Fallout Equestria-Painful Truths

War. War never changes.

When bale fire consumed the world, those who survived did so in great underground shelters, called stables. When they opened, their inhabitants set out across the ruins of the old world to build new societies, forming tribes and establishing villages.

During the early years, of what was once the Equestrian west coast, large scores of gangs and infighting could be found across the land, with many of the gangs merely trying to survive on the dwindling resources. What they had plenty of however, were weapons and ponies to fight with.

So they fought, taking what others had and in the end those who survived were able to drag out their lives a little bit longer, until someone else came for what they had.

During this time ponies of this area gravitated to the large city of Los Pegasus, a city that was once home to celebrities of the movie industry and home to powerful industries that upheld the mining and industry of the west.

One such power has reemerged and once again, Los Pegasus is a beacon of society in the west, having been restored and maintained through the monolithic white tower that watches over the city.

These are not times for heroes, nor for the faint of heart attempting to clean these lands. These are harsh times, and during in such times there are only the wicked and the cold-hearted who survive. Our story is about such a pony, a pony that does what has to be done to survive and unlike other tales, is not a hero, but a pony on a road towards revenge.

Fallout: Equestria

Painful Truths

Prologue

Night had fallen over the land, the moon’s light concealed behind the ever present cloud cover, making passage into the ruined town very easy, but I had to move quickly, the failing light worked both ways, if I wasn’t quick enough inside I’d have to move slowly and cautiously to avoid the wrecks and rubble, and I was on a deadline.

Galloping down the street, I spied the hulk of an auto chariot abandoned beside the side walk and quickly ran to it for cover. Keeping low, I peered over the hood of the vehicle, my target just ahead and no more than fifty meters away. My objective was a five story building that, unlike the other buildings nearby, was in fairly ok condition, with the eastern side only mildly scorched and the fifth floor missing only a roof. I spied sitting in front of the building was a barricade patrolled by a couple of heavily equipped earth ponies with assault rifles strapped to the sides of saddles that they wore and sporting black armor.
They were too far away to see me, so turning to my left I crept towards the door of a hotel that was adjacent to the objective building’s east wall. By trade I am not the sneaking kind of individual, but with my steel encased hooves wrapped in rags, they made only the faintest of thuds, but I was far enough away that I wasn’t worried.

I entered the lobby of the building, the red carpet on the floor and wood paneled walls both rotting from the elements, the former covered in bits of rubble and debris from the ceiling and as always, tin cans and paper work were scattered about the place. Remembering the map of the area, I raced just a few meters ahead and moved to a door that had once said ‘Stairs’ in big bold letters, but age had faded the words badly. Opening the door and closing it quietly, I ascended the aged concrete stairs to the sixth floor, moving with great purpose.

This had only taken a few minutes, but in that time the patrol guards were already close to the buildings rear and were just below my position, their heads constantly moving and looking at the surrounding buildings, one even turning his whole body to look right at my building, but with the shroud of darkness, I was confident I’d go unnoticed and began setting up for my trip across the street.

I dropped my saddle bags and began to assemble components that, after a fashion, formed an air cannon, the device having been assembled and then taken apart for ease of transport. Assembled and ready to use, I withdrew a long rusted rail road spike, attached a length of cabling to the rear then loaded it down the barrel.

Standing up a bit I couldn’t see the guards anymore, which according to their current pattern, would take around ten minutes for them to circle back, plenty of time I thought and continued working.

I secured the end of the line to the wall, wrapping it around some exposed piping and giving it a good tug to make sure it and the pipes were secure, and to my relief, they were. Pulling myself up onto my hind legs, I saw the steel caps on the end of my fore-hooves as they gripped the rifle, the sounds of the rotary motors on my joints whirling and humming as I moved my limbs. Weapon in hoof, I narrowed my eyes slightly and making out a solid piece of concrete across the way exactly where I had been told it would be, on the target building’s fifth floor where the wall was broken and the floor’s innards exposed. I heaved the rifle to my shoulder, using the primitive sights and adjusting as needed.

