Fallout Equestria: Black Sky
Chapter 7:

It was the first real bed that I had slept in without being dragged into on account of dying. I had maybe two or three other beds to compare it to but there was no contest...this was the most uncomfortable bed I had ever slept in. The decrepit old thing had paper thin blankets, worn out springs, a sorry excuse for a pillow, and nonexistent back support. Now I get that the end of the world happened, so I wasn't expecting luxurious accommodations fit for Celestia herself, but it wouldn't be so bad for ponies to have the decency of getting rid of the really old stuff and replacing it with something better.

Needless to say it was the closest thing to a sleepless night I could get without my insomnia acting up.

I awoke to the sound of Skitters banging on the door and telling me to get ready. In my barely awakened state I instinctively swung my hoof down to my left, it was my typical morning routine for shutting off my alarm clock. It took a few seconds for me to realize I wasn't in the Stable anymore so my efforts to silence my alarm were in vain. Especially since this particular alarm was on the other side of the door, had free will, and could mess with my head using his magic.

I sat up in the bed blinking my tired eyes a few times. The room I had was pretty bare consisting of no windows, a single bed, a coat hook on the wall that held my barding and satchel, a small room off to the side that had a toilet and sink, and the door Skitters seemed to be going to town on.

“I'm awake” I said in a half groggy voice “be out in a bit.”

The banging on the door ceased and silence returned to the room once more. I checked my pipbuck’s clock which read 7:04 AM, not the most ideal time to wake up but given my sleeping arrangements it's astounding I got any rest at all. After rolling out of bed I slogged my way over to the bathroom to relieve myself, Once finished I had a look at myself in the mirror over the sink. Countless thoughts raced through my mind as I stared into my tired green eyes.

What am I doing with my life? Is this all I've ever dreamed? How long can I keep this up? My only friend in this world is a creature I was always taught to be evil…

What was Sprocket up to right now?

That last thought lingered for a while. I could always go to him with my problems, talk things over, maybe get a hug. He'd probably have way better judgement on what to do in this situation. Regardless it was all wishful thinking as I pulled his picture out and held it to my chest.

After pulling myself together I got cleaned up to the best of my ability and proceeded to dress myself. I pulled my Stable barding off the wall and gave it a once over, dirt and grime had gathered across its blue leather finish to the point that it could have probably been considered far enough below Stable hygienic standards to be incinerated. Strapping my armor on over it felt out of place in my morning routine...probably because it was...and I never thought checking how much ammo I had left would ever be part of my process of getting ready for the day.

Turning for the door I let out a heavy sigh. “Okay...you'll get through this” I said to myself in the hopes it would boost my self confidence. Sadly given everything that's happened up to this point most of myself knew I could very easily die today. I did however take comfort in the fact that I still had my standards of decency under the circumstances put before me. There was no way for me to uphold said standards but it's the thought that counts.

After breakfast which consisted of incredibly stale Sugar Apple Bombs and one of the absolute pissed poor excuses for coffee I'd ever tasted in my life, me and skitters who had since donned his Golden Blaze persona stepped out into the burning desert sun and we're met with the morning hustle and bustle of the trade outpost. The heat was unlike anything I had ever experienced back home, sure the greenhouse was warm but this was more of a dry heat. Ponies everywhere were going this way and that trying to get to where they needed to be. It had a vague resemblance to the Stable commute but you can imagine the differences.

As we strolled through town every so often somepony would glance over in my direction. I also heard murmurs of ‘The Stable Pony’ or ‘The Lightbringer’ as we went through the crowds. This happened before back in Burham Springs and I still had no idea who this pony was. So finally I decided to run the question by skitters since he was practically my self appointed reference guide.

“Ah yes the Lightbringer” he began “not too long ago there was nothing but clouds over Equestria,complete overcast, it was this whole big scheme put in place by the Enclave around the time the bombs fell.” I continued listening as we made our way through town “So about seven years ago this stable pony comes along, fixes Equestria’s alicorn problem, and breaks into this old pre-war weather control center to not only stop the Enclave but get all the clouds out of the sky, hence the title Lightbringer.”

He also explained that it led to the formation of the New Canterlot Republic who apparently were making a best effort to rebuild society. In the few years since they were established they had set up outposts all over the place and had become one of the most formidable fighting forces in Equestria.

It all sounded a bit far fetched to me but then again I spent my whole life underground. I couldn't exactly argue when everypony around me could account for the entirety of Equestria being exposed to the sun for the first time in Celestia knows how long and the NCR practically having the town on lockdown. “So...where is the Lightbringer now” I asked in the hope that there was a chance I could meet her one day and get a firsthoof account.

