//------------------------------// // Wasteland Warriors // Story: Bordermares // by Regidar //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash didn't wait two seconds before firing into the bandits. BigMac rushed one and bucked him into a wall. The bandit died, and released a shotgun. Big Mac grabbed the shotgun, cocked it, and shot the nearest bandit right in the face. The other bandits, being the pussies they are, ran away. All except four. Who immediately regretted not turning hoof once Twilight shot the first one in the knee, Big mach crushed the skull of the second one, and then shot the third one with his shotgun, and Rainbow Dash got rid of the last one with a whole clip of ammo. Fluttershy ran up to the wounded bandit whom Twilight had shot. "Goodness are you ok? I'm sorry my teammate did that, she really didn't mean any harm, she was just trying to defend us, and you did shoot first, we're really sorry-" Rainbow Dash cuffed Fluttershy over the head softly with her gun. "Don't give them the baby treatment! They were trying to kill us!" "Oh, I know, but still-" Rainbow Dash picked the bandit up and held him by the scruff of his shirt. "Who sent you?" "Gah! N-nine hooves! Please don't kill me!" Rainbow Dash threw the bandit on the ground. the bandit attempted to scamper away, but she shot it in the other knee, making him immobile. Turning around to proceed into Skag Gully to deal with the skags, they noticed the cloptrap lying on the ground. A bullet hole was noticeable near his eye lense, and he was shuddering and leaking oil. "Sweet Molestia, I'm going to die! I'M GONNA DIE!" "Good riddance, that thing never shut up anyway," Rainbow Dash said, turning her back to the dying machine. "Oh no! Here, I'll help you!" Fluttershy flew over to the cloptrap as it complained and wheezed electronically. Suddenly, Twilight's vision went all blurry again, and the mysterious visitor from before decided to grace her presence once again. "That cloptrap is hurt! Now I know you aren't the biggest fan of cloptraps, but please, show some compassion and fix the little thing up." "Wait!" said Twilight, "Are you Princess Celestia?" But the visitor was gone. Twilight looked around. Fluttershy was bent over the cloptrop, mopping up it's oil with a piece of cloth torn from a nearby bandit's shirt, while Rainbow Dash and Big Mac threw rocks at the injured bandit, who had given up on his escape attempt. Twilight sighed, and trotted back into town. After grabbing some ammo and money that the dead bandits had dropped, she searched for a toolkit. Eventually, she spotted one laying on a table near an abandoned shack, and she grabbed it, running back to the cloptrap. "Oh Molestia, I think I'm leaking! I think I'm LEAKING!" Twilight rushed over, and used her horn to levitate the tools into place as she fixed the cloptrap up. "I'm glad I went to engineering school when I was younger!" After a few minutes, the cloptrap was up and babbling again. "Thanks! I was sure I was a goner that time! Anyway, it's too dangerous for me to go out there. Those bandits sure have it out for us cloptraps!" "Gee, I wonder why?" Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I'll be back in town, near the Doctor's place. See yah around!" The cloptrap sped off to the destination he had set, and the rest of the group left the town, heading off towards the skag dens. "We should really do something about nine hooves. He's tried to kill us twice so far, three times if you count when we stepped off the bus, and- AAAGGHHH!" Rainbow Dash's rant was cut short by a small skag leaping out of a nearby hole and biting her side. Big Mac came to her rescue, and with a quick swipe of his shotgun, knocked it off her. He then dealt the final blow by shooting the foul creature right in its open mouth. Fluttershy winced as the deed was carried out. "Thanks, Big Mac. That thing could have taken a real chunk out of me. Let's get theses skags dealt with, and be on our way." So the four set out, killing skags. Well, really, it was only three of them, because Fluttershy couldn't bare to kill any of them, saying they were too "cute." So she sat on the side, counting rocks. "Are you sure we should do this? It seems risky!" "Come on! It'll be worth it!" The two bandits who had been hiding behind a rock that Fluttershy had been laying in front of jumped out, pulled a sack over Fluttershy's head, and injected her with a traqualizer. She tried to scream, but she felt the tendrils of darkness creep over her, pulling her down into oblivion. "Alright, that's all of them, let's head back to Dr- Hey, where's Fluttershy?" Everypony looked around, until Owlysus flew