Fallout: Equestria - Shadow of the Day

by Kaciekk

Chapter 6: South Gait

It was past midday when the trio of young ponies returned to EchoBeat’s home, GleamingChance levitated memory orb boxes out of OrchidRays’ bags. Echo’s eyes widened as they were set on the table before him. He opened one and took an orb in his hooves.

“Oh, thank you so much!” He rejoiced.

“Sure thing, Mr. EchoBeat!” Ray said.

“Would you mind if I took a look at a few of them?” SwiftHaze requested. The recollector she found was dangling by her forehoof.

“I suppose so,” Echo replied. “However I’d like to view them first. To know what’s appropriate to share.”

That made sense. “Okay,” Haze accepted.

“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble retrieving these,” stated Echo.

“We had to disarm some mines and dodge raider camps. Besides that I’d say we fared pretty well,” Chance reported.

“And got stopped by the Enclave,” Haze added.

“Oh no…” Echo cautioned.

“I got ‘em to fuck off but they were interested in me.” Haze shrugged.

A second later, the door opened behind them. Haze turned to follow Echo’s gaze. In the doorway was the shadowy figure of SilverFlash. He stepped in and shut the door behind him.

“Oh, you’re just in time!” Ray greeted him. “We just got back from HyperBlitz’s house!”

Flash looked at Echo. “Hyper’s place? What were they doing there?”

“They wanted to do a favor for me, so I had them find some of Hyper’s memory orbs for me,” Echo explained.

“Have you been there since… you know,” Chance attempted to inquire, but awkwardly stumbled. “You…” He waved his hoof in the general direction of Flash.

“Yes, I have,” Flash replied flatly. “Many years back.”

“But, the doors were locked when we got there,” Ray said.

“Do you think I’d leave the doors unlocked? No, that place holds too many memories to let miscreants ransack. You already saw what they did to the outside,” Flash retorted.

Ray lowered her head and pushed her ears back. Haze remembered the crude graffiti on the sides of the home.

“Wait, if you’ve been there before, why didn’t you ever get the memory orbs for Echo?” Haze chided.

Before Flash could respond, it was EchoBeat who spoke up. “I’ve asked for enough favors from Flash for a lifetime,” he sighed.

“I hope we aren’t miscreants for scavenging,” Chance mumbled, ashamed. He certainly held the opinion of Flash quite highly.

Flash let out a breath behind his mask. “You didn’t defile the place. I’m sure what you took wasn’t any use there. Food and medicine, right?”

Chance nodded.

“Anyway, enough chit-chat, I’ve got to get moving,” Flash announced.

“So soon?” Echo asked.

“I only stopped here because it was on my way to South Gait from my friend’s house. Her son had just fled from there because there’s a band of raiders camping at the entrance,” Flash clarified.

“South Gait?” Haze wondered, interested. “Why don’t we come with you?”

“Did you not hear me? There’s raiders,” Flash refuted.

“And we’ll help fight them off!”

“I did want to go to South Gait next,” Chance noted. “I’ve got a lot of shit to sell.”

Haze nodded. “I wanted to go there next, too.”

Flash sighed. “I don’t know, but I’m definitely not wasting any more time standing here.”

“We’ll just end up following you anyway,” Haze smirked.

“Yeah!” Ray squeed.

“Oh!’ Haze thought of something and turned to Ray. “We gotta get you your switchblade. Chance, do you know how we can make a cuff to attach a blade to?”

“Hmm, I’m sure we could find something,” Chance contemplated. “But since Flash is in such a hurry, I don’t think we have the time to make one. But I’m absolutely sure you could find something like that for sale at South Gait.”

Haze clapped her hooves together. “Then it’s settled. Let’s go!”

The group of four ponies hiked down the hills of Los Pegasus, towards downtown. Ahead of them, the skyscrapers loomed larger and larger. SwiftHaze thought she saw Pegasi flying around the top of the central tower.

“Is that the Enclave?” She asked.

“The tower that pierces the clouds?” Flash stated. “Yes. That’s their base of operations.”

“You see, Los Pegasus was a partial Pegasus city before the war, hence the name,” Chance explained. “Parts of the city were also in the clouds and more towers touched them.”

“How do you know so much about the world before the war?” Haze questioned.

“I’ve done my research,” Chance said sheepishly. “And Flash has told me a lot.”

“He has a real knack for learning,” Flash remarked.

‘If you’re so smart why do you stay with your gang? Haze inquired. “No offense.”

