> Fallout Equestria Dead Road
>  by Blake Connors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Fallout Equestria Dead Road Introduction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My mother was just a slave, a toy for the others to use. Sky, a Reaper, bought her to be his and to use her as he wished. For better or worse, she was at least safe. No raider would dare to touch her. After a year she got pregnant; I was born the colt son of a reaper. Five years was all it took; he told my mother he couldn’t get attached to anything, not us or anyone else. He sold us to a slaver down near Hoofington. That was the last time I ever saw him.


An old buck bought me and my mother to work for him. He worked for a caravan called Nickels. I never really understood the meaning behind the name. My mother always taught me everything: reading, speaking, and writing. She had tons of magazines for me to read. She would spend the caps she got from caravan work to buy new ones. She wanted me to be smart and strong. I loved her more than anything in this fucked up world. 


Then the day came. It was a day that I have never forgotten, nor will I ever forget.  The owner of the caravan was drunk, and I, like always, was alone in a tent reading. Unlike my mom, I wasn’t much help with caravan work. She was tough, but me… I was just a seven-year-old colt. There wasn’t much I could do. He got in and laid down beside me. At that time, I was so innocent that I didn’t know better. He was touching me, sliding his hoof along my body. I remember looking at him, seeing that face staring at me with those wanting eyes as my mother walked in. She had her gun ready. 


“Get away from him, now!” she yelled.


He turned his head toward my mother, “Oh? Did the slave forget her place?” 


“Don't touch him!” she pleaded. “Do anything you want with me, but don't you dare touch him.”


“What's wrong momma?” I asked. 


The old stallion had a wicked grin on his face. “Don’t touch him? Or what?” he asked rhetorically. “Go back to your post slave. I've got things to do here.”


As soon as he touched me again, I heard a loud bang. The stallion fell on top of me, blood dripping all over my body. My mother rushed and picked me up. More ponies came to check what happened, but we escaped through the back of the tent. They chased after us, firing their weapons toward us. Suddenly, I heard my mother yell. She had been shot in the side. 


I remember, we eventually stumbled upon a bunch of ponies wearing armor. They almost shot us too, but when they saw me, they had… maybe a change of heart. Sadly, it was too late . My mother fell to the ground and so did I. She lost a lot of blood and wasn’t going to make it. I cried over her, but all she did before she passed was put a bloody hoof on my cheek, look into my eyes, and say:


“Live... don’t give up… just live ...”


After that, I was taken in by the Steel Rangers. A scribe, by the name of Cable, took care of me. At first, I didn’t want to do anything except cry. He was patient, he waited a few days for me to calm down. I told him everything; he promised me he would keep me safe, and I believed him. Then, I joined the young colts and fillies in training. I was the best one in class. They were impressed by my knowledge on firearms and arcane science. Years passed , and I turned twelve. I was a cadet-in-training going on missions to retrieve technology alongside Cable. However, if there’s one thing that I have learned in this wasteland, it is that nothing lasts forever. 


There had been a war in Hoofington , for many years, between the Reapers and the Steel Rangers. I knew this because of my father. He was one of them, and now I was in the middle of all of it. I saw Cable dead on the ground beside me. The others started to flee. I couldn’t run, move, or even breathe; it was like I was stuck inside an endless loop. First my mother and now this. Then a grenade exploded next to me, sending me flying inside a broken building. The world became dark. I remember waking up several hours later with a Radroach nibbling on my hoof.

“I’m alive,” I thought to myself, after getting up and kicking the bug away from me. I limped towards the broken window and took a good look outside. It was a disaster; bodies upon bodies laid dead on the floor, steel rangers and reapers alike. I began to shake. I sat there for a couple of minutes trying to calm down, then I made my decision.  I left. Day after day, running away, hiding, stealing, killing. This wasn’t living, this was surviving. Until one day, when I crossed paths with this old pony who had caught me stealing from him. He was an old stallion with an eye patch covering one eye. He stood, up looked at me, then he laughed and sat back down.


“Well now, ya sure got some balls there,” he said. 


“Huh? Aren’t you mad?” I asked


I saw that he was actually smiling. It was weird at first, but then he looked at me.


“Nah. There ain’t no reason fer me t’be upset,” he said. “Too old fer this shit anyway. What’s your name, kid? 


He tossed a can of cram near and stared waiting. I took the can and sat beside slowly. 


“I’m… Zeek,” I said.


