Author's Note

I would like to thank BioQuillFiction For helping us with this story thank you for that.

Chapter four: Dirty River's problem.

“Damn oi'm sore,” Daisy said as she sat herself down. It had gone dark an hour ago, and with just my Pipbuck lighting the way, it was rather hard to see anything. Thankfully, we found a small...shack, you could say. Whatever it was, it was small, and had been empty for a long time. It was just four small walls and a metal roof, barely big enough to have the three of us in. “Wus nice av Azure ter keep watch.”

I nodded, looking out the thin door. It had a large crack in it, and outside it I saw Azure sitting just outside the door, but with her wing holding it open a crack so she could jump in at the sign of trouble. “So, how did you and Azure meet?”

“Oi can tell yer we knew each other as fillies. she's a tad mute, so in order for 'er ter comunucate, oi 'elped 'er muk a way av blatherin' wi' 'er wings, an oi can tell yer, she's a deadly shot.”

“Really? She must be a good then.” So that’s why she doesn’t talk. Huh, wonder if I can learn her wing language?

“Ah yeah, she can snipe a radroach from well over a mile away. Fact, wan time we 'ad an shenanagans an' whaen oi wus tryin' ter deadly down, downin' a whisky, she tuk a shot an' broke de bottle in me gob, wi' a bb gun! She can 'owl a grudge, but oi figured oyt 'oy ter worm 'er oyt av dem.”

“How do you take her out of it?”

“She goes nuts for Sparkle Cola quantum. Wan bottle she chugs faster than oi can chug alcohol.”

I chuckled hearing that. The Stable had Sparkle Cola, a lot in fact. Every Night at dinner my brother, sister, and I had a bottle, and my first successful steal ever while lockpicking was from the Overmare’s personal stash of it. That stuff has kick. “So I take it those are hard to come by?”

“A bit, yeah, but sum ponies manage ter fend dem, blather av clique tryin' ter figure oyt al' de recopies for Sparkle Cola an' Sunrise Sarsaparilla, an' their variashuns.” Daisy said, letting out a loud yawn. “Oi'm gonna belt de 'ay early, noight silent.” Daisy then moved herself to lay down on the dirt with some comfort, using her saddlebags as a pillow and began to slumber.

I was sadly still awake, and didn’t have much to do. I went though my saddlebags and found the notes from the things I found in the safe. With not much else to do, I decided to read them over, seeing what exactly these things are about.

I pulled out the visor, and then searched for the notes about it. Finally finding them, I began reading.

This visor is experimental, maybe eight have been made so far. It’s an alternative for power armor helmets for unicorns. While yes, most power armor helmets for unicorns do include either a hold or horn cover, sometimes they would cut off their own horns in order to wear a full suit. This alternative taps into the wearer’s mana, creating a magic shield around their head, while in tests it protects better against armor piercing ammo and anti-material rifle rounds than even the T62-C3 power armor helmet, although it is regrettable that the wearer must be in a complete set of at least T57-D Power armor for the OS to connect and work properly. We tried with older versions of power armor, and the OS in the visor didn’t activate at all.

...It was a messy day in the lab…

That aside, we are working on an upgrade that can possibly make it work with older versions of power armor, but it requires the wearer have a Pipbuck on, and the upgrade software isn’t complete yet. It also has to be installed on the visor, power armor, and the Pipbuck in order to work. At least, that’s what we’ve predicted.

I looked at the visor. Huh, might come in handy, to either me, or someone I may come across. Still. Wonder where this upgrade is? I put it back into my saddlebags and pulled out the notes about the chip I found with the visor in the safe.

This chip. I have no idea why they asked for this to be what it is, but we made it, made for mass production, at least a hundred have been made so far. It contains an AI, one to teach the installer how to operate the power armor they adorn. Since learning how to wear any power armor means you can wear them all, the Ministry of Technology asked us to make sure that once proper instructions and operating have been completed, the AI erases itself entirely, leaving behind nothing more than a thirty gigabyte glorified external storage device. Well, I guess you could use it to keep pictures and songs on.

I looked at the chip and cringed. “That’s a lot of space for a program just to delete itself after it’s been run,” I mutter, finding that this thing even exists a cheap excuse to not have somepony to be there to teach the pony to use it properly. Still, if I come across this power armor stuff, maybe I can use this so I don’t need to haul it with me to somepony who could teach me. Even then, something tells me it would be a tad… difficult, for me to walk around in it.

I put the note and chip away, taking off my saddle bags and tried to get comfortable in the dirt. It wasn’t hard dirt, it was just...dirty. I am sadly going to have to get used to this, who knows when the next chance at a shower will come by.

