Fallout Equestria: Desperados

Fallout Equestria: Desperados

It never Changes, Part 2

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"Slowtrot’s hatred for the ministry was more than understandable from what I had been told about them and what they left behind, but the core for his hatred was a bit different then what most ponies would normally share.

He hated them because he respected them. To Slowtrot, the ministries were meant to be the solution to the war. To put every pony's worries at ease. They were led by the heroes of friendship who had made a name for themself by conducting ambassadorial duties. At that time, because of them, the war never escalated beyond just a pony, zebra conflict. Then the heros became the ministry mares and everything changed.

Everypony accepted the change because it was the heroes of friendship leading the changes. To Slowtrot, they betrayed the people's trust. Though he does worry that in that trust, maybe the ponies betrayed them, crushing them under the expectation of victory. The only survivor, Fluttershy, being an example of that.

In my own experience, much of it was learned from historical scholars. The fall of empires is rarely the fault of one or a few people. Often an empire's fall comes at the hands, or hooves in this case, of the apathy of the masses with leaders fulfilling their desires unrestricted. By the time the masses see the foundation crumbling under them, those who can save them have either left, been killed, rendered impotent, or are the ones destroying the foundation themselves." ~ Azure Dice

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By the time I finally came to my senses, the sun had already set. The night sky just barely lit up by a red glow along the horizon. On either side of me were Live and Dead Axle, both looking satisfied with themselves.

I felt a bit guilty looking at the two mares. We were all not in our right mind thanks to the food and drink. But remembering what had happened, I couldn't deny it was fun. Fortunately, I had some contraceptives back at the camp. It was a wise precaution in case Star got herself another stallion again, which she had gotten a bunch of last time. I was going to share my concerns with her about that, but I guess I was in no place to complain about Star’s fooling around now.

Curious, I shifted my body up and scanned Dead Axle with my pipbucks medical spell. A contraceptive was not going to help if she was already pregnant.

Dead reached out and stopped me, giving me a mischievous look. “Shouldn't you ask first?”

“S… Sorry.” I said nervously.

The mare pushed herself up and got onto my lap, making me glad I was no longer in the mood. “Well I didn’t say you can’t, but you're going to have to give me something first.”

“How about another time when your sister is not right next to us?” I asked Dead, feeling that she was likely still under the effect of whatever her mom gave us.

She rolled her eyes and gave me a kiss. “I don’t think that's a problem anymore. Though truthfully, I don't want to make a habit of this.”

“Neither do I,” I grumbled.

“Alright, then we can fuck later, in private.” Dead huffed.

Placing my pipbuck on her stomach, my heart began to pound. The anticipation filled me with conflicting emotions. I wasn't even sure the pipbuck could detect such a thing so early.

On the screen, my pipbuck displayed a long list of medical stuff I would not even pretend to understand. It did detect trace amounts of chems in her system, mostly unknown, but one was labeled as minor love poison. Something didn’t sit right with me that it was called a poison and not potion. Under the poison was another odd chem that was listed under fertility potions. It was stronger in her system than the rest.

I passed through several other medical information, mostly stating that Dead was a healthy young mare, though mildly malnourished. The sense of dread hit its climax when I hit a part of the scan that simply listed pregnancy. In the description, it read that eggs were fertilized, and significant growth within her womb, along with an estimated nine months till birth.

“Ya… there it is. You're pregnant. And… you might have more than one foal,” I said flatly, not knowing how to feel.

Dead embraced me in a hug, holding onto me tightly. “Damn… damnit, damnit!”

“I’m… sorry,” I said, knowing that this was not what she wanted.

“Don’t!” She told me. “Don’t apologize.”

I was a bit stunned as I said, “What?”

She held onto me tighter. “The elders always said it takes two to tango, so this is just as much my fault as it’s yours. So don’t apologize.”

“Then what?” I asked her.

Dead loosened up and looked me in the eyes before giving me another kiss. “Well, you can stick around. I mean it can’t be that bad having my own stallion, and I guess we can have all the sex we want. Not like I can get double pregnant.”

I was still conflicted, but it was not like I had any place to return to. All that was destroyed over two hundred years ago.

Anyways, under the tough act, and the dumb act, Dead was a sweet and caring mare.

Something else then occurred to me. “Actually, the chems your mother gave you might be why you're possibly having more than one foal. So that might be possible if you have more of those potions.”

Dead glared at me, making it clear that I was being dumb. “Alright, but can we take things slow?” I asked her.

