Fallout: Equestria - Darkness Consuming

Chapter 4: The Kings

    “The Kings” is what they called themselves. I wondered why they called themselves that. I vocalized that same question to the same guy who let us in.

    “Weuh call uhrselves the Kinguhs buhcause that’s uhwhat Eluhvis Prespony called himuhself.” Of course it was. That accent was gonna get annoying fast. I looked at Gem and I could tell she thought so too. The look in her gorgeous, shining red, completely exhilarating...Sorry. My bad. Anyways, the look in her eyes said it all. I started to blush after staring too long.

    We were escorted into a room with a bunch of tables and a large stage where one of the Kings members was dressed in a flashy white suit dancing and singing, flinging the stand-up microphone around like a toy. We stopped near a table set front and center. At the table sat who I assumed was the King, the one mentioned at the door. He looked exactly like the guy on the posters that littered the walls.

    I was the first to speak. “We were told you had some kind of a job to offer us,” I said. I gave the King a stern look. He gave off a chilled out vibe with a much calmer facial expression.

    “It’suh simple, really,” he said, a cigar hanging out of his mouth. I thought I smelled something else in there, but it might have been my imagination. “I wantuh you tuh fux upuh mah dog.” At that, he whistled, and a mechanical dog came strolling in. Halfway to where the King was sitting, it stopped, sparked and twitched, and continued to walk. That thing does need repairs.

    “I’lluh give ya 4000 caps fehr fixin’ mah cybark uhp,” he said with a tone of desperation. My eyes must have bulged out of my skull after hearing that. 4000 caps!?

    “I’ll be right back,” I told the King. I dragged Gem out of the room into a hallway which seemed empty enough. I turned towards her.

    “Gemstone Shimmer, slap me.”

    “Wh-what?”

    “Slap me, right now.”

    “Star, why in the name of the Goddesses would-”

    “I need to figure out if I’m dreaming or not, so slap me right now. As hard as you can.” Without any hesitation, Gem drew back her right hoof and smacked it across my face. I spun and fell, and lay motionless on the ground from shock. DAMN, that mare has a good right hook!

    “Oh, my Celestia, what did I just do!?” Gem had started shaking me trying to get me up. I think she thought she knocked me out. I stood up (slowly) and calmed her down.

    “Ow…”

    She pulled me into a tight hug, which I gratefully returned.

    “Oh, Goddesses, Star I’m so sorry!” She hugged me even tighter.

    “It’s alright, I’m fine,” I reassured her quietly. “At least I know I’m not dreaming.” She laughed at that, much to my joy.

    We walked back the the King and accepted his offer. Moments later, we were off with a list of supplies needed to fix Cybark. I read down the list.

    “This is a lot of stuff...let’s see, we need a spark battery, about 10 pounds of scrap metals, spare parts from a gatling laser, plasma rifle, and pulse mine...where the hell are we gonna find th…” I cut myself off as I stared down the road at the little colt who we passed earlier.

    “Need to get rid of that shitpile of a weapon you’ve got? Come on down to The Diamond Rush for all your magical energy weapon needs!”

* * *

    The Diamond Rush wasn’t as...flashy as I’d expected it to be. You’d think something with the name of a gemstone would be as beautiful as it sounded. I looked over at Gem with that thought. I immediately regretted what I had just thought.

    “I guess the wasteland does get it right every once in a while,” I thought. We walked up to the extremely heavily guarded counter and asked for the items on our list.

    The mare behind the counter had a voice like she smoked 24/7. “We can give you the scrap metal for free, but the rest has a price.”

    “What’s the price,” I asked.

    “Well, for what you need, I’m asking 800 caps total price.” That was really pricey, but we’ll be making another 4000 after we get everything back to the King. I reluctantly forked over a couple pouches of caps and received the items, which I slipped into my saddlebags.

    As we were rounding the corner at the end of the street, we passed the colt.

    “Your company’s fuckin’ cheap, kid,” I said, being rewarded with a glare from Gem. I winced, but the colt simply nodded.

* * *

    4000 caps in our possession, we had made it past the robotic guards and into New Pegasus, finally. It was a bit shabbier than I had expected, but hey, this was the Wasteland.

    Gem was gawking at the gamblers, flashing neon lights, and other sights around the city. The soldiers were a nice touch. And there seemed to be a few sober ones, too.

    I stopped to talk with one of the soldiers who appeared to be sober.

    “Excuse me, sir.” He gave me a bland expression. “I was wondering who you were? I don’t get around much.”

    His look didn’t ease up a bit. He may have been pissed at his drunken unit. “We’re the proud and strong New Equestria Republic! Or so you would think,” he said, eyeing a drunk trooper. Yup, definitely pissed. “Most of what we do is get slaughtered and drunk. And we get drunk when others get slaughtered. I’m sure you can tell how that chain works.”

    I decided not to piss him off any more than he already was, which is what my speaking seemed to be doing. i casually walked away as he started rambling on to himself about how much his unit sucked.

    I looked around for Gem, who seemed to already be doing her trading...which was impossible. I thought…

    I checked my Pip-Buck’s sorting spell and, sure enough, she had retrieved all her trading goods from my saddlebags. That clever, clever mare. I smirked and walked over to observe the trade. She seemed to be enjoying herself almost as much as those NER troopers enjoyed being drunk. I chuckled at my own joke, drawing attention to myself from Gem and her customer, who had a deep red coat with a dark green mane.

    “Oh, there you are Star.” She even sounded enthused. “This is my friend, Cherry PieI was just telling her all about what you’ve done for me!” I let my mane droop in front of my face to hide my embarrassment. “Cherry and I have been friends for a long time, since we were little fillies.” Cherry reached out and offered me a hoofshake, which I accepted. She had a stronger grip than Calamity…

* * *

    I rented a hotel room at one of the casinos, the Tops. It cost us 1000 caps, but a penthouse floor suite was totally worth it.

    We stepped into the suite, which was an extremely large room with a living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms (each with its own luxurious bath and hot tubs), and a balcony. I definitely wasn’t going on the balcony. I rented this room for Gem’s comfort.

    When Gem saw the room, she started bouncing around, jittering excitedly about the prices of everything in the room, the luxuries that were provided for a full week’s stay, and other things that I couldn’t follow. The widest smile spread across my face. Even after the many times I had seen her happy over the last 2 days, this shot off the charts of happiness.

    Gem didn’t want me to be alone, so she insisted that we share her bed. I was hesitant at first, as I didn’t want to invade her privacy, but she just wouldn’t give up. As we lay there in the quiet, she spoke, softly.

    “This was my first time in New Pegasus, Star,” she told me.

    “It was my first time here too.”

    “I’ve always wanted to come here, and it’s been the best time I’ve ever had. Thank you.” Suddenly, she rolled over and kissed me. It was warm, pleasant, and unexpected. Nevertheless, I gave in. I’d been wanting that since I laid eyes on her. We broke the kiss and I pulled her into a warm embrace. We fell asleep just like that.

    Best. Day. Ever.