Fallout Equestria: Saddle Arabia

We started traveling back to Petrena around three o'clock as my pip-buck told me, Seeker traveling with us. "I think it's time to part ways." Seeker told us. Israel and I looked back at him. "Why?" I asked. Seeker didn't reply, he just turned away.

"May the stars of our ancestors guide you," Seeker's horn glowed blue then he vanished in a ball of light. Israel and I continued back to Petrena wishing he was still with us.

فيفا لا المقاومة

"What do you mean we're banned?" When we got back to Petrena, Mudhoof met us in his house. He told us that we were banned from the town.

"I mean you're banned," Mudhoof said. "The Khans came while you were gone. They said they knew we were keeping you guys here, and we are suppose to get rid of you one way or the other, or the town is destroyed."

"But-" I was about to continue but a look from Israel stopped me. Mudhoof said, "Look, I'm sorry, if there was a way to keep you here then I would be happy to but, the Khans didn't give me a choice, my people come first." At that point I under stood. They did not have the power to stand up to the Khans, and as far as I knew they were everywhere in the Pretora mountains.

"The least I can do though is let you stay the rest of the night...in the morning you have to go...I hope you understand?"

"I understand now."

"I two," Israel agreed.

فيفا لا المقاومة

We went to Israel's apartment in Petrena... well what was Israel's apartment. We were discussing where to go next. Israel had a map of Saddle Arabia, our plan was to head to Juresalem which was across the wasteland. There were only two routes to the city, head west across the wasteland through a bunch of radiated cities, or south then west, to the capital of Saddle Arabia, Riyada, which was the war-time capital in the middle of the desert.

"Terra," I looked up at Israel.

"Did you know Seeker?"

"No," I responded. It was true that I didn't know Seeker yet for some reason I felt like I already knew him. His sudden appearance and equally sudden departure were puzzling and left me with a million questions and no-one to ask.

فيفا لا المقاومة

The next morning, Israel and I were getting ready to leave. As we organized our packs, I was surprised to see Littlebolt walking over.

"Hey Littlebolt, what's up?" I asked. Israel looked up.

"Nothing," he responded. "I was just wondering where you guys will be going?"

"Oasis," Israel answered.

Littlebolt's eyes lit up, "Can I go with you guys?"

"Why?" I asked.

"I came here for a reason," Littlebolt told us, "About three months ago, my brother was sent through here. His ship crashed and he's been sending messages to me, his last reported location was Oasis."

I looked at Israel, "Should we?"

"Why not, he's looking for his brother. Might as well help," Littlebolt cheered. I shook my head smiling.

فيفا لا المقاومة

We'd been traveling for quite a while. It's about a fifty mile trip to Oasis, meaning we might have to stop once or twice. I could tell we were heading out of the mountains, because it was getting warmer as we went south, and the snow was starting to get patchy. Littlebolt walked beside me, while Israel flew above us.

"I'm gonna fly ahead," Israel announced, "I'll see you guys soon," and at that he put on a burst of speed and flew off, leaving me with Littlebolt.

"So, Littlebolt..."

"Yeah?"

"What's Equestria like, I've only seen it in books?"

"Well... it's worse than this wasteland, so far." I laughed at that. He continued, "I don't really know much about the Equestrian wasteland, because I lived in the clouds."

"The clouds?"

"Yep."

"...Hmm."

Suddenly Israel was back, "There's some old wreckage of carts and carriages ahead," he told us, "I also saw some ponies in the ruins."

"What did they look like?" I asked.

"They didn't look dangerous, saw only three, they were dressed in Mulanic robes."

"Robes... were they armored robes?"

"No, only the Caliphate wears robe armor, these ponies had regular robes."

We approached the ruins. Carriages lined both parts of the road. They were all rusted and crumbled. We walked between the carriages. As we went further in I could hear voices. We soon spotted two ponies and one zebra all wearing Mulanic Sultray robes. The robes were dyed purple and gold instead of green and white. They had no guns, or melee weapons of any kind, however they carried one book.

"Should we go up to them?" I whispered

"They don't seem like a threat," Israel whispered back.

