Fallout Equestria Country roads

[Chapter two]

[Holo-tape begins ]

Apple and Dusty hiked back to the stable door and glaired down the mountain towards the nearest town, the town was where the overmare told her to go.

Looking at the map there were two ways to go, a road or going through the woods. The road was worn and cracked by Time and elements, grass and weeds were growing out of control poking from the cracks, dirt, and dead leaves covered Parts of the old highway road.

"Highway 88? " Asked Dusty, she was looking down the long fog covered road, the road scared her a bit.

"From what my pipbuck map says if we take this road it will lead us to the Overmare's campsite marker in a day... A day in a half maybe." Apple replied.

Dusty looked nervous about not having any weapons, or ammunition, she hated feeling so anxious.

"Apple we should have a look around places on the way because we are getting low on supplies" Dusty mumbled shyly.

Apple looks at her inventory Index, she saw that they were getting short on food, chems, and supplies.

"Yes, I recking we are... Dusty does your pipbuck pick up anything that looks like a building or house on its radar? We can trade with survivors or loot the places." Replied Apple.

Dusty took a look, she saw a small shack on her screen. "Oh Yeah, it says there is a place called the moonshiners shack..." Dusty squinted her muzzle.

"Was it called that prewar? If not how does our pipbucks know?" Dusty was bewildered by the pipbuck.

"I got no idea Dusty" Apple was just as confused by it.

The girls turned from the stable and followed Dusty's map marker south from the stable through the wilderness.

Apple and Dusty saw lots of mutated animals and plants, after running away from a small pack of mole rats and some Radstags who were protecting their mates and young.

It took the girls two hours to reach the shack.

"Apple... I'm tired... We walked so far and more than half was running for our lives... Can we rest for a bit?" Whimpered Dusty.

Apple was wheezing trying to catch her breath and hitting the sats button repeatedly to see if there were any enemies, she wasn't getting any red pips on her screen but she was still nervous.

"Yeah, it's clear, I don't see anything aggressive on the pipbuck" Apple was clearly as tired as Dusty.

The two ponies saw some old shacks down the hill perched overlooking a cliff, they are heavily worn with age and many Winters.

The girls headed down the hill, their hoofs hurt and they were very exhausted and really wanted to lay down.

As they came around the front of the first old shack Apple was attacked by an even larger tick then the ones from earlier. Turned out the shacks we're infested with these oversized mutated deer ticks.

"Shit! Get off! " Apple made a neighing sound and reared up onto her hind legs and stomped down on them with her front hoofs crushing it like a blood-filled blueberry.

Dusty was unarmed and helpless, her body was too tired to run as her legs trembled beneath her as she was slowly backed into the corner of the small wooden shack.

"APPLE HELP ME!" Dusty cried out, there was a painful scream.

Apple made a mad dash into the shack, her revolver drawn tightly in her teeth, Apple saw Dusty on the floor of the shack as two more smaller ticks were trying to kill the Pegasus.

"Dusty! Get off her you bastards!" Apple screamed and took aim and fired three shots into the ticks, she was getting quite good with her old revolver.

Apple ran to Dusty, she feared that the gray Pegasus was dead, Apple checks her for breathing, thankfully for Apple's worried heart, Dusty wasn't dead.

Dusty was unconscious from blood loss, Apple worked quickly to stop the bleeding, she used up their only remaining stem packs and medical tape, it took her a while but Apple finished wrapping her leg and placed Dusty on her back.

After killing the rest of the ticks Apple looked around the moonshiners camp.

The old camp was clearly deserted, it's occupant must have been in a hurry to leave, the camp was a mess, there was dust on everything, the still was rusted and falling apart.

There was a heap of molded grain and old jugs of moonshine in a corner of the shiners shack, the shack itself was falling apart, holes in the roof and walls must have been months to a year since the owner left it... Probably last winter from the old leaves inside the building.

Apple looked around and found some neat little things, Apple found a recipe for a honey-based moonshine that the maker called Mountain honey shine.

There was a cutiemark of a bee over a moon, Apple thought it was cute, she also found a recipe for swamp tofu soup, a couple more stem packs and a battle-saddle with a rare shotgun called {The Moonshiner}

"The Moonshiner? Is this why this place is called that?" Apple wondered to herself.

Apple laid Dusty on a sleeping bag and let her sleep as she started to cook at the cooking station at the shack, she liked that the old pony who used to live there was kind enough to leave it behind and the recipe was easy to read and follow.

Apple never made tofu or had to cook anything that didn't come for a box but with the notes left by this moonshine pony she learned quickly.

