When the Center doesn't hold
Fallout Equestria: The Survivalist
Chapter 1: When the Center doesn’t hold
A quick glance at the surrounding area was enough to tell the tan colored stallion that everything was packed away. He looked at the caverns he had spent a few days in. It was his first week out of the army, away from everything, everypony, and instead he was just doing some survival training. The one part of the army that had stuck with him was the need to ensure that survival training was kept up and maintained.
Judging by the sun it was just past ten in the morning. It was less than an hour’s trot to the general store, and from there he could catch a sky carriage, if they haven’t stopped coming out here, or maybe he could catch a train. What waited for him back home was working at Shattered Hoof. It was honest work, or he believed it was, but it didn’t change the fact that he didn’t agree with what was usually done to the inmates. Regardless, he began his trot, found the general store, and discovered that the last sky carriage had left over three hours ago.
The old mare that ran the store let him know that she knew the civilian train was still running, and it was just half an hour from where they were. He thanked her, bought a few snacks, a Sparkle Cola, and then trotted toward the station. The train was still an older steam model, but it had been converted over to wood instead of coal. There was little doubt in his mind that even this charming relic would be changed out for one of the magical energy engines. More dependable, far easier to rely on, and also there wouldn’t be a worry over the resources they didn’t have in the nation.
Walking up to the ticket office he saw the seller listening to the radio, barely paying any mind to whoever had walked up to her window.
“Excuse me, I need a ticket,” he said.
The mare behind the window looked at him, “Sorry, Where to?”
He gave her a smile, feeling the weight of his saddle bags, his pistol, which was hanging near his right side, and of course the few cans of potato crisps he had bought earlier, “Oneigh. I’m a guard at Shattered Hoof, but Oneigh was the closest place I could find with rent cheap enough.”
She gave him a grin, hit a few commands on her terminal, and then handed him a slip of paper, “Well, I hope that you make it back okay. It sounds like things are really hitting the fan out there.”
He sighed, “I knew that things were tense, but maybe it will end before anything really bad can happen. We just have to trust in Princess Luna.”
She nodded, and with that he boarded the train. It wasn’t packed, which was odd, but then he had chosen to come out here when it wasn’t really tourist season. In truth, the last few years had been hard on little communities like this. The park wasn’t high on the list of things for ponies to do. He found a bench, took a seat on his haunches, and then heard the sound of the conductor as he announced that they would be leaving.
After a final all aboard, the train lurched forward, and he settled into his seat. His black mane was in need of a trim, but that would come later. He listened to the soothing sounds of the train as it clicked along the tracks, his mind considering the things he had packed into his saddle bags. His foreleg had a Pipbuck. A parting gift from the army. It wasn’t exactly a common thing, but most soldiers were getting them. He had received his own a month before he had resigned. His commanding officer had informed him that he could take it with him. There was no need for it to be turned in, and besides, as his commander informed him, it was a pain in the ass to take it off.
There were the potato crisps, a couple of books of matches, his combat knife, a length of Macintosh Strength rope, and a map of the park. The map was something he had been updating himself. One of the things he loved to do was explore the cave system, and he had found six different caves that all were large enough that a pony could live in them without much worry. He almost allowed himself to sleep when he felt the train car rock violently. He didn’t look outside, out toward the direction the first cause of the violent rocking to happen. He closed his eyes, ducked his head down, and heard the screams around him. The train screamed in protest, and he hunkered down for what he knew was coming. He felt the first lurch, and then a moment later the world turned upside down. There were six more violent shakes that followed the sound of six more booms. Each one loud enough to wake the dead. Finally after several minutes he opened his eyes, and he could see that the train car was on its side.
Getting up he heard an old mare crying. Moving slowly he found her. Her back legs pinned under a seat, beside her was a dead stallion, most likely her husband, and she was sobbing as she tried to move. Looking at how she was trapped there was little doubt that her hips had been crushed. She wasn’t going to walk out of this.
“Miss, just a moment, I’m going to help you. It’s going to be okay, help will be coming,” he said soothingly.
She hugged the dead stallion beside her, still whimpering, “It’s not, not really, is it?” she asked.
He sighed, “No.”
She whimpered, “I want to be with my husband. We’ve been together for so long, and I… I don’t want to be without him. Can you?”
He nodded, but realized that she was blind. The flash from the bombs had likely destroyed her eyes.
