Chrysalis awakens from a long hibernation into the wasteland. She will do whatever it takes to survive without a proper love source to feed from. She shall travel the remains of Equestria and learn how it all happened.
The queen of changelings, Chrysalis, wakes up after a long hibernation that lasted for 2 centuries to discover that everything has changed. She doesn't know what happened and soon discovers that this new world is extremely hostile. She will find ways of surviving without a proper love source and hopefully find out how it all happened and why. She will meet allies along the way and some old enemies from the past. These enemies soon become allies with trust issues and eventually friends. Chrysalis will soon find this new world as home.
Fallout/My Little Pony Crossover Set with Fallout 4 mechanics
It was quiet, too quiet. Usually the hive would be a buzz with activity when hibernation ended but it wasn't this time. Why? That was the question going through Chrysalis' head as she groggily got up from her bed. She never thought her hive would be this quiet. The hive always had some type of sound even when it was in hibernation.
The changeling queen made her way over to her bedroom doors. Once she reached them she expected her elite guard to open them. After waiting for 6 full seconds she got annoyed. She opened the doors herself and was about to berate her elite guard only to notice that they weren't there. Now she was confused. Her guard always refused to leave her unguarded unless she asked them not to and they knew when to open the door for her. She was used to that.
Maybe they wanted to help prepare her a special meal that the changeling chefs make her when she exits her hibernation. That happened before and she couldn't help but chuckle at the last time they tried. It resulted in quite the mess in the kitchen and her guard being banned from going into the there.
That's when she decided to go check there to try and find them. As she walked through the halls she couldn't help but notice how quiet it really was. At first she thought that the area around her bedchamber was quiet, but now she knows that it's a extremely large portion of the hive was quiet. It was... creepy to say the least.
She even noticed some skeletons lying on the ground but labeled them off as some not surviving the hibernation, but as she found more and more she began to get worried. There was a set death toll for hibernation and this was exceeding it by more than a little.
She finally arrived at the kitchen and expected to hear the clattering of pots and pans or the sound or smell of something cooking but instead she was greeted with silence and a horrible stench. When she entered the entire room was dark save for a lone glowing gem on the far wall. That didn't help her feel less creeped out.
She lit up her jagged horn and shined it into the dark kitchen. That's when she couldn't help but gasp. There was blood on the walls and floor. Some of the appliances were covered in blood and there was a trail of bloody hoofprints. What it walked away from caused the queen to gag a little and shed a few tears.
Lying on the floor was a dead changeling with its stomach area ripped open. Its intestines sprayed across the ground with some of it looking as if it was chewed on. Some partially eaten organs litter the ground around the changeling's body as well as some chunks of flesh. Chrysalis didn't know what could have done this and didn't want to find out but had to so she can get justice for the changeling.
She looked over to the bloody hoofprints and went into where they went... the pantry. When she entered she made sure to shine her horn bright enough for her the see the entire room. That's when she saw the bloody trail of hoofprints ended at a changeling lying on the ground as if sleeping.
Even with her horn shining a green light she could tell the color of the changeling. It was a very pale white. Its wings were nearly gone and what remained was barely noticeable. It's face had blood on but mainly around the mouth. Some of its bones were showing on its legs and some of its face. Chrysalis didn't know what to think of this changeling.
She tried to communicate to it through the hive mind changelings share but it didn't work. She tried again only to get the same result. She huffed in annoyance before taking a deep breath and letting it out. She put on a serious face and approached the pale changeling. Once she was close enough she began to speak in intimidating tone, "You have killed a member of our kind. You shall be put in the dungeon until found guilty for this. You not only killed but ate your own kind like a true cannibal. I'll make sure you suffer for this."
After she finished speaking the changeling got up. When it turned toward her, with a small stumble, she backed away in fear to see that the changeling's once bright blue eyes were now completely black. It growled at her before pouncing at her. She didn't have time to react and ended up on her back, pushing the changeling away from her who continued to hit her and try to bite her.
She was fully scared now. This changeling is acting as a wild animal instead its normal self. She managed to kick off the changeling but it was pack on its hooves quickly and pounced at her again. She didn't know it did until its teeth sank into her foreleg. She screamed in pain and shot a magical bolt at the changeling's head.
It was launched back but as it got up its head exploded from Chrysalis sending a more deadly bolt of magic at it. She was panting from what happened and was now truly afraid. What happened? Why did that changeling attack me? Why do I all of a sudden feel sick? These were the questions that invaded the queen's head.
She didn't know what happened to the rest of the hive and decided to get her answers from the surface. Whatever happened up there must have affected her changelings.
With her goal in mind she left the pantry and made her way through the halls leading to the surface. As she walked she noticed many skeletons of changelings. She even saw 3 skeletons huddled together. 2 that were full grown changelings while the last was a nymph. Her heart filled with sorrow seeing such a sad scene.
She encountered more changelings like the one she fought. She sustained many injuries from them such as some more bites. She felt even worse when they landed a hit on her. After fighting through more she finally made to the surface. She smiled knowing that she was almost out and walked to the exit.
Her smile faded away from her face and replaced it with fear. All around her were more pale changelings some got up while others stay on the ground, but the one in front of her was different. Its was still black but large amounts of it was glowing bright green and acted like the rest of the pale changelings. The difference was the look.
Her fear increased when it stood on its hind hooves shakily and a green blast came from it which caused the rest of the pale changelings to wake up. She looked around for a escape. The only way was to fly away. She began to flap her bug-like wings only for one of the changelings to run bite the base of her wing that connects to her body and ripping it off of her.
She yelled in pain and killed the changeling. Without her wing she couldn't fly. She was trapped. There was no escape. She watched the changelings to try and find another way out through them. Then they charged all at once. She blasted multiple bolts of magic at the changelings but it wasn't enough to stop them.
In seconds she was overwhelmed. She was pinned on the ground as the changelings bit at her and beat her to try and kill her. She finally managed to build up enough magic to blast them all off her. She put extra magic to disintegrate them all so that they don't do the same thing again.
After she disintegrated all the changelings she collapsed on the ground panting hard. Her body was screaming in pain. She looked at her foreleg to see a little chunk of flesh was gone. She needed medical attention badly. After laying there for however long it was she began to hear faint voices from the hive entrance.
As they got closer she could make out the words they were saying. "Are you really sure that this place is where changelings live?" one voice said sounding feminine.
"I'm positive. We'll find a changeling queen skull here. There's nothing to worry about," another voice assured. It sounded more deeper and gruff.
The last voice this one also deep but not so gruff sounding spoke, "Remind me again on how we were hired to do this."
The first voice sighed before answering, "A mare came to us about this. She would pay us 500 caps each should we return with a changeling queen skull. If the queen is a feral ghoul then we have to kill her and take her head. If she's a ghoul but one of the none feral ones we could get more caps for bringing her alive. I prefer to bring the skull because we wouldn't have to deal with the queen's magic. Magic is still lethal against ponies should it be strong enough."
"Hey look over there!"
"What happened here?"
"There are ashes all over the place. There's scorch marks too and they look to have been spread outward."
