Chapter 5: Chickens
Edited by uSea
CHAPTER 5: Chickens
Cutie Mark Crusaders Chicken Rescuers are go!
DAY 5 - TIME approximately 9:30 A.M. - LOCATION: Downtown, Salt Cube City
“Yay! Go faster pretty cow! I wanna to go faster!” The left head of the brahmin sighed and threw a desperate look towards the nearby unicorn with the black hat.
The pony snickered at the cow and waved a hoof, dismissing her mute complaint: “It's the deal, no grudges; give the foal one last ride then bring her to my office.”
“Alright mister White.” The cow sullenly began to trot around the outside of White Tower, a journey she had made several times in the past half hour. The ponies in the streets were busy repairing the damages from last night's shock wave but the filly in yellow still drew a lot of attention from them and with the glares also arrived low muttered words.
“I know her, she's that ghost from the Carnival... she cursed the ghouls. That foal brings bad luck...”
“Look, she's making a fool out of the White Apples. I bet all my caps that she's blackmailing them with something that she discovered inside the Dome.”
“Have you seen? The Glow disappeared and then... then the ghoul's airship exploded... they tried stealing something but it backfired. Filthy ghouls, they deserved that one.”
“Yes but what is she?”
“Don't ask, I've never seen her eat or even open the helmet. I don't know what that means but I'm sure that she's up to nothing good.”
“Shush! She's coming this way!”
Puppysmiles was having a good time and didn't care about the strange glances; it’s unlikely that she even noticed them. “It was super fun missus cow can we do it again sometimes?”
One of the two cow heads nodded. “Sure, but you have to ask Mr. White: he's waiting for you in the office, just go inside and take the red door.” The other head continued to ruminate.
Mr. White's office was a large, clean affair, sporting a variety of pictures decorating the walls and a mahogany desk so highly polished that you could see your reflection in it. “Woah, this place is super duper fine mister White!”
The chief of the White Apples was a male unicorn with a black hat on his head, his coat was white and his mane cyan. “Well, thank you miss Days.” This name won a puzzled look from Puppy, so Mr. White elaborated: “The voice from the Dome last night said that your mom was named Rainy Days, so I imagine that your full name is Puppysmiles Days, isn't it?”
Puppy slowly nodded and tilted her head. “Uh, yes it is. Now I have to go... miss Voice put a new arrow on the compass so I have to follow it. Can I go please?”
White sighed and lowered the hat in front of his eyes. “Sure, obviously... but I'd like to ask you one last thing. What was that glow inside the Dome?”
“Ah, you mean the Salt Cube?” Puppy giggled as if she found that question funny. “You silly pony, haven't you ever seen the Salt Cube of Salt Cube City? I mean, you live here, Duh!”
The older pony felt the urge to raise his voice but the filly had a very simple mind and scolding her was useless at the moment; instead he smiled. “I must admit that I've never been inside the Dome, it is a bit... scary, if you wish. So, the ghouls took away the salt cube on their vessel?” another puzzled look from the foal, “The flying balloon...”
Puppy nodded. “Eyup! They took the cube and they did that quite in a hurry, too! They were all talking about a cascade and something about a dee... uh... de-tuna show...” Puppy didn't seem very happy with that last term, “something like that, I can't remember... But they were saying that they had to go away before it happened because it was dangerous.”
“Detonation, maybe?”
“Yes, they said detorn... uh... deetun... that one. Anyhow it was inside the cube and they wanted to go away with it super fast. I helped them!”
The blue maned pony raised an eyebrow. “They... wanted to go away as fast as possible with a time bomb? I... I knew that those ghouls were crazy but I didn't think that they were gone this far. Oh well, I guess that this explains why the radioactivity around the Dome is fading.” Mr. White smiled thoughtfully. “You did a good job, little one. I'd like you to stay a little more but if you want to go so badly I guess that I'll let you follow your road.”
“Okie dokie mister White! Bye bye I'll tell my mom that you were super nice with me!”
“Sure, have a nice trip little one. Sorry if I'm still a bit curious, but where will you go?”
Puppy pointed a hoof southward. “There! My mom is just at the other end of the arrow!”
“Oh, straight into the marshes... good luck and take care!”
She was so dead.
The marshes were the worst area in the northern branch of the Big 52 and a foal alone was just going to be some radigator's breakfast. It was a pity to waste that Radsuit but the White Apples were not raiders.
