Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Three

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Bitterness filled my mouth as I chewed on the tough root of a shrubbery. The kind that grew out of the cracks on the road. It was a literal bitter reminder of how much of an idiot I had been. Daral had to have been a scavenger, it would explain everything. And here I just believed everything he said like a fool, a damned fool.

I could only hope not everything he said was a lie, as I rather not go home pregnant only after less then a week in the wasteland. Ma and Pa would never let me live that down.

The feeling of being used only added to my sense of shame and regret, the memories of my short time with Daral still fresh in my mind. It only made worse by the fact that some of what he left behind was still stuck to me until I could find more than dry rags to clean myself with.

The more I had thought about it, the less I was certain about my own sanity. I was pissed about losing my supplies, and likely being used as bait for those ghouls, but that was it.

The sex… It made me more pissed at myself for being so easily seduced into it. I wanted my first time to be something more… I don't know… special, maybe.

What I did know was that it had satisfied some curiosities I've had for a long time now, mainly how it would feel, and some I've never asked myself. Overall, once the shock of having been robbed had passed, and the need to gather food and water became my biggest worry, the memory of that night kept me entertained as I worked.

Actually, I felt relatively refreshed as I gathered anything I could. Like scratching an itch I never knew I had. It strangely made me wish Daral had stuck around to do more, in which that thought led me to think that I might actually be crazy.

My internal tomoral at least helped the time pass quickly, and soon I was again heading east. In my saddlebags was less than clean bottles of mostly clean water clanked and more edible bitter roots rustled. It wasn't much, far inferior to what I originally had, but it was enough to survive a day. Longer if I keep foraging as I trot east.

I was not planning on going home, not yet at least, not until I have seen more of the wasteland. I still wanted to do something, to fight the good fight. So I stuck to my original plan of finding more ponies…. And this time not getting tricked by some scavenger.

Though if there was some dashingly handsome stallion, getting seduced by him didn't sound so bad.

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Another day had come and gone, and my poor stomach acked for more than the random roots or dead grasses I found along the way. My water had quickly dwindled, leaving my mouth parched and lips cracked as I ration the life giving liquid.

There were a few wrecks and small ruins, but nothing that had what I needed. Just the bones of the dead still locked inside.

Unfortunately I didn't have the energy to lay the dead to rest this time.

Crossing over a hill I froze in place as the wind brushed over me, it was not just cooling, but was also moist. Pointing my head in the direction of where the wind came from, I closed my eyes and took in the environment. Focusing with my other senses, there was a faint smell of wet dirt and grass, along with an even fainter pitter patter of… water!

Trotting over, the mostly dead land gradually became greener as found a building hidden behind a hill and inside a very small valley. Here there were trees, grass, and strange red vines with yellow leaves that looked like they were glowing.

Odd.

I slowly made my way to the building, making sure my gun and axe were ready to be grabbed, while keeping an eye out for danger. There were some critters here, mostly wasteland toads sitting in fouled puddles, and plenty of flies.

Though I had rarely cooked and ate critters, I knew enough about what was and was not good for eating. Wasteland toads were mostly toxic, with only their legs that could be cooked and eaten without messing with a ponies stomach.

But fortunately there was grass here, so I didn’t need to worry about cooking some damn toads.

As for the water, it flowed out from a large crack higher up in the building's wall, loudly pattering into a puddle that streamed out.

The door inside was not far, and I began wondering what might be inside. The closer I got, the warmer it strangely became. I could also see a slight green glow from within.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you." The voice of a stallion spoke up, causing me to almost fall over in shock. "Or eat anything here as a matter of fact."

Looking around, I saw an off white pony in a dark gray suit trotting out from behind a tree, poking out from his well groomed, slicked back, dark brown mane was a horn… a unicorn horn! "You're a unicorn, sorry, but I've nevers seen one befor… oh where's my manners, my name is Lottery."

The stallion cocked an eyebrow for a moment, then smirked, "Call me Tripwire, and you should get away from that building unless you want to turn into a ghoul."

I didn't know if I could trust him, but it was best to humor the pony, so I trotted back making sure I kept some distance between him and I. "What's wrong with this place, I mean it looks healthy to me."

