When he had awoken, he didn't know who he was. All he had was the scattered thoughts in his head and no sense of belonging in the world. Maybe, with the help of an enthusiastic filly that has found him, he can find his identity.....and his past.
When a large unicorn stallion awoke, he was trapped under a building with a little happy filly carrying a brand on her flank trying to wake him up. He didn't know his name, his past, nothing. The only sense of guidance he had was the silhouette of a mare accompanied by random words and unknown knowledge in his head. He wants to find his identity, his past, everything about him.
With the filly by his side, the siren call of the mare in his head, and the need to satisfy his constant questioning, our mysterious stallion will pursue every clue and every lead to find out about his past.
But....can a stallion that doesn't know who he is, barely knows what he is, and shouldn't know the path to take on a long road of vengeance be able to keep himself from losing his only sense of identity to the Wasteland and to the secrets that have been kept from him.
(Expect some heavy editing. I still need to fine tune the story, cause I'm pretty sure that it will seem typical and stereotypical at first, but there's a good storyline behind this. It'll just take some editing to get that threaded in.)
Memories.
Even thinking back to where we have heard the word before is a memory. It's an unconscious motion that we all do, no matter what we do. Of course, everypony should have memories. The memories of a beloved family member, the memories of your favorite food. Those usually qualify as common memories that your average pony, or zebra, or even griffon usually have. You even have memories of your first kiss with that one you loved, which fills you with the feelings of warmth, love, and happiness, or you can can have a precious memory of being married with that one you love.
But there is also a side of memories that many of the cheated, heartbroken, and breaking individuals are all too familiar with. The image of catching your lover in bed with your best friend, accompanied by the feeling of betrayal and broken trust that you experienced, the remembrance of a mother or father or even child that passed away before there time was up, with the result being that you feel sad, empty, and alone.
The Ministries had played with the notions of memories, using technology and spells to play with them as though they were some sort of storybook. The Ministry of Morale had even used their resources to copy and even extract a memory. Some called this a revolutionary movement, being able to scan and take the memory of somepony accused of a crime in order to get a conviction. They could even store them for later viewing, calling them 'memory orbs'. But those that had this process done to them without their consent and against their will have called this stealing and an invasion of privacy that everypony is entitled to. It's too bad that nopony had any rights where the Ministry of Morale was concerned.
These are what a memory can be, good or bad. But what happens when you are a fresh slate, not remembering what you were before. Foals have the added benefit of not knowing their first memories and living a comfortable life of love and care, and they just draw on common sense that they experienced when younger to solve a situation.
How about an adult? Somepony at that age where you are regarded as being something of notice? What can they do when they are expected to act on something and to carry out the consequence on their shoulders, when they don't have those memories to fall back to?
Can they survive in the world? Can they protect the ones they care or love for?
Sometimes the Wasteland can be a strange place to practice such unusual circumstances.
XXXX
"Hey.....Hey Mister...."
I felt a dull throbbing in my ears as though my senses were turning on for the first......maybe they were.
"You okay mister?"
Who's trying to wake me? I actually feel rather comfortable lying on my stomach, a heavy weight pressing into my back. Not sure why my back burns though. Maybe it's the weight.
"I know you're awake mister. You're breathing. And you aren't bleeding anywhere either."
I might as well try to open my eyes, if I can. No point in keeping the one talking to me waiting. I grunted and slowly opened my eyes. My vision was all blurry, the only thing standing out of the greys, blacks, and glowing green was a white mass that had greys and blacks coming out of it. The figure moved and my vision filled entirely with white, two blobs of icy blue staring into me. I tried to pull back, but only felt resistance from the weight on my back. My eyes started to clear up better, now that I had a chance to blink them a few times.
The two insistent blue orbs were still looking into mine. "Hey mister. You alright? It must really hurt being under all that.....floor."
Floor? I shifted my head, hearing the popping of my neck as I looked at my back. My eyes may have been blurry, but I could still make out the huge clumps of wood and beams on my back. I turned back at the white mass, blinking my eyes to clear them better. I shifted and moved my forelegs, relieved that they weren't trapped. I rubbed my eyes and squinted.
Standing before me was a little filly, covered in a coat of dirtied white fur with a shaggy black and gray striped mane, with her bangs pulled back and making it look like she had a long mohawk. Her eyes were the orbs I saw. She had on a pair of tattered brown saddlebags that looked out of place on her. She was smiling at me. "Hey mister, glad you're not dead. But just in case...", she reached into her saddlebags and brought out a bottle of swirling purple liquid.
Before I could voice a 'what', she bit off the top and shoved the opened end into my mouth, making me choke down a bottle of a bittersweet liquid that made me cough once she pulled it away. "Whoa, careful mister." I grunted, but then sighed. I could feel my body energizing and all my sores get better.
My vision was now stark and I could see clearly. I was in some sort of room, the walls of concrete lacking any real decoration. There were some desks and, if I'm guessing right, some terminals.
How did I know what they were?
The filly was still watching me curiously, the smile still on her face. It relaxed me for some reason. "What's your name mister?" The question caught me off guard as I looked back at the filly. "My name?" She giggled and her smile widened. "Yeah mister, everypony has a name! What's yours?"
I looked down at the floor. My name? I tried to think back, but I couldn't bring anything up. It was nothing but blackness and words, words I couldn't understand, as though they were being whispered from another room.
