Upon getting to the shop known as Crater-Side Supply, I allowed Rainbow entry before I myself walked in and almost immediately got greeted by Moira Brown - Probably the most annoying person I will ever meet out here in the Wasteland.
She wore the same clothes every time I came here: A dirty gray jumpsuit with RobCo embed on the back of it along with the black work shoes to go with it and that pretty, shiny red hair that she always has tied back in a bobble and overlaps.
''Oh! Hey there, Oscar! How's the scaving been?'' She asked me with a friendly smile.
''Moira...what. Is. That. Smell?'' I asked as dully as I've ever sounded.
Moira sniffed lightly and tried to hold back a gag, hoping I wouldn't notice, but she didn't do a good job with it.
''Oh, that! It's um...just something I tried to make while you were gone from town.''
I looked at her with a dull expression and she immediately scowled at me.
''Oh, turn that frown upside down, Brady!'' She chimed in a happy but also mad tone at me. ''I've got to do something around here to keep me entertained while I have no company.''
I looked at the wall to my left. Usually there was a bouncer there to protect Moira, but today, he wasn't. Where was he?
''Moira? Where's your bouncer today? Shouldn't he be here guarding the shop?''
''Huh? Oh, him.'' Her expression turned sad. ''Yeah, he should, but he's not coming back, see, I asked him to go into Springvale for me to get a few things for me, and he didn't come back. I even requested a search party to go look for him, and when they came back, they told me he was dead. I got his rifle to prove it.''
Moira went behind her desk and I heard a sliding door open and close again. Within an instant, Moira came back in front of me and held the machine gun in her hands.
''Here. Since he's gone I probably won't be needing it now.''
I looked down at the weapon in her hands for a moment, trying to consider if it could possibly help me out when I'm scavenging. The gun's body was constructed of a faded black metal that looked nearly like carbon-fiber and the butt of the rifle had decayed maple wood, same as the front grip, along with a black strap so I could throw and carry it around my shoulder.
''Alright, Moira. I'll take the rifle. Here's 200 caps.'' Even though she didn't mention a price, I still gave her money anyway. She could maybe use it to hire a new bouncer for the shop since the other one is gone. I couldn't just let her go on her own in this shop with company to help her out.
When I held the bag of caps to Moira, she rejected it.
''Brady, what's that for? You don't need to pay me for the rifle. Just take it.'' She insisted, but I didn't accept it.
''No, Moira. I want you to take the 200 caps and get yourself a new bouncer. I can't let you go under-armed in this shop if someone tries to start a fight or rob you. C'mon, you could do with the help.'' I insisted.
Moira sighed and slowly she took the bag of caps from my hand and handed me the rifle and hugged me as I slung it around my shoulder. As she hugged me, she noticed the gash on my left cheek - The one from the day I rescued Rainbow. Even though I had it for a while, it still hadn't healed and after all, it was quite a deep cut and hurt like hell.
''Oscar? What happened to you? You've got a massive gash on you cheek.'' She asked in concern.
I touched the mark and retracted it as my touch made it sting with pain.
''Um. It's no big deal, Moira. I ended up getting into a fight with Raiders when I tried to save Rainbow Dash, there.'' I motioned a hand towards Rainbow Dash who waved a hoof at Moira's acquaintance.
For a second Moira remained silent and stared at the little pony in shock of seeing such an animal with a small wave of her own.
''Rainbow, this is Moira Brown.'' I introduced her.
''Hey, Moira. I'm Rainbow Dash.'' She announced in her sweet voice.
''You talk?!'' She exclaimed in even more shock, nearly fainting from hearing an animal talk.
''Of course.'' Dash told her. ''Didn't you know animals could talk?''
''Wait, Rainbow!'' I interrupted. ''Animals can't talk here. I know they do where you're from, but here they just don't.''
''Oh. So I'm the only one here who can?'' She asked in disappointment.
''I guess you are. You're one of a kind here.''
Before the shock went on any further, I looked back towards Moira who was back behind her counter on her chair, still staring at Rainbow in shock.
''Moira? Moira!'' I shouted, trying to get her attention. ''Moira! You okay?''
''Huh?! What?!'' She unfroze and stuttered slightly. ''Yeah...Peachy.'' She croaked.
''Moira. Just...calm it, will you?'' I know that it's a shock to see and hear an animal talk, but the way she acted towards it was starting to piss me off.
''Moira, the reason we are here is because I wanted to see if you could construct a leather suit for Rainbow to wear when she's out with me when I travel. Do you think you could put one together?'' I asked her as I saw her think as she held her chin with a hand.
''A leather suit? Armored or non-armored?''
''Armored. Oh, and if you can, try to reinforce it. ''
''Done. If you come back in a week with 1000 caps, I'll have it ready for you then.''
''1000 caps?!'' I exclaimed. ''You know very well that I roughly make 250 caps per week!''
''I know, deary. Well, that's only how much I can give them out for, especially a customized one for a horse.''
At that statement, Dash looked over at Moira, insulted by what she had just said. ''Excuse me, Moira. For your information, I'm not a horse, I'm a pony.''
''Oh, sorry...''
''Hey Moira? Even though I can't pay for it now, will you give me a week to come up with the pay?''
''Oh, sure I will, Oscar. It's the least I could do since you helped me with my book on some parts.''
''Great! So, what you got in stock this week?''
''Take a look.''
Moira grabbed a clipboard with her inventory clipped onto it on a piece of paper, along with a pencil. The stock itself was massive, even more massive than I thought it was going to be. She must of had a shipment in or something.
There were bullets of all varieties to small guns to big guns to armor and suits and junk that can be used to craft mines and concoctions.
Down the list, about halfway, I spotted a missile launcher with 120 caps scribbled down next to the box where it said ''price'' and so I ticked it off for order. Just under it was ''Missiles'' only at 15 caps each. Next to the price box, it said ''quantity'' and I needed quite a few missiles to go around, so I wrote down ''10.''
A missile launcher wasn't going to do much good with the idea I had in mind, but if it meant getting a lot of caps for it, I'm game.
I looked further down the list, and also in ''big guns'' was a mini-gun and a flamer. I knew that I would have to go with one, seeing as two would be more heavier to carry, so I ticked off the mini gun for 60 caps. - God, Moira's weapons were in shit condition. - and the price for bullets in packs that carry 240 bullets each were only 20 caps, so that was good enough for me. I ordered 2 packs for the weapon.
After ticking off what I needed, I handed the clipboard back to Moira who looked over what I wanted with a few affirmative nods.
''Okay, Oscar, that'll be 370 caps.''
I reached into my bag and took out a large bag of caps that was all my currency together. In total there was 500 caps, so I picked out the little caps as fast as I could to save time, but it took me around 10 minutes to do so. Eventually, I got the required money that left me with 130 caps to live on, and Moira disappeared into the back of her shop for a brief moment and came out with a large box that was full of the things I needed for my idea.
''Cheers, Moira. I'll be back in a few days.'' And with that, me and Dash left the shop and went home with our new weaponry.
Even though it cost me a bundle of caps, it will be worth the amount of pay I'd get for what I was going to do with them. I just hope Rainbow is ready for it when I get everything ready...