Fallout: Equestria - Old Grudges

“A gold ingot.” I deadpanned at the projection on the navigation table. “That’s his secret package?”

“Incorrect.” Vanilla answered me with a frown. “What is displayed is a compact magical resonator that emits a highly unique magical signature.”

“Oh, I’ve seen one of these before!” Pai cheerfully chimed up as she fuzzed into view on the table beside the object. “Back in the Orchard I came in, we had one that looked just liked this!”

“Past being gold and ingot shaped, what is it?” Bluejay asked, leaning in and getting a good look at the projection.

“It is a key.” Vanilla answered her promptly. PAI on the the hoof nodded franticly and bounced around on her hooves. “One of seven in fact, designed to open a specific door.” Pausing, she looked over at me. “Eighth Note is convinced that this door must not be opened under any circumstances by the wrong ponies.” It felt less like she was talking to the others when she did, and it gave me a bad feeling about all this. “He is correct in this assumption.”

“Thought that looked a mite familiar!” With a metallic clang, a gold colored ingot flipped onto the table from higher on the bridge. Wing Nut fluttered his way to the table with a smile. “Yah know, ah always had a feelin mah mom gave me this fer a reason.” He puffed up his chest, staring out into the cloudy skies outside the bridge windows. “Said it belonged ta mah grandmotha, and that ah ain’t nevah supposed ta take mah eyes offa it.” Filled with a look of pride he looked back down to the table, only to find it missing. “Now y’all wait justa sec here!”

“I think I’ve seen one of these in a memory orb…” PC spoke as she twirled the golden object in her magic. As quickly as could be, Wingnut used his wing to snatch the bar back. “Didn’t mention anything about a door or whatever.” She shrugged.

Something still didn’t make sense to me. “Why the hell didn’t Eighth just tell us this in the first place?” I mean, I can’t excuse a lot about what’s gone down during this little excursion, but a few of those can be forgiven if this is about some pre-war bullshit. I’ve seen what happens to settlements when a raider finds a balefire egg launcher. If this key is so important to keep all of the Los Pegasus ruins safe, then yeah, I can excuse a few inconveniences.

Vanilla frowned deeper this time. “Had others been allowed to know this information, there would be a sizeable demand for all known pieces.” She turned and looked over to WIngnut. “It would have only been a matter of time before those who murdered Swift found out about anypony rumored to be connected to them.”

Wingnut took a step back with a nervous smile across his muzzle. “Well now, tain’t that serious, is it?” Holding the bar up in his wing again, he shiftily looked between it and Vanilla. “It’s just a trinket. How could anypony know Ah’d even have it?”

“The ponies who killed Swift knew she had it.” I spoke up and rubbed at my chin. “If they knew she did, chances are they already know you have it.” Looking over at Wingnut, I was greeted by an even wider nervous smile than before. “I’d keep it on you at all times to make sure it’s safe.”

The image of the bar on the table flickered away, and was replaced by the odd symbol we’d started seeing around. Now that I have a better look at it, it did look like a pair of wings with a sun behind it. I was about to ask why this had been brought up when Vanilla answered that question for me.

“Along with the keys, Eighth Note has given me the rest of the ‘Black Sun’ files.” Vanilla spoke up, drawing everypony’s undivided attention to the table. “While not much is known, they are believed to be remnants of an ex-Enclave force sealed below the clouds during the battle of Baltimare nearly five decades ago” As she spoke, she displayed a few images on the table. Several of them looked like pegasi wearing odd military uniforms walking through a town. “Not much about them is known. Only that they show up in a settlement, and shortly after,” The images of pegasi walking through the town changed. It was the same perspective, but the town had been burned to the ground, and the smoldering carcases of ponies lay twisted in the street. “They wipe that town out.”

“Why would they do that…?” Skeleton Key gasped from the stairs. We all turned to her, watching as her wide eyes faltered at the images.