“Still controlling the weather from her big impenetrable shiny tower, been up there since the whole ordeal.” Skitters replied dashing my hopes right out from under me. “She DID write a book about the whole thing though” He continued as I perked up my ear with the word ‘book’. “If we can find a copy you'd probably get plenty of enjoyment out of it given your Daring Do interest.”

My mind was made up right then and there. I had decided I could not, shall not, and cannot live my life without reading this book. Daring Do seemed like foals play compared to somepony’s entire escapade across the wasteland. “So...what's this book called” I asked.

“The Book of Littlepip” Skitters replied back “it's not too easy to find since paper isn't too plentiful and the lack of anypony willing to publish it...but it's getting around.” Littlepip...the name didn't impress me all that much. I mean who names their kid Pip? All these things and more I'd have to sort out later, we had to meet up with Wintergreen so that we could-

THUD

A rather large pony set down between me and Skitters kicking up a cloud of dust. It settled to reveal the very pony we had set out to meet who wasted no time wrapping a wing around each of us. “Good morning new friends” she declared with a smug look about her. “We all set for the long road ahead to Los Pegasus?”

I stopped her before we moved any further. “Hold on a second I have questions” I told her as she perked up her ears with a look that indicated her full attention. “The room....I mean...it...I-it was...who are you” I finally asked settling on those words.

“Ah that right...I never told you” she began as we continued our way through town “ the inn here is actually part of my business consortium.” We both stared at her in disbelief as she continued “I invest myself in businesses across Equestria that seem profitable. Mercs in Baltimare, a store at Tenpony Tower, a clinic in the NCR, and caravans going just about anywhere.”

I had a million more questions but before I could ask one we had arrived at the holding area where we were to pick up Rusty Chrome. There'd be time for questions on the road to Los Pegasus.

Wintergreen flew off as we approached the building. “I'll meet you at the exit” she said before getting out of earshot. We went inside, presented our paperwork, and were led to the holding cell that Rusty Chrome occupied. Under the watch of a well armed but young looking mare brandishing NCR fatigues we were let into the cell to re-apply his rope restraints. Only problem with this was that I was terrible with knots and spent a good amount of time struggling with the ropes to no avail.

“Umm…” The NCR mare spoke up after watching me fail to make any progress “do you want some hoof cuffs?” I stared at her defeated for a few moments before nodding my head. She went over to a nearby shelf and pulled out two sets of metal clamps and a set of keys similar to what stable security would carry which I applied to Rusty’s legs with ease before slumping him over my back. “Now...the cuffs are NCR property so you'll have to return them upon reaching our Los Pegasus outpost”she informed us as I sluggishly carries Rusty out of the cell.

“Yeah...sounds awesome…” I said in between breaths, Celestia's mane this pony was heavy. “And hey...good luck with the whole rebuilding society thing” I said as I slogged my way to the exit.

“Aw...thank you” she said with a voice that could actually be considered pleasant “We're still pretty small...but we dream big.” I was one hoof out the door when she stopped me with a tap on the shoulder. “You should do the same...being a stable pony and all” she said as she turned back to return to her post “I'll be listening to the radio for you. Don't disappoint.”

I was left standing there confused with this hoof-cuffed raider splayed over my back. What did she mean by all that? “You didn't know” Rusty finally spoke up “folks have set pretty high standards for Stable ponies after all they've done.

I don't know what everypony expects...I grew flowers until just a few days ago.

The hot desert sun beamed down at us like the heat lamps from the Stable greenhouse. The difference now is that the heat lamps could be turned off and I could look at them without going blind. Our trek northeast ward left the burning hot ball of gas glaring in our faces all morning. All I could do endure as we set out on the trail before us.

Our cart had been hitched to Wintergreen’s...creepy...two headed...unsettling...smelly...too many words, it was a two headed cow she was using to lug bags upon bags of trade goods. I couldn't complain since I no longer had to haul anything. Rusty was restrained in the bed of the cart which was now sporting a fixed wheel and several replaced boards. We didn't gag his mouth this time since he was more than willing to cooperate with us and I figured I might be able to get more information out of him which would help me stay alive a bit longer.

Along with me and Skitters were Wintergreen and a pair of guards in armor, one was an earth pony stallion in some basic but sturdy looking gear, a helmet with a worn looking gas mask, and a battle saddle with a pair of assault rifles. The other was a Pegasus mare who was covered in some kind of high end gear which had a certain sinister look about it with its black finish and manticore stinger where her tail was. The weapon she was sporting looked to be some kind of energy-based sniper rifle that just added to her intimidating appearance.

“We ready?” Wintergreen asked the stallion.

