home while large rodents occasionally roamed the halls.

Their comforting peace and tranquility was soon shattered by the sound of screeching metal coming from the surface access elevator. The screeching was the result of years without use and maintenance, in fact it was merely a wonder how it still hasn't crashed down from the lack of maintenance. A very large roach like insect stopped in its tracks as it simply waited for whatever accessed the elevator to appear from the closed doors. A multitude of the very same insects waited for the doors to open, wanting to get rid of the intruder as soon they opened.

As the screeching came to a halt, one could hear the clicks coming through the doors but the roaches thought nothing of it until they heard the large metal door being slightly forced open. Not a second after the door slightly opened that a small canister was thrown out from the door.

This canisters began to let out a cloud of toxic gas that affected the insects around the corridor. As the gas covered the majority of the insects, the toxin began to take effect and the roaches slowly died from the gas.

Minutes passed and all the large roaches lay on the floor, lifeless and without a scratch. The gas soon dissipated after minutes of exposure to air.

A female grunt eliminated from within the elevator as the door was once again forced to open, but this time the door was to be opened completely. Standing on the open door was a young tigress in her twenties dressed for combat and survival. Her attire has seen better days, her shirt having few torn areas and her trousers weren't without damage as well but not as much as her shirt. On her back was a fully functioning Laser Musket Rifle but it seemed to have no charge left in it. The tigress had a backup though, in the form of a small yet powerful handgun.

She let out a series of coughs as she inhaled the dust from the air. Reaching in a back pocket, the tigress pulled out a small handheld flashlight and turned it on. It barely lit up the pathway in front of her but enough to see the floor beneath her. Carefully maneuvering over the dead roaches, the tigress let out a sigh before shining her light in front of her, seeing nothing but the darkness at the end of the corridor.

Noting she may need to get another source of light, she began making her way down the corridor and each step she took emitted an echo that was heard throughout the abandoned facility. Stopping in front a vine covered door, the tigress peeked through the small opening but saw nothing of interest inside.

“There has to be something of value here.” Said the tigress as she resumed her walk through the poorly lit corridor. Room after room were searched without any findings as the tigress walked out of another room full of worthless junk, she was seconds away from giving up entirely before hearing a loud crashing down the corridor.

Curiosity now fueling her, she began to move towards the source before coming upon a split but from the state the left path was in, making the decision easier and the tigress continued on to the right. Another loud crash was heard this time being followed by the sound of electricity and the sounds and as she walked closer to the source of the noise, she stopped just before seeing a broken down stairway leading deeper underground. Shining her light onto the stairs itself, she noted the lack of steps as well as the holes on the walls.

“I'm really beginning to regret my decision of ever coming here.” Spoke the young tigress before taking a step onto the broken stairs before quickly making her way down. Once she finally stopped her rapid steps down, the sounds from before were heard once again but closer than before yet behind the heavily fortified door in front of her. The handle was a valve, similar the ones found in old boats yet much more sophisticated than the latter. Placing her hand on the valve, she was greeted with nothing but the freezing cold steel of the door. Reeling back in shock, the tigress’s hand felt as if it touched ice.

“I hate this.” She said, placing her hand back onto the valve. “I really hate this.” She said while adding her other hand before gripping onto the valve and giving it a twist. It didn't budge as she put force into it. Then came the second attempt and then a third.

It all seemed hopeless if it weren't for the last attempt. Managing to move it from its original position finally gave the tigress what she needed to put more force into the turning of the valve and before she knew it, loud noises began to emit from the door just as steam was pouring out. The door opened to reveal quite a surprising sight.

As if it was ripped straight out of a science fictional book, the room was not only huge but a warehouse with rows upon rows of large pods. From where she stood, she was able to see a pod containing a Ghoulified stallion wearing pre-war spring wear clothes. In front of the ghoul was another pod containing a female ghoul, a mare in a sundress.

The tigress wanted to see more and took a step inside and immediately felt the sudden drop in the temperature. Shivering slightly, the tigress kept on going and looked inside the pods she passed by, noting that they were cryo-pods. Two pods stood out from the many rows, one pod contained a tall and bulky green minotaur. The skin had horrific blemishes and gashes.

“No way.” Said the tigress. “No fucking way. That's a Super Mutant!” Exclaimed the tigress in awe. She looked down at a label.

“Master Generation Super Mutant, what?” She said with a bit of confusion in her tone. She shook her head before looking at the second pod containing a large and ferocious looking creature. Standing tall at about ten feet tall was the nightmarish mutant known across the Great Waste, the Deathclaw.

