Terran sat at the bar of Molty Malts, at the edge of downtown Seaddle. He was perfectly alone, with only his leather armor, Old' Reliable, and a bottle of whiskey to comfort his sorrows.
He was a dark brown color, with an interchanging red and black mane. His eyes were a sparkling blue. His leather armor had been an old military suit, but it's green had worn to grey.
His only compainion was Old' Reliable. It was an old zebra assault carbine. He had found it on some dead raiders outside of his Stable. It had been his companion for three months, and it had saved him on numerous occasions.
The Molty Malt was your average bar. It ws based on an old pre-war diner, and was run by a French griffon by the name of Gustavo. At the moment, it had about a dozen other ponies in various costumes were drinking away their fears.
Just as Terran took a sip of his whiskey, a figure walked in. It was definitely pony, but had a bit of an odd form, but not like a ghoul.
Terran's hoof went to his gun. The figure was approaching him!
The figure slowly sat down, and raised his gloved hoof for a wine. When it came to him, he pulled down his hood, revealing a normal, gray coat, with green eyes and a blue mane.
"Hello?" asked Terran cautiously.
The unknown pony smiled. "Hello Terran. Yes, I know your name. I need your help. The ponies I work for need someone with that Pipbuck on your arm. They are willing to pay a good number of caps."
Terran raised an eyebrow. "How many are we talking?"
The pony shrugged. "Depends upon your performance. However, if I'd wager a guess... 1000 caps."
Terrans brain blew. 1000 caps. He wouldn't go hungry for several years to come, and ammunition would no longer be a problem. However, he retained a cool he was known for, and, like any good merc, tried to raise the price. "1500, or nothing."
The pony shrugged. "You'll have to take that up with my employers. I'll meet you here in the morning two days from now. Be ready to have a three day trip, possibly more. Oh, and the names Fedora." With that, he sat up and left without another word.
Terran sighed, and looked down at his whiskey. Shaking his head, he downed the rest of the bottle, and set out.
He was going to bring some friends on this one.
...
Terrans home, an old building at the edge of the city, looked like another wreck from outside. It was on the inside that it was truly beautiful.
However, before we get to the inside, we must get to what was outside, waiting to greet him.
Terran smiled. Dragoon was an orphaned unicorn. While still possessing the mind of a child, the colt knew how to separate a uranium isotope in fission just as well as he knew how to build a Deutrium hyrdrogen molecule up in fusion. I.e.: The kid was a genius.
As Terran embraced the young colt in a rare heartwarming hug, he thought to when he first discovered the colt. His family had, like so many other tragic stories, been murdered by raiders, himself being the only survivor. Terran had discovered him, half dead, only after a week in the wastes.
Dragoon finally let go of the hug. "Hey Uncle Terran, your back!" he said happily.
Terran nodded. "So, what did you manage to do in the eight hours I was gone?"
Dragoon chuckled. "I managed to reverse engineer microfusion cells so, with the right tools, I can build our own!"
Terrance's smile remained the same, but his eyes widened in surprise. He would never get used to how smart this colt was.
"Oh, and I managed to make you two presents!"
At this, Terran did act surprised. "What for?"
Dragoon shrugged. "Too give you something back for saving me. Follow me!"
Terran was then dragged inside, where a single gift-rapped box awaited him. In case your wondering, the main room was small, big enough for a sofa and a small, make-do kitchen.
Smiling, Terran opened it, only to laugh loudly at its contents.
Dragoon, meanwhile, explained. "I was scrounging around a bit, and I found a whole carton of assault rifle rounds. 300 rounds in all. And, I got you another present. Follow me!"
Terran was dragged by the blue coated black maned blank flank into his own room, to which a surprise awaited him.
Inside, on a table he had always left empty for some reason, was covered in a massive cutaway, well, dollhouse.
However, this was no ordinary dollhouse. It was fashioned after a Stable, complete with working lights and Stable door.
Most impressive of all however, was the three numbers stamped on that Stable's door.
