Fallout Equestria: Overture

by SoundOfImpact

Chapter Five: Pay It Back

Chapter Five: Pay It Back

“Daddy's girl's got some brand new cash, you're messing with reds, we're gonna kick your ass.”

---

Fuck. Me.

I've had killer hangovers before, I've fallen and hit my head before, but this was on another level. It felt like my skull was cracked open. Tartarus, for all I knew it was cracked open!

I forced my eyes open and tried to raise a hoof to my head to inspect the damage, but I couldn't budge an inch. I tried again, attempting to pull my forelegs forward, but it was no good. My legs had been tied. Oh Celestia, I'd been kidnapped! I'd actually been kidnapped!

Thoroughly panicked, I started looking around to see where I was. Unsurprisingly, I didn't recognise anything, not that I could see a whole lot. It looked like I was in the back of an old covered cart, and if the creaking and rocking were anything to go by, I was on the move. I tried to shout, scream, anything, but quickly found out I'd been gagged as well. Gods above I hoped whatever they'd stuck in my mouth was clean.

I struggled for a little bit, but it was no good, these guys clearly knew what they were doing. Which was terrifying. Even a half baked kidnapping attempt was scary enough, but a professional job? Who knew what else these ponies were capable of?

Why me? I'd been asking myself that a lot over the last week or so. Although this time I could genuinely question whatever motive was here. The stallion seemed surprised to see me when he knocked MD out, so they clearly weren't after me. But why did they want MD? And why did they knock me out too?

I suddenly became quite aware of the fact that something pointy was jabbing me in between my shoulders, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. I prayed that somepony wasn't pressing a gun to my back, but I just couldn't tell. I couldn't roll over to see what it was, nor could I manage to dislodge it.

I was scared. Very scared. I had absolutely no idea what to do. I didn't even know what was happening! As the fact sunk in that I was bound by armed ponies and being taken somewhere, I started to cry. What did they want with me? Where was I going?

I didn't even know anypony here! Would anyone know to look for me? Apparently nopony knew I had been in the hub for the last 180 years, and it's not like I'd been a social butterfly since then, the only pony I knew now was MD. Was there even a guard or police force to come looking for us? I wanted there to be, but I genuinely wasn't sure.

I sniffled. I hated this, all of it! I was alone, frightened, imprisoned, things could hardly of gotten much worse. Maybe I would have been better off if I had died in the megaspells.

It's not like I wanted to die, but it would have probably been easier. There one minute, gone the next. No matter what MD or her dad tried to show me, I wasn't cut out for any of this. I was a jeweler for Celestia's sake, not a survivalist, and certainly not a fighter!

I looked around to see what I could see from my new upright position. I was very surprised to find out that MD was behind me, laying on the floor towards me. It must have been her horn that was poking me. She was awake too, the right side of her face was pretty swollen up, I guess getting smacked twice will do that. I had a fleeting moment of relief in realising I wasn't alone, only to be replaced with fresh panic at the fact that we were definitely both trapped. She looked at me and I looked at her. I was a little worried at the fact that she didn't seem as scared as me. Did she know what was happening? I couldn't even ask, thanks to the damn gag!

"Hey, it's Cosmos, open the gate!" A stallion shouted from outside.

"What's the password?" Another yelled back from somewhere further away.

"Buck you! Open the fucking gate or Swarfega will tan your fucking hide!" The first stallion retorted.

"Alright brown nose, keep your tail on!" Another replied, a mare this time.

"Don't make me come up there!" The first shouted again, apparently getting angrier by the moment.

"And what, make you do some actual fucking work for a change? The gate's open when it's open!" The mare scoffed. There was a big clank and an odd whirring sound, followed by the creaky sounds of protesting metal.

"Actual fucking work? That's rich coming from you, all you do is sit on your ass all day! I've been out there busting my balls to get this job done!" The first voice snarled.

"Oh wowee, big stallion managed to catch a little filly! What, like I'm meant to suck your dick about it? Fuck you, get inside before I lock you out."

"Just you wait, I'll be talking to your CO about this!" The first voice said as the whirring stopped and the cart started to move again.

"Hah, like he cares! I'm not scared of you." The mare combated.

This sounded... dysfunctional. I looked at MD, she just rolled her eyes.

