So this is very late in the fallout world's first storyline, huh. Very interesting. And I'm wondering when the double cross is going to occur.

“Whole damn world’s going to shit.”

Hey guy, the whole damn world already went to shit.

Didn't the Raptors fall on the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows? That happened a few days ago in this story. What's happening over there?

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Didn't the Raptors fall on the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows?

Some did, but not all. The Epilogue talks about it tearing "most" of the remaining (About 20 or less) Raptors out of the sky, and that the rest rejoined with the surviving Thunderheads. So the enclave probably still has two Thunderheads and 5-10 Raptors. Minus one Raptor, now.

I took lots of notes on my last read-through.

That sounds like some pegasi wanted to stay in the sky, some pegasi wanted to not, and the first group decided to expedite the others' wishes.

Somehow this didn't get favorited. I corrected that mistake and now I'm catching up.

I had set my expectations low, and I was still disappointed.

That bad, eh?

Well, the place is called "Rust", y'know. That implies water and iron

The unicorn reached up, tapping the side of his head. "The right ear. Cut it off and bring it here, we'll give you forty caps for it. Fifty now, I suppose."

They're raiders, though... chances are they already cut that off themselves, for shits 'n' giggles.

None of that really mattered to me. It held the warmth in and the rain out, so I was hardly going to complain.

She's adjusting quite well. That's the Wastelander Mindset

I reached out, wrapping my foreleg and blanket around her shoulders, a silent reply to her statement. She didn't say anything in return, merely leaning into the sideways hug. A tiny hint of affection met my senses. It was faint, but holding. I left it alone. Just as one does not graze on a seedling, I was not going to eat away at that nascent emotion.

This is so cold and calculated and yet so heartwarming at the same time

I would have gladly reverted to my natural form just to escape the flaws of that flesh-covered body I had assumed, except then I'd probably have the dirty wounds on the inside of my exoskeleton

Yikes. I think having them cleaned out in pony shape is preferable

I chuckled faintly, popping it in my mouth, and only barely stopping myself from swallowing it like the pill before it.

Given Whisper's somewhat sedated state, Star should really have specifically mentioned that

Fortunately, the shanty-town-like construction of Rust, with its multiple levels of structures, meant you could go from one end of the little town to the other without actually touching the ground.

Ah. Megaton-inspired design? Nice. I think No One did that too with the place Silver Hired Gun originally came from (though back when I read that I had never laid eyes on Megaton, so I had no clue).

Even with the flurry of paranoia and propaganda, there had always been a certain feeling to pony settlements. The best comparison I can think of is living near a particularly prolific bakery, with the constant smell of fresh baking bread. You could feel the love in the air, as if it had soaked into the town itself.

Rust didn't have that feeling.

Oh, ouch. A harsh and loveless world

"You any good with plants?"

"I grew up on a farm, but I've never been any good at it. I could dig and water where somepony tells me, but other than that…"

She's better with livestock

"Scrap and parts, mostly," he said with a shrug. "Machine parts, bearings, lubricants, new tools, gaskets. Heck, anything with rubber. Not so much electronics, but just about anything else."

Well, there are bound to be a lot of interesting parts in the complex she came from. Unfortunately, between Rust and there is confirmed raider territory

"Well, except steel, we got plenty of that."

I bet

"Met a guy who knows of a place that hasn't been touched since the war!"

Uh-oh. Those never bode well

She led me to a building with an ancient sign that simply read "Food", right across from a general store with a crude sign that read "Stuff".

They sure are practical people

Fortunately, it had started to warm up once the rain had stopped.

Betcha it'll be a baking hell once you get some decent sunshine... especially since the cloud cover means the whole settlement was made out of plate steel without any direct sunshine in mind

"First, when it comes to a fight, you do what I say, right then, no questions asked. I'm used to dealing with professional soldiers,"

Wait, what? Who is this guy? The only "professional soldiers" left are the Steel Rangers and the remnants of the Enclave

You never described whether he had a horn, or was wearing any clothing that could hide wings...

