//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Desert Rats // Story: Fallout Equestria: Tales of a Courier // by a friendly hobo //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Desert Rats “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” I was on the road again. After about two weeks of unconsiousness followed by trauma and injury I was recovering and travelling again. A pony once said: “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality and, instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” By what I’ve heard and what my imagination has conjured up, the desert wastes must be hell. I just hope that out there, in that dry, merciless and deadly place, we will come across oases of calm and friendly companions. Places like Goodsands that maybe, just maybe, offer sanctuary from the sun-scorched lands. We had already passed the sun-dried carcasses of the Blammos. I found it hard to look at them. Of course, the birds and flies picking at their flesh will take care of them before long. “Um…why don’t we head this way instead of that way?” Ace said, sheepishly pointing away from the road. “Why would we want to do a thing like tha-...” The world went dark around me. All I could see was Shamrock and the rock he was tied to against a starry backdrop. The real world flooded back into vision. I was on my side, quivering. “Dammit, I knew it was a bad idea to come this way…” Ace was looking down the road. Just a few meters from the road stood two large boulders. The boulders my brother and I had been tied to. I stared into the eastern mountains, unable to control my shaking. This was the place Shamrock died. The place I should have died. I got up, still shaking, and started walking up to the boulders. “That probably aint such a good idea, Clover,” Ace called out from the road. I knew she was right but I couldn’t control myself. I felt like I was being pushed into this. I reached the boulders. Both had a dark brownish coat on them. One worse than the other. It was blood. I stared at them for a few seconds before falling to the ground. Remember when I said “There’s a time to grieve”? This was probably it. I started weeping uncontrollably. “There, there.” Ace said as she wrapped her forelegs around me and I immediately flung myself into her embrace and cried deeply into her brown-leather barding. “I just can’t believe he’s gone!” I managed to say between sobs. I had been holding this in for quite some time with liquor and determination. Finally seeing the place Shamrock died broke the dam. It felt like I was drowning in my own despair, unable to break the surface and get a gasp of sweet air. If it wasn’t for Ace, I could have curled up and died right there. “That’s it, let it all out,” Ace said as she patted my back. It was comforting to have someone to lean on in times like these. There were a few minutes of intense waterworks before I managed to peel myself away from her. She looked at me and smiled. “Feeling any better?” “A bit.” I sniffed, “I’m just sorry you had to see that…” “Not at all.” She put her hoofs on my shoulders, “I remember when my dad died a few years back. I wish I had someone to cry on back then but all I had was a pillow. It took months to find peace with it. Hopefully, with the right support, you should be functioning properly soon enough.” She may not have been the most charismatic but what she said made me feel like I might just get through this. “Thanks.” I dried my eyes and looked into her large brown eyes. Somehow, my expression went from thankful to grim, “But I won’t find peace until Double Down is brought to justice.” I shocked myself with this. What was I becoming? She stared at me for a few seconds before I turned, looked at the boulders for one last time and started to walk down the road. She quickly caught up and looked at me cautiously before looking down the road ahead. ------ ------ ------ Another hour passed, according to my Pipbuck, and not a word was spoken. The tension was so thick around us that I felt even the warm sun wouldn’t penetrate through it. Occasionally I would see Ace look at me out of the corner of her eye and she would open her mouth but then close it; my stare stayed on the horizon ahead. She didn’t say a word. The tension was starting to gnaw at me. I couldn’t bring myself to look anywhere else but the road ahead in case I would explode in a fit of tears or start bashing skulls. Before long the tension was starting to eat me alive. I had to do something. ‘Take a risk for Pete’s sake, ya sad act,’ the voice in my head told me. Well here goes… I stopped. Ace looked back at me. “Listen… I uh...” I started. She gave me a sympathetic look, a look that said ‘please, carry on.’ “I’m sorry… for what happened back there… I don’t know what came over me…” “Clover, I remember being in your shoes. The sadness I felt gave birth to feelings of resentment and that led me down a dark path. One littered with booze and drugs. I know how you feel. I can only hope that look you gave me was born from determination and not hate.” Determination or hate… I didn’t know which one I was feeling. Hate for Double Down or a determination to right the wrongs of this Goddess-forsaken place. She looked at me seriously. “Just promise me you won’t let those feelings get the better of you.” “I promise,” I said. It would be tough, but I would try to keep that promise. I just had to be strong. “Besides, you we’re starting to freak me out with that whole ‘I’m gonna stare down this path till my eyes bleed’ thing you got going on. You, mister, have a deadly thousand yard stare,” she laughed and we kept moving. “So where are you from anyway?” She asked, now that the tension had dissipated. “The Apple Plains; down the Long Fifteen highway. Apparently the plains were named after some pre-war Ministry Mare. I don’t remember the name; just that it had Apple somewhere in it. What about you?” “I’m from a small town to the northeast called Bitter Roots, I left after my father died. I was one of the guards in his caravan but for the last year I’ve been a bit of a guard for hire. It was just before I found you and Shammy tied up that I settled in Goodsands.” “Don’t call him Shammy,” I said as I frowned at her. I then added “Please.” With a small smile. “Sorry. Tell me about your family - If that isn’t a touchy subject that is.” “I suppose telling you could pass the time. My father was great. He always found things for me and Shamrock to do. He was a funny stallion too. Always cracking jokes and making a general fool of himself for a few laughs. He died a few weeks back…” I smiled at the ground as I remembered the good times we had with dad. I looked back up and continued, “Shamrock and I are twins, If you’d believe it. Not identical as you can tell, but still twins. We had slightly different interests. He was more interested in working the fields with dad than I was. I was more interested in books and playing around with my rifle. I must’ve read all the books in town. There weren’t many, that’s for sure. Almost none of them useful. “Anyway, Shamrock was great. Dad’s personality had rubbed off on him a bit. Probably why he was such a good talker. He was always getting into trouble and I was always the one to get him out of it.” It was nice to talk about Shamrock even after today’s hysterics. I still felt sad as I talked though. “What about your Ma?” Ace asked, “Mine went east about 10 years ago after she accidentally killed one of the town’s ponies. No one ever forgave her for that… I still miss her…” She looked sad but perked right back up after I started talking again. “I never knew my mum. She died from a complication a few days after my brother and I were born. Apparently she had a heart problem. It wasn’t hereditary, thank Celestia. My brother and I are…were as average as average could get.” “Oh well. C’est la vie, right?” She smiled “I suppose.” We continued to talk and get to know each other for the hour before we saw something troubling. Some bandits were hanging out by the side of the road near some old shacks. “Ace, I don’t think they want to be friends…” I said. “Neither do I. let’s just pass by them and hope they don’t want to pick a fight.” We started to walk past. One of them, a cream coloured pony, stood up and started whistling at Ace. “Hey babe, why not bring that sweet flank over here and learn what it’s like to be a real mare!” That was… pleasant… We ignored him. ‘Just keep walking’ I thought to myself. “Hey, bitch, I’m talking to you! Why not ditch that runt and come hang out with a real stallion!” That guy was seriously starting to piss me off. It didn’t seem to faze Ace. She just kept walking with her head held high. "I’m talking to you!” he said as he closed the distance and grabbed Ace and pulled her to the ground. Was he following us? He was now standing over Ace, muttering something to her. By the face Ace made, it was not a string of sweet nothings. That’s it. Game on. ‘Oh goody! Play time!’ the voice in my head said. That was troubling. He was starting to move over her flank as I bucked him in the chin. I felt a crunch as my hind leg connected with his jaw. Blood and teeth flew from his mouth.. “Sho aw a itch!” He said as his jaw flopped uselessly. It’s go time. I immediately brought my hooves down on his face in a blind fury. Stomping on it until it was flat. “No one does that to my friends!” I said between stomps. His bandit comrades stopped in their tracks. I immediately fell on my haunches after I realized what I had done. “He kiwed da boss!” One said in shock. “GET‘IM!” Another shouted as they charged at us. Ace’s shotgun echoed over the afternoon desert as 2 of the 4 bandits fell with multiple pellet wounds. The other 2 looked at us, then to each other, then back at us and immediately turned and ran. Ace levitated my varmint rifle and took shots at the bandits. They both fell like sacks of potatoes. “Holy