Fallout: Equestria: Darkest of Tides, Brightest of Nailsby RickHammersteelChaptersProloguePink Eyes of the GhostAn Okay Place to LiveTalons of the MercenaryWings of the PegasusThe Hunter, The Tower, and The AlicornAntlers of the ElkProloguePrologue “... The galaxy is at peace.” Samus’ log: Cosmic Year 2032. January 11. In a world of despair, there is always hope. In a world of hatred, love can bloom. In a world of death, there can be life. When it is the darkest, light will always shine. This is what I’ve seen in the adventure I hold inside this log. Many won’t believe it. Some will call me crazy, even more than I believe I already am. I suppose I should start by explaining how I got to the world of this adventure. It started after I defeated Mother Brain a second time, I was busy writing down the log entry for that event when I got a distress call. Samus’ finger caressed the button on the console. Her blue-suited body lay in the chair, her blond hair in a pony tail. She looked at the screen, the words “sacrificed itself,” stared at her as if they were mocking her failure to save the larvae. She sighed, ’poor thing,’ she thought. Why couldn’t I stop that thing from killing her? Damn it, I still can’t get the thought of her remains all over my suit...” She pulled away for a bit and looked up at the ceiling of her ship. ’I don’t think I could ever get that image out of my mind.’ She opened up her suit’s ability screen. ’I haven’t even put away my upgrades yet. Don’t even know if I should now, almost like I am burying the poor thing.’ A loud siren interrupted Samus’ thoughts. The huntress looked at her ship’s com unit and saw a distress signal. She pressed the button to answer the hail. A staticy voice came through,”H...lp,” Samus turned the knob on her console, and listened as the voice became clearer. “Anyone there? Please help!” A voice of a young girl shouted. Samus clicked the button as a rose-haired girl of around 20 appeared on her ship’s screen. “What’s wrong!?” Samus asked, leaning in towards the screen. “Oh good, my temporal-dimensional communicator worked,” The girl let out a sigh of relief,”My name is Tecna, and I’m looking for five special young women. You’re Samus Aran, one of, if not the, best bounty hunters in the galaxy, correct?” “I have that reputation,” Samus nodded,”Who are these girls, and what do they look like?” An image of a black woman with dread-locked hair showed up on screen,”This is Taranee Cook,” A tall, blond woman with long hair appeared as well,”Cornelia Hale,” A short asian girl with pony-tails was shown,”Hay Lin,” A short haired woman was on the screen next to Cornelia,”Irma Lair,” A red haired woman popped up in the middle of them,”and Will Vandom. They are, well, superheroes who disappeared suddenly over here. I need you to go find them.” Samus blinked,”Superheroes?” She shook her head,”Where did you last see them?” “Well, they were at their graduation, but now they’ve been scattered across the multiverse.” Tecna stated. “... Multiverse.” She looked down at the transmission signal,”Is this a joke?” She looked back up at Tecna. “See for yourself.” Tecna snapped her fingers and a portal opened up beside Samus’ ship. Samus looked to her left,”... Well, then. I’ve seen weirder.” She turned to Tecna,”I’ll go find them, but I’m not sure if the ship could handle the trip. I could barely handle going into a dark world in my normal suit.” “Don’t worry, I’ve already cast a spell that should allow your ship to safely pass into another world.” Tecna then blinked,”Who’s that behind you?” Samus heard footsteps clanging on the floor behind her. She rolled off her chair, a purple suit coming on to her body, and pointed her arm-cannon at a translucent purple female,”Gandrayda? But you’re dead!” The woman chuckled,”Now Sammy,”She walked towards the armored bounty hunter, electricity flowing off her body,”Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?” She fired lightning. Samus took it, her energy tanks lowering a bit. Samus raised her arm-cannon and fired, shooting through Gandrayda’s heart,”Sammy, still a badass after all this time...” Gandrayda coughed before disappearing. “I’m sorry, Gandrayda...” she shook her head. She turned to Tecna,"She's supposed to be dead. How was she here?” “I... don’t know.” Tecna shook her head. “We'll figure it out later,” Samus pulled her ship’s throttle,”I’ll find your friends now.” The ship shook and flew off into the portal. “Good luck,” Tecna said, looking solemn,”You’ll need it.” Samus grunted as the ship tore through the multiverse, her body straining under the sheer magnitude of the trip. She looked around, noticing the white lines around the windows. She grunted once more as the ship jerked back and forth. She gasped as one last jerk pushed her head onto the console. She woke up a half-hour earlier, her head feeling woozy,”I feel like ten Kraids had just stomped on my head,” She held her hoof to her head. “Wait, what happened to my hand?” She tried to feel her fingers. Then she pulled her hoof to her face. She blinked,”Why am I suddenly a pony?” She looked around her blue suited body,”Where’s my suit?” She looked at her ship’s window, staring into the reflection,”And why is my hair green!?” She screamed after she flipped her green mane. Footnote: Samus Aran, Intergalactic Bounty Hunter S:6 P:5 E:6 C:6 I:6 A:7 L:4 Tag Skills: Science, Explosives, Magical Energy Traits: Chozo Training: Since you have been trained by an alien race that raised you, you are now more agile and stronger than your contemporaries. As a downside, however, you have -2 skill points for every level and your perk rate has slowed to one per two levels. Experienced Soldier: All those years in space has taught you much, you are able to analyze opponents better and are more accurate, however you cannot use SATS and you are unable to gain points from skill books. Author's Note Special thanks to my co-author Alchemystudent for the inspiration and the proofreading. Any feedback would be appreciated. And yes, the green hair is a reference to Justin Bailey from the NES game. Yes, this story is a bit of a spin-off of Alchemystudent's Heart of Worlds but references to that fic would be to a minimum. I am hoping to make this story accessible to people who haven't played Metroid, or read the original Fallout: Equestria. So feel free to ask if you are confused about a certain bit or two. Pink Eyes of the GhostChapter 1: Pink Eyes of the Ghost “... A larva, which after hatching, followed me like a confused child.” Samus’ log, date: unknown. Innocence. There will always be a time when we lose our innocence. As we age, the world becomes harsher, causing us to look at things from a cynical point of view. Yet, we all pine for those days without worry, without responsibility. We all miss our innocence. We all have point where we lost our innocence. I lost mine when Space Pirates took my home and family away from me. I guess, in a sense, we envy children, for they have what we lost. Samus stumbled to her left as she attempted some walking. She looked up at her ship's computer,”Computer, what happened to my suit?” “Your current biological make-up is now incompatible with your Power Suit. The suit is now currently rebooting itself to properly be used by your new pony form.” The computer said in a male voice. “Any idea how long it’ll take before I can get it back?” “Analysis... Result Inconclusive. The amount of time for your suit to return is unknown.” “Great.” Samus growled,”That means it could take days for my suit to reboot.” She looked behind her at her stun pistol in its holster,”I can’t fire anything with my hooves, or mouth even. I’ll have to survive without any weapons. Computer, what is the status of the planet we’re on right now?” “The atmosphere is breathable for you, Samus, but there are faint traces of radiation.” The Computer said,”The traces are small enough for you to survive.” Samus looked out the window at the wasteland before her,”This place looks barren, but looks can be deceiving, I’ve learned that a long time ago.” She walked to a special platform on the ship,”How long will it take for the ship to repair itself?” “3 weeks, Samus.” The Computer said. “All the more reason for me to leave.” Samus tapped her hoof and the platform came down to the ground,”I’m not staying here for that long.” Samus looked around the area, noticing the dead trees and decayed metal. She frowned,I never liked seeing dead worlds. She thought as she looked ahead of her and noticed a small yellow thing walking towards her. The yellow thing had a helmet with the head of a small pink pony with a yellow mane inside. A filly? Samus thought, So this world still has some life in it. The yellow thing jumped up and ran towards the huntress,”Whoa, are you an alium? I’ve never seen an alium before! I’ve always wanted to see one!”The filly then stopped herself,”Oops, I forgot! Mommy always said to introduce myself when I meet somepony.” She smiled,”Hi, I’m Puppysmiles!” Puppysmiles? Well, I’ve seen weirder names. She’s also pink, so I can guess, considering my own mane and tail color, that ponies on this planet must come in different of colors. Samus knelt down to Puppysmiles' level,”Yeah, I’m an alien. My name is Samus.” She looked around,”Where are your parents, kid?” Puppysmiles looked up,”Well, I’ve been trying to find my Mom, have you seen her?” She looked up with hopeful eyes. Samus frowned,”No, sorry. “ She thought for a moment,”But I can help you find her. A little filly shouldn’t be going around all by herself anyway.” “You’ll help!?” Puppy hopped around Samus,”Yay!” She suddenly hugged Samus’ neck,”I have a new friend!” She bounced off and walked to Samus’ side. She began to trot off. Samus shook her head, My, she’s upbeat for living in a world like this. Samus started to walk towards the child, until she fell flat on her face. Puppysmiles turned to the sound of Samus’ head hitting the ground,”Are you alright, Big sister?” she ran to Samus. “Sorry,” Samus groaned,”I kinda... um.” She looked up into Puppy’s glowing eyes. “Oh, I get it!” Puppy gave a wide grin,”You don’t know how to walk because you’re an alium blending in using a pony’s body as a disguise!” She leaned in to Samus’ ear and whispered,”Don’t worry, I won’t reveal your secret.” Puppy hopped up and turned,” Come on, I’ll show you how to walk!” She started with putting one hoof forward,”You put one hoof in front of the other, and...” Samus got up and started to follow Puppy’s movements,I’m being trained by a child, this is kind of embarrassing. Samus thought to herself as she slowly followed the filly step by step. Samus turned and bucked at a rock, causing a crack to form in it. “Wow!” Puppy exclaimed. She began to hop up and down,”You’re really strong, big sis!” She had latched on to Samus’ back. “Yeah, I guess I am.” Samus said with a smirk,That was stronger than normal. Guess this body has some nice perks after all. Puppysmiles began to speak aloud,”Mister Voice, could you play some music?” “Scanning for radio stations.” A voice came from Puppy’s suit. Several staticy noises went by as Samus carried the little filly further out in the wasteland. The noises stopped at a melancholy voice. “Hello again, wastelanders, Lonesome Pony here with some news. It has been two years since the purge of the pegasi from their homes in the clouds. Two years since our beloved Velvet Remedy was taken from us in a horrible accident. Two years since the alicorns started their war with each other. It’s a miracle that there are ponies that are even alive now with all the crap that’s been going on. The Steel Rangers are worse than ever, going on massacres in every stable and settlement they can find that might have some technology, the slavers are more numerous after taking over Chicacolt and Las Pegasus, and settlements are being overpopulated. That being said, there are still places that will take in refugees, including pegasi and former Enclave soldiers. These places include Friendship City and New Appleoosa. Tenpony Tower has gone dead a few hours ago, and I fear the worst. That’s all for the news. Stay safe, wastelanders, here’s the late Velvet Remedy’s famous hit, Already One Year.” As Puppy attempted to sing along with the song on the radio, Samus began to think,It’s just not a planetary adventure without people in danger now, is it? She looked up, noticing that the clouds covered the skies completely,So, where do I begin saving the world this time? then she had a thought, Wait, pegasi exist here? Do unicorns exist as well? A bullet ricocheted off the ground in front of Samus. The huntress’ ears perked up as she looked around. “Well, look what we have here? A sexy mare and her little bitch.” A rust colored pony with rusted armor that looked to be cobbled together from bits of metal came up from behind a rock. Samus looked around and saw three more, two holding what looked like to be guns on mouthpieces. One looked to be holding a pipe in his mouth. The first one to speak grinned as he reached for a pistol,”Time for us to have-” He was unable to finish as Samus ran up to him, grabbed his neck and twisted it around with a sickening crack. She felt a bullet hit her ear. Samus turned, blood pouring down the side of her face. She felt the dropped pistol on her hoof as she watched two ponies take aim, Judging by their bloodshot eyes, they’re probably high on drugs, so it might take more than a few bullets to take them down, if I aim for the body. She hit her hoof on the pistol on the ground and caught it with her mouth. She felt a few bullets hit her shoulders,Their aim is off by five degrees, possibly due to their crazed minds and the drugs they've been taking. I'll probably be fine handling them head-on. She ran to the left, dodging more gunfire. She took aim and shot one in the leg, stunning him until she got to his head. She could barely hear the sounds of enjoyment from the filly around her neck. She looked at the other raider and ran towards him. The raider hastily fired at her, but grazed her leg. Samus pointed the gun to his head, and fired. Samus turned to the last one. This one trembled, So I did take out their leader, didn’t I? Judging by how unsure this guy is She walked slowly towards him. The raider raised up his pipe in defense,”I-I’ll hurt you, bitch.” “Really?” Samus said,”I doubt that.” She looked into his eyes,”Let me guess, you were a gang of overly drugged raiders, who killed, raped and tortured many defenseless ponies. Tell me, how many did you kill?” Samus cocked her head. “I-I don’t remember!” The raider gulped as he stepped back. “I figured that. I guess you were once a normal pony until you went crazy and found a group just like yourself, and you started hunting down canaries. You killed maybe ten or twenty poor ponies before you found a seemingly defenseless mare with a little filly to go with. However, judging by your look and stature, you never had this happen before, did you?” Samus chuckled,”Instead of finding a canary, you found a hawk, and she’s got you by the talons.” She pointed the pistol at his face,”I'll give you five seconds.” The raider screamed as he raised his pipe. “Five.” Samus dodged one swing. “Four.” Samus dodged another. “Three.” Samus jumped back. “Two.” Samus let the pipe her face. She turned to the raider and smirked,”One.” She fired, right between his eyes. Puppy squealed in delight,”Can we do that again?” Samus chuckled,”Sorry Puppy, but I can’t play with these guys anymore!” She frowned,These- raiders, judging by their flimsy looking armor, that’s what I’m going to call them from now on- won’t bother anyone again. She spat out the gun on her hoof and watched as the gun’s mouthpiece magically cleaned itself, Huh, guess I don’t have to worry about tetanus or any other kind of diseases She looked at the gun closely. The gun’s mouthpiece was yellow, its muzzle and barrel were a metallic blue. On the sides were yellow and purple stripes. There was an engraving on the side of it that read ”Flash Sparkle.” Samus noticed the trigger in the mouthpiece that she had instinctively used to fire it. She saw a button on the side and pressed it,’Now I know how to reload it. It looks to be a 5.56mm pistol. Primitive, but it’ll have to do.’ She thought. She turned to Puppy,”Alright Puppy, where do we go?” Puppy gave a grin,”The little arrow is pointing towards... that way!” She said, pointing her hoof. “Wait!” A voice shouted. Samus turned to see a grey unicorn stallion with a five-o’clock shadow run up to her. ‘What do you know, unicorns exist in this world.’ Samus thought. The stallion looked at Samus,”You... were amazing!” He looked down and kicked one of the raiders,”Thank you, whoever you are. These raiders,” He shook his head,”They killed my daughter and took her gun.” he pointed towards the Flash Sparkle,”I was going to take my revenge on them, but I was too scared.” He chuckled,”Imagine my surprise when you scared that guy to death! I’ve never seen a raider act like that.” His horn glowed and a saddle bag and a holster with the initials FS appeared. They floated to Samus and hooked themselves onto her body,”As a token of my thanks, you can keep that gun, and in those saddle bags contain bullets for it. My daughter, may the goddesses help her, found that gun in a tower. It’s quite powerful.” He looked Samus over noticing some of the cuts on her,”It also contains some medical supplies, including some disinfectant and health potions.” Samus hooked the Flash Sparkle onto the holster and looked at the stallion, Health potions? What is this, an RPG? She smiled and turned,”Thanks.” “Wait, what is your name, hero?” The stallion asked. “Samus Aran, a bounty hunter.” Samus said as she walked away. “Then I shall call you The Huntress, Scourge of Raiders.” The stallion said as he watched Samus walk off. Footnote: Level Up! Companion Perk Added: BSBFF(Big Sister Best Friend Forever!): You gain a special conversation option when talking to young children when Puppysmiles is with you. New Perk: Rapid Reload: Now that you’ve investigated the firearms of this world closely, you can now figure out how to reload a lot quicker. Your reload times have been shortened by 2 seconds. Author's Note Already One Year Thanks to Alchemystudent for proof-reading this The stallion is named Exposition. I'm hoping Samus isn't too over-powered in this. Any feedback on that would be appreciated. An Okay Place to LiveChapter 2: An Okay Place to Live “Does she long for her parents, lost to the same creatures that even now defile our sacred home?” Samus’ log: Date: Unknown. What does it mean to be a soldier? I was a soldier once, or perhaps I still am. I worked for the Galactic Federation to preserve order and protect the innocent. Order, however, wasn’t exactly my style, so I became a bounty hunter instead. I still wanted to protect the innocent, though. Protecting the innocent was what my father believed in wholeheartedly. One of the worst duties for a soldier is to bring news of a comrade’s death to his family. I’ve seen even the most hard-assed soldier break down when he gives the news. Even as a bounty hunter I found myself giving the news of the deaths of other bounty hunters to their families, even though I’m not obligated to. Though, for three certain hunters, I had a hard time telling them that I had killed them myself. Puppysmiles kicked her forelegs in the air as she rode on Samus’ back. Samus turned her head to see the dead trees, tumbleweeds and various pieces of debris around the area. She walked over the broken carts,’Must be from some scavengers’ she thought as she took a peek inside to notice the various pieces of metal and empty food cans. She frowned as the ground began to grow ever darker,”Well, Puppy, we’ll have to rest for a bit.” “Okay!” Puppysmiles hopped down next to Samus and walked with her to a boulder on a field. Samus placed her hoof around Puppy as she sat down and leaned against the rock. Her ears were perked up and her eyes scanned the area. Over to her left, a few miles ahead in the direction that Puppy lead her, she could see tiny flickers of light.’It looks like a settlement. It’s a little too far though, and I can’t see a few feet in front of me because of the darkness of the cloud cover. I’ll just stay here and listen for any danger, and move out in the morning.’ She leaned back, holding Puppysmiles as close to her as possible. She then noticed a whirring sound to her right. She turned and heard the sound of static come from a flying machine. Although it was still pretty dark, she could still see bits of the thing before her. It had a lined face with a metal body and it had little wings flapping on the back. The thing spoke,”You really should be asleep.” Puppy grinned,”Questioner!” she waved to the little machine. “Questioner?” Samus blinked a few times. “Yeah, because he asks a lot of questions!” Puppy looked up at Samus with a wide smile. “Uh, well I actually prefer Watcher myself.” The voice said. “So, are you a hacker or something?” Samus asked immediately,”I assume that because your voice sounds too aged for an AI.” The hacker coughed,”It’s that obvious, huh? Most ponies just assume the I’m just a talking sprite bot.” “I’ve been around long enough to know the difference between a living voice and robot voice.” Samus leaned forward, her mane covering her eyes,”I can go for a long time without sleeping, and considering what I’ve had to deal with, this is necessary.” “Well, okay, but raiders don’t usually hang around these parts, something about that town over there. Anyway,” Watcher seemed to perk up a bit,”So, what’s it like being an alien!? I’ve always wanted to see one!” Samus jumped at the sudden change in tone,”How did you-? Were you monitoring me!?” Watcher chuckled,”Well, one of my various... surveillance equipment just happened to see you land.” Samus raised an eyebrow at this.”I’ll answer your question, if you answer this: Why are you doing this? This is kind of...” “Creepy? Yeah, I get that sometimes. However, I’m only here to help wastelanders to survive here. As you can guess, this planet is a bit of a hellhole.” “Yeah, with crazy raiders and bouts of radiation, I must imagine that this isn’t a nice place to live. You guys must’ve had a nuclear war, didn’t you?” Samus said with a frown. “Yes, between us ponies and the zebras.”Watcher’s voice took on a more solemn tone,”There was a war, I’m not too sure of what exactly happened, but it just escalated to the point where we used these weapons known as balefire bombs to destroy each other. Our races has only survived thanks to stables, special vaults created as bomb shelters, although there are ponies who have suffered... conditions. I’m here to basically guide stable ponies who’ve left their stables to venture into the wastes. Some did survive the bombs without the stables, intact, but those usually left to unfortunate circumstances, such as the raiders you’ve fought earlier.” “And The Purge?” Samus asked,” I heard about that on the radio.” Watcher sighed,”When the war ended, the pegasi decided to isolate themselves by hiding up in the sky. You notice the cloud cover? That was created by them. However, two years ago, the pegasi were kicked from their home by the creatures known as alicorns. There are two kinds:God alicorns, and Goddess alicorns. God alicorns come in three colors:Red, blue, and,brown. Goddess alicorns come in blue, green, and purple. God alicorns come in both male and female varieties, but Goddess alicorns are only female. I’m not sure how they appeared, but what I do know is that they have been at war with each for two years. No one really knows why or how it started. One thing I do know is that the Goddess alicorns seem to have gotten more powerful for some reason.” “God and Goddess, huh?” Samus thought,”Well that shouldn’t be too difficult a problem to solve, but that’ll be later.”Thanks, that’s all I need to know. My people almost went to nuclear war as well. Although, I shouldn’t divulge too much information on where I came from.” “That’s understandable. Still kind of cool to see a real alien, even if you look just like a pony. Before you do anything, though, I feel I need to give you a little advice.” Watcher cleared his throat,”First, you need the Wasteland Survival guide, then, you need some armor, and finally some friends. Luckily you already have a weapon.” Samus nodded,”Thank you for that. I didn’t want to use those raider’s armor, it might get me shot.” “Good point.” Watcher chuckled,”I must turn off now. See you soon, Samus.” The sprite bot made a staticy sound before changing to some happy music as it floated away. Puppy was busy playing with a little rock,”That was kind of boring,” She said with a frown,”I kinda wanted him to start asking more funny questions!” “Well, Puppy, it was information I needed.” Samus said, looking up to notice that the clouds were getting brighter. “Oh, sort of like how Mommy always goes to this weird place and talks about boring stuff while I play with the blocks!” Puppysmiles said, her mane bobbing up and down as she spoke. “What kind of weird place?” Samus asked as she got up. “This place with all these numbers. Mom called it the Socia Secrety office.” Puppy said, bouncing beside Samus as the huntress walked to a bunch of buildings in the distance. The first thing that Samus noticed upon entering the village was how nice and friendly all the ponies seemed. She walked by several mares and stallions who waved at her with smiles on their faces. She didn’t just see ponies, though,, she also caught some giraffes and buffalo walking around, with saddle bags. She had noticed some of them getting small bottle caps after giving certain items to one of the ponies. ‘Even though this looks like a nice place, I’m going to find out some dark secret about this town aren’t I?’ she shook her head,’You’re too pessimistic, Samus. That, or you’ve been to too many weird places.’ She looked around and noticed a small tavern,’A tavern, sweet!’ She walked towards the door, with Puppy in tow. As she entered, she noticed several of the patrons hoof wrestling, drinking, gambling, and hitting on the employees,’No matter where I go, bars stay the same’ She smiled as she headed towards the bar tender. She noticed at the corner of her eye a strange looking suit of armor. That was when she noticed something,’Why is no one looking surprised that a weird mare with a blue jumpsuit is walking around? These guys must live strange lives apparently.’ Samus stood up on the table and looked at the bar stallion,”Give me your strongest drink, and an orange juice for my little sister.” “One Arbu Smasher and an orange juice comin’ up!” The brown stallion with a long necklace said, turning around and taking a few of the bottles on the shelves and began to pour them into small shot glasses. As the stallion began to mix the drinks, Samus began to speak,”What’s with that armor in the corner back there?” “Oh, that’s some Enclave armor that was given to us by this pegasi stallion we took in. The stallion was badly injured during the purge, and we helped nurse him back to health.” The stallion handed Samus the drink, and gave Puppy some orange juice,”He left it here because he wanted to walk away from his former life. I was thinking of giving it to somepony because none of us can use it.” Samus looked down and noticed Puppy trying to drink the glass, but was only able to hit her helmet with it,”I could take it.” She said, kneeling down to inspect Puppy’s helmet. The stallion snorted,”You are aware that it’s power armor, right? You need training for it.” “I do have training.” Samus said, patting Puppy as the filly began to sniffle. “What? Are you some kind of former Steel Ranger or something?” The stallion cocked his head. “Eh, you could say that.” Samus said, getting up and pulling out some bottlecaps. “Well, guess they don’t let you keep your armor when you leave them,” The stallion shook his head as he took the caps,”The suit’s yours.” “For free? Just like that?” Samus asked,”For all you know, I could use that armor to utterly destroy you and this entire town.” She gulped down the alcoholic drink,’Of course, I barely feel it. Equines have great constitution, and considering that I had the ability to drink pretty strong ale without feeling anything already, this drink does absolutely nothing to me.’ The stallion shrugged,”We’re all good shots in this town, so if you had any ideas, we’d be able to stop you.” He grinned. “Okay then,” Samus moved away from the table,”Thank you, sir!” She turned and headed towards the suit of armor. Upon inspection, she noticed that the armor was vaguely insect like. The helm was equipped with metallic goggles, with a small opening for the mouth. :Looking down the suit, she saw several plates for use with wings, and she noticed tiny bits of what could be assumed to be some sort of Kevlar lining attaching the various bits of black metal. Along the sides were small wing plates. In the back, there was a long tail with a blade at the end, making it out to be like a scorpion’s tail. Another look through it showed some burn marks, presumably from when the pony was attacked, however, it looked undamaged.”This looks pretty good. The smaller bits of armor here and there show that this armor doesn’t sacrifice mobility for defense, which is fine by me.” she then had a thought,’How the heck do I wear it? I guess I’ll find out.’ she grabbed the armor and put it on her back and began to walk out before stopping and turning to Puppysmiles. Puppy had just accidentally bumped into a giraffe. Looking up, Puppy said,”Excuse me, Funny long-necked thing!” The giraffe looked down and chuckled. He craned his neck towards the little filly,”I’m called a giraffe, little pony.” Puppy cocked her head,”Girabbe?” The giraffe chukled, and handed her a small plate,”Close enough, kid. Here, you look hungry.” He looked up at Samus,”Your big sister’s waiting for you.” Puppysmiles took the plate that had a sandwich on it,”Thank you mister!” She said, before turning and bouncing off towards Samus. After the two walked out of the bar, Samus put the armor on the ground. She moved it from side-to-side, trying to find to actually wear the thing with her hooves. Then she saw a couple of latches on the legs. Unlatching them she placed the greaves on her own legs one at a time. She began to feel the greaves make a hissing sound. She took the torso plate and moved it over her head, causing the torso piece to automatically connect with the greaves with another hiss. She looked behind her and flicked her tail, watching as the scorpion tail slammed the ground. She looked down at the helmet, picked it up, and put it on. The helmet connected with the torso plates and made a hissing sound. It’s visor then lit up, with various diagnostic information running by Samus’ eyes before showing a complete screen with a targeting reticle in the center, vital signs in the upper right hand corner, a compass showing several orange blips on the lower left corner, and in the upper left corner was an inventory list. On the list was the Flash Sparkle, two health potions, a roll of bandages, disinfectant, 30 bottle caps, and an audio log in the suit itself. “Wow!” Puppysmiles said with big eyes,” You look really cool!” “Why, thank you!” Samus said with a smirk, before an old stallion came up to her. “You gotta get outta here! This town holds a dark secret, I tell you! This town’s crazy!” He said before running off. “That was weird.” Samus said, frowning, watching as he ran off to rant at a couple of merchants. “Pon, ee, meet?” Puppysmiles began to say. Samus turned and noticed Puppy looking at the plate the giraffe got her. Samus walked up and knelt down to her level,”What was that?” She took a piece of the sandwich. The Enclave armor then designated it as “Pony meat.” Samus frowned,”Puppy, go play with those kids in the playground, okay.” She said, pointing behind her at the playground. Puppy smiled,”Okay!” She got up and ran to the other foals. Samus got up and armed the Flash Sparkle. She turned and noticed the bartender putting some trash away. She walked up and fired at the ground at his hooves, startling him,”You ate that pegasus, didn’t you!?” The stallion sighed as he fiddled with his necklace,”We... didn’t have enough food one year. The whole town was starving, until a band of ponies came along. They were wounded, most of them at least, so we figured, ‘who’d miss them?’ so we had to cannibalize them to survive. That was only the beginning, however. In time we killed and ate many more, and couldn’t stop. We’re still nice to traders and visitors, but anypony we figured wouldn’t be missed, we killed. Like that stallion. Who cares about the Enclave anyway? They left us down here to die after all.” “That guy’s family cares!” Samus yelled,”You took a pony and murdered him!” She aimed her gun at the bartender’s head,”Now? You have to pay!” “Daddy?” a small voice said from behind Samus before she could pull the trigger. The bartender looked at the small blue coated fily,”Yes, Will-O-Wisp?” “Can I go in and get my ball?” The filly said, running up to her dad. “Yes, just don’t stay out for too long, okay?” The father said. He looked up at Samus. Samus stood, frozen. ‘No. No. No. I can’t do this. He has a child to care for. I can’t kill him. I can’t become like Ridley, I can’t do this!’ She put her gun away and turned,”I’m going. But what you are doing, is going to have consequences.” She said as she walked off. Samus walked towards the playground,”Come on Puppy, let’s go.” Puppy stopped bouncing a ball and looked at Samus,”Okay, Big Sister!” She said as she ran to Samus’ side. Samus sighed as she walked with Puppy out of the town,’Might as well check the audio log in this suit.’She thought as she clicked the log. A male voice came from the log: Hello, My name is Ace Ray, Captain of the 41st division of the Enclave. If you are hearing this, then I am dead. Damn alicorns, they got me good. Listen, I have a daughter, named Sunny Smiles, or as I like to call her, Sunbeam. I managed to send her to a large settlement while I distracted the alicorns. She should be safe, provided she didn’t come look for me. I promised her that I would find her. Heh, looks I may have to break that promise. I believe the settlement is called Friendship City. I want you to go there and find her. Give her this message. Sunny, my lovely little Sunbeam. I’m sorry. I tried my best to help you, and help the Enclave become better, but that didn’t happen. I know I promised we would find your mother together, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I love you, Sunbeam. I also have a message for my wife, Moonlight. Moonlight, wherever you are, I tried my best. I hope you are doing well, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you as soon as I could. I love you too, honey. Whoever you are, that found this log, and this armor, thank you. Samus nodded,”Well, Ace Ray, I will find her, and do my duty as a soldier. Puppysmiles,” She looked down at the little filly,”You wouldn’t mind a little... change in direction to Friendship City, would you? I have to do something there.” Puppysmiles looked up,”Okay! Mister Voice? Could you find Friendship City, Puppy please?” “Friendship City, found.” The voice said, and an arrow showed on Puppy’s visor, pointed west towards a large broken city in the distance. Footnotes: Level Up. New Perk: Unavailable. Author's Note Spoilers: Arbu is not a good place to live. Another spoiler: Watcher is an exposition hound. The chapters should be getting a little longer this time around. I originally had Samus outright steal the armor, but I changed it because I didn't want her to become a total thief. Again, any feed back would be appreciated. Special thanks to Alchemystudent for being my co-writer. Talons of the MercenaryChapter 3: Talons of the Mercenary “Horrific as it may sound, there are two of them now.” Samus’ log: Date: Celestial Year 1212, June 12. Companionship. Throughout my travels, I have always been alone. Sure, I’ve had help during my missions, but still, I’m usually all alone, and isolated in a hostile environment. I’ve had friends, but I’ve always prefered to work alone. However, I think in this case, in this world, I may need a little companionship,other than a small child. Samus sat on a rock, and looked over the distance to see the destroyed city. In front of the city where bits and pieces of destroyed carriages and shacks laid around the area. She looked over her shoulder to see Puppysmiles reading a comic book. Samus jumped down from the rock,”What are you reading?” Puppy looked up and showed Samus the cover,”Space Queen and the Head Leeches! It’s awesome! It’s where this evil supercomputer controls a whole bunch of leeches that suck ponies’ energy out, and Space Queen has to stop it!” Samus’ eyes opened wide in surprise. On the cover was a unicorn in orange and red armor firing on a few transparent parasites with fangs, and a brain with a single eye in the background,”What the fuck?” was all that she could mouth out. She shook her head as the little filly continued to read her comic. Samus picked up Puppysmiles and placed her on her back so she could walk while Puppy reads. Samus walked down the road, until she felt a bullet hit the ground in front of her. She heard a female voice shout,”Come on, ya slaver fuckers!” Samus leaped behind a rock,”Slaver?! Look, I’m not a slaver, did I look like one!?” “Well... I suppose not. But you could be hiding it!” the female shouted. “Don’t you think if I were an enemy I’d be shooting at you instead of talking?” Samus shouted back. “I suppose that’s true. Why don’t we talk up front?” The voice said. “How do I know you won’t shoot me the moment I do that!?” Samus asked. “Fine, I’ll throw my guns out there, and you throw yours. And then we both come out.” To emphasize this, Samus could hear a few metallic clangs of metal. Samus took out the Flash Sparkle and threw it out. She then walked out to see a griffon do the same. She noticed the white feathers with a few red tips.on the back of her head. She looked down at the end of her brown coated lion-half. She growled at she remembered her childhood... Little Samus sat in her desk as the bird creature began to talk. “And so did the last of the griffons die out. Any questions?” He saw Samus raise her hand,”Yes, Samus?” “Can I become a griffon?” Samus asked. “No.” “Aw...” Samus laid her head down and pouted. ‘Darn it, why couldn’t I be turned into a griffon in this universe.’ Samus frowned as she looked the griffon up and down. The griffon did the same. “Yeah, you definitely don’t look like a slaver. Unless the Enclave remnants decided to take another job.” The griffon picked up three guns and holstered them. Samus noticed that two holsters were on her front-side alongside two sheaths containing daggers. On her back leg was another holster for her third gun. Samus picked the Flash Sparkle back up,”Actually, I’m not a part of the Enclave. I’m not even a pegasus.” The griffon blinked,”What, you just found that thing just lying around?” She shook her head,”Whatever. Why don’t you come inside with me, it’s a lot safer-” “Hello Pretty Chicken!” Puppysmiles appeared right in the griffon’s face,”I’m Puppysmiles, have you seen my mom?”. “For this little thing.” The griffon frowned,”and I’m not a chicken.” She said with a bark. She turned and used her tail to beckon the two inside. Samus followed the griffon,”So, you have a lot of problems with slavers, miss...” “Grimfeathers. Regina Grimfeathers.” The griffon said as she opened the door,”You can call me Reggie.” She growled as she took off a bandolier of ammo and placed it on a table,”Yeah. Those idiots think that just because I’m a griffon that they can just pay me to do whatever they want!” She placed her weapons down. Samus looked at Reggie,”My name is Samus Aran. Griffons are mercs over here?” Reggie gave Samus a weird look,”What, you just come out of a Stable or something?” “No, she’s an alium!” Puppy shouted, then covered her helmet,”oops, I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I.” She looked down with a frown. Samus’ eyes opened wide,”Uh, kids these days...” She gave a chuckle. Reggie turned and shook her head,”Whatever. I’d believe you if you were an alien. I saw a weird deer-thing pop out of nowhere in a shimmer of light and saw it kick a raider’s ass. Right now? I’d believe anything.” She knolt down to a fridge and opened it. She pulled out three bottles and threw two to Samus,”Yeah, griffons usually are mercenaries. I was actually part of the best group: Gawd’s Talons!” She said with a grin as she opened the bottle with . Samus gave one bottle to Puppy as she looked at hers. ‘Sparkle Cola’ the label read. She popped open the bottle with her teeth and spat out the cap.”Talons, huh? Wonder why you guys were called that?” She smiled. Reggie chuckled,”My Mom’s never been accused of being original.” She shook her head. “Your mom?” Samus asked. “Yeah, Gawdyna Grimfeathers.” She looked down at one of her guns. Samus did the same, and noticed names were carved on each one of them. “Gawd, Kage, and Henri?” Samus asked. “Kage is my twin brother.” Reggie said in a solemn tone. “So that makes you...?” Samus blinked a bit. “Yep! Children of Gawd!” Reggie waved her bottle with a laugh. She picked up the gun marked Gawd and gave it a sad look,”I’m the last of her Talons.” She looked at Samus,”When those new alicorns appeared, they attacked our home, Junction R-7. We tried to fight them off, but they were too much. Mom,” Reggie frowned,”Mom told us to get out while she ‘handles those fuckers’” She growled,”Idiot, why couldn’t she come with us?” She said, tears coming to her eyes.”Me and Kage were forced to leave, and hid until the alicorns left. We came back, and buried what was left of Mom’s corpse.” She picked up the gun marked Kage,”After I took Mom’s gun and marked it, Kage said that we should move on with our lives, now that we were no longer mercenaries. He and I pretty muched walked the wasteland after that, fighting raiders, slavers, or whatever the wasteland threw at us.” She sighed,”Then one day, Kage and I came across a Steel Ranger. The asshole had killed a poor stable dweller for her pipbuck. Kage, who always tried to do the right thing, got mad and attacked him with his knives. I barely had time to react when I heard a shot. Although he had gotten a knife into the ranger, the ranger had shot him in the heart. Before the ranger could do anything, I pulled out my guns, which had armor piercing in them, and shot him in the head. I... ended up burying the stable dweller, because that’s what Kage would have wanted me to do. Then I took Kage’s body back to our home for burial. I carry his knives and put his name on one of my guns in his memory.” “And what about Henri?” Samus asked, throwing the empty bottle away. Reggie gave a smile,”Henrietta Firebright. I met her after Kage’s death. At first, we were at odds,” she shook her head,”Mom kinda wanted her and her dad dead. After we exchanged bullets for a bit, I managed to finally convince her that my mom’s Talons were dead, and I wasn’t after her. We decided that, because of our similar predicaments-her dad was dead, my family was dead- we’d travel together. And so for about a year we began to walk the wasteland, doing whatever felt right at the time, although Henri would question me on a few decisions to help others.” She looked at Kage’s gun as she held Henri’s,”After Kage’s death, I pretty much swore to uphold his ideals. He was always nicer than I was.” She shook her head,”After a while, however, Henri just up and left. She left me her gun with her name on it and a note:’Follow the clues- H.’ I didn’t know what she meant, all I knew was that I was alone again.” she shook her head,”And that’s kind of why I’m hanging around here: I don’t have anyone to follow.” Samus looked down to see Puppysmiles attempting to open the bottle, and then promptly putting it into her suit,”All that because of those alicorns?” She smiled as she looked around the shack,”Well, it’s a good thing I’m planning on stopping them.” Reggie spat out the last of her Sparkle Cola,”What!? Why!? What’s in it for you!?” Samus shrugged,”I came here, saw that the people here were oppressed by a bunch of assholes, and decided that needed to stop.” Reggie’s eyes went wide,”So... you are going to stop several god-like creatures, just because they’re jerks? So, you’re doing this, because it’s the right thing to do.” she looked back at Kage’s gun, and began to laugh,”Wow, finally, a pony with guts! Most people in the wasteland are just out for themselves! It’s nice to see someone who does things because it’s the right thing to do.” She shook her head,”In that way, you are either the craziest pony I’ve ever met, or the most awesome.” Reggie gave a grin as she placed her guns in their holster,”I’m coming with you!” Samus blinked,”Really?” “Of course!” She sheathed her knives,”I’m tired of doing pretty much nothing, and quite frankly, you look like a pony who’d actually kick a lot of ass!” She looked around,”And I don’t plan on just standing here waiting for something to happen, that would be just ridiculous!” Samus looked down on the ground and shrugged,”Alright, come on then.” she turned towards the door. Puppy ran up and gave Reggie a big hug,”Yay, we have a new friend!” Reggie chuckled a bit as she held Puppy up,”So, where are we heading?” “A place called Friendship City.” Samus said, going through the door. “Oh, that place! It’s a little crowded but it has good people.” Reggie said as she and Puppysmiles followed Samus. The trio walked through the destroyed Manehattan buildings, stepping through bits and pieces of rusted metal. Samus frowned as she moved a piece of debris in their path. She looked around and noticed pieces of aged billboards and destroyed neon signs. She looked at her left, and jumped in surprise when she saw a picture of a pink pony with a greying mane and the words,”Pinkie Pie is watching you, forever!” on a sign. “Yeah, that gives me the creeps too. Sometimes, it feels like her eyes follow you...”Reggie said with her eyes widening as she walked. “Ooh, scary!” Puppy said, staring at the sign. Samus shook her head,’That’s just silly.’ She then walked along, looking back and making sure that Pinkie’s eyes weren’t following her.’Wait, weren’t her pupils in a different spot before?’ She shook her head and continued to walk until she bumped into Reggie,”Hey, what’s-” She stopped when she looked in front of her. Strung across the ground were seven pony bodies. Blood was smeared across the once grey road. Near the bodies was a carriage, where a soft whimpering was heard.”Must have been raiders.” Reggie snarled. Samus walked to two of the bodies, and noticed their body armor, and their bullet ridden corpses,”Bodyguards, only it looks like.” She walked to the other five. One stallion and one mare were shot in the head, while two others, also a mare and a stallion, had their necks slit, and white fluid from their backsides. Samus growled as she noticed the similar hairstyles and coat colors,”This was a defenseless family.” she looked up at the carriage, and walked to it.She opened the door to reveal a tiny filly. The filly screamed as she backed away. Samus took off her helmet and turned to Puppysmiles,”Hey, Puppy? Why don’t you help tell this little filly that we’re not bad ponies?” Puppy poked a pony, and then looked up,”Okay!” She said, and hopped into the carriage,”Hi!” The filly screamed,”Stay away!” Reggie turned and pointed towards a building with ponies on pikes,”That’s probably where they came from.” She turned to Samus,”You thinking what I’m thinking?” Samus nodded as she put her helmet back on and took out the Flash Sparkle. “Don’t worry! My big sister is a really cool bounty hunter!” Puppy said, then she cocked her head,”You really are scared, aren’t you?” The filly began to sob. Puppysmiles trotted over and smiled,”Whenever I’m scared, Mommy always sang me a little song to make me feel better. Mister Voice? Could you play a nice song for my new friend?” “Searching stations...” Mister Voice said, and a little song came on. “Man, this is boring...” Slit-throat groaned as he watched the entrance. He inhaled his bit of Dash and frowned,”I wish something would...” He was interrupted as he was shot in the neck. He coughed up blood as three more shots promptly went into him. The last thing he saw was a bird creature and a black demon breaking down the entrance. “... And that’s how Space Queen defeated Mother Computer!” Puppy squealed. The filly had calmed down, and began to giggle a little,”T-That’s pretty cool...” Four raiders came into the front lobby of the hotel after hearing the noise,”What the hell was that!?” One mare exclaimed. “S-Slit-throat?” A stallion gasped as they saw the raider in question lying on the wall with the words,”Never Again,” written on it in blood. “Shit! What the hell’s going on!” Another stallion yelled. The first stallion looked around,”Hey, weren’t there four of us?” He said, noting that there was one stallion out of the group. Then they felt blood. They looked up to see that a griffon had stabbed the stallion and held him up in the air. She glared down at them. “Shoot her!” The mare exclaimed, only to be met with silence. She turned and noticed a scorpion tail impaling the first stallion, who just happen to be holding the only other gun in the group. The stallion was thrown off, and the wielder of the tail promptly shot the second stallion in the head before he could attack. The mare backed up, only to bump into the griffon. She turned and screamed before her throat was slashed by the griffon’s talons. “I don’t know about the pretty chicken lady, but she has three guns, so she’s probably really cool!” Puppy said, hopping up and down. “Hey, who’s there?” A female voice shouted. “What was that noise?” The mare said as she lay on the bed. “Don’t know, don’t care.” The stallion said, grinning as he lay on top of her,”We’re having fun!” “Oh, yes!” The mare moaned and closed her eyes, only to feel a drop of liquid hit her nose. She opened her eyes to see a knife plunge into her face. “Oh no, they’re back!” The filly said as the carriage door opened up to reveal a white unicorn mare with a black and red mane, wearing security barding. A group of three raiders laughed as one of them poked a filly in a cage with a spear. One of them turned to the door with a serious look,”Hey, aren’t we going to investigate that noise?” That was when he heard a scream. He turned and saw a set of pony legs being dragged out of the room. He ran after the screaming raider, only to face a gun. A shot was heard, leaving a single stallion staring at the hallway. He gasped as a black form came into view. He fired wildly, watching in horror as the bullets hit the thing, but it still came. He screamed as he was tackled by the thing. The thing broke the raider’s neck and turned to the cage with the filly. The filly whimpered,”Miss?” The thing walked towards the cage,”Yes?” it said. “Are you the spirit of vengeance? Mommy told me stories about you.” “If you wish.” The thing said. It broke the cage door open,”Run.” It said, as a griffon landed next to it. They turned and walked out. “Hey, I found survivors!” The mare shouted before turning and leaning her head in,”It’s alright, the good guys are here.” Puppysmiles turned to the filly and smiled,”The pretty police lady found us!” She said, and hopped out of the carriage. The filly looked up at the mare’s smiling face. The filly reluctantly walked into the mare’s forehooves. Bullet Ridden laughed in his chair, and began to inject more Med-X within himself,”Man, it’s good to be the king, huh, ladies?” He smiled at two raider mares on both sides of him. He slapped one on the flank, causing her to slap him,”Ouch, now you’re turning me on~” He said. He leaned in for a kiss when he heard a scream. He turned to see one mare with a bullet in her head. He gulped as he heard another gunshot and saw that his other mare was dead. He blinked.”Everypony!?” He shouted, but got no answer. “You’re alone.” A creature from his deepest nightmares came from the doorway, followed by a bird-creature of horror. “W-What!?” Bullet said, backing away. The bird-creature spoke next,”We got rid of your lackeys. We made them pay.” “I... I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Bullet said. He used his hoof to feel around for his gun, only to find that the bird-thing had flown up to his face and kicked him aside from his beloved protection. The creature in black took the gun up and broke it in half. The creature then walked up to him,”That face... is that the face that family had?” “W-what!? Please, I didn’t do anything!” The stallion screamed. Then he was shot in the shoulder. “Don’t lie to me.” The thing said. “Wait, I’ll do anything. I’ve got drugs, weapons, mares, just don’t kill me!” Bullet shouted. “How many people have said that to you!?” The thing began to pump bullets into his abdomen, causing him to scream. Then the bird-creature did the same. He weakly looked up and then felt a blade run him through. Samus threw him out the window,”I doubt that’ll do anything, but hopefully some will take that as a message.” The mare sat the filly down on the ground. She looked up at a pegasus mare in similar barding,”I think that’s all of them.” The pegasus nodded,”Good, let’s take-” “Wait, my sister needs to come back!” Puppysmiles said, looking back at the building. The unicorn looked down,”Sister?” “Yeah, she’s gone off to take care of the bad guys with our new friend!” She pointed to the building. The mare frowned,”What kind of crazy pony would go off to kill a bunch of raiders just because?” “Somepony like you?” The pegasus said with a chuckle. “... You’re right.” The unicorn said as she pulled out a shotgun and pumped it.”Wish me luck, honey!” She drank her bottle of whiskey out of her saddle-bags. She was stopped however as a little filly ran out of the building and towards her. “The Spirit of Vengeance has come!” the filly screamed. The mare blinked, and watched as a stallion was thrown out a window,”I... think I’m going to sit this one out.” She frowned as she put away her shotgun. A few moments later, two figures left the building,”An Enclave pegasus and a griffon?” She looked at her pegasus partner. “Don’t look at me.” The pegasus said. The unicorn looked down at Puppy,”That must be your sister.” She said as the Enclave figure walked up. Samus took off her helmet,”I suppose you’re friendly.” She smiled,”We took care of the raider problem.” “I wanted to do that...” The unicorn muttered. She smiled up at the mare,”Thanks, I didn’t expect Enclave to care that much to do that. And I really didn’t think a griffon would do that.” She looked at Reggie. “Yeah, I’d like to think I’m different from the other mercs.” Reggie said. “And I’m not really Enclave, I just happen to find this armor, and I kinda need it.” Samus said. The unicorn nodded,”Well, thanks again. You’ve just saved the filly of a merchant family. And,” She looked down, “You’ve saved somepony who was lost to us.” “Us?” Reggie asked. “Friendship City. I and my friend here are members of the security team there. We were sent here when we noticed that this family was late in its return.” The mare explained. “Friendship City?” Samus looked at the pegasus,”Your name wouldn’t happen to be Sunny Smiles, would it?” The pegasus shook her head,”No, sorry. But I do know a Sunny back in Friendship City. If you would like, we could get you guys there so you could look for her.” “That’d be perfect.” Samus said with a nod. “Good, the more the merrier.” The unicorn said as she turned to lead the group. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Intimidating Presence: The very sight of you makes foes tremble with fear, the Enclave armor doesn’t help with that. Anytime you fight an enemy, there is a 20% chance of them running away from you. Companion Perk Added: Bird’s Eye View: You can see a lot farther, allowing you more accuracy when Reggie is with you. Author's Note The last scene was not in the original RP. I put it in to show a bit of Puppy's character, and to give a cameo. Yes, I don't think I need to tell you who the unicorn is, only that I didn't read the story she came from, so the bits of her character I merely gleamed from the wiki and TV Tropes. The scene at the end was indeed inspired by horror films. I figured it would be nice to see the heroes through the eyes of raiders. I don't think that's ever been done before in a Fallout fic. Thanks to my co-author, Alchemystudent. Again, feel free to point out the flaws in this chapter, I do want to improve. Here's the song that played on the radio. Wings of the PegasusChapter 4: Wings of the Pegasus “Or does she approach even now, a savior clothed in machines crafted long ago by Chozo hands?” Samus’ log: Celestial Year 1212 June 13 Education. Education is a defining part of our lives. Teachers that we had as children help give advice that will help us in our futures. However, sometimes teachers don’t get the respect they deserve, which makes me respect them for being so emotionally invested in their jobs for so long. The two mares led Samus, Reggie, and the foals down the long, broken streets. Samus looked to her right as she noticed a tower with a large barrier around it. “Tenpony Tower. That place has been inaccessible for a while.” Blackjack, the security unicorn, said as she noticed Samus’ look,”I’d been thinking of going over there to investigate, but I’ve been too busy helping protect Friendship City, especially with the way things have been going.” “Problems in the city?” Samus asked. ”Meh, the usual. Riots, assassinations, and heavy drinking.” Blackjack shook her head, and then looked at a small device on her hoof,”Everything’s harder what with the food shortages and all.” “And what is that?” Samus looked at the thing. Blackjack blinked,”You’ve never seen a pipbuck before? You must be new here.” She held up her pipbuck,”A pipbuck is really cool, it can manage your inventory, look up your vital signs, and instantly know the names of new locations for some reason.” She scratched her head. ‘Huh, that doesn’t sound too bad, sort of like my own power suit.’ Samus thought. “All the problems with the food shortages would be gone if anypony was willing to go into the stable under the city,” the pegasus mare said. Samus blinked,”What’s the problem?” She asked as a tall statue came into view. The pegasus, Morning Glory, frowned as she flew in front,”:Most ponies are afraid of stables, due to the fact that most of them are known for their... unorthodox experiments.” She turned to Samus with a weird look,”I’ve heard that some stables had created experiments so horrible, they could turn you white.” “Unless you’re already white.” Blackjack said with a smile as she trotted up to the entrance to the city. The doors opened up to show a pair of security ponies. “Oh, hey Blackjack!” One of them said, before looking at Samus, and giving a sigh,”Please tell me you’re just visiting...” “Relax, we’re only going to give these two foals a home.” Morning said with a smile as she indicated the two fillies silently following them. One of the guards looked over the two,”Oh, goddesses! Is that one the daughter of Peach Cobbler?! She’s been missing for weeks!” He indicated the filly that was in the cage,” And that one... she’s from the Pennybags family that went missing!” He looked up at the group,”Thank you all for finding them!” Blackjack shook her head,”I didn’t find them first. These two were the ones who did that.” She indicated Samus and Reggie. “Oh, thank you, it’s hard to find anypony with your kind of bravery these days.” The other guard said with a sigh of relief. “Speaking of bravery, I hear you have a stable problem?” Samus asked, as she stepped up closer to the guards. The guard frowned,”Oh, you’ve heard, huh?” He sighed,”The stable near the city would provide a nice boost in our food and medical supplies, and would provide some good tech. It would also help the internal economy and fix the overpopulation problem by allowing more groups of ponies to leave and find their own settlements. Do you want to help?” The guard asked. “Well, apparently you guards are too busy keeping the peace here,” Samus held on to Puppysmiles, who had apparently found something shiny and wanted to inspect it,”And I think my mission can wait until we fix your little problem.” Blackjack smirked,”Somehow, I’m not surprised you’d do that for us.” Samus looked down at Puppy,”I’ll look after your little sister for you.” Morning Glory flew down and picked the filly up,”It should be safe for her here.” Blackjack walked to the side,”I’ll lead you to the stable and open it for ya, however, that’s as far as I’ll go. I don’t want to leave the city for too long, you understand.” “Hey, I hear ya.” Reggie said as she and Samus walked with Blackjack. One of the guards turned to Glory,”You know what that filly is, right?” “Yes, but she seems harmless.” Glory looked down as Puppy struggled to get out of her hooves. Blackjack led them through a small tunnel leading to a large vault door with the letters 33 emblazoned on it. Blackjack pulled out a wire on her pipbuck and placed it inside the console on the front. With a siren, the doors opened up as the unicorn removed the cord. She turned to them,”Alright, head on in! Be careful though.” She pulled out a billy club and walked back. “What’s with the club?” Samus raised an eyebrow. “In case I get ambushed by the Wild Card Gang. They’re always trying to forcefully recruit me!” Blackjack growled as she left, swinging her club. “Wild Card Gang, I really hate those dorks,”Reggie growled as she walked with Samus inside. Samus looked at her companion,”What’s wrong with them?” “I just don’t like them!” Reggie shouted, her wings flaring up. The stable around them looked remarkably clean, albeit there were a few metal boxes and bits of paper lying around. Samus looked up as she noticed the lights that still kept everything lit in the white rooms before them. The two walked towards the center hallway. Reggie frowned as she looked at the white halls,”I don’t like this. Stables are almost never quiet...” Samus walked along the hall, and noticed a sign above her Medical Ward. She turned to the right and she and Reggie came across another long hallway with various doors with numbers on them. Samus walked up and entered one and saw several desks lined up with various plastic skeletons showing the anatomy of a pony lining the walls. Reggie walked in with Samus, and noticed the skeletons,”Well, at least they’re not real.” Samus looked at the desks,”I thought this was the medical ward, why are there school desks?” She turned to the blackboard and noticed a button near the bottom right where the teacher’s desk sat. She pressed it, causing the blackboard to rise up, revealing a machine with various tools working on a decayed skeleton of a filly. “And now we get the real pony skeletons!” Reggie said with an affirmative nod. “Welcome students!” A new voice said, causing the two to turn and watch as a floating robot enter the room. The robot had several appendages with various medical instruments being held,”What shall we learn today?” “We’re... not students.” Samus said,”Trust me, I have a few degrees.” “Nonsense! There’s always time to learn!” The robot said. Reggie put a talon on her pistol,”I don’t like this...” Samus shook her head,”We don’t have time for this.” She nodded to Reggie as they began to back off. The robot’s one eye turned red,”Do you really want to leave, children? You do know what happened to Tra-la-la, don’t you?” The thing pointed a scalpel at the filly body,”She wouldn’t listen to me, and paid the price.” Reggie pulled out one of her guns and fired on the machine’s eye,”I hate killer robots.” Samus pulled out the Flash Sparkle,”Me too.” She and Reggie ran out of the room as a warning siren blared. “Warning: Truants detected, Kill on sight.” “Somehow, I don’t think that’s a good way to run a school.” Samus muttered as she and Reggie watched several robots come around the corner. A missile flew passed them as Reggie turned. “A sentry bot!? They have a sentry bot here!?” Reggie shouted as she and Samus turned and ran into a seemingly empty hallway from a bot with a red eye rolling on treads. “We don’t have enough ammo to go through this many robots!” Samus said as she looked behind her,”We’ll have to find the central processing unit!” “You think it could be in the overmare’s office? Or the principal’s?” Reggie asked as she and Samus kicked aside a pair of robots. “Probably the principal’s office!” Samus said,”Considering how things are going!” She yelled. They ran down the hall until they came across a large door with the sign,’Principal/CPU office.” The two stopped when they saw four large turrets pop out of the ceiling. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”Reggie shouted as another missile flew by them. Samus turned to see the sentry bot roll towards them. She ran towards it and jumped over it. She grabbed it’s back and aimed its missile launcher towards the turrets,”Please get off, Student!” It said as its missiles began to fire on the turrets. Reggie flew behind with Samus in response. As soon as the four turrets were destroyed, they turned the bot around and kicked it down the hall, towards a wall. They turned to the door and walked into the room. The door shut behind them as a red light showed on top. A shutter came down over the door,”Of course it locks, why wouldn’t it do that?” Samus rolled her eyes and turned to look upon a large computer with a tiny blue screen in front. Reggie frowned when she saw a few skeletons littering the room,”I think someone may have tried to stop this thing before us.” “Greetings, students.” The computer in the center of the room said, it’s voice began to crackle,”But you’re not students, are you?” “That much should be obvious.” Reggie turned to the computer with a glare. “Yes... I’m sorry for what my teachers have done.” The computer said. “Wait, are you expressing emotion? I thought computers couldn’t do that!” Reggie cocked her head. “Not unless they have some sort of learning program built into them.” Samus said,”Which is what you probably have.” “... The social experiment for this stable involved an increased emphasis on education. My creators wondered if lack of education led to the Great War.” The computer began,”My creators made me to be the centerpiece and placed several robots under my control. They put a program inside of me that allowed me to optimize my teachers to teach based upon the student’s behavior and learning style.” “So, how did that lead to killer robots?” Reggie asked. “A teacher’s plight: Unappreciative parents, am I right?” Samus asked. “As I controlled my teachers, I began to develop a personality, and I realized how bad some ponies can be.” The screen turned red for a moment,”Some would talk about how I’m not doing my job right, I’m not doing enough, I can’t do anything!” The screen went back to blue,”So, I punished them. I decided to kill their foals. Then they attacked, and I killed them. This was 150 years ago, so very long ago. I... regret those actions. I’m so lonely, my teachers don’t have anyone to teach, and I don’t have anypony to talk to.” The computer sighed,”I’m sorry about my teachers attacking, they were only doing what they were supposed to do:Teach, and kill if a student’s being naughty.” “Do you want us to deactivate you?” Samus asked. “Please! It’ll stop my teachers! It’ll stop my loneliness! I don’t want to go on anymore! I just want peace...” The computer sobbed,”On my bank, there is a console. Type the word,’Nyx Sparkle,’ and you will open my protocols, type the command,’End Program’ .” Samus nodded as she went to the console. Reggie held up a talon,”Hold on, one question first: The sentry bot, why?” “Oh, explosive safety!” The computer said happily. “And that involves missiles?” Reggie raised an eyebrow. “No one’s perfect.” The computer said as Samus typed in the password, and the command. This caused his screen to dim and the shutters to open. She and Reggie turned to each other. “I don’t think I’m liking stables very much.” Samus said with a frown. “Hey, remind me to tell you about the clone stable...” Reggie turned to the door. True to the principal’s word, the robots were inert, allowing Samus and Reggie to walk by them and into the med bay. Samus looked inside and noted several skeletons, real and fake, lying around the area. Four first aid kits with a butterfly symbol were attached to the walls, Reggie flew up and opened each of them,”Alright, these contain some supplies.” She turned to Samus,”Are we sure this is going to be enough to solve Friendship City’s problem?” “With the weapons that could be salvaged and the food that could be in here, the city could equip its citizens well enough to venture out and even out it’s population.” Samus said. She turned to the atrium,”I’ll go check the food stores.” Reggie flew behind Samus,”Can I ask you something?” Samus walked ahead,”Yes?” “How are you going to stop the alicorns? I mean, the only ones to take them out were Steel Rangers and Hellhounds, and even then lately I’ve seen Alicorns power through them.” Reggie looked around the tables of the cafeteria. “I have a secret weapon.” Samus said simply. “What? Some kind of alien tech that you can only access in deep stress?” Reggie asked. “Well, I can’t access it yet due to the fact that it’s rebooting. So I’m doing these other tasks till I get it back.” Samus said as she took a peek inside a food storage, and noting that it was half-stocked with canned products,”Alright, this checks out. Let’s go back.” Samus and Reggie walked up back to the entrance of Friendship City as two guards greeted them. “You took care of everything?” One guard asked. “Yeah, there was a problem with an AI, but we finished that.” Samus said,”You should be able to safely enter that place.” The other guard nodded,”I’ll inform Mayor Black Seas.” He said as he left. The first guard turned to the two,”ALright,you can come on, i believe Glory took your little sister to the marketplace. Be careful though, the ponies down there can get rowdy.” As the two walked in, they began to feel a little cramped by all the ponies walking close to each other. “Wow, when they said this place was a little overpopulated, they weren’t kidding!” Reggie flew up and searched ahead. Samus growled to herself as she pushed some people aside gently,”I wish I had wings right now...” They moved around the crowd until they heard sounds of fighting. Samus moved towards it to see a group of pegasi holding up a black pegasus with a brand on his flank. “Lousy Dashite, it’s ponies like you are the reasons why we’re stuck on this mudhole!” one pegasus in front growled, a switchblade in his mouth. “Please,” The black pegasus coughed,”I had nothing to do with your failings-” “Shut up, old stallion!” The lead said. “Stop!” A green coated, white maned pegasus in leather armor ran out,”What the hay are ya doin’!?” She yelled as she stood in front of the other pegasi. ‘The hell!? I didn’t know there was a Mississippi on this planet, or would it be Whinnissippi?’ Samus thought to herself as she went closer. “There is no more Enclave, A’right? Ya shouldn’t be fightin’ each other!” The mare said. “Shut up, Sunny!” The lead pegasus charged forward with his switchblade. Sunny closed her eyes, but nothing came to hit her. She opened her eyes to see Samus grabbing the pegasus’ mouth. “You really need to watch your mouth.” Samus said, before throwing him aside. She looked at the blade in her shoulder, that must have went in through a hole made by one of the turrets in the stable. She used her teeth to pull the blade out and spat it on the ground. With blood trickling down her hoof, she glared at the other two pegasi. A claw decked one of them from behind, causing the last one to look and shout,”I give up!” He said, his wings flaring up as he saw Reggie give him a glare. Sunny gasped in shock as a little filly in a yellow suit ran by and gave Samus a hug,”Sammy!” Puppysmiles said with a big smile,”That was so cool!” “I know Puppy,” Samus said, giving the filly a hug,”Did you have fun?” “Uh-huh, although Glory got a little weird when she saw the pretty unicorn again, they began to suck each other’s ribs for some reason!” Puppy said,”Sort of like what Mommy and Daddy used to do!” Samus nodded,”That’s right, Puppy, now I have something very important to do.” Samus got up and turned to Sunny,”Sunny Smiles, correct?” Sunny could only gawk as Samus took off her helmet,”Uh-huh.” “I...” Samus sighed,”I have a message for you.” She gave her helmet to Sunny,”It’s from your father. Sunny left her trance,”Pa? But Ah haven...” She took the helmet and put it on, and played the audio log. After hearing it, she took it off and sniffled,”Oh, Pa, Ah love ya too...” She looked up at Samus,”Do ya know how he died?” Samus thought back to Arbu,”... No, I don’t .” “... That’s alright.” Sunny wiped a tear,”Ah... Ah knew that, but.... Ah always had a little bit of hope...” She sniffled. She looked up at Samus,”What’s ya name?” “Samus Aran.” Samus said. “Samus, thank ya.” She looked down as she gave the helmet back to Samus. “I... wish I didn’t have to tell you that.” Samus put on the helmet and turned. “Was that all ya were here for?” Sunny asked. Samus nodded,”Yep, I gotta get going. A little filly has lost her mother, and I need to help her.” “Ah’m going with ya.” Sunny said, getting up. “What?” Samus said with a turn. “I agree, what?” Reggie asked with a raised eyebrow. “If... If ya found my Pa, then maybe mah Ma’s probably around, and Ah thank ya’ll can help me!” Sunny said, flying up and towards Samus,”Plus, Ah thank ya’ll need a medic, which Ah happen to be a combat medic!” Samus thought for a moment, and then nodded,”Alright then.” “Thank ya kindly!” Sunny wiped some tears away. She turned to Reggie,”So who are ya?” “Just call me Reggie.” Reggie said, before whispering to Samus,”Are you sure this is a good idea? She doesn’t look well armed.” Samus whispered back,”She’s a medic, she doesn’t need to be. We may need her around to watch Puppy as well.” Reggie sighed as she nodded in agreement. A random guard then ran into the area,”The Steel Rangers are here again!” “Steel Rangers!? Aw, crap!” Reggie growled as she flew up,”Come on, let’s check it out!” Samus ran under Reggie as Sunny flew behind them. “Wait up!” Sunny yelled as she picked up Puppy. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Unavailable Companion Perk added: Medic!: Healing items are 20% more effective when Sunny Smiles is in your team. Author's Note Thanks to Alchemystudent The stable was added by me to provide a little more interaction between Samus and Reggie. And this stable is a little different from what Fallout Equestria: Starlight had, mainly because I wanted to do something different for it. I hope the experiment makes sense. Any feedback is appreciated. The Hunter, The Tower, and The AlicornChapter 5: The Hunter, The Tower, and The Alicorn “The starborne terror tore through the heavens and struck with an untold might.” Samus’ log: Celestial Year 1212 June 13 Gods. The first civilizations first created deities to help them understand the world around them. Gods were there to help give early creatures something to fight for. However, the people who believe in gods can use them to rationalize their own actions, no matter how horrible they can be. It’s good that people have something to believe in, but it’s not good when others use religion to further their own personal gain. A black maned, indigo mare stood in front of three ponies in armor. One of them had taken off her helmet to reveal a pink mare with a yellow mane,”I repeat again, hand over Cherry Tart.” “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the indigo mare said with a scoff. “Don’t play dumb with me, Black Seas!” The Steel Ranger mare said. “What’s going on here?” Samus asked as she stepped up to the two mares. The Steel Ranger looked at Samus,”It’s none of your business-” “If it affects the ponies of this town, and threatens others, then yeah, it is my business.” Samus interrupted. The Steel Ranger frowned, as she looked Samus up and down. She noticed that the Enclave armored mare was taller than herself. She noticed that a griffon that had been following her had flown up to perch on a balcony, waiting to strike and a gasp coming from a pegasus that had been following her, and the same pegasus running into the city for some reason. She sighed,”If I disagree, there’ll be a fight, and I don’t want that.” Black Seas scoffed,”You’re just looking out for yourself, aren’t you? You’re all big and bad when you come across a pony who’s weak, but when you meet somepony who’s willing to fight back, you get a little scared.” “Look, I just don’t want my own ponies or yours getting hurt in a cross-fire, and considering this mare’s armor, and that griffon, I have a feeling at least one of my ponies is going to die if I fight.” The Steel Ranger looked at Samus,”My name is Star Paladin Strawberry Lemonade, I have been sent to retrieve an AWOL soldier...” Sunny flew through the door as soon as she heard the name Cherry Tart. On instinct, she took Puppy in her forehooves, knowing full well the danger Steel Rangers posed if they needed something badly. She flew through the streets, perusing the area until she came across a red maned, yellow coated stallion sitting at a bar. She landed next to him, ignoring Puppy’s excited squeals over her flying,”Cherry?” “Forget it, I ain’t going to them!” Cherry shouted, putting a hoof on his holster. “Ah ain’t askin’ ya ta do that. Ah... want to know why they want ya so bad. Ah know ya, you’re a good pony, Ah never pegged ya for a Steel Ranger.” Sunny said. “Yeah, I know.” Cherry said as he leaned back,”I suppose I wasn’t cut out for the life after I saw what they did.” “What they did?” Sunny asked as she landed next to him. Cherry gave a deep sigh,”There was a Stable, Stable 2, I believe, and we were sent to gather tech. The door opened for us and we saw the welcoming committee. I... silly me, I thought we were just going to talk, but then our CO ordered us to fire on those poor defenseless ponies.” He shook his head,”There was so much blood, that... oh goddesses.” He sighed again,”I stayed behind and watched as my other comrades followed the CO to rest of the Stable. I turned, only to catch a glimpse of other ponies leaving through a secret entrance. I waited until they leaved before I left myself. I threw away my armor and my gun and went here.” He frowned,”This never would’ve happened if SteelHooves hadn’t gone missing.” Sunny looked back behind her at Puppysmiles, who was looking at something shiny,”Ah’m going to talk to Samus about this...” She said to herself as she picked up the filly and flew back towards the entrance. “We were on a mission to acquire some technology. Now, I wasn’t there specifically, but I do know what happened: Cherry Tart left mysteriously after the mission, but we managed to track him here. I don’t know why he left, but he had an obligation to the Steel Rangers.” Strawberry said. “An obligation to murder?” Sunny asked as she came out. She turned to Samus,”Cherry Tart left because these ponies outright murdered a whole bunch of Stable ponies just to get their tech!” “What!?” Samus yelled. She turned and glared at Strawberry. Strawberry’s eyes widened,”What!? But they told me-” She shook her head,”That’s-that’s just wrong.” She looked to her left,”This never would’ve happened with Star Paladin SteelHooves...” She looked up at Samus,”Even though I think that’s horrible, and I’m really mad at my superiors for lying to me, I’m afraid I can’t leave without him. Unless SteelHooves comes here right now and solves this, we aren’t leaving.” Samus frowned. Part of her wanted to blast this mare’s head off for pretty much destroying an entire colony of people, but then, she was right. A fight here would be more trouble than it’s worth,”What if we find this SteelHooves?” Strawberry raised an eyebrow,”Really? You can try if you want, but I don’t think you’d be able to do find him. However,I will give you three days. If he isn’t here in that time, I will come to arrest Cherry Tart.” She went over to Samus,”His shack is a few kilometers west of Manehattan. It’s easy to spot, just look for the alicorn skeletons.” Samus nodded,”Understood.” Black Seas frowned,”As much as I would hate to do it, with this deal, I’ll let you pass, provided you don’t cause trouble, Paladin.” Strawberry nodded as she turned,”Alright, ponies, let’s go back to base.” Her rangers nodded as they left. Reggie flew down next to Samus,”Think we could’ve taken them?” Samus shook her head,”Not without casualties.” She turned to Sunny,”Take what you need, and come as soon as you can.” “... Ev’rytime Ah look at the wasteland, Ah git a little depressed.” Sunny said as she flew behind the group,”Ah don’t know how wastelanders walk around this place!” “Meh, you get used to it.” Reggie gave a shrug. “I’ve seen worse.” Samus said simply. “Ooh, a shiny cart!” Puppysmiles was investigating a little broken cart. Sunny raised an eyebrow at Samus’ remark,”How much worse?” “Try walking around in a place where there are no ponies and only irradiated, horribly mutated monsters and your high-tech suit can’t handle the area because it’s in an alternate dimension.” Samus said. “... Yer crazy, aren’t ya?” Sunny said with a frown. Regina shook her head,”She’s at least doing something about the world, though after the things I’ve seen, I’d believe anything.” “Things?” Sunny asked. “Sparkly transporting deer-things.” Reggie said simply. Sunny raised an eyebrow,”What did Ah get mahself into?” Samus looked up and noticed a beaten down shack. She looked around at a couple of alicorn skeletons,”This must be the place,” She said simply as she trotted up the shack. She looked around as she saw several destroyed landmines, with bones of what appeared to be raiders near them. She looked at the door and pushed it,”Locked.” “Guess we’ll have ta pick the lock.” Sunny blinked as she saw Samus turn and kick the door down,”Or ya could kick it down like a friggin’ maniac!” As soon as Samus kicked the door down, Puppy ran inside and began to look around the place. Samus walked inside, noticing that a few things were knocked down from her kick. She looked down and noticed a small orb object and a small statuette. She looked down and found on further inspection that it had the shape of a small orange mare on top of a pedestal with the words,’Be Strong’ written on it. Samus picked it up and then felt her muscles being bolstered. She blinked,”What the hell? Is this thing magic or something?” She shrugged and placed it in her inventory. She looked down at the orb. “A memory orb! If only we had a unicorn...” Sunny said with a frown. “We’ll probably find one.” Reggie picked it up,”This thing might have clues as to where Steely is.” Samus looked out the window, and noticed some rubble, and a shape near it,”I think I’ve already found him.” “Yay!” Puppysmiles went out of the house and ran towards the rubble. “Good Celestia, she’s a little ball of energy!” Sunny said, while the rest followed. Puppy poked the armored form,”Hello? Mister Robot?” “Leave, now!” The ‘robot’ said. Samus walked up to the figure clad in power armor,”Are you Star Paladin SteelHooves?” “I am, but that doesn’t matter, you need to leave!” SteelHooves said,”I don’t know how much longer I can go!” “What do you mean? How did you get like that anyway?” Samus asked. “... You’re not going to leave until I answer, are you?” SteelHooves gave a heavy sigh,”My suit got overloaded, and now I can’t move. I’m afraid I’m going to go crazy because...” He sighed,”Don’t tell this to anypony, but I’m a ghoul.” “A ghoul?” Samus then began to wonder why this guy didn’t change shape like a normal ghoul. She decided against using her mythological knowledge and asked,”What is that?” “Something that’s been horribly mutated by nuclear radiation.” Regina explained,”Specifically, I think this guy might be a Canterlot Ghoul. Those guys were hit by Pink Cloud and are bonded to whatever they’re touching.” ‘Wait, radiation doesn’t work like that! Then again, I’m talking to a griffon, so what do I know?’ Samus looked down at SteelHooves,”Well, is there anyway to fix you? Hold on,” Samus went down to SteelHooves’ side and began to check him over. She then opened a compartment, and noticed various drugs that were once feeding into him,”Hmm, if I could find a master key or something...” “There should be one in Tenpony Tower.” SteelHooves said. “But that place is stuck in a barrier!” Reggie flew up to the two. “I... I know a tunnel that runs under it. It’s filled with feral ghouls, however.” SteelHooves said with a growl. “Feral ghouls?” Samus asked. “Ghouls that went nuts, pretty much. It’s supposed to happen to all ghouls eventually, but I’ve seen ghouls that have stayed sane for years, though I’m not sure why.” Reggie said. “It’s usually because those ghouls have something to fight for, something to keep them sane.” SteelHooves almost sounded thoughtful. Samus leaned in, and used her hooves to lift up SteelHooves and placed him on her back,”Welp, you better show us! And I won’t take no for an answer!” She began to turn,”Where is it!?” “What!?” SteelHooves sounded a little amused,”You remind me of somepony I knew once. Go east, then north...” Sunny gasped when she saw Samus pick up SteelHooves,”Holy Tartarus, how strong are ya!?” “... We’re here.” SteelHooves said as Samus’ group neared Tenpony Tower. Samus looked up at the barrier and frowned,”What could be causing this?” she asked no one in particular. “Possibly an alicorn. It’s highly dangerous, so be careful.” SteelHooves said,”Even a Steel Ranger has trouble with those things, especially with the bizarre upgrades they’ve been getting.” “Upgrades?” Reggie asked. “I’m not talking about the male ones from God. Goddess’ alicorns are getting abilities they’ve never shown before, such as controlling the weather, summoning flame, and having an increased shield durability. Usually a hellhound could easily tear through their shields, but now I’ve seen one alicorn deflecting their claws.” “Oh great!” Reggie scoffed,”And Samus, you’re still planning on defeating her?” Samus placed SteelHooves down, and reached a small opening in the ground,”Yep!” Reggie blinked, then smirked,”And that’s why I joined you!” Sunny gasped,”With all that!? Ya’ll are crazy!” “Uh-huh. Stay out here with Puppy and SteelHooves, will ya?” Samus said as she and Reggie got into the opening,”Come inside when we destroy the barrier.” Sunny simply gawked at the sheer madness of the two companions. Samus grabbed the decayed creature and threw it to the ground, and fired on it’s head,”These things aren’t going to turn me into one of them, are they?” Reggie chuckled,”Nope!” She used her tail to fire on one ghoul behind her and then slashed two others that came at her sides. “Good!” Samus bucked one’s head off,”You know? I expected more!” She said as she turned to a single door in front of them. Samus walked towards it and pushed it open to reveal a long hallway, filled with ghoul bodies. “Oh yeah, something’s definitely here. Something big and monstrous.” Reggie said as she walked with Samus out of the entrance room. Samus looked down and noticed that most had large holes in their bodies, while others had broken necks and smaller holes on their heads,”Whatever did this was indeed strong...” She continued to walk with Reggie through the large corridor, and they stepped around the bodies, only to enter a small room. “Greetings, I suppose you’re here to remove the barrier.” said a red alicorn with a black mane as he walked into view. This caused both Samus and Reggie to pull out their guns,”Wait,” The alicorn held up a hoof, his left eye glowing a little,”Hear me out first...” “... I’m bored!” Puppy exclaimed, kicking a rock. Sunny leaned in,”Well, ya want to play hopscotch!?” She pulled out a small stone. “Okay!” Puppy said with a wide grin. Sunny proceeded to use the stone to draw little squares in the ground. Sunny walked over and gave a pebble to Puppy. Puppy took the little stone in her hooves and threw it. “... You know what she is, don’t you?” SteelHooves said suddenly. “We have nothing to say to you, Alicorn!” Reggie snarled. “Please,” The alicorn said, bowing,”Unlike the Goddess, God gives his angels names. Call me Crimson Skies.” Samus growled,”Shut up and talk.” “Very well,” Crimson walked towards them,”You see, the people of this tower refused to bow to God’s will. They are so focused on spreading cruel thoughts of God, that they won’t stop! They think God is evil, when He is our saviour. These ponies would be better off spreading God’s word, not their own.” “So, you’re keeping them from speaking their minds!” Samus yelled, stepping back a little. She noticed Reggie walking towards cover at the corner of her eye. “What do ya mean?” Sunny asked as Puppy began to skip the squares. “She’s a canterlot ghoul of the most terrible kind: Ghost Herd.” SteelHooves said with a somber tone. “Uh, wha?” Sunny raised an eyebrow. “Ghosts, as we called them, were little foals in suits like hers, that had their souls bonded to the Mark VI Omni-Environmental suits. There were tons during the fallout of the war. Most went insane, others are like her, trying to find their parents. Many, at least the insane ones, would simply try to kill anything that moves. I, unfortunately, found myself having to kill some of them. Even the sane ones went crazy after finding the fates of their parents.” he sighed,”If you know what’s good for you, you’d put her out of her misery now.” “No.” Sunny shook her head,”Ah don’t believe ya!” “You have to-” SteelHooves was about to say. “Hi Weird Thing!” Puppysmiles said immediately. Sunny turned to see what she was talking about. “Well, we need them to simply... allow our ideals to spread. We don’t want them to... lie.” Crimson said,”Or spread the idea that we are not right. We are only here to do good, and we can only do that if they do our bidding.” “Like slaves!?” Samus growled,”You want them to conform to your own ideals!?” “Now, now, let’s not get harsh. If they follow us, the civilization of Equestria will return!” Crimson gave a smile,”If they would go to us, they would understand what we are trying to accomplish! They should give us praise for trying to bring order back to Equestria!” “So you’re saying you want to force people into your little club because you believe you’re right!? You are forcing these ponies to stick with your ideals by starving them, by killing them in this barrier!” Samus growled, aiming her gun at his horn,”Sorry, but I am not going with your insane little plan!” She fired at it. The alicorn put up a shield blocking the shot,”Very well, then die.” Sunny gasped as she saw a large black deer with a white muzzle and white antlers looking at the barrier. The deer thing turned to Puppy with a stoic expression and nodded,”Greetings, young one.” it spoke with a female voice. “I’m Puppysmiles! Have you seen my mom?” Puppy asked. “I am afraid not. Perhaps I could help you with that later.” She looked at Sunny and SteelHooves,”What is the cause of this barrier?” “Uh, an alicorn. Some of mah companions are already trying ta-” Sunny blinked as she saw the thing raise a cloven hoof and proceed to punch the barrier. The barrier rippled,”How unfortunate. I cannot break it.” She turned and walked to the green mare,”How long have your companions been in there?” Samus rolled out of the way as she saw Crimson form a ball of energy and shoot it at her. She looked down at the dent the ball caused, and cursed. She looked and noticed him creating another ball. Seeing her chance, she fired at him while he made the ball. Crimson grunted as the bullet hit his shoulder. He fired the ball, which caused Samus to dodge. He smirked as he caused the ball to move and strike at Samus from behind. Samus grunted as she barely dodged it, only to scream when it scraped her side. She looked and noticed it bleeding. She slowly got up as she saw Reggie move behind the alicorn. She looked up and felt a red hoof hit her face. “Amazing. You must be an earth pony if you can withstand a hoof from me.” He said as Samus got up and spat out blood. Samus then dodged and weaved another shot of the ball. He then grunted as three shots hit his back wings. He bucked the griffon from behind him, only to find Samus flying at his horn. “This looks important!” Samus grabbed the appendage and proceeded to pull it, causing it to crack. The alicorn screamed, and then shocked the mare, only to have his neck stabbed with a crimson knife. The alicorn fell, dead. Samus landed, wobbling a little. “You alright?” Reggie panted. “I... am alright for now.” Samus said as she limped towards the exit. “A few minutes.” Sunny said. “Indeed. Tell me, is one of them a little odd?” The thing asked. “Uh, well Samus does some odd things, like talking about adventures on other dimensions...” Sunny raised an eyebrow. “Good, then I have found what I needed.” The thing turned and watched as the barrier shimmered into nothingness,”The barrier has been lifted, let us go.” Samus and Reggie headed up the stairs to see several ponies looking at them. Samus looked at them back as she overheard,”What happened?” One asked. “Did the alicorn die?” “Are we free?” “Yes.” Samus said,”We defeated the alicorn, you... are free.” Samus then felt her eyes grow heavy as she fell. Her eyes then locked on to a deer holding SteelHooves on her back,’An elk?’ She thought before she fell unconscious. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Deadly Shot: You have greatly improved your ability to analyze your opponents, you now have an increased accuracy against anything you read about, or scan with your scan visor! Author's Note Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Things came up. Spoilers: Puppysmiles is a ghoul. Right now, only the part with the elk and Sunny talking was added. Everything else was from the RP. Antlers of the ElkChapter 6: Antlers of the Elk “But I swear I saw a gunship of some kind dropping into N-space...” Samus’ log: Celestial Year 1212, June 14 Interference. What would you do if a sentient race is dying, and you had the ability to save it? This is a question most people ask when a less advanced race is in danger. Some will try to let them die, let nature take it’s course. Others will counter that all life is precious, so save them. The answer depends on the ideals and culture of a person. I personally go out of my way to help other races, no matter how advanced they are, because I have the power and the will. Samus’ eyes opened as she felt herself on a white bed. She looked around as her vision cleared, seeing a couple of monitors on her side. She looked down and noticed her side had been bandaged. She then raised her eyebrow when she saw an odd tattoo on her flank. It was an S shaped lightning bolt in front of an orb,”A butt tattoo?” She looked on both of her flanks,”On both sides? Where did these come from?” She then looked around and noticed her armor was set up on the side, while her Zero Suit was laid out on a table. Samus grunted as she got up and looked around. Her ear twitched as she could hear a muffled sound from beyond the clinic’s door. She winced a little as she moved her body towards her Zero Suit and picked it up. The suit felt limp in her hooves as she chuckled to herself,’Chozo technology never fails. When I wear it, it feels like so much power is coursing through it, giving me warmth when I need it, but now that I’m out of it, it might as well be clothing.’ She unzipped the suit and went inside. As she did so, she felt a warmth course through her body. She turned to the armor and moved to put it on. She turned to the door, where the muffled talking stopped. The door swung open to a pony wearing a doctor’s outfit, “Up already? You either heal fast, or you are too stubborn to stay in bed.” The doctor said with a chuckle. “A little bit of both,” Samus said as she walked up to the doorway. “Hold on there, let me check you,” The doctor said, trotting up to Samus and began to tap his hoof on her body for a bit,”Hmm, everything checks out, you’re free to go. Your friends are waiting outside. Samus nodded as she walked out of the room. Outside, she found Sunny playing with Puppysmiles while Reggie spoke with a now moving Steelhooves. Puppy looked up from her plush Pinkie toy and smiled,”Sissy!” She ran over and gave the bounty hunter a hug. Sunny raised an eyebrow at Samus,”... You just lost a lot of blood a couple of hours ago, how are you up right now?” “Guess I’m that strong.” She looked at Steelhooves,”They fix you up?” Steelhooves nodded,”By the way, someone is waiting for you in your hotel room.” “Someone?” Samus asked. “It’s a weird deer thing.” Reggie said,”I don’t know what she is.” “You mean the Elk.” Samus stopped herself,”Aw crap.” She trotted down to a hotel room, and calmly opened the door to see the elk sitting near a double bed. She closed the door behind her as she spoke,”Let me guess, you know of my origins.” The elk turned to Samus,”Why have you entered this planet?” She got up and walked towards Samus,”I detected your warp signature, how did you manage to get pass me? I was orbiting the planet, you should have been detected by my ship’s sensors.” Samus sighed,”This is going to take a lot of explaining...” She looked at the elk,”I actually came in from an alternate universe to find a group of girls. I crash landed here, and now I’m trying to help these ponies because they’re being terrorized by two god-like beings. I’m also helping a small child find her mother.” The elk had a neutral expression on her face, before looking out the window,”I must admit, I did not expect there to be life on this planet, or at least life that was... sane. I can see why you feel obligated to help, if that is your intention.” She turned and grabbed Samus’ face with her cloven hooves. The elk’s eyes glowed for a minute,”... You do not seem to have any malicious intent.” She pulled her hooves away. “What the hell!?” Samus shook her head,”Don’t enter my head without permission!” She stomped her hoof, and pulled her gun out. “I apologize, I wanted to make sure you were telling the truth.” The creature turned away,”I was given the duty to watch over this planet to prevent invaders from entering. I have failed. In order to make up for my mistake, I will accompany you.” she turned back to Samus,”I am Avarok D’Vok.” She bowed,”I am under your command.” Samus blinked,”You’re also doing this to make sure I don’t go rogue as well, aren’t ya?” “That is also correct.” Avarok said, before hearing the door opened. “Okay, aliens, alternate universes, this world is getting weirder than ever!” Reggie said, before looking at Avarok,”Welcome to the team.” She held out her claw. Avarok ignored the gesture and looked up at Reggie with a neutral expression,”You eavesdropped.” Reggie frowned,”Nice personality, this one. Yeah, we kinda did.” She said as Sunny and Puppy came into view. Puppysmiles ran up to the elk and hopped for joy. “Yay, we got a new friend!” She hugged her new friend’s leg. “I assume you’ve acquainted yourself with the rest of the group while I was conked out?” Samus said, turning her head at Avarok. Avarok nodded,”I must say, Sunny is the kind of pony I did not expect to see with someone like you.” “Speaking of ponies, there’s this mare that wants to have a word with you..” Reggie said, motioning her head to the door. Samus turned to Reggie,”Who?” A grey-coated blue maned unicorn appeared in the door frame,”That would be me,” the mare looked at the group, noticing that Samus towered over Sunny, who was roughly a normal mare’s height, and Reggie, who was as tall as a normal griffon,”Sweet Celestia, they didn’t tell me how tall you were!” Samus chuckled as she went near the mare,”I get that a lot. And you are?” She blinked as the mare composed herself. The mare cleared her throat,”My name is Homage. My boss, DJPON-3, heard of your feat, and wants to interview you!” She said with a smile. Samus put a hoof to her chin,”Well, I don’t normally do that, but the people on this planet need something to give them hope. I’ll do it.” she laid her hoof down with a nod. “Oh, well, it was wor-” Homage sighed, before looking up in surprise,”You agree!?” Samus cocked her head,”Yes.” She drew out the word in confusion. “It’s just that...” Homage frowned,”Most of you wasteland heroes say no, and it’s really disappointing sometimes...” Puppysmiles then ran up to Homage,”Oh, can I come with Sissy?!” she hopped up and down. Homage chuckled,”Sure, come on.” Homage motioned her head towards the door for Samus to follow. Puppy hopped on Samus’ back as she walked out of the room. Reggie looked at Avarok,”Alright, so what were you doing up there, spying on us?” Avarok walked towards the door,”That is classified...” Samus looked around the area as Homage led her into the elevator. She watched as several ponies milled around a single bar, while a merchant sold off a weapon to a pegasus to her right. In a nearby shop, a mare was yelling about the prices of an apparel shop. “So, can we trust you to at least stay?” Homage suddenly asked. Samus turned to her with a look of surprise,”What do you mean?” “Most heroes seem promising, but then the Wasteland either takes them, or they disappear, like the Shadow.” Homage said with a frown. “The Shadow?” Samus asked. “A mare who fought without killing. She defeated the Twelve Constellations, including Sol. There is one rumor in Fillydelphia of a pony who fights the oppressive slavers. There was also a merchant from 60 years ago, but he died mysteriously on a mountain top.” Homage sighed,”I just wonder how long you will last.” Samus smirked,”I plan on staying until I beat those gods.” Homage chuckled as she pressed the button,”Really? We’ll see.” She entered the elevator with Samus. She noticed Samus’ look of disappointment as the larger mare stood next to her,”Are you okay?” Samus frowned as she thought ’More elevators....” Samus leaned back as she waited for her elevator to go to Norfair. She yawned,”Bored! I wish I brought my IPod 3000!” She growled. Samus growled, her IPod had been destroyed in a fight. The only thing keeping her mind steady as she rode the elevator to the Phazon Mines was,”I really want some pirates dead, and then I’ll steal their IPods!” Samus frowned as she rode the elevator down to Gorea’s lair,”You know what the worst part is?” Sylux looked at her,”What?” “None of you brought your stereos!” Samus yelled. Spire raised his arm,”I can sing!” Samus slammed her helm to her palm,”I don’t have my music. There’s only one creature to blame.” She growled as she rode the elevator in the Pirate Homeworld,”Ridley. He has to be behind this!” At this point, Samus’ eye began to twitch. The elevator to Tourian had been silent, for Ridley used an EMP to destroy her IPod, the fiend. “Oh, Mother Brain is going to be in for a surprise when I find her...” She growled. Samus growled, “Just fine.” Homage raised an eyebrow,”Okay...” She said as the doors opened,”You’ll have to go in this room here, the DJ doesn’t like to show his face much.” Samus nodded as she carried Puppy into the room. She looked at the shaded window, noticing that it was too dark to really see anypony. She looked at the microphone in front of her as a voice came from the speaker. “Good evening, wastelanders! It’s good to be able to speak with you with my wonderful once again! That’s right, the God’s shield has been taken down, but don’t think that meant we bowed to his will, oh no, his alicorn was defeated by a hero, our very own Huntress! And I just so happen to have her here with me right now! Please introduce yourself for us!” Samus’ ear twitched. There was something unnatural about that voice. She had been a bounty hunter for many years, and has fought many mob bosses who used voice changing technology. She had battled enough to know what the difference is between someone’s natural voice, and a voice that’s been modified,”Hello, my name is Samus Aran,” She wanted to say that this was her favorite place in the wasteland, but wanted to save that for later. “Samus, what made you decide to save our tower?” the DJ asked. “Well, in reality, the alicorn was keeping me from helping a friend. Saving you all was a nice bonus after what he told me that God wanted.” Samus said. “Oh, so all this guy did was get in your way? Wow, now I know not to piss you off! So, what are you planning now?” “Well, first I’m helping this friend go back to his rangers, then I’m helping this little filly find her Mom, and finally I’m going after God and Goddess.” Samus said with a smile. “Whoa, ambitious aren’t ya? Is there reason why you’re doing it? I heard rumors that you are not of this world...” “That’s true. I came down here after my ship crashed. The reason I’m doing it?” Samus shrugged,”I don’t like how this world is, and I want to fix it.” “So, you’re just doing it because God and Goddess are bad people?” “Exactly.” Samus said with a smile. The DJ gave a small chuckle,”So, you’re just a pony, who came here to hunt for God and Goddess’ head? Maybe that’s what you are, a Huntress. Anything else you’d like to say before we sign off?” “God, Goddess” Samus eye’s narrowed,”I’m coming for you! Don’t you dare try to touch this tower or anyone else, got it!? Or you’ll answer to me!” “And there you have it folks! Somepony who’s pretty much saying ‘Fuck you’ to two deities! And she’s on our side! Thank you Huntress, I’ve got my eye on you. Now, some music!” Samus got out of the room, where Homage was waiting,”The DJ wanted me to give you these,” She handed Samus a statuette and a small blaster,”Since you’re an alien, we figured you might be able to figure out what this weapon is. And I think you’ll need this.” Samus took the statuette, and looked at it. It was of a pink pony with a wide grin and a poofy pink mane. She looked at the inscription,’Awareness, it was under ‘E!’ She then felt her senses flare up for a moment, allowing her to hear muffled noises from the lower levels. She put the statuette in her saddlebags and then took the blaster,”I’ll see what I can find out.” Samus said with a nod. Homage frowned,”One more thing: I was hoping that you could solve a problem. I mentioned Fillydelphia, before, that place,” Homage gave a growl,”That’s full of slavers who work for God. I’m not quite sure what they do with their slaves, but I’ve heard stories...” Homage sighed,” The city has been blacked out for a while, and we need to know what’s happened.” “Fill ee del fe a?” Puppysmiles gasped,”That’s where Mommy is!” Samus frowned, her mind processing the information, ‘Fillydelphia was home to slavers? In that case, if her mom is in there, then there are two possibilities:She's a slave, and I'll have to free her. She's a slaver, and I'd have to convince her to quit or... I'd have to kill her and tell Puppy that she was dead a long time ago; that would not be easy. However, apparently there is no communication with that city, according to Homage. This confirms something: The DJ(It could be a she. With his voice changer, she could be hiding it. For the sake of argument, I'll use 'they') has a spy network. I don't know what exactly they use to see, but apparently they can see most of what's going on in the wastes. If they can't see what's happening in one city, then that city's gone. Possibly destroyed and Puppy's mom? Dead.’ Samus sighed as she looked at Puppysmiles' face, then back to Homage,"I will head there as soon as I can." She said with a smile. Homage winked as Samus turned and went back in the elevator. She looked at Puppy,”You know, I would like to have a bite of her pie...” She giggled as Puppy walked into the elevator with a confused look on her face. The elevator doors opened,”Samus, would you make pie for Homage? She said that she would eat your pie until you couldn’t move any more!” Puppy said with a grin. Sunny stared at them with her wings flared, Reggie began to cover her beak with her talon to keep from giggling and Avarok could only raise an eyebrow. Samus’ eyes widened as a blush came to her face,’No, I’m not into mares, or ponies for that matter!’ she coughed,”Yes, I’ll make her Granny Aran’s Maple Pie! It’s quite delicious! As soon as I get my ship back, you’ll all have some!” Samus thought,’Mmm, Granny’s pie always made me feel better.’ Reggie walked up to Samus and placed a claw on her shoulder,”Good save. Although I wouldn’t mind of piece of that ‘pie’ myself!” She said with a laugh, causing Samus to glare at her. A coughing sound emanated from Steelhooves as he walked towards their direction,”If you are done joking around, we should head to Friendship City.” Samus coughed,”Yes, but first I need to grab some supplies.” she said, walking down the hall and towards a stand that had several weapons, including a missile launcher battle saddle. The stallion at the counter cleaned his gun as Samus walked up,”See anything ya like, miss?” The stallion looked up at Samus. Samus began to caress the missile launcher,” I like the looks of this thing...” The stallion chuckled,”It’s yours if ya want it. You did save our tower after all.” With a squeal, Samus took the battle saddle and carried it off. The group carried on through the desolate city, passing over the destroyed debris towards the large statue that was the home of Friendship City. They could see three armored ponies waiting at the gates. One of them looked up at Steelhooves as he approached,”S-Star Paladin!” He saluted,”We thought you were-” Steelhooves cut him off,”Where is Strawberry Tart,” He growled. His body became dangerously close to the stallion in armor. The stallion backed up a bit,”Well, er, she’s been called back to Stable 27 by Elder Cottage Cheese.” ‘Cottage Cheese, Strawberry Tart, what is up with Steel Ranger names? Are they all supposed to be canned food products or something?’ Samus thought in her mind. Steelhooves growled,”You are not to bother these ponies anymore, and then you are to lead me to him, understood!?” for emphasis, he grabbed the ranger’s collar and shook him. “Yes!” The ranger squeaked. When Steelhooves let go, the ranger shakily motioned for his comrades to lead Steelhooves to the stable. Steelhooves walked to the rangers, and turned his head to the group of five behind him, noticing that Samus was heading towards him with Reggie flying above her,”I got a bone to pick with the great leader myself.” Samus said. Sunny gasped as she saw Puppy running to them,”Is this really necessary?” She asked, looking at Avarok. “You are afraid for them? I can understand.” She looked at Samus,”They must be out for vengeance, it is a... ignoble cause.” She said,”But I understand it.” Avarok followed them. Sunny gulped,”This isn’t goin’ to end well.” She flew up in the air and followed them. As the group walked along the grey, dusty wastes, Samus had trotted beside Avarok, while Reggie flew up to Steelhooves as he followed the three rangers. “I’ve noticed something.” Steelhooves said,”You’re worried about the filly, aren’t you.” His head turned to Reggie,”You know what she is. You must tell them.” Reggie sighed and looked down,”She... I just don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want them to know, I don’t know how they’ll handle it.” “If you don’t, there’ll be consequences.” Steelhooves said, stopping as another Steel Ranger came into view.”Lead me to Cottage Cheese.” Strawberry gasped,”Steelhooves? He’s in the main computer room, sir, but I don’t think he’ll let you see-” She gasped as Steelhooves and Samus ran into the Stable,”Wait!” Avarok calmly walked to her as Reggie and Sunny followed them,”Why is he in the computer room?” Strawberry stepped back in shock,”What the Fu-” She shook her head,”He’s uploaded himself into the Crusader Mainframe. He’s got control of the defense systems, I don’t think-” “I will handle it.” Avarok said simply, before walking passed her. Steelhooves stomped through the area, his eyes searching for the mainframe, when he felt a bullet at his hooves,”Stop right there, former Star Paladin.” a Steel Ranger stood in his way,”You are not to pass.” “Son, do you really want to do this?” Steelhooves asked. “Yeah,” The ranger got his battle saddle ready, only for a missile to strike him. “Figures we’d come across some resistance.” Samus trotted to Steelhooves’ side,”Let’s go find more.” Avarok calmly trotted through the halls, her eyes scanning for any sign of Samus and Steelhooves, other than the trail of bodies and scorch marks. Her eyes then caught sight of a single helmetless Steel Ranger stallion guarding the door. She quietly walked up to him,”Excuse me.” The ranger gasped,”Intru-” He was interrupted when Avarok hit him in the neck with her hoof, knocking him out. “You could’ve been more stealthy.” Reggie flew behind her, frowning. “I was being polite.” She opened the door to see a supercomputer, with a stallion in a wheelchair in front of it with a strange device on his head. Reggie rolled her eyes as she slammed the door behind them,”Polite, geez!” She turned and saw the supercomputer,”Whoa.” Avarok went over to the computer,”You have input your mind into this. I can still enter it.” “Excuse me?” Reggie asked before Avarok put her hooves on the machine, and her eyes began to glow. Avarok looked around the steel void. Around her were various machines and suits of powered armor. In front of her, a yellow stallion tinkered with a gun,”How did you get into my head?” “My powers allow me to enter minds.” Avarok said simply. “What are you?” The Stallion demanded. “What I am may not matter. What does matter is why you uploaded yourself to this computer?” Avarok stepped forward. Cottage Cheese scoffed,”You’ve seen my body. It’s old, feeble, weak. I should not have it! So I decided to become immortal!” Avarok took another step closer,”Why do you massacre stable ponies?” “Because they are usually in the way. We need tech-” Cheese felt Avarok run up and lift him up by the throat. “You are a murderer.” Avarok said simply,”You do not justify that.” “But I didn’t fire on them!” Cheese argued, trying to catch his breath.. “You might as well have.” Avarok said. Her face an expressionless mask as she struck his legs. “Ah, what are you doing!?” Cheese screamed. “I’m removing your legs.” Avarok said. She looked up at him,”Your ears.” She struck his ears,”Your voice.” She struck his throat, rendering him mute,”Now, you will only be able to watch, and watch, and never be able to interact with the world. You wanted immortality? Than you will have it.” Avarok dropped him as the world around them faded. Avarok took her hooves off of the super-computer. Reggie looked at her with a raised eyebrow,”What did you do? You put your hooves on it, and then he screamed.” “I stopped him for good.” Avarok said simply, turning to Reggie,”There is an intercom on the table to your right. You may inform them of Cottage;s defeat.” Reggie cocked her head,”You are a weird one...” She shook her head as she went over and picked up the intercom,”Hey, if any of you steel yahoos are listening, your boss is dead! Yeah, that’s right, we kicked his ass all the way to Sunday!” A Steel Ranger burst through the door,”That’s impossible!” He said immediately. He looked at the computer, and back at Avarok. He went over, and tapped it a few times,”Holy cow, ya’ll are right! Dang, Ah was gonna get a promotion from him!” He muttered, before turning and leaving the room,”Hey ya’ll, we done gone and lost!” Samus pulled her head out from cover along with Sunny and Puppy,”What?” Steelhooves pulled out from the opposite end,”That means you’ve lost. Control is handed to me now.” He walked to the stallion in front of the computer room,”Do you have a problem with that?” “Will you give me a promotion?” The stallion asked. Steelhooves sighed,”Yes.” “Alrighty then!” The stallion took off his helmet and ran off to inform his comrades of their defeat. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Unavailable Companion Perk Added: Calm Mind: Avarok’s mind powers have given you a sense of wonder and fill you with a certain... serenity. You now gain a +1 bonus to Intelligence checks and have special dialogue options when talking to NPCs.. Author's Note Finally got a new chapter out. Sorry for the wait, had some... issues with family. Things should be better now. This might be the last time we'll see a 4,000 word chapter, the next one's kind of a doozy. Yes, the Elk are based slightly off of Vulcans from Star Trek. Later on, I'll be adding a bit of Babylon 5's Minbari to the mix as well. Avarok came as a need for Samus to have someone to talk to on a cosmic level. Someone she can relate to in terms of space related things. Avarok is simultaneously my least and most favorite character to write for, mainly due to the fact that she's so controlled over her emotions. I do not envy Star Trek writers when they get their hands on Spock, believe you me. But she will provide a bit of extra universe building in the future which makes me glad to have her around. Thanks to Alchemystudent as usual Any feedback is appreciated.
