//------------------------------// // Act 1 - Part 8: The Past Rings True // Story: Fallout Equestria: Souls // by JustMoth //------------------------------// Fallout Equestria: Souls Act 1 - Part 8: The Past Rings True Waste Land Survival Lesson 13: “Get to know your travelling companions.” I think I need to take stock of my current situation... -First I was killed by a wooden gun with no trigger and tied to where it goes. -The owner of the gun is a pegasus from a stable of earth ponies. -She also owns a slave that she got from a colour changing zebra. -The slave is also a raider who can absorb things magically. -They just met a lanky unicorn, a bald pony, and an all-powerful immortal alicorn. -There’s also a suspicious Tenpony merchant. ...My afterlife is WEIRD! The last two on that list, Hoof and Celly, had just trotted off to the other side of the raider hide out to have a private chat. Presumably it was about Twilight Sparkle, but since they were out of my sphere of perception they could have been talking about hoofball scores for all I knew. This left Lemon Zest, Colt, Star Mane, and Brass Tacks, waiting outside for them to return. Zest was staring googly eyed at Brass again, and Colt, in an odd change, was staring at Star. Well, more accurately, she was staring at the wide ring that he wore on his horn and looked to be trying not to giggle. “Something funny?” Star asked with an arched eyebrow. “Is that... Is that what I think it is?” Colt smirked while pointing a hoof at the horn ring. Star Mane sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes...” He then hastily added “But it’s not what you think.” Well that didn’t make much sense. This contradiction must have caught Lemon’s attention too, since she finally stopped starting at Brass and turned to the two unicorns. “What is it?” “It’s a block-ring!” Colt said with a laugh. “What’s a block-ring?” Zest asked while Star just face-hoofed. “It’s a special horn ring that blocks the unicorn wearing it from using magic.” Colt explained and then shot a sly look to Star. “Kinky pre-war ponies would use them for magical bondage.” “Bondage?” Zest tilted her head confused. I wonder just how sheltered her stable life was. Any time Colt mentions any kind of sexual behaviour, other than straight sex, Lemon has had a reaction of bewilderment that seemed to go beyond just her amnesia. “I said it’s not like that!” Star Mane said while rolling his eyes. “It’s a long story.” “Well, if Second is talking to Celly about history, it’s going to take a while...” The yellow pegasus pointed out. She was right, Celly may be powerful and indestructible, but could she withstand one of Hoof’s lectures? “Fine...” Star Mane slumped his shoulders. “My special talent is speed. I can outrun just about anypony, and I’ve picked up several magic spells to make me even faster. When I was younger, about Colt’s age, I would challenge anypony I could to a race and always win. Back then I was arrogant and cocky.” “Back then?” Brass interjected with a smirk. “Ok... I was even more arrogant and cocky back then.” Star corrected sheepishly. “Eventually I started hustling ponies for caps with my races. I would bet other ponies that I was faster than them, and then I would let them win the first couple of races and keep insisting on a rematch at a higher wager. Then, when the stakes were high enough, I would win the race using my magic.” “Sneaky little scam you had going there.” Colt said, sounding impressed. “But what does that have to do with the block-ring?” “I was getting to that.” Star Mane said. “There was one race I had against a big shot earth pony. I did my little last second win trick like normal and won the race, but he noticed that I used magic and was not too happy about it. He said that using magic was cheating and I didn’t win fair and square. This wasn’t the first time I was caught, so I used my old argument that using my natural magical talents was no different than him using his natural earth pony strength.” I sure hope that the earth-pony didn’t buy that malarkey. The magical benefits an earth pony has from their special talent are always active and enhances them in usually subtle ways. It’s not something you can turn on whenever you want like a unicorn’s magic. Magic is totally cheating! And I don’t have horn envy! “He seemed to buy it at the time.” Star continued. Was he daft!? “He even agreed to throw a party for my victory to show that there was no hard feelings.” Star Mane let out a sigh before going on with his story. “I should have thought something was up right then, but I was too full of myself and just thought that I was so charismatic that I won him over. At the party he bought me a drink and invited me up to his bedroom. Just as I was thinking that this was going to be a kind of rematch to see who was faster, I passed out. He must have put something in my drink.” The lanky unicorn tapped the metal band on his horn. “When I came to, I was sprawled out in an alley with this on my horn and my magic was blocked. Stuck to the end of my horn was a note explaining how the ring was rigged with a powerful compact explosive that would go off if I ever tried to remove it or tamper with it in any way. The note also said that cheaters never prosper.” Brass Tacks trotted over and stood beside his friend while he continued his story. “For almost ten years I had to learn how to live like an earth pony. It was a humbling experience to say the least...” Star lowered his head to look at Brass Tacks. “That was until I met Brass. He was the first pony that I ever met that had enough know-how about explosives to disarm the ring. Since he was in a bit of a bind at the time, I agreed to help him out in exchange for deactivating the bomb in the ring.” Hmm, If Brass is an explosives