“Skeleton, you shouldn’t be here.” Bluejay sighed and trotted over to her. She used her magic to lift the small filly back up the bridge and over to the doorway. “You should go play with Matrix some more, I’ll come see you when we’re done here, okay?” The little filly nodded and sadly walked out of the doorway, while Bluejay trotted back. “If this had to do with the battle at Baltimare, why didn’t Storm tell anypony to look out for these ponies?”

“She did.” As Vanilla spoke, the pictures flickered away and were once again replaced with the symbol for these so called ‘Black Sun’ ponies. “She was the one who proposed finding the keys to Master Eighth Note. She was also the one to request to keep it a secret, as to not make Master Eighth any more of a target than he already was.”

“Grams always had that effect on ponies...” PC mumbled. As Bluejay walked back to her side of the table, she nudged PC with her shoulder and gave her a short glare. “What? All I’m saying is she made a lot of enemies that loved to go after those she knew.”

“If I had been informed that Storm had in fact been the one to set this up, I’d have been on board right away.” She sighed and sat down hard back where she’d been next to me. Looking over at her, I’d hoped that it would have been partially because I had asked her to join that she did, even if she wasn’t presented all the facts that she has now. Who am I kidding? If I hadn’t tried to save Skeleton Key, she wouldn’t have cared what I’d had said that day. She wasn’t doing this for me at all.

“Master Eighth trusts few ponies enough to hire them. Even fewer with information such as you have been provided.” Vanilla’s normal warm smile returned. “Now, are there any more questions you all may have?”

“You never answered her question.” PC grunted.

“Excuse me?” Vanilla turned and canted her head. “What question are you speaking of?”

“Why are they torching towns?” PC spoke up, sitting down as well. “There has to be some reason, more than we’re seeing.”

“Could just be to keep a low profile?” Bluejay offered. “Make ponies think it’s just raiders or some random gang?”

“Then why leave the symbols?” I replied. Skeleton Key was onto something with the question of why. It did feel more than just random. Turning to Vanilla, I wanted her to clarify something again. “You said they stripped the towns bare?” She nodded. “Why?”

PC clopped her hooves slowly. “That’s the million cap question.”

“Unknown.” Vanilla answered. “However, that might be a good question to bring up to the Mayor of Nether.” Funny enough, when she said that, her smile felt like it changed to me. From her normal happiness, to more of a haunting one. Maybe it was because of what Eighth had asked us to do up there if it came down to it. Vanilla for as long as I’ve known her, has yet to take a life. To date, she’s only incapacitated every single pony who’d tried to kill her. So I could see how this request might make her uncomfortable. “That will be all for the briefing.”

“Hey, Vanilla. Hold up a sec.” I said, stepping around the table to Vanilla. While the others filed out, I watched as Vanilla simply sat and waited for me to say something. Once the others had gotten most of the way across the bridge, I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Why wouldn’t Eighth tell me any of this before we left? I thought he trusted me enough for this.”

“He does, Sawyer.” Vanilla put her hoof on my shoulder and gave it a pat. “However, had Master Eighth told you this were more than a simple retrieval mission, even though you now know the stakes,” Shifting her expression to one of sincere doubt, she still wore that same smile she always did. “would you have still accepted it? I think not.”

“Damn straight I wouldn’t.” I sighed and nodded. “But Vanilla?” Looking back up at her, I reached up and patted her on the shoulder as well. “Thanks for being honest.”

“Anytime, Sawyer.” She nodded and got to her hooves. “However, you should return to our cabin. I believe that we shall be taking off shortly.”

Turning around, she started out of the navigation section and up into the higher sections of the bridge. Getting to my own hooves, I followed after her slowly. Eighth having known about all this but not telling us, just didn’t sit right with me. I knew he had eyes all over the place for these kinds of things, but I’ve always been alright with it. It was more than that, like I should have known that he was hiding more than he’d said, or if he still is hiding more information. Really when I got down to it, I didn’t care about him hiding more general information about the ‘Black Sun’. What I do worry he’s hid from me however, was just what in the hell they’ve been doing poking around Stable 13…

With my rumbling stomach pushing back the qualms and queries about my life long ago for the moment, I figured I’d find something to eat in the mess hall for now. Everypony else had seemed to scatter after the briefing, but Bluejay I know went to talk with Skeleton Key. I wanted nothing more than to stop by right now and talk to her about Stable 13, but I knew that I should at least wait until she had some time to explain things to Skeleton.