Celestia, that was close. Thanks for that. He had his knife to my throat…” Ace said as she walked up next to me. I was breathing heavily while staring at my bloody hooves. Fixed in place. I had just killed a pony. “Oh Goddess, what have I done?” I whispered as Ace walked up to me and stared at the body. “What was all that about?” She asked. “I…I-I-I don’t…know…” Tears were forming in my eyes again. “Listen, Clove.” She put her hoof under my chin and looked into my eyes. “You can’t let this break you. The wastes are full of scum like that and they need to be brought down. You could have saved the lives of a lot of ponies for what you did.” I raised my hooves for her to see. “Look at this. The blood of another is on my hooves!” I whispered. The tears were trickling down my face. Ace proceeded to pour some water from her canteen onto my hooves. Those hooves could never be washed clean. “Come on, up ya get,” She said as she pulled me up. I stared at the battered remains of the former bandit boss. “If you knew what he was about to do, you would have been proud of what you did. It was not going to be pretty.” If only that were true. She looked at the corpse. “He was a monster. He deserved more than what you gave him,” she gave him a kick, “much more.” She rolled the bandit’s body over to reveal a knife duct taped to his foreleg. It was huge and surprisingly clean. Must’ve robbed a pretty well stocked caravan. She ripped it off and read the engraving. ‘Silent Reaper’ followed by a crescent moon that glowed faintly. It was beautiful. “This here is a bowie knife,” she started, trying to change the subject, “they’re pretty rare around these parts. I wander how he got his hands on one. Actually come to think if it, I did hear that a caravan was hit around these parts. Must’ve come from there…” Ace said as she admired it. Her eyes immediately flashed open as she saw the crescent moon, “and enchanted by the look of it!” “Enchanted? What are you on about?” I sniffed. She handed it to me. “See that glow? It means there’s an enchantment. Your first day out in the desert and you have already found yourself an enchanted weapon…” “Found myself… no, I can’t keep it. It’s yours! We took it from the dead. I just can’t do it…” “Did Rings not teach you anything?” She looked a bit disappointed now, “you’ve got to take what you need out here in the desert wastes. Taking from the dead is like scavenging, sometimes you need to do it whether you like it or not.” I stared at the knife, “and that is a damn good find for your first scavenge.” “If you put it that way… go see what you can ta… scavenge from the ones up the road while I check these two.” She trotted up the road to the ponies whose brains were now hollow while I bent down in front of the two Ace had peppered. “It’s just scavenging, it’s just scavenging, it’s just scavenging.” I told myself. I probably wouldn’t get over taking from the dead for a while but thinking of it as scavenging made it a easier. Killing on the other hand… From lucky corpse number one I collected ten rounds that my Pipbuck had marked as .357 caliber bullets, how it did that was beyond me so I just put it down to magic and rolled with it. I also pulled out a healing bandage and a pack of cigarettes. From corpse number two I managed to pull out a tin of corn, some beans and some more .357 rounds. I picked up the guns those two were carrying and put them in front of me as I looked at Mr. Boss Pony’s corpse. I went into his pockets with my eyes closed. In his pockets was a note, some bottle caps and a healing potion. I read the note. “Hey boss, this here bowie knife is for you. I found it in some poor sap’s wares. He isn’t too anxious to keep it now that his brains are in his pockets ha ha ha. From Scraps” That would explain where he got it from. Ace came trotting back with a bag in her telekinetic field. Obviously those two were carrying the others’ stuff. I was more interested in the bottle caps I had procured and why he was carrying them. And the fact that Cloud had given me a small stack of them. “Found some caps eh? Nice.” Ace said as she put the bag down beside her. “Yeah. What’s got me stumped is why he was carrying them and why Cloud gave me some.” “Oh that’s easy. Caps are currency out here.” Say what now? “Yup, dad told me that after the megaspells hit, people started using bottle caps for money seeing as almost all of the facilities for making bottle caps had been destroyed. Would’ve been hard to create counterfeits, that’s for sure.” “You don’t use NCR Bits out here?” I asked. “Well some people do but not many. Caps are the general form of currency.” “How quaint.” I put them in my saddle bag. My Pipbuck immediately changed my amount caps from 60 to 80. “So what did you get?” “Just a baseball bat and a .357 magnum, some healing bandages, some ammo, some food, a grenade and some bobby pins.” “Bobby pins?” I asked. “For lock-picking” “Lock-picking?” “Not all the doors in the wastelands