Fallout Equestria: Tales from Stable 83

I was awoken not long later, the sun still hadn’t risen and the campfire had burned down to embers. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness of the world around me.

Orchid was still asleep right next to me, though she had retracted her wing sometime in the middle of the night. Her blanket had been brought up over her head, presumably by Smoky.

The stallion in question was standing at the edge of the camp pacing back and forth. I could vaguely hear him muttering to himself, his gaze always moving as he watched for any threats. He had been pacing for a while based on how much dirt he’d displaced from his path.

I sat up and yawned, cracking my back as I did so. Sleeping had done me good. My new gunshot wounds still ached, but it was at least tolerable now. Scared me how quickly I was getting used to recovering from getting shot. Another unfortunate side effect of my prescription to living like this. With a slight wince I forced myself to my hooves and stretched while walking over to Smoky.

The closer I got the better I could make out his mumbling. “On the one hoof that bounty could buy us out of a contract. On the other, Orchid can’t handle losing anypony else. What the fuck do I do? Caravan work ain’t our line of work, but it pays well enough an we could get what we need.”

I stopped twelve feet short of Smoky to process what he was saying. Caravan work? The thing they had run away from to live how they wished, that was an option now?

“And what about Crimson? Orchid can’t lose him…” he paused briefly before adding in a much more hushed tone “I can’t lose him. Fuck.”

So the soulless bastard actually does care about me. I knew it! I waited a few seconds before letting out a yawn and saying “morning Smoky. I think it’s morning anyway. You’ve been up for a while it seems.”

Smoky stopped dead in his tracks before turning to look at me. He then looked down at the path he’d been pacing. “Yeah I uh, couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d do some thinkin while I watched fer danger.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “How long you been awake for?”

“A minute, maybe two. Hard to tell without a clock. Must be getting close to time to move on right?” I asked steering the conversation away from his mumbling.

“Yeah, yeah. Sun should be rising anytime now. We’ll uh, get movin at dawn. Head back to town and see if we can sell these hides fer enough ta cover our trip.”

“And then some hopefully. I don’t know about you, but I think we deserve some hazard pay with what we went through.” I gave him a smile and trotted to his side.

Smoky chuckled in response. “Wouldn’t that be something. Orchid could probably swing it if she tried. Oh speaking of, you mind wakin her? I think she might respond better to you right now.”

“Sure, I’ll wake her. Don’t go pacing yourself further into the ground now.” I said before trotting away. A light chuckle filled my ears as I parted from his company.

Orchid hadn’t woken up by the time I returned to her side. I slowly pulled the blanket off of her head. Uncharacteristically she was still wearing her armor. Her breathing was slow and she seemed to be having a pleasant dream with a smile plastered on her face. I hated to have to interrupt her rest, but we needed to be on the move. I slowly shook her to wake her up.

It took a few moments but she did groggily pick her head up and yawn. “I’m awake. My turn fer watch already?” Orchid unfurled her right wing over where I had been sleeping and lightly flapped it. She looked over confused, having not found me to be sleeping next to her.

Panic almost overtook her, but I stopped her with a kiss. “I’m right here, no need to panic. Just got up early is all.”

Relief washed over her face and she stood up. “I’m glad yer still here. Trouble sleepin or what?” She asked stretching her wings out.

“Nope, just woke up early. Must be getting used to living like this. Circadian rhythm must have synchronized with yours.”

“Or Smoky’s more likely. He’s always wakin me up when it’s time to move on.” Orchid began packing up our bedrolls. “Not that I mind, I enjoy sleepin in. An I still pull my own weight, so he don’t mind lettin me.”

“I couldn’t agree more, extra sleep is always a wonderful experience.” Pretty selfless of him to let Orchid sleep in that much. I wish he would let me sleep in. “Where are we by the way? There’s a slight gap in my memory after I got shot… four times.”

“A little ways southwest of their stagin area, five miles or so. Runnin from raiders really puts some pep in yer step” she said before tossing her saddlebags onto her back. “Only stopped cause we had ta. Smoky was bout ta faint an I was worried bout ya. Seemed as good a spot as any ta rest fer the night.”

