Fallout Equestria: Degree of Separation

Chapter 2 : Beginnings

“When I was a little filly and the sun was going down…”

So much for a warm greeting.

The first thing that came to my attention was the wasteland itself. Doc’s stories of horror and mayhem hardly gave justice to the hellscape before me. I thought, hey, it wouldn’t be so bad. People embellish stories, told for a better story and to scare fillies from wandering into the streets at night. I really wish past Domino was right. Because what laid before me was the corpse of a world gone mad.

From the perspective of my eye, the horizon didn’t end. I wasn’t quite sure how that was possible, but this landscape didn’t really adhere to any sense of logic. The sky was a bleak greyish green, covered in vicious clouds that seemed to eat away the joy from the sky. Pillars and pillars of smoky cover, blocking out whatever sunlight might have been left. The whole landscape was bathed in a sickly green tint, either from radiation or something else that I didn’t want to know. Skeletons of dead trees dotted the landscape, broken up by the odd rock cluster or stream of goddesses know what. Old, broken buildings dotted the skyline, the only proof that I could find that ponies once lived here. The only hint of life even remotely nearby was the town that Doc had brought me to. Old shacks were lined up in rows, hastily repaired over the years with scrap metal or strips of cloth. I only counted 8 shacks in all, with a very sickly looking farm stretching out to the left. An old fountain sat in the middle, spouting what seemed to be fresh water. I couldn’t imagine where they found it in this place. Doc built his shack up on a slight hill, letting me see the entire town. And it also let me see the dozen setting ponies staring daggers into my hide.

It was all too much too soon. The dead land. The bleak feeling in the air. The filly who looked like he wanted to murder me. My stomach started doing turns, and I groaned as I stumbled to the side. Doc was quick to be by my side, letting me lean against him as the world felt like it was crumbling beneath me. Feeling a warm body pushing against mine helped me cope a bit.

“That’s IT, Doc. She’s been here long enough. She’s healed and she needs to leave. Now.”

A dark blue colt with brown hair trotted up to the two of us, setting his hoof down pointedly. He had a piece of paper tattooed on his flank for some reason. Wait, cutie marks! Those are called cutie marks, and everypony has one. I remembered that they represent that pony’s special talent. HIs was… writing, I guess? And mine was… that’s right, it meant I had one too! For the first time since waking up, I took a long look down on my body. The majority of my skin was still covered in bandages, I was close to being considered a mummy. But sure enough, right there on my flank, was a… black butterfly. Huh. Well figuring out the meaning behind that isn’t important right now.

The colt certainly seemed to be in charge of this town by the way the rest of the ponies looked up to him, waiting for him to get the job done. He must’ve been only a few moons past maturity, but yet he still stood strong, asserting his dominance over me. And even though I had a good foot on him, I was absolutely terrified down to my horseshoes. He was dirty, covered in scars, and had chunks of hair missing. He looked ready to murder me. And I bet it wouldn’t be the first time for him either. He was 4 feet away but I could still feel him breathing down my neck.

I jolted alert as Doc stepped forward, flopping down onto all fours to the dirt. “Now just calm down Smoker, she doesn’t mean us any harm.” Smoker moved forward until his amber eyes were 2 inches away from Doc’s own. “How can you say that old man, she’s a goddamn monster! You know what she is, a fucking…” Doc’s look caused Smoker to back down a few feet, a brief moment of fear flashing in his eyes. He might not be the leader, but it seemed Doc still held some authority in this town. “Fine, whatever. Just makes sure she fuckin’ leaves, alright?” Doc gave a solemn nod in response. Smoker turned away from us, but not before shooting me a look that could wither an apple orchard. He trotted back to the center of town, the rest of the town ponies begrudgingly following behind him. But the hatred didn’t leave with them. Even the fillies looked eager for blood.

Doc sighed deeply and helped me back onto my feet. “I’m real sorry about that Domino… Sum’ ponies, just…” He shook his head low. He looked back up and gave me a sad smile. “Please try not to pay him any attention. He’s a good pony deep down, truly. Times are just not what they used to be, and this town ain’t big enough to change its ways.” I shrugged off of Doc, supporting myself up on 4 shaky legs.

