Fallout: Equestria - Crystal Lane

The roads are the dustiest, The winds are the gustiest, The gates are the rustiest, The pies are the crustiest, The songs the lustiest, The friends the trustiest, Way back home (Back home)

… I shit you not! Two ponies have left one of the old Stables down south! I thought those things were supposed to have been abandoned a long time ago? In case you’re just tuning into Van and Colt radio, let me repeat myself for your waiting ears. I’ve received reports that a radio station down south, and I mean more south than the Unicorn Range, has reported that two ponies have left Stable 2, the Stable built just outside Ponyville. You know? The town of harmony and all that jazz? Apparently it ain’t as harmonious as it used to be. In unrelated, but more useful to you guys and gals, news, bandit activity on the Pronto-Salt Lick road has seemed to have stepped up, so if you’re on your way to the Statues of Harmony I’d recommend getting an escort or a really good aim with your weapons as they love that area! Eventually the Blue Devil is gonna fall folks, and when she does, our devotions to the Mares won’t be worth shit! Of course the other roads in the East aren’t all sunshine and happiness but at least you’ve got those Steel Rangers between Québuck and Maretreal to scare those raiders away. Now, here’s Binkie Sintrasia’s famous cover of Sad Moon to change the mood!

I listened to the radio broadcast as Clear talked to the barkeep here at Pronto Drinks and Eats. It was as clean as everything else in this town, which was not at all. Clear was getting information on the town and especially on Mare’s Den. It was strange to look at myself with a disguise on while not at home. I was a green, Unicorn mare with a plain, black mane and tail and a cutie mark of a pink heart with a Crystal Rifle overlaid on top. I had Cadenza Lite on a holster on my hip whilst my Crystal Rifle was strapped to my back. My other weapons were in my saddle bags along with my other provisions and I kept an eye on them just in case anypony got any funny ideas.

Yesterday, we had arrived here in Pronto. The look of the land as we left Crystal Lane's protective embrace was... shocking to say the least. Seeing land so desolate and so wild was jarring at first. The land was rough and the ponies seemed even rougher, especially since Pronto seemed so militarily focused. Nothing like the friendliness and purveying sense of love in Crystal Lane could ever survive here. I felt a sort of pity for these poor ponies. So far from the light of our home and so primitive. I could see why the Goddess would want to bring them all under her protection. These ponies suffered without her love.

We’re back here at Van and Colt Radio, and I’m your DJ, DJ Van! Your gal-pal when things go mal! Here’s a PSA for you Ghoul haters, remember that Ghouls are ponies too, and they just have a severe case of radiation poisoning and don’t have the luck to die naturally. One important caveat though, those feral ghouls out there about to munch on your sweet flesh? They are basically zomponies and you are encouraged to put a bullet through their skulls and end their misery. Finally, here’s some information that’ll be of use to all of ya. There’s a new book that’s sweeping into Salt Lick and Coltland stores called the Wasteland Survival Guide. It has all sorts of great information on survival here in the wasteland. Authored by some mare named Ditzy Doo, I’d suggest everypony get their hooves on this book because it’s quite a nice read, although I’d avoid the ramblings about the creatures and such, they seem more like filler. Now, back to the music!

As the music restarted, Clear turned to me and said, “Well, it seems like Mare’s Den is on the other side of town. Apparently Pronto is the number one town for ammo so I’d suggest we use those caps that the Goddess gave us on some ammo and possibly some automatic or semi-automatic rifles as well, at least for your use.”

With a few days between now and when we’d need to meet the Goddess’s source, it made sense to use this time to stock up on ammo and one could never have too many medical supplies. When I voiced my suggestion she agreed that medical supplies were also a good idea. Thankfully she had also asked the barkeep about the locations of the stores and other important places in town so we knew exactly where to go.

The store I went to was Pronto Arms where I spent a fair amount of caps (seriously caps are a strange thing to use; just imagine the inflation that they’d go through whenever somepony raids a Sparkle-Cola factory) on ammunition for my .44 magnum Cadenza Lite, our 10mm pistols, Clear’s .357 Daring-Air, the 556mm Assault Rifle I bought, and rounds for my new sniper rifle. I also bought a few grenades, a mine, and a new saddlebag for the new provisions.

