Child's Play - Fallout: Equestria [Reserved, PM to join]

[Imagination]

Another fine day in the Hoofington ruins! The pitter-patter of the Crusaders filled the debris, looking for any s**** or other cool stuff they may have missed so they can trade it! There was always something interesting to find. ALWAYS. Even if they had to make it up, which sometimes they did just to tell Priest a neat story. Though they think he might be catching on to which stories are legit and which ones aren't. Either way, at least he's a nice sport about it and lets the little ones have their fun.

Separated from the rest of her friends, little Pop Rocks was digging through some rubble in a collapsed building. Of course, she wasn't alone. She had Boom Boom with her, strapped to her back. Her lantern hat was at full blast, looking in the dark corners and such. That's usually where the best loot was. She wasn't so scared of the dark anymore. She knew she could handle most anything in Hoofington. Outside of it, however, she wasn't so sure. The Pegasus filly was easy enough to spot, her bright yellow fire cloak didn't exactly hide her, even in the dark. It was an old fire cloak she had found, and she thought it was cozy and pretty. Rather than trade it, she kept it. It had R.E.F.D. stenciled in black letter son the back, as well as the Crusaders emblem drawn on. She did that herself! She liked colouring and drawing. Even Boom Boom was nice and pretty.

Despite her girlish ways, she couldn't stand anypony thinking or saying she was cute, so she liked to pretend she was a big toughie. Sometimes. But that was for the group, that was for now! Finding a cardboard box, she opened it and found a couple of comic books. "Ooooo!" she sat back and started flipping through the nearly burnt-out pages, trying to find what pictures she could and clearly not paying attention.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Sprite shifted uneasily as she tried to wrap up her food and s**** in a makeshift bag, able to hear whoever it was that was making their way through the ruins with her keen sense of hearing. Oh, why had she decided to take a nap now? She should have found some place more secluded to stop for the day, some place only a flier could get to, or something. No need to worry, she could always change if she needed to, but with her luck she'd probably still be in danger.... so there was plenty of need to worry. She started moving quicker, letting out a gasp as she heard a can rattle it's way down the hall not too far from her room.

Just as the door began opening she darted behind a large slab of rock, sinking into the near perfect darkness of her hiding spot. She cringed as the ponies light washed over the wrecked room, trying to slowly slide herself towards the door as what looked like a little filly happily hopped over to examine a box. This was her chance, all she had to do was stay quiet and sneak out the open door while the strangers back was turned. She moved from cover, praying to Chrysalis that the filly's attention remain diverted. As an afterthought she shifted her appearance of a yellow coated pegasus with a short, red mane. Just in case...

[Imagination]

The filly seemed to be getting more and more bored with the comics. Ministry this, ministry that, Princess this, princess that, support this, join that, yadda yadda yadda. *sigh* Another book filled with nothing but propaganda. Or at least that was all that was intact. It was like the megaspells made absolutely sure they'd have the last laugh or something. Oh well.

She put the books back in the box and shoved the whole thing away, then blowing a raspberry at it. Stupid burnt-out books. She turned to leave, when suddenly another filly was flooded with the light from her hat. There was a cry of surprise, but then she just started giggling. Pop Rocks was of course hidden behind the bright light, but she could see the other filly clear as day. "Hey there! You're really good, I didn't hear you coming! Who're you? You new around here? I don't think I've seen you before!" She liked meeting new foals in Hoofington, especially in Chapel. Unfortunately meeting new foals meant new wounds to heal, remembering her first day in Chapel. Worst day of her life, but everypony made it better.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

The little girl meeps and flutters her wings nervously as she hops into the air, falling onto her rump hard. She starts breathing heavily, her hooves scrabbling against the ground as she backed up. Why couldn't those stupid things have kept her occupied for a second, maybe two more? Sprite would have been scott free! Maybe she could still sprint for the door, get out while she could an- wait, why was the filly giggling? This didn't seem like a good time for giggling... at least, not to the small, disguised changeling. If something went wrong... well, that bright light did a great job of concealing her when shined in Sprite's eyes like this. What if she had a weapon or something!?

"Please, I... don't hurt me!" She said in a panicky, high pitched voice, reaching out to grab a random wooden plank as a shield. She might be able to attack her.... doubtful, considering Sprite's current position. "I don't have anything valuable, I swear!"