I woke up with my face half in the dust of the floor. When I sat up, some dirt was in my mouth, so I started spitting it out. That made my mouth dry. I opened up my canteen and took a sip, swished it around a bit then spat it out on the floor, getting what was left of the dirt in my mouth out. I heard a yawn and turning around I saw Azure starting to wake up. Huh, Daisy must have switched with her at some point last night. I stood up, and my legs were asleep so I stretched like a cat to wake them up. That tingling they get when they’re asleep feels so weird. I froze as I was about to walk, because my spine felt like it was all twisted. “Gah!” I yelped. Damn, not used to sleeping on the ground. Getting beat, yeah, used to that, but this...this sucks…

“Yer gran' so dare Silent?” Daisy asked, walking into the shack at my yelp.

“Eh, just not used to sleeping on the ground. My back is killing me.”

Daisy chuckled at that. “Let me 'elp wi' dat dear.” Daisy said. She walked over to me, and placed her front hooves on my back. “Nigh dis 'ill 'urt.” Daisy warned.

I gulped. “How-” CRACK. “EYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” I yelled, feeling like my back was split in two. “THE HE-” I stopped myself from yelling, my back suddenly feeling...loose and relaxed. “Wow...How did you do that?”

“A treck oi picked up from me folks. Da alwus massaged mom whaen she needed it.”

“Neat,” I said, feeling more relaxed now than I did...well, ever really. “So, what do we have to eat?”

Azure perked her ears up, looking through her own saddlebags and pulled out two boxes of Sweet Apple Acres Apple Pie, and a can of refried beans. She gave us the pies and kept the can of beans, popping the lid off with its tab. Daisy began opening her box also, and I started to open mine. When I saw the pie was inside a plastic wrap, air sealed, I sighed a sigh relief, but was surprised too. It looked like it was baked just yesterday. I know in the Stable there was lots of pre war food still able to be eaten, but this food was out here, in the wastes, and it still looks this good? Wow. This stuff has outlived the apocalypse...and will likely survive my intestines. I discarded that thought, opening the plastic seal. My nose was greeted with the well preserved scent of apple pie. I took it out of the small tin it was in and took a bite.

Wow...tastes fresh even...What preservatives did they use in the foods back then? After our breakfast, we checked the area for anything strange. There was just what Daisy told me was a Molerat sniffing outside. It was about as big as the large rats I saw before, but more...naked, for lack of a better word. I had to agree. The Molerat was thinner than the rats I saw, and it had two large buck teeth sticking out of it’s mouth.

“Why don't yer take dis wan silent?” Daisy asked.

“I thought you said if we leave them alone, they won’t bother us?”

“An' that's still true so 'tis, but 'tis roi outside de dure an' 'ill reef us on sight,” Daisy explained.

“Oh. Well… I guess.” I said, taking out This Gun. It was close enough that I was sure I could hit it from the crack in the door. I fired, the Molerat’s head soon blowing up in a firework display of skull fragments and brain matter. “Gross.”

With that out of the way we headed off, finding the travel back to town rather quiet. I hummed a small tune to pass the time. For some reason I remembered the rhythm, but not the words. Must have been a song I heard a long time ago. As we were passing by another large, empty part of the wasteland, I spotted something in the distance. “Hey, what’s that?”

Daisy looked over, noticing it too and pulling out a pair of Binoculars. “Looks loike a stallion...makin' graves?” Daisy said with some confusion and worry.

“Think he lost his family?”

“Oi don't clap any bodies. Shud we risk it?”

I looked at Azure, who seemed to be mixed given her expression. “Well, do you see anyone else?”

Daisy took another look. “Naw, jist 'imself.”

“Well, it’s three against one then, so if he gives us trouble we can take it.” We took out our guns and kept them out, and loaded them in case this stallion was trouble. When we got closer, we were able to see a pile of sheet metals and scrap wood piled rather high up. There were also a few...blank tombstones. “Um, hello?” I called out.

The stallion looked over at us, then placed his shovel down. He was ash grey, with a crimson mane and a cross cutie mark. “Greetings,” he said, his voice friendly, but stern. “What brings you three here?”

“We saw yer in de distance. Why ye diggin' graves?” Daisy asked.

“I’m gonna turn this whole empty space of land into a graveyard.”

“A graveyard?” I asked.

“Yeah. World itself has been a mass grave for both the old world and the new one. High time somepony made a sacred place to bury the dead. Since it was my idea, I might as well do it, doesn’t seem like anypony else gives a damn.”

