Chapter 1-Lucky Day
“Cloudchaser, get up you lazy bitch!” Waking up sucks, especially when your mother is trigger happy, uptight bitch. A loud shot rang out, and I looked up to see my mother staring me in the eye, carrying a riot shotgun, she loaded another shell into it and smiled. I’ve always wondered why she had to do that in the morning, my best guess that wasn’t ‘She’s fucking nuts’ was that it was loud and got the attention of everyone in the barracks quicker than yelling at everyone. “Better get up, junior, or I’m going to feed your breakfast to the radscorpions.”
“I’m up, I’m up…” I moaned as I got off my hammock, groggily slipping into my makeshift armour.
I started down the hall of the stable’s living quarters, looking around at all the poster’s on the wall, one in particular depicting the original Cloudchaser and the crew of the Stable building committee.
I glanced inside the rooms as I trotted by, watching the stable ponies scuttle about, doing stable things.
I saw some little foals playing with blocks, and building a pretty damn impressive model of Stability, which would have been odd if I didn’t know Stable 74,but I guess you don’t know, but that’s because I forgot to tell you guys a little more about this place, but I didn’t want to bore you, because it's kind of an egghead thing;
Stable 74 was made to house only engineers and architects, interestingly enough, and so when they grow up, their brains are made for smarty buildy…things.... Or something, honestly, I don’t know.
Stability is definitely an okay place to live, as long as you don’t mind radscorpions in the vents, and getting up at the ass crack of dawn for stew made out of xander roots and gecko meat.
I mean, I do mind that, but, that’s the price to pay for crops and safety, and it’s better than getting food from the enclave, which everypony is saying is poisoned with raider diseases, or getting them from the strip.
I finally walked into the common area, which was bustling with all the stable ponies messing around with their stupid little Pipbucks, scanning their food and complaining when their Geiger counter started ticking.
Gecko steaks aren't the healthiest food, and sure, they are full of radiation, but that's just trying to save a sinking ship with a bucket.
You're going down that path either way, and all you're really doing is stalling the inevitable.
Why does it have to be my fault because I'm "In charge of hunting”? I didn't cover the geckos in radiation, I just kill them.
But nooooo, I hunt them, it's my job to fix the problem that isn't fixable!
I can't just pump them full of rad away, last time I did that, mom got on my ass about "Chemical poisoning" and "Allergic reactions", but nopony told me rad away reacts negatively to xander root powder, and it didn’t mention that on the packet, so it isn’t really my fault.
I lost track of what I was talking about, but, I guess learning about my history will give you insight in to why I did all the shit I did, which boils down to the simple fact that I do not make good decisions.
If you give me two buttons to press, and tell me one is going to blow up the world, but not which one, I’m going to press the shiny one. I am not exactly a clever pony. I guess you could call me blond, but if you did, I’d punch a hole clean through your skull
I picked up my gecko steak, and trotted over the Chasers table. We got our own section of stability, specifically the security level underground, which is full of weapons and armour, so that’s probably why we got it.
I hated how cracked and dirty the dishes always were, it made the steak taste like dirt, and I wish we had some kind of dish cleaner robot, but the stable woefully lacked one, and water was too precious to waste on dishes.
So, I ate my steak on dirt encrusted plates, as I did every day since I was born.
Everything I owned was old; everything came from this two hundred year old shithole,
already coated in dust, already worn by time.
Even the things ponies built were built from two hundred year old metal. Sometimes I wish something new and not covered in any filth would come in to my life.
“Um… I need to speak with your leader, its, uh… very important… I have caps…”I looked over my shoulder to see an odd cream colored unicorn in a brown cloak trying to talk to the guards, Shack and Shovel, two bulky pegasi bucks, who were blocking her path with their energy lances.
Speak of the devil, and he shall come.
“Sorry missy, but no entry for non residents or Chasers.” The larger of the two, Shovel, was looking down at her. “If you wish to speak with Cloudchaser, you need to pay a fee.”
“I have 100 caps on me…I swear, it’s really important, and I’m with Applejack’s Rangers… They’ll back me up, if my communicator isn’t wrecked...” She fumbled with a pocket in her cloak, pulling out an odd metal chip with a red apple painted on.
I finally noticed what was off about her; she was bald. In retrospect it should have been what I noticed first, but again, blond.
“You’re with Applejack’s Rangers? I thought that they only operated farther east. But, if you’re with official..,” Shack began speaking, before Shovel silenced him with a hoof.
“Now wait a second, miss, I see that scrap of metal there, but that proves exactly jack shit. You could have just painted on a piece of scrap metal!” Shovel looked at her with a disapproving glare.
“Umm… Do any of you have a holotape player?” The mare looked around at everypony in the room, looking pleadingly at me in particular, having singled me out as I was staring at her.