A pony. A petite mare to be exact. A petite mare being shadowed by the bright lights ahead of her. I couldn't see where she was, who she was, but all I could see was the mare and the light.
I was brought back from my thoughts by the filly sitting next to me, resting a hoof on my head. I couldn't complain, it actually felt a little nice... "I...I don't know." I choked out, my voice sounding like rough sandpaper on a tin can.
She was tilting her head as she looked at me. "You don't know? But everypony has a name mister." She was giggling. I wasn't feeling the same though. I felt, like something in me was missing. She tapped me on the head to get my attention. She was wearing a sad smile. "If it helps mister, I don't know my name either. Last thing I remember was waking up at what I think was my mommy's and daddy' house. I got up and walked around, then stayed there for a few days until I ran out of food. Decided to explore and look for food. That's why I'm here right now. It said 'restaurant' on the sign, so I thought there would be food in here. I've been doing this for weeks now."
She started playing with my ear, flicking it between her hooves. I wasn't really bothered. The filly was growing on me actually, because her cheery attitude felt like a breath of fresh air in this damp and grey basement. She continued,"That's when I found this big hole in the floor and found you. You looked lonely, and hurt, so I decided to stay when you woke up." That part made me stop. She waited in this possibly dangerous area, just for me? I couldn't stop myself from smiling.
That seemed to relax her, because now she looked to back to herself. She said,."Well, now that we got all that out of the way, I think we should get you out of there." I grinned. "My thoughts exactly, young one." She pouted at me in an adorable way as she moved over to a desk with a shattered terminal sitting on it. That's when I noticed her wings, and the strange burns on her flanks. A pegasus. I don't know why I knew that, but I did. Dashite. I knew that that's what she was, but I didn't know why. I felt the voices and words getting louder, making me fold my ears down in an attempt to block them.
"Hey, you alright mister? You don't look so good again." I looked back up at the filly. She carried a worried expression as she held a crowbar in her right hoof. I shook my head and gave a small smile, "Yeah, I'm fine, just...not really sure about myself is all." She gave me a skeptical look, but just shrugged as she slammed the crowbar into the wooden beams and began to pump the bar up and down. A few pieces of rubble loosened, causing the debris on my back to shift. I put my hooves under me and started to push up as she worked harder. The weight was heavy, but with all the pieces of wood and drywall that were falling from around me, I was getting out much more easily by the second.
With one final grunt, I pulled myself out from under the debris as the filly was knocked onto her back, the sudden weight making the crowbar fly up and knock her away. I chuckled as I finally stood up, groaning and stretching my limbs as the familiar sounds of my joints popping filled my ears. I stopped and took inventory of myself.
I had all four limbs, which was good. The protruding point on my forehead showed that I had a horn, meaning I was a unicorn. My coat was a pale tan and my mane and tail had grown long, with my mane being shaggier and greasier than than my tail. They were both a mixture of white and silver. I looked at a terminal monitor. I was tall, like REALLY tall. I stood probably a foot and a half higher than a normal pony. My eyes were a bright red, making me look like a spirit.
I chuckled at myself. Me, a spirit? Only in crazy stories told by others...I think so anyways.
"Wow, you're taller than I expected." I glanced down at the filly, a mixture of awe and something else in her eyes. I gave a small laugh, which resulted in her pouting again. She started for the stairs that were ahead of us, the aging steps made of stone and wood groaning underneath her hooves. I quickly followed after her, my steps unsteady from laying on the ground for too long. The steps groaned louder under my hooves. I may have been built lithe, but I was still carrying more weight than a normal pony.
The steps ended in a thin and short hallway that was made of aging plaster and drywall. We exited the hallway and came into a kitchen that likely belonged to the restaurant. It was stained and covered in debris, from discarded plates that were shattered into pieces on the floor to old moldy food that had gone bad a long time ago sitting on the tables. The filly was running around the kitchen, looking through cabinets and pulling out drawers, scattering more debris onto the floor and shifting through it. Every time she came across something that looked interesting, she would put it into her saddlebags and move on.
"What are you doing?" She looked at me as though I just asked why she was a filly and not a colt. "Scavenging, duh. A caravan route goes by my house, so I find what I can and sell 'em for caps. You see," She grabbed a large kitchen knife and waved it in front of me. "A knife like this will sell twenty caps, easy." She swung it and it went cleanly through a chunk of rotten vegetables on a tabletop. "Especially one this sharp." She deposited it in her saddlebags and went on with her scavenging. I simply followed her, not sure what to do with myself.
It took her awhile, but we were finally able to leave the kitchen and out to the eating area. The area was trashed as well, upturned tables and discarded food and dishes everywhere. I was surprised that none of it had fallen in the giant hole that was in the middle of the floor. I almost didn't notice the filly go over to a large vending machine that looked very old, rust growing on the metal parts and the logo faded with it's light flickering. Sparkle~Cola was displayed on the front. The filly tapped the front a few times before pulling the crowbar out again. She grunted and slammed the crowbar into the side and began pumping it side to side, hoping to open the machine. I couldn't help but grin at her lack of progress. "Need some help?" She glared at me. "No." She grunted more and her movements became much more desperate. With a clang and a yelp, the crowbar slipped out of the wedge and she fell back onto her rump with the metal tool resting on the other side. I grinned wider, and she pouted, her cheeks puffing out in a really adorable way.
