Fallout Equestria: Desperados V3 (Bonds of Platinum)

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V3: Bonds of Platinum

Ch 7, Platinum and Steel, Part 1.

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“Seriously, you could have said no,” Star whispered as we trotted further up the hill.

“Ya, I mean, Fizzy ain't our problem.” Live whispered from my other side.

I glared at the two of them “Why don't you two go tell the over two-hundred-year-old super unicorn, no?”

They both rolled their eyes at me and backed off, giving me some space. After we had soaked in the atmosphere of the Coven of Clovers, we set out to see why the tomb of Princess Platinum was closed, since we were already up here and dressed. Unfortunately Fizzy was coming along as well, now as part of our group by request.

The deeper we trotted into the inner-city, the more we felt the Steel Ranger's presence and their ever-watching eyes. Mostly it was the red-robed ponies with many pockets, called scribes, of which most looked quite young. There were quite a few strong-looking ponies in rust red and gray military-style jumpsuits, of which were all armed and trotting around as though on patrolling. We even saw a few power-armored ponies and robots standing guard outside a few buildings.

“Is it always like this?” I asked Fizzy

“E'yep, the rangers are, like, very protective of their territory. Something to do with artifacts, documents, and foals.” Fizzy told us.

“Ya, this is a tin can breeding ground,” Live said with a groan. “Only rarely do they recruit from outsiders or the locals here. I think they have something like a breeding program so that their blood doesn't get too thick.”

It did make some sense since the Steel Rangers have existed since the war, they needed places to raise their young. Hidden military bunkers were likely far from the best place for a foal to grow. Also, they probably needed a place for different Ranger chapters to meet up from time to time, along with preventing inbreeding, or moving around Rangers who didn't fit in their group. I also imagine that a place like this would be used to sort out information and keep the rangers on the same page on things. Maybe to prevent infighting, or accidentally attacking their own.

As we trotted along, making our way to the market road, I was surprised to see a pegasus in power armor, painted in the rust reds and grays of the steel rangers. Actually, as I looked around, there were a few pegasus mixed in with the other ponies. It wasn't a lot, but more than I have ever seen outside of my own home.

“Say, did the rangers absorb the Enclave like the Desperados did?” I asked Live Axle.

She thought about it for a moment, answering with a “Maybe. I think Thunder Crack mentioned that once. That the Rangers did take captives, but executed most of them. I guess they kept whoever they spared. Most other Enclave that didn't get captured just fucked off and became a problem for other ponies.”

“Misery loves company I guess.” Star comment.

I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that the Rangers had flying units now, but so long as we weren't fighting them, I'd rather not pay it too much mind.

A loud thud came from our side, and we looked to see an imposing Steel Ranger in power armor looking down at us. “Care to explain where you found that arcano-tech?”

He wasn't just looking at us, but at Order, who was hovering next to me. I should have known this was bound to happen, Spritz Cookie did want to kill us just for our pipbucks. So an advanced recon drone with two thaumaturge weapons bolted to its sides would raise a few eyebrows here. Order must have been in their sights since we arrived.

“It wasn't found, Order here was made and given to me by my father!” I informed the ranger in my best, and naturally, Canterlot accent. “Now if it is illegal to have an Orthrus Recon Drone here, I will send it away, if not, please don't bother us.”

A clear huff of annoyance came from the ranger. “I doubt that mutie, and a nice attempt at a Canterlot accident, unfortunately, it's as fake as your story.”

Now that pissed me off, but before I could protest, the more mane then pony jumped in, hugging me. “Hay, why are you, like, being mean to my friend!” Fizzy half pleaded half wined. “It's not nice to bully others, ya know!”

The Ranger was confused, managing to say a “what?” As they struggled to find any words.

Fizzy continued, “Ya, she only got here, and you're, like accusing her of being a liar. That's like, so mean!”

The Ranger let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, I'll believe the mare, but this must be reported to Elder Shortcake, and advise that you must turn in your tech to be properly cataloged!”

