Fallout Equestria: Prospector

Fallout: Equestria

Prospector

By Shukin

Chapter.1 – Mended Friendship

“And I'm coming with you.”

“So… How are they?” I flipped through some spreadsheet showing each foal’s condition, felling uncomfortable in the fact that I couldn’t do anything about them: That wasn’t a medic condition anymore, just plain and simple trauma. The Hellmare tormented their dreams, destroyed their hopes and, without answers, she destroyed everything that was held true to those brought here by herself. With a Sparkle~Cola in his hoof, Healing Surge looked clearly troubled with the whole ordeal.

“They’re not in our hooves anymore. Black Seas is looking towards accepting them within the community, but, obviously, the council doesn’t like it, as it’s just more costs to them.” He took another sip.

“They shouldn’t care about the Celestia damned money, they’re children! What will we do, banish them?” And I took a sip of my own drink: A healing potion. Only three more days of that and I’d be in perfect state. Actually, even my PipBuck recognized that I was in so much better condition than yesterday, like if my body wanted me to get out of here and start my search for that Stable, 106.

“I don’t know.” He said through his breath, punctuating with a sip. The Enclave music played out loud in the Sparkle’s, and that remembered me about something that I couldn’t quite get the night before. “Hey, doc, what do you know about this… Hellmare? Some called her the Stable Dweller…” He gave a big and loud laugh before answering.

“You really don’t know her?”

I found that answer odd. “…Should I?”

“I don’t even have one of those toys in your arm and I know that there’s a radio in it… Try to listen to DJ Pon3 from time to time, you know…”

That remembered me of yet another thing that intrigued me. “I’m trying to understand how anyone contested me about the PipBuck, you know. It’s too damn bright to be a used model, and everyone knows you need a kind of knowledge to just put one that I’m sure to not have.” I waved with the weighted leg, showing it to Surge, who just shrugged.

“Well, it’s not anyone’s business, is it?”

“Well no, but—“

“There’s your answer, boy. We don’t ask what doesn’t concern us.” He finished the topic with a big gulp. We went to different directions after I finished my potion, going back to my cabin with two books brought from Coral: Guns and Bullets, an all-time favorite of hers, and The Big Book of Arcane Science, which she never had time, or disposition, to read at all. The central purple star surrounded by those little white ones in the cover caught my attention.

I looked at the mirror again, observing a better-looking pony than before, with those dark circles in his eyes nearly gone and a trimmed mane. The scars were still there, proof enough that he wasn’t ready to fight the wasteland as it was ready to try to kill him. And it got really close at that.

Backing down in the stool, he opened the Guns and Bullets book. I couldn’t read in a too silent place, so I turned my eyes to the PipBuck in my arm. Some turning of knots and presses of buttons and I’ve found the radio, turning it on the second station found, the DJ Pon3 one. A nice and calming music played on it, with a good harmonica background and a guitar in the foreground, complementing each other. As I read, the music was interrupted by Pon3 himself, and subconsciously I took more attention in his words than what I was reading at the moment.

“DJ Pon3 here, and I’ve got to tell you, I don’t know what to make of this one, children.” He started, his voice clearly trembling. “For weeks I’ve been telling you of the heroic deeds of the Stable Dweller, our Heroine in of the Equestrian Wasteland, our Bringer of Light in this time of darkness.  But today…” Looks like he’ll talk about yesterday’s deal and the foals that the Stable Dweller brought to the island.

“Another village in Manehattan has gone silent.  Arbu is dead.” It was true, then. “ Reports have reached me that every pony in the town, over two dozen, have been killed.  And listen children, I don’t know how to say this… but… But it looks like it was the Stable Dweller who was responsible.  A witness from Bucklyn Cross reported seeing her opening fire on ponies in the Arbu commons.”

I couldn’t feel sympathy, I didn’t know of her adventures besides hearing her name once or twice. People pretty much only listened to Enclave in public, and I’m not that interested in listening nonstop to music to invest some hundred caps in a radio. “Now children… I don’t want to believe this.  I don’t want to believe our heroine has turned on us.  There must be more to this story than what I’m hearing.  If you know anything about it, please contact my assistant Homage at Tenpony Tower.  Anything at all… I don’t know exactly what went down or why.  But I’m not going to stop until I find out.  And when I do, you’ll know too. This is DJ Pon3.  Bringing you the truth.  No matter how bad it hurts.”

Well, he was known for his fast reports, so I would’ve to just wait for the answers the desperately wants to find. He looked like he was really concerned about it, too, but not about the massace… Did he have a crush in the Stable Dweller? I laughed at the idea, and turned my attention back to the reading.

