//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Mane Cuts and Pizza. // Story: Fallout Equestria: Tales of a Courier Reloaded // by a friendly hobo //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Mane cuts and pizza. “Oops...” Hark! What doth blast on mine eyes so fair! My face scrunched up tight as one of my eyes cracked open. A heavenly light was peeking through the lush white curtains on the other side of a very nice room. My eye rolled around, checking it out. White walls, lavish green carpets, polished wooden furniture... everything screamed fancy. If I was feeling like getting out of this soft, warm, cozy bed, I’d have explored or at least closed the curtain. Nah, too much effort. I yawned and rolled over, the bed morphing to my back perfectly, maximising comfort. This was the best, hooves down. A soft bed, posh room, the whole nine yards. No questions asked. That was, until I found myself muzzle deep in mane. My mane wasn’t that long, sure it was shaggy, but not long enough to... and it sure as hell wasn’t brown! My whole body jerked in surprise, causing me to get tangled in the sheets as I fell from the bed. The world around me spun, corrected by copious amounts of blinking. “What the hell?!” I grumbled, managing to untangle myself from the sheets, I peered slowly over the side of the bed. There, laying before me, was a beige mare with a long, beautiful brown mane. Her curvaceous body ending with a beautiful flank that made my jaw drop every time I saw it. The distinctive black ace of spades on her flank just confirmed it. That was Ace alright. The mare I could only dream about being with. My best friend in this entire wasteland. And we fucked. I felt faint, my stomach jumped into a tight little knot. Something bad was going to happen. Just the thought of Ace... and me... I got up and sprinted into the open bathroom, finding the toilet I opened it up and promptly evacuated my stomach of its contents. I washed my mouth and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked... good! Well-rested, and handsome as... never, but still average enough to pass as looking good. Except for the patchy beard starting to grow... I wish I could get a proper beard! My mind snapped back to the matter at hoof. Ace was in my bed, and I had no clue what to do. The most obvious line of logic would be to sneak out, right? Right! Sneak out. Peeking my head around the door, I saw Ace in the bed. Although, instead of curled up like before, she was sprawled out and snoring with her... that on show. I almost fainted from shock  I managed to keep my wits about me and grabbed my armour, and coat. Both of which had been scattered amongst armoured socks and empty whiskey bottle. Ace’s clothes were scattered everywhere. Her leather jacket was at the foot of the bed, her armoured socks were scattered along the floor, and one of the bed posts had... a pair of frilly pink underwear dangling from it... I looked away, sweating, and quickly got dressed. The riot gear felt weird against me though. Looking down, I saw two dark brown patches, probably whiskey, and... bite marks? I looked over at the mare. How did she... Not wanting to even think about it, and risk my head exploding, I put on my coat and practically ran out of the room while trying to make as little noise as possible. The door gave a tiny click as it shut, but to me it sounded like the thirty-seven drums of hell pounding in a tiny room. I watched the door as I backed slowly away. Nothing happened. I broke out into a sprint and zoomed down the hallway, almost knocking over a mare in a small black and white frilly dress with a feather duster in her mouth. “Sorry!” I yelled over my shoulder zipping to the elevator. I hammered the lobby button, looking frantically from the button pad and down the hall. I breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed. A deep chuckling bellowed behind me, making me yipe in surprise.  An old light blue stallion with a greying black mane, wearing a nice suit was standing there, a small smile cracked his weathered face. “Walk of shame?” he chuckled. I had no clue what to say. I slept with my best friend, so maybe. But then again, I’d been obsessing over how fucking hot she is ever since we met. Was this just a drunken fling? Did she want to use me? No, Ace wouldn’t do that, considering what’s going on with me... would she? “Hello? Wakey, wakey!” the old stallion said with a smile. “I know that look. No clue as to what you did, who you did, and what to do. I’ve been there before.” He laughed deeply and patted my back. “It’ll be alright kid.” “But... I know who it was...” I squeaked, watching the numbers slowly count down with each passing floor. “Its just that... well... she’s kind of my best friend...” My face burned in embarrassment. The older stallion stopped laughing and winced. “Oh... I see.” The doors opened and he took the lead. “My advice? Take a walk. Think about it. Then talk. Who knows?” He turned around when I left the elevator and smiled. “You might even earn a marefriend from it.” “That...” I said, thinking it over, “might be good...” “Then again, you could lose her.” Well that blows. “Let’s, uh... let’s hope for the former...” I muttered. The old stallion chuckled. “Yeah. Anyway, I gotta head off.” He offered his hoof. “It was nice meeting you, Mr...” “Clover,” I said, shaking his hoof. “And you are?” “Professor Spring Flowers,”  the stallion said with a smile. He started for the main door. “I’ll see you around.” He left, leaving me alone in the lobby. Well, not alone. A few ponies milled about the huge room, some at the desks, and a few headed through a large double door marked ‘Bar’. Drinking this early? Sounds like home... The lobby was just as fancy, if not fancier, than my room. It was clean, with red carpets, and the front wall was made of glass with a revolving door in the middle. Along one wall was a long counter with lamps and a few terminals, three ponies were behind it helping customers. The middle of the room was taken up by a few coffee tables and couches. It was all rather cozy. What to do? There was nothing I could do, other than take the elder stallion’s advice and think, but thinking about it got me all hot under the collar. It looked nice out, so might as well get some fresh air. “Well well, if it ain’t lover boy,” a massive white pony in a large red, double-breasted coat said, grinning. He wore black boots with a red cap, a small brass anvil in the middle, matched the brass buttons on his coat. A large pistol sat in its holster. “Um...” I squeaked, looking up at the huge pony. “What?” My face was starting to burn hotter. “You and your little friend,” the stallion, who I assumed was the