“Well ain’t that a name, huh? Well buck, my name is…” he paused for a moment. “Damn, well the Reapers call me Eyepatch.”


I could see why. He removed the eye patch and showed his blind eye.


“Ah… I see... you’re a Reaper?” I asked. 


“Eeyup, I’ve been a reaper for about thirty years from now,” he said. “I just kept t’myself most of the time. Hell, I did enough already to this fucked up world.” 


I open the can gingerly and looked at it for a moment, thinking about what he just said.


“My... father was a Reaper…” I said.


He looked at me for a moment then shrugs.


“Well ain’t that something?” Eyepatch said. “I might’ve known’em what was his name? 


“Sky.” 


He touched his chin then his ears perked up. 


“Well shit,” he said with a chuckle. “Skyline that ol’ bastard, you’re his son ain’t ya?”


I nodded and began to eat already waiting for the worse 


“That som’bitch left a long time ago. The others call him a traitor. He left for Manehattan a few years ago. Some folks said he died, some said he ran away, and other folk just don’t really give a fuck,” he said as he looked off into the distance. “Hell, Big Daddy almost sent Deus an’ Rampage after him. The only reason he didn’t was ‘cause it be too much trouble just for one coward who ran away.” 


He looked at the campfire with a sigh then he turned to me.


“Yeah… he left me and my mother. He sold us to a slave trader.”


He looked up to the cloudy sky and sighed as if he was thinking on something. Then, he got up and showed his hoof.


“Want to become a Reaper Zeek?” he asked.


I stared at him, grabbed his hoof, and stood up.


“How? Is... is that even possible?” I asked.


“Eeyup. Honestly, now you’re just helping an old stallion in dealin’ with his sins,” He said. 


“What?” 


“T’become a Reaper, you’ll have to kill one.” 


I knew what he meant, “oh…”


“Now... What do you say? Would ya like t’take my place in this wasteland and bring hell to that old bastard of a father of yours?” he asked.


“Yeah... I do.”


With that we headed to their base. On the way he taught me about the Hoofington Reapers. We arrived at their base in the Hoofington Arena. Eyepatch talked to Big Daddy, the leader of the Hoofington Reapers, and told him what we were going to do. He looked at me for a moment and just shrugged. He said it had to be a fair fight, and I had to fight him for real. Eyepatch was the only friend I’ve found after Cable died, and now I had to kill him. Then it happened, the fight began. He slashed his knife at me and managed to cut my face right at my eye, blinding me. After a few missed slashes, I saw an opening and got a clean cut right through his throat. Blood spray from his neck wound. I wanted to make it stop and tried to do so, but it was too late. I laid him down on the ground as the others watched and cheered. I looked at the kind old stallion’s face and saw that he was smiling at me, as if thanking me. Now, I became the new Eyepatch, the one-eyed Reaper of Hoofington . 


It has been a few years; I’ve done lots of things. I’ve helped Big Daddy and Deus with a few missions here and there. I kept my head low, only acting when I could. I mostly just did jobs I could handle. Slowly I became stronger, more dangerous, more aggressive. I was a killer, the embodiment of a Reaper. One day, Deus brought me a new mission. Apparently, I would help him invade a Stable. Now, the question I had was: Why? Why would we raid a Stable?

I overheard something about a file, EC1101. Apparently, a ghoul that arrived a few years ago needed this file for some big project. His name is Sanguine. So I helped, we attacked Stable 99. Although, it was mostly the raiders that Deus gathered. I stayed next to the entrance to make sure things were okay. Then, I heard shooting big guns and the sound of explosions. Then a white mare in stable armor ran out along with a blue buck. We chased after them, but they got away. Deus told me along with some others to return to the arena and inform Sanguine about the mission. I did what he asked and that was that. 


Before long, I heard news about my father. Apparently, my old man was still alive in Manehattan. So I asked Big Daddy if I could go after him, and he gave me permission. I left Hoofington to go after my father.  I have to admit, leaving Hoofington was a breath of fresh air. The downside of it was that I couldn’t ask for help.  The reapers wouldn’t help me. I was on my own from here on out. 


I arrived in this city, compared to Hoofington , this place was kinda easy to get through. It ain’t as dangerous, nevertheless I kept a low profile. From the information I had gathered, I knew I was looking for a town called The Slums. My old man helped build the place, so my only guess is that he was still there. I eventually found the town. I have to admit the place has seen better days. There wasn’t a whole lot here besides a bar, a few trading posts, and a building. The building looked like a very old hospital from the pre-war days. I got inside and met a pretty mare named Needle. She was a very strong mare, always serious about her job, but one thing shocked me the most. I knew her and she knew me. She was a steel ranger from back when I was a cadet. 


