Fallout Equestria: Demon of the Wasteland

When the magical land of Equestria was decimated by balefire 200 years ago, most assume The Great War against the zebras ended. That both nations were destroyed by the megaspells they had launched against each other. Nopony wanted to care about the war when those that weren’t safe underground in Stables were fighting to survive in a hostile and radioactive environment.

Well, most didn’t. Shortly after the Last Day, small settlements or caravans would be found mysteriously destroyed, with the only trace being a zebra glyph branded on the flanks of the victims. There were never any survivors. Over the decades, the attacks continued, leading some to believe a vengeful spirit of a zebra general was behind it. Others claimed it was a zebra ghoul. One note left by a dead merc suggested it was a demon zebra, considering his sniper rifle did nothing against him.

Recently, the attacks have been increasing in the areas around New Pegasus, causing locals in the fortified city to become fearful of a direct attack against them. A bounty of over a million caps has been placed on the head of the zebra responsible for terrorizing the Equestrian Wasteland for close to 200 years.

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A short distance from the city of New Pegasus was a small settlement known as Grayhoof. Being a major caravan stop, a lot of traffic passes through for such a small town. One of the standing buildings was a bar that was in remarkably decent condition, like the owner spent a lot of time restoring the place. The front of the bar had a sign that said “All ponies welcome.” Inside the bar was a bounty board, displaying several bounty notices, including the million cap one. A radio also played, filling the bar with music. A couple ponies were in the bar already: a light brown unicorn stallion sitting at a table and a cloaked pony sitting at the far end of the bar itself. The bartender seemed to be elsewhere.

Walking around the settlement of Grayhoof, was a brown pegasus mare with a green mane. She had on on gray enclave power armor, but there appeared to be a few modifications to it. On her flank was the symbol that dashite had on their flanks when they left the enclave. On her helmet was a small speaker on the left side of it. Poking out from under her wings was a long rod with a red crystal on the end of it. The scorpion tail where the tail would be was curled up and tried not to look threatening. The mare also had a small satchel on filled with stuff in it. Strapped to her left hoof was a laser pistol and laying in her back was a laser pistol with a scope.

The mare paused for a moment when she walked past the bar. She thought about it before shrugging and walking into the bar. She guessed she might as well look at the bounty board for a few moments while she's there. Couldn't hurt after all. Her eyes lazily scanned the bounties. She was about to leave when she spotted the bounty on a zebra for one million caps. Her eyes shot up as she looked at it. By the goddesses that a lot of caps...But it's on the head of a zebra who's terrorized the wastes for 200 years...That's not going to be easy, but the caps... She thought about it for a moment as she frowned.

Entering the bar as soon as she got to the settle, a short mare with dark grey fur and a blazing neon green mane and tail slipped over to the farthest table from the door, sitting down tiredly. She wore a heavy set of Riot gear, with singe marks on the edges of the trench coat, atop her head was a battered black Pre-War fire fighter helmet, and slung across her back was what seemed to be a large flamer tank, the sound of fuel sloshing around would be heard for any closeby, but the accompanying flamer wasn't in sight, like she only had the tank for fun. Nothing else could be seen on the mare, besides the slightly-wild look on her bored face. But upon seeing a mare staring at the bounty board, she got up and slowly walked over, reading the board slowly and blinking at the massive number of caps one offered. The fiery-maned mare smiled as she considered it. "Burn, burn, burn." She mumbled, glancing at the other mare quietly, mumbling something about chickens.

Outside the bar, a monster arrived. Not the monster that the bounty board was advertising a reward for, or at least not the million cap bounty that outshone all the others, but a monster none-the-less. It's vaguely pony like body was covered mostly in orange fur, aside from the left forehoof that was a few different shades of grey and a few other colors as it was a robotic prosthetic, and his back right leg that was a far more yellow shade of orange. The thing also sported a green mane and tail, though each was a very different shade of green, both kept somewhat short, and haphazardly messy. A large pair of prosthetic wings also sprouted from the creature's back, done in the same kind of mechanical style as his forehoof. The monster's hide was also coated in scars from countless other battles, and his pointed teeth could been seen flashing in his cringed frown. The thing also had two separate cutie marks, a rock on the yellower leg and a hoof breaking a shield on the more orange leg.