Chance sighed and his gaze fell to the ground. “It’s complicated. I was born and raised with my gang. It’s what I’m accustomed to. They’re the closest thing I have to family, especially since my mom left.”

“Family isn’t everything,” Haze claimed. “Just because you’re used to them doesn’t mean they aren’t bad for you. Sometimes you need to split from the family you knew to find your full potential.”

“I suppose you're right,” Chance took that in.

“Wise words for someone who’s only been away from her family for one day,” Flash pointed out from ahead.

“Hey, I knew what I needed all along!” Haze defended. “I needed to kick my mom out of my life as soon as I could!”

“You forcibly kicked your mom out… mine just up and left,” Chance huffed.

“Why?”

“I’d love to know that,” Chance mumbled.

“You sure she isn’t like… dead?” Haze asked.

“No, I’m sure she’s out there. Some of my gang said they saw her a couple years back, and recently Clay got a letter. He just doesn’t say where it came from.” Chance scrunched his muzzle in frustration.

“Maybe we could help you find her,” OrchidRays suggested.

“Yeah, right,” Chance scoffed.

“No, for real. We could help!” Haze insisted.

“Good luck with that. If I haven’t been able to find her in several years, there’s no way you’ll find her. But I appreciate the offer,” Chance said.

“Hmph.” Haze pouted. She was looking for another way to help someone.

She looked to Ray, who had been mostly silent again. “Oh, speaking of family,” she directed at Ray, “How are you doing? I never asked how you felt about leaving your family. Sorry, I should have considered that.” Haze had been too focused on her own wants when leaving the Stable.

“Oh, you know how my dad is,” Ray mumbled.

Haze didn’t respond. She knew Ray’s father was quite distant from her, and didn’t quite care what she did. Ray never knew her mother; she died during childbirth. It was no wonder Ray latched onto music and figures of the past.

Finally, Haze muttered, “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

“So, I guess we all have dysfunctional families,” Chance concluded. “Whatta shame.”

“I suppose I should be lucky I can’t relate,” Flash spoke up from the lead. “Well, my whole family is dead, so of course I couldn’t.” He exhaled. “No, I had a loving, accepting family, and… I miss them very much.”

Haze wasn’t sure how to reply. She felt bad for the ghoul. What was it like to outlive all your family and friends? What kept you going at that point?

For a few moments the whole group fell silent. Chance was looking off somewhere to the left. He stopped in place.

“Aw, fuck! Guys, we got ferals!”

Flash whipped his head around to look. There was movement down a dark alley. Decayed pony shapes emerged from the shadows. They began clumsily giving chase to the traveling ponies.

“Run!” Flash barked.

Instinctually Haze bounded into the air. The pony creatures were quite fast. Unfortunately there was another small group of them ahead blocking the path.

Chance levitated out his pistol and began shooting a sickly green one. It groaned in protest.

“What are they?” Haze called as she bolted upward to dodge the snapping jaws of one of the creatures.

“Feral ghouls!” Chance replied hastily and aimed for another. “Shoot them!”

Haze brought up her assault rifle, but hesitated. Ghouls? “But they’re ponies!”

“No they’re not!” Chance snapped.

“These aren’t like me an Echo,” Flash clarified briskly. “They’re feral, mindless ghouls who will attack you! Shoot!”

Haze tried something new. She hit a button on her PipBuck and brought up S.A.T.S. (Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell). She was easily able to target an erratically moving ghoul directly on its temple. Blood spewed from the wound as the ghoul collapsed.

A once-white ghoul stumbled its way over to Ray. With her back turned, she wasn’t prepared for it to bite her neck. Yelping, she lept away. She swiveled around and slammed her metal leg against its cheek. Rotting teeth flew from its mouth. Haze finished the foe quickly with a bullet.

A feral was rounding on Flash. He aimed his revolver for its head but as it reared up and bashed its forehooves against his shoulders his aim was tilted upward. Saving his ammunition, Flash floated out his sword from his side. He punctured the exposed belly of the rearing ghoul. Blood oozed as he pulled it out of the now fallen corpse.

Haze used S.A.T.S. again to take down another ghoul before she had to let the spell recharge. She was surprised how fast the zombie-like ponies were.

At last all of the feral ghouls were lying dead on the concrete. Haze and Ray stared in horror at the bloody mess. These were once ponies - friends, loved ones of ponies from the past. But their minds had become corrupted from radiation. Haze wondered what was the line between a sane and a feral ghoul.

