The Fallout - John and Applebloom

by Maxis122

First published 6th of March, 2012

The story of a relationship of a pony and a man in the harsh obis of the American wastelands

A story about a man and a pony who meet and gain a strong relationship between each other. Along the journey they meet other people and they are faced with challenges.

Picture by Petirep (which is also where the inspiration for the story came from) : http://petirep.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-Rainbow-Factory-Credit-Slide-282816786

The Beginning

The Fallout - John and Applebloom [1/4]

John walked at a moderate pace across the wasted desert with his two weapons on his back. He had a bow and a shotgun that were both made to kill instantly. His journey took him round the vast lands of America and the fallout left nothing that could be used. The fallout had caused the majority to go underground but John was upon the few who would go on and look for a new land and a new hope. But he was not alone, because on his quest was a new hope from a far off land. He vowed to himself that he would protect her and they would together, find a new home. The one who accompanied him was not from this world, as she was a pony that had come from a far off land called Equestria. Her name was Applebloom. She did not know how she got here, nor did she know if she would ever get back. But they both knew that they had to stay together, for protection and company.
The two would spend their evenings sitting down in front of the fire that they would both create and they would tell each other stories about where they came from. Some would be funny and they would both laugh. But some had more to them than that, but all the time they always had each other to be by their side. Nothing could break their new found friendship and nothing would stop their quest to search for the new land. They would travel everyday and sometimes stop to look for some new supplies. But in the end they always found themselves food and some water so they could always survive. John had no idea where Applebloom came from but she was worth protecting, this was because she reminded him of her daughter. Who had perished in the first few days of the fallout and was nowhere to be found. And he found much comfort in taking her with him.

It had been the most unusual thing to happen in this entire conflict between the controllers of the once great planet, but even though this was the case there was a saying that John could never get out of his head. 'All great leaders have risen so high to fall so much lower', and this was the biggest example that there would ever be on this wasteland plant. Even though Applebloom was the weirdest thing to happen to John, it was also the best thing.

It was not long ago that John had met Applebloom and it would be a day that none of them would forget.

--------

It was on a wintery morning and the snow had come. The wasteland had little that it could do to this snow as after the fallout, the economical weather system had been screwed up. In other words the winters were colder and the summers were hotter. So when it was winter it snowed like hell, John liked the snow but this was ridiculous. He looked outside the house that he was staying in, also no one else was in the house, and he looked at the snow that had been continuously building up over the last week. The snow was no longer an element that was admired by him; instead it was dreaded as the year before he only just escaped its fury. John was running out of time and things to burn as the temperature was getting lower and lower. Soon it was very likely that it would kill John if he didn't get moving to another place. But as he looked outside he could only see the white snow and nothing else.

It was then when John had enough with waiting for the snow to blow over and it looked like the amount that had build up would not go for a while. So he grabbed his backpack and the things that he had gotten out and he made his way up the stairs. Then he looked out of the window upstairs and there was still only the white snow. He then pulled on a rope that was attached to a trap door above him. This then had a step ladder connected to it and John climbed up it to get into the loft. He then found a window that when onto the roof. It was now or never to get out so he pushed the window to try and open it. It was no use the first time as it still had a lock on it, and John felt a little stupid a when he noticed it. Then he examined the lock to see if he could open it. Then he sighed and pulled out his shotgun and shot the lock. The lock dented and refused to unlock itself. John pumped his shotgun and then once again aimed it at the lock, but this time he aimed it up the lock hole itself. He pulled the trigger and within a second of this happening the lock exploded and the window became free. This then allowed John to open the window and look out onto the white desert that had built up over the last week.

He got out though this window and looked around the winter wonderland in search of anything that he could use to start traveling to. He examined the surrounding but he found that the only thing that he could see was the roof of the house he was staying in. He looked back in the house and searched it to see if there was anything that could point him in a good direction. But then he remembered that he had burned everything in the house to keep warm. He then looked back to the snow land behind him and then back to the roof. There was then something in the snow on the roof that had a somewhat familiar shape. John went up to it and cleaned it of the snow and his suspicions were correct. It was a arrow pointing in the direction of north, this was where he was going. He then looked over to the area that the arrow pointed to. It was a dead draw; he could go north but no find anything and die. Or he could stay here, and die from freezing. There was then only one thing that had a possible good ending so John lifted himself to his feet and looked to the far off land. This was his last chance to live out this fallout.

He began walking and within an hour he couldn't see the house behind him. His spirit was the only thing that kept him going on his current course. His feet were becoming heavier as the demon wasteland drained him of his energy. Then the worst of things happened, a snow storm brewed and flew straight at John. Slowing him down even more was the cold that was freezing him. It was unbelievable that he was still going on after three hours of this crap. Each other footstep became harder to do and each breath made him think it was his last. Then he fell, he had enough of walking blindly into the obis and wasting his life. He then lied on his back and looked to the sky of white. This was it. This was the end. Then John closed his eyes and started to fade away.

Then all of sudden an explosion happened above John and sent a blast a warm air into his body, this rebooted him. He looked up into the sky to see a blue sphere of energy hovering about 20 feet above him. It then sent a blast of energy down into John and properly woke him up. Then he got back onto his feet and looked ahead, it was a cave, it was another chance. He then started to run for this cave. Each footstep hurt him but got him closer to his goal. He was almost there but then the worst of things happened, he tripped over and went face first into the snow. He lifted his head out of the snow and reached a hand out. But then this had feel down and he had failed his second chance.

"I'm sorry Anna" he said to himself as he cried and lost the will to keep his hand up. Then he let his hand drop and he lied in the snow.

"Hey mister, HEY MISTER, are you ok?" sounded a voice from behind him. John had given up and couldn't answer this anonymous caller. He then felt something pulling at his coat and then it began to drag him across the ground. John turned himself the right way round to see the cave come over his head and within seconds he was fully in the cave. Then he blacked out.

--------

John woke up sitting near a fire, which had been made from some wood. John closed his eyes and lifted himself up and looked back at the fire. He started to wake up from his long dream, was what happened a dream. Then his eyes fell upon a cream pony, and then it hit him.

"Well howdy there mister" said this pony.

"W-What, H-How, W-Who?" said John as he tried to comprehend what was going on. In front of his as a cream pony with red hair, this had a matching red bow with it. John looked into the curious orange eyes of the pony. He was somewhat lost on these eyes as they looked right back at him.

"I'm Applebloom, who are you?" said Applebloom as she leaned forward to see if John would speak any more words.

"Umm, I-I'm, Umm, John" said John as he was still cold from that event in the snow. He then thought to himself, had this little pony helped him out of the snow. He wanted to ask but he then heard a voice from further in the cave.

"Has our guest woken up yet Applebloom?" said a voice. Applebloom then smiled and looked down the cave.

"Yes he has, Daniel" she shouted down the cave. Then an elderly man appeared from the cave and sat down in front of John. He examined him for a moment before saying "Survivor I see". He then stood up and examined him a bit more. This man had black hair that was grey around the edges. He was a good weight and he was wearing an army uniform. John then deducted that he must have been an ex-army man or a general of some kind. This was irrelevant to John as these two had most probably just saved him from curtain death. "So you are John, correct?" said the man as he smiled down at John.

"Yes, that is my name, sir" said John. Daniel laughed to himself and then looked back to John with a smirk on his face.

"Sir?! We are all the same in this world" Daniel said as he laughed again. John looked to Applebloom who looked up to Daniel with a very confused face.

"I don't get it" she said as she looked at Daniel.

"You don't need to, dear" said Daniel.

"So where does this leave me then" said John as he too was confused by how there was a man and a pony living out here in this wasteland. Then Applebloom and Daniel looked over to John and then both smiled at him.

"You are out guest" said Daniel. He helped John up and gave him a pat on the back. John looked back down to see the little pony looking up at him. They somewhat felt like family but John didn't want to get to comfortable as he would be going once he was ready. John was then lead into the main cave area where there was plenty of food and a there was a water supply running down one of the walls. There was a table with a very technical bow on it. And surrounding it was a bunch of custom made arrows. Applebloom ran over to this table and sat on one of the chairs next to the table. John then came closer to the table and examined the bow with more detail. It too was custom made and it had a scope attached to it so whoever was firing it could see the person from far away.

"Is this your bow Daniel?" asked John as looked at this bow.

"Made it myself, that is before the fallout" said Daniel as he grabbed the bow and pulled back the string. "Watch this" he said as he then grabbed an arrow and pulled the string back and aimed it down the cave. He then let the string go and the arrow flew down the cave and a click could be heard within a few seconds.

"How long is that cave" asked John as he looked down the cave.

"One hundred meters" said Daniel as he handed the bow to John. "You have a go" he said as held the bow to John. John took the bow and picked a arrow out of the bag. He then pulled the string and let go. The arrow flew down the cave, but this time it hit something else that made a rip sound. Daniel chuckled to himself and then looked to John. "You hit the target, something that I couldn't do" said Daniel.

"Must have just been lucky" said John.

"You mean hitting a target the size of your thumb is luck" said Daniel.

"What do you mean" said John.

