Deep within a stable, a brown pony in a white lab coat leads a tall white stallion across a large open room with electronic panels strewn on podiums connected to a large machine. The lab coat clad pony checked the strange machine as it rhythmically hummed. The machine contained a pod-like structure that seemed to be large enough to hold a single pony or stallion. The air in the room was strangely cool and the closer to the machine one got the colder the air got.
The stallion stepped forward and began to examine the surface of the pod. As he turned around he noticed a few guards had entered the room holding weapons and glaring at the stallion. The expression on the scientist pony hadn't changed a bit.
"I'm sorry. We need a test subject immediately." The scientist pony gave an emotionless stare.
"You can't do this!" The stallion took a step back from the approaching guards. "I have a family!"
"We aren't taking 'no' for an answer." One of the guards said gruffly.
"Your family will be compensated, should anything foolish happen to you." The scientist added with an annoyed tone. "Seize him and restrain him in the pod."
As the guards finished restraining the stallion in the pod, a large container strikes both of them in the back of the head. As they slumped over, the stallion saw it was his wife, a pregnant unicorn mare, who threw the container. In a fit of anger, the scientist pony slams his hoof onto the "lid close" button and then he turns a few knobs and hits another button before the mare can attack him. After a brief scuffle the unicorn stabs the pony in the stomach with her horn. She turns to hit the "disengage" button on the control panel, but is shot in the back by the scientist using his last bit of strength.
The stallion screams his wife's name as her blood splatters onto the pod that is slowly entering full cryostasis, though she cannot hear him. She mouths "I love you" to him with her last bit of strength before dying. The room falls near silent, as the pod finishes its cycle into cryostasis. Somewhere above, within the stable; a radio host reports for the final time.
"This is an emergency broadcast, bale-fire bombs and megaspells have been launched. All ponies must report to their assigned stables immediately." The host attempted to sound calm. "Anypony else must--."
The radio was cut off, and only had static playing as the land of Equestria died.
******
Years later, in another stable, a radio was playing music throughout. Ponies trotted about, many with their families and luggage, as its radio host interrupted the song.
"Attention residents of Stable 109, remember to stick together when the doors open. We have yet to know what is on the outside. Please keep your guard up as our guides will need plenty of assistance."
At the stable doors, the Overmare opened the door to their home. As the giant door opened, they could see a pair of pegasi in black power armor. One was large, wielding gatling guns, and the other was a small pegasus, wielding a battle saddle of plasma guns. The Overmare stepped forward to greet their guides.
"Hello. I am Summer Leaf, Overmare of Stable 109. And you are?" The Overmare asked.
"Flank Hornet. Major of the Pegasus Enclave. Your lives are over, muties. Time to die."
Before the Overmare could speak, the massive pegasus fired a barrage of bullets from his gatling gun. The screams of the stable ponies and gunfire filled the stable entrance.
******
War. War never changes.
The magical realm of Equestria, where everyone was once treated with kindness and camaraderie, had changed after Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Mane Six. At first, Equestria went through a golden era of prosperity, during which everypony chased their dreams. Some designed robotics and helped make modern home life much easier. Others tried to chase immortality with their medicines and eventually replicated life by creating the first synthetic lifeforms. But then, everypony awoke from the Equestrian dream. Years of consumption lead to shortages of nearly every major resource.
Tensions would brew between the nations of Ponies and Zebras. One tragedy led to another as fear and anger flared across the lands. When the megaspells and bale-fires were launched, hundreds were instantly killed, with thousands dying in the aftermath. Those that escaped the destruction were sealed in stables, deep underground.
Very few ponies managed to survive the devastation brought on by an angry and dying world. These survivors would form tribes and scavenge anything they could use. They would learn to adapt to the cruelty of the Wasteland in order to survive. In some ways, greed was rampant in the pre-war days of Equestria and continues on in the Equestrian Wasteland.
Legends of old pre-war treasures flow on everypony's muzzle, from buried stashes to abandoned stables throughout the Wasteland. Even collecting special bottle caps in certain areas can almost drive anypony to risk it all to strike it rich. Some would seek out these legendary treasures, only to come home empty hoofed. These would be the lucky ones, as many ponies would kill one another to find anything of value first.
There are some who consider old stables as treasure troves, possibly containing the secret to purified water. However, some treasures would be guarded for centuries by pre-war technology, or be lost forever to the sands of time. Legends like these are far too dangerous to seek, and should be left buried. Yet, the prideful or the ruthless will do anything to find it.