She cocked an eyebrow at me. “A bit late for that. I imagine Mom’s already got a wedding plan in the works.”

Somehow, I felt that was a definite possibility.

A chuckle came from our side. W e looked over to see Live Axle smiling at us. Her eyes still half glazed over. “Big sis is going to be a mom!” She then frowned. “No fair. I want my own foals too.”

“Live, you're still under the influence of that-” I tried to tell her, but Dead shoved her hoof over my muzzle.

“Are you sure? You're not going to regret it later are you?” Dead asked her sister.

Live Axle pouted like a little filly as she said. “I don’t care. If sis has to go through it, I want to go through it with you!” Her face then flushed. “Anyways, I saw Slowtrot first.”

Dead looked at me with a smirk on her face which made me a bit uncomfortable.

“No, we should be getting back to the camp now,” I told her.

“Oh, what's just a few more minutes? Anyways, aren't you ready to go another round? It would be a waste if we didn’t do something about that.” Dead said seductively.

Unfortunately, she was right. I was not used to having a mare sitting on my lap like this. At some point my flag had begun to rise again as well.

I narrowed my eyes at the mare. “Okay, you win... but why?”

Dead shrugged. “Because I’m sure Live will change her mind on the ride back. And… I don’t know. I guess I do feel a bit guilty for snatching you when she clearly had a crush on you,” she said with a sigh then looked over at her sister who was slowly coming out of her haze. “Alright, since you saw him first, you can go first.”

I sighed as I laid back down. “She's not going to forgive you for this.”

“I know, but I don't care.” Dead chuckles as she got off me. “Anyways, at least it’s not with some stallion filling her head with lies for a quick pump and dump. So she’ll get over it.”

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Things had gone on a bit longer than I had wanted. I was feeling more drained than I had before. Live and Dead too were ready to hop into their beds and sleep, but unlike them, I had a pony to pick up soon.

“So-” Dead spoke from the gunner's nest.

“NO! I don’t want to hear it!” Live shouted back at her sister.

Dead laughed before asking, “Colt or filly, which do you want?”

“I can't hear you! I can’t hear you!” Live chanted.

Chuckling through the com’s Dead then asked me. “How about you, Slowtrot? Colt or filly?”

I sighed as I answered. “Either. I’ll find out when the time comes.”

Live growled as she then flicked my ear. “Don’t encourage her!”

“A bit late for that now. At least I got something to give you once we're back at camp,” I told her.

She sat back down. I saw her pout in the mirror. “Ya. It’s not like I wanted a foal.”

“Just take the medicine before Mom finds us, or she's liable to give you something to make sure you get pregnant,” Dead explained. “Anyways, nothing stopping you from changing your mind later. You can even go after Slowtrot again.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea if we're going to be a thing, Dead. I much rather Live find a stallion that’s hers alone. As for us, let's not open ourselves to other partners until we know whether this will work out or not,” I told Dead Axle, trying to draw some boundaries for our relationship.

I heard a huff from Live. I swerved as she said, “Well, I wouldn't mind being a lover until you and Dead get official.”

Even Dead looked a bit shocked. “Ahh, sis, I was just messing with ya.”

Live looked up at her sister and stuck her tongue out at her. “Too late for that. Get serious or get fucked. Anyways, I want to do that again, and not with some random stallion.” She then looked at me through the rearview mirror and winked. “I’m in your care.”

All I could do was sigh and say, “You're both going to be the death of me. You know that?”

Live Axle then leaned over from behind me, whispering, “You can always just pick me. I wouldn't mind you having her on the side so long as you're my stallion in the end. Or I can just not take that contraceptive and make sure I have your foal.”

It was going to take a long time to get used to this if this is how the Desperados mares were like, but I had grown to understand that they hated indecision. If I had made a choice, I needed to stick to it.

“Sorry, but I’m going to say no. I’m not going to force you to do anything, but I’m not just going to change my mind on a whim,” I whispered back.

Live Axle smiled. “Good, cause I was going to beat you bloody if you backstabbed sis like that.” She sat back down, looking up at her sister. “Say sis, what if I decided to have a foal anyways? Then you can still be the cool aunt.”

Dead did not look pleased by this suggestion. “The fun part about being the cool aunt is that I don’t have any foals of my own. So you fucking damn better take those contraceptives. If Slowtrot is right, I already got more than one bastard on the way. I don’t need more to worry about.”

My pipbuck then crackled as the garbled voice of Harp came through. It became more clear as we got closer to the camp along with the sound of panic in her voice. “Slowtrot, are you there?! Answer me now!”

