//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Dust, Feathers and Amateur Gunmen // Story: Fallout Equestria: Tales of a Courier // by a friendly hobo //------------------------------// Chapter 7: Dust, Feathers and Amateur Gunmen “There are no dangerous weapons, there are only dangerous ponies” The waves crashing against the beach was so very soothing; I felt all of my fears and worries just melt away. Where was I? How did I get here? I didn't care. Wherever 'here' was, I didn't want to leave. The beach stretched for miles and there was nothing to be seen but the waves and palm trees, more beautiful than the ones I had seen in books. I picked up a small sea shell, and traced the edge with my hoof. It was a beautiful pearly colour that shimmered in the warm sun. The wind blew through my mane as I sat the shell down. I looked up at the beautiful blue sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds. Could this get any better? looked right and saw Ace's flowing brown mane flowing down over a beautiful white dress. Goddesses she looked beautiful. She left the tiniest hoof prints in the golden sands as she looked out over the deep blue ocean. I guess this could get better. She stopped beside me, and I got to my hooves. I looked into her deep brown eyes; she looked into my emerald eyes. Neither of us spoke. She smiled with her flawless white teeth. Her mane covered her face; I brushed it away and made my move. I leaned in; she put her hoof on my lips and opened hers. “Clover...” she said in her smooth, luscious voice. I could have died happily right then and there. “...I'm pregnant,” My jaw hit the floor, “And it's yours.” I shot up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. “Morning, Stinky.” Ace said from her hospital as she munched on a carrot stick. “Nightmares again?” She was still pretty, but she was bruised and had a large bandage around her head. She smiled at me, and I was relieved to see that she was still very not pregnant. Why would she be? “Stinky?” I gave myself a quick sniff, “I don't smell bad at all.” “Well, let’s just say, I've never helped give a sponge bath before.” She giggled before giving me a wink. I quickly realized I wasn't wearing anything. I went bright crimson as I pulled the bed covers to my face. “Please tell me this is just another dream...” I muttered as buried myself deeper into the bed. “How long have I been out?” “I woke up a few hours ago, and you were out cold. You are a very heavy sleeper, you know that?” “Well, if I managed to stay asleep while being bathed...let’s not get into that.” Ace couldn't help but laugh, music to my ears after what she's been through. “Where are my clothes?” “Your barding was torn to pieces.” Said Driftwood as he entered the ward. “But I think we have a suitable replacement.” He opened his saddlebag and placed some light body armour on a nearby chair. “See it as a token of our appreciation for helping us. Drop Shot also wanted me to give you these,” he set a wide brimmed hat and a pair of large sunglasses on top of the armour. “Hope you like them. As for your coat, we managed to save it but its still being cleaned.” I reached over and picked up the light armour. It was a decent weight but still quite protective. 'CPD Riot Squad' was written on one of the protective plates. “Canterberra Police Department...” How do I know that? I thought to myself. “Your Ghoul friend has been adequately rewarded too.” Driftwood muttered. I could tell he really didn't like Snake Eyes, which made me laugh. I put the armour and other gear on and stood in front of a mirror, I have to say, I looked pretty damn good. I noticed my ear was still clipped but my leg had healed just fine. It didn't hurt and it looked pretty bad ass so I just shrugged it off. Not like it would make much of a difference. “Speaking of which, where is that rot bag?” “On the roof with your medical pony.” “Don't you go anywhere.” I said to Ace. She threw a carrot at me. “I can't, doctors orders.” She pouted. I stifled a laugh and went upstairs. It was a beautiful day and the sun was still rising. Snake Eyes and Stitches were asleep on deck chairs when I found them. A few bottles of alcohol littered the floor around them as they snored loudly. I gave Snake Eyes a light kick. “Somepony turn off the lights...” “Get up, Snake.” I laughed before I shoved him. He rolled over and lifted his odd hat. “Oh, it’s you. What's up, Amigo?” “You're from before the war right?” he nodded, “and you said you met the regal sisters but not as yourself...” He nodded again. “Well, we aren't being shot at, care to elaborate?” Snake Eyes gave a short sigh, “It’s a long story...” I gave him a nod to continue, “Fine, during the war I was a spy. I was sent behind Zebra lines to gather information, that was until one mission. I was sold out and was hunted down and took a bullet to the knee. After that, I found it harder to run and sneak around like I used to.” He looked up to the sky and closed his eyes. His knee twitched. “When I got home I was approached by Applejack of the Ministry of Wartime Technology and hired to keep some of her secret projects locked up tight. Of course, I also managed to get into just about anything hooked up to the mainframe, like the other ministries. Had to check their encryption and...stuff...” “That's unexpected, to say the least.” “That was how I got to meet the Princesses; they just thought I was a noble or something, which meant I was doing something right. It was about that time I took the name ‘Snake Eyes’ too. One of the perks of being one of the heads of security was that I was always invited to the Great Galloping Gala.” “So your name isn't Snake Eyes?” I leaned up against the wall behind me and gave him a skeptical look, “Then what is your name?” He looked back across the desert and his face scrunched up in thought, he put his hoof