Fallout Equestria: Black Sky

Chapter 4: On A Rail

I was surrounded by darkness. I don't know what I was wearing but it encased my whole body. I felt the sensation of weightlessness as I floated in the black abyss. There was no sound, just my quiet breathing and the steady beat of my heart. I looked for my hoof but it was too dark to even see it.

Suddenly a tiny white speck appeared before me. It flickered in the dark as I gazed at it in fascination. It was a star. A single star shining in the distance. Then a second appeared beside it. Then a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth as they appeared in all directions. Soon the abyss was filled with more stars than I could count. The way they shimmered all around brought a smile to my face. It was beyond beautiful. I lost track of time as I gazed out into the infinite space around me.

I was at peace.

Suddenly, it was getting harder to breathe. My breath started to labor and my heart rate got faster. I hastily looked around me in a panic as my breath shortened. I felt over the helmet on my head with my hooves but couldn't find any way to take it off. I needed to get out. I needed to breathe. But I wasn't breathing at all now. Whatever air I had was gone.

I choked for any tiny gulp of oxygen I could get but to absolutely no avail. I tried to scream but my lungs wouldn't let me. My heart was racing and my vision was blurring.

Then everything went white

I awoke suddenly gasping for breath. Relief swept over me as my lungs filled with air. My heart slowed down to its normal pace as I rubbed my eyes with both my fore hooves. It was over, I was back, I was alive. But why was I still alive?

I looked around me. I was laying on a bed in the right corner of some sort of dark room. Scalpels, bottles, and other medical supplies scattered across a counter with a sink to the left side of the room. A drawer was standing beside the bed. Cabinets hung over the counter. A blanket was set atop me as I sat up.

I reached for my Pip-Buck light when the door in the opposite corner of the room opened. Light flooded into the room from the opening as a single pony stepped into the room. A gold aura shone from atop her head as the lights switched on. Standing there was a gray mare with a violet mane. She wore a long white coat and had a bag slung over her side. She turned and looked at me. At the sight of me she seemed startled a bit. "Oh...sorry. We didn't expect you to be awake so soon" she said as she approached. I pushed myself to the wall. I had no idea who this was and for all I know she was here to torture me. she stepped back "Miss Lily relax" she said in a gentle tone "I'm here to help you" she assured me continuing to hold her distance from me.

I eased up letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I'd been holding in. "H-how do you know my name" I asked her as I pulled the blanket off me.

She slowly walked closer "The pony who carried you in here gave it to us...he saved your life," she explained as she levitated a glass of water into my hooves, "you were in pretty bad shape...if he didn't get you here when he did...well...you know" she said as she floated out a bowl and filled it from the sink. I took a sip from the glass. It didn't taste anything like the water in Stable 13 but I wasn't about to be picky.

"Did you say that a pony carried me here" I asked her. She nodded and I let out a sigh "I see". If it was a pony who carried me here that must mean Skitters moved on. Maybe it was for the best. I was probably a lost cause. "So where am I miss...I never got your name."

She walked over with the bowl of water and a cloth. "Oh...you can call me Tourniquet" she said as she dipped the cloth in the water and rubbed it against my chest "you're at Burham Springs hospital...been here a little over a day" she explained and I nodded.

I looked down at my chest expecting the worst but the wound had completely healed. Aside from the few patches of blood she was washing off there wasn't any evidence that it even happened. "What happened to the bullet wound" I asked. I wasn't a medical expert but something like that doesn't fix itself in a day.

Tourniquet floated over a bottle of red liquid "we extracted the bullet and used a few healing potions to repair the damage. Of course we had to perform a blood transfusion during the process but I doubt you need hear about that" she said and I nodded promptly. Blood donations were common in Stable 13 so I knew all about that. She levitated the potion onto the bed by my side "neither of you had any when you walked into town so you can have this one...just don't tell my boss or I'll lose my job."

I chuckled a little "don't worry. I wont tell anypony" I assured her. She smiled and opened the drawer by the bed using her magic. She pulled out my Stable 13 barding and my satchel and set it beside me. I set the water aside with the cup half empty and put on the barding. To my surprise the hole the bullet left had been sewn and the blood had been completely cleaned off. Stable bardings were easy to clean...mine were just always dirty because I never washed them. I checked the pocket and pulled out Sprockets picture. Thankfully it remained unharmed. I gave a sigh of relief and held it to my chest.