Chrysalis was worried. She had exhausted all her magic in that one blast to save herself and her injuries aren't helping either, but if she stays where she is now then they will find her. She couldn't let that happen.
Mustering up all the strength she had left, she got up and quickly ran behind the nearest boulder. She didn't go unnoticed though. "Hey over there!"
"That's the queen! Shoot her!"
"On it!"
Several loud bangs were heard as the strangers shot at her with weapons she never heard of. She managed to get to cover unscathed but needed a plan quick to get rid of her attackers. She managed to think of a plan just in time because the bangs from the attackers' weapons stopped with the gruff, deep voice commanding the others, "You two, I want you both to flank her on both sides. I'm positive that was the queen because of her size and shape."
"Yes sir!" the other voices said in unison before carrying out their orders. They went around Chrysalis' cover on both sides and aimed their weapons at her only to find she wasn't there. Above them Chrysalis was on the ceiling of the cave and quietly but quickly moved above the supposed leader.
Once she was above him she dropped on top of him and used her fangs to rip out his throat. He gurgled as he choked on his own blood. The pony leader's gurgles weren't unheard and the other two came out from where they tried to flank her and open fired.
She grabbed the fallen pony's weapon before making a quick dash to the nearest cover. The bullets hit her cover until stopping. She was about to use the magic she managed to regain but a click was heard and a object was thrown over her, hit the wall and landed in front of her. She didn't know what it was and didn't want to find out.
She conjured a shield just as the object exploded. Her shield shattered after it exploded leaving her exhausted of her magic again. The only thing that's keeping her from collapsing was the adrenaline going through her body. She peeked over her cover at her attackers. They saw her peek over and open fired.
She ducked back down and looked at the weapon she took from the pony she killed. It looked like the other pony weapons yet different. She mimicked how the other ponies used their weapons. She put her holed hoof on the trigger and held the weapon against her shoulder to get a feel for it. She looked down its sights. Now she knew how the weapon was used so maybe she can use it against the ponies attacking her.
The bullets stopped long enough for her to quickly come out of cover, aim her acquired weapon, and pulled the trigger. She wasn't prepared for the kick it gave off as the bullet flew out of the barrel of the weapon and toward the ponies. The bullet went through the male pony's forehead killing him instantly.
The female pony gawked in awe from what happened but quickly snapping out of it and finished reloading her weapon and aimed at the changeling queen only to have a bullet hit her in the eye also killing her instantly. Chrysalis didn't know what to think about what just happened. She managed to use a weapon those ponies had against them. In fact she wanted to know why ponies came to here in the first place.
She looked over at the body of the leader and noticed something sticking out of a pocket on his clothing. Seeing that it might shed some light on why these ponies were here so she went over and took the object. It was a piece of paper with some writing on it that said:
You are tasked to retrieve a changeling queen skull from the badlands wasteland. Should the queen be a feral ghoul she is to be killed and the head be retrieved. If the queen isn't feral or isn't a ghoul at all, which is highly doubtful, she is to be brought to me. You and anyone who helps you with this task will be payed 500 caps each or if she is brought alive you will all get 1000 caps each.
C
Now Chrysalis started to wonder more. Who ever this C pony is they wanted her skull or herself. Now the question is why. Why would someone want her skull? Why would they care if she was alive? She needed answers.
The sound of a rock hitting the stone floor brought her out of her thoughts and having her aim her new weapon at the source.
"Don't shoot my queen!" a familiar voice called out. She lowered her weapon immediately once she heard that voice. She smiled knowing that she wasn't the only changeling left. Her smile faded and was replaced with shock when the changeling stepped into the light. He looked like the rest of the changelings she encountered but with some differences. He still had chitin covering the bone unlike the others. It also looked like it was wrinkled. He didn't have any blood on him and he looked really skinny.
His once blue eyes were now replaced with those black orbs like all the other changelings except these ones showed no murderous intent but kindness. His voice was scratchy when he spoke, "My queen it's so good to see you still breathing. I can't say the same for the other changelings sadly though. Most of them either became ghouls or died from the radiation. Any who were able to avoid the radiation ended up being slaughtered by the others who all had rotted minds."
The changeling took a deep breath then let it out before continuing, "It's good to see you not being among these changelings. As for me, well I became a ghoul too but not like the others." He lowered his head in sadness.
Chrysalis couldn't believe what she was just told. Every changeling dead? That didn't sound right. What did he say about the other changelings? That they were ghouls with rotted brains? And that he was one too? It didn't make any sense at all! It just didn't- "My queen are you okay?"
Her thoughts were broken when the changeling turned ghoul spoke. She looked to see his face in a look of worry. After some deep breathes she managed to calm nerves. "Yes I'm fine but I have to ask, what happened when I was in hibernation?"
She watched him sigh before he asked, "Are you sure you want to know?" The deadpanned look she gave answered his question and looking at what she did to the other changeling ghouls, he really didn't have a choice.
"Very well. It all started after you went into your hibernation. The hive was mending anything that would cause us harm should it break during our hibernation. As we worked a loud boom was heard and whoever went to entrance looked to see a giant mushroom cloud that looked to have come from Equestria. It was close enough or big enough for the shockwave it gave off, though with some delay, to reach us and shake the entire hive and the cloud following the shockwave blew us back inside. We all thought it was fine and began to get back to work, but as time progressed, many started to get sick from what we learned was radiation, but that was when a good portion turned into ghouls so I won't bore you with the details. During the first century, many changelings had become ghouls while a smaller portion that weren't ghouls left believing that there wasn't anything left for them. Even some of the non feral ghouls left. As time went by more of us either left, turned feral, or were killed by the ferals if they weren't a ghoul. Eventually I was the only one left. Then ponies began coming here in search for possible riches or useful items. Though they never really found anything before they were either killed or forced to leave by the hive ghouls. It was then on the corpse of a pony that I found out about the war between the ponies and minotaurs that caused this nuclear fallout. It was a war that changed not only pony lives but ours as well. Now the only changeling left is you my queen. The hive has failed you," he finished choking back some sobs.
Chrysalis couldn't believe what see just heard. She thought Equestria would never be involved in a war. It seems that she was wrong. Looking back at the changeling ghoul, who was trying but failing to not openly cry, she couldn't help but feel pity for him. He has been through so much and believes the hive has failed her. Taking a deep breath she walked over to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "The hive never failed me Krall. I have failed it. I should have been there to shield the entrance but I was in hibernation. I have let our species die out," she with tears in her eyes as she looked at what remained of her hive.
"No my queen you shouldn't blame your-" Krall was silenced when Chrysalis put a hoof to his mouth. When she removed she said nothing but taking the her new weapon, the ammo for that weapon, grabbing a sidearm and ammo for it from the pony corpses. She even took one of the outfits one of them wore and used a spell to resize it to fit her then pull her hole filled mane into a ponytail and ripping pieces of cloth from the clothes on the other dead ponies to bandage her wounds.
Krall watched as she did this until she began to walk toward the entrance. "My queen where are you going?" he called. She stopped and turned her head to look at him.
"I don't know. Come with me please, I'd rather not travel this new world alone," was all she said before continuing her walk to the entrance to leave the hive. Krall didn't think that it was a good idea or not to leave, but he felt that staying here would be a bad idea.
