Fallout:Equestria - Underdogs

Chapter 3.

Not What It Seems

A flash of light went off, followed by screeching.

“H-he never told me anything! I swear! Please stop!” a purple mare huffed out frantically. Somepony in a white lab coat jotted down on a clipboard, another shock commenced. Again, followed by frantic screeching. “I won't… tell anypony.”

I told Pipedream about what had happened. I was panicking, was I really going to leave? Did she really mean that I had to leave the Stable? Pipedream understood I was under a lot of stress and pressure. She told me it was my choice to leave and find out what happened, or stay here. I locked myself in my room, pacing back and forth while my mind raced with possibilities. I rummaged through my room frantically, looking for any kind of clues through past memorabilia like pictures or things associated with him. In an old box there was a picture of him and mom embraced looking at the camera. I never knew him. But my parents both looked so much happier together, my mother didn't have the eyebags and painful glare like I had seen today.

I realized how much Briarlight had changed her, after he was presumed dead and sent outside the Stable for whatever reason. How much my mother looked different, happier, more alive. I hadn't realized until now how miserable my mother had been, she always looked the same to me. But my father, somepony who was always smiling in every photo I saw. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know who he really was. And maybe… leaving the Stable might give me the chance.

Pacing back and forth, I contemplated really leaving the Stable behind. Did I really want to follow the hoof marks of my father who may or may not be dead?! Is this really what I wanted? I thought back to my mother, who urged me to leave. Subconsciously, I blocked out all the pros and cons and began packing. I had no idea what I would find outside the Stable, or if anything was even out there. But something was calling me out there, something wanted me to go.

I told Pipedream to meet me by the Stable door that night. After taking one last trot down the white sterile halls. All I could hear was my own hoofsteps, which echoed softly. The hallways looked so odd when everypony was gone, I used my PipBuck to light the way. And after traveling up to Floor 0, Pipedream was there looking worried while fiddling with her PipBuck. She unlocked the Floor 0 door and escorted me up a winding staircase. After walking a while, the staircase walls were stripped into just metal bars. Looking out exposed a massive tunnel going straight up and down, wires and pipes ran through it and lights constantly blinked. I couldn’t help but stare as the large tunnel that echoed our hoofsteps, the whole place looked like I was swallowed by a large mechanical dragon. We reached the top floor, the Stable door was closed shut with 52 painted on.

Pipedream walked to a side panel and opened the control box. She began hooking the wires from it to her PipBuck, the sound of sparks echoed through the massive chamber. Looking over the thin platform we stood on, I could've sworn the chamber growled back at me. A gust of wind flipped up my hair and I stumbled back, shaking on my hooves. A loud beep rang out from the chamber followed by a hissing noise with large mechanical movement. Pipedream looked at me with a longing stare, her eyes filled with sorrow. She embraced me in a deep hug, I could hear her sniffling in my ear. I shuddered as the reality of my situation set in. Pipedream whispered in my ear,

“you better come back. Who knows what's out there, I just hope you find the answers you need.” She gave me my utility belt that still had the freshly used tools in them. I thanked her.

A large machine dismounted from the wall, the rusty squeaking noises echoed. The Stable door was slowly pulled back, a bright light stung my eyes and painted the large chamber. Slowly stepping out on the stairs I could feel fresh air blowing on me. The sounds of the wind whistling filled the air as I stepped on the surface. It was cold, I stepped on a soft white texture that stung my hooves. The mechanical sound of the Stable door closing behind me made my heart skip a beat. The rough texture of the ground scraped my hooves and wind brushed my mane. Suddenly while walking my PipBuck started beeping, a new entry for my inbuilt map. I was on a mountain.

The Smokey Mountains. Containing Stable 52, maybe I could follow my PipBuck map and find some kind of settlement. White pellets landed on my mane and jumpsuit, they were falling from the sky. Looking up I saw pure emptiness, just a gray void spanning all around. It made me uneasy, it filled me with almost a sense of dread. Crawling down the slippery black rocks, I was hesitant flying down, the wind seemed like it was already knocking me over. I didn't want to lose control and fall. The edge of the mountain was taunting me, I swallowed hard and closed my eyes when jumping rock to rock. My heart skipped several beats continuing to slip around.

