Fallout Equestria: Desperados V2 (of Blood and Dirt)

by Dice Warwick

Rating: mature
Tags: Fallout, Profanity, Violence, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Narcotics, Original Character, Science Fiction, Adventure, Crossover
Length: 110974

Forced to leave her home, Star Charter is haunted by her failure to protect her own family. But one detour leads Star down her long forgotten past, in which she must rediscover herself, or become just another corpse in the wasteland.

Little time has passed since Star Charter was forced to leave New Appaloosa, not even given time to bury her mother or give her daughter a proper goodbye. And now shaken by the loss, long repressed memories resurface from her time before the wasteland, dragging her further down into depression and rage.

But what was meant to be a simple courier job before moving on becomes something far more dangerous, all while Star falls further into her own self loathing. Facing her past, and her own close relationship with death itself, Star must rediscover herself as new and old enemies creep ever closer around her. But she is not alone, and through her darkness moment, there is still a light, all she must do is reach out for it.

Is Star truly the evil monster she believes herself to be, or is she something more, something both beautiful and terrifying.

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Our three main Characters!
[img] https://derpicdn.net/img/2022/7/15/2907898/large.png [/img]

Published 2023-07-06 13:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-08-18 14:17:22 UTC

Chapter 19, Rising Star (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 19

Rising Star (Part 1)

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My eyes opened, I was sure of it, but everything was black and cold. But the cold didn't bother me, it was just… what it is I guess. Like a cool night after a hot day cold. Ya, a bit chilly, but that good feeling chilly. No, my issue was that I was blind, and underwater.

Fuck!!!

I failed about, holding my breath, wondering why I wasn't dead. But then calmed down as hazy memories slowly came to me. Then I took a deep breath, the cool water filling my lungs like heavy air.

"Fuck! Right, I'm actually a Kelpie, I can breathe underwater." I said to myself, still partially baffled as the memories of meeting my ancestors slowly came to me. "Now what?"

"Curious, you can talk underwater? Oh, so can I!" A voice rippled through the water.

Shock, I busted off in a random direction, hitting a wall. After rubbing my aching head, I looked around, and saw a green glowing… thing? No, I recognized it. "Azure?"

"How you say… E'yep." The glowing, pony shaped crustacean said, looking quite happy with itself, all the while giving off the vibe of some deep sea horror. "The magic of this world is just… amazingly weird."

"You don't know the half of it." I said, looking at my hooves now that I had some light. I recognized its backwards shape, which was not normal among ponies, and the long tuft of fur hanging off the back of my fetlocks. In Azure's green glow I could see the Oracle's Eye and the silver chain that held it around my neck. "And neither do I."

Looking around, everything was still pitch black, Azure's glow only going a few hooves out. "By the way, where are we?" I asked.

"Deep in the tunnels I believe, but let me check." The alien sparkle-lurker swam about with the agility of a bat, the antenna fins on his head and barrel stretching out as he clicked. "Hmmm, yes, it seems that we are in fact, in the deepest part of the tunnels."

I was left rather confused. "Huuu, some much, what?"

"Right, sorry about that." He then wiggled his four antenna. "A bit of echolocation, it doesn't work on land for my kind, but in the water, we just need to talk to see through the darkness. It's why I'm surprised, though not shocked, that we can talk under the water."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, then… was that clicking… you talking?"

Several whistles and clicks then came out of Azure, some hurting my ears a bit. "The other races call it whistle script, it's my native language. But unfortunately, it's rather hard to speak it on land." He then scratched his chin, taking on a more serious look, which was odd since it was with his face claws. "Oh right, no time for cultural exchanges. We need to get you out of here."

My own eyes widened, remembering what sent me down here. "Harp, we need to save Harp!"

Azur lifted his hoof at me, "We know, Miss Harp figured it was a trap as soon as we got a request to meet you and Lean Year in a remote location. We unfortunately underestimated Quicktrot's resourcefulness in avoiding traps herself. By the time we caught up with her, she had already vanished into the mines with Miss Harp. Slowtrot appeared not long after, but unless we can get past the barrier, there's not much we can do to help our friend. Truthfully, I was sent down here to recover your corpse after realizing you weren't with them" He then swam closer, somehow smiling with those face claws. "But, this is a most fortunate turn of fate to find you alive."

I sighed. "So Slowtrot's fine, thank Persephone."

"Though Miss Percussion Cap seemed rather annoyed that we didn't tell her about any of this, like she knew something we didn't." Azure said as he backed off. "But that aside, we should head on up and rejoin the others. They will be ecstatic to know that you're alive."

"Shit, then they're beyond our reach." Without Harp, there was no way to get past the barrier, and Quicktrot knew it." Thinking about it, I remember something my ancestor had told me right before I returned to the living. Lifting up the Oracle's Eye in my hoof, I could see a blue spark in the magical magnifying lens. "One shot a day."

"Are you alright Miss Star Charter?" The crab pony looked at me curiously

I nodded, then looked into the darkness. "Say, where does this tunnel lead?"

Again, Azure stuck out his finned antennas, and let out a long whistled, then pulled out a compass. "I did see a map on the wall as I was swimming down here, and if I remember correctly from one of your pipbuck maps, this tunnel does go far. Lets see, it should extend from under the mountain, and all the ways to wear Green Lake Farm is."

"Just as Quicktrot said it did." I wasn't sure if it was possible, but it didn't hurt to try. I was considered dead anyways, so it wasn't like anypony was expecting me to show up. "Let's head under the mountain, I want to try something at the barrier, if it doesn't work, we can turn back."

Azure again scratched his chin, then nodded. "I'm guessing you think this might connect to the mines. A sound idea, and one worth investigating." He then put his compass away. "Alright, follow me."

He jetted off, and I stumbled in the water. Remembering what my ancestors had taught me with the little time we had, I visualized my mane and tail flattening, becoming more fin-like. I slowly began to move faster, following the quickly growing smaller glowing light.

"Hay! Slow down ya fucking crab bastard!" I yelled.

The light stopped, then became larger as Azure swam back to me. "My apologies, I'm guessing this is new to you?"

Grumbling, I said, "Ya fucking think!"

"Alright…" he said as he looked at me with a puzzled expression. "Just so strange." He then got side by side with me. "Here, just relax and copy my movements. Think of it as cutting through the water, and everything else should follow."

Watching the glowing crab pony slowly move his body side to side, his tail making a smooth but wide sway. I then did the same, and almost just as easily, moved forward. The more I swam, the more naturally it started to feel, and soon Azure and I picked up pace.

Still blind, I stuck close to Azure, where now and then he'd warn me of hazards in the water. Sometimes it was a piece of rusty rebar, another a preserved corpse of a pony. Parts of the tunnel had collapsed, providing only claustrophobic holes to squeeze through.

It felt as if we swam forever, making me worry that the tunnel extended beyond the mountain and we overshot it, but something then caught my eye. "Wait!" I yelled as I saw a glint in Azure's green light. Swimming to it, we found another wrecked part of the tunnel, and in the wreck was something that reflected Azure's light.

Lifting it up and brushing it off, I found a raw clump of gemstones in my hoof, not all that big, a gemstone nonetheless. Unfortunately I couldn't tell if it was an amethyst or not due to the only light here being green, but I felt it was safe to assume so.

We must be near the gemstone mine, now let's find a way up." I told my glowing companion.

"Alright, just stay there and I'll look around." Azure then jetted off, and I watched the glowing crab pony as he flew along the wall, clicking along the way before returning. "Good news, I found a door."

"And the bad news?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's closed, so probably locked. Maybe rusted, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Digging into his bag, he then pulled out a small fucking crowbar. "My wrecking crowbar should get the door open."

"Right…" I said as I followed him. "Wait, did you bring all your shit? Isn't that paper, ya know, bad in water?"

We arrived at a fucking blast door, and Azure got to work removing the control panel. "It's fine, everything I have is either water resistant, or kept in water tight containers. As strange as it sounds, my books are made from limestone, not wood pulp, so I can write on them even when under water. It even makes good emergency rations of the situation is desperate enough."

A bit dumbstruck, I watched as with little effort, Azure ripped the panel off, and began pulling wires. "Your paper is made of… rocks? How? And you can fucking eat rocks!?"

"Ehh, not my area of expertise. All I know is that they work, and they're expensive." He said as he jammed his crowbar into the control panel and twisted it. "As for eating, both our exoskeleton and endoskeleton are mostly made up of Limestone, so we need to regularly consume limestone to keep from growing brittle." A loud click came from the blast doors, along with a mass of bubbles as it opened. "There we go, figured this hydraulically locked door had the same flaw as any other."

I shrugged, giving up on asking how, and just accepting that it just is what it is.

Swimming through the door and into a stairwell, the water became a lot cleaner, and it quickly became clear we had made the right decision. As the smooth concrete gave way to roughly carved out stone. Gemstones could be found within the walls, slowly becoming more abundant. Even the concrete stairs below us were replaced by roughly carved stone.

"Most spectacular." Azure said as he swam up into what was a cavern. "This reminds me of a hidden village I once had the privilege of visiting. Though here we're lacking the village."

Even I was in awe, as with even the little bit of light we had, it reflected on all the gemstones covering the walls. They sparkled all about, reflecting Azure's light and giving us a good enough view of the cavern. Then I saw it, like a smooth mirror, the surface.

Both of us rushed to it, and as our heads were breaching the separation of the underwater with the dry air, it felt like entering a whole different world. It even took me a moment to adjust my eyes to the air, and for me to expel the water from my lungs.

Then I saw it, a pink glow in the distance. Swimming to it, we came to the barrier set up by the Ministry of Moral. It glowing pink and giving off a feeling of paranoia, as though it was actually an eye watching me. Looking below, the barrier unfortunately extended below the water, showing no signs of a way through.

"So this is the barrier." Azure said as he swam up to it, a curious tone to his voice. Reaching out and running his hoof along it, a slight sizzle came from his touch. "Some resistance, but also a volatile reaction. I don't think we can get through it. Not alive I mean."

I sighed, figuring as much. I had held out some hope it would be easy, but now seeing it, I knew our options were limited. "You sure, nothing warping the barrier, or something out of place?"

Azure shook his head. "Unfortunately not. It's solid throughout, and unless we have something of equal or greater power, we're going nowhere but out where we came."

A smile crept onto my muzzle. "Equal or greater? As in magic?"

"Yes, but it's only something I've observed." Azure explained. "Magic from my world is rather volatile, and even those who are masters of it, barely understand it as it is. But I do know that if you bring one magical artifact to another of greater power, the more powerful magic tends to disrupt the weaker. It's not uncommon for those who dispose of evil magic to keep something of powerful evil, and feed lesser evil magic to it. A nasty practice, but better to keep one big evil than a hundred smaller evils."

That… made a little bit of sense to me.

"Then I think I might have a magical thing that could help." I said as I placed a hoof on my Oracle's Eye. "Now how do I do this?"

"Do what now, Mis Star?" Azure asked me.

I tried to will it in my head, but nothing came from it. "While I was out, I met my ancestors. I know, it's crazy, but I did. One, the mare who made this magical magnifying lens put a musket made of cold fire iron inside of it. Said it can hurt the undead and other stuff. I just don't know how to access it."

There was silence for a long moment before Azure then asked. "You sure you weren't just suffering from oxygen deprivation?"

"I fucking don't know!" I shouted!

A sigh came from the Lurker as he came closer to me. "Well, it's not like I understand any magic. Either from your world or mine. But my friend always told me that most magic requires an intermediary, something used to direct magic, like a code in a computer. Only masters can just make magic happen."

I let the Oracle's Eye go, figuring that Azure was right, then pointed at him accusingly. "But where would I even get something like that? Do you see any magic wands or some shit of the like here?"

Azure then tapped on my pipbuck.

"Oh." Was all I could say as I remembered that I had the arcano-tech device on my fentlock.

Using my S.A.T.S. time slowed down and everything turned green as options appeared. One of which was to punch Azure in his crab face. Ignoring the fun option, my pipbuck let me target the barrier, and with something called a cold fire shot. Selecting it, my world turned an icy blue as Hardballer's musket formed in my hooves. Taking aim, the musket fire, letting out a blast of blue fire and dark smoke as a ball made of bone shot out. Slamming into the barrier, it shattered, leaving a large hole through it.

Time returned to normal and wasted no time Azure and I swam through. The barrier slowly reformed behind us, leaving us now trapped inside.

"Well… that worked." I said, looking at the Oracle's Eye.

Azure looked at it as well, squinting with his two pairs of eyelids. "Did you have that before?"

"No, well ya I did, but it was a long time ago. It was just recently returned to me. And it can do a bunch of magical stuff."

"Can you do whatever that was again?" He asked.

I shook my head, "it's a once a day deal… I think."

He again touched the barrier, it having its volatile reaction like before. "Well, if that's true, we at least have a way out. Let's just hope we'll not need it."

Right, Harp was in here, and we don't know how long we have until Quicktrot leaves. "Okay, then let's get moving. Time to wipe the smirk off that digital bitches face!"

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The caverns were rather extensive, and it had become very clear that several cave-ins had happened over the last two hundred years, forcing Azure and I to take detours. But eventually we made it to what had to be where Four Stars had set up their base.

It also helped that the lights were on, finally showing me the dazzling purple of the amethyst covered walls. It was absolutely beautiful with how they refracted the light, bathing everything in a purple hue.

Nearby, a Waste Pony mercenary kicked an uncut gems into the water, and turned to another who was smoking as he worked on a generator. "Why is all this shit flooded! Gives me bad vibes, ya'know."

"Ya ya, I know." The smoker took a long drag of his cig as a spark jolted out from the generator. "Reminds me of the glowing lake back home, before the damn smooth coats purified the radiation. Fucking giant shrimp always poping out to drag us down. Good eating, but they killed my brother when he wasn't paying attention."

"Nerely got snatched as a foal by those damn shrimp too. Though it was the leeches that gave me nightmares, and how they like to mimic a pony. Fucking shit they were creepy." The first waste pony said with a shiver.

"Also good eating if ya catch it." The smoker said with a chuckle.

A groan came from the first, annoyed by the comment. "The fuck are ya even saying. Trash is good eating to us ya git! Or ya forget we can barely taste anything. I mean fuck, my mother surved a rost cooked on a blasted out bailfire bomb and the sauce was toxic waste, and we ate it noproblem."

"Ahh, good old hearth's warming eve. My Pa would hunt glowing molerats for the supper just to give us something soft to eat." The smoker further commented just as the generator came to life, and even more lights flickered to life.

Swimming up closer, they were unfortunately in the way. Looking over at Azure, he motioned that we submerge under water.

Ducking down, I had to breath in the water before asking, "you got a plan?"

"Not a nice one, but we can't have them alarming any of the other mercenaries that could be out there. So on three, you grab one of them, and I grab the other. Together we can subdue them without making much noise." Azure told me as he pulled out a rope from his bag.

I cringed, already knowing how it feels to drown, but it would prevent them from doing anything to warn their friends. "Alright, let's do that. Anyways, we're going to need weapons, so why not take theirs."

Getting into position, it felt eerie looking up at the blurred shape of the pony above. And as I slowly surfaced, I hoped that they didn't look down into the crystal clear water and see me. Actually it was strange, as Azure glowed, but he was practically invisible to anypony not paying attention, so damn unfair.

Surfacing, and getting ready to attack, the first mercenary then looked down at me, confusion on his face. I froze, not sure what to do next, hoping I didn't blow it. "Hay… why is there some weird weed in the water?"

"The fuck are you on about? Ain't no plants down here but mushrooms." The second said, finishing off his stick.

The first mercenary took a closer look at me, not seeing a pony, but a mass of kelp. "I wonder?" He said as he got face to face with me, turning to look at his friend. "Can we eat th… hay, where did you go?" The other mercenary was gone, as though vanished into thin air. He then looked back at me, worry on his face.

I blinked, and his eyes went wide. Before he could pull back I grabbed him by the head and pulled him under. In the water I easily got behind him and held the mercenary down, and as much as he tried, there was nothing he could do to brake free.

He let out a breath as he saw Azure holding onto his friend, the sparkle-lurker easily carrying the pony over to us and solving them together. "Hold them as I tie them up." He told me. Within a few seconds the two mercenaries were bound and gagged, so we surfaced.

Our captives tried to yell and scream, but it was of no use. So leaving them by the edge of the water, I turned my attention to their saddle bags next to the generator. I pulled out a shitty pipe gun, and a rusty knife, leaving me disappointed. "Say Azure, why didn't you bring your gun with you?"

He shook a bit of the water off his jacket as he stood on dry land. "Didn't think I'd need it." He then poured water out of his messenger bag then took out a pen and journal. "Just a moment as I leave a note for the map. And… done, let's go. Anyways, water and iron do mix well, and that lever action was already in bad shape as it is."

I guess that made sense to me. Why bring an already in poor condition gun down to the bottom of a water reservoir.

Carefully, we trotted further into the half sunken mine, surrounded by amethyst deposits and rusted mining equipment. It didn't take long to find the other mercenaries, a group of the loitering around, eating some rancid looking canned food. The smell of it alone told me it expired at least a hundred years ago. Even Azure's antennas folded down in disgust.

As we backed up, my hoof hit something, and one of the rusted construction equipment then shifted, causing a loud clunk. Seven pairs of radiation green glowing eyes then looked in our direction, resembling more of a group of feral ghouls than actually living ponies.

"Oy, you two better not be fucking around. Da boss ain't paying us to jack each other off." One of the mercenaries yelled.

Peeking out, I saw that they all had drawn their weapons, and took a defensive formation. These weren't simple raiders, or some militia pretending to be killers, but professional mercenaries guarding a choke point. Even if their guns were shit, they would ventilate me before I could get them. Even Azure with his brahminshit perception thing wouldn't get to them in time before they noticed he existed.

Looking around, I saw a ditch filled with water, not all that big, or deep, but maybe enough to work.

Looking over at Azure, I tossed him the shitty pipe gun, telling him, "distract them."

He nodded and I hopped into the water. Several gunshots went off, and the mercenaries responded in kind. I felt myself almost melt into the water, not completely becoming one with it, but my form shifting just enough to fit and swim. Just like my ancestors had taught me. Pushing forward, the mercenaries were too distracted to see me coming up on them.

With a rusty knife in my muzzle, I burst from the water and stabbed the closest mercenary in the shoulder. Panic then came over the group as the mercenaries were caught off guard by my appearance, nearly shooting their own in the process. Keeping them from regrouping, I charged another, and tackled him, knocking his scrap built SMG from his muzzle and tossing him into another mercenary.

Jumping back, I bucked at another mercenary before she could get a shot off at me, then headbutted another in a dash. Both mercenaries were left disoriented and stumbling about.

"Ya bitch!" The mercenary I stabbed yelled as she pointed her own SMG at me and fired. Rolling out of the way, I fell back into the water, where the mercenary rushed over and fired in.

But I had already moved further away, jumping out behind one of her companions. Using them like a shield as I grabbed the disoriented mercenary and charged at the still armed pony. She attempted to reload, but her rusty magazine refused to smoothly eject, and by the time she got it out and a new one in, her companion was tossed into her.

I then spotted another mercenary scrambling for their gun, jumping to it and aiming it at me. But my eyes locked with their own, freezing them in place.

"I'd surrender if I were you," Azure spoke up, now holding one of the SMG's. "Nobody needs to die, and I don't like killing people." He then aimed the gun at one mercenary attempting to crawl to their gun. "But I will if you're stupid."

They finally surrendered, hooves held in the air. One of them eyed with both respect, and a bit of disdain. "You could have easily killed us, so why didn't you?"

"Think of this as my thanks for not raping me, also, your two friends further down are alive, we just got em tied up down there." I told them.

"Much appreciate it mam." One of them said to me. "My Pa always said that if we act like monsters, we die as monsters."

"Words to live by I say." I replied. "Now if you could go and help your friends back there, and maybe stay down there for a bit, that would be mighty nice of you."

One of the mercenaries sighed. "We understand, you do whatever you're planning on, and we stay here until you're done. Anyways, we're not in the business of fighting dead mares. At least not for the pay we are getting right now. So I hope we don't meet again, or at least not when we're working for that crazy bitch."

"Why work for her anyways?" Azure asked, his journal out.

The waste pony chuckled. "I guess a freak like you wouldn't get it. But we, waste ponies as you call us, aren't all that well liked. Ghoul ancestor and all, so the other ponies think we'll go faral or some shit. Ain't our fault that cleaning up the wasteland destroyed our homes, now we got noplace to live, and no honest work to be had."

"Then Blue Skies came along." I commented.

The mercenary nodded. "Ya, and we ain't under no delusion to Quicktrot's schemes, we're here to get paid, simple as."

Azure then closed his journal. "Not the first time hearing that, I pray that Quicktrot never runs out of money, or undercuts you."

All the mercenaries chuckled, and the talkative one then said. "Very much so, there's a lot of us, and we ain't ones to take things on the chin." He looked down the tunnel and nodded. "But until our contract is over, we have orders to follow. Fortunately those orders were to look around and take out any pests. Nothing says for us to fight a drowned mare and the pony from the black lagoon." The other mercenaries then got up, and trotted in the direction we came from. "Well, see ya around. Or not."

"Compared to other mercenary bands, they're rather pleasant." Azure said as he put his journal away.

"And a bit creepy." I said as a thought occurred. "But I wonder, if the radiation was never cleared out, where would they be in another hundred, or two hundred years?"

Azure shrugged. "Don't know much about them, so I can't say. But probably best to leave the theorizing to another day."

"Ya, lets go." I said, and trotted down the cavern.

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Chapter 20, Rising Star (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 20

Rising Star (Part 2)

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"Alright, let's get this shit to the barrier, the boss will catch up to us after she's done inspecting the loot." A mercenary called out, armed with an archaic, but in good condition lever action rifle. "And remember, this is our pay, all of our pay. Any of you's caught sneaking away with any of it, is on permanent shitter duty, understand!"

"Yes sir!" The large group of mercenaries shouted.

From our hiding spot we watched them move out. The large group of mercenaries were pushing old mining carts along a rusty track, filled with strange looking steel barrels that remember old world beer kegs. Other were pulling flat carts stacked with old wooden boxes, painted tan and printed on them "Equestria Royal Army"

"My guess, that's surpluses of arms and ammo." Azure quietly commented.

I nodded in agreement. "Ya, and looks pre Ministry too. At least the boxes are."

We waited as the mercenaries passed us by, letting them get away with the cash of guns and ammo. As much as I'd like to stop them, we were too outnumbered and too outgunned. Anyway, they weren't going anywhere without Harp, and she was my biggest concern.

Once the cost was clear, we moved further in, the carved out mining tunnel giving way to smooth gray concrete. "Oh come on, you can at least enjoy yourself." Quicktrot spoke from further in, catching Azure and my attention.

"Enjoy myself, you killed my friend you bitch!" Harp yelled, which filled me with relief.

Quicktrot let out a chuckle. "Friends are overrated. If you want some pony to keep you company, then I'll find a pony. You be surprised what a pony would do for even a little bit of money"

"Why am I even talking with you? You clearly don't understand the concept of anything good. You're just some abomination made by accident." Harp said, chastising Quicktrot.

A loud slap echoed through the building as I crept closer. "An accident, says the bastard child of royalty." Quicktrot growled. "Unlike you, I'm destined for greatness, where I'll build an empire on the corpses of my enemies. You, you will stay as a bastard child, and amount to nothing but my toy."

Creeping further in, we made it to what looked like a small warehouse filled with mining equipment and carts. Along the walls were more of those barrel kegs, which came in different sizes, some of which were open. Same for the wooden crates. Confirming our suspicion, one of the open barrels had the same lever action rifle inside that the mercenary had. As for the wooden boxes, the cracked open one revealed several ammo boxes for clips of .308 rounds. Further in the back was a bunch of large metal boxes, all of which had stripes painted on them. Most looked like they could fit several ponies inside, but one box in the center of the rest was absolutely massive.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Refocusing on Harp, I was relieved to see she was alive, and mostly unharmed. She did sport a few bruises and a black eye, but all that can be held. Quicktrot herself stood over Harp, her body, Binary, was looking ready to fall apart, appearing more zombie-like then most ghouls. Flanking the bitch were two more mercenaries, though they didn't look like waste ponies like the rest of her lakeis, being more well built and clean… too clean.

Not far from them was one more pony, with a rat-like face and a two sizes too big suit. Lean Year stood by watching the scene, clearly enjoying the show. Next to him was all my shit, Worse, the fucker was touching my Outlaw with his grimy hooves.

Quicktrot got off Harp, strutting up to the one massive metal containers. "And here, my power will yet grow more. More money, more guns, less opposition. To imagine that such a grand treasure was left here to rot."

"Don't forget those who help you." Lean Year spoke up. "It wasn't easy finding that underground laboratory without the NCR getting tipped off. And the indentured workers, ponies would have been asking questions if they had families."

Quicktrot sighed. "I know, I know. The Golden Harvest Farmers Union will get their cut. A shame though, the cruel tea production was going so smoothly before that bitch set everything on fire."

"Well Percussion Cap wouldn't be a problem if you'd just lent out more of your mercenaries to help me kill her. " Lean Year complained.

A smirk formed on Quicktrot's face. "So impatient. Your lack of planning is what caused her to act against you." She then trotted over to one of metal barrels, pulling a lever wich cracked it open. "I'm under no illusion that sending waves of poorly armed mercenaries is a bad idea. Her crops already feed upon the corpses of those who tried before." From barrel she pulled out a fucking autmatic rifle, tne same kind that Rook used. "But, what if we gave them better guns, and more of them."

Lean Year trotted over, grabbing the large rifle, which only made him seem even more scrawny. "Yes, this is far better than what we got. But it's still Six Gun Red, are you sure it will be enough?"

"Oh, I know what you mean. That bitch is like a radroach, no kill like overkill if you want her dead." She then returned to the massive metal container, knocking on it with a loud thud. "It may not be a bailfire bomb, but damn will this thing do the job and then some."

As they talked, both Azure and I crept up onto the two guards, who were keeping an eye on Harp, and prepared to take them down. We just needed to be quick and quiet, then get Harp out of here. So picking up a nearby wrench, I got behind the guard, waiting for Azure to get in positions, then attacked.

*Clang!*

The wrench bounced off the guards head, causing him to wobble as all heads turned to me. Even the one Azure was choking out, not even fazed by the Lurkers attempt.

"Star!" Harp gasped.

"How the fuck!" Quicktrot growled.

"Kutholakele isigebengu!" The guard said as its head unnaturally turned all the way around. Then it's form flickered, revealing something that looked like a protect-a-pony robot, but striped. With a kick, I was launched back, its hooves clearly made of metal and not flesh. "Ukuqeda Ubutha!" The zebra robot said as it turned its body at me, where an old Griffinstone Typewriter was strapped to its side.

Its form then glitched again, causing the robot to sway and miss its shot. "Run, Star!" Harp yelled as magic radiated off her and her face grew pail.

Shit, was this place mildly irradiated, and Harp had saved me at the cost of her own health.

So I ran, but not away, but at the robot, it's form fickinging again, turning into some other generic stallion as I slid under it, dodging another burst from its gun. Kicking at a joint, the robot lost balance and stumbled, which I kicked again, knocking it over.

"Initiating elimination protocol!" The other robot yelled as it grabbed me, Azure still holding onto its neck as it ignored the lurker.

"Hay! Do something!" I yelled at my glowing acquaintance as the robot started to spin me around.

"I Hate robots!" Azure grumbled as he pulled himself up and covered the robots eyes.

"Warning sensory opticals blocked!" The robot announced as it let me go, sending me flying off again.

With a crash, I hit one of the wooden crates, the wood crumbling under me due to hundreds of years of rot. Around me rusted ammo boxes fell, one which broke open, spilling out still sealed packages of .308 rounds.

"Seriously, how the fuck are you alive, and a lurker, the fuck is a lurker doing all the way here!" Quicktrot snarled at me as Lean Year pointed my Outlaw in my face. "I watched you drown, no goddamn way your still alive!"

"But she's clearly here." Lean Year said, poking me with my own SMG.

I glared at the rat looking stallion causing him to avert his eyes. "You better not have scuffed my gun, or you will suffer a fate worse than death!" I then looked at my gun. "Also, you have the safety on."

Quicktrot laughed. "You think were so dumb as to fall for-"

*Click*

Lean Year was clearly dumber than Quicktrot gave him credit for as he turned the safety on.

Swiping the gun out of my face, I quickly jolted forward and gave Lean Year his prize, a hard kick to the balls. The stallion let out a whimper before falling over and passing out. With my Outlaw free, I took it, turned the safety off, and aimed at Quicktrot. For a split second I wanted to say something good, but I was alredy done with this brahminshit and unloaded on her.

The body she was possessing crumpled, blood spraying behind her. I even made sure to take out her head in case she was a zombie.

"Uhlomile unobutha!" One of the robots yelled as it began to fire at me, but fortunately its aim was off.

Grabbing my sword I rushed over to Quicktrot's corps, and used it as a shield. Several gunshots rang off and were absorbed by the corps, spraying me in some of the gore. Then the second robot joined in, and I tossed the body at it as I dashed to the first.

With one clean swipe, I lobbed one of its legs off, causing its holographic disguise to completely fail as it fell over. "Ubuqotho besakhiwo busengozini!" The robot yelled as it flailed its legs.

"I don't speak stripe ya fucking tin pony!" I said through gritted teeth before plunging my sword into its head. Its movements then slowed and stopped. "Good, one down one to go."

I then heard a strage buzzing sound from the striped robot.

"Get away from it, Star! It's going to self-destruct!" Harp warned me.

Grabbing my sword as I noticed heat was building up from the robot, I rushed to my friend, covering her just as the robot exploded. I winced as several bits of shrapnel embedded into my flesh.

With small hooves, Hrap held into me, tears running down her face. "You… I thought… I thought."

I gave my friend a hug, ignoring the pain in my body. "I know, I thought I was dead too."

A loud slap hit the ground nere us, and we both looked at the mutilated corpse of Binary, empty eyes looking at us. "I want to know too!" Quicktrot spoke, but now from the robot. Its holographic form flickered and shifted, becoming the purple unicorn mare with the almost white pail blue mane and tail. The jade colored streak she had extended far past her main and tail, glitching out and becoming fragments. She even had a cutie-mark much like Slowtrot's, but with an exclamation mark over a hoofprint then a question mark. With a metallic clang she stepped forward and cringed as her form flickered. "Fucking stripes, I though their robotics was advanced! The tech in the head of this shit is bear bones. How the fuck were they thinking of triggering an inserection with these toys."

She then looked at the unconscious Lean Year and rolled his eyes. "Then again, you ponies can be dumb as shit.

"And you think you can get away with this?" Harp said, bags forming under her eyes as the early signs of radiation poisoning started to show.

Quicktrot cackled, her mouth becoming unnaturally wide as her holographic form struggled to maintain itself. "Oh how precious, you think anypony is going to care about what happens in this shithole of a valley! Once I've killed everypony in this place, all I need to do is sell the land rights to the right politicians, then conveniently, eyes will focus elsewhere. Oh and Golden Harvest will be getting a cut, who then will use their connection to further embed me into the NCR. Of course, if that all happens to fail, what I obtained here will prove to be a suitable backup plan. It would have benefited you to just keep your head down and become my plaything!"

Pushing Harp behind me, I growled at the abomination. "Not going to happen, not now, not ever."

"And how are you going to stop me?" She asked.

*Bang!*

Quicktrot's head exploded, sending metal shrapnel out one side. Azure, holding one of the lever actions from the open barrel, then waved at us. "Villains like her always talk too much."

"That's how! Ya BITCH!" I yelled in celebration as the robot blew up.

Chuckling came from inside one of the large metal boxes, which Quicktrot stepped out. A look of enraged amusement was on her face as several more robot ponies trotted out of the same box. Each one taking her form, and in union, said to me. "Oh, this time I will draw and quarter you, then burn the pieces to make sure you stay dead!"

Azure provided us covering fire as I helped Harp to cover, several gunshots tailing us. Taking cover by a crate out in the open I took a deep breath. "Well, fuck."

"And there are more." Harp then said. "Look like each box holds ten robots, and there's six of those boxes."

"Greate, two down and fifty eight to go. Wait, what about the big one?" I then asked, but harp just shrugged and shook her head.

I tapped on the drum magazine of my Outlaw, figuring it was mostly full, then drew back the charger, which released a bullet. "Good to go." I said to myself and popped up, took aim, and pulled down the trigger.

Like an angry stick of butter, the Outlaw fired smooth and fierce, letting me land a good several rounds onto one robot before moving the sights to the next. The 10mm of my SMG may have been pistol rounds, but with enough hits to the chest, even the steel bodies of the robots crumpled and the insides shredded. As the second one fell to my attack, the robots turned their attention to me, and I ducked as they rained .45 rounds all around me.

"Star!" Harp wheezed, my friend still looking in a bad way. "You got to destroy her pipbuck, that's how Quicktrot gets around. She's likely controlling the robots from it, and without a host, it may kill her for good."

"Well it's as good of a plan as any." I said, and after the sound of one of the robots blowing itself up, I picked up my sword and dashed out. Seeing Binary's corpse, I picked up the place and as I got to it, I slashed off the leg with the pipbuck and dove for more cover.

"Hello!" Quicktrot said as one of the robots was already at the cover waiting for me.

The robot shook as spark came out of it and the holographic form dropped. Nearby, and once again, Harp had helped me by overcharging the robot with magic. Wasting no time I cut off its head, and readyed my hoof to kick it away. But time… it slowed, and I couldn't move.

Digitally warped cackling came from all around me as everything turned the green of S.A.T.S. "oh so close, yet so far." Quicktrot mocked as her translucent form hovered above me. "Did you know that a pipbuck can survive a lot of abuse? Say, like the self destructing explosion of a Zebra infiltration robot. But a pony on the other hoof, not so much. Now you just sit there as the timer runs out, think about all the shit you tried to do to stop me, and how I still won in the end!"

I glared at her form, trying to pour all the hate into her.

She laughed. "Oh, the evil eye again. Sorry to tell ya, but not even Victoria can use it on me. I'm just built differently But, I'm not opposed to prying into your memories again. No, wait, that's a bad idea… but then again." She got muzzle to muzzle with me, where I could see flecks of gold in her eyes. "Show me your secrets." She growled, sounding more like a chem addict trying to get their fix.

Again the magic of my evil eye warped, and I lost control over it. But something was different, as though something else was with me, holding onto my hoof. It was warm, and comforting.

"Such secrets are not for you to take, abomination." Persephone spoke, and everything shattered.

Time reasserted itself and I quickly kicked the robot away as I took my cutlass into my hooves. A dim blue flame sparked from my blade right before I plunged it down and into the pipbuck. The durable fetlock mounted terminal offered only little resistance as I impaled my sword through it and into the concrete floor.

All the robots let out a warped scream as their form flickered and then turned off. "Ithagethi itholiwe" one robot said, then another, and another. They all then began shooting at each other, as Harp and I kept our heads down.

One by one the robots destroyed themselves and exploded until only one was left, which was then shot by Azure. After waiting for the last robot to explode, we trotted out and looked at the carnage of it all.

"Star…" Harp said, looking even worse than before. "You… okay?" She said with pained breath. She might not have been physically hurt, but by just absorbing magic to hurt those robots, she soaked in a shit ton of rads.

"I'll be fine ya idiot!" I said as I scooped her up. "Worry about yourself! Let's get out of here and get ya some rad away."

Harp smiled as mevas she weekly held onto me. "Thank Celestia you're alive, I thought I killed you there. I… I thought I lost another pony I care about."

I held her close to me, doing my best to hold back my own tears. "I know, I know. But I'm still here, and I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"Well look at this shit!" A familiar voice called out as a gray mare trotted in from outside. Rook sported a few new cuts and a burnt duster, but looked no less rundown by the wasteland. "So the stripes hid a robot strike force down here… hot damn, more .308 round, jackpot!"

Both Harp and I raised an eyebrow at her. "How'd you get down here?" I asked, realizing that the same question applies to myself.

"With fucking help, thats what." Another familiar voice spoke up as the sound of metal hooves on concrete was all I needed to know who just arrived. Percussion Cap trotted in, three pistols levitating above her, and an annoyed look on her face. "I'm getting too old for this shit, you all know that! But no, some crazy bitch is plotting to kill me because of some old grudge… fuck, thats just like how it was with grandma."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she wanted to kill me too." Slowtrot said as he also arrived. Seeing me, he rushed over. "Shit, are you okay?"

I waved my wounded leg, some shrapnel still inside. "I'll recover, but you need to give Harp some rad-away right!" He nodded and rushed over to our friend. Turning my attention back to PC, I again asked, "but how did you get through the barrier?"

PC kicked a dead robot before explaining. "I happen to be related to the Ministry mares. Don't ask which one, it's a brahminshit of a story involving a lot of magic and fuckary. So I was able to trot on through, only to get into a fight with some of those mercenaries, and then Celestia damned robots." She then looked over at the lines of pony sized metal boxes and frowned. "Fuck, was their an army of them down here? There's gotta be like what, nearly a hundred of them."

"Well sixty actually." Harp weekly spoke up, then took a sip from the rad-away Slowtrot gave her. "Blehh, hate this flavor. But ya, looks like the Zebras were planning on doing more than just dropping bombs. Thank Celestia that the M.o.M. prevented them from getting used."

"It sickens me that my fellow citizens would betray Equestria like this." Slowtrot commented.

I trotted over to the still passed out Lean Year and gave him a kick. "Well, at least it's over, and I think I'll need a long rest after all this."

"Just another day in the wasteland." Rook said as she picked up a package of .308 rounds, and skilfully with her hooves, opening it and reloaded one of her magazines. "Though you should grab some of the shit here first. Make it a finders fee." Several boxes of ammo were then tossed into a saddlebag under her duster

Percussion Cap also trotted over, even kicking Lean Year as well. "I'm tempted to leave this bastard down here, but making him the NCR's problem sounds a lot better. They'll likely take this situation more seriously if they got a pony to publicly punish."

A sharp whistle caught my attention as Pyrope trotted in, looking far sharper than I remembered. Clean suit, trimmed beard, and a hint of cologne. "Well look at all this!" He then saw Harp and rushed over. "Damnit, I knew we should have rushed over!"

"And what, get eviscerated by those robots?" Keep said as she arrived, followed by Live Axle.

"Did you bring everypony?" I asked Live.

She smirked at me. "Almost, but this is it. Percussion Cap didn't feel like waiting for everypony to grab their guns." She then showed off a Griffinstone Typewriter she had on her. "But we managed to scavenge a few nice ones." Her eyes then went wide as she rushed to one of the open canisters, grabbing a GAR. "Oh fuck, Elder Big Papa would kill to get his hooves on one of theise again."

Rook and PC trotted over to me, the older mercenary only sharing a glance with her daughter before the two White Scorpions returned to ignoring each other.

"So, from what the others saw, you weren't with Harp when they got away. And I do know that crab thing was with us at the time to." PC pointed out before asking, "she how the fuck did you get in here then?"

"On that, were sure you were dead too, can you explain that?" Rook added.

I awkwardly smiled back at them. "What if I said I also have a weird family ancestory that involves magical brahminshit."

The two veteran wastelanders gave each other a tired and knowing look.

A loud hiss then caught all of our attention, and blast door over at the exit then slammed shut with a near deafening clang.

"Oh fucking coarse!" Percussion Cap grumbled as she and everypony turned to the massive metal crate.

Laughter then came from within it, as though it knew we were looking at it, its voice deep, robotic, and filled with pure malice. "To think you'd save me the trouble of finding you by coming to me. Now I can kill you all in one go!"

I knew immediately what was about to happen, and it was pissing me off. "Oh come on, I killed you!"

A loud thud came from the crate as a massive dent formed on its surface, then another.

Slowtrot and Pyrope brought Harp over to a terminal, the weakened mare quickly getting to work as Azure and Live Axle pushed several crates to act as cover for the mare. Everpony else drew our guns and found cover to fight from.

With one more hit the front of the massive metal crate came undone, slamming down onto the ground and sending a blast of dust out. With a clang that shook the ground, a massive metal monster trotted out. It was like a tank on four thick legs with a cannon on its back, and two more smaller cannons sticking out the bottom of what looked like a head. On the side of the head were two radar dishes that stuck out like ears, and between the two guns was a thick and flexible robotic arm.

I was left baffled on what the fuck enen was this thing!?

"I'm not so easily gotten rid of. But for you all, I'll be extra thorough in smearing your corpses across the armor of this Robot. Give it some extra color." Quicktrot said as she pointed the two cannons at PC. "Starting with you!"

Percussion Cap clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Not this shit again!"

She scrambled as the robot shot a green beams of energy, cutting into the concrete floor and melting it. PC was fortunately quick on her hoove despite the metal back legs, easly getting out of the way.

Everypony retaliated, showering it with a hail of lead, with a few lucky shots taking out some of the robots lights, but doing nothing to its armor. "I think you need something more powerful than small arms to even hope to damage this thing. This is a MK6 autonomous siege tank, designed for breaking through walls of fortresses and trampling over even Steel Rangers. What hope do you think you have!" Quicktrot bellowed at us, the robot making a loud trumpet like noise to punctuate her point.

Worse was that she was right, but not entirely, as I did have my Cosmic Cutlass! Rushing over to my sword, I saw the robot turn its head at me, the large cannon pointed at me.

It sparked with power, and a loud hum could be heard. "Oh no you don't, Star!"

Right before the cannon fired, both Rook and Keep had climbed the robot, and pushed the cannon up just enough that when I ehen flat on the ground, a bright beam of energy passed just over my head. My pipbuck clicked wildly as it sensed a massive amount of magical radiation. Quickly looking behind me, the concrete wall and everything nere it had been turned into molten glass, which cracked and water started to pour through. Not wanting to wait for another attack like that, I pulled my sword out of the ground and pipbuck, and rushed in to join the fight.

To my amusement, Quicktrot let out a roar of frustration as she swung the larger cannon around, knocking the two mercenaries off the robots back. And as I got in close, the large robot arm came slamming down, cracking the ground, but fortunately missing me. "Damn this thing, all power but none of the speed or maneuverability. But I guess that's what the other robots are for."

The other metal crates then burst open, and from them more of the infiltration robots trotted out, all with Quicktrot form. They quickly grabbed whatever gun was left near their crates and got to fighting, a few simply rushing at me with wrenches in their mouth.

Now it was a full on fire fight, with everypony occupied with something attacking them.

"It's only a matter of time, soon you'll all be dead, and I will have won!" One of the robots yelled at me as it attacked me.

I had to jump back just as another attack from the MK6 came down at me with its big flexible arm, crushing one of the other robots. This forced me back to avoid the explosion, in which the other infiltration robot came at me. With a swing of my sword both the wrench and the robots head were cleaved in two, and again I was forced back, so to not get caught up in another explosion.

"And once again, my intellect has won out." Quicktrot cackled as the two smaller cannons were leveled at me, a green glow coming from the barrels. "See you in Tartarus, BITCH!"

As I saw the green flash, I did the only thing I could think to do, and got as low as possible. I could feel the burn of plasma along my back, smell the burning cloth and fur, but as the light dimmed I was sure I wasn't dead. Letti g out a breath I hadn't known I was holding, I realized that I didn't just go low, I had practically made myself flat, nearly melding with the water that had been pooling inside.

I was in pain, severely so, but I wasn't out of the fight.

And to my enjoyment, I could tell that Quicktrot was glaring at me in rage though the big robot's eyes. So I blew her a kiss.

"I see. . . I've not been dealing with a pony, but a pony shaped radroach!" The Robot stomped on the ground, shaking the room. "Fine then, I'll just trample you like one!"

I quickly scrambled as the big robot charged at me, sweeping it's one big robot arm, and sending me flying into Harps cover.

Slowtrot splashed me with healing potion, which probably helped, but didn't numb the pain I was in.

The robots big cannon then swiveled over at us, charging with power. "Oh yes, this time I'll get rid of you pests in but one shot!"

"Do you ever shut up!" I yelled at the big robo bitch.

"Not when I'm having so much fun." She mocked me as her cannon hummed with power, and all of our pipbuck's clicked with the warni g of radiation.

"Oh right, I forgot I had these!" Slowtrot said as he threw an apple grenade with a blue band around it. *Ping!* went the strange grenade as it bounced off Quicktrot's head, then whent *pop!* as it exploded. Blue crackling bolts shot around the robot, spreading to the infiltration robots, and filling fill the room with static electricity. Quicktrot froze as the red light from the robots head flickered wiledly, and all the other robots dropped their holographic disguise. "How do you like them apples!" Slowtrot yelled in celebration!

"Finally!" Harp said as she let out an exasperated sigh, and the blast door then opened. "The bitch was keeping me locked out, now let's go!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Keep said, a gun cylinder on her back.

Actually, almost everypony had grabbed something, which I didn't blame them for.

Several clicking then came from the robot, and my eyes focused on the big cannon. "Not yet!" I shouted as I pointed at Quicktrot. "No fucking way can we risk that getting out."

"Agreed!" Percussion Cap said as she stood next to an opened crate of explosives. "Cut the bitch open and I'll drop this mining charge in."

With my Cosmic Cutlass in my muzzle, I charged as the lights of the robot flickered to life, and the robot arm began to whip up. But it was too late for Quicktrot, and as she sent the arm at me, I sliced right through it, avoiding a direct hit. Pressurized oil sprayed like blood as I climbed the war machine, reaching its back and cutting a few wires connected to the big cannon. My pipbuck clicked ferociously as I likely was being bathed in more radiation then I had been in all my life, but ignoring it, I found a hatch, and cut the hinges and lock.

As I tossed the hatch away, PC lept over with what looked like the hole crates worth of mining explosives, shoving them inside the robot. A mad look was on the old mare's face as she used her magic to activate all the bombs. "I've been wanting to do this fore fucking years!"

"So have I!" Quicktrot said as one of her infiltration robots grabbed hold of PC.

I went to help her, only to be pulled back by another robot wearing Quicktrot's face. "Oh no you don't!"

The large robot let out a rore, stomping on the ground as though victorious.

Then both infiltration robot's heads exploded, causing them to lose their grip and fall over. Freed, we both jumped down to be met by both White Scorpions holding their rifles. We also found that our friends were now pushing three carts and two flat carts full of stuff.

"Ummm, you all work fast?" I said in mild confusion.

Harp stood on top of one of the carts, holding the same grenade as Slowtrot had. "Quicktrot! Prepare to eatshit and dispare!" Then threw it at the big robot

"Oh Fuck All Y'all!" Quicktrot screamed right as the EMP grenade went off and shut her down.

"How much time do we have?" Harp then asked Percussion Cap.

The old mare slammed into the cart, gritting her teeth as she pushed. "Not enough if we don't get moving now!"

Everypony who could, got to pushing the carts, and quickly they got moving. With a few thumps, the mining carts started moving on their own, picking up speed, and we chased after them.

"Why the fuck are we doing this?" I finally asked.

Pyrope chuckled as he jumped and climbed onto the cart. "Like fuck any wastelander worth their salt wouldn't take as much loot with us as possible!" He then reached over and helped pull me up. "Anyways, they were already mostly loaded, so why not."

We then helped everypony get on just as the carts picked up more speed. Then everything rumbled, and a green light could be seen getting brighter.

"Prepare for a water landing!" Slowtrot yelled as he fired his shotgun.

The carts shook as they turned down another track, and then off it. Right as we hit a flooded part of the mine, I saw a wall of baelfire roaring at us, looking more like the angry skull of Quicktrot, taking one last attempt to kill everypony.

For a long moment everything turned green as we kept our heads down under water, only surfacing once it had turned dark

"Well, I didn't lose another leg, so I'll call that a win." PC said with a sigh.

"Lets count heads first." I said as I turned on my pipbucks lamp.

Everypony was thankfully here, hurt or burnt in some way, but alive. Annoyingly, so was Lean Year, as somepony had remembered to take him with us.

"Um, Star?" Harp said as she looked at me with confusion. "Is there something you need to tell us?"

"About what?" I asked as I pulled myself out of the water, only to see my backwards hoof. "Oh, right… I can kind of explain this."

_________________________________________________

Chapter 21, Rising Star (Part 3)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 21

Rising Star (Part 3)

_________________________________________________

The good news, we were alive. The bad news, the mine was now irradiated thanks to the zebra death-bot. Slowtrot, Harp, and my pipbuck all clicked slowly, warning of the slow death we were going to have if we didn't get out soon.

Passing everypony some rad-x, Slowtrot then made sure to give Harp some extra radaway. The poor mirage pony was far more susceptible to radiation sickness than the rest of us, and needed the stuff desperately. On the other hoof, Pyrope was not just fine, the damn waste pony looked both healthier, and now sported glowing eyes that helped him see in the dark.

I suspect that the Union Clan will actually find the radiation in their mine as good news.

As for all the loot, it fortunately floats, and was easily salvaged, not so much for the carts. But Azure helped reclaimed the flat carts with some help, so we were able to stack most of the loot on them as we plotted our next move.

Speaking of which, we needed to get out, and the only way back was through where we came from. Which happened to be where the radiation was strongest. No way we were going to risk it, and no way Harp could survive it even if we tried.

"You know a way out, bandit?" Percussion Cap asked Pyrope as she dried one of her guns off with a rag.

Pyrope rolled his glowing eyes back at her. "Mam, ain't no way anypony knows any part of these old mines. Ya we did our best to explore, but this shit is behind the barrier."

"What about them fancy pipbucks, they got maps and shit?" Rook asked.

A huff came from Keep, "Ma, thats general maps, no fucking way they have a pre war map of an ancient mine in them do-hickis."

I tapped at the map screen of my pipbuck and sighed. "She's right." Harp, Slowtrot and I said in unison.

I then turned to our crab pony friend, the lurker being the only other source of light inside the tunnel besides our pipbuck's. "Can you do that echo thing?"

Azure shook his head. "Only underwater. My antennae aren't as good up here. Anyway, tight tunnels like this are notoriously known for blocking sound."

Everpony sighed. We couldn't just stand around, but wandering lost underground was just as bad of an idea.

Thinking, I then remembered my Oracle's Eye. It was a hunch, but it wasn't like we had any other bright ideas. Pulling it out and looking through it with one eye, my vision blurred from the magnifying glass. But I saw something, I saw hoofprints.

I saw every pony's hoofprints glowing on the ground… and others too, all moving in one direction. "Jackpot!"

"Star… did you find something?" Harp asked, looking for me blindly.

"Ya, hoof prints, over here." I told them as I trotted off.

As the others followed me, Harp raised an eyebrow as she looked around, seeing nothing. "What hoofprint, Star?"

Right, they weren't visibly there.

"At this point we should just go. Were dead if we- umfh!" Slowtrot tripped as he trotted and talked, his hoof caught in something. "What's this?" He lifted up a deflated balloon, The light too dim to see what was written on it.

With a strike of a match, more natural light filled the tunnel as Rook and PC used it to light a cigarette each. The balloon was pink, with three letters on it "M.o.M."

Harp gasped in excitement. "Balloons, pink balloons. That was in the notes left behind by the Blue Sky's mare. The Ministry of Moral must have used this tunnel!"

"Then we can follow it out!" I added.

Nopony argued, and searched for the old balloons. Bit by bit we were following a path out, and finding the radiation becoming less oppressive the further down we made it. Though still ever present.

*Click*

A slight pink glow illuminated several figures, all having taken cover behind their carts and hastily constructed barricades of weapons and ammo containers. "You's ain't one of us, get back down their or get fucked!" One of the Blue Skies mercenaries demanded, his eyes having the distinctive glow of radiation.

A groan came from Pyrope, who trotted out slowly. "No can do, I'm sure you can feel it, the radiation, and unlike us, my friends here will be killed by it if they go back."

"And we care why?" One of the mercenaries asked.

"Simple. Without them, you're going nowhere. I mean you'll survive, probably ghoulify nicely like our ancestors. Though I can't guarantee you won't go feral without food, and trust me, eating other ponies is just the fastest way to go feral."

A merc snarled. "Ya, were damn aware what you bandits have fucking done to our kin. Why do you think we're fine with wiping ya bastards out! No better than the raider that drove us out of our homes."

"Ya bastards killed my Pa!" Another mercenary growled.

"Impregnated my sis and never took responsibility!" Another complained.

Pyrope backed away, having made the situation far worse.

Rook then laughed. "Smooth, real smooth." She then pointed her rifle at them, a cold look in her eyes. "Ya know we ain't going back, so why don't we make a deal. We all get out alive, and-" she jiggled her bullet filled saddlebags, "with something to make this brahminshit of a place less of a waste of time."

Percussion Cap then levitated six guns. "Also, I'm sure we can kill you faster than you can kill us. Trust me, this ain't my first standoff."

A huff then came from behind us as the sound of hoofsteps became apparent. We were fucking surrounded.

"I think that's a fine deal." Spoke the mercenary I had gotten into a fight with early. "The boss failed all on her own, and we're not obligated to clean up her mess. That's not what we're being paid for. So until the boss renewals her contract, we are rather free at the moment."

We parted as we let the seven mercenaries join their comrades, they also carrying heavy looking saddlebags in which a few guns stuck out of. One of them ran their hooves along a crate the others were hiding behind, then smiled back at us. "Let us take all this shit, and we don't fight you and use your corpses to try and get past the barrier."

"Deal!" Harp weekly spoke up. "I'll open the barrier, and you take all of that shit and get the fuck out of here."

"You sure, won't Amethyst Sands want those guns?" I asked.

"It's fine." Pyrope said as he pulled up his revolver. "Us bandits like to make our own guns and bullets, we'll be fine if a few crates of old guns vanish. Not going to miss what we never knew we had." He then looked at the mercenaries. "But that’s so long as y'all don't cause us any trouble. If ya think what our clan did to ya before was bad and shit, there's a good reason why we were the only bandits in your area. And why the raiders moved in so quickly when y'all snubbed us."

Several of the mercenaries raised their guns, but one of them lifted their hoof and said. "Fair enough… bandit. Anyways, with the bosses plan here all shit now, I doubt she will return anytime soon. She may be a vindictive and bitter bitch, but she knows not to waste caps where it's not needed." He then eyed Lean Year and grinned. "You can keep the brat too. Let him run home and suckle on his mother tit."

"You talk as though Quicktrot survived?" I said questioningly.

The mercenary shrugged. "She's much like the Goddesses of the glow in many ways. Of which, death is not a permanent state for a thing like her. Many cunning and cruel tricks are at her hooves, and in time she will return, of which she will need ponies to do her dirty work."

"Sadly, I have to agree." Slowtrot said. "There's still so much we don't know about what she can do, and what she knows. Not to mention that she has a fragment of a nightmares soul as part of her."

"Then we'll just be better prepared when she does show up again." Harp said. "But that’s not going to happen if we stay here, so let's get going."

Giving us some space, both Harp and PC trotted forward, with both Rook and I next to them for protection. Both ponies stuck their hooves through the barrier, opening a hole each big enough for a pony to fit through. The two holes connected and formed a bigger hole, in which the mercenaries quickly marched through along with their carts.

Once the mercenaries were out, we all exited as well, finding this side to be mostly radiation free. Waiting a bit to both let the mercenaries get further away from us, and have Slowtrot check our health. We finally were able to catch our breath and relax a little.

"You sure it's a good idea, I mean, those guns will eventually be used against us?" I asked Harp.

She nodded. "I know, but… if I saw you die again, I don't think I could take it. Anyways, all they need is one grenade to take us all out. Trust me, I know enough about tunnel fighting to know you don't want to be in a tunnel fight."

Harp looked considerably tired and worn-out, likely the stress of what happened to me and the radiation throwing her through loops. So I gave my good friend Another hug, sharing my warmth. "Alright, let's just focus on survival."

After sharing some radaway, along with what little water we had, we again followed the trail of deflated pink balloons, with the air becoming less damp and stale the further we went. Turning a corner, we found light, in which we had to squint our eyes as we ran to it.

It was dry and hot, so fucking hot, but we were out, and I only now understood how cold I had been now that I was standing in the sun.

As my eyes adjusted, I saw the line of mercenaries in the distance, fortunately heading away from Amethyst Sands.

"Alright, let's head back to town, I could really use a stiff drink." I said, finding that everypony was looking at me. "What?" I asked as I pushed my main out of my face… then saw my split hoof. "Right… that."

_________________________________________________

The trot back to Amethyst Sands felt far longer than it was, since it involved me explaining something I barely even understood. And when I tried, I found holes in my memory… no, I remembered it all clearly, but I just couldn't say certain words. Names of gods, Aspects of the afterlife, and other impossible things I just couldn't say.

"So… let me get this straight." Harp said slowly. "Your father was half Kelpie, and mother half Bicorn." I nodded. "And when you were drowning, your Kelpie genes activated?" Again I nodded. "Now you're probably all Kelpie, and can do Kelpie magic."

"Makes sense to me." Slowtrot said. "I mean, pony genetics is rather weird like that."

"Tell me about it." Percussion Cap huffed. "My grandmother was two parts unicorn, two parts pegasus, and two parts earth pony."

We looked at the older farmer with a raised eyebrow each.