are unlocked you know. I guess I’ll teach you how to do it someday. I see you’ve got some magnums.” “Yeah but they aren’t in good condition, I was planning on pulling them apart and seeing what I can salvage from them but I guess we’ve got to keep moving.” I said. “And there goes me thinking you had no wasteland skills other than shooting straight.” Ace laughed. I gave her a stern look before chuckling myself. Something about others laughing made me happy. Probably rubbed off from Dad. It made me forget what I had done for a moment. I looked back at my first kill before we started back down the road. The sun had started setting and we were about two miles from Goodsands and about one and a quarter miles from Lipton. I suggested we stop in an old rest stop up the road and continue in the morning. To our delight, it was empty and had been for a while. ------ ------ ------ I was looking down the road of a ruined city. Wind was whistling through the streets and over dust covered bones. The sky was pitch black and the buildings were a dark grey. I could hear the sound of chains. I looked around. There was nothing there. I was starting to panic but I couldn’t move. My legs were fused to the pavement. On the road ahead of me the silhouette of a pony had appeared. It came closer, dragging its chains behind it. It was starting to come into focus. It was Shamrock. The top left half of his head was missing and blood streaked down his face over his ears, mouth, nose and eyes. He stopped a few meters from me. “WHY ARE YOU TORMENTING ME?!” I shouted, trying to get free. He raised his foreleg, chains dangling behind it and stood like that for a few seconds before his jaw opened beyond natural limitations. He screamed a deafening, otherworldly scream. “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” I was back in the rest stop, thrashing around, kicking and screaming while Ace held my shoulders trying to steady me. I opened my eyes to see her looking at me with fear in her eyes. I started crying and put my hoofs to my eyes. I was shaking uncontollably. This was the worst terror yet. Ace pulled my sleeping bag over me before lying next to me and hugging me, trying to calm me down. It wasn’t working very well. I was still a tormented shaking ball of tortured pony. She squeezed tighter. Somehow, from the pressure of her forelegs around me, I started to calm down from wailing like a small filly to sobbing but I still couldn’t stop shaking. “Any better?” She whispered. “I think so.” I said through sobs. I don’t think I could get through this alone. I was dying inside and the only thing keeping me from falling into the abyss was the support of Ace, who just a few days ago I had never even met before. I just hoped this wouldn’t come around to bite me in the arse. She had seen me crying like a traumatized loony and she hadn’t said anything about it. Either she was extremely nice or there’s something afoot. I chose the former and stuck with it. She gave me a squeeze before going back to her sleeping bag. “Goodnight, try to get some sleep. After what you’ve been through you’re going to need all the sleep you can get,” she whispered before disappearing into her sleeping bag. What was I becoming? I had only been out in the desert wastelands for a few days and it had taken so much from me. My brother, it was taking my innocence and now it would appear my sanity. ‘Dammit, I’m stronger than this!’ I thought to myself ‘I will outlive this insanity even if it kills me.’ I surprised myself with that last part. ‘That’s it. I’m definitely insane…’ “You have no idea” That the voice came from inside my head did not bode well… Not well at all… ------ ------ ------ I awoke from a mercifully dreamless slumber to find myself in pitch blackness. I felt like I was in a small cocoon. It was warm and cozy. Until I felt the overwhelming need to relieve myself. I kicked and shoved inside the cocoon trying to find my way out. I managed to poke my head out of the thing and took a gasp of air. I was deep inside my sleeping bag which had been placed in a dark room with the door ajar. I walked out to find Ace fixing up a meal with the tinned corn and some of the meat my Pipbuck had deemed ‘brahmin meat’. It smelled yummy. “Good morning. Or noon according to my watch.” She looked at a pocket watch set in front of her, “sleep well?” I raised my eyebrow at her. She got the point. “I meant after that little crisis…” “I slept ok I suppose. How did I end up in there?” The door I had come out of had ‘Staff Only’ written above it. The writing was faded but still legible. It was a small office. “Well this morning when I woke up you still looked exhausted so I pulled you into that room and wrapped you up. I’ve been checking up on you every hour, on the hour, since.” I suppose this reason is tolerable. I then remembered that I desperately needed to whizz. “Where’s the restroom. Or what passes for a restroom?” She pointed to a small room on the