Prologue - Stable 12
"Sabre! Come and play with me! Please?"
I sighed loudly and rubbed my hoof on my temple in frustration.
"Please, Loli. I need to get this done by tommorow otherwise Iron will have a go at me."
"Who cares if Iron Sight has a little temper tantrum?"
"Me. I'll get in trouble with him."
"You could probably beat him up easily, big brother!"
I laughed at that.
Hehe. Kids.
"I know I can. But that doesn't help the fact that he's higher ranked then me."
Loli was a small unicorn with a maroon coat and a curly pink mane. Her tail was curled, making her look more adorable then she already was. Combined with her high pitched voice, she can give a hardened soldier a heart attack. She hadn't gotten her cutie mark yet, which means she also hasn't got her PipBuck yet.
Me? Well, I'm a pegasus with a shaggy orange mane and brown coat. My tail is a mixture of spiky and poofy. Yeah, it looks weird. My voice is extremely rough. Anyway, my cutie mark is a crosshair. Take a guess at what I specialize in.
I was sitting at a workbench in a room somewhere deep within Stable 12, working on the weapons for the security ponies. Most I needed to do was either clean some guns or fix 'em up. Today I was assigned to fix six pistols the security team broke after a 'rough night of training'.
Training my left nut! These pistols are lucky to even still have pieces!
"Sabre, why do you even need to fix these pistols? The only one who uses them is you."
I chuckle and nod in agreement. Loli continued talking.
"You can use each of the feathers on your wing to hold them, to! I don't know anypony else who can do that besides Dad when he was teaching you!"
I wince slightly at the mention of our Dad, but nod. True. I didn't train my wings to fly, I trained 'em to hold guns and fire. It's so much better then using your mouth. Unicorns have it better, to be honest, they can just use their magic. Of course right now I can't hold guns with all my feathers, just the primary feathers right now. But I'm trainin'.
I heard Loli yawn and walk up to my side, poking my folded wings with a hoof.
"C'mon, Sabre. It's time for bed."
"Loli, I've told you before-"
"Sabre, wake up."
I paused. My hoof was holding a barrel of a pistol.
What did she say?
I turn around to face Loli. She wore a deadpan look on her face.
"I said wake up, big brother."
I blink before she jumps up and slams her hoofs into my chest.
"WAKE UP!"
<-------------------->
My eyes snapped open, then quickly closed due to the sunlight burning them. I groaned and rolled onto my back, remembering where I was.
Right, I'm not in Stable 12 anymore. I'm out in the wasteland.
I rolled over and get off the bed I was currently sharing with the charred remains of a pony skeleton. I stood on my hind legs and stretch, looking over towards the unicorn with a smirk.
"Thanks for the great night, darlin'."
I barked a laugh at my little joke when the unicorn didn't respond.
Well, of course I know it's dead. I'm not stupid. I just needed the laugh.
I walked outside of the house to be invited into the sunlight of the wasteland. Slightly blinding, but I manage. I glanced around, checking if anyone is around or not. I look down to my PipBuck and notice I'm in a town called 'Ponyville'.
Okay, not creepy at all.
I check where North is and turn myself in the direction, moving straight ahead.
Remember last time I described myself? Well, this time imagine dirt. Like, lots of dirt. I am covered in it. I am wearing a barding with the six pistol holsters down near my chest, three on each side. A dirty hat still adorns my head.
Time in the wastes makes you do what you can to survive, so I sped up and began training my wings as fast as I could. 'Course I still can't handle more than two guns but it's better than nothing.
Hearing a shuffling and rustle of the dead bush a few meters ahead of me I sighed, grabbed out the first pistol with my right primary and shot the bush. As I deposited my pistol I heard a blood curdling scream and some sobbing. Moving towards the crying, I reached the pony responsible.
Celestia damned Raiders.
Without hesitation I grabbed my pistol and shot him, point blank between the eyes. He fell limp as his body lost life. I reached over his corpse and began looting.
Nothing but the clothes on his back.
I kicked the body and continue on my way North. If you asked me where I was going, I would probably ignore you. But the real answer is, I don't really know. I'm just walking. I've been doing that for a while. I'd say it's been a year since....that day.
I ain't gunna think about that day right now.
Well, truth be told I'm not walking towards anything. I'm walking away from my past.