As we approached they immediately noticed us. Only the zebra stepped forward, sporting a medieval accent.

"Aye, thou God has brought us more wastelandic travelers, brothers."

"God?" Israel said questioningly.

"Aye, our God. We follow the new religion of the vast Saddle Arabian wasteland, Ruínas, and, our great God, Cataclismo"

"Cataclismo?" I asked

"Aye, the old gods have abandoned ponykind and all alike but, Thou God, Cataclismo has not. Cataclismo sees this wasteland as a new start, a new beginning as the "Libro de Ruínas says."

"Libro de Runías?" Littlebolt finally asked.

"Profeta Lino, these wastelanders know nothing!" one of the ponies told the zebra.

"Nay." Lino said, then he looked at me. "Egua," he said to me.

"What" I asked.

"Mare... come forward!" I did as told and came forward. Israel stepped closer. Lino took a long look into my eyes then said, "Aye, a mare pure of heart traveling the wasteland!". He stepped back.

"Cataclismo, fixo unha selección sabia... acólitos, siga debemos volver."

He turned his back on us and started walking away.

"Mare," he continued, "If thou are heading to Ohelstiver, when thou and company get there, head south to Olde S'pratira, and seek the Seguidores das ruínas."

He was gone.

"Okay... that was weird," I muttered.

فيفا لا المقاومة

It was now sunset, we had been walking for most of the day. We came to the edge of the mountains.

"...Wow", ahead of me was what seemed to be an endless expansion of golden desert.

"I know, right?" Israel said. Littlebolt was also captivated by the sight. To the west the sun settled on the horizon, also to the west was the Oasis river. What I remembered from lessons was the Oasis river flowed for a good thirty miles to Oasis. It then flowed into Oasis' biggest lake.

"I say we settle down here for the night," Israel said. "We should get to Oasis by tomorrow or the day after that."

"Sounds good," I responded. we set up camp for the night. By the time we had everything ready the sun was beginning to go below the horizon. I was tired. I had gotten no sleep last night because I was stuck in the khan camp for most of the night. We laid down, Israel sitting next to me. I didn't want to talk so I closed my eyes and fell instantly to sleep.

I dreamed that night, I was standing in the mountains looking over more mountains. As I scanned the distant ranges I saw a storm roaring along the horizon. I thought nothing of it, I just turned my back to it and walked away.

I suddenly awoke, and glanced around. It was still dark. Israel and Littlebolt were asleep, Israel had a wing around me. Looking down I saw my pip-buck blinking. I lifted my hoof, on the screen it said: "one missed transmission: sent 45 minutes ago." I clicked my pip-buck screen and the transmission began. My father's voice came on.

"... Hey Terra, I meant to send a transmission last night but... I got caught up in something. Anyway I hope you're doing ok in the wasteland, I just wanted to say I love you very much... goodnight."

The transmission ended, he sounded distracted, rushed maybe? It was short but, it was nice to hear his voice. Still exhausted I closed my eyes and fell asleep again.

فيفا لا المقاومة

I woke up earlier than Israel and Littlebolt did. The light of the sun was just starting to show itself. I carefully got my self out from under Israel's wing and got up. My stomach grumbled, I pulled out an apple from my saddle bag and chowed down. I also got out out my canteen and took a drink from it. I checked my pip-buck time, it said 6:52. I heard Israel get up.

"Morning Terra," he yawned, "When did you get up?"

"A little bit ago."

"Hmm," he pulled out some canned peaches, opened them and began eating.

"Anyway..." he said through a mouth full of food, "We should get going before the sun reaches it peak."

"Good idea, and don't talk with your mouth full!"

Israel chuckled. Littlebolt was still asleep. I suspected that he wasn't used to getting up so early, so I carefully picked him up and put him on my back. He stirred slightly but still slept.

"Alright... let's go," said Israel. We continued down the road out of the mountains and entered the desert of Saddle Arabia. From the mountains the desert looked small and harmless, from the ground it was endless and almost threatening.

"How long have you lived in Saddle Arabia?" I asked Israel.

