Fallout: Equestria- The Road Home

Chapter Three: Discovery

"And I said oatmeal, are you crazy?"

I rose from my sleep to the smell of leftover gecko steaks. Rigby was roasting up some other meat over our campfire that looked to be from a different animal. I reached over to my pack and pulled out my box of Sugar Bombs and got out a couple hoof-fulls. Buck, what did they put in these things to make them so damn good! Even after two hundred years they were the most delicious food I’d had since leaving the stable. Briggs was using a hoof pump purifier to fill a couple bottles with some clean water. Golden and the captain sat at a rickety old table looking at his map. From the looks of it they definitely weren’t agreeing on something.

“If we take I-16 up through Quail Junction we’ll be there in two hours. We can’t take the trail around. That will cost us too much time,” the captain barked.

“You know that I-16 is infested with feral ghouls, there’s no way we’ll make it without a full team. And that’s assuming we don’t get caught by a group of manticores,” Golden shouted back.

“You’re right but we don’t have the time to go around. That’ll take an extra 4 hours and that path is still dangerous,” the captain responded.

“Yea, well I’d take a couple of hours of walking over getting force fucked by a maticore’s stinger any day.”

“Yea, I guess you’re right on that one. Why don’t we get a third opinion? Crack, come on over here.” The captain shouted.

I trotted over to the table and took a seat. “Well I overheard your options and I think we should go around. Better we get there a little late then not get there at all.”

“Well it’s settled then, we’re goin’ around. Everypony load up and let’s move out,” The captain ordered.

While everypony geared up I took the time to take stock of my saddlebags. Box of Sugar Bombs, some water, box of mint-als, some Dash, pack of Mareboros, my hunting rifle, 9mm pistol and some ammo. I tucked two clips from the pistol into my front pocket and got ready to leave.

We set out back on our journey to Ponyville. A layer of clouds covered the sun but that didn’t change the fact that it was hot as fuck out here. Briggs was the teams’ medic and cautioned everypony to keep hydrated. I pulled out a smoke and lit it up. Damn, there wasn’t a feeling like firein’ up that first smoke of the day. Only had three left so hopefully I’d find some lying around. It was funny how you’d find smokes in the strangest places but I guess with the lack of ponies to smoke them they just stuck around.

“So what’s there to do out here besides make caps and try not to get shot?” I asked.

“Well you can head over to Megamart. They got plenty of merchants set up and there’s always a card game to play in. You could swing by Flank. They’ve got a brothel set up over there if yer lookin’ for some snatch. Besides that not really, everypony’s just tryin’ ta get by,” stated the captain.

“Well I guess I’ll be stoppin’ by there then after this delivery’s done. Been tryin’ to save up enough to get a nice assault rifle. Maybe pick up some armor or something.”

We carried on for around for about two hours till Golden stopped dead in her tracks. The squad and I followed suit and froze. From off in the distance I heard a loud snarling sound followed by a high-pitched scream. We moved slowly towards the source of the noise. As we started to move up the overlooking hill I started smelling the pungent odor of burnt flesh and rotten meat. As I reached the top I looked over to see a group of the ugliest fucking things I had ever seen. They looked to be ponies but their bare muscles and some bones were showing. They looked very malnourished but they still fought and bit at whatever poor soul they had caught. Through the hoard I could see the pony that they were eating was a mare, probably about my age. They viciously ripped pieces of flesh and muscle from her bone, obviously starting when she was still alive.

The team lied there giving each other those “What the fuck are we gonna do now?” faces. I guess we all were thinking of our next move. I readied my hunting rifle and looked down my scope to get a better view. It looked to be about fifteen to twenty of them and a few of them had barding on. As they enjoyed their meal, one of them raised its head up and started sniffing the air. I trained my sight on it and watched as not seconds later it turned and stared directly at us. Somehow I knew this would not end well.

