After The Fallout: Book 3: Their World

Chapters

Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 01 - A Beginning For Two
Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 02 - A Lone Wanderer
Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 03 - To The Superstore
Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 04 - Those!
Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 00 - A Change In The Narrative

Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 01 - A Beginning For Two

In the bombed out ruins of the old city of Day Court, a young wasteland thestral stallion by the name of Futile Task rested, having found a nice little building to hold up in for the night. The young stallion had been on the road for several years now, ever since he had turned on the band of mercs he had been running with because their ideals clashed.

As he rested on the cold hard stone of the building he was in, he stretched his large black wings, the fingers stretching wide as he lifted one of his “hands” to scratch his chin. Like all surface born thestrals of the wasteland, Futile had a pair of hands attached to his wings which gave him the ability to wield most weapons without the need of a horn or a Philosophers Chip, a device which was created so that earth ponies and pegasi could use their own magic like unicorns could. Unlike most creatures with hands though, surface born thestrals only had four fingers, for their pinkie fingers had long ago developed into an extra-long joint, which gave them the impressive wingspan which allowed them to fly in environments normal pegasi couldn’t even manage.

After Futile was done stretching, he reached down to his saddle bags, grabbing the largest one and rummaging around in it before pulling out a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla, the site of the drink bringing a smile to his face. It was something from before he had moved out east, and the drink always reminded of the stories his mother used to tell him, about the days before the Great War, when their world had been governed by peace and harmony.

He made to bring the bottle to his lips, only to stop as his highly developed ears caught the sound of somepony moving outside his building, causing him to put down the bottle and grab his hunting rifle, holding it close to him as he got up and took a peek outside.

The moment he did he wished he hadn’t, for moving toward his building were several freakishly large bipedal ponies, their skin the color of infected flesh and their muscles so big it made their legs and arms look like tree trunks.

“Satyrs,” he whispered, before lowering himself and going over his arsenal. He knew unless he had an insane amount of good luck, his hunting rifle would only piss off the satyrs, and the same could be said for the two 10mm pistols he had on each foreleg. He also had an old laser rifle on hand that could do the trick, but he was running really low on ammo for that thing, and it was very unlikely he would be able to afford any more if he wasted it on these freaks.

“If only I had a fusion grenade,” he said out loud, before sighing as he extracted his last smoke grenade. It was an old thing, one of the few things he had carried on his trip from his old home in the Marejave to his current wandering ground. He knew if he used it, he would have no means of covering himself if some of his old friends stumbled upon him.

“Ah fuck it,” he said, before pulling the pin and throwing the grenade as lazily as if he was throwing away trash, before strapping his saddlebags on.

The moment the grenade touch the ground it bounced a bit, then it exploded, causing the satyrs to begin shouting and shooting, allowing Futile to move. He spread his wings wide, leaping out the window and flying low to the ground, his F.E.V. enhanced eyes seeing better than most creatures could in the smoke. He dodged past the satyrs, but when he breached the smoke, he saw a satyr behemoth glaring him down, which roared as it began to charge.

“SHIT!” he yelled, dodging past the beast and flying into an adjacent building, narrowly dodging the oncoming gunfire as the rest of the satyrs made it out of the smoke.

“Shit shit shit!” he yelled again, pulling out the box which held his laser rifle and putting it together, calming down a bit as its purr like hum filled the room. The rifle was a fancy relic he had recovered from an old armory, modified to be more powerful than standard laser rifles, able to punch through most armor and think skinned creatures. The only problem was that it guzzled micro-fusion cells like a fucking alcoholic, for while normal laser rifles could fire off twenty-four shots, this thing could only fire off three per cell.

All in all, the gun was very expensive, meant for last resort scenarios, which made it a bitch that he had to use it here.

“And I only have four fucking cells left!” he roared, and then he loaded up a cell, aiming the first shot outside the window and blowing off the behemoths head.

“What was that!” yelled one of the satyrs, giving away his position and immediately getting a hole blasted through him, causing the others to begin yelling and firing in random directions.

It helped a lot, for it gave away their positions, but that only made him curse more. He only had three cells left, and it was likely that he would have to use them all, unless he somehow managed to get the creatures to group together and get killed.

But just as he was about to open fire again, more energy blasts erupted from the other end of the street, power armored ponies appearing out of the distance as they began mowing down the rest of the creatures, Futile smiling as he leaped out of the building and waved to them, “Goddesses am I glad to see you guys.”

“Well we’re not glad to see you,” said one of the ponies, his voice sounding so familiar it made Futile snort.

“Caps, shouldn’t you be rotting in the bottom of a trench right now?”

“And shouldn’t you be gurgling away in the belly of a mole rat,” said Caps, taking off his helmet and glaring at Futile with his one remaining eye.

“Fair enough, so why are you not happy to see me?”

Caps sighed, “Because we specifically told you not to explore in the downtown ruins anymore, I know you have enemies that won’t enter the downtown DC ruins, but Elder Lions has made it quite clear that we can no longer spare anymore resources keeping an eye on you.”

“I see, and did he say anything else?”

Caps nodded, “He said to tell you that while he views you as a valuable ally, if you continue to stay in the DC ruins we will no longer aid you, you will be effectively on your own.”

Futile saw the cautioned look of concern in the old paladins face, and sighed, nodding his head before he spoke. “I understand Paladin Caps, you just make sure he understands that my former associates will have an easier time finding me, and if I die not only will he lose an ally, he will lose a good friend as well.”

Caps nodded, “Very well, I will relay the message, now get your ass moving, well escort you out, and then you’re on your own.”

Futile nodded, and then got to work looting the Satyrs bodies, before getting back up and following the Sisterhood as they lead him out of the ruins.

High up in the skies over the capital wasteland; a massive Enclave Flying Fortress moved through the skies as a ship through water. The flying fortress was the last of her kind; an old relic from before the Great War which had killed all her sister ships, but thanks to the Enclave she was running better than she ever had in her hay day.

Deep within the bowls of her hull, many Enclave scientist were busy going over the data of their current ongoing experiment, many of them talking excitedly as they kept glancing at the tank which held the experiment.

Ever since their defeat by that pegasus tribal known as the Chosen One, they had been re-assessing their methods for taking back Equestria. As it was, it had been determined by the remaining heads of the Enclave that they had moved in too quickly, and thus had been unable to properly gauge the potential threats which had been lying in wait out west.

So, they had decided to change their tactics for the trip out east, switching to surveillance and building up their equipment for their next attack, while also looking into ways to make better soldiers and thus increase their chances of victory.

Thus, they had turned once again to experimenting with the Forced Evolutionary Virus, which had been developed by the Ministry of Peace during the tail end of the Great War, as well as the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion developed by the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, all with the hopes that they could use both to bridge the gap between ponies and the legendary dragons, and thus create a creature of equestrian myth, the mighty Kirin.

They had of course succeeded, even with the various hiccups and whatnot, but finally they managed to produce a live specimen, one which they had been watching grow in its vat since its technical birth. They had kept her in there from time to time since she had her birth, using diluted samples of F.E.V. and I.M.P. to enhance her already considerable abilities, and now they were going over her latest test results to see how she was handling the latest augmentations.

As they were going over the results however, a stallion made his way into the room, his metal plated boots clicking on the floor to make his presence known, and when one of the scientists turned to address him, she immediately gasped. “Doctor Autumn, we didn’t know you would be coming today, what brings you...”

“Princess Eden wanted to know the current progress of Project Wyrm, so she sent me down to gather the information, what do you have to report?”

“The subject is responding wonderfully to the augmentations we applied to its defensive capabilities, for its armor has thickened to the point where it can almost rival our best suits of power armor.”

“And her offensive capabilities?”

“Like none we have ever seen,” said another scientist. “Her claws are sharper then even the mighty deathclaws, and she has a set of special glands in her throat that can produce many arrays of dragon breath weapons. Plus the tip of her tail carries a blade as sharp as her claws, making her a deadly force even without the armor and weapons being prepared for her.”

“And what about her magic?”

“It’s P12 as of the latest scans, making her equal to the legendary Twilight Sparkle before her ascension, and to Lady Rarity after the Princess had augmented her…”

“Excellent,” said Autumn, “then you will continue with your experiments, Princess Eden is counting on you all.”

With that he left the room, and soon the scientist left as well, figuring they would continue their tests in the morning. However unbeknownst to them; the test subject had been awake the whole time.

She waited till she was absolutely sure nopony was nearby, and then she opened her eyes, seeing clearly through the water and examining the room which contained her current prison. When she was done examining the room, she lifted up one of her clawed paws, placing it against the glass and getting a feel for it before closing her eyes again, her horn lighting up and blasting the glass away with a telekinetic burst.

She did not wash out with the water as it spilled upon the floor, instead floating toward the floor using her magic, before setting down upon the ground as the alarms started blaring.

The moment the alarms sounded, a guard ran in, only to be smeared against the ceiling as the subject used her magic on him to fling him there.

“ALERT! ALERT!” blared the alarm, “TEST SUBJECT 1156 HAS ESCAPED CONTAINMENT, ALL ENCLAVE SOLDIERS CONVERGE AND CONTAIN THE TEST SUBJECT AT ONCE. REPEAT, ALL ENCALVE SOLDIERS CONVERGE AND CONTAIN SUJECT 1156 AT ONCE!”

The kirin growled at the sound of the alarm, crushing one of the offending speakers as she passed by with but a thought, before finding a nearby terminal and turning it on. She didn’t bother hacking into the terminal, instead reaching into the mind of a nearby scientist and ripping the passwords out of his head, leaving him a drooling mess upon the floor of his room as she brought up the map of the airship.

She scanned it quickly, deducing where she was and which exit would be the easiest to reach and use, before smashing the terminal and beginning to move again. She didn’t stay on the floor however, leaping up to the ceiling and latching onto it with her claws, before running along it as ponies raced down below her, too busy to look up and notice as she raced to her destination.

She finally reached her target moments later, leaping down to the floor before moving over to the control panel and hitting the open button for the bay doors, only to growl as the emergency override to the bay doors kicked in. She roared, ignoring the sound of the alarms telling the guards where she as and instead taking a deep breath before unleashing white flames upon the doors, heating them up to the right point just as the soldiers barged into the room.

They began shooting as she jumped for the heated doors, the kirin taking several bullets and a few burns to her exposed flesh as she busted through the weakened surface of the doors, before plummeting to the ground below as the soldiers stared in shock at her falling form.

“What do you mean subject 1156 escaped!?”

An enclave scientist, a pegasus mare by the name of Blood Letter, was currently glaring at the commander of her soldiers, who had just told her her prized project had just escaped from the facility.

“I…I am sorry mam, but by the time we reached the bomb bay doors she had weakened them enough to break out, but we did get off a few shots before she…”

“You made sure to use the special tranquilizers we had made for subject 1156 correct?”

“No mam,” said the commander, “we used live ammunition.”

“.....I do not recall giving you permission to use live ammunition against subject 1156.”

The commander gulped, “We were given orders by one of the other scientists to use extreme prejudice in the event that subject 1156 escaped from containment, and she stated she had the express permission of Doctor Au…”

Blood cut him off, “Then you should have remembered that I have orders direct from Princess Eden that state, and I quote “Subject 1156 is not to be harmed no matter the reason, and that any order to the contrary are to be ignored.” Now, I will overlook you forgetting that order commander, after all you had good reason to, but I need to know one thing, who was the presumptuous fool who gave the order that 1156 was to be terminated if she escaped?”

“Doctor Scalpel mam,” said the commander.

“…I see,” said Blood with a cold grin, “thank you commander, you may go.”

The commander saluted before turning around, but just as he reached the door, he was stopped as Blood cleared her throat.

“And Taro, I expect you in my chambers later tonight, for I have a feeling I am going to work up quite the...”apatite,” by the time my meeting with Scalpel is concluded.”

Taro smiled at that and nodded, before leaving Blood as she swiveled in her chair to look at the many knives adorning her wall, her eyes focusing on one particular one as she hit the com button on her chair.

“Will Doctor Serrated Scalpel please report to my office, there is an urgent matter regarding subject 1156 that must be discussed at once.”

Footnote:
Futile Task: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: You Teleport Through The Sky! Rank 3
When You are in the air, you are nearly untouchable, able to doge and weave past anything set against you. You gain 90% Chance to dodge incoming damage while in the sky.

Subject 1156: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: You Can Hack The Mind!
The Pony mind is but an open book to you, easy to be read and thus, easy to sift through and acquire any information you want. 100% Chance to read a creatures mind and gather information, however there is a 50% chance that you will render the creature brain dead through use of this ability.

Author's Note

Yeeeehaw first chapter down, now onto the fun stuff, though before that, I feel I should state this one more time in case the note in the description didn’t explain it well enough. Starting Perks are perks these characters have, though this does not mean they wont be able to gain new perks in the form of quest perks, but for the most part any perk that is going to be listed in the footnotes will be perks they already have. Now, to the special features.

Content Inspired By Mods:
1. - Futile’s special Laser Rifle.
This rifle was inspired by the TIS-1 Laser Sniper from the Apocalypse Armory, which can be seen here:

- The Enclave’s Flying Fortress.
This was inspired by the Enclave Airship mod by teacosy616, which can be seen here:

Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 02 - A Lone Wanderer

Futile inched his way toward the edge of an impact crater he had decided to investigate, having spotted the thing which made it coming down from the sky near moments after the Sisterhood and he had parted way's. He had almost turned back to try and find them, but something about the strangeness of the thing falling from the sky told him it wasn’t something he should bother them with.

He reached the edge of the crater after a little while, peaking over only to have his eyes widen in shock, for at the bottom of the crater lay a pony the likes of which he had never seen before.

Her coat was the color of the deepest black, so black that when the light hit it it shined like oil. Her mane was of the deepest royal purple, and it came it two parts. The main part acted like a normal mane, running down the sides of her head, but the other part reached across her back, moving down till it ended in a tufted of hair at the end of her lizard like tail.

As he got closer to her, he noticed that her forelegs ended in four fingered paws, each with claws looking sharper than anything he had ever seen. He also noticed that under her fur were scales, the same color as her fur but shining even brighter then her fur, making it easy to differentiate between the two. But the most intriguing feature she held was that she had three horns, one which was a curved unicorn horn in its natural place, while the other two were located on the sides of her head, curving toward along her bottom jaw.

Adding up all these facts, Futile knew this pony could be only one thing, but he was finding it very hard to believe, for it was a thing out of old equestrian mythos…a legendary Kirin.

In the oldest tails of Equestria, long before the bombs and the mega spells had ruined everything, the kirin were said to be the guardians of the two princesses before they confronted Discord, watching over them as they grew and teaching them the lessons of friendship and magic that would one day help them to rule over all of Equestria.

“But where the hell did she come from,” thought Futile as he moved over to her, placing his hoof on her neck to check her pulse, and finding it relativity quickly.

“Well, at least she’s alive,” he said aloud, “better get her to a nearby town fast though, I just hope nothing attacks me on the way.”

Tenderly, as if he were picking up a new born foal, Futile used his hands to pick up the strange mare and place her upon his back, and as he was making sure she was comfortable, he felt her nuzzle against his neck and breathe in deep.

