Fallout Equestria: Desperados V2 (of Blood and Dirt)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 05

Amethyst Sand (Part 2)

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Lean year looked at me skeptically, then motioned his head at his two paid goons. "Pleas, a little doll like ya, I bet I can ev-"

I looked the asshole in the eyes, triggering my evil eye, and pouring the feeling of being stabbed into him. From when Blackpowder Blast stabbed me with her cutlass when I was a filly, to all the drunken morons who tried to start a fight at the Ruffled Feathers. It hurts like a bitch, and he was going to know that same pain.

Freeing him from my cursed eyes, the rat looking stallion stumbled back onto his flank while the two goons looked down at him in confusion.

"Fine!" He said with a quivering voice. "Fine, I get it, whatever that was." Lean Year then got back up, patting off the dust and dirt on his oversized business suit. "Actually, I might have a job for you, real simple job actually, ya dig?"

I gave the rat looking pony a skeptical look. "Oh, and why do you assume I'd take it, or need your caps?"

"Please, I ain't no cheap plebeian. When I offer caps, be sure it's enough caps for ponies to kill each other over." He then pulled out a coin from a pocket in his jacket. "That, or in official NCR gold bits."

"Really? You know those ain't worth shit outside the NCR." I told him with disdain.

"Oh I know." He said with a smile. "Like how I know a few politicians who may drop a certain bounty if paid enough, ya dig."

My lip twitched in anger as he held the fucking bit in front of me. But he just presented me with something I wanted. I may not be able to return to my Bridget so long as Victoria is out there, but having that bounty removed would at least make things easier.

Taking a deep breath and calming down, I found the will to not cave in his skull and say. "Alright, let's talk."

Following the rat, he took me to the outskirts of town, where there was a gap in the wall, which led to a circle of rusty live-in trailers. It was like a parasitic expansion to Amethyst Sands, topped off by crude barricades of spikes and barbed wire surrounding the perimeter. Recent trash was left all about, some blowing in the wind and others festering in piles. Most of the ponies here were relatively well dressed, despite being covered in dust, and seem to be busy with doing nothing at all.

"Why's Amethyst Sands letting you hang off their town?" I asked Lean as we trotted to the biggest trailer in the group.

"I make sure we pay them to not bother us." He told me as he opened the door and stepped in.

Trotting into the trailer, it was… okay. Not trash like most things tend to get out here, but rather unkept for what was supposed to be a wealthy pony's place. He had a small bed, a worn desk, and plenty of trinkets all around, but dirt and dust was everywhere, along with a bit of mold forming in the dark corners. Worse was the smell, thick with his cologne, which barely masked the stench of body odor.

Then my eyes opened wide as I saw on his desk as a display peace, was a fucking pipbuck. And it was the only truly clean thing in the trailer, with it having an almost mirror polish to it.

"You like? It's an authentic Stable 2 pipbuck. Got it as a gift from a business partner, but I haven't tried it on just yet." Lean said as he pulled out a clean rag and rubbed a bit of dust off the pipbuck. "I just like to look at it sometimes."

I didn't know why, but that pipbuck gave me a bad feeling.

"Right, I heard that pipbucks are really expensive to obtain." I said as I lifted my 3100 administration pipbuck. "You can say I got mine at a steal."

Lean Year squinted at me suspiciously. "Well you better not touch mine, knowing ponies like you." He then took a deep breath and pulled out several sheets of paper, all with messy writing on it. "But let's get to business before ponies start thinking I'm having relations with a low-born doll like you."

"Ya, the last thing I need is for others to think I'm some cheap whore." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Good, then we're on the same page." He stupidly agreed as he passed me the papers. "Seeing what tent you came out of, I then don't need to explain who I'm talking about when I mention the Colt."

I immediately regretted being here as soon as he mentioned Fort. But I was already here, and agreed to listen. "Yes, what do you want with him?"

"My family actually." He said as he tapped on the paper in my hooves. "He happens to be my second cousin. Which isn't saying a lot since my grand uncle spread his seed around quite a lot, unlike my grandfather who only slept with his wives. But almost all of those foals were slave born, so not considered part of the family."

Grate, this is a big old messy family drama… "Wait, by grand uncle, you mean the one Percussion Cap killed?"