The stallion grumbled and the cart started moving again. We went over a bump and I heard the whirring start up again, this time from behind the cart. I figured we were now inside wherever this was.

The cart shuddered and rattled, moving past clangs and vague conversations, shadows playing on the light shining through the aged fabric covering the bed we were in. My imagination started to run again. There's not much scarier than not knowing, and I had absolutely nothing on my side in this situation, except for a unicorn in the exact same predicament. It was nice to not be alone, I suppose.

After a few long minutes the cart stopped again. There was more yelling to somepony working another door or gate or something, and with a now decidedly slower roll, the cart passed inside, dull light giving way to darkness.

The cart stopped for the last time, and I could hear the sound of hitches, clips, clacks, and hoofsteps. Somepony was coming to the cart door, my eyes tracked the sound of their movement as they slowly made their way around.

The sickly glow of pale olive coloured magic pulled back the fabric flap from the back of the cart. A tall, grimy looking Unicorn was stood in the gap, a smaller Earth pony behind him. They were both dull shades of brown, and they were wearing matching black clothes. The Unicorn had definitely seen some shit, his face was marred and battle hardened, missing one ear and having stitches across his brow. I had no doubt he could and would end us both here if he wanted to. I couldn't do anything but stare.

"Hello, Make Do." He said, with a hideous grin. He was missing both his front teeth. His smile gave way to confusion when he saw me. "Who the fuck is this?" He asked, turning to the earth pony.

"Fuck if I know, the guys picked her up with the prisoner." She replied, sounding not so much lethargic, as so much disinterested. The unicorn's smile slowly crept back.

"Ah, you made a friend?' He sneered. "Good, you're going to need the help after we're through."

Oh fuck. Oh shit.

"Okay then, let's get moving. Swarfega's expecting you."

The Unicorn's magic aura grabbed at my throat and pulled me to the edge of the cart bed. I struggled to breathe as he dragged me off and to the floor, falling in a heap. MD tumbled out beside me, rolling onto her side and groaning. The aura danced around us, releasing the binds around our hooves. I only now noticed and inhibitor ring on MD's horn.

"Ghet hup." Said the Earth pony mare, words slurred as she jabbed a pistol into the nape of my neck. I sharply inhaled and shakily rose to my hooves.

"On your hooves, wouldn't want to keep the boss waiting now, would we?" The Unicorn said, grabbing MD's ear in his magic and drawing her forwards as she growled in protest, stumbling over herself.

"Moovf." The Earth pony said. I didn't need to be told twice.

The Unicorn led us through a grimy looking building, maybe once some kind of carriage factory in another life. It was crumbling but had clearly been somewhat maintained and repurposed, the floors free of debris and walls patched, long dormant machinery stripped for parts and removed, replaced with what seemed to be spaces for bunks, shooting ranges, piles of crates and old electronics.

There were other ponies here. Mostly Earth ponies, all wearing black jumpsuits, most with guns. A militia?

We turned a corner and the unicorn kicked open a door, leading us outside. The ground was soggy and the path we were on was well worn. Ragged canvas tents lined the way either side of us, and up ahead were what looked like bleachers built from rusted scrap. There were more ponies with guns milling around here, it looked almost like a courtyard of some kind.

Public execution sprang to mind, and my mind went blank. I was sweating profusely and jittering with adrenaline. The cool metal of the pistol was still pressed against my fur. I didn't dare make a single wrong move.

MD was trudging her way behind the Unicorn, ear still firmly in his grasp. As we got closer to the courtyard, I noticed that there was a group of ponies watching us as we made our way towards them, maybe a few less than a couple of dozen. They were talking to a bright green Unicorn wearing a peaked cap, who seemed to be watching us intently. I really didn't like the way he was looking at us. Smirking almost knowingly. He was sat on a large crate, tracking us as we closed the distance.

As we drew closer it became clear we were being led directly to him. The smirk became a Full blown shit eating grin as we were marched up to him. MD was thrown to the floor, and before I had time to react, a swift buck to the flank sent me following her, both of us ending up in a dirty puddle.

"Make Do for you, Swarfega sir." The Unicorn said, saluting before he and the Earth pony stood aside.

