Fallout Equestria: War Never Changes

by jarmari

Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The whole next morning was kind of a blur, getting up, getting ready, going to see if the tailor could mend my new barding before we left, breakfast, and finally arriving to load and prep the sky wagon, my first official mission with the Collective.

When we arrived Crackshot and Brutus were already hard at work loading empty crates and supplies into the wagon. Brutus was moving with quite the bounce in his step. “Well somepony seems to have had a good night.” Ruby teased him.

“Oh yeah, slept like a log.” Crackshot said, stretching as she came out of the wagon. “Nice of you two to join us, we've only been working for an hour already.”

“Sorry, Bulletstorm gave me some new armoured barding and I wanted to find out if I could get it mended to add a proper holding spot for my sword.” I gestured to the newly added loops that the scabbard sat comfortably in on my back. “It's a lot better than the belt loops.” I wrapped the sword in my magic and drew it quickly out, spun it around in front of me and sheathed it again. “Smooth as butter.” I grinned.

“Good, because you might need it.” Crackshot said. “We're going back to your office to get the rest of your stuff, Ruby and Brutus are going on to the ammo foundry, we're going to meet up with them once we're finished, help them finish and head back together by nightfall, sound good?”

“Sounds perfect. I wanted the chance to get into Rosa's office and find out if there's anything else I can learn about what might have happened to me, and her, and the rest of my family and friends, find out if I have great great grandchildren somewhere in the wasteland too.”

Crackshot nodded, pushing another set of crates into the wagon and securing them under the far bench. “Well lets get going everypony.” Brutus said and we set to work finishing loading the wagon with supplies and within 20 minutes we were launched and soaring through the air back to my old office. Crackshot and I sat and talked mostly about the potential of outfitting the turrets with more specialized abilities.

“Well if I have the time and we don't get shot at while I'm working...” I said thoughtfully, looking over the turrets. “I'm not the best with regular old guns and ammo, the electromagnetic upgrade I did on this one involved a lot more computer work than actual weapon work. But I suppose with enough time I could make the upgrades work. Probably even create a computer program to automate the turrets, make em more accurate. Brutus what are you doing with those Pipbucks you had before?”

“They're still running decryption, we don't have a lot of spare processing power for stuff like that.”

“Oh, well alright, I suppose I could help with that too. Get the decryption going properly, even finish it if I can.”

“Well when we get back we'll go over the weapons we have at our disposal and see what you can come up with alright?” Crackshot asked. I nodded and continued to look at the turrets, then turned to my pipbuck and pulled up a blank work document, not a feature most Pipbucks had of course, but the science division had made modifications to the ones they sent to Ministry research facilities in the interest of 'sharing knowledge' which was just their way of saying they wanted to be in the loop when technological advancements were made so they could have a crack at it. I started to work on the beginnings of a computer program for automating the turrets, because targeting software was hardwired into most systems to prevent them from being stolen and applied to someone else's systems, so I couldn't just copy it out of the turrets back at the office. I unhooked the EMP turret and plugged into it while I worked on my program and had gotten it to the point that the turret would rotate by itself and even move up and down when Crackshot nudged me. “Hey, we're here.” She laughed. “You really do get lost in your work don't you?”

I looked up and saw my office outside the window. “Oh wow. Sorry, yeah I'm really bad for it.” I sighed, disconnecting the Pipbuck, switching the turret back to it's manual mode and starting out of the wagon.

“Don't load up too heavily.” Brutus said. “We got the important stuff from here last time and we're going to be hopefully bringing back a lot of stuff from the ammo foundry.”

“Essentials only.” Crackshot nodded. I moved up to the cockpit and leaned down, kissing Ruby gently. “Behave yourself while I'm gone so you can misbehave with me later.” I winked.

Ruby actually blushed a little and nodded. “Yes master.” She laughed, managing to cover her moment of weakness well.

“You want a kiss from me too before we go Ruby?” Crackshot asked.

“Pass, you smell like death and you probably taste just as bad.” Ruby retorted.