expert, does that mean he lost all his hair in some explosion? No... There would be massive scarring if that was the case, and at least some of his hair would have survived. Star gave a warm smile to the bald pony. “We’ve been together ever since.” “But why are you still wearing the ring then? Don’t you want to use magic again?” Zest inquired. “Part of the reason I still wear it is to remind me of the lessons I learned when I couldn’t use magic, and to keep me from getting too cocky again. As for my magic...” Star’s horn glowed green as he levitated a small rock nearby. “The enchantment on the ring no longer works.” “Shortly after I met Star, the two of us came across Celly.” Brass continued the story. “She was having trouble controlling her powers, still does at times, so we tried putting the block-ring on her horn.” “Did it work?” Zest asked. “The enchantment burned itself out in less than a second.” Brass answered as he lifted his forehoves and shrugged. “Normally that would be impossible, since the spell had the strength to last at least another century. But then this is Celly were talking about, so all bets are off.” “Speaking of talking about Celly, it looks like she’s done chatting.” Star pointed a hoof to the small alicorn and shifty merchant as they walked back. I looked like Celly was smiling and Second was rather content with himself. “We have a new lead!” Celly called out to the other ponies. “We’re leaving for Tenpony Tower in five minutes.” “Celly’s going back to Tenpony?” Star Mane said with a chuckle. “I hope it ends better than last time…” “What happened last time?” Lemon asked. “Well, it all started when Celly tried to shop at one of the stores in the tower…” Brass started to tell the story as Celly and Star headed back into to raider safe house. I was curious about what happened, but my attention was drawn away by Colt stopping Second with a hoof and whispering “We need to have a little chat.” “As much as I would love to pretend to care about what you have to say…” Hoof started sarcastically. “I need to get ready before we head out.” “Either you and I have a chat…” Colt floated he large knife between them. “Or you and Mulberry have a chat.” Second’s eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at the tip of the knife. “I see your point.” Did Hoof just make a pun? Nah, must have been a coincidence. The two unicorns trotted over to the side of the building as Brass continued telling his story to Zest, something involving a large green hat, but they fortunately stayed within my sphere of perception. “What do you want, raider?” Hoof asked, sounding rather annoyed with the young unicorn. “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention that around our new friends.” Colt said in a whisper. Other than Hoof, I doubt anyone without omnipresent hearing could hear what they were saying. “Mention what?” Hoof whispered back puzzled. “About me being a raider, or my past.” Colt answered through clenched teeth. It looked like asking this of Second was a struggle for her. “I promised Mistress Zest that I would play nice with the Cleaner and his cohorts, but if they catch wind that I’m Sinister Plot… Well, I have a feeling ‘nice’ will be off the table all around.” “And if I let mention of your past slip?” Hoof asked cautiously. “Well…” Colt floated out her knife again. “I never promised that I would play nice with you.” “You’re kind of bloodthirsty, you know that?” Second glared past the knife at the young mare. “Nah, you just need to get to know me.” Colt said with a smile. “I’m really a big softy.” She seemed to mean that, but then she still had her knife floating up by Hoof’s face… “Fine, whatever.” Hoof rolled his eyes. “I won’t mention that you’re a raider. I don’t plan on mentioning you at all for that matter, so no skin off my nose.” Hoof sidestepped Colt as she put away her knife. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s a long walk to Manehattan and I need to get ready.” Hoof trotted off into the safe house as Colt gave a frustrated sigh and struck the side wall with a forehoof hard enough to leave a hole. Her face was a mix of sadness and rage, like she was about to either break down crying or kill somepony. What was going on in her head? This couldn’t be just about asking Hoof to cover for her… After a moment the young unicorn composed herself and trotted around to the front of the house with her usual perky gait. “…And then the other melon dropped!” Brass said to Zest, laughing out loud. Lemon burst out laughing, slapping the ground with her hoof. “Oh, that’s unbelievable!” Drat! Looks like I missed the entire story. The yellow pegasus managed to get her laughter down to a giggle as the blue unicorn trotted up to her. “Hey Colt. You about ready to go?” “Almost. There’s just one thing I need to do first…” ~~~***~~~ It turns out that the one thing Colt needed to do was to find an old can of paint in the safe house and paint over the large Red Hoof emblem on the front of the building. Lemon offered to help her, but Colt told her that it was something she had to do herself. Star, Brass, and Celly seemed to figure out from the serious expression that Colt wore while painting that this was something important to her and even delayed leaving until she finished. I seriously doubt that they had any idea just why it was so important to Colt to remove any trace of the Red Hoof’s presence there. When Colt was finished Celly called everypony to her. “Ok, our destination is about a block away from Tenpony Tower.” The little alicorn informed the others. That’s kind of odd. Why were they going to walk to just short of the tower instead of having the tower as the destination? “I’ve been there a few times before, so there shouldn’t be any problems.” Celly continued and looked