Chapter Twenty-One: The Galloping Gorge
“What eel?”
“Stupid… come on…”
Who knew a random lock on a random safe sitting in a random hole in the fucking random middle of nowhere would be so hard to pick!?
It had been three more days since we had left the Megamart and the freed captives behind, taking to the wasteland again and heading towards Stable 77. We hadn’t seen any more raiders in that time, so my guess was that the local area had been run by the group we wiped out. Nor had Watcher shown his face, or… radio, again. He seemed content to leave us to our business, though I had the feeling that he was still checking in on us from afar.
Still was kinda creepy, but whatever.
Not that the wasteland hadn’t thrown its usual assortment of creeps and freaks at us, though it was nothing we couldn’t handle. And stacking up on radhog meat was always a plus.
Actually, Altrix seemed abashedly keen on it. I guess changelings are more meat eaters than ponies are, which makes sense given those fangs of hers. The rest of us, though… Well, we’re leaving it as a last resort. Why suffer potential indigestion when I have some perfectly good mutated fruits and vegetables still in my pack.
There also seemed to be more and more ruins dotted along the roadside the further west we travelled. It appeared that we were exiting the large empty fields of the north back into the more heavily populated areas of Equestria. Makes sense, Vanhoover was some miles the other side of the Galloping Gorge. I also recall some Wastelander settlements in the area, and even a stable or two. Though this area was not one I was most knowledgeable on, it was too close to Hoofington for my tastes.
Most of the buildings were crumbled heaps of nothing anyway, long picked over by other scavengers for anything of worth. Old businesses mostly, while other structures were decayed well past any sort of identification or recognition. We passed a couple of small hamlets of houses, now home only to bloatsprites and radroaches.
And then there was this damned safe…
It was located in a play park, of all things. The site was a short distance away from one of those hamlets, where their foals once ran and played in Celestia’s sun. Now it was filled with overgrown and diseased weeds, rusting playground equipment and the bones of those families unlucky enough to get caught out here when the bombs fell.
And here, right in the middle of it all, was a small hole in the ground filled with water so radioactive I was filled with Rad-X and had Altrix fussing over me worriedly. In the water was an old metal safe just… sitting there. Still sealed, hiding whatever contents within.
And the lock wouldn’t budge!
“Come on…!”
“You’ve been at it for a while there, Scrap Heap,” Cobalt said with waning patience. “It might be time to give it a rest.”
“A-and your PipBuck is clicking a lot!” Altrix squeaked in agreement. “I don’t even want to think about all the rads you’re absorbing right now!”
“I have the some Rad-X, but I’ve almost… got it…” I twisted the lock in my magic, working the pin and screwdriver with long practised proficiency.
No lock had ever defeated me in my long scavenging career. Now would not be the day one did, dammit!
Snap.
“Mother-”
“Scrap…” Stripe interrupted. “I am in agreement with the others. There is a time to know defeat.”
I grumbled. Just one more try…
Out another bobby pin came. Okay, if I wanted in it was clear I would have to try a more aggressive approach. Force the lock open. You shall not hide from me, treasure!
Crack.
The lock jammed.
“Oh, come on!” I shouted, flinging my hooves into the air as I discarded the pins and screwdriver. What did this thing want from me!?
Cobalt gave me a deadpan look. “Can we go now?”
“If this was one of your terminal hacks, you’d stay until it was done!”
“You know the difference between that and now?” Do I really want to? “I’d actually get in.”
“Twat,” I spat at him, picking up the screwdriver and a pin in my magic and returning to the lock. “Just you wait…”
“Um… the lock’s broken…” Altrix pointed out.
I didn’t answer, instead jamming the screwdriver and bobby pin back in. It was a struggle alright; this thing was battling me for all it was worth. Certainly, it was a true master lock!
But I was brought into this world for one damned thing, and that was scavenging. You know what is a big part of scavenging? Picking locks! None will defeat me! I will reign eternal!