“Aww that's not nice.” I said sadly as I pulled a pair of crates out from under the bench and floated them out to sit beside the entrance to the office. “Come'ere.” I grabbed Crackshot and kissed her deeply before anypony could react. Alright so she tasted like a dead body too...I managed to suppress my desire to puke and held the kiss for a full ten seconds before I pulled away and started out of the wagon, bumping her flank and moving to open the front doors. The look of shock on all their faces was totally worth it though, each and every one of them looked like they might faint, and Crackshot almost looked smug.

“Well, see you two later.” She smirked, grabbing a pack of medical supplies and getting out of the wagon and hitting the door close button behind her. It slid shut and the wagon just sat there for a moment before it finally lifted into the air and soared off, wrapping around the building and vanishing.

“Alright it's safe, they're gone.” Crackshot said, coming back over to me and grinning. I wretched and gagged hard, spitting and rubbing my tongue against the leg of my barding. I pulled a box of Mintals from the medical supplies and floated one out. “Normally I don't like these things but under the circumstances...” I popped it in my mouth, crushing it and rubbing it all over my mouth before spitting the chalky mess out in the hopes of minimizing the effects of the drug, feeling smarter didn't make it a good thing after all. “YOU TASTE LIKE A CORPSE!” I groaned, collapsing in a heap.

She roared with laughter and shook her head. “Of course I taste like a corpse! I basically am, but that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The looks on their faces were so worth it. Cane I can't thank you enough for that. It takes more courage to pucker up and kiss a ghoul than it does to face down a gun sometimes.”

“Well if anypony asks we'll call it a moment of temporary insanity.” I said, pushing myself up to my hooves again and grabbing up the boxes in my magic and starting inside. “Of course we can just play it off as me being the biggest bad ass in the whole collective too I suppose.” I chuckled.

“We'll see I suppose.” She nodded, moving into the main hallway and we moved slowly through the building, using my EFS to make sure the building was still abandoned, and aside from some MASSIVE cockroaches, Radroaches Crackshot told me, the building was just as empty as when we'd left a few days earlier.

“I'll go through things down here, you get your things from upstairs.” She said, gesturing to the staircase on the far side of the warehouse.

“Yeah alright, if you need anything just holler.” I said, floating one of the crates up and starting up the stairs. I stopped in front of my office and set the crate down, moving inside the computer powered up again. “Welcome back Doctor Cane, your last visit was 50 hours ago.” The computer chimed as it powered back on. “There has been 100 terabytes of data physically removed from the storage servers as well as an additional 50 terabytes copied onto Stable-Tec standard issue Pip-Buck units, all attempts to contact security and local authorities has failed.”

“I know.” I said offhandedly as I rounded up the pictures and bundled them carefully together on my desk, taking files out of drawers and piling them onto the desk too. “We have had a serious security breach and for security reasons we had to pull the system critical data without advanced notification to avoid the possibility of outside forces further compromising the safety of the data.” I took a few prototype robotic prosthetic legs and added them to the growing pile. “We are relocating to another for protection, I trust I'll be able to count on you to keep an eye on things here in case things go wrong?”

“Acquiring security control. Control established. Unknown entity on level one, preparing for extermination.”

“No no wait, show me the unknown.” I said, moving to the monitors. The central monitor flickered and brought up a video feed of Crackshot, she was emptying one of her saddlebags into the cargo crate, ammo and caps and a few random metal and electronic scraps falling into the bin before she rearranged it into a proper neatly stored stack.

“Target is not a hostile, designate target 'Crackshot', ally, clearance level Alpha, full security override, all sites.”

“Confirmed.” There was a moments pause.

“Good afternoon Ms. Crackshot.” The computer voice echoed out over the PA system making the ghoul jump. “This is your first visit to the system. I am the Registered Omega System Auto-comp. You can call me Rosa.” I blushed a little and hit the button for the mic on my computer.

“Sorry Crackshot, I gave you authorization for the system so the turrets wouldn't fry you, I didn't expect the computer to greet you over the P.A. System.”

“S'fine.” She called back. “Just scared the crap out of me. And really? ROSA? You named your computer after your fiancee? I'm all for romance and sentimentality but that's a little weird isn't it?”

