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// Scavenging Turned Into A Rescue 
// Story: A Pony In The Wasteland 
// by Ribe_FireRain 
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My name is Oscar Brady and this is the story of how my life in the harsh wasteland ended up changing forever. I used to live in a massive underground fallout shelter, also known as vaults. Mine was numbered 26, but now that I left, there is no going back, not like I want to...but anyhow, this is how it all started.




It was about 3 in the afternoon and I was out scavenging for supplies that I could sell and earn a profit from and even though I left the vault 2 months ago, I was already finding it hard to survive out here. After all, the water was nearly always irradiated and scarce in supply, same with the food. Out here, you had to be careful about what you eat, otherwise you would get yourself sick with radiation poisoning, and from pictures and books from the library and the overseer's office, none of it sounded too pretty or nice to go through.

Where I was now was in a town called Springvale going through some of the old houses. Pretty much all of them were charred and burned to the ground, so the only things valuable that were left was either a few things in safes that were locked or rarely open, or a footlocker full with a few old books and kids toys - sometimes baseball bats, and I'd be lucky to get one if I ever run out of bullets, so I always keep a spare. - I had my gun out in case anything comes at me - such as a raider or a dog - squatting down next to a footlocker. It was made fully of aluminium and there was no lock on it, so I knew I wouldn't take long looking through it.

I lifted up the lid with a creak, and as I did, rubble fell off the back and dropped to the floor with a quiet series of taps and I looked inside. There was only a few things inside, and from their looks, they could fetch quite a price. The box's contents were a few scorched and scratched books along with a baseball bat and a glove and ball. I took out the baseball bat and examined it closer. It's body was a bit rough around various parts, but it still looked as though it could to some serious damage, so I placed it on my back holster for when I may need it. I took the rest of the contents and placed them in a large leather scavenging pouch I kept strapped on my side. After I was done, I got up and moved along.

As I moved along the rubble-infested road, I saw a massive building that looked as though it might have some valuables inside it, and next to the big, wooden doors of the building, there was a massive white and lime green sign. Though the sign and its letters were faded with age, I could still make out the words. ''Springvale Elementary School''

With caution, I flipped out my 10mm pistol and flicked off the safety then slowly creaked open the door with caution. As I entered the old building, the rotten stench of corpses and blood invaded my nostrils. I gagged and covered my nose with my arm, just realizing what the source of it was. I looked up and there, atop a rusted cage lay several skeletons belonging to kids with freshly dismembered limbs and blood scattered along the floor. Who could do such a thing like that? Especially to children and wastelanders? 

I tried to ignore the putrid stench as I carried on, and as I did, I heard evil laughter and talking in the next room. That was warning enough that there was some people here, and knowing my luck it was probably a group of bandits with heavy weaponry. Being cautious, I stepped lightly to the next door on my right and looked past the broken doors cracks only to see it was a bunch of Raiders tormenting and torturing innocent wastelanders as they were tied up against the wall with rope holding them down and barbed wire tying their hands together that was digging into their wrists, making each of their moves just as painful as the last.

I gasped as I saw one of the Raiders laugh loudly as she dug an automatic Ripper knife into a black-haired man's mouth and tear out his tongue, causing him to scream that came out as a muffled cry of pain through all the blood in his mouth preventing him from speaking. I've never once seen a man get tortured in front of my eyes before, and I didn't really want to. It was the most horrible thing I seen so far out of all the possible things I've seen a human do to another human. As I watched her brutally finish cutting the poor mans tongue out, I heard a sweet female voice shriek in horror at the act. I turned my head to only see a beautiful cyan pony with a rainbow mane and pretty magenta eyes who was chained at the far end of the room covered in cuts and bruises around her face and body. At first I didn't know what to think. Was I seeing this for real? Or was it just me picturing it in my mind? *Sigh* You know what? It doesn't matter. If I'm really seeing her like this, I had to save her, and fast! Before any of them Raiders butchered her alive.

''Stop! Stop, please stop hurting him!'' She yelled at the Raider who instantly eyed her in her own magenta eyes with a murderous look.

''Hey, Shut up! Or you'll be next if you're not quiet!'' The Raider snapped back at her, causing her to flinch in fright.

''You leave her alone, bitch!'' Another brown-haired male victim yelled viciously at her. The Raider stepped forward towards the man with the Ripper that now had blood dripping from the blade and held it to his throat as she knelt beside him with a mild grin on her face.

''Listen, shit-head, if you tell me what to do once more, I will take this knife here and jam it down your throat-hole until you die by choking on your own blood as it tears your throat to shreds. You got that?''

He spat on her cheek, causing the pony to gasp at what he did.

