Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Chem Raid, Part 1

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"When the subject of chems came up, it became clear that they were talking about drugs and narcotics. With a mix of chemistry and a bit of alchemy, the chem of Equestria are drugs that can do many things not normally possible. Most of the time they are just painkillers and steroids, but some chems can make you smarter, stronger, or cause magical effects like regenerating limbs and predicting the future.

As Star Charter explained, all chems are addictive with the risk always greatly outweighing the reward." ~ Azure Dice

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Jali’s free clinic was far busser this morning than normal. Cloudy was getting checked by Jali to make sure she was fine. Harp was with Cloudy as suppot. The two not wanting to separate from each other just yet. Then there was Slowtrot with the two Desperados mares.

It seemed that one mare, Live Axle, suffered from something called catharsis disorder, which sounds like she was an emotional time bomb. Mom was helping the mare talk it out, as it seemed to require a pony to share their feelings, and not just medication.

The other mare, Dead Axle, was just spending time messing with Jali’s busted electronics. Every now and then she gave her sister a verbal jab.

I was still pissed because I got attacked by raiders, getting overpowered by them before I could properly fight back. If I was not already tired from work and had a proper weapon on me, I’d have broken open a few skulls. Fuck Topsoil and the Sheriff! Just because I was “Involved” in the gravedigger’s death, they didn’t want me trotting around openly armed.

I was getting sick of all their rules meant to hold me down.

The mare with the orange coat and blond mane trotted up to me. Dead Axle was her name. “Hey, you're that mare that bit a chunk out of Gear Shift’s leg, ain’t ya?”

I had to think back to recall the most recent pony I had bitten. It turns out it was one of the Deparados the gravedigger Topsoil had hired to attack me.

“Right, so that’s what the idiot’s name was. How is he doing?” I asked casually.

Dead shrugged. “He and his sis got a beating for taking an unapproved job. The elder was glad it was not some setup, but the fucking sherif had been giving us the side-eye ever since then.”

I raised an eyebrow as I asked, “A Setup?”

She sighed. “Ya. It happens sometimes. A pony throws caps at us just to lure us into traps. When you control as much territory as us, you make enemies by just existing. I mean, we do have ponies we have screwed over, but that’s just gangger politics. It’s just like the NCR and New Appaloosa. They are no different.”

“Too true,” Harp spoke up as she trotted over. “Back home, even when things were considered peaceful, there was still a lot of fighting between the different powers. Fortunately my Island and the Island the Republic were on didn’t have any connected tunnels between them, otherwise it would have become a never ending war. Orthrus really did work hard to keep the peace between us.”

I was reminded of all the fighting I heard about back when I was a filly on the Blackwater. Whenever a ship would dock with the city ship, the sailors always had stories of near violent conflict between ships. There was even one time two fleets started shooting at each other over the control of the Blackwater. Now that was a fun show!

I shook my head to refocus on the problem at hoof. “So, about the raiders last night?”

There was a pause as everypony's faces darkened a little.

“Ya, Crankshaft told us about that incident. A real close call for ya gals,” Dead Axle said nasally.

She pulled out a piece of tattered paper and began reading off of it. “Thin pony mare with a dark semi long dirty blond mane, and light brown cote. Had your standard wastelander rags on and buck ball caps hiding their eyes.”

Dead passed me the paper. It did not say anything different.

Dead explained, “It’s all we got on who paid for the attack. The pony was likely a middle mare. We're not from this area, so that's all we can help with, but Crankshaft did say that, if you locate the raiders den, then let him know. If you do, then he’ll convince some of us to go help clear it out. Fuck, I know I’ve been itching for a fight. Can’t even start a bar fight around ‘ere.”

I eyed the gangger mare. “Hey, were you the one that tried to get on stage with me the other night?”

Dead Axle’s eyes wandered away from my gaze. Her sister gave a loud laugh.

Harp cut in. She looked unsure of herself as she asked. “You think we should go after those midnight raiders? Wouldn't talking to the sheriff be a better idea?”

She was not wrong. If anything, the raiders was something that got Ashy to stop being such a bitch and go bother some ponies who should be harassed, but it felt all too convenient that the attack happened right after False got run out of the tavern.

I could tell the same thought was going through Harp’s head but, if that was true, why ask?

“Harp, you sure it was not Fales that did this? You did pull a gun out on him.” I reminded her.