Mr. White stopped for a moment, pondering that last thought. The filly was already going away but something in that little pony made him regret having used her so badly; she probably saved the tribe from something way worse than the ghouls and he had given her, what? Just a cow ride and not even a forewarning of the incoming danger... not fair. “Hey miss Days, wait a moment! I have something for you.”
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DAY 5 - TIME approximately 11:30 A.M. - LOCATION: Salt Cube City Outskirts, Big 52 N Branch
“WEEEEEEEEEEE!” A yellow bolt dashed along the road riding a red scooter.
The last houses of Salt Cube city's suburbs zipped past Puppysmiles, leaving a landscape of abandoned corn fields in their stead.
And please, keep this in mind: once you reach Happy Straw you have to take the detour. The route through the swamps is- BLAH BLAH BLAH... Blah.... and remember! Don't try in any case to cross the blah blah boo-ring!
The filly-propelled vehicle zoomed directly south and, since the scooter wasn't loud enough by itself, Puppy was providing the sounds. “WOOOOSH! ZOOM! Straight to the Moon! Space Captain Andromeda to the rescue! YAY!”
Ahead of the foal in yellow, the road ran through rotten fields and ruined farms, straight as a sunbeam heading toward her objective. After a hoof-full of kilometers, the fields became a barren land dotted with dead trees and small pools filled with murky water. Here and there rose a shack or a small camp but they all seemed old and abandoned. There was some life in the area, but it consisted mostly of insects and other nasty creatures that instinctively left Puppy alone.
What was not seemingly eager to ignore Puppysmiles was the spritebot that stood right in the middle of the road about a hundred meters in front of her.
“BEEP BEEP I’m a Jeep! Space pony incoming!” The spritebot seemed to ignore this information, but Puppy wasn't the kind of foal that stopped for anypony while she was having fun; the yellow bolt simply kept going at top speed on her brand new scooter. The spritebot dodged at the very last moment and seconds later was following on Puppy’s heels, trying to keep up with her pace.
“Hi Puppy, are you in a hurry?” a familiar voice came from the spritebot’s speakers.
“Questioner! I was missing you! Have you seen my new scooter?” Puppy giggled still cruising at top speed, “I knew another talking robot, but this one was funny! Well, it wasn't exactly a robot. I'm not sure.”
“How wonderful. Care if I ask you something?” the spritebot didn't wait for a reply, “What happened in the Dome and what was that explosion east of Salt Cube City? Hey could you stop a moment, please?”
Puppy sighed and slowed down. “Gee I was having fun...”
After stopping and jumping from her brand new ride, the foal tapped the helmet as if it was her chin while thinking about Watcher’s question. “What happened in the Dome? I made a lot of friends: mister boss Sand Box, mister Soft Air, miss Peach Blossom... Oh and miss Voice.”
“Wasn't it mister Voice?” Watcher tried.
“No, silly robot, there is a mister Voice AND a miss Voice! She had to stay at the Dome but mister Voice can call her whenever I need! She is super cool and helped me with the goodbye party for the ghoulie ponies!”
“Oh, another pony-machine interface routine... So... You met these ghouls and... threw them a goodbye party? What do you mean by that, did you help them launch the airship?”
“Yush!” Puppy nodded enthusiastically, “It was super great! I was looking from the window and there was this huuuuuuuuuge thing that went up, up, up in the sky!” Puppy spread her front legs to show how large the ship was and reared up on her hind legs to show how high it was, but she went too far and fell on her haunches giggling. “And there were all those lights and I heard my voice super loud so I said la la la and goodbye ghoulie ponies and then they went away! It was scootastic!”
“Sccotawhat?”
“Scootastic!”
“Is that even a word?
“Scootasure!”
“You know... I don't think that this scooter is good for your pretty head...” Watcher's voice betrayed the slightest trace of concern, “Back on topic, what about the explosion?”
“What explosion?” Puppy tilted her head frowning a bit. “You mean the roof that went down?”
“No I- wait a second... another roof fell on your head?” This piece of information took Observer by surprise.
“Yup. After the roof opened and the big balloon went away the place went all squeaky and bang! Right on my head.” Puppy giggled, “But I'm a super space pony so I dug my way out... I'm just that good.” The filly smiled proudly.
There was a short laugh, then a sigh from the robot speaker. “Oh well, everyone has their talents. So, where are you going now?”
“To the next mom's place, obviously. Third time is the charm!”
BLAM BLAM!