"Friend of yours" Tourniquet asked in curiosity. I nodded and she smiled "good thing we pulled it out before we washed it I guess" she said as she levitated over my rifle and knee pads from behind the dresser. "Your condition seems stable" she observed as I strapped on my satchel and the pads "I'm going to let the doctor know you've recovered and I sent you on your way. Your friend already paid on your behalf" she said as she made for the door. I hopped off the bed putting Sprockets picture back in my pocket and Argus over my back before tucking the healing potion into my bag and following behind Tourniquet. The hallway went in two directions. I gave Tourniquet my thanks before she pointed down the left "exit is down that way, take a left, down the stairs. You'll find yourself in the lobby" she said before heading the other direction "try to take it easy Miss Lily" she said as she walked away "maybe we'll see each other again...hopefully under better circumstances."

She eventually turned the corner and I went off in the direction she told me. So I cheated death miraculously and I was grateful for it but one question was stuck in my head.

If Skitters didn't carry me here then who did?

It was about two in the afternoon as I stepped out into the sun. Burham Springs wasn't the most attractive town I'd seen but then again this was the first town I had seen period. It was a well sized community made up of tents and shacks built surrounding the five story hospital building. Earth ponies, unicorns, and the occasional pegasi moved about the town. It seemed to be a trade community but I had to imagine that the hospital was the main attraction in town.

I wandered for a while. I didn't think to ask Tourniquet the name of the pony who brought me here which left me at a disadvantage. My best bet would be to walk around for a bit and hope that somepony- "Hey! Dragonlily!" Bingo.

I didn't recognize the voice of the pony who trotted up to me from behind. I turned to face the yellow unicorn stallion with an orange mane. He had the same saddlebags and rifle as Skitters which confused me even more. "The nurse said you carried me into town but...do I know you" I asked looking at the rifle slung over his back. Worst case scenario he pulled it off of Skitters' corpse.

He pointed over to an alley away from everypony else and trotted toward it. I followed him over and he turned to face me. "Lily...it's me...Skitters" he whispered to me. This gave me a befuddled look. "okay look at my eyes" he said. I looked up into his blue gaze. After a moment they changed completely blue and then moments later changed back "I'm a changeling remember?"

A spark went off in my brain "oh" I said aloud wanting to smack myself in the face for not realizing that sooner. "Well that explains the gun" I said looking back at the beam...bullet...gun "but what’s with the disguise" I asked him.

We stepped out of the alley "changelings aren't very accepted in pony society. It's been that way since before the war" he told me in a subtle tone trying not to attract attention "so this is my pony disguise 'Golden Blaze'. I got the template from a raider I killed who had a thing for pyrotechnics" he explained. So that just cleared up a lot of confusion but raised another question.

I stopped him before we stepped inside a building with a sign that read 'General Store'. He looked at me with a confused face. "So why didn't you use your disguise when you found me unconscious the other day" I asked.

He gazed down at the dirt with a bit of a frown "I don't have very many pony acquaintances who know my secret outside of Fort Stud...I've never met a stable pony before you so I wanted to see if you would be different" he explained to me as he continued into the store.

I followed close behind "okay so...why exactly have you stuck it out with me? Aren't I weighing you down? I mean you already had to save my life twice...I think" I said. He couldn't deny that I was wrong. From the time I had spent with him I ended up getting hurt more than he did. Not to mention he was practically tutoring me on how to survive.

We stopped just inside the door "Because you need help Lily. And unlike some other ponies in the wasteland I want to help those in need. Plus I can't stand the thought of sending you off alone" He said to me in a calming tone.

I looked up and met his gaze. "Thanks Skitters" I said to him with a smile. He had a look of sympathy about him. He was nothing like how my old history teacher described changelings. I glanced around the store from where I was standing. shelves covered with various odds and ends stood in rows on either side with a counter on the far end "so why are we here anyway" I asked him as he walked over to the counter.

He waved me over "you need armor Lily. That barding won't protect you from anything and those knee pads won't stop much" he explained as I stepped up to the counter beside him "there must be something in that bag you can trade for some caps." I raised a brow at the word 'caps' and he rolled his eyes "bottlecaps are used as money out here" he said before leaning in toward the pony behind the counter "she's new" he whispered to the mare who rolled her eyes in response.