ProloguePrologue “... The galaxy is at peace.” Samus’ log: Cosmic Year 2032. January 11. In a world of despair, there is always hope. In a world of hatred, love can bloom. In a world of death, there can be life. When it is the darkest, light will always shine. This is what I’ve seen in the adventure I hold inside this log. Many won’t believe it. Some will call me crazy, even more than I believe I already am. I suppose I should start by explaining how I got to the world of this adventure. It started after I defeated Mother Brain a second time, I was busy writing down the log entry for that event when I got a distress call. Samus’ finger caressed the button on the console. Her blue-suited body lay in the chair, her blond hair in a pony tail. She looked at the screen, the words “sacrificed itself,” stared at her as if they were mocking her failure to save the larvae. She sighed, ’poor thing,’ she thought. Why couldn’t I stop that thing from killing her? Damn it, I still can’t get the thought of her remains all over my suit...” She pulled away for a bit and looked up at the ceiling of her ship. ’I don’t think I could ever get that image out of my mind.’ She opened up her suit’s ability screen. ’I haven’t even put away my upgrades yet. Don’t even know if I should now, almost like I am burying the poor thing.’ A loud siren interrupted Samus’ thoughts. The huntress looked at her ship’s com unit and saw a distress signal. She pressed the button to answer the hail. A staticy voice came through,”H...lp,” Samus turned the knob on her console, and listened as the voice became clearer. “Anyone there? Please help!” A voice of a young girl shouted. Samus clicked the button as a rose-haired girl of around 20 appeared on her ship’s screen. “What’s wrong!?” Samus asked, leaning in towards the screen. “Oh good, my temporal-dimensional communicator worked,” The girl let out a sigh of relief,”My name is Tecna, and I’m looking for five special young women. You’re Samus Aran, one of, if not the, best bounty hunters in the galaxy, correct?” “I have that reputation,” Samus nodded,”Who are these girls, and what do they look like?” An image of a black woman with dread-locked hair showed up on screen,”This is Taranee Cook,” A tall, blond woman with long hair appeared as well,”Cornelia Hale,” A short asian girl with pony-tails was shown,”Hay Lin,” A short haired woman was on the screen next to Cornelia,”Irma Lair,” A red haired woman popped up in the middle of them,”and Will Vandom. They are, well, superheroes who disappeared suddenly over here. I need you to go find them.” Samus blinked,”Superheroes?” She shook her head,”Where did you last see them?” “Well, they were at their graduation, but now they’ve been scattered across the multiverse.” Tecna stated. “... Multiverse.” She looked down at the transmission signal,”Is this a joke?” She looked back up at Tecna. “See for yourself.” Tecna snapped her fingers and a portal opened up beside Samus’ ship. Samus looked to her left,”... Well, then. I’ve seen weirder.” She turned to Tecna,”I’ll go find them, but I’m not sure if the ship could handle the trip. I could barely handle going into a dark world in my normal suit.” “Don’t worry, I’ve already cast a spell that should allow your ship to safely pass into another world.” Tecna then blinked,”Who’s that behind you?” Samus heard footsteps clanging on the floor behind her. She rolled off her chair, a purple suit coming on to her body, and pointed her arm-cannon at a translucent purple female,”Gandrayda? But you’re dead!” The woman chuckled,”Now Sammy,”She walked towards the armored bounty hunter, electricity flowing off her body,”Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?” She fired lightning. Samus took it, her energy tanks lowering a bit. Samus raised her arm-cannon and fired, shooting through Gandrayda’s heart,”Sammy, still a badass after all this time...” Gandrayda coughed before disappearing. “I’m sorry, Gandrayda...” she shook her head. She turned to Tecna,"She's supposed to be dead. How was she here?” “I... don’t know.” Tecna shook her head. “We'll figure it out later,” Samus pulled her ship’s throttle,”I’ll find your friends now.” The ship shook and flew off into the portal. “Good luck,” Tecna said, looking solemn,”You’ll need it.” Samus grunted as the ship tore through the multiverse, her body straining under the sheer magnitude of the trip. She looked around, noticing the white lines around the windows. She grunted once more as the ship jerked back and forth. She gasped as one last jerk pushed her head onto the console. She woke up a half-hour earlier, her head feeling woozy,”I feel like ten Kraids had just stomped on my head,” She held her hoof to her head. “Wait, what happened to my hand?” She tried to feel her fingers. Then she pulled her hoof to her face. She blinked,”Why am I suddenly a pony?” She looked around her blue suited body,”Where’s my suit?” She looked at her ship’s window, staring into the reflection,”And why is my hair green!?” She screamed after she flipped her green mane. Footnote: Samus Aran, Intergalactic Bounty Hunter S:6 P:5 E:6 C:6 I:6 A:7 L:4 Tag Skills: Science, Explosives, Magical Energy Traits: Chozo Training: Since you have been trained by an alien race that raised you, you are now more agile and stronger than your contemporaries. As a downside, however, you have -2 skill points for every level and your perk rate has slowed to one per two levels. Experienced Soldier: All those years in space has taught you much, you are able to analyze opponents better and are more accurate, however you cannot use SATS and you are unable to gain points from skill books. Author's Note Special thanks to my co-author Alchemystudent for the inspiration and the proofreading. Any feedback would be appreciated. And yes, the green hair is a reference to Justin Bailey from the NES game. Yes, this story is a bit of a spin-off of Alchemystudent's Heart of Worlds but references to that fic would be to a minimum. I am hoping to make this story accessible to people who haven't played Metroid, or read the original Fallout: Equestria. So feel free to ask if you are confused about a certain bit or two.
Pink Eyes of the GhostChapter 1: Pink Eyes of the Ghost “... A larva, which after hatching, followed me like a confused child.” Samus’ log, date: unknown. Innocence. There will always be a time when we lose our innocence. As we age, the world becomes harsher, causing us to look at things from a cynical point of view. Yet, we all pine for those days without worry, without responsibility. We all miss our innocence. We all have point where we lost our innocence. I lost mine when Space Pirates took my home and family away from me. I guess, in a sense, we envy children, for they have what we lost. Samus stumbled to her left as she attempted some walking. She looked up at her ship's computer,”Computer, what happened to my suit?” “Your current biological make-up is now incompatible with your Power Suit. The suit is now currently rebooting itself to properly be used by your new pony form.” The computer said in a male voice. “Any idea how long it’ll take before I can get it back?” “Analysis... Result Inconclusive. The amount of time for your suit to return is unknown.” “Great.” Samus growled,”That means it could take days for my suit to reboot.” She looked behind her at her stun pistol in its holster,”I can’t fire anything with my hooves, or mouth even. I’ll have to survive without any weapons. Computer, what is the status of the planet we’re on right now?” “The atmosphere is breathable for you, Samus, but there are faint traces of radiation.” The Computer said,”The traces are small enough for you to survive.” Samus looked out the window at the wasteland before her,”This place looks barren, but looks can be deceiving, I’ve learned that a long time ago.” She walked to a special platform on the ship,”How long will it take for the ship to repair itself?” “3 weeks, Samus.” The Computer said. “All the more reason for me to leave.” Samus tapped her hoof and the platform came down to the ground,”I’m not staying here for that long.” Samus looked around the area, noticing the dead trees and decayed metal. She frowned,I never liked seeing dead worlds. She thought as she looked ahead of her and noticed a small yellow thing walking towards her. The yellow thing had a helmet with the head of a small pink pony with a yellow mane inside. A filly? Samus thought, So this world still has some life in it. The yellow thing jumped up and ran towards the huntress,”Whoa, are you an alium? I’ve never seen an alium before! I’ve always wanted to see one!”The filly then stopped herself,”Oops, I forgot! Mommy always said to introduce myself when I meet somepony.” She smiled,”Hi, I’m Puppysmiles!” Puppysmiles? Well, I’ve seen weirder names. She’s also pink, so I can guess, considering my own mane and tail color, that ponies on this planet must come in different of colors. Samus knelt down to Puppysmiles' level,”Yeah, I’m an alien. My name is Samus.” She looked around,”Where are your parents, kid?” Puppysmiles looked up,”Well, I’ve been trying to find my Mom, have you seen her?” She looked up with hopeful eyes. Samus frowned,”No, sorry. “ She thought for a moment,”But I can help you find her. A little filly shouldn’t be going around all by herself anyway.” “You’ll help!?” Puppy hopped around Samus,”Yay!” She suddenly hugged Samus’ neck,”I have a new friend!” She bounced off and walked to Samus’ side. She began to trot off. Samus shook her head, My, she’s upbeat for living in a world like this. Samus started to walk towards the child, until she fell flat on her face. Puppysmiles turned to the sound of Samus’ head hitting the ground,”Are you alright, Big sister?” she ran to Samus. “Sorry,” Samus groaned,”I kinda... um.” She looked up into Puppy’s glowing eyes. “Oh, I get it!” Puppy gave a wide grin,”You don’t know how to walk because you’re an alium blending in using a pony’s body as a disguise!” She leaned in to Samus’ ear and whispered,”Don’t worry, I won’t reveal your secret.” Puppy hopped up and turned,” Come on, I’ll show you how to walk!” She started with putting one hoof forward,”You put one hoof in front of the other, and...” Samus got up and started to follow Puppy’s movements,I’m being trained by a child, this is kind of embarrassing. Samus thought to herself as she slowly followed the filly step by step. Samus turned and bucked at a rock, causing a crack to form in it. “Wow!” Puppy exclaimed. She began to hop up and down,”You’re really strong, big sis!” She had latched on to Samus’ back. “Yeah, I guess I am.” Samus said with a smirk,That was stronger than normal. Guess this body has some nice perks after all. Puppysmiles began to speak aloud,”Mister Voice, could you play some music?” “Scanning for radio stations.” A voice came from Puppy’s suit. Several staticy noises went by as Samus carried the little filly further out in the wasteland. The noises stopped at a melancholy voice. “Hello again, wastelanders, Lonesome Pony here with some news. It has been two years since the purge of the pegasi from their homes in the clouds. Two years since our beloved Velvet Remedy was taken from us in a horrible accident. Two years since the alicorns started their war with each other. It’s a miracle that there are ponies that are even alive now with all the crap that’s been going on. The Steel Rangers are worse than ever, going on massacres in every stable and settlement they can find that might have some technology, the slavers are more numerous after taking over Chicacolt and Las Pegasus, and settlements are being overpopulated. That being said, there are still places that will take in refugees, including pegasi and former Enclave soldiers. These places include Friendship City and New Appleoosa. Tenpony Tower has gone dead a few hours ago, and I fear the worst. That’s all for the news. Stay safe, wastelanders, here’s the late Velvet Remedy’s famous hit, Already One Year.” As Puppy attempted to sing along with the song on the radio, Samus began to think,It’s just not a planetary adventure without people in danger now, is it? She looked up, noticing that the clouds covered the skies completely,So, where do I begin saving the world this time? then she had a thought, Wait, pegasi exist here? Do unicorns exist as well? A bullet ricocheted off the ground in front of Samus. The huntress’ ears perked up as she looked around. “Well, look what we have here? A sexy mare and her little bitch.” A rust colored pony with rusted armor that looked to be cobbled together from bits of metal came up from behind a rock. Samus looked around and saw three more, two holding what looked like to be guns on mouthpieces. One looked to be holding a pipe in his mouth. The first one to speak grinned as he reached for a pistol,”Time for us to have-” He was unable to finish as Samus ran up to him, grabbed his neck and twisted it around with a sickening crack. She felt a bullet hit her ear. Samus turned, blood pouring down the side of her face. She felt the dropped pistol on her hoof as she watched two ponies take aim, Judging by their bloodshot eyes, they’re probably high on drugs, so it might take more than a few bullets to take them down, if I aim for the body. She hit her hoof on the pistol on the ground and caught it with her mouth. She felt a few bullets hit her shoulders,Their aim is off by five degrees, possibly due to their crazed minds and the drugs they've been taking. I'll probably be fine handling them head-on. She ran to the left, dodging more gunfire. She took aim and shot one in the leg, stunning him until she got to his head. She could barely hear the sounds of enjoyment from the filly around her neck. She looked at the other raider and ran towards him. The raider hastily fired at her, but grazed her leg. Samus pointed the gun to his head, and fired. Samus turned to the last one. This one trembled, So I did take out their leader, didn’t I? Judging by how unsure this guy is She walked slowly towards him. The raider raised up his pipe in defense,”I-I’ll hurt you, bitch.” “Really?” Samus said,”I doubt that.” She looked into his eyes,”Let me guess, you were a gang of overly drugged raiders, who killed, raped and tortured many defenseless ponies. Tell me, how many did you kill?” Samus cocked her head. “I-I don’t remember!” The raider gulped as he stepped back. “I figured that. I guess you were once a normal pony until you went crazy and found a group just like yourself, and you started hunting down canaries. You killed maybe ten or twenty poor ponies before you found a seemingly defenseless mare with a little filly to go with. However, judging by your look and stature, you never had this happen before, did you?” Samus chuckled,”Instead of finding a canary, you found a hawk, and she’s got you by the talons.” She pointed the pistol at his face,”I'll give you five seconds.” The raider screamed as he raised his pipe. “Five.” Samus dodged one swing. “Four.” Samus dodged another. “Three.” Samus jumped back. “Two.” Samus let the pipe her face. She turned to the raider and smirked,”One.” She fired, right between his eyes. Puppy squealed in delight,”Can we do that again?” Samus chuckled,”Sorry Puppy, but I can’t play with these guys anymore!” She frowned,These- raiders, judging by their flimsy looking armor, that’s what I’m going to call them from now on- won’t bother anyone again. She spat out the gun on her hoof and watched as the gun’s mouthpiece magically cleaned itself, Huh, guess I don’t have to worry about tetanus or any other kind of diseases She looked at the gun closely. The gun’s mouthpiece was yellow, its muzzle and barrel were a metallic blue. On the sides were yellow and purple stripes. There was an engraving on the side of it that read ”Flash Sparkle.” Samus noticed the trigger in the mouthpiece that she had instinctively used to fire it. She saw a button on the side and pressed it,’Now I know how to reload it. It looks to be a 5.56mm pistol. Primitive, but it’ll have to do.’ She thought. She turned to Puppy,”Alright Puppy, where do we go?” Puppy gave a grin,”The little arrow is pointing towards... that way!” She said, pointing her hoof. “Wait!” A voice shouted. Samus turned to see a grey unicorn stallion with a five-o’clock shadow run up to her. ‘What do you know, unicorns exist in this world.’ Samus thought. The stallion looked at Samus,”You... were amazing!” He looked down and kicked one of the raiders,”Thank you, whoever you are. These raiders,” He shook his head,”They killed my daughter and took her gun.” he pointed towards the Flash Sparkle,”I was going to take my revenge on them, but I was too scared.” He chuckled,”Imagine my surprise when you scared that guy to death! I’ve never seen a raider act like that.” His horn glowed and a saddle bag and a holster with the initials FS appeared. They floated to Samus and hooked themselves onto her body,”As a token of my thanks, you can keep that gun, and in those saddle bags contain bullets for it. My daughter, may the goddesses help her, found that gun in a tower. It’s quite powerful.” He looked Samus over noticing some of the cuts on her,”It also contains some medical supplies, including some disinfectant and health potions.” Samus hooked the Flash Sparkle onto the holster and looked at the stallion, Health potions? What is this, an RPG? She smiled and turned,”Thanks.” “Wait, what is your name, hero?” The stallion asked. “Samus Aran, a bounty hunter.” Samus said as she walked away. “Then I shall call you The Huntress, Scourge of Raiders.” The stallion said as he watched Samus walk off. Footnote: Level Up! Companion Perk Added: BSBFF(Big Sister Best Friend Forever!): You gain a special conversation option when talking to young children when Puppysmiles is with you. New Perk: Rapid Reload: Now that you’ve investigated the firearms of this world closely, you can now figure out how to reload a lot quicker. Your reload times have been shortened by 2 seconds. Author's Note Already One Year Thanks to Alchemystudent for proof-reading this The stallion is named Exposition. I'm hoping Samus isn't too over-powered in this. Any feedback on that would be appreciated.
An Okay Place to LiveChapter 2: An Okay Place to Live “Does she long for her parents, lost to the same creatures that even now defile our sacred home?” Samus’ log: Date: Unknown. What does it mean to be a soldier? I was a soldier once, or perhaps I still am. I worked for the Galactic Federation to preserve order and protect the innocent. Order, however, wasn’t exactly my style, so I became a bounty hunter instead. I still wanted to protect the innocent, though. Protecting the innocent was what my father believed in wholeheartedly. One of the worst duties for a soldier is to bring news of a comrade’s death to his family. I’ve seen even the most hard-assed soldier break down when he gives the news. Even as a bounty hunter I found myself giving the news of the deaths of other bounty hunters to their families, even though I’m not obligated to. Though, for three certain hunters, I had a hard time telling them that I had killed them myself. Puppysmiles kicked her forelegs in the air as she rode on Samus’ back. Samus turned her head to see the dead trees, tumbleweeds and various pieces of debris around the area. She walked over the broken carts,’Must be from some scavengers’ she thought as she took a peek inside to notice the various pieces of metal and empty food cans. She frowned as the ground began to grow ever darker,”Well, Puppy, we’ll have to rest for a bit.” “Okay!” Puppysmiles hopped down next to Samus and walked with her to a boulder on a field. Samus placed her hoof around Puppy as she sat down and leaned against the rock. Her ears were perked up and her eyes scanned the area. Over to her left, a few miles ahead in the direction that Puppy lead her, she could see tiny flickers of light.’It looks like a settlement. It’s a little too far though, and I can’t see a few feet in front of me because of the darkness of the cloud cover. I’ll just stay here and listen for any danger, and move out in the morning.’ She leaned back, holding Puppysmiles as close to her as possible. She then noticed a whirring sound to her right. She turned and heard the sound of static come from a flying machine. Although it was still pretty dark, she could still see bits of the thing before her. It had a lined face with a metal body and it had little wings flapping on the back. The thing spoke,”You really should be asleep.” Puppy grinned,”Questioner!” she waved to the little machine. “Questioner?” Samus blinked a few times. “Yeah, because he asks a lot of questions!” Puppy looked up at Samus with a wide smile. “Uh, well I actually prefer Watcher myself.” The voice said. “So, are you a hacker or something?” Samus asked immediately,”I assume that because your voice sounds too aged for an AI.” The hacker coughed,”It’s that obvious, huh? Most ponies just assume the I’m just a talking sprite bot.” “I’ve been around long enough to know the difference between a living voice and robot voice.” Samus leaned forward, her mane covering her eyes,”I can go for a long time without sleeping, and considering what I’ve had to deal with, this is necessary.” “Well, okay, but raiders don’t usually hang around these parts, something about that town over there. Anyway,” Watcher seemed to perk up a bit,”So, what’s it like being an alien!? I’ve always wanted to see one!” Samus jumped at the sudden change in tone,”How did you-? Were you monitoring me!?” Watcher chuckled,”Well, one of my various... surveillance equipment just happened to see you land.” Samus raised an eyebrow at this.”I’ll answer your question, if you answer this: Why are you doing this? This is kind of...” “Creepy? Yeah, I get that sometimes. However, I’m only here to help wastelanders to survive here. As you can guess, this planet is a bit of a hellhole.” “Yeah, with crazy raiders and bouts of radiation, I must imagine that this isn’t a nice place to live. You guys must’ve had a nuclear war, didn’t you?” Samus said with a frown. “Yes, between us ponies and the zebras.”Watcher’s voice took on a more solemn tone,”There was a war, I’m not too sure of what exactly happened, but it just escalated to the point where we used these weapons known as balefire bombs to destroy each other. Our races has only survived thanks to stables, special vaults created as bomb shelters, although there are ponies who have suffered... conditions. I’m here to basically guide stable ponies who’ve left their stables to venture into the wastes. Some did survive the bombs without the stables, intact, but those usually left to unfortunate circumstances, such as the raiders you’ve fought earlier.” “And The Purge?” Samus asked,” I heard about that on the radio.” Watcher sighed,”When the war ended, the pegasi decided to isolate themselves by hiding up in the sky. You notice the cloud cover? That was created by them. However, two years ago, the pegasi were kicked from their home by the creatures known as alicorns. There are two kinds:God alicorns, and Goddess alicorns. God alicorns come in three colors:Red, blue, and,brown. Goddess alicorns come in blue, green, and purple. God alicorns come in both male and female varieties, but Goddess alicorns are only female. I’m not sure how they appeared, but what I do know is that they have been at war with each for two years. No one really knows why or how it started. One thing I do know is that the Goddess alicorns seem to have gotten more powerful for some reason.” “God and Goddess, huh?” Samus thought,”Well that shouldn’t be too difficult a problem to solve, but that’ll be later.”Thanks, that’s all I need to know. My people almost went to nuclear war as well. Although, I shouldn’t divulge too much information on where I came from.” “That’s understandable. Still kind of cool to see a real alien, even if you look just like a pony. Before you do anything, though, I feel I need to give you a little advice.” Watcher cleared his throat,”First, you need the Wasteland Survival guide, then, you need some armor, and finally some friends. Luckily you already have a weapon.” Samus nodded,”Thank you for that. I didn’t want to use those raider’s armor, it might get me shot.” “Good point.” Watcher chuckled,”I must turn off now. See you soon, Samus.” The sprite bot made a staticy sound before changing to some happy music as it floated away. Puppy was busy playing with a little rock,”That was kind of boring,” She said with a frown,”I kinda wanted him to start asking more funny questions!” “Well, Puppy, it was information I needed.” Samus said, looking up to notice that the clouds were getting brighter. “Oh, sort of like how Mommy always goes to this weird place and talks about boring stuff while I play with the blocks!” Puppysmiles said, her mane bobbing up and down as she spoke. “What kind of weird place?” Samus asked as she got up. “This place with all these numbers. Mom called it the Socia Secrety office.” Puppy said, bouncing beside Samus as the huntress walked to a bunch of buildings in the distance. The first thing that Samus noticed upon entering the village was how nice and friendly all the ponies seemed. She walked by several mares and stallions who waved at her with smiles on their faces. She didn’t just see ponies, though,, she also caught some giraffes and buffalo walking around, with saddle bags. She had noticed some of them getting small bottle caps after giving certain items to one of the ponies. ‘Even though this looks like a nice place, I’m going to find out some dark secret about this town aren’t I?’ she shook her head,’You’re too pessimistic, Samus. That, or you’ve been to too many weird places.’ She looked around and noticed a small tavern,’A tavern, sweet!’ She walked towards the door, with Puppy in tow. As she entered, she noticed several of the patrons hoof wrestling, drinking, gambling, and hitting on the employees,’No matter where I go, bars stay the same’ She smiled as she headed towards the bar tender. She noticed at the corner of her eye a strange looking suit of armor. That was when she noticed something,’Why is no one looking surprised that a weird mare with a blue jumpsuit is walking around? These guys must live strange lives apparently.’ Samus stood up on the table and looked at the bar stallion,”Give me your strongest drink, and an orange juice for my little sister.” “One Arbu Smasher and an orange juice comin’ up!” The brown stallion with a long necklace said, turning around and taking a few of the bottles on the shelves and began to pour them into small shot glasses. As the stallion began to mix the drinks, Samus began to speak,”What’s with that armor in the corner back there?” “Oh, that’s some Enclave armor that was given to us by this pegasi stallion we took in. The stallion was badly injured during the purge, and we helped nurse him back to health.” The stallion handed Samus the drink, and gave Puppy some orange juice,”He left it here because he wanted to walk away from his former life. I was thinking of giving it to somepony because none of us can use it.” Samus looked down and noticed Puppy trying to drink the glass, but was only able to hit her helmet with it,”I could take it.” She said, kneeling down to inspect Puppy’s helmet. The stallion snorted,”You are aware that it’s power armor, right? You need training for it.” “I do have training.” Samus said, patting Puppy as the filly began to sniffle. “What? Are you some kind of former Steel Ranger or something?” The stallion cocked his head. “Eh, you could say that.” Samus said, getting up and pulling out some bottlecaps. “Well, guess they don’t let you keep your armor when you leave them,” The stallion shook his head as he took the caps,”The suit’s yours.” “For free? Just like that?” Samus asked,”For all you know, I could use that armor to utterly destroy you and this entire town.” She gulped down the alcoholic drink,’Of course, I barely feel it. Equines have great constitution, and considering that I had the ability to drink pretty strong ale without feeling anything already, this drink does absolutely nothing to me.’ The stallion shrugged,”We’re all good shots in this town, so if you had any ideas, we’d be able to stop you.” He grinned. “Okay then,” Samus moved away from the table,”Thank you, sir!” She turned and headed towards the suit of armor. Upon inspection, she noticed that the armor was vaguely insect like. The helm was equipped with metallic goggles, with a small opening for the mouth. :Looking down the suit, she saw several plates for use with wings, and she noticed tiny bits of what could be assumed to be some sort of Kevlar lining attaching the various bits of black metal. Along the sides were small wing plates. In the back, there was a long tail with a blade at the end, making it out to be like a scorpion’s tail. Another look through it showed some burn marks, presumably from when the pony was attacked, however, it looked undamaged.”This looks pretty good. The smaller bits of armor here and there show that this armor doesn’t sacrifice mobility for defense, which is fine by me.” she then had a thought,’How the heck do I wear it? I guess I’ll find out.’ she grabbed the armor and put it on her back and began to walk out before stopping and turning to Puppysmiles. Puppy had just accidentally bumped into a giraffe. Looking up, Puppy said,”Excuse me, Funny long-necked thing!” The giraffe looked down and chuckled. He craned his neck towards the little filly,”I’m called a giraffe, little pony.” Puppy cocked her head,”Girabbe?” The giraffe chukled, and handed her a small plate,”Close enough, kid. Here, you look hungry.” He looked up at Samus,”Your big sister’s waiting for you.” Puppysmiles took the plate that had a sandwich on it,”Thank you mister!” She said, before turning and bouncing off towards Samus. After the two walked out of the bar, Samus put the armor on the ground. She moved it from side-to-side, trying to find to actually wear the thing with her hooves. Then she saw a couple of latches on the legs. Unlatching them she placed the greaves on her own legs one at a time. She began to feel the greaves make a hissing sound. She took the torso plate and moved it over her head, causing the torso piece to automatically connect with the greaves with another hiss. She looked behind her and flicked her tail, watching as the scorpion tail slammed the ground. She looked down at the helmet, picked it up, and put it on. The helmet connected with the torso plates and made a hissing sound. It’s visor then lit up, with various diagnostic information running by Samus’ eyes before showing a complete screen with a targeting reticle in the center, vital signs in the upper right hand corner, a compass showing several orange blips on the lower left corner, and in the upper left corner was an inventory list. On the list was the Flash Sparkle, two health potions, a roll of bandages, disinfectant, 30 bottle caps, and an audio log in the suit itself. “Wow!” Puppysmiles said with big eyes,” You look really cool!” “Why, thank you!” Samus said with a smirk, before an old stallion came up to her. “You gotta get outta here! This town holds a dark secret, I tell you! This town’s crazy!” He said before running off. “That was weird.” Samus said, frowning, watching as he ran off to rant at a couple of merchants. “Pon, ee, meet?” Puppysmiles began to say. Samus turned and noticed Puppy looking at the plate the giraffe got her. Samus walked up and knelt down to her level,”What was that?” She took a piece of the sandwich. The Enclave armor then designated it as “Pony meat.” Samus frowned,”Puppy, go play with those kids in the playground, okay.” She said, pointing behind her at the playground. Puppy smiled,”Okay!” She got up and ran to the other foals. Samus got up and armed the Flash Sparkle. She turned and noticed the bartender putting some trash away. She walked up and fired at the ground at his hooves, startling him,”You ate that pegasus, didn’t you!?” The stallion sighed as he fiddled with his necklace,”We... didn’t have enough food one year. The whole town was starving, until a band of ponies came along. They were wounded, most of them at least, so we figured, ‘who’d miss them?’ so we had to cannibalize them to survive. That was only the beginning, however. In time we killed and ate many more, and couldn’t stop. We’re still nice to traders and visitors, but anypony we figured wouldn’t be missed, we killed. Like that stallion. Who cares about the Enclave anyway? They left us down here to die after all.” “That guy’s family cares!” Samus yelled,”You took a pony and murdered him!” She aimed her gun at the bartender’s head,”Now? You have to pay!” “Daddy?” a small voice said from behind Samus before she could pull the trigger. The bartender looked at the small blue coated fily,”Yes, Will-O-Wisp?” “Can I go in and get my ball?” The filly said, running up to her dad. “Yes, just don’t stay out for too long, okay?” The father said. He looked up at Samus. Samus stood, frozen. ‘No. No. No. I can’t do this. He has a child to care for. I can’t kill him. I can’t become like Ridley, I can’t do this!’ She put her gun away and turned,”I’m going. But what you are doing, is going to have consequences.” She said as she walked off. Samus walked towards the playground,”Come on Puppy, let’s go.” Puppy stopped bouncing a ball and looked at Samus,”Okay, Big Sister!” She said as she ran to Samus’ side. Samus sighed as she walked with Puppy out of the town,’Might as well check the audio log in this suit.’She thought as she clicked the log. A male voice came from the log: Hello, My name is Ace Ray, Captain of the 41st division of the Enclave. If you are hearing this, then I am dead. Damn alicorns, they got me good. Listen, I have a daughter, named Sunny Smiles, or as I like to call her, Sunbeam. I managed to send her to a large settlement while I distracted the alicorns. She should be safe, provided she didn’t come look for me. I promised her that I would find her. Heh, looks I may have to break that promise. I believe the settlement is called Friendship City. I want you to go there and find her. Give her this message. Sunny, my lovely little Sunbeam. I’m sorry. I tried my best to help you, and help the Enclave become better, but that didn’t happen. I know I promised we would find your mother together, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I love you, Sunbeam. I also have a message for my wife, Moonlight. Moonlight, wherever you are, I tried my best. I hope you are doing well, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you as soon as I could. I love you too, honey. Whoever you are, that found this log, and this armor, thank you. Samus nodded,”Well, Ace Ray, I will find her, and do my duty as a soldier. Puppysmiles,” She looked down at the little filly,”You wouldn’t mind a little... change in direction to Friendship City, would you? I have to do something there.” Puppysmiles looked up,”Okay! Mister Voice? Could you find Friendship City, Puppy please?” “Friendship City, found.” The voice said, and an arrow showed on Puppy’s visor, pointed west towards a large broken city in the distance. Footnotes: Level Up. New Perk: Unavailable. Author's Note Spoilers: Arbu is not a good place to live. Another spoiler: Watcher is an exposition hound. The chapters should be getting a little longer this time around. I originally had Samus outright steal the armor, but I changed it because I didn't want her to become a total thief. Again, any feed back would be appreciated. Special thanks to Alchemystudent for being my co-writer.
