Fallout Equestria: Lineage

Reminders

My head hurt like a mother. More importantly, my right eye was throbbing. What the hell did Lyon do to me? But first of all, where am I? I looked around. I was lying in a bed inside a dingy room with minor mold growing on the walls and ceilings. I checked my PipBuck.

No way! I slept for an entire day! I winced as my stomach growled. There was a knock on the door and in walked a mare with shadows under her lavender eyes. She had a purple hide and white mane. She gave me a small smile.

“Welcome back.” She said. I blinked and rubbed my face groaning.

“Where am I?” I asked as I slipped off the bed and onto my hooves. I put one hoof on my right eye. It felt like it was going to explode. The mare looked at me, as if studying me.

“Well, you must be a courier. No surprise. I found ya’ cradled up in a tree not too far away from a wagon. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what happened there? Did you do something to literally obliterate three ponies to where there is nothing but gore?”

Obliterate? Three ponies? My head hurt so much that I couldn’t think straight.

“Erm… no… no I didn’t.” I said. The mare just shrugged and pulled out a cigarette and lit it. She took a pull before continuing.

“Well then, I’ll answer your question now. You are at Hotel Cadence. A hotel officially opened by Crystal Empire’s only princess, Princess Cadence.” She took another pull. “To answer your next question.” I blinked at her. “You are in the town of Little Tail Heights.” I looked at my PipBuck and sure enough, the map brought up Little Tail Heights. I cocked my head in confusion. I don’t know this route.

“Huh… I’ve never been on this route.” I said. I trailed the squiggly line on my map till I saw something familiar at least a day’s trot from Little Tail Heights. No wonder. The route I was on is not under RCE control. In fact, I’ve only heard about this route. Route 15, a dangerous route where you’ll only find golems and raiders alike. Probably a few Mutant Ponies. Either way, going on that route, you are bound to either get shot, raped or eaten alive. Unfortunately for me, I have to go that route in order to get back to the Crystal Empire Express. I groaned.

“Welp, best you find a detour. Because that’s the only route that can take you back to courier roads and RCE territory.” The mare said. Wait a minute… why were the Bull Horn gang members traveling Route 15? Weren’t they interested in being slavers? They wouldn’t have risked valuable merchandise through something treacherous as Route 15. Oh great, I just realized I called myself merchandise. I shook away the thought and threw my duster’s hood over my head, raising a brow from the mare.

“Err. Thanks for letting me stay here for an entire day. But I must get back to the Express.” Otherwise, Post Box will be pissed. Yeah, bet you didn’t guess what my bosses name was? But what does it matter anyway. All I know is that my only way back is through Route 15, or “Courier's Death Road.” I levitated out twenty caps and gave them to the confused mare.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Well, I guess I kinda feel bad that you had me in this room unexpectedly for an entire day and I don’t want to waste the hospitality. So I’m paying you for letting me stay here. After all, this is a hotel right?” I said with a grin as I trotted past her. I felt myself being yanked back by my tail and looked at the mare in confusion.

“Whoa, easy there, hun. Are you sure you are ready to get back on the road?” she asked. I blinked at her.

“Of course. I’m a courier so I shouldn’t really sight see when I’m here.” I said with a wave of a hoof. She shook her head.

“I don’t care about your policy. What I’m more concerned is that eye of yours.” She said. My eye? I put a hoof to my right eye and winced as it throbbed on contact. I hissed in pain as I blinked it once. I remember Lyon putting his horn to my eye but then after that, everything went black.

“Can I have a mirror?” I asked with a hint of panic. She walked over to a drawer and pulled out a small mirror. I levitated it to me and saw my reflection staring back at me. I gasped as I saw that my right eye was no longer gold, but a milky white glaze. But that wasn’t all. As I took a closer look, I noticed something moving across my eye. They were numbers. They scrolled across my eye with each number at random intervals. Suddenly, they vanished and one number popped up. Sixteen.

I dropped the mirror and it cracked. Was it me or suddenly it was hard to breathe. I slumped over, gasping for air. My eye throbbed even more and I curled up on the floor hissing in pain. And as quick as it started, it all stopped and I calmed myself a little.

“You all right, sugar?” the mare asked helping me up. I rubbed my eye and nodded. The pain was gone and I levitated the mirror back up. Through the cracks, I noticed my eye was now back to its normal golden color. But I know for sure that something had happen. And a certain sibling has explaining to do when I find him. Speaking of which…

“Do you know where Lyon went?” I asked. She arched a brow. “My brother. Have you seen him when you found me?” she shook her head and my hopes plummeted. Figures that he wouldn’t be around. Why would he leave me there alone, let alone in a tree?

