It had been six years since the ‘Lone Wanderer’ had been forced to leave the vault and look for her father. Over the years she had traveled all across the Capital Wasteland helping those who asked her for assistance. She was doing a lot of good out here in the wastes and met a lot of very nice people, but also some not so friendly people and made many enemies. Eventually her travels lead her to the Mojave Wastelands where she met a man known as the Courier; whom she was planning on meeting up with that day. Last time they had met he had given her a portal device to instantly travel over to the Lucky 38, this being a prototype modeled off of his. No one actually knew whether or not it would work. He had reassured her that it would since it was like his own but allowed for further transportation. If she remembered correctly he called it a transportalponder.
I would have named it something else but that's not my call. It was nice of him to throw in a manual as well for me to tinker with it.
Turning to her companion she said, “Welp, we better get going Dogmeat or we’ll be late.”
Walking around her home she grabbed her gear and prepared to leave, a smile coming to her lips as she remembered the nickname some of the Brotherhood had given her. Someone had thought it would be funny to call her a ‘Walking Armory’ and somehow it stuck. Though it was not that far off with all the weapons she carried with her. While most of the Brotherhood wore the standard power armor, she had opted to wear something different altogether. Her armor was a combination of both the Brotherhood’s power armor and the Enclave’s Tesla armor that she had collected.
The armor was still in a prototype stage, but that was the reason for her visit to New Vegas. She was going there to work alongside the Courier to finish its development as they had planned for the Brotherhood and with his help it would be done in no time.
Stepping out of her home in Megaton, with Dogmeat right behind her, she activates her Pip Boy’s recordings and began to play on of Agatha’s songs she had stored in there. She couldn’t receive a signal from Agatha out there so she had some of the songs saved on her Pip Boy for just an occasion. Just as the first song started playing she pulled out the device she gave it one last look over before pulling the trigger on it and watch it light up.
There was a blinding flash of light that was there for a split second before it was gone, taking with it the Lone Wanderer and her companion with it, out of the Capital Wasteland.
----
The first thing that alerted her that anything was wrong was the sound of Dogmeat growling right next to her. Blinking to reduce the amount of the after image burned into her eyes she could hear the sounds of lots and lots of footsteps halt all around her. As she got back to her feet she saw that there were a few hostile indicators right behind her as well as a large mass of non hostiles all around her. Looking around to confirm all the contacts surrounding her, she was forced to do a double take when she saw that the beings that were there were not in fact humans or any kind of animal she had seen before outside of books. What she saw was a large group of horses in the middle of a town with a variety of colors that she had not seen since she left the vault.
It took her only a second to realize that the hostile enemies were in fact a group of these horses dressed in golden armor that was similar to the Legion’s. She could tell that they were saying something but she couldn’t make heads or tales of their language. There was movement in the corner of her eye that caught her attention. Not wanting to be snuck up on she turned her head to see what was going on. Looking up and to the right she saw that there were several of these horses flying around the the air above them, some of them even wearing the golden armor.
Turning her head back towards the main group, she raised her hand in a non threatening gesture she said, “Now calm down. We aren’t here to cause problems. We are lost and we will be leaving here in just-,” she was cut off mid sentence as one of the hostile contacts chucked a spear at her. She was too slow to react to the sudden attack unlike Dogmeat, who jumped between her and the thrown spear catching it in his side with a loud yelp. Everything seemed to slow down to a crawl as she watched Dogmeat fall to the ground, the look of horror on the aggressor’s face at seeing it miss its target.
Wasting no time she knelt down and activated her VATS to halt time entirely to assess the damage done to her friend. With her medical knowledge she could tell that if she didn’t get him some medical treatment soon then he could die. Not having done anything to cause such aggression infuriated her but what made it worse was that she didn’t react fast enough, causing one of her friends to get so severely hurt. Over the years there has only been one response to such aggressions taken towards her and her friends and that was to kill them. However much she would like to stay and dispatch some Wasteland justice there just wasn’t any time, she needed to clear a path and get out of there with Dogmeat.
