Chapter 2-2: The Other Kids

“Sooo…” I began, shooting a glance at the pony walking beside me, “Facemask seems nice. Is he your boss or something?”

Bosco shook his head, causing his charcoal bangs to whip back and forth. For some reason, it reminded me of Lo. I resisted the urge to ruffle them with my hoof. At further glance, he looked about the same age as Buff, Al, and Lo. He was almost an adult but not quite there yet. His gentle voice helped to emphasize this. “No, he’s not my boss.”

He didn’t elaborate. I regarded him warily. I was still lacking an answer to my question about these ‘Steel Rangers’ which got me thinking. It was obvious that Facemask wasn’t a fan. I supposed it might be worthwhile to take heed of his fearful reaction and avoid them. But then again, after hearing more about the Wasteland and the history I was eager to learn more about the world outside the Stable.

My initial fears had begun to fade. I still felt my chest go tight sometimes but at least it wasn’t the constant dread I’d dwelled in while sitting outside the Stable door. Since Facemask had decided that our exchange-of-information was over, that left Bosco as my de-facto guide to the Wasteland. “So why are you coming with me? I mean I’m glad for the company but don’t you have things to do back in Cefar?”

Bosco shifted slightly. His expression was complicated. “Doc asked me to. Said it was important. Frankly I think it’s because you’d never survive the trip to Lethbridle on your own.”

I’m not that helpless, was I?

Yeah, I kinda was. I buried any resentment and gave him a smile. “Well thanks, Bosco. I really appreciate it.”

My words caused the colt to brighten instantly. His step became light and easy. His eager eyes sparkled as he responded. “No problem! Whatever I can do for you I’ll do. You just need to ask.”

My urge to ruffle his mane suddenly grew. The boy was earnest and no mistake. If he’d been back at the Stable I’d have probably been looking after him too. I hoped it wasn’t gonna cause problems though. Somebody like Roc could all too easily take advantage of Bosco’s kindness. “So what’s in Lethbridle?”

He simply shrugged. “More ponies, mostly. It’s much bigger than Cefar. We may be where the road truly ends, but most traders don’t go further than Lethbridle. It links to Neighlway in the west and Plottawa in the east, though you should avoid that one.”

As he talked, my Pipbuck pinged 3 times. The map zoomed out and each city was displayed as a point-of-interest. “So are they cities too?”

“Yeah, but they aren’t as friendly as Lethbridle. Neighlway’s got a Steel Ranger battalion stationed there ‘to keep the peace’. Peh, show up with anything flasher than a pistol and they’ll be after your piece.”

“Why?”

“Steel Rangers fancy themselves the guardians of pre-war tech. They think it should be in the right hooves, meaning theirs. They’re not shy about using the tech they’ve built up to get more either. Their fighters are decked out tail-to-horn in power armour. You don’t wanna get on the wrong side of one o’ those, ‘specially cause there’s usually more than one of ‘em.”

He looked me right in the eyes. “My advice to you personally is to avoid them at all costs. They’ll be wanting that box on your leg and I won’t guarantee you’ll still have the leg afterwards.”

I gulped. My Pipbuck was not only very helpful but also one of the only reminders I had of Stable 61. I didn’t want to lose it under any circumstances and certainly not to a bunch of history-obsessed hoarder thugs.

While I was musing on that grim image, Bosco had switched his focus. “Now Plottawa isn’t any better. No Steel Rangers there. They won’t risk it. They might have the hardware but they don’t have the numbers. Plottawa does. It’s a major Slaver base. If you go there you go there in chains.”

“What are Slavers?”

He scoffed. “You’re kidding right?”

My saddening expression made him relent. “Right, sorry. You’re new around here. Slavers are ponies who take other ponies captive. They treat them like property to be bought, sold and used. They’ll fix a collar around your neck that’ll explode if you try to get away or piss ‘em off. Sometimes they’ll just do it for fun.”

“That’s terrible! Doesn’t anybody do anything?”

I really didn’t like the look he gave me. It was equal parts sadness, pity, grimness and resignation. “Ponies out here have to look out for themselves. Anypony gets a thought in their head to try changing the world swiftly gets a bullet in their head, or twelve. You want to survive? Keep your head down and your nose clean. The Wasteland is not kind to idealists.”

I huffed at this. “So nobody helps each other out? Nobody cares?”

“Of course they care! They just can’t afford to care about the big stuff. They concentrate on helping themselves and their loved ones. Anything more is a luxury.” He shook his head. “That’s life. It’s your life now too. If you don’t like it you can always go back where you came from.”

