//------------------------------// // That went well. // Story: Fallout Equestria: Dashed Hopes // by Ironwolves21 //------------------------------// Dashed Hopes Chapter 2 “Todays Forecast: A Bloody mess, with a chance of friendship.” The surface was... very brown. I could see large, bent obsidian towers off in the distance, which glowed an ominous green. The ground was rough and broken, with small patches of dead... Well i think it's grass, I'd never seen it before. I was so taken aback by my bleak surrounding I didn't even hear Buzzsaw talking. “-figure we've got two days or so before they figure it out.” Shit, Buzzsaw always gets flustered when I don't listen to him, I doubt he would be pleased if he found out now. So to avoid another unpleasant situation with my only friend, I spoke up. “So, uh, where are we exactly? I mean, If you know of course, cause this is all very overwhelming and all and-” Saw placed a hoof over my mouth to silence me, I then realized i was hyperventilating. The impact of my decisions started to fall in front of me, but before i could do something stupid Buzzsaw headed me off. “Now listen here Dew, I know this is y'alls first fore-aye to the surface and all, but there's nothin' to be scared of. We're near the ruins of Hoofin'ton, , a pretty dangerous place in its own right, but since those photos were taken near Stalliongrad, we won't need to go into The Hoof proper, now-” I spaced out again, How did Saw know so much about the surface? I thought that anypony who went below the cloud layer was proclaimed a Dashite? How could he know so much and not be one? CRACK-BOOM I may have screamed, Saw visibly flinched. What the hell was that?! “What the FUCK was that Saw!?” Before Saw could answer, the sky opened up into a torrential downpour, soaking me to the core in a split second. I couldn't see five hooves in front of myself for all the rain that was coming down. I felt Saw drag me in some direction, his words lost to me under the deafening roar of rushing water. Then I saw it; off in the distance, through the heavy rain. A small rounded building standing against the onslaught of rain. Saw gestured towards it but I was way ahead of him, moving as quickly as the rain would let me towards the bastion against the elements. It seemed like an eternity before we reached the small building, as we entered the building we were assaulted by the stench of stale air and dust, which was strange, because it seemed like most of the windows had been blown out. Under the failing light we shook ourselves semi-dry. Saw was the first to speak; “Welcome to th' Wasteland Sparky, It seems that Celestia's already wept for us.” “What? I don't understand Saw. Who's Celestia? And why is she weeping? Why-” “Child, please, slow them questions to one at a time.” I found myself at a loss for words, I just didn't know anymore. “What... What do we do now?” “I suggest y'all get some sleep, It's been a trying day for ya, Don't argue, I know exactly what y'all is gonna say. I'll be on watch for the fist half, I'll then wake you for your shift.” “A-Alright, I don't-*sigh* alright, Saw, I'll find somewhere comfy to sleep.” Saw seemed... different, he wasn't the old neighvarro reject supervisor that had adopted me, he was something completely different. After a lazy search, i found the rotted remains of someponies camp huddled behind a receptionists desk. I waved Saw over to show him our new impromptu home. “Well this is the best i could find given the circumstances, I hope it's not infected with earth pony diseases.” Saw stiffled a chuckle, I shot him a look that stopped any further comments. Or so I thought. “ Y'all might want ta try and dry off, Ya look like a drowned griffon!” Oh you bastard! I don't look that bad! Did I? Giving myself a shake, I found out that, I most likely did look like a drowned something. I frowned at Saw who found it right to laugh (AGAIN!) at my soaking disposition. My mane was hanging limply around me, my coat was matted to my slim body, and my head-wrap probably wasn't in much better condition. As I was too preoccupied with my sorry state of being, I barely noticed Saw slip out to stand watch. If I could only find a mirror, I could try and figure out the mess I was in. I looked over my surroundings, trying to get some kind of idea as to where I was, looked like an office building, or maybe a massage parlour? I wonder- The realization hit me like an out-of control vertibuck. I just left the only home I've ever know to chase after a sibling who hadn't even said good-bye when she left me alone in the world, I'd just sacrificed the only life I'd ever had, as well as Buzzsaws, on that of a hunch. Were did the photos come from? Why was I only thinking about this now?! I was crying, my own thoughts turned against