Old billboards and dilapidated buildings dotted the arid landscape. Sparse grasses and brush grew at odd intervals adding dashes of browns, greens, and golds to the reds and grays of the rocky earth. A narrow road, barely differentiated from the land around it, wound through the badlands, snaking around craggy bluffs and eroded rock formations. Very few ponies walked this road that wound from the nearly-abandoned Dahl star ship landing zone to the small town of Fyrestone. But oddly on this morning, a bus clattered and clanked it's way between the two landmarks. Three ponies were inside- the driver, a light gold earth pony stallion with bright green eyes and a distinguished brown and gray streaked mane, and two passengers, both younger than the driver. The first was a pegasus stallion with a dusty tan coat, his face hidden by a leather mask and red tinted goggles and his companion was a unicorn mare with a pristine white coat and red-to-white gradient mane.
They were sitting together, heads pressed close as they conversed in hushed tones, when the driver twisted around in his seat and called, “Next stop, Fyrestone Depot. Time to gather up your stuff!” He turned around again before either could acknowledge his words, not that they did.
“So what's your plan for finding this... Vault you called it?” the mare kept her voice down, her eyes glancing towards the driver every few moments.
The older stallion shook his head minutely, “not here. We don't want any pony else over hearing. We'll talk once we're out of Fyrestone.” He leaned against the back of the bench, careful to avoid the many rips in the material that exposed the flattened cushions. It looked as if a diamond dog had used the seats as a scratching post on more than one occasion.
Miffed at the stallion's dismissal the mane turned towards her window, watching the sun rise higher over the desert world. Part of her still wondered why she had followed her childhood friend across an ocean of stars to this desolate, nearly deserted, outer planet. She was used to spending her days on the crowded central worlds where corporations ruled and those with pockets deep enough not to miss a few bits were plentiful, but his conviction that a vast and legendary treasure was hidden deep in the wastes of Pandora had piqued her curiosity. Still there was no concrete proof that such a treasure existed- only rumors and wild speculation. The ravings of mad ponies. And neither phoney treasures nor lost causes would fill an empty purse. I just hope this desperate quest is worth it...
<Don't be alarmed. I need you to stay calm and don't let on that anypony is talking to you.> On the window glass was the shifting image of a young mare not much older than herself. Her features shifted irregularly on the glass and any color that might have existed on her coat or mane were muted, but what caught the mare's attention were the eyes- a bright, piercing lavender that seemed to stare into her soul. The apparition's voice was calm and level, but strangely monotone, as if she was a robot. The white mare's mouth opened in shock, wondering if she were going crazy from the heat, but kept her eyes on the glass. <Start making your way off the bus. You don't have any reason to trust me, but I need you to believe that I am here to guide you.> As the strange apparition spoke, the bus ground to a halt outside of a small town. A flickering “Welcome to Fyrestone” sign was situated over the dilapidated remains of an ancient bus stop. A few buildings were visible beyond the high outer wall, but no ponies were in view. At first glance, it looked like a ghost town. The thought sent shivers down her spine.
<I'm here to help you find the Vault.> The white mare froze, her eyes fixed on the view outside the bus window, but she did not see it. All she could see was the shifting image of the mare who smiled slightly, as if she could see the other mare and was reacting to her movements. <In a moment, you'll be greeted by a funny little robot. Do everything he says. You'll know what I mean when it happens.> Her voice cracked over the last words, making them almost unintelligible. Whatever connection the entity had was breaking up. <I'll contact you again soon.>
The mare cast her gaze to the stallion sitting next to her. He looked impassive, as If he'd fallen asleep, but when she moved to prod him, he sat up. He nodded to her, grabbing a bag from the seat next to him and slung it across his flanks before walking towards the bus door. “Don't trip on the way out, eh? I suspect we'll be seeing each other again real soon...” The driver laughed as he opened the door for his passengers, and after a brief moment his laughter died. “Aaaah... now get off my bus,” he said, his voice suddenly gruff and businesslike as the pair hurried to comply. The pegasus stallion rolled his eyes heavily as the bus drove away from them, kicking up a wall of dust and smoke as it trundled off towards the horizon.