“Afraid not.” The mare said. “All I saw was gore and you snoring inside a tree.” I rubbed my face. Something felt a bit off about the whole ordeal. “So, what happened with your eye?” she asked arching a brow. I shook my head.

“I don’t know… but I think…” I didn’t want to say it. I couldn’t think of how awful it is to put blame on him for it. Was he just trying to protect me? Was he still the brother I know?  I sighed. “You know what? Never mind. Do you know where I can get a drink around here?” The mare smiled.

“Little Tail Heights is home to Equestria’s finest cider and alcoholic beverages. In fact, the factory that makes Wild Pegasus and Ranger Whisky is here as the town’s heart.” She said. My ears perked and I must have a beamed at her. She nickered and trotted to the door. “Come with me. I could use a drink as well.”

The town wasn’t as lively as Settlement. However, the bars were packed tight. I counted at least ten different bars and six clubs. This was like a rebel’s paradise. Not only that, Shimmer, the mare that found me in the tree, told me that this town runs solely on trading resources to make more booze. As we rounded the corner, I gapped at the sight of a giant three story red building with big words reading:

CRYSTAL BREWERY: YOU’LL BEING SEEING YOURSELF TWICE

“Yup, I heard that they are working on a very special type of beverage using crystals found around the empire.” Shimmer said.

“Do you know what’s it going to be called?” I asked with peaking curiosity. She shrugged in reply.

“Dunno. The CEO said that they are working on something big that would take Equestria and the Wasteland by storm.” She said taking a pull of a newly lit cigarette. She blew a ring of smoke towards the building and I watched it disappear into the sky. The clouds had covered up the sun again, bringing another six days of snow and gloom. But that didn’t seem to matter. We passed by more clubs and busy market streets. I cocked my head as I noticed that the market street was full of wannabe gangers and raiders.

“Why are raiders and gangers shopping together? I remember Kingpin IV declaring all-out war with the raiders?” I said going back a few years as the great great ect. Grandson of the notorious mob boss Kingpin stating to the public that raiders were vile beasts and will be shot on sight. Stall told me that he almost got caught into a crossfire between Kingpin’s boys and raiders while on his way to Las Pegasus for a delivery. Thankfully, he told me and a much panicked ridden Heart that he snuck past them, only taking out a couple of both raiders and Kingpin’s boys that happened to get in his way of escape. Shimmer nodded.

“They are. But here in Little Tail Heights, there appears to be a silent mutual truce amongst them whenever raiders or gangers alike come here. Strangest thing I ever saw. I lived here all my life and I remember this place only being gang ridden territory before a group of Reapers came out of the blue with a raider leader and somehow convinced the gangs here to have a mutual agreement. I don’t know what or why for the life of me.” Shimmer explained. We finally found a club that was still pretty packed, but not so much.

The DJ pumped his hoof into the air along with the beat of the music and ponies danced along with it. We made our way to the bar where an old looking stallion was busy wiping the glasses clean. He give us a toothless grin.

“Now what do ya’ fine young mares wantin’ this evening?” he asked. I put five caps on the table.

“A flask of Ranger Whiskey, please.” I said. Shimmer knocked her hoof on the counter.

“Make it two.” She said. The old stallion pulled out two flasks and we both tapped the flask together and pulled at the same time. Such warm feely goodness!

“So” Shimmer began. “I never got your name.” I took a pull from the flask before answering.

“Courier.” I said. Shimmer arched her brow. “I’m not kidding.” I quickly said with a wave of my hoof.

“Mhmm. So you’re a courier and your name is Courier?” Shimmer sighed. “Irony if I ever heard it.” I flushed and rubbed the back of my head.

“Well, there is a reason. You see, I come from a long line of courier ponies. My entire family were either once or still couriers.” I explained taking a pull of the flask before continuing. “I have four siblings. There is my baby sister, Bell. She’s working on being a courier as we speak. Then there is Stall, already starting to win up his way to being the top courier of the Express. He’s the middle younger child. Then you have me, the middle eldest child. Then there is my older sister, Heart, who is very popular with the colts and stallions of the Express.” I said the last part with a little hiss. Then I faltered. I readied myself to speak as Shimmer listened intently. “Then there is my eldest brother, Lyon. He… well, let’s just say he’s not faring well these days.” I took more than one pull of the flask and slammed it down on the counter. “You know… he has his plate full with delivering with high end projects to aristocrats and leaders.” I lied right then and there.

What has happened to Lyon and his affect his disappearance had on my siblings and me is really personal.

“He that stallion you mentioned back at the hotel?” Shimmer asked with a concerned look at me as I was no longer pulling, but chugged a bit of the whisky. My throat burned and my stomach seemed to disagree with the amount I had just drank. But I didn’t care. Whisky, best drink for all your troubles. My vision blurred and I squinted to see Shimmer better. I nodded in reply to her.