She took a drag from her cigarette and slowly let the smoke out. "It's a long story, and I don't know how much of it was brahmanshit, but she clearly wasn't no normal mare. Heck, they had to make a magic bullet with her name on it just to kill her."

"Right, your Stormriders granddaughter if I'm correct." Rook spoke up before taking a swig of whiskey. Where she keeps pulling them out from was a damn mystery to everypony.

"Seriously?" Keep said in mild shock, "ain't she the hero of the long winter, ya know, when all the dead decided to get back up and get violent or something?"

PC shrugged. "That's the story, and her being covered in blue flames and such I can confirm is true."

Azure trotted up to PC, one of his journals in one face claw, and a pen in the other. "So, is that ability inherited, and the two parts of three different types of ponies, were they anybody important."

PC cringed as she got a good look at Azure's two sets of mandibles which normally were hidden under the face claws. "Maybe another time. When I don't feel like throwing up my lunch."

A laugh came from Rook, "oh, miss bounty hunter can't stand a bug face."

"Unlike your clan, I don't go kissing rad-scorpions." PC sneered.

A sigh then came from Harp. "Alright, yaknow, I think just believing that pony genetics is a confusing mess is the best option. Not that I have much in the way to complain." She admitted as she wiggled her diminutive wings. "Anyways, I'm just glad you're alive, and this whole mess is over."

"Agreed" I said as I gave my friend a little bump. "As soon as we can, lets get the fuck out of here."

"Here, here." Slowtrot said with a huff.

"Wait… Where did you end up this time, Slowtrot?" I had to ask.

He visibly shivered. "Back at the worst job I ever took. The Molly Manticore Mega Mall."

I cocked an eyebrow at that. "The what now?"

"A fucking mega mall!" PC shouted. "Oh I hope somepony has bombed a place like that to rubble?" Eye then fell on her, "Sorry, only heard rumors and such, but every Molly Manticore on the west cost is a fucking death trap. Like, I know a pony who knows a pony that has personally tracked every one of them down and used a megaspell bomb on them. But never heard of a mega mall."

"Thank Celestia for that if it has been bombed." Slowtrot said. "But ya, I blame my mom for signing me up for it. It's in central Equestria, because of land rights or something like that. But I got a security job there, and left after a week. Few jobs I ever quit right out. Probably for the best, as they were already replacing ponies with robots long before the rest of Equestria started to."

"What was wrong with the place?" Harp asked.

Slowtrot shrugged. "Not sure, it just gave me bad vibes the longer I was there. Like somepony was always watching me. There was also nonstop construction, like they were trying to dig to the center of the world. Then there were the missing foals, and I even had a bad run in with one of the robot mascots. It's where I got the EMP grenades from, all employees are given one just in case a mascot goes rogue. Oh, and the owners, the Blackroot's, they were a really creepy family."

Harp then scrunched up her nose like she smelt something bad. "Blackroot, I think I know that name. If I remember correctly, there was a Blackroot who led the Offensive Magic Research Lab, before the Ministry of Arcane Science took over. They even lead the advancement of robotics, I think."

"That's interesting, but I would rather not talk about all that anymore. It's bad luck, ya'know." Slowtrot said as he shook his head.

I laughed. "What, you're afraid we're going to stumble on that place if we keep talking about it."

He shot me a dirty look, but then sighed. "I don't know, maybe. You know how weird magic is, and I rather not try fate."

Though as paranoid as it sounded, there was some truth in what he said, so I decided to drop it.

Idle chatter filled our group as we made it back to Amethyst Sands, where a pissed off and worried Mayor Almandine rushed over and slapped her son. "Ya blithering idgit, not waiting for a possy and just running in there, I'd have half a mind to shoot ya myself!" She then eyed PC with disdain. "And you, all this time you!" She then pointed at Harp, "and you both could get past the fucking barrier!"

"Mam, frankly it wasn't my business, and I didn't care." PC answered.

"Also, this was the situation we wanted to avoid." Harp added.

Almandine kicked at the ground for a moment, then took a long and slow deep breath. "Fine, it's fine. But one of y'all better help us close that barrier or so help me, only the god of the glow can save ya."

PC rolled her eyes at that. "If y'all want to start a fight, y'all better pray to that radiation god of yours, because I ain't full of mercy."

The two older mares stare each other down for a long moment before Almandine gave up. "Whatever, you made your point. Threats aren't Going to get me far. Let's work out a deal, alright."

"Fair enough. Anyways, ain't nopony who can do blacksmithing back at the farm right now. So let's be good neighbors and all that shit." PC said in agreement.

Almandine then looked at Harp, her hard expression softening a little. "Little miss, you should go take a rest, you're starting to look like one of us."

Harp chuckled. "Almost became like one of you."

"Right, about that Ma." Pyrope cut in. "The mines past the barrier are kind of flooded with radiation now."

The mayor cocked an eyebrow at that, then smiled. "I see, so the god of the glow has deemed to bless us. This is good news, very good news."

Leaving us, PC, Pyrope and the mayor trotted off to the main building. I then looked at Rook, who was fanning herself off with her hat. "Say, thanks for coming to help. If you and the others didn't show up before that big robot attacked, I doubt we would have made it."

"That's for sure. Shit like that can kill a town…" Rook then sighed. "It's going to be nice to leave a town and not because it was dead."

"So you're leaving?" I asked.

Rook nodded. "Well ya heard the mayor, they're about to get very religious very soon." She then looked over at her daughter, who was trotting off over to her husband. "And maybe it's time I at least try to be a mother to them. For all it's worth. What about you?"

"Same plan as always." I told her. "I hunt down the bitch that killed my mom, and if I get lucky, find my birth mother and knock her teeth out." I started to rub my leg nervously as I remembered some of the things my father told me. "Shit, if we go all the way to the Luna sea, there's a chance things are going to get awkwardly nasty."

"But go you must." Rook said to me. "Is that right?"

"Ya, it is… but until then, let's have a drink." I said with a smile.

_________________________________________________

(Star lets herself loosen up)

After a few drinks I was feeling a lot better, though it was probably a bad idea since I was given med-x for my back. So before I knew it, I was in my dancers outfit gyrating my hips on an impromptu pole. Rowdy locals cheering me on as a few less than happy mares gave me the stink eye, but I didn't care.

I even caught Fort and Coinshot sneaking in to see the show.

It was rather fun, though that might have been just the chems talking, but at this moment I was feeling good again. I even got Harp up to show her moves, the smaller mare showing off her more classical dance skills, including being able to stretch a rear leg over her damn head, fucking balarena.

A few others join me, though more as to tease them. A drunk Live Axle got a good laugh, but at least she didn't fall off stage like when her sister had. Amazingly, Keep was rather skilled, something she said she picked up from a few odd jobs. Fortunately Rook didn’t join, but the old mare did say she did a few jobs like that when she was younger.

Funny enough, PC actually admitted that her own husband could probably beat me in pole dancing. Something about a job he had before meeting her, which I guess was as a male escort.

The locals weren't going to just simply watch, with a few rowdy stallions needing to be taught to not touch the dancer unless invited. A rather pissed off mare also thought it was a good idea to get in my face. She found herself part of the show as I gave her a quick and forceful lesson in pole dancing, then a longer then even I planned makeout session. I might have been just me, but she seemed far more into it then she admitted.

But eventually, as all good things, the little party came to an end. Mainly because Almandine showed up with a shotgun, but also because my buzz wass wearing off.

"I fold," Pyrope said as he put his cards down.

"Same" I said, having a shit hoof anyways.

Rook shrugged. "Might as well fold too."

Slowtrot pulled the pot of caps into his already sizable pile of money. I had forgotten he had dumb luck with cards, and I was literally paying for it. To calm my own disappointment at myself, I gently stroked Cavall's head as the snake dog layed next to me.

"His win again?" Harp asked as she trotted over.

"As always." I answered with a chuckle. "You done with the negotiations?"

Harp rolled her eyes, "ya, finally." Her cheeks were flush, since she had been drinking while talking with the mayor, which she ended up doing while in her dancer's outfit. It was funny to see my friend slip into her hottest roll when talking to the old mare. I was sure Almandine was striate, but even Harps natural charisma seemed to get the old nag a bit flustered. "Still annoyed about her getting all pissy over the guns, but it was in their mine. They'll have things sorted out in the morning, so we should get some rest."

Right, not long after the celebration started did Almandine start getting greedy. Bitch wanted to keep everything we recovered. Was also about to kill her own son when she learned that we let the mercenaries get away with even more loot. "Fair enough, it's too late and I'm too… ehhh, to back on the road."

"About that, I'm taking a private room tonight, need my beauty sleep and such. Please don't come in, okay." She said, almost pleadingly.

I nodded, understanding how much she had been through. "Sleep away. But if you have a nightmare, my bed will always be open."

Her eyes looked away, almost guiltily. "I don't think I'll be having that problem tonight. Just, don't disturb me." Harp then trotted away, her tail brushing past Pyrope's chair before going to the back.

Getting up, Pyrope gave me a wink. "It was fun, but I got to go, I have things… to do. But it was fun, seeing you dance and all."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Ya ya, you just got lucky the med-x put me in a good mood."

As he left to the back, Rook gave me a knowing look, "You do know they're going to the same room, right?"

I knocked back my watered down whiskey, cocking my eye at the old veteran. "No fucking way, Harps as strait as my cutlass" I told her with a chuckle. "Trust me, if shed fuck a stallion, shed have done it by now."

Rook shrugged, "don't blame me when you become auntie Star in nine months." She then leaned in, whispering. "Speaking of which, after that show you put on, you got a few locals interested."

I let out an annoyed huff. "Hay, I may have loosen myself up, but by no means my legs are opening for business. Anyways, gruff old miners aren't my type."

Slowtrot cleared out his throat, looking rather embarrassed. "Sorry to run, but I should check on Live Axle."

Leaning back on my chair as my other companion left, Cavall then jumped onto my lap, where he got ear scratches.

"So, are you really okay?" Rook then asked me before sipping on her drink. "And not just okay, okay? Coming back from the dead isn't something ponies normally do."

I looked away for a moment, not wanting to truly have this conversation, but as my eyes looked over at her own, her cold and distant eyes made me compelled to talk.

"I'll be fine… I hope." I said as the memories of Quicktrot shooting and drowning me came flooding back. The look on Harp's face as she was helpless to stop it. It was guilt, she was looking at me knowing that her plan had fucked up and I was paying for it, and it was my own fuck up that put her in that position.

I was alive, but if it had been anypony else, only death. If those mercenaries didn't have morals of their own, I would have been raped in front of her. If I had been any more wound up in my own troubles I might have attacked Rook, and I know she would have killed me. At the very beginning I should have told Lean Year to fuck off, and let us be on our way.

"But I have a lot of thinking to do, and more making up to my friends for causing most of this." I said, then sighed. "Also, thank fuck for mercenaries with morals. I'll take a beating over rape any day."

Rook raised her glass to me. "I can attest to that. Some mercenary bands aren't even that kind to their own."

"Happened to you?" I asked.

But the old mercenary shook her head. "Fortunately no, but I have heard a few horror stories over my years. Mostly marauder bands, which are basically just raiders paid to harass certain settlements. The worst I had was getting paid extra to be a bedside companion, or sucking dick." She shot her glass back, finishing her drink and slamming it down. That distant look was still in her eyes, looking right through me. "Take it from me, if you're alive and can still fight, learn. Luck may be a skill all its own, but only a fool relies on it. Next time, be prepared to make your own luck, be ready to use the dirtiest of tricks, but… always remember why you're going so far."

I nodded, understanding what she was trying to tell me. I relied too much on my natural abilities, and only survived because I had a trick even I didn't know about. But next time I need to stack the deck in my favor. Know who I'm dealing with and be ready to kill at a moment's notice.

But more importantly, I need to keep my Bridget close to my heart. Harp and Slowtrot too. I'm not alone in this, and neither are our enemies.

"I've always asked my mom if I'm evil, and she'd always tell me that evil ponies don't ask that question." I then said.

"Because evil ponies know their evil." Rook then said. "And they don't care."

I shook my head in disagreement. "Some are like that, but not most. Most evil ponies think everypony else is evil, and so they're just doing what they see as normal. Or that's what mom tried to explain to me."

"And what used to be normal for you?" She asked.

"Death, murder, only sticking out your neck for yourself. But also following the strongest and doing as she says. Always thought Prism was just weird." I explained.

"And now?" She then asked.

I let out a long sigh. "Not too sure anymore, but I do think mom was the more normal pony then anypony else out here. About time I try to start thinking like Prism, and less believing I'm like Setting Sun. Though with a bit of bloodlust mixed in. Old habits and all."

For the first time since coming here, Rook cracked a smile, a true genuine smile. "Good to hear. The wasteland makes monsters of us all, but maybe that's because I just think that's how things just are. Though I might be too old to change… but might as well try."

"Hay, if you're alive and can still fight!" I said back to her.

There was quiet for a long moment, then laughter. I knew I was going to regret it, but I felt like another round of drinks.

_________________________________________________

Chapter 22, To the Future and Beyond.

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 22

To the Future and Beyond.

_________________________________________________

As I slowly returned to the waking world, I immediately regretted that last drink. My head pounded, my gut felt like there was a hole in it, and I seriously needed some water. Checking my bed, I let out a sigh of relief to find myself the only one in it, and that my privates didn't have a sticky feeling to it. Last thing I needed was to get pregnant again because I got blacked out drunk.

So both satisfied that I didn't do anything completely stupid, and hating myself for being stupid enough to drink that much, I forced myself out of bed. Not even caring about who I stepped on, I made my way out and to the back, where an outhouse waited for me.

Once everything that wanted out of me had been thankfully evicted, and with a more clear head, I returned inside to change my clothes.

Inside I saw a now half awake Slowtrot, hoof print on his face, with Live Axle next to him. They weren't cuddling, but Live Axle was clearly clinging onto him tightly. My guess was that she was holding onto her sister in her dreams, and poor Slowtrot ended up as a stand in.

"Say, can I get some pain killers?" I asked quietly, my hangover slowly getting worse

He sighed and nodded.

Trotting to his saddlebags, I took five of the pills and all of the water in his canteen.

It will be awhile before I feel normal again, but I didn't feel like going back to sleep, so I made my way back to the bar, maybe to get more water and a snack. Seeing the other guess room and remembering that Harp was in there, I took a peek.

Taking a moment for my brain to understand what I was looking at, I saw a messy looking Harp spooning inside Pyrope 's embrace. I didn't need to even imagine what had transpired since from my position, I could see everything.

So I backed away and carefully shut the door.

Making my way to the bar, I found Rook, Percussion Cap, Keep, and Fort all already here. The four were quiet as they played a game of cards, three of them already drinking.

"You three can seriously drink if you're already at it." I told the three mares as I took a seat next to the colt.

"Been drinking since I was a filly." Rook said as she folded her hoof of cards. "All the water is tainted back home, and not enough materials to distill it, but we have more booze then you could ever want."

"Lots of inedible plants we make into the worst drink in your life." Keep added, also folding.

PC chuckle as she showed her hoof, all low number cards, and one jack, causing the two mercenaries to groan in annoyance as PC took the pot of caps. "Don't your clan make scorpion vodka, that shit is quite good."

"It relies on natural evaporation, and some shitty filtering, so it takes forever to make. The scorpion just masks how shitty it tastes." Rook said as she tossed in a cap.

"Actually, now that the sun is out, and we have access to charcoal filters, it isn't as a pain in the ass to make anymore." Keep said with a sneer as she added to the pot. "You'd know that if you didn't abandon the clan."

"What did I say?" PC said sternly, and Keep looked away, annoyed but didn't say anymore. "Thought so." She smugly said as she added another dap to the pot.

I didn't have any caps, so I passed, choosing to pour myself a pitcher of water, with a bit of whiskey mixed in. "Nothing but grog where I was born, which is odd since we lived on the sea, but salt water isn't all that drinkable."

Fort shuffled the cards then dealt them out to the three mares. "The two rivers that surround the clan are still unsafe to drink. Non-magical pollution being the problem."

"That's a common problem in the wasteland. Last I heard, Sweet Apples Acres is still quarantined by the NCR due to how poisoned the land is." I added.

"Sounds like the perfect place for the Waste Ponies to move in." Rook said with a chuckle. "They got goats beat in the ability to eat anything and live. Seen it myself. It's why I don't let em cook for me, they can't tell between what food and what poison."

That was good to remember. Turning my attention to PC, I then remembered the job left unfinished. "Oh about those nails."

"Harp already reassure me you'll get it done once your business her is don." Percussion Cap said as she peek at her cards with a stone cold expression on her face, "Other then that, several more canisters of guns will be joining you back to my farm."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Several more?"

"E'yep, not many, just a few good rifles, and a bunch of pistols." PC said with a smile. "Though the main stash was demolished, the mine still holds several smaller stashes of guns and other goods. Turns out that this mine was going to be their main fallout shelter long ago, meaning that their a lot of untouched survivor equipment down their."

"Were taking some back as well." Keep said, tossing a few caps into the pot. "My husband is also negotiating to buy some more. Those guns may be archaic even in their own time, but they'll still kill a raider. So plenty of ponies will pay top cap for em. Even in the NCR."

"Ya, and the Desperado’s would love to get our hooves on them." Live Axle said as she trotted over, a groggy Slowtrot behind her. "I was thinking of letting Elder Big Papa know about this stash. The locals said they're interested in making a deal if possible. Say, where's Harp?"

I tried to hold back a grin as I said. "Harp's currently doing… a thing."

Live Axle raised an eyebrow at me and shrugged. "Anyways, once she's ready, we should look over what the locals were able to recover."

"Agree, but until then, can you spot me a few caps?" I asked as I pointed at the poker game.

_________________________________________________

I lost all the caps Live gave me, but laughed my flank off when Slowtrot won them all back, and practically took everypony's money. Sheer dumb luck, but luck was luck.

Well eventually a very clean and proper Harp came out, a slight gape in her step that made me chuckle. She took a moment to look at me, then slowly at Pyrope who followed her out to realize I knew she had slept with him. Choosing to not mentioning her first time with a stallion, we wrapped up our game and trotted over to the entrance of the mine, where quite a few of the recovered stash was now on display.

"So you think the mayor will give us a discount if you don't take the pill?" I whispered to Harp.

She squinted at me, whispering back. "I already took it last night, no way I'm letting myself get pregnant."

I shrugged. "Oh well, though I bet you would have had a weirdly cute baby."

"Focus, Star." My friend grumbled.

Returning my attention back to the guns, and by were there a lot of them. The metal barrels did well to keep them in good condition, same for the ammunition, both letting off the smell of gun oil. All were early Great War arms though, so few in the way of full auto fire. Strangely, there were also a lot of IF-9's, a combat shotgun famously known for jamming all the time. That aside, the most common barrels had GM1's inside, or Grover's as the Gunrunners called them. They were the first rifle made for ponies in the great war. Though clip fed, they did fire .308, and were made to griffin standards, so at least they make reliable hunting rifles.

So we took two GM1 Grover's, and several boxes of ammo.

There was also a box full of GM19A1's, along with two stick magazines each. The Griffinstone typewriters looked plane compared to my Outlaw, and were chambered in .45, so no ammo compatibility sadly. Harp insisted that we take two for the smuggler, as more firepower is never a bad idea. Live Axle thought the same thing for her Lone Wanderer. We had also recover a crate of .45 ammo, so plenty of it when't around.

Fortunately, one of the barrels we recovered had GM18's in them, the GAR even having Celestia's emblem etched onto the rifle. There was an argument over them, since they clearly were high end rifles. Harp managed to convince Almandine to let us have one, as we needed a replacement for the Aeternus until we get new beam talismans, along with a few more boxes of ammo. Live then forced us to trade with the one she had grabbed, wanting to give the Celestia GAR to Elder Big Papa.

We also got a .45 GMPC pistol and combat knife for each of us as backup. Five in total. And Azure got to keep the weird Lever action he picked up, which the mad thing was loaded in .308, and used an internal fixed magazine.

Harp managed to also negotiate two box's of 25 grenades, which was enough to do good damage to anything. More explosives was never a bad thing.

Lastly, and more importantly, was a box of six purple gemstones, perfectly cut and polished. Pyrope personally gave it to Harp, who then kissed him on the cheek.

"You know, you can stay if you want." Pyrope said with a wink and a smile.

"I could, but you know that do nothing but bring everypony here trouble." Harp said softly. "And I'm not so cruel as to do something like that." Trotting away and to the smuggler, she turned to say one last thing. "But who knows when our paths might cross again."

Pyrope tipped his hat at her. "I certainly hope that may happen."

With our spoils, we quickly got to loading up the smuggler, putting some of the guns into storage compartments, and hooking the GAR up onto the gunner nest. The fact we made sure to get ten magazines for the GAR did bother me, as they weren't all that big, and so didn't hold much ammo in them. Reloading while on the move was going to be a real fucking pain.

"So… you're really not gay?" I asked my friend as I doubled checked the GAR's harness.

Harp frowned at me as she returned to the smuggler and took her seat. "I've told you before, my family forbade me from having relationships with stallions, not that I was only interested in mares. Anyways, he has that rugged charm, along with that smooth face."

"Right, I get it, he is a bit of a pretty colt under all that dust and grit… so how was it?" I then asked her.

She hid her face behind the gem box, embarrassed as the memories were obviously running through her head. "I… I don't rightly know. But it was… fun. Weird, but fun."

I chuckled in amusement. "Oh ya it is. Maybe we should go see if Platinum Hill has a brothel, have fun with a professional."

"No damn way!" She protested.

"Suit yourself." I said as I looked over and at the box. "Anyways, are those beam talismans, if you got em, why did we get the GAR?"

She opened the box, and I saw the brilliant Amethyst gemstones again, in them my reflection seemed to go on forever.

"Their blank talismans, for industrial use." She explained.

"That doesn't sound all that great. Will they work in the Aeternus?" I Asked.

Harp smiled. "Actually they're better than military grade talismans. These treasures can handle higher magical output, maybe more then a forth as much as the old talismans we had. It'll take more time to imprint the spell in them, but once I'm done we won't have to worry about another burnout like last time."

I whistled in amazement. "Nice, then that means we can do another one of those super shots then?"

"I really hope not. That infested mare shared the shit out of me." Harp admitted as she closed the box. "But if it happens again, then ya, we should be able to do it without any problems."

A clunk came from behind the smuggler as I turned to the trailer being loaded up with several metal canisters which held guns for indefinitely storage. Some of it was PC's, but a bunch was actually ours. Along with opening up the mine to them, they also made this as a reward for dealing with the raiders, and checking everypony's health. So we were getting four canisters of M1 Grover's, that held ten each, and two of the .45 GMPC' which held 20 each. Along with a full crate of ammo of both .308 and .45.

The Desperado's were going to love this, and so long as we didn't break the seal, the guns were good as new.

Still, something did bother me a little. "How many of those Grovers do they got down there anyways, I mean, to just give us more of em and all?"

Slowtrot, having finished pushing a container, let out a huff before angering my question. "It was the premier rifle for like… ten years I think. The first half of the war, and was discontinued even before the IF-64 was put into service. From what I remember, Equestria had a massive stockpile made of them, and after the military stopped using them, they were among the cheapest rifles on the market. So it's not surprising that anypony needed a lot of good rifles on the cheap, they'd stockpile Grovers."

"What about the IF-9's" I then asked, since it was the second most common gun in the mine.

He shrugged. "Probably because you couldn't give it away, it's a junk automatic shotgun that jams and misfires all the time. Or what I have been told." He then patted his own shotgun. "I still don't know why they didn't just keep using the trench gun. But then again, the old world did blow itself up, the damned fools."

A bit ironic I thought, as he was one of those fools from the old world.

The Smuggler rocked as PC up onto the gunner nest, a GAR strapped to her side, and a few more pistols on her belt. "Hay Star, before you go, I got something to ask ya?" She said quietly, and I nodded back at her. "Think of it as a sixth sense of mine, but there's more to your whole kelpie thing, and you getting past that barrier. Has it anything to do with my farm, such as something wanting it untouched? It was mighty convenient that you made it to Harp before the rest of us."

I leaned back and smiled. "Maybe if ya give me one of your guns, I'll tell ya more." She glared at me, so I decided to give up on that so as not to anger the ornery mare. "Alright, ya, your instincts aren't wrong, but I'm unable to say much of anything about it, like literally. But I do remember a very important pony telling me that a very important seed had been planted in Equestria. Something related to the origins of pony magic, and without it, ponies are doomed to fade away. Why, you know something about it?"

A long sigh came from Percussion Cap. "Maybe. It's something my grandmother left me, something magical that needs protecting. But I'm not the pony to to fully embrace that responsibility like she did. Still, It's good to know that there are others out there helping protect such things. And if you and your friends ever roll back around, maybe I'll show you it."

"Maybe on our way back we'll take ya up on that offer." I told her right before the engine of the Smuggler roared to life. "Oh, what are ya going to do with Lean Year? Leven out in the middle of the wasteland with only a can of oil?"

Currently Lean Year was bounded and gagged in our trailer.

"Unfortunately no. It's going to be too much of a headache to kill him. Have to turn him over to the NCR, and let the damned buricats deal with him. Annoying, but it will hit Golden Harvest much harder than to just killed him." She said before she jumped off, and the next thing I knew, Caval was tossed up and onto my lap. "You almost forgot the pup." PC said with a laugh.

I stroked the nightstalker, who then gave me a lick. "Thanks, and you better not go getting yourself killed before we see each other again."

I gave her a wave as I looked around. Pyrope and Harp were having one last talk, Live Axle was on her Lone Wanderer, the motorcycle was now strapped down with its new guns. Moody and his family were still negotiating with the locals as Rook and Fort packed up their things to join them. The Union bandit themselves were now far busier, sorting through not just the gun containers, but gemstones they recently recovered.

My pipbuck radio then crackled to life, and Slowtrot then said through it, "next stop, Green Lake Farm, then to Platinum Hill."

The smuggler rolled forward, kicking up a little bit of dust as we drove out through the front gate. It would have been nice to stick around, get to know the ponies here better, but I knew we couldn't. We already learned what happened when we stuck around a place for too long, and there was someplace we needed to be. Victoria was still out there, and other evils, along with bounty hunters who would soon come onto our trail. We needed to move on, or risk never moving again.

Desperado’s V2 End

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Epilogue

Green Lake Farm would persist and grow as it had before. With the water reservoir under them, and plenty of guns to protect themselves, even the oncoming drought didn't damp their spirits. The farm would become a popular resting point for travelers, trading for fresh food and water while surrounded by so much green. So relaxing, that ponies upon leaving Green Lake Farm would seem brighter, both in color and in spirit.

. . .

The mining town of Amethyst Sands would quickly grow as the rest of the Union bandit clan would return and settle down to mine and sell gemstones. Between the guns and gems, they would quickly grow wealthy, becoming a proper town sprouting out of the wasteland itself. In time other waste ponies, who had lost their homes, would be drawn to Amethyst Sands, joining them and creating the largest population of waste ponies in Equestria.

. . .

The ruins of Tato Town would be quarantined and left to rot, the danger of the parasitic Cruel Joke taken very seriously by the town of Amethyst Sands and the wasteland as a whole. But now and then a pony would sneak in to grab the Cruel Jole flowers hidden inside, either hoping to get a quick high, or sell them for caps. Neither mattered, as they either failed to return, or were shot upon leaving the quarantine zone. But even in such a horrid place, life would flourish, as to the annoyance of Green Lakes, Tato town would become home to a large colony of jackalopes.

. . .

Driven out of the valley, Golden Harvest Farmers Union would be dealt a large blow, and forced to pay for the death occurred due to their negalance. Lean Year would vanish from the public eye, having become the scapegoat to everything that had transpired. Not learning their lesson, Golden Harvest would simply appoint another member of their family to replace Lean Year, an equally corrupt and narcissistic pony. But the damage was done, and despite their efforts, the NCR would allow all their contracts with the GHFU to expire, and new less flexible contracts to be written.

. . .

Rook would in time return to her ancestral home, only to see it changed. The once toxic wasteland that had been her home was replaced by fields of green grass. The two intersecting rivers that only brought death, now delivered new life. And once there were only rad-scorpions… There were still only rad-scorpions, but the big insects seemed to be happier. But seeing all this, filled Rook with a spark of hope, that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't that the wasteland needed to die, but just that Equestria needed time to recover.

. . .

Fort would ultimately not follow the hoofprints of his ancestors, seeing the pain and suffering the mercenary life had brought his mother, and other members of his clan. Instead, he would rejoin the Followers of the Apocalypse as an adult, and take on the study of biology and zoology. His main goal being the repairing of the damage that over 200 years of taint and radiation damage the wasteland had caused, along with the study of stable mutations in that of his clan and the waste ponies.

. . .

Pyrope would stay in Amethyst Sands, helping his clan extract wealth from the ground itself, and protecting the town from outsiders with bad intentions. When his mother stepped down from being mayor to be a full time preacher, the town voted him as their new mayor, whether he wanted to be one or not. Though he would never be considered their best leader in the town's history, he would successfully lead his clan for over a hundred years as they watched the dead and dry wasteland slowly turn green and come back to life.

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Over a week later.

As I stepped out of the sky wagon I was sure the sun was even hotter out here than back in New Appaloosa, making me glad for how insulated my ranger armor was. Still, if it got any hotter, I say bring on the baelfire winter. "Are you sure we need to come all the way out here captain, this is a job for troopers, not rangers like us?" He asked his unicorn superior.

"Fuck ya I need to come out here!" Ranger captain Wiretap said in an almost giddy tone through her helmet. "Do you know who runs this farm, Six Gun Red runs this fucking farm. No damn way am I missing the opportunity to meet Six Gun Red! Now stop your bitching Skipper, we got a prisoner to pick up."

This was why I hated working with pony rangers, they were always far more energetic than the older griffins. But the unicorn out ranked me, so I had to just suck it in and do my job.

"Fuck ya!" Squeaked my daughter, causing me to slam my claw into my face. My brother was already pissed with me, and if Bridget came back to the compound cursing like a talon, he was liable to beat me with the butt of his revolver.

"Captain, please mind your language." I said, pointing down at the pony-griff filly.

The unicorn groaned at me through her helmet. "Why are you even bringing her out here, this ain't no bring your daughter to work trip!"

"Gunrunners are expected to teach their children everything… and Bridget needed to get out of town for a bit." I looked down at my daughter, all dressed up in a yellow frilly dress, smiling as though she hadn't gotten into a massive fight with some older colts, and won. It seems that they called her mother names, and she went ballistic. The colt's parents were pissed, and Longslide felt it was safer for her to be away from town until things cooled down. "Anyways, I have a lot of catching up to do."

The captain shrugged. "Whatever, not like we're getting into a fight, so I'll hold my tongue. But seriously, I joined the rangers to get away from all the foals, but you griffin seems to love popping them out with us ponies. Your uncle is already on his second kid too."

"Please stop, I don't want to hear about that." I bemoaned. Uncle Horus had shown up in New Appaloosa soon after word of my return got out, all to chew me out on behalf of my father. Seeing him with two foals of his own, and a third on the way was rather disheartening, and awkward, as his wife already had triplets she was looking after.

"Right right." Captain Wiretap said, and I knew she was smirking at me from under her helmet since she had arrived with them as government issued protection for them.

Coming from the farm, our objective was unceremoniously being dragged to us by a rope. Lean Year just being alive was the most we could ask for, since the Harvester family was important in keeping the NCR fead, though they were likely going to have a fit over this. Not to say it wasn't deserved with how dirty that family was. As he was dragged closer, I could tell that Lean had a broken leg, his oversized suit jacket was in tatters, and both his mane and tail were completely shaved.

Tossing him at our hooves, Miss Percussion Cap huffed at us. "Here's your peace of-" her eyes fell onto Bridget, and her eyes wided. "Okay, what's Bridget doing with you bas… fools?"

There was an awkward silence for a long moment, it was then broken by Bridget clicking onto my jacket with her talon. "I… I got into a fight at school, and Uncle said I should go with my… dad."

PC's eye went wide. "Wait, Skipper!" I nodded and she rolled her eyes and groaned, visibly annoyed. "Son, you got the worst timing, you know that. And joining those fools of the NCR, how disappointing."

"You're not the first to tell me that… and what do ya mean about bad timing?" I then asked.

She looked down at Bridget and sighed. "Little over a week ago, Star passed through, and got herself involved in the mess here."

"Mommy!" Bridget shouted in excitement.

PC nodded. "Ya, helped stop a real villain too."

Bridget clutched my jacket tighter. "C… can we stay? I want to hear about mommy."

Even I was surprised, and wanted to know more about what happened, but we were under strict orders to come right back.

"Oh yes we're sticking around!" the captain said in barely contained glee.

"Wait, but what about our orders?" I protested.

Wiretap then kicked Lean Year, causing the stallion to let out a huff of pain. "We can come up with an excuse later, no way I'm missing an opportunity to hear a story from Six Gun Red. Anyways, I doubt the Harvesters will do jack if we take some extra time, my mother still has a lot of influence in the NCR after all."

Right, I forgot about that. "You do know that using senator Grizzly Deal's name as a way to break protocol is only going to make her mad."

"Still worth it." She responded as though there was nothing wrong with this.

Looking over at Percussion, the older mare seemed rather… uneasy.

"Sorry about the captain, she's a fan of yours." I explained.

"Oh, that's fine." PC said nervously. "It's just that hearing the name Grizzly Deal brings back bad memories."

I had a really strong feeling that I didn't want to know the story behind that. "I'll go secure the prisoner, and join you all in a bit."

Both Bridget and Wiretap cheered in excitement as an annoyed Percussion Cap capitulated and guided them to her house.

As I dragged Lean Year over to the sky wagon, I noticed a strange putrid stench coming from him. "Grate, she let you get an infection, this is going to bite us in the flank."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry." Lean Year said in an eerily calm, yet strangely feminine voice. "You're going to have bigger problems to worry about."

"I know, I know." I said as I placed him into the sky wagon, one of his forelegs giving a metal clunk as it hit the wagon's side. "So is my life."

Lean Year looked at me with two black eyes, and a glazed stair that had a strange green hue to it. "Say, you want to know a secret, I'll tell you one of you tell me one."

"Sorry, part of my job is to keep my beak shut." I said to the delirious stallion as I went to secure his hooves. Then I had to pause as I discovered he had a pipbuck on. "Seriously, you know if this is a stable 2 pipbuck, you're going to be in some serious shit, right?"

Lean Year smiled, showing off his rotting teeth as he lifted his pipbuck. "Oh, I know. But they're so damn useful." Putting his hoof back down, the rat-like stallion chuckled. "But, I'm not worried about the consequences, not since the reward will be grand."

"Fucking rich ponies." I huffed as I finished tying him to the wagon. "Well just sit tight for now, and dream whatever fucked up thing is in your head."

As I turned to leave, Lean Year spoke up again, with an early clear voice. "Skipper was it? That daughter of yours, she really had her mothers mane, doesn't she. Best keep an eye on her if she's any more like that monstrous bitch!"

I turned back around and grabbed the stallion by the throat, only to find him passed out. Letting him go, a feeling of dread washed over me, as though I was being watched by something malevolent.

Trotting out I slammed the wagon's door shut, hoping that's all it was, just a bad feeling.

_________________________________________________

Chapter 2, Green Lake Farm (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 02

Green Lake Farm (Part 1)

_________________________________________________

The dust kicked up behind us as we finally left the mountain pass and returned to the dry wasteland proper. From all the talk about an upcoming drought, it seemed that it was already here in this valley. At one point it was clear that greenery had been returning to this place, with dry and brown shrubbery all over. We even passed by what looked like a farm, it was all dead and abandoned now. Worse was the haze of dust and heat that stretched to the horizon, creating mirages all over to lie to my eyes.

Taking a bottle of water, I quenched my dry throat, glad we packed extra just in case. The Smuggler didn't just shorten the time it took to travel, but it let us take far more supplies then we could have reasonably done by hoof. We could have probably taken more than twice as much as we currently have due to the Smuggler having a tractor engine at its heart, but that would have slowed it down enough that even the most jittery raider sniper could still hit us.

"This is a mighty interesting motor wagon y'all got. Don't look anything like the old world stuff I've seen rusting about." Pyrope spoke up from the back.

There was already limited room on the smuggler as it was, and I didn't feel like having a stallion squeeze up next to me right now. That and we didn't know how Cavall would react, since the rattle-pup was venomous, even a little nip could be fatal to anypony but me. So the bandit was placed in the back just above the trailer hitch.

"It's not from the old world, well not entirely. A close friend and family of mine made it, all by claw." I told him.

He raised an eyebrow at me for a moment, then realization crossed his face. "Claw, as in griffin's. So this was made by the Gunrunner I presume." I nodded in confirmation. "Got to give it to those bird cats, they make some mean tech when not killing shit. So Star, from what my Pa said, ya worked at that brothel place he says he never goes to?"

I let out a sigh, not wanting to talk about it, but not wanting a misunderstanding even more. "Only part of it was a brothel, and no, I wasn't a whore. I did hostessing, exotic dancing, and more importantly, I was a bouncer."

Pyrope tipped his stenson hat at me. "I apologize mam, didn't mean to suggest anything untoward. Just wondering. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing a dance from you if there's ever an opportunity." He then winked at me.

Fucking bandits, always shifting between being charmers and making me want to cave in their face.

"Not doing that shit no more. So don't go getting your hopes or dick up about it. If you do, I'll be smashing them down flat!" I let the stallion know.

"Right, right, I'll be minding my own business about that from here on out." He said, getting the message.

"Are you sure you won't do any more dancing?" Harp asked as she climbed up a bit to look over as she gave Cavall a pet on the head and Pyrope a little wave. "But I understand, wanting to focus on the task at hoof. It would be selfish of us to indulge in that stuff when you lost so much."

I let out another sigh, this time from a sense of guilt. "No… it's fine. I just got a lot on my mind right now, that's all."

Having to leave my darling Bridget behind, and knowing that as I fucked around, mom was suffering. There's so much I could have done, yet I fail to do anything. Maybe I could have used my evil eye to prevent Hardballers murder… yet I didn't.

"Here, why don't we switch places, Star." Harp offered.

I nodded and helped her up into the gunner's nest, and then I climbed down into the passenger seat. Then I remembered why I chose to stay up there, as the passenger seats were a bit of a tight squeeze even by pony standards. Made me wonder who Longside plans to have sit here since griffins were often larger than ponies. But having a shield from the wind was nice, almost making me want to put my mane down.

Then jumping down, Cavall gave me a nuzzle as he attempted to curl in my lap. It was annoying, having even less room for myself, but I couldn't bring myself to move the snake pup.

Harp and Pyrope were just louds enough that I could hear them taking over the wind and engine, though I didn't pay too much attention to it. They mainly went on just little bits about New Appaloosa, and a bit more about the Ruffled Feathers. It was clear the bandit was turning up his charms for Harp, but the princess skillfully dogged any attempt of suggested indwendo.

Harp's time as a hostess had really helped her deal with flirty stallions, not that they would get anywhere with her since she was clearly only interested in other mares.

Looking over at my new companion, having the crab pony right next to me really did drive home how weird he did look. At least in the day his glowyness wasn't as apparent, but his cross-like pupils were just not normal.

"How do you even work?" I asked Azure.

"I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like anybody else." He told me, then scratched his… chin… beak… face claws? "I've been wondering this ever since I fell into your dimension. If you ponies commonly don't wear clothes, then what's the point of a strip club?"

I slammed my head on the back of Slowtrot's roll cage, it clanging hard on the metal pipe. "I hated that question so fucking much."

_________________________________________________

To my merciful suffering, we made it to the edge of Percussion Cap's farm. I had thought the place to be a mirage with how the greenery just seemed to faze into existence out of nowhere. The first thing I noticed was the moist smell of cut plants in the air, which was what tipped me off to it being real. And as we got closer, bit by bit I saw more green until it looked like a lake of green in front of us.

Passing by a crude, yet sturdy fence, the smuggler then tilted forward a little as we went down a dirt ramp, in which we became surrounded by green stalks taller than the smuggler itself. It made me feel uneasy, as though we just entered a new world.

"Amazing! Star, you need to see this!" Harp called out.

Climbing up onto the gunners nest, the sight was almost nostalgic, as it looked like we were on a boat moving through the water. "That's a lot of corn!" I stated the obvious.

Harp nodded as she scratched her leg nervously. "Back home, you need a gas mask to see this much plant life up close, with how pollen would kill you and all. Oh there's some trees too!" She then pointed out.

Looking myself, I could make out what appeared to be mutefrute trees at the other end, though they appeared to be much taller and far less gnarled from what I could see at this distance.

"Wow, I never thought I would miss seeing this." Slowtrot said over the pipbuck radio as he slowed down.

"Right, you're from before the bombs dropped. Was everything like this back then, all green I mean?" I asked him.

"No not everything, but large farms like this were fairly common. Though by the time I moved to Applewood the Flim and Flam brothers had taken most of them over and were using robots to do most of the farming." Slowtrot then stopped the smuggler as he then hit his head on the steering wheel.

Wondering what the fuck was wrong with him I then looked around as saw several robots trotting over the dirt road, following a small trail borderd by a fence. Though clearly modified, It was the same kind of robots we saw at the fake farmhouse that had been infested with cazadores, so it was a good guess they worked here. But oddly they were clearly modified, looking both more armored and armed then a normal robot.

One stopped to look at us, then saying in its mechanical voice, "Welcome to Green Lake Farm. If you are caught stealing, we are programmed to kill you. Have a pleasant day."

"So… anypony you know?" I asked Slowtrot.

He sighed and got back to driving as soon as the robots passed.

Eventually we made it out of the sea of green corn stalks, giving way to a smaller crop of silt beans, and further off the road we could see other crops. Though it was hard to tell what was growing from this distance, since I didn't know plants. But I could recognize buildings, as with the corn out of the way, we could see the main houses ahead.

The main house was surprisingly painted and clean looking, as in not over two hundred years old cracked paint. Actually as we got ever closer, nothing I could see looked older than ten, maybe twenty years old. Even the smell lacks that ancient rot stench which stuck to everything in the wasteland.

My nose then twitched as the distinctive smell of cooked food danced in my nose, lacking anything like the acrid chemical smell that so much food out here had. Which meant it was genuine fresh food.

Reaching the end of the farmland, we slowed to a stop at the base of a wooden tower, which two ponies waved down at us from. One had an old looking longrifle resting on the railing in clear sight of us, which all likelihood was a polite warning to us to not fuck around. The other pony then jumped off, spreading a pair of wings to glide down.

"Y'all better state your business here." A young pegasus mare stated to us in a rather forceful version of PCs accent. Landing in front of the smuggler, she had a simple straw hat on, and wore overalls covered in patches.

"A delivery for Percussion Cap." Harp announced. "We have the supplies she ordered from the Gunrunners."

Surprise crossed the mare's face, then relief. "Oh thank Celestia, we were worried it would be another month before y'all arrive. I'll go tell the boss your here, so just mozy on in and make yourself at home… ya'hear"

We then watched as the pegasus dashed away towards the big house.

Pyrope burst out laughing. "That fake accent will never stop being funny!"

"Let's just hope they don't all talk like that." I said as Slowtrot drove the Smuggler to the center of the farming settlement.

Rolling to a stop, I jumped out and took a better look around, seeing a gazebo which looked like it had been halfway through a repair. The exposed wood made it even more clear that it wasn't ancient scrap that had been scavenged from the wasteland, but actual fresh wood.

"Where in the fuck ya get fresh wood from?" I asked no pony in particular.

"Not from the NCR I can tell y'all that." Percussion Cap said from the porch of the bigger house. The older green unicorn smiled, pushing her long deep red mane out of her face before trotting over to us. Her steps had a unique clint sound to it due to her back legs being crude looking cybernetics. Flanking her were three rather large dogs, all Fillydelphia fighting dogs from the looks of it, which had boxy faces and were very muscular. As the wind blew, her duster flapped, revealing at least three pistols on each side of her body.

Her dogs then stopped and began to growl at me, and from behind, I could hear the distinctive rattling. "It's fine Cavall, here you can ride on my back." I said as I lowered myself, and felt my invisible nightstalker climb on, his tail still rattling.

PC whistled sharply, which got her dogs to stop and sit down. "Don't mind them, they only attack if I tell them too." She then looked at the gazebo and then back to me. "As for the wood, there's a logging settlement far north. I regularly send food shipments to them in exchange for their wood." She then motions to her house, "as you can see, it's been a good deal."

She then eyed me with suspicion, first on my clothes, and then past me and at the smuggler. "Okay, what kind of fucking brahman shit happened for y'all to join the Desperado's and to have Longside's wagon with their paint on it?"

Looking at the smuggler myself, which had a big flaming skull in a cowpony hat painted on either side. It was rather hard to miss. Same when for the three of us, as both Harp and I had the Desperado’s vest on for all to see, and Slowtrot had his under his tattered white overcoat.

"Things… didn't go well back in New Appaloosa." I told her.

PC's face didn't show any shock or surprise, and she didn't even sigh, only telling us, "alright, we can talk inside." And as she turned back to her home, she ordered the pegasus, "Dusty Wind, go help the stallions unload the guns."

Dusty Wind saluted and bolted towards Slowtrot and Pyrope.

Following PC, she stopped us at the door and pointed to a mat that said 'welcome' on it, "clean your hooves before taking one step in my home, we do a lot of work to keep everything clean."

Brushing the dust off my hooves and boots, I trotted in, and the smell of cooking food enveloped me. No smell of preservatives, chemicals, or other pollutants. Just normal fresh food.

Harp breathed in the air and let out a satisfied sigh. "Oh, is that a stew? But what's that salty smell… can't be radbore, can it?"

"Close, it's pig actually, straight up unmutated pig." PC said with an upbeat tone. "If you think brahman is the best, then you never had pork. As you've seen on your way in, we grow more than just corn here. It used to be just corn, but turns out growing only one kind of crop is bad for the soil. So now we rotate the fields out and raise livestock for the manure. The last few harvests have been quite spectacular."

It was clear on her face she took pride in her farm, and so far I was impressed by it.

"So you sell more than corn?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Sometimes we do, but most of it is for personal use." PC guided us further in, taking us to a spacious dining room. "Anyways y'all are lucky showing up right as you did. So take a seat at the table, otherwise you'll be sitting on the floor soon."

Trotting into the large and thick dining room table, it looked plain yet incredibly beautiful in its simplicity. Actually, everything in this house had a simple beauty to it that I've never seen before. Iron and glass lamps hung on brass hooks, pots made of clay with healthy shrubbery in them, and glossy frames holding photos and paintings decorated the walls, protected by pains of glass.

"Wait, I get the wood, but the glass and metal too?" I blurted out.

"I have just as many friends as I do enemies, and my friends are considerably more skilled." She told me as she took a seat. "Now care to tell me what the fuck happened after I left?"

Harp and I took our seats, but before we began to explain, a certain crab pony startled us. "I have much of it written down actually." Azure said as he took a seat, careful to not let his ridged tail knock anything over, and then pulled out a notebook.

In shock, PC fell out of her seat, and as she got back up, six different pistols levitated next to her, all pointed at Azure. "The fuck are you, and where'd ya come from?"

Right, there was a lot to explain.

She listened quietly as we gave her the cliff notes of what had happened between the time she was run out of town to the time we had to leave ourselves. Leaving out the unimportant parts that only now I felt ashamed of.

When we were done, PC pulled out a hip flask, and raised it to the air. "To Hardballer, may that old buzzed finally get to see his wife again." She then took a long swig of whatever booze was in it before putting it away. "But… I can't say I blame Ashy Oakes for losing it. That bitch should have retired long ago and be angry on some private plot of land."

I nodded. "Ya, I understand she didn't mean to kill Hardballer. But to then cover it up. So much for that justice of hers."

"If there was real justice out in the wasteland, Hardballer and I would have been killed for the shit that we did. But times were different back then, and so were the rules. Don't make it right, but that's how it just was. Something them folks hiding under the NCR don't seem to understand." PC said matter of factly.

I raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding, and Harp saw it.

"What Percussion means is that any kind of organization or government will make up excuses for their atrocities. Like how the NCRCF used us as slave labor despite being anti slavery, all under the excuse of correcting a prisoner's behavior." Harp explained.

"Right, or how the great fleets say they are saving souls by killing and tormenting non-believers." I added from my own upbringing. This time, PC raised an eyebrow, so I clarified. "I'm originally from a waterborne nation united by religion. My home, the Blackwater, was filled with rather fanatical believers."

PC rolled her eyes at that last part. "Cults are never fun to deal with. That aside, I'm at least glad you and the others are alright, though a shame about Prism. Didn't know the mare, but if she was willing to put up with you, she had to be quite the mother."

"If it wasn't for her, I'd likely be the pony that attacked Harp's family. No… I definitely would have been." I said bitterly as I remembered what Harp had told me about her run in with Black Spot and the Corps Brigade. Black Spot had only become Victoria's first mate because I had left with Prism.

It did pain me to know that my foalhood friend was dead, but it hadn't surprised me.

PC cleared her throat, defusing a bit of the tension. "Okay, there's clearly more going on with all y'all then I care to hear about. So let's just focus of the hear and now, such as where you're going next?"

"To kill my mothers murder." I grumbled.

Harp sighed. "We're helping the Desperado’s out in the north west with a war brewing out there, along with trying to get in contact with my father. There's, as you can guess, a lot going on. That's why we rather not drag anypony into our problem."

"Good, because my wasteland days are long behind me. And I would rather keep my kids safe from all that madness." PC said, then her eyes shifted and whispered. "Also, the west coast is a bit of a no go for me. Everytime I go there, somepony starts throwing megaspells around. Not saying I had anything to do with it, just that it happened."

Both Harp and I ran a hoof over our mouth as though zipping it shut.

"Hay Boss, take a look at this!" Dusty Wind called out as she entered the room and placed an odd looking service rifle on the table. The thing had a wire stock, a metal barrel shroud, and a magazine too thin to be 5.56. "Ain't these carbines awesome!"

"Carbines?" I asked, a bit confused by the odd looking service rifles.

"10mm carbines." PC said as she lifted the rifle in the red overglow of her horns magic. She looked the rifle over, moving parts and even taking it apart to look inside "Lots cheaper and easier to maintain than the 5.56 service rifle. Ammo's cheaper too, so less worry about not having any when we need it."

"It's also stamped instead of milled." Slowtrot said as he trotted in with Pyrope. "You know Hardballer would have made them more high quality if you asked for it."

PC shrugged as she put the carbine back together in one fluid motion. "I know, but that's not the point of these guns. They need to be light, cheap, and easy to use. Otherwise I can't arm all my farmhoofs and have extra guns to spare. Mostly because some of y'all need to practice at the range more often."

Dusty raised her hooves up defensively as PC eyed her. "S… sorry boss, I know I should be practicing my aim more, but I get distracted, you know." The accent dropped, revealing a central Grand Pegasus Enclave accent. Which was odd, as most of that remnant stayed far away from any wastelanders, unless they were out raiding them.

As Dusty quickly left, I had to ask. "How did one of them end up here?"

"Shit happens, and it's not an important story." The older mare said uncaringly. "Now are you just dropping the guns off and leaving, or planning to stick around?"

"We're actually meeting up with a few others here before moving on. Another Desperado and a merchant family." Harp explained.

"If I had to guess, It's Moody right?" PC asked, and Harp nodded. "I did let him know I was interested in parts for making a turret. So he's likely bringing that over."

"About that, the guns, and well, everything." I spoke up. "You're more locked and loaded then New Appaloosa, I can't be that dangerous out here?"

"Well up until recent months things had been quiet. Damn near exterminated all the feral ghouls in the valley years back, and raiders weren't really a problem due to almost nopony living out her." PC explained. "But I guess I'm a victim of my own success, and ponies started thinking the soil here is special, so over the last few years homesteaders have been trying to copy my success, and failing."

"And what, they became raiders?" Harp asked.

"Some, though they didn't live long enough to be a problem. I make sure to nip that problem in the flank whenever it appears." PC said as she levitated a revolver in the air. "No, the real problem came later. A fair few homesteaders ended up working for me, but most of the others sold themselves to Golden Harvest Farmers Union. That's when things went wrong."

A look of realization flashed across Harp's face. "Wait, a stallion by the name of Lean Year passed through the Ruffled Feathers. My memory is a bit hazy on it, but I think he was complaining about you."

PC clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Yep, that little rat bastard has been pestering my farm for the last year. Sending mercenaries to harass my farm hooves, or attempting to sabotage my equipment. Then trots up to me, demanding that I sell my farm to his family." The revolver in her magical grip spun before she made two shooting motions. "Shot his two bodyguards and told him I'll do the same to him that I did to his grand uncle. Fucking Harvesters."

"That sounds more personal than it should be." Slowtrot pointed out.

"Well it was all business at first, then Lean's bitch mother showed up and shit went south badly." PC then let out a chuckle. "Turns out her uncle was the bastard who tried to turn me into his special slave and killed my grandmother. He got his in the end, though Redeye made a big old stink over it, painting me as some mad raider to discourage a slave revolt. So she called me a psychotic murdering raider and I gave her a black eye, then a second when she wouldn't shut the fuck up." With a sigh, PC then relaxed. "Well now that it's personal, I know that those fuckers aren't going to just give up. But neither are we, and I've already made sure they're not making any money in this valley."

"And I still think burning down their Tato plantation was a bad idea Dear." A gray and black stallion with a scar above his muzzle trotted out, pushing a tray with a big steel pot on it. He was dressed rather oddly, as he has some tight fitting short shorts on, a frilly apron covered in hearts, and a big bushy mustache on his face. If he didn't then trot over and give PC a kiss, I would have mistaken him for a gay prostitute.

"An eye for an eye, they fuck with my fields, I burn theirs down." PC said defending herself.

He rolled his eyes. "And now we have a raider problem. Though thank Celestia they're far enough away to not bother us regularly." The stallion then turns to us and gave us a slight bow. "And where is my manners? I'm Caltrop, this grumpy mare's husband. It's a pleasure to have you with us, and fortunately I made plenty of food, so I do hope you'll stay for dinner."

"We would be glad to." Pyrope said as he took a seat. "I mean who wouldn't want a bowl of your pork vegetable stew."

I shrugged. "Can't argue with that, the smell alone is making my mouth water."

Caltrop smiled. "Good, then I'll set the table, and dear, can you call everypony in?"

PC holstered her revolver and got out of her seat. "Alright, I was about done with all the chit-chatting for today."

As the older mare left, her robotics back hooves tapping on the flood, I turned to him, another question burning in my mind. "How do you two even work as a couple?"

Caltrop chuckled, "let's just say I know how to treat a mare. And I have a thing for the strong type."

The dinner was absolutely fantastic, with pork becoming my new favorite meat. I mean brahman stake is the best, but pork was something else. Then add the fresh veggies, and I was sure that anywhere else this stew would have cost me half my pay, if not more. What amazed me even more was that there was plenty of stew for everypony, and then more for seconds. It was good to feel full again.

Then there was the odd collection of ponies, other than the pegasus, the rest were either Unicorns or Earth ponies of all sizes. Also a lot of foals. As it turned out there were five families working here alongside PC's, which explained how they were able to care for so many fields.

Cavall had also settled down, with the three large dogs now playing with the rattle pup, and now and then turning invisible to everypony's amusement.

The ponies here were more than happy to hear about the guns arriving, giving them some peace of mind over needing to protect themselves. Of which I could empathize with, since being able to properly defend yourself was rather important.

It was almost enough to help me forget my worries, but whenever I saw one of PC's daughters, I was reminded of my Bridget, and then I was back there. I rolling away on the smuggler as my daughter screamed to have me and take her with me.

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As things settled back down, my frustration returned, but instead of brooding about how much I fucked up and let my family down, I decided to get a bit of practice with my guns. PC fortunately had a small shooting range, and I felt it was best to do it now before everypony went to sleep.

Aiming down the sights of my Outlaw, its buttocks resting on my shoulder, I slowly pressed down on the hoof trigger, letting out a loud bang. The heavy custom made Griffinstone Typewriter had almost no recoil, just as it was designed for. Most SMG's were made lighter and smaller, which made sense, but it also made them hard to control. But this gun, it was a big and heavy fucker for an SMG.

My machine pistol was the opposite; light, small, and even with a recoil dampener built in it, the snake etched and painted pistol rarely shot straight. But that enchanted pistol only needed to hit its target once, and they'll be left poisoned. So spray and prey was the best way to go with it.

But the Outlaw, it was so overbuilt that I probably do just as much damage just bludgeoning a pony with it. Though I would never do something like that to it, that's what I had my cutlass for.

I let out a burst of its 10mm ammo, and it barely moved at all, even though I wasn't even using the hoof hold under its barral. Its heaviness was its own problem, but one I didn't mind, since I was strong enough for it, as I didn't way myself down with armor or more guns.

"Hardballer didn't just know how to make a good gun, but knew how to make it just right for the pony using it." Percussion Cap said as she trotted over. "Care if I give it a try."

