Fallout Equestria: Spirits

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Raider Slayer
Chapter 2: Ergate
Chapter 3: Home
prologue

Chapter 1: The Raider Slayer

Chapter One: The Raider Slayer

"The caps I get from this, I get from looting the raiders, you can keep it."

I was crouching on a hilltop looking out toward a nearby encampment that was infested by Raiders, it was easy to tell it was raiders do to all the bits of dead ponies used to decorate the camp. After making sure my heavy shotgun was fully loaded, I headed toward the camp trying to stay unnoticed for now. I kept quiet till I got close enough to the entrance of the camp where two raiders were standing guard.

"Hey, you hear the news? Apparently there's some, Raider Slayer, out here in the Wasteland" I heard one of the Raider guards say.

"A raider, slayer? Ha! Probably some bucking idiot with a death wish"

"I don't know, it sounds like this guy has already taken out a bunch of gangs already"

"well I ain't afraid of no Raider Slayer, If I ever see this cussing idiot I'll blow his bucking br-"

BLAM!

"SON OF A-!"

BLAM!

The heads of the Raiders exploded in blood a gore from my shotgun shots.

"Did you hear that?"

"It came from over there! check it out!"

Guess my shots did not go unnoticed, stealth was never really my thing anyway. I cocked my shotgun and headed into the raider camp.

*** *** ***

I managed to kill most of the raiders in the camp while only getting a few cuts and bruises, I've dealt worse, I have the missing eye to prove it. Only one raider remained plus the raider boss of this camp. I saw the remaining raider runoff into what used to an old pre-war house, the raider boss was probably inside, most likely with hostages too. I followed the raider into the ruined house.

"Boss! Boss!" the Raider ran up to the second floor of the building to where the raider boss was.

"What is going on out there!? It sounds like a cussing war zone out there!" I heard the raider boss say.

"It's the slayer! he's here!"

"The Slayer!? Cuss, and you weren't able to kill one bucking pony!?"

"he's already killed all of us! I was the only one to es-"

BLAM!

The Raider's body fell to the floor in a heap of blood and gore as I cocked my shotgun and walked towards the boss with my gun pointed at his head.

"Buck!" he started to back up away from me before finding a dull knife on a nearby table and tried to slash me with it. I knocked it out of his jaw with the butt of my gun before he had the chance to. "Buck."

"It is time for you to die you bleeping Raider" I said witch my gun pointed close to the Raider boss's head.

"... did, you just censor yourself? Are you a bucking ide-"

BLAM!

The Raider Boss's head exploded as his body fell to the floor.

"So uncivilized" I looked around the room, the room was decorated with mutilated bodies of the unfortunate victims of the raiders, in the corner of the room were a few cages, one of which had a still living pony inside. I looted the body of the Raider boss and found the keys to the cages. Using the keys, I unlocked the cage with the pony inside. "The Raiders are dead, you are free to go"

"I'm... Free?" The unicorn mare said with a bit of surprise in her voice. "Thank you, Thank you, I don't have much, but please take what I got." She handed me a sack of caps into my hooves.

"The caps I get from this, I get from looting the raiders, you can keep it."

"Thank you, oh thank you" she took the caps back from my hooves. "My name's Rain, by the way, thank you for freeing me"

"It was no problem, they call me the Raider Slayer, I do this a lot. by any chance have you seen a young unicorn filly while you were with the raiders? Kindove in her teens, same coat color as me, but with a blue mane and tail, also likely wearing a necklace with a balefire bomb-shaped pendant on it?"

"Sorry, I haven't seen anypony like that while I was here, sorry. Was she special to you?"

"Yes, she is my daughter."

"What is her name?"

"Flare."

"If I ever see her, I will let her know you're looking for her."

"Thank you."

"I'm gonna go now, thank you again for freeing me. If you're ever in Gear Town, stop by Starlight Supplies and say hi."

"It is very unlikely that I'll ever visit Gear Town, but if I ever do, I'll say hi."

With that Rain headed to the first floor of the building and I heard what I assume was her opening a chest downstairs. when she left I saw she was now wearing a blue worn-out hoodie, likely hers before the Raiders got her.

After she left, I looked around the camp in search for anything that could help me, I didn't find any sign of Flare at this place, just like all the other raider camps I've liberated. After looking around and looting the place for caps a bit more, I left the remains of the Raider camp and let the corpses of the raiders rot like that of their victims.

*** *** ***

"Goood evening wastelanders! It is your voice of the post-apocalypse, DJ-Pon3! Coming at you live, from the manehattan heck hole, ain't life grand. It looks like we have a bit of news tonight children! looks like The Raider Slayer has struck again! I have gotten word that raider camps to the north of New Appaloosa have been Raided and liberated by our friend, The Raider Slayer. Raiders being Raided, now ain't that some sweet sweet irony. Good job Slayer, you're making this wasteland better with each raider you slay. Now, let's get back to the music."

