Fallout: Equestria - A Good Teacher

Holding the gun in the snowy-smoky light of her magical thought, a unicorn mare went across the room. She stooped by the wall and pushed the door with her foot. For about a minute she listened to the breath of the wind, and only then she looked inside.

She looked at the rubble and left?? "She does not even try to search, huh..." I whispered, wiping my eyes before closing them again to be swept away by my surveillance spell. The magic dragged me on the wall of the building, then through the window, and here I am again, looking at the unicorn mare with my mind. She had a submachine gun and a hunter shotgun.

She walked down the corridor and came across a staircase to the second floor, but having climbed only halfway, to the window, she stopped. The ruined staircase was too much for her, and she went back again.

She was also carrying two bags with something, I bet it was food. She stood by the window, looking at the frame and glass shards. Then she looked out of the window, touched her glasses, and mindfully looked into the distant wasteland. She began to descend the stairs. She was stopping to look around here and there, it seemed that she was imagining something for herself.

She was balancing her hunter shotgun on her back when walking around the main room.

I ended the surveillance spell, and came back into my body. I touched the barrel of my dragon-slayer gun, and was ready to shoot her on sight. She had a stable-tech bag, and stable security helmet on her head. Stable dwellers are never safe to talk to. They were an infection of the wasteland, with their morality and ideas about what the world was supposed to look like, they never cared about how much damage they were causing to the environment and the whole world while trying to fit their standards. They were a remnant of the old world, and they had to either change or die.

I accidentally knocked some stone with my hoove, right a second before showing my face in the doorway. She looked at me with the distant look of a lost child. I felt like her life, the fancy life with all the conveniences from the stable that I never had, crawled into my face from looking at her for just a moment, It scared me so I hid behind the wall. It changed me so much from even a short look into her eyes. I could not shoot.

What am I doing? I need to finish her now! I spoke instead: "Hello!"

"Well, hello," came a response from inside.

"I'm looking for something, and if you don't mind, could you please lower the gun?" I talked as friendly as possible. She was armed, should not it be a reason good enough to kill her?

“Let’s say so. What's next?” I didn`t like the sound of her voice, it was annoying to even listen to her talk. “Shall we part ways? If you don’t mind.”

So if I want to watch her suffer, how do I make an excuse to come closer? I just needed the conversation going.

"Of course, you can go, but I still have some work to do here – a quest..." I leaned on the wall, and casted my surveillance spell. My mind traveled past the doorway, so I could see her face again. Its expression was so different compared to when in eye contact with me. Obviously, she could not see me, so her face was not talking to me, only her voice.

She wiped her pipbuck screen, where my mark was shown as a green one. That thing does not read thoughts, only intentions, or maybe emotions. She looked pleased, so I continued.

"A stupid quest to be clear. Where have you ever seen an elite intelligence officer tasked with pulling a cart! A ca-a-art damn it." I said smiling.

"Oh yeah!" She laughed, lowered the gun, and seemed to be even more relaxed now. "Where are you from? I'm from Stable Two."

Her smile became uncomfortable as she spoke that she is from Stable. That's right, she should be feeling bad about it. Waa-it, Stable Two, it's the one which I have on my map as a sealed one? Could it really be?

"Really?" I asked, broke my super-vision spell, and showed my face in the door way briefly, looking into her eyes. She looked lost again, as if her mind would go somewhere else. Her gun was still lowered. I went back behind the wall, having enough of her face for now.

"For real, I mean..." I muttered quietly to myself. "Oh, yeah! I mean I thought the Second would never open. If our people find out, my wallet will be a little lighter... You know, why don't you come with me? We'll drag the cart, it's easier together!"

I confidently entered the building, holding my dragon-slayer rifle on my back. I stared at her as friendly as possible, keeping my body straight and firm to look cool, I also did not forget to show off my pipbuck.

"Stable 45?" she asked.

"Yes. We unsealed it recently… we founded an outpost in a village nearby. Of course, we don’t have patrols yet." I lied, and would keep lying if needed, all to get more of her real response.

"Wow. They don't have patrols. I'm one of the first here, you know, and it turns out you're already exploring the wasteland." She was chatty and friendly, no way she would shoot me now.

"You have a serious gun," I tried to cheer her, knowing that she probably is not so good with weapons. She looked at it, then at me, examining my equipment.

“Who are you anyway?” She asked.

"I used to be in security and finally ended up in long-range reconnaissance. You can brag about that kind of work, freedom and all that. But in reality, it turns out that you're constantly dragging something back to the base. You find it, and then you drag it. In short, it sucks." At least something could be told without lies.

The grey pony gestured actively, expressing boredom.

"To tell you the truth, my stable didn't open. I ran away," She mumbled. Woah, interesting!

"Oh, so that's three times better! First, I met you. Second, I don't owe anyone any caps now, because I haven't lost yet!.. And third, you'll tell me how to get into "Stable 2" or just take me to the Overmare so that we can form an alliance between our stables."

Or in other words, you guys can kill yourselves (please) and let us take all your stuff along with your home, I hope you don`t mind.

