Bonus Chapter

Fluttershy’s eyes slowly opened, revealing a wooden ceiling at a snail’s pace. Light wafted through the semi-boarded-over windows, dancing off all the dust that floated around, making the clouds shimmer with gold.

She felt wrong, fabric covering her, limbs feeling like they were all in the wrong places, a splitting headache, and the familiar scent of blood. Working with wounded animals left her with quite the knack for smelling the life giving liquid.

But for all that felt wrong, she had the warm feeling of a bed beneath her, so all she did was rest as the sound of rubber soles of boots clopping on the wooden floor reached her ears.

“My, my, looks like sleeping beauty has finally woken up,” she heard a near-elderly voice comment.

Fluttershy leaned herself up, gasping as she noticed the blue jumpsuit over her body.

“You okay, miss?” The figure she had yet to look at, asked sincerely.

Fluttershy turned her head, nodding as she tried to back away on the bed in shock. The voice belonged to what Twilight described as a human with balding white hair and an equally white mustache. He - Fluttershy was pretty sure it was a he - was wearing a dark black shirt and trousers, with a dark red bandanna around his collar like a tie.

“Since how I’ve never seen you before, I’m Doc Mitchell, welcome to Goodsprings.”

Fluttershy felt safer when he said those words, easing the tension she had built up upon seeing him.

“You need anythin’ just ask, so long as it’s within reason of course.”

Fluttershy nodded and quickly looked around, still a little too scared to speak. She noticed the stand of assorted medical instruments and a plastic divider sheet at the foot of the bed she was in. Looking past the chair that Doc Mitchell stood beside, she could see a gurney next to a counter with a typewriter.

She started connecting dots. The medical instruments, the bed, and the blood lead her to conclude she was in a hospital of sorts.

Timidly, she decided to speak, “T-thank you. My name is Fluttershy… and I want to know why I am here.”

Nodding slowly, Doc Mitchell began to speak in a slow and grandfatherly voice that still held a spy tone to it, “When Sunny brought’cha in here, you were bare as a newborn. We’d guessed you’d been knocked out and robbed, but you were uninjured. Care to explain? If it’s not too much trouble.”

Fluttershy froze. What had happened to her? Groaning in a way that was not too common for the timid mare, she simply answered, “I don’t know Mr. Mitchell. One minute I’m with my friends in Ponyville, the next I wake up here… as a human.”

Doc Mitchell rubbed his chin, “Please, call me Doc Mitchell. And I’ve never heard of this Ponyville place… you also said you weren’t human.”

Fluttershy nodded, “I was in Ponyville, Equestria. I was a pony before waking up here.”

Doc Mitchell looked skeptical for a second, but nodded. He had noticed how her pink hair color went all the way to the root, and the perfect triple butterfly tattoos on each of her hips. He didn’t need to ask anymore.

“Where exactly am I? You already said Goodsprings.”

“You’re on planet Earth, right smack dab in what once was America.”

Fluttershy noticed the way he worded the sentence, “Once?” She asked quickly, her shyness now gone feeling a sense of ease in the presence of the fellow doctor.

Doc Mitchell sat in the chair beside the bed, preparing to give the girl a really long story of bombs and vaults, “Well, it all started over two hundred years ago…”

After the story, Fluttershy just stared blankly at the aging doctor. How was it possible that the entire planet was in ruins? Death, disease, and violence became the norm.

Doc Mitchell Just shook his head at the sight of the petrified girl, “I guess I’ll leave you be right now.”

<>~<Mojave outpost>~<>

Applejack opened her eyes quickly with a groan. Looking to her left, she spotted several bunk beds that rested on rusty frames and lacked covers of any kind. Looking to her right, she spotted a woman sitting at a bar, her head resting on her hands.

“Hello?” Applejack called out. The redheaded female at the bar turned her head. Hopping from the barstool, the woman began walking up to the bed, Applejack gulping slightly as she noticed the woman’s sour expression.

Trying to move, Applejack looked down before panicking. She was not supposed to have a body like that. Two legs covered in blue fabric, and two arms covered in a checkerboard style shirt.

As Applejack struggled to get her limbs to respond to her commands, the woman just stopped and stared. An amused smile crept across her face.

“What are you coming down from?” The woman asked.

“Huh?” Applejack stammered. She then realized the question, “I ain’t on any drugs… just a little confused.”

The woman laughed at that, shaking her head from side to side as her red hair danced under her cowboy hat, “Seems like you were on something. NCR patrol found you face down in the fucking dirt, not a single piece of clothing on you except your hat. Lucky they were women.”

