Fallout Equestria: Tales from Stable 83

I dreamt of my wife and the foal, they were so scared. The foal cried while my wife cradled her. Bits of the roof came down around them, barely missing them. Something was shaking the ground and knocking vases down and the dishes out of the cupboards, and it wasn’t letting up.

There was another large crash before a suit of power armor slammed through the front door, twin miniguns aimed and already spooled up ready to fire. The guns slowed to a stop and the stallion inside rushed over to help my wife up from the ground. He said something but I couldn’t hear what it was, it got her moving though. The guns spun back up and he charged back outside, letting loose a long barrage of rounds that only stopped when a rifle round struck him in the chest. He wobbled uneasily, but managed to start the guns back up and yell at my wife.

She ran with the foal, almost getting shot as she ran to the next building over. The world around was a damn warzone, ponies lying dead everywhere. Craters made from explosives made the ground hard to traverse and there was so much blood pooling into them. She made it to the next building, opened the door and I looked into the eyes of… something.

The creature before me looked like a pony, but the many long glowing green tentacles made it feel corrupted and wrong. It stared at me, eyes filled with malice. Its crackle chilled me to the bone. This thing was familiar, was this what I saw when I left the stable?

It leaned in and whispered “You and I will soon be together again.”

I shot bolt upright, jumping all the way to my hooves from my sleeping position. I was sweating, a cold sweat. What did that thing mean? Who was he? Why did he look like… no, that wasn’t possible. I saw him still in his pod… didn’t I?

My mind rushed with questions while my heart raced. The adrenaline had kicked in enough to numb but not ignore the pain of such an explosive action.

I nearly jumped out of my skin as Orchid laid a hoof on my shoulder. “Crimson, are ya alright? What’s wrong?” Her tone was a harsh whisper, but showed clear concern.

I let a few seconds go by, taking a few deep breaths to recenter myself and come back down to earth. It was still dark outside but I could see Smoky standing guard at the door, he cast a glance over his shoulder to look at me. “Nightmare… it was just a nightmare.”

“Just a nightmare?” She asked, taking her hoof off my shoulder and setting it back down on the ground. “I was just about ta wake ya up an ya jumped to your hooves looking like ya were ready to fight something. Are ya sure yer alright?”

“I think so, I’ll tell you more about it later.” I picked up my bag and set it over my back. “We’re about to move out right?” She’s safe Crimson, they’re both safe. It'll all be ok, just keep a level head and you’ll see them again.

Smoky sounded off “Yeah, we need to get moving. I can see where those raiders camped out, a few miles out based on the campfire I’m seeing. None close, but if we don’t leave soon we’re gonna risk a confrontation.” His tail lightly grabbed at his pistol, lifting it an inch or so before setting it back into the holster it was in.

I checked to make sure the pistol they had given me was close at hoof. Still in the holster where I had left it last night. They trusted me enough to let me keep it. “Then let’s get moving, I didn’t much enjoy the last time I got shot. I’d like to try and not feel pain like that for the rest of my life.” I started towards the door, wincing ever so slightly at the pain in my chest.

Smoky started moving, keeping his eyes towards the camp. “Crimson keep your eyes peeled, watch our six and be ready to shoot just in case we meet some trouble along the way. Orchid you take to the skies, keep close but try and stay out of sight if possible.” He then began to trot forward.

Orchid did as she was told. “I’ll do my best, if I see somethin I’ll drop back down and let ya know.” And like that she took off into the sky, far enough out that I couldn’t see her in the dark.

I kept pace with Smoky as best as I could. Much to my chagrin, my body was not happy to be moving this fast after the recent trauma. I couldn’t let myself slow down though, not with the risk of death on the horizon. “How far to where we’re headed?” I asked through pained breaths.

Smoky slowed slightly, clearly hearing that I wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever. “Fifteen miles or so, if I’m remembering the lay of the land correctly. Might be more though, hard to tell without a map. You gonna be alright? Didn’t exactly start the day off in a pleasant way.”

