A Fallout Equestria Story

Chapter 03

It's All Downhill from Here

“Good morning, chiiill-dren! DJ-Pon-3 is back to you live with some news. So relax, enjoy your breakfasts, and get a load of this.

“The Collective strikes another victory off the list today as a Super Ghoul attack on the Lunar Cape. This battle wasn’t without casualties though. Luckily, no one died, but the area has been particularly dangerous recently. Consider that a warning to any ponies looking to drop by.

“Next on the list… looks like Railway Junction has finally got their water purifier! It took them awhile to piece it all together, they had a few setbacks along the way, but in the end they were successful. Good on you folks down at Railway Junction. Be sure to give a big thanks to the Collective for their efforts too.

“Now some of you were particularly interested in that stable-dweller I mentioned yesterday. DJ, did he make it to town alright? DJ, how’s he settling in? DJ, what’s he like? I’ll admit that I too am rather curious about this newcomer to the wasteland. The last time we were “blessed” by the presence of a stable-dweller, it was something like sixty years ago, and he only stuck around ten years before mysteriously vanishing from the grid. Seeing another one appear fifty years later? You’ve certainly caught our interest, kid.

“I’m happy to inform you all that this new kid made it to Railway Junction just fine. As for how he’s settling in? Well, I’m sure he’s got a lot of adapting to do, and a heck of a lot to learn about the world he just entered. Knowledge you can only truly gain from experience. I just hope he’s got what it takes to accumulate that experience. Guess we’ll see.

“Last, but not least, under no circumstances should you ever go near the Ghastly Gorge! I’m not sure how many times I’ve had to say this. I can’t stress it enough. There are beasts down there that no pony, griffon, or combination of the two can handle. They will eat you alive before you have the chance to shoot or scream.

“Thanks for listening my chiiill-dren, this has been your one and only DJ-Pon-3, live on Equestria News Radio! We bring you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts.”

***

A loud sigh erupted from me as I sat slumped over on a bench outside the Drowning Cow. There’d been no word on Dust or Shanty since they left Railway Junction. I managed to learn the details of their job, which was something at least, and that brought me some reassurance. They were to simply deliver a package to somebody in Dodge City and return to Railway Junction with signature of the recipient to collect their reward. It certainly sounded like an easy enough task. From what I gathered too, Dodge City wasn’t too far from Railway Junction, about the same distance away as Fillydelphia was.

I just wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing on my own. Shanty had said that I’d need to take care of myself from here on out, but that’s like taking a foal from administration, and throwing him into engineering without telling them how anything worked. Maybe I was learning how things worked bit by bit and slowly coming to understand how things worked out here. However, that didn’t explain what I was supposed to be doing, or what I could be doing.

At least in the stable I knew what I was supposed to be doing. Ponies always acted as though the maintenance department was the bottom of the barrel. Only morons and outcasts worked in maintenance. Outside of my usual artistic abilities though, I quite liked to tinker, and take things apart. Understanding how things work have always been one of my interests. You can imagine the surprise on everyone’s faces when I deliberately asked to be put in maintenance. They never were displeased with the work I did though.

Out here in the wasteland though, there was no maintenance department, or test that determined the sort of job you’d take on. I’m not even sure if cutie-marks were even still relevant to ponies. I figured I’d just have to start improvising. Maybe ask around about trivial tasks I could do. Anything to keep me busy and distracted.

Somehow, I found myself walking into “A Thing Full of Things,” and Rumble was already behind the counter eyeing me down as I entered.

“Uh, good morning?” I was sort of surprised to see him just standing there. At the very least I expected to come in and find him arranging things or something.

“What the fuck do you want now? I already know you don’t have any caps,” he still had that puzzled look about him. It might have just been the way his face was shaped after receiving all the blows that gave him his scars.

“I just had some questions… if that’s alright?”

“Oh great, here we go. I think I liked you better before you came around.”

That didn’t seem fair.

“Whatever though, ask your questions, or simply get out. If you don’t have a good reason to be standing here. You’re just wasting space in my store.”

“I’ll ask my questions quick! Okay, um, first one… could you tell me more about ghouls? I’ve gathered bits and pieces of information so far. When they were first described to me I had an idea of what they were, but then I met you and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting, and today on Equestria News Radio I heard DJ mention Super Ghouls. Which just leaves me a little confused. About ghouls in general.”

Rumble sighed and looked down slightly. “It’s not easy to explain. I can’t say every ghoul is different, however, we’re not all the same either. That’s all thanks to the megaspells. Each one of them was different in some way. Meaning the radiation they emitted after the big kaboom, was also different, and had different lingering effects.

“I was on a train headed for Canterlot when the first megaspell hit. Canterlot was obviously the first target, it was the capital of Equestria, and where two of the four Princesses lived. The train never made it to its destination and I’m certain I was the only survivor of the crash too. Still, I was too close to Canterlot by that time. From that moment on I was officially a ghoul. After soaking up that much radiation I should have been dead.