As for gear though, the monster sported some kind rather rough looking and pieced together metallic armor, adorned with spikes, battle scars, and a couple extra pieces that didn't appear to be part of the original design. Like an overcoat with a couple of crudely torn holes for the wings to fit through. Resting almost at the thing's left flank was was a fairly rough looking 10mm smg, and on it's back were a Gauss rifle and a proton ax sitting diagonally between the folded wings. The ax's handle was towards the back though while the rifle's handle was peaking over his shoulder. Lastly, upon the monster's head was an old and beaten up looking hat.

Currently though, the monster however wasn't acting very monstrous as it was sitting in contemplation in front of the bar and looking at a certain sign with an annoyed and snarling frown that showed off those pointed teeth. Jäger was almost growling at the sign that read 'All ponies welcome.' and trying to think whether or not he was still pony enough to count? Leaning a head through the doorway, the monster spoke out in a heavily accented and rather loud, booming, and rough voice, "Hoy, ish hy koink to be shot iv hy come hin?"

Shortly after Jäger asked his question, the epitome of boring color-scheme trotted up next to him. She was an earthpony with a grey coat, her mane, a dirt brown, was done up into a bun. She wore nothing aside from a small purse which dangled from her neck, jingling with the familiar sound of bottle caps with every step she took. Those who took to looking at her flanks would notice her cutie mark to be that of the four basic arithmetic operators: addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, grouped in a square-like shape.  “Caps are caps, friend.” Said the warm voice of Legal Tender. She herself had recently arrived in town a few hours prior, and was looking for a way to kill time when she noticed the peculiar bits of technology protruding from the monster-like equine, naturally, the Steel Ranger in her couldn’t resist.  “Plus, I doubt what they’ve got to shoot at you could take you down before you do them.” She added with a light, friendly laugh, noting the other pony’s frame, general size, and armament.

Civviq stood still in front of the sign outside and contemplated its meaning.
"All ponies welcome."

Some ponies don't count ghouls like me as ponies, she thought. They counted them as monsters. On the other hoof, it could also mean that all were welcome, and they would only state 'ponies' for the lack of a better word. Then again, she could understand why they'd rather not have ghouls in. For one, they were pretty radioactive, and some believed they could go feral any second now. She smiled to herself and looked around. She was getting quite a few stares, despite her black cloak covering most of the wounds and maladities. For a ghoul, she was physically in a pretty bad shape, but her magic made up for it. At least, she hoped.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, deciding to take the gamble. The flame in her left eye-socket flickered a bit to adjust to the darkness. When she became blind in her left eye, she replaced it with a little magical flame. The skin on her right foreleg had completely rotten away and yellow bones were showing. This was also beginning on her other legs. For that matter, patches on her head have balded until only bare flesh was showing, and sometimes even part of her skull. And don't even talk about the few hairs that were still left on her head and in her tail. That was, perhaps, what she missed most. But she wouldn't complain. After two hundred years, she's grown used to it. She chuckled. Two hundred years...

She looked around and pulled the hood over her head, keeping to the shadows, not wanting to attrackt too much attention. After all, you never know if there were any ghoul-haters around here. She quickly trotted up to the bar and ordered a drink. Not that she needed it, but she had bits... bottlecaps enough. She sighed, shaking her head and threw the right amount on the counter. Bottlecaps, not bits. Bits were of her past life. Bottlecaps... they are now.

As the group of ponies and used-to-be-ponies entered the bar, another door opened and a yellow pegasus walked out with a crate of whiskey. On her flank was a sun cutie mark and on her back was an Anti-Machine Rifle. She paused when she noticed the newcomers. “Oh, well hello there. Welcome.” She took her place behind the bar and placed the crate on the floor. “I’m Sunshine. Is there anything you need?” She asked, taking a bottle of whiskey from the crate and pouring the ghoul a cup.

She then looked at the pegasus adorned in power armor. “Another Enclave deserter, eh? Not very often there are two in one room.” She then waved the big beasty pony in. “Hey, come on in. Don’t be shy.” Lastly she addressed the earth pony. “And is there anything I can do for you as well, Miss?”

The stallion looked over at the group as well, but with a much less friendly face. He got out of his seat, opened a nearby window, and jumped out. Sunshine sighed and closed it back up. “Some ponies just don’t understand.” She said, disappointed. As for the cloaked mare, she didn’t react much beyond placing a few caps on the counter, which Sunshine quickly replaced with a drink.