Pushing open the door to the mess hall with my magic, I perked my ears as I overheard a bit of conversation that was already going on inside.

“So that’s why I’m your great aunty!” It was PAI, speaking as cheerfully as ever. Gingerly stepping inside the hall and shutting the door behind me, I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation.

“So, you’re the same AI that knew my grandmother.” PC grumbled. “Figures.”

“Hay,” Caltrop spoke up sharply. “She ain’t an AI, she’s an AP. There’s a difference.”

“He’s right, you know!” PAI said excitedly before gasping. “If you’re her granddaughter, can you shoot blue flames out of your hooves like she could!?” That bit broke my brain a little. I’d heard of unicorns using flame spells, but out of their hooves?

“No.” PC spoke with such aggravation that I could practically feel the animosity that filled her words over from where I stood. “That’s what killed her in the end anyway, so could we please just drop the whole subject?” Maybe I should just spend my time waiting for Bluejay in my own cabin for now… “Besides, I’ve had enough calls to follow in her hoofsteps from Bluejay over the years, I don’t need more from you.”

“How do you know her?” I spoke up without even thinking. It was about right then when the whole room fell into a deathly silence as PC turned her annoyed glare over to me. Quick, speak up you idiot! “I mean, Bluejay, of course. I knew her back in the stable before it was raided, but when it was opened and we left, I didn’t see her again until the start of this whole mess.” My words seemed to let PC relax a little bit. Not completely, just to the point of where it didn’t feel like she was a wire bound so tight she could snap and cut us in half at a moment’s notice. “I’m just curious if she’s been the same mare I knew so long ago, is all.”

“Look, kid...” PC grunted. I could see that she wasn’t going to enjoy this whole exchange, so I decided that maybe the glare was worth it after all if I could get some well deserved answers from her.

“My name is not ‘kid’, it’s Sawyer.” I replied sharply. “And not only are we about the same fucking age, I have to remind you that we’re both on the same damn side, and it’s my employer who is paying you. So you can drop the fucking attitude while we talk about a mutual friend whom I haven’t had the chance to see for years. Or is that not okay with you?”

Again, the air fell into an uneasy silence. However, this time PC broke it first with a chuckle. Turning to her husband, she pointed her forehoof at me.

“See, why can’t you just grow some balls like him?” Her muzzle pulled into a genuine smile as Caltrop gave a shrug and a nod. “Seriously, hun, I love you, but you should really be taking notes on how to be a stallion.”

Again, I was confused. “What?”

“Nothing.” PC sighed as she walked over to the dining table and sat down. “If you want to know what Bluejay was like over the years, sit. If not, get the fuck out and stop wasting my time.” Her magic wrapped around an already open box of Sugar Apple Bombs and pulled it over to her. As she made herself comfortable, she gave me an expectant look.

“Alright then.” I sighed, making my way over to the table. She seems civil for the moment. Maybe I’ll actually be able to get some information out of her for once. “Let’s start with what she’s been up to all these years.” I said as I sat down at the table.

“Well, when I met Bluejay, she and I were just finding out exactly who we were in life.” PC nodded down to the cutie mark that sat just above the metal bits that connected her flesh to her cybernetic leg. “One year, Storm, my grandmother, came back from a trip across the wasteland. A trip that wasn’t really out of place for her to do all the time. But when she returned that winter, she had Bluejay in tow. Told my mother that Blue would stay with us for a while before one of her friend’s took her in.” PC shrugged and levitated a clump of cereal into her muzzle and noisily crunched down on it. “Every once in awhile I’d see her again, either with my grandmother or out on the easy jobs.”