Its claws were razor sharp and the size of the tigress’s arm. She was also told of their impressive speed despite being such big creatures. Shivering by just the thought of seeing those roaming the wastes, the tigress continued to walk down the aisle of pods coming to a stop just in front of another pod.

“Well hey there handsome.” Said the tigress in a flirtatious manner. Inside the pod was a very well built but wingless male griffin. Unlike the ghouls, he wore no clothing but half his torso was wrapped with what appeared to be bandages. Walking up to the pod, the tigress wiped the foggy glass before peeking through, seeing that the griffin truly wore no clothing and she couldn't help but smirk at the griffin’s endowment. With only a small but unnoticeable blush, she took a step back before reading the sign written onto the pod.

ID: SD-450

Threat level: Alpha

Subject must never be taken out of cryostasis unless told by a high commanding officer. Take precautions when shutting down the subject’s pod as he may act violent from the sudden awakening. If subject does happen to go on a violent rampage, usage of High voltage cattle prods is advised before subduing.

Subject is to be taken down to Research and Development for further implants for Project Cyber.

Reading the rest proved quite difficult as the paper it was written on had been ripped while the remaining paragraphs were redacted. The tigress looked back at male griffin, thinking if she should even try to do what she thinks might be a good idea. It was when she heard a loud thump followed by a crash that she was taken out of her thoughts as the sounds of moaning echoed across the room.

The tigress took a step back as she heard what could be described as footsteps. Another moan echoed around the giant room as a hideous monstrosity appeared from within the many rows of pods.

The tigress felt the urge to vomit at the sight of the monstrosity but resisted. The creature moaned, groaned and yelled at the same time while one of its three heads spotted the tigress. Quickly reacting to this, the tigress pushed the button labeled release on the pod before drawing her handgun and firing at the creature but unfortunately missed due her state of shock and disgust. She fired once again this time hitting the thing in its left head.

The bullet went in and blood started coming out but before she could even hope to celebrate, the bullet wound closed in on itself before the very same head vomited a disgusting orange goo onto the floor. Seeing this, the tigress quickly dropped the small handgun and took hold of the Laser Musket on her back. Gripping the gun, she cranked up the fusion cells that powered the weapon she held before firing after the sixth crank. The laser hit the center head, disintegrating it and leaving a large gash where the head once was but to her dismay, it grew back after a few seconds. She began to back up slowly as it crawled closer but because her back was turned, she had tripped on a loose wire and landed on the floor with a loud thump.

Now it was just a few feet away from her and backed up against the wall on the far end from where she first stood, the monstrosity pounced and as it lunged itself towards its prey, it was soon batted away by small led pipe. The thing was sent crashing back onto the floor with a loud thump and a sickening squish.

Looking at the one responsible, the tigress was greeted with the very same griffin from the pod. He stood naked and holding a led pipe. He let out an annoyed grunt before walking closer to the hideous creature before forcing it up by one of its heads before hitting the side of the center head and with a sickening crunch, it hung limp and the remaining heads screeched in agony. With a loud yell the griffin impaled his weapon into the forehead of the vomiting head before pushing it deeper and downwards. The constant stream of orange goo had stop flowing from the mouth before all too suddenly causing the head to explode in a gory mess, leaving only the wide-mouthed, screeching head left.

His gaze was that of pure rage and this is what the creature was able to see before being blinded. The unknown griffin had punched the eye of the creature, destroying it and sending more pain across its body to which caused to twist, turn and squirm before dropping onto the floor, blood profusely pouring out from the three open wounds.

The sight alone has made the tigress gag in disgust before setting her gaze at the blood covered griffin. The latter looked at his surroundings, noting the many pods similar to the own he was in. The tigress’s quick breathing slowed into a steady rhythm just as both she and griffin both looked at a broken hatch of an old goo covered pod.

“Thanks for the help.” Said the tigress, hoping to break the silence between them. “For a moment I thought I was goner.” She added in a whisper.

“You were goner as soon as it saw you.” Came the hoarse reply from the male griffin to which was followed by a few coughs. Taking a deep breath, the young tigress stood.

“We shouldn't be here any longer. Who knows if there is another one those things.” Suggested the tigress, earning a single nod from the griffin before both turning towards the bubbling mass that was the creature. “Come on, I know the way out of this shit hole.”

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed it.