A sudden pair of gunshots echoed through the air. The bullets didn't hit anywhere near Puppy or Watcher, but the filly heard them loud and clear. “Hey, what was that?”
“I... sorry Puppy I have to go. There must be raiders somewhere, you'd better hide and wait until this firefight ends.”
“A firefly? Where? I love fireflies!” Puppy immediately launched herself in a frantic search, jumping all around.
“Please, Celestia, keep her safe...” The voice from the spritebot was replaced by a fizzling music and the drone simply began to drift away.
The sound of the gunshots came from above Puppy's head and when she looked up she saw an incredible scene: some big flying ponies were dancing all around and making fireworks, like in a majestic ballet. The sight took Puppy back to the day that mommy took her to the flying grounds and there were all the pretty pegasi flying and making super fun things in the air.
This time it was more or less the same; well, actually not the same but there was somepony flying and there were lights and loud noises so Puppy immediately classified the whole thing as top tier entertainment.
But all the figures were pretty big and didn't seem pegasi at all. The foal frowned and asked, “Hey mister Voice... what's wrong with those ponies?”
“Analyzing. Friendly griffins.”
Puppy hadn't the slightest idea of what a griffon was, but if the Voice told her that they were friendly then it was A-OK. The filly in yellow waved a hoof and tried to get their attention. “Hey pretty ponies! I'm here! Hey!”
One of the creatures turned to look down at the road, lowering his guard for a moment; he was shot by another of the creatures and went down spinning.
“Uh... let's see... one... two... three...” Puppy tried to count the remaining griffins but they were a bit too fast for her tastes, so she decided to trot up to where their friend landed. Drawing next to the creature the foal noticed that it wasn't a pony at all: it looked like some strange beast half eagle and half lion; she decided that it had a funny look.
“Hi mister chicken!”
The creature didn't move; a large pool of blood was forming under his body. Puppy poked him with a hoof. “Hey, something's wrong?” there was no reaction, “Uh, mister chicken? Wake up? Rise and shine?” Still nothing... this couldn't be good, but the worst part was that his friends didn't seem to notice it. Something had to be done.
“HEY! CHICKENS! YOUR FRIEND HERE IS HURT! COME DOWN!” Puppy cried with all her breath and waved both hooves in the air, trying to get some help. Quite obviously, she was ignored. The remaining three griffins continued to dance their waltz of bullets and blood in the sky above her head.
“Aww, they’re too busy having fun and they don't hear me!” Puppy sighed. “If only I had something to catch their- Wait a moment, I have it!” The filly smiled recalling that shiny thing that mister White gave her. Whatwasitsname? Nine miles meters? Nay meme liters? “Uh... mister Voice, gimme that shiny thing that makes a lot of noise.”
“Warning. Object Puppysmiles cannot be retrieved from inventory.”
“Hey! You're not very nice! You know what I mean! That thing, the nanny my litters! You know, that one from mister White!”
“Affirmative. Retrieving 9mm semiautomatic pistol.” The gun floated in front of Puppy.
The filly grabbed the iron with her hooves and pointed it at the sky. “Hey! HEEEEY! Listen to me! How does this thing work? How does it do the noisy stuff?”
“Loading instructions for shooting mode 'Time Crisis'. First: point your gun at the target. Second: pronounce the word 'fire!' or 'bang!' the gun will shoot. If you need reloading put your weapon in the inventory and extract it again.”
“Uh, sounds easy!” Puppy pointed at a griffon. “Bang!” BLAM! Clank! “EEEP!” Recoil sent the gun flying out of Puppy's hooves. It bounced against her helmet, falling to the ground a couple of meters in front of her and knocking the filly down on her rump.
One of the griffins screamed in pain. “Fuck, he has backup! Kill that snip-” the creature didn't get to finish the sentence: his head exploded in a cloud of blood. Now there were only two griffins dueling in the sky but the battle itself was becoming a lot more personal.
The two griffins engaged each other in melee, biting and slashing with their talons. Puppy trotted over to the new fallen griffon and noticed that his head was missing. “Do you know, mister Voice...I don't think they're playing. Is this chicken... uh... dead?”
“Affirmative.”
“And... uh...” Puppy frowned, “The other chicken there?” Puppy pointed at the other grounded beast, “Is he dead too?”
“Analyzing. No vital signs detected. The subject is dead.”
Puppy's eyes rose again to the sky, where the last two griffins were fighting. “And... those two are trying to hurt each other?”
