Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter fourteen: Spice rack of allies

Given the fiasco we’d had at that Robco stop, before hitting up this little pest problem we decided to crash there for the night. The bots were dead after all, and if ponies seemed to avoid the place to begin with from the start. There wasn’t much for us to worry about as we slept. Still, one of us kept our eye open… you know, if the power mysteriously came on again.

Sleep though never seemed to come lately, not since my extended freezer stay, and if it hadn’t been for the clock in my suit, I might have thought it’d been only five minutes. Sure, enough though, several hours had passed it looked like. Leaving us semi-rested and ready for more… and by more, I meant traveling.

My eyes kept peeled towards the sky more than anything… Staggs, was it I think? Either way, he did say it wouldn’t be the last of em. Whether we’d run in to more of his group, or just that one gryphon alone, I didn’t know. Though I didn’t feel like being caught with my pants down.

For that thought alone, Deacon agreed to take to the sky just ahead of us, literally giving a bird’s eye view of the trail we had to walk. As we did, Tumble stuck close to me, carbine at the ready and her .44 unholstered. Seemed like she was in the same mindset given our last walk along the path well-traveled.

The gauss she’d abandoned back in the Robco, after spending probably what amounted to half the night trying to piece it together… but as you might imagine, if a pony in power armor after a few hits from a Sentry would be left wobbling. A weapon wouldn’t fare any better.

A shame too… with these long and open streets of the cul-de-sac we were walking, the rifle would have been perfect for taking pot shots at what ever poked their head out. Hell, I just bought ammo for the damn thing. For now, though, it just appeared like the burnt-out houses and collapsed structures would be our company.

Deacon stopped right in front of us, barely catching himself on his talons to keep from flipping, “Cover… now!”

You know, when someone tells you that, it’s usually best not to question them…

Just like he suggested, one of those burnt-out buildings became our shelter, and left both myself and Tumble wondering what the hell had spooked him. Popping the smallest of slivers from the helmet out of a shattered window, I looked around the area. Nothing was showing up on my E.F.S. and granted these things didn’t have an infinite range but-

Yep… that’s a reason to hide!

Along one of the crosswalks to the neighborhood paced what looked to be a patrol of Rangers, I mean what else could they be? That wasn’t the only thing that jumped a pony’s memory, “What are ya’ll up too…” subconsciously I started leaning closer out the window to make sure I was seeing things right… guns like that were hard to confuse.

“What is it?” Tumble jumped up next to me in the frame, and for a second, I watched her reach back for a scoped weapon, only to pause and stop.

We’re gonna have to get you a rifle again… “Those kinds of barrels sticking up like that could only be one thing, IF-100 Brown Betty,” together the pair looked at me like I’d expected them to memorize every gun catalog in existence, “120-millimeter howitzer, takes special armor to actually fire the damned things…” plus, you’d need a pony built like Big Mac from the war.

Deacon joined us at the frame, now cramming all three of us looking out this broken window towards a trudging patrol of metal and explosives. Scope or not, his vision must have been far better than mine… gryphon thing maybe, “that’s a big ass gun to be out in the middle of nowhere for nothing…”

“Exactly… you don’t just send something like that out for no reason,” I mean the shells alone to a vender would probably be more than they make in a month.

“You know…” the mare amongst us started to plod her hooves together, “they did send one patrol after you before, remember?”

‘Yeah, I remember… I got set on fire,’ my own thoughts reminded me, “Oh how could I forget…”

“So, maybe this is take-two?” she offered as the three of us watched them go, “you don’t have the best track record with them, and it wouldn’t be hard for them to find out what jobs you might have taken up to track ya.”

Great, so not only do we have to contend with whatever these pests are… but also ponies that are armed well enough to level a building, let alone one pony, “Let’s just wait it out for a bit, let them pass,” they didn’t seem to be going completely in the right direction, so they might have only gotten the subways general location, “A good long bit.”

The Brown Bettys were considered light artillery sure, cut down to be mounted on to the armors that hauled them. Light or not, they still had the range to lob a shell a few miles. A range I didn’t want to be anywhere inside of if they were to see me out in the open. Upgraded suit, compared to theirs, or not. 120mm to the chest isn’t something you just survive.

Neither of my companions argued with that thought, probably pondering the same thing, and with that we waited for the heavy armor to pass by… this station wasn’t going anywhere after all.

***

Said station wasn’t all that hard to locate either. Nearly every hundred yards it looked like there was a sign pointing in the direction of it. Which surprised me then when we hadn’t found it swarming with Rangers… though I could work with that moment of peace. The three of us stared down the stairs, steadily watching the few flickering lights in the depths.

