Fallout Equestria: Falling Ashes

Nearing the highway exit Rose started complaining as she scrolled through her inventory. “Are we there yet? I’m tired of walking.”

“I’m guessing another few miles, so no.” Ash responded without looking back, Vortex and Ava flanked her with Rose behind the three.

Rose paused her scrolling as she found a name she remembered from Stable 100, Med-X. Remembering her father giving it to anyone who was hurting, she considered the pain in her hooves from walking before selecting it. Bringing it to the top of her pack she then took it in her magic and poked it into her forehoof. She gave a slight wince to the needle’s pain before smiling as it worked its magic.

“You should just carry me, won’t even feel it with your armor.” Rose said as she got a slight bounce as she walked.

“No, your legs work fine.” Vortex replied this time.

Rose sighed as she kept going through the menus, coming across something called Dash, pulling it out the same way as the Med-X, she pulled out a small, red, ‘L’ shaped plastic container. She rolled it around in her magic while looking at it to see what it did. She squeezed it a little and it made a hiss, she put her mouth on it and squeezed again. Inhaling the gas she felt a surge of something in her head making her feel more energetic.

She followed the group with a Pinkie-esc bounce. They followed the road along some turns through a small valley just wide enough for the road. After what felt like a minute to Rose it opened back up to a small clearing, on the left side of the road was a large building that was half collapsed, in front was a smaller building seemingly made of the leftover materials of the destroyed building. On the front was a makeshift sign ‘The Shining Bar.’

“Looks to be it, Av-.” Ash started to say before Rose interrupted.

“Are you suuuure this is it?” Rose asked with a large smile.

Ash stopped and looked back at her. “I will shake you like a foal.”

“I’ll bite you.” Rose then smiled wide enough to show her fangs.

“You’re not biting through my armor. Now, what I was going to say, Ava you’ll have to wait outside. Don’t know how they’ll react.”

Ava nodded before moving to wait beside the door, backing to the wall. Ash led the other two into the bar, at the sound of the power armor hitting the old, wooden door everyone in the bar turned to look. Ignoring them Ash went straight to the counter to speak with the mare idly cleaning a shot glass.

Without looking up the blue bar mare stated. “The Talons are in the backroom, thought you’d know that by now Ranger.”

Ash’s helmet hissed as she pulled it off before she responded. “Not here for that, need two things. One is actually related though.”

The bar mare set the glass down and looked up with a raised eyebrow. “Oh really now?”

Ash set her helmet onto her chest, the air hoses keeping it in place. “I need the location of a robotics facility I can get some Robo-Brain parts from. I also need a way to contact the Steel Ranger chapter in the Neijave. I’m from the chapter up in Filly.”

She tapped the counter with her hoof a couple times before responding. “Well I would need to get back to you on that, The Rangers I could ask them whenever they come through here again to meet with the Talons. Hundred caps I’d say is fair for it.”

“Fifty now and fifty after I can contact the Rangers.” Ash replied before turning to Vortex. “Can you grab my caps for me please. “She put her helmet back on briefly then her saddlebox popped open. Vortex grabbed Ash’s bag of caps from her box and set it on the counter to count them out. “Thank you.”

“Alright I’ll accept that. I have some rooms open if you want to stay while I ask around for you. Ten per night for the old hotel rooms. Twenty if you want a room above the bar. It’ll have to be a ground room since they’ll hold your armor still.” While talking she watched Vortex count the caps out and slid them into her apron after fifty were counted out.

“Ash turned to Vortex and Rose. “Should we get a room for a night or two?”

Rose just shrugged and Vortex nodded before saying. “Yeah it might be a few days before she finds out where the factory might be.”

“Mind grabbing a few more caps for me?” Ash asked before turning back to the Bar mare. “Two nights in the hotel.”

She nodded and retrieved a key and slid the caps into her pouch with the rest before setting it down for Ash to grab in her mouth. After grabbing the key Ash led the group back outside she stopped to tell Ava to follow them. She then led them to room 10 like engraved on the key.

Inside the hotel the room was pretty well kept but still showed the two hundred years of use. Ash walked into a corner and sat down after putting the helmet back on. The back of her armor then opened so she could climb out.

Vortex started removing her own armor and setting it on top of a dresser in pieces. As the two un-armored Rose flopped onto one of the two beds. Ava just stopped beside the door after closing it, looking around the room.

Ash stretched before going to Ava. “Something wrong? We can go outside so you can write in the sand.”