Applejack's confused brain locked up. “Wha-?” was all she could mutter.

“Earth to whoever the fuck you are,” The woman said waving a black gloved hand in front of Applejack’s face, breaking her out her trance.

Applejack glared at the woman, offended by her choice of words. “Mah name’s Applejack, and would you tone down the cussin’, some kid might hear.”

“Well excuse me. I guess we don’t want any fucking children to overhear me say fuck.”

Giving an even more threatening glare, Applejack began to move herself, trying to work with her new limbs. As she managed to get out of bed while holding onto the frame, she laced her next words with barely contained anger, “Quit it before I wash your mouth out with soap.”

The woman just laughed, “Good luck finding a single fucking sud,” She said with a big smirk.

Letting out a sigh, Applejack just shook her head and sat down, knowing she wouldn’t win, “I already hate this place. What in tarnation did Twilight get us into this time?”

“Probably one of the biggest hangovers you ever had, if my guess on you passing out streaking is correct.”

Applejack let out a laugh, even if she didn’t know what streaking was, “Twilight can’t handle half a mug of mah family brew. Pinkie on the other hand… whoo-we, she can chug ‘em down,” Applejack said with a big dopey smile.

Before the woman could speak, Applejack looked down at herself and then to the woman as she began to notice similarities, “Am I wearin’ your clothes?”

The woman just nodded, “I’m the only one here with clothes that would fit you. Back to alcohol though. You know how to brew up some moonshine?”

Applejack let out a large laugh, attracting the attention of the bartender in the next room, “Only the best darned hard apple cider you can drink. However, I experiment from time-to-time with corn, and mah strongest recipe is guaranteed to be at least eighty-proof.”

A smirk came across the woman’s face, “I can get my liquor up to eighty-five-proof,” reaching a hand out, Applejack grasped it, “My name’s Cass, it’s a pleasure to talk with someone who knows their liquor.”

Applejack gave a toothy smile, “Pleased tah make your acquaintance. But can yah please watch yer mouth?”

<>~<Prospector Saloon>~<>

Fluttershy sat on a worn out stool in the local bar as a radio played music. The current song was something about riding into the sunset - she figured the duet was supposed to be singing a love song, but she was more interested in Trudy introducing her to her undoubtedly new life in the wasteland.

After introducing herself to Trudy, the female bartender gave her a few tips, like buying a gun. Fluttershy guessed it was the thing everyone else had at their hips.

Fluttershy silently handed over a few caps that Doc Mitchell gave her, Trudy poured her another glass of lukewarm water from a tall glass picture. She couldn’t stand alcohol, the burn on the way down, the way it makes you into something you’re not, and most of all, the stench.

The bar was permeated with the same smell that was on her father’s breath nearly every night. The scent driving back memories that made Fluttershy shake in fear.

‘He’s been dead for years, he can’t hurt you anymore,’ She told herself, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.

It was only by Doc Mitchell’s request that she even considered stepping into the bar.

“You look like you just seen a ghost,” Sunny, the girl that found her, who was clad in leather armor said as she sat beside Fluttershy.

Fluttershy hid her face behind her hair, making sure to cover the scar on her head, “I’m not going to talk about it.”

Sunny just nodded, “Wasteland getting you down?” Sunny asked as she looked at the contents of Fluttershy’s glass, seeing only water, “Obviously not. So mind telling me why you were in the middle of the road naked?”

Fluttershy just sagged her shoulders with a loud sigh, “I’m going to tell you what I told Doc Mitchell. I haven’t the slightest of ideas. One minute I was in my hometown, the next I’m here. I don’t even know if my friends are here.” Fluttershy pondered the fact a second, “But considering we were all in the library together, then I think they may be.” A smile grew across her face, hopeful to find her friends.

“Okay, well that doesn’t answer much, but no worries,” Sunny looked down then gave a single sharp laugh, most of the laugh consisting of blowing air through her nose, “I need a little help, if you’re interested in making a few caps.”

Fluttershy looked into one of the pouches on the vault jumpsuit Doc Mitchell gave her that contained her caps. There were only a few left.

“What kind of help?” Fluttershy asked, realizing she needed to make some money.

“Well, there are some geckos that need clearing from the water wells outside of town. But I guess I should teach you how to survive the Mojave like I did that Courier 6.” Fluttershy noticed that Sunny had a proud smile on her face.

Fluttershy thought on the matter for a moment, knowing that without Twilight, she was stuck here, “Okay, I’ll accept… if it’s not too much trouble.”

Sunny laughed at her sudden shyness, “Not at all, I’m the one that offered. Wait out back while I get Cheyenne.”