Without hesitation, the Raider wiped off the spit with her hand and activated the Ripper blade and shoved it inside the mans throat, making him cough and gag as the blades pierced and sliced it to bits, making more blood flow and spit out of his mouth and onto the Raiders body as she retracted the Rippers blade from his mouth and let the remaining blood drip from the corner of his mouth.

The cyan pony was now crying in terror as she watched the poor man get brutally killed in front of her very own eyes. The Raider walked up to her upon noticing her sorrow and went next to her. She tutted at her and stroked her cheek gently with the back of her hand.

''Oh, don't worry, little whore, it will be all over quickly.'' She evilly laughed with the other Raiders. 

I couldn't take it any more! I don't want anything to happen to the pony! I just can't let it happen! Without thinking, I came around the corner and aimed my pistol at one of the two other Raider's heads and shot a few rounds off into the back of his skull. The echoes from the gun billowed all around and immediately alerted the other two Raiders. The one next to the one I killed aimed a combat shotgun at my and fired away, and being a shotgun, it did have a slow fire rate, so I took a few shots at him in between blasts and eventually got him in the eye, knocking him dead to the floor in a splatter of blood.

The last Raider ran at me with the Ripper, and for a women, she was quite fast, fast enough I didn't have time to react before she pounced on top of me, dragging me down to the floor with a painful thud. I struggled to keep the knife from my face with my arm as I forced all of my strength to try and knock her back off of me, but to no avail. The blade of the Ripper cut me slightly on the cheek as my strength was too greatly matched and my arm tired from the strength of the women's force upon it.

I struggled to reach into my vault suit pocket for my knife, but once I got the sharp combat knife, I jammed it into her side, making her squirm in pain and drop to the floor as blood gushed from her open wound. Once she fell, I hurriedly got myself up and stopped my black leather-booted foot onto her back to keep her down, forcing another scream of pain out of her. I lowered my level and began ramming my knife repeatedly into her back, and in a matter of seconds it was all over. Blood dripped from my knife's blade and her blood now soaked the floor in a goopy red. I looked at the defenseless pony at the end of the corridor and she was looking right back at me with those large, beautiful eyes.

I immediately ran over to her to see if she was okay and when I got near she looked me dead in the eye with a plea for freedom.

''Help me, help me! Please, sir!'' She begged me in a pained and cracked voice. 

I couldn't just leave the mare there. I knelt down to her side and began to use the blade of my knife to cut through the thick lengths of rope that kept her from escaping captivity, eventually cutting all of them and releasing her from their grip. After I cut through the rope, I looked at her hooves. They were wrapped tightly in barbed wire and some blood, hers probably and there was no way I could cut through that with my knife, so I ran quickly back over to the dead Raider and took her Ripper and began to cut through the thin wire.

As soon as she was free, her face streamed with hot tears and she jumped onto me and hugged me, thanking me for letting her go.

''Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought they were gonna kill me!''

''Don't mention it. I couldn't just leave you there like that. Are you hurt?''

''No, I'm fine, I think.''

''Well, I'll be honest, I've never seen anything like you before. How'd you end up here?''

She scratched her head for a moment with her hoof, trying to think but remained puzzled.

''Hmm. I don't really know.'' She began. ''All I remember is waking up and there I was, tied to the wall by a bunch of crazy things!''

''You don't know what a Raider is?''

''A what now?'' She questioned with a raised brow. ''A Raider?''

''Yeah. The most messed up kind of people in the Wasteland. If I were you I'd stay away from them in the future. They'd slit a guys throat if they had some money on them, and if it was a women, they would presumably try to rape them. The only way to protect yourself out here is to have a gun or something to protect you if you don't want a gun.''

''Are you sure your okay? You look kind of worried. You sure they didn't hurt you?'' I asked worryingly.

She was looking down at the floor now, not looking up and she eventually spoke.

''They were gonna kill me...weren't they? They were gonna kill you. Like they did to them guys there.'' 

She motioned her hoof to the other captives with tears in her eyes.

''Hey, don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one will hurt you. I promise.'' I reassured her as I stroked her soft, rainbow mane with my hand.

It seemed to lighten her mood a little bit upon hearing my promise to her. Even if she was a stranger, there are very little people you can trust, and she clearly doesn't know what is going on in the Wasteland or how to protect herself out here.

''You know what? Why don't you tag along with me? I can't leave you here alone. Who knows what will happen to you if I left you here?'' I smiled at her, to which she smiled back in knowing that she was going to be okay.

''Thank you. I owe you for saving me back there. I would of been killed if it wasn't for you. And by the way, the names Rainbow Dash.''

''Nice to meet you, Rainbow. I'm Oscar Brady.''