"Miss Do, so nice of you to finally drop by again." Swarfega said, cupping his front hooves together. "By my count it's been, what, 6 weeks? A month? You know it's been such a while, I've lost count myself."

He got up from his perch, and slowly walked over to MD, shoving her back down into the puddle.

"You know, I'm a busy stallion so sometimes I forget the small details. It's a good thing I've got this kind officer here to remind me precisely how long it's been since we saw you out."

"Six weeks and five days, Swarfega Sir." Barked a gangly, if surprisingly well groomed looking unicorn.

"Six weeks and five days." Swarfega parrotted. "Six weeks and five days, thank you officer."

He turned and paced infront of us both, slowly going back an forth in a small circle.

"Six weeks and five days, almost seven weeks. Why, that's the best part of two months, isn't it Miss Do?" He turned to face her, head low, looking her right in the eyes, snout to snout. MD could do nothing but glare back.

"Two months, and we've not seen you once, not hide nor hair. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember your contract timeframe was for two weeks, is that right Officer Bantam?"

"14 days from the date of agreement for the retrieval of goods, payment made in advance. Payment to be returned if goods undelivered, Sir."

"14 days, thank you Officer." He stood up straight, pulling MD up out of the mud with his magic, holding her in the air. "Two weeks, Make Do, and we paid you in advance! Now call it naieve if you'd like, but it seemed to me like we were doing you a favour, giving you all those caps prior, PRIOR! To completing the job. And you pay us back by what, fucking off with the money?"

He held her there for a few seconds more, before throwing her to the ground and hoofing her in the face with a horrible thud.

"That was a lot of caps, Do. For valuable goods. Now how are we supposed to rebuild order in the wastes when our contractors are undermining us?" Another smack, this time right to the temple. I physically winced watching it.

"So what, you thought you could pocket the caps and leave us high and dry? Keep the money and the goods for yourself, sell them on for a bigger payday, stick it to Red Rein, hm? Hell, maybe you were just feeling lazy and didn't want the trouble of coming all the way back to us. I don't know, but I'd be a fucking liar if I said I didn't care."

He turned around and bucked her in the ribs, MD yelped through the gag, tears streaming down her face. Uncaring, he went right back to pacing.

"Now I don't think we're being unreasonable here. We payed you good money for a service that you simply didn't provide, hardly shocking that we're a mite bit upset about it. We have a plan, Do. Ponies need structure, they need order, order that we can provide. But everyone has to do their part. Everypony here is serving the common good, and we don't have any room for ponies who aren't willing to do their part. And truth be told, Do, this is pretty fucking far from doing your part."

Swarfega pressed a forehoof to the back of MD's head, pushing her face down into the dirty puddle.

"See, to your great fortune, the merchant you sold our shit to sympathises with our cause, and she got us back the cargo that was rightfully ours, like any decent pony would. And the most interesting thing she said was that you hadn't even left town! That you were carrying on as normal, on our bit." He continued. "Stealing from ponies and not having the foresight to skip town? Not trying to slink away unnoticed? We run this fucking town, you thought we wouldnt find you? Pretty fucking stupid if you ask me. You had every opportunity, Do. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Swarfega relented for a moment, MD rolled onto her side and took a ragged, heaving breath through her gag, face now coated in mud. I was cowering on the floor, unable to do anything but watch on, horrified, wishing I could turn myself invisible.

But I couldn't. And now I was the one being stared down.

"And who is this? I didn't know you'd be bringing company, Do. I'd have rolled out the welcome party." He cajoled, lowering his gaze to look me in the eyes.

"Now who might you be, hm? Business partner maybe? Wife? Whore? Don't believe I recognise you." He held his gaze for what felt like minutes, almost like he was inspecting me, staring right into my soul.

Seeing him up close, he would have been scary even if I hadn't just seen him violently assault MD. He had a very large scar running all the way across his face, notching his top lip. He was very large, and almost all muscle. Even his horn was very long, and very sharp. His eyes were steely and pricing, there was no light behind them. Most concerning of all, he had a rifle strapped to his back.

"Well, whoever you are, I want you to pay close attention to this. You see, your friend here fucked around, and well I'm sure you know what happens to ponys who fuck around. They find out."