“I will, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he said.
He reached back for his pistol, glad that it was loaded, and then ended her suffering. Moving forward he found the door slid it open, and stepped out to see a green burning fire. Everything he knew, his family, Sweet Kisses, his marefriend, it was all gone. Part of him considered hoofing it to Oneigh. The blast didn’t look like it came from there, but at the same time going there would be death. The fire was enough to make him realize that it was a Balefire Blast. That meant that there was going to be magical radiation leaking out. There wasn’t anything to do, so he headed back toward the park. If he hurried there was a good chance he could get to them before the fallout began to settle.
He was surprised that everything was still in his saddle bags, but then he had always tied things down exceptionally well. He looked in the direction the train had come from. It had only been about fifteen minutes on the train, and he wasn’t sure how long it would be on hoof. But he hoped that it would be worth a chance to get away from the fallout before it could settle. Heading back toward the train station he saw dozens of ponies in panic mode. The mare that had been in the ticket booth was crying, banging on a door, begging to be let in.
“PLEASE! I DON’T WANT TO DIE OUT HERE!”
He looked at what was happening, and the realization came to him. The only safe place would be the caves. The shelters that were here obviously were already full. He knew it was half an hour to the general store, then an hour toward the caves. He looked at the mare, now on the ground, weeping, her voice growing raspy from crying out, and he couldn’t help himself.
“Miss, I’m going further into the park, there’s a chance there’s places to survive in there.”
She looked toward him, gave a nod, and followed him. It wasn’t something he expected, and to be honest, he wasn’t sure if this was something that he really wanted. Sweet Kisses was most likely dead, and he wasn’t interested in anypony else, but then helping somepony wasn’t a bad thing either. The two of them ran toward the general store where he saw the old mare. She was out on her porch, her wagon attached to her, and she was heading into the park.
“Oh young buck, I’m glad that you’re alive. My son told me that there was a shelter in the park, something that was made by that company called Solaris. I’m going to head to where he said it was.”
The young mare looked at her, “C...could I go with you?”
The old mare nodded, and he followed them. His pistol was ready, and they neared what looked like a small ranger station. Outside of it was two army bucks. Both of them stood fast as they neared the station itself. The first buck, a dirt brown Earth Pony with a blond mane held up his fore leg. They stopped, and the Earth Pony studied them, “No going past this point. Only government officials allowed.”
He looked at the two Army bucks, “Is there a shelter here?”
The other, a Unicorn that was gray with a shock of blue mane, nodded, “There is, but it’s for Solaris and government officials.”
He looked at them both, “Surely you can let a few extra in, right?”
They shook their heads, “No, and if you attempt to enter regardless we have orders to kill on sight.”
He saw someone coming, seeing the pony he recognized her. She’d been at more than a couple of the trainings he’d gone to in the Army. She was apparently one of the higher ups in the Ministry of Wartime Technology. Babs something… Babs Seed. He neared her, hoping that she would be at least as personal as some of the other Apples had been.
“Ms Seed, Ma’am, These two mares need to get to shelter, I know neither of them are government officials, but surely they can take shelter here.”
She looked toward the two of them, and then at him, “What about you?” she asked.
He gave her a soft smile, “I’ll find a way to survive.”
She looked at the guards, nodded, and the two mares walked with her into the shelter. He hoped that it would be something that would protect them. As he recalled, there was something about the company Solaris that didn’t always sit well, but he wasn’t sure what it was. There wasn’t much other choice, he had to head to the caves, and the closest one was one he had been in a year before. Heading there he ran into the cave, and he felt weak. His Pipbuck had clicked until it was in the yellow.
Looking around he saw a terminal, a chemical station, various collections of rocks, canned food, water, and a small collection of bed rolls. He moved toward it and saw a small clipboard with a sheet still on it.
“Equestrian Government Geological Society, headmare Dr. Maude Pie,” he read.
He looked at the equipment, and sighed as he laid down. Finding a radaway he drank it, letting it cure the mild case of radiation sickness.
“Thanks Dr. Pie, thanks for this,” he whispered before sleep began to find him.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
Fallout Equestria: The Survivalist
Chapter 2: It’s the End of the World as we Know it
“Everyone look away from the windows and put your heads down! Protect your faces, your eyes!”
