Fallout Equestria: Aces High

by Vinyl Scoot

Ch. 1: Dante's Inferno

Ch 1: Dante’s Inferno

“I think I’ve finally got your location, sir.”

“Good. I’ve been dying to leave for years.”

“How exactly am I going to do this without causing suspicion?”

“Why would it cause suspicion? Oh, I’m not in your territory, am I?”

“No, sir. Just out, I’m afraid. Sending troops to get you might be seen as a provocation.”

“Make it seem innocent. Or just invade anyway, Hell, I’m itching for another war. It’s been too long since the last one.”

“I had a shipment interrupted by number five. The merchant is on the run. I could lead him to your location and say he’s-”

“Five will see right through that, but it will have to do. Just get me out of here.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

************

Boredom.

As the only pegasus living in Cormount, ponies have always shunned me. None of them are impressed that I can fly around the sky while they remain rooted in the ground. So I’ve spent most of my time reading. I’ve read every book in the Cormount library. Twice. Not saying much when you consider there are only sixty books in it.

Of course, when I wasn’t reading, I spent my time heading my one-pony thieves’ guild.

I trotted through the many alleys in the bad part of town, my dark blue coat camouflaging in the dark shadows. I slowed down as I approached a particularly dark zone and pulled a trench coat out of my saddlebags. Being an outcast in the bad part of town is never a good thing, so I try to hide my wings and cutie mark. This city is probably the only place in Equestria where having wings could make me so special, it becomes my cutie mark. Its near-glowing white stuck out a lot against my dark blue coat as well. I snuck around the corner, took a quick glance both directions. The orphanage wasn’t very educational, but it taught me one very important thing. Always look both directions. Not many other ponies figured that out.

I found the ladder I was looking for and zipped up it. Now I was in my element. I took off my trenchcoat and ungraciously stuffed it in my saddlebags. Why I took it out for the two seconds to get up here, I’ll never know, but better safe than sorry as I’ve always thought. I flipped my wings out (how I love that feel) and leapt to the next building. I knew better than to fly; guard ponies are always on the lookout for me flying. Just jealous. I am the only pegasus in Cormount anyway.

I landed a few buildings from where I leaped and peeked over the edge. Good. No ponies. I pulled a grappling hook I found near the Stable in the park out of my saddlebags and hooked it to the gutter in the building. I grabbed the rope with my mouth and hopped down, stopping halfway down the building. I snuck a look through the nearby window. Good, the family was asleep. I tied the rope around my hoof and fished out a screwdriver and lockpick from my saddlebags. A few seconds later and the window was open a crack. I eased it open and slipped inside.

A cursory look at the room told me the family was not one of the richer families in the city. A shame. They were the ones who needed to be robbed. I untied myself from the grappling hook and left it hanging out the window. I froze when I heard a loud snort, but relaxed when I realized it was a snore. I tiphooved over to the main room.

“Jackpot,” I whispered to myself.

The room was full of vases and urns. Several looked expensive, which was fine by me. I went around the room, looking in them, knowing that they would notice if I just stole all of them. That’s when I saw the safe. I couldn’t conceal my excitement as I began to pick the lock. Fuck. My pin broke. I looked in my saddlebags and saw I was clean out. I took another look at the safe and sighed. Looks like I was doing this the old-fashioned way. I stuck my ear to the door and twisted the lock with my hoof. Few minutes later, the safe was opened and the money inside was preparing to be spent on another meal for me.

That’s when I heard hoofsteps.

I closed the safe quietly and leapt to the nearest wall, trying my best to look like a plant. This was difficult, mostly because most plants don’t have wings. Or are blue. Or are still smiling like an idiot from the amount of money it just stole. The pony whose house I was robbing sleepily walked around the room. He yawned and blinked a few time. He glanced around the room before shrugging (can ponies shrug?) and heading back to his room. I breathed a sigh of relief. With my new money in hand, I snuck back to the window I came in and climbed my rope back to the roof.

I gathered my rope up and took a look at the sky. Cloudy. It was always cloudy here. When I asked the ponies at the orphanage about it, they told me some bullshit story about how there’s no sky and only clouds. The other ponies bought it. Fucking morons. I knew better; part of being as well-read as I could be in this deadbeat town.

Although...

I sat and looked at the town. My town. I may not like anypony here, or be wanted, but this was my town. Nopony knew it better than me. I’d explored everything from the Stable in the park to Town Hall at the entrance to town. I wasn’t allowed outside. Nopony was. Only merchants were allowed in. But, as I thought about it, the town wouldn’t be the same without the gang fighting at night. Just not the same without the pompous stuck up aritstoponies in the rich district, uneducated orphanage ponies, or the slow to react guard ponies around town.

Speaking of which...

“You there! Winger! Get off that fucking roof before I shoot you down!”

I sighed. Looks like reflecting time was over. I turned and dashed to the next roof. To the next. The feel of the air through my unkempt, blue hair was enough to make me love flying. My wings shot out and I was in the air. I did a few loop the loops and landed on the roof of a restaurant. Throwing my trench coat over my wings, I leapt off the roof and landed gracefully in the alley. I strutted out to the front of the food place and walked in the door.

I nodded at the pimply fry cook, Fries. Another pony bullied, he was one of the few ponies here decent to me. I mosied over to the cash register and shot the mare there a flirty grin. Like she would sleep with me. “Well hello there, Gorgeous. How are you this fine day?”

Gorgeous was a pink unicorn filly with a bit cutie mark. Most ponies would think she’s a banker, but in this town, that’s a cashier. I’d been after her for years, but she was not in a flirty kind of mood now. Never was with me. “It’s night, Ace. What do you want? And you better have bits this time, because I’m done taking I.O.U’s.” Ouch. Shot down again. Not a good feeling for a pegasus.

“You wound me, Gorgeous. I always pay you, eventually. And even if I don’t, what about ponies like Panther? You always let them give you I.O.U’s.” I knew I had her there.

“They always pay me what they owe. Any money you give me always turns out to be hot. I doubt you’ve actually earned any money by working your whole life.”

I was beginning to get angry. “That’s horseshit! I know Panther’s never given you money in his life for his food. Why am I so different?”

She stared at me furiously. “I said he paid me back. I didn’t necessarily say with money.” Oh. OOOHHHH... shit.

It hit me and I threw on another flirty grin. “Well, why don’t we have the same agreement? I’m sure I could pay you pack much better than Panther...”

She stamped her hoof down. “You think this is a fucking porno you weirdo? I wouldn’t fuck a virgin like you if you were the last fucking pony in the fucking city! Go fuck yourself before I call the guards on you!” Ow. My pride.

“Alright alright, sheesh. In all seriousness, can I get a fried daisy sandwich? I do have money today.” This seemed to satisfy her, and she barked the order back to Fries. A couple minutes later, I was sitting at a booth, slowly eating my daisies, discreetly looking at Gorgeous’s flank. I watched a few late working ponies come in and order. I watched with disgust as some of them flirted with Gorgeous... and she flirted back! It struck me how much of an outcast being a pegasus here really made me. I finished my food and left.

A few minutes of aimless wandering found me in the Cormount park. Right in front of the Stable. Nopony in town had figured out how to open it, which was fine by me. Ponies in town told stories of the cruel tricks they played in the Stables, and our town was vigilant in case it ever opened. I looked at the opening mechanism near the door and sighed. There was probably nopony in there knowing the town’s luck. We were situated at the most northern part of the Wild North. An isolationist town in an isolationist region. Visitors were rare.

Which was why I didn’t notice the sprite-bot float in front of me.

I yelled and jumped back a couple feet. Usually I can hear those things coming a mile away! However this one seemed to be silent. Curious. I creeped over to it and gave it a poke.

“Watch it!” it yelled at me. Whoosh! Another couple feet back. “Sorry, I was waiting for you to notice me and drifted to another bot. Hello there, Ace. My name... well, call me Watcher.”

I stared at it. Since when do they talk? “Um, hello Watcher? Why do you know my name? Who are you? Why are you here? And why the fuck is that bot not playing that annoying music?” I shot off as many questions as I could. I really hated March of the Parasprites. And I really didn’t care for music in general. Not unless somepony made something with real musicality in it.

Watcher was quick in answering. “I know your name because I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a few days now. You may just be the backup I was looking for... if my primary plan doesn’t work...” it trailed off a minute. Do bots think? “As for who I am, well, I’m Watcher. I watch everything in the Wasteland.”

I interrupted him. “Wasteland? Looks pretty clean to me up here. Nothing to make us need this Stable anyway...”