The lock gave way, the door swinging over.
“Ha! In your face!” I shot back at Cobalt, who just gave me a dismissive wave of his hoof and wandered off to do… whatever, I guess.
But I won! The lock lost! Nopony could take that from me!
And my prize…?
“Is… is that it…?” Altrix questioned with a tilt of her head. “Not that I’m… Yeah, it’s cool! I think…”
“You went through all of that for a single bottle of Sparkle-Cola?” Stripe deadpanned.
“Not just any Sparkle-Cola…” I said with a shit eating grin. “It’s a Sparkle-Cola RAD! Do you know how rare these little gems are?”
“Why is it all glowy?” Altrix asked.
“It’s radioactive,” Cobalt called over from where he was leaning against an old slide. “Yes, they made a drink before the war that could give you radiation poisoning. Don’t ask me why, but they did.”
“You’d have to drink a LOT of it for that,” I dismissed.
“So… what?” Altrix continued. “Is that, um… for sale? Since, you know, I assume you sell everything you scavenge.”
Sale!? I held the glowing blue bottle close to me, protecting my little Sparkle. “I’m not selling this beautiful thing! What I am going to do is savour it for every drop it’s worth!”
“I always preferred Sunrise Sarsaparilla,” Cobalt commented.
It was like he was trying to become my mortal enemy or something.
“Before we begin a rather strange war of the soft drinks, I think you should climb out of the radioactive hole, hm?” Stripe said to me with a smirk. “Or you could stand there with your prize, and I will have to find something to tie you up and drag you out. How does that sound?”
Honestly… Uh… Why did the thought of her ‘tying me up’ make me blush like a schoolfilly?
“Oh for Celestia’s sake,” Cobalt groaned as his horn lit up and… hey! Put me down!
He complied with my unspoken request, dumping me outside the hole and into the dirt.
“There, done,” he said. “Now… Did we have a job or are we just going to piss about with sodas all day?”
Fine.
I gathered my belongings and slid the Sparkle-Cola RAD into my saddlebag, before bringing up my PipBuck and examining the map. We were close to the Galloping Gorge now. The road we were following led right to it, and we’ll supposedly find there a bridge over the large scar in the ground. Of course, the real question was whether or not there was a safe way down. The stable seemed to be in the gorge itself.
And if anything lived inside it. But I suppose we’d find out soon enough.
“Alright, we should get there before dark,” I said to the others. “Let’s get back to walking.”
“No arguments here,” Cobalt commented, cantering up alongside me as we began to leave the old playground behind and venture out into the wasteland.
And as we walked, I had a bag of RadAway shoved into my chest commandingly within a green magic aura.
“You should drink, just to be safe. That water was incredibly radioactive,” Altrix advised. “Please?”
I sighed, taking the bag from her magic into my own. I downed it as quickly as possible, which seemed to please my PipBuck as the avatar looked just a little less ill.
“Thanks,” I said to her, discarding the now empty bag. “Hey, Altrix. I’ve been meaning to ask you… What made you want to become a doctor?”
She blinked. “What?”
“You seem really dedicated to it,” I responded. “I mean, you came out here with us despite the danger. You rushed to help those captives, you even posed as a raider because you thought we would be in danger otherwise. I guess I’m just curious where all that drive came from.”
“Oh, um…” She blushed brightly under the praise. “Well, I guess I always wanted to be a doctor. My mother was actually stable security. My father, well… He used to work in reactor maintenance, but when I was five he…”
She paused, the memory seeming to be a painful one.
“Well, there was an accident,” she continued. “He needed round the clock care after that, so I spent a lot of my time doing that when my mother was at work. He… died about a year ago.”
“We are sorry to hear that,” Stripe said to the changeling sympathetically. “What of your mother?”
“She, um…” She winced. “She was actually one of the officers who threw you guys into the cell.”
Ah. Well, remind me not to tangle with her.
