Chapter 3: Nature's first impression

"Love what you have, You'll never know till its gone."

My eyes snapped open to a grey blur. I blinked a few times to try to focus my sight. I realized I was lying on my back, looking up. I started to move around before a white hoof covered my muzzle. I looked toward the origin of the hoof to see a familiar looking pony holding his other hoof to his mouth, tell me to be silent. I slowly nodded. He released my muzzle hesitantly and pointed ahead of him. I began to sit up to find it almost impossible due to a flash of intense pain shot through my body. I grit my teeth. All over my body was bandages and a purple liquid was poured over my wounds.The mysterious white pony was staring over a bush, wide eyed and trembling. A lowly voice boomed from the other side not too far away.

“Where did that little runt run off to?” The familiar static voice cursed. The voice belonged to that damned rocket horse. Which means…

I took a quick look of my surroundings. We were in a small clearing, hidden behind a wall of dead foliage. A broken cart laid on its side was about a few hooves away from me. A small medical kit laid open with its contents spilled out around it with bandage sterile wrappings and empty bottles labeled “health” something. One the ground by that was the steel pony’s armor.

I didn’t see Blitz anywhere.

“I knew that winged bastard wasn’t up for the task. Fucking new recruits always squirmy about the good jobs.” A slightly higher voice, hinting at a mare’s voice.

I flashed a glance at my fellow hideaway. He looked really shaken up at the group. His legs were trembling so bad, it almost scared me that he might just run.

Another came into earshot. This one sounded bigger than the others… Polaris.

“Enough. He won’t get far out here. Not without some experienced help that is. Let’s get back to the Cathedral and report the mission a failure.” Polaris said.

“Wait, a failure!?” The mare spoke again. “You said-“

“I KNOW WHAT I SAID!” Polaris roared, slamming a hoof into the ground. “And Lord Kalem needs to be informed. Let’s go.”

“But what about that feather-duster?” the Rocket pony piped. A chuckle came from Polaris.

“Don’t worry about him. I’m sure we’ll meet again. Someday.”

The sound of the group started to trail off away from us. Once they were out of range of hearing and out of sight from the white pony, we both let out a held breath. He backed away from the bush and looked at me.

“So… that was…scary.” He said. His voice had a little accent to it. He got up and trotted towards me and reached out a hoof. “Name’s Lucky.”

I looked at him for a moment and took his hoof. I slowly got up from the ground to a sitting position.

“Elric. Elric Faelan.” I shook his hoof gingerly. “Why?” I immediately asked.

He cocked a brow. “Huh?”

“Why did you help us?” I replied.

He smiled. “I wasn’t gonna just sit there and let an innocent pony just die.” He moved over to his armor and tapped the flank, where a small box sat welded to its side. “Speaking of which, I do believe I bought your brother some time. My armor has a built in healing system, but it’s only used for small wounds, not a bullet to the vitals. It’ll only stop the bleeding for a few hours, but we’re in luck. There’s a town just a few miles in that direction.” He pointed a hoof towards a few hills in the distance. “If we hurry, we can get there before the nasties come out and play.” He picked up one side of the armor and started to drag it to the cart.

I stood up and went over to help. “Nasties?” I asked.

“Yeah, there’s the mutated wildlife, Ghouls, and the occasional raider or bandit group. So yeah, Nasties.” Lucky replied.

We got Blitz into the cart and flipped it over. We pulled my brother onto the broken bed and place him on his left side so he had his worst side facing up. He motioned me to the front of the cart. “This is gonna suck, but it’s the only way to get him there. Is there any way you can fix this up real quick?” Lucky questioned.

I looked around the clearing to see what I had to work with.

“Well…. I could…. Yeah, that might work.” I rushed over, fighting through the small receding pain, to a thick wooden branch. I made a makeshift axle for the lost one and set the old wheel back in place the best I could. I saw Lucky waiting at the front of the cart, harness fitted around him. I quickly hooked myself into the other one and looked over at my new acquaintance. We both nodded to each other and started to pull the cart. The broken down wagon creaked and groaned, threatening to break down after two centuries of wind and erosion, but it held for the mean time. Lucky and I pulled the cart out of the clearing into a world I only had dreams and nightmares about.