Lean Year nodded. "A tragedy that was, for uncle Baron Flint to be laid low to a raider born mad mare. Mother couldn't be consoled for months over his death, and much of his remaining assets were transferred to his less then responsible son. Oh the anger my mother had when she learned how he squandered uncle Flints wealth"

"Mined me as I don't shed a tear over the downfall of a slaver family." I said sarcastically, then asked. "So let me guess, that son happens to be Fort's father?"

Lean Year smiled wide, showing two rows of rather yellow and rotten teeth. "Ahh good, then I don't need to explain that part. But yes, Fort happens to be the last remaining legitimate heir to uncle Flint's legacy, and we wish to bring him back into the family you see."

"Last, what happened to the rest?" I had to ask.

The smile dropped from Lean Year's face. "Another tragedy that was. Among all uncle flints legitimate heirs, they fell victim to the many lynch mobs that overtook Fillydelphia in the years after Redeye's fall."

I could only guess that Ashy Oakes led most of those lynch mobs.

"Including his father?" I further asked.

But Lean shook his head. "No. That fool ran afoul with a group of Talons, or that's how the story goes. He was much like his father, though more daring with where he put his seed."

That's all I needed to hear about that dumb history. "Alright, so Fort is this Baron Flint's last remaining heir, and you want him back in the family. One, he's fourteen years old, almost an adult, why come for him now? And two, why should I care?"

He gave me that annoying look that stupid ponies give me when they think I'm dumber than them. "Families are family after all. And we struck a deal with his grandmother, the elder of the White Scorpions. Through him we can unite our two families and reap the reward of cooperation. That is, so long as he is not with Rook. Speaking of which, I'm sure you met that alcoholic sheriff of this shithole town."

Shithole town, wow he was seriously the pot calling the kettle black.

"Ya, the veteran mercenary, she seemed okay." I told him.

"For now." Lean told me as he forced another sheet of paper in my hooves. "But there's no telling when that monster will lose control again, and how many will die because of her."

Looking at the paper, it listed several places, one of them called Hope Hollows, and an extensive body count next to each.

"There you have listed several sights in which Rook was the lone survivor. Everypony except for her was dead, and all of them were murdered. Be it by bullet, knife, fire, or by hoof. Yet she's again and again the lone survivor." Lean explained.

I raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "You can't seriously be saying she's some mass murderer."

The rat stallion let out a chuckle. "Then maybe next time she's sober you should ask her about it. It's not something she hides. Most of those reports are dictates from her the last time she was in the NCR. And before you ask, the reason why she's allowed to roam about is because some damn former talon gave her a pardon."

Well if he put it that way, then it would make sense that his family would want to separate Fort from Rook. She even gave me a sense of deep danger, and she was dead drunk at the time. Even Keep didn't seem to have a good opinion about her mother, though I had a feeling this and that were mutually exclusive.

"Okay, I get it, she's a dangerous mare, and you'd rather have Fort safe with your family. But why have me do it, can't you pull a few strings or something?" I asked him.

"Unfortunately it's not that simple. Money can buy you most things, but not when you're dealing with a psychotic mass murderer with a drinking problem." Lean Year pointed out. "Also, I'm currently dealing with several land disputes at the moment, so I'm rather stretched thin. That's why I think maybe, just maybe, one violent and crazy doll can convince another violent and crazy doll to relinquish her custody over Fort to the family that can actually take care of him. I'm sure you can understand this quite well."

Right then and there I wanted to strangle the bastard, make him take those words back. But then it would be proving him right, that I was violent and crazed. That I was in no position to take care of my Bridget, and leaving my daughter her Uncle was the best thing I could have done for her.

I had to leave her behind, I had to! She'd follow me anywhere, no matter how dangerous, and if she got hurt because of it, I'd never forgive myself.

Swallowing my disgust, I glared at Lean year, telling him, "ya, I can understand it quite well."

"That's good to hear. Lately it's been really hard to find help that has the brain cells to even talk properly, much less understand their job." Lean said in a tone of superiority.

"Probably because Percussion Cap killed them all." I snarked.

