Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

– You can get anything you want here!

– If’n you got the goods to trade for it.

MLP, 4/22

The faint, diffuse light shone through the slightly opened shutters, and the room was dark. Sonic had strictly forbidden to open them any further, so the squad members left the hedgehog here and went on their way.

Of course, the first thing Sonic did was to open the heavy shutters on the windows, which had once been put up by Cosmic’s fighters to protect the building that had become their unofficial base outside. But the view of the Wasteland was so bleak that the hedgehog slammed the shutters back down – and now sat on the cluttered wooden floor, hugging his knees and staring into the darkness before him.

It smelled of dust, mold, and dirt. The building had clearly not been actively used in a long time.

There was only one way to explain the presence of a dilapidated two-story building in the middle of nowhere – transportation. But there were no railroads nearby (the nearest one was a few miles to the north, connecting Ponyville to New Appleloosa), and Cosmic said the house might not have been a station, but an inn on the road between the towns. At least that was suggested by the spacious lobby, which, judging by the tables and counter, served as dining room and bar at once. There were also several rooms on the second floor, untouched by time and weapons.

They had reached this place late at night. After the encounter with the raiders, no one wanted to stay there until morning, so they decided to make up for the lost time before they started their trek. With the flashlights on their PipBucks, Spark and Stream, along with Nightlight, demined the approaches to the hut – and immediately mined back once the others were inside. Cosmic said it was usual for them to do that.

These ponies were clearly crazy. Just the wacky, complete lunatics! But they really knew how to survive out here.

The rest of the night went by quietly. Suddenly the building had a working latrine, which was a miracle by local standards, though Cosmic said the water still smelled of magical radiation. Having gone there between periods of restless sleep, the hedgehog saw Metal Dawn on duty in the hall from the inner balcony on his way to his room. The stallion was leisurely pacing from side to side with a revolver in his teeth. Sonic shuddered; a shiver ran down his spine. Yeah, he didn’t want to know what that pony was thinking.

On the upper level, there was a corridor with several doors; the far end of it seemed to have been destroyed at some point, so it was littered with rubble and debris for protection. It was quiet here too. Only Cosmic, Metal Dawn and Sonic himself were in separate rooms – the latter two were empty for the moment, and the blue earth pony was probably asleep. No sound came from Snow and Nightlight’s room either.

As the hedgehog approached the door behind which the pegasi were, he heard muffled groans and paused, lost in speculation. But then he rolled his eyes, shook his head, and finally went to himself.

The night was coming to an end, and it would be good to get some sleep before tomorrow.

As it turned out later, in vain.

“…But why without me?” Sonic asked, his voice ringing with resentment. “I don’t understand…”

“Let’s mentally go back to the day before yesterday and remember the impression you made on The Republic,” Cosmic replied. She looked slightly sad – obviously it was still not easy for her to make such a decision. “I almost shot you out of caution. What do you think the guards on the walls of New Appleloosa will think?”

“But I'll be with you! They know you well.”

“Us, yes,” Nightlight said. “Not you. And that might raise some questions for us.” She slowly lowered her dark glasses to her nose and looked at Sonic with hypnotic red-pink eyes. “And we don’t want that, do we?”

The unicorn mare’s eyes, so bright in the morning darkness, flashed with a strange, unknown power. The hedgehog gasped, swallowed, and took several steps back. His knees trembled.

Nightlight grinned out of the corner of her mouth (it looked just as creepy with her glowing eyes), calmly put her glasses back on, and walked back toward the exit where the others were already gathered.

“Trust me, it’ll be better,” Cosmic said, correcting the carbine on her back. “I’ll be sure to ask what you’re looking for. But for now, we must get the contract. And on the way back we’ll come here and get you.”

“Okay…” Sonic looked anxiously at the doors through which everyone started to leave. “But… you’re not gonna booby-trap the whole–”

The memory receded.

The hedgehog pounded his fist on the ground, clenched his teeth and groaned. Why is it always so hard?! Why can’t they just show a little more trust?! What the hell is wrong with this place?!

Everything’s wrong. From the fallen bombs to the showdown between Cosmic and Metal Dawn. And the barrage of plasma mines around the house where Sonic was left.

