First published
My name is Beatboxing Brass. I'm 19 years old. I have no experience with a weapon of any kind. Oh, and I'm going to the wastelands. I wonder how this will turn out.
Dark. That's what elder ponies would tell you if you asked them what the war looked like. Then, if you asked them what it looked like before the war they would say,"I wouldn't be able to remember. That was long ago,".
This is war. War never changes. Ponies always do.
Hey. My name is Beatboxing Brass. I'm 19 years old. I'm a singer. I'm a Pegasus. Also, I sometimes try a few jokes at times. Well, at least I know they're bad. I've never had any experience with any kind of weapon. I have a friend named Black Monsoon. He's an accomplished writer for our stable. Everypony loves reading his books. It seems they have nothing better to do.
We've been friends since fillyhood. That seems so long ago. Right now I'm trying to get on this stupid shirt!
"ARGH! DAMN THIS THING!" I yell.
I'm trying to get ready for this special party the stable holds every time a filly gets his or hers cutie mark. It seems it's such a big accomplishment, even though everypony get theirs eventually. I got mine when I was only 7 years old!! Then we used to only celebrate that stuff with our own family's. I think personally that was a smarter idea. Not have everypony kiss your flank just because you wanted to throw a party because you got your ass-mark. Anyway, Black Monsoon and I are probably just going to be sitting at a table. We'd probably be bored as hell too.
Sweet Celestia! Why can't we just go outside for once in our lives! It would be more fun then this waste-hole. Let me give you a tour, there's empty halls there and over there. Now we are passing the grey walls. Oh, look trash on the ground. Fascinating! *sigh* Why am I the lucky pony who gets to live down here? There's probably nice sunshine on the surface and beautiful rainbows. I know that sounds sappy but still it'd be better than this!
Once I get my shirt and tie on, I start walking down the hallway outside my room towards the gymnasium where the party is going to be held. I say going because,"All ponies are required to go to the assembly early to help set it up!" the overmare always says.
Thanks Sunset Blossom! Thanks a lot.
When I finally get to the gymnasium I discover that everypony is gone. I search around the hallways a bit until I come across everypony standing by the stable's vault door.
"What's going on! Is anything wr-" I'm cut off by somepony blurting out,"Black Monsoon's GONE!".
"Where?" I yell, "Where has he gone?!?!".
"Outside!" somepony yells surprised.
My heart sinks. How could he leave us? A better question is why? Why did he go? Why did he think leaving us was a good option? I gallop straight to my room. I throw my self on my bed.
"Ow!" I say while I start massaging my mussel.
I look down and I see Black Monsoon's PipBuck in front of me. Suddenly I pick it up. Holding it in my hooves it's cold to the touch. It seemed to have a recording on it. I play it.
"The way to open the stable door is on the control panel, turn the left dial right three times. Then, turn the right one left seven times. Please nopony follow me. I want to be alone. Thank you for everything Beatboxing. Bye," the familiar voice of my friend says.
I know what to do. I'll go after Black and bring him back. Heh, that rhymed. I gallop down the hallway around the corner then to the door. Nopony's there. Pathetic. They just lost one of them and they can't bother to stick around. I fly to the console. Turn the left dial right three times, then, I turn the right left seven times. The door slowly creaks open. Then I hear the overmare's voice.
"You don't have to go after him Beatboxing," She says.
"Yes I do!" I yell. Then I turn around and run out the door. Now it's everypony for themselves. I'm on my own.
When I finally stop running through the dark hallway, I turn around and see the heavy door to stable 35 slam shut. I'm alone. All by myself. I'm starting to believe that my plan wasn't so fool-proof. I turn on the light on my Pipbuck. All around me are the remains of over 15 ponies.