I sifted through my bag. There wasn't much beside some of my flower seeds and a couple of pens. It took some persuasion from Skitters but we managed to sell two of my flattened sandwiches and got a decent price for the 10mm pistol I had managed to run out of ammo with on our walk through the Los Pegasus suburbs. I also traded in my knee pads since we were replacing them anyway. We ended up making about 90 caps during the transaction which Skitters gave me 25 of. "I'll handle the armor. Why don't you look around" he told me as he walked off.

Nothing really stood out as I browsed over the shelves. An entire row was devoted to guns and ammo all of which were too expensive. I passed by a selection of old cans which I couldn't help but stare menacingly at before Skitters told me to cut it out. Finally my eyes caught the sight of something I just thought was amazing. A rope with a grappling hook. I don't know why but ever since I was a little filly I had always wanted one. And who knows, out here I might actually have a use for it. Back in Stable 13 I was just going to climb up the atrium balcony until either the hook broke or somepony yelled at me.

I walked out of the store with eight caps left and my new grappling hook. I wrapped the rope around my waist with the hook tucked under by bag strap to keep it from dangling. Skitters was still inside so I sat down by the door. The ponies walking up and down the street reminded me of the hallways back in stable 13. The early morning commute was rather similar with everypony rushing to work. I hadn't actually observed it since I was a filly since once I started work in the greenhouse I ended up as part of the crowd.

Skitters exited the shop after a while and floated a cardboard box before me with his magic. "It really isn't much but it's a pretty good start" he told me before casting a glance at my new grappling hook and rolling his eyes. I opened the box and pulled out a set of four metal knee pads. They looked pretty worn but it was a step up from the plastic ones I had before. There was also a shoulder plate and a heavy vest with thin metal plating sewn to it. Skitters informed me the vest was bulletproof but I knew that only meant to a certain extent. Still it was better than nothing.

I took the box and its contents around to the side of the store and slipped the vest under my stable barding before securing the shoulder plate and strapping on the knee pads. It was a little uncomfortable but didn't impede my movement too badly. The harness for the shoulder piece was also a bandolier that could hold eight rounds which I promptly used to hold the .32 caliber bullets for Argus. "Now this is more like it" I said aloud to myself as I marveled over my new gear.

I was feeling awesomer!

I stepped out to the front of the store and faced Skitters. "So what do you think" I asked him as he looked over me. I was half expecting him to tell me to strike a pose, but he simply nodded in approval.

We started down the street. Other ponies would glance at me as we walked and I kept hearing murmurs about 'the stable dweller'. I turned to ask Skitters about it only to find he had stopped a ways behind me and was gazing ahead into what could be considered the town square. I set my sight on what caught his attention to see a tan colored unicorn mare arguing with a group of well armed and somewhat scary looking stallions. It peeked my attention so I drew closer until I was within earshot.

"You don't understand" the tan colored mare blurted out "they seized our entire stock and killed our brahmin! You’re supposed to prevent things like this" she said with a mix of anger and worry in her voice. Skitters moved up beside me. The commotion was starting to draw a crowd.

One of the stallions who I had to assume was the leader of the bunch looked down at her. "Lady in case you haven't noticed the Rusty Hooks own this territory. If we send in a team it'll make this town a target" he said as he popped his cigarette back in his mouth.

The mare didn't back down. "So everypony is just supposed to sit here and let them fucking bleed us dry" she hollered up at his face "you can't let them get away with this!"

The stallion stepped forward making her scamper backwards. "We need to keep Burham Springs safe" he shouted down at the mare "if we start a war with the Rusty Hooks we'll be putting everypony in the line of fire" he explained to her. I had to admit he had a point. I had no idea who the Rusty Hooks were but clearly they had more influence than the local militia. I thought on it for a moment as the stallion stepped back "we can't risk everypony's life for a bundle of trade goods" he said as he turned to walk away.

Finally I stepped forward. The argument had attracted a small crowd who gathered at a distance. All their eyes were on me as I walked up to the group of stallions who had their backs turned. "What if somepony else went in and took care of it" I asked the group. They stopped and turned to face me. I could tell in their eyes that they were judging me. Half of me expected them to kick dirt in my face while the other half expected them to keep walking.

