Fallout Equestria: Otherlands

Fallout Equestria: Otherlands

Chapter 6

Safe Haven

So things are going great, juuuuust great. Five guards have already tried to shoot me, not surpising. Everyone has given me the evil eyes and a few ponies have even thrown things at me. One threw a wrench at me while screaming something about mutants and me being somesort of hellhound. I couldn't waste the oppurtinity though, so I pickied up his wrench looked at him and said." If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball." I don't think I've ever seen anyone run that fast in my life.

But now we are still trying to find Absolutly Everything. Some general store of somesorts. Double Barrel leads me to...well look at that. It's the fucking store. It's about bloody time." Come on, in here." She waves me in. I'm a bit hesiant actually. What withy everyone already trying to kill me and all I'm expecting someone to blow me away as soon as I walkn through a door.

" Uhh you sure? Like yes this is the shop as far as I'm conscinered and all but how will the shopkeep react to me? Probaly with a bat or somekind of gun."

" Oh relax Booker. Trust me when I say this. Ditzy isn't the violent type, she may be causious at first but not violent." I let out a sigh and walk in. Okay so this is defiantly a store. Lots of stock line the walls and a large faded chalkboard that reads,'Yes I do deliveries! No hooves, nasty stingers? No service. Ask me about special orders! I won't answer, but I'll get right on it! Wasteland Survival Guide! Available now! First copy for every family is free!' okay intresting sign.

Double Barrel knocks on the counter with her hoof a few times to signal for the shopkeep to walk out. What walks out from a back room is...really surprising to say the least. A pony...with no fur just skin covering it. It has stubs sticking out of its back, bones maybe? No mane but a few strains. It...looks like a she but I don't know for sure. It looks at me with, I dunno a strange look. Double Barrel clears herb throat." I'm back Ditzy. It's been a long time since I've seen you. And don't mind the strange creature. He's mostly bark if anything. Go ahead and say Hi."

" Uh, Hi. I'm Booker. Pleased to meet you, uh Ditzy correct?" I give an open palmed wave to her. Instead of freaking out or actually attempting to hit or throw stuff at me, she gives me a slight wave with a decaed hoof. I'm expecting a respones by now but the shopkeep Ditzy starts to write something down on some on some paper. She slides the piece of paper to Double Barrel and she reads it outloud.

" Welcome back Double Barrel, it's been to long. Your strange firend seems extremly odd but he seems nice enough. Just keep him out of trouble and we'll have no problem here. Feel free to look around and let me know if you're looking for something spesific." Double Barrel smiles, still the yellow tooth grin but she seems happier at least.

" Glad to see you've missed me Ditzy. Me and my, err aquantance here are just looking to trabe some items for some quick caps." She starts to unload a bunch, and I literally mean a bunch of random ass shit, to sell. I start to look at a few guns that are behind the counter. All look like shit compared to an actual gun store but I'm guessing they get the job done. I spot something hung up, the other bow piece, just chilling with a price tag of 50 caps.

" Well what luck. Hey Double Barrel I found a second bow part." She looks up from her dealing at me.

" Really? That's...strangely convenient. Does it have some sort price on it?"

" Yeah. 50 caps. That's some really strange luck right there." Double Barrel nods and continues talking with Ditzy. She looks at the stuff I piled in.

" You had a pistol with the whole? Yet you still used that piece of shit bow of yours?" Pistol? When did I have a pistol? I see that strange shapped thing I picked up at the enterence to the outside. That's a pistol??

" That is gun? Like for real? The looks awkward as all hell to shoot." I walk back over and look at it. Yeah now looking at it in better light, it's definantly a gun. Welp it looks too small for me to hold in my hands, based on the grip for the mouth alone." Ehh sell it anyway. Would be too small for me to properly shoot it. I'm more interested in the bow part. With that it would make much more powerful."

" 50 caps for a piece of wood and some string? How would that make your bow better?"

" Well actually its a polished pressed hard wood with a thick wax coat over it. The string is also coated with wax to prevent it from fraying. With both pieces I would be able to costruct a proper bow rather than this pile of sticks. It will make the bow more powerful." Either I forced Double Barrel's brain to reset but she looks dumbfounded.