to his chin then fiddled with his mustache. “...I don't remember. It was more than two hundred years ago.” he chuckled. I rolled my eyes, of course he wouldn't remember... “So these secret projects, are they still secret?” “No, not really. The only one I can remember right off the bat would be the Anti-Dragon Cannon. Too many ponies were loosing their lives to Zebra controlled dragons, and MWT needed a way to stop it. Of course, after the whole Anti-Machine Rifle fiasco, it was kept under tight security. They were almost done too! Just needed to transport them from the western factories and set them up, then the bombs dropped.” “So they were developed in NCR territory? Have they found them yet?” “Of course, it wasn't like they’d just leave cannon parts in the Vladivostrot ruins. It was only a matter of putting them together with the blueprints and done.” “How did they get the blueprints if it was a closely guarded secret?” “Simple, I happened to be in my command bunker under Fillydelphia when the bombs dropped and as each major city camera winked off I realized it was the end of the world so I sent the blueprints of all of my projects to their development centers in hopes survivors could use them to build a better society. It worked too; the NCR used the cannons to open up the sky!” “Open up the sky?” I looked up to the big blue sky. “What do you mean?” He looked at me and raised him eyebrow, “What do mean 'what do you mean?'? It wasn't that long ago the NCR kicked the Enclave out of the west.” I looked at him like he was a mad horse. “When the sky was always cloudy? You must have been an oblivious kid... here...” He handed me a holotape, “I got that off an old NCR veteran about three years ago.” I popped it into my Pipbuck and a video began to play. It was like I was looking over the soldier's shoulder. There was intense fighting happening all around, the soldier I was watching was mounted on a large anti aircraft gun with four machine guns, firing at black armoured pegasi as they poured out of large flying fortresses, black against the gray cloud cover. * “Keep firing, hold your positions!” a gruff voice bellowed over the communications channel, followed by a war shout from the ponies around my host. My host watched a NCR tank roll up beside us and fire at a cluster of pegasi taking cover on the ground. One of the large turrets of the flying machines turned towards us; we stopped firing and leaped from the AA gun as the tank went up in a plasma fueled explosion. My host’s helmet flew off and landed in the dirt. The recording went dark for a few seconds before my host picked it back up, dusted it off and put it back on. We were back in the fight. We jumped into a crater beside a group of other ponies, one loading a missile launcher, “How the fuck are we supposed to combat those things, Sarge?” one called out to us as we slid down beside them. Before my host could say anything the gruff voice burst in over the com, “ADC rounds loaded; hold on to your helmets!” I heard a dull thump, and a moment later a ball of fire flew across the sky, punching a hole straight through the flying machine. Some of the others started to turn before they were hit by more fiery rounds. We looked to the horizon, “The tower!” my host shouted and pointed to a large needle like tower reaching up to the sky. Three more fiery rounds impacted it, and it started to crumble. The sky around it started to break and dissipate as it crumbled. The large flying machines started to fly away. “All units, Canterberra tower has fallen; retreat to rally point 04/7...” I heard from a nearby dead pegasus's helmet. We watched as the pegasi flew after their large machines as the clouds parted overhead, one more round from the Anti-Dragon Cannons crossed the sky and rear-ended one of the flying machines, the back of it bust into flames and started crashing down to earth, followed by a long smoke trail. My host pumped his hoof in the air. “That will teach you to mess with the NCR!” he shouted. “All units, we are receiving reports that the Enclave has abandoned San Fransiscolt and are retreating. Mission accomplished.” the gruff voice said over the com. The air filled with cheers and shouts as NCR troops all around me flung their hooves to the air as they watched the flying machine hit the ground and explode. “Raptors ain’t got shit on us.” A nearby soldier called out. * My host looked up to the clearing sky, and the recording ended. I stared at my Pipbuck's screen in awe. “And that is how the skies were cleared.” Snake Eyes said. “I can still remember when the clouds started to roll back. I hadn’t seen the sun in almost two hundred years. Made me proud to see that my ideas aren't useless.” “That was...intense...I guess I never really cared much because I don't remember it being permanently cloudy.” Snake Eyes gave me a hard stare, as if I was a madpony. He squinted at me. “Okie dokie lokie...” He muttered. “Anyway, that's about it from before the war. There are some parts that are a little fuzzy but, hey, its been two hundred years, anyone who has lived as long as I have has the right to forget a few things. “Wait, you had access to the other ministr-” “Good morning.” Stitches moaned, cutting me off, as he got to his hooves. “How much did we drink?” “Driftwood gave us a bottle of Tequila and several bottles of... something alcoholic. We drank all of it.” “Son of a... you sir, are a fun person to drink with.” Stitches hoof-bumped Snake Eyes before turning to me, “Look at you, thought you would never get up.” “How long was I out?” “What time is it?” I looked at my Pipbuck's clock. “Ten.” “A day and a bit.” Stitches held his head, “I'm a doctor, I should know better than this. I need an IV.” he muttered before heading downstairs. I occupied his deck chair. “Now that we are alone,” Snake Eyes started. Was this about to get weird? “What