“Actually the real Rosa named the computer not me, I just never got around to changing it since I didn't hear the name very often.”

“Well whatever just hurry up, I've only got a few more rooms to go through and I already have a decent pile of caps and ammo, and actually a few discarded guns. Nothing fancy but they'll sell.”

“Wow, I'd have thought you cleaned this place out really well the first time.”

“Sometimes we miss stuff, sometimes new stuff just seems to show up.” She shrugged. “I don't really like to over think it.”

“Unable to authorize user 'Crackshot' for Delta site, system removed from network.” ROSA reported.

“Alright, that's fine, just keep trying and report back to me next time I come back, otherwise I'll go to the Delta site and check on the connection in a few days.” I said to the computer.

“Affirmative.” It replied simply.

“Hurry!” Crackshot called again before I switched off the monitors again.

I took the last few odds and ends from my office and loaded them into the crate, then moved into the hall, closing the doors behind me, for what I thought was going to be the last time, and moved up the hall, stopping in front of Rosalea's office. I pressed a hoof to the control pad and the music chimed.

“Years ago, when I was younger, I kind of liked a filly I knew. She was mine and we were sweethearts, that was then, but then it's true. I'm in love with a faerie tale even though it hurts. 'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind, I'm already cursed.” I sang back to the machine and the door beeped and opened.

“I never can get over how nice your voice is.” Crackshot said, making me jump.

“Geeze don't sneak up on a buck like that, you could give me a heart attack.” I sighed, shaking my head.

“I know, I'm sorry.” She smirked. “Seriously though, you're taking too long.”

“We've only been here two hours, how am I taking too long?” I rolled my eyes and started into the office.

“Hello Doctor Cane.” Rosa's computer chirped, this one in my voice. “It has been...ERROR COMPUTATIONAL STACK OVERFLOW...hours since your last log in. Rosa isn't here right now, would you care to wait?”

“No thanks, I'm just here to pick up some things for her.”

“Very well. How was your wedding? I regret being unable to attend.”

“The wedding was cancelled.” I replied flatly, taking pictures from her mantle and starting to look through the prototype weaponry she had left on the shelves before moving to the computer and starting to download schematics from her private servers.

“Oh that's a shame.” The computer said, then went silent.

“Do they have some kind of artificial intelligence?” Crackshot asked curiously, moving along another shelf of weaponry, her eyes sparkling, though most were either worthless, or nonfunctional prototypes.

“No, they have basic conversation subroutines and our calenders, so they make half hearted attempts at small talk sometimes.” I shrugged, finding the plans for a number of weapons and bringing them up onto the screen. “What do you think?” I showed Crackshot the schematics on the screen, one monitor showed some kind of metal framework with a gem powered engine at the back of it. “That's the 'Multiple Iteration Release Valve, it was only experimental. Meant to fire 8 Balefire eggs at the same time, like a shotgun.” The second monitor showed a cone with orange rings wrapped around it every few inches, a silver ball on the tip and a much larger silver orb on the back end, glowing with a number of glyph markings. “The Technologically Enhanced Super Lightening Array. Builds up a static charge inside the cone and focuses it out the small orb at the front, firing pure electricity.” On the third screen I pulled up a screen that looked like it was a pair of shotguns, each with an indicator light on the hilt like Ebony and Ivory. “And a pair of shotguns capable of firing laser and plasma bolts, couldn't make em work because of the spread of the shots, wrecked the guns in a few clips.” I finished downloading the plans and moved on to a pair of lockers at the back of the room. “Hey. I bet I know what would make you feel better about being late.” I grinned, looking back at Crackshot, who came over quickly, her face getting serious as she looked at the lockers.

I reached out with my magic and unlocked the first one, floating out a massive metal frame work, it looked more like a gem powered slingshot than a weapon. I also took a specialty modified battle saddle with a port on the back for holding the massive framework as well as an ammo container with 5 balefire eggs inside.

Crackshot looked like she might cry. “W...what is it?” She asked softly, marveling at the device in my magical grasp.