The entire sky was a giant gray fluff of cloud. No sun or moon shown through the dank, gloomy cover. The blue mountains shown in the pre-war schoolbooks now where an eerie green in the distance. The lush, green grass of the past now was shriveled and brown, dead for two hundred years of decay. The once well used road now was cracked, broken, and deserted. A giant pink pony with a creepy smile laid in the dust, fallen from its perch from a billboard that read Join the Cause! Put a stop to the Lies! a single building stood alone down the road to the right, destroyed from centuries of weather and erosion, graffiti vandalizing the once beautiful home. We turned to the left and down a small slope. In the distance was a few dim lights, like generator lights going out before death. We continued down towards the north, according to my Pip-Buck.

A sudden spark of light blasted the sky, startling me into a panic attack. Lucky put a hoof on my shoulder and told me it was just lightning and it’s perfectly normal out here. Another shock of lightning sent the air into a violent shade of light for another second. Then a drop of water hit me on my muzzle, making me go cock-eyed to look at it. Then another, and another. I looked up at the darkening sky to see it become black. Water started to come out faster and in more intervals. After 2 minutes, we were in a torrential downpour. I drew my fleece a little tighter to myself and threw my scarf over my head.

My pip-buck started to click weirdly. I looked down to see the needle in the gauge reading RAD bouncing some. It was between the green and yellow, getting close to the yellow after each rain drop splashed on me. I looked at Lucky with worry and he just assured me it’s okay, perfectly normal.

We came to a turn in the road. Mud was pooling down the side of the hill the road was paved next to. Lucky patted me and pointed his hoof at the hill. “We need to hurry! If we get caught in that, we will never make it to the city in time!” He exclaimed through the howling wind and rain. I just nodded and grit my teeth through the building pain. The healing solution was losing its effect and my body was NOT happy. We started to get the cart moving at a faster rate, hoping to outrun the mudslide coming dangerously closer and closer to us. The wind and thunder didn’t help with the situation as the mud drew closer and closer as we got halfway across the road.

A bolt of light flashed through the sky, striking a few yards away from us, making my already racing heart jump a beat. My vision started to fail. The pain from my earlier wounds started to take effect on my strength. I drop to one leg, panting heavily.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Lucky stopped and picked me up from the earth. “I need you to keep going, we almost there. Come on, keeping focusing on your brother. Come on, let’s hop to it.”

I gritted my teeth hard to enough to hear them strain, threatening to crack. We got to the end of the bend just as a slice of ground fell from the hill, making it and the mud cover the road. I looked back to see how Blitz was faring. A very faint groan emitted from the suit of armor, making it much easier for me to keep going.

For another hundred yards.

Farther up the road, I saw faint golden twinkles in the never-ending downpour. I smiled at the wondrous sight and proceeded to fall to the ground. The rain felt good on my face as I stared once again at the bleak sky. Lucky came into view with a ping of worry on his face. His checked over me, removing enough of the bandages to obsess the situation. His expression deepened as he placed a cold, wet hoof on my side. I winced at the sudden pain and the urge to kick him in the head. He sat me up and poured a fruity liquid down my throat. I licked my lips at the weird new taste. I looked down at my side to see a very disturbing sight. The extent of the damage in the Stable was more severe than I thought. Half of my side was like a blade sliced me open, revealing all my insides. I realized, through my clouding mind, the bandages were only holding me together, not allowing my innards to spill out. And as I stared at the horrid sight, it started to heal. Very slowly, but it was healing. I once again was staring at a blurring sky.

“Elric, were almost there. Stay with me. Stay with me…. Stay…me…” I lost consciousness.

I fell through darkness. Nothing else seemed real. Then a small, faint light appeared. It drew closer as the feeling of falling started to subside. The light came closer and closer, all the while getting brighter and brighter. I realized the light was a shape, then as it came into better view, it was a upside-down, white unicorn wearing a white pinstripe suit with short cropped brown and red hair. He wore glasses on the tip of his nose. He seemed to stare into my very soul with piercing green eyes.