Instead the leader stepped forward with a smug look on his face "well now" he began "if it isn't another saint from a stable" he said as he stood before me puffing his cigarette "haven't seen one of you in quite a while" he said as he looked over my stable barding. I opened my mouth to speak but he continued "you must be new so I'll tell you how things work around here...Los Pegasus is run by two groups: the Rusty Hooks and the Reform Faction. Everypony else is just dead weight. Tangle with either of them they will hunt you from here to Manehattan" he explained as he paced back and forth slowly "we're not going to put this town in danger and that's final."

I waved my hoof pushing away the cloud of smoke from his cigarette before speaking. "Okay how about this" I said as I stared right into his eyes "you send me in. I'm not affiliated with anypony so I won’t be putting everypony at risk. I deal with the problem and everypony here can breathe a little easier. I mess up you can deny any affiliation toward me" I explained to him.

He rolled his eyes. "You think you can deal with the Rusty Hooks" he asked as he dropped his cigarette to the ground and flattened it into the dirt with his hoof. There was a long silence before he continued "why the hell not" he said with a shrug "if the Hooks come asking questions we're denying that you ever stepped hoof in this town" he said as he turned to go "you pull this off...I'll buy you a drink. If not...maybe we'll have a touching moment in your honor" he finished as he and the group trotted away.

Skitters emerged from the dispersing crowd with a horrified look on his face. I met his gaze as he stared at me in awe. "Bitch you got balls" he finally blurted out.

"Yeah...I think I kind of dug myself into a hole here" I said as I scratched my mane "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to sit this out Ski-...I mean Golden" I corrected myself. I didn't want to blow his cover. "I got myself into this mess."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Lily" he responded "I have a history with the Rusty Hooks and lost a lot of good friends because of them" he levitated out his rifle and slammed a fresh clip into the slot "just been waiting for somepony else so I wasn't walking into hell alone."

I couldn't help but grin. "You do realize that this also involves ME walking into hell too right" I asked him. He gave me a smug look and holstered his rifle. "Alright then" I said as I turned toward the...umm...somewhere.

I quickly realized I had no idea where I was going.

"Excuse me" a voice to my left said. I turned to face the tan colored mare who had been arguing with the guard before me. "Are you and Skitters...really going after the Rusty Hooks" she asked me with a concerned look on her face and...wait...Skitters?

Skitters stepped up beside me "Ah ha...I thought that was you Butterscotch" he said with a smile on his face. He noticed my confusion "oh sorry...Dragonlily this is Butterscotch. She runs a caravan around the area."

She looked down at the dirt "well" she began "I DID run a caravan. This is the second time I've lost one" she said with a kick of her hoof "If you're going after them I'm more than willing to help out."

I glanced over at Skitters. He gave an approving nod and I looked back at Butterscotch. "well...we could use some directions."

The Rusty Hooks were holed up inside a train yard to the south of Burham Springs. My Pip-Buck labeled the yard “Mounds’ Train Yard”. The whole place was surrounded by office towers. They had boxcars arranged to form a wall in the center of the yard with ponies patrolling through the rows of train cars. Some of the cars bore the words “Pony Pacific: We Can Handle It For You”. The central compound looked to be made up of tents and various different train cars. The gate was a huge billboard for Sparkle Cola which was leaned over a gap between two boxcars.

We were on the eighth story of an office complex overlooking the front of the yard. The dark interior was keeping us concealed as we looked over the area. My spyglass was proving to be invaluable for assessing the situation. Skitters had shed his pony disguise and was using his scoped rifle to do the same. Butterscotch had decided to wait back in town saying she needed to put together a new caravan. I would have asked my changeling partner about their history together but decided that it could wait until later.

Skitters had a grim look on his face as he scanned the area through his scope. "Of all the places for them to hole up it had to be here" he said in a grim tone "This is going to be difficult...train yards aren't fun to fight through."

I raised a brow at him. "How so" I asked him.

He lowered his rifle and set it against the wall before speaking. "Rows of cars and minimal cover leave both parties exposed if they try to move forward. Anypony can easily lob a grenade under a car from the next row over, a garrison has the advantage since they don't have to leave cover as often and somepony can easily climb on top of a train and have a superior position over everypony else" he explained to me as I looked across the train yard making sense of it all. "And these ponies are dug in Lily" he said as he raised the scope of his rifle to his eye "we'd need an army to take this place out...that or a tank."

