//------------------------------// // Fluffy // Story: Fallout Equestria: Prepper // by Kippershy //------------------------------// Fallout Equestria: Prepper By Kippershy Fluffy “Fluffy, eaten by a radroach?” The wave of relief that washed over me as I made that comment was truly blissful. Letting out a little laugh, I swooped down over to my darling Fluffy and picked him up, holding him high. “This is Fluffy! Fluffy is my pet radroach.” Cooing in adoration of my lovely little skittery Fluffy, the slew of surprised swears I heard running through the minds of everypony in eyesight amused me. Fluffy, ignorant of what these ponies thought of him, continued to wave his cutesy little antennae all around as he tried to figure out what the fuss was about. Stroking his carapace lovingly, I made sure to keep him from becoming anxious of the situation. Finally breaking the silence, the mare who had first alerted me to the supposed loss of my pet now began asking questions, as I had expected somepony might before long. “Why… no, better yet, how did you end up with a radroach of all things as a pet?” “I’ll answer the why first.” I murmured before humming as I put Fluffy back in his corner. Watching him go back to gnawing on the radbit I had left as food for him, my smile grew knowing he was eating well. Turning back to face the newly formed crowd, I began explaining. “The why is simple. Fluffy is so cute! I mean, look at him! That adorable little face, those adorable little leggies, and the antennas, and just everything! I think he’s wonderful. I don’t see any reason to feel differently about him, he’s different to what most ponies would look for in a pet, but aren’t I different to most ponies after all?” “Well, yes.” One stallion admitted shyly, though as soon as he had said that, he began to stumble over himself to carry on. “But I really don’t mean it like that! I mean! I! I mean it’s not like you’re bad! Just different! But still a pony!” Nodding my head, I smiled at the poor stallion in a reassuring way. “Don’t worry, really, I asked that question wanting your response. Yes, I am different, but I am still a pony. Likewise, Fluffy is different from what you might take on as a pet, but he’s still my pet. He’s never caused me, Opal, or any of our visitors harm. I adore him, he seems to feel the same way, that’s all that matters.” “But how did you come to find a radroach so tame?” Looking over to Opal still busy minding the other ponies who were still buying, I figured she’d let me know if she wanted any help. She did owe me a favour after all. Trotting towards and consequently sitting down next to Fluffy, his response was to jump onto my haunches and settle down. Closing my eyes, I drew another breath and melted back into my ongoing story time. Knowing that I had left the others in suspense of how the fight ended, I figured it was only just to fill them in. “I’ll finish the story I was just telling first, but that will blend into how I met Fluffy.” --- --- --- Powering up my horn, I knew I had to try and take this beast down. Shooting another blast and jumping back, I hit the monster in the mouth this time. Although it wasn’t enough to kill the beast, the wretch of pain that it gave in response was enough to tell me that it was hurting, and I had found a weakness. The tough scales that covered its entire body were all too tough for even my magic, but the mouth was soft and vulnerable. Still, scrambling out of the way of yet another bite, my heart began to race even further as I noticed the burning in my lungs. I couldn’t do this forever, and I had no idea how long this creature could do it for either. Another bolt of magic shot out of my horn, followed by another. The first missed by inches, though the second hit home, sending the reptile into a momentary retreat. Taking a deep breath, I needed to end this soon. One or two hits from my magic would have killed all but the most well armoured of ponies and other threats, but this beast was taking the hits more like a hellhound would. With the beating of my heart becoming even more noticeable, that was when the spark of inspiration came to me from Unity. The Goddess hadn’t seemed to deem my plight serious enough to intervene, but one of my sisters spoke to me. ~~~‘Go for the heart’.~~~ Go for the heart? Of course. Everything that lived had a heart, this beast was no different. There was no way that my magic would pierce through its scaly hide, not with the bolts at least. There had to be some other way. Jumping out of yet another bite, I threw up my shield out of instinct yet again, but this time I was too slow and the shield closed with the tip of the beasts snout poking through. The sensation of wetness hit me as blood squirted over my hooves as my shield was ripped through by the sharp teeth, and looking down, I felt disgusted that I had been bled on… only to then realise exactly what had just happened. I had just managed to cut a part of it off using my magic shield. The beast’s hide was too strong for magical thunderbolts to pierce through, but my magical shield was strong enough to cut bits off of it! Jumping between shopping carts and other obstacles was getting less and less effective as the beast smashed them apart in its chase, I needed to end this fight now, before it ended me. I considered using the shield to try chop its head off, but then the words rang through my mind once again. ~~~Go for the heart.