I sighed, glad to be moving at a slower pace. “Yeah, I had a nightmare about my wife. She was in our house, with the foal. Outside was a damn warzone, friends and soldiers dead outside.” I shook my head, clearing the image from my mind. “Plus I saw something, or somepony… I’m not sure, but I thought I knew him, and he sounded like the bastard that shot me as I left work.”

“Really rough start to the day then, sorry to hear that.” Smoky stopped me and drew his gun. “Hold up, you see that there? About fifty yards in front of us.” He pointed up ahead to a dark patch, something was definitely moving but it was hard to tell what.

“I think so, hard to tell in the dark.” I didn’t dare draw my gun using magic, the light from my horn would be seen. I slowly reached down and grabbed it with my teeth, nestling it gently into position.

“Giant Mantis. I can only see the one right now, but they never travel alone. We’ll need to divert course around them to avoid attracting unwanted attention. I don’t want those bastards following us if we can help it.” He kept an eye on them and began to skirt around them, keeping them at about a fifty yard distance.

I followed closely behind, glancing over my shoulder to make sure we weren’t being followed. The sun started to peak over the horizon just enough for me to more clearly see the mantises. A dozen or so of them skittered around, their forelegs looking as sharp as knives. “Those don’t look pleasant to deal with, those forelegs look like knives. Are those very common?”

“Unfortunately so” Smoky said reholstering his gun. “They can cut you up in a hurry if they swarm ya, bites a bit worse than those blades of theirs. If you can stand the smell they make for a decent source of nutrition in a pinch.” He paused for a moment before adding “If you can eat meat that is, most ponies can’t.”

“Well I can digest it just fine.” I wonder if they taste like crab? Legs would probably have the same amount of meat on them. “Found that out during a business trip into the griffinlands, some type of fish as I recall.”

Smoky chuckled lightly. “Probably not comparable to prewar meat, they taste about as good as they smell. Like I said, good in a pinch, but not something you should eat on a regular basis. Guess now Orchid won’t be the only one to eat the animals we hunt, means we can keep more of what we kill. That’ll keep food out of raider hooves, or keep worse things from following us.”

“You’re telling me there’s worse than foot tall mantises with razor sharp legs?” Oh goddesses, what could be worse than that? An even bigger bug? Only one way to find out. “More giant bugs? Or dragons?”

“Haven’t seen any dragons around, nor heard any tales of them. I meant radscorpions and hellhounds, the nastiest things you might run into while wandering around.” Ok, radscorpions seem simple, just really big scorpions that have mutated due to radiation.

Now what in the fuck is a hellhound? “Hellhound?” I asked not entirely sure I wanted a proper answer.

Smoky gave me a look over his shoulder, and by the frown I could only guess they were particularly nasty. “Mutated descendants of what you knew as Diamond Dogs, bigger and meaner than ever. With claws as long as a foreleg that tear through steel like it was paper.”

Before I had time to process that, the flap of wings from above startled me. Orchid was hovering just a few feet overhead. How she had gotten there as quietly as she did was beyond me. “Bad news, we’re in for a fight.” She had her small pistol grasped in her tail. “Looks like they got friends out in front of us. I saw three of ‘em, and I think they saw me.”

I looked off in the direction we had been traveling, I could see something moving in the distance. “So what do we do?” I really didn’t want to get shot again.

Smoky set a hoof on my shoulder, clearly he had heard the fear in my voice. “We deal with the problem.” He pointed a ways forward. “We take cover right there, get our guns ready and ambush them as best we can. Don’t worry, you got us by your side this time.”

That was the most reassuring thing I’d ever heard him say. It still didn’t make me feel much better about our odds. I shakily took a deep breath in and slowly released it before drawing my gun with telekinesis. “Alright, I’ll follow your lead.” I pulled the slide back just enough to make sure there was a round chambered and readied the second magazine I was given just in case.

Orchid landed a few feet ahead and began trotting side by side with Smoky to a small mound of dirt. “You take the one on the left, I’ll take the right. Crimson you’ve got the one in the center. Don’t do anythin fancy, just aim fer her chest and slowly squeeze the trigger.” The small hitch in her voice betrayed her, she was scared but managing to hide it well.

