Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Fallout Equestria: Desperados

New Tricks, Part 2

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"Staying on the topic of Talismans, Harp continued the explanation, but on the different kinds of talismans.

Common was the externally powered talismans that are often connected to spark batteries. They just needed one spell and a powersource unrelated to the pony using them. Their simplicity lent them to be used in daily life and creation of spark batteries themselves.

Then there were the self-powering Talismans. They are more uncommon than the external power talismans. They were talismans that could passively absorb ambient magic. Once they were full, they would activate the spell until the magic was spent. Some places used them for low maintenance light sources or as time activated devices. The idea for the talisman was to set it and forget it.

Multi-layered talismans were complex and only saw in military or high-end technology such as pipbuck or power armor. Using a control talisman, also known as a spell matrix, they could direct multiple talismans to work in unison, thus creating complex spells.

Last of what I was told about was the Zebra Talisman, also known as a fetish, where any object is given magical properties. It used to be gems, but when Equestria stopped giving them to the zebras due to the war, the zebras got creative. It’s unknown how they’re made, but most of the time a pony or zebra just needs to equip the fetish for it to work. Harp told me that her family owns a few of their fetishes, such as a sniper rifle that turns bullets into explosives, a sword that somehow causes more bleeding, and a padron that makes the user a little lighter.

This is something I might look into more later." ~ Azure Dice

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I spent a bit of time just standing in the courtyard and letting the dry air brush past my face. To say Victoria shook me would be an understatement. Her wanting possession of my bloodline also seemed to have sealed my fate.

I would never have peace.

Maybe I could fall under some ponies protection, but it would require them knowing everything about me to likely even care. The chances that my new guardians wouldn’t just turn me into a tool would be fairly low… no, I’m certain I’d be a tool, as there would be no reason to keep me if I wasn't.

If it was impossible to stay, then the only solution I had was to go home and seek the protection of my own kind. At least on the islands, they already know who I was and my father would be able to hide me away from greedy hooves. He did seem to genuinely care about me and wanted me far from danger.

I felt the revolver in my inside pocket that he gave me. The imprint of his magic was subtle, but it was there. Same for the Equestria royal guard medallion on my hat. Vibraphone magic was there, but also the magical imprint of many others, each going back several generations. Both the gun and the medallion reminded me that I had ponies who cared for me and didn’t see me as a tool but as a friend and as family.

Feeling calmer, I trotted over to another small shack surrounded by old empty ammo boxes. I could hear Slowtrot grunt from within.

Entering the shack, Slowtrot stood in front of two bullet presses that looked like several pieces of thick metal bolted to an even thicker bench. It had a funnel and several tubes along with a big red lever. With another grunt, Slowtrot pulled down the lever and pulled back up to reveal a pistol bullet. He then turned to the other bullet press and did the same which made a rifle bullet.

I watched Slowtrot’s instruction on how to work the bullet presses. It was a multi-stage bullet press which meant that Slowtrot didn’t need to worry about pouring the gunpowder himself or attaching the primer of the bullet. He only needed to make sure that the press was properly fed. Then, if he continually pulled the lever, it would produce one bullet each time.

The Gunrunners told me they had an industrial bullet press back in Fillydelphia that could produce bullets at more than a hundred times the rate that Slowtrot was doing. The NCR had bought all rights to its production, so all the bullets that they use or sell to the wastelanders are hoof pressed.

Well claw pressed, in the case of the griffons

“Say, Slowtrot, what happened to you?” I asked him in concern.

“What!?” He stopped for a moment before turning around to look at me. “Oh, right! Well, let’s just say I had too much to drink.”

I nodded despite the fact that I was not convinced. Other than the black eye, he had several bite marks. One of those markes looked like somepony had tried to eat his ear. There were two others on both sides of his cheeks. His clothes also looked dirtier than normal. It was not just dust and grime of the town, but a few wet spots of likely spilled drinks. Clearly, it was beer and other booze from the smell, but what sealed the deal to it not being just drinking too much was the smell of cheap perfume and a smear of deep red lipstick.

All that didn't bother me. If he wanted to spend time with a bitey mare or stallion, it's fine with me. Instead of that, the thing that disturbed me was that I could feel a lingering mess of magic. I didn't recognize most of it, but I did feel a faint bit of radiation… no, bailfire. It wasn't stagnant either, but felt active, like he was near a freshly exploded bailfire bomb!

Slowtrot raised an eyebrow.

“Are you okay? Your eyes are all red,” he asked.