“I guess in some way I should be grateful, but there’s only so much you can be grateful for when you’ve been turned into a crusty corpse looking motherfucker. It’s not really a hit with the ladies either if you catch my drift.”

I felt as though I connected with Rumble on a deeper level for a moment. Sure, he was extremely old, and far more knowledgeable about past and present events than I was. At the same time, we shared a similar experience of losing everything we’d ever known and loved. Only his loss was on a much greater scale. “You’ve still got your charming personality, well, at least I think it’s charming. In its own way.” I assured him sincerely.

“Ponies don’t exactly go for charming personalities, it’s not exactly how things work.”

“That’s how I work… personalities are in fact the determining factor for me, not race or gender, or even age! You might not believe you’re attractive, but I do.”

“Beautiful on the inside, fantastic, but you can’t exactly go anywhere from there with a guy like me.”

“Sure I could,” I protested, “I mean… it might take some getting used to, but after a few dates, and--“

“--how about I just stop you there. It’s obvious that you’re still an idiot to the way of the wasteland. Which means I’ve gotta provide you with a prime example of why we wouldn’t work. Example number one… I’m essentially a walking corpse you fucking idiot. You wouldn’t kiss a corpse or let it fuck you in the ass, would you?”

I just felt guilty and didn’t know what to say.

“You’re an idiotic whacko. I should also mention that I’m straight. So, even if I wasn’t a ghoul, I wouldn’t have let it happen. Let’s just be friends instead,” Rumble insisted.

“You’d wanna be my friend? It seemed like you didn’t like me very much.”

“What? No, I’m like that with everybody.”

“Oh… alright, yeah! Friends then, I mean, if you want to be.”

“Sure, whatever. Now, let’s go back to our previous topic, you know… before you became disgustingly sappy, romantic, and kissy lips with me.”

“Yeah, okay… and this stays between us?”

“If you say so.”

“Great! Now, you were talking about the megaspells making different ghouls?”

“Yes, so, the Canterlot megaspell created a type of ghoul known as the Stale Ghoul. Basically me… only I’m one of the few who still have their wits about them. Most other ghouls you meet will be feral. Tend to hiss at you the moment they spot you. At that point though, depending on how many of them there are, you might be fucked.

“Manehatten was another place hit by a megaspell, sorta… they missed by a little bit. Still killed mostly everybody. Gave birth to the largest population of “regular ghouls” in Equestria, that’s for sure. The ghouls everyone refers to as “regular ghouls” are the fleshy ones. You’ll rarely find a civilized fleshy ghoul though. Other than that, there are Super Ghouls, which are just the Saddle Arabian bastards who were exposed to the radiation of their megaspells.”

“Why are Saddle Arabian ghouls called Super Ghouls?”

“Probably because they’re three times as big and not a single damn one of them is ever friendly. Ever. Shoot on sight material. Kill or be killed shit.”

“That sounds horrifying.”

“I’ve had to fight a few in my time. They’re fucking tough to kill sometimes. Like a Death-Dog, except you always see a Super Ghoul coming.”

“Any other types of ghouls?”

“A few… there are glowing ghouls. They’re highly irradiated and aren’t easy to kill. Luckily, they’re rare, and like the Super Ghoul. There are no friendly ones. As far as I know that’s it.”

“Ghouls, Feral Ghouls, Glowing Ghouls, Stale Ghouls, and Super Ghouls. That’s a lot of ghouls. Are there any Saddle Arabians alive today too?”

“If you mean living ones, I don’t know, maybe? None that I’ve seen.”

“What about the Collective? Do you know how many of them there are?”

“Nope, it’s never exactly consistent. They come and go regularly. Sometimes you’ll just have one pony who does a few good deeds within his abilities. Other times you’ll have ponies in over their heads but still kicking through, lease till they die. Sometimes ponies take the place of another Collective agent. Titles like “Eagle-Eye,” “Quick-Draw,” and “Gambit” have been around for a while. Having two or three generations.”

“Two or three generations? You mean when the originals died, somebody else took their place, and kept the name?”

“That’s right.”

“I’d say that was a lack of originality, but I suppose it’s also paying tribute to the originals. Carrying on their legacies.”

“You can look at it any way you want. Doesn’t make it any less stupid.”

“You think being part of the Collective is stupid?”

“Damn right it is, not that I’m grateful for their existence. The Collective has done a lot for me over the years. Even back when they were the Buckaneers. Doesn’t mean I don’t think putting your life on the line for others is stupid.”

“Would you do it for someone?”

“Maybe, depends on the pony I guess.”

“Then I guess it’s a good kind of stupid.”

“Whatever, anymore questions?”

“Hmm… There was something I wondered about earlier, but I wouldn’t know who to ask. Thinking about it now I realize you might be a good pony to ask.”

“Then fucking ask. Quit wasting time.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have any work, or know of anyone who might?”

“Work? You mean trivial tasks and bullshit, or Collective work?”

