Fallout:The Valley

Chapter Two

Light shined into Rainbow Dash’s eyes as Wilson opened the door. Wilson stepped out, followed by Rainbow Dash. “You think you can run? We only have a few hours till nightfall and I want to get as far as possible.” Rainbow Dash stretched one of her legs. “I can run…” There was a hint of challenge in her voice, and Wilson smirked. “Alright…Follow me!” He took off; Rainbow Dash quickly caught up with him and passed him. She looked back and stuck her tongue out at him. Wilson called on a reserve of energy and shot forward coming alongside Rainbow Dash. They ran neck and neck for a few moments till Rainbow Dash slowed she was getting tired and Wilson took this as his chance. He continued to run over a small hill out of Rainbow Dash’s eye sight. She stopped completely out of breath; she sat for a moment breathing quickly. She slowly walked over the hill and saw Wilson sitting on the ground a few feet ahead. When she walked up a look of defeat on her face, he smiled. “I hope you know that I’m not taking you all the way to Portland with me.”

“What? Then why are you—“

“I’m taking you with me so I can get you to Salem…If anywhere is safe it would be Salem. The people there can take care of you. Well at least I hope.”

“You hope?”

“I’ll have to explain some things…” He stood up and they continued down the road.

After a few hours of walking they came alongside a rocky outcropping, “Alright we’ll make camp here for the night.” He started to climb onto the rocks searching for a covered area or a small cave. She stood watching the sun set. The sun looked so bleak just like the world before here. None of this made sense to either of them for different reasons of course but that didn’t matter. Once Wilson got camp set up well what he called a camp, a fire and a sleeping bag. “You think you could tell me how you got here?”

“Yeah I guess I should…My friend Twilight found a spell in one of her books saying it could open a portal or something eggheady like that. She tried it at first nothing happened but then there was a really bright flash of light and then a portal came up out of the ground. It started to glow and then started sucking everything in…Twilight tried to stop it and I tried to get away but I was too late. I got sucked in and woke up in that basement.”

“Well that’s little short of a fairytale itself, I mean magic? Hah! That’s all just old lies and stories that mothers tell to their kids.”

“Then how else do you explain how I got here?” He opened his mouth but quickly shut it in thought. He proceeded to do this a few times then finally came up with an answer, “Ok you got me on that one. I really don’t have an idea and yours seems to the best of any. It’s just I don’t have too many beliefs anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Nothing is sacred in the Wasteland Rainbow Dash nothing is. What I used to do is nothing short of a dark hero. I’ve killed people to save the innocent or at least what I thought were the innocent.” She gasped slightly at the word kill but was genuinely interested in his story and stayed quiet, “I moved to that town to get away from it all. I made one too many mistakes, I ended up killing people who were the innocent. I executed them for the love of god…I slit their throats with a knife…” His face never changed the entire time but Rainbow Dash was taken aback. Wilson just seemed like a man that wanted to be alone, but now what does she think of him? He tried to help people but he killed people to do it. Her mind was racing as she tried to come up with something to say to break the silence that had erupted from his last words. They just sat in silence for a few minutes, till Wilson opened his mouth again.

“It’s ok…I know you’re trying to find something to say but don’t. You’re the only other living pers…being I’ve told about this. How bout’ we try to get some sleep I want to get moving tomorrow we should be able to make it to Silverton in at least three days.” He took off the coat and tossed it to Rainbow Dash. “Use that to keep warm. Doesn’t seem cold now but trust me it gets cold at night around here.” He crawled into his sleeping bag and slowly dozed off. Rainbow Dash tossed the coat over her body and huddled near the fire, she used the two sleeves to make a sort of pillow for her head. She sat and watched the fire…slowly her eyes fell and she went into the embrace of slumber. Wilson rolled over after five minutes of trying to sleep. Why couldn’t he sleep he never had this problem before. He propped himself on his arm and looked around Rainbow Dash was lying next to the fire asleep. Good at least she can sleep…Nothing was out of place, nothing was bothering him about the surroundings…Then why the hell couldn’t he fall asleep?

