Fallout Equestria: Icicle

Cygnus, Cora, and I set off to Ponyville in the morning. After a few hours, we reach the town. Much of the fortifications the raiders put up remain, but the townsfolk seem to have fortified them a bit more and repaired what the Rangers destroyed in their assault. The gates to the town are open and a single guard is standing watch on top of the wall.

        They don’t say anything as we enter, but keep an eye on us. It seems like only the area inside the walls is inhabited, I didn’t see any one wondering around outside. But inside the walls, it is just like a normal town. Well, a normal wasteland town. I see a few guards, at least ponies with armor and weapons, walking around amidst the others.

        A few are standing around talking. I approach one of the guards. “Excuse me, do you have a moment?” I ask the buck. He stops walking and turns to me, looking me over.

        “How can I help you miss?” He asks. “You’re a traveler, right? Or perhaps you are looking for residence?”

        “Just a traveler. Does anyone in town trade? I’m looking for ammo and a spark battery,” I tell him.

        He nods and gestures toward a building. It has a...cap? Painted on the front, near the doorway. “Ingot is currently our only trader. He sells a little bit of everything. Not sure if he has any spark batteries, but if anyone does, it will be him,” he tells me.

        “Thanks,” I reply. “Also, who’s in charge here? Like, a guard captain or town leader?” I ask. “I need to get some information.”

        “Gunsmoke is who you want then. He’s in the town hall, organizes the guard and is the defacto leader,” he tells me.

        “Alright, thank you very much,” I say and begin to walk away. But he speaks up again before I get too far.

        “Miss, mind your manners. We might be a small town, but each one of us serves in the guard. All of us are trained to fight and protect the town, even the children. They just don’t serve in the guard yet. So if you are thinking of starting any trouble, think twice,” He tells me sternly.

        Now that he mentions it, all the ponies I’ve seen don’t seem like normal civilians. They have a certain air about them, like they are keeping an eye out for trouble. “Don’t worry,” I tell him, “I’m just here for trade and information.” He nods and continues on his way.

        So, Gunsmoke and Ingot. I suppose I should see Gunsmoke first, see if there is anything I can do to earn some quick caps. Not to mention, I want to get information as soon as possible. Cygnus and I make our way to the town hall. It is a lot cleaner and less filled with bodies than when I last visited. Though, I’d be concerned if they left things as they were.

        A unicorn mare is sitting behind the desk in the lobby and I notice a guard standing near the stairs. They both turn their attention to us as we walk in. I approach the mare and say, “Hey, I was wondering if I could talk to Gunsmoke?” She eyes me carefully with her blue eyes.

        “Applying for residence, or are you here for something else?” The crimson coated mare replies.

        “I was looking to get some info, and perhaps see if I can help out any?” I suggest. She narrows her eyes, but nods.

        “Very well, go on up. I’ll let him know you are coming,” She tells me, gesturing to the stairs.

        “Thank you,” I say and head for the stairs. Cygnus and I make our way up to the mayor’s office, and I knock on the door.

        “Come in,” A gruff voice calls from inside the room. I open the door and we step inside. The office is much like I left it, aside from a new, relatively speaking, couch in the room. A gray earth pony buck sits behind the desk and glares at us as we approach. We get about halfway to him and he says, “That’s far enough.”

        He looks each of us over in turn, lingering on me the longest. After a moment, he speaks up again, “Eve tells me you want some info and are looking for work. Is that so?” I nod. He adjusts his sitting position placing a hoof to his chin. “You wouldn’t happen to be Labcoat, would you?” He asks.

        “I prefer Ratchet, but that’s what the DJ calls me. I take it you’ve listened to him on the radio?” I ask.

        “You could say that. Well, Ratchet, you and your associate, take a seat,” He tells me, nodding to the couch. As we make our way to it, he continues. “That DJ’s broadcasts are a double edged sword. Sure they get us more traffic from ponies looking for trade or a place to call home, but it also tells raiders where to find us,” He says, shaking his head.

