Fallout: Hair Trigger

Chapter 1: Zebras and Windigos

Alright, I’m glad for the relatively good reception of the Prologue and would like to thank those that have liked and favorited. I know it has been a really long time since I last updated, and in that time I received a few questions via PM asking exactly what weapons that he is carrying, including what may or may not be in the supply crate which is actually a repurposed Minigun ammunition box with internal dividers. To answer that question, his current arsenal includes the Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle, dual-wielded Ripper Blades, a modified 12 Gauge Riot Shotgun, 10mm Alloy Steel Pistol*, six(6) Microfusion Grenades, Hyper-Frequency Emitter implants* in his arms, and a Ballistic Fist in ‘Hydra’ Configuration built into the right forearm plating of his armor. To those who aren’t that familiar with Fallout: New Vegas, I’ll explain things more in depth as they come up as topics of discussion in the story. Now you don’t want a wall of text for a top author note so I’ll move ahead into the story.

The spell had been a success, they knew that much. Now it was only a matter of waiting for the summoned entity to make itself known, as they had infiltrators and watchers posted in every town of Equestria. It had been a long time since their great failure, and now their leader was going to attempt to make amends for her transgressions through the entity. The pieces would soon be set, and the Web of Lies and Deceit continued to be spun to further protect themselves should this plan fail as well.

With the helmet gone the three fillies stared into the creature's eyes in a mixture of awe and fear. After several seconds that felt like a small eternity, its eyes slid shut and it collapsed on its back  to the forest floor.

For a few moments the Crusaders looked between the unconscious form before them and the mutilated corpse of the manticore not to far away. It was a sickening sight to the trio, punctures and tears in its hide leaked viscous crimson and yellow fluids, staining its fur like macabre paint. Shredded portions of the manticore's viscera and entrails were visibly spilled from the two brutal slices in its underbelly. While the Crusaders were shaken by the brutality that the creature had displayed against the manticore, they knew that they needed to get help for it.

"Scootaloo, get to back to Ponyville and head tah Sweet Apple Acres." Applebloom said shakily, "I think we're gonna need my sister and her friends to deal with this."

"You got it Applebloom," came Scootaloo's reply as she galloped off down the path back to Ponyville, "you two go get Zecora!"

The sun had just fallen below the horizon by the time Scootaloo made it to Sweet Apple Acres. The image of the unconscious creature occupied the forefront of her mind as she galloped as fast as her young hooves could carry her toward the farmhouse, hoping that her two friends had made it back to Zecora’s safely.

She skidded to a halt on the porch, just barely managing to avoid running headlong into the door. After a moment to catch her breath she rapped her hoof repeatedly against the doorframe. It took less than a minute before the door was opened by a very cross looking Applejack.

"What in tarnation is goi-" Applejack stopped mid-sentence at the sight of the little orange filly shaking like a leaf, "Scootaloo? What happened?!"

"M-manticore a-attack," Scootaloo chattered out, "b-but something s-saved us. It's hurt and needs help."

"Now wait just a darn tootin' minute! Where's Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?"

"They r-ran back to Z-Zecora's.”

"Miss Zecora!" Sweetie Belle cried out as she and Applebloom galloped their way back through the forest toward the zebra’s home as the dusk faded into the darkness of night. Each snap of a twig or rustling of a branch spurring the pair faster and faster along the path, “Miss Zecora!”

“Two young Crusaders I do hear, but the third I fear is not here,” Zecora replied worriedly, trotting from her tree hut, “where is young scootaloo?"

"Scoots is on her way back tah Sweet Apple Acres," Applebloom shouted, slowing her pace as she and Sweetie Belle drew closer to the zebra, "we g-got attacked by a m-manticore on our way home..."

"Yeah, w-we were," Sweetie Belle confirmed, "But some kind of creature saved us and kil-" she couldn't finish the sentence as what the creature had done to the manticore finally sank in. The creature had saved them she had no doubt, but the way it had fought against the manticore was nothing short of monstrous and vicious in its own right. Leaving the larger beast a brutal and macabre example of what it was capable of. Sweetie swallowed the lump in her throat and continued, "It's hurt now and needs our help..."

Zecora pondered what had been said for a moment before responding, "If this creature is injured as you say, then we must hurry and not delay. Follow me quickly, we must gather my materials swiftly!" She turned and trotted to her hut with the two fillies in tow to gather the proper herbs and ingredients.

All I could see was darkness, but I was vaguely aware of a faint murmuring that seemed to echo from every direction yet at the same time seemed to come from nowhere, am I dead? I thought, but I immediately disregarded the notion. I didn't believe that there was anything waiting for you after you died, and honestly I still don't. I just thought that you cease to exist upon death, your body and the actions that people remember you did being the only evidence you were ever there, so I concluded that I couldn't be dead. I also felt a dull throbbing pain in the back of my skull, providing further evidence that I wasn't dead.

The murmuring raised in volume a few decibels, allowing me to distinguish bits and pieces of what was being said.

"A being of flesh and steel- .... -Metal and bone..."

"Technology and biology as one- … -Zeranthūl Praetorian- … -possible outcomes unknowable-"

"-emotions conflicted- ... -much confusion in his mind-"

"Brilliant mind- ... -mental stability questionable at best-"

"...Scythiant-...-Deruthiant té Rūne- ... -No other option left. Murtharn. We have already committed to this path, he will either save us or finish what was started three years prior-... -Great Mother preserve us should we fail."

