Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Intermission, 06

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It had been a few days of waiting as the followers were sending ponies back and forth to get approval for a visit to the NCRCF. There was the usual bureaucracy problems, though there was big teleporting ponies speeding things up, so I was not complaining. It was just too weird to complain about big teleporting ponies sending letters.

Fortunately, thanks to those big ponies, I didn’t have to trot all the way over to the prison, but I did have to wait for the pony to fly over there first. Something to do with then needing to have been to a place before being able to teleport there. I also figured that the prison guards would react poorly if all so suddenly a stranger popped in, much less a creature they had never seen before.

Trotting over, Jali hoofed over my saddle bag. “Mister Azure, I’ve added a few more things in the care package that Velvet had put together. Mainly rad-away. Harp is more susceptible to radiation than other ponies, so I thought it might help just in case.”

Taking the bag, I carefully placed it onto my back while making sure not to crush the fins and spins along it. “Thanks,” I told her. “It’s amazing that you ponies have such an effective cure for radiation poisoning, I really should take some home with me and see if anyone can recreate it.”

I then chuckled. “Still now, you really should not say things that sound like foreshadowing. It’s just bad luck, you know.”

The ghoul eyes shifted for a moment before she passed me an old lever action rifle that she had on her side along with a box of ammo and a holster for it all. “Also in case things go bad in the usual way.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. If I had eyebrows, I would have furrowed them as well. “I’m not heading to some dungeon filled with monsters. Anyways, wouldn't having a gun put the NCR on edge? Generally prisons don’t like strangers walking in with a firearm on them.”

“It’s the wasteland. Shit happens all the time. Just don’t pull it out unless you have to defend yourself, otherwise, most ponies aren't going to give a shit if your armd,” she replied.

With a slightly gargled sigh, I gave the rifle a look over. Though old, it was still well maintained. Most of the damage was superficial and only a light amount of rust in places that wouldn’t affect its performance. The bullets looked to be the 10mm that was everywhere, so at least I would not be too hard up on ammunition if I ever needed more.

Thinking about it, it was just odd how munition was all over the place after over 200 years. A magical land indeed.

With some help from Jali, I got the holster on and the rifle secure. Strange how dexterous the equines were despite not having hands, though others have said the same thing about my claws… which I no longer have.

Annoyingly magical land.

“Well any more words of wisdom such as watch out for big lizards with big claws or some ancient evil looking to raise an army of the undead?” I asked, being a little cheeky.

She pondered for a moment before giving an answer. “Well, I don’t know much about those, Mister Azure, but best to keep an ear… Well, rather an antenna out for hellhounds. They’re not some mindless monster that attacks on sight. They tend to be excessively territorial, xenophobic, and short sighted. Often they will attack and kill ponies who wander into their territory unannounced, not stopping to ask them why first. Not that I blame them with the wasteland the way it is.”

“Right. Hellhounds. I’m a bit afraid to ask about what they look like?” I nervously asked.

She then answered. “Think of a really big hunched over dog with really big razor sharp claws. It’s also not uncommon for them to have cybernetics, though don’t ask me how. They just do. If you ever see a smaller, less monster looking one, that's likely a diamond dog. They’re just as biligarant, but not as dangerous.”

The more I learned about this world, the more I found it stupidly dangerous. All despite it being populated by small pastel colored magical horses. Not to say my home was any less absurd. It’s just that the cognitive dissonance of this world was starting to give me a headache. It was like someone took two polar opposite worlds and shoved them together.

I took a moment to open a bottle of water and breathe it in to moisten my lungs and to settle down my mind, then I gave Jali a smile. “Thanks for the warning.”

She visibly shivered for a moment, then chuckled. “So that's what it’s like being on the other end of my own smile.”

We both shared a laugh. I t was interrupted by the large purple pony. “I’m back, and… well…”

“Let me guess, there's a problem,” Jali answered for the tall mare, who then nodded. “Medical problem?” She nodded again. “Is there an active fight going on?” The mare shook her head.

A long sigh came from Jali. “Alright. Just send Azure over. I’ll go gather some of the followers and our medical supplies. Just come back in several minutes.” She then looked over at me and winked. “See? It’s the wasteland. Things always go wrong here.”

With that she trotted off, leaving me alone with the large mare. “Alright. Let's get this over with.” I resolved.

The large mare opened her wings and her horn began to glow.

*PoP*

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*PoP*

Being suddenly in a new place was disorienting to say the least. Worse when I was just inside a shaded tent and away from the sun. Now I was outside with that sun angrily beaming down on me. In short, it took several seconds for my eyes to stop hurting as they adjusted.

What stood before me was clearly a prison with solid gray walls and heavy looking doors. It also looked like a ruin like everything else was in this wasteland. Frankly, I didn’t see how this place could even be called a prison. Not with how a pony could easily trot out the big holes in the fences and all the watchtowers having fallen over at some point.