She mumbled something and waved a hoof. I grinned and went over to the crowbar. It felt awkward to grab it with my hooves, and there was no way I was going to use my mouth, because I didn't want to know what the filly's been stepping in. The tan protrusion from my forehead reminded me that I had magic.
Okay....how did it work again?
I grumbled and tried to remember, but again, all I got was nothing coherent. Guess I had to try to learn myself on how to use telekinesis. I closed my eyes and concentrated.
Nothing.
I grunted and tried again to think of a way to activate my magic, but nothing was working. I opened my eyes to see the filly leaning against the machine, her forelegs crossed and a smug grin on her face. I narrowed my eyes. "What?" She just looked somewhere else, whistling a little tune to herself. I said in a rather loud voice,"You think this is easy?" I stamped a hoof and glared at her. "I may not remember how the hell I got down there, but I KNOW that magic isn't easy!" I snatched up the crowbar and waved it in her face. "It's not like 'poof, here you go'. It takes concentration and focus to do it!"
She was still grinning smugly at me. "Why are you smiling like that?!" I yelled indignantly. She pointed at the crowbar that was coated in a tan aura.
I blinked, then felt my ears burn as she still flashed that smug grin, her eyes half-lidded. She tapped the machine. I grunted and slammed the crowbar's end into the wedge that separated the machine's front cover. I grunted and began to work on the crowbar, until a clang and snap sounded and the cover flew open, the insides showing. The inner workings had either rusted over from disuse or something else, but there was still some bottles of some kind of soft drink in a glass bottle. The labels showed that these were bottles of Sparkle~Cola, just like the machine had advertised.
The filly took the five remaining bottles out of the machine put them in her bags, but kept two of them out. She pulled of the caps, putting them in a separate pouch on her saddlebags, and gave me a bottle. She gulped down a mouthful and sighed. She looked up at me expectantly. I gently took it in my hoof and lifted it, taking a sip.
My mouth was filled with a lukewarm, yet sweet and flat carroty flavor that made me gulp it down before taking another and another. I was panting by the time I finished the whole bottle. The filly spoke,"That good huh? Well, if we come across anymore, I'll share with you. Just don't drink them all." My ears burned again as she gave another smile, giggled, and practically skipped away. She may have been older than a usual filly, if her somewhat awkward looking legs were any sign, but she still acted like one.
I placed the empty bottle back into her saddlebags, with her not seeming to mind, and we both walked into the entrance of the restaurant, the door completely gone. I had didn't really have to shield my eyes this time from the light, but I still had to squint.
All around us, nothing but runes and collapsed buildings, the wreckage of sky carriages littering the road. A small wind blew as I gazed out into the decimated environment ahead of us. It was the apocalypse's aftermath, and I was dead-on with the guess.
"Where the hell are we?"
The filly still grinned at me. "You really do have amnesia if you can't even remember all of this. Even I knew what this blown up hell is called." She waved a hoof in a grandiose fashion at the world ahead of us.
"Welcome to the Wasteland! Hope you survive your stay!"
What is instinct? That can be something debated by a room full of ponies until the sun goes down and the moon goes up. Instinct has been described as a basic impulse, an impulse that is programmed into everything that is considered 'sentient, with that impulse telling us what we are to do when given a certain scenario. It is our innate behavior, our fixed action pattern to those scenarios.
Eating, for example, is instinct. The second a sentient being feels the sensation of hunger, they will modify their goals so that food becomes their end result of a task, and if there is no food present, they will find a means to achieve it. Early equines and herbivores were lucky, for they could just eat the grass for nutrients and to satisfy hunger, but those that were carnivores were forced to hunt for their food.
When in this wasteland of Equestria, everyone had evolved their way of obtaining food, from stealing it out from another one's nose to killing for it, from scavenging food from the ravaged, skeletal remains of structures to working for food as a reward.
Reproduction is another instinct. To make a species successful, they have to increase their numbers, otherwise they die out quickly by predators or the elements. Nowadays it still seems like a recreational thing, though most know that back in old times, reproduction meant the survival of a family....of a tribe.....of a species....and out in this wasteland, it seems to have remained in the mindset that reproduction is still a recreation, with ponies, zebras, griffons, etc, almost afraid of it, for it meant bringing new life into this modern post apocalyptic hell.
Who would wish that on a child?
Finally...there is survival. Survival is what some think is our instincts as a whole, what we need in order for other instincts to be worth something to us. We fight to stay alive, or we retreat in hopes of escaping death. What more is there to say to survival, only that anypony could resort to every mean in hopes that they live another day.....even when sacrificing others.
With no memory to guide us, we can only learn....and learning is the result of instincts.
XXXX
I stood at the entrance of the restaurant, my eyes tracing over the destruction before us. The little filly beside me had chosen to stand against my foreleg, still carrying that smile of hers. I was simply at a lost of what to say.
The road that passed the restaurant was cracked and almost taken over by the undergrowth of dead grass and weeds, the surrounding buildings crumpled and collapsed, with the only sign being the foundations of stone and broken wood. It looked like the area had been a busy part of the town, for there were trashed carriages and carts littering the roadway. I didn't bother to get a better look at the surrounding area as the filly started walking forward, me trotting after her.
I spoke with curiosity in my tone.
"What is this place?"
The filly gave a smile as she said, "I think this place was called Pleasant Hill, since there's a big sign at the entrance that says so." She stopped to pick up a worn box of what looked like cereal, the filly gagging and throwing it to the side. She continued, "I live in a house outside of the town's limits. I'm going there before it gets dark. You can come with if you want, since I'm pretty much on my own."
