Fallout: Equestria - Frosty Skies
By TornadoFIM
Chapter Two: The Cloaked Stranger
“You’re welcome, by the way!”

Alone and afraid. Where was I? Who was I? Where was help? Where was… mother? I was truly alone; I was afraid. I had left by my mother’s wish; I didn’t leave because I felt like it was the right choice. I should have stayed, dammit, I should have stayed! There was no excuse. I had nothing to defend the matter that I had left her to die, and die she did. Or, I presumed she did. I was long gone when that gunshot had gone off, and at that point it was too late to go back. They were on my tail. I didn’t want to die… for her sake.

But I was out here now; in the empty, never-ending Wasteland. The infamous stories that my mother had spoke about always scared me; the stories were the perfect balance of entertainment and nightmare fuel… and now I had the perfect opportunity to witness all of the horrors myself. Not that a mare such as myself would make it through day, or even, night one without at least getting shot once.

I got lucky. Very lucky. Lucky to even be in one piece. I had killed, and it felt wrong. I didn’t want to kill ponies, hell; I didn’t want to kill at all. But I had to get used to this lifestyle, this sickening, wretched, lifestyle that someponies love the life of. But who am I to say? I’m just a mare. A mare who was always too scared to even set a single hoof outside of the place she called home. I was an insult to ponies like my mother, ponies who had braved the Wastes, seen the horrors and experienced them. Ponies who had witnessed the violence, and the insanity that was waiting to greet me.

I always reminded myself that those vicious ponies were non-existent. Oh how I was wrong. They were very real. I had witnessed them on this night, seen what they did. I stared into their eyes, and I went so far but to kill them. The rage, I couldn’t stop the rage. Even though I knew it was morally wrong, even though I knew that I could have just… run. Even though we could have run so far away from this place, I chose the stupid option. Kill. Kill. Kill.

I was a bad pony…

I was lost. Lost within the darkness of the surrounding Wasteland. I continued to trudge through the snow at my hooves, trying my hardest to navigate my way through the blackness of the surrounding darkness. I was lost. I felt lost, and I knew I was lost. I had never ventured this far beyond the border of Winter, and with nopony to guide me or keep me safe, it was just me from now on. Me. On my own. I didn’t like the idea of being alone out here. No. It was too new, completely unknown to me. I was too new to it.

I used my horn as a light source. Making my horn glow with a bright, sky blue aura, the path had been… somewhat enlightened. Not that there was a path. All I could see was a white sheet of snow, and the snowflakes falling in front of my vision. I took slow, careful steps forward, now more cautious and aware that I had given my position away to anyone looking to kill someone. I levitated my gun out of my duffle bag, scanning the area for any… unwanted guests.

I felt alone, I knew I was alone; but my brain told me I wasn’t alone. My stupid brain told me I was being watched, or worse, followed. It made me feel uneasy. In moments like these, I felt like taking a bullet to the brain, but then again… not a good idea. Maybe a punch, or a kick - something to just help me realize that there was nothing wrong.

“I could use one of those PipBucks right now,” I said to myself, slowly trudging through the snow. The breeze grew stronger, and with it, more snow began to fall. What only seemed to be a few snowflakes at a time turned into thousands, all of them falling from the sky. And as what seemed to be just a sheet of white falling covered my vision, I felt well and truly lost. “A PipBuck would do nicely… hmm…” I groaned, lifting my hoof up and looking at it. Yup. Nothing but a naked hoof. No PipBuck - just the leather on the jacket I wore dressed over my sky blue fur.

Lowering my hoof and feeling the snow find its way beneath my jacket’s sleeve; I shivered slightly, before slowly pushing my way through the cold darkness that lies ahead of me. Unfortunately for me, I had to rely on instinct. Just keep walking ahead, and I’d finally find… somewhere safe. Then again, the old stories of the Wasteland, both new and old, told different. They described it as a never-ending hell, where everywhere and everything was a danger to you.

Coming into my horn’s light was a tree. A broken, black and dead tree. It sat in the snow, getting buried slowly as the snow fell down on it rapidly, the cold also removing the feeling in my hooves as I walked through the never ending fields of frost. I needed a break… I had been walking for at least an hour or two. I hadn’t been jumped, yet, but I was far from home. And no matter where I was, there wasn’t going to be another settlement for at least the next few miles.