I sat on my haunches and thought about our options. Clearly a frontal assault was out of the question. Maybe we could have gone in quietly but our goal was to eliminate this place as a threat. Stealth would have worked if I had a big bomb but all I had was a rifle and subpar aiming skills.

I stood up and stared out at the train yard. The central compound was built like a fortress despite the haphazard looking construction. I looked through my spyglass at the billboard for Sparkle Cola which seemed to serve as the gate. The tracks ran right to the billboard from the stem that fed into it and all the other rows. Unfortunately they seemed to be concentrating their patrols inside that lane. Skitters was right. We'd need an army or some kind of tank to even get to the main gate and then we'd need a battering ram to...or maybe we didn't need any of that.

I sat down again. I had something devious coming together and Skitters could see it in my face. "Dragonlily..." he asked with a concerned tone "what are you thinking?"

I stood up and turned toward the stairs "Skitters I think I have an insane plan that just might work."

The sky was turning orange as I jumped into the cab at the front of an old freight locomotive. We had passed it on our way to the train yard which I was now three city blocks away from. Skitters was off doing his part of the plan which left me on my own. We agreed that we'd give each other an hour before executing my fairly simple yet admittedly elegant plan.

I pushed the skeletal remains of the engineer out of the operators chair and sat at the controls. Nobs, buttons, and levers were on my left and a pair of dark monitors were in front of me. This was the part of my plan that had a lot of 'ifs' in it. One of which was I had no idea how to drive a pre-war spark powered freight train. It wasn't exactly useful knowledge for the stable 13 curriculum and the train in Daring Do And The Diamond of Darkness was an old steam locomotive so I couldn't make sense of anything in front of me except the handle to blow the horn.

I started by flipping the main power switch. The monitor flickered to life displaying several readouts. It said the trains power plant still had sixty two percent charge left so that eliminated one 'if' from the plan. I looked around the cab for some sort of instructions but was met with no results. Later, I would realize that if I had just looked at the labels, I wouldn’t have had any problems. I ended up throwing randoms levers hoping that through trial and error I could get the thing moving. I only had two minutes until we were to make our move since the walk over here took longer than expected.

Finally I pushed a lever to my left all the way to the left and the train’s engine revved up quite loudly.That was something at least, but I needed to be moving. Kind of the point of a train. I went back to pressing buttons and pulling levers at random. Somewhere in my crazy lever pulling, I released the brake which, in turn, allowed the train to notch up quickly. How the thing still ran I had no idea but I wasn't about to question a Celestia damned miracle.

I sat back in the operator seat and watched out the front window.

The train was on the final stretch before entering the train yard. I checked the speedometer which said that the old locomotive was pushing seventy miles an hour. Getting on was the easy part but now I was having second thoughts about the part of the plan where I jump off. I dove out of the chair and slipped through the door at the back of the cab.

A walkway and railing ran the length of the engine. I moved to the back as the train turned the corner into the train yard. The commotion was raising the Hooks' attention as they started taking shots at the locomotive. A red stallion with a black mane jumped onto the platform. He stood there a moment before a wave of green washed over him to reveal a very smug looking Skitters. "I switched the tracks like we planned" he shouted over the loud engine and intensifying gunfire "you should be on a collision course."

As he finished speaking the train took a hard left into the final stretch toward the gate. Skitters spread his insect-like wings and flew from the locomotive leaving me with the desire to not injure myself and a train moving toward a makeshift fortress at ramming speed.

A pole flew by as the train sped toward its target. It was all I needed to close up the last loose end of this insane plan. I unraveled the grappling hook around my waist and held the hook in my mouth with the other end of the rope still tied around me. A second pole flew by and I flung the hook from my mouth. It clanked into a boxcar just ahead of the pole. This wasn't the time for me to miss my aim. I quickly reeled the rope back in and readied for another throw.

Another pole flew by and I tossed the hook at it. It flung past the confounded thing and instead ended up hooking onto a railing atop a cylinder shaped tanker car just beyond my intended target. It wasn't what I was going for but this was not the time to complain seeing as how I was standing at the front of a freight train loaded with Celestia knows what on a collision course with a makeshift compound at an uncomfortable speed.