“It's a fatbuck.” I laughed. “Able to fire balefire eggs about 200 yards, this is the first version of the Experimental MIRV plans in Rosa's computer. To a normal pony it's an awesome long range deterrent, for you not only could you seriously weaken a target but also rush the target after firing and fight them in a healing field of radiation.” I floated all of them into the crate and moved to the next locker. “But wait there's more, if you call now we'll also throw in...” I pulled open the locker and revealed two more guns. “The recharger pistol and recharger rifle.” I said, pulling them down and floating them out for Crackshot to look at. “They run on a recharging electro static talisman, much like the ones that are used to power pipbucks, they have basically unlimited power, however they have to build a charge and don't pack quite as much punch as a normal laser pistol or rifle.”

Crackshot just stood stupidly for a minute as she gawked at them.

“And they're all yours in exchange for your forgiveness for me taking so long.” I finished after waiting a minute for her to speak, and really it's not like I would be any good with weapons like these, someone with an appreciation for them needed to have them. “Come on Crackshot, say something or I'm going to assume you've gone feral and put you down.”

She looked from the guns to the launcher in the crate and back to me, making a soft squeal of delight and tackled me in a huge hug, the guns clattering to the ground as I lost my grip, and unfortunately for me, a huge kiss, with more tongue than I'd have liked, which was really no tongue at all. “Oh Cane you know how to spoil a girl. If I still had working sex organs I'd be using them on you right now.” She coos, standing up and lifting the pistol in her mouth. The indicator light blinked on and she fired a couple times into the wall, dancing back and fourth with glee as the line of blaster shots scorched the wall perfectly. She set it down and pulled the revolver from it's quick draw holster at her side, tossing it into the crate and taking the recharger pistol back up and slid it into place before doing the same with the repeater rifle in her battles addle.

Meanwhile I was still sitting in a disgusted heap on the floor, my tongue hanging out of my mouth.

“Oh snap out of it you moron.” She laughed, nudging me hard, making me snap out of it.

“Come on Crackshot.” I groaned, licking my leg in the vain hope of getting the taste out of my mouth. I didn't want to put any more mintals in my mouth so I just dealt with the rest of the taste. “No offense but you really do taste gross...we gotta find you a ghoul buck you can mack on.”

She smirked and moved back to the desk, sitting down in the chair. “Speaking of ghoul bucks, Hail Storm told me last night you had quite a nightmare about one?” She asked.

“Oh she mentioned that did she?” I sighed. “What's the world coming to that you can't tell a complete stranger about the problems you're having without them blabbing it to your friends.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Crackshot asked. “And if you're planning on saying no, know that I won't accept that as an answer.” She smirked.

“I suppose.” I walked around the office and sat in one of the chairs in front of Rosa's desk. “I had a nightmare...”

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

Crackshot sat quietly while I told her everything I could remember, being bound to the chair, the pit of burning ponies used as torches to light the staircase, the monstrosity that came down those stairs and talked to me like I was some kind of hero to him, the whole thing made me sick to even think about, let alone to lay out all the gory details.

When I finally finished she whistled softly. “That's a hell of a story Cane. And a very familiar one too.” She sat thoughtfully for a minute before banging the desk. “ I remember!” She grinned. “Your dream sounds like a scene from the movie 'The Fiery Pit', tied to a chair, burning pony torches, the bad guy telling the good guy he was their inspiration. Yeah it's one of the most iconic scenes in the whole film.”

“I've never seen it.” I said, looking at her curiously.

“You've never seen a sci-fi classic like 'The Fiery Pit' and you give me crap for not reading Sherclop Holmes?” She laughed.

“Well I was never really big on older movies.” I shrugged. “Some of the monster movie classics, like Flankenstein, or adventure movies like Daring Doo, but I worked with computers and robots all day, I didn't really have any interest in Science fiction movies because the technology was too outlandish, or worse was totally out of date. I just couldn't get into them.”

“What about Iron Mare?” She countered.

“Power Armour.” I shrugged. “Not just a possibility, but an actual thing we have.”

“Thorse?”