He stood still for a long moment, praying he had not woken her up and possibly made her angry, but after a little while he heard her sigh in relief, and then felt her rest her head against his back.

Futile let out sigh as well, then he began to walk, reaching into his saddle bags and pulling out his Pipbuck 2500 to get a lay of the land. It had been a gift from his mother, who had built it using the scavenged remains of damaged Pipbuck 2000's that she had recovered on her travels across the west coast, something she was very proud of.

He turned it on, then activated the map function to see where he was, scanning a little ahead before smiling.

“The goddesses must be smiling on me today, were not too far from Rivet City, and with that loot I took from those muties, I’ll be able get you looked after nice and proper.”

It took him a while, but they eventually reached the entrance to Rivet City after a few hours of travel, the goddesses smiling on them once again as the road to it had remained mercifully clear of the usual band of satyrs, though even that made Futile a bit wary. The satyrs usually had a raiding party on the side of the road which passed by their base in the Clover Memorial, mostly to try and snatch would be travelers who weren’t smart enough to travel through the metro system, and the fact that there had been no muties in that outpost made him wonder where the hell they were.

“No point worrying about it now, got to get you to the good doctor.”

He heard a low hum of acceptance, and smiled at that, before starting his climbing up to the bridge. The mare had been coming to slowly over their trip, only becoming conscious enough to get a good look at him, before falling asleep on his back, though she would occasionally hum or mumble when he talked to her.

When he finally reached the top of the platform, he discovered to his chagrin that the bridge had been retracted, but after glancing toward the intercom he caught the reason out of the corner of his eye. Nearby the metro entrance was a camp, a series of intact military transport trucks surrounding some tents, with a sign which identified the camp as the Scavengers Caravan.

He had traded with them a few times, but he knew the ponies of Rivet City didn’t like them, mostly because they had both a tame dire wolf and a domesticated satyr guarding the camp, but they tolerated them because they had enough firepower to keep the satyrs from making it to the city or the metro entrance.

He shook his head, then activated the intercom, “Hey guys, mind extending the bridge?”

“Yeah yeah, just make sure to keep your weapons holstered, and welcome to Rivet City.”

The bridge swung forward to allow passage, and once it locked in place Futile crossed, nodding to one of the guards before entering the door which lead to the inner workings of the city, which was in fact a pre-war charier which had been docked in the bay before the bombs fell.

It had been cut in half, but the half that ever pony was using served as a very good home, and in Futile’s opinion the best doctor in the wasteland lived within her hull.

He knocked on Doctor Stable’s door, the fifty year old stallion lifting up his head and smiling as he caught sight of his old friend. “Mister Task, I thought you were on the run, what brings you to my shop today.”

“Nothing relating to me,” said Futile with a grin, “but I do have a patient for you, one I must ask that you be discreet about.”

He lifted the young mare off his back, placing her on the cot before removing the blanket he had wrapped around her during their trek, and watched with bemusement as Stable gasped at what he saw.

“Wha…what the fuck is she?”

“Do you want my honest opinion?”

The doctor nodded, “Ok, but this is going to sound far fetched. Judging by her appearance, and from some old tales I have heard over the years, I would have to say she is a kirin.”

That got a derisive snort from Stable, “You can’t be serious, those things are a myth, dragon ponies from fire side stories meant to calm fillies and colts when raiders are about.”

“I know that,” said Futile with a grin, “but that doesn’t change to fact that she matches the description from every tale I’ve heard, right down to the horns.”

Stable looked hesitant, but then looked back at her, his eyes taking in all her features before he sighed, “what do you need me to do?”

“I just need you to make sure she is ok, I mean she looks fine now I know, but I found her after she fell from the sky in a ball of fire.”

Stables eyes widened, and then he looked at the mare again, whistling before he spoke. “Well if you’re right, then she obviously inherited the dragon’s ability to withstand fire, but where will you be while I check on her?”

“I’ll be in the market; I got some stuff I need to sell as well as some things I need to purchase, so I shouldn’t be gone for too long.”

He watched his old friend nod, then turned to leave, only to stop as the young mare reached out and grabbed his leg with her paw, her eyes opened fully for the first time since they got there as she looked into his own.

He was struck by the fact that her eyes were like none he had ever seen, having no sclera or irises to speak of, and instead were just two pools of dark purple.

“…P…please,” she pleaded, “d…don’t g…go…please stay.”

Futile stared at her for a long moment, and then kneeled down next to the bed, getting close to her before speaking. “It’s alright, I just need to do some business in the market, then I will be right back, plus I am leaving you in the hooves of a pony I have trusted with my life many times over, so you have nothing to fear from him ok?”

She hesitated a moment, then nodded her head, letting go of his leg before laying back down.

“I’ll take good care of her,” said Stable, then he shooed him out the door, before turning back to the kirin and giving her a smile. “Alright girl, let’s have a look at you.”

“And you’re sure you are out of extra strength healing potions?” inquired Futile as he gazed at some of the merchants other chems and potions.

“The caravans haven’t been able to get through lately, apparently there’s word of a town full of cannibals near the local trade rout, and they keep snatching up traders when they are asleep, but nopony knows where they are.”

The merchant shot Futile a pointed look, causing his ears to splay back in shame, for he knew why she was looking at him that way, but he knew it would be useless to argue about it, and instead decided to steer the conversation away from that. “Do they say where they have been disappearing, I plan on heading out after my companion is looked at, and I could check to see if these rumors are true?”

The merchant nodded, marking the location on his pip-buck, and then turning away as Futile turned away. He headed over to Flak ‘N Shrapnel’s next, taping Flak on the shoulder before pulling out the weapons he had scavenged and giving him a smirk, “got some guns to sell yah.”

“I can see that,” said Flak with a smirk of his own, his horn lighting up as he lifted some of them up to look at. “Hm, some of these are in pretty good shape, where the hell did you get these?”

“Found most of these in the pack of an satyr behemoth, first time I have seen one outside downtown in over a year, it’s scary.”

“I know,” said Flak, looking over the last gun before setting it down and putting on his business face. “Alright, I’ll give you 200 caps for each assault rifle, 100 caps for each hunting rifle, and I’ll give you 700 for the minigun.”

Futile pondered this for a moment, tapping his chin with a trigger finger for a moment, before smiling as he opened his mouth to speak. “I’ll agree to 700 for the minigun, but I want 250 for each of the assault rifles, and 140 for each of the hunting rifles.”

“Oh come on C.C. that’s too much, I’m trying to run a business here.”

Futile chuckled at that, “I know that Flak, but I also know that once I sell these rifles to you you’ll turn right around and sell them at double what you are willing to pay, the hunting rifles even more, so really what I ask is quite reasonable.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, each of them waiting for a crack to show in the others resolve, even though they both knew where this was going. Then, Flack spat on the ground, before shaking his head as a laugh escaped his lips. “Damb you you snake tongued devil, you just can’t let me catch a break can you?”

“Just trying to keep you honest my friend,” said Futile with a grin, before accepting the caps Flak gave him, then walking away and heading over to the local diner. When he sat down, one of the owners walked over to him, the stallion smiling as he pulled out a quill and paper, “Well howdy there partner, what can I get yah tonight.”

“Two moalrat steaks if you would, feeling mighty peckish today.”

“Two moalrat steaks comin right up,” said the chef, walking away to prep the food as Futile settled to wait.

As he waited, he would occasionally wave at a passing pony, the residents of Rivet City not even fazed by his odd appendages, but there were still those who would not wave back, too afraid to even look him in the eyes.

He was spared the inevitable train of thought his mind would take by the arrival of food, his mouth watering as he licked his lips and thanked the chef. He bent down to take a bite, but just as his teeth were about to sink into the meal, he caught the scent of it.

His eyes narrowed, for he knew what the meat they had tried to serve him was, and it infuriated him that they would even try to slip it to him. So he straightened up, ignoring the growling of his stomach and the itch that was developing behind his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak. “Grill, could you come back here please.”

“Well from everything I can tell you're in perfect health, and what scratches you suffered from your fall seemed to have healed on their own, so their nothing to worry about.”

“Th…thank you doctor,” said the mare, sitting up in the bed and continuing to hide her face behind her mane, as she had been doing ever since Futile left. “Do…Doctor?”

“Yes?” said Stable, turning to look at her as she tried to speak.

“T…” she tried, “the stallion who carried me in here, could you…could you tell me more about him?”

“Futile Task,” asked Stable, smiling when the mare nodded. “Sure can, he’s been my friend ever since he came to the capital wasteland.”

The mare looked confused, “Wait, he wasn’t originally from the capital?”

Stable shook his head with a laugh, “that old codger, hell no. No he came from someplace out west called the Marejave Wasteland, hellish place if you believe what he says, and with some of the scars I saw on his body, I would wager he was telling the truth. He came here oh around…twenty years ago, and he was thirty at the time; youngest I ever heard to walk the big empty alone and make it through with all limbs intact.”

“When we met, the kid was in a tussle with a Dra, kicking and biting at the thing like some feral ghoul, so almost shot him along with the damn Dra. Anyways, after I didn’t shoot him we got to talking, and he told me his story, well as much as he was willing to tell, and we became fast friends. We traveled the capital for a while, me as his guard and him becoming a sort of traveling messenger pony for the few settlements that are struggling to eek out a living here, till finally we parted ways, though that was after he hooked up with the Sisterhood of Crusaders.”

The young mare nodded, then slowly peeked out from her mane, the words she wanted to say next catching in her throat as she tried to speak. “And is…is he seeing anypony, like a mare?”

“Not that I know of,” said Stable as he put away his tools, “why, you interested in him?”

The mare blushed, hiding behind her mane again as she nodded, causing Stable to chuckle before walking over and tapping her on the shoulder. “Well why don’t we go see how he is doing then, I got to go grab some food for myself anyway, and I’m pretty sure after what you’ve been through you need something as well.”

The mare nodded, then got up, following the doctor out and then down the hall, keeping her face hidden as the residents all stared at her, whispers following as they left.

They made it to the balcony overlooking the markets diner, Stable stopping the young mare as they saw Futile having a rather loud argument with the diner’s owner.

“How many times do I have to say it Grill, this is not the food I ordered, how hard is it for you to hear that and take it back.”

“And how many times do I have to tell you C.C. this is what you…”

“Damn it Grill have you forgot what the hell I am,” yelled Futile as he glared at the earth pony, “I can fucking smell that this isn’t mole-rat meat, so can you just replace it.”

“You stay here miss,” said Stable, “I’ll go see what the hell is going on.”

As he moved down the stair, he watched as Grill leaned closer to his old friend, and he could just make out what the old coot was saying. “Ok look, some hunters came in to trade a while…hey don’t give me that look not everypony has the same shoot first policy when it comes to them that you do, especially when they’re the ones who provide most of the food around here. Now as I was saying, they came in to trade a while back and somehow managed to slip this crap in with the rest of my goods, and I haven’t been able to get rid of it. Now I know you occasionally….partake in this meat, and if you could just…”

“No,” said Futile flatly.

Grill looked like he was about to speak again, but just as he opened his mouth, his daughter Galley appeared with a plate of mole-rat steaks. “Sorry about the mess up Futile, our chef must not have been looking at what he was cooking.”

“Galley,” started Grill.

“And I believe you have some other orders to fill out,” said Galley to the stallion, “so get going, I got this covered.”

“But honey…”

“Shoo,” said Galley, continuing to glare at him till he went away, then placing down the plate and looking at Futile with a sheepish grin. “Sorry bout that Futile, my daddy has been trying to get rid of that meat for a while now, and I’m guessing he just got it into his head that he could sneak it past our resident wasteland thestral.”

“It’s ok,” said Futile pleasantly, “it’s not the first time I’ve run into a trader who had a hunter slip him some unwanted product, just the first time they tried using me as a glorified trash bin.”

Galley was about to respond when Stable walked over to the table, causing Futile to smile as he drew him a chair. “Hey Doc, how’s the new patient doing?”

“Great, in fact,” said Stable, waving to somepony out of sight, which turned out to be the mystery mare, “she said she wanted to come and see you.”

The mare moved to their table, ignoring the stares of everypony as she sat down next to Futile, before turning to him and speaking. “He…hello Futile…”

“Hello Miss…” started Futile, only to stop when his mind came up blank. “I’m sorry; I seem to have forgotten to ask you what your name was.”

The mare blushed, “I…I was never given a name…”

Both Futile and Stable looked shocked, but none more so than Galley, who was shaken from her stupor by the statement and forced to speak. “What, a pretty mare like you not given a name, your parents must have been raiders or something, not to name their own child.”

At the mention of parents, the mare seemed to stiffen, but before she could speak Galley barreled over her. “Hm let’s see, black fur and scales, dark bluish purple mane…”

Galley mumbled one feature after another as she examined the mare, causing her to look skittish as she was probed and touched, till finally Galley moved in front of her to look at her eyes. “Whooey, would you look at them beauties, reminds me of that old pony rhyme my mum used to tell me.”

“What rhyme,” asked Stable skeptically.

Galley snorted, “Oh come on you can’t tell me your momma never told you any rhymes, but as I was saying, the rhyme I’m talking about is the Sorceress Rhyme. “Sorceress eyes of enrapturing color, often cause stallions hearts to wander,” you know that old one.”

Both the stallions at the table looked confused, but Galley beamed, turning toward the mare and grabbing her forepaws. “That’s it, we’ll call you Sorceress!”

The young mare looked startled, but for the first time, she actually smiled, nodding her head as she spoke. “I…I like it, it sounds fitting.”

Galley nodded, “Great, now, for you Mister Stable, an order of the usual?”

Stable nodded, “Alright, and what about you Miss Sorceress?”

Sorceress looked skeptical for a moment, and then looked at Futile’s plate, before turning back to Galley and speaking. “If it would not be too much trouble, could you possibly bring me a cooked mole-rat, whole if you can manage?”

Galley’s eyes widened, then she chuckled, “Well damn girl, you must have worked up one hell of an appetite; at least our cook will finally have and excuse to use some of his more unsavory skills.”

Galley walked away, yelling to the cook as Sorceress sighed, turning to Futile and smiling at him as she spoke. “She is nice; I hope I can get to know her better.”

“Oh you no doubt will,” said Stable kindly, “with as often as Futile comes around Rivet City, you’re bound to get plenty of chances to talk to her.”

Futile looked skeptically at Stable, “um doc, what you talking about?”

“Well I assumed once you ate and then paid me for looking her over, you and the little lady would be leaving on your next adventure.”

Futile looked at him, and then took a bite of his steak, chewing slowly before swallowing and answering his old friend. “Well yeah I would like that, but I don’t even know is she can handle herself in a fight, I mean yeah she has those claws but…”

“I can fight,” said Sorceress, before drooling as her mole rat was brought to her, digging in deep as Futile stared at her before resurfacing with a leg and a smile.

“Where did you learn to fight?” asked Futile, watching with some amusement as she nibbled on the leg with glee.

Sorceress stopped for a moment, then continued to nibble, thinking over her next words carefully as she ate. She knew she couldn’t tell them the full truth, for she knew from the information she had gleaned from her creators, the Enclave were not well received in the wasteland. But she also knew that she needed to say something, so she decided to settle for the truth, or at least as much as she could at this time.