“Ok, I’ll do what I can.” If this is a fever dream now would be a great time to wake up. If not… may the goddesses forgive me for what I have to do here.

Following Smoky and Orchid’s lead I approached the mound and got as low to the ground as I could without laying down. Gun at the ready I took a moment to watch their movements more closely.

The way they operated without talking made me think of the few drills I had watched our fighting stallions perform. No nonsense, no need to talk after working together for long enough. Though they were far less trained, most likely self taught rather than instructed. They were straight to the point, ready to strike when the opportunity presented itself. And when it did they sure moved fast.

The raiders had closed to about fifty feet when Orchid and Smoky fired their first shots. BAM, BAM. I watched as two rounds found purchase, Smoky landing a good shot to his target’s chest and Orchid crippling the foreleg of her’s.

I aimed and pulled the trigger, BAM, but my shot was not nearly as effective. I saw the dirt fly a few feet in front of my target, a missed shot and just the opportunity they needed to return fire.

They were quick to return fire with two submachineguns while the third started galloping towards us with a machete clasped in her teeth. The bullets whizzed overhead sending dirt and debris into the air as the bullets struck our cover.

I pressed myself even harder to the ground and took a few short rapid breaths to try and regain my composure. That was of no help, but did give them time to empty their guns so I could pop up and fire again. As I did so the mare with the machete had closed the distance and was only about ten feet from me. I didn’t take time to aim and instead pulled the trigger as fast as I could.

BAM, BAM, BAM. Three shots off in rapid succession, leaving my ears ringing and heart pumping much faster than I cared for. The first grazed the armor covering her chest, leaving only a small trail of scuffed leather. My second shot found purchase in the base of her neck, hitting something vital by the looks of the blood pouring out of the wound. The last one sealed her fate, it entered into her skull above her left eye, popping said eye out and launching chunks of bone and brain matter out the back.

Her body continued forward with the momentum she had built up, coming up over our dirt mound and landing squarely on top of me. I could feel the blood pouring over my armor, down the sides of my face, and into my mouth as I scrambled to get out from under the corpse. Shots continued to ring out, making my ears ring and only compounding the feeling of being sick to my stomach.

By the time I got free of the corpse, everything was quiet. No gunshots, no voices, no nothing. I looked around to see that both Smoky and Orchid were still standing, looks of relief on their faces as they stood up. With no danger in sight I sighed a breath of relief and proceeded to void what little contents my stomach had onto the corpse at my hooves. This only made the sickly sweet smell of blood and viscera worse. It was almost enough to cause another round of vomiting.

The corpse on the ground at my hooves was barely recognizable as a mare anymore. The blood and vomit was one thing, but being this close I could see the devastation caused by the bullets I had fired. The back of her neck had a hole a few inches across through which I could see her spinal column and windpipe, or what remained of them. The hole in her head was larger, and both sides were still pouring blood onto the soil. Brain matter was slowly oozing its way out of the larger exit hole. She was dead the moment that bullet hit her… thank the goddesses for that at least.

It took a few seconds for the realization of what I had just done to kick in. Another pony lay dead at my hooves, her blood covering my face and chest. I had killed her. “I… I… I killed her.” The shake in my voice was evident and it would only be worsened by the second round of vomit I felt coming up my throat. This time it was worse. It was mostly just bile and it stung coming up. I fought the urge to puke again, and fought back the tears in my eyes as I felt somepony shake me.

Orchid continued to softly shake me to snap me out of it. “Hey, it was them or us. If we hadn’t killed ‘em, they woulda killed us. Ain’t no reasonin with ‘em, only option is to fight.” Her words did little to comfort me, but at least she was trying. “Now come on, we need ta keep movin. Anypony in a mile radius or so heard that, we need to move before more come.”

Smoky was off next to the two he and Orchid had shot. He was rifling through their saddlebags and stuffing various things into his own. I would have been more upset by this, but it didn’t seem like he was taking any pleasure in it. He slung both submachineguns onto his back and stuffed the spare magazines and ammo into an extra set of saddlebags that he quickly shouldered.