"Wait my queen! I'll come with you. I'll never leave your side unless you order me to."
"I'm not your queen anymore Krall. Just your friend but not your queen. I lost that title when I let the hive die."
As the two exited the hive, they were greeted with the site of a barren wasteland. They spotted a rather large looking fly flying in the distance before heading out in the direction of Equestria's nearest town or city.
They have entered the Wasteland, a place created by war because war never changes.
Chrysalis and Krall walked through the badlands spotting the occasional giant fly and mosquito. They were easily dispatched by a few spells and bullets. They continued until they saw a tank half submerged in the ground. It didn't interest Chrysalis in the slightest since she knew from what Krall told her is that the power source in nuclear power, the reason for the wasteland.
As they continued they ran into new creatures. They even ran into a small camp made by some ponies and griffons. There were too many to take on so they snuck around while the residents of the camp made target practice out of a group of bloatflies. They continued until the edge of the badlands came into view.
"We made it," Krall said.
"I know."
"What will we do when we enter Equestria?"
"See what's left."
They entered Equestria after Chrysalis said that. Eventually they made a good distance in the remnants of Equestria and came across a gas station called Red Rocket. "We'll rest here for now," Chrysalis said feeling tired from the walking and still not being properly rested from what happened in the hive. She did want to know why there were military vehicles in the badlands and this gas station being rather close but she cared more about getting some sleep.
"Shall I look around and find something for us to use as a blanket?" Krall asked.
"No. I want you to look around for any food and water. I'll go around and see if there is anything that could be a threat," ordered the former queen.
"My queen," his protest was silenced by a glare from her. "Very well. I'll go see what's around. Just be careful. You don't know what to expect."
"I'll take my chances." She lifted her weapon and began to look around while Krall set to work on finding anything edible and clean water. After a quick look around he found a first aid kit with 3 stimpacks, 2 radaway, and 4 purified water, a cooler with cram and a carrot, and a nuka cola machine with 4 nuka colas, 2 nuka cherries, and a nuka cola quantum. It was a good find but it wasn't enough. He at least found something for them. Though he didn't understand why they needed the food. The only thing they eat is love. He'll ask once Chrysalis is done with any threats.
The sounds of something bursting through the ground, gunfire, and spells being fired signaled that she had found something. After about 20 minutes or so of these noises they stopped. Then Chrysalis came in while reloading her gun. "Well?"
"Mole rats were nesting here. Those were the only things to be worried about. Never did see a mole rat that large before, but then again they were affected by the radiation. Did you find anything?"
"Yes but I need to ask, why would we need this pony food? We need love to survive," Krall said looking at the cram and carrot.
"We need to adapt if we are to survive. Does this upset you Krall?"
"No just curious is all. You should have the food and water because ghouls seem to last long even without anything to eat or drink."
He pushed it over and she nodded to him in thanks. She ate the cram first. It had a small foul taste but was rather good. Then she moved onto the carrot and noticed the roots that had grown out of it. She couldn't help but think back to when she hid in Ponyville and watched Carrot Top grow the best carrots some say. Though she didn't just use them for food and a food to sell but 'other things.'
After eating it she was about to grab some water only for the bite on her foreleg to start hurting. Her cringe didn't go unnoticed."My queen take this. I found it in a medkit," Krall said while giving her a stimpack.
Chrysalis didn't argue at all and stuck the needle in her chest. It deposited the chemicals and healing magic it had into her as she felt herself getting better if a bit parched. While the stimpack went to work on healing her, she grabbed one of the purified waters and drank it greedily. After finishing it, she wiped her mouth of any water that didn't go in it.
"Thirsty much?" Krall joked with a small chuckle which was silenced by a glare from her. "My apologies." She just rolled her eyes and began to lie down and as comfortable as she can. The gas station floor wasn't at all comfortable. From it being a hard floor and some debris and trash scattered here and there, there wasn't anywhere comfortable.
Krall watched as Chrysalis tried to get some sleep. He decided to let her try to and went outside to look around. He saw the corpses of the mole rats Chrysalis killed and took some meat off of each one. He might be able to cook something edible out of them for Chrysalis. What's convenient is that there was an area to cook behind the station. There was even a chemistry station with what looked like an inhaler on it. Upon getting closer Krall noticed a note next to the inhaler. It read:
The last order of Jet went bad. The buyer tricked us into letting her and her guards in only for them to gun down everyone who wasn't their own. I was the only one who survived and I can't think of anything better to do than head to that theme park. Can't remember what it was called but had something to do with a drink from before. I don't know but the place is run by ponies like me. I'll take what I can carry and let the mole rats have the bodies. No doubt the smell will attract them. I'm sure someone would be dumb enough to think that this place is deserted. At least I'll have some extra supplies when I deconstruct some things around here using the workshop in the garage.
Krall looked from the note to the inhaler and guessed that it was jet. Though a workshop sounds promising. It could serve some use. Taking the jet, Krall went to the side of the station to find the garage. It was closed but that didn't prove to be a problem because he could get in from inside the station. Grabbing the jet, he went back inside, careful to not disturb Chrysalis who wasn't even asleep, and went into the garage.
Krall saw what looked like some type of modification workbench near the door, a workbench that seems to be used for something big, and the workshop across from him. He went to and looked through to see that it has basic designs for structures, furniture, decorations, power, resources, defense, stores, crafting, and cages.
Some designs were too complex for Krall but he was more interested in getting some beds made for him and Chrysalis. He went to work and in about an hour he had made to beds with some steel, springs, and cloth that was either found or scrapped from other things. Satisfied, he went to tell his queen of the beds he made. "My queen, I'm sorry to disturb you but I managed to find a workshop that has allowed me the tools and materials to make us some beds."
Chrysalis looked at him with tired eyes but didn't say anything. He figured that she was fatigued so he led her to the garage. Upon seeing the beds she leaped onto one and got as comfortable as she could. Not much but something at least is what she thought before letting the darkness consume her. Krall did the same but didn't leap into his but walked over, lied down, and went to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning Krall was the first to wake up. He looked over at the sleeping form of Chrysalis, wondering when she will wake. He looked from her to the workshop and thought about making some defenses just incase anything decides to take this place. While it seems very unlikely, it would be a good idea should ponies that can be trusted decide to live here. That recruitment beacon design might prove useful afterall.
Krall heard Chrysalis stir and turned to see her starting to get up. She yawned as she got off the bed. She wobbled a little but managed to catch herself. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she looked around wondering where she was before the memories came back. To say she was sad was the least. Furious is more like it, but luckily she managed to suppress it and not show it. There would be time to find the princesses later, but that has to wait.
She looked to see Krall watching her and sent him glare that made him flinch back and look away. Stretching a bit to get the stiffness out, she looked around the garage, seeing the workbenches and workshop as well as a button. She went over to press it only for Krall to stop her. "My queen are you sure that's wise to just press a random button and not know what it does?"
She just rolled her eyes and pressed it. The door to the garage began to open. Chrysalis gave him a smirk while he looked down in an attempt to hide the blush of embarrassment on his face. Once he was over it, he got off his bed and went over to the workshop to begin working on those defenses. "What are you doing Krall?"