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Is it urban or rural? Are we going to need to be ready to climb up buildings? Are we climbing down? Is this above ground or below?"

Hah. "where" as in "environment". She's good!

"How about you let me handle that part. I can be subtle about it, make sure he sees just how useful we really are without bringing up the matter of money directly."

A little subtle changeling mindbending magic?

I raised the binoculars again. I'd just settled on the prow of the cloudship, with the name Cumulonimbus painted across it, when a gout of flame reached out from the clouds, striking the side of the falling ship.

Surprise bonus salvage?

...what? Stop looking at me like that

the doomed ship's gunners defiantly loosing a few final shots toward whoever had struck them down.

Mad props for using "defiantly loosing" in a way that's entirely correct

Remarks and corrections:
> Other than a few day's worth of food
Possessive and plural: "a few [days'] worth of food"
> complimented by a pair of large saddlebags.
Should probably be "complemented". Unless you actually mean the saddlebags make him look good.

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They're raiders, though... chances are they already cut that off themselves, for shits 'n' giggles.

Heh, now I'm getting the image of coming across a group of raiders who are all missing their right ears. "Well, we ran into some hard times recently and needed the caps..."

This is so cold and calculated and yet so heartwarming at the same time

That's probably the most entertaining part of writing a changeling character.

Ah. Megaton-inspired design? Nice. I think No One did that too with the place Silver Hired Gun originally came from (though back when I read that I had never laid eyes on Megaton, so I had no clue).

Kind of half that, half general shanty-town inspired. I've always liked vertical elements in structures and settlements, and it made sense to me that, once they filled out the space inside the main walls, it'd be easier to build up than out.

You never described whether he had a horn, or was wearing any clothing that could hide wings...

Huh! I'd originally put in mention that he was an earth pony, but it seems I removed that bit. I added it back in.

Should probably be "complemented". Unless you actually mean the saddlebags make him look good.

Dusty knows how to accessorize! (Aaand fixed. Oops )

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Heh, now I'm getting the image of coming across a group of raiders who are all missing their right ears. "Well, we ran into some hard times recently and needed the caps..."

And then they all die because they barely hear from that side, and get flanked from the right side... by some, afterwards, very disappointed bounty hunters

Huh... That happened.

I wonder if Starlight will eventually discover Whisper's true nature.

If I weren’t halfway frozen, I would have blanched. Mutilating ponies for a bit of money? Even if they were bad ponies, the idea made my stomach twist.

There is something satisfying about a changeling infiltrator being the "boy scout" of the group.

That was freaking fantastic descriptive writing there at the end! Oh, if I could paint a picture of what I saw in my mind!

7037869 you want to paint a bunch of equines getting ripped apart in an explosion? I get that some people like to draw gory stuff, but I never understood the appeal.

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I didn’t need to see the gruesome details of the mighty ship’s demise.

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/90/5c/67/905c6752fd7cf6f0f78c0cfcb2bdae89.jpg
Source: http://catmota.com/post/128848837584/f-gordon-crosby

No gore here. (Nothing visible, at any rate.)

This image is kinda like what I pictured.

Fair warning, though, there will be some pretty graphic description coming up, per the FoE setting, if you have a major issue with such things.

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Oh, wow, that's a great image! And yeah, a lot like what I pictured, too, just with the obvious differences.

I had a lot of fun writing that scene and picturing what it would look like in my head.

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Heh, now I'm getting the image of coming across a group of raiders who are all missing their right ears. "Well, we ran into some hard times recently and needed the caps..."

Argh... WOW-flashback

Something in the ship burst, exploded

Wow, their luck must be near 10, after cave troll pony, alicorn and fighting raiders with nothing. Even though they may need 12 in these circumstances.

You've got a 'Steel shot' in there somewhere with shot uncapitalized.

I had set my expectations low, and I was still disappointed.