over to Zest, Colt, and Second. “Since this is the first time you guys have blinked, I should warn you that it may burn a little.” What? Apparently I wasn’t the only one lost. Colt and Hoof looked a little confused, and Lemon just nodded along like she does any times somepony says something she doesn’t understand. Star on the other hoof was snickering to himself like something funny was about to happen and Brass just smiled knowingly. “All ready?” Celly asked, looking to everypony as they nodded. “Ok, let’s go!” Does she always make this much of a- Woah! My whole perception flashed with a golden light, and when it cleared everypony was standing in the middle of a city street! I recognize this place! This is Manehattan, a few blocks from Tenpony! “Wow!” Colt called out in surprise. Hoof just stared gobsmacked with his mouth open. “Uh, neat.” Lemon said, sounding uncertain how impressed she should be. I guess she wouldn’t know how ridiculously rare a talent like teleportation is, especially across large distances. “Did we forget to mention that Celly can also teleport to just about anywhere in Equestria?” Star Mane said with a grin. “Well, only to places that I’ve been before or can see.” Celly clarified. “Wh…What other spells can you do?” Hoof asked, finally shaking off his amazement. “That’s actually all I can do.” The lavender maned alicorn sighed. “Just teleportation and telekinesis.” ‘Just’ those? What more do you want, invisibility and force fields? “Why didn’t we go straight to the tower?” Lemon asked, looking up in the direction of the tower, which was a tall blur to me. “The guards tend to get twitchy when ponies suddenly appear at the front door out of nowhere.” Brass explained. “Well, let’s get going.” Colt said eagerly while trotting forwards. “I’ve never been inside Tenpony before!” “And you’re never going to.” Hoof said stepping in front of the young raider. “You and Lemon will have to wait outside.” “Why?” Zest asked. “Afraid we’ll embarrass you in front of all your swanky friends?” Colt teased. Hoof just rolled his eyes. “The number one rule in Tenpony is that slavers and raiders are not allowed. I could be executed just for associating with you two.” “What are you talking about?” Star Mane asked, looking back and forth between Hoof and the two mares. Hoof sighed resignedly. “Lemon is a slaver, and Colt is a…” Colt’s horn glowed softly as she drew Mulberry out of its holster just enough to catch the merchant’s attention. “Colt is her slave.” Hoof quickly corrected. Brass, Star, and Celly turned to look at Zest and Colt in surprise. “Is this true?” Brass asked Zest. The yellow pegasus nodded happily, blissfully unaware of the negative connotation that the title carried. “But you two don’t seem like either slave or master” Star said confused. “It’s complicated.” Colt said with a wave of her hoof. “It would take too long to tell the whole story.” “Well that explains the whole ‘Mistress Zest’ thing.” Celly said casually. “I thought it was some kinds of kinky fetish thing between you two.” The blue unicorn almost went violet from blushing at that comment, while Zest had her usual ‘amnesiac stable dweller’ look of incomprehension on her face. Brass turned to Celly. “If it’s ok with you, I think Star and I should wait outside also. I don’t like the idea of leaving two mares, regardless of their puzzling relationship, alone in the streets of Manehattan.” Zest’s eyes lit up at the mention of Brass choosing to stay outside to protect her. “That’s a good idea.” Celly said with a nod. “I should only need Hoof with me to find out what I can about Twilight Sparkle here.” “That’s rather chivalrous of you.” Star whispered to Brass. “You sure you’re not just trying to avoid a certain maître d'?” “That has nothing to do with it!” Brass blushed. “And how was I supposed to know he would take that offer seriously?” “That works out well.” Second Hoof said as he trotted down the block towards Tenpony Tower, the other following close behind. “This way it’s less likely that certain pegasi will blow up another building while waiting.” “That was just one time!” Lemon protested while Brass gave her and inquiring look. “It’s another longer story…” She added with an embarrassed blush to the bald earth pony. As the group came close to the tower, the lower levels came into focus. I wish that I could see past this sphere of visibility. Omnidirectional sight is neat and all, but the range isn’t nearly far enough to take in the great scope of Tenpony Tower. I can’t even see the monorail entrance that I entered by the last time I was here. At least staying out here with Lemon means that I don’t have to listen omnidirectionally to the stuck up ponies living there… Second and Celly approached the large metal doors that were set into the high concrete walls surrounding the base of the tower while the others stayed a ways back. Hoof stood by a wall mounted intercom and pressed the intercom’s send button with his magic. “Hey Draw, let me in.” Hoof said casually at the metal box. “Well look who finally turned up.” A stallion’s voice came from the speaker. “The higher ups have been looking all over for you after that little disappearing act. I had caps down that the sprites got you. You might wish they had, with all the trouble that you’re in…” Hoof looked confused hearing this. “What are you talking about, Draw Bridge?” “I was told not to tell you anything, so not to ‘colour your testimony’ as they said.” The staticy voice replied with a laugh. “But just to tell you to report in if you ever show up.” “I was on my way to see them anyways, so open the door.” Hoof said with a roll of his eyes. “I have somepony here that needs to speak with them.” There was a small mechanical whir that brought to my attention a security camera that