I looked back down at the dead mare, she still had that machete clasped in her teeth. That could be useful in a pinch, but taking it seems wrong… but Smoky took the guns... It’s do or die out here Crimson, set your morals aside for one second and just survive. That’s the only way back to your family.

I reached out with my magic and grabbed a hold of the machete and slowly wiggled it free from her jaws. Luckily rigor mortis hadn’t had time to set in yet, and her jaw didn’t lock from the brain damage. There was still plenty of blood on it, but it could be cleaned later when we were out of danger.

I began trotting forward towards where Smoky was standing. The adrenaline was slowly wearing off, and I began to feel some new pains. I ignored them and kept pushing forward, now was no time to worry about any injuries that weren’t life threatening.

Orchid stayed close to me. Clearly still a little shaken up, but clearly pleased that I took the machete with me. “Ya did good for yer first firefight. Fifty fifty ain’t bad under high amounts of stress.” She had holstered her gun and snatched up the saddlebags from the mare I killed.

I gave a small nod, still processing everything. “I was caught off guard by your shots on the first one, and still apprehensive about shooting somepony.” I felt a trickle of blood enter into my ear canal, and instinctively tilted my head to get it out.

Smoky looked at me for a second like I was crazy, must have looked it covered in as much blood as I was. “Still standing, good. Got worried there for a second when you collapsed under that raider.” He paused and looked over at Orchid for a second gesturing at her for something. “Didn’t get away unscathed though it seems.”

I knew what he was talking about, I could feel that searing pain and heat emanating from the center of my ear. One of the bullets had punched a hole in it during the fight, and now that I wasn’t in danger I could actually feel the pain. “Yeah, fuck that hurts.” I put a hoof up to my ear, accomplishing nothing but bloodying the hoof even further.

Orchid pushed the hoof down and began applying a bandage to the hole. The wound was quickly soothed as she finished wrapping the bandage around it. If I wasn’t mistaken I could feel the bullet hole closing. “Won’t hurt soon, these bandages do wonders for treatin small wounds like that.”

I let out a sigh of relief as the pain faded away. “Thanks Orchid.” They were covered in a little bit of blood, but not nearly as much as I had currently drying on my body. “Here, let me help with the blood.” I charged up my horn and waved it over the bloodied areas. The blood and dirt slowly disappeared, leaving the armor looking almost like new. “A little trick I learned a while back. Helps keep things clean and sanitizes areas for surgery in a pinch.”

“Might want to use that on yourself, you look like you took a bath in blood.” Smoky chuckled as he started trotting towards our destination once again. “Plus I think leaving it on ya can cause an infection if I remember Orchid’s lessons correctly.”

I cast the spell again, cleaning the blood off of my face and the exposed sections of my coat that had gotten covered in blood. If nothing else it made me feel better and not nearly so sticky from my blood bath. “As I recall you can, some nasty ones too. Plus getting the blood off makes me feel a bit better about… everything that just happened” I said fighting the urge to look back and puke.

I pressed the magazine catch inwards to unload the now partially empty magazine in my gun. With a few quick clicks the magazine was fully loaded and back in my gun, ready for the next time I needed to use it.

“Let’s get moving, I don’t want to have another fight come knocking right now.” I said, looking to my companions. Both were carrying two sets of saddlebags. The other dead raider also had a set, in better shape than the ramshackle set I had made from leather. As we trotted by I levitated the bags onto my back and started rifling through them.

There wasn’t much left in the bags, Smoky had done a good job of clearing the bags of anything useful. All that remained was a few scraps of cloth that could be used for bandages and a single metallic bottle cap. The name had been rubbed off, but I’d recognize the brand anywhere. Sparkle Cola, one of the best sodas we had at work. Though I much preferred coffee, they would do in a pinch.

“These’ll hold a bit more than my leathers, only a few scraps of cloth and this old Sparkle Cola cap left in them.” I wonder if I could still turn some of these in for a bit or two, probably could if we ever found civilization.