“No fucking way. Is that really you Zeek?” she asked.


“I suppose… I mean yeah, but…”


What am I saying? After all, my name is Zeek. I just want to forget my old self from back then and not think about it. I then just nodded at her like an idiot. She came over to me and hugged me. I didn’t know what to do besides return the gesture. It was the least I could do for her.


“Yeah... it has been a while, hasn’t it?” I said. 


“Are you kidding me?!” she yelled. “You disappeared after the... after what happened you just vanished. All I found was Cable… laying there.”


Please, I just want to forget that. I don’t want to think about it; not now, not ever.  She caught my gaze, and she could see in my eyes that I didn’t want to talk about the subject with her. I looked hurt. 


“Anyway... I’m glad you’re alive, that's all that matters right now,” she said.


She finished unpacking a small box with a few med-x syringes and stared at me for a moment, as if she was considering something.


“So... with that out of the way,” she said. “What brings you here in The Slums, Zeek?


“I’m looking for a pony,” I said, taking a look around the clinic. Her clinic was full of medical supplies that were perfectly stacked on the shelfs, a few books of medicine, and first aid kits. She let out a sigh of annoyance, levitated another box, and opened it.


“There’s a lot of ponies here, Zeek,” she said. “You’ll have to be more specific.” 


I paused, looking at her for a moment, then I sat down beside her. She stopped to look at me. 


“I’m looking for Skyline,” I said.


She snorted, closed the box, and put it back on the shelf with her magic. Boy, I sure am jealous of unicorns and their magic.


“He’s long gone, Zeek,” she said. “But why him if you don’t mind me asking? Does he owe you anything? That’s how it usually goes in this town.” 


“He’s my father, Needle, and I want to find him.”


She was about to grab another box but almost dropped it. I caught it with my hoof and looked her in the eyes. Her gaze met mine and she was in shock, it was as if I slapped her across the face. 


“You’re his son? Please… tell me this isn’t a fucking joke?” she asked.


“Why else would I be here, Needle?”


She sat down hard and stared at me for a long time, as if she was studying me. 


“Well… unless the other buck who arrived two days ago is lying. I believe you, because apparently now Sky has two sons,” she said.



I blinked for a moment trying to understand what she was saying.


“You see, two days ago we sent out a small group of raiders,” she said. “We offered a bounty of two thousand caps for Sky’s head, but when they arrived at his camp… Well, the place was a complete mess and absolutely destroyed, all they found was a single pony. The pony was his son and he said sky was dead; he kept apologizing and said he had no choice but to kill Sky.” 


She noticed my look. With a sigh, she went over to me and patted me on the shoulder softly. 


“He’s locked up now. Our boss here will decide what to do with him for killing Sky,” she said. “You should have seen him when he arrived, he was pretty beat up. I take it that the bounty hunters weren’t really happy about him killing Sky. He’s all patched up now though... I can take you there if you want.” 


I lean against the wall. This wasn’t fair, I was supposed to be the one, damnit! I trained for years and now... Sky is dead. I bottled up that hate for years and it was all for nothing. 


“Sure,” I said. “Take me to this… buck you’re talking about.”
> Fallout Equestria Dead Road Chapter 1 Scars
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FALLOUT EQUESTRIA DEAD ROAD


“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity”. -Gilda Radner

Stories are told in many different ways, shapes, and forms. They are told through movies, songs, books and even spoken between people. 


CHAPTER 1


SCARS 


I pulled up a chair and I sat on that it. I stare at a pony that was a shadow image of myself. He was a green earth pony with a purple mane and tail. No… now that I look at it, it is clear that it’s dyed. I could see the remaining parts of a black mane underneath. Also, he wasn’t an earth pony, like me, but a unicorn with a very strange horn. It was very small in comparison to a normal unicorn horn. He had bruises all around his body. He was not looking at me, he didn’t dare to.  


All he said was, “I’m sorry.”


We were inside a dark room in the basement. The light from the candles hardly cut through the darkness. On the walls of the room there were a few old cabinets with old books scattered about. The pony before me still wouldn’t look me in the face. This was beginning to really get on my nerves, but I remained calm for a moment and tried to start conversation. 


“What's your name?” I asked.


