Fallout Equestria: Viva Las Pegasus -- Tails of New Pegasus
Chapter Five: Boulder's Resume

It was really early morning, so most of the ponies were still asleep, but nonetheless, I made sure I wasn't followed. After making sure that nobody was on my tail, I proceeded to the eastern gate of Freedom Fields, walking alone in the serene silence of dawn. When I approached the gate, I saw a middle-aged green pony, older than me, but not old like a grandpa. His mane had completely disappeared, but he had a rough brown beard, so I assume his mane was brown as well. As I approached, he shot at me a serious look which didn't seem to be any less threatening with his bowler hat and shades.

"Mornin' Mister Whitehooves." I greeted him.

"Hello there, Boulder," Walter Whitehooves replied rather dully.

Something sounded off with him. "Is everything alright?" I inquired, trying to make small talk.

"No, no... just waiting for Jesse. He's got the tools."

"You remember where we should be going, right?"

"Of course I do," he looked at me in disbelief, "do you really think I'm stupid enough to jeopardize this business opportunity?"

Bad move. "No, Mr. Whitehooves, I didn't mean it like that," I tried saving my flank, sounding as sincere as possible, "I just, you know, wanted to be sure. I'm sure Jesse forgot."

"'Course he did. He's a good for nothing junkie, that's what he is." Ouch. That was rather cold to Jesse. I would have retorted in his defense, but then he we heard the sound of hooves clopping. "Hey guys!" a cheery voice shouted. We both found ourselves looking at that yellow pony running towards us, saddlebags full and clanking with the sound of glassware tapping on each other.

"Stop you idiot!" My companion scolded. "You don't want anyone waking up!"

Jesse shot a look of annoyance towards Whitehooves. "Sorry, geez. I just didn't want to be late, yo."

"Heh, I'd rather be late than followed, then violently murdered." I told him. "Anyway, we've been wasting enough time. We better get going."

"He's right." Whitehooves agreed, "We're burning daylight, and I'd rather we get there before nightfall."

The desert was scorching hot and the makeshift scrap metal armor I had on me wasn't helping, but thankfully, we weren't followed by anyone from town. It's not like I wasn't used to this. I worked with these two for 10 years, but before I was just there for the deals. Now, they hired be as a full time guard because I could travel with them since... well, since I had no reason to come home every night. Not since the fight.

"Damn, these saddlebags are pretty fucking heavy, eh, fellas?" I chuckled. Trekking a wasteland was boring, but I assumed it'd be less boring if you have a conversation on the trip.

"Shut up." Whitehooves coldy snapped at me. I guess I'll never find out.

"Sorry, I-"

"No you fool, both of you get down!" White commanded as he got on his belly. We hurriedly followed his example and proned on the ground.

"What is it?" Jesse asked, obviously looking worried. I slowly unholstered my shotgun and looked around. "I don't see anything," I muttered.

"No, do you hear that?" Whitehooves said.

Now that he did mention it, I could hear voices of two ponies talking. The sounds began to come closer and closer, so the duo was approaching us. Jesse was smirking and he said "It's three on two yo, we could take 'em out."

"Right. So you want to risk a firefight? While we're holding glass equipment in our bags? You know, glass? Those things that shatter when shot at?" whispered White, making sure to emphasize the sarcasm.

"Okay, no fire fight then," Jesse concluded, embarrassed by his careless suggestion.

"Huh, I think I could take them out quickly if I got the jump on them," I told them. "I mean, all that's in my bags is my camping gear, and I've got a shotgun." There was really nothing to lose. You know, unless I got shot. Then there would be blood to lose.

"Wait, so how-" the green pony tried to cut in before I crept towards the sound of the voices.

"Shh.... I'll be right back."

As quietly as a mouse, I was crawling towards the sounds of the voices. I got closer and closer until I actually heard what they were talking about. I hid behind a rock and peeked out to see who they were. A stallion and a mare, both clad in leather armor, equipped with submachine guns walking my way. Not good.

"So, what? This is part of some grand master plan?" The stallion complained to the mare, who was obviously annoyed at her partner.

"Yes! For the millionth time, Saddle's making a big play to be the only drug business in Freedom Field!" she yelled at him.