I jumped from the locomotive and within moments planted my hind hooves onto the side of the tanker car leaving me hanging onto the rope with my forelegs. I pulled myself upright and looked toward the freight engine now speeding away from me toward the Rusty Hook stronghold. I only looked for a second before I pulled myself up atop the tanker car and grabbed my grappling hook. Skitters flew up behind me as we both looked toward the stronghold.

The train slammed into the billboard pushing the two box cars it was beset against sliding inward. From there we were literally watching a train wreck as a plume of flames which I assumed was their ammo dump erupted from within the now breached compound sending debris in all directions causing untold amounts of damage. Some cars that weren't even along the train's path were being tipped over by flying hunks of metal. But it didn't stop there. The billboard was being pushed by the locomotive and was acting as a thin shield that swept up debris and ponies trying to scatter out of the train's path. It all came crashing into what I assume was the main building which consisted of three passenger cars beside each other with a tanker car which was set up towering like a watch tower.

Admittedly it was a ton of fun to watch this unfold.

The impact with the main structure toppled the tanker car into an arrangement of boxcars erupting in a second fireball. The train however continued through the compound until it slammed into their back wall. The locomotive exploded as the rest of the freight cars it had been hauling piled atop one another in an extremely chaotic fashion. Smoke now plumed from within the compound and ponies were running from the what used to be the gate. My plan had worked a little too well in my opinion.

I glanced over at Skitters with a skeptical look on my face. "Is it just me...or was that 'really' evil" I asked him. I was more than concerned about this chain of events. For somepony who hesitated to kill three ponies the other night I seemed to have no problem completely slaughtering an whole compound with a freight train.

Skitters put his hoof on my shoulder. "Lily these ponies have been responsible for more death and destruction in Los Pegasus alone than the Enclave seven years back" he said as the chaos ensued before us "and you just took out one of their main strongholds without firing a single bullet" he said as he put his hoof down "In my book Dragonlily...thats a goddess damned victory. The Los Pegasus ruins are better for it."

His words cleared my skepticism "thanks Skitters" I said with a smile on my face. We looked back at the burning compound. Ponies fled around below us in a panic while others were charging toward the compound brandishing weapons. It was only then that my gaze shifted to the row of cars we stood atop. Every car from here to the other end of the train yard was a tanker car. I wouldn't have concerned myself with it but a ways down the line there was a gap between the cars where two ponies were planting grenades. I turned and jumped from the car "Skitters get away from the tankers" I shouted as I landed on all fours and bound toward the next row of cars. I slid underneath a boxcar as the first tanker erupted in a massive fireball. The explosion caused the next car down to do the same which in turn had the same effect on the next car and so on.

I crawled out the other side of the boxcar as another explosion followed by a loud set of 'clangs' made my ears start ringing. When it returned I saw Skitters touch down beside me. "You okay" he asked as I climbed back to my hooves. A wall of smoke towered where the row of tanker cars once sat. I managed to nod. "That was reckless. Even for the Hooks."

I pulled Argus off my back and checked behind us. "They must have figured we'd die in the explosion. Luckily they gave us a pretty good smokescreen to get out of here" I said to him as we both observed the wall of smoke and fire "I think we should take advantage before they can regroup."

I turned and ran for the exit when Skitters stopped me. "One question" he said with a gesture of his hoof "just one...how did you think of the freight train?"

I rolled my eyes. "I read it in a book once."

The rising plume of smoke to the south had become the talk of Burham Springs as we walked into town. The train yard was several city blocks away and the smoke could still be seen by everypony in town. The sun was just disappearing over the horizon as outdoor lighting began to illuminate the streets.

"I still don't get it" Skitters said from behind me. He had donned his Golden Blaze disguise and had a million and a half question as to how a Daring Do book brought about the destruction of a raider compound that had terrorized the area for years.

I rolled my eyes at him "like I said" I began "it was all explained in the book after Rift of Regret but Stable 13 didn't have that book" I explained to him for the tenth time. It's not like I was particularly happy about Sprocket's lack of a complete Daring Do collection either.

Before we could continue Skitters pointed ahead of us. I turned to see the three stallions from earlier trotting toward us. "huh..." the lead pony began "looks like the new stable pony is good for something after all" he said in a positive tone as he stood before us "you've earned my respect thats for damn sure".

I couldn't help but smirk a little. Back in stable 13 it was rare for somepony to actually respect me let alone acknowledge my existence. I glanced up and met his gaze "If I remember correctly you owe me a drink" I said to him.