A broken chain link fence covered a pathway along the mountain. Broken signs and warnings decorated the fence. Walking around the path I could feel crunching underneath my hooves. Scrapping back the snow, was a pony’s ribcage. The sense of dread shook me to my core and I stumbled back to catch my breath. I felt the feeling of more crunching underneath of me. Taking a closer look at the snow blanket covering the ground, more bones and skeletons caught my eye. Overwhelming me. I was in a snow graveyard. I could feel my heart racing, my throat was closing up and the feeling of panic consumed me. Instinctively I flapped my wings and raced away from the gated fence as fast as possible. I couldn't control how fast I was barreling down the mountain side, nothing in the Stable would have come close to something like this. The wind cut my cheeks and I squealed in pain. Eventually it had gotten easier to control my flight, but I was going too fast.

Smoke and dirt changed the color of the atmosphere into a pale brown. The air felt heavier to breath, and the surface came to view. Before I knew it, I came crashing to the bottom. I tumbled over jagged rocks that scraped my body, the rough dirt felt like sandpaper. I came to an abruptly painful stop, a dust cloud crashed over me as I heaved for air. Gashes and cuts littered multiple sides of my body. I shook off the remaining dirt, my legs ached to the point I was shaking. My left wing stung when I tried to stretch it. Ow ow owwww. Internally howling in pain, my PipBuck began flashing. The green screen flashed warnings that my back hoof, left wing, and ribs were severely injured. Along with minor cuts and wounds along my body.

Every breath I took in felt like sharp knives carving my chest and stomach. Heaving myself onto my hooves, I looked around just to see a hollow world. Everything was dead or dying. The sharp pang of regret and fear mixed into the pain I was already feeling. I really should’ve taken some bandages, or a medkit for Celestia's sake! Yelling at myself for being so forgetful didn't help how I was already feeling. I was practically dragging myself through the cracked dirt, when the sound of a loud bang echoed from farther west. I shuddered while keeping my head low. Thankfully what looked to be a farmhouse was not far from where I was, I could rest and try to tend to my open wounds.

Walking past the sad looking fence practically painted by dirt and rotting, gave me a lonely feeling. Broken barrels sinking into the dirt and eroding away. The old farmhouse window creaked and groaned from the wind blowing through. I cautiously pushed aside the front door, barely hanging off its hinges like it had been torn off. My hooves made the ancient floorboards squeak, the house seemed to have been gutted. No furniture or appliances in sight. Turning on my PipBucks flashlights, it seemed everything of use was already long scavenged from here. Remains of rotten food plagued the pantry, I scrunched my nose from the smell. My curiosity led me down the farm's hallway, where a broken staircase sat. The upstairs had been completely barraced, I wasn’t that curious to find out why.

Natural light seeped its way into what I assumed was once a bedroom on the first floor. Nothing but an old dresser and mold decorated the room. The handles to the dresser were rusty and didn't give way immediately. The dresser had nothing but old filly clothes. Colorful patterns of dresses and shirts turned brown and wet, tainted by time. My meter of self pity and sadness had reached its peak, I retreated from the room.

In the living room, I pitifully licked my wounds to clean them. Iron and dirt was all I could taste while using what little knowledge I had of self restoration. Mom wouldn't be proud. Reminiscing on memories where my mother would treat injuries I would get all the time as a filly. I was reckless and was quick to put myself into danger or get hurt. The bleak rotting farmhouse reminded me of my situation. I was never really sure if I would find my dad, or try to help my mom. I was unsure of what I was really doing. I chased away those helpless thoughts and rested my eyes. Laying down was hard enough, let alone walking, I deserved this rest. My sides heaved in short and quick intervals to avoid causing anymore pain to my ribs. It felt hard to breathe on the surface, all the dust and smoke made me miss the recycled air of the Stable.