For Scrap Scav, however, he seems to stumble upon these treasures, whether he was intending to, or was forced to. The Earth pony, forced from his home, would travel the Equestrian Wasteland. One treasure after another, led him to uncover one pre-war secret that had eluded all pony kind.
A secret that was too dangerous to be left alone.
Author's Note
First story and I'm immediately nervous. Chapter posting will be slow as me and my buddy are going through my chapters in hopes of editing them. My only hope is that we can see this through to the end. Hopefully, somepony can enjoy this adventure.
Fallout Equestria: Treasured Scrap
Chapter 1
Junk. That's how I'd describe my home. A makeshift hut of rusted metal. It matches the rest of this town; Scavenge Trot, an obscure town of rubble and trash. When you're living off the scrap from the ruins of a destroyed city, you take what you can get. It isn't usually so bad. We're safe within our walls. We got food, water, and a lot of junk to spare. Everypony here is quite friendly. We're not like those other scavengers that'd shoot you when you walk by a locked chest. Well... most of us are friendly, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
I'm Scrap Scav. I was born a brown coated earth pony, with a Cutie Mark of an old map with a red "X". I was always told that one's Cutie Mark foretold one's destiny. So I figured I'd spend my life scrounging for anything of little value or some rare trinket that somepony lost. At least I wasn't alone, Coco Fluff had looked after me like a sister. Whenever I was upset, she'd raise my spirits with her cheerful attitude. She was with me when I found my Cutie Mark, but that's a story for another time.
Scavenge Trot is my home, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. And yet, my actions led me down a far different path.
======
I was preparing some coffee; like I do every morning. Trotting upstairs with a tray in my muzzle, I could hear Coco getting out of her bed as I knocked on the door to her room. Coco Fluff, a unicorn mare with a chocolate brown coat, and a poofy pink mane.
"Good morning, Scrap!" She responded, with her perky attitude. "Is that a granola bar this morning?"
"Yeah. I need to restock our food supplies today." I said back. Placing the tray on her dresser.
"Awww. We need to get some pancakes one of these days." She said with a sad tone, grabbing her mug with her magic.
"You always say that, but I've never heard of or seen what a pancake looks like."
"Oh you poor, silly minded colt. Someday I must open your eyes to the glory that is pancakes." She said in an over the top tone. "The softness of the batter! The melted delight of the butter! The sticky syrup of maple trees!"
She stood on her bed, as she gave high praise for this breakfast food. I couldn't help but snicker at her speech.
"It is truly the breakfast food of the Goddesses!", she proudly proclaimed.
"Okay, I get what you're saying. I'll believe it when I taste it." I chuckled. "Which way are you heading today?"
"Likely over on the east side today." Coco responded, as she hopped back down. "We need to clear out that motel complex today, if we want to keep Sully off our backs."
"I know. I don't work for him and I can tell by his attitude." I shrugged back.
"Well I better get going. Have a good day, Scrap!" She said in her cheerful attitude, as she slipped her saddlebags onto her back before opening the door to leave.
"Thanks Coco. Be safe out there!" I hollered after her, hoping to give her an extra boost of confidence for the day.
After Coco left, I got my stuff around and headed to the general store. The town ponies lazily opened their shops for the day and greeted me with yawning and slurring “Morning.” as I trotted by. Stepping inside, my sight settled on Scavenge Trot's eldest resident, Ol' Jettison, sipping his coffee at the register. Most ponies called him "Gramps'', for short. You would often find him fixing leaky pipes or the electrical wiring. He had a few scars from his time as the town handipony.
"Morning Gramps." I called out.
"Ehh? Good morning Scrap." He responded, as he slowly moved towards me. "The usual again?"
“First things first, Coco wants to know if you guys got any ‘pancake’ mix in yet.”
“Nah, youngster. We ain’t had that for some time.” he mumbled. “What else ya lookin’ fer?”
“Well, I guess I’ll take the usual then. Toss in some extra oats, some bandages, a shaving kit, and something new for Coco to snack on… Sir Fancy’s Snack Cakes if you have them."
Gramps slowly gathered the items onto the counter, while I counted the caps after he rang me up.
"So how've you been doing, Gramps?"
"Oh I've been better. My shelf stacker is mostly useless." He said, shaking his head. "Give him a task and he suddenly disappears."