“You’re a doctor, right?” I asked Doc. He nodded in reply. “Then why do you stay here of all places? Caring for only a few ponies that don’t seem too awfully nice?” Doc stared at me with a look that made my heart skip a beat. I had never seen Doc look this serious about anything. “Domino, eventually you’ll find ponies in this world that seem like a lost cause. They have blood n’ their hooves, they stole, they swindled. On the outside they are the worst swamp scum imaginable.” He trotted around to face me head on. “But y’all have to be better n’ that. Look below the flesh to the essence of who they are. You’ll find that most of them are just scared and alone. And they need a lil’ push in the right direction.” Doc turned and started to trot towards the edge of town. I followed closely behind him. “Durin’ the war, there was one pony who truly shined with a light from better times. Too good for the pain and suffering she had to witness to everyone she cared for. But she never wavered, that mare. She was kind to the end of her days.” As we walked, ponies looked at me through boarded windows and doors cracked open. A shudder went down my spine. I was REALLY not welcome in this town. Just my luck, the one I happen to be revived in. “She knew that ponies were mostly good.” We stopped at the town gates. “And that they were worth saving.” She sounds like she would be nice to meet.

Doc sat down, and looked at me sadly. “This is where we have to part ways, Dom. I’m ‘fraid Smoke wouldn’t take kindly to me helping you any further.” My heart sunk in my chest. This was the only pony who had been kind to me so far, and I already had to say goodbye. I felt a sharp pang of nostalgia hit me as I looked at Doc, but I wasn’t quite sure why. IT left as soon as it came. The past was so muddled and dark… I just wanted to find out who I was! I wanted to ask him more, make him tell every last detail about who I used to be. But I knew he was already pushing his luck spending as much time with me as he could. And the sad eyes staring back into mine didn’t help…

Before I could say anything else Doc wrapped his arms around me. I just stood there stupidly for a second, I was still not used to this amount of kindness. But slowly, I hugged him back. Even if I wasn’t comfortable with it yet, Doc deserved it. I wanted this old pony to be happy. Doc broke away from the embrace and stood up tall (I could tell he was trying to be strong on my behalf, but his teary eyes kinda gave him away). “You take care Domino, ya’ hear? My door is always open to you, no matter what some ego-filled pony has to say about it.” I returned the warm smile he gave me, but his quickly faded. “Now go, Dom. It’s time.” And with that, he turned around and left me alone at the gate of the village. I was alone.

All alone.

<---------------oooo00000000oooo---------------->

Be kind. Show mercy. Look deeper inside. Doc made it all sound so easy. I already didn’t particularly like the ponies who threw me such an awesome welcome party. There weren’t any trees as far as I could see (Or grass for that matter). And to top it all off, I was a cyclops now. I was constantly on the verge of an emotional breakdown. But still, you couldn’t listen to Doc for more than a minute and not want to believe what he has to say. So I tried to.

And it lasted about 3 minutes until I came across my first corpse.

I don’t think I was ever exposed to death in the Stable. Not that I would know for certain, but I imagine it’s not something you forget. Another one of those old mares tales to make a complicit society (Stable-Tec doesn’t want you facing the realities of the wasteland!). But this… even Stable-Tec couldn’t cover this up.

The stench hit me first. A horrible smell hit me like a wall of bricks and nearly buckled my legs out from under me. Then, I saw it. Or rather… what was left of it. Rotting flesh was off of bones in large chunks. The skin and bones were black and charred, looking like I could blow it away if I wanted to. There must have been a dozen of them, the skulls were… crushed beyond recognition… I couldn’t take it. I emptied what was left in my stomach onto the hard dirt. This was so sick and twisted… How could such hate happen? Doc’s words were slipping further and further away. For the first time since I woke up I felt genuine fear. What if I was just as bad of a monster like this? Letting the lands corrupt me, killing innocent ponies… oh look, over there… a filly’s corpse…

I looked away. Tears had been welling up on my cheeks, I had just hardly noticed them. You have to keep moving DOmino. Move your legs, you can’t stay here. I forced myself to walk past the corpses - using all the strength I had left - and headed out to somewhere else. Anywhere, just not there. I felt like they deserved some sort of burial… or at least to have their names remembered. But I just couldn’t take it anymore. Welcome to the wasteland, prepare to perish.