Ch 2: First Impressions Never Mattered

After the encounter with the grotesque beast, the newly formed party of two had steadily made their way through the abandoned halls of the facility. Silence settled between the two as neither one spoke to the other and the only thing that could be heard was their echoing steps.

While the recently freed Griffin walked slightly in front of the tigress, this gave her the opportunity to see his chiseled back as well as the large scars were his wings would've been. This was an odd sight for her as not many griffins consider removing their wings. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a sickening crunch coming from below her.

“Watch your step.” Spoke the male griffin, unfazed by the sudden sound. The tigress looked down and saw that she had stepped on the husk of a dead roach.

“Thanks.” She replied with a bit of disgust in her tone as she kicked the husk aside, noticing the numerous dead roaches littered across the floor. “We're here.” Saying this, The young tigress looked up to see that it was indeed their destination.

“It's rusted and the cables look ready to snap.” Noted the griffin, earning a simple shrug of the shoulders from the tigress.

“It got me down here relatively safe.” She replied as he gripped the edge of the rusted door before forcing it open but to avail. It wouldn't budge for even a single centimeter. “Can you give me a hand?” She asked.

“Already on it.” Came the griffin’s response as he came into her view and gripped the edge of the same door. “Alright pull.” Hearing this, the tigress pulled once more with the help of the griffin and the result came in the form of the screeching sound from the door being forced open. Once the door was far enough open to pass through, the griffin looked down at the tigress before speaking.

“Ladies first.” He said with a grunt as he held the door from closing again.

“Such a gentle griffin.” The tigress replied in a joking manner before entering the elevator. With the tigress inside, the griffin entered as well before letting go of the door and allowed it to slide shut. “Once we get out of here, I have a buggy waiting outside. I think I got some spare clothes in the trunk.” She informed the griffin, gaining a look of slight confusion.

“What?” She asked him. The latter simple shook his head.

“Nothing.” He replied as the tigress pressed the large button beside her, causing the lift to shake beneath their feet before it slowly began to rise up towards the surface facility. “You have a name?” Asked the griffin, not allowing the silence to settle in.

“Dea.” The tigress, now known as Dea, answered after a brief moment of silence. “You?” She asked, looking up the elevator shaft.

“Cyrus.” The griffin said without hesitation. With his arms crossed, Cyrus slowly lost patience. Not another word was spoken and silence finally began to settle between the two before lift came to a sudden stop, signaling their arrival.

Unlike the rusted door from before, this door slid open albeit with a little difficulty. From within the elevator, Cyrus was able to see the partial light of what he assumed was the sun shining through a boarded window. He made a quick scan of the room in front of him, seeing and hearing the generator that powered the elevator. The walls of the room looked ready to crumble, cracks having already formed throughout the room's walls and ceiling. Trash and debris littered across the floor, whether it was burnt documents or simple letter was unknown.

A weapon workstation was also seen through the corner of Cyrus’ eyes as he stepped out of the elevator and onto littered floor. Dea soon followed suit, letting the door slide shut behind her.

“Come on, the exit’s this way.” Dea said, walking by the large griffin as she spoke. Without word, Cyrus followed behind her and took note of the many things thrown around the floor from shattered terminals to skeletal remains in tattered fatigues. Cyrus noticed a door hanging off its hinges before looking back at Dea as she continued walking away.

Deciding that he would catch up with her, Cyrus took a look through the busted door and was greeted with quite the sight. Inside the room hung the decomposing corpse of a mare and surrounding the hanging corpse were three shotguns primed and ready to fire, their triggers hooked up to a tripwire placed in front of the busted door. The room was small, even smaller than a broom closet and one of the three guns was just in his reach.

Cyrus glanced towards the direction he last saw Dea before looking back at the rusted gun. With a silent nod to himself, he began to reach out for it.

While Cyrus stayed behind, Dea kept on walking towards the exit, unknown to her that the griffin wasn't following her. It was a rather small through the halls of the building before arriving at the main entrance that consisted of two double doors littered with bullet holes that allowed the sunlight to poke through.

She said nothing as she pushed open the door being blinded by the sudden light. Once her sight returned, she was faced with the oceans of sand hills and rocky mountains and her face expressed shock as the sight in front of her was not one she had hoped to see.

She expected to see her small buggy, instead she was greeted with pile of scrap and the chassis of the buggy being held up by cinder blocks. On the side of the buggy, written in red on one of the armor plates was large words that read “Bitch!”.