me, My brain churning over and over, trying to figure a way to make this all worth it, not just to myself, but to Saw as well. I brought myself under control, after all, now was not the time for a mental break-down, I got the feeling I wouldn't be able to have another good break-down for a long time. I rose to my hooves, no general direction in mind. “I need to find myself a bathroom, Then we move from there.” After a short search i found the little fillies room and made my way towards the mirrors, expecting to see a hideous dashite. In the mirror I saw; Me. I wasn't sure what I expected, All I saw was my orange coat, wetter than usual, and my black mane wrapped in my blue head-wrap. My eyes had some built up sleep crud that hadn't been removed after my nightmare, but they were still their usual cool blue. I remembered my old ex-coltfriend, who had said that he was attracted to my eyes, I thought he had meant it, but as it turns out he was more interested in what was under my tail than what was in my face. With the single recognition of that memory, one of my more traumatizing moments came back to the front of my mind. Rain had beat on my door for ten minutes demanding i let him in, I had just dumped him, He had gotten way too aggressive for my liking, demanding that I rut with him, That I give up myself to him. If I hadn't gotten re-scheduled to an early shift, we would have been on a small picnic on the outer farm cloud layer. He would have had me whether I wanted it or not. The Screaming and hollering got louder and more obnoxious, He had left for awhile, then come back, probably with a weapon. It seemed likely that if he got in, It wouldn't matter what I said, He wasn't the kind of buck to take rejection lightly. My door splintered and cracked under his weight, I had backed my small love-seat against the door in hopes of keeping him out. I think I was crying, I couldn't understand why he was so angry, let alone at me. Then the kicking stopped; It seemed strange, how he could go from a raging lunatic to a silent stallion just like that. The neighbours had tried to calm him down a few minutes ago, but all i heard was muffled threats and the neighbours door closing again. I slowly got up from my braced position against the love-seat, only for a door-shattering apple-buck to be sent through my thin door, propelling the furniture into me and pinning me against the wall as the green buck cantered over to my trapped position. “I told you you fucking nag, I told you to let me in, BUT NOOO, some bitch had to lock the door, made me have to go through it to get what's mine! But that's oh-kay, because you've always played hard to get, now that we're alone why don't we get down to business?” Rains eye twitched as his toxic smile and alcoholic breath assaulted me, promising a horrible, painful night if I even so much as moved wrong. I did the only thing I could think of. I gave in. “A-a-alright Rain, you win, I don't know what i was thinking, it's all just so, uh, sudden! I can't think of anypony else in all of T-Thunderhead that i would rather... Have than you!” If Rain hadn't been so intoxicated, he could have easily seen through my horrible attempt at not getting my face beaten to a pulp, instead all he saw was another weak, pathetic mare lifting her tail for him. “ Damn fucking straight whore!” His smile widened as he pushed the furniture off me and hauled me to my hooves, but he didn't let go... “Now why don't you give me what i want, hey sexy? You know you want me inside you, stop playing with me and LET. ME. IN.” He had me up against the kitchen counter, His hot breath on my shoulder, He was trying to get his eyes to line up through the haze of alcohol, trying to get on target. I didn't want to lose my virginity like this! I couldn't have it taken from me by some inbred asshat! As Rain prepared to take the only thing pure i had left, i grabbed the handle of my only good frying pan. Turning on the spot I cracked Rain square in the jaw, Upon impact i heard a sickening crunch( Later learned I had broken and dislocated his jaw, as well as cracked three back teeth) and Rain fell to the floor, dazed and bleeding from the mouth. I may have stepped on his package during my mad dash for the door. I flew all the way to work, where Buzzsaw found me whimpering under my workbench. He accompanied me back home to ensure my safety. Since that incident Rain has always kept his distance, only every so often making my life hell for as long as he found possible. Back in the real world, I found myself in a grubby bathroom, with cracked and broken mirrors on one wall over several wash-basins. The opposite wall contained the toilets, but from the smell, I figured I'd find somewhere else to relieve myself. Off hoofedly, I wondered why it was always