The next morning came and Wilson was sitting up on the rocks above their camp. Watching as the world woke, the mole rats waking their younglings, the coyotes going out to teach their younglings to hunt. What the hell? Why are there so many children!? He shook his head quickly and slapped himself. Keep it together Wilson once you finish this you can end it all. He heard footsteps well hoofsteps behind him and he turned, “”Morning Rainbow Dash how’d you sleep?”

“I slept fine…” She stretched her forelegs out and tilted her head cracking her neck. “So we gonna get going?”

“Yeah we will Rainbow Dash just let me get my coat…” She tossed it to him along with his pack. “Thanks.” She nodded and Wilson quickly put on the coat and grabbed his pack. He was starting to like this…Friends he had those once…Once…Maybe he could have one that didn’t end like the others?

Walking for hours the two talked, Rainbow Dash tried to pry a little more information out of Wilson about his old days but he always just changed the subject or stayed silent. But Wilson on the other hand got a lot of info about where Rainbow Dash came from and other info. “You do sound like a very loyal pony.”

“I am.” She had her chest puffed when she ran into the back of Wilson. “Hey why did you stop?” A howl pierced her ears and caused her blood to freeze. Wilson’s hand went to the pistol at his hip. “Rainbow Dash stay close…” He slowly started to move forward bringing the gun out of its holster. He looked back and forth with his eyes waiting for any movement. He heard rustling from his left and he quickly turned when he was tackled from behind. As he fell the gun was knocked from his hand and he hit the dirt. Rainbow Dash was shocked but made herself move bucking the coyote off of Wilson’s back before it could take a chunk out of his neck. He scrambled for the gun as he recovered from the tackle getting a grip of it he brought it up and fired the shell of the forty-five round hitting the ground with a small pomf…The coyote’s head had a rather large hole in it gray matter and flesh was spread around the ground near its body. He quickly turned around at the sound of more rustlings as coyotes came out of the bushes surrounding him and Rainbow Dash. He quickly fired at them taking multiple down with well placed shots either to the head or to the heart or other vital organ. Soon the gun went click and he hit the mag-release. He reached into his pocket gripping a fresh magazine when he heard a scream from behind him. A coyote was on top of Rainbow Dash snarling trying to get a bite of her flesh. Another coyote came out of the bushes next to him, not enough time have to make a choice. He brought the mag into the gun and pulled the slide. He brought the gun up and fired at the coyote pinning Rainbow Dash and he brought his arm up to defend against the coyote that leapt for him. He brought the gun around but it was too late. The coyote’s teeth dug into his flesh, he screamed as the pain began to fill his mind but he quickly fired the gun bringing the coyote’s meal to an abrupt end. The body fell to the ground his arm was oozing blood. He looked to Rainbow Dash who was still lying on the ground her face splattered with blood and gray matter. She looked at him and saw his arm. Her eyes went wide; she got up and ran over to Wilson who was already bandaging the wound. “I’ll be fine Rainbow Dash.” He reached into a chest pocket and pulled out a small syringe. He rolled up his sleeve and stuck the needle into the vein pushing down on the plunger.

“What is that?”

“It’s a stimpak pretty much a healing concoction or something. Hell if I know how they work I’m not a doctor!” They both shared a quick laugh when they realized they should keep moving. Wilson looked to Rainbow Dash as they walked, his face had little expression but inside his mind he was quite curious she hasn’t reacted to the deaths of the animals and from what she told him they usually don’t see death in Equestria. He shook the thought away, the thought that she was unaffected by the violence was absurd. He shook his head again just focus on walking, they continued down the road through the vast emptiness of the Valley. After a few hours of bleak scenery they finally came upon a small farm. “Alright we’ll stay there for the night.” The sky was already tinted orange from the setting sun. They ran through the field, dodging a few mole rats along the way. Once at the farm house Wilson walks up to the door and tells Rainbow Dash to stay outside while he checks to see if it’s clear. He tested the knob waiting for any kind of trap to go off…Nothing? Good he pushed the door and walked inside.