Flicking the headlight on the helmet, it still didn’t do much to guide us as we walked the crumbling steps. E.F.S. or not, it didn’t tell you if something was above or below you, or for that matter even how far it was. My companions were even worse off in the end. Tumble apart from the limited flares had nothing, and only Deacon brought out some rusted flashlight that was about as bright as a candle.

Those lights along the walls didn’t get any better the further down we went. Past the ticket booth, they just barely lit up some of the benches and rails that ponies a long time ago would have waited to board the rails. With the stomping of my hooves, a few of those bones crunched while we went, and resonated off the walls of the tunnels.

“So… did it say how far we had to go in here?” Deacon asked in a hush as he kept close behind me, before skipping off with his candle to look at some of the luggage around for goods.

It was nice to have a packrat in the group.

“No, not really,” I thought back to the ad that was placed. The only thing it really said was these pests would be pretty obvious… as encouraging as that was.

Yet, as obvious as these pests were supposedly to be, my sensors still remained cleared. Nothing from the ticket booth, to the restrooms on the side, or even the tunnels that stretched in either direction gave me anything in the shape of a red bar. It was all still, and the dust only kicked up in the air from us walking.

“Subway… we just had to pick a subway, and not bring any actual lights,” Tumble sneered as she pulled out a rod from her saddlebag. Lighting off the flare in her mouth, the mare went exploring off towards what little area of the station was covered by the overhead lights. Poking her head in one of those rest rooms, carbine at the ready.

We’d gotten lucky with finding some flares, now if only we’d found some batteries for the light. Certainly a blunder on our part, and as we looked around the station, my lamp stuck to the ground. Even most of the dirt and trash didn’t look as tossed around as I’d have expected it to look from some sort of pests living down here.

Soon enough I made myself to the edge, and looked down the tracks. There didn’t seem much other place to go than total darkness. “Up here’s cleared,” one side to us was blocked by the train that had long took its last stop, the other end my light barely reached a few dozen yards before the illumination was lost, “as much as I’d hate to say it, there ain’t much else for us to do.”

“Right,” the mare trotted past myself and Deacon, as she leapt down to the tracks, “Let’s get to, IT-!”

Metal twisted, wood snapped, and the space between the rails buckled under her weight when she put her hooves on it. I could almost see her face turn from exploration to shock, and then just as fast to fear when she dropped out of site. As the dust settled, my light looked past it to the hole in the ground that remained of our resident mare.

“Tumble!” both of us shouted in unison, before looking to one another.

It didn’t take an engineer to know that she was living up to her name and still rolling down deeper. As the thuds of her going got back to us, the light of her flare got dimmer and dimmer. With a shrug of his shoulders, Deacon grabbed his light and leapt in after her. ‘Oh, what a life I live now,’ more exciting than my last one I’ll admit, and just like that, I went in after him.

Metal didn’t slide as easily down a tunnel than I thought!

Seriously, I didn’t need the little pony display to tell me my head was hurting, but with all its reliability it was there to tell me what I could already feel. Surprisingly, as the ground started to level out and I slowed a bit, the armor didn’t seem to lose much of its integrity. Sure, I was skipping through the tunnel like a bowling ball across shattered glass, but it wasn’t damaging the suit nearly as much as I thought it would. So, gravity I was most resilient to… not gonna test that out any time soon.

Oh hi-ya dirt!

‘Thank you helmet,’ I groaned to myself as the visor and headlamp got a clear picture of the ground.

“Nice landing,” you know, I was going to ask if she was okay, but that told me all I needed to know. As I got up, Tumble stood there, battered, beaten, and a bit dirtier than normal, but still standing. By her side Deacon tried his best to fix his flashlight to the end of his barrel with some tape.

Now that we were situated, where the hell were, we? The light of the flare she dropped didn’t give off enough to make any guess, “So… is this part of the subway?” my head swiveled around the tunnel, no markings or sign of engineering, just-

“Wait…” Tumble piped back up, and nearly twisted my head back around the wall.

There it lit up something I nearly missed, and I don’t know how I could have. In the walls there were markings, just not anything I’d seen made by a tool or even machinery. No, these were natural, and whatever made them was big… about as big as something I’d run in to already.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” I about facehooved.

“Okay… it’s not,” Deacon said as I watched him start rummaging through his bag once more, pulling out a magazine with the same-colored band he’d used on the gunners, “I mean, it is though.”

Tumble meanwhile brought her carbine up, and looked to flip it to full auto, “Those pests, are Hellhounds…”

They did say in the ad it’d be obvious…

Just as soon as that revelation settled, my E.F.S. went off, and boy was it full! It looked like in every corner of it there was at least one or two bars that was moving about. Down here it was even harder to tell which direction they’d be coming from, and with us literally going through the roof of one of their tunnels, it was even harder figuring out which way to go.