“Affirmative. Every clue leads to the conclusion that they are fighting each other to the death.”
“Okie dokie...” Puppy paused for a moment, pondering the situation, “How do we make them stop? Oh! I have an idea!” Puppy took a deep breath, “PLEASE STOP FIGHTING! SOMEPONY COULD GET HURT!”
Actually somepony already got hurt; well, mostly some griffon but Puppy wasn't fussed about details and the two surviving fighters didn't seem to pay attention to puppy anyway. From the filly's point of view it was quite hard to say what was going on exactly, but one of the two let out a high pitched scream and then they both began to fall in a rapid spin, like a whirlybird seed.
Puppy jumped on her scooter and launched herself on the chase, trying to see where they fell. When she reached them she found quite a scene: one of the two griffins lay on ground, his chest torn open on the left side and his throat cut; the other creature was struggling to get to his feet but was losing too much blood from a multitude of wounds.
“Hey mister chicken, are you to alright?” The filly rushed to the struggling griffon as he fell on the ground coughing. “You don't seem alright.”
“Cough... you... are the foal that shot... thank you...”
Puppy frowned. “I what?”
“Please -cough- listen carefully... there is... my daughter... in the military -cough cough- south...” the griffon’s breaths were deep and labored, bringing with them a gurgling sound and causing him to cough again, “Henrietta... she... is waiting for me there -cough- I beg you... go there... give her... this...” The griffon handed Puppy another gun: This one was heavier than the one she owned and it was all black with a red line along the barrel.
“Uh... okie dokie?” Puppy poked the griffon, “Sure but... you are going to get better, do you?”
“You... are you stupid or what... I'm... dying...” another burst of coughs and blood interrupted the creature, “Tell... tell Henrietta... that I wanted to go south with her.... tell... her that I.... -cough- I... tell...” His voice faded and with it even the spark in the griffon’s eyes disappeared.
Puppy waited for a moment then tried poking the griffon with a hoof. “Hey mister chicken, are you sleeping? Mister chicken?” she poked him again, “Uh... I think that I have to go... I... uh... am sorry...” The filly took a step back from the dead creature. She felt bad, something was really wrong now: this wasn't the first time she was in front of a dead creature, not even a dying one, but... But she never really stopped to contemplate it before.
Now, if we were talking about your average pony this would be a perfect moment to make her face the horrors of a world where brothers kill each other in a constant struggle for survival. Too bad that this is a story about Puppysmiles.
“Uh... I hope you get well soon but now I really really have to go... sorry.” The foal kissed the griffon goodbye through her helmet and jumped on her scooter, dashing away.
“Hey mister Voice... are you there?”
“Affirmative. All Systems operational.”
“Why pretty ponies hurt each other?” The filly frowned.
“Warning. This routine is not meant for socializing.”
Puppy sighed and kept scooting towards the pink arrow on her compass. “Uh, mister Voice... did that chicken say something about a daughter?”
“Affirmative. It is set as objective for secondary mission: Bad news, new buddies.”
Puppy pondered for a moment, stopping the scooter. “Can you show me where is she?”
“Affirmative: Henrietta Firebright set as new primary target.”
Puppy looked at the pink arrow disappearing from the compass and reappearing again in the same point. “Uh, I don't think it worked.”
“Affirmative. New mission objective correctly set.”
Puppy shrugged. Operating all the mumbo jumbos in the space suit was mister Voice's job; if he said that it was okay then it had to be so. “Let's roll.”
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DAY 5 - TIME approximately 14:00 P.M. - LOCATION: 165Th Brigade field Headquarter, Salt Marshes
“Warning. Several breaches in the containment. Warning. Compass offline. Warning. Radio offline. Warning. Medical system offline. Warning. Breach in the helmet. Warning. Pink agent detected. Repair talisman activated.”
“Ugh... I think... that I stepped on something...” Puppy tried to get on her hooves but stumbled and fell again. “I feel dizzy.”
A couple of roadsigns right in front of the filly stated: 'Attention, minefield!' and 'Military zone, access restricted'. Debris and broken pieces of asphalt lay strewn across the road around her, and entire chunks were missing from the route ahead; quite incredibly the scooter lay a couple meters away from the filly showing almost no sign of damage.
“Hey, mister Voice... why did the road went boom?” Thick pink smoke poured from the holes in the suit and the cracks in her helmet.