“How am I supposed to look for the fucking Elements?!” he shouted in frustration, jumping up and kicking the wooden wall of the house. Then he hopped onto one foot, grimacing in pain and holding his sneaker over the bruised area.

A thought came to him, why don’t I just run around in my favorite style and blow up all these mines, get free and keep looking?

Sonic sighed, let go of his leg, which was shooting pain into his bruised fingers, and rested his forehead against the solid wall. Then he stepped back and began to bang his head against the boards.

“Think! Think! Think…!”

After a dozen blows, his skull was throbbing with intense pain. Sonic slumped back against the wall and slid down, exhausted, to sit on the floor.

A white-gloved hand touched the string around his neck, where he now wore the remaining rings. And at the same moment, the despair faded a little, and somewhere in the back of his mind, a faint hope flickered.

“Yeah,” Sonic said quietly, “I guess I gotta do this now. Tails said he needed some time to fine-tune the detector, but... Damn me John Wick, it’s been already two days! If Eggman hasn’t struck yet, we’d better hurry.”

He untied the string and took one ring off, then put the others back.

A second later, the room lit up with golden light.

New Appleloosa was something like The Republic – or vice versa? The town, notorious for its ties to the slavers, was built around railroad tracks and consisted entirely of old railroad cars, whereas in Cosmic’s hometown they barely made up a quarter of the outer wall. And one could only guess how the wind had carried so much metal so far into the Wasteland – at least here all the iron was in its proper place.

The guards on the walls were quite serious – Cosmic noticed with a trained eye that the one above the gate had a lever shotgun and a sniper rifle. Last time it had been a hunting carbine and a weak rechargeable laser rifle. The arsenal must have been updated a few months ago.

“Who’re you?!” yelled a stallion with a shotgun from the wall of train cars.

A rookie on the shift, probably.

“Ivory, tell your partner to learn those who come here to work!” Snow Vision shouted back. “And give him a kick in the ass so he learns to aim properly!” At Cosmic’s chuckle, the unicorn explained, “He kept moving the barrel from one of us to the other, like he couldn’t decide. Though had to pick the second most important target and led him, since the other one has a sniper rifle. Sorry, Stream, but when I said target, I meant you”.

“Come on,” the pegasus mare waved her hoof and ruffled her colorful mane. “Being second ain’t so bad. Especially,” she nudged Spark lightly with her flank, “after the coolest pegasus in the Wasteland.”

Spark Glider smiled silently and playfully nuzzled his marefriend.

Cosmic snorted: even after what they’d been through yesterday, the two of them had been enjoying themselves for half the night, keeping her awake with their screams. The pegasi were clearly planning to take every bit of happiness they could get.

Meanwhile, on the wall, the guards were squabbling. Finally, they stopped bickering, and a sniper pony named Ivory waved down: open the doors, then.

The heavy steel gates, much stronger than those of The Republic, swung slowly inward. Everyone was required to surrender their weapons at the entrance. It was standard procedure, but it was still painful to see the rifles and battle saddles that had served the troopers faithfully for years unloaded and locked in crates at the ground sentry; Snow Vision had his knives taken away. It was as if a vital part had been torn from them.

Disarmed, the mercenaries entered the town.

It was almost dusk, so the motley group wasted no time and headed straight for the highest tower in the settlement, which was no less than four train cars high.

Cosmic remembered the saying of the local sheriff, Railright, which he had once uttered over a glass of apple whiskey, “Al’ roads lead t’ New Ap’loosa, an’ al’ roads in New Ap’loosa lead t’ the Turnpike Tavern.”

At least he wasn’t wrong about the latter.

The tavern greeted the group with the sound of voices and the smell of sweat mixed with cheap alcohol. Due to the late hour, the place was packed, but some ponies, seeing them enter, rushed to clear one of the tables where the mercenaries sat. That’s what reputation means, Cosmic thought with a grin.

The radio was playing music, barely discernible over the general din. As always – DJ Pon-3 sounded everywhere in this fucking Wasteland.

Snow went to the bar to get drinks for everyone, as well as to arrange to stay overnight. That shouldn’t be a problem – the group usually rented an entire floor at the top of the tower for the night. They couldn’t afford to stay any longer – Silver Star demanded an accounting of every cap spent. But there was usually no need for a longer wait: there was always a merchant, or even a few, willing to hire guards for their caravan. Especially such… representative ones.