With an angered yell, Dea kicked a discarded plate of armor. She walked towards the now scrapped buggy, hoping to find something of use that might have been left behind but to her dismay, not a single useful thing was found. She slammed her head against the chassis of the buggy in anger. The anger soon vanished, replaced with shock as she felt the cold hard metal of a gun planted at the back of her head.

“Knew I'd find something if I stayed behind.” Spoke an unfamiliar male voice. Dea dared not to move or speak. “Come on, Love. You knew you had it comin’ as soon as you parked out here.” The unknown voice spoke again, taunting Dea for the loss of her buggy.

Despite her need to sneer at the owner of the voice, Dea decided against it and refused to utter a single word. This only got a chuckle from the male behind her.

“Giving me the silent treatment, ey.” Said the unknown Raider. Dea slowly began to reach for the gun on her hip before being forcefully grabbed and shoved towards the ground. Seeing this as a sort of opportunity, Dea quickly kicked the Raider’s left knee with all her might, causing a sickening crunch to emit from his knee as it bent in a sickening way.

“Graah!” He yelled in agony before attempting to aim his gun, a rusted pipe pistol. “Bit-” The Raider, who Dea noted was a pegasus stallion wearing a white splattered hoodie that bore the upside down red horned skull belonging to White Ash, was interrupted by the sudden bang behind Dea and the loss of his right arm. The Raider clutched the profusely bleeding elbow that was once connected to his arm. Dea was in shock before noticing Cyrus walking into her line of sight, holding what appeared to be an old double barrel shotgun. The weapon in question looked to have seen better days.

The Raider desperately tried to stop the bleeding but to no avail despite his many attempts. Cyrus stood in front of the bleeding Raider before firing again at point blank and all movement that came from the Raider ceased, half the stallion’s face splattered across the Buggy frame.

“Are you okay?” Cyrus asked, turning and offering a hand to the downed Tigress. The latter noticed the newly acquired dirty and tattered cargo pants he now wore.

“Other than a bruise or two, yeah I'm fine.” Answered Dea as she took hold of the offered hand before being pulled up to her feet. “Did you have to kill him?” She asked, seeing the limp Raider, half his head blown off and adding more blood onto the forming pool he laid. She cared not for his life, only the life of her own as well as those in her settlement.

“Pa is going to kill me if he hears about this.” Dea said in a worried tone before her gaze landed on the scrapped remains of her buggy. “Fuck.” She cursed, hanging her head down.

“What's the big deal with a simple dead Raider?” Cyrus asked, tossing the now busted shotgun aside. “Besides, if I hadn't who knows what he would've done.” He added, picking up the discarded Pipe pistol and checked the cartridge.

“You obviously don't understand. This guy is…” Dea stopped to gaze at the dead stallion before looking back Cyrus. “Was part of The White Ashes, a large faction that controls this side of the Great Wastes.” Dea finished, putting both hands behind her head, only earning a raised eyebrow from Cyrus.

“So?” He asked without care of what his answer was.

“So it means that if word comes out of this, they'll much likely start looking for us.” Dea said in an exaggerated manner. “They don't like to be messed with and they'll most likely start their search at the settlement I live in.” Her tone changed to one of worry as she spoke.

“Then tell them that I was responsible, not like this hasn't happened to me before.” Cyrus suggested with a shrug as he inserted the cartridge back into the rusted pipe pistol.

“What!? No!” Dea exclaimed rather loudly. “Believe it or not, I need you alive. You're living proof that I was right to explore this place while others back home thought I've gone crazy.” She added after taking a moment to calm down. Cyrus merely sighed as a response before taking a quick glance towards the scrapped buggy.

“Onto the matter at hand, I don't suppose you've got a back up ride.” Cyrus said, changing the subject without hesitation. Dea groaned and shook her head. “Then what now?” He asked, gaining no answer. Cyrus, having a great sense of hearing, heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.

“Oi, Mag! Where the bloody blazes are ya!?” Yelled another voice belonging to what is believed to the dead Raider’s companion. “We're wasting gas so let's ditch this place before…” Added the second Raider, who Cyrus noted was another pegasus stallion, as he rounded the corner of the building only to stop at the sight in front of him. The Raider stood in awkward silence as he looked at the two individuals standing next to the corpse of his partner.

It was only when he regaining his thoughts that he drew his weapon at the two with the intention to kill them both only to struck in the side of the head with a led pipe, rendering him unconscious. Cyrus grunted at the loud thud of the unconscious stallion hitting the ground.

“Can you stop making this situation worse!?” Yelled a shocked Dea. Cyrus merely glanced back at her and shrugged.

