Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter eighteen: Planting roots

“When dog agree to this?” Riff asked as she leaned on the large cog.

My Pip-Buck connected to the main service switch outside in the guard shack by the door, and while I propped myself against the armor playing with the commands trying to unlock it, the hound fiddled with her rifle. Somehow the last time Winters’ town had tried this place, they decided to lock it up tight. Though if there were ghouls inside, I couldn’t blame them. No one wanted Zombie ponies on their doorstep.

“You didn’t, not exactly…” and another set of menus opened up for me to go through, “my armor can protect me from the radiation, and you already told us about your natural resistance… something Deacon and Tumble are ill equipped for.”

There were radiation suits that a pony could wear, but if clean water was hard enough to come by, how hard ya reckon one of them would be? The pair however, didn’t seem to be complaining about being omitted from this adventure. Deacon passed a few RadSafes to Tumble, as they both chomped down on the pills.

“We’ll keep an eye out here while the doors open, make sure those things stay put,” Deacon answered, while he switched to a different color taped magazine. Yellow this time around… hmm, hollow points maybe? “And make sure ya’ll can still get out.”

Already been damn near trapped in a stable once, why not mark another one down. Who knew how these house guests would be though? I couldn’t imagine Ghouls being much tougher than regular ponies, and if all they could really do was use their hooves. How much of a threat could they be? Probably a stupid thing to ask yourself before charging in a stable with a lot of them. Even better question would be, how had we not run in to any sooner? I’d rather face the ghouls than entire ranger squads.

Verifying authorization…

Please stand by…

Almost there…

“Although… I take it this is the plan?” Deacon perked up once more, and looked over to me, “Help the settlement is the endgame?” granted Riff Raff had asked what we were going to do afterwards, and I stupidly hadn’t put as much thought in to it than I should. I didn’t know what to tell him, I mean he was following me, hell they all were. Yet now I wasn’t sure what to tell them. All the gryphon offered in return from my silence was a simple shrug, “hey now it’s better than half the contracts I’d done… a lot more noble for sure.”

A mercenary worked for the caps, granted Deacon seemed a bit tamer than some of this cohorts from the war. Though who knows some of the dirty jobs the guy has had to do in the past, before running across myself and getting drug in to this mess.

Oh! What are you staring at miss…?

Deacon might have missed it entirely, but I caught a certain mares’ eyes looking toward our feathered friend. “You do still have an entire command of gunners pissed at ya,” her attention turned back to myself. Thank you for the reminder, as if I could have forgotten that. Although, it’s unsettling to say the least when I can’t be sure if Tumbles’ grin should make me worry or not, “I suppose I could stick around and see for myself how it all plays out… help out here and there too.”

With a rifle like that, I’m sure they’d have damn near half the mountain range covered from attackers. Something started to settle in my chest though, it might have been the radiation, but it was nice hearing them wanting to stay put for a while… ‘whelp two for three now,’ I thought and all our eyes turned to the last one standing.

Riffs’ eyes darted between the three of us, until finally with a grunt her paws threw up in the air, “Fine! … dog stick around to help town.” She might have been groaning, but somewhere I saw the flicker of a smile.

“Just think of it like being a part of a different pack,” Deacon offered to her.

Three for three, and whether or not it was a spur of the moment decision, only time would tell. That was something I could ask under better circumstances later, for now, we had a job to do.

Override engaged…

Locks disconnected…

Stand clear…

With that the cog finally began to croak, and the thinnest of cracks in the frame opened wider with every passing second, “Alrighty we’re in-”

That’s a spike in radiation! I was counting at least a dozen rads a second and climbing. My scorched ass jumped in the suit as quickly as I could, and watched as the ticking went down to a more reasonable degree. Deacon tipped toed up to me and offered some of the meds he’d been stocking up on, and just like that my Rad-away slot was topped off.

Reasonable degree or not, even with the suit, who knew how long we’d be in here.

Deacon had enough meds to hold himself and Tumble over while watching over the door, but judging from their heads whipping back and forth. There was something in the air that made the two put a fair distance between themselves and the open doorway of death… you know, besides the lethal levels of radiation. Both myself and Riff stood there staring in to the abyss of flickering lights and stale air that likely reeked with decay. It was moments like these, I wanted to kiss the creator of the filters for these suits.

“Ready to go there?”

The flip of her rifles switch answered that question, and we headed in.

***

Although I spent really only one full night in my stable, got to admit, I took the cleanliness of it for granted. Other than the radroaches and some trash from the previous Stable-Tec employee doing their rounds, the place was damned near spotless. Then again, there’s not that much to clean up after you put all your guests down on ice… a luxury this stable didn’t have it appeared.

The first floor looked, and even felt, like the one where I’d first entered my stable. More of a reception and check in desk than anything, a few boxes of stable jumpsuits littered the ground, and I could even see the faded logo of the company itself. You’d think the residents would have burned that by now, from the chairs thrown about, papers across the ground, and a few piles of bones.

They had all the reason to want to.

“We’re gonna have to go deeper,” I muttered to my companion, and flipped my headlamp on.

“How deep stable go?” Riff asked, poking through some of the boxes with her rifles muzzle, “Do you know layout?”

For all the stables the company had built, you think it’d been easier for them to keep the same style and map. Alas though, with every new project something probably changed and they had to go back to the proverbial drawing boards. Though I think in this case it would have been a more literal one. This led to one simple answer for the hound…

“No…” Riff about facepalmed at me, “What do you want from me, I was on ice most of my stay, remember? And it’s not like they made these cookie cutter style.”

She cocked her head at me and started to sniff the air, “not sure what cookies have to do with this, but how Wild know we going in right place?”

Wait… where the hell would a hellhound learn what cookies- and one mental smack later, my focus returned as we went past the intake area and down one of the halls. “Well if it’s for major equipment, then chances are it’d be towards the bottom, safest and all,” that much was similar to mine.

As we crept along, I had to wonder just how long this stable had been abandoned? Had the residence all turned in to ghouls after decades, or weeks? For that matter, why hadn’t they just opened the door and left if things were that bad inside. I’d rather take the chance and face the world than be trapped like a mouse in a cage.

Come to think of it, I did choose to face the world rather than blow up with my stable.

There wasn’t much up here anymore it looked like; the hall we’d gone down only lead to two places. One was the security office, and two being an elevator. The former already was cleaned out, not even a piece of riot gear remained for the picking, and surprise… there wasn’t even a chem in sight. The latter on the other hoof, looked ominously at us with its doors open and the light flickering inside.

