Fallout Equestria: Marejave

by ArtieStroke

Chapter One: Back in the Saddle

Chapter One

Back in the Saddle

"No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip; the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip."

Dodge Junction may have once been a rail-town, but that time was long gone; the rails torn up for recycling and other uses and the station converted into a saloon. I checked the Pip-Buck, maybe there was something to make this seem not so quiet.

-And that's why you never use cider to put out a grease fire! Nearly blew up the whole eatery. Needless to say, Cheffer's wasn't so happy with me after that, but that's life. This is AC, and that's the end of story hour. Here's a little number that's one of my personal favorites, about picking yourself back up when you’re down.

Well, now that I'm back,
At a place I can call home,
I grab my rifle, grab my pack,
And walk the long lonely road.

Well, now that I'm home,
I stop in by the old saloon.
I just got back, but I know,
That something's happening soon.

I sometimes wonder if it will ever end.
Give me some good time to rest with a friend.
But even though I just got back,
I take my rifle and cock it back.

Damn, this thing picks up Mr. New Haygas? Sweet. I headed over to the saloon, getting a good look at the town along the way. There was an estate down the road; probably an orchard or something. The architecture was western, which wasn’t much of a surprise out in the Marejave. I almost didn't notice the robot before I bumped into it.

"Whoa nelley! You okay there, darlin’?" The bot said. Oh great, a robot that thinks it's a cowbuck. "Hey, you're that gal I took to Doc Stitcher a few days back! I trust y’all are feelin’ up to snuff now, right'?"

The robot had a generic male pony face wearing a stetson on it's screen, otherwise not so different from the cop-bots I've seen in the Strip. Apparently whoever’s in charge of the NHPD reprogrammed them all as their own police force. Well, except for this one.

"Yeah, guess I owe you one for that," I said, scratching the back of my head, "You know, saving my life and all."
The bot chuckled (Chuckled? It's a robot for crying out loud!), "Ah, ain't nothing to it. I was just roamin' about when I heard those good-for-nothing's talking. Checked to see if you were still living after they left. Stubborn little fella, aren't ya?"

Yeah, and now I'm hard-headed in more ways than one. Damn, my boss would have a field day with this...

"Anywho," The bot concluded, "Ya don't need to go and do me any favors. 'Twas just doin' my civic duty. I'm headin' out of town anyways."

"Out of town?"

"Ayup," The bot said, "Got a strange urge to head over to the Strip. If you ever head that way, make sure to look ol' Flintlock up, ya hear?"

With a casual salute, the bot rolled off. What's he gonna do on the Strip? Doubt they'll let a robot gamble. I put the thought in my 'Think about it later' part of my brain, and stepped into the saloon. It was your basic western watering hole: crap lighting, lonesome patrons huddled about their drinks, a cantina band playing in the back, and all that jazz. Catchy tune, I have to say. I went up to the counter; a maroon coated barmare with a light pink mane was washing a mug behind it, "What can I getcha, hon?"

"Doc said that there's a mare by the name of Cherry Smiles here, said she might have a bit of shootin' work for me."
The mare nodded "Ah, you must be that one the robot brought in," She pointed over her shoulder "She'll be in the back."
I thanked her, downed a shot of tequila and headed out back.

-$$$-

Right as I stepped outside, a bottle exploded right next to me. Dammit, if I'm gonna die so soon after the last time it's not gonna be from a heart attack!

"Sorry 'bout that!"

The first thing I noticed was the magenta mare with the black mane. Then I noticed what was probably the most cared for gun in the Wasteland: a 5.56 caliber bolt-action rifle in nearly spotless condition, polished metal gleaming in the sunlight with the name Winona etched onto the carefully varnished stock.

In case you hadn't noticed, working with guns was a… hobby of mine.

The mare trotted up, gun slung over her shoulder, "The name's Cherry Smiles, but my friends call me CS! Nice to meetcha!" she said, giving my claws a good shake, "I run the pest control out here in Dodge, and I do a pretty good job, if I do say so myself." She finally let go of my talon. How can somepo- dammit, someONE have such a strong grip without fingers? "So, what's your name there, stranger?"

I puffed out my chest "Natascha Nightwing, rank II courier of the Marejave Express."

She got on a thinking look "Natascha... hmm- Oh!" She clopped a hoof to the ground "You're the girl that died!"
I immediately slumped. Great, this was how I'm gonna be remembered: The girl who was killed by a band of raiders. Fuck.
"So, what happened exactly? If you don't mind me asking," Cherry said, "I mean, you were dead and now you're not. Not exactly a common occurance."

