FO:E Let's Read: Chapter 3: Guidance

So now she is out in the Wastes, has survived her first night with far more violence then she'd ever experienced before, and is quickly coming to learn just how bad life on the surface is. Does her first full day as a wanderer end up any better?

Daylight! Again a somewhat good, but more understated example of Pip realizing just how BIG the outside world is that also draws attention to the fact that there seems to be a rather large degree of cloud cover all the time, which becomes important later.

Looking through the shattered remains of the shop now that she has light, she finds a chestt that hadn't been bronken into yet. After works her lockpicking magic Her Reward is Clothes, that she can't even wear, wonder if, like any good adventure, they will be important later. (Unlike the legendary +1 Broom of Dustbane from me first Pathfinder campaign.)

Then the story hits us a little more with just how much has happened, showing us ruined, desecrated, and partially destroyed Ponyville, and then adding some dead animals hanging around from the ceiling for an extra visceral kick. (I'll get to that later.)

So that sobering, melancholy look at the future of the places we love out of the way, time for EXPLOSIONS! Gotta admit, I kind of love that Pony grenades are shaped like apples, and just the way 'pulling the pin' works. Leading to Lil'pip getting her first, of admittedly many, kills. I do think it's probably rather important her first kill was an accident, simply lashing out in self defense in a way that wasn't sure to kill somepony. Or maybe I'm reading to much into that. But yes, we all know that killing does get easier for her, but in the Wasteland, either you learn to kill or you die. But the fact that she didn't have to make the conscious choice to cross that barrier and make her first kill, instead having it happen like this, I just think it was well done.

Also. Worst. Sniper. Ever.

Despite the snipers crackshot accuracy (As in as accurate as someone on crack) she gets out of town, leading to the spritebot's return, along with the first (assumed to be) living thing that hasn't leveled a weapon at Pip since she left the Stable. The breif talk with Watcher brings up the ideal of friendship, being listed as one of the things needed to survive, which she blows of. For good reason at this point, every pony she's met, even one whose life she saved, has tried to rob her, kill her, or worse. But she does agree that weapons and armor are needed, even if she still balks at the idea of deliberately killing a pony.

And lo, a person willing to talk to her rather then shoot her just happens to have a quest for her, go retrieve.....A BOOK! Twilight would approve. (side note, despite how blatant Kkat tried to make it, I never caught on that the music coming from the sprite-bots was Pinkie's Parasprite Polka)

So now we get to see Twilight's library and what the raiders have done, and it, it is just sick. This is where we truly see just how twisted, deplorable, evil and sadistic Raiders are. The descriptions, well they are just plain gory, very VERY gory. Honestly if the whole fic had been like this, I wouldn't have made it through. But this is probably the single most horrifically overdone gorefest scene in the story, and as a single instance, I think it does work. It disturbs the reader, or is meant to, it's to show both Lil'pip and the reader just how SICK the wasteland can make ponies, to drive home once and fore all this is NOT the Equestria we know. And going into such detail the first time we encounter a raider nest, the author can just gloss over the description the rest of the time, letting our imagination fill in the horror.

But in the midst of this slaughter house a single voice, begging for help. Littlepip does not think twice about helping them, even after the last pony she helped turned on her not hours before, she would not leave a pony to this. Her saving them, it's down right heartbreaking, the ponies in it, suffered so much, so weak and broken, and yet this time, Lil'pip's kindness is repaid, the pony she saved willing to give her anything in return, truly grateful. This is followed by Lil'pip's first conscious decision to kill another living being, made without pause regret or remorse.

I hadn’t just killed a pony — these raiders had given up any right to the title! These were not ponies, they were sick monsters that needed to be put down!

That pretty much sums up Raiders, they are monsters. We learn more about what causes them to be like this later, so I'll go into that then. Some may cry bloodthirsty, or evil, or what not for Lil'pip here but she was RIGHT, these things were torturing, maiming, killing, and plain breaking any pony they got in their grasp, and there was no way to stop them except death. Even if it's death by stupidity for some of them

Of the scattered half-thoughts that flitted through my brain, “untie the nice zombie so she doesn’t get mad at me” managed to be the most coherent, if not the most sane.

Again something there I just find hilarious, a bit of levity amidst the horror and darkness of this scene that keeps things from getting overbearingly grim. There are enough hints that anyone who played Fallout would know it's a ghoul, and also that it seemed to be a certain wall-eyed pegasus we all love.

So now onto a scene some people love to bring up to try and show Lil'pip as a bloodthirsty, kill crazy psycho pony. Shooting a fleeing raider in the ass. Let's see, first off the raider had JUST been taking part in the raping, burning and mutilation of a child, was holding hostage a pony that tried to help his victim, and had just tried to kill Lil'pip in a way that did kill another innocent hostage. All before chickening out and running when faced with a pony he didn't have numbers or his side to beat. Soon as you have a clear shot, you END something like that, or every single life they go on to ruin is on your head. As to the shooting him specifically in the ass, it is an equine with his back turned running from you, ANY shot is going to be an ass shot from that position. So no, what she did, perfectly in the right.

So having cleared out that raider nest she explores a bit more of the town, finding a statue that wasn't there back in the show.

“In honor of Big Macintosh, hero of the Battle of Shattered Hoof Ridge, and his noble sacrifice for all of Equestria.”'

More mystery over just what happened in the past, Big Mac? Sacrificed himself, how, why?

Ending with us getting confirmation of Ditzy Doo, and also learning which name Kkat is using for her.

And perk time, well she does read a lot, and that's generally a damn good perk. Much better then her last choice.

Okay thoughts. Whoo boy this is pretty much THE chapter, if you can make it through this, you'll be okay with the rest of the fic, if not, this story is not for you. This sets up a lot more about Pip, shows her get over her worry about killing quickly, though for good reason. But also how she will stop at nothing to save others if they aren't murdering psychos. Shows just how vile and sick raiders are, shows that not all ponies left are the kind that turn on their rescuers, and a few will even help still. We also start to see some of Lil'pip's flaws, she tends to be rather hot-headed, letting her anger and rage get the better of her. But she still never goes down so far it makes her overly vicious or bloodthirsty, as she said

That meant there was at least one more raider still in the wastes, but I wasn’t the sort of pony to kill somepony while they slept. Not even a raider.

She still has limits. She won't kill a completely helpless pony. As to the fleeing raider, he had already tried to kill her, if she let him escape he could very well try again, and he made the choice to turn his back on an enemy. With him being an active threat somewhere out in the town, he could try to ambush her at any moment. I choose to believe that if he had simply set down the weapon and step back, making damn sure not to do ANYTHING at all hostile, she wouldn't have simply shot him the instant Ditzy wasn't in the way. Simply tied him up or secured him in some other way threat he'd eventually be able to get out of, but not till she was clear. Though she might have, I know I'd be damn tempted to. And despite all this, remember, she stopped to help the imprisoned ponies, not even caring about the raiders at that point, her only goal was saving those ponies.

So yes we see that Lil'pip, though not perfect, does try to do what she thinks is right, that she is more then willing to help any pony that needs it, but will be absolutely remorseless when it comes to dealing with threats, or sub-pony scum like raiders.

Chapter title wise, another straight forward one, this is her receiving her first bit of guidance about how to survive in the Wastes

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