“Crazy old coot,” he muttered, glancing around. “So what now...”
“Hello and welcome to Fyrestone!” a cheerful and mechanical voice called from across the road. The robot was rectangular in shape, with its bottom half tapering to a single wheel which it rolled on constantly, shifting back and forth to stay upright. “My name is CL4P-TRP, but you may call me by my local designation- Clap Trap! If you would follow me, please, I will take you into town!”
“That's alright...,” the pegasus started, but he was interrupted.
“We should stop in town, Half Mile. We could use some supplies. And a map.”
“Crimson...” The stallion muttered, “we weren't going to stop here...”
“I don't know who you're kidding- you know as well as I that we're going to get lost and die out there without a map- but if you want to wander this death trap by yourself, be my guest. I'm going into town.” She turned and stepped across the road, away from the pegasus who growled angrily under his breath, but he picked up his hooves and followed the Clap Trap as well.
“Fyrestone really is a lovely little town. I'm sure you'll love it here,” the little Clap Trap quipped happily, its robotic voice box shaking as it rolled over the rough ground.
“I bet we will,” Half Mile said sarcastically, casting his companion as sharp look, which she returned with a winning smile.
The Clap Trap stopped them at the front gate, “Just let me take care of this then...” the small robot's voice was drowned out by the revving of several engines at once. “Oh no... no no...” the robot moaned, shoving itself away from the gate's control panel and into a small shed, slamming the door behind it.
“What's going on?” Crimson asked, whirling lightly on her hooves to try and figure out where the sound was coming from, but before she could pin point it, several four-wheeled runners jumped from the rugged hills behind them over the fence into the city. Once the last of the runners had been jumped, the Clap Trap opened the door to its hiding place.
“Are they gone?” It asked, a slight quiver in its voice. “Are the bandits gone?”
“No,” Half Mile said, raising an eyebrow, “they just went into Fyrestone.”
“Oh no, oh no! You must help the ponies in Fyrestone! They can't defend themselves against so many bandits!” The Clap Trap exclaimed, “You have to help!”
“What makes you think we can help?” Half Mile asked as Crimson Starlight's horn lit up and she drew a small machine gun from the pack across her flanks.
Checking quickly to make sure the clip was full, she turned to the Clap Trap, “get this gate open.”
If the sturdy looking robot could nod it would have as it turned back to the control panel, quickly opening the gate for the two ponies. Crimson rushed into the town, Half Mile reluctantly at her heels. “What the hell are you doing?” He asked once they were a distance away from the Clap Trap. “When did you become a bleeding heart?”
“I'm not, but if we save these ponies they'll be in our debt. That means money.” Crimson said, spinning a quick story as the words of the strange apparition played through her head. She wasn't sure if she quite believed the voice yet, but it had said the Vault was real, and for the moment, that was enough for the treasure hunter. “And stop your whining. When did you become a pacifist?”
“I'm not,” the pegasus said, settling his large sniper rifle over his shoulder. Taking only a moment to aim, he pulled the trigger with his wing and in the distance, a burst of blood appeared over the collapsing body of a bandit. The others turned to see what happened and turned their anger on the two ponies standing at the end of the street. “Alright, you rush them and I'll get the rest.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Crimson said, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that no matter how many ponies Half Mile took down, she would not be one of them. She took a moment to tighten her magical grip on her gun before pulling the trigger. A spray of bullets poured from the barrel, tearing through the first two bandits who fell to their knees before collapsing in pools of blood. This forced the others to jump over them in the narrow street as they charged the pair. Half Mile took several shots, bringing down one more bandit with each bullet and with Crimson laying down cover fire the fight was very one sided. Taken by surprise and without an effective strategy, the bandits were all dead within a matter of moments.
Half Mile spread his wings and glided over the carnage to the other end of the street where several bullet caches had been busted open by the bandits. He quickly reloaded his gun and added a few extra clips to his bag. “Grab some of these, Crim. You're going to need some if you plan on fighting off all those bandits.”
With a nod of agreement, Crimson picked up several clips, reloading her gun in the process. “We should head left,” she said, nodding down the left fork in the road where several earth pony bandits were banging on the door to a house, yelling at the occupants to let them in or be shot.
