Fallout Equestria: Desperados V2 (of Blood and Dirt)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 15

Schemes and Grudges (Part 2)

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It was weird, I knew I was still knocked out, fully aware as I drifted in darkness. But my mind was still in a fog, unable to wake myself up, or properly focus on anything. Maybe it was the chem Quicktrot used, or whatever happened when I used my evil eye on her.

Right, the evil eye. Now that I remember, did I always have it, and Victoria only awakened and cursed it. Setting Sun did have suck magic, though it seemed far more elegant than my own.

My world world around as white and grays formed structures, and quickly I found myself back on the Blackwater, but all in monochrome.

"Cur, ye reckon ye're worth so much!" A sailor yelled at my mother, throwing a pitiful amount of doubloons at her face, another pony thinking he could cheat Setting Sun.

But a cruel smirk formed on her muzzle as her eyes seemed to light up with magic. "Oh I do ya pathetic worm, but now 'twill cost ye more."

His eyes became entranced with her own, trembling as he trotted backwards. "S… sorry." He said, dropping all his doubloons right before his leg slipped. I watched as he then fell, from the top of the Red Light corter, and hitting several metal beams all the way down.

Below us was another prostitute, who had been watching the seen. She chuckled curly before looking up at us in amusement. "Another bilge rat o' a sailor, ay Settin'. I could mighty use those eyes o' yers sometimes."

Setting Sun covered her muzzle before letting out a chuckle all elegant like. "Oh, I doubt ye can afford it. No other bicorn here but me aft all."

"Ya ya, we all know that. But we also know ye don't needs horns t' 'ave the eyes. Why don't ya let us test yer daughter thar, see if Star got the stare, then they be two o' ya." She suggested.

But mother clicked her tongue in annoyance and spat at the prostitute. "Ain't no way that useless barnacle got anythin' from me. Half tempted t' throw her in the waters 'n see if she breathes it."

As Setting sun trotted away, only caring to pick up the money as she returned home, I watched as the mare below wiped the spit from her face. She looked ready for a fight, down right murderous, but looking at me, she calmed down and sighed. "Ya got it ruff, wit' a mother like that. If it wasn't fer her owns mother, we'd 'ave slit her throat already. Now if ye'd like t' learn from a mare who cares, why don't ye come down here."

She smiled wide with her rotting teeth on full display, but her eyes showed no smile. No, it was the same eyes mother had when looking at stallions, the ones she would drain of all their money, the ones she'd beat and discard. The same eyes the prostitutes have when a new mare joins, and promptly dies within a month.

Blowing a raspberry at the mare, I then chased after my mother, not trusting the mare. Mother also told me to never trust them either, telling me they wouldn't use me correctly. I knew my mother hated me, so it felt strange she'd protect me like that. But it could have been that she hated the other prostitutes more, or simply held onto me until I became useful to her.

Setting Sun was touching up her makeup again, making sure her eyes popped out qnd her horns were well framed.

"Mom?" I spoke up, and she stopped, only moving her eyes to look at me. "Do I not have the… Stare?"

She huffed as she returned to touching up her makeup. "Wee barnacle, if ye did, no fuckin' way I'd tell nopony. I barely make doubloons wit' this job, 'n lettin' Blackpowder Blast take ye away 'n cut me off ain't somethin' I'd accept. Ye belong t' me, 'n if I say ye be useless, then ye be useless. Nah scram 'n go chase rats, no reason ya be here when I be workin'!"

Blackpowder Blast, the captain of the Blackwater, her name brought back memories. And as I remembered, my world swelled again.

I felt it in my chest, the cold steel stuck in my ribs as I stumbled back. It was when Blackpowder Blast had captured us, the runners for Victoria. We were just tools for her, for Victoria's mutiny, and the captain was executing us for it. But I got her, stuck a knife to her eye, but she stuck a sword in my chest. Then I fell back, off the plank and into the cold waters below.

In that cold I called for her, called for my mother who abandoned me, for the one who used me. Yet I called for her, a sliver of hope that deep down in her cold black heart, she was still a mother, and I was her daughter.

But the cold waters took me, it's cold enveloped me. It was strange, as though it felt right, that this was ment to be.

but as I was about to accept the waters and breathe it in… I was saved by a pony who would become my real mother, the mare who would love me.