That was… surprisingly civil. I still didn't like it, but complying with his “advice” was probably a good idea. They were unlikely to take our stuff, not unless they wanted to piss off the other factions here and be called raiders. Anyways, if worse comes, and they do take them, Order could just take our stuff back.

“Fine, and where do we go to get our tech cataloged?” I asked.

“We have a tech lab run by our scribes, they will send a pony to get you.” The Ranger told us.

“Alright, we will be at the diner, as I have reasons to be there, will that be a good place to wait for them?” I told the Ranger.

“If you can, staying here would be preferable.” The Ranger suggested.

“That's not happening,” Live said with a hint of a snark.

Speaking up before anypony said anything stupid, I told the Ranger, “Sorry, but we rather not bother the ponies here. I'm sure your superiors will understand since obstruction of the flow of traffic can cause problems in case of an emergency. It is best if we wait someplace where we are not being an obstruction, so just let your scribes know that we'll be at the Hilltop Diner.”

An audible click of a tongue came from the Ranger, as they then told me, “That will be fine, please wait there, a scribe will be there to see you shortly.”

It was clear they didn't want us to go there, but weren't going to just force us to stay here or direct us somewhere else. I could only guess that what happened at the gate got around, and now the Rangers were being careful to not cause a scene. So he trotted back to let us pass, and we continued on our way.

“Obstruction of the flow of traffic? What was even that?” Star asked with a chuckle.

I sighed. “It's a real thing in the Marewaii Metro. So many ponies live down there that even a small group of ponies standing in a walkway can cause a blockage of ponies. I even heard that a few times ponies got so jammed up, that it caused deaths.” I told my friends. “It's a serious issue when you're crammed underground with tens of thousands of ponies.”

“That sounds terrible!” Fizzy gasped. “Have you ever, like, experienced that?”

“Fortunately, no,” I told her. “But I did trot through a place called Charon's Stop, a station where the destitute gather, and many waste away without hope.”

Remembering that place, and the smell of rot and death that it gave off, it did feel fitting at the time. Like I was entering the realm of the dead in preparation for joining them. But now, thinking about it, it was the opposite. Those ponies were desperately clinging to life, hanging on by mear threads in hopes of salvation, and I couldn't understand them at all.

Just then I got another hug from Fizzy. “That's so sad, but I bet they weren't without hope, nopony is without hope!”

Weirdly, her hug and her words did make me feel warmer. It wasn't much, but it was enough to refocus my attention on the task at hoof.

I wanted to visit my ancestor’s tomb and needed to know why it was closed off.

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Reaching the market road, the Ranger's presence died down, replaced by the more relaxed Platinum Guard. Passing by the Hilltop Boutique, we saw Bianca at work cleaning the mannequins and dusting the area around them. She was cute looking, reminding me of my maids back home, and how adorable they were in their dresses. I hope they are doing okay, maybe still working in the stable despite it being under pirate control.

There were other stylish ponies and griffins around, even a deer in a vibrant green dress sitting at a restaurant. I could only imagine that this place looked a lot like Canterlot did before the war, filled with life and well-dressed creatures.

It made me imagine how life would have been if the war never happened. I'd never been born, I knew that, but if I was, I'd have been a unicorn, living the life of a royal. A real royal, not the shadow of royalty my family had become. Likely having tea with my mother and Celestia, learning magic from the princess herself, and preparing for when it was time to take over my mother's buricatic duties.

Now… Now I can only hope that my sisters Rare Pearl and Silk Carnation were alive and well, and my eldest sister, Silver Majesty, was dead. Though I never got along with my elder sisters, Rare was at least more focused on her duties to bother with me, and Silk was just into herself, treating me like any other pony, less than herself. Silver on the other hoof was a cruel and pathetic traitor that deserves to be erased from history itself.

“Harp, you okay?” Star asked, the five of us have stopped.

“I'm good… just thinking of home,” I told her as I looked at a classic diner, it was as though straight out of a photograph.

I then sighed as I saw a promotional poster, on it was Fizzy in a diner uniform, holding a serving tray with several glasses of varied colored bubbling drinks. “Come try our signature sodas today!” it read.