“Heh, how long d’you think we’ll have to wait for someone to offer us a contract?” Stream Dash asked with a chuckle.

The pegasus mare leaned back, remembering belatedly that she was sitting on a scrap metal banquette, and flapped her wings a few times to keep herself in place.

“Until tomorrow, at least,” Metal Dawn said with a hoof wag. “We can’t be so lucky to get hired every time we go out. There aren’t many merchants in the Wasteland, and they don’t have so many caps that things can come together with enviable regularity.”

“There’ll be some here soon,” Spark Glider grinned, resting his elbow on the tabletop. “We’ll finish this quickly an’ go t’ sleep. An’ then…”

He leaned over to Stream’s ear and whispered something that made her laugh and blush at the same time.

“An hour, give or take,” Cosmic said. “Not as soon as we’d like, but it should be done today. Provided, of course, that the pony who’d hire us has the payment with him.”

Nightlight remained silent.

“Oh, who in their right mind would show that many caps at once,” Spark said. “If he doesn’t pay half up fron’ t’morrow, we’re just not goin’, that’s all.”

Snow returned to the table and levitated his drink.

“All right, it’s a deal,” he said, distributing the drinks with telekinesis: a glass of apple whiskey for Metal Dawn, brogue for himself and Nightlight, and some kind of cocktail for the pegasi. Cosmic accepted the bottle of cider with a smile. She wasn’t much of a drinker; besides, she was the one who had to negotiate the hiring. “We have the fourth floor all to ourselves. There’s enough room for all of us, as the third floor is already occupied.

“By the way,” the unicorn lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “Apple Whiskey hinted that one of his merchants is lookin’ for some guards to get back to Manehattan. And we might fit in here…”

“We’re a mercenary unit, not a goodwill mission,” Metal grumbled, sipping his whiskey. “They’re the ones who should be coming to us for work, not us.”

“Come on,” Stream said cheerfully, taking a swig of her poison-green drink through her pipe. “What’s wrong with doin’ something ourselves so we don’t have to sit around until we run out of caps?”

“Good evening,” someone’s voice sounded nearby.

The whole company turned to the beige unicorn who came directly to their table.

“And for you as well,” Cosmic nodded. “What are you interested in?”

“I’m a merchant from Manehattan,” he replied. “My name is Monterey Jack. I’d like to hire your troop for protection on the way to Tenpony Tower.”

“Cosmic, you’re up,” Snow grinned.

The blue earth pony got out from behind the desk and stood in front of Monterey.

“Great. I’m Cosmic Valor. Let’s go somewhere where we can talk terms.”

The merchant tilted his head in agreement.

They pushed through the evening rush of customers and sat down at the bar, which had become suspiciously empty.

“So… why us?” Cosmic began, sipping some cider. “We have powerful weapons by Wasteland standards, which automatically makes our team not so cheap. Why did you choose us?”

“And how many other mercenary groups do you see in this room right now?” Monterrey circled the ponies gathered in the tavern with his hoof. “Besides, I can’t wait much longer. My cargo –” he chewed his lips excitedly “– is quite perishable.”

“Oh?” Cosmic raised an eyebrow. “And what is that, may I ask?”

“Cheese. I sell cheese.” The unicorn turned slightly so that the earth pony could see the slice of cheese as his cutie mark. “I used to guard caravans like you – I worked for the former owner of a cheese shop in Tenpony. Later, the business passed to me, and now, as you can see, I’m the one who employs you.”

“Oh, then you must stop by The Republic on your way!” exclaimed the earth pony. “Our Aunt Grace’s cheese is so good, just hoof-licking!”

“Actually, I only wanted to visit a few familiar farms on the way…” Under Cosmic’s judgmental gaze, the unicorn added, “Although... in principle, I’m willing to consider the suggestion. After all, a little more variety wouldn’t be a bad thing. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I think about it.”

“And… what happened to the previous owner of the shop?” Cosmic tensed involuntarily.

“Illness,” Monterey Jack replied dryly. “It was my foster father. It just so happened that he had no one closer to him than me, and so I was mentioned in the will. Where else could I have gotten my cutie mark?”