“So, she didn’t stay with you then?” I wasn’t really sure what I had expected to hear. That she’d been taken in and given the loving family I never had? Or that she’d had to rough it for as many years as I have in servitude? “What do you mean you saw her on jobs?”

“Bounty Hunting.” She replied as she shoved more cereal into her muzzle. Bounty Hunting? From somepony who seems so against making a profit on going after ponies, it was something I really couldn’t see Bluejay doing. “You know, it’s not uncommon to end up taking the same contract as another hunter. And a few times we’d even worked together on a few jobs that were too big for one mare to complete, even if she disagreed with my methods.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, nearly being interrupted by my grumbling stomach. Using my own magic, I grabbed a lump of the nearly two century old breakfast food and brought it over to my muzzle. The old food wasn’t as good as the normal cooking around here, but the sugary taste did a lot to quiet my stomach in a hurry.

“Well, when somepony is specified either dead or alive, I always just shoot the fucker and cut off their cutie mark as proof.” She spoke so relaxed and promptly that my train of thought derailed so hard I spit the cereal in my muzzle out onto the table.

“So, you just kill everypony you’re sent after?” I understand that sometimes that might be necessary, but not always! Maybe it was just the way they did things over on the east coast, but that sounds positively barbaric.

“Well,” Caltrop spoke up from behind me. “Dat’s what she used ta do. See, like Bluejay, PC changed over the years. Became a mare worth fightin’ for in my case.” Without even the slightest hint of respecting my personal space, he sat down on the bench next to me and slid himself right up against my side. “And see, here’s the thing. I know what yah really askin’ her about Bluejay for.” A wide smirk pulled across his muzzle that mixed with his words, genuinely confused me. “Yah interested in her, aren’t yah?”

“I’m… not sure what you mean?” I spoke up slowly, trying to get him to at least point me to wherever the fuck he was going with this.

“What my Dolt of a husband means to say,” PC spoke up again mid shovel of another clump of cereal into her muzzle. “is that if you want to reignite that old flame you thought the two of you had…” She paused and swallowed what she had in her muzzle. “Just go and fucking talk to her instead of wasting my time?”

“Yeah, dat’s it.” Caltrop nodded as he smirked again. “Though, I woulda used kinder words.” His addition only made PC roll her eyes and stick her muzzle back into the cereal box with a grunt.

“That’s… kind of you and all, but I’m not that kind of interested in Bluejay.” I offered as I pulled myself away from Caltrop’s encroachment. Annoyingly though, he had struck a chord with that idea. I’d been so enraptured with her return in the first place, that I’d been afraid of asking the wrong question and having her leave again. It’s not that I want to be with her, just that I don’t want to destroy the friendship I could have with the only mare I knew really understood what it meant to be, well, me.

“She’s probably done talking with that filly by now.” PC muttered through the box around her muzzle. Pointing to the door, she eyed at me expectantly again. “Why don’t you go talk with her?”

“Maybe I will.” I grunted and looked over to the door. Before I turned to go, I looked back over to the aggravated unicorn. “Before I go however,” I spoke, feeling an odd itch in the back of my mind. “What did PAI mean when she said your grandmother could shoot flames out of her hoof?”

“I can tell yah all about dat!” Caltrop exclaimed louder than anypony had any right to at that question. What came next could only be described as an actual animalistic growl from PC that shot a momentary look across Caltrop’s muzzle. “Ah, how about later then?” With a nervous smile, he turned back toward PC and fell quiet.

Not really sure what just happened, and honestly not really caring, I turned and headed for the door. Okay, Sawyer, it’s just a little time to catch up on what Bluejay’s been up to all these years. Don’t know why I didn’t do it before, seeing as we’ve been on this trip for so long already I’ve had all the free time to ask.