        “Has that been much of an issue?” I ask him as I sit down.

        “Not particularly, only a hoofful of raiders have come so far, and the whole town is trained in combat. But, enough about that. I’m Gunsmoke, the...leader, chief, whatever you want to call it, of Ponyville now. I suppose I somewhat owe you for clearing this place out,” Gunsmoke says with a smirk.

        “Not at all,” I tell him. “They were raiders, I couldn’t just let them continue hurting ponies.” He chuckles at that.

        “Too bad not everyone shares your sentiment. Plenty just run the other way instead of helping another. But, you want info, and a job perhaps? So, how can I help you?” He says with a serious expression.

        “Well, before we jump into that, I’m curious how you all found your way to Ponyville in the first place,” I ask him.

        “Not a pleasant story, but what the hay. Most of us lived in a town out west near a railway junction, we called it Railyard. Was essentially where maintenance was done on trains before the war. Well, one day some raiders came in force. Gave us an ultimatum. Join them, or die. Well, we didn’t rightly want to join them, and we didn’t want to die. So we hunkered down and fought,” Gunsmoke explains.

        “Though back then, I was only in charge of a hoofful of guards, and the mayor and I never saw eye to eye. Long story short, most of the town got slaughtered when the raiders broke through the rear. I managed to rally the guards that remained and we got away with a few civilians,” He tells me.

        “We went east from there, and eventually got here. Once we found this place, I took charge and threw down a declaration that everyone who lives here must know how to fight. With the small amount of us left, we would need everyone to do just to keep watch around the clock. No one argued, I think they learned the mistake of having only specific ponies knowing how to fight,” Gunsmoke shakes his head.

        “Place was gruesome when we got here though, but I think you know that. We cleaned it up, and fortified it a bit, and here we are now. But you’re not here for a history lesson. Shall we get down to business?” He asks.

        I nod. “First of all, you’ve heard of Grimoire, right?” I ask, he nods. “I’m looking for information on him and his army. ‘Discordia’ he calls it. Have you heard or seen anything about them?” I ask. Gunsmoke raises an eyebrow.

        “Discordia, you say?” He asks. “If I remember correctly, the raiders that attacked our town yelled something like that. Never heard the name Grimoire mentioned by them though. He might not have been there himself,” He mutters.

        I blink in surprise. I didn’t expect him to have run directly into Discordia. “And you said Railyard was west of here?” I ask, he nods. “I wonder. Does that mean his base of operations is west of Canterlot?” I mutter.

        “I don’t know,” Cygnus chimes in. “If that is the case, his army went pretty far to hit that town near Hollow Shades. As of this moment, we know four locations he has attacked. Railyard, Ponyville, Stable 36, and that town near Hollow Shades. Most are west, but it is hard to say with just four places,” He says.

        Gunsmoke nods. “Your friend is right. For all we know, he could be inside Canterlot mountain, up north, down south, Everfree maybe. But they are too spread out. Unless he has enough raiders to cover almost all the wasteland, he has to be based somewhere,” Gunsmoke says.

        Thinking back to the raider dead in 36, and the fact Grimoire said he could have brought more, I really hope he doesn’t have a massive army covering the wasteland. “Maybe they were just the gangs he has absorbed, and not his primary force?” I suggest. “He does pose as a trader, so he has gotten around. Maybe all the gangs he absorbs doesn’t necessarily join with his main force, but remains in their area to strengthen his hold there?”

        “If that is the case, he will be even harder to pin down,” Gunsmoke says. “I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. I want this bastard dead for what he did to Railyard, but we aren’t an army or anything. We can ask travelers about him, but we don’t have the resources to search around,” He says.

        I shake my head. “Yea, that is for the best. I don’t expect you to help fight him, I just want to know where he’s at,” I tell him.