My rest was barely fulfilling. I could hardly relax in my new environment, everything was otherworldly compared to the harsh white tiling I was always used to. Natural grass on the surface felt dead and pitiful, dead leaves crunching under my hooves felt foreign. I followed lights in the distance as best as I could. But the pain of my broken body made it hard to walk. Flying was out of the question, anytime I tried flexing my wing I whined in pain. The ground turned to cracked pavement when I entered a small town. I followed the smell of fresh smoke into the ruins of what looked to be some kind of residential building. Barbed wire fences and barricades blocked most of the entrances. climb over several large containers to get in the perimeter. Getting closer caused my PipBuck to ping, alerting me of something nearby.

Maybe it was another pony, maybe they could help me. The heat map alerts were displayed as red bars, I turned on my light and snuck inside the caved in wall of the building. Almost every wall was covered in profanity with spray paint, some cursing Celestia while others were random obscenities I didn't know was a thing. The floor was littered with broken glass and dried blood, the smell of indescribable foulness made me flinch. Old wallpaper was decorated with numerous holes and slowly chipping away.

Sounds of talking froze me in my path. A room down the hall was the only light I could see, besides my PipBuck. Laughter and yelling gave me hope, maybe I could fix my wounds and they could help me find any kind of civilization. I slowly peeked my head around the corner.

“H-hello?” I wheezed out. The ponies in the room all stopped to stare at me, they were covered in armor and scars. Each pony looked crazier than the last, blood coating their hides along with various severed body parts as decoration. My heart dropped. The ponies sprang up, grabbing weapons littered around the room. I couldn't even get another word out before a heavily armored large stallion yelled something to the others and a scrawny mare responded.

“What the fuck?! How’d a Stable Dweller get in here?”

“Kill it! Those hoof terminals go for a shit ton!”

The room erupted into chaos as two ponies started chasing me. They shot at me while I tried my best to weave through the narrow hallways. Now I know where those holes came from! My whole body was in agony as my rapid breathing felt like I was constantly being stabbed. But thankfully I was able to climb through a broken window and half limp half run from the building. A bright light blinded my eyes as I finally figured out where the smoke was coming from. A fire, roasting a small pony. I could barely see what their original fur color was, it was all burned and skinned off.

I felt sick. I gagged while running, holding my breath trying not to breathe in any more of the horrible stench. Loud yelling herded me into the other direction, I crawled under barricades and cried for mercy. I bit my tongue and hid under some rubble, my PipBuck told me they were near.

“Where'd that little shit go…” a brown stallion whispered under his breath.

“Don't tell me you lost her?” a green mare replied. Their conversation continued as they scouted areas away from me. When they were distracted I crawled into another building, this one was in better condition. Celestia, please help me! Rummaging around the abandoned storage I was able to find a few healing bandages and unknown drugs I didn't bother checking. I threw anything that might be useful into my saddle bags and desperately tried to find a way out of this town. Wrapping the bandages around my hooves frantically while trying to keep quiet. My PipBuck said the killer ponies weren't near me, thankfully. Although I didn't feel any better, the building I was in already creeped me out. Old pictures and paintings hung on the walls of once happy ponies. Pre-war ponies.

Memorabilia was left around the almost empty rooms of the building. Stuffed animals, pictures, toys, clothes. Sitting here for the past 200 years. But what most disturbed me was the boarded windows and small skeletons huddled in corners together. Everything was once normal, I couldn't bare to look at the remains of the past. I sped up to find an exit faster.

Not long after escaping from the small town I felt tears swell in my eyes. Warm tears streamed down my cheeks. I huffed and whined, the agony of my injuries mixed with surviving what should have been my death. To the first ponies I had met once coming outside the Stable. Regret swelled my head, was this really what I should have done? While I silently grieved my life in the Stable, my PipBuck flashed an alert. A green dot coming towards me at alarming speeds. Looking up I could make out something in the sky flying overhead. Watching it get closer I was able to see whoever was flying was also carrying a wagon too. The sky betrayed my vision and kept the mysterious figure shadowed. It swooped overhead at moderate speeds, I realized it was another pegasus!