“My…captors trained me in many different forms of combat, mostly for their own perverse purposes. They…did things to me, to make me stronger, smarter…all so that they could use me to hurt others, which is why I escaped.”

She returned to eating, allowing Stable to lean next to Futile and speak, the stallion obviously not realizing that she could still hear them even with his hushed tones. “Well that explains some of those scars I saw on her body, though them slavers must had some nasty whips to tear through dragon scales.”

“Well I’ll give you that, but remember I told you she fell from the sky, and that implies an airship.”

“So?”

“So,” said Futile in frustration, “so the only slavers I ever heard of with airships were the raider gangs from Charge Cargo, and those fuckers were blasted back to the stone age years ago by the Sisterhood of Crusaders chapter there. Also not once in my entire time in the wasteland have I ever heard of anypony managing to capture a live, let alone real kirin and use it for fights, and that’s something you would want spread around, especially with how many legends there are about kirin in the wastes.”

“Well they could have found her in the big empty, I mean there is still a lot about those spots in the wastes that are left untouched, especially that place, that we simply do not know about, so who knows what could have possibly been born out there.”

“I don’t know, something about her story tells me that’s unlikely. She said things were done to her, to make her stronger and smarter, and that makes me think of scientists, not slavers…and it also makes me think she wasn’t even born…more likely…she was grown.”

As they continued to whisper, they didn’t notice that Sorceress was watching them, a hint of fear in her eyes. She knew they were drawing closer to the truth, but she still didn’t want to reveal it, for she worried it would taint their entire view on her, and make it so that she couldn’t accompany Futile on his travels.

She was about the start eating again, when she caught what Stable was saying next and froze; dread filling her as she listened to him.

“You don’t think it could be Enclave could you, I mean they got them radio broadcasts promising…”

“Stable I thought I told you those broadcasts are a joke,” said Futile simply, causing Sorceress to sigh in relief as he continued. “I told you before that their main base was destroyed years ago back out west, and whatever remnants of their forces that survived were scattered to the winds a long ago, never to be heard from again.”

“Then what about…”

“Don’t you ever listen to DJ Pon-3?” asked Futile with a growl, “that broadcast is older than a lot of other ponies think, and I would not be surprised if it was just some stunt done by some Enclave remnant member to try and scare the Sisterhood, after all it was thanks in part to them that the Enclave fell in the first place.”

Stable relented, noticing Sorceress surface with a belch, nudging Futile before getting up from his chair. “Well I better get back to the clinic; no doubt I’ll get somepony in who needs patching up, you two have fun now.”

As he left Futile got up, indicating that Sorceress should do the same. “Well come on, let’s pay for your food, get you into a decent set of armor, and then lets hit the road.”

It took a while to get everything ready, but once Futile had gotten Sorceress armored up and armed with a weapon, they had set off, moving down the road till hours later they were moving along the river, heading for parts unknown.

“You know,” said Sorceress, “my captors kept telling me that life out here was harsh, but it seems so peaceful now, not like they said at all.”

“Well we’ve been lucky,” said Futile with a grin, “usually there are a lot more creatures and raiders on the road, and sometimes worse. Same thing happened when I carried you to Rivet City, and I have no idea why.”

“It might be me then,” said Sorceress, “dragons are natural predators, and some creatures may be picking up on my sent and fleeing.”

“Hm…that may be, but that will only last for a time,” said Futile.

“What do you mean?”

Futile turned to her as they walked, “predator smells do detour the creatures of the wastes, and sometimes even ponies who can sense it. But eventually even the most skittish of beasts will ignore those smells, even if it leads to their death.”

“Oh…I see,” said Sorceress, pondering what his words implied and what it would probably lead to in the future. As she pondered this however, she saw Futile pull something out of his saddle bags, Sorceress becoming curious when she saw it was some sort of hand held device.

“What is that,” she asked, pointing to the device and causing Futile to smile.

“This is my Pip-Buck 2500,” said Futile with a smile, “it was a gift from my mother, for she built it for me when I decided to leave for the Marejave wasteland. It's based off of the pip-buck 2000 models back out west, but it's more advanced then even the Pip-Buck 3000 models they have out here.”

“So it’s like my own then,” said Sorceress, causing Futile to wheel around in surprise.

“What, you don’t have a pipbuck…do you?”

Instead of answering with words, Sorceress sat down on her haunches, lifting up her left foreleg and then pressing down on a particular spot with one of her right fingers, causing a holographic projection of a pipbuck 3000 to form around her left leg.

“I believe it’s a prototype,” said Sorceress as Futile got a closer look at it, “at least that’s what I guessed from what conversations I overheard between my captors. They said it would do wonders for those without power armor, for they would be able to have the same kind of tactical spells that old pip-bucks granted, without all the hassle.”

Futile stared at it a moment longer, then went back to his own pip-buck, fiddling with the dials till he got to the transmissions section. “Well we can talk about that later, right now I want to see if DJ Pon-3 has anything new to say.”

Sorceress got curios, moving closer as he tuned in, before jumping as a loud voice came from the speakers.

“What’s up wastelanders, this is DJ Pon-3, and you’re listening to GNR, that’s Galaxy News Radio in case you somehow forgot. And here’s me, your adorable hostess, with the news. For those of you not in the know, to the northwest of the town of Remnant is this Stable, Stable 101. Now believe it or not this one’s still got ponies living in it, and every few years or so somepony comes scrabbling out.”

“Well wouldn’t you know it, someponies come out of it again, and I kid you not, he came to visit yours truly right here in the studio. Now this cat, Glacier is his name, had been in that hole for years…”

Futile lost track of the rest of the broadcast, his mind halting on the name of the pony who had visited the DJ. It had been a long time since he had traveled with the stallion to Stable 101, escorting him there along with Star Paladin Cross, so that he could get his little colt someplace safe.

And now he was back outside, and it sounded like he had left his son in Stable 101, for reasons the thestral could not fathom.

“…so if you see Glacier out there, say hello, be kind to our new brother, and show him that here on the outside we always fight the good fight. And hey, in case a light bulb just started glowing over your head, you can flick the switch and forget about it. You’re not getting into that Stable, cause whoevers living there sure as hell doesn’t want what you’re selling. And no you, can’t knock down the door, it weighs like thirteen tons.”

“So until next time, this is DJ Pon-3, and you’ve been listening to Galaxy News Radio, bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts.”

Futile shut off the transmission, putting the pip-buck away in his pack before getting up and indicating that Sorceress should do the same. “Come on, if we get going we can reach Ponyville by nightfall.”

“What’s the hurry, does this have to do with the stallion DJ Pon-3 mentioned?”

“Yes, he was an old friend of mine, and I want to know why the hell he left that stable after nineteen years of staying down there.”

They made it to Ponyville by nightfall, Futile telling Sorceress to stay low as they moved through the rubble towards the school. Futile had been checking in to Galaxy News every now and then, and had heard from the DJ that another stable dweller had left shortly after Glacier, and had been said to have been heading toward the school to scavenge supplies.

Futile really hoped that wasn’t the case, for he knew that school had a nasty habit of housing raider gangs from time to time, no matter how often it was cleared out.

They finally reached a building outside of the school, just in time to see a raider stumble out of the front door. Futile then pulled out his sniper rifle and his pip-buck, strapping the device to his foreleg before pulling out one of its handy modifications and attaching it to his head. He sighted in with his rifle, and then activated the attachment, the world slowing down as the pip-bucks patented Bullet Time Spell (B.T.S.) kicked in.

B.T.S. worked on the same principles as the Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell (S.A.T.S.), but with one major difference. Instead of allowing the user to target certain parts of a pony’s body, it simply slowed down the user’s perception of time, allowing them more time to think as well as allow them better aim in dicey situations.

Later in life, Futile would thank the gods of Equis that he had used B.T.S. over S.A.T.S. that day, for if he had used the other spell, he would have never noticed the Pip-Buck 3000 on the raiders foreleg, which immediately caused him to end the spell as the pony collapsed on the ground.

Footnote:
Futile Task: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: Bullet Wizard
You have gotten used to the time differential of the B.T.S., allowing for faster reaction times, and has even increased your movement speed by a fair amount. Your accuracy during Bullet Time increases by 50%, and your reaction time and movement speed increases by 25%.

Sorceress: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: Healing Factor
Like the hero's from the old pony comics as well as the legendary creature, the hydra, you possess the mighty healing factor, allowing you to recover from any injury save for those induced by magic, acid or burns.
Health regenerates by a factor of 25% during combat and by a factor of 75% out of combat.
Damaged limbs regenerate by a factor of 25% during combat and by a factor of 75% out of combat.
Healing Factor cannot heal wounds created by acid, burns, or magic.
Healing Factor cannot reduce radiation exposure, nor cure its effects.
Healing Factors regeneration factor decreases by 15% per level of radiation exposure.

Author's Note

Yay, the lone wanderer is finally introduced, but next chapter is going to be a while, because it will be way longer then this one, so stay tuned, and till then, here are the special features for this chapter.

Mod Inspired Content:
Futile’s Pip-Buck 2500:
This Pip-Buck was inspired by A Familiar Friend - The Pip-Boy 2500 by EdisLeado, which can be seen in this picture here:

The Scavengers Caravan:
This group was inspired by the Scavengers Armors mod by tumbajamba, which you can see in this picture here:

Sorceresses Holographic Pip-Boy Prototype:
This was inspired by the Holo Pip-Boy 4000 mod by nisen, which can be seen in this picture here:

The Bullet Time Spell:
This was inspired by the DK Bullet Time mod by dunderklumpen, and you can witness its effects in this video here:

Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 03 - To The Superstore

Once again, Futile found himself carrying somepony on his back, this time the pony being the only son of his old friend Glacier, who had somehow managed to make it through the entire Ponyville Schoolhouse with only one major wound.

“Do you think he will be ok,” asked Sorceress, who was watching the road with two guns held in her magic, her eyes looking wary.

“He’ll be fine as long as we get him to a doctor,” said Futile pleasantly, “he just passed out from the pain is all, for I don’t imagine he would have too many chances to get a broken limb down in that stable of his.”

Sorceress cringed at that, for she remembered all too well how her…captors had pushed her beyond the point her body could take, often to the point where a limb or two would end up broken and they would run endless tests on her before actually mending the damn things, though that had helped her to build up her impressive healing factor later on.

As they moved, they started hearing a voice coming from further down the road, though when they say what it was Futile snorted, continuing to walk as its voice became clear.

“…I’m Princess New Day Eden, and you’re listening to Enclave Radio, the voice of warmth and kindness in a world bereft of it, and there are some things we should talk about if that’s alright. I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about something we can all relate to, something that is unquestionably, inescapably Equestrian.”

“I am referring to of course, one of our great national pastimes, The Royal Iron Pony Competition, or so it had been back in days long past. That’s right Equestria, before we were devastated by the mega spells; each city and town had its own professional Iron Pony team.”

“Imagine it, the perfect cloudless day, crafted of course by our fearless pegasi, and Celestia’s sun is warm and welcoming to all. And then, on the horizon they appear, like knights of yore, armed with nothing but their hooves and their hearts. Their names, the Equestrian Noblemen, their purpose, to make you dear Equestria revel in the joys of sport and sunshine, if only for an afternoon.”

“Now ask yourself this dear Equestria, what if the Equestrian Noblemen could live again, what if they could compete with iron pony teams from Prancilvania or Mary Land. Put your faith in New Day Eden Equestria, and the Royal Iron Pony competition will live again. Comfort, recreation, healthy competition, all will live again. This kingdom will live again, but for now my dear Equestria, I must say farewell, for restoring the greatest kingdom in all the world well…hehe well, that takes time, even for our mighty Enclave. So till we meet again, this is Princess New Day Eden, signing off.”

The machine began to play music as soon as the voice stopped, but barley into its first song, it exploded as Futile emptied a round into it from a beastly looking carbon black revolver, the words “Peace Keeper” written upon the side of the gun Sorceress could see.

“There music is crap, but I try to keep my prejudice down long enough to hear what that bitch has to say, for as often as I tell ponies that broadcast is fake…part of it stinks of something else.”

“Like what?” said Sorceress, though she dreaded what he might say.

“Like somepony is trying to lull the wasteland into a false sense of security, for it would make it a hell of a lot easier to take over the wasteland if everypony thought some grand Enclave was coming to save them.”

Sorceress nodded, understanding the wisdom in his words, and then looked around, seeing the town Futile had mentioned and pointing it out to him. They made their way over to it, greeting the protectron at the gate before heading inside as it opened.

As they entered they saw a pony walking toward them, who was shaking his head as he got a good look at them. “I’ll be damned, more new comers; I hope you’re not bringing me any new mouths to feed C.C.”

Sorceress looked around, wondering who the sheriff might be talking about, only to become even more confused when Futile answered the sheriff. “No no Stims, I’m just taking this young pup here over to the good doctor, then maybe around town for a bit before leaving you in peace.”

“Good, because I can’t have you running around frightening the foals, I get enough complaints around here as it is.”

As the stallion walked away, Futile heard a faint growl behind him, turning to see Sorceress staring at the stallion with anger boiling in her eyes.

“Sorceress…”

“He disrespected you,” she growled, looking toward him as smoke began escaping from her nostrils as she snorted. “He didn’t even give you the courtesy of addressing you by your proper name, instead using this…C.C. title of which I have no knowledge of.”

“And it’s probably better that you don’t,” said Futile with a dark look, “and I know he was showing me disrespect, but that is how it is all over the Capital Wasteland for surface born thestrals, especially surface born thestrals like me…”

Sorceress noticed a pained look cross his face at the mention of that, but before she could ask what was wrong he started moving, pointing with a wing to a building down the hill as he walked. “Come on, we need to get this kid to the doc there, otherwise he may not recover.”

She nodded reluctantly, but resolved to address this apparent hurt at another time and place, following him into the building as the doctor walked out from behind a curtain.

“What the hell do you…oh, it’s you C.C.; when the hell did you get back into town?”

“A little while ago,” said Futile with a smile, ignoring the growl behind him as he spoke, “but that's beside the point. I need you to get this kid fixed up, he took out the raider gang that was hiding in the Ponyville Schoolhouse, and he came away with a few scrapes as you can see.”

“And I suppose you will be able to pay for all this right,” asked the doc with a scowl.

Futile nodded.

“Good, because I’m not running this clinic out of the goodness of my heart you know, but you two better go, I’ll find you later and let you know what your tab is.”

Futile thanked him, and then left the shop, Sorceress following behind before closing the door behind them.

“I don’t believe it, I just don’t believe it, I mean what reason do these ponies have to hate you!?”

“Because I am a surface born thestral,” said Futile simply.

“That is no reason for such…”

“It is reason enough for someponies,” said Futile with a growl, before sighing as they reached a shop known as Crater-Side Supply, named for the fact that it was situated beside one of the many impact craters which could be found within the city of Remnant. “Come on; let’s go see if Mortar has anything to sell.”