It was that moment my curiosity spiked. Was there Collective work available? What sort of things would need to be done? Would this be the work that Dust and Shanty would be looking for later? He did call it “Collective work,” so I assumed it had to be dangerous, and life-threatening. I couldn’t keep myself from inquiring about it though.

“What sort of Collective work do you have?”

“The minute you ask, it becomes your problem. I hope you realize that. Contracts aren’t expected to be completed. What with all the hazards that come with the “job” and whatnot. At the same time, when you address the people’s concerns, and do nothing about them. Ponies lose respect for you. So, if you really… truly… want to know about this job. You’d damn well better be prepared for what comes next.”

I could feel myself swallowing back some saliva. There was no way I could go through with this.

“Sure, hit me up with the details.”

Fuck.

Rumble nodded contently. “Alright, the raiders in Fillydelphia have started to become a problem. They’ve grown in numbers at an alarming rate. Soon they could pose a threat to the town. If this town goes under, my business is ruined, and I can’t have that, now can I? You take care of those raiders and you’ll get heck of a reward I’m sure.”

Quest Accepted: It’s All Downhill from Here

Rumble trotted over to the mannequins that displayed the armor in his shop. Carefully pulling off a leather chest piece and offering it to me. “Put this on.”

“What’s this for?”

“Protection… it won’t stop bullets, but it’ll definitely make beating or stabbing you to death a little more difficult. If only a little.”

“I don’t have any caps.”

“Consider this a down payment. It’s best to make sure you’re prepare before heading out. Do you know any spells?”

(Leather chest added)

“Spells?”

“You’re a fucking Unicorn, aren’t you? Please tell you aren’t so pathetic as to have no spells other than basic levitation.”

“Whoa, hey! My levitation is anything but “basic.” It’s actually quite advanced! During my time in the stable, I spent a lot of time expanding its capabilities, and by the time I’d finished I’d invented a new skill!”

“A new skill? Oh, do tell.”

“I call it the telekinetic field. It’s sort of like an invisible bubble that surrounds me, about two meters wide all the way around, and this field has special properties. For one… I could close my eyes and make my way through an obstacle course without once bumping into anything or falling into any holes.”

“Bullshit! How could you?”

“The field acts like an extension of myself. It allows me to feel my surroundings and discern items from the environment around. I used to hone this ability by closing my eyes, getting my friend to mix up my pastel crayons, and recognizing the colors from the notches I put in them. If the crayon had four notches, it was purple, if it had two, then it was green.”

“Eventually you broadened that ability by learning to recognize the objects around you.”

“Yep! It’s quite a handy trick if I do say so myself. It also makes it impossible for somebody to sneak up on me, however, it doesn’t exactly stop them from seeing me and simply shouting “found him!” It’s only useful for certain things.”

“Sure, but it ain’t enough to survive in the wasteland. You’ve gotta be more than a one-trick-pony. What other spells do you know?”

“I can create orbs of light that last for about an hour, tag various surfaces with a glowing mark, and I once fired a spell that paralyzed my teacher's leg… I’m certain I could replicate the spell.”

“Hmm, it’s not exactly an arsenal, but it’ll have to do for now.”

I nodded.

“Well alright, get going then.”

***

My ears dropped to the sound of the town gate closing behind me. I couldn’t believe I was attempting to do this. I’ve never even fired a gun before. Now I was expected to take out an entire settlement of raiders? Guess I was one of those “in over their heads” ponies that Rumble had talked about. Only time would tell now if I’d also be about to “kick though.”

The walk back to Fillydelphia was simple enough. All I had to do was follow the tracks. I listened to Equestria News Radio during the time I traveled. There didn’t seem to be any more news today though. Still, the music was nice, and it made the walk less nerve wracking. Made it seem less like I was heading to my death and more like a casual stroll beside the tracks. Can’t say I knew what these tracks were for though. It gave me something to think about as I followed them back to Fillydelphia.

Took me most of the day to get back to the city. By the time I arrived, it was late day, and the evening would be rolling around soon enough. For the life of me I couldn’t remember the pattern Dust and Shanty used to slip through raider patrols safely. Though I suppose I wasn’t to be sneaking through this time. To be on the safer side I decided to enter the city through the industrial part of it. After all, what reason would raiders have to be around a bunch of old factories?

I’ve never been so wrong before.

It had only been about ten minutes after I entered the city and already there were raiders everywhere! Such vile mannered ponies they were. You could tell they held no regard for their own safety, let alone the safety of others, but that also proved their lack of intelligence. Everything they did displayed a lack of intelligence honestly. I was beginning to understand why these idiots were so dangerous.

There weren’t many places I could go from where I was. I’d decided to take cover behind overturned carriage. Watching the raiders through from around the corners and through the windows. I knew there was no easy way of going about this. Coming up with a strategy to off these reckless morons wasn’t exactly in my area of expertise either.

“Hey! The fuck you think you're doing?!”

Oh shit, I was caught! Please don’t have a gun, please don’t have a gun, please don’t have a gun, please don’t have a—

HAH! No gun!