Tripwire shook his head. "This is a toxic waste dump, mainly for radioactive sludge. Everything here feeds off it, making it all poisonous to us ponies, as you should know."

I scratched my head feeling a bit embarrassed. "Well you know, never been around radiation before, so I didn't realize. Is that why it got hotter near the entrance?"

"Yes, that's why they're called hot spots. Fortunately you're only going to get irradiated if you go inside." He trotted a little closer, and I could see that Tripwire's suit was surprisingly well maintained, if a bit dirty. He even had a white shirt underneath, but what really caught my eyes the most was a bright pink tie with the letters M.O.M. embordered on it. "Now tell me, how did you find this place?"

"Just smelt the air and used my ears, that's all." I told him. But now my own curiosity had been peaked. "How about you, why are you here if it's so dangerous?"

He seemed to ponder what I said before answering. "I'm here to see a pony, well a ghoul, been here for a few days, but he refuses to hear me out. Now you said you... smelled this place?"

I looked at the building and shivered instinctively as I remembered the two feral ghoul from several days ago. Turning my attention back to Tripwire, I relaxed a little, finding this stallion to be a lot more informative than Daral was, and he was clearly not a scavenger. "Well ya. Smells a bit like home, so I knew there was water here. Got to know these things when you live far away from everything. Too bad for the radiation though, this place is really nice, like real beautiful."

"Most beautiful things are deadly in this wasteland." Tripwire said as he pulled something out from his chest pocket. It was a silver like round object that had a chain attached to it. It then opened up. Letting out a soft light, of which he looked in and sighed.

The stallion then looked up at the building, a scowl on his face as his horn glowed. Taking a deep breath, he yelled out. "BRASS COLLAR, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO KEEP FUCKING AROUND! COME OUT HERE, I KNOW YOU WANT THIS AS MUCH AS I DO!"

His loud voice made my ears ring even though I was nowhere near him.

A rustling came from inside the building, where a gaunt stallion trotted out, patches of his fur were missing and his eyes a milky white emptiness. It was a ghoul, but unlike the two feral ghouls I dealt with before. He was calm and looked far better dressed in his burnt suit than the dead should ever look.

He then spoke with a deep gravelly voice, as though he gargled sand or something. "As I've told you thrice before, I have my own plans, and you're not part of it. And that pony you brought to get your shit, looks like she made a wrong turn and fell into a gecko nest. Saw it from the roof, real nasty."

Brass then pulled out a chain, tugging it. "I have been patient with you for the last few days, even played along. But it's clear to me that no matter how smart you are, the wasteland deems you unworthy. Now you better get the fuck off my lawn befor I unleash my hounds on you."

With scraping hooved, a pony slowly trotted out, blindfolded and attached to the chain held by Brass. The sight of it sent a wave of fear through me, as it was a feral ghoul, but so much worse. Plates of spiky scrap metal were letteral bolted onto the pony, and a jagged metal jaw covered its muzzle. Worse was the sound of more of them from within, scraping along the ground and moaning in anguished.

I knew from just looking at one of them, I would have no chance in a fight, not with what I had for weapons.

Clicking his tongue, Tripwire turned and trotted off.

Not wanting to stick where the armored ghoul was around, I turned to follow Tripwire.

"Oy missy!" Brass called out. "I don't know who the fuck you are or what hole you fucking crawled out of, but you best turn on back now. These lands are cursed, and it's not the great war that has made it so."

The ghough began to laugh as I trotted away, which only made me move faster.

Leaving the grove, it was not hard to find where Tripwire had gone too. There was a small trail, and a bit further on was a hidden campsite. There, Tripwire was currently kicking a rusty old trailer. The campsite looked like it had been lived in for a few days, with garbage scattered around, and the sign of a fire having long turned to ash.

"That. Rat. Ass. Cunt!" Tripwire huffed with each kick.

I still kept my distance, but couldn't help but ask, "Hay… is there any way I can… help?"

Tripwire stopped kicking the trailer and took a deep breath before turning around, his eyes filled with irritation that slowly softened. "So you want to help?"

