Fallout Equestria: A Wanderer's Tale Chapter 1: Prologue, a my little pony fanfic

Based on Fallout Equestria, and its universe, by Kkat.

Fallout Equestria: A Wanderer's Tale

Tealfeather123

Prologue

Bullets zipped pass me, missing me by mere inches, as I raced through the empty field and try to escape in one piece. Which wasn't an easy job when you got a dozen or so ponies shooting at you with every gun they got. What makes it worst was the fact that my wings were tied together, while the end of rope that bind them was attached to a very grumpy earth pony. Now I am not one to judge a pony because of their race, since I treated each race equally, but the fact that earth ponies had no magic or the ability to fly was just plain annoying. Especially when you found yourself in a position where a unicorn would be blessing from Celestia herself.

"Can you be any slower?" The brown earth pony, who I was tied to, shouted as more bullets rained down on us. Not wishing to get hit, I decided to do a zigzag pattern, thinking it would lessen the chances of a bullet finding its mark. But the only thing it seemed to do was slow as down, to my partner's great annoyance.

"Hey, I'm trying my best not to get shot here!" I said, defending my evasive pattern. Although I had to agree, it made me look like a fool than anything else.

"You doing nothing, but increase our chances of getting killed!" He shouted back. I was about to give another retort when he suddenly tug on the rope, forcing me to avoid my zigzag pattern so that I could catch up.

Grunting, I tried to catch up as best I could. But being a pegasai, I wasn't really good with my feet. I was better with my wings, flying up the gloomy skies before being shot at by a random group of ponies who considered me a threat. Which I couldn't blame them for, since the Equestrian Wasteland was a place where the rules 'shoot or be shot' always apply.

As I tried to go as fast as I can, the sudden sharp pain of something hitting me brought me to a halt. I let out a loud yelp as I felt the terrible pain course through my body. Mu hooves suddenly felt weak as my back felt like it was on fire. My back also felt moist with some sort of liquid, but every attempt to look back was met with pain.

Falling on top of the cold ground, I plotted myself on the dirt. My eye lids were starting to close as I suddenly felt weak. My vision started to get blurry, as I barely saw the earth pony approach with a worried look. Then I blacked out. This is a feeling that I suggest none of you should try, ever.

Now you're probably wondering, what's a Pegasus like me doing in the Equestrian Wasteland? Shouldn't I be up with the Enclave, living a life of safety and peace? Well, all I could say was that I used too. I use to live up there, in a place were getting shot us wasn't an everyday problem. But that was before I got capture, which happened during a mission gone wrong.

Anyways, my name is Silver Wing, your average everyday pony. As a member of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, I have been thought that we pegasi are the greatest race in the world and the only ones that remained pure after the war. But I didn't believe any of it. To me, it sounded like rubbish. Like, how can I say we were better than the other races, when I haven't met any of them yet? But of course, I had to agree, unless I wanted an entire day of confinement inside an empty cell.

Like any other member of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, I was required to go through a basic training camp, so that I could be able to defend the Enclave, if need be. The Enclave took young pegasi and thought them basic military training, so that we would be able to know how fighting works when we move up the course, at an older age. So from a young age, I was trained to fight and kill anything at first sight, just like any good soldier. The only problem was I wasn't good at any of that.

My instructors usually slammed their hoof in their face, making a loud slapping sound, every time I tried to shoot a gun, maintain a gun, or even touch a gun. That was how terrible I was! The mere fact that I touched a gun caused problems.

So from very early on, I knew that I wasn't cut out to be a lean killing machine. The idea of getting glory in battle was out of the question, which I didn't mind, being a peaceful loving mare. The idea of killing another pony actually sickened me, as well as the sight of dead ponies.

But this didn't mean the end of my military career. For the Enclave found another job for me. A job in which I didn't have to kill, but still be an effective member of the Enclave. This job was actually a job that I preferred, seeing that I could still be a patriotic member and crucial teammate.