Not breaking his gaze, Swarfega picked up Make Do by the throat with is magic, holding her a good few feet in the air, legs flailing, desperately trying to find footing that just wasn't there.

"You hear that, Do? Fuck around and find out, you know that one?" He finally turned away, trotting slowly over to where MD was being held. He calmly and deliberately set himself down on his haunches, reared back, and started landing blow after blow from his forehooves onto MD's body as she gasped for air.

Push after punch slammed off MD's ribs and stomach, her body twising and writhing with every impact, but unable to move herself away from the attack. I was almost hyperventilating by this point, the only thing stopping me from bolting being the gun that was still aimed squarely at me.

"Stupid games, stupid prizes!" He shouted, pulling the gun from his back and slamming her in the face with the butt and sending her back to the floor in a heap.

"You know, Miss Do, as it stands right now I'd like nothing more than to stomp your sorry skull in and string you up outside like snake that you are. Make an example of you, see, so that I don't have to waste my time dealing with shit like this again." He said camly, shaking off his hooves, using MD as a stepping stone to get over the puddle to where the other ponies were standing.

"BUT, lucky for you both, I am feeling very fucking generous today. Bantam, go and fetch a couple of those collars." He ordered, before walking back over MD to get back in front of us.

"See, I can't fuck you up too badly, not right now anyway. You still have the failure clause of your contract to complete, after all. See, not only are those goods absolutely vital to our cause, by failing to complete the job, you also now owe us a lot of caps. It'd be stupid of me to not recoup my losses, right?" He mused.

"'Course, you have proven to be less than trustworthy, so we can hardly have you running around free as the wind, can we?"

He smiled at us both, before carefully removing MD's gag.

"Now tell me Miss Do, you're a business owner so I'm sure you can see where we're coming from, I want you to tell me what you think I should do about this clusterfuck?"

"Fuck you and the cum soaked bitch you rode in on." MD replied, spitting out blood.

"Well fuck me, I'm giving you a chance to justify yourself and that's all you've got to say?"

"Justify my ass, I have nothing to say to you."

"So the bitch has a spine eh? I'd almost respect it if you weren't such a leech. It's ponies like you keeping our society stuck in the chaos of the old world, you scum." He growled.

"Keep telling yourself that, you fucking cunts, all of you!" She shouted back.

"Ooh, she's got venom but she can't see the big picture. You know when retards like you are all gone, we'll finally be able to drag ourselves out of this Celestia forsaken shithole and- ah Bantam, much obliged."

Bantam trotted over with a couple of military looking metal boxes, which looks like they've seen better days.

"Now this, Miss Do, is our collateral. See, it's all well and good me telling you you're going back out there to get our money back, but you've already proven you have absolutely no respect for the binds of your contract. I could send one of our fine mares or stallions out to accompany you to make sure the job is done, but they've all got better things to do see, that's how come we hired you in the first place. But these, we'll that's a different story." Swarfega grinned. "Officer Bantam, would you kindly leave me those boxes so I can show our guests here how we keep ponies in line."

Bantam places the boxes on the floor in front of us, and with a flick of his horn Swarfega unlatches the lids on both of them, turning his attention to me as he does.

"Now, I don't really know who you are so this is nothing personal between me and you, but Miss Do here has proven herself sometting of a scab, and you see, the friend of my enemy is my enemy. Sorry you got dragged into this, but judging by the company you keep, chances are we'd have buried you sooner or later."

I grit my teeth on the gag. I knew it sounded like he wanted MD alive, but the last sentence sounded very much like the mare behind me wad about to pull the trigger.

Swarfega's horn lit up again, and from the inside of the boxes he pulled out two boxy looking collars. MD's eyes went wide.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you what these are." He groused. I had no idea what he was talking about, but MD was shaking her head.

"N-now, let's not be so hasty Swarf-"

"You shut the fuck up you bitch, we are so far beyond talking things out!" Swarfega shouted, a throaty, furious shout. "You have had so much time, Do. You chose the path you chose, and this is where it got you. Stupid games, stupid prizes. Guards, hold them please."

I was forced down onto my haunches, magic firmly planting all my hooves to the ground and keeping my head staring dead ahead.