“As can be boss, other than those two, nopony else answered the billboard ad.” He said pointing a hoof at me and Skitters.

I stepped over toward Wintergreen. “Is it always this hard for caravans to hire protection” I asked with my curiosity getting the better of me.

“Well...not really” She began with a bit of a sad look about her “a lot of ponies...still don't trust alicorns on account of our history.” I was starting to notice the pattern of one question leading to another fifty. “Long story...I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to tell it on the way to Fort Stud.”

Now Skitters stepped forward with a confused look. “Wait a second... Fort Stud? I thought we were heading to the NCR outpost” he told her as she began one last check on some of the straps.

“Fort Stud was our planned destination before you two signed on” she said finishing up her inspection “it's a short walk from there past the Applewood sign to the NCR outpost outside of the city.”

It sounded like an unnecessary detour to me but Skitters seemed to be okay with it and I trusted his judgement more than my own. With no further questions Wintergreen gave everypony the signal to move out.

A lot of the trip was rather uneventful, most we had to deal with were some bloatsprites and giant scorpions my pipbuck aptly named radscorpions. Wintergreen being the savvy business pony she was made sure to pick the poison tips from the radscorpions. Apparently there’s a market for the venom as well as anti-venom.

The black Earth Pony with a white mane who I found out was named ‘Hardline’ had been with Wintergreen since she started up her business consortium about six years ago when Wintergreen rescued him during an attack on a settlement by Enclave remnants.

The skyblue Pegasus with a military cut red mane it seemed was the pony said Enclave remnants where after, turns out that ‘Smokesignal’ was the reason they were attacked, she was a deserter who shot dead her commanding officer rather than open fire on a group of fleeing civilians trying to escape the Enclave trying to destroy their home. One thing supposedly led to another and she ended up with Hardline.

Skitters was looking to and fro, always scanning the horizon, like he was expecting something. I couldn’t imagine why since we both knew I had my Eyes Forward Sparkle on at all times after the ghoul tsunami yesterday.

“Why so tense there Golden.” Hardline asked walking up next to him. Seems I wasn’t the only one to notice Skitters’ behavior.

He looked a bit more to his left at a small hill nearby before he answered, “Gut feeling, not sure, been like this since we left town.”

“Well, I’ve not seen anything,” Smokesignal said as she came down from her flight to sit in the cart next to Rusty ”well...except the old complex over that way with the pointy buildings” she said as she pointed a hoof out to the left of the trail.

“That would be...” Skitters began as he looked off to the north in the direction Smoke specified “thats the old Starlight Space Center.”

I looked over in curiosity given my newfound interest in space. Pulling out my spyglass I could see the massive complex way off in the distance. The area was fenced off and dominated by a massive square building surrounded by hangers, towers, and other structures I couldn't even guess as to what they were used for. Around the complex were scattered concrete mounds, some of which were set beneath what I could only assume were rockets that never launched. The whole place had a sort of stillness about it, almost like it was left untouched since the bombs.”I don't suppose we could…” I began lowering my spyglass “take a look?”

Wintergreen stepped up “Not worth it. The whole place has been picked clean by scavengers over the years” she said as my hopes of seeing a rocket up close faded away “everypony gets the same idea to try and dig through the ruins down there...I doubt there's anything left.” Part of me wanted to check it out anyway but I wasn't really the one in charge. We kept walking but I made a note on my pipbuck for the off chance I live long enough to come back here someday.

Turning my attention away from the space center I stepped over to check on Rusty. He looked like he was about to die from heat exhaustion so I pulled out my Stable 13 canteen and passed it over to him. The hoof cuffs made it easy enough for him to hold it without much trouble.

He gratefully gulped down the water before passing the canteen back to me before giving me a look of concern. “What?” I asked. He didn’t say anything and just looked away almost shamefully.

“Okay, we can break here!” Wintergreen said as she took her right wing to wipe the sweat off her brown. “One hour, no more.”

We stopped in front of what looked like an old dinner. the sign was gone and didn’t look to be anywhere. Hardline and Smokesignal went about looking around for traps, I got some food unpacked and ready to eat, Skitters went inside with Hardline to keep sweeping for traps and any salvage that may still be left behind we could grab.

After picking through the trash that was around the containers I found a few old toys, some broken pieces of military comms equipment, a few plates, and some old cans.

It wasn’t much really, but i figured it was at least enough scrap to repair some things, only issue is that I didn’t know how to use anything in the kit that Quartz gave me back in Burham Springs.

“Great...should have asked for a manual.” I said out loud as I opened up the case, all the tools, Jigs, and doodads with no clue how to use them. Maybe Skitters has the knowhow to make use of them, but as I was fiddling with no idea on how to use this Wintergreen came up behind me.