Sacred looked to the side and slightly down at the gray mare right next to her muttering burn. She checked her EFS for a split second before stepping a few steps back. She shifted a little, casually moving a bit so that she could slip into SATS if/when the pony muttering burn and something about a chicken turns red. She looked over at the door at the monster as he poked his head in. She stared at the monster for a few moments, wondering what the hell that was. The only saving grace from her shooting the monster was her EFS that showed it was not hostile. Her eyes quickly shifted from the gray mare to the monster for a few seconds before turning around and trotting over to where the cloaked mare was. It was probably best not to fire off a Novasurge rifle in the middle of a bar.

She tilted her head to the side for a second as she listened to the yellow pegasus. She raised an eyebrow under her helmet, confused. She looked at the other pegasus's flank for a moment before looking around. There weren't any more pegasi int he bar to her knowledge and the yellow one named Sunshine didn't seem to have a brand. "Two deserters? Are you the other one?" The speaker on her helmet said, her mouth clearly not moving. "Do you have some scotch?"

A few moments after the question was asked, the mare took off her helmet and put it down on her back. She looked back at Sunshine with her light green eyes and smiled. She then opened her satchel and pulled out a few bottle caps, placing them down on the counter.

"True, capsh ish capsh," Jäger replied to the pony that'd come to stand near him. Then he chuckles a little at the other comment about being able to take getting shot and then dealing back just as much damage. "Ish true too, but hy dun van't deh whole town ta be tryink ta shoot meh again. Makesh it 'ard ta cash in deh bountiesh und buy tinks," Jäger added with a glance towards Tender.

At receiving the invite inside, Jäger stands back up on his mismatched hooves and strides with a surprising amount of grace and smoothness into the bar, lowing his wings and ducking slightly to make sure he fit through the doorway. While some may have given him odd looks, Jäger didn't really pay them any mind as he strode up to the bar. "Hy could do vid shome vhishkeh," Jäger called out to Sunshine while digging the prosthetic hoof down into a saddlebag to retrieve a few bottle caps and placing them on the counter.

After getting his drink, Jäger took a delicate sip of the alcohol, a very uncharacteristic act for such a monstrous creature. One that Jäger took to replacing by downing the rest of the drink right after with barely a flinch before placing the empty glass back on the counter. "Ah, dat'sh goot, hy'd like vour moar, und vid ah shteak iv hyu've got aneh," Jäger added then before looking over to the ponies gathered around the bounty board. "Oy, dere aneh-tink good on deh board today?"

The grey mare looked at the bartender and grinned very softly, staring at her for a few moments, before she looked around at the others who entered, grumbling and mumbling very quietly to herself. "Steel Chicken...Dirt Horse...Franken...Girly..." She paused as she looked at Sunshine, unable to think of a nickname for her for a bit. "Sunny..." She decided, before glancing at the cloaked mare and deciding to ignore her for now, trotting closer to the bar and thinking, before levitating some bits over to Sunshine. "Vodka?" She requested, though more asking if the bartender had some, and Neon had offered enough bits for a whole bottle, and from her raider-like appearance, the whole bottle would keep her very happy.

Civviq nodded to the yellow pegasus and smiled thankfully as she got her drink, though it looked a bit twisted because of the bare patches around her mouth. She sipped slowly from it, enjoying the taste as much as she could - her tastebuds aren't what they they used to be. She snorted softly and played with her drink a bit. Two hundred years can do that for a mare.

She looked up to the million-bi-caps!- wanted-poster of the zebra-ghoul. She frowned. Zebras never were good news, wherever she went. She stood up, taking her drink with her in her magical grip, and walked over to the poster to take a closer look.

Tender entered the bar shortly after Jäger, quickly taking note of its other occupants. “Huh. Well then, ‘All ponies welcomed’ indeed.” she thought, slightly amused by the patron diversity of Sunshine’s bar. Tender personally had no problems with the ghoul mare, dashites, or even Jäger, whatever he was… but the mare with the flamer tank and the trenchcoat rubbed Tender all the wrong ways, and for a moment she regretted not being in her armor for lack of an Eyes-Forward-Sparkle. “Eh, drinking and driving is against regulations anyways.” she thought to herself, shrugging lightly, and deciding, to keep a very close eye on the unsettling pony.

“Absinthe, please.” Tender said when prompted by Sunshine. The highly alcoholic drink had always been her favorite, and over the years her tendency to favor the drink had made her quite resistant to its kick... at least, as resistant as one could get to absinthe...  She took a seat at the counter as she waited for the yellow mare to serve her. Jäger’s inquiry about the bounty board caused her to glance at it herself out of mild curiosity. The only listed bounty that stood out was the one with seven figures. Tender looked at whom the bounty was on, and shook her head.  "Figures it had to be the immortal zebra demon."

