//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: The Stranger With a Big Iron on Her Hip // by Omega_code //------------------------------// I would like to thank lolcatsmanseven for proofreading and editing this chapter. Enjoy. _____________________________________________________________________ “So, let me understand…you’ve never heard of radiation before?” Scarlet asked. They all shook their heads. “What is it?” Applejack asked. “To be honest I don’t fully know myself. But what I do know is that it’s a sort of energy that was a byproduct from nuclear fires that covered the world during the Great War. It’s extremely deadly to living beings in large amounts, if they’re lucky enough to die that is. Otherwise it mutates them into… something else.” “How do you know that the water has this radiation in it?” Braeburn asked. “Because of this.” Scarlet held up her left arm showing them the Pip-Boy. “It has a device in it that tells me if an area has any amount of radiation. It can also tell me if any food or water that I consume has any radiation in it too. When I ate that apple in the field, it told me there was some radiation inside of it. The only way that could happen is if the apple was grown in heavily irradiated soil, or the water was irradiated.” “What does this mean for my apple orchard?” “If you can’t find where the radiation is coming from, soon all of your trees will die. The apples are still okay to eat, if you eat them in small quantities and have something to get rid of the radiation before the rad levels gets too high.” The two horses were in a state of disbelief about what Scarlet told them. “Th-the whole apple field?” Applejack stuttered out. “Given the low amount of radiation that’s in the water, and based on how much the trees are being affected by it, I’d say the whole orchard has about three months to four months left. That is, if the water’s radiation level doesn’t increase.” “Is that some sort of threat?” Strongheart said. “No, that was just an estimate. I could help y’all solve this problem of yours…if we can make the right deal that is.” “What sort of deal?” Braeburn asked. Scarlet smiled slightly. “Food and water, a roof over my head, and any sort of electrical or metal parts you have… if you have any.” “Those demands are a bit odd.” “Normally I would charge you bottle caps, but I doubt you have two thousand of them. But, I still have needs to satisfy. I need food and water of course, parts to repair my gear, and as much as I love the outdoors, I would like to sleep inside a building once in a while.” She walked up to the group and knelt down while holding out her hand. “So, do we have a deal?” Braeburn thought for a while. “I can get the food and water; we don’t have much electrical parts. As for the room…” “Look, Braeburn. I’m really not asking for much; in fact I’m being much more generous than I normally would be when making these sort of deals. So, do we have a deal?” Braeburn looked at Scarlet, and then grabbed her hand with his hoof, shaking it up and down really hard. “Deal.” Scarlet was a bit bewildered about how a horse could “grab” her hand, but smiled and said, “Good, now let me gather up the rest of my gear and I’ll follow you into town.” She got up and went to her campsite to get what was left. *************** “Are you crazy?” Strongheart asked Braeburn. “How could you trust her so easily? For all we know she’s behind the poison in the apples trees." “I don’t think so.” Applejack said. Braeburn and Strongheart glanced over at her. “She was telling the truth to us the whole time. Her eyes weren't moving rapidly, and she spoke in a steady rhythm. She wasn’t making her story up on the fly, and she clearly hadn’t be practicing it ahead of time.” She looked at Braeburn and Strongheart, who were giving her questioning looks. “Being the Element of Honesty, you tend to pick up a few things if somepony is lying or not.” They heard Scarlet's footsteps as she come back and saw she was carrying a lot of stuff on her back and side. Along with the long black object she had used on the griffins, she had a rectangular black object, and a short black object with a small round cylinder attach to it. “Well I think I got everything.” She said. Scarlet looked at the three of them for a moment before saying, “Lead the way.” She smirked and added coyly, “Also, Applejack, this is one of those examples where my mouth won the battle.” *************** A murmur rose from amongst the townsfolk as Scarlet walked into their town behind Braeburn, Applejack and Strongheart. The last time Scarlet had been treated like this was when she walked out of The Divide. After spending almost a week there, most of the people of New Vegas had thought she was dead… again. I wonder what’s happening over there right now, she thought to herself. After she kicked the NCR out of Vegas and killed any Legion member she came across, she had been very busy running an independent New Vegas. It was a bit hectic at first, with small riots starting in the streets and in the casinos, but they were quickly dealt with using the Mark II Securitrons. And after the riots ended, she had received an earful of complaints from Julie, the leaders of the Three Families, and even the King, which caused even more chaos. The Families wanted caps to pay for the damages cause by the riots, Julie said the Followers needed more medicals supplies to heal the people who were wounded from the fights, and the King said he wanted a presence in the Strip. It was a bit overwhelming for Scarlet to handle by herself. Luckily she had her friends to help out. With the combined knowledge of The Enclave and experience in the Wasteland, Arcade helped the Followers use their supplies wisely and helped keep order as best he could. Veronica also helped the Followers by repairing the tech the Followers had, and by understanding the data they recovered from ED-E. Cassidy helped out by keeping the caverns running ever since the Crimson Cavern leader went… missing. Boone, Lily and Raul helped keep order outside of Vegas by getting rid of any Fiends, Scorpions, or anyone else who thought they could take advantage of the chaos happening in the Strip and Freeside. For about a month and a half, chaos reigned in New Vegas until everything finally settled down to normal. Soon the streets were filled with old world music and drunken gamblers complaining about the caps they lost. Don’t worry Scarlet, Yes Man took care of Vegas every time you visited Big MT, so he should be able to continue to do so. Braeburn led her to a house and held up a hoof saying, “Well this is my place, and it’s also a roof to go over your head, Scarlet.” He went to the door and held it open. “Ladies.” Applejack and Strongheart went in first, with Applejack saying thank you to Braeburn. As Scarlet went inside, she had to duck slightly to avoid banging her head on the doorframe. Inside, everything looked… untouched, to Scarlet’s eyes, that is. The furniture didn’t have that decayed worn out look, and the wood wasn’t rotting or falling apart from centuries of no maintenance. It all looked like one of those pictures she saw of the inside of an old war house. “I see that you like it.” Braeburn said with a small chuckle, due to the astonished look Scarlet had on her face. “Yeah, it’s just…unfamiliar. Now, point me to the nearest bed, it’s been two days since I last slept and I need some rest to clear my mind.” “Oh, you can take the one in my room; upstairs last door on the right.” “Thanks.” Scarlet made her way up the stairs, with the two horses and the calf watching her leave. _____________________________________________________________________ Fallout New Vegas is copyrighted Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks. MLP: Friendship is Magic is copyright to Hasbro. All characters that belong to their companies are rightfully theirs. This writing is for fun and nothing else.