Something in me seemed to stir as I quickly moved closer to her. "Alone?" She looked back at me with a more forlorn look. "Yeah. Like I said in the basement, my parents are gone. When I woke up, I went outside and saw what I think was two tombstones. They didn't have anything on them, but there was chalk on them that said 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'...." She didn't look that upset, which seemed to bother not only me, but her as well. "I don't know why I can't remember them..."
I looked down at her in sympathy, the filly continuing, "All I really remember is waking up in that house, seeing those two graves outside, and," she gestured with a wing at the circled and crossed lightning bolt and cloud on her flank "this covering my cutie mark. It hurts a little to touch it..." I still looked at her in sympathy before giving a glance at my own flank in curiosity. I smiled back down at her. "If it makes you feel better, I don't even have a cutie mark."
She stopped and looked up at me in wonderment, suddenly flapping her wings and landing awkwardly next to me, poking a hoof at my pale tan flank. "Wow mister, you actually don't have a cutie mark! That's so weird!" I simply smiled at her and rolled my eyes, using my telekinesis to push her up front again. Even if she looked to be around a teenager's age, she still acted like a curious little filly.
I sighed before saying, "Why don't we get moving? I think we can figure things out once we're in a place that seems more...", I looked up at the cloudy sky, the sun visible for only a moment before the faint clouds covered it up, the grayness showing that it might rain soon "Comfortable."
The filly nodded as she took lead again, stepping over the debris of the carriages and leading us down the roadway. It would be a rather long walk of silence and caution until we were now outside of the average town, a large stone rock at the front greeting us with 'Welcome to Pleasant Hill. Enjoy your stay!". I threw one last glance at the ruined town before continuing on with the filly. My brow furrowed as some irritation crossed my mind. I really hope I learn what her name is soon.
XXXX
We arrived at her home after about ten minutes of walking, the house a rather nice two story building that was covered in peeling paint and makeshift repairs. It took a skilled craftspony to do this, I surmised. The filly led me inside, crossing the creaking porch and through the reinforced door, the side facing outside showing wood while the side facing inside was patched metal. The filly smiled faintly as I closed the door behind us. "I guess daddy was a pony that liked security. I haven't really seen any raiders around this area though." I looked down at her and tilted my head.
"Raiders?"
She frowned at me. "Raiders. You know: psychos, murderers, thieves, would rather shoot you and rob your corpse than even look at you. Even if they spoke to you, they'd likely torture you, kill you, or torture then kill you once the conversation was done." I gave a small shudder and looked at her funny. "You're....no offense, but you're pretty smart for a filly your age." She gave me an annoyed look. "I'm not a filly. As far as I know, I'm just short for my age." She stuck her tongue out at me and I gave a sheepish smile. She huffed and stood up straighter, but her muzzle showed a more smug grin. "You have to be smart in order to survive this place."
I nodded at her before looking around, seeing the various knick-knacks and small collectables. In a well worn and plush chair located near the center of the room was a book with tabs sticking out of it. It had the words 'Wasteland Survival Guide' on the front. The filly noticed my gaze and smiled, quickly running over and grabbing the book from the chair. "This is the book that helped me so much these passed few weeks." She opened it and flipped quickly through the pages. "It told me how to do things like salvage, scavenge, barter, cleaning a weapon, and other stuff. One of the caravaners from the last group a few days ago gave me this book for free, saying that someone from much farther east named 'Ditzy Doo' wanted it given out to other ponies."
I nodded absentmindedly at what she was saying as I opened the book, leafing through it until I reached the tab that marked the start of weapon maintenance. The filly was looking at a clock on the wall that looked like it was still working, a soft ticking noise heard. She smiled again. "I think the next caravan will be coming through in a few hours." She went over to a side table and opened the drawer, pulling out some stained pieces of paper and a folded map. "The caravaner that gave me the book also gave me this. I told him that I wanted to stay here in stead of going with him. It's a map of his caravan's route and the usual times it takes to travel to and from the spots." I put the book down and gently took the paper and map from her, looking them over.
It was written on what looked like a crudely drawn grid with landmarks and locations written down in spots, the path going in a complete circle. The route seemed to start at 'Riverbank', go past two small settlements to 'Horseshoe Pass', pass by a largely scribbled out area with 'DEATH' written in the center, stop at another settlement named 'New Roads', pass by Pleasant Hill to another settlement labeled 'Star City', and the circle was complete as it passed a landmark only called 'Station #221' and ended in Riverbank. The only thing that seemed to unnerve me was all of the scribbled areas with DEATH written in them, just like the spot passed Horseshoe Pass.
I looked down at the filly as I said,"Do you know what these scribbles mean? A lot of the routes are giving them a wide berth." The filly only scratched her chin before nodding and saying,"I think some of the guards said that those were bad places to be, and that I'm supposed to stay as far away from them as possible." She scratched her mane and smiled. "Muzzle Loader was very strict when he told me to never go near those areas." My curiosity was really peaked about the scribbles, a brow raising as I looked back at the map.
I'd have to question this 'Muzzle Loader' about the 'bad areas', if only to satiate my curiosity.