the hell happened to you last night? That wasn't natural.” “Snake Eyes,” I sighed, “If I had any clue, I would tell you, so far all I know is that whatever is living in my head... isn’t right...” “mhmm...” Snake Eyes was about to say something before one of the doctors walked up the stairs, “Gentlecolts, Ace's prognosis is ready, if you would like to come with me?” I got up, “You go ahead, Amigo, I'm going to enjoy this rest a bit longer before I head out, got places to be, places to see.” Snake Eyes said. He sunk further into his chair, lit a cigarette and tipped is large straw hat over his eyes. I chuckled at the old stallion, two hundred years and he's still traveling. I went down the stairs and found Ace wriggling into her leather barding, I couldn't help but let my eyes drop to her flank. I turned my head and blushed. Did I just check her out? Damn right I did. Got to control myself... The doctor started to unravel her bandages and handed her a mirror. She shook her mane and looked into it, she ruffled her mane with her hoof before smiling, seeing me in the reflection. “Hows the old coot doing?” “H-hes fine.” I stammered, what was going on? She turned around and grinned at me. Even with the bruises she was pretty...well, hot! Was I starting to get a crush on Ace?! She doesn't swing that way Clover, just get over it. I thought to myself, and mentally punched my brain. I was burning a bright red before the doctor spoke up. I could have hugged him for bringing up a new topic. “Okay then,” he picked up a clipboard, “judging from your examination...you should be perfectly fine. If your friend hadn't brought you here that fast, that would be a completely different matter.” Ace walked over to me and wrapped her forearms around me. I stood shocked before I returned the hug. Down boy. I thought to myself before I mentally punched my brain again. She finally let go. “Thank you, Clover, for saving me. You're the best friend anyone could hope for.” My heart both sank and rose at the same time. I wasn't surprised. I gave her my best smile before she walked back to the doctor, who started doing a few final checks. “Good to see she's up and about.” Stitches said as he shuffled in next to an IV stand. “Perfect hangover killer.” he nodded his head at the bag of liquid that was slowly seeping into his veins. He curled up on one of the empty beds. Most of the beds were empty now, only two patients left, and they seemed to have hurt themselves while rebuilding. “I guess we aren't going anywhere yet?” “Not while we have a bunch of stuff to sell.” Ace said as she strapped her saddlebags on, after the doctor gave her the go ahead. She picked the box up in her magic and left out the front door. I was tempted to follow but right now...well I didn't know what to do... I picked up my saddlebag and decided to rummage through it. I pulled out the package I found in the factory. I was certain I left it in my coat pocket, I guess somepony put it in my saddlebag when they took my coat for cleaning. I opened it and found a helmet camera. I opened its side panel and found a cable that would fit into my Pipbuck. I looked around and shrugged. Why not? My Pipbuck screen fuzzed and sparked as static swept over the screen. It slowly cleared and I was sitting on somepony's shoulder again, watching everything they were. We were walking into a small office, it took me a while to realise it was the office I had found the package in. * A small pink mare in large glasses was sitting at a desk, going through files and slowly falling asleep through utter boredom. She perked right up and fixed her hair. “Hello Sergeant, what can we here at Crab Apple Guns West do for the Coalition today?” She asked. “Good afternoon miss...” He looked at the plaque in front of the mare's desk, “...Honey Dew, I've been sent to check up on your emergency procedures.” My host said in a deep dark voice. I must have been watching from Sgt. Black Sword's perspective. “Emergency procedures? Like escape routs etc.? Why do you need to check them?” “Do you ever listen to the news?” Honey Dew shook her head. “Never, its always so depressing, its always about the war in the east and it just bores me. As if the Zebras would attack...” Her sentence was cut short as she stared at the sergeant. “...would they?” she squeaked. “Ma'am, as of seventeen hundred ours yesterday Fort Desperado was attacked by Zebra strike teams. Its all over the news, I’m surprised you hadn't heard.” “Then we have to get the hell out of here!” Honey Dew said as she started to scramble for her belongings. “Now, miss Honey Dew, there is no need to panic. Canterberra and San Franciscolt bases are on alert along with the south Ponave garrisons. The Zebras won't even get close to here, but orders are orders. About those procedures...” The following few minutes were boring and tedious, mostly just going over lock down procedures and escape and evacuation routes. The sergeant put his helmet down hard on the table, the camera shook. “These aren't enough, you have one evacuation route and very light lock down security. What do you think will happen if the Zebras DO get past our southern forces?” The black stallion said as he walked in front of the camera and slammed his hoof into the stack of papers on the desk. Honey Dew let out a squeak and seemed to shrink. “I don't want to alarm you but there is no way these plans are up to Coalition Standards. Crab Apple Guns West was given fifty thousand bits to use on security like all the other factories in the area. What did you use it on?” “I-I-I d-didn't...” “You didn't receive the bits...” He picked up his radio, “Command, this is Black Sword of Fire Team Hammerhead, Ponave Contingent, we have a possible code zero-four-one at Crab Apple Guns West...Yes sir...roger that, Black Sword, out.” “W-w-whats a code zero-four-one?” “It seems your