“Whatever. It's your call,” Half Mile muttered, resettling his gun across his shoulder. “I'm just along for the ride now.”
“Don't sound so excited,” Crimson Starlight muttered, leveling her gun at the first of the four bandits. She shot the first one dead on through the skull, blood and bone fragments splattering against the wall of the house he had been fighting to get inside, his obscenities cut off mid sentence. His friends turned to level their guns at the pair, but two were shot in quick succession by Half Mile, who had leaped onto the building next to them to get a higher vantage point. The fourth bandit tried to run, but Crimson filled his back with lead as Half Mile shot him once through the back of the head. His momentum sent him tumbling forward until he hit a building with a wet smack.
“Can you see any others?” Crimson asked, looking up at Half Mile. The other pony stood up and turned towards the center of town.
“Seems like there are several other pockets of bandits. I guess we'll just have to keep going, huh?” He glanced down at Crimson Starlight and though she couldn't see his expression, she knew he was giving her a look of dissatisfaction.
“Yes, yes we will.” She said glaring up at him, “now come on, do you want to get that reward or not?”
“We're not even sure there will be a reward,” he muttered, flicking his wings out and taking to the air, leaping from building to building as Crimson lead the way on the ground.
“We're not sure there's a Vault either, yet here we are,” Crimson responded, sliding around a corner, guns blazing. Her bullets mowed down three bandits before they knew what hit them, their blood creating a mural of death behind them as their corpses fell to the ground, expressions of shock and surprise on their faces where they weren't hidden by masks.
Half Mile's mouth twitched slightly as if to smirk, “Touché.” He turned and blasted the lock off of a weapons' cache. He tossed a small machine gun down to Crimson before closing the chest, “Take that, it's better than that side arm you've got now.”
Crimson picked up the gun in her magic and fired several shots at the nearby wall, testing its merit. “It's a nice gun, that's for sure, but it doesn't have any elemental damage.”
“Neither does that one you have now,” Half Mile argued, “take the better gun already. You can be a snob about it later.”
“Fine,” Crimson said, tucking her old gun back into her pack before reloading the new one. “Which way should we head now?”
“For more bandits, just keep going straight.” Half Mile sighed, “if you want to just leave, let's go back the way we came.”
“Obviously we're going forward.” Crimson said, kicking up dust as she galloped towards the center of town.
“Why do I even bother trying to change her mind,” Half Mile muttered, taking flight as he followed behind her. “She never listens once she's made up her mind.”
Crimson hurried into an open square in the town, her gun leveled at a knot of bandits when one flew through the air towards her. Ducking and rolling to the side, she barely avoided being broad-sided by the limp corpse. Glancing at it, she saw he was not riddled with bullet holes, but that his chest was caved in, as if he'd been struck by a blunt object or with somepony's hooves. “I guess we're not the only 'saviors' of Fyrestone, huh?” Half Mile's voice floated down from above her, his mocking tone evident.
“Oh shut up, Miles,” Crimson Starlight grumbled under her breath, her hooves digging into the loose earth as she pulled herself up, her gun still caught in her magical grip. Leveling it towards the bandits, she caught sight of a pony in the middle of them, his hooves pounding ground and flesh with equal brutality as he spun and whirled, fighting the bandits off not with a gun, but with his own body. Loathe to shoot a citizen of Fyrestone and unable to get a clear shot at any of the bandits, Crimson Sparkle and Half Mile sat and watched as the third fighter finished off the last of the bandits that had surrounded him.
Shaking blood and dirt from his sweat soaked coat, he looked up and saw the other two ponies watching him, “Are you scared, you scum? You'd better be! Run! Or you'll get the same!” His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as the two didn't move and inch, “paralyzed by fear, huh? Well that won't save you this time!” He rushed towards the unicorn who had pointed her gun towards him, but had let it drop to her side after he'd shouted. Part of him said to rush forward and kill every trespasser in his town, but the more logical side slowed his hooves and he took a second look at these two ponies. His eyes narrowed as he stopped in front of the unicorn. He towered above the much smaller mare as he grunted, “you don't look like bandits. Who are you? What are you doing in Fyrestone?”