As I concentrated on the concrete, I could feel the time slipping achingly fast as my window to cross began to close. I’d have precious minutes to make the shot, enter the building and descend to the next floor down before I was discovered.

I worked my hoof over the trigger, the design not created for a pony per se, but I was flexible. I took a deep breath, and then exhaled, squeezing the trigger, the gun releasing a puff of pent up air, which sent the spike flying across the gap and impaling the concrete.

With the spike now embedded in the pillar, I discarded the spent rifle, went back to my saddle bags and grabbed a bent metal tube that now looked like a V. I strapped on my saddle bags again, took a few breaths then with a running start, threw the tube onto the line and went speeding out the hole in the wall, the six story chasm below an ever present reminder to hold on but I kept my eyes on the pillar as I sped towards it at lightning speed.

I let go just as I cleared the lip of the ruined wall and rolled off to the side of the pillar, the pipe impacting with a tiny clank and then falling, making even more noise.

Looking around I could see the glow of a lamp coming up the stairs. I threw myself to my hooves again, and began descending.

Now on the fourth floor, I craned my neck around the corner spying two other ponies huddled around a card table. They weren’t supposed to be there, but it didn’t matter I assured myself, reaching into one of my larger pockets on my duster I withdrew a dirty plastic bottle and a large, slightly rusted disc with a dark red button on the top. Looking at the bottle, the words on it saying “Wonder glue”. Tearing the ribbed top off, I moved down the next set of stairs taking me to the third floor, stopping when I saw a door in front of me. Turning to the side and facing the wall and stairs, I gave the side of the concrete stairs a generous helping of glue, and then jammed the device to the side of the stairs and tapped the dark button, turning it a bright red and quickly moved towards the heavy metal door ahead of me.

Tipping my hat just a bit to the side, I let my ear unfold and pressed it against the door. I could hear high society music and conversation on the other side with an occasional chuckle. Ignoring the sounds from inside for a moment, I could hear movement upstairs too and knew they had found me out, but still, no problem. Once again, reaching inside my duster pockets I produced another old device, this one a tube with a pin at the top, which I then put in my mouth and pulled on it, just a smidge, to make sure the pin was loose. I then turned around and moved my weight onto my fore-hooves and gave the door a mighty kick with both hind-legs, flinging it open and then with a quick turn of my head, flung the tube inside and completing the turn so I faced the stairs again.

There was only a single, “What in the blue blazes?” and then a loud BANG!

I raced inside, drawing myself onto my hind legs and turned to see a dark blue earth pony guard on the floor in near full combat armor, his helmet lying in a chair only a hoofs reach away with his rifle next to it. He was on the floor clutching his eyes with his hooves and groaning, tears visible in the faint light. I moved a fore-hoof to my hip holster and with a near inaudible click, drew a pistol, the large rings on the barrel visible as I took aim at the guard’s head, pulling the trigger and splattering his brains on the floor. The stealth part of this mission was over.

Taking a quick look around the room, I could see the windows of the third floor had been blacked out with thick black cloth and was the only floor so far that had been furnished, the floor beneath my hooves was a slightly decayed wood paneling that was only slightly aged.

I moved out of the entry room into a larger, study like room, complete with book cases and fireplace. On the floor I could see a pair of stallions, one a yellow unicorn who I knew as The Professor, and one an earth pony dark green, lying on the floor, crying over their lost sight. It was only temporary, but from the sounds of it having a flash bang go off in your face seemed rather disorienting, so I made a note to avoid being hit by one and moved towards the unicorn, picking him up and moving towards the rear south side of the building.

I dropped the unicorn in a chair near the wall, reaching into my pocket to produce a brown wrapped box and a metal device that looked like a buzzer. I heard the earth pony behind me moving around and with my pistol still attached, turned and put a shot in his head. I didn’t need his fumbling around and whining distracting me while I handled military grade explosives.

A dull explosion came from behind the wall separating the study room and entry room and echoing through the hall with the broken entry door, warning me that the guards had tried coming down, not even noticing the mine. Oh well.