His face crinkled, the comment getting under his skin. "She is a violent brute. Maybe you can-"

I raised a hoof, stopping him right there. "No fucking way am I fighting that mare. Aside from the fact she outclasses me in grit by miles, I ain't no hit pony. Now about the whole Fort braminshit, what exactly do you want me to do, and what's my guarantee you won't half cap me?"

The rat-like stallion tightened up his tie, looking a bit annoyed. "Fair enough. Anyways, I got other and better options to deal with her. As for Fort, you just need to convince him and his mother to allow my family to adopt him. I'd do it myself, but I'm no good with their types." He then pulled out a sheet of parchment, no, it was two, one on top of the other. "And this will ensure I'm good on my end of my deal if you're good on your end."

That was clearly a talon contract paper, not the cursed or binding kind, but one that couldn't be altered once signed. The way it glowed was a sign that it was the real thing.

Grabbing a severely tarnished engraved brass ink pen, Lean Year got to writing down on the parchment. "Alright, since your bounty, and that of your accomplices are three hundred caps each, the payment will be nine hundred caps, and a guarantee that they will go into greasing a few politician's hooves. This payment will be rewarded upon the transfer of custody of one Fort from Rook White Scorpion into the Harvester family. "

He then sighed his name and passed me his pen. Using my lips to hold it, I put ink to paper, singing my name.

Spitting the pen back to him, I then let Lean know, "All I'm going to do is talk with them, so don't expect miracles, alright."

Peeling the two parchments apart, both having the same writing and signatures on them, Lean Year passed me one of them. "I'm not a fool, doll, this is all just a long shot in hopes things can be done legit and without a headache, ya dig. You help my family and I help yours, and we never have to see each other's face again." Folding his parchment, and placing it inside his jacket before reaching out his hoof to shake.

I didn't want to touch him, so I kept my hooves to myself. "That sounds good to me. Now if you mind me, I should head on back to my friends, and see if they can help with this contract.

Pulling his hoof back, Lean Year then pulled out a cigar from his oversized jacket. "Then get to it. Sooner you bring the colt back to his betters, the sooner I can focus on my many other problems."

Leaving the trailer, I found the dry wasteland air refreshing after having been in a confined space with that stallion. I didn't understand why he couldn't just take a damn bath instead of piling on more cologne.

So under the watchful eyes of the Golden Harvest goons, I found myself back under the watchful eyes of the not-bandit clan. I was already starting to hate this town.

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"Amazing that your ancestors survived for so long. Though it's a shame I never heard about them before." Harp said cheerfully to Mayor Almandine.

The older mare chuckled, "Well, though the old corporation was all over the world, it was only in places where there were resources to mine. I have a feeling that the Marewaii Islands may not have been mineral rich enough for my ancestors to consider it over other options."

My friend nodded. "Would make sense. From my history texts, the island's main source of wealth came from tourism, not from its natural resources. That is, before the islands got bombed."

"I'd still love to see it. Even if I have to wear a gas mask and stay armed." Pyrope comment. "The jungle alone has to be breathtaking to behold. Far better than all the dry dirt around here."

"Personally, I'd love to have stepped aboard Weeping Pegasus." I said joining them, getting an annoyed look from Harp. "I know, I know, not your best memories, but as a filly I always dreamed about being a captain of a Chosen Fleet ship. That and at the time, becoming a proper buccaneer was my only way out from joining the ranks of whores I had been born into."

A pinch of sorrow hit my heart as I remembered Prism, and how she opened a new world to me.

Harp seemed to know what was on my mind as she looked at me with sympathy. Mayor Almandine on the other hoof was not.

"Sounds like ya failed at that miss Ruffled Feathers mare." Almandine said vindictively.

But before I could say or do anything, Harp interjected. "I say Star has done quite well for herself at the Ruffled Feathers. I mean, the biggest complaint most stallions there would say about her was that they wished she'd work in the Brothel for even a day. The others, well they wished she would hit them so hard."

That caught me off guard a little, causing me to let out a snort. "That's true. The boss even said I'd make a killing if I ever did join the brothel. Though Waterspout also said that I'd have to keep my mouth shut the entire time, unless I was sucking cock to make those caps."

Harp's more upbeat business smile shifted to a more natural smile. "Ya… you don't have much in the way of words, Star."