The home was void of anything but old furniture. He checked the rest of the rooms for anything of danger they were all empty but the furniture. “Surprised nobody’s used this place for anything.” He opened the door and motioned for Rainbow Dash to come in. He grabbed a chair that was knocked onto the ground. He put it upright and sat. “Alright…Rainbow Dash I have a question?” She raised an eyebrow, Wilson cleared his throat. “So…How come you aren’t crying?”

“Crying? Why would I be crying!?” She laughed slightly.

“Umm…I did kill about five coyotes blowing their brains out which you still are splattered with by the way.” She tried to smile but remembered that she was repressing the fact she was covered in coyote blood and gray matter. He stared at her as she stared at the floor. Silence ensued… “Rainbow Dash? It’s ok you shouldn’t be like this trying to take it like to was nothing…” Tears started to fall from Rainbow Dash’s eyes wiping away some of the blood that was in the tears path. He sat letting her cry, he didn’t move for about a minute then he decided it was best to leave her alone. He walked down the hall and finished unpacking his gear. He unrolled the sleeping bag on one side of the bed and unzipped it. He was about to climb in and go to sleep early but his stomach’s rumbling stopped him. He walked back over to his pack and grabbed some of the food he packed along. A bit of dried Bighorner meat and a bottle of water, what a great meal he thought to himself as he finished; he quickly walked back to the doorway and leaned out checking on Rainbow Dash she wasn’t in the chair anymore she was wait where is she? He walks out slightly worried, he finds her asleep on the floor in front of the chair. He scratched the back of his head, “Well I guess were all tired eh?” He picks the pony up and carries her into the room. Laying her inside of the sleeping bag he walks around the bed and lays down using his coat as a blanket he slowly drifts off to sleep.

Voices…Wait…Wilson’s eyes shot open as he figured out that the voices were not in his head but actually outside the room.

He placed his hand on the forty-five making sure it was in its proper place. He pulled it out of the holster and started to move but stopped when he felt something brush his side. He quickly checked and it was Rainbow Dash’s foreleg. He slowly moved the leg making sure not to wake her. He stood keeping to the shadows. He put his back to the wall checking to the right of the doorway. He flipped into the hall bringing the gun up aiming to the left of the doorway. Empty he slowly walked forward they were in the front room, “Thank god we found this farmhouse…”

“Those damn raiders I thought Marston struck a deal with the raiders around here?”

“Seems they went back on their agreement…” Wilson was on the wall waiting to come around the corner into the front room.

“Hang on I gotta take a piss.” He heard one start to move and head towards him. He let out a silent breath. When the body passed the archway Wilson grabbed him from the side and muffling his mouth so he couldn’t scream. Once he got him into the shadows he used his hand around the guy’s mouth and jerked. A faint crack told him the guy was done. He dropped the body and walked out into the front room the gun in one hand he aimed to the guys head and fired. The loud bang resonated throughout the house, the sound of the casing hitting the floor and the body smacking into the wood was almost as loud as the gunshot in the silence of the night. He put the gun back in its holster and walked back into the room. Rainbow Dash was shivering in the bed fully awake. When she saw him enter she stopped moving not knowing if it was him or not. “Shh…It’s ok Rainbow Dash just go back to sleep…Nothing will get you.” He climbed back into the bed wrapping himself up in his coat and drifting back to sleep.

“What in the name of Celestia did he just do?” She was staring at Wilson who was sitting there breathing, she started to lie back, “Rainbow Dash tomorrow if you wake up before I do wake me up I have to clean up out there. You don’t need to see more than you should.” She looked back at him but shook her head. She laid back and nuzzled the soft warmth of the sleeping bag.

The next morning Wilson felt a soft touch on the back of his head and he opened his eyes. “Yeah?”

“You asked me to wake you if I woke up before you did.”

“Oh…Oh right!” He climbed out of the bed and started to walk towards the hall, “Stay here till I say so maybe try and find something for you to eat in my pack?”