Hoofing my SMG over, she giggled as she held it in her hooves. "Wow, this is fucking heavy." She then aimed down the range and let out a long burst, keeping full control over it. Once she was done she hoofed the Outlaw back to me. "Not bad at all, the slower rate of fire and the heaviness of the gun makes it super easy to control. Let me guess, you're a spray and pray mare, and this gun is made for laying down suppressing fire?"

"Pretty much." I said and then unloaded what was left in the magazine, tearing up an already ruined target. "Hardballer also chambered it in 10mm since there is so much of it out in the wasteland. So if I can't get in close with my sword, I can at least lay down a hail of lead."

"It's the right weapon for that job. Just like my carbines." She then pulled out a cigarette and offered me one. "You smoke?"

"When I was a teenagers, but mom made me quit when I got pregnant." I then took one and PC lit it for me before getting another stick for herself. "But that doesn't matter much now, does it?"

Letting the tobacco enter my lungs, I slowly exhaled as it helped me relax.

"You know I get what you're feeling, to lose an important pony in your life like that. That sense of loss, it never just goes away, only becomes more bearable over time." She told me, then took a long drag of her cigarette.

"I know all that. You're not the first to tell me." I told her, taking another drag before saying more. "No, it's just that… Well, while they were suffering, I was acting like my mother… my birth mother I mean. I whored around, only caring about myself as my daughter was all alone and scared, just like she did to me."

Puffing out a ring of smoke, PC let the moment linger, leaving me to wonder what brahmin shit advice she'd give me.

"By whoring around you don't actually mean whoring, right?" She then asks, causing me to choke on the smoke in my lungs.

'N… no, not fucking that at all." I said, then clarified. "After we broke out of that prison and killed the crazy Steel Ranger birch, I let myself cut loose. There were the two Zebra stallions, and the celebration after joining the Desperados where I took part in a contest of endurance."

"Stop!" PC raised her hoof up in annoyance. "Seriously, where was all this fucking shit when I was younger? Anyways, all this happened before you found out about your mother?" I nodded. "Well I can at least say this, there's a big difference between fucking around and knowing that your family is in trouble, and Fucking around and not knowing your family is in trouble."

"But I should have gone to them first! I should have at least checked up on them." I told her.

I then got a pat on the back. "Ya, and I shouldn't have become a bounty hunter for Redeye. Who knows, maybe Ashy Oakes could have stopped Redeye if I hadn't killed her husband, or any of those escaped slaves I scalped. But we'll never know now will we." She then finished off her cigarette and dropped it, stomping out the ember. "So just focus on what you can do now, and not what you could have done. Like me with my farm and family."

"And your team of kids." I said, attempting to crack a joke.

"Oh ya, Caltrop may be an idiot, but damn is he good in bed." PC said with a chuckle.

I was feeling a bit less depressed now, but only a bit. I still wanted to go back to New Appaloosa and hold my darling Bridget. Tell her that everything is fine and mama is here for her. But I knew that would only end with me being hung till dead. I couldn't let that happen, Bridget already lost both her grandfather and grandmother. I couldn't have her lose me as well, not like that.

Taking a deep breath, and forcing a smile, I tapped on my pipbuck. "Say Percussion, you want to see the video of me with those two Zebras, I got it right here."

PC looked at me like I was crazy, but then smiled. "Ya know what, I've always wondered how much alike a Zebra is to us ponies."

It was only an act, pretending that I felt better, but just pretending to be okay helped me feel that I was okay, if only by a little.

"Well ain't they a fine cut of meat." PC commented with a laugh as the video played.

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Chapter 3, Green Lake Farm (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 02

Green Lake Farm (Part 2)

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Being able to sleep in a proper bed was nice, with it being firm yet fluffy, but it lacked the warmth of home. Being by myself in the bed only reminded me that I was alone again, that Prism was gone and Bridget had to be left behind. All I wanted to do was curled up with them again, but I knew it wasn't ever going to happen.

This was my life now, alone in bed, or with a stranger, but not with my family.

At some point I passed out, and dreams came. Just a bit of nonsense that I quickly forgot. Where I was awoken by some Goddess awful crowing, which sounded more like a death growl than anything else. Getting up, I opened the window to see what the fuck was dyeing out there!

Some kind of bird then jumped onto the windowsill, it a mess of disheveled brown and orange feathers, with a red crest on its head and another under its beak. It looked at me with one cancer riddled eye, and as I looked back at it with disgust, it then screamed at me. It was so loud that my ears started to ring, causing me to stumble back and Cavall whimpered as he ran to hide under the bed.

My door then flung open, and Percussion Cap in a wheelchair rolled in, armed with a shotgun. "That's it Harold, your tonight's dinner!"

The bird jumped out, just barely dogging PC as she fired at it, the blast knocking her over. She then pushed herself back up and rushed to the window, her chair squeaking as she rolled and let out another shot outside before pulling back. "Celestia damn that fucking rooster!" PC cursed.

Caltrop trotted in, yawning. "Honey, I thought you said you'd stop trying to kill Harold."

"I'll stop when he's dead!" She snarled back.

Now fully awake and rather confused, I cleared my throat. "Excuse me, but I need to get myself ready for the day, and I rather not have an audience."

Caltrop chuckled as he collected his wife. "Come now honey, let's get your legs back on." He then turned to me and pointed at a dresser. "We got some spare clothes and makeup you can use in the dresser. I don't really use it much anymore, so it's not a big deal if some other pony takes some."

Once the door closed, I shrugged and trotted to the dresser, checking the contents. Then I sighed. Underwear, fishnet clothes, a few leather straps, and the kind of makeup the brothel mares would fight over. As well as a few classy dresses.

Me thinks Caltrop might have actually been a prostitute at some point, or at least an escort that dressed up as a mare. It wasn't common, but I had seen it a few times.

The makeup was in rather good condition, and the colors would work well for me, so I took it out to use it. As for the outfits, I didn't feel like taking any, though some of them would have been rather nice as a pole dancing outfit.

So putting my stable colored leotard on, and Desperado vest, I got to work brushing my mane and applying the makeup. It had been a long time since I got to do this, and as I applied the foundation, a small sense of normalcy returned. But it only made me miss my friends at the Ruffled Feathers, and I worried for them. Rusty would be fine, though with a second foal on the way, could she properly care for them? And Brass, dear Brass. If I'm not around then who's going to make sure she doesn't drink herself to death. Maybe Copper, but no colt should be the caretaker for their own mother.

And Cloudy… Cloudy will be fine, she's a strong and smart mare. Though breaking up with Harp was a bit harsh, she knew what she was doing. Sometimes we must just let things go.

Looking at my reflection through a small mirror, I finally looked more like me again… the me from New Appaloosa, who worked as an exotic dancer. The me who had been living with my mother and daughter.

Well not quite. I ran my hoof through my mane, finding strands clumping together like slightly curly ribbons. My mane had always been a bit curly like this, but not to this extent. Probably because I haven't given it a proper wash in forever, and the grease in my mane was making it look like kelp.

With a sigh, I put the mirror down and left the room.

Having returned to the dining room, Harp saw me and gasped. "Star, you look gorgeous again!"

"Oh come on, I'm always gorgeous." I said as I flipped my mane.

A few of the workers in the room looked at me, their jaws stuck open.

"So what's the schedule for today?" I asked.

Harp's robo drone, Order, then floated over and looked at me with its bug-like eyes. "Yes miss Star, while we wait for Live Axle to arrive, we can relax, or help out. Slowtrot has already gone off to help gather apples before breakfast. Lady Harp is going to charge the spark batteries here. As for you, Lady Harp suggests you get some more rest"

I rolled my eyes, annoyed by the suggestion. "I'm fine, so don't treat me like some little filly. I can go out and help patrol the area. And if I get lucky! I might get to kill an asshole."

"Alright, but do try and not mess up your makeup, you do look real pretty and I hate to see it ruined." Harp said, clearly not wanting to fight me on this.

The sound of hooves trotted in from outside and we saw Slowtrot and Dusty come in with two baskets full of what were actual apples on either side of them. "Oh, hay Star, you're up just in time for breakfast. I even got some apples, actually genuine apples." He knocked one apple out of the basket and into his hoof. "Been a really long time since I had a fresh apple."

"Oh, you shouldn't." Dusty warned Slowtrot, but he took a big bite and froze for a few seconds before swallowing with a look of mild disgust on his face. "Those apples are for making cider, not eating." Dusty explained.

"E'yep." PC said as she trotted in, pushing a cart filled with food. "Still don't fucking get it myself. We grew em all from seeds from our original trees. But they all came out different and hardly any are good for eating. We asked around, but nopony really knows why apple trees are like that."

"I… think. And my memory is a bit hazy on the subject, but aren't you supposed to graft apple trees, not grow them from seeds." Slowtrot said before taking a bite out of an apple Dust gave him, the stallion looking more pleased with it.

PC raised an eyebrow. "The fucks grafting?"

Slowtrot scratched his goatee, thinking quite hard. "Like I said, my memory is hazy. But, I think, it's when you take a branch of an apple tree you like and plant it… no, you attach it to the stump of a sapling. Then whatever kind of apple that tree grows will be the same from the branch you used."

A long sigh came from PC as she began to set the table. "Truthfully, I'm willing to try anything to get those apples to grow right. But why the fuck are they all different?"

Order flew in slowly, dropping off a large plate of carrots. "Appletree's have a unique trait that lets them produce many different seeds for different apple trees. Thus keeping them genetically divers, but impossible to grow what you want from seeds. So all apple orchards practice grafting so to produce the same tree every time."

"Thank you, Order." Harp said as her drone flew over to a seat next to her.

"And thank you, we got a few more saplings coming in, so I'll give that a try." PC told us as she started hoofing out food.

On the menu was bacon, eggs, carrots and cornbread. The bread brought back bad memories of the prison, and how I nearly lost both Slowtrot and Harp. The NCR claims itself to be the bastion of love, tolerance, and the ideals of friendship, but it's still made up of wastelanders who twist those ideals. So many ponies and other creatures out for themselves. It would be a miracle if NCR survives as a civilization for the next twenty years.

Then again, if Calamity is the same pony from the lightbringer's book, then Maybe it was a smart move on Gwadina's part to step down and announce him as her successor. Though I heard on the radio that he was dragged into the position kicking and screaming.

"You okay Star?" Dusty asked, "You're just, well looking at your food."

Snapping out of my thoughts and memory, I took a bite out of the cornbread, finding it soft and sweet. "Sorry, they served cornbread in the prison too, but it wasn't nearly as good as this."

"Of course not, the corn the NCR uses comes from Golden Harvest." Caltrop said as he trotted in, leading a parade of children. "Their crops are wasteland corn, good for growing anywhere, but nutritionally poor and rather bland compared to our Equestria Golden corn. That and they don't properly fertilize their fields and over use the land until not even the corn can grow right from it."

"E'yep and that's why a lot of their farms fail." PC added. "They put ponies in them, tell em to grow, grow, grow, and never give back. First thing I learned when I first saw this Golden corn is that you have to give back if you want a healthy harvest."

"Give back as in, what?" I asked.

"Fertilizer." Slowtrot said. "Mainly it's food waste and animal manure. Other than dairy, fertilizer was the cow's main products sold to Equestria. A bit weird that they sold their own poop to us, but if it works, then it works. Oh, by the way, do you practice crop rotation?" He then asked PC.

She nodded. "Fortunately a friend of mine found an intact book on crop farming for me. Saved me from killing my soil. So ya, I now change what field grows after every harvest, though it's still mainly corn. But enough yapping, my throat is getting dry, and my stomach hungers for bacon."

Digging in, though the pork was the best, bacon was heavenly, and if I could I'd eat it all and leave none for anypony else. But I couldn't be selfish, so I held back as the rest of the workers showed up, and the food quickly dwindled.

With food in our bellies, we all set off to help out as we waited for Live Axle to arrive.

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The patrol was simple, with Dusty and I checking for anything out of order in one field before moving onto the next. There was so much life here it astounded me. From families of barn cats hunting rodents of normal size. A colony of some kind of electric bees busy flying around flowering crops. I even saw a rabbit with antlers chewing on an ear of corn, which ran off before Dusty could shoot it. I found it hard to believe I was still in the wasteland.

A few times Dust had to fly around to find me as I kept getting lost in the corn. Mainly because I had to chase after Cavall, who kept chasing after the cats. The poor snake pup eventually learned his lesson when a rather large and fat cat knocked him around a little.

Turns out some cats can find you even if you're invisible.

Eventually we ended up at a watchtower on the edge of the farm. Climbing to the top, I got a good view of the farm itself. High enough to see almost all of it, this land really looked like a green lake, even having a few beaches along the edge. It was a contrast to the unending brown of the wasteland, in which little to no life seemed to live.

Strangely, there was actually a bunker behind PC's home, all gray concrete and sticking out like a sore hoof among the green.

"Hay dust, is that some sort of military bunker behind the main house?" I asked.

"Hmmmm…. I think it's a Ministry bunker. PC doesn't talk about it much, but I think she keeps a family heirloom in there." Dust answered.

I nodded. "Right, then it's none of my business. Say, another question. You must have heard about that drought coming, how's a place like this going to survive?"

"Oh, we're not worried about that." Dust said with a smile. The younger pegasus beamed with pride as she then explained. "Don't tell nopony, but this farm is built on top of an ancient lake bed, and there's actually a massive reservoir underneath. Supposably the water here has always been clean, and it just took PC braking ground to use it."

"That's actually kind of awesome." I said as I continued to survey the land. "Last question, how'd a pegasus like you even get here?"

Dust looked rather nervous before letting out a sigh and telling me. "Not much of your business, but to put it simply, it was to run away from home or let the leadership brand me a dashite and exile me anyways. So the same old story ya hear all over."

"Right, some of those Enclave warlords still do that shit. Well at least it's not like with the fleets. They just put you on hooks and let ya hange for all to see." I said, remembering seeing the dead and dying swaying in the wind as the Blackwater rocked on the water.

A look of disgust crossed Dust's face. "That's… so barbaric!

"And branding then exiling isn't?" I said back to her.

The pegasus shrugged, "ya, both are pretty bad."

After a few hours had passed, a small dust cloud could be seen in the distance, and through my spyglass, I could see a Sparkle-Cola themed Loan Wander motorcycle, and it was pulling a fair sized wagon.

"Looks like the pony we were waiting for has arrived." I said as I began to climb down.

Dusty flew off to let everypony know as I climbed down, Cavall rejoined as I trotted off.

Surrounded by tall corn stalks again, it felt a bit eerie to me. Never in my life had I been around so much green, and everything from the air, to the dirt under my hooves just felt odd to me. I would say it felt wrong, but I felt the same way about being on land when I first arrived in Equestria. Maybe this is what old Equestria felt like, before the war, a place of life, where ponies could love and tolerate each other.

Such a place was not where I belonged.

Cavall brushed against my leg, wagging his tail, making a rhythmic ratal. Giving the almost pure white nightstalker a scratch on its head, he let out a little yap at me, painting happily.

The little pup helped me feel at ease, dispelling the off feeling I was having. Maybe new environments were just like that, and always felt off at first. Before Prism saved me, I spent all my life on the open ocean, surrounded by religious fanatics and death. So having the ground not move under my hooves was unnatural to me. Then maybe it's the same for being around so much green since nearly the other half of my life was in the dry and mostly dead land around New Appaloosa.

Taking a deep breath, and taking in the moist fresh air that smelled of… shit? Ya, that's shit I smell. Wet decomposing shit.

"Ehhh, I guess you get used to it after a while." I said to Cavall, and made my way back to PC's house.

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Having taken my time, Live Axle was just rolling in as I joined the others. Her motorcycle pulled Moody Peddlers wagon, and even before they came to a stop, his kids were already jumping out and running to greet the farm kids.

"Oy, you better not get into another fight with em! I ain't patching you up like last time!" Keep, their mother yelled from the back of the wagon, next to her was her cybernetic nightstalker. The black armored mare had a mane that looked like fire, and if some pony told me that her ancestor was the basis for the Desperado’s patch, I'd believe it.

PC let out a chuckle as she trotted over to the wagon. "I say let em fight, build character. Anyways, when did a White Scorpion merc ever not want a fight."

Jumping out herself, Keep almost towered over PC as she looked down at the gunslinging farm mare with annoyance. "Ain't my fault my husband's stock ain't thinning out my blood. Those fuckers are running biohazards."

PC let out a long sigh. "Ya, I get that. I see more of my grandmother in my daughters every day."

Trotting over, I raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with your kids?"

Keep chuckling. "Not at all, my clan is just on the mutant side of breeding, with most of us born with poison in our blood. You can say they're just a bit like your daughter, taking a bit too much from their mother."

I nodded in understanding. "Truthfully, I wouldn't be surprised if my Bridget got the evil eye like myself. Actually I hope not, with how I can't be there for her."

"Right, that crab pony mentioned that when he was asking me about my clan's mutation. It's some mind control braminshit right?" Keep asked me.

"Maybe something close to that. I know I can project pain and fear into a pony by eye contact. But the power is still a mystery to me even after living eleven years with it." I said as I gave Cavall a pet on the head. "Only recently I found out I could send positive emotions, but the magic doesn't seem to like that at all. I thought I was going to go blind when I did that with alpha Nightstalker. Actually, I fear it will turn me into some cannibalistic monster one day if I'm not careful, and worse, end up hurting those I care about."

I then looked at PC, a bit curious. "What about you, what is different about your family?"

PC rolled her eyes. "Oh that's a fucking long story, or more like two long storys actually. Let's just say my grandmother had six mothers, no father, and could only be killed by using a fucked up magic bullet… oh, and sometimes she'd burst in blue fire that made her look like an alicorn."

That… sounded nuts. "Well, I'd say I've never heard such brahmin shit before, but Slowtrot literally falls through time now and then, so I'll believe it."

We all looked over at the purple stallion who then waved back at us.

"I wonder…" PC said, but then shook her head. "Naw, best not mess with time."

"Well family weirdness aside, is it fine if we stick around for a few days? I got business with a bitch in Amethyst Sands." Keep then asked.

Letting out an annoyed huff, PC begrudgingly said. "Ya, I figured as much. If you help keep the farm secured, then that will be more than enough. Having a born and raised killer helping out will make sure Golden Harvest don't try and start shit Again. But do try and not start a shootout again, I know you hate your mother, but the folks living in Amethyst Sands don't need to get caught up in your family squabbling."

"Then maybe those fools should get a new sheriff." Keep grumbling back.

"Ya ya, my mother and I don't get along much either, but we at least try to be civil about it." PC growled back.

"I get it, I'll keep my guns holstered this time. Anyways, She'll probably be too drunk to even recognize me. Now I should keep an eye on my little brats before they pull one of their pranks." Keep said before trotting off.

"She's as pleasant as ever." I commented.

"Merc clanners are all like that." PC said with a shrug. "Anyways, we should join the others, I have something to ask of you all."

If that came from any other pony, I'd have said no on the spot. Most ponies out in the wasteland tend to want others to solve their own problems, never leaving their hole in the ground, but PC looked the type to just do things herself.

Trotting to the others, Slowtrot and Live Axle were awkwardly apart from each other, which I didn't blame them. With Live's mother forcing them into an engagement, and Live likely pregnant, the two didn't seem to know what to do with each other. But seeing them like this made it very clear that Live's sister, Dead Axle, had been the linchpin to any relationship between them. But with her near death and petrification, the two klutzes were bumbling around the idea of a relationship.

But seeing that Live was wearing Slowtrot's stable jacket over her pink dress, it was clear she was at least into him. Which only made it more tragic that Slowtrot seemed to have been more into Dead Axle.

What a fucking mess.

"First off, good to see you again Moody, even if you're a greedy bastard." PC said to the traveling merchant.

Moody chuckled back at PC. "Well you got to be a greedy bastard to make a profit in this business. Just like you have to be a royal bitch to run a farm like this."

The two glared at each other for a long moment, as though ready to start a fight. Then, with a huff and a grumble, PC then asked. "Alright! So do you have the parts I asked about?"

The merchant nodded. "Yes, and enough for two turrets with robot level targeting spell matrix. but before you get to haggling, I know you got the caps for full price, with how you crashed the corn market and all."

A cruel giggle escaped PC's lips. "Ya, and I bet that hit Golden Harvest where it hurt the most."

"Really now, that's why you pulled that fucking stunt PC!" Moody said in annoyance. "You do know they primarily sell their crops to the NCR itself. It's why they are able to stay in business even though they're shit at growing anything."

"Ya, ya, bitch and moan, but you know that it's going to reach the NCR eventually. And when they start asking why they're paying five times more for an inferior product, things aren't going to go well for Golden Harvest." PC said calmly and coldly.

"Maybe so, but next time let some of us know when you're releasing all of your stock of crops. We can at least spread out the sales better." Moody said in a defeated tone. "With that said, I do hope you understand that I won't be buying your crops this time around."

"Alright, I get it. Next time I do something like that, I'll let some of you merchants in on it. As for the turrets, we can talk about that later. I actually have business with these Desperado’s here." PC said as she waved Moody off.

"Ya, I'll get the parts uploaded while you do that." Moody then trotted to the back of his wagon, where one of PC's farm hooves were waiting.

Harp looked at Percussion Cap suspiciously and asked. "I do hope you're talking about delivering something to someplace safe?"

A chuckle came from PC, "oh I ain't asking you to kill nopony when I can do that myself. Naw, I just need somepony to drop off a shipment of crops and pick up a few boxes of nails. With how we got to keep an eye out for Golden Harvest's thugs, and how I don't put it past them to try and kill my workers, I want to keep my ponies close ya see. I'd ask Moody to do it, but he'll take my two remaining legs for the job."

"Naw, I'd just take the metal ones. Cybernetics sell for a shit ton, even those junky looking ones." Moody said with a smile.

With a huff, PC continued. "So ya, just a simple delivery there and back, no rush. I'm just betting nopony is going to try anything to a fast motter wagon with a big fucking gun on top."

Harp nodded, clearly considering the deal. "And what do we get out of it?"

A smile crept on PC's muzzle. "Well I haven't charged ya for the rooms and food have I?"

Harp, Slowtrot and I sighed simultaneously.

PC then laughed loudly, as though it was the funniest joke in the world. "Oh I'm just jerking your chain. So no worry. Actually we have some food preserves we'll give ya for helping us out. Had my kids making em, and while I was out they made far more than I had instructed. So you do this for me, and you get a box of preserved food to eat whenever."

"When you say preserved, you don't mean old world preserved right?" Harp asked.

"No fucking way we can make that stuff, no." PC said as she shook her head. "This stuff can only last a little over a year, two at best considering who made it. But trust me, they're all safe to eat."

Harp motions with her head for Slowtrot and I to talk more privately, so we trotted over to the smuggler as PC waited for us to come back.

"I don't know about this, I say no. I get a distinct feeling we might get drawn into their problems if we stick around." Harp said.

"It's fine with me. I mean what's the worst that could happen. We drop off food and pick up some nails. It's not like we're the ones building a gazebo." Slowtrot said.

One against and one for, leaving me to break the tie.

It wasn't like we were desperately low on food rations, and with how fast the Smuggler was, it wasn't as big of a deal. Though Harp was right, this valley was going through some brahman shit, and the longer we stay, the more we will get drawn into it. That's what happened in New Appaloosa, not leaving town when we should have. Hardballer and Prism might be alive if we didn't stick around like we did.

But this isn't New Appaloosa, and we are not renting a room here. Just a quick drop off, pick up, and return here before fucking off again.

"Truthfully, I don't see the harm. It should take less than a day and all." I told Harp.

She took a moment to take a deep breath, slowly breathing the air out as she said. "You're right, and having some extra food on hoof is always a good thing. But if things start turning into some long chain of events, we're just leaving."

Both Slowtrot and I shrugged.

Returning to PC, Harp spoke for us. "Alright Percussion Cap, we'll do it for you, but once the crate of food is in our hooves, we're out of here. It's nothing to do with you or this place, but we rather not stick around longer than we would like."

"Fair enough." PC said, understanding in her voice. "Even if Ashy Oakes was the one in the wrong, she still had a lot of ponies who'd kill for her. Bounty or not, they will come for you three. And as a former bounty hunter myself, the kind of pony who will come for you will not be the kind that cares about honor, or fairness. It's either a paycheck, or setting a score."

"So says executioner red, the bounty hunter that never takes them in alive." Moody said with a chuckle. "You know that's why it was so easy for Redeye to smear your name right, and make everypony think you just went raider when you killed Baron Flint."

"Really? I thought it takes more than going a bit crazy to be called, going raider." I said with a raised eyebrow. From what I know, most ponies get the raider label when they go off the deep end, and get into the whole chem abuse and sex with anything shit. PC on the other hoof looks like she doesn't do chems, and by all her children, only fucks to breed.

With an annoyed sigh and a roll of her eyes, PC told us. "Well when your mother gets foalnapped by raiders and that's how you were conceived, some ponies suspect being a raider is in your blood."

Harp let out a gasp. "Oh, sorry for bringing that up."

PC let out a bitter chuckle. "Don't be, it's actually more common out in the wasteland then it should be. There were a few places so bad with raiders that only the mares went out to do basic tasks, where they got assaulted as the stallion stayed in the settlement."

"Wait, why?" Harp asked with a shocked tone.

I decided to answer. "Because they would kill the stallions, but only rape the mares. Several of the mares working at the Ruffled Feathers grew up in places like that. I think Rusty's clan did such things too before they got wiped out."

PC nodded as she ran her hoof through her mane. "It's awful but true. And it's the only thing I hate about my mane."

"Wait, does that mean you're the last Blood Mane?" Live Axle asked, getting a glare from PC. "S… sorry. Just thought ya mane looked familiar. My ma got a tapestry made from their manes from back when grampa help drive out the Blood Manes from our territory. All of em were depicted as green earth ponies with blood red manes. Last anypony heard from them was that some old hero wiped them out after they raided her home."

"Ya, that would be my grandmother, may Celestia rest her soul." PC said somberly. "Anyways, back to business. I'll have my farm hooves load up your trailer, and you can be on your way."

"Thanks, and again, sorry for bringing that up." Harp apologized.

PC huffed back. "Save your sorry for when you actually do something wrong. I ain't lived this long to be dragged down and controlled by the past, or by events I wasn't even alive to have a say in. All I want is my peaceful life on this farm, and with my family. And may Celestia have mercy on anypony who tries and disrupts this life I made here."

That put a smile on my muzzle. "Ay, that I understand too well, so may the goddesses have your back."

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Chapter 4, Amethyst Sand (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 04

Amethyst Sand (Part 1)

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Leaving Green Lake farm, the dry air hit me like a slap in the face as soon as we crossed the boundary between the farm and wasteland. Putting on a pair of goggles to keep the dust out of my eyes and makeup, I made sure to survey the land for any danger. Things like a glint from a scope and kicked up dust in the air, but all I saw was mirages all around.

"So Star, why the leotard?" Pyrope asked from the passenger seat next to Harp.

Again with the questions. It made me glad we left the Sparkle-Lurker behind, or he would have joined in on the game of twenty one questions.

"Ehhh, I guess I'm just used to it." I answered honestly.

The stretchy latex suit did feel strangely comfortable as it squeezed my body, but mainly it just looked stylish to me. Unlike Harp, I didn't feel uncomfortable trotting around with nothing on, though it was a good idea to have something on to keep the dirt and dust out of my fur and sensitive bits.

Pyrope shrugged. "I guess that's as good as any reason."

I then had a question for the bandit myself. "So, why the fuck are you guys out here anyways? There ain't much here to rob, actually, what are ya still with us? "

"Staking claim to old Union clan territory before some other asshole does. There ain't going to be no feuding over land if you make sure no rivals set up near ya." He told me. "On that, the town y'all are heading is that territory we claimed."

"Wait, Amethyst Sands is a bandit town!" I blurted out in surprise.

He shrugged. "Technically it is, but almost everypony there has taken on more legit work. Mainly trying to get the old mine there back open again. Ma says there's a rich gem mine deeper inside, but the old shafts haven't been maintained for over two hundred years. So ya, it's slow work. But thanks to Perception Cap giving us a good deal on crops, we ain't needed to raid nopony for nothing."

"So, wait, does that mean your old clan used to be miners?" Harp asked.

"E'yep." Was his response as he tapped the lanter on his wide brim hat. "My ancestors were the Union Workers of Surmount Mining Unlimited, and damn near every mine in Equestria was dug out by my ancestors."

I let out a long sigh. "Fucking really, those fuckers again!"

"What?" Pyrope Garnet said, looking confused.

Fortunately Harp decided to explain for me. "A while back we were hiding out in one of those stables. Turns out it was made inside an SMU mine, which also had a tourist attraction and a Ministry of Awesome lab inside."

Cavall let out a happy yip, so I patted him on the head. "That's where we found this little snake pup."

Pyrope looked concerned for a moment, then shrugged. "That sounds like something my gramps said about the old Union, maybe Ma might know more if you're interested."

"Rather not." I said firmly. "We ain't planning to stay long for storytime."

"You could stick around and show us a dance." He said back with a wink.

"I'll only dance if it's on your grave." I warned him.

Harp cleared her throat. "Star, realy?"

Rolling my eyes, I rephrased the threat. "Sorry, if I'm dancing, it's only when your not in any condition to watch me."

Getting the message, Pyrope finally left me alone, turning his eyes to Harp. My friend giving me the look of "just let me handle him"

"So what about you, we have this nice little spot excellent for dancing?" He asked Harp

She smiled back at him. "I don't think so. I mean, you got to show a mare a good time first, and we're a bit short on time as it is."

Pyrope continued to be persistent, the fool really asking for me to break one of his legs. "Well fortunately there isn't much to show, so no harm in me at least giving you a little tour. Real quick, and you won't even need to dance."

"If you insist, but if you try anything I might get mad." Harp said, hiding a smile and clearly just telling him what he wants to hear to get the stallion to shut up.

Returning my attention to the horizon, the distant mirage continued to ripple and wave. Forming oases that were just reflections of the blue sky. In the first few years after the day of sunshine and rainbows, many ponies died chasing these mirages, succumbing to heat stroke as they were led astray. It was a serious problem back then, since most ponies were used to the unending cloud cover and frequent rain.

But as we moved, one mirage was different, with the reflection of the blue of the sky being broken by hard lines of faded colors. Looking through my spyglass, I could see ancient shipping containers stacked two high like a wall, with a gap forming a gateway blocked off by a long and rusty motor wagon on rails.

"I think I see Amethyst Sands." I told everypony, then asked, "that is, if it's a town protected by a wall of old shipping crates, right?"

"E'yep, and the gate door is an armored up buss on rails." Pyrope told us.

So that's what those long motor wagons were called.

"Is there anything we should know before rolling in on them?" Harp then asked Pyrope.

He shook his head, "just the norm. Like keeping your guns holstered, not going and insulting the locals, and don't go stealing or hurting nopony. Oh, and if you do cause trouble, we bandits like to get even."

"Also keep an eye on your shit. They're still thieving thugs in the end." I warned Harp.

Pyrope shrugged. "Not going to say that's a lie. From what the ancestors tell us, before we were the Union Clan, the old Union was known for being a bunch of thieving thugs. I never understood why that was though."

Our pipbucks cracked as Slowtrot chimed in. "Corruption mainly. The Union was meant to give workers a voice, but when I was in one, all they did was take my money and ignore me. When I complained about them, I then didn't have a job."

"So, nothing new then." Harp said flippantly. "We'll do our best to not start trouble, that is, so long as your clan does the same. Otherwise, consider that offer of yours out of the question."

I cocked an eyebrow, wondering why it sounded like Harp had actually been considering letting that bandit show her around.

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Under the watchful eye of several armed ponies on top of a tower made from a long vertical cargo container, we rolled into Amethyst Sands. The place was a typical wasteland settlement, though much bigger with proper walls. The place reminding me a lot of how New Appaloosa used to look like before they remodeled the town.

Aside from the cargo containers forming the wall, and gate towers, the town inside was made up of several adobe buildings, and a shit ton of tents all organized in proper rows. One adobe building looked to be extra well put together, including a small open tower, in which had on display a strange sculpture made of many symbols that suspiciously looked like a mushroom cloud.

"Not bad for a wasteland town, even got yourself a church." I commented.

"E'yep, it's the first thing we built here in this town." Pyrope responded. "It's by the grace of the Goddess of the Glow we exist, so we must honor her first and foremost."

Right, a cult. "So this goddess of the Glow, do we need to… well be careful about anything?" I asked.

Pyrope chuckle. "If you're talking about sacrifices or other crazy shit, no, not at all. She is the goddesses of trials and transformation. Through accepting her and her ordeals, we are changed for the better. Or that's what my Ma preaches non-stop."

"So your mom is the preacher?" I further asked.

"And mayor of this fine town." He answered.

"Say, you keep saying town, but how many ponies actually live here?" Harp then asked as she looked around.

Pyrope sighed. "Well I guess it's more of a village right now. Last count there's over a good two hundred and forty nine of us here. That's including my Pa and the others on the mountain pass. There's far more of us back in our old mountain town, though once things properly stabilize here, they will be joining us."

"And where's that old town?" I asked suspiciously.

"Ain't no way we're telling you shit like that!" A rather thin and rough looking mare said as she trotted over, giving me a glare that strangely seemed to glow a slight balefire green. She was lighter dressed then Pyrope, lacking the duster and bandoliers, but had the same breach action rifle and pickaxe. The mare's colors were faded and blotchy, with clumps of her mane showing right when they turned a rich brown to a pure white. "We all know how you smooth coats are like, all smiles and sweet words, then come out the guns!"

"Smooth coats?" I said with mild confusion. "Lady, ain't that what ghouls say?"

Jumping out of the Smuggler, Pyrope got in-between the older mare and I. "Star, Harp, Slowtrot, this is Mayor Almandine Garnett, my Ma. Ma, these ponies just came from Green Lake and have brought us the food you requested."

The annoyed expression on Almandine's face then became brighter and more friendly. "Oh, if you put it that way, then welcome to the town of Amethyst Sands. I do hope this fool of a colt of mine hasn't been too much trouble."

Harp hopped out, putting on a smile herself. "Oh by no means has he been any trouble, clearly raised well by a capable mother."

Almandine trotted over to Harp, shaking her hoof. "Oh don't flatter me too much, or I might just keep you myself. But if you want to stay and give me a few grand foals, I wouldn't say no. Those hips of yours are clearly made for it."

My friend was then taken aback, blushing at the suggestion. "Th… thanks for the offer, but I have to decline."

The older mare sighed in disappointment in a way only a mother could. "A shame, with my colt now of age, and we needing to thin the blood, it's been rather a pain finding him a wife. And you look like a pony who would help thin the blood with how you look all. You know, being mixed and all."

Jumping out myself, and getting the attention of the hagged looking mare, I made sure I was heard clearly. "Before you push any further, we ain't here to be broodmares, so drop that line of thought!"

The friendliness dropped from Almandine's face as she studied my own. "Fine, but y'all must tell me why you, one of New Appaloosa's whores, are here. Ain't it bad enough that ponies like you tempt our stallions away from their duty whenever they step near that shithole of your town, now you must do it here!"

Fuck, of cores she had to be like an uptight house wife.

Harp cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "Just dropping off several crates of food, that's all miss mayor. Star is here as our security. So please trust us, we mean no troubles. Also, we don't plan to stay long, since we got business out west."

"That and having trouble with the pony's back in New Appaloosa. Our kind of trouble, so some ponies might come round looking for them." Pyrope further added.

Almandine rolled her eyes and sighed. "A day does not go by that I miss the radiation storms. No pony would snoop around our home since it would likely kill them." She then motioned at several locals standing around. "Go help the stallion unload, I'll take the mares to to workshop to pick up those fucking nails."

Leaving Slowtrot behind to deal with the unloading, I joined Harp in following Almandine and Pyrope to one of the adobe buildings.

"Miss Almandine?" Harp then asked as we trotted. "Not to pry into your personal lives, but are you all waste ponies here?"

"That is right, what gave it away?" The mare confirmed.

"Dealt with a few back in New Appaloosa." Harp answered. "One was the pony behind the railway restoration. The others were Blue Skies mercenaries. And I've found that you waste ponies have a distorted magic around you, much like ghouls, but not stagnant."

Almandine looked concerned for a long moment before nodding her head. "That sounds about right I guess. We're practically ghoul in all but being undead and all." She scratched a patch of fur that was all white. "I'm already starting to get old, and we waste ponies loose our colors before turning into ghouls. Like my Ma before me, and her Ma before her. But my great great great grandma though, she became a ghoul the old fashioned way, yet still managed to have three foals before her plumbing stopped working."

"And that's how waste ponies came about, I guess." Harp pondered.

"A good guess, but it's more by the grace of the Goddess of the Glow. Ghouls having foals are quite rare you see, being undead and all, but it was far less rare for the faithful." Almandine answered. "As for the others, many ghouls did travel into baelfire blighted lands to escape the persecution by the smooth coats. At some point the less mest up of those ghouls had foals, and then those foals had foals, and eventually there were a lot more of us around."

"I guess that makes sense if their sexile origins were still intact after ghoulifying. And then there's always the issue of magic, or the Goddesses of the Glow of yours. I wouldn't mind hearing more about this goddess and how she helps your ancestor's transformation." Harp pondered.

Almandine smiled wide, which showed off her nearly black gums. "I'd be more than happy to tell y'all more about us, and our faith. But what about you, since we're sharing an all?"

Harp flapped her diminutive wings. "I'm a mirage pony, a genetic chimera as some would say. My kind are more artificially brought about due to an extreme situation, though no less our own thing, much like yourselves. Unfortunately the wings and horn don't do anything, just a vestigial leftovers, but we can do some magic. Like drawing magic into myself, and powering tech with it." Order's eyes flickered as the drone let out a few beeps. "Including my drone here, much of our technology is based around our innate magical ability."

Studding the drone, Almandine smirked a little. "That's rather… useful actually. If we had your kind around, maybe a lot of the old mining tech wouldn't have been discarded. Power is, as you might know, rather limited in the wasteland."

But Harp shook her head. "Sorry, but I highly doubt it. When we draw magic into ourselves, that includes radiation. If we're not careful, we can easily kill ourselves by sudden radiation poisoning."

Almandine clicked her tongue in disappointment as she stopped at the door to one of the buildings. "Well that's a real shame. With how we practically live in radiation, it be like oil and water between your and our kind. Still, I wonder what kind of pony you'd make if ya did give me grandfoals."

"I rather not ponder on that question." Harp answered.

With a shrug, Almandine trotted inside. "Well, here is our workshop, the nails can be found inside."

Peeking in, it was one big open room, having different groups of ponies at work. Some making rope, others working on scrap metal.

"You don't need to stay here, it's mostly just going to be boring stuff." Pyrope told me as he pointed at another building. "It may be a while, so I suggest that building. It's our distillery and bar. The ponies running it should already know why you're here, and will give ya a free drink."

"And what? Hope I loosen up enough to get me in bed?" I asked with a bit more spite than I needed too.

"Hay, chill now. I already got the message that you're not interested. Just letting you know where you can wait at, since I'm sure you're not into watching ponies do repetitive work." He said in his defense.

I still didn't trust this bandit, and from what I've heard about them, though they may not be raiders, they certainly are not good folk. Still, they could be trusted to not harm ponies activity working with them. "Alright, I could use a drink. But if you or anypony here do anything to harm Harp, I will make sure you all live to regret it, you got that?"

"Clear." He said before trotting inside.

Turning to trot to this brewery and bar they had, I caught a good ten ponies blatantly watching me, none even trying to hide. Some on the roof, others just standing around, all armed with rifles. I guess it was their own way of telling me to keep my nose clean while here.

Entering the front of the bar, it was what I had suspected a wasteland bar to be; one big open room with hard dirt floor and scrap wood tables. The mirror behind the bar was made of many shards of broken mirrors forming one bigger cracked mirror. Strange symbols of interlocking circles decorated everything; from clay pots, lamps that projected the symbols, and even having them painted on the walls, some of which glowed a bailfire green.

All the tables were full as the bandits played cards or dice, many stopping to give me the stink eye. But the bar was mostly open, with two seats available, both next to a mare in a tattered armored duster and a black Stetson hat. Next to her and propped up on one of the seats was a big fucking rifle, which was about the the length of a hunting rifle, but bult like a machinegun.

Unlike the rest 9f the ponies here, she didn't quite look like she belonged.

Taking the other seat, the now clearly drunk earth pony mare next to me was nursing a glass of clear fluid that strongly smelled of alcohol and a hint of something sickly sweet? The mare herself, to my shock, looked just like Keep, but much older, and sporting a shit ton more scars. She was dark gray with a lighter muzzle, and a fiery mane of yellow and orange, though unlike Keep who kept hers in a mohawk, this mare had it in a long braided mane that ended in what looked like a scorpion tails stinger. Her eyes had a distinct stair of a pony who had lived for far too long and seen far too much.

"Here you go mam, one Blast Berry Whisky on the house." The bartender said, passing me the same kind of glass as the other mare.

Sipping it, the shit was super strong in alcohol, likely over a hundred proof, yet it didn't overpower the sweetness of whatever it was made from.

"Has a nice kick." The mare next to me said with a husky voice, the kind of voice of a pony who smoked all of their life.

"Ya, but it doesn't taste like shit." I commented before taking another sip. Letting the fumes of the whiskey fill my mouth, savoring the flavor. When it was done, I shivered as I let out a satisfied sigh. "So, you must be Keep's mother."

She let out an annoyed huff and shot her drink down her throat. "Ya, that ungrateful brat once came out of my cunt, and has never stopped screaming at me since."

Letting out a low but sharp whistle, I tipped my drink at her. "It can't have been that bad. I mean, little fillies are the sweetest things in the world."

"Not Keep, though it's mostly my fault that she hates me so much." She then waved at the bartender, who sighed and trotted over to pour her more whiskey. "Names Rook… of the White Scorpion. So who might you be, and what's your relation with my daughter?"

"I'm Star Charter. My friends and I are acquaintances of her husband, that's all." I told her.

"That cradle robber, I got a bullet with his damn name on it!" Rook huffed out and took a swig of her whiskey.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Last I knew, he did seem like the foal napper sort."

Rook groaned, clearly not liking the subject. "You would think, but that fucker impregnated and ran away with Keep when she was just fifteen years old, and he's ten years older then her!"

I sharply breathed in through my teeth. "Ohh, okay. Now that sounds bad."

Taking another swig, Rook continued with what was becoming a drunken rant. "At least I stayed with the clan after getting pregnant at her age! But no, the first merchant she sold her body to, she ran off with. Then she dare calls me an embarrassment, I took my hits, and killed so fucking many. What does she know!"

I decided to not say any more, unless risk triggering what was likely a veteran mercenary with clear mental problems.

But continue Rook did. Ranting about things I didn't understand or care about. But one thing did catch my ear, and it was about her being in Redeye's army.

"You worked for Redeye?" I asked.

"Ya, fought in his takeover of Fillydelphia like… twenty years ago, I think." She said, a sense of calm distance washing over her face. "Ya, that fight was a mess. So many dead slaves, it was like playing raider rulet when trotting over the bodies. You never knew which slave was rigged with explosives. And I'm sure they were throwing dead ponies into the pot, no way they had that much meat to feed us grunts."

She finally looked at me, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I was sure if she had the evil eye, it would be as strong as Victoria's. "But things calmed down after we won. Life got boring until it didn't, ya know."

The mercenary veteran then gritted her already grinded down teeth. "You know that Redeye promised he would do things differently. That us mercenary clans would have a home that's not some toxic shithole for a change. But no, he just let those slavers back in, let them do what they always did! Stern to that fucking traitor! The death that bitch got was too good for her."

She then shot the rest of her drink down her throat again. "And you know what I got for all my hard work and suffering?" A burning rage was in her eyes, making me worried that she was about to throw hooves.

"Mom, that's enough!" I turned to see a blue teenage colt, who had the exact same red and yellow mane as Rook, with it even in the same long braided and stinger shaped tip. He had to be around the age of thirteen or fourteen years old with how weedy he looked.

Rook slummed and smiled. "Oh, hey there Fort, what's the matter?"

The teenager rolled his eyes at Rook. "You mean the matter that you're on duty, but are drunk off your flank again! Mom, you're the sheriff, you can't be spending all day drinking."

I looked at Rook, now feeling very concerned. "Y… you're the town's sheriff!?"

"E'yep!" She said as she clumsily moved her duster, showing a crude brass star covered in those strange circles the locals seemed fond of. "I'm Sheriff Rook of Am… Amethyst Sands. So don't go fucking around, or-" she then patted her big fucking rifle, "I'll be using Never Forget on ya flank!"

"Right…" I said, then shot my whiskey down my throat, and felt it burn all the way down and then back up.

Rook let out a chuckle, and again waved at the bartender. "Hay, get me another, no, make it two, my new friend needs more!"

"No, that's enough for today, the Sheriff needs to sober up!" Fort yelled, and the concerned looking bartender just slowly trotted backwards into the back room.

"Oh not this again!" Rook grumbled as she glared at her son.

But the young teenager didn't flinch. "Mom, you need to control your drinking. We can't have you getting another heart attack. You got lucky last time."

She gritted her teeth for a long moment, but then calmed down. "Right, you're right. I'm…I'm sorry Fort." Rook then slumped down, her head resting on the bar. "I think I'll rest my eyes for now."

The old mercenary then fell asleep right there on the bar.

"Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen this kind of drunk." I commented.

Fort then sighed. "Sorry about mom. She's… lived through a lot."

"I can imagine. She's clearly an old mare from a profession where mare die young." I said with admiration. "But how's this drunk even the sheriff?"

"Mom's good at killing, that's why." Fort said matter of factly, but then bitterly said. "Not that the townsfolk need a sheriff, they just like having her do their dirty work, and pay her in booze for it."

Looking at the older mare as she slept soundly with her head on the bar, still clutching her empty glass of whisky, I wondered how much blood must have been on her hooves. Yet she slept without a hint of those horrors.

"And she's okay with that?" I asked Fort.

Worry crossed his face before a sense of determination took hold. "Can you help me get my mom to her bed, I'll tell you along the way."

Shrugging, I then slung the dead drunk Sheriff over my back as Fort took her rifle, and we trotted out of the bar. All while the locals did jack shit but ignored us.

"Mom thinks all she's good for is killing." Fort told me as we trotted back out into the hot dry wasteland. "So she stays here because she thinks it gives her a purpose."

I had to shift my wait, the mare being far heavier than she looked, not to mention a big revolver poking into my back. "Heavy stuff kid, you must be like, ya know, super smart to understand that."

Fort looked away, seemingly embarrassed. "I'm not a kid… I mean, I'm fourteen years old, only a year away from being an adult."

"Wait?" I then just realized something. "Is that why both your mom and sister had kids when they were fifteen."

He rolled his eyes as we entered a row of tents. "Well ya, most ponies don't live past twenty if they're a mercenary, and all White Scorpions are mercenaries. It's important for us to have foals early before we start taking on contracts. Well, that's what Keep and grandmother told me. Mom on the other hoof, she doesn't like to talk about the clan."

Truthfully, it wasn't all that out of the norm to hear about. It was almost guaranteed that any isolated community surrounded by dangers would have their mares getting pregnant as soon as possible and as much as possible. Several of the mares at the Ruffled Feathers had six siblings at least, with nearly half of them never reaching the age of ten.

Probably the only reason I never had a brother or sister was because my real mother didn't want to ruin her figure.

"And are you going to do that? It is a big responsibility." I asked the teenager.

But he shook his head. "No, sis says it's not necessary, now that the radiation has cleared up. We don't need to sell ourselves out anymore."

Right, the so-called Gardens of Equestria cleared nearly everything up. So many places that were once shitholes are now marginally better. But then that begged another question, "then why are you here?"

The question almost seem to insult him. "Because mom's here! Somepony has to look out for her, and that pony is me!"

"Ahh, a mama's colt." I said with a chuckle.

"Ya ya, I heard it all before." Fort said as he trotted into a tent, keeping the flap open for me. "But seriously, If I'm not around, then… I don't know."

I Stopped to ruffle the shrimps mane before trotting inside. "Ya, I think I get what your saying. My mom was the same way." Finding only a mildly moldy mattress, I dumped Rook on it. "I'm mean like you, not like your mom. Prism always made sure I was near, and was always there when I found myself in trouble."

"And is she nearby?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Last time my troubles came for her. And I was nowhere nearby to stop it."

Fort's ears drooped, looking guilty as he said, "s… sorry."

"It's fine, your at no flat for my mistakes." I told him as I took a seat, letting myself rest a little after hauling around the heavy old bitch. "So, other then the killing shit, why's she not with the rest of the White Scorpions, she must be like an elder or something?"

"I don't think I'm allowed to say, but it's why mom and Keep are fighting. Though from what they say, they've always fought." Fort answered, sounding unsure of it. He then trotted over to his mother, making sure she's in a more comfortable position. "Anyways, thanks for helping get mom here. The locals are too afraid of her to even try and move her after she's been drinking. And it's nice to actually talk with some pony, since there's none my age here."

"And that their waste pony bandits. And cultists. That can't help much." I commented.

But Fort shrugged. "I'm not sure about that. The clan is rather religious itself, and supposably were closer to being waste ponies then normal ponies. The Followers actually suspect that my clan's poisonous blood is a result of a megaspell runoff, much like how waste ponies are made because of bailfire radiation."

"Weird that is." I said as I got up. "Well I'll leave you be. And I wish you and your mother well."

Leaving the teenage colt with his drunken mother, as I returned to the wasteland an overly strong smell of cheap cologne assaulted my nose. Looking around, I found myself in the shadow of two large ponies, with one rad-rat looking stallion between them.

I bit my tongue as I recognized the thin stallion and he looked shocked to see me. "Wait! Star Charter? What's one of the Ruffled Feathers whores doing here?" Lean Year asked in his stupidly nasally voice.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't brake your nose?" I snarled.

_________________________________________________

Chapter 5, Amethyst Sand (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 05

Amethyst Sand (Part 2)

_________________________________________________

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.

_________________________________________________

"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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Chapter 6, Amethyst Sand (Part 3)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 06

Amethyst Sand (Part 3)

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Placing several caps onto the bar, I was then given a bottle of the Blast Berry Whisky. The bottle was clearly a reused Wild Pegasus Whisky bottle, not that I cared. Taking it, I trotted back to my friends, who were sipping on their free drinks.

"I'm sure of it, this stuff has got to be strong enough to be flammable. Maybe enough to be used for firebombs." Harp pondered as her face crinkled from the drink.

Slowtrot let it settle in his mouth, clearly remembering something from the wartime. "Is it odd that this reminds me of rocket fuel?"

I frowned at that comment of his. "Please don't tell me you also worked on rockets?"

He chuckled. "Oh no, not at all. Only ponies working under the Ministry's could do jobs like that. But I knew a pony who knew a pony that did. I guess since they're all dead now, or well, maybe dead, I can talk about it."

"Well of course, It's been over two hundred years! Even if anypony from back then is still alive, the Ministry's are clearly not." Harp pointed out.

Slowtrot nodded. "Yes of course. It's just that old habits are hard to drop. I mean, it's only been what, two, maybe three months for me. Anyways, the rocket fuel is actually just refined apple cider if you'd believe it. It all came from the Flim and Flam cider factory, and only from the Flim and Flam cider factory. There were even rumors of the Flim and Flam copping the alchemic motor wagons used by the Zebras, and fueling them with the apple rocket fuel. Weird to think about."

"Non magical motor wagons, how'd the engines even work?" Harp wondered.

I shrugged. "Probably the same way most things are, steam powered." I suggested. "The Blackwater was powered by two big old steam engines. Couldn't it work the same way?"

Harp nodded back at me. "That is possible. Despite how much of the old tech the Marewaii Islands managed to maintain, the main power was still just steam power with extra steps. I mean, the concept of the slave engine was just having a group of mirage ponies providing magical energy to several heating talismans inside a boiler. It's a dreadful thing to do, just for squeeze out the bare minimum of power."

"I can imagine." Pyrope said as he rejoined us, pouring himself a bit of whisky. The stallion was now sporting a black eye, but other than that, looked no worse for wear. "It's amazing how Mirage Ponies like you, Miss Harp, can power old tech naturally, but I can easily see how it can be abused."

"Well anything can be abused if another can make a profit off it." Harp commented and Pyrope nodded.

"So, is your mother still mad?" I asked.

Pyrope sighed. "She is, but she's always upset over something. As for the colt, I told him you want to talk."

"Thanks for that. It's awkward if strangers like us just came up to him like that." Harp said, sounding a bit guilty.

"I get that, but why do you need to anyways?" He asked us.

Harp and I looked at each other, unsure how to answer that without giving away our true intentions.

But Slowtrot just blurted out, "we know his sister, and want to know how things are between him and his mother. Not really our place, but we're a bit worried from what Keep has said about her."

"Right, that makes sense. Last time Keep was here, it turned into a shootout. Not the worst, and nopony died, but it scared ponies here mighty fierce. Also, Rook is probably the most dangerous alcoholic I've ever seen, and my father is one mean drunk at times. Not to mention what my mom does when drunk." Pyrope said nervously.

Pouring myself a glass, I again savored the drink; it sickly sweet, yet satisfyingly strong. The moment lingered as nopony said anything, which seemed to make Pyrope even more nervous.

The young bandit then continued, as though trying to fill the silence. "I mean it's not like Rook is hurting nopony because she drinks. A bit violent when ponies try something with her, but no less than what we already do to each other. It's just that she's almost always drinking, even when it's time to start killing. Frankly, I don't know how she can even shoot straight, much less hit anything with that GAR rifle of her's."

"GAR?" Harp asked.

"A Gabby Automatic Rifle." Slowtrot blurted out. "Griffinstone Mechanics made them, and they were a big deal early in the great war. I think their main use was as a counter to the Zebra Gatling guns. They're like a machine gun, but in rifle form. My father bought one when they were released onto the open market, and I got to shoot it once."

Pyrope again nodded. "E'yep, that sounds about right. I don't know much about em, but I do know that any machine gun that fires .308 rounds is fucking rare and that one is a rifle to boot. Got to try it once too; shits heavy, but damn is it easy to use."

Slowtrot nodded. "You think it would be unwieldy, but compared to a shotgun it's a rather smooth shooter."

"And Mom's a master with it." Fort said as he levitated my glass of whiskey over to him.

I took the glass back, very sure he shouldn't be even trying to drink alcohol. Or at least not my whisky. "Well she looks like it, that's for sure."

Harp pulled over a seat for the colt, pulling him out a bottle of mutefrute juice from her bag for him. "You can drink this, it's actually rather fresh and refreshing."

The teenaged colt sipped the juice, his eyes going wide as he then gulped it down.

I let out a chuckle, reminded of how Bridget responded at the first time drinking juice.

"What ch'a laughing at?" Fort asked defensively.

I took a deep breath, and told him. "You just reminded me of my daughter, that's all."

He seemed to calm down, now just sipping at his drink. "So, you wanted to talk about something?"

The three of us looked at each other, rather unsure how to start this, but it was clear that Slowtrot and I were leaving it to Harp to do.

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Harp then started the conversation.

"Well, as you might know, we are acquaintances of your older sister, Keep. And, well, we're a bit curious about a few things." Harp stated.

Fort rolled his eyes in the way a teenager can only do. "Ya ya, I know big sis and mom don't get along. But it ain't moms fault, it's the elders and their braminshit, always talking about traditions and rules. Not like any of them believed in what they were saying, it was just all an excuse to do whatever they wanted, all while not doing jack shit!"

"Umm, care to explain?" Harp probed.

The older colt looked away from us as he said, "I'd… rather not."

A frustrated sigh left my lips catching the colt's attention. "Ya'know, sounds a bit like life aboard the Blackwater when I was a little filly. The adults always do whatever they like, and if ya called them out on their brahminshit, they'd spout scripture back at ya as their excuse. Got thumped and stolen from so many times, all because they said they knew better." A slight chuckle escaped my muzzle. "Ya, they got what was coming to them for sure."

Fort's eyebrow raised at me, curiosity taking hold. "Wh… what happened to them?"

"Not sure about most of them, though I imagine that they're probably dead. But I know that the captain and her goons got killed." I said with swelling pride. "Victoria, a mare I once followed, led a mutiny, which I was a part of. Doing shit like throwing bombs and even getting to use a rust gun. By the end of the day, we were in charge, and those who opposed us were dead."

"And what happened after? If you're out here I mean." Fort asked.

The pride I was feeling faded, and the memories of mom returned. "A mare by the name Prism Paint whisked me away, and gave me a new and better life away from the violence. She… became my mom."

Fort slowly looked me in the eyes, "I… I think I understand."

He took a deep breath, clenching his teeth before relaxing. "It's tradition that the elders raise the foals among the White Scorpions, freeing up the adults to work. But unlike the others, I lived outside the clan for many years before big sis found me. Because of that, the elders never saw me as one of theirs, and never hid their dislike of me. They'd say it was tradition to treat me like an outcast, to make me stronger like the other foals. But whenever they thought nopony was looking, they'd pray that I'd die." Again Fort gritted his teeth, taking a moment to return to his calm. "Then mom showed up, gave the elders what they deserved, and then took me away."

Harp and I shared a concerned look between each other.