“Elric Faelan. Son of Dire Bolt and Crimson Rose. Brother to Melody, Blitz, and Kris Faelan. Origin of Birth: Stable 132. Age: Young Adult.” Spoke the mysterious stallion as he came closer to me.

“Occupation: Head of maintenance department. Stable-Tec ID number: 13-6-132. Health: Critical. Major damage to upper and lower right side torso.” He stopped his walk as he got inches from my face. “It seems that you, sir, are very, VERY careless about your well-being, ain’t ya?” He reached up and tapped me between my eyes. “Do you ever use what the goddesses gave you besides how to turn a wrench?” He sat down and tilted his head. “You also seem to be upside-down in the air. Obviously speaking, of course.”

I just blinked at the stranger. I didn’t even know how to respond. He knew everything about me, and I knew absolutely nothing of him. The space around me seem to shift as the pony in front of me started to spin upright.

“What going on? Wha-“I started to speak, but the pony put his hoof to my mouth.

“Shh. You need not to speak. You’ll find out soon enough, I promise. For now, all you need to know is that you and the one called Lucky have a very, very important task ahead of you. Out in the wastes is an evil that has taken hold of many of the inhabitants. Others like yourself; kind, generous, and downright determined, face theses dangers to the best of their abilities, but more and more evil is revealed with each passing day. Your task will not be an easy one. Difficulty and sorrow follow you on this path, but.” The stallion placed a hoof on my shoulder and put a small smile on his face.

“There is also love, camaraderie, and adventure. But be warned. Out here, in the wild Wastes of our past, you will find no charity without suspicion. You will run across ponies whose minds have turned toward evil and greed and monsters that once were beautiful creatures, now twisted by the radiation of mega-spells and balefire.” The stallion stood and turned away. “That’s all the time I have, be cautious, be vigilant, and always be in control.” He trotted towards the light that he once came from. I stood up and watched as he started to disappear from sight. Before he did though, he stopped and cocked his head back a bit.

“And Elric. Never give up. It doesn’t get better if you do.” He turned again and disappeared. “Now wake up. There are things that need explaining, right?”

My eyes slammed open as I gasped for breath. I shot up from my slumber to come up short, held back by chains to the side of my bed. Lucky was in the corner, asleep, now very awake and bug-eyed. He came quickly over to my side and tried to calm me down.

“Elric, simmer down, you're okay! Your fine! We are in Charity! We’re safe!” Lucky grabbed my shoulders and forced me back to the bed. “Doctor! He’s awake!” he turned back to me tapped my shoulder.“Good to see you alive.” He stepped away as another figure entered from the opposite side of the room. A Black unicorn with a dirty tan coat looked up at me staring at him. He stopped abruptly and stared right back. He levitated over a clipboard and took a quick glance at it and back to me. “H-hello. My name is Doctor Stein. I see you have awoken from your injuries, Mr.?" The unicorn stated.

“Oh, um… Elric. Elric Faelan, sir.” I replied.

“Hmm, okay then Elric. Let’s jump right to it shall we?” he pulled over a chair and sat down in it, still looking at the chart on the board. “You’ve sustained moderate damage to your back legs, due to the oblivious bullet holes in them. Your lower and upper torso were, well, let’s just say it did help determine if you had any damaged organs which you did not, so… they are properly stitched and healed up. Head and neck were had small to insignificant damage from shrapnel. Brain patterns look normal, but couldn’t be too sure, hence the chains. All in all though…. Your either lucky as hell, or damn near insane.” Doctor Stein stood back up and pulled out a set of keys.

“Now, Elric. I’m letting you go, but don’t start any bullshit here. You’re welcome around town, but keep clear of the town hall. There’s a protest going on around here, and we don’t need any more adventurers thinking they can meddle into government business, understand?” He unlocked the shackles around my legs and helped me up.

“Now, I need to go check on something. Please, help yourself with any supplies in the boxes in the living area, but be considerate. Many adventurers need some to, so just take what you need.” Doctor Stein nodded to me and to Lucky and left.

“Oh.” His head popped around the corner with a grin. “Welcome to Charity.”