Horse-Based Economy

by David Silver

10 - On the Road Again

"Funny thing." Applejack holstered her gun and resumed her walk down the long road. "Ah kinda feel like we've got this basically under control."

"Don't get used to that." Stan shouldered his rifle, marching alongside her. "We're in familiar stomping grounds, but surprises love turning up. Don't take much more than a passing super to make your day funny. Things in the waste like to move, 'specially the sort of thing you'd rather hunker down."

A thought came. "She hasn't met a deathclaw."

"It would be better if she did not." Giddyup let out an equine snort. "Deathclaws are extremely dangerous. I do not want my child or their friend to approach one. If you detect one, please back away and allow the authorities to handle it."

Applejack raised a brow at that. "Yeah... sugarcube... pretty sure we're as close to 'authorities' as yer gonna get on this stretch ah nothin'."

Giddyup swiveled his head and neck to face Applejack on his back. "If you are authorized... Please use caution. Their combat capabality exceeds casual conflicts."

"He ain't wrong." Stan threw up his hands. "We see one of those things, we'd be better off goin' the other way. Gonna hope we see it before it sees us. Fast as they are deadly, runnin' just makes you die tired. Right in the name, like Radscorp. Rads, Scorps, one package, not a lie."

"Sounds real... pleasant." Applejack rubbed one arm with the opposing hoof. "Gonna hope we don't run into that then... But, if we do, ah'm fightin'. Runnin' away from somethin' faster than me sure don't sound like no winnin' move, if it comes tah that."

"If it comes to that." The conversation was enough to get Stan to hold his rifle tight, for what defense it would be if such a beast crossed their path.

As they came to a downward turn of the road they were on, another caravan of people, two marksman, a marchant, and a heavily loaded brahmin, came into view coming the other way, the other side of the T intersection headed for the same turnoff.

Stan raised his hand at them. "Hey."

"Hey," returned one of the gun-toting people. It was one word, but an exchange like that was enough to tell most wastelanders that it wasn't a robbery. To be extra polite, Stan stowed his gun away. "Whatcha sellin'?"

The merchant strode to the fore. "You know how it goes, whatever I could get my hands on. Heading for that tribe of horses." He hiked a thumb towards the road they were all headed towards. "So a lot of trade goods I'm pretty sure they'll like."

He spotted Applejack coming in for a peek. "You one of 'em?" He reached back and drew out a big fat apple. "Bright as the one on your back."

Applejack's ears perked, eyes shining. "Hey wow! Where'd ya get that?!"

"Trade secret." The merchant winked. "But it could be yours for just three caps." He held up three fingers. "Apple for the apple horse."

"Pony," she corrected, but she also dug out three caps to surrender. "Hope that's as fresh as it looks."

"Fresh as I could get it." He surrendered the fruit to her. "Pleasure doing business."

More time had been spent keeping it nice and shiny than super fresh. Not like they had a fridge to store it in or anything. Still, it was an apple, and it wasn't spoiled, and Applejack ate it up. "Thanks kindly."

"She ain't a tribal," volunteered Stan. "But she is a pony, and she likes apples good enough."

"Vaulter?" The merchant shrugged. "Came from there a few weeks ago. She doesn't look it."

Applejack raised a brow. "Ah got... What am I missin'?"

The merchant considered that, and Applejack. "Well, you do got clothes, and a gun. Maybe I was too damn fast. No offense."

"None taken." With that misunderstanding out of the way, Applejack looked pleased. "We're headed for the tribals. You too?"

"Us too." He waved for the caravan to continue, walking up towards the branch in the road. "Didn't expect to run into another pony on the way to the ponies."

"They are kinda rare." Stan walked at an easy pace, about 10 feet away from the merchant. "But this is pony country, relatively speakin'."

"No lie there." He shrugged. "Got three pony settlements I like trading with, all stops worth having."

Stan gave a soft 'huh' at that. "Shoulda just asked a merchant... Woulda saved time."