My deeds as a Raider Slayer spread quickly through these desolate wastes, DJ-Pon3 finds out about all the heroes that try to make the wasteland a better place, I stopped asking how he learns all this information a long time ago. but now I'm the one he's talking about on the radio, but I ain't no hero, just a father trying to find his lost little girl in the most dangerous place known to pony kind. The equestrian wasteland.

After my most recent Raider camp liberation, I found a small hill a short distance away from the raider camp I took out and decided to rest up for the night, I made a campfire, laid down my things then laid down myself. This has been my routine for the last few months, I think anyway, I never kept track. I wake up, wander the wasteland, kill some raiders, look for any sign of Flare, then go to sleep. I've been doing this ever since... ever since I lost everything.

Using my yellow colored magic, I took out a small picture frame from my saddlebags, a picture frame with a photo of a happy little family, my family, in front of an old train car we used as our house. A family of a caring father, a loving mother, and an adorable little filly.

"Flare... where are you..."

I returned the precious photo to my saddlebag and looked into the fire, thinking of the family from the photo until the need of sleep overcame my eyes, and everything faded to black...

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Raider Slayer - your hatred for the Raiders of the wasteland has made you stronger against them, you deal +20 points against raiders.
New Memory unlocked:

Author's Note

If you would like to see visual artwork of what the characters and some of the moments in this story look like, just go over to my DeviantArt page Here!

Chapter 2: Ergate

Chapter 2: Ergate

"So... um, what is your name? You never told me before."

"Come on dad! I want to go too!"

"No, it is too dangerous"

"But daad, it's only scavenging, let me come too!"

"It's too dangerous, no"

"Pleeease!?"

"Come on Tarty, let her come, she will be fine"

"But it is too dangerous."

"It will fine, and I'm coming too"

"What?! no! it is way to-!"

"We are coming with you, don't try arguing Tarty."

"Wha!? but!?... Ugg!!... Sigh, fine... you win Blaze, as always..."

"Good. now come on Flare, we're going with Daddy today."

"Yay! Scavenging with Mom and Dad! Yay!"

"Please don't get into any trouble, or danger..."

Sounds of hooves.

"OK Flare, when we get to this abandoned building, do not touch anything, I want you to stay out of danger."

"OK dad..."

"And no touching, going near, or looking at anything that beeps, bloops, or looks like it could come alive and try to murder you to death!"

"Daaad... I get it. I won't touch anything!"

"Tarty, she will be fine."

"I know, I know, but what if-"

"She will be fine, nothing bad is going to-"

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

"looks like a couple of ponies that wandered too far from there settlement, hehe."

"Raiders..."

"That's right, Raiders, and we're here for you bucking valuables!"

"And your lives."

BANG!

"AHH!"

"BLAZE!!!"

"Brutus, get the filly, Lilly, take care of the other one"

"With pleaser..."

SLASH!

"ARG!!!"

Thud!

"AHHH!!! LET GO OF ME!"

"Quit!"

Punch!

"AH!"

"Good job Brutus. Lilly! let's get the cuss out of here!"

"But this one's still breathing!"

"You cut him good, he's pretty much dead now anyway, leave him for the buzzards and get your sorry flank over here now, we need to get going!"

"Aug! Fine!"

"Daaad! Noo!"

Punch!

"Shut the cuss up you!"

"Sniff, sniff"

"Flare... Blaze... no... no..."

*** *** ***

"no..." I awoke from the nightmare, a nightmare I've had on repeat for far too long then I care to recall. It took me a while to wake up completely, but, something felt, wrong. My body felt, fuzzy? and I could hear strange almost quit sounds, almost like tiny clicking I could barely hear all around me. I looked down at my body.

"Oh, bleep..." Ants, ants covering me from my neck to my tail, covering and crawling all over me. I tried to move my body and attempt to shake the ants off me, but I couldn't. Oh crap. My body felt numb and wouldn't respond to my commands no matter how hard I tried to struggle. I was going to die, eaten alive by a bunch of ants, and there was nothing I could to do to stop it.

The swarm of ants that were all over me were taking me, somewhere, I didn't know what they were gonna do to me other than it would probably end with me dead. The ants had me above ground for a bit while they carried me to wherever it was they were taking me. They eventually brought me to a tunnel that lead underneath the earth, a tunnel most likely made by the ants that captured me, if I had to guess.

The tunnel was a bit larger than I would've expected for small ants to have made, then I saw a much larger ant, half the size of an average pony crawl past me and I stopped questioning the size of the tunnel. The ants took me down deeper into their nest, passing a few more of the bigger ants along the way until I arrived into a much larger chamber of the nest and the ants that were all over my body stopped moving me around.

I tried to struggle free once more but again to no effect against the swarm of ants all over me. Within a tunnelway connected to the chamber I was contained in I noticed a shadow slowly moving towards my direction growing larger, telling me that something was coming, and I was probably gonna die. I am going to die to whatever this shadow belongs to, an Ant? A bigger ant? A raider ant!?