“Everyone alright?” Flash asked, surveying the others.

“I got bit!” Ray whinnied. “I’m not going to turn into a ghoul, will I?”

“No, but you might get an infection,” Chance replied.

Ray looked just as frightened as if that was an equally horrid fate.

Flash pulled out some medical supplies from. He cleaned Ray’s bite wound and applied a magical bandage. “We want to save our potions for when we deal with those raiders,” he informed. “C’mon, let’s get moving.”

The roads ahead of them began to darken as they passed under the shadows of the close constructed buildings. Along the crumbling walls were posters from many decades before. They boasted propaganda of the war. “Better wiped than striped”, one claimed, with the image of Zebras scattered on the ground, dead. Many other posters were too faded to be legible.

SwiftHaze wondered exactly how the war between ponies and Zebras began. What had led to the world they knew now?

The group halted as they reached the end of one street. Across the road were low buildings with ponies trotting around the top of the roofs. Turrets pointed to the streets below. Between the buildings were makeshift wooden and wire fences, wrapping around an entire block, maybe more. Haze couldn’t see that far to tell where the fence ended. Inside must have been South Gait.

In the intersection in front of them was a band of raiders, hiding behind barriers of sandbags. One had his gun aimed towards the ponies patrolling the rooftops. The ponies on top returned the gesture with weapons aimed below. They appeared to be at a stalemate; nobody fired, only threatened with gunpoint. There were, however, a few guards dead on the street in front of a tall wooden gate.

“What do we do?” Haze questioned from behind SilverFlash.

He pulled his sword from its sheaf. “We gotta catch them off guard, that will give us the advantage.”

“What if we distract them?” Haze suggested.

“I don’t see the point of giving away our position,” Flash quipped.

“Do we really have to fight?” Ray said. “Maybe we can just ask them to leave.”

Ray walked out of the alley and into the intersection.

“Ray! What are you doing?” Haze hissed. Fuck, she doesn’t even have armor!

“Hi there!” Ray exclaimed as she approached the raiders.

All of the raiders’ heads popped up and stared at Ray. They jumped up and aimed their weapons towards her. All of the guards’ attention was placed on her as well.

“Wait! Don’t shoot!” She pleaded. “Maybe we can help you!”

Haze dashed into the street behind her. Shit!

But surprisingly, the raiders didn’t shoot. A charcoal Earth Pony emerged from the group. He glared at Ray.

“And what the fuck do you think you’re going to do?” He sneered. “Get any closer and we’ll fucking kill you.”

“So, I guess you wanna get in there because you wanna raid?” Ray stated obviously. “What if we traded with you instead? And then you could leave these ponies alone!”

“What?” Chance snapped and entered the street. “We ain’t giving away my loot!”

“But we could come to an agreement without a fight!” Ray beamed.

Chance stepped up to her and argued. “These fuckers won’t just take shit an’ leave. They’re raiders! If we give them anything they’ll just take it and shoot us!”

“You just don’t want to give up your loot,” Ray remarked.

“No! I mean- I’m not giving my shit up to criminals that won’t even negotiate!”

Haze was bewildered at the fact the raiders hadn’t shot yet. Ray really thought they could find a peaceful solution.

“Hmm, what are you offering?” The large charcoal stallion wondered, raising a brow.

“Oh, we have a lot of mines!” Ray said.

Chance shook his head violently. “No! I’m definitely not giving them weapons!”

“Then what about medicine?” Ray wondered.

“I ain’t giving them shit!” Chance refused.

Magenta magic pulled Ray back, away from the front line. Flash replaced her and faced the raiders.

“No offers,” He told them. “Leave now or we will attack. You’re outnumbered.” He pointed his muzzle to the guards on the rooftops.

“Wrong answer!” The Earth Pony stallion shouted.

He grabbed a pistol in his mouth and aimed it towards them. He used his hoof to pull the trigger back, the bullet flying between Haze and Flash. Haze darted into the air and Flash pulled out his revolver. Peering behind his shoulder, he used his magic to levitate Ray and place her by the alley, away from the fight. She blinked, dazed.