“Doesn’t seem like we had any other options really. Smoky couldn’t have carried me any farther and I was in no shape to be moving much.” Likely should still be resting, but that’s not an option.

“Yer right, just frustratin ta not make it the last lil stretch. Oh well, only a few hours ta go fer we can sell our haul.” She motioned for me to follow. “Come on, let’s get Smoky an get a move on.”

I happily fell in line behind her, it was a beautiful sight after all. “You think they’ll have those herbs to deal with my disease? I’d like to be doing more to help out.”

“Maybe.” Orchid cast a glance over her shoulder at me as if to say ‘you’re doing enough’ but didn’t voice such an opinion. “Then again maybe not. Fer yer sake I hope so, but I wouldn’t hold yer breath.”

“Right, ok.” I let out an exasperated sigh. She might think I’m doing enough, but I don’t. “How will you know if they have the right ones?”

Orchid was silent for an uncomfortably long moment. “Gut feelin, I know my plants well ‘nough. Why ya askin?”

“Well,” great natural curiosity gets you in trouble again dumbass. “I suppose I was wondering if we could find them while exploring. Like Smoky did for those potions we made after I first woke up.”

“We could, jus more luck involved thata way. Easier ta buy then find an it’s important that ya can carry yer own equipment.” I could not agree more with that statement.

“Agreed. Follow up question. Where’d you learn what plants release the chemicals I mentioned on my notepad?” That was less than common knowledge without an extensive background in scientific research.

“I learned a few tricks in my years. Had Smoky read me a journal we found few years back that mentioned some that stuff. Weren’t the best place ta start learnin ta read, but I made do.” She kept her gaze straight ahead, locked on to her brother.

And she still hasn’t mastered reading yet. Normally that’d spell my untimely end, but I can put my trust in her. “Journal huh? I wonder if it was written by one of my coworkers.” Gloria would be the prime suspect. She was incredible with plants and their scientific uses.

“Can’t tell ya, we had ta burn it durin winter ta stay alive.” Before I could say anything else we stopped next to Smoky.

“You two ready to move out? Ain’t far to go to town.” He looked over the both of us and simply nodded without waiting for our response. “Let’s get a move on then. They won’t be around here for much longer.”

We took off at a manageable pace. The various aches and pains in my body weren’t enough to slow me down, but I was wishing for some painkillers every hundred yards. The sun was cresting the horizon before long and the heat of the day slowly began to seep in.

Days like today usually weren’t too bad if you had even just a slight breeze and plenty of water. We had enough water, several gallons as I recalled. What we lacked was a breeze, the wind had died down in the middle of the night. Now we were left in a stifling desert, forced to trot onwards by the time constraint.

Luckily the encampment wasn’t far too far away and only a few hours had passed by the time we reached the outskirts of the makeshift graveyard.

I made sure my path gave each grave the proper breadth for respect. The dead deserved to rest and not have ponies trod upon their grave. My companions didn’t walk directly over the top of any grave, but were much closer than I felt was respectful.

The encampment before us was alive with activity. What few tents remained standing were being broken down and loaded into small rickety looking carts. Said carts looked to be constructed from the boards used in their general store, which explained the absence of said building. Many of these carts were loaded well beyond the usual limits.

One of the carts off to the side had several hides, tools, and weapons hanging from the side. Our destination if Orchid’s course was to be believed.

I waved to a few members of the camp as we passed, including the sheriff who seemed quite pleased to see us again.

“Good afternoon sir, we’ve got some wares fer ya to look at.” Orchid motioned to Smoky. “Some high quality hides an fresh meat that might peak yer interest.”

The pile of hides was more than two feet tall by the time all of them were unloaded on the rear of the wagon. The last one to be laid out was the prize hide of the alpha we had killed.

The stallion took clear and immediate interest in the alpha’s hide. “Well I’ll be, ya actually found him. I thought he was just a rumor you two had heard ‘bout. Must have been mighty hard to put him down, mean sumbitch that he musta been.”

“He was, took several bullets to the chest and still had enough life in him to pounce on me.” I said as I approached the cart looking for anything of interest. “I thought for sure I was done for.”