I kept my friendly smile consistent.

"It's a whole day's journey to the Stable. I'm looking for my sister, she's probably in trouble."
Ok, so she is looking for her sister from the same stable, that might be a hint on how to get inside, I definitely will need to find her sister.

The stable dweller mare unicorn looked lost again.

“We will take care of your sister and everyone else, but first we need the canisters.” I reassured her that everything is fine. She did not look very confident though, I felt like I started losing her.

"Look in the neighboring wreck. However, I don't think you'll like the junk you'll find there." She said weakly.

"Do you have any empty flasks? And don't say junk. My name is Junk. Quite a name, believe me. It's annoying. Okay? Let's go." Lets go to hell baby, are you going to start or let it be me? When will you realize that our goals do not go together? That there is simply not enough air in the wasteland for both of us?

"And I am Mary…" Mary. Quite a name, I should stop complaining about mine. I tried to make her come closer with wave of my hoof. She spoke again, making her way out of committing to help me. Of course she did, why would anyone want to be friends with me. "I am truly sorry, but…"

“You’re so boring,” I interrupted. With soft touch I activated S.A.T.S., and as spell went on, I selected her pretty face as a target. The moment my gun fired, her face was not there anymore so the shot hit the wall instead, her rifle fired and missed. How dare she try to shoot back at me? The iron table was standing on its side where the stable dweller mare was just a second ago.

“Are you still alive there or something?” I asked as I felt annoyed still seeing her mark on the locator. I dashed into run to attack. In just a few more jumps I would approach her cover from the side and destroy her with point point-blank range shoot.

A barrel of submachine gun appeared. I shielded my face with dragon-slayer rifle as bullets pierced the air. The barrel, wide enough to keep me safe, got hit. The stable dweller mare did not rush to show herself. Her SG was pointed somewhere but not at me. I heard her mumbling something.

I kicked metallic shelve to the floor, and leaned next to it, brewing slowly. This is just a job, and it needs to be done.

“How are you?” She asked calmly.

"All ok. Let's continue. Come on, you first, come out," I pronounced.

“Yeah, and then you’ll want a child from me,” Waha?

"So, I'm waiting!" I was getting angry. No need for feelings, just do what has to be done.

"Just don't say I didn't warn you." she continued teasing me.

There was silence for about a minute. I felt bad that this is me who is impatient here and not her. This had to change, I had to be better.

"Come on. What, you weak, huh? Are you scared, you creature? Just a sec... Just wait, wait..." I focused on my horn, pointing it into the air, absorbing electric charge from everywhere, and turned around to get more from the other side as well, and then released the lightning into the stupid table-shiled of the enemy.

Everything around was drowned in light and thunder. The table became red from heat, so I shot immediately, trying to get her through the steel. My horn was still glowing with arcane magic. She looked at me through the hole that dragon-slayer gun just made, so I fired again. Good time to take dash if she is still alive. She was, so freaking alive, it was driving me insane. The dash tested good as always.

***

"Please dont! I dont want to die!" the stable dweller mare, slightly wounded into shoulder, was crying and sobbing. I was pressuring her to the floor with my forelegs while holding her guns and a knife carefully in my magic, dragonslayer rifle pointed into her pretty face. Broken pieces of the iron table were scattered around us. Did I, after all, intentionally missed all those times? Was she really worth of so much ammo waste?

I grimaced angrily.

"Weakling. Pathethic, useless creature. I won`t kill you just yet, at least not unless I find out why you suck in life so much that you decided to run away from your fancy life in Stable Two." The mare looked so messed up. Her helmet was crushed, her shirt was covered in blood. I almost felt pity for her except that she was ignorant and self-centered, carrying about her beloved self only just a few minutes ago before I shot her in the shoulder and made my problems into her problems. "Lets go find your sister."

Her face changed strangely as if I did something good to her. "Thank you" she said weakly.

"What for? Its not like I care, I am just really curious to see what she has to say to you. People are not losing each other for no reason"

I let go of her and stepped aside, cautiously looking at her.

"I need help with my shoulder, it really hurts. You shot me so now you have to fix me."

"We will get you some healing potion, meanwhile you need to learn how to stop bleeding well enough. Here, its simple..."

***

We were walking in the desert, she ahead of me, looking up something in pipbuck. I let her carry her stuff and even gave her all her guns back. Her mark was green on the locator. Did I just make myself into her companion? Or her into mine? Does not matter as long she shoots my enemies. I liked the confidence in her eyes, and her clear wish of getting to find her sister, I felt like it was giving me a bigger purpose in life than my regular job-like service in surveillance of Stable Forty-Five.

"You seem to be happy with my company," she spoke "We could have agreed to work together without trying to kill each other."

"You were annoying, I felt like it would be good killing you until I actually tried," I replied.

The war is only possible when there is equality of forces. If one side dominates the other with no chances, there will be perfect peace.

The whole wasteland, full of adventures and interesting people was lying ahead of us, and the day was only beginning.

Next level!
Bonus: Friendship is Magic. The end.