I nodded.

The unicorn scratched his chin for a moment as he looked at me over. "Hmmm, maybe. How good are you at killing geckos?"

"Yall mean the ones that run at ya as soon as they see you. Not many live around where I'm from, but I know how to make a simple gecko trap right here if you need it. I also can cook a good gecko steak, well that's what my Pa told me." I explained.

A small smile formed on Tripwire's face as he trotted over to me. "Alright, if you do me a favor, I'll give you the caps meant for the poor pony that the ghoul mentioned. Come with me and I'll show you."

Now that he was up close, the stallion was actually not bad looking. Quite handsome actually. Far cleaner than I felt, and has clearly had his mane trimmed recently. It actually made me feel a bit self conscious, especially about my smell, with how I had not been able to wash for days now.

Again following him, we went over a hill, and to some crumbling ruins. Curiously, I asked, "So why do you need the geckos dead?"

Tripwire glanced at me for a moment, as though thinking about what to say. "There was an old stach over there, it was filled with documents I needed to restart my family business, along with the caps to pay certain ponies. My father died keeping it out of Redeye's hooves, hiding it here."

My ears perked up. "Redeye, as in that evil slaver lord? So you are among the ponies that were fighting him. That's so amazing!"

"Unfortunately I never got my shot at him, had to stick to the shadows just to not get caught by his slaver dogs. Never expected another stable dweller to be the one to throw him off his tower." Tripwire then chuckled. "The wasteland is a cruel mare with an even crueler sense of humor."

As we reached a ridge Tripwire raised his hoof to stop me, then directed me where to look. The place was a mess, the stuff that made the roads was piled up everywhere with rods of rusted metal sticking out of it. Further out was a small building, half crumbled, but still standing strong.

My eyes then fell onto a group of geckos, they were as large as a racoon, with the teeth and claws to match. In the center of the group of geckos was the corps of a pony, the mare having been ripped apart by the ravenous beats.

I had to look away as my stomach wretched. Red blood covered the gecko's mouths and claws as they tugged at fat and organs. Even from here I could smell it, the stench of death.

"First time seeing a dead pony?" Tripwire asked.

I nodded as I refocused on the geckos, doing my best to not look at the poor mare. "Only ever seen skeletons before."

"Must be nice. Once you get to raider infested territory, the sight of dead ponies is a lot more common." Tripwire said, his voice neither sounding sad nor angry, just matter of fact like.

Counting the geckos, there weren't too many of them, with quite a few dead ones here and there. The poor mare must have put up a good fight before they got her. At least I'll be able to finish what she started.

"Raiders you say, I heard most of them got killed by the Lightbringer, so there can't be many left to worry about." I commented.

"You'd be surprised." He said calmly. "But you're not wrong, between the Stable Dweller and some other crazy ponies out there, a lot of the major raider tribes have ceased to exist. The raiders that are still around are either the smart ones, the lucky ones, or the ones that just haven't been taken out yet. Though this region has been seen more raiders lately, stragglers from the other regions it seems. I have heard word that its the Balefire Fiends that are directing raider groups here."

That sounded nasty. "Who are the Balefire Fiends?" I asked.

"A raider tribe up north, they live between Fillydelphia and this region, and mostly stay secluded. From what I know about them, their all mares, and like to control other raider groups like vassals. My guess is that their trying to fill in the raider power vacuum that's going on, so I'd watch out for any expressly nasty raider mares." He explained.

I nodded, taking a mental note of what he told me.

Tripwire then pulled out the silver thing from his pocket, opening it to reveal a glass cover with three little arms underneath. It also produced a small ball of light that made several words in the air. One arm moved with a consistent click as Tripwire watched it for a moment before looking at me. "So can you take out those geckos?"

"Well not directly, no. Too many of them. But if you give me some time I can make something that can. I just need some scrap, some wood, and something to bind them. Maybe vines?"

Taking a moment to think about it, a smile slowly formed on Tripwire's face. "Luckily there is plenty of that nearby."