“Say, what’s that you got there?” She asked coming behind me with a water canteen in her magic.

“It’s some kind of modification kit for weapons, armor, all that stuff, but I haven't the slightest idea what to do with it” I told her as I fiddled with a...wrench...thingy...that served no known purpose ”I grew flowers back in the stable, I wasn’t an engineer.”

“Let me see it.” She said putting her drink down and almost instantly getting into the guts of the kit as she was able to manipulate all the workings very easily. She pulled out a pistol from her holster and went to town on it. It was too hard for me to follow with her magic able to do ten things at once “Here we go.”

In a matter of moments what used to be a normal 10mm pistol now looked a lot more mish mashed with some of the scrap we gathered. The Gun went from a basic set up to something that had a longer barrel with a Silencer, scope, and a bigger slide.

“Where did you learn to do that?” I said looking at her gun she held up in her magic.

“Back when I was in Unity there were so many minds from many different ponies, and all that knowledge tends to get shared around, and mixed up.” She said inspecting her work.

“Unity?” I asked questioning her, she looked at me strange until she realised.

“Right, stable pony...I forgot” she began as she sat down “remember how before I said most ponies still don't trust alicorns?” I gave her a nod “well short story is back before the war there was an experiment to create an army of alicorns, then the bombs dropped, one on top the facility. It didn’t destroy it, but it left all the ponies in there trapped with one who became the Goddess when she fell into a chemical vat.” Her story baffled me quite a bit, but I let her continue. “she gathered up all the bodies and survivors into a vat with her and from there made the first Alicorns.”

I could only stare at the explanation she gave. “What?”

She raised her hoof “Wait it gets worse, before she was stopped she had pulled in tens of thousands of ponies over the years to become one with the hive mind until the Lightbringer put a stop it by blowing up the Goddess. Those of us that escaped found ourselves lost and alone, well, I say ‘alone’ in that some of us ended up with back seat drivers. I’ve got at least 3 passengers riding along with me, but at least they are asleep most of the time, constantly dreaming effectively.”

“Woah! How do you function?” I asked.

“Not easily at times, but we get along, we have to. Those that don’t end up dead pretty quick.” She said putting the gun back into her holster. “It really isn't much different from having multiple personality syndrome but the added bonus is that I can tap into the memories or their knowledge.”

For the most part I just sat there looking at her. I could have probed deeper with my questions and believe me I wanted to but she had a look about her that told me she wasn't the most comfortable with this topic. Some of the stuff I wanted to ask like if she remembers who she was before the...alicornification or if she killed anypony while part of this hive mind seemed a little invasive. I did however have one question “About the Lightbringer…” I began as she perked an ear up “do you happen to have any copies of her book?”

She giggled a little at my inquiry “I get that question a lot out on the road...but never from my hired help,” she said with a roll of her eyes “hate to disappoint you but that's out of stock with me at the moment. Maybe try the market when we get to Fort Stud?” I nodded at her suggestion as my search continued.

My attention pulled away by Skitters as he, Hardline, and Smokesignal came back with a small bag of whatever could be deemed useful.

At which point we stopped and continued to eat what I already had set out. Skitters barely touched his food as he sat next to me, mostly eyeing the two guard ponies every so often, it wasn’t easy to pick up but given the changeling next to me I saw a few signs of a couple.

Sharing half a preserved apple pie between them, little innocuous touches that would have been ignored normally, small little words if you weren't paying attention would just pass by without a second thought.

“You know it’s not polite to stare you two.” Wintergreen whispered between us. That shook us a bit out of what we both where doing, and got the two guards to look at us, pulling them out of their little silent conversation.

Smokesignel looked rather pissed, and then facehoofed. “Again!? Seriously, what is that? The 4th, 5th time this week now?” She got up from her seat and walked up to the both of us. “What is it with ponies looking at us weird? Really, is it that strange that we’re a couple. Yes I said it, we’re into each other. Is there an issue with it?”

Both Skitters and me backed away from this, the murderous intent in her eyes was enough to make me feel the pit of my stomach drop, Skitters and I started to hug each other in fear before the terror before us. Wintergreen only giggled while using her wings to cover her mouth as she watched our misfortune, Hardline just sat there saying nothing and doing nothing but continue eating his food like it was just another day on the job.

“I swear that if you two don’t stop this instance, I’m going to grab the both of you, find a cloud to stick you two on and use you two as target practice, I’ll start with your LEGS! Then-” She never got to finish her statement as a shot rang out, and it must have been powerful because she was hit in the shoulder and knocked to the ground.