=-=-=-=

I closed the book, my eyes burning from staring the same book for the past couple of hours. In between the whole reading, DJ Pon3 went updating the Arbu story, with a letter from Ditzy Doo (she wrote the Wasteland Survival Guide! That’s the book that made me want to scavenge in the first place!) and some reports from Bucklyn Cross, not too far from here either, and it was completely silent too. The Stable Dweller attack went farther than everyone thought, and I couldn’t believe how she cleaned a whole Steel Rangers encampment.

I rubbed my eyes after reading so much about what should’ve been simple details, like the trigger, and learned it’s really more complex than I’ve ever thought. Looking back in my saddlebag, I observed the pipe shooter that Coral gave me and I was lost in thoughts of how did she build it without so many tools of her trade. And, speaking of the Nightmare Moon…

“You there?” I could faintly hear her voice through the door.

“Come in, I’m here.” The whistling of the pneumatic door reached my ears as fast as her hoofsteps and, when I observed it, she was already by my side. “What do you want?”

“What, I need to have a reason to talk with my bestest friend?” She questioned defensively.

“When I’m in my room, yes, you do.” I answered, looking in her direction while she trotted around the Stable-Tec wagon that still stood in the middle of my bedroom. I stacked both books in the corner of the desk, above my copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide. “So, what is it?”

“You heard about the Light Bringer, right?”

“You’re talking about the Stable Dweller, right? If so, yeah.” I looked to our reflection in the mirror, observing the light pink pony with dark red mane in a ponytail with a strange worried look into her face. Despise her face as a whole, it was possible to see a peculiar light in her eyes, coated with hope and anxiety.  “Those foals and that one buck were brought here because of her. Because she killed Arbu. And Bucklyn Cross… How did she manage to do it anyway?”

“I don’t know, the way DJ Pon3 speaks of her makes it look like she’s pretty powerful.” She answered, but quickly kept going. “But now I’m afraid.” She knew me better to just wait for an obvious question. “What if there’s something, anything, in that Stable that makes us just like that?”

“All-mighty and powerful? I wouldn’t mind at all!” I chuckled.

“I’m serious here, Patchie. She was a hero, and she turned out like… this. I don’t want to risk everything to turn out the same way…”

“It’s not like we’re going to change the Wasteland, Coral. It’s not like we’re going to save the whole world exposing that the Ministry of Awesome is the responsible for every catastrophe everywhere. Remember Timmy with the can soup? MAw.”

“We never knew somepony called Tim—oh.” She chuckled a little, getting the joke.

“We’re just going in, getting whatever it is inside there, and going out. Simple, fast and easy… But it’ll be an adventure to find it, don’t you think?” I smiled, trying to make her lose that frowned expression, and it actually worked! That was new.

“Sure it’ll be! When you’ll be capable of actually going?”

“Tomorrow morning is good enough. There’s at least two more potions to drink, but I’m just fine as it is and even the PipBuck agrees with it.” I noticed my little pony again, which signaled that I was just 20% worse than before the bullet found home in my lung.

“Good! It’ll be ready by then!” She trotted away... Before I could ask what was ‘it’. I could ask over the food court, as it was nearly mid-day and my stomach, as usual, started to rumble. I took my saddlebags and checked my caps, noticing a peculiar lightness to it. Was I out of caps already? Time to charge the doctor, then.

I went two levels upstairs and crossed the rusty bridge to his clinic, as he was bartering with Raspberry Tart, or better saying, one of her goons. The fully white pony traded a crate with the good old doc and received a bag full of the very thing I was coming to ask for. Without looking to her face, I entered the clinic as she left and Healing Surge greeted me with a smile behind his mustache.

“Nice timing, Golden Patch. Here, help me with this.” I trotted behind the counter, floating some of the potions where they belong, everything organized as always. “What brings you here in your day-off?” He asked between arranging some of the embalming potions for burns. I recalled my scorched tail for a moment before going back to the subject in hoof.

“Well, you see… I’m out of caps.”

“And I think this means you want your payment sooner, right?” He uttered without looking at me even for a moment. I felt uncomfortable with the way he always handled every time I asked him for it. This time, though, I swore to myself it’ll be different.

“Y- yes.” I stuttered. Damn. “I’m going out of the city for at least a week, so I… erm… Would you borrow me a thousa—“

“One thousand caps?! Are you trying to bankrupt me?!” He stared at me dead in my eyes, forcing me to take a step back. I think I swallowed my soul before answering.

“I need the money, sir… It’s not like I’m robbing you! I swear I’ll pay you up with what I find.” I think it was visible that I was really nervous, with all the sweating and everything else. I couldn’t even breathe, my lungs telling me that they had nothing to do here.

“And what guarantee me that you’re keeping your word?”

