Fallout: Equestria - Across the Divide

by Rainium

Chapter Three: The Muck and the Mire

Chapter Three: The Muck and the Mire

"This here is my town. These are my ponies. You so much as breathe wrong, and I'm gonna fuckin' end ya."

Eden and the two securitrons hiked down the mountain path to the relative flatness and safety of the shoreline area before deciding to stop for the night; even though she couldn't see the sun, both her PipBuck's clock and her sagging eyes let her know that it was time for rest. Rather than sleep in the cart while the securitrons kept traveling like she had done before, Eden decided to find a proper camping spot to rest in; they were only a few miles out from the city, and she wanted to go in fully rested and prepared.

They settled on an old, ransacked rest stop along the old coastal highway, the parking lot littered with dead carriages and crumbling skeletons. After getting a small fire going in the lobby of the convenience store, underneath one of the only still-intact parts of the roof, Eden busied herself with exploring the place while the securitrons patrolled the area and made any needed repairs.

On one of the shelves was a row of books, most of the paper soaked through and molded, rotting away and crumbling at the slightest touch of her hoof. However, one of the books had been shielded by a piece of roof that had fallen down and was still legible; the title read "The Fauna of the Northern Luna Ocean" in big colorful letters, along with smiling cartoon animals emblazoned on the cover. A foal's book.

Eden had nothing better to do, and she ended up taking the book back with her to her camping spot, curling up on top of her sleeping bag as a pot of food cooked slowly over the campfire. If anything, it would get some use as tinder after she was done reading it.

The Fauna of the Northern Luna Ocean

The Equestrian Northwest is full of unique and interesting animals that you won't find anywhere else, due to its isolated location on the west coast! Its blend of ocean, mountains, and forests makes it a melting pot for many different species to converge!

• Bears: These large, furry predators are actually omnivores, feasting on tasty mountain berries high up in the Cascades. Some ponies, like Ministry Mare Fluttershy, are able to communicate and make friends with this rare species.
• Beavers: With their large tails and webbed paws, these aquatic rodents have become very good at building dams. Some have even been recruited by Equestria in order to build large, hydraulic dams for the war effort!
• Crabs: The Ponget Sound is full of these cute little seafaring critters, known for their hard shells and sharp pincers. Their meat is considered a delicacy in some parts of the world!
• Elk: A distant relative of pony-kind, but more closely related to deer, these creatures live high up in mountain abodes, and are known for their large antlers and loud mating calls.
• Fly-ders: Native to the North Luna Ocean area, these green insects are a mix of spider and fly, able to fly around and spin webs! Just don't get bit, their venom is painful!
• Giant Lunar Octopus: Octopi are the smartest of the invertebrates, and this one is the largest in the world! Sightings over the years have led to the creation of an ocean legend... the Kraken!
• Honey Bees: Bees are a familiar sight in the summertime, zipping from flower to flower to collect their pollen. Just don't get too close to their hives, or they'll use their stingers to good effect!
• Mountain Lions: These large felines live high up in the Smokey Mountains and the Cascade Range, and are a rare sighting due to their lower numbers. Although they look dangerous, they're actually semi-sentient and are able to hold conversations with ponies, using a series of growls and roars!
• Orcas: They may be nicknamed "Killer Whales", but don't let the name scare you off! These creatures are beautiful and don't hunt ponies, so don't be afraid to go sightseeing for the majestic mammals!
• Pukwudgies: While these creatures are native to the Everfree Forest, it's not uncommon to see one of these creatures scurrying about. They look like small porcupines with large mouths, and when they're angry, they shoot their quills like arrows!
• Racoons: These small, cuddly creatures might look like they have the mask of a burglar, but they're not going to steal anything but the leftover dinner scraps in your trash!
• Rocs: Residents of Tall Tale can often see this large, majestic bird of prey soaring overhead before swooping down to snag its prey with its sharp claws. Don't worry, it doesn't eat ponies... though it is attracted to a dragon's molt!
• Tatzlwurm: A rare sight these days, this mystical worm burrows deep into the earth, using its sensitive sense of feeling to navigate using vibrations instead of sight!
• Tri-horned Bunyip: This mysterious creature lives deep in the North Luna Ocean, only resurfacing in order to snack on its favorite food: cucumbers!

It was short, and not very descriptive, but Eden decided to hang onto the small book for the time being. It could be useful later, if she ever needed to identify any mutated wildlife that survived the war and still lived in the area.

She closed the small book and put it in her waterproof carrying case before slipping it back into her breast pocket, turning her attention back to the broth she had been heating up over the fire. She held her bowl in her hooves and took a sip; it wasn't very flavorful, but the hot soup warmed her up and settled her grumbling stomach for the time being. Long enough for her to finish her light meal and drift off into a light sleep, the adrenaline of the long, eventful day still pumping through her.

---

The longer they traveled, the more and more of a slog the journey became. The same water that had swamped much of Tall Tale had also reclaimed much of the land leading into the city as well, covering the roads in murky muck that the three creatures had difficulty trudging through. Eden had muddy water caked on her legs up to her knees, and her securitrons often let out alarmed beeps as they got stuck in the water, forcing them to back up and try another way through before finding a spot shallow enough for them to navigate.