Returning to the camp, I got to work making my trap. Since geckos like to just charge blindly at prey, I didn't have to worry about making anything complicated. All I really needed was a bunch of spikes that can be lifted up all at once, a piece of pie.

"Sooo… not to pry, but you said your family had a run in with Redeye, what happened?" I asked as I used my axe to cut the wood into shape.

"No, no, it's fine." Tripwire said calmly with a smile. "My family used to be quite prominent in this region, and further north, with lots of connections and wealth. When Redeye first rose to power, my family helped lead the opposition, provided the funding for an army to meet him. I was actually the lead strategist in that war, as was expected of me."

"So how did he win?" I then asked.

There was a long paus, followed by a sigh. "I unfortunately underestimated him. We all did. Redeye was a skilled tactician and speaker himself. He knew what we were going to do before the fight ever started. Worse, he had ponies helping him get around our defenses. By the time anypony caught on, it was too late, and he had us in his trap."

I spat on the ground in disgust. "That vile villain and those slavers that followed him. Glad he's dead, now every pony can get their lives back. Like you, and whatever your family did."

"Yes, too true…" he said slowly, as though carefully thinking about something.

The trap was almost done, it being a simple row of spikes I could easily lift up. "Say, what did your family do? You said they were important, right?"

Tripwire eyed me a bit longer, a little smirk on his face. "We managed ponies, providing training and work for them. We also owned several mines we kept well hidden, as well as a few hidden farms. It's why Redeye came for us, an army marches on their stomach and fights better if they have weapons."

He then stretched out, making a few cracking sounds from his back. "It's what I'm after, among other things. I mean to take back what was lost, but firstly I need the deeds of ownership which are currently guarded by those geckos. On that topic, are you sure that will work?"

Tying a knot with a vine, I tested its strength and found it good enough. "Oh ya, geckos are real nasty, but really dumb. This should kill a bunch of them right quick. Now whenever you're good, I can get started."

"Then let's get started." Tripwire said as he got up.

Hoofing my spike trap onto my back and trotted off to the ruins, It didn't take long to get there and find a good spot. It was a narrow bit of road with plenty of obstacles to either side of it, which would funnel any gecko through here. Placing the trap on a good spot, it being a little hole in the ground, which would anchor the trap in place when the geckos slam into it.

With everything in place, it was time for action. Tripwire stayed at a safe distance, a proper pistol poked out of his suit, ready to be used. So I trotted into the ruins, prepared for another fight, my heart pounding with excitement and a bit of fear.

It was not hard to draw the gecko's attention, all it took was one seeing me and hissing loudly. The other geckos stopped eating the dead mare to turn to me, all started hissing at me before charging.

With the pack of geckos now after me, I wasted no time galloping back to my trap, then waited.

The little bastards were fast as they spread out, their tactic of overwhelming prey with a mass assault about to be their undoing. Grabbing the vine with my hoof, I prepared for the attack, hoping I hadn't messed up.

They closed in and then jumped at me, practically in unison, their jaws wide open with many dagger like teeth showing. Pulling back on the vine, the spikes lifted to meet the geckos, followed by several wet crunches and beastal screams.

One of the geckos was dead, going head first into the spike, where the other three squirmed in pain as they found themselves impaled. Another crunch followed as a fifth gecko slammed into one in front of it, also impaling itself. Then a sixth, causing the trap to buckle under the strain.

A loud snap announced the trap's failure as a seventh gecko slammed into its friends and avoided being impaled, breaking my crude trap. As it scrambled over the dying geckos I took a step back and pulled out my gun. Clumsily rushing at me with its mouth wide open, I took am.

*BLAM*

The gecko's head turned into a red mist as a thick cloud of smoke engulfed us both.

Stepping back to get out of the cloud, my ears twitched as I heard a hiss through the ringing.

*BANG BANG BANG BANG*

A gecko that had managed to come around my side fell over at my hooves, riddled with several bloody holes. I then looked over at Tripwire, who held his pistol in its magic, a thin trail of white smoke coming from its barrel.

"Is that all of them?" Tripwire asked.

"That was eight, so ya, should be all." I answered.