I walked up to the stump of the tree, scanning it. No leaves… just empty branches perched over me, looking at me as if they had eyes. I shivered, looking down at the ground once more, seeing the top of my hooves completely engulfed in snow.

“I need to rest… for five minutes at the very least,” I moaned, leaning against the unsurprisingly freezing tree that sat alone in the darkness. Resting my head against the splintered bark, I yelped as I felt some of the wood of the tree jab into the back of my head, flinching away and hissing from the sharp pain that I felt for just a second. I scrunched up my muzzle, before slowly leaning back against it and easing my way onto the tree.

Staring out into the endless abyss in front of me, I took my duffle bag off, bringing it in front of me and resting it on my stomach. Looking down at it, I focused my magic on it, opening it up to reveal all of the belongings I had with me. I rummaged through, checking to see if I had brought everything I needed. I had a gun, ammo, caps… a picture of my mom and me together. Both smiling, and… holding each other close. I levitated the small picture frame from the bag, feeling my heart sink just by looking at it. I stared at it for a good few seconds, silent and remembering what we had before I came out here. The many, many years we spent together. She looked after me, she cared for me; she made sure I was safe, and out of harms way. And in return, I did the same. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her… and I had. Or thought I had. I never knew what happened to her.

I noticed my vision blur, feeling the tears that tried to escape slowly leak out and trickle down my cheeks. One by one, the warm and smooth tears rolled down my cheeks and then landed on the glass frame of the picture that I held in my levitational grasp with a small splash. But I smiled… I smiled at the picture, feeling my cold lips tremble from grief.

“I-I hope they didn’t kill you, mom…” I whimpered, sniffling as I tried to hold the shaking smile on my face in place. “A-and if they did… y-you’re in a better place now. W-within one night, I’ve realized that the Wasteland is a very dangerous place. I-I’m prepared for what may try to hurt me… but some part of me knows that I haven’t seen anything yet. I-I love you, mom. T-thank you for everything.” I pulled the picture close, kissing the surface of it, getting the salty taste of my own tears on my lips.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of it; just seeing how happy she was brought back so many emotions. She was all I had. I’ll never love anyone as much I loved her. My lip soon stopped trembling as I managed to compose myself, and as I did, I heard… something. I quickly became alert as I heard someone pushing their way through the surrounding snow, remaining silent as I glanced left to right. I placed the picture back in my back and levitating my pistol out of the bag before quickly sealing it up with my telekinesis, and observing everything. The darkness however restricted my vision completely; the only moving thing I could see was the snow that fell from the sky.

I pointed my gun at the abyss before me, slowly scanning around the area with it as I took shallow breaths, waiting for the enemy to pounce. I had killed before… I didn’t want to kill anymore, but if I had to, then I was prepared to do so. I heard the echoing silence wash over me once again, lowering my pistol slightly as I looked into the wilderness, puzzled and confused. I kept on full alert, however, still waiting for whatever was out there to jump me and take me away.

Feeling a bullet dart passed my face, just missing it by an inch; I quickly ducked down and threw myself to ground, hearing the muffled bangs of the guns from the attackers. I levitated my gun up, aiming it back into the darkness and firing a few blind shots into the darkness… but there were no cries of anguish and agony to be heard. Just the constant firing from their own weapons. I couldn’t help but blame myself for this, considering I was the one with the glowing horn. But as I tried to ignore the self-blaming thoughts, I reloaded my magazine, quickly opening my bag and levitating another one into it scruffily. The magazine almost dropped onto the floor and out of my levitational grip.

“Over here!” I heard a dry male voice yell from within the shadows. I climbed to my hooves, trying to avoid the shots they fired rapidly. However, the flashes from the tips of their guns somewhat revealed their positions, and as I saw their faced within the flash of their guns firing, I grinned, taking aim and firing two shots directly at where I saw his face.

Upon hearing my own gun emit a loud bang, I heard the sound of a gargled cry followed by the sound of a heavy body falling to the ground. Assuming that I had killed him, I knew he wasn’t the only one. I saw two more flashes fire blindly from within the darkness, missing me completely and hitting the tree behind me. I ducked down once more, firing a sudden burst of shots before having to reload again.