As Riff and I stepped in, my hoof went to press the one button actually lit up on the panel. Though before I pressed it, I noticed a tape on the ground. Curiously, the simple device found its way to my bags, and I found it in my inventory before pressing the button.

“Chief Engineer Cotter speaking, and I gotta say… fuck Stable-Tec,” my head snapped over to Riff as we both listened in to what else I might agree with colt on. “Things have been getting pretty bad out there it seemed, and the Overmare wanted the access to the inlet shut off just to help keep us secure down here, and safe… at least that’s what she told us,” Just as an Overmare should do, look out for their stable, “all I know is this reactor Stable-Tec had cooked up has been keeping me running around the clock making sure everything stays pretty… or else who knows what’d happen.”

Hmm… I could give ya three guesses as to just what would happen. Though if this reactor had been down for a while now, and leaking at that. Then it must have been one of the refined versions compared to my stable… or me and Riff would have to be making a very quick exit here when the alarms went off.

Gotta love the possibilities.

“I’m gonna keep looking through the blue prints of this damned thing, see if I can learn it a bit better than that crash course the company had made…” I could hear the colt laughing in the background as he recorded, “Crash course… might have well called it ‘babies first reactor,’ they put more details it the warning labels of bleach than they do designs!”

So… somepony was learning to maintain a prototype reactor that kept their stable alive and kicking. All while being given little to no real training, or materials needed to do their job. Now where had I heard this before?

“I sure hope the residents of this place appreciate the brain tumor I’m gonna have trying to make sense of this arcane crap…” I feel your pain there, and then the tape cut off as Cotter finished. Just as the elevator reached its stop.

Floor one: Residential and Medical.

The door squeaked open to the area where those in this stable would have kicked up their hooves at the end of the day. As me and my companion stepped in, I couldn’t quite place it, but there was something uneasy about this place… almost haunting. The lights flickered, of course they did, the air was still like the ventilation hadn’t run in who knew how long, and across the floor there was one thing I was becoming very accustomed to.

Blood.

Dried up streaks dragged across the floor every which way. Far too much to be from one pony. I hadn’t expected there to be any pony still alive in here, especially considering the ghoul problem. Though it was a surprise just how gruesome things turned to this once safe haven. Zombie ponies or not, it couldn’t have been a peaceful death for those here.

Riff held her rifle out in front of her, the steady hum of the tech a complete flip from my metal hooves tapping across the ground. The light on the helmet brought some semblance to this eerie place, and put the chaos on full display. Tables were up turned, playing cards thrown about, suitcases broken open and littered across the floor, and just for good measure there were enough bones to open a natural history museum.

Then, I heard the hoof steps.

The slow snarls joined in and one red bar popped up on my E.F.S. Feral ghoul. So, this is what happens when a pony is exposed to radiation over time. The husk of an equine lumbered only a dozen yards in front of us, and in the lights that did work I got a good look over the thing in all its glory. Mangled and torn fetlocks, patches of its coat long rotted away, and that face was surely something only a mother could love… or maybe grandmother.

Crunch.

My hoof dropped down on a femur, and before I could even say anything the sound of hooves started to pick up. That ghoul snapped too like a dinner bell had been rung, and stared galloping towards us. For being one step above a corpse, this thing could damn sure run! Mini spun up just as it closed in, and against rotting hide the ghoul stood little chance as it chewed through its shoulder and torso.

Plopping to the ground like wet tissue paper, parts of it decorated over my suit in a crude Nightmare Night prep. Scratch that previous statement, I wanted to rut the creator of these filters. This wasn’t going to come out easy later, first though I’d have to get to later.

More hooves started beating against the floor, and before I knew it half a dozen more ghouls came out of doors and from under imitation plants to greet us. It was Residential after all. Riffs beams started cutting in to a few of those, searing off their hide and even making some turn to ash. All the while mini got its work in, cutting in to those that had an interest in getting more lead in their diet.

One jumped from a residence beside me, wrapping its hooves around the suit trying to take a chomp out of it. Yeah, metals not so tasty, is it? A quick turn from my hoof knocked it back, and left part of its hoof lodged in the barrels of my gun. The motor tried to spin, but with its forehoof smacking against my neck, the barrels clinked back and forth against the suit.

Plan B, shotgun.

Not the best plan! More parts of the pony sprayed across me, but from every shell I racked the integrity of the suit paid the price. Parts of the plating rattled just as much as the ghouls’ flesh, and as my head recovered from the ringing. I felt a steady chomp underneath me. Okay, so teeth could do something to the armor, just had to be in one of the softer areas. One hoof stomp later sprayed all sorts of puss laden muck on the plates.

Riff wrapped her claws around the one I de-hooved, and neatly finished it off with a squeeze of her claws. Giving her own squirt of liquid pony, “Ugh…” her muzzle started to wrinkle, “ghoul ponies never fun to play with.”

“Yeah, I got that much,” my horn grabbed hold of the hoof and let my barrels free once more.

I didn’t see any more bars on the screen, though who knew what might be lurking behind closed doors. Riff had her own scars to tend with, as tough as the hounds hide might be. Ponies’ teeth could still do a number it appeared.

Taking a bit more of a cautious step this time, we worked through the residential area. Looting might have been the smart thing to do, but to go from every dwelling to the next would have taken forever. I didn’t have the Rad-away for that kind of trip, and even inside the suit, from that elevator ride alone my meter started ticking a bit more steadily.

In the interest of not ending up like one of these things, the next two ghouls we ran across both myself and Riff picked our own target. Her AER-10 worked wonders against soft targets like this, probably a bit overkill… but so was putting explosives on a shotgun. The mini sufficed for these, what I lacked in the accuracy the steady stream of lead still got the job done. Two more down, and just an entire stable left to go. The scratching of something from inside those quarters could be heard in my mic, but so long as the door stayed closed, I wasn’t gonna bother em.

Next stop, Medical… and this was the least sanitary medical I’d ever seen!

It was hard to mistake pony bits littering across the floor, and I had to wonder if these things resorted to cannibalism or even if they needed to really eat. As nice as it would have been to loot this place in particular, most of the boxes and cabinets were already open. The residents here probably tried every chem and potion combination in the book to stave off the radiation.