“Iron Buck, open the pipbuck coms!” I told my pipbucks VI.

When it beeped in conformation, I spoke. “Harp, what's wrong?”

“Oh thank Celestia.” The sound of gunfire erupted from my pipbuck, causing my blood to run cold. “We need help, and fast. The camp is under attack. Ponies have already been killed… Including children.”

The coldness only got worse, but also a fit of anger deep within me. We finally got things going right again, and now some pony is trying to destroy it!

“Where do you need us?” I asked urgently.

My pipbuck beeped as the cartoon image of Order buzzed into my vision. “Madam Harp had pinpointed two locations where the attackers are shooting down from, and where the Smuggler can go to take them out.” On my pipbuck’s map, two points were listed, along with a skull and crossbones spot along the main and side paths into the camp. “The attacker has mined both exits, causing the Desperados to be unable to drive out. Several lives were lost because of those mines.”

“Do you know who's attacking?” I asked.

The sound of gunfire came from my pipbuck again before Harp answered. “We don’t know. Whoever it is didn’t announce themselves. They just started shooting. Just get here fast. The sooner we get some breathing room, the sooner the Desperados can counter-attack.”

I pushed down on the Smuggler's gas pedal as I announced, “On my way.”

Behind me, Live Axle took out her rifle. She loaded it and racked it. “Whoever these fuckers are, they’re as dead as Luna!”

“You got that right, sis,” Dead Axle agreed viciously as she gripped the Aeternus hard.

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Going as fast as the Smuggler can on the broken and cluttered road, we managed to get near the Desperado camp fairly quickly. The crack of gunfire in the distance signaled the danger ahead along with a fire burning on the road.

Closing in, we could make out the smoldering wreck of a Desperado vehicle. “Fuck! What did that?” Live Axle asked with a gasp.

An answer came in the form of an explosion from behind us.

“FUCK! THE ROADS OUT HERE ARE MINED. DON’T SLOW DOWN!” Dead Axle shouted.

I pressed down on the peddle, speeding up the Smuggler as I maneuvered to go around the burnt vehicle. Several more explosions rocked the Smuggler from behind, but it was too fast for the mines to trigger in time. But as I hit bumps and rocks, the Smuggler shook violently. The risk of us hitting something stabbed into my mind.

*Ping!*

I ducked my head down a little as what I was sure of was a bullet that struck the side of the Smuggler close to my head. Not wanting to be an easy target, I turned off the road, hoping that it would be enough to avoid getting shot.

This proved to be the right decision as a few more shots whizzed by, but none as close as the first. Dead counter-attacked, blindly blasting the Aeternus at where she thought the shots came from.

“No more to the right. At the top of the ridge!” Live told her sister and she looked through one of the spare scopes from her bag.

The line of pink magical beams moved, peppering a ridge that overlooked the Desperado camp.

“Fuc, those fuckers!” Live cursed.

Taking a quick glance at my pipbuck, I saw that we were not far from one of the spots Harp wanted us to hit, but it was dark and hard to concentrate while driving at such speeds. “Hey, can one of you help me navigate? There should be one of the pipbuck 2000’s in the Smuggler.”

A moment later Live shouted “FOUND IT!” before asking, “What do I do with it?”

“Open up the map. See if Order has placed the markers on it. If there is, give me directions if you can,” I instructed her.

“Right. I see it, but don’t see any… no, here they are.” Live announced in a confused tone.

Orders voice then spoke through the pipbuck 2000. “Updated maps to all approved pipbucks.”

“Alright. It looks like the bastard took our watchout point. There actually is a paths on the other side of where we are. We can just ride up into it,” Live informed me before hoofing the pipbuck to her sister. “They took the dry crater too.”

“Sucks to be them,” Dead muttered before giving the pipbuck back. “If we can take Watchout point, then we can shoot down at the dry crater from there. I’ll be a bit blind without light, but it’s not like I’m shooting a sniper rifle.”

Dead ducked down as another bullet whizzed by. “Fuckling assholes!” she growled as she again fired back at the shooters.

With Live navigating, I quickly drove the Smuggler over to the path up watchout point. Dead provided covering fire to keep the attacker’s heads down. As we hit the peak of the cliffside, sliding to a stop, the beams of the Aeternus lit up the area around us as the attacking ponies scattered for cover.