higher-ups decided to pocket the cash at the risk of your safety. The Coalition will look into it.” He picked up his helmet, “Miss Honey Dew, I'm sorry for any inconvenience, but please consider changing jobs or moving further north. Never know how hairy things will get.” With that we left. We passed a secretary and faced the wall. The sergeant smacked his helmet against it, the camera fell off his helmet and landed with a soft thud on top of something soft, I couldn't see what, might have been a pillow? A dark green pony in a similar yellow and brown uniform, but with a cap and headset instead of a helmet, walked up behind the sergeant, “What's up, chief?” “These checks are bogus. We should be reenforcing the southern garrisons, not playing inspector. Its frustrating. They don't even know that three up and two down is Gunnery Sergeant, not just Sergeant, at least the other foremares had the common courtesy to....gah!” Black Sword grumbled. “Forget that Gunny, Valentine and Rolling Thunder say they saw a few Griffin Chaser Gunships and Haulers fly overhead to the south. I think somethings gonna go down soon.” The sergeant looked into the green buck's eyes and sighed. “I sure hope not, Sparky...” “Thinking about Dainty?” The sergeant nodded, “Don't worry about her, there is no way the Zebras are going to get to your family in Mustang, that place is like a fortress. Maybe not like Hoofington, but Hoofington is just plain ugly. Did you see the postcard the Scorched Earth Regiment sent? Don't envy their transfer, that's for sure.” this seemed to raise Black Sword's spirit. “Something about you Engineers makes me smile. Maybe its that goofy hat.” Black Sword laughed. Sparky rolled his eyes. They started to walk back down the cat walk before the recording fuzzed and finished. * I decided to step outside for a bit after somepony had dropped off my coat. It was lovely and warm outside, reminded me of the beach in my dream... best I not think about that. I turned on the radio as I passed the shacks and buildings of Rust. “and that was Sweet Water with 'She's Gone'. Now for the news. “Reports indicate that the storm recently was not cause by Enclave guerrilla fighters. There is no such thing and any panic or rumors should be put to rest. “Remember yesterday morning when I said that the old Crab Apple factory went kablooie and all the raiders slaughtered? Well, its been confirmed that three ponies are the ones to thank. Rust's own Drop Shot assisted a ghoul and, get this, the courier from Good Sands in torching those raiders. That's right folks, back from the dead and kicking ass out there. Good job, guys. “Not much happening in the ways of war out by the dam, a few Legion scouts here and there but nothing more, oddly enough. “Another bit of good news! It seems the Tumbleweed slaver den has been cleared out, and the slaves freed. Reports indicate a mysterious mare valiantly destroying the slaver scumbags. Good job, Mysterious Mare-do-well. “last item on the agenda. Anyone tempted by the thought of scavenging in the old Neighgas Industrial ruins, be careful, something ain't right out there, ponies seem to go missing out there regularly. Don't say I didn't warn ya. “That's it for the news so here's Octavia and the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra, with 'Requiem for Peace.'” A slow peaceful piece of music started to float through my earbloom, I found it so very boring. I clicked off the radio and found my way back to the clinic. Hold on a second, I was just on the radio! Again! It felt awesome. “Where'd you run off to?” Ace said as I entered the clinic. “A walk. How much did you get for the junk?” “Five hundred and thirty-two caps.” she jangled a bag of caps in front of my eyes. I was impressed. “So are you ready to start the next stage of our grand adventure?!” “You mean walking to Iron City?” Ace nodded. “Sure, if Stitches is ready.” I looked over to see Stitches glaring at me between his hooves with a frown. I guess that was a no... “You heading to Iron City?” Snake Eyes said as he appeared down the stairwell. “You can come with us if you'd like.” I extended my hoof. “Its on my list of places to be, so I don't see why not.” He shook my hoof. “Aren't we just one big, very dysfunctional family?” Ace shouted as she swung her forelegs around Snake Eyes and I and brought us in for one big hug. We just smiled and nodded. Stitches groaned and collapsed on his bed. --- --- --- “Whose bright idea was it to leave Rust and walk straight into a dust storm?!” I shouted out over the howling winds and swirling dust. We had only been out of Rust for an hour before we managed to get caught in the storm. Good thing I had goggles and a bandanna, regardless how scratched and dirty they were getting. “Yours!” Ace shouted before giving me a hard poke on the flank. I could barely see my comrades through the brown haze that surrounded us, even with the goggles. The only thing keeping us from getting lost was my handy dandy EFS with its objective tick thingie. One feature I had never noticed were the tiny black arrows under my compass. Right now I could count two black ones in front of us and one white one behind us. Another mystery of the Pipbuck I was yet to figure out, but this was no time to go tinkering with it. We kept trudging in single file against the strong winds lashing out at us across the Ponave, where we were could only be determined by my Pipbuck. We were miles from our objective. I sighed and kept moving along the old road until a single white tick appeared on my EFS. “Ace, we've got friendlies over there, could be lost?” she nodded and followed me and my EFS, we couldn't see a thing a meter farther than my hoof. I could just hear Stitches and Snake Eyes chatting about something or other a few meters behind us. “Hello? Anyone there?” I called out. Of course there was someone