412
Terrans Stable. It was a perfect replica, all the way down to which tables went where in the cafeteria.
A single tear filled Terrans eye. "How did you...?"
Dragoon shrugged. "I moved a few maps off your Pip-buck from your stable to my computer. I used them to build a replica. It took weeks, but today I finally got the chance to move it to your room."
Terran smiled. "Thank you Dragoon. This is fantastic."
Dragoon nodded. "Thanks."
Terran marveled at the replica for several more minutes, when he decided to announce the news.
"I'm leaving on an extended trip. I've got a job. Tommorrow I'm leaving to talk with White about it, then the day after I leave."
Dragoon raised an eyebrow. "Not without me you're not."
Terran opened his mouth for the expected argument, when he realized he wouldn't win the arguement. He never does. And, hey, Dragoon was mean with a laser pistol and grenades.
Terran simply shrugged. "Fine, but I'd I tell you to run, run. Promise."
Dragoon nodded. "I promise."
Terran smiled. "Good. Well, it's getting late, and we need to go to bed. Come on."
...
Terran waved Dragoon goodbye, and walked off into the wastes.
As he walked, he looked around to make sure he wasn't being followed, and trotted off quickly to a chunk of ground. With a fast kick, he knocked the tarp off, revealing one of the last pools of pure water, a small spring that he latched to for water.
Quickly, he slide off his clothes, placed Old Reliable with her ammo to the side, and slipped into the cool waters. He felt sorry he wasn't letting Dragoon come with him this time.
Then, he blinked. Well, if he didn't have Dragoon to pester him, he looked down at his inert sheath, and smiled.
However, just before he could start, he felt the all familiar click of a gun at the back of his head.
"Son of a bitch."
"Hooves in the air, and no sudden moves. Turn around, slowly." It was a mares voice, sweet, but tainted with cruel menace.
Obeying orders, Terran slowly turned around, to see a black-as-night pegasus with radiant blue hair and matching eyes. She was holding a 10mm pistol to my head. Most surprising of all, she had a stable suit labeled '403'. On a weirder note was the violin strapped to her rear left hoof and her pip-buck.
However, what really surprised him was one thing in particular: SHE WAS A MOTHER FUCKING PEGASUS.
"Good. Now, get out of the pool. You seem more civilized then the raiders."
Terran slowly got out of the pool, when the pegasus noticed he too had a pip-buck. "Wait, your a stable..."
She never got the chance to complete her sentence. Using her confusion, Terran kicked her, and kicked her hard, knocking her flat down on her back, dropping her pistol. Terran picked it up in is mouth, and immediately brought it up pointed towards the pegasus, while backing towards his gear.
The pegasus was still up and kicking, but she quickly realized she was at the wrong end of a gun. She hesitantly surrendered.
Terran nodded. "OK, I think this is a misunderstanding. Names Terran."
"Heartbeat Philharmonic."
Terran blinked. "Wait, Philharmonic? As in Octavia the pre-war violinist?"
Heartbeat shrugged. "She preferred the cello. I do like the violin, though." As she said this, Terran noticed her cutie mark, a deep red long note.
Terran nodded and tossed her pistol back, quickly picking his carbine back up.
Heartbeat smiled. "Sorry about interrupting you..." A lump formed in Terran's throat. She had know what he had been doing! "...But I'm new here, so could you help me out?"
Terran shrugged. "I guess. I was heading to see a friend. I guess you could tag along... Hell, if you want, you can come with me on a little job I've got tomorrow. I've got an extra bunk at where I sleep. Heck, I've got three."
With the, the new pair set out. For several hours the only conversation was tidbits about the wasteland, and how to survive.
Then, around mid-day, they came upon an old factory building with lights blazing from the windows.
Terran sighed. "Well, its time to meet my old marefriend."
"Who is she exactly?"
Terran frowned sadly. "The only other survivor of my vault, my long time crush (until recently), and all around short-range expert. We need her for the job I mentioned. Oh, and she works as a gladiatorial combatant in this arena."