was mounted high up on the wall. “Oh? You got a little one with you?” The voice said jokingly. “I didn’t know it was ‘bring your illegitimate daughter to work day’. Did you knock up some Arbu hick and... What the heck is she?!” I guess the stallion on the other end of the intercom just noticed that Celly had both wings and a horn. “As you can see…” Hoof said, sounding like his patience with the door guard was growing thin. “The higher ups will be equally interested in meeting with my friend. So open this stupid door already.” These ‘higher up’ that they keep referring to sound kind of suspicions. I thought Tenpony ran the tower. Has there been some kind of change of management in the years since I was last here and now it’s run by a group? There was a huge creaking noise as the large metal door slowly swung open. As Hoof began trotting through, Celly turned to Star Mane and Brass Tacks. “This might take a while, but stick close in case this winds up like Salt Cube City and we have to get out quick.” Brass let out a dry whinny once the small alicorn disappeared behind the metal door. “That could be fun actually.” Star Mane looked at his bald companion incredulously. “You and I remember Salt Cube very differently.” The skinny unicorn then turned to Colt. “Since we have plenty of time and are not going anywhere, how about you elaborate on just how you are a Ms. Zest’s slave…” “Yes.” Brass Tacks nodded. “I’m rather curious about that myself.” “Oh! Let me tell it Colt!” Lemon said eagerly. It was clear that she was excited that Brass was showing an interest in something concerning her. Colt gave a shrug and gestured for the pegasus to proceed. “Well, going as far back as I can remember,” Zest started, addressing Brass Tacks more than his tall companion. “Which is just over a week ago…” ~~~***~~~ “It just doesn’t make financial sense!” Star Mane protested. “Why would a slaver spend so many caps on a single slave when they can get dozens for the same price? This Zebra of yours would never make any caps.” Lemon had long since finished telling Brass and Star about her adventures with Second leading up to her receiving Colt as a thank you gift from Colourful Zebra. The past hour mostly consisted of Star Mane debating with Colt the validity of Zebra’s business model. “It’s not meant to be a way to make caps, it’s meant to be a way to help everyone involved!” Colt retorted. “Money is only involved when the problem at hoof is about money. Normally it’s a straight up exchange of freedom for whatever may resolve the client’s problem. Also, the slavers that C.Z. deals with are reasonable enough to realize that one loyal and specially talented slave is worth more than dozens of rebellious drones.” “That’s all well and good in theory, but who’s to say what happens once the slave is bought?” Star said with a wave of his hoof. “A slaver could say that they would treat the slave right, but then turn around and beat them, or the slave could turn and kill the slaver.” Colt waved her own hoof, mimicking the stallion’s gesture. “Over the years, C.Z. has built up an extensive information network through his former clients, both slaves and slavers. So beyond the obvious background check that he performs on every potential slave and slaver, he has ways of finding just about anything there is about them. Also, he has ways I don’t even know about of keeping tabs on clients, maybe even magically. Heck, he could be checking in on me and Mistress right now for all I know.” I have to admit, the points that both sides were bringing up were much better thought out than the rather one sided discussion that Hoof had with Colourful. To be fair, Hoof was rather dumbfounded at the time, and Colourful was using every ounce of his charisma to sway the conversation. This debate was still duller to listen to than dirt to listen to though… Brass was staying well out of the conversation and keeping himself busy with his radiation mapping notes. “Ooooh, mysterious and magical zebra powers of observation.” Star Mane said dramatically as he waved his fore hooves about. Heh, I think Colourful would like this stallion; he doesn’t put too much stock in zebra mysticism. “Does that mean there’s never been a case where things go pear shaped and a slaver mistreats a slave, or vice versa?” Colt deflated a little. “There have been some bad situations. The wasteland never goes easy on someone trying to do good. C.Z. doesn’t like to talk about those times, he just keeps trying to help others.” “You almost turned into one of those bad situations.” Star Mane pointed out. “You were nearly dead when we found you.” “Hey, that’s completely different!” Colt slammed her hoof against the broken asphalt road. “The wasteland is a dangerous place and C.Z. can’t protect his clients from every hazard out there.” The young mare looked over to Lemon, who was happily watching Brass work. “Besides, my contract is to help Mistress Zest. So if I have to take a bullet to do that, then that’s what I’ll do!” “Which begs the question, why are you even a slave in the first place?” The dark unicorn asked pointedly. Colt face hoofed, her patience clearly wearing thin. “Didn’t we just go over all this?!” Star shook his head. “I mean, what were you doing in Zebra’s stock to begin with? What problem did you have that only selling your freedom could solve?” The young mare’s eyes went dark. “That’s none of your business.” Colt clearly wasn’t about to tell Star and Brass about going to Colourful for protection due to her talent. “Well it must have been somepony’s business.” Star pressed on. “Didn’t you have any friends or family to turn to instead of selling yourself off?” I wondered that too. Couldn’t the Sinister Plot protect her? “No…” Colt said quietly, lowering her head. Star’s tone softened