Pulling a metal pin jutting out from an elevated point on the side of the box, I then tossed it towards the south eastern corner of the building, and then raced for the unicorn, picking him up and moving back into the entry area. I touched the buzzer and heard a massive BOOM! Papers, wood and rubble flew around the corner from the study area. I walked back into the room, hardly missing the large hole in the wall where the explosives had gone off.

Seeing my exit, I started running for the hole with The Professor in my grasp, but was stopped cold by a sudden command to "freeze!"

“Put your hooves up now!” a mare screamed.

Letting out a sigh I turned, seeing a dark red mare and a blue colored stallion staring at me, the mare with her magical horn levitating an assault rifle in a burgundy colored aura and the stallion, an earth pony, with his mouth around the trigger mechanism of a sub machine gun.

“Drop the professor and we’ll kill you quickly.” The mare snarled.

Raising an eye brow at her I asked, “Please don’t tell me other would be thieves have actually given up after such a proposal.”

The stallion moved forward a step, forcing me to take one back, the mare holding her ground and glaring at me.

“Don’t move!” she ordered again.

I glanced over my shoulder and could see the ground below, not a death drop at three stories up, but enough to make it very painful. The whole time that this was going on though, the only thing I could think about was, “Where was that damn bird?”
I took a step towards the edge and hoped that everything else was going according to plan or this escape would go in the annals of, “worst get-a-ways ever.”

“I said don’t move asshole!” She ordered again.

“No I think I’ll take my chances with the fall thank you very much.” I said with a smile and a nod of my head.

The mare and stallion both took a few steps forward now, the stallion still not saying anything. I was about to look outside once more when suddenly my ear twitched just a bit at the sound of a sublet whooshing noise on the wind.

Knowing it was time to go, I gave the guards a smile, holstered my gun, and brought The Professor closer to my chest and quickly lashed him to my waist with a few leather belts and took another step towards the edge.

“Are you crazy?!” the mare exclaimed.

“Nope, just have a flight to catch.” I answered, tipping my hat then turning and leaping out the window, The Professor suddenly finding his voice and screaming like a young filly as we descended, our fall short lived as I suddenly felt a heavy tug on the leather belts and looked up to see my gryphon mercenary had been right on time, catching us only seconds out the window.

As we pulled away I turned back to see the guards weren’t firing their rifles or shouting obscenities, the mare had in fact lost her concentration on her rifle and dropped it, the stallion too had let his weapon slide to the ground and both stood, wide eyed and slack jawed, staring out the hole and watching us as we flew away from the ruins of the old world city and out into the barren wasteland desert.

***

It had taken a few hours to reach the safe house, the gryphon’s heavy breathing and flapping of his wings constantly there as we flew over the desert to the place his boss had chosen, a place far out of the way of any gangs and far from any towns.

The gryphon swooped close to the ground, back pedaled and dropping me to the ground, his wings kicking up a bit of sand and forcing me to shield my eyes as I walked towards a pair standing just out in front of the hut. I looked to check and see if The Professor was alright and aside from a wet spot on his pants, he was breathing normally but had passed out.
“Get whatcha aftah boy?” a gruff voice asked, coughing and spitting a bit of phlegm to the ground.

This was the brains behind what the mercenaries had simply called a “snatch and grab”. Looking at him I could tell that at one point, he had been a donkey, but like some inhabitants of the wastes, he was changed after the bombs dropped, the radiation making him look more like a corpse.. He must have been old when he was alive and a century and a quarter years did not help, but he managed, creaking forward on his boney legs towards me.

“Just as you planned, except for that rough landing after the zip line, thanks for that.” I said, making the sarcasm blatantly obvious so even the gryphon might partake in the conversation, but he just kept quiet.

“Quit your bitchin’ boy, you’re here ain’t yea.” The zombie looking donkey said, moving closer to the professor and bringing his rotting smell with him, which was not exactly the most pleasant thing to inhale, but I had learned to ignore it while in his presence.

Taking a seat on the ground with a squishy thump, he began looking the unconscious professor over, “So this is the little spit fuck we had to abscond with, eh? Doesn’t look like he knows where good loot is if you ask me…” The donkey said, his eyes slowly moving until they met mine and then just stared, his eyes not blinking while he just looked at me very sternly for a few seconds.