I rubbed my eyes, having not realized I had actually been crying.

"Oh, I just had a rough customer. Got a little shaken up is all," I said, trying to brush it off.

He huffed. "I hate that. That’s why I'll never work in a restaurant again. There's always somepony coming in to ruin your day. It’s as if they’re making a game of trying to upset the servers."

I nodded. "I can imagine. The servants back home always trotted on their hoofsteps around my family. I know my eldest sister enjoyed tormenting them."

She also enjoyed tormenting me relentlessly.

"So, had fun last night?" I checked while pointing at the lipstick on his collar.

He raised another eyebrow before he looked down at his jacket collar, then sighed. "Barely remember last night. To tell the truth, I wish I could forget that day.”

Finding a spot to sit, I watched as he went back to working on the bullet press as he explained. “I don’t know where to begin, but I got decked in the face by the sheriff. all because of Quicktrot. After that, I spent the rest of the night drinking with the Deparodose.”

“Wait, Quicktrot!?” I blurted in horrified astonishment.

He groaned. “Ya. The bitch had me practically dancing in her hooves even after revealing her grand plan. I'm just not equipped to deal with a pony like her.” Pressing down on the bullet press, he gave a long sigh. “Nothings changed at all.”

“Is it…” I caught myself from revealing more than I should tell, but looking at him, he was just as out of place as I was. I realized that he had no connection to this wasteland or any need to use me like a tool. I also needed somepony to say something as well and wouldn't call me crazy. “Is it because she's not a pony?”

He stopped and turned to me with an eyebrow raised.

“I mean, what is she? Some sort of… evil spirit that possesses ponies?” I sheepishly asked.

Slowtort huffed then gave a stressed filled chuckle. “If only she was that simple.”

Now I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Raising up his pipbuck, he spoke. “Ironbuck, do you have information on the pipbuck 2600 that was used to make your programming?”

His pipbuck 3200 beeped then answered in a flat digital voice. “Records show that the Ministry courier pipbuck, or pipbuck 2600, was used as the base to craft the spell matrix of the S&R pipbuck 3200 due to it’s expanded spell matrix capacity and advanced hardware.”

My ears perked up at hearing the 2600. It was the pipbuck I found in the timewarp and had downloaded its spell matrix program from. This didn’t explain anything else, however. “So how is that related to Quicktrot?”

“Because Quicktrot is the pipbuck 2600,” he quickly answered with venom in his voice. “The ministry courier pipbuck was meant to keep top-secret messages out of Zebras hooves. To the point that it seals the courier's memories of the message until they get to the recipient. Unfortunately, some group called the O.I.A. got their hooves on it and turned it into a tool of assassination.”

Slowtrot gritted his teeth, looking disgusted. “I still have some of those memories in my head. I can smell the blood. I can taste it, even. Thorn was no hero of Equestria. Rather, he was just a monster.”

“Thorn? As in Thorn Roseland?” The name ran a shiver down my spine since she was the patron saint and prophet of the marauders that invaded my home and took my family.

He nodded. “The 2600 was her pipbuck, and because of my luck, I ended up with it. Long story short, it was bait to lure out Stable-Tec’s upper brass. You see, she had intentionally damaged it, and with it on, it was slowly killing me. Stable-Tec couldn’t have such a scandal, so they rushed to save me, and well ... I’m still alive.”

As shocking as all that sounded, it hasn't answered my original question. “Then how is Quicktrot a pipbuck?”

Taking a deep breath, Slowtrot nodded. “Sorry. Like I said, it’s not simple. But, to get to the point, the 2600 didn’t just seal off memory, but it also damaged the user’s soul which caused little bits of it to be shaved off the user and into it.”

I gasped. He again nodded.

“Yep. The pipbuck gained its own soul from taking bits from those who had used it such as Thorn, myself, Healing Herbs, and… Phobetor.” The last name he said with even more disdain. It also felt somewhat familiar to me.

“Phobetor?” I said the name aloud. Slowly, a vague shape formed in my mind which was dark and elusive… with two golden eyes! “You mean that Dragon that was with the megaspell!” I shouted in startled realization.

