We had been walking for a couple hours after our escape from the raiders. Dustoff had suggested we make our way to the nearest settlement: Sanctuary. The sun had begun setting and Dust had changed our course. It was almost dark by the time we reached another dilapidated apartment building. It wasn't a huge thing, only about five stories. She lead me up to the fourth floor. Once we were there she went over to one of the rooms that still had a door still attached. A quick glow of her horn produced an audible click as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
The inside was in considerably better shape than I expected. There was a chair and a bed with an intact mattress. The window had a operable shutter on it. While the room was still a bit dirty but that was hardly surprising.
"What is this place?" I asked as Dustoff went to one of the corners and began shrugging off her saddlebags and armour.
"Safehouse. I have six scattered around the city." Dust muttered, "They're useful when I'm doing long haul deliveries across the city."
I found my way over to one of the corners and sat down. I felt a pang of hunger. I hadn't eaten since before New Alexandria. Screw it, I thought. I reached down to my right calf and opened the hollow storage spot. I pulled out one of the MREs inside. Unsealing my helmet I pulled it off and placed it beside me. I opened the MRE and began eating. I was thankful I was used to eating them, otherwise I might have thrown up.
As I ate I noticed Dustoff had sat down on the bed and was looking at me. "What?" I asked looking back at her.
"What are you?"
We talked well into the night. I regaled her with stories of human achievement, and I learned a bit about her. Turned out she was born twenty-one years ago in Sanctuary, and had learned to survive from her father who had been a courier before her. Eventually we both fell asleep.
I awoke habitually early as the sun rose. I had fallen asleep in my armour, huddled in the corner of the room while Dustoff took the bed. She was still asleep, leaving me to pass the time. I cleaned my SRS and fiddled with the bolt in one of my pistols. Eventually I tired of the guns. As I watched Dust sleep and idea popped into my head. I grinned and stood up to enact my plan.
When Dustoff woke up I was back in my corner grinning at her. "Up and at 'em Dust!" I said. She shook herself awake and glanced over at me. She froze.
Under my helmet I had a huge shit eating grin. "G-...Ghost?" She stuttered out, "Is that...?"
"Yeah its me! Like it?" I asked.
"How...?" She said in confusion, not comprehending what her eyes were telling her. Where I had once been sitting was now a white unicorn. She had a white mane and coat with lime green eyes and was clad in a ponified version of my armour with the helmet on the floor beside her. Like me she was grinning with barely hidden mirth.
A mental command made her disappear only for me to take her place. I pulled my helmet off and began explaining.
"So I scanned you into my hologram database while you were sleeping. All I had to do was recolor and make a set of pony armour like mine and voila! Then I messed around and made some modifications and effects. Took me a couple of hours but its worth it. So now I can use my Camo and go invisible. Then I project that holo in my place. I also made it so the holo will move like a second body through my neural lace. It will mimic my facial expressions and walk as I walk. Cool huh?"
"That's amazing!...Even if I don't understand half of what you said..." Dustoff muttered.
I nodded and engaged the holo again. My cloaked hand went to my thigh and I unholstered one of my magnums. To my satisfaction the holographic magnum on the pony-me's flank glowed as did the unicorns horn as if levitating and flew up to merge with the one in my hand. At that point the hologram disappeared and the real magnum decloaked. The 'magic aura' still stayed, to suggest that I was levitating it.
"Wow. If I didn't know any better I would assume you're just another unicorn." Dust muttered.
I grinned, "That's the point."
"Well that solves our biggest problem..." Dust began to explain, "The ponies of Sanctuary are a good bunch, but they're unicorn elitists. It's not like they take slaves or will kill non-unicorns, but the sheriff rarely lets non-unicorns in."
"So basically we're keeping the fact that I'm an alien secret from now on."
"It's for the best." Dustoff nodded, "Now, we need a story for why you're with me."
Sanctuary was a nice little settlement. It was built inside of a pre-war shopping mall. Stores had been turned into dwellings and whatever other living spaces the ponies needed. Dust had vouched for me at the gate. The sheriff had me take off my 'Helmet,' ostensibly to make sure I was a unicorn, saying something about not wanting any mudponies in his town. We walked through the mall for a bit before Dust lead me into a boarded up storefront.