This time, I wasn’t so lucky with the reloading. Attempting to reload, I ended up scraping the ammo case along the stock, the loud screech putting me off and making me drop it in the snow. Fuck, now was not the time! I cursed under my breath, resting the gun down and quickly picking up the magazine in my teeth, feeling another bullet just miss my ear, once again ducking my head down to avoid any chances of being hit. And with each shot, I now noticed they got closer.

“Oh, so you want a death wish, do ya’?!” I screamed, trying to act brave. I climbed to my hooves, aiming the gun into the darkness and gritting my teeth. “Come on. Come at me!” Laughter. Mocking laughter was all I heard as their guns stopped. I lowered mine, looking into the direction of the laughter with an expression of confusion. “What’s so funny?”

“You really think you’re so tough, so menacing,” one of the voices within the darkness replied, the voice sounding similar to one of the female Raiders from back home. “But you’re fuckin’ not. You’re a damn weakling; you can’t even fire that gun properly. Why you out here, kid? Are you lost or something?”

My ears lowered, hearing their tones of mockery. And with my ears, so did my head. “N-no, but--”

“But nothing! You’re useless out here, kid. You should have stayed home with your mommy and daddy like a filly!” She was… right. Maybe I was useless. Maybe I couldn’t fire a gun, but I had a reason to be out here. I couldn’t go back. “Now run along back home while we’re still givin’ you the chance, kid.”

“I can’t go back… My home was invaded by you… scum! And wanna’ know the best part?! My mother’s dead,” I said matter-of-factly, stomping a hoof and snarling at where the sound was coming from. Assuming that I was looking directly at her, I heard a snicker.

“You’re right, that is the best part.” I heard the mockery continue, feeling my blood boil as she showed no remorse. “Your mom’s dead? That’s great. I’m glad she is - not that I knew her, but that makes one less useless slut in the Wasteland!” she chuckled, her hoof coming into view as she stepped into the light. Her scarred, blood and dirt covered face coming into the light, as her wide grin showcased her yellowing crooked teeth.

“Y-you mind repeating that?” I tried to control the building up anger, climbing onto my hooves and walking up to her. I pressed my muzzle against hers, hearing her laugh silently to herself. “Go on… Spit it out!”

“Which part? The part about your mother being a slut? Or was it the part about her being dead?” she repeated. I felt my anger rise to the highest it could, preparing to strike her down with just my hoof and beating her to deat-- GAH! As I prepared to strike her, something heavy landed on me, forcing me to all back down onto the cold surface of the snow with a thud.

Attempting to get out of what weighed me down, I felt a hoof touch my shoulder and as it did, I quickly threw myself onto my back to see who it was. Another scruffy, dirty, unhealthy pony… perched over me. This one was a buck, and by the looks of it he had climbed the tree and jumped down on top of me. I started waving my hooves into his face, the muscular buck that sat on my stomach only having to lean back to avoid my useless attempts of getting him off of me.

“G-get off me! Get off!” I screamed, the mare Raiders who watched snickering to themselves. I felt him wrap his forelegs around mine, before slamming mine down into the snow, silencing me. I looked straight into his eyes, eyes that had no sanity in them whatsoever. I took a few deep breaths, looking away from him.

“Oh… don’t be frightened,” he said, attempting to sound… reasonable. “Look at me…” As his surprisingly non-violent words spoke, I looked towards him with a look of fear in my eyes. He grinned down at me - and that was where I knew there was something wrong. He wasn’t like how he was acting…

“Let me go… p-please?” I whimpered, pushing up against him, only to feel myself get weighed down by him. “Pleaaaase? I’ll give you all of the caps you want… every single bit of shrapnel if you let me live.”

“My dear, we may like our caps, but we don’t accept bribes from pretty mares like you,” he spoke flirtatiously, trying to sound… romantic or lustful? I couldn’t tell. But whichever one it was, he was failing at both. Not to mention his breath, his rancid breath. It made me gag, but for him, that didn’t change anything. “Maybe we can… have some fun…?” He leaned in close, running his muzzle against my neck and my cheek, I looked away, eyes widening.

I giggled nervously, my eyes focusing on him as he applied a soft kiss to my neck. “Oookaaaaaayyy. Well. Uh. I know I would just love, love, love to get laid, but… I ain’t that desparate, so no thank you,” I stated nervously, my voice shaking. And as I said that, his facial expression turned sour, with a twisted grin across his ugly face.