" Ok I'm gonna pretend I understood any of that. Ugh fine, Ditzy how much can you drop on that stick my 'friend' wants." Ditzy begins to write down something for us. Double Barrel reads it outloud.

"' Your friend seems nice despite being strange in apperance. I tell you what, I'll cut the price down to 20 caps and it's him. Sound alright? And feel free to use that workbench over on the back wall.'" 20 caps for the bow piece, that is a steal.

" Ok do you have the money, Booker?" She actually smirks at me! That bitch steals my money then asks me for money, that I don't have! Fuck! Hmm, wonder how much I can get out of my piece of shit bow and that pistol. I begin the procces of talking with the mute corpse of a mare but it seems that I have a little more than 20 caps, about 40 caps now. I know Double Barrel will probaly steal the money later. I make my purches and slide the pile of caps left over to Double Barrel. She genually looked surpised.

" Why are you giving them to me?"

" Becuse I know you'll steal them from me tonight." She grins the swipes the caps from the counter.

" I'll give you that you are a quick learner! Now go put your stupid bow together while I talk with Ditzy." I nod and head over to the workbench. Its not what I had back in Denver but its a start. There seems to be a port like on that computer at the farm for my Pip-buck. I plug in my Pip-buck and I am met with a list of blueprints! Buildable guns, ammo, explosives, melee weapons, and bows. Crafting is easier than it seems but I think my Pip-buck may be helping with creation.

I notice that there is a blueprint called 'Soda Bottle Bomb'. A simple makeshift explosive handgrenades. Hmm I could use these if needed. I finish up my new proper bow, a wooden Recurve Bow, awesome. The Soda Bottle Bomb is a simple craft, hell I could craft this out in the feild if I need. A combination of a soda bottle, nails, a rag, and the explosive poperties of the Abraxo and the household cleaner. IED hand grenade, nice. I download that blueprint onto my Pip-buck. I step back band examine my new bow. Almost like magic my arrows have been replaced with steel tipped arrows instead of bone, as well as my shitty quiver too. Not gonna question it, just accept it.

" Done now?" Double Barrel has collected whatever she bought. She seems ready and eager to leave. I am too. We say goodbye to Ditzy, the rotten pony waving back with a wall eyed smile. Seems nice enough but, what is she exactly? She can't be a ghoul can she? If so I'm stabbing myself with a fork. We leave Ditzy's shop and now are standing next to the building." So now what?" Its already getting darker outside and most of the shops are starting to close up.

" I figure we can go to the inn and rent a room. Then tomorrow I leave back for Ponyville."

" Ah I see. But can you answer something for me? What is Ditzy and how do you know her?"

" Well Ditzy is an example of of what radiation exposer can do to a pony. She's a ghoul, though probably the friendlist ghoul you'll ever meet. As for how I know her, I've done biusness with her in the past. Hey wait, why the hell am I answering your questions when I could get some answers outta you!?" I fucking knew it, but Double Barrel is right.

" Okay I tell ya what. How about we go to the inn, get a drink and talk. Sound alright?"

" Ugh fine, I guess I could use a drink. Follow me then." On that note I sling my bow on my back and follow close behind her. Ghouls, Vault-Tech ripoff company and products, and war lost of war, fucking great. Some of my best and worst in gaming come from the Fallout series, I'm not competetive when it comes to gaming, just casual play. I feel as something bad is gonna happen, and I'm gonna be forced to make a choice of defiance or resitance. Double Barrel leads me to a building that I assume is an inn. We get inside and are greeted with many ponies, about ten. Each enjoying the slightly finer things in the wastes, well till my ugly mug makes enterance. All eyes are on me.

" No, get that retched thing outta mah shop!" The, whom I assume is either the barkeep or owner, shouts at us, mainly me.

" It's that creature from the wastes." One pony sneers.

" Ay unicorn! Ya deaf? Get that damn thing outta here! It's not welcome here!" The Bartender shouts again. I let out a sigh.