But it was Slowtrot that spoke. "Got what they deserved, what happened?"

Fort took an extra long sip of his drink, but eventually told us. "Mom killed em. Most of em I mean. Grandma only got a beating, but she should have been shot too."

"That's horrible!" Slowtrot blurted out!

"They still deserved it!" Fort grumbled.

Before Slowtrot could say any more, I shoved my hoof in his muzzle to keep him quiet as Harp then asked. "I understand that you were ill-treated, but shouldn't your mother have stopped it before?

Fort glard at my friend, but then softened his eyes. "No, she didn't know, she wasn't around. Sis says mom abandoned me, left me with Redeye. It's why she's so mad at her." Taking a deep breath, Fort let out an annoyed huff. "But sis left me with the elders, I wasn't her responsibility, but the clan's responsibility. Yet they never saw me as one of their own."

"Wait, she abandoned you, but why?" I asked, a creeping feeling of anger climbed up from within me.

"I… don't know. Mom refuses to talk about it to me. But sis says it's because she couldn't hoof the responsibility. Something to do with an older brother of mine. But mom refuses to say anything about him, not even his name." Fort explained.

It sounded all bad to me, and all too vague. Yet I couldn't help but sympathize with the colt, something about how he held himself was terribly familiar.

"So your mother just left you, and then one day returned, acting like she knows better?" I blurted out, only for Harp to shove a bottle in my mouth.

She then put her way too friendly smile on. "What Star ment to-"

"What do you know!" Fort growled at us. "Mom's doing her best! She's hurt, but she does her best. I know she's not the best pony in the world, but she at least cares about me. Not the elders, not sis, not nopony but her!"

I pulled the bottle out of my mouth and snarled. "No mare who abandoned their foal deserves to be called a mother! No matter how much I wanted to call her one!"

Everything became quiet. Fort looked at me as I looked at him, tension building. The unicorn colt then threw the remains of his juice at me and bolted away.

"What, don't go, Belfry!" Harp called out to him, but the colt didn't listen.

Again things were quiet and Harp slowly turned to me, both concerned and with anger on her face.

I looked away, finding a dirty cup on the other side of the table more interesting. "It's not my fault!" I admitted.

Harp sighed and finished her drink before getting out of her seat. "Slowtrot, I think we should check the Smuggler. Make sure nopony has messed with it."

Slowtrot gave me a sympathetic look and then shook his head as he left with Harp.

Across from me Pyrope still sat, swerling his drink before giving it a sip.

"Ya think I did wrong too?" I grumbled at him.

"E'yep." He said before downing all the whisky in one gulp. "But though you ain't right, ya aint wrong too. Ya just went about it the dumb way, if ya catch my drift."

Feeling annoyed, I then asked, "And what way was the right way?"

"First off, maybe not bringing whatever baggage ya have into the conversation." He told me as he reached for my bottle, but I pulled it away from him and closer to me. "I mean, you clearly have some kind of mom issue, and it's muddying up your mind about the colt."

"But I ain't wrong," I grumbled back at him.

Pyrope rolled his eyes. "And I ain't saying you are, not completely. But a colt is going to love their mother, no matter how much they're a drunken wreck." He then stretched his legs and got up. "Maybe you should talk to somepony about whatever got your tail all in a bunch. Or not. It isn't my problem to worry about after all, it's your problem to worry about."

I watched as he left, and then poured myself some more whiskey.

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After negotiating with the bar, I managed to get a case of their whisky at a reasonable price, plus an extra bottle for myself. At the very least it should lighten up the mood as we hit the road again. But before that, there was still a pony I needed to talk to. Thankfully the locals pointed me in the right direction.

"Eh'hem." A mare spoke up, catching my attention. "Miss Star Charter?" Mayor Almandine said as she trotted up to me.

I looked around a bit nervously. "Uhh, did I do anything wrong?"

Almandine let out a slight chuckle. "Oh no, you haven't done anything recently. I'm actually here to ask you and your friends a request. Nothing big, you can trust me on that."

I glared at the not-bandit politician and preacher, not caring for whatever brahminshit she's about to spew. "Oh cut the crap. Just as I'm not fucking any stallion here, not your husband, your son, or what ever moron your cheating on your husband with, don't fuck with me!"

She dropped the friendly face, and a bit of anger could be seen in her eyes. "Fine, I'll be blunt. I want you and your friends to deal with a raider problem we're having. We'd do it ourselves, but the land is flat here, and they can see us coming for miles, literally."

"And let me guess, you asked my friends, and they said no?" I asked.

Almandine let out a sigh. "You're correct about that."

Of course she did, "and then their answer is my answer."

"I could help you with your deal with Lean Year." She then told me.

I took a deep breath, not liking where this is going, but I needed to know otherwise. "And how can you do that, and ain't she your sheriff?"

The older mare shrugged. "She's more of a deterrent than any kind of law pony. When Golden Harvest was more of a pain, ya we needed her to keep em in check. But now they're more or less under our hoof. Frankly, she's becoming more of a liability then she is worth. If ya can deal with the raiders, then any reason we need her around is gone. After that, we can slip her an extra strong drink, and convince her to release Fort into the Harvester family custody."

"A bit cold-hearted of you." I told her.

"I didn't get where I am by being soft." She said as she backed away from me. "Just keep it in mind, okay. Deal with our problem and we deal with yours."

Trotting away, I kept her offer in the back of my mind. It wouldn't be the first raider nest we destroyed, and it'd make a good distraction. But the problem is my friends, if they both don't want to do it, I wasn't going to make them do it.

I groaned in frustration. Everything was getting complicated and we haven't even gotten very far from New Appaloosa. Harp was upset with me, and I was upset with myself. It was all just fucked.

I then found Rook sitting near the entrance of the mine, pumping water for herself from a small well. "Already hung over?" I asked the older mare.

She looked at me scornfully with reddened eyes. "I don't know who you might be, but if you're looking for a fight, trust me, you don't want nothing to do with it."

Right, she's already forgotten me. "Hey now, I carried you back home like just over an hour or two ago."

She cocked an eyebrow at me and then guzzled a bucket of water, it splashing over her chin. "And big fucking what. Don't tell me we fucked too?"

"Ya, in your dreams." I said back to her.

Rook shrugged. "And here I thought I still had it." Throwing the bucket to the side she then trotted up to me, and it quickly became clear that Keep was practically a clone of her mother. Rook was tall for a mare, and both lean and muscular for one her age. "Now what business do ya have with me?"

Taking a deep breath, I had to be careful around this mare, but also needed to know. "I heard ya abandoned your foal, why?"

The bigger mare only needed to take one step to get muzzle to muzzle with me. There was deep rage in her eyes that burned like the fires of Tartarus. "Who told ya that, and don't play dumb with me, bitch!"

"Your kid, that's who." I said honestly

Rook snarled at me, but backed up. "Well it ain't your business, you got that."

"And what if it is my business. Then what?" I snapped at her even as she made me feel small.

She let out one little mocking laugh. "Then your business is suicidal."

"Ya, that's for sure. So why did ya do it?" I asked.

I saw her hoof move just in time for me to roll with the hit, avoiding what would be a very painful hoof strike to the jaw. "I ain't tell ya shit ya prissy little bitch. Now fuck off or I'll really mess up that face of yours."

Standing up strate and cracking my neck, I looked the mare in the eyes. I was done with all this Brahminshit, and needed that bounty gone. Otherwise I might never see my Bridget again and I'll really become just like that bitch who was my mother!

I felt my evil eye focus on Rook, trapping her within my gaze. My pain, my anger, and whatever else I could throw at her I did, and it felt good. Just like with that damn gravedigger, it felt good to let it all out, even if it would destroy her mind, I didn't care.

But mom wouldn't want that.

Neither would Bridget.

I closed my eyes and looked away, shame welling up within me. Again I was becoming a monster. Something Bridget would grow to hate.

"Okay, that was rather fucked up." Rook said unfazed. "Ya'know, eye magic is the worst right, all trying to mess with a ponies head and shit! Good thing I got this charm for protection. "

Wiping the blood from my eyes, I looked at the mare, who looked back at me with an unfazed expression on her face. In her hoof she held a stone pendant, it three circles that looked like a crude blue eye. Strangely, as I looked at the pendant, it felt as though something was looking back at me.

"S… sorry, I lost control of myself." I said apologetically.

The tall mare rolled her eyes back at me as she put her pendant away. "Miss, mind telling me what the fuck is your problem. Because my problems shouldn't be your problem, so best if you don't fuck with me anymore without a good reason."

She really was strong, maybe as strong as Victoria. Or I had just become weak. I at least knew that I had lost here, and it was time to give up.

With a sigh, I told her, "It's… Lean Year, he promised to get rid of our bounties if I-"

"Get me to give up my son." Rook finished what I was going to say. I nodded and she spat at the ground. "Figures, that pissant ain't got the backbone to do this shit himself. Fucking slaver families, they never change."

"But you did sleep with one of them?" I said, only to get a back hoof slap to the side of my face, knocking me over.

"You need to learn to watch your damn tongue!" Rook growled at me. "That fucker was a seral rapist, and because his father was all so important, Redeye kept his damn eyes closed to it all."

"Oh… oohh, I'm so sorry." I said, rubbing my cheek as I realized what she was getting at.

Rook let out a huff as she reached out and took the bottle of whisky from my saddlebag. She was clearly annoyed, yet still talked to me. "Shit happened because I let my guard down." She said before popping the cork and taking a swig. "Anyways, I have been in worse situations. It's to be expected when you're a mercenary for your entire life. But Redeye made a promise of civilization, then gave the slavers back all their power. When I was given no justice, and denied taking it myself, I left everything behind."

"Including Fort?" I asked.

She nodded. "My newborn, my pay, my clan, my family. I just didn't care anymore since nothing was going to change." Rook took another swig, and then looked down at me. Her eyes were filled with a deep sorrow, pain and hate, yet something more was there that was like a dim light in a sea of darkness. "So you want to know why I abandoned him? It's simple, because I went looking for my grave, that's why."

"Yet you're here." I said as I got back up, my face still stinging. "So what changed?"

Rook passed me my bottle and I took a swig myself as she told me. "Long story short, I saw too much death."

I let out a chuckle, finding that answer to be stupid as fuck. "Really? Ain't it supposed to be the other way around?"

She shrugged as she took the drink back. "Most of the time, ya, too much death drains your soul. Make you numb to the world, and filled with despair." Rook again took another swig of the whiskey, almost drinking it like water. "But sometimes… it's a different kind of death. And it gets ya to start thinking. A lot of thinking."

Placing the bottle down onto the ground, Rook then sat back. "So, what so damn important about ridding yourself of this bounty that it's worth ripping a nearly adult colt from his mother?"

I sat down as well, taking the nearly empty bottle and putting it in my saddlebag. "I got a little filly. She already lost her grandmother, and now her mom can't comfort her." I gritted my teeth, feeling angry at myself. "I should have been there for them, but I wasn't. Instead I was acting like that bitch that birthed me, a self absorbed whore."

"Ya, you'd fit right in with the White Scorpions," Rook said with a low chuckle. "We all hate each other in the clan, but stick together because there's nopony else we can trust."

"Sounds just like home. Let me guess, you're all super religious too." I snarked back at her.

"Ain't most ponies out here." She said with a sigh. "Fortunately my clan doesn't worship this Glow Goddess shit. It's bad enough we already eat, drink and breathe radscorpions venom. But doing that with radiation, that shit of theirs gives me the creeps. No, we follow the Dream Goddess, or as everypony elss calls her, Luna. It's your normal princess cult shit."

I looked over to my side, and saw a few not-bandits keeping an eye on us. "Right, makes sense. Unfortunately my kin are a bit more on the extreme side, worship both Celestia and Luna, but all through the machinations of a so-called prophet."

Rook breathed sharply through her teeth, cringing at what I said. "Prophets are always bad news. Most times it's some damn sex cult, not the worst, and can be fun, but annoyingly clingy. Then you get the real bad ones. Ever heard of Glad-ology?" I shook my head. "Good, because that shit is a real fucked up mess."

"Let me guess, they're the cult you killed." I said, remembering the list of mass deaths she survived.

Breathing in deeply, Rook slowly exhaled through her nose as though doing her best to not stress out. "Yes, that's the cult I nearly wiped out. Not that I had a choice in the matter. The remaining survivors are at least harmless, well not to your life, but they will drain you of your caps. But the dead ones, they needed to be put down for the good of everypony."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and asked, "why was that?"

"I still don't quite understand it myself." She said as she looked off into the distance, as though seeing something that wasn't there. "My memory is still a bit foggy about it all, but there was a mare, both alive yet not. Like some ghost. Had the cult in her thrall, and was using them to expand her control. Tried to control me as well, and my employer. Had its eye on some ancient weapon." Rook shook her head, and then refocused her eyes on me. "Long story short, some magical brahminshit was possessing ponies, and they had to be put down to stop it. The biggest shame of it all was the pipbuck I had, Sweet fucking thing it was, but I had to destroy it due to the bitch using me through it."

That sounded crazy, yet something about it was familiar. "Wait, didn't Slowtrot say something like that with Qu-" several gunshots went off, ripping me from my train of thought, followed by an explosion.

"Who the fuck?" Rook cursed as she got up. "Great, I got some damn work to do."

The larger mare then stumbled before catching herself and rushed off to where the gunfire was happening.

Following her, we rounded a building, and I saw Harp and Slowtrot taking shelter behind the Smuggler as Pyrope layed next to them. Several ponies traded fire with the locals from the other side of the now flaming wall. The gunfire whizzing over my friend's heads.

A stallion rushed out, armed with a rather crappy looking SMG, and covered in spiked makeshift armor. No doubt about it, it was a raider attack. His shot went wide, only to get ripped apart by gunfire from all around. The locals had taken to the roof to defend their home with their rifles, the black powder guns blasting out thick clouds of smoke.

But the rooftop defense proved less of an advantage as a pegasus raider flew overhead, dropping several cylinders, in which the locals jumped from the roof before getting caught up in a fireball of an explosion.

Pulling out her rifle, Never Forget, Rook took aim and let out a burst of lead into the air. Red mist then burst out from the pegasus raider, and they dropped from the sky like a sack of bricks.

But the bomber's attack had done its job scattering the defense as a group of six raiders rushed in guns blazing.

Rushing over to my friends I noticed that Harp had been bandaged up, and Slowtrot was preparing more for Pyrope.

"The fuck happened?" As I climbed up and grabbed my Outlaw.

"Ambushed from the sky." Slowtrot said as he pointed up at one lone cloud. "And then they came rushing from the gate. Took our damn trailer too."

That was best fucking news ever! "We can easily get it back. But how did the two of you get hurt?"

Harp then slammed her hoof on the side of the smuggler. "We were trying to apologize to Fort when they attacked."

"What!" Rook spoke up, catching my friends off guard. "Where is he!"

Realization flashed over Harp's face. "One of the pegasus grabbed him before we could react. That's when the other raiders first rushed in, and Pyrope shielded me from the attack."

Rook gritted her teeth and with her rifle in hoof, she got up and braced her gun on top of the smuggler's hood. She didn't even flinch as she took a bullet through the ear. I joined her as she began to fire, wildly spraying at the raiders as they scrambled.

With both of us working from either end and joining the spray at the center, the attacking raiders were quickly cut down like oversized vermin. Rook then climbed over the hood, and busted out the town entrance, a trail of dust following the mare.

"Wait, mam! It's too dangerous to run after them alone!" Slowtrot shouted, but Rook was already gone.

Harp then let out a long sigh. "This is exactly why I didn't want to do this job!"

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Chapter 7, Tato Town (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 07

Tato Town (Part 1)

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"Well fucking shit!" Mayor Almandine shouted as she viewed the damage. "Whered those fuckers get exposives from?"

"I wonder where?" I asked accusingly.

"Oh please, ain't no way we give our explosive to trash like raiders!" She defended herself, having caught on quickly to what I was suggesting.

Harp joined us, giving me the side eye. "Star, what the crap are you going on about?"

But Almandine answered for me. "I told her if you and your friends take care of our raider problem, we'll deal with your Rook problem. But we aint so stupid as to higher raiders that have been pissing in our water."

Harp let out a frustrated groan. "Ya, of cores thats the fucking issue! Star, we're going to need to have a serious talk. And miss mayor, you better hope that's the truth, because we have little tolerance for ponie trying to play us like fools."

"Ya, I can see that big fucking gun on your moter wagon. Trust me when I say, the soon things get boring again, the better." Almandine told us.

Taking a deep breath, Harp then asked Almandine, "right, so where are the raiders holding up?"

"A bit further north by northeast, y'all will find Tato Town. It's where Golden Harvest was holding up before some pony torched their crops. Now all their workers have gone raider and shit, not that they weren't halfway there already. Anyways, y'all can't miss it, it's surrounded by a lot of spiky rocks for some stupid reason, and built like a prison. So there'll be watchtowers poking up." Almandine informed us.

Harp then looked at me and motioned at the Smuggler. "Let's go get our damn trailer back, and save a colt."

Slowtrot had the engine already running as we boarded the Smuggler, Cavall jumping in after me. "Alright, where to?" Slowtrot asked as he slowly rolled out of Amethyst Sands.

"Wait up!" Pyrope shouted as he jumped onto the smuggler and took the other passenger seat. "Your going to need some help getting around Tato Town."

"We ain't here to steel shitty fruit, bandit!" I snarled.

"Shut up Star!" Harp shouted at me, then turned her attention to the stallion. "Allright, but try not to get yourself killed, alright."

He tipped his stenson. "Yes man."

She then leaned over and pointed over Slowtrot. "That way, north by northeast. We're looking for a bunch of spiky rocks with watch towers."

The smuggler picked up pace, and we were off.

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"Right, so the raiders call themselves the Blue Bramble, don't ask me why, they just do." Pyrope told us, filling in what little information we even had. "They're just made up of the poor and lost ponies of the NCR, ya know, petty criminals that aren't worth locking up, but can't pay their fines."

"And Golden Harvest took them in as bearly paid workers." Harp guessed.

But Pyrope shook his head. "Nope, they weren't even paid, not in caps at least. They did pay off a percentage of their fine, but the rest was in tokens that only the company store accepted. They tried the same shit with us, but we know better than to be played in anything but proper currency. Caps, gems, gold or bulles, nothing else."

"Wait, you got gold?" I asked, my interest peaked.

He shrugged. "Some. It makes good coinage, but it's hard to find ponies who actually use it for currency. So we mainly use it to decorate the inside of our church."

"That I'd be interested in seeing." I commented, wondering If they'd be willing to trade some of it to me.

"I'm not sure you'd want to." Pyrope told me with a smirk. "The place has several baelfire eggs on display, and last I checked, one was leaking."

Well that put a dampener on that, with how radioactive gold sounded like a real bad idea. "What's the damn deal with your radiation worship anyways?"

"Honestly, I don't quite get it much either, and Ma drilled the faith in my head since I could walk." Was his reply as he shrugged at us. "But it has to do with something about other worlds, and how the goddesses of the glow will take us to them. That one day the world will be consumed by the radiation and everypony will be brought under her protection."

Now that sounded like a death cult if I ever heard it. "Wait, but didn't your mother say she's the goddess of trials and transformation?"

Pyrope nodded. "Yes, and the consumption of the world will be the last trial, or that's my mothers interpretation of it. Those who survive it will then be transformed, and taken by the goddesses of the glow. But personally, I like how I am now, so I hope the last trial never comes."

"Or it can all be a bunch of mad rambling made by half feral ghouls." I commented, getting an annoyed look from Harp.

"You never know." Pyrope said in a slightly worried tone. "I mean it probably is, but unlike the other waste pony clans, ours was always the largest. Or as my mother puts it, since our ancestors accepted and survived the trial at the altar of the glow, they were transformed and the waste ponies were born."

"Alter?" Harp asked.

"Where my ancestors settled after the war, they found some ruins underground. All carved from black marble and such, even a freeky obelisk at the bottom. It's radioactive too, which is probably why they ghoulified even though they were safe from the bailfire fallout." He explained.

The hairs along my spine prickled as he told us, giving me a rather bad feeling about all that. Fortunately, the smuggler then lurched as Slowtrot turned and skidded to a stop in front of Rook, forcing the mare to stop.

The veteran mercenary glared at us, but I then shouted, "get on, we're heading to Tato Town!"

Letting out a huff, Rook ran over to us, and jumped onto the back of the smuggler. "You sure y'all can trust this thing to not explode?"

"It's Gunrunner made, so I trust it more than anything else." I told her as I pulled out my bottle of whisky.

Room took the bottle and finished it off. "Then go befor those fuckers have time to do anything!"

The smuggler got back to moving, doing its best to avoid every bump and rock.

"R… right, well." I stammered out. "These are my friends, Harp is the one in the red dress and Slow Trot is the driver."

"Don't care." She snarled back.

Harp popped her head out, giving the older mare a smile. "Don't worry, you're on the fastest motor wagon in the wasteland. We'll get your son back, trust us."

She glared at my friend and threw the now empty bottle off to the side. "Better, because I don't plan to hold myself responsible for what I'll do if he's not unharmed, ya understand."

"Perfectly." Harp said as she slowly went back down.

I then glard at Rook, who met my own eyes and said, "You have a problem!"

"Star!" Harp called out. "Let it go."

"But-" I began to say, but Harp cut me off.

"No, just let it go. You should know more than any of us here." She told me.

She… she was right. If it was my Bridget taken, I would leave a bloody trail to get her back.

"Fine." I breathed out and put my hooves on the Aeternus, ready to use it on the first raider I saw.

Which fortunately was not long as we saw two of the raiders ferociously pulling on our trailer. So I took aim.

"Wait! You'll destroy the trailer!" Harp said, getting a sigh out of me as I lowered the big fucking magical energy gun.

"Then what do we use?" I complained.

"Don't worry, I got this!" She told me as she tapped on her pipbuck. "Order, get rid of those raiders for me."

"Yes Lady Harp." The wasp-like robot said as we quickly rolled up on the two raiders.

The raiders saw us and let go of the trailer, quickly grabbing their guns and firing like drunken snakes. Order flew up, and with several pops, hit the raiders with its dule bolt launcher, nailing one raider in between the eyes. The other raider threw down their gun and bolted off, huffing a canister of dash as he fled.

Order shot a few more bolts, but the raider was now galloping at an unnatural speed, even with two bolts in one leg.

"Fuck it." I said, as I aimed and pulled the Aeternus'es trigger. The three beam talismans inside its cylinder spun, quickly picking up speed as the gun drew power into itself from the engine, humming louder and louder. With the raider in my sights, the Aeternus let out repeating blasts of pink magical bolts, it firing as fast as my Outlaw, and flying around the raider as I quickly centered it onto them.

It didn't take many hits for a burning chunk to be taken out of the raider, and soon after another bolt turned them to ash. "There, the fuckers dead!" I shouted as I pushed myself back.

But Rook then shoved me forward. "The fuck I care, get the fuck moving, NOW!"

Slowtrot put a hoof to pettel, and we kicked up dust as we sped past the trailer.

"Got the trailer marked on the map." Harp said.

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Tato Town slowly appeared over the horizon as we sped across relatively flat and uncluttered ground, though now and then a bump threatened to throw me and Cavall off the Smuggler. I made a mental note to at some point add some safety thing to the gunner nest.

"Alright, turn behind that big rock that's coming up." Pyrope told Slowtrot.

"Why not just drive in with the Aeternus blasting?" I asked.

"Because we ain't saving my son if we're dead!" Rook grumbled at me. "Tato Town is well fortified, and was well armed even before it fell into raderdom. Likely, they got snipers and some other tricks to use."

As we rolled to a stop, Rook jumped off and reloaded her rifle, then loaded bullets to her empty magazine.

Pyrope had also jumped out, rushing to an outcrop of smaller bolder and pulling out binoculars to see through.

"So, are we wasting our time or not?" I asked as I jumped out of the gunner nest.

"Star, let me deal with this." Harp said as she joined me. "What's waiting for us over there?"

Pyrope quickly ducked as a bullet wizzed over his head. "Well, they clearly saw us coming. I mean, it's hard to miss with all the dust that we kicked up." He said with a coy smile. "As for what I saw, it's a bit odd actually. There were three snipers watching, and I'm sure I saw a few more ears poking up. I get preparing for an attack, but no way would they think we'd be this fast at catching up to them."

Concerned crossed Harp's face, then she eyed Rook. "Maybe they thought she'd be fast enough?"

Racking her rifle, Rook then pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Maybe, maybe not. I aint no hero, but it would be smart of them to throw all they got to kill me." She took a deep breath, burning half the cigarette before letting out a cloud of smoke. "But smart and raider tends to not go hoof and hoof. Smart ponies tend to not go raider, not without a lot of chems involved. "

"From what we've dealt with, I have to agree." Harp said with a nod.

"Same here." Pyrope joined in. "Also, the timing was too good. My guess, they must got some boss whose brains are not rotten from chems yet."

Rook then let out a sigh. "Good, good, then we have time."

"Time, weren't you the one in a rush?" I nearly shouted.

"Oh shut your trap ya bitch!" She growled at me. "If the raiders have a boss, and this is a trap, then they ain't going to hurt Fort just yet. He's a smart colt, so he'll know not to irritate a raider when held hostage, I made sure he knew that."

"But how are we going to get in there if the raiders are watching us?" Harp then asked, but then looked as though she had a plan as Slowtrot joined us.

He looked at us with worry on his face, and asked. "Ummm, so what's the plan?"

Harp then looked back at Rook, "so, you think they're smart enough to not fall for a distraction?"

The older mare shook her head.

"Good, then I have a plan." Harp said as she trotted up to Slowtrot. "We're going to need you to draw the attention of the raiders away from here."

He looked back at the smuggler and nodded. "Ya, I can do that, but I doubt they will not follow the Smuggler without incentive."

"Agree, and that's where Star comes in." She the eyed me, ant said, "you'll mount the Aeternus, and use it to keep their eyes on you."

That I didn't agree with. "No fucking way am I leaving you with lover-colt bandit and miss murder mare! Either we both go in, or you don't"

"This is not the time to argue with me!" Harp sternly told me, staring me down.

I met her gaze with the same intensity. "Well I ain't budging!"

Pyrope then cleared his throat, getting the glare from both of us. "How about I take the gun. Truthfully I've been wanting to use it since I first saw it. Anyways, my help is not needed once your in, but outside I do know a few spots to hit to make em real ornery."

"Enough to draw them away?" Harp asked.

He smiled. "Sure as shit I can. Just need to get close enough to do the damage, and a lot of em will be rushing out to get revenge."

Harp took a moment to think about it, then nodded. "Alright, do it."

Pyrope tipped his hat at Harp with a sly smile. "But before I go, If you're going to sneak in, I suggest going in from the west. There's a big old drainage ditch that goes under the rocks. It's blocked off by a gate, but I made a copy of the key and hid it in the old dead lamp."

"Thanks, once were out, Star and I can contact you through Slowtrot." She informed the bandit.

Slowtrot tapped the radio converted pipbuck 2000. "And let us know if your in danger, and we'll come rushing in."

A sigh came from Harp, it was a mix of sorrow and trust. "Let's hope that's we'll not need to."

Harp shimmered with magic as she gave the smuggler an extra powerboost. Causing both its engine and its gun to reave to life with a fierce hum. Backing away, we then watched as Pyrope waved at us as the smuggler kicked up dirt and drove out into the open, blasting pink bolts of magic at the raider base.

"So, how long can the smuggler keep that up?" I asked, knowing that its power wasn't infinite.

"An hour, maybe two if they're careful with their shots. Slowtrot knows the smugglers limits, so don't worry." Harp answered.

"Didn't say I was." I grumbled. "Let's just get going."

Turning to get ready to trot out, Rook then put her gun in my way.

"Oy, move that thing!" I growled out.

The older mare glared at me with tired eyes. "If your so desperate to get fucked by raiders, then fine by me, but I don't have that fetish. So I suggest you just wait a few minutes for our opportunity to come."

After a long moment an explosion then went off in the direction of Tato Town, and Rook pulled her rifle back. "Now's the time."

I grabbed Harp, knowing that the small mare wasn't going to be able to keep up, and bolted after Rook, with Order buzzing behind us.

Making it to the west side unseen, we saw the drainage ditch. The thing wasn't hard to miss with all the greenery around it and glowing mushrooms. Not stopping we slid down into it, our hooves landing in muddy water, which caused my pipbuck to slowly tick with the warning of radiation. Rushing up, we found the gateway, and the old dead lamp next to it.

Rook didn't even waste time opening it, and ripped the lamp from the wall, shaking out the key. But as the older mare attempted to use the key, she began shaking uncontrollably, unable to steady herself long enough to get the key into the lock.

Harp jumped off my back, making a small splash as she took the key with her pipbuck's levitation spell. With a quick motion she had the gate open, and then turned to Rook with sympathy. "Will you be alright?"

Still shaking, Rook managed to pull out a flask and drink its contents. As quickly as it began, the shaking stopped. "Ya, it's nothing new."

"Really? You're a mess! How can we be sure you won't suddenly pass out on us or something?" I quietly chasized the alcoholic.

"Not the time, Star!" Harp hissed at me.

"Listen here, miss, stick up her asshole." Rook said to me with a quiet and stern voice. "I got my own problems, as you can tell, and your bitching ain't helping. If you really want to fight me, then do it after my son is safe again, or Luna help you for what I'll do to you."

Staring her down, I slowly swallowed my feelings. "Right… I'm sorry."

Rook let out an irradiated huff. "Good!"

As carefully and quietly as we could, the three of us entered Tato Town, an explosion in the distance letting us know that the stallions were still keeping the raiders occupied. Tato Town was almost what I had expected to see, a collection of rundown shacks decorated in vulgar graffiti, along with the parts of animals and some ponies nailed to the walls. There were also tato plants all over, but most were either dead or barely hanging onto life.

What was out of the norm was all the blue. Hanging off the shacks, the tato plants, and bursting out of the ground were thorny blue vines, in which blue flowers sprouted. It didn't take a smart pony to know what the fuck all this was, this place was infested with killing joke!

"Shit!" Rook said and spat on the ground. "It's a fucking cruel joke plantation, no wonder all the ponies here went insane!"

"Wait, that sounds familiar." Harp said as she tried to get a closer look. "Is it related to the chem, cruel tea?"

Rook pulled my friend back, keeping her away from the bramble of blue vines. "Yes, the flowers are used to make that shit. Make the pony who drinks it think they're smart, all while making them dumber than fuck. Now let's get moving, and avoid that blue bramble. I doubt it's as bad as killing joke, but I would rather not find out."

We moved on, keeping low to avoid attention, and giving any bundle of vines a wide berth. But as we moved, I couldn't help but feel watched, even if my pipbuck hadn't detected any eyes on me. Looking around, I didn't see anything, though it almost looked like the vines had moved, as though reaching out for us.

Fortunately, the town part of Tato Town wasn't all that big, and we could see the way out, and into the tato fields. Unfortunately, a raider stood in the way, the bastard holding a pipe SMG, which if fired, would warn everpony of us.

"I got this," I told the other two as I drew my cutlass and crept forward. Looking around, I saw that the cost was clear and dashed at the raider.

The raider didn't stand a chance, not even seeing my strake coming. Despite the armor around his neck, the cosmic cutlass cut through metal, leather, meat and bone as though all of it was just paper. The stallion's head slid off its body with a quiet thud, the body still standing for several seconds before simply crumbling down.

Rook then trotted past me, not even sparing me a glance. Harp on the other hoof gave me a small smile and a nod as she trotted by.

Following them, something tingled along the back of my spine, as though I was still being watched by something. Feeling compelled, I took a glance back, and swallowed nervously. The cruel joke vines were now covering the corps and dipping into the pool of blood around the body. It was as though they had burst out of the corps, with some of the vines having grown out of the raiders severed head and stretched in our direction.

"That's not a good sign." Harp said quietly as she watched the same scene as I.

Giving her a nod of agreement, I then suggested, "we probably should burn this place down later. Pony eating plants is just… wrong."

We quickly trotted off to catch up with Rook, finding the older mare drinking from her flask again, keeping low from behind an old barrel filled with rotting tato fruits.

Extending before us was a field of dry dirt and rows upon rows of burnt black dead tato plants. Mounds of dirt could be seen all over as raiders dug trenches, though no reason why could be seen. And dotting this smaller wasteland were pockets of cruel joke, in which I could make out bodies within the bramble bushes.

Following Rook's stare, I saw what she was looking at. There he was, Fort, suspended in a cage over a bramble bush of cruel joke. It really reminded me of some comic book kind of shit. But as corny the setup was, there wasn't a way to get to Fort without going through those vines. The only good thing was that the cage was suspended crudely by ropes in a way that the vines couldn't get to him, though they were halfway there already, so it was only a matter of time.

Harp turned to her pipbuck, tapping at buttons and scrolling the screen. "I have an idea, but we're only going to have one shot at it."

"Tell me." Rook demanded.

Pulling a bottle of the whiskey from her saddlebag, she uncorked it and shoved a rag halfway inside. "Had a feeling that a firebomb might come in handy. Right, so here's the plan. One of you will use the firebomb to clear the vines as Order cuts one of the ropes to bring Fort closer to us. When he jumps for it, we catch him and then we run the fuck away.

Rook looked at Harp skeptically. "That simple?"

"That or talk it out for the next few hours. Maybe the raiders have some tragic backstory they'll share with us." I said sarcastically.

"Point taken." Rook huffed at me.

Harp looked a bit guilty as she glanced over at Fort. "I'm sorry. If we had more time, I know I could come up with a better plan, but-"

Rook cut Harp off by saying, "It's fine." Then looked over at her son. "We rarely get enough time to think things out, and when we do, we overthink everything." She then pulled up her rifle. "That said, it's now or never, some of the raiders are coming back."

We saw two armored earth ponies come charging to the cage, along with a blue roadbed pegasus.

Pulling out my spyglass, I got a better look at the pegasus, and I didn't like what I was seeing. The robe was more just badly dyed rags, sewn together with vines and decorated with the cruel joke flowers. Wrapped around her head and legs were more cruel joke vines, thorns and all digging into her, witn dry blood stained her fur. Even stranger was that on one leg was a rather rusty looking pipbuck?

"Is it bad that the pegasus has a pipbuck?" I asked.

Harp pulled out her bolt launcher. "Is her knowing that hostiles are nearby bad to you?"

I readied my Outlaw, pulling back the charger and took aim. "Well if she doesn't know yet, she will know very soon!"

_________________________________________________

Chapter 8, Tato Town (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 08

Tato Town (Part 2)

_________________________________________________

Rook jumped out, letting her automatic rifle loose on the raiders. One of them not even having the time to respond as he was given several new holds. Her .308 rounds treated the raiders armor as though it was made out of thin cheap tin. The other raiders on the ground dove into one of the trenches as the Pegasus flew up into the sky and used the sun to keep us from targeting her.

"You arrived sooner than expected!" The Pegasus's voice boomed with an accent similar to that of a pony from Prance, if I had to guess. "The mistress of thorns told me you were not one to underestimate, and right she is. But you'll be a sacrifice all the same, now that you have come into our cradle."

Rook growled with hate, barking back at the mad mare covered in thorns, "you're all dead, I'll see to that."

A chuckle came from what was clearly the raider leader, "fine by me, but first the colt must be baptized by the thorns. You can join him too, if you're willing so."

She whistled loudly, and several shots rang out over our heads, followed by one of the ropes holding Fort up snapping.

Rook burst out to her son, kicking up dust as each hoofstep dug into the earth with great force. I chased after her, pulling what strength I could to catch up.

"I'll grab Belfry, you keep the raiders off our back!" I told her, getting just a nod.

Another Pegasus flew overhead firing wildly with two SMGs on a battle saddle from above. But from under her duster, Rook pulled out a revolver with her muzzle, and fired several shots.

I had to then dogged as the Pegasus raider crashed in front of me, their body flailing about in a spray of blood.

Reaching the bramble under the cage, I slid a stop just in time as a vine whipped out at me, just missing my face by half a hoof. Looking up, I saw a rather worried Fort, his eyes focused on just his mother.

The second rope then snapped and the cage came crashing down. But the colt remained safe as his horn glowed with a blue aura that wrapped around him, and levitated him just enough to not hit the ground with any force. Unfortunately he was still in the middle of the bramble, with no way out.

Looking back at Rook, I gave her a nod as she let out a burst of fire at the raiders.

With a deep breath, I backed up and then charged forward, jumping into the thorny bramble of cruel joke. It was like claws digging into my legs and barrel, the only protection being the thick leather of my Desperado vest. Both as an act of revenge and to push forward, I cut through the cruel joke with my cutlass, making my way to Belfry.

"Jmmph hhhnn" i said with my sword still in my mouth.

Lowering my head, he got the message and jumped on me. One vine lashed out at him but failed to break through his magical aura. "W…. Will you be fine, miss?" He then asked.

I quickly turned around, slashing at more vines that had moved in my way. "Nph nww." I tried to say as I pushed out.

"Oh no you don't!" Shrieked the raider boss as she dove at us. But then was hit with the firebomb, engulfing her in flames. The mad mare crashed behind us, causing the bramble to catch fire as she screamed.

Jumping out of the cruel joke, we were met by Rook, who still had a lighter in her mouth.

"Thanks for the save." I told her.

She put the lighter away as Fort jumped off and embraced her. "Just saving my boy, you just happen to be with him." She then eyed my legs. "You'll be okay?"

I looked at myself, but surprisingly found little blood. But the back end of my leotard was all cut up, which I had to admit looked a bit sexy, but no damage to myself. "Ehh, I heal fast."

But Rook glared at me, "that's not what I mean."

"I know that, but I'll deal with whatever comes, let's just get going." I told her.

But Harp came running, half out of breath as she dove into our ditch. "We… we got a problem."

"Raider reinforcements?" Rook asked.

Harp shook her head. "No, well, that too. But the vines, they've blocked our way out."

I looked over and saw the town part of Tato Town utterly covered in cruel joke. Not just hanging off the roof and sides, but blanketing the ground. There was no way we could get through without all of us getting tangled in it.

My stomach then grumbled as my mouth watered.

"S… Star, your eyes." Harp said.

Blinking, everything went red for a moment, and upon wiping them, blood stained my fetlock. "Oh… that's not good." I said to myself as I felt myself grow more hungry.

Harp quickly turned her map on for her pipbuck, panic crossing her face. "A way out, there must be a way out."

A few more shots came from Rook's automatic rifle and then a click. She patted herself down and then let out a groan. "Out of rounds here."

I took over, firing at the group of raiders, and keeping them down.

Order let out several beeps, getting our attention. "Lady Harp, I have learned of a place we can take shelter from that raider's pipbuck. Please follow me!"

"Thanks, let's go!" Harp said as she and the others got up. "Star! Let's go!"

"I'll be right behind you!" I shouted. "But you'll need somepony to keep their heads down first!"

She sighed. "Alright, but you better be quick about it."

As more raiders popped their heads up, I let out another long burst of lead at them, forcing them back down in their trench. "Ya, so get going!"

They ran off, following the drone as I again laid down suppressing fire. But each time I finished shooting, there were more heads peeking out, and all of them too far away to get a clean shot at them. The raiders that had run after Slowtrot and Pyrope were clearly returning, and as soon as I ran out of ammo, I'll get overwhelmed.

*Click*

The Outlaw went, and pressing the mag release I attempted to quickly change to a stick but fumbled. The damn older mag system was never easy to use!

*Click*

With a fresh mag in, I racked the barrel just as a raider jumped in at me with a crude spear. One of his eyes were missing, in which I could see a blue thorny vine poke out of

It slashed my flank as I dogged and kicked him, the raider wobbling and giving me time to draw my pistol. The Nightstalker's Regarded unloaded everything within over a second, peppering the raider with magickly poisoned bullets. Even if the raider survived the gunshots, they were still going to die.

Holstered my snake patterned pistol, I aimed Outlaw just in time to spray at two more raiders as they fired back at me. Several of their shots grazed me, hitting nothing vital, but the two of them were not so lucky and my own ventilated them.

"Okay, time to go!" I said to myself as I holstered my SMG and ran after my friends.

More bullets whizzed overhead and slammed into the ground around me, as I followed a blue dot on my Eyes Forward Sparkle, all while more and more red dots appeared.

"Where are you going?" Screeched the half burnt cult leader as she slammed into me.

I tasted dirt, but quickly recovered and blocked a kick from the crazy bitch. But then a vine wrapped around my leg, digging into me with its thorns. I had at first though she made a whip with the vines, until I saw that it actually grew out of her skin.

The blood dripping out of her flesh was making my mouth water.

"By the Goddess, the fuck is wrong with you?" I sneered as I ripped my leg away, leaving several long scratches down it. As more of my blood dripped, and the pain that came with it, I then realized that using my pipbuck leg for defense might have been better.

The cruel joke vines that wrapped around her head then quivered, causing some more blood to leak. She then laughed. "I've been chosen, and this is my ascension. Through me all will become one with the mistress of thorns."

Backing up, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. "And here I thought my religion was mad."

A crazed look formed on the raider boss's face, and she smiled wide, showing her many rotting or missing teeth. "And you too will know of her blessing. All too soon!"

Ya, I wasn't having it, and drew my cutlass and charged. More vines wiped out and I ignored them as I cut through the mare, taking her head off.

Sheathing my blade, I looked back at her, only to see her look at me, her head completely backwards and held together by vines. The blood had quickly stopped, and thorned vines snaked their way through her arteries as they slowly put the head back on straight.

"As I said- wait! Get back here!" She shrieked as I just ran for it, not wanting to deal with this bitch until I had bigger guns, or a lot of fire.

I then saw Harps head pop up from another ditch near a bunch of dead tato plants. Where she pulled up her bolt launcher, and for a split second her eyes went blank. the next thing I knew, she then let out three shots in a quick and calm manner, in which the crazy Pegasus bitch let out a scream and hit the ground.

Jumping into the ditch, Harp ran to what looked like some bunker ditch, and quickly climbed down with me close behind her. Descending into a dark hole, the light from Order was little comfort as he hovered between a blast door in which several bodies laid about. None of the dead looked as though they had been here for very long.

Rushing through the blast doors, Rook pulled a lever once all of us were in, and the doors slammed shut. Harp did her magic at a panel near the door, making it spark and ensuring it stayed closed.

"So… now what?" I asked as I wiped more blood from my eyes, but only managed to smear the blood from my leg to my face.

"We plan." Harp huffed and puffed. Then she looked at me with concern, "and get you help. How are you feeling?"

Now that the fighting was over, and I could catch my breath, I realized how shit I felt. "Don't know. I'm hungry, my head hurts, and who knows how much blood I lost."

Harp passed me a healing potion, and I guzzled it down. "Better?" she asked.

My cuts healed, but I still felt like shit. And was still hungry. "Maybe."

Taking off my saddlebag, I pulled out a lone carrot I swiped from PC's farm, and chomped into it. But it wasn't enough, and as I looked down on it, the blood from my eyes dripped onto the carrot.

"Star?" Harp said with a concerned voice.

I bit into the now blood dripped carrot, the taste of it so much better than anything I had had before.

"The fuck is wrong with her?" Rook asked as she kept her son behind her.

"I'm… not sure. Maybe the cruel joke curse is stimulating her evil eye." She suggested.

I could hear Rook shift her stance, preparing to draw her revolver. "So one magical brahminshit is fucking with some other magical brahminshit."

"Essentially." Harp replied as she trotted to me, avoiding making eye contact. "Will you be okay?"

Again I wiped my eyes, trying to get the red out, but it wouldn't go away. Everything was tinted red and blurry, even Harp. "I… I don't know." I stammered out. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"I'm sorry, it's all back in the Smuggler." She told me before turning to her pipbuck. "Slowtrot, you there? We're in a bit of a situation."

Her pipbuck radio crackled, and Slowtrot's voice came through. "We're here. How bad is the situation?"

Before Harp could respond, a loud bang came from the blast door, but it held firm.

"Fortunately we're safe, but we're trapped in some kind of bunker. Fighting our way out isn't the best option since were low on ammo, and we got cruel joke vines everywhere on the surface. Oh and Star got cut by those vines and it's causing her evil eye to go crazy." She told him.

There was a long pause before he replied. "You mean the plant cruel tea is made from?"

"Yes, so we're probably going to need you two to draw them away again. But not just yet, were going to need you to make some fire bombs first, this place needs to burn." She told him.

"And what about Star, will she be okay?" Slowtrot asked.

My teeth then clattered as my mouth watered and stomach grumbled.

This seemed to disturb Harp "I don't know, but she's getting worse."

"I'll see if I have a cure on my pipbuck, and Pyrope will get the firebombs ready. So hold on tight!" Slowtrot said before the static returned.

With a sigh, Harp returned her full attention to me, doing her best to not look me in the eyes. "Let's find you somewhere to rest, okay."

I nodded as I stood back up, but then lost the strength in my legs. My head was feeling like a hammer had hit it, and everything was looking weird. All red and… wrong.

"Star! STAR!" A little filly called out to me. She was clean, and not red tinted at all. Just a little pail blue filly in a dark blue dress. Her main was like gold, parted by two horns, and her hooves cloven. "Come play with us, Star!"

There were more of her, all the same, even the dresses. They stood around some large marble and gold room, which had shining brass pipes on the ceiling, going all over the place. There was even a window, in which the most beautiful fish swam by, some big, like really big!

The filly in front of me smiled. "Let's play tag!" She then ran off and I chased her.

My hooves slid around as I found them small again, taking a moment to get used to them again. But once I did I got to running, and ran I did! The filly tried to get away, but I was fast, and strong. It didn't take long to tag her, and when I did, the filly layed down giggling as she said, "You got me! You got me!"

The other fillies join us, giggling with excitement as they bounced past me and to a a sleeping pony, gathering around it. Then they began to sing "In these orchards we are tendin’. Many changes will be flowin’. If you want to be awesome. See the fruits we are raisin!”

Joining then in their song, I watched as one by one the fillies then bit the pony ever so gently. Drawing out a red fluid that made my mouth water.

"Sleeping angles!" The first filly said to me, "Sleeping angles are sleeping because they have too much ambrosia, they need help, so help them."

Looking at the sleeping pony… no it was a radiant angel, and in her was red ambrosia that needed to be drained. My mouth opened, and as though it was the most natural thing in the world, I bit into the pony to drain its ambrosia.

The sweetest thing ever hit my tongue, but before I could fully taste it, before I could truly savor the ambrosia, something grabbed me and threw me back.

All the colors dried, and the red tint returned. Between me and the angle I needed to help was an ugly monster, it's face distorted and unreal. It spoke, but all of it made no sense, just grunts and howls.

So I locked eyes with it, looking into its unpony eyes. I pushed what I could into it, all the fun and play. The intoxicating red ambrosia, the sweetness of it, and how golden the world truly is.

But the monster took a step forward, resistant to the joy. It was a dark thing, an evil thing that felt no joy.

It charged at me and I jumped out of the way, yet I still got hit? So I charged at it myself, and I was on it, ready to take a bite out of it. But I found myself thrown through the air, and hitting the ground hard. It barreled over me, threatening to crush my body, but I rolled and jumped back at it.

My hooves finally connected, again and again I hit it, unrelenting in my assault. But it didn't flinch, and soon grabbed me, turning me around as it wrapping its hooves around my neck and held me.

Strangely, the angel was here, no longer asleep, it was holding… something. That something was then forced into my mouth as my nose was covered. I chews on it, the glass, biting it, grinding it in my teeth. Whatever was in it tasted good, so good. It made me feel good.

And tired.

I was feeling better, but drained.

The monster also tightened its hold, making it hard to breath, which made me cold.

I again wiped the blood from my eyes. The beautiful world became nothing more than a rotting tunnel of pipes and leaking water. Sitting before me was that filly again, yet now she was older, dirty, thin, and her two horns were bone white. She opened her mouth revealing two longer than normal fangs, and blood dripping from them.

"Come find us sister! And feast upon the sleeping angles. Come find your home in Desponies."

Everything then went black, enwrapping me in darkness.

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I couldn't move as something enwrapped me tightly. Yet I was warm, and comfortable. I wanted to stay like this forever.

"Hello." A deep, yet gentle voice quietly called to me. "By the Goddesses, she's adorable. What's her name?"

"Haven't given her one." It was her voice, mothers voice.

The stallion let out an annoyed huff. "Damnit Setting Sun, she's three years old and you haven't named her yet!"

"Say's the famous navigator who then left right after fucking me raw! We had a deal, Dead Reckoning! And you haven't yet upheld your end of it! Until then, I'm only responsible for the bare minimum." Sun chastised the stallion.

"You're definitely Flintlock's bastard alright, right down to the heartlessness towards your own daughter." Reckoning grumbled.

But Sun let out that chuckle she always did when acting like she's superior to everypony else. "I take that as a compliment, after all, I did inherit the genes of my father, so having the same personality as my mother, the admiral, truly makes me the superior pony. But it's a shame she didn't, but I blame you for that, she dose looks just like you, but has no signs of being a kelpie. Just a loathsome earth pony just like you. I guess fate must have decided that she'll be just another whore just like your mother."

Reckoning growled at the mare, and then a loud smack and crash followed. "You're one to speak! Selling yourself off to every captain and official that makes port. I know your just hoping that you can find some weak-willed sailor to latch yourself onto like a barnacle. Actually, that's the only bicorn thing truly real about you, that tendency to be some blood drinking bitch."

I then felt something lift me up. It was strong, yet gentle, and so very warm. "I'm going to spend some time with my daughter. You can go and choke on a dick for all I care." Reckoning said sternly.

I was carried away, where for the first time I could truly feel and smell the cold salty air. The sounds of ponies were all around me, and the rhythmic clattering of chains was like music.

My eyes then open and illuminated by a full moon was a blue stallion with a long, almost seaweed-like green mane. He had a beard much like his mane, and both were decorated with gold rings. Dead Reconning looked down at me and smiled, showing off two rows of slightly yellowed teeth, which some had been replaced with gold.

"Hey there." He said softly.

I rubbed my eyes, looking at the stallion. "Who… are you?"

"I'm your daddy." he said to me.

"Which one?" I then asked.

He rolled his eyes. "The real one. Your real daddy." He gently put me down and wrapped his mane around his hoof. "See, we have the same mane and coat."

I did the same, though my mane was still a bit thin and short, but it did match. A smile formed on my face as I looked at the stallion, matching his own.

"So… so, are you here to take me away? Mama says you would come to take me away." I asked, feeling nervous and a bit scared.

He looked off over the waters. It was a vast unending ocean, and all I knew of this world. "I plan to. Though your mother will have to come too. But not just yet, there's things I must do first. I… unfortunately can't stay long, but I'll be back, and you won't have to live in a shipping container."

"But I like my home!" I said, not liking the idea of moving.

He then pointed over at a ship floating next to the Blackwater, it was big and covered in the whirly flying metal birds. "See that there, it's the Queen of Knives. I'll be its captain once I do one more job for admiral Flintlock Hoof."

My eyes opened with excitement. "Ya mean thee Flintlock Hoof. The mare who stole her own ship!"

Dead Reckoning nodded. "The very same. The Queen of Knives is one of her prized ships. And she's giving it to anypony that can locate the Leviathan."

My eyes open even wider with excitement. "The Levithan! Roseland's ship! That's amazing!"

"And I'm sure I know exactly where it is. I can feel it in my cutie-mark. Once I return with its location, you, me, and your mother will live together on that ship."

Looking at the Queen of Knives, I couldn't even imagine what life on it would be like. Maybe the room would be two crates big. That sounded awesome!

"Master navigator!" A pony called out, dressed in the uniform of the Blackwater guard. "Captain Blackpowder Blast wishes to see you."

"Is it about those three fillies I found! She better have not done anything with them?" My father said, squeezing me a bit tightly that it made me worried.

The guard waved his hoof dismissively. "You worry too much, master navigator. They're just fillies, and cute ones at that."

"They're also the only survivors to a ship in which all but the captain was missing. And the captain was dead and tied to the wheel." Dead Reckoning said with a stern voice. "Just tell Captain Blackpowder to leave them in the brig and wait for a bishop to show up and take them."

Now the guard looked nervous. "Well… about that. The captain has taken a liking to one of them, the blue one with the gold mane. I mean, she does have a striking resemblance to prophet Roseland after all."

A frustrated groan came from my father as he smacked himself in the face with his hoof. "By the Goddesses, if I had the authority, I'd stab Blackpowder with her own damn sword. Just tell her I'll be there shortly."

The guard saluted and then hurried off.

Witha sigh, Dead Reckoning turned his attention back to me and kneeled down. "Sorry, but I have to go. But once I'm back, we can spend all the time in the world together."

"Already?" I asked dejectedly.

"Sorry, but I don't have the authority to tell a captain no. So, let's get you back home, but before that." He then pulled out a large brass ring from his pocket, it glinted in the light of the sunrise, revealing a lens in the center. "I'll give you this, a magical reading lens. It's a family heirloom I stole from my father. You can use it to read secret messages and track ponies' hoofsteps."

Before I could take the lens he pulled it back. "But I think I should give you your name."

"My… name?" I asked, not understanding.

Dead Reckoning smiled as he said, "yes your name." He said as he looked at me, and then the lens. "Ya, this name will do, and if you become anything like me, this name will fit you perfectly." He then hugged me, and it felt so warm. "Your name will be Star Charter. May you always look up and find your way."

Tears began to well up in my eyes. I now had a father and a name. Two things I didn't know I ever needed or wanted before, but now have become so important to me.

…

…

…

But my father would never return, and he and his name would fade from my memory.

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Chapter 9, A Cruel Joke (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 09

A Cruel Joke (Part 1)

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I felt stiff, real stiff, with almost every muscle in my body having a dull pain. The last time I felt like this was when Waterspout punished me for starting a fight in the tavern. That cursed dancer's dress had me bending in every way possible, all within the rhythm of the music.

I could have chosen the easy way out, and let the stallion I knocked around and his friends fuck me, but I had promised mom that I wouldn't whore myself out. Prism didn't want me to make the same mistake as she had, chasing after easy money and destroying myself because of it.

Though stiff, I found the strength to curl up into a fetal position, trying my best to not cry. But I missed Prism so much, I wanted her to be here, I wanted to hug her again, have her hug me. I wanted to be a family again, along with our Bridget.

But she was gone, and it was my fault!

*Click*

It was the sound of a hammer being cocked, the kind or sound only a heavy revolver could make. "I take it your sane again?" Rook asked me.

Opening my eyes, the world was no longer red, but its normal dark and gray.

"I doubt I've been sane for a long time." I muttered out.

Rook sighed and relaxed, but kept her revolver ready where she could easily grab it. "You and me both. Now if you plan to get up, please do me a favor and get up slowly. I'm sure you understand, but cannibals can rarely be trusted."

"I'm not a cannibal!" I growled at her.

She looked me dead in the eyes, "Sure as fuck foold me when you bit a chuck out ofb our friend!"

"Harp!" I whimpered out as I sat up, all while Rook didn't move, just kept herself at the ready. "Is she okay? Oh by the Goddess, what did I do?"

"You got cursed by an evil plant." Said Harp as she limped into the room. One of her legs was heavily bandaged, and she had a black eye. "But it's okay now."

I moved to get up, but Rook then drew her magnum revolver on me.

"It's fine, put the gun down." Harp told Rook with a tone of authority.

Rook did just that, but kept the revolver's hammer cocked.

Getting off what happened to be an old moldy medical bed, I found it hard to even stand. "Are… are you okay?"

She lifted up her bandaged leg, shaking it a little and wincing in pain. "Let's just say that you're a very dangerous mare. But I've had wore, remember." Harp then pulled out a tato from her bag and passed it to me.

The memory of Harp being all shot up flashed in my mind as I took the nasty fruit and bit into it. If Slowtrot hadn't returned from where ever he vanished to, she'd have died,

"Thanks, and… sorry." I apologized.

"Your not at fault, Star." Harp tried to comfort me, but I knew it was a lie.

Shaking my head, I told her. "No, I am at fault! I should have been in control, I should have done better. I… I…" tears welled up from in me, and that's when she gave me a hug.

"Star, it's okay, I don't blame you, so stop blaming yourself." Harp told ,e as she held onto me.

I held my friend tightly, as though I was scared she would leave me too.

A sharp and annoying whistle then came from Rook. "Not to be rude… naw, I want to be rude. But can you give her that damn cure, it's freeking me the fuck out."

I let go of Harp, feeling confused. "What do you mean?" I asked.

But Harp held onto me. "Nothing, it's nothing. The cruel joke just made you look like somepony else, that's all." She told me nervously. "I don't know who, but it's not going to matter once we get you that cure."

Weird?

I did a quick body check, and both to my relief and disappointment, I was still a mare and a pony. Though I would have loved to try out being a stallion for a day. But something the manes color bothered me, a deep scarlet that felt all too familiar. I stopped myself from checking more of me, feeling that I was not going to like what I found.

"Let's… get that cure." I said, my voice quivering a bit.

Another click then came from Rook as she put the hammer gently down, and holstered her revolver. "Are you sure she's okay?" The older mare asked.

Sounding annoyed, Harp then answered. "No, I'm not sure, but almost nopony here can be considered okay."