“Technically mythology, but I was lucky enough to have met Princesses Luna AND Celestia at a Grand Galloping Gala one year so somepony like Thorse isn't that much of a stretch.”

“Captain Equestria?”

“Cap AND Hulk both came about from a magic potion that enhanced them to the super hero level, technically it would have just been a super form of steroids and I had heard tell from some of my contacts that Twilight Sparkle was researching something very similar herself towards the end of the war. And Gryf-Eye and Buck Widow weren't super powered in anyway, just very very skilled.” I finished.

“Alright alright, I think we're getting off track here. The point is, nightmares are terrible scary things, and from the sounds of it you might just have been manifesting all your terrors about the world you've found yourself in, but I'm no expert on the subject. But the fact that you say you've never seen the movie makes it a hell of a coincidence that you dreamed the same scene.”

I floated the crate out into the hallway and shrugged. “I just don't know what you tell you. It's what happened. It was so terrifying I don't think I'll ever forget it. The smell of burning pony isn't something that fades with time. Could we maybe talk about this later? I want to meet up with the others, go home and maybe drink myself stupid.”

“Sure Cane.” Crackshot said kind of sadly, moving to follow me out of the office. “But you're gonna talk to Ruby about it tonight too because, despite all odds, you two seem to be developing a meaningful relationship, and a relationship isn't worth a pile of used tissue paper if you can't share things like that. And I'm going to ask Ruby in the morning to make sure you did it.” She said seriously as we moved down the stairs and I scooped up the second crate in my magic.

“I will. I promise.” I said. “Cross my heart, hope to fly.” I nodded, closing the doors behind us and moving away from the building and we headed up and away from the business district and into the outlying neighborhoods, such as they still were.

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

“Are you bucking kidding me?!” I cried as I dropped the crates, scrambling towards the crumbling ruins of a nearby house, bullets pinging around behind me. Crackshot was just ahead, already behind some poor cover, turning and firing out at the attackers, covering me as I scrambled for cover myself. We had gone a good hour without incident, just walking and chatting about old movies when a shotgun blast had knocked one of the crates to the side and we suddenly found ourselves under attack so we bolted for the closest cover, which was the house. I cried out in pain, falling and rolling the rest of the way when a bullet pierced my flank. It hurt terribly, not as bad the pain I remembered from the nightmare but it didn't vanish after a few seconds either.

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.” I whimpered, pulling myself the rest of the way out of sight trying not to look at the blood running down my backside, staining my tail first a somewhat orange shade before just turning dark with blood.

“You'll survive.” Crackshot said, firing back at our attackers again. “Get a healing potion out of my saddlebags and down it quick.”

I did as I was told, downing the deep purple bottle and sighing as the pain faded. I turned my head and watched the wound mend, the bullet being forced out, clattering to the ground.

“That...was horrifying to watch.” I muttered, lifting the bullet up and examining it, the blood still dripping it off of it.

“We have bigger problems.” Crackshot snapped at me.

“Hold your fire.” We could hear one of the ponies outside say to the others. “COME OUT AND SURRENDER YOURSELVES! YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO SERVE IN RED EYE'S CAMP!” The magically enhanced voice of a unicorn boomed at us as the weapons fire died down.

“CHOSE THIS!” Crackshot cried back, turning and firing out at them. I drew Ebony and Ivory and started spinning them quickly to build up a charge before floating them up and opening fire blindly in the direction of the attackers. I pulled back my guns and set them down for a moment, scooping up the crates and pulling them towards us quickly, swinging one to the side to knock one of the attackers away as he tried to sneak up on it.

“It looks like there's at least 6 or 7 of them.” I said, moving my head around slowly and reading the EFS display. “I saw a couple unicorns and earth ponies, but no pegasi.” I opened the crates and floated out the Fatbuck. “Alright, lets see how this baby can handle...” I floated a balefire egg into the launcher and leaned out, slipping into S.A.T.S. and aiming towards the one pony I had just thrown off from the crate, a few of them seemed to be gathering around the same spot to press the attack on us, but before I fired I realized there was a green mark on my EFS, one of the ponies wasn't part of their group, maybe they were attacking this other pony and not rallying to press on to us. Dropping out of S.A.T.S. I pulled Crackshot back before she could throw a grenade, clamping down on it with my magic and hurling it into the sky where it exploded harmlessly.