"Oh! I almost forgot to ask you something!" I looked back down at the filly, who was beaming at me with youthful energy. "I found a safe in what I think was my parent's room. It was behind a shelf. Are you any good with safes?" I tilted my head as my thoughts began to move fast again, some knowledge from I don't know where surfacing. Almost mechanically, I nodded and said, "I suppose I can see what I can do. Can you show me?" She smiled and nodded as she ran towards a staircase located near the back. I followed after her, taking my time to walk up the worn out, green carpeted steps in case my weight couldn't be held.
We both entered a simple hallway with a total of four rooms, one to the immediate left that looked to be an office space of some sort, a short hallway to the right with two rooms to the left, the first one possibly her parents' room, the one farther down likely the filly's room, and the door at the far wall a bathroom, since the door was open. She led me into her parents' room, the stained green carpet floor cleared of any debris and the bed rather neat. All of the garbage and junk had either been laid on a dresser near the bed or had been thrown into a wastebasket. My eyes traced over the tacky striped wallpaper to the small shelves holding more knick knacks. Despite the stains and unmatched furniture, the room seemed rather pristine, if I could guess. "Did you clean this room yourself?" The filly smiled sadly as she looked up at me, speaking softly, "Yeah...it just didn't feel right to leave it a mess..." She shook her head and led me to the shelf that was against the far wall, near the window. It had been pushed aside just enough for a filly her size to squeeze in. The safe itself seemed to be about average size, just enough to hold any important objects or documents. Beside it was a paper and dulled pencil, a series of numbers written down and patterns of numbers crossed out or erased.
I raised a brow at her. "Tried to crack it?" She flushed and nodded sheepishly as she said, "I couldn't find out where the combination was written down, if it was even written down at all, so I tried to figure it out...I wasn't even able to get the first number down before I gave up." I smiled softly and gestured for her to move aside. I sat down on my haunches as my horn glowed a strong tan color, the magic slowly reaching out and grabbing the dial. My head filled with knowledge as my telekinesis leeched into the pins and gears. I didn't know why it was happening, but I didn't have a say, the numbers and words shot through my head as though I was remembering them for the first time in a long time. I gasped, and instead of gently solving the lock, I gave a small yell as I yanked the entire dial apart, the dial and debris twisted and thrown to the side.
I panted and gave a very apologetic look to the filly. "I-I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to-" She put a hoof up, my voice immediately cutting off. She gave a reassuring smile as she said, "It's okay. I didn't know the combination anyways...but now that it's open, let's see what's inside!" I smiled and stood back so she could ruffle through the objects inside. My eyes spotted the objects she laid out on her right and in front of me, the other stuff, like documents, were simply placed on her left.
I spotted a revolver being placed down with a box of ammunition, what looked like the healing potion that she gave to me in the restaurant when I was under all of that ceiling debris, and then finally a closed brown box with 'Important!' written on the top in black marker. My eyes weren't on the box though...they were on the revolver. I reached forward with a hoof and grabbed it, my magic grabbing it from my own hoof and turning the weapon over. Revolver, .32 caliber. My head felt like it was being filled with static noise as I stared at the gun. Six shots, stainless steel, product of the Ministry of Wartime Technology. "Mister...?" Maximum range averaged at 75 yards. "Mister." Effective target areas are legs, head-"MISTER!"
I jumped, startled by the loud voice that shattered my thoughts. I panted faintly and looked down at the filly that was looking at me, annoyance apparent on her features. I saw worry flash through her eyes as said, "Are you alright mister? You kept staring at that gun for the last five minutes." I tilted my head at her before looking back down at the revolver, the static not appearing again. I sighed as he laid it back on the ground, my attention soon shifting to the box. "Do you know what's in there?" She shook her head as she poked at it with a hoof, saying, "Nope. If I've seen it before, I don't remember." Good enough for me I suppose. I said, "Well, I guess we should open this up and see what's inside." She grinned and flipped the lid open, a strong curiosity crossing her facial features as looked inside.
A metal tube connected to a somewhat large case with a screen, buttons on the cover and a dial on the side laid in the box while a few square shaped things were resting near it. Pipbuck, audio logs. I shook my head at the thoughts as I reached in, grabbing the Pipbuck. The casing was a well worn and scratched metal with the glass and screen showing only blackness. The three lights at the bottom were dark, none of them shattered, but worn down as well. There were even smudges on the screen and case while the padding on the inside was well worn.
I attempted to open the device, but the latch remained firmly shut. I pulled harder, and it still refused. I huffed and put it back in the box, seeing a small book lying under some paper. It was a simple faded grey with green lettering, the book stating 'Stable-Tec Pip-Buck Operating Manuel: Model 3000D'. I quirked a brow and flipped open the rather worn operating manual, my eyes skimming over the words while my filly companion stood near the bed, looking over the other trinkets in the safe she had brought out. I didn't get ten pages in before I said, "Ah ha, now i know why it won't open. We need a Pip-Buck technician's tool to open it up, a key in fact..." I leaned over and peered into the box, then used my magic to shuffle what was left in it, then looked at the Pip-Buck, my features forming a scowl, "we do not have. Damn."
I rubbed my chin with a hoof, then gave a small smile. "Maybe one of those 'caravaners' you were talking about has one... I'm interested at what this Pip-Buck can hold within it's machinery..." My mind began to wander again when the white-coated filly stamped a hoof, smiling as she motioned to the window. "Didn't I say before that they should be coming here in a few hours? I don't think Muzzle Loader will be with them, since he might be back at their headquarters in Riverbank." I nodded at her before sighing, standing up and giving my legs a good stretch, saying, "I guess I'll go read up on that Wasteland Survival Guide...what will you do?" The filly shrugged, saying with a bored tone, "I'm gonna look through what we found." I nodded, sighed, and walked back down the hall and went downstairs, the steps groaning from my weight as I took each one carefully, arriving at the bottom swiftly and entering the living room.