“Oh. That’s...rather thoughtful actually.” Huh, a pony who cares about the dead enough to make a safe place for them. “What’s your name?”

“Cross Roads. So, wanna reserve a lot?”

“Uh…” I stuttered. “Maybe another time. Thinking about my death now is...kinda worrying.”

“Heh, you know why I’m making these grave before fencing in the place?” He asked as I shook my head. “A friend and I are preparing for whichever one of us falls first. This world no longer cares about who you are, how old you are, good or bad, fact is, you’ll die. Most no longer have the luck of having friends or family who survive or care, and they end up food for something that comes along. Disrespectful.”

“Is dare a call you're doin' dis?” Daisy asked, and I agreed. It’s nice and all, but why?

“I already lost a lot of friends, family, and I was never able to give them a proper burial. It’s why once I get this place in shape, I’ll have scouts Head out and retrieve the bodies of those who reserved a lot. If we are unable to do so, we’ll refund the money they spent to their next of kin, and if no kin is available or found, money goes into buying supplies to expand the place.”

“How big are you gonna make it?” I asked.

“As far as I can, then, when the dead keep coming and topside is out of room, I’ll mine down and make catacombes to make sure every pony that’s passed has a place here.”

Wow. He’s so devoted to this. “Well, we’ll try and spread word about this so you can make this place a proper graveyard sooner, Cross Roads.”

“Thank ya kindly. And if you change your minds, come back and I’ll get the paperwork in order.”

With that, we left Cross Roads to his work. Heh, a graveyard in a dead world. One step at a time, I guess. Another hour passed until we spotted Dirty River in the distance. I was glad to be back, good news for the town. If only the Water Talisman was with the other stuff I got. As we were approaching the gate, I saw some rather heavily armored ponies standing in front of it. Huh, they don’t look like Raiders or bandits, but they did look like ponies I’d rather not get involved with. As the gate began to open and we were walking in, I heard a smack, then a grunt from Daisy. Then a scuffle… I turned around, and Daisy was choke holding one of the ponies.

“If yer wanna touch, den yer best buy me lashings av drinks before oi agree ter anythin',” she said, tightening her grip.

“Gah! Get this crazy mare off of me!” the stallion cried.

“Last stallion ter spank me loike dat oi 'ad 'imself spend al' 'is caps, an' show ME a craic for 'is work.” I looked over at Azure, wanting to know if that actually happened. She seemed to get it as she only nodded. I facehoofed.

“Alright, what’s goin o- Daisy?” one of the armored ponies spoke, walking back out from being in town. She had a greyish black coat with a light pink mane, her armor covering her cutie mark.

“Scythe?” Daisy asked, letting go of the Stallion who scurried out of her reach. “Been a while, 'asn't it?”

The mare, Scythe, merely rolled her eyes. “Daisy, why were you choke holding one of my boys?”

“Yer colt spanked me flank!”

Scythe, for her part, rolled her eyes and sighed. “Damn it. Knives! What did I tell you about that kind of action?”

The stallion Daisy choke held, Knives, stepped out of his spot with the others, still rubbing his neck. “After work only…” He grumbled.

“That’s right, and for your misstep, you have latrine duty when we get back to base.” Knives’ jaw dropped while the others merely chuckled or looked relieved.

“I...she! ...Fine Boss,” Knives said, defeat in his voice.

“Here,” Scythe said, handing Daisy fifteen caps. “For a drink or three, coming out of Knives’ paycheck. Now get out of here, I’m on a job.”

“Aw naw, waaat are ye at 'ere, waaat job, at laest tell me dat much,” Daisy said.

Scythe sighed. “If you must know, ask your sheriff. She has all the details.”

Daisy huffed, so Azure and I followed her into town and after a little bit of searching, we found Sheriff Jane on one of the many railings that connected the buildings. Looking over the town from up there, I guess. “Why hello girls,” Jane said as we approached her. “I hope you have good news.”

“We do,” I said, pulling out the filters and filtration schematics. “We got both a new filter and the schematics for it.”

“Well...that’s amazing!” Jane cheered, taking them both from me. “Here, you’ve earned this,” she said, taking off her hat and tossing me a rather large and heavy, pouch. I opened it and saw it was filled with caps, each taped around in counts of ten. “Five hundred caps.”

“Wha did dat cum from?!” Daisy asked in shock. “Cause that's lashings av caps!”