"Home sweet home." She muttered as she unlocked the door.
The inside was actually pretty nice by wasteland standards. The floor was reasonably clean, as were the few pieces of furniture that Dust owned. There was a couch and an armchair facing each other in the corner with a coffee table between them. The other back corner had a cabinet and a small gas burner. Her kitchen it seemed. A mattress lay on the ground was nearby.
"It's not much but I'm rarely here anyway." Dust said shrugging off her saddlebags and taking a seat on the couch, "I spend more time in my safe houses while doing deliveries."
"Mmhmm." I hummed as I looked around. My eyes were scanning for possible cover, entry points and escape routes. It was a force of habit.
"Take a seat." Dust nodded to the armchair across from her, "We need to talk."
I shrugged and did so, the seat creaking under my weight. I dropped my avatar now that we were in private and took off my helmet. "And what is it we need to talk about?" I asked.
"Well…" She started, "You're far from home, and we have no spaceships or anything to get you back. I suppose I just want to know what you plan to do next."
Now that's the question of the century isn't it…I'm really stuck here…I thought to myself, What do I do? Oh just listen to me. 'What do I do?' I've made contact with a species that nuked itself into oblivion, while alone and cut off from the UNSC. I just have to follow protocol!…If I hadn't gone and broke every rule in the book already.
"I dunno," I finally said, "I have no idea what to do."
Dustoff seemed to think for a second before she spoke, "You could live with me."
"What?"
"You could live here, with me," She repeated, "If you helped me with my deliveries as a guard I could charge more for our services. I'm one of the best couriers in the city, but I'm not invincible. And my clients know that. But if you are helping me I can charge more for the extra security. That way we can both stay fed. And if you ever want to leave you can. How about it?"
I paused. There really weren't any negatives to helping Dust out. She was a good person, or pony rather, and I found myself liking her. It wasn't like I had anything better to do anyway. I smiled and shrugged. "Eh, why not."
Over the next few days we did a pair of uneventful deliveries to and from the small settlement of Eglin's Roost. It was a small griffon and pegasi settlement on the upper floors of a high rise on the opposite side the city centre. While we traveled we talked, and I learned more about Equestria. When she told me about the pegasi and Dashites I couldn't help but grit my teeth. It made me respect the pegasi of Eglin's. They left their conforable life above the clouds to help those stuck in this hell. We spent the night there before heading back to Sanctuary with a package in the morning.
We were returning to Sanctuary when the ordinance beacon I had picked up when I had arrived popped up again. We were only three kilometers away, and I quickly notified Dustoff.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Might have some ammo or weapons." I said.
"Why not. Lets go!" Dust replied. We were in a suburban neighbourhood on the very edge of the city up on the ridge, skirting the territory of a particularly nasty raider gang. We began up the road that went up the side of the ridge. Nopony was around. The road eventually curved and began to switch back up the ridge leaving the dwellings behind. By the third turn we were level with the bacon. I lead Dust off the road along the slope. We quickly reached it.
"A cave?" Dust raised her eyebrow.
"Yup." At this point I almost never turned off my unicorn avatar. To Dust it seemed that a power armoured unicorn was leading her, even though she knew better.
We made our way into the dark cave. I turned on my night vision. We hadn't gone very far in when the tunnel opened up into a larger open space.
"…Oh hell yes…" I tailed off. Dust had lit up her horn and was scanning over the contents of the cavern.
"What is this...thing?" She asked looking over the large metal thing.
I had a huge grin under my helmet as I began rattling off specs. "This 'thing' is the M831 TT, the Troop Transport Warthog. Also known as the Troop 'Hog. It weighs three tons and is powered by a 12.0 L liquid-cooled hydrogen-injected Internal Combustion Engine." I decloaked and pulled off my helmet as I began to walk around the 'Hog inspecting it. "On good terrain it'll do a hundred and twenty-five kilometres an hour. And guess what the best part is Dust?" I said looking at the unicorn. She shrugged so I continued, "A Graf/Hauptman Solar/Saline Actuator. In other words it basically runs on water. The 'Hog'll convert the water to the hydrogen that fuels it. It doesn't matter if its irradiated or clean water, it'll run on it."
"Soooooo...?" Dust asked obviously confused.