"Yeah. That sounds like Bourbon Shot alright." I shrugged back.
"Lazy drunk. I'd love to fire him, but nopony else wants him. Plus I got a soft spot for him; and the rest of you."
"Even Sully?" I joked.
"Heh. I'm not sure about that grump." He chuckled in response. "I mean, I heard he refused your application again.
"Yeah." I muttered in disappointment as I counted the caps.
This wasn't the first time either, I've tried to apply to the scavengers; numerous times. While the rest of the town ponies seemed to be on board, I was always denied by Sully. Claiming I was still too young to help out or he didn't need any more help. Needless to say, Sully was not the town favorite by a mile. Yet his business is lucrative for the town and its residents. Ironically, his cutie mark was a gold medal, showing his attitude towards second place.
"Scrap?" Gramps barked at me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?"
He had finished putting the items into my saddlebags, and placed a hoof on my mane.
"But there must be some reason for his refusing to hire ya. Maybe you should try and talk to him about it." He explained.
I paid for the supplies and headed for home.
======
It was late afternoon and I laid about in the shack, waiting for Coco to return as usual. The radio had finished playing a song by Sweetie Belle, then two voices took over the airwaves. I groaned in annoyance as I knew who it was.
"Good afternoon, Wasteland! It’s Kram again!", the voice greeted in his energetic tone.
"...And I'm Xer! And welcome back to our latest broadcast! We're here outside the old Sparkle Cola plant! Because somepony decided to chug his last batch of bottles. Again."
"It was worth it!" Kram interjected. "We barely escaped that batch of cannibals with our skins!"
“Maybe our definitions of “worth it” are a little different, Kram…” said a slightly miffed Xer.
Of course these two had to broadcast their “show” today. These ponies go about the Wasteland, telling their adventures as if it was happening. It got annoying after some time, since they seem to go offline during their shows. I always figured they were hiding in some dark room with a microphone, telling tall tales to anyone who will listen. Suddenly, gunshots could be heard on the airwaves, followed by skittering feet. My guess is they “found” mirelurks.
“We can’t stop here! This is crab country!” spoke an agitated Xer.
I trotted over to turn the radio down. “And I don't care what you're doing, ya phonies." I said with an annoyed groan. I flopped back on bed, recalling what Ol’ Jettison said. He was right, of course. I needed to talk to Sully and demand he give me the job, or at least get an explanation why he wouldn’t. Hopping off the bed, I made my way to his shop.
======
Sully's Scavenging was the closest building to the town entrance, it didn't stand out from the other store fronts vying for the next best spots. Walking past the scrapped sign, I entered the store. Inside were rusted shelves that held sellable goods and wares. Towards the back was a counter with a register and a terminal; Sully’s throne, as many workers called it. Sully was working on that beat up register when I walked in, with his white coat and blonde mane slightly dirty. He’d seen I had entered his store, and frowned.
"What do you want now, Scrappy?", he groaned.
"What do you think, Sully? I wanna work here." I replied.
"I told you, my answer is ‘no.’ I don't need some brat getting himself killed out there.", he took a swig from an apple whiskey bottle.
"And I’ve told you, I'm not a colt anymore. I'm old enough to start working in town." I was still too short to see the top of the counter, but that wasn’t the point.
"It's still NO, now beat it!", he barked back at me.
I was about to continue making my claim, but I was interrupted when the door behind him was knocked on. He was about to shout at whoever it was, until his mood changed. I could hear whispers from the other side, yet I couldn't see past Sully. He looked back to see me behind the counter.
"Alright, Scrappy. You wanna help? Watch the store till I get back."
“What? Uh… I mean, sure!” I sputtered.
Sully closed the door behind him. I sat in his stool and looked around the counter. Besides the empty bottles and terminal, the old register had a few bobby pins laying around. Next to them was an old book called "Today's Locksmith". Sully must have been trying to open this register for sometime. I took a look at the book and read a few pages. Figured this was meant for unicorns to master, but I found a page for pegasus and earth ponies to try. The trick was to hold a screwdriver with both hooves and the bobbi pin in your mouth.
Just then, someone entered the store with what looked like a sack of goods. The stranger walked up and placed his sack on the counter. When he saw me, he looked around the store as if he was looking for somepony else.
"Sully not working today?" The stranger asked.
"He had to step out. And asked me to watch his shop while he's gone." I answered.