It wasn't long before I got my answer to what was making the shadow when from the connecting tunnel came... a pony? An... ant, pony? What?

The ant pony was a mare with a red, almost exoskeleton-like body, her dark red mane and tail was almost web-like, she had antennas in place of ears and had two bug-like wings on her back, she even had a cutie mark, a dark red face of an ant with three stars surrounding it. As she walked out of the tunnel and into the chamber I was in, she seemed to be in her own world, then she saw me and a surprised expression came on her face.

"Umm... Hi..." she turned her gaze to the pile of ants surrounding me. "What is this pony doing here?! I thought I specifically told all of you to NOT ponynap anyone from the surface!" I could hear strange bug noises coming from the ants all over me. "Yes, I know the colony is dying, but this will not solve anything!" More bug noises then a sigh came from the ant pony before her gaze returned to looking at me. "I'm sorry about all this, I did not tell them to bring you here"

"So, you're not going to eat me?" I ask the ant pony before me.

"Oh, no, we only eat bugs and plants here, um, other bugs"

"Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Ergate! I'm the, um, queen, of this colony"

"Queen?"

"Only cause the last queen, my mother, died recently."

"Oh, I'm... sorry to hear that"

"Why would you be sorry? Ants die every day, there's nothing to be sorry about. Even if she was the only one to live two hundred years... Don't worry about it!"

"Ok... so... why am I here?"

"Oh! Right, I nearly forgot. Everyone! Get off of him! Now. Right now. All of you get off."

All at once, the ants that were covering my body crawled off, freeing me, but my body was still numb from whatever the ants did to me and I fell to the ground head first, unable to stop myself.

"OW! that, was my face..." I said a bit muffled.

"Ok, how many times did all of you sting him?" I heard more ant noises around me. "Seven?! Well, um, you are going to be unable to feel or move anything for a while."

"Great..."

"It will wear off momentary, but for now, you should probably be taken somewhere a bit better than the center of the nest." She turned to her ants again. "All of you, take him to my chamber."

With that order, the ants picked me up again, this time carrying me instead of surrounding my entire body. Once they had me, once again, the ants took me deeper into the nest's connected tunnelway system.

*** *** ***

Ergate's chamber was a roomy dirt interior connected to the ant nest, the room had a few dirt made bookshelves with books on their shelves, there was a small table also made of dirt, and a dirt bed with hay on top. The ants carrying me placed me onto the bed and left the chamber at Ergate's orders. Ergate then blocked up the entrance of her room with a makeshift door made of deadwood then she walked up to me.

"I'm sorry again about the ants, the colony has been becoming a bit, desperate lately."

"Desperate? For what reason?" I asked Ergate, wanting to know what the ants captured me for.

"As I said earlier, the queen died, she was the only one able to lay eggs for the colony to continue growing, there used to be a lot more ants around here, but now all the ants are slowly dying off, which I say is just nature doing what it does."

"Your ok with your ants dying?"

"Their my mother's ants, I have nothing to do with them, they just think I'm they're queen now because I'm the only female ant mother produced, and I'm not even an ant, not really. I'm sure you noticed."

"Yeah, why do you look like this? Like an ant pony I mean."

"I don't really know, all I know is that mother mated with a random pony from the surface and I popped out of her."

"Ok... I didn't think genetics worked like that between ponies and ants."

"I'm not sure what genetics is, but I don't know how it worked either."

"So, why did your ants, I mean, your mother's ants bring me here?"

"Well, because I'm the closest thing they have to a queen ant, and because breeding with a regular ant did not work with me, we tried... Because that did not work for repopulating the colony, the ants figured they would need to find a pony for me to, breed with."

"Breed with? Repopulate!? NO! If I was brought here to breed with you, the answer is no. N, O, No!" I tried to struggle and escape but I still could barely move and my body felt like jelly.

"No-no, don't worry, I don't want it either, it was all the colony's idea, and I don't even think it would work for repopulating anyway."

"Good, cause I don't want none of that." I stopped struggling and tried to relax.

"But... um, why do you not want to breed with me? I mean, not like I care or anything, I'm just, um... curious."

"Because a stallion should only engage in, sexual activities, with only one special mare in their life, and only after deciding to spend the rest of their lives together."

"I guess that makes cents, I think. Do you already have a special mare?"

"I did... but, she is gone now"

"Gone? where did she go?"

"She is dead." Haunting images and noises appeared in my head just thinking of that day. "I... don't want to say any more about it"

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Both of us stayed silent for a moment until one of us could think of something to say to break the silence.

"So... um, what is your name? you never told me before."

"Right, I guess I didn't think to before. On the surface, they call me The Raider Slayer."

"Raider, Slayer? That's a weird name."

"It's just a nickname, my real name is Apple Tart."

"Apple Tart? also a weird name."

"Yeah, well, it's the name my parents gave me, so I'm kinda stuck with it." I gazed around the underground room I was in for a moment and turned my head to Ergate once again. "So, Ergate, how exactly do I get out of here? I have important things I need to do on the surface."