I chuckled a bit before speaking again, "Just get in!"
"Ok." She complied hopping in the passenger seat. I hopped up and checked the fuel gauge. Half a tank of water. That would be three hundred kilometers, easy. I hit the ignition and Dust jumped a bit at the sudden growl of the engine. I quickly made sure the pair of us were strapped in.
I eased on the accelerator slowly guiding the Warthog out of the tunnel before stopping just before the slope. "Ready to put this baby through her paces?" I asked with a grin before stomping on the gas.
The 'Hog leaped forward down the hill quickly picking up speed. We came off the ridge back into the suburbs very quickly and I turned down a road in the direction of Sanctuary.
"Wow! So its a carriage that powers itself!" Dust said excitedly as we bumped over rubble.
"That's one way of simplifying it." I answered.
Dustoff had a huge grin on her face as she examined the rear seating area. "Just think about how much we can carry! And how fast! This will make large deliveries a breeze!" She shouted over the wind.
I had my unicorn avatar on by the time we reached Sanctuary. It took a bit of convincing to get the guards to let us in with the 'Hog. I slowly drove through the mall to Dustoff's place and parked the Warthog. Dustoff hopped out and told me she was going to deliver the package. I nodded and went to work on putting a transponder lock on the 'Hog. That way the only way it would start is if my armour's transponder was nearby.
After I also went and visited the local mage, Tectonic Sky. For a small sum of caps he would duplicate my magazines keeping me supplied with ammo.
We quickly settled into a routine of deliveries. The Warthog was a great asset. Within a month we were doing deliveries all the way to other cities. It wasn't hard to find fuel either. We just used dirty or irradiated water that was not safe to drink. I was no mechanic but I knew a thing or two about maintaining a Warthog.
We made a killing. The speed and cargo capacity of our vehicle meant we could charge a rather large sum of caps (still don't know why bottlecaps of all things are the main currency...). For the first time, I began to enjoy my new life.
And then shit hit the fan.
We were driving through the Manehattan on the way out from Tenpony Tower when it happened. The route we were taking had been passable in the Warthog in the way in. On the way out however we found a building had been blown down onto the road. I brought the 'Hog to a stop and looked at the obstruction. It would be impossible to get the Warthog and its cargo over.
"Shit," Muttered Dustoff from the passenger seat, "this wasn't here before..."
"No it wasnt..." that's when it clicked. A roadblock. An ambush.
There was a loud explosion behind us. I looked just in time to see a second building collapse on the road behind us. We were trapped.
Then thirty or so griffons popped up in an instant on the rubble and the surrounding buildings. All training weapons on us. There I was ready to throw myself on Dust to protect her from the bullets. But none came.
One of the Griffons came out walking towards us. I got a good look at his gear. He was much better equipped than your average raider. A white symbol of a wing adorned his chest piece. I looked around and noticed all of our assailants had the same symbol somewhere on their gear.
"Mercs." Dustoff growled.
The griffon came to a stop ten meters or so from us. "Alright. Listen up you two," He growled, "It's nothing personal, but our client would very much like to attain a certain memory orb you are currently transporting. Hand it over and you can go on your way.You have two minutes."
Memory orb? I had no idea what he was talking about. Dust was the one who managed our cargo. Me and Dust exchanged a glance. I was weighing our options in my mind. At the moment the griffons thought I was a unicorn, so I could use the element of surprise. But Dust had only minimal armour, and it only took one bullet to kill.
"We should just give it to him," I said, "Its only a small lost profit. And there's too many of them for me to take on while protecting you..."
Dust seemed to think for a sec before she nodded, "I get it." She unbuckled her seat and climbed over into the back where the cargo was. She dug around for a sec before she produced a small metal box. She climbed back into the front and opened it.
Inside was a small white crystal ball. She picked it up with her magic and began levitating it towards the griffon. But when the crystal was only a meter or so out the side of the Warthog she froze. The Griffon raised an eyebrow. Dust sat stock still, the crystal still levitating.
"Uhhh...Dust?" I asked waving a holographic hoof in front of her eyes. She didn't move. The Griffon flew over and grabbed the memory orb, trying to pry it from her magical grasp. He tugged and tugged but it wouldn't move. I shook Dust trying to get her out of her strange stupor.