"You have the gift, where your arrows will always hit their targets" said Daniel as he smirked at John. "Applebloom, could you get those arrows for us" said Daniel.

"Yes Daniel" said Applebloom as she lit up and picked up a torch. Then she put it around her neck and ran off down the cave.

"John, I have to ask you a favor" said Daniel.

"What would that be" said John knowing that he did owe Daniel his life.

"Could you take Applebloom and this bow for me" said Daniel as his smile turned into a serious face. "I'm going to die soon and I don't want her to be there for when that happens. Do this for me and for her" he said as he looked deep into John's astonished eyes.

"How do you know you are going to die" said John.

"I don't, but when I do I want her to be with someone else" said Daniel. John saw that he was very serious about this and he somewhat sensed that this man had a strong connection with Applebloom. "Anyway I'm getting old and she needs someone young and strong to defend her. You are both and with this bow I can eternally trust you" he continued.

"I'll do it" said John.

"You must promise to protect her, Promise me" said Daniel.

"I promise"

--------

That was a month ago and the two were still traveling strong after that time. The snow had left when the temperature had shot up again. But all in all, the journey wasn't too bad so far. Then again this is the fallout and people never make journeys easy.

One day they were traveling and they came across a bridge with some steel sheets at the end of it, propped up on steel bars. John had encountered this before and knew exactly what to expect. He signaled to Applebloom to lay low and hang back as there could be danger ahead.

"Lay low Applebloom" said John.

"Why?" said Applebloom.

"Just do as I said, It's for your sake" said John and Applebloom obeyed and hid.

John then walked over to the other end of the bridge and acted like there was nothing wrong but he then stopped and looked up. He sighed and said "it's so predictable, you are so easy to see, you know?", he had a little chuckle to himself and took a few steps back. Then all of the steel sheet fell over and there was about 6 men with standard melee weapons. John took a few more steps back and examined what he was about to deal with. There were two chainsaw men, a machete man and three sword men. The one with the machete walked forward so he was in front of the other men. He seemed to be the leader and he presented his weapon by holding it in front of John with the tip pointing at him. This man started laughing and then was engulfed by anger as he then ran forward with the machete above his head. John then pulled out his katana and did one horizontal slice at him. The running man stopped and fell to his knees and looked at he handles arms.

Tears ran from the man's eyes as he then stood up and yelled "YOU BARSTARD! KILL HIM!". John then prepped himself and the other men, hesitant at first then, then attacked John. John beheaded the first sword man and joined blades with another. Then he kicked that man and stabbed a chainsaw man, following through with cutting another swords man in half. He then power attacked the floored swords man and when the man tried to defend himself, his blade was destroyed by John superior blade and the man's head cracked open. John withdrew his bade and stared at the remaining chainsaw man who proceeded to rev up his chainsaw. He then ran towards John and went to attack him. But he was tripped over by John and he fell on top of his own chainsaw, and within seconds his guts were mashed up and thrown out of his body. John sheaved his katana and walked over to the man who no longer had any hands. John knelt down and looked at him in disgust.

Then John said "Do you want me to kill you now or let you slowly bleed till you body is dead".

The man looked up at John and said "Finish me...", and with that John stood up and pulled out his katana again. Then he swung it around and sliced the man's neck causing the now lifeless body to plummet towards the ground. John once again sheaved his katana and he searched the body's of the men, he found some more supplies and some water. He walked back over to where he left Applebloom and picked her up.

"Are the bad people gone now?" asked the frightened Applebloom.

"Yes, now close your eyes and lets go" said John as he smiled down at her and she obeyed John. Then John carried Applebloom over the bloody battlefield and kept her close. He wanted to keep her eyes from seeing such gruesome sights because he didn't want her to be more scared than she was already. This was the very least that they had to worry about in this world as there were many dangers. John had then walked about a mile away from the place before saying to Applebloom "We are through it now". Applebloom opened her eyes and looked around knowing that all there was to look at was the dead wasteland. John lowered himself down and put Applebloom down on the ground. She looked back up at him with a confused look on her face.

"What's that red thing on your face?" she asked John. He then wiped his hand across his face and saw that some blood had gotten on his face from the battle that he had. He wiped the blood on his arm and looked back at Applebloom again.

"It's nothing to be worried about" said John as he got his sunglasses out and looked the left. He then caught a glimpse of some kind of scope and he got his bow out. He then looked back round at Applebloom and looked back at the scope flare. A muzzle flash happened at the place where the scope was and a bullet hit near where the two were standing. John then got a arrow from his backpack and heard Applebloom ask again:
"What was that?" she asked as she looked at where the bullet impacted and then back up at John. John continued to stare at this glare and he they drew his bow.

"It's nothing to be worried about, Applebloom, nothing at all" said John as he then lifted his bow and let go of the string. It rippled and threw the arrow up into the air. The arrow could not be seen but the result was clear as the lens flare disappeared and a shout of pain could be heard. John smiled and had a little chuckled and then started walking again. Applebloom followed closely and looked up at her protector, the one she could trust and her friend.

----------

The days were now becoming longer as it was becoming summer. John and Applebloom found that they never used actual time but instead they used the sun as their clock. So when it was summer they found that they would get further on their journey that they would before. But with this advantage they found that the wasteland desert was a lot more dangerous and hot. Even though this was the case it wasn't much trouble for the two. They followed the path way and it went on and on. They soon came across a sign on the path that they were traveling upon. It said "New York City 24-", and at the end it was broken off. This showed John that they were coming close to their destination and soon they should pass over the border to the new land. The new land is an area that was said by many to be the only area that was not affected by the fallout and it was really far up north. As the main area of the fallout was Central America there was much hope for the ones who lived on the coast land. There were a few minor problems with going into a city that had been affected by the fallout because even though there were highway men and mercenaries hiding around. The fallout had brought more horrors than that, it had caused major mutation within the populations of the major cities and caused highly contagious diseases. These diseases had different effects depending on what disease the person had been affected by. In the majority case the disease was one that caused the victim to lose control of their normal life and be drawn towards instinct for survival. This caused many to become insane cannibals and cause havoc around the cities. The main infections were reported about three days after the initial fallout and the numbers grew until everyone in these major cities was infected.

The fact was clear that the two had to get through that area somehow or they could be looking at another's month of walking on this wasteland. It was a risk that they had to take or else things could go wrong when they travel through unplanned land. So they began walking again in the direction of NYC with hope in their hearts. Applebloom was always close to John because she was always unsure of the route ahead. But as John had actually been down this path before and he knew what he was looking for. He was hoping that they might find some more signs to point towards where NYC was exactly. Even though they were hoping that the next day they would get to NYC, John at heart was hoping that it would never happen. Because he wasn't sure what would have happened to the population of NYC and he didn't want Applebloom to be frightened by whatever now inhabited the city. Before they knew it though they found themselves at the end of another day of walking so they found an abandoned cave and they sat down in there. John took off his backpack and searched the cave but it was empty and there wasn't much to see. So he then turned to Applebloom and said:

"We should be safe here tonight, you stay here while I collect some stuff to burn" he said as he knelt down and stroked Applebloom's head.

"When will we get to the new land?" asked Applebloom as she looked up to John with hope in her voice.

"We will get there when we do" said John with grace in his voice. She understood what he meant and she huddled herself together to keep herself warm in the cold night to come. John then walked outside and found some things that they could burn for heat. After collecting these items he came back inside the cave and placed the material on the ground. Then he proceeded to getting a small flask out and on top of it was a small cup. John filled the cup a little and threw this liquid onto the items, and then he got out his lighter and lit the items. Within a second the items took off in flames and were burning with different colored flames. But in all only a few sparks and a bright orange flame prevailed over the rest of them. The wasteland around them didn't welcome much life as it had a mutual hatred for the normal needs of any living thing. Even though this wasteland didn't like the ones who inhabited it there was little it could do to the strong hearts of the ones who already were set on their path. But for the others it didn't give them a pat on the back and a goodbye, but a harsh three day torture under the sun until they died a slow death.

John looked into the familiar flames that welcomed much bad and good. Even though it kept him alive now it would threatened to kill both of them in the future and test whether they both trusted each other.

Journey

The Fallout - John and Applebloom [2/4]

The campfire ate the wood and gave out the colourful reds of the fire. John somewhat went into a daze at the light from the fire burned the back of his retina. After a few seconds John recoiled and put his hand over his face. The image of the fire could still be seen though the darkness but within a few seconds it would fade away.

"I've got to stop doing that" said John as he blinked and wiped his eyes to get rid of the tears that had been summoned.

"Got to stop doing what?" asked Applebloom as she looked over at John.

"Looking into the fire" John said as he just about got his eyes working again.

"John, I've been meaning to ask you this. What's a mutant?" asked Applebloom.

"It's nothing you should be worrying about" said John.

"I'm not worried about it, I'm just curious" said Applebloom.

"You sure about that" said John and he laid back and looked at the stars. "Because you might be worried if I tell you" said John.

"Hey, you don't know what I'm scared of" said Applebloom as she huffed and frowned at John.

"You're scared of the unknown and monsters" said John as he sat back up and looked at the annoyed Applebloom.

