//------------------------------// // Journey // Story: The Fallout - John and Applebloom // by Maxis122 //------------------------------// The Fallout - John and Applebloom [2/4] The campfire ate the wood and gave out the colourful reds of the fire. John somewhat went into a daze at the light from the fire burned the back of his retina. After a few seconds John recoiled and put his hand over his face. The image of the fire could still be seen though the darkness but within a few seconds it would fade away. "I've got to stop doing that" said John as he blinked and wiped his eyes to get rid of the tears that had been summoned. "Got to stop doing what?" asked Applebloom as she looked over at John. "Looking into the fire" John said as he just about got his eyes working again. "John, I've been meaning to ask you this. What's a mutant?" asked Applebloom. "It's nothing you should be worrying about" said John. "I'm not worried about it, I'm just curious" said Applebloom. "You sure about that" said John and he laid back and looked at the stars. "Because you might be worried if I tell you" said John. "Hey, you don't know what I'm scared of" said Applebloom as she huffed and frowned at John. "You're scared of the unknown and monsters" said John as he sat back up and looked at the annoyed Applebloom. "Oh yeah? Well as a cutie mark crusader I am afraid of nothing" Applebloom said as she sat back feeling good about herself. John then looked at Applebloom again and she had her eyes closed. He had a cruel idea of scaring her but he didn't see the point. She was a bit overconfident of her abilities and John understood she was becoming an older pony now. But he still wanted her to be safe. And he had to keep his promise. He had to. "So what's a cutie mark Crusader? I've been meaning to ask you that" asked John. "It's a group a made with my friends when we first met" said Applebloom as she became a bit more dedicated to the conversation. "So what do you do in this group" asked John. "We try to find our special talent! Then we get our cutie mark!" Applebloom said. "What do you suppose my special talent is" said John. "Being annoying and protective" said Applebloom. Then they laughed for a few seconds before John remembered what she just said. "I'm annoying now! Is that how it is?" said John with a very sarcastic tone. "Of course!" Applebloom said as she smiled up at John. "So who were these friends of yours then?" asked John. "Well there's Scootaloo who's a really cool Pegasus. She's awesome on a scooter and she looks up to an equally awesome Pegasus Rainbow Dash" she said as she then sighed a bit. "Then there's Sweetie Bell who is..." then she stopped and started to tear up. "What the matter?" asked John as he moved over to Applebloom's side. "I...I might not s-see them again" said Applebloom. John then picked her up and set her down on his lap. Then he stroked her and let her cry into his arm. "You never know, we might get you back to them one day" said John. Applebloom's crying ceased and she lifted her head up to look up at John. "You sure about that?" she asked as she looked hopefully into the eyes of John. "Maybe, just maybe" said John as he continued to stroke her. She then became tired and yawned. Then she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep on John's lap. He continued to stroke her as she drifted off into a long sleep. John once again lent back and looked into the sky and wondered how she actually came to be. What caused her existence in the first place? Whatever it was it obviously pulled her into this world. Then he thought if she came through then maybe others came as well. Maybe her friends were here. But to be honest he didn't completely care how or why she came here. At least she was here and she was real. He then turned his attention to the wondrous stars that had been watching him throughout his nights. Before the Fallout scientists said that light from stars and other galaxies were, for example, eight years old. This somewhat presented the possibility for a civilisation to be growing and it would take eight years to even notice that anything was going on. And people said the chances of anything living being in the universe was a million to one, and Applebloom was proof that they were wrong. But nowadays science wasn't really depended upon and religion mainly guided people. John however still didn't care about this as he just accepted the world as it came. Applebloom's existence was just another thing in John's life and it turned out to be the best thing. John then started to close his eyes as now it was time to go to dream world. That was the place where everything was great and there was nothing to worry about. There was no need to eat or drink. And in some cases even breath. But in the end a dream would present itself to John as the thing he wanted most at the time. Before the fallout it was dreams of a happy life and a happy future. But now they are dreams of being in the promised land with Applebloom. With everything safe and no more worries. No more monsters. No more evil. --------- John woke up the next morning to find that Applebloom was still fast asleep on his lap like the night before. He leant back and looked into the sky and observed the bright blue sky clouded by dark yellow clouds. He looked around this sky and tried to remember what is was like before the fallout made the sky this way. The bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. That was the day when the world was right. John looked ahead and looked to see something that he hadn't seen since the fallout began. It shined with its glory and was more colourful then before. The dark background made it stand