....
BLAMBLAMBLAM!!!!!!!!!
Terran dove out the door of the arena five minutes later, followed closely a hell of a lot of bullets, a white unicorn mare with grey hair and eyes, and Heartbeat, who was shaking her head trying not to burst laughing. It really wasn't a funny scene, but hey, an mare chasing a stallion with a sawed-off shotgun and a pair of 10mm pistols was pretty comical.
Finally, Terran dove beside a rock, and shouted: "White, why the heck are you shooting me!? Its me, remember?"
"YEAH I REMEMBER!" screamed White, "LAST TIME WE MET, YOU TRIED TO GET ME FUCKING PREGNANT!"
Terran tried to get lower. "I'm sorry!" he shouted as bullets chipped away at the rock he was behind. "But I've got a job! One thousand caps!"
Instantly the bullets stopped. Terran stood up, only to find the sawed off touching his nose.
"You try ANYTHING funny Terran, and I will blow your brains out."
Terran nodded slowly, getting out from in front of said gun.
White sighed, and put her guns away. She was wearing what looked like old security armor, complete with fave blast shield thing. "I'm gonna guess that Dragoons coming with us? Along with your new friend. By the way, I noticed she was a stable dweller, but..."
"But what?" said Heartbeat, who had recovered from her giggling fit.
"Your a pegasus." They said simultaneously.
"Is that racist?" replied Heartbeat, a sudden fury in her eyes. "What have you got against pegasus?"
Ignoring her words, Terran shook his head. "Come on guys, we need to get back to my house."
Heartbeat was pissed. "Tell me! What the hell is wrong with pegasus?"
White sighed, and looked to Terran, who was already walking away. He sighed, and without turning around, he said two words with the most malice he could utter:
"The Enclave."
The trip back to Terran's home was utterly silent.
...
Dragoon waited for them when they got back. He smiled happily when he saw Terran and White, but went into a defensive stance when he saw Heartbeat.
Terran shook his head, and broke the eternal silence. "Don't worry Dragoon, she's a friend."
Dragoons stance changed suddenly, and he zoomed over to poor Heartbeat, and, like any child, started pestering her with dozens of questions.
"Who are you? Are you a Stable pony? Whats it like in a Stable? Hows the food?..." and on and on.
Heartbeat gave the others an innocent shrug, and followed the colt off into his own room.
As soon as they were out of sight, Terran turned to White. "I need to talk to you. In my room. Privately."
White whipped around. "Terran, if you..."
Terran shook his head. "No, it's not about that, although that would be nice..." White slapped him. "OW! Huh, well, I guess I deserved that."
One move into Terran's room later...
"Don't you find it odd we were never attacked?" Terran said quietly.
White shrugged. "I'd guessed you'd have taken anything out on the road already, but now that I think about it, it was odd, wasn't it?"
"There's something out there, I swear, protecting us. And I think it has something to do with my contract, which has got me thinking..."
"What?"
"What if it involves them?"
White turned even whiter then her coat. "No, that's impossible. That was a one time thing. You know that they wouldn't dare come down here. It's against their laws! They couldn't..."
"But what if they are?"
White froze, her normally strong eyes scared. "I don't know..." Then, her eyes returned to her normal bravado. "But if they are, which I put fifty caps against, I swear I will murder every single one of those bastards!"
Then, she felt something breath against her. Only then did she realize that Terran had gotten surprisingly close while directly next to her. With that in mind, she looked down to see that Terran was a quite stiff attention.
"You know, you're really sexy when your hating."
White shook her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but fine. Only this onc...Hey! Watch where you tou...ohhhh..."
...
White opened her eyes slowly, trying to remember what exactly happened the night before. She was answered by the sight of sleeping Terran, smiling, laying directly next to her.
"Why you little son of a..." she shouted, startling Terran so much he fell completely off the bed, revealing his (still stiff) member.