Fluttershy had no clue who Cheyenne was, but Fluttershy did as she was asked and went behind the saloon to wait. A few minutes later, Sunny returned with the most beautiful dog Fluttershy had ever seen.

“OH MY!” Fluttershy yelled through a squee as she ran over to Cheyenne, wrapping her in a quick hug, “Aren’t you the cutest thing?”

As Fluttershy let go of her, Cheyenne barked and licked Fluttershy’s face, Sunny Smiles just looking at the duo, surprised beyond belief.

“Does Sunny treat you alright? Does she feed and play with you enough?” Fluttershy instinctively asked.

Cheyenne gave a few happy barks and a face lick. Fluttershy understood every word the dog was saying, “Yes, master treats me good and feeds me and plays with me all I want.”

Sunny just chuckled seeing her old pal be so friendly to a total stranger, “Dog lover?”

Fluttershy blushed, “I love all animals, from the smallest mouse to the largest bear. I take care of them if their sick. Well, I did before arriving here.”

Sunny just nodded and handed Fluttershy a pistol, “Chet didn’t have another varmint rifle for me to give you, so I had to settle on getting you a pistol.”

Fluttershy looked over the vaguely ‘L’ shaped weapon of metal and plastic, along with the holster. The grip was obvious, so she put on the belt and holster and took a loose hold with one hand on the pistol.

Sunny gave a chuckle, “Seems to me like you never held a gun before. Let me help.” Sunny changed Fluttershy’s stance and made her hold the weapon with two hands in a tighter grip.

“Now, line up the back piece with the front, and make sure to aim at a sarsaparilla bottle.”

Fluttershy did as she was asked, making sure to line up the yellow and orange bottle in her sights.

“Now squeeze the trigger, Thats the metal thing in the finger guard.”

Working on a total guess what the finger guard was, Fluttershy found the trigger. Pressing it caused a bullet to scream out the barrel with a bang and a flash of fire.

Fluttershy dropped the gun and hid behind Sunny with a frightened squeak, shaking.

Sunny took a step forward and turned, looking at the girl as she shook like a leaf. A palm went over her face with a loud slap.

<>~<Mojave Outpost>~<>

“So yer *hiccup* sayin’ that… that the whole world is ashes?” Applejack slurred out. She and Cass had decided to share a few drinks, which quickly turned into six more.

“Two hundred years of paying for their fuckup,” Cass hissed as her cheeks were bright rosy pink from whiskey.

“Ah thought you’d agreed to quit… cussin’.” Applejack said as she became dizzy, nearly falling from her stool.

“I never agreed to anything. And t-t-the kids here sometimes cuss more than the adults do.”

“Oh really,” Applejack said, the fact sobering her up some, “And who *hic* taught them those words?”

“Wasn’t me,” Cass said, “There isn’t a single kid here at the outpost.”

Applejack’s vision swam again as she lost balance, falling out her stool. She laughed when she landed on her rear, grabbing on to Cass’ arm and dragging her down with her. Cass landed on Applejack’s lap lying on her stomach, but her drunkenness kept her from moving.

Applejack let out a snorting laugh, “Why are you here then… in this outpost?”

“I not a kid,” Cass laughed, “I stay here for the whisky.”

Applejack’s drunken mind found the answer she wasn’t expecting hilarious, and began laughing.

“You know what?” Cass asked, “I think I’m drunk enough to start another caravan, and I need a guard… you in?”

Applejack let out a massive laugh as she nodded her head until her hat fell off her head landing on Cass’ rear. For the next five minutes, Applejack stared at her hat, nearly crosseyed.

<>~<Behind the Prospector Saloon>~<>

Fluttershy squeezed off five perfect shots, the rounds shattering the five sarsaparilla bottles stationed on a fence as targets.

“Nice work kid, but I don’t think you just want to fight sarsaparilla bottles. Follow me to the wells. We got some geckos to clear out.”

Fluttershy let out a gasp, realizing just what was going on. They were going to shoot the geckos. Taking off at high speed, Fluttershy passed Sunny and Cheyenne, quickly finding the wells as she left Sunny and Cheyenne far behind.

What greeted her at the well looked somewhat like bipedal blue versions of Gummy. There was no way those things were cute little geckos.

One of the charged at her with its teeth bared. It was obvious it intended her harm, so Fluttershy held out a palm and yelled, “STOP!”

The gecko skidded to a halt.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, trying to attack me like that. No wonder the townsfolk want you gone.”

The gecko looked down in shame and used a leg to scratch at the dirt.

“Now tell all your friends to clear out before Sunny gets here with her gun.”