" Look all we're here for is to get some drinks and some beds for the night." Double Barrel pulls out a cap bag. The best way to anyone's heart is money.

" And I promise to be on my best behavior." I snark. The sarcasm is real. Now everyone looks afraid because I spoke. Double Barrel shakes the cap bag." I can make it worth your while." He's gonna cave, I can tell, I've been in his position before.

" Argh! Fine, but I'm watching you both closely, very fucking closely. Take the table in the corner over there." He gestures to a two person table complete with shitty chairs in a corner of the shop, away from everyone. We take a seat and he follows." So what do you want?" He ignores me and turns to Double Barrel. She in turn looks at me. Fuck these hypocritical horses." Booker?"

" Largest bottle of Whiskey you can get and two glasses if you can."

" Hmmph wasn't asking you, creature, but I think I can manage that." He turns to Double Barrel, who has already started counting out the caps." I assume you'll be paying for it then?"

" Yep. Here ya go. Now go get our drinks." The barkeep collects his money and goes away. Double Barrel looks back at me." Never expected you to be someone that can hold his drink well."

" Well let this be the first of many things to know about me, I'm a man of my drink. But for now while we wait for our drink, learn a bit about each other." Double Barrel nods in agreement." So lets start with simple introductions. I am Booker Dewittdale Evens, and you are?"

" Uhh Double Barrel. You have three different names ya know?" I chuckle a bit.

" My first name, middle name, and last name actually. Its a usual thing for most humans like myself. As for actually calling me something, Booker is fine. Some think its funny to call me 'DeWitt', please don't."

" Dually noted then." The bartender arrives with our glasses and drink. He glares at me for a moment before walking away. I crack open the bottle and pouur us both a drink. The glasses aren't shotglasses but they will fair. I take a sip and relish in its taste.

" So now that we have our drinks, shall we discuss then?"

" Sure. Might as well talk before our drink sets in." Double Barrel sips on her own glass of Whiskey.

" Because I'll have to explain more than you would have too, Double Barrel do you mind explaining your side of the story first?" Double Barrel nods slightly and lets out a sigh.

" Boy where to even begin? This is the first time in a while that I've actually talked about myself much. Well I'll try to leave precious details out. Well the furthest memories I have is of me and my mother when I was 6 back in Neigh York. It was just me and her scavenging for whatever we could to survive. Things were going good until we ran into a group of Scavengers. They, uhh demanded everything from us. Caps, any and all salvage we had, and me. Unless we gave them everything, bad things will happen. Well my mom told me to run and I did. Across the street and hid in a dumpster." Double Barrel stops for a moment and takes a drink." Heard three gunshots and they were gone like the wind. Took my mom too. And at that moment, I was alone."

" Damn. Not a good start at all." I comment as I pour her another glass.

" Yeah, tell me about it. But back to it, I was alone for about a good month or so, using what my mom taught me to survive. I was always pretty smart for my age. But either way I was found apon by a group of Mercenaries. Seeing me in a starving state like I was, they took me in, feed me, took care of me. That shows that even ponies like them, sometimes can care. I stayed them for a few years without working for them but they started to pressure me into working for them. Seeing that I had nothing else to do, I agreed. They started training me. When I was 13 or so that's also around the same time I got my mark, a short stock double barrel shotgun. But I also learned I had love for science, medicine mostly.

I loved talking with the medic of our group. But good things don't last forever. On one of our contracts we came across another mercenary group, the Talons. An all out fucking firefight ensued. I was the only one who managed to escape, but not without getting a bullet in my foreleg. No one else survived, sadly. Once again I was alone, but I was more prepared than before. From there on I just started drifting. Earning some caps here and there doing odd jobs. Then one day I just ended in Ponyville. Ran into a group of, well, rather nicer Raiders. One thing led to another I managed to, ehh, persuade to let me join. I learned to be, well rather persuadsive from the my mercenary boss, Power Hoof. But I joined those Raiders because they reminded me of my mecenary friends. That was 3 years ago. Then you show up, kill them all, and the cycle continues." She downs the last of her second glass. I've only been sipping on mine.