Switching her attention to the horses in front of her and thought up a plan. What better way to get back at them for attacking while clearing a path to escape than attacking the very thing that started it. Immediately after she exited VATS she unsheathed her Shishkebab,with her right hand while wielding the Blackhawk in the other and lunged at the creature with her sword ablaze only to be stopped mere inches from his throat by a sword shrouded in a green glow. Whatever was causing the sword to float on its own like that was of little concern to her at the moment as two more of the horses charged her on either side. Firing the Blackhawk twice into the chest of the one on her left, which had a horn causing it to drop along with the once glowing sword. Sweeping her right arm back she caught the one charging her on her right in the face with the flat of the blade, the attacker fell back, screaming from the burn on its face. Her original target stood rooted where it stood in fear at what had happened and was rewarded with a firm kick to its face sending it back into a wall.
“Time for us to get out of here boy.” Running back over to her companion she sheathed her sword before gingerly picking him up and running down the path that just opened up. Behind her she could hear the sounds of several of the armed things chasing her down the street and was confirmed by her HUD. She fired a few rounds over her shoulder with the revolver in order to slow them down as much as she could. As she sprinted she looked at each building that came into view, looking, looking for the one building she hoped would be fully stocked with what she needed.
Her hands were becoming slick from Dogmeat’s blood, telling her that she was running out of time and she need to find what she was looking for quickly.
Finally she saw just what she had hoped to see, a giant red cross for a sign, she didn’t know how to read the text on the signs but she hoped that the red cross was a universal emblem. Come to the door, she didn’t want to slow down to open it so she lowered her shoulder to take the force of the impact while shielding Dogmeat from any damage. The door offered little resistance as she barreled through it into the room beyond. Many of the creatures in the building screamed as she busted through, some of them ran away in fear while some coward in corners as far away as they could. Spotting a gurney along the wall, she set him down and began to push him forward farther into the building.
Turning her head side to side she looked into each room while she flew by them searching for one room in particular. Run as fast as she might though she couldn’t outrun her pursuers. To slow them down as much as she could, she knocked down anything that was within arms length from her as she passed. She was lost in the maze of halls before she finally found the room she was hunting for, a surgical room, and rushed through the doors. Closing the doors behind her she then went around the room knocking over cabinets to barricade the doors to the room.
Maneuvering the gurney over to the operating table, she transferred Dogmeat over and quickly collected whatever medical supplies she would need.
Patting Dogmeat on the head she said, “Its OK boy I got you.”
He responded by giving a soft whine as he laid his head back down on the table, waiting.
Placing the equipment she would need on tables around her she took out a syringe and injected him with some med-x to relieve the pain before she started. As she was preparing to remove the spear from his side there was several loud smashes against the door from them trying to get in to which she responded by firing six rounds from her revolver into the door to scare them off a bit and buy her time. Returning to what she was doing she began to work on the wound and stop the bleeding. Minutes ticked by as she diligently worked on Dogmeat’s side, ignoring the sounds coming from the other side of the door.
Thirty minutes passed by before she was finally able to stop the bleeding and close the wound, finishing it off with a stimpack to speed up the recovery. Everything was quiet now that she had time to stop for a moment and think, and that unsettled her. After all of the commotion that had been going on there was suddenly nothing which from her past experience never meant anything good. They need to get on the move again but she didn’t dare try moving Dogmeat again until he was able to recover a bit more. Until that time they were trapped in that room while the hostile horses waited for them on the other side of the door.
----
It was a lovely day like always thanks to her friend Rainbow Dash and she was truly enjoying it with all the animals that she took care of at her cottage. She would be there right now still and not in town but had to go buy some food for the poor little creatures. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a bright flash followed by the sounds of screaming and yelling coming from just ahead of her. She could hear the sounds of a dog growling which peaked her interest. Something this scary would not normally interest her in the slightest but when there is an animal involved there was always the potential for her to help another poor animal.