This time his ears perked up. “Dragon? No.. wait! She did turn into something like that before I triggered the megaspell to implode on her.” He sat back, scratching his chin before nodding. “Alright, I’ll spill the beans. Phobetor is actually some ancient Nightmare that's trapped in Tartarus. As far as I know, she is still stuck there. I think she’s the reason that Quicktrot was able to break free from the 2600. Maybe, when Phobetor was messing with my head, Quicktrot was able to gain a small bit of her power. Well, now she's some sort of soul-eating arcano tech virus. I can't say for certain. She could just be pretending, but I think she needs technology to get around, like terminals or-”

“Pipbucks.” I finished his open thought. “Ya, she tried to get into my pipbuck on the first day, but my pipbucks spell matrix kept her out.”

I sighed since I felt it was time to explain a bit more on my end. “I met Qucktrot before ending up here. I’m unsure what exactly was going on with her, but I think she might have thought she was you for a while.”

He raised an eyebrow at me.

I pulled my hat off my head and looked at it with some regret. “Ya. When my friend Vibraphone and I entered the ruins of the R&D Stable, you were there, like a friendly ghost. You even sacrificed yourself to save me, but when you faded, Quicktrot was then in your place. I thought everything was fine, but as soon as we gave an old pipbuck we found, to another pony with us. She possessed them and stole our only escape out of that deathtrap of a stable.”

Slowtrot rolled his eyes. “Something similar happened to me. When I was stuck in… I don’t know what it was. It was mostly just darkness and storms. During that time, I think the soul fragments got scattered and Quicktrot used me to quickly gather them. Once she was whole, she used the 2600’eds teleportation spell to zap herself out and left me there to die.”

“It was a magical time warp, or did that lurker call it a dementia pocket?” I tried to clarify.

“Lurker?” he then asked.

“They’re like a pony if it mated with a crab, but they also have a glow for some reason,” I explained, but he only looked more confused.

I decided to just move on. “Forget it.”

“So, Quicktrot is some sort of Arcano tech abomination, made up of the four souls who originally used the pipbuck 2600.” It sounded even crazier as it left my mouth, but it also fit what I saw in the R&D Stable.

He nodded. “Basically, but well, it’s not just four souls anymore, but a lot of them, and the pony she possesses slowly falls apart. She called it soul rot.”

“Then that pony she left with is likely dead now,” I realized with a sad sigh.

I had one more question. “So how did she get the Sheriff to punch you in the face?”

“She put the crazy sibling card on me,” he told me as he pulled out a piece of paper.

Reading it, I couldn't help but chuckle. It reminded me of some of the back hoofed plays my own family would do to discredit other ponies they hated. Commonly it was our other family members. My eldest sister would often spread rumors of me being sterile or unstable, but she could never say I was not her sister even though I wish I wasn’t.

“Well, if you find a way to kill her, then maybe you can take over Blue skies?” I asked him hopefully.

He shook his head. “Not interested in some chem pushing company. I just hope the Followers can find treatments for the exotic chem’s she cut the normal chems with.”

“Cut chems? Ya. That’s even a problem back home,” I informed in agreement. “My friend was trying to hide it, but she was regularly taking chill pills.”

Slowtrot raised an eyebrow. “Chill pills? Is that like a pill version of a chem called chill?”

I nodded.

He let out a long and exaggerated breath. “Oh thank Celestia! Then you might be able to help Jali, one of the chems getting cut in is Chill.”

“What?! How?” I shouted in shock. “Chill can’t be here! It’s from the islands. There’s no way it can have gotten here. Besides, Orthrus should have burnt all of those fucking plants and shot any pony who tries to take them off the island!”

“Plant?” he asked.

I took a deep breath and explained. “Pung plants. They mainly stay as bushes but can grow into a tree. They also produce an okay tasting fruit that most poor ponies on the island eat as a staple food source.”

“Unfortunately, the plant produces a toxic pollen, and a lot of it at that. It, and the other trees that produce that pollen, are the bane of our existence since it has made the surface utterly uninhabitable and is the source of most of the genetic damage to ponies that live there.”

I took another deep breath then continued. “The sap of the punga plant can also be used to make a chem called Chill. Chill can be used as a muscle relaxant, pain killer, and will calm the mind of those who use it. It’s also a hallucinogenic that ponies use as a recreational drug where they paralyze themselves and see strange things. The chem also happens to damage your brain. Ponies who use it, over time, often end up schizophrenic and suffer from muscle spasms.”

“And you said that the plant is only on the island?” Slowtrot checked.

I nodded. “No way Orthrus would let it get off the island, because they knew that if the plant ever got out into the wild, it could possibly spread all over and make the world unlivable for ponies.” I then raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you know where Quicktrot could have gotten this Chill?”

He scratched his chin for a moment before nodding. “I think she said something about stealing it from mirage ponies in Cantercross.”