“Analyzing. The cause of the explosion is a land mine. Radio is online. Helmet integrity restored.”
Puppy frowned for a moment. “What's a land mine? No, wait! This is going to take forever, right? With you using fancy words and me trying to not get angry and we start arguing again. I need a professional here: call miss Voice.”
“Opening communication bridge. Please Wait. Compass online. Medical system restored. Loading personal data for subject 001: Puppysmiles. Subject deceased, condition stable. All clear.” After not even five minutes the suit was almost repaired, mostly taking materials from the various pieces of junk that Puppy kept in her pockets. The foal wasn't very selective with the stuff she decided to keep; if it was shiny and colored it was a go. The suit’s repair spell wasn’t picky either: anything that contained glass, metal or plastic was good enough.
“Hello hello? This is Salt Cube Dome emergency line. Sorry but at the moment all the personnel are dead, please call again when the services have been restored. Bye bye!”
“Hold on miss Voice! It's me, Puppy!”
“Oh, Puppy! Hi there, it's been a while! What's going on? Did you find that thing I asked you? I'm ready for activating transfer protocol as soon as you are!”
“Uh... nope, sorry miss Voice. Actually, I need help.”
“Oh don't worry I've been waiting here for, what? Two hundred years? I can wait another couple centuries! So, what do you need?”
“Well, I was dashing like a wonderbolt on my new scooter when suddenly-”
“Wait wait wait! You have a new scooter? Is it red?”
“You can bet your saddle!”
“Scootastic! Is it fast, super fast or double super duper fast?”
“It's like the one you see on the signs with Scootaloo on top and all the stars around! You have to try it, it's totally crazy!”
“Aw now I feel green! You have to find me that prototype body so I can try it! Promise me!”
“Sure! Pinkie Pie swear!” Puppy tried to poke her eye but the helmet was a problem.
“YAY! Ok ok, back on topic, you wanted just to tell me about the scooter?”
“Uh, no... Actually, I have a problem of exploding roads. You see, mister Voice says that there is some mining but I can't see the miners... and I don't think that mines go boom.”
“Well, it depends on what you are mining but I can see your point... So the road exploded and there are no miners there... Please I need you to take a look around. Do you see something like a... ah... flat and large frying pan with an orange light on top? It should be ugly green or sadness gray...”
Puppy smiled. “Yay, I see it! No wait, there's moar! It's full of them! There are orange lights everywhere it's like fireflies! Wow!”
“Oh, so we are speaking of that kind of mines... Okie dokie, I need to see them myself. Wait a second.” The HUD in the helmet flickered for a moment, then the whole helmet lit with targeting signals, one for each mine that the suit's sensors located. “Wow, forty five and still counting! This reminds me of a game I used to play a lot!” P7’s voice paused while the sensor finished detecting all the mines, “Done! Now, there's a path... you just do as I say and we'll be on the other side lickety split.”
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DAY 5 - TIME approximately 14:45 P.M. - LOCATION: 165Th Brigade field Headquarter, Salt Marshes
The base was mostly intact: a line of big hangars stood in front of a large court with low armored buildings on the sides. The front gate had a couple of automated guns but a large battle tank had crashed into it, almost destroying the entire structure and effectively blocking the entrance for anything bigger than a pony.
Puppy stopped for a moment to rummage inside the tank before entering the base. “Woah! This thing is full of shiny stuff! Look at this one!” The foal took a large shell with a red band around the head; it was big, probably used as ammunition for the tank’s main gun, “It's pretty! Hey, there's moar! This one is black and this one is blue! Tee-hee!”
After cannibalizing the tank's ammo rack, Puppy finally decided to venture inside the base. Other tanks lay in the middle of the court simply abandoned in place and mostly devoured by the rust and the climate of the swamp. Strange plants grew all over the place and out from the windows. At first glance Puppy couldn't see any sign of the griffon's daughter, so she did the most logical thing.
“HEEEEERE CHICK CHICK CHICK CHICK CHICK! COO COT COT COT!” Still nothing... how strange, “Maybe she's sleeping.”
“Warning. Hostile detected. Distance one hundred meters.”
A large creature poked its head out from one of the small buildings: it was some sort of lion, but way bigger and when it stepped out from a hole in the building, Puppy saw that it had a pair of leathery wings and a segmented tail that ended in a long stinger, dripping with a green goo.
“Analyzing. Manticore. Threat level: lethal.”