“That just makes it more fun for me, then,” he spoke, forcing me to look at him with his hoof. And as his hoof let one of my legs free, I tried hitting him in the back… of course, to no avail. I began to panic, trying to get him off of me with every single jolt of movement I could do.

“Hold her still!” he barked at his Raider companions. “She moving around to too fast, and I can’t do anything to her if she’s moving around now, can I?!” I noticed in the corner of my eye the two mares move closer towards me, finding it harder and harder to resist against him. Not that I wanted him, but that he was making it hard for me.

“Somepony. Please. Help me!” I screamed, feeling tears build up once more. I felt him strike me in the face with his hoof, my muzzle feeling broken upon contact. I yelped out loudly, looking to the side and allowing the blood to trickle. “W-what you’re about to do is… is--”

“Is what? Immoral? Why should I care?” he grunted as I felt the hooves of those he asked to help him hold me still. I began to cry softly to myself, preparing myself for the worst… and the fact that he showed no remorse made it worse for me. “Now… I hope you like it dry…”

I shook my head, tears now streaming down my face into the snow. I tried to beg and beg for him not to do it, but no words came out. Just silence… But as he was about to enter, a large stone like club slammed into the side of his head, forcing him to be thrown off of me and into the snow, blood oozing from the large crater created in his skull. Behind him stood a cloaked figure, his face shrouded by the darkness that his hood gave off. I knew it was a he considering his muzzle was only just visible… and it looked like a stallion’s to me.

“W-what the?!” I heard the voices of the mares exclaim behind me. I didn’t bother to get up, just in case he classed me as an enemy too. I saw him swing his large club made of wire mesh and concrete slam into the heads of both Raiders, his club being soaked in the blood and brain matter of those he had just taken the lives of. And he had no problem with it… It was as if he was used to doing it.

He dropped the club beside me, my heart still racing from the moment. My head turned to his blood soaked club, getting the vile stench of the gore that was stained onto it, once again forcing me to gag. As he walked over to my bag that sat by the tree, I kept my eyes on the cloaked pony, remaining silent for a moment. He wore just plain brown saddlebags at either side and I noticed… wings. He was a Pegasus pony. He rummaged through my bag, and I sat up slightly, shooting him a poisonous look.

“H-hey!!” I exclaimed, my voice luckily making him stop. “You never look through a mare’s bag!” He just remained silent, standing up straight and taking a deep intake of breath. I kept my eyes on him, waiting for him to face me and hopefully reveal his face. Which, I doubt he would considering he was a complete stranger to me.

However, he eventually did rotate to look at me, his seemingly blank eyes that reflected from my horn’s glow staring directly into mine. The frown upon his lips told me that he wasn’t the slightest bit impressed - he didn’t even seem amused. No smile, no smirk… just a cold stare right into my eyes. He soon reached into his saddlebag, searching through his own stuff now luckily, before pulling out a small vial filled with a glowing blue liquid.

Tossing it to me, I caught it with my horn’s levitational grasp, slowly lowering it down near my face. The liquid was… bubbling. Bubbling? Bubbling?! Bubbling was never a good thing when it came to potions. In fact, all I did was stare at it, hoping that it was just a little gift for me instead of a drink… then again, why would he gift me. I looked to him once again, the stranger giving me a nod as if he wanted me to drink it.

“I… drink it?” I spoke gently, unsure of whether or not I should actually drink it. He signaled with a nod once, pointing to it and acting out how to drink as if I was stupid. I let out a nervous giggle, shrugging as I glanced at it again. “It looks… dangerous…”

His face fell into his hoof, before he rolled his eyes and pointed to it and then to me. I really didn’t like how he wasn’t even bothering to talk. Did he even have a voice? If he did, then I would have preferred that… I snarled at him, feeling like I was going to snap, and I sure as hell did.

“Look, pal! I would prefer it if you didn’t treat me like an idiot. I know you want me to drink it, but I am not sure about it!” I gritted my teeth, placing the vial down on the ground and shaking my head. “Thanks for the offer, but no thank you. Oh, and I’m not deaf… no need for the sign language, buddy.”

He let out a sigh. The first sound that actually came from his mouth. “Very well… If you want to die out here in the cold, then be my guest. I won’t help you - you’ll only have yourself to blame for this, not me.” My eyes widened. Hearing him talk. Wow, I was getting somewhere.