I headed off in another direction, choosing this time to go in the arbitrary “Left” direction. I must have been walking for a few hours, the dead grass and black soil soon became a blur beneath my hooves. It never seemed to end. I continued that way for some time until I finally came across evidence of civilization. Maybe going left finally paid off! The ruins of an apartment complex rose up past a dune of garbage ahead of me, crumbled concrete laying in piles around it. I rounded the garbage heap and finally got a good look of the place. The complex was three stories high, and maybe 100 wide. I would’ve said more about it, but it was a skeleton of what it used to be. The support pillars were mostly standing, but time had left the walls almost completely stripped off. A pony could see through most of the concrete and rebar to the other side. I was a bit shocked that I remembered what an apartment complex was so easily, but I just tacked it down to my brain running in autopilot. Not that I was complaining, it sounded better than ‘That big hunk of grey stuff over there’.

An orange glow flickering off of a far wall made me stop in my tracks. Every instinct in my body tightened and realized that orange flickering most likely meant fire. And fire probably meant ponies. I had just wandered in a direction that seemed the least dangerous, but I still knew nothing about how this land worked. Maybe these ponies would be willing to help point me in a better direction. Or maybe they wanted to paint the walls with my blood. Shit. I swallowed hard and crouched low to the ground. I winced as pain dully shot though my body, my body was not quite happy I was putting that much strain on it. I slowly made my way over to the light source, and soon I began to hear faint voices. I heard laughter! That had to be a good sign.

I crawled past a pillar, and saw a group of three ponies sitting along one of the far walls. They started a makeshift bonfire in an old barrel, the weak flickering of the flames casting shadows along the concrete. Shadows of… my hopes of friendly ponies were quickly swept away.

Despite not seeing many ponies yet, they still seemed somewhat normal to me. Dirty, scared, hardened. For sure. But not… this. The first thing that jumped out to me were the bright bold letters painted on the wall, huge and not for young ears. They read “DIE, BITCH”. Ok, definitely not a good sign. The laughter I had once thought meant joy, had quickly turned sinister. it was clear it was a snarling from a deranged pony’s mouth, admiration at a successful kill of other fellow ponies. And they had the bloodstains to prove it. The pony closest to me had her black hair up in messy, blood-soaked spikes that led up to her horn. Her coat didn’t fare much better, her grey fur nearly fully covered in dried blood and dirt. From the crazed look in her eyes I could tell she was the most crazed pony in the group. The pony hoof that she had draped across her neck certainly didn’t help either.

At this point I was convinced I turned even whiter than I was already. I couldn't quite figure out what her companions looked like beneath their thick layers of gfrime, but I didn't have any desire to get a closer look at them. Their campsite had been covered in dirty sleeping mats made of straw, and metallic objects. Which I was able to classify as… guns. And ammunition. I must’ve not had a very peaceful life before if my brain could recognize those up so quickly. Oddly enough, the leader’s two companions (Who I now recognized were colts) didn’t seem too keen to be there. In fact, if it wasn’t for the things they were surrounded by, I would’ve assumed they would have been a couple of stand-up ponies. What happened to them to make them go along with all of this bloodshed?

I finally broke out of my stupor long enough to listen in on what the leader pony was saying. “...and it went ‘Sploosh’! Ha ha, god the blood was everywhere! DOn’t you remember that Grainy?” The larger of the other 2 ponies just grunted slightly. “Well whatever, you pussies hardly got any action anyway. I, as usual, was the badass pony who got the job done. Now those fuckers won’t bother us in our turf anymore.” I almost felt sorry for the smaller colt, he seemed even more scared of his leader than I was. Couse, he was able to hide it better than I was.