"Since I was twelve," he responded, "It took me almost a year to travel from Equestria."

"Cool."

We then heard gunshots.

"Gunshots?, out here?" I said. We continued cautiously. In the road we saw a round, little robot. It had two bullet holes in it.

"A spritebot?" Israel asked. I walked towards it.

"Terra wait-"

"Relax, I'm just checking it out."

I approached the "spritebot." On it's back were two mechanical wings. I knew a bit about robotics, they taught you robotics in Arabic stables, because in the war, Saddle Arabia was at the pinnacle of robotic technology. During the war we helped Equestria with it's robotics. I picked up the spritebot. It didn't look like anything Saddle Arabia would make. The metal looked well maintained though. It also had a turret at the bottom. Israel stood next to me.

"A combat spritebot."

"What's a spritebot?" I asked.

"What you're holding right now, and it's a combat version."

"Cool... can we try to fix it?"

"Sure."

I then looked over to my right and saw three ponies, watching us. They wore full body metallic armor, each with a weapon on the sides.

"Shit, Steel Rangers!" Israel muttered. At that time Littlebolt woke up.

"Whats going on?" he asked. Then seeing the... Steel Rangers. "...Oh."

One of the Steel Rangers walked toward us.

"Look what we have here!" the Steel Ranger said, his voice amplified by the armor. Another Steel Ranger stepped closer.

"We have a zebra, a colt, and a Pegasus, Diamondback." The second Steel Ranger sounded like a mare.

"I know that Redfire!" Diamondback said back. "It is obvious."

The third Steel Ranger still hadn't moved, but he spoke. "We should let them move along... they're not causing trouble."

"Blackstorm, Paladin Whitetail has told us this place has good pre-war technology, and these three have what we need!"

"I know my brother said that!" Blackstorm said, finally walking over to us. "Just let them go on their way."

Diamondback chuckled and turned towards me. Then raising a hoof, he punched me in the face. I fell to the ground.

"Terra!"

"Diamondback what are you doing?!" Redfire asked.

Diamondback put a hoof on me, "Get the Pegasus and the colt, I'm the one leading this patrol!" He then raised his hoof again and brought it down onto my face. I blacked out.

فيفا لا المقاومة

I woke in a large rectangular room, on the floor. I got up rubbing my head, looking around. Israel and Littlebolt where nowhere to be found. The room was rusting a bit, there were windows high up on the walls, light streamed through them. In front of me was a large door. I went to it only to find out it was locked from the outside.

'Fantastic,' I thought, 'It's only been two days and you've already been captured again.'

I felt something around my neck. Finding a shard of glass on the floor I went over to it in hopes of using its reflection to see what was on my neck. It was something I had never seen before. A stainless steel thing circled my neck, and had a red button-like shape in the middle.

"What is this?" I looked back at the door, seeing a sign above it. It said "شماعات اثني عشر" ("hanger twelve"). The door then clicked and opened, four Steel Rangers entered.

"Follow us zebra, and do as we say."

I didn't have much of a choice. They put a chain around my right foreleg, and led me outside. We were at an air base. Around me was more desert (no surprise). They led me to a different building that looked like some sort of command center. We entered and walked down the hall. I saw more Steel Rangers as we went toward a door at the end of the hallway. Inside was a unicorn dressed in some robes but, a robe that was much different from Seguidores das ruínas robes. The unicorn had red fur, with a white mane.

"Paladin Whitetail, we've brought you the zebra you wanted to see."

"Good," Whitetail said, seeming bored.

The Steel Rangers left, leaving me in front of Paladin Whitetail.

"What's your name?" he asked me.

"Terra," I responded. "You better have a good reason for one of your ponies knocking me out!"

"Yes, I do. You were trespassing on Steel Ranger territory and holding a piece of pre-war tech."

"Whats with this?" I asked showing him my collar.

"That?" he chuckled, "That's a slave collar, we can't have... prisoners running around without something to keep them in line."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, you're a prisoner and so are your friends. However, you can earn back you and your friend's freedom."

"How?"

