Fallout Equestria

Chapter 5.

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More rested, and with a much clearer head, I was eager to meet the ponies of New Appleloosa. By my PipBuck, I'd been out of it for nearly two days.

I gazed over the railing at the walled village. Multiple lines of what I had realised were railroad tracks converged into a town made up largely of dozens upon dozens of virtually identical homes built from old passenger cars, many of them stacked two or three high. Most still had their wheels. Heavy metal boxcars formed a ring around the town, with a massive gate on either side. Armed pony guards walked around the tops of the boxcars, keeping their eyes on the wastes outside. Inside, scores of earth and unicorn ponies trotted about their daily lives. The place was dirty, rusty... and altogether wonderful!

"How did you get them stacked like that?" I asked, looking up at the stacked train cars, the tallest group being four high. Railing and catwalks spanned out from it, connecting to other towers. On the highest roof, brilliantly glowing letters announced Turnpike Tavern.

Railright, the grey and black stallion who turned out to be sheriff/mayor/general-hold-togetherer of the town, deadpanned, "Had one o' the unicorn ponies do it."

I turned with a gasp, staring at him. I'd never heard of a pony levitating anything that big or heavy before!

Railright held that serious expression just a moment longer before chortling. "Ah'm just playin' with ya." My astonishment faded to a sheepish grin as he smiled and pointed towards the sky behind us. "That's what the crane is for." Looking back and up, I could see the huge orange tower of metal jutting above the town, a massive hook dangling from it's long arm.

"Although," he continued, "If yer lookin' for a heavy lifter, ya can't do better than Crane. Ya should talk t' him."

"Talk to the crane?" I said slowly, trying to gauge if this was another joke. But it wasn't.

Crane, he told me, was the name of a unicorn pony who worked in the trainyard. "Won't find a stronger telekinetic this side o' the Canterlot Ruins." With that, Railright offered to give me the grand tour.

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New Appleloosa's general supplies store was called Absolutely Everything. It was the fourth stop on the tour. Railright smiled knowingly as he coaxed me towards the odd-looking building. Three train cars, each a different type, had been fused together to create the store; one of them was a barrel-shaped car of black metal dominated by a smokestack. This was one of the sources of smoke I had seen from a distance. Pausing in front of the door, I read the signs beneath the playful block letters of the store name:

Yes, I do deliveries!

No hooves, nasty stingers? No service.

Ask me about special orders! I won't answer, but I'll get right on it!

Wasteland Survival Guide! Available now! First copy for every family is free!

I pushed the door open and stepped inside. And stopped with a gasp as I saw the zombie-pony from the raider library. I could tell she was the same one by the way one of her eyes rolled up. The fact that she recognized me with an immediate, bright smile and dashed over to give me (an uncomfortably squishy) hug, were admittedly also clues.

She backtrotted and waved a forepaw about in what was a surprisingly effective combination of welcome and showing off of the store. (Something I hated to admit I was thankful for; the stench of her as she hugged me forced me to hold my breath. I had been sure gagging would have been impolite.)

"uh... Hello again," I said, feeling a little awkward. Last time this pegasus zombie-pony saw me, I was trotting off to put a bullet in a raider's brainpan.