Raising a hoof and coughing, the awkward seconds passed, I moved past him, moving towards the doorway and eager to get this over with. I reached for the handle only to see the door fly open, forcing me to leap back a few steps. I watched as a plum colored mare in a black form fitting strolled leisurely out to the side of the doorway and gesturing for me to enter with both hooves.

I turned back to see the donkey, still watching me, and I stated my goal.

“Alright. I’ll go inside and get the location of your loot. You, merely need to wait outside until I’m done.”

The mercenaries looked unconvinced, but it wasn’t for them to question me, they were being paid either way, just not until I got the information I was after.

The donkey looked away for a moment giving another hacking cough and then back to me again, “Whatever boy, just come find me when you want to really know how to get a pony to sing for you.” The donkey said with a hoarse chuckle.

I paid the donkey’s insult of my skills no mind, I was sure he had worked with ponies before who talked a big talk and in the end come to him for help, but not this pony.

“Whatever.” I replied while opening the door and stepping inside, my hooves giving a muffled thud as I walked across the rotting wooden floor. The closing door behind me screeching shut and thudding as it hit the wall. The shed, was merely that, a shed. There were two chairs, a table and it was made of salvaged sheet metal, very simple. The only source of light was a cobbled together light from a light bulb on a wooden plank, powered by a spark battery.

I unhooked The Professor and tossed him into the chair, finally getting a good look at him. The stallion was a unicorn with brown trousers, a white lab coat with a white shirt beneath, both fine looking and only slightly worn from time. There were tools of his scientific trade on him like my pistols were to me, the only difference was I didn’t piss myself when I flew out a window like he did. I took a seat across from him and began fumbling with the cloth booties on my hooves while calling out to the pony, “Hey Professor, wakey, wakey.”

No response though.

I dropped out of my chair to all fours and strolled up alongside The Professor and gave him a few slaps on the sides of his muzzle, “Common professor, Get up. It’s work time.”

Still no reaction, so I thought I’d try another approach, the ever popular, “angry gun toting pony who wants you to spill your guts so I can get on with my life.” I turned quickly to face the table and slammed my hooves on the table, “WAKE UP!”

The stallion nearly leaped out of his chair, swiping his hooves back and forth, “Who? What!” he yelled, his pupils shrinking in terror as he took in his surroundings then finally fixing his gaze on me, his ears dropping to the sides.

“Wh-Who are you?” he asked, his body shaking subtly.

I smirked a little and told him the truth, “Who I am is not important. The only thing that is important is who you know, and what you can tell me about them.”

The stallion licked his lips for a second and then explained, “M-My research would do little in the hooves of someone, like you. I- I am just a biologist.”

I chuckled a bit at the whole, “someone like you” bit, if only he knew. I stood up on my hind legs and began to pace, my mind working better on the move, but at the same time I maneuvered myself over towards him, keeping behind him and his head faced towards the table.

“Not interested in anything you’re doing, just the ponies you know, one specifically”

He turned slowly, his eyes trying to meet mine, “Then-”

Suddenly I turned on my rear legs and slammed my fore-hooves on the table, “I Want the location of your employer!”

The stallion jumped back in his chair by the sudden action and nearly falling, but correcting himself after a moment. He tried turning again but just keep his gaze on the table, licking his lips again and then using his magic to correct his tie, “Who?”

“The Doctor, tell me where he is.”

He began to turn to me and calmly, shaking only subtly, “I know many doctors, one of which you murdered in that building. W-who do you think you are that you can just-“

I moved around the table and before he could blink, moved a hoof to a holster and drew, the gun just beside his head, my face having contorted into a angry, snarling expression, stopping his gutsy outburst completely.

“The Doctor, he’s hard to forget, goes by that title, usually killing innocent ponies and ruining lives.”