“About time you spoke,” I said with a tone of impatience. “What’s in this thing, anyway? Why is it bubbling? Why does it look dangerous? Why does it… smell funny?” I spoke, getting a whiff of the liquid I had rested on the snow. “It smells… like perfume mixed with crushed Mint-Als. Not that I do drugs.”

“I’m answering one of those questions. The rest you’ll have to find out yourself,” he said, a smug grin spreading across his muzzle. Did he have to do that? Now I felt even more uneasy. “Just something an old friend of mine put together - she had given me the recipe, and I had a shot at it myself. It’s made with a few herbs, and other remedies that help sooth the body and warm up in cold temperatures such as these. It prevents death, you know.”

I levitated it up once again, observing it closely. “And… it is safe… right?” I asked, my eyes glanced towards him. He still had that same grin on his face.

“Of course. I wouldn’t give it you if it wasn’t.” He took a small walk closer to me, looking at me expectantly. “Now drink up, little mare. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”

“Well… as they say; “bottoms up”.” I said, tilting my head back and removing the cork from the top of it, the scent of it rushing out of the top and making me gag a little. I took a deep breath, wrapping my lips around the top of it and slowly drinking from it, feeling the fizzy liquid go down my throat. The taste of it wasn’t nice, either. It tasted a lot like a rotten apple… which was strange considering the color of it was blue. I gulped it all down in one, not wanting it to remain in my mouth any longer… and as it went down, the aftertaste soon came. The aftertaste being much, much worse - I couldn’t quite distinguish the actual taste, but all I knew was that it tasted… horrible.

I hacked and coughed violently, spitting down at the snow and wiping my potion-stained lips, before looking up at the hooded pony who stared at me. “W-what the hell is in that potion? It tastes awful!”

“My dear, you’ll be thankful once it kicks in,” the pony said with a low tone to his voice, turning away from me once again. “Now sleep… when you wake, you’ll feel much better, little pony. I promise you.”

“W-what are you--” Before I could finish my sentence, I felt the energy leave my body almost instantly. My eyes suddenly felt heavy, and as I fought to try and keep them open, they slowly fluttered closed as I let out one last yawn and fell down onto my back, feeling the coldness of the snow beneath me go against my back. Even the cold couldn’t stop me from falling into a deep slumber…

I woke up from my slumber, after what felt like hours of complete and utter darkness. However, I was no longer out in the open Wasteland like I was just hours before now - I was somewhere else. The light that blinded my vision for a short while began to fade to reveal a small house made of sheet metal and wood, all of which were taped together to build the structure of the house.

I lifted my head from the pillow that my head rested on; shifting around in the surprisingly comfortable bed I was given. I looked left to right with my head only. To my left were just rusted sheets of metal placed unevenly on top of one another, with the wood behind them supporting them, the wood having a couple of thick strings of rope wrapped around them. Looking to my right, I noticed the metal bedside table, a small candle on it and beside that table was a lone stool that seemed to have rust eating away at its legs. And beside it was my… duffle bag. Still full to the brim with my stuff. The candle was the only light in the room, giving the rest of the hut a very shady feel to it.

There were no ponies about, not even the pony who had drugged me and possibly dragged me here. Which, the thought of that terrified me. Strangely enough, I don’t think I had been raped… at least not yet. I didn’t feel any different ‘down there’. Which I was thankful for. However, the feeling of being alone in this… hut felt off. Lying on the bed, alone in the darkness - I didn’t like that feeling. I scanned the room once more, looking for any more details that could help me gather up information to where I was.

I leaned over the bed, my horn glower as I opened one of the draws in the bedside table, rummaging through all the bent bottle caps, and pieces of ripped-paper. Nothing. No weapons, ammo, or anything at all. I closed that draw and quickly yanked open the one above it, searching through the same mess that was in the other one. Again, nothing. No leads to where I was, or who captured me. I opened the final draw with a mighty force that almost yanked it out completely… again, to my surprise, finding nothing.

“Fuck…” I cursed under my breath, throwing myself back down onto my back and slamming my head down on the pillow. But then something clicked. I looked to my bag again, turning my head slowly as my eyes did, before wrapping my levitational grasp around it and slowly lifting it from the ground and pulling it closer to me.