“I do…” I raised my hoof, pulling a small holotape player out of my bag, trotting up to the mare, she put in the metal chip, which began to display a colt in power armour.
“This is Elder Steelhooves, and I have a special mission for you, Canary Belle, and you too, Sunny Scribbles, so please listen.” The colt had a rough voice, but powerful. He pulled up a picture of an elderly old stallion, and pointed to it.
“I want you two to journey to Friendship City, and keep an eye on this buck. You should know him well,” I sighed, wishing he had thought of non smart ponies like me when recording that. I don’t know damnit,
“He may be old, but we all know what happened when we underestimated him.” Again, no, I don’t. I get that this was made for her, but he couldn’t just give a rundown for completions sake?
“We have belief that the next chance he has, he’ll be in the Marejave. If he does manage to escape, contact the local gang, the Chasers, and ask about him.”
“So, Canary Belle, it seems that you’re legitimate, so we can let you see Cloudchaser. But, if I may ask, who is Sunny Scribbles?” Shovel signaled for his brother to lower her lance.
Canary Belle suddenly froze up, her eyes wide, she suddenly collapsed on to the floor, wailing in sadness. I jumped to her side, as everypony who wasn’t already listening in on this debacle suddenly paid more attention to the crying mare huddled on the floor.
“Canary, what happened to Sunny Scribbles?” I guess it wasn’t the most tactful words for the situation, but I was panicking, and I really wasn’t thinking straight.
“It…It…It’s my fault!” Canary wailed. “I should have waited for her… Now she’s dead, or… or captured by the Enclave!” She started blubbering, eyes red with tears.
“I’m sorry…” I gave her a soft hug, hoping that the stiffness I felt in my wings wasn’t an awkward wingboner. “It must be hard to lose a sister… I never had one.” I didn’t know how hard it would be to lose my mom, even if she is a bitch, she’s family. This poor mare just lost her sister… My sympathies went out to her, even if she was bringing too much attention
“She…She wasn’t my sister…I…she…was my special somepony…” She whimpered softly, covering her head with her hooves.
I gave her an even tighter hug, folding my no longer erect wings around her in a tight embrace. I wasn’t sure what else I could do to help her. I just had the power of a comforting hug behind me, and I hoped that would be enough.
“Thank you, thank you so much… I don’t even know you, and you were willing to help…” She smiled warmly, eyes still watery, she clearly wasn’t ok, but she wasn’t wailing anymore. “It’s just… I miss her.” She kept crying, but it was a quiet sob. I stroked her back with my wings. “Thank you so much, miss… I at least need to know your name, so I can thank you..”
“I’m Cloudchaser, I’m glad I could meet you, Canary Belle.” I let go of her and held out my hoof.
“You’re the leader here? I need to talk to you in your office, or wherever you can find privacy, its important!” She gasped, wiping the tears off her eyes, whispering the last part. I was confused for a second, as to why she stopped crying, but I think she was trying to keep a professional air on, despite the situation.
I wasn’t the leader here, my mom was. I suppose that I should have realized she thought I was my mom, but I think we’ve established that I am not a smart pony.
“I’m not the leader here, I’m sorry… I’m Cloudchaser the 13th, you need my mother, Cloudchaser the 12th. She’s the leader here. I can lead you to her if you want.” I smiled, and she looked dejected, going back to the miserable stage of whatever was going on. “Now now, it’s ok, everything will be fine, just come with me.” I felt like I was comforting a child, but I wasn’t mad at her for being so weak, I probably would act the same if I was in her situation.
“It’s not ok, Cloudchaser!” She stomped her hoof, sobbing. By the goddesses, she was a waterworks factory! “It’s my fault my marefriend’s dead, I should have waited for her!”
“No it isn’t, I don’t know enough about what happened to you, but whatever happened, you couldn’t have known.” Frankly, I wasn’t sure that was true, but she needed all the comfort she could get, even if it was false. “Let’s get you up and going to see the leader here, kid.” I helped her up on her hooves, and she leaned on me for support, still crying, but it was getting quieter. I wished I knew what really happened, but asking her probably would have sent her into more crying.
“I would really appreciate it, Cloudchaser.” She smiled, wiping the tears off her face. I motioned for her to follow me. The stable ponies watched us leave, then began whispering to each other fervently.
“I just wanted to ask you something, if you don’t mind,” She spoke up quietly once we were out of the room, and I gave her a small nod. “Why are you and your mom both named Cloudchaser?”
“I was wondering when you’d ask that. Every leader here is named after our founder, Cloudchaser the first, and our leaders are the first filly born to a descendant of Cloudchaser. I’m the 13th in line, so, I’m Cloudchaser the 13th.” I smiled, even though I had said it like a bazillion times before. At this point, I had the speech ingrained into my memory.