"Oh shit!" I say under my breath. It's horrifying. I try to shake it off and keep walking. I come to another door. Nowhere near the size of the stable door. Just big enough to be about the size of my bedroom door. Beyond it there's light shining. I trot up to it. When I open the door I see absolute destruction everything around me has been either burned, blown up, or hoof-destroyed. Why did you go out here Black? What is so appealing about being out here. Also, what I said earlier about it being sunny, well, can't say that anymore. The sky is a hazy brown. And I seem to be in some shop. I look at my Pipbuck to see my location. It says Quills and Sofas. Well, that's straight forward. I defiantly see burnt quills all over the floor and see what seems to be a few sofas. I start exploring. I think I'm in some kind of town. I look at my Pipbuck again and it says I'm in Ponyville. I was right, I was in a town. To no surprise whatsoever, I see more skeletons. Wow, this is... disturbing. Then I hear gunshot. BANG! I thought it might be Black Monsoon so I fly up to get an aerial view. Then a shooting pain goes through my right wing. I start to plummet towards the ground. Through the pain I spread my wings to slow the fall. When I hit the ground I look at my wing. It started to hurt more the second I looked. It was gushing blood. I blacked out. When I awaken I see a pony standing over me. It was Black Monsoon!
"Dude are you alright? I thought you were one of those raiders!" He says.
"Raiders? I've never heard of that. What is it?" I ask.
"Not it, who. You see, raiders are basically like those stories the older ponies used to tell us when we were fillies. You know the ones where ponies would eat other ponies," He explains.
"Is that where the bodies came from? Or were those always there?" I ask.
"Oh, those were always there. Also, I wrapped your wing. But, you should probably lay off it for now. I hope you like the place," He says. I sit up and look around. It looks like a castle. But could that be? There wasn't any stories about a fourth princess. Or was there? I never payed much attention in school.
"Dude are you okay? I heard a gunshot!" I ask.
"Yeah, I just killed another pony because they pulled a gun on me. Earth and pegasus ponies, they never see the levitate a gun behind you're back trick. No offense," He says.
"None taken," I say. We chuckle. I can't believe it. My friend is the one who accidentally shot me. Well, the way ponies find each other. AND DON'T TAKE THAT THE WRONG WAY!
"Dude, you should get to sleep. It's been a long day. It would be good if you got rest. I'll stand watch I've gotten used to it. I've been out here for three days. Just get some rest, you'll be okay," He says. That's the last thing I hear before I dose off.
I wake to the sound of gunshots.
It hurts my eardrums to listen. Then, I hear....
"Beatboxing get down! It's the raiders!" Black Monsoon yells.
With out thinking I duck under a nearby table. Then I hear yelling. A shotgun falls next to me. I cringe when it lands, half expecting it to go off when it hit the ground. Then, I realize if I take it, I'll be able to help Black. Then, I jump out from under the table and grab the gun and blast the pony next to me away. Thank Celestia it wasn't Black. It was a pony I had never seen before. His mane was matted to his neck with blood and sweat. His coat was filthy and his cutie mark was a shotgun dispensing a bullet after reloading. I was horrified when I saw the scene. This gut was burst with his blood poring onto the floor. I gagged.
"How did you do that?!?! My first kill was a day after I arrived! Even then, I hesitated before pulling the trigger!" He asks.
"I-I-I d-don't know," I say still in shock.
"Well, thanks for saving my plot. I owe you one," He says, "But I think it's time we leave this castle. Don't you?".
"Hell yeah!" I say as we start to trot out of the castle. When we get outside I turn around I get a good look at it. It had a light blue base that had the design of a tree. At the top it was mostly purple yet damaged. It seemed at least 200 years old. When we looked ahead we saw a exploded tree. We couldn't tell if had exploded before the war or during it. We had encountered a few raiders along the way but nothing serious enough to hurt us much. Nothing but scrapes and bruises. We've made it out okay and are ready to look a home. But, before we can get ready to camp for the day, we see another pony. He seems to be in distress.
"Hey! Need any help!?" I ask.
"Run! The bots are coming!" the mysterious pony says running between us.
"We look the way the pony was coming from. There were robots running toward us. Oh shit.