"Well, I was on my way to the Strip on a delivery, you see..."

-$$$-

"...And just as I had that skinny little bastard in my sights, WHAM! Teleported right behind me like the cheating little ass he is and shot me in the head!"

Cherry let out a whistle "Dang... a whole team of Thunder Hooves and a faction of the Legion?"
I nodded. Okay, so maybe I stretched the truth just a tiny bit, but hey- honesty isn't exactly my virtue, alright?
"So I'm gonna guess that Doc sent you here for a little target practice." It was more of a statement than a question, "Alright, I'm gonna set a few bottles on that fence post there. Then you can just show me what you got," she said, floating out a few empty bottles. I took out my magical energy rifle, crouching low for stability. Line up the targets and pull the trigger. Melted three bottles in quick succession. Cherry whistled, "Wow. You shoot pretty well for a dead-girl."
"Yeah, I guess the rigor mortis didn't do much for my trigger finger," I quipped, then turned around to her, "Doc said you might have some work for me before I get on my way?"

Cherry nodded "Yeah, we’ve been having some problems with the town’s generator; shouldn’t be hard figuring out the problem, but a lot of critters have seen fit to make the surrounding area their home. It’d be nice to have somepony to watch my back.”

“Or someone?” I said, cracking a grin.

“Yes, or someone.” She replied, smiling. Sure does live up to her name, doesn't she? Well, except for the "Cherry" part...though I haven't known her that long yet, so who knows? Maybe she's got a cherry cutie mark under that slapped-together barding.

I slung my rifle, “Alright. Lead the way.” She nodded, and started off. I decided to try and strike up a conversation "So... if you’re the leader of the pest control here, why don't you just have a few of your coworkers check out the power source?"

Cherry got an embarrassed look, "Well... actually the only reason I'm in charge of the pest control is by being the only member," She sighed, "Honestly, I don't know if half this town even knows how to work a rifle or properly maintain a set of barding. We're far enough out of the way that we don't get bothered by raiders much, maybe a stray Ganger or a drunken Hoof or two. But nothing too serious... kind of a relief, considerin’ how bad it gets here out west. It’s like the old west you seen in stories; lawless gangs just cappin’ towns for whatever things they want. Most are glad that ol’ Dodge is out of the way of that." She scratched the back of her head, "It’s just... I don't want to be stuck here, you know? It's peaceful enough, especially considering what the rest of the wasteland does to ponies, but even keepin’ that in perspective..."

"You feel like you can do more?"

She nodded, "Yeah. You hear Apple Cider talkin' about Security and the Stable Dweller out east, and it gets me thinking. Why don't more ponies try and change things? Why does it take a stable pony to start shaking things up?"

I thought about that for a bit. She was right... while the wasteland was dangerous, nothing new really happened. Just the same old slaving and raiding and surviving. Once those chicks from the stables showed up, though, you get all this stuff about Red Eye and Steel Rangers and the Reapers... kinda weird.

I just decided to push that to the back of my mind. Thinking about it ain't gonna explain it any easier. As we walked, I fiddled with the Pipbuck, trying to figure out how to work the combat magic-thingy. It was… not going so well.

“Stupid, Stable-Tec, over complicated, piece of shi-!” I swung my metal-clad arm at a nearby cliff-face. Damn thing didn’t even get a scratch on it! Cherry gave me a look.

“Umm... Nat? What are you doing? You know those things are pretty near indestructible.”

Oh, well at least if I explode or something this damn thing’s gonna keep on going. I HATE sciencey things…
“I’m trying to figure out how to work that combat-magic stuff this thing has.”

“Why don’t you just check the notes for a tutorial?”

….Son of a bitch.

I clicked back to the notes, and clicked the one marked “SATS Tutorial”. Stupid, smart-ass technology…

A Simplified Guide to SATS

Find yourself in a pinch? Don’t have time to think? Don’t worry: Stable-Tec’s top engineers have developed the perfect solution for you!

Installed onto your Pipbuck is the Stable Tec Arcane Targeting System (AKA SATS) This simple spell will make the world appear to stop around you, giving you plenty of time to think up a strategy or target any not-so-friendly aggressors (Zebra or otherwise).

To activate it, simply focus on the thought of slowing the world around you. Your Pipbuck will pick up on your thought processes and activate SATS for you! Targeting and such will be taken care of automatically, with percentage/hit scores appearing over your target’s limbs and such-

Alright, alright! Just think and it does it. Gotcha.