Jane chuckled. “I’ve been saving it to pay anypony here that might be able to fix it to an extent, so you deserve this, kid. Oh, and a little thanks from me personally,” Jane said, lifting her duster up on her right side and pulling...some kinda gun I have yet to see out of a holster and a few red things with it. “That’s one of my trusty sawed offs, this one I’ve noticed has extra kick compared to others. I call him Dragon’s Breath.”

I levitated Dragon’s Breath and its ammo up so I could get a better look at it. “What kind of gun is a sawed off?”

“It’s a type of shotgun. Its barrel is really short, and shotguns usually have a small range, so that has an even smaller range, but when it hits its target...heheh. Dragon’s Breath here does worse than his standard siblings.”

“Really? How so?”

“Go by Dirty Trash, they got a shooting range to test it out.”

“Thanks. Oh, and what were those ponies outside the gate here about?”

“Them? Heh, oddest thing, a rich pony named Luxury managed to renovate a pre war fancy building and moved there from Tenpony Tower. They said he doesn’t like the view being ‘obscured’ by the town and wants to work out a deal to have us all relocate.”

“Waaat?! Who does dat self centered egotistical pile av-!” Daisy was shouting in blasphemy before Jane spoke.

“It’s actually a fair deal,” Jane said, making Daisy’s jaw drop. “Look, with the money and resources, we can settle someplace safer from the Raiders and Bandits, get a safer, cleaner source of water, maybe even make better farms. I’m just thinking about what might be best for the town in the long run, Daisy. Scythe said that, as a sign of good will, she and her group are gonna deliver supplies and caps to show Luxury as a pony of his word.” With that, Jane walked off, leaving a stupefied Daisy and Azure behind.

I thought the whole thing strange. While being able to move someplace safer is nice… why would a pony THAT rich give away all those caps and supplies for nothing more than a view? I mean, from what I’ve read and heard from the pre war times, rich ponies spent bits on all kinds of pointless and useless things. Still, something doesn’t add up. “You all thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Dat dis Luxury pony is up ter somethin'?” Daisy said as Azure nodded.

“Then let’s head up to Dirty Trash and stock up, then head out. If Luxury up to something, we best find out before that shipment gets here.” Azure and Daisy nodded. Daisy lead me to Dirty Trash, which was pretty well named as it was a large trash boat docked on the river. There was a large painted sign that said the shop's name, the “shop” Being a sheet metal and scrap wood building atop the rather flat trash boat. The shooting range actually had a few ponies using it. We crossed a plank bridge onto the boat/shop and entered. There were only four aisles, two with weapons, one with armor, and half of one had foodstuff and the other half had ammo. The rest of the place had crates and other storage items scattered around, piled on top of each other.

Sitting behind an office desk with a cash register on it was a rather scruffy looking stallion. He was thin, smaller than me, and had bottle cap as his Cutie mark. “Well hello, I’m Bitcap, what are you here for?” he asked.

“Well, we need to stock up, and I wanna try out your shooting range.”

“Well, what do you need? Also, hi Daisy.”

“Top o' the marnin ter yer Bitcap, 'oy is yisser ma?” Daisy asked.

“Feeling better, thanks for asking. So what do you fillies need?”

“Ammo, sum 'ealin' poshuns, maybe sum med-x, an' sum liqueur if yer got it?” Daisy asked, that last part more of a plea.

“I got all those things, and something my Brother in New Appleloosa sent me. I was gonna sell it to Far Cry, but I want you to test it first,” Bitcap said, walking behind some crates. Daisy was trying her best not to act like a filly in a candy store. He came back with a crate, and the sound of glass clinking made Daisy’s smile grow wider. He opened the crate and pulled out a bottle of the liquor. It was bottled in a Sparkle Cola, a piece of paper taped around it with the label “Blood Thinner” written on it. As Daisy was about to grab the bottle, Bitcap quickly took it and kept it from her reach. “Now Daisy, my brother told me the recipe, and I am saying this because I care, it’s called Blood Thinner for a reason.”

Daisy chuckled. “Waaat cud be in it that's worth worryin'?”

“Vodka, water, barrel cactus juice, aloe, a spike of Med-X, a teaspoon of Dash, and half a ground up Party Time Mentat.”

Daisy’s face went from happy to a bit worried. “Stop de lights! is..is dat al'?”

“Well...the last, apparently most important ingredient, is Fission Battery Acid.”

“Battery acid?!” I yelled in shock. “Why? Why is that a thing?!”

“I dunno, Bro just makes them, and if he lives, he keeps the recipe,” Bitcap said in defence. “He did warn to only give it out in shot glasses. He took a shot of it, woke up maneless bald next to the town’s shopkeeper. He didn’t know what happened, only that about two days worth of time was missing from his memory.”

