Fallout Equestria: Old Equestria Blues

Chapter 3: No Good Deeds

With a deep breath I finally opened my eyes and looked down at Miss Sunrise who was softly sobbing to herself. When our eyes met, she quickly turned to look somewhere else, as though she couldn’t bear to look at me. I didn’t blame her though, especially after what had just happened. With no idea of what to say to her or what I could do to improve on the situation, my eyes began to wander around the room looking over the bloody scene for some kind of distraction. ‘Eyepatch’’s corpse was about ten feet away from us. Needless to say, his face was just a horrid mess. Most if not all of his piercings were gone, along with the rest of his face. Looking up from his body I could see where exactly he had been when I shot him thanks to the messy blood splatter on the nearby wall.

The scene began to replay itself slowly in my mind the more I stared at the blood on the wall. ‘Eyepatch’ was charging at us with a horrible limp thanks to the hole in his kneecap I had given him moments before. He had an engaged switchblade gripped firmly in his jaw, its gleaming blade ready to sink into my flesh. Then there was me. I reacted with such unnatural speed, suddenly wrapping a telekinetic field around my pistol in the blink of an eye, as though I had done it a million times before, lifting the gun and firing directly into his face with the PipBucks’ magical assistance. The feeling of a natural born killer washed over me afterward.

I was snapped out of it when Sunrise finally spoke up, drawing my attention back to her.

“Thank you for savin my hide darlin...but you really shouldn’ta killed him like that...” she said quietly, sniffling a little still as though she was still thinking about what she was trying to say. “Those ponies, the ones that got away...well they work for a really bad stallion up at New Reino...I owe him a lotta caps and once he learns about what gone down here he is gonna send more ponies down here to get what he is owed,”

I nodded slowly, not quite sure how to respond. Did she want my help protecting her? It didn’t sound like that was where her train of thought was headed though once she resumed speaking.

“They are gonna come back to my saloon that’s for sure, but they ain’t gonna find me. I’m gonna pack all my things and get the heck outta here. You should do the same sweetie.”

“Well you can come with me, I’m heading to Neighvac. I can protect you,” I offered, a feeling of guilt creeping on me, as I realized this was partially my fault. I could’ve just gone back and stayed with the ghoulicorn, but now I had indirectly ruined Tequila Sunrise’s life. I owed it to her to protect her from this bad pony and his thugs.

She gave a soft if forced chuckle at my offer, causing me to blink at her response. “Sorry sugah, It was nice of you and all to stop those ponies from doing what they were gonna do, but they are gonna be looking for you too, especially since you were the one who killed Lance over there,” she said, pointing a hoof at the dead pony I had mentally been calling ‘Eyepatch’ all this time. “You stand out hun and they are gonna be coming with more than just knives and bare hooves a second time around. You ain’t safe to be around. It’d just be better if we went our own ways. Still...thanks for the help, but you should probably leave town as soon as possible so no one else here but me gets hurts as a result.”

I looked at her in shock. I had already been feeling pretty guilty about what had happened, but this really hurt. It was true though. I couldn’t argue it. She had gotten in trouble because of me, and she’d just be in more danger if she came with me, what really made it worse though was they way she had said I was risking everypony else just by being here.

I nodded, my turn being unable to look her in the eyes as I slowly made my way back to the room I had spent the night and gathered the rest of my things. When I returned, she had already left. I hadn’t taken long, but I guess she didn’t have much other than the saloon. Lance was still here and he was still very much dead too. I started to head towards the door when I caught sight of his switchblade under a nearby table. All I had to defend myself with was an old worn out pistol, and I didn’t think I had very many rounds left in it. Despite how useful it probably would’ve been I didn’t want a reminder of what had happened, so I left it where it was and headed out the door.

I felt the hot dusty wind blow against my face as I stepped outside, the highway coming into view with the rest of Oatfields as I looked around. There was still no sign of miss Sunrise. She must’ve taken off running once I had left her sight. I took a deep breath and sighed, beginning to make my way to the highway when I was suddenly greeted with a burst of static emitting from my PipBuck and a radio signal creeping to life. I looked down at it, smiling as it finally managed to pick something up. A radio station registered as 102.7 FM Happy Trail News. This was the first good thing to happen to me all morning. So I quickly checked the map to make sure I was heading in the right direction and continued on my way, switching back to the radio and turning up the volume.