“He saved me from a couple of Bullhorn Boys that were willing to sell me to slavers.” I said. That slip of the tongue must have been the drink. I was starting to feel a bit depressed. I took another pull before Shimmer took the flask from me and held it away as I frantically tried to grab. I sighed and slumped. “I miss him… so much.” I said quietly. Shimmer put a hoof around me and I just leaned on her. I felt so very tired.

“I guess you had enough to drink for now.” She said looking at my empty flask. I noticed hers was still half full. I narrowed my eyes.

“Nonsense! Perish the thought! You can never have enough to drink!” I cheered as I swiped her flask and took a couple of pulls before she swiped it back from me and glared. I pouted.

“Listen, sugar, a young mare like you shouldn’t waste caps on just drinks.” Shimmer said.

“How would you know?” I asked as I slumped more into her. She patted my shoulders.

“Hun, I smoke and drink. I admit, not the healthiest life. But I also have something else to keep my mind off of things.” She said. I narrowed my eyes at her. “I have friends that I can express my troubles too. Hell, you’re one of them already.”

Friends… that word hung at me like a loose string. I figured my family to be the only friends I need.

“Pssh, who needs friends.” I said bluntly and hiccupped. Shimmer frowned at me. “I mean, I don’t mind talking to others. But I don’t stick around enough to have friends.” She arched a brow.

“So you have no friends what so ever?” she asked. I nodded my head.

“My siblings are all I need.” I said with a hiccup.

“Sure, sure. Family can be friends too. But you can’t solely rely on them as your means of conversation. Think about it. How long do you even talk with your other siblings while on your trips? I don’t know much about couriers, but I do see some that meet each other in the same town.” She said. I pondered this. The last time I ever talked to my siblings has been a while, exclude the recent meet up with Heart. We only talked for a few minutes, ended up stopping a clerk from framing somepony to get money, I got captured and the last I saw of Heart was her vanishing in the crowd and leaving me a message. Now that I think about, the only times I actually ever hear about Stall and Bell is over my PipBuck. On occasions, we would all meet up at the express and chat aimlessly amongst one another, but when one of gets a delivery request, we end up going back to doing what we always do ever since we born.

Deliveries. Being a courier, you go through so much to reach the destination. You’ll be lucky if you make it there either late or with bullet holes and stab wounds. I heard some couriers disappearing but soon reach the Express as deceased or raider food and the package or letter they were supposed to deliver were lost to the rest of the Wasteland. Post Box is never happy when that happens. ‘Bad for the business and I lose money’ he says. Then there was the occasional send back package. I remember the Express being in an uproar when a package was sent back to us by the recipient with the head of the courier who delivered said package with a note that said ‘The heart shall fall!’ in blood.

I must have been deep in thought because Shimmer was shaking me furiously. I blinked and looked at her. Her lavender eyes staring back at me with concern.

“Err… sorry. What were you saying?” I asked with a sheepish smile.

“Hun, you are starting to worry me.” She said. “Are you sure you are okay? You looked like you were ready to go on a bloody massacre.” I arched my brow.

“Really? I’ve been told a few times that I get this murderous look when I’m pissed or… I don’t know… in thought?” I rubbed my chin. Ah memories. I couldn’t help but remember when I gave said look to a certain pony that was antagonizing Bell. The young colt was constantly teasing and I just happened to be there. When he struck her however, it was up for big sis to step in and the colt wet himself before running off crying to his mommy. Even Bell seemed scared of me after that and didn’t talk to me for a week. I sighed.

Shimmer just smiled and patted my shoulder. “Well, since you are heading back, make sure to stop by every now and then. I could use another drinking buddy.”

“Another?” I cocked my head.

“The other one died of alcohol poisoning and radiation poisoning at the same time.” I must have given a disgusted face when she looked at me and nickered. “Yep, practically vomited his guts out. Poor fool…” She suddenly looked very tired. We both stood up and I swayed a bit. The whisky was still there. Oh boy, I had already gotten out of a recent hangover and I’m going to have another one in the middle of the day.

Before we could get out of the club, a group of ponies blocked the exit and grinned at us. I sighed and rubbed my face.

“Not this shit again…” I muttered.

“What do you want, Bucky?” Shimmer said, glaring at the black stallion with the white fedora. I had to admit, he was neatly groomed. He wore a white and black checkered suite and had a playing card with a 5 of spades cutie mark followed by two more card on his side that were face down.

“Evening ladies, but I couldn’t help but notice that you are a courier?” the stallion said. I looked at him, trying to see if he was going to pull anything out from that suite or hat of his. I won’t lie, it’s a pretty fucking awesome hat. I felt a twinge of envy as I stared at his fedora. I threw my hood over my head.