Sunshine picked a bottle of scotch off the bar and poured the pegasus a glass, taking the caps off the counter. “Well, I was certainly affiliated with the Enclave at one point. They didn’t like my morals though. Not many in the Wasteland seem to appreciate the way I do things.” She said, getting a bottle of whiskey for the beasty. “They’re usually too shut up in their nice fortified settlements to care about the outside or too trigger happy to talk out problems. Then again, I’m told I do talk too much.” She then got a few more whiskey bottles and put them on the counter for him. Sunny then got a bottle of vodka for the gray mare. “And there you go as well. Drink up. This is good stuff.” And finally, she poured the earth pony a glass of absinthe.

After serving all the newcomers, she went to the mare in the cloak. “So, um… I know you get nervous in crowds. You can move to the back if you want.” She said quietly.

The mare responded by shaking her head. “No… I can handle it… Just… just give me a moment.” She shifted slightly in her seat, and a strange rifle fell from under her cloak, clattering on the wood floor, luckily without discharging a shot. “Oops, dammit…” She got off the seat to pick it up and her hood fell off, showing purple fur, a wavy pink mane, and a cybernetic right eye. Once she retrieved the gun from the floor, she put the hood back up.

Sacred looked at Jäger for a moment, her face showing confusion for a moment as she listened to him. His accent was kinda hard for her to understand but she did hear something about the board. She quickly put on her helmet and made sure it was on properly. "Board? Bounty board? Well there's a zebra who's wanted for a million caps. Some kind of immortal demon or something." The speaker on the side of her helmet played as she herself shrugged. She grinned happily when some scotch was poured for her. She took the glass in her hooves and sipped it as she listened to Sunshine speak. "Indeed...You don't talk too much. I'm told I talk too little. Then again I'm mute and can't talk without my helmet on." she shrugged a little again.

She turned her head towards the pony Sunshine was talking to about crowds. She tilted her head to the side a little when she saw the rifle being dropped. She eyed the gun up and down as quick as she could, trying to see if she recognized it at all. She did recognize it...a little bit. It looked like a gauss riffle only...Fancier. Extremely fancier...and more pretty. She looked at the pony who's gun it was and raised an eyebrow a little at her. "A cybernetic eye and what appears to be a pretty gauss rifle? Awesome." She squeaked a little and tried not to jump over to the mare.

She quickly shook her head and took a sip of her scotch to calm down her interest. She looked around the room, looking over every and seeing what they had visible. "Hmm...One gauss rifle on the big guy, power armor on me and cybernetic eye and possibly pretty gauss rifle on the mare in the corner...This would be paradise for one of those Tin Cans." She tried to snuffle a mute giggle by drinking more of her scotch.

"Tanks," Jäger said for the whiskey when it was slid down to him, and he tipped the bottle back happily. After a long drink from it, Jäger waited for his steak and replies as the others talked around him. When his steak was slid before him, he immediately began tearing into it.

"Hah, himmortal? Hy'd like to tesht dat!" Jäger commented around a mouthful of steak before washing down the bite with some whiskey. Then the gun dropped and Jäger eyed the piece critically, and then he eyed the owner more so, though he didn't say anything about that and instead shifted his attention back to the bounty. "Und dat millhyun capsh ish not bad eider," Jäger went on as he popped the top off his second bottle and began to drink it while continuing to eat his steak. "Vell, hy know vhat hy'm doink avter dis, hanyvone comink vit?"

The ghoul mare looked up, the flame in her left eye flaring. Yet all she did was sigh and shake her head and mutter. "Foolish ponies, risking their lives for something as little as bits..." She chuckled and walked back to the bar, the empty cup still in her magical grip. She looked one last time to the demon zebra. She sighed and only hoped she wouldn't encounter her in her travels.

Then, she looked up, to the monster... pony... that had suggested it and looked him right in the eye, her hood sliding a bit off, reveiling more of her visage. One side of her mouth was curled up in the dead grin of the skull and her left eyesocket was nothing but skeleton. The one side of her skull that wasn't yet rotted off smiled softly, her good eye looking at him soft and old, the flame in her other eye burning soft and warm.
"I wish you good luck," she said, her voice rasping a bit, a strange accent coloring her words. "You will need it against such a mighty foe."