Now, at the time I brushed it off as an auditory hallucination brought on by sensory deprivation as I couldn't really feel anything aside from the throbbing in my head, but had I known what I do now I wouldn't have done so; either way I knew I was only catching snippets of the conversation.

"Your will be done my Queen... We have managed to integrate several Praetorian and Drones into the population centers near the Everfree and Badlands. we await your orders."

The voices lowered back to a dull murmur and I wasn't able to discern anything more of what was said.

The Golden Oaks Library for all appearances seemed calm and quiet in the dusk, the windows emitting a faint yellow glow outward. The only indication of something being amiss was how the glass of the windows were frosted over on the interior in spite of the warm night blanketing Ponyville.

In stark contrast to the calmness of the public main floor of the library, the basement was a whirlwind of activity as clipboards, sheets of data, and various scientific instruments tore through the air at velocities that could almost effortlessly break bone, all held aloft in the telekinetic grip of one Twilight Sparkle as she worked tirelessly to pinpoint the origin of a recent Thaumatic Cascade Discharge that had rippled outward from within the Everfree Forest.

In another time and place she might have become an alicorn in the event that had transformed her a year prior, but the gate to that path was now forever sealed as she now tread a different path, "Spike, Please go and retrieve the book on Thaumatic Triangulation from the Theoretical Thaumatic Science section please!"

"Just a second!" Spike yelped as he made his way, bobbing and weaving, through the maelstrom of flying material toward the stairway.

As he scrambled up the steps he was keenly aware of several objects whizzing past him and would duck as necessary. After what felt like a small eternity for him, Spike managed to reach the top landing and sprinted for the door and flung it open.

Back in the basement Twilight flitted between the different displays and recording devices, rechecking the information on her datasheets for the ninth time in the past two hours,

"No, no, no... A Cascade Discharge of that magnitude should have coincided with a detonation that almost certainly would have been seen across Equestria, followed by a concussion wave that should have leveled a good portion of the Everfree and shattered windows in towns hundreds of miles beyond Ponyville!" she mumbled to herself as the temperature in the basement dropped further with her increasing frustration.

"Hm, possible that detonation and concussive blast were contained, but that would imply that it was planned and facilitated," Twilight was seething now, her mane and eyes aglow with swirls of ghostly blue and crimson, "but if it was facilitated, then it would have likely been by the Institute of Arcane Science, and I would have been informed before hoof! IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!!"

With her outburst the tornado of clipboards and scientific instruments slammed to a halt in an almost comical fashion.

Up on the main floor of the library, Spike was busy trying to find the book Twilight had specified and was having very little luck despite the Thaumatic Science section taking up little more than a single shelf in the library, "Oh come on, where is it?" He mumbled under his breath as he searched through the different titles. It took another two minutes for him to find the correct book.

At the same moment that his claws closed around the spine of the book, the library door swung open to reveal a rather frantic looking Applejack, "Spike?! Where's Twi, it's mighty darn important!"

"Applejack? Er, Twilight's down in the basemen-" Before spike had even finished his sentence, Applejack bolted for the basement door, "HEY WAIT!!"

She flung open the door, but was halted in her tracks before she could descend the stairs by the sound of an agitated yell from further in the basement and the sudden blast of near arctic air that shortly followed and nearly chilled her to the core. She  shivered from the icy air and began her descent cautiously, knowing quite well how Twilight’s ‘Scientific Episodes’ could become. The mare soon reached the bottom of the steps and saw her friend in the center of the basement, floating several feet above the floor, near a number of large monitors, "Twilight!"

An icy mist billowed away from Twilight's unkempt mane and tail, her fur taking on an ever darkening shade of indigo as her agitation continued to climb. She felt, more than heard, her friend Applejack calling out to her, an emotional surge that was tinged with uncertainty and a mild touch of fear. It was this surge that pulled Twilight from the data on the screens, and she  turned, soundlessly landing in front of Applejack.

"Is there something you need Applejack? I'm currently busy," The glow of her eyes and mane softened and her coat slowly began to fade back to its natural mulberry tone. She was still agitated, but she reigned in the feeling and focused more on her friend and her emotional aura.

"Twi.. Scootaloo arrived at the farm earlier b-by herself," the cowpony managed to explain, "she said that she an' the other Crusaders were attacked by one of them m-manticores on their way back from Ze-"

"Did she say what happened to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom?"

"They're back at Zecora's.. Scootaloo said somethin' 'bout a creature savin' 'em, but it was hurt last time she saw it," Applejack explained quickly.

Twilight thought for a moment, her mind processing the information. She looked at Applejack, "Go and get Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, I'll send Spike to get Rarity while I get Fluttershy. We'll meet back at Sweet Apple Acres to collect your brother as we might need him as well."

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom led Zecora to where they had encountered the creature that had saved them. The three of them each carried saddlebags laden with potions and herbal preparations.

"This is it Ms. Zecora.." Sweetie Belle shuddered as she walked slowly into the clearing, the sickening scent of gore permeated the entire area. The armored form of the creature was collapsed next to the metal box it had opened earlier. Its face was a pale, pasty white and just barely visible, protruding from the chestplate, was the snapped off barb of the manticore's stinger.

The zebra remained silent, keenly aware of the scent of blood and torn flesh, but there was also an undercurrent of sickness. She looked toward the manticore's bloodied form while trotting quickly to the other creature, the yellow pus-like fluid intermingling with crimson told her the tale of a virulent blight that had slowly been consuming it.

Her gaze returned to the other creature's pale face, it was still breathing, but its breaths were labored and uneven, "Crusaders we must work swiftly, lest our newfound friend pass into the grasp of their ancestors.”