"Most of the prisoners we get are nothing special but, for some reason you're different. I have some tasks for you to do, and in exchange you and your friends get your freedom. If you step out of line I will activate the collar to explode."

"These explode?... You are one crazy bitch, you know that?" He just chuckled. I sighed, "what do you want me to do?"

Pointing out a window he said, "On the other side of this hill camping in a small stable called Stable B, there's a zebra. We want him gone, in other words, killed."

"You want me to kill a zebra?"

"You don't really have a choice." He was right, no choice! "For this you will get your weapons back, and an additional one for your quest."

This was going to suck.

فيفا لا المقاومة

Stable B was a quick walk away. The additional gun I was given was a Jezail musket, (a musket used since the Rusha-Arabic war [a war before the second world war]). I found the Stable B entrance which was a metal door in the side of a boulder. I quietly opened the door and walked in, a small stair case led down. When I reached the bottom I saw strewn on the floor the remains of a meal, Arabic sparkle-cola, and what looked like a sleeping bag. I heard a gun cocking next to me. Glancing to my left I saw a barrel of a TK-47 (Rusha assault rifle, rare and the best assault rifle ever made). A zebra was aiming the rifle at me.

"Who are you?" he demanded, "And what do you want?"

"I'm Terra, I'm not here to hurt you."

The zebra lowered the TK-47.

"Sorry, can't be too careful in the wasteland."

I got a good look at the zebra. He was wearing what appeared to be Rushan armor and his accent was Rushan. I also noticed his left hind leg was a cybernetic leg.

"Look," I said, "You need to get out of here, there are Steel Rangers just around this hill, and they've seen you."

"Steel Rangers?" the zebra asked, "That can't be possible, they were wiped off the Arabian map a year ago by the Caliphate...do you have proof?"

"What about this slave collar?" I showed him my collar. He studied it.

"Guess that's proof, I'll take that off."

"Really?" I gasped. He nodded. "Thank you."

He pulled out a blue grenade.

"Wait...what are you doing?" I asked.

"Relax, this won't hurt," and he pulled the pin. I expected to be blown up but, instead the grenade released some blue electricity. I heard my slave collar go "beep" then the red dot in the middle blinked out.

"Now that's done, lets see if I can get it off." He pulled out a bobby pin and a screw driver, and started picking the lock on it, after about fifteen seconds the collar clicked and slid off.

"There we go, nothing too bad," we heard the door open, I looked to see Steel Rangers.

"Find cover," the zebra ordered. I did, finding a place behind a metal box. Three Steel Rangers came from the stairs and started firing at us. I decided to use my musket. I fired at my target, the Steel Ranger's armor was pretty much shredded, he fell to the ground not moving. One of them fired a gattling laser at me, I ducked down as the bolts of energy hit my cover. The zebra fired with his TK-47, hitting a Steel Ranger but, all it did was cause the pony to stumble. The pony with the gattling laser stopped firing to reload, I poked my head up and fired. The Steel Ranger went down. The zebra took down the other one, I slowly stepped away from my cover.

"You weren't lying when you said there were Steel Rangers!" the zebra said.

"No duh but, thanks for the help."

"No problem," the zebra said, "My name is Aleksandr."

"Well, thanks again Aleksandr."

Aleksandr nodded, "If you find yourself anywhere near Jihdaha, ask for Ponies' Will."

"Wheres Jihdaha? and what's Ponie's Will?"

"Near Riyada, Ponies' Will is a faction opposing the Caliphate."

"Ah, okay."

Aleksandr left with a nod, I left a few minutes later (looting bodies). I went outside and saw two Steel Rangers coming toward me, I pulled out my Jezail.

"Put the gun down, were not gonna hurt you." I recognized the voice, it was Redfire.

"Hey Redfire."

"Hey Terra."

I guessed the other Steel Ranger with her was Blackstorm.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked nervously.

Blackstorm answered, "we want to help you and your friends escape."

"Really... why?"

"Me and Blackstorm here don't really agree with the Steel Rangers ways," Redfire said, "About half of the Steel Rangers here agree with us."

"Cool!"

"We have a plan too."

