Fallout Equestria: Wanderers

by Mach Speed

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: To Know Your Friends
“Let’s sit and talk a while”

“It’s hot~” Bolts’s tired call rang out around me. The sun was high in the sky as the day went on. Patches in the clouds had allowed rays of sunlight to shine through, but fewer and fewer patches had been appearing in the last few hours and the clouds were beginning to darken. It had been quite a few hours since we left Dusty Docks and had continued on our journey. “Why was I never told it would be so hot!?”

“You’re the one who wanted to come on this little adventure.” I retorted. “You could have gone home or stayed in Dusty Docks.” The young stallion’s complaints on the temperature were getting on my nerves and ultimately testing my patience. (Maybe I should just leave him at the next town?)

“Well at least I’m not the one who got us lost.” Bolts’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. Some time ago I had decided that we could shave a couple days off the journey if we left the main road and took a direct path to our destination. With a glance at my map, I picked the appropriate direction and set off.

“We’re not lost, we’re just in the middle of –“

“Nowhere?” My eye twitched in annoyance as I was cut off. The stallion that walked behind me was pushing my kindness to its boundaries. Giving a sigh, I put it down to the heat frying our brains and stopped my trot. Wiping my brow, I levitated my canteen of water out of my saddlebags and took a swig as I waited for Bolts to catch up. The water was warm but bearable and it slid down my throat. As the white unicorn approached me, I looked down at him. He must have been in his late teens, short and scruffy. A young stallion whose hooves looked like they had only just gotten dirty. As he snatched the canteen from my magical grasp, I began to wonder where he was from. He didn’t grow up in the wasteland, that’s for sure. His coat would more resemble my own from the red, dusty soil and his laser pistol would be in worse condition. His repair barding was a whole other story, I had seen the jumpsuits and barding that the stable ponies wear and even if his was modified, it’s too different to be from a stable. Even his words when he spoke to me before we left Dusty Docks, he said he’d been in the wasteland fifteen minutes before reaching Dusty Docks. Not only is there no stable that close, there’s no town that close. I continued to try and wrap my brain around this thought until I was brought back by Bolts’s calls.

“Clear? Cleeeeeeeear? Anypony home?” Bolts had been calling my name and waving a hoof in front of my face for about a minute before I realised what was going on.

“huh... wha?” (So graceful in speech now aren’t we?)

“You’ve been just staring into space for about a minute now, is everything alright?” Bolts’s voice was filled with a bit of concern.

“Yeah I’m fine, just a bit on my mind” I said, waving a hoof to him. Taking my canteen back, I gave it a few shakes. When I heard no noise come from the canteen I tipped it upside down, a single drop fell from its rim and hit the ground. Glaring at my thirsty companion, I placed the canteen back in my saddle bags. “You’re welcome.” I said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, only to receive a sheepish grin from Bolts. The cigarette smoke was smooth as I took the first inhale of it then slowly blew it out. With another glance towards bolts I began walking again, heading (hopefully) in the right direction.

*** *** ***

As Bolts and I continued through the Hoofstralian wasteland, we were met with little disturbance or sound. Not much wildlife had ventured into this near barren part of the wasteland, every so often, we’d see a radroo in the distance but that was about it. As we continued further on (and as my cigarette just ran out) we were met some large, rocky outcroppings, a few long dead trees and large gusts of wind. The formation of rocks caused the funnelled wind to howl as it moved between each structure. Dust blew around our faces and my duster blew frantically in the wind, in the distant background, I could hear the unmistakable sound of roaring thunder.

“There’s a storm coming, and a big one at that.” I said as I turned my attention to the black clouds that flowed in the sky.

“But isn’t that a good thing? At least we’ll be out of the heat then.” Bolts asked, noting the slight concern in my voice.

“You really aren’t from the wasteland are you? Out here, it doesn’t just rain and it doesn’t just pour. The sky buckets down water harder than you’ve ever seen. We should find shelter and we need to find it fast.” I didn’t wait for Bolts to reply, I just started heading for one of the rocky outcroppings. As I made my way there, I broke branches from the trees with my magic, only to feel drops of rain begin to hit my face soon after. “Fuck…” I hid the sticks under my duster, as it didn’t take long for the rain to pick up heavily. The rain fell hard and landed with a large, dull patter against my duster. It didn’t take long for my mane to go limp and stick to my head, slightly obscuring my view. I was in luck when I reached the outcropping, the rocks had formed near perfectly into a small alcove, placing my saddlebags, rifle and semi-dry sticks inside the alcove, I turned back around to check on Bolts. Bolts was struggling against the wind and rain, his hooves sunk into the now muddy earth. It took him a while, but Bolts finally made it. Soaked and muddy, he began to look like a real wasteland pony.