The sky began to darken, and it was the first time I had noticed a change in the sky. IT had mostly just been slates of grey for the entirety that I was under its cover. Just then, I got a comprehensive feeling that I was WAY too close to these ponies. I had already found out that they didn’t want to be friends, I think that was enough for me for one day. SO much for asking directions, to… perhaps my gut would find the right way to go next. I started turning back away from the apartment, still crouching low to the ground despite the pain. I had to get away from these ponies, I just had to go anywhere that wasn’t here. I shuddered to imagine what would happen if… My hoof knocked into a small piece of rubble that sent a larger group of them tumbling down. The sound that came down after them was loud enough to wake me up from sleeping, 5 years ago. I froze in my tracks as I heard the ponies around the campfire start to get up and shuffle towards me. The leader was barking orders at her companions, telling them to find me and end my life in very creative ways. They were getting closer, but my legs refused to move. But I knew I needed to move them. Like, right NOW.

Run, you idiot!

My legs screamed in protest as I turned and ran as fast as my legs would let me. They felt like they were splitting apart, but I gritted my teeth and carried on anyway. My heart was like a drum in my chest as I ran along the walls of the complex, the snarling of a pony getting closer and closer behind me. I think I’m almost clear of them! Maybe I could hide behind that garbage heap I saw earlier, surely they…

I ran straight into the larger colt, tumbling over and over into his body. Our legs were intertwined tighter than the knots in my stomach, but he clearly knew what he was doing more than I did. He quickly got the upper hand and shoved me to the ground, making me scream out in pain. He locked a hoof around my neck, locking me into a choking. I quickly started gasping for breath as he tightened his grip. I felt like my eyes were close to popping right out of my skull! Well, one of them, at least I thought morbidly as I saw the leader slowly walk around a pillar to face me. Upon seeing her, the pony choking me loosened his grip slightly. But only slightly, I still could understand how fish in a barrel feel. The leader walked up closely to me, and the scent of death began to hit my nostrils. This pony was still fresh from a kill.

“Well hello there, my little pony!” The leader pony beamed at me, snarling and revealing her sinister smile. Every single tooth was yellowed and decayed. That is, the ones she still had did. She had more holes than a… pony full of… holes. Gimme a break, the oxygen was getting cut off from my brain. “Aww look how adorable she is, guys! She must be just a babe out here.” I wanted a chance to prove her wrong, but I hated to admit how right she was. “You know what we do with… unsoiled ponies, don’t you, boys?” The grin on the colts faces sent cockroaches crawling up my skin. I needed to get out. I couldn’t breathe anymore, my body needed to get out of this. I squirmed weakly at the hooves holding me down, but it was no use. My head drooped down, and a harsh hoof stamped down 2 inches from my face. Another hoof gently lifted my chin, forcing me to stare into the eyes of the leader. “Are ya’ ready, sweetheart?”. This is it, isn’t it? I’m going to die. Only one day on my own, and I was going to die. I’m so sorry Doc, I couldn’t do what you wanted me to…

The pony’s head looking at me exploded into a bloody mess. Blood and viscera sprayed into my face and I nearly had enough time to close my eye before warm, sticky blood covered me. Oh goddesses, the feeling of it… It dripped down into my gaping mouth, choking me and causing me to cough as much as my restrained windpipes would let me. The pony’s head was reduced to a fleshy stump that still squirted out blood in thick streams onto me. The pony’s body took a few steps behind it, and wobbled slightly before slumping down to the floor. The other colt’s eyes went wide, and he scrambled to get behind cover. But he was too late, and his body was peppered with bullet holes. He slumped to the ground, still breathing, as blood spilled out of his wounds. He still had the shocked expression on his face as he coughed blood up onto the dirt. I could see the life drain from his eyes as his body went still. The only pony left alive loosened his grip on me, and I could hear him attempt to flee behind me. I dropped limp to the dirt, gasping for air as my hooves clutched my windpipe. My entire throat felt like a fire had a been lit inside of it. One shot rung out, and a body hit the dirt. They were all dead.