other side of the lobby we were in which was small but had what I needed. A toilet. I closed the door and relieved myself blissfully. I flushed…well tried to flush the toilet before turning to the sink. I turned the handle on the tap and was met with a gentle clicking from my Pipbuck. ‘That’s new’ I thought to myself. It must be my Geiger counter which means the water I was washing my hoofs with was irradiated. Not very irradiated but still irradiated. I didn’t think my flesh is going to melt off my bones from this. I continued to give my face a quick scrub and checked my scar. The pain had lessened but was still present, just not to a degree that I needed the pills, of which there were about ten left/. Still, I had held on to them, sure that I would need them in the future. Then the world flashed around me and the water turned red. I gasped as I fell backwards and scrambled to the wall. The world flashed again and the water went back to normal. I slowly crept up to the sink and looked at it before regarding my reflection in the cracked mirror. “What’s happening to me?” I whispered. “Are you OK in there?” Ace called. ‘No´ I thought to myself. “I’m fine,” I called back. I left the restroom to see Ace smiling as I entered the lobby area. “Lunch?” She asked, holding out the pot with her magic. “I’m not really hungry.” I walked past into the room I had been snoozing in. It was a lot more depressing in the light than it was in the dark. The walls were cracked and grey while the light fixtures had fallen off the ceiling. There was a desk with a dark terminal on top of it so I walked over to it and pressed the power button, my curiosity getting the better of me. The machine spluttered and it’s screen came to life. Please enter password was displayed across the dusty screen. *Bleep* My Pipbuck lit up with a whole new display of random symbols and letters. Amongst them were some five letter words. ‘Well what have we here?’ I thought to myself as I clicked the first word. Sized. 1/5. Entry denied, 3 attempts remaining. I really didn’t know what I was doing. I scrolled through the words and picked another at random. Licks. 4/5 .Entry denied, 2 attempts remaining. ‘I suppose those numbers mean that’s how many letters there are and how many match.’ I thought to myself. I kept scrolling until I hit an odd combo that my Pipbuck claimed to be a word. (’];.//.;[pl). I selected it and was rewarded with the text, Dud removed. The word force had been turned into 5 dots. “I see” I muttered as I kept scrolling. I found another odd combo but instead of giving me the dud removal message it came up with Allowance replenished. The small green blocks at the top of the screen had gone from 2 to 4 again. “Oh ho. That is interesting…” I clicked links. 5/5. Entry accepted, access granted. The terminal screen flickered and before sat a new screen. Welcome Tire Iron. Last login 200 years, 2 months and 29 days ago. Had no one else even tried to open this terminal since the war? There were four entries before me, two were labeled ERROR 101: CORRUPT DATA but the others were still accessible. I opened the one labeled Posh much? “A tour chariot all the way from Fillydelphia pulled in today, I think their heading to Mustang. The poor guys pulling the damn thing desperately needed a rest. We gave them some water and some food while they had their break but after five minutes the damn posh assholes they were pulling were getting impatient. They almost forced the poor guys into their harnesses as if they were slaves. It really grinds my gears you know?” Well that was useful. The next file I had available was an audio recording that my Pipbuck immediately downloaded and I decided to save it for later. “Well look at our little hacker. I took a look at that terminal this morning but it was a bit too complex for my magic so I powered it down and left it.” My Pipbuck’s spell matrix was more than a match for this terminal apparently. “Check this out, the desk is locked and it looks like an easy one. Lemme show you how to pick a lock.” I stepped aside. “Oh no you don’t.” Ace dragged me back and handed me a screw driver and bobby pin. “Right, put the bobby pin in here.” I placed it into the key hole, “can you feel the tumblers?” I nodded after I let go. I didn’t want to break it by nodding with the damn thing in my teeth. “OK, now place the end of the screwdriver in this part.” I placed the end of the screwdriver under the bobby pin. “Alright, now twist it softly until it stops by itself…” I twisted it and the lock stopped about halfway to horizontal. “OK, now move the bobby pin a bit to the right and twist again.” It stopped again but it didn’t get as far as it did last time. “Move it to the left and try again.” I complied and the lock clicked open. “Great job, you managed to open it without breaking a pin!” “I suppose that’s a good thing?” I said as I stuck my head into the drawer. She nodded. There wasn’t much inside. There was some