“Is that all?” I ask sarcastically.

“Of what he told me, yes.”

“Well, nathin' ventured nathin' gained,” Daisy said, taking the bottle and opening it. The smell reeked of chemicals and… cotton candy? Daisy took a sip. Her eyes went wide as she did what she does best: chugged the whole bottle in seconds. When she finished, there was a pop as she finished the bottle, and gave a rather loud burp. “Sweet stars above! That's rayle 'ard stuff! Gie me two more bottles!” Daisy begged.

“Alright… I still say be careful with this stuff, Daisy,” Bitcap said, taking out two more bottles. “I’ll get the other things you asked for, miss…?” he asked, looking at me.

“Oh, Silent Whisper.”

“Well Miss Whisper, the range is just behind that door, try not to aim anywhere other than the target dummies,” Bitcap said, pointing towards a door between two filing cabinets.

“I’ll try.” I said sheepishly. I opened the door and saw three ponies, one stallion and two mares, shooting the same wooden rifle-looking gun at the target dummies, which were pieces of scrap wood and metal mashed together to form something akin to a pony in shape.

First thing was to figure Dragon’s Breath out. I pulled it out of my saddle bags, as well as the twenty bullets Jane gave me with it. After messing with it a bit, I figured out that forcing the barrels down and keeping the bite grip down revealed where the ammo goes. Huh, two shots only? Should have seen that coming. I closed that back up, seeing it already had two rounds in it already. I took aim, and when I pulled the trigger...I never regretted anything more in my life.

BOOM!

The gunshot was louder than any other gunfire I have heard yet, and to my utter shock and horror, what shot out wasn’t a bullet...it was balls of FIRE! They hit the target dummy and it went up in flames and smoke, the three other ponies all looking at me in surprise. I just looked at them sheepishly. “Hehe...it’s got kick…” I said, looking at the tiny, yet powerful weapon. I opened the ammo section and both shells popped out by themselves. Both of them, and the barrels, were smoking. Taking a second look at the ammo slots, I noticed something odd. There were symbols engraved in the metal on the inside of the barrels. And a few smaller ones engraved on where I assume the trigger makes the bullets shoot… it’s enchanted!?

That was the only answer I could come up with to explain what just happened. I quickly put two more shells in it, then put it safely in my saddle bags along with its ammo. I am only using that in a worst case scenario. I took a lot of deep breaths to calm my nerves. Who in their clearly not right mind would enchant a gun to do THAT?!

I did my best to shove the horror that went through my mind of what the pony who made Dragon’s Breath must have been like, or thinking. I went back inside and saw Azure and Daisy paying for a large sack of items. “There you go Daisy, Azure. I added some of my mom’s Healing Dust, not as effective as Healing Potions, but it heals up wounds well enough.”

“Tanks Bitcap. So Whisper, 'ow wus shootin' Dragon’s Breath?” Daisy asked, handing me a box that I realized was full, twenty four extra rounds of shells, they’re apparently called, for Dragon’s Breath.

“Heh, was...stronger than I expected.”

“I bet, only saw Jane shoot Dragon’s Breath once before. Boom,” Bitcap said, making his hooves spread out with that ‘boom’ part. “Ripped like, five raiders into gore, and they kept burning to ash...wait...the target dummy!” Bitcap exclaimed, rushing to the range with a fire extinguisher.

“Perhaps we should go…” I offered as Azure and Daisy nodded. We quickly left the shop, looking back as we crossed the bridge I saw Bitcap and the three other ponies trying to put the fire out, the Dummy now molten scrap metal and ash, and the fire itself was somehow still burning. Even with a large clump of extinguisher foam being sprayed on it.

Yeah...If I’m not banned from his shop, I am so gonna have to pay him back. We picked up our pace and before we made it to the gate, Azure stopped us, making her...wing motions and made Daisy sigh. “Stop de lights! Nigh?” Azure nodded as Daisy sighed again. “Gran'. Whisper, we gotta make a queck stop, Azure needs ter peck somethin' up at de pawn shop. 'Tis not far, wanna wait or cum?”

A pawn shop. Well, if I do get banned, might as well see the other shops. “I’ll tag along.”

“Gran,” Daisy said with a nod as Azure lead the way to a stairway with a sign reading “Old-New Pawn”. We went down the stairs, and we must have gone underground. When we made it to an opening, the shop looked like a cave, but was well lit, clean, and stuff of all kinds was everywhere.

Azure went up to a painting on the wall, which, was odd, there’s no desk or pony here? She knocked on the wall next to it and the painting slid into the wall, and in the secret compartment was...was… “Zo-” I was about to yell, before Daisy covered my muzzle.