Talons of the MercenaryChapter 3: Talons of the Mercenary “Horrific as it may sound, there are two of them now.” Samus’ log: Date: Celestial Year 1212, June 12. Companionship. Throughout my travels, I have always been alone. Sure, I’ve had help during my missions, but still, I’m usually all alone, and isolated in a hostile environment. I’ve had friends, but I’ve always prefered to work alone. However, I think in this case, in this world, I may need a little companionship,other than a small child. Samus sat on a rock, and looked over the distance to see the destroyed city. In front of the city where bits and pieces of destroyed carriages and shacks laid around the area. She looked over her shoulder to see Puppysmiles reading a comic book. Samus jumped down from the rock,”What are you reading?” Puppy looked up and showed Samus the cover,”Space Queen and the Head Leeches! It’s awesome! It’s where this evil supercomputer controls a whole bunch of leeches that suck ponies’ energy out, and Space Queen has to stop it!” Samus’ eyes opened wide in surprise. On the cover was a unicorn in orange and red armor firing on a few transparent parasites with fangs, and a brain with a single eye in the background,”What the fuck?” was all that she could mouth out. She shook her head as the little filly continued to read her comic. Samus picked up Puppysmiles and placed her on her back so she could walk while Puppy reads. Samus walked down the road, until she felt a bullet hit the ground in front of her. She heard a female voice shout,”Come on, ya slaver fuckers!” Samus leaped behind a rock,”Slaver?! Look, I’m not a slaver, did I look like one!?” “Well... I suppose not. But you could be hiding it!” the female shouted. “Don’t you think if I were an enemy I’d be shooting at you instead of talking?” Samus shouted back. “I suppose that’s true. Why don’t we talk up front?” The voice said. “How do I know you won’t shoot me the moment I do that!?” Samus asked. “Fine, I’ll throw my guns out there, and you throw yours. And then we both come out.” To emphasize this, Samus could hear a few metallic clangs of metal. Samus took out the Flash Sparkle and threw it out. She then walked out to see a griffon do the same. She noticed the white feathers with a few red tips.on the back of her head. She looked down at the end of her brown coated lion-half. She growled at she remembered her childhood... Little Samus sat in her desk as the bird creature began to talk. “And so did the last of the griffons die out. Any questions?” He saw Samus raise her hand,”Yes, Samus?” “Can I become a griffon?” Samus asked. “No.” “Aw...” Samus laid her head down and pouted. ‘Darn it, why couldn’t I be turned into a griffon in this universe.’ Samus frowned as she looked the griffon up and down. The griffon did the same. “Yeah, you definitely don’t look like a slaver. Unless the Enclave remnants decided to take another job.” The griffon picked up three guns and holstered them. Samus noticed that two holsters were on her front-side alongside two sheaths containing daggers. On her back leg was another holster for her third gun. Samus picked the Flash Sparkle back up,”Actually, I’m not a part of the Enclave. I’m not even a pegasus.” The griffon blinked,”What, you just found that thing just lying around?” She shook her head,”Whatever. Why don’t you come inside with me, it’s a lot safer-” “Hello Pretty Chicken!” Puppysmiles appeared right in the griffon’s face,”I’m Puppysmiles, have you seen my mom?”. “For this little thing.” The griffon frowned,”and I’m not a chicken.” She said with a bark. She turned and used her tail to beckon the two inside. Samus followed the griffon,”So, you have a lot of problems with slavers, miss...” “Grimfeathers. Regina Grimfeathers.” The griffon said as she opened the door,”You can call me Reggie.” She growled as she took off a bandolier of ammo and placed it on a table,”Yeah. Those idiots think that just because I’m a griffon that they can just pay me to do whatever they want!” She placed her weapons down. Samus looked at Reggie,”My name is Samus Aran. Griffons are mercs over here?” Reggie gave Samus a weird look,”What, you just come out of a Stable or something?” “No, she’s an alium!” Puppy shouted, then covered her helmet,”oops, I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I.” She looked down with a frown. Samus’ eyes opened wide,”Uh, kids these days...” She gave a chuckle. Reggie turned and shook her head,”Whatever. I’d believe you if you were an alien. I saw a weird deer-thing pop out of nowhere in a shimmer of light and saw it kick a raider’s ass. Right now? I’d believe anything.” She knolt down to a fridge and opened it. She pulled out three bottles and threw two to Samus,”Yeah, griffons usually are mercenaries. I was actually part of the best group: Gawd’s Talons!” She said with a grin as she opened the bottle with . Samus gave one bottle to Puppy as she looked at hers. ‘Sparkle Cola’ the label read. She popped open the bottle with her teeth and spat out the cap.”Talons, huh? Wonder why you guys were called that?” She smiled. Reggie chuckled,”My Mom’s never been accused of being original.” She shook her head. “Your mom?” Samus asked. “Yeah, Gawdyna Grimfeathers.” She looked down at one of her guns. Samus did the same, and noticed names were carved on each one of them. “Gawd, Kage, and Henri?” Samus asked. “Kage is my twin brother.” Reggie said in a solemn tone. “So that makes you...?” Samus blinked a bit. “Yep! Children of Gawd!” Reggie waved her bottle with a laugh. She picked up the gun marked Gawd and gave it a sad look,”I’m the last of her Talons.” She looked at Samus,”When those new alicorns appeared, they attacked our home, Junction R-7. We tried to fight them off, but they were too much. Mom,” Reggie frowned,”Mom told us to get out while she ‘handles those fuckers’” She growled,”Idiot, why couldn’t she come with us?” She said, tears coming to her eyes.”Me and Kage were forced to leave, and hid until the alicorns left. We came back, and buried what was left of Mom’s corpse.” She picked up the gun marked Kage,”After I took Mom’s gun and marked it, Kage said that we should move on with our lives, now that we were no longer mercenaries. He and I pretty muched walked the wasteland after that, fighting raiders, slavers, or whatever the wasteland threw at us.” She sighed,”Then one day, Kage and I came across a Steel Ranger. The asshole had killed a poor stable dweller for her pipbuck. Kage, who always tried to do the right thing, got mad and attacked him with his knives. I barely had time to react when I heard a shot. Although he had gotten a knife into the ranger, the ranger had shot him in the heart. Before the ranger could do anything, I pulled out my guns, which had armor piercing in them, and shot him in the head. I... ended up burying the stable dweller, because that’s what Kage would have wanted me to do. Then I took Kage’s body back to our home for burial. I carry his knives and put his name on one of my guns in his memory.” “And what about Henri?” Samus asked, throwing the empty bottle away. Reggie gave a smile,”Henrietta Firebright. I met her after Kage’s death. At first, we were at odds,” she shook her head,”Mom kinda wanted her and her dad dead. After we exchanged bullets for a bit, I managed to finally convince her that my mom’s Talons were dead, and I wasn’t after her. We decided that, because of our similar predicaments-her dad was dead, my family was dead- we’d travel together. And so for about a year we began to walk the wasteland, doing whatever felt right at the time, although Henri would question me on a few decisions to help others.” She looked at Kage’s gun as she held Henri’s,”After Kage’s death, I pretty much swore to uphold his ideals. He was always nicer than I was.” She shook her head,”After a while, however, Henri just up and left. She left me her gun with her name on it and a note:’Follow the clues- H.’ I didn’t know what she meant, all I knew was that I was alone again.” she shook her head,”And that’s kind of why I’m hanging around here: I don’t have anyone to follow.” Samus looked down to see Puppysmiles attempting to open the bottle, and then promptly putting it into her suit,”All that because of those alicorns?” She smiled as she looked around the shack,”Well, it’s a good thing I’m planning on stopping them.” Reggie spat out the last of her Sparkle Cola,”What!? Why!? What’s in it for you!?” Samus shrugged,”I came here, saw that the people here were oppressed by a bunch of assholes, and decided that needed to stop.” Reggie’s eyes went wide,”So... you are going to stop several god-like creatures, just because they’re jerks? So, you’re doing this, because it’s the right thing to do.” she looked back at Kage’s gun, and began to laugh,”Wow, finally, a pony with guts! Most people in the wasteland are just out for themselves! It’s nice to see someone who does things because it’s the right thing to do.” She shook her head,”In that way, you are either the craziest pony I’ve ever met, or the most awesome.” Reggie gave a grin as she placed her guns in their holster,”I’m coming with you!” Samus blinked,”Really?” “Of course!” She sheathed her knives,”I’m tired of doing pretty much nothing, and quite frankly, you look like a pony who’d actually kick a lot of ass!” She looked around,”And I don’t plan on just standing here waiting for something to happen, that would be just ridiculous!” Samus looked down on the ground and shrugged,”Alright, come on then.” she turned towards the door. Puppy ran up and gave Reggie a big hug,”Yay, we have a new friend!” Reggie chuckled a bit as she held Puppy up,”So, where are we heading?” “A place called Friendship City.” Samus said, going through the door. “Oh, that place! It’s a little crowded but it has good people.” Reggie said as she and Puppysmiles followed Samus. The trio walked through the destroyed Manehattan buildings, stepping through bits and pieces of rusted metal. Samus frowned as she moved a piece of debris in their path. She looked around and noticed pieces of aged billboards and destroyed neon signs. She looked at her left, and jumped in surprise when she saw a picture of a pink pony with a greying mane and the words,”Pinkie Pie is watching you, forever!” on a sign. “Yeah, that gives me the creeps too. Sometimes, it feels like her eyes follow you...”Reggie said with her eyes widening as she walked. “Ooh, scary!” Puppy said, staring at the sign. Samus shook her head,’That’s just silly.’ She then walked along, looking back and making sure that Pinkie’s eyes weren’t following her.’Wait, weren’t her pupils in a different spot before?’ She shook her head and continued to walk until she bumped into Reggie,”Hey, what’s-” She stopped when she looked in front of her. Strung across the ground were seven pony bodies. Blood was smeared across the once grey road. Near the bodies was a carriage, where a soft whimpering was heard.”Must have been raiders.” Reggie snarled. Samus walked to two of the bodies, and noticed their body armor, and their bullet ridden corpses,”Bodyguards, only it looks like.” She walked to the other five. One stallion and one mare were shot in the head, while two others, also a mare and a stallion, had their necks slit, and white fluid from their backsides. Samus growled as she noticed the similar hairstyles and coat colors,”This was a defenseless family.” she looked up at the carriage, and walked to it.She opened the door to reveal a tiny filly. The filly screamed as she backed away. Samus took off her helmet and turned to Puppysmiles,”Hey, Puppy? Why don’t you help tell this little filly that we’re not bad ponies?” Puppy poked a pony, and then looked up,”Okay!” She said, and hopped into the carriage,”Hi!” The filly screamed,”Stay away!” Reggie turned and pointed towards a building with ponies on pikes,”That’s probably where they came from.” She turned to Samus,”You thinking what I’m thinking?” Samus nodded as she put her helmet back on and took out the Flash Sparkle. “Don’t worry! My big sister is a really cool bounty hunter!” Puppy said, then she cocked her head,”You really are scared, aren’t you?” The filly began to sob. Puppysmiles trotted over and smiled,”Whenever I’m scared, Mommy always sang me a little song to make me feel better. Mister Voice? Could you play a nice song for my new friend?” “Searching stations...” Mister Voice said, and a little song came on. “Man, this is boring...” Slit-throat groaned as he watched the entrance. He inhaled his bit of Dash and frowned,”I wish something would...” He was interrupted as he was shot in the neck. He coughed up blood as three more shots promptly went into him. The last thing he saw was a bird creature and a black demon breaking down the entrance. “... And that’s how Space Queen defeated Mother Computer!” Puppy squealed. The filly had calmed down, and began to giggle a little,”T-That’s pretty cool...” Four raiders came into the front lobby of the hotel after hearing the noise,”What the hell was that!?” One mare exclaimed. “S-Slit-throat?” A stallion gasped as they saw the raider in question lying on the wall with the words,”Never Again,” written on it in blood. “Shit! What the hell’s going on!” Another stallion yelled. The first stallion looked around,”Hey, weren’t there four of us?” He said, noting that there was one stallion out of the group. Then they felt blood. They looked up to see that a griffon had stabbed the stallion and held him up in the air. She glared down at them. “Shoot her!” The mare exclaimed, only to be met with silence. She turned and noticed a scorpion tail impaling the first stallion, who just happen to be holding the only other gun in the group. The stallion was thrown off, and the wielder of the tail promptly shot the second stallion in the head before he could attack. The mare backed up, only to bump into the griffon. She turned and screamed before her throat was slashed by the griffon’s talons. “I don’t know about the pretty chicken lady, but she has three guns, so she’s probably really cool!” Puppy said, hopping up and down. “Hey, who’s there?” A female voice shouted. “What was that noise?” The mare said as she lay on the bed. “Don’t know, don’t care.” The stallion said, grinning as he lay on top of her,”We’re having fun!” “Oh, yes!” The mare moaned and closed her eyes, only to feel a drop of liquid hit her nose. She opened her eyes to see a knife plunge into her face. “Oh no, they’re back!” The filly said as the carriage door opened up to reveal a white unicorn mare with a black and red mane, wearing security barding. A group of three raiders laughed as one of them poked a filly in a cage with a spear. One of them turned to the door with a serious look,”Hey, aren’t we going to investigate that noise?” That was when he heard a scream. He turned and saw a set of pony legs being dragged out of the room. He ran after the screaming raider, only to face a gun. A shot was heard, leaving a single stallion staring at the hallway. He gasped as a black form came into view. He fired wildly, watching in horror as the bullets hit the thing, but it still came. He screamed as he was tackled by the thing. The thing broke the raider’s neck and turned to the cage with the filly. The filly whimpered,”Miss?” The thing walked towards the cage,”Yes?” it said. “Are you the spirit of vengeance? Mommy told me stories about you.” “If you wish.” The thing said. It broke the cage door open,”Run.” It said, as a griffon landed next to it. They turned and walked out. “Hey, I found survivors!” The mare shouted before turning and leaning her head in,”It’s alright, the good guys are here.” Puppysmiles turned to the filly and smiled,”The pretty police lady found us!” She said, and hopped out of the carriage. The filly looked up at the mare’s smiling face. The filly reluctantly walked into the mare’s forehooves. Bullet Ridden laughed in his chair, and began to inject more Med-X within himself,”Man, it’s good to be the king, huh, ladies?” He smiled at two raider mares on both sides of him. He slapped one on the flank, causing her to slap him,”Ouch, now you’re turning me on~” He said. He leaned in for a kiss when he heard a scream. He turned to see one mare with a bullet in her head. He gulped as he heard another gunshot and saw that his other mare was dead. He blinked.”Everypony!?” He shouted, but got no answer. “You’re alone.” A creature from his deepest nightmares came from the doorway, followed by a bird-creature of horror. “W-What!?” Bullet said, backing away. The bird-creature spoke next,”We got rid of your lackeys. We made them pay.” “I... I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Bullet said. He used his hoof to feel around for his gun, only to find that the bird-thing had flown up to his face and kicked him aside from his beloved protection. The creature in black took the gun up and broke it in half. The creature then walked up to him,”That face... is that the face that family had?” “W-what!? Please, I didn’t do anything!” The stallion screamed. Then he was shot in the shoulder. “Don’t lie to me.” The thing said. “Wait, I’ll do anything. I’ve got drugs, weapons, mares, just don’t kill me!” Bullet shouted. “How many people have said that to you!?” The thing began to pump bullets into his abdomen, causing him to scream. Then the bird-creature did the same. He weakly looked up and then felt a blade run him through. Samus threw him out the window,”I doubt that’ll do anything, but hopefully some will take that as a message.” The mare sat the filly down on the ground. She looked up at a pegasus mare in similar barding,”I think that’s all of them.” The pegasus nodded,”Good, let’s take-” “Wait, my sister needs to come back!” Puppysmiles said, looking back at the building. The unicorn looked down,”Sister?” “Yeah, she’s gone off to take care of the bad guys with our new friend!” She pointed to the building. The mare frowned,”What kind of crazy pony would go off to kill a bunch of raiders just because?” “Somepony like you?” The pegasus said with a chuckle. “... You’re right.” The unicorn said as she pulled out a shotgun and pumped it.”Wish me luck, honey!” She drank her bottle of whiskey out of her saddle-bags. She was stopped however as a little filly ran out of the building and towards her. “The Spirit of Vengeance has come!” the filly screamed. The mare blinked, and watched as a stallion was thrown out a window,”I... think I’m going to sit this one out.” She frowned as she put away her shotgun. A few moments later, two figures left the building,”An Enclave pegasus and a griffon?” She looked at her pegasus partner. “Don’t look at me.” The pegasus said. The unicorn looked down at Puppy,”That must be your sister.” She said as the Enclave figure walked up. Samus took off her helmet,”I suppose you’re friendly.” She smiled,”We took care of the raider problem.” “I wanted to do that...” The unicorn muttered. She smiled up at the mare,”Thanks, I didn’t expect Enclave to care that much to do that. And I really didn’t think a griffon would do that.” She looked at Reggie. “Yeah, I’d like to think I’m different from the other mercs.” Reggie said. “And I’m not really Enclave, I just happen to find this armor, and I kinda need it.” Samus said. The unicorn nodded,”Well, thanks again. You’ve just saved the filly of a merchant family. And,” She looked down, “You’ve saved somepony who was lost to us.” “Us?” Reggie asked. “Friendship City. I and my friend here are members of the security team there. We were sent here when we noticed that this family was late in its return.” The mare explained. “Friendship City?” Samus looked at the pegasus,”Your name wouldn’t happen to be Sunny Smiles, would it?” The pegasus shook her head,”No, sorry. But I do know a Sunny back in Friendship City. If you would like, we could get you guys there so you could look for her.” “That’d be perfect.” Samus said with a nod. “Good, the more the merrier.” The unicorn said as she turned to lead the group. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Intimidating Presence: The very sight of you makes foes tremble with fear, the Enclave armor doesn’t help with that. Anytime you fight an enemy, there is a 20% chance of them running away from you. Companion Perk Added: Bird’s Eye View: You can see a lot farther, allowing you more accuracy when Reggie is with you. Author's Note The last scene was not in the original RP. I put it in to show a bit of Puppy's character, and to give a cameo. Yes, I don't think I need to tell you who the unicorn is, only that I didn't read the story she came from, so the bits of her character I merely gleamed from the wiki and TV Tropes. The scene at the end was indeed inspired by horror films. I figured it would be nice to see the heroes through the eyes of raiders. I don't think that's ever been done before in a Fallout fic. Thanks to my co-author, Alchemystudent. Again, feel free to point out the flaws in this chapter, I do want to improve. Here's the song that played on the radio.