They walked into the shop, the shop keeper greeting Futile at the door while Sorceress looked around, the mare noting that the shop keep kept a large variety of merchandise around, which intrigued her. She then turned around to speak to the shop keeper, but upon seeing the shop keeper her eyes narrowed, a feral cat like hiss escaping her mouth as she glared at her.

“Get away from him!”

Futile turned to see flames escape the sides of Sorceress’s mouth and smoke escaping her nostrils as she pawed the ground, and immediately moved in front of the Mortar to keep her safe. “Sorceress, what’s gotten…?”

“Back away from her now Futile!” said Sorceress with a growl, unaware that a guard was coming down from the steps and was drawing a bead on her.

Futile motioned for him to wait however, moving closer to the kirin and speaking to her calmly. “Sorceress, I need you to go outside ok, this mare means me no harm.”

“But she’s a zebra!” yelled Sorceress.

“I know that,” said Futile, “but she means me no harm. Now please, go outside.”

He saw that she wanted to protest, but then she snorted flames, leaving in a huff and allowing him to turn back to Mortar, smiling at her as they got down to business.

Sorceress sat outside the shop, smoke billowing out the sides of her mouth as dark thoughts circled in her mind, memories from her captivity bubbling to the surface like and angry tide.

When the Enclave wasn’t putting her through torturous tests or keeping her locked up in her tube applying the latest mad concoction to “improve” her, they used her as… “Entertainment” for their zebra underlings.

The zebra’s favorite form of entertainment was pitting her against various monsters the Enclave had snagged for study, from Satyrs to Dire Wolves, Dra to fucking Wanamingo’s, even a few Deathclaws that they had taken with them from the west. All the while, they had taunted and jeered at her, making fun of every little wound she suffered, no matter how slight. It was because of them she suffered some of her most gruesome wounds, but she had always paid them back in kind, even managing to bite a nice chunk of one's neck out, nearly severing the vermin’s head clean off its body.

The zebra’s had of course wanted her killed after that, but the Enclave wouldn’t allow that. However, their kindness only stretched so far, and the zebras were able to enact their revenge in other ways.

She was bought out of her dark thoughts by the feeling of a wing draping over her back, causing her to look up to see Futile standing beside her with a concerned look on his face, “Mind telling me what just happened in there?”

“It’s…complicated…”

“It must be,” said Futile, “you must have had a really bad experience with zebra’s long ago to have a reaction like that.”

Sorceress stayed silent for a long moment, for she didn’t really want to talk about what had been done to her, even though she trusted the pony sitting beside her. However she knew it would most likely eat away at him if she kept it a secret, so she finally spoke up.

“My…captors would let their zebra underlings use me as entertainment, and they often pitted me against several of my captors other catches…all for sport.”

Futile grimaced at that, “…reminds me of some ponies I knew long ago…I’m sorry that happened to you.”

He gave her a quick squeeze, then let her go as a pony walked up the ramp, a pony they both realized was the doctor who they had spoken to earlier. “Hey doc,” said Futile with smile, “how’s the patient doing?”

“He’s awake,” said the doctor, “and he wants to thank the ponies who brought him here, so if you two would follow me.”

They began walking down the hill toward his building, and as they did, Futile couldn’t help but have one series of thoughts run through his head.

“Whatever happens today…that poor kids about to have his entire world shattered, I just hope I can pick up what pieces are left.”

Futile and Sorceress found the young earth pony colt sitting up in bed, looking at his pip-buck as they walked into the room. When Futile cleared his throat, he looked up, and immediately panicked; backing along the bed till Futile moved forward and managed to calm him down.

“Kid it’s alright, I’m a friend of your father Glacier, I’m here to help you.”

The name of his father seemed to get him to calm down, though it also made him look at Futile in confusion. “How do you know who my father is, I’ve never seen you before in my whole life.”

“Well I should think not,” said Futile with a grin, “I remember seeing you though, for I helped get your father and you to Stable 101 when you were nothing but a wee foal.”

That caused the colt even more confusion, “What, but my father and I were born in the Stable!”

That caused Futile to laugh, “Is that what he’s been telling you, that you were born down there, and he was born there as well?”

The colt nodded, which caused Futile to chuckle again, “Well I’m sorry to say this kid, but your father lied, he was born up here in the wasteland, and so were you.”

“But…but he said…” stuttered the colt, clutching his head in disbelief as he tried to process what Futile had said.

He was stopped however when Futile wrapped one of his wings around him, looking at him as the older stallion spoke. “Look kid, I know this is probably earth shattering for you, but it will be ok. Now, seeing as how we got that out of the way, tell me, what’s your name?”

“It’s…its Shard, Crystal Shard.”

“Well Shard, my name is Futile Task, and this here is my traveling companion Sorceress.”

The colt nodded, “Hello.”

Both Futile and Sorceress nodded in acknowledgment, and then Futile cleared his throat to speak. “Ok Shard, now could you please tell me why you thought it was a good idea to take on a school full of raiders?”

“Cause I…” started the young stallion, before his eyes widened in fear as he tried to leave the bed, “MY SISTER!”

As Futile moved to keep the young colt in bed, the doctor cleared his throat behind them, Futile turning around and nodding his head before looking back at Shard. “Well come on, we can finish talking as we walk, anyway we have to get you some gear.”

As Futile went off to get Shard supplies, Sorceress sat at the local diner with Shard, trying to keep him calm as she spoke to him.

“Look Shard,” said Sorceress, “I know you are nervous, but I need you to talk to me, and tell me how your sister relates to you attacking a known raider encampment.”

Shard hesitated a moment, then sighed, taking a sip of water before talking. “When my father left the stable, our overstallion just went insane. He killed our doctor, locked up my sister in one of the upper rooms, and even tried to have his daughter tortured to try and get my location. I…I managed to free my sister with the help of a loyal friend, saved the overstallions daughter from his crazed guard, and then made it out of the stable, only to get ambushed outside of Stable 101’s entrance by a group of...slavers I think their called, who said something about a place called Paradise Falls.”

“And you went to that school thinking they would know about this place?”

Shard nodded, “Yes, a mare who helped me get back on my hooves warned me about them, said they had been capturing folks who wandered too close to the schoolhouse and were selling them to slavers. I figured if anyone had idea of what that place might be; they might.”

“Well that was your first mistake, for raiders will not give you anything, they only desire to take.”

“Well I know that now...but at least I was able to save the few slaves that they had.”

“That's good,” said Sorceress. “Now, once we get you set up, you won’t mind if we stick with you right, for you are new to the wasteland, and you could use all the help you can get.”

“I would appreciate any help I can get, cause I'll be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing out here.”

Sorceress smiled at that, then jumped a bit when Futile sat down next to them, the stallion placing down a bag of supplies and sighing in relief. “Well, luckily Mortar had a lot of supplies for us to use, and she took the liberty of armoring up your Stable-Tec barbing for you, should work better than that raider armor you picked up. Which begs the question, why the hell did you put that shit on in the first place?”

“It looked like it would protect me better than my barding, a lot of those raiders were packing guns the likes of which I hand never seen before, I mean look at this.”

He pulled out a gun from his pack, Futile getting a good look at it before growling as he spoke. “Oh I am going to have to have words with that filthy ghoul when I get back around his side of the capital!”

“You know what this gun is?” asked Shard.

“Yep, that little beauty right there is called a M249 light machine gun, often called a SAW, and it’s one of several weapons that were being developed before the end of the Great War by the Spartan Ministry. They never saw action, but they were persevered in a special facility called the Phalanx Armory, which had technology designed to help replicate them for mass production. A ghoul I know found the facility years ago, gathered up a bunch of his old palls, and set up shop there, selling the guns to people in the wasteland. However, last time I was there they had a strict policy against selling their guns to raiders.”

“Well it looks like they’re no longer holding to that policy,” said Sorceress.

“Or the raiders have been getting really lucky against those their killing and taking their guns.”

Sorceress nodded at that, then watched as Futile moved up to Shard and spoke, “Now kid, I know you want to search for your sister, but Paradise Falls is no place to be going, at least not as under prepared as we are. We'd need more ponies for a mission like this, and better guns, for the moment they find out you’re connected to one of their slaves it will turn into a cluster fuck, so we need to....”

“No,” said Crystal indignantly, “I am going to go find my sister, and then me and her are going to go find our father, so you can either help me or you can leave me alone, but I'm going!”

Futile hesitated for a moment, and then sighed, the stallion gesturing to the kid’s bag before speaking. “Then you better give me a look at those guns you have, for I might be able to fix them up....and were going to need them.”

They were on the road again, Futile having managed to repair all the guns with scrap metal he always kept on hoof, and thus upping their arsenal quite considerably. Now, Futile was taking them along an intact roadway which led along the river bank, his eyes occasionally glancing toward the river as he began to speak.

“Now sadly there aren't that many intact bridges that go across the river,” said Futile, “and before you ask, no, swimming is not an option.”

“Why not,” asked Shard, looking confused.

“Because the river is often infested with Mirelurks,” said Futile, “crab like creatures which have a similar body structure to ponies. They are hostile to anything that is not a Mirelurk, and are extremely fast swimmers, which is why we are taking the land root to get across the river.”

“And what will we have to worry about on the land root, from that report I managed to snag from the Overstallions office, there were some frightening creatures out here.”

“Well if it were a normal situation, I would say we had some things to worry about, but with Sorceress here, we will be safe for a few days.”

“Why?”

“Because she smells like a dragon to most creatures,” said Futile, “and the dragons of the wasteland are at the top of the food chain, especially some of the nastier ones. But it most likely won’t last long, because eventually they will start to pick up the pony in her scent, and then we'll have to deal with the wastelands less cordial inhabitants.”

“Yeah, but that won’t matter to Raiders, or Talon Company Mercs for that matter.”

Both Futile and Sorceress whipped around, guns at the ready as Shard hid behind them, only for Futile to curse as he saw who it was. “Alicorns dammit Jericho are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Well we're all going to die one day,” said a grizzled looking pegasus stallion, “but I couldn't well let you all go off the Paradise Falls without some more backup, after all, I got business there.”

“What sort of business,” asked Futile.

“You remember Clover?”

Futile stared at the stallion for a moment, and then he swore as he pinched the bridge of his nose with one of his hands. “Goddess fucking dammit, what has that bitch gone and done now?”

“Um, who is this Clover?” asked Sorceress, while Shard hid behind her, which wasn't that hard due to her imposing size.

“A friend of mine; zebra mare who was born into slavery, and she has a hard time adjusting to the fact that she is a free mare.”

He then turned back to Jericho, “So, what has she gotten herself into this time?

“She got herself sold to the leader of Paradise Falls, one Prophetic Eulogy.”

“.......Celestai's sun kissed teats!” roared Futile, causing everypony to jump as he stamped his hoof, before he pulled out one of the guns he had repaired and tossed it to Jericho. “You’re going to need this if things go south in there.”

“Hot damn,” said Jericho, looking over the rifle as Futile turned to the rest of the group.

“Can he be trusted?” asked Shard, looking at the grizzly looking stallion in concern.

“We've been through some rough patches together,” said Futile, “plus he has saved my ass from some less then savory characters a few times before he became a citizen of Remnant.”

“And before that?”

“That's for him to tell you,” said Futile, “now let’s get moving; there's a place we can set up can before dark, and we don't want to be traveling the roads at night.”

They eventually found an abandoned farm house on the side of the road, Futile using various things from one of his saddle bags to secure the building before joining them in the barns upper floor, sitting down next to the fire that Sorceress had already built as Shard looked out the window and spoke.

“You know, the surface world is not really what I expected when I left the stable.”

“What were you expecting?” asked Futile.

“....I wasn't expecting so much green.”

Everypony was silent for a moment, and then Sorceress spoke up. “I have to admit, I did not expect that either, I always believed that the world was reduced to a wasteland, with barely any vegetation to speak of.”

“Well....there is actually a raider legend that is supposed to explain all this vegetation,” said Jericho as he began cooking a bit of radroach meat.

“....how do you know about raider legends?” asked Shard.

“Cause I used to be one,” said Jericho nonchalantly, “long ago, before I couldn't stomach what we were doing anymore. Anyways, legend goes that back when the Balefire bombs fell, the mare of The Ministry of Peace, Fluttershy, was in her hut at the edge of the Everfree Forest. When she witnessed the land she so loved being torn apart by fire and magic, it's said that she walked into the forest before laying down in a patch of killing joke, which turned her into a tree. After that, it's said that the seeds which came from her became resistant to the radiation that was poising the land, and slowly started taking over this place.”

There was silence for a long moment, and then Futile smirked, pulling out a bottle of Sparkle-Cola and taking a sip before beginning to speak. “You know, there may actually be some truth to that legend.”

That got an eyebrow raise from Jericho, “Oh really, do tell?”

“Well, back out west, my mother used to travel around the wasteland there, like her grandfather before her. Now from what she told me, both she and her grandfather actually met Fluttershy, who was apparently alive and well. Now from what she told me, when her grandfather met her, she had a little tiny plant growing out of her head, and then when she met her years later, that plant had grown, and her skin had started to take on a bark like quality. Now I don't know if any of this is true, but if it is, maybe she came out her after my mom met her and...well, took root.”

“Hm....maybe,” said Jericho, before beginning to digging into the rad roach meat. However, the moment he saw Shard looking at him with a look of disgust, he laughed. “I always forget how squeamish you stable types are when you first encounter meat.”

“We're ponies, we are herbivorous creatures, we shouldn't be eating meat!”

“Well then you obviously didn't study up on your history,” said Jericho with a smirk, “because if you had, you would know that long long ago, way before even Equestria was an idea, we ponies used to eat meat to survive, for our species is actually classified as omnivorous, not herbivorous.”

“You been reading some books Jericho?” asked Futile skeptically, “Because that sounded way too smart for you.”

“Hey, when your pushing eighty years of age out here in the wastes, you tend to start doing things that you never did before, as many as you can before you die, so I took up reading, at least that way I can say I died with a bit of knowledge in my noggin.”

He then returned back to his food, Futile following soon after by pulling out his own previsions as Sorceress looked to Shard and spoke. “Can you tell me what life was like in the stable you came from, for I have to admit I have always been curious about them?”

“Well it was really really boring for one thing,” said Shard, looking like he was happy with the change of subject. “Till you get your cutie mark, life is pretty easy, and fun in most cases, but once you get it, they chose a job for you which fits that cutie mark, and then you do that job for the rest of your life.”

He then looked back at his own cutie mark, which was the image of a pony standing behind a podium, looking like it was addressing a crowed. “Usually, when you get your cutie mark in the stable, it is the happiest day of your life, and mine was....till the overstallion saw what my cutie mark was.”

“What happened?” asked Sorceress.

“Well, if you haven't guessed, my cutie mark shows that I am a leader, and a damn good one at that. My father always said I had the kind of charisma that could charm the stripes off a zebra, and it allowed me to defuse several nasty situations that occurred down there. But it caused a problem, for with that kind of cutie mark, I was destined for only one job, and that job was being overpony for Stable 101.”

“When Alpha Almond saw my cutie mark, he freaked out, right in the middle of my cute-ceañera!”

Sorceress looked confused, “cute-ceañera?”