“I am.” I said. “Do you have a request?” Bucky nodded and reached into his suite. My magic carefully hovered over to the slung shot gun on my back. When he pulled out an envelope, I eased a little.

“I do. Think you can deliver this to a friend of mine in Las Pegasus?” he said with a charming smile. I levitated the letter and looked at the address.

To Mr. House in Las Pegasus. I looked down and saw the stamped words ‘EYES ONLY’ on it. “I’ll see if I can run it by Post Box.” I said as I stuffed the letter in my courier bag which I keep all my letters and packages in for business.

“Hey baby, thanks a lot. See you around, ya’ dig?” Bucky said with a wink and trotted out. Shimmer eased a little. I hadn’t noticed how tensed up she was when she saw Bucky.

“Friend of yours?” I asked.

“More like ex-coltfriend.” She said with a snort. I nodded.

“I can never understand males. They just seem… all horny to me.” I said with a wince. But then again, when I feel myself being horny, I just give myself a good rub. I knew how to please my own self.

“Hun, males are confusing, period. Equestria was mainly dominated by mares anyway.” She said matter-of-factly. “Trust me, you’re better off without a stallion in your life.” I laughed.

“Don’t worry, I’m only strictly into mares anyway.” I said. Wait… why did I just express my own gender interest? Must have been the whisky. I flushed as Shimmer gave me a speculative look and a grin. I backed away with my best grin I could manage. “Ahaha… thanks for the drink, Shimmer. But I really have to get going now. Buh-bye!” I said and quickly bolted away.

I shivered and groaned. I hate the north. It was always so cold and freezing. Why the hell are we even here? The Empire had fallen two centuries ago and yet, ponies still thrived in the north. How about someplace normal like Manehattan? Hell, I wouldn’t care about Hoofington’s rainy days. It beats having to freeze your flank off. But that’s just me being nitpicky. I stopped and looked up to an ominous large sign.

ROUTE 15

I felt my spine shiver. This wasn’t a freezing shiver. It was ‘oh fuck I’m getting bad vibes’ shiver.

‘No turning back now…’ I thought to myself. I took a step forward and was instantly greeted with a strong freezing wind that nearly blew my hood off. ‘Karma, if I die here, I’m going to kick your ass when I see you.’ With that I made my way down Route 15. At first, I didn’t see nothing that seemed to make the rumor true. But a mile later, I begin to see vulgar makeshift signs and bodies pike up right from the ground. I saw gore over the cracked street and some dark marks that showed signs of explosives being set off. I felt myself getting sick, but I just shook it off and kept going. In the distance, I could hear faint gun shots being returned with more gunshots and shouting. I took a swig of my purified water flask as I passed by a shack that had a torso chained to the door like a flesh lock.

Most ponies would scavenge for supplies. For me? I picked them up of corpses that were not picked through by scavengers. I’m not one to stray off track and go investigate to cure my curiosity. In fact, we were conditioned not to go wander off. Though that’s one of the many reasons couriers die. Curiosity killed the cat. Or in this case, courier. As I went further I gave a silent gasp as I passed by what looked like a bloody war. On one side was gore and bits of gangers and on the other side the same exact thing with raiders. Something definitely big went down on Route 15 long ago. I noticed some bodies were still intact and were left alone. I picked out what I needed and continued on. The blood bath seemed to last for a mile before ending with more bodies on pikes and vulgar signs.

Something was off. If I heard the rumors correctly, you wouldn’t be able to take a few steps through the route without seeing a group of gangers or raiders. To my surprise, I only saw body parts of recent battles and what not, but no live ponies. Okay, no time to get too paranoid. Okay, maybe a little. Fuck! Why was it going so smoothly? I bit my lower lip and activated my PipBuck’s radio log. I picked Crystal News Network and put the ear bloom in my ear.

“Good evening, everypony. This is your DJ New Pegus, here with your news around the empire. Whoops, let me just put on my news fedora here. Now to all you folks listening, The RCE is still in an all-out war with the Legate. The stripes show no sign of backing down and RCE officials are doing everything they can to keep them at bay. It appears with intel that the stripes are planning on seizing Route 2, a road where brave couriers travel on, who put their lives on the line to make sure our letters to loved ones are reached. My hat goes off to each and every one of you couriers.” There was the sound of papers shuffling. “In other news, still no words about the explosion of Bull Horn Building. The leader, Bull Horn himself, claims that a rival gang member was disguised as a courier and delivered a package and left without a word. He has declared full out war between the Bullhorn Boys and Feather Tail gang and will take place along Route 15.”