office equipment, some old world money and a magazine. Duck and Cover! Equestria’s Most Explosive Magazine! I plucked out the magazine and opened the cover. It had been remarkably preserved. The only damage I could see was a few rips and some coffee stains from when the magazine had been used as a coaster. “Grenade special! See page 15 for the exclusive interview with Equestrian Army Grenadier Sgt. Pineapple Punch.” I flipped to page 15. “Many think that throwing a grenade with your mouth is the only way to throw a grenade. This is a bad idea. I have seen more soldiers lose their heads from grenade mishaps than from zebra sharpshooters.” I immediately remembered how the blue pony had his head blown to pieces from his grenade. “A much better way to throw Equestrian Apple grenades, high explosive or otherwise, is with your hoofs. You see, Apple grenades are very easy to hold and throw because of their shapes and weight. So just remember soldiers, if you find you’re in range for a good grenade throw, use your hoofs. Much less chance of becoming a brainless corpse.” If only that blue pony had read this. He might have only lost his foreleg. “Interesting read?” Ace asked. “I suppose. You might like to have a gander at it.” She took the magazine and began reading it. I walked over to my sleeping bag that I had left bundled up in a heap, rolled it up and tied it to the top of my saddlebag. I walked back into the lobby and took a bowl of the stew Ace had made. It wasn’t bad but it was no ‘Pinkies Pie’s pie. I gobbled it down and looked out of the window. The sun was right over the Ponave. I could see the heat waves dancing on the horizon. We still had two full canteens left between us but I desperately hoped Lipton has a water talisman. ‘Well of course they do, silly. They make tea! What do they make it out of, irradiated water?’ I thought to myself as Ace emerged from the office and put the magazine in my saddlebag before packing up her cooking equipment. “Ready to hit the road?” She called as she put on her saddlebags. Did I want to go from this cozy little rest stop into the heat of the sun scorched Ponave? “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I nickered before collecting my goods. “We should be at Lipton before sundown if we don’t run into anymore ponies in need of a good whooping,” she said as we left. I was immediately pummeled by heat and the guilt of what I had done. Celestia really wasn’t making this easy on us… I took this opportunity to listen to the audio recording I had downloaded, considering I had found out that my Pipbuck had a small device that fit into my ear. “This is Tire Iron and this is my last entry on this terminal. Remember how I talked about those Fillydelphians and how I didn’t like them? Well I don’t have to worry about them anymore. Mainly because Mustang just went up in a big green mushroom cloud. “Those damn striped bastards actually did it. They launched against us. There’s mushroom clouds dotted about the horizon. There’s one over Black Mountain pass. One over Snowy Peaks. They’re probably trying to hit the Ponave communication and research facilities. “What really was amazing was the laser show emanating from the Las Neighgas and Iron City directions. I guess the army had some sort of counter-megaspell system set up out there. Shot those megaspells right out of the sky. I counted four…no, five megaspell clouds. Not many if you ask me. But then again there isn’t much out here. “I saw our megaspells flying through the air in retaliation a few minutes ago but what’s strange is that none of them came from the Hurricane valley silos. My guess is that the damn dust storms out there are messing with their comms. “Those damn dust storms. I swear to Celestia they aren’t natural. It must be some sort of secret Ministry experiment. People call me a crazy conspirator but I tell you, something’s up out there and I intend to find out what…” “Listening to the radio?” Ace said just as the recording ended. “Hm? No, just a recording from the terminal in the office. What do you mean radio?” “Ponave radio! It’s the only form of entertainment out there. Here…” She walked up to me and fiddled with my Pipbuck. There was a burst of static over my earbloom. I took it off and set my Pipbuck to broadcast. “Good afternoon Ponave! This is your resident radio guru Mr. Ponave, broadcasting to you five by five from my station in Iron City! Got some sweet tunes coming your way but first some news! “A courier that was shot in the head near Goodsands has reportedly made a complete recovery. Now that is a courier service you can count on! “In other news the war still rages near the Dam as another skirmish resulted in stalemate. Casualties are still being counted. “That’s it for now. Here’s some Flank Sonata telling us above the love you find only once in a blue moon.” That courier had been me but I had no clue how he had found out. I was going to ask Ace but she was listening