"Building some defenses. This workshop had some designs that could prove useful to us. One of them is a radio beacon that will attract wastelanders into wanting to settle here. If they are to live here then we need to build something to produce water, food, and a proper defense," Krall explained while looking through the designs for the cheapest turret to build.
"Krall we can't trust ponies after what happened to us. The invasion a long time ago is a reason and what is now is another," she reasoned not liking the idea.
He found what he was looking for and started to use his magic to levitate the tools and materials needed to begin. "Ok maybe we can't trust any ponies but they can at least have someplace to live. Heck we might be able to get more food if we let them farm here. That can help us greatly. Plus we'll be able to resupply on things if we build a store and other things as well."
"Fine but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Noted."
Chrysalis went outside to leave Krall to do what he wishes. After a little bit of looking around the station, she felt like they were wasting time and should be on the road soon. They do need to get more food to survive or rather her to survive. A few more minutes of looking around she decided to walk a bit away from the station to see what else is around.
A few minutes later she had found nothing nearby the station. Looking back she saw that she walked quite a bit of a distance and decided to head back. She didn't get one step when a loud roar was heard behind her.
Chrysalis turned around quickly with her gun ready only to be taken aback at what she saw. Staring at her with hungry red eyes was a beast she has never seen. It was reptilian and had horns curving down the sides of its head and curving out a bit at the end. Its scales were a black mixed with brown, stood on two legs and had large claws on its hands. Its hunched over position shows that it can move on all fours if it needed to.
It stared at her for a few seconds before letting out another roar and charged. Chrysalis snapped out of her awe and fired at the creature. It dodged most of the bullets but a few landed but only seemed to enrage it more. It was gaining ground fast and before she knew it, it was right on top of her.
It swung at her with its claws and she barely managed to dodge it but the next swipe of the claws hit her and sent her a small bit to the side. She didn't even have to time to shoot at it before it grabbed her head and threw her behind it and onto the ground a few feet away. She managed to fire a few more shots before it picked her up again, roared in her face, and slammed her onto ground.
The was knocked out of her when that happened. She teleported a few feet from the creature and ran to the station in hopes of making it back there when there were some defenses built. Looking behind her increased her fears when she saw that it was chasing her on all fours and catching up fast. When it caught up, it grabbed Chrysalis and lifted her above itself. It roared at her and went to stab her its claws only for her to quickly levitate her to its right eye and shoot it. It roared in pain and let her go while grasping the side of its face the eye was shot out of.
This gave Chrysalis the time to reload and shoot more rounds into its arms, legs, and belly. It kept roaring in pain until a final bullet pierced through its hide and hit something vital. It kept roaring until it was enraged enough to ignore the pain. That didn't help it when Chrysalis shot another bullet that went into its remaining eye and into its brain ending its life. Its body fell and all Chrysalis could do was drop her weapon and breathe heavily while the adrenaline rush wore off.
Looking back at her kill, she decided to take one of its hands and use it for some type of weapon. Using her magic to grasp one then cut it off she proceeded to cast a spell on her attire to hold specific amount of items in her pocket no matter big it was. She put the hand away and went back to the station.
Upon arriving there was some turrets sitting on the edges of the station. Chrysalis went inside the garage to see Krall putting away the tools he got from the workshop. He heard her enter and to turned to greet her, "Ah my queen, I have finished putting the defenses up. I heard some noises was... that you?"
"Give me a stimpack ugh and some water."
"Right away my queen."
"And quit calling me your queen. I told that I deserve that title."
"Yes my- yes Chrysalis," he said while getting 1 purified water and a stimpack. When he gave them to her, she used the stimpack first before drinking the water in one go.
"That's better," she said while sitting down to rest a bit.
Krall let her rest for a minute before asking about the noises again. She glared at him before sighing and leaning against the wall and answering, "I encountered a different creature. It showed intellect but is enraged easily. It looked like a giant crocodile that stood on two legs and had very sharp claws and horns. Its eyes were red with hunger. It attacked me and I did my best to defend myself and it would have killed me. We may encounter more in the future but I hope we don't. One was just enough."
He was intrigued by this creature but looking at how it almost killed her, he decided that they should avoid any they see and only any that they have to. The two sat in silence for awhile before Chrysalis' stomach growled. "Ugh I need something to eat. I wish I could find some love to feed on. That would make things easier for me. I'd feel better that's for sure."
"Well I did take some meat off those mole rats you killed. We can cook it if you want."
"Anything is better than nothing."
Krall then went outside to cook some of the mole rat meat. When it was cooked just right, in his opinion, he cut it into small bite size pieces. He brought the mole rat chunks back inside and gave them to Chrysalis. She ate them greedily. Nodding him a thank you, she went over to the garage door and saw that the sun was setting. She pressed the button to close the garage and went over to her bed to sleep. Krall did the same.
She sighed knowing what to call the creature she fought. "Damn deathclaws are going to be a problem should we run into more. I just hope we find someplace that doesn't have any," is all she said before letting sleep take her.
The next morning, Chrysalis and Krall set out (after Krall set up a generator and a radio beacon to attract settlers) to head further into Equestria. Chrysalis finally had a plan and that was to find the princesses. If anyone else, other than ghouls, were able to survive the fallout it was them.
She needed to know more about this war that Krall seems to know a lot about. It was almost like he knew all about it. She'll interrogate him but for now they needed to get a move on if they were to get any closer to Canterlot. They would have been there faster if a certain ghoul still had wings.
"How long will this walk be my queen- I mean Chrysalis?" Krall asked getting sore hooves.
She turned to glare at him while answering through gritted teeth, "We'll be there in a few weeks if not a month at most. We would have been able to get there in mere days if it wasn't for someone lacking wings. That someone also needs to stop asking how long it will take every ten minutes. For a wise changeling, you act like a child when it comes to traveling." He looked down in embarrassment and kept his mouth shut.
As they continued to walk on, they noticed how quiet it was. They expected to be attacked by something. The feeling of being watched didn't help at all. "Do you ever get the feeling of being watched Krall?"
"Every time. Though you should consider that there are creatures possibly hiding around watching us."
"No I mean do you get the feeling that someone is watching," Chrysalis said while looking to her left aiming her weapon in that direction. She saw a small glint of light but assumed that it was just something on the ground the sunlight reflected off of. Unknown to them that it wasn't just an object but the scope of a rifle. A pony laying on the ground had that rifle and watched the changeling and ghoul closely. Looking ahead of them the pony saw a raider camp in their path. The pony knew the raiders there and also knew that they will more likely take from the two he's watching.
Getting up, the pony began to run over to the camp to 'cut loose' a 'friend' that leads the raider in it. With Chrysalis and Krall, they saw the camp and began to pick up the pace in hopes to get some help. Chrysalis needed to have some food and water stocked up so she could survive a bit longer. Krall didn't like how the camp looked though. There were spiked poles on the outskirts of the camp, some that had skulls hanging from or stabbed on them.