I rasped shaky breaths as more shots rang out, showering dirt onto me. The haze of battle made my eyesight poor and I scrambled to cover as best as I could. Before I got to safety a sharp pain shot up through my forehoof, and I yelled out in pain as my legs slid out from beneath me. I fell to the dirt as I felt my leg become warm and sticky. I slid around in my own blood and the dirt, screaming out in pain. My brain had never experienced anything this painful, and it was very eager to let me know so. “Wait wait, stop! Jesus, can’t you tell she’s just a kid?!” A smooth mare’s voice shouted from somewhere above me, and it was the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. Yes, please don’t shoot the child! “What the fuck do you care Carn’ she’s just a fucking pony! We just killed 2 of them, why not one more…” I finally looked up to my attackers, and saw four ponies standing above me on a high ridge. The voice must have come from the intimidating pony in the middle, she was the only mare there. She was tall, and slender… almost too tall, she stood a few inches above everypony else. Her fur was a deep crimson and her wavy, blacvk hair was cut with streaks of smoky gray. I would regale you with what the other 3 rugged colts beside the tall pony looked like, but… my eyes were glued to the red mare. Looking at her made me feel… fluttery inside. My eyes couldn’t help sliding down to her... Ooooooook, I would have to work through those feelings when I wasn’t bleeding out.

The mare (Carn?) had her hoof on the rifle of the pony next to her, glaring him down. Her blue eyes alone put the henchpony a few pegs down. “DO NOT. SHOOT. Capisce?” Bless this mare. The colt finally pointed his barrel somewhere else besides me. “Ehh, she’ll bleed out soon anyway.” The gruff pony turned his back to me and started walking. “I don’t get what’s going on in YOUR head, crazy bitch…” The colt grunted under his breath. The rest of the group turned away and started down the slope, except for the mare. Her eyes lingered on me for just a moment, and I could swear there was almost a hint of… sadness. From a killer. Huh. After the last head had dipped behind the ridge, I suddenly became aware that a bullet had just been lodged in me. And I was bleeding out. FAST.

I tried scrambling to my feet but my strength was starting to fail me. Think, Domino! THink about… woah don’t slip off yet… still want to stay alive. Without thinking I ripped off the sleeve on the left forehoof of my jumpsuit, and tried tying it above the wound. BUt I couldn’t get it to tighten, my teeth couldn’t grab a hold of it with all of the blood. I tried again, and I fell to the floor… I tried again… I could feel myself fading… I tried…

I tried a...gain……….

MMmmmfff…………………

<---------------oooo0000000oooo--------------->

MMMMmmmmm…………

What a pretty white light……..

White light….. White light. Oh goddesses, not another white light! I shouldn’t feel this good, please don’t let me be dead please don’t let me be dead!

“You’re not dead yet, ya’ barnacle head...”

Oh, whew, music to my ears! Not the fact that I was in this situation again, but - hmm. Did that voice just talk back to me? My marbles finally got lost. Scratch that, they were blown to smithereens. Well, at least while I’m alive again, I should try to wake up. I’m sick of this place already…

I tried opening my eyes to see - correction… I tried to open my EYE. It took me a few efforts, I had to strain my eye to get anything else but white in my vision. Tiny cracks of orange began to seep through the white blanket, but I promptly closed the curtains again. Luna’s rear end, who knew orange could be brighter than white. After a few efforts more of my surroundings became clear to me; Blues and oranges flooded my vision and I winced at their sharpness. Stupid colors, always ruining my day.

“Up n’ atem, o’ princess! C’,mon, I didn’t drag your sorry ass through the muck and mud to have ye die on me now.”

I opened up my eye, and my vision adjusted to a dark wood ceiling. It seemed almost close to collapsing, it was seeping with moisture. “Aye, she be alive!” I slowly pulled myself up onto my hooves, getting a read for my surroundings. “A leech couldn’t keep up with ya bleeding like that. What happened missy?” The blue in front of me started to create the form of a pony. I’m assuming this is where the talking was coming from… I hope. The blob sat back on its haunches. “Well? How do ye be?” The feminine blob said. Oh thank goodness, not crazy then.. But this pony might be. “I’m… uhh…” She started to come closer into focus, as did the rest of my surroundings. I was laid out on a wooden table inside of *sigh* another small shack. Rags soaked with blood piled up around me, enough to make me feel woozy, even when lying down. My body didn’t fare better, though… my fur had enough blood and grime coated on it you couldn’t tell it was white. A strange smell filled my nose, salty and foul. Finally, the owner of the strange voice came to my attention. She was a sky blue pony, sitting down in a manner that I could only describe as ‘uncomfortable assertiveness’. Her auburn mane was choppy, her bangs running in zig zags across her forehead. Her tail looked like it just came out of a wood chipper. She had dark blue eyes shaded beneath a… pirate hat. I don’t know how else to describe it, I must’ve had that stored somewhere in my brain. It was a black tricorn hat, complete with skulls, crossbones, and a feather. A sword was strapped to her hip. It just then occurred to me that her strange voice was in fact an accent - a pirate accent. What did you get yourself into Dom, jeez.