Those words stung. I lowered my head as tears began to form. “I can’t.”

Immediately his voice switched to one of concern. “Why not?”

I dug the sphere out of my pack, eliciting a gasp from Bosco. “Because of this. After I found it I was exiled from the Stable.”

Bosco didn’t immediately respond. He just stared at the orb for a while. “I’m starting to see why Facemask asked me to come along with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Wordlessly, he produced 3 more spheres that were very similar to mine.

“There’s more of these things?!”

He nodded. “Uh-huh. They’re called Memory Orbs. They’re magical trinkets that store memories inside.”

“So what I saw was a memory?”

“Yup. Your magic triggered the memory spell. Shot the memory straight into your head. You’re lucky. Non-Unicorns need a Recollector to view them. I haven’t come across one yet so I don’t know what’s in these three.” He held them out. “Want a look?”

I recoiled immediately. “By Luna, no!”

He cocked his head to the side, confused. “What’s wrong?”

I stabbed my hoof towards my orb. “This one nearly killed me!”

“What do you mean?”

“The memory went crazy on me! Everything went white and…and…there was too much at once. Emotions, sensations, noises, everything! Hours and hours of it! It ended just before the memory did. I saw maybe another minute or two at the end.”

Bosco turned and walked back and forth, deep in thought. “They’re……not supposed to do that.”

He held out a hoof. “May I see it?”

I hesitated, holding the orb close. I thought about the Overmare’s words.

“Keep it secret. Keep it safe.”

She seemed really concerned that some pony might take it from me. I looked at Bosco’s face. He betrayed nothing except concern and compassion. It was difficult to fight. Finally I groaned and passed it over.

He gave me a brief smile before holding it up to his eye, turning it back and forth. He was holding it up and turning it in front his eye when his brow creased. He gently rubbed a hoof back and forth before looking at his hoof. At last he seemed satisfied. He waved me over. “Look here.”

I moved in closer and followed where he was pointing. I didn’t see anything at first, just the orb’s surface, a perfect sphere….except….yes! I saw it! A fine line across the surface. Light seemed to emit from it but it was hard to look at. My eyes seemed to unfocus while staring. It took a lot of effort to keep it in my view. I shook my head when my eyes began crossing.

“What does it mean?”

Bosco handed it back and briefly examined his own orbs. Then he looked at me. “I think it’s damaged. The memory didn’t play back like it should.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh. The memory inside should play out just as the pony who went through it saw it. Sounds to me like you got hit with a lot more memory at once than you were supposed to.”

“So…what? I got a few days shoved into my head in a few hours?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll need to look into getting it fixed if you want to see the whole thing.”

“Does anybody know how to fix it?”

“I dunno. Our best bet would be to ask around Lethbridle I think. There’s a fair few Unicorns there. Maybe one of them knows?”

That wasn’t very comforting. I was hoping for a definite destination. I wanted to go there, get the orb fixed and……find somebody else to look into it. Now I just had to hope I’d stumble onto somebody who knew about these things.

Wait a second…

I narrowed my eyes. “Bosco, how do YOU know about all this? You said yourself that Cefar’s pretty out of the way.”

He smiled helplessly. “I’m not from Cefar. I’ve been around.”