"So why are we not in Freedom Field, huh Ms. Smartyhooves?" Their voices got louder, meaning they were getting closer.

"Because we're searching for drug outposts. I mean for Celestia's sake, if Saddle's production places are out here, don't you think somepony else has a drug manufactory here?" The couple's voices now came from the other side of my hearing. They passed by me. Now's my chance.

"I wish we got to stay in the city instead..." grumbled the stallion.

"You should've." I smirked, as he turned back when he heard my cock my shotgun.

BANG!

Her partner was able to look back just to find his brains flying all over the place, painting the golden desert a nice shade of red.

"NOOO!" she screamed, as she tried to bite her trigger, but I dropped my shotgun and was able to tackle her just before-

RATATATA!

Ok, right after she got to it. I knocked her away and her Tommy gun fired upwards into the air before she fell. "Why you little," she cursed as she got back up and tried to fire again.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Apparently, the impact broke her trigger, so she instead pulled out a knife, not going down without a fight. I unsheathed my machete and prepared to face her down, but then I got a good look at her eyes. They were so strong. So fiery. So full of valor. All of a sudden, I felt myself grin twistedly, tingling from excitement. This was going to be fun.

I dropped my machete, to her astonishment, then just smiled at her, waiting for her to do the first move. The seconds before our duel felt like hours, as she scanned me for any opening, analyzing my weaknesses. I saw her fear, and I loved it. It just gave me a thrill, knowing that she was fighting for her own life.

She lunged at me, but I shuffled back. Then, she spun and tried to buck me. A quick step to the side gave me an opening to bring a hoof to her stomach.

PAK!

I felt that strike hit her hard, knocking the wind out of her, as she fell on her knees coughing. I yanked her hair upwards with my magic so that we were staring at each other.

PAK! PAK! PAK!

Three solid ones to her face seemed to do the trick. I could feel her resistance weakening. She was starting to cough blood. She no longer stared at me with determination and hate, but now with desperation and fear... Oh, it felt so good to look at them.

PAK!

"What do you want?!" she shrieked with tears steaming down her face, "Do you want my money? Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to fuck you? I'll do it! Just... stop."

I smile at her, trying to mock how a kind old grandfather would smile at his granddaugther... "My dear," I said, in the nicest voice I could, mimicking how a grown-up would talk to a filly, "what makes you think I'm not already getting what I want?"

PAK!

"Boulder, stop!" Walt's commanding voice thundered from behind me. I looked back and saw that they had caught up with me, pistols drawn. "We need to hear what she knows."

"Ugh, fine. At least we're not that far from the lab." I conceded. After readying my shotgun towards her face, I let go of her. "One wrong move and you go bye-bye. MOVE!" I'm not sure if it was because my voice was threatening, or because I was pointing a shotgun to her face, but she realized she had no choice, so she came with us to the lab quietly.

Our 'lab' was actually a small abandoned house in the middle of the Neighvada desert, not too far from New Pegasus. What was special about this place was that it had a chimney, which was kind of a requirement in making 'sparkling shards.' Unless you actually aim to die from the poisonous gas emitted from the chemical process. Then by all means, go make shards in an enclosed room. But if you want to make and actually live to sell the drugs, places with air escapes are a must.

When we got there, Whitehooves immediately got down to business. "Boulder, take our lovely prisoner to the garage and see what you can get from her. Jesse, you and I will begin cooking immediately."

"Awww," Jesse whined, "Can't I be the one to interrogate our guest?" He shot a what I assumed to be seductive look towards the mare (or, you know, he might have just been shitting his pants that time) and she simply rolled her eyes in disgust.

"No," Whitehooves said, "It's Boulder who's good with these things. Come on, let's go, Jesse."

As I watched them enter the house, I saw Jesse look back and... wink at me? All I could do was facehoof.

The garage was the perfect place for an interrogation. Dull. Dark. Devoid of hope. Much like my childhood. Wow, that was supposed to be a joke, but it sounded so- no, nevermind. Anyway, yeah, interrogation.

"Why don't you... have a seat?" I told her, as if I were a host entertaining a guest.

"Why should I?" I guess she had thoughts of being rebellious, but nudging the back of her head with a shotgun barrel seems to have silenced any such thought.