“Hey! Hey!” I frantically yelled out to the sky, I flapped my wings in a desperate attempt to catch up to the pegasus. Unfortunately I fell straight onto the ground and cried in agony, remembering my broken wing. For Luna's sake can someone just help me?! All I could do was watch the pegasus fly further into the distance. I continued walking in the direction from where the other pegasus came from. Maybe I would find ponies who could help me. I quickly stifled that thought, the last time I hoped for something like that I ended up in worse condition.

Nothing but the ruins of highways and roads was all I could follow. Wagons and passenger cars littered the road. The occasional skeleton would make me jump or hesitate a moment. Slowly the roads began to diverge off, a train track was coming into view. Just behind it I could see a small town on the horizon. My PipBuck gave me a notification, I was arriving into Concolt.

A humming tune interrupted my train of thought, I was stuck analyzing the environment with astonishment. While feeling the cracked rubble and pavement underneath my hooves and the harsh wind lashing on my coat, the surface seemed so alien to me. But the sound of a static filled radio playing a sad tune distracted me, the sounds echoed through the destroyed town. I waded through various street lamps, benches, and wagon cars carefully, keeping my head low. I checked my PipBuck worriedly, but no bars appeared on my sensor. Peeking behind an alleyway where the radio got louder, low buzzing accompanied the sad toned voice. The mare singing sounded like she was wailing in grief more than singing, her voice was amplified by the barren brick and concrete walls. I couldn't make out most of the lyrics from the quality of the radio, but I could understand how she was feeling.

Finally I was able to locate the source of the sound. A floating radio in the style of a bug, mechanical wings with long antennae. It floated aimlessly while filling the silent air. I crept up to it, carefully watching the robot bob up and down. Creepy. Just when I was distracted, a large insect crawled from underneath a car wagon. I jumped and watched the gross thing quickly dart from area to area before stopping near my hooves. My PipBuck gave a notification, ‘radroach’. The index said radroach meat could be sold or eaten. Gross! I scrunched my nose at the grotesque creature and batted it away. A large building had colorful red and white stripes slowly chipping away, with a large sign on top that said ‘GoodieBuck’. A gray stallion with a cartoony smile greeted me while holding a plate of pancakes and a coffee cup.

Most of the windows were broken and the roof looked caved in on the west side. Its walls were lined with booths with a single counter wrapping around the other wall. Old torn wool and fabric sprang from the booths, the floor was a checkered tile stained with blood. Dirty glass mugs and cups were sorted on the shelf behind the counter, the floor was sticky from multiple old drinks spilled on it. A rusty cash register made a loud ‘clunk’ sound when I pried it open. Pre-war bits glittered underneath cobwebs and dust. A dirty fridge displayed various flavors of Sparkle-Cola. I stocked my bag with a few before leaving. Hungerly sipping on one on the way out.

More gunshots caught my attention from the center of Concolt, yelling and screams filled the air. All my instincts were telling me to turn tail and run, but the screams for mercy dragged me closer and closer. Multiple red bars appeared, two ponies patrolled the entrance of a grand building. Flags and fliers were hanging around it, compared to the rest of the town this building looked built during ancient times. I snuck around a few alleyways to get closer to the grand building. The building was officially marked on my map ‘Museum of Unity’. Pressing my face up against a dirty window, I could see multiple ponies strung together in chains huddled together. Barracudas kept them in a small corner, the back entrance was left ungaurded but locked shut. Although I don’t know how to lockpick effectively, I was able to eventually break the lock. Slowly creaking the door open and trotting inside, the walls were in stark contrast to the outside of the Museum.

Pure wood predominantly made up the inside, I slowly lurked behind a hallway where my PipBuck indicated hostile ponies around the corner. Down another hallway I had a clearer view of the wide open interior, the roof was caved in revealing a natural ray of light. Decorations and displays told of pre-war pony history. I found the corner of ponies huddling together, they looked at me in confusion while exchanging worried glances. They looked malnourished and sickly, their coats covered in dirt and blood.

Before I could say or do anything to help, raspy voices came from behind another hallway. I bolted for a nearby room and hid behind the door. The room had a shabby wooden desk like everything else in here, but a terminal caught my eye. I fiddled with the password for a bit before unlocking it. The password was ‘Unity’. How clever.