"Oh yeah? Well as a cutie mark crusader I am afraid of nothing" Applebloom said as she sat back feeling good about herself. John then looked at Applebloom again and she had her eyes closed. He had a cruel idea of scaring her but he didn't see the point. She was a bit overconfident of her abilities and John understood she was becoming an older pony now. But he still wanted her to be safe. And he had to keep his promise. He had to.

"So what's a cutie mark Crusader? I've been meaning to ask you that" asked John.

"It's a group a made with my friends when we first met" said Applebloom as she became a bit more dedicated to the conversation.

"So what do you do in this group" asked John.

"We try to find our special talent! Then we get our cutie mark!" Applebloom said.
"What do you suppose my special talent is" said John.

"Being annoying and protective" said Applebloom. Then they laughed for a few seconds before John remembered what she just said.

"I'm annoying now! Is that how it is?" said John with a very sarcastic tone.

"Of course!" Applebloom said as she smiled up at John.

"So who were these friends of yours then?" asked John.

"Well there's Scootaloo who's a really cool Pegasus. She's awesome on a scooter and she looks up to an equally awesome Pegasus Rainbow Dash" she said as she then sighed a bit. "Then there's Sweetie Bell who is..." then she stopped and started to tear up.

"What the matter?" asked John as he moved over to Applebloom's side.

"I...I might not s-see them again" said Applebloom. John then picked her up and set her down on his lap. Then he stroked her and let her cry into his arm.

"You never know, we might get you back to them one day" said John. Applebloom's crying ceased and she lifted her head up to look up at John.

"You sure about that?" she asked as she looked hopefully into the eyes of John.

"Maybe, just maybe" said John as he continued to stroke her. She then became tired and yawned. Then she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep on John's lap. He continued to stroke her as she drifted off into a long sleep. John once again lent back and looked into the sky and wondered how she actually came to be. What caused her existence in the first place? Whatever it was it obviously pulled her into this world. Then he thought if she came through then maybe others came as well. Maybe her friends were here. But to be honest he didn't completely care how or why she came here. At least she was here and she was real. He then turned his attention to the wondrous stars that had been watching him throughout his nights.

Before the Fallout scientists said that light from stars and other galaxies were, for example, eight years old. This somewhat presented the possibility for a civilisation to be growing and it would take eight years to even notice that anything was going on. And people said the chances of anything living being in the universe was a million to one, and Applebloom was proof that they were wrong. But nowadays science wasn't really depended upon and religion mainly guided people. John however still didn't care about this as he just accepted the world as it came. Applebloom's existence was just another thing in John's life and it turned out to be the best thing.

John then started to close his eyes as now it was time to go to dream world. That was the place where everything was great and there was nothing to worry about. There was no need to eat or drink. And in some cases even breath. But in the end a dream would present itself to John as the thing he wanted most at the time. Before the fallout it was dreams of a happy life and a happy future. But now they are dreams of being in the promised land with Applebloom. With everything safe and no more worries. No more monsters. No more evil.

---------

John woke up the next morning to find that Applebloom was still fast asleep on his lap like the night before. He leant back and looked into the sky and observed the bright blue sky clouded by dark yellow clouds. He looked around this sky and tried to remember what is was like before the fallout made the sky this way. The bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. That was the day when the world was right. John looked ahead and looked to see something that he hadn't seen since the fallout began. It shined with its glory and was more colourful then before. The dark background made it stand out and look better that it would usually. John the nudged Applebloom and she then opened her eyes and blinked them a few times. Then she yawned and looked up to John.

"What is it?" asked Applebloom.

"It's a rainbow, look!" said John as he looked back over at the rainbow. Applebloom looked over at the rainbow and she lit up in a second. Then she jumped off Johns lap and stood on her own hoofs.

"It must be Rainbow Dash!" she said as she got all excited and started to run about. "I knew I wasn't the only one here!" she continued in her excitement. John looked at the rainbow and thought that in her world this, Rainbow Dash, created the rainbows. But this was his world and it was possible that this was a natural rainbow. He looked over at Applebloom and saw how happy she was. He thought it would be a bad idea to tell her about his world's rainbows as this would spoil her dreams. His dreams had been taken from him before and she didn't deserve to lose hers. If it came to the right moment then he would tell her. But for now it would be a good idea to keep it to himself.

"I must have been right then, there must be others" said John, even though he was reluctant to admit it, it would make some sense for there to be others here. Then if there were others here then maybe there was still some hope for this world.

"Yes! I am no longer the only one" she continued to express her excitement over the subject.

"It's about time we start going again now" John said as he picked up his backpack and swung it on his back.

"Ok, let's go!" said Applebloom. She was a lot more dedicated now that she had some motivation towards the journey and best of all; she was happy. If anything that is exactly the attitude that she needed towards a quest like this. Then John began walking again and Applebloom was close on his heels. Soon they were back on the main road and they were continuing their journey to the new land.

The road was broken up so there were many pot holes and cracks in the road. No wildlife could be seen and there was no plant life either. The harsh landscape killed off any attempt for plant life as it had no fertile soil. Everything in the landscape seemed to take a gritty, dusty look. There was no tree hanging around and there was hardly any buildings either. They majority had been taken out by the missiles and bombs that were fired on the day of the fallout. That day would never escape the mind of John. The fear and the screaming. It had scared his mind and it would never leave. But thanks to Applebloom he has had something else to get his mind on. But in the corner of his mind would be those screams and those images.

Each step felt like nothing to John and Applebloom. As they walked every day the average fifteen miles was nothing. Even though this was a small distance it was still a distance worth travelling. It was fifteen miles closer to the new land. John looked ahead to see nothing but clear road ahead. The miles came and left. The minutes passed and were forgotten as the two travelled towards their destination. Nothing really came up that day as they seemed to pick the right day to travel. It was one of those days where they would be expecting something to happen but nothing would happen in the end.
They eventually came to a point where they needed to stop and take a rest. They then sat down on the edge of the road and took a few minutes to rest. John looked out at the road ahead and scanned it. He wanted to make sure there was nothing ahead.

"Have you ever thought about what it would have been like if we met before the fallout" asked Applebloom. John spent a few seconds thinking.

"I think it would have been a lot better. Because we would have a home to live in" said John.

"Ok then" she said before going silent again. Then John stood up and stretched. Then he turned to see Applebloom too was ready to go. Then they started to walk again and they found the rest of the day rather peaceful. There was nothing really going on that day so there was nothing to worry about.

The day started to come to a close and now the city was in sight. When the two got over the big hill and saw the city they had a big sigh of relieve. They were coming closer to their goal. But it was getting dark so it was a good idea to settle down for the night. And because they were on a big hill they could see all around them. The idle landscape was nothing much to look at though so the sky with its stars were the most admired at night. John found some scraps near where they decided to stop and he made them up into a pile. Then he swung his backpack onto the ground and got out the flask again. He then poured some of its contents into a cup and threw it on the pile. Then hit lit it with a lighter and it set alight instantly. A green flame was seen at first but then it died down and turned orange with some yellows dotted about it. They had their fire now so they could finally rest after a hard day of walking.

"So what should we be expecting in this city then" Applebloom asked.

"Maybe some supplies and probably a water stream" said John.

"Will there be any mutants?" asked Applebloom. John paused and knew this was inevitable.

"There might be, we will just have to see" said John.

"Will we find any other ponies?" asked Applebloom. John had to think this one though as he wasn't sure what was the right answer. There might be others but at the same time there not be any in the city. He just had to say the right answer.

"I don't know" he said knowing that this was all that he could do at the moment.

"Ok then" she said before letting her head rest on the ground and her eyes dazed into the fire.

"You told me about your home yesterday, so I think it's my turn now" said John.

"Go on then" said Applebloom as she looked over at John.

"I used to work for the army that was like the guards from where you came from. And I was just about finished training. I had a wife and a little girl but then..." said John before he remembered her. He dropped his head into his head and cried a little, and then he let his head back to reveal his now slightly red eyes. He stared into the fire and continued "... the bombs dropped and the house was ripped apart. They were out that day and they never told me they went. But if they were on the road then that means....they must have..." John then broke off again and found it hard to go on. He sighed and sank down. His eyes fixed themselves on the fire and he remembered the fire that ripped through the building. He only just escaped by slipping into the basement. He was lucky, unlike most people. Who were blasted away by the initial blast and energy.

"It's ok John" said Applebloom who was now right next to John. "I'm here for you" she said as she put her head under John's hand. He began to stroke her head and he let a few more tears go out. It was about time she knew about his past. And she seemed to take it pretty well as it was quite a brutal one.

"Thank you Applebloom" John said as he picked her up and hugger her. She returned the hug and then he put her down on his lap. They both then looked out onto the landscape that was filled with darkness. Applebloom drifted off first and John stayed away. He leant back and looked up at the starts. He sighed in relieve and then he started to close his eyes. Within a few seconds he was drifting off to the land of dreams.