Watcher hesitated before answering. “Well, it’s a lot worse down south and, well, everywhere else. Anyway, I’m here to ask you for a favor. As I said, you may be the backup I’m looking for. But you need to get out of here. You’re going to get yourself killed.” Was it rack on Ace day today or something? Celestia Almighty, everypony...bot... body was piling it on me. “Get some supplies and get out of town. Make some friends, hell, I’m under a lot of pressure. Normally, I’m not like this, but I’ve got stuff to do.”

I snorted. “Friends in this city? The only pony that’s decent to me is Fries, and only when nopony else is around. Might as well be asking Gorgeous to stop fucking everypony without wings. Also, weapons? They slow me down. I need my lightness to make money to live. Lastly, stop stealing? You want me to die? Fuck off, Watcher, before I turn your little bot into a set of braces.”

Watcher was silent for a minute. I heard some mumbling that sounded like “...even the crazy one’s nicer than this” but I soon heard... throat clearing? “I’m sorry to hear that. Good luck, Ace, and may next time we cross, you sing a different tune.” And with that, the March began playing. I watched it fly off. I hated those things. When one came by as I was breaking in a house, it brought attention to me. Well, whatever. I sighed and turned around. And was face to face with a dark purple buck grinning evily at me, his two cronies, Bonecrusher and Stronghoof, skulking in the shadows behind him.

Just what I needed right now.

“Well hey there, Winger. Got a word from Gorgeous that you was bothering her. Now why would you do something like that?” he cackled.

“None of your business, Panther, I was just trying to get a little flank,” I muttered, trying to keep my voice steady while slowly backing up.

“Well, I’m making it my business. She says you left without paying again. And she wants that money bad. So I’m here to take it from you, and she don’t care if she never see you again.”

I crouched to a fighting stance. “Bring it on, Panther, I ain’t afraid of you.”

He charged at me. Predictable. I jumped in the air and flew over to one of the benches in the park. Stronghoof ran at me, holding a large pipe in his mouth. I leapt to my right and rolled out of the way. The bench I was standing one cracked in half. Shit. I turned and saw Bonecrusher had a fire axe handle while Panther pulled out a golf club. There was heavy shit all around the city. I took off, flying low to the ground to avoid being noticed by the guards. I knew the second I flew too high or attacked one of the three back, they’d be on me like parasprites on an apple tree.

My mind raced as I weaved through the trees and bushes, glancing back every now and then to assess my position. Holy fuck, they were gaining. I took a breath and did a vertical u-turn. Now I was flying towards them. Right as I passed in between Bonecrusher and Stronghoof, they swung their respective weapons at me. The satisfying clunk of them hitting each other brought a smile to my face. I turned to look at their howls of pain and misery when I realized I’d forgotten somepony.

Then pain. Lots and lots of pain.

I crashed to the ground, skidding a couple metres on the gravelly path. I quickly retracted my wings, knowing how much these ponies hated them. Though probably the strongest muscle in the pegasus body, it would probably be their first target. I looked up fearfully, my left forehoof throbbing painfully, as Panther walked up to me, his cronies still disoriented in the background.

“Well look at the big pegasus stallion now. Can’t fly away? We don’t need you around here. We don’t want you around here. And Gorgeous never wants to see you again.” He swung his club down on my head and I heard a large crack. Stars flew across my vision and I tasted blood in my mouth. “You don’t deserve to die quickly, ya fucking winger. I’ll show you.” He swung the club down between my back legs. I felt a few millennia of unimaginable, unbearable pain. I’d never prayed for death in my life, but I shot up one to merciful Celestia. My vision cleared enough to see Panther pull up for another swing.

Then my prayer was answered.

The sprite-bot from earlier buzzed right in front of Panther’s eyes and he lost his balance, giving me a distraction. I forced my wings open and took off. No point in avoiding death by guards if the alternative is death by assholes. I landed quickly on a nearby rooftop and ducked behind the edges. I took a few deep breaths and examined the damage. Blood all over my face. My left eye was still blurry. I took one last deep breath and looked down. Oddly enough, it didn’t look too bad, though it stung like a bitch. I gave it a tender push with my hoof and felt another sharp rush of pain. However it was more diminished than the previous ones, so I relaxed. I stood up and stretched my legs. More pain. Okay, maybe I’m not so hot. I dug into my saddlebags, hoping to find a healing potion. Haha! Success! I quickly drank it and felt the warmth in my nether regions fade away.

“So thought about what I said?”

I whirled around and fell flat on my face. Ouch. Bad pony, don’t try to exert yourself, you were just nearly gelded with a golf club. Try not to think about that. “You saved my life,” I whispered. My voice wasn’t where it was an hour ago.

“I was merely trying to give you enough time to think about what I said. Had you died, I would have wasted my time. I’d rather not do that, though none of my experiments have been successful yet... though I have high hopes for this new one...” Watcher trailed off thoughtfully. I attempted to stand up again, but gravity decided I was still its bitch. I thought I heard a chuckle from the bot, but I had a feeling I was still a little loopy.

“Okay, fine,” I replied. After several minutes of struggling, I decided I was comfortable lying in a heap. This was actually comfortable. Having my back legs near my head and my front twisted in a knot behind me, I snorted out laughter at how I thought I looked. “I hope you can forgive me for not wanting to be friends with the assholes I know around here.”

Watcher floated there, probably thinking about what I said. “Fair enough. In that case, you may want to leave the city. If you do, head South to a little place called Tin Town. It was a mining town and it may have something for you to do.” I nodded. But for now, I thought, let’s just get some rest.

**************

Several nights later, I was creeping through the back alleys in town, my saddlebags filled with newly stolen medkits and my trench coat pulled tight across my back. My lack of bobby-pins kept me from opening them, but hey, you never know. I slipped out of the alley and began a casual walk to my house. Then I noticed something very peculiar.

A book.

I changed course and sauntered over to it. I was always looking for new books. The title read “Wasteland Survival Guide” by somepony named Ditzy Doo. I slid it into my saddlebags, thinking I’d get a chance to read it when I got home. That’s when it hit me. Well two things. One, why would someone leave something like this laying around? And two, the apparent owner of the book.

“Oof!” I grunted as I slid across the sidewalk. This seemed oddly familiar...

“What do you think you’re doing stealing my book?” I heard from my left. My face grew cold as I imagined Panther standing over me with a golf club. I looked over and saw a stallion staring daggers at me.

“I haven’t read it yet, so I picked it up! I’ll give it back!” I yelled without thinking. I may be a clever pony, but I do NOT do well under pressure. And I wasn’t in any shape for a fight right then. That’s when I noticed his aggressive stance had eased slightly.

“...You were going to give it back?” he asked slowly, making me realize he wasn’t used to common courtesy.

I examined the stallion. He was a white earth pony with unkempt blood-red hair and weird blue feet. Why was I giving him courtesy again? I wasn’t expecting any in return to be honest. That’s when I realized something; he wasn’t calling me a winger and trying to murder me. I already wanted him to be my best friend.

“You’re not from around here are you?” I questioned while steadying myself up. I noted the scratch on my leg as I pulled the book back out of my saddlebags. As I turned to get a better look at him, I realized he had a cutie mark I’d never seen before: some blue paper with drawings on them.

“Well, no, I was actually here for trade, but it seems nopony here wants my wares,” he sheepishly said, his eyes lowering. “If you want, I could sell that to you... I really need the caps!” he finished with a hopeful look over at me.

“I think I have a few bits on me...” I began

“No, no, those things are worthless in the Wasteland,” he said shaking his head furiously making his red mane fly everywhere. He sighed and looked around the empty street. “I knew it was a bad idea to come out this far... Pride is going to kill me if I don’t pay him... stupid isolated villages.” It looked like he was talking to himself so I replaced the book inside my bags.

“Well, I may have something you might want... what do you need?” I tried to helpfully ask.

“Bottle caps. It’s the source of currency in the wasteland,” he turned back to me to say. “If you need details there’s some help in that book.”

“I think I may have some old bottles at my house, if you want,” I suggested, hoping that a second pony may stave off attackers. He nodded so we began walking along the sidewalk.

“I have to say, this city is really sheltered. The guards just told me to watch out for thieving pegasi. I thought I might be safe here for a little while,” he said. “Oh by the way, my name is Blueprints. I’m a merchant working for Pride in Mesa City.”

“I’m Ace Flight, but everyone around here just calls me ‘That fucking winger’,” I joked, but he stopped in his tracks.

“Y- yo- you’re Enclave?” Blueprints had such a look of pure fear on his face that I began to get scared too.