That didn't stop Chrysalis from heading to the camp. Right now the possibility food, water, and aid was on her mind. Once she reached the gate the lookout called out to her, "Stop right there! If you want to pass you have to give us all your caps and any weapons you have with the ammo."
"Why would I do that?" Chrysalis asked with deadpanned look.
"Because if you don't we'll have to kill you and take everything you have off your bullet-filled body," the lookout said chuckling. She just stared at him for a few seconds before aiming her weapon at his head and pulling the trigger. He fell off his small tower and onto the ground. The gunshot didn't go unheard as the gates to the camp opened with a few raiders charging out. There were three. One was had a bladed tire iron while the other two used their pipe rifles.
They were quickly dispatched of. When Chrysalis stepped through the gates, they started to close. Krall managed to get in just before the gates closed them in. "You have a lot of guts to kill members of my gang and I respect that. Though you won't last long in here," a voice said from the front of the gathering raiders.
The lead raider was a griffon with brown feathers covering his entire body and wings except the his head and the tip of his wings were black feathers. He wore some armor that looked like it was welded together and it had some dried blood on it. He was rather intimidating but that didn't scare Chrysalis as she just looked at him with an unamused look.
"And you are?"
"Gut Choker. I'm know to hang my victims with their own guts if the name's anything to go by," Gut Choker said with a sinister smile. That smile turned into a scowl when she started chuckling.
"You hanging me with my guts? Ha ha don't make me laugh. What chance do you have against me?" Those words died when he smiled again and said one thing that made his words 'you won't last in here' mean something.
"I know that you could barely survive a attack from a deathclaw."
"How do you?"
"A patrol saw you fight it and inform me. You will die here. Go get her boys!"
The gathered raiders charged forward with their pipe weapons aimed and firing. She barely had time to bring up a shield before the bullets collided. With a glow of her horn, she cast a spell that teleported her and made her invisible. She appeared on one of the watchtowers and fired into the group of raider, ending some of them. They started firing at her position when they figured out where the bullets were coming from. It wasn't long until she teleported behind them and gunned them some more down while killing the rest with her magic.
When she was finished, she was exhausted. She didn't even notice Gut Choker sneaking up to her before it was too late. Pounced on top of her looking at into her eyes with bloodlust in his. He spoke in a menacing tone, "You don't realize that you just cost me a lot of caps just by killing my gang. I'll be sure to have your carcass hang above my mantle so I can look at you and laugh at how you died."
Chrysalis had fear in her eyes. She never thought that her life would end this way. Though fate had a surprise in store for her. The side of Gut Choker's head exploded when a bullet from an unknown source hit it. A voice yelled in triumph that was not far, "Yeah! That is what happens when you mess with someone of interest!"
Chrysalis pushed the griffon's body off of her and turned to see a green stallion that looked like an alicorn with a white mane and tail. He was levitating a sniper rifle above his head in victory. When was done watching him celebrate his small victory, she called out to him, "Who are you?"
The stallion stopped his small celebration and called back, "My name is Blade Crysto and, even though you didn't ask, I want to help you."
"Help me? You want to help me when you don't know what it is that I'm trying to do? Why? A better question is, how do I know that I can trust you?" Chrysalis asked as she tried to wrap her mind around the events that happened a few moments ago.
Blade just smiled and jumped down his perch while strapping his rifle on his back. When he got in front of Chrysalis, he answered while his smile didn't falter even the slightest, "Yes help you, still yes, to help you survive the wasteland and know what to expect, and I just saved you from a griffon with horrible naming skills." He walked past her and began to loot Gut Choker's corpse. He picked up some caps, ammo that he can't use, and some bubblegum. He offered her the bubblegum but she smacked it out of his hoof while giving him a glare that said 'are you serious right now.' He shrugged it off as he put the caps in his military fatigues pocket.
Chrysalis just continued to glare at him before rubbing her temple with a hoof. This stallion seems to be so carefree about everything that he'd possibly help even the worst pony for nothing. Blade might go against her when she tells him that she wants to the princesses dead. Best just tell him about the later than now. Though she can't just trust him because he saved her life but rather be more wary because it could all be a plan to let her guard down. She needs more proof that he is trustworthy or at least be able to trust him enough. She sighed knowing that things have begun to become even more complicating. "How should I trust you when you just saved my life? I need more than a life savior to earn my trust."
Blade nodded. He knew what she meant. His life was saved a few times and those who saved him ended up betraying him. It's a common thing in the wasteland. One that many had died to because of ignorance. He shook away those thoughts and looked back at her. His smile never wavering the slightest he answered, "You don't know who to trust. After all the wasteland is unforgiving. The rad storms is an example seeing as it's a storm with radiation. There's nothing rad about it at all."
Chrysalis rolled her eyes as he giggled at his own little joke. If anything this stallion seems to have the mental capacity of a griffon mixed with a minotaur. Maybe not like that but he knows the wasteland better than her so it was all or nothing with Blade. With a heavy sigh she said her decision, "Alright you can help me. However, you must follow my orders. Got it?"
"Alright. You're leading this show so I'll follow along with it."
"What about me?" They looked over to the sound of the voice and saw Krall peeking out from behind the now open gate, his black eyes studying Blade closely.
"You can go back to that red rocket place we found."
"That's fine by me." Chrysalis was confused when Krall said that. He wasn't willing to leave her side after the deathclaw encounter and now he's willing to leave her side just to go back.
She had to ask, "Why would you want to go back there?"
He rolled his eyes (if one could notice) and answered, "So I don't have to encounter anything else dangerous while traveling. I'd rather stay in a safe place than be out in the open where there could be anything that could strike. I still can't believe the minotaurs did this."
"Zebras."
"What about the zebras?"
"They're the ones who caused this. What made you think minotaurs did?"
"Because they're a lot more barbaric than zebras. They were more likely to attack than other nation. It makes a lot of sense."
"Except that they didn't own any nuclear bombs because they prefer to fight head on instead of launching a bunch missiles. Ever think of that?"
"No, not really."
"Well now you know. Now Chrysalis, would you like me to come with you while he goes back home?" Blade asked with a smaller smile than what he had before. Chrysalis took a moment to think about it. While Krall can be annoying after ten minutes of traveling, he is rather useful when it comes to building because he did help design the hive and fix whatever broke. Then Blade is even more annoying but he knows the wasteland better than her and has combat experience. His attitude seems similar to that of the element of laughter because he doesn't seem to stop smiling so it's possible that he is an element. She'll have to keep an eye on him just in case he tries anything but other than that he seems to be the best choice.
With a reluctant sigh, Chrysalis gave her answer, "Fine Blade, you can come with me. Krall head back to the station. At least you'll be safe there than out here." Krall took a moment to think about it.
His answer came shortly after, "Very well, though to be honest, I was thinking about telling you that I'd rather go back than continue traveling with that idea you have. I really don't see a point to it if they're already dead. They're all probably dead thanks to this fallout."
"Who are they?" Blade asked wondering who they were talking about. Chrysalis gave Krall a glare to let him know to not say who.
Krall made the gesture of keeping his mouth zipped shut. When Chrysalis was sure he wouldn't say anything, she turned to Blade who awaited the answer. "I won't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because it is none of your business."