Very, very, very, very far down South from where I am, lay the ruins of Stable 12.
<-------------------->
I woke up to the sounds of alarms and screaming. Bolting from my bed into a standing position I see and hear that the Stable is in a state of chaos. I see Iron Sight rush into my bedroom with sweat and blood all over his face along with a worried expression.
"The Raiders finally broke into the Stable! Grab a gun, Sabre!"
With that he bolts out of my room, cocking his shotgun he held in a telepathic field.
Did he say Raiders?! Oh, shit!
I rushed over to my desk and grabbed the barding my father gave to me, gazing down at it with sorrow in my chest.
Rest in Peace you magnificent bastard.
II was about to turn and race into the Stable, but the sight of my fathers hat stopped me for a moment. I reached over and slammed it upon my head, and charged into the corridors of the out of control Stable.
Ponies were running around screaming like headless chickens. Red lights flashing and siren noises blaring everywhere. I rushed down the corridor in the opposite direction the ponies were running away from. I was greeted with the sight of four Raiders. One of 'em spotted me and cracked a dark grin.
"Lookie what we got here, boys! A-"
His smack talk was cut off by a piece of lead smashing him in the forehead, making his body flop dead onto the floor in a bloody mess. His friends looked down in shock at the corpse and then looked back at me to see my left wing supporting a single pistol, smoking from the barrel. The Raider to the left raised his head to the skies and screamed a rage filled battle cry, turning to his comrades.
"GET 'IM! GET 'IM AND GUT 'IM!"
The other two Raiders nodded and ran towards me, one holding a machete in a telekinetic field and the other wielding a piece of wood with a nail driven through the end.
Melee weapons? Seriously?
With a grunt and an eye roll I shot the machete wielding one in the chest, causing him to tumble over and slam his own head into his own weapon, blood gushing from the massive injury. The other one managed to trip over the body of his ally, giving me a window of time to shot him in the head as his body lay limp across the dead body. I looked over to the remaining Raider and gave him a smug grin.
"Best three outta four?"
The Raider stood frozen in fear. I walked casually up to him, pushing past the bodies of his friends. At this point he was sweating bullets. His legs were shaking as I leaned my head closer towards him, gun pointed at his head with an evil smile in my face.
"Boo."
Said Raider proceeds to whimper before bolting off in the opposite direction of me. I holstered the used pistol with a groan, rubbing my wing with a hoof.
Celestia's left teat, that hurts.
To this day it still takes a lot of energy for me to even fire a single bullet or support even one gun with my wings. I charged down the corridor towards the Stable door. I was gunna close that door before more could come in, and hopefully exterminate the ones inside. When I reached it however, I was greeted with a shocking scene.
With a shotgun held to her head sat Loli, the Raider holding said gun looking me dead in the eyes. Surrounding him were three more Raiders, all aiming guns at other ponies I knew. I saw Iron Sight, head of security. There was Kimmy, a teenage Technician. And lastly I saw Prof. Numero, take a guess at what he did. The Raider with Loli looked to me and smirked.
"Don't move or the bitch dies, asshole!"
To make his point clear he dragged Loli closer to his chest. Her wide magenta eyes boring into my own with tears.
"...Sabre..."
By Celestia and Luna's rumored and fantasized incestual relationship, I *will** save you!*
"Now, drop your guns or-"
He was cut off by my bullet shooting him in the leg. He staggered and regained his footing, keeping the gun in his hold.
Sometimes I hate unicorns.
"Die, asshole!"
He lifted the shotgun from Loli and pointed it at me, firing off two rounds. One scuffed my sides, causing me to keel over in pain. The other, missed me. Loli had managed to kick the Raider in his balls, causing him to fire to my right. He groaned and looked down at Loli in anger. I looked up just in time to see what happened next.
"You little bitch!"
I heard the bang before the shot reached her. I watched in slow motion as Loli's body slowly and gracefully fell to the side, blood coating her chest. In a fit of adrenaline fueled anger, I roared as I raised both my wings, holding two pistols, and began raining down hell upon the Raiders in the room. Bullets flew everywhere and managed to massacre the Raiders and the hostages. After a few seconds of non-stop firing, the pistols ran out of ammo. I continued to pull the trigger, lost in my thoughts. The room was coated with blood and bodies.