The ghoul let out a blood-curling screech. A second later I watched my .308 round remove his head but it was too late. The rest of the ghouls had abandoned their meal and were coming at us in seconds. I squeezed off another shot before I fell back with the rest of the team. I pulled out my pistol and turned around every couple of seconds to let off a couple rounds. To my dismay if the round didn’t hit their face I might as well not be shooting them at all. As Rigby turned around to lay down some fire he tripped over something. They were on him like lightning. Five ghouls dog piled on top of him. His power armor protected his body but they were able to work his helmet off leaving his head exposed. The whole team turned around and started firing into the hoard. We watched in horror as parts of his face were ripped off and consumed. Golden took out what looked like a spray paint can with a Dash inhaler and took a drag off it. She then tossed to me and said to take it. I caught it with my magic and took a pull off it. I felt the harsh substance hit my lungs and burn them up. Then the world started to slow down around me. It felt similar to going into S.A.T.S.. Time was so slowed I could see the bullets leaving Golden’s carbine beside me. I pulled my rifle back out and started putting rounds into them. I squeezed off my last three rounds and received three headshots. I immediately pulled out my pistol and took aim for their heads. Pop, pop, pop goes the ghoul’s heads. We whittled them down to two left when the rush of sobriety hit me like a ton of bricks. Time sped back up and it was accompanied by a crushing headache. Two rounds crashed into the remaining ghoul’s heads and they went down.

The team trotted over to our fallen comrade with our heads hung low. We all knew it had been too late for him and we were right. The only thing left was his skull and a couple scraps of flesh. We had won the battle but there was no victory dance or celebration. Just mourning.

The captain conducted a quick service as Briggs collected his belongings and dog tags. He spoke of what a good buck and solider he had been and swore to look out for his family as best he could. The service was concluded by lowering his body into a shallow grave and burying him. This was the first time I had seen death close and personal. Death is a reality of the wasteland but when it happens to ponies you know it hits harder.

“You said you needed an AR, well here you go.” The captain said solemnly.

“I can’t take that. It should be given to his family.”

“Don’t worry about it. He would been honored to know that his weapon continued to fight the good fight.” He replied.

He handed me a well-built AK-47 assault rifle with roughly three hundred rounds. He had modified it to feature a red dot sight and had a fore grip for increased stability. On the side of the rail mount I saw that something was carved into its side. One word. Mercy.

We got back started on our way back to Ponyville. My head was still pounding from that drug Golden gave me. I was tempted to use a mint-al to kill the pain but decided against it. Might need them somewhere down the road plus Lockout said they had a high potential for addiction. I pulled out a cigarette and took a drink of water. The rest of our trip was kinda quiet. We made it to Ponyville in the early afternoon and everything looked pretty dead. From here I could see the hut I was supposed to be delivering the package to. Golden and I split off from the others and made our way towards the hut. It was very small and probably had only one person living there. I put my hoof out to open the door but Golden stopped me. She used one back hoof and knocked the door open. The open door was met with a single shotgun blast.

“Gotta be careful with doors, ya never know what’s waiting on the other side,” Golden cautioned. I might need to stick with her, she knows her way around the wastes.

Golden and I slowly walked into the hut. Before we even entered I smelled the familiar stench of rotting flesh. The inside of the hut looked like a bomb had gone off inside of it; a complete massacre. In the corner were a couple severed body parts stacked in a macabre fashion. Behind a desk in the middle of the room sat a figure slumped over in its chair. We cautiously began moving in when we heard a faint *tink* and suddenly the figure shot into life. I could now see that the figure was a buck but had been chopped up and sewn back together again. His lifeless body was being manipulated by small wires coming from the ceiling. The figure danced around the room and a recording started playing from the back of the room.

“Beware courier, you know not what power you have. We are watching. We will get that package. Resistance is futile. Leave the box here and we may let you live. You hold unspeakable power. Power nopony should have. We are everywhere. Do not test our power.”

We searched around the hut for clues and useful salvage. We found a healing potion and a sensor module but beside that just a bunch of junk.

“So what are you gonna do with that box? You leavin’ it here or are ya gonna keep it,” Golden asked grimly.

“Well if it’s that important to these fuckers then they’re gonna have to come get it. Besides, I’m a little curious to see what’s in it. The recipient’s dead so I guess it’ll be safe to open now. ” I returned.

I slowly levitated the package out of my saddlebags and placed it on the table. I delicately started to open the package and took a look inside. The package contained a small metallic device that slowly pulsed with a green glow. I picked it up and carefully rotated it around trying to figure out what it was. It seemed to be full of magical energy but it didn’t look operational.