The first thing she saw was a group of guards making a ring around something then she saw the large dog that they were surrounding. The guards didn’t seem to be paying a lot of attention to the dog though and seemed to be yelling at something. When it stood she realized what it was that they were yelling at. Standing on two legs was a large metal beast that seemed to give off a faint electrical pulse. The creature was holding its head in its hands as it shook it, then slowly turned its head and take in its new environment. The creature seemed to notice the guards forming up around it and above it, taking great care in its movements.
The guards fly to the right of the creature seemed to catch its attention for a moment before it raised its front left leg, which reminded her of Spike’s claws, and say something but was impossible to interpret its meaning since it wasn’t speaking equestrian. What happened next brought her to tears as she saw one of the new guards react out of fear and hurl his spear at the metal creature only for the dog to jump in the way and take the hit. The creature knelt over the wounded animal examining the spear in the dog’s side and before most ponies there could think of what was going on it was towering over the young guard that had attacked only to be stopped by another guard’s magic encased sword. That didn’t seem to stop it as it used some odd looking device in its other claw to make two loud bangs, making the unicorn guard charging it fall to the ground, then whip around and smash the other charging guard in the face with the flat of the burning blade severely burning his face. The final guard it kick in the face and sent it into a nearby wall where he crumbled then quickly scooped up the dog and ran for it.
Half the guards went to their fallen comrades while the other half chased after the metal giant. Seeing that the guards hurt were being taken care of Fluttershy decided to follow after the creature carrying the dog, she wasn’t going to stand by when there was an injured animal nearby... Even if they are really really scary. Taking to the air she followed close behind the guards who themselves were close behind the metal giant. The creature made its way into the hospital and forced its way in, not bothering to slow down. The guards went in after it and soon found themselves leaping over turned over medical carts while all the Pegasus pony guards flew close to the ceiling.
None of them were fast enough to reach the creature before it entered one of the surgical rooms, loud crashes could be heard along with the sound of glass shattering. The guards formed up on each side of the door as a couple of them tried bashing them open which was followed by six more bangs and six holes blown through the door hitting one of the guards in the leg. The guards carried him off to be treated while the others made plans on how to get in there or how they would flush out the monster.
Making her way over to the pony that seemed to be in charge she timidly attempted to make her presence known, “E-e-e-e-excuse me. Excuse me, sir. Sir, I wish to help.”
No matter how many times she spoke her normal voice, that barely rated above a whisper, could not be heard over the discussion amongst the guards. Gathering the remains of her courage she approached the guard again and gently tapped him on the shoulder, finally gaining his attention.
“Yes ma’am, what is it that you need?”
“I-I-I-I want to help, maybe if I went in there I could get it to come out.”
“Ma’am please step back. Let the guard handle this, this is not something civilians should be involved in.”
Not wanting to give up with an injured animal just in the other room she tried to make her way to the door but was blocked by two guards.
“I need to get in there, there is an injured animal that needs help.”
“Ma’am this is the last time we will tell you to stand back and let us take care of this. Those two are too dangerous and must be dealt with.”
Stepping away from the door she searched for a different way she could get into the room without having to deal with the guards. Looking up at the ceiling she saw something that would do just the trick.
----
She had been in stuck in that room for the past thirty minutes as she waited for Dogmeat to recover a bit more. After checking on him every once in awhile she could see the stimpacks at work, closing the wound in his side but it would be much longer before he could fight like he usually did. According to her HUD there were still hostiles outside of the door that she would have to go through in order to escape and on top of that she would have to carry him until the stimpacks are finished.
There was a faint thud that could be heard but wasn’t coming from the doors. The Lone Wanderer couldn’t locate where the sound was coming from but she could tell that it was getting closer. Her HUD wasn’t being much use in locating individuals when there are large numbers in a small amount of area, their indicators just begin to stack on top of each other. Pulling out her Blackhawk again she waited for whatever may come into the room.
There was another thud this time she could tell that it was coming from the ceiling and was confirmed when the vent cover came loose and fell to the floor with a clatter. Training her revolver on the opening she was expecting to see an armed horse come out but was surprised to see a butter yellow winged horse crawl out of it, then glide to the floor with its wings. They just stood there staring at each other until she decided to lower her weapon, unlike the others this one didn’t seem to be a threat, if her HUD was anything to go by. Keeping her revolver out, not trusting the creature that made it into the room to remain friendly, she walked back over to Dogmeat and gave his wounds one last examination before starting her plan of escape.