He then suddenly woke up. He looked to the fire that was still burning and he looked to see Applebloom was still sleeping on his lap. She was kind of cute when she was sleeping. John convinced himself that everything was fine. He then looked over the landscape. There was nothing, nothing, nothing, fire, nothing. Wait! He recoiled at this strange event. As he normally didn't see any other person camping near them. He looked harder, was it just him? Was he dreaming?

It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with the campfire. But John needed to be sure, so he reached out to his backpack and opened it. He ruffled inside it looking for something for a few seconds. Then he pulled out a sniper scope that he had taken from a sniper rifle previously. He held it up to his eye and looked over at the campfire. He could see one man lied down. John couldn't really see anything else around the man so he stopped looking through the scope and put the scope back in his bag. He then lied his head back again and closed his eyes. He faded away and he was relaxed as he knew it was only one man. Little did he know, that one man would be one of the most important things to happen to John and Applebloom.

------------

He woke up the next morning and his vision was somewhat dazed. He rubbed his eyes and looked around to see the same surrounding from yesterday. He looked to his lap to see Applebloom was still sleeping there. She was so peaceful and so quite. John remembered what had happened the night before so he got out the scope again and searched for the campfire again. It was a hard thing to spot but within a minute he found the abandoned campfire. The man there had obviously woken up earlier and gotten moving. It didn't matter to John that much because the chances of them every just meeting were very slim. And anyway he didn't think a lone man would be looking for trouble. John then looked back to Applebloom and he stroked her again. She then woke up and yawned like she would any other morning. She then got off Johns lap and she had some small stretches before looking over to John and smiling at him.

"Good morning" said Applebloom.

"Good morning, how did you sleep" said John as he got onto his feet.

"I slept well, as you are nice to sleep on" said Applebloom.

"Good, good" John said as he got his backpack on and looked over to the city. They then started to walk down the hill in the direction of the city. This part of the walk was extremely easy to do, thanks to most of the work being done by gravity. It took a few minutes to get down this hill and it was about a mile of walking to do to until they got to the entrance of the city. The road leading up to the city had the odd lone house that was only just still standing. They looked unsafe to go anywhere near them or even go in them for that matter. They took their time getting to the entrance as they saw the two storey buildings getting closer and closer. They got very close to them and they somewhat towered over the two with their great mass. John stopped and looked at the buildings. They seemed too quiet for a moment. It was almost like they were being watched. John continued to look at the buildings but it was becoming reality that there was no one looking at them at all. Then John continued to walk with his eyes still very suspicious of the lone buildings. They then were in the city and it was a completely new environment, compared to the wasteland.

The buildings had the same dusty, gritty feel as the wasteland but as they got further in they could see some green plant life had been able to grow inside the buildings. They continued looking at this new environment. The buildings were getting higher and higher as they went further into the city. John started to let himself relax as he needed to take some time just to enjoy the new scenery. He looked down one street and there would be a broken store. He would look the other way and see a business tower. The only thing missing from all of this was the people running about and doing their day to day routines. They would be blind when the bomb struck at the heart of the city and they would be wiped out within seconds. All of this though was years ago and now the city streets were like a ghost town. Soon the road became infested with big metal lumps of metal. These had broken glass in them and some weird leavers and wheels. These were cars, the thing that John hadn't seen working since the fallout. He was somewhat curious of weather these still worked. So he leant inside one of the cars and turned the key. And the engine started to couth and choke. But then it rumbled to life and shook. It was amazing how this car could still be work even after the fallout.

But then the car started to move and John was somewhat dragged along with it. Applebloom turned around to see John being dragged off by the car so she chased him. She then grabbed his trouser leg with her mouth and pulled him out of the car. They both then watched in horror as the machine chugged away and collided with a building. It smashed through the windows and hit the main support of the building. Then they heard some cracking sounds from the building as its weakened supports broke up and fell to pieces.

"RUN!" shouted John as he scrambled to his feet and the two ran away. The bottom of the building was being continuously pushed by the car and it was giving up. The bombs that had been set off before had weakened it so it was easily taken down by enough force. John and Applebloom continued to run. John stopped to look back when they got round the corner of a building. He could only watch as the build screamed and fell apart. Within seconds the base had fallen into pieces and the top of the building was coming down. This collided with another building that was better built and it slipped past it. Then it plummeted to the ground and collapsed. John then picked up Applebloom and ran as quick as he could up the stairs of this building. He got up the first floor to see part of the building get smashed by the building that they brought down.

Time was running out and they need a escape from this building. John ran up another floor and saw at the other end of the building there was a window that lead to the next building. Suddenly the building started to fall back slowly. It was now or never so John ran as fast as he could down the hall as all the office desks slid past him and made a pile at the bottom. Then he got to the window and he jumped though it to get out. Then he went through the window in the next building and landed on his back.

He then let go of Applebloom and set her aside. They both lied there and began to breathe heavily to get their breath back. Then they both looked at each other and smiled. Then John laughed and looked back to the ceiling. Applebloom joined in and was relieved to survive that event.

"Who would have thought that small car could have done that" said John as he coughed to get the dust out of his lungs.

"That was a car, more like a dragon" said Applebloom as she sighed in relieve.

"No more cars for me today then" said John as he chuckled to himself.

"Defiantly!" said Applebloom as she got back onto her hoofs.

"You did well, good job" said John as he rolled forward to get back on his feet.

"Thanks John, you did well too" she said as she smiled at him.

"Let's get going again" said John as he wiped his trousers clean from the dust that had built up from lying down. They both then got stood up and John examined the office block. Dust from the fallen building had been forced into here so John and Applebloom could only see a meter in front of them. Applebloom, being curious of the human inventions, looked at a hanging computer mouse and tapped it with her hoof. It swung back and forth before the cable broke and the mouse dropped to the ground. A large bang could be heard when it hit the ground and John heard someone click a sawn-off shotgun into place. He got out his shotgun and pointed it into the obis. He could see nothing and if someone else was there they could see nothing either.

"Stay close to me Applebloom" John whispered down to Applebloom and she got really close to his right leg. John then examined what he could see and he heard some muttering from far ahead. There was obviously more than one person there, because lone people don't talk to themselves. That is unless they are insane. Then again could a insane person use a shotgun. John kept looking ahead. He then took a few steps ahead. Whoever this was they were probably as careful as he was.

"We mean no harm" sounded a voice from the obis. This person did not want to kill. This meaning he must have something he wouldn't like to be in a gun fight.

"We will unarm if you do as well" shouted John.

"Fine then" shouted the man. John then put the shotgun in his bag and he heard a ruffling sound from where the man's voice came from.

"Is there anyone with you?" shouted John.

"Well, not exactly someone" shouted the man.

"What do you-" said John before this man came into view. He was rather like him. He had a black hoodie on with cream trousers on. He had a set of fingerless gloves on his hands and he had black sunglasses on him. He was wearing a dark blue coat over his hoodie as well. It wasn't zipped up because it was warm in here. He looked rather peaceful even though he had a sawn-off shotgun and a battleaxe in his bag. And his bag was the same size as his. A middle sized one with space still to fill.

John then looked down to his left and saw something he wasn't expecting to see. It only made him mumble the words that he never expected to say. This was the thing that John hoped would happen but at the same time was extremely unlikely to happen.

"I was right?"

Escape

The Fallout – John and Applebloom [3/4]

John looked at this thing and was trying to think if his mind was just playing tricks on him. For all he knew he could have been hit on the head by something and this was all a dream. But it was more than likely that this was the real thing. John then looked to the man to see him have a very similar reaction to seeing Applebloom. They were frozen as they had both had something happen that was unlikely to happen at all.

"Scootaloo!" called out Applebloom as she ran forward to meet with this other pony. Scootaloo was an orange pegasus with purple eyes and a purple mane. She lit up as she saw Applebloom coming towards her and she ran to Applebloom.

"Applebloom" called out Scootaloo. They then embraced in a hug and Applebloom shed some tears.

"I thought I was never going to see you again" Applebloom said as she was happy to be with her friend again. John continued to stare at the man and he stared back. They were both unsure what was going on and they had no idea about what they should do. Yes, there companions had met but they were not entirely sure if they should meet. The silence between the two had to be broken so John took a deep breath and spoke.

"Hi, my names John, and this is Applebloom" announced John. The other man was a bit reluctant at first but he then spoke.

"My names Andrew, and this is Scootaloo" said Andrew as he put his hand on his arm. He seemed to be a bit nervous around other people. So this might mean he has had bad experiences with other men in the past. But all that aside, he seemed to have a good heart for taking Scootaloo with him.

"So, where are you heading?" asked John. Then man looked at him and somewhat frowned at him. He sighed and put his hand back by his side.

"We are looking for the new land. But we found that the shortest route was the city" Andrew said as he took a step back and knelt down. "So you two must be from the same place" said Andrew and then Scootaloo nodded. Andrew then stood up and examined John again. He had somewhat of a problem with John but John could see that he was trying to see reason in trusting him.

"I've been travelling with Applebloom for about a month or two now" John said. Andrew then recoiled a bit then thought for a moment.

"I've been travelling with Scootaloo for five months" said Andrew. He looked down to the enjoyed Scootaloo and Applebloom who were asking each other questions about the world that they were in. They seemed to be happy enough now they were together again.