Entry 6
Damages and reconstruction

I’m disappointed I even need to say this, the display models are NOT TO BE PLAYED WITH! For the past week we’ve been recording more damages to mannequins and props inside exhibits. It cost more bits than this place makes in a month to fix the damages done. This very morning I found a unicorn with a broken horn in exhibit 12. Whoever is doing this will be fined with damages and docked on pay.

• Chief Plaidcuff

I scrolled through my entries of pre-war complaints and messages, recording the decline of the museum’s profits. But I refocused myself on my situation, how was I supposed to get out of here with hostile ponies right outside the door? Shuffling through drawers and anything I could find, I found a dusty gun, my Pipbuck labeled “10mm pistol” with a few rounds left inside. Shooting a gun was beyond my abilities, I had no idea how to handle one either. While I was at the residential building with my first encounter with other ponies, some of them held guns in their mouths and shot them with their tongues. My heartbeat increased as I cocked the slider to reload. Steadily adjusted the gun in my mouth. The cold metal feeling made me shiver, before I could even psych myself up a hostile pony barged into the room complaining about why it was locked.

“Huh? Who the fuck are you? Wait… are you a fuckin’ Stable dw-” I panicked and and accidently pulled the trigger with my tongue, the bullet went straight through his eye. The recoil knocked me back as I gagged on the gun shoved half way down my throat. I stared at the bleeding corpse of the orange stallion. A hole gaped clean through his eye. I couldn't stop staring at his body, I just… killed somepony! Fuck, fuck!

“What the hell was that?!” More ponies headed towards my location, red bars painting my vision. Nothing but pure panic and adrenaline made me pull the trigger at the scampering hostile ponies barreling towards me. After I shot another one through the shoulder, they scattered and retreated. One pony yelled out and threw something into the shallow room. A green shaped object rolled on the floor, I ducked behind the old desk in a panic. The object exploded and my ears rang out, bits and pieces of the wood flew everywhere. Taking this as a chance to make a run for it, accidentally charging right into a pony covered in spiked armor. I tumbled over him and ran past the others to find cover.

One teal pony caught me by surprise and bucked me back so hard it sent me flying. I coughed and squirmed, the kick knocked the wind out of me. Turning the 10mm pistol on the teal mare, I shot two bullets through her neck and face.

“Chains?! Fuck, fuck! Stupid piece of shit, you're gonna pay fucking pay!” a red pony with spikes and a helmet crashed from the corner, the mare slammed her hoof right next to me. She had knives attached to her forehooves, they scraped my coat and blood dripped on the floor.

“Stop! Stop! What the hell is wrong with everypony?” she pushed me further into the floor while her knives dug into my skin. I reared up my legs and kicked her in the stomach. One of the display cases featuring a unicorn soldier holding a spear was the only place I could retreat to. The red mare jumped after me but before she could land, I broke off the spear and stabbed her through the shoulder. She screamed in agony while rolling around on the floor.

“F-fuckin’ Stable ponies! Should’ve stayed in that hole you crawled out of!”

“It’s a better place than up here!” I shouted back at her, now was my chance to find the trapped ponies. They looked terrified and on guard, almost like any movement they made would kill them. I tried breaking the locked cage open, slamming my hooves into it.

“Wait, in that drawer. There’s a key!” Some sickly dark blue stallion pointed out to me, I ripped open the drawer on accident from the adrenaline and grabbed the key. As steadily as possible I unlocked the cage and watched the scared ponies spill out.

“There’s an exit through the backdoor, hurry!”

The place was clear and quieter than when I had entered, but I decided to still snoop around on guard. Exhibits featured diagrams and models about ancient times, before Equestria was founded. How unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi were separated and lived independently. I was more interested in the pegasi depictions, although most signs and guides were broken and TV screens smashed. “FUCK PEGASI” was spray painted on pegasi focused exhibits, along with more insults and crude messages. As I walked down a long hallway, the exhibits featured horrifying creatures that apparently plagued ancient Equestria. I was able to make out these were called “windigos”, a creature formed from disharmony and segregation. A large room had a display in the middle of three ponies hugging around a large ice heart. A unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus, their connection banishing the windigos and saving Equestria from eternal snow. All of this was mostly new to me, I had very little knowledge of Equestria’s history before the Great War. As far as I knew, ponies only knew harmony between each other. Until the war.