I hit the brakes, I pulled out my shotgun, Boomstick. I slam fired it at several ponies jumping for cover. Those who didn’t die outright were mutilated by the 00 shot. Live got to shooting as well, burst firing her rifle at any pony that peeked out their head. All the others that had not gotten to cover in time were turned to ash by Dead then scattered by the wind.

The light of fire caught my eye. I dropped my shotgun and grabbed the trench shovel. I jumped out of the Smuggler and charged at the light. A pony poked their head out with a molotov cocktail balanced on his hoof. His eyes were wide in shock as he saw me swinging the shovel at his face.

The pony stumbled back, dodging my attack, but the bottle he held was not so lucky. Tipping back, the contents of the bottle spilled over the pony setting him on fire.

As the flaming pony screamed, a shot came for me, scraping against my back leg and smashing on the side of a rock. Not caring, I charged at a unicorn mare with a shitty pipe revolver. She fearfully fired two more shots at me, missing both times as I closed in. Bringing the shovel down on her, a loud crack was followed by the mare’s screams. Her leg bent in an unnatural direction. The bone was visible.

Looking down at her, this pony was no raider, dusty and thin. Instead, she looked like any other pony I’ve seen in the wasteland. However, in the fire of her burning friend, I saw something that should not have surprised me, but still made my blood boil. She had a blue patch with the letters “B.S.” on it. She was a Blue Skies mercenary. She worked for Quicktrot Fragment.

The mare was whimpering from under me, likely pleading for mercy, but it was all so hard to hear over the gunfire. As I raised my shovel for a final blow, I stopped myself. She was down and out of the count. There was no need to do any more.

A sharp pain in my side sharpened my senses as my eyes slowly looked over at what hit me. A crude knife had become stuck in my ribs as a muted gray magic attempted to pull it out. My eyes drifted to the mare. Her horn just barely lit up with the same muted gray magic. Fear was on her face, but I no longer cared. I had things to do and a life to live.

Her expression didn’t change even when her head rolled along the floor. Pulling the shovel from the dirt, I trotted back to the Smuggler where Dead was firing down from our position.

“Fuck! Are you okay?” Live gasped as she dashed over to me and pulled out what was half a healing potion. She shoved it in my mouth. Pain erupted as she yanked the knife out. It had cracked my ribs as she did. As she also looked at my leg, she sighed. “Looks like it was a clean shot, so you should be fine.”

“I was only scraped,” I told her.

She pointed at my right foreleg. It was covered in blood. A hole was through my jacket. “You are tougher than you look if that’s just a scrap. At least it didn’t hit any bone.”

It must have been the adrenaline, but I was only feeling a moderate amount of pain.

Live also looked like she took a few hits. Her dress was torn in a few spots and stained with blood.

“Are you okay?” I reflected in concern.

She nodded. “Sis and I are Desperados. Getting shot a few times is not going to stop us. That, and the healing potions helped.”

Trotting back to the Smuggler, I grabbed my Boomstick, and began reloading it.

A shot would whiz by now and then, making Dead Axle keep her head low as she attacked. Worried, I quickly looked at our stock. I found one left out of the six we had. Four empty bottles sat near Dead’s legs.

“Will you be alright up there? We only have one healing potion left!” I warned her.

“I’m fine. That was just what I took when getting up here. They don’t have a clean shot at me here,” Dead said back as she kept firing the Aeternus.

Trusting her, I decided to contact the others. “Ironbuck, contact Harp,” I ordered my pipbuck.

It beeped and the radio turned on. “We took one of the spots. How are things on your end?”

My pipbucks radio buzzed for a moment before I got a response from Harp. “Could be a lot fucking better. Whoever these fuckers are, they must have been planning this. It was too well coordinated.

“Anyways, thanks. With those sniper positions out, we can deal with the next problem. They have set up a machine gun nest on a ridge. It has been ripping apart anypony trying to clear the mines or take the sniper positions.”

“It’s Blue Skies. They're who’s attacking,” I told Harp.

She didn’t speak for a moment, then a bitter curse came out. “Fucking bitch! Is that why she didn’t want the Desperados moving out? But why?

“No. It doesn't matter right now. We just need to get that machine gun taken out.” Again she paused and I understood why.

“It’s fine. We're the only ponies who can move around right now, right?” I asked her.

Harp sighed over the radio. “No. Although you have given us some breathing room, we're still stuck. The problem is where that machine gun is, you would need to drive through the camp to get to it. It’s not accessible from the outside, and I’m sure they know it. The elder is planning an assault on their position now that you cleared out their sniper spots.”