Even though my heart was calm, my mind only seemed to move at high speed. I was having thoughts, memories, all of it burning into my brain as time went on. Awake for only a few hours at most and I was already feeling as though my head was going to explode. That revolver. It's what triggered the thoughts. The knowledge of what it was capable of suddenly appeared in my head at that moment, like unlocking a safe...the right way anyways, not ripping it apart. I just thought I got frustrated, but it seemed like more. Knowledge on weapons, interest in them, tearing that safe dial off, even my interest and knowing of that Pip-Buck.
I stamped a hoof in frustration. All these questions and no answers in sight! I had to know what was wrong with me, why I was in that restaurant...who I was...
I looked back at that caravan map route my filly friend had given me, my magic grabbing it from the side table, along with the Wasteland Survival Guide. I looked between the two, my eyes narrowing when my gaze switched to the still ticking clock.
I needed answers... and by the Goddesses I was going to get them...even if it meant going out into the unknown, no knowledge of what was out there. The book could help, and maybe those caravaners could lead me for the time being.
XXXX
"You're...You're leaving?"
I nodded and gave a small sigh, smiling down at the filly. Up close, she went only a few inches past the middle of my foreleg. "I'm afraid so my friend. Once the caravan gets here, I plan on leaving. I need to get these questions in my head answered, and I don't think sticking around here will be a beneficial idea." The filly only scowled at me. "I don't even know my own name, and I'm pretty comfortable here! And..." She gave a harsh sigh as she looked back up at me, "and I don't want to be alone anymore. A few weeks here with no memory of who I was, no clue even present in this house telling me my name, has really gotten me lonely! I tried to leave with the caravan a few times, but each one just kept telling me that it was safer here! H-How..." She blinked a tear away as she looked away, the happiness she usually carried slowly dissipating as she looked back up, "how do I even know if this is my house? There's no pictures of the mare and stallion out there, and there's no pictures of me! I feel like I know them, but...but..." She bowed her head, sniffling.
I could understand what she meant. Having no previous memory of who you were and seeing two graves with 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' written on them in chalk probably had the poor thing latching onto the idea that she had a family, to starve off the loneliness...and waking up with no memory was probably heartbreaking for her since she didn't have anyone with her to comfort her.
Look at us both.
No memories of who we were, where we belonged, no one who we knew being there for us...
I smiled down at the filly and ran a hoof through her mane, my eyes softening. "...Would you like to come with me?" She looked up at me, her eyes wide. "...R-Really?" I smiled wider and rested a hoof on her shoulder. "I don't like the idea of traveling alone, if the dangers that the Wasteland Survival Guide has taught me anything about the dangers. This may be sudden, since we've only known each other for a few hours, but, as I asked, would you mind joining me?" I gave a smirk this time and ruffled her mane a little. "Who knows, we might be able find some kind of spell that will jog our heads a little loose."
She gave a smile and giggled, pushing my large hoof away so her mane wasn't mussed up anymore, "Maybe we can visit Muzzle Loader. He's a smart stallion from what I've seen, maybe he can help us!" I gave a nod and kept my smile. "Then that's where we'll start. But first..." I looked up at the stairs, then back down at the filly. "We should pack up for a journey. You know more about the wasteland than I do, so you can help me. You gather the food and water, I'll see about the equipment."
She gave a quick nod and scampered towards the kitchen, myself making a quick trot to the second floor. This was going to be quite the journey for us both, since I guessed that retrieving one's memories would be pretty tough.
Strange circumstances befell us two, and even if I didn't know her well, I was going to help the filly.
I shook my head and continued up the steps.
Hopefully the stallion that lived here had saddlebags my size.
XXXX
I could see a team of three carts slowly coming over the lip of the road, about eight of what I guessed were the guards for the caravan walking along the sides, front, and back. I couldn't tell what kind of misshapen creatures they were using to pull the carts, but for some reason, they reminded me of cows, only with two heads. I didn't really know what the hell cows were in all honesty, but as long as I could place something to the creatures, it was enough to keep me from worrying. I used my magic to place the brown saddlebags onto my back, a brown holster I had found for the .32 pistol going over my shoulder and around my foreleg, the revolver itself resting on the inside of my right foreleg and below the knee. Inside my saddlebags I had placed the Wasteland Survival Guide, the Pip-Buck 3000D, the audio recordings, the box of ammunition, the caravan routes on the map, and some various other items.
Beside me was my filly companion, a pair of tiny black saddlebags adorning her sides. She had opted to carry the food and whatever drink we had, which was some bottles of purified water and the Sparkle~Cola we got from the vending machine in Pleasant Hill. Hopefully we'd be able to find a way to secure some provisions from the caravaners. From what the filly had told me, they wouldn't be as charitable to a stallion like me. Then again, I wasn't a hundred percent sure they would enjoy a tall and rather strange looking stallion walking around with a filly sweet as the one next to me.
I sighed and looked down at the filly, a small smile pulling at my muzzle. "I suppose now's the time to go?" The filly smiled and nodded enthusiastically. I chuckled and ran a hoof through her mane. Hopefully....I'd learn her name....and maybe even my own.