"Do you know what you will find here?" asked John to see how knowledgeable Andrew was.

"Bandits, Gangs and mutants" said Andrew without a moment's hesitation.

"I see someone's done their homework" said John. He then chuckled and Andrew smiled.

"It seems we have a common cause" said Andrew as he held out his hand. John shook his hand and smiled back at him. They now had some trust between them but John supposed Andrew would be very cautious around him. They then stopped the hand shake and looked back to the one they were protecting. It made John feel warm inside to know that the little ones had something to keep them going, now they knew they were not the only ones of their kind in this world. John approached the window and looked down at the street that was now destroyed. The dust had swept across the streets so now they couldn't see what was down there. Andrew stood beside John and looked down there as well.

"I wonder what caused that building to fall" Andrew said as he examined the streets.

"Well about that..." said John as he looked to Andrew and Andrew looked at him with a weird expression.

"What did you do?" asked Andrew.

"I kind of, turned on a car and it took down the building" said John.

"One car, wow" said Andrew as he put his hand to his forehead.

"This world has changed" said John as he turned back to where the ponies were. Andrew followed him and then Andrew sat down with the ponies. John found a map of the area of NYC they were in and he examined it. They had now blocked the fastest route off so they would need to take a slightly longer route to get back on the main route. John looked at the map and found they would need to go down to street level and then walk until the street reconnected with the main road.

"Alright, meet ups over, we're moving" said Andrew as he pulled out his shotgun and checked it for ammo.

"He's right, we need to get moving" said John. Andrew looked over to John and put his shotgun away.

"We should stick together, bigger groups last longer" said Andrew.

"It's quite the opposite my friend, but we are not a big group" said John. Andrew looked at John and frowned, yet John was right as he was older, and he had more experience.

"Let's get going then" said Andrew as he walked over to the window. Then Andrew smashed the window and signalled to Scootaloo to follow him. Then he started to climb down and Scootaloo jumped on his head. John then started to climb down and Applebloom sat on his head. Soon they got down to the street level and they put their pony companions on the ground. The fog of dust had yet to settle so they still had a hard time seeing things. They started to move along the street at a moderate pace. John every now and again looked back to see if they were being followed. The streets were disturbingly quite as John would have expected to come across them sooner or later. But then they reconnected with the main road and were back on track. Now that they were on the main road the open areas were a lot bigger and they were a lot more exposed to anything that could see them. Andrew was a lot more set forward than John as Andrew was rushing through the streets and not looking for anything.

Soon they had covered a block and John was getting worried at Andrews's carelessness. He wondered how the two were still alive even with a careless leader at the front. But then again he hadn't seen Andrew in combat so he could be careless until shit got real. Each step got John more and more worried of Andrew's ability's. Maybe Andrew never encountered anyone or anything so the two never were put in an awkward situation. But in the end they were here and that what matters.

Another block passed and John was wondering if he made the right choice. Not just for Applebloom, but for all of them. They were travelling really quickly but they were not being cautious of what was to come. It was bound to be sooner or later that one of them got the attention of the mutants. They had to keep moving and if they were to stop then they could be in the position of being overrun. John got his pistol from his pocket and checked the clip inside. Then he kept it by his side. Applebloom looked to John and was confused.

"Why have you got that out?" asked Applebloom.

"You never know when you might need it" said John. He then stopped and signalled to Applebloom to stop as well. He then knelt down to her and said "No matter what happens, you have got to trust me, understand".

"I understand, John" said Applebloom. Then John stood up again and they ran a little to make up for lost ground. Then when they caught up with Andrew and Scootaloo, Applebloom started to consider what John had just said. What did he mean by what he said? Was something bad going to happen? This and other things were going through Applebloom's mind as they moved along the main street.

--------------

Within an hour they had gotten 60 blocks into the city. It was still painfully quite and there was something on the path ahead. It was a sign connected to some barbed wire. This completely blocked the street altogether. When they approached the sign it said a simple message: "DO NOT ENTER, MUTANTS!". John immediately knew what this meant, but Andrew was a bit unsure.

"What's a mutant, are they like zombies or something" asked Andrew.

"Something like that" said John as he walked over to the building to the left.

"You're not saying we're going through that!" shouted Andrew. John stopped and looked around at Andrew.

"What, you scared of zombies now?" shouted John. "This is the quickest and the most effective way to get through the city" he continued.

"But wouldn't we get killed if we went that way" said Andrew.

"If you stay with me, then no" said John as he smashed open a door and walked into the building. Andrew had no real choice but to follow him, John had a lot more experience and he had been around for longer. It was only the best idea to let John make the decisions for now. They all went into the building and John lead the way. They went up one flight of stairs and then another until they were eventually on the top floor. They came to the roof access door and it was locked. John turned to the group and looked at them.

"When I say run, we will all run like hell" John said. They all nodded and John pulled out his shotgun. He took a step back and placed the end of the shotgun right next to the lock. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Bang! The lock exploded and the eco spread across the city. Then a yell could be heard and the chase was on.

John broke the door down and started to run. The others followed him giving themselves room to move. John jumped onto the next building and kept on running. He then jumped to the next building and footsteps could be heard all around. John peered behind him and saw everyone was keeping up. He then saw as a building ahead had two mutants on it, they were unarmed but could see them coming. John fired two pistol shots at them and they both hit them in the head. John then looked behind him and saw as mutants started to come on to the first roof that they were on.

"Don't look back!" John shouted as he jumped onto the next building. They were making good ground but the mutants were now hot on their feet. They had a minute between them and slowly this gap was becoming thinner. "Just keep running" John shouted as he continued to run across the buildings. Then the building ahead was smaller than the rest, so they had to go back to building running. John jumped down to this building and immediately shot the lock. He then swung the door open and a mutant was there. It attempted to hit him, but John stepped back and shot it in the chest. Then he kicked it in the shin, causing it to fall down the stairs. John then shot it in the head and the others had caught up. He ran down the stairs and then ran left down the corridor. Soon he came to a point where a window needed breaking. He put his pistol in his pocket and pulled out his shotgun. Then he shot the window in front of him and it shattered. He then jumped through the broken window and smashed through the next one. "UP" John shouted as he ran to the stairs again. He then found this lock was already broken so he ran up and onto the roof again. He looked over to where they had come from. There were hundreds of mutants following them.

"Ah, we are attracting a lot of fucking attention!" shouted Andrew as he ran to the next building and jumped over it. John then proceeded to follow him and jump over the building. They were now getting tired and the mutants were catching up. Another building came and they jumped over on to it.

"How far left?" shouted Scootaloo.

"Not long now, just run" shouted John. He looked behind again and the mutants were coming. They were rotting all over and their cloths were as ripped and tatty as hell. They were all once civilians but now they were soulless monsters. There were two more buildings left until they could get to the safe point. They were now slowing down but John kept telling them to run on but Applebloom wasn't able to keep up. She then started to fall behind and she couldn't shout to say slow down. She was now ten seconds from the jaws of the mutants. There was one last building left until they could get over the bridge. John looked back again and saw that Applebloom was struggling. They jumped again and they were on the last building. John slowed down and picked Applebloom up then he really bolted it to the roof exit. Andrew was already there with his shotgun and he blew the lock off. Then he entered and looked to see the mass of mutants chasing them. John then ran inside and Andrew slammed the door shut. He then pulled the fire lock on the door to give them some more time. He then joined the others as they ran down the stairs. Each floor felt like a marathon but it was all going to be worth it in the end, they all hoped.

They then heard the door five floors above get broken open and this was now the last chance they had. They got to the bottom floor and they were at street level. There were a few scattered mutants on the ground but Andrew took care of the two that charged at the group with his sawn-off shotgun.

"You run over the bridge, I'll take care of the controls!" shouted John as he went to the small box next to the bridge. It had been opened before to lower the bridge so John first examined the wires and then made his decision. There were seconds left, so he disconnected the main two wires and then a siren sounded and the bridge started to rise. Then John ran for it. The mutants were close behind and they were hungry. John was a quarter across the bridge and the others had made it half way. They jumped over the small gap and then Andrew stopped to see the masses of mutants behind John.

"God dammit, RUN JOHN RUN!" Andrew shouted. He saw that some of the mutants were really on his feet. So Andrew threw his bag on the floor and searched it quickly. He then pulled out a submachine gun of sorts, it was a MP7 and Andrew had been saving it for the right time. He prepped himself and aimed the gun at the mutants. Then he pulled the trigger and bullets flew from the end of the gun at a rapid rate. The mutant behind John fell and as Andrew gunned others fell as well. John was almost there and the gap was now almost unreachable. John widened his steps and took one last deep breath. He then placed one foot at the end of the bridge and jumped over. He was making big air but he was not going to make it. He came close but he was just short and he missed the main part of the bridge. He grabbed the bottom part and was hanging there. He couldn't pull himself up and lost grip with one hand.

"HELP!" John shouted and he saw Andrew's head pop out. Andrew reached out to John and grabbed his arm.