My jaw opened slightly just at the sight of her, I wasn’t sure whether to giggle at her getup or knock myself out again so I could wake up somewhere more sane. “D...Domino. That’s my name.” The mare chuckled, “That it is lass,” She gave me a sly smirk, “But I asked how you were managin’.” I groaned and leaned back onto the table. “Considering this is the second time I’ve been knocked out in the past couple days… could be better?” Suddenly she leaped onto the table, knocking off the rags and causing me to shrink half my size. “What were you doing out there with a piece of lead in ye, aye?” Her eyes burned any confidence I had left to smolders.

“I… I… I…” She leaned closer. “With an appropriation’ eyepatch, no less!” She moved her hoof over to my eye. “Wait no, please!...” At my hesitation, she instead snatched my eyepatch in her teeth and pulled hard, snapping it off of my face. Her look of victory quickly faded to one of disgust. “Goddesses…” I broke down again, tears leaving streaks through the dirt on my face. I just couldn’t take it, I wasn't ready to be this hardened wasteland survivor. This life wasn’t fair… “P-please, don’t hurt me!” I braced my body for whatever was coming next. The mare’s face sunk into utter sadness. “Oh darlin’, no, I… ahh shit, I didn’t mean to scare ya like that.” She slowly slunk off from the table, taking a few paces backwards. Was she giving me space? From the few minutes I knew her, she seemed like a pony who liked to get up close and personal. “Flower, I was just trying to shake ya a bit… but you don’t seem quite like tha type fer violence.” I shut my eye tight. My skin crawled with discomfort, I felt so ashamed to be in it at that moment. I tried to reinforce her observation, but it was hard through my sobs. “N...no, I don’t want to hurt a-anypony.” I gulped hard. “Are you the one who saved me?” “Aye. I dragged you for 3 hours to this place, I was certain you weren’t gonna make it,” the mare tried to reassure. I nodded solemnly, then replied in a voice that was quieter than I ever thought it could go.

“...are you going to kill me?” The stomp that resounded from her hoof made me jump. “Of course not! YOu just can never be too careful in these parts. Seeing a recent gunfight is never a good sign, and kindness is a rare commodity in this world.” She sighed and trotted closer to the table. “Come here girlie, let me help you out of yer own filth up there.” Her hoof touched mine and I immediately recoiled. “Hey hey, I’m not gonna hurt you. Now, gimme one of them hooves.” I slowly rested my right hoof in hers, still shaking from my outburst of fear. All the clues I had learned about myself so far had me believing that I was a warrior. Someone who didn’t take any shit from no pony. A survivor. But sitting there on that table, that never felt so far away from it. INstead, a scarfed little filly took up residence. And I couldn ‘t tell which pony was the right one.

She lifted off the table, and helped me settle down on my haunches in front of her. I took my hoof back and gingerly rubbed my wound. The whole area felt inflamed, like a dull ember constantly biting at my skin. “That wound could have been fatal, ya know,” The mare chimed in, “you’re lucky you’re still standin’ here. Had ya’ been two inches to the left, it would’ve passed through something a liiiitle more valuable.” SHe smiled weakly at me. I didn’t return the expression. The smile slowly fell off her face… I felt a pang of sadness as it did. I tried to get her to cheer up a bit with my next comment. “Why did you save me?” That brought a smile back to her face. “Sometimes dearie, your brain will fail you. You might think it has all the answers, but even the most crucial aspects of pony society were born from falsehoods.” She laid her hat down next to her. “Logic turns out to be false, and wrong turns out to be right. This wretched life is full of hurt, and your brain knows this. All it can do is desperately hold onto the truths it thinks it knows. Because if it doesn’t have that, than what does it have? And then, what do WE have? Only lies we are told, and lies we tell ourselves. A dangerous cocktail that makes ponies drunk with fear, and it’s the exact same thing that led to this big disaster in the first place. Ponies believe they are correct, and every other pony is wrong. It’s madness... ” As she talked, I noticed that her accent had subtly dropped to a more tempered, homely tone.