“SMOKE!” Hardline shouted as he jumped from his seat and ran to Smoke, he grabbed her and dragged her straight into the dinner while another shot rang out and went straight for his head, or it would have had Wintergreen not used her magic to put up a shield around us all. The alicorn grabbed Skitters and me in her wings and followed her guards into the dinner, the door to the dinner was just a frame where the glass used to be, but Wintergreen used her magic to start flinging tables to add as a barricade and block line of sight.

“Hardline, how’s Smokesignel?!” Wintergreen shouted ducking a shot that passed through her barrier and almost took her head. “BUCK! They’re using anti-magic rounds!”

“Round punched through the armor, but stopped just under the skin.” He said after pulling a second of Smoke’s armor off to get at the damage. “She’s bleeding, but it’s minor.”

“I’m fine by the way!” Smokesignal shouted trying to push herself up but failing.

“Stay down Smoke,” Hardline said pushing her down. “That round hit your brace shoulder.” He had to duck down on top of her as more bullets rained down on top of us, breaking what little glass windows that were still intack to pieces and on top of us.

“That’s a Chaingun!” Skitters shouted trying desperately to get eyes on where the shots were coming from, he had to crawl all the way to the other side of the dinner to even get a clear enough view to see outside. “I’ve got maybe three in view.” He said ducking at another set of rounds wildly went in his direction. “At least one looks like a Unicorn with a sword, a our chaingun nut, and somepony with an assault rifle!”

“Damn, that means there’s a sniper somewhere, this round is too big for those.” Hardline said pulling said round out of Smokesignal and went to work bandaging her shoulder. I pulled out Argus and wished that I had gotten Wintergreen to work on my Gun before this, I sure as Tartarus would have her do so if we lived though this. Getting into a booth and laying on the seat I set up near the window away from the others, Skitters on his side also getting his hybrid gun at the ready. Wintergreen had set up in the middle by the door barricade with her gun out of it’s holster

Checking my Pipbuck I went straight into S.A.T.S. slowing the world to a crawl with my E.F.S. highlighting our attackers, it was definitely more than three or four. I saw at least Seven, our sniper on a small little hill off to the side not too far from us, our chaingun nut, earth pony, in full metal armor with a battle sattel, one earth pony with an SMG spraying in our direction with not one, but two other earth ponies charging us with melee weapons. I took aim at an Earth pony with a large stick in her mouth.

I had gotten lucky as my shots as I let loose a set of four three round bursts, the first two only grazed the pony’s legs causing her to stumble a bit, the other two however hit dead on. The third went and hit her dead on in the chest which stopped
her momentum, and the last three hit her dead in the head which caused her head to literally explode and the body fell to the ground lifeless.

“One down!” I shouted getting behind cover as gunfire pass over my head. “Six more!”

Wintergreen blind fired over her barricade and must have gotten a good hit since one of the attackers cried out in pain. Skitters brought up his gun and took a shot at the SMG wealider, his shot knocked down the pony, however he to had to duck under the shots aimed at him. The one unicorn with the sword had made it to the dinner ignoring the cart and made a jump into the window Skitters was at, he had climbed into the room rather fast and had a rather crazed look in his eyes as he tried to stab at Skitters who had to use his gun to deflect the sword swings while wrestling the pony.

Wintergreen, Hardline and myself would have jumped to action had the other three made it and started to climb the sides of the building to get in. I was able to get Argus to wildfire as I pulled the mouth grip down after flipping the switch to full auto. Winter was trying to deal with her pony trying to get over the barrier, also who was laughing the whole time, the cackling was unnerving to say the least, the look of pure insanity in his eyes didn’t help matters. Hardline was left with the SMG wielder who was trying to spray into the dinner but was fighting like mad to keep the gun pointed to the ceiling.

At this point it was getting desperate trying to keep the others out and Smokesignal was in no position to help with her sniper, forced to use her wings to grip a small 10mm gun and try and aim at the pony fighting with Hardline in the way.

“That’s it!” Skitters shouted as the Sword unicorn knocked out his gun out of his magic grip, the Magical green flame that came off skitters catching the pony not only by surprise but also with the green fire catching on some of his clothing. Skitters hissed, grabbed the pony by the shoulders while they were shocked at what happened and he proceeded to stick his fangs right into the neck of the attacking pony.

There was a very wet sound as the fangs dug deep into his neck and you could see a green glow start to flow around him, the sword in his magic fell and stuck itself into his head where the look of total shock and unbelieving froze there, a wet sucking sound started to flow from the pony as his body started to fade in color before going gray and start to mummify, Wintergreen barely gave it a glance while she dealt with her opponent who looked at what Skitters was doing, big mistake since that let Wintergreen put her gun point blank to the pony’s temples and she unleashed five shots killing the attacker who then was slumped over the barricade.

