Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Seven

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Again my dreams were energetic and hard to understand; many eyes were on me, following me as I chased after Tripwire, all while a voice called to me, telling me to stop. Many hooved then grabbed at me, pulling me down as Tripwire watched it, uncaring.

Waking up, I found myself next to Tripwire, held in his embrace. It caused my heart to flutter. That night was wonderful, and having him still be here was even better. It was like everything I wanted; an adventure with a stylish stallion, and actually fighting the good fight.

So I cuddled into his chest, staying there until he stirred.

Once Tripwire woke up, we both quickly got cleaned up and dressed. It was good to be able to wash myself after waking up this time. Last thing I needed was to again have to trot around for days unwashed.

"Alright, we have a meeting with Grizzly Deal about a loan. Unfortunately all the caps I had, they needed to go elsewhere. So we're going to have to borrow a bunch to resupply ourselves before heading elsewhere" Tripwire told me as he straightened his tie.

Now that the sun was out, I decided to put on my outfit for Tripwire to see, doing a little pose. "What do you think?"

Tripwire raised an eyebrow at me as he looked at my new clothes. "I see you didn't waste all your caps on just frivalice things. This should make the meeting a lot easier."

This begged a question. "Aren't I just, what you called, a scout? Why do I need to go?"

Tripwire opened the door, looking a bit annoyed and tired. "Grizzly and I have a history, a poor one. For the last month Onyx has been softening her up for me, but unfortunately, Onyx has other business to attend to. If I meet her alone, it may become a problem. But if I bring another pony, a mare to be expected, she will at least no get too personal."

I gave Tripwire a concerned and confused smile. "Soo…"

A sigh came from Tripwire. "Just try not to talk too much unless addressed. You will understand when we meet her."

As we trotted out into Ursa's Rest I found it to be far more subdued in the morning. Though not lacking in activities, it was still clearly too early for most ponies as they prepared for the day. Some were sweeping trash away from their stalls, others were crowding around a vendor selling some dark looking hot drink.

There were also several beggars being pushed out of the street, they being incredibly thin and sickly looking.

Entering the Ursa's Den was no different, with only one card table open, and several board looking employees standing around.

Following Tripwire, we went up a flight of stairs and to a set of metal doors. Standing guard were two big ponies in armored ursa suits. They had what I had been told were battle saddles. It allowed them to fire their guns using a bit-trigger while the guns were strapped to their sides. It was an exchange of ease of firing over accuracy I think. Of which, they both had two guns each that were the same as Molo had. So I guessed that accuracy was not their strategy. They both also had clawed gauntlets on their front and back hooves, which looked incredibly well cared for and didn't match the authenticity of the casino. But they did add to the ponie's intimidating stacher. Actually, anything not covered by the bear suit didn't match the aesthetic, feeling more wild and dangerous than whimsical and alluring.

"Here to see Miss Grizzly." Tripwire said as he pulled out a card, levitating it to one of the guards.

They moved out of the way as another pressed a button. As we stood there, I heard a ding and a clunk, then the two metal doors opened to reveal a small metal room. This left me confused, as why such a small room filled with nothing was so heavily guarded.

Tripwire trotted inside the room, then seeing my hesitation, motion for me to follow. Slowly I entered the room too, finding that it was more of a box. Once inside the doors closed, trapping us inside, where I couldn't see any way to escape. Then it moved!

"BY CELESTIAL, IT'S FUCKING MOVING!" I grabbed onto Tripwire as I shouted.

"It's called an elevator, perfectly safe." Tripwire said, letting me hold onto him.

It didn't reassure me, rooms were not supposed to move, not at all.

Fortunately, the ride was relatively short, and with a clunk, it had stopped and the doors opened. Quickly jumping out of the moving coffin box, I found myself in an extraordinarily beautiful room, where several female guards stood or sat around.

Unlike the rest of the den so far, this part of the building wasn't decorated with a mess of colors, though the palat was still the same, just that it was less chaotic. Pink squares on top of purple outline, it all felt less energetic and more down to business fancy.

The all earth pony guards were strangely dressed, covered in straps of leather armor that were decorated with animal bones. Their bodys were decorated with paint, some of which looked like strangely shaped fruit. Their weapons were also odd, aside from a rifle and pistol, they had decorated spears, clubs, and even those clawed gauntlets the guards below had. They reminded me a bit of a comic book my family had back home, Stronghoof the barbarian, it was called. Though in that book the pony was a rather ripped stallion then a group of rather scarry mares.

The intimating mares eyed us, but did not move to stop us as Tripwire trotted to some really nice looking doors, which opened for us on their own.