at this. “I’m sorry. Far too many foals in the wasteland are orphans…” He then asked with a sigh. “What happened to your family?” Colt shot a look at Brass that was so cold it could have given him frostbite if he was looking her way. “Cleaners.” The bald stallion stopped his work and lowered his head. All the ponies present went quiet. What? Colt said that her parents died of a plague, and her brother of rad-scorpions. Did she mean- “Umm, what are Cleaners?” Zest naive question suddenly broke the silence. “I’ve heard them mentioned before, but nopony ever said who or what they were. Are they like a raider clan or something?” Now there was an understatement… “Cleaners are the most evil, merciless, and horrible raider clan in all of Equestria.” Colt explained, every word dripping with pure hatred. “They don’t raid for caps, or food, or chems, or weapons. They raid only to kill, and they kill in horrible ways…” Colt took a breath. This was clearly painful for her to talk about. Then again, Cleaners were hard for almost anypony to talk about. Fancy kissing Discord was preferable to even thinking about the horrors those monsters commit. “They don’t use guns or knives.” Colt pressed on. “They use chlorine gas bombs that burn out your insides, and weapons that spew pressurized boiling bleach that can melt a pony to the bone. They kill thousands this way while protected head to hoof in yellow hazmat suits with tinted face plates.” “They act like monsters, but some of my… family, managed to kill a few of them.” Colt clearly was using ‘family’ to refer to her tribe. Killing even a single Cleaner was an impressive task for a group of raiders. “Under those horrid plastic suits, they are just ponies. Dead they look like anypony else, except…” Colt looked straight into Brass’ eyes. “They are all completely bald.” Woah… I didn’t even know that. I’ve never even heard of anypony seeing a Cleaner without their suits. No wonder Colt though Brass as a Cleaner. But he couldn’t be… “You’re wrong about one thing…” Brass said with a sigh. “The Cleaners are not a raider clan. They’re a fanatical religious cult." Every eye was now on the stocky bald pony as he spoke. "They are obsessed with the idea of cleanness and purity. This extends to every facet of their lives, from the freakishly clean bases they live in to the bloodless way they kill. They believe that the war and all that is wrong with the world is the result of pegasus, unicorns, and even zebras corrupting the ‘pure race’ of earth ponies. So they see it as their mission to ‘cleanse’ equestrian from all ‘unclean’ races, creatures, beliefs, and even thoughts.” “You sure know a lot about Cleaners for not being one of them…” Colt said coldly. I could see that every muscle in her small frame was tensing. “They indoctrinate their foals from birth with these beliefs.” Brass continued. “This continues until the foal gets their cutie mark. Then, once the elders decide how best to use the foals special talent, the foal goes through a ritual bath of magic chemicals that burn off all their hair permanently. This even strips them of their cutie mark, what makes them special.” “They are then expected to unquestioningly follow the codes of the Cleaners.” Brass went on as Star Mane trotted over to his side. “To hate all that they were told to hate, to believe only what they were told to believe, to only love…” The stout earth pony’s voice broke with sadness at the word. Star Mane placed a comforting hoof over his shoulders. “… How they told you to love.” Oh, so that’s how it is… Brass then looked straight at Lemon. “I think you can understand what it’s like to be in a place where you’re not allowed to be different, and the great lengths somepony would go to get out of that situation.” Zest nodded silently as tears started to well up in her eyes. The bald pony then looked to Colt. “I am deeply sorry for what happened to your family, and I share your hatred of the Cleaners.” He lowered his head. “They took everything from me too…” The tension in Colt’s body began to relax as she let out a sigh. “Whatever. Everypony that’s not a Cleaner hates the Clea-” A sudden flash of golden light cut her short. The moment Celly teleported in, she turned to Zest. “Lemon, I need a really big fav- HEY!” The tip of Mulberry bounced harmlessly off the little filly’s invulnerable eye. “Don’t just appear without warning like that!” Colt yelled, looking startled with her mane standing on end. I wonder if Colt took into account Celly’s invulnerability when she threw her knife at the filly’s face, or was it just on reflex… “What? Oh, sorry.” Celly finally looked around at the other serious faced ponies. “Umm, did I interrupt something?” Brass Tacks shook his head and gave a mirthless smirk. “Not really, just story time. What did you want Cell?” “Oh, right!” The little alicorn turned back to Lemon. “I need a really huge favour from you. Can I please have your soup talisman?” “My soup stone?” Zest looked puzzled. “Why do you need it?” “There’s this shadowy group of ponies that named themselves after Twilight Sparkle and they may finally be the ones that could answer who I am and where I came from, but they are too busy to deal with a food shortage due to a parasprite infestation to help me, so I figured that if I gave them your soup talisman help their food problem then they will give me information on who I am in exchange, that’s why I really really need your talisman since it would not only help me but all the ponies in the tower!” Wow. “How can she talk like that?” Colt whispered to Star Mane. “She doesn’t need to breathe.” The unicorn answered with a shrug. Wait. How can you talk without breathing? Then again, how does an immortal and invulnerable all powerful alicorn filly exist in the first place? “I don’t