And the travel wasn't going to get any easier; the dense mist had descended onto them the closer they got to Tall Tale, so much that she couldn't see the sun anymore, nor the skyscrapers of the city, just the marshlands that carried on as far as her eyes could see.

Her securitrons couldn't go on any further. Their wheels just weren't made for this type of terrain, and if they tried to continue, they would get stuck in the deep water and not be able to get back out. Once the three of them had reached a dry patch, an island of pavement among the swamped roads around her, Eden finally relented to the now-obvious truth.

"I'm gonna have to go alone," the unicorn told the two robots as she wiped her muddy hooves off on the concrete. "I need you two to wait here for me to return. If I'm not back in... two weeks, go back the way we came through to get help. Try High Horse first, then Junction R-7. Understand?"

"UNDERSTOOD," was the monotonous reply of her last two companions as they continued to idle. "GOOD LUCK, MISS... EDEN."

Eden gave them one last nod before turning to continue, stepping right back into the murky water. It was now almost up to her belly, and she floated her saddlebags off her back and in the air next to her to keep her equipment dry as she pushed through. Every so often, her hooves would brush against something hidden, submerged in the marsh, causing her to jump back with a splash and a shriek, but it was never anything alive; just carriages, skeletons, the remnants of pre-war life washed away by the changing tides.

Soon, she couldn't see the securitrons behind her anymore, their location marked in her PipBuck so she wouldn't forget. The mapping system told her she was almost to the city now, and soon, she was able to make out the first few buildings through the mist, small homesteads and strip malls, small compared to the large tower and the skyscrapers further in. The last obstacle for her to cross was the deepest water yet, the size of a river with its own flowing current as well, moving away from the Ocean to her left and taking the muck deeper inland to the right.

Eden took a deep breath and stepped right into the water, shivering as she felt it go up to her belly, soaking her Stable barding and the fur underneath. She kept her saddlebags and her plasma rifle floating next to her over the water, her horn starting to flicker slightly from the strain of carrying her heavy bags so far. Just a few more hooflengths...

Before she could make it to the shore, something large erupted out of the water behind her, followed by a loud roar that nearly knocked her off her hooves! Eden barely managed to stay upright as waves and ripples washed over her, the unicorn spinning around to face the new threat that towered above her.

It was very, very large, more than triple her height, with a spiky exoskeleton shell and two large, pincer-like arms that it waved in front of itself with another roar. The entire underside of its torso was covered in small, writhing appendages, and it had eight powerful legs keeping it rooted in the flowing water. It had no head... or a small one, with antennae-like protrusions sticking out of the rounded end to the torso, embedded within the large shell.

Her PipBuck had nothing. This was a horror beyond pre-war understanding.

The monster in front of her scuttled forward through the muck, spouts on the outside of its exoskeleton firing acidic spittle through the air at her! Eden shrieked and threw up a magic shield in front of her as she unsteadily tried to backpedal away, the poison sizzling against the shield as her short pony legs couldn't outpace the large creature bearing down on her. It followed up its acid attack by raising one of its large claws and slamming it down at Eden, smashing into her shield and overloading her magic from the force of the blow!

Eden shrieked as her horn gave out, her shield popping out of existence and her telekinesis failing, dropping her rifle and supplies into the river, sinking into the murky water. She collapsed onto the shore and clutched at her aching horn with muddy hooves, her forehead feeling like it was splitting apart along her scar. Through her tear-filled eyes, she watched as the creature raised its claws again, ready to finish her off... her journey was over, just like that. She couldn't scoot away fast enough, and she had no more protection from its acid. It was over.

But before the creature could deal the final blow... there was a bright flash of light from the east, brighter than any spotlight or street lamp, pure white in color, beamed directly at the two of them. The monster let out another screech, but this one was a tone of pain and fear, scuttling back away from the source of the light. It was too bright for Eden to look into without going blind, so her heavy eyes just watched the creature slink back into the water as fast as it could go, soon leaving nothing but rippling water to suggest it had even existed.

Eden weakly tilted her head towards the source of the light as it slowly dimmed away, and she was able to see the outline of a... pony, a unicorn, the light emanating directly from the tip of their horn.

That's all she could see before her vision started to swim and fade to black. Sleep? Yep, sleep is good. No more pain...

---

Eden was awoken to the ever-present ache of her head, and the cold chill of the water still soaking her through. She let out a soft whimper and wiggled all four of her limbs... yep, still there. Her horn throbbed so badly, she wanted to cut it off.... but it was still there too. She was alive.

Once she got her heavy eyelids to cooperate, she forced them open to see that she was still laying on the same shore that she had been attacked on, her saddlebags nowhere to be seen... neither was the large creature, nor the pony that had saved her. Her horn was out of commission, and she was going nowhere near that water while the monster could still be submerged... so her supplies were lost. All that she still had was what she had kept in her Stable barding pockets... her PipBuck interface tools, her waterproof case carrying the mysterious letter and the small animal picture book, and a combat knife that she had strapped to her thigh. No guns, no ammo, no medicine, no food, and nowhere to go.