We all looked at Fizzy who looked at the poster, a bit of drool coming from her mouth. “I so want to try them.” She said, as though not recognizing herself.

Inside, the place wasn't too busy, with only a few ponies at several booths. The ponies working were relatively young, younger than me by a year or few, and in the same classic diner uniform from the poster. Everything was clean to a mirror shine, even the floors, which didn't look as though it had over two hundred years of hoof traffic.

One freckled unicorn mare trotted over, smiling wide. “A party of five?”

“No… well yes. We're here to inquire about the tomb, and it being closed to outsiders.” I told the mare.

Her smile didn't drop as she spoke. “Yes, we can help you with that. But first, take a table, and order some food and drink. All proceeds here go into the maintenance of Equestria's oldest heritage site, so we hope you enjoy what we have to offer and return for more.”

Shrugging, I told her, “might as well, one booth for five.”

With that same smile, she told us, “Right this way” and trotted over to a larger booth in the corner.

As we followed my eyes darted about, seeing all the nicknacks and photos, each one likely an artifact from over two hundred years ago. A signed photo of Lilac Lace next to Golden Joystick, both famous actors during the war. A photo of the King playing his famous guitar with the staff sitting around him. Even a photo of Princess Majesty and Princess Celestia framed up in gold! There were quite a lot of photos of Princess Majesty here, sitting with all sorts of ponies. What was a surprise was a smaller photo of Princess Majesty, sitting outside with the Desperados, the original Desperados from during the war.

“Hay, I found a photo of Arras!” I said out loud.

Live Axle bolted over, looking at where my hoof was pointing. “Well fuck, Elder Big Papa was a real stud in his day!”

In the photo was an older, but not yet old stallion. The tan unicorn was a barrel-chest silver fox, who had several scars, some of which were clear gunshot wounds. Arras sat next to Majesty, a wide smile on his face as he raised a glass in the air with the other Desperados. Strangely, Majesty wasn't looking at the camera like in all the other photos, but at Arras, almost longingly.

Moving on and taking our seats, the hostess gave us a menu as she told us, “A pony will be with you in a moment to take your orders, and to answer any questions.” Then trotted off.

“I got to say, those uniforms are really cute,” Star commented as she watched the young mare leave. A statement I couldn't argue with. “Say Slowtrot, did they dress like that during the war?”

“It was a common look for ponies working in any Ministry of Moral diners.” He told us, not sounding all that happy about it. “Personality, I ate at family-owned diners, though thinking about it, they too were likely owned by the Ministry of Moral as well.”

Right, Slowtrot was still adapting to not being under constant observation by the Ministries. He had come a long way from trying to watch what he said all the time, something I could empathize with. It put things under the perspective of why everything went so bad when Equestria fell, as the Ministry was driving everypony insane just to win that damn war. And even now, the shadows of the Ministries still hang over us.

In the corner of my eye, I could see, six posters of each Ministry, with each Ministry mare on them with a message. Unnervingly out of all of them was Pinky Pie, her eyes bearing down on everypony with the message “Pinky Pie is Watching You, FOREVER!” Which I could only guess had meant to be comforting to the citizens of Equestria, but from how Slowtrot used to react, it was far more sinister and oppressive.

Turning my gaze away from the past, and to the now, I looked at the menu to see what they had to offer. And I was genuinely surprised to see an interesting selection. Their main dish was called the Hilltop basket: a cheese brahmin burger with a side of Tato fries and any cola of our choice, of which there were six. Other dishes were grilled carrots on a bun and a pumpkin omelet. The drink was a Hilltop-Cola, which I was sure was going to be just Sparkle-Cola but made locally, with five different variants of it.

Slowtrot frowned as he looked at the menu.

“You okay?” Live asked.

She sighed as he put it down. “I'm fine, I was just hoping they had hayburgers.”

“Sadly, hay isn't cheap to transport to these parts.” an older mare said, dressed in a more business version of the diner out, and holding a notepad. “We can only reliably grow tatos and carrots around here, along with brahmin of course. Now, may I take your order?”