The morning brought the realization of what had really happened. The world was gone. There was nothing left of it, and the sadness of that realization was hard to process. Everything, and everyone was gone. The fact that he had helped those two mares get into the shelter was enough to make him feel better, but at the same time he felt a crippling depression. Everything was gone. His friends, what family he had left, and his marefriend was gone. Nothing was left. He got up and walked toward the mouth of the cave, but about twenty feet from it the pipbuck began to rapidly click. He did the mental calculations that his training had prepared him for, and he realized that going beyond this point was lethal.
He made his way back down to the camp that the Equestrian Government Geological Society had set up, and looked at his own radiation level. It wasn’t enough to cause harm, and honestly it was on the same level as drinking a Sparkle Cola Rad. But that had happened in the span of about two seconds. He looked at his supplies. There was plenty of radaway, so drinking one to ensure there were no problems would be okay. But did he want to drink it? A part of him begged for him to walk outside, see the world as it was, and deal with the quick death the radiation would give him. He certainly considered it. It would be simple enough, but after a moment he thought better of it. He drank the Radaway, and then he looked at the terminal left behind. He opened it up, surprised there was no lock, and then looked at the last entry. It was marked for yesterday.
“To whom it may concern:
If you’re reading this then it’s likely that you’ve sought shelter inside of this cave. First, your choice is a decent one, based on the geological setting of the National Park you are inside of. The cavern system itself is composed of Limestone, mixed with various chemical traces of sodium chloride. The very make up of this standard cavern should provide shelter enough for the fallout. Be warned that there are some crystals inside of these caverns that soak up radiation like a sponge. These crystals are normally clear or white in color, but once they have been exposed to radiation they turn to a sickly green. This is stored energy. It will leak off over time, but in doing so it will undoubtedly corrupt healthy living tissue.
I would have stayed behind, remained faithful to the work that needed to be done, but I’m not made of stone. My parents, my sisters, they need me, and I need them. I’ve left to find them. I have an environmental suit, and I hope that it provides enough protection to see me through. None of us really had time to take anything. The moment we heard the blasts everypony else left. I decided to record the last findings, and then leave. There’s roughly two weeks worth of rations here, at least for a single pony. The water supply deep in the cave should be fine, but I would warn no to rely on the potential water supply outside of the cavern network. Much of it would be contaminated. May our supplies and this cavern system serve you well.
Dr. Maud Pie, Head Mare, faithful sister and daughter.”
He read it over twice, and it was more or less what he suspected. The survey team had left because they believed there was still family out there. He hoped that they were right. That the group of them would be able to find their families. But at the same time, what was the real hope? It was likely that the Zebras hit most of the populated areas. That meant unless someone was in a shelter, or a Stable, they were likely going to die.
Still logged into the terminal he considered what to do with his time, and so he began to transcribe what had happened up to this point. The next two weeks were filled with physical training, rationing out water, rationing out food, and taking stock of the supplies that he had. As the two weeks came to an end he heard the sound of a wind storm. That was something he knew this park was famous for. The Pegasi would attempt to contain them, but the wild storms would still happen. But this didn’t sound contained. It sounded like a storm that happened, and was still going.
It lasted for three days, and finally it settled down. As the month progressed he realized how low on water he had gotten. He’d gotten the condensation from the walls gathered into a couple of blankets that had been left behind. He rang them out into a pan, giving him a few more precious swallows of life sustaining water. He finally dared to venture back to the mouth of the cave, and as he inspected it he realized that with some Rad-X and some Radaway he could likely explore further out into the park itself. The next two days were spent trying to decide if it would be worth looking at the park, and finally the drive to see what was outside won.
There was a small part of him that felt hope. Not that it was okay, but instead hope that something would take that last step and end his life. It was wrong to think like that, and he understood that much, but with so much gone was there really anything left for him to live for? There wasn’t a straightforward answer, and instead he found himself gathering the much needed rad drugs into his saddle bags, and then he stepped outside. The sky was cloudy, but more than normal. It was as if the very clouds themselves were sealed up to keep anyone from looking up into the heavens.
The wind blew cold as he walked, and he made it to the general store. He hoped that the two mares he helped to the fallout shelter were still okay. Stepping inside he saw that the store was still in much the same shape. He checked his saddle bags, found a few dozen bits still in there, and even though it made no sense he gathered supplies, potato crisps, cram, Sunrise Sarsaparilla, a few bottles of Sparkle~Cola, and then he gathered a few fancy buck cakes. The snack food was better than nothing, and then he did the part that made no sense. He counted out his bits, opened the register, made change, and then tucked his change back into his saddle bags.