“And the likelihood of any of them surviving?” I asked.

“Low, but if they don’t, then it will be the end of everypony here. Likely Blue Skies will turn this place into a trap and kill the remaining Desperados as they return,” she informed me.

I knew this was a bad idea to charge a machine gun nest. Ponies who fought in the war had told me such stories. They had sacrificed friends and limbs to the machine gun before some pony managed to chuck a grenade into the nest. They said they would have nightmares nearly every night from the experience. It could kill a hundred ponies before getting taken out or running out of bullets.

“Is there another way?” I asked Harp over my pipbuck. You said I could drive the Smuggler through the camp? Why not do that?”

“NO!” Harp shouted. “I told you that the way in is mined. We already lost ponies trying to drive out. Both from those mines and from snipers. If… if I didn’t send that family out the back way first… they would be alive.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. It filled with the pain of guilt.

I ground my teeth, now feeling useless.

“Aren’t we faster than the mines?” Dead then spoke up. “Also, we should get moving. I think I got most of them and Live can’t keep sniper spotting forever.”

With a whizz crack, Dead ducked down. Blood flowed from her shoulder. “Fuck! Almost got me.” I tossed her the last healing potion and she guzzled it down. “Thanks.”

Live Axle fired her rifle in a controlled burst. “Got the fucker!”

Seeing that we were out of healing potions, I released the brakes and drove the Smuggler to a safer position. I also got an idea. “Say Harp, we already ran into the mines further out, but we passed over several mines before they went off. So maybe-”

“I said no!” Harp insisted firmly. “The Smuggler is a bigger target than a pony. Just stay back there. You have done more than enough already.”

The radio signal stopped. Harp must have disconnected.

I slummed in my seat, feeling the weight of what was going on to happen bearing down on me. I had hoped the fighting was over for at least a long while. But to have it happen so soon, was this what those soldiers had to deal with?

No. They had it even worse. At least I could sit by and let others do the heavy lifting now as I had always done.

“So if we go through the main entryway, it will be a straight shot to the machine gun nest.” I heard Dead Axle say.

Looking over, I saw her and Live Axle looking at the pipbuck 2000. Both looked up at me.

“Before you puss out, we have a plan,” Dead said as she showed me the pipbuck map. “From the sound of it, they only have one machine gun, so we should be able to rush them while firing back.”

“Also, that gun doesn't seem to fire at a regular rate. It stops frequently. I bet it’s a piece of junk, so if it’s made to fire faster, it could jam.” Live added.

“We were already told to sit this part out,” I reminded them.

The twins laughed.

“Fuck that! We got the Smuggler!” Dead said with confidence.

Live patted her rifle. “And I’ll back up my sis. They can't shoot at us if we shoot them first.”

They both trotted out and to either side of me, wrapping a leg around my own. “Who would see us coming?” they both asked in unison.

I had a bad feeling, but I’ve been having a lot of bad feelings lately. “This is stupid,” I breathed as I shrugged them off me and put my hooves on the steering wheel. “But I guess we all aren't smart ponies here.”

A chuckle came from Dead as she and her sister got back into the Smuggler. “Sometimes action is all you can do. Ponies who stop and think all the time tend to end up dead.”

“Those who act without thinking end up dead too,” I told the mare as I put the Smuggler in reverse and turned the vehicle around. “But I see your point, so let's do this before I lose my nerve.”

We were almost flew off-slope as I drove the Smuggler down as fast as I could. The vechile kicked up a cloud of dust in the dark night. At the base, I followed Live’s directions and took a turn onto a well-worn road and pushed the Smuggler to go even faster.

Ahead of us was another destroyed Desperado vehicle. Not far were a few motorcycles. Their driver’s had eaten lead in their attempts to get out of this killing zone. As I drove as fast as I could around the wreckage, several explosions began going off behind us from the minefield. However, this time they didn’t have sniper backup. We did since the Desperados were now able to fire up at any pony we had missed.

It almost felt like we were ripping up the road behind us as the explosion followed. We only stopped once we got deep into the Desperado camp. Slowing down, my blood continued to boil as I saw the sight of ponies who had been cut down by gunfire from above. Many of them were unarmed. From within the tents were young foals and other unarmed ponies. Worried looks were on their faces as they stayed low to the ground and covered themselves with what protection they could find.

“Celestia damn cowards,” I growled as I slammed down on the peddle as I turned to the machine gun nest.

Kicking up even more dust, the Smuggler shot out like a rocket.