She shook her head. “No. His type will try to get the Mayor to screw us over or make up some fake crime to pin on me. Hiring bandits to… I mean raiders to pony nap me is too soon for a pony in his position. This is more in line of a pony who doesn't have any good options to go after me publicly, or can’t risk damaging their reputation blatantly.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like who? The mayor?”

“Well, no. I’m just saying hypothetically. That's all,” she half-heartedly explained.

She wasn't telling me something, but the way she looked at me, it was like she knew something that I didn’t, but I want to know it. I didn’t like it one bit.

“Maybe you two are thinking too hard and in the wrong direction.” Dead Axle spoke up as she scratched her chin. “Instead of asking who paid the raiders, maybe you two should be thinking about getting rid of those raiders first. If they were able to attack within the night, they got to live not far away from town.”

“That shouldn't be possible,” I proclaimed aloud.

A creeping feeling ran up my spine. Raiders so close to town really should not be possible, not with Sheriff Ashy on the watch for them. In fact, New Appaloosa’s location made it hard for raiders to get close considering how flat it was here. Most of the nearby ruins had been demolished years ago. Something just didn’t add up.

This could only mean one thing.

“It could be possible the raiders are hiding in town. Did you get a good look at any of their faces?” I asked Harp

She nodded. “They all had face paint on, but it wouldn't be hard to recognize them in a crowd. All of them looked like they were heavy chem abusers, and the leader’s eyes, for some reason, reflected light back at us like some night predator.”

That last part… it didn’t add up at all. Why would a raider's eyes shine? He was a unicorn, so it is possible he used some sort of spell.

“Sounds like the chem, cat’s eye to me,” Jali spoke up as she trotted over to us. “It’s a chem given out to zebra soldiers on night watch. Well they did for a short time during the war. The chem causes the user to go color blind and become light-sensitive if used for long enough. It did end up on the black market, so I’m not surprised it got into the hooves of ponies.” She grimaced. “But the ingredients are quite rare from what I know. Not even the angels make that chem.”

“They could be getting it from Blue Skies!” Now Slowtrot joins in on the conversation. “They already have access to some exotic chems, so it’s not a stretch that they have other chems. Have you seen them sell anything like that, Dead Axle?”

The Desperado thought about it for a few seconds, then shook her head. “Can't say. We're not paid to be on the business end of things. We even stopped buying chems from them because of how shit their product is. If they're selling this cat's eye, I bet it’s cut with some other nasty shit to make it more addictive.”

I caught a glance of Harp frowning as though she was about to say something like, “That bitch” but held it in to not give away her feelings. It reminded me a lot of some of the working mares who were reminded of mares they knew who had grudges against them, blaming them after something bad happened to them.

I was getting the feeling that Harp had made more enemies then just False Cap in the short time she was here.

Still, it was something I could work with. I just needed to find out where the cat’s eye was sold or could be made. These raiders were tricky. They had to have been to have survived for so long, but they were still raiders. Chem abuse makes the brain go soft. If they're buying a cat's eye, then they will leave a trail back to them from the seller.

I turned to everypony and gave them a smile. “I’m going to stop by the Gunrunners in order to see if my new sword is finished. I rather not get caught off guard like that again. A small switchblade is not enough protection.”

“I’m coming with you,” Harp spoke up.

“Need a bigger gun?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I already have bigger guns. I just need to make use of them.” She looked over at her robot. “Order, follow me.”

The flying robot lifted off of the bed it was on and hovered over to Harp.

“I’m no good in a sudden fight like that, but Order here is,” Harp told me. “I was thinking of having my two spare bolt launchers installed onto it. They will be more effective then the one charge shock spell it has.”

I smiled at Harp. “Oh, I loved to see that! You sure you don’t want to give it two SMG’s?”

Again, she shook her head. “No no. I need to conserve my caps for now. Anyways, Order’s advantage is going to be his stealth. Well, once I get his other talismans working. Once those are repaired, the far more quiet bolt launchers will do just fine.”

I shrugged. “Alright, then let's go. Daylight is far more valuable right now, and I don’t want to waste it.”

We looked back at the others. We got a happy wave back. It looked like Cloudy was going to be just fine. She just needed some rest. The issue was what to do when night falls and they attack us again. If I can’t find them first, that I’d be damn sure I won’t be taken so easily again.

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The Gunrunners were as busy as usual, with the pregnant Gyroget sitting at the reception desk. She was polishing a few service rifles as the griffins finished making the rest.

The crates the rifles were being loaded in were labeled “NCR” in big bold letters.