He trotted over, still holding his gun. The weapon shined in the sunlight, it having a well maintained mirror polished. A floral pattern was engraved along the slide, and the image of a pink alicorn holding a heart was imprinted along the magazine hold in front of the bit guard.

Tripwire caught me staring and smiled. "She's beautiful, don't you think?" He then levitated it closer to me so I could get a closer look, and he was right, the thing was a work of art. "It's a 9mm colt special called Love. I Inherited it from my grandmother as the symbol of me becoming the family head. Little it mattered after Redeye killed them all."

The gun slowly levitated back to Tripwire as he put it into its holster. "Unfortunately it's just one small gun, not much help against a group of geckos. So thanks, I would have been fucked without your help. Now I'm going to start the reclamation of my family's legacy."

I smile back at him, feeling quite good about helping a good pony like himself. "While you do that, I'll skin and butcher the geckos, Celestia knows I need the food."

Tripwire nodded. "Alright, when we go back to camp, I have some clean water to share."

That got me even more excited as I was reminded of my already dry mouth. Proper clean water sounded like the sweetest of drinks right now.

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It didn't take long to skin and drain the geckos of their blood. If I could get the hide tanned, it wouldn't be a bad Idea to make it into some clothing. As for now, I was more concentrated on cooking the gecko meat.

Using the spikes impale the piece of meat, and hang them over the fire, the smell of cooking meat made my mouth water. Making sure they were thoroughly cooked, so that no pony got sick, I had a bit of time to do other things.

While I waited, I dug a shallow grave for the poor mare, she was almost unrecognizable as a pony now.

Collecting her rifle, and taking it apart, its construction was not that complex. It had clearly been repaired many times and had parts replaced, reminding me a bit of my own gun. Unfortunately the rifle was unusable due to a bent barrel, likely from cracking the gun over a gecko's skull.

This didn't stop me from at least trying to figure out how to make it work, or at least what I could salvage. Though I was left a bit confused as to why the ammo for it was so small, it labeled for a .22LR. Still, the mare had a lot of it on her, at least over fifty rounds, so getting it fixed up would be worth it.

Tripwire on the other hoof was reading some collection of papers as he kept several metal tins near him. It made me wonder how important they were.

"So, how is that paper going to help you, it's just words on paper, right?" I asked.

He shuffled the paper and levitated one to me. "Some are yes, but the importance is what's on it. Bill of sales, loans, credit, that kind of stuff. Also location of assets that belong to me. This one here shows the location of an iron mine and my rightful ownership over it. In these documents are clues to where my father hid more of my familys legacy, like a big annoying scavenger hunt."

I looked at the paper, the lines of letters and words seemed to blend together, and even as I tried to sound some of them out, but it just felt wrong. Tripwire seemed to see the frustration on my face, and gently took the paper back.

"You… can't read, can you?" He asked, neither sounding annoyed or sympathetic.

I felt embarrassed by it, but it would be really dumb to deny it. "Naw, I can't. Ma and Pa tried to teach me, and I tried to learn, but they said I was reading everything backwards and writing upside-down. It didn't help that Ma and Pa only knew a little, so they didn't know how to help me."

"Right, well fortunately a pony like you doesn't need to read and write to get by in the wasteland. And it makes life needlessly complicated for ponies like you. Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes." Tripwire said in a matter of fact tone.

He then pulled out another paper, but it looked rougher and more like cloth, or some other material. "Then there are the magical contracts. This piece of parchment binds a pony to it, where they must uphold the promise or face a curse. They are commonly used by Griffins for their mercenary contracts, but it's also useful for trade deals with shifty merchants. It's even used when making a financial contract, making sure that if the pony can't pay back what they owe, they can't run away from the contract holder."

I was honestly amazed, so much paper and words having so much power, it felt like he could make a real difference with it. Now that things were better with Redeye gone, he could use this to aid the NCR, or other wastelanders.

"Now that you have that, what do you plan to do? I mean you can do a lot of good if what you say is true, lots of ponies could use the help I'm sure." I asked

"Well not quite," Tripwire answered before correcting himself. "I mean I'll first need to recover some of the other assets first. Along with a family heirloom that was kept hidden from Redeye. The legacy I mentioned you see."