“Heellllooo Colts and Fillies, It’s I, Howling Mad Mustang and I am coming to you live from the New Pegasus Broadcasting Tower high above the clouds overlooking the dry Mustang Desert Waste. First off, I just want to say sorry for the all the radio silence these last few weeks I’ve been having some troubles with the darn equipment. Never fret though, I didn’t forget about you guys. I’ve got some bad news and some good news for all my little ponies.

You see things are getting rather heated for both the New Canterlot Republic and the Sovereign Pegasus Enclave as they seem to be fighting an enemy that has been going around terrorizing the good honest pony folk up north that for some reason can’t be found no matter what. It’s all kinds of really strange and even a bit spooky if you ask me, so with each new incident that occurs the peaceful negotiations between the two groups seem to be getting less friendly and more fierce. Of course it doesn’t help that there are rumors about how either side is playing the other for a bunch of foals in order to strengthen their hold for those precious gemstone resources up in the mountains.

I also happen to be getting reports from New Pegasus’ sister city, New Reino, that gang activity has been on the rise since neither the NCR or the SPE have been able to come to terms over who will get to protect the citizens living there and since many ponies are struggling as it is to find good food or Aqua Cura as it is, it’s only gotten worse now that these gangs are extorting what little they have as it is. It just breaks my heart just to think that things could’ve gotten that bad that fast since those new gem deposits were found.

I’m afraid the bad news doesn’t stop there though. Down south of New Pegasus, it seems as though a few nasty groups of raider ponies have taken up residence somewhere and seem to be raiding any settlement they can for slaves and loot. Unfortunately, they seem just as violent as they were decades ago, so I wouldn’t try any diplomatic solutions with them that didn’t come with a twelve gauge back up plan, if you catch my drift.

But now, it’s time for that good news I promised you huh? It may not be much but you know what they say, sometimes the best things come in small packages. You see, the Followers of the Apocalypse, those kind and generous ponies who selflessly travel all over Equestria teaching ponies and giving them medical attention have finally been able to establish a few permanent bases over the Mustang Desert, including New Reino. So if you are sick and need help or just want to learn, give them a look.

I won’t lie folks, times have been getting tougher for us here in ol Buffalo Territory, even though the heartlands have been getting better. But as DJPon3 says, you can’t give up the hope, no matter how bad things hurt.

Finally before I give the mic over to Little Miss Equestria, I just want to address some of the letters I’ve been getting asking if I’ve heard anything about a brave pony willing to be that one shining ray of hope we seem to desperately need right now. I sadly haven’t heard anything but if any of you ponies who are on their way to New Pegasus manage to find a real bona fide hero, send them my way baby and I’ll be sure to spread the word!

I came to a stop as the DJ who called himself Howling Mad Mustang stopped speaking. Heh, for a moment, I had almost thought that by saving Tequila Sunrise from those, I guess gangsters is what they really were, that I had been a hero of sorts, but she had pretty much shown me otherwise and now here I was pretty much running away. Of Course, I had been planning on leaving anyway, but now I had seen what my action had done.I pretty much didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Slowly I turned around and scanned the horizon with my eyes. This strangely felt a little familiar to me for some reason. As though I had done something similar to this before. My sight stopped at the sight of the Ghoulicorn’s lone clinic on the lonely hilltop that overlooked the small town. I guess I wasn’t going to be able to ask her name and give her proper thanks for all that she had done for me after all huh? She had done more than enough by saving my life, and I certainly wasn’t going to put her into any danger.

I shook my head and turned back around, continuing my lonesome journey to Neighvac. I didn’t want to think about this place or what had happened anymore. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling so much sad about it now, In fact I was getting angry about the injustice of it all. I had saved Miss Sunrise's life and all it had amounted to was a half-hearted apology. The longer I dwelled on it the more that look of fear she had on her face when I had killed Lance finally made sense to me. She hadn’t been scared of me, well maybe a little I had just killed a pony, but rather, what she had been upset about what I had done to her life. It was almost as though from that moment on she resented me just a bit for even having been there.