"That was a lot of caps you took from us, Miss Do. And from what I understand, you managed to sell our cargo for quite the windfall too. So I'm sure you won't have any trouble scraping enough up to pay us back, say, oh I don't know, 500% of your initial fee?" He pondered as MD's eyes went wide. "Now, I'm not unreasonable, I'm not expecting a miracle, a week should be more than enough-"

"A WEEK?? No no, that's no way enough time-"

"You have had MORE than enough FUCKING time. You'll have a fucking week." Swarfega roared, setting the collars. "A week, 168 hours. I suggest you make note of the time and get your shit together, ladies."

Moving in his sickly glow, the collar passed under my chin. Once it sat at the base of my neck, it clamped closed uncomfortably tight and beeped twice.

"All set. They're linked to eachother by the way, so no funny business. One goes, you both go." He smirked, drawing a hoof across his neck.

"A week. Bring back our money. And just maybe we'll do something about those collars if you catch us on a good day. GO." Swarfega shouted. The magic around my body released, and I sagged down. MD stumbled, unstable on her hooves.

"M-MD, w-w-what is this?" I bleated.

"Swarfega you ass, a week is not enough, I-I can't possibly-" MD started.

"If you don't like it, you know what the other option is." He replied, once again perched on the crate. "Now, I said GO!"

"Fuck fuck fuck" MD muttered. "Silver let's go."

"MD, what's happening?"

"Let's go, now. Come on, we have to move."

"What's going on-"

"SILVER. We're leaving, NOW."

MD started galloping towards the door. I was left standing on wobbling legs, too shaken to move.

"SILVER, FUCKING MOVE!" Make Do shouted furiously. I'd not heard that tone from her before, it sort of snapped me out of my stupor. I ran over to her and she led me back through the door.

"You move when I tell you to move, understand?" She said, pointedly, as if I was a misbehaving child. "Fucking Swarfega, fucking Red Rein, FUCK."

Make Do practically dragged me back through the compound, sprinting past dozens of ponies watching us run, and out through the outer door which was already open to let more carts through. We didn't stop until we were far into the wastes, when MD collapsed.

"Ah, fuck my life, the adrenaline is wearing off." She panted. "Gods, everything hurts."

I was too out of breath to reply. I hadn't noticed it until she said it, but I had been running on pure adrenaline too. I wobbled for a moment before falling to my haunches, putting all my weight against what was left of an old telegraph pole, panting and trembling, head pounding, ears ringing.

We layed like that for a good while, I'm not too sure how long, but long enough for my lungs to stop burning.

I shakily pushed myself up into a sitting position. I thought it'd probably be a good idea to give myself a quick once over, I had no idea what might have happened to me while I was knocked out.

A few scrapes aside I didn't seem too worse for ware. My temples were throbbing, but I had no way of seeing what condition my head was in, I'd have to take a look later. It felt like everything was where it should be, at least. No missing teeth and ears still present, anyway.

For her part, MD was not looking so hot. Her bandaged leg was bleeding, presumably the unexpected sprint had reopend her wound. She was covered small cuts and bruises, and her lighter eye was stolen shut. Two small trails of blood streamed out of her nostrils and down to her chin.

"Fucking Violene." She muttered. "She set me up, that bitch!"

"MD, what in Equestria is going on? W-w-what was all of that? What is THIS?!" I ask, pulling at the terribly uncomfortable metal collar. They both beeped in response.

"SILVER, STOP!!" MD exclaimed, quickly sitting up. I pulled my hoof away and the beeping stopped. She sighed in relief. "Gods..."

She ran her hooves through her mane, breathing in deeply, eyes closed.

"Shit. Shit shit shit."

"MD please, what in Tartarus is going on?" I pleaded.

"What's going on Silver is that I've seriously fucked us both and if we don't get our shit together we're both going to wind up without a head." She said flatly, if deflated.

Wait, without a head?

"W-w-w-what do you mean 'without a head?'"

"I mean if I don't get those bastards the caps they want when they want these collars are gonna detonate and leave both absent from the neck up, Silver." MD sounded a lot more stern now. "That's what I mean. We're going to fucking die if we don't get to work right fucking now."

"WHAT?!"

"Look, I know this is a lot all at once, but we have literally no time, if we want to keep breathing come next week anyway." She said, pushing herself up onto all fours. "Okay, 500%, it was what, 50,000 caps? That's uh... oh buck."