“It’s true, heart and lungs were riddled with holes. He was a mean sumbitch alright.” Smoky said running a hoof down the hide.

The stallion hummed. “Sounds like ya got a lotta attachment to it. It is a real perty hide, in good condition too. I ain’t got the caps ta buy all these hides and meat outright. Maybe we can make a deal.”

“I’m sure we can. How ‘bout we let these two boys pick out what they want an we can settle everythin all out after.” Orchid leaned on the cart and fluttered her eyelids.

“Can do miss. You two pick out what ya need. Now I’ll tell ya miss, we ain’t got much to trade fer after that attack.”

Smoky and I stepped forward to the cart and began searching through the contents for much needed supplies. The cart had everything we needed and then some. Ammunition, food, water, all in quantities far greater than we could ever dream to carry. I watched Smoky for a few moments to see what he was going to buy.

Smoky was most concerned with fresh water and pistol ammunition. Though he did stop to investigate a few different books, one of which he added to his growing pile of supplies.

I turned back to the cart and started sorting through the ammunition stockpile. There was plenty of ammo for all the guns I had, but not knowing how much we had I erred on the side of caution and only grabbed a few boxes of each type. I set them aside and dug through the cart looking for any books and herbs that could be found.

I found the books first and rifled through the first pages of most of the books. A few of them were novels I had already read, nothing of real interest to me. The first of two to catch my eye was a journal much like my own. Several alchemical recipes marked it’s pages, a book that Orchid would no doubt be able to make use of. The second was a shorter novel that Lavender had enjoyed, one she had been keeping to help our foal learn to read. Both books found their way into my pile and I finally shoved enough stuff aside to find the herbs.

“So what are we looking for here Orchid. I must admit I’m not exactly well versed in herbology.” I recognized several small bundles of lavender and ginseng, but the rest was well beyond me.

“Scooch, I’ll see if they got any. How ‘bout you an Smoky pay fer what ya bought.” She bumped me with her flank and searched through the pile of herbs.

“Ya find everythin ya needed?” The stallion said looking over our haul of goodies. “Looks like ya needed a lot.”

“I think we found everything we need, least fer now anyhow.” Smoky nodded satisfied. “How much can we get fer the hides and meat?”

“Enough to cover all this, an a hundred caps on top. Sounds like a fair price ta me.” He didn’t look too hard, was that good or bad?

“A hundred sounds about fair.” Smoky held his right hoof out to shake on it. “Orchid you got a hundred to get what ya need, I already got ammo and water.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, meet ya back at the pit.” She didn’t look up from the cart, a few choice herbs had been separated from the rest. Hopefully the ones I needed.

“Pleasure doin business with ya. Ifn ya need anythin you’ll have ta find us up north. Time we had our leave of this place.”

“We’ll make sure to do that. Come on Crimson.” Smoky gave a polite nod to the shopkeep before trotting towards the outskirts of camp.

I followed closely behind him with my new purchases stowed safely away. The journal found its way out of my bags and into the air in front of me. Now that I had the time to properly look it over I was interested to see what treasures these pages held. The first pages were recipes that I’d need Orchid’s expertise to decipher and make sense of. Skimming through I saw several more alchemical recipes before the contents changed to more destructive recipes. Alchemical recipes and explosive schematics, an interesting combination to have in the same journal. Fuck any recipe up in this book and it’ll blow up in your face.

My muzzle pressed up against the book as it and I ran face first into a now stationary Smoky. “Maybe wait until we’ve stopped to read there Crimson. Wouldn’t want to walk inta some raider trap or creature would ya?”

I took a step back and closed the book. “No, I most certainly wouldn’t want to do that. Just got distracted thinking about the contents of this book.” Or about who it reminded me of.

He gave me an understanding nod. “I know, just gotta make sure ya don’t walk off without Orchid. She’d have more than a few things to say if I did.” He gestured to the ground before sitting down himself. “What caught yer interest?”

I sat down and levitated the now open book over to him. “Some recipes that Orchid might have use of, and just then a couple of schematics for bombs of some sort. Musing about how this whole journal could blow up in your face.” I slowly flipped through a few of the pages to let him read. “I’m no expert, but I think I could put some of these together if I had the parts to work with.”