"Still a shame." Pyrope said cheekily, and as a response, got a slap on the back of his head from his mother.

"If I ever catch you running off with a whore, I will personally wring your neck!" Almandine chastised her son. "By the Goddess of the Glow, you will find a nice mare and stay loyal. Not become one of those wastelanders with loose morals, ya hear!"

Pyrope rolled his eyes. "Mom, I ain't like sis, so stop it with your cunt freakouts!"

The older mare went red in the face, slapping her son before turning around and stomping off.

"Ya, she's mad. Best we go where there's more eyes before she returns with her beating stick." Pyrope said as he then trotted over to the front gate.

Following, I felt compelled to ask. "So, what did your sister do?"

Pyrope chuckled. "Have you ever heard of a place called the Ursa's Dean?"

I breathed in sharply as I cringed.

"What?" Harp asked.

"It's a casino in the main trade hub of the NCR. It also happens to house the oldest and biggest brothel on the east coast." I explained.

"And my sis joined that brothel to just piss off mom. Last I heard from her, she's one of the top five Showroom mares, and possibly pregnant… again." Pyrope further added.

"Oh, a bit extreme, but that's to be expected from working at a brothel." A conflicted looking Harp said.

"Well…" I said a bit nervously. "From what I know, that place actually has birth control and STD prevention, unlike at the Ruffled Feathers. So a pregnant prostitute there is only like that internationally."

Harp let out a sigh. "Okay, really extreme…. But why?"

"Simple actually. Mom is very controlling." Pyrope told Harp as he went into more detail. "Which was not a big problem when the radiation and mutants were still around. But after it went away, and the rest of the wasteland came rushing into our lands, my mother went crazy for a while. She actually out crazed our old preacher, and that stallion had a tumor growing out ofbhis head. Unfortunately my sis got the bad end of that stick, both figuratively and literally. I may not agree with how my sis rebelled, but I don't blame her for it."

"I guess I can understand a little bit of that. If I didn't have a lineage to uphold, then I might have been a bit more loose with who I chose to share my bed with." Harp said as we slowed down, finding ourselves in the shadow of the town's gateway. "Even if it wouldn't have ever mattered who I shared my bed with."

"Is that so?" Pyrope said with an eyebrow raised, clearly hoping to court my friend.

But Harp showed no interest. "Well, before it was expected of me to be used as a pawn, and married off to some official as a way for my family to maintain power. But now, there's not going to be much family left to maintain, so I'm free to sleep with whomever. Though if it's with a stallion, I rather them be one of quality." She said with a wink.

. . . Okay, maybe Harp has some interest in stallions, but at least not this one.

Pyrope smiled. "Ahh, so there's a chance then?"

"Don't get your hopes up." Harp said as she reached out and patted Pyrope's duster, knocking off a bit of dry dirt. "You'd need to clean up a bit first before I'd even think about trying to touch me, and a trim too."

The young bandit brushed some dirt out of his goatee. "Right, I think sis mentioned that I should wash up first if I ever did visit her."

I shook my head, getting between the two, as the conversation was starting to make me feel… uncomfortable? Anyways, weird feelings aside, I needed to talk with Harp privately. "Alright, enough of all this. Maybe go take a dip in a water container and then, maybe come back. But right now we have business stuff to do. The kind that doesn't need a fourth pony involved in it."

"Right, I know when to take a step back." Pyrope told me, then gave Harp a wink. "But if you choose to stick around a bit longer, the saloon has a free drink for each of you, and I'll be there too."

We watched as he trotted away, a bit of a strut in his step.

"Okay, what's up with all that?" I asked Harp.

"And when did you give a damn about me and other stallions?" Harp asked back.

I… I didn't quite know actually. If Harp up and decided to whore around, it wasn't my business so long as it was her choice. Yet, thinking about it left me feeling… annoyed.

So with a huff, I told her. "Lets just drop it! Anyways, I have something important to show you… and Slowtrot too."

"Show me what?" Slowtrot said as he trotted over from the smuggler with Cavall following him.

"This." I said as I hoofed out the folded document from under my vest. "We may have a way to get the bounty off our backs."

