Chapters Borderlands: Rise of Equestria
To say General Stalus was in a good mood was an understatement. It had been three months since the caribou invaded Equestria. The invasion had gone without a hitch. With the princesses and all the other mares enslaved, order had finally come to Equestria. He was about to go out on a stroll to observe the town of Ponyville when he got a frantic knock on the door.
"General Stalus! General Stalus!" The frantic cries of one of the privates were heard behind the door.
"Enter private!" Said the General as he grabbed his sword. For all he knew it would nothing, just a civil uprising that could be put down. The private that entered looked scared beyond belief.
"General..(pant)..there's a..(pant)..ship.." The private said between breath's.
"Catch your breath, soldier." Said Stalus as the soldier straightened himself. "Good, now what happened?"
"General, there is a flying ship on the outskirts of Ponyville."
General Stalus did what any sensible being would do at that moment. He burst into laughter, catching himself on his desk to ensure he didn't fall over. "And where is this ship now?" He said, barely containing his laughter.
"Near the former element of kindness' house, Sir."
The General straightened himself. "I suppose I should humor you. Gather a squad, we'll go see your flying ship ."
Axton and Maya were getting ready to leave the ship when their ECHO's informed them of a incoming group. They didn't show up as friendly nor hostile, so they agreed to approach whatever was out there with caution. The boarding ramp of the shuttle opened to reveal a small cottage about fifty meters from the ship.
"Axton, look!" Said Maya as she pointed in the direction of a group armored men approaching. The all had horns on each side of their head and carried large swords and shields.
"Primitive locals, great" Said Axton as the group stopped about ten meters from their ship. Several of them were staring Maya with hate in their eyes. The only soldier not carrying a shield walked towards Axton with his arm outstretched in a handshake.
"Greetings, my name is General Stalus." He gave another quick glance at Maya before ending the handshake.
"Name's Axton, and this is Maya, our friendly-neighborhood Siren." He said as he gestured to Maya.
"Pleasure to meet you," She said, reaching for a handshake, but the General ignored her and continued to talk with Axton.
"So, what brings you to Equestria?"
So that's what this world is called. Thought Maya as Axton told the General that they were looking for a Vault.
"A Vault of riches?" Asked the general as he raised an eyebrow.
"I wish I could tell you but she knows more about Vaults than anyone else."
"Really?" Said the general as he clenched a fist.
Forcing interaction, nice. Axton's smarter than he looks. Or he's telling the truth.
"We will take you back to the town library, we might have a reference on this so-called vault in one of our tomes."
"Thank you," said Maya as the group began to walk towards the town.
Borderlands: Rise of Equestria
The trek to the library only lasted about five minutes, but in those five minutes Maya was able to observe the culture of the world. She immediately noticed the lack of females walking around the town. She saw one or two females, but they were scantly clad and on leashes. A fact that made Maya very uncomfortable. When they made it to the library a large reptile answered the door.
"General Stalus! I wasn't expecting you!" Said the reptile as they were led inside. "Would like anything to drink?" Asked the reptile as they all took a seat.
"I am fine." Said the general as he shot another glare at Maya.
"A glass of water would be nice." Said Maya.
"Same here," Said Axton.
"Very well, Twilight!" Called the reptile. Seconds after his call a lavender-skinned girl with a large lump on her forehead walked in. She was wearing a very revealing metal bikini and a red collar around her neck.
"Yes Master?" She replied, stopping to perform a slight bow.
"Get our two guests a couple of glasses of water."
"And while your at it get a book on myth's and legends." Said the the General as he stared at Maya.
"Yes Masters." She said giving another slight bow before leaving to fetch the water. While she left Maya saw small appendages on her back.
What in the world are those? Thought Maya as the General asked her the first of many questions.
"Before we begin I would like to know exactly what a Vault is."
"You see, there was an ancient race known as Eridians who made hundreds of these Vaults and scattered them across the universe." By the time she had finished her sentence Twilight had returned with the drinks, "Thank you, the Vault's did not house riches, but instead they were used as prisons for creatures of unparalleled power. The last vault we opened housed a large lava dragon that nearly killed our entire group. After it's destruction a map was revealed by the Vault Key, the relic used to open a Vault. That map had the location of more Vaults across the universe. We then placed it upon ourselves to find and deal with those vaults. And that will answer most of your questions."