know…” Lemon said uncertainly. “My soup stone is our main food source…” “I’ve got tons of caps, I can get you all the food you’ll ever need!” Celly beseeched. “Then why not just by food for all the ponies in the tower?” Colt spoke up. “Their problem isn’t a matter of caps, all the ponies in the tower are rich, it’s getting enough food quick enough to feed all of them.” Celly explained to Colt. “I could teleport anywhere right now and get week of provisions for your group, but nowhere has enough food for sale to last all of Tenpony for a week. They need a quick fix as they establish trade routes all over Equestria.” Dangit! If I was still alive I could really help these ponies out. I know all the outposts and towns that could help supply them. Within a week they could be getting food in and it would really help the economy of half of Equestria! “Please Lemon, this is really important to me.” Celly begged with big puppy dog eyes. I’d probably be having a heart attack right now from the cuteness if I still had a heart. “I’ll do anything for it!” The yellow pegasus sat and thought for a moment, then Brass Tacks trotted up beside her and whispered in her ear. Instead of her normal freak out when somepony was so close, Zest just blushed hotly at the proximity. “Sorry, could you repeat that?” Lemon said dazedly to the bald stallion. The mercenary leaned closer and whispered directly into the mare’s ear. Zest’s front hooves curled a little as a blissful expression crossed her face. “Didn’t quite catch that…” She said sheepishly. Oh come on! The stable pony sighed as Brass looked down at her incredulously. “Right… I think I got it, and it’s a wonderful idea!” Zest turned back to Celly. “I’ll give you my soup stone on three conditions. First, you’ll have to provide us with food like you offered.” “Sure thing! I know all the best markets in Equestria.” Celly nodded eagerly. “Second…” Lemon continued. “Colt really needs some armor. Something light, so she can move fast, but still bulletproof.” “Oh Mistress, you don’t need to do that.” Colt protested. “It’s been only a day since I got you and you already nearly died once. I don’t want to lose you again so soon.” Colt smiled happily at hearing this. It was a good idea. Having the only real fighter in your party practically naked didn’t make much sense. “No problem.” Celly agreed. “There are several shops in Tenpony that sell and enhance barding, I’ll get her the best I can find. What’s the third condition?” Zest looked away a little embarrassed. “Flying lessons.” Celly looked puzzled. “What?” The yellow pegasus sighed. “I don’t know how to fly. I only learned a few days ago what my wings were. I would really like to learn how though, and you’re the only pony I know that can fly.” Zest’s voice then turned a little sad. “Using my wings to fly would make me special, and not just… different.” “I’m not sure how good of a teacher I would be, half the time I just self-levitate.” The little alicorn shrugged. “It would take a while, and you might wind up more Fluttershy than Rainbow Dash, but I guess I can teach you the basics.” Lemon let out a happy little squee and jumped in the air, spreading her wings out. She seemed to take a little longer than normal to come back down. Maybe she really can learn to fly. “It’s a deal!” Before Zest cold even take the soup talisman from her saddle bags, Celly levitated it out and floated it over to herself. “Thank you so much!” Celly said gratefully before teleporting away again. “Well.” Star Mane said with a shrug. “Looks like it’s back to waiting.” ~~~***~~~ The hours waiting passed slowly and quietly. Between the played out debate on C.Z’s slavery and Brass Tacks’ lesson on Cleaners, it seemed that nopony was in much of a mood for talking any more. Only thing that broke the silence was when Second came down to tell everypony that it may be a while longer and asked if anypony wanted something to read while waiting. I think Hoof was more just making sure that Zest and Colt weren’t getting into trouble or doing anything that may embarrass him. Eventually Colt trotted over to where Brass Tacks was doing calculations on his maps while Lemon was making… something, with flat scraps of metal nearby. “Hey Brass. There’s just one more thing I was wondering about.” “A sextant.” The bald pony said bluntly. “My cutie mark was a sextant.” The yellow pegasus’ ears shot up and her eyes went wide on hearing this. The piece of metal she was working with dropped from her now gaping mouth as she blushed bright red. “It’s a navigational tool.” Brass quickly explained when he saw this reaction. “My special talent is navigation. It’s how I know exactly where to mark on my map wherever Celly teleports us.” “Oh.” Zest’s expression changed to embarrassment. “That makes loads more sense.” “What? Did you think that it was a tent for sex?” Colt teased her mistress. Lemon quickly went back to her metal work without answering, her face still red. “Actually, that wasn’t what I was wondering about at all.” Colt said to Brass after a chuckle. “I was more wondering that was the story behind that.” The young raider pointed a hoof at the shackle on the stallion’s left foreleg. “Were you are slave too once?” Brass looked down at the shackle. “No, I was never a slave. This comes from my time I was a guest of Dif, the self-appointed Warden at Shattered Hoof prison.” “I didn’t know that there was a prison still operational in the waste land.” Colt said in surprise. “What was your crime?” “Dif reopened the prison himself and ran it with a bunch of like minded ponies. Their goal was to incarcerate the scum of the wasteland and force them into labour to repay their debt to Equestria. It sounds noble on the surface, but in practice they were not much more that raiders who captured