Inside was a larger room that had a large heart shaped bed at the end, where two mares layed. At the center of the room was a massive desk. Weapons decorating the walls, and beautiful statues of ponies along the edges. The statues were incredibly detailed and beautiful, almost lifelike.

At the large desk sat an earth pony mare, who was dark brown with a multi-colored purple mane, and dressed in a suit that was the same colors as the other employees. The mare was rather large, slightly plump, but clearly muscular in build. She also eyed me with a predatory gaze which unnerved me.

Grizzly then addressed Tripwire. "Ah, it hasn't been long enough since the last time I've seen you, Tripwire. And I see you have a new mare with you, a shame, I was hoping to see Onyx again." Her eyes drifted back to me, "Now may I know your name?"

Tripwire spoke up, but was immediately cut off by Grizzly. "I was asking her."

I cleared my throat, feeling considerably nervous now. "L… Lottery, my name's Lottery" I stammered out.

She licked her lips as she continued to look at me. "As you might already know, I'm Grizzly Deal, and have you ever thought about working here? For me. "

"Sorry, no… I mean, I already have a job." I quickly told her.

Grizzly sighed as she leaned back in her big puffy chair, returning her gaze to Tripwire. "Have I ever told you that, if I knew you were going to be such a mare magnet, I would have killed you when we were foals."

"All the time Grizzly." Tripwire said flatly. "Now if we can skip the pleasantries, I'm here, as you know, for business."

"What, here I thought you wanted to see how Wiretap was doing." Grizzly said flatly.

Tripwire didn't say anything, causing Grizzly to sigh.

"Ahh yes, the loan." Grizzly said with a scowl. "I assume you have appropriate collateral. I may be in the gambaling business, but I don't gamble with my business. Give me the appropriate holdings, and you will get your damn loan. When you pay it off, and you better pay it off, maybe you can attend to other responsibilities if you're going to stick around."

Tripwire levitated most of the papers he had recently recovered, placing them on the table. "This should do until I return."

Grizzly looked over the papers, annoyance in her eyes as she nodded, flipping through them. "You unicorns and your magic... everything" she huffed as she put them down. "But this is clearly something you will want back, and also something I can't simply forged, unfortunately. This will do, and your property will be returned upon repayment, along with interest of fifteen percent."

Tripwire furrowed his brow. "Oh come on Grizzly, fifteen percent interest, that's highway robbery!"

"I can go higher, and will, Tripwire, so think of it as a secret keeping fee. We both know there's a big bad pussy-cock in Fillydelphia who would love to get her talons on these documents. If you are starting a new business like Onyx said you are, then I would gladly fund it. But I need assurance that if things go tits up, I won't be dragged down with you." Grizzly then pulled out several sheets of paper from under her desk. "Now with that out of the way, I have our standard loan contracts, I'm sure I don't need to explain how this works."

Two sheets were placed in front of Tripwire, and two more in front of me.

Cocking an eyebrow at Grizzly, I then asked. "Why me?"

Grizzly sighed. "Because all parties involved must hold responsibility, otherwise it opens my business up for loophole exploitation. Trust me, we've had a long history of loan runners, contract breakers, and ponies who didn't think our rules applied to them. Making sure that all parties involved have fur in the game makes sure none have any funny ideas, and since you're clearly an independent, you have your own contract."

I… had a hard time following, and looking down at the paper, even less of an Idea what it said.

Seeing my plight, Tripwire leaned over and pointed at the paper with his hoof. "It basically says that you promise to repay Ursa's Den the caps they lent out to you, with an extra fee for the time left unpaid. Caps are expected, but other forms of payments are accepted, including labor that Ursa's Den sees fit." He then tapped a blank line at the bottom. "Just sign your name here."

I grimaced, and attempted to write my name with my mouth, only managing a mess of scribbles. Fortunately, Grizzly pulled out an ink pad, which we both tapped our hooves on and then on the documents.

Satisfied, Grizzly took one document from each of us, leaving us with one each. She then pulled out what I recognized as poker chips, twenty of them, each worth a hundred caps. "Alright, with the collateral and the contract, I'm lending you these chips, use them as you see fit, just don't forget that it's Ursa's Den's money you're using."

Tripwire took the chips, passing me ten of them. "I know how a loan works. So long as things go well, you will get your money back, and with your damn interest. I'm not some short-term thinking fool like everypony else out here."

Grizzly let out a huff of a laugh. "Like how smart you were thirteen years ago." The mare then turned her gaze onto me. "And you, if you ever come to regret working for this pony, my door's always open."