" Damn. You have some shit luck left and right. But you seem to adapt well so thats good at least."

" Yeah. But I've spilled my guts so spill yours kid." She leans back a bit with her glass, uhh in her hoof, don't question it.

" Alright, where to begin, hmm I know the perfect start. Well unlike you I never knew my mother. No she didn't ditch my dad, she passed away during child birth, giving birth to me. So it was just me and my dad for years. From an early year my dad taught me the basics of hunting and fishing. I've always held family in high order so to answer your constant question on why I use a bow, it feels like my family is still with me. But my dad an I both had our....own problems. I devoloped an early taste for alcohol." I stop and pour myself another glass, both to quence my thirst and to prove my point." And my dad invested thousands into drag racing and building a rat rod from scratch."

" Rat Road?" Double Barrel cocks her head a bit.

" Its a pieced together vehical. I know you probably don't know what a vehical is either, short answer its a type of transportation. But my dad was a grease monkey. Always building his dream car bit by bit. I went to school and did normal young teen stuff. Started hanging out with the wrong people, got into trouble. My dad had some come-a-parts with me over stuff like smoking and petty troubles. But not everything lasts forever. Right after I graduated High School....well my dad went racing. Missed a corner doing 95, crashed right into a tree. His car crumbled and wrapped itself around the tree. Died on impact. Found out the next day, as I was out partying with a few of my friends. I was utterly devisated by the news. Losing family is terrible but losing close family like that is even worse. I became...err...whats the word? Depressed? Unstable? Either way I started heavy drinking trying to cope. A few of my friends did help, which I am greatful for. Thats when I met Jimmy Schill. Son of one of the Das Omega leaders. He saw my pain and helped like any man such as himself would, he offered my work to take my mind off my issuse.

" Seeing as I was unemployeed at the time, I had no other real options so I took it. Jobs were, ehh simple. Get stuff for actual gang members, occasional shake downs, rough ups, tyipical newbie gang stuff. They saw my potentional with tracking though so I started to earn a small rep. Jimmy was an actual friend and stuck by my side. We grew to like each other. My rank increased and so did the type of jobs and pay. Das Omega was into organized crime, much like mobsters. Eventually I was a full member, got the tattoo you saw on my shoulder to prove. I felt happy, though I knew deep down my father wouldn't approve."

" Sounds rough to lose someone your really close too. My unfortunate situation at the time I was only six so I didn't have all the memories of my teen years. So I'm sorry to hear that." Double Barrel's apology is genuine, that I do know.

" Thanks. I appreciate your apology."

" We at least have a bit of an understanding of each other now. Both of our pasts have been shit, we've done things we're not proud of, but we can't change the past now can we?"

" I suppose you're right. Enough feeling sorry for ourselves." I take another sip of whiskey. The effects are slowly coming to me, but I've built up somewhat of a tolerance.

" Exactly. Now I have to ask, you seem to have knowlege of...wasteland survival, yet you've only been in this place for a few days, right?" Okay Double Barrel does desirve some answers about that.

" Alright I suppose you desirve some insight. Well on Earth, my world, there's a frachise that explored that 'What If' senario of totalk nuclear annilation of the world, Fallout. They were a serise of electronic games exploring a futuristic world 200 years after what they call in the game 'The Great War of 2077', which only lasted 2 hours and killed off much of the world. the games varied in locations, people, and lore. They were fun though to play." I smile remembering the binges of Fallout 3, New Vegas, and Fallout 4. Double Barrel gives me strange looks.

" So your telling me that in your world, there is entertanmint in exploring a radioactive world in the form of a game? Damn...I have no words for that."

" Figured you wouldn't have much to go on. But the simalarities are stagaring between Fallout and this world. Chems are named similarly, companies share similar interests, even factions are similar. I'm assuming there is much difference bewteen them of course, but I have a mutual understanding of this Equestrian Wasteland."

" Boy things just got interesting then." Double Barrel takes a sip of whiskey.