“Uh, I don't think that's the chicken I'm looking for...” Puppy trotted toward the beast, completely ignoring the warnings. After all, this one was half lion too, maybe he and the girl she was looking for were cousins. “Hi! I'm Puppysmiles! Have you seem my mom or a little chicken with a kitty cat tail?”
The fell beast gazed down at the young pony and sniffed the air, then stepped back and started growling; somehow it seemed scared of Puppysmiles.
“Do you understand me? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? She has two wings, and a beak, and she is small... well I'm not sure how small, but I guess she's quite small... uh, are you listening to me mister kitty cat?”
The manticore roared and hit Puppy with a paw, knoocking her some ten meters away, then turned tail and ran inside the half ruined building. When the filly had finally stopped rolling, she got on her hooves and stuck her tongue out in the general direction of the beast’s lair. “Bleh! Meanie cat! I'm going to find the chicken all by myself!” The filly frowned, “Gee, if everypony here is as kind and pretty as this I can see why the chicken girl is hiding.”
A second small building was in a better state and Puppy tried to peek inside it. “Uh, nopony here?” She saw a soft green light coming from a working computer screen. The filly trotted into the building, looking at the bright light: it was a small office, with a couple of desks and the remains of a line of filing cabinets mostly destroyed by a fire; on the screen there was a single line: 'Please insert Password'.
Did we already say that reading wasn't Puppy's trump card? “Pee... El... Ee... Ei... Es... Ee” Okay you got the message. “Password?” I know I know! Puppysmiles! Pee... You... Pee... hey it's fun!”
After three failed tries the terminal activated the security lock down and the filly grew bored of playing 'write your name'. She was a filly on a mission after all... well, on a lot of missions actually, so she had to keep moving... yay~
The hangars looked mostly intact from the outside but their roofs had collapsed a long time ago; the only thing left on the inside was just a bunch of ruins and rubble, leaving nothing more than a rotten pile of bricks with a shiny facade. Puppy went through the various hangars finding only rubbish that she decided to keep just in case. The filly noticed that sometimes a cute shiny metal plate or some glassy bubbles disappeared, but she wasn't sure why they did it or where they went.
Continuing with her search Puppy explored another building. This one sported an observation tower and some very thick walls with a single entrance and no windows at ground level. Inside the building there was little space and it was occupied with the remains of a campfire, a couple of mattresses and some empty food cans in a corner. There was even a low table with a broken radio transmitter on it and an upturned pile of boxes that partially occupied the stairs that led to the tower.
The voice of the suit suddenly came to life. “Destination reached. New position: Rainy Days’ camp.”
“Wait a moment, what did you say? Mom is here!? MOM! IT'S ME, PUPPY! MOOM!” Maybe she was upstairs? Puppy galloped up to the top of the tower. The stairs were old but still solid and they led to a small room with its entrance in the middle of the floor and a control panel on each of its four sides. The walls were replaced by large open windows so that it was possible to keep an eye all over the base from the tower. But the room was empty.
Puppy stopped for a moment looking all around. “Where is mom? Mister Voice, you said she was here, why you keep lying to me?”
“Warning. This program is not designed for social interaction.”
“You... YOU! Why every time I try scolding you, you say that!? You are a bad voice and you should feel bad! Make me speak with miss Voice, she understands me! She cares!”
“Opening communication bridge.” P7’s voice replaced the one of the suit internal system.
“Hi there and thank you for calling. We are sorry but the personnel are all dead. Please call again when somepony has-”
"It's me, Puppy. Hi miss Voice.”
“Oh, hi again Puppy! You call a lot lately! Do you feel lonely?”
“A bit... uh, but I must ask you a thing: it's important!” Puppy frowned, “Where is my mom?”
“Uh... give me some minutes. Processing data. Comparing results. Object not found. I'm sorry Puppy, I can't say where your mom is. But if I correctly read the data in your suit you should be on her last known location.”
Puppy waited for a moment trying to understand that torrent of difficult words. “Uh, say it again, please?”
“Your mom was here but now she is gone. Maybe if you look around carefully you'll find something useful to locate her.”
“B-but where?” Puppy was losing her confidence: she had been really sure that she would find her mom here. Now that even this try had been a hole in the water she was beginning to lose hope.
“Let me help, okie dokie? Now be a nice pony and wait while I scan the area. And here we go! Look, a data disk on that console!”