        Gunsmoke rubs his chin. “Keep listening to that DJ. His informants come through here often enough. If I get any info on Grimoire or Discordia, I can pass it along to him. You’ll be able to hear it that way,” he tells me.

        “Right,” I say. This isn’t a huge step to finding Grimoire, but it is a step in the right direction. I didn’t expect to find his location right away, so finding any information is better than none. “Switching subjects, would you happen to have any work? I could use some caps for some ammo and what not,” I ask him.

        Gunsmoke looks thoughtful for a moment. “There isn’t much, but I think Ingot, our trader is working on a couple of automated turrets. We managed to bring two with us from Railyard, both pretty damaged. If you think you can help him out with those, I’m sure he’ll give you a discount or something,” He informs me.

        I nod. “That sounds just up my alley. I need to see Ingot anyhow, so that’ll work out. Alright,” I get up from the couch. “I’ll be going now, but I’ll stop by another time,” I tell him.

        “Sounds good. Just let Eve know when you stop by, I’ve got plenty of work to do here, between fixing things up, managing resources, and training the guards, so I won’t always be in the office,” Gunsmoke tells me.

        “Of course,” I nod. “Till next time,” I say and Cygnus and I make our way to the door. Gunsmoke bids us a final farewell as I close it behind us. “Alright, to Ingot’s I guess,” I mutter as we descend the stairs.

        “Gunsmoke seems like a decent buck,” Cynus says. “Has a tactful mind as well. Though, I’d find his willingness to help us odd, if not for his previous town being overrun.”

        I nod in agreement. “Yea, Grimoire is a threat, and Gunsmoke knows it. I’m not entirely sure of his intentions, but if he’s willing to help us look for Grimoire, I don’t mind too much. Anyhow, let’s go fix up some turrets!” I declare. Cygnus just chuckles in reply.

        “You’re here about the turrets then?” Ingot asks in confirmation. He is an eccentric older buck. His mane and beard gray with age and his brown coat is shedding in places. “Very well, come and take a look. Can’t figure them out myself, but if you think you can get them running have at ‘em,” He says, leading us to the back of his shop.

        Ingot’s shop is a regular home, just with tables full of stuff in the living room that is right inside the door. Behind a few tables made to look like a counter, we enter into the kitchen. I doubt anything is actually cooked here anymore, however. Parts and tools cover the counters, and on the table in the center of the room are two turrets.

        Honestly, it is more of a workshop than a kitchen. I can see odd combinations of guns and strange machines on the counter, all half built, or half taken apart? I can’t really tell which. “What is all this….stuff?” I ask him, avoiding calling it junk.

        “Just some of my tinkerings,” Ingot explains. “I’m something of an inventor. Though, when it comes to high-tech fancy gizmos like magical components or complicated electronics, I’m a bit out of my element.”

        “Why are you working on the turrets then? Isn’t someone else more qualified?” I ask. Ingot walks over to the turrets, eyeing them suspiciously.

        “Used to be, back in Railyard. But now, I’m the only folk in town who’s good with his hooves, when it comes to tinkering, anyhow,” He replies. “I fixed up most of the hull damage, but the inner working really get my goat, so to speak.”

        “I see,” I mutter, stepping up to the turrets and looking at them. I’ve never seen this model of turret before. It is basically a cylinder on a tripod with a barrel pointing out of one side. Though, my experience with turrets is pretty minimal to begin with. Mostly ceiling mounted turrets, really.

        Ingot opens a compartment on one of the turrets, exposing the interior components. Lots of wires, a few spell matrices, that’s the targeting talisman...I look more closely at the wiring. “Did you happen to rewire this one?” I ask him.

        “Yes ma’am. Was a hell of a job too, this turret got shot up quite a bit, cut most of the wires in half. No idea if they are going where they need to be, or if I added extra wires,” He replies. Yea, that makes sense.

        “Ok, let me see here…” I trail off as I grab some wires in my magic and begin to trace them. I run into ends that aren’t hooked up a few times. After a few minutes, I basically start pulling out useless wires. “Did you just throw wires in here?” I ask him with irritation.