“I swear, I swear! Look, this is what I’ve found in my last scavenge.” I showed him the PipBuck in my leg. “And if this is what I’ve found in just my fourth try, what will I find now, with the help of technology? Even more things! I swear I can repay you!”

“…Makes sense. Here, your payment for five weeks of work that you will compensate later.” He took the thousand caps from a ground safe under him and I floated it into my saddlebags. “And word for the wise: Don’t go rooting around anyone’s grave, you understand me?”

“Fine, I’m a scavenger, not a gravedigger.” I said, walking towards the exit. “And thanks for everything, for the job, for the training… You’re like a father to me.” And I trotted away, sighing. After some hundred meters, I stopped and laughed, as I was finally going somewhere! I couldn’t hold the actual excitement and, as a response, nearly everypony near the crazy medic laughing pony took a step back preemptively.

=-=-=-=

“Five canned peaches, two Howdy’s, four sparkle~colas and… take the three, put the five and carry out the two… Three bottles of water to go. And a grilled carrot for now, please.” I counted the hundred caps and waited for Sparkle to put everything neatly in a bag, what, not surprisingly, wasn’t what happened.

“Do you even have that many caps, buck?” She looked at me, expecting to see the cash before doing any kind of service. I just sighed and put the caps in a neat pile. “Now we’re talking.”

While I ate the carrot, she got everything ready and I floated it into my saddlebag. When I was turning back the bag she put everything, she stopped the flying brahmin purse with a hoof in the counter. “I heard you’re planning to be a scavenger, right?” I nodded. “I remember you, you’re that other medic pony from the clinic. Consider this – “ she pushed the purse across the table counter, in my direction. “- a good luck gift from me.”

“Thanks… You’re the mother of that foal with a cold, right?” The kid was about to explode just because I had to give him an antibiotic shot. A little sleight of hoof and some tricks with the basic telekinesis and he just went through the sting without knocking down the walls. That was a funny day. “I bet it took him a day to get better.”

“Three hours, do you believe it?” She said with a big smile in her face. I smiled back, taking another bite in the carrot. She dropped a bottle of sparkle~cola in front of me and, cleaning a mug with an old dishcloth, whispered “On the house.” and went to serve the other ponies. I was sorry that I’d disappoint her, but she wouldn’t make me smile more than it was ponilly possible.

My saddlebags were a lot heavier than earlier now, with nearly a thousand caps and at least a week’s worth of provisions, as full as my stomach with the scored soda. Then I bumped into somepony. “Sorry ‘bout that.” I floated the dropped saddlebag to the young buck in front of me, which just whispered something that reminded me of thanks and ran away. Ok, couldn’t do too much about it.

But the damn guard could. “Halt, citizen!” I stopped, looking around for the pastel armor and I was hit in the face with a nightstick.

“What the flying Dashite pegasi fuck was that f— Oh, hi, Prick. Not a moment of peace and quiet for your ol’ pal Patch, right?” He smiled at me through his visor and the other two idiots that always trotted along him chuckled.

“You know… Protect and serve.” He gave some laughs before putting the nightstick close to my neck. “We saw what you did, so we’re bound to search for any stolen property from that buck you bumped into.”

“What?! I didn’t steal anything, you stupid assh—“

“Watch the language, sir, we don’t want any commotion and I sure you don’t want it too.” He raised his snout, which begged me to hit him. I held myself, three-on-one wasn’t even near to fair, and he was pretty much bigger than me. And was with armor, and armed with a nightstick. Wasn’t worth it.

They rummaged my saddlebags and one of them laughed while picking my bag of bottle caps. “Hey, give me back.” I threatened to walk in his direction, but the nightstick got closer to my neck.

“Don’t even think about it, Patch.” Prickle made sure I understood the message while they took half of the caps to themselves. Was it really not of worth? That could be my last time to reason with them, to resolve this whole ordeal.

“And what if I do?” I stared him, just like I always did.

“Then I’ll hit you. Hard. And press you for contempt against authori—“

That was the fastest kick I’ve ever gave, hitting him square in the jaw with my left front hoof. His two ‘friends’ just stared at me, my bag and half of its caps floating with green unicorn magic of one of them. Without a word to any of them, I surmounted his magic and took back my money, approaching slowly the stunned pony with silver mane slightly dirty with his own blood from a cut where I hit him.

“I can’t understand you.” Now that I started, let me at least finish this, once and for all. If I’m back, I don’t want any more stupid ponies to harass me. “Ever since both of you entered Security and I didn’t, you picked on me, hit me, made me your personal kicking bag.” He has lost his words with one of his broken teeth. “I’m fucking tired of this. I was your friend, but you changed so much that I don’t even recognize you as a decent folk anymore. This is why I’m leaving this place.”