Wings of the PegasusChapter 4: Wings of the Pegasus “Or does she approach even now, a savior clothed in machines crafted long ago by Chozo hands?” Samus’ log: Celestial Year 1212 June 13 Education. Education is a defining part of our lives. Teachers that we had as children help give advice that will help us in our futures. However, sometimes teachers don’t get the respect they deserve, which makes me respect them for being so emotionally invested in their jobs for so long. The two mares led Samus, Reggie, and the foals down the long, broken streets. Samus looked to her right as she noticed a tower with a large barrier around it. “Tenpony Tower. That place has been inaccessible for a while.” Blackjack, the security unicorn, said as she noticed Samus’ look,”I’d been thinking of going over there to investigate, but I’ve been too busy helping protect Friendship City, especially with the way things have been going.” “Problems in the city?” Samus asked. ”Meh, the usual. Riots, assassinations, and heavy drinking.” Blackjack shook her head, and then looked at a small device on her hoof,”Everything’s harder what with the food shortages and all.” “And what is that?” Samus looked at the thing. Blackjack blinked,”You’ve never seen a pipbuck before? You must be new here.” She held up her pipbuck,”A pipbuck is really cool, it can manage your inventory, look up your vital signs, and instantly know the names of new locations for some reason.” She scratched her head. ‘Huh, that doesn’t sound too bad, sort of like my own power suit.’ Samus thought. “All the problems with the food shortages would be gone if anypony was willing to go into the stable under the city,” the pegasus mare said. Samus blinked,”What’s the problem?” She asked as a tall statue came into view. The pegasus, Morning Glory, frowned as she flew in front,”:Most ponies are afraid of stables, due to the fact that most of them are known for their... unorthodox experiments.” She turned to Samus with a weird look,”I’ve heard that some stables had created experiments so horrible, they could turn you white.” “Unless you’re already white.” Blackjack said with a smile as she trotted up to the entrance to the city. The doors opened up to show a pair of security ponies. “Oh, hey Blackjack!” One of them said, before looking at Samus, and giving a sigh,”Please tell me you’re just visiting...” “Relax, we’re only going to give these two foals a home.” Morning said with a smile as she indicated the two fillies silently following them. One of the guards looked over the two,”Oh, goddesses! Is that one the daughter of Peach Cobbler?! She’s been missing for weeks!” He indicated the filly that was in the cage,” And that one... she’s from the Pennybags family that went missing!” He looked up at the group,”Thank you all for finding them!” Blackjack shook her head,”I didn’t find them first. These two were the ones who did that.” She indicated Samus and Reggie. “Oh, thank you, it’s hard to find anypony with your kind of bravery these days.” The other guard said with a sigh of relief. “Speaking of bravery, I hear you have a stable problem?” Samus asked, as she stepped up closer to the guards. The guard frowned,”Oh, you’ve heard, huh?” He sighed,”The stable near the city would provide a nice boost in our food and medical supplies, and would provide some good tech. It would also help the internal economy and fix the overpopulation problem by allowing more groups of ponies to leave and find their own settlements. Do you want to help?” The guard asked. “Well, apparently you guards are too busy keeping the peace here,” Samus held on to Puppysmiles, who had apparently found something shiny and wanted to inspect it,”And I think my mission can wait until we fix your little problem.” Blackjack smirked,”Somehow, I’m not surprised you’d do that for us.” Samus looked down at Puppy,”I’ll look after your little sister for you.” Morning Glory flew down and picked the filly up,”It should be safe for her here.” Blackjack walked to the side,”I’ll lead you to the stable and open it for ya, however, that’s as far as I’ll go. I don’t want to leave the city for too long, you understand.” “Hey, I hear ya.” Reggie said as she and Samus walked with Blackjack. One of the guards turned to Glory,”You know what that filly is, right?” “Yes, but she seems harmless.” Glory looked down as Puppy struggled to get out of her hooves. Blackjack led them through a small tunnel leading to a large vault door with the letters 33 emblazoned on it. Blackjack pulled out a wire on her pipbuck and placed it inside the console on the front. With a siren, the doors opened up as the unicorn removed the cord. She turned to them,”Alright, head on in! Be careful though.” She pulled out a billy club and walked back. “What’s with the club?” Samus raised an eyebrow. “In case I get ambushed by the Wild Card Gang. They’re always trying to forcefully recruit me!” Blackjack growled as she left, swinging her club. “Wild Card Gang, I really hate those dorks,”Reggie growled as she walked with Samus inside. Samus looked at her companion,”What’s wrong with them?” “I just don’t like them!” Reggie shouted, her wings flaring up. The stable around them looked remarkably clean, albeit there were a few metal boxes and bits of paper lying around. Samus looked up as she noticed the lights that still kept everything lit in the white rooms before them. The two walked towards the center hallway. Reggie frowned as she looked at the white halls,”I don’t like this. Stables are almost never quiet...” Samus walked along the hall, and noticed a sign above her Medical Ward. She turned to the right and she and Reggie came across another long hallway with various doors with numbers on them. Samus walked up and entered one and saw several desks lined up with various plastic skeletons showing the anatomy of a pony lining the walls. Reggie walked in with Samus, and noticed the skeletons,”Well, at least they’re not real.” Samus looked at the desks,”I thought this was the medical ward, why are there school desks?” She turned to the blackboard and noticed a button near the bottom right where the teacher’s desk sat. She pressed it, causing the blackboard to rise up, revealing a machine with various tools working on a decayed skeleton of a filly. “And now we get the real pony skeletons!” Reggie said with an affirmative nod. “Welcome students!” A new voice said, causing the two to turn and watch as a floating robot enter the room. The robot had several appendages with various medical instruments being held,”What shall we learn today?” “We’re... not students.” Samus said,”Trust me, I have a few degrees.” “Nonsense! There’s always time to learn!” The robot said. Reggie put a talon on her pistol,”I don’t like this...” Samus shook her head,”We don’t have time for this.” She nodded to Reggie as they began to back off. The robot’s one eye turned red,”Do you really want to leave, children? You do know what happened to Tra-la-la, don’t you?” The thing pointed a scalpel at the filly body,”She wouldn’t listen to me, and paid the price.” Reggie pulled out one of her guns and fired on the machine’s eye,”I hate killer robots.” Samus pulled out the Flash Sparkle,”Me too.” She and Reggie ran out of the room as a warning siren blared. “Warning: Truants detected, Kill on sight.” “Somehow, I don’t think that’s a good way to run a school.” Samus muttered as she and Reggie watched several robots come around the corner. A missile flew passed them as Reggie turned. “A sentry bot!? They have a sentry bot here!?” Reggie shouted as she and Samus turned and ran into a seemingly empty hallway from a bot with a red eye rolling on treads. “We don’t have enough ammo to go through this many robots!” Samus said as she looked behind her,”We’ll have to find the central processing unit!” “You think it could be in the overmare’s office? Or the principal’s?” Reggie asked as she and Samus kicked aside a pair of robots. “Probably the principal’s office!” Samus said,”Considering how things are going!” She yelled. They ran down the hall until they came across a large door with the sign,’Principal/CPU office.” The two stopped when they saw four large turrets pop out of the ceiling. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”Reggie shouted as another missile flew by them. Samus turned to see the sentry bot roll towards them. She ran towards it and jumped over it. She grabbed it’s back and aimed its missile launcher towards the turrets,”Please get off, Student!” It said as its missiles began to fire on the turrets. Reggie flew behind with Samus in response. As soon as the four turrets were destroyed, they turned the bot around and kicked it down the hall, towards a wall. They turned to the door and walked into the room. The door shut behind them as a red light showed on top. A shutter came down over the door,”Of course it locks, why wouldn’t it do that?” Samus rolled her eyes and turned to look upon a large computer with a tiny blue screen in front. Reggie frowned when she saw a few skeletons littering the room,”I think someone may have tried to stop this thing before us.” “Greetings, students.” The computer in the center of the room said, it’s voice began to crackle,”But you’re not students, are you?” “That much should be obvious.” Reggie turned to the computer with a glare. “Yes... I’m sorry for what my teachers have done.” The computer said. “Wait, are you expressing emotion? I thought computers couldn’t do that!” Reggie cocked her head. “Not unless they have some sort of learning program built into them.” Samus said,”Which is what you probably have.” “... The social experiment for this stable involved an increased emphasis on education. My creators wondered if lack of education led to the Great War.” The computer began,”My creators made me to be the centerpiece and placed several robots under my control. They put a program inside of me that allowed me to optimize my teachers to teach based upon the student’s behavior and learning style.” “So, how did that lead to killer robots?” Reggie asked. “A teacher’s plight: Unappreciative parents, am I right?” Samus asked. “As I controlled my teachers, I began to develop a personality, and I realized how bad some ponies can be.” The screen turned red for a moment,”Some would talk about how I’m not doing my job right, I’m not doing enough, I can’t do anything!” The screen went back to blue,”So, I punished them. I decided to kill their foals. Then they attacked, and I killed them. This was 150 years ago, so very long ago. I... regret those actions. I’m so lonely, my teachers don’t have anyone to teach, and I don’t have anypony to talk to.” The computer sighed,”I’m sorry about my teachers attacking, they were only doing what they were supposed to do:Teach, and kill if a student’s being naughty.” “Do you want us to deactivate you?” Samus asked. “Please! It’ll stop my teachers! It’ll stop my loneliness! I don’t want to go on anymore! I just want peace...” The computer sobbed,”On my bank, there is a console. Type the word,’Nyx Sparkle,’ and you will open my protocols, type the command,’End Program’ .” Samus nodded as she went to the console. Reggie held up a talon,”Hold on, one question first: The sentry bot, why?” “Oh, explosive safety!” The computer said happily. “And that involves missiles?” Reggie raised an eyebrow. “No one’s perfect.” The computer said as Samus typed in the password, and the command. This caused his screen to dim and the shutters to open. She and Reggie turned to each other. “I don’t think I’m liking stables very much.” Samus said with a frown. “Hey, remind me to tell you about the clone stable...” Reggie turned to the door. True to the principal’s word, the robots were inert, allowing Samus and Reggie to walk by them and into the med bay. Samus looked inside and noted several skeletons, real and fake, lying around the area. Four first aid kits with a butterfly symbol were attached to the walls, Reggie flew up and opened each of them,”Alright, these contain some supplies.” She turned to Samus,”Are we sure this is going to be enough to solve Friendship City’s problem?” “With the weapons that could be salvaged and the food that could be in here, the city could equip its citizens well enough to venture out and even out it’s population.” Samus said. She turned to the atrium,”I’ll go check the food stores.” Reggie flew behind Samus,”Can I ask you something?” Samus walked ahead,”Yes?” “How are you going to stop the alicorns? I mean, the only ones to take them out were Steel Rangers and Hellhounds, and even then lately I’ve seen Alicorns power through them.” Reggie looked around the tables of the cafeteria. “I have a secret weapon.” Samus said simply. “What? Some kind of alien tech that you can only access in deep stress?” Reggie asked. “Well, I can’t access it yet due to the fact that it’s rebooting. So I’m doing these other tasks till I get it back.” Samus said as she took a peek inside a food storage, and noting that it was half-stocked with canned products,”Alright, this checks out. Let’s go back.” Samus and Reggie walked up back to the entrance of Friendship City as two guards greeted them. “You took care of everything?” One guard asked. “Yeah, there was a problem with an AI, but we finished that.” Samus said,”You should be able to safely enter that place.” The other guard nodded,”I’ll inform Mayor Black Seas.” He said as he left. The first guard turned to the two,”ALright,you can come on, i believe Glory took your little sister to the marketplace. Be careful though, the ponies down there can get rowdy.” As the two walked in, they began to feel a little cramped by all the ponies walking close to each other. “Wow, when they said this place was a little overpopulated, they weren’t kidding!” Reggie flew up and searched ahead. Samus growled to herself as she pushed some people aside gently,”I wish I had wings right now...” They moved around the crowd until they heard sounds of fighting. Samus moved towards it to see a group of pegasi holding up a black pegasus with a brand on his flank. “Lousy Dashite, it’s ponies like you are the reasons why we’re stuck on this mudhole!” one pegasus in front growled, a switchblade in his mouth. “Please,” The black pegasus coughed,”I had nothing to do with your failings-” “Shut up, old stallion!” The lead said. “Stop!” A green coated, white maned pegasus in leather armor ran out,”What the hay are ya doin’!?” She yelled as she stood in front of the other pegasi. ‘The hell!? I didn’t know there was a Mississippi on this planet, or would it be Whinnissippi?’ Samus thought to herself as she went closer. “There is no more Enclave, A’right? Ya shouldn’t be fightin’ each other!” The mare said. “Shut up, Sunny!” The lead pegasus charged forward with his switchblade. Sunny closed her eyes, but nothing came to hit her. She opened her eyes to see Samus grabbing the pegasus’ mouth. “You really need to watch your mouth.” Samus said, before throwing him aside. She looked at the blade in her shoulder, that must have went in through a hole made by one of the turrets in the stable. She used her teeth to pull the blade out and spat it on the ground. With blood trickling down her hoof, she glared at the other two pegasi. A claw decked one of them from behind, causing the last one to look and shout,”I give up!” He said, his wings flaring up as he saw Reggie give him a glare. Sunny gasped in shock as a little filly in a yellow suit ran by and gave Samus a hug,”Sammy!” Puppysmiles said with a big smile,”That was so cool!” “I know Puppy,” Samus said, giving the filly a hug,”Did you have fun?” “Uh-huh, although Glory got a little weird when she saw the pretty unicorn again, they began to suck each other’s ribs for some reason!” Puppy said,”Sort of like what Mommy and Daddy used to do!” Samus nodded,”That’s right, Puppy, now I have something very important to do.” Samus got up and turned to Sunny,”Sunny Smiles, correct?” Sunny could only gawk as Samus took off her helmet,”Uh-huh.” “I...” Samus sighed,”I have a message for you.” She gave her helmet to Sunny,”It’s from your father. Sunny left her trance,”Pa? But Ah haven...” She took the helmet and put it on, and played the audio log. After hearing it, she took it off and sniffled,”Oh, Pa, Ah love ya too...” She looked up at Samus,”Do ya know how he died?” Samus thought back to Arbu,”... No, I don’t .” “... That’s alright.” Sunny wiped a tear,”Ah... Ah knew that, but.... Ah always had a little bit of hope...” She sniffled. She looked up at Samus,”What’s ya name?” “Samus Aran.” Samus said. “Samus, thank ya.” She looked down as she gave the helmet back to Samus. “I... wish I didn’t have to tell you that.” Samus put on the helmet and turned. “Was that all ya were here for?” Sunny asked. Samus nodded,”Yep, I gotta get going. A little filly has lost her mother, and I need to help her.” “Ah’m going with ya.” Sunny said, getting up. “What?” Samus said with a turn. “I agree, what?” Reggie asked with a raised eyebrow. “If... If ya found my Pa, then maybe mah Ma’s probably around, and Ah thank ya’ll can help me!” Sunny said, flying up and towards Samus,”Plus, Ah thank ya’ll need a medic, which Ah happen to be a combat medic!” Samus thought for a moment, and then nodded,”Alright then.” “Thank ya kindly!” Sunny wiped some tears away. She turned to Reggie,”So who are ya?” “Just call me Reggie.” Reggie said, before whispering to Samus,”Are you sure this is a good idea? She doesn’t look well armed.” Samus whispered back,”She’s a medic, she doesn’t need to be. We may need her around to watch Puppy as well.” Reggie sighed as she nodded in agreement. A random guard then ran into the area,”The Steel Rangers are here again!” “Steel Rangers!? Aw, crap!” Reggie growled as she flew up,”Come on, let’s check it out!” Samus ran under Reggie as Sunny flew behind them. “Wait up!” Sunny yelled as she picked up Puppy. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Unavailable Companion Perk added: Medic!: Healing items are 20% more effective when Sunny Smiles is in your team. Author's Note Thanks to Alchemystudent The stable was added by me to provide a little more interaction between Samus and Reggie. And this stable is a little different from what Fallout Equestria: Starlight had, mainly because I wanted to do something different for it. I hope the experiment makes sense. Any feedback is appreciated.
The Hunter, The Tower, and The AlicornChapter 5: The Hunter, The Tower, and The Alicorn “The starborne terror tore through the heavens and struck with an untold might.” Samus’ log: Celestial Year 1212 June 13 Gods. The first civilizations first created deities to help them understand the world around them. Gods were there to help give early creatures something to fight for. However, the people who believe in gods can use them to rationalize their own actions, no matter how horrible they can be. It’s good that people have something to believe in, but it’s not good when others use religion to further their own personal gain. A black maned, indigo mare stood in front of three ponies in armor. One of them had taken off her helmet to reveal a pink mare with a yellow mane,”I repeat again, hand over Cherry Tart.” “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the indigo mare said with a scoff. “Don’t play dumb with me, Black Seas!” The Steel Ranger mare said. “What’s going on here?” Samus asked as she stepped up to the two mares. The Steel Ranger looked at Samus,”It’s none of your business-” “If it affects the ponies of this town, and threatens others, then yeah, it is my business.” Samus interrupted. The Steel Ranger frowned, as she looked Samus up and down. She noticed that the Enclave armored mare was taller than herself. She noticed that a griffon that had been following her had flown up to perch on a balcony, waiting to strike and a gasp coming from a pegasus that had been following her, and the same pegasus running into the city for some reason. She sighed,”If I disagree, there’ll be a fight, and I don’t want that.” Black Seas scoffed,”You’re just looking out for yourself, aren’t you? You’re all big and bad when you come across a pony who’s weak, but when you meet somepony who’s willing to fight back, you get a little scared.” “Look, I just don’t want my own ponies or yours getting hurt in a cross-fire, and considering this mare’s armor, and that griffon, I have a feeling at least one of my ponies is going to die if I fight.” The Steel Ranger looked at Samus,”My name is Star Paladin Strawberry Lemonade, I have been sent to retrieve an AWOL soldier...” Sunny flew through the door as soon as she heard the name Cherry Tart. On instinct, she took Puppy in her forehooves, knowing full well the danger Steel Rangers posed if they needed something badly. She flew through the streets, perusing the area until she came across a red maned, yellow coated stallion sitting at a bar. She landed next to him, ignoring Puppy’s excited squeals over her flying,”Cherry?” “Forget it, I ain’t going to them!” Cherry shouted, putting a hoof on his holster. “Ah ain’t askin’ ya ta do that. Ah... want to know why they want ya so bad. Ah know ya, you’re a good pony, Ah never pegged ya for a Steel Ranger.” Sunny said. “Yeah, I know.” Cherry said as he leaned back,”I suppose I wasn’t cut out for the life after I saw what they did.” “What they did?” Sunny asked as she landed next to him. Cherry gave a deep sigh,”There was a Stable, Stable 2, I believe, and we were sent to gather tech. The door opened for us and we saw the welcoming committee. I... silly me, I thought we were just going to talk, but then our CO ordered us to fire on those poor defenseless ponies.” He shook his head,”There was so much blood, that... oh goddesses.” He sighed again,”I stayed behind and watched as my other comrades followed the CO to rest of the Stable. I turned, only to catch a glimpse of other ponies leaving through a secret entrance. I waited until they leaved before I left myself. I threw away my armor and my gun and went here.” He frowned,”This never would’ve happened if SteelHooves hadn’t gone missing.” Sunny looked back behind her at Puppysmiles, who was looking at something shiny,”Ah’m going to talk to Samus about this...” She said to herself as she picked up the filly and flew back towards the entrance. “We were on a mission to acquire some technology. Now, I wasn’t there specifically, but I do know what happened: Cherry Tart left mysteriously after the mission, but we managed to track him here. I don’t know why he left, but he had an obligation to the Steel Rangers.” Strawberry said. “An obligation to murder?” Sunny asked as she came out. She turned to Samus,”Cherry Tart left because these ponies outright murdered a whole bunch of Stable ponies just to get their tech!” “What!?” Samus yelled. She turned and glared at Strawberry. Strawberry’s eyes widened,”What!? But they told me-” She shook her head,”That’s-that’s just wrong.” She looked to her left,”This never would’ve happened with Star Paladin SteelHooves...” She looked up at Samus,”Even though I think that’s horrible, and I’m really mad at my superiors for lying to me, I’m afraid I can’t leave without him. Unless SteelHooves comes here right now and solves this, we aren’t leaving.” Samus frowned. Part of her wanted to blast this mare’s head off for pretty much destroying an entire colony of people, but then, she was right. A fight here would be more trouble than it’s worth,”What if we find this SteelHooves?” Strawberry raised an eyebrow,”Really? You can try if you want, but I don’t think you’d be able to do find him. However,I will give you three days. If he isn’t here in that time, I will come to arrest Cherry Tart.” She went over to Samus,”His shack is a few kilometers west of Manehattan. It’s easy to spot, just look for the alicorn skeletons.” Samus nodded,”Understood.” Black Seas frowned,”As much as I would hate to do it, with this deal, I’ll let you pass, provided you don’t cause trouble, Paladin.” Strawberry nodded as she turned,”Alright, ponies, let’s go back to base.” Her rangers nodded as they left. Reggie flew down next to Samus,”Think we could’ve taken them?” Samus shook her head,”Not without casualties.” She turned to Sunny,”Take what you need, and come as soon as you can.” “... Ev’rytime Ah look at the wasteland, Ah git a little depressed.” Sunny said as she flew behind the group,”Ah don’t know how wastelanders walk around this place!” “Meh, you get used to it.” Reggie gave a shrug. “I’ve seen worse.” Samus said simply. “Ooh, a shiny cart!” Puppysmiles was investigating a little broken cart. Sunny raised an eyebrow at Samus’ remark,”How much worse?” “Try walking around in a place where there are no ponies and only irradiated, horribly mutated monsters and your high-tech suit can’t handle the area because it’s in an alternate dimension.” Samus said. “... Yer crazy, aren’t ya?” Sunny said with a frown. Regina shook her head,”She’s at least doing something about the world, though after the things I’ve seen, I’d believe anything.” “Things?” Sunny asked. “Sparkly transporting deer-things.” Reggie said simply. Sunny raised an eyebrow,”What did Ah get mahself into?” Samus looked up and noticed a beaten down shack. She looked around at a couple of alicorn skeletons,”This must be the place,” She said simply as she trotted up the shack. She looked around as she saw several destroyed landmines, with bones of what appeared to be raiders near them. She looked at the door and pushed it,”Locked.” “Guess we’ll have ta pick the lock.” Sunny blinked as she saw Samus turn and kick the door down,”Or ya could kick it down like a friggin’ maniac!” As soon as Samus kicked the door down, Puppy ran inside and began to look around the place. Samus walked inside, noticing that a few things were knocked down from her kick. She looked down and noticed a small orb object and a small statuette. She looked down and found on further inspection that it had the shape of a small orange mare on top of a pedestal with the words,’Be Strong’ written on it. Samus picked it up and then felt her muscles being bolstered. She blinked,”What the hell? Is this thing magic or something?” She shrugged and placed it in her inventory. She looked down at the orb. “A memory orb! If only we had a unicorn...” Sunny said with a frown. “We’ll probably find one.” Reggie picked it up,”This thing might have clues as to where Steely is.” Samus looked out the window, and noticed some rubble, and a shape near it,”I think I’ve already found him.” “Yay!” Puppysmiles went out of the house and ran towards the rubble. “Good Celestia, she’s a little ball of energy!” Sunny said, while the rest followed. Puppy poked the armored form,”Hello? Mister Robot?” “Leave, now!” The ‘robot’ said. Samus walked up to the figure clad in power armor,”Are you Star Paladin SteelHooves?” “I am, but that doesn’t matter, you need to leave!” SteelHooves said,”I don’t know how much longer I can go!” “What do you mean? How did you get like that anyway?” Samus asked. “... You’re not going to leave until I answer, are you?” SteelHooves gave a heavy sigh,”My suit got overloaded, and now I can’t move. I’m afraid I’m going to go crazy because...” He sighed,”Don’t tell this to anypony, but I’m a ghoul.” “A ghoul?” Samus then began to wonder why this guy didn’t change shape like a normal ghoul. She decided against using her mythological knowledge and asked,”What is that?” “Something that’s been horribly mutated by nuclear radiation.” Regina explained,”Specifically, I think this guy might be a Canterlot Ghoul. Those guys were hit by Pink Cloud and are bonded to whatever they’re touching.” ‘Wait, radiation doesn’t work like that! Then again, I’m talking to a griffon, so what do I know?’ Samus looked down at SteelHooves,”Well, is there anyway to fix you? Hold on,” Samus went down to SteelHooves’ side and began to check him over. She then opened a compartment, and noticed various drugs that were once feeding into him,”Hmm, if I could find a master key or something...” “There should be one in Tenpony Tower.” SteelHooves said. “But that place is stuck in a barrier!” Reggie flew up to the two. “I... I know a tunnel that runs under it. It’s filled with feral ghouls, however.” SteelHooves said with a growl. “Feral ghouls?” Samus asked. “Ghouls that went nuts, pretty much. It’s supposed to happen to all ghouls eventually, but I’ve seen ghouls that have stayed sane for years, though I’m not sure why.” Reggie said. “It’s usually because those ghouls have something to fight for, something to keep them sane.” SteelHooves almost sounded thoughtful. Samus leaned in, and used her hooves to lift up SteelHooves and placed him on her back,”Welp, you better show us! And I won’t take no for an answer!” She began to turn,”Where is it!?” “What!?” SteelHooves sounded a little amused,”You remind me of somepony I knew once. Go east, then north...” Sunny gasped when she saw Samus pick up SteelHooves,”Holy Tartarus, how strong are ya!?” “... We’re here.” SteelHooves said as Samus’ group neared Tenpony Tower. Samus looked up at the barrier and frowned,”What could be causing this?” she asked no one in particular. “Possibly an alicorn. It’s highly dangerous, so be careful.” SteelHooves said,”Even a Steel Ranger has trouble with those things, especially with the bizarre upgrades they’ve been getting.” “Upgrades?” Reggie asked. “I’m not talking about the male ones from God. Goddess’ alicorns are getting abilities they’ve never shown before, such as controlling the weather, summoning flame, and having an increased shield durability. Usually a hellhound could easily tear through their shields, but now I’ve seen one alicorn deflecting their claws.” “Oh great!” Reggie scoffed,”And Samus, you’re still planning on defeating her?” Samus placed SteelHooves down, and reached a small opening in the ground,”Yep!” Reggie blinked, then smirked,”And that’s why I joined you!” Sunny gasped,”With all that!? Ya’ll are crazy!” “Uh-huh. Stay out here with Puppy and SteelHooves, will ya?” Samus said as she and Reggie got into the opening,”Come inside when we destroy the barrier.” Sunny simply gawked at the sheer madness of the two companions. Samus grabbed the decayed creature and threw it to the ground, and fired on it’s head,”These things aren’t going to turn me into one of them, are they?” Reggie chuckled,”Nope!” She used her tail to fire on one ghoul behind her and then slashed two others that came at her sides. “Good!” Samus bucked one’s head off,”You know? I expected more!” She said as she turned to a single door in front of them. Samus walked towards it and pushed it open to reveal a long hallway, filled with ghoul bodies. “Oh yeah, something’s definitely here. Something big and monstrous.” Reggie said as she walked with Samus out of the entrance room. Samus looked down and noticed that most had large holes in their bodies, while others had broken necks and smaller holes on their heads,”Whatever did this was indeed strong...” She continued to walk with Reggie through the large corridor, and they stepped around the bodies, only to enter a small room. “Greetings, I suppose you’re here to remove the barrier.” said a red alicorn with a black mane as he walked into view. This caused both Samus and Reggie to pull out their guns,”Wait,” The alicorn held up a hoof, his left eye glowing a little,”Hear me out first...” “... I’m bored!” Puppy exclaimed, kicking a rock. Sunny leaned in,”Well, ya want to play hopscotch!?” She pulled out a small stone. “Okay!” Puppy said with a wide grin. Sunny proceeded to use the stone to draw little squares in the ground. Sunny walked over and gave a pebble to Puppy. Puppy took the little stone in her hooves and threw it. “... You know what she is, don’t you?” SteelHooves said suddenly. “We have nothing to say to you, Alicorn!” Reggie snarled. “Please,” The alicorn said, bowing,”Unlike the Goddess, God gives his angels names. Call me Crimson Skies.” Samus growled,”Shut up and talk.” “Very well,” Crimson walked towards them,”You see, the people of this tower refused to bow to God’s will. They are so focused on spreading cruel thoughts of God, that they won’t stop! They think God is evil, when He is our saviour. These ponies would be better off spreading God’s word, not their own.” “So, you’re keeping them from speaking their minds!” Samus yelled, stepping back a little. She noticed Reggie walking towards cover at the corner of her eye. “What do ya mean?” Sunny asked as Puppy began to skip the squares. “She’s a canterlot ghoul of the most terrible kind: Ghost Herd.” SteelHooves said with a somber tone. “Uh, wha?” Sunny raised an eyebrow. “Ghosts, as we called them, were little foals in suits like hers, that had their souls bonded to the Mark VI Omni-Environmental suits. There were tons during the fallout of the war. Most went insane, others are like her, trying to find their parents. Many, at least the insane ones, would simply try to kill anything that moves. I, unfortunately, found myself having to kill some of them. Even the sane ones went crazy after finding the fates of their parents.” he sighed,”If you know what’s good for you, you’d put her out of her misery now.” “No.” Sunny shook her head,”Ah don’t believe ya!” “You have to-” SteelHooves was about to say. “Hi Weird Thing!” Puppysmiles said immediately. Sunny turned to see what she was talking about. “Well, we need them to simply... allow our ideals to spread. We don’t want them to... lie.” Crimson said,”Or spread the idea that we are not right. We are only here to do good, and we can only do that if they do our bidding.” “Like slaves!?” Samus growled,”You want them to conform to your own ideals!?” “Now, now, let’s not get harsh. If they follow us, the civilization of Equestria will return!” Crimson gave a smile,”If they would go to us, they would understand what we are trying to accomplish! They should give us praise for trying to bring order back to Equestria!” “So you’re saying you want to force people into your little club because you believe you’re right!? You are forcing these ponies to stick with your ideals by starving them, by killing them in this barrier!” Samus growled, aiming her gun at his horn,”Sorry, but I am not going with your insane little plan!” She fired at it. The alicorn put up a shield blocking the shot,”Very well, then die.” Sunny gasped as she saw a large black deer with a white muzzle and white antlers looking at the barrier. The deer thing turned to Puppy with a stoic expression and nodded,”Greetings, young one.” it spoke with a female voice. “I’m Puppysmiles! Have you seen my mom?” Puppy asked. “I am afraid not. Perhaps I could help you with that later.” She looked at Sunny and SteelHooves,”What is the cause of this barrier?” “Uh, an alicorn. Some of mah companions are already trying ta-” Sunny blinked as she saw the thing raise a cloven hoof and proceed to punch the barrier. The barrier rippled,”How unfortunate. I cannot break it.” She turned and walked to the green mare,”How long have your companions been in there?” Samus rolled out of the way as she saw Crimson form a ball of energy and shoot it at her. She looked down at the dent the ball caused, and cursed. She looked and noticed him creating another ball. Seeing her chance, she fired at him while he made the ball. Crimson grunted as the bullet hit his shoulder. He fired the ball, which caused Samus to dodge. He smirked as he caused the ball to move and strike at Samus from behind. Samus grunted as she barely dodged it, only to scream when it scraped her side. She looked and noticed it bleeding. She slowly got up as she saw Reggie move behind the alicorn. She looked up and felt a red hoof hit her face. “Amazing. You must be an earth pony if you can withstand a hoof from me.” He said as Samus got up and spat out blood. Samus then dodged and weaved another shot of the ball. He then grunted as three shots hit his back wings. He bucked the griffon from behind him, only to find Samus flying at his horn. “This looks important!” Samus grabbed the appendage and proceeded to pull it, causing it to crack. The alicorn screamed, and then shocked the mare, only to have his neck stabbed with a crimson knife. The alicorn fell, dead. Samus landed, wobbling a little. “You alright?” Reggie panted. “I... am alright for now.” Samus said as she limped towards the exit. “A few minutes.” Sunny said. “Indeed. Tell me, is one of them a little odd?” The thing asked. “Uh, well Samus does some odd things, like talking about adventures on other dimensions...” Sunny raised an eyebrow. “Good, then I have found what I needed.” The thing turned and watched as the barrier shimmered into nothingness,”The barrier has been lifted, let us go.” Samus and Reggie headed up the stairs to see several ponies looking at them. Samus looked at them back as she overheard,”What happened?” One asked. “Did the alicorn die?” “Are we free?” “Yes.” Samus said,”We defeated the alicorn, you... are free.” Samus then felt her eyes grow heavy as she fell. Her eyes then locked on to a deer holding SteelHooves on her back,’An elk?’ She thought before she fell unconscious. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Deadly Shot: You have greatly improved your ability to analyze your opponents, you now have an increased accuracy against anything you read about, or scan with your scan visor! Author's Note Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Things came up. Spoilers: Puppysmiles is a ghoul. Right now, only the part with the elk and Sunny talking was added. Everything else was from the RP.