"Damn. I was hoping you would say 'because' instead of that. All well, you ready to head out?" Blade asked not pushing the issue. It seemed strange though. He was thinking of making it a little game but, while disappointed, didn't push her to tell him. If anything Chrysalis is really going to watch him closely if he does have something planned.
Taking a few moments to look over her gear and the bottlecaps she collected knowing that they have a use, Chrysalis nodded to him and told Krall to go to the Red Rocket. As he left Blade and Chrysalis began their journey. They both walked in silence for a few minutes before Blade broke it. "You know where we are going right?"
She just gave him a glance and looked back at the road they were walking on. A moment later she answered, "Canterlot."
"Why Canterlot?"
"It's personal."
"How personal?"
"Very."
"Do you want to talk about it?" The look Chrysalis gave Blade made him shut up, but only for a few minutes. When he spoke up again, he began asking other questions such how she was doing to more personal questions.
She finally had enough, "How about you tell me about this wasteland? It could help me know what to expect." Bad idea. Blade went into a full lecture mode on the wasteland and what it contains. He talked about creatures she had fought before such as the mole rats and the deathclaw. She stood still for a moment when he started to talk about the feral ghouls. He talked about the post war settlements that have been made such as Diamond City which is a baseball stadium and Sanctuary where a stallion, that leads a faction known as the Minutecolts, has built a safe haven for the residents of the wasteland as well as help other settlements grow and stay protected. Blade sounded like he knew the stallion personally but Chrysalis didn't ask for she was taking in the information she was being given. While it was useful, it was also becoming annoying having to listen to talk about everything in one go. She didn't even know if he even stopped to breathe.
After a few minutes of nonstop lecturing about the Wasteland, Chrysalis finally had enough. "Will you shut up already?! It hasn't been half an hour and I'm already regretting telling you to tell me about this wasteland! Now just stay quiet the rest of the way!"
That shut Blade up, if only for three whole minutes. After that he was cracking a joke here and there and talking about how things were before all this. Chrysalis tried to block him out by looking through her supplies for some water but was unsuccessful. It wasn't long when the first building came into sight. Upon seeing this, Chrysalis picked up the pace. A few more minutes later, they were seeing more buildings and soon an entire town. Chrysalis felt relieved while Blade groaned. He wasn't glad to be here because of what happened last time. That was a week ago and now the place is swarming with raiders. Chrysalis didn't seem to notice until she heard the gunfire. "What's going on in the town? I can hear ponies using their weapons but what are they shooting at?"
"Just more raiders. Their attacking someth-" Blade was caught off when he heard a sound different from other guns. He could identify the sound of pipe weapons and 10mm pistols but the sound he heard was more of a, well he couldn't describe it but, he knew the sound. It can only have come from a laser musket which meant two things.
A. The ponies he worked for got a hold of some laser muskets or B. the Minutecolts were in the area. He's going to go with the latter because he doubts that his superiors would try to take a place like this back. It's not even near those suspended highways so there's no point. That and they use other laser weapons. It had to be the Minutecolts.
Blade began to formulate a plan while Chrysalis just stood and listened to the gunfire. Some was close and a few distant but the sound of the laser musket had her thinking. What all is in this new world? How did the ponies manage to even survive this? Do they even need the princesses anymore? Her thoughts were interrupted when Blade poked her side and explained the plan he came up with. His plan was to sneak up behind the raiders to see who they were attacking. While a simple and probably deadly plan, it was the only one they had so Chrysalis just decided to go along with it.
A few minutes later and they were greeted by a battle. The raiders were attacking a museum and up on the museum balcony was a earth pony that wore what looked to be some type of old fashion trench coat and hat that had one side bended up. He was firing at the raiders with what looked to be a musket, but instead of a bullet and some gunpowder to fire, it used energy that was charged up from the crank on the side of the weapon. He looked like he was having a hard time keeping the raiders at bay because they just kept coming from nowhere.
Chrysalis knew that allies were scarce in the wasteland and if there was a way to make more to help her cause then she'll do whatever it takes. Raising her gun's sights on one of the raiders, she took aim and fired. The shot into the raiders head and out the front as his blood splattered the concrete. Upon seeing their comrade dead, a few of the raiders turned around to see Chrysalis shoot off another round into an unlucky raider who turned around in time for the bullet to go through their eye.
That set off a chain reaction which caused the remaining raiders to fire at Chrysalis as she retaliated and Blade stayed behind cover checking his rifle's clip before looking over his cover, took aim, and fired at the farthest raider. Her head exploded when the bullet landed. One raider that had a bladed tire iron, tried to get close only to have his kneecap shot by Chrysalis and his head explode by Blade's rifle.
Another one of the raiders move closer but was shot down as soon as she moved from her cover. As time passed, more raiders fell one by one until the last one tried to make a run for it, only to be shot by the pony on the balcony. He shouted to them with distress(obviously), "Thanks for the assist but there are more inside and their almost through the door! Please you got to help!"
The pony went back inside the building but not without saying, "Take that laser musket. You're going to need it." Chrysalis looked at the laser musket next to a dead pony that wasn't in any raider armor, just some type of uniform. She picked it up as well as the ammo next to it and studied it carefully. It had a spell on it that she wasn't familiar with and had a crank. Curious about the crank, she turned it. A red glow emitted from the glass container of the weapon with a low hum, and a beam of red energy went from the container, that has the red glow, to the muzzle of the weapon. Turning the crank again, the glow got a little brighter and the humming got a bit louder. Chrysalis tried to turn the crank again only for it to be stuck. She tried again but with a bit more force. Nothing. She tried again with even more force. Nothing again. She tried a few more times before deciding that it won't turn again until she shoots it.
Looking back at Blade, she had some questions for him before they went in. Sensing this, he knew what the first question was. "That stallion is a Minutecolt. He must've been ambushed by these raiders. The only question is why. Raiders don't usually attack the Minutecolts. Let alone a small group. They must be after something. Anyway, we should get inside and help them. There's no telling what those raiders will do when they get them.
Heading inside, they were greeted by four raiders watching the door. Two on the same floor as her them and two on the second floor. All four saw them enter and drew their weapons. Blade quickly aimed his rifle at one of the raiders on the second floor and took him out. Chrysalis aimed her recently acquired laser musket at the raider that tried to rush her and attack with a tire iron. When Chrysalis pulled the trigger, a beam shot out of the weapon and made contact with the raider's chest and disintegrated his entire body. Not having time to think about what happened, Chrysalis turned the crank two times, finding it easier to turn now, and fired at the remaining raider their floor while Blade took out the last raider on the second floor with a shot to the heart while making a pun when the bullet connected, "Aw what's wrong? Are heartbroken?"
Chrysalis just rolled her eyes while the raider she just killed disintegrated like his comrade. Continuing on, they went up to the locked gate in the room. Blade searched his pack for a bobby pin but couldn't find one. He searched his pack some more to make sure. Chrysalis on the other hoof looked the lock over and pulled out a bobby pin she had. Blade saw it and made to grab it but Chrysalis gave him an intense that said not to. Looking back at the lock, she inserted the bobby pin and took a screwdriver that she found at the Red Rocket to help turn the lock when she found the sweet spot. She put her ear near the lock and slowly turned the bobby pin left. She didn't hear anything that way, so she turned it to the right slowly. Then she heard a click from the bobby pin pressing against the locking mechanism. Slowly turning the lock with the screwdriver while holding bobby pin in place, she unlocked the door. She smiled at her accomplishment.