“At least I didn't kill him.” He replied, discarded the led pipe to the sand. “Speaking of which, what should we do with him?” He asked, crouching down before searching the few pockets the unconscious stallion had but found nothing of us in the end.

“Just… leave him there, maybe he'll forget about it.” Dea said, truly not knowing what to do. Cyrus raised another questioning brow before lifting up the unconscious stallion.

“I think I've got a better idea.” He said, taking hold of the belt that held the stallions pants up and removing it. With the stallion and belt in hand, Cyrus walked towards a palm tree that provided sufficient shade against the sun before placing the stallion against the tree and wrapping his arms around it before tying them both together with the belt in an obscene knot. “That should keep him from going anywhere for awhile.” He said, turning to face Dea. The latter had her face buried in her hands.

“This just isn't my day.” She quietly muttered to herself before lowering her hands. “Alright, now with that aside, we can just take their car and I'll drive us back.”

“What about your buggy?” Cyrus asked.

“There isn't any buggy left, just a frame and scattered nuts and bolts.” Dea answered back in anger before sstomping past Cyrus, going the way the second Raider came from. Stopping at the corner of the building, she turned to Cyrus. “Are you coming?” She asked. Cyrus furrowed his brow before answering.

“In a minute.” Was his answer before walking back into the building. Wanting nothing but to leave this place, Dea continued her short walk around the small building. Once reaching the back of the building, she was greeted by a parked Monarch car with its engines still running.

Quickly making her way towards the car, Dea could see very same upside down red horned skull, marking it as White Ash property. She opened the door to the driver's seat, seeing the rather well maintained interior and sat on the driver's seat.

From within the car, Dea could hear something heavy being dragged through the sand. Getting out of the Monarch, Dea was soon greeted with the sight of Cyrus dragging the discarded frame of her buggy. Dea could see that Cyrus had begun to sweat from over exerting himself. Veins were obscenely visible on both his arms and his neck.

“What are you doing?” Dea asked with a dumbfounded expression. Cyrus continued on dragging the frame behind him despite his obvious exhaustion and strain.

Cyrus continued to drag the frame before stopping just behind the Raider's car. From there he took hold of a loose chain that hung on the buggy’s front and tied one end to the frame after a few minutes of struggling to do so. With the other end of the chain in hand, Cyrus scanned the car in front of him before looping the chain around the car's spoiler and tying it as well, squeezing the chain knot afterwards for good measure.

“There…” Sighed Cyrus in exhaustion while he rubbed his hands in an attempt to sooth the pain. “And to answer your question, I'm bringing it with us.” Cyrus answered before falling backwards onto the orange sand, groaning loudly as he did.

“Why? It's just junk, an abundance of useless pipes and metal sheets connected together.” Dea argued, looking down at the griffin. The latter opened his eyes to look at Dea.

“Doesn't look that way to me.” Cyrus spoke as he sat up, planting his arms onto the ground for an extra push. “One tigress’s trash is another Griffin's treasure, as the saying goes.” He said just before standing up, wincing from his tired legs and sore arms as he did.

“Whatever floats your boat, tough guy.” Dea said with her arms crossed. “So can we leave before anything else shows up?” She asked, unfurling her arms as she did before walking back up to driver's seat of the car.

As the door closed with Dea inside, Cyrus still stood outside while dusting himself off. The sand bothered him greatly as it could easily scratch the skin under his own fur if not careful. Once he finished though, he walked up the car and opened the passenger's side door before taking a seat inside.

“If that hunk a junk drags us down I'm cutting it off.” Dea said, putting the gear into drive.

“It's tied by a chain.” Informed Cyrus in deadpan like tone. This earned groan from Dea before she turned the steering wheel to the left and stomped the accelerator, dragging the buggy frame behind them as she drove off.

Author's Note

Does anyone like/read this?

Just a question I'd like to put out there.

Hope you enjoyed and please notify me of any errors.

Ch 3: Arrival at the settlement of Cinders

Silence is a fragile thing, a single word no matter the volume could shatter it and while the occasional bump and the continuous sounds emitting from the engine may break the absolute silence, the silence between the two individuals was never shattered as neither dared to utter a word. Having dealt with the two White Ash members, Dea was extremely worried for not only herself but for her settlement as well, knowing that the White Ash would stop at nothing to find the ones responsible for the death of one of them.