With her way back to the securitrons cut off by the monster-inhabited river, her only way forward was deeper into the city, where she would hopefully find some answers. Eden scampered away from the shore as fast as she could, onto the road lining the river, not wanting to accidently draw the creature back out. The thick mist surrounded her on all sides, and her PipBuck's clicking continued to alert her of radiation even after she had exited the water. It was in the air, filling her lungs and poisoning her by the second. This was on top of all the rads she had taken wading through hours of irradiated water to get to this point... and now she had no RadAway or RadSafe.

Eden ducked into one of the stores along the broken road to catch her breath, the still-flickering sign reading Tall Tale's Tall Tales: Fictional Stories, Comic Books, and Novellas in stylized lettering. Inside, the mist was less prominent, the clicking of her PipBuck slowing somewhat as she looked around. The store was filled with racks upon racks of fiction books, most of them titled Daring Do... apparently written by Tall Tale's own A.K. Yearling.

Eden picked a random one off the shelf and looked it over: the title was Daring Do and the Betrayal of the Zealous Zebras, and the cover depicted a gold pegasus with a compass rose cutie mark and explorers outfit infiltrating a top secret zebra base, balefire radiation warning symbols posted everywhere. When her hoof touched the paper, she felt a momentary jolt surge through her, a sensation that made her shiver. She didn't know what it was, but she felt... stronger, somehow, and the ever-present radiation didn't bother her as much. Weird... She opened up her documents case and slipped the small novel into it as well.

The rest of the store had already been looted by a previous scavenger, leaving her nothing to take but hundreds of books. Eden stepped out of the store and back into the street, glancing around at the empty city surrounding her. If she hadn't just been attacked, then saved, she would have thought that there was no life left in the city at all. Where was everypony? And where was the pony that had saved her? It was like they had vanished without a trace after driving the monster back.

Truth be told, Eden had no idea what she was looking for... just for somepony named SG. They might not even be a pony, for all she knew. And with how many rads she was picking up, she was going to be puking up her own guts before she had time to search even a fourth of the city. She needed help.

Eden trotted west down the road until she found a road traveling north, taking her deeper into the city. In the distance, if she really squinted through the mist... she swore she could see lights in the distance, illuminating the mist around it, in the downtown area just a few blocks from the shoreline. That was her best bet.

Off she trotted, through the silent, broken city, nothing but the mist to keep her company.

---

Her walk through the southern part of the city was quiet. Eden stuck to the shadows and the sidewalks as much as she could, ducking away out of sight at the slightest noise or blip on her E.F.S... but nothing detected her, and soon she was in the downtown area proper, the ocean to her left and the tall city buildings to her right as she traveled north towards the lights, her destination becoming more prominent as night started to fall.

Eden passed countless Starbucked stores on her journey, their rather steamy advertising of the two lesbian mares intertwined forcing the unicorn to avert her eyes with a shudder. The messaging had apparently been very popular in this city, as there were shops and advertisements on what felt like every block. Eden had no idea why Starbucked had such a grip on this city in particular; their main competitor, Java’s Cup, was nowhere to be seen.

To her left, on the city's waterfront, was a towering Ferris Wheel on a pier jutting out into the water, its formerly white steel rusted with age as it loomed over the mist-covered water. Its large passenger capsules swayed gently with the breeze, the creaking and groaning audible from where she was walking even from all that distance away. It really drove home just how quiet the city was... Eden had grown accustomed to the everyday bustle and noise of New Pegas, and the complete silence and lack of life made her realize just how alone she really was.

Eventually, Eden made it to the source of the lights. She stood in front of what had previously been a... farmers market, most likely. The entrance was to the left of the road she was standing on, the large alleyway blocked off by a patchwork fence of sheet metal and wooden beams, tied together with chains and supports that bore the algae and rust of ship work. All the lights and signage in the stores were active, bathing the street and area in a multicolored neon glow.

Above the gate and main entrance of the market was the welcome sign; The large, red neon letters spelled out "PUBLIC MARKET", with a large clock attached to the sign that was permanently stuck at the 9:47 position. Someone had taken the time to scrawl over the sign with paint to present a new message to arriving ponies: "OASIS".

Surrounding the outside of the wall were tall lamp posts, but instead of lights on the top, they bore what looked like small crystals embedded inside the tip. Talismans, most likely; The mist swirled and dissipated around the magic devices, leaving everything past them mist and rad free. Mist cleansers. If there were working spell talismans here, then there must be ponies as well... Eden just hoped they weren't raiders. She didn't exactly have any means of fighting back.

Eden took a deep breath and stepped right up to the gate, raising a hoof and delivering three firm knocks to the wood before stepping back. She was met with immediate silence... After a few seconds, she could've sworn she heard commotion on the other side of the gate, but it was drowned out by the steady humming of the talismans surrounding her, so she couldn't be sure. Maybe nopony was home... she would have to find a way to break in if that was the case.