"I wonder what else he has left here? I reckon he must have been waiting for some-pony to come out of the stable, I hope he is ok... It seems like he left in a hurry... I hope they are ok." Apple thought.

Hours passed and night fell upon the shack as Dusty slept, she seemed to be so very tired and Apple couldn't just leave her there to die so she stayed and waited until she woke up, Apple eyes felt heavy, she yawned and fell asleep next to her.

Dusty woke up to Apple's sleeping face and had a slight blush.

"Oh my Celestia! She is so close" Dusty's heart quivered in her chest, she had Secretly liked Apple since they were both foals.

Dusty thought that Apple was the most beautiful pony in their stable, Dusty loved how her Emerald green eyes glistened next to her orange-colored mane and pretty coat and how could anypony look so cute when they laughed she wondered.

Surely she was the most breathtaking view Dusty ever seen... However, Apple wasn't into mare's and Dusty wasn't brave enough to tell her.

"Oh Apple... I'm so stupid... foolish mind and heart..." Dusty nuzzled her very gently.

Apple moved slightly and moaned as she rolled over. "No mama... I don't wanna go to school today."

Dusty looked at her back leg, it had medical tape and track marks from the stem packs, Apple had done her best but she was clearly no medical pony, the bandages we're put on horribly and it was clear that she messed up the first stem pack but it made Dusky smile.

She cared enough to try this hard to save her, Apple could barely care enough about her mane and here she was sleeping so close to her.

"Did you stay up looking after little old me?" Dusty noticed the cold soup and her little heart fluttered with glee, she cooked for her too, what couldn't this wonder mare do?

"You're amazing Apple..." Dusty drank it down, the color was moldy green and the taste was revolting but she was her first love anything Apple made was worth dying over.

"Needs pepper, and I see you couldn't help but mix whiskey in it." Dusty felt a bit lightheaded and giggly.

She giggled and poked Apple's face, " Chubby cheeks, so cute... " she kept poking her with her hoof.

Apple slowly opened her eyes to a drunk Dusty.

"Hey there sleeping beauty... It's a beautiful *hic* beautiful night." Dusty said as she slurred her words which means what Apple heard was "Hey! Here, sleepy beautiful mare, *hic* night so and it's lovely... Like you."

Apple was completely confused by what she was saying. " Dusty sweet pea... Did you have a stroke? Because you're not making any sense."

Apple then realized that the green liquid was gone.

" Oh, sweet Celestia no, you didn't drink that bowl of green stuff right? " Apple asked hastily.

Dusty nodded and giggled "yes'm ma'am I did"

Apple started to Panic "You silly Filly! Ain't no one told you not to drink stuff that smells bad?"

Dusty shook her head "nope... *hic*"

"Well I am!... That was for your leg!" Apple sighed.

"It shouldn't be poisonous but you'll be sick like the Dickens soon... Maybe from both ends." Apple helped her outside so she could throw up.

A while later the sun could barely be seen rising over the mountains into the gray clouds above.

"Sorry Apple, I messed up... you must hate me..." Dusty said as she wiped off the puke from around her muzzle.

"None you fear... I don't mind holding your hair." Apple petted her back and wings. "We all get shit faced once in our lives... I have..." Apple's cheeks flush red.

"Apple you're a Saint..." said Dusty as they both walked back to the campsite.

Apple laughed "yes'm saint Apple whiskey, patron saint of intoxication and drunken ponies, yeah that's me..."

Dusty clopped her hoof. "I'm being serious Apple."

"So am I... Dusty, I ain't no saint... I'm a bartender, a lousy good for nothing who builds junk in her stable room and blew up the kitchen with my first still... The best thing I ever did for the stable was made booze." Apple looked a bit ashamed to admit she wasn't as great as the others.

"I can't live up to the stable-tec belief that we are the best of the best... I'm a failure." Apple's ears sagged.

"No your not! You can! Didn't you say we were going to find the Overmare? What would Overmare Sunset say to you if she saw you talking like this? " Dusty was oddly confident and aggressive, she wouldn't let her talk about herself like that.

Apple sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "She would say she wouldn't have wasted her time looking after a failure... And probably would have hit me..."

"Then smile... You're going to be the best moonshiner in all of Equestria... No the world! You'll bring booze the four corners of the world, then all the world will know of your Apple whiskey!" Dusty was very excited and brazen as she gave her pep talk.

Apple laughed and sighed "Ok there Pinkie Pie... I'll stay happy and not lose faith... In the name of Luna, I'll be the best... I can." Apple took out the soup and gave her some "here eat, we leave soon."