Unlike the normal service rifles the Gunrunners normally made, these ones all had slight modifications. They had larger sights, extended magazines, and bayonets.

“These don’t look like they're going into NCR gunts hooves.” I observed out loud.

“They're not, Star,” Hardballer agreed as he loaded another rifle in. “Our order is for NCR expeditionary troops. They don’t have a stable supply line, so they need rifles that are a grade above the normal. Fillydelphia is already too busy with all the standard orders, so we get the custom jobs,” he explained with a smile on his beak.

There were at least ten crates with ten rifles to each one. Almost all of them were fully loaded.

I gave in the best innocent smile I could. “So then, since you’re looking like your almost done, can I ask you about those knives I gave you?”

He dropped his smile. “You mean those monstrosities of kitchen knives? I didn’t have time for them, so I let Javelina take a crack at them. She did enjoy superheating them and then cutting everything. She’s with Longslid in the garage.”

I thanked him before trotting off, leaving Harp there with her own request.

The Smuggler that Longslid had been working on was looking more solid now, though still mostly a bunch of vocal shaped pipes. The thing now had light armor, which included steel plate sidings and steel pipe bumpers. I was sure that if this got into a chicken match with a brahman bull, it could actually win.

Longslid himself was working with his little sister Javelina on what looked like several energy weapon parts.

Totting over to the two hippogriff hybrids, I watched as they seemed to be studying all the parts and drawing a blueprint.

Softly, so to not upset Javelina, I asked. “What kind of monster gun are you making?”

There was a pause as they both slowly turned to look at me.

“Were seeing if we can make a low-cost auto wagon mounted beam rifle,” Longslide replied.

He pulled up a piece of paper with several sketches of some kind of gun system. It looked a bit like a belt-fed minigun, but with beam rifle parts.

He continued. “Seeing how Harp can act as an external battery, I thought maybe I can use that same concept for guns. Unfortunately, spark batteries have size and weight issues.”

“Not infantry,” Javelina whispered.

Longslide nodded. “Javy here suggested that we just make it a turret for the Smuggler. I had thought about it before, but that has its own issues.”

Javelina picked up a beam rifle's power cell. “Problem is power transfer. We need a cell that can recharge. We need an intermediary power converter. We need a power source. All three can’t be connected or the gun would be too heavy and it tangles with Smuggle.”

A sigh came from Longslide. “My sister never does things the easy way, but if we can pull it off, we would have a modular weapons platform for the Smuggler. Just imagine it! With enough time and resources, I could throw a gatling beam cannon on this Smuggler.”

He put the blueprint away. “But right now we're just trying to get a standard beam rifle to work.”

The two were clearly enjoying themselves, so I didn’t want to take too much of their time.

“I’ll make it quick; your father said he passed those knives I found to Javelina to work on. Was it possible to make them into a new sword?” I asked.

Javelina's eyes widened. She hopped off the workbench and over to a rusty metal case.

Longlside frowned. “You gave us some scary metal, Star. Cosmic knives are what they were called. Javy even used one to cut out a bit of the Smuggler’s armor.”

Pulling out the rusty case and opening it up, Javelina presented me with my new cutlass inside its scabbard. The scabbard had brilliantly polished brass fittings that visually popped out alongside the rich black lacor of the scabbard. It even had my cutie mark in brass near the hilt.

“Cosmic Cutlass,” Javelina announced proudly.

Taking the sword, the hilt and guard were oddly made of black lacquered wood with brass inlays. The bit hold was also made of wood with a vibrant rust red.

I unsheathed the blade from its scabbard. What greeted me was a gleaming silvery metal that looked too pretty to be used for combat. Its shine was too perfect, and the edge had no flaws.

“H...How?” I asked in shock.

Javelina smiled. “It did not sing like iron. Iron calms in heat, is stubborn in cold. This is stubborn in heat, calms in cold. Where Iron sings to strength, wants to be bent by the strong. This sang when given a drink and told a story, promised to it that it would be beautiful. It wanted it’s friend to stay with it, so I promised the wood would continue to be with it.”

She pointed at the scabbard as well as the other wooden parts. “Vulcan Iron Wood from the Flame Geyser Swamp. Used in heavy guns that overheat. Wood doesn't burn, resists heat. Wood is strong like iron, but heavy like wood.”

The hippogriff mare was difficult to understand at the best of times, with how she can see sound, feel colors, and overall experience the world in a way nopony can. I could only guess that she saw something we couldn’t, and went all in making the sword because of it.