“There's a non-hostile out there.” I said quickly, turning to look outside when I heard the cries and smacks of somepony getting the beat down. Looking towards where the slavers had been there was only one pony now, the green marked one. I emerged slowly with Crackshot beside me, Ebony and Ivory in front of me.

Our rescuer came up towards us, a pegasus in purple power armour...the same pegasus I'd seen from the sky wagon the other day maybe?

“Are you two alright?” Mare asked, a synthesizer masked Mare's voice so we couldn't tell if it was a buck or a mare in the armour.

“We're fine, thank you very much.” Crackshot said, nodding her head. “And who do we have to thank for saving us?”

“I'm Mare-Do-Well.” They replied.

“You're kidding!” Crackshot said in amazement.

“What?” I looked from one to the other hoping for an explanation.

“The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well roams the wasteland helping anypony who needs it. She, or he, comes down, saves the day and is gone just as fast.” Crackshot said quietly, not taking her eyes off the pegasus.

“Think nothing of it.” Mare-Do-Well replied. “It's what I do. And Doctor Sugarcane has only been here a few days, it wouldn't be fair for him to die so soon.”

“Really? You know me too? I can't be THAT famous.” I blushed and shook my head, digging at the ground in embarrassment.

“I know OF you yes.” Mare-Do-Well said, turning to Crackshot. “Where are you two going?”

“Ammo foundry a few miles North.” She replied.

“I shall see you safely there then.” He...She...It...turned and started away from the house. I looked dumbly at them walk away for a moment before quickly moving back inside to round up our stuff and float the crates up after me and hurrying to catch up, only to find Crackshot looting the bodies of the ponies Mare-Do-Well had felled.

“Really? Corpse robbing too?” I sighed, setting the crate down beside Crackshot.

“Of course corpse LOOTING too!” She replied. “All these guns and armour just lying here for somepony else to come across and sell? I don't think so.” She stripped them of their weapons and armour first, digging through saddlebags and taking up some healing potions and drugs, along with a few bottlecaps. She offered all of them to Mare-Do-Well who declined all of them in turn. Finally we were again packed up and on our way.

I tried repeatedly to strike up a conversation with our escort but Mare-Do-Well was a pony of few words and eventually I just moved back to walking with Crackshot, falling into a discussion about Red Eye and his operation, and while I could understand the desire to build a safe new Equestria Red Eye's methods made me sick, they reminded me all too much of the pony I'd seen in my nightmares, and the fact that the one in my nightmare said he was WORSE than Red Eye made me worry all the more.

After an hour or so the ammo foundry came into view and soon enough we could see Ruby and Brutus were moving back and fourth, loading crates into the sky wagon.

“Hey guys!” I called as we got closer. Brutus looked up, his shotgun snapping to aim until he saw us and lowered it again. “Bout time you guys caught up!” He said as we came up to them. “What took you so long?”

“Ran into some slavers.” Crackshot said.

“Nothing we couldn't handle with the help of our new friend.” I said, gesturing to the side.

“New...friend?” Ruby asked. “Is your new friend invisible?” She looked around and leaned in closer. “Do you see him now? Is he a big pink elephant? Does he want a peanut?” She giggled, moving back to the sky wagon to finish securing some of the crates.

“What? No.” I turned and looked around but Mare-Do-Well was gone.

“We were saved by the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.” Crackshot said.

“Mare-Do-Well is just an urban legend.” Brutus said. “A hero made up in the time before the war that ponies nowadays got their hooves on and made into something to tell children to give them false hope for the wasteland.”