Cyrus on the other hand was fast asleep, the exhaustion he brought to himself by dragging a heavy buggy frame finally getting to him. Dea occasionally gave a few quick glances at the sleeping griffin, somewhat admiring griffin’s toned body before shaking her head angrily. A part of her mind continually blamed him for what could very much happen to her home while the other simply wondered, why was he frozen and for how long.

She sighed, looking toward the direction in which she drove to. The endless sea of sand was all that she could see but having drove through these lands countless times before had given her a sense of direction no matter where in this side of The Great Wastes she was. It was, as the saying goes, smooth sailing for her but like all good thing, it had to come to an end when the car’s humming engine suddenly stopped, leaving Dea to step on the brakes to stop suddenly.

“No no no.” Dea said while attempting to start the engine but to no avail. She then proceeded to vent out her frustration by smacking the steering wheel. “Fuck. Fuck!” She finally shouted, planting her head onto the wheel, unintentionally sounding off the horn. Dea’s shouting and the honking of the horn had disturbed Cyrus from his rest, causing him to groan as he groggily opened his eyes as an audible smack emitted from his lips.

“I don't suppose we're there yet?” He asked dryly as he straightened up on his seat.

“Just... shut up and let me think.” Dea said through gritted teeth, raising her hands to rub her temples. Cyrus, having been told off, looked at the few dials behind the steering wheel and noticed a very small and broken dial with its needle hovering over a faded letter E.

Cyrus took a quick look at the junk behind their seats, seeing nothing of use for this situation but he did notice a rather decent looking rifle, sadly it was missing a few parts for it work. With a silent hum, Cyrus tried to think of a solution but was unable to stay in thought as he felt the urge to urinate. As if realizing something important, Cyrus opened the door and got off the vehicle leaving Dea to her own thoughts and frustrations.

“Maybe they'll come and find me.” Dea sair to herself, her tone taking a hint of hope before frowning. “No, I doubt anyone but Pa cares anyway.” She said in a solemn tone. The young tigress sighed sadly but her mood soon shifted to that of confusion as the sound of liquid being poured into fuel tank. Before she could question it, the pouring stopped and the sound of the fuel hatch closing followed suit just before Cyrus sat back into the vehicle with a bemused face before leaning toward the driver’s seat much to Dea’s dismay and turned the key in the igniting, starting the car back up as if nothing happened.

“How did-”

“Just drive.” Cyrus spoke before Dea could finish her question. The young tigress complied and continued toward her destination without another word while Cyrus felt slightly embarrassed, wanting to keep quiet for the rest of the way.

Once the silence settled between the two, after what felt like an eternity Cyrus reached toward the unfinished rifle before pulling it away from the clutter of junk and scrap it was on top of. This earned Cyrus a questioning glance from the tigress beside him.

“What are you doing?” Dea asked, breaking the silence.

“Just seeing if this is any good.” Cyrus answered simply, noticing the cracked barrel of the unfinished rifle. He also noted the half opened bullet chamber before attempting to shut it only to find it difficult to do so. “How long until we get to where we're heading?” Cyrus asked, setting the rifle down beside him. He looked out the window, finally noticing the change of scenery. Instead of seeing the seemingly endless ocean of sand, rocky hills and large cliffsides was what Cyrus saw.

“We're just about there.” Dea answered before pointing towards horizon. Cyrus looked out, squinting his eyes to see farther and noticed what appeared to be a walled off settlement. As they drove closer towards it, Cyrus could see the state of the wall made of scrapped metal sheets. It looked ready to fall at any given moment.

The car came to a sudden stop just in front of the improvised gate. Two armored individuals poked their heads out from the other side of the wall before look at one another seemingly nervous at the sight of the the stopped vehicle.

“W-what do the White Ash need now?” One of the armored guards asked outloud. Dea raised a questioning brow before remembering the stolen White Ash Monarch she drove in. Without as much as a single word, Dea opened the door to her left and stood out with both arms raised.

“I'm not one of them, guys.” Dea spoke out before she came into view. Both guards stared in shock, seeing the young tigress step into view.

“Dea, what the fuck!?” One of them shouted, their nervousness replaced with shock. Cyrus noted from the sound of their voice, that it was a female guard that spoke. Dea winced from the sudden shout.

“It's a long story.” Dea said just loud enough for both guards to hear. She silently sighed to herself before speaking. “Can you just open the gate, please?” She asked outloud.

“Alright but you've got some explaining to do, Pa ain't goin’ to be happy seeing this.” The other guard said before moving out of view. It wasn't hard to note that it was a male's voice that spoke. Just then the gates began to slowly open, the screeching of its rusted parts greeted everyone's ears. From inside the White Ash car, Cyrus looked out in the distance out of boredom after briefly wincing at the metal screeching.