“But THIS on the other hoof,” she gently laid a hoof over my heart, “is something that isn’t so easily swayed by uncertainty. Sure, it doesn’t always know what’s best either. But what it lacks in logic, it makes up for with feeling. Feelings that ponies are good, feelings that things will get better eventually.” She lowered her hoof and chuckled. “All of that preachy nonsense to say; I got the feeling you weren’t one of the bad ones. So, I saved ya’. Plus I was already in the area looking for supplies with my crew. SO why not, right?” She took my hoof in hers again and shook it gently. “Name’s Ocean Spray. ANd yours?” “O-oh, it’s Domino.” She stopped shaking, but looked a little perplexed at my answer. “Just… Domino? Huh, not a type of name you hear around here that often.” Really? When one of your past leaders was named Twilight Sparkle? I thought that, but Instead I said “How? Isn’t every ponies’ name here like ‘HAppy smiles’, or something like that?” Her look only became more puzzled at that, I thought her eyebrows would rip right off of her face. “Have you been livin’ under a rock for the last 2 centuries or somethin’, who in Celestia’s land would name themselves that?” I don’t know, wasn’t happiness what ponies were supposed to be all about?

“Oh, I can’t remember… anything, really.” I tapped my ruined eye, below my long bangs. “I got shot in the head, I guess it erased everything I knew.” Ocean threw her head back in exasperation. “Great. Not only do I save a pony who has amnesia, but I used up the rest of my wiping paper trying to stop her from bleeding out.” She smiled at me, and I felt warmth coming off of her for the first time. “...where did your accent though?” I was a bit scared to ask, but I was just too damn curious. To my relief, Ocean just laughed. “Noticed, have ye’?” She slid her sword from its sheath, and swung it in the air causing me to jump back. “It hels scr off pones, ya lnlubbr!” Uhhh…. “What?” She chuckled and sheathed her sword. “It helps maintain my ‘Crazy Pirate Captain’ look. Helps me out in this line of business.” And what business might that be?

I had a million questions, but my stomach rumbling got in the way of me asking any. “Ah right, you need some fixins’. Here.” She pulled my jumpsuit and saddlebags out from under the table. “I had to undress ya to clean that wound of yours.” For some reason that made me blush from tail to mane. Dammit, she noticed. Ocean gave me a devilish grin, and said “NOw don’t be gettin’ any wrong ideas lover girl, my barn door don’t swing that way.” Neither does mine! I tried to stand my ground, but she just winked and I hid under my hooves. She just laughed and nudged my stuff closer to me. “I’ll leave you to get dressed and eat up. There should also be some purified water in that barrel in the corner, and I have some goodies in my quarters if you need em’.” She trotted out of the shack and closed the door behind her. Goodnes, the nerve of that pony…

Putting my dirty jumpsuit back on was easy. Keeping down my canned vegetables was hard. It wasn’t that my stomach hated the taste (How should I know what I don’t like to eat?), it was more my shot nerves. I sat there in the shack for a long while, thinking about the past couple of days. Waking up in Doc’s care, and having to leave him almost right away. THinking I was a hardened pony, and then hiding like a filly when confronted. I closed my eye and the neck of the raider pony from the apartments flashed into my head. I gasped and stumbled backwards a few steps. Goddesses I could still feel her blood running down my face… it made me quiver just thinking about it. Surely I had already seen death and violence in the wasteland; I had already lived this long. And from the ponies I’ve met, you don’t live to be this old without seeing ponies killed, or to be the one doing the killing. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was where I fit into it. The sight of corpses makes me weak in the knees, but hiding makes me ashamed, like I’m somehow denying who I’m meant to be. That I owe it to my past self to be hardened, use course language to get my way. The way the town ponies in Doc’s village reacted to me must mean that’s who I was. A bandit, struggling to get by. Using whatever means necessary, even murder, to see the light of anither day. THis had to be me… so why does thinking about it make me sick to my stomach? It was all just too confusing.