Hardline was too busy dealing with his attacker to care at the moment, Smokesignal was a tad distracted by it only glancing between skitters and the unicorn attacking Hardline. “Hard, 22!” Smoke shouted, Hardline nodded and then shifted his weight to pull his opponent into the dinner and slam him onto the table which Smoke then unleashed the full clip into the pony’s face also killing them. Hardline slammed himself to the floor to avoid the spray from the chaingun.

That just left me with the last melee charger for me to deal with who didn’t seem to know or didn’t care that everyone else was dead, I let them jump at me and fell on my back and with her landing on me I placed my back legs on her belly and threw her into the wall over the dinner counter, she slammed into the wall and a shelf that was halfway rotten fall on top of her, I got up and leapt over the counter to finish her off, even after taking several shots to the chest she was still going, the insane look in her eyes making it easy for me since I saw practically no soul in them, I pointed Argus in her face and let loose all the while she was giggling. Finally dead I walked around the counter to Skitters’ location and saw him wretching out some kind of green liquid with several dark smokey swirls mixed in, once he finished retching he looked at me with something like regret.

“What did you do?” I asked looking at the mummified body that was leaking out a lot of blood for something that should be dry.

“Drained him of love and everything, hate doing that, more so no since these guys are pumped to the gills with drugs.” He said pointing to the black stuff. “It’s almost as bad as trying to drain someone with taint in their system.” He shuddered like he was remembering a bad time.

Smokey who was the only one not firing back at the attackers looked at Skitters and had her gun pointed at us. “What the actual BUCK? A changeling?!”

“Smokesingel! Middle of a firefight here, we can question it later if we can get out of this alive!” Wintergreen shouted trying to fire back at the last three ponies who were in cover firing back at them. The Assault rifle carrying pony was inching closer to the cart with Rusty in it, at this point I was wondering if he was going to be okay. More bullets sprayed some getting through cover, the bulk of them aimed at Wintergreen as she was trying to keep her shield up but anti-magic rounds kept poking holes into them letting more of the chaingun though. “RIght now we need to deal with the last three! But that means getting close to them. I’m up for any ideas right now, because those anti-magic rounds are really putting a strain on me, I can’t use one of my other spells and not risk getting hit bad!”

Skitters wiped his mouth and looked at the body and the sword. “I’ve got one, but I don’t know if you will like it.”

“At this point I’m receptive to anything that gets us out alive.” Hardline shouted as he was using Smokesignal’s Sniper trying to counter the enemy sniper. Without another thought Skitters was engulfed in green flame as he became the pony he just killed, albeit with fresh burn marks all over, he magiced the sword into his grip along with his gun and looked at me.

“Play along, might be our only shot at this! Hardline, on my signal take out the sniper.” He then proceeded to grab me by the neck and magiced both the sword near my neck but not touching it, and both his and my gun in the air, at which point he stood us up and dragged me out the window. “BACK OFF OR YOUR SWEET PIECE OF FLANK GETS IT!” It was holy disturbing just how scary this was getting with Skitters able to pull of the same crazed look, it was so convincing that it helped sell my look of fear, seriously, I was hoping this was just at act, that’s how good an act it was.

The fire fight at that moment stopped as assault gun pony came up besides us and helped cover us. The fully armored pony also moved up coming up behind us.

“Move behind me!” He spoke in a deep raspy voice, the assault pony took up position with cover from the cart. We were going slow as I resisted, I could only hope that it was convincing enough. But then I had to hope the same with Skitters to fool the attackers.

“Stop squirming little filly, or I’m going to have fun with you all to myself tonight?” Skitters

“Hey! I said I would get first dibs on any we take alive!” The pony by the cart shouted.

“Finders Keepers!” Skitters said.

“Why I aughta-” It was at that point Rusty came up from the cart and used the hoofcuffs to get over the head of the pony and start to choke/drag him into the cart, really Skitters was shocked as much as me when this happened. The big pony in full armor tried to make a leep for his buddy and we knew the sniper must at this point have started to take aim at him. So when the shot rang out and Rusty wasn’t dead that’s when we acted, I with Argus, and skitters with both his gun and the sword we pumped every shot we had right up the backside of the stallion, the sword for good measure to the hilt once our clips ran dry. The damage done we then looked into the cart to see Rusty slowly but surely making his new friend’s neck turn at a very unnatural angel until we heard the snap and the body feel limp.