We soon arrived at the stables old security center, which had a helpful note taped to it, which read “This is Cloudchaser’s office, trespassers will be shot, and survivors will be shot again.” Ah, my mom is certainly the most poetic of ponies, is she not? “Is she serious about that?” Canary Belle looked frightened by the sign.
That was a rhetorical question, in case you didn’t notice, though if you didn’t, you need to go get the dunce cap out of the storage room and put it on.
I didn’t bother knocking, because she always knew when I was coming, so I just walked in, only to be staring down the barrel of my mom’s trusted shotgun.
“Now look here, retard, I have that sign for a… Cloudy!” She lowered the gun, welcoming me in.
“Don’t surprise me like that, or I might blow your head off accidentally.” She noticed Canary Belle behind me, who had a shocked look on her face.
“You seriously would have shot her if she was trespassing!?” She yelled at my mother, who had a calm look on her face despite Canary Belle. “Do you just kill everypony who comes in here?” I guess I never thought about it like that, it had always seemed like a fact of life; Mom’s trigger happy, the clouds are grey, the rain is wet. It wasn’t something I considered, but it was weird, threatening people like that.
“No, I don’t. I have that sign because I’m sick of people barging in without my permission. It encourages them to make an appointment.” She seemed smug, but at the incredulous look Canary was giving her, she elaborated. “Usually the only ponies who ignore it are out to kill me because they have the crazy notion that it would make them leaders, or assassins from Caesar’s legion out to get me for the boss.”
“But…But… What if they don’t want to kill you? It’s just reckless!” Canary Belle stomped her hoof and snorted.
“Then I don’t shoot them. It’s simple, easy, and effective.” She smiled, as Canary shook her head. “Look, here in the Marejave, you have to assume everypony has a gun behind your back, so you keep one behind yours.”
“That just perpetuates the problem! If you all assume that, it becomes true!” She didn’t seem to get the joke, but she did have a good point.
“Then it’s not a problem.” My mother smiled smugly, while Canary groaned, muttering something about “Idiots” and “Trigger happy”.
“Moving on, you haven’t introduced me to your marefriend? She’s a looker, aint she.” I blushed a deep red color, stammering. “Took you pretty long to find one, I’m glad you’re finally gonna get laid. All my poker buddies were betting you liked stallions, and I have some money to collect.” She ruffled my mane, and I blushed even more, my purple coat now a deep magenta, and Canary Belle looked to be on the verge of tears.
“Um… She’s not my marefriend… I… I’m…. with somepony else… if she’s still alive...” She said, eyes watering as she whispered the last part. I patted her with my wing sympathetically.
“I’m here on official business, ma’am, with Applejacks rangers. My name is Canary Belle, and I am looking for this stallion.”Wiping the tears off her eyes, she took on a more professional demeanor, holding up a bounty poster of that old stallion from the holotape. “His name is Cottage Cheese, and we have reason to believe he has come through this town. He is considered a dangerous outcast." She lost all of the fear that had been in her voice earlier, an angry glint in her eyes. I got the feeling that she was thinking about hurting him badly.
"That old buck?" My mother looked confusedly at Canary.
"He hobbled in covered in bandages and medical braces a couple days ago. Barely looked like he could stand without them, said he came from Friendship City." She explained calmly, pulling some papers out of her desk and filing them as she talked, not even looking up.
Sometimes my mom is cool, and not a giant bitch, and today was one of those days.
"Asked about some mountain down to the southwest, and then just left when we told him that there weren’t any mountains like that around these parts. Then we got word that the skies over by where he came were cloudless, and that Friendship City was blown up, but by that time, the guy was gone."
She sighed. "I wish we could see the sun, but the explosion didn't reach far enough. All we've got is dust over here, kid."
Mom looked at Canary Belle. "Sorry I couldn't help you that much, but I just didn't think much of the buck, just seemed like one of the run of the mill nutjobs we get here."
"It's ok ma'am, you did give me a clue where he went. Thank you for the info, even if it's just a little bit." She gave a smile that made me feel like the room was full of warmth and not damp and cold like the office was before.
I could see why Sunny chose a mare like her.
She trotted out of the office, taking the warm feeling with her, closing the door behind her.
I felt sad watching her leave, and I had the inexplicable urge to chase after her, but before I could go, my mother tapped me on the back, and I turned to face her.
"You like her, don't you, Cloudy?" Mom looked at me with a knowing smirk, and I lowered my ears in embarassment, face warm.
"She seems like a nice gal." She gave me a motherly smile. "You want to go with her, I can tell."
I stammered, and she chuckled. How the fuck does she always know what I'm thinking? I swear, sometimes I think she can see into my damn soul.
"It's ok, Cloudy, you're old enough to leave Stability, see the world, do shit with your life.” She sighed. “I know I left here a while before you did.” She looked back up at me, smiling.