A quick check to see if we missed anything, some coaxing of my companion to not linger too long in the house, and we were on our way out the door. She locked it, which drew another smile. I wasn't sure a simple door lock would do anything in this place. This place held value to the filly, but she still seemed eager to leave. She didn't know the place...at least, that's what I'm led to believe. I hated to do this on the inside...but if she wanted to come, it was her decision.
We trotted across the dead grass and sand towards the cracked road, the caravan starting to come over the lip of a small dip in the road before coming towards us. The guards of the front cart, two to be exact, made their way towards us, the one on the left a green earth pony stallion with a buzzed silver mane and the one on the right a grey unicorn mare with a yellow and black flowing mane. The stallion spoke to us as he leveled the hunting rifle he had at me, "State your name and affiliation with the fil-" He received a small smack on the back of the head as the mare glared at him, not lowering her combat shotgun, but not waving it at me either. Mt filly friend ran up and waved at them, smiling, "Don't shoot him, he's a friend!"
The mare looked down at the filly, then at me, then at the stallion.
"Be nice Buzz Saw, if the little deary isn't afraid of the tall stallion, then we can give the benefit of the doubt." The stallion looked at her crookedly before sighing, lowering his hunting rifle. The mare looked back at me, speaking, "My companion here does bring up my suspicion. Who are you?" Her eyes narrowed a little. "Are you one of those alicorns?" I tilted my head, a sheepish smile crossing my muzzle as I said, "To be honest, I don't really know who or what I am...my filly companion here found me in the basement of a restaurant, unconscious. I...don't know what happened, and I can't really remember anything." The mare regarded me with a skeptical look before my friend spoke up, "Don't worry, he's harmless! Come on Breech, you can trust me!" The mare, Breech, looked down at the pleading filly and seemed to melt at the look my friend was giving her, the stallion beside Breech only rolling his eyes. "Mares...always soft for the children."
He was deftly silenced as a rear hoof from Breech kicked him in the side, the stallion giving a grunt and a thick glare at Breech before turning, saying in a raspy voice, "If you need me...I'll be watching the caravan. Come on Breech, if you wanna bring the weirdo and the filly, it's your funeral." The mare held her smile as she spoke, "Shut the hell up~. Come on sweetie, you and your friend can come along...just keep an eye on him, okay?" She gave me a suspicious look before trotting back up to the lead cart, the rest of the caravan having passed by. I trotted after them, walking beside the first cart as the grey mare, Breech, looked up at me, "Just so you know, I'm only letting you come along because of the caravan's sweetie. She vouches for you, and I guess that's good enough for me." I rose a brow. That was rather hostile.
I spoke in a soft voice, hoping to keep myself from coming off as dangerous, "I honestly don't know who I am...I woke up under the debris of the ceiling, in the basement, to my companion rousing me from my sleep. If I had any recollection from before, I don't now. I may be a stranger, but give me the benefit of the doubt, alright? Besides...I just wanna find a pony named 'Muzzle Loader' and see if they know anything about where to start." The mare continued to stare at me before sighing and speaking, "If you're traveling with us, then I guess being hostile won't help. I just really care for the filly...I've asked a dozen times for someone at the HQ to pick her up, but she refused to come with us every time."
I couldn't help a small smile. "That's pretty devoted. I suppose I would be devoted as well..." I sighed and kept on walking, when suddenly a long object was shoved into my field of vision, making me flinch. The stallion, Buzz Saw, gave a smug chuckle as he moved it in front of me again from atop the cart. "Take it. If you're walking with us, you might as well pull your own weight. There's a lot of shit on these roads, so I want you helping. Hell, if you're lucky, you'll get paid." Breech looked at him coolly. "Buzz, at least be a little civil. The little sweetie finally decided to come with us, which means we have another pony safe." I spoke up, "Sorry to interrupt..." I took the weapon from Buzz, "But I need to know when this caravan reaches Riverbank. As I said, I need to talk to a Muzzle Loader." The mare nodded as she placed the combat shotgun on her back. "Muzzle Loader is one of our lead caravaners. Came from farther east about a month ago. He's in a caravan train that's two trains in front of us. He'll be in Riverbank pretty soon, and we'll be there in about two days."
I nodded, "I suppose that's good. We shouldn't be having any trouble, right?" The mare in front of me was silent for a moment before speaking, "It won't be easy...there's been some trouble on these roads, especially since we've been seeing raiders migrating their groups farther up...the Haze has been getting thicker around these parts." I quickly stepped closer as I remembered the scribbles on the map, "Is that the hazard I've heard about? What is the 'Haze'?" The mare looked back at me, then let out an exasperated sigh, saying, "The Haze is the Crimson Haze. It's like the Pink Cloud those Zebras used up at Canterlot, except this stuff looks less potent. It won't fuse your barding or your equipment to your hide, but breathing it is pretty much instant death, and if you got a wound on your leg, you can say goodbye to that limb. It's a fucking virus that needs a way in." I slowed down as I looked at her with wider eyes, Breech continuing, "Far as I know, it's been here for decades. No one knows where it came from, but all we need to know is that it's going to swallow up this place in a good few years. The boss of HQ in Riverbank is hoping to move once we do a few more months of trading in this area, then evacuate the citizens, and finally leave."