But even in his bored state, Cyrus was able to notice something in the distance. Standing atop a cliff was silhouetted figure and from Cyrus’s position he was unable to note who or what it was before it simply walked out of view. Hearing the door to his side open up had taken Cyrus out of his thoughts as Dea re-entered the car.

“You seem pretty nervous.” Cyrus noted out loud, turning to face the tigress. The latter’s shoulders sagged slightly but said nothing as she drove the car through the open gates, dragging the Buggy frame past the guards.

Not receiving a reply from Dea, Cyrus directed his gaze out the dusty windshield. From within the car, Cyrus was able to see a two story building, the second floor made entirely out of metal sheets welded together. There was a small fenced off area next to the building, Cyrus could only guess that it was a garden judging by the assorted vegetables planted within the fences.

There was another, much smaller building just ahead of the other. A heavily scarred, bulky middle-aged minotaur assembling what appeared to be rifle of sorts standing beside a fully functional weapon workbench and scattered assembly tools.

Looking towards the direction in which Dea drove towards, Cyrus was greeted with an open garage door to a pre-war vehicle shop. As Dea drove in, both were greeted shocked look of a middle aged dragon man. His attire consisted of a worm, grease stained pair of overalls, a pair of old boots and an old pre-war undershirt.

Dea, having reached her destination finally, turned off the car and opened the door before stepping out of the car.

“I know this seems bad.” Dea began, breaking the silence between her and the anthropomorphic dragon man. The latter’s left eye gave a single twitch at her words. “But let me start off by saying that I was right, there's a whole other facility under that old New Canterlot Republic outpost.” Dea informed, hoping to lessen the dragon man’s anger. The latter closed his eyes with deep breath before taking a seat atop large metal box.

“That Buggy took half of my life to make.” The Dragon man muttered under his breath. Hearing this, Dea winced before seeing the man shake his head before sighing, angered expression changing to that of a dull one. “What did you find and is it worth anything?” He suddenly asked.

Hearing his question, Cyrus opened the door to his right and stepped out, revealing himself to the disgruntled dragon man. At the sight of Cyrus, his eyes narrowed threateningly.

“Easy there, old timer. I'm with her.” Cyrus said, earning a scoff from the dragon.

“You're not helping.” Dea quickly told Cyrus. The latter rolled his eyes before taking a quick look of the room.

“My patience is running thin, Dea.” The Dragon warned through gritted teeth, adding more pressure onto the poor tigress.

“She's been through alot stress today and you're not exactly helping.” Cyrus spoke threateningly, surprising him internally. The dragon man frowned further at Cyrus’ tone. The latter decided to help the struggling tigress in explaining much to their surprise, “Miles below the surface underneath the outpost is a large facility housing over two hundred cryogenic pods, each having various entities in cryogenic stasis.” Cyrus explained, sitting atop the still burning hot hood of the car, ignoring the pain he currently felt.

“And how would you know that?” The Dragon asked in suspicion. Dea, having calmed a bit, stepped in to answer.

“Because he… He was inside one of those pods.” Dea admitted, taking a quick glance at Cyrus before adding. “I would've died if I hadn't.” She said, recalling her encounter with the abomination. The dragon closed his eyes before taking a deep breath and opening his eyes again with his gaze landing on Cyrus.

“Care to explain a little further?” He asked, curious to know what Dea had meant. Cyrus shrugged, hopping down from the hood before speaking.

“One of the pods must've had a malfunction and released an Evolved Centaur. She wasn't well equipped to handle centaur, much less an evolved one.” Cyrus explained, seeing the Dragon man nodding for him to continue. “While I'm not fully sure as to why she had ‘woken’ me up but I saw that thing on the loose and just had to put it down.” Cyrus finished with his nonchalant explanation. The silent dragon nodded before standing up.

“I suppose introductions are in order, my name is Paymadyn but most call me Pa for short.” He said, offering a hand towards Cyrus. The latter looked at it curiously before grasping it and giving it a mutual shake. “Thank you for saving Dea from that centaur. I've seen what they can do to those unfortunate enough to encounter one.” He added in a grateful tone. The anger he once had seemingly faded away, leaving Cyrus to question the dragon’s easily gained trust.

“It's… not a problem.” Cyrus said, slightly confused towards Paymadyn’s sudden change of mood as he pulled his hand back. The latter turned to look at the scrapped frame of the Dea’s buggy, saddening him at the sight.