“So what happened to your father was why you became a doctor?” I asked, trying not to push too hard on the subject of her dad.
“I… guess so. I suppose I just didn’t want anyone else to suffer like he did, or at least to have someone there for them if they do.”
Stripe gave her a tender smile. “That is a very kind thing to do.”
“I’d say she wears those symbols well,” Cobalt added, nodding to the pink butterflies on her medical boxes.
She blushed again, and I could imagine her wishing she had a mane to hide behind.
Still… I couldn’t say I disagreed with Cobalt. And looking at Altrix now, I had to think about that yellow pegasus I saw in the picture frame back in Ponyville. She would have been the perfect fit to work under Fluttershy in the Ministry of Peace back in the day.
I was just glad she had friends accompanying her. She would never survive in this wasteland alone.
Seeking to remove myself from that dour thought, and maybe to distract Altrix from her embarrassment, I decided to bring up my PipBuck and switch to the radio.
I hadn’t tuned into DJ Pon-3 in a little while. Perhaps there was more news on the Stable Dweller? Something to listen to as we walked this long decrepit road. My PipBuck’s broadcaster crackled as I switched to the correct signal, letting it tune in as some music began to play from the device.
It was a Sweetie Belle song.
“How did this happen? What have I done?”
“I was only trying to help, but I caused so much pain.”
“I wish I could hide. Wish I could run.”
“I wish I could find a way to do it again...”
I let the song play, filling the morose emptiness of the wasteland. The song was… sad. It didn’t do much for the general mood but… Well, there was no denying the voice. Sweetie Belle, even two hundred years later, was one of Equestria’s biggest sweethearts.
But any song was only so long, and eventually, the final lyrics played out and the instrumental brought the song to a close. Then, after a moment of silent, the easily recognisable voice of DJ Pon-3 spoke out.
“That was Regret, by Sweetie Belle,” the DJ stated. “How prophetic could one song have been?”
I wonder just how easy it was to see the end coming in the final days of the war?
“Now children, it is time for the news!” he announced, playing a little fanfare to accompany the announcement. “Now I’m always speaking of those ponies, and others, who have the guts to fight the good fight. Some might call em’ heroes. But here we have a rather obscure story I mentioned some… what? Two weeks back? Woo, time flies don’t it? But we finally have an update on the Scavenger.”
Wow… Guess I tuned in right on time. I wonder if this is Watcher’s doing? Or does the DJ have his own method of, well… watching?
Let’s just listen to what Pon-3 has heard.
“The quest is complete, people! The kid found the very stable he was looking for, or so my sources claim,” the DJ reported. “Got into a whole heap of trouble as well, just wait until you get a load of this…”
I could see the others listening in, glancing towards my PipBuck from the corners of their eyes.
“First… Cultists! Yeah, I know. ‘Hey Pon-3, what’s so significant about another group of wasteland whack jobs’. Well… there isn’t really anything too special, aside from some crazy cutie mark malarkey going on. But point is, Scavenger and his friends walked right into them, and almost got pressganged. Didn’t end well for them, and what’s left have reportedly fled into the wasteland. Be wary of these folks, children. They may not be friendly to those of us who haven’t ‘seen the light’.”
Was there anyone left in the wasteland who didn’t know the ins and outs of our journey by this point?
“There was also reportedly a run-in with Red Eye’s assholes up that way, so any travellers better beware,” DJ Pon-3 warned. “But now… the good part.”
“Say, children… have any of you ever heard of a changeling?” the DJ enquired. “No? Don’t blame you, neither had I. But apparently, they are a species of shapeshifting equines from before the war, and they had all taken shelter in a Stable-Tec stable. Yes, that’s right, the very stable that our hapless Scavenger and company were after.”
“Oh… I hope this Pon-3 person hasn’t heard bad things…” Altrix mumbled to herself.