Quickly prying the bag open, I rummaged through everything that sat inside of the bag, making sure that whoever brought me here didn’t rob me in the process. But then again, why wouldn’t they just take my bag? I stopped upon finding the picture of me and my mother… and of course my gun. Levitating both of them out carefully, I looked at the picture for a few seconds, smiling but… also frowning from the pain I felt just from remembering. I placed the picture back into the bag carefully, but I still kept the gun out for when said pony, Ghoul or whoever decides to make a return.

Hearing the sound of metal grinding against rust, I instantly switched to full alert. I aimed my gun into the darkness, waiting for the pony to step into the dull light that came from the candle. Assuming they were a pony that is. The flame from the candle kept flickering, the sound of hooves in the darkness slowly approaching me were heard. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my aim.

“Who’s there?!” I yelled, cocking the hammer back and snarling. “Why am I here? How did I get here?! Answer me, dammit!” I heard a couple of dry coughs come from the darkness, words struggling to get out as the deep coughs continued for a little while longer.

“Shit… Wasteland air really does clog up your lungs after a while…” a male voice said within the darkness. A hoof stepped into the flickering light, then another hoof, and then the body and the face of the… stallion became visible. “No need to use that thing - put the gun down, beautiful, and I’ll give you all the answers you need.”

I blushed a little, scrunching my nose up. Lowering the gun, he stepped closer. I noticed that the stallion wore the same cloak as the pony that had prevented me from getting raped. And then I noticed his wings… it was him. He had saved me. Looking to his face, he no longer had the hood covering his image. His coat was a light caramel brown, and his eyes were a light azure. His mane was light brown, with dark brown accents. Same went for his tail. His mane was styled in a rather neat fashion - styled upwards like a Mohawk, just without the spikes. More slick if anything.

He walked closer to me slowly, flashing a reassuring smile at me. He took his saddle-bag off, tossing it behind him untidily. “Now… I know you may have a lot of questions, and I’ll try and answer them.” He sat on the bed, looking at me and showing a friendly look. Not the expression of “bend over and take it” like the last stallion I had an encounter with did. I looked at him sternly, however, despite him being so friendly.

“First question: why am I here?” I repeated, my horn glowing to provide a little light as the candle began to lose its flame. I looked to the candle, and then back to him. “Sorry… I would prefer it if we didn’t chat in complete darkness.”

“No worries. To answer your question, you’re here to… shall we say recover? You suffered a few injuries from the fight you had gotten yourself into. Especially your spinal area. Something landed on you, correct?” He leaned closer, examining my body for any other injuries… that or he was checking me out, but either made me feel uneasy.

“Yeah… one of those Raider guys.” I sighed, pulling the sheets back over my body. That made him stop, of course. “What’s the deal with those guys anyway? Plus, why do they stink of sewage water, piss and vomit all mixed into one?”

The stranger on my bed chuckled, looking to me with a smile. “Well… I don’t know how to answer that second question -- the first I can. Raiders are the definition of insanity; they have a thirst for blood. Once you’re in their sights, they will not let you run without a fight. Though, they aren’t as difficult to fight as some assume. Their insanity and bloodthirst somewhat blinds them, runs them into danger.” He soon paused, laughing to himself and rolling his eyes. “But then again, they don’t care what happens to them. As long as they see red, that’s all they’ll ever care about.”

I remained silent, looking down at the bed sheets that kept me warm. “How come they help each other if they’re that insane?” I queried, looking up at him once again, expectant for an answer. He fell silent, looking down at the ground as if he was pondering.

“No one really knows,” he spoke softly, looking at me once more. “I see them as one big family. They’re all the same, in a sense. There’s no diversity between Raiders, no differences. All of them are just cold-blooded killers.” He frowned, leaning closer. “Where did you come from exactly?”

“Winter…” I said hesitantly, looking down once more and sighing.

“And why exactly did you leave? Why were you on your own?” he asked, waiting patiently for an answer. An answer I didn’t want to give him.

I looked up at him sternly, scowling. “I thought I was the one asking the questions. You answer my questions, not the other way round!” I hissed, shooting him a look of disapproval.

With a roll of his eyes, he leaned closer and gave me a look of disapproval, too. “Just answer the questions.”