After a minute, the unicorn stepped back up to the gate to knock again, but before she could, the doors were thrown open and at least four rifle barrels were forced into her face.

"Woah!" Eden squealed out in surprise, falling back onto her rump and scooting back across the pavement before putting her forehooves in the air. "P-Peace! I come in peace! I'm friendly."

"Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck are you doing here?" the lead stallion growled, his rifle floating in the air in his magic aura, following her out of arm's reach when she scooted back.

"M-My name is Eden, I'm just visiting the city, I mean no harm, I swear," Eden answered as she flinched away from the guns, her horn glowing softly as she activated her E.F.S.: all yellow signals, for now. No one was immediately hostile.

"'Visiting'?" the stallion scoffed. "Pfft, no one 'visits' Tall Tale."

"No, I swear to you I'm telling the truth," Eden pleaded, locking eyes with the navy stallion in front of her. "I'm here to look for a pony here in the city, but I was attacked crossing the river to the south and lost all my equipment."

Her pleas seemed to have some effect on the four ponies guarding the entrance, as their guns lowered slightly and they glanced at each other, as if to telepathically decide what to do next.

"...Could be a Trapper ploy to get us to lower our guard," The navy stallion said out loud finally, turning his attention back to the unicorn sitting on the ground. "Has the mist gotten to you?"

Eden blinked. "The... what?"

"Don't play stupid!" he barked, his gun raising once again. "Are you one of those crazy fucking lunatics or not?"

Before Eden could respond, a different mare's voice echoed down the alleyway. "Bolt, stand down! Treat our guest with some respect, will you?"

Eden's, and all the other ponies', gaze turned to the source of the voice that had interjected; a gray-furred, green-maned earth pony was walking towards them from deeper inside the farmer's market, her yellow eyes scanning the situation, the fabric of her medic's outfit fluttered softly in the breeze.

The navy stallion grunted and lowered his weapon as the mare stepped up next to him. "...Apologies, Emerald. Can't be too careful these days, with how many Trappers are still out there."

"Yes, I understand. But guns to the face is no way to make a first impression, is it?" Emerald asked the stallion, before turning her gaze to Eden. "What's your name, miss?"

Eden slowly climbed back up onto all fours before responding, "Eden, ma'am."

"Eden, my name is Captain Emerald Mirage, and this is the settlement of Oasis," Emerald greeted her, raising a hoof to gesture at the graffitied sign that bore the name of the town above them. "Sorry for the... aggressive introductions, but we don't get many visitors out here."

"And we don't want visitors, so you can pack your things and leave," the navy stallion growled again, his rifle lowered in his magic grasp, but still out and ready. "Outsiders are nothing but trouble."

"Bolt Action, this isn't your town. You don't get to decide who's allowed to stay and who's allowed to leave," Emerald reprimanded him sharply, the earth pony turning on him in an instant.

Bolt scoffed and stepped back, running a hoof through his slicked-back red mane in contained annoyance. "Your call, Captain."

Emerald nodded, but stared the stallion down for a few more moments to get her point across before turning back to Eden. "Sorry about him, he thinks more with his rifle than his head sometimes. But he does have a point, not all visitors have good intentions. What brings you to Tall Tale?"

Where do I even start? Eden thought to herself with a sigh before beginning slowly. "I received a letter... from someone with the initials SG. They told me they needed my help, and that they would explain everything once I got to the city. You're the first survivors I've found... Are you the ones that sent it?"

"SG..." Emerald said aloud in thought, rubbing her chin with a gray hoof. "There's no one with those initials in our town. At least, there haven't been any during my time as Captain."

Of course, that would be too easy. Eden grumbled internally. "Is there... another pony settlement in the city, somewhere where they could be?"

"You are an outsider, aren't you?" Bolt verbally jabbed in a taunting tone. "We're the only town left in the city. Everywhere else has been swallowed up by the mist, or consumed by the madness it brings."

"We're called Oasis for a reason," Emerald said in agreement, not reprimanding the stallion this time. "We're the last safe haven left in the Northwest... you came to the right place."

That was good news and bad news to Eden. She had stumbled upon, apparently, the last friendly town for miles completely by accident... she could have easily walked into a raider den instead and died. But this town didn't contain the pony she was looking for, and none of them knew what she was even talking about. It was clear this quest would not be as straightforward as she had hoped. She just hoped this journey wouldn't turn out to just be a giant radigator chase...

"Well, I'm not looking to stay long, I just... lost all my gear in a fight with a... large creature in the river, so I need a place to recuperate and restock, if you ponies will have me," Eden explained, a tinge of hopeful optimism in her voice as she focused her attention on the other mare, avoiding Bolt's accusatory stare.

"Yes, that seems fine to me," Emerald nodded, giving her final decision — to the chagrin of Bolt Action — as her eyes looked beyond Eden and scanned the dark fog. "Come inside, before we attract unwanted attention."