I looked up from my position, my eyes locked upon Loli's limp body.
"...Loli..."
I walked over to her body and flipped it over. Her beautiful and bright magenta eyes now clouded over. Her coat stained with her own blood. All I could do was stare in shock at what remained of my sister.
"N-no...no...I promised Dad I would take care of you....."
I felt a hoof touch my shoulder and looked over to see the Overmare herself. She had a saddened look on her face.
"Get out of here while you still can, Sabre. The Stable is done for. Just go."
Unable to do anything but comply in my shattered state of mind I merely nodded and began running out the now opened Stable door. Along the cold and dark path of a cave system I found a wooden door that was now smashed down. Outside I could clearly see the wasteland of Equestria. Behind me I heard loud laughter and gun shots. Without looking back, I ran out into the wasteland, using my PipBuck to tell me where I was.
All I ever did was run.
<------------------->
That day was probably the worst day of my life. That day was the day my life was changed forever. That, Celestia damned day was the day I had to buck up and be tougher. That day was the day I learned an important lesson.
No matter what happens to you, no matter what happens to the ponies around, no matter what happens...life goes on.
Chapter #001 - Royal Ruins
As I walked through the remains of what was Ponyville, I started imagining what it would've been like back before the war. Before everything went to the shit and was okay. I scoffed at such a thought. No use dwelling on what was. Ya gotta focus on what is. Ponyville was a nice place. Doesn't matter right now. Ponyville is an infested dump of a place. Every single building I walked by was either demolished or rotting away. I trotted past a building that looked like it was made of deserts. I walked up to the front door and wiped away the dirt and grim. Some writing was on the wood, barely legible.
S-garc-b- C-rn-r
I shrugged and moved on. Down the road I spotted a giant ass tree that looks to have been hollowed out to make a house. I pushed against the door only to have it slam down onto the ground of the inside. Looks like there were shelves everywhere, but a lot of it was broken down. Books were scattered all across the floor of the tree, so I assumed it was a library. I shook my head and exit the overgrown plant.
"Nope. Nothin' here."
I continued walking down the street past all the abandoned buildings. I already saw what looked to be a farm when I entered the town but found nothing there so I moved on. I eventually came across what looked to be a train station.
But there's nothin' round here for miles. Except...
I opened my PipBuck and looked to the map, my suspicions confirmed.
Ah, I knew it. I remember reading about this place now. Not only is there a Stable nearby but also Canterlot.
I lowered my PipBuck and looked up towards the mountain that over shadowed me. True enough, Canterlot was there. Perched upon the side of the mountain. Of course it looked ruined to the four corners of Tartarus, but still....
That's where the Princesses lived before the war. Interesting...
I was always a sucker for exploration and knowledge, so I'll combine the two. Making up my mind, I tilt my hat forward slightly and made my way over to the train station. But before I could take another step something stopped me. A loud gun shot, followed by a high pitched scream. My head turned quickly in the direction of the scream.
...Someone is in trouble...
Right now I was arguing whether or not I should lend a hoof or not. After a few seconds I sighed and gave in to my stupid sense of justice. I turned around and galloped towards the screaming. Buildings flew past me as I ran, trying to find where I needed to go. I heard another scream come from my left and immediately took the next left. After a few seconds I came across the pony who screamed, and three other ponies. Two of which were pointing guns at her head, the other was smoking a cigar and smiling. All three of them had their backs to me except the mare.
She was sitting on the ground between two corpses. She had a spiked red mane and a light blue coat with yellow eyes, which were now wet with tears. I couldn't see her cutie mark but I saw that she was an Earth pony. She wore a barding much like mine but no guns were holstered.
She saw me and reached a hoof out towards me, almost begging me to save her. The cigar smoking pony noticed this and turned to face me. He had a well kept jet black mane with a light brown coat, covered by his black vest. His eyes were aqua blue shade, and his cutie mark was covered by a saddlebag. He cracked a devious grin to me.
"No need to play hero, mate. Jus' run along and we won' bother ya."
I braced my forelegs and enter a sort of battle stance. The pony scoffed as the other two flanked him, aiming their rifles at me.
"You can walk away any time now."
I stood my ground, glaring directly at the fucker. He sighed and nodded to the ponies beside him. They started creeping closer and closer to me, guns at the ready. He shrugged and waved a hoof in the air dismissively.