I let out a painful sigh, looking down again. “W-we…” I hesitantly started, taking a few deep breaths. “We were attacked by those Raiders… they killed so many ponies. So much blood, so much death… suffering. All of those innocent ponies shot down, all of them beaten to death by those bastards…” I shakily started, feeling the tears fill my eyes once more. “M-my mother fell victim… we were meant to leave together. If they hadn’t gotten her, if she hadn’t--” I stopped before I blamed her. “N-no… it was my fault. I left her -- yes, she told me to, but she wanted me to be safe. I should have just stayed.”

“My condolences…” I heard his soft voice respond to me. I looked to him to see his downhearted facial expression. “You’re not the only one -- I’ve lost family, too… in similar circumstances.”

“I-I’m so sorry…” I said with a small whimper, looking to him with hope that he’d tell me. “What had happened?” However, his facial expression told me that information was… classified. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have asked…”

“It’s alright…” He stood onto his hooves, walking over to his saddle-bag that leaned against the rusted metal wall by the door, his entire body almost fading into darkness once more. I just stared at him. “Here we are - I found it!” he said in accomplishment, before turning back around and walking over to me. In his mouth was a… PipBuck… I couldn’t describe it, but I knew exactly what they looked like. The metal chassis of the device was rusted and covered in dirt… but it didn’t look too bad. “I got this for you. I’m sure you know what it is, even if you’ve never left your town this far. But just in case you don’t know, it’s a PipBuck. Even if you don’t want it, I advise that you take it, as it will be your best friend.”

“I-I’m grateful… Thank you.” He placed it on the bed, smiling at me as if he was urging me to put it on. I picked it up with my telekinesis, unlocking the small latch on the bottom of it, and opening it up to put it on my foreleg. Placing the metal device around my right foreleg, I closed it once more, locking it and examining it. “One question… is it really meant to be this tight?” I looked at the screen, and unlike the average green color, the screen of mine was blue.

He nodded. “Yes, absolutely. It prevents theft of PipBucks - the only way to really unlock one is a skill in picklocking. That or what you just did,” he noted, sitting back down on the bed beside me. “What do you think of it?”

“I’m very, very grateful. Thank you,” I repeated, looking to him. I wanted to hug him… but, that would be creepy considering we had just met. But I had one more question. “Where did you find it?” And probably, I should have asked about why it felt so… slimy.

“Oh… well… to put it bluntly,” he stammered, struggling to process the words. I was hoping for the worst. “Some Stable Dweller’s corpse… I just found them lying in the snow, and since it was of no use to them, I stole it and wiped it of any data relating to them.”

My eyes went wide. I looked to the dirt on the PipBuck and… that wasn’t dirt. It was dried blood. I felt like vomiting. Even though I admired the fact that he got me one, to know that this PipBuck belonged to a pony that is now dead made me feel sick in the stomach. “D-did you kill them?”

“What?! No. Of course not!” he exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “I don’t have it in me to kill ponies that are of no importance to me. I didn’t know this guy; therefore I had no reason to kill him, anyway. I’m just the one who scavenged the device from his rotting corpse.”

“Enough. About. Corpses!” I demanded, feeling like I was going to throw up. I forcefully coughed, and looked to him, shooting him a look. “Please?! I’ve seen enough blood, enough guts for one night, can I have a little rest from it… please?!”

He stood there in silence, looking as if he was offended, which why he would be confused me, but if he was, then that was his problem. He soon burst into laughter, falling onto the ground and rolling around as he tried so hard to contain his echoing laughter. My face flushed with red, and I shot a look at him of disapproval and anger.

“W-what are you laughing about?” I said, my muzzle scrunching up as I watched the cloaked stallion roll around, tears of laughter streaming down his cheeks. “What’s so funny?!” This can’t be legit, can it? If anyone laughed that hard at nothing, I’d take them to see a doctor. The Pegasus didn’t listen, however. He continued to laugh, slamming a hoof down onto the dirt below him.

When he eventually did climb back onto his hooves, he wiped a tear from his eye. “L-listen, kid. As much as you crack me up, you’ve gotta’ get used to seeing corpses and dead things. You’re going to be killing to survive. It’s how it works out here - you either get used to it, or go home. Oh, but that’s right, you can’t go home… do me a favor and get used to it, alright?”