The pony sat shaking beneath the gun, I didn’t have time for him to black out again from terror, so with my left fore-hoof free, I rammed it into the side of his head and forced it onto the tablet, bringing the gun pointblank with the tip of his nose, making him talk instantly, “I don’t know anything! P-please… b-be reasonable, just- just tell me what he looks like and I might be able to help…”

I faltered for a moment as I tried to remember a clear description for what he looked like, but all I had were old memories, it had been at least a year since I had seen him last and I had quite a few pony faces I remembered. I realized I wasn’t snarling at him anymore, but instead, was just staring at the table, my expression more of angry confusion. I grabbed hold of my hate, knowing it was enough and ignoring my attempt to recall The Doctor’s face, knowing that if I saw him, I’d know, but I couldn’t explain this to him. With no description to give and not wanting to punish him for my failings, I holstered my pistol and began patting him down, hoping to find anything in his pockets that could help.

I heard a crinkling sound from a pocket. I let go of his head and threw him back in the chair with my right hoof, throwing open his lab coat and feeling around the area of the noise and discovering a folded piece of paper inside.

“Wha-What do you want? Get your hooves off me!” The stallion yelled, “That is not for you!”

I snatched it with my teeth and then put it on the table. It was not sealed and the paper was old, stained with blood or some other dark brown liquid. I opened it and read through the document I discovered it was an old transfer sheet for a military complex, and according to it, we had been losing the war with the Zebra Nation (go figure…) and these were orders transferring supplies to the front lines on Equestria’s western front and written on the top right were written coordinates that had been circled with a date, yesterday. I checked the pages for any other information and after feeling satisfied there were none, I turned back to The Professor squirming in his chair, beads of perspiration running down his face as he adjusted his tie again and licked his lips.

Kicking open the door and tossing the professor at the hooves of the mercs that were congregated around a camp fire outside, I watched the donkey ghoul look at the sprawled pony and then to me, "so... where's the loot?” He asked with a curious glare.

I reached into a pocket and tossed the trio their pay, thousands of gold bits and bottle caps fell out of the opened burlap sack at their hooves, "Right there. Now if you want to double your pay, I have another job for you." I stated.

The mercs looked at the mound of money curiously and then each other. The donkey nodded at them and huddled amongst themselves, hooves and clawed feet around each other’s shoulders, weighing their options in hushed tone.
A few minutes of waiting, and the trio turned back to me, the donkey clearing his throat and gesturing to The Professor, "Fine, but what about him? We don't have enough room to-"

Still standing up right, my hoof went for my holster, connecting with the tinniest snap and then coming out and leveling at The Professor’s head. I didn’t blink and I did not think twice about pulling the trigger, a loud, deep, electric filled bang resonated for a few seconds, echoing across the wasteland plains, and then the body caught up with gravity, and he fell with a thump. The group said nothing, but I could see that what I had done was not what they were expecting. I looked to the ground and watched as some of the desert wind blew against his coat, his body motionless and quiet. Assuring myself that he was an ally of The Doctor, I knew he was a liability and could not be trusted not to try to warn him.

I brought my hoof back to the holster and put away the pistol, raising my head and looking at them partially concealed by the brim of my hat and saying, “Let’s go."

***

The trip has been very quiet, the mercs did not like me and they were a close group, so any talking was only an occasional whisper or a chuckle. I didn’t care, I didn’t know them. I only needed their skills, nothing more.

I caught glimpses of the mare and donkey looking over at me every so often, then whisper to each other. I supposed they thought they were being sublet about it or were being obvious on purpose, either way I just ignored them and kept walking.

***

All told, it took us nearly three hours to reach the destination the documents talked about. I could spy the sunlight slowly beginning to peek over the horizon and kept moving, hoping this wasn’t another dead end because I was too slow.

We reached the top of a hill overlooking what the coordinates told us was the place and as soon as we stopped, I spied the donkey nod to the mare, she gave a quick, sarcastic salute and a smile, then raced off towards the facility.

We sat in an area surrounded by rocks, sitting in silence and just readying our gear, the gryphon worked on his battle saddle harness sporting an automatic grenade launcher and a heavy machine gun. The donkey just continued to watch the roads and check the time on his watch wrapped around his leg. Suddenly we heard the sound of someone’s hooves on rocks, I turned, keeping low and spied a shimmering apparition coming closer. The spectral like pony shape dissipated however to reveal the mare, cloaked in what was known as a stealth buck. She walked past me, continuing towards the donkey and then taking a seat.