“Alright, here we are!”

Stopped, and looked around. Before use was some kinda cave looking thing. I let out a whistle.

“Damn. Now that’s a hole.”

I stepped right in, my griffon eyes adjusting to the darkness easily. I don’t know how ponies can deal with not being able to see in the dark. It’s like… being half blind or some shit. Anyway, I’m getting off topic. We followed the path down the cave, cables and stuff lining the walls (And leading to the power lines outside, I guess.)

“So, why the HELL did you ponies put a generator in a cave?” I said. Hey, we were all thinking it. I’m just saying.
“Well, we used to have our power sourced from the solar array a few miles from here, but it went dark months ago. When we hooked up the generator system, we figured that we should probably keep it out of sight in case raiders suddenly decided to take interest in our town.”

Okay… sounds legit.

As we trudged along in the cave, I noticed a light source coming from up ahead.

“Hey, there’s something glowing ahead. I’m gonna swoop over and check it out.” I said, taking to the air and gliding over.

...Ho-ly shit.

Now, I’ve heard of some weird things in my time. Blue boxes that are bigger on the inside, a mountain filled with caps, mysterious ponies that just vanish as soon as they help you, that kinda thing. This tops all of those.

Right in front of me was… what looked like some sort of tribe. A tribe composed entirely of geckos. There were roasting spits and bonfires all around, and some sort of throne at the head of the line of generators. The generators seemed to be in pretty shitty condition, and bits of flesh and stuff was sticking out of the exhaust ports. Maybe the geckos were using them for smoking meats? Hell, I don’t know. I’m not a gecko, how should I be able to figure out how their thought process works!? In the middle of my contemplation, Cherry Smiles had made it over.

“Sweet cherrychangas, what is that?!”

Couldn't have summed it up better myself.

“Well, obviously someone either spiked my drink with moondust again, or there’s a tribe of geckos in your generator cave. And, seeing as how I’m totally aware of how crazy this is, I’m gonna guess it’s the latter.” I whispered, “Alright, here’s the plan-“

Cherry stopped me, tapping my shoulder and pointing behind me. I craned my neck around; there was a tiny gecko just standing there with a straw, staring.

You know, for something so annoyingly persistent in the wastes, they sure are adorab-

FWIP!

OW! The kid shot me! With a straw! How does that- woah…. Okay, that’s dizzy…

I tried calling out to Cherry, but all I got out was a squawk before passing out.

-$$$-

Unnn… Damn, that was a trippy dream. There was a tribe of pygmy geckos, and a cute little kid shot me…

Wait.

I cracked open my eyes, seeing the bonfires of the gecko tribe around. The were still doing crazy tribal dancing stuff, but the throne was now occupied by a gecko in a CRAZY tall hat. Made of a bunch of hats. Why the hell would a gecko want a friggin hat?! I shook that thought off, and focused on my my particular situation: I was tied parallel to the ground on a pole. No, not a pole. A spit.

Gawd dammit. Well... at least it wasn't lit.

I tested my binding: nada. Well, this sucks on ice. I turned to my left, seeing Cherry in a similar condition.

“Cherry! Cherry! Wake up!” I whispered loudly at her

She stirred, and woke up slowly.

“Mmmrr.... five more minutes, mom...”

I craned my neck around at an uncomfortable angle, and pecked at her head, "OW! What the- Natascha! That hurt!" She tried to look around, "Uh... why am I tied up?"

“We’ve been kidnapped by geckos!”

Cherry looked around, totally bewildered.

“How the heck is this possible? Geckos don’t live in tribes! Geckos shouldn't even know how to tie knots!”

“Obviously we’ve underestimated what is probably the greatest threat in the equestrian wasteland.”

She mouthed the last few words of that to herself, "Uh... I don't really think-"

I rolled my eyes, “Oh, come on! Think about it! We look at a gecko and think ‘Aw, such a cute wittle lizard thingy’, and while we’re distracted by their adorableness, WHAM! Through careful coordination and planning, you end up as the next offering to the gecko gods!”

“I don’t think so, Natascha...”

"Think about it. You know it to be true!"

Cherry just squirmed a bit, “Alright, I THINK we should be focusing more on how to get out of this than the possible domination of the word by geckos... Oh! I got it!”

I heard Cherry groan a bit in concentration, her horn glowing a dark green before a glowing blade of magical energy shimmered into existence. It twisted in the air, going for the ropes that bound us. With a few quick slices, the ropes fell away and we tumbled to the ground. Fortunately we seemed to land without notice.