Her smile faded away when Blade spoke, "Where did you learn to lockpick?"
She answered simply, "It's personal." It was the truth. The only reason she knows how to lockpick with bobby pins was when she was just a nine year old nymph. Sounds strange for a nymph knowing how to lockpick right? It was only because of a necklace her mother rarely wore. It was a pendant necklace. The pendant was made of ebony and encrusted with four types of gems. A sapphire at the top, two rubies on each side, and a diamond on the bottom. In the middle was a large emerald that shined brightly in the light. The necklace was gift from her father to her mother back when they got along. When he cheated on her and was exiled with the brand mark showing that he was exile, she never wore that often. Then on Chrysalis' sixteenth birthday, her mother gave her the necklace as a gift and to always keep to remember her when she finally passed. Sadly, Chrysalis lost the necklace when she was defeated. She had cast an invisibility spell on it so the other changelings don't think she was trying to look nice for the invasion. Though they wouldn't have minded and that was what she thought. Anyway when Chrysalis was defeated, the necklace fell off and she never could find it. For years she searched for it until finally, it was time for the hibernation.
Shaking her head from the resurfacing memories, Chrysalis walked through the unlocked gate and fired her laser musket at one of the two raiders on the other side while using her magic to snap the other one's neck. There was a giant hole where the floor collapsed, making a ramp into the basement. There was a wall mounted terminal next to a security gate which contained a fusion generator. Chrysalis didn't know how the terminal worked so she tried the door and found that she could use a bobby pin to lockpick the door. Before she could, she heard typing and turned to see Blade on the terminal. She was about to ask what he was doing but the door opened before she could. Deciding to not ask, Chrysalis went up to the generator. Looking it over, she found a button that said eject. If it was good or bad it didn't matter because she had a feeling that it wouldn't do anything that could harm her.
Her hunch was right when the fusion core ejected from the generator and allowed her to collect it. After that they continued to the second floor. They heard voices coming from a room that had a mural. crouching down to avoid detection, Chrysalis and Blade snuck into the room.
"We got to get out of here."
"Why do you want to get out of here?"
"There's some ponies attacking this place. Didn't you hear the gunshots?"
"Yeah, so what? That could've been are guys killing them."
Just as those words left that raider's mouth, Chrysalis and Blade sprung out of their hiding place. Chrysalis shot the raider on the left while Blade took out the one on the right. Going up to the third floor, they heard a raider beating a door yelling how he'll kill the ponies inside, only for the raiders comrade to call him off and to get ready for the stallion and changeling. The raiders were quickly dispatched of. Finally they made it to the stallion from the balcony.
When he opened the door for them, they were greeted by a small group of ponies. One pony with a gray coat, black mane and tail, and wearing a mechanic jumpsuit, was typing away on a terminal, an elderly mare with a dirty scarlet coat, a white mane and tail, and wearing a gypsy outfit, a mare with with an amber coat and deep blue mane and tail was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself, and a stallion with a white coat and a black mane and tail, sitting against a desk with his head in his hooves. Both were wearing farmer clothing
The stallion from the balcony spoke up, "Thanks for the assist. We were getting are asses kicked by those raiders. Whatever caused them to attack us is unknown to us but doesn't matter."
Looking over Chrysalis a bit, he introduced himself and the others, "Names Preston Garvey, Equestrian Minutecolts. Behind me on the terminal is Sturges, that mare sitting over there is Mama Murphy, and those two are the Longs. The mare is Marcy and the stallion is Jun."
Chrysalis introduced herself, "My name is Chrysalis. You might know me from the invasion of Canterlot that was before all of... this."
"Well nice to meet you and I think your actions here would make up for what you did long ago. Of course, few even remember the invasion. History in the Wasteland is hard to come by. I'm one of the few who know the history of Equestria. It's a shame that it ended up being reduced to this. Anyway we need to get rid of these raiders before we can leave. We have a plan. Oh and hey Blade."
"Hey."
"Sturges, care to tell them the plan?"
"Sure thing boss," Sturges said before explaining the plan to Chrysalis, "I'm sure you saw the crashed vertibird on the roof. Well, one of its passengers had a seriously sweet goody. A cherry, full suit of T-45 power armor, military issue."
"That sounds useful," Blade said.
"It is. However, it's out of juice. Probably for a hundred years."
Preston began to explain the rest, "What you need is an FC. A standardized fusion core. Your long term nuclear powered battery."
"I get the idea," Chrysalis said a little annoyed at how he was explaining the fusion core.
Sturges began to explain where to get a fusion core, "There's a fusion core in the basement, but it's locked behind a security gate. Look, I build things, I tinker, but breaking into things isn't my specialty."
"Don't worry. We already got it," Blade said while taking the fusion core out of Chrysalis' bag who took it back.
"Nice. We might be able to turn this around."
Chrysalis did have one question before she did this, "What is power armor anyway?"
Sturges beamed when she asked that and began to explain, "Power armor is the most defensible armor ever made. It has stabilizers in the hind legs to allow ponies to hold any heavy weapons while standing and walking on their hind legs. Do to its weight, pegasi can't fly in it unless it has been modified to have a jetpack for temporary flight. It can withstand a drop from any height and it enhances your strength. Speaking of strength when you get in it, you'll be to rip the minigun right off the vertibird. That'll teach those raiders a thing or two."
"If I'm able to fit in it that is."
"All power armor has been made to adjust to certain sizes thanks to ponies that were fighting. Hell, they were all made to even fit someone your height thanks to a spell. You'll be able to use it. Promise."
"If you say so," Chrysalis said with doubt. It seemed unlikely that was possible for power armor. Though, this stallion seems to know what he's talking about so all she could do was hope. With a sigh beckoned Blade to follow her, but not before talking to the old mare known as Mama Murphy, "Hello there 'Mama' Murphy."
The old mare looked at the ex-changeling queen with a small smile. "I know your wondering about my name but doesn't matter right now. Right now, your off to deal with those raiders. I knew that you'd come and help us. I saw it."
"Saw it?" Chrysalis questioned, a little intrigued.
"It's the chems. It gives me the sight and it gives me the ability to see what was, when is, and what is right now, and right now, you have to deal with those raiders. However, something is coming, drawn by the chaos and, it is angry."
"What is it? Mama Murphy I need more."
"I'm sorry but the sight isn't always clear. All I know is that you need to be ready for one hell of a fight. I'm tired now. The sight takes a lot out of me. Maybe if you bring me some chems, I'll be able to tell you anything that could happen in the future." That was all Mama Murphy said before laying her head back and closing her eyes to rest. Walking past the Longs, Chrysalis and Blade made their way to the roof.