“You know, this is far beyond what I expected. How would I even afford a cutlass like this?” I asked in awe as my gaze was fixated at the beauty of the sword which was unworldly.

Javelina shook her head. “No, it wants you. You saved it from its tomb. I gave it a new form. I cannot take it out into the world.”

“Anyways, you helped save this workshop. I think this is a perfect reward for what you did for us,” Longslide reasoned. “Not many ponies or griffins use swords out here anyways, so that piece of art would only gather dust with us.”

The hippogriff stallion pulled out a drum magazine and passed it to me. “Take this as well. It should let you used that dumb SMG on a battle saddle.”

With a smile, I sheathed the cutlass and took what looked to be a fifty-round drum magazine. “Again, thanks. Now I’ll leave you with your project.”

Trotting away, it was good to see Javelina out and talking. The poor mare could barely stand being around anyplace too active. I was told that Fillydelphia was really bad for her since the city never stopped working. Because of that, she never could get any peace for more than an hour.

I found where I stored my Rust Gun here in the compound. I thought about it for a moment, knowing that openly trotting around with my weapons was likely going to piss off the deputies, but fuck them! If I had to worry about raider attacks here in town, then I was going to stay armed.

Also, I needed to talk with some ponies about a chem. Being fully armed was a good way to show them that I’m not fucking around.

Loading the drum magazine took quite a bit of time. It took nearly all my spare 10mm ammunition which left me with a standard magazine and a small magazine to load.

I shoved the small magazine into Rust Gun while placing the other three into my saddlebag. That gave me 15 rounds to shoot, but it had a low profile compared to the other magazines. Even if I didn’t care what the Deputies thought anymore, I still didn’t want them stopping me every minute like they thought I was going to go on a killing spree.

As for my Cosmic Cutlass, I used a cloth strap to go through the brass rings on the scabbard and attached it to my saddlebag. I placed it in a way that I had easy access to the sword if I needed to use it.

As I was leaving, I spied on the workshop for a quick moment. There, Hardballer was holding one of Harp’s bolt launchers. The rifle was interesting to say the least, though I was unsure how he was going to fit it onto the robot. Then again Hardballer was one of the best gunsmiths in Equestria, if any creature could do it, it was him

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As expected, a few deputies were more than curious as to what I was doing as I trotted around with a gun and sword.

I wanted to tell them to fuck off and mind their own bussness, but I knew that was only going to draw more unwanted attention, so I gave a simple explanation. I told them about the attack last night and how fucking useless the deputies were for letting raiders get into town. I also told them if they had a problem with me protecting myself, then the sheriff better make it a damn law that ponies in town can't carry weapons to protect themselves.

Fucking love to see that riot.

It wasn't my best move. I did have the option of taking smaller guns or knives with me, but I wanted everypony to know I was dangerous right now, both those who knew me and those who didn't.

Downtown New Appaloosa has many dark alleys, but few actual places to hide from the deputies. One of those places was a section of the old wall that was turning into a ratty bar that sold shitty booze. The deputies didn’t care about this place for two reasons.

One, they paid their bribes on time.

Two, this was where ponies go to get the chems they planned to kill themselves with.

It was called Lethe’s Watering Hole, and it was a little dark spot of the town where those who have lost hope gather. Here ponies buy chems too dangerous to casually consume then wander out into the wasteland to get high... then die out there.

The ponies here were the thin as rails whores, failed scavengers, mercenaries who had seen too much, and old raiders who lived long enough to want to just die.

This place was also great for buying booze when you're too young to buy it anywhere else.

“Long time no see, Star, though is it too soon for you to come back to a place like this.” The Unicorn ghoul, Lethe, spoke in a wispy voice as she shook a drink mixer, sloshing with booze and clanking with ice.

As ghouls go, she was both the best and the worst looking ghoul I had ever seen. She was entirely intact with a full black mane and a gray-blue coat that had not a bald spot or missing skin on it. But she was so thin, I could swear she was just a skeleton with the skin of a pony draped over her. Add her clean slick black suit, the mare never ceased to unnerve me every time I saw her.

“Just here to ask a few questions, that's all,” I told Lethe.

She gave me a toothy smile. It was far too pearly white to be natural.

“Is that so? Then why don't you have a drink? It’s on the house,” she offered as she levitated a cracked glass in front of her then poured a bright glowing red drink.

I sat down on the rusty stool and looked at the drink. “How can you afford to give out free drinks?”