No more was said on the matter.

~~~~~~

We’d walked in thoughtful silence for an hour until we came across an abandoned play park which my Pipbuck named ‘Snow Pegasus Park’ and Bosco called a halt. I brushed the snow out of a small hut and sat down inside. The grey colt strolled around the different activities on display, gently pushing a swing back and forth and walking up and down the seesaw.

When he joined me his eyes remained on the merry-go-round. I’d seen his expression of longing before. Al sometimes wore it. Smiling, I leant over and nudged him. “Go on, nobody’s watching. I won’t tell.”

Startled out of his reverie, he blushed and coughed. “What…what do you mean?”

I said nothing, just nodded my head in the direction of the play park and winked. His blush deepened but he gave me a grateful smile and bounded off. He grabbed the spinning apparatus in his front legs and began pushing with his hind hooves, spurring the ride faster and faster until he was sprinting round and round. Finally he hauled himself inside and sat grinning madly as he was whirled.

I knew it. Poor guy.

There were some things little ponies never grew out of……even if they were taught that they should. You saw it with the teenage Stable residents. They took on more and more responsibility as they grew but the sadness stayed in their eyes when they watched the children at play. They still wanted to join in even while being drawn more and more into the world of adults.

That’s why I said nothing, just sat and watched this colt-going-on-stallion indulge in his carefree game. I kept a smile on my face as the momentum finally got the better of him and he tumbled over the side, giggling as he landed on his back in the snow.

He stopped laughing when the bullet slammed into the snow next to his head.

Bosco was up in an instant. “COME ON!” He dragged me out of the hut and together we bolted. We hadn’t gone 5 feet before more bullets began raining down upon us and a manic howling sounded out through the trees.

My heart was pounding as I tried to keep up with the grey colt’s pace. “What’s going on? Why are people shooting at us?”

His breath misted as he ran, breathing hard. “Raiders. They don’t really need a reason. They’re crazy ponies. Killers, all of ‘em. Went savage after the bombs fell. Been terrorizing the Wasteland ever since. We gotta run!”

I saw something flash past us on the left just before a small fireball erupted, coating us with snow from the overhead branches. “What was that?!”

“Grenade. C’mon move!”

I couldn’t help it, I risked a glance back. I saw them then, half a dozen ponies in torn, filthy leather adorned with spikes and skulls and everything out of a filly’s nightmare. They gnashed their terrible teeth and roared their terrible roars. Their eyes were the worst though, they were bloodshot and unfocused yet they definitely saw us from how they charged after us. I saw one go down and the others just ran over him.

They were a mix of Unicorns and Earth Ponies, no Pegasi. The head pursuer was a grimy orange Unicorn who levitated a near-wrecked shotgun in front of him as he ran. The gun barked and tore a chunk out of the tree immediately to my left. I had no more time to spare looking at them so I whipped my head around and tried to spur myself to greater speed.

Bosco flung his arms around me and hurled us both down a nearby incline. As we slid down I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time I was sliding through snow. I was being chased then too.

Luna, I really hope there aren’t any Molar Bears around.

We were halfway down when the Raiders followed us. They hadn’t even hesitated. They just launched themselves over the edge, the bloodlust driving them on. Meanwhile, Bosco and I clung to each other as we accelerated. At the bottom of slide was a natural ramp and we were heading right for it. We’d be airborne in seconds. The Raiders weren’t exactly sharpshooters but they only had to get lucky once.

I screamed as a bullet tore through my jumpsuit and scored a deep gash along the length of my shin. Thankfully the bullet didn’t hit me straight on. Bosco grunted as his tough Molar-hide covering barely deflected another.

We hit the ramp and went airborne.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Why is flying even worse than falling?

Wait, who’s that?

Thanks to being upside down in the air, I noticed two newcomers on the ground beneath us. My EFS tagged them as blue ‘friendlies’. A most welcome change to the 6 red marks still careening down the slope after us. “RUN! RAIDERS!”

The two obviously weren’t fresh out of a Stable. At my warning, they didn’t waste time talking. Instead they immediately went for their weapons. The taller of the two was an older Earth mare with a wood-brown coat covered in scars and a conifer-green mane. She carried the strangest contraption. It was like a harness but a pair of impressive guns adorned the sides of the thing and she was busying herself with it after my warning.

The moment the Raiders came into view she opened fire, perforating them as I feared they’d do to us. A Unicorn colt and an Earth mare hit the ground. The rest scrambled for cover.

While this was happening the second member of the duo was just as active. She was a diminutive griffon with rich chocolate fur, creamy feathers and the most incendiary blue eyes I’d ever seen. She held a pistol in each of her claws and was strafing the Raiders, who returned fire.

We landed in mercifully soft snow, completely forgotten by the Raiders now that there was an enemy who shot back. I lay transfixed as I watched the battle, the sounds and lights and heat washing over me as bullets, bodies, and explosions flashed back and forth.