“Relax Whisper, that's jist de town ghoul, calls 'erself Raza, not sure waaat 'er rayle name is. Dare ate two types av ghouls: normals, loike Raza, dat can still blather an' act civilized, an' ferals, dat reef anythin' on sight. Also, callin' dem zombie ponies is 'ighly offensive. Yer don't want ter be labeled a recast nigh. Roi?” I shook my head, but seeing Raza still freaked me out.

She let go of my muzzle and I whispered a question. “So...what is a ghoul?”

“Stoney broke ponies 'ighly eradicated dat didn't 'av de fortune av dyin'. Their body becums altered, 'ence de mouldy form, radiashun 'eals dem, sum, go feral. Sad whaen it 'appens. Naw cure, either.”

I looked at Raza again. My fear still there, but also worry and sadness for her. She was just a normal pony. She didn’t deserve this. “So, here to pick up your trinket Azure?” Raza ashed, her voice raspy and gargled. Azure nodded as Azure walked off somewhere behind the wall and came back with a bracelet. It was weird. It looked like it was made from iron, and had some kinda barcode on it. Azure smiled and quickly put it on. “Glad ya got your trinket back. Now pay up the thirty caps you pawned it for.” Azure nodded, counting out the thirty caps.

I decided to look around a bit, and found some neat things like a combat helmet I saw from a pre-war propaganda poster. I lifted it up, and it looked really neat. “Fifteen caps,” Raza said, gaining my attention. “Got a gas mask and some scrap metal and electronics, sensor module, and I’ll sell you a schematic on making your own riot helmet.”

“A riot helmet?” I asked.

“Yeah. Hey, you got a Pipbuck? You from a Stable?”

“Yes.”

“Ah. I was too, once upon a time.”

“Wait, really?” I asked, walking over to her.

“Yeah, Stable Forty Seven. We were only in there a single generation before heading outside. Gosh, I was just a filly back then.”

“What was your Stable like?”

“Nice. You see, every stable has some kind of experimental, psychological or physical. Ours was an experiment of intelligence. Everypony had to create something that benefitted the whole Stable in some way. We were all inventors, those that were unable to make something that worked or refused to make something were either assigned as guards or tested the new inventions. One of my inventions was the schematic for a fully functioning riot mask made from scrap and other parts. Heh, best part was, I won a prize that year. A month’s worth of blank blueprints.”

“Sounds like you had a nice upbringing.”

“Yeah, even after the stable doors opened it was nice. Our first encounter with ponies topside were traders, and we had goods they absolutely wanted. Made a nice town around the stable and everything. Nowadays they use the Stable as a lab for inventing and such.”

“Really?” I wonder. “Did...your stable by chance have a spare water talisman?”

“Heh, nope. Only got the one, and by now it might be near breaking, cause when I left they were digging for a well.”

Drat. Wait! “Two things, one, where is your town slash stable, and second, how many stables were up and abandoned?”

“Well, the town’s called Gearswork, it’s pretty far north of Baltimare. Look for a building called Trans Comune; that’s the town’s main gate. As for abandoned stables, the wasteland is filled with them, although sadly the majority have either decayed to all heck or something made it a nest. If you’re heading towards any, you best be careful.”

“I will.” Great, abandoned stables will be my best chance at finding a water talisman. Heck, I could find many! A whole bag of working water talismans! And one to shove in that Overmare’s face...and to shove up the asses of that stupid Powder Snake Gang. “Oh, so how much for the extra parts to make the riot helmet? I already have the gas mask.”

Raza smiled. “For a fellow stable dweller, on the house, but the schematic is twenty caps, and that’s with a discount.”

I chuckled, pulling out two of the ten taped-together bunches of caps Jane gave me. Raza took them and went behind the wall again, walking back to the window with the items. I still had the helmet, and a riled up blueprint. “Work bench is over there,” she pointed. I turned around and saw two work benches, one with machines I had no idea what they were, and one that was blue and filled with tools. I walked over to the blue one and opened up the schematics. I had to say, they were amazing. I may have done poorly in magic, but I did fairly well in science. I laid the combat helmet and gas mask on the table and started working.