Those words… hurt. I didn’t want to lash out, and luckily I didn’t feel the need to do so. But… did he just mock the fact that my hometown was butchered? Did he find it amusing? I shot him a dismal look, looking away from him shortly afterwards. I heard him walk closer to me, shifting away from him as he did.

“Kid…” he said, but I continued to move away from the stallion. Even if it wasn’t his intention, it was an assholish move.

“Don’t… call me a kid…” I mumbled, feeling the urge to cry again. Oh fuck. Not again. I didn’t want to cry in front of him, and then he’d really see how weak I was. And I was weak. I wasn’t strong, no; I was the weakest of the weak. If that was even possible, which I’m positive it was.

“Then what should I call you?” he groaned. I looked to the sticky, blood covered PipBuck on my leg, still shivering and gagging at the fact he picked this off a dead body. But I didn’t want to take it off, considering that I needed one.

I was… hesitant to say the least to say my name, but I knew I had to at some point. “Sky…” I said softly, looking to him once more, managing to prevent myself from bursting into tears from what happened hours ago. Maybe even days ago, depending on how long I was out for.

“Sky, huh? The name’s Ratchet,” he responded, looking at me with a rather clueless expression on his face. “Now… I wouldn’t mind if you told me what exactly I did wrong. The attitude you had told me I did something wrong.”

“You…” I paused, realizing that I was the one reacting. He had no idea how it felt. I shook my head, looking down. “Nothing. I just overreacted to what you said is all. Something about me not having a home -- sorry, I shouldn’t have overreacted. You’re right, I need to get used to seeing dead bodies and blood and… other things of that nature. So, considering that I have to get used to it, I’m willing to try, I suppose.”

“If you want, I can tag along with you,” he offered. I looked up at him, seeing a forthcoming smile on his face. It made me feel at ease. “Well, that’s if you want the company. I won’t blame you if you don’t--but, the Wasteland can be a dangerous place, y’know? The last thing you want to be out there is alone.”

“You can tag along,” I softly responded. “When can we leave?”

“First thing tomorrow,” Ratchet replied, laying me down on the bed and looking down at me. “But first, you need your rest. As do I. Besides, to leave now would be suicide. The Wasteland at night is a dangerous place, as you’ve experienced. When tomorrow comes, we can leave.” I nodded, the buck tucking me in. I felt young again, and let out a soft giggle as he did, though thankfully he didn’t hear it.

“What about you? Where are you going to sleep?” I said as I noticed I was in the only bed. He stood onto his hooves, looking to his bag and walking to it. It took a while to get a response, but it finally did come.

“Well… I lied. I don’t need rest, I’m on night watch. Someone has to be.” He grabbed his cloak, placing it back over him and soon pulling the hood back over his head. He looked to me, his muzzle the only thing visible in the light. A smile soon spread across it. “Go to sleep, Sky. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He opened the door, a wave of irradiated cold from the outside flying into the shack, almost blowing the candle on the bedside table out completely before he closed the door to cancel it out. I rested my head down on the soft pillow below it, closing my eyes to try and force myself into sleep. And unfortunately, I didn’t feel tired. I didn’t want to sleep, but I knew I had to if I was to remain on full alert come tomorrow.

First real day out in the Wasteland would begin tomorrow… And I needed sleep. Dammit, Sky, just sleep for Celestia’s sake!

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Black Widow - When attacking male opponents, you deal 10% extra damage towards them. Outside of combat, this perk will allow unique dialogue options that allow you to flirt with other males and potentially ‘get lucky’ for a few caps and maybe a bit of information.

New Companion: Ratchet - Ratchet has joined the party. He has increased your intelligence by two, but your charisma has fallen by one.

Current level: 2

S - 5
P - 7
E - 4
C - 6 (-1)
I - 7 (+2)
A - 8
L - 4

Author's Notes:

This chapter sucks, and I know it sucks. But I had to get it done. Writer’s block is a bitch, and that’s my only excuse to why this chapter sucks hairy mansack. Don’t worry, though. I’ll hope to improve in later chapters just like I did with The Last Wanderer, just a lot less later. Hopefully somewhere before Chapter Ten is where things can start looking up!

Thanks to Kkat for making this epic universe! And also thanks to all of you who have made it this far to even give a damn, or whatever. You guys are amazing!