Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Braking Point, Part 2

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"Observing Harp Melody, it was always interesting to see the ponies drawn to her. The way she acted, talked, even moved seemed to be like a beacon to them. Nothing so extreme like moths to a flame, but there was always this favorability they had to her, even with those who clearly had ill intent.

That all said, it also made her a target. Those with the talent for drawing crowds are quite useful to those in power who wish to gain greater power. A tale as old as time; be it performers, speakers, those who can create great art, or simply have a pretty face, they all find themselves coveted by those who want to use them. But where most walk into their chains, Harp always actively fought to keep herself free. The wisdom from being born into a powerful family is my guess." ~ Azure Dice

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To say the NCR mare Ginger looked annoyed would be selling her stoic face short. It was subtle. A little wrinkle above the eyebrow, the slight upturned head, and every now and then one of her hooves would step heavier than the other. The mare was clearly containing whatever she wanted to say or do which was far more than what the other NCR guards had done.

Even now I could hear the other guard whisper insults at us, safe from any response due to the chains that kept us in the middle of the room.

Ginger then sighed as she looked at me, asking a question. “Prisoner Harp Melody, care to explain again why you got into a brawl with prisoner Cattle Prod?”

This mare was not an idiot and didn’t buy it when we tried to pin the fight on Cattle Prod alone. It didn’t help that Star, having the social flare of a rad-boar, was the one to make the accusation. Slowtrot was no help either. He tripped over his own words while under the pressure.

Taking a deep breath, I needed to twist this situation around as fast as possible. “Star is not completely wrong. It was Cattle Prod that provoked us, you see.”

Ginger raised an eyebrow. “How so? He maybe a slimy fuck, but he’s no idiot.”

Well at least she was not ignorant.

“Well, first off, he wanted us to be a distraction for Spritz Cookie. He promised us a deal. When we came to collect, he pretended like no deal had been made,” I answered truthfully.

But now it was time to twist the truth. I put some distress in my voice. I just had to be careful with how distressed I sounded. Too little and I sound sarcastic. Too much and I’d sound fake. “Then he started making demands. I’m sure you know the kind of demands a pony like him would make. Telling us he has some of the guards here in his pocket, that he could get us out of the chain gang, or have us thrown into the pit. He also made a threat that if we didn’t do as he told us, well… like he said, he has some guards in his pocket, and those guards can pretend they didn’t see anything.”

Ginger’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but she looked ultimately unmoved by my performance. “And that's why you started that fight?”

Slowtrot raised his hoof. “Well I was not going to let him threaten my friends like that.”

The NCR mare huffed at him. “Didn’t ask you!”

I sighed, bridging the attention back to me. “Well it was that or cower in fear. I may not be the stronger pony, but even I know that, once you give into the demands of another, they will come back for more. If he was going to tell us what he can do to us, then we might as well show him what we will do to him. One cannot truly negotiate if you don’t have the power to back up your words. But that's not why you're so upset. Is it, lieutenant?”

Ginger stretend herself up, making sure her tie was still straight. “Smart and charismatic. You would make a good politician. But yes, that's not the problem. Fights break out all the time unfortunately. The problem is that speech. If you're expecting to be let out anytime soon, spouting anti-NCR rhetoric is not going to help. Why?”

Rolling my eyes at her, it was now time to pull out another card in my deck and hope it works. “Didn’t I already tell you? Cattle Prod wanted us to keep Spritz’s eyes off him and on us. Then he went and made those threats, so I just decided to put my caps in with the big psycho mare. That way, even if Cattle tries anything, I’d have somepony he fears on my side.”

I watched as Lt. Ginger’s stoic face break a little and the look of irritation and frustration formed as she face-hoofed. “So, to put it simply, you did it for protection because Cattle Prod made a threat.”

Giving her a nod, she removed the hoof from her face and took a few steps back. “This place has been nothing but a shit show from day one,” she muttered to herself.

A groan then came from Star. “So can we, like, go now? Breaking rocks is a pain in the ass, but we rather not be around Cattle Prod’s ponies.”