Again, the city of Cantercross was mentioned alongside mirage ponies, but now there's punga plants there. Maybe some ponies did leave the island, but the fact that they took punga plants with them didn't sit well with me.

“I guess there might actually be Mirage ponies in Cantercross then,” I realized aloud.

“Maybe they might know how to get you home?” Slowtrot suggested hopefully.

I nodded. “Ya. Maybe.”

Mirage ponies being there was still a longshot to be sure, but not as implausible now as before. When I do leave, Cantercross will be my destination. Maybe I can convince Cloudy to come with me! If there's anypony who’s not going to have a grudge against the pegasi, it would be other mirage ponies like myself.

Passing him back the note from Quicktrot, I still had one more question. "So ... I get why Ashy would be annoyed if she thought you're a crazy pony, but I don't see why she decks you like that. You were talking about Chems, if I'm not mistaken."

Slowtrot returned his attention back to the gunpress while adding a shell in each of them as he said, "That's what I was trying to talk to them about. For a while there, I had some of the attention from the sheriff. She clearly didn't think highly of Quicktrot, so it was possible to maybe get her to put Blue Skies under some pressure."

"But?" I said, expecting the word to pop up.

"False Cap and Stopped Clock thought that if the downtowners suffered, it was their own fault. They also changed the conversation to about how dangerous the Desperados are."

"Can you explain it to me in more detail? All of it?" I asked. In response, he nodded then began to relay everything that happened to him yesterday; from working in the clinic, to looking for the cut chems, to his chat with Quicktrot, and then dealing with the sheriff. It felt like he was leaving something out, but I didn't need to know everything.

I processed the information and mulled over it for a minute, then came to an understanding. "Slowtrot, if anypony asked you to ever do a negotiation, please tell them no or shoot them."

He looked confused but didn't look like he disagreed with me, so I explained myself. "First off, you told Quicktrot what you were going to do. Of course she was going to pull something like that. Second, you need to go with the flow of any debate, argument, or discussion. If they want to bitch and moan about the Desperados, then let them. Just tie the whole chem issue to them and it will make it harder to change the subject."

I sighed. "I loath to admit it, but False Cap and Stopped Clock are not wrong."

Slowtrot lowered his gaze at me. "You actually agreeing with them?" he asked in disbelief.

"By Princesses Platinum, NO! Those two dickheads may not be wrong, but they're far from being right either." I took a slow deep breath before I continued. "Even back home, there's little to be done about the slums. If we shut them down, they just pop up elsewhere. It's just easier to keep them where you can watch them, rather than trying to integrate ponies who don’t want to be part of your community. It's not perfect, or even a good solution, but when they outnumber you a hundred to one, it's just easier to protect your own than to try to give into an unsustainable beast."

I got up and dusted my dress off. "That said, those two deputies are asses. I won't be surprised if False Cap will just get stabbed or something someday. The slums are literally just across the tracks. If things get really bad there, they're looking at having an overwhelming riot.

"Now, if I was to try something and was still on the mayor's good side, I'd appeal to his ego and seed in that Qucktrot might be trying to take some of the power from him. That way, Espresso might become inclined to go over Ashy’s head and throw in some regulation, though it may take time." I explained.

Slowtrot looked a bit lost as he pulled the bullet press lever. "But ... how would that solve the chem issue?"

I sighed. "It won't, but it would give you an opening to get the town ponies to talk about the issue, and then you will have some leverage on the sheriff."

"And the Desperados?" he further probed.

"With them, there is not much we can do," I said with a shrug. "Ashy is the authority here, and the Desperados clearly exist outside of her control which makes them a direct threat to her power. Even if they don't plan to do anything, their presence alone makes them a threat.”

Again, he pulled the lever as he said, "You sound like you know from experience," he observed.

I looked at the stripes on my foreleg for a moment before answering, "You can say that. My family held a lot of power. Of course there would be a lot of fighting because of it. Even though I had no right to that power, I was still seen as the biggest threat to them all. My family are all unicorns. The Mirage Ponies outnumbered them, so it’s not hard to imagine that I could be used to start a revolt.

"Say, Slowtrot, what would you think if I told you I was an actual Princess?" I asked quietly.

He pushed down on the lever, again making another bullet. "Don't know. You do have wings and a horn, so I guess you could be related to Celestia and Luna."

"What? No! I mean just a regular princess of the Equestria royal family.

Anyways, as far as the records say, Celestial and Luna were only adopted into the royal family with Celestia never taking a husband or having a child herself," I corrected.