Bullets and lasers roared out as Blue Skies. Dead Axle fired at each other, preparing both us and them. Live joined in as she said she would., With a burst from her rifle, the machine gun went silent, thus letting the Aeternus light the attackers up as we closed in.

Not stopping, I drove the Smuggler right into their net, knocking over the bulky-looking machine gun and crushing the damn pony hiding behind it. Taking a sharp turn, the Smuggler drifted in a circle, thus kicking up dust all around before I hit the brakes.

Like before, I grabbed my Boomstick and slammed fired into the dust cloud. Live and Dead Axle had the same idea as they fired wildly, spreading out our shots.

Everything but the ringing in my ears had fallen silent. The dust slowly dissipated as I reloaded my shotgun, ready for any survivors to attack.

*Crash, Fosh!*

The light of fire erupted behind me. To my horror, Dead screamed. She jumped out of the gunner's nest and began rolling on the ground, fire following her. I jumped out to her. I took off my jacket to smothered the flames. Fortunately, only a small part of her had caught fire. I managed to put it out quickly.

Looking down at Dead, her eyes went wide as she warned, “Look out!”

A burst of gunfire roared out of Live’s rifle, mutilating a pony armed with a hatchet, and… was wearing a duster. That was not a Blue Skies pony. “That’s one of Ashy’s deputies?” I muttered in shock.

*Bang!*

Live gave a pained scream as she fell out of the Smuggler with a sizable hole through her stomach.

“I knew we should have taken this fucking thing with us, but no. Stop Clock had his damn hypocritical morals,” a blooded False Cap growled as he propped up the bulky machine gun. No. A gatling gun? A really old crank-fired gatling gun. Another deputy helped propped the gun up as False grabbed the crank with a smile on his face. “But it’s better late than never.”

I was unarmed and the three of us were dead in his sights, but it didn’t mean he had won just yet. “Iron buck, S.A.T.S!” I growled.

The world slowed to a green filtered crawl. This situation was not unfamiliar to me. I watched as an evil pony was going to cut down ponies I have grown close to.

But this was not the R&D Stable, and he was not Thorn. This time I was not going to run and hide.

No!. Not this time.

Picking the fastest route to get at False Cap, I put both my actions into rushing the bastard head-on. Even as time began to move again, I was already moving at what felt like faster than my normal speed, practically flying at the stallion. There was no grace to it. No glorified attack. I just slammed into him with my body.

The gatling gun fired a few shots wildly up as it was knocked to the side. Falling on the bastard, I placed my hooved around his neck and squeezed. “WHY! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!” I screamed at him.

The butt of a gun struck me, causing me to roll off False. The other deputy then aimed his rifle at me but was then tackled by Dead Axle who wrestled the mare for the gun. Several shots rang out, but Dead got the upper hoof. She pulled the mare to the ground. She took the gun and hitt her with it until the pony’s face caved in.

Dead then fell over with several bloody holes in her.

Getting up, I trotted to her, but was then tackled by False who struck me with his heavy hoof. “WHY?! Because you're raiders. Because you're a threat. Why else?! When I’m done, I’m going to find that pink friend of yours and ride her-”

My trench shovel slammed the side of False Cap’s head. He crumpled over. Live Axle stood over me, looking pale. “Those asshooles sure do love to talk.”

She then fell over, blood still flowing from her wound.

My blood ran cold as I saw both Live and Dead Axle bleeding out from their gunshot wounds. Scrambling up, I rushed to the Smuggler, looking for my saddlebag. I must have had some healing potions on me. I know I must have.

“Slowtrot!” Harp shouted as she trotted into the scene with several Desperados flanking her.

My saddlebag only had healing bandages inside. The potions we had, having been distributed among those who had been fighting the ghouls or given to the elders for emergencies. “I need two healing potions, and now!” I told her as I tossed them the packet of healing bandages.

Harp grimaced then nodded before turning to the other Desperados. “Take the sisters to the others. If we can stop the bleeding, we can save them.”

Two Desperados quickly picked them up and rushed them out.

Harp’s eyes then fell on the unconscious False Cap. Her face filled with disgust and hatred. “This one ... we're taking him alive… for now.”

_______________________________________________________

-Reputation-

-New Appaloosa Law-

What is there to say? The three are seen as criminals, and they are the law. Though they can make up whatever they think is the law and who is a criminal. Deputies are now the enemies.

-Blue Skies-

One bad deal after another, but what would anypony expect more from a band of crooked merchants and mercenaries? Blue Skies are now the enemies.