I stopped and shivered. All kinds of alarms were going off. New Pegus continued. “Now folks, don’t go being reckless and heading straight off to see the war. War is not a game. It is a gamble between life and death. And you, my listeners, are too beautiful to lose to mere rival business. This has been New Pegus and ask for you all to stay strong and be safe. Now, for some music by Octavia and DJ Pon3 together.” I turned off the radio and took off the ear bloom. I glanced around.

Nothing.

‘This is going way to smooth.’ I thought to myself. I wasn’t paying attention as I bumped into something big and fell back on my rump. I looked up and saw a red stallion look down to me. His stoic expression locked onto my face. His black mane flapped in the wind along with a black scarf. I noticed he was wearing a battle saddle with a giant grenade gun that was about the same size as me. He just looked at me with that calm and stoic expression. I stood up carefully and trotted around him. I flinched as he stuck a hoof out in front of me. Looking back at him, I saw him shake his head and motioned with his head. I followed his direction and squinting just a little, I could see yards and yards of land mines placed on the road and to the sides.

“Well fuck me.” I muttered. I looked back up at the stallion. “Anyway around?” He rubbed his chin in thought and shrugged. I groaned and rubbed my face. “Well, I have to find some way to go around. I have to get back to Empire Express.” I notice him arching brow at me.

“You’re a courier?” he asked with a deep voice. I was taken aback a bit but nodded. “What the hell are you doing on Route 15? I thought you lot stay away from here.” I rubbed the back of my head and made sure my hood was still covering my face.

“Well yeah. I was just coming from Little Tail Heights a few miles back.” I said. He seemed shocked. “What?”

“Are you looking to get yourself killed?” he asked. I shook my head.

“Look, if I wanted to go get myself killed, I would have done it years ago. I’m not some filthy scavenger just in it for loot.” I said with a growl.

“And you were planning on continuing even though there are landmines?” he arched his brow. Okay, this stallion was making me uncomfortable. I gave a sheepish smile.

“Well… okay, so I may not have noticed the landmines, but thanks to you, I do. Now I just need to find some way around.” I said. The stallion shook his head.

“Couriers. Nothing but trouble.” He muttered. “Well, I can tell you one thing. We aren’t going across and it will certainly take some time to go around. So why don’t we just toss things at them?” he suggested. I rubbed my chin.

“Huh, I guess that would work… wait, what do you mean we?” I balked. Before he could finish, a loud explosion went off and a scream not too far reached our ears. We looked over just in time to see a raider lay there with no haunches. She cried in pain. Suddenly, I felt something graze the tip of my ear and I looked back. I could see two snipers on the hill. Another shot, but this time from the other direction followed by more from both sides. Fortunately for us, these snipers were terrible shots. Unfortunately, we were out in the open with no cover. “Well Celestia rape me with solar flares. We are so fucked.” I said as I ducked my head that would have been a lucky shot from a sniper. The stallion shifted to the side as bullets came close to hitting him. Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground and instincts took over. I managed to stop a knife from being plunged into my side as a mare laughed manically at me. I recognized the insignia on her head. She was a Bullhorn Boy. I managed to get one copy of me to appear behind her and tap her shoulder.

She looked back in surprise and I took the advantage. Using my magic, I yanked the knife away and plunged it deep into the eye socket of the mare. She screamed and reeled back off of me. I followed it up with a kick of one my back legs that sent her stumbling back into a land mine. Her blood and giblets flew into the air and when they came back down, more landmines went off. I looked over to see the stallion ram into a raider buck and lift up another over his back sending them flying into the landmines.

“We need to get out of here!” I shouted as pulled my Shining Armor enchanted combat shotgun. I entered S.A.T.S and blew the heads off of two Bullhorn Boys charging at me. Suddenly, my EFS (Eyes Forward Sparkle) suddenly brightened with red all over. ‘Not good.’ There was a deep thump and an explosion followed after. I looked back to see the stallion fire into a crowd of Feather Tails. Body parts and blood splattered everywhere. Only to have a few more groups take their place. Me and the stallion backed up to one another. We were trapped from both sides. I never thought I’d see the day were I get caught in between a fire fight between one gang that was pissed at the Feather Tail and the other pissed at the Bullhorn Boys.

“All because I delivered that damn package!” I groaned as I fired at three Bullhorn Boys, shooting one’s leg off and popping the other two in the head. The stallion continued to fire 40mm grenades into the crowds of Feather Tail and shouted over the sounds of guns.

“You were the one that set off this war!?” he said with a look of annoyance.

“It’s not my fault it was a damn bomb from a rival gang!” I shouted back defensively. I felt my side being pelted and I quickly chugged down a health potion and continued firing, reloading as quickly as I could. The stallion wasn’t faring any better. We had to get out of this fire fight. If we retreated back, we were sure to be picked off by snipers. If we moved forward, we would be increasing the chances of blowing ourselves up. Let’s see… get shot in the head or blown up. Shot in the head. Blown up. Oh boy, choices! The stallion noticed me weighing my options and shouted.