"I've got you!" said Andrew as he started to pull John up. Then the two ponies grabbed Andrew's legs and pulled him up. The process was long and the mutants were still coming. Then with one big pull they got John's top half onto the bridge, where he then started to push himself up. John was now on the bridge and he rolled onto his back. He was breathing heavily and looking up into the sky. Then he looked to the other end of the bridge and saw as the mutants piled up and some of them fell of the bridge and into the water. John looked over at the distance they had travelled and then he slid down the bridge. The others followed and they all came to the bottom. John turned to Andrew and smiled.

"Thank you" John said as he patted Andrew on the back. "Maybe groups were not a bad idea after all" he continued as he then bent down and caught his breath. He then watched as the mutants ran either of the bridge. Then John looked to see two more bridges to the left and right. "We have to keep moving" he said as he turned to face the right direction and they then all started to walk again.

"You suppose they will come back" said Andrew as he watched the mutants run in their separate directions.

"You can count on it" said John as he looked at the cars sitting around. He kept on moving but he always looked to each car to see what they had in them.

"What are you looking for?" asked Andrew as he saw John looking at each car.

"We may need something faster than our legs" John said as he continued to look. The search was quick because within a minute there was a suitable car that wasn't blocked by anything. So John opened the back door and said "Get in". Applebloom and Scootaloo got in the back and John closed the door. Andrew got in the front and John got in the driver's seat. John then turned the key and the engine roared to life. It started moving as it was already in gear, and they started to drive through the city. There were some lone cars, some blocked cars and some piled up cars scattered across the city. John kept on driving through all of these cars and Andrew looked behind them to see the mutants had made it over and they were now chasing them.

"Step on it John!" Andrew said as he put another clip of ammo in his MP7. They then found an empty stretch of road and John put his foot down. The car accelerated and they moved faster than before. They were putting a lot of distance between them and the mutants. Ahead there was the barbed wire and the checkpoint to signal the end of the infected zone. John really put his foot down and the car got faster and faster. More and more mutants started chasing the car and it was time to get rid of them for sure.

"Look in my bag, there should be a grenade" said John as he passed his bag to Andrew and he searched it. Soon he found a grenade and he leant out of the car. He then pulled the pin and threw it out of the car. It hit the ground and rolled for a bit before the mutants ran over it. Then it exploded and many mutants were sent flying. The distance between them and the checkpoint was now only a couple of hundred meters. There was a parking lot ahead and it could be accessed without slowing down. John steered into the parking lot and went up a floor. Then he drove into one of the sides of it and the car flew straight through it. They went over the checkpoint but the car was forward heavy. So the car started to fall forward and then there was floor impact. The car started to spin uncontrollably across the ground and parts of it flew off. Soon it was on its wheels again and John attempted to regain control of the car. It took some effort but the car was soon back under control. He then stopped the car and looked behind to see the mutants couldn't get past the barbed wire and they got stuck. Even though this was the case the sheer number of them was giving the barbed wire a hard time so it was starting to tear up.

John then looked to see Applebloom being very scared in her seat and Scootaloo being cool with that car stunt that John had just pulled off. John then proceeded to stepping on it and the car started to move with great speed. They were now covering a lot more ground than before and the mutants were slowed down by the city barbed wire. Time was once again on their side and they were travelling at a good speed. John had all of his focus on the road of occasionally there were cars to avoid.

"You ok back there?" John asked.

"W-w-were they mutants?" asked Applebloom.

"Yes" John said. "Now you understand why I didn't tell you about them" he continued.

"B-but they were people..." Applebloom started before she started to tear up.

"Applebloom, remember what I told you about mutants" John said.

"You didn't tell me anything" Applebloom said as she was now confused.

"I did" he started. "I said they are nothing to be worried a about" he continued and this caused Applebloom to remember what he said. She then wiped her face of the tears. They were soon out of the city and that was one of the worst things that they encountered on their journey so far. As never on their journey had they, together, had to run for their lives. But now everything could calm down and they could relax for now. John was now on the main road again and he accelerated to 50 mph so they could make more ground then before. Andrew lied back and sighed with relieve. Now he fully understood John's abilities and why John was better in charge. The day was almost up though and it was coming to the time to find a place to rest.

Soon they found a house and they stopped there. John got out of the car and looked at the building. He was always suspicious of the quite buildings as they usually had people inside of them. Who would watch others come and they would ambush them. John pulled out his shot gun and fired one shot at the floor. There was no sound from anyone else. He then slowly approached the building as the others go out of the car. He walked up to the door and tapped the shotgun on the door. Then he opened the door and he looked inside. He then walked in and searched the room quickly. The others followed and sat down inside. John then closed the door and examined the buildings insides. It seemed to be uninhabited and there was nothing inside to say that someone lived here. The dust was set and there were no footprints anywhere. John then sat down and lied back.

"We made it" said Andrew as he once again took a sigh of relieve.

"Yes we did" said John.

"Where do we go tomorrow?" asked Scootaloo.

"If we are both going the same way, then north" said Andrew. John nodded over at Andrew and then he looked in the fire basket. He pulled out some twigs and logs and put them down. He then got the flask out and put some of the contains on the pile. Then he lit it with the lighter and it went up in an orange flame. And a fire was born. John and Andrew pulled out their food and started to cook it on the new fire.

"How long left until we get there?" asked Applebloom.

"Depending on the fuel of the car, another few days" said John.

"What will it be like?" asked Scootaloo.

"It should be green and peaceful, hopefully there will be some civilisation" said John.

"It was green where we came from" said Applebloom.

"Yeah, I remember" said Scootaloo. Then it went silent and the food was cooked. John and Andrew gave half of their food to their pony companions. They silently ate and sat there. When they were finished John lied against a wall and Applebloom sat on his lap. Then she yawned and fell asleep. Andrew lied down and Scootaloo snuggled in next to him. Then they fell asleep. John was left awake and he looked to the roof of the building. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep. It was almost over and they were almost safe. John's mind started to relax. She was almost safe.

----------------

John woke up the next morning and Andrew and Scootaloo were gone. He looked down to Applebloom who was still asleep on him. He looked back to where Andrew was last night then he felt something in his hand. He looked at it and it was a letter. He read it and it said that Andrew and Scootaloo had gone out for a walk as John was still asleep. John then moved Applebloom to the floor and he picked up his bag. He then walked outside and looked to the sky. It was surprisingly blue even when they still in the fallout zone. He then looked forward to see the car was still there.

"SO, THIS IS THE BARSTART WHO KILLED MY MEN" sounded a very angry man from behind. John turned to see a large group of men with automatic weapons and pistols.

"I believe you're talking to me?" said John.

"What, it's not like there is an equally more wanted man around here" said the man.

"I thought that was you" said John.

"Where is she" the man said.

"Who?" John said but was now becoming cautious of what was going on.

"You know, Applebloom" the man said. John was then really played, but this made him think about how they knew of Applebloom's existence. Maybe there was a survivor from one of the battles.

"I don't know what you're talking about" said John as he turned away and bumped into a big man. This man grabbed John and two others stripped his of his weapons. Then he was thrown on the ground in front of this man.

"My name is Marcus and that will be the last name you learn" said the man who was the leader. He walked up to John and put his hand on the back of his neck and squeezed. It caused much pain to John. To start he kept his screams in but he couldn't hold on. The pain was a constant pain throughout his entire body. He couldn't move his head and he was becoming weaker every second. This pain came to be too much and he shouted out in pain.

"AAHHHHHHH" John shouted in pain. Applebloom woke up from this sound and came to the door and looked out to see John on the floor. She was trying to think what was happening but she immediately knew when John let out another shout.

"You can stop this Applebloom, you just need to come to us" shouted Marcus.

"DONT DO IT, JUST RUN" shouted John.

"You're causing him pain Applebloom, you can stop this" shouted Marcus.

"DONT LISTEN TO HIM, JUST RU-" John shouted before Marcus threw him to the ground and kicked him.

"He is dying because of you Applebloom" shouted Marcus. John vomited up some blood and rose up again.

"Just run Applebloom" shouted John as he put his hand to his stomach.

"Nooo" shouted Applebloom as she ran out of the building.

"Applebloom NO!" John shouted as he once again got punched.

"Looks like ponies are smarter than you are John" Marcus said.

"Please let him go" she said as she started to tear up.

"Get her" Marcus said and a man grabbed her and stepped back. "Some say that you are invincible, and some say you are smart. That pony may be smart, but not smart enough!" Marcus said and then shouted as he whipped out his pistol. He then shot a bullet into John and the bullet ripped into John. He was still there and was put into shock. He looked to Applebloom and smiled but he couldn't hold the smile for long. A tear came out of his eye and he looked back to Marcus. Marcus was still standing there with the gun. John stood up and his hearing was removed and replaced with a ringing. He looked to Marcus and clenched his fist. He took a step forward and was about to throw this punch. But then Marcus shot him again. This time it was too much and John fell to the ground. The darkness was closing in on him and he was finding it hard to breath.

"I'm sorry" John said before letting out one last breath and closing his eyes.