Jericho saved him the trouble of explaining. “A cute-ceañera is a party for a colt or filly that receives their cutie mark, their held by every settlement out here in the wastes, hell, even the raider gangs hold cute-ceañera's.”

“Wait, your telling me raiders have cute-ceañera's?” asked Shard.

Jericho gave him a look, and then sighed. “Look, I know from what you've seen the raiders can seem like monsters, and they are, don't get me wrong. But even monsters have families, and for a raider, their more likely to die before they get their cutie mark, especially the young ones. So every time one of them earns a cutie mark, they celebrate it, for to them it is a truly momentous occasion.”

Silence fell again, and then Sorceress turned back to Shard. “You were saying Shard?”

“Oh...right,” said Shard, shaking off his shock before continuing where he left off. ”Anyway, after he freaked out, he shut down the party and forced me to take the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, even though I already had a cutie mark.”

“And what is the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test?” asked Sorceress.

“Well in the Stable, if you don't have a cutie mark by the time you reach the age of sixteen, they give you the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, which assigns you a job based on how you answer the questions. Normally, when you get your cutie mark you don't have to take it, but because of my cutie mark, Alpha made me do it, despite ponies around him protesting.”

“But why did he react so badly to your cutie mark?”

“Because,” said Shard, “to him, my cutie mark threatened everything he stood for. Back before the war, his ancestors were politicians and business ponies, the ponies who ran Equestria, and after the war, his ancestors were the ones who ran Stable 101, all the way down to him. And ever since his daughter was born, he had been trying to rear her to be the next Stable overpony, even after she got a cutie mark in repair and technical management. So when my cutie mark appeared, he felt threatened because he knew, no matter how hard he pushed for his daughter to be overmare, the ponies of Stable 101 would eventually force the issue and made me overstallion when he was forced to retired.”

He chuckled darkly at that, a smile forming on his face as he continued. “He still tried though, forced me to take the test, and then raged even more when it showed I would be best suited for being overpony, and then it only got worse after that. It got to the point where the Stable council, which is a select group of ponies that the overpony answers to, had to force him to let his daughter actually start fallowing the call of her cutie mark, and then they also had to force him to take me on as apprentice.....course three years after that it all went to hell.”

“What happened?”

Shard snorted, “My dad escaped the stable, and as best I can tell, our most benevolent overstallion saw that as an opportunity to take back the control he thought he had lost.....forcing me to leave.”

He then turned to the fire, glaring into it as it crackled while the others ate, till out of the corner of his eyes he spotted something. Getting up, he walked over to what he had seen, reaching into the hay with his magic to find a little statuette of a gray unicorn mare with brown main and tail in a Stable-Tec barding, rearing up on one leg from a little platform with the words agility written on it.

The moment he enveloped it in his magic, he felt a rush of....something flood through him, though what the hell it was he didn't really know, all he knew was he felt....well, more nimble.

“Hey, I see you have a Stable-Tec Statuette,” said Futile, drawing Shard's attention.

“Is that what this is,” asked Shard, walking over before sitting down and setting the statuette down at his hooves.

“Indeed it is, part of a set actually,” said Futile. “There really hard to find, but I have my own collection of you want to see what a full set looks like.”

Shard nodded, he and Sorceress moving close as Futile pulled a case from out of his saddle bags, the stallion opening it up till the tip of the case met with the floor, allowing him to lift up three trays before turning the case around to show them what was inside.

On each of the four trays in the case were several sets of statuettes, totaling seventy-four in all. The top tray held seven statuettes, the six ministry mares as well as Princess Twilight Sparkle, captured in the prime of their life. The second tray held another set of seven statuettes; however each statuette was of the same gray filly, captured in different poses.

The third tray held a set of twenty-four statuettes, a lot of them ponies, however there were also diamond dogs, a dragon or two, a minotaur, a few griffins, as well as several other races.

The final tray, which was attached to the bottom of the case, held the final thirty-six statuettes, and like the ones above, they had a colorful cast of several races, but unlike the ones above, they had a more wasteland feel to them.

“What are these,” asked Sorceress, looking at them in wonder.

“Well these,” said Futile, pointing to the statuettes in trays two and four, “were promotional items for comic book series known as Fallout Equestria, which was a comic book series published by Vanity Comics and funded by the original Stable-Tec, back before sit started making Stables like the ones you grew up in Shard.”

He then pointed to trays one and three, “And these were made to go along with the collection after Stable-Tec was purchased by Silver Spoon, who wanted to expand on the collection with statuettes created in the image of people she knew.”

That got a curious look from Shard, “Wait, you're telling me the founder of Stable-Tec didn't originally own the Stable-Tec Corporation?”

“Nope,” said Futile with a smile, “she was the founder of the new face of Stable-Tec, for when she bought the company; she did it with the intention to make the stables from Stable-Tec's comic book a reality.”

“.....say what now?” said Shard.

Instead of answering, Futile reached over to his saddle bags and pulled out a comic book, flipping a few pages before handing it to Shard who took a look as Sorceress looked over his shoulder.

On the page was the gray mare featured in the seven statuettes from the second tray, standing behind an open stable door with a determined look on her face.

“You....are you telling me that the founder of Stable-Tec got her inspiration for the modern day stables from a comic book?”

Futile nodded, then yawned, taking the comic back before putting it back in his saddle bags and then closing the case, before putting that too in his saddle bags and then heading over to a patch of hay and lying down. “We can talk about it more another time, right now I'm going to sleep, you guys can decide who is on watch.

With that, he fell asleep, Sorceress soon walking over to join him, leaving Shard alone with Jericho as he took one look at the meat he was eating, and then looked back at Jericho before speaking.

“Got any more of that?”

They managed to sleep through the night, Sorceress's scent keeping all the critters away from the barn, and allowing then to get back on the road fully rested.

Now, they were hiding inside the damaged remains of a buss, Futile looking through a pair of binoculars at the front of a Barnyard Bargains Superstore and getting a feel for the place.

“Well, this is going to be a bit of a problem,” said Futile, before handing the binoculars over to Jericho to let the grizzled old stallion get a look.

The minute he did his ears splayed back in annoyance, “How the hell did we not hear anything about this, that place has been empty for years, you'd think one of the traders would have told us that one of our favorite scavenging spots had been invaded by raiders.”

“It may be recent,” said Futile, “but that's not what's got me worried, do you see some of the guns their packing?”

Jericho turned the switch on the binoculars, getting a closer look at one of them before cursing again as he past them to Shard, who got a look before cursing himself as he spoke. “Those look like the same damn guns I found on the raiders in the Ponyville schoolhouse, what the hell, was Tirek having a sale on murder machines!”

“Don't know, but this is bad,” said Jericho, “their way to close to Remnant, and way to heavily armed to be ignored.”

They all hunkered down in the buss, getting ready to form a plan when a deep, mournful howl filled the air, followed soon by screams from the raiders and gunfire opening.

“What the fuck was....” started Shard, only to be silenced as Futile slapped a hand over his mouth, the stallion pinning him to the wall of the bus as he hugged himself against it along with the others, even Sorceress was looking cautious.

“Be still,” whispering Futile, giving Shard a look before pulling his hand back as he whispered. “If we’re lucky, it will kill them all and then move on without ever knowing we're here.”

“Why do you say that, what the hell is out there?”

“....a Dire Wolf,” said Futile, before falling silent as more gunfire and screams sounded, till finally a moment later the only noise was a growl which was slowly drawing closer.

“Crap,” said Jericho, “it's heard us.”

“What do we do?” asked Shard.

“Don't worry,” said Sorceress with a smirk, “I got this.”

Then, before any of them could react, she leaped out of one of the buss windows to face the creature.

When she landed outside the bus, she saw a frighteningly familiar sight before her, the massive wolf like creature stopping on its approach to the bus when it saw her, taking a step back before letting out a growl of warning.

Sorceress let out a feral hiss of her own, taking a step forward as she let the blades on her tail spring out, letting it wave behind her as she began stalking around what she planned to make her pray.

It began stalking to, growling as it moved, looking wary. But with each circle they would make, it would move closer, becoming bolder and bolder before finally it pounced, which was what Sorceress had been waiting for.

She slipped into S.A.T.S., smiling as she targeted the beasts neck, before letting the spell guide her movements, dodging deftly by the beast while letting her tail slice through its neck, cleaving its head clean off before the spell ended, the creatures corpse falling to the ground as she turned to the bus and spoke.

“You can all come out now, its safe.”

She then got to work butchering the beast, dividing up the best bits as her companions exited the bus with their guns at the ready, before spotting what she had done, Shard looking the beast and gasping in shock. “What the....what the hell is that thing?”

“A dire wolf,” said Futile as he began helping Sorceress with the bloody work, “but back before the war, they used to be called Diamond Dogs.”

“That used to be a diamond dog!” cried Shard.

“Oh not this one,” said Futile, “this one was born this way. No the diamond dogs that changed into the first Dire Wolves died out long ago, though I have no idea why, cause usually creatures effected by F.E.V. have absurdly long lifespans.”

That drew a confused look from Jericho, “um, what the fuck is F.E.V.?”

Futile returned the look with one of his own, “Um, the Forced Evolutionary Virus, you know, the thing responsible for all the mutated horrors that are roaming about the wastes.”

Jericho stared at him a moment, and then spoke, “dude, your telling me that for twenty years you have been under the belief that all these creatures were created by the Forced Evolutionary Virus?”

“Well yeah, what am I wrong.”

Jericho just snorted, “I'll explain later, right now we got to take out the rest of the raiders.”

“You mean there's more?” asked Shard.

“My best guess is that these guys were just the door guards,” said Jericho, “though if we're lucky these guys will be their strongest fighters, but don't get your hopes up.”

“Let’s see what they have on them first,” said Futile, “then let’s say hello.”

It didn't take long for them to strip the corpses, mostly because the Dire Wolf had shredded many of the raider’s weapons in an attempt to get at the raiders themselves. Now, they were in the store, hiding behind a checkout counter as Futile divvied up the assignments.

“Ok, Sorceress, do you see that hallway over there?” he asked, getting a nod once he pointed out the hallway on the left marked with restroom and kitchen signs. “There will most likely be a bunch of raiders resting back there, but be careful, for that is probably where they are also holding any slaves they might have. Then once you’re done with that, use whatever you can to create cover and begin opening fire on the raiders in the center of the store.”

He then turned to Jericho, “Jericho, you sneak to the back of the store and take out the guards there, then when you’re all done use that position to help Sorceress deal with the center group.”

“And what do I do,” asked Shard.

“You and me are going to take out that point there,” said Futile, pointing to the right where a small alcove could be seen in the front right hoof corner of the building. “Once we take that point, we wait for Sorceress or Jericho to open fire on the center group, then we join in. so....everypony ready for this?”

They all nodded, then split up, Futile and Shard staying low as they inched their way across the floor till they reached the door to the alcove, Shard unlocking the door before watching as Futile snuck in, activating a stealth buck before slitting throats of both the raiders in there, and then stabbing them in the head for good measure.

Now we sit and wait,” said Futile as he re-appeared, smiling at Shard as they both pulled out their rifles and waited.

It didn't take long thankfully, for as one of the raiders passed the hallway Sorceress had gone down, a beam of fire shot out from it and coated him in flame, the raider screaming as he was burned alive before gunfire began to fly from both the hallway and the deli counters at the back of the store.

Futile and Shard joined in, but as they began firing a raider ran to a nearby fire alarm and pulled the lever, but instead of the classic sound which was normal for fire alarms, a klaxon like alarm sounded through the store, followed soon after by a voice. “What the fuck is going on down there?”

“Some fuckers have invaded our base!” yelled the raider, before getting shot through the head by Shard, and then cursing sounded through the radio.

“Fuck...ok boys, let's show these fuckers who the fuck they're messing with!”

Suddenly, panels along the ceiling slid to the side, and heavily armored raiders wielding massive guns dropped down from above to land among their fellows, before beginning to open fire on the three points that had been taken from them.

“Shit,” said Futile, ducking as the bullets whizzed over their heads, Futile pulling a bundle of grenades from his pack before pulling the rip cord, releasing all the pins as he throw it near the center of the store.

“Motha......!” cried a voice from the center of the building, before a series of explosions went off, Shard opening fire upon the disorganized group as Futile searched through the bag of guns before pulling out a Beretta M82 Heavy Sniper Rifle, grinning from ear to ear as he positioned the rifle over the counter top before loading a clip and firing at one of the raiders, the bullet tearing through him and the raider behind him, and finally taking off the head of a third before burring itself in a wall.

“Been a while since I used a gun like this, nice to know I still can.”

From her spot in the hallway, Sorceress unleashed another ray of flame, igniting two more of the raider bastards before ducking down as their companions opened fire on her, waiting till they stopped before leaping up again, this time unleashing a thunderbolt from her horn which fried one of the heavily armored raiders.

“Cage, we got a fucking spell caster in the hallway!” cried one of the raiders, which caused one of the few remaining unicorns in their group to turn her way before shooting a spell at her barricade, causing a massive bubble to form over her position.

The moment the bubble went up Sorceress felt all her magic drain away, causing her to growl as she once again ducked, before beginning to build up some flame within her glands.

“Hahahaha, can’t use your fancy magic now bitch!” cried a raider, who Sorceress assumed was Cage, and so, she shot up and unleashed a ball of flame, the ball striking Cage in the head and melting it, which then dropped the bubble.

Ducking down again to get cover, she sent out a magic pulse to detect all the enemies in the room, and it caused her to growl in frustration. While she was sure that they could take them all out if they were patient, it would cost them a lot of bullets, to many in her mind, especially when she detected several of their unicorns conjuring up shields around them and their allies.

If they wanted to get this over with fast, she would need to do something stupid, so with a roar of challenge, she leaped out over the barricade before focusing her magic, lifting all of the raiders into the air before the tip of her horn began to glow with a bright light, and then she unleashed a ray of light which passed over all the raiders, disintegrating them and leaving only their armor and weapons, then her magic field popped, the weapons and armor falling to the ground as Sorceress passed out.

“......the fuck was that?” said Shard in shock, looking at the scattering of weapons and clothing as he and Futile moved out from their cover.

“I have no idea, but I am going to go check on her, meanwhile you and Jericho should strip the remains for weapons and ammo, and see if any of that armor can be salvaged.”

With that said, Futile made his way over to where Sorceress was, kneeling down next to her unconscious body and, once he made sure that the others were busy with their scavenging, he passed one of his hands over her body as a spot on his forehead glowed.

It was one of his most heavily guarded secrets, which was a most surprising thing, as pretty much every non unicorn pony in the wasteland, from raider to stable dweller, had a patented Arcane-Sciences Philosophers Chip.

The Philosophers Chip was an invention created by the head of the Ministry of Arcane-Science, Sunset Shimmer, the fabled Seventh Element of Harmony. If legends were to be believed, she had been blessed with the Element of Forgiveness after she had returned from a world where everypony in existence had a counterpart which was of a species she called human.

It was supposedly from this world that Sunset Shimmer drew inspiration for all the technological marvels which came out of the Ministry of Arcane-Science, and led to the creation of the Philosophers Chip, a device created through what was called nanite technology, that allowed non unicorns to be able to wield their magic as unicorns did, allowing for the casting of spells to the simple use of levitation for all.