out and look better that it would usually. John the nudged Applebloom and she then opened her eyes and blinked them a few times. Then she yawned and looked up to John. "What is it?" asked Applebloom. "It's a rainbow, look!" said John as he looked back over at the rainbow. Applebloom looked over at the rainbow and she lit up in a second. Then she jumped off Johns lap and stood on her own hoofs. "It must be Rainbow Dash!" she said as she got all excited and started to run about. "I knew I wasn't the only one here!" she continued in her excitement. John looked at the rainbow and thought that in her world this, Rainbow Dash, created the rainbows. But this was his world and it was possible that this was a natural rainbow. He looked over at Applebloom and saw how happy she was. He thought it would be a bad idea to tell her about his world's rainbows as this would spoil her dreams. His dreams had been taken from him before and she didn't deserve to lose hers. If it came to the right moment then he would tell her. But for now it would be a good idea to keep it to himself. "I must have been right then, there must be others" said John, even though he was reluctant to admit it, it would make some sense for there to be others here. Then if there were others here then maybe there was still some hope for this world. "Yes! I am no longer the only one" she continued to express her excitement over the subject. "It's about time we start going again now" John said as he picked up his backpack and swung it on his back. "Ok, let's go!" said Applebloom. She was a lot more dedicated now that she had some motivation towards the journey and best of all; she was happy. If anything that is exactly the attitude that she needed towards a quest like this. Then John began walking again and Applebloom was close on his heels. Soon they were back on the main road and they were continuing their journey to the new land. The road was broken up so there were many pot holes and cracks in the road. No wildlife could be seen and there was no plant life either. The harsh landscape killed off any attempt for plant life as it had no fertile soil. Everything in the landscape seemed to take a gritty, dusty look. There was no tree hanging around and there was hardly any buildings either. They majority had been taken out by the missiles and bombs that were fired on the day of the fallout. That day would never escape the mind of John. The fear and the screaming. It had scared his mind and it would never leave. But thanks to Applebloom he has had something else to get his mind on. But in the corner of his mind would be those screams and those images. Each step felt like nothing to John and Applebloom. As they walked every day the average fifteen miles was nothing. Even though this was a small distance it was still a distance worth travelling. It was fifteen miles closer to the new land. John looked ahead to see nothing but clear road ahead. The miles came and left. The minutes passed and were forgotten as the two travelled towards their destination. Nothing really came up that day as they seemed to pick the right day to travel. It was one of those days where they would be expecting something to happen but nothing would happen in the end. They eventually came to a point where they needed to stop and take a rest. They then sat down on the edge of the road and took a few minutes to rest. John looked out at the road ahead and scanned it. He wanted to make sure there was nothing ahead. "Have you ever thought about what it would have been like if we met before the fallout" asked Applebloom. John spent a few seconds thinking. "I think it would have been a lot better. Because we would have a home to live in" said John. "Ok then" she said before going silent again. Then John stood up and stretched. Then he turned to see Applebloom too was ready to go. Then they started to walk again and they found the rest of the day rather peaceful. There was nothing really going on that day so there was nothing to worry about. The day started to come to a close and now the city was in sight. When the two got over the big hill and saw the city they had a big sigh of relieve. They were coming closer to their goal. But it was getting dark so it was a good idea to settle down for the night. And because they were on a big hill they could see all around them. The idle landscape was nothing much to look at though so the sky with its stars were the most admired at night. John found some scraps near where they decided to stop and he made them up into a pile. Then he swung his backpack onto the ground and got out the flask again. He then poured some of its contents into a cup and threw it on the pile. Then hit lit it with a lighter and it set alight instantly. A green flame was seen at first but then it died down and turned orange with some yellows dotted about it. They had their fire now so they could finally rest after a hard day of walking. "So what should we be expecting in this city then" Applebloom asked. "Maybe some supplies and probably a water stream" said John. "Will there be any mutants?" asked Applebloom. John paused and knew this was inevitable. "There might be, we will just have to see" said John. "Will we find any other ponies?" asked Applebloom. John had to think this one though as he wasn't sure what was the right answer. There might be others but at the same time there not be any in the city. He just had to say the right answer. "I don't know" he said knowing that this was all that he could do at the moment. "Ok then" she said before letting her head rest on the ground and her eyes dazed into the fire. "You told me about your home yesterday, so I think it's my turn