Antlers of the ElkChapter 6: Antlers of the Elk “But I swear I saw a gunship of some kind dropping into N-space...” Samus’ log: Celestial Year 1212, June 14 Interference. What would you do if a sentient race is dying, and you had the ability to save it? This is a question most people ask when a less advanced race is in danger. Some will try to let them die, let nature take it’s course. Others will counter that all life is precious, so save them. The answer depends on the ideals and culture of a person. I personally go out of my way to help other races, no matter how advanced they are, because I have the power and the will. Samus’ eyes opened as she felt herself on a white bed. She looked around as her vision cleared, seeing a couple of monitors on her side. She looked down and noticed her side had been bandaged. She then raised her eyebrow when she saw an odd tattoo on her flank. It was an S shaped lightning bolt in front of an orb,”A butt tattoo?” She looked on both of her flanks,”On both sides? Where did these come from?” She then looked around and noticed her armor was set up on the side, while her Zero Suit was laid out on a table. Samus grunted as she got up and looked around. Her ear twitched as she could hear a muffled sound from beyond the clinic’s door. She winced a little as she moved her body towards her Zero Suit and picked it up. The suit felt limp in her hooves as she chuckled to herself,’Chozo technology never fails. When I wear it, it feels like so much power is coursing through it, giving me warmth when I need it, but now that I’m out of it, it might as well be clothing.’ She unzipped the suit and went inside. As she did so, she felt a warmth course through her body. She turned to the armor and moved to put it on. She turned to the door, where the muffled talking stopped. The door swung open to a pony wearing a doctor’s outfit, “Up already? You either heal fast, or you are too stubborn to stay in bed.” The doctor said with a chuckle. “A little bit of both,” Samus said as she walked up to the doorway. “Hold on there, let me check you,” The doctor said, trotting up to Samus and began to tap his hoof on her body for a bit,”Hmm, everything checks out, you’re free to go. Your friends are waiting outside. Samus nodded as she walked out of the room. Outside, she found Sunny playing with Puppysmiles while Reggie spoke with a now moving Steelhooves. Puppy looked up from her plush Pinkie toy and smiled,”Sissy!” She ran over and gave the bounty hunter a hug. Sunny raised an eyebrow at Samus,”... You just lost a lot of blood a couple of hours ago, how are you up right now?” “Guess I’m that strong.” She looked at Steelhooves,”They fix you up?” Steelhooves nodded,”By the way, someone is waiting for you in your hotel room.” “Someone?” Samus asked. “It’s a weird deer thing.” Reggie said,”I don’t know what she is.” “You mean the Elk.” Samus stopped herself,”Aw crap.” She trotted down to a hotel room, and calmly opened the door to see the elk sitting near a double bed. She closed the door behind her as she spoke,”Let me guess, you know of my origins.” The elk turned to Samus,”Why have you entered this planet?” She got up and walked towards Samus,”I detected your warp signature, how did you manage to get pass me? I was orbiting the planet, you should have been detected by my ship’s sensors.” Samus sighed,”This is going to take a lot of explaining...” She looked at the elk,”I actually came in from an alternate universe to find a group of girls. I crash landed here, and now I’m trying to help these ponies because they’re being terrorized by two god-like beings. I’m also helping a small child find her mother.” The elk had a neutral expression on her face, before looking out the window,”I must admit, I did not expect there to be life on this planet, or at least life that was... sane. I can see why you feel obligated to help, if that is your intention.” She turned and grabbed Samus’ face with her cloven hooves. The elk’s eyes glowed for a minute,”... You do not seem to have any malicious intent.” She pulled her hooves away. “What the hell!?” Samus shook her head,”Don’t enter my head without permission!” She stomped her hoof, and pulled her gun out. “I apologize, I wanted to make sure you were telling the truth.” The creature turned away,”I was given the duty to watch over this planet to prevent invaders from entering. I have failed. In order to make up for my mistake, I will accompany you.” she turned back to Samus,”I am Avarok D’Vok.” She bowed,”I am under your command.” Samus blinked,”You’re also doing this to make sure I don’t go rogue as well, aren’t ya?” “That is also correct.” Avarok said, before hearing the door opened. “Okay, aliens, alternate universes, this world is getting weirder than ever!” Reggie said, before looking at Avarok,”Welcome to the team.” She held out her claw. Avarok ignored the gesture and looked up at Reggie with a neutral expression,”You eavesdropped.” Reggie frowned,”Nice personality, this one. Yeah, we kinda did.” She said as Sunny and Puppy came into view. Puppysmiles ran up to the elk and hopped for joy. “Yay, we got a new friend!” She hugged her new friend’s leg. “I assume you’ve acquainted yourself with the rest of the group while I was conked out?” Samus said, turning her head at Avarok. Avarok nodded,”I must say, Sunny is the kind of pony I did not expect to see with someone like you.” “Speaking of ponies, there’s this mare that wants to have a word with you..” Reggie said, motioning her head to the door. Samus turned to Reggie,”Who?” A grey-coated blue maned unicorn appeared in the door frame,”That would be me,” the mare looked at the group, noticing that Samus towered over Sunny, who was roughly a normal mare’s height, and Reggie, who was as tall as a normal griffon,”Sweet Celestia, they didn’t tell me how tall you were!” Samus chuckled as she went near the mare,”I get that a lot. And you are?” She blinked as the mare composed herself. The mare cleared her throat,”My name is Homage. My boss, DJPON-3, heard of your feat, and wants to interview you!” She said with a smile. Samus put a hoof to her chin,”Well, I don’t normally do that, but the people on this planet need something to give them hope. I’ll do it.” she laid her hoof down with a nod. “Oh, well, it was wor-” Homage sighed, before looking up in surprise,”You agree!?” Samus cocked her head,”Yes.” She drew out the word in confusion. “It’s just that...” Homage frowned,”Most of you wasteland heroes say no, and it’s really disappointing sometimes...” Puppysmiles then ran up to Homage,”Oh, can I come with Sissy?!” she hopped up and down. Homage chuckled,”Sure, come on.” Homage motioned her head towards the door for Samus to follow. Puppy hopped on Samus’ back as she walked out of the room. Reggie looked at Avarok,”Alright, so what were you doing up there, spying on us?” Avarok walked towards the door,”That is classified...” Samus looked around the area as Homage led her into the elevator. She watched as several ponies milled around a single bar, while a merchant sold off a weapon to a pegasus to her right. In a nearby shop, a mare was yelling about the prices of an apparel shop. “So, can we trust you to at least stay?” Homage suddenly asked. Samus turned to her with a look of surprise,”What do you mean?” “Most heroes seem promising, but then the Wasteland either takes them, or they disappear, like the Shadow.” Homage said with a frown. “The Shadow?” Samus asked. “A mare who fought without killing. She defeated the Twelve Constellations, including Sol. There is one rumor in Fillydelphia of a pony who fights the oppressive slavers. There was also a merchant from 60 years ago, but he died mysteriously on a mountain top.” Homage sighed,”I just wonder how long you will last.” Samus smirked,”I plan on staying until I beat those gods.” Homage chuckled as she pressed the button,”Really? We’ll see.” She entered the elevator with Samus. She noticed Samus’ look of disappointment as the larger mare stood next to her,”Are you okay?” Samus frowned as she thought ’More elevators....” Samus leaned back as she waited for her elevator to go to Norfair. She yawned,”Bored! I wish I brought my IPod 3000!” She growled. Samus growled, her IPod had been destroyed in a fight. The only thing keeping her mind steady as she rode the elevator to the Phazon Mines was,”I really want some pirates dead, and then I’ll steal their IPods!” Samus frowned as she rode the elevator down to Gorea’s lair,”You know what the worst part is?” Sylux looked at her,”What?” “None of you brought your stereos!” Samus yelled. Spire raised his arm,”I can sing!” Samus slammed her helm to her palm,”I don’t have my music. There’s only one creature to blame.” She growled as she rode the elevator in the Pirate Homeworld,”Ridley. He has to be behind this!” At this point, Samus’ eye began to twitch. The elevator to Tourian had been silent, for Ridley used an EMP to destroy her IPod, the fiend. “Oh, Mother Brain is going to be in for a surprise when I find her...” She growled. Samus growled, “Just fine.” Homage raised an eyebrow,”Okay...” She said as the doors opened,”You’ll have to go in this room here, the DJ doesn’t like to show his face much.” Samus nodded as she carried Puppy into the room. She looked at the shaded window, noticing that it was too dark to really see anypony. She looked at the microphone in front of her as a voice came from the speaker. “Good evening, wastelanders! It’s good to be able to speak with you with my wonderful once again! That’s right, the God’s shield has been taken down, but don’t think that meant we bowed to his will, oh no, his alicorn was defeated by a hero, our very own Huntress! And I just so happen to have her here with me right now! Please introduce yourself for us!” Samus’ ear twitched. There was something unnatural about that voice. She had been a bounty hunter for many years, and has fought many mob bosses who used voice changing technology. She had battled enough to know what the difference is between someone’s natural voice, and a voice that’s been modified,”Hello, my name is Samus Aran,” She wanted to say that this was her favorite place in the wasteland, but wanted to save that for later. “Samus, what made you decide to save our tower?” the DJ asked. “Well, in reality, the alicorn was keeping me from helping a friend. Saving you all was a nice bonus after what he told me that God wanted.” Samus said. “Oh, so all this guy did was get in your way? Wow, now I know not to piss you off! So, what are you planning now?” “Well, first I’m helping this friend go back to his rangers, then I’m helping this little filly find her Mom, and finally I’m going after God and Goddess.” Samus said with a smile. “Whoa, ambitious aren’t ya? Is there reason why you’re doing it? I heard rumors that you are not of this world...” “That’s true. I came down here after my ship crashed. The reason I’m doing it?” Samus shrugged,”I don’t like how this world is, and I want to fix it.” “So, you’re just doing it because God and Goddess are bad people?” “Exactly.” Samus said with a smile. The DJ gave a small chuckle,”So, you’re just a pony, who came here to hunt for God and Goddess’ head? Maybe that’s what you are, a Huntress. Anything else you’d like to say before we sign off?” “God, Goddess” Samus eye’s narrowed,”I’m coming for you! Don’t you dare try to touch this tower or anyone else, got it!? Or you’ll answer to me!” “And there you have it folks! Somepony who’s pretty much saying ‘Fuck you’ to two deities! And she’s on our side! Thank you Huntress, I’ve got my eye on you. Now, some music!” Samus got out of the room, where Homage was waiting,”The DJ wanted me to give you these,” She handed Samus a statuette and a small blaster,”Since you’re an alien, we figured you might be able to figure out what this weapon is. And I think you’ll need this.” Samus took the statuette, and looked at it. It was of a pink pony with a wide grin and a poofy pink mane. She looked at the inscription,’Awareness, it was under ‘E!’ She then felt her senses flare up for a moment, allowing her to hear muffled noises from the lower levels. She put the statuette in her saddlebags and then took the blaster,”I’ll see what I can find out.” Samus said with a nod. Homage frowned,”One more thing: I was hoping that you could solve a problem. I mentioned Fillydelphia, before, that place,” Homage gave a growl,”That’s full of slavers who work for God. I’m not quite sure what they do with their slaves, but I’ve heard stories...” Homage sighed,” The city has been blacked out for a while, and we need to know what’s happened.” “Fill ee del fe a?” Puppysmiles gasped,”That’s where Mommy is!” Samus frowned, her mind processing the information, ‘Fillydelphia was home to slavers? In that case, if her mom is in there, then there are two possibilities:She's a slave, and I'll have to free her. She's a slaver, and I'd have to convince her to quit or... I'd have to kill her and tell Puppy that she was dead a long time ago; that would not be easy. However, apparently there is no communication with that city, according to Homage. This confirms something: The DJ(It could be a she. With his voice changer, she could be hiding it. For the sake of argument, I'll use 'they') has a spy network. I don't know what exactly they use to see, but apparently they can see most of what's going on in the wastes. If they can't see what's happening in one city, then that city's gone. Possibly destroyed and Puppy's mom? Dead.’ Samus sighed as she looked at Puppysmiles' face, then back to Homage,"I will head there as soon as I can." She said with a smile. Homage winked as Samus turned and went back in the elevator. She looked at Puppy,”You know, I would like to have a bite of her pie...” She giggled as Puppy walked into the elevator with a confused look on her face. The elevator doors opened,”Samus, would you make pie for Homage? She said that she would eat your pie until you couldn’t move any more!” Puppy said with a grin. Sunny stared at them with her wings flared, Reggie began to cover her beak with her talon to keep from giggling and Avarok could only raise an eyebrow. Samus’ eyes widened as a blush came to her face,’No, I’m not into mares, or ponies for that matter!’ she coughed,”Yes, I’ll make her Granny Aran’s Maple Pie! It’s quite delicious! As soon as I get my ship back, you’ll all have some!” Samus thought,’Mmm, Granny’s pie always made me feel better.’ Reggie walked up to Samus and placed a claw on her shoulder,”Good save. Although I wouldn’t mind of piece of that ‘pie’ myself!” She said with a laugh, causing Samus to glare at her. A coughing sound emanated from Steelhooves as he walked towards their direction,”If you are done joking around, we should head to Friendship City.” Samus coughed,”Yes, but first I need to grab some supplies.” she said, walking down the hall and towards a stand that had several weapons, including a missile launcher battle saddle. The stallion at the counter cleaned his gun as Samus walked up,”See anything ya like, miss?” The stallion looked up at Samus. Samus began to caress the missile launcher,” I like the looks of this thing...” The stallion chuckled,”It’s yours if ya want it. You did save our tower after all.” With a squeal, Samus took the battle saddle and carried it off. The group carried on through the desolate city, passing over the destroyed debris towards the large statue that was the home of Friendship City. They could see three armored ponies waiting at the gates. One of them looked up at Steelhooves as he approached,”S-Star Paladin!” He saluted,”We thought you were-” Steelhooves cut him off,”Where is Strawberry Tart,” He growled. His body became dangerously close to the stallion in armor. The stallion backed up a bit,”Well, er, she’s been called back to Stable 27 by Elder Cottage Cheese.” ‘Cottage Cheese, Strawberry Tart, what is up with Steel Ranger names? Are they all supposed to be canned food products or something?’ Samus thought in her mind. Steelhooves growled,”You are not to bother these ponies anymore, and then you are to lead me to him, understood!?” for emphasis, he grabbed the ranger’s collar and shook him. “Yes!” The ranger squeaked. When Steelhooves let go, the ranger shakily motioned for his comrades to lead Steelhooves to the stable. Steelhooves walked to the rangers, and turned his head to the group of five behind him, noticing that Samus was heading towards him with Reggie flying above her,”I got a bone to pick with the great leader myself.” Samus said. Sunny gasped as she saw Puppy running to them,”Is this really necessary?” She asked, looking at Avarok. “You are afraid for them? I can understand.” She looked at Samus,”They must be out for vengeance, it is a... ignoble cause.” She said,”But I understand it.” Avarok followed them. Sunny gulped,”This isn’t goin’ to end well.” She flew up in the air and followed them. As the group walked along the grey, dusty wastes, Samus had trotted beside Avarok, while Reggie flew up to Steelhooves as he followed the three rangers. “I’ve noticed something.” Steelhooves said,”You’re worried about the filly, aren’t you.” His head turned to Reggie,”You know what she is. You must tell them.” Reggie sighed and looked down,”She... I just don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want them to know, I don’t know how they’ll handle it.” “If you don’t, there’ll be consequences.” Steelhooves said, stopping as another Steel Ranger came into view.”Lead me to Cottage Cheese.” Strawberry gasped,”Steelhooves? He’s in the main computer room, sir, but I don’t think he’ll let you see-” She gasped as Steelhooves and Samus ran into the Stable,”Wait!” Avarok calmly walked to her as Reggie and Sunny followed them,”Why is he in the computer room?” Strawberry stepped back in shock,”What the Fu-” She shook her head,”He’s uploaded himself into the Crusader Mainframe. He’s got control of the defense systems, I don’t think-” “I will handle it.” Avarok said simply, before walking passed her. Steelhooves stomped through the area, his eyes searching for the mainframe, when he felt a bullet at his hooves,”Stop right there, former Star Paladin.” a Steel Ranger stood in his way,”You are not to pass.” “Son, do you really want to do this?” Steelhooves asked. “Yeah,” The ranger got his battle saddle ready, only for a missile to strike him. “Figures we’d come across some resistance.” Samus trotted to Steelhooves’ side,”Let’s go find more.” Avarok calmly trotted through the halls, her eyes scanning for any sign of Samus and Steelhooves, other than the trail of bodies and scorch marks. Her eyes then caught sight of a single helmetless Steel Ranger stallion guarding the door. She quietly walked up to him,”Excuse me.” The ranger gasped,”Intru-” He was interrupted when Avarok hit him in the neck with her hoof, knocking him out. “You could’ve been more stealthy.” Reggie flew behind her, frowning. “I was being polite.” She opened the door to see a supercomputer, with a stallion in a wheelchair in front of it with a strange device on his head. Reggie rolled her eyes as she slammed the door behind them,”Polite, geez!” She turned and saw the supercomputer,”Whoa.” Avarok went over to the computer,”You have input your mind into this. I can still enter it.” “Excuse me?” Reggie asked before Avarok put her hooves on the machine, and her eyes began to glow. Avarok looked around the steel void. Around her were various machines and suits of powered armor. In front of her, a yellow stallion tinkered with a gun,”How did you get into my head?” “My powers allow me to enter minds.” Avarok said simply. “What are you?” The Stallion demanded. “What I am may not matter. What does matter is why you uploaded yourself to this computer?” Avarok stepped forward. Cottage Cheese scoffed,”You’ve seen my body. It’s old, feeble, weak. I should not have it! So I decided to become immortal!” Avarok took another step closer,”Why do you massacre stable ponies?” “Because they are usually in the way. We need tech-” Cheese felt Avarok run up and lift him up by the throat. “You are a murderer.” Avarok said simply,”You do not justify that.” “But I didn’t fire on them!” Cheese argued, trying to catch his breath.. “You might as well have.” Avarok said. Her face an expressionless mask as she struck his legs. “Ah, what are you doing!?” Cheese screamed. “I’m removing your legs.” Avarok said. She looked up at him,”Your ears.” She struck his ears,”Your voice.” She struck his throat, rendering him mute,”Now, you will only be able to watch, and watch, and never be able to interact with the world. You wanted immortality? Than you will have it.” Avarok dropped him as the world around them faded. Avarok took her hooves off of the super-computer. Reggie looked at her with a raised eyebrow,”What did you do? You put your hooves on it, and then he screamed.” “I stopped him for good.” Avarok said simply, turning to Reggie,”There is an intercom on the table to your right. You may inform them of Cottage;s defeat.” Reggie cocked her head,”You are a weird one...” She shook her head as she went over and picked up the intercom,”Hey, if any of you steel yahoos are listening, your boss is dead! Yeah, that’s right, we kicked his ass all the way to Sunday!” A Steel Ranger burst through the door,”That’s impossible!” He said immediately. He looked at the computer, and back at Avarok. He went over, and tapped it a few times,”Holy cow, ya’ll are right! Dang, Ah was gonna get a promotion from him!” He muttered, before turning and leaving the room,”Hey ya’ll, we done gone and lost!” Samus pulled her head out from cover along with Sunny and Puppy,”What?” Steelhooves pulled out from the opposite end,”That means you’ve lost. Control is handed to me now.” He walked to the stallion in front of the computer room,”Do you have a problem with that?” “Will you give me a promotion?” The stallion asked. Steelhooves sighed,”Yes.” “Alrighty then!” The stallion took off his helmet and ran off to inform his comrades of their defeat. Footnote: Level Up! New Perk: Unavailable Companion Perk Added: Calm Mind: Avarok’s mind powers have given you a sense of wonder and fill you with a certain... serenity. You now gain a +1 bonus to Intelligence checks and have special dialogue options when talking to NPCs.. Author's Note Finally got a new chapter out. Sorry for the wait, had some... issues with family. Things should be better now. This might be the last time we'll see a 4,000 word chapter, the next one's kind of a doozy. Yes, the Elk are based slightly off of Vulcans from Star Trek. Later on, I'll be adding a bit of Babylon 5's Minbari to the mix as well. Avarok came as a need for Samus to have someone to talk to on a cosmic level. Someone she can relate to in terms of space related things. Avarok is simultaneously my least and most favorite character to write for, mainly due to the fact that she's so controlled over her emotions. I do not envy Star Trek writers when they get their hands on Spock, believe you me. But she will provide a bit of extra universe building in the future which makes me glad to have her around. Thanks to Alchemystudent as usual Any feedback is appreciated.
