Author's Note
A/N: Guess who's been playing "Fallout 3" too much~! Since I've been toiling away at the game and trying to complete every mission available (minus most of the DLC, plus Broken Steel DLC...) while leveling up for the second time, I came up with this little brand new piece.
I'm basically putting AJ in place of the Lone Wanderer (player character) role and going by my first playthrough while adding story elements to it along the way. Oh, and rule 63'd it. So it's Fallout/MLP crossover this time. I REGRET NOTHING/EVERYTHING!!!!!
On an unrelated note, I imagine the voice for Eris (Discord r63) to be Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Lucy Todd) in this fic.
So feel free to voice your thoughts/complaints, feedback helps a lot in the long run, so don't be shy! And Thanks for reading!
Unjust Subservience
Emerald eyes narrowed as the armored paladin watched Dusk approach him, an odd looking wastelander accompanying him. She had uneven eyes that shined with a mischievous glint in them, whose hair had white streaks on raven locks. Dressed in what looked like armored lingerie, the tall woman drew closer towards the paladin even as Dusk a few feet from him. He especially took note of the plasma rifle holstered at her back.
'The lady don't mess around' he thought to himself.
"Paladin Applejack! Escort our 'guest' out of Megaton if you please!"'
The young sheriff looked madder than a wet hen, more so than the time Bubble Berry exploded an out house during one of his "little experiments". The woman however, merely put on a fake pout as she regarded the lawman. "Aww, but Dusky dear! I thought we had an understanding here! Think of all the new revenue and trading routes this would open for us! Think of the opportunities! New market means more caps, my dear!~"
Her sing-songy lilt only served to make Dusk Shine even angrier, making him actually shove the promiscuous looking merchant hard at the paladin Applejack, making her face connect with the breast plate of his armor with an uncomfortable grunt.
"Get her out of my sight. NOW!"
The paladin nodded his head as he brought up his weapon of choice and held it firmly in his hands, taking a moment to right the woman up as she shook off the sting in her nose. "Sure thing Dusk. This way, ma'am."
Applejack walked behind the woman as they made their way to the gates of Megaton, the edge of his shotgun never too far off from her back. He never took his eyes off her as they moved, however it didn't go unnoticed from the merchant and she began to purposefully sway her hips with each step she took, tossing an amused grin at him from time to time. Applejack shook his head and just marched on behind her, much to her dismay.
"Ohh, poo! You're no fun either~."
Paladin and merchant stepped through the gate of Megaton and approached the businesswoman's lone caravan. Usually most traveling merchants had at least a hired gun to protect them as they crossed the waste. Looks like this one didn't, which made Applejack just a tad more cautious around her.
Unlike most of the other caravans, her choice beast of burden was a cybernetic bison carting around their wares. Actually, as the paladin drew nearer to her ride, he could see only a single tent roll along with a few other traveling necessities. What made the paladin approach though, was the fact that they had but one single parcel strapped to the beast. It was a cylindrical five foot silo that looked to have been made from various metals that were all soldered together just for this one parcel.
A throaty chuckle made him snap his head around back toward the woman. "Like what you see, my good sir~?"
"What....What exactly is it that you're sellin', ma'am?"
"Ugh, please! No need for formalities, honey. the name's Eris, proprietor of Eris Exports and Industries!"
With a flick of one well manicured left hand Eris produced her "calling card", it being her name and business logo emblazoned across a small switchblade, and expertly threw it towards the blond man.
Applejack rolled his eyes and caught the opened blade between his index finger and thumb, closing it and placing it into a compartment beneath the cuisse of his armor. Eris let out an amused purr while Applejack let out a heavy sigh. She then brought her right hand, which wasn't so well manicured, and drummed her abnormally long claws along her lower red colored lip as she held it between her teeth.
"Good looking AND sharp! Mmm~ I can't tell you how high those qualities are in demand these days. Now I can see why~."
"Ma'am. Uh, Eris. If'n you please, s'bout time you moseyed on out of here now."
With a displeased huff, Eris reached for the reins of her bison. After about three paces however, she stopped and regarded the paladin once again. "Oh, if I may, my good sir...Applejack was it? If you'd permit me to show you my wares, it would ease my troubled mind by a slight degree~."
The paladin deadpanned at her, unmoving in his alert stance and priming his trained fingers around the trigger.
"Thanks but no thanks. Now kindly move. Along."
The woman merely grinned from ear to ear, showing more of her disturbingly white teeth beneath her lips.
"Oh, but I think you'll be very interested in my wares, mister Applejack~. Aren't you the tiniest bit curious as to what made dear old Dusk Shine lose his cool~?"
As loathe as he was to admit it, even in his own mind, the woman had a very good point. His curiosity got the better of him and he raised the barrel of his shotgun up to eye level and gave a brief nod of his head in acknowledgement. "Real quick then, but no funny business, ya hear?!"
Eris chuckled as she releases her hold on the bison's' reins and sauntered over to the fabricated silo that was strapped to the bison's haunches. "It can only be quick, I only brought the one article of goods with me all the way here. Not a journey for the faint of heart, wouldn't you say, hon~?"
Not waiting or a reply from the paladin, Eris punched in the code on a small keypad and unlocked the padlock underneath the pad. The hydraulics of the locks hissed loudly as the top of the silo opened. Eris stepped aside as a cautious Applejack stepped over to inspect the contents within. His green eyes widened at what he saw.
Inside the silo lay a young woman with short bright green hair that was spiked around the bangs and ends. She was wearing a slave collar and looked quite dead. Thin, small and emaciated, she was clad in thin sleepwear as her only means of defense against the unforgiving elements.
