“So what can you tell me about this world?” Twilight tapped, after taking a step back.
“It used to be a lot better then it is, that's for sure, I’ll spare ya the details but humanity tried to nuke itself back into the stone age and just about succeeded,” Janey explained with a shrug. “Hey can you open these boxes?”
Twilight nodded and started prying open a few of the boxes as warring thoughts rolled around in her head. She had remembered what a nuke was from the other human world, but they had completely disarmed themselves voluntarily after the end of the second world war. To hear that there existed a planet that had been bombarded by enough of them to nearly wipe out the population was disconcerting to say the least.
“How did this happen?” Twilight asked after she opened up most of the boxes in the room.
Janey looked through each box individually, grabbing choice bits and stuffing them into a backpack Twilight hadn't noticed she was wearing. “There were two major superpowers left, from what I’ve been able to gather. The United States, and China, and they were both fighting over what little resources that hadn't already been burned or otherwise used. Ooh that's a good one.”
Janey pulled out a particularly strange looking series of wires, and tubes which made little sense to Twilight. “So your saying the people decided to kill pretty much everyone all for some resources?” Twilight exclaimed in disgust, tapping her response out on a clipboard she located in one of the now open crates.
Janey stopped, glanced down at her wrist computer, and after a few seconds of translation, shrugged. “Pretty much,” she exclaimed. “Oh and the United States wasn't much of a democracy at that point either as corporations held most of the power and China never pretended to be. Or at least that's what uncle Istvan always said.”
“Uncle Istvan?” Twilight pressed.
“He was a ghoul that worked for my parents.” Janey murmured, her head inside one of the bins and hiding her expression.
“Where are your-” Twilight tapped, only to be interrupted by Janey giving her a glare.
“Don't ask,” she commanded, before turning and rooting around in another box as if she hadn't just unnerved the former pony with how powerful her look had been.
I should ask about that after I get to know her better, maybe she’ll open up to me then. Twilight thought to herself as she watched Janey dig through box after box, amassing a significant pile of loot in the process. Only now realizing what was going on Twilight stumbled back a step. “Do you own this place?” Twilight tapped out.
Janey looked at the former pony like she had grown a second head. “Noone really owns anything nowadays. Sure a couple folks set up shop in these old buildings or a gang claims turf, but the people who owned places like this died a long time ago, and most people in em are squatters anyway.”
Twilight frowned, or at least she tried to, as her face lacked the complicated muscles necessary to display most emotions. “I still think this is wrong. Obviously someone put these crates here,” she tapped, gesturing to said containers.
“And you think we should let the person who probably kidnapped and experimented on you be allowed to keep all this stuff they obviously aren't using and ain't coming back for?” Janey deadpanned.
Twilight blinked. On the one hand, stealing is stealing, but on the other, they did kidnap me and my friends for some, probably nefarious reason. It's fine if we are taking from bad guys right? Twilight sighed, and ran a hand down her face, the former pony unused to the grey moraly ground she now trod.
“Look, if it makes you feel any better I found a diary on the terminal back there while you were staring off into space. It describes how the original owner forgot he changed the locks on the bunker and ended up dying right here on the ground. Whoever is using this place stuffed all the spare parts the owner had kicking around in this room, meaning we ain't stealing from anyone that's alive,” Janey explained as she moved to the last box in the line.
Great, were robbing the dead, because that makes me feel so much better. Twilight thought to herself. Why couldn't I have ended up in a world that makes sense rather than this waking nightmare.
“How do you use these computers?” Twilight tapped, gesturing to the terminal at the base of the lift.
“Huh? Oh easy, just type here.” Janey began, pointing to the keyboard. “And after that you have to input a few lines of text until you can get into it. I already cracked this bad boy, but normally it would take a little bit to figure out the password.”
Twilight nodded as she watched Janey input a few lines of text before opening up into a screen containing several sub folders. “Do you mind?” She asked, tapping out her question on the table.
“Go ahead, I’m gonna go loot the rest of this place, how big is it anyway?” Janey inquired.
“Not big, a couple of rooms, no dangers, now.” Twilight replied hastily.
“Now?”
“Was a robot, not anymore,” Twilight explained, no longer paying attention to the human at all, as she was focused completely on the screen.
“Okay then, have fun. I’ll be back in a bit,” Janey exclaimed before turning and leaving into the scorched room behind.
Twilight didn't even notice her go as she gripped a pencil between two fingers and was using it to maneuver through the files, searching for something of interest. The purpose of the first three were obvious as one was labeled games, another had the words work documents written on it and the last was simply titled diary. Opening the diary folder Twilight was greeted with an enormously long list of dates that abruptly jumped ahead ten years at the mid way point.
With little else to do, and her curiosity piqued, Twilight dove into the first diary entry.