“Sorry,” said Cosmic and changed the subject, “Let’s discuss the terms of the contract?”

“Okay.” The unicorn also seemed a bit relieved to get to the point. “What’s your price?”

“Well…” the earth pony looked thoughtfully, “about eight days travel to Manehattan, a supply of food and water, ammunition that we might have to spend… Total basic cost is two thousand. Plus,” she raised a hoof, emphasizing the importance of the addition, “surcharges in case of encountering a special enemy (every encounter!), as well as serious injury or… loss of someone from the party. Each item is determined separately, not to exceed half of the contract value, and added to the total.”

“Special enemies? Are you talking about the alicorns?” Monterey raised his eyebrows.

“Not only that. Steel Rangers, for example, are no fun to deal with, are they?” Cosmic gave him a stern look. “Unless you have some kind of conflict with them or anyone else in the Wasteland.”

“One thousand two hundred.” The trader looked back with cold calm. He didn't look like one to be broken so easily. “And surcharges only in case of real force majeure – no more than five hundred caps for each. And I’ll decide what counts as a real emergency.”

“Two thousand, or find another squad.”

“One and a half. And I’ll settle for extra seven hundred and fifty.”

“One thousand eight hundred plus one thousand. And that’s the final offer.”

“All right, I’ll do it!” Monterey pounded the table. “Full payment up front, huh?”

“And how did you want it?” Cosmic leaned toward him. “We take risks for your own safety – and would like to receive a decent reward for it. Especially since security – along with information – is one of the most important intangibles in today’s Equestria. And often the most important.”

“I understand,” the merchant nodded. “Wow, I see you mean business!”

Cosmic pulled a crumpled piece of paper with printed text and a pen from her saddlebag.

“When dealing with such sums, and especially with the lives of the ponies entrusted to us, contracts on words aren’t worth a cap,” she said, taking a pen with her teeth and writing the agreed amounts in the blank spaces.

Then she unfolded the paper and slid it and the pen to Monterey Jack.

“Sign here.”

“I’ll read it first,” the unicorn frowned and began to run his eyes over the lines, holding the sheet with his hoof.

Cosmic waited, leaning against the counter and sipping her cider.

“So… where’s the clause about compensation if it’s your fault that I can’t deliver the shipment or part of it to Manehattan?”

“It’s in the small print on the back,” the mare sighed.

It’s a bit of a freak, this thoroughness. It’s just metal circles – something immeasurably less valuable than life.

“Let’s see…” He turned the sheet over – and almost choked with indignation when he read what was written there. “What?! You’re crazy! Ten caps per kilo?! So my… so my goods cost more than a hundred on average…!”

“Sign,” grinned Cosmic and finished the bottle in one gulp. She set the empty one aside, where it was immediately picked up and taken away by a barpony named Apple Whiskey. “After all, you want security or not?”

Giving the head of the mercenary squad a look that said, ‘What do you think?’, Monterey took a pen between his teeth and wrote his name below the text of the contract. Cosmic immediately folded the sheet back and put it in her bag – along with the pen, which she politely asked to be returned.

“I hope I don’t regret this,” the unicorn grumbled, getting up from behind the counter.

“We’ll do everything that depends on us,” Cosmic replied diplomatically… and suddenly she remembered something and called to him, who was about to leave, “Wait! There’s one question… not about the contract.”

“Hmm?” Monterey sat back in his seat. “You wanna use me as a source of information? Learn some terrible secret of the Wasteland to get out of a purely formal treaty relationship?”

“Something like that.” Cosmic lowered her voice, “Tell me, have you ever heard of artifacts called the Elements of Harmony?”

“What?” the merchant seemed confused. And at the same time, like he was about to laugh. “Is this a joke?”

“I’m sorry if my ignorance hurt you so much,” Cosmic said venomously.

Monterey covered his eyes and shook his head slightly, holding back a laugh.

“It’s just… I grew up in Tenpony, the place where the Ministry of Arcane Science was located before the bombs fell, so everyone there knows the history of pre-war Equestria…” he waved his hoof in the air, “in more detail than… in other places. Of course, I’ve heard of the Elements. But…” he narrowed his eyes, “we didn’t agree to be open with each other… for free, did we?”