The food he gathered was enough for a couple of weeks, if he took it easy, and of course he would need to check it for radiation. It could be okay to eat, but at the same time he wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going to be radioactive enough to cause sickness or any possible poisoning. Gathering the food he walked back and snow began to fall. It wasn’t the planned snow that had happened all of his life, but it was wild, angry, and he noticed, if not for the first time, that the snow was tinted green.
Getting back to his cave he took a dose of radaway, drank some water, and then drank a Sunrise Sarsaparilla. The smooth drink was like heaven, and he instantly felt better. His Pipbuck warned him that there was a slight amount of radiation, but not enough to even warrant taking medicine for it. That night he ate a fancy buck cake, carrot flavor, drank a Sparkle~Cola, and began transcribing what he had seen into the terminal.
The days passed, the storm moved on, and he once again checked the radiation outside. To his surprise it was less than before. His thoughts went to that of Oneigh, and he couldn’t help but think of Sweet Kisses. By train Oneigh was a good three hour trip, by hoof it would be days. But with the radiation down the temptation was too great. Still, he considered what it would mean, and the temptation, though great, was put aside.
Instead the next few months were filled with trips to the general store, his ‘purchasing’ food, water, Sparkle~Cola, the last of the Sunset Sarsaparilla, and after what seemed like too short of a time he ‘purchased’ one of the last tins of potato crisps. There was still food, enough for a few days, but not enough to sustain himself with just the provisions from the store itself. There was no getting around it. The general store hadn’t been fully stocked to begin with, but the food he was getting from it was running out. He would have to make the trip to Oneigh. If for nothing else than to resupply his stock of food.
The next day he gathered some of his supplies, struck out, and headed toward what he hoped was his home. The first day of travel he had to adjust his route several times. There were pits full of radiation, burned out sections of road, twisted wreckage left over from sky carriages that fell, but through it all he hoped that he would find his home. After twelve days of travel, twelve days of scrounging for food, twelve days of avoiding death from radiation, he managed to find the outskirts of Oneigh itself. His newish hometown looked surprisingly intact. There were sections where bombing had happened, but several buildings seemed mostly intact. He moved toward his old apartment building, and found no real trace of any ponies.
It was morbid, he understood that, but he had expected to see a few ponies there. Bodies, and he had hoped that Sweet Kisses would be among them. Not that he wanted her dead, far from it, but he wanted the chance to bury her. Walking into his apartment building he went to his apartment and opened the door. Inside was something off. It looked like a diamond dog, which he remembered that they lived near here originally. Splendid Valley had been their home, but one of the Ministries had made them move.
The diamond dog looked deformed, grotesquely large, its normal claws far larger, more pronounced, and it looked angry. He saw the table behind it, and a feast of food from the cupboards was laid out. He looked for Sweet Kisses, and then he saw the diamond dog as it growled at him.
“LEAVE!” it barked.
“Where’s Sweet kisses?!” he demanded.
The diamond dog swiped at him, nearly hitting him, and he noticed that its claws swiped through the top of a chair like butter. He backed up, grabbed his pistol, and aimed it at the diamond dog. The dog growled at him again.
“No Pony here, ponies leave, go other place, no pony left here, Dogs take over, now leave!”
He backed out, watching carefully, and slowly he made his way down the steps. There was a good chance there were other diamond dogs in the area, and he didn’t want to cause them to chase after him. Leaving he could hear the clicks of claws on pavement. He did his best to use his training to disappear. It was slow escaping, and he considered going to the hospital. There was an emergency Gryphon Chaser II on the roof, or he believed there would be, but it was too much of a chance of being caught.
Instead his movements were quiet, his steps measured, and after several hours he was well outside of Oneigh. There was no need to ever return. On his way back he found lots of useful scrap. An overturned sky wagon revealed military supplies. He gathered fresh water, MREs, a new carbine, and a new desert ranger suit. He donned the armor and radiation resistant gas mask. Walking he considered what it had been like, what had happened, and silently he apologized to Sweet Kisses, his parents, and all of his neighbors. There was no telling where all of them were, but it was likely he would never find them.