However, he never liked revealing that he too had a chip, instead telling anyone that asked that his had long ago been removed. This was of course a lie, for the nanite technology of the chip spread itself throughout the central nervous system of a pony, and even if the central chip was destroyed, the nanites in the nervous system would build a new one, restoring that pony’s ability to use magic within a matter of days.

When he was done using the scanning spell, he got up, looking toward the door which lead to the bathrooms and walking in to see the slaves Sorceress had saved, smiling at them as one of them spoke.

“Are the raiders dead?”

“Yeah they are,” said Futile, “you can leave when you want, did she leave you any guns?”

“Just the ones our guards had,” said one of the slaves, “but thank you, you didn't need to do this.”

“Of course we did,” said Futile, “it's the right thing to do.”

The slaves had left long ago, but the group was now barricaded in the store, for since Sorceress was unconscious due to magical fatigue, they had decided to barricade the entrances to the store and camp in it for the night.

“You sure those barricades are going to hold?” asked Jericho, the stallion pulling out some more food to cook as everypony got settled.

“Pretty sure,” said Futile, before looking at Shard and speaking. “So kid, what did you find on those computers?”

“Nothing good,” said Shard, “apparently both this gang and the gang I took out in the Ponyville Schoolhouse are part of a much larger raider group, and the lead gang is based out of Everfree Mills.”

“So Shatter's gang is finally uniting the gangs,” said Jericho, “never thought I would see the day.”

“Everfree Mills?” asked Shard, looking concerned.

“Never heard of the place myself,” said Futile.

“Old stone farm out in these parts, full of all sorts of valuable goodies. Used to be full of ghouls about forty years ago, till Shatter the butcher and his raider gang slaughtered all of them, and then took over the place. Ever since then, Shatter has been talking about uniting all the raider gangs in this here capital wasteland and take over, but at the time it was as likely to happen as it was for Dire Wolves to talk!”

“Speaking of Dire Wolves,” said Futile, giving Jericho a pointed look, “I believe you have something to tell me.”

“Oh yeah,” said Jericho before, like a dramatic showman, he threw some dust on the fire which turned it green, smirking as his eyes took on a red glow as he spoke.

“I have to tell you about the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion, don't I?”

Footnote:

Futile Task: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perks:
Friendship is Magic:
You have found all the Statuettes of the Elements of Harmony; you gain 90% resistance to Chaos Magic, as well as a 90% bonus to Harmony Magic.

Your Are S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:
You have found all the SPECIAL Statuettes, your SPECIAL stats will no longer be impacted by negative status effects.

Master Of All Trades:
You have found all the Skill Statuettes; you gain a 50% bonus to all skill checks.

Traits Make The Pony:
You have found all the Trait Statuettes; your traits are now twice as powerful.

Sorceress: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: Ever Burning Candle.
Your magic is like a never ending flame, allowing for unlimited spell casting. Your mana pool will never drop to zero.
Perk Note: Ever Burning Candle does not protect against Magic Fatigue.

Crystal Shard: Level Up!
Statuette Perk Acquired: The Agile.
You have found the Agility Statuette; you gain a 25% bonus to all Agility checks.

Author's Note

Few, this chapter took forever, but I finally ended it on a place I liked it, next chapter will involve Those, if that is a good enough hint for everyone.

Authors Note on Jericho and Futile Task:
Both Jericho and Futile Task will serve as information characters for Crystal Shard and Sorceress, as well as the audience as a whole.

Mod Inspired Content:
Futile's Peace Keeper Revolver:
This revolver is a unique Rhino Killer .45-70 M1, A type of revolver which was inspired by the RHINO .45-70 M1 Revolver weapon mod by Nesterman, which can be seen in this picture here:

Crystal Shard's Sister:
This pony was inspired by the fantastic companion mod Ties That Bind, made by thefourwings, which can be seen in this picture here:

Crystal Shard's Mysterious Friend:
This pony was inspired by the Brisa Almodovar companion mod by rickerhk, which can be seen in this picture here:

The Overstallions Daughter Leaving The Stable:
This was inspired by the Follower Amata companion mod by Lawlder, which can be seen in this picture here:

The Guns All The Raiders Are Using, As Well As The Phalanx Armory:
This is actuallly a combonation of two mods. The first is the guns the raider gangs are using, which were inspired by the Apocalypse Armory weapon mod, which I will not provide a picture for at this time. The second is the Phalanx Armory, which was inspired by The Black Hole base from the FOOK2 gameplay mod by LinkesAuge

The Berreta M82:
This was inspired by the Berreta M82 found in The FOOK2 gameplay mod by LinkesAuge, though sadly no picture exists for this gun at this time.

The mention of the massive amounts of green vegitation:
This aspect of the story was inspired by the mod Their World by fLokii, and is where this story also gets it’s name, and you can see what this mod does in this picture here:

Last Note: the Statuettes:
Yes, there are a total of seventy four statuettes to be found for our lovely Crystal Shard, and each one has it’s own special perk. Which means that Futile task is very over powered as he has all seventy four statuettes and their perks, as well as the four perks gained for completing each statuette set.

Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 04 - Those!

“Wait,” said Futile, “you mean that failed project by the Ministry of Arcane-Sciences?”

“Um...it didn't fail,” said Shard with a confused look, “whatever gave you that impression?”

Futile gave him a look, “I got that impression due to what I learned out west. Out there, every mutated creature is the result of the F.E.V., and seeing as how we never found any evidence of the I.M.P. back out west, we all just assumed that Twilight's little vanity project had failed.”

“Well it didn't,” said Jericho, “but I think I know why you guys out west came to the conclusion that you did.”

“And that is?” asked Futile.

“Well, according to some old records, which I found in the various ministry buildings I've scavenged over the years, The FEV Project was started in response to the IMP Project, for Fluttershy was against the IMP because it wasn't naturally made.”

“So what, if they projects were both in operation, shouldn't there be evidence of IMP samples in the west coast?”

“There would be if Princes Luna hadn't placed a sanction on the IMP preventing it from entering her court.” said Shard.

“Wait what?” said Futile, looking confused.

Shard smiled, “Princess Luna's Court encompassed the entirety of the west coast, and Fluttershy was favored by Luna. When tension began forming between the two ministries, Luna created a sanction which made it so that neither the IMP nor any projects relating to the IMP enter or be done within the territories of the Lunar Court. In response, Twilight moved all IMP production and projects into the Solar Court territories, so that there would be no risk of overlap between the two projects.”

“Huh,” said Futile, looking at the fire for a moment before speaking up. “Well....that certainly would explain a few things.”

“Like what?” asked Jericho, looking curious.

“Well like I said, I'm from the west coast, and out there, we have Satyrs like you guys do, but they were far different from the ones I have been encountering here.”

“Um,” started Shard, getting their attention. “Before you continue, could one of you tell me what a satyr is, I mean I know what the old Greed legends thought they were, but something tells me those are completely different from what you are talking about.”

“Probably not the same thing,” said Futile. “Anyways, Satyrs are ponies who have been transformed into what are essentially pony minotaurs, transformed through the use of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, or in the case of this part of the wasteland, the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion. And now that I think about it; that does explain why the satyrs of the DC region are different from the satyrs I met out west.”

“And how are they different,” asked Jericho, “I mean a satyr is a satyr right?

“Not from what I've seen,” said Futile, before taking a quick sip from his canteen and then continuing to speak. “Out west, the satyrs are covered in the same color fur that they had before they were changed, while the satyrs out here in the Day Court Ruins have no fur, and instead are covered in what looks like rotting flesh. Also the satyrs out here continue to grow in size as they age, but the ones out west stay the same size throughout their entire lives. But it's the final bit that makes them vastly different, and that has to be their intelligence.”

“Really,” asked Shard, looking curious.

Futile nodded, taking another sip before putting his canteen down and continuing to speak. “Satyrs out her are....well for a lack of a better word their just plain dumb. They have no tactics, no sense of strategy, and heck as they get older and bigger their intelligence decreases to the point where they lose their ability to speak. But the satyrs of the west coast.....the are intelligent, they retain most if not all of what they once were, and added with the their strength and size it made them a terrifying force in the wastes back then.”

“So what happened to them?”

The three stallions looked to see Sorceress had awaken, the mare having moved into a sitting position with a large piece of mole rat jerky near her paws.

“And how long have you been awake,” asked Futile with a smile.

“A little while,” said Sorceress, “so...what happened to the satyrs out west?”

“...A stable dweller by the name of Fever Dream killed their goddess before finding the place where they were made, and then did his best to destroy the entire facility, scattering them and forcing many of them to flee the west coast.”

That got a reaction from both Jericho and Shard, the young stable dweller speaking first as Jericho just stared wide eyed. “Wait, are you telling me this Fever Dream killed an immortal alicorn....like one of the Princesses?”

Futile stared for a moment, and then burst into laughter, startling the rest as he fell on his side.

“What?” asked Shard, “it's a serious question!”

“I....I know,” said Futile, suppressing more chuckles as he spoke. “But the goddess of the satyrs was no alicorn, she used to be a pony, but she got warped and twisted after she fell into a vat full of the Forced Evolutionary Virus.”

“Oh,” said Shard, looking sheepish.

Futile chuckled, “Its ok, but now we should get some sleep, after all we need to make the Frontier Memorial Bridge tomorrow, so we need to be rested.”

They all nodded, got up and found places to rest for the night. However, as Futile was lying down, he felt a body move up against him, and looked to see Sorceress had lain down next to him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Sorceress placed one of her claws on his mouth, holding it there as she spoke. “It would be safe to assume that life is harsh out here in the wastes, and ponies live day to day wondering if it might be their last correct?”

Futile nodded?

“So because of that, love and companionship are hard to find out here do to life being so short for most ponies out here.”

Futile nodded again, looking curious as she continued.

“Then if I were to tell you that I find you physically and mentally attractive, and wanted to mate with you, would you be willing to capitulate to my desires?”

Futile blushed for a moment, and then nodded, before speaking with her claw still on his mouth. “I would say that I would be....eager to capitulate to your desires, for they are equally shared.”

That got a smile from Sorceress, who used her thumb to close his mouth before speaking again. “Then my eager stallion, would you be willing to do so now?”

He nodded, and then pointed to the supply door in the back of the store, which they were close to.

Nodding, she let him up, and then followed him to the door before heading inside, closing the door as voices sounded from the room they just left.

“How can they just do that,” said Shard in shock, “there was no love....no courting at all.”

“Kid,” said Jericho, “you’re going to learn pretty quick out here that love is fast and brutal in the wasteland, often formed in the briefest of moments between two or more ponies who don't know of their going to be alive come tomorrow. And honestly, I'm surprised that these two weren't already going at each other, for she has been taking glances at his ass every chance she got, though I have to now that I think about it.”

That got him a look, “Wait, you’re gay?”

Jericho smirked, “Bi actually, though I had to keep that shit hidden for a long time, for the raider gang I was born into was very bigoted towards gays and bisexuals; never knew why though.”

“....You were born into a raider gang?”

Jericho nodded, and then sighed, “You've been lucky so far, you know that right?”

“What?” asked Shard.

“This gang, and the gang you dealt with before were just scout gangs, they weren't fully established raider gangs. If they had been....there would have been fillies and colts in the gang, all of them armed and just as dangerous as the full grown ones.”

“Wait....so you’re saying...?”

“I'm saying that they have kids....and they raise them as raiders,” said Jericho, the old stallion looking forlornly into the darkness of the ceiling as he spoke. “From the moment they are born, they are raised in a world of violence, and they get a taste for it, become just as monstrous as their parents. I am telling you this so that when the days comes that you run into a well-established raider gang, and that day will come, you will be able to point your gun at those children and pull the trigger.”

Shard looked aghast, “You can’t be serious, I'm not going to kill children, not even if their raiders!”

“Then they'll kill you,” said Jericho with chilling confidence, “and the saddest part is....they might get a cutie mark out of your death.”

Jericho then laid his head down on his pillow, leaving Shard to ponder his words as the young stallion stared off into the darkness, before he to laid down to sleep.

Futile and Sorceress were awakened by the sound of loud knocking.

“Hey, lovebirds; get your asses up its morning!”

The two looked at each other for a moment, and then they giggled, both of them grabbing their gear before exiting the room to find Jericho already cooking food.

“So?” asked Jericho with a devilish smirk, “How'd it...”

He looked up, and saw that Futile had a few claw marks on his body, his eyes widening as he spoke, “What the fuck happened to you?”

Sorceress giggled, flexing her claws as she spoke, “My fault, I....well let's just say I didn't realize that these puppies come out when I'm experiencing an orgasm.”

“Eh, no harm done,” said Futile, smiling as he settled down and grabbed some food. “Besides, most thestrals have pain fetishes, and I am no exception.”

“TMI dude,” said Jericho, before laughing when he saw that Shard had turned a delicate shade of green.

“Can we please move onto other topics, I would like to keep whatever food I manage to get down in my stomach please?”

Sorceress giggled again, then grabbed a bit of food herself before speaking. “So, this Frontier Memorial Bridge we're going to, what is it commemorating?

“It commemorates the final battle up in the Yakyakistan territories,” said Jericho, taking a bite of his food before speaking some more. “When the war between Equestria and Zebrica got in full swing, the yaks, who had become our allies thanks to ministry mare Pinkie Pie, seceded their entire country over to Princess Cadance, expanding her court and giving Equestria access to its resources, which pissed of the Zebra's something fierce. The Zebra's invaded and captured one of Yakyakistan's major sites, but it was eventually liberated by Equestrian and Yak forces, and they built the memorial bridge as well as an island to commemorate the battle that liberated that city.”

“I see,” said Sorceress.

Jericho smiled, then turned to Futile and spoke. “So, am I going to have to worry about you two making that a regular thing, because were not always going to be in places like this, and you will not believe how many horror stories are out there about ponies who got ambushed by some horror out in the wastes while they were making the beast with six legs.”

Sorceress giggled at that, while Futile answered, “We won’t make it a regular thing, but don't be surprised if when we are camping in a safe place that we disappear to some side room to get freaky.”

Sorceress giggled even more, leaning against Futile and kissing him on the cheek before digging back into her food, everyone else joining her and getting their fill before getting up and unblocking the door so that they could leave.

“HELP! HELP ME PLEASE!”

“What the hell!” said Jericho, looking to see a colt running down one of the roads toward the mall, a road which he knew lead to the town of Gay Ditches.

Futile and Shard ran to the colt as Sorceress and Jericho checked to make sure nobody else was approaching them, Shard reaching the colt first, getting him to stop as the colt took in deep breaths while Shard tried to calm him down.

“Kid, slow deep breaths ok, I'm here to help, but we can’t have you passing out if you want said help. Now tell me, what's wrong?”

“M....monsters attacked my town,” said the colt, the young pony looking frightened as he spoke. “They....they looked like the giant ants that sometimes attack, but they were different, they....they breathed fire!”

That got an alarmed look from Jericho, Futile and Shard, but Sorceress just scoffed, “please, unless it's magical fire they can’t burn me.”