Having gathered the medical supplies from most of the cabinets she went about pushing them over to make a small wall in the middle of the room facing the door. Once that was taken care of, she gently lowered Dogmeat to the floor, behind the wall, where the yellow horse started to softly pet and talk to him. Then taking the table he was just on, she turned it on its side for the extra layer before heading to the door that was also barricaded. Taking out a frag mine, the Lone Wanderer rigged it to the door like a makeshift breaching charge then ran back behind the cover she made.
Giving one final look over to her companion and the yellow horse, pulling it down behind the cover, then yelled, “Fire in the hole.” Not wanting to miss, she used her combat shotgun that she carried with her and blind fired in the general direction of the mine. Quickly slinging her shotgun, she picking up Dogmeat again and bolted for the now missing doors and cabinets for the opening that the mine created. The contacts on the other side had been thrown away by the explosion many of them bleeding from shrapnel.
Running as fast as she could, the plan was going off smoothly enough all she needed to do now was find an exit or make one of her own. Hearing the sound of flapping behind her, she glanced over her shoulder to see the same yellow horse.
What the hell is up with this one?
Now that she has had the time to actually see one of them up close without it trying to attack her she could tell that it was shorter than what any of the books in the vault described a horse to be.
What did those books call about small horses? Oh right, ponies.
Finally knowing what to call these creatures gave her some comfort but the fact that some had wings and others had horns still bothered her. Her thoughts were interrupted when a red beam similar to that of a laser rifle flew over her head and into the wall just feet ahead of where she was going. Looking over her shoulder the force of ponies chasing her down the hall could be seen, the ones with horn were glowing and releasing these beams at her. Using her armor to shield Dogmeat from the beams as she ran, she could feel the multiple impacts along her back as the suit tried to absorb as much of the damage as it could.
Any hope of her finding another door to exit through died when she came to a dead end, the only choice she had was to jump through the window. Taking a few steps back she rushed to the window and leaned in with her right shoulder while holding her companion out of the way of the window. With the combined force of her weight and speed the glass shattered before her allowing her passage. The yellow pony continued to follow close behind her out the window and down the street.
That might actually slow them down for once, then again it didn’t seem to slow down this one so maybe not.
It wasn’t long until she found herself in an open market filled with stalls to sell a variety of produce. Not willing to risk slowing down, she used her momentum to plow through any stall she could not jump over, leaving a trail of shattered carts and damaged produce in her wake. The yellow pony gave a quiet “eep” at each impact.
The end of the market was in sight and from what could be seen so did the town after three more blocks. Forcing her body to its limits in order to shorten the distance, there was just one final cart that blocked her path. Standing at the stall was an orange pony wearing a hat that the Wanderer had seen in her travels over the years. The yellow pony also took notice of where they were heading and decided to fly up ahead of her progress to the orange one.
There seemed to be a brief conversation between the two until the orange one turned to see her charging her way. A look of shock crossed its face before it took action kicking the cart out of the way with its hind legs and jumping to the side, letting her pass by with little problems. No sooner had she taken five steps past the cart did a lasso appear over her head and wrap around her neck. The sudden force pulling on her throat caused her to nearly fall on her back but not before it cut off any air circulation. Coming to a halt, she reached for the rope around her neck with her right hand and pulled. She could feel something get pulled along with the rope and turned just in time to see the orange pony getting back up to its feet and take a more stable stance, rope still in its mouth.
Taking out the combat knife she kept on her person no matter where she went, she sliced through the rope and freed herself, coughing while taking in large gulps of air, much to the pony’s chagrin. Now that she was facing the way she had came, the approaching armed ponies could clearly be seen half way across the market and closing while she just stood there. Not having the time to stand there and fight she started sprinting again for the exit to the market leading out of town.