Suddenly a large tremor shook the ground beneath me throwing us to the floor. Seconds later a large deep sound bellowed from outside the hut. We both got to our hooves and started for the door. Golden tactically peered outside to get an idea of what the fuck was going on. She quickly signaled for me to follow her and we made our way outside. I followed her about thirty meters to an old busted brick wall. Over the hill we could see Star Bright and Briggs in an intense fire fight with a large group of raiders. We both readied our weapons and started putting them down. We both got about three kills each when over the hill came at least forty or more raiders. This situation was going from bad to worse. The captain and Briggs held their ground and hit them as hard as they could. We watched as a familiar buck in power armor crested the hill. I recognized him as the leader of the base at the beginning of my journey. Looks like he must of escaped and regrouped with his troops. On his side he bore an automatic grenade launcher that just looked evil. From all the way over here, I could hear the engine in his weapon start spinning up. His weapon begun to spit out many 40mm grenades down towards my companions. It was strange; they didn’t leave large holes in the ground or cause a huge explosion, but shot out a blue glow that didn’t seem to do anything. One grenade landed right between the two and they stopped firing and moving all together.

“Fuck EMP grenades. They use an electromagnetic pulse to disable electronics. Those two are screwed for the moment. We have to disengage.” Golden whispered.

The battle was over. They were overwhelmed and out gunned. I watched as they loaded them up onto carts and started to pull them away. I watched the leader pull out a Med-X syringe and stab it into his leg then light up a smoke. Looks like I knew where my next pack was coming from.

As the group started to head out of the area, Golden and I quickly looked around the surrounding buildings for some salvage. A lot of the buildings had been booby-trapped similar to the hut. Golden found some ammo for her carbine and some Buck. I was able to find a couple loose smokes and some Sugar Bombs. We regrouped in the middle of town and started to track down the raiders. Honestly it wasn’t very hard; you couldn’t miss forty sets of hoof prints walking in the same direction.

We followed the prints for about thirty minutes until we reached the entrance to a plantation. The sign above us read ‘Sweet Apple Acres, 5 minutes that‘a way!’. Night was beginning to fall and I could see the glow of an encampment from over the hill. Nightfall would get us the perfect advantage we would need to take on this large force by ourselves. We got positioned on the overlooking hill to do surveillance and plan our attack. From our position we could see a large red building with a couple smaller sheds on the right side. I pulled out my binoculars and took a look.

“Looks like we got three sentries for counter intelligence. The main building looks like its being used for storage. Those smaller building look like where they sleep and congregate. First off we need to take out their sentries. You see those two guard towers? ” I asked.

“Yea I do,” she responded.

“Ok, I need you to get up there and take them out. If they see us its game over and in a hurry. Once you take out the first one ill start moving up the left side through the fields. Move on to the other two then we’ll meet up behind the big barn. I’d bet my bottom bit that their keeping yer friends in there.”

“Ok, sounds like a plan. Here take these. If shit hits the fan don’t be shy, toss these mother fuckers and hit the deck.”

Golden handed me three apple grenades with a green band around them and a piece of dust colored cloth.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“No offense but that mane of yours is gonna stick out like a sore thumb, even at night. Wrap it around your head.” She said.

“Ok, got it.” I started to wrap up my head with the cloth and tied it off in the back. It might be a little uncomfortable but I had to admit, I felt like a total badass. I watched as Golden started her assault towards the first watchtower. She moved with such stealth and grace that it would be a miracle if they spotted her. She carefully climbed to the top of the tower and revealed her combat knife. With a quick slash I saw the life drain from the buck and Golden lower him to the floor. With the guard down I started to move towards the base. I tried to mimic the way Golden moved through the foliage but I couldn’t do it half as well. As I got closer to the camp, I stopped to see if she had removed the other two sentries. Right on time see dropped the other two and gave the signal to meet up behind the barn. We regrouped out back and Golden pulled out a rope with a four pronged instrument tied to the end. She tossed it up to an open window on the second level and we both shimmied ourselves up. In the top loft we could see down to the floor.

The barn held exactly what we thought. They used the barn as a storage facility. Down there was a small cache of small arms, a couple rifles and a pistol or two. In another corner was enough booze to keep Stable 23 drunk for years. In the middle was a set of four cages each with two ponies in each. One cage held our fallen comrades and the others just held random bucks and mares. Wait a minute. It couldn’t be. In the left most cage was a crème buck with a computer on his flank. Lockout! Now this shit just got personal.