Ava just tapped her chest, then the door, then the floor.

“You can stay inside, there’s enough room. You don’t sleep, do you?”

Ava shook her head in a ‘no.’

“I could turn you off for a bit, what’s your battery at?”

Ava paused to think before dragging her hoof on the carpet to form a nine and a zero in the fibers sticking up.”

“So do you want switched off, or do you want to idle all night?”

Ava didn’t respond and just stared at Ash.

“Oh, right. I forgot you weren’t really supposed to have your own will. I can poke through your code to see if I can change that next time we have a terminal.”

Vortex walked over after hearing that. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? She’s fine now but if you take off her limits she might go hostile.”

Ash shook her head before responding. “Her brain seems very well kept. She should be fine with some of the limiters off. I want to try and make here more pony and less robotic. Always hated what they did to them.”

Neither noticed Ava drop her head at that.

“I don’t like the thought either but have you ever seen one with free will that hasn’t gone insane? This is the first I’ve seen that is sane enough to not attack everything.” Vortex responded, just looking at Ash.

“Yes, but Ava was preserved nearly perfectly. She might even be able to be independent if the limiters are reduced. I want to see if she even retained her personality and memories.” Ash was talking with a filly-esc excited bounce.

“Oookay. I'll be waiting nearby with a missile pointed at her while you’re doing that. They had limiters put on for a reason.” Vortex responding before going to the other bed and laying down.

Ash watched her before turning to Ava. “When I can return your voice I want to hear about everything you can remember. Including about being turned into this if you remember it too.”

Ava nodded, Ash then went to the bed with Rose, who was already asleep, and joined her.

***

Ash opened her eyes to the old, cracked ceiling. She realized her hooves were wrapped around Rose. She slowly got up and noticed her and Vortex were still asleep, she looked over at Ava, who was looking at her and Rose. Ash quietly hissed so the other wouldn’t wake up. “Not a word to either of them when you get your voice back.”

Ava nodded what seemed too enthusiastically. Ash just sighed and got out of bed making sure to not wake the other two. “I’ll be back in a bit, wait here please.” Ash said as she retrieved her bag of caps and walked past Ava and back to the bar.

Inside the bar it was empty, a pretty, pink mare was sitting beside the bar, her apron sitting on the counter beside her. She hadn’t noticed Ash enter so with a smile she snuck up on her and tapped her shoulder. Without making a noise she jumped over the counter and dropped down behind it.

“Hi there, is the bar open?”

The pink mare slowly peeked over the counter but still didn’t say anything.

“Hello?” Ash leaned on the counter to see her better, she still didn’t respond.

Off to her left she heard the blue mare. “She’s mute. What did you need?”

Ash turned to look over at her. “Was wanting some Wild Pegasus, honey if you have it. It reminds me of someone.”

She went behind the counter and tapped the pink one’s head. “You can head in the back if you’d like.” She then went to the shelves the bottles were stored at and retrieved a bottle of honey Wild Pegasus. “It’s a little more expensive than the normal one, how much are you wanting?”

Ash sat down on one of the stools and put her hooves on the counter. “Couple bottles if you have another, if not just whatever’s left in that one.”

She set the bottle on the counter and went to grab another and replied as she headed to a backroom. “Y’know drinking to remember someone isn’t good, right?”

Ash sighed and took a drink of the one she left behind. “Yeah, I know.”

She came back with another bottle on her back. “Want to talk about them? Usually isn’t anyone here for a few more hours.”

“Sure, maybe it’ll help. On my birthday my wife got us a bottle of honey pegasus. A while ago she was killed by someone. Didn’t even see them. Some unicorn fucker that teleported after I blew them up.” Ash said before taking a large swig of the first bottle.

“Oh dear. You really shouldn’t be drinking then.” Blue said as she leaned on the counter across from her.

“Eh, probably.” Ash then took a larger drink from the bottle then set her bag of caps onto the counter.

Blue sighed before she started counting the caps from the bag.

“Grab ten for the pink one, I snuck up behind her because I thought it’d be funny.”

Blue poked her nose then counted out another ten. “You’re lucky I wasn’t out here then or I would have smacked ya.”

“Right, right.” Ash muttered before finishing the first bottle.

“Anyway, would it help if you talked to me about them? Whoever the Wild Pegasus reminds you of I mean.”

Ash started pulling the second bottle open in her teeth before responding after the pop. “Yeah.. That’d be nice.”