As soon as she sat on the chair, I magically used a cable lying around to tie her up. Now that she was out of the way, time to loosen up. Finally, I remove that clunky metal armor from my body, letting it breathe.

"Are you going to rape me now?"

"What?" Well, that question certainly came out of nowhere. "Celestia, just because I kidnapped you, and you see me remove my body armor, you automatically assume I'm going to rape you?" I look at her with the corner of my eye, expecting to see a scared mare, not wanting to be violated. Instead, I see here just staring at me change. Is she... Is she checking me out?

"Why?" I shot back. "Do you want me to?" Now looking directly at her, I see her purple face turn crimson red. "N-n-no," she stammered, "why would I? I j-just, you know, a-a-assumed." I slowly walked up closer to her, then whispered in her ear "Because, you know I could if you wanted me too." I got her where I wanted her, since I could literally feel the warmth radiating from her cheeks. She started sweating profusely and then whispered, "O-o-okay..."

I tip the chair over so she's upwards, then I stand right above her, gazing into her eyes as I levitate a knife to cut off the ropes holding her. She kicked away the chair, so I was able to use the knife to slowly and carefully rip her clothes off. Then, my hooves holding down her front hooves, I lie down so that my stomach is rubbing with hers. I felt the warm moisture of her body rub off on me, and I looked into her seductive stare. We were both naked and I was right on top of her. I go in closer and seductively whisper "Do you want to know what I want?"

"W-w-wha- *gasp*"

"Yep," I chuckled mischievously. "I want to know what this 'Saddle' is planning." I made sure to press the cold steel of the knife glowing orange against her throat. "Tell me everything, now."

"Okay, okay!" She submitted. "Saddle Buckmare's been plotting against each and every drug dealer in Freedom Field! He tracked down all drug hideouts and is planning to raid them so he can rule the drug business!"

"Saddle can't rule, everyone knows our product is the best. The 'Orange Mist' is basically a legend to shard junkies!"

"Have you ever thought that if all dealers were out, quality wouldn't matter since Saddle's is the only supply available?"

Damn, that's a good way of looking at it... "When does he plan to make his move?"

"Uhh... I'm not sure, I'm just a scout."

Well, this is all I'm getting out of here. I toss the knife away and smile at her, "You've been a good girl, you know. I think you deserve a... reward."

"Reward? What do you mean rew-AAAAHN~!!!"

The Strip really looks nice from outside the city. The lights must be seen all around the Neighvada. It's pretty nice to look at. Well, not that there's anything else to look at in this forsaken place. But the great part about the wasteland is how quiet it is. It's so quiet, I can literally hear my heart beating. I smile, because hey, I survived this long, right?

"Hey," somepony greets me from behind, "what's up, yo?" The pony in a full body haz-mat suit wearing a gas mask takes a seat beside me.

"Meh, you know, having my three hour smoke break waiting for you guys to be done."

"We are done." Pinkmane takes off his gas mask, revealing his brownish yellow face and short spiky mane. "Where's your, uh, friend?"

"In the garage. With her head blown off." I shrugged. She was a nice mare and all, but she was still and enemy.

"Yeah, what did you get out of the bitch?"

"Oh, you know, some chump named Saddle Buckmare is trying to eliminate all dealers in the Fields to hold total drug control."

"Wait, Saddle Buckmare?" Jesse look legitimately scared. "The Saddle Buckmare? The owner of Four Little Diamonds? The employer of like, every rough goon in Freedom Fields?"

Oh, shit. "Is there by any chance another Saddle Buckmare?"

"None that I know of, no."

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

"What the fuck!? Get down, yo!" Jesse and I dive for the ground, seeing bullets whiz past us coming from inside the walls.

Another yellow hazmat pony stumbled out the door Jesse came from. "YO! MR. WHITEHOOVES! GET DOWN!" Jesse cried. He didn't respond. All he did was drop on the floor, being surrounded by an ever growing puddle of blood.

"SHIT!" Jesse cursed. "What do we do now?"

"We go around the house. Get a vis on whoever's fucking with us, then I guess we just go down swinging from there!" I thought about our odds against a gun firing that many bullets that could pierce through a whole house. I decided better we die fighting than die being executed by some goon.