“You… you weren’t kidding” he muttered, shivering from the cold wind and rain.

“No I wasn’t. Now you might want to get out of your barding before you catch a cold.” I said chuckling as I began to remove my duster and armour. Bolts seemed a little hesitant at first but just nodded and slipped out of his barding, placing it on a small ledge to dry. This was the first time I saw his cutie mark, a couple of bolts standing on end with three nuts across the top, I expected nothing less from a repair pony with his name. Under his barding, he was pearl white, his coat not yet darkened by the wasteland dust.

Wanting to warm up quickly I levitated over some sticks and my lighter from my saddle bags. Placing the sticks on the ground, I flicked my lighter on and floated it beneath the small branches. It was a slow start, but eventually the sticks lit up and gave off lifesaving heat as the fire roared into life. We planted our bodies down either side of the fire and looked out into the wasteland we had momentarily escaped from. We sat in silence, watching the rain fall heavily against the red earth. The silence was soon broken by growl coming from Bolts’ stomach.

“Hungry?” I asked, receiving a nod as an answer. I focused my magic on my saddlebags and brought out a small packet of gator meat. The townsponies of Dusty docks were kind enough to give us some gator meat and a small amount of caps as a reward for saving the town. The meat sizzled away over the fire and we ate in silence. It felt odd, here was a pony who was following me around and he hadn’t said a single word since we got in out of the rain. We finished our meal and happily laid down with full stomachs. Turning my attention to my bags, I brought another cigarette out and lit it, enjoying the after meal smoke. Well, I was enjoying it, until Bolts piped up.

“So why are you doing it?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, talking around the cigarette.

“I mean, why are you out here? I didn’t hear your full story last night. I only heard that you wanted to help the wasteland wherever possible. No one does that just out of the kindness of their heart, what’s in it for you? Fame? Power? ...Mares?” I had to laugh at the final part of his question.

“Hah, no, nothing like that.” The smile fades from my face as I recall my reason for leaving home. “My little sister was foalnapped a couple of weeks ago by some slavers. She was with me when they took her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Is… is she ok?”

“She was murdered and I couldn’t do anything to save her.” Bolts didn’t say anything, he just laid there, looking out into the rain. “That’s why I’ve decided to come out here. I don’t want others to suffer. I mean, who knows how many ponies have been thrown into slavery, or had their lives taken away? I know it’s a stupid goal, the goddesses know I won’t be able to save every pony in the wasteland, but I’m at least going to try.”

“Is that why you smoke and drink so much?”

“I drink to try to forget. I just want to relieve myself of that image of my sister. The smoking helps to calm me down, to steady my nerves. I know they’re supposed to be bad for me, but if anything, they’re what is keeping me both alive and sane.”

“You’re wrong, what’s keeping you sane alive and sane is that goal of a better future. Oh and it’s not a stupid goal, to actually try to make a difference, not just sit idly by while others die. That’s not a stupid goal, it’s a noble goal, and I’m glad I can help and be a part of it.” Bolts and I turned to each other and smiled.

“So what’s your story? You’re definitely not from the wasteland, you’re too clean for one. Are you from a stable?”

“Close, you’re right, I’m not from the wasteland, but I’m not from a stable either.”

“Oh?” Bolts didn’t say anything else. Instead he removed one of the pouches on his barding and turned it around. On the back of the pouch was an emblem, a half-apple with an inlay of three magical sparks ringed by gears, held by crescent-shaped wings and overlaid by a sabre of war. The mark of the Steel Rangers had been placed in front of my face. “Wait a minute. YOU’RE a Steel Ranger?” Bolts just gave me a nod. I had heard about the Steel Rangers before. Hay, everyone had heard of the elite fighting force of the Ministry of Wartime Technology. I had heard that there were a couple of contingents within Hoofstralia, but I thought they had died off long ago. “So where’s your steel armour?”

“Please, I’m not that important.” Bolt’s said with a snort. “I’m just a repairpony, they only give suits of power armour to those who are going to be in the military. Anyone stuck behind a workbench or a desk doesn’t get that luxury.”

“Wait, if there’s a Steel Ranger base near Dusty Docks, why aren’t the Steel Rangers helping? Where were they when the town was being overrun!?” my voice was filled with rage, now knowing that there was a fighting force nearby while I was risking my life.

“The elder doesn’t realise how bad things are on the surface here. Only a few ever get to leave the bunker and that’s just to do a bit of recon or acquire supplies. Whenever a pony approaches him to try and get him to leave, his answer is always the same. “No one leaves the bunker without my say-so. We’re strong while we’re together, by making our presence known to those on the surface, we may begin to divide and lose our strength as a unit. We’ll be making ourselves vulnerable.” Bolts finished his rant with a mocking tone. “That old stallion doesn’t know what’s coming out of his mouth anymore.” Bolts finished his tale and looked back out into the darkness.