“No, Made-Do-Well was real, saved us from the slavers, made sure we got here safe. He's a pegasus in purple power armor, it's even been painted to look like the Mare-Do-Well I remember from when I was young.” I countered

“Course you were, now help us finish loading these crates so we can get home, I wanna make it back before dark.” He said, gesturing to the setting sun. Crackshot just shook her head and moved to the sky wagon, helping Ruby secure the crates while Brutus and I loaded the bigger ones into place and secured them as well with heavier duty straps and soon enough we were airborne and on our way home again. Once we were well on our way I moved into the cockpit and sat down beside Ruby.

“So we need to talk.” I said, looking over at her.

She looked back at me, looking kind of worried. “You found Rosa alive and you're breaking up with me?” She asks, genuine concern in her voice.

“What? No...Did you see us arrive with Rosa?” I asked. “Not like if I'd found her I'd have left her. No no, I just wanted to talk to you to get your opinion on the nightmare I had the other night.”

“Oh, so you're not breaking up with me?” She sighed looking very relieved.

“Are we a thing that can be broken up?” I asked curiously.

“Oh...well...I guess? I dunno? Maybe I was jumping the gun there?” She blushed furiously and I laughed softly, leaning down and kissing her cheek.

“Don't worry, I think we're a thing that can be broken up, and no I'm not breaking up.” I said.

“Okay good. You don't want to break up with the pilot.” She smiled meekly.

“You're so cute.” I chuckled.

“You two are making me sick!” Brutus called from the back. I reached out and closed the cockpit door with a hoof.

“We also can't fool around up here while I'm flying, just because I'm strapped into this harness doesn't mean I'm trapped.” She smirked.

“Seriously, did I not JUST say that I wanted to talk about the nightmare I had? Who said anything about fooling around?” I rolled my eyes and sat beside her again.

“I know sweet thing, I'm just teasing.”

“Yeah well maybe I'll tease you.” I said stupidly, then reached out with my magic and locked the harness release on Ruby's side and moved behind her and kissed her back down to her tail.

“Don't you dare!” She whines, squirming helplessly in the harness.

“Your voice says no no, but something in the air says yes yes.” I cooed, kissing her tail once more before moving back and settling down beside her. “Seriously, like I'd do that while you're trying to fly, that's not fair.”

She glared at me and shook her head. “Jerk.” She pouted, again embarrassed.

“We'll call us even for last night.” I said, grinning at her. “Can we talk about my dream now?”

“Yeah we can.” She sighed.

So while we flew home I told my story for the third time...

Footnote: Level up

New Perk: Mysterious Mare-Do-Well: Gives you your own personal guardian angel... armed with a fully loaded battle saddle. With this perk, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well appears occasionally in S.A.T.S. mode to lend a hand, with deadly efficiency.

This fanfiction is based on Fallout Equestria by Kkat; a familiarity with the source material may aid your understanding.

You can read Fallout Equestria by Kkat on Equestria Daily

The Fallout: Equestria logo used above was designed by DotRook, who, according to the original deviantArt page, allows usage in supplementary materials created for and associated with the series. Images really do make a difference, so he has our eternal gratitude and respect.

If you enjoy Fallout Equestria Side Stories, you will want to check the Fallout Equestria Side Stories post on Equestria Daily and the Fallout Equestria Side Stories thread on Ponychan

The Ponychan group is also a hatching ground that you can join if you want to share your experience, writing or comments with us.

Comments

[Alamut]

The story gets better and better My reactions while reading about Cane kissing Crackshot: He's the craziest bastard around Besides that... Do I see a little bit of Pinkie Pies sense of humor in Ruby?

If I may say two things:
1. I would add *** or another sign of some sorts to indicate the passing of time between the moment the two left the building and the start of the shooting.
2. The only thing that really catched my eye was this part:

“Are you two alright?” They asked, a synthesizer masked their voice so we couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman in the armour.

You know one pegasus but a plural descritpion + buck/stallion or a mare. Sorry for nagging

[jarmari]

1157800

Grammar/gender issues corrected

I promise in Word I'm putting a spacer to divide the time lapse points, I didn't realize it didn't translate over to here ha ha. I'll remember for next time

[Shade Wulfe]

Nice use of a new version of the 'Mysterious Stranger' perk from the game.

[Mr Swanky Hat]

yay! Rainbow Dash saved the day!