“Of course,” the mare rolled her eyes and placed ten caps on the counter. “How could I forget.”

“Thank you.” The unicorn scooped up the caps, not letting Apple Whiskey, who thought Cosmic wanted to order more, do so. “So… it’s a fairy tale.”

The earth pony blinked.

“W-what?”

“Legends say that the Elements are the artifacts that embody the six basic ponies’ virtues… I can’t tell you exactly which ones. They were owned by Celestia, and after Princess Luna returned from her thousand-year banishment, this honorable duty fell on the shoulders of six young fillies, the same ones who later became the heads of the Ministries. But unfortunately, no one knows what happened to them after the war. Neither the Ministry Mares themselves, nor their Elements. So I’m inclined to believe that the artifacts were destroyed by megaspells along with Equestria.”

Cosmic exhaled in disappointment. The unicorn’s words had given her very little new information, and what was there wasn’t happy. Monterey Jack would definitely call Sonic's campaign pointless and two hundred years too late.

But wait a minute… If Sonic went to Equestria to get the Elements, did he and his friend from that world actually find the trail of the artifacts? Does that mean they’re still out there somewhere?

“Okay. Thank you,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I was just, uh–”

“…broadening your horizons,” Monterey said mockingly and stood up again. “Yes, sometimes it can be useful. I’ll see you tomorrow. Cosmic Valor.”

She waited until the trader had gone up to the living quarters and whispered after him:

“Celestia’s horn up to your ass.”

A few hours later, only Snow Vision, Metal Dawn and Cosmic herself remained at the table. Contrary to even her own expectations, the troop leader had allowed herself to order another drink – and now she was rocking back and forth on the banquette, her ears bathed in the gradually fading hum of the voices of the ponies who had come here first of all to relax.

The news of the contract had lifted the troop’s spirits. Everyone was more cheerful and seemed to be more friendly. Goddesses, even Nightlight smiled slightly as she recognized the terms Cosmic had negotiated. Basically, the six of them would supply the city for almost a month in the next week. Yes, Silver Star might hide some, but most of the caps would go to food and the needs of the inhabitants. What could be better than knowing that your work benefited so many ponies? Cosmic couldn’t imagine.

Pleasant thoughts, soaked with cider, warmed the soul more than any blanket on a frosty day. She didn’t want to go anywhere, everything around her seemed like a magical fairy tale in which the earth pony was the main character, easily overcoming all the obstacles. Even the unpleasant incident with Metal Dawn and the humiliating trial yesterday morning had been forgotten for a while.

Life was seen as worth living, and there was still time to be happy.

At some point, Cosmic found herself alone at the table with Metal Dawn. The stallion looked at her, perhaps waiting for her to stop daydreaming out there and give him her precious attention.

Consciousness briefly cleared. Cosmic looked around - there weren’t many ponies left in the bar, and Apple Whiskey had dimmed the lights. It was time to hit the hay.

“Maybe we go for a little walk before bed?” Metal Dawn suggested as Cosmic tiredly got up from the table.

The mare gave him a long look, then shook her head:

“No, Metal, I won’t go along with that. I’m not gonna be alone with you from now on. Sorry, I’m really tired. I should probably go to bed. Are you coming?”

“Um… not yet,” he brushed it off and finished his whiskey. What number so far? Cosmic thought. “I’ll stay here for a while. And you go if you want. Tomorrow, we gotta go out.”

“Good night,” said the blue earth pony, yawned and went with a heavy step to the stairs.

As she climbed the metal bars, she turned back. Metal Dawn was sitting at a table in the far corner with a figure in a dark cloak.

I hope he doesn’t lose all our caps, Cosmic thought. Somehow she was sure that her fighter had just decided to play cards for the night. Although there had been several groups of players sitting in the hall earlier, looking much nicer.

She shook her head, stifled another yawn, and went to the floor where the others had settled.

A new day was waiting for them tomorrow.

Note: Level up.

Player: Cosmic Valor. New perk: Master of Trade – now you can earn 20% more caps and get a 10% discount on all purchases.

Player: Sonic. New perk: Waiter – in the inactive mode, you can store unused energy; the amount of additional resources does not exceed 25% of your current energy reserve. Gained +1000 experience. New quest perk: Ring Power – you can now keep a portal open for several minutes.