I stomped on the ground in frustration and walked faster, I had told myself not to think about it and I had done just the opposite. What was wrong with me? I didn’t get to contemplate that question any further when suddenly a soft feminine voice came from the speakers of my PipBuck that seemed to instantly melt away my growing anger. Her voice was delicate yet steadfast, patient but not condescending. Almost as though some sort of angelic and matronly pony with years of wisdom and experience was addressing me directly.

“Hello my little ponies, it’s Little Miss Equestria here and I know it’s been a long time since I’ve broadcasted anything since I usually fill in for Howling Mad when he’s busy doing his homework. I just wanted to take this moment to share with how absolutely special each and everyone of you is to me. Everypony is wonderful in their own way and no matter how dark or hopeless things may seem. I want you to remember that. Surprisingly I’ve been getting some mail of my own recently and I thought do something different this time around and read to you one of the letters I’ve received. Ahem, it reads:

‘Dear Little Miss Equestria, you do so much to keep as all going everyday with your show, just like HMM does with his news broadcast, but what I really wanted to know was if you were seeing each other romantically? If not, would it be too much to ask if there was any special pony you had your eye on?’

Well Howling Mad Mustang and I have known each other for many years now, but despite what he may say about it, there is nothing romantic going on between us. However, you are right on the money when I say there is special pony I’ve had my eye on for quite awhile. And that pony is you, all of you who take the time to listen in. Every single one of you continue to give me the strength to keep on doing this kind of thing. You know, I think this little confession of mine reminds me of a song sung by a group of friends of mine a long time ago, here is A Circle of Friends.”

I looked down at my E.F.S. to make sure I was headed the right way as the music played in the background. According to the map screen all I had to look forward to was a long stretch of broken pavement that snaked its way through a bunch of scorched desert wasteland hills. There were a few small unidentified buildings along the way but the only real major settlement that was anywhere close had already been magically labeled on my map as Dodge City. It wasn’t anywhere as far as where Neighvac was and in fact would only take me about three or four days to reach, which I considered to be lucky since I was sure my supplies would be nearly gone by that then. It’d be perfect time to gather to try and get some caps and some food and clean water and leave as soon as I could.

The song came to an end only for another one to play almost immediately after as I took some more time to further examine the map. Finding myself pleasantly surprised, I discovered that one of the roads that ran through Dodge City was actually an old railroad system that traveled southwest to a small settlement south east on the edge of my map labeled Old Appleloosa as well as heading north west right to New Reino. So once I was done with my business in Neighvac with my brother’s...associates, I could just hop a train or something, if they still ran that is, and get some more answers directly from him.

I switched the PipBuck back to my E.F.S. and headed further along the road, relaxing a little as I listened to the music that continued to play. Almost forgetting what had occurred earlier this morning I summoned up my magic and undid my guitar, levitating it close as I willed the strings to move how I wanted them too, doing my best to play an accompaniment to the new song. As far as I could tell it didn't take me very long to fit right in with the mood and the theme of this song. It was just an instrumental and felt rather sad and lonely, and yet the further along it went the more dramatic and hopeful it became. For some reason it reminded me of the music that had been playing from Watcher’s spritebot. Almost as though it had been some sort of love song dedicated to a special pony long since forgotten.

I was glad that I apparently still knew how to play even if I didn’t remember any of the songs I used too. Though I was more content to let the sounds of my guitar and the radio echo across the landscape, as though it was a long lost companion who was keeping me company once again. I smiled and closed my eyes, feeling the music flow through me, a strange kind of peace overcoming me as I walked in time with the tune I was spontaneously creating. I wasn’t sure if any words could do this song any justice, but I still found myself whistling an additional accompaniment to it, almost as though I was compelled to.

=====

It was evening by the time the radio signal finally vanished and I was once again on my own. I stopped to check the map on my PipBuck and was surprised to find out that I had somehow managed to deviate off course from the highway. I guess should’ve been paying more attention to where I had been going instead of losing myself in the music but there wasn’t much I could do about it now and since I didn’t really feel like doubling back so late and if I kept going through this area I’d eventually meet back with the highway anyway. So I continued on my way.