“Alright,” I whispered, the geckos distracted by their king, “Let’s get our guns and our bags and get the hell outta here!”
“We can’t leave yet! We gotta get rid of these geckos- look at all the junk they've clogged up the generators with! If this keeps up, they’ll probably explode and Dodge’ll lose power-”

Wait, explode?

...That’s not a bad idea.

I shushed Cherry up with a talon over her mouth, “Okay, I get it- town needs power, blah blah blah. I think I have an idea,” I said, pulling out a few clustered together cherry bombs.

From the look on Cherry’s face I could tell she didn't exactly like this plan.

"Mrrph mrr mrrrr muh mrrmph?!"

“Don't think about it. A good demolitionist always has a few explosives on her. Look, this may be a little crazy, but I think we can get rid of enough of them by blowing one of the generators,” I removed my claw, “I’m gonna try and sneak up behind king gecko over there and blow the one closest to him. If we’re lucky, they’ll panic and leave.”

“And if we aren't?”

I drew a claw over my neck, and pointed up, "Gecko gods. I'm telling you."

Cherry gulped, “W-well... at least it’s something.”

I nodded, “Alright. You stay here. Try and keep an eye out and stay low.”

And with that, I slinked off, sticking to the shadows. I wasn't the stealthiest of griffons, but it seems luck was on my side. I successfully snuck up right behind the king’s throne, where I struck lucky again- our barding, guns, and saddle bags were carefully tucked behind the king’s throne! I quickly put on my leather armor, the chattering of the crowd drowning out the little clinks and clacks the metal parts made. I pulled out my lighter, peeking over the chair for my target.

Just a few feet down. Perfect.

I light the fuse on my bundle of small explosives and tossed them underhand at the nearest generator, counting down in my head.

4, 3, 2, 1-

BANG!

I quickly looked over the chair, grinning at my handiwo- the generator was still there. A little sooty, yes. But still there.

And now every gecko in the room had it’s eyes on me.

Uhhhh....., “PLAN B!”

I grabbed Cherry’s gun and chucked it at her position with all my might. The tell-tale aura that surrounded it showed that she caught it with ease. I brought out my pair of plasma pistols, pointing them at the oncoming rush of Geckos, “You ain't frying this bird!” I yelled, and started pouring plasma, gliding overhead. I can’t believe it didn't work! If I know anything, it’s machines. Even a small boom should have-

WHOOM!

The sudden blast threw me face first into the cavern wall, before I slowly slid down to the floor. That... actually hurt a lot less than it should. Guess that metal plate’s doing it’s job.

After I recovered from being somewhat concussed, I looked over at Cherry; she rapidly aimed, shot, and reloaded at the geckos. It was actually pretty badflank.

Speaking of flanks, I finally had a view of her cutie mark: A knife crossed over a canteen and a map. The heck? I could'v sworn it was gonna be a cherry or something- whoops! I scrambled to my feet, shooting at the gecko that was almost on top of me. The plasma struck and melted it into a satisfying puddle of goop. I looked over at the king gecko; just sitting on his throne, looking down at all the carnage like a lazy douche.

I think it’s time I changed that. Leaping up into the air, I flew head-first into the gecko king. He turned to me, but too late.

“BOOM! MIND CRUSH!”

Splort!

….Eeeeeuuuuugh! That is DISGUSTING! I got gecko brains on me! Ewewewewewewewew! I panickingly scraped as much of the grey matter off of my skull, before noticing how quiet it got. All the geckos had stopped, staring at their now headless king. I managed to regain a bit of composure in my stance before clearing my throat and pointing at them all, “Your king is dead, foul creatures! I claim this cavern in the name of the family Nightwing! Begone, lest the same fate befall you all!”

...

“...TSEEEEEER!” I let out a loud trill, punctuating my logical argument as to why they should vacate the premises. I think they got the message, as they geckos turned and fled out of the cavern without hesitation. Cherry gingerly stepped around the dead bodies, her lanky form making it’s way over to me.

“Well... that was one of the weirder things I've ever seen.” She said, as I picked up the gecko king’s hat. Cherry giggled as I placed it on my head, “And that’s the silliest hat I've ever seen!”

I grinned, “Kinda is. Who in their right mind would want a massive pile of hats like this? It doesn't even stay on right!” I laughed, tossing it to the side, “So, let’s try and see if I can clean up these generators.”

-$$$-

After a couple hours of scrubbing, oiling, bolt tightening, and a few parts replacements salvaged off the exploded generator, I managed to get the rest of the generators in pique form. The effects of losing one shouldn't be too bad now that the rest are back in order.