She then turned around and walked out of the bar, putting her empty glass on the bar, and walked out of the bar. She put the hood a bit closer over her head, actively protecting her face against unwanted attention. She looked around and went away, in search of a caravan or something that will bring her safely to her next destination.

Legal shook her head in amusement at Sacred’s little display. She couldn’t blame the mare, a few years ago she would have reacted much the same way. Her Tin Can comment, however, prompted a giggle from Legal. “You have no idea.” she said more to herself than anything, the amusing thought occurring to her that this bar could very well be the most technologically advanced place for miles around. The clattering rifle had Tender visibly wincing for fear of damage having been done to such a wonderful piece of tech.

When her drink arrived, Legal tossed the barkeep a few caps from her purse and began idly sipping on its contents. “You serious, big guy? You’re gonna take on the Demon of the Wasteland?” she asked Jäger, raising an eyebrow at the monster-pony.

Neon could only grin and take the bottle happily, slipping back to avoid the others and stare at the bounty board as she popped open the bottle and began to drink, humming, though she had glanced back at the sound, noticing an odd rifle dropped by the cloaked mare, but upon noticing the cybernetic eye, well, Neon grumbled something quietly. "Gearhead..." She then seemed to check the pockets of her trench coat, before grinning to herself softly as she found something, then went over to a table and sat down, slowly drinking her bottle while attempting to listen to everyone else, though, with her track record, she guessed they might avoid her.

Sunny waved at the ghoul as she left. “Come back anytime, ma’am.” She called to her. Afterwards, she turned to Jäger. “Well I’d love to come, but I got a bar to run. Maybe another time.” She said cheerfully. “Oh that gives me a great idea.” She turned to the cloaked mare. “How about you join them? You can make new friends instead of being cooped up with me.”

The mare looked up, surprised by Sunny’s suggestion. “Me? Go out with them? But what if I’m betrayed and left for dead again?” She asked, keeping her voice down.

“Well if that happens, I’ll personally hunt them down and teach them a lesson.” Sunny replied, louder and more cheerful than she really should have. She then leaned in closer. “It’ll be a math lesson.” She added with a giggle.

The mare giggles as well. “Oh, you monster. How could you? Show some mercy!” She said with playful horror.

Sunny cackled evilly. “Nevar! All shall multiply compound fractions and despair!” She then grabbed a bottle of water and took a drink. “But seriously, go have fun. I’ll be fine. Just try not to freak them out too much.”

The mare nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’m a better shot than you are, after all.” She said with a wink.

“The sun was in my eyes and you know it!” Sunny retorted.

Miss Purple Cloaky Pony giggled at Sunny’s flusteredness. “Riiiiiight. Keep telling yourself that. You can rematch me later.” She turned to look at the others and paused. Her face was was a bit redder than it should be and she chuckled nervously. “Hehe.... I’m sorry about that… Hi, my name’s Viola… And if you don’t mind, if you’re going out there together, I’d like to come with you…” Looking at them clearly from the front, it also showed just the right eye was cybernetic. The left one wasn’t.

Sacred tilted her head to the side as she looked at Jäger then at Legal. "I agree with her. You're going to try to get someone who's apparently a demon? Suicide I say." She shakes her head and then thinks about it for a few moments. She was about to say something but paused when Sunny and the cloaked mare started talking. She watched their back and forth talking for a moment, a small smile spreading across her face. "Silliness in the wasteland...That's a rarity." She shook her head, looking at the door out of the bar for a moment. "Nice to meet you, Viola. And just so you know...if I did leave you I would leave you very well alive not dead...Unless you were trying to shoot me then I'd turn you to dust...Or kill you while trying..." She paused for a moment before shaking her head. "Point being I heal ponies...Speaking of which." She looked at Jäger. "I'll come along with you. Maybe I'll be useful as a spotter, or medic, or something." She shrugged again.

"Hah, hyu all can come iff hyu can keep hup," Jäger said as he finished off the last of his steak rather quickly, using the last of the second bottle of whiskey to wash it the rest of the way down before standing up, and leaving some caps on the bar to pay for the meal. "Ve h'are koink dehmon huntink dough, und tinks dat earn dat title husualleh haff killed enough ponehs ta live hup to hit. Hy dun vant hany mishtakink dat hy'm reshponshible if hyu end up fertilizink cactush in deh deshert, jusht ta be clear. But if hyu shtill vant to," Jäger said as he shouldered the bulky pack and gear he lugged around. "Den ve'd besht beh koink," he finished before proceeding across the room and then outside the door. He went a little farther and then turned about to look back and see who was going to follow, hopefully one of ponies with a working pipbuck or something else that worked like a map so he could actually know where it was that he was supposed to go in order to find this demon.