hotel guard, said. “Almost had to pry you two apart with a crowbar to stop you going at it right in the lobby!” He let out a hearty laugh, making me go even more red. “Uh... um....eh...um...” I bolted out of the revolving door and out into the street. Even outside I could hear his laugh. Why did he have to laugh at my discomfort? I hate it when ponies do that. Belittle me and such. Bastards. Taking refuge on one of the old benches that lined the long cobblestone streets, I took some time to clear my head and take in my surroundings. The buildings in Iron City seemed really well maintained. The street I was on looked like it was built more for pedestrians than stuff like the tank we had ridden in on. Each building looked alike but still held a distinguishing feature. All had metal frames, paneled with wood in some spots, concrete or bricks for the walls, and intact glass in the windows. It was picturesque, honestly. What astounded me though was the level of maintenance in each building. “Neat, huh?” I jumped about forty feet in the air and clutched at my chest, thinking I just had a heart attack. I turned in my seat to see Lollipop, grinning wolfishly at me. “The buildings, I mean. Pretty cool.” I gulped down the urge to scream and took a deep breath. “Don’t do that...” I muttered, straightening myself out. “Y-yes... they are... n-neat.” Lollipop leaned back on the bench, draping her forehooves along the backrest. “Been awhile since I came here. Couple of months maybe? Think the first time I was here was a week after I came east.” “East?” I asked. “Oh right, you were Fed army, weren’t you?” I sat back slowly, still looking at the buildings. My heart still racing in my chest from the scare. The lime green unicorn nodded slowly with a sigh. “Yeah... I was. Got discharged,” she muttered. She shifted and scratched her chin with a hoof. Her foreleg had intricate black tattoos and her coat was shaved in pretty patterns. Well, not pretty, more primal. I was really tempted to shy away from her just looking at them. Unfortunately for me, she caught me looking. “Admiring my designs?” she asked in a chipper tone, her grin being swapped with a small, sweet, smile. Weird. “I got them on my first visit here. Would you believe I used to have a long, flowing mane?” she asked with a giggle, running a hoof through her mohawk. That creeped me out. Going from grinning like a looney, to a sweet little mare? Then again, with those tats and shavings, there was no way she was sane. Then again, who was? I had Trailblaze in my head, fucking with me every opportunity he gets. Tallie seems to have had a tormented past, one I can grasp straws at but I didn’t know her well enough to be sure. As for Ace... well, she slept with me. She’s nuts. “Well, I did,” Lollipop said as I shook my head. “Changed my mane when I changed my life.” She stood up and stretched. She was wearing a set of altered barding. It must have had Federation patches or markings on it, but they had long since been taken off, and the barding had been dyed. Most Fed barding was khaki or beige but hers was a dark brown. It seemed altered to look more tribal too. The only thing I could really recognise was the medic insignia. “Why were you discharged?” I asked, absentmindedly patting my own riot armour barding. Where did this armour come from? I knew the Resistance team that saved my ass had given it to me, but they never said where it came from. Oh well, not like it mattered anyway. Lollipop got a cold, dark expression on her face. “It’s... not something I like talking about.” She looked back at me, making me go rigid in slight fear. “But if you’re serious, and you don’t mind me travelling with you and your friends, you should know everything.” She sighed and took a deep breath, calming herself down. “I was a combat medic with the Federation. Short story is, I was sent into a battle with The Resistance a year ago. There were civilians around, but it was Resistance territory. Command and my COs said they were working with them. I didn’t listen. A young colt, not more than five years old, had been hit in the fighting. Shot through the leg.” She took a moment to herself, rubbing her own leg and tracing the designs in it. “His mother was hysterical. She was in the middle of a battlezone, but she couldn’t move. Her son was dying. So what do I do? I stop and help. Apparently that was a big mistake.” She looked back at me, directly in the eye. All I saw was a dark, chilling anger. “They charged me with aiding the enemy. The colt would have died if I didn’t help. I was court-martialed. Dishonorably discharged. I would have been sent to prison, but they took fucking pity on me.” “P-pity?” I asked before I could stop myself. My voice stuttered and jolted from the intense shaking. “My husband was killed the same day as that fucking battle.” “H-husband?” There I went again! I didn’t need to press any further! Lollipop’s expression of anger changed. It slowly started to soften, beginning to look more sad than anything. “He was killed in an armoury explosion. Command said it was a prewar shell sparking a chain reaction, and that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nopony would have been hurt apparently. If he’d just stayed at his post...” She looked away, thinking deeply. She was trying to hold back sorrow, I could see it. I could feel it. “It wasn’t an accident. I know the truth.” She looked back at me. “It was a bomb. I just know it was a bomb.” Husband killed by sabotage. I could believe that. War is a cruel cruel thing. Turns ponies into savages. The Resistance is no different. They still kill ponies regularly, but they did it under the banner of freedom. Killers with a cause. How about that? “I’m sorry for your loss,” I managed to squeak out, still shaking. “Losing loved ones... it’s extremely hard.” She looked me over, then sat back down. “Yeah... family member?” I nodded. “My father died about a month and a half ago. My brother about a week. First was natural, second was murder.” A lump caught in my throat, but I pushed it back down. “That’s why I’m out here. For revenge.” Lollipop looked from the ground, back to me. “Revenge, huh?” She looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked back at me. “Hope you get it.” She gave me another smile, then got back to her hooves. “Murderers need to be dealt with.” She yawned, then looked herself over. “I could use a touch up. And you a shave, it seems, Mr. Patchy.” Fuck. “Come on, I know a good barber.” “Barber... um... why not...?” I stood up beside her and scratched my chin. Fucking patchy beard... “How much would it cost?” I asked, still scratching. Itchy too. “Couple-a caps. It’ll cost me about fifty-ish. You