فيفا لا المقاومة

Their plan was to sneak me in at night, find my friends, free the other prisoners, and hopefully escape with no casualties. Sounded like a better plan than any I had come up with during this journey. It was now dark, I've been laying low near the base to avoid detection. I approached the gates, which were closed, Blackstorm waited for me at the gate.

"Wheres Redfire?" I whispered.

"She went to get the followers," he told me opening the gates.

"The others?"

"Yeah."

Blackstorm handed me some blue grenades, which I've learned are spark grenades.

"Why do we need these?" I asked.

"Our suits won't protect us from spark grenades, if we get caught use them, the Rangers will drop to the ground," I nodded. Blackstorm lead me to the hangers.

"Your two friends are somewhere in these hangers, we just need to find them." We walked over to the first building called hanger one, there was a lock on the door. I used the butt of my Jezail musket to open the lock.

"Hello?"I called out. I saw something small come toward me, it was Littlebolt.

"Terra!" he yelled hugging me, I heard a chuckle from Blackstorm.

"Hey Littlebolt, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Steel Rangers coming," Blackstorm said.

I gave Littlebolt the Zavorostien magnum, "Can you shoot?" I asked. He nodded, "Good."

"Here they come." I readied my Jezail, aiming at the door.

"Why's this door open?" a Steel Ranger asked, entering the hanger with another one. Blackstorm shot the Steel Ranger, and I fired at the other one, they dropped to the ground.

"Let's find Israel" I said. Blackstorm and Littlebolt agreed. We left the hanger moving quietly, as we move an explosion sounds near by.

"That would be Redfire," Blackstorm said. The explosion was followed by gunfire. We moved to each hanger one by one, the first few we opened had ponies and zebras inside but, none were Israel. We headed to hanger five, at this time the battle was getting closer to us.

'Please let him be in here,' I begged in my head, then hitting the lock, the door swung open.

"Israel?" I called out.

"Terra?" I see a figure move over to me, as it steps to the moonlight, I see it's Israel! He hugged me and I felt my face go red. He broke the hug quickly though, looking red as well. Suddenly an explosion destroyed the wall in the back. Blackstorm gave Israel his stuff (which was just his rifle and the battle saddle).

"You three need to get out of here!" Blackstorm told us.

"Why now?" I asked.

"This is about to turn into something big... go."

"But-" I was interrupted by Israel.

"This battle is gonna get ugly," he said. "These are ponies with high tech armor and weapons." I really hated it when he was right.

"Thanks for the help," I said to Blackstorm, he nodded.

We began running to the exit, the battle raging all the while. A Steel Ranger noticed us running toward the gate, and started firing at us. Just as we neared the gate, I felt a bullet hit my right hind leg. I fell to the ground. I had been hit in the leg before but this was ten times worst. I saw two Steel Rangers coming toward me, Israel rushed over and helped me up.

"Come on!" he yelled. I was running again but, nowhere near the speed I had earlier. I managed to get to the gate, we continued running to escape the battle raging on behind us.

فيفا لا المقاومة

Light was now starting to appear on the horizon to the east. We reached the area where we had been stopped on the road.

After traveling this far in silence Israel said, "Littlebolt, we need to stop."

"Why?" he asked.

"Terra got hurt, and we've been walking for most of the night just to get back where we were captured."

Littlebolt sat on the ground, Israel helped me to the ground. I then looked at my wounded leg, Israel did as well. On my right hind leg, just above my hoof, a chunk of flesh was missing, and the bone was showing.

"That's not good," I groaned. Israel pulled out our healing potion.

"That's our last one!" I told him.

"I know," he responded, "but, you need it."

I drank the potion, and my leg started feeling better. I checked it again and saw it had healed, but not completely. Israel took some cloth out of his saddle bag, and started wrapping it around my leg, he then tied it.

"You need to rest Terra, okay?"

"Yes doctor Israel," I chuckled, he playfully punched my leg.

footnote: level up

automatic perk chosen.

limp: you now have something on your leg that might not fully heal however, you gain +1 intelligence but, -1 endurance.