Return: Tales of the Lost

by Dustchu

Tales of the Lost VI: City of Steel I

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-ooo000=+=000ooo-
Texas Wasteland - City of Steel/The Tower - Apple Bloom's Perspective

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It had been... maybe a few hours since me and the girls read that book, learning just about everything there was to learn about most of this world's firearms. Handguns, assault rifles, grenade launchers, sniper rifles... everything, of course I'd probably have to read it a few more times to fully grasp and remember the information, but I knew I could if I really put my mind to it, I really wanted to protect my friends... and I was willing to do whatever it took to do it.

I was sitting by the view now, however, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle by my side on either side of me. The crushed rubble and destroyed wall that was the entire eastern side, gave us the perfect view of the entire city just about. Lee had showed us that the entire northern, southern and western walls were the same, the entire top part of the tower destroyed save for a few rooms and walls. I kept looking out into the city, eyeing the tall skyscrapers, the heavy and thick smoke that covered the skyline for miles around, and the sounds of what sounded like lightning and thunder...

But Lee told me it was something else entirely...

They were gunshots, explosions... the sounds of people fighting in the streets below, over what I didn't know. But it made me sad to think about, that there were humans, like Lee and Dusty, fighting each other... killing each other. What was there to fight over? Food? Water?

Why not just band together and try to rebuild?

It made no sense to me...

"This city..." Scootaloo spoke softly, looking around the skyline. I couldn't tell what was going on in her head right now, fear, sadness for the people down below... "They just fight..."

"Ah know." I replied to her, sighing as I heard Lee behind us, sitting on the piece of rubble he was on a few hours ago. He had one of those assault rifles in his hands, unloading and reloading it several times, why he did that, I didn't know. Nervous habit? Something to pass the time? Didn't matter much, I suppose...

"I... I know nopony really knows but..." Sweetie had started to speak, ears folded back when she saw a plume of fire billow up into the sky from nearby. "W-what do we do now?"

That was a good question... what did we do now?

We were safe, for now I suppose, inside of this tower. Dusty and Lee were kind enough to help us out, but... what now? Do we just sit here, wait until somepony comes for us? When would that be though? We've been gone for... what, three days now? I had no idea if they even had a clue as to where we were, we were somewhere else entirely, a world bathed in nuclear fire...

I didn't know what to do, I was the leader of the CMC... I had always led my friends... but now, I was lost.

I wanted to do something, we couldn't just sit here and wait, the boredom would kill us... well not really, but it wouldn't be any fun... then again, could we even have fun here?

I sighed. "Ah have no idea Sweets." I told her honestly, turning to look at the smaller filly, she was scared, Scoots was as well, even though she was doing her best to hide it. I was also scared, concerned and... bored. I know I should be grateful I'm alive right now, but, being bored sucked. Maybe I could ask Lee for help? Maybe he could give us something to do.

"Maybe... I mean, we don't really know him all that well, could he help us?" Scootaloo asked, shocking me out of my thoughts, I guess I said the latter part outloud.

"Would it hurt?" I countered, I got a shrug in response from my pegasus friend.

Who knows, maybe he wouldn't help... he's already done so much by taking us here and almost getting hurt in return.

We got our answer though.

"Depends... what do you want to ask me?" Lee suddenly spoke up from behind us, making me cringe.

He and Dusty must have super hearing or something, I swear!

"Uh..." I turned around, smiling sheepishly with my friends. "Well... its uh, kinda boring round here, was wonderin' if there was anythin' for us ta do." I told him, turning my smile into a more relaxed one.

The human furrowed his eyes in thought, as Forrest hovered nearby, playing some music that I kinda liked. Lee seemed to be thinking, and I was hopeful he could help us out with giving us something to do. We could have explored, but... I was scared of making Dusty or Lee angry, to the point where they kicked us out.

"Well, I have to head into the city, so I guess you could come with me if you wanted." Lee offered, reloading his magazine for the last time, before pulling back the bolt and shouldering it. "I mean, you're gonna have to stick close, but... eh."

I thought about that, going down into the city itself... the belly of the beast, covered in flames, and what would no doubt be some scary humans... probably something more. Curosity killed the cat, but I was curious and I really wanted to see the city up closer. I nodded my head to the man, smiling brightly. "Sure! Ah bet we could probably find something there to help us get home maybe!"

My friends lit up. "Yeah! Maybe there's like, a unicorn or something in the city!" Scoots suggested, smiling a toothy smile at me and Sweets.

"Or a transporting machine... thing!" Sweetie also threw in, as Lee just sighed at us, I gave him a shrug.