Twilight handed a book to the General and he handed it back to her. "We no longer need it." He said as he got up from his seat.
"Twilight, may I see that book please?"
"Of course," Said Twilight as she handed Maya the book.
"Axton, Spike, would you like to go to town hall?" Asked the General as he walked towards the door. The General gave Maya a glare that screamed I don't like you.
"Alright," Said the large reptile called Spike.
"Sure," Said Axton as he gave Maya a worried look. "You wanna come?" He asked Maya.
"I'm fine," Said Maya as she opened the book, "It's probably some military mumbo-jumbo that I don't care for." The General's face immediately softened. Just the reaction I was looking for." Thought Maya as the trio left the building. She waited about two minutes before finding Twilight, who was washing dishes in the kitchen. Maya walked up to her, turned off the water asked the one question that had been on her mind since they arrived in town.
"Okay, Twilight. Whats going on?"
Borderlands: Rise of Equestria
Chapter 3: Spouting Out Exposition
"I...don't know what you are talking about." Replied Twilight as she reached to turn the water back on, her hand getting stopped by Maya's. Twilight turned to Maya, who had a very serious expression on her face.
"I've seen a face like that countless times. The face of someone who knows something but is afraid what will happen if they reveal it." Said as she released Twilight's hand, "Please, tell me what is going on."
"Follow me," Twilight said as she turned away from Maya and walked towards the living room of the library. She took a seat and Maya sat across from her. Twilight took in a deep breath and began her story.
"This country has been ruled by a diarchy for centuries, and more recently, a triarchy. But three months ago a warrior-race of caribou invaded Equestria and took over within days. Caribou men took over the social system, Stripping mares of their rights and turning them into slaves." Maya clenched her fist in rage.
"Was there any resistance?" Said Maya as she stared at the flat-topped lump on Twilight's head.
"Most of the soldiers and guard defected to the caribou, seduced by promises of wealth and glory. They turned on the triarchy of princesses. Enslaving two and killing the third." Twilight explained through a pained voice.
"What about that lump on your head? Or those appendages on your back?" Asked Maya.
Twilight immediately choked up. "Before I tell you, I'll tell you about the races of our species." Twilight said as she tried to not break down crying. "We call ourselves ponies, and there are four types of our kind. Unicorns, who control magic with a horn on their forehead," Twilight explained as she pointed to the lump on her forehead. Before Maya could ask another question she continued, "Pegasai, who can fly with the wings on their backs," She then turned to show Maya the appendages on her back. "And then there are Earth Ponies, who are born with neither a horn nor wings. And finally there are the Alicorns. They were the rulers of Equestria, with the strength of an Earth Pony, the wings of a Pegasus, and a Unicorn horn."
"Wait, Alicorns ruled Equestria?" Asked Maya as her eyes widened from the information she was just given. "You said that they had a horn and wings, which means...." Maya trailed off and looked at Twilight, who looked to be on the verge of tears.
"What happened Princess?"
"They cut off the horns of Unicorns and plucked the feathers off of the wings of Pegasai to ensure that we wouldn't fight back." Twilight said as she and broke down crying Maya simply moved next to her and told her to let it all out. Twilight had endured the pain of her horn getting cut off and getting her wings plucked. She needed a moment to let her emotions run free.
"Funny, I kinda know how you feel."
"You....you do?" Twilight said between sobs.
"A little bit. The people who raised me never let me go anywhere and were always telling me what to do and what to wear. I almost felt like a slave in my home. I eventually found out they were raising me as a weapon to instill fear in the population."
"How could you be a weapon?" Asked Twilight who had stopped crying to listen to her story.
"I'm a Siren. I have powers that allow me to do things that others can't."
"Powers?" Twilight asked, giving Maya a confused look.
"Stand up and I'll show you." Said Maya.
The duo got up and walked towards an open area of the library. "You ready?" Asked Maya. Twilight nodded as Maya activated her Phaselock and lifted Twilight in the air. Her mouth hung open as she floated inside the sphere of energy. After a couple of seconds the sphere dissipated and Twilight landed on her hooves.
"That was AWESOME!" Twilight exclaimed as she began to ask a ton of question about Maya's powers. The two talked for about fifteen minutes until Maya decided she would head back to the ship. As Maya walked towards the ship she was glad she turned her ECHO on during their conversation.