there, my EFS said so! “Can we help you?” no response. According to the EFS, the person was right in front of us, but we saw nobody. “Something aint right...” I muttered. “What's that?.” Ace asked as she trotted up beside me, I looked down and saw something that seemed to be half buried under a layer of dirt and dust. It was a small griffin, blood streaked its wing. Ace pulled out her shotgun, “Medic up front!” I called out into the dust storm, Stitches came galloping out of the sheet of brown as we dug the griffin out. it was barely breathing. “I can't see a thing, we have to move her!” Stitches shouted. I looked around and spotted one of the black ticks on my compass. Time to find out what it is. I took off my coat and bundled the small griffin in it, and started towards to black arrow, there had to be something there that can help. It seems luck was on my side, we managed to stumble across the remains of a destroyed cottage. It wasn't the cottage that was the good part, but the intact basement. My Pipbuck marked it as 'Ruined Cottage'. Yeah, I could see that. Why it did things like this is way over my head. None the less, a swift stomp and the rusty lock snapped, allowing us access to the basement. The basement reeked of damp and decay, but it was better than the dust storm. I lit a match to give us light. Snake Eyes promptly took it off me to light a cigarette. Ace took it with a roll of her eyes and lit a hanging lantern. The basement was a cold cement room with rows of tinned food stuffs, some small containers, three cots a table and some chairs. How it hadn't already been looted was beyond me. I unraveled my coat and placed the griffin on one of the cots. Stitches immediately began work cleaned its wing wound. It looked like it had been shot through. I sat down at the table with Snake Eyes and Ace. “Seems a better place than any to ride out the storm, isn’t it?” Ace said as she shuffled a deck of cards she found in one of the containers and started to deal them between her and Snake Eyes, she offered me a hand, but I refused. I decided to take this time to think about the hazards we had faced so far. First thing that came to mind was the bandits. The sort of scum that can make any day a bad one. Stealing from innocents, giving to no one. Its that sort of thing that deserves a punch in the throat, I plan to be the one doing the punching. Secondly, Legion. Those slimy bastards are capable of destroying a whole town because it doesn't suit their regime. In my opinion, anyone associated with the Legion should be burned at the stake for what they did to Lipton. Next we have the alicorns. According to Knick Knack they came from a place out east and were created by some sort of Goddess and were sent out west to capture unicorns and return them to her, only after they crossed the Great Barrier Mountain Range to the east did they loose contact. Apparently they were extremely powerful but with their release of the goddess' influence they became weakened. Knick Knack says there would have been no way I would have survived the fight with the alicorns if they were at full strength. Lastly, Raiders. Just thinking about them makes me shiver. The fact that they rape, murder and desecrate ponies just for sport. It makes me feel rage like never before, there is no reason for raiders to be, therefore they must be swept away and forgotten. This reminds me of what happened at the factory, how I lost control and how Trailblaze slaughtered the raiders without even batting an eyelash. Was having Trailblaze in my head a good thing, or would it eventually bite me on the ass and rip a large chunk out making me slowly bleed out and die? Only time could tell. “Clover, snap out of it.” Stitches said as he slapped the back of my head and sat down. Ace dealt him a hand of cards. “What're we playin'?” “Blackjack.” “So, Doc, what's the deal with the griffin?” Snake Eyes asked. “Shot through the wing and out cold from exhaustion. She should be fine though.” I looked over at the small creature sleeping on the cot. Her wing had been wrapped up in a bandage. The tips of her head feathers burned a dark crimson. She looked adorable, curled up on the cot. I turned and joined the card game, fumbling with the cards in my hooves a little, but eventually getting it. I had played blackjack with Shamrock back on the Plains so I knew how to play, just trying to beat Ace was a problem, I could see why her cutie mark was an ace, she was great at blackjack. After an hour, Ace and I were at another stalemate. Snake Eyes and Stitches had gone bust and were watching intently. Ace sat there with her best poker face on, staring at her cards. I flipped my cards over. A ten and a queen, hells yes! I gave the smallest smirk as I put my cards down. Ace gave a wide grin. I flipped my cards and revealed my awesome pair, she flipped hers and revealed a king and an ace. I would have been cool with that if the ace didn't give a slight shimmer. “Cheater!” I shouted. “Am not!” she shouted back, before standing up. “That ace was shimmering. Magic I tell you, you little cheater!” I got up and saw a three of spades in her mane, I went to grab it but she pulled away and got defensive. “Gimme that.” I pounced to grab the card, now, I don't know how this happened but we ended up brawling and, for some reason, giggling. Being a better fighter she managed to pin me to the ground and no matter how much I struggled I could not get free. She started laughing, which seemed to be contagious, as Snake Eyes and Stitches started chuckling. I just stared at Ace before smiling. We all fell silent after a foreign moan cut in. It started as a squeak but grew louder. We looked over at the small cot to see the griffin stretching out before sitting up. “Mommy?” She yawned as she rubbed her eyes, her eyes went wide before bursting into tears. I shoved Ace off and went