[Imagination]

"Huh? No no no! I don't wanna fight, I'm just saying hi!" Yeesh, jumpy much? Though if she was like this she definitely wasn't a Crusader. "Alrighty, so I know you have to be new around here. Your parents go on The Journey? Yep, mine too. But that's okay. Or it will be, anyway. What's your name?" She had no idea what a Changeling even was, forget about the fact that there was one right in front of her. not like she could tell with a disguise like that anyway.

She also couldn't understand her intense fear. Well, actually maybe she could. Raiders, slavers, cannibals, mutants, Celestia knows what else... Lots of stuff to be afraid of. "You don't gotta be afraid around me! I got Boom Boom! She'll keep us safe, I promise!"

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Her hooves stopped kicking at the ground as Sprite relaxed, letting the plank of wood fall to her side. So, this was just a normal filly... not a crazy raider, nor some weird small mutant psychopath who shouted obscenities about merry-go-rounds? Well... as long as she didn't somehow figure out that Sprite usually didn't look like this and had holes in her legs it should be fine. Maybe she could hang around for a little while too... some companionship might settle her stomach.

"O-okay..." Sprite said, taking a deep breath and getting cautiously to her hooves. As long as she was alert and aware she could spring out of here in no time. "I'm Sprite, and uh, yeah, I guess you could say I'm new around here..." She kept calming herself down, squinting into the light and trying to shade her eyes before thinking about what the filly had just said. ".....and who's Boom Boom?"

[Imagination]

The filly's little wings buzzed with joy! She made a friend! Yay! "Nice to meet you, Sprite! Welcome to Celestia-Forsaken-Hellhole! Hahaha, my friend Nanna told me that one."

But now, the big question... Who's Boom Boom? "Who's Boom Boom?!" she asked, as if everypony in the wasteland was supposed to know who Boom Boom was! "Lemme introduce you to the pretty lady herself!" Soon, an Anti-Pony Grenade Launcher was held in the light so she could see! "This is Boom Boom! She's fiiine. I did the paintjob myself! Boom Boom brings the style and the boom! Isn't that neat? I found it in the ruins one day! We find all kinds of cool stuff out here! Actually, I think I found all the stuff I have!" But before she could sidetrack too much, she went ahead and started heading for the exit. "Well, come on! I don't wanna shine this light in your face all day! Lemme introduce you to everypony! We're the Crusaders! You're gonna like it with us! And you're gonna love the Reverend! He's super nice and he loves us all!"

[AsthmaticPegasus]

A grenade launcher, with this spastic filly? Sprite flinched when she was shown the weapon, and was glad that this... actually, in all her friendliness Sprite was actually surprised that the girl hadn't announced her name. Anyways, at least she wasn't hostile yet, but the prospect of running into more unknown ponies was unsettling... but Sprite had to get a grip, she was getting pretty desperate at this point.

She moved quickly as the girl started leaving, darting to her side silently and hesitantly. Being with this fire department filly, or crusader as she called herself, Sprite felt a hunger rumble through her, both physically and emotionally. She cringed and held her stomach, suddenly aware of the fact that she hadn't eaten anything nutritional in several days... and she could hardly remember the last time somepony had positive emotions towards her. Without a word she reached into her cloth pack, pulling out some hard, stale, and probably moldy bread. Maybe gnawing on this would fend off the lightheadedness, or get her sick, or both. "So, you... didn't tell me your name." she said, trying to distract herself from the cloying emptiness inside of her.

[Imagination]

Pop loved her little grenade launcher. She never fired it at a living thing, though. Mostly piled of stuff she used for targets. It was fun! They finally got out into the sunlight, where she met up with three other foals who apparently had been looking for her. "Come on, we gotta get back!" a little unicorn foal insisted. She just followed the group, trusting Sprite would be with this too.

As for her name? "I'm Pop Rocks! But most just call me Poppy. Or Pop. I like Pop better though." And then she went along and introduced everypony else, without really indicating who was who. Wee, identity chaos! "That's Rusty, that's Bubble Bath and that's Buckles!" An earth pony colt snorted at Pop. "My name is Buckly!" The filly just nudged Sprite with a smile. "We call him Buckles". Fun! "Like I said before, we're the Crusaders! We're totally bad-flank, and there's lots more of us! I can't wait to introduce you to everypony! You'll like Chapel!"