Another ghoul crawled out from under a table, just fast enough to earn a swipe against my side. It might have been their brain rotted away to the point of no return, but whatever controlled their strength was sure turned off. That swing was enough to stagger even a buffed set of power armor. Well… I call your hoof, and raise you steel! A bit overzealous of a punch, but enough to cave its skull in one swing. So, hoof to hoof was a viable tactic for these things, though that close encounter let me finally notice one more thing. Ghouls gave off radiation as they attacked, great… so cannibalistic, and radioactive.

‘Why am I not surprised?’ that thought crossed my mind a lot lately.

Riff tip toed past me and to the one cabinet not opened, was it locked, probably, but that mattered little to those claws. One slash and the door opened to a few supplies falling out. With a slurp, the hound finished off one healing potion, and passed me the Rad-away as I took an injection to make space for it. The group that we fought a few minutes ago was likely the spike in my levels, and I sure didn’t need the extra hoof sprouting up.

“If elevator not take us,” she looked around as her ears perked, listening to who knows what in the area, “how we get there?”

“Good old-fashioned way…” Stairs, lots of stairs.

Speaking of which, just at the back of medical I saw the sign still lit up. Stairwell, oh thank the goddesses. The trip up might suck later, but I’ll take working with gravity for the time being. As we went down the flights, I kept note of the labels on the wall. Seemed Residential carried on for a few more floors, and I didn’t need that excitement in my life right now. Happily passing by those, we’d finally reached the end of our line. This section of the stairwell had collapsed, and water sprayed out from the piping of the wall that gave way.

“Shit…” I groaned, we should have passed the last of the residential area, that just meant we’d have to go through another section of the stable before reaching the bottom.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and Riff just smirked, “No, not shit… water.”

Yes, I can see- Oh! Finally, it clicked to me, and I ran my hoof under the steady stream. Yeah, it was water obviously, but the most important part was told when it came in contact with the suit. No ticking present, which meant the talisman was still doing its job after all these years. Even if it was just circulating water to this one spot, that meant the stable hadn’t gotten the chance to use it a lot. All the more life span for Winters settlement… I’d really have to find out if it had a name or not.

Back tracking a few flights earned us one placard on the wall, Floor five: Common, Atrium, Café.

Why the hell couldn’t my stable have had an area like this?! That was a full fucking orchard in stable, right across from it the cafeteria, and between the two a picnic setting that looked like they’d taken it all from a picture! Granted, those corpses on the ground did take away from the scenery a little bit, but that’s not the point. If they could clear this place out, take care of the radiation, and find some decent soap. Give it five years and this place would be right as rain ready to service those above seeking shelter.

Oh, right… ghouls!

Our entrance was a bit less stealthy than I’d hoped, but look who’s talking. From overtop the counters of the cafeteria I already saw a small group of ghouls shuffling towards us. Some faster than others, and all eager to sink their teeth in to us. Both our guns let loose, cutting in to those that were the closest, but judging from these numbers this is where a good amount of the stable dwellers decided to push up daisies.

My mini was getting red just looking at em, and Riffs rifle wasn’t faring any better. The next dozen that came filled my E.F.S. ever more, and some thinning of the heard was needed. Effective range be damned, the shotgun still could do a number to soft targets. Shells racked back and forth as I chomped at the bit, all the while we backed our way to the small orchard that’d been erected here.

Trees might have given us less line of sight, but it also let these things charge as us less. The first one smacked against a trunk, and Riff was happy to finish it with a swipe of her claws. Between the bark being blown off from my shells and actual flesh, most of my visor was filling up with viscera. Creaking started to fill the atrium, and with that I watched as half the tree I laid in too started to fall.

Half normal size or not, a tree trunk to the torso still got the job done. A few ghouls twitched between its branches, and even pulled themselves in half trying to get to us. While Riffs paws crunched in to those trying to bite at our ankles, my shotgun peppered at the ones leaping over the tree like clay pigeons. Every shot that I took, broke a bit more of a pony off, and scattered the ground around us with fresh equine fertilizer. This orchard had seen better days for sure, maybe in time it would again.

Armor integrity: 74%

I saw the warning before I even felt the bit on my neck, or the pony jumping on to my back. You’d think that’d be something easily noticed, not so much it turned out. Still, those teeth could do work! Even under the plating I could feel the pressure from each bite, and my rad meter started to spike. Bucking to my name, my hooves pushed back and forth against the ground as it tried to get the damned thing off.

I gotta give the ghoul an A Plus for effort, he still held on like his life depended on it. With one more buck, I threw my back against another trunk, sandwiching the pony between me and the bark. The meaty crunch of tissue that followed was sweet music to hear, and like a bag of trash it slumped off my side.

Armor integrity: 72%

Warning: leak detected!

Ya don’t say! The rads jumped in my system more than they had when we first opened the door, all from a bite mark. Instantly my suit started administering Rad-away, and I tacked a few more doses on for good measure for what lingered. The steady sounds of the beam rifle filled the background of my panic attack, as Riff took care of the last one with a few shots. The talisman was starting to patch up the wound on my neck, slowly… oh so slowly, but thankfully that ticking already died down.

If that’s the spike I got while here, I didn’t want to imagine what the lower levels were like… though I’d probably be seeing that soon.

“You okay?” Riff asked as her head dipped down and looked over the chunk that’d been taken out.

“Yeah… just a scare,” I looked to the one I bucked off, at least was remained of him, “bastards can bite damn near through metal…”

“And flesh too,” she showed off her leg.

Alrighty, I shouldn’t be complaining. That looked a lot worse than what I was going through. From the chunks missing from her thigh to calf, it was probably enough to make up at the very least half the weight of your average pony. No wonder the settlement hadn’t tried to tango with these things, a radiation suit would be gone in one chomp.

“Let’s… let’s try and get you something for that,” we pressed on through the atrium, and on to the cafeteria.

Sharp knives, hot pans, and slip hazards everywhere. You’d think this place would have some sort of first aid kit, I knew Riff would have been happy to see one of those boxes with the butterflies. No such luck, the only thing we’d managed to fined was a few empty cans and some still containing Cram.

The hound all too eagerly swiped the latter, and started crunching through the metal, “Not expired,” she grinned between the bits.

Honestly, I didn’t know if that ‘meat’ would ever expire. So, while she shoveled the cans down her gullet, I threw the scraps in my hopper for later. With nothing else for us in terms of usefulness, we headed for the door… and more stairs.