She had a name tag on her blouse, stating her name as Silver Leaf, and rank as Knight Captain.

“Oh, I want-” Fizzy began to speak up, but was cut off by the knight captain.

“The Hilltop basket and one of each soda, correct.” Silver Leaf said. Fizzy nodded and Silver sighed. “You haven't changed at all, Fizzy.”

Fizzy herself chuckled. “It hasn't been much time for me, Silver. But you look like you still work too much.”

Silver levitated her notepad right into Fizzy’s muzzle, poking her with it. “Because I have an important job to do here, unlike some airhead we know that wandered in out of nowhere, and made a huge mess before vanishing!”

Again Fizzy put on that apologetic “oops” face with a slight giggle.

Pulling her notepad back to her, Silver then addressed us. “Putting personal business aside, if you can make your order, I'll then answer any of your questions.”

After a quick deliberation, we just all ordered the same thing, the Hilltop basket, but a different cola each. Once done writing our orders down, Silver started talking again. “Right, so you wanted to visit the tomb of Princess Platinum, and likely the museum of Equestria history as well. Sadly it is currently closed due to a break-in. Nothing was stolen, but just getting past our security and cracking open a few locks has our Elders worried.”

That made sense if there recently had been a crime, though not stealing anything is weird. Unless they were not after any simple artifact or ancient jewelry, but something more magical. But anything like that would likely be in the inner chambers of the tomb itself, which is likely protected by a magical barrier that only the royal family can open. Then why worry, I doubt anypony today would even know what's in the tomb, much less how to open it.

Wait, that might be why their elders are worried. Maybe they weren't there to steal anything but to learn about what could be stolen.

“I see, that is most worrying. Any chance the tomb will be open soon?” I asked, not wanting to pry or stir the pot.

“Tomorrow. Tours will start again in the afternoon after the private tours are over.” Silver told us.

Private? Maybe someone important was here.

“I guess all that extra security they put up is still working then.” Slowtrot then said, sending a chill down my spine. “I mean they only keep the real relics in the inner tomb.” I tried to kick him but found my legs too short to reach. “And that's only accessible to the royal family and the Princesses.”

Silver put on a big, but not too-happy smile. “Yes, we have maintained the security here since before the bombs dropped. The same security that protected this hill from a direct megaspell attack, and kept the radiation storms out.”

She was changing the subject, and as I could guess, the secrets to how the tomb security works were a secret. Then Slowtrot just blurted it out like it was common knowledge. At least he wasn't outing me as a princess as well.

“Oh ya, I remember Elder Big Papa talking about that.” Live spoke up. “When the storms started in this region, Platinum Hill was one of the only safe places to stay and still stretch your legs.”

The smile on Silver's face became more genuine. “Very much so, and it's why Platinum Hill became home to so many ponies since the end of the war. Despite being off the main road and the rivers.”

“Say, not to sound ungrateful, but why run this diner?” I asked, further diverting the conversation from security.

“Simple actually.” She said in an upbeat, yet overly rehearsed tone. “We use the diner to train up our squire's teamwork skills. It also helps us filter out those who can work under pressure, and those who can't. Along with responding to the public in a friendly manner.”

“Something the Steel Rangers could learn from.” Star snarked.

“That we can agree with.” Silver said with a sigh. “Unfortunately the rangers are very insulated in their beliefs and are very suspicious of outsiders. Something we have been trying to help them with for generations now, but in recent years has proven fruitless. They are still technically our brothers and sisters in arms, so if you do try and antagonize them again, we will see you as a threat.”

“We understand,” I said before anypony else could blabber about the incident at the gate.

Silver then put her notepad into the pocket of her apron. “Good! Now it won't take long for your order to be made, and the colas will be out shortly. I hope you enjoy yourself, and if you have any more questions, please let us know.”

As she left, I glared at Slowtrot. “You had to mention their security, didn't you?”

He raised his hooves. “What, it's common knowledge. I mean ponies were talking about the big incident in the tomb for months.”

I raised my eyebrow at that. “What incident?”