towards her. She scooted back to the wall and covered her face. “We aren't going to hurt you, little one.” I said in an attempted soft voice. “You killed mommy and daddy, you aren't going to kill me!” she shouted. “If we had wanted to kill you, wouldn't we have done it?” Snake Eyes said as he leaned back in his chair. The griffin lowered her arms and looked me up and down through tear filled eyes. “W-who are you?” She whimpered. “My name's Clover, what's your name?” I slowly moved closer and sat on the edge of the cot. She moved to the far end. “T-t-t-Tallie.” she was trembling. I dug into my saddlebag in search of some of the food we hadn't given to Rust, I pulled out a Pinkie's Pie. “You look hungry, Tallie, here, eat.” I offered it to her but she just blinked at it, and didn't move. I placed it in front of her and smiled at her. Snake Eyes sat in his chair and blew smoke rings at the ceiling, Stitches seemed like he was about to fall of his chair, he wanted to give her a check-up quite badly now that she was awake. Obsessed with medicine, that one. Ace sat on the floor in awe, why? I had no idea. Tallie slowly picked up the small pie, looked it once over and slowly nibbled on it. I handed her one of my canteens. I noticed she was wearing a pretty ruby pendant around her neck, there were three gears carved into the gem, each interlocking, but I put that thought further down on the list of things to think about, now wasn’t the time, we had to figure out what happened. “Can you tell us why you were out in the storm by yourself?” I asked quietly. She looked at me as tears started to roll down her face. “Clover, she has to be in shock I doubt she's going to t-” Stitches started but was quickly cut short, “I flew into it to get away from the bad ponies. The ones with spikes.” I looked to Snake Eyes, who fell backwards at those words. “Wraith Scar is still after that griffin kid” I remembered one of the raiders in Crab Apple Guns say. Tallie gave a small giggle at Snake Eyes then looked sad again, “The ponies who...who killed...” she burst into tears, I patted her back before she flung her avian legs around me and cried into my riot gear. I looked to Ace, who just shrugged. Stitches was scribbling something down on a note pad. I looked down and put my forelegs around Tallie to comfort her, remembering how Ace had done that for me and how I felt a little better after. She looked up at me with her dark red eyes that looked as if they had lost everything they held dear and were thrust into a world they weren’t prepared for. She was someone like me. She pulled away, sat down next to me and continued to eat her pie. Stitches started to walk towards us, Tallie flinched and scrambled behind me. “Its okay, Tallie. This pony's name is Stitches. He's a doctor and won't hurt you. He's the one who fixed your wing.” I chuckled. Tallie climbed out from behind me and looked at her bandaged wing, then to the doctor. Stitches walked towards us slowly. “I just need to give her a check-up now that she's awake...” He whispered. I nodded and got up. Tallie looked to me then Stitches. She looked like she was about to cry. “And if you do try anything,” I started, “It will be the last thing you do.” Stitches' eyes were the size of dinner plates. I gave him a wink that said 'not really', he understood that I only said it to comfort Tallie. I walked up to Ace and Stitches at the table and sat down. “What's the story?” Ace said. “Her parents were killed by raiders, the same raiders we obliterated, and she flew into the dust storm to get away from the raiders we missed, that's about it for now.” “How do you know it was those raiders who killed them?” “How often do you see a pair of flayed griffin corpses on a raider base wall?” Snake Eyes muttered. I looked back over to the quivering griffin, trying to sit still for Stitches' exam. “She's lost everything...” I whispered. Ace put a hoof on my shoulder, “Remind you of anyone?” I nodded as I fought back the memories of the past few weeks, how I too had lost everything to this desert wasteland, lost everything to Double Down and his cronies. I felt a rage spike thrust through my body, brushing Ace's hoof off my shoulder. “Someone go check on the storm.” I muttered. Ace gave me one of her worried looks before climbing the old stairs to the cellar doors. She opened them and poked her head outside. I couldn't hear anything except the quiet whimpering of Tallie and Snake Eyes' snoring, who had of course drifted off. Ace came back down the stairs with a smile, “All clear!” “Great. Lets move out, already.” Snake Eyes snorted as he got on his hooves and trotted towards the cellar doors. Ace bushed up beside me, “What about the griffin?” she whispered. “We take her with us.” What else could we do? Leave her here for whatever lurks in the wastes to get? “If we take her with us to Iron City, we can figure out what to do with her when we get there.” Ace smiled. “Alrighty then, shall we?” I picked up my saddlebag and took what food I could get off the shelves, Ace did the same. Snake Eyes had already gone through the containers and looted them, giving anything medical to Stitches and keeping all the small, practical items to himself, like a lighter, a pocket mirror, stuff like that. “Amazing how no pony has looted this place yet...” Ace nickered. “Must be out lucky day.” I smiled. --- --- --- I climbed into the sunlight and saw the windswept land in front of me. I could see the walls of Rust on the horizon, just before Black Mountain Pass. The road we had been following was barely noticeable under the dirt and grime of the dust storm, the same road that stretched into the horizon behind us, dotted with smaller buildings and hills. Snake Eyes was standing on top of a mound of rubble behind me, looking over what seemed to be the ruins of a small village of ten houses, few still