~~~ Of course! The heart attack method! That’s what she was trying to tell me! Jumping into the air and landing atop of one of the nearby shelves, I felt it wobble under my weight and quickly began to doubt my choice, but I needed some distance in order to prepare myself for this. After a moment of confusion, the radigator finally noticed where I stood and began its charge. “Here goes nothing!” I cried out, closing my eyes desperately hoping it would be enough, that it would be able to form inside the beast. Wrapping my magic around where I hoped its heart was, I squeezed as hard as I could with my magic, tightening the shield as much as I could manage. Opening my eyes in the very same moment that the beast hit my shelf, knocking us both over. In a desperate rush to get off of the floor and out of the way of the giant maw that stared right at me, I didn’t even notice at first. Galloping away to a safe distance, I was met with almost nothing in return. No stomping feet. No gigantic roar. No, the sound I could hear was… different. Carefully making my way over to the sound, I saw the monster now no longer looking like an apex predator, but rather, a pathetic mockery of what it had been only moments ago. The fire in its eyes had been put out, replaced by the dying light of its wheezing, last breath. *** *** *** With the end of the radigator, I had been free to finish searching the rest of the building. Breaking into the managers office by simply forcing my weight into the door had proved sufficient, and once in there I found the keys to all of the locks in the building. It had taken some time, but room by room I searched and secured the rest of what I had stumbled upon. Taking note of what stock it had left laying about, and how much room there was to keep items secure, there really was no question about it; this was to be my new base of operations, where I would be able to prepare for any unfortunate future events, be it what I had seen or even as simple as damage to our other stocks. From here, the next step was simple: Go and find more! Before leaving the shop and locking up, I had made sure to scavenge as many saddlebags as I figured I could realistically fill without being over-encumbered and began making my way back to some of the places I had been to previously. There was a lot of potential scavenge sites where I had only scraped the outside or peeked my head into at best before deciding that they simply wouldn’t be suitable for making a new home in – but that wasn’t to say that they wouldn’t have plentiful supplies hidden away for those with a keen eye. I just needed to go and find them. *** *** *** ’Making my way downtown, flying fast, buildings pass, and I’m lootbound’ Humming my little song to myself, I had no idea where it came from, but something about it felt familiar to me. No matter where it came from, it served its purpose, as before I had realised it I was at the first location I had earmarked for being potentially valuable – a housing district that both hadn’t been overrun by raiders or turned to rubble. The most impressive part was that somepony had even tried to erect a defensive perimeter around a few of the houses with makeshift walls. There was no sign that they had been breached by force, and that was what had caught my eye previously. Unfortunately, there simply wasn’t enough room even between the few houses to consider it large enough for a base, but I had hopes for what might have been inside. Flying over the walls and proving how little they meant to any creature with wings, I walked up to the first of the houses, having chosen one at random. Stepping over to the window, I figured that getting an understanding of what was inside before even trying the door would be a wise idea. I really didn’t need to walk into another radigator ambush. Trying to see through the window was nothing if not painful, as all of the dirt, dust and weathering had stained the glass over the years of not being looked after. Moss grew on the outside window frame, and it looked as if some (or perhaps mould) had grown on the inside too. Still, there was no sign of movement, and I couldn’t sense any signs of life coming from the building, so I felt pretty confident in my choice so far. Scouting around the rest of the exterior, I wanted to be sure that there wasn’t some other nasty surprise waiting for me, but found nothing out of the ordinary. The house was small and ageing for sure, but there was no signs