"Usually does." The man patted his sides. "Now, forgive me for asking this, but how did a child ghoul, a robot horse, and a pony end up a thing?"

Stan was quiet a moment. "Sounds like the start of a bad joke."

"That depends what the punchline is." The merchant tossed up a hand. "Just curious..."

"Things happened. We're still breathing."

"And you ain't in a settlement," agreed the merchant. "Which means you know which way is up. Sorry, won't pry further." At least, not with Stan. He went aside Applejack instead. "First time I saw a horse riding a horse."

"Pony," she corrected like someone getting a pronunciation off. "There's a difference." She wiggled her hindhooves, legs down on either side of Giddyup. "A regular horse couldn't do this an' be comfy." She pointed at the merchant. "Or do that. Or have a nice chat with their ride. Nope, any chat yer havin' with a 'horse' is gonna be a bit one-sided, ya know?"

"Huh... We got some other apples."

Applejack raised a brow. "One's 'nough fer now, but thanks. Reckon the town'll be more interested, and likely got a place to stash 'em more than ah do."

"Or plant them." Stan shrugged at that. "Wonder how much they're up for an orchard."

The merchant tensed at that, but such was the risk of selling fruit... "Different trees like different places to grow in."

"True." Stan wagged a finger. "But there ain't no way you came from that far away, so whatever kinda apple that is, probably work well enough."

The merchant clapped his hands. "But they don't know how. If they pay proper caps, I can lend a hand."

Stan nodded at the merchant. "Now yer thinking. They may be up for that. Or they'll be planting and hoping for the best, which may work, or not... If you got any actual skill with 'em, that's worth somethin'."

Things grew quiet, but it wasn't for long. The tribal town wasn't too far ahead, with its heavy stone barriers serving as a block from casual seeing of its interior, especially if one wasn't looking for it. But it had a gate, and two ponies stood at it with bored expressions that transformed into smiles as the traveling group came into view.

They spotted Applejack and waved at her wildly, clearly the star for the moment.

Applejack tilted her hat lightly. "Howdy there," she called from atop Giddyup, sliding down to her own hooves. "Right nice ta meetcha."

Though she was welcomed with warm expressions, the same turned to cautious scowls as they raised their spears up at the merchant, who wasn't as welcome to wander in. "Hold it! What's your business?"

"We've met before." The merchant waved back at his pack brahmin. "I have supplies and other goods, and something special. One our fellow friend recommends."

Applejack inclined her head at the merchant. "He ain't fibbin'. Got a nice fruit and knows how to plant it proper."

One of the guards, an earth pony, set his spear down. "Let's see it."

He pulled out a bag of apples and from that, a single apple. "You've seen these before." The two guards nodded at the hovering apple in the human's hand

The earth pony sat, peering at the apple. "What do you want us to do with it? Eat it? They are tasty..."

Applejack applied a hoof to her face. "Don'tcha grow nothin'? Ah heard ya did!"

The other guard, a female pegasus, flared her wings. "Hey! We grow a lot of things. Don't act like you know everything."

Applejack raised a hoof. "Sorry, didn't mean no insults or nothin', but that there." She pointed at the apple. "That there's a real tasty set of seeds. Plant it right and ya get a tree wit' more apples!"

Both blinked with dawning wonder. "That's the seed?!" blurted the stallion. "I... I didn't know..."

The pegasus shook her head slowly. "You a vaulter? They know a lot of tricks... None of the ones that came to stay here told us about that though!" She glared into the town as if to make them feel properly guilty. "You know how to make the trees grow?" She was looking at the merchant.

"I know how to get started." He patted the pack of things on his brahmin. "You pay me, and I'll come back with even more know how to get going."

"One thing." The merchant looked to Stan suspiciously. "Wherever you plant those trees, you'll have to let him in to. Or he isn't gonna be able to help much."