“N-no... who’s that?” I stammered.

“Oh thank God...” he wiped some sweat off his brow. “They’re bad ponies who live above the clouds.”

“And they’re all pegasi?”

“It’s all in the guide. Tell ya what. You can go ahead and keep it. I’ve read it plenty anyway. Wait, so are you that thieving pegasus the guard warned be about?” He started digging through his saddlebags. I stared at him curiously a second, then burst out laughing.

“Relax, Prints, the fact that you’re talking to me like a normal pony means I’m not going to steal your stuff.” I gave him a reassuring smile as was crossed the street. He gave a nervous chuckle. Damn it. The one pony not intolerant of pegasi and he was getting it already. I really wanted to leave Cormount right now.

Cue the explosion.

Blueprints turned towards the sound while I ducked behind a nearby bush. We saw a billowing pile of smoke coming from a nearby wall. I could just make out silhouettes of ponies in the smoke, but Blueprints was already turning away. “Shit! They found me!” he yelled as he began sprinting away. I threw off my coat and flew off after him. Things were about to get really weird.

“Who are they? How did they buck through the wall? Not even Stronghoof could put a dent in it!” I yelled as we fled.

“I’ll explain later, but... here!” He turned into the park and flew towards the Stable door. I landed and noticed the blood pile where I lay a few days ago. I shuddered and looked over to where Blueprints worked furiously at the door controls.

“Good luck, nopony’s been able to figure out how to open that for 200 years,” I scoffed as I walked over and looked over his shoulder. Bad idea, Ace, this was for ponies who can understand numbers.

“Then how do you explain that?” he asked triumphantly as the door creaked open. I stared in awe at the opening door. “Come on, we have to close it too!” I jerked out of my stupor and flew in the door. Blueprints hit a button and the door swung shut behind us.

And that’s how Blueprints and I got into Stable 79.

******************

“This place is amazing!” I exclaimed as I flew through the empty hallways. Blueprints trotted along after, chuckling to himself at my amazement. “What’s this?” I landed in front of a door that read Overmare’s office. “Overmare? Who’d put a mare in charge? Stallions tend to think straighter in my experience...” I thought out loud.

“Cormount is not a normal town then,” Blueprints said, stopping right next to me. “In pre-war Equestria, there were two princesses, and most towns had a female head of government.”

I looked at him in wonder. “I’ve never read about any of this! This is so amazing!” I gleefully yelled. “Wanna go inside? It looks like nopony’s ever set foot in here!” Without waiting for an answer, I tried the door handle. Locked.

“I had a feeling it’d be locked, but unfortunately I can’t pick locks,” Blueprints said glumly. “Makes me wonder why I always pick up any bobby pins I see.” I grinned over at him.

“I’ve done my share of breaking into places. Lemme see those pins.”

Two pins later, the door was open and we stepped inside. The first thing that caught my eye was the long golden bracelet on a pedestal in the back of the room. “What is that?” I asked as I stepped towards it.

“I think it’s a Pipbuck, but not one I’ve seen before,” Blueprints answered, heading towards the desk. “I’ve no interest in it, so go ahead and take it. Let’s see if there’s anything of value in here...”

I stopped paying attention as I approached the Pipbuck. It seemed to glow at me, and I began to reach for it. The second I touched it, a recording began to play.

“...Uh, hello there, Stable 79! You are going to take place in a special experiment! That is... wait, nopony’s ever gonna hear this message. The experiment is to lock it up before ponies even go in? Apple Bloom! This one is so stupid! Why bother making it if no pony is going to fucking use it? ...Whatever, I’ve been getting tired of these anyway. Sweetie Belle, get me a bottle of whiskey!...”

I froze. Nopony was supposed to be in here? I hesitated, then slid the Pipbuck on and slipped through the functions. Eyes-Forward Sparkle. Inventory Sorter. The last one I said aloud.

“Stable-Tech Assisted Targeting System?” I turned towards Blueprints. “What’s that, genius pony?”

“It’s an auto-target for Pipbucks. Stable Ponies have better tech than wasteland ponies, but they also become a target for Steel Rangers,” Blueprints said without looking up from the desk. “If they see that Pipbuck, be happy if you get away with your leg still on.” I turned on the E.F.S. and noticed a green dot where Blueprints was.

“So I guess I should get some kind of gun so I can use it?” I asked him.

He immediately looked up, shocked. “You’d be willing to kill a pony? Have you ever even hurt anything?”

“Well, no, but if those ponies out there tear apart the town looking for you, I may need something to defend myself with. And I’ve had to deal with violence my own way. Having a weapon would make my life so much easier,” I said as I walked towards the desk. “So what are those ponies after?”

Blueprints studied me for a second then said “Well, you came in here with me so you’re probably just as much a target now as me so I’ll tell you. I am a merchant working for Pride in Mesa City, a fortress several miles southeast of here. I may have lost some expensive cargo in a raider attack, so Pride has put a bounty on my head. Not that I didn’t really deserve it... we are about to start in a war after all.”

I whipped my head to turn at him. “War? Like full on, nuclear wasteland making war? Haven’t we seen the consequences of this?”

Blueprints shook his head. “Not that large. More like a civil war. Pride and his siblings all have holdings in the Wild North. He’s had particularly bad relations with his brother Wrath recently. I know what Wrath’s raiders can do; that’s how I lost my cargo. But Pride hates pegasi and earth ponies. He’s been looking for a chance to get me out of the picture. But I don’t care. I’d give my life stopping Wrath from destroying this land further.”

Blind loyalty to a pony who wants him dead? And I thought the ponies in this town were crazy. “Well, sounds like Pride wouldn’t want me around either. So let’s wait ‘til the raiders here leave and sneak away.”

Blueprints frowned at me. “Don’t you care about the rest of the ponies living here?”

I laughed. “I was an outcast here. My parents were run out of town when they had a pegasus kid, and the Council decided to let me live. Anyways, I’ve been beaten, shunned, and generally hated by everypony in this fucking town, no matter how nice I try to be to them. Not that I’m all that nice...” I stopped to think. Everypony I ever knew was going to be enslaved or killed and I was was going to let them. I thought about what Watcher said about making friends. If I saved the city, I could be a hero. “We have to go save them.”

Blueprints really looked shocked now. “Wait, save as in go attack Pride? I don’t need to piss him off more! And how are we going to do that? Those ponies have guns, swords, probably explosives! How do we match that firepower?”

I walked over to the wall where a map was pinned up. “Looks like there’s an armory in the Security wing. And we might as well stop by the Mechanic wing to get you a Pipbuck.”

Blueprints considered my idea. Then he shook his head. “I’m sure there’s a way to escape and save them without antagonizing Pride.”

I looked over at him and shot me my flashiest grin. “Well, let’s make sure he doesn’t know it’s us saving them then.”

Blueprints studied me for a minute. Two. “Alright, fine.” I clapped my hooves together. “But first,” he continued, “let’s explore the rest of this Stable. Who knows what it might hold?” I nodded and we left the office.

We walked in silence down the artificially lighted hallways, Blueprints staring at the floor, me flying, looking around in wonder. “Hey, Prints? You seem to know a lot about these Stables. Are you a Stable Pony yourself?”

Blueprints looked up at me to answer. “Not from a Stable, but my merchant guild in Mesa City was built into one. Stable 78. It opened ten years after the bombs fell, when the Overmare realized the North wasn’t in much danger. Of course, Mesa City was controlled by Pride, so he took over the rest of the Stable and built a guild in it. 190 years later, he’s still in power.” I blinked. This pony was over 200 years old? I opened my mouth, shut it, then promptly ran into a railing hanging across the hallway. “Before you ask, no, I have no idea how he is still alive. Same for his siblings. They just don’t seem to die of old age.”

I landed, rubbing my head. Celestia Almighty, that hurt like a bitch! “What exactly does he run in Mesa City?” I asked after a while.

“Almost everything. Brothels, raiders, slavers, trade, you name it. He recently started sending slaves down south to Fillydelphia, though only Celestia and Luna knows why.”

Slavery? That fit in perfectly with my image of him. Sounded like the worst pony I’d ever heard of. Then again, I could easily see Panther and his cronies enslaving other ponies. We came across a large door in the left side of the hall. Luckily it was unlocked, so Blueprints and I pushed it open. Inside was a large atrium, with dusty pictures of Stable-Tech propaganda and loads of tables. Looking up, the ceiling seemed to reach about a mile up in the sky, causing a smile on my face to grow. I hadn’t been legitimately happy for years! Without waiting for Blueprints to try to stop me, I immediately jumped in the air and flew circles around the wide room. The pictures on the walls blurred past me as I sped up, making both tables and chairs go flying. Eventually I landed near a large poster of an orange pegasus with purple hair. She smirked out at me and underneath her it read “Stable-Tech: For when the Unthinkable happens.”