“Turns out they’re friendly too. So far at least. And our Scavenger has been kind enough to give these stable dwellers a helping hoof to acclimatise to this wasteland we call home. Moreover, shortly afterwards an entire den of raiders was wiped out and a group of innocent settlers were saved from their clutches, able to move on with their lives.”
DJ Pon-3 gave a wistful whistle. “Hasn’t this been a nice few days. The Stable Dweller isn’t as dead as we’d thought, and now we have this little cherry to go on top. Nice going, kid. I’m sure the changelings are in good hooves, just… make sure they keep playing nice, okay?”
“Thanks for listening, children! This has been DJ Pon-3, bringing you the truth… no matter how bad it hurts.”
A few hours later, and we were approaching the gorge.
And given the large Stable-Tec billboard standing tall and proud right by the giant ravine, there was definitely a stable somewhere to be found around here. We just had to find out where it was, maybe get a good vantage point and look inside. Still, as we walked along the road and approached the gorge itself a potential problem was quick to present itself.
“Great,” I commented as we walked up. “The bridge is out.”
The road ended suddenly and violently. To our right was a small building that looked to be a security checkpoint of some kind; there was even a few military marked wagons and a single long rusted and broken tank guarding a partially collapsed barricade we’d just passed.
The bridge itself was missing, the edge where it used to be being jagged with pieces of concrete and rebar hanging uselessly down. I could see a small bit of the bridge on the other side, though it only extended part way before it too had collapsed, a large chunk hanging off by a thread while the rest of it was in a large debris pile at the bottom of the gorge.
I could also see more wagons and military vehicles down there, twisted among the debris.
“I guess it wasn’t tested against the shockwave of a balefire bomb,” Cobalt quipped, the stallion looking towards the security station. “We should have a look around. There might be a way down on our side.”
“Let us hope so, or it’s a long walk around,” Stripe noted.
The security station was open and surprisingly hadn’t been entirely looted over the past two centuries. The first room was small, box-shaped with large windows surveying what once had been a large bridge. There was a desk rounding most of it with a couple of busted terminals and rotten chairs containing skeletons in tattered uniforms. There was some ammo we helped ourselves to, as well as some healing potions in a first aid box that Altrix gleefully swiped.
There were two doors out, one of them being locked. Despite that, I didn’t even need to bust the screwdriver and bobby pins back out since the keys were still on the belt of one of the dead soldiers. Before checking that out, though, we had a look inside the second decidedly not locked door.
That one led out into a large room lined with cells. None of them had any skeletons inside, and all of them were open. I guess they hadn’t detained anypony the day the bombs fell. At the end of the room was a doorway that led into an interrogation chamber not dissimilar to the one I’d been shoved in back at Stable 84, just a lot less clean. The place was also empty of anything useful, so we back out again.
Which brought us to the locked doorway.
I put in the key and turned it, revealing an extremely small room with no discerning features beyond a second door.
A door with the Stable-Tec logo on it.
“Ah-ha,” I said aloud. “We’re definitely on the right side.”
The next doorway unlocked and led back outside. Moreover, it led out onto a catwalk hanging over the edge of the gorge itself. The catwalk was incredibly thin, only a single pony wide. It also seemed to descend down into the gorge itself.
“Single file, huh?” Cobalt stated. “It’s going to be tight, not much room to manoeuvre if we get in trouble.”
“I do not believe there is another way down, lest we discover climbing equipment,” Stripe pointed out. “And that is unlikely.”
“I don’t see any other movement on my E.F.S.,” I informed the others. “It seems safe at the moment.”
“Well, I have wings,” Altrix pointed out. “I could follow on in the air if it helps.”
“Let’s just get through this quick. I’m not even sure this thing will hold us after two hundred years,” Cobalt pointed out. And he had a point, the thing didn’t look in the best of shape.
“Altrix can fly,” I said. “The rest of us, we need to spread out. Go carefully.”
I got no argument, and so I made that first experimental step out onto the catwalk. It seemed stable, so I walked out entirely. Altrix followed me out under the power of her wings, buzzing off to the side as Stripe and Cobalt also exited.