"You want to leave? but you just got here."

"Against my will."

"... there is that. but I haven't had anyone to talk to since, well, ever. Anyone that wasn't a bug anyway."

"I'm sorry Ergate, but I really need to get back to the surface."

"OK... but getting away from the colony will not be easy, they will not simply just let you go until you, well, help with repopulation." She stopped for a moment to think. "And if they see you trying to escape with me, they will eat you alive."

"Escape with you?"

"Yes, cause I'm going with you."

"What?!"

"I'm going with you. If you want to escape the colony, you are going to need me."

"Why do you want to go with me? isn't this your home?"

"No, it is a hole in the ground that I have spent my entire life in, it is more of a... what's the word you ponies have? oh yeah, a prison. It is more of a prison than it is a home. I want to leave this place, see the world up above, and leave this colony behind. Besides, the colony is dying anyway, and there's nothing I can really do about that."

"There's really not much of a world up there, but even I will admit it's better than a hole in the ground."

"So, will you help me?"

"Yes, I will help you. But you will need to help me get out of here too, I don't want to find myself getting eaten alive by ants."

"Right, we will need some way to get past mother's ants."

"I got a shotgun." Using my magic, I levitated my heavy shotgun out from under my cloak and let it float in front of me.

"Did... you have that under your blanket this whole time?"

"It's a cloak, and yes."

"But, why?"

"I keep it on me when I sleep, just in case."

"But, isn't that uncomfortable to keep on you for that long?"

"Yes, very uncomfortable, but you can never be too careful out in the Wasteland. Now, I think we should come up with an escape plan now, and then wait for my body to stop feeling like goo, and then try to escape this place."

"OK. So, do you have a plan?"

*** *** ***

It took the rest of the day for the paralysis on my body to wear off completely, in that time, me and Ergate discussed different ideas for getting out of this hole in the ground. We eventually fell asleep in Ergate's chamber and when morning returned, or, I think it was morning. When it became what I think was morning, my body was feeling normal again and we were ready to attempt our escape plan.

Ergate walked out of her room and approached the first worker ant she could find.

"You, I want you to tell everyone in the colony to meet up in the bottom-most egg chamber." I heard some bug sounds from the worker ant. "You don't need to know why, just go pass the order around the colony, now, go do it." The ant scurried off down the tunnel out of sight.

"Do you think that worked?" I asked Ergate.

"It should, or, I hope anyway. the message should get passed down to all the ants in the colony, when they all gather in the lower chambers of the hive, the only ants we need to worry about will be the soldier ants guarding the entrance."

"Those are the big ones right?"

"yes."

"Good, they should be easier targets for my shotgun. Are you sure you're ok with me shooting, and likely killing the ants?"

"They have short lifespans anyway, it doesn't really matter."

"If your really sure, then." I cocked my shotgun getting it ready for shooten. "Let's get out of here."

We waited until we were sure most of the ants were in the lower chambers and left the room. Ergate led the way as we slowly traveled throughout the tunnels so as to not get caught by any ants that felled to get the memo. We only had two close calls during our escape attempt as a few ants were still crawling around the hive, but we somehow managed to not get noticed up to the point that we got to the entrance slash exit where three big ants were guarding. I floated my heavy shotgun with my magic and aimed it at the ants.

BLAM!

I managed to hit one of the ants on its abdomen with some of the shotgun pellets hitting it's antenna as well, as the ant began to frenzy and attacked the other ants near it.

"Ergate, what just happened?"

"I think you hit his antenna, they are very sensitive there."

"Hit them in the antenna and they go crazy, good to know."

I shot the ants a few more times, killing the first ant and made the last two frenzy. one of the last ants managed to kill the other leaving me to take It out with one last shot from my shotgun. The last ant got its head blown off by my gunshot as it's hemolymph, or ant blood as most ponies would call it, oozed out of its now dead body. I may have read a few books about ants when I was younger.

"There, the exit is open"

No sooner than that, both of us started to feel a vibration coming from deeper down in the hive.

"Apple Tart, I think the colony heard your gun, they're coming."

"Oh poop... Ergate, can you cause the tunnel to collapse?"

"I can try."

As fast as we could, we hurried out of the exit tunnel and back to the surface of the wasteland. Using her hooves, Ergate dug at the hive entrance causing it to collapse into itself, filling the tunnel entrance with dirt and small rocks.

"I did it! I don't know how long it will keep them from digging through."

"hopefully long enough. let's get out of here."

Not wanting to wait and see how fast the ants could dig out of the collapsed tunnel, both of us ran as fast as we could into the wasteland until we came to a small hill to rest, the same hill that I slept on the night before.

"I think, we're safe now." I was out of breath from the running, and so was Ergate.

After finally catching her breath, Ergate began to look around at the wasteland surrounding her, she then looked up and lost her balance after seeing the huge open-world above and around her.

"This your first time on the surface?" I asked Ergate after catching my own breath.

"Is it obvious?"