Crimson Starlight swallowed hard as she tried not to be intimidated by the large stallion, “We're travelers. We just arrived here when the bandits attacked. We thought we'd help drive them off.”
The stallion glanced up at Half Mile who watched him like a hawk, his gun resting against his shoulder lazily. With a grunt of acceptance, he nodded, “Alright, but what made you come to Pandora at a time like this? There's nothing for outsiders here, not unless you're late getting the news about Dahl.”
Half Mile spoke up then, “We're just looking for work. We travel the galaxy and we just ended up here. No more, no less.”
For a moment it didn't seem the earth pony would believe their story, but after a moment he sighed, “I don't know if I trust you outsiders, but you did help drive off those bandits so you can't be all bad. Come on, I'll see if we can't find you a place to stay.”
Half Mile flitted off the roof to land on the ground next to the other two, “Well, that's great and all, but we were hoping to make it to... what was it... Haven?”
“New Haven,” the other stallion amended, “and you're not going to be able to get there any time soon.”
“Why not?” Half Mile asked angrily, “are you going to keep us here?”
The large earth pony rolled his eyes, “no, because Sledge, one of the bandit leaders, has sealed off the path between Fyrestone and New Haven. There isn't anyone getting between these two towns now.”
“Doesn't matter to me, I can just fly there,” Half Mile argued.
“What about me?” Crimson asked, her eyes narrowing as she glared at her companion, “am I supposed to sprout wings like some alicorn to follow you?”
The pegasus was quiet and his wings rustled against his sides, “forgot about that...”
“Damned right you did,” Crimson grumbled. She turned her attention back to the hulking earth pony as he came to a stop in front of one of the last houses in town. “So what can we do about this Sledge? We really need to get to Haven... er New Haven.”
“The short answer? Nothing. No one knows where he is or anything. We're just hoping that we can survive without contact with New Haven for the time being.” The pony turned and pressed a button on the outside of the house, “Uh, Doctor Zero? Can you open up? The bandits are dead and folks are going to need your medicines.”
“Alright, alright. You're sure they're gone? That took less time than usual.”The voice that crackled through the transceiver was low and gruff.
“I'm positive, Doc. Now open up.”
There was a crashing noise over the intercom and a long pause before the Doctor's voice crackled back, “Er... now that's a problem, see. I think the motor to the door's been disconnected. Think you could take a look at it Brick?”
“Yeah, gimmie a minute,” the huge earth pony rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips. Taking his hoof from the intercom he turned to the two ponies following him, “this might take a little while. Go ahead and look around town for a bit. I'll come find you once the medical lab is open again.”
“Don't worry about us,” Half Mile said dryly, “neither of us are injured. Take care of your people first.”
“If you want to get to New Haven, Doctor Zero's your best option. He's been... well, to put it simply, he's the only one around here who could help you get there. He knows a little about Nine Toes's movements.”
“Nine Toes? I thought it was Sledge who had sealed off the pass?” Crimson asked, but her mind wasn't all on what Brick was saying. There was something terribly familiar about the giant stallion, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it. Maybe keeping him talking would trigger the memory that was itching at the back of her thoughts.
“He is, but Nine Toes is his lieutenant and he's holed up somewhere in Skag Gully. Unfortunately, that's all we know. No pony's seen hide or hair of him since he set up an outpost near here. Doesn't like getting his paws dirty.” Brick sighed, “but if you could find Nine Toes, he might give you a lead to where his boss is.”
Crimson cast a curious look at Half Mile. The stallion sighed dramatically, “looks like we're going to be here a while.”
~~~
It took Brick less than twenty minutes to get Dr. Zero's mechanical door working again. Apparently the bandits had sabotaged it in an attempt to keep the doctor from helping anyone in town. “It was a mediocre attempt at best”, Brick said as he brushed the oil from his hooves on the dusty ground. “Alright, Doc. See if that fixed it.”