In this sweltering weather the poor girl was sweating profusely through the thin material, her small shoulders barely rising as she struggled to breathe. Applejack felt a wave of nausea turn his stomach, angry eyes darting accusingly toward the indifferent merchant.
"You twisted bitch!" he growled out through clenched teeth and aimed his shotgun right at Eris' chest.
"Oh-ho~! You sweet talker you! Even angry, you're too sickeningly sweet on people. But feel free to ogle the merchandise."
Eris then gave a suggestive roll of her hips, bumping a curved hip against the paladins' codpiece. "All~ of the merchandise."
Applejack scrunched up his nose in disgust and gave her a harsh push with his weapon so as to put some space between them and to also get away from her teasing advances, earning another disappointed huff from the chaotic merchant. He then glanced back at the girl inside the silo and his heart sank at the pitiful sight. Weak eyelids parted slightly and for one brief moment, their eyes lock. She then closed them and refocused on trying to breathe.
Suddenly the top of the silo slammed shut with a clawed hand resting over it. Eris stretched and yawned in disinterest as she walked back to the reins. "Ah well~! C'est la vie, non? I'd better get a head start then! It's a long travel back to Paradise Falls~."
Applejack froze as the name of her destination registered in his ears. The woman was a damn slaver!! Never before ha the man wanted to willingly hit a woman so much in his entire life than he did at the very point in time. In a growl laced with vitriol, the paladin muttered two detestable words that made his gut instantly sour: "How much?"
Eris let out an inquisitive purr and scratched the inside of her ear with a tip of a claw, feigning ignorance. "I'm sorry my dear, but care to run that by me again~?"
The only answer she got was the audible clicks of the shotgun being cocked.
"Hmm~ I normally don't do bargains, it's usually others who barter to me~. But just for that amusingly bleeding heart of yours, I'll gladly make exception! For you, my charming knight, it'll be a mere five thousand caps for this little gem!"
Applejack visibly baulked at the price, nearly dropping his shotgun as he regained himself. "F-F-Five thousand?!?!?!"
"Well, this little beauty isn't your run-of-the-mill wasteland slave, my dear~! No, this one was once a test subject from one of the vaults! Turns out that some of them were doing a lot more than just trying to survive down there. Some played around with replication and a few others dabbled in mutation experiments. This little fledgling was a test subject in a gene splicing experiment. Her DNA was merged with that of Deathclaw genes. In short, this little gem is a live and successful specimen! Just waiting to be bought and sold to the highest bidder! Well, she's trying to stay alive anyway. Enduring the harshness of the wastes are certainly not for the faint of hear....wouldn't you agree~?"
Something in the way Eris spoke made the gears in the blond mans' head turn and click slowly into place. In his eyes, she saw a plethora of emotions play across his features. Confusion, worry, anxiety, with anger being the most prominent. A question rose in his eyes, to which she answered easily by visibly waving her own mismatched hands for him to see. She grinned more as he let out a resigned breath, wicked mirth radiating from her eyes.
"MmMM~! That sharp mind of yours is quite the turn-on, my good sir~. You got me going like a honey spout over here~!"
Not acknowledging her amorous words, Applejack reached into the compartment of his cuisse once more and produced a reinforced coin case. With a stern and bitter look in his green eyes Applejack thrust the case towards the surprised merchant.
"There's about sixty-two hundred caps in this here case. Call the rest interest for not showing your face 'round Megaton ever again."
Eris narrowed her eyes as her normal hand curled careful fingers around the offered case, uneven eyes now watching the paladin with a skeptical frown. "Twelve hundred interest? I won't question that but you seriously carry that many caps around the open wastes?"
Now it was Applejacks' turn to grin, stern eyes crinkling at the edges as he slid the case into her hand. "No one's been able to steal it from me so far, miss Eris. Feel free to count it if yer not convinced."
Eris let out a huff at his challenging words and yanked the heavy case out o his hand. As she opened up the case and inspected the currency within, the blond paladin opened up the silo and inspected the girl still inside.
He then wordlessly reached out his arms and as carefully as his mobility would allow, he lifted the girl out of the cylindrical prison and held her in his arms. The paladin then turned around and started making his way back to the gates of Megaton.
"Pleasure doing business with you, my dearest Applejack!" The merchant called out gleefully from over her shoulder. "Should you ever need anything, anything at all, please do give me a call~! The radio frequency's on my card~!"
Applejack let out an uncommitted nod of his head and marched on.
As his frame shrank back up towards Megaton, Eris turned around and closed the silo while running her claws through the bits of metal, grinning triumphantly at her hefty pay and already thinking of ways to spend her caps. As she hummed to herself in victory Eris froze in place as a thought struck her.
'Wait a minute.....I closed the silo myself just a moment ago, felt the locks and hydraulics lock up myself. How the hell-?'
She turned on her heel and examined the padlock and keyhole, only to see that the code had been bypassed and the keyhole had a thin piece of metal stuck inside of it. She brought up her hand and fished out the key from within her breasts, her brow creased in a confuse frown. That combination padlock was state of the art, something she had come across when she scavenged through ruined law firms and police stations.
Eris shook her head and chuckled under her breath, her lips curved in a subdued smile.
"Paladin Applejack, sentry of Megaton......"
Eris put the key back within her cleavage and hoisted herself atop the driver seat of her bison and taking the reins, maneuvered it towards the wastes. She spared a glance from over her shoulder towards Megaton's gate, where the paladin was greeted with an upset Dusk Shine.
The merchant then let out a sharp call while cracking down on the reins of her caravan, signaling the beast to start moving.
"........I think I'm in love."
-End