“What are you planning!?” He reloaded his gun that took me by surprise as to how fast he did it. Earth ponies must have a certain trick. Some sort of magic in them after all. I told him the options as I blasted two more Bullhorn Boys in the head. Both sides were starting to get a little too close for comfort now.

“Is there a third?” he asked as he continued to fire into the crowd. I opened my mouth to say something, but ducked as a Bullhorn Boy jumped over me and tackled a Feather Tail to the ground. They both landed into a mine that went off and I was pelted with the scrap metal. I flew back into the stallion who caught me and forced a health potion that I greedily chugged down. I felt my wounds heal up. Taking a health potion of his own, he helped me up and steadied me. I don’t know what came over me but suddenly, I figured a third option out. I closed my eyes and concentrated splitting myself into four copies. When I opened them, I was greeted with my copies looking at me.

“What are you doing?” the stallion asked as he ducked his head to avoid being blown off by a rifle bullet. I smirked at him.

“Our third option.” I said. I told two of my copies to take our left and right side and told one to take the back and ordered the last one to take the lead. I stood next to the stallion and smiled. “This is our shield. We run through the fire fight. If one copy gets taken out, I’ll quickly put up another one in its place.” I said.

“You can do that?” he arched a brow. I shook my head.

“This is my first go. Never been able to do four copies. But hey, at least I can say I know how to create four solid copies.” I said. The stallion shook his head and sighed.

“Couriers… nothing but trouble.” Without another word, me, the stallion and my copies bolted forward. Landmines were set off as we passed. My copies took most of the trauma and when one vanished, I quickly summoned another one to take its place. I was beginning to feel light headed. Shouts and guns still surrounded us. Every few minutes, a gang member would shoot one of my copies and get shot in the back by one of their own or by the other gang. Things were getting intense as we traversed further into the fight. Apparently, the lesser members were way in the back fighting like maniacs, but as soon as we got further in, heavily armored ponies took the place of light armored gangs. The elites were duking it out in the middle of all the chaos. Some went down and others just got grazed. I ducked as an anti-material rifle bullet zipped overhead. My instincts were on high gear. The stallion occasionally fired up and I watched the grenades bounce out of sight in the middle of ponies fighting only to see blood and giblets take their place.

I smiled as we broke out from the middle and into the lesser fights. Before I could shout in joy, we were blasted off our hoof and spiraled into the snow. My ears were ringing and I shakily stood up. I glanced over at the red stallion who chugged down a health potion and tossed me one. I caught it with my magic and greedily drank it. I shook my head to get rid of the ringing when I was suddenly grabbed by the neck and lifted up off the ground. I struggled and kicked as I gasped for breath.

“Well, if it ain’t the courier responsible for this.” A voice said. I looked down and saw a two headed minotaur. Both heads leered at me.

“Bull Horn.” I choked. I was suddenly slammed into the snow and a giant hoof was placed on the side of my head, pinning me. I quickly glanced over to the stallion only to see him being preoccupied with Bull Horn’s body guards that were also minotaurs. I looked up with the eye that wasn’t buried in the snow. From his expression, he was pissed and both heads snorted.

“Nice to see you too, babe.” One head said with a grin. “We are gonna have a little chat right here and now.” The other head said with a snort. I grinned.

“Aren’t you worried your heads are going to get blown off?” I said smugly. The minotaur snorted again.

“I’m the one and only Bull Horn! Ain’t nothing scares me.” He growled.

“Are you certain about that?” another voice rasped. He looked over and I followed his gaze. A giant griffin in battle armor. He was dressed in so many spikes and sharp objects that I shuddered as he moved. It looked so unnatural.

“Razor… right hand griffin of Feather Tail himself. To what honor do I have of you showing yourself to me?” Bull Horn smirked.

“Well for one, you can let the innocents go and focus on me or I’ll just blow everyone to kingdom come.” He said as he pulled out a small detonator and waved it at Bull Horn. I could see Bull Horn froze in shock a bit, but he didn’t show it.

“You’re willing to blow up the entire road to win?” Bull Horn laughed. “Feather Tail maybe hardcore when it comes to planning, but it makes it so much more convincing that his own death machine carries it out.” He lifted his hoof off my head and I coughed. I rubbed my throat and glared at Bull Horn who seemed to not be paying me any attention. The other two minotuars let go of the stallion. He trotted over to me and gave me another health potion, which I immediately drank down.