It was cold today, and I don't mean a little nippy, or sweatshirt weather, I mean cold. Damn cold. Those assholes up in DC musta been more wrong then even the crazies could have anticipated if China has their weather control machines up and ready before we could do the same. Which brings me to the reason for this first entry. I’ve done it. The plan is in motion, and the company is none the wiser. The ass hats in legal never even suspected me for even a second. They thought I was just a crackpot that deserved to stay in the mail room forever, but I’ll show them. When they are dead and gone, and the world is wiped clean, I’ll be alive, and they will be dust on the wind! Day one of the bunker build is a go!
-Jimmy Carr
Twilight felt conflicted after reading the first entry, as she both felt for the obviously distraught human, even though he was obviously syphoning off money from the company he worked for. With a shrug, she decided to keep reading, determined to see the diary through to the end and to discover what went wrong for the unfortunate office worker.
The next few months were fairly plain, with the mysterious Jim Carr commenting on his personal life only rarely and mainly focusing on simple descriptions of the new equipment he was able to purchase. He went on to explain that he knew the guy that owned the land, and that he had been allowed to park his trailer nearby and to build his bunker under it. He only briefly touched on the owner himself, describing him only as a like minded person who was one of ‘the good ones’. Whatever that meant.
Then, upon it's completion, Jimmy wrote a celebratory post, and declared that he would write the next entry when he would need it, whenever that was. Jumping ahead, Twilight hesitated to open the first entry, unsure if she wanted to know what Jimmy’s fate had been. The former pony’s natural curiosity pushed past her hesitation though, and she quickly opened the next entry and began to read it.
That MOTHERFUCKER! He said he just wanted to check it out, to see my handiwork, yet here I find a fucking note on the door letting me know that he changed the locks, and that he's always hated me. Why the hell would he do this to me? I haven't done shit to him! I ain't the reason his wife left him, and his kids hate his guts. All I’ve ever been is nice to him! I have some of my supplies in here at least, though it's nothing compared to the nearly fifty years of food I have saved up in the actual bunker. I’m going to see if I can't jury rig something to blow the door. I’ll show you Weng, you son of a bitch.
-Jimmy Carr
Twilight paused, and read the last entry again, confused, but oddly put off by his strong language. Twilight stopped and pondered this most recent turn of events, thinking how it correlated to Jim’s fate as it was obvious things between him and his landlord werent quite as clear cut as they seemed at first glance. Clicking through the next few entries, Twilight breezed through them, captivated by the tale of survival and betrayal.
For the most part they were generally hopeful, as he had over a month's supplies left, but had nowhere he could relieve himself, resulting in the man using a box for that purpose. Something Twilight was glad had not survived the test of time, as she did not want to imagine how gross that would have been. Other than that, the entries seemed to frequently devolve into mindless insults, and long winded rants about his ex friend, revealing a startling amount of racism, sexism, and a bizarre fascination with his landlord's wife.
As time went on a picture began to form in Twilight’s mind, the former pony was able to peice together the rambling rants into a somewhat organized summary of events. Twilight pressed the key one more time, opening the last, and most despondent entry of the bunch. The rest had been angry, or at least determined, but the tone of the last suddenly changed, making Twilight stop and really focus on his words.
I get it now. I figured it out. He's not inside the bunker, he hasn't been watching me sleep in my own filth. He's dead, probably sitting in his living room drinking that whiskey he was always saving. I was at fault. This was supposed to be a prank, or payback, or something, he probably thought I came down here every other week to check on things. But I didn't think about it, just like I didn't think about how my attitude had affected him. Supplies are just about out, gonna call it quits though, don't want to die hungry and alone, besides, being by myself this long has been bad enough.
-I’m sorry.
Twilight sniffed, the former pony fighting back the urge to cry upon reading the final words, knowing full well that the human had likely killed himself shortly thereafter.
“You alright?” Janey asked as she walked through the door, arms loaded with random bits of electronics.
Twilight nodded, her mind at war with itself over what to think of Jimmy, and his unfortunate end. She had learned a lot from him, about the world, it's people, and even a little about the maintenance and construction of a proper vault. However, he had obviously not been a very good person in life, though Twilight thought he didn't deserve the end that he had received.
She didn't think anyone deserved to die hungry and alone at the bottom of some hole in the ground.
Janey dumped her latest pile next to the rest, and wiped her hands of the grease that stained them. “Was there something in those other entries? All I read was the first and the last one,” Janey remarked.
Twilight wanted to tell the dead man’s tale, but due to the limitations of her communication, she merely tapped. “Yes, it was tragic.”
Shrugging, Janey produced a tarp from her bag and laid in the ground. “Sorry to hear that, now would you mind giving me a hand, there is a lot of good stuff here, and we gotta haul it a fair distance.”