I heard a crash and whirled around to see Blueprints had tripped over one of the fallen tables into an awkward heap. A smile grew on my face. This pony certainly was a character. “Come on, Prints, there’s nothing in here.” I flew back to the entrance and took one last look around. The large room seemed sad, its emptiness sapping the happiness from me. I turned my back on it and walked out.

We eventually reached the Mechanic wing, locked naturally. I pulled out my screwdriver and bobby pins and worked the lock open. The inside was... empty. The only thing in the room was a rack with Pipbucks on it. I grabbed one and tossed it over to Blueprints. He slipped it on and we departed for the Security wing.

Once there, I glanced over at Blueprints as he examined his Pipbuck while I dug through the weapons cabinet. “Man, why’d I let you have the awesome gold one? Mine’s just silver with padding.”

“Quit whining, they do the same thing. Now, you want a shotgun? Assault rifle? Sniper rifle? How about a grenade launcher?” I asked him, grabbing one of each for me.

“I think I just want that,” he said, pointing towards a wall to my right. I turned and saw a saddle with guns attached to the side.

“‘Battle-Saddle,’” I read aloud off the sign next to it. “I don’t think I could carry that and still be able to fly, so by all means go ahead.” I began looking for some barding that would fit me. To my surprise, I found a suit with wing holes in it. I slipped into it and noticed that it seemed to shift around to fit my body. “This is pretty impressive. I want to shake the hoof of the pony who invented this stuff.”

“Well, ponies inventing this stuff is how the Wasteland came to be,” Blueprints said, getting into his own barding. “So what’s the plan when we leave the Stable? Think we can get out unnoticed?”

I pondered this for a moment then shrugged. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” I started messing with my Pipbuck and noticed a new function. Or rather, several new functions. Ready, Shoot, Reload, Throw Grenade, Switch Weapon, and Zoom were all flashing. Intrigued, I tried pushing Zoom on my screen. Nothing happened. Then suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my foreleg where the Pipbuck was set. I then realized it had pushed a needle into my leg. “What the fuck is it doing...” I questioned aloud.

Blueprints walked over and looked at it. “I have no fucking clue. Maybe some kind of cyborg enhancement? We should probably practice firing at the firing range before we head out...” he trailed off as he headed into the range. Several seconds later I heard shots firing and cursing.

“Sounds like somepony’s not very good with a saddle,” I chuckled as I walked in. I looked at the targets, shaped disturbingly like ponies. I held my Pipbuck up and searched for the Ready command, but before I pushed it, my shotgun floated in front of me.

“Ace... how are you doing that?” Blueprints nervously asked. I looked at the shotgun and saw a golden glow around it.

“I think my Pipbuck has a spell matrix in it allowing it to levitate a weapon for me...” I trailed off as I thought about what I just said. “Wait, it can cast spells? Something tells me this is an amazing Pipbuck.” I activated SATS, aimed two shots at the dummy witht the shotgun and fired. The dummy was riddled with bullets.

“How’d you aim it? I can’t do shit with this saddle!” Blueprints complained, stomping his hooves on the ground.

“Use SATS” I explained, switching over to the assault rifle and tried to use SATS myself. I groaned as my Pipbuck gave me a loading sign for it. “But sparingly I guess. It needs time to recharge.”

Blueprints stood for a second before he fired off a few shots. They all hit the dummy right in the head. “That’s pretty cool, Ace. Alright, I think we’re ready. Let’s head out.”

*************************

Blueprints and I stood in front of the door, neither one of us really wanting it open. I fidgeted around a second, then glanced over at Blueprints. “You ready to head out there, Prints?” I asked with what I hoped to be a calming grin.

“No, but by the time I am, we’ll be very old stallions. Let’s go.” He activated the doors, I let out a war cry, and we charged out of Stable 79.

Into a burnt park.

I glanced at my E.F.S. No red bars. Only Blueprints showed up green. “Looks like they weren’t about to stay for you,” I said as I walked toward one of the trees. I sheathed my assault rifle and looked back at him. “So let’s go see if anypony’s still here.”

Blueprints nodded, turned to the entrance of the park and gasped. I quickly turned and saw a bright blue unicorn standing there staring at us. I cautiously took a step nearer to the unicorn.

Then the ground exploded.

The tree I was next to splintered off in every direction and I took to the skies. My barding took the brunt of the damage, but I still felt a blunt hit on my chest. “Mines!” I yelled, hoping Blueprints could think better than I could under pressure.

“Well well, seems we got ourselves some more refugees,” came a voice from behind the explosion. A quick glance at my E.F.S. showed flashes of red appearing all around me and Blueprints. “And one of them’s got a purty set of wings. Take them alive. I’m sure Pride will want to see this one undamaged.”

I felt my face get hot. I slipped into SATS and fired off a grenade towards the largest red blob I found. The hazy smoky air obscured my vision, but my Pipbuck told me I had eliminated quite a few. Nearby I heard Blueprints firing desperately around him. “Use SATS!” I screamed at him, and switched to my assault rifle while I ducked behind another tree. I began spraying the areas that had high concentrations of red while my Pipbuck threw up shields to protect from incoming bullets. “Didn’t know it could do that...” I muttered while waiting for SATS to recharge.

“Fuck!” I heard the raider leader yell from the direction I was firing. I suddenly felt elated. Maybe we weren’t fucked after all. “Fall back! They aren’t worth our time,” I heard a new voice say from the same direction. The bullets stopped flying past and the sea of red began dissipating. I looked over at Blueprints and saw a comical look of horror on his face. “Be lucky Pride don’t give a shit or I’d have your wings on a mantel. Come on, you lazy fucks, we got to head back.”

I took some deep breaths, trying to keep calm. No luck. My anger took control of me and I pulled out my sniper rifle. I looked around the tree through the rifle’s scope. Nothing. Then I saw a dim outline of a pony with what looked like spikes coming from it. I fired and the pony’s head exploded. I smiled and turned back to Blueprints, only to find he had passed out. I chuckled as I walked over to him. For a Wasteland veteran, he didn’t do well in battle.

I carried Blueprints over to the town hall and looked through the terminals. Finding nothing more than bureaucratic bullshit, I sat next to the bed Blueprints was asleep on and began fiddling with my Pipbuck. Soon I came across a radio and listened to the first radio station I found.

“In other news, up in the north, brothers Wrath and Pride’s relations have deteriorated. Several attacks on Pride’s merchant caravans by Wrath’s raiders has increased the tension, and it seems that war is about to break out again. My little ponies, I’d have thought we would know better by now, but it seems that war will always be inevitable. If you’re hearing me up in the north, try to talk sense into the brothers. This has been DJ Pon3, bringing you the truth... no matter how much it hurts.”

I stared at my Pipbuck as a new voice began to sing. I turned it off, not really in a music kind of mood right then. Instead, I thought over what I’d heard from Blueprints and DJ Pon3. War? Why are ponies still trying to make war? Why were the raiders here? And how could I help? I pondered this last question for a long time. I heard a yawn and turned to the bed I’d put Blueprints on.

I smiled. “Well, nice to see you awake, Prints. You missed a great sunrise.”

“Oh ha ha,” he replied, giving me a small smile. “Where are we?”

I waved my hoof around. “This here is where the high and mighty Council made decisions to keep me stealing from the ponies who didn’t deserve it.” That got a bigger smile. I sighed. “So many bad times in this town. I need to get out of here.”

“Well, you got any plans? I don’t think Pride’s going to like seeing me back at his step anytime soon, and I refuse to go anywhere near Wrath.”

I laughed. “There’s a nice little mine just south of here. Maybe we can take a vacation. No raiders, no fighting, just dark holes and empty tin deposits.”

His grin slid off his face. “You murdered that captain,” he said quietly.

My laughter subsided. “Murder’s a strong word...” I began. “Think of it as one less asshole alive. I’d say that worked in the past, but I’ve never had a chance. Don’t you see, Prints?” I asked, walking over to him. “I can take revenge on all the ponies that have hurt me in my life!”

Blueprints looked at me in horror. “That... I... What?” He slowly shook his head. “One battle in and you’ve already lost it.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” I waved him off. “I’m fine with you, it’s just, if I see anypony from here again, I’m probably going to shoot them.”