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Oh, yay, more ponies... well, it's not like any of them were going to do anything bad (she hoped not anyways) , and as she'd thought before, some friendliness could do some good. Heck, they were all children, and they thought she was a pony just like them! This could actually go... really well! She just needed to play it cool, keep her head low, and not call out attention to herself. Which was becoming increasingly difficult as her stomach grumbled and churned in discomfort, the moldy bread making it do backflips inside of her chest. In all the past weeks, her body chose now to feel the lousiest of lousy? When she needed to act normal and maintain her disguise?

"Uh, how many other ponies are there?" She said, trying to keep the conversation rolling. "Hard to imagine a nice place in the Wasteland, I hope I don't 'cause trouble, and uh, nice to meet you, guys." She rambled, shifting her cloth satchel on her back. Just focus, just focus... She thought to herself, placing a hoof over her starved belly.

[Imagination]

"How many? Oh, there's lots! Lots and lots! Well not lots and lots, but there's a bunch of us. I lost count. I'm sure The Reverend could tell you!" Who was the Reverend guy?

"A nice place? Well... It's nothing super fancy or anything, but it's a nice home at least. And we're safe there! Well, as safe as most other places, which is enough to have fun and stuff!" It was the homestead of the Crusaders. Very bad-flank. though soon the other foals fell back with Pop and Sprite, all happy and friendly... And social! "So where'd you come from?" "How come you don't have a gun? Do you beat raiders up?" "That's so cool!" "Every been to Chapel before? Betcha haven't!" "You wanna play hide and seek later?" "Will you marrow me?" "What's your name again?" You're gonna love it here!" "We're gonna have so much fun!" and so on and so forth. Just bombarding her with silly-filly things.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Oh dear, so many questions, so little time! her ears were ringing with the sudden burst of happy shouting, still wishing she had managed to take a nap in those cold, dark ruins she had been discovered in. It didn't do anything for her headache (probably making it worse) and her lagging brain tried to keep up as best it could with the circumstances it was given.

"I'm from uh... 'cause I don't use one...I usually run awa- no, I don't think that'd be very cool... No, but it sounds great... I'm kind of tired.." She said as the questions were thrown at her, moving her hoof from her stomach to her head as she clenched her eyes shut. The Crusaders and their conversation, as happy and uplifting as they were trying to be, only seemed to be making the filly more and more uncomfortable. Her stomach lurched and let out another groan, the bad bread working it's way back up her throat. "Ugh... I think I'm gonna..." She mumbled before throwing up in her mouth and spewing it on the ground, stumbling forwards a few more feet before falling flat on her face. She was out before she hit the ground, landing limply in the dirt. Fortunately for the changeling fainting did not cause her appearance to faulter, but for how long that would last is unsure...

[Imagination]

The foals just stood there as the new filly fell unconscious. They remained silent for awhile, but Pop soon gave the only colt an absent-minded punch to his shoulder. "OW!" "Let's get our stories straight. Buckles did it!" "I did not!"

[Timeskip]

When Sprite came to, she'd find herself in a little settlement littered with foals and all kinds of scavenged still and makeshift buildings. She was in Chapel! Home of the Crusaders! She had been laid down on an old couch. Probably the most intact one they could find. The first thing she'd see would be the blurry images of a bunch of colts and fillies watching her. Pop was easy to find, what with all the yellow. "Y'see?! I told you she was okay!"

[AsthmaticPegasus]

With her headache still throbbing, stomach somehow even more empty than it was before, and a woozy haziness putting her out of focus, Sprite woke up. She rolled onto her side and tried to blink away the blur, getting her bearings as she lay lamely on the couch. Where was she? Probably in that little town Pop had been shouting about, and these were probably her friends... and oh sweet Chrysalis she passed out! Sprite sat up quickly, only making her headache worse as she began to panic. Had she been found out, was she still... yeah, she was, her coat was still yellow and her hair was still red thankfully.

"Owowooowwww..." The starving girl complained, laying herself gently back down. "Wha... what happened, where am I, what's..." Trailing off, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

[Imagination]

Pop shoved the blurry pony standing next to her, everypony coming into focus not long after. "SEE?! I told you she was okay!"

"Alright, alright! You don't have to hit me, jeese..."

Pop went up and hugged her new friend, seeming quite please she was conscious. "Hey there, Sprite! You took a pretty nasty tumble or something! But you're okay now! We're in Chapel! Isn't that great?!" Of course the other Crusaders, many of them, were just watching and gossiping amongst themselves. So many eyes, staring, so many words being said. Her disguise was still good, right? Did they know? Would they want to play or something? Has Priest met her yet?"