Trying to travel through the hilly terrain was irritating and it slowed me down more than I would’ve liked. The sun was nearly gone by the time I reached a small rocky overlook of the area. before me was a small shallow valley, a bit of respite. There wasn’t much accept a small burnt out looking house and a windmill. With the orange hue of the sky, everything was actually rather beautiful. I didn’t get much time other than that to further contemplate the matter when I suddenly heard the sound of someone screaming down in the valley. I didn’t really see anything at first but then I caught the sight of a pair of ponies running away from the burnt out building, one of them looking to be fully grown, the other looking to be either a colt or a filly. From what I could see they were running away from another group of ponies, about three or four of them. They looked dirty and nasty and seemed to howling and laughing with madness.

That was when I was reminded of Howling Mad Mustang’s broadcast this morning. Raider Ponies in the south. Thinking quickly, I floated my pistol out of the saddle bag and look a leap off the overlook, hitting the slope with a rough thud and slid the rest of the way down, making sure to keep my pistol firmly wrapped in the kinetic field. As I ran to them, I heard another frightened scream, definitely female. It was a mother and child being chased by blood thirsty monsters. My mind flashed back the point where Miss Sunrise had nearly been violated by Lance and his thugs, my body suddenly slowed down against my will as a result.

Part of me was afraid, just like I had been when I had first tried to protect Sunrise, but there was more to it now. I was afraid of making it worse like I had before by interfering. My eyes went wide and I was snapped out of my slow down when I saw the mother suddenly hit with a spear and collapse to the ground, causing the child to stop with her, crying out in fear. That was it, it didn’t matter if I made things worse at this point. I pushed myself as far as I could running for all I could at the group of raider ponies, pistol raised and aimed at the one who looked like he had thrown the spear.

Before they could reach the colt or filly I let out a blood thirsty scream to draw their attention to me, activated S.T.A.T.S., locked onto the one closest to the kid, and fired two rounds into his chest. He fell to the ground with a sudden thud causing the other three, that meant there had been four of them before I had shown up, to run into his body and collapse into a heap of gibbering crazed mess of ponies.

I didn’t give them much time to get back up as I ran closer and fired another two shots into the pile, frowning as only one hit a raider in the leg since the magical assistance needed to recharge. It didn’t take long for the raiders get untangled from each other and they came at me, one of them limping, which gave me some satisfaction in my own abilities. They must've been faster than I thought because they had me surrounded in moments. One of them had a sword gripped in his teeth, another had a billy club firmly gripped in her own, and the other one, the unicorn I had managed to shot in the leg, had a wicked looking cleaver wrapped in a levitation field.

I ducked just in time to avoid having that cleaver buried into my neck, but I didn’t see the club swinging underneath me until it smashed into my ribs. I fell to the ground with a grunt of pain and lifted my pistol, pointing it straight at the raider who was about to stab me with his sword and plugged a round into his stomach. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the unicorn raise his cleaver and rolled to the side just seconds before the sharp edge came in contact with the rocky ground.

Quickly lifting myself off the ground and doing my best to jump a foot or so away from them, I saw my luck had improved. My PipBuck’s S.T.A.T.S. was fully charge. So with a smile I locked onto the female raider with the club and pulled the trigger. Click. Click. Click. The one sound I didn’t want to hear. I was out of ammo. Both of them each gave me a wicked knowing smile and charged forward. I gritted my teeth and cursed myself for not grabbing Lance’s switchblade when I could’ve. Luckily these goons were not as intelligent as they were vicious.

I dropped my pistol on the ground and charged toward them, dropping to the ground as they came in to close and sliding past their swinging weapons. Seeing the sword that used to belong to raider pony I had just put down, I wrapped a field of magic around it and turned around, bringing the weapon forward. The pony with the billy club brought it down on me, causing me to bring the sword up to defend myself. It wasn’t much of a defense when I felt the cleaver that belonged to the unicorn suddenly bury itself into the flesh of my right foreleg, causing me to scream out in pain.