"See what I told you, like any other man" said Marcus as they walked over to their vehicles and drove away leaving John there on the ground. Was this the end John thought as he lied there and bled. His ears still ringing and his vision still blurred. He looked to the sky once more and could see a rainbow, a beautiful rainbow. He then closed his eyes one last time and rested.

Finale

The Fallout - John and Applebloom [4/4] – The Finale

"We will see you soon then" said Claire as she left the house. John watched and then was hugged from behind by his daughter, Anna.

"See you later then Anna" he said as he bent down and picked her up.

"I love you daddy" Anna said in her child voice. She then kissed John and John handed Anna over to Claire.

"You two take care now" he said as he watched them walk out of the house. He then walked out of the door and watched Claire get in the driver's seat and back up the car. He waved and the two waved back at him. The car then moved away and John stood there for a minute as if the car was still there. He then turned around and walked back into his house. He closed the door and sat down on the sofa. He lied back and closed his eyes.

The all of a sudden the T.V turned on and an emergency was broadcasted on the screen. John opened his eyes to see the message that he hoped he would never see. There was a man talking and a think message saying that a nuke is going to hit in ten seconds. He jumped to his feet and ran to the door and looked outside. He watched as in the far off distance a missile came down where his wife and child had gone. It hit the ground and exploded. John covered his eyes as the great light consumed the far off land. He ran back inside and ran towards the basement door. He pulled it open and went down the stairs. Just before he closed this door he watched as a picture of his family was burned away and the building was beginning to be torn down. John pulled the door shut and ran down these stairs and opened the next door. He then closed this after he got in and ran for a corner.

All this was so sudden and now he understood what had happened. His family had been killed and many others were now dead. He sat there and started to tear up. He let his head drop and he cried. He cried the most he had ever cried, and would ever cry.

--------------

John started to wake up. He was still on his back but he was on a different surface and he was in the shade. He opened one eye to have to close it again because the light was too much. He took a few seconds before trying again to now see the world again. The pain in his chest was still there but when he looked down he had it wrapped up in something. He still had somewhat blurred vision but he was pretty sure that this was a bandage. His ears were no longer ringing so the shellshock had left him. He closed his eyes and wiped his face with his hands. He then looked up once again to the sky blue sky with its rose red eyes. Wait what? The sky doesn't have eyes, or does it. In front of him was a cyan blue pony with rainbow hair. She had rose red eyes and she was examining Johns face. He blinked again to see if this was just his eyes but as his vision came back to him there was a pony there.

"Oh, you're awake. We were getting worried for a moment there" said this pony as she stepped back and allowed John to get up. He then looked up to the sky again and saw a rainbow.

"Is your name Rainbow Dash?" he asked as he wiped his face again and was trying to think about what happened.

"Yeah, but how did you know" she said as she tilted her head in confusion. John then when into his thoughts and remembered Applebloom talking about her.

"Applebloom told me" he said.

"Where is she?" Rainbow Dash said as she frantically looked around and was thinking that she had missed her.

"She got taken. By those men" John said as he tried to stand up but he fell back over as he was unbalanced.

"Whoa there, take it easy" she said as she caught John and put him back down. "You took two bullets" she continued.

"Where did I take the bullets?" John asked.

"One to the shoulder and one to the chest. Fortunately it missed you lungs and your heart" she said. Then the door opened to the house and Andrew walked out. He then approached John and knelt down to see him.

"Wow, you took those bullets well. You are really lucky!" said Andrew as he sat down beside John. "You should be fine by tomorrow" he continued and John then suddenly jolted.

"They took her, we need to save her" John said as he tried to get up but the pain was a bit too much. So he then sat back again and put his hand to his shoulder. He then though about what he really needed to know at that time and about what he was going to do next. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"We found you this morning, we came back when we heard gunshots from the house. So it has been a couple of hours" said Andrew.

"Which way did they go?" asked John as he looked around.

"They went that way" said Rainbow Dash as she pointed down the road that they were travelling on. John then attempted to get up again and get onto his feet. He soon stood up and he took a couple of steps forward. He then looked out onto the obis of the wasteland and sighed. He then turned around and walked inside the house and sat down. Then he looked to see his bag was still there. He sat against the wall and the others came in. Scootaloo then came down the stairs and joined everyone.

"Tomorrow, I am going after them" John said.

"Are you crazy?" said Andrew. "You see what they did to you last time" he continued.

"But I wasn't ready that time" John said. He then closed his eyes and said "But next time I will be ready". He then looked inside of his bag and then considered some other questions now that they were all together. "Where did you come from Rainbow Dash" he asked as he still was unsure about how Rainbow Dash was even there.

"I came from the new land" she said. "I was sent out to look for others" she continued as she then sat down.

"Right then, wait!" said John before realising what she just said. "You're from the new land?" he said as he had never heard from a new land pony or person.

"Yes, and because I travel so fast the journeys are like nothing" she said. John now had some hope that they were nearing the new land. But he was missing Applebloom so it wouldn't be the same. He had to save her, as she saved him.

"You said this should be better tomorrow, right" said John as he turned to look at Andrew.
"Yes, but..." he began, but John then stood up and started to walk towards the kitchen of the house. "Wait where are you going?" Andrew said as he jumped onto his feet and went after John.

"To get ready to get Applebloom back" said John as he looked around the kitchen area.

"But we are out gunned in every way. What are you going to do, just walking in and out?" shouted Andrew. John paused and looked at Andrew.

"Not exactly" he said as he then kicked a wall.

"What are you doing" Andrew said as he stopped John.

"Buildings like this were used to store things further down the country" John said as he kicked the wall again.

"Well, there's nothing here, we have already searched this place" said Andrew as he looked around the kitchen and was trying to see what John could see. John then kicked the wall again and his foot went straight through it. He then pulled it out and stood back.

"You were saying" John said as he kicked the wall again and a set of stairs were coming into view. Andrew watched as a new area was appearing before his eyes. Soon John had made an entrance and he walked down these stairs. He reached the bottom and he flicked a switch to the left of him. A small light flickered on and lit the room. John watched as the room was filled with boxes on the floor and guns on tables. "They use places like this to store weapons and ammo so they have a backup" said John as he walked in and Andrew followed him.

"That's a lot of guns" Andrew said as he looked around the room and observed the masses of weapons in the room. John walked up to one of the boxes and reached inside of it. He then pulled out a RPG that was unloaded.

"This will work" John said as he looked through the scope of this RPG. He then looked inside this box again and pulled out two rockets that went with it. He put these in his bag and continued to look around the room. Andrew found a M4 rifle and three magazines next to it. He checked the M4 and it didn't have a clip in it. He aimed it at the wall and pulled the trigger. The M4 shot out a bullet and this bullet went straight into the wall. "Careful" John said as he looked around at Andrew.

"Sorry" said Andrew as he put the clips in his bag and clipped the M4 to his bag. Then John looked inside another box and found a M16 with an x4 scope on it, he looked inside the box and found five clips with it. He looked down the scope and decided to take this with him. He put the magazines in his bag and continued looking. He then found some pistol clips and some shotgun rounds.

"Found some pistol and shotgun rounds" John shouted and Andrew approached him. Then John handed a box of shotgun shells to Andrew with two pistol clips. Then he took the remaining box and two clips of pistol ammo. He then found a grenade and he slipped it in his bag as well. He swung this bag on his back and walked towards the door. "I'm done here" John said as he walked up the stairs. Andrew wasn't long to follow and he walked up the stairs to join everyone. Then John sat down again and Andrew joined him. "Tomorrow we move out and I suppose, Rainbow Dash, you should head back to the new land. We will meet you there" said John as he examined his new weapons.

"You should take Scootaloo too" said Andrew.

"Good idea" said Rainbow Dash.

"I'm sorry for this short meeting. But our next meeting is the reward for our return" said John as he stood up and walked towards the door. He opened it and walked outside. The others followed and looked down the road. Rainbow Dash then started to fly and she then picked up Scootaloo.

"See you later then!" said Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo waved goodbye. Then Rainbow Dash flew away and picked up speed. Then she was gone and the two men were the only ones left. John then looked to Andrew.

"We should start moving now so we can gain some ground" John said and then he walked over to the car and got in the driver's seat. Andrew followed and got in as well. John took a deep breath and then started up the car. Then they began to drive on the road in the direction of where the men went.

----------

The miles began to rank up and the time seemed to fly by. The sun travelled across the sky and Andrew was becoming somewhat nervous of what they were getting themselves into. Each mile was a mile closer to Applebloom and John was determined to keep it that way. No longer was he getting further away, he was getting closer and closer. Andrew was unsure about what they would do when they got there, so he thought it would be a good idea to get some idea of what was going to happen.

"What's the plan then, John?" Andrew asked as he turned to look at John.

"There is no plan" John said.

"How can you have no plan?!" said Andrew as he was now becoming a bit annoyed at John.

"You want a plan, ok then. We are going to kill every mother fucking man in that building and save Applebloom, happy!?" John ranted and then Andrew fell silent.

"Ok then, let's do this" said Andrew as he put a clip in his M4 and pulled back the lever on it to load it. He looked back to the road and watched as the night started to fall. John pulled the car over and they drove up a hill. Then at the top they could see the buildings that were guarded by the same men as before. John stopped the car and got out. He then turned back to Andrew and said:

"Tomorrow we strike that place" said John.