Twilight nodded mutely, following the instructions of the younger woman and placing the pile of loot in the center of the tarp before wrapping it up and slinging it over her shoulder. “Careful with that,” Janey warned. “Most of it's scrap, but there is some good stuff in there.”
Again, Twilight nodded, surprised to feel just how light the great pile of scrap was in her large hands. She was strong, that much she already knew, but to heft such mass with ease made Twilight realize that she had not even begun to test the limits of her new found strength. Making a note to do that sometime soon, Twilight turned to where Janey stood at the bottom of the lift, her fingers flying across the pad near the screen.
“Alright, it should be good for one last lift, but after that it will probably run out of power,” remarked the woman. “If we want to get back down here we will need to get a replacement generator, or find one helluva ladder.”
Twilight chuckled as she took her spot next to the woman, the lift trembling briefly under their combined weight.
Janey waited until she was sure it wasn't about to break before hitting the up button and prompting the entire machine to begin chugging away. A small fence rose several feet out of the side of the elevator, ensuring no one could accidentally fall off the lift as it rose. Which began to ascend a few seconds later, the entire machine squeaking horribly as it began to rise slowly into the air.
“That doesn't sound good,” Twilight tapped out on the floor.
Janey frowned. “I don't even need to morse code to figure out that you trust this thing about as much as I do.”
Twilight watched the various machinery closely as the entire elevator began to ascend, leaving behind the strange ad hoc laboratory that Twilight had woken up in. Now with only dull service lights to illuminate their trip, Twilight found herself lost in thought, her mind instantly going to her friends. She hoped they hadn't been put into strange bodies, though Twilight had a feeling that she wasn't the only one to wake up and find that they werent in their own skin.
“Your probably pretty curious about what you are, huh?” Janey offered.
Twilight nodded her horned head.
“They call your new species a death claw, and they are some of the most terrifying creatures in the entire wasteland,” Janey began, her tone becoming distant, as if she was reciting something she had been told. “Born from some pre war experiment gone wrong, deathclaws were supposedly created from some manner of lizard they had back before the war. After everything went tits up they got out, only to get nabbed and experimented on by the master.”
“The master?” Twilight asked, tapping her response out on the ground.
“I’ll tell you about him later,” Janey retorted as they passed the halfway point and the ceiling began to open to reveal a darkened sky. “All you need to know is that he used some kinda crazy virus to make deathclaws even tougher for some reason. Now they are the undisputed apex predators of wherever the hell they want to go.”
Janey paused. “Though I have a feeling that your a bit different from the usual breed as your horns are longer, your skin is darker, plus it's got those purple patches. Nevermind your eyes which are the strangest shade of violet I’ve ever seen.”
“Am I really that different?” Twilight asked back.
The human nodded. “Deathclaws don't usually have visible sex characteristics, yet you have what look like mammary glands. That and your face is more narrow, your gait less loping and your overall physique is slimmer, more human looking.”
Twilight’s mind brimmed with questions, but she held them at bay for the moment as her attention had been drawn upwards, to the stars which poked out from the clouds above her. As the sky grew, and the groaning machinery vanished into the sides of the elevator shaft, Twilight found herself transfixed. Even a single glance up at the sky was enough for the former unicorn to know that this was a truly alien world, and not some cruel joke.
She knew this because the stars were wrong, the sky looked weird, and Twilight could tell that the very air was different. Though she had known before that the lands above her were dry and irradiated, a single sniff assured her that was true. Not only that but she could almost taste something strange in the wind, it was clearly unnatural but also something Twilight instinctively knew could not harm her.
When the lift finally reached its destination, and Twilight stood fully in this new, strange world, the former pony found herself once more transfixed by her surroundings. Behind her and to the sides stood tall, ancient mountains, though they didn't look like any she had seen before in Equestria. These great pillars of rock almost looked like they had been blasted by some great force, tearing off the top most layer of dirt and exposing the jagged rock beneath.
It reminded the former unicorn of when she had studied field medicine after her first adventure and had seen what a third degree burn did to someone’s knee. This feeling of injury didn't end at the mountains around her though, as everywhere she looked there was no vegetation to see, only dust and the scars left over from the nuclear blasts which had devastated this land. The only man-made object she could see from where she stood was a strange elongated box that appeared to have at one point been Jimmy Car’s mobile home.
Remembering how the dead man had spoken at length on his former house on wheels, Twilight frowned when she noticed what had happened to it. The windows were blown out and all traces of the glass were gone, as was the door, paint, and anything that may have been inside. Now all that was left was a bunch of radio equipment, a mattress, and a pile of cans which was spilling out of where the entrance.