“I suppose I could take it apart and sell off the pieces, though I doubt I'll even make a single cap out of these.” Pa spoke under his breath again. Dea looked at him, about to speak but Cyrus spoke first

“I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands, I'm willing to work for it if I have to.” Cyrus said, gaining a curious look from the middle aged dragon.

“I suppose…” Paymadyn said before quietly thinking to himself. He glanced back at metal frame that used to be a Buggy.

“Why would you want a buggy frame?” Dea asked curious to know his reason. Her answer was given in the form of a shrug of Cyrus’ shoulders.

“I don't know yet. Maybe given enough time I'll scrounge up some parts and make my own buggy.” Cyrus said as his gaze landed on the frame in question before shaking his head. “But I've got a long way to go before I could think of starting.”

“Well if you're thinking of staying, you might be able to find a place to stay at the building just ahead of here.” Paymadyn said, gesturing towards the two story building just a short walk away. “You can stay for as long as you want as long as you work that is. There aren't many of us left here, so work is plentiful.” He added, walking towards the open garage door. His gaze landing on the smaller building, seeing the heavily scarred and bulky minotaur finishing up the assembly of a scoped hunting rifle. “The Minotaur over there can help you set up for scavenging expeditions, he's also the arms dealer of the place so if you need a reliable weapon, he's the Bull for the job.” Pa said, turning to look at Cyrus. The latter, still internally questioning his easily gained trust, nodded at Pa’s words in acknowledgment.

“I… thanks, for allowing me to stay.” Cyrus said, knowing the least he could do for now was to thank the dragon for his kindness.

“Just don't cause any trouble.” Said the dragon man as he walked towards his work bench. Once there, he picked up a rusted piston. Dea, having heard all this, walked up to Cyrus.

“I guess I'll show you where you'll be staying then.” She said before walking ahead of him and out through the open garage doors. Cyrus followed suit, having finished speaking with the dragon mechanic. Once outside and far enough away from the garage, Cyrus decided to ask the question that has been plaguing throughout his conversation with Paymadyn.

“Is he normally so… trusting?” Cyrus asked as he caught up with the tigress.

“He really never trusts anyone from the Wastes, you simply got on his good side by mentioning what happened back when I found you.” Dea answered, seeing the scarred minotaur giving a friendly wave before waving back.

“You two are close?” Cyrus asked with a curiously raised brow.

“I've known him since I was little, he used be friends with my parents before…” Dea stopped suddenly before shaking her head at the memory. “Nevermind, we're practically family.” She said, leaving Cyrus to wonder what had caused her to stop.

Once they reached the two story building and entered it, Dea then began to lead Cyrus towards a vacant room. It just so happened to be the first room they had come across and Cyrus noted the few items left by the previous owner.

“This is your room, like Pa said, you can keep it if you work for it.” Dea said, allowing Cyrus to walk into the room. To Cyrus, the room resembled that of a cheap motel room from before the bombs from before he…

Cyrus frowned and pushed the thought away before grabbing ahold of a rusted nine millimeter handgun. He ejected the clip and saw that it was empty, figures.

“Are there others or…” Cyrus half-asked, not finishing his question.

“We're the only ones left here. There were more but once the White Ash began to harass us, the others left soon after .” Dea explained while looking at the dirty room. “We do get some caravan visitors every week or two but they don't stay for may than a day.” Dea added before finally noticing Cyrus’s newly acquired gun. “You know, Iron Fist can fix up that old thing for you. I can put in a good word for you, make this one a freebie.”

“Who?” Cyrus asked, turning to look at the tigress.

“He's the one that can set you up on some scavenging expeditions. He's also the arms dealer.” Dea reminded him, getting a knowing nod in return.

“Alright.” Was all Cyrus said as he handed the rusted gun over to Dea before adding. “I'm going to rest for a bit, I still feel my entire body aching from pulling the buggy frame.” Dea nodded and left without another word.

Cyrus sighed, finally feeling the exhaustion overcome his entire body and turned to look at the bed, seeing that the sheets were covered in a layer of dust so he removed them without a word. He then laid atop the mattress before finally succumbing the overwhelming exhaustion.

Author's Note

While I've been slow in writing lately, this was somewhat at fault buf I finished so that means I can continue other shit.

I've also started an account on Wattpad, made my first non-mlp related fic and I'm happy with it but that means slower updates, depending if I don't suffer through writers block like I have been lately.

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it and have a nice day.