Levitating it with her pipbuck, Harp then gagged. "Lean Year, that asshole's here!"

"Ya, and he still smells horrible. But the contract is straightforward and we know he's good for the caps and connection." I told her.

"I… can't argue with that. This contract is written in simple words, and the paper is magical." Harp said with a frown, the mirage pony clearly suspicious of the deal. "But still, why?

Slowtrot then took the contract and looked it over himself. "This Fort must be very important for this contract to be this simple. My father would always say that if a legal document isn't trying to cheat you, it's trying to cheat somepony else. Still, taking a colt away from their mother isn't my kind of cyder, if you know what I mean."

"I'd agree, but that mother happens to be Rook, Keeps mom. She's an alcoholic with a severely violent past, including three mass deaths where she's the lone survivor." I informed my friends, and passed them the same reports Lean gave me. "It might be better if he lived with his extended family, considering the risk."

Harp and Slowtrot read the reports, looking at them carefully.

"An entire settlement went raider, with the only survivor being Rook and a merchant family that left a few days before things went bad." Harp read.

"This one sounds like it's right out of a power ponies comic," Slowtrot said as he then began reading from the document. "A village of cultists was turned into trees by a device Rook triggered in order to prevent them from activating some sort of mass mind control device."

Harp then let out a sigh. "Here it states that Rook eliminated an entire town that was infected by some plague. The NCR later burnt down the town and held Rook in quarantine, due to her being infected as well. The number of dead is… it's a lot."

"Not to mention she fought in Redeye's army before all that." I added.

Slowtrot hoofed the document to Harp. "Still, it doesn't mean she's the cause of it."

"But it is our opportunity to remove the bounties on our heads. From what Lean Year said, it's three hundred caps for each of us." I pointed out.

Harp then shoved the document into her bag, and took a moment to think about what I just said. "I'm… not liking this… but not having a bounty on our heads would be beneficial. Celestia knows we already have enough problems as it is."

A needy yip came from Cavall, and Harp took a moment to pet him, letting her words linger.

Both Harp and I were desired by Bishop Purity Spiral as some political Pawn in the Chosen Fleet. Then there is Victoria wanting me to rejoin her, and use Harp as some bargaining chip. Also they're Quicktrot, who wants Harp's blood to unlock some doors or something. As for Slowtrot, Victoria and Quicktrot just want him dead.

We seriously didn't need bounty hunters after us as well.

"Right, how about we at least talk to them first. As much as I'd like to use Lean Year to get any bounty hunters off our flank, I don't want this coming back to bite us." Harp said carefully and pointily. "Do you agree? Just talk, and not bring up this contract until we know for sure if we're fine with pissing off the death mare."

"No problem on my end." Slowtrot said, then trotted around us. "Anywho, the locals say I get a free drink, so best if I get it now before anything happens."

As he trotted off to the bar, Harp took a step closer to me, concerned in her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

I rolled my eyes back at her. "Why wouldn't I be okay with this?"

She flatly stared back at me, and as she spoke in a tone lacked its usual grace. "Because this is clearly way too similar to you and Bridget. If you're only considering this because you're seeing yourself in this Rook, I'm calling this off and ripping the contract up!"

"This and that are different!" I growled back. "Anyways, it's not like a deal like this will ever fall into our lap again." A sight escaped my lips as I tried to calm myself down. "All you need is to see Rook once and you'll understand. Sometimes a pony shouldn't be a mother, sometimes they're not worthy of it!"

"And you think Lean Year's family will be any better?" She asked me.

"Oh please, they have money and connections. Even if they are shit, the colt will be well cared for." I scoffed.

Harp looked away, as though feeling ashamed of something. Trotting off, she glanced back at me and said. "I know I have little place to say this, but you need to sort your shit out. We all have problems, some bigger than others, but none are no less important. Whenever you want to vent to me, I'll be all ears, alright."

I watched as she trotted away to the bar, leaving me near the smuggler and with Cavall. Reaching over and giving the pup a head pat, he then licked me with his snake tongue. Harp was right, I know she's right, but what's wrong with trying to help a young foal while there's still time. So what if I was hung up about Setting Sun, or how much I had become like her.

If I could be like Prism just once, why not save a foal needing saving.

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