When I’d turned to face the raider, he was pulling out a combat knife, and I was sure he’d been planning to use it on me. Quickly I wrapped my magical grip around the pistol that Shanty had bought for me and pulled it out.

“Stay back! I have a gun,” I warned him.

Why did I warn him?

It didn’t matter regardless. Once the raider had a firm of the knife between his teeth, he made a dash for me, but he didn’t get very far before…

Pow!

I found myself dodging the corpse that flung itself at the side of the carriage. “Oh, that wasn’t so hard… and that’s not something a sane person should be saying. Fuck, fuck.” Gently I banged the grip of the gun against my head.

“What was that?!”

“It came from over there!”

“Let’s go check it out.”

Shit.

I looked around in a panic and darted for a nearby alley. Rushing my way through it before the raiders behind me could investigate the scene. Unfortunately for me, two more raiders appeared at the end of the alley before I was more than halfway through, and they were heading this way too.

Fucking shit.

My luck only got better though. Metaphorically of course, as I’d dived into the cellar of one of the buildings, and shut the door behind me… only to realize this room was filled with ghouls.

LUNA’S MIGHTIEST “FUCKING SHIT!”

The sounds of hissing erupted from all around me. Of course, they’d noticed me immediately, I lifted my gun and picked about four of them off before they gave chase, but my escape options were becoming very limited. I narrowly avoided the jaws of a few ghouls when I leapt over the railing and made a run for the only hallway out of the room. The door at the end of the hall was locked-- go figure- leaving me with only one choice. Desperately I swung my pistol around and pointed it down the hall.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” I screamed in horror as I opened fired at the ghouls flooding the hall. The thought of being ripped apart by those savages while I was still alive was too much to bare. My eyes shut tight as I kept firing.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Huh?

Click. Click.

I opened my eyes. My pistol was out of bullets. Cluttering the hall ahead of me were the ghouls who previously sought to eat me.

“Oh… okay.”

After I counted the bodies I realized I’d wasted more bullets than I needed to.

Minus the bullet used on the raider, there were twelve bullets left in the clip, but only nine ghouls. Three bullets that could have been used elsewhere. I decided to investigate this basement now that the immediate threat was out of the way. Somehow the raiders didn’t seem to hear my ruckus. Then again, maybe they did, and thought the ghouls had gotten to me? Did they even know there were ghouls in this room?

Upon inspecting the basement, I didn’t discover much. There was an old couch, an office desk, stack of chairs, and some cupboards.

My first instinct was to check the desk for whatever reason. Which held some form of justification after finding a stash of bottle caps inside (24 caps added). I felt pretty proud of myself for earning my first bit of money! Next, I checked the various cupboards for anything useful, and was a little surprised by what I found. This was untouched!

Four cupboards, three shelves a piece, and packed to the brim with pre-war goodies. A scavenger’s dream. One of the first items I claimed for myself was a jar of bobby pins. (14 bobby pins added). I wondered if I could use these to pick a lock? Somebody else must have had a similar thought because there was a screwdriver right next to the bobby pins. Yoink (screwdriver added)!

I also couldn’t help noticing that there were quite a lot of pill bottles in these cupboards. Perhaps this place was a pharmaceutical laboratory before the war? Either way, I took what I thought might come in handy later… which was all of it. Scoop! (2 BuckIt added, 4 Chimera added, 2 Speed added, 3 Mend added, 2 Mintels added, 2 Grape Mintels added, 2 Cherry Mintels added, 2 Orange Mintels added). Into my saddlebags they went. If my parents had ever seen me with this many drugs on hoof. They’d suspect I was a junkie.

Some of this I somehow didn’t see myself using. Although, I could see to selling some for a decent price?

The rest of what I found inside the cupboard was vitamin water. They came in three unique flavors! It’d be interesting to give those a try later too (Peach Vitamin Water added, Mango Vitamin Water added, Kiwi Vitamin Water added). By the time I’d finished examining the cupboards, they were empty. I figured it was time to give that locked door a look at. Keeping my pistol in a focused grip, I began tinkering with the lock on the door, and it didn’t seem all that difficult to be honest.

I suppose my days in the maintenance department are to thank for that. There had been a number of times when I had to fix a busted lock. Have some prior knowledge certainly proved beneficial.

Shlock.

The sound of the door unlocking was like music to my ears… until I opened it.

There had to be at least six raiders in the main area, two guarding the front entrance, and two on the upper level. My eyes were wide and I’d frozen in place out of shock. Only after a moment of processing the situation did it occur to me that I should step back and close the door. I didn’t do so quick enough though because one of the raiders had noticed me and alerted everyone else of my presence.

As quickly as I could I slammed the door shut and made a break for the room at the end of the hall. Trying not to trip over the corpses of the ghouls. With a graceful leap, I dived behind the couch. It finally dawned on me that I hadn’t reloaded my pistol yet. Hastily I began shoving bullets into the clip.

I could hear the raiders busting open the door and entering the hallway. With luck, I’d be able to pick a few of them off before they got to me, or maybe I could get out the back entrance?