"I've heard it is a bit disorienting the first time a ground-dwelling pony comes to the surface."

"There are other ponies that came from under the ground?"

"Yes, the ponies that came from the Stables littered throughout the wasteland."

"Stables?"

"Underground fallout shelters made to save ponies from the Mega Spells that destroyed Equestria."

"Mega spells? That's something my books never told me about."

"If your books were pre-war, I wouldn't be surprised. Were you expecting tall lush trees? Or fields of green grass to greet you out here?"

"I kind of did."

"Equestria doesn't look like that no more. Welcome to the Wasteland."

"Still looks better than the hive did."

After we both got our energy back, I looked around the hill we were at and found my saddlebags, it was not in the same place I left it before the ants abducted me and appeared to have been tampered with. luckily my photo was still inside, but all my caps and food supplies were all missing.

"Dang It. Well, looks like I need to take a trip back home." I put my now lighter saddlebags back onto my back and under my cloak with my shotgun and was prepared to mossy along. "It was nice meeting you Ergate, but I need to head on out now."

"What? you're leaving without me?"

"You are free from your ants now, you can go wherever you want to go."

"But, I want to go with you."

"I get shot at a lot, it will be dangerous for you to come with me."

"But, I don't know anyone else out here, or know about anything out here."

I don't like having anyone traveling me, I don't want anyone getting shot on my account. But leaving Ergate alone out in the wasteland with no prior knowledge of the dangers out here might be a worse fate to have. After thinking it through for a minute, I made my choice.

"Ok, you can come with me Ergate."

"Really? I can?!"

"Yeah, I got you out of that ant hive, it would be rude of me to not let you tag along. So, you can come with me."

"Yay! So, um, where did you say we are going?"

"Home."

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Bane of Arthropods: Escaping a hive of ants with your life has made you stronger against any bugs you find out in the wasteland, you now deal +10 points against insects and other creepy crawlies you may find.
New Memory unlocked:

Chapter 3: Home

Chapter 3: Home

"I've seen nastier, I will give her a pass."

We stood before a massive metal gate connected and surrounded by old boxcars from old trains. Guard ponies stood on top of the boxcars protecting the town inside from the harsh wasteland on the outside.

"So, this is your home?" Ergate asked from right next to me.

"Eyup, just behind this gate." I looked up at one of the guard ponies and called out. "Hey! Headshot! It's me! I'm back!" The guard pony on the boxcar looked down at me, it took a second for him to realize who it was at the gate.

"Well, If it ain't The Slayer! How ya doin' old buddy?! you find little Flare yet!?" Shouted Headshot from atop the boxcar.

"No! Still haven't found her yet!"

"What ya doin' back here then?!"

"I had a bid of an incident out in the wastes, and my supplies got scavenged from me when I wasn't looken!"

"Why you let somthin' like that happen!? I'll get the gate open' for ya!" Headshot opened the gate allowing me and Ergate to enter the town.

"Thanks headshot!" I called out as we walked in through the gate. "Well Ergate, welcome to my home, New Appleloosa."

New Appleloosa was built with mostly old train cars, boxcars were used for the wall surrounding the town with passenger cars used as the houses and for the other buildings on the inside of the boxcar walls, most buildings having one or two more passenger cars stacked on top of each other to make bigger buildings.

"Hey, Apple Tart, why did you call that pony Headshot? Was that his name?" asked Ergate to me.

"It is, or, it's what we call him anyway."

"So, Headshot is a fake name? Like what you have?"

"Pretty much, we just all started calling him that after he got four headshots in a row on some raiders that were trying to attack the town back when I was a guard here."

"You were a guard pony?"

"I was, helped defend New Appaloosa from those who tried to harm the ponies here, but, that was a long time ago."

We came to a somewhat small house constructed of two, old rusted train cars stacked on top of each other, one was a passenger car making up the bottom floor of the house, and the top floor was a caboose of the same model train as the first floor. Or, I think it was a caboose, it had an end similar to a caboose, but the rest of it looked like the passenger car underneath it.

"Ergate, stay out here while I go get what I need."

"Um, ok. But, what is this place?"

"This is my house, I know it ain't much, but it's home. Stay out here for now, I'll be right back."

"OK."

With that, I opened the door to my house, and walked in. The first floor was one long room divided into three smaller rooms, four if you count the bathroom. The first room was the living room, with an old red and yellow rug on the floor, a red mostly worn-out couch next to the wall, an old wooden table was on the opposite end of the room with an old radio sitting on top it, there were also a few bookshelves in the room with books on the shelves. The second room was split into two, with a hallway and bathroom, with a few decorations here and there, like a pre-war Ministry of Peace poster hanging on the wall. The third room (or fourth, depending on how you look at it) was a kitchen/dining room, with a dining table on one end of the room and cooking appliances on the other, as well as a fridge and a Sparkle-Cola vending machine.

I walked through the first floor and to a backdoor that went out to a metal staircase that led to the top floor of the house. I opened the back door and walked upstairs.