That finally got him to look at me. His purple eyes staring into my own. I knew that look, pain, rage, and sorrow; a mix of feelings held together like glue. I could see that he was trying not to break down in front of me.


“Stone… my name’s Stone Mud,” he said softly

He trembled as he looked down again. I leaned against the chair trying to look less threatening to the buck, but that doesn’t seem to work. He stared back at me with that empty gaze and eyes red, probably from all the crying.


“You’re… the leader here? Where am I?” he asked while taking his eyes off me and examining around the room.


Like Needle said, he got here two days ago. Maybe he was out cold for a while and just now he was finally able to take a look around his surroundings.


“No, I’m not. I’m just passing through,” I said while tapping the table with my hoof. I looked at him for a moment. Then, he looked back at me and placed his front hoofs on top of the desk. He then showed me the metal chains attached from the floor to his hoof-cuffs, which were clamped tightly around his hoofs.


“Ah, I see. Why are you wasting your time with me then? Wouldn’t you have better things to do?” He asked while trying to wave his hoof. However, the chain made it uncomfortable, so he stopped right away. I’ve got to admit that it made me smile for a moment. The sight of him trying to be ballsy was very interesting. He reminded me of myself a few years ago, right after meeting that old buck when I tried to steal food from him. 


“Because you know a certain pony and I’m after him,” I said. 


He was about to speak but I cut him off by raising a hoof. He looked at me for a few seconds and stopped. I could tell he was interested to hear the rest of it.


“Sky, I believe you knew the bastard,” I said.


He stared at me with a look of complete disgust. I got up slowly from the chair and that seemed to make him move away from the table a bit. I looked back at him but continued to talk as I did.


“I’ll take that as a yes then. So Stone Mud, right? Well my name is Zeek, Zeek Sky,” I said, while walking around the room.


Then, I stopped next to him and leaned over placing a hoof on his shoulder. The stallion went stiff as a rock, locked into place. 


He slowly turned to face me and said, “Why… he’s dead anyway. If you wanted to kill him, I’m sorry… I…”


Blam! With my hoof I slammed his face against the table. Blood gushed out from his muzzle. Why am I doing this? The question kept spinning in my head over and over again while I slammed his face repeatedly. Was I mad? Was I losing it again? Tears slid down my cheeks. Yes, now I got my answer. Needle burst into the room, pulled me away from him, and shoved me against an old desk.


“What the hell are you doing?!” She yelled while checking up on stone, who was now bleeding from the nose and mouth.


I was laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. All of that work, coming here to find out the bastard was dead. My mother, oh mom how much I wanted to make him pay for what he did to you. Needle make stone drink a healing potion. He did so and she walked over to me.


“Are you going to answer or what?” she said.


Needle kicked my side, but I didn’t reply. I didn’t care at this point. Then stone got up, sat down next to her, and said with a soft voice.


“He hurt you to, huh?  Just like me... you wanted to kill him, and I took that from you,” Stone said.


Groaning, I sat up slowly and touched my side with a hoof while staring at Needle. She snorted and said with a small smile on her face, “Don’t act like you didn’t deserve it mate.”


With a sigh, I looked at Stone. There was something about him though, I couldn’t put my hoof on it but there’s something different about him.


“Yeah... you took that from me. He was my father,” I said. “And from what I’ve heard he’s also yours.”


His eyes widened while staring at me but now he seemed to notice. We did look alike, green fur, black hair and tail, and purple eyes. But unlike him I was an earth pony.


“So… you’re my brother then,” he said.


I nodded. I couldn’t lie to him, there was no reason to. For as long I can remember I was alone. Even when my mother was around, I felt alone. Day after day growing up in that steel rangers base, I felt that loneliness. However, apparently Sky had found another mare to screw with and Stone came into this world. Just to fuck up with me.


“So… Stone, right? I just wanna say thanks,” I said while getting up. “I guess we have a whole lot to talk about, huh?”


He just looked at me with a half-smile.


“If they don’t kill me that is,” he said.


“I won’t let that happen. And besides, you’re the only family I have left. Also, I’m a Reaper,” I said.


Needle cover her mouth with her hoof in disbelief, and Stone just stared at me for a moment. I couldn’t tell if he was worried or impressed by what I just said, but I couldn’t blame him. Though a lot has happened to me because of my father, and I was dying to know what Skyline did to Stone. 


“You... became a Reaper? But you left Hoofington, did big daddy let you leave?” Needles asked with concern.


I just nodded. She first was a had an expression that said, “no way,” and then another that said, “you could be in danger.” But who was I kidding, I didn’t care. 