As White got out of the bed, she kicked it.
"YOOOW! What the hell what that for! You where the one who actually wanted to do it! I just said a catchy pick-up line and agreed!''
White sighed. She did remember that happening. So, she kicked Terran again. In the same place. Hard.
"Owwwwww" Terran squeaked, barely audible as tears filled his eyes.
White rolled her eyes. "Oh come ON! Don't be such a filly."
With that, White left the room, only to find Heartbeat, smiling.
Heartbeat chuckled. "I guess I'm not the only one who likes making Terran's life miserable."
White shrugged. "He's not that bad of a guy, he just can be a jerk sometimes."
As the words left her mouth, Dragoon trotted out of his room, yawning as he rubbed one of his eye in an unbelievably cute way. "Hey, Uncle Terran is the coolest Uncle ever! And he is not a jerk!"
White smiled. "Don't worry, Terran's not a jerk. He can just... act like it sometimes. So anyway, how did you two sleep? From what I'm told, we're leaving today with some mystery informant named Fedora. So, get breakfast and get ready to go!"
With that, Dragoon went over to get a bowl of Suger Bombs with brahmin milk. Heartbeat shrugged and decided to try sdome of the two-hundred year old cereal. White smiled. She remembered when she was like that; New to the wasteland, and all the horrors inside it. It felt like a lifetime since she left Stable 412.
"Come on Terran, they're gonna kill us!" White shouted, pink beams lancing by them as Terran desperately tried to get the Stable door open.
"I'm trying damn it!" Terran shouted as those... things came closer, energy weaponry glowing.
White kept shooting, but her dainty pistol was doing noting against their heavily-armored opponents.
"GOT IT!" screamed Terran, just as the Stable door slide open. They were out of it in a flash, bolts of energy just missing.
That was when they got their first glimpse of outside. However, they hardly had the chance to marvel the ceiling-less environment in the middle of night, as more of them were waiting. If not for the darkness, the pair would have been slaughtered. Instead, they managed to dive into a cluster of rocks, and crawled as far away from the entrance as they could.
"Were'd they go!? shouted one of them. "I want them dead!"
"Sir, with all due respect, they are simple teenagers, lightly armed. I doubt they will survive long."
The first voice growled. "Fine. You've saved yourself this time, but you question my orders one more time, I will kill you myself!"
With that, the voices faded away. Tears streaked down Whites face. "All of them dead... how could they have done it?"
Terran shook his head, tears appearing in his eyes. "They blew through into the higher levels. We couldn't have done anything."
"You alright, White?" asked Heartbeat, noticing Whites still face.
White shook her head. "Yes, I'm fine."
She turned, just to see Terran stumble into the room.
They had survived though,
Just as she thought that, there came a knock at the door.
...
A while later, they were walking down the road with Fedora, a heavy mist covering the air. Fedora led the group, followed by Dragoon and Heartbeat, and then White and Terran.
Terran looked around, and whispered: "Hey, White, this mist seem familiar?"
White nodded. "I think our benevolent supporters left us. I can only hope the mist is a coincidence."
Terran shook his head. "No, its the same mist as when we left the Stable, but this is thicker."
White tried to push what that meant out of her mind. Still, her magic hovered around her gun handles.
Several minutes later. They were in a dip in the road, hills all around, shrouded by mist. So, they never saw what happened next coming.
A small sound. Thats it. A small click. Not a gun-being-loaded click either, just a small click. Three of them knew what it was. Only one of them recognized it quickly enough to react.
Fedora's hunting rifle, attached by a light battle-saddle, was up and ready, as he shouted "SCORPIONS!!!!!"
Scorpions, such an innocent term. Unfortunately, Fedora did not mean the bugs, not even the mutated ones. No, he meant something else.
Out of the mist came ten of them. They were pegasus, every one of them. Each and every single one was wearing black power armor. And not any power armor either. This power armor, among other things, had long, horribly familiar scorpion tails.
The Enclave.