"When you're ready, we can go meet the Reverend!" Guess not.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Sprite rubbed at her head as she was jostled around, still trying to get her bearings on the situation. If all of these ponies were gathered around and not freaking out then it was probably okay, her secret was definitely safe right now... most likely.... probably. Though they were all just staring at her and chatting quietly amongst themselves, and to the little, previously ostracized changeling it was unsettling enough. She was then reminded there was still that empty pit inside of her that begged to be filled as her stomach growled, though it didn't feel like just her stomach.

Her desperation and caution fueling her Sprite slowly sat up again, trying to give Pop a smile. "Yeah, I guess I'm ready. This Reverend sounds real nice." and hopefully we could get some food after, maybe. She thought to herself silently.

[Imagination]

Pop Rocks practically pulled her off the couch with excitement. "Alright! Let's go!"

As Sprite was forcefully escorted toward where 'The Reverend' resided, she would get to see Chapel in its glory! Though it just looked like any wasteland town. Improvised buildings, raggedy ponies wandering about... Though a LOT more foals than usual, and all of them had that Crusaders patch somewhere on their clothing. Most of them stuck to a maroon cloak. There were also ghouls and zebras along with the ponies... And they all seemed to be getting along fine! A tolerant town? Probably not toward Changelings. Why would it be, right?

But then they came to black-furred unicorn, seemed busy at the moment, talking with some other pony. Pop just sat down on the spot with an adorable little grin. Nudging her new friend, she just went 'That's him'. When he was finished and the other pony wandered off, he seemed happy to see the both of them! Quite happy indeed! "Hello, Pop Rocks! I take it everypony got back safe if you're smiling so much. Who's your new friend?" he asked with genuine interest. The little filly just put an arm around Sprite and held her close. "We found her while we were out scavving! Her name is Sprite and she's super nice and stuff! Can she stay here?!"

[AsthmaticPegasus]

The filly had barely any time to take in the friendly, safe atmosphere that Chapel had as she was eagerly dragged through the dusty road and towards a large, eerily beautiful church. She glimpsed the zebras and ghouls though, a little surprised to see them in town. She may not have been on the wastes for long, but one things she knew was that zombie ponies and stripes were usually pretty high on the outcast list. Maybe she could... no, nonono, it wouldn't turn out well. Momma and Poppa had told her that ponies hated changelings for the way they... fed. And the years of rumors and horror stories would NOT help. at all.

The Reverend was busy when they got their, and Sprite stayed silent as he spoke. She didn't share the enthusiasm that Pop did, guess the excitement and happiness hadn't had a chance to sink in yet. When he turned around and greeted them he seemed friendly and genuine, and not in a patronizing sort of way. She stayed quiet as she was introduced, forcing a little smile as she was hugged tight again by Pop.

[Imagination]

"Of course your friend can stay... Assuming she has nowhere else to go". He gave Pop a knowing look, who just smiled innocently. "I didn't just drag her here! Not this time! Nope! She told me!"

Somehow that seemed to be good enough for the stallion. "Alright then. Sprite, you're very welcome to stay with us as long as you like. The Crusaders here are very friendly and welcoming, so I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends. Little Pop Rocks seems to have taken a great liking to you. "I'm Priest" He held out a hoof for the new filly after introducing himself on his own. Could ponies really be this nice? Despite all the war and death and chaos and not-niceness of the wasteland? Would they STAY this nice if they knew her secret? A lot of questions, though getting the answers may come at great risk.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Not in all her short life had Sprite ever run into ponies so nice (at face value, at least). Most of them were either indifferent, and at worst they were the notorious raiders who did unspeakable things in an unspeakable number of gruesome ways. Not once... well, maybe once or twice she had been given a s**** of bad food, but that was about it. Charity was all but dead in this unforgiving world.

She gently shook Priest's hoof, still remaining relatively cautious in the face of all this kindness. "Thank you... it will feel nice to have friends." She said carefully, her stomach picking the most inopportune time to grumble again. These ponies were acting so happy and welcoming... it was beginning to make Sprite feel guilty. But for what none of them could ever know.

[Imagination]

Priest seemed to have heard, but he wasn't at all troubled by it. "Pop, why don't you take our new friend to get some food?"