now" said John. "Go on then" said Applebloom as she looked over at John. "I used to work for the army that was like the guards from where you came from. And I was just about finished training. I had a wife and a little girl but then..." said John before he remembered her. He dropped his head into his head and cried a little, and then he let his head back to reveal his now slightly red eyes. He stared into the fire and continued "... the bombs dropped and the house was ripped apart. They were out that day and they never told me they went. But if they were on the road then that means....they must have..." John then broke off again and found it hard to go on. He sighed and sank down. His eyes fixed themselves on the fire and he remembered the fire that ripped through the building. He only just escaped by slipping into the basement. He was lucky, unlike most people. Who were blasted away by the initial blast and energy. "It's ok John" said Applebloom who was now right next to John. "I'm here for you" she said as she put her head under John's hand. He began to stroke her head and he let a few more tears go out. It was about time she knew about his past. And she seemed to take it pretty well as it was quite a brutal one. "Thank you Applebloom" John said as he picked her up and hugger her. She returned the hug and then he put her down on his lap. They both then looked out onto the landscape that was filled with darkness. Applebloom drifted off first and John stayed away. He leant back and looked up at the starts. He sighed in relieve and then he started to close his eyes. Within a few seconds he was drifting off to the land of dreams. He then suddenly woke up. He looked to the fire that was still burning and he looked to see Applebloom was still sleeping on his lap. She was kind of cute when she was sleeping. John convinced himself that everything was fine. He then looked over the landscape. There was nothing, nothing, nothing, fire, nothing. Wait! He recoiled at this strange event. As he normally didn't see any other person camping near them. He looked harder, was it just him? Was he dreaming? It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with the campfire. But John needed to be sure, so he reached out to his backpack and opened it. He ruffled inside it looking for something for a few seconds. Then he pulled out a sniper scope that he had taken from a sniper rifle previously. He held it up to his eye and looked over at the campfire. He could see one man lied down. John couldn't really see anything else around the man so he stopped looking through the scope and put the scope back in his bag. He then lied his head back again and closed his eyes. He faded away and he was relaxed as he knew it was only one man. Little did he know, that one man would be one of the most important things to happen to John and Applebloom. ------------ He woke up the next morning and his vision was somewhat dazed. He rubbed his eyes and looked around to see the same surrounding from yesterday. He looked to his lap to see Applebloom was still sleeping there. She was so peaceful and so quite. John remembered what had happened the night before so he got out the scope again and searched for the campfire again. It was a hard thing to spot but within a minute he found the abandoned campfire. The man there had obviously woken up earlier and gotten moving. It didn't matter to John that much because the chances of them every just meeting were very slim. And anyway he didn't think a lone man would be looking for trouble. John then looked back to Applebloom and he stroked her again. She then woke up and yawned like she would any other morning. She then got off Johns lap and she had some small stretches before looking over to John and smiling at him. "Good morning" said Applebloom. "Good morning, how did you sleep" said John as he got onto his feet. "I slept well, as you are nice to sleep on" said Applebloom. "Good, good" John said as he got his backpack on and looked over to the city. They then started to walk down the hill in the direction of the city. This part of the walk was extremely easy to do, thanks to most of the work being done by gravity. It took a few minutes to get down this hill and it was about a mile of walking to do to until they got to the entrance of the city. The road leading up to the city had the odd lone house that was only just still standing. They looked unsafe to go anywhere near them or even go in them for that matter. They took their time getting to the entrance as they saw the two storey buildings getting closer and closer. They got very close to them and they somewhat towered over the two with their great mass. John stopped and looked at the buildings. They seemed too quiet for a moment. It was almost like they were being watched. John continued to look at the buildings but it was becoming reality that there was no one looking at them at all. Then John continued to walk with his eyes still very suspicious of the lone buildings. They then were in the city and it was a completely new environment, compared to the wasteland. The buildings had the same dusty, gritty feel as the wasteland but as they got further in they could see some green plant life had been able to grow inside the buildings. They continued looking at this new environment. The buildings were getting higher and higher as they went further into the city. John started to let himself relax as he needed to take some time just to enjoy the new scenery. He looked down one street and there would be a broken store. He would look the other way and see a business tower. The only thing missing from all of this was the people running about and doing their