rape. Why couldn't ponies just yell at each other or just get along? Why did it always devolve into rape? Maybe it was just me who was threatened with unwanted-violent intercourse. ALL THE TIME. I'd been able to avoid it so far, but who knew what tomorrow held? I was too busy being philosophical to notice the presence of the other pony in front of me as I made my way out of the bathroom, I promptly ram face first into him. “Shit! Sorry Saw, i just needed to find somewhere to clean up, I didn't mean to-” Wait. Saw wasn't yellow, and he definitely didn't have... OH SHIT “OH FUCK!!” I turned tail and ran from the cackling yellow mare who was hot on my hooves. I turned a sharp corner to find only one door that wasn't blocked by debris, I charged through as a loud crack filled the hallway, A loud bang filled my ears as horrible pain shrieked into my flank. I stumbled on the broken tile, my momentum carried me into the far wall, which caused soggy ceiling tiles to fall around me. The piss yellow mare looked over my pained position against the wall, a bloody brown smirk revealing her horrid teeth and equally horrid breath. The mare yelled something at me, but it was muffled by my ringing ears and the blocky object protruding from the side of her mouth, I'm sure it had to do with rape. I tried to get up from the floor, only to have a cracked hoof meet the side of my head, I stumbled, and went down with a thump. As I struggled to get my bearings the mare stomped on my chest, laughing and giggling at my girlish squeal and cries of agony. Then I remembered; MY LASER PISTOL! Oh you are so going to- wait, where the fuck is my laser- BANG My vision came into sharp focus as the Block in the mares mouth flared and my stomach exploded into an inferno of pain. I screamed and sobbed in agony, blood trickling from my mouth onto the dirty floor as another dirty pony entered the kitchen, he found the entire scene amusing, he said something about eating to the piss yellow mare, who apparently found it hilarious and agreed with gusto. But i couldn't hear them well, because I'D BEEN SHOT! As i lay there, bleeding from my various holes, I wondered, are they going to rape me? Oh i hope not, I hope they just leave me alone, I don't want to- My train of though was interrupted by a flying object impale the bucks head, pinning it to the oven over-hang, A tall stallion charged into the room, the Mare didn't stand a chance as his long horn speared her neck, severing everything important to life. The buck slid the now very dead piss yellow mare off his horn and onto the ground, he then trotted over to my bleeding out self, I brought my eyes up to meet his. Oh my... If i hadn't been about to die, I might have blushed, but lack of blood made it very hard. “P-please, I don't want to die, I just *cough* want t-t-to find my sister, I-” The buck took a needle out of his saddle bag and slid it into my fore-hoof, upon pushing the plunger all my pain melted away into a dull throb, The buck started to tell me what needed to be down, but i was too happy being not-dead to really listen much. “Going to re-align your ribs, if i just feed you the potion now, It'll hurt like a motherfucker. Here, bite this.” The stallion then slid off his belt(Oh yes! Keep going!) and put it in my mouth (huh? Whats he-) POPOPOP OHSWEETMOTHERFUCKINGDGHDJDUEBDSH Another needle was slid into my fore-hoof and the belt was removed from my mouth. I let out a timid cry in memory of the horrid pain I had just endured. Before I could voice my sudden hate for him a purple liquid was poured down my throat and all the pain slowly melted away to nothing. I closed my eyes for a moment as I felt my insides patch themselves back together. After my skin stopped crawling I made a hesitant look towards my stomach to find; A perfectly normal belly, with a faint pink scar that was quickly fading away. I decided that i didn't need to hate him anymore, he was most definitely forgiven! I felt a warm wave wash over my body, as I was suddenly lifted into the air and onto the stallions back, and he began to take me out of the kitchen, which upon closer inspection, was A LOT worse than it had looked from when I had entered. Blood caked almost every wall, there were signs that my two attackers had started a fire in the middle, and various body parts were in the industrial mixer. I decided that looking away would be best, as I was sure this stallion didn't want me to puke on him. Shortly after being lifted onto my saviours back, I heard some thickly accented yelling, followed by a voice I knew very little of. “Who in tarnation!? You leave Dew Cloud alone you hear me boy!? I don't wanna-” “How bout' you stop yellin' at me, and start thinking of what you're going to do about your raider problem.” The stranger somehow lifted