"Well in any case, I found an old laser rifle a few days ago." He muttered as he placed the item in question on the counter top.
"You want it fixed or are looking to sell?" I asked, looking it over.
"Nah, but do you have a few wires, a beam splitter, and a rifle casing?"
I stared at him; dumbfounded while he spoke. Internal mechanisms of any laser or plasma weapons were beyond my understanding. However, the quality was about subpar as he stated.
"Judging by your expression, you have no idea what I just said, right?" The stranger asked.
"Yeah. I don't know any of the internal mechanisms of these laser weapons, I'm afraid. So I don't know where to look."
"Oh don't sweat it then." He said, taking the laser weapon back. "I'll just buy some stimpacks and radaway."
======
It seemed like hours had passed by while I waited for Sully to return, the few lamp posts we had in town were lighting up now. Colts and phillies were running off for home, as some stores were preparing to close up for the night. I just cleaned the counter of empty bottles, when Coco Fluff entered the room. Her face lit up a bit when she saw me.
"Scrap? You finally got a job here?" she smiled as she walked towards the counter.
"Not really, Sully had to step out." I replied.
"When was that?", she put her scrap findings on the counter.
"A few hours ago."
"Well how was your day?", she asked.
I told her nothing much happened, other than I sold a stranger a few supplies for 175 caps. Just then, Sully came back through the back door. Coco gave her chipper attitude, to which Sully shrugged off. He looked through the shelves for anything amiss.
"Well, at least you didn't set the place on fire, Scrappy. Thanks. ", Sully grunted.
"And he made a sale while you were gone." Coco added. "If he can manage a store; I don't see why he can't hunt scrap with us."
"Oh for the love of...not this again.", Sully clearly wasn't happy at that idea.
"Sully, you know he needs to earn a living around here. He's got a knack for finding good stuff.", she gave a playful whine.
"Oh come on-- don't--", Sully spat back while being interrupted by Coco.
"Please? Please? Please? Please? Pretty pretty pretty PLEASE??????? Coco used her infamous puppy eyes. Sully stood his ground... for about 3 seconds.
"OKAY!! JUST STOP MAKING THAT FACE AT ME!!", he shouted. Coco stopped her act and resumed to put her satchel over her flanks as Sully continued.
"Scrappy, I owe you for today. So I'll give you a shot. Report here first thing in the morning.", Sully stated.
"T-thanks!", I replied as he shrugged back. As Coco and I left the store, I was hopping around like a colt on his birthday.
"Thank you so much, Coco!", I said. She gave a playful laugh, and boy that just made me happier.
"It's ok, Scrap. Sully isn't that difficult to convince, but is easier to annoy.", she laughed.
We returned home and settled on the sofa with a pair of Sparkle Colas. Coco ran down the tips on what I would be dealing with.
"You'll be given a pistol and three grenades for protection; along with a canteen and satchel to carry our loot. We'll be in the more secure area of the westside, most buildings are gonna be boarded up and marked with a message in white chalk." Coco explained to me in quick detail.
"Sully can go over that info tomorrow, best to get some sleep tonight.", she put her left hoof on my head, roughing up my mane.
"Alright. Goodnight. And thanks again, Coco.", I replied as I entered my room, and immediately hopped into bed.
======
The next day I woke up for my first day on the job. I quietly prepared Coco's coffee before heading for Sully's store. Sully was behind the counter, packing supplies inside a saddlebag.
"Morning Scrappy. Here's the supplies you'll need." He yawned as he placed the satchel bag on my back.
"I was told we might be on the west side today?", I asked as I adjusted the saddle bags.
"They'll be on the west side. Not you. I want you to check out a building on the North side,” he explained. "Coco told you about our chalk symbols on the buildings?"
"Not yet-." I said before I was interrupted.
"There are three symbols that let us know what's inside. A horseshoe facing up, means there's possible loot; a horseshoe facing down, means the place is too dangerous; and a checkmark means the building's cleared out." Sully quickly recited. "You'll likely see a radroach or two, so you'll be fine, Scrappy. There's the door."
I trotted over to the town gates, more irritated than excited. He seemed more cross with me than yesterday. He probably wasn't happy I was given a job against his opinion. I could handle a simple radroach, I'm not that naive of the Wasteland. But I had to focus; I readjusted my saddlebags and made my way to the exit. The guards on duty opened the junk doors and I stepped out into the ruins around the town.
======
End of Chapter 1