“I saw nopony inside, the place is deserted.” She said.

“Could they’ve moved on Duty?” the gryphon asked, looking to the donkey only for him to shake his head.

“Just looking at the roads, I saw no signs of auto wagons or chariots moving along it and if this is some sort of egg head scientist or doctor, this here is one of the few places somepony can get technology from that don’t belong to a gang.” the donkey leader stated, gesturing to the facility with his binoculars.

I didn’t have any binoculars on me, but just from looking at the place, I couldn’t see any gang signs, movement, or guards. Where were the usual patrols of pre-war robots, the random patrols of gangers? It was far too quiet for my liking. Things are never quiet like this.

With a “come here” hoof gesture from the donkey, the group huddled up again. I took a seat on the ground and checked to see I was fully loaded and ready to storm the place, but an, "ahem”, drew me out of my preparations and towards the donkey, all of them staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You're a part of this too boy. Get over here." The donkey said, gesturing me to join them.

I sighed, holstering my weapons and waving them off with a hoof, “it’s your team, you handle it, that’s what you’re being paid for."

The donkey just narrowed his eyes, "That ain’t how somethin’ like this works pony. You got to know your enemy. Now tell us what to expect in there from this fella’ you’ve got a hard on for killing.”

I said nothing and went back to checking my weapons. I felt something whip against my head and saw the donkey turning back around, his tail swatting side to side.

“If you ain’t gonna tell us what to expect, then you are the one goin’ in. Not us.” He declared, I nodded and looked at him, “Good. You cover my back, and I’ll go.” I said with a sneer.

The donkey just continued to look at me then to his comrades, then back at me with a sigh, “Fightin’ for somepony is a noble thing, it’s the only thing we got that makes us better than a damned rampaging ghoul. But let me ask you this son, will killing this pony solve your problems? Is this all worth it? Because once you pull that trigger, like yah did with that poor stallion back at the shack, there ain’t no goin’ back. Now I ain’t the best to be givin’ this kind of advice, but you-“

I turned my head sharply to meet his gaze, my eyes narrowing, “His death is the only thing I’m worried about, and from I’ve heard about you and what Equestria did in the war, you are not a role model for thinking before shooting.”

I let that soak in for a moment, the donkey just glaring at me then turning slowly back to his group, huddling up and continuing their planning, while I returned to my maintenance. I heard the others saying things about me, asking why they were doing this when they had my money, but the donkey just continued to talk strategy.

I knew I needed to do this, who was he to tell me I should think it over, I barely knew him. I stopped my work for a second, looking down at my metal shod hooves, the few memories I had from my stable coming back to me, my laughter as I sat on the floor of a room, my father sitting out of sight but telling me how smart I was as I stacked the blocks together to spell dad. For the life of me I couldn’t picture my mother, but I knew she was there, somewhere. These were always hard to remember, didn’t matter how hard I tried to lock them down and remember, and it seemed the more I tried, the harder they became. I wondered if one day I would completely forget them, if life in the wastes and the lessons I’d learned to survive just the day to day struggle wouldn’t just push them aside. I didn’t want this to be my life forever, drifting from place to place collecting bits of scrap and bullets, just so I could make a living. I knew I had to do something, change my life, maybe even stop hurting ponies, but I couldn’t, not with The Doctor still alive. Bad ponies don’t get to stay alive while the good lie dead in a ditch or in an abandoned stable, especially not when there is someone who can avenge them.

I holstered my pistols and started walking towards the facility, more memories suddenly becoming crystal clear in my head, playing like a movie. I could hear someone telling me to hold up, but I didn’t reply. As I ran harder and faster, racing towards the facility with idea of killing my foe, the memories seemed to continue playing, and I believed if I stopped or slowed down, they would too.