"Ahh… thanks…" I said nervously,

With our business over with, Tripwire quickly took our chips and left and I followed. With dread in my stomach, I clung onto Tripwire, finding that going down on an elevator far more terrifying than going up. Once I was free of that death trap, and out of Ursa's Den, I finally felt free to ask a simple question.

"So what exactly happened to your money?" I asked him as I looked at a chip. The thing was made from several materials, of which I could only guess one was gold, or something like gold.

"Yes, the caps." Tripwire said calmly as he levitated a chip. "It's all gone to paying off ponies I owed, or needed favors from. It's been a long ten years for me, and I have a lot of ponies I've made promises to. Once I recover that cache, I'll be able to pay off all my debts, and move onto rebuilding."

He then put the chip away and sighed, now having a more serious look on his face. "Onto the task at hoof, unfortunately from what Onyx has told me, where I need to go next is a conflict hotspot. Just getting around a few monster nests will not be enough, so better to be safe than sorry."

"Ya, she said something like that" I said as I nodded. "Something to do with raiders."

"Just follow, I'll explain as we get geared up for this expedition." He told me.

We quickly arrived near the shooting range that I had been at yesterday with Molo. The building next to it selling guns and armor. An armored ponytron robot trotting around the front as a guard. Behind a cage, where the guns and gear was, sat a less than happy looking griffon, cleaning a rifle. I had to admit that he was quite striking looking, a bit old, maybe around my Pa’s age, but clearly a griffon that had the body of a hard worker. His red and black tipped feathers gave him a dangerous feeling that excited me a little.

I had to hold back from embarrassing myself with a squeal, as it was my first time seeing a griffin. What I knew of them, other than being half bird and half cat, was that they were the greatest fighters in the wasteland. Most famous was the Talon mercenaries, who were supposedly all over the wasteland, and could be hired to protect you so long as you had the caps.

Tripwire trotted up to the cage, showing several of his chips. "We're heading north to route 7, Dead Pony Pass, and need gear for it."

The griffin huffed as he put his rifle down and eyed us both. "If your plan is to go straight down into that clusterfuck, then fuck off, I don't have armor thick enough to absorb that much led. Or stupidity."

Glancing at me for a moment, Tripwire smiled as he addressed the griffin. "Fortunately I have quite a good scout, a pony who can take me around the back roads, so we only require strong but lighter armor. Also guns, good guns, Gunrunner guns if possible."

The griffin eyed us for several seconds before sighing. "Fine, still your funeral. I take no responsibility if you die out there. It's practicly suicide right now to go to Dead Pony Pass. Also, Gunrunner guns are likely too pricey for ponies like you, but I have something that's good enough."

He then trotted off to the back for a moment before returning with what looked like a bunch of rags and leather scraps. Tripwire levitated one out revealing it to be some sort of hooded burlap cloak with metal plates under and held together by matted leather. Its color was a mess of browns and grays, reminding me of the wasteland itself.

"Actual wasteland scout armor, this will do." Tripwire said as he put down his chips. "And the rest?"

What the griffin then grabbed was two sets of leather covered metal leg guards, and two scoped hunting rifles, with twenty rounds each. It cost us all but two of our chips, which likely meant that all this was expensive stuff.

The rifle's looked awesome, making my own look like a joke. Not that I was getting rid of mine, just that my jury rigged rifle could not compare to the real thing. Though as awesome as the rifle was, it was clearly old, real old. Holding the barrel and cracked stock together were several rusty rings, and the scope itself looked like its glass had been replaced by the reshaped base of sparkle-cola bottles. Still, it was definitely the most powerful thing I ever held in my hooves.

As I put on the scout armor, it was uncomfortable and itchy, but I also felt safer with it on.

Now I felt it was damn time I was told about what the fuck I had gotten myself into. "So, what's going on in Dead Pony pass?"

Tripwire had the armor already on, it covering his nice suit. "Chaos to be frank. There's an old Equestria military base down there that Redeye was using as a supply depo for his army. Food, water, and guns. Well now with Redeye out of the picture, every wannabe warlord wants that depo, and not just for the supplies, but for its position. It's easy to defend, you see. Last reported, not just raiders have moved in, but the Enclave and the Steal Rangers, not to forget the remnants of Redeye's army still holding onto the depo."

That was a lot of bad ponies, all in one place. "Please don't tell me that we're heading to the depo!"

Fortunately Tripwire shook his head. "No, there's a mining tunnel a ways aways from there. Property of my family and probably where my father had hid most of our family's artifacts."

"And how do we safely bring them back?" I asked.

He smiled. "That's the best part, all we need to do is reach it. The instructions my father left behind told me that the cash has a teleportation device with it, a medallion to be exact. That's all, once we recover that medallion, I'll have access to the cache whenever I like."