Being a unicorn made this easy, because I was able to make sure everything was held down properly to be rigged and installed. When I got to the installation of the sensor module, I grinned. According to the footnotes, if I rig it right, I can make it give off a small radio signal that, if I link to my Pipbuck via its radio application, would turn the red lenses of the gas mask into a display, showing me a compass line, warning me of hunger, dehydration, sleep deprivation, and notify me of enemies without needing to look at my Pipbuck. This mare is a genius! I sealed the final wire, and admired the work I made. I also cleaned the gas mask while making this thing, so it no longer stunk, and managed to find a spare filter in the scrap. I kept the old one, as it turned out you can wash them clean. It looked almost nothing like the individual parts anymore. Now it looked like, well, a riot helmet, I suppose.

I put it on, making sure the sensor module was on as I checked my Pipbuck. Sensor module 3849328493AC39. That’s it. I clicked on it, and my display came up. It showed a compass line, accurately showing where I was going, a bunch of blue lines showing everypony here was friendly, and even a bar off to the bottom that I think showed my health. Neat, hoofnotes said I’d get that only if my Pipbuck was a model C4000. Didn’t know that was my Pipbuck model. It also had three mini bars, SLP, FOD, and H2O. Oh this is going to be great. “Thank you Raza,” I said, my voice giving off a funny tone from being muffled a bit by the Riot helmet.

“Hey, ponies should stick together. Shame that’s not as popular these days.”

I nodded. “I’ll be back some time to sell or pawn.”

“You better,” Raza laughed as we made out way out.

By the time we B-lined it out of town, we had spent about two more hours than we should have. The sun was still up, I think, damn clouds, and we kept a steady pace towards where this Luxury would be. “So, worst case scenario?” I asked.

“Well, it cud be an al' oyt reef wi' 'igh end weapons, de grub might be poisoned, or they cud let lose lobotomites on de town, cause oi doubt 'tis, 'tis not gran',” Daisy said as Azure nodded.

“Let’s hope we get there in time.” The sky was getting dark as hours passed. I spotted some friendly dots on my display and halted, making Daisy and Azure stop as well. “They’re up ahead. Let’s try and sneak around, keeping a distance.” They nodded as she snuck closer. We spotted them all in a camp, though by the looks of it it was just for a rest, not overnight. There were three large waggons all loaded with crates.

“Tink yer can use dat talent av yers ter sneak a peek at waaat they got?”

“Easy,” I said, activating my invisibility spell and sneaking towards the carts. The ponies were all talking, but I ignored them. Carefully, I levitated a crate out and in front of me. They were nailed shut, so one by one I managed to, slowly, painfully, magically pull out every nail. Once that was done, I slowly lifted up the lid and saw...food. Cans and boxes of food. I dug down two layers and still found cans and boxes of food It’s all food. I sighed, tossing a can of beans back in, but when it landed, I heard a clink. Thinking it hit another can, I looked in...it landed on a box of apple pie? Wait, then what made the clank? I took out the can and tried to pull out the pie...only to find it stuck. Huh? I pulled harder, and there was the sound of cardboard tearing. I stopped, checking if the ponies heard. They were still talking amongst themselves, so I took a slower approach and bit by bit tore off what turned out was just the top part of the cardboard, held up by sticks it was glued to.

I looked in the hole I made and...my stomach dropped. I had seen it on posters, read about it in books, and when my brother took me with him to see the armory, I saw one in real life. A Balefire Egg. This one was altered though, with four sensor modules and a lot of wires attached to it. I quickly grabbed another box. It was full of caps, but I ignored the clear goldmine and dug to see if my fears were true. I gulped, finding another, similar Balefire Egg rigged the same way...Luxury's gonna blow up Dirty River. If all these crates have a Balefire Egg in them...Oh Goddess...it might be large enough to rival an ACTUAL Megaspell explosion. I quickly put everything back into the first crate and just covered them with their lids, not even caring to nail them shut again as I placed them back quietly. Recasting my spell, I quickly made it back to Azure and Daisy. Once safe with them, slightly up road behind a billboard, I dropped the spell. “Is it brutal?” Daisy asked.

“Extremely, each one of those crates has a Balefire Egg set up with a remote destination.”

“Dat basterd. I'll show 'imself,” Daisy growled, reaching into her saddlebags and pulling out...some plastic wrapped blocks with sensor modules attached to them. “Da alwus said 'av a backup plan for whaen push cums ter shove. Whisper, place dees on each av wan av de carts, whaen dis gets shot, it'll blow, an' so 'ill dohs Balefire Eggs.”

“So...you’re not gonna shoot it right away, right?”

“Naw, if we blow it up withoyt proof Jane 'ill git angery wi' us. 'ere, take dis,” Daisy said, giving me her flask. “An' slip sum av dis is Scythe's draink, she's a lightweight. We'll keep 'er as proof.”