"Oh, true." The merchant clapped his hands. "I can't plant a tree by thinking nice thoughts at it, much as I'd like. Now, if you want a real shortcut... I could get a baby tree, skip getting it to grow from a seed. That'll cost you. A lot easier, but a lot harder, for me, which means cost, to you."

The earth pony huffed a sigh. "We'll have to ask the elders about this. I'll go inform them. You watch him." He left the pegasus to remain on guard. "You." He looked at Stan. "I heard about you... The elder will want to talk to you. Follow me."

Stan hiked a thumb at himself. "Me?" He took a step forward. "Alright if my friends come?" He waved to Applejack and Giddyup on the way.

He looked between the two. "Yeah... Should be alright. No more delay. This way."

They went to an elaborate, relatively, tent with two other guards before it. They nodded at the earth pony, eyes more on those that followed, but none challenged as they headed in. Stan took note of the town, doing well at a glance. Still tribals, living the tribal life, but doing well.

Inside, the air smelled of incense and pony. If one was a pony, not an offensive aroma, but it was a sort of milder horse scent that was easily picked up by the not-pony among them. The incense was doing its best to mask it, a reasonable job, but far from complete. Past the entryway, a larger room had four ponies in robes. Three of them looked with suspicion, one brightened immediately. "Stan!" Buttercup, wielder of Giddyup's first name, jumped to her hooves. "It's been forever!"

She came up short. "What happened to you?" She forgot Stan, looking instead to Giddyup. "Look at this!" She waves wildly at the robot with both forehooves. "How did you get this?"

"Repairs were completed. Repair log..." He trailed off, Stan's hand over his mouth.

"We met another nice pony, Fluttershy. She fixed him up and did a new paint job while she was at it, real talented, that mare." He released Giddyup from his grip. "Nice to see ya."

"You too." Buttercup reared up and grabbed Stan in a firm hug. "Who's this other pony?" She fell to all fours, looking at Applejack curiously. "From the vault? Is that where this 'Fluttershy' is from?"

One of the other elders coughed into a hoof, a stallion. "Buttercup, you know them?"

"I've told you this story a thousand times." She backed up to wave at Stan and Giddyup easier. "These are the ones that made first contact with our town. They showed humans could be trusted... in moderation... And he used to have my name."

"My name is Giddyup." Giddyup lowered his head down to her level, nudging her. "Your name is Buttercup."

"Sure is." Buttercup couldn't hide her smile. "I need to know everything you've been up to!"

Author's Note:

Buttercup, let's be real, is most happy that she gets to be in the story again.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Great thing about Apples is that every seed is a mutation. Not sure if Rads would let them become fungus as Puffball Apples, or Bamboo Apples, or Redwood apples, or Kelp apples, but they already got the family of roses in there somewher, long fast growing rambling vines with thorns if required?

Next time Raiders try hitting the place and there massive walls of twisted thorn vines too hard to cut and cant be burnt, supplying the village with food, fuel and slingshot feed?

Howdya like Them Apples.

[tsaukpaetra]

When you can't teach how to fish, farming tips are good too.
Turns out couriers' don't hold the complete monopoly on inter-site travel, who would think it? But at the least, they're more reputable for completing the job, so it pans out by the end.
Silly Elders, what other group do you know travels with a robotic horse and ghoul? Maybe it's time for a break from the incense.

[No one is home]

It's been maybe longer than you think...Buttercup is a tribal elder...

[David Silver]

11692491
When your protagonists are unaging, time can get a bit weird.

[geomease]

“"Usually does." The man patted his sides. "Now, forgive me for asking this, but how did a child ghoul, a robot horse, and a pony end up a thing?"

… how am I 3 stories in and just now realizing Stan is an ACTUAL child Ghoul? I always thought that was just Giddiyups funny way of referring to him due to a programming error.

[David Silver]

11693011
Because you're a pony. They are just as confused.

[howard035]

11692253

Howdya like Them Apples.

That's how apples won the war!