“Well that’ll replace one of the bullets you fired.” What did he mean by that? Somepony would give me a bullet for this thing? Ammo must be more abundant now for what amounts to pocket change being worth one round.

Orchid, having seen my confusion said “We use ‘em as money. Almost everypony does. Some still use bits, but most tradin is done through caps now.”

That cleared up the first statement but still left me wondering why. “You’re telling me, you use these minuscule pieces of aluminum as money instead of the more precious bits we used to use? This world truly has gone mad.”

“Just the way we do it now. I don’t know what to tell you beyond that.” Smoky shrugged and continued trotting forward. “Keep any you find, it’ll help us buy the essentials next time we’re in a town.”

I put the cap back into my saddlebags making a mental note that it was money not trash. “Ok then, I’ll keep an eye out for more of them.”

Orchid flapped her wings and gave us a nod. “I’ll keep an eye out fer any further trouble. Let’s keep up the pace, I think we can reach the train station by nightfall.” With that she took off into the air and began circling above us.

I didn’t have much to say, and neither did Smoky as we walked the next few hours in silence. The only noise was the sound of dirt and gravel underhoof as we trudged along.

This left me with time to think and reflect. Time to try and figure out the predicament I now found myself in. I didn’t make much leeway as my mind was always brought back to here and now by a noise or some kind of motion. What I did figure is that we were in the middle of summer. The sun behind the clouds hung in the sky for long enough and the temperature rose to almost unbearable levels. Now to just find a calendar and figure out what day it actually was, maybe it would be my birthday and this would all be some drug fueled trip.

This time when I was brought back to reality it was by the sound of hooves on wooden planks. We had reached the train station, just in time as the sun was beginning to creep below the horizon.

I began to look the station over, wondering if we were really where I thought we were. “Wait a minute, I know this station!” We weren’t far from my house. “This is, uh… was my stop. There should be a small town just east of here, that’s where I used to live.”

Smoky stopped at the door, one hoof pressed to it ready to fling it open. “Keep your voice down!” He said in a harsh whisper. “Could be raiders inside, get yer gun ready.” He drew his gun and clenched it in his teeth.

Orchid had landed near silently behind me again.Her gun drawn with her tail, ready for anything that might be on the other side of that door. She nudged past me and started making hoof signals to Smoky. From what I could gather they would clear the sides of the room and I was to take the center. She gave me a look just as I drew my gun. “Let’s do this.”

Smoky pushed hard on the door and it swung open slamming against the wall and rebounding back towards him. He entered first followed closely by Orchid and then me. We had our weapons trained on our areas ready for a fight, but there wasn’t one waiting for us.

The train station was clear of any form of life large enough to use a gun on. Who knows how much bacteria and other various pathogens were covering the walls and old shelves. We were definitely at the stop I remembered, though it was hard to tell with everything in the state of disrepair it was in. All but one of the vending machines had been broken into and the contents robbed from them. Maybe we’d get lucky and some chips or sparkle colas were still trapped inside, but I had my doubts. The counter still had a chair behind it, but everything else had been stripped from it.

I trotted a few steps into the building before closing the door behind me. “Looks clear to me. What do you two think?” I asked surveying the room further.

Both were silent a moment before holstering their guns and letting out a sigh of relief. Orchid immediately went to work setting up some blankets in the center of the room.

Smoky turned to me and said “We’re safe for now. How about you help me barricade the main entrance and see what we can do about those windows.”

I holstered my gun and nodded, a genuine smile on my face for the first time since I left work. “Sure.” Hopefully tonight would bring a better rest than last.

I levitated over the chair from behind the counter and jammed it under the door handle like I had seen in a few cheesy old action movies. I jiggled the handle to make sure it wouldn’t move before dropping the small lock at the top of the door into place. I kicked myself for not grabbing some of those tools back at work before I left. Could have used a hammer to board the door up with some of the scraps in here.

Smoky had pushed a bookshelf in front of the back door of the station and stacked some wood scraps in front of that. He was now looking through the books that he scattered on the ground moving the shelf. A few piqued his interest as he placed them into his saddlebags.