She chuckled. “Who said it’s free? Just think of it as a future investment. No strings, just expectations.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

But, right now, I could use at least one drink.

Whatever it was, it was strong with alcohol, but also exploded with the sweet flavor of… radish!?

“I call it the Red Light District, though a less than adequate imitation of it. A clear cherry-cola would be used for the flavoring, along with a bright red food coloring, but sparkle-cola rad just visually pops out more,” Lethe explained.

I put the empty glass down, getting ready for business.

“You know of any raiders buying Cats Eye?” I asked.

Lethe poured herself a glass of her glowing red drink. “You’re looking for those Midnight Raiders, I’m guessing?”

“Then you know! Tell me where to find those fuckers!” I demanded.

She took a long sip, savoring her drink.

Then she replied. “No.”

“What do you mean no?” I asked in frustration.

She put her half-finished glass down. “I mean no, because I can't give you that information. Anyways, most ponies around here already know that you were attacked. It's common knowledge. Maybe you should be rephrasing your question.”

With a sigh, I let her finish her drink as I thought about how to ask her.

I knew that she knew every bad pony in town, but he bitch had always been cryptic. If I wanted anything from her, she’d never give it, but if I convinced some pony else to go ask her, then she would give it. This pissed me off, but I learned to work with it.

“Alright. Is there anypony around that sells, or did sell, cat’s eye around here?” I asked.

“That I can do,” she answered as she pointed to a random pony in the open bar.

It was a skinny stallion with dark bags under his eyes and plenty of patches of missing fur. “You remember Thrilling Heights, right? If you want a chem, he can get it for you, but you knew that already. What you don’t know is that he spends all his time here now, trying to sell to my customers. Not that I care if he does business here. He is just too damn upbeat about it. It ruins the mood.”

I didn’t understand why, but Lethe only liked depressed ponies being at her bar. I always would joke that she fed on hopelessness to keep her skin looking as good as it was despite being just a skeleton under it all.

Though she never seemed to have a problem with me, no matter what my mood was.

Leaving that mystery for me to never solve, I trotted over to the very tired stallion.

“So you're still selling chems, Thrilling?” I asked.

Thrilling Heights looked up at me. Through his tired gaze, he put on a big smile.

The pony I remember as a teenager was a big and strong pony who oozes with confidence. Both Skipper and I got our chems from him, getting convinced by his slick words that he was our best choice, not that we needed much convincing.

Now the stallion looked thin and weak. His clothes seemed too big for him. Although he had a confident smile, nothing else about him smiled at all. He was a wreck, and the white powder under his nose didn’t help his look.

“Oh Star, glad to see you again! Yes, I’m still selling. Just name the chem, and I can get it for you.” Thrilling Heights said confidently with a strained and scratchy tone.

“Cat’s Eye .. where are you getting your supply?” I added to my question.

For a moment the smile dropped, but he quickly forced it back up. “Ah, planning some midnight mischief, I see. Well, it may take some doing, so I hope you can wait a few days.”

Looking down at him, I was annoyed that I had to repeat myself. “Your supply of Cat’s Eye ... where do you get it?”

He held onto that smile, but he began scratching a bald spot on his fur. “That’s a trade secret, Star. You know I can't go around telling ponies about that.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know I’m not buying, Thrilling. I just want to know where you get it so I can find the raiders that are buying the shit.”

The stallion shrinked a little.

“Are you sure you're not interested in anything, Star? I recently got my hooves on some mintats mixed with some booze for a wonderful high. It’s super cheap, too.” Thrilling tried to sell to me in as much of an upbeat tone he could muster.

“I’m not wasting my caps on chems, Thrilling. Now tell me!” I demanded.

He pulled out a small glass jar with several white tablets. “How about some buck? This batch has an extra kick to it.”

Knocking the jar out of his hoof, I got muzzle to muzzle with the chem pusher “Cat’s eye! Where is it?!”

“How about some Dash?” he offered, still forcing a smile.

I was done just talking. I didn’t have the time to fuck around like this.

Locking my eyes with his own, Thrilling Heights froze in my gaze. I pushed my anger, my hate at him, imagining pain and suffering onto him. I could feel it. It was like I was finally scratching an itch that, before my hooves, could not reach. This relieved me of my frustration and fear.

…

Why fear?

What was I to fear? If the raiders did manage to capture me, I know I’d find a way to free myself. They were raiders! They were only strong in numbers. I know I could fight them as long as I could get myself a weapon.