Clear of the town she saw a nearby forest that could easily hide her and her companion from the ponies chasing them. The clearing however was roughly one hundred yards of open ground that would leave them exposed to anything that the ponies might have to stop them with. Seeing the reward being worth the risk, she continued forward into the clearing.
“Almost there boy just a little bit farther and we will be in the clear.”
The yellow Pegasus seemed to be panicking more and more the closer they got to the forest and tried multiple times to block her path just to be pushed aside. She was almost there, just a few more yards and they would be able to lose the ponies in the trees. Sharp electrical pain shot through her entire body as a loud thunderclap sounded in the air. The electricity having overpowered the suits energy resistance caused one of the gears in the right knee to burst, locking up the joint and sending shrapnel all through her leg. The pain was only worsened when she fell on her new injury so as not to fall on top of Dogmeat in her arms. This new pain elicited a cry of pain from her and nearly made her pass out.
Looking up into the sky she saw a single cloud floating just above her with a single cyan pony sitting there looking back down at her. Not willing to go down without a fight, she forced herself back to her feet, using the locked joint to support her weight on her right side, placing herself in front of Dogmeat. Unslinging her combat shotgun and assault rifle, holding both in either hand prepared to take on the mass of ponies now facing her.
When the ponies made it twenty yards away from her they all stopped and a few even took a couple steps back. This new reaction confused her and was only made worse when the orange one and a purple one, she had not seen before, started pointing with their hooves at her and shouting something. Her confusion was answered when there came a loud roar from directly behind her. Spinning around as fast as she could, she was met by a giant paw slamming into her and sending her flying a good ten feet, knocking both her weapons from her hands and her helmet off in the process. The sounds of multiple gasps and a scream could be heard from the group as their eyes were finally able to see her corpse like face.
This is why she never took her helmet off around others, besides her friends, the reaction to her being a ghoul was always the same. No matter what she did to help the people they still feared her when they saw what was beneath the armor. She could only feel human again when she was able to interact with others with her armor on and not as the freakish monster.
Standing back up from the ground, she unsheathed her Shishkebab and set it ablaze with her right and reach for her Blackhawk with her left only to find it missing from its holster. It took her just a second to spot it lying on the ground next to Dogmeat where she had fallen the first time. The creature that stood between her and Dogmeat was a mix between a few animals she had read about or seen in the wasteland. It had the body of a lion, wings of a bat and a tail of a scorpion. It stood there eying both her and her companion and there was no way in hell she was going to let it do what it was think of doing.
Entering VATS and targeted its head with her sword before going for the attack, the bones in her leg needed a little more time before they would have properly healed themselves prevented her to gain the momentum she wanted for her charge. When she was within striking distance she swung only for the creature to dodge at the last moment forcing her to swing again. However on her second attack the creature caught her arm in a vice like grip of its mouth and clamped down. The teeth stabbed into the area of the joints that were not protected for mobility forcing her to drop her weapon. Now unarmed she started striking the monster in the face with her fist in order to get it to let go and was rewarded with a growl and a sharp yet powerful tug on her arm, pulling it from the socket. The pain was causing her vision to darken along the edges, on the verge of losing consciousness altogether
She had only one weapon left at her disposal, reaching behind her back she pulled out the Wazer Wifle and shoved the end into the side of the lion-like thing, pulling the trigger. The beast let out another roar as it released her arm and took several steps away from her. Seeing that she could not use her right arm or leg it leapt at her again this time to finish it. While the beast was in mid flight she entered VATS and targeted the body, to compensate for her unstable firing, pouring everything she had into it. Exiting VATS for the final time, she let the system handle the rest and fired hitting most of her shots. As the last laser hit its mark the creature turned a bright orangish red before becoming nothing more than simple dust that flew into her.
The crowd of ponies just watched in shock as she limped back over to her companion picking up and placing her helmet back on. Everything seemed to lose color to her bit by bit as she made her way to Dogmeat and simply limping over there had become a monumental task for her. Before she could understand what was happening, the ground rushing up to meet her. Then there was nothing.