"Suit yourself. Boys, take out tha trash for me, wouldya?"
As his 'boys' started firing I ducked behind a tipped over wagon for cover. They continued firing relentlessly, despite the fact that I was well covered and they had little chance to hit me. I pulled a pistol out with my left wing and reached it over the wagon, firing blindly. I heard a single scream and a loud thumping noise. I assumed I managed to get one of them, but had no idea where the hell the other would be.
"Surprise, motha fucker!"
Looking upwards I find that the pony was floating above me with the cockiest grin I've ever seen. He was pointing his gun away from me, however. His saddle refused to point down. Finding this as an advantage, I looked up at him with a smile, before pointing my gun directly towards him.
"Surprise, dickwad."
Bang. His body fell as I rolled out of the way, letting it hit the ground. I got up and dusted myself off, walking around the wagon and towards the leader, who now looked upon me with terror in his eyes. When I got close enough, I just stood there with my gun pointed at his face and the biggest 'Fuck you I win' grin I could muster.
"Oh fu-"
Bang. A shot rang out through the silence and his body fell limp, lifeless. I grunt and twist my wing, hearing a satisfying pop. I holstered my gun and turned around to walk back to the train station, continuing my journey.
"Thanks for saving me."
I turned to find the mare looking towards me with a heartfelt smile. I respond with a smile of my own. She turned around and ran off, off into the horizon. I coughed to clear my throat and continued on my way to the train station.
<-------------->
When I reached the station, I saw that the ticket booth was run down and torn to pieces, the tracks were demolished to Tartarus but nonetheless they were there. I walked over to the tracks and started following 'em up to Canterlot. Rocks, boulders, bodies and even skeletons littered the area around me as I continued my walk along the tracks. I was walking for thirty minutes until I reached a tunnel. I look towards the tunnel and listen intently, trying to find or hear something.
If what I heard about the Vipers is true, I doubt they would hesitate to put up an ambush in the tunnel.
I heard rumours that a gang called the Vipers now owned the territory around Canterlot. I was so close to the kingdom, just beyond the tunnel lay Canterlot, a twenty minute walk from here at the most. The tunnels insides had tonnes of debris. It had multiple small walls inside where Vipers could very easily hide behind when utilizing the darkness. I walked forward cautiously and with great care, hoping to Celestia that I wasn't walking into an ambush.
It wasn't visibly shown, but my wings felt sore and stiff as all Tartarus. Using my wings to utilize my guns still hurt me a lot, just not as much as when I first began using them this way. I reach back into my saddlebags and pulled out a vial of purple liquid. I popped the cork and downed the nasty concoction in one go. I shuddered and felt the familiar sensation of little vibrations crawling under the skin of my wings, healing them right up. I sighed and patted my wings.
"Good as new."
After a long walk I finally managed to enter the once great city, which was now decimated. The only building standing is the Castle, and even that was in seriously bad condition. All the rest of the buildings were downright demolished or barely standing.
This is bad. A Sniper could be in that castle for all I know. The fact that there is ZERO cover makes this situation worse. If what I heard was true, the Vipers are using the castle as a base of operations. There's no other place for 'em to hide.
I took a deep breath and began searching the windows of the castle, hoping to Celestia that the Sniper is taking a whizz or something. When I was relatively sure that there were no snipers, I began running along the abandoned streets, going from destroyed building to destroyed building hoping to avoid detection. After a while I began questioning what I heard about the Vipers. There were literally no guards as far as I could tell, no snipers, no turrets, no nothing.
Where in the living fuck are all the Vipers.
It doesn't make sense. The Vipers are territorial as hell. If they own land they will not give it up without a fight. Where the hell are they? I shake my head out of my thoughts to find that I was face to face with what remains of the fronts doors to the Castle.
I don't like this....
With a gulp I push open the massive doors to the deteriorated castle. The state of the castle made my blood ice cold.
"Holy fucking shit."
The Vipers were definitely in the castle. They just weren't alive. Hundreds upon hundreds of armored bodies spread across the floors of the corridors within the massive castle. I took a cautious step inside, almost tripping on the remains of a nearby unicorn body. The bodies littered the Castle's floors, some were even on the ceiling. With a worried look I continued onwards through the massacred castle. I was walking towards the throne room (or where I thought it was) in complete silence.
