Fallout Equestria: S.T.A.L.K.E.R

by aegishailstorm


Chapter 4: With A Grain of Salt

Chapter 4: With A Grain of Salt

" So, what is it Nikolai? Did you find something that interests you?" He rested his left hand on the table which Thrifty Goldenhoof was standing behind.

"Yes I have. Do you by any chance have any of the RadSafe or Rad-away that this booklet depicts?" He looked over, and saw Derpy grab something off a nearby table and trotted over to Nikolai. Thrifty turned back to him.

"Well, it looks like we do. "Nikolai smiled. " That is fantastic, I'd like to buy some." He reached into his wallet and pulled out 200 rubles. Thrifty looked at the old Soviet money and frowned.

"What are these? Is this some kind of paper banknote?" Nikolai rubbed one of his eyes.

"Nyet, these are rubles. Wait, or would prefer Ukrainian гривеник?" He fumbled around in his wallet a bit more and tossed a few coins onto the table. She shook her head.

"Eh... Sorry Nikolai, we do business with bottlecaps around here. I'd reckon you can sell that currency for the worth of the metal or paper if you want. If not, you can have your money back." He sighed and placed the bills and coins back into the wallet and stuffed back into a side pocket in his rucksack.


"Bottlecaps, you said?" He took a knee and fully unzipped his backpack. After fumbling around inside it for a few moments, his hand emerged with the 5 bottlecaps he had taken off the dead bandit earlier.

"Will these do?" Thrifty eyed them closely and nodded. " Yep, those will do. You'll need more money than that if you want to buy yourself some Rad X." Nikolai rubbed the temples of his head. " This is a trading post, right? Would you perhaps be willing to take anything I have in my rucksack for the medicine?" She thought about it, and chuckled. " Of course, what do you have to offer?" Nikolai looked around his pack, and then pulled out the double barreled shotgun.

"I found this. How much would you be willing to pay for it?" She furrowed her brow and levitated it away from him. She opened the breach and looked inside.

"So, how much would you be willing to offer me for the shotgun?" Thrifty was silent for a few moments, and then responded with. " 20 caps. That would be enough for 4 packets of Rad away, or 2 packets of Rad X." Nikolai thought about it for a moment. "What if I threw in the ammunition? He pulled the shotgun shells he had salvaged from his pockets and set them on the table.


"I'll give ya one cap a piece. Nothing more." He sighed, alright, that sounds like a fair deal. She reached into a compartment in the desk and pulled out 27 bottlecaps. Nikolai took them and counted to make sure he had received the specified amount.

"You know, you could have gotten more money for that stuff if you'd sold it to some other merchant." A stallion said behind him.


"блін! Why didn't I think of this before! Of course, different people- creatures would want different things more or less. That was how it was in the Zone. This place is no different!" Thrifty nodded. "You're right, this place is called 'Absolutely Everything'. But if you want to buy or sell specific things, I would recommend that you check out some of the other stores." Nikolai smiled. " Can I have some of the Rad X?" He placed 10 caps on the table, and she gave him a packet of Rad X.

"Alright, thank you for the help. I suppose I'll be going now." He began to zip up his pack when Thrifty stopped him.

"What's that?" Nikolai reached back into the pack and pulled out the vibrant floral dress he had found back in the old cottage.

"It's... Stunning!" The mare squealed, even Derpy smiled. Nikolai looked down at it and frowned. " This thing? That's what interests you?"

"Well, not me." Thrifty replied, " But I know that there's a mare over the way at the Bullet Gallopers. She's looking for a wedding dress, and I think she'll be willing to pay hefty amount for that." Nikolai pumped his fist. " Yes! I knew it would be useful eventually! Thank you Derpy and Thrifty, I will return eventually. " He bid them farewell and left the tent, re donning his gas mask as he did.

"So... Bullet Gallopers, ти де?" He looked around, and finally found a tent with a rifle round painted onto a sign above it, he knocked on the table, and a mare came trotting up. "Yes, how can I help you?" He unslung his rucksack and dropped it on the table.

"Da, you actually can. You see, a friend told me that there was a mare here who was looking for a wedding dress. Where might I be able to find her?" The mare smiled warmly. "I'm her, who told you?"


"Thrifty Goldenhoof over at Absolutely Everything. Would you like to see it?" She nodded, and put her hooves up on the table. "Alright, here it is." He reached in and pulled out the dress. " Well, it certainty is a lot better than anything else I've come across. I'll take it. Here, thank you mister-"

"Nikolai." She levitated a cloth sack onto the table. "There, 200 caps even. Does that sound good to you?" He thought about it, he had an opportunity to make even more money. And as much as he wanted to be generous and say the dress was free of charge. He doubted it was worth it.

"How about a little more? 220 caps perhaps?" She sighed and levitated more caps into the sack. " There, 220 caps. Can I have my dress now?" He nodded, giving the folded piece of cloth to her, he took the sack of money and stuffed it into his pack. That brought his total to 237.

" Hey, while you're here. Is there anything that catches your eye?" He looked over the various boxes of ammunition. 9x19, .38, .38 special, .45 ACP, 44 magnum. 5.56, 12 and 20 gauge. And, a variety equine designed firearms.


Nikolai wasn't quite desperate enough to attempt using one of those contraptions yet. So he waved it off, " No. I am alright, I've got one of my own." He brandished his AK 101.