Rook shrugged. "Fine, but if she starts going crazy cannibal again, I aint taking no risks, and putting a bullet in her head."

"If I do go crazy again, I want you to put a bullet in my head." I told her.

"Enough talking about that." Harp said with a huff. "Let's trot and talk."

With Harp taking the lead, Rook and I followed, passing by another corps along the way.

"So… I'm guessing you found out the story of this place then?" I asked.

Harp nodded. "Unfortunately yes, and you're not going to like it."

"Well I'm sure as shit they were growing that damn plant down here, so what can be worse than that?" I added.

"Well, this turns out to be where Blue Skies was getting their cruel tea." Harp explained, and ya, I didn't like that at all. Though Blue Skies and their leader, Quicktrot, was more Harp and Slowtrot's problem then mine. "And the main ingredient for growing the vines and getting them to flower are dead bodies."

"Which means Golden Harvest was what? Killing ponies to feed the plants?" I tryed to guess, but was unsure of my answer.

"Maybe," Harp said. "If anything, Blue Skies knows how to cover their assed. So there was nothing that connected the two. As far as I could tell, Blue Skies was here first, and Golden Harvest just happened to set up shop above them.

"Which is a load of brahminshit." Rook added.

"I agree, but the point still stands." Harp said dejectedly. "At least once this place burns a second time, Blue Skies will lose one of their sources for chems. Though I doubt this was the only one." Her face then scrunched up in disgust. "Just thinking about it pisses me off. Somewhere, out there, she's growing punga plants to make chill. Not caring how that plant could doom Equestria if it got out."

"A what now?" Rook asked.

"It's a fruit bearing plant that produces a toxic pollen, and has a psychoactive sap that can be made into a chem called chill." Harp answered, letting out a depressing sigh. "That plant is partly why you can't go to the surface of the Marewaii Islands without a gas mask on."

"I… see." Rook said.

We finally made it to the medical room, though it was just as rusted and run down as everywhere else. But at least here the equipment was actually somewhat in okay condition. In the room was Fort playing a game of chess with Order.

The colt took a look at me and became quite nervous. But as he got up, he straightened himself out and trotted over. "Th… thank you miss Star Charter. For coming to my aid and helping my mother."

As he looked at me, I could see him blushing a little. He was fourteen years old, so I couldn't blame him for finding whoever I looked like as attractive.

"It's nothing. Truthfully, I've been a right bitch for a while, so I can't help but feel this is partly my fault." I told him as I trotted further into the room. "So where's this cure? I want to look like myself again… shit!"

There was a tall mirror, and in it I saw myself looking back at me. But my mane was a scarlet red, my coat a dark sea blue, and the face, it was my face, but I also had two nub like horns.

"Star? Star, are you okay? What's wrong, Star?" Harp said as she looked at the mirror, then at me before sighing. "Who is she, Star?"

I snarled at my reflection, yes it was mine, but it was also hers. How could it not be? "It's… my mother."

"Prism?" Harp said in confusion, but quickly realized. "Oh, I see… Let me get that cure for you."

I nodded, then trotted closer to the mirror, getting a better look at the bitch that birthed me. "Hello, Setting Sun." I said coldly as I studied my reflection. I couldn't really tell if it was her face, or mine in her colors, but I knew I hated it. "Would you have loved me if I looked like this, or would you just treated me like a burden all the same. Would you have at least given me a name, or taken me with you when you disappeared?"

"I'm guessing she's why you have such a stick up your ass about me?" Rook asked as she throttled up behind me.

The bigger war like mare couldn't be any more different from the thin and curvy mare that I currently looked like. Actually, if I had looked like this, I was sure I'd have been the most popular mare at the Ruffled Feathers. Which wouldn't be surprising, since mother was a very popular whore.

"Ya, she was a self entitled whore, and I was just her failed attempt to raise her standing in the… the fleets." I began to explain but started to choke up.

"So what did the bitch do?" Rook further asked.

I took a moment to collect myself. Between hurting Harp, and literally becoming my mother, I was starting having trouble just keeping my thoughts straight. And there she was, looking at me, mocking me.

It was like a flood as I remembered everything I tried to forget. Her insults, her beatings, and her neglect. I couldn't take it and thrused my hoof at the mirror, shattering it.

"Nothing, she did fuck all for me, then fucked off without me!" I shouted out. "I… I don't know why I still care after all these years. And after I was able to forget about her. But look at me, I'm just like her. Now both inside and out."

"Ya, join the club." Rook said dismissively, and I shot her a dirty look. "Hay now, with eyes like that, I might consider sleeping with mares again. Anyway, before I go on some long speal about my past, I already know about your deal with Lean Year."

"I told her." Harp said, as she levitated a glass vile to me. "It's the right thing to do, and I had a feeling there's more going on."

Taking the glass, I let out a sigh. "I… I guess your right. And whats this, a potion?"

"A cure for poison joke." Slowtrot's voice came through Harps pipbuck. "It happens to work on killing joke, so it should work on cruel joke."

Not wasting time, I downed the drink. "I hope so, the sooner I never see this face again, the better."

"About that?" Harp said as she got closer. "Are those horns real?"

I rubbed the nubs that were my mothers horns. "Ya, I think she mentioned that she had a bicorn father, thus relating her to some rich family or something. Those horns were half the reason she was such a successful whore."

"Well, I was thinking, maybe their wheir Bridget got her own horns. I mean, they do look golden in color like hers." My friend pointed out.

Now that I thought about it, she might be right, and that didn't make me happy. "Harp, please dont tie my daughter to that mare."

She took a step back, understanding that she nerely stepped over a line.

I turned my attention back to Rook, wanting to not talk about Setting Sun. "So, let me guess, your mother was a souless killing robot."

The big mare let out a huff. "If only. We White Scorpions are a mercenary clan, selling ourselves to the highest bidder is how we lived. My mother was no different, though she's far more of a conniving, backstabbing, con artist than a warrior. Anyways, it wasn't like she raised me, it's not the clan way."

I cocked an eyebrow at that. "What, they throw you off a cliff and wait for you to grow up down there?"

"Were not that kind of savage." She said without any humor. "No, the elders raise our foals. And they make sure we grow up loyal to the clan, not to our parents. Which for me was a good thing, since I was my mothers consolation prize for taking a bad contract and then failing to complete it. Lets just say that sometimes when a contract state that they must complete it or get fucked, the fucked part is litral. So when I finally got to meet her, all she ever saw was her own failure made manifest."

"Thats… horrible." I said, feeling a bit sorry for the older mare.

"You don't know the half of it." Rook said with a scowle. "Somehow she was able to make herself elder, so when I had my first child, she was in position to raise her."

"Keep, you mean?" Harp asked.

Rook nodded. "Ya, though it only made things worse between me and her. I was supose to have had a chiled with some welthy merchant with a thing for young mares, but insted I ran off for a month with my… cousin, and came back pregnant as a big fuck you to her."

I face hoofed. "Why would you commit insest as a fuck you… well at least you weren't sixteen at the time."

The older mare shrugged. "I was fifteen at the time actually."

Harp then bauked. "Wait, so your only forty years old?"

I looked at my friend, a bit confused.

"Keeps only twenty five years old." Harp explained to me.

I looked at Rook, the mare looking more on the later end of sixty years old then in her early fortys. "Not to be that bitch, but you look old for your age."

Room rolled her eyes at us. "I lived through a lot of shit, the kind that makes you age quickly. Anyways, my mother took Keep from me and made sure to raise her to hate me. When I had my second with a talon, my mother made sure the talons kept him, and had me take a contract far away from them."

Rook then became quiet, a slight tremble in her lip. "After my third, I had my twins, but by then I just let the bitch have them."

"Wait, why did you skip the third like that?" I asked.

"None of your fucking business!" She snapped, then took a deep breath. "After them, I sighed onto Redeye's army and threw myself into the violance. Somehow, I survived it, and found a new family among Redeye's army. I even grew to believe in Redeye's message." A snarl formed on her muzzle, and her eye twitched. "I thought… I believe that if he could unify the wasteland, then fucked up situations like the White Scorpions could become a thing of the past."

"Ya, I heard it all from Hardballer, how the slavers just took back the power." I commented.

Rook nodded. "I used to go drinking with Stern, before Redeye you see. We had the same contract, but then I got pregnant from our employer with my second child." Her eyes had become downcast and distant. "But when I met her again, she had become so cruel. Hated me too. Blamed me for why her contract from back then failed, though I knew she was in love with our contractor."

"Soo… then what?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

But Rook became silent again, glancing at her son. "Fort, wait outside."

The colt narowed he eye at her. "No mom, I want to know. After all this, why did you leave me with Redeye if you hated him?"

Another long and quiet moment came from Rook before she let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, your almost an adult anyways." She turnd her attention back to me. "I guess you know most of the brahminshit Lean Year told you, and I bet he believes it too. Well the part about Fort being Baron Flint's grandson is correct. But he has a lot of the fuckers around, not that anypony would admit to it. Baron Flint was known to fuck anypony he could, even foals."

I snatled at that. "Digusting!"

"And his heir was no different, though unlike his father, Flint jr. Lacked the charm. So he compensated it with chems and rape." Rook said bitterly. "Ya, one day I was leaving the bar, the next I knew I was in some back alley all fucked up and with a broken leg. It didn't take long to find out who did it, and not much longer to find out I was pregnant. But nothing was done, and Flint Jr. Was allowed to do it again, and again."

Rook glanced at Fort for a quick moment, a hint of shame in her eyes. "When Fort was born… I couldn't do it again, I knew my mother was coming for him, and I just couldn't have another child be raised to hate me. So I gave him to Redeye and disappeared. I… I left to go fined someplace to die. Yet everpony else kept dieing around me instead."

"Th… then why did you come back for me?" Fort asked his mother.

She looked away. "I… I didn't. I happened to pass nere the clan and they found me and dragged me back."

"But I thought you came looking for me… but…" Fort clenched his teeth. "You lied to me!"

"I lie to everypony." Rook huffed back at her son.

Fort took a step back, tears welling up in his eyes. "Bitch!" He said befor running out of the room.

"I deserve that." Rook said as she slumped back.

"You certainly do," I said coldly to her. "But why not keep up the lie?"

She looked at me with cold, almost dead eyes. "I am keeping it up."

"You mean the deal with Lean Year?" Harp then asked.

Rook nodded, "I've been thinking for a long time, and… maybe… I… I don't know anymore. But if he can have a better life, then he should."

"Wait?" I spoke up, now relizing. "You want the Harvesters to take him? After what was done to you?"

"Times changed, and he's a smart boy. Almost an adult." Rook said with a rather sad smile. "I'm pretty sure why they want him. He's Golden Harvest's hoof into White Scorpions land, and as for my mother, all she ever sees is the caps she can make. But Fort will be fine, he isn't a fuckup like me."

"You don't know that!" Harp interjected, sounding rather crossed. "If anything, you could be throwing him into the jaws of a beast, not helping him!"

Rook waved her off dismissively. "He's a White Scorpion, jumping into the jaws of beasts is what we do."

"Oh fuck off with that shit." Harp said, dropping any attempt of politeness. "You wouldn't be here if you believed that. This is not about him, it's about you! You got problems with your mother, Star's got problems with her mother. Fuck, I had problems with my mother! We all have problems with our mothers!"

"I don't. My mother and I got along real well." Slow spoke through the radio, resulting in Harp turning it off.

"Slowtrot aside, maybe instead of doing whatever this is, you just focus on being a mother." Harp calmly told Rook.

Rook took a deep breath, and looked away without saying anything.

"Well that was… a thing." I said with a sigh. "I'll go find Fort, make sure he's okay."

"It was my fault." Rook then said. "My son, my third foal… he died because of me."

Both Harp and I looked at Rook, our full attention on her.

She continued. "I kept my pregnancy a secret, not wanting my mother to take another child away from me. His father was a veteran mercenary I had been working under, not that it mattered to me, and I was sure he had impregnated a few other mares in our compony. I just wanted a child of my own."

Violently, she kicked one of the medical beds in the room, denting the metal. "But my son caught the plague and I didn't know what to do. I… I turned to the clan and… they shut the doors on me. I wanted to raise a child without the clan, and so I would not be given their aid in helping him."

It wasn't an uncommon problem out in the wasteland, foals getting sick and dying. Or some other thing getting to them. I've even heard about radroaches eating babies in their cribs while the parents sleep. Bridget could have easily died from being sick if mom hadn't had her connection with the Followers of the Apocalypse. I knew jack shit about raising a foal as a teenager, thank the Goddesses for mom.

After a pause, Rook continued. "All I could do was hold him as he grew weaker and weaker. As he became colder. Then I had to put him into the ground… if I had just followed my clans rules, he would be alive, he'd hate me like the others, but he'd be alive." She then looked out the doorway and sighed. "Fort looked just like him too. And I… I thought it was going to happen again. I thought about going to the clan, but after giving up the twins, I just couldn't do it anymore. Better that he never knew who I was then hate me."

"But the clan found him." Harp said.

Rook nodded. "I knew who he was as soon as I saw him. Keep, always grandmother's little mare, found him and gave him to her. And it made me beyond mad, and after all the shit I'd been through, the rivers of blood I had to waid. The things the elders had to say to me, about me… I just couldn't tolerate it anymore."

A bitter and somewhat unnerving chuckle came from Rook. "They all called themselves veteran mercenaries. Survivors of tartarus, and true warriors all. Yet they all broke under my hooves like dry sticks, and all I needed was my hooves to break them. I even warned them, and they laughed in my face." Again she chucked. "Oh, my mother tried to put a bounty on my head for it, but the NCR saw it as an internal conflict, and chose to not get involved. Gwadina's way of saying that she knew who my mother was, and that she and the elders definitely deserved it."

Harp gave me a worried look, then asked. "And then that's when you took Fort?"

But Rook shook her head. "No, he followed me when I left. When I sobered up after a long rest, he was there. A nine year old colt wondering if I really was his mother. It's been five years since then, and he's done more taking care of me then I've taken care of him."

"And now you're pushing him away!" I snapped at her.

"So what!" Rook said with a shrug. "I thought you wanted this! It's not like you're wrong, I'm a shitty mother, always have been, always will be."

I gritted my teeth, not finding a way or the will to argue with her.

Harp on the other hoof stepped between us. "Star, maybe you should take a step out. I'll stay with Rook while you go check on Fort. Anyways, now that you're back to normal again, I think you're safe to be on your own again."

Looking at my hooves, my fur was back to a light sea blue, and my mane a dark sea green that naturally curled about. The memory was still vague, but I could remember it again after so long. Dead Reckoning, my father, had the same colors, same messy mane that curled about, almost looking like seaweed.

Was it fate that I found his notebook and navigation gear in Blackpowder's office, that all this time I had my fathers things and never knew it. The more I started to remember, the stranger it all got.

But pondering about the past can wait.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit." I told them.

Trotting out, fortunately it wouldn't be hard to find the colt, since there was a hoof print trail left in the dust on the floor.

After two turns, I found the colt in a room where one side was mostly a big and thick plain of glass. Fort sat in front of the glass, staring intensely through it. Trotting over, I was mildly shocked to see that on the other side of the glass was a whole mess of cruel joke vines.

"This must be where they originally harvested the flowers." I said.

Fort nodded and pointed at the ground, where I saw a decaying corpse. "Probably just tossed bodies in here, but look at that." He then pointed at another spot, where to my surprise I saw an animal. It was a small furry thing with big back paws, two long ears, and dear-like antlers. "Never thought I'd ever see a jackalope."

"A jack-o-what?" I said, a bit confused.

"Jackalopes. Their Hares that live in more magicly active places. I think. It's been a long time since I was with the Followers, but I remembered Miss Fluttershy telling us about them. She said that when she was trapped as a tree, she'd often see jackalopes taking shelter among the poison joke, and even when it became, killing joke, the jackalopes were never affected by them."

As I watched the jackalope hopping around, I then saw it bite off the stem of the cruel joke, and began eating it. "Wait, they eat those vines?"

Just as I said it, two more jackalopes hopped into view and joined the first in eating the vines.

Shrugging, I then sat next to Fort. "You know, adults really suck sometimes."

"Pot calling the kettle black." Fort said to me.

"Ya… though sometimes I forget I'm an adult." I said with a chuckle. "Doesn't help that nothing really changes after growing up. I'm just as dumb and reckless as an adult, as I was as a foal. Realy, the only change is that other adults expect you to take responsibility for your actions, and threaten to kill you if you don't."

He gave me a less than friendly glance. "Says the mare with a bounty on her head." Fort then sighed. "Am… am I a burden?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Kid, the best part of being a young is being a burden. You eat sleep and shit, all while contributing nothing. Sometimes you even drive your parents insane… and even then, I would trade everything to be with her." From under my pipbuck, I pulled out a photo, one with Prism, Hardballer, Bridget, and myself on it. "Sometimes… We adults fail, and those we care for the most suffer for it. Somethings… can never be fixed, no matter how much we wish it so."

"It's the same way for mom. She's so broken, and… nothing I do helps her. And now she wants to send me away." I watched as tears began to well up in his eyes. If I didn't know he was from a clan of vicious mercenaries, I'd never believe it. "Am I a failure?"

Giving Fort a hug, I then told him. "You're a kid, nothing more, nothing less. The fact your mother wants to send you to ponies who could give you a better life shows that she cares. It means she's worried for you. My mother, the mare who birthed me, didn't even care enough to feed me most of the time. She didn't even care to say goodbye, just vanished with everything she owned."

Looking at the photo, and seeing how happy I looked, it prickled at my heart. "Prism found me, a little filly running with a gang at war. She was broken, lost, and so very confused. But she was also warm and kind, she even worried for me… nopony worried for me like that before and I didn't understand why she'd even bother. When she took me away from all that violance, she did her best to help me be a better pony, and in time I called her… mom. Such a worry wart, it was annoying, yet I never hated it."

Fort wiped his eyes. "I got sick once, and mom freaked out. I've never seen her so scared before. She could look down the barrel of a loaded gun and not flinch, but a minor flu had her terrified."

"And you don't think you getting captured didn't scare her?" I then asked. "She literally ran after you as soon as she heard you were in danger. Don't think she would have stopped running if we didn't offer her a ride."

"That sounds like mom." Fort said, looking more relaxed. "She stops for nothing when she's motivated."

"And her motivation was getting you back and safe." I told him, then lightly jabbed him on the shoulder. "Say, why don't we head on back now, before your mother gets worried again."

He nodded, but as he got up a jackalope jumped onto his back. "Oh hello!" He said as he levitated a tato out of a small bag he had over to the Hare.

"Where the fuck did that come from?" I asked, worried about the Cruel joke getting inside.

Fort shrugged. "Who knows, maybe they're magical." He then smiled at the strange creature. "Hey, you want to come with me?"

The jackalope tilted its head at Fort, then stopped on him and stretched out its paws. Fort then levitated another tato, which the jackalope took and happily began to eat.

"I guess that's a yes." I said as I shruged. Since I had a magical rattle-pup myself, I wasn't going to be a buzz kill.

With Fort and his new friend in tow, we returned to the medical room, where a very concerned Harp sat at a terminal.

"Oh please don't tell me there's some bigger braminshit going on." I nervously said as I trotted over.

Harp sighed. "Ya, that's about right. Order had just finished decoding a coded message on this terminal. I was hoping to get the locations of the other chem plantations. But… well, you should read this."

_________________________________________________

Chapter 10, A Cruel Joke (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 10

A Cruel Joke (Part 2)

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Stable-Tec Co. Terminal

Welcome: Warm Fr0nt

Entry 01

How low have I fallen! Me, an Enclave University graduate, top of my class! Now look at me, in some underground pit, paying off my debt to some mad mare. At least my talents are recognized, even if it's for growing this fucked up plant. Still, it is fascinating to think I'd get to continue my research on the mutated flora of the wasteland, and with more freedom than the Enclave ever let me have. Still, it does disturb me how easily my employer was able to procure the necessary material to grow this evil bramble. Something to remember if I ever try t9 get away.

Entry 02

Doctor Citrus Bizzaria was brilliant, maybe almost as smart as I am. But her writing is god awful. A clear problem of the ponies from the wartime. Obsessive too, likely losing her mind at some point. But I was able to grasp how she was able to develop Cruel Joke, and it's so simple that I had to slap myself once it clicked in my mind. Grafting and cross pollination, along with feeding the plant just enough to keep it docile, but have it explode in growth. The only problem is finding fresh corpses to feed the plants, and testing them for changes. Fortunately for me, the damn dirt kickers set up shop just above me, and those idiots lose a pony a week. The shallow graves are easy to dig up, but getting to them befor the nightstalkers has been problematic. At least the plants have food, so my research goes on.

Entry 03

More headaches as my employer demanded results. I told her that increasing flower growth isn't going to happen overnight. Just getting the plant to become a more efficient feeder had been the biggest problem. The flowers only grow when it has enough nutrition, but it relies on tangling corpses for that nutrition, which is inefficient. If I can fix this inefficiency, then growing more flowers will be easier.

My employer wasn't happy, but she seemed to understand, and sent me two old colleagues of mine to help, along with a pipbuck. When I asked why the pipbuck, she told me it was for another job she wanted me to do. As it turns out, the nearby mountain use to be an old gem mine, and it has some secrets the old Ministry's wanted locked away. If I can find an alternative entrance to the main mineshaft my employer would be able to give me even more support. Unfortunately, the locals of Amethyst Sands are also looking for this cash, so I need to be careful.

Entry 04

Don't know why my employer has such a problem with the owner of Green Lake Farm, but it's easy to see that this Percussion Cap must give a lot of enemies. Of which it seems, is Golden Harvest, the owners of Tato Town above me. Golden Harvest might be a possible ally if I play my cards right, and a possible new employer once my current debt is paid. Never thought I'd say this, but it would be good to go back to working on cloud crops again.

Entry 05

I finally made a breakthrough, though by a grotesk accident. When my colleagues and I were out scouting the mountain, one of the hics got into our lab. We could only usum he tried to steal our lab equipment, and broke open one of our test subjects. I assumed he did it intentionally to try and eat the cruel joke. Well when we found him, his form had been left entirely broken, yet alive. But more importantly, the cruel joke was growing and even flowering. It even let me nete it, not lashing out since it had a food source at the moment.

After picking the flowers and testing them, the chem content was only marginally stronger. We also identified the strain to be one crossed with a parasitic lichen. It was great news, and needed more study. So we kept the thief locked up and fed to see how the cruel joke continues to grow. Maybe get more live subjects to try and repeat this experiment.

Had a nightmare where the vines were in my flesh, using me like a puppet. I want to go home, I want this to end, but I can't. I tried to run away, but I found myself back here!

Entry 06

I was able to negotiate with Tato Town's foreman to gain a few more test subjects. Waiting for another pony to just wander in isn't going to work, so having a pony sent down for medical aid wil, be a great benefit. That said, how we came to this deal has been… another low blow. Whoring myself to that perverted stallion just makes my skin crawl.

I've been feeling… unwell. Like the plants are under my skin. I know they are not, even tested myself for the cruel joke. But every night is a nightmare

Entry 07

Fuck everything. I wasn't testing for it, but discovered that I'm pregnant. Now as the parasitic cruel joke is growing inside our test subjects, that stallion's parasite is growing in me. I also have nightmares every night now, the same one with blue thorny vines bursting from my skin. My coworkers too, though our work is important, hearing the screams of the test subjects every day has been mentally draining. We even tried cutting their tongues out and snipping their voice boxes, but the cruel joke just grew them back and the screaming continued.

Entry 08

I think I'm getting used to all of this. I still hear the screaming even when I'm not in the lab, but the cruel tea helps dull the voices, even making my time with the forman feel not so bad. I still feel the vines under my skin and had to cut them out, but they're too fast.

At least my employer is pleased, but also disappointed. She wants me to work faster on finding a way into Amethyst Sands mine, and I can't disobey her. It's like she's in my head now. I don't even know how she got i to the lab to talk with me, but she was there,

Whay, why, why, why is everything violating me. The brambles in my skin, the dead are in my ears, the foramen is in my cunt, and the boss is in my head! Yes, I know boss, I'll get to working boss! Please don't hurt me boss!

Entry 09

There's so many tunnels under the mountain, but I found it. I just had to follow the pink balloons. Thought I was crazy, seeing pink balloons underground and still floating. But they led me to the biggest balloon, and behind it was the mane mineshaft. But I can't get in, the balloon won't pop. Maybe if I use the vines? No… but maybe. The vines are already in my skin, so what harm would they do? But before that, I should see the forman, he's got this dress for me, and a collar, and chains.

Lately I haven't felt well, needing more of the tea. Hard to think right without it.

Entry ***

It's burning, it's all burning. Fuck it all! Something happened to Tato Town above, and it caused the Forman and his hics to force their way down here. The bastard pretended to not know us or what was going on down here, and let his hicks destroy everything when they found the test subjects. Let them have their fun with us. But jokes on them, we already perfect the cruel joke strain, it's a part of us, and a part of them too. They're screaming now, even in my head they're screaming, and soon they will either die or join us.

I still hear her voice

The boss, I know who my employer is now, she's the lady of thorns, she was always thorns! I just needed to embrace the thorns first. The formen rejected them and were punished for it, and I laughed, I laughed so hard. My lady of thorns was quite pleased, and has more work for me. I must help her spread, have them know her voice. All should hear her voice!

-@%##$

$@#% @#%#@$ @#%#@##@

7h3 v¡n35 @73 m¥ b@b¥, 7h3¥ @r3 m¥ b@b¥ n0w!

_________________________________________________

I stepped away from the terminal, feeling disturbed by it. "That's fuck?"

"I know, right." Harp said in agreement. "And considering it's Blue Skies, the boss she's talking about must be Quicktrot Fragment. Which might also mean she was being possessed at some point."

"You're thinking that raider boss is Warm Front, ain't you?" I guessed.

Harp nodded. "Would fit. Quicktrot is able to possess ponies through the older pipbucks, of which that mare had."

"And the vines inside her body, it would be that parasitic cruel joke they developed down here." I added.

"Looks like it, which is a problem, as it means the cruel joke is mobile now." Harp added grimly.

I scratched at my own skin, now feeling utterly itchy. "Any chance I'm infected too?" I needed to ask.

Harp froze for a moment as her eyes went wide, then sighed with a chuckle. "Well fuck!"

"What?" I grabbed her pipbuck and saw her status. Under infections and diseases was something listed as the blue thorn. "You're infected!" Looking at my own pipbuck, I found that I was fortunately clean. "But I'm not."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Harp cracked a smile. "Maybe the poison joke cure works on it. But there's only one way to know for sure."

Trotting over to a desk with still intact lab equipment on it, Harp took a flask that was collecting a blue fluid. Mixing a bit of it in water, she then drank it.

"What about my son and I?" Rook asked

"If it works, you both will get some too. We have enough for everypony here." She informed us.

We all waited for several minutes as she watched her pipbuck. Worry crept up my spine, but as I saw a wide smile crossed Harps muzzle, I relaxed. She showed us that she was cured, then passed Fort and Rook the cure too.

After drinking the poison joke cure, Rook trotted to the lab equipment that was used to make it. "You think it might have spread to the town?"

"Actually, I was wondering why you never saw this before if the raiders were harassing Amethyst sands?" Harp asked the sheriff.

Rook shrugged, "truth be told, they never were that aggressive until recently. Most attacks were by those small groups who struck out on their own. We all thought that they were just staying in Tato Town until they ran out of food and chems, like most raiders."

Harp frowned. "Or they were waiting for their own infection to mature, and turn themselves into trotting bio bombs." She then tapped on her pipbuck.

Qest Start: A Cruel Fate

Kill Warm Front and destroy the cruel joke.

I had forgotten that we could do that.

Putting her pipbuck down, Harp then trotted to the terminal. "First off, we should take as much materials we can with us, and make more of the cure back in Amethyst Sands."

"Easier said than done." Rook huffed out. "Between the infected raiders and the cruel joke vines themselves, just getting out is a tall order."

"I agree, that's why other than decoding the messages, I was also looking for a map." After pressing a few buttons, the screen on the terminal flickered, and became a mess of green lines. "And as I had suspected, there's an alternative exit out of here, though I have a feeling that Warm Front has it guarded."

"So no change to our situation." I said with a sigh.

"She's going to call the smuggler to that exit." Rook then said, pointing at my pipbuck. "Not many ponies out here have two way radios, and none of them are raiders."

"That's right." Harp confirmed as the lines on the terminal moved. "The other exit is on the east side of Tato Town, outside its border. I'll send Slowtrot the quadrants, and we time it so that the raiders don't have time to counter attack."

"A sound plan, the last thing you need is them blowing out a tire, or getting a lucky shot at any of your heads." Rook added. "Though maybe we should gather a posse before taking the raiders directly."

But Harp shook her head. "No, if Warm Front thinks we might know about her condition, she might flee. We can't risk the raiders here getting away and coming into contact with innocent ponies. Best to be careful and kill them all and burn the corpses."

"Fair enough. Last thing we need is another blue plague, or raider sickness getting out." Rook said as she trotted over to a corner in which both her rifle and my SMG were propped up. "But I do hope you have a spare gun, as I'm rather dry."

Turning 9n my pipbuck raidio, I then suggested, "Slowtrot has his service rifle and a shotgun, so I'm sure if you ask nicely, he will lend you one."

"Well you just need to give me a good reason, and promise to give it back, but asking nicely works too." Slowtrot's voice came through my Radio. "So ya, whatever you got planned, I'll help however I can."

"Alright, then lets gear up and get ready, the sooner we do this the better." Harp said as she turned to Order. "Take us to the other exit oncevwere ready."

"Yes my Lady." Order said with a nod of its body.

Befor grabbing my gun and saddlebag, I took one more look at myself in the smashed mirror, seeing my face. Yet I could still see here. Setting Sun and I had the same face, the same shaped eyes, the same lips, and slightly larger fang. Wait… when did I have three sets of fangs?… I shook my head, as that didn't matter right now, nor did Setting Sun. My true mother is, and will always be Prism, the mare who loved me unlike her.

"You okay, miss Star?" Fort asked.

"No, not really." I admitted, "but it's nothing you need to be worried about. How about you?"

He shrugged. "Always had a feeling that my father was probably going to be a scumbag. Since grandmother liked him, I had a feeling something was wrong. What about you, did you know who your father wa?"

I sighed. "I only met him once, and it's one of the earliest memories I have. Actually I only just remembered it." I could remember the magical lens he gave me clearly now, and that Setting Sun had smashed it. "He… was given an impossible task, in which if he was successful, he would be rewarded greatly. Then he gave me a name and I never saw him again. Likely he's at the bottom of the ocean now, or he just found a better family and stayed with them."

"Oh… sorry for bringing it up." He apologized.

I again lightly jabbed him in the leg. "Don't be, it's not your fault for my life. Anyways, If I had a cap for every missing father in my life, I'd have two. Now let's get ready to move, can't just talk all day."

I watched as Fort then trotted over to his mother, the two being rather awkward with each other, but I could tell that they did genuinely cared for each other.

Looking back at the broken mirror, my own words resonating in my head. Two. Ya two missing fathers. Dead Reckoning was likely dead, but what ever happened to Skipper? Probably dead too. Would serve him right after running off on me like that after finding out I was pregnant. Dumb ass teenagers, that's what we were, but I had to live with it, and make the best of it.

Despite seeing Setting Sun's face on my own, I was nothing like her. I could at least love my daughter. I had to leave Bridget behind to protect her, no way she could come with me. But I still hate having to do it.

Tearing my eyes away from the reflection, I trotted over to my stuff, and making sure my guns were loaded and ready to kill.

_________________________________________________

The horror show that was this underground bunker had one finale fuck you to present to us in the form of a bloody trail to the exit door. We could only guess it was one of Warm Front's victims, and we were unfortunately right.

A misshapen and cruel joke infested fat pony layed dead just at the exit. His back half and legs were made up of several mutilated male genitals. Where a few female genitalia grew on his front half, with one replacing his mouth. It was a grotesque sight of which Rook made sure Fort could not see, and when he complained, she told him, "You're not an adult just yet."

As Rook and I moved the magicly mutilated corpse to a nearby room, I then asked her, "you think this is the formen?"

"If the joke was for him to go and fuck himself, then ya." She said with a nod as we dumped the body unceremoniously. "Though it makes me feel you got lucky, being turned into your mother and all."

I shook my head. "No, not just my mother, but it turned me into an evil monster. It caused me to hurt my friend."

Rook looked at the formens corps for a moment. "Don't know what's worse, a joke that kills you, or one that makes you suffer. I wonder how long he lived like that, likely begging for death without a mouth to speak."

"Thank the Goddesses for Harp and Slowtrot in making that cure." I said, placing my hooves together out of an old habit now resurfacing.

Rook then did the same, praying. "May the Goddess of dreams continue to guide us along the righteous path, and may she protect us from the nightmares that seek to corrupt us in our sleep."

"May we be strong and true, for it is through weakness and lies in which evil finds its ways into our hearts." I prayed as well, the words both true to me, yet leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

If Saint Roseland, the prophet of the Goddesses, is still alive as Slowtrot has told me, then I want to know how much of her words are lies and spite.

Quietly, we left the corps and joined the others at the door. Harp was on her pipbuck again, an ear held next to it .

"Almost their!" Pyrope's fuzzy voice came through the radio. "I see them now, several raiders waiting with traps. Do we engage?"

Harp looked back at us, and both Rook and I nodded. "Yes, we're ready."

With my Outlaw ready, I hugged up next to the door with Order hovering above me. The plan was simple; Order flies out first, eyes for traps, then if clear, I come out guns blazing. While keeping the raiders heads down, everypony else will run for the smuggler, then I'll follow.

The loud deep sounding cracks of the energy gun was our cue to open the door, in which Order zipped out. Several explosions followed him, and Harp then gave me the signal to go.

Jumping out to provide cover for the others, I pulled on the trigger of my Outlaw as soon as I saw a raider, nicking them as they dove for cover. A bullet whizzed by my head and I turned to fire at another raider, only to see the raider get caught up in the Smugglers counter attack, turning the bastard to ash. Returning my attention to the first raider, a spray of gunfire forced him back down.

"Star, let's go!" Harp yelled as she climbed aboard the Smuggler.

Strapping my Outlaw onto my back, I galloped to the smuggler, jumping onto the back as Pyrope provided me with covering fire.

As soon as I was on, the smuggler kicked dirt and rocks into the air as we then jolted forward. All while Pyrope continued to fire the Aeternus with reckless abandon, taking out the last raider that chased after us. Quickly Tato Town became smaller and smaller, and the safet I felt.

Once a safe distance away, we slowed to a stop, and I jumped off.

Slowtrot soon jumped out himself, running over with a med kit. "You and Harp okay? Anything you need."

"I'm fine, just need some food, that's all." I said before then shaking my hips a little, my torn up leotard flapping about. "Can't say the same for my clothes."

Slowtrot nodded. "Good thing you have spares then. I'll get your bag and some food."

As he trotted off, Fort trotted over, the jackalope still riding on his head as it watched Cavall suspiciously. "So, I guess your mom let you keep it." I said.

He resisted the urge to nod. "Ya, but she called him, emergency rations." The teenager said with a huff. "But are you really okay? Things were… you know, and now that where out… you know."

Slowtrot then dropped my bag near me, along with a box of food. "I'll go check on Harp and Miss Rook."

Once he left, I opened the bag to find my spare magazines and clothes. "Kid, that's a can of worms you're not ready to deal with." Removing my clothes, I then pulled out a spare leotard. It still felt a bit strange, but having it on felt better than having it off. Still, I was not going to start having underwear on all the time like Harp.

As I looped the leotard around one leg, I then caught Fort trying to not stare, blushing a little. "I don't mind if you look at me like that, but your mother might."

"S… sorry miss Star." He stammered. "I… I don't know whats w… wrong with me."

I rolled my eyes at me, fully knowing what was wrong. "It's called becoming a stallion. Anyways, are there any mares your own age back in Amethyst Sands?"

He blushed even more. "N..no. it's all adults there. Anyways, your not that old. I… I mean, big sis is ten years younger than her husband and all."

I remember Rook mentioning something about that. "Right, and she was fifteen at the time too."

Fort then looked nervous, glancing at me a few times. "Well… it's not uncommon in the clan. So would you be interested in… being… ya'know? "

"Oh, no kid! I'm flattered, but I may not be too old for you, but you're way too young for me." I flatly rejected the teenager.

His ears then drooped, looking hurt from my response.

Putting my clothes fully on, I trotted over to Fort and petted the jackalope on his head. "Hay, chin up. You're quite brave for asking, but trust me, you can do far better. Anyways, take it from a mare who's made mistakes, best if you wait a bit longer. Don't rush becoming an adult and all that shit. At the very least focus on helping your mother for a bit longer."

Though still dejected, Fort did seem to understand. "But if I was older, would I have a chance."

I let out a little laugh. "Maybe. I like my stallions a bit on the more rough side. Something you'll need to grow into. But by then I'm sure you'll find a mare that suits you better."

He thought about it for a moment and then sighed. "You're probably right. But thanks for being nice about it. I wasn't sure if you were going to find me… you know… wrong or something."

"Oh trust me, of all the ponies who've propositioned me, you're both the weirdest, and the least disgusting." I told him, and Fort looked at me with concern. "Oh don't give me that, I ain't no slut. Just worked at a job where it is a fairly common thing to deal with. Now, maybe you should go and have Slowtrot take a look at you, make sure your healthy."

Fort nodded and trotted away.

As I gave Cavall headpats and dug into the box to pull out a carrot to eat, Rook trotted up to me.

"Your family is a bit messed up, you know that." I said to her as I bit into the carrot.

She glanced over at her son and sighed. "Only a bit?"

"Okay, a lot of messed up." I clarified.

Rook nodded as she then looked at me in the eyes. "It's how we survive for over two hundred years in the biggest shithole of the wasteland. It's going to take a long time to fix those problems."

"Staring with raising your age of adulthood." I commented.

But Rook shrugged. "Maybe, but we have so many problems it's hard to pick which is the worst. At least he has a better chance out here then with the clan."

I raised an eyebrow at hrr. "So, if I said yes to him, you wouldn't have a problem?"

"By Luna yes I'd have a problem! I mean… Maybe… or… ya I don't even know myself." Rook then spat on the ground, disgust on her face. "Damnit, I'm the worst pony to ask that of. Back when the radiation was still around, the only thing the clan had of any value was our own bodies. There was no guarantee we would live long, so it was expected of us to start having foals when we could. Half of the reason they even let us mares leave to be mercenaries was to find stallions not of our blood to breed with. By the time we could leave, we'd been fully trained on how to fuck by the elders. It took a long time for me to even understand that something about that was so very wrong."

A picture was starting to form in my head, and I didn't like it. "So, then, Fort?"

"No, he's… untouched." She said a calm coming back to her. "The clan has its problems, but they at least wait until they consider us an adult before making us… an adult." She then took a deep breath, taking a moment before continuing. "It's… not as bad as it sounds, considering the alternative, and where we lived. That's also keeping in mind that most of us die young. Ponies like myself and my mother are rare. Living long enough to grow wize to everything, then deciding to keep it going or wander out into the wasteland to die. My mother chose the former, and I chose the latter."

I let out a huff, half out of annoyance and half out of understanding. "I think I understand that a little. I was born on the Blackwater you see, two super massive coal hullers welded together to make a floating city. You can imagine the lack of options anypony had in such a place. For me, it was to join another ship as a disposable deckhoof, or follow Setting Sun's example and become a whore. Probably would have been a whore either way if she hadn't abandoned me. Fuck, I was close to being one back in New Appaloosa if mom hadn't absolutely forbidden it. I mean, I needed the caps after my Bridget was born, but I trusted mom's judgment more."

"You mean this Setting Sun?" Rook asked me.

"Fuck no!" I quickly responded. "Mom's the mare who saved me, took me away from the life I had and gave me a new one… Prism Paint is her name. She was lost, confused, and hated herself. Yet she wouldn't let a corrupted and savage filly like me alone. And it's my fault she's not here anymore. I'm sure she'll be disappointed with me, with how I left my filly behind."

Rook's stony exterior seemed to soften just a little. "She sounds like she was a swell mare. And I doubt she's any part disappointed in you. I mean, I may not have been able to be a mother to most of my children, but it doesn't mean I don't love them. I know that the reason Keep ran off with that merchant was so that she wouldn't have to apprentice under me. But I never thought less of her for it. Same for all my children, ahd I'm sure your mother thinks the same way, even from the other side of the river styx."

"Maybe." I said unsurly. "But what if my Bridget comes to hate me?"

"Will you hate her?" She then asked.

"No, never!" I answered.

"Did you leave her with bad ponies?" She further probed.

"The Gunrunners actually, she's the current head smith's niece. Longside is a good griff, and she gets along with her cousins. I know that if anypony comes to even try and harm Bridget, the Gunrunners will fight to the death to protect her." I explained with a smile on my muzzle.

Just thinking about them made me miss those griffin's terribly. Gyrojet and I never quite saw eye to eye, but we both understood that we loved our children and she never once called me out for being an exotic dancer. Longside would, but our personalities had always clashed.

"So… then what's your damn problem! You just need to finish up whatever business you got, and then go get your filly." Rook sternly told me.

"My problem, my problem is that I've become Setting Sun, a whore who abandoned her daughter!" I growled.

"Meaning what? You don't plan on ever seeing your daughter ever again, and instead will live a life of debotary?" Asked Rook.

Stomping my hoof on the ground, I got muzzle to muzzle with Rook. "Of cores fucking not! Once I've avenged Prism, I will return to her."

I expect Rook to then say something, anything, but she just stared me down. Stone faced and with eyes that seen too much, I was left to only hear my own words bounce around in my head.

I left Bridget with those I trust, with a family that loved her. Where I was left with nothing but a name. I plan on returning to her, no matter how long it takes, but Setting Sun, I was only a burden to her. Ya I fucked around, but how could I have known Prism was in danger, I should have known, I should have gone to her as soon as I could. But not once did Prism blame me. She was overjoyed to see me, to have me hold her, even though she was in so much pain.

Bridget and I were there for her as she slipped away, and that smile, she died smiling because I was there. I killed her and she was happy for it. There was so much I wanted to do with her, to show her, but because of me it will never happen.

Yet not once did she hate me.

I took a step back and breathed in deep. "Once I know for sure the ponies who threaten my daughter are cut down, I will return to her. I'll never be like Setting Sun. No, I'll be like Prism Paint, and shower my Bridget with all my love once I see her again."

"Then do you still have a fucking problem?" Rook sternly asked me.

"Well I got some asshole raiders delaying me, so that's a problem I got." I said with a smirk.

Rook smirked back. "Then let's put those raiders down."

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Chapter 11, A Cruel Joke (Part 3)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 11

A Cruel Joke (Part 3)

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With everypony ready, the plan was simple; we will drive into Tato Town, kill all the raiders there, and then burn the place to the ground.

Fort, Cavall and the Jackalope would stay behind at our abandoned trailer, Rook giving her revolver to her son for his own protection. We also left him all the supplies for the cure and how to make it, just in case things go bad.

We also disintegrated the nearby raiders corps with the Aeternus, as its cruel joke infection was starting to break free from the body.

So we were off, and once we were close enough, we stopped the smuggler to let Rook use Slowtrot's rifle to snipe the snipers. The veteran mercenary was a deadshot, and the raiders who poked their heads out didn't stand a chance. Once the raiders stopped showing themselves, we got moving again. Getting close to their wall as I aimed the Aeternus, and let the magical energy bolts fly as soon as Pyrope pointed out any raider. With Harp providing a bit of extra power, the raider didn't stand a chance. In fact, one of their sniper nests literally caught on fire, and quickly turned into an inferno. A second raider sniper had to jump to escape the flames, likely falling to their death.

With a jerk, Slowtrot drove the Smuggler to the only entrance that could fit the vehicle, finding it blocked off by a rusty chain linked fence. Powering forward, I dicked down as the smuggler smashed through the fence like nothing, entering Tato town.

Again I was weapons hot as confused raiders ran about, some grabbing their guns, and others diving for the trenches all over the place. The latter proved smarter as I quickly disintegrated any raider not in cover.

But Slowtrot had to turn around before we hit the trenchline, not wanting the smuggler to become stuck. But both Rook and Pyrope had already jumped out with Slowtrot's guns in hoof and into the first trench, guns blazing. A few raiders tried to flank them, but I used the Aeternus to keep their heads down.

"Time to switch!" Harp said as she climbed up into the gunner's nest.

Nodding back at her, I grabbed my Outlaw and jumped out myself, joining Rook and Pyrope in the trenches.

"So, why the fucking trenches?" I ask as I fire down the line as a raider in mid charge.

"Probably for catching water!" Pyrope guessed as he fired Boomstick, Slowtrot's shotgun.

"That or it is actually for a mass grave." Rook guessed grimly as she fired down the other end of the trench with Slowtrot's burnt rifle.

The smuggler then drove off as Harp struggled to keep the Aeternus straight as she fired. We couldn't have the smuggler stay in one spot with how big of a target it was. So Slowtrot and Harp were going to move about while providing us with covering fire, from a distance.

With a rather uncontrolled blast from the Aeternus, the three of us jumped out of the trench and ran for the next. We dove down just as the raiders began to fire again, landing in the muddy trench. I only grew more confused as we found ourselves among dead tato plants, haphazardly spread around.

To our shock, a raider laid nearby among the dead brush and muddy ground, cruel joke entangled him as it weaved in and out of his flesh. A needle of med-X was stuck in his leg, and signs of infection surrounded the insertion. The raider then looked at us with glassy eyes and a foaming mouth, alive, but better off dead.

"Well, that's fucked." Pyrope said as he aimed Boomstick, but Rook lowered the shotgun.

"Best we save the ammo, we're going to burn him later anyway." She said coldly.

It was a disturbing thought, setting the raider on fire just to save the ammo, but it made sense. Also, looking at the strung out pony, I doubt he could feel pain, or wouldn't even care if he could. Being some living plant food had to be a fate worse than death.

Seeing this only strengthened my resolve to end this before it got out. With how close we were to New Appaloosa, all it would take is one of these raiders to make it nere civilization to cause a major outbreak. For the sake of my daughter, they all must burn!

Pulling up my Outlaw, I then peeked out over the trench and sprayed the area the raiders were shooting from. Both Pyrope and Rook took the opportunity and quickly climbed up, with Pyrope running forward, and Rook taking aim through the rifle's scope.

With several quick shots, Rook took out a raider, as I got moving myself. A burst of pink beems shot overhead as we both made it to the next trench. Where two dead raiders waited for us as Pyrope reloaded the shotgun. From the corner of my eye, I then saw three chem mad raiders rushing at us. Not even properly aiming, I fired my Outlaw down at them, peppering the trench as chunks were blown out of the three raiders.

Pyrope laughed as he racked the shotgun. "Never thought I'd ever be trench fighting like one of my ancestors. Good thing we got the right tools for the job."

Rook huffed in annoyance. "This ain't no trench fight trust me on that." She then peeked up and let out a few shots before ducking back down. "No machinegun nest."

"So, it's far easier than real trench fighting then." I commented

"Don't get cocky now." Rook said as she loaded in another magazine. "We're not just fighting petty criminals strung out on chems, who are led by a crazy mare. But ones infested with an evil magical plant. Ponies with no sense of self preservation are among the most dangerous, and tend to be unpredictable in the worst way possible."

Both Pyrope and I peeked out ourselves, taking out the already thinning out raiders befor ducking back down.

"Can't say you're wrong." I said as I changed out a magazine. "The last group of raiders would have had us if we didn't have our pipbuck's. Trotted right into a trap, but managed to take a sect pathway to get away from them."

"Pa had a few close calls too. Mostly when trying to make acdeal with em, but the bastards being so strung out on chems that they turned hostile." Pyrope added.

A burst of pink beams blasted overhead, and all three peeked out and took our shots.

"Well at least they only got shitty hunting rifles, and crude pipe guns or junkyard SMG's." Pyrope added as we ducked back down. "Where we got some sweet guns and that battle waggon of yours."

Rook nodded. "We do have an arms advantage and are attacking them before they can develop countermeasures. So long as we keep our distance, we should be fine."

I looked down at my custom claw made Griffinstone Typewriter, tapping on the brass trigger as the light shined off it. "Right, we're a bit over qualified for this."

"Well, they can still get lucky and kill us all, then they will have all the good gear." Rook said as she shrugged.

That was true. It didn't matter how shitty their guns were, a lucky shot to the head kills all the same. Anyways, the real danger wasn't the raiders, it was the cruel joke. None of us know how much the plant could spread if left here, or how much damage it could cause. We just needed to kill the raiders so that we burn this place to ash.

Another shot came from Rook as she aimed out of the trench. "That should be the last of the snipers." She told us.

Peeking out, Pyrope then informed us, "looks like the raiders are fleeing." He then cringed. "Ya, the cruel joke isn't their friend."

Looking over myself, I saw two of the raiders entangled in the bramble, smoke coming out of one's every orifice as he screamed in pain. The other, a mare, bloated as though pregnant, her pained sobbings intertwined with madden laughter.

It was almost as though the vines demanded they keep up the fight, or face a cruel and slow death.

Seven remaining raiders watched in horror, unwilling to test their fate with the vines. One turned and ran in our direction, quickly followed by the others, terror in their eyes as they focused past us.

I aimed my Outlaw at them, easy targets, far too easy of targets. All the fight was out of them now, making this a murder, not a fight, but none can be allowed to escape. They could be cured, we have a cure, but the risk of them getting away before we could was too much. Anyways, they had turned raider, lost their minds, leaving them alone was too dangerous with or without the cruel joke inside of them.

So with the buttstock of my Outlaw resting on my shoulder, I press back on the trigger. With two sweeps of my gun, the seven raiders were ventilated before they could even reach us, hitting the ground and fertilizing it with their blood.

Smoke drifted out of the Outlaws barrale as heat radiated from it. And even through the ringing of my ears, I could tell that things had become quiet. "Is that all of them?" I asked.

Rook shook her head as she climbed out of the trench. "Just give me a moment."

Both Pyrope and I watched as Rook calmly held her breath and then fired at one of the seven, the raider letting out a gurgling cry of pain. "I've killed enough ponies to know how one falls when dead, and when one is faking their death.

Tapping on my pipbuck, I spoke into it, "I think we got most of em."

"Any red markers on your EFS?" Harp asked through my pipbuck.

Looking up at the compass on my hud, I saw several blue marks, they being Rook, Pyrope, and the smuggler. As I then turned to the town part of Tato Town, I saw three red marks. The two trapped raiders, and one more.

"One left, and she's among the bramble." I told Harp.

"Good, then let's just set it all on fire, with her inside." She said coldly.

But I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be that easy. "Not a good idea, who knows what trick that bitch has up her sleeves. Unlike the others here, she's actually smart, though clearly insane. I'll go in there myself and flush the bitch out."

"Are you sure about this, Star? What if the vines attack you?" Harp asked worriedly.

That was a fair point, but we might have an answer to it. "Hay Slowtrot, what does your pipbuck say about poison jokes? Like, can it do that thing to me again?"

"Lets see… says here that the poison joke, though can reinfect, there's at least a grace period of a few days before it can." Slowtrot answered.

A sigh then came from the radio. "Alright Star, but please get out if things turn bad, or even a little off."

I chuckled at that. "Hay now, I may not be that smart, but I know when to pull back from a bad fight."

Climbing out of the trench, I looked at the dangling vines that enwrapped Tato Town, the two suffering raiders dangling like a macab display. Why Warm Front was hiding I didn't know, but there was no doubt she was planning something. Maybe waiting for us to torch the place and hide in the smoke. There would be no way for any of us to catch her if she had cloud cover.

I turned back to the other two with me, giving them a wink. "I'm going to take care of Warm Front, you two stay here and keep an eye out."

"Just don't go all mad cannibal again, I hate to shoot the mare my son currently likes." Rook was half joking, but half dead serious.

Pyrope let out a laugh as he sat back. "Since you seem to be in a good mood, any chance you reconsider dancing for us?"

"Eat a dick." I told the bandit, but not with the same spite I had before. "But I'll think about it."

Trotting up to the town part of Tato Town, the two entrapped raiders were a nightmare carved onto the pony form. One raider's bones seem to have warped, poking out of their flesh painfully. The other was covered in cancerous growth, it having already popped out their eyes, and letting them dangle by the nerves. Both had the thorny vines wevi g i. And out of their flesh as beautiful blue flowers bloomed.

I drew my Cosmic Cutlass, and delivered a mercy kill on the raiders, along with cutting the vines out of my way. Whatever made this plant, they were the truest of evil that I ever knew. At least killing joke tend to kill you in the end, not have you suffer for as long as possible.

A sharp pain shot up my leg as a blue thorned bramble entangled itself around one of my fetlocks. It dug into me, gripping me with grate force that it caused me to wince in pain befor I cut myself free and kicked away the vine.

My blood splattered along the ground, and where it fell, vines lashed into it.

Taking a deep breath I moved further in, the vines now thick, far thicker than before that it dimmed the light. It was strange, as though I just entered a new world. One of a blue nightmare that consumed the light. Looking up, to my shock the vines were entangling each other, and bit by bit the light was being blocked out.

I turned back to run and get out of this trap, but found a wall of vines in my way. Using my cutlass, I easily broke through, the vines nothing more than wet paper to my blade, but still, I was trapped. More vines shot from all around, my eyes barely able to see as the darkness became all consuming.

"You…" the raspy and pained voice of Warm Front called out from all around. "You are strong, you will make a fine mare for my grandchildren."

I swung my cutlass, but only made the sound of it cutting the air. I was fucked, and didn't know were to go to get unducked.

The infected bitch laughed, which was followed by the sound of the vines shaking all around me. "Yes, you will be the vessel for my grandchildren's grand adventure!

There was no use panicking, I just needed a lucky shot, a good hit. My E.F.S. at least told me which direction she was, but not how close she was. So calming down, I concentrated, using my ears for the right moment. Yet all I could hear was the sound of the vines… and a clink.

My ears twitched as I heard a rattling, a very familiar rattling. It was of fluids and marbles from inside a metal container, a common sound from the Ruffled Feathers. Was Warm Front making herself a cocktail at this time?

Trotting to the sound, light slowly returned, where I was surprised to find myself at dingy open air bar, where a familiar bartender sat, shaking a drink.

"Lathi?" I said, confused as to why and how the old ghoul was even here.

"Good to see you again, Star. It feels like it's been over a year now, has it." She said as she then poured the drink into a glass.

"Over a month, ya. But the fuck, whats going on?" I asked as I trotted up to the bar.

"Just checking in on my favorit trouble maker." She then passed me the glass to me, the cloudy drink strongly smelled of juice and rum. "Try it, it's called The Dead Mares Kiss. Famous long ago among sailors about to head into great peril. Inspired by an ancient tradition in which a pony seeks the favor of the Goddesses of life and death."

I looked at the cloudy drink suspiciously. "Well, great peril can be what you call my current situation. "

Lathi chuckled in the way only a ghoul could, dry and gravily. "Oh, that ship sailed long ago. From the moment Victoria found you, your peaceful life was over."

Made sense to me. "And the drink, what magical brahminshit is in it?"

"Nothing of the sort." She said as she poured herself a little and drank it. "Just coconut juice mixed with pineapple, lemon, and line, then a rather strong rum. Well, most of it is rum, but the original, that was a drink to die for… mainly because it used poison with the rum."

Knocking back the drink itself, it was rather strong, the juices helping mask what was clearly gut rot rum. "Fuck this shit strong! But poison, the fuck why?"

Again Lathi chuckled. "The ancient ponies didn't fuck around with their drinks. A Test of bravery and all. Though they stopped using the poison in the drink after it was used to kill a prominent Oracle."

Putting the glass down, I looked, Lathi, in her nonexistent eyes, only seeing the light of a cold blue flame. "Okay, this is getting too weird for me. What exactly are you, and how are you even here?"

She picked up the now empty glass and began cleaning it with a dirty rag. "None of that is important, but to give you an answer, I'm not actually here, and nor are you. It's best not to ask too many questions, or risk drawing the attention of those who are best left forgotten. But as to why we were talking, it's rather simple. Well not simple at all, but knowing why that will require too many questions. So let's just say that you're now mentally and physically ready to accept something you always had, but never understood."

"What? That doesn't make sense?" I snarled.

But Lathi shrugged and told me, "it's not meant to, Star. Magic is like that. From how eather ponies are connected to the world itself, the pegasus the sky, and unicorns with magic. Though you wouldn't know that with how your connection is with the water, having lived in such a dry place, and under the hoof of the evil eye. Though, in part, that too had always been in you."

This was starting to make my head hurt, "I still don't understand?"

"Then maybe you should read a book, you know, the one you've kept with you ever since Prism Paint whisked you away." She told me with a disturbing smile, then reached out her hoof. In it was a brass ring with a lens in the middle. "It's high tide I give you this back. I do not know how Setting Sun managed to break the Oracle's Eye, but as promised, it is fixed, and yours once more."

I recognized it, the gift my father gave to me, and on it, engraved in very old ponish, was my name. "H… how?" I asked Lathi.