I felt a hard tug on the back of my hood and jerked upright. I turned to look at Bosco as he spat the fabric out and glared at me. “Are you nuts?! Don’t stop! We’ve gotta get outta here while the Raiders are busy!”

I thought about the nameless pair we’d inadvertently drawn into the skirmish. Competent and well-armed as they seemed to be, they still hadn’t asked for this. “But those two-“

“What did I tell you before?!” Bosco’s voice lost some of its softness while he was angry. “We look after ourselves. It’s a shame about those two but better them than us. Now move!”
He grabbed my cloak and slung me around in front of him, pushing from behind. I took one last look back towards the battle and began to move.

As we ran, the lump in the back of my throat grew larger and heavier. I could barely concentrate on putting my hooves in front of one-another. The Earth mare’s scarred face, torn and bleeding, appeared in my mind.

We die so you can live.

I didn’t dare respond. Not even a thought. I couldn’t.

The griffon’s blazing blue eyes glared at me. What did we do to you?

My breath caught in my throat. The lump felt like it was choking me. Distraught, I called out to Bosco. “They’ll be okay, won’t they?”

“Sure, whatever.” He didn’t even turn around.

“BOSCO!”

“I DON’T KNOW!!” He still hadn’t turned around. “All I do know is that WE wouldn’t be okay if it was us.”

I hated him at that moment, almost as much as I hated myself. Before I could snap back at him I was distracted by my E.F.S. flashing. New contacts to the East. More Raiders? Whoever they were they were blood-red on my screen.

They were also heading right for the battle we’d just left behind.

The griffon’s head turned to the mare’s visage. Do you think she’ll help us?

The mare simply smiled a knowing smile. She might come back……to watch us die.

The little griffon seemed to ponder this. She nodded. Yeah, seems like what she’d do.

“NO! I’m not like that!” I screamed at them, begging them to understand.

“Snowflake?” Bosco’s confused call went in one ear and out the other.

The griffon and Earth mare didn’t say anything more, they were just staring at me.

Then they began screaming as their faces fell apart.

Tears welled in my eyes.

Please, no!

A new voice spoke next, one I knew all too well.

Are you lost to Old Equestria already, Snowflake? The Overmare’s face radiated weary disappointment.

I skidded to a halt. A second later Bosco did the same. “Snowflake?”

“I’m sorry, Bosco. I just can’t do it.” Turning, I raced back the way we came.

I’d gotten 20 meters before I heard a miffed “Celestia damn it!” just before the sound of the charcoal colt’s hoofsteps joined mine.

I owe you one, Bosco.

I kept my eyes on my E.F.S. markers as we raced back to the fight. At this rate we’d have a couple of seconds before the 2nd group reached the fray. I hoped that was enough to warn the pair.

I caught sight of the griffon and mare at the same time the new contacts entered my peripheral vision.

Yep, more Raiders.

I still had some distance on them. We might be okay. Only two of the original attackers remained, though they had a height advantage on the two blues. The griffon and Earth mare couldn’t move without losing their cover, but they were sitting ducks for the new group where they were.

As I ran, I looked around for somewhere I could move them to keep both sets of Raiders from getting a good shot. I was still looking when I heard a Chuff! Chuff! Of a weapon firing from the new Raiders.

“GRENADE!” Bosco’s yell drew my eye towards the dark pods arcing through the air towards the blues.

“LOOK OUT!!” I put everything I had into the shout and, Luna-be-praised, it carried. The Earth mare’s head snapped around in alarm. Her eyes instantly focused on the grenades falling towards them and she grabbed her companion and leapt over the snowbank they’d been taking cover behind.

The grenades exploded right where they’d just been, throwing up a cloud of pulverized snow. It must’ve hampered the view of the last pair of original Raiders because they took no shots at the pair as they ran for new cover.

With their immediate targets now taking cover, the new Raiders turned their attention towards the one who’d ruined their fun. Me. Bullets and magically-thrown projectiles slammed into trees and the ground around me as I ducked down behind a not-quite-big-enough rock. It became even more so as Bosco leapt in after me, his tail ablaze.

He quickly began stamping it out on the ground, glaring at me all the while. “What have you got to fight with? I really hope you’re not so stupid as to take on Raiders without weapons.”

I smiled grimly. “Maybe I am that stupid, but not right now. Got a pistol with plenty of ammo. Some Power Hooves too but they’re out of charge. You?”

He reached into his back and dragged out a pistol and a knife. “Enough to put up a fight but nothing special. Can you shoot?”

“Uh….”

He sighed heavily. “Try and stay low. Keep in cover and use your magic to aim the gun.”

I blinked in surprise. “My magic?”

He was busy loading the pistol and nodded off-hoofedly. “Yeah, levitate the pistol and squeeze the trigger. Saves you holding it in your mouth like the rest of us.”

He wasn’t gonna like this next part. “My magic is….uh….kinda gone right now.”

His hoof slipped and a bullet dropped out of the chamber into the snow. He scrambled to pick it up and slammed it home. Cocking the pistol, he peaked over the rim of our barricade, ducked down just before a bullet hit, and stared flatly at me. “You are the sort of idiot who dies in the Wasteland, you know that?”