“Well that may be good for you,” said Futile, “but not everypony out here in the wasteland is fireproof, so this could be a serious threat if true. Now kid, tell us, when did these things appear?”

“I....I don't remember, they just showed up one day, started attacking and.....and killing everyone, my dad made me leave today, told me to run and get help....he....he's still back there!”

That got a grim look from Futile, but soon he steeled himself and spoke, “We'll help you kid, but till we take care of the problem is there any place you can hide?”

The colt nodded, “dad told me of this one place, a personal shelter I think it was called, I'll go there.”

He then sprinted off, leaving the group alone as they began checking over their guns before Futile turned to Jericho and spoke. “Never been to Gray Ditches before, know anything about the place?”

“One the last trading hubs here in the capital wasteland, been there a few times myself, but sadly it went silent a few days before the kid here left his Stable.”

“Then let’s see what the damage is,” said Futile.

They made it to the edge of Gray ditches within a matter of moments, finding a damaged building and heading inside so that they could scout out the immediate area.

What they saw worried them greatly, for the area was crawling with giant ants, and, as the colt had told them, occasionally one of them would spew fire at a rat or iguana that would wander within their range.

“Well were royally fucked,” said Jericho, looking over the creatures scuttling about before speaking once more. “There must be hundreds of those things running around there; no settlement will stand a chance.”

“Then why the hell haven't they moved beyond this settlement,” asked Futile, “the gates are open, so there is nothing stopping them from moving on and spreading across.....?”

He was interrupted by a snort from beside him, everypony turning to see Sorceress scratching at her muzzle and growling.

“Sorceress,” asked Futile, “what’s wrong?”

“There's some sort of damn repellent on the gate,” said Sorceress, scratching her muzzle again, as she spoke. “I remember what it smells like because my damn captors used to use it when I was small.”

“So what, the gate is open....”

“That doesn't matter,” said Sorceress, “it is purely an instinctual thing, and the scent taps into that, making them stay away from it because it smells like something they should fear. Hell, if I wasn't as smart as I am, I would be doing as my instincts are telling me to do and staying as far away from those gates as I could.”

Futile's look turned to one of concern, “If that's how it works, then somepony placed it on the gates, and if there in the town, I can only think of one reason for that.”

“You think somepony released these horrors into the town and then covered the gates in repellent so that they would stay centered inside?” asked Shard.

“That doesn't make sense though,” said Jericho, “if someone is using these things to clear towns why the hell keep them corralled in the town after it's been cleared.”

“Maybe there are some ponies left in the buildings,” said Futile, before pointing to a tall building in the center of town. “That would be the best place to start picking these fuckers off, but the problem is getting there without getting burned.”

“So what you need is a distraction what can’t be lit of fire,” said Sorceress simply, smiling as Futile looked at her as she shrugged off her gear, before his eyes widened as her realized what she was going to do.

Before any of them could react, she leaped out the window, landing with a squishy thud upon one of the ants before unleashing a cone of white flame down the road beside her, incinerating several of them before roaring and running off, causing the mass of insects to chase after her.

When the mass thinned enough, Futile grabbed Shard and took off, swiftly followed by Jericho as they zoomed through the air towards the building, landing on one of the upper floors before pulling out sniper rifles from the bag, Futile attaching cylindrical objects to the guns which caught Shard's attention.

“Silencers....why?”

“So they won’t hear us, and if they can't hear us, they have more reason to keep their focus on Sorceress and thus allow us to pick more of them off.”

Nodding in understanding, Shard took up one of sniper rifles before beginning to open fire along with Jericho and Futile, picking them off one by one.

It was gory work, the scopes allowing them to see the insects loose eyes, or as their heads would fly apart due to the force of the impacting bullets. All the while, Sorceress was keeping the ants in the open, using her magic, her claws, and her tail to kill them by the dozens, the fire from the creatures doing nothing to her, and their bites healing as quickly as they marred her flesh.

Eventually, all the ants were dead, Sorceress standing upon a mound of corpses as the others joined her down below, Futile looking around as Jericho and Shard checked over the guns. “Well the town is clear, so we should have no problems checking the houses in the area. Now the kid said his dad was still in the town, did anyone happen to get the location of their house?”

“No, but I know where the kid is.”

Futile turned to Shard, seeing the earth pony point to a personal fallout box which was next to the town’s diner, causing Futile to sigh before he spoke to the group as a whole. “K, you and Jericho go talk to the kid and see if you can find out where the kid's father lives, Sorceress you go with them and see if you can find out about anypony else who lived in the town. I'll patrol around and pick off any stranglers that may have escaped our notice.”

Everyone nodded, and then split up, knowing what they needed to do and setting out to take care of things as the sun made its slow way across the sky.

Sorceress opened the door to the sound of a very familiar piece of patriotic music coming from somewhere inside, looking around before walking inside and closing the door.

She looked at the ground floor for a moment, but then decided to head up the stairs, wanting to shut off the music as fast as possible so that she would not have to listen to that shit anymore, after all, she had listened to it enough when she had been trapped aboard The Dawn's Fang.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she went inside the bedroom, turning off the radio before looking to the computer in the room, and then she turned around and looked to see if anything else was in the room. Finding a trunk, she used one of her claws to break the lock, opening up the trunk to find several weapons, but one stuck out to her as she pulled it out of the trunk.

It was a heavily modified, shear black assault rifle with a box mag and modified scope, with the words “Grace Is Dead” on both sides of the barrel. She could swear she had heard the name before, but couldn't place when it had been.

Taking the rest of the stuff from the trunk, she then headed to the computer, having a bit of a difficult time hacking into it, before she remembered the little tricks Blood Letter taught her when it came to hacking computers.

Getting inside, she took a look at the entries of the computer, seeing only a few before looking at the first one.

Entry # 10-02-2476
“I've finally found a quiet place for my family, thank the.....the princesses for that. We've been running from one settlement to the next, just trying to keep out of sight, because we need to make sure they....that they can’t find us. But now that we're on the other coast, I feel much safer.”

“The family across the way from us seems pretty decent. Their colt, Brand I think his name was, likes to play with my son, which is great. It's hard for Wilt to make friends because we haven't stayed in one place long enough. Maybe we can finally put down some root here in Gray Ditches, I....I think that would be good for us all.”

“So mister Bolt, you were running from something, but what were you running from,” said Sorceress, before clicking on the next entry.

Entry # 10-30-2476
I was scavenging some of the near buildings for junk to sell at the open market when I came across a damaged radio. I took it home and fixed it up, and no sooner did I turn it on than I heard the familiar patriotic anthems they used to play whenever Richter Scale would give a speech. But this....this was different.

Who the hell is Princess New Day Eden? When did that happen? Are they on this coast too? And most importantly, will they come looking for me?

I hope this journey wasn't a huge mistake, I really do I....oh god, my wife just came home and heard the radio, I have to go calm her.

Sorceress sat frozen in front of the computer, dread filling her after what she had just read. Bolt was Enclave, or he had been before he had arrived here. Then she remembered; years back some of the Scientists looking over some of her growth charts had been talking about a recent deserter, saying how he had vanished with his wife and two children during the night, but that, unlike the others before, they had not wasted resources on a recovery mission.

Wanting to know more, she clicked on the next entry.

Entry # 11-15-2476
Some scientist named Luster moved in with Wire and his family across the street. They are helping him make some sort of a structure on the old lot near the diner. Luster offered to pay me caps if I helped, but I declined. I dunno who he's working for, but I don't think they're still looking for me.

Our supplies are running low, and I need to begin foraging for food and some better drinking water. I'd have an easier time if it wasn't for the damn ants. I swear they have a nest around here somewhere.

“So the ants started showing up a few months ago,” said Sorceress allowed, thinking it over before looking over the words again. “Hmm, he says nothing about them breathing fire though, but why, the way Futile and Jericho reacted it wasn't normal...hmm.”

She clicked on the next entry.

Entry # 2-24-2477
These ants are becoming a real pain in the ass, so much so that I had to take a trip to Remnant to buy a better gun; after all I need to protect my family. It cost me a small fortune...I had to trade every bit of ant meat I had collected, but it was worth it. I'm teaching Fault and Sharp to use it just in case something happens to me. If one of you is reading this and....and I'm gone, I keep the gun in the kitchen behind the old fridge.

Getting up, Sorceress made her way down to the kitchen pulled the fridge away from the wall, finding a toolbox that had been hidden their and opening it to find a revolver, one she recognized as a Raging Bull Taurus, for she remembered seeing them upon the hips of the officers that would occasionally look in on her in her tube.

Heading back upstairs, she went back to the computer and clicked on the next entry, noting that she only had one more to go after this one.

Entry # 4-02-2477
I'm going to have to find a better way to protect Sharp and Wilt from those ants. Ever since Luster came to town, I'm certain they're getting more and more aggressive. Wasteland ants are bad enough, but at least you could run away from them. But these, these would seem to pursue you to the ends of the earth if they could, and I think they damn well would.

Also, call me crazy if you want, but I swear I saw one start a fire the other day. I don't know how this could be happening, but I'm going to find out what's going on.

I've decided to dig up my old sidearm and keep it hidden on me at all times, if those things get too close, I'll blast the antennae right off their ugly heads.

Sorceress sat back, the pieces starting to fall into place and allowing her to put together what happened. Two months after this Doctor Luster had shown up, the ants had become extremely aggressive, and then two months after that, they had started developing their ability to breath fire.

It stank of genetic tampering, and she should know, she was the horrific bastard child of genetic tampering.

“But what the fuck is the goal?”

Coming up with nothing, she decided to click on the last entry.

Entry # 6-17-2477
I can't believe I went through all that trouble to leave Never-Hole and make my way across the country just to get stuck in this shithole, but I'll be damned if I'm going to die here.

Now that we're cut off from Luster and Wire's place though, I think we're on our own. The damn ants keep trying to find a way to get inside the house. Even as I'm typing this, I can hear them scraping the walls looking for a way through.

I...I don't know how much longer we can last.

Sorceress sighed, and then shut off the computer, before heading down the stairs and exiting the house to meet up with the others.

They gathered in the dinner, Futile being the last to show as he rested in one of the booths before speaking. “So, what did you guys find out?”

“It seems that a scientist who moved here is responsible for both the behavior and the ants as well as their ability to breathe fire, but I have no idea why,” said Sorceress.

“We don't either,” said Shard, “but we found out something else. On the computer it mentioned something about a lab set up in the Mare Gold metro tunnels, and it seems that's where the queen of these ants resides. If we go down there and find out where his lab is, we may be able to get at the queen and kill it.”

“I see; what about survivors?” asked Futile.

Sorceress shook her head, and so did Shard.

“The boy wants us to stop this,” said Jericho, “and I would kinda like to, after all if this place gets cleaned up it could become a decent trading hub again, even with how close it is to the Day Court Ruins.”

“Then let’s get going,” said Futile, leading the way towards the entrance to the metro before heading down with the rest of the group.

When they made it down the stairs, Shard shivered, Jericho giving him a look which caused him to speak. “Reminds me of being down in the stables, and now that I've been outside...let's just say I have a problem with enclosed spaces.”

“Huh,” said Jericho, “usually it’s the other way around, most stable dweller's find comfort in enclosed spaces, and develop a deep fear for the outside world.”

“Outside is where ponies belong,” said Shard, before looking at his pip-buck and looking to see where his objective to see where they needed to go. “Ok, I managed to hack into the Protectron kiosk Luster had in his shack, and got myself a signal to track, so wherever that robot is, he has to be close.”

They began walking along, and as they did, Sorceress spoke up, “So, if we find this scientist, what are we going to do with him, for he can’t keep doing this?”

“Well we need to find out why he gave them the ability to breath fire,” said Futile, taking a shot at an ant that came crawling out of a hole in the metro wall before throwing an explosive down it, collapsing it to prevent more from coming from that hole.

“Then if we do find him, let me do the talking,” said Shard, throwing a grenade down another hole and collapsing it just in time to crush an ant. “You know, scientist to scientist.”

“I thought you were supposed to be some sort of government type,” said Jericho.

“I also trained in science and medicine,” said Shard, “my father insisted on that, even when he found out I was to be made Overstallion someday. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to him in his own language....hopefully.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, filled by the occasional crack of a fire arm or the detonation of a grenade, till they reached a door, Shard checking he eyes forward spell and seeing that the arrow was flashing at a fast pace, indicating that they there.

“Ok, let me take the lead, and hopefully we can get out of this without killing him.”

He stepped forward, and the moment he did the door opened, revealing a unicorn stallion in a lab coat and glasses who looked at them all, wide eyed. “By the stars you startled me; you really must not creep up on ponies like that!”

“Doctor Luster?” asked Shard.

That got a curious look from the doctor, “How do you know my name?”

“We just came from above ground,” said Shard, but before he could speak further he was interrupted by a groan from the doctor.

“Stars dammit, you weren't sent down hear by Wire to look for me were you, cause if you were your help was not necessary. Do you realize that you and your....compatriots have been trampling in a delicately balanced and highly sensitive experimentation area?”

“And what kind of experiments could you be conducting which would require such an area.”

“Experiments so complex it would take a scientist to explain it to you...oh wait, I happen to be a scientist, how marvelous!”

Futile made to interrupt, but was stayed by Shard, who wanted to keep things as peaceful as possible.

“My experiment is to reduce the girth of these insectoid creatures, and I intend to generationally reduce their immense stature by way of a pre-birth induced mutagen. It is of the upmost importance, and quite clever if I do say so myself.”

“I see,” said Shard in understanding, leaving the rest confused as he spoke. “You're trying to make the ants smaller over time by injecting the eggs with the mutagen.”

Luster's face turned to one of surprise. “By the stars, you understood perfectly, simply marvelous!”

“Um....not to kill the mood or anything,” said Sorceress, drawing everyponies attention, “but are you aware that your new ants breath fire, and have increased aggression?”

“Well....” started Luster, “I'm afraid I...um...may have made a slight miscalculation with the mutagen. Instead of decreasing their size, which was my intention, the new brood hatched with a new bio-mechanism. I have labeled this genetic aberration “Pyrosis;” the ability to emit flame from their bodies.”

“So this was all an accident?” asked Futile, looking cross.

“Indeed,” said Luster, “but I may be able to correct this error, however I cannot get near my equipment.”

“I'm shocked you didn't attempt this in a controlled environment first,” said Shard, impressing the doctor.

“Your knowledge of experimental procedure surprises me I must admit,” said Luster, “and indeed I have skipped a step by directly modifying an entire brood. Perhaps I was too hasty...but I was so sure it would work!”

“So what can you do to correct the error,” asked Shard.

“To correct this mistake, I would need to my terminal so I can modify the mutagen,” said Luster, “however, therein lies the problem. My portable terminal is set up in the Hatchery Chamber near the Ant Queen, and I will need to get near it if I am to continue my work on improving the mutagen.”

“If the queen is your concern, why not deal with her directly?” asked Futile.

“You can’t do that,” said Luster sternly, “if you were to harm her in any way, months of data would be lost! No, what I need you all to deal with is her quintet of nest guardians, filthy little abominations which seem to have been made with the sole purpose of protecting the nest from any intruders.”

