//------------------------------//
// (Interlude lll) Behold Death, The Ultimate Equalizer! 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Taking Life By The Horns 
// by Pokonic 
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I woke up in my bed, a rough little thing on a slab of stone, and realized that something was wrong.

Quickly getting off it and near the small desk I kept, I messed around with the papers and objects on it; a snow globe or two, some old newspapers, charcoal drawings, all vendor trash that, as a whole, only totaled up to a few dozen caps. None of it had any real significance besides it being a record of my life.

Turning around to the only other important set of objects in the room showed that I wasn't going insane. The guard gear wasn't there, and replacing it was the little draconequus from before. 

"What is going on? What are you doing! You caused that thing with the gun, didn't you!" I yelled at the creature, which was just floating in air, seeming amused at my antics.” You did something to me!"

"Silly, your mine now! I can do whatever I want with you!" she said cheerfully. “I already told you this!"

I almost touched the creature, but I felt something shove me oddly, like I was on top of a hill and I was being pushed by the wind.

Suddenly, for no apparently reason, it seemed as if the wind-like pressure became stronger when the hill I considered reality fell from under me.





"Oh, goodness, is he alright? There was so many bullets around him."

"Of course he's not, dummy! He has a big scratch on his tummy!"

"Candy Cane, do not be rude to our guest!"

"Sorry."

"Apologies accepted, young filly. Now, you there, your name is..."

"Gabriel. Saw everything that happened."

"He did slay Cheesecake?"

“He got her to shoot one of her armed lackeys-

"-Brownsburro, yes."

"Anyway, yeah, he took her and her friends down really quickly after that. That's it. You should have been there."

"Yes, I...saw enough. The water. It was chunky."

"Does it offend your delicate disposition?"

"Know your place, mercenary."

"Know my place? Hah! I'm not the one who couldn't keep one of their top ponies from going nuts!"

"Don't be mean to mister Watchful!"

"Everyone shut up! He's waking up."

I wish I could have faked sleep easier, but apparently Blueberry was intent on seeing how much my eyelids twitched.

The group that greeted my eyes was an odd one. While I was seated on a makeshift bed in the center of a rather bare room, three ponies and a griffon were around me in a semicircle, ranging from displeased to relieve to my awakening. While I expected Blueberry, Candy Cane, and Gabriel there, I needed to get a better look at the other pony in the room to have it fully comprehend that he was Troubadour.

"You." I raised a finger at the stallion, who had the nerve to look surprised, "why did I just fight a mare in a tutu with giant guns?"

Troubadour looked at me for a few moments, and finally spoke in a slow, do-you-understand-me voice that showed just how much faith he put into my intelligence.

"Well, first off, the term 'Princess' within the Purebreds is simple the title for the highest ranking mare within it. There's been an unfortunate series of schisms lately ever since the announcement of our leader's wedding, and Cheesecake was simply a mare who was making a power grab."

"Wait, hold on." Blueberry spoke up. "That's not what I was told. I thought there was a bunch of princesses and princes in it for the sake of power distribution?"

Troubadour's ghost of a smile was thin. "Much has changed. Now, there's only room for two great leaders. Now, I do believe I must be off. Don't worry; you will be given a good work from me at the Ritz. Good day to you all."

At that, he simply walked out of the room. I was glad to see him go. Blueberry, if anything, became more stressed.

"Watchful, what happened back there?"

I looked at Gabriel, who looked like he was holding back a smart-assed comment, and then at Candy Cane, who was looking back and forth between me and the local griffon.

"Sea Salt got to them. She actually saved my life." I said, lying shamelessly. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Blueberry took in a deep breath, while Candy Cane started shaking lightly.

"Wait a moment, are you telling me you knew that freaky ass fish pony thing that wrecked the bridge that gobbled up those mares?"

I nodded. So did Blueberry.

"Well, aren’t you more than what you look like, Ever Watchful." he said, sounding impressed. 

Suddenly, I realized what he just said.

"Wait, Gabriel, are you saying you saw that entire thing? With Sea Salt?"

He nodded. "Is that what you call it?"

I scowled. "She's a she."

"Okay, whatever. I’ve seen weirder things. Anyway, yeah. I got over to little miss Blueberry here, found a nice spot to watch you, and found myself surprised and confused. Didn't know minotaur's had magic."

I was confused for a few moments, but suddenly I knew what he was talking about. "Ah, yes, it's rather rare. The only reason I could pull it off was because of some really hard training I did."