Eenie…

Meenie…

Miney…

“That way! Run!” I shouted to them, and without a word against it we started beating feet against the dirt, leaving the flare in the distance as fast as possible.

Okay, that grinding and snarling wasn’t getting closer as we went, but it surely wasn’t getting any quieter. No matter the case, we were heading somewhere away from them… hopefully not a dead end. Soon we broke in to the literal fork in the road, a few different paths we could take, and all of them leading somewhere.

Though which one?

Better question, who were they more likely to follow?

Time to be a hero…

“I’ll lead them away from ya’ll,” pretty sure Tumbles’ jaw hit the floor, and Deacons’ wasn’t far behind, “they’re gonna hear me over you anyway, take one of the other tunnels, they have to have a way out of here somewhere.”

“…See ya on the flip side,” Deacon almost saluted, as he brought up Tumble across his back in one move and picked a hole at seemingly random.

Great… so what was step two?

Oh, right!

Picking a different tunnel, my hooves galloped down, lighting barely a stone throw ahead of me and making all the racket I could at the same time. Center of attention I certainly was. Though I still didn’t plan on being buried down here.

A head broke through some of the dirt in front of me, and those jagged yellow teeth snarled as they tried to chomp down when I passed. Missing by a few inches, I didn’t stop to see if he (or she, it was hard to tell) joined in the chase. I’m sure this entire pack was on my heels; as I’d been told several times now, power armor wasn’t quiet after all.

Another break in the tunnel opened, and there two more stood. The mini spun up, peppering 5mm across the first one’s torso. Even with the higher velocity of the longer tri-barrel, it didn’t seem to do much but tickle at first. Sure enough though, you fire enough and they get the point. The dog dug down quickly to avoid the fire, leaving the second on his own to attack. Alright let’s see how well this did!

One shell rang off through the hollow, scattering pellets in to his frame and letting small explosions burst chunks of flesh out its hide. They could certainly howl, and his own reverberated through these tunnels calling to the others. A few shells more silenced him, and left the mutt a twitching mass on the ground.

But where was…

The first shot back up underneath me, launching the armor airborne and in to the ceiling overhead. Slamming in to that, and then to the ground, the dog brought its claw up and over at me. As fast as I could, my horn reached out and grabbed hold of its wrist, spinning the barrels up once more and chewing away at its limb.

Sawing neatly through the bone and tissue, the hound yelped in pain, and tried bringing its other limb to bare. A shell took care of that, leaving it only with a clawless paw and stump to work- alright those still hurt! Its forearms were built like clubs for sure… that one in the raider den didn’t even need the concrete mitts.

Across the room I flew, and into the wall I landed.

Armor integrity: 92%

Okay, so not as powerful as the mitts… I didn’t see any of the other hounds close by, but I’d imagine they weren’t all that far behind. Not wasting any time, I got back to my hooves, picked another tunnel to the right, and kept running. Heavy stomps right on my flank from the one I toyed with.

Judging by the grunting and gnashing of those teeth, he was pissed too, though I could see some light now finally! I doubt it was fresh air, but any illumination would be better than out right relying on this headlamp. Getting in the area, it looked a much deeper level of the same subway system, some of the machinery dotting along the sides. More of the lights were working down here, so I had that to be-

A hellhound rested right beside where I entered, and for a moment I froze, unsure if it had seen me or not. Though that was a stupid thought, it surely would have heard me. Just then, its eyes snapped open towards me, and my mini started spinning up…

Yet it didn’t move.

It just sat there, ‘A blue bar?’ it showed.

Hello Stumpy!

Armor integrity: 83%

Said dog barreled in to me at terminal velocity, knocking me in to what looked and felt like sump pumps to keep the stations dry. My head was ringing, the vision was dancing, and already my suit could take the hint and started administering Med-X. Not much good that did, as a few more pommels came down and beat my head against the pump like a drum.

Armor integrity: 75%

Wrapping its tattered limbs around my frame, it brought me in closer. The jaws of the dog opened wide as he clenched on to me, and I watched in my daze his maw reaching out overtop my helmet.

So, this is how I went?

The dog jerked for a moment, with me still in its grasp clenched against its his chest, before its head finally rolled off the shoulders and smacked against the ground. Myself soon joining it there, as it stopped and stared at the visor, the same grimacing expression remaining.

“There’s way out if pony backtrack, and head down the center tunnel,” the Hellhound that saved my hide grumbled.

No… not a Hellhound, maybe? Definitely a female though by the way the sheen in her aqua eyes flickered against my headlamp. Plus, far slimmer than the few other dogs I’d seen, and certainly with a hell of a lot more bruises and beatings under her dirt coat. Her claws were just as sharp as any, good thing to. Hellish for sure, but not completely mutated… given she was talking to me instead of trying to rip my head off.