Two guards sat opposite each other near the door watching the captured ponies. Golden and I arranged ourselves over the guards. I pulled out my combat knife and got ready to pounce. Golden gestured with her hoof a countdown. On the third wave we both dropped down onto our unsuspecting victims. Her decent was far more graceful; she landed on the mare and slid her knife right into the soft spot between her shoulder and neck. She quickly turned the knife and her mark immediately dropped to the floor like a bag of potatoes. As for me I hit the buck and knocked him to the ground. We rolled around for a couple seconds until I could get on top. I repeatedly stabbed him squirting blood every time I withdrew the blade. After about ten stabs he stopped resisting and the life slowly faded from his eyes.

“Not too shabby. Your technique could use a little work but it was effective.” Golden chuckled.

“Thanks. Ok lets get these ponies out.” I walked over to the cage that held Lockout and some other buck in it. “I see you’ve been having fun out here.”

“Yea I guess you could call this place fun.” Lockout replied. I looked around to see a couple things I had missed from above. The rangers’ weapons were sticking out of a metal box in one corner of the room. In another was a pile of gore, probably the body parts that even these sickos wouldn’t eat.

“Ok ponies if you want to live once we get you out we’re gonna have to come to an agreement. I don’t give a flying feather what you do once were clear from this place but until then you do what I say, got it? I want all of us to get the fuck out of here safely understood?” They all bobbed their heads in acknowledgment. “Good now that we’re all on the same page we’ll let you out.” I looked around and tried to think of a plan to get us out of this mess. Two ponies could sneak in but I doubted ten could sneak out.

“Golden get these cages unlocked and have Lockout get your friends armor back online. Give me any spare cloth you have, I’m about to be brilliant!”

I trotted over to the stash of alcohol and picked up a couple bottles. I opened them and went around the barn dousing the floor, walls, and anything else remotely flammable with the strong drink. Damn, if my dad knew I was wasting good booze he would beat me for a week. You know what they say; desperate times call for desperate measures. I took the spare pieces of cloth and jammed them into several bottles of whiskey. By this point Golden had freed everypony and had gathered them in the center of the room. Captain and Briggs threw their weapons back on and got suited up. Golden distributed the small arms to the captives as I continued preparing.

I got up on a small box and got everyponies attention. “Ok guys here’s the plan. Stay with your cage buddy and get outside behind the small buildings. Captain, you and Briggs follow them and get positioned so you can clearly see the door. I’m gonna run out and get their attention and lure them into the barn. Once they start coming in, open fire on them and try and push them in here. I will leave it up to the captain to make the call but when he does light and throw your firebombs. Just try and give me enough time to get out if that’s all right with you guys. We’re gonna burn this mother fucker to the ground.”

Golden got everyone out while I prepared my opening lines. Before opening the door I noticed the most badass looking facemask sitting on a box. This thing was awesome! I slipped it over my face and my PipBuck showed an alert. ‘10% rad resist’. Cool, good to know.

I bucked the barn doors open as hard as I could and it produced a large bang. I slowly walked out to see that the whole camp was looking right at me. “Heard you fuckers were looking for me. Well I’m right here so lets do this.”

“Get that little shit!” I heard one mare scream.

And just like that at least twenty-five ponies were in full sprint towards me. I pulled out my 9mm pistol and discharged a couple rounds into the hoard. I ran back into the barn and got to the second floor. Right on time I heard the small arms and heavy machine gun fire of my comrades pushing them into the barn. I slid down the rope after smashing a firebomb on the stairs, insuring that I wouldn’t be followed. I’m glad I put the captain in charge because right as I got away from the barn it lit up fiercely. I heard the agonizing screams and smelt the burning flesh from outside. I felt no remorse. They deserved this hellish punishment.

I got out front to see the captives in a raging fire fight with the remaining raiders. We were still out numbered but only by three. I pulled out Mercy and started to lay down suppressing fire. I watched as Briggs threw a firebomb right on top of two mares with hunting rifles. They both dropped their weapons and ran shrieking until their lifeless bodies hit the ground. The battle was over when we had taken their force down to three mares. Seeing that resistance was futile they ran for the front gate. They made it out of range when we heard an ominous beeping followed by two explosions. Their bodies completely disappeared in a shower of gore and blood. From behind the front gates booth stepped Golden with a tiny detonator in her hoof and a big smile on her face.

Level up: Sneak (35)

Perk added: Born Leader: Leadership runs in your blood. All companions will fight by your side more fiercely, equivalent to one extra point to charisma.