"Hello my Subscribers! Gaige of the Vault Hunters here on day fourteen of intergalactic Vault Hunting!" Gaige said as she talked into her ECHO device. Gaige always did a daily ECHO-cast to recap the day's adventures for a universe-wide audience. "Today was a hell of a lot more eventful than the past two weeks put together! And why do you ask that? Because we found a fucking planet! That's right, the Vault Hunters just discovered a new planet! I'll give you guys some details of the planet and then I'll play a recording that Maya gave me." Said Gaige as she hooked up Maya's Echo to her's. "The planet actually has sentient life that speaks English! I'm thanking God right now that we don't have to translate some weird-ass alien language. Maya and Axton went down to investigate, and Maya was actually able to interview a local! I'll play the interview and you can all decide for yourselves what to think of this world!" Finished Gaige as she played the recording.
When the recording finished Gaige sat there, unable to process what she just listened to. She then leaned towards her ECHO. "I need to go punch something. This is the Mechromancer, signing off." Said Gaige as she pressed the button on her ECHO to end the broadcast.
Attention crew of the Sanctuary II, you are required to listen to the Mechromancer's latest ECHO-cast. After you have finished, report to the cafeteria and press the YES or NO button. The question will be posted above the buttons. That is all.
Half an hour later crew members were hoarding the table that had the YES and NO button. The poll currently was at 214 for YES and 0 for NO.
The question was posted above the buttons so that all could see what it was.
The sign read:
Do you think we should help the citizens of this planet?
Borderlands: Rise of Equestria
Chapter 4: Open Season, Part 1
The fleet of shuttles descended from the low-hanging clouds and landed in several locations until they were surrounding Ponyville. Each shuttle began to unload it's cargo of Crimson Raiders and storage chests. The chests were on hovercarts and could easily be pulled to any location. The Raiders were observing the town, waiting for a very specific order.
The shuttle that landed near the cottage from the previous day did not unload soldiers or crates. Instead nine Vault Hunters stepped out of the ship and made their way to the town library.
General Stalus was filling out a weekly report when he heard a knock on the door.
"Enter."
The same private fro yesterday entered his office. "General, several flying ships have formed a perimeter around Ponyville, and large groups of what appear to be soldiers have emerged from them." Said the private. General Stalus looked up from his report to see that the private was worried. The General had been informed yesterday by Axton that they would begin they're search for the Vault today.
"Our Vault Hunting friends our simply beginning to search for the Vault. Inform all of the guards that they will not harm us."
Twilight was busy cooking breakfast for Spike when a series of knocks coming from the front door.
"Keep cooking bitch," Said Spike as he rose from his chair, "I'll go see who it is." He finished as he left the room to greet whoever was at the door.
She didn't care that he had called her a bitch. He had said and done worse things to her before. Twilight had theorized that he had given in to his natural greed, thus thinking of her as property, not family.
"Axton! So great to see you again! Are all these people the other Vault Hunters?" She heard Spike say from the other room.
Why are they back? And who else is with them? Thought Twilight as she left the stove to try and get a glimpse of the visitors.
She peeked through the door of the kitchen and saw Spike and nine people chatting in the living room. She recognized Maya and Axton from yesterday. She began to identify them all from the descriptions Maya had provided her with yesterday.
Lilith, the other Siren of the group was sitting on the couch next to Maya and who she assumed to be Mordecai, since there was a medium-sized bird sitting on his shoulder and a large, staff like thing laying next to him.
Across from them sat Spike in his recliner. Axton sat on the chair right next to him, and the girl she assumed was Gaige sat on the ottoman in front of him.
She saw that the last four guys were standing up. One of them wore a black combat suit with the number zero across the chest, who she remembered was called Zero. Two of them stared at Spike with an expression that screamed we can kill you . She remembered the short one being named Salvador and the tall one was named Brick. Spike didn't seem to catch their glare since he was too focused on the last guy of the group, Krieg, who was busy standing in a corner tossing some kind of stick in the air.
"Is he okay?" Asked Spike as he looked back at the group.
"Well he is a Psycho." Said Gaige as she twirled a metallic boomerang on one of her fingers.