“That’s horrible!” Blueprints shouted. I just shrugged back. “Obviously I’m not going to win this debate, but have some compassion! Also, what’s that over there?” he asked, pointing at a terminal.

I glanced over. “Just a terminal. Locked. Can’t get in.”

“Or is there... bam! Blueprints does his magic again!” he exclaimed proudly. I stood up, wobbling a bit, and hobbled over to the terminal.

“‘Hoofsmith’ Diary’... who’s he?” I turned towards my white companion. He shrugged and pointed at the monitor. Taking the hint, I began to read.

This was has been going on for two years now and I’m sick of it. I’ve seen my friends all leave for war only to return in pieces or not at all. War never changes. It always ends with one side destroyed and I don’t care what the princesses say, it’s probably going to be ours. Not that the Zebras are going to end up much better off than us. So I’m heading north with like-minded companions. It has been unsettled for centuries, but I see no problems with it now. Safe from the fighting, safe from the destruction. Ours will be a peaceful society.

Damn it, it’s already started. I had two ponies get into a drunken brawl. Their names escape me, but I know they were related. I don’t want more problems so I’m kicking the whole family out. Peace is always an alternative. Celestia keeps pestering me to let her put some troops to protect from attack. Ha! Like Zebras will attack un unarmed village.

Ponies have been asking for my return. The massacre at Luna’s school was dreadful, but certainly not my problem. I will keep this city neutral and peaceful. There is no Cassus Belli. Colgate has settled up here too. She has been trying to get awfully close to me. I suspect spying, but it may be some silly crush as well.

The new ministries are such a pain in the ass. The family I’ve exiled has settled throughout the land and let the Ministries set up Hubs everywhere! I’ve told them, not in my town! Neutral we are, and neutral we remain. Colgate keeps telling me to let the Ministries help protect us, but I’m standing my ground on this one! She did persuade me to let Stable-tech build a Stable here though. Didn’t tell us how to open it though... that pegasus looked shifty when she left.

I knew it. The bombs have been dropped and Equestria is destroyed. Not Cormount though. Unfortunately, we have been reaching problems of our own. Our distance from Manehatten may protect from the radiation, depending on the winds, but I have been thankful for the nearby Stable just the same. I only hope somepony can figure out how to open it.

It happened. The ponies I banished all those years ago have taken over. They agreed to let me keep Cormount though. And Colgate has her bay. So long as they leave me alone in my old age, I can remain at peace. I’m not ready to die, but I fear I’ve overstayed my welcome...

That was the last entry. I turned to Blueprints and wiped my eyes. They felt extremely dry. “Ramblings of a madman,” he said without looking at me. “Pride did what he could to unite the land. It was utter chaos when the bombs dropped. This old pony wouldn’t have been able to hold it together.”

I gaped at him. “Well, fuck, dude, why don’t you go suck his dick or something? From what I’ve heard, he isn’t any better than Wrath. And I guess it’s safe to say that they were the ones in the drunken brawl?”

Blueprints turned and glared at me. “You don’t understand. Pride may have his shortcomings, but he is a just ruler. He keeps the peace in Mesa City and his sphere of influence. Wrath’s people live in poverty, tormented by his raiders and enslaved.”

I just sighed and switched off the terminal. “Well, there’s no changing your mind I guess. I was serious about the tin mine south of here, by the way. I guess that’s as good a place as any to go. I don’t want to stay here anymore.” I looked around the empty building. “I need to get out.” Blueprints nodded. “Let’s see what we can loot from the town and get out.

We looted the city for food, Rad-Away, healing potions, and bottle caps, although I still kept my bits with me (“Just in case” I told Blueprints) and we walked out the front gate. The land outside the city was twisted and destroyed. “I thought the bombs went off in Manehatten and Canterlot? Why is there radiation way up here?” I wondered aloud.

“The winds carried the fallout north from Manehatten. The further south you get, the worse it is, although it doesn’t get that bad really. Not unless you get into some taint,” Blueprints pointed out. I nodded in agreement; while he dug in trash for caps, I had skimmed through some of the Wasteland Survival Guide.

“Well then. Shall we be off?”

“I guess”

“Onward!”

******************

Yeah. onward.

Tin Town was quite a bit of a distance away. We had been walking for hours when I learned that the Wasteland was actually pretty boring. Well, Blueprints walked. I flew around, keeping an eye out for raiders. Can’t be too careful. Unfortunately, I grew bored even with that, so I landed and started messing with my Pipbuck. I felt that it seemed a bit cheating really. It let me use weapons with more skill than a unicorn and put up shields to protect me. Granted, the shields weren’t strong, but still better than nothing.

I glanced at my map and saw we were closing in on Tin Town. And the town was full of red bars. “Watcher didn’t mention there’d be raiders here...” I muttered. Blueprints glanced at me, but said nothing. As we approached a hill just outside of town, I pulled out my sniper rifle and peered through the scope. Several guards patrolled the streets surrounding the mine, but what caught my eye was the cage just inside the entrance. Inside were several dead ponies, some skinned, and a few cowering ones. “Prints...” I began, “we’ve got ourselves some prisoners.”

Blueprints walked over and took a look through the scope. “So what do we do? Neither of us have much combat experience and they outnumber us ten to one.”

I grinned at him. “It’s called being stealthy. Get your saddle ready.” I ducked down and crawled around the hill to the closest building. From the look of the outside, it was a warehouse where the miners stored their pickaxes. Staying out of sight, I found the back door and picked the lock. I peeked my head inside. No enemies. Good, we could set a trap. I snuck over to the pickaxe rack and hefted one up. Damn, these things were heavy! Blueprints followed my lead and grabbed one of his own. We walked over to the door leading to the patrolled streets. Taking positions on both sides of the door, I carefully opened it up.

Nopony came over. Blueprints picked up a rock and threw it at the street. Seconds later, I smiled as I heard the sounds of galloping over to the street. Then the little pony inside my head decided to pipe up. Why are we going to kill the raiders when we could just sneak over and rescue the captives? I shook my head. Because we’d have been seen, of course! It’s different than breaking into sleeping ponies’ houses and waking them. They’re tired so they confused me for a plant.

But could we have managed it?

“Anypony in there?” I tensed up.

“Idiot, if there were, they weren’t going to answer.”

“Never hurts to check!”

I pulled the pickaxe up as footsteps neared the door. The second the purple head came in, I swung down. I could feel the crunch as the axe broke his skull. My first thought was of the “Whack-a-Parasprite” game in the arcade back in Cormount. I smiled inwardly; I was actually good at that game. I pulled the pickaxe back up and did empty my stomach at the brains dripping from the point. Blueprints was looking pretty green too.

“Shit! Sound the alarm! We have intruders!” Well, they knew we were here. I jumped in the doorway and threw the pickaxe at the raider who’d just yelled and heard a satisfying crunch as he crumpled. Blueprints pulled me out of the doorway right as a bullet lodged in the door.

“Got a plan B, genius?” he asked sarcastically.

I chuckled nervously. “Well, we could just shoot them as they come in...” Blueprints groaned and pointed behind me. I turned and my face fell as I saw the large garage door to the warehouse begin to open. “Or we could charge at them, guns blazing?” I asked hopefully.

Raiders charged at us, apparently lacking real weapons. Instead, many of them carried bats and clubs, though one, I saw with a jolt, had a pitchfork. My mind flashed to my fight with Panther as I pulled out my assault rifle. The only difference was, I realized with a smile, was I could use my wings and fight back. I flew in the air and started spraying the incoming raiders. That worked really well until the gun ran out of ammo. And I realized I didn’t have any extra. I swore as I threw the gun at the nearest raider and zipped back to where Blueprints was taking cover, occasionally taking shots at the incoming swarm.

I landed and scanned the roof. “Prints! Shoot that beam up to the right!” I yelled, as a raider with a bat swung at my head. I quickly ducked and bucked his front legs, cracking his knees. Blueprints fired at the beam and the scaffolding along the roof began shaking. Blueprints glanced at me, then dove through the nearby doorway, with me close behind.

We dashed away from the collapsing warehouse, hearing screams and crashes coming from the door. When we stopped to take a look back, I searched my EFS, but the red bars had disappeared. “Great plan, Ace. Someone needs to put you in charge of Pride’s raider army,” Blueprints nickered at me.

I glared back. “Go free the prisoners while I check the raiders for some ammo. I’m clean out.” Still giggling to himself, Blueprints trotted over to the cage and grabbed the key hanging near it. I sighed and walked in the now collapsed warehouse, kicking myself. How could I have forgotten to get extra ammo? That was like, rule number 3 in the Wasteland Survival Guide!