The Medical corps was the place for me. Yes, that was my new job. A member of the Medical corps, who's duty was to treat injured soldiers and heal them as fast as possible, so that they can be sent out to battle again.

Unlike normal soldiers, pegasi who join the Medical Corps aren't issued the standard armored suits, which the fighters had. It was considered a waste of material to give as a suit, since it could be given to a pony who actually knew how to fight. So instead, we were left with nothing but our uniforms and our saddle bags, which were securely attached so that they won't fall.

Training for the Medical Corps was quite simple and after a two month crash course in basic medical training, which was basically a learning system on how to treat wounds and shove bottles of healing potion In an injured pony's mouth.

During our training, injured ponies who came from deadly operations, was a common sight. We were required to help the Medical Corps, treating minor injuries, so that we could ease of the load and gain valuable experience.

It was during this time that I got my cutie mark. It was a spur of a moment thing and I didn't even notice it till somepony pointed it out. One moment I was helping treat a pony, which had a badly injured leg, the next moment I had my cutie mark. Inspecting it, I noticed that it was the symbol of two bandages that met to form a cross. I was so happy, to find out that I earned my cutie mark, that I jumped in joy, knocking over some medical supplies. I then ended up cleaning the mess I made.

After finishing camp, I decided to continue my career in the Medical Corps, seeing that my talent called for me healing ponies. So I joined up in the military as a member of the Medical Corps.

I then went through basic training, Medical Corps or not you still needed this, before undergoing the more advance medical training. This involved you being thought on how to make medicine from little and on how to treat serious injuries.

By the time I was old enough to be independent and make my own decisions, I was also a proud and reliable member of the Medical Corps. Ready to treat any injured member of the Enclave and served the cause.

Like every member of the Medical Corps, I was assigned to a specific team in which I would serve in. The team I found myself in was one of the long range scout teams, in charge of scanning the land below and bringing up anything of value. In other words, we were the ones who were disposable, until we found something useful and get it back.

Being the only Medic in the team, I learned fast that I didn't fit in well. Apparently, to soldiers who actually carried gun and wore suits, pegasi who carry the emblem of the Medical Corps are looked down upon. They think that we are weak, having no ability to fight. They also think were a liability, since we weren't armed and were vulnerable targets. So the common insult and harsh bumps were pretty common to me, giving me the feeling that I wasn't wanted. To think, I was supposed to heal them.

Least to say, I didn't make any friends with them. Not a single one. Other than the fact I knew every name of the ten pony team, I knew nothing more. I only seat in my far off bed, located in the corner where they won't notice me, and clean my equipment. Which were needle, scalpels and all the other good stuff that you use to heal a pony that was severely injured.

No matter how much I really wanted to prove myself by being able to heal somepony, my fear of seeing a pony bleed to death was a greater calling. Since I was terribly afraid of blood, and couldn't stand the sight of it. Seeing blood would make me freeze and stare, as I mentally panicked. So basically I was a Medic, who was supposed to work with blood every day, who was afraid of the sight of blood. Great…

But luckily, or terribly, for me I didn't have to stare at blood and panic. Since the first, and only mission I was in was over in mere seconds. It was over not because we manage to complete it with record time, but because the entire team, except for me, was killed in mere seconds.

Assigned to search an abandoned shop, which was surrounded by high hills, the team soon found itself surrounded. The shop itself looked nothing of value. Its dull gray walls, which were covered with years of age and dirt, looked like it was going to collapse any time. In fact, a section of the building, a wall facing south, already had collapse, leaving jagged marks behind. The windows were broke open, probably by robbers all those years ago, as its interior lay almost empty. Other than some furniture and a couple object, the entire shop had nothing of value inside.

Bullets ripped through the quiet scene, ricocheting as they hit and sending fragments everywhere. The yellow line of tracers streaked from the hills, as the bullets either missed of hit. The sound of bullets hissing echoed in my ears and I soon found myself bravely looking for a strategic location to take cover and provide the best assistance I could.