"You get used to it." Said Mordecai as he turned to look at Twilight, who was still peeking out the door. He immediately turned to back to Spike. "So, you got anything to drink?"
"Yes we do. Twilight! Get our guests some drinks! And while you at it, bring me breakfast!"
"Yes Master!" Replied Twilight as she got to work getting the drinks and Spike's meal. She walked into the living room trying to balance a tray of drinks and a tray of food in each hand. She could feel every eye on her as she walked across the room. She was almost to Spike when she tripped, sending his food and the drinks onto the floor. She started to apologize when she felt a foot connect with her face, sending her a couple of feet away from the recliner.
"You dumb bitch!" Said Spike as he rose from the recliner and approached her. "You clearly need a reminder of what happens when you screw up!" He finished as he raised a fist. Twilight closed her eyes and braced herself for the blow.
But it never came. Instead she heard a series of clicks from all around her. She opened her eyes to see that the Vault Hunters were all pointing something at Spike as Maya stood over Twilight.
"Out of my way, she needs to learn a lesson!" Said Spike as he raised a fist.
"If you lay a single claw on her, we will kill you." Said Axton as he pointed his metallic thing at Spike's head.
"With what? That metal stick?" Said Spike as he backed up.
"You clearly do not know what a gun is? Do you?" Said Gaige as Maya helped Twilight to her feet.
"Even if you can kill me with those, why would you want to? I've done nothing to you guys."
"That is true, you have done nothing to us ." Said Lilith as she pointed at Twilight. "But you have done something to her . You enslaved her entire sex because you felt that they were inferior, even though this country has been ruled by females for centuries."
Spike's eyes narrowed as he looked at Twilight. "You told her yesterday, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did." Said Twilight as she moved to the center of the group as they formed a half-circle around Spike.
"I'll fucking kill you!" Spike roared as he lunged at Twilight, only to be caught in Maya's Phaselock. Maya turned to Twilight, who simply nodded her head, she knew what was about to happen.
"Krieg," Said Maya,"Go make a meat bicycle."
The last thing Spike ever saw was a buzz-axe entering his skull.
Twilight looked at herself in the mirror. She know wore a lavender combat outfit instead of the bikini that Spike had her wear. She also held what they called an Maliwan SMG that had an orange glow to it. She left the bathroom and walked downstairs to see the other Vault Hunters readying their guns for battle.
"What's going on?" She asked as she descended the staircase.
"A squad of caribou is outside demanding that we go out there. And we were just waiting for you." Responded Brick as he cracked his knuckles.
"Alright then, what do you say we show ourselves?"
The Vault Hunters opened the door to the library and walked outside, forming a line with a gap in the center.
"What have you done with the occupant's of this house?" Said the leader of the Caribou squad as the Vault Hunters pointed their guns and them.
"They liberated me." Said a voice from inside the house. The Caribou's blood began to boil as Twilight Sparkle walked out of the library, pointing her gun at the Caribou.
"You freed a slave? You are all now under arres-" The squad leader never finished his sentence as the Vault Hunters opened fire on the Caribou.
When the last soldier fell Axton sent out a single order to the Crimson Raiders.
"This is Commander Axton. Open Season is now in effect. Repeat, Open Season is now in effect."
Borderlands: Rise of Equestria
The intercom system of the Sanctuary II was playing the evening news when it was interrupted by the captain's fanfare playing, signaling an announcement.
"Attention all hands, we are approaching the planet. The ship will remain in low orbit while a small shuttle is sent down to the closest settlement. Commanders Axton and Maya will lead the expedition team to the surface. That is all."
The intercom returned to the news as a Crimson Raider squad began to suit up for the expedition to the surface. They walked towards the shuttle as the two commanders approached.
Axton, the former Dahl commando was carrying two turret boxes, a Dahl assault rifle, a Maliwan fire pistol, an adaptive shield, and a set of transfusion grenades.
Maya, the Siren was carrying multiple Maliwan SMG's of all elements, an Infinity Pistol, an adaptive shield, and a set of experimental Lightning Bolt grenades.
The squad got to attention as the duo approached, only for Axton to moved towards the shuttle. "What are you all waiting for?" He shouted as he boarded the shuttle, "We got a vault to find!"
"Yes sir!" The squad replied as they boarded the shuttle. As the ship took off Maya couldn't shake the feeling that they would just find a vault on this world.