“Hmm, we’ll keep an eye out for anything we can use. If we can spare the parts I think it’d be a good idea to make a few.” He stopped to ponder. Perfect, that look of gears turning. One step closer to getting home.

“So where to next?” I asked sliding the journal back into my saddlebags. “We’ve got a good stock of food and water, the ammo to keep us alive. Seems like all we’re missing is a plan.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about that…” he trailed off idly scratching at the ground with his left forehoof. “I was gonna run the idea by you and Orchid about maybe joining up with this lot for a while. They pay well and we ain’t exactly got a way to get into that stable of yours for our other prospect. Much as I hate to do that, might be our best option for now.”

“I’m in no real position to argue with your judgement. We don’t have the resources to retake my old home nor a pipbuck to crack security at the stable, so that’s out of the question for now. Sounds like everywhere else around here is full of raiders and slavers.” Not many options for us at all, but leaving the area for goddesses know how long isn’t an option for me.

“I know, I don’t want to force us back into somepony else’s terms. Unless we can think of something else, it’s what we’ll have to do.” The gears were still turning, but I could tell none of them were finding purchase on anything.

The slight rustle of wings and a light draft caught my attention. I spun my head fast enough to catch Orchid landing next to me. “Bout time ya catch me fore I land. Light a fire would ya? I got some tea ta make.” She kissed me and hoofed over a bundle of herbs. “These’ll do the trick fer ya. Should be able to make a few gallons, nough fer a few weeks.”

Not the whole month I needed them for, but it would help me for a while. “Perfect, thank you. I’ll be able to carry more if I drink this right?” I pulled four full water bottles from my pack and set them aside.

“It’ll numb the pain, but I’d still take it easy if I was you. Now just let these herbs boil fer a few minutes and then bottle it back up.” She sat down and watched the flames burn. “Where we headed Smoky?”

“Crimson and I were just discussing that. Not a whole lot left round here for us right now. Best I’ve got for now is ta head north, maybe travel with this lot for a while.” His expression was dour. Looked like a foal anticipating his parents yelling at him.

But no yelling came. “Ya know that ain’t us anymore. We left fer a reason, an I can’t see us takin it back up. Ya gotta remember tha reason. I ain’t got the heart fer it.” Orchid looked stubborn, but I could hear the melancholy in her voice. Who had she lost to be some vehemently against this idea?

“Neither do I, but what else can we do? We’ve hunted this area nearly dry, our bounty is locked up tight where we can’t get, an we ain’t got the means to take over Crimson’s town even if we wanted ta.” Frustration, but he was holding back the flood gates. “Unless you can think of something, our best bet is to join them for a while. Just long enough to get the supplies we need to pursue our target.”

Steam escaped the top of the kettle, the tea was done. I levitated it out of the flames and poured the contents into my glass bottles. The tea carried a dull orange hue instead of the green I expected out of these herbs, but it did smell delightful. I took a sip and was unpleasantly surprised by the incredibly earthy taste, like sipping on liquidized dirt.

“What bout headin south then? We know a few folk down there an there’s nough game there. Ain’t far we’d have ta go, an we’d be close fer when we do got the means.” Orchid was standing now, looking over the flames at her brother.

The air felt cold and dead, even with the small campfire blazing during the heat of the day. Neither could agree on what path to take because both had their merits. I guess it comes down to me to help make the decision. “Well, how about we stick around this area for a while longer? We can camp out at lone tree in the cellar, it’s safe and defensible. Plus I think with time we could gather some of the nails down there for use in some explosives.”

“That’s a very short term solution. We need to be thinking at least a month ahead to keep ourselves alive,” Smoky said, clearly annoyed at me for not taking his side. “While I think it’d be a good idea to stay there, what would we do about clean water? Or fresh food that isn’t meat? Our stocks will only carry us so far, and then what?”

“By then we’ll have what we need. With a little of your strategic planning we can make the area safe and take everything we can use. Plus we’ll have a good place to store what we can’t carry with us all the time.” Not my best plan, but it would be a good enough plan to keep us alive while we made a better one.