“So stone, mind telling me your story,” I said. “And how Skyline the Reaper destroyed your life as well.” 


“Sure, I guess. I have nowhere to go. Just about lost everything and everypony I cared about. Since I’m stuck here, I might as well. Now where do I start”. 



--------Few years ago in the Manehattan Ruins. --------



-------POV: Stone Mud -------



Raiders walked about holding their guns and guarding a few slaves that were scavenging a few houses. My father Skyline was in charge of the operation. He owned the slaves in this group, and I… well I was his chew toy. My name is Stone Mud. I was born in a raider camp. However, it was more of a slave camp if you think about it. What we’re doing right now is our daily routine of scavenging. The slaves need food after all, so I helped. I helped more slaves than anypony else, although some of them still hate me. Couldn’t blame them. I was the son of the leader after all. Whenever I brought them food, they would glare at me and sometimes even push me away. I was just a young colt back then. 

My father made sure to teach me the hard way of things, and how fucked up the world was. He made me watch... all the mares he raped. The beatings… oh how I hated it. He would kick me and beat me. I hated him. I wanted it all to stop. If I cried, I would get a beating, or he would use a whip. I hated the whip, but things were about to change. On this day, in this scavenging daily routine a pony would change my life forever. 


“Stone?!?” Skyline yelled, “For fuck’s sake, where the hell are you?”


A loud voice came from behind me, and the slaves started to look around even faster. I just got away from the group and walked in front of him.


“Yes Da… I mean sir! Yes sir?!?“ I said.


I looked up at him with a big smirk on my face to show how tough and brave I was. I had to be what I needed to be.


“Why the hell are you smirking?” He asked aggresively. “Enjoying your slave work? Want to be like them?”


He laughed and the other raiders join in the laughter. I just looked down. Maybe I wanted to be like them, be bought and maybe get away from you, from all this shit. Maybe some good pony would buy me and help me or take good care of me. Then a hoof hit my face, and I fell rolling on the floor. I got up trembling and spat a bit of dirt.


“I told you about moping around Stone, now get you little stupid flank up!” he yelled. “I’ve got a job for you, come here.” 


I wiped the blood from my nose and trotted over to him. He walked, and I followed while looking back at the raiders. They were still laughing but they quickly stopped when Sky glared back at them giving a look that said, “get back to work or else.”  We stopped by a small hole in the wall. Taking a look inside I could see a bunch of rubble. The ceiling that looked like it had fell, breaking most of the things inside.


“Well, guess what? Since you are so happy about work, I want you to crawl in there and see if you can find anything of worth,” he said. “We tried to open the damn door, but it looks like the rubble is blocking it. And that’s not all, look.”


He pointed at the hole, and now I could see the little hoof steps going inside of it. Some pony was living there, and probably a small one too. Most likely a foal. 


“What are you waiting for?!?” he shouted. “Get in there!”


“Y-yes sir!” I said quickly. 


I quickly got inside the hole and crawled in. The place was dirty, dust everywhere with destroyed furniture and old shelves hanging down. I followed the hoof tracks. Placing my hooves on them, I could tell they were my size. That just confirmed what I had assumed. Then, I slammed my face on the desk. I rubbed my muzzle and looked around. Then I froze. A little grey earth pony was staring right at me. He had a black mane and deep blue eyes. He was so skinny, and he looked tired. 


“H... hi? What are you doing here?” I asked softly and sat down in front of him.


He moved back away from me pressing his back against the wall.


“Hey, calm down I won’t hurt you I promise,” I said. “My name is stone mud. What’s your name?”


He calmed down a little and sat down in front of me and said quietly. 


“I’m... Nails,” he said cautiously.


No way this was happening. Maybe he could be my friend, maybe I could… Then reality kicked in and I heard my father call me.


“Stone! What’s taking you so damn long?!?” Skyline yelled.


“I’m coming!” I shouted back.


My smile faded away, and he stared at me. I looked down at my hoofs for a moment, not knowing what to do. What if I lie about this? Maybe he would believe me. I’ve never lied before. However if he found out later, it could be worse a lot worse. Now I’m stuck here, and I don’t know what to do with him.


“Found anything?!?” Skyline yelled.


I closed my eyes shut for a moment. Then, I opened them and stared at nails with a pity look and a sad smile form on my face. 


“Yes... I did sir,” I said.


Yeah, I know what you want to say, and I know… this is going to suck you fucking idiot.