Fallout Equestria: Failure

Fallout Equestria: Failure: Chapter 4: From Shadows

“Pro Patria Mori”

As it turned out, Red Eye’s forces actually did protect those under their control. Havoc explained how good the money could be in this line of work and we actually got along like friends. It was almost sickening how kind she was given her position.

“How’d you get into this line of work Havoc?” Lily finally spoke up.

“Same way you three did. Captured when I was a filly, brought to the camp, and was given the same choice you three were. Grave took a liking to me and pulled me outta the slave life early. Offered me a full position in the camp as a prep cook, which eventually led to me going out on errands like this. Enough ponies died on em to put me at the head of the roster. And now here I am.”

“Is that why you’re nice to us?” I asked

“What? We all gotta be bloodthirsty rapists who steal foals from their parents? Nah, I do what Red Eye has planned for the wasteland. I try to at least.” something about the way she said that struck me as odd.

“And what is it that he has planned?” I asked

“He plans to give a job to every mare and stallion, give them safety, and reunite Equestria” she replied.

“That’s a noble goal given his methods.” Hollow said.

“Yeah. But if it was easy, it’d already be done. And if we didn’t need ponies to get it done, then there wouldn’t be slaves.” I didn’t like it, but she had a fair point.

From over the hill, we heard snarling and howling. Sure enough, that’d be the Hellhounds. “Get down and don’t say shit.” Havoc said. I dropped down and dragged my belly across the rocks and sand. We crawled through that shit for what felt like miles. But the leather barding took all of the punishment for it.

I knew we’d have to go in loud, but when we got close enough, Lily got up on her hooves and let out a blood curdling scream as she charged one of the smaller hellhounds. A nail that’d been driven through the bat struck the hellhound square in the eye while another one got it just above the cheek. Before I knew it, Hollow and Havoc were taking shots at the other hellhounds. In total there were six. Hollow Point got in close with his pistol, while Havoc stayed back aways and took two of the monsters on.

“I’m gonna fucking die.” I said to myself as I rushed one firing wildly. Finally, a round struck its temple, instantly killing the beast. However, my luck balanced out when a grenade bounced in next to me. I tried to throw it back telekinetically, but was greeted by hot shrapnel before I let it go.

Then I fell unconscious.

When I woke up, I couldn’t see anything. Mostly because my entire face was bandaged.

“Hello?” I called out.

“Silver? You awake now?” Lily replied, her voice was more raspy than it usually was, “Havoc, Hollow, Silver’s awake, get the Doc!” I tried to take off the bandages, but they were pinned on somewhere, and I couldn’t tell where. Some hollering across the building let me know that the town’s doctor was on his way back.

A few minutes later, and he was in the room.

“Mr Silver, I’m Doctor Peach. Before I take the bandages off, you need to know what’s happened. During the fight you were in earlier, you took a nasty bit of shrapnel to the face. More specifically, to your left eye. Before you get upset, know that I did everything I could, but… well, I couldn’t save the eye.” I felt the fastener come undone, “You want a mirror? Or straight to the eyepatch?”

I was still in disbelief, shrapnel to the eye? Couldn’t save it? “Bullshit, lemme see!” sure enough, the entire lens of my left eye had a tear in it from the cornea inwards, torn and bloodshot. Of course, I could only see all of it through my right eye.

I started hyperventilating, the room started spinning. The doctor shoved a large bottle of golden liquid into my face and said “Drink this.” It was sweet, definitely alcoholic, and calming. While the room didn’t stop spinning, I wasn’t hyperventilating anymore. I couldn’t tell if I blinked or winked, but I know that my next question was, “Shit doc, what was that?”

“Mead. It’s a wine we make from radbee honey.” Peach said.

“Radbees?” I asked

“Yup, they’re bees that soak up radiation for their honey instead of nectar.”

“But what’s a bee? And what’s nectar? And what in the hell is honey?”

“Well, a bee is a little insect, about double the size of a push pin, that used to fly around and pollinate, er help plants breed and nectar was a sugary liquid that made up their diet. Honeys just the byproduct of that. Radbees ain’t got flowers and such to get their nectar from, but some managed to mutate in just such a way that they can do the same thing from radioactive material.”

“Wait, if this comes from radiation, doesn’t that make this radioactive?”

“Nope, radbees have something in their gut that absorbs the radiation. Don't ask me how it’s done, but some stallion came through a while ago with a Geiger counter and tested it for us. 0 radiation in it.”

Okay, how did I get onto this topic again? Oh right, the booze.

“Okay doc, give it to me straight, am I gonna die?”

“Nope, just gotta keep that eye hole clean. I’ve got a couple patches around here somewhere that should do the trick.”

Sure enough, after a few moments of looking he came back with an assortment of eye patches. He had some in leather, some in cloth, one in metal. But the one that stuck out to me was a plain black eyepatch made of a rubbery material. Given the amount of choices and the simple amount of eyepatches, I had to wonder just how often eye injuries happened around here.

“You this talkative with all the raiders that come through here?” I asked, slipping the patch over my eye and tying it with my magic.

“Well, I figure it’s good to be social with the ponies that decide whether we live or die. Though I figure being a raider wasn’t exactly your first choice.” As though the explosive around my neck wasn’t enough of a clue.

“Well, if you know any way to get myself and my friends out of our servitude, preferably without putting yourselves at risk.”

“Oh, I can get those off no problem, but like you said, putting me and mine at risk. That’s the issue.” It isn’t as though I couldn’t understand the issue for him. Not like I’d want to stick my neck out for some random assholes only to have a gang of raiders show up and burn down my town. “But, I can tell you how to do it yourself. Maybe slip the tools you need to do it in with you.”
The good doctor was kind enough to show my how to pick a lock. However, I couldn’t really see myself being able to find a bobby pin or screwdriver just lying around the base. Nor would I be able to practice enough to get the collars off efficiently. Or even off without blowing our heads off. Or without the guards seeing us.

“Why not just steal her keys? Or shoot her in the back on a job?” I asked, now much less confident that I’d survive picking the lock on my collar.

“Because if they see you without her, y’all are dead. Hell, even if you brought her body back with hellhound claw marks proving she died out of your control you’d be hunted down and killed.” he said. “Though I might know a place y'all could hide in. Moreso, a group you could hide with.”

I leaned in close and whispered. “And how would I go about finding these ponies? You got a map or something?”

“I’ll do you one better. You ever heard of a pipbuck?”

End of Chapter 4