and tortured other raiders. As for my crime?” Brass let out a sigh. “It was just being alive…” “Dif mistook you for a Cleaner too.” Colt said, putting the pieces together. “Yeah.” The bald pony gave a small smile. I guess he caught Colt’s subtle acceptance of who he was. “Although he should have realized his mistake when I didn’t automatically try to kill myself for being confined to such an ‘unclean’ place. The ironic part was that Dif found me just as I was going to collect the bounty on The Sand Spider. He let one of the most notorious raider leaders go free, thinking he was a harmless ghoul, and imprisoned me.” “Ha!” Colt let out a sharp whinny of laughter on hearing about her chief’s narrow escape, and then quickly put her hooves to her mouth. “Sorry. I, uh, just really like irony.” Brass gave her an odd look before continuing with this story. “I was stuck in that prison for nearly three years, until a certain tall dark stranger made a delivery.” “Star Mane.” Colt guessed. “The one and only.” The purple unicorn said as he trotted over and joined the conversation. “From the moment I walked across the prison yard, Brass couldn’t keep his eyes off my package.” Colt lifted an eyebrow. “The package he was delivering contained high yield magical explosives.” Brass explained with a blush. “Dif worked his prisoners by forcing them to mine for gemstones, and he was planning to blast his way to a new vein. I had different plans for it though.” “So, while I was making the delivery, this short bald prisoner tries to get my attention.” Star continued the story with a smile. “Out of curiosity, I excused myself to use the washroom after Dif signed off for the explosives and I doubled back to the courtyard. After a bit of talking, Brass asked me to help him steal the explosives and escape in exchange for disarming the bomb on my Block-ring.” “Most ponies specialize in a particular weapon in order to survive the wasteland, but since I’ve never cared much for guns I spent my time studying explosives.” Brass explained modestly. “By the time I was imprisoned, I’d gotten rather proficient with them. Although, I’ve never thought to wire four balefire eggs to a proximity mine before.” He gave a smile to Lemon, who blushed nearly from mane to hoof. “Proficient is an understatement!” Star Mane rolled his eyes at Brass’ modesty. “He not only safely removed the bomb from the ring, a feat that nopony else could do, but then used the explosive in it to blast the chain that shackled him to the courtyard. With my magic finally back, I was fast enough to steal the explosives that I delivered and then Brass blasted our way through the prison wall even before Dif knew what happened.” “But now that you’re free, why keep that shackle on?” Zest asked. I’m starting to suspect the real reason behind that, and why- My train of thought and Brass’ response was cut short by the screeching of the huge metal doors were set in the tower’s outer wall. Second Hoof trotted out carrying several books in his telekinesis. “Celly’s going to be busy for a while longer, getting the information she wants is proving to be… tricky.” The dark olive unicorn said with a resigned shake of his head. “I’ve got the books you asked for.” Hoof floated out from the rest of the stack a large brown book and deposited it on the pavement at Lemon’s hooves. “But I didn’t ask for a book.” Zest said as she looked curiously at the golden unicorn profile embossed on the cover and then flipping it open. “I know, but I figured that it could help you.” Hoof said with a smile. “The Elements of Harmony: Extended Edition tells the history of Equestria, starting from the first Hearth's Warming Eve up until just before the war. It’s all in simple to follow stories that even an elementary school foal could read.” I know you’re really big on history Hoof, and it’s nice that you want to educated Zest and all, but isn’t giving her a foal’s story book a little insulting of her intelligence? She may be ignorant due to her lack of memory, but she’s not some simple minded- “It has pictures of the princesses!” Lemon squeed with foalish delight as she flipped through the pages. Nevermind… Hoof then floated out a small, heavily dog-eared, soft cover book to Brass. “I found a copy of that Advanced Arcano-Magic Calculations & Rules of Hoof you asked for. It looks like it was Twilight Sparkles’ personal copy, since there are a lot of hoof-notes in the margins and even some corrections.” The bald earth pony’s eyes went wide as he flipped through the pages. “This is incredible! With these equations I could get my narrow my magical radiation map down to the meter. There’s even some calculations that could help maximize the accuracy of my explosives!” Colt rolled her eyes and snickered at Brass’ excitement. “You are such an egghead, getting so worked up over a-” The young raider stopped mid-sentence when Hoof floated the stack of remaining books over to her. “ERMAHGERDERS! FERL GERLERP TRERG!” Star Mane let out a laugh. “What were you saying? Egghead.” Colt quickly composed herself. “The Full Gallop Triage series isn’t some egghead book of numbers. They’re about the incredible lives of the brave mares and stallions of Gallop Hospital.” Colt floated up the books in her magic and started to look over the covers as she excitedly spoke. “Each volume focuses on a different professional at the hospital, from chief surgeon Doctor Stable too…” Colt let out a gasp as she looked at one cover. “The lost volume featuring the zebra nurse Muuguzi?! This was banned by the Ministry of Image, how did you get it?” “I just took all the ones from the series you asked for.” Second shrugged. “Twilight Sparkle had a surprisingly large collection of books for young ponies. There must have been three copies of every