Prism… She held me, dried me off, and shared her warmth with me.

It was so foreign to me that I rejected it… yet deep down I wanted to be held again.

When that stallion had me cornered, I knew nopony was going to save me, that he would do to me as my mother let done to her… but Prism saved me, comforted, and made sure I ate real food.

When Prism was captured, I… I hated it, I hated that I hated it. Ponies were cold and cruel, not warm and caring. I wanted her to spit venom and cast me away. But no, she wishes for me to live well. And I couldn't let her die because of it.

I could see her. Setting Sun looking at me with a smile that only could be malicious glee. Tainting what she saw as her failure.

I could see her. Victoria needing tools to fuel her ambition, knowing that filling our stomach will gain our trust.

I could see her. Prism as she loved me while hating herself, giving me everything that should have been given to her own child long ago.

And I could see myself. In Bridget's eyes, I was so lost and confused, but doing what I could to make sure she never felt the pain I knew.

I, a tainted mare through and through, beyond redemption by those I cared for, yet loved unconditionally by a mare and filly I didn't deserve. With friends that should leave me behind.

Pain then erupted from my side as my eyes shot open. "See, she's alive." Binary said as the bandaged and bloody bitch stood in front of me.

Looking around as my vision focused, I saw I was surrounded by goons. The usual wasteland trash, in ragged clothes and armed with poorly maintained guns. But there were a lot of them, and in positions that didn't make poor aim a problem.

Worse was that Harp and Slowtrot were here, the guns trained at them.

"Star! You alright? They didn't do anything to you did they?" Harp cried out.

My mouth was dry and felt tacky, but I managed to yell back. "The fuck are you here for, you must have known it was a trap!"

But Harp looked at me with a rather crossed expression. "You know why!"

Binary laughed. "Oh, the power of friendship, ain't it just grand." One of her goons then put a gun to my head as she then got to monologuing. "Some ponies go on and on about how it makes you strong and some shit. Yet I don't see it. Oh, I see the results, the… aftermath."

"So your doing the villain monolog now, Quicktrot." Slowtrot called out in an annoyed tone. "We're already leaving, so why do this?"

Binary, or Quicktrot, then sighed. "Please don't play dumb with me, you're stupid, but not that stupid."

"The barrier under the mountain." He then said, and Quicktrot nodded.

"And for Star's life, you want us to open it for you." Harp added.

"Well.. yes. You let me pass that stupid barrier, and I'll let you on your way." Quicktrot confirmed. "But before that, I must finish my speech. I ever so did practice it for you all."

Harp, Slowtrot and I all rolled our eyes.

"You see this place, this ruin we are standing in." Screeching her arms wide, as though presenting it. We were in a ruined building, that was for sure, and the smell of musty, wet rotting water could be felt deeper in. "This is… was the start of the Four Stars interstate underground railway. So deep that bombs would not threaten it, so advanced that the train system of old would be obsolete, and all a scam. Like everything of the old world."

Slowtrot opened his mouth to say something, but several guns were then pointed at him, shutting him up.

"Oh, I know what you're about to say, my… stupid scraps that should be dead. How would a pony that's made up of fragmented souls know?" Quicktrot said as she trotted over to him and poked Slowtrot's chest. "I know because I know. I remember. I have their memories, memories that are my memories now! I can remember how the heroes of harmony failed, how their friendship meant nothing in the end. How the princesses were just as lost as anypony, and how so easily ponies forgot how to get along. But where others fail, the ponies of the wastes will succeed. Though not without guidance."

Trotting over to an ancient desk, Quicktrot tipped over a flask, in which water flowed out. "This place, sold as a way to further bring progress to Equestria. But in truth, part of a plot to destroy Equestria. Oh how lovely it sounded. But now, it's neither. Now it's part of the local underground water reservoir, which extends from the mines here, to Tato Town, and even all the way under Green Lake Farm."

"Wait! You're not going to poison it, are you?" A worried Harp asked.

But Quicktrot rolled her eyes back at Harp. "Poison perfectly good water, why in fuck would I do that. No, I plan to sell it during the drought, though after purifying it. The waste ponies can drink tainted water, but everypony else can't. I'm just making a point. Where the ponies of old failed, I'll find a way, a new way, my way!"