Thankfully I was able to scavenge some more bandages and a glass vial with purple shining liquid my PipBuck marked as a ‘healing potion’. I took my chances and swallowed the old potion. I could feel my bones and muscles moving beneath my skin, shuddering and wiping a sweat off my forehead. My legs no longer ached and it didnt hurt to breathe as much, I felt better than ever. I stuffed my new gun in my bag and scraped together all the other guns and ammo I could find. I met the ponies I saved outside, a dark blue stallion greeted me instantly with his thanks.

“Thank Celestia somepony freed us! And a pegasus too!” He scanned me up and down.

“You're one of them Stable folk? Right? It's been a long time since a Stable pony was seen up here,” he trailed off into his own thoughts while the other ponies around us expressed gratitude.

“Who were those guys? Why is everypony acting so… crazy!”

“Slavers kid. Celestia forbid you get caught by any of 'em, I'd take my chances with a raider instead. The surface ain't no ‘cupcakes and rainbows’ like Stable hiders say it was.” Slavers?! How much worse could the wasteland get?! Those ponies who attacked me before must have been raiders…I couldn't help but stare at the scars lining the blue stallions body. In fact, almost all of these ponies were injured in some way. I stared at a poor old mare who was missing her back leg and eye, she cuddled a young pink filly.

“The name's Saffron,” Saffron graciously shook my hoof.

“Oh, I'm Starbreaker” I said sheepishly, I was never good at introductions. Although I had just saved them. Saffron gathered the other ponies and spoke to them like a leader. They began traveling away from townsquare. I galloped after them to ask Saffron where they were going, and he replied that there's a town northwest of Concolt where they were originally from.

“You could travel with us, could need the extra protection! Some of us aren't doin’ too well.”

“Oh-sure! But what happened up here?”

“Same thing that happened everywhere else. Megaspells.” Saffron gazed into the sky longingly. A mint green mare trotted up to my left, “haven’t seen a pegasus in years…” her eyes were pinned onto my wings in curiosity. But her comment made me realize, so far my time on the surface I hadn’t seen any pegasi, except for that figure flying a wagon not too long ago.

“What do you mean? Surely there’s other pegasi up here, right?” I chuckled at her, the mint mare gave a disappointed look and sighed.

“They’re in the clouds doing Luna knows what, keeping resources from the ponies down below. How many more of us have to be killed before they finally help us?”

I could tell this was a touchy subject to everyone around here.

“But that doesn’t mean they’re all bad, Valor!” Saffron cheered me up, I smiled in return. A few foals were staring at me while we walked, it caught the attention of a few older ponies. A yellow mare snipped at her filly to not stare at strangers, but I could feel her eyes still on me. A small brown colt trotted up to me.

“can you reawwy fwy with those wings?” He smiled wide revealing a few teeth missing from his mouth that made him lisp some words. As if that were the floodgates opening, more foals surrounded me asking questions and gazing at my wings and pointing out things in my body. My bag, PipBuck, Stable jumpsuit. Valor and Saffron shuffled a few of the curious foals away to give me space, but I could see in their eyes they were secretly curious too.

“My wing is a bit injured, but I can still move them! see?” I flapped my purple wings, stifling my wince in pain, the foals gave a collective ‘woah’. Suddenly a white stallion appeared behind me, his scruffy yellow mane rested on top of his shattered glasses.

“May I take a look?” He asked politely before I allowed him to examine my broken wing.

“Hmmm” he poked my wing in a spot that made me recoil

“Ow!”

“Oh give it a rest, Splinter.” Valor motioned towards. Splinter pulled out a hefty bag of stuff with his magic. He methodically searched through the bag and pulled out a small metal pole and some dirty bandages. Without asking he pulled my wing with his pink magic and wrapped the pole around it, I bit my lip holding back a squeal of pain. Splinters tugging made me stifle back tears but he successfully set my wing.

“Ta-da! Should be good as new, soon enough!” I awkwardly laughed and thanked him.