“So I’m guessing you didn’t tell him that you left.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t kill him. Besides, I doubt they’re going to miss the repair pony from sector 7-G. I didn’t want to sit by under the ground, not knowing what was happening around us. I wanted to get out and see the world, now I want to help save it. Those ponies have no clue how fucked up things are around here and they can help.” Beside me was a pony who shared the same beliefs I had, a pony who wanted to make a difference and he didn’t know the full extent of what was going on around him. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

“Heh, looks like I’m not the only one with a noble goal.” I said, flicking my cigarette bud out into the rain. “So I’m guessing you don’t know much about the layout of Equestria, do you?” Bolts shook his head to my question.

“They only had so many books and maps in the bunker.” I waved him over as I levitated the maps out of my saddlebags.

“Well, first off,” I said, placing the map of Equestria in front of us. “This is Equestria and its many provinces. You see this central part here?” I said, circling the most central part of the large map. “The centre of Equestria contains some of its most known cities, or at least it did before the war. Over here we have Manehatten, as it stands today, it’s a ruined city but is home to the voice of the Wasteland, DJ Pon3.”

“Who’s that? I didn’t hear him in Dusty Docks”

“I guess no one had the radio on, you’ll hear him soon enough. If we go Southeast a little bit, that’s Fillydelphia. Again, all it is now is a ruined city, but I hear they’ve started it back up again, a lot of working factories are there now.”

“So why doesn’t everyone just go there? It would be easier to get Equestria up and running again, right?”

“Nope, not with Red Eye running the place.”

“Who’s Red Eye?” Bolts asked, everything I said just seemed to confuse him further.

“Some stallion who’s trying become the next ruler of Equestria. He’s tried countless times to get us in on this ‘Rebuild Equestria’ thing. I don’t buy it for second. I’ve heard that Fillydelphia is a horrible place. Besides, we have a saying down here, ‘Watch your neighbour’s back.’ We have no need for a ruler, we can take care of ourselves.” I began to crumple the map with my magic. I never liked the idea about being ruled over. Taking a deep breath, I went back to explaining. “Northeast of there is Canterlot, the old capital of Equestria. I was always told that it’s impossible to enter now, it was hit with a pink cloud megaspell, whatever that is. Bellow that is Ponyville, I was told that early before the war, it housed a number of important ponies and as such, was put on the maps. Farther south, there’s Appleloosa. It’s since become a home for slavers.”

“I’m guessing we’ll be going there at some point?”

“Maybe, but that’s dangerous territory. I’d rather not venture outside Hoofstralia for now. You see how there’s this forest of trees that cut down through the middle of Equestria, here, that’s the Everfree Forest. Even before the Great War, it was a place not to be messed with, now it’s even scarier. You couldn’t pay me to set hoof in that place.” I gave a shiver, not knowing the horrors that lurked within. “If you go east past it, however, you wind up in the province known as The Hoof. From what I’ve heard, nothing goes right over there. You need balls of steel and a lot of ammunition to live there. If you go further North, above the central part of Equestria, you’ll wind up in Stalliongrad.”

“What’s there?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ve heard its cold. Very cold.” My hoof then traced along the Southern border of Equestria, the lower province my hoof traced around bordered on Central Equestria and the hoof and travelled down for some time. “See this province that’s down under everything else? This is us, this is Hoofstralia.” I said, bringing out the next map. A blown up version of Hoofstralia.

“It looks… kinda empty…”

“Yeah, Hoofstralia isn’t really known for having many cities, most settlements are just small towns spread across Hoofstralia, the bigger cities are along the coast. These three in particular, Brismane, Sydneigh and Canterberra.” I said pointing to three dots along Hoofstralia’s East coast. “All three were hit with megaspells, Canterberra especially. There’s nothing there any more, just ruins filled with ghosts and ghouls. Sydneigh was a large trading port that was said to have a beautiful bridge connecting it to a small island off the coast. Since then a new trading post has been brought up, its proper title is called New Sydneigh but everyone calls it Safeway.”

“Why is it called that?”

“It’s neutral territory. Slavers, raiders, regular ponies, everyone goes there to trade. The policy is that if anyone starts a fight, they’re executed on the spot. As such, everyone is on their best behaviour. Brismane… that’s a whole different story, I have no clue what happened there. We know it was hit with a megaspell, but we don’t know what it’s like now. It’s in one of DJ Pon3’s few blind spots and we can’t get any news on it.”

“So where are we on the map?” Bolts asked, a slightly confused look on his face.