Eden was more than happy to oblige, stepping forward inside the town limits to allow the gates to swing back closed behind her with a clatter of steel and wooden parts clinking together, a large latch falling into place to keep the entrance secured.

"Already, everypony back to work," Emerald ordered the ponies that had answered her knocking. "Our guest doesn't need four ponies hovering over her. Let me do my job... get back to your own."

The four ponies stuck their weapons back into their holsters and trotted back to their defense positions with disappointed grumbling; Bolt took the time to shoot another warning glare in her direction before he trotted deeper into the town. Soon, only Eden and Emerald remained standing inside the gate, just the sounds of the talismans' whirring outside the gate to keep them company.

"Large creature..." Emerald repeated, bringing the attention back to their interrupted conversation. "Sounds like you had a run-in with the Queen. You're lucky to be alive."

Eden blinked slowly in confusion, the name not ringing any bells. "The... Queen?"

"The Mirelurk Queen," Emerald clarified. "She's been hidden in that river for decades now, cutting off the only safe route left out of the town. There's no way for traders or settlers to enter or leave the city without braving her wrath... barely any make it through. Outsiders are a real rarity these days... makes everypony suspicious."

A Mirelurk... Another term that was unfamiliar to the foreign unicorn. Her mind flashed back to the incident a few hours ago... its scuttling legs, large pincer arms, acid spouts, and spiky exoskeleton added up to something she had never seen before. She couldn't even begin to guess how a pre-war animal could've mutated that drastically with just exposure to balefire radiation. At least the name was on-the-nose apt.

If that was the queen... What were its subjects? Eden didn't think she wanted to find out.

Eden nodded slowly. "Yes, she caught me by surprise, nearly killed me... but another pony saved me. A unicorn. They flashed a bright light at the Queen and drove it off. Was that one of your townsponies?"

Emerald's muzzle grew a thoughtful frown. "No, doesn't sound like one of them. No one has left the town in days. But I'm sure if you ask around, you might get some answers... a lot of the ponies here are better versed on the city's inhabitants than me."

Eden glanced at the other mare with a questioning look on her face, and Emerald elaborated, "I was an outsider too, a long time ago. Lived up in Vanhoover, but that town fell under the control of slavers and I had to flee for my freedom. Ponies here were distrustful to me too, but once you gain their trust, it's a great place to be. C'mon, I'll give you a quick tour."

The two mares stepped away from the gate, and the L-shaped road curved away from them sharply to the right, the entirety of Oasis opening up to Eden. It had the layout of a farmer's market, with shops and booths on either side of the road, large signs posted everywhere drawing customers to them. Instead of temporary, free-standing stalls that Eden was used to in places like Klugetown, the pre-war inhabitants of the city had built the shops into the buildings lining the street, the whole place open air but with walls dividing the shops and a roof overhead to keep out the rain... and the mist. Normal-looking buildings rose up over the shops, but only two stories more at maximum... probably low-income housing or apartments. The end of the street had been sealed off with a similar gate to the one she had come in through, the shops and buildings lining the street providing an effective defense to anything trying to get in.

Some of the shops still looked operational, with lights on and shopkeepers bustling inside going over inventory or selling their stock to the local townsponies. The rest of them were quiet, and Eden could make out the occasional bed placed inside, sometimes with a privacy curtain covering the entrance, and sometimes completely open to the outside world. The rest of the inhabitants were either milling around aimlessly in the street or standing guard along the gates and walls, the two mares occasionally drawing strange glances as they walked down the road.

The road underneath her hooves was made from clay-colored brick, in contrast to the gray pavement of the other roads in the city. It looked like it hadn't been replaced in decades, even before the bombs dropped, the road worn down from the thousands of hooves that had walked across it.

"This is Oasis..." Emerald began, waving a hoof at the town. "It used to be the oldest farmers' market in Equestria, and the biggest attraction in Tall Tale, besides the Tower, of course. Most of the shops and buildings we've converted into sleeping quarters, but some of the stands are still run by ponies."

Emerald pointed a hoof at one of the stores, the walls lined with various weapons with a navy stallion behind the counter, teal eyes watching their every move. "There's the gun shop, owned by Bolt Action... you met him earlier. Aggressive stallion, but he's extremely devoted and wants the best for the ponies of the town. Don't let a bad first impression sour him."

"The general store is here," the Captain continued, leading Eden to the largest store in the market, lots of useful and miscellaneous goods filling the shelves with the room opening up to what looked like a medic station in the back, with cots and healing potions. "Dusty Locket owns the place, but I run an infirmary in the back to share space. You need anything patched up or any healing supplies, this is your stop."

Emerald stepped away from the general store and pointed a hoof further down the street, almost to the end of the market. "Down that way is the finest (and only) pub in the city, The Fireside Taproom, if you need a drink or a place to sleep. Most ponies in the town find themselves there at least once a day... not much else to do around her but get hammered and forget your troubles."