A short moment passed as Ginger regained her composure. “No. Not yet. As it so happens, you all have a visitor. But you will be going to the quarry soon as you all are done here.”

With that, the mare trotted out and we were left to wait in the room under the watchful eyes of several NCR guards.

A visitor could mean many things, both good or bad. Hopefully it was something good, like a friendly face. Somepony who could help us. My hopes were on the Gunrunners. They should have some pull with the NCR.

But I was not a fool. I know that Ashy was likely doing something to keep the Gunrunners from coming near us, otherwise she’d have a flock of very pissed off griffins coming for her.

Likely it was one of two ponies; Victoria Rosary or Quicktrot Fragment. But I doubt it will be Victoria with how she had a public image to maintain. With the Lightbringer festival just around the corner, it would be a bad move to come near any criminals.

No. She would send a proxy for it… No. She’d just steal me from here. Likely killing any witnesses then whisk me off to some dark room where none can find me.

So that left Quicktot, the abomination of arcano science and dark magic. But does that mean time had run out and she is here to take me, or is she going to just mock me? Both are likely ,although it’s not like I can understand how that thing thinks.

Seconds ticked away as though they were minutes. We waited to see what our fate was going to be.

As the pony trotted through the door, Star was first to respond, nearly knocking Slowtrot and I down as she pulled on the chain to get to the mare.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH! GET OVER HERE SO I CAN RIP YOUR MURDERING THROAT OUT!” Star shouted with absolute rage.

With a swift strike from the butt of her revolver, Ashy Oaks knocked Star back.

“You never know when to shut the fuck up, Star.” Ashy grumbled as she looked down at my friend.

Rubbing her head, Star sat back up, clamer, but still full of rage. “I’ll never forgive you!” she growled.

Ashy didn’t say anything. She just pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a spark from her horn.

I wasn’t sure what to say. My mind was still trying to process why she was even here. She surely was not going to let us go. Not after what she had done.

“So, why are you here, Sheriff? To gloat? Because you better damn well not be asking for forgiveness,” Slowtrot said sternly before looking over at Star. “As I’m with her on this.”

Taking a long drag from her cigarette, Ashy scanned us with her eyes one by one before exhaling.

“No… No I am not, nor what I did was a crime,” she said calmly and coldly.

A growl came from Star. She was ready to lunge at Ashy again so I pulled on the chains to get her attention. Looking into Ashy's eyes, I could see her cold resolution. It was similar to that of my mother before she had grown ill. It was becoming clear to me why she was here as ponies with eyes like those could not be deterred from what they will do next. Everything else was just a formality.

At this point there was only one thing to ask.

“Explain,” I requested calmly.

There was a short pause as she took another drag of her cigarette and let out a cloud of smoke as she began to speak.

“I won’t waste your time with a long story. Neither of us have that kind of time. Anyways it’s a common story you can find out here in the wastes. The amount of slaves that had been taken by Redeye has ensured that there would be many ponies to tell it. Those that survived, that is.” She cleared her throat which then turned into a coughing fit that lasted several seconds. “Excuse me. My lungs never truly healed after leaving Fillydelphia.”

“As you know, there were many slaves in that Celestia damned city. Not just for manual labor, but for anything they could make a pony do. Clearing out monster nests, factory work, accounting when they could find a smart pony. The unlucky ones would become sex slaves, and at any point a pony would be chosen for experimentation.” Ashy took another drag of her cigarette, turning what was left of the stick to ash. “I watched too many ponies I knew and cared about die in the cruelest of ways. Some days struggling to just keep on going, wondering if I should just give up and die. It would’ve been a far better choice than living in the tartarturas that the city was.”

Star huffed. “Ya. I heard that story before, so get to the point?”

Nodding, Ashy pulled out another cigarette and lit it. “Well, among the cruelest of places to work was a place called the forge where Redeye got all his weapons, armor, and ammunition. The place the Gunrunner’s called home. In that place, slaves worked until they collapsed. They commonly lost limbs to the ancient machines. They were also frequently harassed and punished by the slavers, and all while under the watch by the uncaring gaze of the Gunrunners.”