Slowtrot stopped what he was originally doing and looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "You're serious, aren't you?"

Standing straight, I gave a curt bow. "I am Princesses Harp Melody, Daughter of Queen Gilded Gold, descendant of Princess Majesty, and an inheritor of Princess Platnum's bloodline."

He scratched his chin for a moment. "Wait, Princess Majesty? Didn't she go around on all those tours to support the troops early in the war? My mom thought it was irresponsible to have such a young mare so close to the front line."

I was a bit taken aback by what he just said. "She was in the war?"

"Well, no. It's been a long time. I only really remember it because she was around my age. I thought it was really cool at the time. A lot of the early propaganda posters featured her with the troops which became major collector’s items when the ministries took over."

He took a closer look at me as if he was struggling to recognize my face. "Actually, now that you mentioned it, you do look a bit like her… I think."

I don't know why, but that put a smile on my face. "Thanks Slowtrot, but you don't need to humor me."

"Just being honest, Princesses." He said with a shrug and a tip of his hat, then returned to the bullet press. "Thanks for the chat, and sorry if I sound so indifferent but-"

“Hangover.” I finished his statement. He just nodded.

Shrugging myself, I then left.

Returning to the reception room, I found Longslide's wife, Gyrojet, holding her youngest foal.

"Where's Longslide?" I asked.

"Where do you think?" She huffed. "He also wants to show you something in the garage, so make it quick. I rather not deal with any customers."

Leaving the grumpy mother hen alone, I made my way to the garage where Longslide was busy welding on a bit of armor to the Smuggler.

The vehicle had changed shape a bit. It became a little wider and sported larger black tires. There were also armor plates to protect the engine. The gun for the gunnery nest was missing. It looked like he was adding a cargo spot in the back.

Looking back and seeing me, he pulled up his welding goggles as he said, "There you are! So, is Slowtrot alright?"

I nodded. "Ya, but things might be a bit weird with him from now on."

"Ehh, as long as he makes that ammunition, we don't care," he said as he jumped off the Smuggler and wiped his claws off on a dirty rag.

"So you wanted to show me something?" I asked.

"Right. Just a moment." He trotted over to the driver's seat, jumped in, and pressed a button. The Smuggler came to life with a roar. Its engine was loud and strong. After a moment, Longslide turned it off. "It took some tinkering, but my baby works!"

I was not much of a tech mare, much less an engineering mare, so I was not all that excited. "That's… cool... Is that all?"

He shook his head as he said, "Alright, don't force yourself. I got something else. I just wanted to show this to somepony."

Jumping out of his seat, Longslide trotted over to a big metal box that had a large lock on it. "So how's the Talisman crafting coming?"

"Well enough. I managed to make a new talisman, though I doubt I can make anything complicated yet."

"Good, because I got my father's permission to open up this chest here." Longslide looked as though he hesitated, but then pulled out a key and opened up the box.

Trotting over, I noticed that, inside the large box, there were at least three battered suits of pegasus power armor along with three damaged magical energy rifles. All of them had very old stains of dried blood on them which had caused the metal to rust over time.

Something didn't seem right about this.

"Is there a reason they're locked away and unclean?" I asked him.

He nodded as he explained, "All this belonged to the ponies that killed my mother. She wasn't even armed at the time. They swooped down… I saw my mom turn to ash in front of my eyes…"

He picked up a rifle and hoofed it over to me. "Dad literally flew into a rage when he found out. He almost died himself, but he got his revenge, not that it brought mom back."

"I'm sorry," I apologized while looking at the rusty energy rifle.

"Don't be. Ponies die all the time in the wasteland, and I've already made my peace with the past." Longslide picked up an energy pistol, grabbed a screwdriver then began opening it up.

After a moment, he had the pistol open and pulled out a clear pink rose quartz talisman. After that, he took the rifle, opened it up as well and pulled out a similar, but bigger, talisman.

"It's about time we made use of these old guns. So ... you think you can copy these talismans?" he asked as he passed me the two talisman.

I studied them for a moment. I felt inside with my own magic, and… found the spell surprisingly simple! It just took in magical energy and shot it as a condensed beam. So, while not as simple as a spark talisman, it still shouldn't take me all that long to memorize.

I looked up at Longslide and smiled. "It will take some testing and time, but ya, I can copy these.”

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Talisman Spells obtained

• Magical Energy Beam - Shoots a beam of concentrated magical energy out. It can disintegrate a target.