"Sapphira lives there, she's the one that maintains the Mist Condenser talismans and keeps Oasis free of mist," Emerald said as she moved her pointing hoof to another small store, this one full of magic artifacts and strange devices. "Definitely the most important pony in this town, even more than myself or Bolt Action. Without her, this place would have been swallowed up by the Mist years ago."

The Mist... The ponies here kept referring to it in a hushed, mythical tone, as if it had supernatural powers. Eden was almost too scared to ask what it was. Bolt Action had asked her if the mist had gotten to her... that it brought madness. That the trappers were lunatics. Her mind flashed back to the McColts' fort in the divide, to the group of trappers who had been driven mad by something that they couldn't see... They said it spoke to them, that it got to everyone. How could something that seemed so innocent bring so much disaster to the ponies of this area? The ever-present clicking of her PipBuck's radiation detector gave her one possible explanation.

"As for everyone else... everyone has a task here," Emerald continued, snapping Eden out of her wandering thoughts. "We have ponies that guard the walls and protect the town, we have ponies that run the shops and prepare the food... and we have ponies that go and secure the food on fishing and scavenging trips deeper into the city. I think a group of them is off on an expedition right now... which is why the town seems a little quiet right now. It's not an easy way to live, but we make do."

Emerald did a little spin in place to make sure she had covered everything before nodding to Eden. "That's all there is in our little corner of paradise. But, if you don't mind me asking... what exactly did this 'SG' tell you in the letter they sent you?"

"They just said... they need my help, the safety of the world is in danger, and to meet them in Tall Tale," Eden replied, replaying the message in her head one more time. She had the thing memorized at this point.

"Well, there's a lot of things wrong with Tall Tale right now, as you can probably tell, but nothing world-threatening," Emerald answered, her eyes looking up at the cloud cover and looming mist on the horizon, past the safety of the walls.

Eden frowned. "And they said that they had no one else to turn to... I was the only one who could help. But that's not true, since you ponies are here. How did they even know about me, anyway?"

"I don't want to be inconsiderate... but that letter? It sounds awfully like a crank call to me," Emerald offered softly, echoing Eden's original thoughts on the message.

"That's what I thought too, at first. But..." Eden trailed off, unsure of how to explain her vision without sounding completely crazy to the mare she had just met.

"I'm just saying," Emerald backtracked, putting up her hooves. "Maybe a pony thought to send you to one of the most isolated places in Equestria with no way out as a way to... get you out of the way."

The earth pony made a good point. They were all thoughts that Eden had herself, when she first received the letter in the lobby of the High Roller. It was vague and non-descriptive, calling her off to a far away land that would take weeks to travel to and back... a place ripe for an ambush, or just as a way to get her out of the picture. As the mayor of New Pegas, she had no shortage of enemies: the Enclave Remnants, the disgruntled Casino owners led by Sterling, High Horse... maybe even the NCR for turning down their invitation. And now, she was trapped here, with no way out for the foreseeable future. Was her original presumption correct this whole time? Had she walked right into the trap with open hooves?

However, even as her mind dwelled on these negative thoughts, she couldn't stop herself from recalling her vivid nightmare... of the watery, mist-covered landscape, of the strange ponies with writhing tongues that vomited blood. Like how the trappers in the divide had coughed up blood, the first symptom of their mist-induced madness. And the setting of her dream was a spitting image of the area she found herself in now. She was fully convinced it was a vision, and if Faust had found it fit for her to come here, she was going to figure out why.

"No," replied Eden firmly. "I was brought here for a reason, and I'm gonna stay here until I figure out what that is."

Emerald just gave her shoulders a little shrug. "If you insist. It'll be nice to have a new face around here, anyway. Get yourself settled, you know where to find me if you need anything."

Eden thanked the mare again as she walked away before glancing around at the settlement once again, now all alone on the street. Most of the ponies looked to be wrapping up for the night as the sky started to dim, lights starting to flicker on in each store and living space as the Oasis residents trotted back inside, leaving the main street pretty much deserted. At least no one was giving her trouble for being an outsider.

Eden... was lost. Her conversation with Emerald had given her more questions than answers, and she felt she was further away from the truth than before. She knew she needed to be here, but she had no idea where to even start looking in such a vast, hostile city. If the mist was such a strong contaminant that drove every pony mad with continued exposure... S.G. could even be dead by now, for all she knew.

But that was second to her primary dilemma. She was weaponless, with no food, equipment, or caps to her name. There was no way she could even begin to start looking without getting properly stocked up first. And to do that, she needed to do some shopping.

Eden sheepishly trotted up to the weapons shop, where Bolt Action was sitting behind the counter, grease and oil stains dotting his navy fur and red mane as he worked on cleaning one of the many rifles in his shop, some of the designs familiar, while others seemed to be of the unique, homemade variety. He had not been happy with the fact that she was allowed into the town; Eden could understand distrustfulness for outsiders, as he didn't know what her true intentions could be, but hopefully he had gotten over the initial, aggressive introductions.

"If you're looking for an apology, save your breath," Bolt stated coldly as the unicorn approached. "Emerald may run this town, but ponies around here answer to me, and they know to watch you close. So don't even think about trying anything."