But I found myself back in Tato Town, surrounded by cruel joke. Strangely I could see now, even though it was still dark around me, my eyes seem to easily taking what little lite was available. I was also standing in a large circle of mushrooms, in which any cruel joke vine that entered seemed to turn into a pink pokodotted plant vine.

"A bit early, but happy birthday Star. May you live long and when your time comes, you can embrace death as a friend." Lathi's cold voice was like the wind, brezing past me and into the distance.

Looking at my own hoof, the brass nautical map lens was real, heavy in my hoof. Still unsure of my own sanity, I pressed the lens up to my eye, looking through it.

The world warped through the lens, and strange lights could be seen flickering as the world came into focus, if a bit blurry.Then I saw them, hoofprints, glowing with a light that wisped up into the wind. My own were red, with some blue and green in it. Another set was pail, colorless, and broken. But one, a warm looking orange, it had harsh lines of blue twisting all through it, jagged just like the cruel joke.

Following what I suspected was Warm Front's hoof prints, they then went up, the prints suspended in the air.

Putting the Oracle's Eye down, I looked at where the hoof prints had run too, but saw nothing but a tangle of cruel joke. My E.F.S. told me that she was in the direction I was looking, but not where she was exactly. Lifting the lens to my eye again, there I saw her outline, the mare looking right at me.

Knowing what came next, I put the lens into a pocket of my vest, and pulled up my Outlaw. She was expecting me to trot around the mess of vines to find her, opening myself for an ambush, but that wasn't going to happen.

As my Outlaw let out a long burst of 10mm bullets, Warm Front came charging out screaming, two rusty knives strapped to her front hooves.

She was riddled with holes, but it hadn't slowed her down at all. The two knives buried themselves into my legs as my magazine ran dry. But fortunately for me, Warm Front wasn't that strong, and the knives didn't go deep. Headbutting the bitch, knocking the shocked bitch back.

Checking myself, the cuts were far from superficial, but nothing major was hit, so I was still good.

"You!" The bitch screeched. Despite having way too many holes in her, she was barely bleeding. And to my own shock, from each hole a blue thorn would then emerge. "My children have accepted you! You will bear me grandchildren within your womb!"

I rolled my eyes at the mad mare. "Get in fucking line bitch. I know of at least seven stallions who wanted to impregnate me, three who tried, and one other pegasus bitch that wants the same as you!"

Actual shock then came across her face as she seemed to have a moment of clarity. "Wait, you mean rape? That's horrible!"

The thorns in Warm Front then grew, causing the mare to groan in pain. "Yes, I mustn't forget. My children, they need to grow!"

Don't know why she ended up indebted to Quicktrot, but I could understand that what she became was not her choice, and she was already beyond salvation. All that was left was to put her out of her mercy.

So again I drew my cutlass and charged.

Charging herself, Warm Front attempted to block me with one of her knives, and attack with the other. But my cutlass was no ordinary metal, but was a Mithril alloy, and cut through her scrap iron like it was nothing, taking the hoof with it.

Losing her balance and crashing into the mud, Warm Front screamed as she looked at her now missing hoof. But the screaming quickly stopped as vines crept out of the stump, forming a blue thorned hoof.

She then charged again, screeching with madness. Her movements had no skill, no forethought, just a bloodlust to hold me down and let her vines violate me. But my cosmic cutlass cut through her like it cut through the vines.

Another leg here, a wing there, half her face. She was quickly becoming more cruel joke then pony… maybe she was already that far gone, and I was just cutting off a skin suit.

But one thing was clear, she wasn't dieing. And if this kept going, I would eventually fuck up, and shed get what she wanted. But she was getting more and more primal, probably because half her face went flying off. So where my own skills failed, I did have one thing to fall back onto.

My friends.

"You know what, bitch, I've had enough of this, you and your bastard child can go rot, goodbye!" I mocking said befor running off, using my E.F.S. to point me towards my friends.

Warm Front let out a scream that was barely pony like anymore and chased after me.

Using my cutlass to burst out through a clump of blue bramble vines, my eyes winced as I finally found myself back in the open field of dead Tato trees, where Rook and Pyrope waited. "Don't get close to the bitch, she's a trotting cruel joke bush!" I yelled out the warning.

As soon as the plant infested mare burst out herself, she was shot several times by Rook and Pyrope, but it didn't even slow down.

The mad mare was still focused on me, which I wanted. "I bet your children can't even read!" I continued to mock her as I jumped over a trench.

I could see it, the Smuggler as it drove closer, Harp at the Aeternus. Jumping the second trench, Warm Front screeched as she still followed. My lungs were now starting to burn as I ran as hard as possible, doing my best to stay ahead of the bitch.

Jumping the last trench, I could see Harps face fill with horror at whatever was behind me. Slowtrot too as he began driving the Smuggler in reverse. Jumping onto the hood of the smuggler, and hopping over Slowtrot, I quickly climbed into the gunners nest and pushed Harp back.

"Thanks-for-coming, now-I-got-a-bitch-to-kill." I said quickly as I took hold of the Aeternus. Now looking back at Warm Front, I even froze in shock. The vines were bursting out her back and had formed two large wings, which she used to take flight, of which she was now diving bombing at us.

Time then slowed to a crawl as the S.A.T.S. of my pipbuck activated without my input, bathing everything in a digital green. Warm Front had nearly reached me, and I would not have been able to get a shot off as I had hoped. Not without help that is.

A little icon appeared over Warm Front, it being Harp's cutie-mark, and painted the bitch in red. Harp had known there was no time and activated our linked S.A.T.S. forcing Harp, Slowtrot, and I into this slowed state of time. Using her ability to ping commands, both Slowtrot and I followed Harps instructions, which for me was simple. Kill the bitch!

Time started to reassert itself, and I felt the smuggler lurch to the side as Slowtrot sharply turned the vehicle, which gave us enough space for Warm Front to miss her attack. From Harp, power then coursed through me and into the Aeternus, the cylinder housing the three beam talismans glowing brighter than ever as I aimed it at Warm Front.

Like many thorn tentacles, the vines whipped around from the pegasus's body, latching onto the ground and pulling with tension before launching her in my direction. Like a screaching monster from a night terror, she flew with her mouth open wide, all her teeth replaced by blue thorns.

I pulled the trigger, and it was like a pink sun had been born. The Aeternus blasted faster and brighter then any weapon I had ever seen before, acting more like a magical gatling cannon then what it actually was. Then as almost as soon as it started, the Aeternus went dark, the sound of shattered talismans rattling inside the case that housed it.

Warm Front was nowhere to be seen, only the smell of burnt fur and plant matter lingering in the air.

I checked my E.F.S. and even pulled out my lens, but nothing was to be found.

"Sh… should I say it? I rather not jinx it." I asked, still unsure if we had killed her.

An exhausted looking Harp took a moment to catch her breath, breathing in deeply, then letting out a quivering breath. "Y…ya, I don't feel the magic that thing was giving off any more… the fuck was it anyways?"

"That was Warm Front." I told her. "By the way, I think we overdid it. The Aeternus is dead."

She nodded. "S… sorry. I might have gotten freaked out and threw all I had at her."

I let out a chuckle, "ya, you and me both. But what are we going to do with the Aeternus now?"

Harp put her hoof to it, and some power returned, but no pink glow came from it. "I think it's still fine on the inside, we just need some new beam talismans."

"Easier said than done. MEW's didn't become less scared after the enclave fel, yaknow." I informed my friends.

"I know." Harp said, spounding down.

"Hay! Look at this!" Slowtrot called out, holding a rusty, and now burnt pipbuck 3000.

Both Harp and I jumped out of the Smuggler and quickly joined Slowtrot. Up close, the pipbuck was in even worst condition then I had thought. A cracked screen, partially melted metal, two buttons had gone missing.

"Stable-Tec built everything to last." Slowtrot said as he passed it over to Harp. "But they clearly didn't anticipate you."

For a moment, Harp looked a bit embarrassed, but then focused on the pipbuck herself. "Well I am of royal blood, so my magic is a bit more potent." She then pulled out a cable, plugging the damaged pipbuck into her own. "Order, can you recover where this pipbuck has been?"

"Sorry Lady Harp, this pipbuck is empty." Order spoke through her pipbuck.

"Empty as in damaged? Even so, something should still be in there?" Harp further asked.

Her pipbuck screen flashed a big "X" on it. "No lady Harp, empty as erased. The spell matrix has been wiped, and the circuits overloaded. And no, none from your attack, you only managed to damage the outer casing of the pipbuck."

Harp let out an annoyed sigh as she tossed the dead pipbuck away. "Ya know what, why don't we just call it a day, and get the fuck out of here." Her frustration was palatable, and I felt the same way.

"After we burn this place down, and get me and my son back to Amethyst Sands." Rook said as she joined us.

"Naturally." Harp responded. "Maybe even knock a tooth out of Lean Year's jaw. Been wanting to do that since we met at the Ruffled Feathers."

Rook raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did the two of you-"

"FUCK NO!" Both Harp and I said in unison.

"I mean, I just worked as a hostess for a short bit." Harp explained. "I didn't go near the brothel."

"Until that railway mare came through you mean." I said, giving Harp a light jab.

Rook looked rather confused for a short moment. "Oh, I thought you, ya know, had a thing for." She then tilted her head towards Pyrope, who only now was joining us.

"Say what now?" The bandit asked.

"Rook here thought that-" I began to explain, but Harp shoved her hoof in my mouth.

"Just talking about how to start burning this place down. With all the cruel joke and all, only Star can get close without getting messed up." Harp quickly told the bandit.

Pyrope looked back at Tato Town and nodded. "Ya, maybe start with the shed first, should have a lot of flammable supplies in there. Also, as my Pa would say, you don't want to know what's in another pony's shed, best burn it down or leave it be."

"Not sure it's the same, but my mother would say something similar about hidden rooms. Vaults are for treasure, hidden rooms are for secrets, and only one doesn't require your head on a pike to be returned." My friend said without a hint in her tone about the dark implications of it.

"My dad would just say, mind your own damn business." Slowtrot added.

I shrugged, unsure why we were talking about this anymore. "So about that fire?"

"Ya, if you could. Burn down the shed. It would start a good fire to help burn everything else down." Pyrope told me.

Looking at the blue bramble covered buildings, I couldn't help but feel a bit excited about burning down a whole town. And this time I'm doing it for a good cause then in teenage anger.

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Chapter 12, All in the Past, (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 12

All in the Past, (Part 1)

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Black smoke bellowed from Tato Town as we drove away. Pyrope was right to start with the town shed, as when it started to burn, it quickly exploded into a nasty fire the spread to the rest of town. The cruel joke didn't like that, but without infested ponies to protect it, the evil bramble was just shit out of luck.

Still, the plants did manage to knock me around a little, but it wasn't anything I couldn't recover from.

And so, along with the bodies, Tato Town was practically wiped off the map by righteous fire. There wasn't much we could do about the underground lab, other than put a danger sign in front of both entrances. From there, all we could hope for was that nopony trotted through here long enough for the jackalopes to eat any remaining cruel joke. Though Slowtrot was sure that once those rabbits ate everything here, they'd likely find their way to PC's farm. Not that it was our problem to deal with.

All that was left was to pick up Fort and Cavall, then head onto Amethyst Sands to finish all this braminshit.

"So, you're still going to hoof off your son to the Harvester family?" I then asked Rook.

The two of us were in the gunner's nest, making the space rather cramped.

The larger mare sighed. "I… don't know anymore." Pulling out a flask, she drank the last few drops of whatever booze she had in it. "I want him to have a better life… but I don't want to push him away."

Thinking back on my own life, both my memories of Prism Paint and of Setting Sun, things were becoming more clear to me. Prism confused me for so long, yet I clinged to her so desperately for the smallest amount of affection, though I pretend to not want it. Same for Victoria, who had accepted me into her family, yet I left Victoria for Prism. Maybe all I wanted was a mother, and attached myself to anypony that could fill that role.

"I think… What he needs the most is his mother. I know that's what I needed." A small smile then crept o to my face as I remembered Hardballer, and how that old griffin went out of his way to help set me straight. He said it was only for his grandchild, yet he always made time for me when I needed somepony to knock some sense into me. "Probably a father too."

"Well that's not happening." Rook said, likely referring to Fort's rapist father.

"No shit. I ain't talking about any stallion, just one who can help him become a good pony." I told Rook. "You see, though my fillies daddy went and flew the coop, his own father stuck around, and I can't even count how much he helped me. Even now I know my Bridget is in good hooves… well claws. Her aunt and uncle are good griffins. So much so that I'm jealous of them."

Still looking at the smoke cloud coming from the town, Rook solemnly nodded. "Ya, I think I get what you're saying. But I'm already too old, too drained, and too filled with regrets. Also, look at that, this ain't the first town I helped depopulate and burn down. Not the first place I've seen fall to raiderdom, or the first time I had to mercy kill so many. Likely not going to be the last until somepony puts me out of my misery. Fort needs somepony better."

"And do you know anypony better?" I asked her.

Rook shrugged. "Some, maybe. Lots of old comrades who got pushed into the NCR after Redeye fell. Probably why nopony came after me when I killed the elders, they knew me, and knew my clan. But no clue if they would take him in."

"What about Keep?" I further asked.

But that question caused Rook to scrunch her nose and click her tongue. "As independent as Keep thinks she is, she's still her grandmother's loyal dog. If I hoof Fort over to Keep, she'll just take him right back to the clan."

I watched as Rook slumped over the railing, lettin her head hang. "I wish this wasteland would just die already, and end our suffering. Die and let a new Equestria be born."

I didn't understand what that last part was about, but the rest I guess I could understand. It be like leaving my Bridget in the care of the New Appaloosa towns folk, no guarantee they'll treat her right. Brass Cains is a good mare, but a heavy alcoholic. And Rusty Cleaver, such a loving mare, but as dumb as a sack of dicks. If I didn't have the Gunrunners to rely on, I'm sure Bridget would be here with me, indanger, and I'd hate myself for it.

Knowing that Bridget was with family, who loved and cared for her, it lessened the guilt I felt for having to leave her behind.

Still, I should have done better, I should have left with mom and Bridget sooner, I should have stayed out of trouble.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda.

Words only used when there's only regrets left to feel.

But all that was out of my hooves, and most of it was done without my choice involved. Ashy Oakes chose to become the very thing she hated, throwing her justice in the mud for the sake of hate. Victoria had always been vicious, cunning, and manipulative. It just took me telling her "no" to fully realize the monster I idolized.

What I should do is push forward and one day return to my Bridget, and have a new story to tell her.

I looked at Rook, who somehow had another flask out and was drinking from it. Life had not been kind to her, and it made her look far older then she was. Worse, I doubted she had more than a few years left to live, even if she did clean up her health.

"Then just stick with Fort." I finally said to Rook. "Make sure he can survive on his own, and then, I don't know, do mother and son stuff."

A single bitter laugh came from her. "Easier said than done."

"Everything is easier said than done." I huffed.

Rook looked at me for a long moment, and then slumped back down. "I'll… think about it."

The smuggler then bumped, and a crackle came through my pipbuck radio. "Almost at the trailer! Ummm us there meant to be smoke?" Slowtrot then asked.

Both Rook and I looked ahead, seeing a small pillar of smoke rising from the trailer. Pulling out my spyglass, the trailer came into focus.

"Hey, what do you see? Is Fort alright?" Rook asked desperately.

To my relief I saw him, sitting in the trailer and waving at us. On his head was the Jackalope, and next to him was Cavall. The smoke was coming from something near the trailer, and the closer we got, the more I could tell it was a body.

"It's alright, Fort is fine." I told everypony.

Having picked up the pace, Slowtrot got to the trailer in no time at all, of which Rook jumped out immediately to check on her son.

I on the other hoof looked at the body. From what was still intact, I could clearly see the spiked armor of a raider. But worse, though burnt up, I could see the creepy thorny vines of the cruel joke, having spread out from the dead raider.

"Caught me off guard." Fort then said as he looked at the smoldering corps. "But Cavall saved me, biting the raider and paralyzing him, letting me easily blast the fucker. But then those vines came out of his mouth, and tried to get me." He reached up and petted the jackalope. "Thumper here kept the vines in place as I grabbed the fire bomb and set the raider on fire."

Harp poked the smoldering corps with her rifle, looking unsure. "I hope this raider is just a fluke, but I have a feeling there are at least a few more out there. Possibly some left Tato Town long before we even arrived."

I trotted over to Cavall and gave him much deserved scratches. "Well I doubt we'll find them all, but at least the main infestation is gone."

Harp nodded. "We can at least warn the folks of Amethyst Sands about the cruel joke, and to burn any raider bodies they find."

Everpony then nodded in agreement.

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With everypony safe, and our trailer back, we managed to make it back to Amethyst Sand just as the sun began to get low. The town itself in the shadow of the mountain it sat under, making the place darker and quite gloomy.

"Is it just me or is it odd that this shadow is more comforting?" Rook asked. But after getting a shrug from all of us, she then sighed. "Probably just me. After living under the clouds all my life, the sun is… still odd to me."

"I get that a little." Pyrope said. "Sometimes I miss the glow. Home was a dead place, but it had its strange beauty in how the radiation would sparkle."

"As deadly as it is, there's nothing like the jungles of the Marewaii Islands." Harp added. "A paradise to behold."

I too added to the reminiscing. "It's been eleven, maybe twelve years, but the waters still call to me. Nothing but vast blue green, hauntingly terrifying, yet I want to return one day."

"Personally, I don't miss the old world all that much." Slowtrot said, getting a raised eyebrow from me. "Oh don't get me wrong, it was all good times if you weren't fighting in the war, until it was not. Everypony knew the end was coming, though almost all of us were in denial, and slowly we were all going crazy because of it." He then chuckled a little. "As bad as things are out here in the wasteland, that tension no longer exists, and we don't wait for the end to come."

"Don't forget that you'll have a wife soon." I reminded the stallion.

"That too, though I could do without the shotgun at my back." He added.

As we all had a good laugh, the smuggler rolled into Amethyst Sands. Overshadowed by the mountain, the town was lit up with many small lights powered by spark batteries. Though even without the lights, I could still see the townsfolk, or at least, their eyes.

Looking back at us were a shit ton of green glowing eyes, almost ghost like in appearance. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought this was a ghoul town. In which, technically it was, if what the waste ponies said about themselves were true.

"Hay, can your kind see in the dark?" I asked Pyrope.

Looking back at me with faintly glowing green eyes, he shrugged. "A little. Truthfully, we didn't even know about that until we had to deal with smooth coats. That and how much your kind can eat, all while being such picky eaters."

"Right, you told me about that." Harp said, and when I cocked an eyebrow at her, she explained. "Waste ponies don't have to eat as much as regular ponies to get by, and they can eat almost anything."

Pyrope then laughed. "Tricked my sister into eating radioactive sludge once, and it made her super hyper for a few days. Ma beat my flank raw for that one."

"That's because that slugs was for the whole community, ya igit!" Mayor Almandine shouted as she trotted up to the smuggler, her glowing eyes making her all the more intimidating. "I take it you went and dealt with the raiders then?"

Harp hopped out of the Smuggler and bowed at Almandine. "Yes, though more out of necessity and obligation. The raider problem was… far worse than imagined."

The mayor gave Harp an inquisitive look. "Well, let's take a seat in the bar, I at least owe all of you free drinks."

Harp then gave Pyrope and I a knowing look, which we nodded in confirmation. She then addressed the mayor again. "That would be best, Mayor Almandine, as we might have some bad news for you. Something we discovered about the mine, and I think you may be able to fill in what we don't know."

The diplomatic look on Almandine's face faded, and one of concern formed. "Pyrope." She said to her son coldly. "How bad?"

"Not sure, but a really bad and dangerous pony is involved if what these Desperado’s say is true." Pyrope said with a shrug.

"Right, then tell me what you know over some drinks, and maybe… maybe I'll share what I know."

So at the bar and over some watered down whiskey, Harp, Slowtrot and I shared what we knew about the situation and about Blue Skies. Though I had little to say due to my lack of experience with Blue Skies, so I mainly got to explain the cruel joke. All while Almandine listens carefully, taking great interest in Warm Fronts journal, and mentioning having found something in the old mines.

It helped that Harp saved the logs from the terminal.

Once we were done, Almandine took a long swig of her drink, and then pressed her hooves to the temple of her head. "Pink balloons, that must be the fucking Ministry of Moral."

"I agree, but what do they have in relation to the mines?" Harp asked.

Almandine avoided eye contact for a long moment, tapping her hoof on the table as she thought. "Since you're Desperados, that at least means you're not Steel Ranger or Enclave, right?"

"No, but the Desperados do have several ex-Enclave in their ranks." I answered.

Harp then cleared her throat, getting me to quiet down. "I'm guessing you're wondering if any of us have ties to the old Equestria government. And if we have any loyalties to it. I can guarantee you this, whatever your ancestors have done is none of our business. Were only concerned with preventing Quicktrot Fragment from gaining more power. Other than that, we are more interested in just getting on our way out of this valley."

Almandine nodded several times, more to herself then at Harp. "Right, makes sense, makes sense…" Taking another swig of her whiskey, and a deep breath, the Mayor then began to talk. "Well if this Quicktrot is after something under this mountain, then it's one of two things. Maybe both now that I think about it."

Plunging a hoof into a pocket of her jacket, Almandine then dropped several sparkling pebbles onto the table. "Well, the town is called Amethyst Sands for a reason. It used to be a major mine for high grade Amethyst, good for making spell matrixes and industrial strength talismans."

"And let me guess, you supplied the gems for the military?" Slowtrot asked.

But Almandine shook her head. "No, sadly the mine dried up before the development of magical energy weapons. There's a reason why most energy weapons shoot pink or green magic. By the time MEW's came into development, the two common high grade gemstones available for talismans were rose quartzite and emeralds."

"I'm guessing the mine was not as dried up as everypony thought then?" Harp then said.

"Exactly." Almandine said with mild excitement. "Our ancestors, the last remaining Equestria branch of Surmount Mining Unlimited, had discovered an amethyst vein while expanding the mine for resale. And quality gemstones too, enough to make my ancestors rich.!"

I had a feeling their was one big "but" coming, and on the look of Harp's face, she thought so too.

Almandine continued. "So my ancestors call the main branch to tell them about it."

"Wait, you said the last remaining Equestria branch. Wouldn't Equestria have been where the main branch was?" Harp asked.

Taking a deep breath, Almandine let out a long sigh. "Ya, that was the thing. SMU was founded in Equestria, and fueled this nation's industrial revolution with its coal and iron mining. It's why almost all the Stables are built in our old mines, because we dug most of them. And things would have stayed like that, but then the Ministry's were formed."

Harp nodded. "Yes, I think I know what likely happened. My own ancestor wrote about the Ministry's formation under Luna. She liked the six Ministry mares, but felt that it may have been better if it was one Ministry, not six. As they worked best together as the elements of harmony then separated. Mainly that they would have regulated their own eccentricities as a team. Also they could have helped Luna with the stress of her sister's withdrawal from society. But separated, they could do none of that."

Almandine looked at Harp with a curious staire, then shrugged. "Your ancestors must have been really connected to have that kind of opinion. But with the Ministry Six aside, the ministries themselves had become a big problem for a lot of the old companies. With how they wanted almost all corporations to highered ministry loyalists onto their boards and as CEO's. It… drove SMU out of Equestria. So when they called the main branch, it became… complicated. I'm guessing you know of the company Four Stars, right."

Neither Slowtrot, nore Harp seem to know of the company, so I answered. "It's a transit company in Manehattan. The Lightbringer had gone to its main office and found several zebra relics, including the enchanted zebra rifle she used." I pulled up my Nightstalker's Regard. "Likely simulator to this envenomed automatic pistol, but with fire."

I got a nod from Almandine. "Yes, I read the book of the lightbringer too, and it's heavily suggested that Four Stars was working with the Zebra Empire… and so was SMU."

I rolled my eyes, as Slowtrot gasped, and Harp kept a straight face.

Almandine then continued. "The main branch saw the discovery of the Amethyst vein as a major opportunity, and told my ancestors to stay quiet and sell the tunnel rights to Four Stars. Have it be part of a new underrail system connecting east and west Equestria together. She wasn't sure, but it was something to do with the metro systems built over on the Marewaii Islands. Of which the main branch was a bit worried about, and they wanted to get in on that game. Or at least that was the excuse. So they started working with Four Stars, both making the new tunnel, and using it as a stash for things they didn't want the ministries to know they were moving around."

"Things that are still inside the mine I guess?" Harp asked.

Nervously chuckling to herself, Almandine nodded in confirmation. "Ya, though we're not sure exactly what's in there, as my ancestors wanted as much deniability as possible. It's why when the Ministry of Moral raided the mine, the Four Stars ponies ended up dead, and my ancestors were just taken into custody for questioning… then the bombs dropped."

"So were the descendants of traitors!" Pyrope said coldly, "and in that mine is the proof of it!"

Almandine gave her son a cold stair. "Were traitors to nopony, boy, and sealed under this mountain is our fortune, by right of blood!"

"Tainted blood." Pyrope said back.

"May I remind you, Equestria turned its back on us first. And what did those fools make of the nation our ancestors literally built for then. All blown to ruins, and covered in poisoned ashes!" Almandine shot back at her son.

"Excuse me," Harp spoke up, "but what do you mean by, seald?"

Returning her attention to Harp, Almandine then explained. "In the most literal sense, just that. Part of the mountain is magically sealed off by some pink bubble, surrounding the way to the vein and whatever Four Stars had left inside. We tried to dig around it, but… it was no use. There's a way past it, I know for sure, but it hasn't been found yet. So all we can do is hold onto this land until a way through is found."

"A zone of denile bubble." Harp said knowingly. "Makes sense if it was the ministries that sealed it. It's a minor type of megaspell that locks an area off to all but those with the correct genetic code."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Genetics, why not a bloody key?"

"Keys can be stolen or copied." Harp answered. "No, you would have to be of the decent of a whitelisted pony to get in."

A concerned look crossed Almandine's face. "Wait, you know how that damned bubble works!"

Harp nodded. "I've studied magic extensively, though I can't cast magic myself. But as I said, the zone of denile bubble is designed to only let a select few through, and knowledge of how it works was kept as state secret."

"And how do you know about it, if it was such a secret?" Almandine asked.

"My family were once quite high up in canterlot nobility before the bombs dropped. And they made sure all of us were properly educated, even if one of us was a bastard." Harp admitted with a bit of shame.

Almandine then sighed. "Great, so the key is a pony, but how do we even know where to look for them?"

"Well starting from the top, the ponies on the white list would be the princess, the Ministry Mares and their next in line, high ranking military officials, then any member of the Equestria royal family. And any pony who has their blood would be able to pass." Harp explained.

This did not fill Almandine with hope. "Well thats fucking great, where am I going to fined anypony like that? Well, other than that Velvet Remedy bitch, but that's like inviting the NCR up my ass." After taking another deep breath and long sigh, Almandine looked at Harp with softer eyes. "Still, if what you say is true, then at least we know what we're looking for. I can finally tell my husband to stop digging up ruins and come home."

"Oh, I don't think he's going to want to come back soon, Pa has taken a shine yo digging up those ruins he found." Pyrope said with a chuckle.

Almandine groaned and finished off her drink. "Sounds like that asshole. Well, y'all got your answer, and gave one to us in return. But I think it's time we turn in for the night. I got a lot to think about, along with gathering ponies to go burn those raider bodies we dumped, but that can wait till sunrise."

With a groan, Almandine pushed herself out of her chair and cracked her neck. "Oh, Pyrope, go and let the guards know about the raider situation, and bring them some drinks too."

"Right, right." Pyrope said as he too pushed himself out, then told us. "You probably should stay the night here, we have a few bedrooms in the back of the bar you can borrow."

"We'll take you up on that offer." Harp said, giving Pyrope a warm smile.

As soon as they were gone, and most ponies in here had returned to their own business, I gave Harp a questioning glare.

She rolled her eyes back at me and whispered. "Hay, I didn't want to come here in the first place! No way am I opening up Pandora's box for them when it can easily be left well enough alone."

Slowtrot then sighed. "I have to agree with her on this. I doubt Quicktrot can get in herself, so it's best if we just leave it be."

I don't know why, but the idea of just leaving buried treasure behind felt just… wrong. But I was outvoted, and they had a point. This was something that can just be left alone. "Fine, I understand. We get moving in the morning, and leave this mess for the locals to deal with. But what about Lean Year? "

"Fuck em." Harp said crudely "The stallion is a sleazeball. Anyways, the issue isn't the bounty, it's the ponies who'll come looking to take revenge for Ashy Oakes. If she was as well known and respected as everypony says she was, I have no doubt somepony will come for our heads, bounty or no bounty."

Now that she mentioned it, I had to agree. Despite how civilized the NCR portrays itself, most ponies still fall back on wasteland justice. The hidden graveyard in New Appaloosa was a testament to that.

"At least we're safe from any Talon mercenary being sent after us." I said with a sigh.

It was the one silver lining in all this, since Hardballer was a master gunsmith, he was well respected by the Talons. So Ashy's murder of him, and then covering it up would not be seen well among the griffins. It wasn't hard to imagine that if we were not forced to fight her, a Talon might have killed Ashy later on.

Both Harp and I looked at Slowtrot, who was looking rather down, and we knew why. "It not your fault." Harp tried to comfort the oaf.

Slowtrot just rubbed his leg nervously, just staring at his half finished drink. "It Doesn't change the fact that it was my gun that killed Hardballer, and I was the one to kill Ashy. Frankly, most of this is my fault, even Dead Axle's condition can be thrown at my hooves. And then Live Axle being forced to marry me, I can't help but wonder how much she despises me for it. Most of all this wouldn't have happened if I just took Quicktrotxs offer and left for Applewood. "

"Hay now, you're not the one who pulled a gun on the deputy, or turned the town against yourself by embarrassing the mayor." Harp explained.

I knew where this was going, and I really didn't want to see a depressing pity party spiral. "Both of you, just shut up already. New Appaloosa was just another wasteland town with wasteland problems. But it did its damndest to pretend it was above all that. Unlike those uppity uptowners, you two didn't pretend that everything was okay. I mean, without you Slowtrot, the cut chem problem would not have been exposed. But what did Ashy do when you warned her about it, she gave you a black eye. And you, Harp, Deputy False Cap had been extorting everypony for years, and Ashy just let him do it, since to her, we downtowners were nothing but criminals that deserved to be exploited."

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. "Trust me on this, as bad as things got back there, you both still chose to help others. So why don't we get some rest, and finish what we came out here for."

After a short moment, Harp gave a nod. "Ya, and now that I think about it, there's a chance the ponies here may have some gemstones we could use. Even if it's on the smaller side, and uncut, they could still be used to replace the beam talismans we lost."

"I should make more of that cure and check on everypony's health. Who knows how many are infected" Slowtrot added.

Good, their heads were in a more positive place now. Seeing them get all mopy just made me feel uncomfortable. "I guess in the morning I'll go check on Rook and Fort while you two are doing those things. At the very least we can say our goodbyes."

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Chapter 13, All in the Past, (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 13

All in the Past, (Part 2)

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"I'm surprised you're able to understand any of that." Prism said to me as she rested on a cloud.

It was weird, being so high in the sky like a pegasus, alway at risk of falling. But in these moments, Prism spread out her wings to give me more space to read Dead Reckoning's journal, and use his tools. It was pure luck that I had found them in Captain Blackpowder Blast's office, and even better luck that this Dead Reckoning had written instructions on how to use his tools.

"It's actually super easy." I told Prism, showing her a page. "He even drew it down all simple like."

The alicorn squinted her eyes, a bit confused, but understanding as he used her magic to flip through the jornal. "I'm afraid I can't read all that well, but even then, it looks like gibberish to me. Not to mention that a lot of the writing is covered up by ink. What does that top line here say?"

I looked at the page, a bit confused myself. To me it was in perfectly neat writing, though the cursive loops were a bit over done at some parts. And ya, much of the journal was blacked out, but the important bits were there.

"It says, to my darling daughter," the name of whoever this was addressed to had been stained in ink, as to hide the name. "I hope this finds you well. Unfortunately, It looks like I'll not be returning as promised, my own situation beyond recovery, and even if I do escape this place, they will come for me. So, I've had this book and my tools be delivered to you, and aid you in becoming a true sailor. I regret I couldn't be there for that, and that we only ever met once, but trust these words written in the ink of the kraken, I love you, and pray to the Goddesses you grow up to find happiness. Sincerely, your father, Dead Reckoning."

"How… tragic." Prism said, being all emotionally.

But I stayed stoic, as I was a buccaneer of the Blackwater, and a Corps Brigader, we did get all weepy so easily, or ever, like at all. "Well their loss is our gain." I said as I flipped the book to the instructions on how to use a sextant. "Right, time to find this Equestria place you told me about."

Prism sighed and smiled. "Right, we should move quickly. Who knows how long I'll last out here."

…

Waking up on the lumpy mattress the locals provided, Harp was snuggled up right next to me for warmth where as Slowtrot had chosen the floor.

Getting up, I trotted to my bag, opening it up and rummaging around the inside. In it we're all my navigation tools I took from the Blackwater. It was nostalgic, a reminder of where I came from, but now the meaning had all changed. Among them was a jornal; bound in red stained stingray leather, and the paper made from thick green hued parchment. Opening it, I saw the writing, it was a crisp pure black that was still sharp even today. Bup dotting the jornal was many deep blue specks smugging here and there, having faded over time.

If my memory serves me well, then the black ink is from a kraken, and is used in the holy books due to its magical quality. But the blue… I believed it was used for ship to ship communications, and only available to captains and higher ranked sailors, or those who were close to them.

My hoof then ran over the inked out name on the first page. Maybe I was deluding myself. Just having a wishful dream about a father I never knew, who loved me like my mother never did.

Pulling out the lens, I studied it. The Oracle's Eye, a magical lens my father gave me. Then I looked at Dead Reckoning's journal, the same name as my father. With a sigh I flipped through the jornal, looking for writing in blue ink, and finding curse words repeated over and over, vindictively. The kind of cursing I would have, and did use as a filly, yet I remember never liked reading these ones.

It was probably because I forced myself to forget, but now I recognized the harsh curves of the cursive blue lines. It was how Setting Sun wrote, and the cursing, it was how she described me all the time.

Flipping back to the first page, and placing the Oracle's Eye on the inked out name of Dead Reckoning daughter, it only further confirmed things to me. There it was, "Star Charter" written in black kraken ink.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding as the realization hit me all at once. I did have a father, he did love me, and I completely forgot he ever existed. Yet, somehow, in some way, he was able to find me again.

Flipping through the pages again, and reading where notes were left behind by both Dead Reckoning and Setting Sun. My father parted little bits of wisdom to me, and Setting Sun ranting about how the two of us ruined her life.

She truly hated me, to the point she inked out every mention of my name or who I was. And as I flipped through the jornal, I found one message Setting Sun left that caused me to freeze in place. A date, and that it was the most disappointing day in her life. The day I was born, and as just an ordinary earth pony.

I then checked my pipbuck, and let out a laugh. It was the same day. For the first time in my life I knew my own birthday, and I had just turned twenty three years old.

Holding the Oracle's Eye, I cracked a smile, and began properly reading my fathers journal. Catharsis washed over me with each page, and something that felt missing inside of me was filled, if only a little.

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With the morning came busy ponies entering the mine, or shifting through the dug up dirt for gemstones. They were an efficient lot, even if most of them actively drank whiskey grog as they worked. But before we could get to wrapping up our stay here, we joined Almandine, Pyrope and Rook in checking the body pit outside of town.

Though most ponies did bury the dead of even raiders, it didn't surprise me that they had just left the corpses in a pit to rot. Not everypony cared enough or has the time to dig individual holes in the ground. Much less expect a bandit clan to give a damn about outsiders.

That said, proper graves did prevent wild animals from getting too close to a settlement, and would have prevented the fucked up seen I was now looking at. In the body pit was a tangled bush of blue brambles, of which had several buds ready to bloom. Entangled in the cruel joke was at least three vulchers and two night stalkers, of which, one of the snake dogs was still alive and whimpering.

"Well, that plant certainly works fast." Rook said with a sigh.

"Probably because of the nutrient rich soil… since you just dump bodies and waste here." Harp added.

A rather annoyed Almandine clicked her tongue as she trotted around the body pit, keeping her distances. "Fuck, I still wasn't a hundred percent sure of your story about this plant. But here we are. The damn thing is growing out of the raiders corps. And you say it's infectious?"

Harp nodded. "It's a strain of cruel joke that grows under the skin, though were still unsure exactly how it spreads, only that it dise."

"And you're a hundred percent sure this cure works?" Almandine then asked.

"Yes, we've taken it ourselves, as we told you." Then she pointed to Slowtrot. "And he can check everypony too, just so that we know for sure."

Slowtrot nodded as he lifted up on his pipbuck. "Slowtrot then showed Pyrope his pipbuck. "This thing has a medical scanner spell built in. It lets me check on the health of others, and what medicine they might need. Speaking of which, I already have the cure ready to brew, and there should be enough for everypony."

Almandine also trotted over, grabbing Slowtrot's pipbuck. "If that's true, then I'll gladly accept it. Though we don't have much to pay you for it."

"Actually," Harp spoke up as she joined us. "We were hoping you might have some weapons grade gemstones available, even some lower grade ones would help."

"Well, we still owe you for taking out those raiders. So I'll see if any of our miners have found anything good while you make sure they ain't dying of anything." Almandine said with a smile.

As I watched my friends and the mayor trot off, Rook and I turned our attention to the body pit. Where Rook then drew her revolver and put the nightstalker out of its misery.

"Shame to let good meat go to waist, but I got a feeling it's a bad idea to put anything in their nere our mouths." Rook said as she took out her lighter and a torch, lighting the stick on fire. "Have you ever heard of the raider sickness over in hoofington?"

I vaguely remember hearing about that. "Maybe. Is it the thing that turns you into cannibals?"

Rook nodded. "Supposedly you get it from tainted food, mainly anting with their spit or blood on it. Though for most of the victims, they get iinfected from getting raped by them. A double dipping of fucked up. Well whatever it is then rots your brain, making you hungry, violent, horny, and unable to stop laughing. Also, whatever the sickness is, other than using fire on it, tends to stick around for a long time. Makes any place an infected raider has been staying at, a breeding ground for more of them. A burn everything to the ground, even the victims situation."

Looking at the tangle of vines, I could see the comparison. If we didn't have a cure for this cruel joke, how many of us would then need to be put down. Both fore our own mercy, and the safety of others. Worse, how would we even have known if we were if it wasn't for our pipbucks. It's a harrowing thought to be sure. "Sounds like you dealt with it before."

Again Rook nodded. "That sick town I killed off, they were good folk. Real good folk." She then spat on the ground with disgust on her face. "Some mad raider took one of their foals, a sweet kid… and did terrible things to him. I helped them get the kid back, and lynched that bastard for what he did. Didn't stop laughing or trying to bite us until his neck snapped. We should have known something was mighty wrong then and their, but raider sickness was something that happened in places not here."

She took a deep breath as a few locals returned with a few buckets. The smell of alcohol from them was considerably strong, and when Rook pulled out a cup, I wasn't surprised she dipped it in the concentrated booze and drank it.

What did surprise me was when she picked up the torch and spat the booze out above it. For a brief moment, she looked like a dragon breathing fire.

"Ya, this will do nicely." She told the locals as they then tossed the booze into the pit. "The Townes did their best to help the poor foal, knowing it would take him a long time to recover both mentally, and physically." She then tossed the torch in, and the cruel joke was set ablaze. "At the same time, all those who were bitten by the raider got sick, including myself. But were I was just bedridden for several days, the others… they became more active."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Wait, you were infected with the raider sickness?"

"Most certainly." She said as she pulled out two cigarettes, passing one to me. Using an ember from the air, she lit her cigarette, and she used it to light mine. "Fortunately, the ponies of my clan have poisonous blood, we even sweat poison. It was enough that the raider sickness was prevented from getting into my brain. Or at least that's what I guessed at the time. Well, by the time I recovered, it was too late for the town. The other infected had unknowing spread it to their lovers, their family, their friend, and any pony unlucky enough to be spat on. The colt spread it damn well everypony trying to help him from biting, spitting, and pissing all over. Then they spred it to everypony else"

"And then you killed them?" I further asked.

She shook her head. "Not at first no. Enough of them were fortunately not infected, and tried to quarantine the others. But I think my recovery might have doomed them, giving them hope where there should have been dispare. Made them stick around in and try and help cure their neighbors. So when the infected turned violent and moderately organized, most of the unifected were unprepared and not mentally ready to fight their friends and family. They didn't last long."

"But you did." I stated.

"They actually ignored me at first. Probably because I didn't flinch or revolt at the madness." She said with a shrug. "But when they did turn on me, they were still just townsfolk, not a trained killers like myself. So when it was clear they needed to all die, it wasn't hard to do. It wasn't even the first town I saw go mad like this. Though it was the worst. And I did bury them all… until help finally came."

"How would help, change things?" I had to ask.

Rook took a long drag of the cigarette and held it for a moment before smoke bellowed out of her mouth like train smoke. "Because the help was from the Followers of the Apocalypse, and they quickly identified what had actually happened. Turns out just leaving the bodies in the ground is like planting landmines. So I had to dig them all up and burn them along with the town."

"Oh… I'm so sorry." I said, realizing how horrible that must have been.

"No need. It was enough to really kick me in the ass and get me thinking about my life." The cigarette on her lips quickly turned to ash, and Rook then spat it out into the blazing fire. "Anyways, thanks to you and your friends, I won't have to do that again. The folk here may not be the nicest, but they're not entirely bad folk. Far better than my clan, I can tell you what."

"I'm glad too. Last thing I need on my shoulders is a dead town." I said with a smile, but then a question formed in my mind. "But did the Followers let you go, I mean that sickness, it must have been covering you?"

She let out a huff before saying, "they took me to the NCR in a sealed box, and then held me in a cell for a month. Where they made sure I was completely clean before letting me be free. Did all this testing, and shit to hope that they could make a cure or vaccine for the sickness."

She then kicked the dirt, further disgust on her face. "No, instead I learned my genetics are purposely resistant to that kind of sickness. It's not just that my blood is poisoned, but oddly shaped in a way that such sickness has a hard time moving though our bodies… which the only other ponies like that are all from Arbu."

That name was very familiar to me, it being the place the Lightbringer burnt down and slaughtered all the adults. The village of cannibals.

Rook looked me in the eyes and nodded. "Likely, if I had to guess. My ancestors were likely forced into cannibalism to survive, probably eating ghouls as well. At some point something like the raider sickness got into them, and the survivors would become the White Scorpions clan. A bunch of mutant cannibals that turned to mercenary work when their other food ran out, probably used mercenary work to get more of that food. Just turns my stomach knowing that such monstrocity runs through my blood."

"You might not be wrong about that, Rook." Keep sa8d as she trotted out, a sour look on her face. "Turns my stomach just knowing you're my mother."

"Ya, ya here to remind me about how bad of a mother I am." Rook huffed out.

Keep rolled her eyes at her mother. "Naturally, but I'm also here to take Fort back."

Both mares then shifted their stance in unison, ready to draw their muzzle trigger sidearms. It was rather eerie to see, with how much they looked alike, I might have thought they were the same pony, but with one younger and the other older.

Wind blew through the valley, kicking up embers around us. Rooks main and tail whipped around like scorpion tails, where Keep's fluttered like fire. Both mares remain unmoving, the killing intent so thick I could taste it.

"Ahem!" A stallion called out, getting the attention of the two mares. Moody Peddler then trotted in between them, putting on his best merchant smile. "Hey now, we're not here for a fight, so why don't the two of you relax."

"And if y'all are, I don't have a problem putting the two of ya down." Percussion Cap jo8nd us, two revolvers already out and pointed at the two mercenaries.

Slowly, but steadily, the tension faded, and both mares relaxed.

Then Rook spoke. "I may be a shit mother, but no way am I hoofing Fort to that hag. You got that!"

Keep clicked her tongue in irritation, "like you have the right, after what you did!"

"I'd do it again if it was possible, those old fools had it long coming and you better not deny it! Otherwise you would have raised yours with the clan, and not with that cradle robber." Rook said as turned back to town, and started trotting. "Now unless you have something better to tell me, ya'll best get talking."

The younger mare gritted her teeth, clearly frustrated. "You're always like this ya ornery bitch. Acting before you think, always solving problems with violence, and leaving messes behind for others to clean up."

Rook stopped for a moment, sneering at her own daughter. "Never once did I ever ask you to clean up after me. And have you ever thought that maybe those messes were best left a mess! That some things don't need fixing!"

"Like with Fort." Keep said coldly.

Rage flashed in Rook's eyes. "Yes like with Fort you dumb cunt! If you'd just left him with the Followers, he would have been happy, never knowing of the clan or myself. But no, you had to act as my mothers little lap dog and drag him to that shit show we call home. And what did you get for it? Probably then let the elders fuck ya." A cruel smile then formed on Rook's face. "I wonder how many of your kids are even your husbands. Which ones are as inbred as you!"

*BANG*

Keep had drawn her revolver so fast that it looked like a blur, but PC was faster, shooting Keep's gun out of her grip. "What the fuck did I say!" Percussion Cap growled.

Keep glared at PC, and then at her mother. "If not for them, I'd be throwing ya in that fire pit."

Rook rolled her eyes, giving off the feeling that she was more bored than annoyed at her daughter. "If I was that easy to kill, you would never have been born. Fuck, if I was that week, I'd kill myself. "

"I wish you would already, and put yourself out of our misery." Keep spat out.

"Enough!" Moody shouted, once more putting himself between the two mares. "I'm not going to ask you two to hug it out, or even forgive each other, but dammit, stop trying to kill each other every time you meet." He then glared at Keep and pointed at the town wall. "Honey, I'll talk with your mother, you go watch the kids. Okay?"

Keep slowly nodded and then picked up her gun before trotting off.

Moody let out a long sigh. "I swear, if I didn't love her so much, I'd stay as far away from her as possible."

"I'm amazed you're still alive after being with her." Rook said as she visibly became less tense."

He shrugged. "I developed a tolerance to her body fluids. Actually, I might be addicted to them."

Rook actually cringed at that. "You poor and stupied stallion."

"Stupid as I might be, I would rather be stupid and with her, then smart and without her." Moody said in all confidence.

Trotting over to them, I needed to figure something out before I became completely lost. "Alright, so can you explain to me what's going on. This was a rather fucked up family reunion if I have ever seen it. So there's got to be something going on?"

Moody took a deep breath as he took a meditation pose for several seconds. "Right, you're right. I wouldn't have let this reunion happen if it wasn't important." He then looked over at PC, who joined us. "And thanks for the save."

"Well it's bad for business if I let that idiot murder her own mother." Percussion Cap said with a sigh. "And right when we have good news for you."

Rook cocked an eyebrow, "like what, is my bitch mother finally dead?"

An awkward smile formed on Moody's face. "Well, ya. Your mother passed on a while back, and your clan is calling everpony back, including you."

She let out a laugh. "Fuck finaly, thought that bitch would never die. But why me, I'm a pariah. No fucking way they'd want me back. Anyways, my brother should be next in line to be elder, along with like five others. No reason to call everypony back."

"Well about that." Moody said nervously. "Their all dead."

"What! How?" Rook yelled in shock.

"Long story short, Spire and Belfry went on their own rampage, just like their mother." Moody told Rook with a serious glare.

"Who?" I asked.

Rook hoofed at the ground for a moment before letting out a huff and telling me. "They're my twins. But why would they do that?"

"Since you dropped away from your clan, you wouldn't know this, but Spire and Belfry never got along with their grandmother or the elders. The first chance they got, they ran off to stay with Keep and I. Lived with the Talons for a spell, and made their own path." Moody explained. "After what you did, they finally returned to help, but something happened between them and your mother. I don't know the details, but as of right now, your twins are leading your clan until they can find somepony to be elder. Among those who are seen as eligible, your one of them, Rook."

I watched as Rook seemingly lost her strength, slumping onto the ground. "Th… that's a terrible idea."

"Keep said the same thing, but the twins wouldn't budge on it. They want you back home, and want you to bring Fort."

"Well, I guess it's not all bad news. Right?" I said, still a bit lost.

Moody nodded. "As grim as it is, it's rather good news all considered. Though they weren't all bad folk, the elders of the White Scorpions were not all that stable in the head. A common issue most veteran mercenaries tend to have. It's why I insisted on never leaving my kids with them."

"But you left Fort with them!" Rook snapped.

"It was Keep's call, not mine. I wanted to leave him with the Followers, where he could get a proper education around ponies who care." Moody countered. "Anyways, that's all in the past, and we need to focus on the here and now. We can't make you come, but I implore you that you do. You don't even need to come with us, just take the train from New Appaloosa, the railway to your clan's home has been mostly restored by the NCR. It should be a relatively short and smooth trip."

Rook shook her head, "I… don't think I can. Since the day I gave my twins to my clan, I haven't seen them once. I'm no mother to them."

Moody let out a long and frustrated sigh. "Well despite how much blood covers your hooves, your lack of being a mother is far from your fault. And strangely, Spire and Belfry idolize you."

"What now?" Rook asked in bewilderment.

Shrugging and shaking his head, Moody then said. "You might not know much about them, but they know of you. Frankly, the two have always been on the rebellious side of your clan. Thought working with Redeye was a bad idea, of which your mother would hold you as an example… then you just up and vanish, leaving Fort in Redeye's school. Which turned into a big spit in the eye to your mother and clan. It actually caused many others of your clan to leave Redeye, agents your clans will. Oh and many years later you apper again, only to kill most of the elder and take your son back."

"None of that was for anypony but my own self delusion." Rook argued.

"But you still did it, and harrowing events followed in your wake. Face it Rook, to the White Scorpions, you're becoming a legend. And if you don't want that, then maybe you should go tell them yourself." Moody further explained.

A grimic formec of Rook's face, and then she spat at the ground. "I know you're baiting me, but… you're right. If my mom's not there, and only children are left to lead, then I at least need to make sure they're not leading the clan into the ground."

With a huff, Rook then trotted off, small embers following her.

Silence followed for a long moment, in which Moody and I watched Rook disappear past the walls. Then, I had to ask, "How much of any of that is even true?"

The slimy merchant smiled. "I may have stretched the truth here and there, embellished a few things."

"Like Rook becoming a legend?" I further asked.

"Well more infamous than anything, but the twins blamed their grandmother for that. They have always been smarter than the rest of their clan, and understood when somepony was feeding them brahminshit. Truthfully, they just want to know who their mother actually is, sort out the facts from the fiction you can say."

Right, that made more sense. "And what about Keep?"

"Oh, she fucking hates the idea." Moody said with a chuckle. "But it's more that Keep is repeatedly compared to her mother. When her grandmother died, Keep was more relieved then saddened. You see, she's alway been trying to get out of her mothers shadow, yet that old bitch would never let her, always reminding her to not become like Rook, that one mistake and she'd become just like her mother. But at the same time, compelling Keep to perform better then Rothento takes on more work than her mother."

"Wow, I don't know who's worse, my mother, or Rooks. Would being hated be better that being unloved?" I asked myself.

"Make my relationship with my mom sound downright pleasant." PC commented.

Moody shrugged again. "All I know is that I'll never let my kids feel that pain. Speaking of which, I should probably check up on them before my wife flips her lid again."

I cocked an eyebrow at that. "Okay, why?"

A chuckle escaped Moody's lips. "Oh, our kids love rankaling their mother's hankles, and the last time they met Rook, they found out nothing pisses off their mother more than wanting to be with grandma."

That sounded like a bomb ready to go off. "Ya, let's go before there's a shootout."

Moody trotted away with the tension of a father and husband who knew that he was the sane one in their family. Made me almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

"The more I learn about the White Scorpions, the more I'm reminded how fucked up the wasteland can truly be." Percussion Cap said in a disappointed toan. "Also makes me more grateful to my grandmother. Who knows how I'd turn out if she didn't step up to help raise me."

"Right, that whole raider shit." I said, remembering what her father was.

She nodded. "Ya… if Storm Rider wasn't who she was, I'd likely be just another raider, and probably dead too. It's why I don't blame my mother for being so distant with me, she never wanted a child in the first place. Or at least not in the way she got one."

Ya, I don't even know what I would do if I found myself in that situation. Bridget was a result of my own stupid decision, but I had put myself in that situation, not having it forced onto me. I also had mom to help guide me, keep me from making worse decisions.

And it's not like I didn't see examples of this all over the place in the wasteland. Brass Chains was an alcoholic because of how her son was conceived. Then all the abandoned foal's my mom helped the Followers find, and when their mother was located, it was the same story of how they refused to raise a raider foal. But there were also mares who still raised their foals with love, despite how they were conceived.

"The wasteland is truly a fucked up place." I said with a sigh.

"E'yep. And that's why we must not let it drag us down. Otherwise, how can it ever get better." PC said as she brushed off some ash off her jacket. "But enough on this depressing shit, let's get ourselves a drink."

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Chapter 14, Schemes and Grudges (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 14

Schemes and Grudges (Part 1)

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As predicted, four fouls were hanging around a rather baffled looking Rook, the oldest being 12, and the youngest 5. Keep's oldest foal, a fifteen year old colt, was hanging with his 14 year old uncle, which felt a bit awkward just thinking about it.

"Hey Coin Shot, I hope you're not planning to give your grandma too much trouble." Moody asked his oldest.

Coin Shot, who had his fathers coat and mothers mane, just shrugged. "I ain't planning on getting into that mess with Ma and Grams. I learned my lesson the last time."

"We're actually going over potential market shifts in the future." Fort then said. "With the drought incoming, not just water is going to become in high demand, but protecting it too. Mercenary work is going to be big business for keeping trade routes safe."

Coin nodded. "See, he gets it, Pa. We should invest in guns too. Not just water. I can already see some settlements going raider over water alone. Bad times ahead I just know it."

Fort also nodded. "Or over the idea of not having enough water. Ma has seen it several times, where just a rumor has turned communities into a pack of raiders. Desperation can make monsters out of anypony, as mom says."

Moody scratched his chin and smiled. "Ya I've speculated about that with other merchants, and we're all thinking the same thing. Fortunately, if you know were to look, there's a surplus of water merchant gear all around, since the Gardens of Equestria crashed the clean water market. Maybe it's time I finally get ya set up with your own cart, you're almost an adult anyways. But before that I gotta make sure your youngers are not about to start a war."

I watched as Moody trotted over to his other children, and in the distance, I could see a less than happy Keep.

"Aren't they afraid of pissing off your mother?" I asked Coin.

The teenager shrugged. "Ma's got problems, but she'd never hurt us without a good reason. Though she's likely going to chew out their ears later."

"I say it's worth it, seeing Ma flustered, you're grandmother I mean… damn this is a pain in the ass. It's like being back in the clan." Fort huffed.

Coin rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. You're not my only aunt or uncle that's younger than me. Then there's grandfather, now that's a mess."

I cocked an eyebrow, both curious, and dreading why his grandfather is a mess.

"Turns out, he's not Grandma's cousin, but uncle… a fucking pedo too. Glad Grams killed him, the fucker creeped me out like no other." He said with relief.

Something made me feel very concerned. "Don't tell me that he and your mother?"

Disgust formed on Coin's face and he shook his head. "N… no, not at all! Only good thing great grandma did, letting Ma and Pa run off together. Still, can't forgive the oldbitch for keeping him around. I think that's why Spire and Belfry joined up with a Talon company as soon as they could. Probably also why the Talons took them in too. Not the biggest secret amongst mercenary clans that the White Scorpions are on the messed up side of sane."

I let out a sigh. "Almost make me think my kin ain't as braminshit insane."

Coin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, what's their malfunction?"

I shrugged. "Been awhile, but I they are religious fanatics that believe killing nonbelievers is one way to save their souls. And the longer it takes to save the souls of all creatures in this world, the more soldiers that evil will claim to fight for them when the end times come. Though I have a feeling it's more an excuse to he a shitty pony then any kind of faith."

Both Fort and Coin cringed.

"Ya I know. Worse yet, they've recently been expanding into Equestria. I've told your father about them, so he can warn others about them." I explained.

"Star! Star!" The voice of Live Axle called out to me. The Desperado mare quickly trotting in her pink dress and Stable-Tec jacket, with her black vest proudly over the jacket. Skidding to a stop, she then gave Coin and Fort a wink. "I know these two are cute, but we may need your… talents, to resolve a situation.

Both Coin and I gagged at the situation, where Fort blushed, the cheeky colt.

"Right, right. Let's go." I said as I then followed Live away, and to the bar.

Inside was a croud of locals crowding around an annoyed looking Slowtrot.

"What do ya mean infected with a plant, ain't no way, ain't no how!" An older stallion in a rusted mining helmet argued. "I know it be a lie, using that contraption to, to milk us dry of our tabs!"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Slowtrot then told him. "Like I said before, it's not a lie and I don't want your soda can tabs. This pipbuck can scan your health, and it saids you got cruel joke inside of you. I'm not trying to trick or treat you, just take the poison joke medication and it should kill the plant."