        “Well, I wasn’t exactly sure when a wire was split in two or when it was just disconnected. So I kind of took all the lengths of wire and replaced them with a new one,” ingot explains.

        “Yea...I’m pretty sure half of these aren’t even,” I pause as I yank out a ball of wires. Not attached to anything, mind you. “Scratch that, most of these wires aren’t even necessary,” I finish. “Can you get me some glue?” I ask, looking at the roomy interior. “And some tape, perhaps?”

        Ingot goes to a counter and gets a bottle of wonderglue and some duct tape. “Thanks,” I say. “Now then, this goes here...and this one here, I think this goes here. Cora, any thoughts? No? Ok. Uhh…” I trail off as I glue and tape some wires, making them run more efficiently through the casing.

        After a few minutes, I think I’m finished. “Ok, try switching it on?” I suggest. Ingot nods, and hits a button on it. It shudders and begins to vibrate. Then, it slows down and starts to sweep the barrel back and forth. “I think it’s working. Right?” I ask him in confirmation.

        “Should be. We’ll need to hook it to a terminal and add some targeting info to it, but that’s Gunsmoke’s knowledge base. He’s also got the ammo,” Ingot chuckles. “Dono why he didn’t trust me with it.” I can’t imagine why.

        “On to the next one then,” I mutter and open the casing of the other turret. I narrow my eyes as I look inside. “Did you take wires from this one and put them in the other one?” I ask Ingot.

        “Yep. I figured if I couldn’t get them both working, I might as well try for one,” He replies.

        “Well, that explains why there are no wires in here at all. I look at the working turret’s insides and compare them with the empty one. “At least all the major components are here. Though...Do you have any circuit boards?” I ask him.

        He looks around the kitchen, wanders back into the living room and shouts back, “Got two!”

        “Bring me one,” I call back out to him. “What a pain,” I mutter. The first turret was just a wiring issue, this one seems to just be missing a circuit board and all of its wires. Ingot brings in the circuit board and I hook it into the turret. “Ok, give me like 30 minutes and I’ll have this one working too,” I declare and set to work.

        Thirty minutes later, filled with a lot of comparing the other turret to this one, and I manage to get this one running as well. “Alright Ingot, the turrets are up and running!” I declare. He inspects the work and nods in approval.

        “Now, I think you mentioned Gunsmoke said I should give you a discount?” He asks, I nod. “Alright, 10% off everything,” Ingot says.

        “Ten percent?” I ask disappointedly. Well, I mean it wasn’t like the job was that hard.

        Ingot looks at me curiously, pulling at his beard. “I suppose I can also part with one item for free, if ya want. Regardless of price. Help yourself,” he tells me with a slight grin.

        Well, that is  better than nothing, I suppose. I nod and begin poking around the tables. Spark battery, spark battery...Here! Wait, not, that one’s dead. I look through the contents of three more tables before I find one. “I’ll take this,” I tell him, holding up the spark battery.

        “Very well,” Ingot nods. “Anything else I can help ya with?” He asks. I explain I’m looking for ammo of the 5.56 and .308 variety. He pulls out some ammo cases from under one of the tables and opens them up. Tons of bullets are in both, thankfully sorted according to type, unlike the tables with stuff laying on them randomly.

        “How much for each round?” I ask him, hoping that it isn’t too expensive.

        “Well, a 10% discount is fairly hard to apply to ammo, unless they are rockets. I’ll just take a cap off each. That’ll be 3 caps per 5.56 round and 5 caps per .308 round,” Ingot decides with a nod.

        That’s not too awfully bad. Shouldn’t need a lot of .308, and Cora should be more accurate than me anyhow, I hope anyway. “I’ll go with forty rounds of .308 and, let’s say three hundred rounds of 5.56?” I tell him. He nods and starts counting them out, one by one.