Floor Six: Storage.

I read as we approached the door. This must have been where they pulled up the goods for the kitchen to use, the shelves at one point were probably stocked with all sorts of things the stable might have needed. Judging from the bare surfaces around, they’d used it all trying to survive. We crept in the large room, packed between the frames of shelves that laid bare like a maze, until we’d reached the center.

Nothing was on my E.F.S. which was a surprise, and even from the shitty lights here plus my own, I couldn’t make out anything moving around us… what have we here? Between a few empty crates, there rested another tape like the one I’d found in the elevator.

“This just doesn’t make any sense!” the colt shouted in to my ears from the tape, “this reactor they wanted so much to test in the stable should have had more shielding than even Shining Armor could have produced, and yet here we are…” wait what? From over the audio I could hear the shuffling of papers, “yet from what I’m seeing, the damned thing wouldn’t have stopped a rocket blast, let alone radiation.”

So… the stable was ill equipped to handle this kind of equipment? Budget cuts maybe, that always seemed to be the culprit for things of that sort. “I tried to bring this to the Overmare, but the cunt wouldn’t listen, and just preached that Stable-Tec knew what they were doing,” having to tell your superior that they were wrong, and not being listened to. This ponies final days were really starting to hit close to home.

“If she ain’t gonna listen to me then she will when the residents start having their manes fall out, seriously… who the fuck puts a reactor below the stables’ environmental equipment?!” probably some pony who sucks at structural engineering.

Though if that was the case, any leak would have gotten in to the air supply if that talisman gave out or got overworked. Plumbing was thicker than vents after all, and if the water wasn’t registering anything. Then it had to be the air.

“Let alone one floor above that the blasted storage!” or… that could have done it to. My meter was ticking steadily while we walked amongst the shelves, and almost by instinct I pumped another dose of Rad-Away in my system. Ya know, just for good measure. That did tell me we were close.

“I don’t know what Stable-Tec was up to when they designed this shit, but somethings got to be done, at least to hold off some of the effects till I can find out how to put a bandage on it,” With no supplies down here for major repairs, and the surface the way it was. From how the rest of the stable looked, I doubted Cotter really got the chance to do that.

The tape cut out as we reached a clearer area of the room. Some of the frame work of the shelves had been taken apart and left with just its legs, scattered around the floor. That ticking in my ear though wasn’t getting any quieter, and my hooves started to pick up the pace when we saw a service entrance.

Locked.

Fuck! I slammed my head against the wall next to it, and Riff just stared at me. “Head not make a good key,” she tutted for a moment, before pushing me to the side.

With a flare of her paws, those digits came out and stabbed in to the control panel. A few sparks flew from around the hounds’ arm as she held it there, grunting from the charge. Apparently, hellhounds were resistant to radiation and electricity. Puttering out, the small light above the switch flickered and died. Letting Riff pull her claw out from the panel and dig it underneath the door frame.

Once she had a grip, all it took was a good pull and the door slid up and in to its housing. Yet another perk of having a hellhound on your team. We both stepped through and behind us the door from its weight slammed to the ground, even making me jerk my head to it. That’s where I noticed something else about the door. The controls on this side had been tampered with, not quite like the way Riff Raff had done, but somepony knew what they were doing down here.

Gravity helped me along the rest of the way as the weight of the suit carried me down the stairs. This time around it felt like a lot more flights than just for one floor of storage, unless they did do something smart and put a chunk of dirt between the maintenance area and their food supplies. Which granted would be the smart thing to do, but then again, we’re talking about Stable-Tec here mind you.

With every step I took that steady ticking picked up. We were getting dangerously close to it, at least for me, and before long there was another placard right in front of us above a door.

Floor seven: Maintenance.

The light was lit on the controls, and thankfully Riff didn’t have to try her luck again at being a locksmith. That squeal of the door however resonated more than just in this stairwell, and as we stepped through to the other side, I already could see the shuffling movements in the dim lights. These ones looked a bit more ragged, or irradiated, however you wanted to look at it. Their flesh had swelled up from all the tumors that likely grown inside them, but that extra heft hadn’t slowed them down!

Down here we didn’t have an orchard to hide amongst, so myself and Riff were left to hold out ground and light up whatever got a bit too close for our liking. One managed to get in and chomp down on my foreleg, that was met with a burst from the mini and chewed through his skull just as much as he tried to my leg.

From the dust that was being kicked up, her rifle was making decent work of those still at a distance. Any she missed or wasn’t focused on, I hit with my own guns. Peppering them with either 5mm or shells. That thicker hide of theirs was an improvement over the others, and which ever got in that managed to take a swipe, my meter jumped in response.

A howl echoed in the room, a braver one leapt and threw its hooves around Riffs neck. Planting its teeth right in the soft tissue, she tried to swipe at it with her claws, but her own bulk wouldn’t allow it. S.A.T.S. clicked on the ghoul, and I locked on three bursts to its torso, not trusting the accuracy enough to go for a headshot. It wasn’t enough to get a kill, but it did make the ghoul jerk a bit, right in to her grasp.

With a rip, she pulled it off her back and tossed the pony back against another, and I laid four shells in to the pile of meat. It was hard to tell where one ended and the other began, but we had other matters to attend to, as a couple more ghouls worked their way out between the equipment.

Then I heard it, a growl matching nearly Riffs own.

Darkness did give one advantage, it let you see certain enemies, particularly ones that were lit up like a glowstick. This ghoul shuffled out from its hidey hole in what looked like a pair of coveralls I would have worn while at the M.W.T., tool belt and all around its waist included. Minus the Stable-Tec logo on its chest.

Bloated Glowing One, my E.F.S.-

Wait… why the hell were the corpses starting to move again?

Growling turned in to shrieking, and from the horn on its head an eerie glow pulsed out across the room. Whatever it’d done started seeping in to those I’d shot, and the bodies once again started to get to their hooves. Ash stayed ash thankfully, but with our kill counts being about even, that still left half the room to unalive…

Those that were missing limbs hobbled towards us with the same vigor as before, but if they had one that could heal… “You take glowy,” Riff grinded her teeth as she stared to those others, a trail of blood still streaming down her neck, “These mine.”

Nope, not arguing with her on that.

The suit powered past, a bit slower than I hoped for as a few still swung with their hooves at me, but I already had my target. The burst that followed put a few rounds in him, but it wasn’t much more than that. The ghoul was quick, and maybe a bit smart. The glowing one closed the distance, met me in the middle as we locked hoof in hoof, and damn was this one strong! Neither of our legs gave an inch, and I started spinning up my gun. Though the tri-barrel mod was too long to bring anything to bare, and I wasn’t about to expose myself with the shotgun.

Cracking my helmet against its skull, it doubled back and staggered from the blow, but quickly found its hooves again and came at me. Until another of its brothers flew across the room and smacked in to it. Riff had taken her rifle and started using it like a bat to the ones that got in close, our other encounters likely having burned through her ammunition.

With it at a distance, both my barrels turned too and opened up. Though the one that hit it the glowing one used to its advantage. Okay, it was a lot smarter than the others. Its shield was deteriorating, but not before it got in close to me and lunged. My hoof held out as it jaws wrapped around the plating and started to cru- Ouch! Mother-! Plating was strong and had some give to pressure, bones underneath not so much.

Warning: Fracture detected!

No shit! I’d fallen off a swing set before and knew what that felt like. From the chomp it gave my rads started to spike as well, and with the healing potion another dose of Rad-Away seeped in.

Warning: Rad-Away depleted!

The ghoul still clenched on like a gator, and I wasn’t about to find out if they could death roll. Servos in my legs grinded from the extra weight of a tumorous pony, and lifted the glowing one up clear of the floor as I slammed it back to the ground… still attached! Pushing even more, I started to drag it across the plate metal floor and in to equipment. Hopefully, I wasn’t hitting anything that held the talisman. Its torso smashed against sewage treatment, ventilation, power distribution, and even what I think was a service console before it finally gave way and let go.

With it on the ground, 5mm started spraying. Not nearly as effective as I was hoping, and only one leg being cut was all I yielded. Once again, we found ourselves locked with one another, this time I literally had the upper hoof. A haymaker caught its jaw and judging from the grin it almost gave me, that wasn’t enough.

Was I really about to do this again? Whelp I had to, another dose of Stampede shot in to my system, and like that I felt my muscles tense up like I could press three hundred pounds! Heart was thundering, hooves were sweaty, knees were getting weak, legs were heavy… but I didn’t give a damn! Another swing sent it stumbling as its jaw cracked, another put it back on the ground, and a shell blew off most of its face as it sprayed over mine.

I didn’t need to see this anyway, that bar on my visor was still lit, and if it was then more shells were needed. The suit rocked from the pepper of explosions over the ghoul, and my armor chipped away with every shot. Even after I saw that bar fizzle out, I kept the press on just for good measure I told myself.

“Wild!” Riff tapped on my shoulder, causing me to stop, “Ghoul dead…”

Below me was nothing more than a stable suit, in need of more than some tailor work, chock full of meat. “Yeah, got a little carried away there,” ‘slow breaths, steady there Wild…’ was I thinking to myself in third person?

Armor integrity: 45%

Not the best decision, and I could feel my heart still pounding without that drug from Deacon. Benzodiazwhatever it was, but for now I could still walk under my own power and I wasn’t hitting the ground just yet. Riff had put in her own work, and around there were scattered parts of ponies every which way. Her body hadn’t fared much better, hell between her chunks missing and my rads starting to climb, all I could do was chuckle.

“So…” I gulped down a breath, “glad you decided to stick around?”

The hound just smirked at me, and I looked back to the pile of meat before getting down to business. Most of the equipment was labeled thankfully, and it didn’t take long to find the water system. With a generous tug from her claws the front panel was ripped off, and inside placed along the main feed pipe was the glowing crystal we’d come down here for.

The more delicate touch of my horn removed it from its housing and placed it in my bags for safe keeping. We didn’t need anything else from here, and I wasn’t about to go take a look at their reactor. Last time I didn’t that my stable blew up, as we headed for the door, one thing did catch my eye. The same control console I smashed the ghoul in to had something else, a tape.

Whelp, why not see what it had to say.

“That’s it… I’m done for,” Cotter this time around just sounded defeated, and even from the voice I could tell one thing. He was counting the days till it all crashed and burned, “I was brought down in this stable to maintain the equipment, and that I tried… with the limited sources and lack of help from the Overmare, I did what I can… I sealed the maintenance floor.”

Umm… how was that helping things? “We needed time to fix the problem, and with the floor sealed then the Overmare can’t stop me from staggering the air flow… help reduce the spread of radiation and what not,” that made more sense. I mean it wasn’t too far from their food granted, but if it was still leaking then what difference would bad food mean, “I got some of my crew onboard with me, and we’d been down here for who knows how long working on it. Trying to take what metal we could from any spare place and slap it on… we’ll see how much we can put on it to hold.”

The shelves… they took whatever they could spare to put some extra padding on the reactor to save themselves. “Celestia help those above to understand,” a lone sniffle escaped from the speaker, “and Luna damn me if I can’t make this right.”

Crackling, the tape cut out and I found myself looking back at the one I blew apart. ‘You tried your damndest, Cotter,’ I thought and slipped out the door.

Now that we had the talisman checked off on our list, while I walked the straight path through those areas we’d come through. Riff poked around what she could, grabbing anything that might be of use to us, or even the settlement. Never know when you might need a microscope after all… though my rads were still starting to pool up, and those stairs up weren’t going to win against me.

Our path we’d cut gave a clear way out, and soon enough the elevator door was closing behind us as we rode back to the surface. “Are you gonna try and fix it?” I asked, seeing the state of her rifle slung across her back.

Riff brought the gun back in to her paws and gave it a once over, before shaking her head, “Dog good, but not that good… probably go boom first time shooting.”

Couldn’t blame her with that reasoning. I wouldn’t want to shoot it after taking the gun to batting practice. The doors to the elevator opened up, and we kept walking. The halls seemed a bit quieter than when we left, and as odd as it was, I couldn’t care less. The light at the end of the tunnel was just ahead, literally and we emerged from our tomb in the wonderful skies of the new Equestria.

Just past the fences, I could see two heads sticking up as we approached. Nothing else on my E.F.S., no gunners, just my pair of- … very blushing friends? Sure enough, the mares’ face was flushed like Riffs’ beams, and as she turned her eyes away from the gryphon. They met ours, and the mare stumbled to her hooves.

And immediately clenched her muzzle.

Deacon didn’t do much better, and we were met with the same response, “You two… okay?” he squeezed out past his talons.

We’re breathing, and my heart rate was normal, so why do you-? Yep, that’d do it. Even the overcast sky was enough to really show the amount of grime and pony chunks that clung to both myself and Riff. Together we looked at each other, not sure who looked worse for wear. Smears of fluid still trailed over my plates, and bits of flesh looked like a patched quilt on the hound.

Deacon went to open his beak, but a single claw raised from Riff silenced him, “Turkey… not say… word.”

***

With my suit back at Winters’ place, both myself and the mare started our work on the main tank of the purifier. Tumble and Deacon had taken what little Riff could grab and set off to make a profit, as for the hound herself, Alimite was nice enough to show her where she might be able to scrub off some of the bits. Something I’d have to get to clean up later. For now, there was other work to be done… at least, Winter had work to get done. I couldn’t fit even without the suit, and to be fair I’d probably be getting in the way of things as she went.

“I still can’t believe you got it,” she said cradling the talisman in her lap, before holding her hoof out, “Three quar- no… five eighths.”

How the tables had turned… pulling the wrench from her bag I brought it down to her with a touch of my horn, “I told you we would, and we did.” Granted, I didn’t tell her all the details of our trip down the stable.

Even having streaks of grime across her face, Winter still smirked at me the way she had when but a filly, “a hundred and seventy-five years, and still as stubborn as a mule.”

She wasn’t wrong, and while we shared our little snicker with one another like back in my shop. The mare operated on the contraption, a simple enough process I’d imagine. Take one out, and plug in a new talisman. Then again, I worked on guns, not pumps.

“Reminds me of the good years,” her eyes nearly replayed the same memories from before, probably similar ones I’d told my group.

“You still had some good years outside the stable I’d imagine,” odd… why were her eye raising to- Oh shit, “After, I mean, getting ya know… here.” Alrighty with that little stammer, my eyes turned towards any and every pony in town as they went about their business. Oh look! Somepony was selling noodles… and Winter was still looking at me, I could feel it, “Speaking of here, does this place have a name?”

“No… not really, keeps it off most of Equestrias’ radar,” her hoof tossed the wrench back at me a bit faster than intended, I hoped. Still, my aura wrapped around it midair, while she started to climb herself up and out of the tank, old talisman wrapped up in a bag across her back, “And… you’re right, I have had a few good years since being here.”

Whew… dodged that bullet.

“And just as much bad as you’d think… Raiders fighting us as we try and trade to other towns, crops not yielding quite enough for everypony, or even a simple head cold that puts half the place out of commission in bed,” so a lot of bad years I reckon. Probably more bad than good, yet even with that, the mare still found a way to smile, “the first month or so was rough after I got here, but then I learned about… you know.”

All she had to do was look at her waist, yeah, I got the idea, “and you had a bit of a reason to keep your head up.”

“I liked to think of it as a breath of fresh air, something, or one, to look forward to at the end of the day,” her hooves wrapped around one of the valves they’d shut earlier, and slowly started to crack it.

Breath of fresh air, kinda the same way after I’d gotten here and found her. Having the idea of finding Winter out here had given me some sort of goal to follow. Though now that she was right in front of me, that shifted to helping the place she called home. Any other time I wouldn’t have wanted to charge headlong in to a radiation filled stable death trap, maybe a slaver mine or gunner base sure, but I’d rather be shot at than eaten and irradiated. Though if that’s what it took to keep this place up and running like Alimite said, then I’d be happy to oblige.

“Without that, or this place… well, the wastes have a way of running a pony in to the ground over time, some sooner than others,” Winter hadn’t reached that point, and I couldn’t see her hitting that any time soon. This mare had survived out here for two decades, a slave at the start of it, becoming a mom, and making a settlement run.

The rangers seemed to have forgotten the value of their fellow ponies’ life in a quarter that time…

From under her hooves I could hear the water finally starting to pour out though the talisman, and if the pipes from the stable were any indicator. Then the crops here should have a fresh supply soon.

Winter started to pack up some of her tools, and slung the bag across her back as we walked along the pipping. “Now, enough about my tail of woe…” oh, I could already see where this was going from her grin, “how’d you even start out of 100, and managed to get yourself such a colorful group.”

Hmm… her daughter had put it the same way.

Whelp, where to begin? My escape from 100 had garnished me a rather shocked jaw from her, she hadn’t expected it to go complete megaspell I guessed. After that going home wasn’t much of a cake walk either, got to meet the new neighbors… love spikes, murder, and chems.

“You’re terrible with small arms…” she started to laugh at my poor excuse for marksmanship with a 10mm, and I didn’t have a candle to defend myself. So instead, I continued.

Winter was surprised the ranger had gifted me the suit, given their nature now, and she had a few more imaginative words of her own to add to the group. Went over meeting Tumble, and helping her out with the Gunners there. Pissing off some more of the rangers along the way, which Winter looked like she enjoyed hearing a bit too much. After relaying about Mason Jack and helping rescue him with help from Deacon, he decided to tag along.

A gryphon working for free sparked her curiosity, but if he was game for an adventure, then who was I to deny it? After that I told her we needed some caps and supplies, so our newest member suggested doing some contracts. That led me to meeting Alimite, meeting Riff, and then meeting Barrel… in that order.

That pleasant, then surprising, and finally painful… order.

“So… Barrels’ really dead?” she asked, and it seemed even with the words from the DJ. That fact still was hard to believe for some.

“Yes, she is… and her siblings aren’t too happy about it,” painfully, I reminded myself. Though with me north now and off the map from my understanding, at least for the most part, maybe they’d stay clear?... fat chance, right? “But, after we ran in to her, your daughter offered to help patch up the suit… even gave me some extra schematic matrix for it.”

“That sounds like her,” Winter started to giggle, “made the connection after that I assume?”

“You bet, she’d never heard my real name before, it was just Rogue Ranger,” or Mister Rogue, if you wanted to be technical, “Deacon, told her my story, and after that lightbulb lit off, we kinda hightailed it here…”

And then immediately dived in to an irradiated stable.

Winter just looked at me, shaking her head while fiddling with another valve along the piping, “Out of the stable and already on some adventure…”

Adventure of a life time, hard to believe it’s been a… wait, how long has it been anyway? My wrist picked up and brought the menu of the Pip-Buck over, and sure enough more math followed. A month, give or take. I hadn’t exactly remembered the day I walked out of that timebomb. Although between making a few friends, making good hoofful of enemies, piecing together how my stable fell apart, traveling the western parts of Equestria and trying to connect the dots…

Time really does fly when you’re having ‘fun.’

“What about now?” she brought me back to the moment, “I mean you found me, will they stick around?”

I had asked them that already, and the reactions were… mixed to me. Deacon I wouldn’t say was treating it like another contract, but then again, he was always used to some sort of adventure. Is this enough for him? Tumble had been moving her whole live, and while she might like to see how things play out with my story. Would that be enough to keep her around? As for Riff Raff, she didn’t have any other place she could go. How does a hellhound go about milling with the common pony?

“I’m… not sure.”

“Well… no matter the case, you’ll all be more than welcome here, especially after what you’ve done,” Winter closed off one of the valves with her hooves, and we started making our way to another set, “I have to take care of the purges for the purifiers, make sure all the gunk is out of em before supplying the crops… why don’t you find your friends?”

That, sounded like a great idea.

The settlement itself bustled with those ponies going about their daily routines, or even choirs. Things needed to get done, and it looked like everypony here had a job to do. The shops were the first place I checked, and hitting that nail on the head, there was Deacon and Tumble stepping out of one store.

“You look a bit anxious, out of that suit I mean,” Tumble commented as I approached.

Yeah, I did feel kinda naked without it, I won’t lie, “Eh it’s becoming a second skin almost,” that was true. Although it wasn’t the only thing on my mind, “Make out with anything good?”

Deacon hauled up the sack along his back, “the usual, meds, ammo, and more meds… though couldn’t find anything for Riff, weren’t sure of her tastes.”

“Speaking of her, where’d Alimite take her off to?”

My question garnished me a jerk of the mares’ head as she led us down towards that creek from earlier bisecting the town. There in the center of it, was one semi-clean hound still scrubbing away with the mildly radioactive waters. It was better than nothing, and certainly better than walking around covered in pony bits. Even from the banks I could hear her grumbling about the rotting tissues that stained some of her coat, though I don’t think soap was something she’d ever get the chance to use.

“Any luck with that?” Tumble smirked to her, watching the hound struggle.

“Live with dogs’ whole life, rotting pony not smell better,” Riff huffed at her, before getting behind her ears. The hound dropped to all fours and arched her back as her whole body let off a shake, sprinkling us with some of the viscera-soaked waters before she joined us on the edge. I guess that fur was brown to begin with.

Ahh… whelp, now’s a good time as any, “Listen ya’ll… I got to ask you something,” alrighty this is already awkward. How do you word this? Hey I know we’d been traveling for a bit, but I’m here now, so I don’t know what to do next besides stick around… shoot from the hip, “I know we kinda already brought it up outside the stable, about what the plan was afterwards, but I just have to ask… are you all sure about staying here?”

They looked dumbfounded, either that or the question was just as dumb as it sounded, “I know each of you were following me around for this little journey, but I’ll be here for the foreseeable future,” it was a good place to set up and call home, and if they needed somepony to help defend it, I had a few guns that would do the trick, “Winter say’s you’d all be more than welcome to say, but are ya’ll really serious about saying put?”

There, I said it… it needed to be asked for real, and not before running in to a stable.

They all stopped for a moment, the sense of humor gone from the air around us. I doubt they’d crossed paths without meeting me first. Hell, Deacon probably would have had a contract to clear Riffs den at some point, and Tumble might have just passed by the gryphon without even a second thought. Yet here they were, together at one place.

“Ya know… I have this cutie mark for a reason,” Tumble looked at the brush of her namesake covering her flank, “I’d been moving my whole life, from town to town, cave to cave, and everything in-between…”

Here it was, the start of this little rag tag group falling apar-

“It’d be nice to not live up to my name for once,” she finished off with, and smiled at me, “Even a weeds gotta plant down somewhere.”

If it hadn’t been for them standing next to one another, she might have caught the smirk from the gryphon. “Traveling is fun, and the change of pace is what makes my line of work… interesting,” not the word I would have used, but I’ll leave that to the expert merc, “that said, helping to keep a settlement safe and running is its own reward…”

Can’t argue with that logic.

“… plus, it leaves less of a target on my back, especially traveling with you,” his talon tapped me in the chest, “Or more of one, not quite sure… but I’m still in.”

That logic I could argue with, but he was staying either way.

With a sigh, our hound looked as if she’d had enough and just crossed her arms, “Dog get hunted otherwise, and like Turkey said before… it like different pack,” a very odd pack at that, “might as well enjoy it, you good pack mates.”

The awe from the gryphon killed any sentiment the hound might have had, “Didn’t know hellhounds could be softies…” he grinned at her.

“High talk coming from you, Little Chicky,” Tumble snickered, and I got a front row seat of Deacon having half his talon shoved down his throat.

He might have been speechless, and between the ladies they were relishing in his dilemma. Though I was just glad to hear it in the utmost of sincerity, they were staying put. They might be bicker back and forth right now as Deacon tried to defend himself from the teasing of the mare, but they were staying-

“If mare not kiss him, I will,” oh… that shut their mouths.

If I could find an egg, and maybe with some luck, coffee. I might have been able to fry it over Deacons’ beak by now. Put a few slices of hay bacon on Tumbles own muzzle and call it a well balance break- alrighty enough of that. I’m starting to get hungry, and that isn’t helping matters. Might as well save the two…

“As for mares,” I got their attention, “Any idea where I might find Alimite?”

“Try Winters’!” Tumble followed up quickly.

“Yep! She wanted to take a peek at your armor while you helped her mom,” Deacon added on to her.

“Something about it being the least she could do!” the mare followed with.

Awe… aren’t you two cute… they might have hated me for it, but between myself and Riffs’ laughter there was enough blood in their cheeks to burn that breakfast to a crisp. A claw and hoof wrapped around the paws of the hound, and whether she liked it or not. The pair started dragging Riff off down the streets. Something about finding a replacement suited for her.

Whatever that could entail…

Winters’ home came in to view after I left them to go shopping a bit, and while the front of the old shop might have been clear. The sounds of scrubbing could be heard in the back. Following it, there in the middle of the back-repair bay was my suit right where I left it, and a filthier than normal mare by its side.

“I would have gotten to that…” I reminded her and approached.

“As true as that might be, leaving chunks of pony to rot isn’t the best way to treat your suit,” what would Rogue say to me if he were here? Though trying to help with the installation of the talisman did take priority, “Besides, as Tumble should have mentioned, it’s the least I can do…” right back to it, Alimite picked up a brush with her horn and started scrubbing away at one of the plates. Not to be out done, I did the same. Where they’d found a cleaning brushed with more than half the bristles still inserted, I hadn’t a clue, but they were doing the job just nicely.

Turpentine would have been nice, but I’d settle for good old fashion elbow grease. “On the bright side, while there might be some ghouls still left down there,” like a whole few levels worth in Residential, “baring the radiation, it wouldn’t be a bad place to check out for supplies for the settlement.”

“And if we can ever get some rad suits, I’ll probably be the first one inside,” Don’t know how easy I felt about anypony trying to fight a ghoul dressed in rubber. If it did get to that point, I’d be in there all the same, “all other matters aside however, thank you,” Alimite looked over to me from the suit with a beam, “a talisman like that would be the point of failure for this place, and with that one having been engineered for a stable. Then we shouldn’t have to worry about it for another few years.”

I can imagine, going from supplying a whole stable to a town, not really a downgrade, but it certainly was up to the task. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing how that plays out then in the years to come, me and my group,” with a pause, her strokes and mine stopped as she twisted her neck to me. “Already talked to em, and they plan on sticking around here with me… helping out where they can.”

As if her smile couldn’t grow any bigger, I was proven wrong. It’s the same one I’d seen on Winter when she was still a filly, and she helped build that bird house for Lilac. Alimite might have stayed silent, but from the other side of the suit I could tell. Even without the flush in her cheeks under all that grime, she was happy we were.

That did leave one problem though, “between the four of us, not counting Riffs bulk and my suit… just have to figure out where to kick our hooves up.” Helping around here or not, I don’t imagine the town being too kind to having Riff snoring right outside their door. Hell, I was surprised they even let her keep the rifle in town when we first got here.

A tap to my head though urged me to look up, and Alimite brought her head back, “Leave it to me… although you might want to bring that,” with our brushes down, I stepped in the suit and made my way to the back corner of the shop with her.

There sunk in to the concrete floor was a hatch, more than wide enough to stand three or even four ponies wide, let alone a suit of power armor. As she lifted the hatch with a tug, the sounds of a well-oiled door rung and the counterweight with spring took the majority of the doors heft. Holding it there to the side with ease, we went down the dim stairs, and down below the repair bays.

The basement was a lot cleaner than I was expecting, only a few empty cots and shelves of random parts and materials laid around the room. With a table erected in the center for whatever the occupant might have needed. Still, there was a light or two that still worked, and that brought the place a few notches higher than most basements I’d been in. If anything, whoever stayed down here in the past knew what they were doing. It was dry, warm, and I don’t imagine many would go and bother somepony down here often.

“This used to be the store room for the shop way back when,” Alimite and myself walked further in, and the mare pulled the chain on an extra light or two, “though after the bombs fell, some ponies used it as a makeshift bunker.”

That explained the cots, and even their footlockers to boot, “A good place to build one off of.”

“And… if you’d like, a place you and your friends can rest your head.” Half a second later she must have read the shorts going off in my head, “Talked it over with mom while you all were out at the stable, we figured if ya’ll were gonna stay and help out, you’d need some place to call home.” A place I could actually use too. Whether it be repairing the suit, or fixing something out in the town. The shop above was damned near three times the size of mine back home, “There’s always some folks out here looking for a hoof, ya just gotta ask… and you all’d be the ones for the job.”

I looked back at her, and while some of her flush might still be present. She wasn’t trying to stroke my ego with that, this mare genuinely believed we could do right by this place. I mean, we’d already started to. So, was I about to go back and make this mare a liar?

Hell naw.

Paw steps were one thing that was very distinguishable, even through concrete, and with the bickering above I knew one thing. My group had returned. “Wild… ya here?” Tumble called out as they moved around upstairs, “you’re not gonna believe this.”

“Open hatch in corner, come on down!” Alimite yelled back to her, and soon enough the trio joined.

Huh… ya know, this place wouldn’t be half bad. Even Riff could damn near stand at a full height, and that was with her newest toy slung over her shoulders and a heavily modified combat helmet on her head. An IF-92 if I recall, 40mm auto-grenade launcher. Heavy weapon suiting the user, belt fed, and from the looks of things a chopped barrel on its end. Won’t have as much accuracy over distance, but it’s a grenade launcher… hitting center mass matters little, when there’s no chest cavity left.

Some of us didn’t look so stellar about the choice of armament. “Out of all the choices, ya went with that,” Tumble stood there, giving her the same looked Deacon received when he picked up the missile launcher from the Sentry Bot. “This is just great, totally perfect,” her head shook to the hound, to Deacon who probably encouraged the purchase, then to me before her hoof soon met face, “between your grenade launcher now, Chickees’ missiles, and Wilds’ shotgun… there goes the neighborhood.”

Riff was already cracking up, and I managed to stifle my own by biting my lip. Ahh, the perks of having your face hidden behind a vale. In case Tumble hadn’t already noticed though, the neighborhood was gone a long time ago…

“Collateral damage or not, I’m glad to hear you all will be staying,” Alimite nodded to my group, and their eyes went back to me. Hey, I just relayed what ya’ll told me, “and as I told Wild here, this place is open for you to stay, if you’d like,” she gestured to the rest of the basement, “I should go find mom, make sure she doesn’t need any help. I’d imagine after that ordeal in the stable some of you probably want to get some rest…”

Oh, more than you could imagine. Although, food first, then rest. My visor popped back up to her before she left, “Thank you, and Winter… for all of this,” the possibilities of living under a shop…

Alimite just brushed it off, “It’s really nothing at all… again, the least we could do, Mister Rogue,” she winked at me and headed back up the stairs.

The word least seemed to have a new meaning lately. To go from bumping in to me outside a gun store, to letting me live a floor or two below you. That’s a big least… never the less. That act of selflessness earned us a place to rest our heads, hang our guns up, and me to get out of the suit without worrying over being stabbed.

“Wow…” Deacon perked up from over at one of the cots, and I noticed the trio had already dispersed to claim parts of the basement, “for all your tech and sensors in that thing, you sure are blind.”

Oh, har har…

“He’s not the only one…” I heard a mumble from the mare in the room, as she went about stowing the carbine.

Gotta love the mics in this thing…

Footnote: Level up