“Wow, that’s pretty neat how you did that!” Cherry said, watching me the entire time as I worked. She was like a little kid, asking questions all the time.

“Where’d you learn to do all that mechanical stuff?”

I wiped some grease off of my forehead, putting up a few of my tools before answering, “My dad taught me. When I was little, he used to let me help fix up his guns and other machines. He and Mom were part of a merc group. You’d be surprised with the amount of maintenance a good group needs taken care of.”

Cherry frowned.... was that a frown? More of a face scrunchy thingy... actually kind of adorable, really.

“Your parents were mercenaries?”

I sighed. Here we go, “Not all mercs are money-bound jackasses, alright? My parents were good enough people; they didn’t take slave jobs and the like.” I shut the saddle bag and put it on, “Mercing’s a good enough business, if you have the right ponies in the group.”

Cherry trotted beside me as we left the chamber, “So... why’d you fly the coop?”

I looked Cherry right in the face; she was wearing the goofiest grin I've seen. Oh, Gawd, spare me the puns... “I wasn't the right griffon for the job. Never really got a chance to do anything. Mostly I was just stuck taking care of the equipment. Got tired of it and decided to leave, become a courier. Good pay, lots of travel... safe enough, I thought.”

I tapped my head, “But I guess I was wrong on that account.”

We exited the cave, and I saw a little notification in the periphery of my vision: Quest Complete: Back in the Saddle.

Freaky. Why do I get the feeling that it’s just gonna keep getting weirder before this thing is over?

Footnote: Level Up (Lvl 2)

New Perk Added: Gun Nut: You know your way around machines and other devices, and it shows! +5 to Repair and Small Arms.

Comments

[primepersephony]

Great chapter good sir keep it up!.

[Tonto the Trotter]

Well... That was unexpected, but a pretty enjoyable chapter nonetheless. If I'm right, this chapter will sort've set the tone of the story, fun yet action packed stuff. Great chapter anyway.

[ArtieStroke]

1737896 You've got that right!

[ArtieStroke]

1740638 Hatchling was really just my preference- plus it's easier to make bird jokes, in my opinion.
1740679 I really am trying to make this not just simply "New Vegas, but PONIES!". The prologue was simply that- the set up for the story itself. While there might be a few parallels at times, it'll have it's own bits to those parts that make it uniquely Natascha's story. I hope you decide to stick around, and I'm glad Nat's had that effect so early on!

[Y1]

Well that was certainly amusing. I think it would be a hilarious running joke if Natasha started saying things like "I swear ti Gecko" or whatever. Swearing by the gecko gods.

The sense of humor here is pretty amusing by the way. Keep it up. My interest in this story has been revived. Fave and a like.

[ArtieStroke]

1742732 Yes! Glad I didn't disappoint!
Oh, and yes: Gecko gods are gonna be something, alright.

[FireStorm2247]

Pretty good up to this point. I'll give it a thumbs up and fav it.

However be warned, FoE is a big universe with lots of side stories, and there are other stories that have used the Fallout New Vegas game as part of their foundation. (Tales of a Courier, New Pegas, etc). If you don't mind just a little friendly advice, I'll go ahead and say that you need to make sure that you add some of your own unique events, characters, plot-points, and so on to make this story stand out from the others. I'm sure you know that already, especially since your main character is your own, and she's encountered a freakin gecko tribe (made me lol a bit). But I felt like I should type that out anyway.

Other than that, you keep on writing, and I shall keep on reading. Cheers.

[ArtieStroke]

1755313 Thanks for giving this a chance! I know a lot of New Vegas based FOE fics have been done, and rest assured: I plan on turning this world upside down with my own content. Stay tuned!

[Doomande]

Because no one else have said it: Welcome to the Fo:E herd!

Remember to check out our nice Fo:E group in here the wiki and the super awesome (non) secret G-doc where all the cool kids hang out and talk Fo:E and what not.

Expect a review from me later on, your chapters are lovely short so that means that they are easy for me to review. And a little note to end this of whit. Yes Fallout New Vegas Fo:E stories have been done a lot of times, one of the best known is Heroes , so if you want to keep the setting of NW would I say that you should read that story at some point and try to borrow from that setting. It is also one of the 3 Kkat approved side stories, so if you follow its lore are you sure to get some readers in a easy way

[The Amateur]

The protagonist is just silly and affable enough to warrant watching this story. I see great potential for an insane adventure in this fiction!