Pow!

One of the raiders took a bullet in the leg. I watched as they collapsed into the pile of ghoul corpses.

Pow! Pow!

Managed to kill one of them with two shots. If I didn’t pick up the slack now I’d never see the light of day again. Dying in this basement was something I planned on keeping out of the agenda.

Two others were in the hallway now. Not including the one on the ground with a bullet in his leg. They opened fire at me. I could feel the bullets whiz by as I ducked back behind the couch. Their bullets made it through the couch no problem, except they were aiming for where I used to be, since they didn’t realize I’d shifted over after I’d ducked down.

Bang!

An extra-large whole was put through the couch. I let out a gasp. “Scandalous!” It had been such a nice couch too. Granted I probably should have been taking this situation more seriously, however, I felt that if I started thinking about it then I might begin to panic.

When I opened fire again my shots came at them from the side of the couch, at an angle they weren’t expecting, and it proved affected! Two more had bit the bullet. I finished off the one that was on the floor too. Caught him sneaking for a weapon… the bastard. With only six bullets remaining and five raiders left. I had to make every shot count.

The raiders appeared to have fallen back and taken up positions outside the door. They weren’t very quiet about their plans, so I overheard the whole thing. This of course presented the perfect opportunity for a counter-ambush! Well, sort of… it wasn’t exactly called a “counter-ambush,” I just called it that because I’d be countering their ambush. It sounded cool in my head, okay!

Cautiously I exited through the back door, into the alley again, and it didn’t seem like anybody was around. The raiders who had gone to investigate the shot earlier must have discovered the body I’d left. Though I could see it still lying there at the end of the alley. Knowing these sick fucks, they probably just shrugged it off, and looted the corpse.

Making my way around the front of the building. There were no raiders to be seen. Suddenly, I remembered something important, and checked my PipBuck. This entire time I’d forgotten about the new features that had become available upon exiting the stable. My C.P.I and S.T.A.T.S! With a swift motion, I tapped my horn against the display of my PipBuck, and the H.U.D activated. There they were… I could see their red blips inside the building. There were four of them that my PipBuck could detect, even though I knew there were five, the last must have been just out of range of the sensory spell.

Stealthily I approached the entranceway of the pharmaceutical lab. Peering inside ever-so carefully. There they were, all five of them, and they had no idea I was flanking them! I floated my pistol around and slipped into S.T.A.T.S. The closest raider to me was ironically the deadliest. He was equipped with a shotgun, attached to some sort of backpack, and the firing mechanism was a sort of squeeze trigger-- like that of a hose- that was held in place in front of their mouth.

Curious. Though I wasn’t waiting to find out how effective it was! I figured that I’d only need to target him once, since he was the closest, but the others may prove difficult. My goal was to get at least three of them with S.T.A.T.S.

My shots took them by surprise, they took me by surprise too because I’d managed to take out all three of my targets like I’d intended, and now there were only two left! With three bullets remaining. I could do this!

The last two raiders were on the upper level. Wasting no time, they turned to begin shooting at me, but I was filled with confidence now!

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Aaand the confidence was gone. I’d missed all three shots! At this distance, what was I thinking? Checking over my remaining ammunition. There were only four bullets remaining. If there was a good time to improvise, now would be it! I dashed for the corpses of the raiders on the main floor. Bravely dodging bullets as I made my way towa—

GAH, FUCK!

They shot me! The raider bastards managed to nail me with a bullet! Fuck it hurt so much… the pain had been so unexpected. One moment I was making a run for the rifle nearby and the next I was face-planting the floor. I held my side and screamed. This was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It paralyzed me on the spot and made me sure of my imminent death.

The raiders on the second floor began making their way down, I could hear their cheering as they approached, and one of them kicked me while I grovelled.

“That’s what you get for messing with us you worthless piece of shit!”

“Yeah, haha! Take that!”

They seemed very keen on causing me as much pain as they could before killing me.

Boom! Boom!

This proved to be their downfall, as I’d managed to free the shotgun from the first raider I killed during my counter-ambush, and I used it to kill them both. Thank Celestia for telekinesis. I’ve never been so happy to be a Unicorn in my life.

***

Taking a shot of Mend really helped to easy the pain of the bullet wound. Though I feared that the bullet might still cause damage as long as it was lodged in my side. It had to come out one way or another. So, carefully I focused my magic on the wound, and used my telekinetic feeling to find the bullet.

There it was. This was going to hurt, but I knew I couldn’t just leave it in there. With a quick flick of my horn then bullet was ripped out via telekinesis. I had to bite a leather strap to suppress my screams. Attracting more raiders was the last thing I wanted to do right now. Especially since I had a whole new area to investigate.

The raiders in this lab seemed to have been making something before I’d arrived. This was a chem lab, so I could only assume it was chems they were making, but these didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen before. Vials of red liquid that glowed ever so slightly. They looked like I could slip them into some loops on my harness. That’s exactly what I did until I learned what they might be useful for (9 Stimpots added).