intently to the song. I joined in. Love. I’d never really thought about it to be honest. There weren’t any mares out in the Apple Plains around my age and the mares that were present were old and married. I guess the ranch was the only love I ever had and I’m just not attracted to males. I looked at Ace. She was pretty but I didn’t think getting involved in a relationship was really a good idea at that point in time. Hell, in my mental state I didn’t think I could have a relationship with anyone. Best I’d put those thoughts behind me until I’m a bit more stable. “I love this song.” Ace said with her eyes closed. She seemed to speed up at the climax of the song. Weirdo… “Oi! Come back here!” I shouted as I ran to keep up. She was fast. “Catch me if you can!” She yelled back. How we got from listening to a nice little song to chasing each other across the desert is beyond me. I chased her down the road before finally catching up. My scarred forearm was giving me hell so I popped a pain pill. “What was that about?” I asked between pants. “I dunno… that song just makes me feel great. Oh shit, I forgot about your leg, are you OK?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” I said as I looked down the road. The pain pill was having its desired effect. “Y’know, we won’t always have painkillers. I think you should save them for major pains, like if you feel your head is splitting open. Your head takes priority over your legs.” I guess that was true but I could barely feel my head hurting anymore. I looked at my Pipbuck. So this thing was also a jukebox eh? What else does it do I wondered? I clicked on stats. The outline of a green pony with wavy hair appeared. He looked happy. There were percentages next to its forelegs, hindlegs, head and torso. ‘Oh I get it! This represents me!’ I thought to myself. My hindlegs, torso and left foreleg all had 100%. My head was at 85% and my arm was at 95%. That sounded about right. “That thing has more features than you could shake a stick at,” Ace said as she looked at the Pipbuck. I intended to find all of them. “Tell me your secrets!” I said as I poked and prodded at the buttons and wheels. This seemed to amuse Ace. I accidentally opened my EFS. There were a few red blips but they ended up just being some critters in a small irradiated watering hole. No immediate threat. I gave up after I brought up the map for the 3rd time. We were less than a mile out of Lipton and the sun was still high above us. Then we saw smoke. ------ ------ ------ We ran up a hill as I pulled out my binoculars. There was a lot of smoke bellowing out of Lipton. We couldn’t see exactly where the source was but it wasn’t good. “Bandits?” I asked “More than likely,” said a familiar voice from behind Ace and I. We both turned to see two NCR troopers trotting up to us, “My guess would be Blammos from all the smoke. How’s it hanging, cutie?” It was Corporal Corks. It would be hard to mistake such an odd trooper. Her long dark purple mane was tied back behind her head and she still had the corkscrew strapped to her helmet. “Hello corporal,” I said extending my hoof. “Been a while,” she shook my hoof, “where’s your brother?” I dropped her hoof, turned to Lipton and looked through my binoculars as Ace cringed. “He’s dead,” I said in a cold voice without dropping my binoculars. It was the only thing masking my pain. “Oh no. I’m so sorry.” She put her hoof on my shoulder. I didn’t turn. Ace pulled her away before saying “Might want to step back. He’s in his dark place right now.” I could feel the three ponies behind me staring, waiting for me to respond. “Clove...are you ok?” Ace finally asked, taking a cautious step forward. “Nope,” I said. It was the truth. I turned and looked at the Corporal after a few seconds, “how’s it going Corks?” I said with a small forced smile. Ace gave a small sigh of relief. At least I wasn’t going ballistic. Corks looked a bit scared but said “I’m OK I suppose.” My smile grew a bit more. She perked back up. “Who’s your friend?” She asked. “Oh right, Ace, this is Corporal Corks. Corks, this is Ace.” “Pleased to meet you. This here is Private Twitchy. Our CO told us to recon Lipton,” said Corks “CO?” I asked. “Commanding Officer. Say, could you do us a favor and check out what’s causing the smoke and where exactly its coming from? We aren’t authorized to intervene.” I looked at her oddly, “I don’t like it either but orders are orders.” I looked at Ace then back to Corks. “I’m sure we can do that.” “Great, here’s a radio broadcaster. Tells us what’s up and if the coast is clear. We’ll be watching from here.” She handed me a phone looking thing. “Alright then, see you later.” We turned and walked away. “She was totally checking you out.” Ace said when we were out of earshot. “What are you on about?” I nickered. “She was, and I must say, I’m jealous. She’s hot.” I supposed she is kinda cute. Wait what did she just say? “Jealous?” “Yup. Oh you don’t know, do you? How