Fallout Equestria

Chapter 23.

"Curiosity."

I halted, bobby pin and screwdriver hovering between me and the wall safe, at SteelHooves' muttered comment. This safe was the only container within the Helpinghoof Clinic which hadn't been successfully scavenged by ponies before us. Anything that could hold valuables had been already looted; brighter spots on faded walls showed where medical boxes, probably locked, had simply been torn away from their mountings.

"Huh?" Eloquent as always, Littlepip.

SteelHooves whinnied, "Your little friend Homage asked me what I thought your defining characteristic was."

"What? When?" Oh Goddesses, what did SteelHooves tell her? Please don't let it be bad. Or embarrassing.

"While you were hospitalized," SteelHooves responded bluntly. "Do you really find it surprising that she would ask your companions about you?"

No, not really. She was probably trying to get to know the real me more, especially before taking our relationship to a new level. It was... wise. I just wasn't sure SteelHooves was the pony I would have wanted her getting a reference from.

"What did you say?" I asked nervously. And then felt immediately stupid. He'd just answered that, didn't he? "I mean... okay. Curiosity. That isn't so bad. Yeah, I'm curious. I don't think you could call it my defining characteristic."

"We're walking into hell," Velvet Remedy interjected, "And Littlepip is sightseeing."

"No," I argued. "I'm not..." I stopped talking at her knowing smile. "Hey, the Clinic was right here; right on our way. And you know we could use the medical supplies, if we find any."

"Ayep. Y'all should 'ave seen Li'lpip in Stable Twenty-Four," Calamity agreed. Mimicking my voice (poorly, I might add), he called out, "Dangerous critters? Let's explore!"

"Hey. You're the one who wanted to go on the next adventure with me."

"Ah figure she's been like this ever since steppin' hoof outta her own Stable," Calamity concluded. "Reckon' Ah can't blame 'er. Livin' in a box..."

"Oh no," Velvet Remedy chimed in. "She was like this inside the Stable too." I sighed. Apparently, this was going to be Tease Littlepip Day. I turned away, choosing to focus on the wall safe. Let them have their fun.

Velvet continued, "When other colts and fillies decided to try new things in an effort to provoke their cutie marks into showing, they'd try soccer. Or ballet. Littlepip? She tries to invent the art of breaking into other ponies' private things."

I broke the bobby pin. Which was really frustrating since this lock was well beneath my skills.

I took a deep breath, looking in a random direction that was neither the safe nor my friends. Pyrelight had perched on an IV stand in the corner near a medical bed. Behind her was a Ministry of Peace poster of a smiling Fluttershy with a white rabbit sitting on her head and colorful birds and butterflies flocking around her. The top of the poster read simply "Remember:" but the bottom half was so badly damaged that I couldn't tell what it was trying to say. There must have been some gentle but insidious power in Fluttershy's image, for I found myself feeling ashamed that we had forgotten what she told us not to.

"Well," I grunted, hovering out a replacement bobby pin. "Maybe curiosity is my virtue then."

My three companions looked at each other quietly, skeptically. Pyrelight let out a soft whoop as smiles broke across their faces (or, at least, across the muzzles of Calamity and Velvet Remedy). Simultaneously, they turned to me and told me that no, it was definitely a vice.