With how the prisoners here were moving pieces of the prison around under the supervision of some roughed up guards, and that I could see what looked like lines of dead bodies. My guess was that all this damage was very recent.

Entering inside the main building, things didn’t look any better. The place was covered in bullet holes and several badly hurt looking prisoners and guards sat around as several clean looking NCR troops stood by.

“Name your visit, and be quick. I shouldn't need to tell you what happened here,” a very butch looking mare said in an athoritve tone.

“Here to see an inmate. We’re delivering a package from a Velvet Remedy of the Followers of the Apocalypse,” I informed the soldier.

She sighed. “Fucking worst timeing for that shit. Just go left and up the stairwell. The acting warden is there with my superiors.”

“Thank you kindly… and is it fine that I’m armed?” I checked just to be careful.

She chuckled. “We're all armed. Well, except for the prisoners. Just don’t pull it out like an idiot.” The mare’s face then shifted to confusion. “Wait. What are you?”

Just like with Jali’s tests, it took her a while to realize that she was talking to a pony sized glowing quadripdic crustation. It was going to take some time for me to get used to being magical. Then again, it was hard enough getting used to unicorns being a thing and them moving objects with their minds… well magic.

“You can call me a Lurker, and as you can guess, I’m not native here. It’s a story I bet you're not interested in hearing.” I told the mare.

She scrunched up her nose. “Ya… fuck that. I don’t get paid enough for that shit.”

Giving her a polite bow, I then trotted to the left and up the stairs. There I saw several ponies gathering around a desk where a mare was filling out paperwork.

“Lieutenant Ginger, are you sure this is a good idea? It’s not like the prison is completely in rubbles and all the prisoners are gone. Also letting the psychopath get further away will only bite us in the flank later,” a stallion in a very clean uniform asked the mare Ginger as she continued to sign some paperwork.

Ginger slowly looked up at the stallion. When she did, I could see bags under her eyes. “Yes, Lieutenant Sandy Shores. I am sure. Without the walls, or even the ability to lock the prisoners up properly, it will become a twenty four hour job just to keep an eye on the few prisoners we have left. Add to that, they took almost all the food and our main way to transport them. Even trying to send the prisoners to the quarry is a recipe for disaster.” The mare then rubbed her temples. “Then there's Spritz. it took a team of rangers to catch her in the first place and you want to go chase her down now? Alright. You go first.”

Sandy then sighed, his body relaxing. “Alright. Things have gone tits up and it’s better to just cut our losses. The higher ups are not going to like this.”

“Fuck them. It’s their fault this ever happened in the first place,” Ginger said as she threw some of the paper off the desk. “Giving Dynamite this position and not putting him on a Celestia damned short leash. Also flooding us with prisoners while not giving us the troops to keep them properly contained. And why make it a damn mixed gendered prison? Why?! Then sending a terrorist here instead of just taking Spritz out back and shooting her, all just so a politician can have his PR moment. We should have just stuck with president Gwadina making all the decisions.”

Trotting over, I cleared my voice to gain their attention. “Hello. I’m Azure Dice. I was given permission by the follower to speak to an inmate here? Also the followers should be here shortly with some supplies and medical staff.”

Lieutenant Ginger sighed with relief, “Finally some good news. The escapees took most of our medical supplies as well, so a lot of us are still out of commission. Now which inmate is it? I’ll be able to tell you if they're still here, gone, or dead.”

“Harp Melody,” I answered. “She and a Slowtrot have a package from Velvet Remedy who’ve asked me to deliver it. Unfortunately they had been taken away by the time I got to New Appleloosa. I was told I couldn’t just come over here without an appointment,” I explained.

I watched as Ginger seemed to deflate a little as her head slowly fell onto her desk. “Luna dammit… of course it's them, and let me guess; they’re what? Velvet's friend?”

I shook my head. “No. She didn’t say anything about knowing them, just that they had done a few things to help make the wasteland a better place. Something about a better healing potion and recovering an artifact. Also, the Followers at the camp said they were the ones who cleared out a raiders nest and they even saved some ponies trapped there.”

The stallion then chuckled. “Doesn't that sound a bit like how the Hell Mare got her start. Too bad I don’t have another dad for them to kill too.”

Ginger groaned in frustration. “Fuck off, Lieutenant. This is a huge shitshow as it is. We don’t need you to bring your own damned history into this.”

He then whistled an amused tone. “Alright Lieutenant. I’ll start having my ponies gather as much of the supplies that we can carry and prepare the caravan to head back to Junction city.”

We then watched as Lieutenant Sandy Shores totted away slowly as though to further annoy Lieutenant Ginger. As we stared at each other for a long moment, a look of realization formed on her face. “Alright. Azure, was it? What the fuck are you even?”