A smile formed on her face, stretching the skin of Binary more than it should, causing it the tear.

Harp's eyes opened wide. "You want whatever Four Stars, left behind!"

Quicktrot nodded. "Yeppers, the mirage pony bitch has it corrected! Well mostly. I want whatever the Zebras gave them."

"But you don't know what it is, do you?" Slowtrot asked.

"Unfortunately I don't." Quicktrot said, shrugging. "But if the Ministry of Moral deemed it necessary to seal whatever is inside up so tightly, that It's still blocked today. I want it!"

I let out a laugh. "Like what? A fancy gun?"

"And more." She said back to me. "Oh the Ministry of Moral does not use such barriers to seal simple enchanted guns you see. Or we would see them everywhere. No, we only see this used in important places, places in which the powers of the old world don't want anypony to just trot in and look inside. Such as a Ministry of Moral hidden bunker filled with guns, tanks, and other fun shit. Or a crime scene that houses terrible secrets. Unfortunately those two have long been destroyed, but this one still exists. So take a guess of what might be here that Miss Pinkie Pie wanted locked down?"

I didn't like where this was going, but I had a clue. "A… megaspell?"

"A balefire bomb!" Quicktrot said with glee, "it has to be it. It must be."

But something didn't add up, "Why would you even want one?"

She trotted over to me and tapped my head as though checking a coconut. "Think, think. With such a thing I could do so much. With such a thing I would be feared properly. But mostly, if anypony is truly powerful enough to end me, that bomb would make them cease to exist."

Quicktrot the giggled like a mad mare. "Or just kill Percussion Cap with it and her damn farm!"

"The fuck she ever do to you?" Slowtrot asked.

Quicktrot's glees soured, and she growled out. "The bitch ruined a good thing I had! Where I was a god, where I had full control. Ponies dancing to my tune, and I had control over if they lived or died. Oh, and if I got bored, then I could reset it all. Chance who was who, or kill them all, all over again. And over, and over. Time was my bitch, and I could fuck it!"

"The time space megaspell, some of it must have left with you!" Slowtrot pointed out.

"No shit it did!" Quicktrot snarked. "I ping ponged across time and space because of that megaspell! Becoming an airship, a toy doll, some weird mainframe with a soul already haunting it, then I found myself inside the town of the future. All automated, and then it became… me. The magic too. Along with the ponies inside."

"Wait?" I said, remembering a story from several years ago. "Ain't you talking about that town out west, the one that suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"

Quicktrot tapped on my head some more. "Yes, yes. That was my town, my domane! And that bitch ruined it, and I still don't know how! I could control everypony inside, even that damn Zebra that got away! Made him suffer for defying me. But not her. Like her magic wasn't normal, kept her… unstuck." Then she turned around, kicking dust in my face. "But nothing a megaspell can't fix. Or at least a heavily armed company of mercenaries. Whatever work is fine by me."

"And you think we'll just let you do it?" Slowtrot said.

But Harp shook her head, a slight wisp of magic forming around her. "No, she'll make me do it."

"Oh so true." Quicktrot said as she grabbed a gun. "But there's other things I want first."

"Like what?" Slowtrot asked, then looked at the gun pointed at him. "Oh… right."

"Yes, firstly, I want your soul to stop pulling at my soul! Then I'll be free of you again." Quicktrot explained. "After that, Harp will happily do as I say, or she loses her… other friend!"

"Not going to happen." Harp said as she glared at Quicktrot.

But the bitch laughed. "And how would you stop me? You're surrounded, both inside and out. And don't expect my paid muscles to fight you all one by one like in the movie's. They may not shoot you, but they will all unload on him." She then glanced up at one of the mercenarie on the balcony above. "It's why I picked here to monolog and threaten. No place to do stupid shit and take cover."

But Harp grinned, her shimmering now at full power. She looked at me and I nodded back at her.

Quicktrot on the other hoof seemed a bit confused. "What's this? I know how you mirage ponies work, and I doubt building up magic or sending it out will do jack shit."

"Well… there's this." Harp said, and she then slapped Slowtrot on the flank.

Slowtrot only managed to let out a, "eep!" Before vanishing, leaving nothing where he was standing. I prayed to the Goddesses that he would not just reappear in the same spot, and when he did return from where and when ever, he just jumped to, he would bring something useful with him.