“So what’s the plan now?” he asked as I stood up. I glanced at the two locked into a stare battle. My eyes reached the detonator and I frowned. It looked weird. As if… My eyes widened.

“It’s a fake…” I muttered. The stallion balked and looked at me.

“What?” he shouted. I put a hoof to my mouth to quiet him. Then I grinned. I guess Karma was giving me a break. He balked even more but I gave him a look to calm down. I had pulled out two slave collars. Bull Horn had them at his side as well as the detonator with it. How I did it? Well, let’s just say a courier is always one step ahead.

“The plan is for me to do something really stupid.” I said as I looked back at the two. The stallion shook his head.

“I wouldn’t figure Bull Horn to be so reckless.” He said with a small smile.

“I guess your brain also splits when you have two heads.” I smiled back. “Now to get them together without Bull Horn’s body guards noticing us.” I cocked my head as the stallion grinned.

“Leave them to me.” He said.

“Now that we have that out of the way, I’m going to have to ask you to surrender.” Razor said as he waved the detonator in front of him, reminding Bull Horn who had the trigger. Bull Horn snorted.

“You think you some kinda big shot just because you waving a tiny stick in my face makes me want to surrender?” he spat. “Ya’ gotta try something better, boy.” The griffin sighed.

“He was right about you being stubborn.” He said. “But it is the only other option. If we both are to survive this, you either give up now or I’ll just blow this entire road up.”

“How about I just kill you right here and now!?” Bull Horn said as he stomped up to the griffin, who didn’t flinch, and stared him down, their faces almost touching. I made my move. I rose my hooves up and brought them down on their necks. They looked at me startled.

“So very stubborn indeed.” I said smirking at the both of them.

“What the hell?” Razor said as he pulled away. Bull Horn did the same. They looked liked they were ready to charge me. But I had my trump card. I lifted up the collar detonator in my magic and wiggled it in their faces. They both immediately shot their hands to their necks.

“Uhp-pup-pup. I wouldn’t recommend messing with them.” I said as they felt the collars on their necks. Bull Horn looked back to his body guards who were unconscious and tied up. Razor held up a claw where the detonator used to be. Realizing it wasn’t there, he looked around and spotted the stallion smirking with the detonator in his mouth. The two glared at me. I just smirked and held the detonator up for them to see. “From this point, I decide whether either of you live or die.” I threw my hood back over my head. “Fortunately, I’m a reasonable pony and would really recommend that you both cooperate and we all walk out of here unharmed.” I noticed that the fighting had stopped and those alive on either side looked up over to us. “But first, I must get one thing clear. Razor, you are a terrible liar.” I nodded to the stallion. He dropped the fake detonator and crushed it with one good stomp. “Now then, let’s hear it. What are your words on wanting to carry this war out? Is it solely because I did it?” I asked glancing at Bull Horn. “Or you were just using it as an excuse to end your petty rivalry?” I glanced at the griffin.

“A courier should mind her own business!” The griffin spat.

“I was minding my own business.” I countered. “But someone decided to jump into the snake pit only to get tied up in the process.” I looked between the both of them.

“Admit it, she’s with you!” Bull Horn argued. The griffin balked.

“Why would we hire a filthy courier to do our work? If we wanted to blow your place up, we could have done it without a courier.” He retorted. I arched a brow.

“So both of you don’t really know who did it, do you?” I said as I walked over to stand next to the stallion. I wasn’t in for protection, but if things get harry, I could get us both out without being harmed. Bull Horn opened his mouth, only to close it and sighed.

“So admit it.” I said.

“Admit what?” the griffin asked.

“That you were just using this whole thing as an excuse to cause a war and wanted to snuff out one or the other and become dominate gang for Route 15. To finally end your petty rivalry.” I began to pace. “Not only that, as soon as Bull Horn saw me, he didn’t even hesitate to attack me because he thought I was the one Feather Tail sent to blow up his building.” I looked at the griffin. “And if you didn’t want to harm the innocent, then why threaten to blow up the entire route with everypony on it?” I sighed and rubbed my face. “But hey, let me tell you something about me. This certain courier? This one right here?” I said pointing a hoof at me. “I don’t bother asking what’s inside the damn box. So I can’t tell you either that I was at fault.” I paced again. “So by this conclusion, I would say somepony else is trying to snuff both of your gangs out.” There was a dead silence as the winter air blew past us. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who did it or why, because what do I know? I’m just a courier.” Now for the truce.

I watched as the two exchanged a glance that showed shame and embarrassment. Who would have thought that one badasses flush?

“So…” Bull Horn began. “You’re saying Feather Tail didn’t put you up to it?” I nodded without taking my eyes off them.

“And that someone else is trying to snuff us both out?” Razor finished for Bull Horn. Again, I nodded. They looked at each other then back at me.