do I put this…” She stopped for a moment deep in thought. “I’m on the same side of the fence as you are.” I gave her a puzzled look. “Um…oh, I prefer cave diving to mountain climbing…” “Wait, are you saying you’re…” I asked. “Yup.” “You like…” “Uh-huh.” “I see… well, let’s get...moving then.” Good thing I’m not in any state for relationships, because that would’ve blown me out of the water, right now however, I couldn’t care less. I just wanted to get this job done. Who was I kidding? ------ ------ ------ Lipton was hell. The town entrance had the heads of mares and stallions, fillies and colts, on spikes. I immediately ejected my lunch from my stomach. I couldn’t look. This reminded me too much of the pony I had killed. I felt a huge pang of guilt and regret slice straight through me. We went inside. It wasn’t much better. Along the street were ponies nailed to large crosses. Some moaning as we passed. Others were dead. There were fires in some areas. Charred remains of ponies lay on top of them. More heads on spikes were everywhere. It was a massacre. “What the fuck…” I whispered as I passed a hanging colt. He was already dead. “This isn’t bandit work. This is the work of Raiders.” Ace growled. “Keep your eyes peeled.” Ahead of us stood a large building with the words Lipton Town Hall displayed in fine letters above the door. There were five ponies standing outside. One looked proud of himself. He turned and approached us. “Don’t worry. I won’t have you two nailed to a cross like the rest of these degenerates. It’s useful that you came by. I want you to witness the fate of Lipton. Memorize every detail. And when you move on, I want you to teach everyone you meet the lesson taught here by Crusader’s Legion. Especially any New Canterlot Republic soldiers you come across.” “What the fuck is this?! What the fuck did they do to deserve this?!” I spat. “WHAT FUCKING LESSON IS BEING TAUGHT?!” “Where to begin,” the fucker in front of me started. His voice as cool as ice, “that these ponies are weak and we are strong? This you can clearly see. But the depths of their moral sickness, their dissolution? Lipton is the perfect example for this lesson.“ “What the hell are you talking about?!” I said. Ace was looking concerned at me. Did she want me to stop? Or was she concerned about my mental wellbeing? I didn’t care. This fucker had some explaining to do before I kicked his teeth through the back of his head. “Lipton was a corrupt place. It served all comers as long as they had money. NCR, Blammos, Legionnaires. The town didn’t care. This town was a whore. For a mere sum of caps, the town agreed to lure those who it sheltered into a trap. Little did they know that they were caught as well. I herded them into the center of town and told them of their sins. Then I announced the lottery.” “Sins? Lottery? You killed these people. You are the one who’s sinned here!” “Each clutched their ticket,” he continued, “hoping it would set them free. They did nothing as their loved ones were dragged away to be killed. They stood and watched as their fellows where butchered, nailed to a cross or burned. One by one.” “I’ve had enough of this!” I shouted as I jolted forward in a blind fury. Ace held me back. “Are you crazy? They’re Legion! Trained killers. We don’t stand a chance.” She said “I will forgive this outrage. Next time you will not be so fortunate.” The Legion stooge said. “You…killed…everyone.” I seethed. “Not quite. Some ran into the town hall in seek of refuge. So we sent in the dogs.” “Dogs?!” I was squirming to get free from Ace’s hold. “Yes, now if you will excuse me. We will be leaving.” He turned and walked away. Ace finally let go. “GAAAAAAAAAAH!” I roared into the evening sky. I pulled out the broadcaster. “Corks. Come in.” “We hear you. What’s with the war shout?” responded Corks “Lipton is gone. Repeat, gone.” I said. “Blammos?” “Worse.” “Oh?” “Legion.” I growled “What? Legion this far west? Oh hell. I’m going back to base to get HQ on the horn. See you around, Cutie.” And with that, the two silhouettes on the hill got up and ran towards the Ponave Outpost. I looked up at the mountain. There was another silhouette. This one seemed to be wearing a long coat and a hat. He was watching the lLgion as they left. With a blink he was gone. I must’ve been going crazy… “You really have to learn to control yourself, Clove. Luck will only get you so far!” Ace said with a stern look. I started to walk into the town hall. “Where are you going now?” “There could be survivors in there and I’m going to get them out.” Footnote: LEVEL UP! New perk: “Swift Learner” You gain 10% more experience when experience is awarded. Skill note: Science 25, Lockpick 25, Guns 40, unarmed 20. Special thanks to Demetrius and everyone else who helped out to make this jumble of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in to a halfway decent story. And Kkat for the inspiration. More thanks to Kal for the revisions.