The stallion laughed and put his hoof on my shoulder "after pulling off something like that" he said as he pointed to the smoke plume "I'd say nearly everypony in town owes you one" he exclaimed before he led us off to the bar.

While things were starting to get quiet around town the bar still remained as lively as when I trotted by it earlier today. It was an old diner at the back end of town. Compared to the rest of Burham Springs it was by far the most cheerful place in town. Everypony was chatting it up over drinks and sharing laughs over Celestia knows what. We managed to snag a booth near the door.

"So" I began "your name is Spearhead" I asked the stallion sitting next to me who had just paid for my Sparkle Cola.

He nodded "captain of the Burham Springs militia" he stated proudly "sorry about being hard on you earlier. I had to put on a show for the locals". A unicorn across behind the bar floated over three bottles and set them before us. My bottle of Sparkle Cola had already been opened which ruined my plan to get a free bottle cap. Spearhead had ordered a bottle of scotch which I had drank on very rare occasions back in stable 13 and hated it every time.

"I'm not sure refusing to help somepony qualifies as a show" Skitters said who sat across from me as he uncapped the water bottle set before him "I mean I get that the Rusty Hooks are the closest thing to scum since the Enclave but we all saw how that eventually turned out" he continued as he took a sip of water.

"That may be true" Spearhead began "but like the Enclave the Rusty Hooks aren't afraid of wiping out a few towns to get their point across" he explained as I listened in bafflement. All these things were new to me and I had no idea where to start. Eventually I stopped paying attention to the two of them and gazed out the window instead. The first stars were starting to appear in the night sky. The rest of the world just seemed to disappear as I gazed up at their glimmering beauty.

The moment was destroyed by Butterscotch who came out of nowhere and clamped her hoof down on the table nearly spilling my drink. "Hey..." she paused for a moment as her eyes darted about "...you" she finally settled on as her eyes focused back to me.

I gave her my best scowl as I gazed back at her. "You don't remember my name do you" I asked her as Skitters and Spearhead remained quiet.

Butterscotch rolled her eyes. "Sure I do" she replied as her eyes began to wander again "It's...umm..." I raised a brow at her and I swear I saw a single drop of sweat "Blue Carrot?"

We all stared at her with the same expression. I shook my head slowly "no" I replied "it's Dragonlily".

She rolled her eyes. "Well I've been looking at names all damn day and yours only came up once" she argued as she sat down beside Spearhead "and I'd say its more like dragonFIRE considering the smoke tower that can be seen from here to Manehattan" she said with a smirk. I glanced out the window to see that the smoke off in the distance was finally beginning to disperse. "Seriously" she continued "I haven't seen anything like that since the Battle of Dodge" she said as I considered pulling out my notepad and making a list off all the things that I needed to question at some point.

"So Butterscotch...what'll you do now" I asked before taking a sip from my Sparkle Cola.

She rubbed her hooves together and smiled. She was awfully gleeful for somepony who lost an entire caravan just this morning. "Oh you don't need to worry about me" she said with a smile "I've already put together a new caravan thanks to my amazing level of charm and reputation." Her confidence was something to be admired. Come to think of it she wasn't anything like this back in the town square.

Spearhead got up from the booth "I've gotta get back on my shift" he said before finishing off his scotch and directing his gaze at me "Dragonlily...it's been a pleasure" he told me before heading out the door and into the night. Butterscotch watched him go out the door and then shifted her gaze between me and Skitters.

We eventually ended up staring at each other in awkward silence until Butterscotch let out a sigh. "Frankly I'm less worried about my caravan than I'm worried about you two" she said with a hint of concern in her voice "the Rusty Hooks aren't very keen on letting somepony burn down one of their strongholds...way I see it they'll put a bounty on you two" she said as she clamped her hoof down on the table "a big one".

Skitters set his water bottle down on the table and folded his hooves. "I think we can breathe a little easier than that" Skitters began "seeing as how we flattened their base with a freight train and sent their entire company into a panic...I think we made it very clear that they should keep their distance" he concluded with a swipe of his hoof. I had to admit we did hit them pretty hard. In fact I kind of felt sorry for them.

