//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A True, True Friend // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Of Wings and Stripes // by PeppermintSparkle //------------------------------// Chapter 3: A True, True Friend My PipBuck’s alarm went off at 7 AM, telling me to get up and go to work. I just touched the OK option and groaned. I’d have to turn that off. I wasn’t going to work, I couldn’t! I sat up, and stretched my wings and hooves, yawning. My little bed had been surprisingly comfy! I slipped on my saddlebags, and opened up my PipBuck’s Map. Marking this spot, I looked for the nearest town on the map. New Appleloosa. Let’s see if there are any decent ponies there! And so, I flew back towards the road, and towards New Appleloosa. In about 5 minutes, I had found the road, and was heading towards what I hoped to be a good, nice town, full of good, nice ponies! And imagine my surprise when, as I neared the town, I found… A PEGASUS GUARDING IT! I jetted ahead as fast as I could, flying right up to the buck. “Hi,MyNameIsPeppermintSparkleAndIWasTheOnlyPegasusInMyStableWellTheOnlyZebraTooButYOU’RE APEGASUSAnd-” I sputtered incredibly fast, as he stared at me in shock… before pulling on a bit in his mouth, loading two guns in a saddlebag on his back. “Umm… I’m… Unarmed…Please don’t shoot…” I whispered, getting quieter as his brown eyes bored into me like drills. “Are ooh from bee uncave??” He said, bit still in his mouth. I blinked, confused. “What was that?” He spit out the bit. “Ah said, are ya from da Enclave??” “The what-now?” I stared back at him blankly. “Don’t play dumb, mare!” I lifted up my PipBuck. “I-I’m from Stable 2. No idea what this Enclave thing is…” He grabbed my hoof, twisting it, and looking at the latch on the back. “Ah ain’t never heard o’ no Pegasus Stable ponies before… Sorry bout’that. A pony can’t be too cautious… Ah’m Calamity. What’d ya say yer name was?” “Peppermint Sparkle.” “Well… It’s nice to meet ‘cha, Peppermint. But don’t be flyin’up like that on anypony! Ya act like ya ain’t never seen another Pegasus in yer life!” “Well… I kinda haven’t.” I told him awkwardly. “Whaddya mean ya haven’t? What ‘bout yer parents?” “Mom’s a Unicorn… Dad’s an Earth Pony. I was the only Pegasus in my Stable…” “Uh… Okay then… and da only Zebra, too, I’m guessin’?” He asked, sounding a little bitter as he looked at my striped face. “Yeah… I frowned a little, then changed the subject. “Were you born here?” “Nah… Up there.” Calamity replied, and pointed a hoof upwards. “Past the clouds??” I was astonished. He laughed. “Ya really don’t know nuttin, do ya? All the Pegasi live up there.” “Then why are you down here?” “Look, Ah don’t wanna talk ‘bout it. Plus, Ah got a job ta do. Ya go on inta town. Go to da store… er somethin’. We can talk more… later.” “Okay… thanks, Calamity. See ya later.” With that I flew into the town, and noticed the Pegasus’ eyes staring at me for a moment, before he shook his head and looked back to the road. ☁︎☀︎☁︎ “Mommy, does she have stripes??” A colt asked his mother as I flapped past, smiling. “Yes, I think so… Don’t talk to her.” Well. I guess not everypony can be decent. Soon, I’d found what was apparently was apparently the town’s store, Absolutely Everything. Taking a deep breath and putting on a smile, I pushed open the door and stepped inside. I scanned the room for the storekeeper. First thing I noticed was a Pegasus… that looked very, very dead. Was this some kind of sick joke?? I looked around, trying to see a foolish colt or filly who was twisted enough to do this. AND.THEN.IT.MOVED. Stay calm. Stay calm. STAY CALM! DAMMIT, PEPPERMINT, STAY CALM! I thought to myself as I smiled as best I could at… it. As hard as I tried not to freak out, I could feel the hairs in my mane were still standing up on edge, hopefully unnoticeably. “Umm… Hi?” I finally managed to spit out. It picked up a piece of chalk in it’s mouth and wrote on a chalkboard, turning it to me. ‘Hi. I’m Ditzy Doo. How can I help you?’ “Uhh… Hi, Ditzy. I’m Peppermint Sparkle.” I was pretty sure it was actually a mare now. Ï just got out here from a stable… What do I need… Hmm. Supplies? Stuff to survive? Planks and Nails, maybe? To build a house?” ‘Oh, okay!’ She wrote, and erased. ‘I’ll get you my book, and bunch of stuff you’ll need out here in the Wasteland.’ “Is that what it’s called now?” She nodded, writing on the chalkboard again. ‘The Equestrian Wasteland.’ “Okay.” I smiled, noting that. She walked into the other room, and returned with a wagon full of stuff. She pulled a bigger chalkboard out from under the counter, and started laying out all the stuff in the wagon. ‘First, my book. The Wasteland Survival Guide. Read it. Know how to stay alive. Next, a Battle Saddle. The double sub-machine gun equipped for Pegasi. It’ll take some getting used to, but I’ll throw in a bunch of ammo so you can practice. You wouldn’t want to miss a shot - that could cost you your life!’ Erase. ‘We all need to eat, so here’s some food: pastas, canned soups, apples, and canned veggies. For desert, some sugar cubes and everything you’d need to make muffins! A cookstove with it all, too. And a mini-oven! You’ll have to build a fire for them to work, so here’s a lighter. Its powered through Arcane Sciences so if it stops working, take it to a Unicorn. One touch to their horn, and it’s fully charged! Oh, and a six-pack of Sparkle Cola. Some cookpots and pans, and a little icebox. Bury it and your foods will stay cold.’ Erase. ‘A bedroll, pillow, some straw, and, as you asked, planks and nails. And a hammer, saw, and some rope. And barding!’ “Thanks… but how much will this cost?” I asked, a little scared of the answer. Erase. ‘Nothing.’ “What?! But this is so much stuff!!!” Once again, my jaw was dropped open in shock. ‘And you are new to the Wasteland. You’ll die without this stuff. And that blood is not gonna be on my hooves!’ I was seriously about to cry. With all the bad out here in The Wasteland that I’d encountered… I was not expecting this. Not even in Stable 2 would anypony had been this kind to me! “But… I’ll feel guilty if I don’t give you something…” ‘Can you make anything?’ “Candies. Peppermint is the best thing I can make. Candy Canes, stuff like that.” ‘I’ll give you stuff to make them later on, once your house is built. Then you can pay my off in candies! Maybe you could try to make Candy Cane Muffins!!!’ Erase. ‘If you insist.’ I smiled. “Thanks, Ditzy! You are so awesome! Umm… would you mind if I asked what you are? If you don’t mind me asking…” Suddenly I felt very awkward asking that. ‘Not at all. You don’t know, you’re new here. I’m a Ghoul-Pony. When the Balefire Bombs dropped, I was caught in Canterlot. The radiation mutated me… and now here I am. Alive. But a Ghoul.’ “So… how old are you then?” ‘Probably over 300 now.’ “Ah. Well… that’s… interesting, actually! You’re awesome! And… super nice! This is more than any of my Stablemates probably would have ever done. Except maybe two… or my brother or sister… maybe. Probably not. Anyways, you’re a good pony, Ditzy!” I smiled at her. She smiled brightly at me. ‘Thank you, Peppermint!’ “No problem!” I reached my hoof over the counter. “Hoofbump?” She smiled again, and bumped my hoof. ‘I’ll bring all this stuff out to… wherever you’re staying. Whenever you want.’ “Thanks again!” ‘Anything for a friend!’ At that, I smiled, and gave the ghoul-pony a hug. ☁︎☀︎☁︎ Later, I saw Calamity flying around, looking disheveled. “Hey, Calamity!” I called to him, and he looked at me. “You look upset. What’s wrong?” I flew up to him, and he sighed. “Peppermint…” He sighed again. “Ah shot a pony. A mare… Thought she was a raider, she was wearin’ raider barding, all bloodied up and all… she’s awake now, though. But Ah still feel bad…” “Aww, Calamity… You catch the mare’s name?” “Yeah. LittlePip. Why?” My heart dropped when I heard that. “L-littlePip…? She’s from my Stable! She’s my friend! Where is she??” “Well, geez… Hospital. You know her?? Dayum! That’s crazy!!” He lifted his wings and leaped into the air. “Follow me!” He flew down a street. I flapped my wings and sped up, catching him in an instant, and grinned at him. “Yer a fast one, huh? Race?” My grin got huge. “You’re on!” “Alright, go!”He flew ahead of me for a few seconds before I shot ahead. “Ah’ll tell ya when ta turn!” “Kay!” Within a few seconds, he was yelling up to me “Now! Right!” Angling my wings, I flew down another street. “Big building up ahead, Peppermint!” I flapped my wings powerfully again, feeling the channels of wind against them. This was SO much better than any time I’d ever flew through the Stable! The open areas, the maneuverability I had here… In this moment, I had no regrets about leaving that dumb Stable! Here… I was happy! I could fly around! I could actually be accepted! I didn’t have to hear a whole bunch of the popular mares giggling about me as I fluttered around school, or the bucks laughing about how I looked, saying I was the ugliest mare they’d ever seen… Here, in The Wasteland, I could be loved! I twirled around before stretching out my hooves and coming to a landing with a skid. “And… yer from a Stable???” Calamity asked as I stood there, stretching my wings out and smiling widely. “I flew… around… at night. Practicing… improving.” I panted. “I bet ya could… do a Sonic Rainboom!” “A… what?” “Where… ya fly so fast, ya break da sound barrier, an’ the colors of yer mane and tail are da colors… of da explosion! It’s… really cool!” I smiled. It sounded awesome! “Wow!!! I could call mine… A Sparkling Mintboom!” Calamity laughed. “Eeyup!” He walked up to the door of the Hospital. “Let’s go see yer friend now, huh?” “Yeah! Pip is gonna FREAK!” ☁︎☀︎☁︎ We walked into the room while Pip was talking to a nurse. “Yes, I fell fi- SOLAR FLARING CELESTIA, PEPPERMINT??? WHA- How did you get here???” “I flew out when you opened the door.” I laughed, and walked over to her, giving my PipBuck Repair Pony friend a huge hug. “This is awesome!” I said, hoofbumping her. “Oh yeah it is, pegasister!” She replied, smiling. “I see you’ve meant… what was you’re name again?” “Calamity.” He told her. “Ah’m Calamity.” I laughed again. “Yeah. Yeah, I have.” Footnote: Level Up. New Perks: Friendship Is Magic – You’ve got friends here in The Wasteland. Having Allies gives you a 20% boost in Defense. For every new friend you make, receive a 2% boost on Defense.