Fallout Equestria: After Burn
Chapter 4 - Of Unsounding Minds.

The sound of metal shaking beneath the stallion’s magical grip was unnerving, almost as if he hasn’t run into another stranger for a while. He looked me up and down and even hesitated moving forward. He wore tattered clothing with several hidden marks all over his face. He had gone through something tough, I almost felt bad for him.

“I’m not going to say it again twice!”

He stuttered and shifted in his position awkwardly, he was scared. I didn’t speak, I figured it was best to listen to what he told me considering a gun pointing in my direction held by somepony not very confident. I swallowed audibly and nodded, using my magical grip to throw my supply bag in front of my front hooves to show that I was harmless, which couldn’t have been more false.

“G-Good..” his voice shutters as he points to a room to his left, “In the room, I don’t want to hurt you..”

I comply and consider running, but he seems intent on the fact I might have to die at any point, so he keeps the gun trained on me the entire time I wander into the room he directed me in. The room was like the rest of the hotel, dusty with furniture scattered everywhere almost as if somepony was in a hurry. The bed looked as if it was coloured grey, but there was several markings on it implying somepony was sitting or lying on the bed. He sticks the gun against my neck and I feel a rush of shivers travel up my spine as he pushes me into the closet located to the side of the room. Before I can question it he shuts it and orders me to stay in there for my own safety. There was only a slight crack in the closet that I was able to see out as he threw my bag onto the bed and began sorting through it. Great, now I’ve got dust on my bag, although that’s not the biggest issue right now, is it? He throws multiple things on the bed as if he’s searching for something specific. He curses multiple times before moving to another point of the room, I can’t see him unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever comes first.

“Look, I’m sorry about all this. But I can’t really keep you around, alright? I honestly don’t want to have to kill you but now that you know where we are I can’t have you doing anything.. I’m sorry, pal. I really am, you didn’t see me alright? You and I have have never met and I hope we don’t see each other again. D-Do you understand me? We don’t take newbies.”

Was he going to kill me? What did he mean by “we?” My eyes wander around the room as my heart races but I soon notice a good friend of mine, my bonesaw. I wait for him to move slightly closer to the bag so I can get an easy shot on him, he’s lowered his weapon so this makes it much easier. I take a deep breath and ponder if I have any other choice, I could knock him out but there’s a chance of him finding me some other time. I swallow and fidget around the tiny closet as I speak up.

“I’m sorry too.”

Using my magic, I swing open the door which seemed like it was about to crumble anyways and with one quick motion, grab my bonesaw and swipe it in his general direction, hoping I knocked him down or something to make it as quick and painless as possible. I heard several gunshots in my direction and I see the stallion not on the ground, but standing upright as his gun drops to the mess of a floor and I see blood draining from his neck. I stay frozen for a few seconds before gaining my consciousness as he tries to speak but his words are covered by the sputtering of blood. He falls to the ground. Cupping my head in my hooves and trying to desperately push the image out of my head, I question what just happened. My mind goes blurry as I begin getting slightly dizzy. I black out.

The next morning is spent cleaning up my items and stuffing them back in my bag while also ignoring the corpse I’ve left in the room. I would give him a proper burial but decomposition will take care of him in due time. I’m used to operating on bodies but the bodies I operated on were usually not as graphic as this. The ponies I operated on needed help and I was there to fix them, not brutally murder them. I peer down at his clothing, he was wearing a bomber jacket or at least that’s what I assumed it was because it was so dirty that even the sloppy insignia on his side was hard to make out. With my saddlebag filled with some basic things gathered off of him, which only consisted of a few pistol bullets and a .44 pistol. He had a decent amount of bottle caps which confused me. I later discarded them since they served no use to me, considering I need to maximize the effectiveness of the space in my saddlebag for more important items. I made my way outside of the hotel.
The surprisingly bright sun showered over the wasteland, it was almost a decent distraction to what this world had become. In the dark, it was decently hard to make out anything but now that the sun was out it made a wonderfully disgusting display of the head spikes outside of the hotel entrance. The sight of decapitated heads instantly made me turn and vomit off to the side, which I soon made my way to the main road to try and pop that image out of my head as well. What has this world dared to become? Why would a world as peaceful as this turn into this violent of a place, it’s like something out of a generic violent comic book. My venture out onto the road wasn’t a short one, the buildings that I had wanted to scavenge for were barely even able to stand up themselves. I didn’t want to risk my life to a collapsing building only to get nothing out of it at the end of it all. My hooves ached in the venture, I would occasionally crack open a drink or eat something small just to fuel myself considering I’ll be out here for a while. I reach my hoof up and my PipBuck’s light fills my face as I check my status. I’m doing fine so far, perfect. All the equipment I need to head out and find something good out here in… in.. wait hold on. I open the map section and read the name, “Vanhoover.” Well at least now I know where I was. I zoom it a bit more and scout out the area of my surroundings just to get a feel of what I’d be up against. Sadly, all the buildings around me were completely destroyed. I was certainly not risking my life for something so small as a few items in a broken building like these. After all, there was something much more enticing up the road. Looked like a bar of some sort, and it was even in a good enough condition! This was what I was talking about, a perfect place to relax instead of getting stuck inside of that shit hole of a hotel. I reach a hoof up and go to open the door. Stuck. Well that could have been a magical place had only it been open. Wait, this is the wasteland right? There are no rules. I spot a nearby window off to the right side, it looked weak enough to break into if I forced my way hard enough. My magical force grips a decently large rock and I use all my force and slam it into the window, but unfortunately it made the loudest noise as it crashed and rolled into the main room. I peered in and saw.. nothing? Well, to be fair there was the generic feel of a bar but nothing but tables and stools and counters. The counters had been completely cleared and there was an intercom system attached to the counter, it was definitely pony made. It made a static noise and hummed through the empty and desolate bar. The only thing drowning that was a jukebox set in the back of the room, but my vision wasn’t the best with what I had so I climbed into find that there was in fact nothing really in the room worth noting. The jukebox roared with catchy and playful music, how ironic. My vision turns and I see a body, an earth pony displayed on the main room for all to see. Their skin had been scraped off and their lungs rested on their shoulders, with their body wide open. My vomit finds its way out of my mouth and onto the dirty marble floor as I regain my consciousness and try my best to avoid eye contact with the display. The door at the back of the room, which I can only assume is the kitchen was bright, as if someone kept the light on. Hardly any sound coming from anywhere as I make my way behind the disgusting display and over the counter where I don’t find anything useful. I take a gander at the intercom and it seems to be in working condition. I was here to make as little noise as possible so I’m not going to touch that until I’m ready to be ganged up on. I make my way back to the middle of the room where several cupboards rest, but they seem to be locked. The cupboards aren’t even cupboards as I look closer at it. The containers seem to be rather large, almost like it could hold something huge inside of it. I don’t dare open it and wander around desperately trying to find something useful. My trail ends to the jukebox at the corner of the room. The creepily jolly tune fills my ears as I somewhat crack a smile, the only thing that’s playful in this world.

♪ Oh, I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle.. As I go ridin' merrily along ♪

The intercom clicks on, as if it just realized I was here. The voice on the intercom clears it’s throat and brief shuffling is heard. The Jukebox sings more, and it doesn’t sound playful anymore.

♪And they sing, "Oh, ain't you glad you're single?"♪

A click is heard from behind me, followed by several other clicks. Almost as if something behind me was getting ready for something. It didn’t sound like a pony, it sounded mechanical.

♪And that song ain't so very far from wrong~♪