me off his back and onto my suddenly inescapably comfy mattress. He then turned to address Saw again, who had a look of confusion and worry plastered across his face. “Listen mister, There ain't no raiders here, I would have heard the-” “I pulled two hollow point ten millimetre rounds out of her, one out of her flank and the other out of her stomach. I had to use two hits of med-x to calm her down and a full healing poultice to fill the holes, her ribs were fucked and she was about to be turned into raider chow. If I hadn't done what needed to be done, YOU would have been next.” Buzzsaw inhaled to start his argument, only to find that the buck had turned away from him, only then did he realize that the strange buck was right, Both myself and he would be dead if not for this buck, who's name I really wanted to know. “Thank you” I normally had problems talking to bucks my age( I assumed he was) But i felt that he deserved something for his kindness. “Hmm? Oh don't mention it lass, just consider yourself a very lucky mare, If i hadn't been here, well, yeah.” “So, uh, whats your name? I mean, if its ok for me to ask! I, um, hehe” Well fuck you too brain. I thought we had a deal!? I looked at the ground around my hooves, which had become very interesting as of the last two seconds. I could feel my face turning red through my orange coat, oh please don't notice- The stallion chuckled, taking a seat near me, while Buzzsaw was eyeing the new-comer with suspicion. “Well I doubt that my full name means anything out here as of late, so you can call me Riot. Iron 'Riot' Venture, at your service.” Riot did a little bow to punctuate his statement, giving me the full view of his guns. (NOT LIKE THAT YOU JERKS!) He had two much larger versions of what the yellow mare had been carrying mounted on his sides, with a bit piece to fire. I had seen other contraptions like this in thunderhead, but they were usually integrated with armour, and packing magical weaponry. These looked stocky and gruff, with long barrels and thick clips mounted in the back. By accident my eyes met his while checking out his armaments, I probably turned as red as the red-light district in Thunderhead. “So, what brings such fine pegasi down from the cloud curtain? You definitely aren't enclave spies, that's for sure.” “What do y'all mean 'Not enclave spies?' What says we ain't?” “Spies have more than a shitty laser pistol and a pipe wrench to defend them selves, and don't get me started on your barding, She doesn't even have any.” Buzzsaw was taken aback by Riots statement, It seemed that he wouldn't be winning any argument with Riot anytime soon. Saw seemed to be reconsidering his opinion of the grey stallion. Time to say something Dew, Get his attention, find out who he is and... and... shiit. I suck at this. “So, uh, my names Dew Cloud!” The Buck turned his head to me because of my sudden out-burst, He had lighter blue eyes than mine, his mane was a vibrant yellowy-orange, with bursts of red along it. He had a well maintained beard that matched his mane, and scars that popped up sporadically across his face, his nose looked like it had been broken and reset many times. His coat was a light slate grey, but i could only see his hooves and face, as a vast majority of his body was covered by what i could only assume was armour, and a deep brown trench coat. He had a strange device clamped onto his left fore-hoof and- wait, shit he's said something and I spaced, Fuckity shit Fuck. Hang your head Dew, shame on you for doin that! First nice buck you meet who doesn't want to rape you and you go and ignore him and blatantly check him out! SHAME. “Well considerin' ya were fine enough given yer name, might as well give mine, Ya can call me Buzzsaw. I'm Sparkies legal guardian.” “Interestin, we don't see many of that round here. Legal guardian that is, I suppose its an old-world thing hmm?” “It's a long story Mr. Venture, but first off I want to know why you said we had a raider problem, I haven't seen hide nor hair of any raiders yet.” “Upstairs, prolly bout' four to six of em' at least, one has serious combat experience, the rest with plenty of weapons and ammo to go round.” “And how do you know that?” “I've been planning on how to take these buggers out for a short while now, they've been preying on fleeing refugees and other travellers along the highway for sometime now. I had a full plan laid out, when lo and behold, two pegasi trundle straight in through the monsoon and throw a wrench in the works.” He could have left us... to die. Why didn't he? Maybe- “Storms letting up now, I have to take them out or they'll cut you down when you try to leave.” Oh shit. Well this can't possibly go well at all! I heard the raider hit the floor before i even saw her, Riot yarded his combat