The other raiders began to take fire. As Haze zipped through the air, she felt a bullet sink into the base of her wing. Pain shot through her, but she gritted her teeth and fought through it. She raised her rifle and shot the charcoal Earth Pony. First, she shot his pistol, which clattered to the ground. As he went to retrieve it, another one of Haze’s bullets lodged into his neck. He faltered, but still picked up his pistol. Again, he pulled the trigger. This time the shot struck Haze in her foreleg, below her sleeve. Agony surged through her leg as she felt the bullet strike against her bone. She screamed and dropped her rifle, which dangled at her side by its strap.

Chance fired his pistol a couple times into the Earth Pony’s head. Once he fell to the ground, Chance aimed for the next raider behind him, who was a skinny orange mare. The nimble mare was fast enough to react, dodging behind some sandbags. Chance levitated his pistol, tracking it along the top of the barrier, waiting for the mare to resurface. Before he could find her, a different raider stabbed Chance in his side with a short blade.

Ignoring Flash’s non-verbal warning, OrchidRays ran back out into the street. Haze swooped down and attempted to stop her. She placed her yellow hooves on Ray’s shoulders.

“You aren’t wearing armor! Get out!” Haze warned.

“Chance needs our help!” Ray argued.

She dashed past Haze and towards the gold raider with the blade. It was connected to a cuff, much like their idea for a weapon for Ray. Chance just grunted and turned to face the gold pony. On his opposite flank was the orange mare. She lept and grabbed Chance by his neck, drawing him back. The gold raider raised his bladed hoof to strike again.

Before he could attack, Ray assaulted him with a heavy punch to the face, courtesy of her metal leg. Behind Chance, the mare’s head exploded with blood as a shot rang out. One of the guards on a rooftop was aiding in the fight. Once again, Chance raised his gun and took action. The gold raider collapsed to the floor. Briefly, Chance gave Ray a curt nod, thanking her for her assistance.

In the air, Haze struggled to hold her assault rifle. Her left foreleg throbbed like hell, but she forced herself to line up an attack. With her faltering aim, now was the perfect time for S.A.T.S. There were two raiders left.

A pale green Unicorn was dueling with Flash. They challenged each other with... their swords. Haze didn’t see the point of a sword fight. Wouldn’t the Unicorn raider be more accurate with a gun? Haze shot the green raider on the tip of his muzzle. Screaming, he swiped his head to the side. Before he could raise his gaze again, Flash slit his throat with a quick swipe. The Unicorn crumbled to the ground.

The last raider was a small grey one. She was obviously young, probably a teenager. She looked to the other ponies in fear and just darted in the opposite direction. Bullets from the rooftops followed her as she slipped into a dark alley. She was gone, and nobody dared to follow her.

Exhausted, Haze hovered to the ground, landing on three legs. As she met with the rest of her party, the wooden gates were beginning to open. A guard stepped out.

“Thank you so much for coming to our aid. We haven’t been able to let anyone in or out!” The blue guard expressed.

“Why couldn’t you just attack them?” Haze urged, annoyed.

“You see what happened when we tried.” The guard waved his hoof towards his two fallen comrades on the concrete.

Wimps! Haze snickered inwardly. I’m fresh out of a Stable and I fared better against these raiders than them!

Flash levitated both limp bodies of the guards. “I can help carry them to their families,” he offered.

“That would mean a lot,” the blue guard pony told him. “How can we repay you?”

“How about you give these three a place to sleep for tonight?” Flash pointed his horn to the three younger ponies.

Haze realized that it was starting to get dark. It wasn’t just the shadow of the buildings, but the sky was falling into shadows as well. Haze limped forward past the gate.

“I suppose we could do that,” the guard considered as he led them inside.

“I think it’s the least you could do,” Flash muttered.

In the barrier were many shops along a square. Several buildings rose up multiple stories, with lights in the windows. Ponies must have lived there. Sentries walked the streets, looking for troublemakers. Shorter buildings marked the perimeter of the gated community. Some decent, non-raider, ponies were taking in the square. A few glanced over as they heard the gate close.

The guard they were following approached a patrolling sentry. “Could you show these three to the Grand View Inn? Tell them they are allowed to stay a night free. I have business to attend to with SilverFlash.”

The sentry agreed and began to lead the way.

“I’ll meet up with you later,” Flash told the trio as they departed with their ghoul companion. He was obviously known here. He was still levitating the bodies alongside him.

SwiftHaze hopped forward to walk- no, limp- parallel with GleamingChance. “So, uh, is that something Unicorns can normally do out here? ‘Cause I’ve never seen a Unicorn float two ponies at once.”

Chance was caught off guard, and had to process her question for a moment. “Oh, you mean Flash? Yeah, he’s kinda special that way.”