By the end of it, we had stripped everything off the raider ponies that had attacked us, stripped them of their armor, gear, weapons, ammo, everything really and left the bodies behind the dinner in the trash bin. No scene leaving any more a mess then what we already left.

By the end of it, we had some sticks which would make for good firewood for a cold night, the sword might be worth a few caps since it looked decent, the battle satule chain gun went straight to Hardline as well as part of the metal armor, that which didn’t went to Smokesignal’s armor to be repaired by the mod kit, Wintergreen even went so far to get my gun modded, I at least had a new scope on it as well as a much more stable grip for shooting. However right now Smokesignal and Hardline where having a few looks at Skitters.

“So, changeling, want to explain yourself?” Smoke said while with her right front leg was in a sling to take care of her shoulder. She was sporting both her sniper rifle as well as the captured one from the raider on her armor with a makeshift battle saddle hooked up.

“I have a name you know.” Skitters said back, not intimidated by her. “It’s skitters, and your welcome by the way.”

“Welcome? Welcome for what?” She looked really angry at him, like he just challenged her to a fight or something.

“For ending the fight early if you ask me.” Hardline spoke up, “Listen Smoke, I know how you feel about changelings and all, but lets face it, if it wasn’t for him we might not of made it out of here that easily. I for one am grateful for the help.”

Smokesignel looked ready to shoot someone by the end of that, or she would have had Wintergreen not got involved.

“Smokesignal, calm down, right now we’ve got to get a move on, I need your eyes in the sky to give us warning if there are anymore raiders out there, besides, right now with Skitters here not disguised I figure it will be a good intimidation factor to prevent other would be attackers from taking a shot on us.”

“How can you trust him so Boss?” Smoke looked a bit disbelieving “He’s a changeling, you know the stories!”

“I do, but right now we are going to be in territory that is somewhat changeling friendly and we don’t want a dustup. Now I know you have issues, but this changeling isn’t a bad one, he helped save our hides, least we can do is consider that.” Wintergreen finished.

Smokesignal looked like she was debating with herself over something before she made up her mind. “Alright fine, but if he tries anything, nothing’s going to stop me from doing me job!” She challenged Wintergreen.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The alicorn said before closing up the mod case after handing back Skitters’ his weapon. “Now let’s get out of here, who knows where these ponies came from or if there’s more on their way. We’re going to have to report this to the local forces when we get to Fort stud.”

It was getting close to sunset when we got near Fort Stud. A few more caravans were ahead of us as we could see the settlement from a distance. It was surrounded by tall concrete walls and had a sign above the gate which read ‘Fort Stud’. Upon my closer inspection the I found that most of the lettering must have fallen off or been removed since I was able to make out ‘Fortune Studios’. I turned to Skitters who was all too keen on being in his changeling form now. “What was this place before the bombs” I asked as he stared forward towards the large open entrance.

“It used to be a big movie studio” he said shifting his attention to me “the whole place is surrounded by walls which made it more than ideal for everypony to settle here. In comparison to every other settlement in Los Pegasus it's the crown jewel.”

We were interrupted by a pony coming between us and wrapping a hoof over each of us. It wasn't our tall alicorn friend however, this pony was average height and had a tan coat with blue hair. Her head turned to me and I was met with the familiar face of Butterscotch with an enormous grin. “So...the wasteland hasn't written you off yet?”

Skitters chimed in shrugging her hoof off his shoulder. “she's tougher than she looks” he said to my own astonishment “she still has a ton of problems but I'm slowly working those kinks out.”

“I saved the whole caravan on the way here” I exclaimed pointing a hoof toward our pack Brahmin “if not for me the Rusty Hooks would have taken...what are you staring at?” I stopped mid sentence noticing Butterscotch had Wintergreen locked in a death glare so intense that I thought if a bird passed in front of her it'd burst in flames.

Wintergreen was oblivious to her gaze at first but eventually made eye contact with a smile on her face. “Butterscotch, fancy seeing you again” she said making her way over to us “how long has it been?”

Butterscotch maintained her death glare “Six months, thirteen days” she said simply “and in all that time…” She suddenly shifted forward and jumped at Wintergreen. I almost reached for Argus thinking I'd have to break up a fight between them but Butterscotch was wrapping her hooves around our alicorn employer and laughing. “In all that time I've missed the shit out of you!”

I was confused...I had the impression that these two were at each other's throat's yet here they were locked in the friendliest hug I'd seen all week. Wintergreen was probably twice her size so her one leg wrapped all the way around her. They were both laughing as I glanced over at Skitters who stared at them with a content look. “So wait...you two don't hate each other” I asked as they turned to look at me.