standing. I saw another black triangle on my EFS and followed it for a few seconds before 'Happy Homes Village' popped up. “What? Why would you put two locations so close together?” I said to my Pipbuck. “Who are you talking to, Mr. Clover?” Tallie asked from her perch on my back. Her wing wasn't in any condition to fly, and I doubt she wanted to walk anyway. Who would pass up the chance to ride on the back of a pony instead of walking in the dirty...dirt? “Call me Clover, and this little machine is as annoying as it is complicated.” I chuckled. “Lets get to marchin'!” Ace said as she bounced out of the cellar door a few minutes after Stitches. I brought up my EFS and searched for the objective marker. I faced east down the road and looked up. There was something coming, something weird and metallic. As it got closer I could make out its features. It seemed to be a shoddy rig mounted on wheels with three head lamps, it was rusty and dirty, just like the ponies clinging off the sides. It stopped a few meters ahead of us. “What is that thing?” I asked Snake Eyes “That there is a very unreliably jury rigged remains of a motorized vehicle.” He snorted. Obviously the level of maintenance offended him, I gave him a confused look. He sighed. “Back before the Ponave and the western territories were annexed, they were renowned for their advancement in vehicle technology, with all this free space, why not? One of these advancements was the motor engine, similar to the ones used in tanks. They run on a small array of spark batteries and not much else. This made transporting goods and ponies much easier and faster. Haven't seen many out here, almost no civilians own any. Most are owned by the NCR or mercs.” The ponies clinging to the sides and back jumped down and raised their weapons. I was unimpressed. The weapons were rusted and chipped and their armour was covered in duct tape and patches of wonderglue. The only competent looking one was the unicorn in shades who hung back with his rifle. “Amateurs.” Ace snorted. The unicorn who was driving the wreck-on-wheels stepped forward and held up a poster. “Target: Courier. Description, light gray coat, black mane, green eyes and four leafed clover cutie mark. Alive: two thousand caps...” He called out, I raised an eyebrow at him, signaling how unimpressed I was. He grinned, “...dead: one thousand caps.” that got my attention. “So are you going to come quietly?” He asked. “Um...” I started and put my hoof on my chin, “...no.” I turned and galloped back into the village, my comrades following close behind. I heard some shouts before shots started ringing out. I dove behind a large rectangular blue box for cover in a front yard and was met with an odd skeleton wearing a fez and bow-tie. I cocked my head at the oddly fashioned skeleton before a bullet exploded its skull, sending bits of bone flying at me and Tallie, most of the fragments bounced feebly off of my riot vest but some struck home along my forelegs. I looked down to see Tallie unscathed but quivering in a ball. I looked around to find my cohorts, Ace had set up in the house behind us and was firing out one of the windows along with Stitches and Snake Eyes was behind a low wall firing blindly over it from his large revolver. They stopped shooting. Everypony stood still. Snake Eyes started to slowly snake his way to me. I looked up to see nopony in the windows of the now bullet riddled house. Ace's head slowly poked up, followed by Stitches'. I looked over the box as Snake Eyes slithered up beside us. They were all still aiming, except for, what I presume to be, their leader. He slowly laughed, which quickly spread to his band of misfits. All except the rifle pony in the shades. None of whom had been hit by our fire. I took the opportunity to scoop Tallie up and sprint into the house behind us. The rifle pony took a shot, just missing me and gazing Tallie's hind leg before embedding itself into the wall. I blew through the door, placed Tallie behind cover and wrapped up her bleeding leg in one of my healing bandages before glaring out the window. The rifle pony looked back at me and smirked. “They've got us out numbered by two combatants, but not out gunned.” Snake Eyes said, analyzing the situation, “Rifle pony has a heavier caliber rifle, possibly armour piercing rounds but the rest have regular lead rounds and their guns look like shit. These ponies might be amateurs but not that rifle one.” he sat down beside me. “I do have an idea though.” Ace and Stitches brought themselves in closer, carefully avoiding the windows and door. “Kinda simple really, Clover, you keep 'em talking, while Ace, Stitches and I slip out the back and...” “Sneak round the sides and take em out by surprise. Just like The Blammo Bunch plan.” Ace said. Are we seriously going to use the same plan we used a few days ago again? Talk about repetition... Everyone knew their parts and slid out the back door. All but me and Tallie. She was sniveling in a ball and holding her grazed leg. I patted her head feathers to calm her. She looked up at me with her pretty red eyes; I couldn't help but smile. “No matter what happens, stay here.” I said. She nodded and sniffed. “Lets get this party started...” I muttered. I looked out the window to see the ponies slowly making their ways toward me. I couldn’t see my friends, which I considered was a good thing. “You want me alive?” I called out. “Preferably. Your bounty is worth a few caps.” someone put a bounty on me? Why would they do that? Could've been a vengeful raider, or a Blammo. They're the only ponies I've managed to piss off so far... “Who put up the bounty?” “Dunno. The bounty just says 'DD' and the pickup says 'The Star' on the strip. Who did you piss off anyway?” Double Down... good to see I'm getting to him. I looked out the window and caught a glimmer from the barrel