Haze blinked, attempting to figure out what that meant. A different question occurred to her.

“Is there a doctor here?” She raised her leg slightly, but stopped due to the pain.

“I’m sure we can heal it with a potion,” Chance said.

Haze frowned. “No! I’m pretty sure I have a bullet in my leg! I need a doctor!”

“There’s a clinic not far from the inn. An attendant there can direct you to it,” the sentry informed them.

“Great!” Chance remarked. “In the meantime, I’m gonna sell what I brought.”

Haze’s group got situated in a room at the Grand View Inn. The building was quite nice compared to the rest of the city, but the staff seemed peeved that they had to give away a room for free. Chance had left the girls for the market. At last Haze had a moment alone with OrchidRays. She gave the younger mare a hard stare.

“You know what you did was absolutely stupid? You’re lucky it didn’ end up any worse.”

Ray shrank back, hurt by her words. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I saw they weren’t shooting and thought maybe we could talk things out.”

Haze groaned. She would have rubbed her forehead, but at the moment only had one foreleg to balance. “You’re going to have to learn that things aren’t that easy out here. I know it’s hypocritical for me to say, but you’ve got to think before you act. We need to follow Chance and Flash’s lead; they know what to do out here.”

Ray was gazing at the floor, ashamed. Haze felt bad. She placed a wing around Ray’s back.

“Thank the goddesses it didn’t turn out worse. We’ll have to buy you some armor, then you’ll be able to help out in battle. Okay?”

Ray nodded. “Okay.”

“Awesome.” Haze stepped back. “Now, I’m going to find a doctor to get this fucking lead out of my leg.”

Haze was directed by a very snobby desk clerk to a doctor, a little over a block away. Haze realized she only had nine caps to her name, not nearly enough to pay for treatment. Instead, she returned to the hotel and waited for Chance to return as well.

Sure enough, he had caps to spare for Haze to use. She thanked him and retraced her steps back to the clinic. It was nearly completely dark by the time she left.

A few foals were eyeing her down the street, surely bewildered by the sight of a Pegasus. Haze decided to play along. She outstretched her wings and heard the children “ooh” in harmony. An older pony, perhaps a parent, began ushering them away, one eye glaring at Haze. I’m not part of the Enclave!

The doctor was a cute, young Unicorn named QuickFix. Haze doubted that was the purple mare’s real name. At least she seemed more friendly than most of the rest of the residents of South Gait she had met so far. QuickFix was able to use a spell on Haze’s leg to remove the bullet, which unfortunately hurt like hell. Haze assured her that she didn’t need a potion, but the doctor insisted she took one anyway.

Haze felt much better after her visit to the clinic, but continued to not put weight on her leg, as instructed by the doctor. It was late, and she was quite hungry, so she decided to stop by the bar inside the Grand View Inn. There were some stallions inside, chatting and drinking. A radio played softly in the background. Haze recognized the voice of Sapphire Shores.

“I haven’t seen ya ‘round here before,” an older, beige stallion was saying to Haze as she was waiting for her order. “Whatsa pretty mare like ya doing here?”

“Well, I did just save your town from some raider gang,” Haze quipped. She was getting an uncomfortable vibe from the stallion. He must have been drunk.

“So you’re a fighter, huh?” the stallion smirked. “I appreciate a mare who could stand for herself.”

“Could you kindly fuck off?” Haze snapped.

A second later, Haze received a plate of preserved corn and tomatoes. They didn’t taste as bad as she was expecting.

“Sounds like ya could use a drink. Why don’t I buy ya one?” The stallion offered.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll buy my own drink,” Haze muttered and continued to eat.

A different voice came from behind her. “Be careful wi’ that one. She mi’ be an Enclave spy,” said a different stallion sitting at a table in the corner of the bar.

Haze whipped her head around. “I just came from Stable 47! See?” She pointed to the “47” written on the collar of her Stable suit.

“Hmm, I didn’t think there were any ponies left in that Stable,” the drunk stallion commented. “Are the rest of them as fine as ya?”

“Listen here, mister,” Haze growled. “I’m not interested in you. I’m not getting together with a pony I don’t even know the name of. And you’re probably ten years older than me! Now get the fuck out of my face!”

She smacked his cheek with a yellow hoof. He blinked, as if it didn’t even phase him.

“I’ll take a whisky to go,” Haze told the bartender and passed over some caps.