“Are you kidding” Butterscotch said with a great big smile “Wintergreen is one of the most successful merchants in Equestria and I have at least a five year head start in the business.”

“And her competition is wonderful, she keeps me on my hooves always trying to get better,” Wintergreen said rubbing Butterscotch’s mane “never before have I seen anypony with as much bartering talent as her.”

“She's tried to buy my caravan a few times” Butterscotch quipped back with a grin “but it'll take more than caps and a few bidding war victories to get me to sell out.” They both laughed and reminisced as we made our way to the front of the line of caravans. We weren't met with NCR at the gate this time, these looked more like a locally organized security force with their fake looking Equestrian army armor and cowboy hats. I could only guess they were all costumes from some old movie.

We were ushered through security and directed toward the market. The whole settlement was enormous with its multiple rows of hanger looking structures each of which was labeled with the word ‘set’ followed by a number. I concluded that they were used for filming back in the day. The rest of the complex was administrative looking buildings used for Celestia knows what, a warehouse that looked like it was used to build movie props but had since been made into a public workshop, and a fully constructed outdoor western town that everypony was using as a market.

I could see why Skitters said this was the crown jewel of settlements. Fort Stud had space, infrastructure, security, and more civility than anywhere else I'd seen thus far. As we made our way through the crowds the commotion reminded me of the old Stable 13 commute more than any other town I'd seen yet.

We were stepping into the market when Skitters held his hole riddled hoof out in front of me “actually Lily” he began as I gave him a confused look “There's somepony I think you should meet while we're here.”

I was tired and worn out but he had a serious look about him. He hadn't steered me wrong before so how bad could it be? “Well...who is it” I asked.

He pointed a hoof over to a large concrete watchtower in the very center of the movie studio “I can't say who it is but she's holed up in that old security tower.” This already sounded a bit sketchy but he seemed sure of himself.

“And what about you and Rusty? Can you handle everything from here” I asked unsure of how everypony here would react to his changeling form “you've been pretty open about the whole love sucking parasite appearance.”

He patted me on the shoulder “don't worry bout a thing” he said reassuringly “this is my home town after all.” I looked at him in bafflement, I didn't even think he had a home. “Ponies here are way more accepting of what I really am...trust me I won't have any problems.”

I still wasn't entirely convinced but as I looked around I noticed nopony was giving him a second glance or pulling a gun on him. They seemed to be tolerant of his appearance as much as anypony else. “okay…” I said with a hint of concern “Where should I meet you after?”

He pointed back toward the market “i'll deal with Rusty and meet you at the saloon...you can't miss it” he said pointing back to the tower “Tell the guard I sent you and he'll let you inside.” I nodded and turned to go when he put a hoof on my shoulder “and one more thing…” he began “this pony you're meeting is a ghoul so don't be surprised by the way she looks.”

We went our separate ways but not before I got a terrible chill down my spine. “Great...more ghouls” I said under my breath as I set off away from the market

The tower looked like some kind of giant lookout that stood just above the rest of the buildings around. The top jutted out a bit and was adorned with windows that were surprisingly intact but too high to see through from the ground. It looked like it was used for studio security before the bombs fell and overall stood pretty intact.

I gave Skitters’ name to the pony at the door who radioed up to whoever was inside. He let me in and I was met with a dark flight of stairs going all the way to the top. After ascending I opened a door which led into the main lookout point at the top of the tower

Nopony was in the room but my jaw practically hit the floor upon taking in my surroundings. Every inch of every table and shelf was filled with old looking artifacts, even old in comparison to the bombs. Upon further examination I discovered it wasn't all just random junk, everything in here was Daring Do memorabilia.

My eyes darted around the room like I was a little filly in a toy store, it was all here. The sapphire stone, the Griffon's goblet, the giant golden ring from book seventeen, even the giant ancient scroll that foretold the end of days in Daring Do and the Fortress of The Far Fjords. One of the shelves was dominated by an almost pristine collection of the entire book series, even the ones Stable 13 didn't have. The more I looked the more memories of reading in bed came back to me, never before had I been filled with so much excitement in all my life.

“I've died and gone to nerd heaven” I said aloud.

“Really? Sure doesn’t feel like it to me.” Said somepony behind me. Turning around I was face to face with a Ghoul, albeit one that was in much better shape than the ones I’d in out on the road. Her mane was in shambles, and her tail was very thin and short, her wings still had feathers but there was some large gaps in some areas. Her coat was a faded tan, and her eyes had a glassy look to them. but her cutie mark was that of a Compass.

“Wha...Y...yo you!” I couldn’t get it though my head, it was more than 200 years since her last book.

Footnote:
Level up:
+1 Perception