We took it one step at a time, wary of any creaks and groans the structure made. The metal stairs descended quick and deep into the chasm, and we kept going down until we were about halfway into the gorge. Everything remained calm the entire time, though there was a nip in the air down here. The sides of the gorge were also full of large holes that seemed to dig into the rock. Odd.
Altrix stopped, coming to a hover as she looked back up at the security station.
I looked up at the changeling. “What is it?”
“I… uh… I thought I saw something,” Altrix said nervously, flying up a bit in an attempt to get a better look. “Are we being followed…?”
Followed? I didn’t see anything on my Eye Forward Sparkle. But I guess if they were all the way up there…
“What was it?” Stripe asked, readying her sniper and taking a look through the scope. Though I doubt she’d see anything from our position.
“I… don’t know,” Altrix admitted. “Though I think it was a p-”
“Red bars!” I shouted in alarm, watching one… two… three… “Three of them! They’re coming from… the walls?”
Then the rumbling began, and those of us on the catwalk clung to the railing to avoid slipping. The bars were moving, though I couldn’t see how they could be inside solid rock! What was... was…
From one of the holes in the gorge erupted something very red and very large, casting its shadow down upon us. It had a long serpentine body that extended back into the walls of the chasm. Its eyes, of which there seemed to be extra forming upon several bulbous cancerous growths, all swivelled to look down at us. A mouth opened up with a lot of sharp teeth inside, saliva dripping…
“Oh, that’s a big eel…”
It gave us a hiss and then reared back.
CRACK.
Stripe hit it on one of the mutant eel’s growth, causing it to shriek in pain and recoil.
Nobody even had to shout the word ‘run’.
We bolted down the remaining few steps quickly, and we all just made it to the catwalk spanning to the other side of the gorge when the eel slammed its body down onto the stairs and ripped them from the wall! In a screech of pained metal, the entire structure collapsed and fell down to the depths of the Galloping Gorge. With a whole bunch of the support beams taken out, the catwalk we were now on started to buckle!
We kept running, though it was a long way to the other side. A lot of the platform behind us collapsed, losing enough dead weight to stabilise as we moved fast enough to avoid plunging with it. Altrix sped ahead, skipping the run and moving directly to where the catwalk eventually ended further along the other side of the chasm.
We’d almost reached the other side, where the catwalk made a left turn and continued on against that side of the gorge, when two more eels burst out from that wall! One loomed above while a second came in from below, and that one was wasting no time at all. It shot up, biting into the catwalk with its sharp fangs and twist.
The entire section came away, and the entire length of the platform behind us tumbled down with it. Cobalt, who was in the back, stumbled as the metal beneath him shifted and then fell away. I was about to call out in panic, but a blue flash just ahead of us signalled a haggard-looking Cobalt teleporting down onto the catwalk.
I noted a bar moving in my vision, the eel above turning to make its move.
I dragged out my shotgun and fired two shells at the eel, Stripe moving to assist me by firing off a few rounds from her sniper. The creature gave a screech of pain as we tore away at the flesh on its face, and it began to retract back into its hole.
We didn’t wait for the second to make another move, and we bolted.
Altrix was waiting for us at the end, standing by a small mined out segment within the chasm wall. We all stepped into the alcove, dropping to the ground with nothing but our exhausted pants accompanying us. We laid there, catching our breaths. Outside the alcove, we could hear the screeches of the eels as they returned to wherever the hell they’d come from, and the smashing of some metal falling away from the ruined catwalk.
We were not exiting the same way we entered, and there was now the very real possibility that us non-fliers were trapped. The only way we could go was directly onwards, which right now was an old wooden wall and doorway within the alcove we were taking cover in.
And inside there was undoubtedly the large gear shaped door of Stable 77.
Footnote: Level 19
New Perk: Infiltrator - Can make one more attempt to pick a broken lock.