"MD get this thing off of me, I don't want to die!"

I started desperately pulling at the collar, causing them both to start beeping angrily again.

"SILVER CALM THE FUCK DOWN YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US BOTH!" Make Do roared, grabbing my forehooves and forcing them down. The beeping again stopped. "Celestia above Silver, they're rigged to blow if you try take them off. We're linked, if you lose your head, I lose mine too."

"HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN WHEN THERE'S A BOMB AROUND MY NECK?"

"BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO TAKE CARE OF IT, ALRIGHT?" She snapped. "Now calm down and let me THINK."

I tried to calm my breathing while she paced. I was literally a walking bomb, telling me to calm down wasn't going to cut it. I was seething.

"Okay, okay, we've got seven days all we need is uh... 250,000 caps. Yeah, 250,000. Shit shit shit shit."

Make Do started breathing heavier, pacing more frantically.

"FUCK!" She screamed, coming to a halt and bucking the telegraph pole, narrowly missing my head and sending splinters flying. "FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

I cowered away, falling onto my back.

"FUCK THAT'S SO MUCH MONEY!"

I may not have known her very long, but this was a side to Make Do that up until now I had not seen. Angry and desperate, the pony who so far had been directing me through this grim new world now battered and bloody, and ultimately directionless. To both our detriment. This was the first time since the first day I'd first woken up in her home that I felt afraid of her. Not just wary, but scared.

With a final buck the pole gave way, rotten wood snapping and collapsing down between the two of us. I wordlessly looked back and forth between the pole and Make Do. She was panting, head low.

"No, I am not letting those assholes win." She snorted. "Silver, we have work to do. Let's go. And hey, can you get this thing off of my horn?"

I didn't dare move. She glared at me.

"Silver, come on let's go, we don't have time, we have to lose these things in seven days, get a move on."

I studied her for a moment, a little fearfully. I had allowed myself to get close to Make Do by virtue of her being the first pony to find me. But realistically the only reason I was in this horrific mess was all because of her.

"Silver-"

"No."

"What?"

"No, whatever you're doing, I-I'm not going." I said. "I never asked for any of this, to be here, I'm only here because of you! I only have a bucking bomb around my neck because of you!"

I was angry and afraid, I could feel the starts of tears welling up in my eyes.

"I never wanted any of this! Why should I go with you after you dragged me into this? I've been kidnapped a-and assaulted! I'M WEARING A FUCKING BOMB! Oh Gods, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"

Make Do grabbed my snout with her magic and pointed my face directly at hers.

"You listen to me Silver. You owe me, okay? I saved your life, I took you in. I helped you out. You ARE only here because of me, if I hadn't have found you, you'd still be rotting in that basement. You're GOING to help me out, or we both die, you understand? There is no other option. Now calm down!"

In the time I had spent with her, I had never heard Make Do's voice be so cold. It was a calculated, callous tone with intent behind it. She was unblinking, deadly serious, looking me dead in the eyes, not allowing me to look away.

"You're helping me, or both of us die, is that crystal fucking clear?"

She let go of my face. I stood up, not breaking eye contact. I had the same time she did. I didn't know where I was. I had lost what little equipment I had when I got knocked out. I didn't have a choice.

"Come on, we're going home. And help me get this suppresor off." Make Do said, turning and trotting off, I slowly followed behind.
"Please don't tell my dad about any of this."

---

"Okay, so I've turned over everything, found another 5 caps in the workshop, so that brings us tooooo... 640 caps. So that's uh... 249,360 to go."

I could hear her banging around in the kitchen. We had arrived back at Make Do's house about a couple of hours ago, and she'd spent the time simultaneously turning the place upsidedown looking for money and cooking up get rich quick schemes. Mr. Goldwing was not home.

I hadn't spoken a word to Make Do since we'd set off. I was stewing over what she'd said. I hated that she was right. I had less than no chance on my own. Most of all, I hated how vindictive she was about it. I hated how I was now involved by proxy. I didn't even know what this was all about (although I had a pretty good idea given Swarfega's tirade) but I was now fatally stuck in the middle of it.

