Fallout: Equestria: Shifting Tides

by T_Rex

Fallout: Equestria: Shifting Tides Ch. 1

As I stared down the weathered road, the sand and dust obscuring the horizon, I tried to remember anything at all about my past. The only things I remembered were that I was part of some type of group and that that group wore power armor. The only other thing I knew for certain was that even after walking a few miles from where I had awoken, I still hadn't seen a town, settlement, or even another living thing along the road.

The power armor slid off of my back for what seemed like the fiftieth time since I had begun walking and I fell to the ground with a sigh. Sliding the power armor back onto my back, I started down the road again.

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With about forty pounds on my back, not counting all of the supplies in my saddle bags, it was a miracle that I had managed to make it all the way to a decaying building before collapsing. Groaning as I got back to my hooves, I pushed the armor through the doors with my head and kicked them closed.

I dropped the rifle next to the power armor and stared down at it. This was the first time that I had actually taken the time to examine it, and what I saw crushed any thoughts of actually using it. The gun was in terrible condition. The outside was mostly intact, although some internal parts didn’t appear to be functional. After pondering what to do with it for a while, I decided to add it to my quickly growing pile of ‘stuff that’s broken beyond useless’.

I looked up, taking in the sight of the room. As I noticed the features of the room, I suddenly developed a feeling of intense dread. I remembered this building, but at the same time I didn’t. Near the back of the room, there was a stairwell. Beside the stairs were a few upturned desks and tables and a terminal lodged in the rubble. I swiftly went to the terminal, keeping my eyes on the stairs in case anything else was inhabiting the building. Shockingly, the terminal was still online and none of the data was corrupt. There were two files and a command, as far as I could tell: “Entry 1”, “Entry 2” and “Disengage Lock”. Still feeling uneasy, I chose the first option, and a block of text appeared.

Seriously, this job sucks. All the ponies in this building are crazy! Somepony’s already stolen two of my pencils, the clipboard the company issued me, and the key to the store room. I notified the foreman immediately, and he got the locks to the storeroom changed before anything important could be stolen. I also told them about the thief, and the son of a bitch had the nerve to tell me that I should have been more attentive!

Deciding that there was nothing extremely significant about that paragraph, I selected the second file and opened a smaller entry.

Jokes on them! Bought a safe today and I’m keeping it behind my desk. I managed to link the lock to my terminal and I’m keeping everything valuable in there. Also, bought a 9mm pistol and some ammo that I’m going to keep in the safe along with some other supplies, just in case. You never know these days, with the war and all.

Already pretty sure of what would happen, I selected the final option from the terminal and heard a soft *click* from underneath the pile of rubble. Kicking around a bit of debris, I finally found the small metal box. Inside was a roll of bandages, the pistol mentioned in the journal entry, 4 clips of ammo for said pistol and a small purple-ish potion. Unsure of what the last piece of salvage was, I placed it and the bandages into my bag gently, then put the pistol and rounds into the other bag, deciding that one should be for supplies and the other for weapons. The pistol and the knowledge that I could at least defend myself comforted me somewhat.

Now that I was pretty sure I had scavenged everything I needed from the first floor, I cautiously made my way to the staircase. I looked up the stairs, the steps themselves littered with small pieces of debris. As I stepped up, my front hoof fell in what felt like liquid. As I lifted it up and examined it, I noticed that the liquid was blood.

Looking back at the stairs, I realized that they were coated in blood. Judging by the bloodstains and the way it was smeared, it looked like something had been attacked near the bottom and had tried to crawl up the stairs. Whether they had lived long enough to make it to the top, though, I could only know by going up.

I pulled the pistol out of the bag and wondered what to do with it. After a few minutes of pondering, I decided that holding it in my mouth and trying to pull the trigger with my tongue would be easiest.

I slowly ascended the staircase, the blood making the feeling of unease return in full, along with a small amount of fear. What would I find at the top? Monsters? Robots? Mutants? The damn amnesia was making it impossible for me to remember why I was feeling so confused and scared about this building.

As I reached the top of the stairs and the beginning of the second floor, a smell hit me with such force that I nearly backed down the stairs. After a few seconds of thought, I remembered what that smell was, and where I had smelled it before.

I stepped into the building after my partner. He stepped forward, weapon pointed ahead. With a twitch of his head he motioned me over to the door at the other side of the room. I went over and pressed the door controls and we stepped into the next room.

The worst mistake I had made that day was removing my helmet. The smell was what hit me first. The stench of rotten meat slammed into me and caused me to reel. Partially decomposed body parts littered the room, a leg here, a torso there. My partner, safe inside their suit of power armor, stepped in to examine the room as I ran, through the security door, into the lobby and out of the building . I fell to the ground and retched for a few moments before bringing the contents of my earlier meal back up.

As I snapped back to reality, the familiar feeling of my insides shifting brought me running down the stairs. I made it to the ground floor before vomiting and sat there for a while, trying to hold in the contents of my stomach.

After a few minutes, I managed to successfully hold my breakfast down and noticed that there was another door off to the side of the room. Wondering how I missed it before, I slowly got to my hooves and made my way to the door. Tapping the door controls quickly, I stepped into the room.

The bathroom was relatively clean and mostly free of debris. I stepped slowly over to the medical cabinet on the wall and wrenched it open. Grabbing some more bandages and a few slim syringes, I turned and kicked open one of the stall doors. I stepped over and repeated the process with the other two doors. Deciding that nothing of use was in them, I turned and caught a glimpse in one of the mirrors.

I turned and looked at the dark blue unicorn staring back at me.

Comments

[Noakwolf]

Wow, that was interesting.

[T_Rex]

197008
Thanks! I don't really write in first person, so I'm happy it's at least readable.