Great. Any hope he might've brushed it off vanished instantly.

"That's not what I'm here for, actually, but if that's what you want to talk about, I'm free all night," Eden retorted as she stepped up to the counter, looking around at his products. It's like I'm back with High Horse...

Bolt snorted, rolling his teal eyes as he reassembled the rifle in his magic at a lightning-fast pace. "Well, I'm not, so state your business or get lost, outsider."

"I'm looking to acquire some new gear, but I lost all my caps... do you offer purchases on credit?" Eden asked hopefully.

"Credit?" Bolt asked incredulously, floating the rifle back to its display rack on the wall. "Mare, I don't know where the hell you're from, but in Oasis, it's always caps up front."

Oh well, worth a shot. Eden sighed internally. "Then, are there any jobs I can do for you, so I can earn caps in order to buy supplies?"

"No," was his simple response.

Eden let out a huff of annoyance. "There has to be something I can do. Some mission I can undertake, some... prewar shipment I can go retrieve, anything. You really have nothing?"

Bolt seemed to get more and more annoyed at her prodding, but at her mention of a prewar shipment, his demeanor brightened suddenly. "...Now that you mention it, there is one thing I've been looking to do for a while now."

"Oh yeah?" Eden asked, placing her forehooves on the counter.

Bolt snorted and placed his own hooves on the counter, leaning forward to stare into her eyes. "Here's the deal. Before the last day, this town was used as a supply depot for Equestria's armies, loading up guns, ammo, armor, soldiers onto big ships and taking them off to the front lines, instead of risking trains on the land bridge. However, one of these freighters was sabotaged by zebra sympathizers, sinking the ship into the Ponget Sound and its cargo with it. The bombs dropped before Equestria could send teams to retrieve the cargo, so it should all still be there. Weapons and ammo that I could use."

Eden bit her lip as she listened to his explanation before nodding slowly. "Where's the ship?"

Bolt pulled a folded-up paper map out from underneath the counter and laid it out for her to see, pointing to the triangular marker that read OASIS. "This is us. Just inside the front gates you came in through, there's a ramp that takes you down to the lower floors of the market. You take a left down the alley covered in dried gum, follow that for about a hundred hooflengths or so, then take the right out under the overpass. You head due west, you'll hit the waterfront in minutes. The sunken ship itself is right about... here. It's only partially submerged, so you shouldn't need diving gear. Just a way to get out into the bay. Should be no shortage of boats you can commandeer."

Eden followed along on her PipBuck's map, marking the location of the shipwreck in the Ponget Sound with a nod. "Alright, sounds doable. What's the pay?"

"A fair deal, based on what you bring back," Bolt replied cryptically, folding the map back up and leaning back in his chair.

"Not exactly very reassuring terms, Bolt," Eden snarked, lowering her PipBuck to glare at the stallion.

"You're not in the best negotiating position, are you, outsider? Bring it back, then we'll talk pay," Bolt replied, standing firm.

Eden let out a huff. "Fine. Can I at least... get some equipment up front to help with the mission, and you can deduct it from my pay afterwards?"

Bolt rolled his eyes. "What did I just tell you? No credit, anywhere, any reason."

"You want me to go off on a potentially dangerous mission without any weapons at all?" Eden asked with an incredulous tone. Was he serious?

"Doesn't sound like my problem, does it?" Bolt snorted, folding his forehooves against his chest as he stared her down.

Eden opened her mouth to offer up another retort... but before she could, she was interrupted by the dull thud of hoofsteps on the brick road behind her, followed by the jingle of a pouch of caps being placed down on the counter next to her, causing both Eden and Bolt's eyes to widen at the sight. Eden turned her head to see a cloaked pony standing next to her, a whole head taller than her, an orange stallion muzzle the only thing visible behind his black hood.

"I'll cover the upfront costs, if I must," the new stallion growled. "Just give the mare some damn weapons, Bolt. Do your job."

Bolt blinked in surprise before he stood up and grabbed the pouch in his magic, turning it over and dumping out the caps inside all over the counter. At least 100 of the small SparkleCola bottle caps spilled out, the noise causing a few heads to turn their way.

"...If you insist." Bolt said finally.

"I do," the hooded stallion snorted in response before stalking away just as quickly as he had arrived, heading across the street to the open air tavern as his cloak fluttered in the wind.

Eden watched him walk away with a confused look on her face before turning back to Bolt as he counted the caps. "...What will that much get me?"

"A revolver, and three boxes of ammo," Bolt responded, turning towards the back of the shop to retrieve the weapon. "You'll have enough left over to buy some RadAway at Dusty's place as well, which I highly recommend you get. The Mist is no joke, outsider. Don't take the warnings lightly."

He turned back around with a revolver and the ammo in his magic grasp, setting the ammo on the counter while extending the gun out to the mare. Bolt's teal-colored magic aura surrounding the revolver became intermingled with Eden's royal blue as her own horn grabbed hold of the weapon, before turning fully blue as Bolt relinquished his grip.