“Well, to be honest, you aren’t the smartest pony out in the Wasteland.”

I jumped and spun around. “Who said that?”

I heard chuckling coming from my leg. I looked at my Pipbuck and saw a light purple unicorn mare smiling out at me. “I did. Hope I didn’t scare you.” Yeah, tell that to my stopped heart. “Oh, shut up. Your heart is perfectly fine.” Wait what? She can hear my thoughts? This won’t end well... “Relax, I usually shut them out. You can be a really boring pony sometimes.” Gee thanks. “But you are very interesting.”

This got my attention. “How so? Wait, better question. Who are you, and why are you in my Pipbuck?”

She cleared her throat. “My name is Dusty Wind. I worked in Stable-tech during the war, and, to be honest, I could tell that the war was going to end in disaster. So I asked the CMC to put my brain into a Pipbuck and allow me to help one of the Stables keep peace. Unfortunately, Scootaloo put my in a Stable that never had anypony in it, and, from what I’ve heard around you, never was really needed. So imagine my joy when you put me on and I finally had pony contact for the first time in 200 years! I don’t think you can comprehend being alone for two hundred years with no contact at all. I feel like Princess Luna! Anyway, I think you have potential.”

Whoa hold on. My mind was failing to grasp the entirety of what she said. 200 years? CMC? Put her brain in a Pipbuck? “So whenever my Pipbuck us levitating a gun...”

She nodded. “Yep! That’s me!” Well, shit. I must be going crazy. “I don’t think you’re crazy, but from what I’ve heard from your pal, it may be hard to keep sane. I’ve been analyzing the Wasteland as long as we’ve been out here, and, well, I put your chances at survival at less than none.” Nice. I’ve managed to break science by living.

“So what all can you tell me about the Wasteland? And what did you do before you became my Pipbuck?”

“For the first question, nothing. The Stable walls blocked the scanners of this Pipbuck so I’m only now getting any info. If anything pertinent comes up, I’ll let you know. As for the second question, I was sort of a freelance scientist for the Ministry mares. Worked in all six ministries and helped link their projects together. It helped that I didn’t have to focus on wartime items since Hoofsmith forced the Northern Ministries to retain neutrality.”

I grinned awkwardly. “I’d be lying if I said I understood half of that.”

She sighed. “Just understand I was a very important pony way back when.”

I was about to ask another question when Blueprints fell through the rubble near the entrance. “Smooth...” I teased as he got up, his white face growing pink.

“I just wanted to tell you the prisoners were freed. What are we going to do with them?”

I frowned. “Let them go? We don’t need a large group of ponies following us.”

He shook his head. “We can’t just let them go. They’re some of Wrath’s merchants.” I heard Dusty sigh in my head. “We just killed an entire party of Pride’s warriors. If we keep the prisoners under lock and key, we may break even.”

I groaned. Was he serious? “Does it matter who works for who? We came here, there were ponies who needed help, so we helped them.”

Blueprints glared at me. “What if these ‘merchants’ are really slavers then? Wrath’s merchants always have something to do with buying and selling ponies! We can’t let monsters like that run free!”

“And I’m sure if I asked them, they’d say the same about you. Let’s just be the better ponies and let them go. Celestia knows we need more good ponies in this world.” After a few tense seconds of silence, Blueprints turned and climbed out. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and started for where he left. “Honestly, that pony needs to learn to trust more.”

“I think that last part really stung him,” Dusty spoke up. “Don’t antagonize him; he’s the one who actually killed the ponies, so he’s probably taking it a bit badly.”

I stopped. He had killed them all, hadn’t he? And on my order, without hesitation. “It’s been less than a day and he’s following orders. And who put me in charge? He’s the one who’s been in the Wasteland!”

Dusty continued. “You’ve just got a leader aura around you. But that doesn’t mean you’re invincible. Keep on Blueprints’ good side and keep him alive, and he’ll do the same for you.” I nodded, then climbed over the rubble to where the prisoners are.

“...so we were saved from Pride’s raiders by Pride’s merchants? Probably going to send us to Fillydelphia without a second thought, aren’t ya?” the unicorn who seemed to be in charge yelled at Blueprints. “Why don’t you shoot us now and save Red Eye the money?”

Blueprints glanced at me before answering. “We’re letting you go. I know this is going to come around and bite my ass in the future, but we don’t need the trouble right now. Nopony’s stopping you.”

The unicorn’s jaw dropped, almost comically. I stifled a laugh as I walked up to Blueprints’ side. She turned to the other prisoners and shrugged. “Uh, well, let’s go... then...” she told them as she walked away from us. We watched them walk away, none of them giving us another look.

“That’s going to bite us in the ass, Ace,” Blueprints said without looking at me. “I know their type. They’re going to go kiss Wrath’s ass and brag about their amazing escape. And when Pride hears about this...” he shuddered, “it won’t be pretty.”

“Relax,” I said, attempting to calm him down. “Who knows. Maybe they’ll remember our kindness and save us. Or something. Did you find anything of interest around here?”

He brightened up. “I did see a flyer for Pride’s Predators!” Damn it. He just can’t get his mind off Pride. “And apparently this mine went dry a long time ago, a couple months before the balefire bombs fell. Not sure what they used the tin for though, seeing as it doesn’t have a practical use in weaponry or technology.”

Tin, huh? Probably somepony somewhere that could use it. “Come on, Prints,” I jumped, “let’s see if there’s any tin left.” He looked at me as if I was crazy, then shrugged and trotted into the mine. I turned and walked over to the nearby cabin, probably where the miners lived. The door opened easily and once inside, I stared in awe at the pictures of ponies hung on the walls. The one nearest me was of a bulky unicorn, floating up a large jackhammer, with a caption of “Jackhammer: Mined the most tin, with a whopping 465 kilos of the magic boost in tow.” Next to it was a picture of an earth pony and a pegasus smiling at each other, captioned “Brothers in crime: Short Hair and Winter Breeze rest after a long day of mining.” I smiled as I looked through the rest of the pictures along the walls, until I reached the last one. In the picture was a red pegasus with a number 5 for a cutie mark and a violet unicorn with a number 7. Both ponies were smiling, but neither looked like they were very happy. The caption read “Wrath and Pride meet to settle purchase of Tin Town mine.” Those two were brothers? And the ones who were trying to start a war?

“Bad ponies. Both of them.” And Dusty’s back. Good old Dusty. “I never got to know them, but we did meet at least once. The claimed to be against the war, but from the hefty profit they made, I had my doubts about them.”

“Wonderful. Probably trying to show a beautiful picture of neutrality here,” I responded sarcastically. Dusty stayed silent. I turned away from the picture and began digging through the empty room, looking for... well, I had no idea what I was looking for. It wasn’t until I reached a bed with “Jackhammer” carved at the base that I found what I was looking for. Under the pillow was a journal, covered in dust and seemingly forgotten. I flipped it open and began reading.

Day 1

Well, it had to happen eventually. It was only two weeks after the incident in the Everfree Forest when we were put on trial. It’s not our fault the prisoners actually swallowed the Poison Joke! Who would have guessed that it was that gruesome a killer? Anyway, we were sentenced to work in this tin mine up north in pussy land. Lucky we kept the troop together. If it weren’t for Shorty and Breeze constant arguing and Lemon’s horrible jokes, I may have gone crazy on the way here. And what could we possibly need tin for?

Day 24

The mining job is going really slowly. The rocks are tough to break, even with my jackhammer on full. Shorty’s pickaxe broke, and it’s a 3 week wait for a new one, so he just sits and watches us mine. Honestly, I’m happy to have something to do, since boredom is what led to the Everfree incident as we are calling it now. I can see Shorty’s mind working. He always was a bit of a sadist, but he knows how to make entertaining games.

Day 73

Shorty came up with a drinking game. He took what little tin we found and ground it up into one of four cups. Then he switched the cups around and we each took one. I don’t know who ended up drinking the tin, all I know is the next day, I felt a magical surge and destroyed half the mine. We have no idea what happened to Lemon, but what we did find was a large amount of tin. The media is all over the mine now, and I’m being credited with discovering a use of tin as a magical conductor. The Ministry of Magic has started buying all the tin and there’s a huge ownership struggle between some of the warlords here. I hope they can reach an agreement.

Day 119

This will be my final entry. I’ve heard rumors of bombs falling in Equestria, but I refuse to believe them. My troop has all but disintegrated. We found Lemon’s body torn to pieces by something in the mine. Shorty and Breeze are gone. Deserted. I’m all that’s left. And I need tin. I can feel my magic draining away. I’m going into the mine tomorrow and I won’t leave until I find some. I can’t even levitate my jackhammer anymore. The other miners avoid me. They think I’m crazy, but I’m not. I’ll beat back the zebras myself. All I need is some tin...