of danger at least. Trying the back door first as it was closest to me, I had no luck as the door wouldn’t budge. Whoever has last used the building had either locked it tightly or blocked it off entirely for security. Figuring that it likely wouldn’t be worth the effort no matter which way, I moved to the front. Trying the door handle gave no luck on the first attempt, causing me to groan. “Come on, let me in. Momma needs what you’ve got.” Trying it again, I took notice to the fact that at least this door felt a lot looser than the back had been. There wasn’t a sense of extreme security behind the door, and thus I pressed my weight against the door and prepared to try force it open. With a bash, the door flew open whilst I landed on the floor with a thud, feeling pretty embarrassed that I hadn’t caught myself on the way down. Getting back onto my hooves, I quickly surveyed the initial room I found myself in. A small closet of sorts, old tattered husks of coats hanging up on the walls either side of me, followed by a hallway and set of stairs leading up. Choosing to scout the bottom floor first seemed wise; even though I hadn’t seen any threats, the consideration was that at least I could make sure that there was nothing below me that would cut off my best escape route by guarding the stairs if it turned out that I had been wrong. Looking to the left, I saw sofas and an old, broken TV in the living room, dust blanketing the screen so thickly that it looked as if it would refuse to even budge, and proving it hadn’t been used in well over a century. Thankfully though, the rest of the room was in something of a better state. In what was the most puzzling moment of my life so far, I instinctively began pulling the cushions off of the sofa in a way which felt almost sacrilegious, but vague memories coming from places I didn’t quite understand had me finding bits between the cracks. Looking at them in awe, I still had no clue why I had done it, nor did I really know what I would do with these, or at least not until another vision filled my mind of pre-war machines dispensing sparkle cola. Looking around the rest of the room, I saw nothing of value and moved on to the next; the kitchen. While I held no hopes for anything truly edible, I was quickly proven wrong when I found boxes of snack cakes hidden in the cupboards behind a false backboard. I would have felt proud of myself for finding that if it hadn’t been for the fact that the backboard was in such a poor condition that it had practically already fallen apart and revealed a glimpse of more hidden away. Quickly stocking up my bags, food was never a bad thing to stock up on, that was for sure. Searching the rest of the kitchen, there was nothing else of any value to me. The knives were rusted and useless, other foodstuffs that laid around were more mould than what they had originally been, and pots and pans didn’t offer any value whatsoever. The one thing of value that I had come to find wasn’t physical loot, but the fact that I learned that somepony had moved the fridge to block the door from opening, and suddenly I was very glad that I didn’t try force my way through. Moving on past the kitchen, the rest of the downstairs proved to have nothing of interest either, prompting me to begin my ascent upstairs. In the first few steps everything seemed normal, but as I got closer to the top I could’ve sworn that a faint, lingering sensation whispered to my nose, not quite enough to really recognise as anything in particular, but the air definitely reminisced about something that had happened here. Opening up the first door I came to, I was met by black mould covering what would once have been white tiled walls, and a mirror marked with stains hanging from the wall above a sink, a toilet nearby next to the shower. Without stepping into the room, I opened the mirror cabinet with my magic but saw no valuables inside. Closing the door and moving onto the next room, I was greeted by a makeshift workshop. Pushing a desk fan and typewriter out of the way so I could inspect the cabinet, I poured the contents of a draw onto the surface to sort through it freely. “Bingo!” I had I found the absolute mother lode supplies! Multiple rolls of duct tape, a large bottle of wood glue, about a dozen boxes of nails and several boxes of screws, along with a hammer. Taking everything but the screws, my bags quickly filled and began to weigh me down. Without a screwdriver, the screws were pointless, but everything else was perfect. Checking the next draw I found more supplies; wrenches, a hammer, sealant, sandpaper, and plenty of nuts and bolts. Adding them to my saddlebags too, this house alone had almost filled up two thirds of my capacity, leaving me exceptionally happy with the outcome of my efforts. Stepping back into the hallway, there was only one more room to check, and as I approached the scent that had been fading in and out of my mind grew