Slowtrot scratched his goatee for a moment as he dug through his memories. “Right, it was some sort of zebra attack, I think, somehow getting into the tomb and activating some ancient magic. A big old tree even popped out of the tomb and Celestia herself appeared to stop whatever was going on. It's why it was such big news, as Celestia hadn't been publicly seen for years since her last attempt at a peace deal ended in disaster. After that, new security measures were put up around Clover Hill, all fully funded by the royal family and Celestia.”

Strange, I was sure that the protective barrier keeping others out of the inner tomb had existed since the tomb was made. Unless a royal had let a zebra in there would be no way for them to get in. Also, despite the war, Princess Majesty had written that the Zebra Imperial family was still on respectful terms with the Equestria royal family. No way they would ever do anything to damage Princess Platinum's tomb. Actually, why would they even bomb this place directly, it makes no sense at all. If anything, they would want to capture it intact, as I'm sure there are probably Zebra artifacts in there.

Shaking my head and pushing those thoughts aside, I then said, “Slowtrot, you're forgetting that what's common to you isn't common anymore. Actually, a lot of it is lost or forgotten now, remember.”

He practically deflated as I told him this. “Ya… I guess being in this diner just… I don't know, maybe it made me forget that it's all gone. It does feel like I returned to my own time, though the smell is way different.”

“You mean the smell of meat?” I asked.

He nodded. “Oh ya, you'd have ponies throwing up from the smell alone. It's why I hoped they served hayburgers here, if you ever get the opportunity to eat some, they're the best thing you could ever have.”

Star let out a laugh. “Back on the Blackwater, we were lucky to get anything that wasn't hard tack or gruel. Sometimes though, on good days, the church would have fish for us to eat. Grilled just right and served with garam. Now that's good eating.“

“Ever hunted your own Radstag?” Live then asked, and everyone just shook their heads. “Not the best meat in the world, but real satisfying when ya kill and butcher it yourself. And my mom makes a mean venison stew.”

“Oh, if you ever visit Friendship City, their Manehattan pizza is the best. Cooked on a razorgrain crust with a tomato base, and topped with brahmin cheese and salami. Oh, and tomatoes, not tatos, Friendship city is very particular over their tomato garden since you can hardly find tomatoes anywhere else.” Fizzy added in.

It felt like she said that last part more out of reflex than any real interest, likely something ponies told her all the time in her youth.

Eyes then fell onto me, and I shrugged. “Speaking of pizza, though I rarely ever ate outside of my stable, I did get to go to this one ball, where they served some odd dishes. The one I liked a lot, but my family hated, was called the Angry Marewaiin. It's a pizza with a ranch and hot sauce base, with toppings of bacon and pineapple. It became my comfort food when I was ever feeling down.”

A thud came from Slowtrot as he let his head hit the table and breathed out, Nott on a pizza.”

Fizzy on the other hoof, got excited. “You like pizza too! We should, like, make some together! Also, what's a pineapple? Is it an apple, but… piney?”

I wasn't very sure that was possible here, but it had been a long time since I had anything like the food back home, so trying to recreate some wasn't that bad sounding. “Maybe tomorrow, we can ask Arras if he can help. As for pineapples, they're not apples, just a spiky fruit.”

We all started to laugh, actually enjoying ourselves, only stopping with our random conversations when the food and drinks arrived. It was hard to deny, but it smelled awesome and tasted just as good. Our server informed us that the burger was based on a traditional Talon dish that was common in Griffinstone. I guess it made sense that griffins would have traditional meat dishes, even grinding them up into paddies. Though a bit disturbing to think about.

As we ate, we talked about the past, and eventually, the subject of colas came up, and Fizzy’s connection to them. The subject brightened up the already bright mare, who was more than happy to talk about her favorite subject.

“When I lived in Friendship City, I worked at their brewery making cola. That's where I, like, learned everything I needed to know about cola, and more. I also helped make beer and other alcohol since that's, like, what they sold most, but I was personally responsible for making cola.” She explained proudly.

“Why cola if beer is more popular? I mean, alcohol and such?” Star asked, sounding a bit confused.