The top floor was split into two bedrooms and one smaller room. The first room was a treasure room containing one seating area by one wall, with old pre-war posters on the walls, there were also a few shelves containing some old knick-knacks and trinkets I found while scavenging the wasteland. On one shelf was an old guard pony helmet, a snowglobe for an old pre-war town, a rusty old steal ranger helmet, and a small statuette of a purple unicorn mare with the words "Be smart!" on its base.

The second room was a bedroom where my daughter once slept, her room was decorated with more posters from before the war, there were a few bookshelves and a chest with old toys inside, there was a small bed with blue sheets on one side of the room with a blue and light blue rug underneath. The third room was another bedroom, this one was connected to a balcony looking out at New Appleloosa. This was my room, and, my wife's room... The room had a few bookshelves and a wardrobe next to the wall, and a large bed for two with red sheets and a red and yellow rug underneath. Next to the bed was a nightstand that once had a photo resting on top of it, the same photo that is in my sable bags.

I opened the bottom drawer of the nightstand to find an old, somewhat rusted metal safe. I opened the safe with a number combination and took out some bottle caps I had in the safe. I took as many caps as I needed, leaving some caps in the safe. I locked the safe back up, and closed the nightstand, then took one last look around my old bedroom, and headed downstairs.

*** *** ***

I exited my old house and found Ergate, who was looking around at her surroundings and at the train car houses around her.

"Ergate, I'm back," I said as I walked up to her.

"How do the ponies get all these big boxes on top of each other? They look really heavy, are ponies just really really strong?" Asked Ergate as I got to her.

"No, they use that big crane up there." I pointed a hoof to a tall metal crane near the edge of town.

"Oooh, so that's what that is. How does anyone get up there? Who uses it?"

"Crane."

"Yes, who uses the crane?"

"Crane."

"But, who uses it?!"

"Crane."

"Why do you keep saying crane?! I know its a crane!"

"The pony that operates the crane, is named Crane."

Ergate was left silent and confused for a moment. "Who names someone after an object?!"

"Everyone, I think it's a tradition."

"It's a stupid tradition!"

"Ponies have been naming their offspring after objects, tools, or food for many many centuries."

"You ponies are weird."

"Yes, yes we are."

"So... What did you get from your house?" Ergate asked after she stopped trying to make sense of how ponies are named.

I held up a bag of caps with my yellow colored magic. "Bottle Caps."

Ergate became confused once again. "I thought you were getting supplies."

"No, I got bottle caps so I can buy supplies." Ergate was about to open her mouth before I raised my hoof to stop her from asking the obvious question. "No, bits are not used as currency anymore. In the wasteland, we use caps to buy what we need."

"Oh. So... Where do you go to get what you need then?"

"I just need to take a quick stop to a shop in town, as well as see an old friend."

*** *** ***

We came to a small building that was made of three different train cars fused together with a black metal barrel-like car at the back of the building with a large smokestack coming out of it. On the front of the playfully chaotic exterior was a sign telling the name of the local general supplies shop, Absolutely Everything. There were a few more signs underneath the name of the establishment.

"Welcome Ergate, to Absolutely Everything! The best little shop in the Equestrian Wasteland." I said as we stood before the shop.

"Will I be allowed in?" Ergate asked while she was looking at the signs under the shop's name.

"Why wouldn't you be?"

"Well, I'm not exactly a normal pony, and I've noticed a few ponies look at me weird."

"Ponies around here have just never seen an ant pony before, you'll be fine."

"Also, that sign says, stingers no service." she pointed a hoof at one of the signs under the name of the shop, (No hooves, nasty stinger? No service).

"You have a stinger?"

"Yes, it's underneath my tail hair"

"Well, this is new information. But don't worry, I'm the one here to buy stuff, so you can just stand back and watch as I do what I need to."

"Ok, I guess I'll just watch then."

I walked into the shop with Ergate following me. Behind the front desk of the shop sat the owner of Absolutely Everything, a light gray pegasus ghoul pony who was missing a lot of the golden yellow hair of her main and her body was covered in scars with a few patches of missing skin, her faded yellow eyes were looking in different directions though it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest, she was also wearing a chalkboard around her neck. Once she noticed that I entered her shop, a smile appeared on her face as she began to trot towards me and gave me a big hug, a squishy, but welcomed hug.

"Hey Ditzy, I'm back." Ditzy Doo released me from her hug then began to look around me, first to the side of me, then under me. "No, she isn't here, Flare is still missing." A sad frown came to the ghoul pegasuses' face as she stopped looking around me for Flare.

Ditzy Doo then noticed Ergate, who was standing behind me. She then pointed to Ergate in order to ask me who this strange pony was.

"Oh, this Is Ergate, I met her out in the wasteland recently, she is an ant pony."

Ditzy took her chalkboard then wrote, "she seems nervous."

"She read your no stingers no service sign outside, apparently she has a stinger somewhere in her tail, being part ant and all."

"Hey! I thought we were going to keep that private!" Responded Ergate.