day to day routines. They would be blind when the bomb struck at the heart of the city and they would be wiped out within seconds. All of this though was years ago and now the city streets were like a ghost town. Soon the road became infested with big metal lumps of metal. These had broken glass in them and some weird leavers and wheels. These were cars, the thing that John hadn't seen working since the fallout. He was somewhat curious of weather these still worked. So he leant inside one of the cars and turned the key. And the engine started to couth and choke. But then it rumbled to life and shook. It was amazing how this car could still be work even after the fallout. But then the car started to move and John was somewhat dragged along with it. Applebloom turned around to see John being dragged off by the car so she chased him. She then grabbed his trouser leg with her mouth and pulled him out of the car. They both then watched in horror as the machine chugged away and collided with a building. It smashed through the windows and hit the main support of the building. Then they heard some cracking sounds from the building as its weakened supports broke up and fell to pieces. "RUN!" shouted John as he scrambled to his feet and the two ran away. The bottom of the building was being continuously pushed by the car and it was giving up. The bombs that had been set off before had weakened it so it was easily taken down by enough force. John and Applebloom continued to run. John stopped to look back when they got round the corner of a building. He could only watch as the build screamed and fell apart. Within seconds the base had fallen into pieces and the top of the building was coming down. This collided with another building that was better built and it slipped past it. Then it plummeted to the ground and collapsed. John then picked up Applebloom and ran as quick as he could up the stairs of this building. He got up the first floor to see part of the building get smashed by the building that they brought down. Time was running out and they need a escape from this building. John ran up another floor and saw at the other end of the building there was a window that lead to the next building. Suddenly the building started to fall back slowly. It was now or never so John ran as fast as he could down the hall as all the office desks slid past him and made a pile at the bottom. Then he got to the window and he jumped though it to get out. Then he went through the window in the next building and landed on his back. He then let go of Applebloom and set her aside. They both lied there and began to breathe heavily to get their breath back. Then they both looked at each other and smiled. Then John laughed and looked back to the ceiling. Applebloom joined in and was relieved to survive that event. "Who would have thought that small car could have done that" said John as he coughed to get the dust out of his lungs. "That was a car, more like a dragon" said Applebloom as she sighed in relieve. "No more cars for me today then" said John as he chuckled to himself. "Defiantly!" said Applebloom as she got back onto her hoofs. "You did well, good job" said John as he rolled forward to get back on his feet. "Thanks John, you did well too" she said as she smiled at him. "Let's get going again" said John as he wiped his trousers clean from the dust that had built up from lying down. They both then got stood up and John examined the office block. Dust from the fallen building had been forced into here so John and Applebloom could only see a meter in front of them. Applebloom, being curious of the human inventions, looked at a hanging computer mouse and tapped it with her hoof. It swung back and forth before the cable broke and the mouse dropped to the ground. A large bang could be heard when it hit the ground and John heard someone click a sawn-off shotgun into place. He got out his shotgun and pointed it into the obis. He could see nothing and if someone else was there they could see nothing either. "Stay close to me Applebloom" John whispered down to Applebloom and she got really close to his right leg. John then examined what he could see and he heard some muttering from far ahead. There was obviously more than one person there, because lone people don't talk to themselves. That is unless they are insane. Then again could a insane person use a shotgun. John kept looking ahead. He then took a few steps ahead. Whoever this was they were probably as careful as he was. "We mean no harm" sounded a voice from the obis. This person did not want to kill. This meaning he must have something he wouldn't like to be in a gun fight. "We will unarm if you do as well" shouted John. "Fine then" shouted the man. John then put the shotgun in his bag and he heard a ruffling sound from where the man's voice came from. "Is there anyone with you?" shouted John. "Well, not exactly someone" shouted the man. "What do you-" said John before this man came into view. He was rather like him. He had a black hoodie on with cream trousers on. He had a set of fingerless gloves on his hands and he had black sunglasses on him. He was wearing a dark blue coat over his hoodie as well. It wasn't zipped up because it was warm in here. He looked rather peaceful even though he had a sawn-off shotgun and a battleaxe in his bag. And his bag was the same size as his. A middle sized one with space still to fill. John then looked down to his left and saw something he wasn't expecting to see. It only made him mumble the words that he never expected to say. This was the thing that John hoped would happen but at the same time was extremely unlikely to happen. "I was right?"