With a plop the dog found her place back on the ground and just grumbled, “You’re not gonna kill me?” I just had to ask… please don’t jinx it.

“Won’t make a difference to dog,” she grinded her teeth it looked like, and stared past me to the one she’d slain, “be dead anyway here soon.”

“You didn’t have to help…”

“Dog dead even before pony barged in, but I like taking one of them out with me,” probably the lowest chuckle I’d heard passed her stained teeth. “Pony think I gave myself these?” her claws pointed to some of the bruises and wounds across her coat. It was hard to tell if it was her natural color, or if she was just that dirty, in any case fresh wounds still showed just as clearly.

‘That was it… I’d found the runt of the pack…’ my horn dug through the bag along me and fished out a healing potion, with a toss the dog caught it in her paw instead of outright crushing it, “Backtracking in this place I imagine can be difficult, without a guide,” I shrugged to her, “what do you have to lose?”

She caught my drift pretty quickly, and with a crunch drank down the potion and glass of it all in one go as she got to her paws. “Alrighty… pony stick close.”

Her claws stretched out, and some of the wounds along her that looked a bit fresher closed as the potion took effect. Following the pooch out, we went back up where I’d gone, reaching the place where I exploded the other dog and made the wrong turn.

“Are you the only pony down here?” her ears started perking up, and the nostrils flared.

“Two more, mare and a gryphon,” I checked my reserves, already knowing I’d be in for it. Chewing through their hide was hard on the mini, but the shotty had less ammo… just have to pick em carefully.

With a jerk of her head, we went down a different tunnel than she suggested, but soon enough across the walls of dirt I heard the sounds of rifle fire. There in another opening the red flickering of burning chemicals shined like a beacon, and in the center of the triangle created by them, were the pair I’d come down here with.

Bursting in to the room, both myself and the pack runt opened up on our own. 5mm still would have taken too much to down one, but it did make them stagger. Leaving each mutt more than open for a follow up of a shell. S.A.T.S. locked in on the two furthest from the pair in the center, locking in a single shell on their head. I didn’t need each pellet to make contact, just enough to get their attention.

And that they did.

Even the first that only was struck with four of the eight, still managed to get part of their jaw ripped off from the micro explosions. Wailing now in agony, both himself and the other that the shell missed entirely turned towards me and started running. A couple more shells racked back and rang out the barrel, peppering across their bulk and taking just enough mass out of them to bring one of the beasts down.

The other one my guide took care of, digging her claws right in to the hounds’ temple and tore out half its skull in the process as it tried to swipe at her. The females’ gouge draped me in a nice blanket of red mist, and the corpse fell to my hooves… yep that smell wasn’t going to come out for a while.

A third Deacon cycled his weapon in to, those armor piercing rounds of his digging nicely into the hide of the mutt. Though it wouldn’t drop it fast enough, and letting my gun purr the rounds bit in to the creatures back. Together our fire gave it something to think about, and a final stab of a pair of claws large enough to be BBQ skewers rammed in to its chest. Opening up its gut and letting its insides spill out over the ground. Ya know, I’m kinda glad for the poor vision right about now.

I still caught Tumble raise her gun up to the one I’d brought, “Nope!” I shouted, and pushed the weapon down, “She’s helping…” so not totally poor vision, I could see the looks of he’s insane across them as they stared at me. Not the first time I’d gotten that, “No time to explain, let’s get going.”

Our guide sniffed the air as she looked down the tunnel, “Pack coming…”

From that, the two didn’t really have much they could say… stay down here and get trapped like mice in a maze, or possibly have a chance to fight these things in the open. The four of us opted for the latter. Following the runt down a number of tunnels, I could feel the incline getting steeper the more we went, and the scraping and clawing of something moving through the dirt would get louder before fading out. Where ever she was taking us, any time they tried to reach, she was one step ahead.

And just ahead, the real glimmer started to shine… sunlight.

Or, you know… what amounted to it in this world now. Either way, it was out the open, which was far better than where we were. Water flowed just past our legs as we sloshed in the shallow mud, out to the open. There in a pit we stood, a few broken tunnels around us, a crashed train car, and some of the piping that supplied the water. A sink hole must have formed here over the years and brought it all down, giving us a way out in the present.

And putting us like fish in a barrel to those 120mms on the edges of the pit.

“Lay down your arms!” one ranger shouted out as the four of us stood at the bottom.

“Fucking perfect…” I gritted before flipping on the mic of the helmet, “You don’t want to do this! Get out of here while you have the chance!” that received a different reaction than I was hoping for!