The filly gladly obliged, taking her by the hoof once again! "Come on, Sprite! I'll show you where we all eat and stuff!" Once out of earshot, Pop whispers to her "The food stinks, but what can you do?". Would regular food stem the tide? Probably not, but only one way to find out. Eventually they got to what appeared to be a canteen of sorts, a pony handing out food, for those who paid. Pop was more than happy to cover for Sprite, even grinning as she put caps down! "Two of whatever you have that isn't terrible!"

The pony just scoffed and gave them each a plate of pre-war mac and cheese. Eh. At least it isn't Salisbury asparagus.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

The little changeling did her best to keep up with the sporadic filly this time, trotting along as she was once again dragged through town by her hoof. She really couldn't complain about what kind of food she ate, she rarely got enough of it as is, so the smells coming from the mess hall, however gross or smelly they were to Pop, were even more hunger inducing to Sprite.

Staying by Pop's side as she does the talking, Sprite remained silent as she looked at the other children milling about. It was comforting that this town was so... well, comfortable! It could be a place that she finally get some R&R, refresh herself before inevitably heading off again. She couldn't stick around for too long, her feeding habits would eventually blow her cover anyway. Thinking about getting exposed made her wonder if these ponies even knew changelings still existed.

Shaking off the feeling and taking her meal Sprite walked beside her newest friend to a table where they sat. "This place is really something." She says warmly, smiling ever so slightly again.

[Imagination]

Pop went face first into her food. Not because she ate that way, more because she felt like being silly. You could still taste the rads!

"Yeah, this place is great! I love it here! Well... It's not the best place every in the whole wide wasteland, I bet, but it's pretty close!"

Numnumnum.

But then a larger colt, who seemed to be older than most, sat next to Pop Rocks, watching her eat... like a pig. "You're such a child... Hey, Patches and I found a caravan outside the city, must've been hit the other day. Wanna see if the raiders left anything good behind later?" The filly just picked her head up, messy face locked in a grin. "Do I! We can go when we're finished eating!" The other colt just shook his head. "Naw, we can't let it sit, or else somepony else might get it and we miss out. We're leaving in ten minutes" he informed the two before walking off. Pop just shrugged. "Welp, better eat quick if you wanna come. We Crusaders go on scavving runs all the time! That's how we met, if you remember! You should! It was today!"

Wiping off her muzzle, she'd wait for her friend to either eat her food, or just say if she didn't want to go. That was fine. Nopony in the Crusaders could ever force somepony to go scavenging if they didn't want to.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Well, this new friend of her's was certainly interesting... she seemed to be a little goofier than Sprite had originally thought. But Pops was acting silly, happy, spastic, friendly... it made Sprite feel a little better on the inside, slightly more full, you could say. It also helped that she was faced with a heaping plate of Mac and Cheese, and she certainly didn't need permission before digging in! By the time the other colt came over she was most of the way done, engrossed in her meal as she savored every swallow, or at least savored it as much as her expedient pace would allow. She hardly even noticed when he started talking to Pop, busy licking her lips and cleaning up the plate.

Pops would probably shocked to see Sprite already sitting in front of a clean plate, burping lightly as she wiped off her muzzle. She hadn't been much better than Pop when it came to the food, the main difference being she had used utensils to eat faster and had only ever paused to breathe really... hey, what else are you supposed to do when you see delicious cheesiness after weeks of hunger!? "Yeah, sure, I'll come along." She said, feeling better with a belly full of food. Besides, she still needed to spend more time around this jolly filly. The company was beginning to make Sprite feel an eensy teensy bit better.

[Imagination]

Pop usually acted this friendly, but even moreso with newer foals! More often than not they needed to feel welcome. She certainly did when she was left in Chapel for her first day. What a day that was... but she recalls fondly how everypony was there for her, so ready to take her in and so accepting and understanding of what had happened. While her parents didn't go through The Journey, she was still alone and needed a place to go.

So Chapel took her! Better than the other accommodations she could've found out there... The ground, a slave pen, a mutant's stomach...

When Sprite said she was ready, Pop Rocks went on and hopped out of her seat, grinning with glee. "Alright! Lets go!" she trotted off toward the direction the bigger colt went, and after a few minutes of walking, it seemed there was already a party gathering to go. Seems there would be six of them, including Pop and Sprite. The bigger colt was talking, seeming to take charge. "The caravan was hit last night. Explains the gunshots, anyway. It's a little ways outside the city limits, so we gotta be careful... Just stay close to eachother and don't do anything stupid"