I stopped in my tracks to see I had finally found the doors to the ancient room. I pushed the massive door open (Seriously, though. Why do you need massive doors?) to reveal the room. The walls were torn down, rubble was scattered in every direction, a ghoul was sitting in the throne, there was a nice potted plan- Wait what?
"Hey, amigo!"
Well I'll be. Look who it is.
I smile slightly and nod my head towards the ghoul in greeting.
"Hey, Kai. What've you been up to?"
Kai shrugged and eyed the bottle of whiskey in his hoof suspiciously.
"Not much, I just killed like...fifty fuckin' million Vipers. What about you?"
Kai was a ghoul (duh) with a faded blue mane and a....dunno what color his.....dunno what to call it anymore...skin? Coat? Fuck'd if I know. He is wearing a large broad brimmed hat and cape. He was an earth pony before he became a ghoul so no appendages or anything. Let's just say me and him saved each others flanks and kinda became allies.
"I saved a pony and almost got killed in the process."
Kai laughed heartily and jumped down from his throne, two shotguns accompanied his sides with straps.
"You have serious justice issues, amigo."
"Says a lot about you then, aye?"
"Aye. Bit of a coincidence meeting you here, compadre. Where was it we last saw each other?"
"Some place between here and Las Pegasus."
Kai barked a laugh and took a swig of whiskey, giving me a knowing look while doing so.
"You mean what is left of Pegasus."
I smile and nod to the ghoulish friend. Kai is one of those guys who looks at the brighter side of life. He can laugh at almost anything. Unfortunately for me, it's quite infectious. He staggered over towards me and took a mock bow, as if I was royalty.
"Sir, welcome to Canterlot Castle. Population: Fuck all. Rooms are a cap a night. Two if you want breakfast."
I simply knocked him on the head and he just laughed it off.
"So what are you doing here, Sabre? Last I heard you was headin' North."
"Still am. Thought I'd check out this place before continuing to move on."
"Reasonable. Considering this place is donde mierda se volvió loco, of course you would visit here."
"I'm just interested in how this shit hole became what it is today."
"Aren't we all, amigo?"
I took in my surroundings as best I could. The room was full of Viper bodies, the walls were drenched in blood and guts, and the room smelled fucking foul.
"Kai, how the fuck did you manage to kill all these Vipers."
Kai shrugged and staggered back over to his throne, slumping into the ruined chair.
"Actually, I didn't. When I came here, Enclave soldiers were here takin' care of 'em. After they left I came in and began lootin'."
"What reason would the Enclave have to raid this kinda place?"
"Dunno. When they left they had a massive crate that seemed to be glowing slightly."
So the Enclave were now graverobbers and thieves, eh? Interesting. Wonder what they got.
"Maybe you should go say Hi to them. Being a member of the 'last pure race' might get ya brownie points."
I laughed and walked up to Kai, taking a seat next to him atop the massive throne.
"Doubt it. Remember Pegasus?"
Kai smirked and nodded ever so slowly.
"Never forget it, bro. The Enclave have never hated someone as much as they hate us."
"How much was our bounty, again?"
"You've got like five thousand caps on your head, roughly two 'kay for my head."
"And no one is ever gunna claim that bounty."
"Not as long as I have breath in my lungs, amigo."
I smiled and lean back into the throne, taking Kai's whiskey and giving it a good swig, burning my throat as it slid down. I place the whiskey between us and sigh.
"Have ya joined up with any factions yet?"
Kai shook his head and turned to face me.
"Nah, amigo. You?"
I shook my head.
"Nah. I don't plan on it either. Ya know how I feel towards the other psychopaths in this Celestia forsaken wasteland."
Kai nodded in agreement, knowing how I felt. I sigh and took one last swig from the whiskey.
"Well, this was a nice detour I guess."
Kai turned to me and patted my shoulder as I jumped from the throne. He knew how I traveled, and understood why I do it.
"Nice seein' ya again, bro."
I nodded to him, then began walking out the doors and exiting the castle to continue my journey.
Kai slumped forward and sighed.
"Sabre, you really need a real mate."
He then threw his head back and downed the rest of the whiskey in one gulp.
<------------------>