“The pleasure is all mine! I wouldn’t give up the opportunity to treat a pegasus.” It felt weird to be admired for being who I was, definitely not used to that in the Stable.

Nightfall forced the group to find some shelter for the night. An old market with various items was our choice to sleep. Snooping around, all valuable supplies had been taken or destroyed long ago. Food and water were off the table here. Mares cuddled their fillies and colts and whispered lullaby’s to them. In the meantime I fiddled with my PipBuck, reading more Stable 52 files. Switching through broadcasting stations, most of which produced static. Until I flipped a channel to a bucks voice,

“-astlelanders. If I know a thing or two about radiation fields, you should probably take your chances and run before you start growing a second horn! Or your hooves start sticking to the ground. And boy, stay far far away from taint. Always carry RadAway! It's gonna be rainy over Neighvaro tonight, make sure to keep yourself sheltered in case it's acidic. And now, a single from the Sweetie Belle Crusader collection.-”

Yet another song by that mare I heard on the spritebot, the same vocals filled with sorrow. Soft jazz played in the back.

“Who was that?” The other ponies gave me a weird look, unanimously glancing at each other with a smirk.

“You don't know DJ pon3? Have you been living in a hole your whole life?” one mare chuckled, I glanced at my stable barding. The number 52 in bright yellow stood out like a sore hoof, the memories of Stable 52 pained me to even think about. I missed my mom, I missed my friends. The small giggles fizzled out among the group, I excused myself and strolled down the other aisles in the abandoned store. Outdated snacks in cartoony packaging was a stark contrast to the grim environment. What really caught my eye was a cereal box with big letters ‘SUGAR BOMBS! New Zap Apple Flavor!’.

I peeled open the century old box and a very strong sweet smell hit my nose like a literal zap, the pellets of cereal were in rainbow coloring. The taste was unlike anything before, the sweetness made everything in Stable 52 seem like straight dirt! I strolled through the rest of the aisles munching on the sugar bombs greedily. I caught myself wishing I could share this with Wetstone or Zippy. I chased away the painful feelings by distracting myself. Making sure to grab and hoard any shiny pre-war bits I could find. I was examining a shiny gold bit with a carving of a mare. The group was talking amongst themselves looking more relaxed.

“I'm starving, fuck I cant remember the last time I didn’t eat scraps”, Valor whined.

“Yeah you said it”

Saffron and Valor chatted while I flipped through my PipBuck, fiddling with the settings and different tabs. Everypony else had fallen asleep, or had been so quiet it felt like they were asleep. Only a small lantern lit the little corner Saffron, Valor, and I were huddled in. The wind outside howled and scraped against the rickety building. Threatening to collapse and expose us to the elements. I tried closing my eyes, counting invisible fillies jumping a fence to soothe myself. But no matter how hard I tried, I could still feel the pain pulsing through my body. The feeling of my heart beating so fast I could hardly breathe. Fear shaking through my hooves and desperation gripping at my mind, images of the bloody corpse flashed over and over again. Tormenting me.

Ponies being gored and displayed as decoration, bones and limbs crunching below my hooves. The burning pony being roasted of their coat and flesh, the putrid smell lingering in my nostrils, the feeling of bullets grazing my hide and the sound as they flew by echoed over and over. My face felt warmer, I pried one of my wings to wrap around my body, curling up with my knees close to my chest. I silently weeped. My body twitched and jerked in pain, my ribs ached as I grew weary. The cold dirty floor stuck to my body leaving me shivering alone.

I trudged after the group while dragging my hooves. Thankfully we were getting closer to the settlement, Maretrudge, where Saffron and everypony else was from. Valor told me there's a shortcut to Maretrudge nearby. A pink unicorn mare shifted through her saddle bag, pulling out a rusty can of sliced carrots.

“Give it a rest, would ya, Dusty? We won't have enough to eat by sundown.” Dusty dumped the soggy carrots in her mouth and packed it back in her saddle. She caught my eye lingering on her.

“You rarely ever find unspoiled or intact cans in the wasteland, once I found a strange green glowing mushy goo from a can. It smelt of straight sulfur and death, haha!”