In other words, I found myself hiding under a desk, clutching my saddle bag like a pillow, and trying my best not to cry. Because crying was a sign of weakness and I was not weak. The droplets of water streaming from my cheeks were definitely not tears. Those were…uhh….sweat! Yeah, let's go with that.

The sound of bullets impacting metal could be heard, as the brave members of the team fired back. The sound of guns firing and cartridges landing filled the air, as I desperately wished to wake up from this nightmare.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Those were the only sounds I heard as I tried my best to stay alive. Not that I was in any threat, since the ones shooting at us probably didn't even see me.

Out of all the sounds I heard, the one that scared me the most was the loud sound of a bullet impacting in metal before being followed by the sound of flesh exploding, as the bullet erupted inside a poor ponies skin. I can't really describe the sound of a bullet entering a pony and exploding, as the forces of the bullet create a cavity in the body, since it is a sound that one must hear themselves before they believe it. But the closest way to describe it is the sound of a thick rubber balloon popping.

The terrible sound of bullets penetrating armor repeated itself, as the battle ensued. For me, it looked like that hours have passed, every second filled with bullets and blood. But in reality, only seconds have passed. Time somehow slowed down for me, giving me the long terrible moments of death.

But as sudden as the moment when bullets started raining, the firing ceased. The sound of gun stopped and there was silence again. Nothing but an eerie silence now filled the shop, making me shake in the fear with the thought of death. There was no more sign of movement and for a moment, I feared that I was all alone. Alone in a wasteland that knew nothing but radiation and death.

The sound of metal hooves stomping on the wooden floor attracted my attention and looking up; I saw the standard Enclave battle armor. Studying it clearly, I noticed the 'No. 1' emblem painted near the helmet and immediately felt secure. It was the team leader, and by the looks of it he seemed fine. Maybe the sound of death was just my imagination. My we won the battle. Maybe I was going to…

Bang!

The sound of a gun firing shattered my hopeful thoughts, as a bullet penetrated the helmet of my team leader before making him collapse. His body, along with the armor, landed with a loud thud, making it sound like an anvil being dropped. The helmet prevented the gruesome sight from being revealed, but I still felt my heart sink as I tried to imagine it. The sight of blood feeling the helmet, as the brains of the pony inside covered the edges, flashed through my head as I tried to stay calm.

The sound of more metal hooves echoed in the room, and as I turned my head towards the door, I noticed another pony, wearing battle armor, entering. But unlike the clean and sleek Enclave armor, this was dirty and rough. Its edges weren't sharp, but blunt, as it shaded a dirty combination of green and gray. It also emitted a terrible and foul smell that I am still trying to forget!

The pony inside the armor poked the dead body of my team leader before firing another shot towards the helmet. He was already dead! What use is it to shoot him again! Anger boiled in me as I wanted to attack the pony in front of me. I wanted to show him a thing or two, as my heart started to pump faster in anger. Slamming my hoof on the wooden floor, so that I could let my anger out, the sound of the action echoed through the room. That was when I knew I made a mistake, a terrible mistake. Great job me!

Acting quickly, the pony in the battle armor, peered under the desk with his battle saddle pointed and ready to fire. Its long barreled guns were looking at me, as I knew that resistance is futile. One shot from those bad boys and I was dead. Not just dead or dead dead. But dead in a form of an unrecognizable piece of flesh that was filled with holes and dripping with blood.

So raising my hooves, and dropping my saddle bag, I said the only word that I thought would keep mw alive.

"I surrender…"

Now I got to admit that being dragged around, with a rope tied around my body and wrapping my wing, was a humiliating sight. To think, a Pegasus being captured by hooligans, who don't even know how to keep proper hygiene! This wasn't just an embarrassment, this was a great defeat! A defeat that would amount a thousand battles! If I ever get back, I was surely to get shout at and all I could say was I surrendered to keep myself alive. Wasn't my problem that they didn't give medics guns. Then again, I couldn't even properly use a gun.