of a revolver. My friends were in position, take the ponies out dammit... “Holy shit! Look out!” A pony with a shotgun said before shooting at a window of the house next to them. I heard Stitches shout, and a loud crash before the shotgun pony was taken out with the bull stopping power of Snake Eyes’ revolver. I reflexively pulled out my pistol and started firing at the ponies as I jumped out of cover. The firefight had started again. Ace started to let rip with her shotgun, pinning two more ponies down as Snake Eyes picked off another from his high powered revolver. That left four. They was no fire from Stitches' weapon. I ran at one of the ponies who had taken cover on the opposite side of the street. He raised his assault rifle at me but before he could fire, I brought my hooves down on the rusted barrel, smashing it to pieces. These guns were flimsy as fuck. We looked at the shattered remains of the rifle and back to each other. I smiled, he whimpered. I brought my hoof down on his face, effectively punching him. He rolled back but recovered, bringing his hoofs up. “Oh please...” I muttered, he flung his hoof forward but narrowly missed, as he followed through with his failed punch, I took the opportunity to punch him in the gut, then a swift kick to the head. He doubled over but got back up, rage building in his eyes. “Oh, come on! Just stay down!” I moaned before he pounced at me, knocking me over and brought his hoof down on my face, I tasted blood. He was grinning at me, thinking he had won, but one thing he didn't know was that I wasn't keen on loosing. I spat the blood that was building up in my mouth into his eyes, causing him to roll off of me and wipe away the blood. I punched him in the head and held him against the wall. His rage starting to make him froth at the mouth, he was clearly not healthy. “I didn't want to do this.” I said as I pulled out my knife and shoved it into his throat. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. He went limp as the froth around his mouth started turning red. I dropped him and placed my knife back in its sheath and loaded a fresh mag into my pistol and got back in the fray. Now it was Ace's turn to be pinned behind cover, one of the remaining ponies had caught her while she reloaded. Snake Eyes was concentrated on the boss pony and I couldn't see the rifle pony. Ace was calling out for help from behind a wall that was slowly chipping away from the merc's assault rifle. The merc really didn't seem smart, seeing as her back was completely unguarded. I flicked the switch on my sniper and sneaked up behind her. “Hey.” I said as he turned. His eyes went wide before he screamed. As she opened his mouth a shoved the barrel of the rifle down his throat. “Buh-bye.” I pulled the trigger and watched as a red mist burst out of the merc's mouth and butt. I pulled the bloodied barrel out of her mouth, followed by a steam of blood. I looked over at the almost perfect outline of a pony that remained of the wall as Ace poked her head around it and smiled. Boss pony was dumbstruck now that his gang was dead and was now receiving fire from two ponies. Wait, his gang wasn't all dead. Rifle pony was still around, but where? I took the opportunity of boss pony being distracted to scan the area for him. I quickly found him in a bush with his eye down the rifle's sights but he wasn't aiming at me or anypony else. Maybe he was just a silly pony... or maybe he was aiming at the tiny griffin head poking out of the doorway of the house down the street. FUCK. I rushed at him, hoping to get that rifle out of his hooves before he took the shot. The world went silent around me and all I could hear was my heart beating with every hoof fall, the mechanics of the rifle starting to click as the pony started to pull the trigger. I heard a primal roar as I launched myself through the air at the pony. The shot rang out. I fell to the ground and skidded to a halt. What happened? I looked at the house and at Tallie's look of shock that was shared by the rifle pony as they stared at me. I looked down to see blood leaking from a puncture in my armour. I struggled for breath. Everyone was staring at me, Ace, Snake Eyes, rifle pony, Tallie. The boss had taken the opportunity to scamper, climbing into his vehicle and starting to drive off before Snake Eyes started to shoot at him again. Ace sprinted to me, smacking the shocked rifle pony in the head with her shotgun, knocking him out and stopped next to me. I was fighting for air that wouldn't come. I heard an explosion as Snake Eyes hit a critical component on the vehicle with his revolver, sending it up in flames. Blood spattered onto the dirt with each cough. “Medic!” Ace called out. No answer. The world was starting to feel cold as I choked on blood, trying to get air into collapsed, blood filled lungs. Blood started to pour down my riot gear. I looked over to the house to see Tallie cautiously running in my direction. I looked back at Ace, her eyes tearing up. Snake Eyes appeared beside me and started to put pressure on my wound. I coughed blood over his hooves and dropped my head to the ground, the world started to spin and my vision was turning black. The shouts and calls from my friends were distorted, like I was hearing them through water. Then I couldn't hear, see or feel anything. The world turned black. Footnote: Level up! New perk: “Super Slam” all Unarmed and melee weapon attacks have a small chance of knocking down your opponent. VERY special thanks to Errantindy for editing the first quarter, No One for her awesome help with dramatic effect and editing, Damhoof for the pre-read and the awesome people over on the FoE sidefic protodoc. You guys are awesome. And Kkat for creating the world I have so gingerly implanted myself into. Reviews, feedback and comments are welcome. As in, please comment. Please.