Three pairs of 120mm barrels lowered down upon me and my group, out what looked like the six from earlier we saw, half of them were armed with the artillery. It’d only take one of those guns to get the job done… and they went with enough to make a similar hole to the one we were standing in…

‘Geeze who’d I piss off?’ that thought crossed as the one who shouted out before stepped forward again.

“You are in no position to make threats, Rogue Ranger,” so, they did know me by that, I had a fan club! And they wanted my head on a stake.

If they got the chance that is… because even through the metal, the ground was certainly shaking.

I counted a dozen, or at least that much, you know it was hard to count while running… They’d shot up from the ground amongst the rangers themselves. While the three of us, including the hound that guided us out, took shelter in the train that laid across the bottom of the sink hole. From the window along the sides of the car, I got full view to the real power of a Hellhound.

Just like Tumble had said, their claws were sharp enough to cut clean through the armor that the rangers were adorned. Given how quickly it was going through them, I didn’t want to find out how well this upgrade would do against it. They weren’t paying much attention to us, the rangers had bigger fish to fry, and the dogs were preoccupied with them… though we still didn’t have a way out of here. It was a hole after all.

One dog sliced the 120mm off the side of a ranger, and as it hit the ground the shell discharged. Lobbing it square in to the car next to us, and showering the debris all around. Steadily, one by one they fell, both dog and SR alike. Just as fast as it started, only half of the dogs remained, far more than I’d have hoped for.

And now they had a new target.

“Get out of range!” I shouted to Deacon as I burst from the train, spinning the barrels.

Our avian friend didn’t question it, and took not only himself but also our mare out of the sink hole and up along the edges of it. The mutts didn’t seem to care at first, they had myself and one of their own to contend with. As they leapt down the slopes of the hole, I noticed not all of them were carting around claws. Some of those claws were carrying weapons as well, what looked to be a few modified AER-10s from the-

Scratch that, a lot more powerful AER-10s!

The first beam crackled against the air just past my head and struck the car, melting some of the outer paneling in the first shot… if it could do that to metal… 5mm immediately started targeting those that carried those weapons, forcing either their shots to go wild or them to duck down. Those that weren’t armed didn’t care, and closed the gap. With me a little preoccupied, they were left at the paws of the one that joined us.

Whoever she was, her frame might have been half the size and only partly mutated as those from the tunnels, but boy was her claws just as sharp to match! Trading slashed to and from with one, hers caught something vital in its neck and dropped it to the ground. Giving another the space to move in, had it not been for one little thing.

Aerial support.

The missile did just as it was designed, and streaked through in the path of the dog. It didn’t matter if they had a hide that could take a beating, high explosives worked wonders. Parts of that poor pooch scattered around the area and I’d probably have to pick some of them from the plates of armor later. Assuming I made it to later that is, one got a little too close for comfort, too close for the mini to get enough rounds in. Enough though to put a shell or two in to its chest and blow out the sides of its ribcage.

Armor integrity: 73%

There’s that splash damage I was talking about… good thing I kept this on semi eh?

“Who the hell gave this gun that!” I shouted out to any who would take pity on me, which happened to be no one, and just kept racking back the shells at those who tossed some of their arms down and decided to take us on claw and tooth.

Too far, and they just lost some tissue from the shells, too close in and I got the kickback. Had to find that butter zone, something I was more than happy to practice now! Deacon hadn’t gotten a lot of those missiles, and after a couple more rained down that left only their support from the carbines above. The female hound wrestled with one across the bottom of the pit in the water that pooled up, sloshing it back and forth.

Falling back in to S.A.T.S. I queued up the mini on the one entangling her, it might not kill it, but perhaps… with the burst leaving the barrel, the forearms of the dog was struck, loosening its grip and giving her back the upper paw.

A charged shot struck the side of the suit, and even upgraded, the smoldering of skin I was starting to get accustomed to returned. Its not exactly being set on fire, but it sure felt like it! More beams came from the dog, and whatever modifications they made to it sure didn’t improve the accuracy. My tongue clenched back some of the urge to yelp, as my suit took the hint and administered its chems.

Lining up another burst, the 5mm peppered across the weapon in question, breaking something of value and causing it to burst in his paws. The mutt let out a hellish howl, fitting I know, and charged. Murder in its eyes only for one.

One shell…

Two shell…

Three shell…

Butter zone found! The fourth shell that struck across its neck and face did the job, causing it to roll head over heels into me. I’ll take being knocked down than torn in half any day. As I laid there, I waited to see if any more would try and pounce, but those that shot out of the ground were in pieces around me now. Either from missiles, shells, or claws of their own kind.