about twenty, maybe?” She walked past me, her bright pink tail causing me to wince as it passed under the sunlight. She was just a target waiting to be shot. Why would she even need all of these changes? If they didn’t send her to prison for her bogus crime, why was she running? I wasn’t about to ask that, honestly. Might lose a few vital organs. Looking for something to change the subject, I noticed that her cutie mark was covered by her armour. Mine was covered by my duster coat, so I wasn’t going to ask about hers. She might have wanted to keep it quiet. “Think you can afford it?” she asked as I came up beside her. “You and Ace must have coughed up a fortune for those drinks.” She just had to add a snicker to the end of that. I rolled my eyes and turned to search through my saddlebag. They weren’t there, of course. I’d left them up in the room with Ace. Like hell I’m going back up there. “Whoops...” I squeaked, now staring at my flank. “Uh... well.” Lollipop laughed and patted my back. “I’ll cover for you.” She started to trot down the street. Well that was awfully nice of her, wasn’t it? Paying for a new friend’s barber fees. Admittedly, my mane and tail were getting out of hoof and a little crazy, and I could use a good shave. Might as well take the offer! “Thanks,” I said, trotting up beside her. We continued walking down the street, taking in the sights. This must have been what prewar Equestria was like.  Large buildings with cobblestone streets, the buildings made from materials that didn’t look like they were pried from ruins. It was nice. “Taken your meds today?” Lollipop asked, glancing over at me. Meds? What me- oh right! I poked into one of my pockets and pulled out a little bottle of pills. Popping the cap, I took my recommended dosage, then nodded at the medical unicorn. “Almost forgot I was sick,” I said with a smile. Lollipop blinked. The lime green unicorn looked me over a few times. “Wait, really?” she asked, raising both eyebrows. “You didn’t even notice? Not one itch?” What was so weird about it? “Uh... my throat feels better... my lungs don’t hurt much. Is that weird?” I was beginning to shake. Oh my goddesses I was going to die. My lungs were going to implode or explode, or both then repeat! Lollipop nodded and blinked again. “Weird... but great! You’re recovering extremely well!” She grinned at me, then started trotting down the street again. The professor thinks I’m okay... I guess that means I’m okay? I followed after her, listening to the clip-clop of my hooves on the cobblestones. “So where’s Tallie?” I asked, following the mare. “She stayed with you last night, didn’t she?” “Yup!” Lollipop answered, trotting ahead. “Restless sleeper. Poor thing. I took her out for some breakfast this morning. You and Ace were still asleep... together.” She snickered a little at that last bit, making me feel my stomach tighten into a knot. “Anyway, took her for some breakfast and she found that one of the local generators for the block was only half capacity. Little thing went straight to work!” “Wait, what?” I asked and scrambled around a corner after her. “What do you mean went straight to work? How does she know anything about generators?” She was joking. Had to be. Lollipop looked back. “I was hoping you’d be able to answer that. You’ve known her longer.” “For about an hour, maybe.” “Really?” “Pretty much.” “Hm,” she mused. “Odd.” She started trotting towards a building. “Anyway, lets get you cleaned up, Patches.” The sooner these patches were gone the better. Shamrock could grow a beard, why couldn’t I? He never kept his, but he could still grow one... We entered a small building in between a large market and a tourist center by the look of it. It was a typical barbershop, from the spinning blue, white, and red pole outside to the lines of barber chairs. The barber himself even had a massive, glorious moustache! “Welcome!” the unicorn stallion said in a very singsong voice. He was a lean stallion, pale yellow coat and red mane. He even had a worn barber uniform. I almost squeed. “Ah, you need a trim and a shave, Mr. Patch!” he said to me with a laugh. I blushed furiously. “And Lollipop! Welcome back! Here for a touch up?” “Yup!” Lollipop said, skipping to a chair and sitting down. “Just the usual, Scissors. Touch up to the shavings.” “Of course!” the mustachioed stallion said, levitating a pair of scissors and a shaver. He looked over at me and smiled. “Take a seat sir! I’ll be with you next. Bit short-hoofed I’m afraid. Won’t be more than ten minutes.” I did notice a lack of staff when I looked around. Lollipop and I were the only two customers at the moment. I took a seat on an old, ratty couch while the barber did his work on with Lollipop, re-shaving the shaved bits, trimming her mohawk and coat. After about the first minute, I’d gotten bored just idly drumming my hooves on my legs. Oooh, magazines. There was a neat little stack of prewar magazines on the coffee table. A wedding magazine, a teenager’s magazine, a por- nopenopenope. Oh look, a comic book! I picked it up and started reading through it. Treasure hunter apparently. Daring Do. Interesting... Minutes turned into about a half hour before the barber had finished his work. Lollipop pranced out of her seat and cantered in a circle. “Beautiful work, Scissors. As always.” She did look a lot better. Less raider-like now that she was cleaned up. Rather pretty actually. “Very nice,” I said with a smile, putting the comic down. Just as it was getting good too. Darn. The barber gestured to the seat after brushing it off with a tiny brush. “C’mon, Patchy. Let’s make you back into Handsome non-Patchy, eh?” “My name’s Clover,” I muttered as I sat down. Comfy seat at least. Might take away from the embarrassment of having a patchy face. And out came the shaving foam. “Clover, eh?” Scissors asked while he spread the shaving foam over my chin. Wasn’t the same brand my dad used to teach me with. “What is that, uh... Emerald Isles? Long way from home, kid... that’s off the coast of Federation land, ain’t it?” Touchy subject, that. “It... yeah. It’s Fed territory.” I sighed. “Never been though. Heard they hate being Feds.” “Is that so...” the barber said, pulling out a straight razor. He started to drag it across my chin. I don’t think I could be shaking more, honestly. He had a big knife thing on my chin. “Relax, kid. I’m a trained professional.” Sure... “Yeah.” I winced slightly while he shaved away some of the old patches. “I’m from the Apple Plains.” The barber stopped for a moment. “That’s on the Fed border... not as far away from home as I thought.” He continued to shave my scraggly chin for a few moments before starting on my mane. “So