She then pointed her lit cigarette at Star. “I know because I was there. The work never ended. They always made more weapons for the masters who would then use those weapons to drag in more slaves.” Bringing the cigarette to her mouth and giving it a puff, she then pointed to the scar on her cheek. “I got this for trying to help a fellow slave who nearly fell into a machine. I was delaying the order, they said. Best let a pony get crushed rather than slow down, they said.”

Taking an even longer drag, her cigarette was turned to complete ash in a seconds. The smoke exited from both her mouth and nose in a large cloud. “Hardballer was there overseeing the beatings, the deaths, and the rapes. He may not have taken part, but he was there. He was an accessory to the crimes committed.”

Letting the spent cigarette fall, she then aggressively stomped on it, grinding her hoof into the floor. “So no, what I did was no crime. It was justice.”

I was not going to deny her pain. It was clear she had experienced more than I could ever know, or would ever want to know. I also understood wanting justice for such crimes or wanting to do it myself if I could. But I still could not forgive her, if not for what she did, then how she went about doing it.

“Then why not take him to trial? At least then you would not have shot an unarmed griffin who was trying to make peace with you.” I pointed out even while knowing how futile it was. The answer was clear as day to me.

“Pardoned by the NCR.” she said, then spat on the ground. “Gwadina signed it herself and made sure everypony knew. With a stroke of the pen, justice was denied and we slaves of Fillydelphia got to see our abusers trot away, more free then we will ever be.”

Looking me in the eyes, Ashy trotted right up to me. “So ask me again why I could not simply drag him to court and have him answer to his mountain of crimes.”

I shook my head. “No. I thought it was that. Now that you explained the past, what's our future?”

“The brain of yours would have done the town some good if you didn’t get involved with the scum of the town.” Ashy said as she looked down at me.

I just smiled. “No. That’s where you're wrong. From the time I woke up, I already had a noose around my neck. All I did was jump out of that noose and, unfortunately, I found myself in another.”

Sighing, Ashy trotted back to a safe distance from Star who was only held back by Slowtrot.

“Your future…” Ashy breathed. “Yes, it is time I tell you that. Since you were just accessories to the crime of selling guns to raiders, and because you did help get rid of the Blood Moon raiders, I’ve asked the NCR to have you three transferred out of here. Not all to the same places, mind you. Star will go to the Arbu detention facility and wait out her sentence. Slowtrot, due to his mental instability, will be sent to the NCR physiological ward and be checked for the extent of his mental illness.”

There was another pause from Ashy as she looked at me. Somehow I knew I was not going to like this at all.

“Harp, it seems that the NCR have deemed to give you a pardon and will be recruiting you into their military. Ambassador Gavril had personality filled out both your pardon and your recruitment. You have no choice in the matter.” As the words left her lips, a cold sense of dread ran down my spine.

It didn’t take much thinking to know what they might want. I had let my guard down too many times. Even if I hadn't, the Gunrunner’s access to recharged spark batteries might have tipped them off. I was sure my ability to make talismans was still mostly unknown. I doubted that Longslide or Dead Axle would tell anypony. So that only left my ability to recharge spark batteries, but that couldn’t be all of it unless they wanted to experiment on me.

It might be better than staying here, but I’d likely be hidden away. I also knew that Orthrus was out there, maybe with my father looking for me. If they unintendedly tell the NCR who I am, would they ever let me go? Not only that, I’m to be separated from my friends, further cutting me off from ever getting free and able to go home.

No. I couldn't let this happen. We needed to escape and head west. This mercy Ashy is offering us will only doom us. I know it.

Pushing down all my fear and anger, I managed to put on a smile, though I wasn't sure it was all convincing.

“Well? Is that all?” I asked her.

“That's all.” Ashy said back to me.

We watched as she turned and left just as abruptly as she arrived. What she was going off to do now, I didn’t know or care. I was just glad she was gone.

It was clear she was trying to apologize, in her own way, but such things didn’t change what she did. She had her reasons, her excuses, but I didn’t know the Hadballer from back then, only the old griffin grandfather who cared more about his family then the past. Anyways, if my own family’s history is anything to learn from, Hardballer was only on the wrong side because they lost, as history is always written by the winner.