Regarding their own kind…

A pair of paws reached up and over the corpse that pinned me down, lifting it up and off to the side with no effort. The female ‘Hellhound’ that brought us out here stood there, tattered, beaten, and pommeled from tangling with her own. Though she did so and helped us in the end as well, with that in mind, the paw that outstretched to me I took and got back to my hooves.

“Much obliged…”

“Eh, pony don’t mention it,” she shrugged her shoulders at me, as we started hiking up the incline and to the edge where the rest of my companions were.

Tumble still had her carbine at the ready, pointing right at her, while Deacon had the launcher with what was probably his last shot doing the same. I couldn’t blame them for being cautious, with the name like Hellhound, who wouldn’t? My visor turned to the pair, and back to the hound, then to the hole we’d come out of. Joining those of her kind were the rangers, or at least what was left of them.

Sections of armor were cleanly torn or cut off, weapons they were armed with broken and left in pieces, nothing so much remained that could even be considered scrap or worthy to turn in to a vendor. Hellhounds were no joke, and if it hadn’t been for this one, we’d all be in a similar state down in those tunnels.

“So… why did you help us?” I asked, assuming now would have been a good time as any to rip our spines out.

For a second, she turned her head down to those tunnels, “it… it long story.”

Ain’t it always? Popping my visor up, I brought a hoof out to her, “Well I think time is one of those things that’s abundant in this world now, so how about start with a name?” she looked at me and to the hoof, and I could feel the other pair waiting for her to make the wrong move, “Wildfire.”

Finally, after a few skips of my heart, she took it, “Riff Raff.”

***

“I don’t trust her,” Tumble, try as she might, whispered to me as we walked.

Riff Raff kept to the middle of our little group, Deacon heading up the front, which left myself and our resident mare to share a chat about the new comer that just happened to be sticking with us for the time being. Though one thing the mare didn’t notice that I picked up, this dogs’ ears were twitching.

“Pony know I can hear, right?” okay a grin like that wouldn’t really put any of us at ease…

Tumble however, caught the look and stopped there. “I just thought all Hellhounds were, well… savage,” and yet Riffs grin kept growing, “no offense!”

Although she grinned, the dog just shrugged her shoulders at the pair of us, “Matters more how much of that magical glowing junk dog take swim in,” she said, and went back to working on the laser rifle she pulled from one of her pack. “Me? I guess pony could say I was lucky, my blood relatively clear of ponies glowing shit… didn’t sit well with others down in that hole.”

I knew she didn’t look as hellish while we were down there, and even now that some of the grim from her fur had been wiped away, besides some of the many scars she wore. Riff here looked about as normal as one of the Diamond Dogs from back in my day… besides still being stronger than an ox, and able to rip clear through metal plating.

Yeah, normal…

“Can’t completely whine like ponies do, dog got some benefits,” her claws for sure were obvious, though she still felt the need to flick out a few of those digits. Seriously, how sharp does something have to be to go through metal like tissue paper? “And radiation don’t bother much, that just bonus.”

So, she has all of the benefits, but none of the drawbacks… ‘wait, what were the drawbacks of being a Hellhound?’ I mean besides being public enemy number one to literally any settlement or town you probably came across, or I guess in some cases, your own kind. “What did you mean when you said you were dead even before I barged in?”

Even without her facing us, I could still hear a sigh, “Ain’t as mutated as others… they didn’t like that too much, and if pony couldn’t tell, they like to show their feelings rather personally,” a life living as the runt of the pack would surely leave scars like that across one, “But dog smarter than others, make self useful.”

With a flick of the switch though to the side. The rifle powered up and she took aim at, what I hoped was, an abandoned house. One of those beams from the gun was able to seer my coat, even under the armor, but to wood that decrepit? Almost instantly the frame caught fire where she hit, and started going through the rest of the structure.

And just like before, she kept that grin going, “understood some weapons, helped fix theirs, and say in packs’ graces… but know not last long.” Again she sighed, many of those wounds looked fresh. So if I had to guess, the other hounds probably took their turns beating her to a pulp, when it was one against all of em. “Wouldn’t have stepped up, had it not been for pony,” the grin was soon replaced by a gentle nod, likely the first time she’d even had a reason to show gratitude I’d imagine, “big guns speak loudly, give good back up.”

“You’re very welcome,” Deacon chimed in, as he hiked his shoulder up to situate the launcher, and I swore I could see him stick his tongue out at Tumble. She’d have to eat her words, that did come in mighty handy.

Yet even with all this firepower, they still were barely a match for those others down in the tunnel, let alone what this one might be able to do with that rifle. “Well… if you’re going to be walking with us for the time being, can we trust you?”

Her grin wiped away as she stared at my visor, “if dog want to kill, would have done by now,” how many red flags can one creature get?! Though the stone glare on her face that had all of us on edge soon left, and was replaced by that low rumble of a laugh. “Dog play! Not kill you, you good ponies…” her eyes turned for a moment to the only one not in that category, “and good turkey.”