“We are here.” I said, placing my hoof in the centre then pulling up the third and final map. “This is Rust Valley. This dot is Sunny Springs, where I came from. Then there’s Dusty Docks, Sunshine Meadows, Golden Mills, Phoenix Rock and Bison Bullpen. These are the settlements of Rust Valley.” I pointed to a number of dots covering the map.

“So what’s this?” Bolts questioned, pointing to a large X near the top of the page.

“Ah, that’s our destination, which we should reach sometime tomorrow, now that we’re taking this shortcut. Speaking of which, it’s getting late, we should sleep, we have a lot more walking to do tomorrow.” I folded the maps up and placed them in my saddlebags before rolling over, back to the fire and Bolts. It wasn’t long before I heard a gentle snoring coming from behind me. With that, I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep.

*** *** ***

I awoke sometime in the middle of the night to the sound of light whimpers. I rolled back over and faced the dying fire. The sound was Bolts and it seemed he wasn’t whimpering but shivering from the cold. He spent his entire life shielded from the weather and temperature of the wasteland. To go from a hot day to a cold night after a storm must have been a shock to his system. I levitated the remaining sticks over and placed them on the fire. Bolt’s shivering didn’t subside. Rolling my eyes slightly, with a smile I levitated my duster over and placed it over his body. It took a moment, but thanks to the fire and duster, Bolts soon fell quietly to sleep, I soon followed suit.

*** *** ***

The night passed quickly and I awoke at first light. The rain had stopped by now but left a cool breeze for our travel. The fire had completely died by now, leaving only crackling embers. Standing up, I gave a quick stretch and threw on my leather armour then moved over to my motionless companion. Taking my duster from his body, I gave him a light kick.

“Oi, wake up. We’re burning daylight.” at the call and the kick, Bolts twitched awake with a yawn.

“hmmmngggg. Any gator meat left for breakfast?” he asked, stretching out. He then moved to his gear and put on his barding.

“Nope, sorry. We ate it all last night. Now grab your things, if we leave now we’ll be able to make it there by this afternoon.” I said, throwing my saddlebags and rifle onto my back.

“Can you at least tell me where ‘there’ is and what exactly is ‘there’.”

“All in due time, my friend. Besides, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I just told you, now would it?” I caught a glimpse of Bolts rolling his eyes before he slipped into his barding. With a final check to make sure we didn’t forget anything, we set off, back on the now muddy trail.

*** *** ***

The day seemed to go longer than usual. We didn’t stop to rest this time, we just kept on walking. Our hooves sinking into the muddy earth, the only comfort that we received during the final part of this small journey was the cool breeze that came with the departed rain. We walked for hours on end until I saw the landmark I had been searching for. A small hill appeared out of the flat wasteland, a door stuck into its side, flanked by another couple of dirt mounds. The door was completely out of place in this wasteland, its weathered front almost camouflaged into the dirt mound. As we moved up to the door I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding. I had found what I had been looking for. Pushing open the door I was greeted by a long, dark tunnel.

“Is this what you’ve been searching for?” Bolts asked from behind me.

“It is indeed, this is where we begin.” I took out my lighter, not to light a cigarette though. Flipping the lid open I flicked on the lighter and let the light of the flame brighten up the dark tunnel. I didn’t waste any more time, I moved inside. The tunnel was long and slanted, it was dug deep into the earth. A few times I heard Bolts slip on the uneven ground, to which I almost lost my footing also a number of times. Eventually we arrived at the proper destination. Before us was a very large, metal, cog-like door, half open to reveal the inside of an underground bunker, the number 50 emblazoned on its front.

“This is it, my friend.” I said, not looking at Bolts. “This is the place where my ancestors lived in solitude for a hundred years. This is Stable 50.”

Footnote: No new level gained.
Friendship level increase with companion Bolts.

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A/N: A short chapter this time. I figured I’d make a short chapter of Clear and Bolts getting to know each other a little better. We also get to see why Bolts is such a clean pony. Sorry for the delay in this chapter also, it was that time of the year and exams took priority. Now they’re all over and I’m on holidays and I’ve already started work on chapter four. A big bit of news comes with this chapter as well. As of now I am taking full writing authority. Whisper, who was my co-author, is now just helping with creative input and I will be the only one writing from now on. Editing will continue to be done by Shika of the Song. (I think we should all thank her for that.) As always thanks to Kkat, Somber, No One and Mimezinga for giving me the inspiration to write this side story. Likes and favourites are always appreciated to help get the fic out there and constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks for reading!

E/N: Hi, everypony! Shika here, finally getting to say hello to you all! I’ve had a lot of fun editing for Mach(though sometimes it takes a while xD) and I’m extremely glad you like our work. Thank you for the support you’ve shown us!