I forcefully pulled away from the pony with the cleaver crying out in pain as the blade was yanked from my leg and then I spun around, keeping a firm grip on the sword as I did so and brought it down into the female raider’s neck with a spin. The blade slammed so hard that it went straight through neck entirely, her head rolling clean off and hitting the ground with a wet squishy thud. I just barely managed to hear the raider with the cleaver cry out in triumph behind me and managed to quickly pull the blade back and stab behind me with as much remaining power I could, gritting my teeth with grim satisfaction as I felt the weapon sink into his flesh. I took a deep breath, grunting in pain as I did so, and pulled the blade back. Afterwards I limped my way back to my gun, picked it up and slipped it back into my bag after I tried my best to secure the sword next to my guitar. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.

I looked down at the wound in my leg and grimaced at the sight, I have never wanted to cry and scream so badly in my life, but I couldn’t, not yet. Slowly I hobbled my way to the kid, who I could see was a young colt. He had a creamy white coat and a short chocolate colored mane and a dark brown patch of fur around his left eye. I couldn’t see a cutie mark on his flank either. He was crying and nuzzling the body of his mother and suddenly cried out in fear once he noticed how close I had gotten. The sight alone was tearing me apart and I could already feel the adrenaline from the battle leaving me, so I did something stupid and said the first thing that came to my mind.

“I’m sorry that it went down like it did kid...if I could’ve saved her I would’ve...I just...wasn’t fast enough...” Those words didn’t sound right at all. But they were the best I could come up with at the moment. I turned away and looked at the burnt out house and then down at the gash in my leg again. It showed no sign of stopping and I had already lost a lot of blood by now given how it was seeping out quite copiously. There was no way I was going to be able to make it there to see if I could find anything to help. That was when I remembered one of the things the Ghoulicorn doctor had given me. Med-X, a super powerful painkiller. It would probably do the trick just long enough for me to risk searching for supplies. I brought up my PipBuck and loaded up the inventory sorter, selecting the pain killer and following the instructions of how to administer it.

Within seconds I felt like I was on top of the world, any pain I had been feeling had completely melted away once the entire syringe had been administered. After that I did the best as I could to make my way to the ruins as fast as my leg would let me. After about five minutes and a quick search later, I learned there wasn’t too much to find at all since most of the building was a collapsed mess. I did, however, manage to find a small yellow metal box with three pink butterflies on it in one of the remaining fixtures of the building, the bathroom. The universal symbol for medical supplies. I opened it up and breathed a sigh of relief. A small healing potion and a few magical bandages.

Acting quickly, I followed the PipBuck’s advice on how to use the bandages, wrapping them around my leg firmly, and then drank the potion as fast as I could. I looked around as I clumsily stumbled about, finding my vision becoming extremely blurry with every second before I finally slumped to the ground with a hard thud. I yawned loudly and tried to resist the sensation that coming over me, but I was too weak now and soon that familiar darkness consumed me. The last thing I remember hearing before passing out was the sobbing of the colt a few yards away.

I awoke with a yawn, groaning as my head throbbed in pain. Just what I didn’t need. A headache. The one good side to this was that the gash in my leg having been completely healed thanks to the potion and the bandages. I did a quick check of my belongings and re-secured everything, making sure that the gun was packed away till I could find ammunition for it and the sword would be easy to pull out in case I needed it again. Afterwards I checked my map to see how far away I was to the highway and how far away Dodge City was. The highway was the only direct path to the city, which would add at least a half of days travel if I doubled back, but I soon discovered by zooming in that I could actually make that time back by making my way through some extremely craggy terrain that eventually met back up with the highway a little further south.

Feeling like there was no time like the present, I left the burnt out building and slowly made my way forward, seeing the corpses of the raiders I had luckily managed to kill last night. Learning from my past mistake I searched over their bodies, finding about twenty caps and a bottle of murky dirty water. Once finished, I looked up and noticed the little colt starting at me from his mother’s dead body. I shouldn’t have snapped at him, but I did. Part of it was the headache I’m sure, but I’m sure it was the guilt I was feeling for not acting quickly enough to save her.

“What are you looking at?!”