At the mention of the name, the gecko’s eyes went wide and he ran off shrieking. The many other gecko’s following suit.

With a nod she turned around, jumping in fright at Sunny’s dumbstruck expression.

“I forgot to mention I like animals most consider pests… and sorta can talk with them.” Fluttershy said with a smile and blush.

Shaking her head, Sunny looked at Fluttershy, “Okay… um next we um… just pick the orange broc flowers that grow in the cemetery, and the xander roots growing near the stump by the schoolhouse,” Sunny said with a groan, “Meet me down the hill by the fire.”

Nodding, Fluttershy left to do as she was asked, quickly finding the root mentioned by an old schoolhouse as cute, giant praying mantises hopped around her. From the schoolhouse, she noticed the gravestones on top of a hill, along with a water tower.

Setting off in a sprint, she made good time as she passed by a big scorpion that paid her no mind. Reaching the top of the hill, she gasped in horror. The bloat flies that flew over the graves were massive. She could tell they were very, very sick.

They turned to face her, somehow making angry expressions on their buggish faces.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said as she unholstered her pistol, squeezing off three precise shots, making sure to hit them in the head. The sick bugs died quickly, and Fluttershy smiled.

‘It was for the best, I was taking them out their misery,’ Fluttershy told herself mentally. She hated the rare occurrence she needed to put an animal down. Sometimes even she couldn’t help them if their injuries were too great.

Looking around, she noticed an empty grave, and shivered. ‘Somepo-someone must be getting buried soon,’ she commented to herself as she spotted the tall orange flower.

A brisk walk over, she picked three flowers to go with the three roots she plucked from the parched earth.

‘Sunny said I only needed one of each,’ Fluttershy thought as she reached in her pouch and retrieved a xander root. Taking a big bite, she savored the bitter flavor and sting of the juice on her tongue, reminding her faintly of ginger. It went well with one of the flowers that had their own unique bitter-sweet flavor. Like a hint of lemon mixed with a lot of honey.

Walking back to where Sunny asked her to go, she spotted Sunny sitting by a fire pit as the sun reached midday.

From there, Sunny taught Fluttershy how to make herbal powder, using a single root and flower. She kept the remaining flower and root to eat later. She had realized shortly after waking up, that her new teeth were for omnivores, and she knew she didn’t want to eat meat anytime soon. But Fluttershy realized that if her health comes into jeopardy, she would have to adapt to her new dietary needs.

‘Hopefully that doesn’t happen,’ Fluttershy thought with a shiver. She knew she would eventually see humans eating meat, and mentally prepared herself for the situation.

Sunny left as Fluttershy was thinking to herself, mentioning something about her and Cheyenne listening to the radio.

Looking around, she realized she wasn’t alone, a man who looked like he was in some sort of distress came up to her, she could see lines in the dirt on his face cut out from tears he shed.

“What’s wrong, mister?” She asked quickly.

“Oh thank God I spotted you… my little girl is trapped on the ridge by geckos and I can’t fight them! I need your help!”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth, remembering how the geckos she dealt with tried to bite her. If the girl was trapped, there wasn’t much time.

She saw the man point to the twisted remains of a metal tower, and that was enough directions.

Speeding up the hill, she passed a young gecko that snapped at her. She gave him the briefest of glimpses of ‘the Stare’ scaring it into leaving her alone. If a life was in danger, then she felt it was proper time to use the ability she hated the most.

Running straight into a clearing, she found herself surrounded on three sides, beady, hungry eyes glaring at her from nearly every direction. She stared back and sent them running, too afraid of her frightening glare.

With a snort of victory, she crossed her arms with a smirk, then began to look for the man’s daughter. She searched high and low, but found nothing but a fridge on a rocky outcrop. Then the shredded remains of a coyote tucked between some rocks.

“Nature, why must you be so cruel?” Fluttershy asked as she felt a tear in the corner of her eye. With a heavy sigh, she turned around at a sound coming up behind her. Fluttershy spotted the man, a smile on his face as he had his weapon drawn.

“Sorry for lying to you, but I really needed those geckos gone. Now I’m going to have to kill you.”

Fluttershy felt a rock drop in her stomach as she panicked and ran, bullets pinging at her feet. She reached the edge of the cliff, a table and a chair were the only things accompanying her.

Looking back, she heard the man yell as a loud metallic snap cracked through the air.

He must have stepped on one of the bear traps that she barely had time to notice. The griffons used the damned things to hunt large game, giving them no chance for survival.

She heard him cuss as he struggled to free his trapped foot. Moving away from the cliff, she noticed his ankle was bleeding as the metal teeth ripped at his leg. The man saw Fluttershy approach, but didn’t fire, a defeated look on his face, as he struggled to free his leg some more.