"Well, if you guys are ready, we can head out now." Lee told us, to which I nodded my head, along with the others. The man returned our nod with one of his own, before turning around and grabbing his duster coat and throwing it back on, a sudden flash happened when he did that, and when the blearyness faded from my eyes... I saw his armor was back on...

It just popped out of nowhere! "Whoa..." We all ooed, how did he do that!

Lee turned around to look at us, raising an eyebrow. "Do what?"

"How did you do that?" I asked him, the three of us cantering up to him to inspect his armor. I thought his world didn't have magic, he lied to us! "I thought you said this world didn't have magic?"

"Uhh... pocket space, that's not magic its just technology." Lee told us with a shrug of his armored shoulders before holding up that weird wrist thing he carried around and tapping a few things on it, before something began to... appear in his hand, suddenly I saw a handgun appear out of nowhere, a Desert Eagle if i remember right, that was a rusty looking color. "Just one of he many perks of being someone who's not afraid of digging around irradiated forts and bases for sweet technology."

This thing on his wrist, it was so neat looking, and I knew instantly... that I wanted one. "Hey, can Ah get one of those?" I asked him, smiling a sweet smile.

The man hummed in thought once more, as Forrest came over. "Maybe, but these are really hard to find, and they're expensive as fuck. But maybe you'll get lucky and find one somewhere, I don't know... unless you wanna try getting a job to save caps and buy one somewhere." He told me, once more shrugging his shoulders.

My ears drooped and I sighed, oh well. I told myself. Maybe I can find one out in the wasteland somewhere... assuming I can bring myself to actually go out. Turning towards Lee again, I said, "Okay so... when do we leave?"

"Right now, actually."

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Texas Wasteland - City of Steel/The Tower's Courtyard - Apple Bloom's Perspective

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We had left the tower, being followed by Dusty until we came to the exit, and he bid us farewell. The strange guru human waving a bullet over each of our heads and chanting some chant, before wishing us luck on our journey, and asking that if we found anymore Lost Spirits, we're to bring them to him. I wondered what he meant by Lost Spirits, I couldn't see spirits, and I doubt Sweetie or Scootaloo could, I had no idea what he meant, but we agreed and left.

The bottom of the tower was a courtyard of sorts, or at least, that's what it used to be, before... whatever happened here, happened. Dead trees still stood, burned away soil that had dead grass standing, a few burned and twisted benches, along with a very unstable and destroyed walkway that led out into the city which looked... horrible from the ground. The roads looked pretty bad from above, but now that we were actually in the city, we could see how bad the damage was in full detail.

The roads, sidewalks, and alleyways were completely destroyed, piles of rubble from building tops fallen down to the ground and creating blockades and blocking off some areas. Holes had opened up into the underground, where I could see several sewer entrances, pipes spewing brown murky water into puddles which were slowly forming into pools, or just vanishing into a black abyss. Streetlights flickered on and off, some bent or just broken entirely. Buildings all around were thrashed beyond repair it looked like, windows burned or melted away, boarded up and doors blown off, or melted in place.

Signs dangled from above, some that I saw reading off there was an evacuation taking place... evacuation for what? The war or... something else?

As we walked, or stumbled along the road, we had to climb over rubble and slide down some areas, there were no flat places to really walk around the city as far as I could tell. The entire place was completely destroyed, and yet it still stood, somehow. I could hear the steel reinforced buildings groaning nearby, the steel skeletons moaning as they struggled to stand, looking as if they would fall any moment. My mind was reeling from this, what made people live in this city?

Why would they live in such a dangerous place?

I saw some people walking around, dressed in rags that barely covered themselves, carrying pipes, or boards of some other makeshift weapon to protect themselves. I saw better equipped people staying in groups, wearing better armor, carrying better weapons, and looking mean as sin. Me and the girls stayed as close as possible while trotting next to Lee, I saw some of them giving us looks, and I wasn't sure what kind of looks they were.

But they were enough to make me regret asking Lee for something to do.

The people who saw us looked at us strange, some had wide eyes, others were just muttering to themselves about horse meat, or using for relief... I dread what they meant by that, and hopefully we would never find out. The others that looked at me, Scoots and Sweets were twitchy looking, carrying weird... things in their hands before holding them up to their mouths and inhaling it, a shudder escaping them before they scampered away like scared foals.

Lee didn't seem to bothered by it, his face was flat, hands relaxed around the grip of his assault rifle as he climbed around the rubble, me and the girls giving chase. He seemed completely unfazed by it all, as if it were a normal thing to him. I wondered if there was any normal place in this world, was every place like this? I remember what Lee told us back in Axton, but it just felt wrong that everything was destroyed...

