Chapter 2: Auxiliary

Fallout Equestria: Failure- Chapter 2: Auxiliary
(all latin translations will be provided at the end of the chapter)
“ All right, that's it! We've tried persuasion, charm, whatever it is Pinkie Pie does…”

Altogether, Hollow Point, myself and Lily had spent a small fortune on new gear. Totaling at a little bit north of three hundred caps. Hollow Point (and I really needed a nickname for him) just needed some ammo and reinforced armor. Tiger Lily on the other hoof, needed everything but a weapon. Her makeshift sword was apparently enough until we found, or otherwise acquired a new weapon for her. However, she needed all new armor, and Hollow Point wasn’t about to let his sister get hurt. So she got some “slightly used” combat armor. It wasn’t torn to shreds, but the ballistic weave in the barding had definitely seen better days.

As we made our way to the Baltimore ruins, we passed some collapsed buildings. Most ponies wouldn’t see them as a threat. But we all knew that they were ideal for raiders and slavers because of that fact. So, naturally, any time we saw one, we snuck up on it and cleared it out. In one, there was a live arcane spark battery. In another, some canned beans.

After a day’s worth of making our way down the highway into Baltimare proper, we saw a small camp set up on the outskirts. There were three tents, and we could see at least four ponies.Other than that, nothing. There were no banners, no corpses as far as we could tell, and no signs that they’d be willing to make enemies with us.
“I say we walk right up to ‘em. Be neighborly, they pull we shoot. Otherwise keep it cool.They don’t seem like they’d be much of a threat.” Hollow Point said.

“Or we could at least try to recon them first, make sure this isn’t a trap. For all we know, they could be mercs.” Lily said.

“Yeah, or they’re traders. So let’s go in open, but with weapons at the ready.”
As we approached the camp, we could see that the ponies at the camp were mostly unarmed. A rifle and a couple of hoof to hoof weapons between 4 of them. One of them wasn't even a pony. In the center of the group, sitting over a boiling pot was a Zebra.

“Ave Mannis. Come, all are welcome to dine with us” the zebra said. The soup or whatever it was he was making smelled delicious. Definitely a savory meal to be had here. And given the ingredients; onions, radhog, and a few more than obviously mutated vegetables, it was bound to be good.

The three of us introduced ourselves, and met everyone. The zebra's name was Adligo. The big grey stallion in the back was named Chain, and I doubted he needed anything to take us down. There was a younger mare there, her name was Crop, she was sorta cute, a little emaciated for my tastes, and then her younger brother, Switchblade. Both had the same dark red coat and starkly contrasting bright green manes.

We all sat down around the fire as Adligo gave us each a bowl of soup. I gave it a long sniff, “Smells better than what I got at home.” I said, before telekinetically lifting the bowl to my lips and taking a long sip of it. Within moments, my head felt… off. Like I couldn’t concentrate at all. Then Lily fell over. I looked over at Hollow Point in alarm.

“Silver, did you see any of them drink?” he asked. The sound of a shotgun slide racking answered that question.

“It is an old brew, my ancestors used it to prepare their kin for surgical procedures.” Adligo said calmly. “We, on the other hoof, will be using it to take you to Red Eye’s camp.” The banner unfurled, and sure enough, there was a big, red eye in the middle of it. I sat there, frozen and speechless as the shackles and weapons came out of storage. “Chain, the ledger. I need to mark in three new unicorns for Fillydelphia.” I passed out

“So, pretty sure this isn’t how we expected to start the day.” Lily said, somehow, she could still find the guts to be sarcastic. Hollow Point just looked at the ground, silent but obedient to the slavers orders. I was sure he was thinking of a way out of our situation.

“The worst part is that I spent my hard earned caps on that shitty gun, and I didn’t get to use it.” I retorted.

“That. That’s the worst part Silver?!” he finally spoke up clearly not in the mood for us trying to make light of the situation. “Not the whole being worked to death by Red Eye? Not the fact that we’ll never see our families again? Nothing is worse than you not getting to use that shitty gun?” And, aside from the chatter of our captors, it was silent after that.

Soon after, we arrived at the forward camp for Red Eye’s forces in Baltimare.There were at least fifty guards there, and more slaves than I could count. Above the gate, there was a sign that read “Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori. It is Sweet and Proper to Die for One’s Country.” Lining the wall were heads of ponies and zebras on spikes.

“Tried to run away. Shame, they all coulda helped fix Equestria.” Crop said.Though I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely sad, or if that was just the sick, raider humor I’d heard about. “I don’t recommend y’all do the same.” she looked right into my eyes with a clearly sad expression. “I know it seems like what we’re doin’s awful, but I swear t’you it’s for the best.” the sincerity in her expression disturbed me.

As soon as we were through the gate, there was a security checkpoint.

“Ledger and permit on the table, weapons to the lockup.” the stallion said. Much like Chain, he was a big brute. Definitely on my list of ponies not to fuck with. “Three unicorns, good. Listen up! You three have two options right now to earn your freedom. But until you do, these bomb collars should deter any thoughts you have of making a run for it.” It was when he said ‘these’ that I heard the locks click shut on the collars. “First, you join the raider teams. It’s hard work, but if you pull off twenty successful attacks, you will be offered a paid position in Red Eye’s glorious army! Second, you leave for Fillydelphia immediately to join Unity. Lucky for you, this is a unicorn exclusive offer. Your other options when you reach Fillydelphia, should you refuse our offer, is to work in the radioactive mine, or to fight in the gladiatorial matches of the pit. For you, I recommend our offer. You have twelve hours to decide.”

The three of us looked at each other, well, they looked at me. Then we were hauled off to a cage.

“What the hell is Unity?” Hollow Point asked.

“Would raiding be like scavenging?” Lily asked

“If you throw killing innocents into the mix then yeah, exactly like scavenging”

“We don’t know anything about this Unity shit. What if it’s just slitting our throats and throwing us into a giant hole?”

“Would you rather be forced to kill off random ponies who haven’t done anything?”

“If it means I’m alive!” they both faced me and in unison

“You know I’m right don’t you Silver?”

Holy fucking shit, the one time they were close to agreeing, and it was just deferring their decision to me.”Why should I decide? I’ve made one decision with the three of us, ONE, and it got us here. Why the hell would you want my dumb ass to decide anything for you?!” that got some silence for awhile. Of course, there was no way to tell time in here, so I didn’t know how long it had been, but finally,

“After weighing the benefits, being a raider doesn’t sound too bad. Sure, we’d have to do some awful shit, but at least we know what we’re getting into, and it might keep us together.” Hollow Point said.

“And nothing says we have to kill anypony. For all we know, the ponies who see us’ll just run.” Lily replied,”Silver? You got any thoughts on the matter?”

I sighed, “If we had another option that didn’t involve killing, I’d take it in a heartbeat. But we don’t. Unity is an unknown option, and I’m not willing to risk my life on a good or bad hunch. Even if we made it to Fillydelphia, gladiatorial matches could put us up against each other. Nothing is good in this situation, so I’m going with raiding. Desperate times call for desperate measures.” we were desperate. We were far from home, way off mission, and away from all that we knew.

“Twenty jobs then we’re free right?” I asked the gate guard, who's name was Obsidian, which definitely suited him and his coal black coat and mane.

“Twenty jobs each. No packing all onto one of you while the others stay here. You make it through all of em, you’re all free.”

“Then it’s a deal.”

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