He flinched and looked away within seconds of my outburst and I felt even more like crap. I sighed and began to continue on my way, not even making five feet before I suddenly heard the colt finally make a sound. Literally.

“Ooowaaaaaaaaoooo!”

I stopped dead in my tracks. Was I really going to just leave him here alone? I couldn’t just take him with me could I? Especially since the events of yesterday morning were still fresh in my mind. Gangsters were going to be coming after me and right now I was heading further into dangerous territory with even more insane raiders. I gritted my teeth and groaned under my breath, the pain in my head wasn’t making this any easier. Finally, with a deep breath, I made a decision.

“Look, I’m sorry about not being able to save your mom, but don’t follow me Kid. You’d be better off turning around and going the other way.” I began, keeping my back to the colt so I wouldn’t have to look him in the face. “There is a nice lady doctor in a little town in that direction who took care of me, who I’m sure would take care of you too.” After that I closed my eyes and willed myself to continue onward, heading further into the unbelievably rocky area ahead. Hoping my conscience wouldn’t make my head hurt any worse.

=====

About three hours later I found myself walking through a particularly gravelly hollow. A fierce wind blew through, stirring up thick clouds of dust in the wind that threatened to choke me. The colt I had left behind was still on my mind. I had done the right thing. It wasn’t safe to be near me. At least, that was what I thought was the right thing to do. I didn’t get to much longer to dwell on it when I suddenly heard the little colt’s voice, echo through the small shallow valley, behind me.

“Ooowaaaooo!”

I stopped dead in my tracks once again, grimacing a bit. He had done the exact opposite. I refused to turn around, if I didn’t see him, then he couldn’t be real. He had gone to Oatfields like I recommended and was in the capable hooves of the creepy but kind hearted ghoulicorn. I was just about to take a step forward and continue onward when I heard those little hoofsteps come a little closer.

“Are you following me?” I asked, growing frustrated and ever more consumed with guilt. “I thought I told you to go the other way. You shouldn’t be following me,” I said and craned my head back to look how far away he was. The little guy was about a good thirty feet away I thought, standing there looking cold and frightened, yet oddly determined. I wasn’t going to risk putting him in danger by following me. I had to find someway to get him to turn around and go away.

Suddenly a wicked idea came to mind. I drew the sword carefully, levitating it behind me, and then I thrusted it into the ground, and dragged it firmly against the rocky ground till a deep line was formed behind me. then I carefully put the blade back and resumed speaking.

“You see that line? If you cross it, I will summon a horrible Night Mare that loves to eat blank flanks like you with my special brand of magical music.” I did my best to give an evil smile and began to walk away, only stopping once more to turn around so the colt could get a good look at my face. “The last foal that crossed that line got gobbled up by the Night Mare so quickly that she was still hungry, so she attacked me after she was done, but I managed to fight her off. It’s how I got this scar on my forehead...” Seeing the colt look at me in shock, I felt satisfied I had scared him enough to turn around and go to the only safe place I knew for certain.

“Rumor has it kid, she still travels all over Equestria... waiting for me to summon her back up with my guitar so I can feed her another blank flank again,” I stomped a hoof so hard that it managed to clack loudly against the gravel. I don’t know why I added that last part, but I did. For some reason this had become kind of fun. Feeling like I had made my point I started to walk away even faster, slowing down only for a second when I thought I heard him running after me only to suddenly stop in his tracks. It had worked.

I continued through the hollow reaching the end after another hour when I heard the soft sounds of a colt panting and grunting with exhaustion. I quickly whipped around and saw the little guy had still decided to follow me, only this time he was covered in a bunch of dirt and dust, like he had spent a good part the time digging.

I couldn’t shake the little bastard! Though, I think part of me knew, that after having seen me fight off three raiders with nothing but a sword, the colt was apparently willing to take his chances. I was beaten momentarily, but I wasn’t going to lose. Once I made it to Dodge City, I was going to make sure the colt was with a nice good foster home.

“The wasteland is no place for little colts or fillies,” I grumbled angrily at him. Frowning, I turned around and continued to head on my way, stopping only to check to make sure I was following my E.F.S. correctly and to see if I could spot any trouble headed our way.

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