knife from the mares throat while his magic muffled any noise she made, The mares kicking was futile. Not even a half hour before, Riot had told us of the group sitting above us, only separated by a single rotting, soggy floor. They were horrible folk, dealing with slavers and.. EATING other ponies. Riot had returned my pistol to me, apparently I had dropped it in the hallway when I had originally run into the first raider. I kind of volunteered myself and Buzzsaw to help him with his mission, after all, it was the least i could do for the stallion who had saved my life barely an hour ago. Buzzsaw may have been unhappy about my new-found affection for Riot, but he kept quiet about it, for now. Riot directed us to the only remaining stairwell left in the resturant, and silently eliminated the guard with efficiency Black Rain could never even dream about. Then he did something gross and completely uncalled for! He started looting her body! “What are you doing? Leave her alone!” Riot rolled his eyes at me, muttering something about 'bloody newcomers' and not staying silent. I'm sorry but it's just wrong to loot the dead! No matter how mean they are! My train of thought was halted by the Chak-klak coming from Riots battle-saddle(He had told me what it was when he swapped out his ammunition for something with more 'punch'.) He motioned for us to stay for now as he crept up beyond the threshold of the stairs. There was a whirling sound, followed by grinding as the air around us turned into hot death. Riot fell backwards towards us with four smoking holes in his chest. My breath caught in my throat as I watch the grey buck labour for breath. But as quickly as he had fallen, another purple flask was at his lips, the drink quickly downed as the still hot lead was pushed from his wounds and onto the ground. “My turn you dumb shits.” With his magic he pulled the sash off of the dead raider one flight down, bringing with it a host of metallic looking apples. Riot pulled all the pins simultaneously and hurled the sash over the stairs. “FUCKING, GRENA-” BABOOMBOOMBOOM The air was filled with hot shrapnel in place of the lead, I barely dodged a severed leg which sailed well past me and into Buzzsaws face. Riot didn't waste a second, Bounding past the top of the stairs, the retorts from his saddle filled the stairwell, Fast bursts that had only the come-back of his own guns to answer them. As my hearing came back from the onslaught, I only barely caught Riots order to move up and find the survivors. “BRING IT ON YOU FUCKERS!!” A bloody raider charged at me from a side hall, but the shock of his voice was cut in half by the magical weapon in my mouth. The pool-cue dropped from his grip as he tried to feebly re-attach his disintegrated jaw. I felt something slip and fall away from me as I put a second magical bolt to his chest. The flurry of the battle was lost to me, It was only me and the dead buck, I had responded too quickly to think, he hadn't given me a choice, But It didn't change anything. I had just killed a pony. I felt sorrow welling up in my chest, I knew that the raider didn't deserve it, for all the things this group had done to other ponies. It didn't take away the hurt. I don't know how long i sat there, staring at the dead buck at my hooves. My laser pistol lay discarded on the ground next to me, It felt... dirty. Riot approached me, I could hear Saw digging through something in another room. “The first ones always the hardest. I wish I could say It'll get easier, But it shouldn't. Don't worry about every body and corpse in the wasteland Dew, You'll drive your self insane. Hell just look at Security!” “Who?” I'd never heard of this Security, but he sounded, well, protective I suppose. “Oh, right, you're new to this whole thing ain't you? I'll keep my references to a minimum then.” I really didn't understand what he was talking about, but when he put that hoof on my slumped shoulder, I could bear the world again, even if just for awhile. We walked past the corpses in the hall, into the main room in which the grenades had been tossed. From what i could tell, two raiders had been caught in the explosion. One being the raider who had shot Riot, with this massive gun that had multiple rotating barrels, but its bullets looked smaller than the ones Riot used. The gun itself had been slagged by the explosion, the raider had been finished with a round to the skull. Another buck was slumped against the wall, with four large holes perforating his body. Saw was busy trying to open thick safe near the east wall, the safe itself was pitted and scarred from various attempts to get inside. After a small ping Saw growled in frustration, tossing a small screwdriver at the safe door. He stood and addressed Riot. “Well, I think we got them