Wow...that's pretty bad, m8.

There were a few nods, while Starlight asked, “Bounty?”

Fuck yeah its bounty time! Time to get some booty, and get shooty!
and maybe shoot some booty too!

I didn’t actually see most of what she did. There was a lot of scrubbing, which left my chest feeling raw and wrong. I would have gladly reverted to my natural form just to escape the flaws of that flesh-covered body I had assumed, except then I’d probably have the dirty wounds on the inside of my exoskeleton. Instead, I simply endured. She eventually set the brush aside, wiping my chest down with a damp cloth. Then she dribbled something into the wounds that stung even through the painkillers, and again wiped with the damp cloth.

Bruh...you're concerned over dropping your discuise...so it wthe scrubbing would be more conveniant?

Wouldn't dropping your disguise and revealing you're a bug to your only freind be a bit...shocking?

Honestly, it struck me as overkill, though I worried that I might be wrong.

Fucking cheating alicorns. Cunt ass raiders. Boss monsters or ponies. Bitchin' Robros. Flying dragoons. Steel bitches. En-lame with their freaky lazas. Giant motherfucking scorpions. Star beasts. The walking dead. Kennel rejects (Hellhounds). Rampage. Ultra-sentinels. Shall I got further?

Something about bad experiences.

ya don't say...

“Hmm.” She thought on it for a moment, slowly smiling. “Yeah, that could work. Hell, he’ll see how useful we are once we get there, that’s for sure. Dumbass.”

The kettle...calling the pot black.

Only this pot is on a burner, and it might not be best to see its boiling point.

Myself, I simply hoped that our little outing would be over swiftly.

Word of the wise: if you wish it, it may come true.

Cumulonimbus

now where have we heard that name before? Because I could swear we heard that name in the first fallout story.

5 Bits say its the place Whisper woke up. I might be dead wrong (would have to check various directions of travel and I'm lazy) but still. (2 year old necro comment >.> Why do i post this?)

Oh yeah, the enclave is in the midst of a civil war. Hope the good guys win. Xd

“Oh,” Starlight said. “So… I suppose turning them to ash is out, huh?”

Cumulonimbus

I can't remember if this is PoH or the original Fallout. That is killing me, I really need to reread those stories.

I don’t plan on losing my first friend to some infection

Having made multiple school projects about penicillin am I honestly rather surprised why the worry about infections isn't bigger in most other wasteland stories. Like people have died from small scrapes that got infected, and the deadlyness of sicknesses like the freaking black death drops severely if you get some funky fungus into your system in the first 24 hours of infection*
Mortality associated with treated cases of bubonic plague is about 1–15%, compared to a mortality of 40–60% in untreated cases

Heading out on a scavenging mission and what is the first thing they find, a treasure trove of pre-war tech falling out of the sky! Being the only surviver in a shelter and now getting mana from heaven, why I think that Whisper is doing a 10Luck run! Careful wasteland, don't give that mare a set of dice or cards, she will rub you blind!

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Having made multiple school projects about penicillin am I honestly rather surprised why the worry about infections isn't bigger in most other wasteland stories.

Eeeeyup! I've generally tried to have a pretty realistic depiction of combat, injury, and survival in the story, and infection is one of the big-time killers. It wasn't until around the 20th century that medical technology got to the point that fewer soldiers died to infection and disease than to combat. And in a survival situation, infection and disease might come after water, food, and maybe shelter, but like you said, it can turn even an inconsequential scratch into a slow and painful death.

It also helps that I like me some military history and enjoy survival games, so it's something that I just had to include. Plus, it lets Starlight show off some competency.

Heading out on a scavenging mission and what is the first thing they find, a treasure trove of pre-war tech falling out of the sky!

I'll wait for Dusty to explain in the next chapter why that's a terrible idea.

Careful wasteland, don't give that mare a set of dice or cards, she will rub you blind!

...That's a euphemism, isn't it?