Fallout: Equestria - Wasteland Bouquet

by Cascadejackal

Chapter 4: New Friends

BANG! BANG! BANG-SMASH! "Yeah!" I cheered as the bottle exploded.

"Three shots. You're getting better."

"See, I said I was as good a shot as you!"

"In your dreams, Lily."

Rose and I were just outside of town, firing at some bottles on a fence. True to her word, Rose had dragged me (literally, at first) to a gun merchant, buying me a revolver, and now she was showing me how to use it.

"I bet I'd be a better shot with that other gun, the one with the mother-of-pearl mouthgrip and the engraved barrel!"

"Two reasons I didn't let you get that: First, it was a show-piece. Flashy, not meant for firing. Second, it was a pistol, and they have more moving parts."

Rose tapped my new gun (an ugly, dull grey thing) with her hoof. "This is a prewar police revolver. It was made to shoot first time, every time. It's also harder to break, and even you should be able to keep it working."

"Whatever." I aimed, and fired again. BANG! BANG! CLICK! Wait, click?

"It also carries five shots."

Oh. I blushed a little and used my magic to reload. "How about you try hitting the bottles, then?" I hovered the gun over to Rose (grip first, barrel to the ground. I knew better than to point a loaded gun at somepony), who went to grab it in her teeth. "With your magic! You ARE a unicorn, after all."

Rose rolled her eyes, and her white glow pulled the revolver away from me. Checking to make sure it was loaded (I groaned), she lifted it in front of her, at eye level. "Use the sights and line up your target. Exhale, then fire." BANG-SMASH! BANG-SMASH! BANG-SMASH! BANG-SMASH! BANG-SMASH!

Five shots, five hits. The empty cases were ejected, the cylinder was snapped closed and Rose gave me back my gun. "See?"

"Yeah yeah. Okay, genius, my turn again." Five shots, two hits. If nothing else, at least I was consistent.

We stayed out there practicing until the sun was starting to go down, then started walking back to our hotel. "Why are we staying in town, Lily? Auntie and uncle wouldn't tell me much, just that they have plans for tomorrow." My parents had gotten us rooms at a nice hotel (When I say nice, I mean that the sheets were clean and the bed softer than my bedroll. So, pretty nice.) for a couple of days.

"Oh, you know. They have... plans. The important kind." Rose was staring at me without blinking.

"It's a secret, isn't it?" Crap.

"Mum and dad... They need a break from travelling! Yeah, that's it!" I was lying to an empath. Double crap.

"Whatever." Rose sighed and looked away. I felt guilty for lying to her, and very glad she couldn't read my mind.

"C'mon, let's go back to our room and jump on the bed! You know you want to!"

"You want to. I don't." Spoilsport.

"Fine! I'll race you then!" I took off, knowing she'd be right behind me. Ever since promising to stay near me, Rose had done just that. My own white-and-red shadow, she was never far away. You can imagine what that did for my love life.

Yes, I managed to have a love life. We had a caravan route, remember? Every month, up and down the trail, stopping at the same old towns. There were a couple of cute bucks, and I got pretty serious with one of them. We went on a few dates and spent most of our time together kissing (while Rose did her best to ignore us). It was fun, until he wanted to go further than just kissing. I was curious, he brought a bottle of wine, and when I woke up, Rose was wrapped around me protectively. I never saw the buck again.

Rose told me that I'd gotten drunk and he'd tried to take advantage of me, so she'd beaten him senseless before he could do more than give me a few unwanted kisses, then dumped his unconscious butt in the middle of the road. After that, I was careful to keep Rose by my side and not drink too much. Not that I could get rid of her, even if I wanted to.

I still flirted and went on dates, though. Not all colts are creeps, after all. And I knew my sister would keep me safe if they tried anything.

So, back to the race! Round a corner, through a hole in a fence, down an alley and back onto the street, Rose's hoofbeats coming from just behind me as we came to the hotel.

I stopped as fast as I could, hoping to make Rose crash into me. It worked. We went down in a tangle of limbs, laughing our heads off. At least, I was laughing. Rose, as usual, only giggled a little.

We untangled ourselves and went inside, heading to our room while arguing about who won the race.

"I won!"

"We crashed. It was a tie."

"A tie that I won, and you lost." I kicked our door open and trotted into the nice, comfortable hotel room.

"You can't win a tie, Lily." Rose pushed the door closed behind her, staying right behind me.

"I can!"

We jumped onto the bed we shared. Rose hated sleeping alone, and I loved how warm she was, so it was a win-win situation.