“B-but I—“

“Shut up, I’m the one talking now, prick.” I approached my muzzle from his, staring him dead in his eyes, close enough that I was sure he felt my breath at every word. “I’m leaving. And you’re not going to do any shit about it. I’m just saying you’re a pain in the ass not worth my time.” I took some steps away, his eyes following every step of mine. “Oh, and one more thing: Fuck you.”

=-=-=-=

“I heard you punched Prickle… You’ve never resorted to this, Patchie…” She said while polishing her own armor, slightly modified with some more plating in her flanks and legs. Her saddlebags were already waiting in the corner, packed full of military rations and ammo for her shotgun, also modified by her. A pastime, she said to everypony since… forever, I think.

“I couldn’t resist this time, that idiot was stealing me in public! And, well, I don’t think I’m coming bac—“

“Oh don’t start with the death talk with me, boy!” She stared at me, more serious than she was supposed to be. I cleaned my throat and went back to where I was.

“I was talking about actually coming back. I think I’ll search for another settlement, maybe buy a good home in Tenpony Tower… If I have the money to do it, of course. And, if this turns out to be a sham, I don’t want to have problems with that idiot anymore.” I triple-checked if everything was in their own places. The PipBuck Inventory Sorting system was pretty useful, helping me to locate every item in the saddlebags with ease.

“Oh, I nearly forgot!” She sprinted to the other side of the Security Room, opening one of the lockers and taking out a wooden box. “Open it, it’s for you!” Touching exactly in my curiosity, I unlocked both its bolts and opened it…

“…Is this really for me?” In front of me stood the most beautiful rifle I’ve ever seen. Its barrel was completely black and shined, reflexing the lights in the ceiling. Its stirring drum was made for six bullets and ornamented with golden strings, looking like medical stitches through each bullet. I ran my eyes over it to notice the “Patchie” carved in the rifle’s butt.

“Yeah, I made it for you as a gift for when you passed the Security test, but as you didn’t even try…” I didn’t notice that I was laughing when I jumped in her direction, hugging the hell out of her.

“Thanks, Coral!” I couldn’t speak more than that, I couldn’t think of enough words to thank her for that.

“It’s a modified hunting rifle, the barrel refitted for 5mm bullets. It packs a lot more power than the usual rifle, you know…” I looked to the origin of that voice fully knowing who it was. I couldn’t believe that he was here.

“What do you want now, Prickle?!” I stared at him, resting the box by my side. He was carrying a big box strapped to his back and, with a bite, he took out the straps that held it that way. There was a badly-done patch over the bruise in his muzzle after the punch from earlier. Coral put a hoof in my back, trying to make me back down.

“I helped with some of the parts… It was our gift to you. And you just… didn’t. This was my part, just as the rifle was hers.” He pushed the box in my direction.

I took a precautious step in its direction, unlocking both its bolts and flipped the lid open. I couldn’t see from the point I was, so I just approached the metal menacing box. I couldn’t believe my eyes, actually. “…Are you… serious?”

“I know I’ve being kind of a dick with you these days and…”

“These days?!” I put a lot of emphasis in the ‘days’ part. “Ever since I refused the test you tormented me!”

“…I just didn’t know how to react! We had a lot of work to prepare everything, and since your family left-“

“Don’t fucking talk about my family!”

“Fine! Sheesh… I didn’t know what to do, you promised that you’d be with us and you simply… weren’t anymore. I got carried away, I think. This is my apology.”

“…I don’t know, Prickle.” He was my friend, but that was months ago. Maybe he learned his lesson today? I just didn’t know what I’d do about that. I shrugged.

“And I’m coming with you.” And just now I noticed his saddlebags, apparently full of everything he needed outside.

“N-No way!” I yelled. “You’re not going with us, you have no right to do—“

“I do, Patch! It’s my right to be where I want to be, and I’ll follow you even if you don’t want it!” He stood for himself in a way I didn’t saw since at least a year before… He wouldn’t accept no for an answer, and I knew that he’d be a good asset, as a strong and actually fast pony. I took another look at the box.

“…Fine. But I’ll keep my eye on you.” I sighed, and I didn’t even need to look at him to see that he smiled like a foal again. I floated the brown security armor, exactly the color of my mane, with a golden cross stitched in its back from the box that contained it and smiled awkwardly to them. “Erm… How do I put these?”

S: 3

P: 4

E: 3

C: 4

I: 9

A: 5

L: 5

Tags: Medicine, Science, Guns.

Traits: Trigger Discipline, Heavy Handed.

Level: 2 (Level Up!)

Perks: Rapid Reload (New!)