I felt my mane start to crawl. I whirled around, but there was nopony else in the room. I sighed and threw the journal back on the bed. One final look around the room yielded nothing of interest, and I walked back out of the cabin. I looked in the direction the prisoners had gone, but they had disappeared. Then I turned and headed into the mine.

My first thought was that being underground was not where I wanted to be. No room to fly, chance of being caved in, this was not going to be a good idea. Until I saw something lying on the ground a little ways in. I sped to a trot to examine the object.

A Pipbuck.

I felt my blood begin to grow cold. How long had Blueprints been in here? I pulled out my shotgun and checked the ammo. Good, this was still full. I slid it back in my bag and scooped up the Pipbuck. Behind it was the entrance to a dark tunnel which could barely fit a pony in it. I took a deep breath and walked in.

Dark is a bit of an understatement. It was pitch-black in there. I waved a hoof in front of me as I walked and still managed to run into almost every wall in there. Something told me that I was not going to be able to get the jump on whatever was down here.

Eventually, I saw a faint light and the walls surrounding me were coming into view. I tried to ignore the red splatters on them and pulled out the shotgun again. As the light grew brighter, I began to hear sounds of scuffling in at the tunnel’s end. I crept the final few feet and peered out.

Apparently the mine went all the way through to another camp. Except this one was burned down. I searched through the area and finally found a couple of ponies huddled together under a tent cover. One was a filly, one a unicorn mare, and the other had some very familiar blue hooves. I crept out of the tunnel and crawled down to the tent.

“Is there a reason everypony’s hiding here?” I whispered in Blueprints’ ear. He yelped and spun around, his mouth on his saddle trigger.

“Oh, it’s you, Ace,” he said, relaxing his mouth grip. “Get under some cover! We’re not sure when he’s coming back!”

“He’s gone for good, I tell you!” the unicorn grumbled. “If he was still here, we’d be dead by now. I’ve had enough of this nonsense.” She raised her head snootily and walked away.

“Mom, wait!” the filly pleaded, bounding after the unicorn. Blueprints raised a hoof to stop her, but she caught up to her mom quickly. A loud roar came from the right and raised the shotgun to shoot... whatever it was. “It’s back mom!” the filly cried out. She tripped and rolled down a small hill.

Then the... thing... came out.

It had a pointed snout and extremely long claws, and the hair on its body ended in sharp spikes, as did the ball end of the tail. It charged towards the fallen filly and cleanly tore her head off. The unicorn screamed and started galloping away. The creature began chasing after it. “What in Celestia’s name is that thing?” I yelled, frozen to my spot, the filly’s decapitation playing over and over in my head.

“No idea!” Blueprints yelled back, “but I don’t want to get to know it!” He fired a shot from the saddle at it, but it glanced off the armored spiky hair. I tossed the shotgun away and dug in my bag for some grenades. I was getting the idea we were a bit out of our league with this thing. Blueprints fired off a few more shots, with just as much success as the first one. The unicorn’s screams cut off, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

“Blueprints, do you have any ideas on how to kill it?” I shouted, continuing my frantic search for explosives.

He fired off a few more shots before cursing and turning back to me. “Well that sums up my efforts. I’m drawing a blank on this monster, what about you?” I was about to answer when it roared again. I quickly turned back to where it had run off and froze as I noticed it had started charging at us. This had to set some record of length of surviving in the Wasteland. I clenched my eyes shut and braced myself for death.

Then something exploded.

I cautiously opened my eyes and saw the thing had been blown apart. Blueprints started shaking my shoulder. “Ace... there are some ponies over there...” I nodded numbly and looked down at my hooves. One had a grenade in it and the other was shaking like mad. Holy shit was that scary. I hadn’t felt that close to death even when Panther was trying to geld me.

“Hello, gentlecolts. It must be a fine day to be rescued by the two greatest pest-control mares in Equestria!”

I looked up and my jaw dropped. In front of us were two identical looking purple unicorn mares floating some fairly heavy weaponry in front of them. I nodded again, stunned speechless at their beauty. Not even Gorgeous compared to the perfection that stood in front of me. I heard Blueprints faint next to me and I smiled weakly. “Perfect timing, ladies.”

************************

This was a situation I would never have dreamed of being in at Cormount.

The two sisters tried to wake up Blueprints as I ran frantically around the camp, looking for some kind of cooking appliance. Giving up, I settled for a pot over a fire and boiled some water. “It’s not everyday I get attacked by some monstrous creature and get rescued by rocket toting unicorns,” I said as I dug in my bag for vegetables. “Can I get your names at least?”

One of them came over and sat by me. Very close. I focused on searching through my bag. “My name is Dragon Claw. My sister is Dragon Fang. We’re the Dragon twins, the best pest-control service in Equestria. And don’t get any idea, pegasus. You’re not going to get lucky with us.” Well that made me feel better. “Wings are sooo two centuries ago.” And confidence shot down again. Mares are really good at that.

“So what was that thing that you saved us from?” I asked casually as I tossed some tomatoes and carrots in the pot.

“Mutated mole,” I heard Fang answer. “That thing’s had a bounty on it for months now and ponies have been scared to come anywhere near the mine. In fact, the only reason ponies came recently has been to kill that thing. Why were you here?”

I froze. Why were we here? Because a mysterious flying robot told me to. And we didn’t know where else to go. “Just stumbled upon this place I guess. We really have no idea what we’re going to do next.”

Claw stood up and started walking around the camp. She picked up some metal and gagged. “Blech, tin. If you need some kind of plan, you could always sign up for Wrath’s Warriors. There’s going to be a war soon, you know.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Don’t let Blueprints hear you say that. He’s aching to join the Predators. Trying to clear his name with Pride I guess. Oh, and, could I have that tin? Sound like you don’t really want it...” I looked up and got beamed in the face with the metal. “Ow.” They started giggling and I felt my face growing hot.

“So the earth pony wants to be a unicorn, huh?” Fang taunted. She started slapping his face, whispering “Wakey wakey.” I rubbed my nose and saw Claw digging through Blueprints’ bag.

“Hey get away from that! It’s not yours!” I yelled at her.

She sneered at me. “Whatcha’ gonna do about it, pegasus? He’s just an earth pony, why do you care what happens to him? Or are you two ‘special’ friends?” At this the sisters started giggling uncontrollably and Blueprints started groaning. My face started getting even hotter. I took a deep breath and started channeling my embarassment to anger.

I pulled out my shotgun and leveled it at Claw’s face. “Last warning. Get away from him or I’ll make sure you turn out like that mole.”

She stared angrily at the gun for a few seconds then through Blueprints’ bag on his bed. “Fine then. Next time you’re being attacked by a mutated pest, don’t expect any help from us!” Fang punched Blueprints in the face and she and Claw nodded at each other. There was a flash of purple light and they disappeared.

“Ow!” Blueprints shouted belatedly. I glanced over at him rubbing his head and walked back over to the soup sheathing my shotgun. “Where are we? What the fuck just happened?”

“They were some kind of bitchy pest-control. That thing was a mutated mole and they didn’t like you very much. Or me.” I tasted the broth and licked my lips. Well, at least they gave us an excuse to have a good meal. “Soup’s on, if you’re hungry.”

“Why didn’t they like us?” Blueprints asked, still rubbing his head.

“Well, I’m a pegasus, you don’t like Wrath, you’re an earth pony, I pulled a shotgun on them, the list goes on and on,” I rambled on while pouring myself some soup. “Oh, and they were kind of stuck-up bitches.”

Blueprints smiled as he shook his head at me. “Sounds like it’s a good thing I was out cold. So what are we going to do now?”

I sat down and started eating. “They asked me that question too. Told me to join up with Wrath. I politely declined, so they threw some tin at me. And started slapping you. So my idea is to just walk along the road. Maybe we’ll run into somepony in need.”

Blueprints nodded. “Sounds as good a plan as any. I’m starving though, so let’s eat.”

“Already ahead of you on that,” I said through a mouthful of soup.

****************

We looted the camp for ammo (it was nice to be able to shoot things again) and started off for the road. I handed Blueprints his Pipbuck back, but he declined.

“It’s uncomfortable to wear. And my aim is getting better anyway.”

So as we walked along the road, I turned on the radio to see if anything was on.