Twilight stepped aside, and began tapping at her clipboard. “Tell me everything you know about the wasteland.”
Janey chuckled as she walked over to the trailer and pulled a hidden lever, prompting a grimey facade to slide over the top of the lift, hiding it from sight. “That will take some time. I’ve been walking the wastes for as far back as I can remember,” Janey replied.
“How long do we have until we reach town?” Twilight replied.
The human shrugged. “A half hour to an hour, depending on if any wildlife bother us. We should be able to get there before dark but it will be close.”
Twilight nodded. “Could you start with describing the wild life please?”
“Sure thing, just stick close. Oh and if you see a gecko, don't let its short stature fool ya. Those little buggers will bite your fingers off if you let them,” Janey remarked, the human walking over to a small trail which wound its way out of the mountains and into the hills below them.
“If I am in the body of an apex predator, wouldn't they leave us alone?” Twilight questioned.
“If we are lucky they’ll give us a wide berth, but it's a dog eat dog world out there nowadays and if something’s hungry enough it doesn't matter how big you are,” Janey replied.
Twilight sighed, the former unicorn silently hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to violence anytime soon. Though the longer she was here the more the deathclaw realized that such a thing seemed all but inevitable. To make matters worse, violence seemed to be something her terrifying new body was all too adept at.
That fact that her claws could slice through steel like it was paper bothered Twilight more then she would have liked. The dull grumble which emanated from deep in her gut only made her worry grow ever greater, threatening to overwhelm the ex pony. Not only that but her new instincts suddenly came roaring back, reminding Twilight that she had not eaten anything in as far back as she could remember.
“Am I a carnivore?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
Janey shrugged. “Noone knows for certain if deathclaws are omnivores or not as most folk who get close enough to study them end up in their belly.”
Twilight winced. “Do you have any fruit or vegetables on you?”
Janey nodded, and reached into her bag in order to produce a lumpy looking apple. “Here, this is the best I got on me I’m afraid.”
Twilight tucked her clipboard under her other arm and caught the food in her free hand, eying it closely. Though slightly discolored, the apple didn't seem too off, even if it had a couple more bumps than a normal one. Pushing down a bit of revulsion which welled from her belly, Twilight tossed the entire thing into her mouth and began to chew.
This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever eaten. Twilight thought to herself as her pointed teeth easily tore through the peice of fruit.
Yet she swallowed anyway, doing her best to stomach the acidic taste of the weird lumpy apple. As soon as her mouth was empty, the deathclaw turned and spat out whatever remained, and inadvertently discovered that her tongue was surprisingly long. She put that small realization out of her mind however, and tried to focus on how she felt, and if the food would stay down.
“Yeah they don't taste the best, but it's better than most of the stuff you could scrounge up in the wild,” remarked Janey absently. “So, where should I start with my description of the wastes? Factions, weapons, or do you want to stick with animals like you-”
Whatever she had been about to say was stopped dead in its tracks as Twilight unexpectedly vomited all over the ground. The deathclaw hardly even had a chance to open her mouth before bits of chewed apple erupted past her non existent lips, spraying all over the ground. Worse still, Twilight’s entire stomach flip flopped violently as it expelled not only the apple but some strange greyish goop.
Groaning, Twilight stood there awkwardly, trying her best to get her stomach to stop angrily expelling its contents. Something she only managed to achieve after dry heaving for almost five consecutive minutes. Standing on wobbly legs, Twilight breathed heavily, hands on her knees and head lowered, ready for more.
When none came, she wiped her lipless mouth with the back of her clawed hand and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you alright?” Asked Janey, the human nervously glancing at the deathclaw over the rim of her aged glasses.
Twilight raised a hand placatingly, before locating her fallen clip board and tapping out her response. “Yes, though I’m suddenly very hungry despite the fact that I am also super grossed out,” Twilight replied.
Janey nodded, and unslung her backpack, digging through its contents until she managed to locate a clear container which contained what looked like a steak. “Here, eat this,” Janey exclaimed, popping the top off and offering it to the deathclaw.
Twilight didn't question it, and just grabbed the entire container and tossed it back, chewing it twice before swallowing. Her taste buds hardly had a chance to realize what had crossed them before the thick slab of meat was already on its way to her belly. Once they did though, Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she looked down at the container in horror.
“Was that what I thought it was?” Twilight hesitantly asked.
Janey nodded. “Brahmin steak. Relatively fresh too, and bought only a few hours ago at the prospector saloon.”
Twilight breathed deeply several times, steadying her nerves and doing her best not to throw up again. She didn't know what a brahmin was, but Twilight liked to think that it was some sort of horrible monster. One that she shouldn't feel bad about eating, even if it was a living thing and likely had a life, feelings and parents.
Then the vomiting started all over again.