"On my mark, we move, ready?"

Jesse, looking scared still, readily said "Let's kick-ass!"

Alright.

"One...."

"Two..."

"Uh, Boulder?" Jesse chimed in.

"CELESTIA DAMMIT, WHA-" Then I saw what Jesse was looking at, a grenade that was lobbed right beside him.

BOOM!

I don't remember what happened after that, but all I remember next was waking up back in Freedom Fields. Which was good. But I was being beaten by random ponies wearing armor engraved with the Four Little Diamonds logo. Which was bad.

"You hit like a filly!" I hissed at the big brown stallion.

SMACK!

"You will learn respect!" the lumbering giant retorted.

"Yeah, I made sure to fill up your mother with my 'respect' last night!"

SMACK!

I could taste the blood splurting out in my mouth, but I didn't let him know. I was tied by two ropes attached to the ceiling, putting
me in an upright position, hanging like a puppet.

"Come on, boy," I teased, "I told you I don't want to be tickled."

SMACK!

"You better learn some manners!" Big Ol' Brownie was getting pretty pissed.

"Come on, buddy. Don't be so mean to father of your future half-brother.

SMACK!

"Why dont'cha start calling me daddy?"

SMACK!

Hey, if I was gonna die, might as well be an asshole to my would be murderer, right?

Big Brown looked like he was gonna lose it. "Why you little..."

BANG!

No mistake. That was a gunshot. Apparently, it didn't come from one of the Buckmare goons, since Mr. Shit-Color looked just as
surprised as I was.

"What was that?" he muttered.

"How the fucking hell should I know?" I replied, not missing the chance to be a smartass.

"I wasn't asking you."

"What if I wasn't talking to you?"

"Wait, what?"

"Ugh, nothing." I grumble. This pony really was an idiot.

"Listen, prisoner, you-"

BLAM!

Next thing I knew, I was covered in his brains. Well, maybe not brains. Some mushy, organ-y thing where his brain should be. And aside from that, a bunch of tough-looking ponies in matching jackets charged in. Obviously they killed my captors, which was good. But knowing my luck, "You guys aren't here to save me, are you?" Last thing that time was the feeling of a shotgun butt smooching my stomach. Violently.

Of fucking course.

Surprisingly enough, my awakening this time was not rude. I woke up in a rather pre-war looking room. The wallpaper was intricate, but still a bit weathered over the years. This room had nothing but a bed in the corner, a bedside table, and a door. This place was a glorified jail cell. Better than an unglorified jail cell, I thought.

"Hey, you." A young stallion barges into the room. "You're awake." He was wearing one of those outfits the guys who, errrm... rescued me were wearing.

"'Scuse me, sir, my mistake. I thought I was still asleep."

"Don't be a smart-ass." He chuckled at the sarcasm. This guy is surprisingly cool. "Cool to meetya, I'm Misfire!" The friendly maroon pony reached out his hoof for a hoofshake. "I'm the newest member of the Stringers. The ol' boss lady asked me to look after ya."

"Right, uh, thanks I guess." What? His cronies had punched me in the gut and brought me to a jai-, I mean, a glorified jail cell. I wasn't going to welcome him with open arms.

"So," I continued, hoping I can pry something out of this new guy, "who are the Stringers exactly?"

"You haven't heard of the Stringers? Have you been living under a rock?"

"No, but I have been living alone in a derelict district of the Fields only to go out when I need to protect one of the best shard cooks in Neighvada."

The pony obviously was a bit disturbed by this, seeing as how he started speaking more respectfully and calling me 'sir.' "Uh, sir, well, ummm... That's... nice...?" I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his naïvety. I guess that made information gathering much easier.

"Alrighty, I have a few questions I want answered, and I believe it's you who can answer them," I told him.

"But-"

"Are you talking back to me?!"

"N-n-n-n-no." The poor pony. I think he's going to piss himself. This is fucking hilarious.

"Okay, so, who's the head honcho of the Stringers?" I began, trying to look threatening while resisting the urge to just burst out laughing at the poor sod.

"Miss Dee Cleff, sir."

Dee Cleff? I heard that name before, I just forgot who told me... "And why do you think she wants me?"