Meanwhile, Clear had gone to On the Pronto, the general store and clinic that stood next to the bar. She spent most of her caps on medical bandages and a few restoration potions and some rather unusual items as well. “What are these things, Clear?” I asked when I saw a bottle of tablets, a box of some sort with a smiling Zebra, and two needles among her purchases.

“Some special items I managed to get the pony at that store to sell to me,” she answered before telling me about the items. I wasn’t sold by her explanations of any of those chems, even if Dash and Rage could increase my combat abilities, nor Buck my endurance, even those Mint-als seemed like too much of a risk, but I had to admit that there could come a time where we’d be in need of their effects so I allowed her to keep them. It had reminded me of when I heard some of my fellow Crystal Swords back in the academy talk about some drug called Stampede that was apparently stored in some secret compartment just in case a major invasion of Crystal Lane were to take place, I really hoped that the day that these things would be needed would never come.

Later on, we were able to rent a room at the local hotel and Clear and I were finally able to relax.

Hello, my little ponies! This is DJ Van at Van and Colt Radio, and I’m here to tell you the news of the wasteland! Here’s an interesting piece of news for my faithful listeners with a curiosity for the news beyond the Unicorn Range, it seems like one of those ponies that escaped Stable 2 has picked her side and become a hero! I’m receiving reports that she destroyed the raider settlement that had taken over Ponyville and rescued many captured ponies there, including Ms. Survival Guide herself, Ditzy Doo! In more useful news, I’ve received reports that a train has come south from the North, past the Crystal mountains! That train carried more than just the caps and trading supplies of that mysterious settlement Crystal Lane, but it also carried two ponies who were definitely not traders. They seem to have stopped in Pronto, but only the Mares of Harmony know what their plans are. If any of them are listening to this, come on down to Van and Colt, the giant tower on the road between Vanhoof and Coltland! Now, here are some sweet tunes by Genie Kenneigh, telling us about some good folks way back home!

I saw a notification on my Pipbuck about a map update so I switched to the map and I saw a new icon to the west of Pronto and the lake. It was definitely an interesting idea to think of, but we had a mission to complete. It was strange to hear our presence down south being announced though, we had only just come here yesterday and already everypony would know that two Crystal Lane ponies were down south. I turned to Clear, who was drinking some whiskey that the barkeep gave her, and I asked, “Well, if we’re ever in that area then we’d definitely have to visit, right?”

Clear rolled her eyes and said, “Sure, just as soon as we figure out where we need to go then we’ll see if it’s on the way or something.”

“Come on, it’d be interesting, Clear,” I said half-hoping that she’d agree. I was mostly doing it to annoy her at this point.

“No, just come on. Recon now, Radio talk later,” she replied prior to getting off of her seat.

I sighed and followed her out of the bar. I was hoping that the breakfast of Tatos would stay in my stomach but you’d never know out here. It was a risk eating here, spending caps that could possibly be of more use in other places, but we didn’t want to use all of our food rations before we set out to wherever the origin of the Alicorns was. “Where are we going again?” I asked.

“We’re going over near Mare’s Den; we’re gonna recon the area prior to meeting her highness’s source. I’d like to know the layout of the area before we meet up with this source. Do you remember those radio plays that used to play on the radio back home? This type of meet-up usually ends up badly on them, and you never know what to expect here,” she answered.

“Oh fine then,” I said before following her in.

Quest completed: Into the Wasteland
Level up!
Perk Gained: SPECIAL Increase: Strength increases to 5
Inventory Update:
Assault Rifle: Former Standard weapon of the Equestrian Armed Forces.
Sniper Rifle: Long range markspony weapon useful for far off targets.
Ammunition: Rounds for every weapon.
Frag Grenades: Terrific for clearing multiple target.
Frag Mine: Useful for blowing the legs off of a pony without even firing a shot.
Medium Saddlebag: Increases carrying capacity.