back to Twilight with a letter clutched in his talons. Twilight opened it and read it. "To whomever it may concern, HAHA! WE STOLE YOUR LITTLE SIREN MARE! BRING 2000000 BITS TO NINE HOOVES BEFORE TOMORROW MORNING OR ELSE SHE GETS IT! -Hugs and Kisses, the Bandits" Rainbow Dash's face contorted with anger. "THOSE BASTARDS! WE'LL GO IN AND KILL ALL OF THE! WELL BASH THEIR SKULLS OPEN UNTIL THEY AREN'T EVEN PONIES ANYMORE! WE'LL-" Twilight put her hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Calm down. Lets head back to Dr. Whooves. He can help us." "Sorry. Can't help yah." They were back at the garage, and needless to say, Dr. Whooves was resisting. "But why not? she's going to die!" "Look, I appreciate your help with the skags and all, but honestly, I can't fight worth a damn, and I have nowhere NEAR two million bits, so, you guys are shit outa luck." Twilight held Rainbow Dash back from strangling Dr. Whooves. "Tell yah what though. If you are going to go fighting them, you're gonna need shields. Unfortunately, my med vendor is broke, and it needs a little more, how to say, 'oomf'." The three ponies looked back at the med vendor behind them. It had several dings, scratches, burn, and bullet holes in it. It need a lot more then 'a little more oomf." "So I needs you guys to go just out of town, follow the road down to the left, and get a power coupling from one of the med vendors out there. Come back here, fix it up, buy a shield, then head over to T. Neigh Baha. He'll be able to help yah out. Oh yeah, it would also be appreciated if you took out a few of the bandits. It'll keep Nine Hooves from gathering too much information on the area." That's how the group ended up going out of Fyrestone for the second time that day. Well, day is more of a relative term, because the sun was setting. "Damn, we only have twelve hours AT BEST to rescue Fluttershy. Let's hurry." The group ran down the path, immediately spotting the med vendor. Unfortunately, they weren't alone, and a bandit popped up from behind it, and shot big Mac right in the side. It was a well placed shot, possible the best of the bandit's life, which was immediately ended by Rainbow Dash. "Oh Celestia, you're bleeding everywhere!" Rainbow Dash said, hovering over Big Mac, trying to stauch the bleeding. "Eeyup," Big Mac said weakly. Twilight rushed over to the med vendor, grabbed the bits that the bandit had on his body, and reached into the med vendor, pulling out the power coupling. She proceeded to search the vendor for any type of medical equipment she could find. "Come on, there must be at least-" she pulled out a small syringe of basic painkiller. "Good enough for now!" Twilight rushed over to Big Mac, and injected him with the painkiller. "Alright, Rainbow, we're going to have to carry him back. I don't think he can walk." "Fine. This is bad, I hope Dr. Whooves can help us!" And so, the two mares carried Big Mac about three yards before more bandits showed up. They really had gotten better at shooting, shooting Twilight in her left arm, causing her to drop Big Mac, and shooting Rainbow Dash in her wings. "AGH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!" Twilight felt her arm go numb, but she still could hoot with the one arm that still functioned. She aimed, and missed entirely. She felt another bullet enter her chest, and she collapsed, everything going black. When she awoke, she lay on a table covered in blood, but felt alright. She looked to her side. Big Mac was talking to Dr. Whooves, and Rainbow Dash, both her wings bandaged up, pouted in a corner. "Ah good, she's awake. You guys only have three hours left, so I think you should go and see T. Neigh now. Don't worry, I fixed yah up nice and proper. Even put on yer shield for yah! Now go out and save yer friend!" Twilight stood up, and felt alright. Owlysus landed on her shoulder, and preened his wing. The group set off again, off to where Dr. Whooves said T. Neigh resided. As they walked past the skag dens, Twilight finally had the courage to ask what had been bugging her ever since she had regained consciousness. "Did you kill all those bandits after I passed out?" Rainbow Dash was silent for a few moments, then responded with a dead voice. "There are some things the Crimson Mane taught me. Anger Management wasn't one of them. I did things there that I'm not proud of, and I did things here to save you and Big Mac. Just because I seem ready to kill at the drop of a hat doesn't mean I want to." The group hadn't even realised where they were heading, until the sound if a shotgun cocking shook them out of their stupor. "Take one more step and it'll be your last!"