"What? She didn't want you."

"Then why the fuck am I here chatting with some colt too big for his britches?"

"Because her second-in-command asked me to watch over you!"

"And who is her second-in-command?"

"Uhh.... Meterstick or Pacemaker or something. Her name tends to escape me. But she's got a really nice flank, can't miss her. Those things are like marshmallows, I mean-"

I decided to cut him off there. He was being useless, and I wasn't here to talk about flanks.

"Oh, you're awake."

I look to the doorway, and I see a glistening white unicorn in a checkered dress, black mane styled into a topknot with thick glasses standing there, looking at me as if I had done something terrible.

"Momma?" I muttered under my breath, unaware I had actually said anything until I heard it myself.

"What?" The mare looked at me quizzically, but something about her seemed... troubled when I said 'momma.'

"Oh, it's nothing. You just remind me of somepony I knew."

"Misfire," the mare ordered, "leave the two of us. Alone."

"Uh, o-o-alright." Misfire left, closing the door behind him.

A long awkward moment of silence pervaded the room. We just stared at each other, but it was so intense. Something was going through the mind of the pony in front of me, and I guess she was just gathering her thoughts.

"So, care to tell me how you ended up being beaten up by Buckmare hoodlums?" she inquired.

"Oh, well, you see, long story short: it turns out, they were plotholes." I replied, not really wanting to go through this.

"Don't bullshit me. Real reason, NOW."

I sighed, I guess there's no weaseling out of this... "Well, I was kind of, you know, working for the only producer of the highest quality sparkling shard to ever hit these streets."

"Uh-huh. And how long have you been working with these people?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because it won't matter since they're both dead." She had a point. We saw Whitehooves drop dead, and I'm pretty sure Pinkmane couldn't have survived such a close-up explosion.

"A few years."

The mare then looked at me with a soul-piercing stare, then she said "Was it worth it?"

"Was what worth it?"

"Working for the drug lord?"

Well, I haven't been asked a question like that before. I thought of shrugging it off, but something about this pony made me feel, well, soft and honest. "Well, yes, it is- I mean, was."

"Why 'was'?"

"It's because the only reason I did it at first was to provide for my sister and I. We had a bit of a falling out and now, the only reason I do work is because it's a distraction."

"So, what happened with your sister?" I thought I saw something in her when she asked me this. "What about this sister of yours?" I thought I saw something in her eyes as she asked me this. Was it... sadness?

"I won't lie, I was devastated, no I still am devastated that she left... but I failed her, and I just hope she's happy wherever she is, even if she totally hates me."

The mare reflected on my answer for a good few minutes, but all of a sudden, she came up with an offer. "How would you like to be a Stringer?"

"What?" This was out of nowhere.

"You seem like a capable enforcer. We could use someone like you. Pay's good and you'll have half of Freedom Field behind you."

"Alright, I guess." I was surprised by this turn of events, but with my employers dead, I had no qualms about getting a job. But in the back of my head, there was a nagging voice, looking for the piece of the puzzle to make all this make sense.

"Very well. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach," said the mare, using her horn to carry her instrument as she rushed out the door.

"Wait."

"Wha-" I wouldn't let her object. I just went ahead and hugged her. I carefully grabbed the bottom part of her dress and slowly pulled it up.

"What do you think you-" she shrieked defensively until she knew what I was really after. Right there on her flank was the cutie mark of a metronome. I could barely hold the tears in my eyes.

"How did you-"

"Oh, sis... you were the only thing that kept me going when I was a colt, but I've only ever done one very good thing for you," I examined the violin again. Exactly the same thing I gave her, but it was touched up. "Don't think I wouldn't recognize it."

She pushed me away, and walked away indifferently, turning back only to say "I didn't do this because I consider you a brother. I only did this to pay you back for taking care of me as a filly. Oh, and if anybody knows that we're related... I'm going to kill you."

Apparently, she still didn't want to be known as my sister. I don't mind her hating me. I don't mind that she feels only cold indifference towards me. At least I knew she was fine. That's good enough for me.

I happily walk back home that day, thinking how great a day this has been. Survived two kidnappings, found long lost sister and got a new job. Good day for any standard wastelander.