The mare squinted at his rifle, " Cool. It's not a design I'm familiar with. It looks like something the griffons would come up with. "

"Griffons, are you referring to bird-lion hybrids?" She nodded. " What else would I be referring to?" He shook his head, " Nikolai you stupid Дебил! Of course there's griffons. Next someone will be telling me that there are also Dragons!" The mare looked up at Nikolai with a blank expression, "Oh, Celestia help me. It looks like you've got yourself a copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide there. I'd recommend reading it a couple times before going out into the Wasteland and getting yourself killed by something you didn't see coming. "

"Ok. I will be sure to do that. But dragons, really? That is amazing." He eyed the the boxes of 5.56 behind her, " would you mind hand- giving me one of those? I'd like to check something. I promise I won't run off with it." She levitated the metal ammunition crate over to Nikolai and pried the top off. Nikolai reached into one of his magazine pouches and slipped a single 5.56 NATO round out of the magazine. He then reached into the box and took a single bullet from it. Carefully, he held them side by side, checking the cartridge sizes and projectile diameters.

"Xвала Господу! Thank God! They're the same!" He put the round back in the box, and slid his own back into the magazine.

"Is that what you were worried about? Compatibility?" Nikolai nodded, "Yep. Well ma'am. I bid you good luck with your marriage."

"And you safe travels." She replied. Nikolai slung his rifle back over his shoulder and began walking east, towards the closest of the large towers.

As he passed by an alleyway, he heard a voice ask. " Hey, buddy? How much for the gun?" A scrappy stallion emerged from the dark. Nikolai looked back at the rifle that was slung around his shoulder.

"I am sorry, buy it is not for sale."

"I wasn't askin', how about 20 caps?" He laughed, "For- You must be joking. Look, I do not want trouble. Ok?"

"50."

"Nyet!" He watched as the pony unsheathed a knife from a scabbard on his chest and held it in his mouth. "What are you doing?" It would take time to unsling the rifle, so Nikolai's gloved hand hovered over the holster of his Makarov pistol. Confident in his ability to draw and hit the creature before he could close the distance.

" Hey! What's going on?" It was the voice of the guard he had met at the city gates. Nikolai could hear 3 sets of hooves. He turned with his hand on his sidearm. He was on the verge of drawing it. He turned, back up towards a wall. He didn't want to get out flanked.

"There was a pony trying to rob me of my rifle. What kind of fool does that?"

"That fool, was my nephew." He turned and came face to face with a white unicorn. And 2 guards, one of which was the guard which he had met earlier.


" That might be the case. But it does not change the fact that he tried to rob me." The unicorn shook his head. " My name is Mr. White. I am the leader of the White Apples mercenary group. We control the city.



"I was under impression that the Red Trotters controlled this place. " We share it. They mostly stick to the outskirts, dealing with feral ghouls and raiders. My guards and mercenaries control downtown." Nikolai nodded, " Well. If you see your nephew, could you tell him to find another line of work? One less likely to put unwanted holes in his body?"


Mr. White sighed, " I apologize. He's going through his rebellious phase right now. It's a good thing that you didn't kill him. Otherwise my forces would have chased you right out of the city. Tell me, are you up for some work?" Nikolai shrugged, and discreetly pulled back the hammer on his pistol.

"What kind of work? And are you paying?"

"I'll tell you once we get inside, and yes. Of course I'll pay you." He relaxed his grip on the gun. "Lead the way." The ponies led him into the nearest standing skyscraper.


The guards led him up 14 flights of stairs, through a metal door, past a row of old cubicles, and finally, into an office. "What is it that you want me to do?" The stallion held up a hoof as the 2 guards took up positions by the door. " Sit." Nikolai took a seat in a surprisingly comfortable chair ahead of the desk. Which had various documents and maps strewn about.

"The mission is simple. There is a Cottage on the outskirts of the city. Hidden within it is a safe, I would like you to retrieve the contents of the safe. That should be easy for you, hold on. I'll show you it on a map. He brought out a map of the city and pointed to a location on the northern side.

"Is it ok if I take your map?" Mr. White laughed. " No, there's a cartography station down in the square, you can pick one up there. Or, if you happen to have one of those fancy PipBucks I could have my secretary download a copy to it. Nikolai pulled out his PDA. "Would this work?" Mr. White looked at the device and frowned. "I have not idea. I've never seen anything like it. I think it might work." Nikolai nodded.

"Let me see that." he tore the map from Mr. White and looked over the map." I was just there!"

"Then you'll have no problem completing the task-"

"I tried to force it, but the thing wouldn't open." Mr. White slid a box of bobby pins across the table." Then you better figure it out." Nikolai groaned and took the box, stuffing it into a coat pocket.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, come back here when you're done. We'll discuss payment then." He facepalmed, " Alright, but it better be a good sum. And I will hold you to your deal." He stood up and shook the stallion's hoof. But as he was leaving he heard one of the guards murmur to him.

" I'd take his words with a grain of salt. That Salt has a tendency to... Not tell the whole truth of the matter to his clients. You might find yourself in the middle of a bit more than you can handle."

"I'm fairly certain I could deal with whatever it is when the time comes. Also, I haven't ate in a while. And I only got in a quick nap. Do you mind if I stay in one of the old cubicles before heading out?" The guard nodded.

"Sure, just don't make a mess of things."