Dusty sniffed it and didn't gag so she drank it and smiled, it burned going down but it was good. " yummy, what is that?"

"The moonshiner left it in a book, seems he was writing about after the spells... I think he was here when they fell, the Journal talks about him coming out here the day before the spells, then he writes an apology to his wife but doesn't leave her name just the name or word Honey shine... But I don't know anyone called that in 76." Apple showed Dusty the notebook.

"Maybe she changed her name after going in? Or maybe she went to another stable? It didn't have to be 76." Dusty replied.

"No, he said it was 76... I fear the mare never made it... And he doesn't even leave his name either... I wonder who he was..." Apple smiled, she hoped he was still alive and well, she really wanted to meet him.

Apple remembered the battle-saddle "oh Dusty, do you know how to fire a gun?"

"Energy weapons are my specialty but I guess I can try," Dusty said as she drank her second bowl of tofu soup.

Apple pulled out the battle-saddle and helped her put it on. "This gun is a single shot shotgun called the moonshiner... I will let you use it but do not shoot me." Apple put a lot of emphasis on the (not shooting her part).

"Yes I'll try to" Dusty adjusted the bite grip to the right height.

Apple took some old sparkle cola bottles and lined them up. "Here practice for a little bit while I pack up our stuff."

Dusty nodded and took aim and fired the shotgun at the bottles, she hit 3 out of 8.

Apple smiled "Not bad, should be a crack shot soon enough."

Dusty blushes "You think so?"

"Yeah, you'll learn fast just keep both eyes open." Apple finished putting the call away.

"How do you know so much about shooting?" Dusty asked.

Apple pulled out the colt-scouts handbook. "Would you believe it's in full length in chapter 33? " Apple was grateful to her mother.

"Wow, what else did your mother teach you?" Asked Dusty.

Apple smiled as they started to walk down the mountain path. "Well, mama was super smart, she could make a robot out of anything, she taught me how as well, she really wanted me to go into robotics and take-up her job in the stable..." Apple looked dreadful as she showed dusty the only picture of her and her mother, it was the day of her cuteceanera, Apple's mother was smiling but it looked fake and pained.

"Mama died a year later...~she sighed sadly~, Turns out mama learned she had cancer the day before my party, she never told me she was sick.
She never told me anything about her really, I ended up reading about it in her diary a couple of days after she died."

"Turned out she asked the Overmare to adopt me that very day, she knew she was going to die, I was 11 when I watched her be placed into the composter... I didn't stop crying for a whole month." Apple was walking a little bit ahead of Dusty, Dusty couldn't see her face but she knew she was fighting back tears by the sorrow in her voice.

"I had no idea Apple... I'm sure sorry" Dusty felt horrible.

Apple shook the tears out of her eyes. "You didn't know, it isn't your fault, mama was so different from other mares in the stable, it took me a while to figure out not everypony had a mother like her." Apple stops, she looked down at the road to the Overmare's camp.

"There that must be it, she must be there..." Apple said hopefully.

The two galloped down to the overmare's campsite, it was nestled up under two large oak trees and a burned pine tree.

"Overmare?" Dusty said confused by how quiet the camp was.

Apple approached nervously " there isn't anypony around... it abandoned too" Apple saw a holo-tape on a stable tech locker, she picked it up and played it.

"Overmare's log. South of Stable 76. I knew this wasn't going to be the Whitetail forest I remembered, but... mutated animals, haywire bots, and no ponies so far... We have to be ready to rebuild in - what I can confirm - is hostile territory.

Fortunately, Stable-Tec was prepared. You see this? The cooking station, the stash box, the workbenches. All built with the C.A.M.P. You need a home base out there. The Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform is designed to give you one.

Just add resources, planning, and a little Hoof grease. When you move your C.A.M.P., everything you've built is stored, ready to be placed back down in the new area. Use this to establish a foothold whenever you're in unfamiliar territory.

I've left my C.A.M.P. behind so you can use it.

I know I'm breaking my own advice by not taking it with me, but after seeing whitetail for myself, I need to make sure every resident of 76 has a safe haven they can start from. I'll make do without it. If it's still standing, the village of Flatwoods is further down this road. Find me there. This is Overmare Sunset Shimmer. Signing off."

Apple stumped her hoofs angrily "It's not fair! She lied!" Apple looked defeated.

Dusty nudged her forward "Get up let's go, it's just a little farther, she said she is in Flatwoods, I think that's an old Deer village from prewar... We might find some ponies or Deer who seen her." Dusty wouldn't let her get depressed.

Apple nodded "Yeah okay let's get a move on."

They started to walk to Flatwoods.

[Holo-tape ends].