//------------------------------// // Stage 3: Bargaining Chips // Story: Fallout Equestria - The Mirror Project // by Senwyn1 //------------------------------// The next morning, Ratchet awoke with a stinking headache and bright lights blazing in her skull. She wasn’t sure quite how many things she’d drunk but the last thing she remembered was a weird green looking thing that Orion had claimed was the best in all of Vanhoovia. It wasn’t – it tasted like pigs swill and dragon dung mixed together with a dash of skunk for seasoning. It had completely blitzed her memory and left her stomach at war. Forcing herself awake, she heaved herself out of the cot and clambered down the ladder onto the hard concrete floor. They were staying in one of the communal areas, temporary accommodation for bounty hunters passing through West Mareton. Well, it was supposed to be temporary, but Ratchet had pretty much commandeered this room for herself. The beds were uncomfortable, smelly and riddled with lice, but it beat the wastes any day of the week and that made it home. “Orion” Ratchet groaned as the movement sent hoof beats pounding through her brain, “You alive?” An answering grunt slithered out from the cot beneath hers as the ghoul sat up with a wide yawn that revealed rotting gums and a maggot infection in one cheek. “Alive?” Orion said with a grin as she crawled out of bed, “You trying to be funny?” Ratchet grinned back, pulling her saddle bags onto her back and tightening the straps with her teeth, “Still got a pulse, ain't you?” Orion lifted her rifle with her magic, brown sparks running up its length as she checked it for bruises. “Some would argue against that definition of living” Orion replied wryly as Ratchet stretched, shaking her head with a wince as she tried to clear it. “In pain, are we?” the ghoul snickered. “What did you feed me?” Ratchet groaned, clamping her hooves against her skull, “Poison?” Orion whistled innocently. “Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that. Maybe some apple cider in the mix.” Ratchet groaned, plodding towards the door. “Remind me to kill you when my head isn’t on fire” she complained, shoving it open with her shoulder and striding out. “And we’re back to alive versus dead” Orion quipped, opening the door after her, “Must it always be this way with us?” Ratchet chuckled, squinting as the light sent shards through her skull. The market wasn’t open yet, leaving the entire compound feeling like a ghost town. The only signs that ponies still lived here were a pair of run down guards patrolling the walls and the odd drunk snoring on a curb. Orion glanced at Ratchet. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked, “Get another bounty and build up our funds or get wasted today and tomorrow too.” Ratchet looked in the direction of the Harmony building, mulling it over. “Bounties” she said finally, “Better make the most of this new Amazonia hunting spree. We might be able to negotiate a better deal if we go after a tricky case.” Her head blazed into pain again and she sat down on the curb abruptly, suppressing the urge to be sick. “I’ll have to beg them for a headache cure first though” Ratchet grumbled, rubbing her scalp. They strode up the hill to the white building, each step sending more pain through Ratchet’s head. At the entrance, Orion stopped letting out a snort of irritation. “I’ll wait out here. Don’t want them to burst a coronary before they cure your head” she said dryly, making herself comfortable against the wall. Ratchet frowned, jerking her head at the door. “Just come in and screw the lot of them” Ratchet set, “Make them squirm for being a bunch of filthy bigots.” Orion smiled faintly at her and turned her head away. Ratchet frowned at her then turned away, flicking her tail. “Whatever” she muttered, stomping inside, “Be a coward then.” Orion didn’t rise to it, so the very irritated and worn looking earth pony entered the Children of Harmony alone. “Get me a healer” Ratchet snapped at the nearest unicorn with a butterfly badge, sitting down on the bench impatiently. In a few seconds, a Child was attending her, letting pale blue magic flow into Ratchet’s skull and dissolve the remnants of alcohol from her brain. Ratchet stood up with a grunt of thanks in the unicorn’s direction and strode outside, nodding to Orion as she approached the large bounty board stationed on the front of the building. As she had guessed, there were a bunch of New Amazonia themed ones there, based on hunts that had previously failed. Deliciously high rewards too, she thought with a grin, eying up the four or five digit numbers. The main targets were Hippolyta, the leader of new Amazonia; Antiope her second in command; and Celaeno, in charge of information gathering and a major thorn in everyone's spines. It was unlikely Ratchet would capture any of those but it was worth keeping an eye out when doing run of the mill slave rescues. To her surprise, Ratchet found the yellow mare she’d rescued before eyeing up the bounties. The yellow unicorn nibbled her lip as her vivid blue eyes flicked from poster to poster,dwelling for a moment on each one before passing to the next. Looking for an easy one, Ratchet bet. Of course there weren’t any. No one would ask a lone pony to take on one of these missions. It would be suicide. “What are you doing?” Ratchet asked and the mare jumped a foot in the air. Ratchet watched as Wagtail withdrew into herself, face hidden by her dark blue mane and body trembling all over. “You planning on taking on a bounty? By yourself? You nuts, kid?” The mare stared at Ratchet for a few moments then nodded once shyly. “I thought if I went after something simple, I could handle it” she said defensively, draw her head up high as she glanced at the board again, “But there really isn’t anything that easy.” Ratchet let out a snort, rolling her eyes at Wagtail. “Well, duh” she said frankly, smirking at Wagtail, “If work was that easy, everyone would be a hunter.” Ratchet let out a low sigh, placing a hoof on Wagtail’s shoulder. “Look, I'll admit that you got guts, kid” Ratchet said warmly, “You killed that slaver back in the pen for attacking you, didn’t ya?” Wagtail smiled shyly at the compliment, looking at the floor, and Ratchet felt a sliver of pity for her. She was so naïve, it was ridiculous. “Thing is, guts aren’t