My head spun a little, with the talk of teleportation straining my imagination. It sounded like something from the one power pony comic my family had, the other comic my brothers obsessed over. Again I decided to just trust Tripwire on this and nodded.

Holding his last chip, Tripwire answered my question before I could ask. "I'll use my last chip to get more food and water, you use yours for anything you might need."

Looking back at the griffin I then remembered that I had used my only axe to attach to my rifle, so a back up melee was needed.

"Excuse me, do you have any good close range weapons? Like an axe or a big knife, something that can be used as a tool maybe?" I asked the griffin.

"Something practical, ya I got a few things you can buy with one of those chips. Not the best, but far from the worst." He said before trotting off.

Several dangerous things were then dropped in front of me from the other side of the cage. The griffin had brought a crowbar, a short and sharpened shovel, a heavy looking wrench, a very heavy looking frying pan, a bat wrapped in barbed wire, a wooden board with some nains in it, a meshetie, and an oddly decorative axe with a spike. It all looked downright dangerous, though a few looked less practical than I asked. But sticking to what I knew, I pointed at the axe, "what's up with the axe"

The griffon picked up the axe, its blade painted a now dull yellow, and having what looked like a brass shield on either side of the flat. The handle had been clearly cut down, and wrapped in leather for a better grip.

"Probably not the best choice, little mare." He told me as he clawd the axe to me. "From what I know about Equestria history, this is a trophy fire axe, not made to be used as an actual axe, just as a wall decoration. Got it from some minotaur heifer that was pawning off her shit for chips, she said it was a good weapon, but with their big meaty arms, anything is a good weapon."

Studying it, I found that the axe was in stupidly good condition, not a bit of rust to be found. It's handle was just big enough for my mouth to get a good grip on it, with the leather wrap helping the hold. The only problem was that it was heavy for its size, but I was hoping that I only needed one good swing to take out anything that I needed to use it on.

"I'll take it." I told the griffin as I pushed the chip to him. He just shrugged and took the chip before grabbing the other weapons to put away.

“Oh, little mare.” The griffon then said to me. “Be careful around tipes like that stallion you're with, there's always something more about them that you may not like.”

“Tripwire's fine, he’s one of the good ponies.” I told the griffon as I finished putting on the leg armor. “We're going to help the wasteland.”

I then trotted out to find Tripwire, happily looking like a true wasteland adventure. All I needed now was a pair of sunglasses.

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Trotting to the exit of Ursa's Rest, I was then met with Tripwire levitating a jar to me. "Take one of these." He said as several little white pills rattled inside.

"Chems?" I asked.

He sighed. "Yes, but not what you think. It's the local contraception, made and sold by Ursa'sDen. Pricey too. But it should make sure you don't get pregnant."

I snached the jar from his magical hold, opened it and took one of the pills. It was extremely bitter and dry as it went down.

"Fuck, I forgot about that." I said, sighing in relief.

"Feeling mutual." Tripwire said with a smile. "I may like you, but I don't want to put a foal in you."

Placing the jar carefully into my saddlebag, the thought of having a child with Tripwire crossed my mind for a moment. It was… a calming thought.

"So, as long as I take theis, we can do it again, and I don't have to worry?" I asked him.

"That's how it works, yes." Tripwire said calmly. "But if we're going to be in such a relationship, let's try not to rely on those pills too much. They may work, but they are not perfect from what I've heard, and not good for your health."

I didn't like the sound of that last part, but I still like the idea of getting closer with Tripwire some more.

Trotting up to him, I brushed my flank against his, and wiggle my eyebrows. "Well I'm sure there's other ways we can do it."

We both then laughed, the absurdity of it all catching up with me.

"But in all seriousness, thanks, the last thing I need is to go home pregnant. Ma and Pa would be so pissed at me if I did." I explained.

"I understand that. My mother was very serious about picking proper mares for me. She was a controlling pony, but only with me, and not with my younger brother."

Now I was curious. "Your brother, what was he like?"

Tripwire looked a bit annoyed by the question, waiting a moment before answering. "Spell Circuit was… an underachiever, a bit dull, but always asked too many questions. A real pain in my ass, thinking he could become some talented spell caster if he just worked hard for it. Lost count how many times I had to clean up after his messess. The last straw was when he helped Redeye agents me."

I took a step back. "Oh… I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Tripwire said with a sigh. "I already buried that part of my life in the ground ten years ago."

"Still, it must have been difficult." I added

He smiled. "Actually, it was quite easy to do." Tripwire then stretched his legs out, popping a few joints. "Well let's get going, the wasteland isn't going to stop being chaos on its own."

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