As I stepped up to the door and gave it a yank to open it, the thought crossed my mind that maybe my hesitation had something to do with all the little butterflies roaming around in my stomach. Were they from being in a giant boat way above the ground? Maybe they were from the fact that this whole mystery thing had something to do with seeing things from the past pop back up again. And maybe, it was just the fact that two hundred old sugar caked cereal doesn’t sit will in my stomach…

Overall, the one thing it couldn’t be from, was from the fact that Bluejay was the only mare I’d even had any long term interest for in what… decades? Nah, Caltrop just didn’t have all the facts about me and her and jumped to a conclusion. Nodding to myself, I stepped out the door and into the stairwell. If there was one thing I could say for absolute certain, it was that Caltrop couldn’t be more wrong about his insinuation.

“I mean, could you even imagine…” I muttered under my breath as I shut my cabin door behind me. For some reason, the idea about why I wanted to talk to Bluejay ran through my head again and again. Much like repeating a word over and over, it seemed less and less like ‘just to chat about home’ was actually what I wanted in the first place. Looking around, I found that Vanilla was absent from the room, and that I had the cabin alone to myself. With a sigh, I slumped back against the door and closed my eyes. “What am I doing anymore.”

How hard was it to just, knock on her door and say ‘hey, do you mind dragging up two decades old horrors of our past that we shared?’. Yeah, because that will go oh so well. Facehoofing and grinding my forehoof under my horn, I was really starting o crave a nice bottle of whiskey or scotch to get lost in tonight.

A pair of loud knocks shook the door, and I nearly jumped across the cabin in fright. I say nearly because halfway across, my rear hoof hooked on the bed and slammed me down onto it with a squeak. Of course, being a spring filled mattress, I bounced off and flopped onto the floor with a groan.

“Sawyer?” It was Bluejay on the other side of the door. “Everything alright in there?”

“Yeah.” I groaned, picking myself back up. “You can come in if you’d like.” Well, like it or not, this was the best time to chat with her about home.

Opening the door, she peeked her head through, the door actually pulling back on her white striped mane and pulling it away from her sad looking blue eyes. As sad as they looked, across her muzzle was the most genuine smile I’d seen on her since I met her.

“Hey.” She said as she walked in and closed the door behind her. “I know that Vanilla’s got you going around and making friends, but I’d hoped we’d have a moment to talk a bit if you don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine.” I sighed and flopped back onto my bed. This time, with one hundred percent less bouncing off it! “I actually wanted to talk with you about something as well.”

“Well, I just thought that we could hang out a bit. And I kinda wanted your opinion on something.” Bluejay nervously offered, shifting uneasily on her hooves. “I know we shared a cabin until PC was here, but to be honest…” She paused and looked like she was debating how to phrase things in her mind. “Well, you were kind of glued to your bed those days, and I was still too focused on what lay ahead to have time to relax.”

“Well, we’ve got time now.” Shifting myself on my bed, I did my best to get comfortable. Pointing over to Caltrop’s bed, I offered her a seat. “What did you want my opinion on?” And please don’t prove the asshole right by asking if I like you, Bluejay…

“It’s… about the job.” She sighed as she trotted over and pretty much threw herself onto my bed with me. I did my best to scootch myself out of the way, but she pressed against me as she fought to get comfortable. In the end, the two of us lay on our backs just looking up at the ceiling. “Pretty much, now that we know a lot more about it, we have different opinions than when we started, but I wanted to know what you thought about it.”

I shook my head. “My opinion hasn’t changed. This job was crazy from the start, and it’s just getting more outrageously ridiculous by the day.” Staring up at the ceiling, I wondered what the real reason was that Eighth Note had for sending me on this job. “With the way that everything is shaping up, I’d be surprised this wasn’t already the story of some pre-war mystery novel.”

That brought a giggle out of Bluejay’s muzzle. “Heh. Though, if it were a story like that, I’d think you’d be the one who wrote it.”

“What?” That was an… odd suggestion. “Why me?”

“Oh come on.” She nudged me with her forehoof. “You remember all those old stories you wrote back in the stable. You were always writing back then.” I watched as her smile faded with that. It was then that I knew she had the same thoughts in her mind about going home as I did. “I remember that’s how we’d become friends.”