The stallion huffed. "Bet it's snake oil, snake oil and chems. Planning to get me all addicted and crap. That's how you outsiders do it, we ain't going to fall for it like the others, am I right!" The other locals then cheered in agreement with the belligerent stallion.

It didn't take an arcano-tech technician to understand what was going on, and I needed to resolve it quickly before a lynch mob forms.

"Arrr ya bloody fools!" I shouted, my Blackwater accent coming in thick. "He's here t' save yer lives, nah fuckin' ruin it. If y'all any smarts, then listen t' 'im 'n take the medicine."

"Oh, and what does the whore kn-" the belligerent began to say, but I cut him off with my evil eye.

Entrapped with my eye's magic, I pushed the feeling of pain and fear, using the still fresh memories of Tato Town and the cruel joke bamble. The feeling of the thorns digging into me, the fight with the infested Warm Front, and seeing the malformed victims of the sadistic plant.

Closing my eyes, he and several others fell back, a slight quiver of fear in their faces. Even I was a bit taken aback, as the evil eye was only sapse to affect one pony at a time. And I wasn't sure how much they saw or even felt, the power of my evil eye was a mystery wich was clear that I needed to solve.

But I knew it had done its job, so wiping the blood from my eyes, I then told them. "Alright, so unless you like the idea of thorned vines bursting from your bodies and magicly mutilating your friends and family, I suggest you listen to the stallion. If not, then go to the damn body pit and see for yourself, there's a good reason it had to be set on fire."

"And didn't you say you're the one who moved the corpses?" Slowtrot asked the belligerent stallion.

Slowly, the stallion then nodded, and all the other locals backed away from him.

Things quickly calmed down, and the locals got in line, letting Slowtrot scan them, and report in their heath. The belligerent stallion slumped in a corner, sipping on his poison joke cure.

"Thank, Star, I knew you could get a bunch of idiots to see reason." Live Axle said as she gave me a hug.

I knew she was more touchy feely then her sister, but this was a bit more then normal. "You okay, Live?"

The ganger frowned at me. "Star, my sister is petrified in a near death state, and my mother has become more overbearing in hopes I give her grandchildren." She then scratched her leg nervously. "And maybe… being around those foals at the farm has… you know.

No, I don't know.

But I got the picture. "Let me guess, you want Slowtrot to finish up quickly, and dubbed tap on getting yourself pregnant."

Live's face flushed bright red in embarrassment. "Sh-shhhh! Not so loud!"

I still didn't see what she saw in him, but at least Slowtrot wasn't the kind of stallion to abandon a pregnant mare. Unfortunately I was still unsure any of us would even survive our journey. But putting tomorrow's problem away for tomorrow, I then patted Live on the shoulder. "Hay, it's no big deal. Just make me a bridesmare for your shotgun wedding, okay."

Live Axle nodded slowly, the red of her face slowly fading. Looking over at the groom, Slowtrot visibly shivered, which made me chuckle. "Anyways, if things have settled down here, I think I'll get moving. Make sure that bandit isn't bothering Harp too much."

"Strange," Live said, tilting her head at me. "From what I've been told, you're not the kind to wedgie yourself into another pony's love life."

I let out a sigh. "I.. I don't know myself. I think it might be everything that's going on, and has loosen a few screws loose in my brain. It's something I would rather not go over right now."

"I can feel ya. Everypony's been on edge and short tempered." Live said as she patted me on the shoulder with more strength than necessary. "Thanks to that bitch sheriff, we all lost somepony we care about. So don't go thinking you're all alone now. Remember, were all famly, and as family, we look after each other."

I gave her a weak smile. "Thanks. Knowing you Desperados, there's probably a few ponies with similar stories as mine."

She shrugged. "Maybe, though none of us were born into a clan of zealous pirates." Then with a little chuckle, Live Axle trotted off to Slowtrot, giving the stink eye to a local mare who was lingering a bit too long around him.

Before leaving, I went and grabbed a bottle of whisky, paying for it at a nice discount, and trotted back into the warm dry air of the wasteland.

Taking a sip from the bottle, I couldn't help but pull out the Oracle's Eye and admire it. It along with the rest of my fathers navigation gear and journal, all having found its way to me. It was likely magic, actually it probably was, but what kind of magic could do that? And why? I needed to properly read Dead Reckoning's journal to find out. Now that I had the Oracle's eye, I can properly read everything Setting Sun covered up.

I then twirled a lock of my mane around my hoof, only to find it strangely… moist? Nothing crazy like dripping water, but in this heat it should be dried out like everything else. Yet it glistened.

Actually, for a while now I wasn't feeling… right. The light seemed brighter than it should, my mane and tail resembled wet kelp, and I had been drinking water more often. Maybe an after effect of the cruel joke? It was something I needed to see Slowtrot about, have hem check if something was wrong with me.

"Good to see a doll who keeps up their looks." The smarmy voice of Lean Year spoke up from behind me. "Though it must be difficult in this dry heat."

Letting go of my mane, I turned to see the rat-like stallion, who was still in a size too big suit. "Well, when you work as an exotic dancer for several years, you learn a thing or two."

"ahh, yes. The Ruffled Feathers. I do miss seeing Cloudy Sunsets dance. She was certainly a beauty to behold. Not to say you're not, doll, but shes a good cut above you. No offense." He said as though it was a compliment.

"None taken. Cloudy was the most popular mare for a reason." The wind shifted and I neatly gagged as the smell of body odor and thick cologne hit my nose. "As for that deal." I struggled to say.

"Ya, it's scrapped." Lean Said, eyeing Moody's cart. "Piss poor timing and all that shit. Got word about the White Scorpions elder cooking it, a real shame that is. My mom and her got along quite well, which says a lot, as most ponies don't stand a candle to my mom. But if mom wanted it done before the bitch crocked, she should have sent me more workers. I'm the heir and that shit, but she has me stuck in this backwater, trying to figure out how to get the locals to see things our way. A waste of time I say."

I smiled a little. "Good news on that, all the raiders are dead. Including the cruel joke, if you knew anything about that."

Lean clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Figures, I was hoping to make back some of the losses by harvesting those damned plants."

"Really now, have you seen what they do to a pony? Their blue thorned nightmares for Goddesses sake!" I chastised the stallion.

But he didn't seem bothered at all. "Listen hear doll, I got a business to run, and nothing, and I mean nothing, is worse than being poor. You may like playing heroic wastelander, but it's ponies like me who save lives. I make business, and business gives ponies a job. Jobs that help them by the food and water to survive. Even a pea brain doll like yourself can understand this. So don't moralize me when I do far more good for the wasteland than anypony else out here."

Oh I wanted to rearrange his face.

But then he groaned. "That said, I'm not out here for free. Some may like to mingle with the locals, but that's below me. No, I got some important jackass wanting to see ya personally."

That… was unexpected. "Who the fuck wants to see me, and how the fuck do they even know I'm out here?"

"Listen doll, I don't know, I don't care. But they gave me some good NCR bills to bring ya back over to my trailer. All they said was that it has something to do with that singing doll on the raidio, vicky something."

"Victoria!" I said in shock.

"Ya, that's the name. Well, they're at my trailer if ya want to see em." He then shrugged. "Or not, I alredy got paid."

I nodded and grinned with glee. "Ya, If whoever it is knows something, I want to know what they know."

Lean then huffed. "Gees, ya singer fans are a cut above crazy."

_________________________________________________

Golden Harvest's campsite was just as run down as before, though somewhat more active with ponies moving things around. Maybe more ponies then last I saw, but then again I didn't see much last time.

"Finally leaving?" I asked Lean Year.

"A business partner of mine is taking over, so ya, I'm finally leaving this joint. Not much reason to stick around when there ain't no profit in it." He explained.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Business partner? What would they gain from being here?"

Lean groaned at me in annoyance. "Doll, it ain't my business to know their business. If they can turn a profit where I didn't, I'd rather keep em as partners and not stick my nose were it don't belong."

"Fair enough." I said, knowing that stallion's like him were only loose lipped when drunk.

Unfortunately, Lean Year's trailer was just as uncomfortable as before, with the smell of his pungent cologne just as strong. But on my side was a pony I didn't recognize, sitting in a way that shouted that she had better things to do then be here.

She was a gray unicorn in a black business suit that tightly fit her body, along with stockings on her lower legs and a choker. Her dark ashy mane covered one eye, and had bright red lipstick and eyeshadow gave her an alluring appearance. She was either a highly Sexule business mere, or a really professional prostitute, maybe both.

On one foreleg, and to my surprise, was a pipbuck, of which she tapped on before speaking. "You must me Star Charter, am I correct?" The mare said with a sultry voice, her one visible eye looking at me as though hungry.

"Y… ya, thats me." I stammered, felling a but caught off guard by such a mare.

She smiled, letter her gaze linger on me for a moment before speaking. "Good, I was worried I would be ignored for a moment their, or possibly tricked. I'm sure your busy at the moment, so lets get to the point."

"You mean Victoria, right?" I asked.

She nodded. "Hmmm, yes. The pirate mare. The spy."

I nodded, "So you know. Then why contact me?"

The mare shifted slightly, taking a more confident pose. "Because I believe you, and your friends will be useful in dealing with her. As you all have a vested interest in stopping whatever she has planned. Just as I do. Though unfortunately I'm in no position to be doing it myself. "

"Ya, I can understand that. But how do you know I'm even here, or well, my connection with Victoria?" I had to ask.

The mare chuckled. "Oh, that's not important. But what is important is that I need you, and your friends to do something first. A simple thing realy."

I wasn't liking this, it just felt too convenient, too… forced.

"Nothing is ever simple, miss?" I said, asking for her name.

"Oh but it is, and you can call me, Binary." Miss Binary said as she pulled out her hoof to me.

Shaking it, I looked at the hoof with suspicion, then noticed it, just bearly hidden under the suit and socks. Scars from cutting and infected needles injections, cracked hooves filled in by some kind of polish. Then I looked at her face, seeing the slight gauntness, and the dark bags under her eyes, hidden by thick makeup. Hidden under the makeup were cracked lips and scab marks.

And the smell, it was faint, nearly hidden behind the thick perfume, but it was there, the smell of rotting flesh.

I had it wrong, she wasn't professional anything, she was more like a back alley whore dressed up to look like a high end hooker. Yet her voice lacked that chem addicted stutter or instability. Her eyes were too sharp, not the eyes of a pony with their brain damaged by chem abuse. And her hoof… it was cold, far too cold.

Harp was right, it was time to go. Not now, but yesterday.

"Sorry, but were not interested, like at all." I told Binary.

But she latched onto my hoof with strength a thin mare like her shouldn't have. "Oh but I insist I miss Star Charter." She then pulled me in close, where I could smell the scent of death on her breath. "I mean, think of your daughter."

I then looked the bitch in the eyes, and growled out, "Wrong move!"

Using my evil eye again, but this time I pulled deeper from in myself. Pain and fear, hatred and dispare. I didn't know what this bitch wanted, but I wasn't going to let her just bring up my Bridget and get away with it.

"Well… shit." A ghostly mare said in the corner of my vision. She floated in mid air, wearing a lab coat that looked like it doubled as a straight jacket. Weirder yet, she looked like a unicorn mare version of Slowtrot. "I see that you also have those cursed eyes as well."

_________________________________________________

Everything had become hazy, and it was like I was looking at a lot of things at once. Almost as though my vision was fragmented and thrown in every direction.

I looked up at my uncaring mother, and two mares overlayed. One being the prostitute Setting Sun, who tried and failed to raise her station through Dead Reckoning, a talented navigator working with Flintlock Hoof, a ruthless admiral. But I also saw Thorn Redrum, the current ruler of Despoina, who saw only a tool looking back at her.

Looking around, it was all just as fragmented, as the underwater city Despoina overlapped with the city ship Blackwater. Yet it warped and fragmented even more, as Despoina was both a beautiful palace paithed in marble and lined with gold, yet also a dark, rusty, waterlogged place ready to fall apart.

"So this is the failure?" Thorn asked a pony in a white muzzle mask and two bone white horns.

The bicorn nodded. "Unfortunately the programming failed, or more likely her mind rejected it, a possible mutation."

Thorn didn't look impressed, putting more interest in her golden cybernetic hoof than in me. Her image shifts between a beautiful, almost Goddesses like mare, then becoming Setting Sun, and then a mare who resembled Victoria exactly, but older. "And I should care, why?"

"Well, she shows a heightened intelligence, not the degraded mimicry of the other little sisters. Maybe you can take this one in, as you've been looking for a pony that can work in your stead. What better pony than yourself?" The bicorn suggests

Disgust formed on Thorns face, showing off how deep her wrinkles got. "You dare say this mutant, this failed bicorn is me! I regret the day I used my own genetics to make them, and a day does not go by that I wish I could fix it." Thorn then snarled. "Dispose of this failure, and make sure to drain her blood before incinerating it. Can't let this mutation tainting any of the others."

I watched as she left, leaving me with the bicorn, strapped to a table. No not me, but who? And why did I have their memories?

"Sorry little one, it seems that your mother is in a foul mood today. Well, she's always in a foal mood." The bicorn then pulled a device with many jars and needles, which looked quite dirty. "But that's not my problem."

I screamed as one needle was jammed into me as the bicorn watched, his eyes seeming glowing in the dark. My blood drained, filling one of the jars. "Good, let's get all the ambrosia out of you. It's a shame we must destroy it, all the wonderful things I could do with that pure ambrosia. Still don't know why she doesn't take it herself, and regrow that lost leg. Or make herself young again. By the cold below, she could make herself a god, yet she cares more about that machine."

There were a few thuds, and then a now annoyed bicorn turned around. "You, you get out of here! You're not even supposed to be in this section of the labs!"

I screamed again, "DADDY!"

There was then a whirring sound, and then the sound of meat being grinded. The bicorn was then ripped in two and tossed like garbage, revealing a stallion in degraded heavy diving gear, yet it was golden shining armor, or was it a CChosen's paladins power armor?

He pulled me free, and I pulled the needle out of me. Grabbing the jar filled with my blood, I opened it and drank the conte. My eyes then focused on the dieing stallion, who was desperately pulling in his organs.

"Angels should be asleep!" My voice squeaked as I jumped over and bit his neck, draining him of the ambrosia in his blood.

The alarms then when off, and I looked over at the armored stallion with a drill. "Daddy, let's go, bad ponies are here."

He let out a deep bellowing grunt and let me on his back before stomping his way out. Passing by a window, I saw my blood covered reflection. No, not me, it was Victoria, small and looked just like Thorn.

…

My mind was no longer hazy, and I could think again. "wh… what the fuck?" I thought out.

"That I'd like to know." The not-Slowtrot said to me. She floated in pitch black darkness, the edges of her overly long mane and tail ending in fragmenting pieces. "I could only guess your evil eye and my… well, me, does not mix. Somehow dug up memories in the magic. Healing Herbs does remember Fluttersy telling something like that. A why they shouldn't mix different kinds of magic, as they have strange effects. On that, your evil eye is very similar to that of Fluttershy's own eye magic. Maybe I should keep you for experimentation?"

I struggle to move, but found that I had no body to move with. "What, what's going on, who are you?"

The not-Slowtrot laughed. "Oh, right, I guess this is our first time meeting." She floated to me, a wide unnatural smile on her face. "Name's Quicktrot Fragment, I'm sure you heard of me.

That… was not good.

"Oh good, you understand. Well, since I'm here, let's pick your brain. Since I can't do it through your pipbuck, this may be my only opportunity." Her grin wided, stretching past her own ears.

The darkness cracked, and fell away, revealing many things. I could see them, my memories. The day Bridget was born, when I got my cutie-mark after Prism took me away from the Blackwater, and how I stared down a black dragon… wait, that's not right.

"Okay… the fuck is this?" Quicktrot said as she looked at the memory.

Not just that, but others. All hazy, and clearly not of my own.

"My… name?" I heard my voice ask, though far younger. Looking at the memory, I was looking at myself as I held the Oracle's Eye… no, this was my fathers memory, but how.

"yes you're name. And if you become anything like me, this name will fit you perfectly." Dead Reckoning spoke with a deep and charming voice as he hugged the little me. "Your name will be Star Charter. May you always look up and find your way."

A claw burst from the memory of the dragon, shattering my fathers memory and causing Quicktrot to scream as she held a hoof over her eye, black smoke billowing from it. Then another memory formed, this time from behind Quicktrot and from the dragon's point of view. It looked down at a mare, blood covering half her face after getting slashed by the dragon, yet still glaring at it with fearless determination.

Her face, it was like my face, her mane just like mine, but she was all green, yet I could see myself in her, as her.

"Why do I remember it, whose memories is it? whose soul is that old!" Quicktrot screamed before she just went dead quiet.

her hoof dropped, revealing that half her face had fragmented, pased the fragments we pure darkness with one golden eye at its center. The golden eye looked at me with pure malice. "A… First… Born!" Quicktrot spoke coldly, slowly, and with a voice that radiated pure evil and hate.

Then the claw of the black dragon gripped the side of the memory, letting another grasp onto the other side, forcing it to open further. Sticking its head through, the black dragon towered over Quicktrot and looked down at me with its golden eyes.

I somehow found my legs, yet couldn't run. Only looked at the monster as it reached out for me. So I gritted my teeth, ready for the inevitable.

"No, not yet!" A voice called out. And from behind me a black armored mare ran out, two revolvers held high in blue flames, and no head to be found. "The dead must remain dead, so begon memory, begone you mear fragmented of what was!" Her voice came from nowhere, like a ghost. She then fired her revolvers, spraying the dragon with blue fire, and causing it to fall back into the memory.

The headless pony then pointed its gun at Quicktrot. "And you, wrath, wake up and remember nothing!" With another shot, Quicktrot's head burst into fragments, and the golden eye was destroyed. The fragmented darkness of memories then all shattered, leaving me in pure white. It was strange, I was alone again, and it felt cold, yet something about it was… warm.

And a song, I could remember a song I never heard before, yet I couldn't yet sing it. As though it was a spell not just yet ready to be cast.

_________________________________________________

Both Binary and I winced as we broke eye contact, and I drew my pistol and fired it into the mare. Blood splattered, but she didn't even flinch.

Binary rolled her eyes, more annoyed than hurt. "Well, this body was already rotting before I took it. So no loss here."

Her horn then glowed, and I got up to get the fuck out, but only to have a rag rapped around my muzzle.

"Just keep breathing it in, it will make things all the easier." She said as I struggled against her magic.

Quicktrot then appeared in my vision, more a green digital charter than a pony. "What ever the fuck that was, it dosn't change the plan. Though, now I need to be more bruteforce about it. But at least your power of friendship will get me what I want!" She then laughed as her form warped and my vision faded.

All I could think as my mind slipped, was how I again fucked up.

_________________________________________________

Chapter 15, Schemes and Grudges (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 15

Schemes and Grudges (Part 2)

_________________________________________________

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

_________________________________________________

Unsers lifesigns not detected . . .

Request immediate assistance. . .

Unable to connect to the pipbuck network . . .

System failure, Unknown interference detected. . .

Forced reboot initiated. . .

Chapter 16, The Cold Below (Part 1)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 16

The Cold Below (Part 1)

_________________________________________________

I surfaced from the water to be greeted by the taste of salt and the glaring sun. Confusing enwrapped me as I failed, my world having turned backwards, upside-down, and inside-out. I was sure of it, I was dead, I know I had just drowned.

"Ahoy! We got one in the water!" I heard a mare yell.

Then with a splash, I felt hooves grab me and pull me up and out.

I tried to speak, but only water spewed out, causing me to squirm as I realized I couldn't breath.

"Easy their lassy, just calm down and take a deep breath." The stallion holding said.

I glared up at the stallion, only to be rather shocked with how handsome he was. He had a well groomed short beard and several scars on his face, along with a long mane decorated with gold rings.

Before I had released, I had been pulled up to the ships deck, then dropped. The impact caused more water to spurt out.

"Star, you need to just breathe, trust me. You're fine, and all you need to do is breathe." He told me.

Somehow, I believed him.

Taking in a deep breath, I could feel the water in my lungs… and I was… fine?

Letting out the breath, the water came out of me as though naturally purging. Nothing like violently puking up my guts after having too much to drink. This was far less uncomfortable.

I reached for my sword, but remembered that Quicktrot took my gear, which meant that if I needed to fight, I was doing it the old fashioned way. So I stammered out, "H… how am I… I thought I was dead." I stammered out.

"Well, about that, Star." The stallion sounded nervous, as though about to give me some really bad news.

Wait, again he said my name!

I glared at the stallion. "How do you know my name? Where the fuck am I? And who are you?"

"You're aboard the ship Arion's First Born, which sails along the river Styx." Spoke a regal sounding mare. As I looked over, I saw an older blue on blue mare in a tattered, yet beautiful captain's jacket, her bicorn hat decorated with blue and black feathers. Her face was marred by a claw-like scar, crossing one eye, which was covered by a finely decorated eyepatch depicting a skull.

She was the coolest mare I had ever seen.

Then I recognized her, from Quicktrot's memory fragment. The mare facing down the black dragon.

She then smiled, showing off several golden teeth among a few less than white teeth. "It's a ship with a very exclusive list of sailors. The first born of a certain family line. Ain't that right, Dead Reckoning."

"Th… that is correct, great, great, great…" he paused as she glared daggers at him. "grandmother." The stallion somberly said.

I looked over at him, and I could fully see it. The vaug bit of my oldest memory, yet it was him. The same blue coat as me, the same grean mane as me. It had to be, but… "how?"

He placed a hoof on my shoulder, giving me an apologetic look. "The same way every pony arrived in the land of the dead."

A cold shiver ran up my spine. "So… I did."

My father nodded. "I'm afraid so."

Another blue mare laned nere us, this one a pegasus with a red and yellow mane. She wore a toga with a gold leaf crown, along with a heavy iron collar around her neck that was attached to a short broken chain. "Ahh, good to see another of my descents here. Always worry the next is the last. That said, you ain't the last are ya? It be a right shame."

"Salt Squall, ancestor. Get back to the crows nest!" The mare in the captain's uniform said coldly.

Salt Squall tutted at the other mare, then smiled wide like a mad mare. "Back in my day, talking back to your elders would get ya a hundred lashes!" She said in an 9ff toned sing son voice as she flew back up.

"Sorry about her, ponies of mixed blood were not treated well in her time. The mental scars sadly persist even after death." The captain said before reaching out her hoof. "You must be, Star Charter, I'm Captain Alginate, progenitor of the Alginate family."

I shook the mares hoof, having no clue to who or what the Alginate family was.

I looked over at Dead Reckoning as he looked at my own confused face and then sighed. "She's a founding Privateer, and the current Alginate family resides in the holy city of Avalon."

"Wait, as in like a noble family?" I asked as realization hit me.

Alginate huffed in annoyance. "Ain't nothing noble about any of that shit. The damn Redrums always find a way to ruin everything. Both in life and after death they be a pain in my flank. When I found out about that damn religion and shitty excuse of an empire, I'd have had a heart attack if I weren't already dead."

"Redrum? Wait, you mean Thorn, right?" I asked them.

Dead Reckoning's eyes open wide with shock. "So you know?"

I shrugged. "Weird shit started happening to me not long ago, including a stallion that sometimes bounces around in time. Turns out he's met Thorn Roseland before, even ran into her again in some underwater city called-"

"Despoina." Dead Reckoning said, finishing what I was going to say. "I see, fate is quite cruel. And I guess you died looking for that place?"

"What… well kinda, I guess." I answered before explaining, "Heading to Despoina was the plan, since it's where Victoria is planning on going, and we have a map. But before we even started, I got shot in the legs and thrown into the water to drown."

"A map? Seriously, there's a map and you have it?" My father asked as though dumbstruck.

"Sort-of, more like… how should I say it? Some weird twins gave my friend the location on where to find it. Crazy really." I further explained.

My father then face hoofed. "The Lutece twins I'm guessing."

The name sounded familiar. "I think my friend mentioned them."

"Ya, a strange pair. Don't ask me what they are, nopony here knows. But they were there when I found Despoina, and there when I died. Did a job for them, and as payment, made sure my gear got its way to you." He explained.

"Well… that explains that… I guess." I said, now having confirmation that my fathers tools did get to me by magic… though what magic it was I clearly could not say.

Alginate then cleared her throat. "Putting the catching up aside for now, dear Star, did you say you died from drowning. As in from breathing in water?"

A bit confused as to why she even needed to ask that, I nodded. "Ya, and I rather not talk about how I died anymore."

She rolled her one good eye. "You're not dead!"

"What?" Both Dead Reckoning and I said.

Sighing, Alginate trotted closer and with a cloven hoof, placed it on my cheek as she pushed her forehead to my own. "Yes, it's faint, but you're still warm." She then backed off. "Anyways, the first born of Arion cannot drown, it is impossible for us to drown."

I became even more confused, then asked. "Arion, as in the ship?"

"As in the ship my cunt!" A raggety and thin stallion cackled. His green and gray mane looked just like seaweed, and along his green coat was shimmering green scales. "The ships named after the god Arion, son of Poseidon, younger brother to the dread mare herself."

"And our direct ancestor, along with being the first true pony." A beautiful marble white mare said, her body similar to that of the older stallion, just more well groomed.

Alginate nodded. "Yes we know ancestors, now go back to knitting and the like." She then huffed. "Always overly excited to meet new crew and tell them our history. But yes, as it turns out, every first born in our line is related to some god called Poseidon, and because of it, no matter our race, we all can breathe underwater. Isn't that right, Dead Reckoning?"

My father nodded. "It's true, since I didn't think I possessed the magic of a kelpie, I never tested if I could breath water. But when I asked too many questions looking for the Leviathan, they went and sent me to the ship. Unfortunately it was by tieing me to a rock and throwing me overboard. Though I was going to die, then I found myself not. And that's how I found Despoina, and the Leviathan."

A sense of relief washed over me, but so many questions still burned in me. Among them, "then why am I here?"

Alginate sighed as she looked behind her. "Dear mother, care to explain."

"It happens from time to time." Another mare trotted over speaking in a smooth and regal tone, she was dressed in exotic clothing that obscured her body and face. "When one's life is pushed to an extreme, when the line of the living and dread is blurred." She then pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them and drawing one. The one card depicts a shadow like mare holding a cracked jar, which she sat under a big black dragon, both having golden eyes. "Or when one has a runin with the mother of necromancers."

A concerned look crossed Alginate's face. "Mother, are you saying she ran into that bitch? But she's dead now. We dragged her corps to Tartarus. "

The mysterious mare chuckled. "She is of ancient magics my dear daughter. Death is not an absolute, not unless even the memories of her are slain will she be truly gone. And despite the reapers work, some peace of her still yet exist."

I looked at the card for a long moment, and I slowly remembered. "Quicktrot… that thing appeared when Quicktrot tried to invade my memory's. But… I saw it from both views, from Alginate and from the dragon." I pointed at the captain. "You were fighting, and lost your eye, right?"

"This is true." Alginate admitted. "A cult was trying to free an ancient nightmare, of which my mother foresaw in her fortune tellings."

"Unfortunately, few listened to me, and the cult made their move to silence me. The governor made a show of it, where I was made to publicly drink poison." The other mare said.

"I avenged my mother and stopped Phobetor from being freed from the Tartarus prison. Though I lost many I cared about and was listed as an outlaw." Alginate told me. She then patted me on the shoulder and smiled. "Well, it does my cold heart good to know that our family is not yet lost, and still enemies to the nightmares. But, now that we know you don't have an eternity to talk, maybe you should look around before the ferrymare comes."

"The ferrymare?" I asked.

"Ay, you will see her soon." The mysterious mare said mischievously. "It be a waste to leave you here after the effort to bring this to you." She said as she reached out and tapped the Oracle's Eye.

It was then and there I realized that I didn't have anything on, not my weapons or clothes, just this magical magnifying lens.

"Did you know this was made by me? Even has my name on it" The mare said, a slight chuckle in her voice.

"Right…" Dead Reckoning then said, scratching his head nervously. "Star Charter, this is your ancestor, Star Charter."

I sighed as I looked at the mare with my name.

Alginate let out a bellowing laugh. "Oh don't be that way, I knew an other Alginate in my time alone, and a few others named after me."

"My sister was always gripped by jealousy, and even demanded I change my daughter's name." Ancestor Star Charter said in an amused tone. "But leaving history to the side for now, I must talk with the captain, and prepare a few rituals."

"Ay, there's work to be done, so best leve ya two be. Let you do so e catching up." Alginate said with a wink, and my two ancestors trotted off.

Dead Reckoning sighed as they left. "When I was but a colt, I always imagined Alginate to be a vicious and cold monster, much like my father." A cold expression then formed on his face. "When that bastard finally shows up here, I'll make him wish for the torment of Tartarus."

"So grandpa sucks, good to know." I said jokingly. "Anything else you can tell me about you?"

He nodded as he began to trot. "Fortunately I wasn't raised like an Avalon noble due to being the bastard son, so no golden spoon in my mouth. The best day of my life was when my family sold me off to some rag of a fleet as some noble gesture. Flintlock Hoof was a harsh mistress, but respected, competent and loyal."

My ears shot up, and eyes opened wide. "You mean thee admiral Flintlock Hoof! I always dreamed about joining her fleet! even have her song memorized."

My father stopped at the bow of the ship, where a decorated and rather massive cannon rested, it having a large harpoon sticking out of it. "Well, since you were raised on the Blackwater, it's only natural you'd idolize her. I imagine your mother was also preparing you for it at least. Considering her personality."

I ran my hoof along the cannon, feeling a lump in my throat. "About that." I said as I looked back down at the deck, now properly able to see the ship. All of it was made from a dark ebony wood, smooth and glistening with care. The sail was of a black canvas, torn in some spots, but had no holes, as though layered. Brass was used to hold some of the ship together, or just decorating the wood, all of it polished to a shine. And from the crows nest a massive flag, depicting a skull and hourglass. I could tell this was a beautifly dark ship, like out of a storybook.

Taking a deep breath, I then told him. "Mother… was training me to be a whore, and abandoned me at nine years old. She even sold off your things, defaced your jornal and smashed the Oracle's Eye."

Dead Reckoning grimaced. "I… see. Sorry for leaving you with her, I hoped she would at least try."

"Try, that woman cared nothing for me. My oldest memory was of you hitting her and giving me a name. You knew she was shit, and you left me with her." I growled at him, but then calmed down. "You could have taken me with you."

But he shook his head. "No, as bad as Setting Sun was, Your grandmother would have been worse."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Grandmother?"

He nodded. "Setting Sun's mother. I wouldn't have slept with your mother if given the choice, she reminded me too much of my own family. But Flintlock was animated about it, wanting her bloodline mixed with that of a noble family's."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Grate, my grandmother is another Bishop Purity Spiral." Then I froze as I realized what he just said. "Wait, Flintlock, as in Grand Admiral Flintlock Hoof?"

Again he nodded. "The deal was that I prove myself and earn the right to be a captain of a major ship, The Queen of Knives, then take Setting Sun as my wife. It would gain Flintlock legitimacy among the nobility, so long as they recognize my promotion that is. Well, as you already know, it never happened. And I'm sorry for that, sorry that I could never be there for you."

Even though now knowing that I was related to the Flintlock Hoof, in the end I was sure it changed nothing. I was the bastard daughter of a bastard, otherwise known as a twice whore born. But it did explain why Bishops Purity Spiral wanted me so much.

"Don't apologize." I grumbled at him. "Ain't like it was your fault, ain't like we ever had the choice. Just shit luck I guess."

"Ya, that shit happens a lot with our family!" Another mare said from behind the cannon. She looked almost exactly like an older version of my Bridget, even having the griffin talons and wings. "Fuck me, I only exited because two bandit kingdoms needed an exues to stop killing each other. Didn't last long, but long enough for me to be given as a hostage of the pegasus kingdom." Looking up at the crow's nest, she sighed. "All we really can do is try our best for our children, even if we stumble and fall, or are cruelly separated from them."

She then pulled out a rag and started polishing the already well polished cannon. "I never got to know my family much, or my children. But at least here some of us can catch up on lost time, and heal old wounds that in life could never truly heal."

I looked at my father, then out at the expanded dark waters. "I… guess I understand. Life's not fair, so we must do what we can with it." A smile then crept on my face. "It's actually nice knowing that something like this awaits me. That I know that one day, even if I never live to see it, I'll still get to see my Bridget again. But I pray it's a long time from now before I see her here, a very long time."

Looking back, both my father and ancestor had a knowing look on their faces, along with another, and large stallion, covered in scars.

The newcomer then laughed. "Now that's the spirit, death isn't so bad when you have family." The big and scared stallion then hopped onto the cannon, getting a scowl from my other ancestor. "Though I wish all my sons and daughters could be here with me. It be glorious! "

My part griffin ancestor wiped her rag at him, getting the big stallion off the cannon. "Like fuck can we fit over forty of your spawn here, ya barbarian. Anyways, all they'd ever do is fish!"

I let out a sigh, having almost all the tension I had been feeling drained from me with each new pony. "Our family line is really weird." I then commented.

Dead Reckoning shrugged. "Well, it goes back several thousand years, so we're going to pick up a few crazys along the way. Anyways, the worst of them do end up in Tartarus, so it's not like anypony truly evil is here. And those good ponies who don't have the spine to sail, or feel it's time to move on, do have the option of porting at Elysium to stay."

Leaning on the smooth ebony railing, and watching the odd collection of ponies move about, knowing that all of them were my direct ancestors. It still felt strange, strange yet comforting. Though many of them were different shapes, sizes, and kinds of ponies, the most common were the ones with seaweed like manes and cloven like hooves. It reminded me of one of the problems my mother had with me.

"Say… father." Calling him that felt hard then it should, but also felt nice. "What would have happened if I had been a Bicorn or Kelpie?"

He joined me in leaning onto the railing of the ship. "Truthfully, not that much. Knowing Setting Sun, she'd probably treat you better, but only because you'd be useful for attracting welther sailors." He then sighed, the sound of disgust in his breath. "Just like Flintlock, I have no doubt Setting Sun would have no qualms in selling off her own children for power. But unlike Flintlock, Setting Sun was too vain and cowardly to risk the danger of being a sailor. Maybe her abandoning you was the best thing that could have happened to you. I mean, you look beautiful, healthy, and not crazy."

"All thanks to mom… the mare who saved me I mean. She showed me what a mother really is, the exact opposite of Setting Sun." I said with a smile. "I'm sure you would have liked her."

He smiled back. "Maybe, can you tell me about her?"

I don't know how much time passed, since there's no day or night in the land of the dead, only a dim blue sun. But I just told him everything, both the good and the bad, all of it. It was like a damn bursting as my mouth got moving, as I finally felt I was with somepony who could truly understand me, no, I knew he could. Even in the darkness part of my memories with Setting Sun, he never looked like he judged me, only lissiend. When I talked about Prism and Bridget, he genuinely looked happy, and shared my anger of what happened to Hardballer and Prism. At a few points I had to stop and cry, and he lent me his shoulder, in which I felt safer than I had ever been since mom died.

I even shared a few of my more embarrassing moments, and he with me. Weirdly, or maybe it ran in the family, but we had the same taste in mares and stallions.

After a fairly long moment, the heavy trotting of gold on wood came close to us, and I looked around to see Alginate. The captain of this ship looked so dashingly rough, that if she wasn't my ancestor, and dead, I would have hit her right there. "Ahoy cap'n, are ye lookin' mighty tasty!"

Fuck!

Alginate smirked at me as she got muzzle to muzzle. "And ye be quite bold. If I had a mast, maybe I'd be flattered too." She dropped the amused look, her face turning serious, and her voice becoming very stern. "But I be no fairy, nor a foal fooler of my own family."

Ashamed, I looked away. "S… sorry."

"No… it's alright. You're still new to this, and not yet part of my crew." She said almost apologetically. "That said, unfortunately there's work to be done before the ferrymare comes, and as a first born, even not dead, you're required to join us."

Dead Reckoning straightened up. "You don't mean… not now of all times?"

"What's going on?" I asked as I also straightened up.

Alginate hoofed me a beautiful brass spyglass and pointed to a speck just off the horizon. "As a first born, it's our duty to prevent damned souls from crossing over the river Styx, no matter which side they come from."

Cocking an eyebrow, I had to ask, "that can happen."

She nodded. "Lord Hades isn't omnipotent and has duties outside of Tartarus. So, when his attention is elsewhere, the damned get daring. Worse is when necromancers get involved, since they know the tricks to navigating the land of the dead and avoiding its guardians. Among them, us."

Pulling the spyglass to its full length, I looked through it, finding it able to see much further than it should, and with crystal clarity. But what I saw through it filled me with dread.

Caressing over the horizon was a bone white ship… because made of fucking bones! The sails seem to be skin, and the crew were skeletons with scraps of flesh hanging off them. Two figures caught my eye. One a larger skeletal stallion in a ragged captain's jacket and hat, who still had a wild gray beard and a mouth full of gold teeth. The other was a hooded figure that irradiated an aura of malice and contempt.

"Captain Grapeshot Redrum, and his new necromancer friend." Alginate said as she took her spyglass back. "He's been a flight risk for over two hundred years now, but only recently been a real problem."

"Redrum, so he's related to Thorn?" I asked. "And what changed?"

"Aye, he be her father actually. Was killed in that pirate raid that started that mess of a war that Equestria's still recovering from." Alginate clarified. "As for what changed, it's the necromancer. Some ancient and powerful one finally got sent here a good forty, fifty years or more back. The bastard was kept in a nice tight box since necromancers are dangerous even after death. Well, when Phobetor finally fell about a year or so back, all eyes were set on making sure she stayed dead, and still are. So, the cruel and cunning old Grapeshot made his move to free the necromancer."

"Necromancer, you mean those with the magic to control the dead?" I asked.

"In a way." Alginate answered with disgust in her voice. "I don't know much about it, nor do I want to."

"It's the art of controlling souls." Ancestor Star Charter spoke up, getting an annoyed glare from Alginate. "Though not inherently evil, since one can make requests of souls and help them pass on. Unfortunately, most that are drawn to the art are the corrupt and nihilistic. Holding no respect for the sanctity of the mortal soul and using them as tools. A sin greater than all things, and always wrapped in the ideals of the greater good. Because their ability to enslaved souls, no practioner of necromancy, even one's pure of soul, are permitted into Elysium, or any form of paradise."

Alginate clicked her tongue in disgust. "Their souls should be ripped asunder I say. The damned can do nothing but fight each other, or slave away to work off their sins. But a necromancer can force them to work together, or to abandon their punishment, and charge the river Styx to escape. And that is what is happening now."

Now understanding the situation, a bit, I then asked the captain, "And what do I need to do to help?"

She looked over at my father and smiled. "You can shadow your old man and provide assistance wherever it's needed. This is a good ship with a trustworthy and tight crew, so don't expect anypony needing much help for long, if at all. But once the real fighting gets started, it's all hooves on deck, so ya better arm up."

I salute Alginate. "Aya aya captain!"

She nodded and trotted away.

"I guess we're going to the armory, Star." My father said as he trotted to the door leading to the lower deck.

As I followed, the darkness of the ships inside was only held back by lanterns housing blue flames. The soft blue light filling me with unease. And bathed in that light I could see ancient cannons, all finely engraved with writing I didn't recognize, and depicting many different creatures. One larger cannon in the middle of the gun deck looked ready to be pulled up top, it connects to pulleys and ropes. The thing was a beauty on its own, but also had engraved on it what was clearly an image of Celestia in battle, which almost had me think this was from the holy fleet. Then I saw who she was fighting, in that same outfit she still had on was Alginate, standing in defiance of Celestia, and being struck down.

"Like it." Another one of my ancestors said, this one a rugged old, and thin stallion. "Was made in celebration of Celestia's defeat of the pirate lord Alginate. Felt it was just right to steal it and use it to sink Celestia's gallon as revenge for killing my mother. Died too, but it was worth it to see the look on her face." He then patted it like a beloved pet. "Mother was both impressed and annoyed when I arrived, still holding onto this cannon. Turns out you can take it with you." He laughed as though it was the world's funniest joke.

"Can I take it back with me?" I had to ask; a bit awe struck by the beauty of the cannon.

"No, it's a one-way deal." My father said, "What is of the land of the dead, stays in the land of the dead. It is a rule that must never be broken, for only the gods can cheat death."

"A shame, all these cannons are absolutely beautiful?" I said as I further followed my father deeper into the ship.

Entering the armory, it was filled wall to wall with beautifully engraved guns and blades. All having a dark, almost pure black, metallic shine to them. The blades were just a chaotic mix of different swords, axes, knives, and clubs. Though unsurprisingly most were cutlasses. Disappointingly, the guns were almost all ancient muskets, with a few revolvers here and there.

Checking myself, I was still naked, other than the Oracle's Eye hanging around my neck. "If only I had my own kit." I said with a sigh.

"Wouldn't work if you did." My father said as he pulled a cutlass off the wall. "Mortal tools have no effect on the dead." He then trotted over to a brazier at the end of the armor, in which burned a fierce blue flame. "You need to borrow the magic of the dead to harm the dead, in which will send them back to Tartarus."

He then stuck the sword in the brazier for a long moment before pulling it out. The sword now had a blue ghostly glow to it, which gave me the same uneasy feeling as the blue flames.

Tossing me the blade, it felt cold to the touch, even the fire was more freezing than burning. The sword itself was beautiful, engraved with gold inlay of ships sailing, which popped out on the black pattern welded steel, looking as if it was on the waters itself.

"Marvelous." Was the only thing I could say as I ran my hoof along this masterpiece of a sword.

"I know, right." Dead Reckoning said as he grabbed a musket. "The advantage of the dead you can say. Many master artists have passed by this ship, and sometimes they make us a few things.

Recently there was a gunsmith we were transporting that was adamant he made us something to add alongside ones made by his ancestors. I couldn't help but respect the old buzzard, even if he was heading to Tartarus" he tossed me the musket. "Though he's a hundred years too early to make a gun comparable to most guns found here. But I do wish him the best of luck, since even though damned, he seemed more than ready to work off his sins. Still, you might appreciate this gun over any other."

The musket was rather average looking compared to what was on display. A fine-looking gun to be sure and felt… familiar. I then saw it on the side, the Gunrunners logo etched on, along with a small "H.B." next to it.

Tears welled up in my eyes and a smile formed on my muzzle as I hugged the musket. "Of course, that's the first thing he'd do, that ornery bastard. That… Marvelous fool." Even now, from the land of the dead, Hardballer still found a way to be there for me.

Dead Reckoning placed a hoof on my shoulder as he let me cry, all my emotions flowing out like a flood.

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Chapter 17, The Cold Below (Part 2)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 17

The Cold Below (Part 2)

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It felt a bit odd, dressed up in ancient sailor's cloths, with a decorative sword on my hip and a musket made by Hardballer on my back. I was even given a beautiful smooth bore pistol that I shoved inside my shirt.

"Are you sure you got a hoof on loading?" My father asked.

I nodded. "Brass cartridge ammo is expensive, along with the smokeless gunpowder. So, it was just easier to shoot black powder pipe guns much of the time. Hardballer was animate that Bridget and I knew how to do it, since guns are my daughter's heritage."

Dead Reckoning sighed. "Aye, there were several artifact guns back at the estate, me brothers and sisters all got to use them, I only got to watch. Always wanted to shoot my father with Alginate's pistol, and I know the bastard knew it."

I watched as he expertly loaded the mucket, doing it in less than half the time as I had. It was all still so strange to me, as I had thought the bullets were lead at first, only to see that they were made of hardened bone, and the powder was a dark blue, not black. Even the metal was something called cold flame iron, a native metal here in the land of the dead. From what my father told me, it was all made by hoof and claw in Tartarus, where the condemned seeking redemption by working nonstop.

I could imagine that I'd see some familiar faces if I ever end up on the shore of Tartarus. Hardballer among them unfortunately.

Looking around, many of my ancestors were also getting ready for combat, it was a strange mix of ponies from different era's, each having their own perfred melee, but still taking the muskets. Though a few took bows, some crossbows, including the ancestor with griffin claws.

Armed and ready, both Dead Reckoning and I went back to the top deck, where my eyes took a long moment to adjust. "How the fuck is such a dim sun still hurting my eyes?" I asked out loud.

"Magic be like that." Dead Reckoning said as he too took a moment for his eyes to adjust. "If you're expecting to go up and down the decks often, get an eyepatch. Doesn't help when going back up, but at least you got one eye already set for the dark."

"Ahh, I miss those days." Alginate said as she trotted down the stairs. "Then I got me eye gouged out by a damned nightmare." The captain then motions for us to follow her. "Let's talk while we have the time."

Following her, Dead Reckoning and I followed Alginate to the captain's quarters. It was everything I had ever dreamed about how a captain quarters should look like. Weapons everywhere, trophies galore, gold coins littering every nook and cranny. Strangest of all was in the center, surrounded by an iron cage and several panes of glass was a small white orb. It then moved, revealing a gold iris that glared at me with pure hate.

"Took some revenge on the bitch when she did finally fall. Hades was pissed but talked him down into letting me keep one of Phobetors eyes." Alginate said as she tapped on the glass.

"That eye, I've seen it before. Quicktrot's own eye turned into it." I commented, remembering how the digital wraith flipped out.

"And that's why we need to talk with you." Ancestor Star Charter spoke up as she trotted over from the back. "As much as we like to let fate run its natural course, when grater powers are involved, fate tends to be… irrelevant."

I cocked my eyebrow at her. "So, you mean what, I get some help?"

My ancestor nodded. "It's why you're here after all. Amongst other things. But first of all, we need to get your natural magic in order. Living on the land has left you unfortunately stunted."

Alginate let out an annoyed huff. "That you can say for sure. You should have long since found a body of water and submerged yourself in it. But at least you have an excuse, if flimsy as it is."

They were right, I guess. Having moved to the wasteland, mom kept me away from any large bodies of water. She always seemed worried that I'd run off and disappear on her whenever near water. Maybe her worries were dead on.

"But why?" I had to ask, needing more clarification.

Ancestor Star Charter then pulled out a potion, passing it to me. "Drink this, then we can explain. And don't worry, it's not a thing of the land of the dead, it's no pomegranate grown by Hades."

Taking a deep breath, I chose to trust the mare I was named after and drank the potion.

Nothing then happened, leaving me rather disappointed. "… aren't I supposed to writhe in pain or something?"

Alginate chuckled as she pulled a small mirror from her pocket and held it up to me.

Looking back at me was me, but off. My main looked even more like kelp, even a bit sprouting from my ears. My eyes, they were now slitted, like a snake. My mouth opened in shock in which I saw more fangs than I should have. Grabbing the mirror with my hooves, I was further shocked to see my hooves had split, much like cloven hooves, but not. When I relaxed my hoof, they split further apart, looking more like one hoof, but backwards, and with a fin-like skin stretched between the gaps.

"I… what am I?" I asked myself.

Alginate laughed. "It's called being a kelpie, like all of your ancestors and at least your first born. It seems you were just a late bloomer and needed a bit of a push for you to show your true form."

I looked over at my father, who had also changed into a kelped mane split-hoofed pony. "Kelpies are like that. Some never know about them being kelpie until they accidentally drown, or something like it. I never told your mother in case you weren't, and she'd kill you trying."

"But… how… How do I even explain this, my friend and anypony?" I asked, feeling panicked.

"Whenever you feel ready." Alginate said, and when I turned to her, she looked like a normal earth pony. "Were no changelings, but…" she lifted up her hoof, and it shifted between split and not split. "But a Kelpies form is rather malleable. Just envision what you originally looked like, and it should be okay."

I shut my eyes, envisioning what I normally looked like, what I am… no, what I thought I was. Opening my eyes, I saw my normal self again… for only a few seconds.

Taking the mirror away, Alginate chuckled. "It'll take a bit of time to get use too, but you're on a kelpie ship, so you got a lot of ponies to help you."

"Along with proper combat training." Ancestor Star Charter then told me. "If you're going up against the remint fragment of Phobetor, among other dangers, then you will need to learn some proper technique. You're not an immortal, nor has fate hoofed down a grand destiny for you to rise into. You simply have a duty, passed on by blood, of which if you die, then it falls to your first born. Do you understand?"

I did, and it caused me to clench my teeth in frustration. Whatever I fail to achieve, my darling Bridget will be burdened to do. No, I want my daughter to not have to suffer this madness.

"Yes, I understand completely." I told them.

The boat then rocked as yelling could be heard outside. "Well, looks like you're getting a crash course in dealing with assholes who refuse to stay dead." My father said with a huff.

Alginate then let out a bellowing laugh. "Too true. Now let's go and send this Damned back to Tartarus."

Rushing out and up to the quarterdeck, where Alginate took the helm. The ancient pirate happily spun the ebony wooden wheel, its polished and etched brass decorations shining in the dim light. "A Redrum thinks he can outsail me, then I say let him try."

Ancestor Star Charter then tutted her daughter. "You know what hubris does to a pony. He may have a few tricks waiting for us."

"He's a Redrum, mother, they're always up to something." Alginate said as she passed me her spyglass.

Looking through the ancient and beautiful spyglass, I saw the bone-built ghost ship in better detail now. The front of the ship looked odd, like it had some sort of contraption on it. "Is that a catapult?" I asked.

"Aye, it must be. Grapeshot knows he can't win a fair fight with us; my guess is that he's planning to slow us down somehow." Alginate said as she left the helm to her mother and trotted to several brass pipes, flipping a few open, and yelling into them. "We're conducted a cut off strike, aim at all supporting sails and ensured the Damned can't just run away. But prepare for something nasty. Who knows what monstrosity they got ready for us, so be sure they will strike us with it as we strike them." She then pulled a nearby lever, which shot up several different colored flags for all to see.

Dead Reckoning chuckled as more sails then dropped around the Aron's First Born, and the ship picked up speed. "Pay attention Star, this is naval combat not seen since before the great war."

I held onto the railings as the wind blew through my mane, letting smell the stagnant salty air. The more the ship rocked, the more the water splashed and sprayed, the more I felt… at home. The dry wasteland felt restrictive to me, like a bird with bound wings, needing to fly but unable to. Out here over the waters, even dead waters like here, I felt… free.

"Here it comes!" One of my ancestors yelled as he jumped from up high, holding onto a line of rope. A sail opened as another closed, causing the First Born to lurched to the side hard. The ghost ship didn't stop as we came closer to crossing its path.

Closer, and closer still as the Aron's First Born leveled out. Where we were about to crossed paths, the front of the ghost ship and the side of our black ship.

"Fire!" Alginate yelled as she fired a pistol.

Crossing in front of the ghost ship, the Aron's First Born let loose a volley of cannon fire, ripping through the ghost ship, tearing up its sails. But it fired back, letting loose what actually was a catapult, lobbing a large ball that then broke up and landed all over the deck.

One of which, landed near me.

Looking down at the thing as our ship then lurched in the other direction in a hard turn, the thing rolled and hit the side, where it jumped up to reveal a green creature. Unfolding itself, the creature stood on to lanky legs. On its side were two lanky arms which at each end had some kind of strange paw with three very long and thin digits that all had thin claws at the tips. Its head was round with absurdly large ears, and it opened its absurdly wide mouth to reveal two sets of saw-like sharp teeth.

The creature's Head then exploded; my father having used his musket on it. "It had to be funking gremlins!" He shouted.

Alginate didn't waste time, opening up all the brass toubs and pulling another lever as she yelled, "gremlins repeat, we have gremlins!"

"The fuck is a gremlin?" I asked.

"They break shit, all the shit!" My father said as he reloaded his musket. "We need to kill em all before they break our shit!"

A brass nut then fell next to me, and I looked up to see a gremlin hard at work dismantling one of the sails. Grabbing my own musket, I took aim and fired. The shot missing the bastard by but a hair.

A second shot from my father then hit it, blowing up the thing and sending green gore flying.

"Aim into the wind, Star, these muskets don't fire at supersonic speed." My father instructed.

Nodding, I quickly reloaded, and put the muskets onto the railing that overlooked the ship, bracing myself as I took aim. Another gremlin was attempting to dismantle the crow's nest as one of my ancestors did her best to fend it off. Aiming into the wind, and predicting the gremlin's next move, I fired. The monster jumped out of the way of a spear from my ancestor, only to get a paw blasted off as it grabbed a hold. The gremlin fell, hitting the deck headfirst and spraying green blood all over it.

As I loaded my next round, I saw many more gremlins ran about on the deck as my ancestors fought them. One poor pony was trampling one gremlin as another was biting his leg, and a third dressed up like a stereotypical pirate, rode on his back.

Loud cackling caught my attention, and I turned to face three gremlins with mischievous smiles showing their sharp teeth. One of them who then knocked my muskets out of my hold with a long rusty rapier. Among the three of them, the one who dare try and damaged Hardballer's gun was dressed in a red jacket and a floppy red hat, both too big for it. It was as though it was a captain itself, or a mockery of one. The gremlin in red also sported a hook in place of a paw, and an obnoxiously long pencil thin mustache.

Just looking at it pissed me off.

It pointed its long and thin sword at me and took a stance as though demanding a duel. I looked over at my father and Alginate, only to see them busy shooting at other gremlins. So, with a sigh, I drew my cutlass, which shined with blue fire.

The gremlin in red bounced about and thrusted at me. It's reach managing to cut my cheek before it could deflect the hit. Causing the gremlins to laugh at me, even the one in red. Glaring at my opponent, the gremlin in red was frozen in place, giving me the opportunity to dashed forward and lob off his head. The other two gremlins gasped in shock right before I then dashed forward at them. With one wide arch, cut them down as they attempted to scramble away. The burning blue blade gratefully cauterizing the gremlins, saving me from their green blood.

Sheathing my cutlass, I rejoined the extermination as the gremlins numbers quickly were reduced to zero.

With calm returned, Alginate went back to the brass pipes, yelling, "Damage report!"

As she held her ear to the pipes, one of my winged ancestors flew over, partly covered in green blood. "Bad news! The binding on several sails were damaged, and we're not going to be able to lower them back down with the ropes to catch the wind!"

"How badly damaged?" Dead Reckoning asked.

"Damage enough that the bastards will get away by the time it's fixed and we can get back to full speed." She told him.

Alginate then laughed. "Then we don't try en fix it!" Pointing at one of the now disabled sails, she then said, "cut the ropes loose and use your bodies to hoist 'em down."

The Pegasus saluted, then quickly flew off.

"Star!" Alginate called to me as she pointed at the center mast, the large canvas sail now only half extended. "The rope binding those sails are thick and not easily cut." She then smiled at me.

I smiled back. "Aye aye captain!"

Rushing over to the center mast and climbing up it, I was followed by Dead Reckoning. "As a colt, I always dreamt about doing this shit." He yelled up at me.

"Ya, same here! Like daughter, like father, I guess." I yelled back as I reached the midpoint where the mainsail was stuck. Grabbing onto the sail, I drew my sword and got to work.

Joining me on the mainsail, my father gave a bitter laugh. "Probably, which only pissis me off more that I never got to see you grow up. Never… got to be a real father."

I paused for a moment as I looked at him. A stallion that sacrificed everything and got nothing in return. His only child left with a cruel uncaring mare, in a place filled with mad zealots following a false prophet. It must have been eating him up inside.

Several more of my ancestors joined us, pushing the sail down only a bit as the rope holding it in place tightened. Nodding to my father, he nodded back, with one last slash, the rope was cut free, and the sail unfolded.

Holding onto the rope with all I could, it hit the bottom with a heavy jolt, knocking me off. My cutlass falling from my muzzle and sliding off to the other end of the deck.

One of my ancestors, the big stallion, whistled with a surprised and impressed tone. "Not even dead yet and already doing mighty fine work." He told me as he picked up my sword.

I laughed. "Let's just say I already have one hoof in the grave." Then I remembered something. "Actually, twice now a pony has tried to put me in a grave. Three times if you count now."

Trotting over, he gave my sword back to me. "Three is a powerful number, used in rituals and rights. Maybe you should get a mithril charm in case you're cursed."

"Mithril charm, I have a mithril sword, would that work?" I asked.

"Aye, that would work. The Alginate family itself keeps a mithril chests to hold all their gold doubloons in." My father said as he joined us. "It's a strong metal that you can't cut with fire, but also in case cursed gold gets slipped in, the curse will stay inside."

"Does that happen often?" I asked him.

"More than you'd think." My father said as he flicked one of his earrings. "Since obsession with gold runs through our blood. Or was it that gold itself once ran through our blood? Either way, gold is easily cursed, and our family always finds our way to that gold."

The boat rocked as we hit a swell in the water, causing everypony to lean with the boat, everypony but me.

Falling over, several ponies laughed as my father helped me back up. "When was the last time you were out at sea, Star?"

"Eleven, maybe twelve years." I admitted as I straightened myself out. "But that's not it, it's these…" I raised one of my split hooves. "These backwards hooves. How do you even trot with em?"

"Trust me, you'll just get used to it." Dead Reckoning told me before looking out over the waters. "But the dancing lessons can wait, we're about to catch up to the ghost ship."