What's the worst that could happen?

Well, I could have died. That be bad.

If I died…

If…

My Bridget would have been left without a mother!

She would forever be left wondering what happened to me. Her and Prism both.

I would just be another wasteland disappearance. Something the sheriff would celebrate over.

I didn’t want that. No. I couldn’t let that happen.

Those midnight raiders, they had to die! They needed to die!

I would not suffer them to live!

…

Breaking my gaze, Thrilling Heights fell back quivering in fear as he shielded his face from me with his hooves.

“I’ll tell! I’ll tell. The sewer system under Old Appaloosa near the demolished slave pens. The mushrooms for making cats eye grow there. Just leave me alone! Please leave me alone,” he whimpered.

Looking down at him, Thrilling Height’s smile was gone. All that was left was a sad pony begging for his life.

Sighing, I trotted back to the dirty bar where Lethe had another Red Light District sat on the bar, clearly there for me. Lethe herself seemed quite pleased with what I did. Her smile on her unnerving skeletal like frame was quite disturbing to witness.

“Why are you like this, Lethe?” I asked as I just looked down the drink. A drop of blood fell from my cheek and into the drink. My evil eyes again showed itself to the world. The drink turned a darker shade of red as a result, practically a deep scarlet now.

Lethe chuckled. “It’s just who I am and what this place is. Cheerful ponies like Thrilling can come here and do business, but this is a place for ponies to accept their misery, not revel in it. It is a cruel thing to force yourself and others to be happy all the time, like being tortured, but not being allowed to admit what is happening.”

She lifted her glass. It was still half-empty from the last time she took a sip. “The end eventually comes for us all, Star. Is it not better if we accept it and move on than to struggle and suffer until the end takes us anyways?”

Picking up the glass, I gave the ghoul a suspicious glance. “Am I evil to you?”

“Depends on what you think is evil, Star.” Lethe drank the rest of her red drink and gave a satisfied sigh. “You're a violent and dangerous mare who cares not for the order of this word, except when it can protect those you care about. Like how you are with that adorable daughter of yours. You're not much unlike a timberwolf or a major ursa who kills all that threaten its young. Evil, to me, is something that will sacrifice its own young to extend their own life, breaking the natural order. You have yet to do such an abhorrent thing, so no, to me you are no different than any creature who fights to survive.”

That… didn’t make much sense to me, but I at least understood that she thought me loving my Bridget didn’t make me evil.

So I drank the free booze. This time it tasted far better, having a slight taste of iron.

“You sure can afford to just give me this for free,” I noted with a grin.

She took the glass. The smile was now gone from her face. “Like I said, it’s a future investment.”

Despite how hot it was starting to get and with the drink now in my stomach, I somehow felt cold.

“There you are, Star,” a familiar voice of Puppet Strings called out to me.

Turning, I saw the well-dressed mare standing at the edge of the open-air bar. She motions with her hoof for me to come closer, clearly not wanting to step inside.

“Well thanks for the drink. I got places to go, and as it seems, ponies to see.” As I gave Lethe one last glance, I could see a snarl on her face. She was practically radiating hatred. Her eyes locked onto… Puppet Strings.

She then relaxed her face, returning it to a blank emotionless state. “Take care, Star, and remember what I said about evil.”

Feeling a bit confused, I trotted away from the ghoul, thus leaving the bar and joining Puppet.

I couldn't put my hoof on it, but whenever I left Lethe’s Watering Hole, it felt like I was returning to the wasteland, as though I had unknowingly left it. Still, I got free and good booze, so I was not going to bitch about it.

_______________________________________________________

-Reputation-

-New Appaloosa Law-

Reports of Star trotting around armed and pissed off has set the deputies on edge. Now more eyes are on her than before.

-New Appaloosa Down Towners-

Word has gotten around that Star is gearing for a fight with some raiders. They know to stay out of her way, and quietly wish her luck, as nopony like raiders.

-Unique Item Obtained-

-Cosmic Cutlass-

A sword that both holds an edge and is more durable than any known metal, but most strange is its ability to take in and hold heat.

“Again, the buyers are requesting refunds, and I was sure these cosmic knives would sell like donuts with how good they are. I guess there’s such a thing as too good. I wanted to get in contact with Applejack, but it seems that Twilight hasn't talked to her in months. I’m not surprised, she does that, drifts away from her friends, just like she drifted away from us, Lemon Hearts.” ~Twinkle Shine