Mother had told me that. Told me if it was one of her siblings or cousins that sat on the throne, it would have been them who were a hero, one who never faltered. It’s once all the other bodies are cold on the floor that one can then write the truth from your own perspective.

This Lightbringer won in the end, so her story is the accepted history for the wasteland. If the one called Redeye had won then he would’ve been the hero foals read in a book.

For Star, too, I can see this as Thorn Roseland, the villainous monster that Slowtrot despises, has her own book, one that sees her as a saint. A whole religion has formed up around a pony that all should hate.

History has been, and will always shall be written by the winners. We were not those winners. No. We had lost and now Ashy was making sure we could not come back, even if she was trying to be kind about it.

“Bitch!” Star huffed, taking me out of my own head.

She rattled her chains before sitting back down. “Damnit! I want to be free, not even further away from my Bridget.”

Slowtrot too didn’t look happy. Just somber.

With a sigh, I sat back as well. “So, that's another pony coming to take me away.”

The room remained silent for a few minutes. Nopony talked or moved. From the other side of the door, we could hear a discussion going on but it was too muffled to tell what was being said and we could not get closer to hear better.

Soon the door opened and Lieutenant Ginger trotted through, looking calm and composed when she spoke. “By both the request of the Sheriff of New Appleloosa and agreement of Warden Dynamight, you three will be transferred out of here tomorrow afternoon. There’s already an NCR convoy arriving to resupply this prison. They will be the ones taking you to Manehattan where you will be sorted out. Until tomorrow, the Warden has seen to it that you are still prisoners here and will be treated as such. You will return to the quarry and work till the day's end, receive your dinner, then sleep in your cell.”

She then looked at me with a very stern gaze. “There will be no fighting, making of deals, and most of all, no making of speeches. Just quietly get through the day and await your transfer.”

Star raised her hooves in a surrendering motion. “Ya, ya. I get it. Better breaking rocks than staying in this fucking place any longer than I have to. The air here smells too rotten for my liking.”

Ginger then looked over at the guards watching us and motioned with her head. “Get them to the chain gangs. It’s almost time for them to leave.”

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The rocking of the carts made the chains around our hooves rattle and everypony bumped into each other. Unlike yesterday, we were in the farthest cart from Spritz, likely making sure we didn't have time to easily talk with the large mare. Fortunately we were with the Ganger Alliance ponies with Bitter again acting as an intermediary for the rest of them. Cherry was on the other side of the cart doing her best to get what rest she could, but Railway was nowhere to be found, likely because she was in another cart.

“So, the fuck was that back there?” Bitter asked. The zeba mare kept an eye on the guard above us as she asked.

“I panicked and was pissed off. Anyways, Cattle Prod started it,” I told her.

Facehoofing, Bitter shook her head. “And how did adding to Spritz’s fucking diatribe help our situation? You got even more ponies to join her, not leave.”

“Blame Cattle, not me. The bastard should have just gone with my request.” It was a deflection, but I was not wrong. Sadly I doubt my plan would have worked with the time we now had.

“Ya ya. That snitch had it coming, I’ll give you that. Personally, I’d have done more. What you did was too light.” Bitter then looked back at the other prisoners in the cart and sighed. “Well, at least you should be in good with Spritz. The bitch loves her anti-NCR speeches. Maybe you can use that to your advantage.”

I thought about it for a moment. The idea of Spritz and her followers trusting me would open a door. Unfortunately I didn’t have much time, and the slow and steady approach, even at a quicker pace, was going to take too long.

It was time to abandon playing it safe and do something more reckless. Truthfully, I didn’t want to hurt the NCR ponies, but I also didn’t want to become their pawn in the game of empires. I just needed to get the other prisoners to join me. If enough of us pushed against the NCR, then we might be able to distract them long enough to get away.

They were already willing to listen. I just needed to say the right words.

Giving Bitter a nod, I mentaly took all I learned from my eloquence classes and shoved them into a box. The ponies here, like the Desperados, hated that way of talking, so I needed not to sound like a pony who only wants to use them… as I try to use them.

