Location Unknown
“God damn it!”
“Well, that hurt.”
Thomas held up the Transportalponder. “At least it’s not broken this time.”
“Where are we?” Veronica asked, achieving the rather incredible feat of sitting up in fifty pounds of armour.
“It... looks like the Wasteland.” Dom looked around.
“Okay, this isn’t right.” Thomas stood up, confused. The area they were in definitely resembled a ruined city, though it wasn’t one he recognised. Behind him was an old warehouse, the walls crumbling, and before them was a dilapidated office building, every window missing.
“Thomas, you promised ponies.” Veronica turned to him. “Where are the ponies?” she asked petulantly.
“Wow, look how cloudy it is.” Dom was staring at the sky, which was covered in a blanket of cloud. There weren’t any gaps, and as a result the entire landscape had a washed-out feel. “Never seen that before.”
Thomas looked at his Transportalponder angrily. “God fucking damn it! Klein promised me this wouldn’t happen!” he yelled.
“Shut up,” the ghoul snapped. “We need to figure out where we are. This ain’t Washington, I can tell you that much.”
Suddenly, a fourth voice called out from the distance. “Hey, over here!”
“Fuck.” Thomas put the troublesome device that had dropped them in God-knows-where back into his duster. “Raiders.”
Dom reacted instinctively, reaching back and grabbing her Metal Blaster. “Piece of cake,” she smirked. Veronica clicked a switch on her Power Fist, turning it on, and raising it up.
As Thomas unholstered A Light Shining in Darkness, the source of the mystery voice made itself known. All three got a surprise when they say what it was. They weren’t the only ones.
“Hey boss, what the fuck are they?” a sickly-green mare asked, barbed wire wrapped around her hooves. She was one of around fifteen, each one armed with crude weaponry. Only two of them had a firearm, and a glance told them that they were close to falling apart.
“No idea,” a crimson unicorn stallion replied uneasily. “Still, bet that stuff on them is worth a lot.”
“Thomas, what the fuck is going on?” Veronica hissed.
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. These... raider ponies had completely derailed his thought processes. How had this happened? “I don’t know,” he repeated numbly.
“All right, boys!” the crimson stallion, the boss, yelled. “Fresh meat!”
Location Unknown
“Ow...”
“Fuck.”
“Okay, shoulda warned ya,” a thickly accented voice said. The sandy-brown pegasus pushed himself up unsteadily and looked around. He wore a modified duster, and a pair of barrels poked out of it, one on each side, evidence of the stallion’s semi-automatic battle-saddle.
“Holy shit.” A heavily-armoured earth pony, her entire body concealed in highly-advanced armour, looked around in awe. “It’s so green.” Her right forehoof had additional metal covering it, evidence of a deadly pneumatic horseshoe.
“Wow.” The third member of the little group got to her hooves. Her coat and mane had fallen out long ago, one of the unfortunate effects of ghoulification. What was left indicated that she once had an ivory coat, with a vivid crimson mane and tail. Strapped to her back, on top of her old pre-war combat barding, was a magical energy laser rifle, worn from years of use. “So where are we?”
“Good question...” The lone stallion looked around, worried that he couldn’t see anything he could recognise. “Huh.” He looked up at the sky, the fact that there was barely a cloud taking a moment to register. “My Goddess...”
“Sweet merciful Luna...” the heavily-armoured mare responded in kind.
“Holy Celestia...” the ghoul agreed.
None of them had ever seen a clear sky before, and it was blowing their minds. It stretched further than they could see, and their minds were having trouble comprehending the sheer size of what they were seeing.
“And just why are you taking the names of my sister and I in vain?” a fourth voice asked suddenly.
The three looked back down and got the scare of their lives. “ALICORN!” the earth pony screamed, backing away as fast as she could.
Before Luna could react, the pegasus bit down on a set of wires hanging in front of him, causing the tubes at his side to extended, accompanied with the sound of whirring machinery. The unicorn, who she was alarmed to see had no skin, pulled the strange box thing off her back with her telekinesis. She still had time to erect a barrier, causing the bullets and laser beams shot at her to bounce off harmlessly.
She shot a glare at the group as she grabbed them with her magic. As the group flailed, trying to get away, she spoke. “You have one chance to explain yourselves,” she said in a low, murderous voice.
The pegasus stopped moving and took in her features before grinning awkwardly. “Eheh, wouldya believe me if Ah said it was all a misunderstandin’?”