"Fuck it. I don't have time for this." The Griffon drew a large revolver and pointed it at Dust.
I just acted. It was over in an instant. I sat, my smoking magnum in one hand, the Griffon on the other end, his head blown apart into little red bits by my high explosive round.
Everything seemed to freeze for a second as I reacted. I dropped my camo and hologram, grabbed Dust, protecting her with my body, and I ran like hell for the nearest building to the right of the 'Hog. The Mercenaries seemed to recover their wits as bullets began flying past and pinging off my slowly recharging energy shields. The sliver of shield I had been able to get broke and alarms went off in my helmet. I felt the impacts of bullets hitting my Titanium armour. Luckily for me none penetrated, but I would have some nasty bruises to show for it.
At least until I was about to enter the ground floor. I felt a tearing impact, and I felt a dull pain blossom in my right hip. I ignored it and ducked inside. I scanned the interior. It was an old grocery store. I ran to the far side and found a janitors closet. I quickly placed the still spaced out Dustoff inside.
There was a hum as my energy shields regenerated. I drew my assault rifle. The mercs were no doubt on their way, both from across the street, and the floors above. My hip hurt whenever I put my weight on my right leg, but I could still fight with it, and that's what I intended to do. I ducked behind a customer services counter for cover and prepared myself. It was a good spot as It covered me from fire from both the main door, and a set of stairs I assumed went to the apartments upstairs.
A dot appeared on my motion tracker and I spun to face the stairs. A Griffon poked out with a rifle, scanning for me. I simply dropped her with a quick burst of fire. I heard a gunshot and a bullet went off my shields. I spun and fired at the offender, a pistol wielding griffon. He too died in a spray of his own blood.
Adrenaline cursed through me, and my heart hammered in my chest. It was abnormal for my heart rate to be so high but I payed it no mind. I had other problems. Like the dick who was flying through the air at me firing his shotgun. I gunned him down just in time to spin and crack another over the head with my rifle butt as he came flying through the air trying to tackle me. I ducked down behind the counter and quickly reloaded my rifle. I popped back up only to receive a three round burst of assault rifle fire to the face. I immediately identified the offending mercenary and fired back. She ducked back into cover before the bullets could catch her.
"Fall back! We have the Orb! Fall back!" A voice yelled form outside. Almost every griffon immediately turned tail and bolted. I caught one more trying to get out the door.
And then everything was quiet. I stood there a second longer, waiting more bullets to be fired at me. None came. I ran to the door and took a look around outside. Deserted.
I let out a sigh of relief and put away my rifle. I turned and walked back in, towards the closet I left Dust in. She was still in the strange trance. I picked her up and headed back to the Warthog. I strapped her into the passenger seat and took the wheel. I looked around and found a convenient alleyway off the the left. A quick detour and we were on our way.
It took another twenty five minutes for Dust to snap out of her trance with a sharp intake of breath. She looked around, seemingly confused for a moment before her eyes settled on me. My hip hurt like a bitch.
"Oh my Celestia! Ghost what happened!?" She burst out. It was hardly surprising. I had griffon blood on several spots on white armour. "Your flank!"
That got my attention, "What?" I looked down. "Oh...shit."
Just below my belt was a hole in the black titanium weave under-suit. It was soaked in blood, and you could see bloody red flesh underneath, as well as bits of my hip bone. It was bleeding pretty badly. I stopped the 'hog and immediately opened the glove box and grabbed the trauma kit inside. I got out a biofoam canister and flipped it open. I placed the nozzle in my wound and filled it with the white foam. I let out a sigh of relief as the painkillers did their work.
"There." I muttered and began driving again.
"So after I accidentally accessed the Memory orb what happened?" Dustoff asked.
After I finish recounting the firefight I asked Dust why she had spaced out. It turned out that Dust had accidentally accessed the memory orb while levitating it. "It had the memories of some prewar archeologist. He was searching for some super weapon. A buried vault of weapons and war machines. Enough to turn the tide of the war. The memory orb had the location of his lab."
"And someone wants that info. They want the weapons." I realized.
"Yup." Dust said, "For the record I think after you've healed up we should go after this…vault. Who knows what they could do in the wrong hooves?"
"I really don't know Dust." I muttered, "I really don't know…"