Smoky and Orchid shared a moment of silence staring at each other. Their faces conveyed an entire conversation, every small twitch and motion understood by both of them. Smoky was the first to break the silence. “Ok, we’ll make camp there and plan out our next steps. Hope you’re ready for a long walk, we’re not stopping until we’re there.”

Another long walk? At least I have this tea to ease the pain while we walk. “Lead on then. It’s quite a trip out to lone tree.”

Orchid quickly packed up the kettle and fell in line on my right side. “I hope you’ve got a plan brewin. Gotta keep Smoky happy if’n ya want ta stay here, an he’s none to happy bout this choice.”

“I’ve got something in the works, I just need some time to work out the finer details. Step one is simple. We get to lone tree and make use of what little remains there. Step two becomes more complicated, but I’m confident I can make a sufficient enough plan out of it.” The tea did wonders to numb the pain. Though I could still feel a minor ache where the bone shards were the worst.

“That’s what I was afraid of.” Orchid fell silent. The awkward silence was replaced by the feeling of our tails intertwining once again. A gesture I was growing increasingly fond of. With no more to discuss we made our way onwards, following closely behind Smoky.

The area was quiet today, unnaturally so. Not that I minded some peace and quiet after the awful week I had just barely lived through. No birds chirping, no ponies talking, no breeze blowing, and thankfully no gunshots ringing out. Today is as close to paradise as one can come out in this world anymore.

Then there’s the mare beside me. Under more normal circumstances I’d have distanced myself from her, but normal circumstances were completely gone. We had only shared a few passionate moments together so far, but I felt like I knew her inside and out. Under the circumstances I suppose proposing to her is out of the question. Not like I have a ring to give her anyway.

Before the fanciful thoughts of traditions long past could take root, my attention was brought back to the here and now. The sun was setting and only a few hundred yards away was the cellar in which we would make camp for the night. Our new home, for the time being.

“Orchid you mind flying ahead to make sure the coast is clear? And if it is maybe getting a small fire going. Clouds look like we might have a storm tonight, better get any cooking we need to do done before it hits.” Smoky fiddles with his revolver as we closed the distance. He loaded in a type of bullet I failed to recognize.

“Sure.” Orchid brushed her tail against me before she took off into the air. I hated having her leave my side to potentially be put in danger, but she has proved more than capable of defending herself.

“So what’s step two of your plan?” Smoky had slowed to trot alongside me. “Or have you thought that far ahead yet?”

“I haven’t got it completely thought through yet, but I’ve got enough of it sorted for us to take action tomorrow.” I suppose the whole idea could be step two. “We’re going back to the train station, we left some materials behind that we now have a use for.”

“The vending machines?” Smoky asked, casting me a cautious side eye. “You really think those pieces of shit are worth the danger of going back there? You do remember what you had a run in with right?”

“Hear me out here. Those machines are giant chunks of metal and plastic. If we can break them down that metal can be formed into the housing for some of these bombs. Or we can use it to reinforce our armor to help save our lives from anything attacking us.” I hope both, but without the proper tools that might be too much of a stretch. “Then all we need is some gunpowder, which is actually the more difficult part of this plan. I can make it from scratch, but we’d need to find some special ingredients to make it work.”

“Not as hard as you think. We can burn up a fair amount of those wooden boards in the basement right?” The look of doubt on Smoky’s face had been replaced by an inquisitive one. There was a hint of something more that I could only place as him knowing what I was thinking.

“I think so, but they might need some time to dry out first. I’m less worried about the charcoal and more worried about the sulfur and potassium nitrate.” Chemically pure amounts of either wouldn’t be an option. Luckily Steel’s mix didn’t require them to be.

“I hope you have some idea where to find what ya need, because you’ve got one week to convince me on your plan. If I ain’t convinced we’re heading north to find something concrete.” Smoky stopped at the top of the cellar and looked back at me.

One week to make all the preparations, less time than I wanted. “I’ve got an idea. Old mine tunnels near where I worked were shut down to let our operation in. That’d be the best place to start looking for what we need.” With any luck some of the explosives would still be there and stable.