He disappeared into the hall and Rainbow Dash hopped out of the bed and walked over to the pack. She dug through the contents finding dried meats and water, no veggies but at the bottom she found some carrots wrapped in cloth. She grabbed one starting to munch at the vegetable. After a few minutes and a lot of shuffling like sounds, Wilson came back into the room a shiny new weapon in hand, a large twelve gauge pump action shotgun. “Where’d you get that?”

“Got it off one of the slavers didn’t see it when—”

“So you did kill somepony.”

“Not ponies…They are humans.”

“Right…you still killed them though.”

“They would have either killed us or captured us for slaves…”

“How do you know that!?”

“You don’t know anything about the Wasteland! You’ve barely been here and for the most part you were stuck in a basement of a slaver for that matter! I don’t see why you’re not glad I killed them!”

“Because you killed them! That’s why I thought we would just turn them in to the police!”

“Rainbow Dash there aren’t any police what little government there is anymore is for the people in the group that the government possesses. This is all in the name of vengeance for both our sakes.”

“For both our sake’s!? What did they ever do to you!? One burned down your house! I was tortured!”

“They killed my family alright!” He tossed the shotgun onto the bed and sat. His head hung low not as low as Rainbow Dash’s after what he said. “I was out in the fields trying to find lost bighorners when they showed up usually they were fairly friendly they told us they were traders but we knew better. I came back after finding the bighorners to my home burned to the ground my family on their knees before a slaver and he just shot them. Didn’t bat an eye when he shot my kid brother. I cried that entire night, the next day I snuck into their camp.”

“What did you do?”

“I killed the fucker that shot my family…I cut his throat open and well I won’t go into detail on the last part but it involved his blood and the picture that’s on my coat.” She gasped and stepped back but Wilson chuckled slightly, “No…No not that I used his blood to make that picture…well I did but not on the coat. I did it on the floor…I left a message that a Valkyrie was watching them.”

“What’s a Valkyrie?”

“Hell if I know I was a still quite young at the time…I just kept the name cause it sounds cool…Now I guess this sheds more light makes me look like a psychopath…I’m not that’s why I stay alone…Every time I get into a relationship with people they tend to err…well it never ends well…” This scared Rainbow Dash even more than before… “But I won’t let anything touch you ok? You’re the first one I’ve told about any of this…” Tears welled in Wilson’s eyes and he let them fall for a moment till he wiped them away. “This is not a time to cry for my sake anyway…I can cry once this is done.” He grabs the shotgun and clips it to his pack. He quickly looks to the pistol in its holster. He unclipped the belt that had the holster attached and brought it over to Rainbow Dash. “Do you think you can use this?”

“What?”

“If you’re gonna survive you’re gonna need a gun.” He puts the belt over her body bringing the two ends of the clip together on her belly. The holster being on her right side, “So you think you can hold the weapon and fire it?”

“I should be able to if the pegasi guards can fire crossbows without magic I should be able to fire this…” She brought the weapon out and held it with a trembling hoof.

“Ok I don’t think we’ll be moving today…If were gonna do this we might as well get you prepared to fight against the Wasteland.”

Wilson knew the next few hours would be frustrating but after figuring out that the mare could hold the pistol with her hooves and actually fire it correctly without much trouble, it was easy sailing. He ran her through basic weapon usage, showed her how to reload, fire from two stances, and un-jam the gun. After that he moved on to First Aid. Teaching her how to dress wounds, splint broken bones that can be splinted, and how to administer stimpaks correctly so that they are as effective as possible.

After all that he still felt like something was missing…He knew what it was but did he have the heart to make her do it? He looked into the distance seeing a group of three Radscorpions. “Rainbow Dash…Do you think you could…kill those Radscorpions out in the field there?” He pointed in the direction of the large blue scorpions and Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide slightly when she saw the size of them. “What happened to them?”

“Radiation…I still haven’t explained to you what exactly happened to this world did I?”

“No you didn’t…”

“Well I will later so…Think you can do it?” She brought the pistol up slightly, her hooves started to shake slightly.