Quicktrot on the other end stood there for a long moment, mouth open. Slowly she pivoted her head, confused.

"Wh…where?" she stammered. "Where the fuck did he go?"

"Who knows, but he's no longer here, Quicktrot." Harp mocked.

We were still in deep shit, but at least, for now, Slowtrot was out of danger.

Grinding her teeth for a moment, Quicktrot trotted up to Harp and slapped her, drawing blood. "You think you're funny, you think you're smart!"

I then laughed. "Smarter than you!"

That drew Quicktrot's ire, the decomposing mare quickly stomping up to me. Smiling down at me, wich I could see a mouth full of rotting teeth, some even with holes in them. "Maybe. But I am smarter than you. And far less forgiving." She then pointed her pistol at me, a wide grin still on her face.

"You need her if you want me to work with you!" Harp yelled.

"Do I?" Quicktrot said as she looked down at me. "From my position, I can think of many ponies I can use to compel you to do what I want." The gun was then pressed against my skull. "For example, that colt or his mother. Oh, and that merchant family. Shit, the town itself isn't a bad target."

"You wouldn't." I said to the mad mare.

Chuckling, Quicktrot backed up a step. "You don't think I would? Oh, it may be more trouble than it's worth, but I would do it. They don't work for me, and you three likely told them about my company already. So killing off the town and replacing them with my owne ponies isn't a bad idea. I mean, the corpses would make good fertilizer for a new Cruel Tea plantation. That is, unless you cooperate with me."

I let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, you win, we'll do as you asy!"

Quicktrot looked down at me again, mouth still in a grin, eyes full of malice. "Who said anything about you?"

*Bang!*

I flinched as dust shot up next to my face and my ears ranged from the sound.

"No… that would be too merciful of a death." Quicktrot said before turning her glare over at Harp. "Because you decided to try and make a fool of me, I want this to hurt! And I want you to know that it's all your fault!"

"P… please don't!" Harp pleading, tears welling up in her eyes.

Coldly, Quicktrot then said, "It's too late for that. Far too late for that!" She whistled loudly, getting several of the lanky mercenaries to trot over. "Beat the shit out of the blue mare, make sure she's good and tender!"

They nodded and trotted over to me.

"Wait! Rape her to!" Quicktrot commanded.

But the mercenaries looked at each other, then at Quicktrot, with one shaking his head. "We are professionals, not dirty thugs."

Quicktrot rolled her eyes at that. "Fine, then just beat her, and avoid the head, I want her alive and couscous when you drag her to the reservoir."

I chuckled a little at that, she was still not going to everything she wanted. Then the first kick came, heavy despite how lanky thin the mercenary was. Then the second, third, forth, and fifth. I held my mouth shut as I could hear a bone pop, feel a rib crack. More kicks came, hitting my legs and side, the pain getting worse with each blow. Passing out from it would have been a blessing, but my body wouldn't let me, all I could do was feel and endure.

What really hurt the most was seeing how distressed Harp looked as she watched. I deserved this beating, but she didn't deserve to be hurt by it. I wasn't worth somepony being hurt for me, not a tainted pony like me.

I let out a pained breath as a leg snapped, bending in the wrong way. Sucking in the air through my teeth, I did my best to hold firm, and not give Quicktrot the pleasure of seeing my beg or cry.

Then Harp was led away and the beatings slowed, but the pain didn't stop. The mercenaries then grabbed my tail and dragged me away. My vision was too hazy from the pain, but I knew we were going in deeper. The smell of stagnant water was only getting stronger as the air grew cooler and everything became darker, and soon the only light was the depim green glow of a pipbuck.

"Fucking waste ponies, I know you all have dark vision or some shit, but hang up some lights for fuck sake." Quicktrot complained.

After a moment of no reply, Quicktrot then sighed. "Whatever, just toss her in, I'm already done with this shit."

I felt one of the mercenaries grab my leg, and finding the strength, I kicked him, knocking him back. With pain throbbing through me, I pushed myself up and laughed. "Ain't no-"

*Bang!*

A bullet ripped through one of my legs from Quicktrot's gun, causing me to stumble over.

"No you will not!" Quicktrot growled at me as she trotted over.