Orchid was still hard at work making this place as comfortable as possible. Wooden floors aren’t all that comfortable to sleep on, even if you’ve got a few blankets between you and the boards. She finished setting out the blankets and set to taking off her armor.

Before I turned away to look around I saw much more of her body than I was expecting. All four legs were covered in scars, and she was missing several large patches of her coat around her ribs. I could only guess the leg wounds were times she had been shot or cut in fights. The missing patches of coat revealed what looked like chemical burns of some sort, a potent acid like hydrochloric acid sprang to mind. Her cutie mark was a mortar and pestle I noticed before my eyes began to trail towards her nether region. I turned away from the sight and back to the rest of the station.

What remained of this station was an absolute mess, even more so since we got in here. Books and scraps of old shelves scattered around the floor in jumbled piles. The smell wasn’t much better, without proper care rain had leaked into the building rotting the counter and the surrounding boards. In a far corner there were several husks of what looked like giant cockroaches, they smelled of sulfur and rotten cabbage.

Along the back wall were three vending machines, two of which had been broken into. Glass shards covered the floor below them, as did a few splotches of dried blood. The third was still intact and looked like it hadn’t been broken into. I decided to investigate the machine to see if I could get it open.

“I think this place’ll do fer now, what’s the plan now?” Orchid asked, clearly posing the question to Smoky.

“Assuming we aren’t attacked we could hold out here for a few days and gather up some supplies from the surrounding area. Reorganize our stores and head for the nearest settlement.” Smoky dropped his bags to the ground with a heavy THUMP, before laying down as well.

The vending machine door had a lock on it with several dents and gashes marring the surface, same story for the back of the machine. Breaking in with brute force wasn’t an option, at least not with my level of physical strength. I peered behind and saw that the machine was still plugged in and the cooling unit still running. The plug was stubborn but came free with a little force and the sound of the machine stopped.

Smoky called out to me “What ya thinking Crimson?” He was staring at me as I paced around the vending machine.

“Thinking about how to open this thing up.” I said drawing my machete to use as a screwdriver. “Drawing on some past experience.”

I could hear a bit of judgment as Smoky chuckled at me. “Past experience huh? You don’t seem like the type to have any criminal record.”

“You’d be surprised what I got up to.” I unscrewed a few screws and pulled the back panel off the machine. “Petty theft and destruction of property never ended up on my record because I never got caught. Bribing ponies with soda and some bits helped keep my name out of their mouths.” The bit collection tray slid out easily, with a few bits still inside. I set it down next to Smoky and gave him a devious smile. “Don’t underestimate me, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves.”

The pair looked a little stunned at first but eventually they nodded. “Got it.”

I set the back panel against the wall and started loosening more screws with my machete. It took a few minutes to remove all of the electronics and plastic but I eventually was able to grab the few drinks that remained inside. Five bottles of water and four unopened sparkle colas were all that was left, but they would still be fresh.

The drinks I stashed quickly into my bags before trotting over to the last open bed. “Still had drinks in it, nothing fancy though. This station was always the last one to get the fancier drinks.” I laid my bags down and popped three of the colas out. “One for each of us and one extra for later.”

Smoky and Orchid both grabbed the cola in front of them before opening them in two very different ways.

Smoky pried the cap off with his teeth, making an awful grinding noise as he did so. He then proceeded to spit the cap into his saddlebags.

Orchid pulled out a small knife and used the back edge of it to knock the cap off. She caught the cap with her wing and carefully set it into her bags.

After watching them pop their caps off I slowly twisted mine off the bottle and set it on the floor in front of me. “They’re twist offs, no bottle openers needed.”

“An you waited until now to tell us that?!” Orchid asked frustrated with me. “Yer an asshole.”

“Guilty as charged.” I placed my right forehoof on my chest and whipped my mane to the right. “I thought you would have figured that out just looking at them.” I guess maybe the standard is pop tops now. Wasn’t that the direction they were going to sell more soda?