“Yeah.” I nodded and sighed, simply staring back at the ceiling.

“Well, I’d say that’s enough reminiscing about home for one day.” With a heavy sigh, Bluejay shifted on the bed and rolled off it. “You know, seeing your stories? They were the highlight of my week back then. Especially the stories I knew you wrote because you were inspired by me.” As she stood back up on the floor, I watched as her sad eyes were once again hidden behind the warm smile she wore. “I don’t know if you’ve kept up with it as much as you say over the years, but I wanted you to have something to remember today by.”

A glow of magic enveloped her horn, and out of her saddlebags she drew a cloth covered notebook. The navy blue cloth had most likely at one point been the same blue as my coat, but had become dulled and worn with time. The hoof stitching along it’s spine, and the carefully embroidered cutie mark that matched the one on my flank sat proudly emblazoned across the cover.

“Thank you…” I spoke, not even capable of finding the words to properly express myself. I was just so awestruck at the gift that my brain just seemed to stop working at all. “I have… no words.”

“Take care of it.” Bluejay nodded softly. “There’s a note inside the cover for you.” Looking back toward the door she nodded to it. “I… think I’m actually going to lay down for a while. All this recent job activity has kinda worn me out mentally, and I think I could use some rest.”

“Bluejay, wait.” I said, setting the Notebook down on my bed before scrambling to climb off of it. I must have looked like a madpony doing so, because Bluejay seemed a bit startled by it. Stepping up to her, I nearly leapt at her, wrapping my forehooves around her tightly in a hug. “Thank you. For still being my friend, even after all these years.”

“Yeah.” She nodded and hugged me back. “Just, do me a favor, will you?” She said as she pulled back from the hug and opened the door with her magic. “Make the hero of your next story a badass mare. I’ve missed those kinds of stories out in the wastes, and I’d love to see them back in my life again.”

“I know just the mare to base her off of.” I replied with a smile. Turning around, I walked back to the bed and grabbed the notebook in my fetlock. “Oh, and…” As I turned around again, the door shut with a click, and she was gone.

In that moment, I felt an oddness to the silence that fell about the room now. It was a lonely sort of quiet. It had always been here really, but part of me felt like it was just a little less creepy when Bluejay was here with me. Still, that’s probably just a trick my mind was playing on itself because Caltrop’s insinuation was still fresh in my mind. Shrugging, I sat down on the end of my bed and pulled the notebook up in my magic. Opening it, I read the small note tucked inside the cover.

Dear Sawyer,

Did you think I’d forget my best friend’s birthday? Infrasound helped me make this for you. Turns out she’s really good at this sort of thing! She old me that she’d had to do repairs on old books she’s read every now and then and picked up a few skills along the way. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! You were always happiest when you were writing and so was I. Many of your stories helped inspire me to be the mare I am today. I know a lot has changed since Stable 13, but I know that the old you is still somewhere in there. Please, just let him free.

Your best friend,
Bluejay.

P.S. Don’t forget to thank Infrasound. She put a lot of hard work into this!

I couldn’t help it as both a smile pulled across my muzzle, and tears filled my eyes. It had been so long since anypony had given me anything for my birthday, let alone remembered it. Hell, I hadn’t even checked the notes section on my pipbuck for it for goddess knows how long. And even after all this time, she still went out of her way to do this for me.

Filled with determination, I used my magic to rummage around in my saddlebags until I found what I was looking for. Floating my old quill and ink jar out, I decided that it had been long enough since I’d actually written anything for anypony. I had so many ideas running through my head at that moment for what to write, that I nearly forgot to make a mental note to thank Infrasound later tonight at dinner.

However, for now? I had quite a bit of writing to do…

--Chapter End--

“It’s the simple things that make it all worth it.”

Quests Finished: none

Quests Started: A Story Worth Telling

Levels Earned:none

Perks Earned:none