“I can, but soon it’s not going to matter. The NCR will arrive tomorrow to take us away. Turns out we're too dangerous to keep here.One Spritz is enough for them and they think with the us three here we might start a riot they cannot control,” I told Bitter, speaking just loud enough that others could hear and tell the ponies behind them.

Bitter cocked an eyebrow. “How so?”

Looking up at the guard, I waited for his attention to move elsewhere. “Other than me being a good talker, which you already know, the three of us have skills they only just realized could make things so much harder for them.”

I looked over at Star and Slowtrot who both gave me a confused expression. I smiled back at them, hoping they would catch onto my plan and play along. I needed to twist the truth and lie to make it convincing. To get the prisoners on my side long enough to turn this situation around.

“Though he doesn't look like much, Slowtrot here has seen a lot shit. The kind that gets most ponies dragged out back and shot like a dog. It’s mainly because he is hard to kill. Trust me. I’ve seen poneis try and he still comes out alive when, by Celstia, he should be dead. It’s actually to the point they just want him drugged up and out of the way then to try and kill him again, though his family connection with an up and coming merchant company probably helps with keeping him alive too,” I explained with as much certainty I could muster.

Sceptical eyes fell onto Slowtrot as she looked nervously back at them. I could only hope he woulden’t say anything dumb.

“Well there was this time I got a bomb collar thrown on me after I killed a griffon mercenary working for a really dangerous mare. She then had me march right into a megaspell chamber to clear the way for her… I made sure she didn’t get what she wanted, because you know, fuck her.” Slowtrot said with a smile that was filled with pride.

The prisoners looked sceptical, but they were not outright calling him out, which was a good sign. Next was to play up Star.

“Then Star Charter, well I guess some of you might already know her if you’ve been to New Appleloosa, though I bet you don’t know that she was raised for war itself. She belongs to this fanatical group of sea raiders that my own people have had the displeasure of having to fight. I know, I know. Another raider group doesn't sound like much. That is until you learn they have a massive fleet of ships and the army to run them. Their own ships, vertibuck, and more guns than you can imagine might be the most impressive thing about them, but I’ve seen those ponies fight, and it’s the thing of nightmares.”

Now the prisoners were whispering among each other as they repeated what I said to the others, so now it was Star's turn to say something impressive.

She shrugged. “Well, it’s been a long time and I wouldn't say I was bred for war. My real mother was just another whore after all, though I did take part in this big fight when I was just eleven. I was used to throwing explosives from tight corners. Some asshole did catch me though then beat the shit out of me, but I killed him in the end by biting through his throat.”

Even I looked at her with a bit of shock.

Star cocked an eyebrow at me. “What? Should I have talked about the time I helped fight off three alicorns that were leading a raider army?”

Bitter stepped in. “No, no. You made your point. Even I know you have some sort of terrifying presence about you. Even that fight you had with Cattle Prod showed some of your strength.”

Then Bitter’s eyes fell back to me. “So let me guess; you're actually some hidden badass who’s going to pull some sort of sword out of your ass?”

I shook my head. “No. Not at all. Actually, I’m terrible at fighting, that’s not where my strengths are at.”

“And that is?” Bitter asked.

“Well I already said I’m a talker, but I’m also a thinker. It’s what I was raised to be. Where I’m from, my family sat on the very top and were raised to take on greater responsibilities then what the average pony could be expected to do. Finances, organizations, law, single executions, or when a whole community needs to be exterminated for the good of the whole.” I looked Bitter in the eyes as I explained, to get my point across. “If outside forces had not interfered, It is more than likely I would have had to fight my siblings for the right to rule. It’s something that rarely leaves many survivors.”

A smile formed on Bitter’s face, doubt clearly seeping in. “Ya, little you/ I’m so scared.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like I said, not a fighter. I’m at my best commanding others and keeping them organized. That’s why the NCR is giving me a pardon and forcing my recruitment to their military. I heard their having problems with some group in the south east”

“Oh!” Star spoke up. “That's probably the wild fleet. Vic… the Commodore told me she was helping them with the NCR. Said they were a bit on the useless side so she's been building her own army here in Equestria. She wanted me to return to our group. She needed a pony she knew she could rely on.”