“Good morning, Equestria! I was dared to say that! Anyway, news from Equestria proper, there is a little stable pony who has rescued a bunch of prisoners from raiders in Ponyville! The Wasteland needs more ponies like this. If you see the Stable Dweller, thank her and help her if you can. On a darker note, Northern Equestria is seeing dark clouds overhead, and not the Enclave’s clouds. These are metaphorical. If you live up there and were hoping for peace and quiet, you may have better luck living in Fillydelphia!...”

I turned off the radio. The silence was starting to get boring. So I decided to pass the time with some small talk. “So how’d you get your cutie mark?”

Blueprints glanced over at me and smiled. “It’s a long story, but basically I had a friend that I helped through a problem. I realized that my talent was my ability to work out how ponies work.”

I stopped, confused. “But isn’t your cutie mark a blueprint? Wouldn’t that make you an architect or something?”

Blueprints stopped too and looked at his flank. “If you look closely, it’s the blueprint of a pony. I’m really kind of a psychologist. I’ve actually been psychoanalyzing you ever since we met.” I gave him a sharp look. “You’re a very interesting pony.”

“You’ve been psycho-whatting me? How am I interesting?” I asked the first two questions that popped in my head. I couldn’t believe it! He’d been sifting through my brain! And why does everypony think I’m interesting?

“I’ve been trying to figure you out,” he started to explain. “I’ll explain what I’ve found out when we make camp. But there’s someplace we should check out. I’ve heard of a raider camp in the east over there. Something called Hope Rock. Wanna go check it out?”

I glanced at my Pipbuck’s map. Sure enough, Hope Rock had appeared just to the east. “Why not. It’s not like we’re in a hurry or anything,” I groaned. I felt a little ticked off at him. Nopony needs to know how my brain works, not even me! We turned off the road and headed for the flashing dot in silence.

Almost. “How’d you get your cutie mark?”

I thought back. When did I get my cutie mark? “I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. I was pretty fast in learning that my having wings set me apart from the rest of the town. First in my class to get my cutie mark. Didn’t go over well with the other ponies.”

He was about to answer when a bullet swished through my tail.

“Stay back! That was a warning shot! Come any closer and it’ll be your head!”

I entered combat mode and pulled out my own sniper rifle. I looked through the scope and saw a black unicorn buck with a luxurious golden mane levitating a sniper rifle and next to him was a...

An orange mare with chunks of skin missing along its body.

I lowered the gun. “Prints, what the fuck is that thing?” I moved the rifle over so he could see through it.

“Oh, that’s a ghoul. Put your gun away, these guys are harmless,” Blueprints said as he kept walking casually forward. I glanced at my E.F.S. and noticed he was right; they were green.

“S-stay back! I know how to fire this thing!”

“Hey, wasn’t that first shot supposed to be through his head?”

“Shut up, Symptom, they don’t need to- GET BACK!” the unicorn yelled and fired another shot. This one went wide and pinged off a rock somewhere behind me.

“Cool it with the potshots!” I yelled. Bad idea. The unicorn thought that was a threat and fired again, this one going right through my front leg. “CELESTIA-FUCKING DAMN IT!” I screamed as I fell, trying to staunch the blood flow. I quickly grabbed a healing potion and downed it, praying to Luna that it worked. Lucky for me, the wound sealed up, and I stood back up. “That’s it, mother fucker. I don’t care if you are friendly.”

The unicorn screamed and dropped the gun. “I’m sorry! I surrender!” he yelled as he ducked for cover. The ghoul just sighed and sat on her haunches.

“Relax,” Blueprints soothed as he cantered to the two. “We’re not going to hurt you. This place just showed up on our map and we decided to check it out.”

The unicorn looked up. I limped over to the three and sat down. The ghoul was the one who finally responded. “Hmph. I guess if you’re not shooting, you’re not a raider. I’m Symptom, and this...”

“My name is Monarch!” the unicorn exclaimed with a pose. “And I am the ruler of the Wild North!”

Blueprints and I exchanged a look. “You mean here? All I see is a rock,” I said, scratching my head. Was it a rule that all wasteland ponies had to be slightly crazy?

“Yes! My kingdom has diminished,” he admitted theatrically. “But! In time, I will rule everything from the Bottomless Barrel Naval Base to Manehatten!” he finished with another pose on the rock. Okay, completely crazy. First the Dragon twins, now this nutjob?

Now Blueprints scratched his head. “What gives you the right to rule us? And how are you going to make order in this wasteland?”

This time Symptom answered. “You see, dipshit, Monarch claimed to have had a vision of the future. A future where the North unites under the Banner of Hope held by Monarch himself.”

I looked at her quizzically. “And you’re just going along with it?” I wondered how this ghoul pony, or anypony really, could possibly live with Monarch.

“Monarch has proven to be an adept leader to me many times and I am confident he will save all of ponykind from itself, including your sorry asses. Unfortunately, even his most spectacular deeds have escaped the notice of the Wasteland’s DJ. Instead, he prattles on and on about the odd “heroes” such as the Stable Dweller...”

I grew a little hot. “Do you plan on uniting the North by insulting every pony that comes by, then cowering behind a rock?”

Blueprints gave a little snicker. “Yeah, you guys are just pitiful. I could take you with two hooves tied behind my back. And I’m a merchant!”

Monarch glared at him. “Merchant huh? Who’s your affiliation?”

Blueprints straightened up a bit. “I was a high ranking member of the Mesa City Merchant guild.”

Monarch jumped down from the rock. “So you’re one of Pride’s lackeys huh?” Apparently everypony was crazy and obsessed with Pride or Wrath. “He wouldn’t want you, you know. He only accepts unicorns, and,” he looked at me curiously, “possibly pegasi.”

I’d had enough. “We’re not affiliated with either of the power-hungry war-mongerers. We’re here to help ponies in need. If you’re another close-minded pony that has to be on one side, we have nothing to say to each other.” I looked at Symptom. “Look at the Stable Dweller. She went and saved ponies from raiders. We just did that an hour ago, and I plan on doing it again. The Wasteland needs heroes, and that’s a job I’m willing to fill.”

Symptom looked me up and down. “Well, heroes seem to be losing stature then.” Ouch. That one hurt.

Monarch looked at me cooly and nodded. “He’s right Symptom. We’re not doing anything hiding here. We need to be useful. And as much as I despise working with a Predator, I’d like to join them.”

I smiled. “Good. Welcome aboard.”

“Uh, Ace, can I talk with you for a second?” Blueprints pulled me away. “Why the fuck do you want to drag this guy along with us? He’s useless! He can’t even aim a sniper rifle!”

“He’s got his heart in the right place,” I said confidently. “And hey, if he does rule the North, why, we’ll get in good with the new king!”

Blueprints looked at me suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you actually bought into his horse shit about being King of the North.” I frowned. Why was Blueprints being so distrustful? He trusted me so readily earlier, I thought for sure he’d let them join. “He’ll just slow us down anyway.”

I sighed. “We already had this discussion, Prints. I don’t care about who wins what war that hasn’t even started. All I want is to do right in the Wasteland. And that’s what they want too.” Blueprints continued staring at me, then nodded. We turned back to the unicorn. “Welcome aboard.”

Symptom rolled her eyes. “So where are we going, then?” I frowned. We still never decided what we were going to do, did we? “Well, if you don’t have a plan, Pipsqueak Port is a good place to find ponies in need.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Monarch declared excitedly.

Blueprints nodded cautiously and a grin grew on my face. “Then let’s be off! Every minute wasted is a minute that a pony’s in trouble!”

And we walked back onto the road.

Note: Level up!

Perk added* Adrenaline: Whenever facing a creature, gain a 20% speed boost..

(A thanks to Kkat for writing Fallout: Equestria)

Comments

[Hivemind]

Anyone keeping count of how many FO:E stories there are?

Because I'm really getting sick of them

[shadow77777778]

If you're getting sick of them Hivemind then ignore them, because they're going to keep coming. If you don't like it you can go to the moon.

[Swan Song]

342173 Nope. Just you. Even if you can't love, at least tolerate.

[Arcane Scroll]

342173
Why are you looking at them if they bother you? Oh, because you're a troll, I forgot.

[Hivemind]

342304
342491
Trolling a story is a waste. It was just a comment dictating as to the dozens upon dozens of FO:E stories that get posted based off of the same concept.

Think First.

[Vinyl Scoot]

Updates are going to be pretty sporadic, if existent, in the next couple months, but hopefully I can get a schedule going in the summer.

[fiendofthet]

342505
Isn't that the same as the thousands of my little pony fics out there. At least we're branching out to a new subject.