all, three in this room, one on the stairs, with another in the side hallway. There's a locked door over yonder, can't get the stupid thing open. Didn't hear nothin' from inside so I think we're clear.” Who was this buck and what has he done with Saw? “Good, start checking the bodies for anything you can trade or use, but I've got dibs on any .45 and 30-06 round you find.” I couldn't hold back my question anymore, I needed to know. “Riot, will you come with us?” “Darlin' I don't even know where you're goin'.” Shit that was right, we hadn't told him about Stalliongrad. Or Trueheart. Wait, did he call me darling? “We're headed to Stalliongrad. Sparky has a family reunion ta' get to.” Well thanks Saw you spoil sport, I was planning a dramatic reveal! But from the look on Riots face, Stalliongrad wasn't good. “You absolutely need to go into Stalliongrad? Are you sure?” “Well yes, and no. I don't really know where Trueheart is right now, but I'm sure someponies seen her!” Iron Venture shut his eyes, a forlorn look flitted across his face before he opened them again. “Stalliongrad's a dangerous place lass, whole city's cracked and poisoned, the only real settlements are down in the metro tunnels, which are more dangerous than you could ever imagine. Just what do you hope to find in the city of death?” Holy shit, well if that isn't ominous then I don't know what is! But I needed to find Trueheart, I needed answers from her. I needed my big sister now more than ever. “I need to find my sister. She's the only family I've got left.” “What about Buzzsaw? I thought he was your guardian.” “Only for the past few years, and while I'm glad to have him, he isn't my sister.” Riot exhaled slowly, eyes closed tight.It seemed like he was busy turning a great mass of gears within his head, just for this on e decision. “I need to think about it. Stalliongrad knows me well, just as I know it.” Well that was... cryptic. Wonderful, My crush is a cryptic,guarded killer pony. Wait crush? We didn't agree on thi- To bad, he's good-looking. While I battled my own inner desires, Riot had unlocked the locked room and was inside by the time i was done. It didn't look good. “Well? Any news from our mysterious stranger? “SHIT! Dammit saw, I've told you not to sneak up on me like that! How did he sneak up on me like that? He's so damn stocky he should make more noise than me! Regardless to this obvious damnation of the laws of nature, Saw chuckled at my frustration. “Y'a still haven't answered me Sparky.” Jerk. “Well, It seems he's been to Stalliongrad before, but he doesn't want to go back very much-” “ And what about your feelings for him? Oh don't give me that look, y'all were doin' your damndest ta mentally undress th' poor buck.” “I was not! I was just... Admiring his, uhm, physique?” Damn you Buzzsaw, damn you straight to Tartarus! “ I swear If i had a bit for every buck whose ended up treating you like dirt, I'd be in th' damn council.” “Yeah? We'll most bucks in Thunderhead wouldn't go out of their way to piss on me if i was on fire, let alone stick their necks out to save me from killer raiders!” Haha! Take that you smart flank! My statement seemed to have silenced Saw, at least for the moment. “ Y'all just be careful, I don't think I can help you if this one goes south.” Before I could answer, I heard a crash from next door. Sticking my head gingerly through the door, I barely caught a glimpse of Riot sliding something wood into his saddlebags. I only then saw the skeletal corpse of an ancient dead pony. Sheets of rotted paper and the wrecked covers of books covered the floor of the room. The skeleton had been moved to a peaceful position, I could tell by the outline of dust which had been disturbed, that perfectly depicted the corpse. My attention turned to Riot, who was looking out the blasted window at the ominous core of Hoofington. “ Stalliongrad is a very dangerous place, many who enter do not leave. As is, You're a dead pony walking.” “That's not very-” His eyes were still shut, It almost seemed that he was in great amounts of pain, but it lifted as soon as his eyes opened to look at me. “That's why I'm going with you. You're the first semi-decent folk I've met for awhile, hate to see you end up dead in ten different stomachs.” “I, uhm, Welcome aboard then!” I put up the best re-assuring smile I could muster, and thankfully he returned it, well, mostly. “Well then, O' glorious leader, lead on!” Footnote: Level up! Lvl 3 perks: Fast learner; You're a pretty smart mare, You can figure it out. Either that or die. Enclave Reject; You've spent your entire life among the clouds, thus your immune system isn't the best (-10% poison/rad resistance) But you almost passed boot camp! (+10 for energy weapons) good for you! Skill milestones: 50 Energy weapons