“I…think so…”

“I’ll be right behind you the whole time…Don’t worry.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

They approached the edge of the inner fence that surrounded the home from the fields. Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs and brought the pistol up. She took a deep breath in and aimed. The bullet firing made the scorpions look in their direction till the smallest out of them all took a forty-five caliber round to the face. It fell to the ground angering the other two which started to crawl quickly towards them. Rainbow Dash moved her aim to the one leading firing two rounds each one hitting their mark but this scorpion just shook the pain off like it was hit by a rock. She quickly readjusted knowing she at least slowed that one down, firing another three rounds into the third one causing it to fall over dead. The last one was still approaching; Rainbow Dash fired her last two shots both of them missing. She quickly grabbed the small magazine that Wilson was holding in his left hand. She reloaded and when she looked up the Radscorpion was in her face. She closed her eyes expecting a sudden burst of pain.

A thunderous boom and a sickening splatter sounded the next few seconds. She cracked her eyes open…The Radscorpion lay before her it’s head caved in by the amount of pellets that were just fired into its face by Wilson. She heard him pump the shotgun with a satisfying chick chick. He looked to Rainbow Dash whose head was hung low, “It’s ok…You just got scared that’s all it happens to the best of us.”

“The best of us?”

“It’s a figure of speech… Even I get scared sometimes and I’m some kind of psychopath.” She chuckled slightly but was still

sad that she couldn’t kill the last one it would have killed her if Wilson wasn’t there.

If he wasn’t there…

“Hey Rainbow Dash you gonna be ok? I know it’s hard to just kill something for the first time but…”

“No…It’s not that well sorta I mean…I just killed something and even then I still would have died if you weren’t there…That last one would have killed me…”

“That’s why I was there Rainbow Dash your still new to this I don’t expect you to be like more nor do I want you to be like me for that matter.”

“Yeah I doubt I’ll become a psychopath like you…” She said with a playful smile.

“I’m not gonna live this down am I?”

“Nnnope.” She burst into laughter and he scratched the back of his head snickering. “Yeah…yeah just laugh it up!” He told her jokingly, “Come on let’s go inside I think I need a nap.”

“A nap? Now you’re talking my language.” He looked at her with a raised brow, “What? I love naps!” It was his turn to laugh as they walked back to the house. They both walked into the bedroom and lay on the bed, Rainbow Dash into the sleeping bag nuzzling the soft fuzz of the inside. Wilson wrapped himself up in his coat, he sat motionless for a few moments. “Hey Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s it like to fly?”

“Can I tell you later?”

“Only if I can tell you about what happened after you tell me how it is to fly.”

“Fine…” She sighed. She moved her body slightly trying to get comfortable and after finding the right spot stops moving. Wilson sat his eyes getting heavy as he thought about what he was going to tell her… I really don’t think I have the heart to just say that my species literally almost killed ourselves with nuclear weapons causing the world to be like this…Oh well she’d learn the fact at some point…But that would be later he just felt like sleeping.

When Wilson woke up again he looked around the room listening…No voices? Good I’d hate to have to kill some more slavers…He chuckled in his head. He felt something dig into his back slightly and he craned his head around seeing Rainbow Dash next to him her head buried into his back.

That is just so damn cute…

He thought to himself as he brought his head back. Do I really want to get up? Ah fuck it I could use some more sleep. He looked out the window it was still daytime as the room was filled with light but the sky was tinted orange.

The early morning came along and Wilson woke up again the room was black there weren’t any voices so he stayed calm not moving. He felt a presence around him and he felt his arm to where Rainbow Dash was before. Now she had her forelegs wrapped around him.

Dammit that is just so fucking cute…

He felt the warm pony on his back nuzzling his spine and he felt his body tense and relax. He rolled onto his back and Rainbow Dash started to bury her face into his chest. Wilson just watched her and placed a hand on her head hoping to not wake her. He wished the world wasn’t the way it was. He wouldn’t be the psycho he is on the inside and for all he knew she wouldn’t be here. But he was actually enjoying having her around…Maybe bringing her with him wasn’t so bad of a choice after all. He brought his hand down her mane and repeated the motion the softness of her mane calming his mind.

I just wish I didn’t have to leave her…