My memories began to be the only thing I could think about, and as I got closer to the facility, they were the only things I could see. I could see the atrium of a stable, my father standing at the exit, the door opening and a dark figure stepping through, the shadow slowly enveloping my father. I was running in my memory now, along a cat walk above the atrium floor. My head turned to see the shadow finally engulfed my father, his features concealed along with the figure in the doorway.
I could hear gunfire and laser fire, screams and cries for ponies to get back, but I couldn’t place where they were, only that they were close.

I found myself suddenly running down a staircase, unsure of how I got here, but pushed the thought aside as I reached the bottom of the stairs, now running for the door way that would lead to my father. It parted just as I got into range and I saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway, my father gone. He just stood in the doorway looking at me, his muzzle moving and saying something to me, then smiling.

I watched him walk through the doorway and I gave chase, moving through the doorway to find myself in a room filled with the bodies of ponies I had never seen before, but they all wore the same blue and yellow trimmed jumpsuit of the stable I was from. As I passed by a body, I could see they were glistening, their bodies having tiny ice crystals formed on the edges of their hooves and muzzles, their complexions slightly blue, almost dead like. I knew these must have been my stable, I knew that someone must have killed them. I sprinted towards the next doorway, trying to make up for lost time and found myself heading up through the stable hallways, towards the Over-Mare office. I pushed myself as hard as I could to try to keep up but he was faster than me, always turning a corner and as I made the same turn, he would be almost at the end of the hall.

Finally he entered through a door labeled, “Over-Mare’s office”. I didn’t hesitate and followed him in, bursting through the door only to see him descending beneath the raised desk of the Over-Mare. I spied her body in a corner her body frozen and holding onto her child for dear life, their eyes closed and both looking at peace.

The sight hurt, but only a little. I knew I couldn’t help them, that I couldn’t help any of these ponies, but I could avenge them, so I raced down the secret stair case after him, hearing loud orders from behind me, commanding someone to, “find him!”
At the bottom of the stairs I followed him through a series of halls and secret doors until I was taken out into the main entrance to the stable, the large gear shaped door pulled to the side and the figure running out. I leapt over the guard rail in front of me, skidding to the side and sprinting after him up a flight of stairs, the figure reaching the top and turning, I couldn’t see him anymore, but I knew he couldn’t be far.

I reached the top of the stairs, I was in a dark building, some scents hitting me instantly of motor oils and machinery, but ignoring the foreign aromas, I could see the figure running through a doorway on the other side of the structure, and chased after it.

I was outside suddenly, still running but breathing heavily. I couldn’t see the figure anymore. Whirling around, I desperately searched for anyone, only to find when I turned around I felt a sharp pain, and then the sound of my body impacting and breaking against rocks. My sense of gravity shot and my head in a lot of pain, I willed myself up, trying to catch even a glimpse of what had happened.

I could see I had fallen down a hill, coming to rest just beside a road. Just at the crest of the hill I could see the figure standing there, his eyes a turquoise color, but his coat and other features still hard to make out. He just stood there, glaring at me until suddenly his ears perked ever so slightly, then looked down the road. I could see he had a pistol in his mouth, with blood glistening in the moon light on his muzzle. He then turned to look over his shoulder, his expression growing even angrier and then turning towards me, his eyes looking at me for only a moment before he turned and ran away.
As he ran, I could hear a voice calling out, asking for a pony called The Doctor. I wasn’t sure who they were talking about, but at the same time, I knew it was him. I knew this pony had lead to the death of my stable and I was going to make him pay.
I snapped back to my senses, remembering it was just a memory and trying to remember how I had gotten here, sitting in a chair, the back of a terminal just in front of me, sitting on a large wooden and metal desk. I got out of my chair and walked over beside the desk, seeing a broken window just behind the desk.

No one sat at the terminal, so I walked over and pulled up a chair, pushing the power button, which after a moment, caused the screen of the terminal to spring to life with a green glow, a blinking terminal prompt sitting at the top left of the screen awaiting a command. I asked the terminal with a few button presses, to access any file on this terminal, any logs or searches made from here.

It took a moment, but then it showed me that all other data had been deleted, recently, and there was only one message left.

I opened the file and began reading the message...