enough to keep you alive” Ratchet added gruffly, waving her hoof in the direction of the door, “Most things out there feed on them! Just stay in West Mareton and find work here. You’re a unicorn, so you could even join the Children if you wanted.” Wagtail frowned, biting her lip and glanced at the board again, eyes straying to one of the amazon missions. Ratchet followed her gaze and read the mission description silently. A group of ponies had been taken prisoner by New Amazonia troops in the southern village of New Hoofington. A couple of attempts to rescue them had already been made but each time they’d been slaughtered by the Amazonians. Much too dangerous for this kid, but at that price, Ratchet and Orion could probably handle it. “Thank you for your concern” Wagtail stiffly, talking to the ground as her good eye narrowed into a stubborn glare, “But I’m going to try one anyway.” Ratchet let out a small puff of air, resisting the urge to slam her head against the wall. She hated rescuing people just for them to go walk into death traps. “Well” she said after a few moments, tongue moving ahead of her brain, “How about you come with me and Orion on a mission and see how you find it? Three ponies against the world sounds doable.” Ratchet stretched her mouth into a smile, ignoring the voice telling her this mare was a dead weight and would get them killed. The mare looked at her for a few seconds, both corners of her mouth twitching up into a weak grin of disbelief. “Really?” she whispered, “You'll help me?” Ratchet huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “I said I'd do it, didn't I?” she snapped, “Don't make me offer twice.” Ratchet felt a slight nudge against her side and turned, seeing Orion looking at her with one brow raised. “Ratchet. A word?” the ghoul asked stiffly, waving her hoof in the direction of a half rotten picnic bench. Ratchet nodded and glanced at Wagtail. “Hang on a second” she said gently, smiling, before following Orion to the seats. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?” the ghoul snapped, voice trembling as she slammed her hoof against the table, sending pieces of rotten bark flying, “Taking some brat onto a mission with us? You want to die young?” Ratchet flicked her eyes to the ceiling and then glared at Orion, mouth hardening to a thin line. “What do you expect me to do? Let her charge to her death?” Ratchet growled, nodding her head back at Wagtail, “She killed one raider and thinks she can take a herd of them on! If we take her on one mission, she'll see the light and join the Children. Done and dusted.” Orion leaned forward, shaking her head rapidly. “It's not our concern” the ghoul snapped back, a vein in her skull twitching, “Take that whelp on our jobs and we'll end up with our flanks skinned hanging from meat hooks. Let her go and get herself killed by herself. Don't drag us into it!” Ratchet closed her eyes and leant back into her chair, crossing her hooves as she eyed her friend. “Fine. You don't have to come then” she said coolly, watching as the ghoul's face froze, “If risk is all you care about, I'll take her on a mission by myself. ” Orion's face crumpled and she hunched forward, using her horn to drag Ratchet towards her. “You're not going on a hunt without me” she snarled, lifting her hoof, “And if you try, I'll break your legs.” Ratchet continued to stare at her, mouth narrowed into a line. “I'd like to see you do that” Ratchet purred back, baring her teeth. They stared at each other for a long moment, inches away from each other's faces. Finally, Orion let out a puff of air and shoved her away, slamming her hooves back onto the table as she screwed her eyes shut. “Fine” she grumbled, shooting a glare in Wagtail's direction, “I'll come with you on your little good Samaritan jaunt. But only to watch your back, like always. If she gets into trouble, I'm doing jack. Got it?” Ratchet smiled, leaning across to pat the ghoul's head. “Good Orion” she mocked, “Now run along and grab us some supplies while I explain this to our new friend.” Orion let out a small growl, shoving Ratchet onto the ground as she stalked towards the door, closing it with a fierce slam behind her. Ratchet let out a sigh and a relieved laugh burst from her lips as she slumped down into her chair. For a second there, she really thought Orion was going to say no. “Me and the filly on a mission by ourselves” she said to herself with a wry grin, “Shit scary stuff there.” Getting to her feet, she trotted back to Wagtail. The other mare looked at her warily, legs bent inwards and tail between her feet as she eyed the door Orion had left through. “So...?” she asked uncomfortable, eyeing the mission board again. “Sooo you've got yourself a hunting party” Ratchet said with a grin, patting the yellow unicorn on one shoulder. “And if I do say so myself, you have good taste in partners”. Wagtail smiled broadly, eyes lighting up and she turned back to the board. With a blueish glow of her horn, she peeled one of the notices off the board and showed it to Ratchet. “I was thinking this one” Wagtail exclaimed, waggling it in front of Ratchet's nose, “Raider camp south of here.” Ratchet frowned and took it off her with one hoof, eying the description silently. The reward was good, probably why Wagtail had picked it, but it looked like a messy job. Real messy for two hunters and an amateur. Still it wasn't the amazonia one she'd been eyeing up earlier, so they'd probably dodged a bullet. “It's doable” Ratchet said finally, after considering the situation, “But Orion isn't going to like it. We might need an extra pair of hooves”. Ratchet passed the description back to Wagtail and she frowned, looking over the description again. “Luckily” Ratchet added with a grin, “I think I know someone who'd be happy to come. Well, for a price.” Wagtail raised a brow and Ratchet smiled, crumpling the paper into her saddlebag. “You need gear. Go to the markets and order in my name” Ratchet instructed her, grinning viciously, “A weapon you feel happy with, some food, some drink and anything else you think might be useful. When you're done, come to Block B and ask for Ratchet. They'll show you to my room.” Wagtail nodded and trotted for the door, leaving Ratchet with a cup of whiskey and a pleased expression on her face. Things were about to get exciting.