Puppy trotted over to the data disk and nudged it with her hoof. “Uh, it reminds me that thing that Soft Air gave me...” Puppy connected it to her suit, “Does it say where is mom?”
“It's an audio file... it has some recording on it, let's see... hey it's quite old! Two hundred years! Wanna hear it now or later?”
“Uh, yes sure... play it.”
A female voice came from the suit speakers and Puppy's eyes widened. Mom, it was her at last! But... something was wrong, she was coughing... was she ill?
“Day fourteen... I'm running -cough- out of rad away... the cloud seems to -cough- move -cough- but the whole place is still a death trap...”
The voice paused for some moment, there was the sound of somepony drinking.
“Damn, I hate this world and I hate -cough- zebras and the princesses... they killed us all... The only -cough- thing that keeps me from becoming -cough- crazy is that at least Puppy is safe in the stable...”
There was another long pause.
“I'm sorry, what hell hole of a world have I prought you into? I...”
The mare’s breaths came quick and shallow, she was crying. Puppy jumped on her hooves.
“Mom! Don't cry I'm fine! I'm alright mom! MOM! Please don't cry I... I will be a good pony but please don't cry! I... I can go back into that gray place and say the magic words and go inside right now! Please don't be mad at me!”
“I... I have to be strong. Puppy is safe, she is in the stable. I -cough- must believe this. Now, what about me... It seems that the south was -cough- only hit in a couple of main cities. The radiation there should be less -cough- dangerous but the trip is long and I don't think I -cough- have all that strength now...”
The tape interrupted for a few seconds then another voice file started again with Rainy Days speaking.
“Day sixteen... Fuck, I'm pissing blood but at least the coughing is gone. I need to move now or it will be too late.
This is for Party Star and Soft Air: if you are still alive and find this recording I'm moving south.
I'll try to reach the tunnel under Sugartop Mountain along the route 52. I'll be waiting for you there. I hope to find shelter in the maintenance rooms inside the tunnel, they should be shielded from the worst effects of radiation."
There was a short pause.
"Bloody Luna, it's snowing green again... Fuck you all, the ministries, the goddesses... What did you do to Equestria? This was a blessed land, why didn't you stop before it was too late? Puppy, I miss you so much... I'd gladly die if I could see you just one more time...”
Puppy heard the voice of her mother and curled up on the floor. She wasn't able to react. Her mom was lost somewhere in the south and she was dying. The filly wanted to see her mother right now, to hug her, to show her that everything was alright, even if it wasn't.
But, after all, Puppy knew for a fact that her mom was the best pony ever: her mother was going to be fine for sure. Mom said that she was going south to some sort of tunnel, maybe she was there right now: Puppy couldn't simply stop here and wait for the sadness to devour her heart, there was still hope.
“Miss Voice, are you there?”
“Negative. Communication interrupted. How can I be of help?” The suit's voice quickly replied.
“Oh, it's you mister Voice... I... uh... Need to go to another place... some sort of tunnel, under a sugar mountain.”
“Affirmative: Tunnel Town is set as new target on the compass.” A new pink arrow appeared in the helmet HUD.
“Purrfect! Then let's g-”
“Don't you dare move even a single hoof, you foal!” A high pitched voice interrupted Puppy. The filly turned herself toward the speaker and saw the silhouette of a winged creature that was a little smaller than an adult pegasus. “Now keep your hooves where I can see them and tell me what are you doing he-” ROAAAR!
The young griffon ducked and tumbled into the room as a large lion head snapped at the air where she had been just a second earlier. The jaws of the manticore bit the iron of a window's frame and the fell beast retreated for a moment only to renew it's assault; this time the frame bent and the predator was able to force it’s way in, up to its wings. The manticore retreated again but next time it was going to break inside the tower and nopony was going to stop it.
“Fffffuuuuuck! That was close! Hit the stairs!” The young griffon launched herself downstairs grabbing Puppy with a claw, “Where’d that thing come from!?”
“Uh... hi, I'm Puppysmiles?” The filly wasn't totally sure that this was the right time to introduce herself, but being dragged around like abused luggage left her very little to do.
“Shut your trap! Oh fuck why is everything always going south!?” The griffon stopped part way down the stairs when she saw that the manticore was too large too fit into the hatch from the control room. She drew a white gun with a yellow line that ran down the barrel and emptied it into the monster’s snarling face, forcing it to backpedal into the control room and give up the chase for the moment. “Good kitty, stay!”
A terrible roar came from outside followed by the sound of claws tearing at the concrete.