“I have every right to kill you right now,” Fluttershy said through tears and panicked breaths, “But I’m not.”

She moved closer, calming down at the sight of a wound she could help fix, “I’m going to help you get that off and get you to Doc Mitchell, but you’re going to have to throw away the gun first,” she said in a loving and relatively calm manner, like he was a scared bunny.

The man did as she asked, throwing the pistol far away.

Fluttershy smiled, but she was no fool. Moving behind him, he didn’t have time to register what happened. A quick blow to the back of his head rendered him unconscious.

“Yeah, I know never trust someone to keep their word. I’m not going to be the good mare that falls for some trick because I’m too kind,” Fluttershy said to the unconscious man.  

Squatting low, she noticed the release mechanism was rusted beyond belief, so she had to use plenty of force to rip the metal maws open, freeing the man’s bloody ankle.

Throwing him over a shoulder, she dodged a second trap, and began to carry him to Goodsprings towards Doc Mitchell’s house.

She smiled as she carried him, knowing she was far stronger than she looked. Giving Mr. Bear his massages has benefits for them both.

<>~<Mojave Outpost>~<>

Two drunken women stumbled their way around the brahmin they just bought with Cass’ seemingly endless supply of caps for whisky. The two headed beast somehow knew the two were its new owners and followed.

Cass also bought Applejack a pump action twelve gauge, which was currently slung across the latter’s back. Applejack was pretty sure she knew which end went bang. But she figured when she sobered up she could get some training from Cass.

“Where are we headin’?” Applejack asked.

Cass stumbled as she gave her response, “Goodsprings… Chet is a bu-bu-buddy of mine and I’m sure he would give us a discount.”

“A discount on what?” Applejack asked as she used the brahmin to brace herself. Noticing something odd, she asked, “Is it normal for this cow tah have two heads?”

“Starting supplies, and if the brahmin has less than four heads, you’re not drunk enough,” Cass snickered out as she passed a bottle of amber colored whisky to Applejack.

Applejack took the neck of the bottle in her grasp. Taking a swig, she fell backwards, the alcohol spilling onto the sand. The sky looked too far up, and Applejack rolled over, vomiting up most of the alcohol she had consumed up to that point.

Cass just plopped on the other side of Applejack, and patted on her shoulder, “Let it all out,” she cooed in a drunken tone that was far from her normal, grizzled attitude.

Cass then decided the side of the road would be a great place to take a nap, the brahmin walking over to a nearby patch of weeds to graze.

<>~<Doc Mitchell’s house>~<>

Fluttershy laid the still unconscious man out on the bed she herself woke up on and set to work. Doc Mitchell quickly realized he had a new patient and retrieved a bag of medical equipment.

Fluttershy cleaned the wound with a bottle of purified water Doc Mitchell had handed her, and set to work assessing the damage.

The metal teeth of the bear trap had struck bone and shattered his ankle, and all the twisting and struggling he did shredded the flesh to ribbons. His entire foot was only held on by a few strands of meat by the time she got him there.

Doc Mitchell saw this too and told her to leave; he was going to have to amputate the foot since it was beyond saving. Fluttershy refused and stood back, observing Doc Mitchell as he used a remarkably shiny and clean scalpel to cut the remaining strips of flesh that connected the man’s foot to his body.

It was a bloody sight, but nothing she hadn’t done before with animals. Dogs that had gotten run over by carriages were the most common amputee victims.

The task was complete in a matter of seconds, and the useless foot was placed off to the side. Reaching into the bag, Doc Mitchell pulled out a roll of bandages and a tourniquet.

Strapping his leg tight to stop the bleeding, Doc Mitchell wrapped the bloody nub with bandages. After the bandages were tight enough, he removed the tourniquet.

Turning to Fluttershy, he noticed that she had been crying, “What happened with him?” he questioned.

Fluttershy just took a deep breath and sighed, “He tried to kill me and got his ankle caught in a bear trap. I had to knock him out so he wouldn’t try and kill me again.”

Doc Mitchell gave a silent sigh as he saw a tear roll out her eye as she shuddered. This must have been one hell of a first day for her.

“If you need a place to stay, I have a spare room, and from what I observed, you would make a great nurse.”

Fluttershy nodded and Doc Mitchell gave her direction. Fluttershy instantly set off to find the spare room.

Going down a hall, past a few shelves, she turned and found the spare room. A simple bed was the only thing she decided to look at.

Walking over, she flopped into bed. Every ounce of energy was sucked out of her, and she was out like a light in seconds.