//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: A Strange New World // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Of Wings and Stripes // by PeppermintSparkle //------------------------------// Chapter 2: A Strange New World My eyes were sore. The pouring in of sunlight, although astounding was also very painful to the corneas of a pony who’d never encountered something so bright before! As my pupils started to adjust, I noticed that it was nearly night time. It was really cloudy, too. Like the clouds were covering the whole sky! Even if they were, the little sunlight that passed through them would be more than enough to blind anypony who’d grown up in a dimly lighted Stable like I had. Looking at my surroundings, I could see a poorly maintained barn. I didn’t want to risk it collapsing or something, so I decided I might as well do a flyover, and see if there was anyplace… better to stay. Just as I lifted my wings, my PipBuck beeped at me. Curious, I checked it. >You are at Sweet Apple Acres. >Radioactivity Detected. Check Meter? Tapping the second message, I selected ‘Yes’. It brought up the Radioactivity Meter, which showed the needle being being inbetween the green and yellow. “Well, looks like I’m not staying here…” I muttered to myself, lifting into the air and heading away from whatever place Sweet Apple Acres had once been. Finding a road, I began following it’s path from the air… this place must have been hit really hard, or just abandoned. It looked like crap! Suddenly, the second option wasn’t looking like it was the right one. Below me, I spotted four ponies around a fire! Squinting, I tried to see if one of them was Velvet. I couldn’t tell from the height I was at though, so I dived a little closer. Soon, I saw that none of them had a black pelt. And… one of them was tied up! Before I even knew what I was doing, I yelled down at the ponies. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing??? Tying up a pony?!? Celestia would be ashamed!” “What the- It’s one o’dem Pegasuses!” One yelled to the others. “Shoot it!” Another yelled back. Shoot?? They have guns here??? I was so dumbfounded, I hovered there, jaw dropped open. The first one to talk pulled out a shotgun, shooting up at me but missing me by a long shot, his aim way off to the right. “No, wait! We could capture it!” The third yelled desperately to the other two, all the while the one that was tied up staring at me and them, eyes wide in fear. “How? We ain’t got no wings! Kill it!” That was all this mare needed to hear! With a huge, powerful flap, I flew off, my contrail stretching out as I left them in the dust, the red and white colors hopefully the last glimpse of me they’d get! When I was what I deemed far enough away from them, I slowed down. Looking down, I saw a bridge, and ahead of it… a Town! I zoomed ahead, anxious to find, somepony, anypony to be friends with! Then, another beep from my PipBuck. >Now Entering Ponyville. Ponyville. Sounds nice enough… I thought, and looked around the town, seeing nothing but destructing building that looked totally wrecked. … but it looks almost worse than Sweet Apple Acres! The whiz of a bullet flying past me stopped my train of though dead in it’s tracks. Startled, I looked around, until finally I found the culprit: A yellow unicorn mare with a spiked red mane, shooting at me from a rooftop! “What is it with EVERYPONY shooting at me???” I complained, and sped off, following the road once more. So much for Ponyville… ☁︎☀︎☁︎ Now it was dark, and night had completely blanketed this… place. As if it wasn’t freaky enough, I kept seeing little glowing red eyes poking out of trees and STARING at me as I flew! Had this really once been the glorious Equestria we’d learned about in school??? Seeing it this way made me hate the Zebra half of myself a little. Yet, I flapped on, slowly, more cautiously now. This wasn’t seeming as great as I’d thought it would be… But at least I was free of Blade, his thugs, and all the ponies who had hated me in the Stable. If not being hated for being ME means being shot at… I guess I can deal. A yawn escaped from my muzzle. But maybe sleep would help me avoid actually taking a bullet… With that thought, I turned off the road, and into the woods. I flew over the treetops, looking for a decent tree to sleep in. One that I could make a little comfortable, but still be off the ground and safe from anypony without wings. Soon, I’d found a tall tree in a nice clearing. Swooping down into it, I found it had sturdy boughs, too! Turning on my PipBuck’s PipLight, I pulled up a bunch of the tall grass surrounding the clearing. Sitting down on my haunches, I weaved the pieces together until I had a piece of Canvas-like grass that was big enough for me to lay down and stretch out on. Pulling up a few more pieces of grass and twisting them into strong grass-ropes, I flew back into the tree. Towards the top of the tree, I found a large ‘Y’ branch in the tree. Taking the canvas grass and the ‘ropes’, I placed the canvas between the two branches. Wrapping the ropes tight and tugging them into a sturdy knot, I slowly lowered myself onto my makeshift bed. It gave, but only a little, not enough for me to think it would break. I yawned again and hug my saddlebags over one of the branches. Closing my eyes, I let my exhausted body drift off to sleep Footnote: Level Up. New Perks: Crafty -- You’ve shown your creativity can aid you in survival. +15% Evasiveness. Life Altering Experience – Your being shot at has taught you to be more wary of stranger ponies. Your chances of avoiding death have increas