" That it does. So tell me, that mare, Ditzy, why doesn't she talk?"

" Raiders cut out her tongue decades ago. She's been alive since the Great War. Used to run a delivery shop called 'Ditzy Doo Deliveries'. Heard the wreakage is near here. She's the one who wrote the Wasteland Survival Guide."

" So she's a ghoul who's been alive for over 200 years. She wrote the Wasteland Survival Guide, yet can't talk. Her eyes are all over the place, so I'm guessing her eye sight is based on movement then?" I smirk a bit. Double Barrel rolls her eyes.

" Why do I get stuck with assholes?"

" There's more where that came from."

" And I look forward too 'every' minute of it." Just then there is a loud bang and we both look behind us. At the bar is a buck close to a radio." Will you two shut the hell up? We're trying to listen to DJ-PON3." DJ what?

" Hello ponies of the wasteland, It's DJ-PON3 here with some...interesting reports coming from all across the wasteland. I have been getting reports of strange creatures moving about. These strange creatures have been reported as being mostly bald, bipedal movement and moving in groups. They seem to be some sort of mutant form of Hellhound but they appear to be organized. They appear to be armed and dangerous. So to all you poinies of the wasteland take my advice and keep your tongues, hooves, and horns on your triggers and stay away from them." I zone out after that. Armed humans, CrossTech, you bastards. They are fucking with laws that they have no rule over. This will come back and bite them in the ass in the end. I zone back in to see the entirety of the bar, minus Double Barrel, staring daggers at me.

" What?! He's not talking about me. Moving in groups and heavily armed. Thats not me." They seem to go back to whatever they were doing before." Double Barrel, that DJ knows alot about the situation than I. Where is that DJ at?"

" Tenpony Tower in Manehatten. Look, whatever your planning, have fun with it. Tomorrow I head back to Ponyville."

" Look Double Barrel, I understand your home is back in Ponyville, but you're the only one who knows the wasteland and isn't afraid of me. Ugh, look I have nothing of real of value to give you, but prehaps we can strike a deal?" Double Barrel face hooves and sighs.

" Goddesses, why am I a sucker for this? Fuck, fine, tell me this 'deal' of yours. If I don't like it I'm out."

" Fine. Chances that we get side tracked getting to Manehatten are somewhat high, I assume. And I figure we'll find plenty of abandoned supplies out there. So my deal is, 70-30 of whatever we find. You get first dibs on any ammo, medicine, and chems. Sound like a deal?" She rubs her chin, and I can tell whiskey is taking her, her movement is a bit choppy.

" Ugh, its either the booze talking our you've picked up some charm, but fine. I'll go with you for now. I guess my rading days have ended and my merc days returning. Hey, I think we should get some sleep soon. Follow me." I get up after she does and we gather whatever we set down before hand and make our way to the bar with the buck from before. He looks at us and lets out a sigh." What do you two want? Leaving now? Great."

" No we need a room for the night. Got one avaible?" Double Barrel is still charming as ever, ugh I actually may be drunk now.

" Ugh, you two will be causing trouble I just now it. But for ONE night, 25 caps for the two of ya."

" We'll take it. Which way?"

" Up the stairs, down the hall to your left, and third door on your right. Now get outta my sight before I change my mind." He collects what DB, figured I should shorten her name down, gives him and I follow DB up stairs. We find our room pretty easily. Its a very simple put together room. Old as hell bed, makshift floor, and all together trashy set up. I can get used to it.

" So you want the bed or the floor?" DB yawns.

" You paied for the room, you get to pick." I shrug. I'm holding my end that she gets to have first pick.

" I figure you can...you can have the bed. I'm jused to sleeping on the ground. Night." With that she, wait she's heading into a little closet like room, ehh don't bother it. I set my stuff down and lay on my back on the bed. Now will my mind wonder for bit or-

Rest for the weary.

Footnote(s):

No level up

Double Barrel has joined your party.

Companion Perk unlocked: Habitat Addict- Alcohol and Chems last 50% longer at the cost of extra 10% chance to get addicted.