Buzz Saw idly tossed me a box of ammunition for the single-barrel shotgun I had in my magical grip as he said, "I'm quittin' once we're done here. I'm getting myself on a wagon train to Manehattan and living the rest of my life in Tenpony Tower." Breech glared at him again. "You know you'll need more caps than what they're paying us to live in Tenpony. Unlike you, I'm happy with my occupation." The stallion grinned as he swept back what was left of his short and buzzed mane. "Yeah right, no way you can keep this up forever. I've seen you working here the last year, and I don't think you can take anymore of the constant death." The argument between the two started and I chose to tune it out, walking farther up to the front of the cart, seeing my filly friend sitting with the stallion handling the reins.
The stallion, a purple unicorn with a cap on his head hiding his short red mane and dust goggles around his neck spoke with a smile, "Howdy there stranger. Name's Junker. Don't let the name fool ya, my stuff is top-o'-the-line. What can ol' Junker do for you?" I smiled at his bluntness and cheery attitude. A nice combination. "Um, yes, do you have a Stable-Tec maintenance key for a Pip-Buck 3000, a D model?" The stallion's smile lessened as he gave the rains a small whip, making sure the strange cows where keeping their pace before looking back at me. "Sorry stranger, 'fraid you'll have to look elsewhere, cause the inventory checklist didn't show any 'Stable-Tec keys'. You'll have to see 'nother caravan or wait until we hit Riverbanks to find one. All kinds o' stuff goes through the ol' HQ." I nodded my thanks and spoke it as well, "Thanks for telling me."
The trader shrugged. "Don' mention it stranger. Doesn't cost caps to be friendly after all." I raised a brow, but kept to myself. I read in the guide about bottlecaps. It blew my mind that something so pointless could be worth so much. I accepted it, but it still felt kind of stupid. Then again, I couldn't even remember anything, so what did I have to gain from voicing my opinion.
"So, where are we going?"
Junker smiled again as he spoke, "It's not going to be too bad o' journey. We're just gonna stop at Star City, set up camp at Metro Station #221 for the night, then head on to Riverbank. This journey was plenty rough already, since we had some radscorpions give us trouble at Horseshoe Pass, so we're hopin' to have a smoother ending at the home stretch." He gave a small laugh and whipped the reins again. My filly companion was still in her seat next to Junker, simple watching the scenery. She gave a small shiver, which drew my concern. I slowed down and walked around the back of the moving cart and to the left side, nudging her with my magic.
"Are you alright my friend?"
The filly looked up at me and gave a small smile. "I'm just excited...I've wondered what it was like outside of Pleasant Hill, and now I'm actually out of there....it makes me feel happy, but also terrified..." I smiled and rested my magic on her shoulder, "It's okay my friend, you're not the only one, remember? I hope to learn and experience as much as you do."
She smiled at me and nodded, giving a small yawn to punctuate her nod. "I'm gonna nap here for a bit, let me know if anything exciting is going to happen..." I nodded and slowed down, going to other side of the cart and now walking with Breech and Buzz Saw again. The stallion was looking bored, but Breech looked alert still, her attention to the front of the cart.
I was really doing this...I was really traveling out there to get answers. I had this urge to find out who I was, and I couldn't explain it. The images of the mare and shadows still plagued my mind, along with thoughts on what happened with the pistol resting against my foreleg. I was even feeling uncomfortable as the single-shot shotgun on my back seemed to get heavier. Single-shot...average loading time at 7 seconds with training...12 gauge slug-I shook my head furiously, drawing a confused look from Breech. "Are you alright?" I gave a brisk nod as I shifted the shotgun on my back, my breathing a little higher than normal.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just nervous is all." The mare smirked as she gave me a sympathetic look, saying, "I know what you mean, I was nervous to travel too. I grew up in Horseshoe Pass, lived a pretty sheltered life because my mom was afraid that all the radscorpions would get me. I simply pushed back and helped the town destroy the nest closest to us. Got my cutie mark," She motioned at her flank, which carried a picture of a break-action shotgun with the action open, showing the shells inside, "and got me in the caravan business. I make sure to write every chance I get-" She suddenly looked at me with a strange look, her eyes tracing back at my mark-less flank. Her eyes widened as she said, "Y-You...you don't have a-..." She cut herself off before looking around at the others, none of them seeming to pay attention to our conversation.
She looked back up at me, speaking softly and stiffly, "Did you deny being an alicorn?" I gave an irritated look at her, speaking calmly, "I said I didn't know what I was, okay? Please, don't make a scene..." She looked at me, then at the others before her horn lit, grabbing something out of the cart. It was a black cloak, well worn with the ends torn up. "Take it, I can believe you, but I don't think the others can. Even though the Stable Dweller destroyed the damned Goddess almost a month ago, ponies are still really sore about the alicorns. You don't have wings, but you have height and no cutie mark." She draped the cloak over me without warning, her magic even pulling the shotgun on my back to the side so it rested there instead of flat on my back. The cloak actually fit me pretty well, and the belt on the neck part kept it in place without any sleeves hindering my progress.
She looked at me, at where my companion was, then back at me. "Keep her safe, okay? And yourself as well. She trusts you..." I don't know why, but I smiled at that. "I could never hurt a child."
Breech nodded and sighed as her yellow eyes went back to the road ahead.
I trotted beside the forward caravan, my mind wondering as we made our journey through this wasteland, my companion and I hoping that we would find the answers we were looking for.
I only hope we didn't leave our safety for naught...