Eden took a few moments to examine the gun for any defects before opening one of the boxes and floating six rounds out, slotting them into the cylinder and flicking it shut. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Yeah, yeah," Bolt replied with a roll of his eyes, sitting back down into his chair. "Remember, I've got my eyes on you. The whole town does. Don't do anything stupid with that thing."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Eden told him as she slipped the revolver into her toolbelt, and the ammo and remaining caps into her last free barding pocket. But before she left, she glanced out at the cloaked stallion and leaned over to whisper to Bolt, "Who...who was that, that paid for me?"

Bolt just snorted and shrugged his shoulders. "Not my place to say. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you himself."

Eden was confused by that answer, but she suspected she was going to get no more cooperation from Bolt. She was equally confused at the random act of goodwill by the cloaked stallion... this town didn't seem to be very big on the whole sharing and empathy thing, especially when it came to outsiders. Emerald was the only other one who had treated her with any modicum of respect, and she had previously been an outsider herself. What had prompted that random pony to spend a hundred precious caps on a pony he had never seen before? She would have to get some answers from him... after she completed her quest. She needed to gain some trust first, before pressing for answers.

She stepped out of Bolt Action's gun store back out into the open area of the market street, the skies now dark enough that all the lights had been turned on, illuminating the area with a pale yellow glow, along with the red from the still-active neon signage. She lifted her PipBuck once again and went over the route that Bolt had spelled out for her. Seemed easy enough... She wanted to get down to the waterfront before it got too dark.

But before she could move, a watchpony's panicked cry froze her in place.

"ROC! INCOMING!"

"Everyone, get to cover!"

Eden glanced around in confusion as the ponies still out in the street dashed into the roof-covered stores and cowered away from the open, the unicorn preparing to dash back into Bolt's shop herself... but a loud skree drew her attention to the skies above.

There, backdropped by the clouds overhead, was the largest bird she had ever seen. The largest creature she had ever seen. Its great talons were each easily as big as she was, and its combined wingspan was as long as Oasis's main street from end to end. Its feathers glinted strangely in the light, revealing that it wasn't covered in feathers or down at all... it was covered in gray stone of different hues, its body and head a dark gray while its beak and wings were a lighter color. Its glowing yellow eagle eyes were staring right down at Oasis as it swooped down... staring right down at her.

Eden tried to force herself to move, but found that her hooves refused to cooperate with her commands. They stayed rooted to the brick road underneath them, the unicorn almost entranced by those yellow eyes as they drew closer and closer... wings swooping, claws stretched open, extending to pluck her right off the street. There was nothing she could do. She could only watch in awe.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The sounds around her became muffled and distant, like she had blown her eardrums out in an explosion. The shadow of its great wings covered her completely as it swooped overhead, open claws reaching down into the alleyway, closing in around her...

In a flash, she felt something hard slam into her, lifting her off the ground... but it wasn't the bird taking her up into the heavens. She had been tackled, knocked off her hooves and onto the unforgiving brick beneath her, the great beast's talons grabbing at thin air before it swooped back up into the air with an unsuccessful screech. Eden gasped loudly as she was knocked out of her trance, a blunt pain running up her side where she had been slammed to the ground, pinned underneath a black figure that she couldn't make out. She watched as the bird tilted its wings to drift away, towards the Cascade Mountains due east of the city, without its prey.

"Clear!" the watchpony called out again, and the figure pinning her down got up in a flash, allowing Eden to roll over onto her back with a grunt of pain.

"Wha... what happened?" she groaned softly as she blinked, slowly regaining her senses.

Above her stood the same cloaked stallion that had paid for her revolver, his hood still over his head, but she could make out his bright green eyes staring down at her in annoyance behind his orange muzzle, a judgmental look on his face as he examined the winded mare beneath him.

"...I hope I didn't overestimate you, outsider," he said simply before turning away from the prone mare and walking off to the tavern yet again, allowing Eden to stand back up and brush herself off while she watched him go.

Unlike the Mirelurk Queen, this new creature was easy to identify. A Roc... the great bird of prey listed in her wildlife book. Covered in impervious rock, with a hypnotizing gaze... and it hunted ponies. Once again, she had been at the mercy of a Tall Tale creature and had to be saved by an unknown pony; Eden hoped this wouldn't become a reoccurring thing. She didn't exactly have a way to repay her debts just yet, and there was no way her luck would hold out forever.

She had no idea why the mysterious stallion had taken such an interest in her... but she couldn't worry about that now. She had a job to do, and it was the perfect way to start getting some respect around here, and ultimately, some answers. She had a gun, she had her wits, and she had directions... she hoped that was all she would need.

Comments

[TESLORE]

Curious for more, but to be honest I almost want to just read the entire new Vegas adaptation adventure that precedes it. Odd to have a clear courier pone and just be like ‘and here’s what’s next!’. Still, hoping for a little more.

[Rainium]

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I have the bones of a prequel planned out, but there have been so many New Vegas adaptations out there that I wanted to flesh out this character in something more unique before moving on to that.