I could only squirm, ashamed. “Sorry?”

His eyes darkened. “If we live through this, we will have words. Now, since your horn is just a damn target right now, hold the gun in your mouth and squeeze the trigger with your tongue. Don’t shoot your entire clip at once or you’ll burn your mouth off.” He put his mouth over his own gun and popped around the side, squeezing off a shot that caught a Raider mare in the leg. She went down screaming. Bosco didn’t look back.

The battle was on.

I tried to emulate Bosco, leaning around the side to line up a shot. I saw a Raider Unicorn preparing to fire at the griffon.

Of course HIS magic works just fine. So unfair.

I held my pistol in my teeth, sighting along the barrel. I thought I had a good angle.

Now what?

My chest turned to lead as I realized the situation I was in. With a flick of my tongue, I could end a life. The Raider would die by my hoof if I pulled the trigger. Could I do that to save two others who were just as much strangers to me as this Raider? The only difference being that the Raider had shot at me and there was no guarantee that wouldn’t happen with the griffon and Earth mare later. Was I really able to see who was an enemy here? Could I trust my E.F.S.? Could I trust Bosco’s word?

No. Not yet. Not for this.

I changed targets and pulled the trigger. My shot caught the Raider’s gun dead-center.

There, now he’s out of the fight. He won’t be crazy enough to fight without a wea-

Startled, the Raider pulled the trigger. The gun exploded. He fell back screaming as his face was obliterated. The Raider beside him calmly turned her own gun on him, silencing his screams before getting back into the fight.

I just stared in shock until a bullet glanced off the casing for my goggles and sent me sprawling. Stars exploded before my eyes as I lay there, dizzy and confused. The pain around my eye was pretty intense. I suspected I’d have a pretty bad shiner later.

Something thudded into the ground next to me. Still disorientated, I turned towards whatever it was and found myself staring into blue fire.

“Pretty.” I remarked, still not comprehending our situation.

The blue fire blinked. “Save it for later,” groaned the griffon as she tried to rise. There was a roughness to her voice that was somehow….honest. A pleasant contrast to Bosco’s soft speech which vanished had seemed to disappear the moment things got real.

The griffon hauled herself upright and then pulled me up after her. “Can you still fight?”

I opened my mouth to answer just as the Raider stepped out from behind the trees. It was the unicorn colt leader of the first group. He looked to be all that remained of those six. He still had that battered shooter and was aiming it at my new friend. He was moments from pulling the trigger. I couldn’t get us out of the way in time, and I was no quick draw. If I didn’t do something the griffon would die, and my monumentally stupid attempt at heroics would amount to nothing.

What happened next was most definitely instinctual. Usually my magic was so far down on my list of things to try it barely registered. Still, somehow my horn lit up with a glacial blue-white glow as the Raider’s gun locked on. Time slowed.

The crinkle of ice forming in the barrel only just outpaced the click of the trigger being pulled.

This time there was too much rust and not enough gun left for an explosion. The thing simply shattered. Still, the Raider swore loudly as the jagged segments gashed his forelegs. The griffon heard it and she spun around, pistols up. Three shots in the nose, chest, and stomach turned the Raider into a gruesome pastiche of a foal’s button-doll.

The thud of the Raider’s body hitting the ground nearly deafened me. I realized a few seconds later that it had been the only sound there was to hear. The battle was over. I turned in a slow circle, taking in the scene. A dozen bodies littered the ground, all of them adorned in torn leather. Thankfully, no charcoal or wood-green carcasses were to be seen.

It took me a little while to spot Bosco walking gingerly towards us. He was moving slowly, not putting any weight on his right foreleg. I’d look at that in a little while. The Earth mare’s head was poking over a snowdrift, one eye closed as blood from a deep scalp-cut dripped down around it. She was smiling though so I guessed she was alright. I completed my circle to find the griffon a foot from me, smiling widely.

“That was a nice trick with the gun. I owe you one. Well, three really. One for each Raider group.” She held out a claw for me to shake or bump or something. I stared at it momentarily before looking back at her.

“Don’t take this the wrong way.” That was all I managed to get out before my stomach decided enough was enough. I’d seen too much and my actions had produced consequences I never would have dreamed of before today. There was only so much a pony fresh out of the Stable could tolerate. My body had reached its limit.

I puked all over her outstretched claw.

“Oh, come on!”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained:
Cherchez la filly ­– New dialogue options when talking with females.

Breaking the Ice – Your Frost Magic is beginner-level.

~~~~~~

Author's Notes:

As always, a big thank you to KKat, Y1, Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), Void Heart (he did the new cover art), Shunketsunoponi and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story. Finally, because I find it a really funny coincidence to have another fic with a Stable 61 that’s set in Equestrian Canada, go read Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.