I nodded, taking the strange explosive and the flash before activating my spell again. I made quick work getting the explosive on the cart, in a spot that either Daisy or Azure could hit. The tricky part was getting the liquor into Scythe’s drink. She was drinking a Sparkle Cola, but how do I get this stuff in there without anypony noticing? Huh...maybe. I grabbed a rock, it being cloaked in my spell too, and walked near the waggons and threw it at them.

“What was that?” several of the ponies asked, getting up while others looked around, waving their guns.

I snuck back around to Scythe, who had put her drink down and searched as well, and quickly poured a fair amount of what smelled like...Oh damn, this is Bitcap’s brother’s booze… Hope she won’t smell it. With that done, I snuck back around to Daisy and Azure. “Done.”

“Deadly, nigh we wait,” Daisy said as we waited, keeping watch at the ponies.

Things got loud as it seems Scythe actually drank the spiked cola. “And Y *hic* you, Knives! You’re sooooooooooooo lucky I am you-your sister, o-o-otherwise I’d have sliced ya long ago!” Scythe said, beyond drunk, earning some laughes from her group save for Knives, who rolled his eyes. Huh, sister? Never would have guessed. “A-and you know what else?”

“What?” Knives asked, clearly annoyed that all her drunken blathering was aimed at him.

“I-I-I- I know about that Griffin you shagged back in-in-in Far Haybor. *Hic*”

“You swore!”

“I’m drunk, so fuck off!” Scythe declared, trying to punch him, only to hit air and fall on the ground.

Knives went up to her, giving her a light kick as she replied with a loud snort. “Alright, who spiked her drink?” He looked around as none of the ponies answered. Hehe, over here, stupid. “Fine, if no one’s stallion, or mare enough to admit it, it’s all our heads when she gets out of her hangover. You lot start packing up to drop this stuff off, I’ll stay here til Scythe wakes up.”

“Perfect. Jist as planned,” Daisy muttered as the group started picking up their things.

Knives stayed by the fire with Scythe, who was spouting nonsense, to me at least, in her drunken sleep while Knives just rolled his eyes, watching the rest of the group haul the carts away. I activated my spell again, knowing that once those carts blow, Knives will likely shoot first when we show ourselves. Once the carts were out of hearing distance, Daisy gave Azure the okay and she went off, keeping a distance from the carts but still following them under night’s cover. Meanwhile, I drenched a cloth in that Blood Thinner booze. I was about behind Knives now, and I saw him take a sniff. “Damn, what stinks?!”

“This,” I said, dropping my spell, using my magic as best I could to pin Knives down and cover his muzzle in the cloth. He struggled like crazy, trying to yell, but after a bit he began to relax, the booze acting like chlorine, and he was soon out cold. Huh, wonder if he got drunk just by breathing it? Daisy ran up to me, taking out some duct tape and wrapping up Scythe’s and Knives’ hooves. Since Scythe was a unicorn, Daisy wrapped another piece of cloth around her eyes and secured it with duct tape. “Good idea, can’t use magic if you can’t see what’s going on around you.”

“Exactly, nigh we jist wait for-” Daisy was cut off by the night sky becoming day again, an explosion that made Dragon’s Breath sound like a BB gun going off fifteen or so yards ahead of us. My Pipbuck went crazy, irradiated winds blowing at us and so much heat that I had to close my eyes. And to think, this is not even close to what Raza or those who died when the Megaspells fell felt when they dropped. The heat was still in the air and actually I could see a hole in the clouds...stars… I saw stars! Bright, twinkling lights in the night sky...they were beautiful. I have seen pictures, but the real thing...it’s breathtaking. Sadly though, it didn’t last long as the clouds began to quickly re-cover the hole, the beautiful, true night sky that the Wasteland was deprived of hidden behind a grey layer of clouds yet again. I did see something odd though, right before the hole was covered again. I saw something...a pony, well, a silhouette of a pony, flying across the gap as it closed. They were a Pegasus, like Azure.

It hit me then that, out of all the ponies I’ve seen, the raiders I...had to kill. Not a one of them were a Pegasus. She’s the only Pegasus I’ve seen. I’ll have to ask why that is later as Azure came back, flapping her wings to tell Daisy something. Damn, really need to try and figure out how to read wings.

“Score av dem? Well, it wus dem or Derdy River,” Daisy said, sighing. She picked up Scythe, placing her on Azure’s back. From what I seen, I now know why Azure deserves her cutie mark. “Gran' so, let’s take dees two buggers back ter Derdy River!” Daisy called out as she threw Knives over her back, then drinking her flask while we headed back to town.