"Like what, a magical artifact that makes clean water or clears radiation? Or something to activate a robot army to help bring peace and order to Equestria?" I had asked excitedly.

He chuckled at my question. "A robot army would make things easier, that's for sure. Robots never think they're too good for the role they're given and don't cause needless trouble. But no, it was simply the key to my family's success, and what I'll need to use to take everything back. If Redeye had gotten it, I'm sure the whole stable dweller business would never have happened."

That thought sent a shiver of dread down my spine. "It's that powerful?"

A nod came from Tripwire. "Lets just say that with it, even the most obstinate pony can be made to see reason. In the right hooves it can bring order to chaos, in the wrong hooves it makes even worse chaos."

Checking on the skewers of meat, finding that they were now fully cooked and starting to burn a little. "Then your family was smart to hide it. But if it's that powerful, why didn't you use it against Redeye?"

Passing him a skewer, Tripwire bit down and chewed for a moment. "This is… surprisingly good." He said before finishing off the rest of it. "But as to why, it's simple. Over the generations, my family forgot how to properly use it. What we did have was a pale imitation, and easily countered unfortunately. After our fall, I spent years researching it, with only scraps of information to work from. Now, if I can get my hooves on it, I might be able to unlock its full potential."

"That would be amazing to see." I commented as I gave him a second skewer of meat while eating my own.

We sat there eating for a moment, enjoying the gecko skewers and clean water. Just having more than merger roots filled me with energy, and though my stomach protested a little from taking in the meat, I didn't care, I was fucking hungry.

"Say, about that ghoul, why were you trying to talk with him?" I asked.

Tripwire sighed. "His family and my family were friends once, but then most of them stabbed everypony in the back and sided with Redeye. He was among the few who I didn't and ran here to hide. I figured that if there is anypony who can get around this land, he would. Unfortunately it seems that the radiation has affected his mind."

Looking at me, Tripwire scratched his chin. "Miss Lottery, how much do you know about getting around the wasteland?"

Deciding to finish off the gecko skewer before answering, chewing on the meat for a long moment to savor the flavor.

"Loads." I answered, but saw that Tripwire wanted to know more. "Well I know how to hunt, track, and set traps. How to avoid big beasts and monsters got drilled into me by my Pa. Ma showed me what to eat and what not to eat in this wasteland. I also know how to navigate without a compass, along with skinning and cooking critters."

Tripwire stayed silent for a long moment, his closed as though in deep thought. "Yes, that might do." He said to himself, then opened his eyes and looked at me before saying. "I'm going to need the help of a pony that can traverse the wasteland, and I currently don't have the time to go find a pony who can do it. Which would make you a lucky break for me. That is, if you're for hire?"

It took me a long moment to grasp what he had just asked me. "Wait… you want me to… help you get around the wasteland, and pay me for it? But shouldn't there be like, lots of ponies who can do that?"

"Ponies who can get around the wasteland, yes, ponies that won't shoot me in the back, no." Tripwire said calmly. "I'm offering you this job not just because you can do it, but also because your mentality tells me you are more trustworthy."

I blushed a little. "Ma always said that I'm too trusting. But wouldn't there be bigger, tougher and smarter ponies out there?"

He nodded again. "True, but it's not always a good idea to go with the best pony. They are more likely to have rouge thoughts and start plotting. From what I've seen, the smarter the pony, the less trustworthy they are."

Tripwire then tossed me a tin that rattled in my hooves. Checking inside it, it was filled with bottle caps, lots of them. He then added. "From what I've seen of you so far, you're very capable and very trustworthy. Keep what's there, it's yours."

I closed the tin, unsure how much money this was actually, or what I could get for it. Looking back up at Tripwire, the offer felt too true. Help him on an adventure to recover his family's lost wealth and help bring order to the wasteland. It was like my dreams were finally coming true, and in the hooves of a good looking stallion, which was also part of my dreams.

It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, it had to be.

Putting the tin into my saddlebag, I flashed him a smile. "I'm in!"

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