Orchid sighed and started sipping at the cola. “The few I’ve seen weren’t twist offs, so I just assumed.” She set her drink down and looked over at me, her eyes a deep beautiful blue. “Now what was this nightmare ya were talkin bout this morning?”

I swirled my soda a little after taking a sip. “Yeah, that mess. I’ve never had one so vivid and so real. I know it took place at my house, at least at first. A war was raging outside and my wife and our foal were so scared. A stallion in power armor burst through the door and escorted her somewhere, miniguns spraying rounds at a foe I couldn’t see.” I swallowed down the lump in my throat and continued. “Then a new door opened in front of me, and in there stood a creature that looked like a stallion with a dozen slimy green tentacles extending from his body. What really got me was I knew his face and voice, we worked together on several projects before. He said we’d see each other again soon, with such malice and certainty. That’s when I woke up.”

Something gnawed at the back of my mind, screaming that I knew more than that. For the life of me I couldn’t actively remember anything else from that nightmare, but I knew there was more to it.

The pair looked at me before Orchid pulled a folded poster from her saddlebags. “What ya just described sounds like the stallion we were huntin down when we found ya bleedin out.” She slid the paper over to me and waited.

I hesitantly grabbed the paper and unfolded it. The picture before me was exactly what I had seen in my dream. A stallion that had grown grotesque neon green tentacles out of his body. At the base of each tentacle was a bare spot of burned skin and what looked like jagged bone shards protruded around the base. I could only assume the rib bones had splintered and were now protruding from the skin.

I forced myself to look beyond the tentacles and grotesquely distorted body to look at his face. Staring back was a set of maroon eyes, and a face turned down in a snarl like a rabid dog. A coat of dull green accentuated by a short two tone mane of rusty orange and yellow akin to piss. There was no mistaking that look for anypony else. “What happened to you?” I whispered in horror.

The room was silent as I sat and stared at this monster before me. Smoky was the first to speak, cautiously saying “radiation and taint, that’s what I got from the sheriff. Took a toll on his mind and turned him insane.” His voice was monotone, but I heard a hint of anger creep in towards the end.

“What did he do?” I asked, reading that the bounty for his head was five thousand caps. Whatever it was, I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.

Smoky thought for a moment before speaking. “Theft, assault, murder, foalnapping, torture, and allegations of rape.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew he had a mean streak, but murder and rape? That was too far for him, at least it was when I last saw him. There was nothing I could say, so I simply sat in silence with a thousand mile stare.

Orchid timidly took the poster back and hid it in her bags. “That must be a lot ta take in all at once. Why don’t we talk bout somethin else.” She suggested waving a hoof at Smoky.

“Let’s.” I said, slowly shaking my head to clear the thoughts from my mind. Now that nightmare had a lot worse meaning than before.

Smoky placed a few books on the ground between us. He placed an old beat up novel on the ground in front of himself, the binding had been broken and repaired with scraps of leather and cloth. No title could be read, but I had a hunch it was a Daring Do book.

In front of me he placed an atlas, one of the books I had seen him pick up from the floor earlier. Now I could get my bearings and plan out my next steps.

The book placed in front of Orchid confused me. It looked like a small picture book that you would give to a foal just learning to read. She had to know how to read, didn’t she? Orchid opened the book and began to silently mouth the words, a look of frustration on her face.

I opened my mouth to ask if Orchid could read, but then closed it and opened the atlas. Many of the pages were gone, but the ones that still remained contained a map of the local area, and one of Canterlot.

According to the map we were about twenty miles from my house, a good jaunt but one that could be easily made in a day. That is if we weren’t attacked or had to take a detour for any reason. “Ok, I think I have the lay of the land again. We’re not far from my hometown, we could easily get there in less than a day.”

Smoky looked up from his book and gestured for me to show him the map. He saw where I had marked on the map and frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, lots of geckos in that area. We’re low on ammunition and I’ve learned my lesson about getting too close to those fire breathers.”

“Fire breathers?” I cocked my head to the right and stared at him. “Geckos that breath fire? You’re sure they’re not dragons?”