Daring Do book.” Colt quickly flipped through with her magic the book with a cute zebra in a nurse’s uniform on the cover. “This is the coolest thing ever! Thanks so much Second, I promise never to try and kill you again!” “Gee, thanks.” Hoof said dryly. “I don’t suppose that you’ve picked up any healing spells from reading those books?” Star Mane inquired of Colt. “That kind of thing is outside of my spell set, and a healer pony would really be helpful while travelling.” Uh oh. Getting a little too close to the mark there. Colt looked around evasively, scrunching her muzzle up. “Uhh… nope. Sorry. These stories are more about the lives of the doctors and nurses, not really the technical side. All I know is some basic first aid from taking care of… my brothers.” Hoof turned to Star Mane. “You sure you don’t want a book to read too? It may be a while still before Celly is done.” I wonder if he was asking more to divert the conversation away from Colt’s ‘family’… “I’m not really the reading sort.” The messenger pony said with a wave of his hoof. “And I doubt that Ms. Sparkle kept issues of the kind of literature I would be interested in.” Brass glared at Star. “I’m just kidding!” the purple unicorn grinned at Brass. “Ok…” Hoof said awkwardly. “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll be getting back to-“ “Where is Canterlot?” Zest asked suddenly. All the other ponies turned to stare at the pegasus mare. “Wh…Why are you asking about Canterlot?” Hoof stammered. Only safe reason to ask about the location of Canterlot, is so you can get as far from it as possible! Given Zest’s knack for trouble… This can’t be good. “Well, several of the stories in this book make reference to the titular ‘Elements of Harmony’, and the most recent ones place them within Canterlot.” Lemon explained. “I would really like to see them for myself. I don’t know why, but I feel that I have a strong connection to them.” “What are the Elements of Harmony?” Colt asked. “They’re powerful magical relics that saved Equestria many times in the past.” Hoof explained. “Well, more accurately, they appear to be a complex spell matrix which harnesses the magic of five bearers to amplify the magical abilities of a sixth bearer by several orders of magnitude.” Lemon clarified. What? The other ponies blinked in surprise. “At least… that’s what I gathered from reading all these stories about them.” Zest said uncertainly. “The stories are rather simplified, so I had to read between the lines for the subtext. The only problem with my guess is that two thirds of the former bearers were not unicorns, so they wouldn’t have any magic.” “Ok…” Second raised his forehooves. “First off, you read that whole book already?” “Well… yeah. Some parts several times. The stories are very simply written like you said.” The yellow mare looked confused. “Why? Was that fast?” That book is bigger than Celly! You read the entire history of Equestria, even if it is made for foals, in a few minutes? “A little.” Hoof said sheepishly. I bet she reads a lot faster than you, history pony! “Secondly…” Hoof continued. “Earth ponies and pegasus have their own kind of magic associated with their special talent. It’s just passive, not active like a unicorns.” Yeah, a unicorn’s use of magic is cheating! “Hmm…” The white maned pegasus considered this. “And third… WE ARE NOT GOING TO CANTERLOT!” Second stomped both his front hooves for emphasis. “That place is a toxic death trap of noxious pink smoke that kills anypony that goes near it!” “Well if you won’t go then I’ll just go with Colt.” Zest said stubbornly. “I don’t understand it, but I just really feel that I need to see the elements up close.” Colt went pale at this idea. I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t be caught dead in Canterlot and I’m already dead! “Please Lemon, listen to your friend.” Brass pleaded in a calming voice. “Canterlot is one of the deadliest places in all of Equestria. Even Celly hasn’t ever ventured into that pink cloud before.” Lemon looked into Brass’ orange eyes and then sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know if the elements are even still in Canterlot, let alone-” There was a golden flash and Celly suddenly appear before the other ponies. “I’ve finally got a solid lead on my past, and you’ll never guess where we’re off to next!” The little alicorn said excitedly. Second face hoofed. “Canterlot?” “Nope! It’s Canter… Wait, how did you know?” “Because the universe hates me.” I’m starting to think you’re right, Hoof. “Oh come on.” Celly said dismissively. “After 100 years can it really still be as deadly as some ponies claim? At least Lemon seems excited!” ----- This fan-fic is just part of a larger story... -Hear another side of the larger narrative with Fallout Equestria: Sounds -See the bigger picture, take a look at Fallout Equestria: Sights. -Follow the progress of all three tales at the Sights Sounds Souls Tumblr (and ask Colt questions). -Track all the parts in one place at the Project Hub! Author note: This story is back! After a minor bout of depression prevented me from writing for a month, I finally finished this chapter. I'm sorry for making everyone who is following this insane tale wait so long for this part. It's not even a part worth waiting for, just lots of talking. ^^; The next chapter should be more fun! :) Huge thanks to all my editors! My Souls editors Nyerguds and Hidden_Fortune, without whom this fic would be 20% lamer. My Sights editor Julep, who keeps all the pictures nice and derp free! My Sounds editor No One, whose constant encouragement is what got this insanity off the ground to begin with (and for making FoE: Heroes the best Fallout Equestria side fic ever)! And super thanks to Kkat for making this wild wasteland we all play in!