//------------------------------// // Part 1: The Way the Wind Blows // Story: Fallout Equestria: Dead Tree: Hearts, Hooves and Heat // by headdie //------------------------------// Introduction I know not why I write this short tale. My untruth surely does fail Among my people the cause respected But in Equestria the source suspected For you see I have fortune To be one in tune With a creatures apparition. With long life and superstition Which existed before the megaspells fell Who’s premonitions rarely bode well Older perhaps than Wandering Sunrise Who finds out with Surprise Can converse with the pony Pink Who moves with a blink A mane of riotous curls And with joy she whirls I thought the Pink one does share and refuse I do not dare To tell this tale of Love anew So that hope can renew Part 1: The Way the Wind Blows To flee the shop was a priority, to get away from the glowing monstrosity.   I could write a chapter on the events in that donut shop but that isn’t this story, what is important is that the place was a mess of corrupting energy after the glowing one detonated in such spectacular fashion.  The down side was the radiation infused rain we had taken shelter from was still falling and with Sunrise feeling the effects quickly and Alguacil not looking much better we needed shelter soon.  Fortunately Nyota’s keen eye picked out a parking structure which looked promising and we made fast pace towards the building. Approaching the building we were challenged from above by some ponies to stop or they will shoot.  Sunrise, bless her golden heart stepped to the fore of our group, looked up to the sentries and waved to them pleasantly greeting them, all the while wavering under the effects of the ever mounting radiation poisoning her body that was not ready for it.  I think the stunned the sentries for a moment, I mean it's not everyday you hear such a, dare I say, old world reaction to being challenged.  In the end it turned into the right thing to do as the sentries, invited us into the welcome shelter of the building. 2 of the Sentries, both mares, had climbed down from their posts by the time we had reached the the structure's threshold.   I Bowed in respect and thanks to the mares for letting us shelter, the sentries on the other hoof were startled to realise there was a filly amongst who was strongly feeling the affects of the radiation, quickly they ushered us inside of the structure, one of the sentries, a pretty unicorn with a red mane and light grey coat visible through the gaps in her piecemeal armour picking Sunrise up in a spell bubble as the filly fought valiantly to remain standing. Sunrise panicked by suddenly being lifted off her feet started to spin in the bubble which did not help her stomach keep its contents in check which contained a worrying amount of blood. As we accompanied our escorts we hurried into the sub basement where the settlement had some sort of clinic, as we passed I was able to take in my surroundings which as a whole looked to be home to a good sized settlement built of surviving masonry, scrap and anything else usable all packed in tight to the supports and ceilings.  There was however an air to this place, its lack of balance was nothing new to me, my travels had taken me to many places where the damage from the mega spells went far deeper than the physical, I had a sense of danger which went beyond the openly armed population, I wish I had the time to investigate then, though I am unsure what I could have done. Sunrise, despite her terrible state had also noticed that the population was openly armed with all manner of weapons, the unicorn’s reply was the same told throughout the wastes, “Oh that is how we make sure no one does anything hostile or dumb, everypony here is armed and knows how to use their weapon.” The implied warning made me think of Sugar Cube who had a habit of finding trouble and how to restrain her less helpful habits in this, but short of binding her inside the box to the floor of, I had no ideas. We raced into the medical office to dry off, Sunrise and Alguacil were seen to immediately while the rest of us were given the option for a few IVs of a home brew radaway to flush out the radiation and rehydrate us, with a cup of water and a rad free cracker to help our stomachs recover. While Sunrise was being worked on by the staff she went unconscious and It took some time for her to wake again with Nyota, Quick Stitch and myself standing vigil.  When she came to Sunrise muttered about forgiveness which cause a few moments of confusion.  The filly still looked in bad shape but the spark had returned to her purple eyes and we knew it was a matter of time before she was back on her feet again. While we rested and the sentry turned nurse who had been looking after us tended to Sunrise, I guided Nyota and Quick Stitch back a bit to give the nurse space to work. As Sunrise was being attended to she asked the unicorn’s name, she seemed a little abashed, or surprised but quickly recovered to answer that her name is Picline. Taking I couldn't help in that distraction to look over the pretty mare, her light grey coat was solid which contrasted with her mane of a strong red, she looked to be about 29, perhaps a little older than I would normally find interesting, nevertheless her eyes, those burgundy eyes found that window to my soul which fills the heart and lungs leaving you short on breath. After taking a few seconds, my heart still racing but my powers of speech had at least returned, “If I may, Picline so gracious, What do we owe for treatment so tenacious?” Picline smiled at me “Well it is rare a pretty stallion like you comes along, but we can discuss that in depth. The Rad-B-Gone isn't terribly expensive since we can cook it ourselves but Sunrise's Rad-A-Away may be a bit, costly.”  Spark, Did Picline’s eyes just flutter as she said that? Think Chufundo, focus on your heart, slow it down, keep talking, "We can cover the cost, Life is too precious to be lost." By the spirits how is my voice so normal? “Oh I'm sure you can, after all a handsome stallion like yourself is certainly worthy of keeping healthy.” came Picline's reply turning her flank slightly and swishing her tail.  Zap, She batted her eyes at me again. Definitely flirting, oh spirits Chifundo, seriously get a grip of yourself, how has no one had this affect on me before?  Are we soul bound?  