That made his feathers ruffle!

“If all same to pony,” Riff plodded the ground, “can dog stick with you?”

Almost instantly all three of us stopped in our tracks from the question. Deacon looked at Tumble, Tumble looked at him, and soon both of them looked on to me… when did this become my call? I mean sure, she was more than capable of killing off all of us in probably one swipe, and we were already a target by me wearing this armor. Though Riff did save our skins, and that had to be worth something in the end… plus the whole not killing us yet bit.

“I’m assuming another pack would be less welcoming?” it was a stupid question sure, but it had to be asked.

Just as expected, she nodded, “New pack kill on site, even just for meat…” then she started thinking a little bit more it looked like, “or a play thing, or target practice, or hunt for sport.”

“Hmph… sounds like an attractive group,” Deacon sneered with his own grin, though I’d imagine he should know, having traveled the wastes as long as he did.

“Turkey not half back looking himself,” Riff responded with a wink.

Deacon stammered, Tumble looked like she could boil water with the heat from her cheeks, and as for myself. I just joined in her laugher that erupted, “Oh, I think you’ll fit in just fine there, Riff.”

Much to the others initial dismay, the dogs’ pep picked up instantly as she threw her rifle across the shoulder and marched along with us on back to Barkston. Though that did start to beg one question, what was the town going to say?

***

Both myself and Tumble stood by from a fair distance as Deacon talked with the guards of the town. Riff stood right next to him, as it felt like every barrel with in town limits was pointed right at her. Much the same way when we first waltzed in here with her, though to be fair, the guards armed with long guns atop the various cars and storage buildings of the yard did seem to have left.

You know… after they saw she wasn’t mutilating the residents.

All our feathered friend had said was he would talk to the guards, and although my lip reading was shit, that seemed to be a good-hearted laugh shared by the bunch. “Huh… he does have a way with words, don’t he?” I asked to the mare, and she only gave me a rolling of her eyes.

After that it didn’t take long for Deacon and our newest addition to get back over to us… though Riff was without her rifle. “Alright, so they’re cool with her coming to and from the town,” that seemed obvious, she wasn’t being shot at, then Deacon elaborated further, “however, she just can’t be armed while in the walls… keeps others at ease and what not.”

A snort from the hound got all our attention, “As if dog would even need gun to kill,” once again her claws flashed out along the paw that’d easily palm a ponies’ head, “these would do just fine.”

Not the time and place to make that comment… and as a few of the guards hauled away her rifle on their back, their looks of concern said more than they could voice. “She’s joking!” Deacon shouted out, jumping between her and the guards, “Wouldn’t ya know it, we found a Hellhound with a sense of humor!”

‘Smooth…’ I just shook my head, the guards still weren’t shooting, so we were in the clear for the time being.

Now we could get to the bottom of why we stopped back in on the town before our last contract… supplies. This was going to be an endless cycle wasn’t it? Stock up supplies to do jobs, complete jobs to pay for more supplies, then stock up again. Rinse and repeat. Whelp, maybe with some luck we’d come out in the positive.

Deacon, Tumble, and Riff headed out to pick up some extra rounds for all around our group. I needed some more shells, and I knew after that last barrage our gryphon would want a few more munitions. I may not be there to twist that portly ponies’ wrist, but I think a certain pooch would do just fine in that respect. Plus, they’d need her to explain that the pest problem is taken care of.

That left me with a sack full of batteries ready for the turn in, hoping they were still open. The sun was going down sure, and while the streets might have been lit. Even stores in this world still had to close. Looking over the original contract told me it was the owner of the general store here in Barkston, and right above my head I looked at the very crummy painted sign of GEN STORE.

Hey, it works it works…

The mare across the counter was all too eager to get her hooves on the sack, I’m not even sure she counted how many I’d turned in. Though thanks to Deacons fine scavenging work, we’d just pulled in another 750 caps. Not too shabby, for going up against an entire production floor of robots.

Now all that’s left was- Me not to be crashing in to other ponies.

Scratch that, I didn’t move, the other pony however was on the dirt… ‘Wait a sec…’ I looked down to the ground and saw a very familiar dirty bandana, “sorry about that, had my head in the clouds,” my visor flipped back up as I helped Alimite to her hooves.

“I did say I’d run in to ya again, just didn’t figure it to be so literal,” Alimite floated up a couple of the boxes she’d carried before our collision. “Though that’s what I get for trying to carrying everything in one go,” for a moment she just smiled, then her eyes looked like they were starting to wander over the suit once more, probably a little worse for wear the last time we’d met, “been busy I take it?”