Blueberry spared me a confused look after I winked at her.

"So, where is Sea Salt now, anyway?"

Gabriel shrugged." Dunno. She went under when I flew down. She did draw something in the sand outside for you, though. She was crying a bit. I didn't get too close, because, well, she was still covered in blood."

Well, damn it. I didn't need an emotionally disturbed seapony on the loose.

"Look, she was heading east, and I have a plan."

For a moment, Gabriel changed from professional mercenary to a young griffon.

"Go on." Blueberry pressed.

"Well," he said slowly, as if he was breaking some unsaid rule and felt bad about it, "there's this old radio tower a day's travel from here to the east. It's near the river and it has two ponies I kind of know. Well, by extension, they know Dive Bomb, and they would know my name if you pressed. If you showed up and wave that little filly there around a bit, they would let you in if you were wearing raider gear and painted yourselves in black and white stripes. Ask for a Golden Dawn. There's a intercom system."

Blueberry nodded. "She's a sucker for fillies?"

He shook his head. "Kind of. Not my place to talk about it, I would guess." 

Suddenly, he was pure mercenary. I felt a little freaked out by the griffon's ability to change personalities like he had a switch.

"So, I am heading for my employer's place to give him what he needed. Thank you Watchful, Blueberry."

Candy Cane pouted, apparently feeling left out. After giving a quick glance at Blueberry, who rolled her eyes at the very implication, he patted her on the head and began walking off. After walking out the open door, he simply took off for wherever he was heading.

A few moments later, Blueberry gave me a stern look, and lowered her voice to the point that the mostly disinterested Candy Cane couldn't hear her.

"Tell me what happened at the bridge. I saw the bullets. Minotaur's don't have magic." she said, more inquisitive than harshly.

"I don't know." I said lamely. "This isn't the right time, Blueberry."

She put a hoof on my chest. Even if I wasn't really hurt, there was a bruise there and I was on my back.

"Like hell it isn't! There's never a right time with you!"

"Look, we need to see what Sea Salt wrote in the sand."

Blueberry took her hoof off me, but didn't see any more relived.

As it turned out, the building was very close to the river, but also extremely close to the bridge, which was still quite gory and messy. Considering that there wasn't much of a town to clean it up, I wondered how much long the stains would stay there. As such, Blueberry walked eastbound without turning with Candy Cane, hoping that she didn't see the bloody mess as I looked around the general area of the river.

The message was easy to find on the grey clay banks, but it took me some time to actually make out what it said. It was hard to miss the general shape of the strange letter's I spotted in her red book, but the small, scratched out words almost hidden on top of it made me feel very, very guilty.


I really are sorry.
نحن بحاجة الى التحدث

I had to catch up with Blueberry near the eastern edge of town, which was a far shorter walk than one might have imagined. 

"What did it say?" she said quietly. 

"She's sorry." I said.

"That doesn't make it okay, you know. She eats ponies. She tried to kill me. According to you, for a few moments, she did."

"And you've killed plenty of ponies and I have let some die. If we keep doing this we are going to end up killing each other."

Blueberry was quiet for a little longer than was really needed, but it seemed that she was trying to come up with another topic.

"I was thinking about wearing my robes."

"You know that's not safe here, Blueberry. Gabriel nearly had a stroke when he heard you were from Fillydelphia, and he likes us, I would think."

"Well, that's his fault. And that's not what I am even talking about. I just want to wear it, okay?"

I slowed down and looked at her. It wasn't a matter of the cold. I guess she really, deep down, simply wanted to be a Scribe for a little while.

"Okay, perhaps depending on how these friends of Gabriel treat us."

Blueberry didn't answer, and simply continued to walk. "We have about three day's worth of food left, not including that thing of tea we still have, but we have some caps, so we shouldn't be too bad."

"We had three day's with the two of us. Now we have Candy Cane. And what about water?"

Blueberry deflated slightly. "Five bottles of water. One every two days for you and one to split between me and Candy."

"That water in the river is somewhat drinkable, if irradiated. I could drink it." I offered.

Blueberry raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I have never heard of a minotaur getting sick from irradiation, and the hills where most of the hunting goes on is rather irradiated according to travelers."

Blueberry actually smiled. "Okay, that simplifies things a lot."

Candy Cane said nothing at all, and was being rather brave for a filly that just left the only home she knew. 

Then again, I could only think, that's the case for everypony I've connected with on this little journey of mine.