what brings you out to our neck of the woods?” he asked as a small clump of mane fell into my lap. “Uh...” I replied. “Well... I was a courier. So was my brother, but, uh...” I swallowed down a lump in my throat again before finishing. “My brother was murdered and the package stolen. I barely made it out alive.” With all that had been happening to me recently, my mind had managed to drift from that night. Now that I was safe and secure, it just left room for it all to come flooding back to me. My brother being tied up, beaten within an inch of his life, then shot... getting hit over the head with a shovel and buried alive... being dragged to Westwood by Snake Eyes... then all hell broke loose. Fuck this desert... “Sir?” a muffled voice asked. I blinked back into reality to see a hoof waving in my face. “Sir, are you okay?” “Yeah,” I lied. “Just... remembering...” I sighed and sat back again, realising I had shifted forward. Damn desert... “Right...” Scissors said as he went back to cutting my mane. “Nasty scar ya got there,” he remarked, looking down on my head. “Must’ve been a nasty cut, eh?” “Shovel,” I muttered. “Lost part of my skull.” An eerie silence filled the room, and I could feel the eyes of Scissors and Lollipop on me. “Shit...” Scissors said, going back to cutting. “Rough life you must lead. Ever thought about settling down? Starting a new life?” “With Ace...” Lollipop whispered and snickered. I would have shot her a death glare if I could move my head. Still had to figure out what to say to her. “And done!” Scissors announced, turning me around to face the mirror. Well well! Look at that handsome fella! I looked much better now. My mane was back to its neat, swept back, cow-lick state and my chin patches were gone. I actually looked decent for once. I could use some clean clothes, but that wasn’t my biggest concern. “Thanks, Scissors,” I said with a smile, getting up out of my chair and brushing the cuttings off of me and running my hoof through my mane. Wonderful! I turned after checking myself out in the mirror and saw Lollipop paying the stallion. I’d pay her back, that’s for sure. “Lunch?” she asked me after finishing our transaction. A fair few caps had traded hooves just now, and I wasn’t entirely sure if I could pay her back. I’d figure out a way somehow. I merely shrugged as we made our way to the door. “Got no caps, remember?” Please don’t offer to buy me lunch too... as hungry as I was, I didn’t want to owe this mare more caps! I already owed her my life! This was probably going to bite me in the ass at some point. “I do,” she said with a smug smile. She opened the door for me as I passed, nodding. The sun was lazily sitting in the sky right above us, beating us with its harsh rays. My hooves clipped and clopped as I turned and waited. “C’mon, considering what you’ve been through I think you deserve a free lunch.” I didn’t exactly deserve much. Most of the times I’d been almost killed was via my own stupidity. That’s all I was, wasn’t it? A stupid stallion. Should have just asked the Feds for my old job back instead of signing on as a courier. I’d still be in one piece, Shamrock would still be alive, and I wouldn’t have seen all of the horrors of the wastes. What if that had happened though? Sure, I would be safe and secure, but what about the others, like Tallie? She’d still be in that cave or worse. Ace would probably still be in Westwood, and Lollipop would still be in her home, maybe, and Zippo would still be in his nest. It seems the only person benefiting from me actually coming out here was the little griffin Tallie. I guess that makes it all worthwhile? Letting a child survive to live another day? Was it worth the cost of my physical and mental well-being, and the death of my brother? Best not to think of that. I don’t want to resent Tallie. She deserves better. “You deserve a free lunch too, you know. You’ve probably been through worse,” I grumbled as we passed a few Iron Defenders. Lollipop stopped to admire them... sorry, not them, their machine guns. Admittedly, they were impressive. “Maybe, but I can take it,” Lollipop replied with a laugh. “Sure, the Feds might be on my tail and smoked me out of my home, but its been like that for a few months now. You’ve gotten fucked up five ways from Friday and its only been, what? A week?” I solemnly nodded. “Just about...” a week in this hellhole, I might add. “And done!” a familiar voice squealed from just around the corner. Inside a small courtyard was a little griffin in a dark blue shirt and a set of cargo pants, pulling herself out of a large generator by the wall. Something inside me wanted to scream ‘what are you doing in there?!’ but it was buried by ‘what the hell was she up to...’ “Try it now.” An older pink mare nodded from inside an open building. She weaved around several tables and chairs and flipped a large switch on the inside wall. The generator started to hum and the lights all lit up green across the board. “Oh... oh my...” she remarked, a little amazed. She slowly smiled though, so I assume it was a good thing. Tallie pumped her fist in the air. “Hell yeah! Fixed a generator and it ain’t even lunch time!” A few ponies emerged from their homes and looked into the courtyard and blinked. “Who fixed the generator?” One of them yelled across from the other side. “I ain't had good power for months!” Tallie watched as all of the ponies emerged and blinked. She stooped down low, avoiding eye contact and tried to make herself as small as possible. Poor thing. I couldn’t help but trot over to her and block everypony’s view. “You okay?” I asked with a smile. “Oh...uh...hi Clover...” she muttered, looking up at me. I knew that look. It was a look I had made so many times before. A crippling fear of being in the spotlight. I hated it, but my brother was always there for me. She only had me and Lollipop right now. I offered my hoof and smiled. “Need a lift?” Tallie looked at it for a moment and blinked. She narrowed her eyes slightly, then raised one eyebrow. She hesitantly placed her hand on my hoof and then smiled. She climbed up my foreleg and onto my back. She still made herself small, but she didn’t seem as bothered as before. “So where’s my fireant gone, hmm?” I asked, beginning my trot over to the restaurant. Lollipop had stopped to talk to the stallion who had yelled across the yard. Tallie merely shrugged. “I went to fix the old mare’s generator and when I looked next he was gone. Just poofed.” “Wait... what do you mean just poofed?” I asked, looking back with a frown. That ant and I had been through so much together... Tallie shrugged again. “I dunno! I turn my back for one moment after breakfast and he’s just