“And how exactly is this supposed to undo all the mayhem and harm your experiments have caused doctor?” asked Sorceress with a growl.

“I have rigged the equipment at my portable terminal to emit an inhibitor pulse,” said Luster, “once this pulse is activated, it will sever the neural link between the ants and their queen, causing the remaining ants to frenzy and destroy each other. So, what do you say?”

“If it will stop the ants from burning down Gray Ditches,” said Shard, “then we'll help you.”

“Marvelous!” cried the doctor, before moving out of the way so they could walk inside. “The Hatchery Chamber is beyond my lab through the second door, but be careful; the nest guardians are quite ferocious and will not easily be killed.”

“We'll take care of it doctor,” said Shard, before he and his companions made their way through his lab and into the tunnel beyond.

“GET OFF OF ME YOU GODDESS DAMNED INSECTS!!!”

It seemed that the doctor’s assumption of quintet had been a bit off, for the moment they had gotten part way into the tunnel they had been swarmed by dozens of them, Sorceress leaping into the fray and keeping them at bay as the rest took pot shots as the ones they could.

However, Sorceress had flown into a rage, biting, clawing, cutting with her tail and breathing fire to kill as many of them as she could, till eventually she was standing in a charred hallway, breathing hard as her wounds closed by themselves.

“I....hate....fucking....insects....!”

“Bad memories?” asked Futile.

Sorceress nodded, before taking the lead once more as they moved deeper into the tunnel till they reached a large chamber, filled with eggs and with the queen standing near a set of equipment.

“So, what's the plan?” asked Futile, looking to Shard.

“We kill the queen.”

“You sure," asked Jericho, "I mean come on, wont that piss the doctor off?”

“He ran before he crawled, now were cleaning up the mess.”

Without elaborating what he meant, he pulled a miniature fusion bomb out of his pack, grinning ear to ear before pulling the rigged pin and throwing it, and then, much to everyponies surprise, erecting a shield as the bomb exploded, a wave of fire splashing against his shield as he looked toward his comrades and spoke. “I may have also learned some advance magic....but just a tad.”

“I see you have returned; I assume you were successful in your objective?”

“Yes we were,” said Shard, standing in the doctor’s laboratory once again with his friends behind him. “We killed the queen.”

“WHAT!” cried Luster. “Why would you do such a thing!”

“Because your theories were in error and beyond correction, so I had no choice, otherwise countless more lives might have been lost while you floundered trying to correct a mistake you could not see.”

Luster looked at him for a moment, and then he sighed, walking over to his desk and sitting down before finally speaking. “Your right....I ran before I crawled...and countless paid the price for my arrogance....but....but I was so sure it would work.”

He then turned to Shard, smiling a bit as he spoke. “You corrected that mistake thought, so you deserve a reward. I created two serums for myself originally, serums which are designed to enhance the user with traits of the ants. And before you say anything, serums are the one thing I am an expert in, so do you want Ant Sight, or Ant Might?

“I'm guessing one improves my vision while the other increases my strength?” guessed Shard.

“Very astute of you,” said Luster, “so...which one?”

“Ant Sight,” said Shard.

“Then please take a seat, this will only take a moment.”

As Shard sat down to get his injection, Futile turned to the others and spoke. “Well, that's the ant problem taken care of, but what are we going to do about Brand, I mean we can’t leave the boy in the town by himself.”

“Well I wouldn't trust him with the doc,” said Jericho, before looking back at the doctor, “No offense.”

“None taken,” said Luster, “I don't do well with children.”

“We should probably ask the boy if he has family anywhere else in the wasteland,” said Sorceress, “but for the time being he may be safer here, the repellent on the gates is strong enough to repel even the most aggressive of predators, so that will keep him safe till we can find him a place to live.”

Futile nodded at that, “then that's the plan.

“Alright, all done,” said Luster. “It will take a while to take effect, but you should notice an improvement in your vision by the end of the day.

“Thank you doctor, and good luck on your next project, just make sure to pace yourself next time.”

It hadn't taken them long to wrap up things in Gray Ditches, getting word from Brand that he had a cousin who owned a hotel in Rivet City, and Futile promised that next time they stopped the place he would talk to her and see if she was willing to take Brand in.

Now they were back on the road, having crossed the river on a bridged that was much closer to the Barnyard Bargains Superstore then Futile remembered, but then again, it had been a while since he had last traveled in this part of the Capital Wasteland.

They stayed along the road, following Futile as he kept checking his Pip-Buck till finally they reached a town surrounded by trees, Futile guiding them along a specific root till they entered a house, then he led them further inside, leading them to a garage before pulling a lever on a wall, and instead of opening the garage door, like everyone thought, it opened a secret door which revealed a hatch leading down, Futile sighing in relief before walking over and opening it, looking up at them before speaking.

“We'll be safe in here, but let’s hurry; Minefield gets pretty dangerous during the nighttime hours.”

They climbed down the hatch, finding themselves in a hallway that looked oddly familiar to Shard, promoting him to speak. “Is this....a stable?”

“One of the original models,” said Futile, “back before Silver Spoon took over the company and discontinued these models in favor of the modern day stables. This particular model was owned by a stallion named Codex, and he was a paranoid sort who wanted to protect his family, but best I can figure he and his family were out on vacation before the bombs fell.”

He then hit a button near the ladder, the hatch above closing followed by the sound of the hidden door closing as well, before Futile moved down the main hallway and pointed to his left. “There are bathrooms as well as bedrooms down that way, as well as restaurant like area, which also leads to the main bedroom, which is mine. There is also a clinic down that way, as well as a wash room and the administrator’s office.”

He then pointed the other way, “Down that way is the armory and storage room, which is where we should take inventory of our weapons before sleeping tonight, we need to make sure everything is ready for our trip to Paradise Falls tomorrow.”

“How far is Paradise Falls?” asked Shard, moving with the rest of the group as they headed into the armory.

“An hour's trot east of here,” said Futile, moving over to a table and setting the guns he had down upon it, the others followed suit, then he headed over to a draw full of scrap metal as Jericho spoke.

“So, how the hell did you stumble upon this place?”

“I came across it when I split from Talon Company,” said Futile, drawing a confused look from Shard and Sorceress.

“Talon Company?” asked Sorceress.

“Mercenary thugs,” said Jericho, helping Futile with the repairs as he spoke. “They have a nasty reputation for taking any job, no matter how dirty, as long as there are caps involved. I'm still surprised you worked with those fuckers, considering what they do.”

“Because of the way they recruit people,” said Futile, “they give you light missions at first, missions that won’t challenge your morals, till they think you’re loyal enough. Then they send you on what they call your proving mission, which is meant for only one purpose, to reveal whether you are loyal to your principles, or to Talon Company. The day my mission came, I was assigned to kill this person for some stupid reason, I don't remember what it was, but when we got to the target, I found out it was a griffin cub.”

That got a gasp from Shard, but he wasn't finished. “It only took me a second to decide, so I did, and killed my entire squad before running for the hills. I figured it wouldn't take long for them to come after me, so I decided to hide in Minefield, for this place is considered a death trap by those who don't know how to properly navigate it. Anyway, I came here, stumbled upon the secret door thanks to my keen eyes, and been using this place ever since.”

“So that's what went down,” said Jericho, “the way they spin it you would think you had fusion bombed one of their headquarters.”

“Heh, figured it was something like that,” said Futile, before returning to work, the others following suit as the lights flickered overhead.

Futile collapsed on the bed, followed soon by Sorceress as she moved close to him, the large mare breathing deep before speaking to him. “Futile, I have something I need to tell you.”

Dawning a confused look, Futile rolled over, looking at her as she spoke again. “The day you found me, you assumed I fell from an airship correct?”

He nodded.

“I did not fall from an airship....I fell from an Equestrian Flying Fortress.”

Futile's eyes widened, “A....an Equestrian Flying Fortress, as in...”

“As in a warship,” finished Sorceress, looking somber.

“But all the mobile fortresses were destroyed when the balefire bombs fell,” said Futile, looking serious.

“Not all,” said Sorceress, “two to my knowledge survived the war. One, The Dawn's Fang, was in near perfect condition, while the other, The Dusk's Fang, was and in need of major repair. Both were in a port out in what is called the big empty....which was found by the Enclave.”

Silence hung in the room for a long moment, and then Futile finally spoke. “You....you were made by the Enclave?”

Sorceress nodded, “After their defeat by the Chosen One out west, the heads of the Enclave decided that how they handled things in the Lunar Court territories not the right course of action, and decided to change up their tactics in regards to out here in the east coast. One of the changes was in regards to their....super soldier program, and for that, my mother turned to Equestrian mythology, deciding to work on creating Kirins for the use as soldiers to replace the Satyr soldiers they had been creating for their war effort out west.”

“Why Kirins, why not something else?”

“Because of what Kirins represent to the wasteland,” said Sorceress, “every wasteland tribe has a legend or legends about Kirins, and the Enclave want to harness that for their own use. The project was going horribly at first, but then....but then my mother Blood Letter came up with an idea to solve the problem.”

“Your mother...wait are you saying you were naturally born?”

“....As naturally born as a genetically modified fetus can be.”

Futile looked discussed by that, “What the fuck was does that have to do with the solution?”

Sorceress smiled sadly at that, “Everything. She figured that do to the fact that growing the subjects in test tubes, she....she thought a more....natural process would help it. So, she got herself pregnant, and then when the fetus properly formed, she began experimenting on it...in her own womb, giving it injections of special mutagens till, after eleven months, she gave birth to me....”

She made to speak further, but Futile stopped her with a hoof, before kissing her and rolling her on top of him before speaking. “I'll let you finish your tale; I promise you I will, but not tonight. I don't want you thinking anymore of that dark time tonight...instead I only want you in this moment, with me....and let nothing else matter till the morn.”

Sorceress remained silent for a moment, before leaning down and kissing Futile gently, and then...they made love.

Footnote:

Futile Task: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: Unburdened Flight.
You are an above average flier, you can fly as fast as you would unburdened even when carrying large amounts of gear or full sized ponies.

Sorceress: Maximum Level Achieved!
Starting Perk: You Can't Burn Me I'm Already On Fire!
You were born in flame and forged in fire; you have 100% resistance to all fire save for fire of magical nature.

Crystal Shard: Level Up!
Perk Acquired: Daddy's Colt (Rank 3)
Just like dear old Dad, you’ve devoted your time to intellectual pursuits. You gain an additional 5 points to both the Science and Medicine skills.

Quest Perk Acquired: Ant Sight.
Your body has been genetically enhanced with the perception and flame resistance of the Gray Ditches Fire Ants! Your Perception has increased by 1 and you are now 25% resistant to natural fire.

Author's Note

Next chapter we will be reaching Paradise Falls to liberate Crystal Shards Sister and his friends, but that will have to wait. As always, if you guys want to comment or ask questions, please feel free to use the comments box bellow. And for those who can and want to, consider supporting me on Patreon, every little bit helps.

Mod Inspired Content:
The mention of Raider children:
This idea was actually inspired by two mods really, the Hair and Face Models mod Children of the Wasteland- Enhanced Playable Children by Kiwi and the CotW Team, which adds the ability to kill children in fallout 3 as well as giving you the ability to play as a child if you want. And it was also inspired by the Lil Bastards - Raider Children by arclad, which adds killable raider children to all the raider locations in the game. I know some people may not like those kinds of mods, but it’s the wasteland yah’ll, it’s going to be harsh for everyone, and examples of both these mods can be seen here:

When Futile began attaching silencers to the guns.
While this feature would come in later games in the series, this particular moment was inspired by the Gameplay Effects and Changes mod Weapon Mod Kits by Antistar, which allowed you to attach various modifications to fire arms in game, and an example of this can be seen in this picture here:

“Grace Is Dead” Automatic Assault Rifle:
This weapon is actually inspired by the cut unique assault rifle “Wanda”, which was added back in by either the Gameplay Effects and Changes mod FOOK2 v1-2 Open Beta by FOOK Team, or by the Weapons mod Apocalypse Armory by Thogun, but I will not provide a picture because it looked like a normal assault rifle.

The Raging Bull Taurus Revolver:
This was inspired by the Raging Bull Taurus Revolver included in the Gamplay Effects and Changes mod FOOK2 v1-2 Open Beta by FOOK Team, which like most weapons from FOOK 2, I cannot provide a picture for because they do not have a picture of every weapon included in the mod.

The Miniature Fusion Bomb Grenade:
This was actually inspired by the Mini-Nuke grenade from the Weapons mod Apocalypse Armory by Thogun, and as stated before, I cannot provide a picture at this time.

The Personal Stable Futile led the group to in the town of Minefield:
This personal stable was inspired by the Buildings mod Cotozics Personal Vault by Cotozic, and a room from this Vault can be seen here:

The Equestrian Flying Fortress Dusk’s Fang:
This flying fortress was was actually inspired by the AFS Brisbane by Den1982, which can be seen in this picture here:

Trivia Section:
The first Trivia section I will be including in the story, and this is included for special topics that were inspired not by mods, but by lore outside of the game and even continuity errors, so without further ado, lets begin.

Trivia Fact: The Inclusion of both the Forced Evolutionary Virus and the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion in the same setting.
This was actually brought about by a continuity error brought on by Fallout 3, this continuity error being the forced evolutionary virus itself. You see, according to the lore of Fallout’s 1 & 2, The F.E.V. was only located in the west cost, specifically in the Mariposa Military base, so people had a major problem with F.E.V. showing up in fallout 3 even though they gave what I think is a good reason for it. So, I decided to incorporate both the FEV into my Story along with the IMP, that way, FEV could stay on the west coast, but I could still have satyrs on the east coast, and even give a reason for why the east coast satyrs are so different from the ones on the west coast.

Arc 01: The Lone Wanderer: Pt. 01: Chapter 00 - A Change In The Narrative

War…war never changes.

At least, that's what they always seem to say, whenever telling the stories of the wasteland, and it is the truth...for the most part. For while the weapons may change, the reasons may change, or the way war itself is waged changes, war itself never truly changes. It didn't change thousand of years ago when the griffons waged war against Equestria, or when the zebra's did the same during the Great War, and it certainly hasn't changed with the wars that periodically happen all across the great Equestrian Wasteland.

No, the truth of it is war never changes, but ponies, ponies always change.

Now in most of the stories back out west, our story would start with a stable dweller, or it would start with a descendant of a stable dweller, following them as they explore the wastes with eyes innocent to the horrors it held. But this tale of the wasteland, the heroes of our story are not stable dwellers, at least not all of them. Instead, they are two ponies brought together by the hooves of fate, though some may just call that happenstance.

One was an experiment bred within the labs of the last of the equestrian flying fortresses, a dream of the Enclave which only wished to exist as a free being and liver her own life. The other is a surface born thestral from the Marejave wasteland, a stallion who is running from his past, and from the demons which have cost him so much in his long life.

This is a tale of how these two ponies help reshape part of the wasteland, and help set in motion events that would help to restore what was once lost in the last days of the great war. For while Equestria may have been torn apart by fire and death; the lessons of friendship…or rather, the magic of friendship never truly dies, as long as there are those.....who believe in it.

Author's Note

And so it begins.