*Bang!*

She shot me in another leg while glaring at me fiercely. "No heroic speeches, no last stands, none of that shit. You will struggle, you will drown, and I will watch as you die!"

I then felt a kick to my side as my body slid, then fell.

Everything became cold as I hit dark water. Instinctively my legs kicked as I tried to swim, my head surfacing for a moment to see Harp trying to get to me, but she was being held back by two mercenaries, her mouth gagged.

Then I sank, unable to muster the strength to keep swimming. My body was so cold. I knew, I've always known this was how I'd die. But not like this, not now, not when there was so much to do.

"Now there it is!" The green ghostly form of Quicktrot appeared in my vision, her body more pixels than anything real. Her smile was so wide it extended off her face. "Finally you give into the despair, you realize you're not going to win. Nothing is coming to save you, you're not going to save yourself, and I… win."

I held my breath, hoping, praying for anything, but mostly not wanting to give this monster the satisfaction.

"You do know I don't care in the end. You will still die." She then pointed up, and all I could see was darkness. "You already sank too far. There's no way for you to survive now, even if your legs heal soon. So just breathe it in and DIE!"

She was right. Nomatter what I did, I was dead. Like many before me, I would sink to the cold below. The grave for those like me, an ancient and unforgiving fate.

Unable to hold my breath any longer, I breathed it in, and the cold water filled my lungs.

Cruel laughter filled my mind as the form of Quicktrot shattered into many pieces and faded from my vision, leaving me in the cold darkness as I sank further below.

Everything was becoming hazy, and the blood running through my ears thumped loudly. So loudly it was like drums pounding. Drums that sounded so nostalgic, yet so forren.

And to the drumming, that song from a memory not mine came to me.

…

So it's into the Abyss

Now me fillies and me colts

From mother's hoof we go

We'll be sailing to the sun

Till the voyage is done

Then we'll be sleeping in the cold below

Ponies! Below, below

We're going where the winds don't blow

Yes we're all bound down

To the deep and we'll all be

Sleeping in the cold below, below

Sleeping in the cold below

As my lungs stopped burning, I hummed the words as my heartbeat slowed, yet the drumming continued, and with it voices. Both stallions and mares singing in unison, much like the sea shanties of the Blackwater. Yet it was filled with longing and a sense of finality, yet also of hope and love.

Our sailing ship

Is for the hard and the quick

We roll our load and go

There's a living to be made

Or there's toll to pay

When you're sleeping in the cold below

Ponies! Below, below

We're going where the winds don't blow

Yes we're all bound down

To the deep and we'll all be

Sleeping in the cold below, below

Sleeping in the cold below

Strangely I felt warm, even as my mind hazed. It must be one last hallucination, one last trick of the mind as more water filled my lungs. But it wasn't the worst kind of hallucination. The feeling that this cold below is where I belonged, where others like me waited.

There's a mare on high

With the death in an eye

And life in the other, this we know

She can hurt you, she can hold you

She can kick you or console you

When you're sleeping in the cold below

Ponies! Below, below

We're going where the winds don't blow

Yes we're all bound down

To the deep and we'll all be

Sleeping in the cold below, below

Sleeping in the cold below

Who were they singing about? I didn't know. But I know that soon I'll find out. Though I knew better, I prayed it was Prism, that I'll soon see mom. Whoever this mare was, she sounded like a mother, harsh yet fair.

I just wish I had more time, that I could be with my Bridget. Even if it was for just a moment.

Oh ponies you

So wise and true

When it's my time to go

Won't you give one last last coin

That I may pay the farrymare's toll

And I'll be sleeping in the cold below, below

Sleeping in the cold below

Ponies! Below, below

We're going where the winds don't blow

Yes we're all bound down

To the deep and we'll all be

Sleeping in the cold below, below

Sleeping in the cold below

The cold finally took me, and everything had gone numb. But there was a light, and even without any strength, I swam to it.

Today We sail

Along the unknown shores

For there's much we just don't know

So farewell with a kiss

Then it's fast for the mist

Till we're all sleeping in the cold below

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Unsers lifesigns not detected . . .

Request immediate assistance. . .

Unable to connect to the pipbuck network . . .

System failure, Unknown interference detected. . .

Forced reboot initiated. . .