gone!” Lollipop trotted up beside us. “Warm today, isn’t it?” “Yeah, why?” Tallie said, looking for anyway to change the subject. She looked up and shielded her eyes from the hot desert sun. “More like hot.” Lollipop nodded at one of the buildings. “If I were a fire ant, an ant that’s accustomed to heat, on a hot sunny day, where would I be?” We all looked up and sure enough, there were two antennae pointing out from on top of the roof, twitching and swaying in the breeze. Hopefully nopony noticed him or there would probably be screaming and gunfire. I’d had enough of that to last fifty lifetimes. “Lunch!” Lollipop said from inside the restaurant. When did she... nevermind. She sat down at a table and waited on us with a smile. Lollipop, from what I gathered, was a fairly odd mare. Hiding her identity made sense, knowing that the Feds were after her, but something about her. Was it her wolfish grin? Her predatory stare? I just didn’t get it. One moment she looked so docile and pleasant and the next she just looked frightening. Still... she wouldn’t attack me... would she? Tallie remained quiet on my back as we approached the table. She scrambled off my back and took a seat opposite Lollipop. I took the seat next to the griffin and looked around. It was a pretty place. A few tables and chairs, but mostly empty. The specials board was in plain view over the bar counter, where an elderly mare sat, smiling. She had a long, flowing grey mane and a pretty pink coat. She must have been quite the looker in her time as she still looked quite pleasant. “So, what’re you having?” the lime-green unicorn asked, picking up a menu and looking through it. “I think I might have the... hmmm...” She rubbed her chin as she mused, looking up and down the menu. Tallie gasped. “They have nuggets!” She almost hopped in her seat. “Can I get the nuggets? Please?” I couldn’t help but blink and chuckle at her little excited display. “What kind of nuggets are they?” Tallie squinted at the menu, then looked at me. “Chicken.” She licked her beak. “I’ve only had chicken once, and it was good.” She stopped mid-lick and frowned. She planted a talon on her chin and thought for a brief moment. “Or was that radroach...?” She shrugged. “Nevermind! I want nuggets!” “And I’m having the pizza,” Lollipop announced, slamming the menu closed with a grin. “Delicious!” “Pizza?” I asked. Never heard of pizza before. “What’s that?” “Its like... a thin bread-like base, with tomato sauce, then cheese on top of that, then cooked,” the pink maned unicorn explained. “And then any toppings on that, but I like it plain.” That... did sound really, really good. “Think I could get the recipe?” Pizza is going on the list of things to cook at some point. “Sounds lovely.”  “You’re a cook?” Lollipop asked, leafing through the drinks menu again. “Didn’t have you pegged as one for the culinary arts.” She leafed through some more and smiled. “Mmm... they have Sunrise Sarsaparilla.” “Sunrise Sarsaparilla?!” Tallie squealed beside me before I could get a word in. “I love that stuff! It's the bee’s knees!” It was tough to believe she was a fourteen year old girl. “To answer your question, Lollipop, yeah, I do like to cook. Why not? It’s fun!” “Not when you burn everything you cook,” Lollipop said with a snicker. “I ain’t much of a cook. Now, what are you having so we can order?” “Oh right!” I opened my menu and looked through it. Well how about that? It was already separated into species recommendations. There was a page of recommendations for griffins, ponies, and even buffalo! Nifty. Lasagna... veggie burgers... pizza... some of these things I’d never heard of! Except for veggie burgers and the hay sandwich, of course. “Might I recommend the soup?” asked a sweet, old voice from beside me. It was the lovely old mare again. “We have a lovely vegetable soup which contains celery, carrots, peas, and some potatoes, all in a vegetable broth. Served with a fresh baked bread roll and some butter.” “I’ll have that then,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.” “No, thank you. Your business means so much to me,” the mare said with a big smile. She actually looked like she meant it. Wait, she did! How nice. “And to drink?” “Two Sunrise Sarsaparilla,” Lollipop said, then looked at me. “Aaand...” I shrugged. “Make that three.” “Coming right up,” the old mare said and trotted to the kitchen. I looked between my friends. “Nice lady.” “Yup. Owned this place for about twenty years now,” Lollipop explained. “We had a nice chat at breakfast.” “She gave me a free strip of bacon,” Tallie said, licking her beak again. “Man, today has been the best day ever. I haven’t been hurt once, I actually have a full belly, and I don’t have to run away from mean ponies or griffins!” She beamed, then looked serious. “Not that I, uh... ever had to, that is.” “That’s great,” I said and nervously patted her head. She frowned and batted my hoof away and redid her ponytail. Heh, ponytail on a griffin. That just sounds weird. It wasn’t long until the mare returned with our drinks. She set them down before us and trotted off back to the kitchen. The smells coming from that room smelled divine. A mix of tomatoes, vegetables, and a very different smell. Savoury, but somewhat yummy. I’d probably find out soon enough. “Aren’t many ponies around,” I mentioned, popping the cap of my sassparilla. “Wouldn’t they be coming in for lunch?” Well that was odd. The inside of the cap had a little rainbow apple on it. Never seen one of them before. “They would be if it was actually lunchtime,” Lollipop said after taking a swig from her drink and pocketing the cap. “We got an hour before the rush. Tallie and I appear to be early risers.” She smiled and looked at the griffin. “Rats...” Tallie cursed, looking at her cap. “Another dud.” She looked at Lollipop and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t like sleeping late. Wastes sunlight.” She glanced at me, then back to her drink, then snapped her attention back to me. “Can I see that cap?” “Sure?” I said, not entirely sure what the apple meant. I still handed it over anyway.  “Why? What’s so great about it?” Tallie’s little griffin face lit up. “No way! You got a Zap Apple cap!” I noticed... “What’s that got to do with anything?” I took a swig of my drink and blinked. That tasted good! Tallie looked at me like I was completely brain-dead. “What do you mean? It’s a Zap Apple Cap! Get fifty of these beauties and you find the way to get the Sunrise Sarsaparilla hidden treasure!” She stared at it longingly. A treasure from two-hundred years ago? Odds were that it had already been found and taken, then probably sold on for a tidy profit. Ah well, best humour the poor bird. “Oh? What kind of treasure? Where is it?” I smiled and took another swig of my drink. It really was quite tasty. Bitter, but sweet at the same time. Reminds me of Ac- nevermind, not going there. “Keep the cap if you want.” “Wow, really?!” It looked like Tallie’s grin was going to tear her beak off and run amuck. “Thanks!” She pocketed the cap and grinned some more. “Nopony knows what the treasure really is. It could be a vast sum of caps, or a solid gold... something. Something valuable for sure.” She smiled a very smug smile and looked to the kitchen, hungrily. “Sounds like a blast,” I muttered around my drink and took another swig. “So where is this treasure?” The itty-bitty half-a-kitty frowned. “That’s the hard part. They say it’s in the old bottling plant up... north I think, but it’s hidden behind a big ol’ vault door. Then there’s the security bots.” She shuddered. “From what I heard, they have big chainsaw arms and super big lazers on their backs.” Lollipop blinked and sipped her drink. “Won’t be heading there then.” Seconded. Ponies were one thing, Separatists too, but unlike robots they had some form of compassion. Hell, if the Separatists were robots, they’d have killed me before Snake Eyes could find me. “Awwww, but robots blow up just like anything else!” Tallie said with an adorable pout. She folded her little griffin arms and stared at the door. She beamed when it swung open and the little pink mare appeared with a few plates on her back. “What do you mean by blow up...?” I asked with an eyebrow raised. Sure, I’ve seen that she was decent with mechanics... maybe she could make them self-destruct? Tallie stared at the little plate on the mare’s back. It had a few little brown-battered circles amongst a plate of golden chips. That couldn’t be healthy at all. “What do you think I mean? I mean blow em sky-high with... maybe two sticks of dynamite? One to crack the casing, one to blow up its innards?” She looked up at the ceiling and her face scrunched up a little, thinking. “Of course, a matrix disruption grenade would be better but they’re pretty rare.” She beamed when her plate arrived in front of her. Lollipop’s pizza looked and smelled great. Molten cheese over beautifully made tomato sauce, smothered over a doughy, bread-like base. It was even cut up into several triangles for easy eating. Marvelous! As for my soup, it looked extremely appetizing. It was dark, creamy pea-green with a white creamy spiral leading to a few herbs poking out of the middle. I even got a free bread roll! “Well. Bon appetite,” I said after licking my lips. “Bon appe-what now?” Tallie asked, her beak already full of chips and a nugget. “Just eat, ya weirdo.” She giggled and went back to munching. “Want a slice?” Lollipop asked me with a smile. She held out a sizable slice out to me. I gulped down a mouthful of soup dipped bread and nodded. She laid it out on my bread plate and smiled. “I think you’ll like it.” I hoped so too. I picked it up and looked it over. An ingenious design, really. Who knew this combination would work out so well? Sure, I enjoyed cheese, tomatoes, and bread, but I never thought to use them together. Biting down on the end of it made me experience an explosion of new flavours to add to my palate. It was gorgeous! The richness of the cheese mixed with the creaminess of the tomato sauce, finished up with the soft doughy base, it was marvelous. I’d have to get the recipe for sure now! The rest of lunch passed pretty quickly. We were all enjoying our meals to the fullest, the silence only being broken by the smacking of lips or the occasional “Mm. S’good.” Tallie finished her meal with an almighty burp and patted her belly. I snickered at her before taking my last spoonful of soup. “Nice one,” I whispered before burping even louder than she did. The griffin stared at me for a moment then burst out laughing. “Dang, gotta beat that next time.” She patted her belly again. “That was hella-good, wasn’t i-” She was cut off by the loudest burp of them all, from Lollipop surprisingly. She held a hoof up to her mouth and giggled. “Pardon me.” She grinned as she took her lime-green hoof away. “Beat that, suckers.” “I yield victory to you, Lollipop,” I said with a chuckle and polished off my drink. “Phew... I’ll, uh... pay you back soon.” The unicorn waved her hoof. “Chill, Clover. I got it covered. Scavenging the Red Zone has saved me a bunch of caps.” She grinned and stretched out, then patted her belly. “Best meal I’ve had in awhile.” “Indeed,” Tallie said, mocking a posh accent. “Was it all alright, dearies?” the pink mare asked as she approached our table. “I do hope it was all satisfactory.” “It was beautiful,” my pink maned friend said and smiled. “Can we get the bill now?” She pulled a bag of caps out of her saddlebag and started counting them. She did have quite a lot. I’d say about five hundred total. Tallie and I watched the caps exchange hoof and looked at each other. Then I pulled a silly face at the griffin cub. She frowned with confusion for a moment, then she pulled one right back at me. We continued to pull faces at each other, laughing more and more. She deserved to be happy, really. From speculation, I’d say she hadn't be happy in a very long while. Our little fun session was cut short by a shout across the courtyard. “Watch where you’re going, bitch!” We all looked over to see two mares. One purple mare with a pink mane in heavy looking metal armour was staring down a smaller beige mare with a chocolate mane. “Hey, fuck you! I was walking here!” the little mare shouted back. I tried my best to shrink. “Oh screw you, you little whore!” the big mare yelled back and started marching over to us in the restaurant. “You,” she barked, pointing at me. “You Clover?” The other mare trotted up behind her and stared at me. I think it was a death stare... yeah, definitely a death stare. I gulped down and shook my head. “Nope, nuh uh, not at all.” “Yeah you are!” Tallie piped up, prodding my back. I must have jumped about five hooves into the air. The metal clad mare narrowed her eyes. “Don’t waste my time, kid. I don’t got a lot of it.” She turned and started to trot away. “Now come with me or I’ll drag you myself.” I looked to Lollipop, then Tallie. They both shrugged. Then I looked back out of the restaurant to find a pissed-off Ace in my face. “Coming!” I called out and zoomed past the pissed mare to the other pissed mare. “Hey, wait up!” Tallie called after. She looked up at one of the buildings. “Zippo! Get down here!” A ‘lo and behold, there was Zippo, crawling down the building. Soon, Zippo, Tallie, and Lollipop, followed by Ace, were tailing us. We passed through the streets in