“Any idea who?” Razor asked. I sighed.

“Like I said. I’m just a courier. All I do is deliver, get paid and go on my merry way. But there is one thing that just peeves at me. The fact that I was being used as a tool to cause this war.” I held up the detonator. “So I’m going to end it. You two, kiss and make up or both your gangs will suffer terrible losses. And I’m also pretty sure you want to stay around a little longer and keep fighting.” I looked at both of them. “Make your choice.” As much as I hated having decisions nagging at me, being one to give the choice felt good. And I wasn’t lying when I said I hate being used as a tool. I was constantly being one when I was a filly in the stable school room. Ponies who called me friend just used me to get back at one another and they end up ditching me to either continue their petty squabble or make up loose ends. I was always that filly being the tool.

But not this time. If I was being used as a tool for some puppet master trying to snuff out major gang heads for their own benefit. That was where I draw the line. I know it sounds crazy, but somepony long ago told me that the Wasteland will be saved through trade. As farfetched as it sounds, all that was possible thanks to The Stable Dweller, Security and the Heroes. Raiders were rare in the east, west and southern regions. Up here in the north, it was still the Wasteland ten years ago. The two seemed to hesitate, then sighed. Bull Horn held up a finger and twirled it twice signaling the Bullhorn Boys to pack up. Razor nodded to a nearby Feather Tail who then told the others to pack up as well.

“That’s better.” I said with a smile. I watched as the stallion went over to them and fiddled with their collars. There was a loud click and for a second, I thought he unlocked them. But when the collars didn’t fall, I cocked my head.

“Just so you two don’t try anything funny. I jammed the locks of the collars.” He said. I gaped at him as the two gangers balked. He nodded and trotted over to stand next to me. I shook away my daze and winked.

“Well, now that we got that settled.” I placed the detonator in the snow. “To make sure to keep this truce, one of you will be in charge of the trigger. I don’t care who. But if you get tired of one another, you can just press that switch and blow both of yourselves up. But just to remind you that whoever gave me that package to deliver to you doesn’t mean to play around.” With that, I turned and trotted down the road, adjusting my hood to cover my head entirely and the red stallion followed beside me. I felt good. Really good! All those years of being used as a tool, it was finally time karma left me in charge of something. And I made the right choice. At least, I hope so.

As we reached the end of Route 15, I sighed with relief. Thank Celestia I lived! I looked down at my duster and frowned. It was tattered and beaten. Bullet holes stuck out more and where the scrap metal hit me, shredded almost the entire back. I sighed. The stallion that stood by me raised a brow.

“So I gotta ask.” He began. “You just left the fate of two major heads of the gangers in one another’s claws.” I nodded with a smile. “And you really think they are going to stick with it?” I rubbed my chin.

“Well, I did kinda thought that, but then you just upped and jammed the locks so… meh.” He shook his head and smiled.

“You’re different from other couriers.” He said. We headed west along Route 2. I felt a lot safer on this road. Not much action goes on other than RCE platoons getting into fights with Wasteland critters and partying. I looked up at the stallion.

“What makes you think that?” I asked. I suddenly slumped and felt very tired. The adrenaline I was on was clearly leaving my body now.

“Well, most couriers will just panic and flee or end up getting shot at. You, however, just went with the flow and improvised along the way. That cloning trick was brilliant.” He nickered. I flushed and rubbed my head.

“Well… when you work on illusion magic, you gotta keep track of everything.” I said. “Besides, I was close to feeling major burn out, but years of conditioning and practice made sure my magic still stayed.” I pulled my hood down lower.

“Did they teach you that in courier school?” the stallion asked. Courier school? We had school for couriers now? I shook my head.

“My brother taught me the skills of what every courier should have at their disposal, no matter how bad the situation is.” I looked up at him and grinned. “I just got better at improvising when shit hits the fan.”

“So you were taught by your brother? He must have been a damn good courier then.” He said. I suddenly felt sad now. I gave a small smile and nod.

“He was. One of the best…” I muttered. Ugh, why does this have to come up now? I need a drink... I guess the stallion must have heard me as he gave me a sad look.

“I’m terribly sorry.” He said with a sigh. “So what happened?” I shook my head.

“I don’t want to talk about it. What happens to my family is my business alone.” I said to him.

“I see. I won’t push any further.” He said. I felt relived. I pulled my hood down again and we both walked quietly the rest of the way.

Footnote: Level Up!

Perk Added: Clover the Clever: Your mind has been enhanced and you can think clearly no matter how bad the situation is. You receive 15 AP points back when using S.A.T.S.

Quest Perk: Diplomat: Your sense of reasoning makes you well liked and reasonable through conversation and are able to win both parties over. Speech is increased by 10.