“Welcome Mr. Fell Iron. I hope that you have found your way here and that after your nap, have thought to check this terminal. If not, then this message means nothing to you. But if you are Mr. Fell Iron, then I must apologize for not being able to meet you in person, but I am a very busy pony.

I write this also to remind you, that you have failed, and because of that, you are now without any clues as to where I have gone. With no leads, I suspect you will find a place to wander off to, perhaps even try working on not continuing to be an embarrassment to your entire stable Mr. Fell Iron.

I am no soothsayer, but if this is the effort you are putting towards finding me, then I suggest that you should learn what it takes to survive out here, learn how ruthless a pony must be in these times in order to get what they want. These are the skills you must know if you are to catch me, mercy and kindness are a weakness that is not shared by your adversaries, Mr. Fell Iron.”

I slammed my hooves on the table, furious with myself, wondering how I could have been faster to get here, how could I have gotten that pony to hand me the location to this place instead of spending precious minutes on trying to get him to speak.

I re-read the message, hoping for information, but there was nothing and the only thing I could see that stood out, was in the opening statement.

Nap? What nap?

I looked outside and saw that it was still dark out. I sat in the chair and checked again, there was no sun coming up, the sun was setting. I checked the time-stamp on the message, seeing it was marked having been created this morning!

I raced outside as fast as I could. I ran through the halls, bullet holes were scattered all over the walls and bullets casings and bodies were amongst the trash on the floor, bodies of ponies in gang leathers and looted suits of combat armor, I could even see robot bodies and the destroyed hulks of turret emplacements on the ceiling. I wasn’t sure what sick nightmare this was but I wanted out, now!

I ran out the front doors to see two burnt out auto wagons, one with a large, quad barreled gun on the back and the other covered in pony bodies and gore, the engine blown apart and riddled with bullets. I began approaching the wreckage, looking everywhere for any survivors, but no one was moving, no sounds besides the occasional howling wind.

Almost to the wagons, I spotted a familiar wing protruding from behind a sandbag wall and I raced over to see what had happened to the gryphon.

When I got closer I saw he was not alone, the mare and donkey lay beside him, their eyes closed, each with a bullet hole in their heads coming from the front. At my hooves, I spied four cigars lying in front of the donkey, three with the ends torn off, the fourth sitting just a little away from the others.

I went to check the loads on my pistols and found they were empty, my breathing began to pick up and I felt strange, I wasn’t sure what had happened, but for some reason I think… I think I killed these three.

I started looking around, looking for anyone who wasn’t dead, but still no one. I didn’t know them, and I owed them nothing, but I knew that somehow, The Doctor had been responsible, even perhaps going out of his way to drug me and turn me against them, but I didn’t know, and it hurt. It was a strange feeling. I knew what it was like to not be able to remember something I wanted to, but this, this was different, if I had killed these three, because of what The Doctor did...

I bent down next to them, taking back the money I had given the donkey earlier. I had been told that the dead didn’t need what they had on them, and I knew that this might be rather harsh, but still did it. I took their weapons and everything I could store in the saddle bags I grabbed off the donkey, loading up on guns, bullets, meds, everything.

Loaded up I started walking towards the road, knowing that I had no leads, nothing to follow. The ponies who had died out in front of the place had obviously been gangers coming here for loot and found us, thinking the mercs were trying to steal their find and tried to kill them. They had no markings, and the vehicles were common enough to find if you were from one place.

I began walking down the stretch of road out in front of the base. In the distance I could see a white glow emanating in the distance, but I knew the source, and began heading towards it.

The light was a beacon, beckoning all towards it, acting as a sort of lighthouse in the sea of disappear and evil that was the wastes.

As I walked I just continued trying to imagine his face, The Doctor’s, knowing that he was right. If I was to try to kill him, things like mercy, and pity, were a luxury I could not afford. Nothing else mattered, no one else mattered. All I wanted was my revenge, and whatever the cost, I’d have it.

_______
( Based in the universe of Fallout Equestria By Kkat. http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/04/story-fallout-equestria.html )
(Pre-reading/ general help done by: Horus_Ascended, Msvman)