Both Bitter and I turned to look at Star as she gave us a coy smile.

A long sigh then came from Bitter. “That’s… a lot more information then I wanted to know. I’m almost afraid to ask Slowtrot if he is involved in any nasty shit that's coming.”

“Like with a new exotic chem trade being set up in this region?” Slowtrot blurted out.

Bitter’s jaw went slack as she said, “What?”

Slowtrot then answered. “Well, I loathe to say this, but my… sister runs a merchant company that is cutting exotic chems into the chems they already sell. Stuff that can’t easily be made and has no anti addiction remedies yet. I only found out because my pipbuck lets me do medical scans on other ponies.”

Now I sighed. “One of which is a chem called Chill. It can only be made from the sap of a nasty plant that produces a very toxic pollen. This means that, as long as that bitch keeps those plants hidden, she will have a monopoly on that chem trade. Worse is that Chill is highly addictive and can turn a pony skitzofrenic if used too much.”

Facehoofing harder, Bitter took a deep breath. “Right. I should never have even suggested asking. Now I think it might be safer if we stay in this prison for the rest of our lives.”

The whispering from the prisoners was now audible enough that the guard above hit our cage with his rifle. “Shut up down there!” he shouted.

We waited for over a minute until the guard’s attention drifted elsewhere. Still, the prisoners in the cart were whispering among each other, keeping their voices low enough that it could not be heard over the normal noise of our transport.

Leaning in, Bitter gave me an annoyed and serious look. “Alright. You three might be some dangerous badasses or something, but that still doesn’t solve the big bitch of a problem.”

Right. Even if we look more favorable in their eyes, they were still scared of Spritz. I need to choose my words carefully if I am going to get them on our side.

So I began to explain. “About that… I have a plan ready for Spritz. It mainly uses this train we're on to get us out of here. I want her to be in the front of the action, maybe get herself killed as we make our way out of the prison. Even if she survives, she should be too weak to properly fight back, and if we can get out hooves on a gun, then she is as good as dead. Simple, but effective. Why fight your enemies when you can get them to fight each other?”

I looked up briefly, still making sure the guard could not hear us. “To put it simply, just trust us. If I can get Spritz to start a riot tonight, you will have the opportunity to kill her. That is if the Warden doesn't do it first. But I need help getting the bulldozer moving since the Warden keeps the Spark batteries locked away. If you can do that during the riot, along with adding to the chaos, then all you need to do after that is wait in the carts for Spritz and ambush her. After that we can just ride Daisy Chain out of this prison.”

Bitter looked at me sceptically but it was clear that her resistance was starting to crack. “So your whole plan is to just start a riot, steal the bulldozer, and hope that Spritz is inguired enough that we can jump the bitch before fucking off?”

I nodded, hoping it was enough.

Several seconds went by before she responded. “If you can get that bitch to stir up the trouble, then fuck it. Why not? Getting those batteries during a riot should be simple and having an ambush ready for her after she’s likely been in a few fights should even the score. I’d rather you gotten some of her followers to defect, but time is not on any pony’s side.”

Internally I was breathing a sigh of relief all while keeping a stoic face. At this point, any sign of a lack of confidence would cause these prisoners to back out and I haven’t had the time to build up confidence with them. Anyways, if things go right, while everypony is running around adding to the chaos, us three and Tire Fire will jump onto Daisy Chain and leave them all behind.

Still, I wish we didn’t have to turn to such violence, but if I don’t want to become a tool for others, then I needed to act fast and be harsh.

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-Reputation-

-NCRCF-

Their opinion of the three no longer matters. They’re some ponies elses problem now. Although it is clear that they see the three as just more trouble makers and would love to just lock them up in a hole, to not see the sun for a long time.

-Ganger Alliance Convicts-

Though to them seeing is believing, something in them has stirred. They were leaderless and intimidated before. Now they have a sense of excitement. It may be the opportunity to strike at the pony they hate, or just having a goal, but they will now make their move. All they need is an opportunity.