I guess I never really thought about the lack of food on the surface. Scraps were never really an issue in 52. The food up here was gray and soggy. “The carrots in my Stable are large and almost a glowing orange. I really like carrot stew, have you ever tried some?” she gave me an odd look while stifling a chuckle. Dusty wrapped her scrap metal prosthetic hoof around me.

“Pish posh! You haven't lived unless you wrestled a bloatsprite for a rotten box of tomatoes. Couldn’t even tell they were tomatoes, practically black sludge! Or even eating a bloatsprite..” she trailed off seemingly lost in thought of violent scavenging memories. What is a bloatsprite? A picture of a floating ball of mass leaking puss from holes scarred my mind. Gross. After what felt like an hour of walking through the dry and dead land, my PipBuck alerted me with a ping. A red bar far in front of us. Ping ping. More red dots appeared, all moving abundantly together towards us. Dusty and Splinter noticed my dismay and paused to look at me, I shouted up to Saffron and the others that something was approaching. Fast. Saffron and Valor instinctively pulled weapons from their bags.

Valor held a long barreled gun my PipBuck again labeled “pump action shotgun”, while Saffron divided knives and miscellaneous objects that were modified to smash or cut between the other group members. Kicked up dust filled the air limiting our vision, only the continuous pinging and red bars were visible.

A gray stallion sluggishly forced their body forward. He seemed to be unarmed, dragging their own body behind them. He lifted up his head followed by a low groan, liquids oozing from his mouth. Eyes rolled into the back of his head, white glazed eyes-

BANG

The buck fell to the ground, blood gushing from his head. His skull, exposed with bits of bullet shrapnel lodged into the front of his hide. Still writhing around, gurgling and spitting out blood.

“What the hell was that?!” I cried out, looking around for any explanation. Valor held her shotgun between her teeth, eyes glued to the stallion's body in anger. The only words I could choke out, make sense of;
“Why…”

Growling, slobbering teeth lunged out of the dust. Attempting to tear apart Splinter, but Splinter was faster. Using his magic to shove his overfull bag into the snarling mouth of the green aggressive pony. His pink magic enwrapped, slamming a medkit into the savage ponies head. My nerves were on edge, my heart pounding fast, pure confusion and panic made me freeze in place. Lost on what to do. More and more of these savage and glazed eyed ponies lunged out of all sides, taking everypony of guard. Startled, I stumbled back. A hissing sound came from behind me, an exposed boney rotting hoof grazed my back legs. The pony reaching out to me, lacked a bottom half, organs and rotting intestine dangling and dragging on the ground. All that escaped from my mouth was a scream of pure terror. Thankfully Dusty ran from behind me and impaled the rotting pony through the head, it seemed to be like impaling a pillow with how fragile its skull was.

“What are you doing?! Get your head out of your ass!” and just as fast as she appeared, Dusty launched to skewer another decaying pony. My PipBucks geiger counter was clicking unrestfully, getting even faster when a rotting pegasus flew right into me, careening over each other. Groaning and slobbering all over me, rolling around in desperation. My hooves held the pony up as it snapped its head at me over and over trying to get a bite, its decrepit wings flapping rapidly dragging me across the ground. Flipping over, I reared my hind legs defensively and bucked the pegasus clean in the face. I felt a crack under my hooves as the pegasus widely spazzed around, its face drooping off its broken skull. Its eye dangling out of its socket, screeching and hissing. Until a pony within our group sliced its neck open with a rusty cooking knife. Blackish red goo spewing out on the cracked dirt and over the orange unicorn who hacked them.

Valor was the one who picked me up on my hooves. While I was scuffling with the decaying flesh pegasus, the contents of my saddlebags spilled out. The 10mm pistol laid on the ground, valor picked it up and shoved it into my chest while I held it up with my wings.

“Don’t just stand there, kid! There’s more coming, make yourself useful!”
I held the pistol in my mouth, shaking, I aimed it up.
One more snarling pony lunged from the dust, its white coat stained with dirt and blood. The original color, barely even visible. I lined up the shot, my PipBuck marked the blood stained pony as; ‘Ghoul’.