Get a grip, keep talking or she will think you are somepony broken, “I'm sure you will be reasonable, what do you believe would be feasible?” Not helpful brain, this wonder of pony kind is flirting with you and all you can talk is business! “Oh yes, quite feasible,” Picline moved and blushed up against me, lightning prickling along where she touched, this wasn't just flirting it was outright hitting on!. At this stage I was losing all semblance of my body’s natural balance, the heat was rising in more places than one, eyes loosing focus, muscles locked, heart thumping, breathing heavy, brain... well I am unsure how I am recalling anything at this point.  To top it all off at this stage there were only two things this stunning pony wanted from me and they could work together very well, if only I could get my mouth to utter the right words.  Also despite my frozen state I could tell that every eye in the room was focused entirely on me waiting for my response. “And what price would you Consider, that we should pay for our treatment figure?” My soul screamed out at for help, desperately is searched my vision when I saw the pink one sat on the table clearly desperately thinking when her eyes shot to Sunrise, the pink pony’s eyes lit up and she dashed across my vision towards Sunrise speaking to her words I could not hear and making gestures I could not quite understand. Sunrise gathered the Rad-A-Way and moved behind me, opposite side to Picline.  After a moment Sunrise moved right in front of me, “Sunrise I know not-” I managed to utter before the filly’s facehoof stopped me in my tracks for a second.  With a flash of irritation I tried to continue “As I was saying, you know not what-” Slap, next thing I knew Sunrise’s tail had slapped me on my ass, between that and Picline giggled I managed to keep my mouth shut until the green filly had her say."I haven't had the hearts and hooves talk yet,” my mouth started to open but Sunrise resorted to outright shouting. “Chifundo! Spirit Shaman of the Wasteland. I am telling you right now, that mare wants you to ask her out on a date! Take a hint! I haven't even had a proper hooves and hearts talk yet but this filly you've been following can see it.” she finished with a dramatic snort and stared me down like a mare much older than she. The blunt delivery cause my stripes to flush but had done what was needed, I was back in control… well I had some control back, I turned to Picline, offered her a bow as an apology and asked “Ahhh…. Pickline so sweet, would you like to later meet?” Pickline practically tackled me and it took all my strength to stay upright as the mare embraced me with the energy of a newly turned mare, “ABSOLUTELY YES! You are the most handsome fine example of zebra I've seen ever.” She hopped down to all fours. “Not to mention the traveling companions you are with are quite wonderful.  You're all stuck here till the rain passes anyway,”  I swear her coat had taken on a new shine, gleaming white, her red mane blazed with fire, her burgundy eyes taking new depths of rich colour. Picline dashed for the door in a full gallop, “I'll see you tonight Chifundo! At 7:30! Use the clock in the market square if ya need one.” She shouted back as the doors didn't even have a chance to close till the red mane mare was out of sight. Sunrise, visibly drained from the strain shuffled to a chair next to her bed with the Rad-A-Way suspended above her. I was at a loss what to do, my heart a flurry, my thoughts racing, seemingly thinking of everything but containing nothing.  Fortunately my stunned state was disturbed by the approach of an earth pony in medical whites, he looked at Sunrise “Ello there, I'm Doc Hacksaw, father of Doc Bonesaw.  I got a letter informing me who your group was from him at Silver Fang Shanty.” He took a long drawn dry breath and smiled a bit more. “So, with your zebra friend here, Chifundo was it?” I snapped out of my revere just in time to register the question. “That is the name I hold in this domain.” Doc Hacksaw snorted, “Right the peculiar sort I have to admit but Picline has never been known to go for the normal ones.” I raised an eyebrow at his comment but decided it best not to pursue it further. He looked right at Sunrise and nodded, “I suppose you are the leader of this group. Now considering how happy he made Picline, I'm willing to give ya a discount.” Sunrise seemed to brighten up at that comment. “It'll be 400 caps for all the anti-radiation meds ya consumed.” Listening to the price I decided that it was about right and started counting the caps from the group fund we had for just such times as this, that the price was right didnt help the sting of letting that many caps go, Sunrise and Alguacil however needed it, and the rest of us would benefit greatly for the flush so the price was worth paying. With the account settled, Hacksaw turned to the group in general,  “And what about you Sunrise? I see a question on your lips and you haven't asked it yet.” Sunrise kind of started for a second, I guess she was surprised that the seasoned doctor could tell when somepony has a thought on their mind, “Okay yes, have you seen a brown pegasus with a hot cross bun cutie mark pass through here?” Hacksaw's face lost it's luster after a few seconds. “Yes, yes, he was here,” his age was showing as he spoke and there was an emotion of worry in there as well. “Badly injured, his wing was nearly torn off completely and he was heavily radiation poisoned.  But he was here.”  There was a long pause while Hacksaw gathered his thoughts, “He disappeared from our medical ward in the night.  I don't know what happened to him but pending any further injury, he is quite alive and was only here two weeks ago.” Hmmmm, hopefully that means we are close, I hope he yet lives, I thanked the doctor for all he has done.  Hacksaw took a few moments to check we were responding well to our treatment before heading to his office, on his way out the doctor whispered in my ear that there is a public shower near by. In the meantime my thoughts drifted back to Picline, who is she?  I hardly know the mare and yet something about her lights a fire in my blood, I could already tell my stripes were blushing again just at the thought of her, she is in good shape, her face pretty, but most of all, those eyes, I could get lost in those deep red depths.  My thoughts snapped back to reality, and though my blush was still apparent.  As my wits returned I looked myself up and down, noting the varying shades of pink and grey in my coat a shower was definitely in order ready for tonight’s date