"Do you trust me John?" asked Andrew as he got out of the car and set his backpack on the ground.

"I trust you, do you trust me?" John replied as he placed his bag on the ground and pulled out his sniper scope.

"Hell yes" said Andrew as he knelt down beside John. John looked around the buildings and observed to see the same faces as before. Then he saw Marcus again, the man he hated. He withdrew from the scope and put it back in his bag. He then lied down and looked to the night sky. The stars were coming out and John looked up at them. The beacons of hope that would never be destroyed and they were always there when John needed them. John closed his eyes and fell asleep.

It was tomorrow that he would get his friend back, and his revenge. Tomorrow he would have to believe in himself and Andrew so they could destroy all that Marcus had built. John drifted off and tried to remember what the world looked like before. He remembered the green grass and the colourful flowers. The happy towns and the busy cities. It was all lost but it was something to work towards. John only hoped he wouldn't be too late and that he would be able to do the right thing.

---------

John woke up and looked up to the blue sky. His vision blurred but it was coming back into focus. He leaned forward and looked over to the buildings that they had found yesterday. They were still under guard but now John had woken, they would be destroyed. He then stood up and kicked Andrew lightly as he was still asleep. Andrew grunted and then woke up. Andrew then wiped his face with his face with his hands and stood up. The two then looked over at the buildings and had the same idea in their heads.

John then put a rocket in the RPG and put it next to him in the car. He and Andrew checked their weapons and made sure they were all loaded. Then they both got in the car and sat back. John then put his sunglasses on and turned on the car. They then drove back down onto the plains and drove towards the area where they needed to be. The guards then became acknowledged of this car and one of them came out of the facility and put his hand up. The car came to a stop and the man looked inside the car.

"What's your business here?" he asked.

"To kill you all" said John as he pulled out his pistol and shot a bullet into the head of this man. Then all of the guards recoiled and had no idea what to do. They looked to each other and tried to think of something. Then a rocket came out of the car and struck the wall. The guards then started to open fire on the car as it drove towards the wall. They had terrible aim and were failing at hitting the car in the right spots. Then Andrew leaned out of the car with his M4 and started to pick off the guards. Then the remaining guards got off the wall and went to shut the main gate. John accelerated and burst through the gate. The car made some air before it landed and John made it slide around. Then he stopped it and turned the car off. Then John and Andrew got out of the car and fired upon the last guards who didn't stand a chance. The guards fell and the two had used their first clips of ammo for their main weapons. They reloaded the weapons and then turned to see the facility come alive as men began to come out of the building. John clenched his weapon and started to fire upon these new enemies. Andrew joined in as they advanced up the courtyard. Then they hid behind a destroyed car and allowed the enemy to waste some ammo. They then looked over the car and saw five men walking forward. John held his gun above his head and let some ammo out on these men, two of them fell and the remaining three panicked and ran back. Andrew then popped up and gunned these men down. Andrew checked his clip and saw it still had some ammo left. He then looked to John and John moved forward.

The two moved towards the next building that had Marcus in, when John last checked, and stood at the door. John then kicked down the door and rushed in with Andrew. They checked the corners and there was nobody. They then went up the stairs and came to another door. It had a little window so John looked through this to see some men and Marcus were getting ready. Then Marcus grabbed the cage with Applebloom in and he walked up the next flight of stairs. John took a step back and pulled out the grenade. He pulled the pin and smashed the little window. He then threw it through there and braced for cover. A bang was heard along with a shout and then Andrew knocked down the door and fired some bullets into the room. John then followed him in and shot at the stunned men that were somewhat shell shocked by the grenade. One of the men had taken cover in the right area and was still able to fight properly. This man pulled out his shotgun and fired at Andrews legs. The shell tore at Andrews legs and caused him to fall over. Then John shot this man in the head and after checking that there were no more men left he attended to Andrew.

"Oh my god this hurts" Andrew shouted as he breathed heavily and held his leg that had been mainly shot. John quickly got out a bandage and wrapped up the wound. Andrew leant back and looked to where Marcus had gone. He then put a hand on John and said "You have to go and stop him. I'll be alright, tis only a flesh wound". John then smiled and stood up. He then ran over to the stairs and ran up them to find it was the roof access point. John found the door wide open and in the middle of the roof was Applebloom in the cadge. John ran over to the cage and was about to speak.

"BEHIND YOU!" Applebloom shouted and John looked around to see Marcus run at him with a machete. John dropped his bag and got out his Kanata and reflected Marcus's attack. Marcus was stunned for a moment and he took a few steps back.

"Swords man then, lets settle this here" Marcus said.

"It would be my pleasure" said John as he prepped himself.

"I always wondered what it would be like to cross blades with you" Marcus said as he then stepped forward and sliced. John deflected this and used the handle of his sword to hit Marcus in the face. Marcus once again was stunned and he stepped back. He became dazed and his nose started to bleed. He then put his hand to his nose to feel the blood. Then he let out a yell and released his fury of attacks. John deflected these and had a few shot that were deflected. Marcus punched John and attempted to slice his neck. But John leant back after this and then kicked Marcus in the stomach. The two fell over and took a second to get back up. Johns head was now hurting and a slight ring was going about his ears. He was so close and he wasn't about to give up now. John then let out a couple of attacks and these were deflected. Then Marcus let out an attack that put the two in face to face lock.
"Funny, how I bleed and you don't" said Marcus as he had a small frantic laugh. Then John grabbed Marcus's hand and twisted it. This caused the blade collision to be broken and Marcus let go of his machete. The John kicked away this machete and it fell of the building. John then punched Marcus in the face and John dropped his Kanata. Then Marcus fell back and John continued to punch him. John then got Marcus to the edge of the building and then pulled John out his pistol. He pointed it at Marcus's chest and looked him deep in the eye.

"Is it funny now, mate?" said John. Marcus then began to laugh again and this was getting really annoying now.

"Go ahead, blow my brains out in front of her" said Marcus. Then John remembered that Applebloom had been watching the whole time. He looked to see her somewhat unsure about things. John then took a second to think. Killing him here would be a bad move; then again he deserved to die now. John was trying to think but then Marcus lifted the gun to his head and smiled.

"No hard feelings then" Marcus said as he smiled and chuckled to himself. John then gave in and let the gun down. He then stared at Marcus and frowned at him. "Aww, you don't want to kill me" said Marcus in a childish voice. Then John looked at him again.

"I do want to kill you" said John and he took a step back. Then he turned back to where Applebloom was and Marcus then shuffled over to the ladder. John looked back to Marcus and watched him get down the ladder, and then Marcus started to run into the obis. John watched him and then turned back to Applebloom. He found it was locked but locks were not a problem around him. He pulled out his shotgun and blew the lock up. Then he opened the cage and pulled Applebloom out.

"You came for me" she said as she let out some tears of joy.

"I would always come for you" John said as the two embraced in a long hug. The two were letting out tears and John the opened his eyes to see Andrew come up the stairs. He then stood up and walked over to Andrew.

"You did a good job here" said Andrew.

"Couldn't have done it without you, friend" said John as he shook Andrews hand. Then Andrew looked out on the obis and saw Marcus running away.

"Shouldn't we stop him" said Andrew. John the put Applebloom on the floor and looked out at Marcus.

"Yes we should" John said as he pulled out his bow and he got an arrow out. He pulled back on the string and held it in line with Marcus. Thoughts were running through his head and memories of people were around. He funnelled this energy into his draw and he lifted the bow. He then softly spoke "Thank you" and he let the string go. The string flew forward and the arrow was propelled. The arrow flew over the obis and curved down. Then it was directly in the right place to hit Marcus and the arrow went through the back of his knee. Marcus then fell over and started screaming in agony as he looked at his bleeding knee.

"You two go back to the car, come and meet me in a few minutes" said John as he went over to the ladder. He then climbed down the ladder and the other two walked back to the car. John then was on the ground and he looked at Marcus who was on the ground. John then ran over to him but then walked the last ten meters. He looked down at Marcus who was unaware of John presence.

"No matter how far you run, No matter how hard you hide, the fury of justice will always find you" John spoke and Marcus looked up to him.

"You shall burn in hell" Marcus shouted as he looked up in rage at John.

"It's quite the opposite, Marcus, you will" said John as he pulled out his pistol and shot two bullets into Marcus's head. The body of Marcus jolted a bit before it finally fell dead. John took a long look at the dead man and then saw the car with Applebloom and Andrew coming. He then walked over to the road and looked at the approaching car. The car came to a stop in front of him and he got in. He sat down and Applebloom jumped on his lap. He then stoked her and looked at the road ahead. The journey was almost at an end and he had Andrew to thank for it.

The car dove on into the distance and the three survivors were on their way to the new lands. John had found new friends and had made new enemies as he went on in life. He had a man that he could trust with his life and a re-enforce friendship with Applebloom. Their journey now takes them to the new lands where new dangers and wonders are to unfold. When they get there, well, that's another story.