Looking myself, the bone-built ghost ship was struggling to keep one of its main sails up, and because of that, the distance between our two ships was quickly closing. On the ghost ship, I could see the gaunt and robed form of the necromancer, the feeling of hate and malice radiating off of him. A strange sickly blue light came from the necromancer, and from behind the ghost ship a massive amount of water was pulled up, up, and up high into the air. Then dropped.

"Fuck!" I and several of my ancestors yelled as everypony on deck scrambled to grab onto anything nailed down.

The swell of water dwarfed the Aron's First Born, like a wall of death it came at us. My world turned vertical as I held onto the mast for dear life, the ship now sailing on the water straight up to the sky, as though we were heading into the dim sun before the ship righted itself.

Then my stomach churned as I felt weightlessness.

I then came eye to eye with one of my Pegasus ancestors, the one from the crow's nest. Hovering in the air, she smiled and waved at me as she said, "going down." In a sing-song tone.

We all dropped, and I was sure we were going to die, and looking over as the direction of our fall didn't help, seeing the water race towards us. The First born crashed into the water, front first, and holding onto the mast tightly, water enveloped me.

Holding my breath, and keeping my eyes shut, I didn't want to see the destruction and death that surrounded me.

"Star, it's okay." My father said, "Just open your eyes and breathe."

Slowly, I opened my eyes, and found the ship intact and underwater. Skeletal fish swam all around us, and I even saw one skeleton sea serpent in the distance. Taking a deep breath and letting the water fill my lungs, it felt… normal. "Oh, thank the Goddesses." I said, then raised an eyebrow. "I can talk under water?"

Dead Reckoning shrugged as he trotted through the water, his mane and tail acting like fins. "I don't question it, but it's probably magic. Anyways, you need to let go and help."

My father then swam to the back of the ship, and letting go of the mast, I moved my legs, but only moved at a slow pace. The ship moved without me, causing me to tumble in the water as I struggled to swim. Taking another deep breath, I then concentrated on my mane and tail, imaging the fin like things my father had.

And hot damn, the, straighten out flat, even wiggled when I thought about it.

As the ship passed under me, I then saw my father and a shit ton of kelpies pushing the ship. Joining them, I placed my hood on the ebony wood, and did my best to push.

"Is this normal?" I asked my father.

"No, but it's really fun to do when we have the opportunity." Dead Reckoning said.

"Quit yar yapping and get pushing!" Alginate yelled, and everypony doubled their effort.

It felt as though we were flying through the water as we pushed, the surface shimmering above us. I then saw it, the bottom of the ghost ship cutting through the water above, unaware of us below.

The ship lurched up, and we began to quickly surface as everypony pushed everything we had into it. it was as though we were rushing toward a mirror, or another world, and it felt… natural.

The First Born burst out of the water, and we all found ourselves flying up and over the ship, where everypony us land safely onto the deck as the ship itself dipped and bounced on the water.

"Fire!" Screamed Alginate, and I turned just in time to see the ghost ship next to us get lit up from the bombardment cannon fire. The ghost ship attempted to fire back, but unlike the Aron's First Born, its shots were wild and panicked, with many missing our ship entirely.

"Star!" My father yelled as he pulled me down right before a cannon shell neatly hit me and took out the mast. From the floor I watched as it tilted and snapped, falling to the side and in the water.

"That's… not good." I said as I got up. Already the ghost ship was pulling ahead as the First-Born lost speed.

"It's fine, they already lost." My father said right before the cannon at the stern of the ship fired, deafening everything with the blast.

I watched as the harpoon was shot into the ghost ship, and now a thick chain connected the two ships, which began retracting. Slowly, but eventually, the two ships were pulled together, and everypony aboard the Aron's First Born drew their weapons.

"Cut down those sons of a biscuit eaters, bilge-sucking, scurvy dog, mother fuckers!" A ghostly stallion yelled from the ghost ship, which ponies, and other creatures then jumped from it and onto our ship.

All of them looked half rotten, burnt, and utterly dead, but still they stood, crude weapons at the ready, and murder in their glowing eyes.

Drawing one of the pistols I was given, I took aim at one of the Damned as it charged. Firing, the bullet missed and hit another of the Damned, causing the thing to be engulfed in blue flames.

The one charging at me quickly got close, so I unsheathed my cutlass again and charged at it myself. Our blades clashed, and blue fire sparked from my blade. I tried using my cursed eyes on it, but the Damned was unaffected, only continuing its attack. Backing up as it swung for my face, then leg, its moments were brutal, yet efficient. But years of being an exotic dancer had made me quite nimble, and like flowing water, I danced around the thing. I only needed an opening, and then it was all over.

But then the damned spat at me, spraying bile at my face and eyes, causing me to stumble. My side burned as though on fire, the crude blade stabbing into my side. Snarling at the bastard, I leaned into the blade pushing it into me to its hilt, and as the pain snaked through my body like fire, I swung at its neck and lobbed off the undead pony's head.

I turned to see two more Damned charging at me, but the two ancestors with wings fell onto them. The Pegasus stabbing one with a bayonet and firing her musket, blowing the rotting bones of a pony to bits. The pony-griff, armed with two hatchets, threw one, cutting off one of the pony's legs, then finishing it off by splitting its head open.

More shots rang out as my ancestors fired at more of the boarding party as they jumped over, reducing them to piles of bones before hitting the deck.

"Star, you okay!?" My fathers panicked voice filled me with guilt as he looked at the sword that ran me through.

"I'll… fuck this hurts… but I'll be fine." I said as the burning only got worse.

"Dipshit!" Ancestor Star Charter said as more of my ancestors ran past her to board the ghost ship themselves. "Magic of the dead attacks the soul, it's a blow no mortal can simply recover from, you are far from fine!"

"Trust me, I've had worse… maybe." Is said, trying to defend myself.

"Can you help her?" Dead Reckoning asked, his voice almost pleading.

She nodded. "Pull the sword out and I'll mend the wounds."

I cocked an eyebrow. "With what?"

Letting out a gasp of pain as my father removed the sword, my blood smearing it as nearly black fire danced across it. Then I watched as my ancestor pulled an odd deck of playing cards and slapped one on both holes in me.

Another fire burned, worse than before, forcing me to grit my teeth, and endure. But it quickly faded to a dull pain that I could ignore. The cards then fell, and my wound was gone.

"How?" I asked.

She chuckled as she shuffled the strange deck. "One does not need a horn to cast magic my dear decedent. Along with the gift of foresight, I dabbled in the shamanistic arts. Even learned necromancy, with the permission of the spirits of death of course. You see, the healing of flesh and mending of souls is always useful, even after joining the dead."

"Among the most dangerous necromancers here in the land of the dead, my mother is one of them." Alginate said as she joined us, "if she wanted to, she could have kept herself from ever dying."

"Immortality may seem fun, but living on as a rotting corpse is… not how I want to live." Ancestor Star Charter said with a serious tone. "Anyways, I studied the necromantic arts to help the dead move on, not bind them to slavery. The flow of life and death must never be tampered with, such things only belong to the gods, and even they refuse to mettle in such things."

One of my ancestors came tumbling back from the ghost ship, sliding across the deck and past us. "There ye are ye scurvy riddled tarator!" A dark blue glowing skeleton shouted, dressed in a ragged captain's outfit, and trotting with one peg leg. "Alginate, I'll be finally tearing ye soul to sunders!"

Alginate sighed. "Grapeshot Redrum, as tenacious as you are dim. Just accept your torment like your ancestors, and let your soul be purified already!"

Grapeshot laughed a beloing and cruel laugh. "Not when my darling Thorn calls to me, not when we are close, so close to finally ending that farce of a nation!"

"He's talking about ending Equestria." Alginate answered my question before I could ask it. "How pathetic that you and your abomination of a daughter can hold a grudge for over two hundred years."

The undead pirate captain smiled, showing two rows of sharp fang like teeth, "a good grudge ages like fine wine. Isn't that what ye made as your family motto?"

An annoyed look formed on Alginate 's face. "No, that would be my damned-"

"That be I!" Yelled Alginate's son as he and the Celestia decorated cannon were lifted up onto the deck. "But like wine, it can spoil and turn to vinegar if let for too long."

Holding a lit rope and aiming the cannon at Grapeshot, he jammed the burning rope down, but only to freeze.

Not just him, everypony… everypony but Grapeshot.

The undead pirate laughed, trotting up to Alginate and slapping her. "Ye didn't think me be prepared? Ye think me a fool? Nay, I will win this fight, and thanks all to my new friend… isn't that right, Filius."

I didn't move, not that I couldn't, but because I knew I shouldn't just yet.

A cold shiver ran down my spine as the sound of hooves lightly trotted onto the deck, the hooded necromancer taking slow and careful steps as he joined Grapeshot. "Friend is a strong term." Filius said as he looked at us, his eyes glowing with a green flame that reminded me of my own evil eyes. "But yes, this day we return to the land of the living, and none here can stop us. How foolish you all are, thinking that the dead can stand up to I, king of the undead, bringer of the unending winter!"

Filius trotted over to us, strutting with each step. "I know that the element of hope still sleeps, and its bearer is unwilling to take the mantle. Yes, this time none can stand in my way, not princess Platinum, not Celestia or Luna, and certainly not Storm Rider!"

He then stopped in front of me, giving me a view of his ugly mug up close. Nothing but dry rotting flesh and bone, along with a noxious smell that assaulted my nose and cause me to-

"Achoo!" I sneezed.

Filius stumbled back in shock. "Y… you're alive! But h-?"

Glaring at him, my evil eyes took hold, and locked him into my gaze. I pushed everything at him, all my pain and suffering. All my regrets and shame. But he pushed back, and I felt it, the pain of the torment of Tartarus. How it feels to be undead, and it's unending suffering. How it feels to die, and then die again.

"You think a borrowed curse can overtake me!" Filius snarled, "I have over a thousand years of a cursed existence, you are but an ant to me!"

*BANG!*

The nearby cannon, sending bits and pieces of Grapeshot Redrum all over the place, breaking my eye contact with Filius. "One down!" Alginate yelled as she looked a Filius. "And one to go."

"You think you can st-" a card flew over and slammed into the necromancer's muzzle, sealing it shut.

"Your kind loves to talk too much." Ancestor Star Charter said with annoyance. "Never knowing that you have lost while you flap your muzzle." The ship rocked and from under the ghost ship a massive skeletal sea serpent shot up, smashing it to just scattered bones. "Where you are but a mere king of the dead, I am a court mage of the dread mare herself, the Goddesses of life and death. You lost the moment you left your little box."

Several more cards surrounded Filius, and created a phantom blue chain around him, binding him in place. "And to the box you shall return ya pathetic wretch." She muttered.

Looking at the display, I felt… small. "Wait… if she could do that, then why did we do… any of this?"

Alginate laughed as she picked up Grapeshot's very angry looking skull. "Oh, and what fun is it if we just end the game as soon as it starts. Eternity is a very long time, and we need to keep our minds sharp if a true disaster were to happen."

"And now that these fools can go nowhere, we just need to gather them up and take them back to Tartarus." Ancestor Star Charter said as she trotted up to me. "But before that, you and I have a different boat to catch."

I cocked an eyebrow, "a… different boat?"

She nodded. "Well, this boat can't take you back to the land of the living, now, can it? But until then, spend some time with your father. You won't get this opportunity again, my dear decedent."

I looked over at Dead Reckoning as he helped collect the bones of the undead. "Thanks, for giving me this chance."

She chuckled a little, holding a cloth draped hoof over her mouth. "Oh, save the thanks. I may have the power to pull souls, but not the authority."

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Chapter 18, The Cold Below (Part 3)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 18

The Cold Below (Part 3)

_________________________________________________

With a loud clang, the cold fire iron cutlass in my muzzle crossed with my fathers own blade. As my ancestors had said they would, they gave me a crash course in being a kelpie and much needed sword fighting lessons. It didn't take long to see how sloppy I was compared to most of them.

"Your hoof work is fantastic, but you need to push with your hips more, Star." Alginate instructed. I had tried to spar with her, but she laid me flat so easily that all I learned was how to hit the floor with style.

My father moved gracefully as he ducked and dogged my attacks, finding openings in my own movement. But anticipating his counter, I leaned in with my hips and swung with my whole body. I made contact, blade on blade as my own reached his face, then, my blade went flying. With a simple turn of his body, he had dislodged the sword from my muzzle and placed his own blade at my neck.

"So close, but it was a good try." Alginate said as she slowly clapped her hooves together. “I give it a good five, seven years before you master such a slash.”

Sheathing his blade, Dead Reckoning patted me on the shoulder. “Hey, I think it was a fantastic attack for a pony who's never been properly trained. If anything, you got the right mineset, you just need to practice.”

Trotting over to collect the sword, it having right in front of Grapeshot's annoyed skull. “Well, I’ll get all the practice I need if I end up dead.”

“All to true.” Ancestor Star Charter said as she trotted over. “But we rather you live and pass down your skills to your children. It’s unlikely your situation will happen again for the next thousand years, so best practice when you can, while you live.”

“I agree.” Dead Reckoning said as I gave him the sword. “You better live and return to my granddaughter, shower her in the love I couldn’t give you.”

I smiled a little, happy to have formed kinden sprites, even if they were my dead ancestors. “ya… I’ll do that, that's a promise.” Giveing my father a hung, I wanted it to last, but the longer I held him the more I noticed how cold he was. It reminded me of Prism and how cold she had become when she had died. “thank you.”

letting him go, I trotted over to Ancestor Star. “So, is it time?”

She nodded, then chuckled. “So that's how it feels. Though unlike the others, I’m guiding the living, not the dead.”

“You mean like Lethi?” I asked.

“The drunk reaper, yes. I have some words for that mare, involving my descendant in one of her screams.” she then motioned her hoof to the side of the deck. “But that’s for later, right now you have another boat to catch.”

Trotting over, I saw a ramp had been placed onto the Aron's FIrst Born, which lead to a floating barge. The smaller boat was made from the same black wood, which had complex gold and silver inlays all over it. At the center was a tent, just a tent, but one that looked elegant and seemed to glow. Guarding the tent were four black armored ponies, of which all but one were skeletons armed with black spears. The fourth was a purple mare armed with what looked like two SMG's.

Following Ancestor Star down, two hooded ponies were waiting for us, one of which I recognized. “Hello Lethi.” I said.

The thin reaper smiled. “Good to see that you're well. Did you eat or drink anything here?” I shook my head. “Good, the fruit of the dead are poisonous to the living, and will damn you to stay here forever with even one taste. They also happen to be quite bland, and make poor ingredients for drinks as I've been told.”

“I’m loath to admit it, but this is true.” The other hooded reaper spoke, their voice even colder and wind-like. She then reached out her hood in greeting, showing that she was all bones and nothing else. “I’m Charon, the Riverboat Mare, and I’ll be taking you back home.”

Shaking her hoof, I felt almost all the warmth drain out of me, causing me to pull back in shock.

Charon chuckled. “Sorry about that, please forgive these old bones. Much work is to be done, and little time to myself is had. Little ticks and spooks is all I got at this time.”

Taking a deep breath as I slowly felt the warmed return to me, I let out a long exhale. “it’s… fine. so, this is your ship, it’s impressive.”

Charon shook her skeletal head. “No, not mine, too fancy for my taste. it would friten souls if I took them onto this.'' She then pointed to a tent on the barg. “This would be hers, and you probably should go see her sooner than later.”

“Who?” I asked.

Ancestor Star trotted past me, motioning me to again follow. “The dread mare, so mind your manners.”

I quickly became nervous, remembering what she had said, that this was a goddess. Trotting over, I wondered if she was like Celestia or Luna, regal and… well, like a goddess.

“All of that, and not that at all.” a voice spoke out from all around me, and from the tent. ”Come, come now, let me see my brother's face in you?”

I was left… rather concerned by that statement, and that she likely read my mind. But not wanting to leave an actual goddess waiting, I entered the tent.

inside was… large, larger than large. I didn’t know if it was bigger on the inside, or smaller on the outside, but it was certanly some kined of magical fuckary. Dried flowers and other plants hung up along the sides, framing finely carved marble statues of ponies. Every now and then there was a portrait of a happy family of ponies, each one looking like it was from a different erra, and probably was. I stopped at one portrait, and saw two mares who had to be Celestia and Luna, looking far more regal than anything I have ever seen of them. But also, far more… normal.

“Those two had been fighting the day before this portrait was made.” The soft voice of a mare sope from behind me, causing me to jump. She was a pure white earth pony with pale blue eyes. Her ghostly white mane was decorated with red flowers, and she was dressed in a white toga decorated with vines and wheat. She was beautiful, but in a warm way that reminded me of Prism when she was alive. “The two didn’t want to be there that day, but they had their royal duties to attend to. All the royals at the time had gotten out of their way, so I saw an opportunity to sneak my husband and I in. they were so adorable with how they pretended to not be fighting while the portrait was being made.”

Looking at the portrait, I saw the pure white mare in between the two sisters, next to her was an almost all black stallion with an impressive beard, yet… the stallion, he was a pony… but not?

“My husband, a true romantic, and one of the few ponies who could understand me.” the Dread Mare said as she was affectionately smiling. "He even changed himself for me, just so I wouldn't feel alone."

"He… must really love you." I said, still confused to what any of this even was.

"He does, and I love him. It's why we can stand this eternity, through the good and the bad, through excitement and boredom." She finally looked at me in the eyes, her gaze hitting me like ice and fire being injected through my veins. Yet I was fine. "Love is a powerful thing. Tangible at times. Able to cast away the darkest sky, and save the most vile of evil. But it can also become a curse when misplaced, or forced onto those not ready or unwilling." The mare then motioned to the far end of the tent, where a fairly large fainting couch sat."

Following the Dread Mare, I had so many questions, yet didn't know where to even start. Frankly, I was absolutely lost.

"I guess you're due for a few answers, Star." The Dread Mare said, reading my mind again as she trotted. Watching her, I noticed that wherever her hooves touched, moss and grass burst to life, but as soon as her hoof moved away, it all shriveled and died. "To start, my name is Persephone, and I was the one who had you be brought here."

"Okay… but why, miss Persephone?" I asked her.

She took a seat on the fainting couch, where my Ancestor trotted over with a plate of small red fruit. "Because, you're doomed to die without guidance. And so will Bridget not long after."

"WHAT!" I yelled.

Persephone just glared at me, and I was compelled to shut up and let her talk. "Times are rapidly changing, and with Equestria finally recovering, there are many who will seek snuff out its flame while it's still weak. And if Equestria truly falls, all of pony kind are doomed to fall with it. Not right away, but slowly and surely, the last story of the magical little ponies will be told, becoming but a barely remembered legend."

I couldn't help but scoff a little at that. "Seriously, I know Equestria was an important place, but there will always be ponies, even without it."

But Persephone didn't share my skepticism, only looking past me. Then I noticed something, she… she didn't have a cutie-mark. That's when her eyes fell onto me again, and dread filled me. "You deny my words, but you can see… some of the truth. Though you don't understand it."

"Why is Equestria so important then, has it to do with… cutie-marks?" I finally asked.

"Partly." She said as she waved her hoof, and between me and her a table formed, one with several clay pony dolls. The dolls moved about as though alive, yet moved unnaturally at the same time. "The cutie-marks, as most know them as, are more a side effect of how ponies gaind magic. Where all creatures were given a place in the world, set to binding rules in which they were never to break from, ponies were not included. Because there were only ever meant to be… One."

The dolls on the table shifted and changed, becoming a single pure white mare, Persephone. Another finger appeared, some tall lanky thing draped in a green cloth, and in a flash, the creature turned into an adult green mare with a golden wheat colored mane and tail.

"Mother would comfort me the best she could, but I couldn't become like her, and truly join the Olympians. My form was that of a beast, and my touch both brought life and death. Most looked at me with fear and disdain. But not all, not Prometheus." A shadowed figure surrounded by fire appeared, and around the doll of Persephone, several smaller dolls appeared. "He… was too good for this world, and for a time my loneliness was curbed."

The scene vanished, and what looked like a group of saddle arabians appeared, but among them was the form of Persephone's mother, and a large blue stallion following her. "I liked to wonder, worrying my mother to no end, and one day as my worried mother searched for me… Poseidon took advantage of that, and forced himself onto her."

Again the seen shifted, and Persephone was there again, but now a little green colt with a jet black mane was bouncing around her, and playing with the smaller dolls. "What was only one, then became two. Arion, I hated him for what he represented, for what was done to mother… but, he cured my loneliness that the dolls could never do."

"Arion… the ship, the Arion First Born!" I said as I realized where this story was going.

Persephone nodded slowly. "Yes, Arion is your ancestor, my little brother."

"Wait, then that would mean, what. I got the blood of a god in me?" I asked, now feeling a bit important. I mean, a god is my ancestor.

But Persephone rolled her eyes at that. "Yes, but so do all ponies and all creators of your world for that matter. The Olympians were rather prolific with their seed, and used it to make many of the creatures of your world. So no, you're not that kind of special."

My ears drooped for a moment, but then refocused as she continued her story. "It's a rather long tail, and time grows short, so I'll cut it down for brevity's sake. My brother, ever percotus, convinced Prometheus to breathe life into the pony dolls. But he did one better, and stole a piece of the source of magic, and gave it to them. A gift no other creature received, and something Prometheus was punished dearly for." I watched as the dolls had cutie-marks appear on their flanks, and now moved more naturally and with vigor as they turned from a muted gray to a variety of bright colors.

Arion froliced with clay ponies as the doll of Persephone watched from a distance, but as I watched it, I noticed that the colors of the dolls were slowly fading. "But it wasn't enough, though they had magic, that magic was fragile, and quickly faded." As one pony returned to clay, Arion hugged it, and its color returned. "My passionate brother though, he quickly found the reason. The magic they were given, it was powered by love. Didn't matter what kind of love, just that they were loved. So he poured all his love and passion into them, and… I did too, in my own way."

"Yet that wasn't enough, was it?" I asked, having a feeling of where this was going.

"For a time it was. But unlike the other creations, they were still just clay dolls. Filled with magic and love, but still just clay. "We asked Zuse to give them true life, but he would not allow it, as they were not his creation, but creations of Prometheus. And so ponies were doomed to return to but simple clay dolls, and in time Arion and I were to be alone again."

The seen shifted, and a black stallion in black armor stood over Persephone, offering her a hoof. It was the pony from the portraits, her husband. "Then he came, the eldest of the Olympians, one who grew up in the darkness for an eternity, with only a guard dog to keep him company. He could sympathize with me in a way that neither my brother nor mother could. I… I was in love at first sight. And because of that love, Hades took Tartarus from Poseidon, and forced Zuse to grant the wish of my brother and I. All just to see me smile."

"But… ever selfish and spiteful. Zuse also added a curse to the ponies, in which they became… mortal." I watched as the doll ponies froliced around Arion, but in time, one by one, they would wither and die. Arion became distraught by this, crying over the dead dolls, so much so that even my own heart hurt. "My brother had come to love the ponies deeply, just as I had come to love Hades. But with him Immortality and they but mortals, his godhood would become his curse. One that slowly ate away with every passing generation of ponies."

"That's when I was born." Lethe said as she trotted in. "Though I have always existed since the cycle of life and death first started. But when a god chooses to join the mortals, it's something that make… ripples."

"Arion… chose to become mortal?" I asked, seeking clarification.

Persephone nodded, a solemn look on her face. "To be exact he asked me. You see, a god can indeed die, but it's… not the same as a mortal's death. By just remembering their name can a god be revived, even if it's faded and flawed, they will return in time. But mortals, for them death is final, there is no true return from it. Even I cannot truly return the dead to the living."

"Death lingers on the soul, enhances both the good and the bad of a mortal's essence. It warps their mind, and dulls their connection to others." Lethe added as she joined us.

Again the dolls changed, showing a crying Persephone hugging Arion, and them parting. And as Persephone watched her brother frolic with the ponies as one of them, she watched Arion grow old, and eventually Arion died, surrounded by the ponies he loved.

"And where there was only one, again one remained." Persephone said, her voice filled with a deep sorrow and loneliness.

"But… you're not alone. You have Hades, and the first born." I stated.

"True." Persephone smiled, and the dolls shifted, forming a line of of ponies, starting with Aron, with most early on being ponies with green coats and black manes. As the line moved, they quickly became Kelpies, and later their colors and shapes would chang, and eventually those of other pony tribes or mixed breeds. Some I recognized, and predictability, the chain of first borns ended with Dead Reckoning, myself, and Bridget. "The Kelpie's were born from my brother and his wives, strong with Poseidon's blood, tieing them to the water, but the first born. I claimed the first born as my own kin, not that bastards. Which brings us to you."

"Wait… but that doesn't explain why Equestria is important?" I then asked.

For a moment, Persephone froze, then cringed. "Right, I got rambling, didn't I? Well the details aren't important, not for you at least. Let's just say that when Equestria was founded, the three leaders of the pony tribes brought more than just a companion each. With them was the spark of magic Prometheus had given ponies so long ago, and trusting each other, they planted that spark, which took root in the land of Equestria."

"And if Equestria were to truly die, so would that magic as well." My ancestor coldly said.

"And without that magic, slowly and surely, ponies will return to what they originally were." Lethe said as she tapped on the table. I looked and saw the dolls loose their color, looking lethargic and overall ready to die

"But… How is that possible? Were living things?" I asked, feeling disturbed by this fact.

Removing her face covering, I saw that Ancestor Star Charter was all bones under all that cloth, with empty eye sockets staring right into my soul. "It is but a figure of speech. But that said, without magic, without love, ponies lose what makes them what they are. The colors become all gray, and passions are lost. And losing all hope, down to even the smallest spark. The once vibrant ponies, from the most noble, to the vile vile, will simply stop, choosing to lay down and go to sleep, never to wake again."

"It's happened before, and its effect leaves a deep scar on the world." Persephone said, waving her hoof, and creating a portal. Through it I saw a muted and gray town, as though all the colors had been drained. A bright yellow pony trotted through it, but further they went in, the dimmer they looked, even their cutie-mark seemed to fade. As the pony reached the center, they simply stopped, then layed down, motionless and gray. The portal closed, and Persephone then told me. "It is something I loathe to see happen to this world. To happen to the ponies I cherish dearly."

"And you want me to stop it from happening. To save Equestria?" I asked.

"To help, yes." Lethe spoke up. "Well, more to prevent such a danger from ever occurring. It's not something one pony can do alone, but you can help, Since you're already heading in the direction of the current problem."

"And the issue of Phobetor, is also needed to be taken care of. So long as a fragment of her soul exists as a part of that arcan abomination, she can still yet revive herself." Ancestor Star added.

I think I understand. "So… just to get this straight, you want me to… What, help Harp and Slowtrot get to… Despoina was it? And to deal with Quicktrot?"

"Correct." Persephone said with a smile. "If you do, I'll grant you any wish, and be sure that I can grant it, whatever it may be." Her face then became very serious. "Anything but involving yourself with my husband."

I… I was left dumbstruck. A wish, and I knew she could grant it, she was clearly a god. Gold, immortality, youth, power beyond my imagination… even…

"Yes I could, but do remember our warning about reviving the dead." Persephone answered my thought.

"But you would bring back Prism if I asked?" The question came out of my quivering mouth, the hope and pleading bear for all to see.

Persephone nodded.

"I… I need some air to… to clear my head." I said to the goddess.

The Goddesses smiled at me. "Please take your time to think on it, for you have much to do until we meet again."

Turning around and trotting off, I exited the tent, once more finding myself in the stagnant salty air. The guards paid me no mind as I trotted to the edge of the barge, looking out over the water, and seeing that the sun was now setting.

"A lovely sight, the faded sun at the horizon." Lathe said as she joined me. "You can only see this along the bone shores, where soul's gather to pay the fairymare for passage across the river Styx."

"Can I really have her back?" I asked.

Lethe sighed. "Yes, Prism can be resurrected, even made so that her death never came to be. Persephone is a true god after all. Though even still, the stench of death will linger. "

"If she is… then why? Why am I going through this? Why take her away from me!" I yelled.

"She cares for you, and all life, Star." Lethe tried to calm me, but I wasn't having it.

My hooves shook, and my lips trembled as words flowed from my mouth. "Everything that's wrong with this world, she can stop it with a wave of her hoof. My mother, father, Hardballer, none of them needed to die. The things Setting Sun did to me, the curse Victoria shoved into my eye! None of that needed to happen. Harp and Slowtrot, the great war, raiders, slavers, the damned wasteland itself. Why must there be so much suffering!"

"It's just how life is." Lethe said calmly and detached.

"Thats fucking braminshit and you know it." I accused her.

"Yet… it's just how it is." She repeated herself.

"It's useless to try and get her to empathize." Ancestor Star said, joining us. "She's never been alive, so she can never feel as we do. But she does understand… more than we'll ever know. She was there when Arion chose mortality, thus, choosing to die truly. And from there on, she's been there for every pony who has chosen how they will die, and there for every soul that chooses to live again."

"It's another death, to live again." Lethe said, a cold and sad tone to her voice. "They cannot be allowed to remember their life before, so I have them drink, have them forget. An eternity of watching over those who choose to die, and choose to live, never to experience it myself." She then looked at my ancestor, sadness in her dead eyes. "You never needed to drink the poison they gave you."

"But if I hadn't, Alginate would never have moved forward, never had forced herself to grow." Tarot said, her voice filled with warmth.

The reaper smiled. "And there it is, love. How I wish I could feel it myself." She ran her hoof across her chest, making a weirdly musical holo sound as each rib was hit. "But like the rest of my kind, I'm hollow inside. Which is good, as you can't miss what you never had."

"So you can't feel love, but you also can't be hurt by it." I commented.

"True, so very true." Lethe agreed. "But I can't feel the wind on my face, the coolness of water, or the comfort of a hug. Star, I ask you this, all that pain you feel for Prism, the tears, you shed, and the self pity you are going through. At the cost of your memories of her, would you rid yourself of all that pain and sorrow?"

"Never!" I stated.

A smile formed on Lethe's dried muzzle. "That's what it means to live. It's pain and suffering, but also love and joy. Without any of it, you would be no different from me. A creature that knows nothing but a duty to fulfill, and the frustration of dealing with souls that we can never truly understand. The world is unfair, but to live is to be among unfairness and find your place in it. Otherwise you are robbed of being able to live, something which Persephone does not wish to do."

"We were once her toys, a way to curb the loneliness of a little girl." Ancestor Star added. "But she is now an adult, and she no longer needs those toys. If we were to become but dolls once more, she'd care for us, but as something placed on a shelf to collect dust. Best we suffer as living things, then to fade as a memento of a more innocent time."

The barge then joltec to a stop, and I looked back to see that we hit land. "I guess it's time."

"It is, Star, time you go and save your friend." Lethe said and she trotted off over to the shore.

"I know what you're thinking, my descendant, how do I win a fight with a wrath? Digital or spiritual." Ancestor Star said as she pulled out Hardballer's musket from her robes, passing it to me.

I felt nervous just by looking at it, "But… I can't take anything from the land of the dead, can I?"

"Well… let's just say that sometimes cheating the system Is necessary." Magic flowed around my ancestor, and her skeletal face became more… lively. Before me was an older mare who looked just like me, if more green in the coat and with expressive blue eyes, she then took the Oracle's Eye from me and threw both it and the musket into the air, where her cards burst out and covered them. "If you're to share my name, then you should at least be privileged to a few of my old tricks. One of which I used to exorcize evil spirits."

Her cards then caught on fire, the blue flame burning brightly for a few seconds before going out. Falling into her hoof was a silver chain, in which the Oracle's eye hung from. She then placed it around my neck and gave me a hug that reminded me of how mom would hug me "Oh, and I do have permission to let you take this. Let's just say that Persephone is currently looking in a different direction at this time."

Holding onto the Oracle'sEye, I felt more relaxed. "What did you do?"

"My Oracle's Eye used to have the ability to capture spirit, so I activated that magic to store the cold fire musket inside it." As she explained, her face faded, slowly turning back into a skeleton. "It will take some practice, but you'll be able to draw that musket out and give any ghost a real fright. It can also be used to disrupt magic, such as illusions, barriers, and other troublesome things. Though do be careful, you only get one shot a day, with it being what it is."

Letting me go, she had fully returned to her undead form, but looked no less regal.

But I had to ask. "So… why are you all bones?"

Ancestor Star laughed, which was a bit disturbing, since she had no volcalcords. "Unfortunately, being around Persephone will eventually do this to you. I can restore my flesh as you saw, but it never lasts long since her touch never fades. It's why she limits herself from others. Not that I care, I'm already dead as it is." She then waved at me to leave. "But not you, not yet. So get going you fool, you got a life to live after all."

"That I do." I said as I look over at the river Styx one last time, truly finding the faded sun a beautiful thing. "When I see you again, I want to introduce you all to Prism, if that's allowed."

"Of course it is, I had more children than Alginate when I was alive, and I regularly visit them in the Elysian Fields, and one in Tartarus sadly enough. Just make sure you have one heck of a life to tell her about, alright." She said with a chuckle.

Turning to leave, I said to her "I will, and thank you." Trotting off, and to a white beach made of bones, the sight of a desolate land past that filled me with trepidation, but trot to it I did.

Lethe smiled at me as I set a hoof onto the beach. "I'll be seeing you around, Star."

"I guess so, but how is this going to, ya know, go?" I asked.

"About that." Lethe then pointed behind me.

Looking back, I saw Charon with a boat oar held over her head. "Sending one soul back to where it belongs!" The ferrymare yelled, and slammed the boat oar down onto my head, and everything went black

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Chapter 1, From the Past to the Future.

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 01

From the Past to the Future.

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"Give me that!" Mother grumbled as she snatched the brass fixed magnifying lens from around my neck, snapping the ragged thread I used to keep it with me. "Did ye pilfer this, again?" She asked as I looked away as she glared down at me. "Answer me you little brat!"

"But… it's mine." I breathed out, as I braced for another beating.

"No 'tisn't, 'n ye know why I know?" My mother said coldly. "Because I sold it! It ain't yours, and if ya steal it again, you're getting a hoof chopped off. And I'll even do it myself!"

"No it's not! It has me name on it! Father gave it to me!" I argued.

But mother wasn't going to care, she never cared.

Scoffing, she tossed the lens into her jewel box, and slammed the box shut. "Don't remind me. I be reminded enough by yer face. Now get out o' here, I got work t' prepare fer."

She must have been in a good mood, with her not striking me. So, I backed away, not wanting to force her hoof on me. Spying from the edge of the rusty door, I watched as mother got her makeup and clothing ready, a ritual she always did before work, which I enjoyed watching.

I hated her so much, but she was also the most beautiful mare on the Blackwater. Beauty which I didn't inherit, something she always made sure to remind me of. She had a long dark scarlet mane and tail that glistened in the light, and a deep blue, almost black coat that was like the sea at night. Crowning in front of her head were two small horns, in which mother always made sure to polish and have on display, sometimes adding a gold ring to each.

I on the other hoof was not a bicorn like mother, but a plane earth pony. My coat was a simple blue, and my main and tail was the color of dark green seaweed. I barely remembered him, but I supposedly looked exactly like my father, whom my mother hated.

Watching her, she carefully put on one of her dresses, this time the one she used for very special clients. She even pulled out her good makeup, we'll all of her makeup was good, but this was the extra good makeup. Even pulling out her perfume, which barely overpowered the stench of the Blackwater. So maybe she was getting on another ship, maybe seeing a captain this time.

It didn't really fill me with all that much joy, knowing what she was going to do with them, but at least mother will be in a better mood for a few days. Also, it meant that our home wasn't going to smell of stallions and sweat, or that I'll have to clean up after them.

I was already used to seeing mother having sex with other stallions, it was her job after all, but I still didn't like it. I also didn't like how some of the stallions looked at me, some even asking me when I was old enough to join my mothers work. I hated that the most.

I didn't want to become a prostitute like my mother, I wanted to join a ship like my father… even if it probably killed him. But at least I'd be free of this place.

I then caught the glare from mother, her jade green eyes sparking fear in me, it's magic hitting me almost like a whip.

Scurrying away and climbing down into The Red-Light corner of the Blackwater. It was a towering maze of ancient cargo containers, both bolted together and tied down with ropes, forming a maze of rope bridges and ladders. The place was a mini city within the already cramped city ship of the Blackwater, floating on the endless ocean.

I passed by the other prostitutes and did my best to not knock over any clothing on any lines, or stumble into any pony at work. I also had to be extra careful to not stumble or risk falling off and hurting myself.

"Oh Star, off t' church today?" Dotty said to me as I reached one of the ways out. She was a young mare who just started working here after her parents had died. Mother had helped her learn how things worked here and gave her some protection from the others after she paid mom the few doubloons she had. As mares here went, she was a rather pretty white mare covered in black spots, and very kind.

I nodded. "Aye aye, it's well-nigh time fer 'em t' pass out the daily tack."

She sighed, clear disappointment on her face. "Seriously, Settin' Sun best be feedin' ye. We all know she's nah poor like the rest o' us." Dotty then sighed as she hid a bruise on her face. "Speakin' o' which. Can ye take me wee brother wit' ye?"

I looked behind her and saw Black Spot, who was still rather shy for a colt my age. "Ay, no problem!" I told her.

"Thank ye Star, ye're a darlin'." Dotty said as she pushed her brother to me. "Now both o' ye be safe out thar, 'n gangway fer creepy ponies."

"I know!" I said as I dragged Black Spot out and made our way to church. All we needed to do was read a page from Prophet Roselands holy book to get our meal. So, it was easy, and usually fun. Though without the magnifying lens, reading the small text in the holy book was going to be a lot harder. I loved how it could not only make words bigger, but also make them visible even when it was dark, or when somepony had black out the words with ink.

At least I get to see big sis Victoria. With her golden blond mane and sky-blue coat, she resembled the prophet in many ways. Her voice when she sang was divine, and no pony dared to fuck with her as she was a brutal fighter. It was almost like she was sent by the goddesses themselves.

"Ahoy, whore born!" Some little shit of a filly called out to me. Just because her parents were security she trotted around with a stick up her ass. They were always like this, looking for a fight and picking on the smaller foals like Black Spot and me.

But I wasn't some timid little filly and was ready for a fight. But there were three of them, which didn't look good, and I couldn't rely on Back Spot, yet I was still going to fight.

"See, I told ye she wasn't goin' t' run away." The shit filly said, all proud of herself. "Today's nah goin' t' be borin', nah at all."

I wasn't going to win, but I didn't care, so long as I hurt them, I would be satisfied.

"Ahoy now, Save the violence fer aft the sermon." A soft voice called to us.

I took a step back and sat up straight, as did the other three fillies. "S… sorry Victoria!" I apologized.

She was only fifteen years old, but Victoria had the presence of an adult, even scared some of them. Yet she was calm, kind, and so very cool!

Victoria rolled her eyes. "It's alright Star, if ye don’t beat some sense into a pony, they start gettin' a big head. But jus' nah right now aye." She then glared at the three and they dashed off with their tails between their legs.

"I understand big sis!" I said, not quite understanding, but if Victoria said it, I believed it.

She then smiled at me, her eyes gazing into my own, almost hypnotic with how her emerald-colored eyes shimmered. They reminded me a lot like my mothers, as though her gaze had magic in them just like mother. "Good, now best t' head on in. I saved a seat fer ye 'n Black Spot. I even swiped a bit o' Garum from the head nun's cabin, but don't tell nopony, aye."

My own eyes went wide in surprise. "B… why?"

Victoria rolled her eyes at me. "Don't ye turn Eight years ole today, Star? So it's a special day where ya get some treats." She then motioned for me to head inside the church. "Once we be done wit' prayer 'n our daily hardtack, ye can come wit' me 'n hage out wit' me gang. We actually got the game cabin mostly t' ourselves fer a few hours."

"Really!" I squealed as I rushed in. Victoria was truly the best.

The day went by quickly, and it was fun, super fun! Hanging out with Victoria and her gang was the best. I got to talk about the things I liked, the things I hated, and how I wanted to join a ship as soon as I can. We got to trot around the Blackwater and nopony fucked with me, even got to join a fight. But as the sun set, it was time to go. Trotting around at night was liable to get a filly like me thrown overboard, or at least that's what the adults say. Anyways, mom was likely finished with her work, and I could return home.

Navigating through the Red-Light Corner, ignoring the sounds of ponies at work, I climbed to the highest spot where I lived. The cool wind blew over me, bringing with it a light spray of salty air. Though cold, it always felt good to me, made me feel more relaxed.

Looking out over the ocean, colored red by the sunset, I felt compelled to go to it, as though something about the waters wanted me. It was strange, though I knew it would be my death, I always wanted to try and swim in the waters.

Resisting the feeling I opened the rusty door of the cargo container I called home. It squeaked louder than I liked, which was going to annoy my mother. But as I trotted in, I found my home very dark.

"Mom?" I meekly called out, finding my voice echoing inside.

It was cold, and dark. Too cold. Too dark.

As the door opened fully, I was greeted by an empty room, empty for all but something left in the center. Shaking I trotted further in, and picked up my magnifying lens. It was meant for reading maps, an important tool for sailors… but it had been smashed, bent, and the engraving with my and my fathers name on it scratched out.

She was gone, my mother… had left me. And the only memento of my father, had been reduced to junk.

The wind blew again and the door to my now empty home closed, leaving me in darkness.

I could only sit there and cry. I hated her, I hated her so much, but I wanted her. I… I wanted my mother to love me. And now she is gone.

Alone, I was alone.

"You're never truly alone, Star." A wispy like voice spoke as a bony hoof placed itself on my shoulder. "Let me take that, and I'll restore it for you."

A strange blue flame envelopes the lens, lifting it up from my hooves and levitating it behind me.

"Th… thanks." I said as I looked to see who it was, only to freeze in horror. There it was, a dry corps, looking down at me with a blue glow from two empty eye sockets. My chest thumped, my body stiffened, and starting out as a squeak, I began to scream.

_________________________________________________

-Star Charter -

Special

Strength: 7

Perception: 6

Endurance: 6

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 4

Agility: 8

Luck: 4

-Skills-

Explosives- 50

Small Guns- 61

Melee Weapons- 60

Trait: Kamikaze - Star Charter acts fast and recklessly when in conflict. She is often the first to attack, even when taken by surprise. Because of her reckless nature, she rarely gets out unscratched, having -2 damage threshold.

Trait: Hot Blooded - Star has a +15% damage increase but a -2 to Perception and Agility when health is below 50%.

Unique trait: Evil Eye’s Corruption - Star was "given" the power of the evil eye at the age of 11. This gives her the power of terrifying presence when making eye contact as well as regeneration. The use of the evil eye does damage to Star, starting with bleeding from her eyes which progresses until she is bleeding from every orifice. Her regeneration keeps the evil eye from crippling her. Though magical, the eye uses her natural energy to heal. Because of this, she will need to eat or risk her body consuming itself. The self-consumption of her body also puts great strain on her body. It pumps adrenaline to extreme levels and causes her to go into a berserk state of hunger.

Developed Perk: Canterlot Gourmay - Your discerning palette allows you to gain more health benefits from food and drink and resist substance addiction.

Developed Perk: Foal at Heart - Opens up dialog options with younger NPCs and characters.

Learned Skill: Stone Throw - when tossing heavy rocks for hours on end a pony quickly learns how to throw them a bit better. Star Charter can throw weapons 10% farther with 10% more accuracy.

Perk- Earlier Sequence: Star reacts a little faster in a fight, possibly faster than anypony around her. This often gives her the first strike in a fight.

Perk- Pathfinder- Star’s intuition leads her in the right direction, even if it is down a twisting path. She will commonly find shortcuts when traveling or avoid going down the wrong path. All through intuition alone.

Perk- War Dancer - All’s fair in love and war and being able to move one’s hips can also help in both. When dealing with the opposite sex, Star gains a -5% to damage taken and a +5% to damage given along with new dialogue options.

-Gear-

Cosmic Cutlass: A sword that both holds an edge and is more durable than any known metal, but most strange is its ability to take in and hold heat. The blade will have an added burning effect if ever near a heat source.

Nightstalkers Regarded: An enchanted 10.mm fully automatic pistol with snake-like engraving and paint that resembles the ghost Nightstalker. It has the ability to envenomate those hit by its bullets.

Outlaw: A 10mm Griffinstone Typewriter made by the Gunrunner Hardballer for controlled and sustained fire. Perfect for life in the wasteland. Though heavy compared to all other SMG’s, it has almost no recoil and is built to even outlast its user. The gun also has an air of mischief and style only a roguish pony could truly enjoy.

-Companion-

Caval: This young Ghost Nightstalker will go wherever Star goes as her protector.

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My eyes shot open as the smuggler bounced on the ruined remains of some grand roadway, now nothing more than rubble, waking me from my nightmare of a memory. It had been fourteen years since I last saw Setting Sun and I had done my fucking best to forget all about that bitch of a mother. But now, at my lowest, her memory comes back to kick me while I'm down, to remind me how much I was a failure.

Worse, I was no better than her.

My daughters crying still ran through my head, even now so far away, I could still hear her crying, demanding that I don't leave her. My Bridget, my darling, I had to leave her behind, no way I could take her with me.

Still didn't change the fact I did leave her, just like how my mother left me.

Again the smuggler bounced, rattling me out of my train of thought. Despite Longside's attempt to give this vehicle some good suspension, there was only so much a pony-griffin can do with over two hundred year old parts. Still the smuggler held up well for our long trip as it hauled a shipment of guns and ammo in the trailer behind us.

The wind blew through my mane as we rolled along an old and broken road through a mountain pass. Sitting up in the gunner's nest, I looked down at my strange mix of companions. Not that I was any bit normal myself.

Driving the Smuggler was Slowtrot, a pony from over two hundred years in the past, who one day fell out of the sky. Relatively mild mannered, and a bit slow on the uptake, but when push comes to shove he still pulls through in the end. Also, sometimes he slips through time and comes back with strange goodies.

Then there's Harp Melody, well Princess Harp Melody if I was to be exact. Not a Princess like Celestia and Luna, but more direct blood royalty of Princess Platinum, a founder of Equestria. She appeared a little after Slowtrot in much the same way as he had, but she's only from a year in the past and from a place called the Marewaii Islands. Stranger yet is that she was what she called, a Mirage Pony. Some sort of genetic chimera of every equine, which has something to do with her home region being a capital "S" shithole, so toxic that everypony needs genetic treatment to even have kids. Otherwise their foals are born dead or have too many genetic defects to survive for long. So she looked like some zony half-acorn; faded stripes with very small wings and a very small horn. It was like she was a mockery of an alicorn, yet not at the same time. And crazy enough, they have their own magic, which involves storing raw magic in themselves from the ambient magic around themselves and sending it out into other things that can hold it.

On that note, the only reason the smuggler can even drive is because Harp can recharge its spark batteries. She was practically a walking talking magical generator, though it also means she was rather weak to radiation when doing her magic. Drawing in the ambient magic also included radiation, and if she was not careful, she could easily give herself radiation poisoning.

With Harp, came the robot Order, some sort of flying scout drone connected to her pipbuck, given to Harp for protection. I don't know the details very well, but it developed sentience at some point, so that's interesting.

I then felt something fluffy rub on my leg, and I reached out to pet Cavall. The young ghost nightstalker pup gave a happy hiss as my hoof stroked its head. Cavall was a white and gray nightstalker with floppy ears, and far friendlier than the more common nightstalkers found in the mountains everywhere else. He could also turn invisible, which was both awesome, and a pain in my flank. From what Harp had found out, they were some Ministry of Awesome experiment, in which they replaced the coyote genetics of the normal nightstalker with that of a farm dog, making them far less aggressive and far smarter. Then some moron gave then the ability to turn invisible, because why the fuck not.

Most of that was more than I could really understand, but I knew that Bridget would have loved Cavall, since she always wanted a dog… or a cat… actually any animal would have been fine for her, she just wanted a pet.

I let out a sigh as memories of my daughter came back to me.

"You alright miss Star Charter?" A whistling like voice spoke up, startling me.

"Ahhh! Shit, how do you keep doing that!" I complained as I took a deep breath to get my heart to stop pounding.

"Sorry about that, I'm still getting used to this magic business." Azure Dice said apologetically.

He was a… mutant? Monster? Alien? Oh I didn't know or understand that Brahminshit. All I knew was that he was a pony shaped blue crab thing with green glowing joints and fins. Supposedly he was from another dimension, but Harp told me that there were more like him in this world, who were not from other dimensions. Sparkle-Lurkers she called them, and they had some sort of perception filtering magic about them. Meaning that if you're not looking directly at them, they might as well be invisible or something. Also they're capable of doing some sort of sonic attack, and maybe other weird stuff.

"It's fine, Azure. I was just… sleeping up until recently." I told the crab pony.

He nodded, the claws covering his mandibles were like a fake pony snout, hitting the uncanny valley for me. "A dream I guess. Anything you want to talk about?"

"Rather not." I told him. "It was more memories than dreams, personal memories."

"I understand, not everything needs to be recorded. But let me know when you want to share anything, and I'll do my best to jolt it down." He said before returning to his seat next to Harp.

The crab pony was some sort of explorer and liked to write and draw the things he found. I had seen some of his work, and it was okay at best. But I couldn't for the life of me understand how he made any money on what he did. Though he did say he would often sell artifacts he finds, which made more sense to me.

My attention drifted back to the wasteland; the mountain side we were driving along gave me a good view of the land. It was still the depressing browns and grays that I saw when Prism first brought me to Equestria. Before all I knew was the vast blue of the ocean. But there were patches of green to be found in the wasteland, along with other signs of life asserting itself, with more of it every year.

New Appaloosa had long dipped over the horizon, a place I could never call home again. Not that I cared about that place, as most of the ponies there never liked me. Most, but not all. My daughter was still there, protected by her father's family. I also had several close friends, who I worry deeply for.

Prism likely has a grave now, maybe a tombstone. Not that I was given the time to bury her myself, may Celestia damn them.

Taking a deep breath through my clenched teeth, I slowly calmed myself down. No use being angry over dead ponies. I already claimed that revenge.

The smuggler began to slow down, the loud humm and pops of its ancient arcano-tech tractor engine fading.

"What's going on, another sharp turn? … oh, well fuck us sidways." I began to ask, but then saw the reason for the slowdown.

Ahead of us was a blockade, and behind it were several ponies armed with rifles. At first, I thought raiders, as this was something they would do; blocking off well-traveled routes to extort ponies out of their hard-earned caps. Though most times they would accept chems as payment, and even sex was viable payment for them. Though it was never a guarantee that they won't still rape and kill everpony, then rape the corpses. When your brain is fried from prolonged chem abuse, you tend to be more monster than pony.

But nope, it wasn't raiders that we could just kill and not feel bad about it, it was something even worse, bandits. Not that I wouldn't feel bad about killing bandits, they were still going to try and extort us like raiders. No, the problem was that they did more than put a jittery sniper on watch, they liked to rig shit to explode, or some other trap to deter ponies from choosing violence as an option. And looking around, I then saw the explosives already next to us, half buried underground, having been hidden behind a rock. A sign behind the bomb that said "Stay calm or get fucked!" We either had to deal with them politely, or go back and find another route around the mountain.

"Well, looky here! I not seen a motor wagon like that in my life before." A bandit called out as he trotted over. His leather duster and wide brim hat helped hide his thin, almost ghoulish body. It looked as though he hadn't eaten in over a week, yet trotted with more life then even I felt I had. With each step, he clattered with the sound of iron and brass banging on each other from a rough leather belt, making a “Clink” sound. A decorated pickaxe hung proudly on his side for all to see, with it looking both as a status symbol, tool, and weapon. More importantly was the clearly hoof built breach action rifle and revolver on him, along with two bandoliers that wrapped around his body. As he got closer to get a better look at us, I could see a small lantern on his hat, which had a well-cared for and polished brass emblem depicting crossed pickaxes with the letters S.M.U. over them.

I wasn’t sure, but this looked like the bandit clan Union, who had grown more active in this region over the years. A relatively unknown bandit clan up before the Gardens of Equestria were used. Meaning one thing, they are probably Waste Ponies. Ponies born from ghouls, they lived in the dead radiation saturated parts of the wasteland, isolated from the madness that was the rest of the wasteland.

His eyes then peered at me through his scraggly sweat-soaked white mane and opened wide in surprise. "Now there's a sight I hadn't thought I'd ever seen out here. Star Charter, is that you? Now why's one of the Ruffled Feathers best mares doing out her over shaking your flank on stage. Did ya finally kill a customer or something?" He asked, smiling wide, showing off his black gums which caused me to shiver.

Yep, he was a waste pony to be sure. I don’t know why, but most of their inners were black or near black in color, even if they tended to look albino on the outside.

I patted the Smugglers main gun, Aeternus, making sure the bandits got a good look at the gatling beam gun. "The sheriff actually, and most of her deputies."

He clicked his tongue. "Thought that might happen one day. That bitch always pushed too hard with her idea of justice. Not that I blame her or anything. Spending all those years as a Redeye slave would drive anypony off the edge." The bandit eyed me carefully, clearly sizing me up. "And ain't surprised you did it either. Now if ya put your hooved off that big glowing typewriter gun there, it be mighty polite of you. Same goes for keeping your hooves of that normal one ya got next to ya. Ya, keep em hooves up, and nopony gets an itchy trigger hoof, okay."

With a sigh I raised my hooves up. "So what do you plan to do with us?" I asked.

The bandit smiled at me. "Ain't sure yet, not like we've been expecting nopony up here. We definitely didn't expect ponies with the Desperados colors rolling on through. Trouble we ain't wanting, to tell the truth."

"And trouble you're not going to get." Harp then spoke up. "Were simply making a delivery, and saw nopony up here. You agree?"

The bandit scratched his bearded chin. "Maybe I do. Maybe I'd like to see what you got in their trailer behind your wagon."

"You could, but nothing inside that trailer is ours to give away. You'll need to ask the owner first." Harp calmly told him.

"And ya think we care?" The bandit said as other bandits hidden along the mountain showed themselves, their rifles at the ready.

A sharp whistle then caught everponies attention as a younger bandit stallion trotted out from their hiding spot. "Hay Pa! I think they're the ones going to Percussion's farm. Ya remember she said something about a shipment coming her way." He was dressed much like his father, but was less gaunt, and had a mostly trimmed goatee. His mane and tail was just as white and scraggly as his father, which popped out well on his brown coat.

The older bandit nodded. "Ya, six gun bitch said something about that."

"And, what was it she said to ya… right; I'll hang ya all by your entrails if I find ya fucking with my shit again!" The younger bandit said in a poor done accent that resembled how PC talked.

With a sigh, the older bandit then said. "And no doubt she'd do it too." He then looked at Harp with a tired expression. "So you off to Percussion's place?"

"Percussion Cap's farm, that we certainly are." Harp replied. "A shipment from the Gunrunners she ordered last time she passed through New Appaloosa. Another group you rather not upset, I'm sure."

I watched as several of the bandits tighten their grips around their guns, likely now smelling the steel, brass and gunpowder inside the trailer.

"That's your right little miss stripes. Them griffins are ornery on a good day." He then smiled. "But who's to say anypony will know who was even here. Ain't that right?"

The younger bandit then slugged his father in the arm. "Ma will have a damn word or two. The only pony feeding us right now is Percussion and her ponies. If that mine fails because ya pissed off the only farmer for weeks around, she'll kill us both and feed our corpses to the coyotes."

The older bandit glared at his son for a long moment, then defeat fell onto his face. "Fine, they can pass, but since you're all being responsible, you got ta escort them and talk with Percussion."

The younger bandit rolled his eyes and trotted to the smuggler, grabbing onto a bar along the side and holding himself up to ride. "Alright, they won't shoot nopony so long I'm with ya, so get moving." He then winked at Harp. "Names Pyrope Garnett by the way, and yours is?"

"Her name's Harp, and if ya touch her, you're going to become less of a stallion." I growled out my warning at the bandit.

Pyrope blew me a kiss. "Duly noted miss Star. By the way, will you be putting on any shows out here, just asking."

I groaned internally. "If by shows, you mean wanton violence, then that's a distinct possibility if any idiots try anything."

He smiled, but not that conniving charming smile bandits were known for, but the kind of smile that says "that's what I wanted to hear."

It gave me a bad feeling.

"Well miss Star, things are getting a bit wild out here, so we might just see that show if y'all not careful where ya go." Pyrope told me, and that bad feeling I got only grew.

But then again, if I get to smash a few skulls, then I might feel better. I doubted that Victoria was out here, and it was not like we had the power to fight her right now if we wanted too. But if there was a pony dumb enough to piss me off right now, oh I was going to have fun breaking them.

I flashed a smile back at Pyrope, showing off one of my fangs. "Then we'll be extra careful of where we go."

Safely passing by the bandits, Slowtrot made another turn, giving me a good view of the valley below. Alone in an ocean of dirt was a flat patch of green with several buildings at the center. Further off in the distance and at the base of a mountain I could see what was likely a walled settlement. And further off, just peeking over the horizon was a spot of green, though it strangely has blue spots I could just about make out.

"Looks like we should be there before nightfall." Slowtrot called out. "Unless we have any more stops along the way."

The Smuggler then rolled on, now heading down into the valley. The dry air blew through my mane, and the smell of plant matter with the faint hint of blood passed through my nose. Trouble was on the wind, and I for once was glad about it.

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