silence, other than the snickering of Lollipop and Tallie. I could feel a hole being burned in the back of my head from Ace’s laser death stare of doom. Just don’t look back. She won’t exist if I don’t look back. Just keep walking. “Where are w-we going?” I asked the metal-clad mare. She was basically charging through the streets of the city with her march. Boy, she was pissed. It was like a pine cone had been shoved up her ass and was gradually spinning. Maybe it was the heat? She was clad in full metal armour in the warm sun after all, and now I could see that she was sweating quite a bit. She glared back at me. “You’ve been summoned.” She kept on walking down the long street, then turned into an alley. I hesitantly followed, followed by my comrades and, what I assumed, a very angry Ace. Don’t look back... Soon, we came to a large mechanic’s garage. The mare pushed open the back door and slipped inside. She poked her head out a few seconds later. “You coming or what?” “Do I have to?” I asked, looking at the ominous building. The mare rolled her eyes. “Look, you want to stay in Iron City, so you better do as you’re told. Now come on!” She angrily darted back into the building and out of sight. “You heard her,” Ace growled at me. “Move.” So if I go in, I’m at the mercy of the angry mare, if I turn back I’m at the mercy of an angry Ace. Metal mare it is. The inside of the shed was dark and cold, except for one part of the floor. A large metal rectangle lay in the floor of the shop, and it was warm to the touch. It felt pleasantly toasty on my hooves when I stood on it. That was, however, until the mare pulled a lever and the rectangle started to slide apart. I started to stretch to each side to avoid falling. Why didn’t I jump? Because I’m not a fast thinker, that’s why. Soon, my left hooves were on one side, and my right hooves the other. I half expected Ace to come up and kick me in the ass, literally, or... well, somewhere else seeing as my legs were spread. But no, nothing happened. Lollipop and Tallie had burst out laughing, looking at me in my predicament. Even Ace looked slightly amused for a brief second, then went back to looking pissed. Soon enough, the mare got tired of waiting for me to shift and kicked my right hooves, sending me crashing down a flight of stairs and into a crumpled, achy heap at the bottom. “Hey!” I heard Ace shout. “What the fuck?!” “What?” the mare replied, coming down the stairs. Ace peered down at me, seeing that I was relatively in one piece and rolled her eyes. She looked almost concerned for a second. “Nothing.” She trotted down and kicked me in the belly. Not very hard really, but hard enough for me to shake the stars in my vision. “Get up,” she grunted. Slowly, I untangled my legs and shakily got up. Lollipop was there to help me up, at least. “Easy, kid.” She looked at the mare. “You’re fucked up, you know that? This stallion is sick and could have been injured.” I didn’t really feel sick anymore. Those meds were doing their job very well indeed! Blinking, I looked at my surroundings. I was standing in a very long hallway with an ambient green light at the end. It seemed to draw me in, like a warm hug. It’s hard to explain, but it felt really good. The mare lead the way to the light, so I knew I wasn’t the only one. The green light was in fact some sort of plant. The whole room looked like a lush garden with plants of all kinds sitting in large glass containers, or just in pots around the spacious room. There was even a large tree in the corner. Sitting by a terminal at the other side of room was a familiar stallion. The very same stallion from the lift back at the hotel. What was his name... something fancy... ah, that’s it, Professor Spring Flowers. “P-Professor,” I stammered. . “Its, uh... good to see you again?” Was it? “Why am I here?” The professor jumped in his seat and looked over his shoulder. “Ah, Mr. Clover... and friends, it seems. So good to see you again.” He used the arms on the chair to push himself up and out of it. “Yes. Of course. Why you’re here.” He trotted over to us and looked us all over. “It’s my understanding from my good friend Mr. Ponave that you’re here for sanctuary? Well, that comes at a price of course.” I winced slightly. “Of course...” I muttered. “So, uh... what do need from us?” The gentlecolt shrugged. “Oh not much. Just need your help with something.” He looked at the mare. “That will be all, Wrench.” The mare grunted and walked out. Probably to somewhere cooler. “So...” I said looking around. “Need some help gardening? I, uh... guess I have a bit of a green hoof.” By now, Tallie had gotten off Zippo and was looking around. Lollipop didn’t notice until she had disappeared and started looking for her. Spring Flowers chuckled and smiled. “Not quite. That green hoof might help though.” He trotted back to his terminal. “Come here. I want to show you something.” What would he need with an ex-farmer like me? Better not be farming again... I trotted over nonetheless and peered over his shoulder. “Right, this data was taken from soil samples in the Iron City farms.” He clicked a few keys and a few lines of data and pictures started to appear on screen. “Now, do you know your soil?” “Kinda. I was a farmer once.” I read the data and looked at the pictures. “Uh... what am I looking at or for?” I asked, looking down at the stallion. The gentlecolt pointed at  one picture, then the matching data. “Can’t you see it?” He pointed at another picture and its data. “Look at the two. They are samples six months apart.” It took me awhile, but soon it dawned on me. “So... the farm’s soil is losing fertility?” That’s what I was seeing at least. The stallion nodded. “And what can I do about that? Dad might have been smart, but he didn’t have any special way of making it fertile. Have you tried fertilizer?” “Fertilizer, compost, everything that we can think of,” the stallion sighed. “Nothing we do is working, and its degrading faster than we thought.” He looked up at me. “There is one thing that we think might work.” He frowned a little. “But... it might be dangerous.” “Nope,” I said, instantly. “No can do. Thanks anyway.” “And what will Mr. Ponave or the mayor think of you skipping out on your agreement?” the stallion narrowed his eyes. “I hate to blackmail you, but we need this.” “So send in your defenders,” I said. “They’re trained for danger, right?” “As much as I’d love to, Thunderhoof says no,” he grumbled. “Something about not risking it and not worth it. He’s a fool I tell you.” He sighed and looked at me. “I can assure you that it is safe. I myself have been in there and come back. Thunderhoof just thinks I’m crazy.” I frowned right back at him. “What