There was a long moment of silence and Brick was about to ask if something else was wrong when there was a loud rattling noise of an engine starting and the groan of rusty metal as the wide iron door slowly rose to reveal the interior of the medical center. It was nothing like any medical station Crimson had seen before or since. Flickering lights barely illuminated the large interior, leaving much of the room to the imagination. What she could see was disturbing, what she couldn't was almost more so. The walls were covered in bloodstains- some old and some alarmingly fresh- as well as several aging posters talking about Dhal Corporation's Eridian Mining. The main portion of the space was filled with a dozen raised hospital beds, though none of them held living patients. Two, or perhaps three, it was difficult to tell from a distance, were filled with the remains of bandits in various states of postmortem examination. At least, Crimson hoped it was postmortem. Off to the left side of the entrance was a pair of repurposed soda machines that now held, if the advertisement was to be believed, miracle healing vials that would quickly or instantly heal the user, repairing all but the worst of ailments in a matter of moments.
In the back of the room, half hidden in shadows, stood a blood red unicorn stallion. Most of his body was obscured by a bloodstained white lab coat that hung loosely off his narrow frame. His nose and mouth were covered by a white medical grade face mask with two straps that wrapped around his head, feathering his short brown mane as they pressed tightly against the back of his head. His front hooves were covered by soft green latex gloves, though strangely his rear hooves were not. When the door had finished opening he moved to meet the three ponies entering his office. “Ah, excellent work, Brick! I'm pleased to see you weren't killed in the attack... or maybe I'm not. I really would like to study you. See what made you grow so large and strong. It might help me develop a strength or growth serum!”
“You won't cut me open until I'm good a dead, Doctor.” Brick's face was drawn in a tight line. “I brought some strangers here to see you.”
“Oh really? Strangers on Pandora? That's certainly noteworthy,” turning to the other two ponies the doctor smiled, or at least his eyes brightened. His mouth was obscured completely by the mask he wore. “I'm Doctor Zero Patients.”
“Zero Patients, huh?” Half Mile raised an eyebrow, “not a very good name for a doctor.”
“Ah, well,” Dr. Zero tossed his head and rolled his eyes, “I'd like to think my parents had a sense of humor. Now what exactly are you here for? You both look alarmingly healthy.”
“Brick told us you might know something about Nine Toes,” Crimson Starlight said, cutting to the chase. “What can you tell us?”
Dr. Zero looked between the two newcomers, his expression inquisitive, “and what might you do with that information?”
“We're looking to get to New Haven,” Half Mile explained bluntly. “Now can you tell us about him or not?”
“Hmmm,” Dr. Zero narrowed his eyes a moment before shrugging, “all I know is that he's holed himself up in Skag Gully. Well, I say holed up, but in all honesty it was our own TK who trapped him there. Brought down half the canyon to lock Nine Toes inside. A real piece of work that was.”
It took all of Half Mile's self control not to scream angrily, instead his features softened dramatically and his voice took on a sickly soothing tone, “alright then, if Nine Toes is out of reach, what exactly are we supposed to do?”
“I never said he was out of reach,” Dr. Zero disagreed, “all you'd have to do is convince TK to give you the detonation code for the TNT he has hidden around there. If everything works in your favor, it might just reopen the canyon.”
“Even if we could open the canyon, we still don't know where to find Nine Toes,” Crimson added, “is there any way to find that out?”
“Possibly,” this time it was Brick who spoke. “Soon after TK closed off Skag Gully, a small outpost of bandits appeared just over the rise outside of town. From what we've seen, it's Nine Toes's eyes and ears since he's unable to watch Fyrestone on his own.”
“So if we somehow infiltrate the outpost, we might be able to find some information about Nine Toes,” Crimson reasoned.
“Infiltration's not my style,” Half Mile shook his head, a small smile on his lips, “but I have a better idea. We storm the place, kill the bandits, and maybe that'll draw Nine Toes out of hiding.”
“It's an option, but it could also bring down Nine Toes's wrath down on Fyrestone. And I won't let you endanger the citizens here just because you want to get to New Haven,” Brick growled, his tone dangerous. “We should at least try sneaking in first.”
“Fine,” Half Mile sighed dramatically, “but I'm not going to be within a thousand feet of that outpost. I'll cover your asses if something goes wrong.”