"No, you can't."

I grabbed a pillow in my teeth (magic isn't very good for hitting things) and swung at Rose. She ducked and tackled me, pinning me to the bed.

"Give up?"

"Never-aahahahaha!"

Rose blew a rasberry on my tummy, and I burst out laughing, trying to squirm away.

"I give, I give!"

She stopped, but kept me pinned, looking me in the eye. "Tell me why we're staying here, then."

I sighed and gave her a hug. "Sorry, Rose, I just can't. Mum and dad made me promise."

"Oh." Crushed, she slid off me and levitated her saddlebags onto the bed, pulling out a thick book before settling down to read it, her back to me.

"C'mon, you'll find out soon. Give me a smile. Please?" I lay on her back and wrapped my forelegs around her neck, nuzzling her cheek. She didn't smile.

"Cheer up. For me?" I licked her cheek and hugged tighter, making the smallest of smiles show up on her lips. "See? Isn't that better?"

"You're heavy."

"And you're grumpy."

She ignored me and went back to reading, so I just lay there, wishing I could tell her the truth, and hoping it would be worth it in the end.

Eventually, I climbed off her and stuck my head in her saddlebags, looking for something to eat. Some magazines, a box of parts for her rifle, another magazine (a prewar beauty one! I made a mental note to borrow it later), several packets of gum (mum would kill Rose if she found out) and, to my utter delight, a box of Fancy Buck snack cakes!

"Save me one, Lily." I hadn't even taken them from the bag yet, and Rose knew what I'd found. Was it that obvious?

"Only if you smile." I dropped the box onto the bed and poked Rose's chest, doing my best Mother stare; It was meant to look serious and grown up. Rose wasn't impressed, she just stared back until I blinked.

"Fine. They're yours anyway." She actually smiled when I said that, so I gave her one and she went back to reading.

If you've never had a Fancy Buck snack cake, you have no idea what you're missing out on. They're like the cupcakes of the Goddesses, packed so full of sugar and preservatives it's like a party in your mouth.

What? I'm being serious! They really are that good!

"Girls, we're back!" Dad knocked on the door before opening it and coming in, mum at his side. Shaking the now empty box off my head (there were crumbs inside!) I bounced off the bed and ran over to them. "Did you get everything?" I was trotting in place eagerly.

"Yep. Uh, what's wrong with Rose?" Dad pointed at her; She was still reading, not paying us any attention at all.

I whispered; "She knows we're keeping something from her."

"Oh..."

Mum walked over and hopped onto the bed next to Rose, brushing her mane. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Without looking up from her book, she just nodded. "I promise we'll tell you the secret tomorrow, okay? It'll be worth the wait." Another nod, and she sat up long enough to hug my mum. "Now, you and Lily go to bed. It's getting late, and we've got a big day planned."

"Good night, girls."

"Night!"

Rose blinked at my parents; she had her book in her mouth and was trying to get it back into the bag. They turned off the light with a smile and a wave, then shut the door, leaving us in the dark. I heard a thump and felt something warm and fuzzy press against me; Rose had given up trying to put the book away (dropping it on the floor instead) and curled up next to me.

A few minutes of silence, where all I could hear was Rose breathing, then: "Lily?"

"Mm?"

"Is the secret really so good?"

"It's the best secret ever."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"Because it'll be better in the morning."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Her forelegs wrapped around me. "If you say so." She buried her face in my neck and went to sleep, leaving me feeling guilty, but knowing she'd be super happy in the morning.

"SURPRISE!" We all cheered as I pulled the blindfold off Rose's eyes. "Happy birthday, Rose!" Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped; it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.

When we'd woken up, my parents had blindfolded Rose and we'd led her across town, to the cafe where we'd set up her surprise party. The last few years, me and Rose had our birthdays while we were travelling, so a proper party was out of the question. Just some small gifts and some junk food.

Now, though... We had a table full of the freshest looking food the cafe had! Salad, fresh radhog pie, and even a freshly baked cake! With FROSTING! And on the other table was the real reason Rose was in shock: A copy of The Elements of Harmony!

"How... I..." She was speechless, so I shoved her towards the food with a smirk.

"We thought you'd like this." Dad was grinning his head off. "Lily got you the book, and we all thought you could use a chance to relax and enjoy yourself! Sorry for keeping it a secret, but I can't believe you forgot your own birthday!"

Rose looked at everything, then at him. "I forgive you. Must've been expensive, though."

Dad laughed at her. "Don't worry, it's coming out of your pay."