During this moment, I noticed how dead the land truly was. The dirt, if it even was dirt, felt soft and cold (Sure, I never touched dirt before. But from the pictures I saw, I doubted that this is what dirt should feel like.), exposed to nothing but wind and rain. The dead plants and devastated building littered the country side and was truly a terrible sight. Having lived in a place above the clouds, where the structures looked well maintained and clean, and the sight of the ground below just goes to prove how devastating the war was. Sure I've seen the wasteland before, but that was during overhead flights, thousands of feet from the air. From there the Wasteland looked nothing more than gray and plain. Here, down below, you could truly feel the deaths and destruction that happened.

They continued to drag me through the Wasteland till we reached a small camp, which I guessed was their base of operations. From the distance, I could make the outline of a large camp fire in the middle, while tents surrounded the camp. Inspecting the camp, I noticed that it wasn't well defended. Other than a couple of armor cladded ponies, the entire camp could easily be attacked. It also looked easy for a pony to escape from. But just one sighting from an armored pony and your dead, so I wasn't sure if I should risk it.

As we arrived, I was immediately shoved of to the side, where a group of ponies were situated. They were placed inside a barbed wire fence, that formed a box around them, and only had an one opening. Studying the ponies, I noticed that they weren't armored or armed. They didn't look well either, since some of them looked like they haven't eaten for days. I started wondering if they had enough food to feed all their members.

"Say hello to the other prisoners." The pony escorting me said. "You'll be spending a lot of time with them till we manage to sell you for a large amount of bottle caps."

Prisoners! Those were the prisoners! But they looked terrible and weak. Some of them looked beat up, like the bruised earth pony that lay on the ground as he shifted left and right. I started to worry about both their safety and mine. If I was going to spend a long time here, I sure as hope that I wouldn't end up like them.

Taking my rope, the pony in charge of guarding me moved me next to a brown earth pony, before tying the rope around him. "Just to make sure that you won't try to fly off." He said before leaving one pony to guard us, while he trotted off.

"The boss would sure be happy to hear that we captured an Enclave pegasus." I manage to hear him say before going out of earshot.

"Great…" The earth pony I was attached to groaned, as he inspected the rope that bonded us together He gave me a disgusted face, as if he were looking at trash. "...I'm the one who gets stuck with the Pegasus, perfect."

I looked at him, shooting him an angry gaze. "Hey, I'm just unhappy to being to stuck with you!" I informed him. Now I got to admit, those words sounded better in my head, since they seemed more of an insult when they came out of my mouth.

He stared at me before shaking his head. "So the stories are true…you Pegasus ponies are arrogant and full of pride. You probably think we earth ponies are so revolting and disgusting, that we might taint you 'pure and dignified selves', don't you?"

Now like I said earlier, I wasn't a pony who judged another due to their race. But right now, this earth pony was getting on my nerves. If I was a stronger pony, then I would have knocked him down and force him to eat his own words. But I wasn't; besides being calm in situations like this was a thing that I learned from training.

So instead of replying, knowing that it would start an even bigger argument, I just huffed and plot myself on the ground. Fighting with the other prisoners wasn't a good thing, especially if I fought with the one I was tied to. So I decided to sit down and think of a plan to get out of here.

The sound of joyful shouting and song filled the air, too bad we weren't part of it. From my position, I looked towards the center of the camp to see the armored ponies, with their helmets off, holding mugs of beer and drinking their hearts off. The swung left to right, waving their mugs and chugging its contents till there is nothing more, before filling the mug again for more.

To me, it looked like that they were having the time of their life. Their laughs and cheerful mood removed the sense of sadness and destruction from the wasteland, as their voices echoed out. Too bad I didn't feel the joy. The only thing I was feeling was sadness, knowing that I was far from home, and anger, as the prisoners with me viewed me as an arrogant and selfless pony, which cared about nothing but the Enclave. Which was not true! Although most pegasi in the Enclave bestowed that image, there are some (Like me.) who aren't like that.