Opening the door to the roof, the first thing Chrysalis and Blade saw was the power armor and crashed vertibird. To the left there was a desk with a holotape on it with a holotape player next to it. Blade went over to the player and put the holotape in it. It began to play. "This is Commander Sharp Wit. Are vertibird crashed into this museum a few months ago. We've been stuck here for days. The private was the first to break and he left, running down the street of the town shouting like a mad colt."
It didn't take long for are medic to break next. He was considerate enough to leave the medical supplies before running off into one of the buildings. Not long after we heard a gunshot meaning that he shot himself. The gun he used was my pistol. Don't know how he managed to get it. It was just me and the best of the squad that I used to lead. He eventually left sadly, saying that he wanted to go find anypony that was still alive like us. I let him. Never came back."
Now it's my turn to go rogue. I think I'm going to go to Manehattan. See if my sister lived through this. Then I'll see if my family made it. I doubt it but beats staying hear. I haven't heard any radio chatter. Probably because the radio is busted or the military is gone. I'm going to leave my suit of power armor here. It's out of juice and won't be able to help me that way. This is Commander Sharp Wit, signing off."
The changeling and pony were surprised to say the least. That explained why the power armor was there in the first place. Taking a few minutes to mull over what the commander in the holotape said, Chrysalis went over to the power armor. The entire suit was rusted and had a few small dents that were barely noticeable. On its back is what looked a large valve. In the center of the valve was a large hole.
Taking out the fusion core, Chrysalis looked at it and noticed how it looked like it would in the hole. She put it in the hole and it fit. It didn't go all the way in so she smacked to sure it would. The suit hissed as the fusion connected to the power system. Now with the fusion core in, all Chrysalis had to do was get in the suit. That is if it wasn't smaller than her and didn't know to put it on even if it was. She looked to Blade for help.
"Turn the valve to the left," Blade said as he prepped his rifle.
Doing as he instructed, Chrysalis turned the valve. Magic rose from the suit and surrounded her for a second before going back to the suit and surrounding it. Then the suit shifted. It stood on its hind legs and the magic expanded the suit to match her size. When it was done resizing, the suit's back opened up, the legs split open to allow her limbs in it and the back of the helmet lifted up enough to allow her head to fit in it.
Before she could even ask what to do, Blade answered the unspoken question, "You get inside of it."
Gulping a little, Chrysalis got as close as she could to the open suit then started to stand wobbly on her hind legs and quickly got in the suit. Once she was inside, the suit closed the legs and helmet before the back closed with a metallic 'click.' She was still standing on her hind legs and was surprised that she was standing steady instead of wobbling. Taking a few steps forward to be sure, she was even more surprised to be walking on her hind legs like it was common to her. This must be because of the stabilizers Sturges mentioned.
Once she got used to the fact of being able to walk on her hind legs, Chrysalis went over to the vertibird and up to the mounted minigun. It was a little rusted but seemed to be in prime condition. There were some spots on it that allowed pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies to hold it.
Locking her armor covered hooves onto the minigun, she pulled and it came off its mount. This caused her to look at the hud, that she ignored thinking it was nothing to worry about, when it flicked a little and showed the amount of ammo on the bottom right. It had 500 bullets in the gun itself while the extra amount of ammo was 750 bullets. To the left middle of the hud was a indicator for the armor. The left foreleg and right hind leg were red while the rest of the armor on the indicator was orange, like the rest of the hud.
Chrysalis out of the vertibird and to the edge of the museum roof with Blade laying down on his belly and holding his rifle's scope to his eye. A raider on the roof opposite of them, saw them and yelled down to the raiders that had collected on the street, "Hey there's some ponies up here! One even has-"
He didn't get to finish when Chrysalis pulled the minigun's trigger. It took a second to spin up before unleashing a torrent of bullets at the raider, killing him in seconds. Chrysalis jumped off the roof and landed just fine and proceeded to mow down every raider. Some of them taunted her, believing they could kill her even though she had power armor and a minigun. They didn't even last long. When Chrysalis got close to the end of the street, something began to ram into the metal sheet covering a sewer entrance. When it was knocked off, a deathclaw emerged and roared in anger.
Chrysalis couldn't believe her luck. Then she realized that she was wearing a strong suit of armor and had a minigun. She grinned under the helmet and began to open fire on the deathclaw. It began to run at her weaving left and right to try to not take a lot of damage. Once it was close enough, it grabbed Chrysalis and threw her over itself.
She recovered quickly and let go of the trigger and punched the deathclaw in the face when it turned around. She was quick to put her hoof back on the trigger and pour bullets into the deathclaw's side. It recovered from the punch and proceeded to pin the changeling and try to kill her by striking her head. All that did was rock her head to the side and dent the armor.
When the deathclaw released Chrysalis, she got back up and open fired on the deathclaw. The minigun unloaded its last round into the deathclaw and Chrysalis made to reload it, only to be hit by the deathclaw. She ran away from it reloading her weapon. Once it was reloaded, she turned around and unloaded a barrage of bullets into it.
As she was busy with the deathclaw, a raider took aim at the fusion core of the power armor. The raider didn't manage to fire the shot when Blade honed in on the raider with his rifle and fired. The raider's head exploded into a bloody mess.
Back with Chrysalis, she finally managed to kill the deathclaw. Turning back, she saw the last few raiders with their weapons raised, but they were visibly shaking. Chrysalis aimed at the cover they were all sharing, which was a car, and shot it. The engine of the vehicle blew then the car exploded in a large explosion, followed by a mushroom cloud that reached the roofs of the buildings.
The raiders and deathclaw dead, Chrysalis and Blade went back inside to check on the settlers. All of the settlers were gathered on the bottom floor talking. "You need to take it easy Mama Murphy."
"Oh don't you worry about me Garvey. I've been through worse back when I was young."
Upon hearing Chrysalis walk up to them, they turned to her and Blade. Preston smiled when he saw them. "I'm glad you're on our side Chrysalis. Here, take this for helping us." He hoofed over some caps to both of them. Chrysalis being given more than Blade.
"How come she gets more than me?" Blade asked a little disappointed.
"Because she was willing to fight a deathclaw head on."
"Fair enough."
"Anyway. If you want, you can join us on the way to Sanctuary. You'd get a place to sleep plus some food and water," Preston offered. Chrysalis thought about it. I could use some water after that fight. So these ponies haven't tried anything to attack me like those raiders. I'll keep my guard and go with them. I don't have a choice with how I'm lacking supplies.
Her mind made up she nodded and everyone began to stand and get ready for the walk ahead of them. They walked out of the museum and pass the dead deathclaw. "Never thought I'd see one of these up close," Preston commented. They continued walking for awhile until they came upon a bridge. This bridge leading into a small neighborhood. This neighborhood having turrets and guards, walls and a gate at the bridge, and some hoof made building. The gate opened to reveal some stallions dressed in the same uniform as the dead stallion that was outside of the museum.
But one of the stallions was wearing something different. Blade and Preston recognized him. The stallion in the center had on a suit of X-01 power armor with his wine red horn poking through the helmet. He was taller than her surprisingly and was holding a gatling laser. After a few seconds of staring at each other, the power armor wearing stallion spoke in a joyful voice, "Welcome to Sanctuary, one of the main Minutecolt bases of operations!"