In fact, each pony that did exit with the intention of following him, Jäger would ask them if they had a pipbuck and knew at least roughly where they were supposed to go.

Legal couldn’t help but smile lightly at the bartender’s display of what seemed to be genuine friendship towards Viola. It wasn’t often you got to hear math jokes in the Equestrian wasteland. She nodded in agreement at Sacred’s comment on the often deadly seriousness of the wasteland. It was an unfortunate truth.  “Roger, Legal Tender, by the way.” Tender said both in response to Jäger’s disclaimer and in greeting.  

When the monstrous pony made his intention to leave clear, Tender downed the rest of her anise-flavoured drink, thanked Sunshine for her service, and proceeded to trot out after him.  “I’ll do you one better, hang on for a few minutes, I’ll be right back.” She told the group in response to the pipbuck question before disappearing into Grayhoof.

Some time later, Legal returned. The now armed and armored mare approached the would-be bounty hunters. “Star Paladin Legal Tender, at your service.” she said through her armor’s coms.

Neon listened to them all, humming as she thought of that reward, and then slowly slipped out of her seat, flashed Sunny a huge, crazy grin of thanks for the booze, before going to the others, looking between Jager and Sacred. "Can I come, too?" She asked, head tilted to the side lightly. "I can cook." She said, grinning and patting the flamer tanks on her back with a slightly crazy look in her eyes. But as soon as she saw Tender return in her armor, Neon let out a soft , near-silent growl of dislike. "Tin can..." She muttered distrustfully, before glancing between the others and slowly relaxing...One tin can and a monster who might draw the tin can's attention away from her? She'd take those chances, and definitely hoped said tin can would leave her alone.

Outside, in the bustling streets of the settlement, the concealed ghoul mare had returned to the small bar with a change of heart. A flash, a memory, had resurfaced; one in the millions she had stowed away over the past near-two hundred years of her un-dead life. She remembered the zebra ghoul. She remembered hearing of her, and she imagined her companions at that time dead by the hooves of that ghoul and frowned. They were probably all dead by now anyway, and she felt a slight pang of sadness and regret in what was left of her heart. But what was she to do against it?

Anything, she answered herself. Anything to help. She opened the door again to the bar (the sign was still there, and briefly she wondered the same she wondered before: everypony?) but she went straight to the mare giving out drinks.

"I have changed my mind. I wish to join as well. I have enough power and knowledge to assist you."

Viola smiled as she got off the stool. “Well it seems we have a nice team assembled. Sunny, if you don’t mind, I’ll be going with them.”

Sunny nodded. “Alright. Have fun. Oh wait, before you go.” She disappeared into the back room for a bit and brought back a pipbuck. “Sorry I couldn’t get the thing completely repaired. The damn thing is tricky bitchy to fix without proper training. I got the map, radio, and geiger counter working myself. Upon getting it to actually start up, I saw the health and inventory monitors still worked. The E.F.S. and S.A.T.S. don’t work at all and the lamp needs replacement.” She also gave Viola a couple tools. “Getting these things wasn’t easy. Don’t lose them, or you won’t be able to take it off or fix it yourself.”

She then turned to the others. “One more thing before you all go on your epic quest. I have a sorta… sidequest for you. If you happen to stumble across any pre-war things in good condition, such as bits, books, or even a statuette, bring them to me. I’ve got some goodies in the back that you might enjoy. Trust me, they’re worth a lot more to me than they are to most wastelanders.”

Viola nodded. “I’ll be sure to remind them.” She then walked out the door, putting the pipbuck on as she did so. Turning it on, she saw that it did indeed only have half its functions actually working properly. Luckily, the map was one of them. And so was the radio. She turned it on to hear a news story about some pony who crawled out of a Stable a short time ago. “Geez, slow news day?” She turned to the rest of the group. “Well let’s get going. We gotta find a lead on that zebra’s location before anything.”

A short distance away, a caravan was getting ready to leave the settlement for New Pegasus. They were doing a bit of business with that brown stallion from before. The rest of Grayhoof was quiet.