Ditzy then walked up to the ant pony and looked through Ergate's tail hairs, causing Ergate to become redder than she already was. Inside her tail was a small black stinger, upon seeing the stinger, Ditzy went to her chalkboard and wrote, "I've seen nastier, I will give her a pass."

Upon freeing her tail from the ghoul pegasus, Ergate retreated to me. "Who is this? Why does she look dead? And why is she writing instead of talking?" Ditzy was unfazed by Ergate's reaction.

"Well, this is Ditzy Doo, the owner of this here shop, she is a ghoul pony," I said to answer Ergate's question.

"A, ghoul pony?"

"When somepony gets a bit too much radiation absorbed into their body, they have a chance at becoming a ghoul, which look like zombies from some old horror novel, but most are still ponies at heart."

Responding to my description of ghouls, Ditzy added to it by writing, "except ferals, they pretty much are mindless zombies."

"And, why is she writing?" Asked Ergate again, who got her answer when Ditzy opened her mouth to give Ergate a good look at the inside, which grossed her out just a bit.

"Slavers cut out Ditzy's tongue years back, but she seems to do well without being able to speak, so it's all good. She has even become a well-known writer in the wasteland."

Ditzy walked over behind her front desk and grabbed a small white book with a pony skull on the cover and handed it to the ant pony.

Upon receiving the book, Ergate read the title on the cover. "The Wasteland Survival guide?"

"If you don't want to die in the wasteland, this is a very good book to have to let you know all the doos and don'ts of the wasteland, written and distributed by Ditzy Doo here."

"Um, thank you? How much is this?"

Ditzy responded by writing, "Free."

"Ditzy gives one free copy to almost all of the new faces that come here, but if you lose your first copy, a replacement will cost ya." Ditzy nodded to confirm what I said.

"Oh."

"Well, now that we have all the greetings behind us, Ditzy, I lost most of my supplies in the wastes, that's why I came back."

Ditzy then wrote, "say no more, I will get what you need!"

*** *** ***

Ditzy Doo helped me get resupplied with food, health potions, and rad-away for the road. Ergate got me to buy her a bag of roach jerky, something I didn't even know was a thing before Egate found it in Ditzy's shop. My ant pony companion was enjoying her snack while we were walking the streets of New Appleloosa after leaving Absolutely Everything.

"So, how did you know that pony?" asked Ergate as she was munching on her rad roach meat snack.

"Who? Ditzy?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when I first came here to New Appleloosa, Ditzy was the first to welcome me with open hooves, and she continued to be friendly to me and my family throughout the years of me being here."

"You weren't originally from here?"

"No, I came from out east. I moved here to start a new life for myself."

"Where did you come from then?"

"I don't feel like revealing everything about my past."

"What?! But I want to know."

"well you ain't gonna know."

"Aw... So, where are we going now?"

"I figured we would stop by the tavern and get somethin' to drink before calling it a night, then head back out into the wasteland."

"I'm going where you go."

*** *** ***

Along with Ergate, we went over to Turnpike Tavern for some refreshments, where we were greeted by Apple Whiskey, the owner and bartender of Turnpike Tavern.

"Well if it ain't Apple Tart! How ya doin' cousin?!" Said Apple Whiskey from behind the counter as we walked in. "You find what your looken' for out there yet?"

"No, I'm still looking."

"Well, may I offer you some whiskey for a troubled heart?"

"You know I don't drink that kind of stuff Apple Whiskey, just get me a root beer."

"Suit yourself." Apple Whiskey went to the back of the shop as we took a seat at the counter of the tavern.

"why did that pony call you cousin just now?" Asked Ergate as we took our seat.

"We are only cousins by name."

"what does that mean?"

"We are all part of the Apple Family, the largest family in the wasteland. Most of the ponies here in new Appleloosa are part of the apple family."

"Is everyone in the apple family named after apples?"

"Pretty much."

"If the apple family is the biggest family, how many different apple snacks are there to be named after?"

"More than you might think, though some ponies do tend to get named the same name from time to time. It wouldn't surprise me if there was another Appletart somewhere in the wasteland."

"Heres your beverage Apple Tart." Apple Whiskey said as he gave me my root beer. "And what would your friend here like?"

"Umm..."

"Get her a Sparkle-Cola."

*** *** ***

After we finished our drinks, we returned to my New Appleloosa house to stay for the rest of the day, as we waited for night to fall, I was listening to the music on the radio, while Ergate was looking at three paintings put together in a triangle on the wall. Two paintings on top, and one below them, each painting containing the image of a different pony.

"Hey Apple Tart, who are these ponies?" Asked Ergate, curious about the paintings.

"Well, the pony in the top left painting is me."

"That's you?"

"I had both my eyes back then."

"If that's you, then the pony next to you, is that the special mare that you told me about?" She pointed at the top right painting containing the likeness of a white unicorn mare with an orange and yellow mane that was almost like fire.

"Yes, that is Blaze, my wife."