Rose smiled at that. He was joking, of course. But we didn't care, there was partying to be done!

"Ugh... My stomach..." We were back in our hotel room and I was on the bed, twitching. "Why aren't you in pain? You ate as much as I did!" Forcing my eyes open, I glared at Rose. She was using me for a pillow, her head buried in her new book.

"Yes, but I ate slowly." She looked up at me. "Where did you find this, anyway?"

"What, the book? Remember last month, I made you wait outside while I talked to those scavengers?"

"Yeah."

"I asked them to keep their eyes out for any interesting books, and that's what they brought back."

"Oh. Thanks." She kissed my forehead and snuggled against me. "I love you, big sister"

I blushed. "I love you too, little sister."

Let's jump forward a few months. I'd had my birthday (Rose insisted we throw a party for me. I hadn't complained, especially when she gave me the cutest set of hairpins ever, with little birds on them!), the roads were fairly peaceful and we'd stopped in a town that almost always had neat cargo for us.

My parents were in the mayor's office, discussing a job that would pay way more than our usual route, while me and Rose were in a bar. Rose was enjoying a bottle of Wild Pegasus (She said it reminded her of her dad, so I wasn't gonna stop her) and I was chatting with a young male griffin. He had lovely mottled grey feathers, a constant grin on his beak, and he was my age!

No, I would never sleep with a griffin. He was kinda dashing, though.

"And that's when I swooped in, grabbed the bag of caps, and took off before they even realized I was there!" He laughed, and so did I.

"How did you get away?" I asked eagerly, leaning close.

"I went straight up, waited in the clouds until they stopped looking." He laughed again and winked at me. "My gun was laying back in the tunnel, all shot up, so fighting back would've been kinda hard. I could've dealt with them, I just didn't wanna get my claws dirty."

Rose snorted and took another sip of her whiskey. She hadn't spoken to him at all, and later she'd tell me that most of his story had been made up. I already knew that, of course, but it was fun listening to him.

"Oh, so you don't believe me?" Grinning, he reached across the table to get the bottle. "Pass the booze and I'll tell you about the time I-YEEOW!" He pulled his claw back, rubbing it where Rose had bit him.

"Mine." She stared, daring him to try again.

"Rose! That was mean!"

"Don't worry about it, I like feisty girls." The way he smiled at her made my heart flutter, but Rose just took another drink. "Y'know, you're kinda cute, for a pony." There was that smile again. I'll admit, I was a teensy tiny bit jealous that Rose was getting more attention than me. Not that she cared; I asked her why she didn't pay attention to boys once, and her reply was simple: "I'll die before I let a male touch me."

There's a good reason for her attitude, but... I'd rather not talk about that right now. Later on, maybe.

"Lily, auntie and uncle are going to be done soon. We should go." Rose waved her hoof in my direction; putting down a third of a bottle of whiskey was a bit much for a first-time drinker, but she was still better off than I would have been.

"Okay, Rose. We need to go shopping, anyway. Nice meeting you, uh..."

"Ibis. My name's Ibis." He winked at Rose (who had the bottle in her mouth as we walked to the door). "Good meeting you, girls."

We did our shopping, stopped for Rose to vomit in an alleyway (she looked better after that), and met my parents back at the caravan.

"So? What's the job, dad?"

"Pretty simple. We're taking some passengers north, into the city; shouldn't be more than two weeks there, two weeks back. The mayor hired them to check out an old Robronco building and... What's wrong with Rose?" She'd climbed in the wagon and collapsed.

"She had a little too much to drink."

"Let me guess: Whiskey?"

"Yep."

"Just like her old dad. Surprised it took so long, considering how she got her name. Ow!" Mum kicked him.

"Lily, make sure your sister drinks plenty of water. I remember what her father was like, and we don't need another hung-over, dehydrated guardpony. I can't take all that complaining again, and it would be bad for our passengers to see our only guard like that."

I nodded and jumped up next to the groaning Rose, trying to make her sit up and have something to drink that wasn't alcoholic. I managed to get her to swallow a few mouthfuls of water before I heard dad say "Lily, our passengers are here!"

"One second!" After making sure Rose was still drinking her water, I looked out of the wagon, curious about our passengers. We're a caravan, after all. Live cargo isn't something we deal with very often.

"Girls, this is Magpie-" Dad pointed to the older, black and white griffin. "And her son, -"

"Ibis!" I called out his name, waving. That's who it was, alright.

"Hey, Lily! Where's your sister?"

Rose lifted her head up, took one look at him, and groaned.

FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP