Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Eleven

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My heart thumped loudly as I sat around the corner, waiting, anticipating. With a loud snap, a scream and a thud, I smiled with satisfaction.

Turning the corner I saw the panicked raider hanging upside down by a bear trap, blood trickling from its wound. Pointing my rifle at him, it wrapped in burlap as camo, with an ax head poking out of the end, the raider's eyes opened wide.

"Hay, didn't mean it, ya know, it was nothing personal, just how things are." The raider stopped to spit some of the blood out of his mouth, it having trickled from his led to his face. "Say, just let me go, and I'll forget any of this happened."

With a swift swing of my rifle, the axe blade dug into his neck. He gurgled as he tried to scream and curse at me, but to no avail. He wasn't worth wasting a bullet on or my breath. They knew what they were doing, and deserved no mercy.

The sounds of hooting and hollering could be heard in the distance. More raiders, there were always more raiders.

Letting the dead raider go to recover my bear trap, I booby-trapped the corps with a landmine and slinked back. Raiders didn't deserve a fair fight, and I couldn't afford them cornering me.

The voices were muffled and distorted, and the sounds of a pony in pain were mixed in. It only caused my heart to pound more, my blood to boil, and a deep sense of dread. But as it grew louder, it became strange, like the sawing of wood going back and forth.

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Waking up in the bunker gave me a strong sense of nostalgia, though the snoring Tripwire next to me was new. We had taken shelter here for the night, thanks to the portal making medallion. Though not the most comfortable place to sleep, it was far safer than out in the wasteland.

I even felt safe enough to get closer with Tripwire. I think wiping out those raiders helped give me peace of mind, though my dreams were still strange. I also made sure to take the lead instead of letting Tripwire just do what he wanted, as I was worried about my leg. It oddly felt a lot more fun being in charge during sex.

Once we were out onto the road again, and making our way to Ursa's Rest, I felt that I could no longer complain about how slow Tripwire was. Having to limp my way down the long road proved to be considerably frustrating, and painful whenever I did apply any real pressure to the leg. So I appreciated the slower pace, along with the several stops.

When we finally got back to civilization, I could not be more overjoyed. Having to maneuver around other ponies was a pain with my bad leg, but I knew the solution to some of my problems could be found here.

Entering the bar of Ursa's Den, I took a seat, feeling like I had trotted for days, which I actually had now that I thought about it. When the cheap food and drinks came, I didn't hesitate consuming them, not caring about the taste.

Also I needed some alcohol in me after the shit I saw.

"Alright, Lottery, like I told you, I'll be going to see Grizzly on my own. Getting our loans paid, and selling a few pieces of that jewelry. Then you will get your pay. I'll also set you up with an appointment with the doctor." Tripwire explained to me before finishing his drink.

I was not looking forward to the doctor rebreaking my leg to set it right, but it was that or forever having a painful limp. Tripwire's explanation about it sounded horrifying. But if I ever wanted to trot normally, I would just have to bite the bullet and get it over with.

"Alright, I'll be right here." I told him and he got up and trotted away.

Sitting at the bar I couldn't help but rub my bad leg, feeling where the bone deformed, where several splinters of it poked into my muscle. There was no way for me to have known this would have happened. Not like there was a survival guide to the wasteland for me to read. Even if there was, I couldn't read it.

"Hey sugar, where have you been?" The stallion Cornbread trotted over to me. "You look a bit rough around the edges, anything I can get you." He looked just as good as the last time I saw him, still in that tight uniform the employees here wore.

I smiled, tapping on the empty cup. He got the message and delivered me another drink, sitting next to me. I knew what was going on, but didn't care, actually I enjoyed the friendly attention. Though Tripwire had been with me, he felt a bit distant, and a little cold.

"Just came back from a job, successful, but had a run in with... raiders…" I trailed off, finding myself with Chilly again, wondering if I had been more careful, maybe I could have kept her from killing herself.

Huffing out my frustration, I chugged the drink in one go.

"That bad hu." Cornbread said with a smile as he got up. "Maybe it's better to give you something of better quality, that stuff will burn a hole through your gut if you drink too much of it at once."

"Ya… thanks." I told him.

As he trotted off I let out a yawn, the long limp back here having taken its toll on me.

An almost glowing red drink had then appeared before me, delivered by a thin mare in a black suit. She was too thin for it to be normal, like a ghoul, yet her fur and mane were fully intact. Then she spoke, her voice cold and wispy, yet her mouth remained unmoving. "It's called a Red Light District, a personal favorite of mine. It turns a deep crimson if you add a drop of blood to it, which enhances the taste." She then chuckled to herself. "Don't worry, on blood in this one. Now give it a sip."

I was unsure, but also felt that I should do as I was told. Sipping the drink, it had a strangely pleasant vegetable taste to it, but also was considerably sweet.

"Thanks, it's really good." I said.

"Think nothing of it, the name's Lethe, I've been making drinks for a long time, longer than most can remember. So just think of me as a wandering bartender, offering the finest of forgotten drinks."

Taking another sip, it tasted better the second time, and helped me relax. Looking up at Lethe, she just didn't seem like she belonged, or had a good reason to be here.

"Why are you here?" I asked

"Oh, just delivering a message, I do this from time to time." Lethe said, still not quite moving her mouth.

I cocked an eyebrow as I took another sip. "A message?"

"Right, the mare you met. She wanted to apologize. After what you did for her, she only realized how selfish it was to pick that time to move on." Lethe spoke with a cold, yet comforting tone.

This only made it feel like there was a lump in my throat as I looked at her in confusion.

Lethe then looked right at me, and I couldn't see any eyes, just dark pits. "I'll tell you this, nopony just suddenly becomes suicidal, just like how nopony just goes raider, no. At some point there is a choice, a point they step over a line and cannot come back. Well in most cases there is no return. Even the dead can return so long as certain rules are followed, though that is even rarer than a god without a flaw."

She then reached out and tapped my drink, smiling at me with the cleanest white teeth I had ever seen. "What I'm saying is that in the end we all have a choice, even if it is hard. It's filled with thorny bramble, and leads to suffering. But we chose those paths. It is the only thing a pony truly owns, and when a pony is done with it all, they should have the choice to end it and rest."

Lethe then sat back, still smiling. I only now noticed that everything was quiet, still, and cold. "What… are… you?" I managed to ask, finding it hard to even say the words.

"Not important, this is after all, an act of whimsy. Now finish your drink, it is impolite to leave such things half done." She told me, pointing at what I now could see was a fine and beautify plane glass cup. The red liquid didn't just seem to glow, but it was, or something in it was, like a small flame that entranced me. Though the drink was red, the flame, it seemed blue, a beautiful blue. "Anyways, I added a little extra something special. For when things get cold and dark. It will make sure you stay a bit warm and a bit awake. The thing a pony needs when changing their fate, if you have the strength to march on that is."

Not understanding what the strange ghoul was saying, I took the red drink and tipped it up and down my throat. As the rest of the drink entered me, it made me feel oddly warm, and very comfortable.

"Miss Lottery, you alright?" Cornbread asked, suturing me awake.

The strangeness now made sense, it was a dream. It had to have been. Though it now seemed that strangely vivid dreams were going to be the norm, along with the nightmares.

"Ya, just been a long trot here, so I'm a little drained." I told Cornbread, who had placed down a pitcher of a foamy golden fluid and two old looking glass mugs.

"Why don't you tell me about it. This beer here is good for winding down, and we can just put it on a tab for when you're ready to pay." He told me as the stallion scooted up next to me.

As I reached for a mug, I accidentally knocked over another glass. It was not like the one used here. As it fell and shattered, for a moment I thought it looked a lot like the one Lethe had given me.

"Oh, sorry somepony must have left their glass here while you were resting. I'll get that cleaned up before somepony gets hurt. it will just be a minute." Cornbread explained as he quickly rushed off to get something to clean up the broken glass.

Feeling confused, I just poured myself some beer, and drank the amber liquid. It was bitter, yet refreshing, just what I needed to help me forget.

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Light beamed onto my face like the sun was angry at me as I sutured. My head pounded, my mouth was dry, and my stomach felt royally upset.

"Good, you're awake Lottery." Tripwire spoke up.

Slowly getting up, I was having a hard time remembering what exactly happened, but I was sure it was not much, other than drinking. "Please tell me I didn't do anything weird last night."

Trotting into view, Tripwire was in his clean and pressed suit, he himself was quite clean looking too. "Other than running up a tab, no, you were just drunk and flirting with the hosts that were with you."

My face flushed with heat as a wave of embarrassment crashed into me. "Oh I'm so sorry, I mean, I barely remember any of it. But that was-"

"Nothing." Tripwire interjected. "What you do in your free time is not my concern, just so long as it does not hinder my mission. Speaking of which, your appointment with the doctor is in…" he looked at his pocket watch. "A little over an hour. So you should get washed up."

I don't know why, but it made me a bit upset that he wasn't upset at me flirting with those stallions.

Taking a deep breath, I just left to go get washed up. At least it will feel good to be clean again.

The water pump behind the motel had a few mares standing around it. One with foals that she was giving them a wash. A second cleaning some clothes. And a third who was just there smoking.

"Ya, I even saw it." The smoker spoke loudly. "Two raider types got in a big old fight just outside of town, throwing guns and fire, both of them. Think the one with the flamer was one of them Forge raiders. Or was it gangers, hard to tell when they get all spiky and murderous. Well the other raider, some crazy mare, just let herself get set ablaze and shoved some fire bomb in his face. She then spent a minute kicking him, screaming about her dress."

The mother looked frightened as she said. "Why do we even let those types in? Even if they have the caps, we all know it's stolen money. Lately there's been toll stops all over the place, and they keep getting away before anypony can tear them down. We have so few safe roads as it is, and now it seems that every raider clan is being pushed through here."

"Not just the raiders, but the slavers too." The mare washing her clothes spoke up, sounding quite bitter. "I have to keep telling those assholes that their old connections don't work here no more. But they keep coming. With the whole anti-slaver uprising going on all over the wasteland, a pony would be an idiot to try and stay in that business. Hate to admit it, but Miss Grizzly really saved our asses by buying up all those slave contracts. Though I would love to know where she got all that money."

As I trotted over, the three mares eyed me suspiciously.

Blowing a cloud of smoke through her nose, the smoking mare addressed me. "Hay you, you look like you've been in the sticks. Seen any of the crazy shit going on?"

Filling up a bucket, I thought about some of the things I've seen so far. "Well, I did have to pass through one of those raider toll stops a while back."

The three gasped, and the smoker then asked. "Don't tell me ya had to pay the third option, you's don't look like ya got the money or chem, no offence."

Took me a moment to figure out what she was suggesting, sending a cold shiver down my spine. "Oh no, Celestia no. Fortunately I had a pony with me who could pay. Anyways, I'm quite sure I could easily take the long way around."

"That's good to know." Said the mare washing her clothes. "Those raiders are often diseased and mutated. Heard that ponies born from raider encounters come out wrong, like they inherited the raider nature."

"Could we not talk about... that." The mother said softly as she dried off her foal.

The smoker laughed. "Sorry love. Didn't your stallion run with some raiders?"

The mother huffed indignantly, "He was a ganger, not a raider. Tartarus Angles is what they're called, and they're far above some rabid raider."

The two mares laughed again before changing the topic, letting me wash up without too much interruption.

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Clean and now wearing the outfit I bought with Molo, I felt refreshed. I would also feel so much better if my head still didn't hurt, and my stomach didn't still upset with me. I had wanted to eat or drink something, but Tripwire told me I would regret it if I had. Something about the effect of chems.

The doctor's office itself was a rather clean looking place, for something entirely made from scrap metal.

Trotting in was a young light gray unicorn stallion with a well maintained black mane. Upon seeing me, he flashed me a wide and very friendly smile. "Oh you must be the patient we were told was coming. I'm Quacksalver, assistant to the doctor here, and you might be, miss?." He reached out his hoof

I couldn't help but smile back as I gave him my own hoof. "Lottery."

As Quacksalver kissed my hoof, Tripwire cleared his throat. "Though it is refreshing to see another pony of a more refined manner, I don't think it's appropriate to do that when she is going in for surgery. Germs and all that."

Was… was he jealous!

It felt bad that I liked that he was being jealous over me. Maybe his disinterest over last night was just a cover.

I had to do my best to suppress a gitty giggle.

"Are you bothering my patients again ya unless excuse for an assistant." The voice of an elderly mare squawked. What the trotted thought was an old griffin hen in an even older looking white coat, and her face sporting a few scars. She glared at Quacksalver as he shrunk back and retreated to another room.

With a sigh the griffin trotted over to us. "Sorry about him, got scammed into buying him off the market thinking he was some medical savant. Turns out he is just a smooth talker. But like the saying goes, if you have tato's, you might as well make some mash." She eyed me for a moment, looking like a predator looking down at prey. "Ya, you look the type to fuck up like that."

My ears folded back as I said in confusion, "What?"

"Just come into the operating room so I can get a better look at you. I'm Doctor Helga, but you can just call me doc." Helga said as she pointed to the room she came from.

"L-Lottery…" I stammered out as I trotted, well, limped to the room as she watched me.

Finding an uncomfortable looking table surrounded by knives, hammers and saws, I now felt that maybe… just maybe… living with a limp wasn't so bad. Turning to leave I heard Helga and Tripwire talking, though it was hard to hear then with how quiet they were.

I caught the words; caps, expenses, supplies, and payment. I was sure Tripwire said that the payment was settled, which had to mean he paid for this all. Feeling guilty, I trotted back to the nightmarish table. It was my mistake that I ended up like this, and now he was using his money to fix me. All when it could have gone to helping others.

After a long moment, Helga came into the room, the griffin looking a bit annoyed. Before addressing me she went to a cabinet and pulled out some documents, placing them on a clipboard and passing it to me. Two of the documents looked normal, just old paper, but the third reminded me of Tripwire's magical papers.

"Before I can begin, Miss Lottery, you need to sign three release forms. One abdicating this clinic from responsibility if the surgery goes wrong. It won't, trust me. The second, is a set agreement to payment and interest. The last is making Tripwire your warden in your finances, of which if payment is not met, he will be held responsible. Unless he dies, then such responsibilities will fall back to you, along with consequences."

I looked at the documents, unable to read them, and nodded before singing where she pointed. But she stopped me at the third document. "Now are you sure you want to sing that before reading it all?"

"I can't actually read it, and I trust Tripwire." I told her,

Helga sighed, telling me, "I see, then there's no use arguing with you."

Lifting her claws to let me sign the paper, I scribbled what I thought was my name. After a moment the signature began to glow, before it turned red.

"That's it." Helga said, pointing at the document. "So long as payment comes in on time, this contract won't be invoked."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What happens if it's involved?"

Helga scratched her beak. "Never seen it invoked during my time as a talon medic, but I've heard about it happening once. Where a Talon cheated a client, then found themselves unable to fly or sleep. After a week he crawled back to the client and paid the fine, begging for forgiveness."

This made me nervous, of which Helga quickly caught on, saying. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that. That stallion of yours, so long as he lives, he is the one responsible."

I smiled at that. "And that's why I trust him.

Helga seemed to be annoyed by my response, then quickly gathered the documents, and put them in a safe. Afterwards she went and rang a bell, where Quacksalver trotted in, stopping in front of Helga and saluting her.

Helga pointed to another cabinet. "Prepare the surgery supplies as I examine the patient."

"Yes mam!" He said, trotting over to the cabinet, and opening it to reveal chems, bandages, and what looked like a sewing kit my Ma owned.

Turning her attention back to me, Helga pointed to the table. "Get on and I'll look at that leg."

Doing as I was told, I climbed onto, and layed down on the table. Feeling a bit nervous, I then asked her! "Earlier, what did you mean when you said I looked like the type?"

She lightly ran a talon down my bad leg, causing me to flinch when she hit one of the parts of bone trying to poke out. "Young and dumb mostly. The fact that you don't quite have the look of a proper wastelander also tells me you've unlikely had to live through any significant fighting. Unless you're educated in combat or medicine, improper use of healing potions and other chem is quite common. Most wastelanders actually learn by seeing others fuck up like this."

Gently, she moved my leg around, feeling where it bent and where it splintered. "Alright, do you feel this?" I winced as she tapped a spot on my leg, sending a needle like pain through the leg. "Okay, and what about here?" Again more pain and she nodded.

I then felt my skin tug, like something was pressing into it, but yet, I didn't feel the pressure. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel… yes, I think." I answered in confusion.

Helga clicked her tongue, sounding displeased.

"Looks like some of your nerves got moved around a bit when your leg broke. Not a major problem, normally, but when your leg healed wrong, they likely didn't go back where they were meant to be." She explained.

"What are nerves?" I had to ask.

"Simply put, it's what your brain uses to control your body, or feel shit." She further explained. "Since you have been able to trot around without too much trouble, it's safe to guess that the nerves for your motor functions are safe. Though there might be some permanent numbness in that leg."

I didn't quite understand, "but my leg hurts when I use it?"

Helga huffed. "Well ya, that fucked up leg is tugging at other nerves, and that's what's causing your pain."

She let me go, and picked up a strap that was attached to the table. "Before I apply the anesthesia I'm going to need to make sure you don't move. Unfortunately there isn't anything to put you to sleep properly, so this has to be done for your safety."

Looking at it, the memory of the raiders flashed in my mind, but forcing it back and I managed a nod.

As Helga began strapping me down, it felt wrong not being able to move freely, and it caused some pain in my bad leg. I had to take several deep breaths to keep myself calm, reminding myself that I was somewhere safe.

A slight sharp pain entered my bad leg, and it then became numb. "Alright, now I need you to remain quiet as I work, but let me know if you start feeling any real pain. There will be some, but it should be a dull pain, okay." Helga explained to me.

"O-okay." I said back, trying to not think about what was about to happen.

A buzzing sound caught me off guard, as I jolted a little, finding that, yes, I was considerably strapped down. As I tried to peek at what it was, Quacksalver draped a sheet over my head.

"She is just removing the fur where the operation will take place, but you really shouldn't try and look. Just try to relax, this will be over before you know it " He explained to me in a conforming tone.

That was easier said than done, but being unable to do or see anything at least helped a little.

After a while of her using a knife a loud buzzing again startled me, far louder than the last one. What followed was the sound of it cutting through something hard. Was it my bone, I wasn't sure, as my whole leg throbbed with a numbed pain. Still, imaging it didn't help, though there was nothing I could do.

Taking a deep breath, and understanding that this was out of my control, I finally found some calm. Just accepting that it was happening, and understanding that it would pass. Also I was betting a bit of the chem might have been helping calm me.

My ears twitched at the sound of something being put in some metal tray, and a tug on my leg, all still numb. Then a new loud buzzing came, it lasted a few seconds, coming and going four times. Once the buzzing was over, quite had returned.

Things remained quiet for a long time as the two moved around me. I kept my own calm until it was all over.

More time passed and without a warning, the cloth that covered my head was pulled off, and light assaulted my eyes. Taking a moment for my vision to adjust, I watched as Quacksalver was taking several frighteningly looking tools to a sink, all covered in splotches of blood.

The straps that held me down were loosened and Helga came into view, holding a small flashlight, shining it in my eyes. "Just making sure you're still fully awake. Now how do you feel, any pain"

Pulling my legs free, I first tested my bad leg, finding none of the pain from before. Though something felt odd. "No, none so far."

Helga backed away. "Good, now if you could get up and trot around the table for me. Tell me how it feels."

Giving her a nod, I did just that, finding no spikes of pain in the leg at all. Looking at it for a moment, there was a long patch on my leg where the fur was removed, as in its place was a thin line with stitching crossing over it. But as I trotted, something did feel off about the leg. Moving it, and testing it along with my other back leg, I was starting to feel it, or not feel it even. "It seems normal, and maybe it's the chem you used, but the leg still feels a little numb, like I know I should feel more when I trot. Also, it feels like something in my leg, I think."

"That sounds about right." Helga said as she picked up a thin metal rod from a nearby tray and then explained. "Unfortunately some of the bone was too deformed to be kept in, and it had killed a few nerves. Nothing severe fortunately, but enough that I had to install several titanium struts into your leg to hold the bone together. In time the missing bone will regrow, but the nerve damage will not. This means that your leg won't ever have full feeling in it again, though it shouldn't cause you all that much trouble. Just be careful when using that leg, as you can re-break it and not feel it if you brake in the wrong place."

It was a mixed bag of feelings for me. On one hoof I could trot normally again without pain. But on the other hoof I had permanent damage to it and some metal in my leg.

"Wait, can't I just take a healing potion to at least fully heal the bone? Why the metal?" I asked.

Helga looked at me with disappointment in her eyes. "Healing potion doesn't regrow bones, or regrow anything. It pulls it back together and effectively glues it in place. So long as everything is intact and in almost the right place, it will do miracles. I've even seen a severed leg be reattached successfully."

She then looked down at me with a stern gaze. "But I've seen what happens to those that abuse healing potions. Where their own bodies have lost its ability to heal itself, even wounds from years before opening up if they don't drink the stuff regularly. Understand?"

Nodding, I squeaked out, "yes mam."

She then somehow smiled. "Good, now suggest you refrain from drinking alcohol or using any chems for the next five hours. Also, avoid putting any heavy weight or pressure on that leg for a day. More time you give it to recover, the better. As for the titanium struts, it will take a few years before they can be removed without risking your leg braking again."

"Thanks a bunch." I said, flashing the old griffin a smile.

"One more thing." Helga said, her voice with a hint of concern in it. "Be careful out there. There are more ways you can be hurt that don't involve violence. The most cruel things that can be done to you are often not physical."

Again I didn't quite understand, but knew she was trying to be helpful. "I'll try." I told her before trotting out of her operating room, ignoring all the bloody rags in a sink as I passed them.

My leg still felt odd, like it was not all there, something I needed to get used to.

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