“Or spit acid, or the golden ones that are quick and ruthless. Area is covered in them, probably a few hundred in total. And I know they ain’t dragons, they’re geckos” Smoky said, returning to his book.

Orchid put a hoof on her book to mark her spot then looked at me. “Plus there’s a rumor of a gecka queen that has claimed the area as her territory. Big enough to swallow ya whole, if she doesn’t roast ya alive first.”

“Sounds more like a dragon to me, but I don’t know enough to be certain.” If the mantises were as big as they are now, certainly a gecko could grow to the size of a pony. Big enough to swallow me whole almost had to be a dragon. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard anymore about this creature?”

Orchid shook her head. “Just what I’ve told ya. Wish I knew more, I’ve always wanted ta see what was in there. Can’t risk it without some more serious firepower.” She then looked back down at the book and continued mouthing the words.

My home, overrun by geckos that breathe fire… That’s a sentence that I never thought I’d have to hear. Worse yet I can’t even get close due to a gecko large enough to eat me whole. Everyday things just get so much better don’t they?

I sighed and started taking off my armor. If I was lucky I could get it all cleaned up before sleep took me, and keep it clean from any more blood. The chest piece was the only part still covered in dried blood. The rest looked clean enough. With a wave of my horn the grime disappeared and my armor was once again clean.

Smoky closed his book with a small chuckle. “No matter how many times I read this book, the ending is always just as satisfying.”

I looked up from my armor. “What’s the name of the book?”

“I forget the name of it, it’s been so long since the cover was still intact. It’s about a treasure hunter named Daring Do and her adventures for a crystal skull. I’m keeping it around for Orchid to read once she’s ready. I read a few chapters to her and she got hooked.” He smiled happily about something.

So she is illiterate, maybe she just recognized a few of the words on my notepad. “Is that the only one you’ve read? There’s quite a few books in the series, all full of her adventures for different treasures. I actually owned most of the series, I think I didn’t have the last three.”

Smokey’s face lit up with excitement hearing that more books existed. I could see the gears turning in his head. “There’s more!? Oh I would love to get my hooves on more of these.” He stopped and sighed. “Unless you lived on the very edge of town it wouldn’t be worth it fer just the books, unfortunately.”

“I lived towards the eastern edge of town, not far off from the town center. So that’s a no go.” There was more in town, but I didn’t know if it would be worth going back for. “I know of some other spots in town that might have useful items, but I don’t know if it’s worth the risk.”

Orchid set her book into her bags once again looking frustrated. “Well tell us what’s there so we know what we’d be fightin fer. Guns, ammo, food or water?”

“If the geckos haven’t eaten it there should be some food that’s still good thanks to all the preservatives in it. We had a safe that we kept a gun and ammo as well as some bits in, and I wouldn’t be surprised if others did as well.” Looting the homes of my neighbors would be rough if this was any other circumstance. But considering geckos took the town over, I could live with it.

“Definitely keep it in mind for later, I’ve got an idea brewing that might make it possible.” Smoky scratched his chin as he spoke. “It’ll take me some time but I’ll come up with something. Gonna need some heavy duty gear for it, and maybe some help.”

Much as I wanted to rush in and retake my home, patience will pay dividends this time around. With just this armor and pistol I’ve got I wouldn’t stand a chance against more than a dozen geckos swarming. I wish Steel was here with that new prototype of his, sixty millimeter grenades would work wonders for killing geckos. Any explosives would do I suppose, but then we’d have to worry about structural damage.

“I’ll leave the planning to you, you’re the expert on these things.” A yawn escaped my mouth and I laid my head down. “For now I think it’s time to rest, we’ll have plenty of time to think and act tomorrow.”

“Agreed, I’ll take first watch. Smoky I’ll wake ya in a few hours, Crimson you’ll have last watch. With any luck we won’t be bothered tonight.” She stood and walked to one of the windows.

“With any luck.” I shut my eyes and thought of my old town center, the most serene place I could imagine without worrying. Sleep overtook me within minutes.