Butterscotch didn't seem to think so. "Whatever you say Skitters" she said with a roll of her eyes "but when the Rusty Hooks come after you two with an entire platoon of heavily armed pissed off mercenaries please let me be the first one to say I told you so" she said with a grin. I wasn't about to take a side in their disagreement so I decided to sit quietly and drink my Sparkle Cola. Mmm carroty soda goodness. After a moment however Butterscotch directed her attention to me. "So Dragonlily..." she began as I turned to face her "what’s your story? Stable ponies always have some interesting reason for leaving the Stable life behind".

I stared back at her with a blank expression while she sat smiling waiting for me to begin. Skitters looked interested in hearing it as well. Finally I let out a sigh. "Well..." I began as their ears perked up "after reading Daring Do...Stable life just seemed boring...I wanted to do something other than grow flowers all day...so I got the overseer to let me leave".

"Really" Butterscotch asked not sounding very impressed. Upon nodding in response she let out a disgruntled 'ugh' along with a roll of her eyes. "Bo-ring" she blurted out.

"So now that it's been a few days..." Skitters said as we both looked at him "...was it worth it"? His question seemed to hit me like a hoof to the face. In the past few days alone I'd been bruised, shot, blown up, nearly killed, and nearly mutilated with a knife. I was also developing a hatred toward tin cans which may or may not become a homicidal tendency of mine in the future. I had to admit I was feeling a little homesick.

But then again the last few days weren't all awful. I just destroyed a huge raider settlement without firing a single bullet. Everypony in Burham Springs would be better from what I did. The most I did to help ponies back in Stable 13 was grow flowers for the past ten years. It was my third day in the wasteland and I was already making a name for myself. And then there was Skitters. Not only was it undeniably neat meeting my first changeling but for the first time in my life I had made a friend. Sure I had Sprocket back in Stable 13 but I thought of him more as a father. Skitters was somepony I could actually call a friend without it being creepy.

I let out a sigh. "Honestly...I don't know" I finally answered "It's nothing like what I imagined...and I can’t say being shot was a pleasant experience...but...I can help ponies now...I couldn't do that in the stable" I said as both Skitters and Butterscotch listened "I guess...I'll just have to wait and see what happens next".

We sat in silence for a moment before Skitters finally spoke. "Good answer" he said with an approving nod.

We talked well into the night. I zoned out for most of it for a bunch of different reasons including having nothing to contribute, keeping myself from asking too many questions, and that the night sky was very very pretty. I'd zone back in when either of them asked me a question or they wanted me in the conversation but sooner or later I'd go back to looking up at the sky. The vast empty abyss really got me thinking. I wondered what Sprocket was doing and what would become of my old room. There was no doubt that Sprocket missed me...and I sure as hell missed him. A tear rolled down my cheek and Skitters tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey...you alright" he asked in a gentle tone.

I rubbed my eyes and sniffed a little. "Yeah..." I replied "just thinking about stuff". Okay so I suppose I was feeling more than a little bit homesick. None the less I managed to smile back at Skitters. "I'll be alright" I said.

Butterscotch yawned and grabbed my leg to look at my Pip-Buck. It caught me off guard and part of me wanted to call her out for being rude. But what caught my attention was the fact that she seemed familiar with how it works. "I once traveled with a Pegasus who had one of these" she said as she started pressing buttons "hers didn't have the band with the lock and hers had a different color display" she said as she glared at the screen "yup...it's late".

Skitters stretched his legs. "Yeah..." he said as he finished his bottle of water "maybe we should find a place to..." he stopped mid sentence and stared down at something behind me and Butterscotch "...hide".

As he said the word 'hide' the sound of a gunshot silenced the conversing ponies who sat throughout the bar. I turned and saw seven large heavily armored ponies all boasting high caliber looking machine guns and shotguns. All eyes were on the intimidating looking bunch as a black stallion with a red mane stepped forward from the bunch and spoke. "Good evening fillies and gentlecolts" he said with a firm voice that traveled throughout the room "tonight's entertainment is brought to you by highly provoked acts of violence and the Rusty Hooks..."

It seemed that Butterscotch would get to say 'I told you so' sooner than we anticipated.

Footnote: Level-Up!
Quest Perk Added: Choo Choo Motherfucka!
After ramming an old locomotive into a Raider compound, you seem to understand old technology a little bit better. Add +5 to your Science!
Good Karma Gained in Burham Springs and Los Pegasus!