This city, everything smelled wrong, felt wrong, you could feel it in the air around you... a dark presence of sorts that lingered like a tick on your backside. The humans, all the ones we passed by seemed to be... desperate, for what I also did not know, I knew little about these humans and why they acted the way they did. For all I knew, Lee was the only sane one, and even then what little I knew of him suggested otherwise.

"Okay, stick close to me now, we're getting into a part of town that's a bit more shady.. and worse." He informed us, as Forrest made some whirring noises, and I saw his own weapons becoming primed as we kept moving forward...

Wait... what!

"Wait, yer tellin' me, tellin' us that this ain't th' shady an' worse part?" I asked him, looking at our human guide in shock. Everything we've seen so far, the destruction, people, and the feeling in the air... it was horrible to experience, and now we were heading into the more worse part of this city!

"Yep." Was what Lee said, "So stick close."

I sighed, my friends doing the same, as I wondered... if coming out here was a mistake.

Author's Note:

THREE UPDATES?

INSANITY!

Comments

[Base-Delta-Zero]

7122963 Oh, you see, I assumed it was a Fallout: Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel crossover, because that game was set in the wastelands of the former Texas Commonwealth......

Well, it doesn't really change anything, and it's still a fun read. I can't wait to see Fluttershy's reaction to Scoot's question (one which all three of them seemed to want answered).

[Dustchu]

7132919
Ahhh, alright I understand, well, there may be some nods to those games popping up, but I'm not sure, we'll have to see.

Also, thanks man! Hahaha, we'll see all their reactions soon. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter I posted

[Base-Delta-Zero]

7132943 I did; one shudders to imagine what would happen if they lost their innocence in one fell swoop. I pray to never see the day when they have to take their first life (though, who am I kidding? It's a Fallout crossover. There'll be plenty of that).

[Dustchu]

7132958
Hahahaha, I'd be an evil guy if I did that...

As for taking their first life each, well...
Wel'll see that sometime in the future... and it shall be... beautiful.

[cherished]

Lone wanderer better make an apperance.

[Dustchu]

7135741
Considering this is taking place hundreds of miles away from the Capital Wasteland, I doubt it.

[cherished]

7135772

The lone wanderer uses his magical fast-travel powers?

[Dustchu]

7135787
Hehehe, even so, probably won't make an apperence.

[Helljumper206]

7135787 Remember, He has to go there first before he can fast travel there and back to the CW and Texas

[Dustchu]

7136759
Oh?
Teeth you say?

[Kenshinryuu]

Poor Crusaders, I hope they were never subject to the stuff that gets movies an adult only rating. I'm fairly sure they're going to have to kill soon, but I don't want some sicko to get their hands on the Crusaders and use them for "relief"

[Dustchu]

7138915
I would hope so too, but we all know that the writer always has something dark and dastardly planned in his story notes.
And yes they are, I am not sayign when, but I will say this... once the first death is done...

Things will start changing...

[Kenshinryuu]

7139091 Just please put a warning before anything NC-17 besides killing shows up.

[Dustchu]

7139230
I always put warnings up if something happens that is either sexual content, or something brutal.
Its not my fault if people don't heed them~

[Dustchu]

7140100 Mayhaps, but Sweetie's become rather paranoid over the years, and firing warning shots will more or less become a recurring theme with her. ANd Pinkie, she doesn't knoc, she barges in! like any normal crazy pony would, tehe.

Yep, that was awakward, haha.

Ahhh shit, I knew something felt off anbout that, thank you for telling I shall fix this!
Also, check this link regarding a poll for this story, if you're interested in swaying how the next chapter goes.

Thanks for reading!

[Emperor]

I have to wonder if eventually they'll use their magic hax to coax out a small spot of paradise. Perhaps in combination with a GECK if they ever locate one.

[Dustchu]

7140121
Hmm... that is actually a very interesting concept to bring to the wasteland, especially concerning Apple Bloom, given her strong connection with the earth due to her being an Earth Pony. Combine that with a G.E.C.K., I could only wonder what would happen.

Thanks for bringing that up! Its an interesting thought that I may later apply.

[Gerbold]

NIce new Chapters I say

Although my biggest exitement right now comes from the reaction of the mane 6 to the CMC having become little carnivores, heh.

[Dustchu]

7146794 Why thank you kindly Gerbold, glad you enoyed them
Hahaha, I think I'm going to enjoy writing out that part, hohoho, MLC:MIM. (My Little Carnivore: Meat is Magic)

*Looks above*
Oh this is so close to hitting a thousand views, I'm so giddy!
Thanks to everyone who's been reading this, be yee a commenter or not!
Love you all.