“Perfect, just... perfect! Now he's angry.”
“Uh... hi missus chicken? Can you let me down pretty please?”
“Pretty what? I am no chicken! Say that again and I will-” With the sound of metal being rent and torn asunder, the upper entrance of the stairs was blocked off by one of the control panels from the room above. The manticore had trapped the two girls inside and now the only exit was that narrow door at ground level... “Oh, fuck... he's smart. Not fair.”
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Footnote: Level up! (4)
New perk added: Heave Ho! - You’re becoming a pro at throwing things. Every object you throw flies farther and faster.
This fanfiction is based on Fallout Equestria by Kkat; a familiarity with the source material may aid your understanding.
You can read Fallout Equestria by Kkat on Equestria Daily
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/04/story-fallout-equestria.html
If you enjoy Fallout Equestria Side Stories you will want to check the Fallout Equestria Side Stories post on Equestria Daily and the Fallout Equestria Side Stories thread on Ponychan
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/06/fallout-equestria-side-stories.html?commentPage=1
http://www.ponychan.net/chan/fic/res/58852.html
The Ponychan group is also a hatching ground that you can join if you want to share your experience, writing or comments with us.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KaoFWVlFlMjYR2KmTWxwCYnvTZQcjEULO9YHSaqqk9U/edit?hl=en_US#
Additional thanks to Anonsamurai and Llama Llumps for reviewing and a big help with some basics in English I completely missed.
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OMG...TIME CRISIS?!...HNNNNNNNNG!
I lost it when she asked for the "noisy shiny thing". Nice.
*Keeps reading*
Nice. Now we know where her mom is.
_ _
Derpy, out
Mwaha I can just imagine her on that scooter hooning down the street lol
and yeah it's ok just look at a griffon dying not caring 
Lol the level up was really funny
Wait, I don't get it - where IS her mom?
I''m loving this. But I need to sleep... later.
Haven't sleep for two days fuck this fan fic
HOLY SHIT SHES GOT A GUN!!!!!
584985 Her Mom is most likely dead. Pay more attention.
Twas not a single fuck that was given this day.
I giggled every time she said chicken
4347963
Or Ms. Rainy Days could now be a ghoul(Magical radiation or Littlehorn Type)
Wow, that recording made me feel supper sad.
omg I cant stop giggling from the awesomeness that is puppysmiles
she is best pony in my book
Hahahahaha xD oh lordy lordy.
This is so funny... but its sad also Dx
Nice job!
6732377 This, my friend, is why you don't put your bag of holding inside your bag of holding.
Or you could have stuck around for a bit and used the laser to keep her safe. But I guess you have more important and helpful things to do.
Yay! We've got a definite lead on rainy days last k on location! Finally. Some concrete information.
But I hope they have time to make it. That chicken seems aaaaawwwfully mean.
So moments before Puppy meets Henrietta in the base. She finds griffons fighting each other. Griffons as chickens to her, haha. Where Henrietta's father, is killed shortly after the firefight. Not so haha. And Puppy couldn't realize to care who. That will go over well.. On the bright side she can play recordings now, even if they are sad.
The mysterious journey continues.
7518885 it's a fallout story they always end bittersweet
6881704
ouch. reminds me of a story where someone tried that, and it caused a dimensional rift, that sucked up everything nearby like a magical Black Hole!
"oops."
Why, Mister Voice, you seem to have installed a new sass subroutine! :V
8931031
He got an update in he dome, remember? Still no personality, but becomes a lot more intuitive with Puppy's necessities. Update 7.0 was all about Quality Of Life ^_^
P7 just made a minesweeper reference... Nice
This sounds sadly similar to the Fallout 3 plot...
HA!!
Alright, who's the idiot that gave a filly a gun?! I know She's two hundred years old, but she still a filly, physically and mentally.
6177593
Puppysmiles: *GASP* "You wrote a book about me???? Can I see it? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
Oh my God he's so sassy. Remind me of Wheatley and Glados from portal. I love it.
You know somewhere inside of me I believe that her mom is somehow alive and is a ghoul. But seeing how this is Fallout Equestria I'm not too sure
Reading this chapter again after all these years, I suddenly realized that Griffins here are basically Mandalorians:
Both fly around with jet packs/wings and shoot with pistols, both work as bounty hunters, both fight with their own kinds all the day, both have bad tempers generally, and both live rather independently from the Republic/Equestria!