I'd not really been helping in the search for 'caps'. This house wasn't mine to look through, these things weren't mine to rifle around in. Admittedly it was probably in my best interests to be more involved, but this was Make Do's mess, literally and figuratively.

"You find anything Silver?"

I grunted in response.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Make Do poked her head around the corner, eyeing me quizzically.

"Are you listening to me Silver? You've not even started looking!"

I threw up my hooves and started half heartedly rummaging around the bedroom. I don't know what she expected to find squirrelled away in here, but I had strong doubts I was going to find 249,000 caps under the matress.

Before Make Do left to carry on her own search, the radio spluttered to life, apparently mid news broadcast.

"-gooey areas this reporter describes as: best avoided. And finally, local hero and philanthropist Dorian Flash made a rare public appearance today from her home atop the Bronco Seltzer Tower. Ms. Flash called tyhe gathering to announce her latest scavenger hunt, this one with the biggest reward to date."

Both mine and Make Do's ears perked up.

"The scavenger hunt will see entrants searching for the old world relic of Octavia Melody's cello, who's music most of you dear listeners should be quite familiar with! Ms. Flash has announced a prize of, get ready folks, one. MILLION. Caps. You heard right, one million caps. The contest is open to all and starts today, so good luck to all those joining in. This has been Tremolo, I'm off to check the instrument cases in the studio basement."

Music followed, but I wasn't really paying much attention. Make Do stood slack jawed, I could almost see her brain working. It would've probably been funny if I wasn't so concerned about exploding.

"Silver, that was bizarrely convenient, wasn't it?" Make Do asked.

"I suppose so yes, it was."

"Silver, we have to find that cello, it's our only option."

"I don't know, sounds too good to be true, to be honest. Plus where would you even start with something like that?"

"I can think of a few places! Besides Dorian's scavenger hunts are legendary, I've always wanted to do one!" Make Do exclaimed. "And uh, also, a million caps!? I'd never need another job from Violene again, the skank!"

"I don't know Make Do-"

"MD."

"Make Do, that Cello has got to be over 200 years old, there's no garuentee it even exists anymore, let alone where it might have ended up if it does."

"Hey, all my friends call me MD."

"Oh, am I your friend, Make Do? I don't think friends would leverage them helping someone in need over them as a bargaining tool, do you?"

"What?"

"'I owe you', remember? I thought you had been helping me out of the goodness of your heart, but it's good to know you were always planning on using your actions for clout over me." I replied, crossing my forelegs.

"Silver we literally both have explosive collars strapped to our necks, sorry if I got heated but we don't have time to be petty here, I really want to get this over with sooner rather than later." She said flatly, instantly dismissing me.

"Petty? You think I'm being petty!?"

"Uh yeah, kinda. I think we both have bigger things to worry about-"

"Make Do, you are literally the only thing I have in this world. I have nothing to my name, no family, no home, not a single thing. And I don't really even have you! I need you, okay? I'm just hurt that apparently all I am to you right now is a means to an end. Not only that, but apparently the end I'm being used for is apparently going to find a cello on a lark! I thought you cared, I thought I had been getting to know you, but you're like a different pony right now. So don't tell me I'm being petty." I spat.

"Look, I'm stressed, I'm scared, okay? Clearly you are too, but the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get Red Rein their money, lose these collars, and put this all behind us, okay?" She sighed. "I don't do well with pressure. I can deal with a lot but I'm not really at my best with a bomb collar on."

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us."

I eyed her sceptically. She sounded sincere, but nothing she said was really an apology in my eyes.

"I'd like to think we're friends..." She offered.

"Whatever." I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "So, what are we doing then?"

"Look, I'm telling you now there's literally no other way I'm gonna be able to magic up a quarter million caps in seven days. We have to find that Cello. Not gonna lie, Silver, this is pretty desperate, and we're not really swimming in options."

I stared at the ceiling and exhaled through my nose. I had no idea what the conversion rate for bits to caps would be, but 250,000 was a very big number. Looking for a long forgotten instrument would be like a wild goose chase to find a needle in a haystack, but Make Do was right, not knowing much of anything else at least, this did seem to be the obvious answer.

"Fuck it, okay. Let's do it."

---

As it would turn out, one of Make Do's regular customers was something of an Octavia buff and an archivist. I was kind of a casual fan, I'd never caught her live, but I had a few albums. This guy by comparison was almost a superfan. Make Do had brought me into her room and dug out some large boxes full of ancient posters, crumbling magazine articles, worn out albums, all kinds of sundries and esoterica she'd found for him related to the cellist of the moment. It was as good a place as any to start I suppose, there had to be some clues buried somewhere in there.

As luck would have it, she had an old tour poster in his possession, with shows dated for the same week I found myself petrified. If she was on the road when everything kicked off, it'd make sense to try those places first.

Obviously it was still a huge leap of faith, but it was better than nothing. Neither me nor Make Do were privy to the exact date that the megaspells went off, so we weren't able to say which town she would have been in at the end. But I knew it was Wednesday when I entered the Ministry building, so we were able to cross at least a few places off the list.

The closest town within the timeframe was Dodge City. It was an old railway terminus town, if I remember right from the news it was a big farming town producing a lot if food for the war effort. According to the poster this show was to be the 'recently completed' Jubilee Hippodrome's debut performance. Go figure.

By Make Do's reckoning Dodge City was about a day and a half away on hoof. Assuming the cello was there, and everything went to plan the whole trip should take a little over three days. If not, well the next closest town was Ponyville, another day and a half. days trot from Dodge. Getting back would be cutting it very close. And if it wasn't there either...

Make Do had gone about gathering supplies. She had thrown a large saddlebag on the kitchen floor and was flitting room to room, throwing things into it. Food, ammo. She'd dug out am old replacement pistol for me, which I was in the middle of cleaning the grip of. If something was going to be in my mouth, it's going to at least be clean.

She'd also found me a new rain hood, as it was once again pissing it down outside. Make Do had set a map marker on her PipBuck so we'd at least know where we were going.

She'd gone as far to make us both very makeshift scarves to cover our collars 'so that nopony mistakes us for escaped slaves', which is a sentence I really didn't want to think about too much.

We'd taken the time to patch ourselves up of the injuries incurred by our involuntary excursion, which is something we probably should have done as soon as we'd gotten home, but better late than never.

I'd made a sort of rudimentary webbing out of a roll of old fabric, since Make Do only had the one bag. It really wasn't much, but I'd at least managed to strap a spare bedroll to my side and make a very basic holster for my right foreleg. If there'a one thing I did pick up from the Filly Guides, it was how to tie a knot. I didn't want to have to use the gun, but it was probably better to have easy access. I'd stuffed the pockets of my suit full of spare bullets, just in case.

Truth be told, I was dreading the journey. I was a city mare, I wasn't built for hikes. I knew it was something I would have to get used to, but I was less than excites for a multi-day trudge through the rain.

Make Do at least didn't seem too worried. She had been kind of talking to herself while getting ready, mostly mumbling about projected timeframes and meeting Dorian. There was no logic to how she was packing the bag, she was just tossing things in there haphazardly. I knew that time was very much of the essence, but I also couldn't help but think the time she might be saving now wouldn't be worth the ordeal of trying to look through the bag later. I didn't say anything, though.

Pushing the bag closed with her magic, Make Do put on her own rainhood and threw the bag on her back. She was carrying a shotgun, which truth be told did make me feel a little bit more comfortable about heading out into the wastes.

Gods I hoped we wouldn't need it, though.

Satisfied, she pulled down her hood.

"Hooh boy. Okay Silver, ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

"Alright alright. You head out, I just wanna do one last thing." She said, trotting to the table.

I made my way to the door and nudged it open, standing in the frame as the rain came down in sheets. Wonderful.

I looked back to see Make Do leaving a note on the table before she turned and trotted through the door.

"Let's get this show on the road!" She intoned.

I looked behind, scanning what she'd written before pulling the door closed and setting off behind her for Dodge City.

Hi Dad!

I'm out running some errands, please don't worry! I'll be home soon!

Love you loads!
Your little Mender

---

Level Up!
New Perk (Silver Sterling): Suspicious Minds - Don't get caught in a trap! Ponies will have a harder time deceiving you in conversation.

New Perk (Make Do): Fortune Finder - With the Fortune Finder perk, you'll find considerably more caps in containers than you normally would.