As our captors continued to party I noticed that one of them, a unicon, heading towards our corner of the camp. He was levitating two mugs, with his blue aura surrounding it, and had a drunken expression on his face. His smile was crooked as his eyes wondered from left to right. Walking in a zigzag fashion, while swaying left to right, he soon got near our area. Standing while swaying, he bumped the mug against the armored pony guarding us. It made a soft clumping sound and attracted the attention of the rest of the prisoners.

"I got...*hic*…this one for you…..Golden Shot…" The unicorn said, slurring the words out of his mouth. Although he tried his best, his voice was obviously obstructed by his drunken state, giving it an almost dizzying form of tone.

"Dead Aim, you know I can't drink that. I'm supposed to guard the prisoners. Besides, with everypony else drunk, who would be guarding the entire camp? Poor old Golden Shot of course…" He said gloomily. Even through the helmet, which made a pony speak as if they were in a tunnel, I could tell that he was sad at the fact he was in guard duty.

"Oh….come…*hic*….on!" The unicorn said, poking his hoof on the others chest. "The….boss is…*hic*…awarding us….for that Pegasus we caught…..I…think that….*hic*….nopony should….be left out. Including…you…."

He paused for a moment, thinking it over. The silence only lasted for a few second, when, the pony cladded in full armor pulled his helmet off, and putting it down, before taking the mug with his hoof. With a smile on his face, he looked at the mug and nodded.

"One mug wouldn't hurt!" He exclaimed as he laughed and joined the others.

As they left, I noticed that the earth pony I was tied to stand up and scan the area around us. Looking at him, I saw a small grin grow on his face as he headed towards the entrance of our barbed wire prison. He then tug the rope, calling for me, as he said:

"Let's go!"

"What?" I asked confused. What was he planning? "Go? Go where?"

"Go where?" He said, repeating my question. "I thought you pegasi are supposed to be smart. We're going to escape!"

I felt anger boil in me as he insulted me once more. My patience for him was starting to dwindle, as I imagined to hurt him in more ways than I thought possible. The nerve of him! Did he really just call me du… Wait a minute…. Did he say escape?

Scanning the area, I noticed that the ponies who were supposed to guard the camp weren't there anymore. They were most likely joining the party, unable to resist the intoxicating smell of beer. This was the perfect moment to escape, nopony to stop us. Maybe I was dumb not to notice it. Or maybe I was just slow. Hopefully not both.

"Well? I don't have all night here." The earth pony said as his patience became smaller and smaller. From the facial expression he had, I could tell that he was annoyed to the point that he was willing to drag me across the wasteland, just to escape.

"Wha…oh, yeah. Right, escape." I murmured as I approached him. We headed towards the small entrance of the barbed wire prison, trying to stick to the shadow. We were already out of the prison, steeping out of the fence and ready to race out of the camp, when the sound of metal hooves came from behind.

Turning my head around, I was shocked to see the guard pony return. "There you are." He said as he picked up his helmet with his hoof. The helmet that he had removed and left earlier. "Can't have you wonderi…" He stopped midway through his sentence, when he looked up and saw us out of our barbed wire confines.

'Buck me…' I though, not happy how my life was going. Remind me to ask the manager of life a refund.

"Hey, you two. What are yo…"

I didn't hear the rest of his sentence, since the ear piercing cry of the earth pony I was tied to echo in my ears, pushing off any other sound. "Run!" He said before bolting off, forcing me to race of too so that I would not get drag by an earth pony. Since I knew that they were strong and fast on the ground, so being dragged by one of them would be an unpleasant experience.

So this is how it begun. Remember when I was running earlier? Well this is the reason why. Running for my life, as a bunch of drunk ponies tried shooting at us, but failing. All of this would soon lead up to the moment when I…

…felt a sudden sharp pain of something hitting me brought me to a halt. I let out a loud yelp as I felt the terrible pain course through my body. Mu hooves suddenly felt weak as my back felt like it was on fire. My back also felt moist with some sort of liquid, but every attempt to look back was met with pain.