I rubbed my temple and tried to remember something… anything… from my past. Red swam by, rivers of it wiping away the darkness behind my eyelids. Blurry figures started appearing through the waves. ONe made of green, cloaked in black. One shrouded in white. One radiating an orange light. One, covered in blue, seemed closer to me than the others… agh, it hurt to much to think. The red was washed away, leaving me staring at rotting wood. I might never be able to know who I used to be, I thought. I didn’t know if that fact comforted me or not. But I did know one thing, I needed to get out of this shack. I wasn’t going to be a bedsore again for the second time in a row.

I headed out the door, right into the rain coating the landscape. The water soaked through my jumpsuit, and before long I was shivering like a caffeine addict. I refilled my canteen in the bucket Ocean was talking about outside. I didn’t want to be ungrateful, and I certainly didn’t want to go thirsty - but this water didn’t seem like the friendly type. Speaking of Ocean, a light was blinking in the near distance, made blurry by the rain cover. I carried on through the mud towards it, happy to finally have a clear path to take ahead of me.

The single light grew into many, dotting along the landscape like lost spirits. They reminded me of a line of ponies, taking their number for a spot on the end of the world voyage. I trotted up closer and the cluster closest to me began to illuminate, of all things, an old post office. The sign had all but crumbled to dust, but the piles of rotten envelopes covering the porch-way gave away what the building used to be. I saw Ocean Spray and 2 other ponies gathered around a shipping crate. I gulped down my inhibitions and trotted through the entrance and into the conversation the group was having before I showed up.

“- already have three miles more of the beach, Ocean! We have to do something about htis before we love livestock, crops… you name it. These savages don’t care.” A grey unicorn mare with blue hair was seething towards Ocean Spray, who was focused on a map (I assumed of the area) in front of her. “Don’t you think I know that, Stardust?! If you’d calm your flippers for two seconds you would remember the 2 ponies we lost last time we wanted them to keep their hoofsies in line! NOw I know our livelihood is important, but the lives of my mates matter most. So unless you can reassure me about them, stop being so hasty.” Stardust looked positively ready to explode into bits, taking Ocean with her. The other pony there hadn’t said a word; He merely stood with a stern expression on his brow, pouring over the map. At least ponies didn’t seem to want to kill me… well, almost. I tried to focus on anything besides the argument, which was not easy to do. The walls had been covered with various graphs and maps, each having a different view of the same area. Lanterns covered in netting were hung in each corner, making the place seem like a cozy, undersea cottage.

When I finally looked back at the ponies, I noticed that they were all staring at me. My eyes went wide in shock and I took a step back. Stardust shouted at me, “And who the hell do you think you are?!” Oh goody, she was pointing a gun at me. Ocean was quick to diffuse the tension. “Now Star, I invited her, so stick it where the sun don’t shine.” I half expected Stardust to rip the mischievous look off of Ocean’s face, but she slowly lowered her gun. “She’s the pony I dragged from the VistaView ruins, I thought she might be of use to us.” Well that certainly made me feel like a welcome guest… I was not looking forward to whatever she had in mind for my services. Stardust just waved a hoof absently and focused back on Ocean. “Just siddown and zip it.” I followed her orders promptly.

Stardust sighed, and I could see some of her angry persona disappear behind a worried one. She must just really care for this town and the ponies in it if she was getting this worked up over a potential threat. “Look, I know this is a risky move on our part. But what other options do we have? The more days that pass, the larger their forces grow. Pretty soon, we won’t stand a chance against it”. Ocean Spray finally took a more serious tone as she said, “How long?”. The red colt finally piped up. “Two days, by our estimates.” Ocean cursed, and went silent for a few moments. She looked around the room, lost in thought. “Hmm. That does put us in a bind.” Her eyes locked with mine. She smiled devilishly. I din’t like where this was going. “Well Domino, looks like it’s time to cash in that favor you owe me.” Right, I should’ve known ponies expect something in return for their good deeds. I was just not liking the sound of this one in particular.

I braced myself. “...What do you want me to do?”

She smiled wide.

“How does wiping out a bandit stronghold sound to you?”

Footnote: Level Up.

Perk Gained: Socialite. We need to work on your social skills -- Ponies are more likely to converse with you