        “One...two...three...four…” Ingot says, setting them on the counter as he goes. It is agonizingly slow. After a while though, he reaches 40 rounds of .308. I give him the 200 caps and he gives me the ammo. He then starts counting out the 5.56 rounds.

        I stop him as he gets to three. “Say, how much for just the entire case of 5.56?” I ask him, really not wanting to stand around waiting for him to count to three hundred. I pulls at his beard as he inspects the case.

        “I’d put it around five thousand caps,” he tells me with a nod.

        “Five thousand? There is no way there are one thousand five hundred some rounds in that case,” I shout. He just raises an eyebrow.

        “Well, you said you wanted the whole case. Ammo is 3 caps each, but the case itself is more than three thousand,” he says.

        “Wait, wait, wait, you were figuring the cost of the case into the total? I don’t want the case, just all the ammo in it. And why is the case worth that much?” I stammer.

        “It is a very nice case,” Ingot mutters. I hear Cygnus snicker behind me. “You should have said you only wanted the ammo in the first place,” he tells me, looking at the case once more. “I guess around one thousand two hundred for all the rounds?” He says. “That’s with the discount,” he adds.

        That would amount to around 400 rounds, if we cost each one at 3 caps each. “Deal,” I tell him. I give him the caps, and pour the rounds into my bags. Using my PipBuck’s inventory manager, I see the number of rounds is 413. I think for a moment, and count out 39 more caps, and give them to Ingot. “There were 413 rounds in the case, don’t want to rip you off, you know,” I tell him.

        He gives me a smile and he sweeps of caps into a sack. Well, now I’m basically broke. I’ll have to find some place to loot, or some way to earn some caps. But for now, I got all I need to fix up that armor! I bid Ingot farewell and Cygnus and I leave his shop.

        “Well, this was a pretty productive day. Relatively normal, compared to the previous week,” Cygnus says. “We didn’t get shot at, do any shooting, nor did we discover the scene of a massacre.”

        I groan. “Don’t jinx it. I mean come on, who points out how normal a day has been? Especially now. Hell, especially since our definition of normal is back before the war. Something bad is going to happen now, I just know it,” I mutter, shaking my head.

        Cygnus chuckles. “I didn’t take you for the superstitious type,” he teases. “Black cats creep you out too? What about walking under ladders?”

        “Yea, keep laughing. But I’d rather not tempt the wasteland. With all the crazy stuff we’ve seen, who knows, maybe some of those superstitions came true,” I tell him as we exit Ponyville.

        He smirks. “I’ll tell you what, if something happens, I’ll buy you a drink or something,” Cygnus says.

        I snort. “Yea, with whose caps? I don’t remember you picking any up, nor selling stuff,” I reply.

        “I could always just summon some stuff to sell and make some caps that way,” He chuckles.

        I frown at him. “Absolutely not. That’s basically stealing,” I tell him sternly.

        He sticks out his tongue. “I was only joking, Ratchet. No need to get so heated,” He says. We keep chatting as we walk, and soon reach the foothills of the mountain. We start climbing our way up, when a bright light suddenly blinds me.

        I raise my left leg to shield my eyes as I yell, “Damn it Cygnus, what did you do?”

        “You mean that wasn’t you?” Cygnus replies. “I can’t see shit.” For a few moments we argue back and forth, but a deep laugh suddenly erupts from close by. I blink a few times as my vision begins to clear and return to normal. It is still a bit spotty, but I can make out another figure near us.

        The outline is that of a pony. My vision slowly gets better as the figure approaches. I quickly realize this isn’t good and begin to draw my pistol from its holster. But as I do so, the figure get right up in front of me, causing me to hesitate. At that moment, my vision clears enough to see the figure.

        Brown coat, gray mane, and the red piercing eyes. “Grimoire…” I mutter as my eyes grow wide. His mouth twists into a smile.

        “Hello, Ratchet,” Grimoire replies venomously. With those words, his horn flashes again, but instead of blinding light, all I see is darkness.