My harness could only hold seven, so I slipped the rest of them into my saddlebags, which were becoming quite heavy because of all the stuff I’d been hoarding.

Next, I checked out some crates piled beneath the stairs. When I opened the box, I was shocked to find it filled with bottlecaps! Filthy raiders had probably killed a lot of innocent ponies for these. Well, I couldn’t let them go to waste, now could I? (257 caps added)

One other box was filled with weapons. Looked like a lot of simple weapons. Things like pistols, old and beaten double barrel shotguns, a hunting rifle, and even a sub-machine gun that was in poor condition. I decided to take the hunting rifle (hunting rifle added).

“The town could really benefit from a lot of this stuff the raiders keep stockpiled here,” I pondered quietly to myself, “but I don’t exactly have a way to get it all back to them without making a bunch of trips back and forth. If only there was a way to transport it there.”

This was an issue I’d have to come back to another time. There unfortunately wasn’t a box of ammunition. It was safe to assume the raiders hoarded bullets for themselves. I need more bullets for the 9mm pistol though. Luckily, I was able to find a few extra bullets on the raiders I’d killed in the lab (8 9mm bullets added), and I didn’t waste any time reloading my gun. I also found some shotgun shells (4 shotguns shells added).

There wasn’t anything else worth checking out down here. So, I went upstairs to look at the room. It was a small room with not much in it. Just a couple of desks and terminals. One of the terminals was broken and the other just had a shipping manifest on it. Lame!

After I left the lab it seemed like I only had one other major spot to hit. The camp I saw the other night. Did I even remember where that was? Carefully I examined the area around me. There was one thing I recognized, the tower where I first met Dust and Shanty, and nearby… the camp! That’s right, I suddenly remembered that the camp was down the road from the tower, and above the camp was a crane. A crane which I could barely see from where I was.

Either way, that camp was their main base of operations, and its where their leader was! What was his name? Bones? No, that was his buddy… Cross? Yeah!

His name was Cross. He’s the jerk who killed the other two Collective members that came to the city with Dust and Shanty. A part of me felt bad for going after him without them. I could see them wanting revenge for their fallen comrades.

They were off on another mission though. One I imagined was far duller than this one. It was, after all, a simple delivery mission. I didn’t want to disappoint Rumble though. So off to kill the raiders I went!

***

It seemed the raiders had been able to figure out what I’d done at the lab while I made my way to the camp. Small bunches were rushing over there, none of which made it very far, since I shot them on sight. I was certainly getting good at shooting things. Another thing a sane person wouldn’t normally say.

I discovered something interesting along the way, I didn’t think it held any significance at first, but then my PipBuck updated with a new map marker. I couldn’t help but investigate. This new place was called the Fillydelphia Train Station. What was a train?

There looked to be a few raiders in the station. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Slipping into S.T.A.T.S, I took out two of the raiders with my 9mm, and when the third came zipping around the corner I blasted her with my shotgun. A part of me wondered why no other Unicorn wielding more than one weapon at a time. Were their telekinesis spells weaker than mine or had it just never occurred to them? Either way it felt good to have an advantage. Plus, using two guns at once made me feel like a badass.

My question about what a train was, was answered by the sight of a large metal vehicle that sat upon the tracks, and it looked as if the raiders had been modifying it. There were thick pieces of metal that appeared to be welded on as armor. Likely to protect the ones riding it. A thought had occurred to me at that moment. I could use this to bring in supplies to Railway Junction! Then I could sell the supplies and the train to the town for a quite a price.

With that decided, I went back to the lab, and gathered the boxes of things that I believed might be of used to the town. From weapons to spare parts of things. I loaded it all onto the train for later. At some point I knew I’d have to learn how to get this thing moving too. For now, I had some raiders to take care of, but I’d have to do so carefully if I wanted to be able to bring this stuff back to town.

***

The camp wasn’t far now, I could see it from my position, and its massive bonfire.

What interested me the most was the crane, or at least, what the crane was holding. There was a large storage container suspended 100 feet above the camp. Something that I figured could do a lot of damaged if utilized properly. In other words, I planned to drop the thing, and hope for the best. The only problem with that was the fact that the base of the crane was inside the camp.

I couldn’t risk an assault on the camp. There were far more raiders there than in the lab. Using the hunting rifle that I acquired at the lab, perhaps I could shoot out the cable holding the box up? It was worth a try. Though I’d require a good spot to shoot from. The structure beside the crane seemed like a good enough location. It resembled the other tall buildings around it, except this one looked as if it hadn’t been completed yet, and sadly never would be.

Quickly, I checked to see if there were actually any bullets in the rifle, and there was! Just one bullet. It would have to do.

The light of the moon tonight provided better visibility than it did the night I left the stable. Aiding me in my efforts to sneak into the construction zone unnoticed. As I entered the unfinished structure, I made sure to grab another weapon to add to my arsenal (combat knife added), in case I needed to make any silent take-downs. It was a good call because there seemed to be a few raiders on the upper floors.