“Wait, why are you so ok with this? Aren’t you supposed to not want me to leave?” I stammered, confused by the matter of fact tone she was using. “I mean, I’m your daughter, and you want me gone?”
“You don’t remember?” She looked at me, annoyed. “I’ve talked to you before about the responsibility of a leader, or did you just tune me out?”
“Uh… Which answer wont piss you off?” Truth be told, I never really paid attention to her lectures, they were always “You’re gonna be leader one day, and you have to pick up your shit if you’re going to be leader, blah blah responsibility, blah blah boring shit.” Whatever it was, it was probably boring and stupid.
“Damnit, Cloudchaser, this is important!” She groaned, giving me a hard look. “Before they can take over, every Cloudchaser has to go out and see the world, so we don’t end up being led by some greenhorn with no clue about what goes on in the Marejave. I explained this at least two times!” She gave me a reprimanding look.
“I’m sorry, mom…” I folded my ears back sheepishly, and kicked my hoof. “I’ll listen better now…” I was lying through my teeth, and from her look I could tell she wasn’t buying it.
“The other part of the leadership ritual is getting your cutie mark branded off.” She grinned as I covered my cutie mark with my tail in defense. "Relax; I'm just fucking with you, kid. Not that your cutie mark’s that great anyway.” I glared at her and snorted defensively. My cutie mark was perfectly fine! There’s nothing wrong with a power hoof anyway. “I do have something to give you though," She looked into her desk and pulled out a dirty pink bow, handing it to me carefully.
"Gee, thank you mother, a filthy pink bow, what a wonderful gift. I will cherish it forever" I looked down at the ragged thing I held in my hoof.
It had scratches and dust all over it, it looked like it had been chewed on by a radigator, and the colors on it were faded to the point that it was almost gray.
"That was the original Cloudchasers, so treat it with respect, for fucks sake, it's been here for generations, so it’s older than you are. I'm supposed to give it to you when you go out into the world, and guess what?" She stuck it on my armour. "Today's your lucky day, kid."
I felt suspiciously unlucky.
Footnote:
Level 1: No level up
Quest Perk added: Lucky Bow- You now feel your ancestors spirit watching over you, and now you gain an additional bonus to luck when it is equipped, as well as the normal boosts.
SPECIAL:
Strength: 7
Perception: 4
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Because no one else have said it, welcome to the Fo:E herd
2057818
I just found out about me being on EQD. Transcripted reaction 
HOLY FUCK
2057825
Well you are also added to the 2 Fo:E groups in here so yea, expect just an little more trafic to the story the next pair of days.
Oh and that is just an "standard" list, nothing really special at coming on that one, sorry to say that. All Fo:E stories get on it at some point
2057836
Technicality still counts.
I know that, its still nice that I'm on the cover thingie.
While the last chapter seemed slower then it should have been, this one seemed much faster. It's ok to have a blunt writing style when the narrator isn't supposed to be intelligent, but when a character falls to the floor crying with no warning and then recovers completely after a short hug it suggests mental problems. The actions of the mother (firing a gun inside as a wake up call, threatening death to any who disturb her, and encouraging her daughter to leave home with the first stranger who shows up) also indicate mental instability.
This chapter is pretty short right now so it would be easy to add more and slow the pace down a little. Have Cloudchaser realize how distressed Canary is before she breaks down. Don't let Canary get control of herself again so quickly. Have the mom explain why it's time for her daughter to leave. We don't know these characters yet so it's just as important to let us see who they are as it is to say what they do.
And the biggest sign things are going to fast: nothing happened and you already gained a level.
2072490
Wow, you're right." I'm just afraid of being longwinded, so I rushed it because I didn't want to get people thrown off by length...Although this is FoE, so that was kind of stupid. All your criticisms and suggestions are good, and very helpful. Thanks 
Thanks for the info on how this could be better, I really appreciate it, because I'm far from perfect at this writing thing. Looking back now I'm just like "
2072399
I know that was true in the future, but I imagine in the beginning that it would be different, and those things didn't become a problem till later.
I'll try that, but for now, I just finished editing the first chapter according to your suggestions, although it's still not that great, but its as good as I can make it for now. I hope you at least enjoy a little of what I fixed.
2074275
I like how you fixed up the mother's part. She's still crazy, but now ponies recognize it. Canary's still a little on edge though. It's kind of funny how she's acting as the voice of reason while dealing with her own mental problems. Like the mom, you don't have to change that, but you should take a better look at it.
2074801
I mean, blackjack sees a stallion that doesn't exist, velvet has an fixation/addiction to a memory orb, steelhooves is so fucked up it's just not worth discussing, Littlepip was addicted, the list goes on.
Everyones a little nuts in FoE!
But yeah, Canary has some problems I do plan to deal with. And I did want Cloudchaser (Senior) to come off as a little off, even in the wasteland.