Fizzy scratches her chin for a moment. “I think a lot of it was sold to the guards watching the wall. I was always told to make it extra caffeinated, sometimes even to add potions to it. My super night cola was popular… until a few guards went colorblind.”

“You put cat’s eye in it, didn't you?” I asked.

“Did I? Oh right, I did! How do you know?” She asked back.

I let out a sigh. “Because one of the side effects of the chem cat's eye is color blindness.”

Realization washed over Fizzy's face. “Ohhhh… makes sense… I think.”

“Excuse me, but if ya had such a nice job in Friendship City, how'd you end up all the way here?” Live asked.

Fizzy became quiet for a good moment, much of her excitement fading. “Well… things happen.”

A chuckle came from Live as she jokingly said, Whatt, did ya get caught sleeping around or something.”

*SLAM!*

Fizzy's hooves hit the table, startling us all, even the other patrons here stopped talking for a moment as she said with a growl “I didn't cheat on him!”

We sat there, in silence, as everypony else in the diner got back to their own thing.

Live looked a bit ashamed as she said. “I didn't imply… I mean… sorry, that was inappropriate of me.”

Finishing off her fourth cola, Fizzy let out a huff, causing a ripple in her mane. “No, it's okay. I shouldn't have gotten angry.” Pushing her now empty cup away, Fizzy took a deep breath. “I was engaged to the brewmaster's son, and everything was wonderful. But I, like, had a bad reputation. He knew about it, but, like, still wanted to be with me. Yet… some other mares managed to convince him I wasn't, like, faithful, and he called the engagement off.”

“And you had to leave? That's a load of brahminshit!” Live said angrily on Fizzy’s behalf.

But Fizzy shook her head. “No, the brewmaster settled things, even gave me what was meant to be my wedding gift. She believed me and was just as upset as I was. No… I was, like, an idiot, that's what happened. The mare, the ringleader behind it, and the now expecting mother of my ex called me to make amends. I, like, left the safety of Friendship City to talk with her, only to trot into a Redeye slaver trap.”

“That's just… horrible!” I said in shock, and got nods from everypony else. “Did you ever get payback, and how did you get free? You didn't spend time in Fillydelphia, did you?”

“I didn't… none of that.” She said solemnly. “I was taken to Ursas Rest and auctioned off there. I guess my natural charm made ponies go a bit crazy, and it caused problems. The boss of Ursas Rest then took me and kept me safe there. I even got to do a bit of my old job in the casino. So it wasn't all bad. Though by the time I left, I just couldn't bring myself to see how things were in Friendship City, and came this way instead.”

“Then she became our problem.” Silver Leaf said as she put a piece of paper on the table. “Your bill, and don't take our attitude the wrong way. We loved Fizzy, even missed her, but she's… a bit much.”

A small smile formed on Fizzy’s muzzle. “Th… thanks. I missed you too Silver… and sorry for leaving like that.”

Silver let out a sigh. “No, don't apologize. It was my fault for putting you on the spot like that. Proposing to another mare out of the blue, I was completely out of my mind for doing that, and when I knew full well you're not into that.”

I looked from Silver to Fizzy and back to Silver, Wait… what!?”

The Knight Captain rolled her eyes at me. “It's called being gay, and if you get a bug up your ass ab-”

“Ya I know what gay is, I like mares too!” I said, cutting her off. “Just that this is a bit too out of the blue, and in public. Maybe you should take this conversation someplace more private!”

“Oh… uhhh… sorry.” Silver said, actually blushing as she looked around, seeing eyes on her. “right, well thank you for eating here, and we hope you come again.”

We watched as Silver awkwardly returned to the back and out of sight.

Star then nudged Fizzy. “Wow, you are popular.”

“Ya, but I, like, have no interest in mares, so it was really weird when I noticed that Silver had a crush on me. I might have, like, panicked when she proposed, and rushed out of town.” Fizzy admitted. Then her eyes turned to me, and I just could feel her wink. “So, like, don't fall for me as well.”

I almost gagged. “No, you're not my type.”

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