I wasn’t as handy with the knife as I was with the guns. There were a few shots fired at me at one point and I was sure the camp below would be on hire alert. Every time I looked though, they seemed to have barely batted an eye, but I didn’t doubt they probably sent up scouts to see what the hell was going on up here. Which meant I had to be quick. After taking out the few raiders in my way I looted their corpses and continued up (7 9mm bullets added, 2 shotgun shells added, stale energy bar added).

Finally, I came to a halt on the 54th floor, and looked out at the container. I was level with the top of it now. From what I could tell it was being suspended by four cables attached to a single rectangular mechanism that connected to the cranes hook in the middle. It’d be a tricky shot to take it out. So, I decided to slip into S.T.A.T.S, and take careful am. My targeting spell assure me that I had at least a 50% chance of hitting my target. Everything was riding on this shot.

I held my breath, lined up the shot, and pulled the trigger. Sparks flew from the mechanism as the bullet collided with it. Nothing happened… for a few moments I was sure I’d failed, but then the sound of metal straining could be heard, and a loud crack was heard as the container had fallen suddenly. The container plummeted to the camp below at a quick pace. Nobody had time to get out of the way.

Crash!

When it hit the ground, it caused an insurmountable amount of damage to the camp before bouncing off toward the structure I was one, and crashing through the lower levels. The building jerked violently as the supports below were demolished. It suddenly occurred to me that this place was coming down!

“Oh shit! Oh no, oh please don’t,” I panicked a little, “this isn’t what I had in mind!”

The building began falling in the direction of the camp. If I hadn’t done enough damage to it already, I was about to do a lot more, but this time I was being caught in the crossfire. There was no way out of it either. My entire gut was screaming for an exit. All I could do now was… jump!

With a bit of a running start I threw myself from the falling structure toward the crane. Just barely catching it on my way down, which really kinda hurt, but at least I was alive. Not that I could begin celebrating yet. The buildings direction of impact was also toward the crane. I could only hold on for dear life as it effortlessly knocked the crane over too.

“BY LUNA’S STARS! I’M GOING TO DIE,” I cried as the crane crashed into and tore through a chunk of another building. Forcing the crane to a halt. The force of the collapsing building was enough to severely bend the tower of the crane, amazingly it didn’t completely snap in half, but it certainly wasn’t in working order anymore.

Below me I could see the remains of the camp. There really wasn’t much left of it now. One lone makeshift tower still stood. Upon it, a pony I recognized as Cross, the leader of this raider camp. Of course that asshole survived! That was just my luck. No, what was just my luck was that he survived, and was looking right at me.

“You! This is your fault! You’re the one who’s been stirring up shit for me and my boys, ya motherfucka! I’ll gut you!”

Immediately after shouting his part at me, Cross whipped out a new kind of rifle, new to me anyways. It had a high rate of fire and poor accuracy. Despite that, I was still clipped by a few bullets, but nothing fatal thankfully. I found myself scurrying along down the crane. My heart throbbing within my chest. This couldn’t be where I met my end! As if to spite me, one of the bullets got me in the rib cage, and cause me to fall from the crane in pain.

Before I had even hit the ground a lucky bullet also managed to run its way through my right fore-hoof. This threw off all sense of balance for me. I’d landed in the rubble rather ungracefully. My rump getting lodged in a gap that I couldn’t pull myself out of. Blood gushed from the wound on my hoof on both sides. At least the bullet had gone all the way through. It hurt like a bitch, however, it wouldn’t kill me. I couldn’t say the same about Cross though. My screaming had been a sign that he should advance on me now.

“Hello, little fuck!” The grin on his mug was enough to send shivers down my spine, “It’s such a shame it had to come to this. Looking around at all the destruction you’ve caused today. I’ve gotta say I really admire ya. You would have made a good underling if you hadn’t of decided to fuck with us instead!”

The barrel of his gun was forced into my mouth. My fear spiked immensely and I couldn’t get a grip on any of my weapons. I could feel my body shaking. Not to mention my vision was heavily obscured by tears. Was this really it? After all the deaths I’d managed to dodge today. If there was even a shred of hope, please, please give it to me now!

Hewwwthip!

Chunks had suddenly flown out the left side of Cross’ head. I wasn’t sure what had just happened exactly. Then, he collapsed onto me, and I found myself holding a corpse in my arms.

“Huh?” It took a moment to process. Looking down at his head. There appeared to be an entrance and exit wound. Likely made from a bullet.

I pushed Cross’ corpse off me. Someone had definitely shot him, that very same someone was coming this way, and I was afraid of whom it was at first. Until my PipBuck assured me that they weren’t a threat to me. A friendly blip appeared on the C.P.I. To my surprise, Shanty came hurrying over the rubble, and looked down at me rather unpleasantly.

“Of all the stupid irresponsible things! What the hell were you thinking? You could have died,” he shouted at me, “or worse!”

I’d never been so happy to receive a lecture in my life.

“You are the absolute dumbest fucking pony I’ve ever met, you know that?!”