"Who is that under both of you?" She then pointed at the bottom painting that contained the likeness of a young unicorn filly with a blue and light blue mane styled after her mother's.

"That is Flare, our daughter."

"I heard you mention that name to some of the ponies here. Where is she?"

"Gone..."

"She is dead?"

"She was taken... Taken by Raiders, the same raiders that killed Blaze, and left me with one eye."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I have been searching the wasteland for Flare, killing any raider I find, and taking out any Raider den I discover."

"Is that how you got the name, The Raider Slayer?"

"Yes, it is. My only hope, is that I can find my little girl still alive somewhere out there. I'm returning to my search tomorrow, you don't have to go with me. I can let you stay here in my old home if you want. It is a lot safer here in New Appleloosa than it is out in the wasteland facing Raiders."

"You don't want me to go with you?"

"I don't want anyone getting killed because of me, If you go with me you are risking your life. If you want to come with me you can, It's up to you to decide."

"Oh..."

"I'll give you time to think about it, I will be leaving in the morning. But until then, I'm going to bed. when you're ready to sleep you can use the bed in the first bedroom of the top floor"

"Ok, I will do that."

"Goodnight Ergate." With that, I sat up from my couch and headed for my bedroom upstairs.

"Goodnight."

*** *** ***

It was raining, I was wet and bleeding everywhere. On my back was the lifeless body of Blaze as I walked through the gates of New Appleloosa covered in blood.

"Apple Tart!? What Happened!?"

"She is dead! Raiders killed Blaze!"

I only had one eye remaining, and it was crying enough tears for two.

"Calm down Apple Tart."

"Calm down?! Blaze was murdered! And, and Flare was taken! How can I stay calm after this?!?!"

"This is the mother cussing wasteland! Theses things happen, get a hold of yourself!"

I fell to the ground sobbing and weeping, unable to hold in any tears any longer as the heavy rain continued to fall on me and the body of the mare I loved on my back...

The rain began to die down a bit and I was now on a small hill near the town I called home. In front of me, sticking out of the ground was a wooden grave marker in the shape of a cross, marking the location of my now buried wife. The only comfort I got that day were the raindrops that were falling on my head, and the friendly ghoul pegasus sitting next to me with her wing wrapped over me. I sat there, for what felt like hours, letting the rain fall on me, not giving a care about anything.

*** *** ***

It was morning and I was laying in my bed, I wasn't fully awake yet but something felt off, the left half of my face felt wet. I opened my one good eye and saw what was going on, Ergate had fallen asleep with her head laying on my head, drooling onto my face. Upon seeing this I pushed Ergate off of me, and I must have pushed a bit harder then I entended to, cause Ergate ended up falling off the bed and onto the floor.

"DONT PLUCK MY WINGS!" Ergate shouted after the sudden wake-up she just had, after she realized she wasn't in her dream anymore she looked around to see where she was and noticed me trying to wipe my face off with my hoof. "Oh, um... Hi...?" She then said with a sheepish smile.

"Ergate, what, were you doing, on my bed?" I said, still trying to wipe the drool from my face. "I told you that you could use Flares bed to sleep in."

"I know... And I was going to, but..."

"But, what?"

"Well... I heard you crying in here." If I had any anger from Ergate invading my privacy, it evaporated pretty quickly. "And... I thought that maybe, I could comfort you... Why were you crying last night?"

"I..." I took off my eyepatch to try and dry the drool off of it with my bedsheets, revealing my scared and blinded eye. "I Was reliving some, painful memories... Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine." After I felt it was dry enough, I returned my eyepatch to my head. "Now, I think its time I returned to the wasteland, did you make your decision?"

"Yes, I'm going with you."

"Sigh. Welp, if that's what you choose, lets head on out then."

Before leaving my house, I grabbed everything I needed, as well as a plastic flower I had as decoration in my living room, we then visited Absolutely Everything and let Ditzy know we were leaving then headed for the exit gates of New Appleoosa. I made one more stop before leaving the town completely, I took a visit to a small hill on the outskirts of the town where a lone wooden cross stood and left the flower.

Footnote: EXP gained
New Memory unlocked:

Author's Note

Fun fact, the train cars used to make Apple Tart's house are from the Polar Express.

prologue

War, war never changes.

Two hundred years ago today, ponies fought for control for the natural resources no longer in abundance in their homeland only to lose everything to balefire and destruction. The effects of the great war are still felt to this day in the equestrian wasteland, ponies fight for survival out here against each other, wastelanders against raiders, heros against slavers, or steel rangers against alicorns.

I've been trying to keep my family safe from this wasteland, only for the wasteland to take them from me anyway. Raiders killed my wife and faol-naped my daughter to do unspeakable horrors to her. I've been wandering the wastes ever since, killing any Raider I find, hoping that I can find anything, just anything, that can tell me my little girl is alive somewhere.

If my time in the wasteland and as a guard pony for New Appaloosa has taught me anything. it is that war.

War never changes.

Fallout Equestria: Spirits - By: MarbleRain