do you mean ‘in there’?” This was beginning to go deeper and deeper into ‘fuck that shit, I’m outta here’ territory. Almost nopony’s land. “Stable 70, of course,” he said, as if we knew it. “Stables are seriously dangerous places, old man,” Ace said, creeping up on the other side. “I’ve heard nothing but bad about them, other than their intended purposes.” The old man sighed loudly. “Listen, I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with this stable. I’ve been there before. Where do you think I got all these plants from? The bathroom?” He scoffed dramatically and looked at me. “Please, Mr. Clover. If you don’t help us, it’ll be the end of Iron City within five years.” I sighed and thought for a long moment. “What am I looking for? And what do you mean you got these plants from there?” “These odd plants grow in and around the Stable. I haven’t figured out quite how they grow so lusciously.” He looked at me. “I need you to go deeper into the Stable and find the source. I would, but I don’t think I’d make the trip. Far too old for field work.” Bullshit. I sighed again, looking to my companions. Ace still looked a little miffed, and Lollipop was trying to get Tallie to come down from a high shelf. Tallie just stuck her tongue out at her and kept rummaging around. Zippo... sort of stood there. Not much to him. “You’ll get paid too,” Spring Flowers said. “Two hundred caps each for a quick fetch job. Could be worse!” He smiled. Well that was something... Ace looked at me for a moment then nodded. Lollipop stopped trying to catch Tallie and thought too, obviously eavesdropping. She nodded too. “Doesn’t sound too bad.” I looked at Spring Flowers. “Well... it looks like I have no say in the matter...” “On one condition,” Ace said, cutting me off. Spring Flowers raised his eyebrows. “We get any loot we find other than the source of the plants.” Seemed fair to me. Then again, I get loot. The professor thought about that one long and hard. Multiple emotions played over his face for a few minutes, then he looked to Ace. “Deal.” “Deal,” Ace said with a devious grin. She looked at me and merely smirked. “Come on. We got a Stable to loot.” “Holy shit!” Tallie exclaimed from behind a machine. “Language!” Lollipop barked. Tallie’s little head poked out from behind the machine. “You ain’t my mom, thank fuck.” She looked over at Spring Flowers. “Dude, how long has this humidifier been busted?” Flowers looked slightly stunned. “Well... a few months... how do you...” Tallie grinned and pulls a spanner out of her pocket. “You guys go on ahead. I’mma fix this.” She popped back behind it. “Red wire goes in the - red socket...” she said in a singsong voice. “Not coming with us?” Lollipop asked. “All sorts of neat machinery in Stables.” “I’m good!” Tallie called out. “I got this. Now get!” I could hear all sorts of tinkering coming from behind the machine. How did she know so much about mechanics? “Is that okay?” Lollipop asked the elder stallion at his desk. He blinked, looked at her and nodded, then looked back to the machine. The lime green unicorn turned her attention back to Tallie. “Well okay, just do as Spring Flowers says, okay?” Tallie poked her head out of a panel in the side of the machine this time. “Mhm!” And she was gone again. She’s nuts... “Then let’s go!” Ace moaned. “We’ll be back soon.” She trotted back to the hallway, Lollipop in tow. I looked back at the professor, nodded, and followed the medic unicorn. The air outside of the basement seemed cool, thankfully. The doors slid closed behind us and we left the mechanic shop and headed back to the hotel. We weren’t that far actually. Just a short... awkward walk. Especially with Lollipop looking over at me and Ace and snickering. --- --- --- “I’ll leave you two to it,” Lollipop said, heading to her room that was right next to mine... ours... wait, what were we? Who owned the room? My stomach sank when she winked at Ace and I and disappeared. I could almost hear Ace’s teeth grinding. Couldn’t hear much after I was almost strangled by Ace dragging me to my... our... the room. “We need to talk,” she growled and slammed the door behind us. She threw me into a chair and levitated her shotgun and machete above her. “You tell anypony that we fucked, and I will geld you with either my shotgun or my machete. Got it?!” “Yes!” I squeaked. “I won’t tell anypony!” I gulped and looked away. “Um... Lollipop already knows... so does Tallie... and the guard downstairs... probably the receptionists too...” Ace closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. She let out a long sigh and dropped her weapons. “It’s not your fault, I guess...” she said as she shuffled over to the bed and sat down opposite me. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose... and we were drunk.” That’s right, we were. Hell, I don’t even remember it! “Um... y-yes... we were...” She sighed again and smiled slightly. “It was good though, I’ll admit...” Her ears flopped down and she curled up slightly. “What does this make us?” she asked, quietly. “Um... uh...” I stammered before merely shrugging. “I dunno...” Ace looked up at me. “Listen, Clover... you’re an alright dude... I kinda like you, but...” she groaned and held her hooves to her face. “You’re... well... you. And I’m me. It just seems...” She opened her hooves. “Weird.” “Well... what do you want?” I asked. Ace shrugged. “You’re nice and all, but... I need time to think, okay?” She looked into my eyes. “When we first met, I told myself I wouldn’t fuck you. Ever.” Gee, thanks. “But now... I got conflicting feelings, okay? Just give me time to think.” “Sure. All the time you need.” “Thanks.” I got up and smiled. “Now, we have a job to do, right?” I trotted around the bed and to a large closet. Inside hung my sniper harness, and my SMG, along with my saddlebags and other equipment. Turning back to Ace, I found myself in a hug. “You might be broken, crazy, and a bit of a pussy, but you’re okay,” she said. She broke the hug and got her own gear out of the closet. “But,” she said, turning back, “don’t go expecting a free ride, got it?” She held up her machete again. “G-Got it,” I muttered and walked away. She watched me and shook her head. She looked somewhat... angry? Maybe resentful about her feelings? Did she like me? Was it just hormones? Only time will clear her thoughts, I guess... Footnote: No level up! Special thanks to Kal, Adder1, Matkingos, and Julep for editing and art. Sorry for the super late chapter, been busy with the holidays ect. If you’re still reading, I think people should give this fic a little attention, it being new and all. Enjoy! http://www.fimfiction.net/story/55353/fallout-equestria-viva-las-pegasus