“For all of our sake’s I hope you’re right Crimson.” He lifted the cellar door up and motioned for me to go through. “Go on ahead, I need to talk with Orchid for a few minutes. Oh and take this, might help keep those nails intact.” His tail swayed back and forth with a hammer weighing it down.

I levitated the hammer over to me and lit my horn up to help see in the darkness below. “I’ll get to work clearing out a place for us to sleep. Won’t be very comfortable, but it’ll be dry.” I stepped down into the darkness, horn lighting my way forward.

Cleaning out the whole cellar would take far too much of my limited time, so picking the best spot for the night was a priority. I picked the corner right of the bottom of the stairs. Most of the shelves had already collapsed making it the best short notice choice. Several boards were already piled on the ground with rusty nails exposed.

Using the hammer I quickly pried the rusty nails I could see from the boards and laid them out flat. If there was going to be rain tonight we’d want to be off the ground. The cellar door would keep most of the water out, but the extra insulating layer would keep us warm and dry.

The next shelf was only about half standing, the left side had collapsed some time ago leaving only the right side and shelf slats intact. I tipped the whole shelf onto the intact right side and started ripping nails out to separate the slats. The process was relatively quick, some of the boards were rotten making nail removal that much easier. The good boards were added to the growing sleeping area I had laid out. The rotten ones I laid out to help keep any good boards I didn’t need off the ground.

“One shelf down, only ninety nine to go. At least we’ll have a dry place to sleep tonight.” I tipped the next shelf over and started the process over again. My collection of nails had grown to about fifty by the time I had destroyed the second shelf, and the sleeping area was big enough for all three of us. Any boards from here on out could be burned for charcoal.

The smell of cooking meat began to waft down the stairs. The smell was infinitely better than the last time I had smelled meat cooking. I laid down and took out a bottle of tea, sipping on it while working to help numb the pain. A third shelf had been broken down and separated by the time the cellar door opened up.

“Sorry bout takin so long. Figured I’d get nough meat cooked ta hold us over fer a while.” Orchid made her way down into the cellar and looked around. “Seems ya were just as ‘fficient with yer time. How bout ya move over an let me get our beds set up?”

I stood up and moved off the wooden boards. “I can do that. Feeling a bit peckish, mind passing me one of those steaks?”

Orchid did so before laying out the first bedroll. “Smoky said ya got a plan fer us, seemed unsure bout it. Ya ain’t plannin somethin stupid are ya.”

“That depends on how you define stupid.” I took a bite out of the steak and chewed it, pondering my next words. “I think it’s a good idea. Gives us some extra firepower in the form of improvised explosives. I figure you can drop them on top of whatever we need to kill.”

“That’s not a bad idea. So what’d ya say ta make him antsy?” Orchid asked, dropping her saddlebags onto her bedroll.

I set my bedroll down on the floor and unrolled it, happily eating the rest of my steak as I did so. “I said we’d need to go back to the train station. That didn’t win me a whole lot of confidence from him.”

“An I see why he wasn’t excited, '' Orchid said with an exasperated sigh at the end. “But he went long with it, so I spose that’s where we’re headed. Anythin else I should know?”

“There’s some mines nearby we’ll also be going to looking for the raw materials to create gunpowder. Did he not tell you all this already?” I asked as I laid down on my bedroll next to her. “Seems like something he’d tell you.”

Orchid sighed and started stripping her armor off. “Nah. We had other business ta talk bout. Plans a what we’ll do if yer plan don’t line up. I’m really hopin ya know what yer doin. I love Smoky, but I can’t see eye ta eye with him with this plan of his.”

I sure hope I know what I’m doing. “I know all the pieces will fall into place, but it’s not going to be an easy plan to make work. What’s he doing up there by the way?”

“He’ll be down soon, just needed ta sit an think. Was watchin the clouds when I left an came down here.” She pushed the armor aside and stretched. “Long day tamarraw, hope he don’t stay up too long. Same goes fer you, prolly should get some shut eye.”

While I could stay up longer working, she was right. “You’re right. I suppose it is time to get some rest. Won’t be getting much in the coming days while enacting my plan. Goodnight Orchid.” The words fell on deaf ears as she was already asleep. I laid my head down and slowly drifted off to sleep without hearing the cellar door close.