Her hoof tapped the side of the new gun modification, and in couldn’t help but chuckle, “Oh, just keeping myself occupied while I’m in town,” while trying not to get myself torn in half, or blown up by artillery, or for that matter set on fire. With a fetch of my horn, I pulled a few of those boxes up and off to my own side, “Here let me help… keeps ya from running in to others.”

She might have been surprised at first from the gesture, but never the less Alimite accepted it with a smile. “Such a gentlecolt, hard to imagine these days,” her head jerked down the rails, and you didn’t have to tell me twice what that meant.

Quickly I caught up and walked with her through some of the streets of Barkston, largely just various tracks of vacant cars, as we passed by those little cut outs of society ponies had still tried to recreate. In some cars you could hear laughing and music, then five feet more you’d hear yelling and crying, and past that all the commotion of a true city. Singing, drinking, maybe the occasional gun shot in the distance…

Society was a loose term now.

“So, call me curious,” I watched her head turn a bit towards me before I continued, “how did you learn that kind of spell?”

It took a few seconds, but eventually she caught my meaning, “Well, being the one that always fixes things, you pick up a few new skills here and there,” and I’d imagine there’d be a lot more skills to learn in this Equestria. “That just happened to be one I gathered over the years… an old gunsmith taught me back then.”

A good one to have for sure, Celestia knows how many times that spell had saved my skin back at work, “With a skill set like that, I’m assuming you’re the town mechanic?”

Looking around, I wasn’t sure exactly where she was leading me. We were past the cars, so all the shops were behind us, now we were at the warehouse portion of the train yard. Which seemed to be this places’… headquarters? Control area? Government, if that was a thing. All I could see inside some of the large bay doors were different locomotives lined up. Some in far better condition it looked like than others. While some of those better kept ones had guards posted at either end.

“Not really… I’m doing a favor, a friend of my settlement asked to help fix up some things here,” she nodded, taking one of the boxes and shaking it in front of me, “patching up the water system for the town, ya know things that keep this place running, just needed to get the parts from the stores first.”

Hmm I’d imagine this whole place would get pretty unruly without water, even if it still was partially irradiated. “So, I’m guessing this is where they keep all that equipment.”

“Yep, they’d managed to take some of the old steam engines and use em to turn well pumps…” great, so the country is still dependent on coal, even after balefire bombs, “though they usually burn manure.”

Okay, so not dependent. That good old pony stubbornness was reigning true. Whether it was making crops out of nothing, pumping water with a locomotive and some crap, or strapping a rocket to the back of a sledgehammer. Somehow, we found a way to make things work. Though if she wasn’t from around here, then maybe she’d know something about any other settlement up north.

“Where’s your-”

“There ya are!” Tumble about shot up alongside the suit, “we’d gotten all our list done, and even got a little bonus for having to deal with Hellhounds.”

Soon after she showed up, both Deacon and Riff were in tow. I about said something, till I heard a box fall from behind me. There Alimite stood just staring up at our newest member, and for a second, the blood drained from her face matching it to her mane.

I waved my hoof in front of her, “Ahh, Alimite…” finally getting her attention, “Relax, she’s with us.”

I might have said it already, but Riffs’ toothy damned grin really could peel paint, let alone the nerves of another. “Well now… very colorful group you have going on,” she continued to stammer, and got her boxes back up.

“OhMiss Alimite…” a stuck-up voice if I ever heard it called out, and up there along one of the platforms was a colt that looked a bit too clean for this world. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please get back to doing your job? Hmm?”

Wow from zero to murder eyes in half a second, that’s quicker than a raider. “I’ve got the parts I need Conductor,” she sneered right back. With her attention back on me, and trying what looked like her best to ignore the colt, she looked a little more relaxed, “I do have to get back to that favor, before I strangle their self-appointed mayor,” I watched as her eyes did a once over on the suit,” …although, whenever you get back come find me, I’m kicking my hooves up at the inn.”

‘Oh?’ that’s an interesting offer, “is this the part where you try to steal the suit?” my snicker earned me yet another giggle from the mare.

“No, no… though I might have something for it, you find all sorts of things in the strangest of places,” with that Alimite tightened the knot on her bandana, and started backing up towards those trains. “Until then, Rogue, goodnight.”

After a timid wave and a smile, on both our parts, I watched her disappear in to the warehouse. Letting me and my companions get back to our- “What are ya’ll staring at?”

Each of them just looked at me blank faced, except for Tumble, her grin was getting wider by the second, “Well now… our Tin Colt has a heart.”

Footnote: Level up.

Perk: “Heavy Gunner- Lv. 3”- Practice really does make perfect. Heavy weapons damage increased by 25%.

Note: This stacks with ‘Heavy Gunner Lv. 1 and 2.’