stronger. Surmising that it must have been a bedroom, I assumed it was simply the ‘living musk’ that followed being dormant in one room so long each night for so many years. Waving the thoughts out of my mind, I pressed forward to see what could lie in wait for me to take. Opening the door, I expected to be hit by an even stronger stench, but found that the smell was only ever so slightly stronger. With the curtains pulled shut, it was too dark to make out the true layout of the room. Stepping in and pulling the curtains open, I could finally see as the room lit up. To my my right was a dresser and wardrobes, a small desk, and a varied selection of make-up strewn across. Turning around, I finally saw the source of the smell and hesitated as I looked on. Two skeletons, a unicorn with broken ribs and an earth pony with an extra hole coming through their skull. Whatever had happened here happened a long time ago, and the stained bedsheets told me it wasn’t pretty for either of them. Stepping out of the room, I’d seen enough. I considered taking the revolver that I now noticed on the floor, but decided against it. No matter what value it might have held, something felt dirty about its last use. Walking down the stairs and exiting the building, I was done with that house. With only the small amount of space left, I would only have room to scavenge one of the two other buildings in front of me, assuming both had anything of value. Looking at both, they were of roughly equal size, and both had their windows boarded up, though the one to the left of me seemed to be in slightly better condition judging by the view from the front if nothing else. Neither had been showing damage, but the other benefit was that its garage door was already open, giving me an easy route in. Crossing the road and making my way through the garage door, I noticed something lining the back wall of the room; toilet paper. Stacks and stacks of toilet paper, from floor to ceiling. An odd thing to find indeed. Creeping in further into the property, I felt my hoof stick to the floor as if there was something plastering the ground, but saw nothing. Taking a sniff of my hoof, there was no smell to it, this wasn’t blood or some other bodily fluid that I had to be worried about, but nor did it answer my curiosity. The door into the rest of the house was already open. ‘Great’ I muttered to myself. ‘I guess the place already had somepony loot it perhaps. Though if they looted here, why wouldn’t they have also looted the last house?’ Then I remembered the two bodies. Could it have been that the pony who had their brains blown out had been in here first? No, that made no sense. They should have had a bag filled with scavenged loot if they had. Perhaps whoever left here last just did so in a rush? If that was the case, it was very possible that there would still be something to take. Perhaps some excess ammo they couldn’t carry, some food, or other small items not quite essential to survival but incredibly valuable. I could only hope. Stepping through the door, I was greeted by a sight that none of my sisters in Unity had ever or likely would ever see again without returning here; the toilet paper… it… it went beyond simply stocking up, it was beyond hoarding it even. No, this was something far, far beyond the need of any one family of ponies even. Even for a small community, the amount of toilet roll I saw was astonishing. Hearing a skittering noise to my side, I perked my ear in the direction and immediately spun my face, raising my shield in shock. Holding a defensive pose I hadn’t even realised I’d dropped into, I let down my shield as my eyes, ears, and telepathy found nothing. Just the wind, perhaps? Though I was sure I had heard something, somewhere. With my attention now drawn in another direction, I saw a sight even more astonishingly outlandish than even what I had just seen; not only was there more toilet roll, not only had this whole room become nothing but toilet roll, but the last pony to be here had even made a damned fort out of toilet roll, complete with a sign hanging on next to a little viewport where a unicorns skull sat. ‘NO MARES ALLOWED’ “Well… given your skeleton is just inside the fort? Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.” Hearing scuttling coming from inside the fort, I cautiously poked my head in out of curiosity, only to be met by a flying mess of brown. Falling back on my haunches, I noticed a small ball of fluff speed out of sight from the door I had just come through. Blinking in confusion, I didn’t know why, but something inside of me told me that I should follow whatever it was that just made a break for it. For all the Goddess knew, all I would find in this house would be more toilet paper anyway. Stepping through the door, the ball of fluff was now stuck in the glistening mess on the floor, but looking up, there was a much more pressing matter at hand. As soon as my eyes met it, the hissing began. A titanic radspider, rearing up its front legs, fangs bared, ready to attack. Throwing my shield up around myself and the fluffy ball, the spider attempted to attack my barrier before finding its legs sliding limply to the floor, my horn already having pierced through its eyes and into the brain, killing it instantly. Where there was one, especially one of this size, there would be more. Before stepping out of the garage, I picked up three of the packages of toilet roll with my magic and chucked them as a distraction. In the instant that they had landed on the floor, two more radspiders jumped from their ambush above the garage onto their perceived prey. With no patience for such vile, senseless creatures, I charged out of the garage and speared the first with my horn as I had with the last. With the squealing hiss that could only come from an oversized pest, the other spider charged at me. Grabbing it with my magic to hold it in place, I powered up my horn and blasted it with a spell, frying it from the inside out. The smell of roasted radspider filling my nose, I wanted to wretch, but managed to hold back. “Goddess, why do such vile things exist?” I knew I wouldn’t receive an answer from her, but I still found myself asking the question regardless. Turning around, I heard a high pitched squeal as another one of them, far smaller than the rest, and far too small to pose any threat to me, sped towards the garage. Remembering that the ball of fluff – whatever it was – was still trapped in there, I grabbed the last spider with my magic just in time to stop it. Dragging it over to where I stood, I crushed the arachnid below my hoof without mercy. Trotting over to the squeaking ball, I lowered my head to see it more clearly. Looking at the tiny brown creature, I now realised what it was; it was a radroach! A radroach with a patch of fluff on its back in such a way I had never before known was possible. Bending down to be closer to the little critter, I spoke softly. Radroaches weren’t renowned as being friendly, but this one hadn’t tried attacking me, and nor could it do any harm even if it did. Going against tradition, I decided to speak to it. “Well hello there. You’re special, aren’t you? I’ve never seen a radroach like you before.” Just like that, the radroach stopped its wheezing and whining, and simply looked at me. Slowly its antennas unfurled as they cautiously reached out to me, booping me on the nose. Pulling back instinctively, we both seemed shocked by the action of one another, and yet, somehow, I felt drawn to this little creature. Something about the way those little eyes looked at me, the complete lack of aggression in its demeanour, and the patch of fluff on its back was incredibly cute to me. Tenderly reaching out a hoof, the radroach initially scattered away, though only for a moment before hesitating and slowly returning. With the most gentle touch I was capable of, I stroked the tiny critter in adoration, smiling the whole time through. Getting back up though, I knew that this moment was just a fluke. I had saved its life, sure, but it was time for me to go finish my search. Stepping back into the house, I made my way past the toilet roll that surrounded me, bypassed the fort, and went upstairs. Checking in the upper rooms, there was nothing but more toilet roll. More, more, and more. Every single room had been repurposed purely as a place of storing toilet roll. Every cabinet, wardrobe, nook, and cranny. If there was a space, it was filled with toilet roll. As I went to go downstairs, I saw the radroach waiting for me at the bottom, its little antennae waving as if trying to get my attention, though I guessed that it was much more likely just me ponifying it far too much. It was just a radroach after all. Being careful not to harm it as I walked past, I exited the building and moved out to the street to look at the last house. As I began making my way over, a ball of brown flew past before landing in front of me, waving its antennae yet again. A familiar, comforting smell began to fill the air as the first drops of rain hit the ground around me, lightly moisturising my coat. Why I did what I did next I didn’t know, but I found myself laying on the floor, clearing my mind, one wing spread wide to offer protection to the critter. There was no hesitation in its decision this time – immediately it scurried over to my side, taking shelter under my wing, pressing itself against me. “You… you really are too adorable to pass up, aren’t you?” In that moment, I knew this was meant to be. Opening up the spare saddlebag, I gently scooped the radroach into the empty space and allowed its head to poke on out. The fact that it hadn’t tried to stop me was evidence enough by now that this little radroach seemingly felt the same. “Well, seeing as you’ve got that unique little patch of fluff on you, I think I’ll call you Fluffy. Come on, Fluffy. Lets go home.”