“Shanty… you came,” I had a little trouble speaking over the pain.

“Obviously, I came,” he huffed, “when I heard you’d came to Fillydelphia on your own. I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier! I’ve already lost enough friends this week. I’m not losing you too!”

“I’m sorry, Shanty, I didn’t mean to worry you, but… look.”

“Look at what?”

“I did it.”

His ears perked up as he looked down at me. At that moment, he glanced around him at the remains of the raider camp, but I couldn’t tell if he was amazed or in shock. “I don’t even want to know how you accomplished this. Guess I do have to give you some credit though,” he sighed an glared down at me, “yeah. You did what you set out to do. Congratulations, moron. Now let’s go back to Railway Junction.”

“No, not yet! There’s something I need to do before we head back.”

“How about you start by not bleeding to death? Here,” he slipped out one of the red vials clipped to my harness. “Drink this.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s a Stimpot. Stimulation Potion. Made with a bit of magic and chemistry. It’ll heal you right up.”

“If that’s the case, I should probably take the bullet out of my chest first. Wouldn’t want to think about what it could do to me if I ‘healed’ with it still inside.”

I only took a moment or two to perform the same procedure I did back at the pharmaceutical lab. The bullet popping out of my chest painfully. Shanty was surprised by my ability to do that; however, he was also kind of concerned. After I drank up the Stimpot I felt a lot better. Invigorated even.

Shanty helped me out of the hole I was in and we proceeded to leave the obliterated remains of the raider camp. “So, what was this thing you had to do before going back to Railway Junction?”

“You’ll see,” I smiled, “and I think you’re going to like it.”

***

“What the hell? I don’t recall ever seeing this here,” Shanty admitted as he trotted around the train. “It’s packed to the brim with boxes of supplies that could support an entire town!”

“I know,” I grinned, “that’s why I plan on selling the entire thing to Railway Junction.”

“You what now?”

“You heard me… I’m going to sell the train and everything on it to Railway Junction.”

He paused to give it all another look over. “I’m not even sure the town could afford something like this. It’s a grand gift. That’s for sure, too bad there doesn’t seem to be much food or water on board, or this thing would be a blessing sent down from the Princesses themselves.”

“What’s this thing by the way?” I asked as I pulled out one of the items from the back.

“That… is a grenade launcher.”

“Sounds awesome!”

“Yeah, and dangerous!” There was a long pause as we stared at one another for a few moments. “Can I have it?”

“What? No… why?”

“Unlike you, I know how to use it, and do you even have any grenades for it?”

“No, but I feel as though this could see better use than in our hooves.”

“How could it see better use in somebody else’s hooves?”

“Well… think about how well protected the town of Railway Junction will be with a grenade launcher?”

“I… suppose you have a point there.”

With that I put the grenade launcher back where I found it. “We need to figure out how to get this thing moving,” I said aloud as I began poking around what I assumed was the control room. It was then that something had occurred to me. There was something I felt as though I needed to ask Shanty.

“Hey, uh… where’s Dust?”

He stopped on the spot and sudden grim look crawled across his face. “Dust is dead,” he said simply, and looked away from me.

Dead…?

“No… not Dust. That can’t be!”

“Yeah, well it is, so just… just,” he paused for a moment and sighed, “just listen in to Equestria News Radio. If anyone knows what happened to Dust. It’ll be DJ-Pon-3.”

“You don’t even know what happened?!”

“The place was a mess when I got there, alright? I didn’t catch up in time. Upon arrival, I found Dust dead, and a mound of corpses and ruin left in her wake. There was definitely a battle… but.”

“I’m sorry, Shanty. You two seemed like good friends.”

“There were originally four of us. We all joined the collective together, however, as it stands I’m the only one left now.”

“You’re not completely alone.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, you’ve got me now, and that… has to count for something… right?”

Shanty stayed silent for a few moments before sighing and walking past me. “Let’s see if we can get this train moving,” he insisted as he examined the controls.

“I’ve spent all my life in a hole. Can’t say I know how to work anything up here.”

“Can’t say I know much about trains either, however, there should be instructions around here somewhere. Otherwise the raiders wouldn’t have bothered with it. If you hadn’t noticed they’re as dumb as rocks. So, with that in mind… aha!”

He pulled out a book from the shelf next to the driver's’ seat. Indeed, it was instructions on how to operate the train, and it wasn’t all that difficult to understand! At least for me anyways… Shanty couldn’t quite wrap his head around all of it. Once I believed I had a basic understanding of the mechanics. I sat in the driver's’ seat and began moving us forward.

Despite all the setbacks I had. I felt surprisingly pleased with myself. My first mission as a Collective agent and I went far beyond the prerequisites. Still, I couldn’t get Dusts’ death out of my mind, and I couldn’t imagine how much it probably upset Shanty. The best I could do for him right now was be with him. I tuned into Equestria News Radio and music began playing from my PipBuck. It couldn’t be too long until we’ve learned the truth about her death from the eyes everywhere DJ-Pon-3.

Footnote: Level up!
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